SECTION I: REVELATIONS

Chapter Five: Hitting the Mark

1410 Hours, February 21, 2557 (Military Calendar) \
Office of Naval Intelligence Research Station 054323-45 "Prometheus", Location Classified

Commander Atwood leaned back in his chair and tapped the hologram hovering above his desk. The display zoomed in on a picture of a Caucasian male in his early twenties. He had clean-cut auburn hair and brilliant green eyes, along with a patchwork of small scars on his face. Looking at the man's physical stats, Atwood was shocked. Only six foot two? I thought he was a Spartan. Whereas Ngata could have been described as a titan, this Spartan was below average in both height and weight. What's his MOS?

"Spartan Timothy Darden, service number 96786-59690-TD. Callsign is Onyx Two, operating as the team's designated marksman or sharpshooter, depending on the day." Atwood was intrigued: how did Darden turn out so different from other Spartans? The SPARTAN-IIs all turned out to be relatively the same in regards to physical traits, but the IIIs had wild variations as a result of the loosening of genetic protocols. SPARTAN-IV augmentations, though, had solved the problem, hadn't they?

"Born on Arcadia on April 5, 2530, Darden escaped from Pirth City with his family when the Covenant attacked a year later. Settling down on Earth, the Dardens lived a relatively uneventful life until Timothy decided to join the Marine Corps on his eighteenth birthday. Strongly opposed to this decision, his parents disowned him and cast him out into the world with no support."

Atwood knew why the parents were so upset: residents of Earth had always been sheltered from conscription laws, at least before the Fall of Reach. Of course, propaganda ads put out by Section II enticed young men and women to sign up for the war in droves, but as survivors of an Outer Colony attack, the Dardens would have been much wiser than the average denizen of Earth. Seeing their son join what they viewed as the losing side in a terrible war must have broken them.

"During basic training, Darden was selected to become a scout sniper, operating as part of the 4th MEF. By 2550, he had been promoted to Corporal and received two Bronze Stars for bravery. During the battle of Minab, Darden was drafted into an ODST combat team after they had lost their sniper, and served as part of a mission to take out a high-ranking Jiralhanae Chieftain. The mission was a success, but Minab fell not four days later. Due to his temporary reassignment, Darden managed to escape aboard an ONI prowler before the 4th MEF was completely annihilated."

"After returning to Reach, Darden served as part of an ODST black ops squad, executing hit-and-run strikes on Covenant-occupied worlds. Timothy was off-world during the Fall of Reach, but his combat team was deployed to Teller Station and enacted WHITE GLOVE to prevent the Covenant from retrieving Forerunner technology. Escaping aboard the UNSC Endurance, the small black ops group returned to Earth and reported the complete destruction of all colonies in the Epsilon Eridani system. Darden was promoted to Sergeant prior to the Battle of Earth."

Atwood realized that Darden was the only member of Onyx Team not to fight on Reach directly. He only participated in a skirmish on the outskirts of the main battle. Lucky for him.

"Upon the Covenant's invasion of Earth in October, Darden's team was deployed on a deep recon mission into Covenant-held territory in East Africa. The events of the mission are still highly classified, but Darden returned alongside two of his squad members nearly two weeks later. The other six ODSTs were declared KIA, while the three survivors were all awarded the Legion of Honor for gallantry. Darden and his three teammates survived the Battle of Voi as well, withdrawing to the Forward Unto Dawn before the Flood infestation could occur."

Atwood grimaced at the thought: two whole weeks, and no information on their mission. Was it to assassinate a Covenant Prophet, or to scout the Excession for the planned joint strike? Atwood hated not knowing things: it was his job to understand everything going on around him, and when he didn't, it felt like he was failing. Besides, Darden deserved to be recognized for his efforts, even if it wasn't public. How high is the classification?

Atwood whistled when he saw: Core Four? Really? That meant only those cleared by CINCONI herself could see the files. Atwood might have a special relationship with Osman, but they both knew that he wasn't that kind of spook. Undeterred, Atwood accessed the deployment records for Darden, which Osman had been kind enough to provide.

It looked like the nine ODSTs had been deployed on drop pods from the UNSC Endurance just hours before the destruction of Mombasa. They had ignored standard drop protocols, landing right in the middle of the embattled city. Afterwards, they had gone dark, but Osman had provided additional deployment orders for the 37th MEB, a Marine unit that had operated in the same area as the squad.

