Chapter 17

Heart of Glass

September 18, 2554

08:17 Hours, Earth Time

UNSC Forward Operating Base

ODST Spec Ops Unit, November Six, aka Nova Team

Personnel: Commanding Officer Trent Miles

Location: New Mombasa, Southern Kenya

[Play Halo 3 ODST OST Bits and Pieces on You Tube]

Holden takes his helmet offsetting his eyes off the massive covenant carrier in the sky. It had only been there for a few hours, and with it, insight the threat of death never seemed too far away. The warthog he's riding in jumps and stutters along the ground tossing those within to and fro. Tall yellow and green grass cover both the left and right side of the road dotted with puddles of water no doubt the aftermath of the early morning's rain gentle showers. Up ahead a rock formation tactically making up one half of an improvised gate leading to the Forward Operating Base (FOB) of the local forces of the UNSC. Overhead two Falcon swoop by uncomfortably low to the ground, it was clear they were coming in for a landing.

As the warthog began to reduce in speed, Holden notices one of the two Falcons he took note of before resting beside a green tent with netted windows. The warthog pulls to a stop as Holden hops out, he turns to the soldier driving the warthog preparing to ask him something only for the man to point him towards the green tent in front of him. Holden nods and begins to move towards the tent, sliding his hand across the surface of the falcon as he passes it.

He enters the tent moving a bit of netting in front of his face as he does. To the left of the entrance, he sees Moreno sits in the corner of the room loading fresh rounds into his extra magazine, Radd on the opposite side sharpening his blade. On the far side of the Lt. Miles sits shirtless a fresh layer of bandages wrapped around his midsection. Chamber standing at his back addressing the remainder of his wounds. In front of them, a woman who faces existed at the edge of his memory.

Brushing the woman to the side Holden speaks without thinking. "You okay their partner?"

Lt. Miles chuckles, "You should see the other gu, Ow!" As Chamber tightens the bandages.

"I'm confused." Chambers interjects, "By other guy are you referring to the drop that fractured two of your ribs or the mysterious Elite that wiped the floor with you then got away?"

The lieutenant sighed, "No comment."

"Thought so."

Before holding realized it there was a knock on the back of his armor, he turned around only to have his eyes meet the light brown eyes of the woman he brushed off. "Yo Trooper." she smirked, "I was standing there."

Just then it seemed to hit him like a ton of bricks."Armin!" his voice shook, "Looks like our little chickie has grown into a mighty fine dove."

"And you look... Not in jail. Guess this director's influence is more far-reaching then I thought if he was able to get you out of Havoc without shooting up the place."

"Well..." The room went silent.

"No Fucking Way!" Armin shouted with excitement in her voice, "This I gotta hear!"

Just then a UNSC Sergeant entered the room, she had dark skin with nappy dark brown hair, cut short to be in line with military regulation. "Sorry for the delay sir, Sgt. Endesha reporting in. I have the details of the attack that you were asking for."

"Endesha huh?"Armin whispers under her breath, "Nah, couldn't be."

"Well don't keep us in suspense Marine."

"Yes Sir!" she began, "At 0500 tomorrow the UNSC high command is gonna be sending a special unit to take out the carrier overhead, we've been ordered to launch an all-out attack before then as a diversion. Any help you can offer would be greatly appreciated, even better if your aid can benefit both of us. Should you decide to help we'll provide you with all the amenities you'll need including transportation and ammunition."

"Special Unit to take out that carrier?" Monero observed, "Whoever taking on that thing must be even more loco then we are."

"This special unit, do you know anything else?" Lt. Miles asked, "Any extra details might help us better coordinate our attack."

"Nothing from official channels sir..." she paused firing a quick glance at the door to ensure nobody she knew was within earshot, "But, there have been rumors."

"What kind of rumors?"

"Some new generation of Spartan." She shots him a serious glance, "But, you didn't hear it from me."

"Thanks for the details Sergent, you're dismissed."

"Sir." She salutes him before taking her to leave.

"An all-out attack huh?" Chambers speaks, "Seems like the UNSC wants to get rid of AESIR sooner rather than later."

