Hey guys! theotherpianist is back. That wasn't too long of a wait right?
Consider this chapter the spiritual successor to the previous one. I thought a 16,000 chapter might be a little excesive so I split it up into two chapters.
Some of you guessed rightly in the last chapter that the Characters from Red vs Blue will be making appearances. RvB is a unique take on the universe of Halo that I feel should be incorporated. Unfortunately I must announce that for plot's sake, I will only include Felix and Locus for the time being. I will make you a promise that Freelancers, the Blood Gulch Crew, and others will be included.
Just one more foreword, this chapter includes some (in my opinion) overly cheesy/corny romantic fluff (I'm 95% sure that's what the term is anyways). You have been warned.
If there isn't anything else for the good of the order we shall begin.
Please enjoy the show
Chapter 20:
SpecOps Officer Barracks, Officer's Quarters,
CAS Assault Carrier Shadow of Retribution in orbit of Forerunner Planet Cryptum,
December 9th 2559: 23:02:01 Hours UNSC Standard Military Time/Calendar
Ripa 'Talam was in his room reading a holopad with a moving battle-plan from his clan's battle poem when a knock on the door interrupted his study.
"Enter!" he called out.
He rose to his feet and kneeled with one arm crossed over his chest as Fleetmaster Rtas 'Vadum walked into his room.
"Fleetmaster...welcome, your presence is unexpected."
"As it should be. Officially I'm supposed to be resting from battle but there are matters that are in need of special attention." He turned his attention to the battle plan.
"Tell me about this battle. I don't recognize it."
"I don't think you would recognize it. It comes straight from the Clan of 'Talam's history."
"Then please, tell enlighten me."
Ripa expanded the hologram to fill the room.
"We do not have a large presence on Sangheilios but we lack in size we make up for in skill and craft and lore. The battle you see before took place thousands of years ago. In those days my clan faced disaster. The 'Paran clan had been attacking our borders and taking our populace captive and forcing them to serve in their army. It was the practice of the 'Paran clan to take all that they subjugated and incorporate them into the army. This, as a consequence swelled his army to be one of the largest Sangheilios had ever seen in that region. The Kaidon of the 'Paran, Zasses, gave us an ultimatum to become subject to him to allow access to his greatest enemy, the 'Noblam clan, or to be utterly destroyed. Kaidon Thon 'Talam refused his offer and a month later Zasses meet Thon in an enormous battle that pushed the borders of the clan to 'Talam Keep itself."
The hologram showed a massive wave of red push against a faltering green border.
"All would have been lost had it not been for Zasses himself. In a move that showed Kaidon 'Paran's pride and arrogance he chose to not finish us and sent his entire army, with himself at the head, to 'Noblam territory to seize new land."
A red arrow bypassed the keep to invade a region of orange. While a keep in red suddenly appeared on the other side of the screen.
"Kaidon 'Talam chose in that moment to make a desperate strike at victory. He split up half of his meager army and sent it marching past the keep. The remaining forces saw the little group and left the keep to pursue them with all haste."
A red arrow suddenly chased the small army which was purposefully keeping itself tantalizingly close."
"Kaidon 'Talam then took the remainder of his army and stormed the defenseless keep. The citizenry hailed him as a hero as they captured the Keep and Kaidon 'Talam made preparations for an elaborate banquet.
The keep suddenly turned green as Kaidon 'Talam's forces took it.
"The enemy grew weary of the pursuit and fell back to the keep. They were shocked to learn that they had been tricked and they mounted a desperate siege to recapture the Keep. Those soldiers who had been drafted turned on Zasses professional troops and they began slaughtering each other. All Thon had to do was watch. Those who were left chose between exile and death."
The red forces winked out of existence.
"Thon heard that that Zasses had captured some territory belonging to the 'Noblam clan and was heading home. Thon ordered the citizenry to prepare for a banquet with no expenses held back for Zasses."
The much larger red army returned into view on the holograph and entered the keep.
