So the plan for now is to take the story itself a little slowly now so I can get back into the swing of things. When I planned the story out it was mainly major events and such, the filler stuff in between was given little thought so I have to take a little more time on it so I know how to move into the next 'arc' we could say. Either way, enjoy!
Chapter 9: Breaking down barriers
"What!?"
"That black ops team is on the way up, two of them are already inside and rushing the elevator!" I looked back towards the door and realised they'd be here in less than a minute. Grabbing my rifle I rushed out of the room, looking around for possible exits. My eyes met the window, it was my only chance of getting out. As I approached it I noticed there was no lock, it was another sensor lock. I looked around for another route of escape when the radio sparked back to life with Katy's voice in my ears.
"They've all gotten in the elevator and the doors of it have closed, you gotta hurry!" Things were getting close, and there was no other chance of escape. I could fight them off and rush out of the front. But I'd more than likely be seen by those on the parade grounds. I'd be overwhelmed. I could rush the vehicles on the side of the building, but chances are they have another kind of sensor lock on them. Becoming lost in thought I had all but forgotten about the elevator, hearing it clunk into the roof. It was too late. The doors slammed open and a group of four black armoured soldiers quickly made a move to corner me near the window. I raised my rifle to meet theirs, constantly switching targets to keep them away from me. It was then she came out of the elevator, the female officer. She walked with the nobility and pride, but her face stern and unflinching.
"We went to some trouble to lure you here, set up a base, posted a garrison, even made a plan to overwhelm your base with robotic units. All of it to capture at least one of you." Her voice was like the way she looked. Elegant and beautiful, but still holding that subtle harshness. As I continued to switch my rifle between targets I noticed something hanging from her hip. A sword of sorts, more than likely her own means of offence and defence, but alongside it was a card, most likely an identification card. Bringing my head back quickly I noticed the two frontal soldiers had switched out their rifles for knives.
"I didn't want to resort to violence, but in order to keep you getting away we have to injure you to the point of not being able to walk. I guess it's worth it for all the trouble it took us to find your little listening post." She knew? I guess we were a little close for comfort anyway, was bound to happen. As this thought went through my mind the left soldier lunged at me, and I quickly countered by bringing my rifle across his arm, pushing his blade out of the way while also pivoting on my foot to slam my elbow into his head. The other one began his attack from a lower angle, allowing me to bring my right foot back, which was his target and cause him to collapse to the floor. Throwing the butt of my rifle in the head of the first soldier I also lowered myself in order to catch the second soldiers arm and twist it, causing him enough pain to drop the knife straight into my hand. The other soldiers followed their allies lead and attacked me with knives. The third soldier tried to slash down from above, but I caught his arm with both my wrists locking in a 'V' shape, bringing his knife around to deflect the fourth soldiers. Throwing him over my shoulder into the second soldier, knocking them both out next to the first the fourth soldiers tired to stab me in the throat. Quickly side-stepping I caught his arm in single handed lock lock, dropped the knife and pulled my pistol from my holster, smashing him over the back of the head and then aiming at the female officer. Her men were subdued. A quick look of anger crossed her face before it went back to the usual appearance, which was quickly led by her slowly walking towards me, sword drawn.
"I figured as much. Even our best soldiers are no match for you. But I assure you, I won't be as easy a challenge." As she got closer I heard a small ding to my left. Quickly shooting my eyes over I saw the door marked 'Schnee' light up green around it's border. Guess I knew who she was now. My eyes darting back to her I noticed her card lit up green as well. Maybe... If I could just get her to come closer. She continued to approach, ten metres, eight metres, five metres. Then a ding behind me.
"Do you have anything to say at all? You've been too quiet." Looking her in the eyes I took a step back, while holstering my pistol.
"Ya, bye." I leaped out the window, hearing her sudden footsteps try to follow me. Landing on my feet twenty metres down I looked up to see her face, full of fury. Quickly flicking my fingers at her I began to run towards the entrance I came from. Obviously an alarm began to sound and soldiers everywhere began looking about, confused and frantic. In the confusion I was actually able to make it to the gate due to my OPERATOR helmet being similar to theirs in a way, along my armour colour being close enough to theirs, allowing me to post as one of them from afar. It was only when I made it to the gate I heard shouts behind me, the female officer was barking orders and pointing in my direction. Turning I saw a tracer round hit the weapon of one of the remaining black ops troopers, while at the same time the radio cackled back to life.
