Alto Valeur, Fleurdelis, New Corsica
March 2, 2558
Born on the Inner Colony of New Corsica; Spartan Marcus Austal was extremely prideful of his homeworld.
There was a rather "humble" saying about the people that was frequently sold in souvenir shops at the spaceport terminals; "There are two kinds of people. Those that are New Corsican and those that wish they were,"
While it was a harmless saying that played on the thirty-five million inhabitants of the second planet in the Ensee Systeam, it was a subtle brag on the part of those who longed to visit or even one day live there. For some, it solidified that while the climate and lifestyle were very much attractive, the people were just as pompous as they were humble. That was a real turn-off for some.
Austal was dressed in a blue and gold shirt with brown cargo shorts as he stepped off the ground tarmac of Alto Valeur's airport and was greeted with a rush of air-conditioned goodness.
He looked back with a grin on his face as he slipped an arm around an auburn haired woman that giggled at his touch.
"Welcome home babe,"
"Thank you," Her words were just enough to turn his heart into jelly and she leaned up to gently kiss him on the lips, "You know how much I love surprises."
"Our honeymoon may be over, but I think we'll do fine trading Maui for Alto Valeur."
His newly wed wife, Gabrielle Austal smiled up at him, "I concur."
They headed out of the main terminal where there was a line for immigration that they had to join. Fortunately, the staff was very quick in customs of the passengers before them and soon enough, it was their turn.
The officer was a portly man that sat behind the desk in which between arriving passengers could pass through to the baggage claim section.
"Passports," He bluntly said.
Austal had no civilian ID, but his UNSC Career Service dossier was sufficient. Gabrielle handed him her own and he slid them both onto the desk.
The officer eyed them warily and set them inside a black scanning box.
"Mister Austal and Miss Addison?" Again with the bluntness.
"It's actually Mrs. Austal," Gabrielle had to stifle a giggle and held up her hand to show the silvery diamond ring on her left hand.
"Congratulations. Please follow the instructions on the panel in front,"
Austal tapped it once and scrolled through the few questions. A lot of it had definitely changed since he was last here. Then again; it was for a military operation so no customs were required. The Manon Act questions were one constant, banning the importation of invasive species.
He did have to openly admit that he was in possession of a firearm. While his own personal Acheron A9C3 was not upsized for MJOLNIR armor, it was an ideal concealed carry weapon that he kept inside his home for defense. That was turned in a few days before and kept in the armories over on Turbin Island. Overall, the questions took him about five minutes to complete.
"Thank you," The officer said after he received and scanned the information. He must've not found anything suspicious, "You can go right to the arrivals area now. Welcome home."
"Thanks," He gestured in between the stalls and allowed his wife through before following suit. As they left the customs area, he saw another party using a retinal scanner. Newly implemented by Transport New Corsica, it was capable of preventing those deported from the colony from re-entering under forged documents.
Since Marcus and Gabrielle were natural New Corsican born citizens, they were exempt from that practice.
"Lots of questions they asked," She remarked as they spotted their bags off the claim and headed out into the arrivals lobby, a large room with a warmly lit ceiling that shared ticketing counters for outbound passengers. Both had packed one bag each since Marcus was headed to the Hawaiian Islands for his honeymoon right after Eon had been debriefed in Sydney. She met him at Honolulu's airport and they spent a full week of pure relaxation and bliss, traveling to three of the islands.
If only all leaves were like this. Austal knew that now; he had much more to look forward to.
"There was a political shakedown and a lot of security concerns that the UNSC has been taking to prevent another Venom uprising," He had to keep his own involvement in taking down the rebellion secret until recently. "So they're ramping up immigration processes, funding more into the colonial defense force and the UNSC is moving some of its Navy over here. The 37th is also moving to Alto Valeur."
"So that means?"
"Yeah, this is going to be our new home."
"I can't wait," She hugged him and moved their bags in front. "What about our cars?"
"I managed to move most of our stuff to our new place thanks to the Commander, but I have to stop at the base first. I'd like you to come too."
The arrivals section was a long part of a road where parties could meet up and head into the city after picking up their passengers. Cars, buses and trucks moved on the roads and the sidewalk was full of smiling people greeting one another with friendly hugs and kisses.
The couple slipped on their sunglasses and Austal waved to one of the large olive drab buses that had the UNSC logo on the front. Along the sides it read; "Turbin Island Shuttle Service"
It halted in front and Austal presented his UNSC ID, as only servicemen and their families were allowed to use the free service.
"Where to son?" The older man asked. His hat showed that he was a veteran of the early 2500s conflicts, most likely Insurrection.
"SDG Base."
