Chapter 2

Nova

Day 1- 17:38:43

Dominion Ghost November Terra

124th Marine Regiment

Onboard the Corrina

Sitting alone sure isn't a whole lot of fun, but it gives you time to think. For instance, why the hell am I on this ship and what my next mission is going to be? I sit on the side of my bed in the small cell-like room onboard the Corrina. It must have been at least 45 minutes that I have sat in here and been just going through my thoughts of why I am on this ship. I guess I won't know till they call me up. However that's seems like it might never happen, so I decide that my best option is to walk around and hopefully wait for orders.

I walk out of the small confide room and down the narrow walkways. Funny, they only seem to be large enough for marines in their power suits to walk through them. I walk close to the left hand side of the wall and run my hand along the neosteal walls. The ship doesn't seem as though it's moving, or if it is, not extremely fast. I have a feeling we are either at our mission destination or we are about to land to refuel and head out again. I should really stop getting my hopes up, it doesn't help me at all. I walk along the same path until I come to an intersection. Which way to go? I decide to go left and see what is over here. Big mistake. I see a few marines walking toward me in a line. Their thoughts immediately ring through my head. I can't believe I'm on this flicking ship with these small ass corridors… Hey, who is that... Best stay away from her; she is one of those Psionic freaks…

I walk back toward the hallway I had just left and let the marines walk past me. One of them looks at me and gives me the dumbest look I could have possible ever seen. I got his last thought just before he left, but I would rather not think about what he said. Instead I continue down the hallway until I receive a message over my comms unit.

"Nova, status update on a mission. It came directly from Mengsk himself. Come up to the bridge, were going to start a mission debrief here in a few. See you then." The comms made a sudden static and then abruptly stopped. Well, I guess it took a while for them to get an update.

I began my walk toward the bridge of the ship. I felt like I was supposed to be in a rush to get there, but I didn't pick up my pace. Instead, I slowed down and walked more calmly. I don't know what's been with me for the past few weeks. I have felt very sluggish and not willing to do much of anything, which isn't like me. I felt it wasn't anything important so I shrugged the idea of and decided that I should quicken my pace. I continued to walk at a faster pace, my eyes darting from toward every corridor, as if I am waiting for someone to strike. What I was expecting for some odd reason never seem to come, however, I did manage to run into something I was truly not expecting. Other Ghost agents walked in front of me and were in a pack, heading in the direction of the bridge. They walked passed me, not noticing me at all. Except one of them, he walked slowly past me and stared at me for a few seconds before stopping. He was tall, but not anywhere close to a marine's height, I would say about 5'11. He had short dark brown hair and had his rifle in his right hand. Did they just get here?

"I am guessing you're going to the same place I am going now?" he said. He had a slight tremor in his voice. He must be anxious, probably a newcomer fresh out of the academy. Oh god, this didn't seem good at all.

"Possibly, and I figure your new here?" I say. He stares at me and slowly nods his head. I can see his checks start to blush. He is embarrassed too? I roll my eyes. "Well, come on. I figure you don't know your way around this ship, so let's get you to the bridge. And please don't make me hold your hand."

"You act as if I am a kid" he says, his tone more sharp now, but still had a slight tremor.

"Well, to me, you basically are. Now, may we continue? You did say we are going to the same place." I reply. I didn't want to sound harsh, but I meant what I said.

"If that place happens to be the bridge, then yes, I am." He signals me to lead the way. He looked guilty of something. I guess having a women lead the way wasn't what he had intended, but it seemed as though he accepted the fact. He had a slight grin on his face, which I guess was a way for him to mask his embarrassment. It seemed to work well form him, so I didn't say much. We walked in silence for the first few minutes, until he finally spoke up.

"So, mind giving me your name? If you don't, I can understand why…"

"Agent X418…" I get cut off before I finish.

"Name, not what the damn Dominion gave you for a flicking name." He looks at me. I can see the guilt in his eyes and then he looks down toward the floor. "Sorry about that, I…I didn't mean for that to come out so aggressively."

I give a slight grin to him. How is he a Ghost, he seems too innocent for one. I guess his demeanor changes when combat happens. "It's alright. My name is Nova. How about you? What's your name?"

