Hey everyone and I'm back with the next chapter to Halo:AOR. This chapter was a bit challenging to write but I managed it and hopefully you all enjoy it. I just want to say that OMG, this story has almost reached 1000 views, I am completely over the moon and can't be more happy to see so many people just clicking on my story, especially because it's my first one! I really just want to thank everyone for reading even just one chapter and I hope that this story may grow to better heights!
Reviews:
guest: Glad to see you enjoy my story! I have every intention of finishing this story, even if it takes me a very very long time.
Giggle MeYumYums: Here's the next chapter for you! Also the Swords may mean something later in the story (hint hint) :)
Anyway, Lets get into it!
Location: Corvette Shadow of Intent
Date: 21st February 2558
Time: 0800 hours
The docking routine with the Shadow of Intent was a quick and organised one. The rumble Mayne felt beneath his feet and the hissing of slightly better quality recycled air rushing into the compartment signalled that their Lich had passed the energy barrier that separated the corvette's hanger from the vast expanses of space. Once they touched down the gangway lowered and the humans and Sangheili disembarked. The hanger of the Sangheili vessel looked much like the hanger of a small UNSC frigate except that all the walls were a shade of purple and instead of humans running around, Mayne noticed that Sangheili were rushing about assisting their new comrades in unloading their supplies and munitions.
"Sergeant Myers, take Phoenix and help unload the pelicans, Commander 'Moram and I are leaving to get our orders." Hendricks ordered and Catherine gave a single nod.
"Alright Phoenix, let's move!"
Mayne and Fireteam Phoenix along with the Sangheili Spec Ops team led by Zek dropped their bags and rifles by the Lich and moved to assist the first of the pelicans unload their payloads while Hendricks and Reesha went to get orders from Shipmaster Rtas 'Vadum.
The team approached a middle aged Sergeant with a standard issue UNSC cap and a clean shaven face who was shouting orders and pointing soldiers in different directions.
"Sergeant, where do you need us?" Catherine asked loudly above the racket and the Sergeant said something but was drowned out by the roar of the engines of another pelican tearing into the hanger, dropping a Scorpion tank and letting its occupants come streaming out of the troop compartment. The Sergeant cupped his hands to his mouth raised his voice.
"We need your team and those Hingeheads to help unload Pelicans two and three, we need to make room for the other Pelicans to land!"
Knowing that speaking was futile over the deafening roar of the pelicans, Catherine delivered a thumbs up and gave the advance hand signal to the mixed team of humans and elites. The elites not knowing such hand signals were slow to react but followed once the ODST's started running towards the nearest Pelicans.
Reesha and Hendricks walked at a quick pace towards the gravity lifts that would transport them to the bridge. On multiple occasions Reesha saw that her human companion was hesitant at times when groups of Sangheili would pass them so decided to try to ease the human's nervousness.
"For what amount of time have you contributed to your kind's military?" She asked casually, looking down at her slightly smaller companion.
"Almost lost track of that, gotta' be a good thirty years, joined when I was only a lad, eighteen years old." He replied in his gruff voice, "Thought I'd fight the Innies, did for a little while but then you lot come along and then I got a real taste of combat." A hint of admiration crept onto his face as he looked towards the female elite and she realised the human captain was giving her species a small amount of praise.
Reesha dipped her head with gratitude.
"The Humans are a very unique race and the only one that could stand for so long against the Covenant, I speak not only for myself but for many other Sangheili when I say this but your species has earned the respect of the Swords of Sangheilios." Hendricks nodded his head in acknowledgment of the praise. It wasn't often that a Sangheili would praise another warrior that isn't their own.
All further conversations were cut short as they entered the bridge and approached the white armoured Sangheili waiting for them. The Sangheili had a recognisable injury to his mandibles that Reesha could recognise anywhere. She pumped her fist to her heart and Hendricks followed suit and Rtas 'Vadum responded in such.
"Commander 'Moram," He cast a piercing look at the human who clarified for him.
