Covenant Controlled Territory
February 19, 2558
Turz 'Xiva let out a loud groan as his eyes slid open. His entire body ached with sharp pains and he felt like there were solid rocks in his gut.
The same thing kept playing over and over in his head as he slept through the night. The exploding reactor core, the Spartans holding them off and finally being pulled aboard by a lowly storm.
He shook his head, not sure what was more humiliating, being bested by the demons or found by that one elite. How dare he be treated as an equal, didn't he notice his symbolism?
"I'm sorry to tell you this, but your brother Kead is dead,"
'Xiva looked up at the eyes of Jul 'Mdama standing before him. He then realized that he did not have any armor on and was wearing nothing but a dressing sheet. He might as well have been completely naked.
"Commander 'Mdama," He gave an annoyed huff, "I wasn't expecting you to be in my presence,"
Jul reciprocated the gesture back at him, "Of course not, but we both know what I want out of you."
"You have shamed me by healing my wounds and letting me lose my honor. What makes you think I am going to give you anything?"
"Because if you are like any of your secret friends," He mocked the last part, "Then you will want us to share any information we obtain and same with us. War with the humans must be done carefully."
"Says you,"
"Your value is the only thing that is keeping you alive right now," Jul was annoyed with 'Xiva already, "Aside from your stupid little Vahkai code."
More than anything, 'Xiva wanted to thrust his hot metal blade into 'Mdama's chest. His disregard for the traditions and values simply infuriated him. It wasn't that he abhorred them from his organization, Jul just didn't care and even hated the fact that 'Xiva and his men were allowed to knowingly infiltrate his ranks.
Not only did they disrupt his planning, but they compromised at least a dozen of his lieutenants, which led to their assassination at the hands of this Eon.
So it was clear as the day that Turz 'Xiva was not one of his favorite people. However he needed him alive as the important task he was about to bestow might be of the benefit for both the Vahkai and Covenant.
"Nevertheless, I still fixed you because I believe you still want whoever had given you the thrashing to be impaled on your blade,"
"You are correct on that,"
"Good," 'Mdama was rather pleased that the tension between them had simmered down, "I have a proposition to make that could benefit both of us and as the Vahkai's main representative in my faction, I suggest you accept it."
"And if I don't?" The hostility was back.
"I have tolerated you and your likeminded monks for this long, don't think I am aware of you and your infiltrators within my ranks. I will call upon my lieutenants to root the rest of your lot out and place you for execution or even worse," He leaned closer, "Tip off the humans to assault your helpless position. Besides, I think you want to see more dead humans, specifically demons."
'Xiva readied a response, but he knew Jul was right. They could work together on human destruction…for now.
"Very well, what is your plan?"
UNSC Infinity in orbit over Requiem
It was an early morning rise for the two Fowler and Austal were the first up.
For the first time in roughly a week, the Spartans actually had ample time to sleep before they reported to their War Games exercise at precisely 0900 hours.
Both of them gathered small bags of their personal toiletries and headed for the showers.
Like the junior officers, Spartans had access to the individual stalls although they shared a common lobby. Enlisted personnel had the large shower rooms and the senior officers had private stalls. Captain Lasky's master bathroom was in his private quarters just adjacent to his office.
At such an early morning, most people were reporting for duty for the first thing of the day or still sound asleep. This was the time when the ship's activity in the washrooms were the lowest.
Neither of them had a problem of showering in the presence of others, it was also an opportunity to be able to get hot water the entire time. Both of them were quite grateful that they had access this early. Come later in the evening, the showers would be crowded, patience dries quickly and the water runs cold.
Austal twisted the dials and let the intense spray cover his entire body and run down the sides of his legs, bracing his hands against the wall and enjoying the heat as it continued to climb until it felt as if it was just a couple degrees shy of scalding.
Ten minutes later, he finished washing himself, shutting off the water and wrapped a towel around his waist.
Fowler was finished too and he stepped out.
"That one new?"
