Halo – "Love at Long Range"

Location: Rooftops of AMBER Base
Beaumontia, Epsilon Eridani system
March 16th, 2544
2:45pm

"Imya."

"Im-ya...?"

"Imya."

"...Imya."

"Ha, you got it! Good work, Celest. Your pronunciation is getting better too."

Celestina giggled in sheer happiness over her improvement. "Your turn! In Italian, it's 'nome'."

"Nome."

"You're a natural!"

"Nah," Jun waved it off. "It's just easier in Italian."

"You got a point there. What's the next word?"

They were at the rooftops of AMBER base, the duo's favorite place to hang out. They sat on the ground in front of each other, engaging in their language lesson.

"Family. Sem'ya."

"Sem'ya."

Jun let another chuckle go. "Great work, princess!" And they both high-fived each other.

Location: Hope Relay, Outskirts of the town of Hope
Beaumontia, Epsilon Eridani system
January 3rd, 2549
8:23am

Just as that energy sword revealed itself, Celestina reached up and kicked the Zealot square in the face. When it staggered backwards, she unloaded her two magnums into it, breaking through its shields and killing it.

Tossing aside his sniper rifle, Jun grabbed the sword arm of the oncoming Zealot and jerked it, causing the Elite to lose possession of the energy sword. Two punches to its face and it was seeing stars. Jun pulled out the combat knife from his right shoulder and stuck it into the Zealot's neck.

Silence surrounded them now. It was the two Spartan, the two dead Zealots and the destroyed Hope Relay. Nothing was moving on their motion trackers and nothing was moving around them.

"Are we clear?" Celestina asked.

"I wish I knew," Jun still eyed his surroundings as he picked up his sniper rifle and attached it to his back. "Son of a bitch. How did this happen?"

"Does it matter now? Top priority is warning the planet. We can't let another planet fall!"

"Then let's head back."

Location: Trainer's Room, AMBER Base

"Talk to us, boss. We get orders from Shadow Actual?" Celestina inquired as soon as Ryan entered the trainer's room.

"The UNSC is getting ready to warn the planet so as soon as that's done, Campbell wants us on evacuating civilians," The Commander replied, his data pad in hand. "The planet has 4 relay stations so we're evacuating the towns they are next to first, then we'll move to other towns. Rhonda, you're taking Azelia, I'm taking Greenwood, Jun's taking Radon and our dear newest member is taking Hope."

"Wait, we're splitting up?" Jun asked.

"Just for this mission. Since the relays are next to these towns, Command wants to take precautions. We'll be called back if we get a bigger threat. Get your stuff ready, Shadow. We're leaving to our respective locations in 2 hours."

Location: Dorms

"Are both your combat knives sharpened?"

"I think they're pretty decent. Yours?"

"They'll get the job done, princess," After a short pause, Jun sat down his two combat knives on their table and instead took her hands into his. "You take good care of yourself. You hear me?"

She gave him her sweetest smile at that and then wrapped her arms around his neck. "I will, Jun," She held him as close to her as possible. "Don't worry. I'm strong just the way I am, both mentally and physically. If I fall, it's only because I'm human. And you believe in me, right?"

Those words. They day they got together, he had spoken those words. That certainly lifted some of the heavy weight off his heart. "Always have, princess. I'll see you when we get back."

"Yeah," She didn't want to let him go that soon and he could sense that. So he let it be. "Love you."