He looks up at me, a small smile on his face. Then he chuckles, like my name was funny. Why are we asking each other this question when we are just going to forget it anyways? He had the same though as me. It was kind of awkward that we had the same thought, but it kind of me laugh. "Daniel…. The names Daniel" he finally says.

We pass a few intersections, as we get close to the bridge of the Corrina. A slight breeze comes from behind us as we pass another intersection. Then, Daniel stops. His eyes dart behind us and scan the area. A sense of fear and alertness is in his eyes, like something was around the corner, lurking, waiting to attack.

"Daniel, is everything ok?" I say. He does respond at first; his eyes still looking down the hallway. He, finally, shakes his head, as if to clear something. He looks at me, his eyes still showing that alertness.

"Yeah, sorry, just though someone was watching us." He says, clearing his throat afterwards "We should probably hurry now. They might not be happy with us."

He was obviously right, but that was the least of my worries at the moment. We continued down the hall until we reached the bridge doors, which opened as we got close. The people in the room had impatient looks and anger in their eyes.

"7 minutes late. Where have you two been?" the colonel said, his tone was harsh and cold, but it didn't faze me. It seemed to hit Daniel a little, but he seemed to be hiding it well.

"Doesn't matter, we are here now, so let's get the mission details and call it a day" I say, almost spitting it out at him. I knew I wasn't going to like this colonel, he is cocky and arrogant. His record also reflects this. They say he has been trying to work on his attitude and tactics, but I don't think it will make a difference. They should have him removed from his position, but they haven't yet. I never understood why.

He sighs and does as I ask. "We have received word of unidentified UED terrorist on Mar Sara. We haven't found out why they are there, but reports have shown the areas of their activity." He points toward the map toward the front of the bridge. "They are all in a close vicinity of each other, so we figured that they have some kinda base there to make these activities this close. They have also been recorded from the date that we received them. The times between these 'activities' are close together as well and happen really quickly, around 10 to 15 minutes per activity"

One of the other Ghosts speaks up now. "So, why use Ghost to figure out what they are up too? You could just have a couple of marine squads go down there and clear the area."

The colonel pauses for a second, as if trying to find the right words too say. "If we had more information, we would. That's what you are for. We need you, as a team, to recon the area out and search for any sort of reason they would be there."

"Why are we going as a team? One Ghost can work better and faster than a group of ghost." I said.

He grins, it's a sinister looking grin and its sends a shiver up my spine. "Nova, I understand Ghosts are a more 'lone wolf' kinda unit, but if you wish to cover more ground, this is your best option." I roll my eyes. I feel as though he is leaving out a lot of needed information, but it would be better if I didn't say anything. I didn't want another one of his smart ass comments. "Now that we have that straightened out, you will leave tomorrow, 0720. Your pods will land in the same vicinity. I want a thorough search of the area. Anything or activity that seems out of the ordinary, I want reported back to me ASAP. Do I make myself clear?" I series of nods come from the Ghost. I just stand there. "Good, you are dismissed."

The Ghosts begin filing out of the room. I am just about to leave when I hear the colonel clear his throat. "Nova, someone would like to talk to you" the colonel says. I stop dead in my tracks and glance back at him.

"May I ask who it is?" I hiss.

"Emperor Mengsk would like to talk to you." His tone makes it seem like I am in serious trouble with the Dominion and I don't like it. I need to hold my composure, because if it really is Emperor Mengsk, I don't want upset him further. That wouldn't be good. I turn completely around to face the colonel and a holo projection of Mengsk standing before me.

"Thank you, Nova. Now, colonel" Mengsk says. "if you and the rest of the crew kindly leave the bridge for a moment."

"Emperor, I think it would…" Mengsk raises his hand, which happens to silence the colonel.

"That is an order colonel. Now I shall say this again, if you and the rest of the crew kindly leave the bridge for a moment." The colonel nods and gesture to the rest of the crew to leave. The whole process of them leaving only takes a few minutes, and the last one to leave is the colonel.

"Now, since we are alone, I have a mission for you. This shall not be discussed with the colonel or the other Ghost. Do I make myself clear on this?" I nod. "Good. Now, this does not intervene with your current mission, however it does have something to do with a member of your team." Wait, a member of my team? Does he think one of them might be a traitor? No, it can't be. Ghosts have never been the ones to betray the Dominion. "Agent X649812D is the one you need to keep a look out for."

