Author's Note: If you have any tips writing tips, please feel free to review and tell me.
I gratefully accept constructive criticism as a means to help me develop my skills further as a writer.
WARNING: This story contains some MATURE LANGUAGE
Disclaimer: I DO NOT OWN MEDAL OF HONOR OR HALO
ALL OC'S ARE MINE
Chapter 16: The Lost Sibling... is alive?
Location: Zeta Doradus System, planet Onyx- Camp Currahee
August 15, 2537
0900 hours
Two weeks after the mission to assassinate Vladimir Zemo, Matt returned to Camp Currahee on Onyx to welcome the Bets Company SPARTAN-III recruits. He was riding a pelican down the surface of Onyx to meet with Kurt and Mendez after being gone for a couple of weeks.
When the pelican landed, the back hatch lowered and Matt stepped out. He saw Kurt and Mendez walk up to to him.
"Welcome back, Matt," Kurt said.
"Thanks, Kurt," he said.
Welcome back lieutenant," Mendez said.
Thanks, Chief," he replied. "So the new recruits are coming tonight?"
"Yes they are," Kurt answered as the three of them began walking away from the platform. "The Chief and I have everything ready to go for tonight so you don't have to set up anything."
Thanks Kurt. I owe you one," he said.
"No, you don't owe us anything," Mendez said.
"You ready to get back to work,"'Kurt asked.
"Ready as I'll ever be," Matt replied.
They walked into Camp Curahhee and Matt went and put his stuff away.
How was the mission?" Kurt asked.
"The mission went well. It was a complete success," Matt answered.
"Tell us about it," Kurt said.
"Well you guys might wanna get comfortable. This is gonna take awhile," Matt said.
"Well we have plenty of time to waste," Kurt said. "So take your time."
Once the two of them got settled, Matt began telling the tale. After he was done, they both looked shocked.
"Holy shit," Kurt said. "You shot his arm off?"
"Yep," Matt said.
"I'm surprised you didn't miss with the wind being that strong, Matt," Mendez said. "Then again, you never miss a shot do you?"
Matt laughed. "No Chief. I never miss."
They sat around and talked for a while about what was going to happen once the Beta company recruits arrived at Camp Curahhee and they had a meeting with all of the staff and told them what was going to happen once the recruits arrived. After they went to the cafeteria and got some lunch.
After finishing lunch, everyone went their seperate ways. Everyone had to meet back at the cafeteria at 1800 hours for dinner, then they had to get ready for the Pelicans to bring the recruits in.
Matt went back to room in the camp and fell asleep for a few hours, but this time he made the mistake of closing both of his eyes.
Matt was having a nightmare. He could see his parents and his sister Rachel, sitting in chairs in front of him. They all had their hands tied behind their backs. He looked at his sister. She turned towards him. He could see that she had dark eyes and her face looked angry and filled with hatred.
"This is all your fault!" she shouted. He heard a gunshot and a second later, her head exploded in a shower of blood and brain matter.
"No, it wasn't my fault!" he cried.
He then looked at his mother and she turned towards him.
"This is all your fault!" she repeated. Then another gunshot was heard and her head exploded.
"No, it's not my fault!" he said.
He then looked at his father. He turned towards him.
"This is all your fault!" he said, then his head also exploded.
"NO! it is not my fault!" he yelled.
He saw the bodies of his parents and sister topple over onto the ground. When the bodies hit the ground, their bodies immediately erupted into flames.
Matt saw their spirits rise up from their dead bodies and started chanting.
"This is all your fault! This is all your fault! This is all your fault! This is all your fault!"
"NO! IT IS NOT MY FAULT!" he shouted at the top of his lungs.
"Matt! Wake up," he heard someone say. Matt! WAKE UP!"
Matt snapped his eyes open and looked around his room. His body and face was covered in sweat. He looked up and saw Kurt standing over him.
"What happened?" he asked.
"I heard you screaming and I came to check on you," Kurt replied. "I came into the room to see you screaming and thrashing around everywhere."
Matt sat up on his bed. "What time is it?" he asked.
"1800 hours," Kurt said. "It's time for dinner."
"Ok... good," Matt said.
"You ok?" Kurt asked.
"Yeah, I'm good. Just... give me a minute."
