Chief and Cortana held position outside a Ten Rings-controlled encampment nearby the mountains. Night had long-ago fallen on the country of Afghanistan as the two maintained watch over the target and the man had to be judicious about his use of ammunition at this point. He was running low on everything both pistol and assault rifle ammo, meaning he had to go more CQC now.
Cortana, meanwhile, was trying out her powers of summoning. She'd managed to dim the lights on her armor enough for them not to be spotted and she'd act as a shooter to back him up. Racking the bolt on an M700 she'd yoinked off a dead Ten Rings soldier, she fed a round into the chamber, shouldered the weapon and ensured that her eyes adjusted to the light in order to provide John sniper cover.
"You remember what I told you, right?" John asked in a whisper.
Cortana nodded, "Yep... Slow breaths, slow down the heart-rate, shoot between heartbeats once target's acquired. I already made the calculations, Coriolis issues and all for accurate shooting from here, as well as possible wind direction changes..." And she stood up, shouldering the weapon and stabilizing it on the rock face. She blinked and her eyes glowed blue, "Aaand Night Vision's up... Heh. The more I learn about this body, the more fun it gets."
John gave her and approving nod, worried still. He murmured, "Keep an eye on the Motion Tracker and make sure not to get overrun... If you do, ping me and I'll return immediately..." which got him a thumbs up from Cortana. The girl had started her breathing exercises and thumbed the safety off the sniper, but kept her finger away from the trigger. Good enough, John thought. He slinked away from the rock, moving under the moonless sky toward the Ten Rings camp.
The sole thing that told anyone without Night Vision it was an enemy camp was the single fire lit up by the mouth of the cave. Chief moved up parallel to a rock wall, rifle in hand as he pushed forward. He'd pushed his Motion Tracker to max scanning distance and tracked about forty enemy personnel. He did a quick check of his ammo as he slinked forward, then sighed. He only had about two magazines for his rifle and one for his pistol.
They'd been here for a little more than three weeks, so it was obviously weird to think he'd managed to keep his ammo at this level. He continued advancing until Cortana pinged him. A message flashed on his HUD and, reading it, he saw 'Ten Rings patrol returning. Six men, plus one captive. American Army Uniform...' Attached being an image of the person. Blonde hair underneath a multicam cap that. Said hair was caught in a bun that looked pink in this lighting.
The captive was clearly a female. Not a very good thing to be in these parts, especially not around terrorists. And she was a US Soldier if what Cortana had just told him was accurate. Which it usually was, considering. He slid into cover and peeked past the wall, watching as the six-man patrol approached the other five or six men sat around the fire at the mouth of the cave.
They spoke to each-other, though it was barely audible to the Chief. One of the men approached the young soldier girl... He cupped her chin and smiled, then said, "What is a delicate flower like yourself doing, serving the American pigs that invaded our country?" with a hint of smugness. Chief tensed, aiming for the lead man, a skinny one, with his rifle. Single shot was all he needed.
"Maybe I just like the uniform, bub," She smirked challengingly.
"Insolent. As expected of all of you yanks," He told her, then let go of her face. He looked to his men and asked something in Pashto. They answered quickly. Meanwhile, she looked around, sweeping the entire area with her gaze while maintaining a calm demeanor. She seemed to be counting the targets around her, plus their weapons. Casting a glance to the left, she had probably seen Chief's figure taking a step back. The Ten Rings man grabbed her by the chin and forced her to look at him again, asking, "How did you survive the ambush?"
"I got lucky..." She grinned defiantly, "Not bad kit here and there. G36Cs, M4s, AKs. Must've stolen a chunk of this stuff off of NATO units in the area, eh? I mean, I know the Germans ain't doing too hot, equipment-wise, but this is an overwhelming number of Kraut rifles-OOF" And the man backhanded her. She cocked her jaw and cracked her neck, then growled, "Okay. Not fond of talking..." as his men laughed. She blinked, then glared up at him, a mischievous smile on her face, "Tell me, Skinny. This where the Reaper is?"
The man looked at a few of his soldiers and laughed, then said, "You're looking at him, child."
"Perfect..." She grinned. The confused man got a pair of boots to his face as the girl kicked herself up off the ground, slamming steel-toed combat-ready boots into his jaw. She used him as a platform, pushing back and spinning about and sending two of the Ten Rings soldiers to the floor, before breaking her cuffs and grabbing a dropped Kalashnikov off the floor.
Shouldering the rifle, she said "Good night, buddy!" before squeezing the trigger and sweeping the area. A full burst of four rounds struck the man ahead center-mass, sending him toppling to the floor in front of his stunned soldiers and the surprised Chief. She spun about toward the two men she'd sent toppling to the floor and put one bullet into each's heads.