"Zasses, who was delighted to be entertained with a feast in his honor, accepted and ordered every official and swordsman to dine with him. The feast carried on for two days where Kaidon 'Talam ensured the wine they drank would be drugged so as to prevent his soldiers from taking action.
On the final evening when they were all gathered and preparing to toast the Kaidon, Thon 'Talam, disguised as an attendant bearing wine, pulled out his blade and thrust it into Zasses 'Paran. He then ordered his soldiers in and the clan of 'Paran ended that day. The rivers of wine turned into rivers of blood and after removing all those willing to join themselves to his house, burned the keep to the ground.
Rtas nodded and bent his head towards the floor in thought.
"Your story is intriguing." he said looking up.
"It is indeed a great source of pride in my family. But, Fleetmaster, forgive me, you did not come in here to babble about the great deeds of my ancestors."
"No. But it was a story with a great many lessons to be learned."
He closed the holograph and stood up.
"Officer 'Talam. I need your assistance."
Ripa stood up and kneeled.
"By my word Fleetmaster, you shall have it."
"I will warn you now that what I'm asking you to do is a dangerous task. You are aware of course of the Storm attack of Coruscant?"
"I am." Ripa nodded gravely.
"The Arbiter and I have both come to a consensus that they only could have followed us and known about the location of Coruscant through a spy. We have expressed our fears in counsel with the UNSC but we are treading a dangerous path. Should we have a similar incident it may drive rifts between us and a galaxy that contains more military might than all of us. They may be in a civil war, but the winning side certainly has the power to decide our fate."
"And you want me to find and expose this spy?" Ripa asked finishing the sentence.
"Precisely." The Fleemtaster said clacking his mandibles.
"Fleetmaster, I am honored but, is there not one with more experience in this than I?"
"Wisely spoken. There are those with more experience for sure. However, your, shall we say-lack-of experience is the very reason why I desired to speak with you. The very fact that you are a new Officer means that you will be seen as naive, gullible, inexperienced. But you and I know from your record this is not the case."
"You flatter me Fleetmaster."
"Do not let it go to your head like it did with Kaidon 'Paran. Now, I fear that this spy can only be someone higher up on this ship. You'll be given many opportunities to interact with them as an Officer. You may take whatever approach you want-within reason of course-but we need to root out this spy before more tragedy is placed upon our shoulders. We do not need any reason for the Humans to distrust us. You may call in whoever you desire to question including myself if you so desire. Do you accept this assignment?"
"I do."
"Then may the gods be with you Officer 'Talam and your eyes ever watchful."
They both saluted and the Fleetmaster turned to leave.
"By the way, as an Officer you have a fair amount of political and military authority. Do not be afraid to use it. You will also have several Assistants assigned to you tomorrow as an Officer. They will carry out your word without hesitation. As a final item, please do not reveal circumstances of your mission to anyone. Good luck Officer 'Talam."
The door shut and Ripa was left alone to contemplate the nature of this exchange. He was oddly reminded of William at this time. Maybe it was the retelling of the battle plan. The Demon always enjoyed listening to that tale. He mused on his lack of time to talk with William about the newest developments in his life. He wouldn't speak of his assignment but he certainly could ask for advice."
A chime on his holo-pad reminded him that he needed to train with the Sangheili under his command. Maybe William would be happy sometimes to show the Sangheili how much of a wake-up call facing a Demon would be should any of them turn out to be the enemy.
UNSC Infinity, War Games Room,
Spartan William Gunther
Will would have loved to have taken on an entire lance of SpecOps Sangheili, or a legion of grunts, or a dozen hunters. Anything but this. He was getting really tired of putting down Spartans that tried to kill him a dozen different ways.
They were in a rather precarious position at the moment. The initial blitzkrieg had almost wiped them out when the first wave had surged through with enough numbers that they had gotten within knife range. Castle Four and her shotgun were the only thing that saved them. They had retreated to the base of the staircase to the second floor and were trying to hold their ground as they steadily pushed forward.
Now Will was trading fire with a Fireteam that was doing a good job of trying to waste their ammo. Their plan fell apart when one Spartan stuck their foot farther than they needed to.