Matt looked over at his small table beside his bed. He saw his canteen on the desk, grabbed it and chugged down half of the canteen within a few seconds.
"You ok now?" Kurt asked.
"Yeah, I'm good," he said.
Kurt shuffled his feet. "You wanna talk about what happened?"
Matt hesitated. He never told anyone about the nightmares that he'd been having, not even Jack.
"Promise me something, Kurt," he said.
"Anything," Kurt said.
"I'm going to tell you something that I've never told anyone before," he said. "Promise me you won't tell anyone want I'm about to tell you, not even Chief Mendez."
Kurt out his hand over his heart. "I swear on my life that I won't tell anyone."
Matt nodded. "I was having a nightmare about when I was six years old before I was kidnapped to become a Spartan, I had a family. A father, a mother, and two wonderful younger sisters. One night, I was awoken from my sleep, dragged downstairs by a mysterious man and tied to a chair. My parents and one of my two sisters were also tied to chairs.
"Wait, why were you, your parents, and one of your sisters tied to chairs and how old were your sisters at the time?" Kurt asked.
"My two sisters were 3 years old and 1 year old at the time. The one tied to the chair was the older sister," Matt explained. "The man didn't want to leave any witnesses."
"Ok I understand now," Kurt said. "Go on."
Matt continued. "The mysterious man was someone who my father apparently knew. He wanted to kill my father so he could take his place as a colonel. The man was a major and a rank below my father. The man shot my sister in her firehead, killing her instantly. He then shot me in my stomach, my back, and then my leg. He shot my mother in the leg and then in her forehead, killing her. After he killed my mother, he killed my father, threw our bodies on the floor, put lighter fluid on us, then finally burned our bodies to make sure no evidence was discovered."
"Holy... shit," Kurt muttered. "You were still alive while you were burned?!"
Matt nodded. "Yep."
What happened to your other sister?" Kurt asked.
"I don't know," Matt answered.
"What do you mean you don't know?" Kurt demanded.
"What I mean is that I don't know what happened to her. I haven't even seen her since that very night. I rather not think or say that she's dead, but I, holding out hope that she's still alive... somewhere out there," Matt said.
"What I wanna know now is: How the hell are you still alive then?" Kurt asked.
"When I woke up several days later in the hospital, a doctor explained to me that I had been given special medications to help my heal from the 3rd degree burns thet I had all over my body," he said.
Kurt's mouth made a small 'O'. "I understand now. You sure are damn lucky to be alive. I'm sorry for your loss. I promise to keep this a secret."
"Thanks Kurt, but I don't want you pity," Matt said.
"Anyway, if your done with your story, do you wanna go eat?" Kurt asked.
"Yeah, let's go eat." Matt said as he stood up.
When they exited, they saw Chief Mendez standing out, leaning against the wall.
"The lieutenant commander and I heard you screaming and we came to investigate." Mendez explained as they walked up to him. "You ok?"
"Yeah Chief. I'm ok now," Matt answered. "I just had a bad dream that's all."
"Bad dreams are never good," Mendez said. "Let's go eat, shall we?"
The trio began walking through the the base until they reached the cafeteria. When they entered, all of the military personal in the room rose and saluted.
"At ease, everyone," Kurt said.
The military personal sat down and resumed what they were doing previously.
The trio walked to the line, got their food and found their table. They sat down and started to eat.
"You wanna talk about what happened to make you yell out in your sleep?" Mendez asked.
"No thanks, Chief. I'd, uh, rather not talk about it," Matt said.
Mendez nodded. "I understand."
After they had finished eating, they started to prepare for the arrival of the Beta Comany recruits.
"So what's the plan?" Matt asked.
"I decided that we're going to do the thing as last time like what we did with Alpha Company. We're goning to have them drop," Kurt replied.
Matt nodded. "Are we wearing out armor?" he asked.
"I decided to not wear mine," Kurt said.
"If you don't mind me asking, why?" he asked.
"I feel like I shouldn't wear it because of what happened to Alpha Company," Kurt replied.
Matt nodded. "I understand."
"Are you going to wear yours?" Kurt asked.
"I might," Matt said.
"Alright you have a few hours before the recruits arrive here. You might wanna make up,your modem soon," Kurt said.