"Keep going, sir, we've got your back." I saw multiple tracers rounds go overhead, turning to see them hit only weapons and very few joints to temporarily disable their men. Glad that my team was following instructions I kept on running till I found Sam. Turning around and holstering his BR55 he joined me in sprinting up to the listening post where the other three were located. Rounds still being fired we made it up there in less than twenty seconds. As we entered Barry had already handed me communication equipment.
"The hog is two clicks out" he began. "If we hurry and leave no crucial gear behind we can make it without being caught." Giving him a nod the entire team went about gathering gear, excluding Katy, who was still putting out rounds to keep them from getting close. That was until we heard her rifle click.
"I'm dry!" She yelled out, leaping to her feet and switching her SRS for the DMR. It didn't matter anyway, we had to move and I could already hear footsteps coming up the hill, fast. Telling my team to double time it we sprinted off into the direction of the warthog, stopping only for a second or two to shoot behind us to slow our determined pursuers down. We made it about one click in, repeating this process every ten seconds before we heard sounds overhead. Ships, and not our ships. Three enemy drops ships had circled us over head, with the front one dropping about then soldiers, with three black ops units mixed in. We stopped dead in our tracks, aiming our weapons at them, not firing due to them holding fire.
"Boss, what's the game plan!" Thinking for a moment I yelled out to form a circle to keep and eye on the other twenty soldiers, six black ops included who had surrounded us. No one fired a shot and we kept switching initial targets in order to be ready for the first shot, if it ever fired. Looking dead ahead I saw the units Katy and I were watching split in half, allowing both the female and male officers to approach. While the female still held her usual demeanour, the male officer looked rather troubled, even when he began to try and speak.
"Alright, let's all calm down, lower our guns and talk this ov-"
"Take them!" The female officers voice boomed over the males, causing all of the soldiers to rush us. Knowing full well this was going to be fought in close quarters I quickly holstered my rifle, along with Katy and we rushed the first unit. Smashing my fist into the first regular soldier, I grabbed his rifle and swung it around to knock another out. As this happened my instincts and Spartan reflexes brought my hand up to catch another soldiers arm with my forearm, stopping his knife in the air. Grabbing his arm I twisted it, causing him to scream in pain before I shoved him into another soldier, who was unable to get up under his weight. Seeing two blacks op units approach me I noticed Katy has just finished with her fourth trooper. As both black ops units rushed towards me with knives in hand I elbowed one in the face, stepping out of the way of his knife, while bringing my hand down to catch the others knife. Squeezing my hand hard enough to cause him to drop his knife I pushed him towards Katy, who threw him over her shoulder via his neck and cause him to pass out. Bringing my attention back to the other black ops unit I picked him up, planted my hand on his helmet and brought his head down onto the ground hard, knocking him out instantly. Both Katy and I looked back up to see the female and male officer starting in what could have been disbelief and amazement mixed. I could hear the sounds of the others mopping up their troops, but this ended quickly, leading to them rejoining us. As we stood before the two the male officer went to speak again, only to be interrupted by the rasp of the female officers blade leaving her scabbard. At the same time a majority of the soldiers who we had fought began to get back on their feet. Arming themselves once more. Signalling for my team to take the others, I walked towards the female officer who was ignoring the orders to stand down from the other.
Not two steps were taken before she had tried to lunge through me with blinding speed. I was nearly hit square in the stomach before I stepped to the side and let her blade impale itself into the tree. Turning around, drawing her sword out of the tree she gave me a look of fury. Blind fury. She might have a form of 'white-line fever', but for battle instead of sport. Trying to charge me again she swung her blade to and fro, not in wild movements, but in controlled, powerful and deadly swings. Each time I was either able to avoid them or deflect with my combat knife. But I wasn't able to push back either. Slowly I was being pushed back into a tree, until I finally made contact. As my back was planted against the wood, nowhere to go she brought up her sword, ready to slice me right across my chest. Her sword came at me with speed and power I'd never seen before, but thankfully I was able to catch her arm in a 'V' lock as I leant to the right, just as she took out the tree behind me, and somehow, the five behind that. For a moment her face showed a look of disbelief, as if what was happening shouldn't be possible. Seeing my chance I brought my knife up across her arm, planting the blade against her wrist I flung it away from her body, causing her blade to twist in a way that made her let go of her sword. Now disarmed I grabbed her now weapon less arm and used it to fling her to the ground, drawing my pistol and causing her to sit-up in shock. I had won.
