Vanguard
Chapter 38
"Setting things straight"
[Hyperspace]
The hatch to the medical bay opened with a hiss allowing Ahsoka to carry the injured James into the room with Lux Bonteri following just behind them.
"Easy now . . ." Tano urged as she helped the SPARTAN towards a bed for him to sit on.
Longarm grimaced in pain as he tried to sit down but he made no grunt or moan of pain. He takes off his helmet, casually tossing it aside, and begins unstrapping the armored vest that was already ruined by the two blast marks that was placed into his back. Once he had done that he drops the armor onto the floor with a heavy thud and Ahsoka began to examine the damage done, as expected the bodysuit was also pierced and compromised so she starts to unzip the suit and pull off the cloth shirt underneath to check on the SPARTAN's actual back which was scarred enough already from past occurrences.
"How bad is it?" James asked calmly.
The bolts had struck his lower left back really close to one another, the zone where they impacted was nothing but smoldering skin and muscle roughly a centimeter deep each while the surrounding areas were red and tense. She gently placed her hand against the redness which received no response from the soldier, but when she touched where the blaster had hit him he flinched with pain but took a deep breath to dull the pain.
She then made her prognosis "Well your armor took most of the hit, but there's still a lot of damage to the tissue. You're lucky you could still feel that. This shouldn't be too much trouble but you'll need to rest for a while."
"Alright, what can we do to treat it?"
"Nothing a couple of pads and bacta won't fix" she answered as she made her way over to a medical cabinet hanging on a wall.
The SPARTAN turned his head towards her and queried "Bacta?"
Lux answered as he leaned his shoulder on the side of the door "A substance that can heal just about everything, two patches should fix your wounds fairly easily."
Tano was already coming back with a pair of bacta patches, white pads that heavily resembles a pad of gauze with four wires running out of the pad with a distinctive blue light shining from the tips. She carefully applies each patch to the affected areas of his back, making sure they're working as designed, and gives the SPARTAN a light pat on the shoulder accompanied by a friendly grin.
"When did you start becoming a medic?" Lux asked sarcastically.
Tano laughed a little and sat up from the bed before giving her own order to James "You get your rest, Lux and I will make sure the Empire won't follow us back to the Vanguard."
He didn't bother to argue with the order and acknowledged with a nod "Yes Ma'am . . ."
She gives a small grin to him before she starts to head over to the hatch, however she stops shortly in front of the door noticing Lux stepping into the bay from the doorway and asks "You coming?"
He replies "In a moment, I'd like to speak with Longarm for a moment."
Ahsoka understood and shrugged "Alright" before she walks out with the hatch sealing behind her.
Bonteri watched as the SPARTAN-ll began to lay back on the bed and take a moment to let out a sigh before getting comfortable. Afterwards the senator walks over and takes a seat in a chair next to the medical cabinet, his eyes were firmly locked on the super soldier who simply gazed up at the ceiling above him seeming unconcerned about what he wanted to talk about.
"So this UNSC . . . how powerful is it?" he asked.
"Politically or military?" Longarm asked, wanting Lux to be more specific.
"Both."
"The UNSC is primarily a militarized branch of the UEG, that's our political body. It governs most of the inner and outer colonies from the core world to the farthest extents of human space, it acts much like your Republic before the Empire."
"And the military?"
The SPARTAN changes the subject "You don't care about the military."
Lux became confused "What?"
"I know why you decided to join us, don't think you can hide things from a SPARTAN."
"What do you mean?"
"Ahsoka, the only reason you joined was because of her" he states as he finally turns his eyes to the senator.
"That's not true- I joined because you asked of me."
Longarm turned and shot the senator a serious glare "No" he said firmly "First you declined to help us fearing the possibility of the Empire bearing down on your homeworld. But after what you saw that night with Ahsoka and I, you couldn't help but get the sense of jealousy and want to be with her again."
Lux made no rebuke, the SPARTAN had him on the spotlight and there was nothing he could do about it, but Longarm continues "I saw how you two were when you danced and I knew that if you joined us because of this intimacy then you would represent a significant danger to our cause."
". . . What do you want from me?"
"I want you to prove to me that bringing you was the right decision. Prove to yourself that you're doing this not just for Tano but for your people and others that fear the Empire."
"And if I can't?"
"We will deal with that if the time comes."