"Captain James Hendricks, Shipmaster." He said respectively.
"Welcome aboard, Captain James Hendricks. Come, we have much to discuss and not a long of time to discuss it."
Unloading had been smoothly coordinated and it seemed to Mayne that the Sangheili and their human allies worked very efficiently and without conflict. Now with the manual labour out of the way Mayne was able to see what they had for use. Three Pelicans had been left to one side of the hanger and many of the weapons, food, extra clothing and materials to build a field base were stored away in the large storage rooms around the corvette. Mayne could see that along with the vehicles owned by the Swords of Sanghelios, the humans also had an intimidating force to be reckoned with. They had an assortment of M12 reconnaissance Warthogs with ferocious looking chainguns mounted in the rear that fired armour piercing bullets at extremely high speeds, two-person M274 All-Terrain Mongooses and even a few M808B Scorpion Main-Line Battle Tanks.
Mayne had been seated on an ammunition container going through the repetitive action of sliding round after round into each magazine that he carried for his Battle Rifle. The rhythmic clicking sound of bullets sliding into place gave Mayne some sort of satisfaction and he almost failed to see Gabriel and Ajax sit opposite him and begin cleaning and preparing their own weapons. The three worked in silence, only accompanied by the sounds of bullets clicking and the occasional squeak of a piece of equipment being moved or adjusted. Gabriel suddenly put his shotgun down on the ground and leaned towards Mayne,
"Alright newbie, let's get this straight. Yes, I agreed to let you be our Two IC because Cat wanted us to work together and I'm doing what's best for the team, that does not mean that I like you or want you to be here at all." He stated bluntly.
Mayne looked around for Catherine but couldn't spot her anywhere. Looks like he'll have to deal with it himself.
"I don't care what you think, just don't get me killed." Mayne retorted and went back to filing ammo into his magazines, hoping to end the conversation right there.
"Lay off him, Gabe. We have to work together now if we're going to make it through this." Groaned Ajax in a deep voice but Gabriel wasn't finished.
"It won't be me that gets you killed, it'll be you and your lone ass that'll do it. You don't belong with us."
"Come on Gabe, Fuck off." Ajax growled threateningly and not looking to get into a fight with an fellow soldier a whole head taller than himself Gabriel stood and glared angrily at Mayne before storming off to a different place to prepare his weapons. "Listen Mayne, we had a hard time trying to get over the guy that died in your place and it'll just take Gabe time to come around. I'm sorry about speaking against you at the meeting, we need to work together now or we all die."
"Agreed Ajax, we could all probably work on our team skills." Mayne agreed and went back to the rhythmic clipping of bullets into magazines.
"With a bit of work, I'm sure we could turn this into a permanent thing." Said the large ODST. Mayne remained silent.
Mayne felt a slight change in the floor beneath him and looked out the hanger shields to see the stars suddenly lengthen. They had entered slipspace. Mayne decided that it felt weird that the process of going into slipspace was so smooth, but it was far better than the jolting and roughprocess of any UNSC vessel.
"Alright ODSTs we're in slipspace and most likely about to make contact with the Covenant soon so I want you ready ASAP." Catherine ordered as she appeared beside Mayne. Gabriel came back over to the group and all three of the ODSTs nodded and made their final checks. Next came Reesha and Hendricks. The grizzled Captain ordered the platoon officers off to the side and gave his orders to them while Reesha approached Fireteam Phoenix.
"Rtas 'Vadum has informed us that the friendly corvette under attack is unable to use its engines as they have been damaged beyond repair. Our plan is to board the Covenant corvette and eliminate the Shipmaster and operators so our brethren may use it to reach Sanghelios." By now the Elite Spec Ops team had arrived as well to listen to the mission and each Elite rumbled in support of the mission.
"Sounds good to us." Catherine said and Mayne nodded.
The Sangheili-Human team boarded the same Lich used to get them to the Shadow of Intent followed by four squads of marines and they waited for the Shadow of Intent to drop out of slipspace. A sudden jolt told them they were back in normal space and the Lich's engines roared to life.