I assumed she thought I was going to kill her, up until I offered her my hand to help her up. Her face looked... calm for a moment, as if surprised and lost in thought. But this quickly changed as she hit my hand away, grabbed her sword and stepped back to the male officer. As she did so I noticed that my team had finished dealing with the other soldiers and came up next to me. Franklin came up on my left, raising his rifle at both officers, but I quickly planted my hand on it, pushing it down.
"Well, I guess that means you want to talk?" Turning my head back to the male officer who had just spoken I gave a slow nod.
"If you wouldn't mind." Before we knew it, more than triple the numbers of soldiers that we faced had just surrounded us, all weapons trained on us. The male officer stepped forward, continuing to speak.
"Unfortunately, my superiors want to do this Winter's way, and take you in for proper questioning." As he spoke a drop ship landed behind the now somewhat smug female officer, opening it's bay doors.
"If you wouldn't mind?" she said, stepping to the side as if inviting us. I looked between both the officers, eyeing them up until I responded.
"No, not all of us." This caught both of them off guard, and caused drastically opposite reactions.
"Excuse me!?" the female officer announced, nearly yelling. This was met by her being silenced by the other officer.
"What do you mean by 'all of us'?"
"I mean we're all not going" I responded. "There is no way I'm letting my team be taken prisoner." The male officer seemed to be lost in thought for a moment, before his face lit up once more, and idea obviously formed in his head.
"Well, we are willing to take just one." I thought about this for a moment. If only one of us were taken, then the others could report back and help defend the FOB. Along with this if a rescue mission was required it could be staged from there. But who should be sent? As if I didn't already know the answer I looked back up to the male officer and answered.
"If I go with you, alone, will you allow my team to be given safe passage back to our FOB?."
"Yes, of course" the male officer replied. "All I ask for is a cease of offensive operations." I told him this would happen and agreed to these conditions.
"Boss, you can't! This is insane." I ignored Franklin's comments and saw that the male officers face had lit up, as if thankful for the cease in hostility.
"Alright, one of you it is. You're team is free to head back home." He turned around with the now sour looking female officer and walked towards the drop ship. I turned around handing my weapons to my team and looked at Barry.
"You're in charge of Raven while I'm gone. Report back, defend the FOB, and await my return, clear?" He looked down at the knife I gave him, almost like he wanted to argue my decision, but quickly looked up again.
"Understood, sir. And if you need us to, we will come for you." I gave him a nod and tapped his shoulder in goodbye. This was all moving too fast for any of us, but to allow them to go free without resorting to more combat I had to do this. As promised their forces left my team to leave as soon as I boarded the drop ship, which took off high into the air, heading opposite to the base and our FOB. I sat down adjacent towards the male and female officer, who were both looking me up and down. The male had an almost relieved face, as if he wanted to avoid any more unneeded violence, while the female still looked slightly sour, but still pleased with her catch. The silence was maintained for several minutes until the male spoke.
"You could remove your helmet if you want?" My silence seemed to be more than enough for an answer to him, as he quickly looked away again. I looked out of the window towards the landscape, wondering why the hell I allowed for this to happen.
Three hours later, UNSC FOB
"And from there he allowed himself to be captured in order to let us free." The captain was rubbing her hands across her eyes until she began to speak.
"So tell me Raven-2, why didn't you tell us about any of this."
"Raven-1 believed because we, as Spartans operate outside of regular naval matters we should be doing what we do best. Operating alone. Along with this communications were down and we couldn't radio back to you or FOB." She shook her head at this.
"Inexcusable, but we have to adjust to the situation. Do we know where they are headed." Barry looked down at his pad as if to confirm something and nodded.
"Yes, ma'am. While they were taking off and no one was looking I launched a tracking device onto the ship. We can follow if it required."
"Do so, and I want good news next time." As the communication feed shut down Raven team stood in silence for a moment, until it was broken by Franklin.
"She seems pissed for some other reason, I just can't put my finger on it..." Everyone else seemed to ignore him as Katy walked up to Barry.
"You're the boss now Raven-2. What are our orders?" He turned around, looking at each Spartan individually. That was until he had come up with a plan.
