Chapter 4: Last School Day
Year: 2539
Location: Training grounds Raven's Peak, Onyx
"Come on, brother! You have to hit harder than that!" Asra said, now in her teens. She had grown taller than Darien over the two years that passed.
After Churchill's 'game', he conducted the same game less than a week after the first group. Twelve other children were selected and moved to a far off training camp known as Raven's Peak. Churchill and his ONI agents began to dwindle the number of children, only leaving eight.
These eight children were taken to be train as elite saboteurs known as Headhunters. After being assaulted with tests and intense interviews from Beta-5 Division, Asra and Darien were now a team. Churchill gave them the call sign of Misfit because the two were near inseparable since their arrival. It also wasn't that long ago that they went through augmentation process, while the process was painful and left the children in beds for a few months, the outcome was worth it.
The augmentations made their bones strong as steel, being able to run faster than humanly possible, and overall they were the best the UNSC could make them. At this point in time, both were boxing, testing their new strength, in Raven's Peak gym room. They been boxing for about an hour, neither deliver a finishing blow.
"And you need to learn how to block better, sister." He said, throwing a back-step jab.
She weaves, and made a return punch. Darien got hit full force in the gut and stumble back. He steps back a few paces then heard clapping. It was Churchill and small group of officers. Asra and Darien stop and salute their superiors.
"At ease," Churchill said," I came to tell you both some good news."
"We'll begin the first months of real-world wartime insertions," one of the officers said, "your school training is nearly over."
"We'll finally given a chance to fight?" Asra asked.
"Against the Covenant, no," he answered, "this mission will prepare you for insertion."
"So when is the mission sir?" Darien asked.
"Within an hour," Churchill replied," Go the room T516 after your little sparing section is over."
They end their boxing section early to prepare for the mission. Churchill announces that there will be one last game to play. The meeting was in one of the many debriefing room. Churchill set up a hologram, show a 35 year-old man with graying hair.
"He's a former Office of Naval Intelligence (ONI) member code name Jag hiding on Paradise Fall," Churchill said," The planet is a criminal cesspool but also a meeting place for the various insurgent factions that still thrives on the border worlds. We believe he has Intel about key URF leadership. "
"Is he still on the planet?" Asked redhead named Jalhiem. He was tallest of the six.
"If ONI reports are correct he will be in some apartments or hotel for about a year."
The Spartans started to chatter then quiet down as Churchill return to the subject of the game.
"Capture alive if possible, Churchill said, "All teams will be equip with weapons and trackers. You'll be leaving the next day. This is your last school day soldiers and from this point on you'll be headhunters."
Churchill dismisses the Spartans giving each team names. The Spartans got outfitted and gather weapons for the mission.
'Last school day, can you believe it?'
'Finally, we have no more training, an actual mission!'
These were the conversations that went around the armory. Darien made his selection of weapons; BR55 Service Rifle and M7S sub machine gun. While Darien skills focus on close and middle range engagements, Asra was long range; using a SRS99C-S2 AM and M7S. Finally both carry combat knifes. With their gear ready, the next day went by quickly. A Pelican took the teams to an UNSC frigate, Lost Memory.
"To think this will be our first mission." Asra said.
"Well it not fighting Covenant," Darien replied,"but it's a good start."
Darien took a cryo-sleep pod at the far end chamber, while Asra was two down. Darien, for a flash of a second thought back to how the two meet. Both were now into their late teens, combat ready, and have been calling each other brother and sister for some time. Damn, Darien though, time did fly. The pod's door closed as the ship enters slipspace.
Chapter 5: First Mission
Year: 2539
Location: Lazy Acres, Paradise Falls
When Churchill said the planet was a cesspool, he was right. Infrastructure across most of the cities and towns were far below safety standards. Even its major city, which was above the rest of this hellhole, was nothing to be prideful of. The building were crumbling and streets flooded with feces.
"I can see why rebels would hide out here." Darien said, sarcastically. He and Asra found an abandoned apartment, about 100 yards from Jag's hotel.
The teams have been in the city for months, tracking their target to local bar. They also add eight additional targets in total. There were men of various ethnicity's and ages, mostly ranging from the ages of 20 to late 30s. Each team took pictures and sent them to ONI for analysis. The teams were on standby until the official order was given. Darien and Asra was on the rooftop of the apartment. Using the sniper's scope, Asra watch from afar as some kind of meeting was taking place. Jag and four targets sat in a semicircle in his room. The five men were smoking, gambling, and completely unaware that they were being watch.
"Looks like a social meeting." Asra said.
"I can see that."
Asra took her eyes off the scope and narrow them at Darien. He shrugged and she returns watching the event.
"White-1," Darien said over a radio earpiece, "this is Misfit-2, any active from your direction."
