Archerson for the next two days had the squad help maintain the ship and gain intel, and also set up their personal camp in the cargo bay. Sat link station, trans-communication relay panel and everything they needed to set up a personal pill box inside the ship was materialized by Garrett's sub space armory. KOS-MOS, Mirie and Shion all for the most part were unseen inside the women's quarters, mayhap they were catching up, Garrett didn't know. He frankly didn't care. His job was to focus on gaining information on the surroundings, and gain an entrance point to the Ark. No luck.
"how's it going Garrett?" Magen asked from behind him. She was slightly short, standing at only 5' 4" and having red hair, with a ponytail. It was against regulations for most marines to have their hair at any length beyond the crew cut, to keep an enemy from grabbing hold of it in melee, but with the covenant constantly keeping humanity against the wall, they've let her keep it. Her green eyes twinkled now that they settled down and relaxed, her tank top showing with half her armor pushed down to her waist.
Garrett stood up to his full height again after reading through data logs and analysis from Wilson, who, happened to be working on his handicap leg implants. The man had been a paraplegic since birth, and only the external implants issued to him allowed him to walk like anyone else.
"fine. Shouldn't you be working on the gnosis tactical information?" Garrett asked, wondering why she was being friendly.
"already finished. Here they are. Hope it's workable, only thing we were able to trace of their behavior while we were down there. Got the entrance mapped out yet?" she said, handing him a data pad and then handing him the data crystal after. Marines do not give both things together, something he figured out was due to security measures. Technically speaking, Garrett was neither Marine nor Navy, he wasn't even a part of the UNSC. He was a fully labeled specialist, and had diplomatic immunity through most channels. In all real honesty, he had more authority than Captain Archerson himself.
"a secondary brain emitting tactical information? How did you come about with this?" Garrett asked, pondering the idea.
"while we were down there, we had been underground for most of the time, at least for the two days before you came along. As we scouted the area, we found that when we were attacked by those bastards, that they were given orders by something else not seen. Ordinarily we might have thought it was some form of unheard language or high frequency emitting wave, however, we did trace this" Magen said as she pressed a button on the data pad. It was a warble, nothing loud, but it was there, and it happened every time the gnosis appeared in the data logs from her helmet.
"and you think something is telling these to attack or retreat?" Garrett asked.
"why else? We already know these things out number us, outgun us in most cases due to not being on the same material plane of existence for our weapons to hurt them, well, without you being there of course" she coughed.
"so something is telling them to hound us" Garrett said, thinking of a way to use this to their advantage.
"yup. Why? What are you thinking?" Magen asked.
"we need to talk to the captain immediately" Garrett said as he picked up the portable mainframe he was working on and Wilson stood up before stumbling slightly and sitting down again. Garret helped him up just as KOS-MOS, Shion, and Mirie walked through the top tier door and stared at the base camp sitting in the middle of the AMWS bay.
"wow, when you guys go all out, you guys go all out" Shion said looking at everything.
"from zero to combat ready in less than an hour, it's what we get paid for" Magen chuckled.
Shion now noticed there were two warthogs and what looked like a very big tank, with a scorpion painted on the front armored tred, sitting behind the camp, and Helden and Michaels were staring at view screens and monitors of ammo rigging for the vehicles.
"ok, start her up" Michaels said as Helden turned the tank on, the huge fusion cell reactor chugging and spinning it's power coils as it revved, before swiveling the turret left and right.
"need something ma'am?" Garrett asked, walking up to the ladies.
"uh, well, um, we were wondering, since you all are right here, I was just showing KOS-MOS and Mirie some cooking recipes, and well, we got to making things, and… well" Shion tried to find the words to ask them.
"yes?" Garrett stood there, motionless.
"are any of you hungry by chance?" Mirie finally asked.
"I'll take a cheeseburger!" Wilson yelled as Helden seconded the motion, as Magen and Michaels wanted burritos.
"um… I was thinking more…" Shion couldn't even finish saying it before Captain Archerson came in behind them.
"why the hell it'd have to be chicken?!" he yelled behind them, startling all but Mirie.
"but captain, I didn't know you hated chicken so much" Shion asked.
"you don't understand. In the Marines, 90 percent of the damned MREs are chicken cutlets, chicken jerky, chicken delight, and god damned KFC!" he barked, annoyed obviously.