She then dropped the Kalashnikov and cartwheeled out of the way of another's rifle bursts. She grabbed two pistols off the corpses, landed on her feet and snapped toward the enemy, putting two rounds into the man that was shooting at her, then one for each man that tried to aim at her, dropping all but one of the enemy soldiers with her twin pistols. She smirked, the cap having flown off her head to reveal the chin-length blonde-to-pink hair and her azure eyes.
The man dropped his rifle and raised his hands, trembling. She spun the pistols around on her fingers, brandishing them with a flourish while approaching him. She aimed the gun, causing the man to yelp in fear... Before spinning about and delivering a kick to the mouth that knocked him out. He spun in place, then dropped onto the floor with a quiet, sandy thump.
The girl sighed, "Right, don't know how I got here or how many more of you guys are in that compound, considering this is a Behind The Scenes situation, but-" She cut herself off and aimed her pistol toward the rocks as Chief walked out from behind them. She blinked, eyes wide, then murmured, "What...?" and greeted awkwardly, "Uuuuh. Hi, there... I hope you aren't Ten Rings, cuz I'm not sure I can pen that armor with pistols..."
The Spartan lowered his rifle and replied, "I'm not..."
"Good, because I was gonna be worried if they built their own s-..." She caught herself, then shook her head, "Nevermind. Look, buddy, you do know where you are, right?"
"Helmand Province, Afghanistan," The Spartan replied, walking past her, his voice terrifyingly calm. Enough so, the girl thought he was a robot again. He told her, "There's approximately twenty more guards within the cave itself. They'll have heard the shooting and are coming out now," before checking his ammo. He nodded to her and said, "You saved me some ammo..."
The girl stared at him, dumbfound, then shrugged and giggled awkwardly, "You're welcome...? I think...?" before shaking her head and realizing. Right, hostiles. She aimed the pistols at the door from behind cover. She watched the Chief extinguish the fire, before he took a pair of steps back and aimed his rifle. She blinked, rubbed her eyes and murmured to herself, "Should've grabbed NVGs..."
When the first man stepped out, however, it was neither the girl's, nor Chief's shot that took him out. A sniper round rang out in the world, killing a man that hauled an RPG out to greet the oncoming pair of soldiers, presumably prepared specifically for the Chief. The Spartan shot a look back toward Cortana, who whispered over com, "I'm fine, John..." her voice a bit shaky.
He nodded, aimed and fired a burst. It caught the next two men out, piercing through the first and then the second. The girl beside him knelt and opened up as well, twin pistols ringing in the darkness as they poked holes through the hostiles ahead. The girl laughed, running forward and leaping over a pair of rocks, utilizing the flash of gunfire as she spun through the air to pick her targets.
She shot two, landed with a roll, kicked a third in the nuts and swept a fourth's legs. She felt a round whiz right by her face. It also took a couple of strands of hair, but she was physically still fine. Not even a scratch. Her reply came next, both pistols ringing as the Spartan joined her, slamming into the enemy's front like a wrecking ball. He'd switched to knives, a way more messy way of doing things, but a good one nonetheless.
The two continued their slaughter of the Cave's remaining personnel, Cortana butting in every once in a while with a snapshot from her rifle that put a guy back into cover. Seemed like she didn't much enjoy the flavor of killing someone. Chief could partially understand, though, being that he was someone trained to kill from birth, it was a little weird to him.
He was not going to force his partner to kill anyone, though, obviously. If she didn't want to act the way their friendly American gunman on his left was, he was not going to push her into it. Speak of the shooter, she dropped her pistols and grabbed a G36C Assault Rifle off the floor, racking its bolt and checking it over. The last two men came out of hiding. Chief threw his knife into one, sending him to the floor as if he was hit by a brick, while the girl put a bullet clean through the head of the last man. She hummed, then smirked and slung the rifle over her shoulder and raised her hand toward the Chief for a high-five. The Spartan stared at her, confused, then walked to retrieve his knife.
She high-fived herself, then hummed and crossed her arms. She huffed, then walked with the Spartan and said, "Sooo... What's someone like you doing all the way in Afghanistan, exactly?" as they walked. Noting a few moments later that he wasn't exactly a speaker, she quipped, "Alright, silent treatment, cool. More than a few people I know about who're like that with first responders, heh..." And that joke fell flat, too. She sighed and told him, "I'm Gwendolyn. Gwendolyn Poole. Call me Gwen."
"... Master Chief Petty Officer 117..." He replied calmly, grabbing whatever weapons he could off the dead. She grinned.
"That's a title. I also never heard of anyone but some black ops projects having numbers as names," She chuckled, then 'danced' around the Spartan a bit, moving back and forth and grabbing ammo off the dead for her newfound rifle. She looked at it, then said, "I kinda prefer pistols, but, hey. She'll do..." as they walked together toward where Cortana was.
