Chapter 16
A/N: Hello there, and how are you guys doing? Welcome back to Becoming Human.
Now, I'm glad to say that this is on a roll at the time being as I've been playing a bunch of Halo 3: ODST and Reach to have some fun and gain inspiration to the story. And don't worry about Renewed, Blood Vampire or Metro: A New Light, they'll be updating soon in the future as well.
So to say, I'm pretty glad you guys took the last chapter pretty well considering that Riley has reunited with UNSC Forces and Glynda now the first inhabitant of Remnant to be in space. Now this chapter here is just context and all with no action sadly, sorry in advance, but it's to further the story.
Well, I shall stop my ranting now. May you guys enjoy this chapter.
Remnant's Orbit, Southern Hemisphere, UNSC 8th Fleet...
Everyone always has a first time in everything they do. Be it walking as a toddler, riding a bike as a kid, shooting a gun in boot camp or killing a Grimm early one, everyone always have something done for the first time.
For Glynda however, despite living through a lot of rather unexpected events, was going through a first at the moment. And that was being in space, marking her as the very first inhabitant of Remnant to ever travel to space. A milestone to be exact in her books, and the timeline of Remnant itself.
Though if she had to be honest, while her expression on the outside was one of professional standards and serious, in the inside, is completely a whole other story. She was nervous, scared even. She was in space goddamnit!
The Huntress was busy looking at the floor of the Blood Tray, trying to remain calm and not showing it to the ODSTs before her that she was scared witless. Footsteps soon brought her out of her little stupor to see it was Riley walking back from the cockpit of the Pelican with a serious look of his own. "I hope you're treating our guest with respect, Troopers. Other than that, we'll be docking shortly."
All ODSTs and the two Marines that have accompanied them nodded with Glynda observing him. "He's actually being serious. Granted I've seen him in action, but he's always so reckless in the field. But here..."
The Pelican jerked a little, rocking a little bit as this made a couple ODSTs nod in relief. "Finally, we're in!" One of the proclaimed causing his fellow Troopers to laugh in response.
The humming of the engines kept going off before they suddenly went out as the rocking of the aircraft stopped altogether. "Welcome home, Troopers. And make sure you don't leave anything behind when leaving," The pilot of the Pelican cracked at them with a chuckle as the ramp lowered itself to the ground.
Glynda turned around and had to cover her eyes from all the light that began to shine into the passenger bay of the Pelican. The ODSTs began to pile out of the vehicle as she heard commands being shouted from the outside. The Huntress then felt a hand on her shoulder and looked behind her to see the ODST with an smug look plastered on his face. "Ah, I've been in your shoes before. I was almost blinded on how bright cruisers are in the inside. You'll get used to it though. Now stick with me, the Pathfinder is pretty big even for a Marathon-Class Cruiser. We need to get to the helm ASAP," Riley explained to her before walking off the Pelican.
The Huntress just stood in the Blood Tray just a little longer before getting herself together. "You've been through worse, Glynda. You can get through this," She thought to herself before disembarking off the Pelican. Making her way down the ramp, her mind almost lost itself again seeing the sight she was greeted to.
Before her were multitudes of men and women, either dressed in UNSC Marine BDUs or in black uniforms, were all moving about, getting things together and driving vehicles form one location to another as engineers rushed over to the four Pelicans that had picked her and the ODST platoon up are now inspecting them. The area was massive, with a whole lot more Pelicans and other types of aircraft docked, all the while being maintained by multiple other engineers.
"Overwhelming sight, I know," Riley's voice sounded, breaking her yet again from another stupor. Glynda looked over at him to see that he was currently standing beside a jeep like vehicle with a Marine in the driver's seat. He pointed over at the passenger seat before he hopped into the back of the Warthog and held onto the rails on the back. "Get in, Miss Goodwitch. Can't keep the commanding officer of the fleet wait for us any longer," The ODST stated to her.
Glynda swallowed a dry lump in her throat before nodding and walked over as she kept her calm outlook entering into the passenger seat of the Warthog, relaxing herself into the seat. "Then let us be off then, Mr. O'Neil."
A grin was on Riley's face as he slammed his hand on the side of the Warthog a couple times to catch the driver's attention. "Take us as far as you can go."
"Rog, Sir," The Marine replied back as he began to drive through the enormous hangar.