According to survivors of the 37th, eight ODSTs had fought alongside them as they made their push towards New Mombasa. After their convoy was nearly destroyed by Covenant forces, the ODST squad had vanished into thin air, pursuing an Elite commander who was fleeing in a Spirit dropship. The Marines had sent out recon teams to find the special forces operators, but the ODSTs refused further assistance. The six remaining ODSTs had merely requisitioned two Warthogs and fled the city.

It was clear that Darden and his team had been on some kind of retrieval mission. Atwood vaguely remembered that another ODST squad, Alpha-Nine, had been sent on a similar mission, but he couldn't remember the details. The ODSTs in Darden's squad, regardless of their mission, must have been killed in the aftermath of the slipspace rupture that swallowed Mombasa.

According to attached communications, Darden and his team had been picked up by UNSC rescue flights on November 3, almost two weeks after they were deployed. They were evacuated to Crow's Nest, serving in recon missions as part of ONI Recon 111 for the days leading up to the Battle of Voi. After the discovery of the Portal, the three ODSTs and attached ONI personnel retreated to a safe position overlooking both Voi and the crater. Armed with handheld SAM launchers and an M99 Stanchion rifle, the black ops unit had held up a Covenant column rushing to reinforce the embattled city. Upon the arrival of the Indulgence of Conviction, ONI Recon 111 was extracted by Pelicans to the Forward unto Dawn so as to save them from infection.

"The three ODSTs accompanied the Dawn on its expedition to the Ark, helping to secure a Covenant dig site nicknamed "Sandtrap" by the Marines stationed there. Upon the discovery of Truth's location, Darden and his team were sent to rendezvous with a UNSC task force at the Ark's Cartographer. Soon afterwards, the ODSTs took part in the Battle for the Citadel, initially fighting alongside SPARTAN-117."

Atwood took a look at the squad's combat records for Operation: BLIND FAITH. It was utterly remarkable: they had accomplished all of their objectives without a single casualty and operating at one third strength. Even with the Master Chief attached to their unit for a short time, it was an impressive achievement. It was clear to Atwood what the Spartan branch had seen in Darden.

"Once the Halo Array was disarmed, all human forces fell back to Sandtrap to await their return to Earth. Darden and his team were deployed once more to retrieve the crew of Victor 398, but soon afterwards returned home aboard the Aegis Fate." Pictures of a canyon on the Ark filled the screen. A Pelican dropship had crash landed in the middle of it, leaving debris scattered all over.

Atwood remembered the story of Victor 398: an intrepid team of SPARTAN-IIIs and ODSTs had been shot down on a deep recon mission. The team had survived wave after wave of Covenant shock troops, entrenching at the end of the canyon in a Forerunner structure. The Covenant forces were soon replaced by the Flood, who were much more willing to use unorthodox strategies than the Brutes. In the end, two Spartans and ten ODSTs died trying to hold them off. Only with the arrival of evacuation transports did the stranded team manage to escape the nightmare.

This guy has had his hand in everything, hasn't he? Black-Box continued his narration. "Upon returning to Earth, Timothy Darden was enlisted by ONI as part of their Delta-6 Division, participating in a number of covert operations against Insurrectionist elements on Talitsa and Venezia. He was recruited by Spartan branch in late August of 2554, training alongside the rest of Onyx Team and by extension Delta Company."

There it was again: Delta Company. I need to find out what that is. "Black-Box, is there anything in the files to indicate the scope of Delta Company's operations?"

"Negative. But there is a brief summary of Onyx Team's deployments in Onyx One's files. For some reason, it seems we were given the post-Spartan portion of his alone. None of the other personnel files illustrate their careers as part of Onyx Team."

Atwood frowned: what was Osman playing at?

When his team had separated, Onyx Two was lost. Yasmin had retreated into the station somewhere, not answering comms. Soon after she had left, Xing had grunted something about a run and stormed off. Moana, as always, took a brief nap before scurrying off to find Onyx Three. Onyx One was, like the rest of his team, nowhere to be found. Probably lost in his thoughts, as usual.

Timothy Darden, in his infinite boredom, had decided to stay in his armor and head down to the armory for some good old firearms training. Of course, he couldn't really improve at this point, but brushing up on his skills wouldn't hurt. It's not like we have anything to do right now.