Bonteri didn't like the sound of that last comment, but he sighs and accepts "Alright, I'll try my best . . ."
"That's not good enough. A wise Jedi told me there is no try, you do or you don't."
This made the senator give a small grin, knowing the SPARTAN had aligned himself with the Jedi despite the accusation made by the Empire. Eventually he nods agreeing to do his best no matter the cost not just for Ahsoka but for everyone else in the galaxy under Imperial rule in the hopes that one day the democratic Republic can be restored.
But there were still several unrelated questions that lingered in his mind and he had to ask "So is it true? That you're really from another galaxy?"
Longarm sighed "I told you it doesn't matter to me if you choose to believe it or not. But yes, a friend and I are from another galaxy."
"A friend?"
"Another SPARTAN, Jorge, and a shipborne AI named Percival. And as far as we know we could be the last remnants of the UNSC . . ."
"Ahsoka mentioned that you were at war when you were accidentally transported here . . ."
"You can call it a war- we humans had few victories from time to time and they're costly. Worlds are burned, millions slaughtered regardless of anything, and we are always on the defense rather than taking it to the Covenant themselves. In my eyes it was a hopeless fight for survival."
"We were only able to slow them down, there wasn't enough of us to begin with when we made first contact. At first there was only thirty five of us, but our numbers started to dwindle as the war progressed, now two remains as far as we know."
It was then when Tano's voice called out through the intercom system "Lux I need you in the cockpit now."
Bonteri answered back "Alright I'm coming" as he stood up from his seat and proceeded to head for the door.
But as he nears the door he hears the bed shift behind him, he briefly turns and finds that the soldier had turned on his side away from him showing his broad back, the two bacta patches, and an array of faded scars all over his skin. He only took glimpses of the scars, seeing each that varied in length and shape, before he proceeded to head out and allow the SPARTAN to rest.
As he walked towards the cockpit he couldn't get his mind off of those scars he just saw, there was so many he couldn't count them all in such short time, but he could tell very clearly that each one was deep and aged quite a bit as the scars themselves were somewhat faded but still maintained a clear presence and reminder to the SPARTAN super soldier. He began to assume they were the biochemical and mechanical augmentations that were made to his body to make him far superior compared to any other human alive. To his knowledge he hasn't heard of a military augmenting their soldiers in the same fashion as this 'UNSC' which meant that the militarized organization definitely had a different outlook on matters unlike other militaries.
He eventually reaches the hatch to the cockpit and slides the door open, finding Ahsoka in the pilot seat monitoring the cruiser's systems, and walks in asking "You needed me?"
"Yeah, since we don't have a droid I need you to help monitor the navicomputer so we could avoid the major Imperial systems."
"Alright" he answered as he sat in the co-pilot seat and got to work.
The two briefly fell silent afterwards, Tano tended to the basic needs of the ship's systems while Bonteri did his best monitoring the series of sporadic navigational routes that led them into the middle of nowhere in Unknown Regions, presumably where the Vanguard was hiding for the time being. He started to wonder what the ship was like, coming from another galaxy it almost has him excited but at the same time it frightened him 'If the UNSC was capable of producing such a fearsome soldier, how powerful are their warships?' he wondered.
His ears catches Ahsoka letting out a long exhausted sigh as she laid back in her chair to relax, he had to ask "When was the last time you slept?"
"About a day ago . . ." she answered tiredly.
"Looks like you're the one who really needs rest."
"No I'll be fine, besides the beds on the Vanguard are much better than what this ship has. I just need to stay up until we get home."
Lux didn't want to argue with his friend, knowing she was in no mood to bother, and changes the subject "So what can you tell me about the Vanguard?"
"Where do I even begin?" she wondered herself with a grin "For a military ship, it really feels like a luxury yacht with guns built onto it. Great food, showers, viewports-"
"Beds" he adds.
She chuckled a little "Yeah . . . don't get me started on those. The UNSC hasn't gotten to shielding technology on a large scale for ships but the heavy armor could withstand a few hits from a turbolaser and the weapons can put a whole clean through a droid cruiser easy, I've seen it myself."
"Seriously? What kind of weapons does it have?"
"Anti-ship and fighter missiles, mass driver flak batteries, and two gigantic slugthrowers the UNSC calls a Magnetic Accelerator Cannon. They also have a nuclear warhead they call a SHIVA . . . only once did they have to use it during the battle of the Null Sector, wiped out an entire separatist fleet."