"um, an MRE?" Shion asked, looking at KOS-MOS.
"an MRE is a Meal Ready to Eat Shion" KOS-MOS told her.
"more like Meal Rejected by Everybody" Magen snorted behind Garrett.
"that stuff tastes like toilet paper" Helden said in the background.
"that's because you were EATING the toilet paper man" Wilson said over his shoulder as he cleaned some sunglasses.
"oh" Helden looked embarrassed as Michaels laughed before getting slugged in the shoulder.
"well, captain, you don't have to eat if you don't want to, we are offering some to anyone here if they wish" Shion said, smiling at Garrett.
"I'm in" Magen said, pushing by the armored man as everyone piled out of the bay, all except Garrett.
"I'll eat down here. I still have some work to do" Garrett said.
"oh, um, alright, I guess, we'll bring some down to you in a little bit then" Shion said.
"understood. Have a good dinner then" Garrett responded before nodding to them, then saluting Archerson and turning around. Archerson nodded at him and gave the at ease signal, before sighing and rubbing his temples.
"is he always like this? Not exactly friendly is he" Shion asked.
"he's a Spartan, what can I say. I told you, don't ask questions. It's best left not known" Archerson said.
"but you can tell us why he acts this way? All gruff and tough. The others don't do this" she asked.
"as I said, don't ask. He's a Spartan 4, a code black even to our little squad. He was loaned to us temporarily for a year, as we were doing front line reconnaissance and demolitions strikes. He's a ghost's shadow when it comes to that stuff" Archerson said, staring off at the Spartan as he sat down typing at a computer.
"hmm… sorry to ask then" Shion said before looking at Mirie, who nodded and all three women walked towards the door.
"I'll tell you one thing though. He puts his morals and code of honor above all else. He's a noble knight at heart, that's for sure. To serve and protect" Archerson said behind them, giving them one piece of info.
"thank you" Shion said, smiling.
"no problem. Just don't ask anymore ok?" the Captain asked before looking at them.
"alright" Shion nodded before turning around again and going towards the elevator.
Shion, Mirie, and KOS-MOS entered the dining room where the whole crew was sitting around, talking and eating.
"hey, the main group finally just showed up! Hey, where's the big tank?" Mathews asked.
"he won't be joining us tonight, he said he has a lot to work on down below" Shion responded before sitting down in her booth, Mirie and KOS-MOS sitting next to her.
"eh, oh well, hey KOS-MOS, you can eat now right?" Mathews asked.
"yes I can, why do you ask?" she responded, curious.
"try this" he shoved a fork of something cooked and greasy right into her face as she backed up slightly from the move, wondering what he was pushing towards her.
"Mathews! That's no way to treat a lady!" Shion growled as KOS-MOS kept her distance.
"hey hey, I'm just offerin, don't take offense girlie! Try it, it's good!" he offered again as KOS-MOS sniffed it and took a small bite, chewed it, and swallowed. Everyone watched as she sat there, thinking as she swallowed.
"it is good, what was it?" she asked.
"my special recipe. You know how they say use all the parts of a lobster when you cook it? Well, you can eat the tail, the claws, and all that good stuff. Well, that green stuff? That was deep fried liver and brains!" Mathews told her, beaming with pride. Suddenly KOS-MOS felt ill at hearing this and looked startled. Shion jumped from her seat and helped KOS-MOS out of the room as they ran to the bathroom.
"what, what'd I say?" Mathews said as Magen shoved him, annoyed.
"smooth move x lax" Magen said as she got back to her chicken.
"hey hey, it was leftovers from that planet we hit while coming here, had to get rid of it or it'd stink up the fridge!" Mathews exclaimed, with everyone looking at him in annoyance.
"what?" he asked as they got back to eating, both KOS-MOS and Shion coming back.
"don't do that again to her, she's only been like this for a day and your playing pranks! Stop it!" Shion yelled at him.
"ok ok… sorry…" he said and pulled his hat slightly lower over his eyes. KOS-MOS sat down again as Mirie offered her a plate of normal chicken in a spiced sauce, in which she slowly picked at it.
"go on, try your creation, I had some, it's quite good" Mirie said smiling.