"We follow them. We're not attacking anything, rescuing anyone or destroying any buildings. We preform as much recon as possible and try and find a way to get out of this mess." The nods from the team was the green light for Barry, more than enough to commence a mission to get his team lead back.
Altesian military headquarters, two hours later.
The room was well lit, spacious and seemed quite comforting. That is if it wasn't an interrogation room, with naught but four chairs, a table and a voice recorder. I sat across from the two officers, who I know knew as Winter, and Ironwood. The female and male respectively. We had sat here for a few minutes, with both officers preparing to ask questions based on who I was, what I was doing here and why I had come. And I was already impatient with the waiting after ten seconds. Soon enough Ironwood began to speak. "Well, I guess it's only wise to ask who, or what you are first, right?" I looked him in the eye under my helmet, and answered promptly.
"Who I am is classified, what I am is clear, and why I am here I am yet to know?" He sighed at this, with the female officer giving me an odd look, but when back to writing things quick enough.
"Alright then, how about you take your helmet off, get comfortable."
"Why are you so keen to make me take my helmet off?" He shrugged at this.
"I guess it's the safety of knowing who we are talking to that helps with asking these sorts of questions. The psychological stuff, you understand?" I didn't agree with him, but peace with these people is ideal, so I have to play along, at least for now. I removed my helmet and placed it on the table.
"I am a Spartan-III of the UNSC's Spartan Program, designed to help combat the covenant. And from what I assume your people on this planet are a missing colony of the UNSC." Ironwood looked taken aback at this, the sudden surge of information and such. Looking over to Winter he wanted her to write this down, but soon noticed she was lost. Her eyes were glued to me and her mouth was slightly open, as if she was transfixed on me. He waved his hand in front of her eyes, which was more than enough to wake her up. Quickly writing down what I had said the questions continued.
"Well, the big question is, where are you from?"
"Me, Classified. But we came from Reach." An odd look came from Ironwood.
"Reach?"
"Yes, a military based planet belonging to the UNSC." Another look came across his face resembling confusion. But this time it seemed to happen to Winter as well.
"By, planet, you mean in space, right?" I gave another nod.
"Yes, and that question alone confirms my suspicions that you have no idea about the UNSC or the war. If you like I could go into detail about that?" He turned to Winter and said something under his breath, most likely telling her to record all of this down. Facing me again he said he would like that. I went into detail about everything not classified. The war, the UNSC, the Covenant, everything. With every new detail about us, the UNSC and what we have done I could feel both Winter and Ironwood shrink under me, as if scared of what I was capable of.
"I... I see. Where you're from, a space faring organisation, you've been doing whatever you can to ensure humanities survival?"
"Yes, with our lives if need be."
"Then, we're not so different in a way, right? We fight to ensure humanities survival on this world only, but the idea is still the same." I couldn't help but agree. While our wars are vastly different in how they are waged, the technology used and the scale, we both fight for our races survival.
"Moving on, the information you've given me makes it sound as if you ended up here by accident, as if you didn't mean to, quote on quote 'invade' us?"
"Absolutely" I responded. "We happened upon this planet in one of our operations which I cannot go into detail about, and we have no way of leaving the planets orbit without risking all lives on our ship. We were hoping to make planet fall to ask for the help of the local populace, but ended up in a hostile engagement with your forces, leading to us making a cold war of sorts." Ironwood looked confused at the term 'cold war' unsure of what it meant, but decided to keep the interview going. When he was sure Winter had recorded that he spoke once more.
"A large majority of the information surrounding you... 'Spartans' was it?"
"Spartan-III's in my case, yes."
"Right, Spartans" he repeated. "You make it sound as if you are, disposable. Why is that? Wouldn't warriors of your calibre be more appreciated, or valued?" This was crossing into some territory I shouldn't talk about. But, seeing as trust is the biggest part of making peace, I should trust them with this information.
"It's not that we aren't appreciated, or valued, but because we have to. The two reasons is one, the war demands we put ourselves on the very brink of death everyday in order to ensure our survival, and two, because of us being Spartan-III's alone." As Winter continued to record the information, glancing up every so often, Ironwood still didn't look convinced with my answer.
"Could you elaborate on that last part?" I shrugged.
"I can't really. Pretty much all information regarding us is classified and under lock and key, a key no one can find. If I tell you, can you assure me only the two of you would ever know about this?"
Ironwood gave a nod and Winter, while hesitant placed the writing utensils down, as if complying with my request. With this I began to speak.