He turned around and looked down at the tattoo of a black serpent dragon that was on part of his left deltoid and went to the tip of his breast, "Oh yeah, I found a sweet parlor back in Ninth Bay when I went back to see mom and he was more than happy to do my stencil."
"What about the incomplete one on your back?"
"This one?" He turned around, at the bottom of his neck he had the words EON written in dark cursive slightly to his left, "This one's for us when we serve together, now and for the years to come."
"I like it," Austal grinned, "Should say something like Eon; Always on point."
"Yeah. Maybe Eon, Forever,"
"That sounds hella girly, Eon is family."
"No!" Fowler protested, "Absolutely fuck no! You think Eon forever is girly and you come up with some shit like that?"
"Think about it!"
"Eon is family," He frowned, "Huh; it does have a nice ring to it. What about you? Any new body work?"
"Nah," Out of the four of them, only Fowler and Austal had more than one tattoo. His ink was an emblem of the Spartans, an eagle holding arrows and a thunderbolt on his left shoulder. On his back was cursive writing of "Servitas Vitae" the French translation of an official motto of the UNSC Navy Para-Rescue Forces and he had another one that was black in color with the official motto of the 37th in cursive over the signature delta emblem of the division, "cedo nulli"
"I'm all done with tattoos, I think." He broke out his shaving kit and rubbed a handful of Gillette cream onto his face, "You?"
"I might get one more," Fowler came up to the sink next to him, "Adds diversity and the more ink you got, the more kinks you get with the ladies,"
"To each his own, I suppose." Marcus carefully guided a razor over his chin and tilted his head upward, rather pleased at the handiwork.
"Speaking of ladies how's Gabrielle?"
"She's fine; I spoke to her last night." Austal's response was a bit too firm.
"I hit a sensitive spot?" Fowler picked up on it.
"Nah, she's just anxious for this tour to be over. I promised her that I would be back for a long time once this was done." He looked over, "Brett, this is not what I imagined in getting married so early, but I feel like we're going to distance ourselves with one another if I constantly get called away for duty."
"Easy there Romeo, no need to get your panties all tied up before you undo hers. She knows that your job is dangerous and you are away for prolonged periods of time, but any woman who is willing to put up with that is definitely up for keeps."
"I just feel like I am leading her into a hardship she does not deserve,"
"So you think separating is going to help? That might put even more stress on her."
"I'm thinking I should never have married her in the first place,"
"Ah shit you're already talking like a pessimist and you ain't even been on your honeymoon yet!" He seized his best friend's shoulders and looked at Austal straight in the eye, "Go home, spend time together, be a damn husband and do your part! If she's worth it, then you don't ever give up on trying making her the happiest lady in the entire galaxy! Otherwise you are not worthy of her if you're not going to even going to make an effort!" He shook his head, "I get it. It's not easy being married to someone on the force. It never is and it is not going to get any better, but your marriage is guaranteed to fail if you do nothing!"
"Wow, this is coming from a guy who has never had a decent relationship in years."
"A year and a half ago you were on that same ship,"
Before Austal could retort, a loud alarm sounded through the ship. Emergency lights snapped on, blazing everything in a deep red.
"CAPTAIN LASKY TO ALL HANDS! BATTLESTATIONS! THIS IS NOT A DRILL!"
One look and that's what both Spartans needed. Quickly throwing on their undersuits, they were about to exit when gunfire began to erupt right outside the shower doors. MA5D rifles. They also heard the high pitched sound of the Promethean suppressors too and they overcame the sounds of the human made weapons in less than a minute. Neither of them questioned how the constructs had made it onto the ship, only how to deal with them.
Neither Spartan was in their armor or had a weapon of their own, so getting their way to the main S-deck where both awaited, was going to be quite a challenge. They both ducked back inside their stalls, minds firing on overdrive on planning an escape.
Footsteps that sounded mechanical came closer and Fowler had his personal mirror out. He stuck it slightly outside and scanned the surroundings.