"- so anyway, I'm down there on the ground, plasma mortars are flying all around, and here Garrett shoots by my platoon, blazing away and running full blown on Xaras IV, just beating the snot out of the tanks in front of him" Michaels said, laughing.
"I swear, those bastards never expected that Spartan to suddenly become airborne from that well placed plasma grenade under that plate. It was awesome!" he yelled as he chugged down some root beer, Helden laughing at the whole idea.
"so, you knew who Garrett was before this whole mess?" Magen asked Michaels.
"um, no ma'am, I saw him when I was on medical leave from our squad. Had to help the wounded there. When we landed we were hit pretty bad, a lot of guys were messed up. He was dropped from what I heard on his 21st Birthday, behind enemy lines, blowing the snot out of the armored columns on his own" Michaels stopped laughing and felt a bit embarrassed telling this to his superior.
"seriously? They threw him behind enemy lines?" Helden asked.
"ya, it was incredible, pulled us out of the trenches, saved a bunch of squads as we retreated. He's a god damn hero" Michaels exclaimed as most of the ODSTs saluted with their glasses then drank.
"I just wish the brass would give a shit about throwing him that way. To them he's just a fucking wind up doll" Magen said, laying back in her booth.
"they show him more respect than you think corporal" Archerson said as he walked through the door.
"Captain on deck!" Magen said as all ODSTs suddenly jumped to their feet.
"At ease. Relax for a bit" he told them, and they all sat down again.
"come for some of the food Captain?" Shion asked.
"yes, I decided I would try some of this here woman's creation, if you wouldn't mind of course" Archerson sighed and smiled towards KOS-MOS.
"I do not mind, please, have some" she said, offering up a plate of the food.
"thank you" he said, and sat down on a stool, wolfing half of it down quickly.
"oh, that's right, we need to bring a plate down to Garrett" Shion said.
"I will do it. I will be right back" KOS-MOS said as she got up and prepared a plate of salad and the chicken, then went to the elevator. As she reached the bottom, and walked out, she heard a faint sound she knew all too well. A Hilbert effect was happening down the hallway, and she ran forward, carrying both plates with her. KOS-MOS ran into the second tier to see a small generator emitting Hilbert waves with the professor turning it on and off.
"I know, it's a very ingenious thing isn't it! I'm going to place this on my Erde Kaiser and make it more powerful than even KOS-MOS! What do you think mr…. mr… assistant number 13!" the professor said as he poked at the machine.
"um, professor, I don't think you should call the big armored Spartan that…especially when he isn't here.." Scott said next to him, before looking up at KOS-MOS and was about to speak again before closing his mouth, embarrassed, and quite literally, blushing. KOS-MOS walked downstairs and towards both men, holding two plates in her hands.
"ah, assistant number 3! Thank you so much for the food here, after all this work, I believe I have indeed worked up an appetite!" the professor said, grabbing both plates from her hands.
"um, these are not for… you…" she said softly, the professor digging in as Scott stood there, awkward.
"I don't quite think he heard you… by chance, who were they for? The Spartan?" Scott asked, hoping she would say him, a fantasy that he knew would never happen.
"yes, yes they were, I don't see him around though. Garrett? Are you here?" She asked to the air, wondering if he was behind the camp. No response.
"he said something about taking some data up to the bridge to Tony, and-" before Scott could finish his sentence alarms went off.
"what's that sound? We're near something? But how?" the professor asked.
"that's an incoming vessel alert!" Scott said as he looked towards the door. KOS-MOS ran upstairs quickly and got onto the Elevator, heading up and to the bridge. As she reached it, everyone was squished inside, the bridge not exactly built to hold everyone. Garrett leaned his back against the wall, his arms crossed against his chest.
"we have a gate in… but… that's not possible! Unless…" Jr. said as a gate opened, the Dammerung appearing slowly.
"we have an incoming message on channel 4!" Hammer said.
"put it through" Mathews said up in his command seat.
"hellooooOOOOooo!" a loud obnoxious female voice said over the channel before Miyuki's head appeared on screen.
"Miyuki! But how?!" Shion asked.
"what, you didn't think we'd see each other again? Come on girl! MOMO is a natural at this research stuff! Scientia and us, well, we made a new gate drive!" Miyuki beamed as MOMO came on screen.