One, two, three, four shots later the Spartan was immobilized. Another four. Then six.
The Fireteam froze and William's gun clicked empty. William cast away the empty clip as the rest of the Spartans opened on another fireteam wielding what looked like the turrets of a Warthog.
"Props for ingeniuity." he dryly commented as they all ducked to avoid the withering fire.
Seizing their chance, a dozen more hurled themselves through the door splitting their fire up between the mines Rapier had salvaged from their door trap and the other Spartans hoping to split their attention. William reloaded and chambered his DMR in an instant prioritizing the Spartans taking out their mine defense.
The offending Spartans collapsed in a purple tomb as Will's shots met the head. In an act of desperation, the last Spartan threw himself at the mines sealing himself in purple and opening up a direct path to them.
With the advantage now in their hands the rest of the Spartans pushed cautiously in. The turret wielding Spartans went first advancing slowly. These Fireteams had seen the teamwork of Castle and Rapier and as a result were much more conservative in their approach.
"I'm out! Switching to shotgun!" Chelsea called out from behind him. She threw the empty Battle Riffle she carried and struck a Purple Spartan's arm throwing the aim off and saving Rapier Two from having to take cover.
She cycled the action once before leaping out of cover.
"Wait! What are you-fall back Castle Four!" Will shouted as she dove into the midst of the enemy.
Castle Four skirted enemy fire for a second before rolling into the middle of a Fireteam. They all flailed backwards trying to sight in on her but it was too late as three successive shots plastered them to the floor. The fourth member of the team was smart and dropped its weapon ducking beneath a fourth shotgun shell. Castle Four quickly shifted aim again and missed. This time the other Spartan caught a hold of the shotgun and started grappling with her for it.
From behind another Fireteam entered with guns blazing. Chelsea perceived the threat and swung the shotgun swinging her current opponent directly into the line of fire.
He lined up the closest one and fired twice bringing down the shield far enough for Castle Two to finish the job with a shot to the neck.
"Castle Four!" Kevin shouted suddenly.
"I'm with her!" Micheal called out leaping out into the action.
"Rapier get back-"
"Charge!" Julianne called out.
Will heard a very loud sigh before Kevin threw himself out of cover in a final act of defiance.
Two fiery orange Spartans dove through the threshold with knives drawn and with a single fluid motion Micheal was frozen as they slashed at his legs and then stabbed his abdomen. Chelsea sought to avenge their now purple ally with three shells from her shotgun. She gave an angry huff as they all missed their targets as they weaved around and past her guard.
"Cover me!" Will called out.
He threw the DMR on his back and withdrew his knife rushing into the action. He ignored the protests from his team and sprinted in leaping into the air and delivering a savage kick that knocked the first orange Spartan away from Chelsea allowing her to finally draw her own knife and duel with her foe. He focused his attention on the other Spartan and launched a sweeping kick that knocked it off its feet again. William didn't hesitate as he dove on top and stabbed downwards on the neck.
The blow was diverted by the Spartan's hand and Will struggled to launch a second s trike while grappling with his newest foe. Will was sent to the floor as his foe rolled and kicked his legs out from underneath them. His foe rolled away several feet and sprang to its feet charging.
Will fumbled the DMR off his back and fired as fast as he could. The Spartan jumped at him, it's own knife outstretched. Will heard his DMR click empty and squinted his eyes preparing for the worst.
Nothing happened. There was still the general chaos going on as Asher and Kevin coordinated fire between their two teams. He opened his eyes and looked to see a purple statue hanging over him frozen in the act of launching a knife.
"Too close." He said to himself.
He looked at his empty DMR and cast it away drawing a pistol before casting his eyes around. He regrouped with Chelsea who had just finished off her other attacker and moved back to cover. The turret Spartans had their field of fire cleared and they opened up. They caught Julianne in between their crossfire and Emily a second later as she tried to retreat.