Team White was made up Jalheim and James. Both were redheads and excel at surveillance and monitoring. Their team was block away from Team Misfit location. They were checking the roads for other targets.
"Nothing on our end Misfit," White-1 (James) replied, "how the party on your end?"
"Boring to say the less."
"Hold up, got a van heading to the hotel, using the west road."
Darien grabs a pair of binoculars. The van was white and was moving fast. It stop at the hotel, a group of men came out the side doors. Most had some kind of insignia that differentiate them from what groups they belong to. The men pour into the hotel, and then made their way upstairs to Jag's room. Jag open the door and social meeting turn into a more interesting event. Jag laid out a map on a table, discussing some kind of plan.
"Misfit, what's happening?" This time it was Ash-2 (Alex).
"Looks like the alliance showed up." replied Misfit-2
"Good," Ash-2 said," Just got word from ONI: capture Jag, kill the rest."
Darien picked up his M7S and tap Asra's shoulder. She heard the orders and nodded. Darien left the apartment, meeting with White-2, Ash-1, Snake-1, and Snake-2. The group of Spartans meets in an alleyway behind the hotel. Misfit-2 Opened one of the fire doors, the Spartans moved fast up stairs with one on each level to make sure their target would not escape. This tactic left only Misfit-2 and Snake-2 to take care of capturing Jag or killing the remaining rebels.
"Want to do the honors Misfit-1?" Darien asked
"Gladly."
The heavy sniper rounds broke through the glass like hot knife cutting butter. Killing four targets before the remaining occupants took cover and return fire.
"Damn it! I knew we shouldn't have trust him!" Someone yelled.
"That ONI lapdog, he betrayed us!"
Misfit-2 and Snake-2 open the door and threw smoke screen. They rush into the room, killing anyone in their path. They found Jag hiding under a dead body and dragged him from the room. The man was in shock, crying and whimpering. Misfit-2 orders the remaining Spartans to meet at the van.
By the time Misfit-2 and Snake-2 made it to the van, it was covered with bullet holes and White-2 was in the driver seat. They open the left side door and throw Jag inside. All Spartans team were inside as the van as it drove off to the rendezvous point. There, ONI agents took Jag into a separate Pelican. On board the Lost Memory, Churchill congratulated each team. This mission would also mark the last time any of the teams would see each other.
Team White lost all members only a year after the mission, attacking a Covenant warehouse. Team Ash lost all its members in the same year, classified, possible also Covenant. Misfit would return to Onyx. They spent the next following months of hunting down more URF members. Darien began to feel as if there was a game being played against him. Never the less, he and Asra made the perfect team. Both want nothing more than to fight against the Covenant, hoping for the day to come.
Chapter 6: History written by the survivors
Year: 2543
Location: Classified, Reach
"How does it feel?" One of the engineers asked.
"Odd." Darien replied.
Team Misfit was on Reach, in ONI testing site being fitted with their Semi-Powered Infiltration (SPI) armor. The armor was painted with dark gray coloring. Both of Misfit member look the same except that Misfit-1 (Asra) helmet, which the visor was "narrowed" in the shape of a V, fitting for her role as a sniper. The site had a number of officers and engineers. The head engineer, a 30ish year-old woman named Talon, begin as series of stress test on Misfit-2's armor. She was using a hand-held scanner.
"The armor fits perfectly soldier."
"No," said Darien," This first time we were given some good gear."
"Good gear?" Talon made a huff sound. Was she laughing? Darien turn his head and look at Asra, she shrugged.
"This is some cheap crap soldier," Talon said," The MJOLNIR armor is the good gear."
Darien heard of MJOLNIR armor. Only his predecessor, the Spartan-II and select few Spartan-III wore the armor. Sometime he would mentally curse at the fact ONI thought he wasn't good enough for the armor. He would push those thought aside this time, because up until now Team Misfit wore the same Basaltic Battle dress as the ODSTs.
One of the ONI officers taps Talon's shoulder. She narrowed her eyes and perform test on Asra. She nodded and told the Spartans their armor was clear for combat. Team Misfit left the site via elevator.
"What you do think about?" Darien asked Asra.
"Personally," She answered bluntly," I don't care, The UNSC need us to fight that all that matters."
"True."
"A better question," She was asking Darien," Do you think we can survive this war?"
"We haven't survived this long on sheer luck."
"That the thing, we're expandable to the UNSC."
"And you're telling something I already know."
"It's just," She took her thumb and rubs it on her helmet visor," I'm worried."
Darien laugh a little," We're going to survive, just like Winston Churchill said: history written by the survivors."
Asra laugh also," I believe he said it written by the victor brother."
"What if the victor is also the survivors, that how I see it."
"That's an odd way of seeing things."