"hi Shion! Hi everyone! So good to see you all again!… and some new faces!" she said beaming, not knowing what to say next.
"MOMO, it's good to see you too, how have you been? What's been happening?" Shion asked, smiling.
"well, it's been tough not seeing you guys for some time, 4 years is a long while, so after the gate drive was finished we decided to try and catch up… along with… whoever else was still around…" MOMO looked distraught.
"what do you mean?" Shion asked before multiple signals and warnings happened on Hammer's controls.
"Sir! We have multiple contacts appearing all over the place! It's a fleet! Wait, two fleets! Whoa! There's so many!" Hammer yelled as suddenly, before their very eyes, hundreds upon hundreds of ships gated in, all shapes and sizes, floating by them.
"Tony! Heads up! Gate in front of us!" Allen yelled from his seat as Tony moved the Elsa, a large frigate appearing and nearly ramming them.
"whoa… how many are there…" Jr. asked.
"it's like a mass exodus… all of them heading to Earth… there must be well over ten thousand ships out there…" Allen said almost in a whisper.
"that… is a lot of people…" Archerson said behind them.
"oh! I almost forgot! Helmer! He's alive!" Miyuki said, cheerful as always.
"he is? The old man survived the whole thing?" Jr. ran to the front, pushing by KOS-MOS.
"yup! But we'll talk about that later, there's so much to catch up on! Come on, we'll open docking bay two for ya, get inside quick!" Miyuki said before closing the channel as the Elsa weaved through the ships, moving towards the Dammerung.
"that ship… fucking assault carrier… gives me the screamin heebies…" Archerson said under his breath.
"a mobile city, battle station and research corporation. Vector's flagship, or I guess, Scientia's flagship now…" Shion said.
"we're docking in three, two, one" Tony said as they felt a clamp lock on.
"dock complete, we can leave through the hatch now" Hammer said as everyone filed out.
"Shion!" MOMO yelled as she ran to Shion, hugging her as they left the ship.
"hey MOMO! Wow, you've grown up so big! A full grown woman now!" she chuckled, looking MOMO over. Her body had definitely changed, and she had far longer pink hair, down to her waist, though still curly. She sported a long white jacket with a black research dress, and what stood out so much to her were the pair of black knee high boots.
"making a statement are we?" Shion asked.
"she's… in a rebellious way of thinking for her clothing style" Juli said behind her.
"Juli! How have you been? Where's Ziggy?" Shion asked.
"I'm right here" Ziggy said, walking down the path, sporting brand new armored legs. His old clumsy legs were replaced with state of the art realian combat implants, augmented obviously with a different paint scheme.
"ah, you're looking great! It's good to see you again! The whole team is here!" Shion said, before stopping and thinking.
"I mean…" Shion stood there, looking at the ground, suddenly depressed.
"don't worry Shion, you will see him again. Have faith" Mirie said behind her, putting her hand on Shion's Shoulders.
"wow! Whoa, whose… wha… that guy is… um, nice to… meet you?" Miyuki said behind them, in which everyone turned around to see her staring up at Garrett.
"oh! Sorry, Miyuki, this is… er… Garrett. Garrett, This is Miyuki" Shion introduced them.
"oh hello there Garrett! Nice to meet you!" Miyuki said, putting her hand out to shake. Garrett looked down and then up at Miyuki again, then shook her hand slowly.
"howdy" he said in a low voice.
"well, you sure collected a large amount of new friends Shion… heheh… heh… where'd you find this guy?" Miyuki tried whisper with her hand covering her mouth to Shion.
"Miyuki! That's not very nice! He's helped us quite a bit right now, least you could do is-" Shion tried to say.
"it's alright. I'm used to it ma'am" Garrett responded.
"if you don't mind, I'll stay on the Elsa sir, I would just draw unwanted attention onboard" Garrett asked Archerson.
"that won't be necessary, you do not need to be a prisoner on that ship sir" a voice said down the path.
"Helmer! You old bastard, how have you been?" Jr. said, running towards him.
"I'm fine really, thanks for askin, and it seems your in good health as well" Helmer said, walking up in a long trench coat.
"well then, now that we've all gotten back together, maybe we should go somewhere to talk?" Shion asked.