"Spartan?" He stood up shakily, "You keep getting younger every year."
"Sir?"
He removed his hat and slowly raised his right hand in a salute, "Your kind saved me and my entire platoon twice, once during the Insurrection and another against the Covenant on Earth. " The doors to the bus were shut and they pulled out of the airport, headed onto the northbound highway.
Buildings rose up at the Alto Valeur skyline and traffic was rather light. The sun peeked through the clouds occasionally and shone brightly down on the ground casting a beautiful golden glow on the Kadar Ocean. At this point, the highway stretched out just along the coastline of a massive beach where crowds were playing in the surf. Sailboats with colorful designs were further out in the water. The view of the beaches was breathtaking.
All while the driver was telling the story of how the Spartans had saved his life while they were deployed to Cancun on Earth's Mexico and were nearly overrun, only to be saved by the legendary Blue Team's intervention.
While Austal had never met any of the members mentioned, he had always given the Spartan IIs and IIIs a lot of deserved respect.
"You sure got a lot to live up to son," The driver said, "At the same time though, it's a good feeling that the next generation is here to defend humanity."
"In these times, we need all the help we can get."
By now on the east side, a massive island came into view that had several buildings and the clearing of a large airstrip. More brown and gray hangars lined the side and a tall control tower was close to the other side.
It wasn't long before the bus was exiting onto a bridge that spanned from the main area to the island. Traffic had significantly decreased and there were covered stations preceding the structure.
After a brief exchange at the station, the vehicle rolled across the bridge. Now, there were only a few cars that were coming or going to the island. The checkpoints definitely thinned out the flow.
The bus pulled into the main road which began to branch off, first into uniform looking houses that had a white and gray trim. A black slate roof fit on top and each yard had a tree that was neatly kept at close to the same height. The entrance had a large overhanging sign which said "WELCOME TO TURBIN NAVAL BASE" in glowing green letters.
They kept going past houses until larger buildings lined the streets. Gabrielle could see a couple grocers, a school, movie theater and small shopping center. She began to wonder, would they be living on a base like this now?
Her thoughts were interrupted when the bus finally stopped at the entrance of a large building. Unlike the others that were box-shaped, this one was slightly smaller and had an oblique appearance with a silvery smooth surface.
"Thanks for the ride," Marcus said as he slid his credit ship into the miniature slot.
"Good luck son and thank you for your service," The driver made sure both of them were off before turning around the corner, presumably back to the airport.
"C'mon," The Spartan took his wife's hand and together they strode up to the front entrance.
"What are we here for?"
"I'm familiarizing myself with my new workplace, but I also came to do something for you."
"For me?"
"Yes," Through the lobby's entrance one of the technicians pointed to a hallway on their right. They went through and entered a long room from a heavy door with several lanes and tables. Many safety warning signs were mounted on the walls inside and close to the entrance. The one that really stood out was "Wearing MJOLNIR Armor in the standard firing range is prohibited"
Across from the long range, there were several large lockers that had meshlike doors. Using a retinal scanner, he pulled one of the hatches open and examined the array of weapons.
MA5s, M20 SMGs, BR series both 55 and 85 and the M6H2, the newest in the longstanding handgun series made by Misriah Armory.
However Austal instead took out another handgun, an Acheron A9.
This was his civilian version that was dropped off when he was going to move and his personal one for defense of his home.
Gabrielle almost felt a little out of place when coming in the facility, first off, she had to wear a guest badge and second, there were other Spartans in the building and they were just tall.
Out of his armor, Marcus was six-foot three, which was five inches taller than her five-foot ten frame. Seeing some of the others present made her own hubby look kinda smaller.
"You're going to teach me how to shoot?" She was a little nervous.
"Yeah," He went over to the table and began quickly shuffling rounds from an ammunition box into a clip, "We're living in a very peaceful neighborhood on a peaceful colony, but you know as well as I do that danger is always going to be present." Laying the weapon on the lane, he looked back at her,
"I need to know you can protect yourself. I know you're well capable of getting out of holds, I taught you, but not everything is going to involve hand-to-hand."
Marcus handed her a pair of safety goggles and ear protectors, "Put these on," At the same time, he slipped on some himself. "Can you hear me okay?"
She nodded.
"Good. This is an Acheron A9 series handgun, it's a civilian version, different than the one I use while in the service. It has twenty six working parts, three more than an M6 and I will show you later on how to take apart and reassemble one." He picked it up, gesturing for her to step in the lane. Although hesitant, she obliged, gliding her hand over the smooth surface of the weapon.
All while Marcus was really enjoying how damn sexy his wife looked. Dressed in a black tank top with shorts and wearing safety equipment while holding a gun. Sometimes he was wondering how he ended up so lucky.