"****!" Kevin swore as he realized he was the last member of his time standing. Will looked over at Kevin and saw something change in his body language. He made up his mind about something and looked over at him.
"Get clear Castle!" Kevin yelled holding several grenades in his hand and pulled the pins one after the other. He and Will exchanged a brief salute before Kevin gave a war cry before leaping at the turret wielding Spartans who backpedaled furiously to get out of range.
They both rolled in opposite directions. William came up and watched as Kevin seized one Spartan and swung him towards the other before leaping atop of both. The grenades exploded and a massive block of purple formed in front of him.
"Kevin!" he callled out.
"I'm fine. **** stuff hurts though. You guys deserve to be the champions tonight. Go teach 'em a lesson. Watch your back though."
He heard a shout and turned to see himself almost staring down the barrel of a gun of a Spartan that had tried sneaking up on him. He dove away at the last second and rolled inside the turret Spartan's guard. He wasted no time in delivering several punches to the abdomen and an uppercut to knock the Spartan on the floor where he finished him off with another knife kill.
He looked around to see no enemies coming at him. He looked around again doing a double take. Were they really out of the woods?
The lights suddenly went out.
"Well this sucks." Brittany said finally.
"Last Teams standing Round over." Jeff announced.
"Wait, what? This was just a round?! Who have we not killed?" Chelsea asked incensed.
"Please remain still." F.I.L.S.S chimed in. "Teleportation in three-"
"Oh my-"
Two
"Who's idea was-"
One
A blinding flash of light followed by the sense of being squeezed through a narrow tube and suddenly Will was standing in a new part of the room. They were in a small room with a large glass window running all around the edge.
"We're being watched." Asher observed.
He looked at where his Lieutenant Commander was pointing. Surrounding them in the room peering through every gap was a Spartan, some with helmets on, some not. And they were all looking at them
"Can we just have a break from everybody ogling us?" Brittany protested.
"No rest for the weary Castle Eight." Will said sympathetically. He took in the room they were in. All around him in a giant square were 10 rows of rectangular pillars in a rough line spaced in even intervals. As he expected the pillars were high enough that they couldn't see over.
"Final round. Welcome Fireteams Majestic, Charon, Crimson, and Castle. One minute until round start. Please deposit all your current weapons in the receptacle and pick up new ones in the back. No weapons or equipment from the previous round may be used. Thank you." F.I.L.S.S chirped again.
A table appeared behind them loaded with M6 sidearms and ammunition. A container also slid out of the wall for the weapons they were carrying.
"I guess these are for us." Chelsea said dropping her empty shotgun and battle riffle in the container and grabbing a pistol and a few clips of ammunition.
Will followed her example and dropped all of his weapons in the box and grabbed an M6 and several ammunition clips and attached them to his person.
"Thirty seconds remaining."
"What's the plan Commander?" Asher asked.
"I'm thinking."
"Well think harder."
"15 seconds."
Will analyzed the spacing. They should be able to fit two Spartans comfortably side by side.
"When the countdown ends we are going to spread out into a diamond and cover ground slowly. Make sure to watch anybody who might try to mantle the pillars. If they don't polarize the windows look at them for visual cues on where they are."
"10 Seconds"
"Any final thoughts?" Chelsea asked.
"However this turns out we still proved ourselves to everybody tonight." Will said. "And the next time we'll be even better."
The rest of Fireteam Castle nodded and said nothing. They stepped behind a line that separated them from the pillars.
"Three, two, one, begin."
The viewing windows polarized and Will flicked the safety off his gun and moved to the left between the third and fourth pillar.
"Anybody notice our shields are gone?" Brittany asked.
Will glanced at his HUD and indeed saw a lack of shielding.
"It's a sudden death scenario. Any shot is potentially lethal." Asher replied.
"Quiet. Move up."
Brittany and Chelsea spread out to his left and right shoulder while Asher moved to cover their rear. They all took up positions scanning down the aisles as they moved cautiously.
"Turning up ahead." he announced as they came to the end of the first column. They turned crisply and Brittany moved ahead of William to scout ahead. He heard a cough and hit the deck as a purple shot flew over his head.