"oh sure! Um, wait… oh ya! That place! MOMO, let's take em to your apartment now!" Miyuki said clapping.
"um… my… but… it's not cleaned up… I don't think…" MOMO tried to stop her as she pulled her along.
"Don't be silly, we'll just call the limos and be right over there! Everyone, this way!" Miyuki dragged MOMO along as everyone followed, Garrett taking up the rear.
"alright, six people per limo, everyone in, every… oh dear…" Miyuki said sizing Garrett up as KOS-MOS was about to get inside.
"I won't fit" he said as he pointed towards the car.
"Ya… you won't…" Miyuki said sighing.
"oh no, there's no room for KOS-MOS either! Damn…" Miyuki said looking inside.
"it is alright" KOS-MOS said as she materialized the monobike next to the limo.
"ah, great! KOS-MOS can be our escort! But… that still leaves Garrett… unless… heehee, you wanna ride with KOS-MOS? Eh?" Miyuki said elbowing Garrett in the side, more bumping into his armor than doing anything.
"I have a ride as well" he responded, before materializing a warthog.
"wow! I mean… ok, that's… nice…" she said, staring at the big green armored half truck, half tank.
"um… about that gun on the back…" Miyuki pointed, thinking. The chain gun folded up and slid down, clamping onto the floor before a box covering was placed over it by Garrett, and he started the hog up. It roared to life over the small whine of KOS-MOS's bike, and he backed up behind everyone.
"alright! I think we're all set, we'll just…" and Captain Archerson got out of the limo.
"now what!" Miyuki got annoyed.
"I can't stand limos. I'm going with Garrett" he said, before leaping into the passenger's seat and buckling in.
"ok… ok… NOW we're set… let's go!" Miyuki said as she jumped in, and the limos moved out onto the street.
"so how has everyone been?" Miyuki asked as she saw KOS-MOS speed next to them, weaving in through multiple cars to keep alongside.
"pretty good, yourself? How have you and Togashi been getting along since we left?" Shion asked as she heard a YEEHAA! Come from next to them as the warthog roared on the other side, Archerson having fun as Garrett drove. The Big Tires of the warthog seemed out of place alongside the hovering limos, and people stared from their cars as he drove by, even more so than the woman on the bike weaving past them with her blue hair flailing.
"eh, well, Togashi, he's been pretty much hiding from me for a bit, always shy… I dunno why… hey! How have you and Allen been doing? Oh, whose the kid?" Miyuki said as she pointed at Kevin sitting in Shion's lap.
"It's been alright, everything has been swell… I think… Allen and I have a little boy now… Kevin, this is Miyuki, can you say hello?" Shion said as she held Kevin on her lap.
"hello" he said staring at the woman.
"aww he's so cute! I could just eat you up!" Miyuki said as she reached to pinch his cheeks.
"ahhh! No eating! No pinching cheeks!" he said covering his face and pulling away. Miyuki looked awkward and embarrassed as she pulled her hands back, Shion chuckling, Allen laughing.
"oh, I didn't mean it really, seriously! I'm nice! You could probably think of me as your… well…" Miyuki thought for a second.
"she's your auntie Miyuki Kevin, she's a nice person" Shion pulled his head out from hiding under her arm.
"aunt Muki?" Kevin said as Miyuki looked a bit weird hearing her name said wrong. Everyone laughed as she blinked.
"um… well… uh… my name is… not…" she tried to say as Kevin jumped from Shion's lap and stared out the window.
"wowie! That looks fun! I wanna ride like that! I wanna ride with auntie Cosmos!" Kevin said as he stared, KOS-MOS driving right next to the limo, staring forward.
"ah, she always gets the fun things… so Shion, er, you found her? Fixed her up pretty quick didn't you?" Miyuki asked.
"well… not really… it's hard to explain… let's just say that she's not a machine anymore, and shouldn't be treated as such" Shion said, staring out the window at her long lost friend. KOS-MOS turned at that moment and looked at her, and actually smiled, then turned back and revved her engine and shot forward in front of the limo, moving out of the way of a delivery truck.
The limos eventually came to a stop in front of an apartment complex as KOS-MOS leaned her bike on it's kickstand, Kevin ran up to her and asked for a ride.
"I do not think it would be safe, you would have to gain permission from your mother little Kevin" she said smiling down at him.