A single knight had ventured in to secure or examine the area. It glanced over at the two bags before walking further inside.
Judging by its current speed, they had about ten seconds to figure out a plan before it discovered them behind the walls and shredded them to bits from hardlight rounds.
Austal found his solution, being able to detach the entire shower door and just as the knight came to his stall, he shoved it out. It was caught off guard and the rather heavy glass knocked it off its feet.
He was right after it and barely avoided the bright orange hardlight blade from bisecting him when Fowler had done the same thing, except he swung the door like a battering ram and this time the knight was flung backwards on its front.
"Get the blade!" He screamed as he dove on top of the mechanical beast, enraging it to the point it began thrashing around as the Spartan held the door to keep it pinned.
Austal laced his fingers around the sword and pulled harder than he thought as he had no armor on.
With a loud snap, the blade came free and he wasted no time in spearing it through the knight's back, causing it to scream before vanishing in an amber colored dusting.
The suppressor rifle lay on the floor. Austal scooped it up and tossed it over to the other Spartan, "You're a better shot anyway with these things in the War Games."
Leading the way out, Fowler saw that an entire Marine squad had been killed just outside. Their rifles laid in between their bodies and Austal picked one up before emptying ammunition out of the corpse's pockets. A pair of sidearms were procured, one of which was given to Fowler. To his delight he found some frag grenades too. Both Spartans felt slightly guilty about graverobbing in a sense, but looting for ammunition to stay alive was enough to hopefully justify the act.
After descending a few decks down to S-Deck using the less congested stairs, dodging enemy activity, they approached one of the entrances, which was unfortunately guarded by two knight battlewagons and a swarm of crawlers.
Priming frags, they tossed them at the feet of the crawlers, which exploded to take them out. The knights growled and fired their scattershots back. Their hardlight projectiles hit the floor and bounced up, narrowly missing Fowler's shoulder with his new tattoo.
"Oh thanks a lot fucktard," He snapped at the construct, "I just got that one!"
The knights response was another loud screech before it suddenly jumped into the air with its sword held high and a white glare emanating from the point.
Just as it arced down towards the two unarmored Spartans, a pair of railgun shots pierced the air, striking it as it descended. By the time it landed at their feet, it was nearly half disintegrated.
At the entrance, a pair of gray Spartans held their recently discharged weapons and turned to its partner.
The knight fired its scattershot, which just grazed the shields of Eon's saviors when Fowler and Austal broke their position and fired everything they had at it. The bullets of brass and hardlight crashed against its strong shield as one of the Spartans primed a grenade to lob at its feet.
The explosive set off and the knight jerked before it vanished in amber dust.
"Thanks for the save," Fowler headed up to the entrance to greet the Spartan.
One stepped forward to give a saluting gesture, "No trouble. Fireteam Tower at your service. Let's move, before more of them show up!"
"We need to regroup with our team," Austal said, "Our armor is inside."
"Right this way. We got almost the entire civilian population inside since it's being the most heavily defended right now."
Two other members of Tower covered their exit as they came in the center and sure enough, the entire floor of the S-Deck was obscured by hundreds of civilians. Scientists, consultants and they even saw the group of cheerleaders that had come from the Colonial Gravball League to entertain stationed personnel.
"They about to see some Spartans and how they get in their armor," Tower Lead chuckled, "It's an experience they'll probably get to witness only once,"
"And we're the ones putting on the show,"
With aggravated sighs, the two Spartans of Eon moved right to their armor bays on the top deck.
"I honestly hope the ONI censors block this out," Fowler grumbled as the techs beckoned them forward and the arms of the bays activated to meet them.
"Especially that one," He moved his head towards one civilian who was using his compad to record the process.
There were more than a thousand pairs of eyes watching their armor assembly as it took place. Never did either of them feel more self-conscious before.
That's our boys putting on a show that is rarely ever shown to the public.
Thanks for reading and reviewing, you give my writing purpose.