A/N: Well here is the chapter, but I was hesitant to post this one…but I'll post it and see what happens.
Chapter 3
The Spartans of Freelancer
(2544)
In space near the planet of Miridem where not too long ago a vicious engagement between the UNSC and the Covenant took place with United Nations Space Command suffering heavy losses, but the worse of it was the enemy had managed to capture someone of high importance to the UNSC so now the Spartans of Freelancer was being called upon for a extremely important mission.
Aboard the Mother of Invention the ship was lurking ahead of an amassed fleet of Covenant Ships coming in their direction hanging outside of a stellar magnetic field, since it would destabilize its cloaking, while inside the hanger Freelancers Agents Zero and Maine were boarding a special made experimental boarding craft made for the purpose of boarding Covenant warships. Accompanying them was another Spartan from the original Freelancer Spartans Agent Wyoming otherwise known by his name and Spartan Tag Reginald-110 and Agent Virginia which was Daisy-023's agent call sign would also be taking part.
Four Freelancers gathered for one mission, rescue Doctor Catherine Halsey from the Covenant, but if the worse were to happen then they had orders to kill her to prevent her from falling into enemy hands.
As the four Freelancers boarded the missile which was going to be their primary method of boarding the Director's mission briefing echoed through Lelouch's mind.
"Agents this will be your most important mission to date…we have just received word that Doctor Catherine Halsey the brainchild behind the Spartan-II program has been captured by the Covenant during the Battle of Miridem."
Daisy was shocked while Kane didn't flinch since they had been originally associated with Halsey in past since they had come from the original Spartan-II program.
"Fortunately for us the enemy is unable to leave the system due to a stellar magnetic field preventing them from entering slipspace; this gives us the opportunity to conduct a rescue operation. Given the importance of this mission we'll be deploying four of our agents led by Lelouch while the rest of the team will consist of Daisy, Reginald and Kane."
"What's our time frame?" Agent Wyoming asked with a British accent.
"You'll have ten minutes to secure Doctor Halsey and escape."
"Will there will be any other teams involved?"
"There is an ONI rescue op being conducted by members of the Spartan-II program aboard the Office of Naval Intelligence stealth ship the PRO-49776, but we have been instructed by the higher ups to also conduct our own rescue operation to ensure a higher chance of success since there is a possibility that the enemy may be aware of the value of their captive given that the bodies of those aboard her ship were found." The Director explained which led Daisy to realize.
"Then the Spartans could be walking into a trap?"
"It's possible, but we cannot confirm…however if it is a trap then we're here to pick up where they left off."
"I see…" Daisy replied.
"We'll invade the ship, wipe out enemy resistance and then fight our way to the Doctor's location…we'll attack the flagship."
"The flagship?" Wyoming inquired.
"If the Covenant has indeed realized her importance as the Director suspects then she'll likely be held aboard the flagship. Once we're aboard we'll break up into two groups, one group will secure the doctor the other team will secure transport to escape the ship." Lelouch replied while lying out a mission plan.
"Prepare to depart the mission begins in ten minutes…dismissed." The Director ordered while he approved the mission plan.
"SIR!" The Spartans replied while saluting their superior.
For their mission Agent Maine was brining his personal favorite weapon with him the Brute Shot while carrying a M7/Caseless Submachine Gun as a sidearm. Agent Wyoming along with Agent Zero and Virginia were carrying MA5C Assault Rifles, but all of them had their flashlights removed and replaced with an Underslung Shotgun attachment to give their rifles some extra fire power while their secondary weapons were different.
Agent Zero was brining a pair of Submachine guns as back up weapons while Daisy was brining a M319 Individual Grenade Launcher and finally to help them through lock doors Agent Wyoming was brining a modified W/AV M6 Grindell/Galilean Nonlinear Rifle. As precaution should any of them find themselves in a zero-gravity environment or in the vacuum they were all equipped with Thruster Packs as well as additional grenades and combat knives in anticipation for the heavy fighting they'll no doubt be engaged in.
Once they were aboard the missile the Mother of Invention remained cloaked as it lurked near the gathered Covenant Third Fleet of Glorious Consequence while a battle was being waged as the Spartans of Blue Team had already been launched into space upon Open Frame 92/Extra-Vehicular Activity, or Booster Frames, to find the captive scientist among the ships within the enemy fleet.
