Chapter 6- Cairo Station
Authors Note- I know I said last chapter that Carter would recover in a few days, but I had not done my research and didn't realize that it took nearly 3 months for John to return to Earth. Sorry.
Earth Defense Station-Cairo, October 22, 2552
As Nobles 1, 4 and 6, along with a Spartan II they knew only as the Master Chief, and a Marine Sergeant-Major, Johnson, walked into the bridge of the station, Six, the closest to the Chief, heard him remark to the Sergeant that he had "told him that there wouldn't be any cameras." Johnson remarked that the Chief had told him that he was going to wear something nice, that folks needed heroes, and to smile while they still had something to smile about. Noble 1 was completely recovered from his injuries after nearly a month, but his armor was destroyed and he had received a new set of Mark VI armor, save for the helmet which was repaired and given back to him.
In the center of the bridge, a man by the name of Lord Hood stood, watching them approach. When they arrived, an officer handed him a red-clothed case with 9 medals, all the same, in it. The Spartans and Johnson all saluted at once. Lord Hood looked at each of them individually. "Gentleman, we're lucky to have you all back." Carter looked up at him. "Sir, not everyone." "Of course, Noble 1. They'll be remembered." An officer walked up and whispers something in Hood's ear. He turned to a pedestal nearby. "Go ahead, Cortana." An AI avatar appeared on the pedestal; the same one that Six had delivered to the Pillar of Autumn nearly 3 months ago. "Another whisper, sir, near Io, we have probes enroute. Also, we have detected a lone Phantom dropship on approach to the station. It appears heavily damaged and its weapon systems have been deliberately taken offline." Lord Hood looked curiously at an image of the dropship. "Could it be a scouting party?" "No, it seems it is deliberately trying to be noticed." An officer looked up at Hood. "Sir, there's a transmission coming from that dropship. It's one of ours." "Patch that signal through, Lieutenant." "Aye, sir." He pressed a few buttons and an audio signal was heard. It was too patchy to get a clear interpretation of the voice, but the words were understandable: "This is Spartan A-266 on a stolen Phantom dropship enroute to Earth. The dropship is damaged and I have disabled the weapons systems onboard. Request permission to land on Earth Defense Platform Cairo." Noble Team looked up, amazed at who was sending the signal. Carter got his voice back first. "Sir, Spartan 266 is one of my men, Jun, Noble 3."
Lord Hood looked at him, then back at the Lieutenant. He moved to the console and keyed the comm. "Spartan 266, this is Lord Hood on the Cairo; you are cleared to land in hangar bay 7. There are some people here who would like to see you." "thank you, Lord Hood. 266 out." Lord Hood turned to Noble Team. "Noble, go to the hangar and meet up with him, he'll want to see you." The three III's saluted to him in unison, then left the bridge.
When they arrived in the bay, the Phantom had already touched down, and Jun was just dropping out of the gravity lift. There was a squad of marines around the dropship, but when they saw the Spartan, they stood down and saluted. Jun saluted back and looked around when he saw the remainder of Noble Team walking up to him. He walked up to them and Carter extended his hand to Jun. "Good to see at least part of the team survived." " it's good to see you too, Jun. Let's go to the bridge; Lord Hood is expecting us."
Author's Notes (Cont.)- Jun is back by popular demand! I feel like crap for forgetting about him. Also, before I posted chapter 5, I was reading the reviews and someone (I forget the pen name, sorry.) said that they wanted the team to go with the Master Chief to Delta Halo. Keep in mind I had not posted the chapter yet and as such had not asked the question about whether you wanted them to go or stay. Weird, right? It's like they read my mind or something. Anyway, as always, rate and review, and thanks for reading. Chapter 7 is going to have the events from the level Cairo Station in it, so there will finally be some action. The chapters are going to include the events from the respective levels in it. Chapter 8 will have Outskirts, Chapter 9 Metropolis, and so on. Also, do you want any of the Spartans to go with the Arbiter after the Gravemind encounter, or do you want them all to go with the Chief? PM or review with your ideas and I will tally the votes. I still need beta-readers. And more reviews. And I leave you with that.
