Notes: Thanks again to everyone reading! I appreciate the reviews I have gotten thus far and hope to see more of your opinions! Don't worry, the boring stuff is almost over and by the end of this (longer) chapter the fun will start. Or will it?
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November 2nd, 2552 7:29 AM
Sol System - Aboard the MAC Orbital platform Malta
Deck C Room 298
Justin sat up in his bed and looked around, wondering if he had actually made it through the night without the dream. Looking over at the clock gave him the answer he was hoping for. For the first time in a week his sleep had been peaceful, as if everything was once again at peace within his soul.
Audrey was not in the room. As he was clearing his eyes the thought almost frightened him, until he remembered she had to leave early to oversee some of the last minute preparations before the Spartan returned.
They had estimated that his return would be sometime around 9:30, which gave Justin an hour or so to be lazy, but he instead decided to get out of bed and get some breakfast.
8:24 AM
Justin looked over the mess they called a breakfast buffet, with eggs laying on sausage and other items mixed together by careless marines who had since left the mess hall in order to get their Sunday best on for the ceremony.
He also noticed the peculiar absence of a little red-headed girl behind the counter, and sighed in defeat at the thought of Bob doing his best to get her smock off. The lady currently behind the counter could be considered anything but eye candy, not that Justin really cared.
After paying for his food he sat down in relative quietness, the few sounds of air purification and other life support systems humming throughout the Malta's structure always somehow reminded Justin how frail of a contraption these platforms were. With all of their technology and firepower, a breach in the hull could potentially allow the simple vacuum of space to literally tear it apart from the inside out.
Justin peered over his coffee cup as the bubbly red head from the day before power-walked over to the counter, finishing up tying her apron around her as she rounded the corner of the buffet table. Brittany was greeted by the other server, who apparently was not impressed that the younger girl was late.
The older lady proceeded to verbally chastise the girl, finishing off with the classic "don't let it happen again" statement. Brittany calmly but firmly replied that she was sorry, then went about straightening the self-serve area.
She cast a glance toward Justin, acknowledging that she knew he and Bob were friends, and he returned a half-hearted smile as he raised his cup toward her in a toasting gesture.
9:12 AM
Justin pressed the close button with his chin and the Hobbit's rear panels closed with a lone hiss of rushing air as the air inside pressurized and the hydrostatic gel formed to his body. He had decided that instead of waiting on the delivery boys to come pick it up he would take it down to shipping before any jarheads tried to write any "for a good time call" slogans or other epithets along its armor.
The pressure sensors arrayed all throughout the legs responded in kind to his own leg movements, and the stocky-looking MSAC began walking.
It wasn't quite the neural interface that he had read about in the Spartan specifications, but Justin believed that to be a good thing as this simple suit didn't require him to undergo any risky procedures in order to use it. Justin had always hated the idea of being cut into, so he was glad that he was able to use what he had been given at birth to pilot it.
Justin's chatter let out a chirp and he interfaced with it using the Hobbit's Comm channel. Audrey's voice filled the area about his head.
"Hey babe."
"Hey hun, just wanted to call you. I am bored at the moment. We have finished up all our pre-ceremony checks and are hanging out until the hero of the hour shows up. What are you up to?"
"I just figured I would send this hunk of metal en route to our next job south of Seattle. Maybe if I get it to shipping early enough it might actually arrive on time."
"Well try to hurry, we have been notified that he will be here in about 20 more minutes."
"Don't worry, once I get down there I should have a monitor to watch it on, assuming Firefly's employee's did their jobs right."
"You are going to pay for that one when I see you mister."
"Looking forward to it babe."
Justin flipped off the private Comm and opened up his outer one as he approached the entrance to the cargo elevator. He pressed the down arrow which proceeded to glow a neon green color, and heard the echoes of cable movement coming from the other side of the oversized door.
He stepped in, and the doors were about to shut when Bob and Tom came running through the door. It was obvious they had sprinted the length of the mess hall, as their breathing was so labored Justin thought they might pass out.
"Now I see why you guys never joined the UNSC."
9:26 AM
The ride down was filled with Bob's recount of last night's events, which was ended with only a kiss. Justin thought this was odd, usually even if Bob didn't get into bed with a girl he would tell them he did anyway. Something seemed different about Bob's storytelling as well.
Could it be that Bob may have met his match the night before? Could he actually have feelings towards a girl other than the empty satisfaction a one-night stand brought him?
This thought was soon replaced with awe as the 3 of them stepped out of the elevator and began their pilgrimage across the platform's main cargo hold. Inside the massive room sat most of the pride of the UNSC's arsenal. To one side was a plethora of Scorpion Tanks and Warthogs of differing variations sat on the other.
The path between them was long and wide, easily wide enough to fit 2 scorpions side-by-side. Near the far end of the room was easily 50 or more Pelican troop carriers which then gave way to what seemed endless rows of Skyhawk fighters and Longsword interceptors.
All the aircraft were turned to face the massive exit port at the far end of the cargo hold in case of a need for a quick exit. The positioning of the Pelicans leant them to being able to attach their armored passengers quickly under their bellies.