"Nuclear? Is that even legal now? And a bit primitive?"
"Not in the UNSC, supposedly every ship carries them as standard issue."
This was the very thing Bonteri was nervous about, not fully realizing how much of a danger the Vanguard poses to its enemies. But it also started to relieve him knowing how much of that danger is actually on his side, he could only hope that Longarm and the UNSC had been using that power respectfully.
"What else is there to the ship?" he asked, wanting to know more about the vessel.
"Other than heavy weapons and armor, it's pretty slow compared to our ships so the only way we can make faster travels is if this cruiser is docked with it so Percival could draw power."
"Percival?" he wondered.
"The ship's AI, he runs the entire Vanguard all by himself with some hands on maintenance from the boys. He even allowed me access to some of their historical records which I took interest in."
"That's nice . . . but what about this 'Jorge' I heard about?"
"Oh . . ." Tano chirped, not truly sure what to make of the other SPARTAN but eventually something came to mind, "Well he's kind of a gentle giant when he's not fighting, always caring and sort of the bigger brother of the two, but truthfully I can sense the depression in him. He really misses his home just like Longarm."
"I don't blame them. But in combat what is he like?"
"Like a walking fortress."
"That's putting it brief."
"It's true, nobody messes with Jorge."
"And what about Longarm? To be honest I haven't seen him in action since I was stuffed in a crate."
"He's a dedicated soldier and someone I can call a friend after I left the order. He's been there for me whenever I needed him . . . he even went as far as to head into the temple alone to find survivors just for my sake. I don't know if I'll be able to thank him for that . . ."
"Knowing people like that, I don't think he'll expect anything in return . . ."
She turned her head towards him, the senator was gazing out into the stars passing by, "You sure?"
"Of course" he replied, not taking his eyes off the viewport, "Even if he is from another galaxy, I'm sure he's one of those people you're really lucky to have by your side."
"Thanks . . ." she answered with a gentle grin, but as she turned her eyes back to space she began to wonder herself about something that hasn't seemed to bother her until now.
Ever since first meeting James months ago he has gone to great lengths for her, from merely handing her a pistol to use to actually launching an assault on the Imperial held Jedi Temple to save her fellow Jedi alone, and has not asked for a single thing in return. How could she afford to return the favor to him for everything he and Jorge had done for her? Credits had deemed little interest from them, they had all the guns and ammunition they'll ever need to keep themselves and those they protect alive and well, and who needs an extra ship when you already have a destroyer like the Vanguard, a gift perhaps but what could they possibly need or want? Every possibility that popped in her mind was immediately dashed away, not once did either SPARTAN mention what they desire or hope for other than doing their jobs the right way. The more she thought the more she began to feel guilty about it, not having shown any hint of reward for their hard efforts, and felt she needed to give them something.
Bonteri took a glimpse at her and noticed her worried expression, he had to ask "Something wrong?"
"I need to thank them for everything they've done . . . why else would they go through with what they did?"
"Hmm . . ." he wondered, then he grinned a little "Maybe you should ask him. I'll keep watch until I need you."
The togruta figured this may be the only way to find out and agreed to his suggestion with a subtle nod before she stood up from her seat and head for the hatch.
[Medbay]
A light knocking came on the metal door, there was no response to greet it, and moments later it hissed open granting Ahsoka access into the bay. There she found the commando resting rather peacefully in bed, something she never saw the SPARTAN ever do since they first met, and the pieces of armor still lying on the cold floor. She steps over to the bed, where James is currently resting on his side with his bare upper body was exposed to the cool circulated air that ran throughout the ship, and kneeled down so she could check the bacta patches still doing work over the blast marks the soldier had sustained when he jumped in front of her and took the hit himself. It made her wonder how selfless the SPARTANs could be, willing to risk their own valuable lives for others like her. Perhaps it was a baseline instinct that drove James to do what he did so recklessly, maybe he realized the potential she had to become something greater, maybe he done it knowing he had a higher chance to survive than her.
The thoughts swirled in her mind endlessly, but eventually she puts them to rest and gently places her right hand over the soldier's shoulder. She received no response but her hand was welcomed by the SPARTAN's radiating warmth from his muscular skin, it seemed a long time since she did that, and she started to gently run her hand back and forth over his shoulder. Her eyes went on to stare at the heavy scarring on his back, the wounds themselves never seem to go away always reminding James of what he is, a soldier designed for nothing but war. She had to wonder, what could have he become if he wasn't a SPARTAN?