"Fucking A." Armin adds, "I must be the luckiest Bitch on the planet, to have run into you guys before this operation. If it succeeds then I get to bring Sergei in, and if it fails she'll get away, either way, that'll be my last shot and I don't plan on missing."

"Then it's settled" Lt. Miles explained, "Tomorrow, Armin, Radd, Holden Moreno, and I will join the UNSC main forces in their push to AESIR Headquarters. Chambers you'll stay in the rear and provide support wherever you can. And, keep an eye on Gideon." The team nods acknowledging their orders, "Rest up while you can Nova, we're moving out bright and early tomorrow."

One by one the team member slowly make their way out the tent. Tensions high after the chaotic events of the day and battle soon to come on the following day. The last person to walk out the door was Armin. "Yo Forge, if all goes according to plan let's celebrate okay?" She winked.

[Play Mass Effect 2 Reflections Extended on You Tube]

The lieutenant starts to wave at her as Chambers tightens the final knot with a swift yank, the lieutenant's body jumps from the sudden pain."Careful," Lt. Miles explained, "You're dealing with damaged goods."

Chambers runs her fingers across his back, "I'm pretty sure you're still salvageable. I'll be it with a few cuts and bruises. Worst comes to worst we can always toss you in the bargain bin."

"That's not funny." Lt. Miles smiles.

"Wasn't tryna be," Chambers says smiling back as she walked to a nearby sink to wash her hands.

Lt. Miles makes his way to his feet, following her with heavy footsteps. He glances for a moment down at the bandages covering his midsection before bringing his eyes back to the solid soldier standing in front of him, "Ya know, I'm sure the doctors on base would have been more than happy to patch me up. You should be getting ready you're as big a part of what happens next than anyone."

"Are you suggesting that my work is less than satisfactory, Commander?" An intensity erupting in her eyes, however, it soon fades, "Relax sir, I'm only teasing, Besides..." her voice begins to lose volume, "I like patching you up, it reminds me you're still human?"

"And that's the only reason?"

She says nothing. Walking over to a nearby icebox she grabs two water bottles tossing one to the lieutenant. He catches it. "Permission to speak plainly sir?" she says taking a seat on the bed the lieutenant was using to rest only moments before.

Those were the words that young commanding officers dreaded hearing. What needed to be said so badly that couldn't be said tactically. Was she gonna criticize his command? The Director? Or maybe even something about one of the other troopers. It didn't take long for the storm of his mind to calm itself, after all, he knew if there was anyone he could trust not say something like this without a good reason I'd be Chambers. He nods, "Let's hear it."

She takes a sip from her water bottle as she begins, "I've noticed you've been putting me in more preeminent positions, first back on Havoc where I lead the evacuation and even right before the drop where you left me in charge of the ship. Almost like you know I won't question your orders."

"Can't apologize for that. You've yet to disappoint."

"Well..."She tries to hide the red making it's way to her face," I'm glad you trust me to get the job done, but still," She pauses taking another sip from her water bottle as sweat begins to beat from her brow. "I thought you were doing it on purpose. Keeping me in positions of command and away from the frontlines. Despite the fact that Radd holds I higher rank than I do, you made me your 2nd in command."

"Radd's a loner, he's logical and methodical" Lt. Miles explained, "Sort of a prerequisite for Project Challenger. Basically, he's too much like me. I knew I needed another point of view, besides, unless he said something to you about he's never mentioned it. That's because being a lone wolf is just how he likes to operate. When we were reassigned to Nova I mellowed out, him not so much. I don't think he ever accepted that."

"That's right." Chambers recalled, "You two knew each other before Nova."

"We've never fully trusted each other, but we've always been honest about it."

"Damn it, you're making me look all paranoid."Chambers breath quickens, "I thought you were trying to keep me off the frontlines because of my pending discharge. Lock me up in some Ivory tower." Chambers places her hand over her heart, then violently begins dry heaving, clenching her chest for dear life with one hand, the other over her mouth as if she were somehow trying to stop the life from leaving her. She forces herself to stand up stumbling towards her armor on the other side of the room, knocking her water bottle across the floor the process. As the last of her strength fades she collapses only to have the lieutenant catch her before she hit the ground.

"Chambers?!" Lt. Miles calls out to her as he moves her over to the bed she was sitting on and lays her down as gently as he possibly could. Frantically, he starts to leave the room to search for some semblance of help only to notice Chambers' weak grasp tugging at his forearm.