It seemed as though the station was empty. The only sounds Darden could hear through his helmet's filters was the low hum of machinery and the clang of titanium boots on titanium deck plating. Good god, I miss the sound of battle. Happy now, universe?

The primary armory was on Deck I, along with other storage bays and equipment depots. Upon entering, Darden was amazed at the selection of weapons. There seemed to be everything from standard MA5 assault rifle variants to rare ARC-920s, the railgun rated for only augmented personnel. Darden passed the bountiful racks of weapons to come to a titanium locker.

It was about two meters tall and was marked with the words "Onyx Team" in black paint. Inputting the six-digit code into the door, the Spartan swung open the locker. Inside lay a few pieces of equipment: personal items for the different members of the team. There was a token few Covenant weapons, souvenirs collected by Onyx Three and Four. Yasmin's customized M6H pistols, fitted with state-of-the-art attachments and up-sized for Spartan personnel, hung from the left side of the locker.

But what Darden wanted hung on the opposite side, its barrel pointing straight down. It was a custom-made SRS99-S5 AM sniper rifle, painted jet-black with grey highlights. Instead of the standard Oracle scope, it possessed a multispectral vision module with up to 20x zoom capability. The finishing touch was engraved in white letters along the side of the weapon: "Onyx."

It's been too long. The Spartan gingerly lifted the sniper rifle out of its place and strode over to the ammunition dispensary. Accessing the database, he requested a package of 14.5x114mm M232 Armor Piercing Fin Stabilized Discarding Sabot rounds for use at the firing range. The station hummed before a small conveyor belt whirred to life. After a few seconds, an entire carton of magazines rolled out from a hole in the wall, stopping right in front of the Spartan. Looking inside, Darden was giddy with joy: there were over twenty magazines of the highly coveted ammunition.

Sliding a magazine into the rifle's receiver, he waited for the satisfying click. He loved his chosen weapon ever since he was drafted to be a scout sniper out of Basic. The Spartan felt at peace looking down the scope at his target, feeling the anticipation of a kill rushing through his veins like a drug. He was at home behind a sniper rifle, dealing death to his enemy from long range.

In fact, ever since becoming a Spartan, Darden missed the true days of long-range combat. Even the greatest of Spartan snipers, including Linda-058, the best of the best, had been forced to encounter enemies at close range. Darden was no exception. Especially during Malurok.

Shaking his head at the thought, the young Spartan set himself up at a firing station. Selecting the hardest training program, he linked his sniper rifle to his armor systems as the first targets cycled through. His finger came to rest on the trigger as he let out a deep breath. The buzzer sounded and the first target sprung up. All he heard was the crack of his sniper rifle and the dull thwack of the round making contact.

1750 Hours, August 29, 2554 (Military Calendar) \
ONI Section Three Facility "Artemis", Luna, Sol system

The last target disappeared in a flash of light. Darden looked up from his scope, grinning at the woman in the booth next to him. "See that, Ramirez? I can still kick your ass any day. I believe you own me a drink."

Ramirez rolled her eyes and stood up from her prone position. "Just because you beat me five times, doesn't mean you'll win the sixth." Darden flashed her another shit-eating grin, which was met with a middle finger. Grumbling to himself, Darden turned his attention back downrange while Ramirez stalked off to clean her rifle.

Darden was working on adjustments to his scope, trying to figure out how to boost the night-vision enhancement, when a shadow fell over him. Looking up, he saw his CO, Commander Jordan, standing over him menacingly. "Staff Sergeant, on your feet. Come with me."

Tim frowned as he stood up, leaving his beloved sniper rifle behind. Who pissed in his cereal today? I hope it wasn't me. The two left the armory, walking through the halls of the lunar outpost to Jordan's office. On their trip, they walked by the viewing ports, allowing Darden a breathtaking view of the lunar landscape. He could even see Earth in the distance, a green and blue marble on the backdrop of space.

Sadly, the hallway turned back into titanium bulkheads with dull lighting. Darden was anxious to get back in the field: rumor had it there was something big in the works on Mamore. DURANDAL, was it? I can't remember.

The Commander stopped in front of his office, turning to face Darden. "Son, there is someone inside who wants to talk to you. I suggest you listen carefully, because what he's offering you, it ain't a choice to make lightly. Good luck."