"Contact! Trace that shot!" he called out.
"But there was no need to as William's attacker made himself visible by firing at him. Fireteam Crimson, accordingly with their name were colored in a smoky crimson color scheme.
So they found Crimson. Majestic and Charon had to be on the other side.
The Crimson Spartan called out to his allies and opened fire on Will who was still on the floor. Will rolled belly up and fired twice. The shots bought him enough time to come to his feet.
"Four and Eight flank right! I'll take Asher and force them out of hiding!"
"Roger!" They said before taking off sprinting left.
He dove right to avoid three more shots while Castle Two laid down suppressing fire. He ran around the pillar and waited for the Spartan to emerge right into his field of fire.
The first and second one missed while the third caught the shoulder suddenly hampering the Spartan's ability to aim. He sighted in the head when three more Spartans burst out from behind their teammate to the right. Will dove right again behind a pillar. He mantled the pillar and then jumped from pillar to pillar trying to box the Crimson Spartans in.
"Four and Eight! Take them now!"
The two Spartans wheeled around behind Crimson Team and opened fire. The Spartans wheeled about to counter this new threat and sent paint pellets whizzing down towards them. Things went wrong when Chelsea misjudged how close she was to Brittany and bounced off her as she dove to avoid the paint. They adjusted their aim and Will watched as Chelsea vainly struggled to get away before she was made a frozen purple statue.
"Ow! What the hey! Who invented this paint?!" Chelsea's angry voice crackled over his comlink.
"Spartan down!" Brittany called out. "I need assistance!"
Asher in retaliation sent a bullet to the head of the crippled Crimson soldier as she sprinted forward to catch Crimson while William sprang from pillar to pillar attempting to catch the Spartans. His gun clicked empty and he loaded another clip. Crimson was trying to press their three man advantage against Castle Eight who was being backed into a smaller and smaller corner, so far they were doing admirably.
"Hey Chelsea! How much does it hurt?" she asked nervously.
"It just surprises you. It's not agonizing or anything." Castle Four muttered angrily.
"Hang on!"
He managed to distract one of them and force the Spartan away in a different direction from Brittany.
This soldier was somewhat of a trick shot doing all sorts of acrobatics and incorporating bullets into them.
Will was debating how feasibly jumping from platform to platform would be when a sudden sharp pain registered on the side of his left arm. He realized he could only move it sluggishly at best.
Truly, the inventor of this paint was somewhat of a jerk.
He dove off the platforms and threw himself at the Crimson Spartan. The Spartan gave a distinctive feminine grunt as Will crashed into her and they collided. Will's momentum was enough that they broke through the pillar with an impressive sound of breaking stone giving himself a real headache.
"No no no no! Guys! Help here!" the woman cried out.
"Sorry ma'am." William breathed apologetically as he brought up his M6 and sent a double tap to her head. She gave an angry muffled shout
He seized her pistol in his hand and reloaded it running to assist Asher and Brittany...until he saw Asher running towards him with two pursuers on her tail.
"Move move move!" she yelled frantically as she hurled past Will. Will risked a two second burst of fire from his pistols before scrambling for cover after her.
He rolled out of the way as a hail of purple nearly took his life.
One of their pursuers broke off to engage William but suddenly disappeared as he (the Spartan looked male anyways) was tackled to the side. After a second the attacker was thrown across his field of sight for a second before his original attacker emerged.
"So you're the leader of the Fireteam that everybody's talking about!" a male with a Spanish accent said as he fired twice.
"Are they really talking about me that much?" Will said retaliating with his own shots.
"They will be as soon as this night's over." he said moving and knocking Will's pistol from his crippled left arm.
"What's your name?" Will asked as he delivered a cross chop that sent his opponent reeling backwards.
"Lucas Santiago, my nicknames Inigo though! Anyways I'm Crimson Team's leader!" he flipped backwards to avoid William's shots. "You?"
"William, Leader of Castle."