"Well if we are expandable, we're buying Humanity time, being a pain in the enemy's ass, "He said," Who knows, maybe the survivors of mankind will write of the heroes who fought for them, sister."
Asra look at Darien with an understanding of what he was trying to say. She bites her lip and punch Darien's shoulder lightly. He did so in return.
"No matter what," Asra said, firmly," We're going to survive, brother."
Darien nodded as the elevator stop on the 12Th floor and the Spartan walked into the room for their next mission.
The room had about seven monitors, a handful of officers, and a smart A.I. hovering over a holo table. There was a UNSCDF officer, a Navy captain. The captain was woman in her 40's; her red hair was tied into a stub ponytail. Her face was slender and long, her brown eyes and fair skin gave her a contemporary look to the Spartans. She was looking down at the table when the A.I. noticed the commandos approach.
"Captain Lycett, we have visitors." The A.I. said with a Nordic accent. Lycett look up and motion the Spartans to move closer.
The A.I. had an odd fusion of Viking look and UNSC dress uniform. War paint cover half his face and data flicker up and down his body. The Spartans stood at attention and salute the captain.
"At ease." Lycett's voice was strained. She walk around the table and tap it, a third dimensional hologram of a planet was shown, as well as flat image of the same planet on a monitor behind her.
"Glad to see the ONI accept my request and send me their finest," she said," frankly I thought this plan would be suicide with some needed insurance. Mercer tells these Spartans about the operation."
"For the past year or so, we been monitor Covenant active in a star system roughly 150 light years from their last attack, which was Battle of Psi Serpentis." The A.I stops and looks at the captain as if asking permission to continue to speak.
Lycett nodded and Mercer continue. "ONI has commissioned the Navy to replicate the battle."
What?
They're trying to use gas giants as weapon? What Cole did was one trick pony, but knowing ONI and the state of the war any effective plan that can destroy large number Covenant ships, as outlandish as how this could turn the tides of war. Lycett saw the look the Spartan. She fully understands how ridiculous it sounds. This plan was suicidal no matter how you look at it. Silence fell on the group.
"What Mercer means," Lycett broke the silence," I will be leading a battle group, mostly frigates, to a nearby system. One of frigates will be remote controlled."
"Remote controlled sir?" Darien asked.
"Yes," She answers," Mercer will fragment himself and that fragment will control the frigate."
"Said frigate will be pack with nukes," Mercer injected," similar to the yield Cole use in battle."
"And what's our role in this operation?" Asra asked
"There a Covenant control planet with a massive relay station," Lycett said," we're commandeering that station and block any broad case signals. Covenant active in this system is high, so they'll notice our battle group but it we can redirect their attention…"
"Allow you time to place the frigate and jump out." Darien interjects. Lycett nodded and Mercer continues to explain the plan.
"It will take about two months to gather the battle group. In that time frame team Misfit will be inserting onto Tempest"
"Tempest?" Both Spartans asked.
"It's the planet designation," Mercer said," if this plan works and we can replicate Cole's tactic, we can destroy hundreds if not thousands of Covenant combat vessels by just sacrificing uninhabitable worlds."
The whole plan sound dangerous and complex. But if it worked… the idea of using one ship to bait and trap hundreds of the aliens war machine. This was a mission they been waiting for, the revenge both have been hoping. Darien and Asra look at each for a second and nodded, in complete agreement. This maybe a suicide mission, but they sure as hell will kick some teeth in by the time it over.
"It looks like you're both ready," Lycett said with a small smile," go onto Floor Six, there an armory and take this." Lycett handed Darien a small data chip. "It contents another fragment of Mercer in case you can't use the alien relay station."
Darien nodded, placing it inside a small pouch on his waistband. Both Spartans walk back to the elevator.
They took the elevator to Floor Six which was full of UNSC weapon systems but the team members had already made a mental choice of weapons. Darien was skilled marksman, preferring BR 55 Service Rifle over the M392 DMR. Though the M392 has better range but the three round burst and crowd control that the BR55 offer was superior. He took a M7S sub machine gun as a secondary. Asra took her usually build of SRS99C-S2 AM and MA5K Carbine, configured with a suppressor and angled fore grip. Darien took out the chip and held it in his palm.
"What is it?" Asra asked.
"I think we finally got some good luck." He put the chip back into his waist pouch and proceeds to gather equipment and ammo.
The Spartans spent about two hours preparing for their mission when a female officer approached them. The officer told the Spartans that they will be spent in advance of the battle group and there was a stealth ship prepare for them on floor 8. They finish their preparation and arrive at floor 8. The crew of the ship was mostly ONI some turn to look at the Spartans and quickly return to work. The same officers that inform them also escort the Spartans to the cryo-sleep chambers inside the ship. Misfit finally has a mission to strike at the Covenant, a mission that would most likely lead to death.