A/N: Hello! Because I can. That's why. But it is hard to come up with locations for missions and reasons to undertake them sometimes. Pity me. Actually, don't, because I have several ideas already.
Disclaimer: I am in no way affiliated with Microsoft, Bungie, or 343 Industries. This is for my enjoyment and, hopefully, the enjoyment of others. I do not receive a profit.
Then Punch Someone in the Face
Marcus couldn't believe it. When he'd been carried out of the room for fighting under one of Commander Palmer's arms, he wasn't sure what to expect, but it wouldn't have been this. She'd simply said in an exasperated voice, "Boys will be boys, and sometimes they act like toddlers." Then she'd left the two of them in a preschool. Why a military ship would have one, Marcus would never know, but when a squad of ODSTs came to jeer at him, Marcus resolved not to become the ship's laughingstock again. So he had ignored Danny, who sat on the toy oven, using a "cleaning rag" to nurse his nose. He didn't appear to be in much pain, but the blood splattering his face was probably unprofessional.
When the metal blast doors gaurding the preschool slid open, Danny hopped up and walked out with a purpose. Marcus wasn't sure what to do, so he followed behind Danny. A few twists and turns later, the pair came to a door with a simple metal plaque announcing it as the "Debriefing Room".
Danny waited as it whooshed open and he strode through. Marcus was relieved to see the glint of red E.O.D. armour, signifying that he was at the right place. He had heard Palmer say they were due in the briefing room, but was glad for reassurance. Marcus strode through the still open door . . . and was punched in the face.
Marcus spluttered as everyone looked up at the sharp crack. Danny snickered then winced as the action hurt his nose. Marcus put a hand on his nose, testing and then popping it back into place. Not broken, at least. Even though the bigger hurt was to his dignity, Marcus still felt it appropriate to ask incredulously, "Could you not have waited for me to put on my helmet?"
The figure that had punched him, a woman, by the looks of it, was wearing deep cerulean Circuit Oceanic armour with jet-black highlights and an Engineer visor. Her voice was distorted as she said, "That's for leaving me." A moment passed as the woman took off her helmet. Soft, light green eyes under thin eyebrows, plump lips, a pale face, all topped by rich, chocolatey brown, voluminous hair that hung straight down to the small of her back. How it fit under the helmet, Marcus would never know, but when she hugged him, the hair was soft as satin, just like he remembered. Her voice whispered so that only he could hear it, the currents tickling his ear. "That's for coming back."
As she ruffled his sandy hair, Marcus finally found his voice. "Cara. What the hell happened?"
She grinned at him as she said, "Tell you later. Palmer would have my ass in the Triple-P if she caught me in here." As she walked out, she quickly signed, /Ventilation shafts above C-Deck. I'll find you.\
Marcus decided not to mention C-Deck, and instead ventured to ask, "Triple-P?"
Whitney responded, "Palmer's Preschool Programme. The idea is that by inviting ODSTs to come jeer at SPARTANs sitting in a preschool, total humiliation will be the reason to avoid messing up."
"I certainly felt foolish sitting there, even though I was an ODST at one point."
Danny grabbed his helmet off of the table, using the helmet to hide his hand from Marcus as he signed, /Freak,\ at Edward. As he jammed it onto his head, Whitney, who looked disappointed, leaned in close and whispered something to Danny. He scowled and jabbed a finger into the Recruit visor of Whitney's Soldier armour, whispering something back. She got up and switched seats with Logan, who appeared to be the de facto leader of Opalescence. Marcus sighed, wondering just how splintered both fireteams would become as he accepted his helmet from Juliette.
He had just sat down when Palmer walked in. "Okay ladies, since the Forerunners seem to like things in pairs, you two will be having the same objective, just different deployment zones. Opalescent, heads or tails?"
She flipped the coin and as it spun end over end, Jesus called out, "Tails, please," in his deep, well accented voice. Rather than catch it, Palmer let it fall, the drop making a metallic clink when the coin hit. It rotated for a moment before settling on the side with Martin Walsh, the 2345 leader of the U.N., staring blankly into space.
"Heads. Your choice Nebula. Magic Forerunner button in the ruined city or magic Forerunner button in the desert?"
Raj quickly jumped in. "I want an adventure in a ruin. I'll just pretend it's the Coliseum."
Everyone just shrugged. Marcus quickly signed to Edward, /Our goal is to activate a Forerunner artifact in a ruined city\. Edward shrugged as well.
Palmer took out a picture as she said, "Then you have the desert, Opalescent. This is the artifact. Find it, kill everything, turn it on, and we should have access to some basic surveillance on Requiem." The picture was of a metal pole with a hard-light panel on top. The pole had bits of metal sticking out of the sides at different heights, lengths, and positions around the circumference. A few millimetres past the end of each stylised bulge a wafer-thin metal ring wrapped around the pole. There were fourteen rings in all. "Head to your birds. Your handlers will know what to do."
Stephenson stood outside the room when Marcus led the way out. He said, "Nebula, from now on, hangar 10 is yours to use for operations. Also, I heard that Pearlman here likes to fly. Excellent work in that Banshee."
Arianna mumbled a quiet, "Thank you," and appeared embarrassed, despite the Sunspot visor.
Stephenson continued. "As such, the keys are in the ignition, but don't waste bullets on ground forces. Save that for the big bad SPARTANs going dirtside."
That time Arianna's, "Thank you!" was excited, not embarrassed. She sprinted all the way to hangar 10.
The Pelican roared and shot out of the hangar, Stephenson the only one waving goodbye. After selecting the choicest of weapons from the Pelican's stockpile, along with armour abilities, Marcus, Juliette, Edward, and Raj buckled up in the back and Arianna sat herself down in the pilot's seat. The coordinates on the screen led the way as SPARTAN Pearlman carefully navigated the dropship through Requiem's gravity well and to the ruin. She hovered a metre off the ground to let everyone else jump out.
What was left of the proud city was made entirely out of stone, so Reynolds suspected that it had been built a ruin. Green covered everything. Built in a clearing in dense rainforest, the broken city was layered with plant life reclaiming the compact buildings. Moss grew in every nook and cranny, and rainwater pooled in the dips in the cobblestone streets. A tiered ziggurat rose in the center of the city, towering over all of the broken walls and collapsed roofs. Motioning to the pyramid, Kahn said, "There's as good a place as any to start, and if we don't find anything, Quin will have a sniper's nest." Reynolds quickly signed this to Quin, who nodded once, a clear confirmation that the plan was an acceptable one.
Brady pulled a knife out of her ankle sheath and snuck to the edge of the ruins, peering out at the rest of the city. She held out three fingers in a sideways fashion, signifying the all-clear. Reynolds hefted his shotgun and went left, watching as his radar showed the rest of Fireteam Nebula fanning out. When Brady's dot disappeared, Reynolds knew it was go time. He steeped out of his corner and advanced warily toward the city centre.
A/N: I don't want to sit here and beg, but I do want reviews to tell me how to improve and what to keep and what to add more of and what to remove. Reviews help make me a better writer, so please critique me.