"Your late Spartans"
The cold harsh containment room was less inviting then a covenant corvette with almost zero ventilation or portable items. At the centre of the small, dimly lit room sat an ONI operator by a heavily orchestrated desk. The five Spartans stood at the base of the desk uncomfortably, observing the operator and noticing the power this woman may possess.
"Apologies Ma'am, it won't happen again." Ureal spoke loudly, her back posture tightening as she performed the courtesy salutation. She had been commander of all five Spartans for at least a month now, Michael considered her leadership in contrast to other Spartans – well they could do a lot worse, but only barely.
Gabriel stood to his left, his heavy blue armour barely concealing the blood lines down his left flank; Raphael at front and Lucifer behind him, as usual. They had reported directly into the ONI operations as soon as they had touched back down on the UNSC Battle Cruiser "Red Dusk, possibly for another brute hunting mission.
Lieutenant Drafter sat in front of them, somehow looking formidable then a Hunter even though she had to be half the size of a fully grown Shanghalli. She pierced her gaze at Lucifer, the elusive Spartan that always seemed to avoid her conversations and demands.
"Kilo Foxtrot 14, we have a new objective as per accordance due to the UNSC priority 2 agreement clause."
Michael shook his head in bewilderment; this priority concerned the newly hatched 'cease fire' agreement between mankind and the Shanghalli. Whatever objective this was, it was important enough for an ONI operator to personally look over.
Ureal nodded once, approving this information for the whole team.
"Estimated slip-space jump is at 2030 hours past zone, your Spartan squad needs to be prepped for anything on the other side, understood?"
Ureal spoke swiftly, not allowing any other soldier to speak for her, "Affirmative," and without a seconds notice, the meeting was over as abruptly as it had begun.
The Spartans walked down the corridor together, they had a familiar goal in this ship, and only a few hours before they had to prepare themselves for another objective.
"This is the biggest load of Bullsh*t," Raphael swore as the entered the Spartan infirmary; he grabbed onto the nearest auto-detaching unit and let it slowly ease the armour of him.
Ureal spoke quickly, "Hey, can it Raphael, we've got orders and we will follow them without question."
"Your fine with this Ureal?" Gabriel slowly drawled, "ONI doesn't even have the liberty to tell us what were up against anymore."
Michael nodded his approval, or at least tried to while the detaching unit ripped the helmet of his face. The black Spartan in the corner didn't say anything, choosing as always to stay quiet in most situations. They had all noticed that Lucifer had only ever been chatty whilst in the middle of battle or when he needed to be.
Raphael finished first, tugging himself free of the machine and hurrying to the armoury in order to fine-tune and prepare his weaponry. Ureal hurried to get into the training arena, willing to hone her skills before the next battle. Lucifer had stayed in his armour, not revealing his face or traits to anyone, and had walked straight off to his private quarters.
"Hey Michael, you hungry? Mess hall is calling." Gabriel spoke quickly as he left the room, not waiting for Michael to catch up to him.
Reconceiving over a short set of food seemed like the smarter idea at this time, as they always did.
After settling down with the typical UNSC marines and operators, Michael grabbed himself some regulation rice with chicken. He was exhausted, hunting brute Chieftains had been a task harder than thought out or imagined.
Gabriel sat with the Spartan, letting the food create a silence between them two – but it was something they shared after every mission, and therefore was important to them.
It was their chance to be human.