"May I ask why I have to watch over this agent?" I say.

He is hesitant to say his next few words, like it's troubling news. "During his time at the academy, we ran into a few… complication while he was there. Now, he was a good soldier, apparently one of the better ones in the academy at the time, but his Psionic abilities seemed to shock everyone at the academy." He pauses before he continues. "We haven't been able to figure out how he managed to do what he did. However, we need you to find out if it might have been a fluke, and someone with a higher Psi Level may have tried messing him up on one of the tests or he is something beyond what we imagined."

I am afraid to ask the question I have on my mind, but I can't hold it in any long. I have to know. Plus, it would help to know what is upsetting the Ghost Program. "What could he have possibly done to have the trouble of another Ghost to watch over him? And why is it me that has to look over him and not some other Ghost?"

"There are two reasons why I choose you. One, I think you would be the only one to handle him if he happened to go rogue. Two, I trust that you will do this job better than any other Ghost out there. And for the reason it calls for this much attention…." He pauses again. He seems distressed about something other than the problem at hand, but I can't figure out why. He never seemed this way before. "His Psi level had seemed to fluctuate between 6 and 9. He would some days be able to use telekinesis and have incredible Psionic powers, other days it seemed like he was just another medium level Ghost."

Fluctuating Psi level? Is that even possible? Also, which one of the Ghost on this ship could have that kind of power to do so? "I accept the mission, sir. I will watch over him and report any information I find acceptable" I say.

A smile of gratefulness spreads across his face. "Thank you, Nova, for doing the academy a favor and investigating this further." He blinks out and a few seconds later, as if he knew it was over, the colonel comes in here. I turn back around and walk out of the bridge, not making eye contact with the colonel or the rest of the crew as they enter the bridge. I have to find out more about this agent. I hurry back to the room I have been assigned and immediately begin researching the agent. I type in a few codes that allow me to access any existing Ghost files. I hope these codes work, took me a while find these codes onboard the Corrina data files, which wasn't an easy task to get into either.

Agent X649812D- Daniel Torrovois

Age- 20 Years Old

Height-5'11

Weight- 153 Pounds

Psionic Level- 7

Description- Agent has dark brown hair and brown eyes, as well as light skinned and fit for Dominion military assets.

Academy History- His time at the academy was approximately 3 and a half years. Strong points consisted of long range sniping and close quarter combat. His Psionic abilities are well trained to suit the need of a Ghost in the Dominion.

Damn, they didn't record any suspicions about his abilities. I lean back in the chair I am seated in and rub my temples. What am I supposed to do with this information? The only way this helps me is for when he tries to engage me, and that might seem unlikely.

I think back to the encounter back in the halls with him. He doesn't seem like he would do something like that. I don't even think he knows what is happening to him, or if he noticed. I hear a knock on my door. I panic and turn off the computer. "Come in" I say as I quickly move toward my bed.

The door opens to show a Ghost I haven't met before. He is definitely shorter than Daniel by at least 3 to 4 inches, but had similar characteristics as him. He sits in the doorway and stares at me for a second. I take a seat on my bed and wait for what he has to say.

"So, Nova, what was your purpose for staying back?" He says.

"Why do you ask?" I say. He doesn't reply, so I am guessing he is ignoring my question and wants me to answer. "It was nothing important. You should probably head back to your room. Get some rest."

He looks down towards the floor and nods. He sits in the doorway for another couple of seconds before leaving. That was a little awkward. I wonder why he came to my room just to ask that. He probably was one of the new recruits because he seemed shy, and that's how most recruits are in the beginning.

I look back toward the computer and think about looking up the rest of my team and getting there information, but I never got there ID. So, that blew that option right out of the water. Maybe I should rest up as well. Be prepared for tomorrow's mission. I decided that was the best option at the moment. I lie down on the bed I was sitting on and close my eyes, hoping that tomorrow will bring better insight on my tasks.

I apologies if this chapter doesn't seem as good as the other one. School just started up for me and it brought upon me plenty of homework, which in terms made it more difficult to create and revise chapter 2. Still, I hope you enjoy and please feel free to write a review.