"Boarding Missile Launch!" Alpha announced as the computer launched the cloaked missile as it flew clear towards the CAS-class assault carrier they had identified as the flagship of the entire fleet while during travel they spotted one of the CCS-class Battlecruisers in the Covenant fleet suddenly explode.
"What the hell was that?" Daisy asked while Lelouch had no idea of knowing for sure, but Alpha was monitoring the chatter among the Spartans.
"From what I am picking up one of the Spartans stumbled across a trap set aboard one of the ships…I guess it goes without saying the Covenant does in fact know the value of their prisoner." Alpha replied.
"Then that only confirms she is likely being kept on the flagship." Lelouch remarked as the missile drew closer to the ship heading towards the CAS-class assault carrier the Resplendent Fervor. Once they were within range Alpha engaged the boarding missile's weapons to weaken the ship's shields while its specialized anti-shield tipped warhead to punch through the weakened shields.
The missile's armaments consisted of three M92 Principle Gauss Cannons and two pods of ten micro-missiles were activated as the missile de-cloaked unleashing its weapon payload while the warhead was charged with disruption energies to disperse any energy caught in its path. Approaching the ship from the rear the boarding craft hit its mark blasting the shields covering the starboard aft hanger bay allowing the boarding missile to enter where at that moment Alpha ejected the four Spartans as the missile impacted within the hanger setting off a large explosion that killed any Covenant present.
But the four Spartans alone survived thanks to the advancements in the Freelancers own modified variants of MJOLNIR Mark IV Powered Assault Armor enhanced using technologies researched upon and some reserved engineered by the researchers of Project Freelancer. Agent Zero and Maine projected Bubble Shields that protected them and their fellow Freelancers after the two of them were ejected into different parts of the hanger, but luckily Wyoming had remained close to Agent Zero while Agent Virginia was covered by Maine's Bubble Shield.
"Knock Knock…well…who ordered the anchovies pizza with pineapple?"
Oddly at that moment a lone Grunt that had somehow escaped the blast only because he was in the next room entered running into Wyoming and Zero as the latter's bubble shield was disengaged.
"The De-" The Grunt was quickly silenced with a round fired from the Brute Shot nailing the alien square in the face.
". . . . He was evil…who else would ask for Anchovies and pineapple?" Maine added with a grunt while Wyoming's partner in front of him palmed his own facemask.
"…Could you cut the crap with the jokes…?"
"Oh come on don't be a soul puss old chap…besides that was a perfect opportunity for a good joke."
"Let's get moving…what's our time Alpha?"
"Six minutes…"
"Let's cut it down to three…Maine and Virginia you two find us some transport…if not secure some enemy fighters and cover me and Wyoming once we secure the package we'll either meet up with you in the hanger or we'll take an escape pod we don't meet you in the hanger in five minutes."
"Copy that…let's go Maine." Daisy-023 replied as the two Freelancers took off to find another hanger that would hopefully carry something that can fly.
"Let's go Wyoming." Zero said as the two Freelancers made their way up to the second floor entering one of the doors.
"I got a lock on Doctor Halsey's tube." Alpha reported.
"Copy that, feed the information to my visor and give us the directions."
"Way ahead of you."
As the two entered the forward hall leading deeper into the cruiser Wyoming and Zero came across a large group of Covenant soldiers rushing towards them consisting mostly of Jiralhanae, Kig-yar and Unggoy.
"Wyoming warm up that laser…we'll fight our way through." Zero asked as Wyoming responded by readying the Spartan Laser he had brought along while Lelouch armed his Assault Rifle.
"Clearing the way old chap." Wyoming began as the Spartan Laser began charging up.
"Let's move!"
Lelouch ran ahead taking point as Lelouch sprayed the entire hallway ahead of him with bullets gunning down some of the advancing Covenant while Wyoming followed behind him.
"Charged!"
"Right!"
Lelouch replied as he ducked his head as the white armored Freelancer fired the Spartan Laser killing any unfortunate Covenant Bastards in the beam's path while blasting the sealed door behind them apart. Before the smoke could clear Lelouch kept running with his partner right behind him preparing a second shot while the black armored Freelancer was gunning down any hostile aliens in their path while sometimes using the shotgun underslung to blast any aliens that had managed to get close to him.
A second shot from the Spartan Laser was eventually fired slaying more enemy Covenant in their path and clearing the way for the two Freelancers to proceed deeper into the ship.
