AN: Okay, an hour after the end of the previous chapter. So the time will be so and so after CASTLE Base destroyed. Or I could just start following the books and put in the exact military time instead. What would you guys prefer for the later chapters?
1 hour after CASTLE Base destruction
B312
Leo had just finished removing all the pieces of his upper armor when he heard a snap. His hand went to his nearly empty M6G still strapped to his right leg, while he focused in on the direction of the disturbance. He heard light footsteps, occasionally striking some object just outside the cave, and quiet words spoken in Hungarian that he assumed were curses. He slowly moved his hand from his sidearm as he turned and began walking in the direction of the small fire he had made.
Crouching down in front of the flame, he held his hands out from him and allowed its warmth to fill him. The flames licked at his open palms, lightly touching it. After several seconds he pulled back and quickly rubbed his hands together building up the heat produced by the rapid friction. After several seconds he placed his hands over the worst of his injuries. The amount of heat he felt was very pleasant, and for several moments he felt as though the injuries were not on his body at all.
Leo closed his eyes briefly, savoring the moments of utter bliss he was feeling. Such things were nearing extinction more and more as the days would pass. Shaking his head the Spartan realized he was becoming more and more fatalistic each new moment. His life was no longer his own to sacrifice in anyway, anyway save for protecting the two civilians. The Spartan Lieutenant was still crouched in front of the fire as Sara stepped into the camp, and then uttered a barely silenced curse.
"Gyerunk, miert nekem!" She said as she angrily walked beside him and dropped some of the supplies she had mentioned earlier. Quickly grasping her wrist, he forced her to look at him. Once he had her attention he motioned to the sleeping form of Rozsa with his thumb, and then placed his index finger above his lips. "Bocsanat, I did not know she was sleeping." She said quietly, and almost apologetically.
"She has not, not for long at least. She started to lose it while we were making our way here, once I had entered the cave I searched for a clean area for her to rest." Leo said equally quiet. "This place speaks volumes of the hygiene Guta's possessed."
"I can see that. This place stinks worse than the live ones." Sara replied as she began to sort out their meager supplies. Coming across a canteen she unscrewed the cap and took a small sip, before handing the entire canteen towards the lieutenant. "Drink up Spartan."
"No, you should take a little more. Save the rest for the child, I can go a few days without food or water." Leo told her before he carefully handed it back to her, careful not to spill even a single drop. This water was precious, he doubted that there would be many sources of freshwater the closer they neared the Covenant. During the day his armor temperature control system had need to cool the air inside more than usual, which meant that Reach was already starting to cook. Not much, and certainly not enough to be noticeable for at least a week. But soon it would be clear that Reach's planetary average temperature was on the rise.
Water should start disappearing within two to three weeks, and then will either die of dehydration, or starvation. The choices.
And he was still thinking of the many ways he would likely die. Shaking his head by micrometers, he was surprised by the increasingly pessimistic attitude he seemed to have taken. He had always operated on the basis that he would always have a chance at surviving. Theoretically, he still did. He just needed to find a way to hijack a Covenant Warship, eliminate all its crew, learn to fly it by himself, work out the operations of its Slips-Space drive, and ensure he did not accidentally activate the ships self-destruct system.
Maybe he was being more optimistic, than pessimistic considering that was a much more sure way of dying. Regardless of the odds he would still do his best to survive this. After all, Rozsa still had a full life to live, and Sara had already suffered enough on Reach. They at least would have to get off planet, and Leo would make sure of that even if it killed him. They were worth that much and more from him, his own life was worthless now. Without his fellow Spartans he was already feeling such, and he had knew that he has not the soldier he had been just days before.
The losses had hit him harder that he had anticipated it would seem. Leo was not operating like a 'Hyper Lethal Vector', nor was he behaving like a Spartan. He was beginning to lose his sanity it would seem, he had nothing to live for other than getting the two civilians off world anymore. And if he did succeed, what then? Would he then attempt to kill himself in some bloody and fool hardy assault on the Covenant forces? That seemed very likely to his tired mind. As strange as it was to admit, Sara and Rozsa had quickly become his reason for an existence. Without them he had no purpose, no goal, no drive. No humanity whatsoever.
Suddenly he felt something touch one of his many injuries. Twitching slightly at the blinding flash of pain, Leo turned his gaze towards Sara and gave her his most terrifying glare. Then he quickly took note of the medical supplies strewn over a blanket next to the fire, protected by several well sized rocks separating them from the fire. Feeling his will to glare weaken the Spartan instead raised a curious eyebrow several centimeters. Lowering his eyes slightly he stared at the Reach Brunette, unwilling to break the silence.
Unwillingly he found himself taking in the state of her short brown hair, noted how it was slightly matted to her forehead by a light coating of sweat. How black eyes reflected the flame near them, and how they also seemed to be filled with more life than the first time he had met her in the Visegrad Relay nearly a month ago. She was still dressed in the same type of working clothes as she had been that day, but they were much dirtier now.
His analyzing eyes took note of the splotches of dark red over pant legs, and the tear just below the neck which revealed some cleavage. The Spartans eyes widened as he realized what he had just focused on. Mentally he berated himself for looking at the woman in such a way. That was one of several physical differences between the S-II's and the S-III's, Lord knew that there hundreds more that were either mental or personal.
Lieutenant Commander Ambrose had decided to alter several of the drug cocktails used on Beta Company during its Augmentations. One of which was what had all but shut down the Spartan-II's sex drives. In its place he had added a cocktail which greatly improved their overall area awareness, and focus on their surrounding. To fight the urges that would inevitably come to the aging Beta Company, the Commander had forced into their heads that any such actions would result in immediate withdrawal from the Program. Considering that becoming a Spartan had been their entire purpose at the time, it worked.
But now, Leo was a fully mature adult, and one who already had some experience in that area of human social interactions. But now was not the time to develop an attraction to the civilian, despite how well she appealed to his primal male mind. What the Hell was he thinking? Attraction, to her? Yet, he couldn't deny that was the case.
2nd AN: I would like to take the time to inform my readers that I will not be posting a new chapter after this one for several days. I am going to spend my time re-reading Halo: First Strike two times so that I have a better feel for what I will be writing. That is why this chapter is by far the shortest, and will be the last. Also, yes there will be some Sara and Leo romance stuff, but not much. I have another woman in mind for my Spartan, and that's my personal secret. SO, I guess happy One Month till Halloween, I guess. Spartan Commando, giving a bitter sweet farewell from fan fiction.
OKAY, I HAVE FINISHED MY SECOND READING OF THE ENTIRE TIME ON REACH WE SEE IN FIRST STRIKE. I THINK I HAVE A FIRM GRASP ON HOW THE EVENTS UNFOLD, AND HOW TO PROPERLY RIGHT THEM. I WILL POST MY FIRST NEW UPDATE EITHER TOMORROW OR SATURDAY. SPARTAN COMMANDO, OUT.