"You seem like a decent fellow. I'd hate to kill you." he said as he recovered and delivered a heavy blow to his abdomen.
"You seem like a decent person. I'd hate to die." William said recovering his fallen gun and emptying it.
The shots missed all missed as Inigo dove behind a pillar.
"Then we are at an impasse I see." He said as they sprang apart.
"You guys apparently have a reputation on this ship. Everybody says to be scared of you."
"Well, to be honest you should. We are currently the reigning champions aboard Infinity."
"Ever lost to anybody?" Will said.
"Oh sure. We all have our bad days, between ourselves, Majestic, Shadow, and the new team Charon we're pretty close to a four-way tie."
"Any way we'd can add a fifth team that to that tie?"
"Well, you see, we really like our first place spot right now. And you'd have to deal with the other three teams. I'd honestly worry about Charon right now."
William sensed a presence behind him and twisted in a drunken weave around a circle as four knives flew at him in rapid succession. They all missed and embedded themselves within the stone pillar. William dove out of the way and took cover behind another one scanning for the attacker.
"You dirty cheat!" Felix called out as he emerged from behind a pillar.
"What can I say." Inigo said with a trace of a smile.
"An apology would be nice." said another voice.
Inigo was suddenly hoisted off the ground and thrown into the pillar to his left. Where he used to stand was replaced by Fireteam Charon's other member. Inigo hit the pillar and crumpled to the ground.
"Nicely done Locus, you knocked the fight right out of him." Felix said reflecting on the scene.
"Who's left?"
"Ah well we finished off Majestic, Crimson should be almost gone and we only have-"
Will fired off two quick shots and Felix's turned back.
Felix turned and ducked to avoid the shots and Will ducked behind another pillar circling around slowly to attack again.
"You again?" he said and began to laugh. "Oh but of course! And to think I almost forgot about Fireteam Castle! Oh man! You guys just don't want to lay down and die."
Will popped out of cover but was forced to duck back as they both spotted him and fired.
"What's the matter? Don't want to talk?"
Either Felix was being intentionally provocative or he had a mental disorder.
Will took a different tactic and mantled on top of a pillar. Charon spotted him and they immediately took aim. Will leaped towards them and kicked part of the next pillar he landed on. His armored boot slammed into the instacrete and shattered it sending shrapnel towards them forcing them to dive out of the way.
Felix gave another laugh. "And you're unorthodox! I love it!"
William decided he needed to retreat and he set off as quietly as he could.
"You're prolonging the inevitable." Locus said somewhere out of sight.
Will reloaded his gun and poked his head around the corner. He could take two of them on. Maybe. He picked up a chunk of debris from the chipped pillar and hurled it to the side. It made a clacking skittering sound and he heard footfalls running towards him.
He saw Felix stop just before the next row and the sights on his gun.
He edged forward to his right and slide behind a pillar that he was walking next to.
"Come on. Just a little more forward." He mentally urged.
Felix moved into his crosshairs.
Will fired and Felix ducked and countered. Will raised his hand and felt a stinging sensation as his armor started locking up there. He swung his deadened arm as hard as he could felt the dull impact as he smacked Felix upside the head his arm froze in an outstretched position
The Spartan stumbled backwards flailing for balance and Will's gun promptly jammed as he put gun to Felix's face.
Felix recovered and he slammed into Will pinning him to the ground. Felix twisted his gun away from him and reached for his own. Will seized his helmet and pulled him flipping the black and orange Spartan over him and slamming him into the ground.
Will rolled as best as he could and fired at Felix's legs. The shots blossomed and Felix tripped to the ground as he lost his ability to move.
"Oh come on!" he yelled as William got to his feet and fired.
With a curse Felix sealed up in a purple coffin. He saw in his visor Locus behind with hands outreached. William jumped forward and Locus staggered as he lost his balance. Within a second Will was retreating. He tried reloading his gun but couldn't reach the clip on his left side. His arm was frozen and was blocking his way.
"Castle Two, are you out there?" he asked.
No response.