A rather large gondola descended in front of them, and opened its doors for them to board. Justin was glad it was here, as the walk would have surely taken a good portion of an hour to complete.
9:33 AM
The holopanels on the walls adjacent to Justin flickered on with revelrous music seeming to blare out of thin air. The double "F" logo of the FireFly news service splashed onto the screen, followed by the voice of the female reporter assigned to cover the event.
"This is Zora Mathers reporting for FireFly. Today is a great day for UNSC's greatest warrior, Chief Petty Officer Spartan-117. He is returning home from a major victory over Covenant forces on a yet unidentified world, overcoming overwhelming odds to decimate many of the enemies' soldiers."
The reporter continued on as the doors to the tram opened to reveal the supersoldier. His green armor and stature was menacing even on TV.
"The soldier you see here has gotten somewhat of a makeover, officials telling this reporter that the Spartan has received new armor with various improvements, but did not comment on what those upgrades actually were. That notwithstanding, it is hard to believe they could improve over the effectiveness these soldiers already possess. Standing alongside the hero is another hero in his own right, Sergeant…"
The sound from the holopanels was interrupted by his chatter suddenly sounding off. He answered the call only to hear a seemingly terrified Audrey on the other end.
"Justin, the Covenant are here! My God they have found Earth! Ships are exiting slipspace!"
Justin's stunned gaze turned back to the holopanels as the story was cut short and replaced with a forward view from the Cairo. The blips were small, but the ships were there. The day they had all dreaded was here, and now there would be no more running, no more hiding.
"Audrey, where are you?"
"I am in the main communications room, level J. We are next to the medical bay on this level."
"We are heading up to the cafeteria now, meet me just outside the elevator."
Justin cut the Comm connection and felt a chill run through the now suddenly small gondola. He then realized he had left his Comm channel open and both Tom and Bob had also been privy to the information.
"Dear God, what are we going to do?" Tom's words sounded like he didn't even know he was saying them. He was clearly on the verge of panic.
"I tell you what we do, we get the hell off this boat." Bob's words in contrast were more together, and Justin knew that he could at least count on him to keep it together, for now.
Justin pressed the emergency stopped button, and the gondola ceased its forward motion, then started lowering itself to the floor at a pace that seemed mind-numbingly slow to be associated with the title of "emergency".
The doors parted as they connected with the ground, and were greeted hastily by a couple of soldiers as they exited. The two PFC's looked at the trio exiting the gondola, slightly humored with the site of the troll-like stature of the MSAC.
"You getting out of that trash can?" The slim but taller soldier questioned as the station-wide intercom erupted.
"Boarding craft inbound, prepare to repel boarders."
"Shit, sounds like we've got company. You better get out of that metal coffin and find some firepower. You didn't hear it from us, but there is a weapons cache in the small room to your left. " The younger, thicker marine yelled as they exited through a door to the right of the cargo elevator door.
Justin pondered this for a moment, but realized that he would be vulnerable without the Hobbit's protection, so decided to instead stay inside it. He turned to the others and started barking orders.
"Alright, we are going to get some guns and then get off this bird. Stay away from anything that explodes, because if we have to fight it will probably be up close. Think shotguns and auto's, maybe even a pistol. Life pods are spread throughout the platform so there shouldn't be a problem finding them. We may can call on the courtesy AI to help you get to them, but I am going to need to get to Audrey. I want you guys to get to the first pod we can find and get the hell out of here, and I will join up with you on the surface."
Justin noticed Bob's thoughts racing and looking as though he hadn't heard a thing that he had just said.
"Problem Bob?"
"Its Brittany, I need to get to her." Bob stated abruptly, not expecting to get any recognition from the statement.
"Fine, we don't have a way to get in touch with her, but we will need to pass through the mess hall in order to meet up with Audrey. We will pick her up if she is there as well."
The trio stepped back into the cargo elevator, and Bob pressed a button and the oversized doors began to close. As they did they looked out across the cargo hold, which was now looking more like an anthill that had been disturbed as soldiers ran around prepping Longswords and Skyhawks for intercept runs.
Some of them had already taken off, one or two succumbing to plasma bolts before they could completely break away from the platform. The doors finished their sequence, and extra gravity was felt as the elevator began its labored climb toward the mess hall entrance.
The elevator had seemed much faster before, and now they each awaited anxiously, looking at the numbers on the digital display slowly click off as they passed one floor after another.
Slight vibrations shook the elevator as the MAC guns began their barrage on the oncoming threat, and Justin hoped it would be enough to put them down, although he knew they had failed to protect Reach.
"OK guys, let's make a small formation with you two to either side of me. Try to stay together to make sure you two don't end up shooting each other and hopefully I can draw their fire a bit so you can mop them up."
Justin didn't much like the idea of being the decoy, but hopefully they would make it through. Hopefully the marines had been able to keep them at bay so they could quickly find an escape pod and get off the platform and down to Earth…
Justin's thoughts were interrupted by the sudden ding of the elevator signaling them they had reached their destination. The doors began to part and Justin's eyes started scanning the room but did not see anything, but it was what caught his ears that made him sick to his stomach…
"Wort…."