The young girl saw the AI-turned-human for the first time as they rounded the corner. Cortana was curled up in a ball and, for the first time in her life, seemingly reacting to killing someone as she came down from the adrenaline high. Chief took a knee beside her and put a hand on her shoulder awkwardly, unsure of what to do. Cortana looked at him and offered a small smile, still trembling, "Sorry, John... First kill... Technically not, since I kind of tore that AI piece by piece, but..."
"It's okay," John nodded.
"I'd say you got a knack for it," Gwen commented, smiling. Cortana looked up at her, then stared, a bit surprised. Gwen waved, smiling, "Hi. I'm Gwen. Nice to meet you... Uh... Well, I just learned your pal's name's John. And don't worry, the kills get generally easier, I guess. Had my first taste of it when I became who I am today-" She winced and berated herself in a whisper, "I gotta stop that..."
"Cortana," The girl replied, a bit confused and still trembling, "You got some moves, Gwen..."
"Hehehe. Thanks," She replied proudly, "So... You guys got a safe house or something where we can rest and recoup? Cuz I don't know about you, but I don't wanna be caught in the desert sun any time soon..."
Chief hummed, then nodded. He helped Cortana up and grabbed the M700 off the ground. He handed it to Gwen, who smiled and exclaimed with a squeak, "For me?! Oh, man, I love 7,62~!" as she slung it over her shoulder. The trio walked out from the place, toward a vehicle that had been camouflaged and all boarded. Chief took to driving, even though he barely fit into the ANA Pickup that they'd managed to steal back from the Ten Rings.
As Chief drove, Gwen checked her kit and hummed a jaunty tune. She set aside the weapons and then leaned forward, beside Cortana, only to ask her, "So, how'd you guys get here? You don't look like you belong and I'm not sure the US really does supersoldier programs..." And she murmured, "Well, not anymore, anyway..." so only she could hear herself.
Cortana looked toward her and said, "A long story, involving nukes and alien tech." which got a sideways glance from John. She shrugged, before turning to a grinning Gwen.
"Ohoho, I didn't know I'm dealing with someone who needs a nuke to die!" The girl quipped, then started laughing. Both the Spartan and his AI companion looked to one-another, concerned, before Cortana looked to her. She chuckled and said, "Again, it's a really long story on my part, too. Involving shenanigans and shaboingery of a sort you'd need a degree in quantum physics to understand."
"... I can already start formulating a hundred thousand different theories based on that one line alone," Cortana murmured, then asked, confused, "Shaboingery?" to which Gwen let out a short giggle. Must've been some new or old language term from the days back when they appeared and disappeared like wildfire. English had always been a weirdly-adaptive language.
"Long story," She waved it off, then positioned herself on the middle seat and looked between them, "You folks here to kill Ten Rings, too?"
Chief hummed, then replied, "To dismantle their operations until we find something else to do..." as he continued to drive. It was rather hilarious to Gwen, as it seemed, to see a man the size of the Spartan driving a car that could barely fit him in the cabin. She giggled, then offered a nod and turned back to working on her weapons. By the time dawn broke over Afghan, they'd reached their little hideaway.
The cave had been filled with weaponry from the enemy, plus various repair tools and items they could scavenge, as well as cots and MREs grabbed out of the caves and repurposed for their own needs. Chief knew that they'd need new weapons as soon as he ran out of ammo for his current ones, meaning he'd have to switch to lower-caliber rifles like the G36s or AKs.
He'd need to be a little more gentle with them, he thought. Gwen, meanwhile, whistled as she grabbed an M4 rifle off the side and smiled, stating, "You sure as hell made yourselves at home in this little cave..." as she racked the bolt of the weapon and made sure it was clear. She whistled at the attachments on the gun, as well, obviously impressed, "Man, you guys must've been raiding the Rings for a while..."
"Lost count," Cortana said as she sat herself down in her bunk and rubbed her shoulders, "Goodness, it's cold... Gwen, could you pull on the camo net at the mouth of the cave?" And she pointed at it. The blonde girl nodded quickly, then stepped up to the makeshift curtain and pulled it over the mouth of the cave. Cortana gave a nod of thanks as the girl walked back to the arms wall and picked up a Kalash, then read its numbers. She hummed.
"Soviet-Afghan War AK-74, huh?" She lifted the weapon to show it to the Chief. The Spartan shrugged and she set the weapon back onto the wall, then sat herself down on one of the free bunks. She looked around, then looked to Cortana and stood there quietly for but a moment. Cortana looked back to her and raised a brow, to which the girl hummed and said, "Okay... I do have to ask... Where'd you get that armor from? Because it's not like anything I've ever seen. Even if it's decorative..."
"It's a really long story, Gwen..." Cortana chuckled awkwardly, rubbing the back of her neck.
Gwen nodded, "I think we've got all day, eh?" then turned to the Chief...