In Infinitum
Chapter 20
Debriefing
SSV-Normandy SR2, FTL Space en route to Hades Gamma cluster. 0830 Hours.
Tom inspected his newest weapon that had been sent to him straight from his Alliance requisition Office, the M94-Rapier. A silver-dark blue colored weapon that was the most experimental sniper rifle to come off the rack for field testing, to Tom's knowledge, only fifty other units were in existence. The Rapier employed new tech that had again been taken from Halsey's personal science team that used the standard Mass Accelerator technology found in most weapons, it also used a more advanced recoil dampening system and heat venting units.
The scope it used packed Thermal, EMF and Night vision modes. EMF Vision was an experimental vision mode that allow Tom to peer through light cover.
The best feature of this weapon was that it packed the punch just short of the Widow AM rifle with six shots worth per Thermal Clip and it weighed only slightly heavier than a Mattock battle rifle.
"You in love or something?" A certain female voice broke into his admiring thoughts.
Tom sighed softly, he had honestly forgotten about his unwanted passenger who had chosen to come along and much to his chagrin never seemed to understand that when he was quiet, he wanted it to be quiet.
"Just admiring the weapon." He replied finally.
"I see that," Samantha replied while crossing her arms and gave him a weird look, "Any reason we're stowed on the most famous Alliance ship in the galaxy?"
Tom chuckled. He knew the Normandy was famous since it was the vessel of Commander Shepard, first human Spectre and Savior of the Citadel, destroyer of the Collectors and most recently Foreteller of the Reapers, though Tom suspected the last title wasn't yet galaxy wide because it just sounded silly.
"I'm a spectre and former N7 operative," he shrugged. "I have my connections."
Samantha didn't pursue the matter and instead switched to a whole new one. "Why are you so interested in Cerberus?" she asked, stretching her arms out and yawning softly.
They were both seated in the corner of the Cargo bay of the Reach among the many supply crates, they had been moved around a bit by Tom so it covered them. As much as he valued the code word privacy his contact had given him but he still didn't enjoy being seen on an Operation that required stealth, if Cerberus had contacts on the Normandy, he wouldn't be seen and tip off Cerberus even more by knowing he was on the way.
But, her question caught him off guard for the briefest of moments. Taking a breath he replied, "They have a friend of mine, I plan to find her." he didn't give any classified information away and he didn't lie.
Samantha's eyes flashed with an emotion that Tom knew was pity, something he hated. Spartans hated Pity. "I'm sorry, have you heard about her? How long have they had her?" she asked now, moving over ever slightly closer to him.
"Ten months now and I have heard nothing," Tom replied. Tone bitter and livid.
Her expression matched her eyes now. "That… isn't good, are you sure she's still…" she didn't want to say dead, so she awkwardly finished. "Y'know?"
"Yeah, she's alive," Tom replied firmly. "She and I have been through a lot since we were children, we've been through it all and she wouldn't die by some Cerberus spooks," he realized he sounded angry, almost snappy. He took a breath, Lucy's capture still affected him.
"She your wife? Or sister?" Samantha asked, trying to lighten the mood.
Tom chuckled again. Spartans didn't marry, they fought. "She's family." he replied honestly.
She looked like she wanted to ask more questions, but the Captain's voice played through the ship's intercom. "Exiting FTL in the Hades Gamma. All hands go to standby."
Tom's Omni-Tool blinked, he lifted it and read the message sent. The Captain was coming down to see him off, he sighed and looked to Samantha. "Suit up, we'll be having company soon from the Captain," he looked at her, she blushed.
"Uh, privacy?" she asked, gesturing him away.
Tom blinked, then said. "Just get dressed, I need to armor up too. We can't let them see our faces," he growled, turning to a case and pushing it over to her. She huffed, glanced around and when she saw no cameras she slowly stripped off her clothing down to her underwear. She opened the case, blinking.
"What is this?"
Tom laid his shirt down onto a crate and shaking off his pants. "Semi-Powered Infiltration armor, Mark-II series," he replied without turning to her. "I know I said they never panned out, but there are still models in existence."