"Let us go pilots!" Ordered Reesha and the Lich began to lift off. Mayne slammed his helmet onto his head, watched to make sure all HUD systems were fully operational and did a final weapons check. Looking out the view ports he could see their friendly Corvette in flames and billowing purple smoke out the back of the engines. Seeing the Covenant Corvette Mayne noticed there was little to no damage done to the outer hull and it was firing salvo after salvo of plasma bombardments at the allied Corvette and the space was filled with Type-27 Space Banshees clashing in dogfights or bombing the Corvettes.
"We need to get in there quick or that Corvette isn't going to stay together." Mayne called and Reesha nodded,
"Agreed, pilots, get us directly to the main hanger of the Covenant Corvette!" She called and the pilots acknowledged, angling the Lich to enter the Covenant hanger. One of the Corporals walked towards the ODSTs.
"You guys know your part?" Catherine and Mayne nodded,
"What's your job in all this, Corporal?" Catherine asked.
"Keeping control of the Hanger so no hostiles can cut off our entrance point or cut off any reinforcements." Catherine nodded approvingly.
"You'll be fine Corporal, just keep our backside clear and things will go smoothly."
The voice of the pilot cut through the conversation,
"Prepare for landing!" The Sangheili called and Mayne made his way to the gangway. He knelt down beside the door and felt something nudge his shoulder, he turned and saw Ajax in his menacing looking ODST armour give him the thumbs up and level a SPNKR Rocket Launcher upon his shoulder. Catherine and Gabriel prepared themselves on the other side of the gangway, Gabriel inserting shells into his shotgun and Catherine removing the safety on her MA5 series Assault Rifle. Finally Reesha knelt down beside Mayne and unclipped the energy sword from her thigh. Her team readied themselves in front of gangway and prepared to charge out.
Mayne always felt an increase in his senses before going into battle, he could almost feel the rush of adrenaline levels rising as his body prepared itself for the intense activity he was about to put it through. He was so focused on his preparation that he almost failed to hear Reesha beside him,
"May fate favour you, ODST Mayne" She said and Mayne nodded,
"Same to you Commander Reesha." He replied simply and hit the safety on his rifle, "Here we go." He thought. Mayne legs jolted suddenly as the Lich hit the ground.
The gangway began to lower and immediately the Sangheili lunged forward, led by Reesha, and hit the deck before the door had fully lowered, due to their shielding they took point to draw any fire away from the humans as they dashed out. The hanger was packed with Sangheili, Kig-Yar and Unggoy alike who put down a heavy layer of plasma upon the Lich. Mayne and Ajax slammed against a crate and begin to peek over and fire at any enemy in their sights. In quick succession Mayne took out four grunts and Ajax fired a missile the completely engulfed an elite and two jackals. Mayne spotted Reesha amongst the chaos and couldn't help but admire her skills as she bolted quickly from enemy to enemy, it surprised him to see that her energy sword was a vibrant red colour and realised how much it suited her style; fast and deadly. Mayne felt something off in his mind when he saw that coloured blade and felt the long scar down his body begin to heat up, not because he had seen that blade before but something similar to it. He shook his head and fired at an elite, taking down its shields and then ripping open its chest with two three round bursts.
Reesha dashed from foe to foe, the training from her mentor from so long again taking control of all her movements and clearing her mind of all but one thought; to kill. She dashed towards a Sangheili Major surrounded by two Unggoy and a Kig-Yar scavenger. The Sangheili sprayed her with hot plasma from his rifle but it only drained Reesha's shields to halfway before she was upon them. In a single movement she severed the heads from both Unggoy and followed through with a lunge at the Major's heart, the blade seared through both armour and flesh and the Sangheili fell to the deck with a gurgling cry. The remaining Kig-Yar made a feeble attempt to overcharge its plasma pistol but Reesha grabbed it by the throat and snapped its neck in a single twist, the plasma shot high up into the air and impacted with the ceiling.