With that, Jordan stomped off to harass some other unlucky soldier. Darden shrugged and walked into the office, the doors sliding quietly shut behind him. The room was simply decorated, with Jordan's medals hanging from the wall behind his mahogany desk. In front of said desk stood a tall man with black hair and brown eyes. He was dressed in a service uniform, clearly modified from the Navy. The unit patch, however, was quickly recognized by the ODST as something completely different.

It was familiar to the veteran Special Forces soldier. He had served alongside the commandos who had proudly touted the symbol for years across countless battlefields. The familiar eagle grasping a lightning bolt in its right talon and a handful of arrows in its left made Darden's heart swell. Both with pride at the thought of what would come next, and learned terror at the memory of the deadly supersoldiers who had made the insignia famous.

It was the unit patch for the legendary Spartans. Humanity's foremost guardians and the stalwart defenders of Earth and all her colonies.

Darden's breathing hitched in anticipation. While the man standing in front of him was clearly not a Spartan, he possessed the steely air of an experienced soldier. His eyes seemed to slice through the air as a hot knife cuts through butter. The man wore no rank insignia, as typical of the Spartan branch, but there was no doubting that this man was an officer.

He scanned Darden up and down, his gaze not unlike that of a predator sizing up his next meal. The veteran ODST stood up fully, his back as straight as a ramrod. I've stared death down half a hundred times. This man can't do anything to me that I would fear. Darden's green eyes met the brown ones of his visitor, his gaze possessing all the steel and resolve he could muster. He cannot break me down.

The officer smirked as he met Darden's gaze. Clearly impressed, he gestured for Darden to take a seat at a chair directly in front of him. "If it's all the same to you, sir, I would prefer to stand." The mask of a joker and clown that Darden wore not ten minutes before was replaced by the visage of a battle-hardened warrior. The officer chuckled and leaned on the desk with his arms crossed over his chest.

"I'm impressed, Staff Sergeant. There are few soldiers I've seen that can make the switch so flawlessly." The young ODST twitched slightly, a motion that the other man picked up on. "You've been touched by war: all of us who survived were. The truest test of character is the battlefield: it's God's way of sorting us all out. But another test awaited us all when we returned home. How do we act the same with those we knew when we are so different? When the man is stripped away and only the warrior remains?"

The officer stood back up, circling around behind the desk. "The answer is, we can't. It's impossible to act as if everything is the same, especially after this war. Not when Earth is in ruins, when Reach and hundreds of worlds like it are just memories." He punched in a few commands to the desk's holoprojector suite.

A flash of blue light erupted from the projectors, creating an image after a split second delay. It was one that Darden had just recently seen: a picture of a war-torn city (on New London, perhaps?), with burning buildings all around. Stepping towards the camera was a familiar sight: a titan of a man, encased in gunmetal gray armor with black highlights, toting a MA5D assault rifle. His armor was well-worn, with noticeable scratches and dents from the fighting. A Spartan.

"We need warriors like you, Staff Sergeant. Warriors like you who can become something greater, something we desperately need. We need Spartans."

Darden's response was almost immediate. "When can I start, sir?"

1431 Hours, February 21, 2557 (Military Calendar) \
Office of Naval Intelligence Research Station 054323-45 "Prometheus", Location Classified

Darden's rounds thundered down range, causing the targets to disappear in a flash of light. These hardlight targets are sweet. The Spartan smiled as another bullet found its way into a dodging Elite's skull. Helps with training now that they can move, too. He fluidly thumbed the discharge button, allowing the now empty magazine clatter to the ground.

Onyx Two reached down to grab a magazine from a pouch on his chest. He was surprised to find none there. Looking up at the upper right corner of his HUD, he was surprised to find that the ammunition counter had dwindled down to zero. Huh, that hasn't happened in a while. Occasionally, in the thick of training or even combat, Darden would "get in the zone." Nothing else would matter except the target.

Zoning out had gotten Darden in trouble a lot throughout his years in the service. The Marines had tried to beat it out of him in basic and scout sniper school, the ODSTs had tried in their own brutal way. Only until he became a Spartan was his burden turned into a gift. His commanding officer had realized that Darden's ability to "get in the zone" could be an asset, not a liability.

The ODSTs had taught him to keep his head on a swivel, to make sure to not to get lost in the environment. In Spartan basic, he was trained in Zen techniques used by the legendary sniper Linda-058, to hone his already heightened senses. He was shown how to focus properly, to use his precision as a truly terrifying weapon. He became a god among men, taking in every detail, everything to know about a target, a location, anything. His fellow Spartans had even taken to jokingly calling him "Eagle Eye."