Meanwhile inside the aft port hanger bay Agent Maine and Virginia were cleaning out the hanger of its current occupants while hoping to secure the Phantom they found docked inside the hanger as a means of escape. Daisy-023 in her own custom painted crimson red MJOLNIR Powered Assault Armor/AA variant was using her grenade launcher to attack from a distance while Kane-002 went for up close and personal at first leaping into the group of Covenant while raining down fire from his Brute Shot killing a dozen of them with his initial attack, but there was still plenty of them to go around.
Reloading his favorite weapon the white armored Freelancer sent another batch of Covenant to meet their maker, but a reinforcement group led by Brutes armed with Spikier Rifles. Using his Bubble Shield to protect himself from the initial onslaught as the Brutes threw plasma grenades at the seemingly unstoppable Freelancer. As all of their weapons hit the shield with their grenades detonating the shield held, but Daisy-023 took the opportunity to attack the Brutes by launching a pair of grenades to land in the middle of the gathered group. Most of the Brutes were killed but one survived barely, but at that moment Maine launched himself into the air letting out a bone-chilling battle cry before using the blade on his weapon to cut the Brute open from the neck down before for good measure blasted the alien at point blank range with his weapon.
The smoke was finally clearing as the room was full of dead aliens most of them killed by Agent Maine while Daisy-023 was easily able to provide support fire with the grenade launcher thanks in part to Kane-002 brutality which was so brutal that the Covenant forces in the room became solely focused on him.
"Room secured…now all we have to do is hold until."
Daisy began while switching to her assault rifle, but she was interrupted when missiles and fire from what appeared to be a pair of gauss cannons followed by missiles impacted the shields outside. A moment later a pair of Booster Frames impacted forcing Maine to use his Bubble Shield once again to protect himself from the resulting explosion while Virginia took cover.
The female Freelancer picked herself up after the smoke began to clear, but what she saw surprised her…not overly so at least, but their entrance was a bit over the top.
In the center of the flames the crashed Booster Frames had caused along with the destruction of the Phantom the duo had been hoping to use as their escape craft were a trio of three Spartans; two of them wore Mark IV MJOLNIR Powered Assault Armor, but their coloring with was different was one blue and the other green while other a female wore a white MJOLNIR Mark IV Extra Vehicular Activity variant similar to what Kane-002 was wearing, but the shoulders and the chest pieces of their armor were different.
"I guess the Blue Team Spartans figured out that Halsey is aboard this ship." Daisy commented while Kane was annoyed with their appearance.
"What happened here?" Fred-104 said as he noticed multiple dead Covenant littering the room as did his comrades.
"I don't think our attack could have done that much damage." Kelly-087 added while their leader noticed the white armored Spartan in front of them.
"Identify yourself." John-117 demanded while aiming his assault rifle at the unknown Spartan.
Hearing their voices, Daisy recognized them almost instantly.
"John…Fred…Kelly…" Daisy began feeling one hundred percent certain it was them.
Having heard her...the three Spartans looked up and saw the red armored Spartan, but they actually recognized her voice. Yet at the same time they almost couldn't believe it.
"Daisy is that you?" Kelly inquired.
"Oly Oly Oxen Free…" John-117 began wanting to confirm.
"Oly Oly Oxen Free, All out in the free, we're all free." Daisy responded knowing the tune by heart while providing John and his fellow Blue Team members that Daisy and Kane were friendly forces.
"You were supposed to have been killed on Harvest." Fred pointed out after he was assured by her correct response to the tune John began verified her.
"I would like to explain it, but we both have a mission to accomplish right now…I'll explain after the mission we don't have a lot of time."
"Right…" John-117 said in agreement. "We got three minutes left, so we'll need to move fast."
"We're part of a second rescue team sent to secure Halsey as a back-up plan. Two more Spartans have already gone on ahead using a different route me and Agent Maine will secure enemy fighters to cover our escape." Daisy explained quickly as the Spartans began running for the hallway while mindful to avoid giving Maine's actual name knowing it would ultimately hinder things.
"Copy that…who are the other two?"
"The two Spartans have the code names Agent Wyoming and Agent Zero…plan B involved taking the package and escaping on an enemy escape pod if we couldn't acquire an enemy transport to use as an escape vehicle we would take enemy fighters and protect the escape pod."
"Understood…"
"Good luck you three…and John it's good to see you guys again." Daisy commented as the three Spartans hurried down the hall engaging the Covenant head on blasting their way through their ranks.
