Hey guys, I noticed on your reviews (thanks for those, by the way) that you liked that Francisco turned out to be an S-IV, but you also raised some questions, I don't usually reply to reviews directly, but I'll make an exception this time because it'll probably help clear up a few things.
First of all, addressing TheSniperInTheHouse, Frank doesn't have spartan armor because he doesn't have enough augmentations to carry one. While Frank might be better than a regular human, he isn't as strong or fast as a Spartan-III (the ones in Halo: Reach). There is currently little information on what SPARTAN-IVs are, so I'm taking a little creative liberty when it comes to details. I believe that this also answered 's first question.
Also, one last thing, this week and the next one Im going to be busy making an extremely important essay that decides whether I graduate or not. This chapter was hastily edited and checked for any mistakes so don't be surprised if you find several typos. I think you'll understand if I am not able to post anything more for two weeks or so. I'll still try to, though.
Thanks again for all your reviews.
-casquis
Chapter LXXIII: Eighteen Minutes Later
July 23, 2542 (UNSC Calendar)/
Drop Bay, UNSC Inconvenience, Slipspace
"…that you should know. First of, any order that I give is the law. Second, if you do not comply with that order, you'll get an appropriate punishment, even if you failed to comply under valid circumstances."
"Wait, even if we save your life?" Arcangelo Lamberti asked. "And what kind of punishment are we talking about here?"
"Point man for a certain number of hours," Pavel said, eliciting a groan from the Italian Helljumper. "Came up with that one myself."
I raised my hand and opened it so that the palm faced Pavel. He quickly did the same and snapped it with his own, producing a clap-like sound that filled the room. That's what you would call a high-five, kids. An epic one, at that.
"Ok, so lesson number one is?" I asked.
"Follow your orders," Lamberti said.
"Do whatever you order us to do," Camilla Seppa said.
"Follow military protocol," Grigori Konstantinov quipped. Smartass.
"Never fail to follow your orders," Agnarsson muttered.
They all said it at the same time, so I had to frown and raise my eyebrow at the strangeness of it. The awkwardness wasn't lost to any of my new subordinates, as all the ones that had spoken quickly glanced all around and proceeded to look uncomfortable. Naveen and George were the only ones who didn't say anything. The huge black man shrugged at the tiny Indian kid, eliciting a smile in response.
"All right, we might want to work on our coordination, but at least you're thinking alike," I said. Sarcastically. I said sarcastically. "Ok, let's see… what else should you know?"
"The rooms," Pavel suggested.
"Oh, right," I said. "You each got one room all to yourselves. " I paused for a second. "Your welcome."
"Frank, it's actually you're welcome," Pavel interrupted me.
"Exactly, that's what I said."
"No, you said your welcome, possessive."
"How could you possibly know that?" I asked.
"Let's say I know you better than anyone."
"Right, let's go with that so you don't look like a total idiot in front of the-"
"Sarge?" Agnarsson asked. "Do you mind?"
"Of course. The nine of us in this room-"
"Eight," Pavel said.
Right. I counted the people in this room and came up with nine again, even though there should've been only eight. Pavel, the six recruits, and me. One plus one plus six makes eight, not nine. Even a preschooler could figure that out.
You clever bastard.
Hey, I wouldn't have made it this far without being smart, Schitzo thought. He didn't even bother moving his mouth this time. The situation was a lot creepier because of that one single change. It was something I wasn't used to.
I reached for my right pocket and pulled out a transparent orange cylinder with a white cap. I popped the bottle open and threw one of the anti-psychotic pills in the air. The motion was one that I had been practicing for the past couple of weeks, so I caught the pill with no problem and avoided being humiliated in front of my new subordinates. I rattled it once I had swallowed my pill and thought that it was about time I went to Doc Zhivago to get a new bottle.
"Running low?" Pavel murmured to me.
"It's nothing."
We both then remembered that we weren't alone in the squad anymore, in fact, there was enough members on the team to have two fire teams with twice the men than before. Eight divided by two is four. That means that there are two four-man fire teams, in case you didn't figure it out by yourselves. I honestly hope you did, else we don't have any future to look forward to.
"What?" I said dismissively. "They taste yummy." I counted again and was relieved to see that Schitzo was gone now, only eight people in the room, not one single non-corporeal individual in sight. "Moving on. I take it that you've read each other's files already?"
When all I got for an answer was dead silence I took desperate measures. "Ok class," I said in a teacher-like voice. "Whoever has been spying on their teammates can raise their hands now."
No one raised their hands.
"What? Seriously?" Pavel asked. "Frank, I though that they were all the type that took the initiative."
"Ok… who has been spying on me and or Pavel?" I said pointing to myself and then my friend with each word that I emphasized.
Five hands went up almost immediately, which almost elicited a chuckle from me and then Agnarsson took a moment to decide whether he should raise his hand or not and then apparently decided against it. The rest of my new squad held their hands up until I motioned for them to put them back down. You know, I was actually starting to like this, the last few times I had a squad under my command I had barely even bother to speak to them. Whoa, talk about making myself feel guilty.