Seeing she had time to make observation she checked to see how the Humans were holding up, she cast her eyes around and found that her gaze fell to Mayne. She saw a Sangheili rush him and was about to intervene when she saw the Human soldier jump clear of the crate he was using for cover and meet the enemy head on, dropping his rifle he grabbed the steel blade from his chest armour and ducked under a swing from the Sangheili before launching himself onto the back of the Covenant warrior and embedding the knife deep into its neck. She unconsciously nodded with approval,
"This human truly knows how to fight, It would be an enjoyment to challenge him." Reesha thought before she turned back to the quickly dwindling forces of the Covenant.
Mayne sheathed his now bloodied knife and reacquired his rifle. He looked about the bloody hanger and saw that the Human-Elite force had gained a considerable hold of the vast room. He did notice that there were a few human bodies among the Covenant dead and felt a pang of sorrow. Those marines had technically finished fighting in this godforsaken war and should have gone home to their families but were called back to the front lines where they would once again shed their blood for humanity's future. The fighting had nearly finished and the last of the Covenant defenders were being mopped up.
"Hey ODST!" Came a voice behind him along with a tap on the shoulder, it was the young marine from the mess hall earlier that morning. His face was a little bloodied but he had a beaming smile on his face and shining eyes. "Haha! It is you mate, from the mess this morning. We kicked the Covie's arses just then didn't we!" He grinned broadly. From the look in his wide eyes and slightly enlarged pupils the marine's body was shot full of adrenalin and seemed to put everything that had happened that morning behind him. Mayne couldn't hold a cold towards this young gleeful marine and cracked a small smile behind his helmet before hitting the young marine on the back.
"That we did private, well done." He cheered slightly but was cut off as a beam of energy suddenly struck the marine's head and he dropped to the deck with a scream. With a small cry of anguish Mayne looked to where to shot came from. A small Covenant team had advanced into the hanger from a alternate route and a Jackal among them with a beam rifle had shot the unsuspecting marine. Feeling his blood boil Mayne raised his battle rifle and dispatched the jackal with a single well placed burst to the head and let the marines finish off the Jackal's companions.
"Fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck!" Mayne yelled as he bent down to check the deceased marine. The beam had past right through his skull and blood was oozing out along with small segments of brain matter. "There was nothing you could you Mayne." Came Catherine's voice as she walked up beside him. "He's just another casualty of war."
"He was a fucking kid!" Mayne growled, "He didn't deserve this. I should have noticed that team entering, I should have seen the Jackal!"
"Stop beating yourself up Mayne, stay focused, we have a job to do." Catherine stated and walked away, leaving Mayne to stare at the young private. That was the most open he had been since his team and now the kid was dead, just like all the other people he opened up to.
"Mayne, get over here!" He heard Ajax call from across the hanger where he and the rest of the Spec Ops team were. Mayne cast one last look at the marine, the kid's eyes were wide and unmoving. Mayne leant down and closed the marine's eyes with his fingers.
"Rest well kid." He muttered before hefting his battle rifle up and jogging over to his waiting team.
"Looks like our losses were minimal and we can afford to leave the marines to guard this hanger." Catherine said as Mayne came to halt with the group.
"Excellent, then we must move quickly if we are to take control of this vessel before it destroys our own." Reesha decided and everyone nodded. Zek hit the controls on the main doors and they slid open soundlessly.
"This way, comrades!" He called and led the way as the Human-Sangheili team ran down the long winding hallways. They encountered minimal resistance and quickly dealt with any Covenant force they encountered. It wasn't until they reached the gravity lift that spanned throughout the corvette that Reesha suddenly paused.
"Wait Humans." She said and the team stopped in their tracks before entering the transport lift. Reesha hit a small button on her helmet which put her communications on loud speaker.
"Commander Reesha, our scans are picking up human signals onboard that corvette and they aren't from the assault force." Came the voice of Rtas 'Vadum, slightly statically over Reesha's helmet speakers.