"The Spartan-III program was made to create disposable super-soldiers. We do suicide missions, expect high casualties and are more than likely not to come back from our first mission. All of us were orphans before, and pushed into service as Spartan-III's." It was at this moment Winter first spoke, with a hint of sadness in her voice.
"You were conscripted as children? You didn't have a choice?" I shook my head.
"No, we didn't. But our families, our friends. They were all taken away by the covenant. So when we were taken, none of us argued. Some of us were even thankful for the chance to get payback. Me, I don't care. All I want is an end to the war. I don't more people to die, and if I have to use my life for that to happen, so be it." I went silent again, allowing them to take this information in. Winter had regained her composure, but still looked shocked in way. Ironwood stood up and asked for Winter to join him outside. As they left I was alone in the room. I sat there for about ten minutes, waiting before the door had opened again. Ironwood walked in alone and began to speak.
"Due to us having to... process some of this information, we'll end the questions for the day there. We'll continue later but for now we'll show you to the room you'll be staying in. You'll also have full access to the gym if you wish to spend time there, along with the courtyard. But if you leave your personal room you must take your escort with you, alright?"
"Understood. And this escort is?" He chuckled, as if enjoying some sort of game.
"Winter will be your escort. Treat her well and she will treat you the same way back. I'll be talking to you again tomorrow." With that, he left the room and walked down the hallway to the right. As he did so I noticed Winter was standing in the hallway, looking away from me.
"Come on" she said, telling me to follow her. I see why he enjoyed assigning her, as if he knew she held some sort of resentment against me. I got up from my seat while putting my helmet back on, left the room and followed her down the left side of the hallway. We walked in silence as she kept an even walking pace in time with mine. We kept walking down long hallways, passing soldiers every minute or so. Each of them looking at me with either fear, amazement, or a mixture of both. It took about eight minutes to reach the room I would be staying in. Winter stepped to the side and pressed a button on the door, letting it slide open.
"If you need anything you need to press the intercom button on the inside. If it's food you wait until all other soldiers have left the mess hall." I gave her a nod and walked into the room. It was similar to the rest of the building. White, wooden finish and comforting. There was a soft looking bed, a desk with pens and paper, a doorway to what I assumed was a bathroom and a couch in the back corner. The door behind me closed and I heard Winter walk away from the door. She was stern, that's for sure. But in a good way I guess. As soon as I thought the coast was clear I activated my radio.
"Raven, are you there? If not are any UNSC units on this net?" Silence, not even a cackle. Figures, I must be out of range. Way out of range. I sighed and took my helmet off, chucking it onto the bed and then sat down at the desk. I was at least making some sort of peace with these people, but being out of contact with my team wasn't the best of situations. If they tried to launch a rescue operation it could jeopardize everything I'm trying to do. I sat back and thought about the situation I was in, and the people around me right now. Ironwood seemed nice enough, and was more than keen to see an end to any hostility between our groups. The soldiers were the same in a way. They had seemed distant at first, but warmed up to me. And then there was her. Winter was... different. She was cunning, strong and beautiful. Her presence both calming and warm.
Shaking my head I tried to drop that from my mind. I began to think about how I could pull this off. If I play my cards right, get friendly enough with both of them I could actually form an alliance between us, which could lead to us getting back to Reach. I closed my eyes and dozed for a moment, breathing slowly and letting my thoughts run free for a moment. But no matter what I did I always ended up thinking of either my team doing something to mess this up, or her...
Sighing I got up and paced the room for a bit, thinking of what I should do with this free time. I looked at the clock and was thankful they used the same digital system as us. It was late, about half past eleven. No one would be up and about, and chances are the entire facility would be clear of soldiers, excluding the barracks. Thinking about what I could do an idea popped in my head, one that could help me in the long run. I pressed a button on the intercom and told Winter I'd like to go to the mess hall.
"I'll be there in a moment." She sounded annoyed, like I was interrupting something. Soon enough she opened my door and led me to the mess hall, saying she would be staying with me till I was finished. I agreed and followed her, once again getting odd looks from soldiers as we made our way there. Could be a good chance to get on her good side.
Eighteen kilometres south
"The tracker says we're eighteen clicks out of his location. I'd say another hour and we'd be close enough to start setting up shop." Barry's announcement put Raven on edge. Being this close to an enemy HQ could prove to be negative to the situation at hand. Trudging behind Barry Katy began to speak.