He decided to keep moving and buy himself more time. He was almost to the end of the corner when Locus burst through one of the pillars behind him. William dove to the left and ducked as he saw Inigo burst from cover and fire.
Will dove and rolled on his right shoulder as the paint flew over him and directly at Locus behind.
He heard a grunt and saw Inigo freeze as Locus's paint meant for Will took him by surprise. Will went skidding and crashed into another pillar. He looked up as he saw Locus approaching him.
"You have gone on far enough. This is where it stops." He said as he took aim. The trigger clicked and the gun's action popped open empty.
"Are you sure we can't talk it out?" Will said noting the empty gun.
Will struggled to his feet but Locus picked him up and held him to the pillar he had crashed into. He withdrew the knife and thrust it towards Will. He caught it and tried to hold back the blade with one hand. For all his strength he was slowly losing.
"You've done well only because you allied with the others."
"And you couldn't have?"
"No."
"Why not?" Will grunted as the knife drew ever closer.
"We're not even Spartans. We're not your kind. Why should we associate with those who are not like us?"
"I'm a soldier."
"You talk too much." He drew back the knife and made to attack somewhere else when Locus's body stiffened and froze. His face became enveloped in purple and he collapsed to the ground.
Behind him emerged Asher with helmet off in her hand, limping slightly.
"Game over!" Jeff announced and suddenly the lights turned to full brightness and the windows in the observation platform suddenly depolarizing exposing an enormous crowd of Spartans in various stages of reaction.
The victory goes to Castle. Resetting the War Games room." F.I.L.S.S announced.
The pillars that weren't broken retracted into the ground and previously invisible doors opened and an enormous crowd of people started rushing into the room.
Will noticed that his arm was suddenly not stiff but easy to flex now. The paint had "melted" off and was pooling in a pile on the floor.
Asher and William both moved together and wearily shook hands.
"Thanks for the assist." William said.
"Anytime." She said returning a smile towards him.
From next to him Locus groaned and got to his feet. Will offered him a hand and he pushed it aside.
"Hey. You guys are full of surprises after all! I think we'll all get along swimmingly."
Will turned to see Felix approaching him. He nodded and Felix turned to see Locus heading off by himself.
"I'll be seeing you around." he said before going off and joining Locus.
"They give me the creeps." Asher said as they left.
"Agreed. Where is Castle Four and Eight?" he asked.
"Right behind you."
The two female Spartans were walking towards them with helmets off.
"You know, I preferred our other armor better. More solid, more weight you could use to push around." Chelsea said examining her armor. "That's what caused me to die."
"Well I was ganged up on. It was horrible." Brittany shuddered.
The crowd was rapidly approaching and Will observed the rest of the team break off from the crowd.
"You did it! Holy crap we did it!" Elizabeth ecstatically cried out. She threw her arms around both of them in an outburst of emotion Will was surrounded by his teammates.
"A good thing at that too." Hansu said. "I might have pitched a fit if we had to go through that again."
The others were upon them now. Spartans he had "killed" giving him handshakes and words of congrats. Others stood off and grumbled. He would get to know them soon but for the moment he just accepted all of these things with thanks. What he really desired above all else to be in bed sleeping.
"Hey Castle!" Will saw Fireteam Rapier pick their way through.
"Congrats on your win." Kevin said offering his hand and William shook it.
"Hey, you know next time you guys are going to win."
"Debatable." Julianne replied.
"We survived because we teamed up with you guys ultimately." Sophie pointed out.
"But if you hadn't snagged your base we would haven't had a place to fall back to."
"Nothing wrong with that. At the end of the day it's still a win for us." Ralph countered.
"But hey! The entire Spartan compliment on board! That's no ordinary feet, guess we are the "superior" generation." Felix quipped.
"So much humility Felix."
"He's got a point though." Micheal nodded. "The night's getting late but we should still celebrate!"
William and Kevin exchanged a look but extended hands again.
"Take care tonight. Don't party too hard."
"Thanks Castle One."
They shook again and their teams parted. Commander Palmer suddenly became visible through the part striding towards them with Captain Lasky.