It was then when he woke up and realized her hand was on his shoulder, without moving he asks in his usual calm manner "Something you need?"
He felt the togruta take her hand off of him, prompting him to turn over and see her kneeling down by his bed, she answered "Nothing . . . I was just thinking about things."
"Sounds vague."
"Yeah . . ." she responded as she stood up and took a spot on the chair that sat close by.
"So what was it?" he asked as he sat up in his bed, grimacing briefly when a slight sting shot through his system.
She sighs for a moment to clear her mind then asks "Why did you do those things?"
"Things? You need to be a little more specific" he asked with a small grin.
"The things you did for me, fighting alongside me, taking on the task of going into the temple alone just to save a few Jedi, and taking the hit for me when you did . . . why?"
Then his grin faded away "You think it's a matter of choice?"
She nodded.
"Well for the most part it isn't, it's something we SPARTANs have become so accustomed to doing. Protecting the innocent where ever they may be. Honestly at first I was confused, scared even when you think about it, but even during the times of making repairs to the Vanguard I still didn't know what to do. Until I woke up in your apartment."
"We fought each other remember?"
"I remember, but because of that I gained a sense of direction again. Especially after our first talk where you found out I was from another galaxy. But after that point I felt as if I had a new purpose again, something of equal value to all of humanity."
"What're you trying to say?"
"When Percival and I crash landed on Saleucami, I was broken, scared, and confused. But after I met you I knew that life had given me a new mission, to ensure I do what I can for the people of this galaxy just like the one I left before. You must be thinking about how you could ever repay me for everything I've done, but in reality I'm repaying the favor to you. What you gave me is something I, as a SPARTAN and a man, can never truly repay you for even if it took me centuries beyond my time. You don't have to thank me. But . . . you have mine."
Ahsoka was speechless, she wanted to say something but no words came to her mind, never once had she thought there was someone so selfless in this galaxy let alone another one, but here he is sitting down in front of her with bandages she placed on his back. The only thing she could do was to offer a small smile, and as she thought about it she realized the moment was somewhat romantic in a way but she didn't let that idea get too far in her head.
She had to change the subject before anything could happen next "How's your wounds?"
"Between SPARTANs' accelerated healing process and the bacta patches, they're doing fine . . . thanks" he answered.
"Think you can move on your own?"
The SPARTAN promptly stood up from his bed, standing tall and proud, and responded "I should be fine."
"Good" she replied as she picked up his ODST styled shirt and hands it to him "It shouldn't be long before we make it back home."
"That's fine . . ." he answered as he puts the shirt on covering his bare chest, afterwards he sits back down in the bed planning to rest just a bit more.
But something began to bother her, something she didn't to talk about but she felt that James was trustworthy, she then spoke "Listen, uh . . ." she stuttered.
"What is it?" he asks.
She couldn't figure out why this subject was giving her a hard time but she did her best to explain it "About earlier, during the Ball-"
"Don't worry about it."
She stopped "What?"
"What happened back at the Ball, between you and me, don't worry about it."
"Wait it doesn't bother you?"
"No . . . why is it bothering you?"
"I-I don't know, I shouldn't have brought it up."
The SPARTAN's piercing blue eyes stared into the togruta's "Ahsoka, if there's one thing I know is that if you keep it under it's going to dwell on you until you let it out. Tell me what's wrong . . ."
"Will you be honest with me?" she asks with some hope in her voice.
"Have I ever lied to you?"
That was all Ahsoka wanted to hear, then she asks her real question "What did you feel when we kissed?"
He states "I'm not sure why you would be worked up about it."
"Just answer the question."
He then sighs "Honestly, I have never been so afraid in my life."
"Really?"
"Mhm . . ."
"Why?"
"Because this was the one of the few things we SPARTANs never thought would really happen to people like us. We're soldiers to the very end, we're not politicians, peacekeepers, civilians."
"But in the end you're still human . . . through and through. Guess that's why you were so afraid."
He chuckles "Hmph . . . the thought of that. A veteran super soldier braving through roughly thirty years of war against a hostile alien threat, showing no fear or hesitation, and becomes scared to the core by a kiss."
