September 19th, 2551, Sydney, Australia
Rolling over, Alder was met by the dull green glow of his alarm clock. It read 6 o'clock and he groaned. He could try and sleep in, try and force his body back to sleep, or he could get up and go for a run. Deciding that a run was probably better for him, he rose from the bed and threw on some clothes. Even after only four years at the academy, his body was fine tuned to a military lifestyle of early rises and late finishes and had adapted to running on very little sleep. As such most mornings were a frustrating clash of his mind wanting a small sleep in and his body screaming at him to be up and ready for the day.
Stepping out of the house, he turned left and ran down the street. Whether it had been the dream that he had just woken from or the fact that he wasn't truly awake yet, he absentmindedly made his way to the street where Anna and Elsa had lived and Anna was still living. He ran down the street and suddenly he realised where he was. Slowing down, he now realised he was outside Anna's house. He hadn't spoken to Anna since his expulsion from the Academy, whether it be from guilt or from shame, he wasn't sure. He had made a promise to Anna to come back from this with Elsa and now here he was, on Earth, living in realtive safety while Elsa was still in harms way. He would have done anything to go back, to change what had happened but he couldn't and he knew he just had to live with that. Elsa needed the Academy more than he did. She had to provide for Anna by herself and there was no way that he was going to let something that he had done affect their lives in such a monumental way. Not after everything they had done for him. Resuming his run and feeling as though he'd been hit with a car, he turned around and ran home. He ran inside and jumped in the shower, giving himself a quick clean before heading downstairs and making himself some breakfast. He had the house to himself, his mother was working the night shift at the hospital and wouldn't be home for another couple of hours, so he turned his music on, loud enough for it to be heard throughout the house but not loud enough so as to wake the neighbours. Sitting down with a plate of bacon and eggs he was about to take a bite when the doorbell rang. Growling in annoyance and placing his mouthful back on the plate, he rose and went to the door. The doorbell rang again as Alder reached for the handle and shaking his head, he prepared to spray whoever it was behind the door with a verbal tirade that would have rivalled a hurricane. However, when he noticed who was standing at the door, a male UNSC officer, confusion overtook his anger.
"Ah hello? Can I help you?" he asked hesitantly.
The officer checked the data pad he had in his hand.
"Alder Hayes?"
"Yeah that's me. What's this about?"
"I've been sent with strict instructions to bring you to HIGHCOM immediately," the officer replied sternly.
"I'm sorry HIGHCOM? What possible reason could you have to take me to HIGHCOM?"
"I'm not at liberty to disclose that to you at this time. Please just come with me."
Unsure about the whole situation, Alder decided to play along.
"Sure just let me get my things."
"Negative, we need to depart immediately, time is of the essence. Your personal effects will be collected and your kin will be informed. Please this way," the officer insisted, gesturing towards the black vehicle sitting at the kerb outside Alder's house.
Shaking his head, he locked the door and closed it. Jumping in the car, Alder wondered how much wierder the morning could get.
An hour later, Alder was sitting in a room on the 40th floor of the UNSC High Command Office in the heart of Sydney. From his seat, he could see the sun peaking over the Harbour Bridge. Truly the view was worth saying yes to some shady officer when he asks you to come with him at some ungodly hour of the morning. Fidgeting slightly, he hadn't been spoken to since entering the building. He was beginning to get nervous when, the door opened and a bald man, walked in. Sitting directly across from Alder he studied him, for a moment before speaking.
"Alder Hayes. Quite the report I've got on you here," the man said, holding up a brown folder.
"I'm sorry. I don't know what you read about me but I'm no longer in the Navy. I left the OCS four months ago," Alder said.
"You were expelled from the OCS four months ago," the man corrected. "The incident has been noted however there is very few details surrounding it. Care to explain that to me?"
"No not really," Alder replied, annoyed. "Look, why am I here? Who are you?"
The man smiled, leaning back in his seat.
"I was getting to that. Answer my question."
Alder shook his head, sitting silently for a moment.
"Nothing happened. I made a bad call and someone got hurt. I accepted responsibility for my actions and faced the consequences. End of story."
The man studied Alder.
"Well if that's the story and your sticking to it, there isn't much more to discuss. I do apologise for wasting your time," he said, rising from his seat and collecting Alder's file.
"So what? That's it? You drag me from my house at some ungodly hour of the morning only to confirm something that you already knew? Are you kidding?"
The man chuckled.
"No no. You are right, I knew all this, your file details all the reports from the incident. I guess it was more to confirm something else."
"And what is that?" Alder spat, anger clearly visible.
"That you would be willing to do whatever it took to protect the people you care about," the man said, turning back towards the desk.
"What if I told you that your test scores were the highest I have ever seen and that your personality and leadership skills are exactly what we are looking for. That the UNSC needs people like you in a war that has dragged on for far too long. This is why I was going to offer you a second chance, a chance to do what you can clearly do so very well."
Alder sat stunned. Was this man really giving him a chance to rejoin the Navy?
"I didn't join because I had any desire to fight the Covenant, I joined to keep a promise to a friend. A promise which I have now broken," Alder said quietly.
The man now placed a hand on his shoulder.
"Well why don't we look at fixing that then?" he said smiling.
"What do you want me to do?"
"I take it you have heard of the SPARTAN project?"
A confused look fell across Alder's face.
"Yeah of course. Who hasn't heard of the Master Chief and the rest of the Spartans. They even made figurines out of them."
The man chuckled again.
"Well what I am about to tell you, or more rather show you, is a lot better than Spartan action figures. It is also imperative that you understand that this information is highly classified."
Alder smiled slightly.
"Yeah I kinda figured that, what with the fact that we are in UNSC High Command and not discussing this in my living room."
Following the man out of the room, they entered the elevator. Entering a code into a keypad and placing his hand on a panel that Alder had not noticed on his way up, the elevator shuddered before dropping suddenly. Within seconds, the elevator had made the journey between the 40th floor and the ground, passing the ground level and continuing its descent. It came to a stop on a level known shown as B6.
"Welcome to Bravo-6," the man said, ushering Alder out of the elevator. Leading him to a room about a third of the way down the long corridor, Alder entered and noticed several screens with various pieces of information on it.
"What is this place?" Alder asked, awestruck.
"This is the home of the SPARTAN-IV project."
"Wait... I thought there was only one SPARTAN project."
Shaking his head the man gave Alder a knowing smile.
"Well that was the only one that ONI released to the public. So do you think you have what it takes to be a Spartan?"
Alder couldn't believe it. He had heard stories of the Spartan's, how one of them could hold off horde after horde of Covenant, how the Master Chief had single handedly turned the tide of the war. The Spartans were legendary and most young men aspired to be like them. Now here he was being offered a chance to become a Spartan. This was his chance to find a way back to Elsa, to keep the promise he made to Anna.
After a moments silence he grinned.
"Hell yes."
A/N: And that's that! I tried to keep it as accurate to the timeline of the actual Halo universe as much as possible as it's pretty accurately documented what goes on when. I hope you enjoy this and once again please leave a review if you liked it, disliked it or just want to say hey!
Until next time,
Caedous