"They have human prisoners?" Catherine asked, "Where are they?"
"Lower levels of the corvette. The holding level." Rtas responded. Reesha switched off the helmet speakers.
"I'll move to the lower level to free the Humans, I cannot stand a stain upon the honour of our new allies!Zek, take charge and eliminate the Shipmaster." Reesha ordered and Zek saluted,
"Of course, Commander."
"Mayne, go with her. The marines will need to know that the Commander is on our side." Catherine instructed and Mayne nodded.
Reesha and Mayne stood back as the team stepped in one at a time and quickly zipped off along the gravity lift.
After all soldiers had entered the lift Reesha tapped some commands into the console beside it.
"Let us go." She said and stepped into the lift. Mayne stepped into the lift shortly after and felt his body get pulled along. When Mayne reached the exit point of the lift he was confronted with the bodies of two Sangheili and Reesha deactivating her blade.
"You've been busy." Mayne said dryly.
"They wouldn't let me pass." Reesha smirked, "Let's keep going."
The pair cautiously jogged down the corridor towards the door at the other end. At this level of the corvette the lights were more dim and a small blanket of mist covered the floor, giving the area an eerie atmosphere. Once they got to the door Reesha held a clawed hand up telling Mayne to pause.
"Beyond this door are the holding cells, the guards are minimal but stay alert." Reesha instructed and the ODST gave the thumbs up which caused Reesha to look up to the ceiling, "What are you pointing at?" She asked.
Mayne shook his head and almost let out a huge laugh that would have surely given their position away.
"Never mind, it's just a human gesture of understanding." He clarified and Reesha nodded thoughtfully,
"Interesting." She said and then hit the door controls. The doors glided open to a large room with prison cells on either side with light purple energy shields that would prevent anyone held within from breaking out. Within each cell was a marine, their armour stripped from them and they wore nothing but the camouflage fatigues they wore under their armour. Ahead of the pair were two Sangheili and six Unggoy. The Sangheili stood by a holographic console and the Unggoy trudged up and down the cells, probably thinking that they were helping in some way. Both species stopped and looked at the Human and Sangheili as the door opened. Almost in sync Mayne and Reesha ran forwards, Mayne dropped to his knee a few metre into the room and with three quick bursts of his battle rifle three grunts lay on the deck with splats of fluorescent blue blood on the floor beside them.
Reesha activated her energy sword and leapt over the holographic console to confront the two Sangheili. She slashed with her blade at one of the warriors and managed to cut across its chest armour as it attempted to evade, causing it to crash to the ground with a pained growl. She turned immediately and just in time as the second Covenant warrior swung down with its own energy sword. Reesha grabbed hold of the clawed hand of her assailant as it came down, stopping the blade just centimetres from her face, so close that she could feel a burning sensation from the heat. In response she lashed out with her own sword but the Sangheili intercepted her arm with his own spare hand. Locked in a fight for dominance the two Sangheili twisted and turned to try and gain an advantage over the other. Being biologically less muscular than the male Sangheili opposing her, Reesha found that the male was beginning to push his blade further towards her face but being a male had its own disadvantages as Reesha shoved her knee up into the crotch of the other Sangheili. The Saurian snarled in pain and weakened his grasp on Reesha hand which gave her the opportunity to bring the searing red blade down in the Sangheili's head. Thinking that she was done with both Sangheili she holstered her blade but heard a cry from across the room.
"Watch out Reesha!" Mayne shouted but it was too late as when she turned she was barrelled over by the first Sangheili she had supposedly killed before. She slammed into the wall and the Sangheili was upon her.
"You will die Heretic, and you will never proceed with the Great Journey!" He raised he sword and Reesha closed her eyes in preparation from her demise. The excruciating pain and certain death never came as a gurgled cry made Reesha open her eyes again to see a steel blade producing from the throat of the Sangheili and blood dripping from his mandibles. The Saurian collapsed to the side and standing before her was Mayne.