The UNSC Pathfinder is a pretty special vessel for good reason. Being one of the small handful of vessels to escape from Covenant Forces in 2525 from the Outer Colonies, it was repaired and modified once making it's way back to the planet Reach, while using safe protocols to not be spotted by the prowling Covenant. Now being one of the most heavily modified and largest ships to date ever since 2542, it's the jewel of the 8th UNSC Fleet and can be able to house over six thousand personnel onboard, with additional vessels in the fleet with a whole lot more manpower to boost the effectiveness of the fleet, ground and air forces.
"This is pretty breathtaking in a way, huh?" Riley shouted over the engines of the Warthog to Glynda as they still drove through the hangar.
"I'll admit, this is impressive in it's own right. How General Ironwood will be throwing a fit as this ship itself rivals his own flagship," Glynda told him looking around in awe.
"His flagship is nothing compared to this, Miss Goodwitch. Not by a longshot," The ODST replied back with slight pride in his voice.
Some time later...
Riley sighed softly as both he and Glynda were making their way to the helm, without an escort or Marine to lead them much to Glynda's confusion. It had been a few minutes since they've been dropped off by the Marine now making their way down the corridor.
The ODST was rather quiet as he was slightly ahead of the Huntress, nothing but the metallic footsteps they made themselves. She could sense the anxiety that he was literally leaking out, a nervous looking expression his entire body broadcasted like it was some hit song.
"Mr. O'Neil, is something the matter?" Glynda asked him, finally breaking the awkward silence that has been accompanying them.
He snapped his head up and looked over at her before sighing. "Guess I'm starting to lose my touch," He muttered softly before shaking his head. "No, I'm alright, Miss Goodwitch. Don't worry about me," He told her.
They soon arrived at the end of the corridor with a large metal door before them. Glynda was wondering why it wasn't opening before seeing the ODST reaching over to a blue touch pad on the left side of the door and began to insert a code in. "Mr. O'Neil, tell me, how did you know your way through here, including what you're currently doing?" The Huntress asked him once again, this time a little more insistent.
"..." Riley just remained quiet as he shook his head and typed in the last bits of commands on the touch pad. "You'll find out soon enough, Miss Goodwitch."
The door then opened up for them as he stepped in and motioned for her to follow once again. "We can't keep him waiting," Riley said before walking off.
Glynda nodded and followed the ODST inside and was once again.
Men and women were seated at different consoles as they relayed information to each other while others were at tables projecting hologram images, some of the planet while some showed the fleet itself. Glynda was once again in awe at the sight before seeing Riley stop in his tracks as he stood behind a man who was looking at a much larger holographic projection table.
The man was armoured up in similar fashion as Riley when he's in his ODST BDU when out in the field most times. And Glynda's eyes also caught the sight of a small image of a woman coloured in a sky blue. Dressed in a sundress with a crop up jacket to over it, she looked like she was around her mid twenties. The A.I soon saw who was behind the man and looked like she whispered something to him before disappearing.
Nodding, the man turned around slowly and his eyes widened seeing who stood behind him. There, The Huntress herself was shocked. The man looked very similar to the ODST, though he had brown hair instead of the black Riley sported. The two looked at each other for a good while before one of them broke the silence.
"You want to know how long I've been looking for you?" The man asked, walking towards Riley with the sound of malice clear in his voice. The ODST just remained silent and averted his gaze away not being able to even look at him. "Seven months. Seven. Damn. Months," He added in, glaring at him.
Riley sighed before looking at him after a couple moments with an exhausted look. "I know, Patrick... And I-"
Both the ODST and Huntress widened their eyes at what occurred next. The man engulfed Riley in a hug, the latter stiffening for a good moment before slowly relaxing.
"I promised Mom I'd look after you. And I'm making sure I'm never losing you again," He whispered softly to Riley with tears now leaking out, staining his weary face.
Riley slowly recovered from his shock before he hugged back, his own eyes beginning to trail out tears after a long time of holding them back.
Glynda herself just stood there in shock seeing the interaction. This was something she has never seen before from her colleague. What she's always witnessed was him being either an ass if she had to be honest, a soldier in the field, or a potato on the couch if he wasn't doing anything. But this was a first for her.
Soon enough, she made the connections with her eyes widening recovering from her shock. "I can't believe it..."
The two slowly pulled away from their hug with the man now identified as Patrick placing his hands on Riley's shoulders with a teary smile. "Holy... You kinda look like shit since I've seen you, Baby Bro," Patrick said to him.