"Forge." She coughed, still gasping for air. "My breastplate... Hand it to me." he quickly moved to fulfill her request. Steadily she moved her fingers into the storage compartment on her breastplate only to pull out a small white plastic container. Taking several pills from the container, she shoved them into her mouth, placing her hand over her mouth to stop herself from coughing them up. With the other hand, she reached out towards Lt. Miles, confused at first he stumbled to figure out what she was asking for. It took him a few seconds but finally, he was able to deduce she was asking for water. Without thinking he handed her the one he was using previously. The lieutenant had never seen Chambers like this, the brave lioness that pounces to the rescue of all in her pride, was now the one in need of saving. Letting out one last cough as if trying to get the rest out of her system she finally spoke, "That was... unpleasant."

"What the hell was that?!" the lieutenant couldn't stop himself from yelling, as he quickly tried to regain his demeanor.

She places the water bottle down on the ground as she makes her into a sitting position, a look of a quiet determination ever present on her face. She exhales deeply, "Listen! Ever since I was very young I've had a very special heart condition, There's a medicine that suppresses the symptoms don't know where it comes from, all I knew is that it works and it's expensive as hell. When I joined the UNSC they took over the payments so I never really had to worry about the expenses until recently."

"Recently?"

She nods, "At the end of the war, at the same time they allowed soldiers to opt-out of their contracts they also started to 'trim the fat', getting rid of personnel that could be seen as less than ideal. They did it in discreet ways in my case the military healthcare system would no longer be permitted to purchase my medication. Basically keeping me around was too expensive, so they wanted to discharge me for medical reasons."

"And yet here you are almost two years later."

"You know me Forge, I'm a fighter." She smiled, "I fought them tooth and nail to finish out my contract, they have no choice but to pay for my medication until I did." Her eyes make their way to the ceiling as a somber air fills the room. "Eventually I got used to the idea of retiring from the UNSC, thought I'd go back to Reach, help out with the reclamation project. Ya know, make myself useful. But, that's when something disturbing happened..."

"The Director?"

She nods, "No sooner had I accepted my fate, was I given the opportunity to go on some top-secret ONI initiative and in exchange all medical fees are taken care of whether I chose to stay in the military or not."

"I wondering what made you decide to work for ONI." Lt. Miles leaned up against a nearby countertop, "You'd sooner tell those bigwigs to stuff it before agreeing to something like that."

"I don't work for ONI, I'm working for you." Chambers corrected him, "And, I almost did just that, but... then they told me that they reassembled Nova and the rest of you had already accepted the mission."

Lt. Miles interjected, "I didn't accept until right before we left the space station."

"Kinda figured that when I met up with the team and you were nowhere to be found." Chambers chuckled. "But, in my mind, it didn't matter, even if there was even a fraction of a chance that the rest of you would accept I knew I had to be there... For ... Katrina, this is my attunement. I imagine you're here for the same reason."

"My reasons... aren't so noble."

"Is that right?" Chambers makes her way to her feet, "Not quite the boy scout I'd imagined are you? Regardless, as long as I'm here I'll keep you patched up. And I'll keep the team alive even if I have to do it all by myself. You only have to give the order sir." Chambers starts putting her armor on only for the lieutenant to stop her.

"Where the hell do you think you're going? You nearly had a meltdown not even five minutes ago no way am I letting you go out there."

"You said it yourself Forge, you need me to get the job done."She gives him a cocky smirk, "Besides I'll be in the rear with the local forces if there's anybody you should be concerned about out there it's yourself, sir."

"You're heart condition, does that happen often?"

She shakes her head, "If I had to guess I'd say the drop took more out of me then I thought. We fought in the war together and it was never a problem, I think I'll be okay. "

"Fine!" Lt. Miles reluctantly agrees as he makes his way toward the door, "Just promise to keep yourself alive out there and if things get too hairy fallback, this isn't our fight."

"Aye aye, sir!" Chambers salutes before taking another sip from her water bottle. Now realizing that the water bottle belonged to the lieutenant she quickly places her hand over her lips and blushes for a bit before removing her hand and revealing a smile.