A few minutes later, Matt had made up his mind.
"Actually, I made my decision," Matt said. "I'm going wearing it."
Later that night
1930 hours
Matt, Kurt, and Chief Mendez were waiting for the Pelicans to arrive thst were carrying 418 candidates for Beta Company.
"Wanna know what's bothering me?" Kurt asked.
"What is it?" Matt asked.
"Why'd you decide to wear your armor?" Kurt asked.
Matt shrugged. "Something in my gut told me that I would need to wear the armor."
Kurt nodded. "I know that gut feeling."
In the distance, they heard the sound of Pelicans approaching.
"You guys ready for this?" Matt said. "It's showtime."
Kurt and Mendez nodded.
"Let's get this introduction over with," Kurt said.
The pelicans landed the rear hatches dropped and the 418 candidates spilled out. Many looked tired and some looked a bit scared. Matt was scanning the crowd of kids, looking for possible candidates to train.
Suddenly, Matt saw a little girl with brown hair and brown eyes. The little girl looked exactly like his youngest sister.
Matt's face slightly drained of color behind his helmet. 'No... no way,' he thought. 'That can't possibly be who I think it is, can it?'
"You alright, Matt?" Kurt whispered quietly. "I have a feeling that something isn't right."
"Yeah.. I'm alright," he whispered back.
"No your not," Kurt countered. "Something's wrong. Even though I can't see your face, I can tell something is not right."
"Well... I'll talk to you about it later, ok?" he said.
"Alight," Kurt said. "You better."
"You ready for this, Kurt?" Matt asked.
"Yeah," Kurt replied.
"Come on... let's get this part over with," Mendez said.
Kurt connected his COM to the camp's PA.
"Attention recruits. I am am Lieutenant Commander Ambrose," Kurt announced. "And to my right is Lieutenant Armstrong. As you can see, he is a Spartan. We are going to offer each of you a chance to become a Spartan."
The kids moved closer, none of them daring to touch the giant in the shimmering green armor.
"But we cannot accept everyone," Kurt continued. "We only three hundred slots available..."
While Kurt was talking, Matt zoned him out and focused on the little girl that looked exactly like his youngest sister, Sarah. She was standing right in the middle of the group of 418 candidates. Matt saw that her attention was focused solely on Kurt.
"... You want to be Spartans? Do you want be like him?" Kurt demanded as he pointed to Matt. "Then back get back on those dropships recruits!"
Matt watched as the candidates filed back double time onto the Pelicans. He kept his eyes glued to the little girl that he swore on his life that was his sister the whole time.
"Don't you think that was a bit harsh?" Matt asked.
"Like I said before, Matt. Motivation," Kurt replied.
Kurt then turned to Mendez. "Chief, you know what to do."
Mendez nodded and saluted. "Yes, sir."
Matt and Kurt returned his saluted then watched Mendez walk off towards the Pelicans.
When the Pelicans took off, Kurt told Matt to follow him. The two men walked toward the their offices.
"Come into my office," Kurt said.
They entered and Matt took off his helmet. Kurt went behind his desk and sat down. Matt sat in front of the desk.
"Ok while we have some quiet time alone, what did you see?" Kurt said.
Matt took a deep breath and then let it out slowly. "I swear to god, I saw my youngest sister in that crowd of kids."
"Wait what!?" Kurt said. "I thought you said you that you didn't know what happened to her."
"That's true, I don't know what happened to her, but I do have a very good memory," Matt snapped. "I could recall everything that was said that night if I wanted to, but I don't want to because it'll bring back memories I'd rather not have, especially now.
Kurt nodded. "I understand completely. And I'm sorry for being harsh and snapping at you like that. I shouldn't have and I'm sorry."
Mat waved his apology off. "It's ok, Kurt."
"So what are you going to do with her(" Kurt asked.
"I'm going to work up some information from the tests and if it is her, then I'm going to train her.," Matt replied. "You don't have a problem with that do you?"
"Of course I don't," Kurt said. "Ackerson said you could whoever you wanted and I'm going to let you do just that."
"Thanks, Kurt, I'm glad to say that I'm your friend," Matt said.
Kurt laughed. "Same here, Matt... same here."
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-general ML