Riley wiped his tears away and rolled his eyes at his older brother. "Same thing Cole asked me... You'd be the same if you've been in way too many firefights than I could count in six months."
"You could say the two years and six months, Riley, the last time I've seen you."
Patrick nodded before seeing Glynda who had now by then waited patiently for the two brothers to finish their reunion. "He is exactly the opposite of what I've seen from him so far," The Huntress thought.
He quietly cleared his throat and let his arms go slack for split second letting them go to his back and were held there. "Excuse me, ma'am. I'm quite sorry you had to see that. You must be the ambassador I've been told about," He said with a professional voice.
"News seems to travel fast with these people." Glynda nodded as she walked over and stood a few feet in front of Patrick. "Well, I see no problem with two siblings seeing each other again."
"How about we start off with introducing ourselves then?" Patrick suggested smiling. "I'm Rear Admiral Patrick O'Neil, commanding officer of the UNSC 8th Fleet." (1)
"Glynda Goodwitch, Professor of Beacon Academy, Admiral," The Huntress replied, bowing slightly in respect before him.
"Ah no need for formalities here. We're all friends here." Patrick then noticed the slightly wary posture Glynda was sporting and sighed at this. "I'd like to assume that you think we're a hostile force, huh?"
"Well... Partially. Mostly another colleague of mine needs that reassurance if you are or not, since he's become paranoid since your fleet was first sighted" Glynda answered to him.
"To ease you thoughts as well your friend's, we're not here to attack or invade this place. I have a list of objectives, tons of which are highly classified and can't reveal thanks to ONI," He responded to her and partially to his brother. "Though," Patrick added catching their attention, "I can say some. One of them was to retrieve lost UNSC Personnel, whom would be my brother here,. Another is something I hope the people down below won't be against. UNSC High Command ordered me with ONI Officials saying that we are to do our best to colonize if there was another universe."
Riley widened his eyes and nudged his brother. "How did you know about me being here?"
"ONI Scientists have found out that when you blew yourself up on Algolis, you've managed to create a rip in dimensions," Patrick explained to him to clear things up. "And since this happens to be true with another universe, we'll be trying to colonize here. We've ran thermal and geometric scans of the planet, and most of the major continents we've seen are occupied,. Though one of them would be ideal for us to settle in. But that'll be disused later on. I do hope that put you at ease, Miss Goodwitch," Patrick asked her smiling.
"I think that will be all, Ad- I mean... Patrick," Glynda quickly corrected herself and sighed in relief.
Riley nudged Patrick again catching his attention. "Patrick, I recommend you should come down to the surface yourself to meet with other people to talk things out," The ODST suggested to the Admiral.
Patrick thought of that for a moment before he nodded in agreement. "I see your point. Where then?"
"The same place the Pelicans you sent to."
"I guess I have something to do then," Patrick said before snapping his fingers. "Gloria?"
The A.I Construct appeared again beside him as she was shown sitting on the edge of the holotable. "You called for me, Patrick?"
"Redirect the fleet out over the potential place for us to land, but don't descend yet until we're given the go. And call in Lieutenant Evans. Tell him that he needs to come down to the hangar bay to help out in negotiations. And get two Pelicans ready. I want Fireteam Cobra onboard one of them and one for me, the LT, Riley and Glynda here. Till I'm back on the Pathfinder, she's in charge, " Patrick ordered her.
"Got it! Won't be long!" Gloria chirped before she disappeared once again.
The Admiral then looked at Riley and Glynda before walking past the two. "I can't believe you're actually coming down," Riley told him shaking his head.
Patrick rolled his eyes a his little brother and nudged him. "Well, gotta make sure people aren't scared shitless to see my fleet coming down or be attacked."
Glynda sighed and shook her head seeing how she followed the brothers out of the helm while they had begun bickering with each other, completely forgetting about her. "I just hope James will be taking this news well. And his brother seems to be the likes of persuading others."
Well, I hope you guys all enjoyed this chapter. I did a majority of this at school actually and posted at school as well.
So, how will Ironwood react to seeing Patrick? How will the UNSC now do in Remnant? And who's she that Patrick was talking about?
And to say, the current year is actually 2551 in the story at the moment. I'll be making edits on the previous chapters to fix this up as well names.
Well, I'll see you guys next time.