After killing the grunts, Mayne focused his sights on the Elites at the console deep in engagement with Reesha. He saw her strike one down before she locked arms with the second and attempted to fight for control. Mayne aimed his sights at them but couldn't take a shot in fear of hitting Reesha so instead he watched nervously to see which Elite came out victorious. He felt an odd ecstatic feeling in his chest when Reesha sliced her opponents head and instantly his mind questioned the emotion.
"She killed an Elite, so what. Why am I feeling like this?" Mayne wasn't able to continue this line of thought as he saw the first elite he thought was dead stand up, seeing the flare of it's shielding he knew a single burst from his rifle would kill it and so levelled his aim on the alien.
He pulled the trigger,
Click.
He pulled again quickly,
Click, Click
"Fuck!"
Panic rose in Mayne's chest as he threw the gun down and began sprinting towards the unsuspecting Spec Ops Commander.
"Watch out Reesha!" He shouted but knew it was going to be too late for her to react. The Sangheili slammed the female Sangheili into the wall and activated it's energy sword. Mayne saw Reesha close her eyes in anticipation for death.
"Not today!" Mayne ripped his combat knife from its sheath and jammed it into the neck of the Sangheili, killing it instantly. The energy sword deactivated and fell from the Elite's grasp and it toppled to the side. Mayne bent down slightly and held out his hand.
"You ok, Commander?" He asked. He had never felt this way towards seeing a fellow soldier almost die.
The only people he felt this much for was his team.
"Yes I am ok." Reesha took Mayne's hand and he pulled with all his might to help her get up. Once up Reesha looked back at the place where she was almost killed.
"I was surely destined to die there," She looked back to Mayne, "But because of you I am able to live, for that I owe you a debt of honour Mayne."
Suddenly feeling a little uncomfortable that he had opened so much to this Elite he was glad to hear the whimpering of the last three grunts that remained. He looked towards the corner of the room where the small aliens were cowering and walked to where his battle rifle was lying on the floor. He picked it up, slammed a new magazine into place and pointed it at the grunts and with a squeal they bolted for the door. They didn't even make it half way before Mayne imbedded them with bullets.
Reesha moved to the console where she deactivated the shields and the marines wandered out.
"Marines, we're here to break you out." Mayne greeted them and one marine stepped forward, an impromptu leader Mayne assumed.
"Alright, first of all how the hell did you get here and can we trust that Hinge-head over there?" The marine snapped, glaring at Reesha who huffed and walked away to seek out their exit. Mayne felt an urge to punch the man but realised that it would be unfair as these marines looked to have been imprisoned for a very, very long time.
"Look we don't have long to get out of here, just know that Humanity has formed an alliance of sorts with a Sangheili faction called The Swords of Sanghelios. We are currently conducting an operation with the Swords so yes, they can be trusted."
"But...What...When?" The soldier looked shocked.
"Just shut up and follow me." Mayne snapped and the marines moved into action, scavenging plasma weapons from the recently deceased covenant soldiers.
Mayne's COMMs crackled to life,
"Phoenix 2 this is Phoenix 1, we've taken the bridge. How's it going with you?" It was Catherine.
"Objective complete Phoenix 1, marines have been freed and we'll be moving back to the hanger" Mayne replied.
"Alright, good work Phoenix 2, Phoenix 1 out." The crackling of the COMMs suddenly cut off as Catherine signed off.
Reesha reappeared at the door.
"The way is clear, did you hear that the others have eliminated the Shipmaster and operators?" She asked and Mayne nodded, "Then we should move now."
"Agreed. Marines, fall in behind me." He ordered and the marines wordlessly fell in step behind Mayne as they set off to their rendezvous point.
On the way they met a Covenant squad consisting of a Sangheili and three Unggoy and with the combined force of marines, Mayne and Reesha they killed the Sangheili rapidly and peppered the grunts with plasma and bullets. In the fight only one marine was hit by a stray plasma bolt in the leg and so was carried by two marines. They arrived back at the hanger to see Fireteam Phoenix and Reesha's team sitting in a group sharing a laugh and congratulating each other on a successful first mission together as a team. A couple of combat medics ran over and took the marines off Mayne and Reesha's hands.