"Likewise…"
At moment on the bridge of the Resplendent Fervor Supreme Commander Luro 'Taralumee was infuriated by the arrival of more Spartans having successfully boarded the ship with two proceeding further into the ship while another three were now fighting their way towards their captive.
"We have killed two, but now we have seven demons onboard. WHERE IS THE MAJOR?" The supreme commander roared while slamming his fist on the armrest of his command chair.
Around the same time Wyoming and Zero had made good time having transverse most of the ship in three minutes, but they were slightly delayed by the sheer numbers of Covenant sent to stop them, but the more they threw at the two Freelancer Agents the more dead aliens they left behind in their wake.
"We got one shot left with the laser." Wyoming reported after Lelouch used up the last of his assault round ammo while having depleted the shotgun underslung of his weapon a short ways back one a Brute that had attempted to surprise attack them, but met his end with a shotgun round to the face.
"Make it count…we're almost there!"
But suddenly they felt the floor beneath their feet shake as the two Spartans realized the entire section of the ship they were in was being detached from the rest of the ship in a desperate bid to stop them.
"These chaps are getting desperate."
Wyoming commented as he activated his T-pack as did Lelouch as the two flew through the vacuum heading for the closing airlock.
"We expected a possible situation like this, but not like this at least."
Once inside the airlock closed behind them, but ahead of them a group of Brutes blocked their way armed with Brute Shots, but they didn't have a chance to fire as Wyoming had charged the last shot from the Spartan Laser he was holding and fired killing the aliens blocking their way and blasting open the sealed door behind them.
Tossing the now useless Spartan Laser aside the white MJOLNIR Mark V Powered Assault Armor Freelancer picked up a Brute Shot to replace his previous weapon.
"Alright guys we're really close…just beyond those doors ahead."
Alpha reported as the two Freelancers went on ahead passing through a small circular room and running through the hallway beyond it reaching a small room with a circular lamp in the middle where they found a Mark VII Personal Suspension Unit with its power cables linked to the Covenant ship to keep the unit functional and its occupant asleep.
Inside the tube as the two Spartans approached was their target Dr. Halsey.
"Wyoming check for traps…I'll bring out the suit we brought along."
"Right…" Wyoming said as he checked around the unit for any kind of traps like bombs and such while Lelouch pulled a small black leather duffle back off his chest he had uncomfortably strapped on which contained a black body suit with a helmet. It wasn't much, but it was the only thing the black armored Spartan could really carry on his person.
The obvious reason for this was that all occupants who enter a cryo-pod has to go in naked to avoid ending up with raw and blistered skin since covered skin doesn't react well to the cryogenic process. Thus it was necessary for the Freelancers or at least one of them to bring a charge of clothes to wear for the captive doctor.
"No traps…this tube is clean."
"Alright let's open it up…"
Lelouch replied as he begun opening the tube. Mist spilled out as Dr. Halsey sat up coughing while she brought one hand to her forehead pushing some locks of black hair out of her way although she had some gray hairs for a woman in her early fifties. Her blue eyes was fixed upon the black armored Spartan before her recognizing it to be a MJOLINR armor variant similar to MJOLNIR Powered Assault Armor a custom R, but judging from noticing some thicker arm plates and a tactical pad on the left forearm it was a modified variant.
"Doctor Halsey, are you alright?" Lelouch began while trying not to look at her directly. Granted in his time as a Spartan soldier he had seen men and women naked when they first emerge from cryo, but the gentleman part in him has made him seemingly on reflex avoided looking at Halsey while handing her the black body suit he had brought along.
Halsey saw the suit she was being offered, but she was more curious about the Spartan before her. She knew each and every single Spartan; however she knew nothing about this one.
"Who are you?"
"Oly Oly Oxen Free…" Lelouch began humming the tune.
"Oly Oly Oxen Free, All out in the free, we're all free. How did you know that?"
"One of my mentors taught it to me and told me if I ever encountered any other Spartans use it, but for this mission if I met you I was told to use it to verify to you that I am a friendly."
"Clearly, but who are you?" Halsey demanded.
"Madam I am Agent Zero of Office of Naval Intelligence Section III Black Operations Program code named Project Freelancer." Lelouch replied although what he told her was outdated, but knowing she would likely ask his superior had told him to say those words upon being asked.
"A Black OPS Spartan?"
"Correct madam."
"I see…"
"I am sorry for butting in old chaps, but we should really get going we got two minutes before this ship enters Slipspace." Wyoming alerted.