With his newfound skills, he often worked in tandem with Onyx Team's resident scout, Yasmin. He allowed himself to slip into thoughts of their exploits together while he placed his weapon back into Onyx's storage compartment. Putting the empty magazines in a bin near the armory door, Onyx Two sighed as he remembered all the time he spent with the former NAVSPECWAR operative.

She was just so… He failed to find the right word. Alluring? Mysterious? Intriguing? He could spend hours thinking about it and not find the correct way to describe her. Timothy realized that this was unprofessional, to think of another soldier in such a familiar way, but she was different. They had become a huge part of each other's life, seemingly without either realizing it. But what exactly is she to me?

He was interrupted by a blinking light: a communications request from… Speak of the devil. "Go ahead Five." Oh, how he longed to use her real name. But they were trained to refer to themselves by their numerical designation over the radio at all times.

"I'm about to head to the gym for some much needed training. Care to join me?" There it was: the imploring tone, with some deeper meaning hidden within the words. Or maybe I'm just reading too much into it. Anyways, his friend needed help. "Sure. Armor or no?"

"Come suited up. It's been far too long since our last spar. Hope you don't mind me kicking your ass." Tim laughed at Yasmin's comment, feeling that warm sensation spread across his chest. It had been far too long since he felt this way. Ever since Malurok.

"Sure you will. I'll be right there." He closed the radio link and checked to make sure he wasn't carrying any weapons on his person. It felt so unnatural, but orders were orders: the Spartans weren't on the clock until tomorrow. Finding none, the eagle-eyed sniper walked out of the armory to find his friend.

"These combat scores are amazing. Top of his class in sniper school. I've only seen maybe four other Spartans this good, including Linda." Commander Atwood scrolled through all of Darden's sim scores, finally pulling up a video of Darden fighting in training. He was equipped with the Recruit armor suite at the time, and was working with Onyx Two at the time.

It was clear that the two were trained in very different styles of combat. Darden was methodical and precise, using a DMR to fire at hardlight constructs of traditional Covenant members. He interrupted his firing patterns irregularly to bring his rifle butt crashing down on enemy skulls with unrelenting force. Rajavi, on the other hand, seemed to follow the flow of combat with as much grace as a leaf on the wind. She danced around her enemies, dual wielding a SMG and a M6 pistol to devastating effect.

"These two make a very deadly team. Like a certain pair of officers I've read so much about." Black-Box's acerbic response elicited a thin smile from the ONI commander, who simply took a sip from his drink. He knew exactly what the AI was talking about, but he wouldn't give BB the satisfaction.

"So why did ONI send us such a crack team? These Spartans should be out there fighting rebellions and Covenant splinter groups, not guarding a bunch of prototypes. What did they do that was so heinous, even for ONI?" He punched in a few more search terms, desperately looking for any shred of Onyx Team's deployment records. All he got were more references to Delta Company, infuriating him even more.

It wasn't like Serin to keep secrets from him, even if it was classified at Core Four, which he knew it wasn't. If only he had a Waypoint connection: then he could access ONI's database himself with his quite impressive security credentials. But sadly, due to the secrecy of Prometheus, no communications with UEG planets were allowed. Prerecorded messages, like Serin's, were the only way to contact the outside world. And the next supply run isn't for another two months. God damn it.

"Well, I guess Serin wants me to find out the old fashioned way." Atwood brought up the next file as Black-Box pondered what he said. "And what, Commander, does that mean?"

"Good old-fashioned intelligence gathering, BB. I'll have to talk to them."

Author's Note:

So yeah, I'm really sorry about the delay. It's honestly kind of hard to write between my job and school, but I'm doing the best I can. I know that's not a very good excuse, but I'll try to crank out another chapter soon. I'm almost done with this introduction of characters business.

Hope you enjoyed Onyx Team's resident sniper. He's supposed to inject some humor and light-heartedness into the situation, because Onyx Team has some serious problems. Also, possible romance blossoms even as the galaxy is beset by war. Yes, it's going to happen.

I've also been working on an idea for a short fic about Gamma Company, using my OC Albert-G079 as the protagonist. It would probably fill the gap between Section I and II of Prometheus, but tell me what you think.

The next chapter is simply titled "One of Us." It focuses on the enigmatic Onyx One, leader of the elite team, as well as the team's formation.

Until next time!