"Why couldn't I wear something like you?" Samantha asked, lifting the chest plate of the surprisingly heavy armor. She scrutinized it.
"It requires a neural implant and extremely high reaction time to use, if you don't have the first, the armor is more hindering when helpful and if you don't have the second, you could very well die." He replied lightly.
Tom slid one leg, then the other into the blacksuit of the SPI-Mark III armor. He cracked his neck, then attached the chest plate, the fusion reactors of the back piece connected to the blacksuit. It warmed, cooled then melded to his form and matched his body temperature. He felt naked, comfortable. He grabbed his gauntlets, slid them on and moved onto his boots.
"…Yikes," Samantha mumbled, she glanced over her shoulder at the Spectre. She saw his back, her eyes travelled over his form. Appraising it with her eyes, "Nice ass," she mumbled.
"What?" Tom glanced over his shoulder at her.
"Nothing, just mumbling under my breath," Samantha said quickly, grinning and then holding up her chest piece. "Uh, help me here? I'm not used to putting on bulky military armor." she grinned sheepishly.
Tom rolled his eyes, turning to her and setting his Helmet down. They didn't have time for this, he walked over to her and saw she had at least put on the under suit of crystalline weave. He instructed her to turn, she did and he zipped the suit up. "You put the boots on, I'll get your gauntlets."
She nodded, sitting on a crate as she placed the boots onto her feet. Tom strapped the gauntlets to her arms, then her biceps. He tightened the straps to fit her snugly and soon, she too was adorned in armor. Sides their helmets.
"Feels weird," Samantha muttered, flexing her fingers and then clenched them into fists.
"Get used to it, we're in these suits for a week," Tom replied as he held out her helmet. She took it, slid the helmet onto her head and said, "Wow! This looks new, like… some first person shooter game!" she genuinely sounded excited. "Reticle, power meter, ammunition counter and radar." He could hear the grin in her voice, "The whole package."
Tom blinked. "First Person Shooter game?"
"Yeah, I play a lot of Ring games, beaten one through three. And reserved the newest, Ring: Falling," She gushed. "It tells the story of the first planet to fall in the war with the Xenians and humanity! See, the Xenians want to wipe out humanity because of their religious views and-"
Tom held up a hand. "I think I heard the story before," he said flatly.
"Oh," Samantha shrugged.
Tom placed his helmet onto his head and looked to her, "We'll be dropped here in a shuttle with provisions to last us the week, then this time next week Normandy will come back and pick us up, understood?"
"So, we're camping then?" Samantha asked. "Just, y'know… with heavy armor and guns."
"Pretty much," Tom shrugged and turned to see the Captain enter their corner. "Captain, ma'am," he saluted. Old habits die hard it seemed.
Samantha awkwardly returned the gesture.
"Your shuttle is ready, as are your provisions, Spectre," Captain Aliana Ortega was a highly decorated space pilot throughout the Alliance. Her record was spotless, efficient and twice as long as Tom's own with the UNSC. Served twenty-seven long years in the Alliance and had been given authority over the most advanced stealth ship in the Alliance. The SR2.
"Thank you, Captain." Tom saluted, "I appreciate it."
"No problem Spectre, just take whoever you're after down." she replied, offering her hand.
He shook it and made for the shuttle. Samantha in tow.
Once inside the shuttle, Tom stepped into the pilot's seat. Samantha took the co-pilot seat next to him and removed her helmet when he deemed it was safe to do so. "You don't trust the Alliance?" she asked, noting the secrecy.
"I don't trust Cerberus, it has many agents in different places, never know if one is on this ship," Tom replied as he started the shuttle up. "Buckle up, I'm just a greenhorn when it comes to piloting." he stated.
She did just that and added, "Oh…" it was lame, she knew that. But she had nothing else to say to a possible crash landing… well.. "Don't crash, okay?"
"No promises." Tom muttered in amusement.
Arcturus Station, Arcturus Stream. 1300 Hours. 3 Days later.