"Right…" Halsey said taking the suit before quickly putting it on. "But once we're off I have a number of questions and I want answers."
"I understand madam, but you'll have the chance to ask my superior once we successfully escape."
At that moment also closing in on Doctor Halsey's position John, Kelly and Fred were fighting their way through wave after wave of Covenant forces trying to stop them, but they weren't doing much better against them as their fallen brothers had against Agents Zero and Wyoming…if fact despite facing more enemies than they did the three battle hardened Spartans were tearing through their enemies with frightening ease.
Fred used the Spartan Laser to shot their way through any sealed bulk heads in their path while Kelly using her shotgun in conjunction with John's assault rifle mowed down anyone foolish enough to stop the three Spartan super soldiers. The Grunts attempting to flank them from open corridors were easily dispatched by Kelly throwing a pair of grenades into the halls while Fred using a free arm used his submachine gun sidearm to shoot into the other open hallway killing a trio of Grunts.
As the body count kept rising Lelouch and Wyoming led Doctor Halsey through the halls of the ship trying to make their way to the escape pods since they weren't going to have enough time to run all the way back to the aft hanger where Maine and Virginia were waiting for them so they switched to Plan B. But upon entering one of the rooms they were backtracking through to find the room with the escape pods they came upon three Sangheili, two of them were Elite Minors while the other clearly their superior was a Major Elite. All three were armed with energy swords and they were likely waiting for them.
Lelouch aimed and unloaded the rest of his assault rifle clip, but the Major used his energy sword to deflect the bullets. Instead of outright trying to attack them the Major turned to his subordinates and gestured for them to wait before tossing an energy sword to the black armored Spartan challenging him to a duel.
"Wyoming stay with Dr. Halsey…I'll take him."
Lelouch stepped forward activating the energy sword as did his foe Major Thel 'Lodamee before the two began circling one another waiting for their foe to make the first move. The Major attacked first with Lelouch parrying his strike before trying to counter with a swift horizontal swipe, but he backed away when his attack missed and Thel 'Lodamee countered attack.
The duel between both combatants was swift and ferocious to such even the Minor Elites watching were memorized by the duel happening before them. However after barely dodging a blow that would have impaled his head the energy sword was knocked from his hand with the Major moving in for the kill, but he had another surprise…the reason why the armor on Lelouch's arms were bulky was due to upgrades and modifications he made to it following his mission to Emerald Cove two years ago.
As the Major was about to strike Lelouch raised his right arm up as an energy dagger was activated from an emitter hidden near his wrist on his forearm armor. Pushing his foe back the black armored Spartan returned to his feet ready for round two.
"You are well prepared demon."
"You're better skilled than the Zealots I killed to gain the parts I needed to make these."
"Then killing you will bring me great honor!"
Their battle resumed with the Major's attacks becoming increasingly more fierce and lethal while Lelouch managed to keep up and block and evade all of his attempts to kill the young Spartan. The fighting was fierce with the black Spartan dodging all of the Major's attacks and countering his blade attacks, but finally after their blades met again with the two locked in a deadlock.
For Agent Zero this gave him the opportunity he needed to finish the fight as he activated the second energy dagger emitter in his other forearm armor and stabbed the Major in the side of the torso badly wounding him as he staggered backwards with his free hand clutching his wound before falling onto one knee.
"What?"
"You obviously missed the part where I said I killed the zealots to get the parts for these, so you have only yourself to blame for missing what I was implying at originally."
"Curse you demon!" The Major rose to his feet…despite being wounded he was ready to keep fighting until the bitter end.
Suddenly the whole ship shook as the entire aft section of the vessel was being detached by the Major's superior office who after clearing the stellar magnetic field that had prevented them from escaping into Slipspace decided to scuttle the entire aft section and self-destruction with the demons onboard. As an unwilling major was being pulled into the section of the ship heading into slipspace the enraged Thel 'Lodamee screamed.
"I COULD HAVE KILLED HIM…COMMMANDER YOU FOOL! A THOUSAND HELLS AWAIT YOU!"
At that moment John, Kelly and Fred arrived engaging the two Elite Minors upon seeing them, but the five Spartans made short work of them thanks to Lelouch attacking one with his energy daggers while Wyoming fired on one with his assault rifle as Fred and Lelouch finished off one while John, Kelly and Wyoming gunned down the other.
As the main section of the ship along with the rest of the Covenant Fleet fled into Slipspace alarms began sounding.