Tano had to laugh too, the idea was all too hilarious for her, then she realized that she and the SPARTAN had never had a moment together like this it was calm and relaxing, every other time they've either been fighting, planning for the next fight, or worry about the state of the galaxy. Never once did they have the time to sit down and talk about something that wasn't deemed important to their greater goal. It was a good feeling to start.
James had to ask "So . . . what did you feel?"
"What?" she asked, caught off guard for a moment after the short laugh.
"I was scared as hell, what did you feel?"
"Oh . . . I guess- I really don't know. To be honest it was something Lux did to me when we were in the middle of a Deathwatch camp."
"So it was the only thing that came to mind."
"Yeah . . . I guess it was a bit relaxing, especially when you're standing in the middle of a room full of imperials."
"Relaxing would be a good word to describe it."
The two fell into a moment of silence afterwards, Tano glanced about around the room while James's eyes fell to the floor beneath him. The kiss couldn't be the only thing they can talk about, the must've been other things. Then the togruta remembers something.
"You noticed Bayu was really sad to see you go on this mission . . ." she starts.
He looks up to her with a half-sided grin "Hmph, imagine how she'll feel when she finds out I've been shot."
"And as much as Cain and Lador hate to know it, she sees you as a surrogate father to her."
"I know, she never wants me to leave her sight. To be honest I'm glad she has someone to look up to, I just don't want that someone to be me . . ."
Ahsoka's expression turned perplexed "What do you mean?"
He decides to answer that with a question "Do you think it's wise to have a young girl to look up to a SPARTAN super soldier as a role model? I don't want her to start following in my footsteps."
She got up from her seat and headed over to James where she sits down next to him, she understood how the sniper felt on this particular subject, her voice was calm and "Then you need to tell her, hopefully she'll understand."
"And if she doesn't?"
"Then she will eventually . . . but the most important thing you have to do is to not push her away. You're the only one she really cares about and listens to, she needs you more than anything right now to help her."
He lets out a small sigh "Maybe you're right . . . I can't afford to lose sight of what matters besides than Covenant and the Empire. I still have a duty to uphold to Cila, Jorge and Percival, the Jedi . . . and to you."
Tano gives a warm smile to hear that, she was glad to have this SPARTAN on her side ready to take on anything that would ever present themselves as a threat to those he could begin to call family.
Eventually the two began to share a grin with each other until the intercom came to life and Lux's voice crackled through "Ahsoka I think we're arriving at our destination . . . I'm picking something an unusual signal from a ship."
That prompted the two to stand up on their feet, James collecting the fallen pieces of armor he had taken off, and head out of the medical bay with Ahsoka taking the lead.
It wasn't long before the two entered the cockpit to see Bonteri's worried face and the flow of stars beginning to rupture as a sign of an inevitable drop out of Hyperspace. But to Lux's surprise neither seemed worried at all, especially Longarm who stood patiently for their arrival.
Ahsoka took up her seat at the helm and made preparations for the drop out, the SPARTAN began to talk "Senator, what you're about to see is our most dangerous asset to this rebellion that you will ignite. While you are our voice that will cry for revolution, we are the spear and shield that will strike down the Empire and protect the innocent. But this vessel is our tip of that spear."
The stars began to distort and warp, Lux couldn't help but fixate his eyes on the stars ahead of them until they finally broke apart and the blackness of normal space came back into view. But what immediately caught his attention was the array of lights emitting from this massive four hundred-eighty five meter long angular vessel that sported a jet black finish and a heavily armored angular design. The warship floated off in the distance but as the small sixty four meter long cruiser closed in the senator could make out the more finer details, such as twin-barreled point defense guns, missile silos lining the outer titanium alloy hull, and the two massive stacked barrels on the ship's prow that indicated it as the destroyer's primary armament. He had never seen such a warship or even one of its design architecture in his life, and as they glided into position along the ship's starboard hull he could make out the large bold white letters and numbers printed in English but he couldn't quite read it:
UNSC DDH-151 VANGUARD
The SPARTAN then welcomed their newest member to their rebellion "Welcome aboard the UNSC Vanguard . . ."
I'm sorry it's been a while since the last update, I sort of lost the motive to write due to family, work, and friends. But I'm back in action and more chapters will follow soon.
As always leave your thoughts and comments. Thank you.