"What if he's trying to bring about peace in there? For all we know he's made a deal of sorts and our presence here could throw the whole thing in the bin." Barry kept looking forward, keeping up a firm jogging pace.
"As I said, this is purely a recon mission. We're not going to be infiltrating anything or 'rescuing' anyone unless we need to. All I want to do ensure his safety." Silence crept over the area again as the distance began to close, with the entire team concentrating on moving through the tough terrain. Not twenty minutes passed until the team found themselves on a large mountain, which thankfully overlooked the HQ in question.
"Looks like we've found our building. Sam, you packed the long distance scope, right?"
"What, did you think I wouldn't?" Sam replied, pulling out a piece of equipment resembling binoculars on stilts, setting them up and then focusing them in on the base in question.
"Clear as rain. Take a look R-2." Sam's joke didn't amuse anyone, with the entire unit agreeing to leave that area to Franklin. Barry then got on his stomach as the others began to set up tents, camouflage and other facilities. The building itself was a mixture between what looked to be an old government complex and newer, more military centred buildings. Barracks, armouries and hangers mixed with regal and posh hallways, gardens and yards. And everywhere he looked, guards, donning the white colour scheme. The entire complex was littered with at least a hundred armed guards in view at all times. Some doing their job well, others sitting around, talking. But all of them still alert and aware to their surroundings. Wherever their man was, he'd most likely have at least a dozen of these guys around him.
Present time, Altesian Military Headquarters, Mess Hall
"Are you sure you aren't going to eat anything? From what I remember I've been near you for six hours now and you've not eaten a bite." Winter scoffed at me as I set my tray down.
"I'm fine. Just hurry up and eat so I can go to sleep." Her attitude went back to the stubborn side,the side that Ironwood told be would break down eventually. Yet she made it seem as if that would never happen. We were in the mess hall, which was devoid of all life excluding us. I sat down and took up the knife and fork, slowly eating the meal set-out before me. For the lower training standards and equipment strength, their cooking surpassed ours by centuries. The food seemed simple enough, beans, corned beef, vegetables, basic stuff. But the way it tasted, along with the textures just made it so much more enjoyable than anything the UNSC had to offer. Every so often I would notice Winter looking at me, only for her to look away when I returned the glance. After about ten minutes and halfway through my food I began to ask her questions.
"So, where are you from?"
"E-excuse me?" I looked up at her.
"Where are you from? You local to the area or?" Another scoff told me she didn't want to answer any questions, especially from me.
"Alright, I can take a hint." Returning to my meal the silence was short lived.
"I'm from Atlas." Looking up again she was looking down at the table to avoid eye contact.
"I was raised from nobility, ended up attending a hunter school and then enlisted after graduation. My entire life was planned from the beginning. I didn't have a choice until I graduated, when I decided to take control of my life and enlist." Finishing the food in my mouth I responded.
"So you were meant to become a noble as well? Fancy dress parties, gatherings and charity events?" She nodded.
"Something like that?" She didn't speak any further, allowing me to ask another question.
"So, that black ops unit, they with you? You train them?" She regained her usual composure and spoke.
"Most of that information is classified, but yes, I did train them." I nodded.
"You trained them well. They move quick, and with purpose. Good teacher I supposed." She seemed unchanged at this, and still remained silent, but for a second I thought I caught a hint of a smile forming.
"Any family or close friends? Brothers, sisters, boyfriend?" Her face turned red at this and she quickly looked away.
"No! Not at all!" Could be a touchy subject, I decided not to dig further.
"Well, a brother and sister. But that's all I'm going to say." Nodding I placed my knife and fork into the middle of the plate, getting up to put them away.
"Why are you asking me these questions anyway? What do you have to gain?" I looked back down to her, seeing a face stern, but inquisitive. I smiled at her, responding after a few seconds.
"A friend." Her face seemed to calm a bit, until she looked back down, averting my gaze.
"Meet me by the door, I want to go to bed." She quickly got up and walked towards the door. Don't know why she seemed to act strange like that, considering Ironwood's description of her, but I shrugged. Could be a quirk of hers. Either way I felt I was making progress, which was crucial to the goal of friendship between our groups. Placing my tray in the used section and donning my helmet I headed towards the door, seeing Winter standing by it. As we walked back to my room I began to think to myself, what do we do after peace is attained?