"Damn they're scuttling the ship…along with us." The Doctor pointed out.
"We got to go NOW." John ordered as the Spartans followed by Doctor Halsey hurried down one of the corridors hoping to find escape pods.
The group hurried until they came across the escape pod chamber where Doctor Halsey began activating one opening the door.
"I hope Maine and Virginia secured some enemy fighters or this might be a short trip if any fighters were left behind." Wyoming commented.
"Relax they'll pull it off." Lelouch said assuring his fellow Freelancer.
"Everyone inside!"
Halsey ordered as the Spartans herself included hurried into the escape pod, space was a little cramp, but it was enough as the small Covenant Escape pod launched flying a good distance from the ship before the discarded aft section exploded. But as Wyoming feared some fighters were left behind, specifically seven Seraph Covenant fighters.
"Can't this bucket go any faster?" Halsey remarked trying to push the pod to go faster as the enemy fighters were closing in on them.
Suddenly outside one of the Seraph fighters attacked the enemy fighters just as they began firing on the escape pod.
"Doctor Halsey…Spartans, we got your back." Daisy announced over an open comm. channel.
"Daisy-023?" Halsey asked recognizing it.
"Yes madam…"
Suddenly two ships de-cloaked; the Mother of Invention and the ONI stealth ship the PRO-49776 with the PRO-49776 providing cover fire while the Mother of Invention had charged up its MAC cannon firing off a round that caught three of the six enemy fighters while the other sheath ships finished off the rest of them.
"Welcome back Spartans…I assume the Freelancer Agents are with you." Captain Lucius R. Jiron said as his ship finished off the last of the enemy fights alongside the captured fighter being flown by Daisy and Kane and the Mother of Invention.
"Yes sir…" John-117 replied.
"New orders from FLEETCOM Spartans…you'll travel with the Mother of Invention and escort Doctor Halsey back to Reach where you and your team will be reassigned to your new mission we have an special mission that requires us elsewhere. Director Church they are all yours."
"Thank you Captain we will ensure Dr. Halsey's safety." The Director replied as his ship moved to collect the escape pod as the commandeered Seraph flew towards the Mother of Invention to land in her hanger bay.
"Director Church...as in Leonard Church?" Halsey said recognizing both the voice and the name in an instant.
"Ah…Catherine it's been how long since we last met?"
"Dr. Halsey?" Kelly inquired noticing the older woman's serious expression.
"Major, although he has now the rank of Colonel, Leonard Church worked in ONI in the intelligence division with degrees in Xenoarchaeology and biochemical medicine, while he had a hand on the developing of new Smart AI technologies, focusing on expanding their lifespan, while also he assisted as a code breaker."
"After you land I'll debrief you on your mission before we head to Reach there is much we must discuss."
Lelouch was quiet while wondering what would happen once Dr. Halsey and Dr. Church had their little reunion.
Once they were aboard the Mother of Invention the Spartans along with Dr. Halsey disembarked the ship where Director Church with Daisy-023 and Kane-002 were waiting for them. Church greeted the recently rescued Doctor with a nod before welcoming the Spartans aboard.
"Welcome aboard Master Chief…I have heard much about your actions it's a pleasure to meet you in person." The Director said saluting the Master Chief who returned it right before the Director shook the Spartan's hand.
"Thank you sir, but I was not aware of the involvement of a second team."
"I understand son, but it was a last minute decision for my agents to be sent in as a second rescue team since there was concerns that the enemy might have realized the value of Dr. Halsey given how the Spartan guarding her was killed and the fact they killed everyone else but her. We came to the conclusion that the enemy might have realized she was of valued importance so we considered the possibilities of the enemy likely setting a trap." The Director stopped and took a breath. "Unfortunately our suspicions were correct when one of your own was caught in one of their traps. Not to doubt your abilities as soldiers son, but given Halsey's importance the Office of Naval Intelligence did not want to take any chances given the small window we had to recover her."
"I understand sir…" John-117 replied understanding the reason why the higher ups had asked for their Spartans to be involved in the mission.
"Its fine, but this gives us the opportunity to introduce our Spartans to you and your fellow since soon they'll be fighting in the war together."
"YOUR Spartans…I want to know why you abducted Daisy." Halsey said jumping into the conversation.
"During the Harvest Campaign the higher ups wanted to keep our project a secret, but we felt the need to find a Spartan like Daisy here who has gained a considerable amount of combat experience fighting the enemy to train the new generation Spartans, so our agents were on the scene at the time she was injured badly. She was recovered and recruited to the program as a trainer for the new generation Spartans."