"Thanks you two, we've been stuck here for far too long and at least now we may be able to see our families again." The leader said gratefully as he was moved away by a medic to receive medical attention. The injured marine was quickly lowered onto a portable stretcher and was carried away and the other marines waved at the pair as they too were escorted to find medical aid. Mayne felt his spirits lift slightly but then his vision drifted to the bodies that were aligned on the floor some metres away and he thought of that young marine that had died directly in front of him.
He never even got to know his name.
"He's just a casualty of war." No, he's not just a casualty. He's human being who never deserved to die so prematurely. Mayne could feel a cold shell beginning to form itself around him and began to think back to his team. Was that what they were to the UNSC now? Just casualties of war, words on paper, numbers on lists, completely expendable and utterly forgettable?
Not to Mayne they weren't, he remembered their faces, their personalities, their likes and dislikes, he remembered everything about each and every single one of them and now he felt that he could add that young marine to his list.
Reesha stood beside Mayne as he looked over the bodies of the dead. Unlike the humans, the Sangheili didn't have any casualties and so there would be no need to mourn the death of any of her brothers.
"Mayne, how are you feeling?" She asked cautiously and the ODST seemed to jump slightly, almost like he was jolted from a world of his own. He turned his reflective visor to face her.
"I'm feeling fine Commander." He replied, his voice monotone, "Let's just get back to the Shadow of Intent." He went to walk away and Reesha suddenly had the urge to reach out and grab his shoulder to stop him.
"Did you lose a friend today?" She asked and Mayne paused and without turning around he responded.
"Maybe, I don't think I'll ever know."
Location: Corvette Shadow of Intent
Date: 21st February 2553
Time: 1740 hours
Back on the Corvette, Mayne sat on his cot that was set up by the UNSC personnel that didn't take part in the assault of the Covenant corvette. He was stationed in a room along with the rest of Fireteam Phoenix. He and the rest of the team changed into a pair of fatigues and we sitting down together on Catherine's command to do a debrief of the battle they just fought.
"Mayne, how did the prison raid go with the Commander?" She asked.
"Encountered minimal resistance and managed to free the marines, and didn't take a single fatality as we got back to the hanger, although one marine was wounded." He reported, he had to be brief and to the point, this information was to go to Hendricks afterwards so he could write up a mission report.
"And how was it working with Commander Reesha?" Mayne thought for a moment.
"We worked together smoothly, if the Captain wants to know if we work well with the Elites I believe that we do." This earned a scoff from Gabriel,
"So you work well with them and not us, is that what I'm hearing." He jeered and as Mayne was about to retort he felt a vibration from his pocket and so pulled out his data pad and it was a message from Hendricks.
Sender: Captain James Hendricks
Receiver: Corporal Mayne Alexander
message start
Corporal, Spec Ops Commander Reesha 'Moram has requested that you meet her at the arena by 1800 hours. Reason unknown.
message finish
"Who's it from?" Ajax asked.
"The Captain, he wants me to go to the arena." Mayne responded, "I have no idea what it's about but it involves Commander Reesha." He checked the time on his UNSC issued watch,
5:43pm, 1743 hours. Mayne didn't have too long to get there.
"Good luck Mayne," Catherine said, "I'll forward your report to the Captain."
Mayne thanked her and quickly got changed into his PT gear, he had no idea what he was to expect.
"What the hell is this about?" He thought to himself as he walked from the room.
And that's all for this chapter, it was a huge write for me but I hope its all worth it!
stay tuned for the next chapter and please drop a follow/favourite and a review, it means a lot to me to hear from my readers and to know that my writing is liked. Your follows and reviews are also what keeps this story alive, to know that my writing is liked gives me inspiration to continue writing!
I'll catch you all in the next chapter.