Commander Shepard and Lieutenant Commander Frederic stood inside the main briefing room with Admiral Hackett and Terrence and to their right was Captain Gerald Macavre. The three most powerful men in the Alliance if Shepard remembered correctly. Each was a highly decorated soldier, but only Shepard knew Hackett on a personal level. The other two he only knew through rumors and hear-say.
He glanced at the corner of his eyes to Fred. The Spartan was out of his MJOLNIR armor and stood straight as a true professional, eyes forward and locked on the desk in front of them. Shepard returned his gaze forward too.
This was something new, it had been three days since they recovered the Spirit of Fire on their mission and the ship was being retrofitted for Alliance Purposes as its newest Dreadnought. Halsey had been going over the mission logs with her science team, something about her expression after he gave his brief report worried him.
"Lieutenant Commander Frederic, Commander Shepard," began Admiral Terrence with his old, gruff voice. Unlike Hackett, Terrence looked old enough to be retired, but something told him it was just an appearance of work stress. "We've never met, so I'll introduce myself, I'm Admiral Hector Terrence, head of Alliance Special Operations Division."
Shepard blinked. This man was the very same who was responsible for all N7 deployments, even the newly deemed Spartan division, he was Fred and Shepard's direct superior. While they took orders from Hackett, Terrence's orders outweighed the formers. A big fish at the table.
"This is newly promoted Captain Gerald Macavre," Terrence gestured to the Captain beside him. "He's our new Dreadnought Captain, he'll be taking command of the Spirit."
"Sirs." Shepard replied, nodding and saluting. Fred followed suit.
"Halsey and Mendez will be along shortly, for now, we have reports from our scientists concerning hostile forces," Terrence started and tapped a key on his console. The room lights dulled, then were replaced by a holographic image of the Reaper fleet that had come through the Alpha Relay. "This small Reaper fleet that was destroyed at the Alpha Relay was just the first. Now, our scientists have taken the data from star charts and gave a calculation as to which Relay will be there next attempt at coming through."
He tapped another key.
"Here," the map showed a single relay deep inside Batarian space, it was right near the Batarian homeworld in fact, Khar'shan, home to billions of Batarians and the home of the Batarian hegemony leaders. "Now, unlike the last Relay, the Batarians home system is much more reinforced, we can't get a stealth ship inside without being spotted. And after the loss of the three-hundred million lives after the Alpha Detonation… they're at full alert."
Shepard frowned. That meant they couldn't get a NOVA to the Relay to do the same thing, nor plant a fleet to greet the Reapers when they arrived.
"Our scientists also predict four to five months travel time without FTL flight to this relay, so, we have a few months to try and prepare for what could be the most vicious enemy this galaxy will ever face." The Admiral paused, "We've sent this information to the Batarian Hegemony… they discarded it and called us terrorists… we'll not be negotiating a fleet into their system either."
Shepard sighed, loudly and clearly to show his utter frustration at the news. He was ignored since the Admiral spoke again.
"Thankfully, The Asari, Turian and Salarian governments took this information more seriously, we're told all their shipyards are at maximum production mode, our governments are pooling their resources into production and resources." A small, lopsided smile spread over the Admiral's face. "We've spent quite a lot of credits into producing more frigates and cruisers. But, we've also funnelled some funds over to Halsey and Mendez for our newest pet project and a dozen other side projects. All will prove vital during the coming war."
Shepard blinked. They weren't putting everything into ships? Like the other three governments. What could they be funnelling all those credits into then? It made Shepard's mind swim with possibilities. Before he could fully sink into them Hackett's voice broke the silence.
"Doctor Halsey, Chief Mendez," The man greeted, gesturing them to some chairs that were free at his side. "Welcome, glad you made it."
Halsey and Mendez stood side by side. Each wore their own uniform depending on their branches. They took their seats, nodded to the others and Halsey gave Fred a smile, "Frederic, good to see you out of the MJOLNIR suit."
"Ma'am," Fred saluted to Halsey briskly. "Pleasure, as always." he turned to Mendez, "Chief." his voice held that tone of respect that all the Spartans shared for him.
Mendez returned the salute. Halsey smiled wider before asking, "What is our topic?"
"Your series Four program, Halsey," Hackett replied with a gracious gesture of his arm. "So, you have the deck."