"Good, that means that you know that I could kick all your asses twice in a row," I said. I could almost feel Pavel rolling his eyes behind my back. "Except you," I pointed at Sutton. "You scare me." The man merely smiled and bowed his head to me, indicating that he either felt a similar way about me or he simply wanted to thank me.
"Ok, assigned roles?" Pavel said.
"Right," I murmured. "Should've written this shit down." I glanced around back to my new squad, this part of the team meeting I could remember. "Squad leader: three gueses, the first one doesn't count." Pavel was the only one to chuckle. "Okay, we're going to need to work on your humor. Squad leader: me. Our heavy machinegunner is going to be Sergeant Pavel Klaus!" the last three words I said in a tone similar to a boxing presenter. This time Sutton, Konstantinov, and Agnarsson all either chuckled or smiled. "Pavel is also my second in command and you will listen to whatever he says. I said that already, so you better not forget it. He will also be the leader of fire team number two in case the squad breaks up. Acknowledged?"
"Acknowledged," they all said unanimously with a nod. At least they responded to military procedures correctly.
"Private First Class Agnarsson," I said while pointing at him, Agnarsson nodded politely and waved a little bit. "That man is the one that deals with anything involving rockets or weapon-launched explosives. That means that he carries the squad's M41. You know, the SPANKr. Agnarsson is trained to use fuel rod cannons, provided the failsafe isn't activated of course, and can make effective use of the Spartan Laser, M19, and missile pods. He is also Scottish."
I let a moment pass to let the information sink in.
"Our squad's marksman is Corporal Naveen Avninder." The man simply shuffled in his chair and did a great job at looking uncomfortable. "He is one of the best men in the universe to ever fire a DMR or an EMR. He is not half-bad with an SRS either. I'll let you find out all the juicy details as soon as you get your hands on his file, I assure you that you'll be impressed."
I almost laughed to myself when everyone in the room turned to face Avninder and eyed him again, giving him another inspection and probably changing the first impression that he had given them. I looked at Pavel and he simply gave me one of his trademark shrugs, this one accompanied with a weird smile.
"Our light gunner is a man with one of the most interesting names that I have ever heard in my entire life, Lance Corporal Arcangelo Lambert. Take note that I said name, not last name. Mr. Lamberti is quite handy with the SAW, it would seem, he is also a very talented hacker and cracker. His dossier says that he can open every single human-made door with enough time and the right equipment, sometimes less. It would seem that he isn't half bad at opening covvie doors either. He is also a bit fond of explosives it would seem."
Lamberti simply raised an imaginary glass at me. "Thank sarge."
"You can ask him how he learned those skills later," I added. Lamberti glanced around him and gave me a look that could be translated to: WHY?
"Everyone else in this squad has the designation of rifleman, including myself. Even though you share the designation, everyone has a different specialty. For example, PFC Sutton here is the squad's grenadier. That means that his rifle has a tube that launches grenades slung underneath it. His size and strength can, and probably will, be an advantage when it comes down to breaking down conventional doors or pushing cars for cover, you know the usual. Corporal Konstantinov," I then gestured at the man wearing a black baseball cap, "Is what you would call a jack of all trades. He has an assortment of skills that could prove very useful in various circumstances. You can ask where he got those skills, but he'll probably lie to you about it."
What will you tell them?
I thought back to the interview. This man had been charismatic and managed to impress both Albaf and me with his history and his set of skills. What had ticked me off was that Albaf had seemed a little bit too insistent when she suggested I place him in my squad. I had ultimately complied, not because of Albaf pushing me, but because he was the best choice. I had done a little digging about the man. His dossier was mostly fake, and that fake dossier was covered in black ink. I didn't doubt that he had received all those commendations and had all those skills, but there were several inconsistencies in his military history. Call them plot holes of you will. I had done some further digging and had come up with more information on the man. He worked for ONI, reporting directly to CODENAME: VISIONARY in section Alpha-II. The man was here to spy on me, that much was clear. As long as his reports didn't interfere with my personal life directly, I was surprisingly ok with that, besides, I had told Eliza to give him a little incentive to behave properly. Still, there was more information about him that I couldn't get through.
It's surprising what you can do with a stolen ONI code and a friendly and bored AI by your side.
"And last but not least, we have Private First Class Camilla Seppa. I am sure that you have noticed her looks by now, if not, I am afraid I've got bad news for you gentlemen."
The joke was received with a chuckle on part of all the male members of the squad and one awesome blush on part of the only female member of this squad. "Relax, I'm just kidding," I said apologetically. "PFC Seppa is our second jack of all trades. She has assorted knowledge in various areas of expertise that Konstantinov doesn't. You can ask her all about it later, I'm sure you're eager to."
This time everyone blushed except for Sutton, well, I assume that he didn't, but his skin was dark enough to not give anything away.
"It looks like you're all from different battalions, 2nd, 7th, 11th, and 22nd. Anyone here from the 19th?" I asked.
"Nope," Sutton was the only one answered vocally, everyone else just shook their heads. It seems that they hadn't gotten past the initial awkward face. Seems I had a squad full of little kids.
"Great," I muttered, not at having no one from the 19th, but at having no one who was mature enough to speak out loud. "Am I missing anything?" I asked.