"I'm not little! Mommie! I wanna go on the bike when we go back! Please?" he asked behind him, putting on his best pouty face.
"I don't think it's ok, KOS-MOS knows how to drive that, and you could get hurt" Shion said.
"awww, but I wanna!" he stomped as he stood there, pouting.
"he will not be hurt, I would make sure of that Shion, trust me" KOS-MOS said.
"well… if it's alright with you… when we head back… I guess…" Shion said as he jumped up and down and hugged KOS-MOS.
At that moment, Garrett drove up, the big tires fishtailing around and parallel parking between two limos, the tires hitting the curve and rocking the LRV.
"whoa… never mind, I wanna ride in that!" Kevin said as he ran over to the warthog, touching the armor as Garrett got out.
"kid, no touching" Archerson said as he walked towards the rest of the group as Kevin stared at Garrett, no taller than his knee to the Spartan, as he walked by.
"I wanna be just like him when I grow up…" Kevin said as Garrett nodded toward everyone and they entered the complex, Kevin running up to Shion and holding her hand. The kid watched the huge soldier follow in the back, even behind KOS-MOS as he seemed to blend with the shadows, even though he wasn't intentionally hiding. For such a large man, he was somewhat difficult to keep track of.
"good evening madam Mizrahi! How are you doing tonight? Ah, but you have guests! Um, uh, the dining hall is… uh… um…" the apartment owner ran up to them and started speaking before he looked straight up at Garrett.
"I'm just gonna go to my home now Garsaun, have a nice a night" Momo said as she motioned for everyone to come with her to the elevator. Garsaun squeaked as Garrett walked by, nodding to the small man as everyone piled into the elevator… except him.
"I'll take the stairs. There's no room in there" Garrett said as he walked towards the stairway door, and walked through.
"ok, we'll see you up top. Floor 42, suite 14" Momo explained as he walked away.
"hey, watch where you put your hands buddy!" Miyuki yelped as Helden attempted to move his arm away from Wilson.
"sorry" Helden said as he backed up, and bumped right into KOS-MOS. She looked up and nodded slightly then looked forward, and Helden "accidentally" moved his hand again. Magen grabbed it before it could reach KOS-MOS's rear nether regions.
"don't even try it" Magen growled, and Helden blushed and stopped, embarrassed.
"we're here!" Momo said as the doors opened to find Garrett standing in front of the doors, leaning against the wall opposite of them.
"wow, you make it up those stairs quick man" Wilson said as everyone walked out of the lift while staring at him. Garrett followed behind again as they reached suite 14, and Momo stopped and prayed.
"it's… a little messy… I wasn't expecting to show anyone the place quite just yet…" Momo tried to apologize as she slid her keycard and opened the door. Everyone slowly walked in as they took in the size of the place. It was a two story penthouse, with her bedroom on top and bathroom, and a spiral staircase leading up to it. A sunken living room with a large screen trideo in the corner, along with huge warehouse windows paneling the wall facing out. The kitchen seemed slightly small, though the dining room had a 16 placement table. Three other rooms were in the corner, a computer room and terminal station, a guest bedroom and bathroom, and what looked like a library from outside the door.
"wow, this place Momo, it's fantastic!" Shion exclaimed as she walked around, everyone looking at things.
"eh… I guess… um… well.. Don't touch-" Momo tried to warn Shion as she opened a closet door and half a pile of dirty laundry fell down on top of her.
"that door…laundry day is tomorrow…" Momo squeaked out. Shion got up and pulled a pair of panties from her shoulders and some hosiery, along with a dress over her head.
"well, where should we sit young Momo?" Helmer asked.
"um, over in the living room, there should be enough… space… I think…" Momo thought for a second as everyone walked to the two sofas and four chairs. Garrett walked to the wall and leaned against it and crossed his arms as everyone waited for someone to speak.
"well, we're all finally together again, and with some new faces and friends to join the ride" Shion said as she looked at everyone.
"are we going somewhere?" Helden said as Wilson smacked him on the back of the head.
"think numb nut, we wanna get home we gotta scratch their back first, get the idea?" Wilson said.
"oh" Helden said sheepishly as everyone chuckled.
"alright, now, to get down to business" Helmer said as he put his hands together over his lap as everyone watched him.