Gabrielle loaded and turned it around to closely examine it. She lifted it up, surprise on her face at presumably the weight.
"Wow, it's a lot heavier than I thought."
"It's hardly noticeable when you've held one forever." He moved beside her, "Here's your safety mechanism. This little button here will prevent it from firing unless it is disengaged. Always remember that you have to take it off if you need to shoot and opposite that, do not remove the safety on the gun unless you intend to use it." His eyes met hers and made sure she was paying close attention, "Clear?"
She nodded again.
"Good. Now you can insert the magazine and thumb off the safety. You will hold it in your dominant hand, which I know is the right one like myself."
It slid into the receiver with a metallic click and with a little bit of effort, she managed to rack the slide. Austal hit a few buttons on a pad in their lane and a red holographic display of a man-shaped target appeared in the center.
Moving behind her, he put his arms over hers, gently adjusting her grip. She was very glad that he was behind and couldn't see her blushing face.
"Okay, you're set." He confirmed, "I'll have my hands just behind yours so that I can control some of the recoil. The gun is going to kick and it will surprise you, but you'll get used to it."
"Can I shoot it?"
"Yes."
Slowly her finger tightened on the trigger and without warning, the pistol barked, firing a single shot.
The sound of it going off had Gabrielle freaked out and the surprise made her gasp and jump. Had it not been for her husband's help on the weapon, the recoil would've tossed it right out of her hands. At the blink of an eye, the chamber opened and dispensed a small brass casing about the size of her thumb on the restricted side of the range.
Unfortunately, Austal couldn't help but laugh out loud; even when he saw that the bullet completely missed its mark.
"I'm sorry," He apologized between stifles, "I shouldn't be laughing,"
"You shouldn't," Gabrielle sternly said, "That was not funny,"
"Sorry," He said once more just before putting his arms around hers, "First shot's always going to be a wild one. Now you have a little bit of knowledge of what to expect. The A9's a predictable weapon, so as long as you keep learning on how it behaves, you'll be able to shoot it with nearly zero kick."
"I want to know."
"Practice. A lot of it."
She fired a second bullet, still a little shocked at the popping sound and the sudden lurch, but this time she was controlling much of the recoil. The second shot hit the "man" in the arm.
"Good shot," He couldn't help but really compliment on her accuracy, whether it was her sudden adapted skill or just pure luck.
"I was aiming for the head,"
"Always aim for center mass babe," He lessoned, "While a shot to the head may be fatal for just about anything, it is always better to aim for center mass. Chest, torso, shoulders."
"Groin?" She set the gun down and wiggled her eyebrows rather suggestively.
The interjection had caught him off guard, but he nodded, "Sure, if that works for you."
Gabrielle picked up the gun and like he did last time, he moved behind her to help.
"No," She protested, "I want to shoot on my own this time."
He stepped back and headed towards the lane next to her. In his hand, he had another gun as well as more clips of ammunition. She kept shooting the target until the gun was out of ammo and hit the magazine release, placing it aside and loading a fresh one in.
"Not bad," He said when the hologram showed that seven of her eleven shots hit the chest area and one was in the head. "I guess I accomplished my mission,"
"My mission is now to shoot as good as you," She proudly declared.
"You're going to be here all day then," Austal fluidly loaded a clip into his A9 and fired all fifteen rounds in rapid succession. Gabrielle gasped, it had all happened in less than five seconds and every single shot was perfectly placed dead center in his target's head. While he was firing he anticipated the incoming kick with such precision that his hands hardly moved through the entire process.
"Mister Austal, can we shoot some more?"
Marcus smiled before moving over to kiss his wife straight on the lips, "Of course Misses Austal,"
From the entrance of the firing range, Brett Fowler was curious to hear the sound of pistols being fired in the shooting range. The base was still relatively empty and many Spartans in the 37th had yet to even see their new garrison.
Peering through the glass door, he saw Marcus Austal and his lovely wife Gabrielle sharing a kiss right before standing in succeeding lanes and opening fire at two different targets. They both reloaded and shot again. He couldn't help but plaster a big grin on his face.
Looking down at his own M6, which he was going to go and shoot himself, he decided against it, leaving the couple blissfully unaware of who was watching.
"I guess we'll have to go another day huh?" He gave the gun an affectionate pat and headed out of the building.
Wow, it's been nearly a month since I last updated. Hope nobody went anywhere now that I have all summer to keep writing. The action's going to take a bit of a downturn right now and the Spartans (specifically Austal) are going to have some time as civilians for a few chapters.
Thanks for reading and reviewing, you give my writing purpose.