"New generation?"
"That is right Dr. Halsey…a new Spartan-III program." The Director said gesturing the black armored Spartan. "Soon Spartans like Master Chief John-117 will be leading the new third generation Spartans when the time comes."
"A new Spartan program, why wasn't I told about it; why keep something like this from me?" Halsey snapped.
"Higher ups wanted to maintain the upmost secrecy of the program especially given Project Freelancer's research and development into new and experimental technologies being developed; most will be used by the new Spartans. Some of which you will all see soon…once we return to Reach we'll head to the secret Spartan-III training site where you'll be introduced to the new recruits as well as allowed to see the new weapons we're developing to fight the Covenant which will soon be deployed into combat soon."
"Sir with all due respect, I wish to be deployed back to the front lines." John-117 requested.
"Don't worry son you'll be back on the front lines soon, but ONI feels you and your boys should be introduced to the new boys and the new land base weapon we have developed since it's likely you and your fellow Spartans will be using them soon."
"What kind of new weapon sir?" Fred-104 inquired.
"It's a new land base weapon we have been working on and we have successfully produced a number of working production models…while I doubt Spartans such as yourselves might not see such need for them, but they should help our servicemen out in combating the Covenant, but as a just in case measure the top brass feels you boys should get your hands on it to test them out so if a situation arises where you have to use them you'll be rated for operating them."
"I want a word with you Director." Halsey said firmly.
"Of course…come with me, also Agent Zero would you accompany us please."
"Sir…" Lelouch replied while giving a crisp salute.
"So Daisy who is this guy...was he another Spartan like you nabbed?" Fred-104 began curious about the big guy with her…Agent Maine.
"It's been awhile Fred." Kane-002 spoke.
"No way…YOU…I thought the military executed you." Fred exclaimed recognizing the deep throaty voice of the white armored Spartan.
"Sorry to disappoint, but hell had no vacancies."
"Kane-002…why am I not surprised." Halsey replied with bitterness in her voice.
"It's good to see you too madam." Kane replied calmly while John-117 on reflex aimed his assault rifle at Kane's head while the Spartan across from him aimed his submachine gun at the green armored Spartan as the two were engaged in a Mexican Stand-Off.
"Men I order you to stand down." The Director snapped, but John and Kane didn't back down.
"Bring it on John!"
"Maine, stop this now!" Daisy demanded.
"Sorry darling, but this it's between me and Mr. Black and White here."
A tense moment of silence passed before Daisy approached Kane while Wyoming cringed knowing what was coming.
"…Oh Maine?"
"…Wha"
(Knee Nut-BUSTER!)
Suddenly a knee to the Spartan's groin stunned him, but Daisy followed it up by sweeping the Freelancer off his feet before grabbing one of his legs and delivering a skull shattering punch to Agent Maine's groin which slammed him into the deck so far that the impact of his heavy body left a dent on the ground.
Everyone on Blue Team was rather stunned to Daisy's reaction. Halsey looked to her former SPARTAN, and noted Reginald was shaking his head, while the unknown SPARTAN, this Zero, acted like if Daisy's way of dealing with the sociopathic SPARTAN-II was a usual thing.
". . .Now, what you were saying Maine?"
"… (on a squeaky and pained pitch)…Nothing, Virginia."
"I didn't mention you by full name cause I knew this would happen if you knew Maine was Kane."
"I see…" John-117 replied lowering his gun.
"I'll make sure Kane doesn't cause any trouble sir." Daisy said assuring and saluting her superior.
"Please be sure they behave." The Director replied while he, Agent Zero and Halsey walked away.
"So I am curious, what kind of history do have with the poor nut busted old chap here?"
"It's a long story…" Kelly began.
"I got time if you blokes don't mind." Wyoming inquired.
A/N: well there is the third chapter and I hope it looked better to you guys than it did to me. I swear there was something up with the chapter, but I couldn't put my finger on it. A friend looked it over and said it was fine. But now I am debating if I should just advance events to Code Geass for this story at least. I say that because one we'll have a lot more time skips and if I do proceed to the CG-events/world then we will skip events of Halo 3, but in flashbacks and discussions there will moments revealed and how much Lelouch had changed the war and his involvement.
Although I'll include Kane's backstory in either the next chapter or in an upcoming future one.