"Call signs," Pavel reminded me.
Every single person in the unit groaned unanimously and shook their heads in annoyance. It was evident that they weren't new to call signs. Most of them should've had an annoying nickname after their most embarrassing moment in training. Or perhaps after something much more embarrassing that happened afterwards. The point was that you never got a great call sign unless you did something so incredibly awesome that you actually earned a cool nickname.
"Relax, your own individual call signs will come later. I still haven't thought up anything witty or clever that fits each one of you," I said. "Our squad name though, is already defined. Reaper. I knew you'd like it. Our designation is Delta-Charlie-Victor in case we need to identify ourselves to a unit from another ship. Remember that, Delta-Charlie-Victor. DCV. It's only three letters people."
"Reaper?" Pavel asked. "How'd you manage that?"
"I traded the name Cthulhu to Nazarian," I told him. "Which brings me too… people of importance on this ship. Pavel, if you will."
My friend reached to his pocket and pulled out a fancy new datapad that had the capability to emit small holograms in full color. It was a kick-ass piece of equipment. Especially when you needed some alone time. Well, provided you didn't have someone to share that alone time with. Wink, wink, nudge, nudge.
"Number one," I said. "Lieutenant Yevgeny Nazarian, he is the CO of the ranger squad that is attached to this ship. He is a good man and an excellent soldier, you should do well to get on his good side." Pavel produced a picture of the man on his datapad and passed it around the squad members so that everyone could see Nazarian. "The scar on his face makes him easy to identify," I said. "Next on, is Captain Brooks. Kind of a papa-bear to the ship, an extremely grumpy papa-bear, but he takes care of his men. And women."
Everyone looked at the picture of the captain and passed it around once more, Konstantinov looked at it with an expression that unnerved me slightly, but I gave it no mind.
"Commander Samantha Albaf," I said. "Most of you have already seen her and know who she is. She managed all of your transfers and did the interviews with me."
"Wait, Albaf's name is Samantha?" Pavel asked.
"Yeah, just figured it out like a week ago."
"Huh, who would've thought," he said.
"Albaf's aide, Lieutenant Wilkins, I don't know his first name, but he is a good guy and watches out for us whenever he can. After all, we are attached to ONI, and there's nothing that Naval Intelligence likes more than watching out after their own."
"This Wilkins," Seppa started. "What exactly is his role here?"
"Nothing in particular," I said. "He is just a person of importance on the ship and does Albaf's job whenever she is unable to, also, I wanted to make this presentation longer."
"Oh, okay," she said.
"Also of importance on this ship are Major Ricardo Hernandez and Lieutenant Chloe Delacroix. They are the CO and XO of B Company. They are both extremely capable at their job and will lend you a hand if you need one. Mostly combat-wise of course, but you can ask them for small favors is you get to know them well enough."
I glanced at Pavel to see if he wanted to add anything about Delacroix and went on with the list when he shook his head almost imperceptibly.
"Captain Veda Sharma is the CO of Echo Company, she is one of the most capable strategists I have had the pleasure of meeting and is one badass chick. Her XO, on the other hand… Lieutenant Krikor Darbinian," I said and paused for effect. "He is an alright soldier, good enough at what he does and not a coward in the least. Don't get me wrong, I wouldn't mind the guy covering me during combat, but Darbinian is an asshole, he applied to the 105th but was rejected, seems he's got a little grudge against the Helljumpers."
"Ouch," Agnarsson said. "I know how that feels."
"Well I don't," I said, "but I'm pretty sure it's not enough reason to hate us all. Since he is our superior officer and in the Corps, he can technically order us around. Of course, we could always out-badass him and say no, but he's the kind of guy that would take this matter to Brooks or Albaf, and they can both pull rank on us. In short, avoid the guy at all costs."
"Is he really that much of an asshole?" Konstantinov asked.
"Pavel?"
"You have no idea how much of an asshole he is," my friend said.
"Thank you. Yes, yes he is an asshole."
"Oh kay…" was all Konstantinov could say.
"I assume that you have all met Eliza?"
"Yes," Sutton said.
"Mhm."
"Yeah…"
"Unfortunately."
"Yeah, she popped up in my room to tell me that-" Camilla started.
"A simple yes will suffice," I interrupted her.
"Sure," Seppa said while blushing yet again. You should've seen her, it was so cute. The fact that I was able to make such an attractive woman blush, no matter what the reason, was extremely good for my self-esteem and a nice boost for my already big ego. "Just one question."
"Yes?"
"How come there are holostrips inside our rooms?"
"Yeah," Agnarsson agreed. "How come?"
"Deal with it," I said. Short, and to the point.
"I think we're done," Pavel said.
"I think you're right. You'll have your codenames soon enough," I told the men and woman in front of me. "Dismissed." The squad stood up and saluted in a practiced move, the six of them held their hands at their brows for a few seconds before leaving the drop bay in an orderly fashion. As soon as the last one of them left the room and the door was closed behind him I let myself relax a little bit.
"Well that went better than expected," I said.
"Yeah, I even had some fun while I was at it," Pavel agreed.
Now, let's think about some call names…