Halsey nodded, straightened her dress and stood. "Commanders," she began and tapped her Omni-tool. The Hologram showed large text before them all, "SPARTAN-IV" was clear.
It gave Shepard a small sense of awe, each time the Spartans proved they were top soldiers in every way. Each had their quirks, but were all still as good as Shepard himself.
"Series four of the Spartan program is going to begin in the next few days and I'm here to offer you both a place inside it," Halsey looked to both Fred and Shepard, "Commander, I'm offering you a chance top become a Spartan. Trained like a Spartan and armed like a Spartan, this program is made up of volunteers. So far," Halsey tapped a key and a list of names came up. "We have two hundred and fifty-two candidates, all pass general scanning for genetic markers to match the augmentation process." she explained. "I did the honor of running your genetics, Commander. You're a perfect match."
She paused, then smiled. "Just like he was…"
Shepard raised a brow. "He?"
"A hero, Shepard," Halsey replied, waving a hand. "It's your choice, we have four months to make you a Spartan, Shepard." She turned her gaze to Fred, "Frederic, you and Mendez are going to take over as drill instructors for the project. Do you accept this duty?" she asked.
"Ma'am!" Fred snapped off a salute. "Always."
She smiled and turned back to Shepard, raising an expectant brow. "Well, Commander?"
Shepard was at a small loss for words. This was a big offer, how does one become a Spartan? He had been heavily augmented when he became a soldier and then again when he was revived by Cerberus after the first Normandy was destroyed. What more could they do for him? He glanced to Fred… could he be like the man beside him? So focused and skilled he could clear a room alone and move to the next before the final body hit the ground? Or so fast that he could catch Kelly? The ideas swam in Shepard's mind that it momentarily made him forget where he was.
Shepard snapped out of it and replied with a little too quickly than he would have liked. "I'm in."
Halsey nodded, smiled and tapped a key. Shepard's name appeared on the list… in the spot of number one hundred and seventeen.
"John one one seven…" He heard Fred whisper beside him. He could hear the tone he spoke the name with, there was respect, admiration and tell tale tone of a good friend who missed his best friend.
"Very good, both of you." Halsey sat back down, then looked to Mendez, "You can take it from here, Chief."
"Aye, ma'am," Mendez turned to them. "The cruiser that will take us to the Program headquarters is leaving in half an hour. I expect you both to be on it in twenty. And welcome to the Spartan Four program."
Shepard and Fred saluted again. "Dismissed," Mendez finished. The pair turned and marched out, leaving the most powerful Alliance figures alone to themselves.
"Why one, one seven?" Mendez asked when Fred and Shepard were gone. He turned to Halsey.
"Because, Chief," Halsey's smile was gone and he gave him a sharp look. "He's as close to John as he can be, he's a superb leader, he's a soldier and he does what he can to win." she looked to the door they had left from, "And we'll be calling that man a hero before this is all over."
Mendez "hmm"ed softly and sat back.
Hackett broke into their conversation. "How long till the project take?" he asked.
"First month for their augmentations, then three months of training for them to get used to them. Then when the Reapers show up," she tapped a key and the image they had first showed Fred and Shepard appeared again. "We'll be as ready as we can be."
"And our side projects?"
"Calculated, I've run it by Shade and he agrees that the funding we're receiving will cover the charges," she turned to Hackett. "I assure you."
"Good," Hackett didn't trust Shade. Then again, Shade was the first AI developed by the Alliance and such a thing if discovered by the council would impede their efforts. Then again, Shade was a very secretive "person" since he only spoke with Halsey, Mendez and Terrence. That made it all the more shady to Hackett. "Keep me posted."
"I will," Halsey replied with a nod. She placed her datapad down and it read simply…
MJOLNIR VII.
End of Chapter 20 and Part 2
There it is, the second half of the story is complete. Now comes the third, and hopefully final, part of it. Yes, that means the war is coming, another timeskip is ahead for you all. Thank you all for reading this far and I hope to continue to deliver a good story you all can enjoy till the end. Please leave a review and have a good day/night!