"Commander on deck!" someone shouted.
The room collectively fell silent and the Spartans assembled all turned and saluted.
"Well done Fireteam Castle. Well done Fireteam Rapier. You made history today." Palmer said approvingly.
"With respect ma'am we lost." Emily piped up.
"No. You didn't." Palmer said turning to face her. "Collectively as a whole you accomplished your objective which was to survive. This test was meant to see how well you work together with your individual teams."
"This War Games was also designed to help us see what you're made of. We are proud of what we see so far." Lasky added.
"As for the rest of you, you should take a lesson from them tonight. Tomorrow, circumstances permitting, we will release to you the after-action reports. Take them. Read up on them. You'll need the information inside."
"You've all proved yourselves today though. Go turn in your armor and get some rest. Dismissed." Lasky finished.
He turned around with Commander Palmer who began walking over to Fireteam Shadow who was hiding in the corner. The rest of the crowd began to disperse and mingle.
Will turned to his team.
"Ready to leave?"
"Hey wait a second."
They turned to see DeMarco walking towards them with the rest of Majestic in tow.
"You earned the Observation Deck tonight as part of the bet. Take it while you can, we'll be looking to take it back the next time." He said with a joking smile.
"Yeah, and open up some of that stuff we gave you." Hoya said grinning.
"Will do." Ralph and Felix chorused.
"How about we ration it out?" Hansu suggested.
Will exchanged a look with Asher and shook his head slightly.
"Alright Castle, fall out." Will said turning to lead them away.
With some effort they extricated themselves from the Spartans now chatting about the match and marched through the doors into the corridors outside and entered the elevator. For all the energy they had earlier, it was quickly replaced by a silence that nobody was willing to break.
The armor bay was mostly silent, some Spartans had made it up here already and were chatting softly. They exchanged waves and made their way to the ring machines and within a few seconds they had their armor removed by the technicians.
"You know," Will thought aloud, "We really ought to have a set of armor in our rooms in case of an emergency. If we were to all run to the S-Deck it would only cause a traffic jam."
"Where would we put it?"
"I don't know. Mount four mannequins in each room. We'd only lose a corner of our room."
Will kept his bodysuit on began walking back to their room. He made the trip swiftly and flicked the light switch on. He proceeded to his room and began to finish the process of unpacking. He didn't have many belongings of which to keep, just standard attire, formal attire, workout attire, he finally reached in and pulled out what he was looking for. He pulled out a heavily worn book with a leather cover stained by soot and carbon and opened up the pages.
"Still have that?"
He looked over his shoulder to see Hansu.
"Yeah." He strode over to an unlocked footlocker attached to his bed, placed it inside, and set a new code to lock it. He didn't shut lid but stared at the book for a second.
"I didn't think you have much time to do journal entries."
"Oh I don't. The ones I do make usually consist of mission reports, debriefings, and to-do lists."
They both shared a laugh and Hansu sat down to examine it.
"How long have you had that journal?"
"Oh since before I was a Spartan."
Will pulled it out again and carefully flicked through some of the pages. He opened up to the second page and looked at a photo carefully inset. Eight people were clustered around a hospital bed smiling.
They had been so happy.
His eyes diverted to the journal entry for that day
May 2nd, 2543:
I'm done! Sixteen times in intensive therapy and surgery wasn't enough to stop me. We're both done with our work (pictured above is my family in the hospital yesterday). Anyways, we've been talking and I think we'd like to take a trip, you know, do some fundraising. Lots of people have been affected by things similar to what happened to us. I think a charity concert would be a great way to show myself and that…person how much he failed to break us. I don't know what the future holds but these past few weeks have given me new perspective on what makes life meaningful. Up there, on the balcony, was I ready to die for her? It sounds so hopelessly romantic but seriously.
Who am I kidding though,
We may have shared adjacent hospital rooms and a traumatic experience but that doesn't guarantee reciprocated feelings. I'm fourteen with no idea on what exactly any of this entails. I wonder how she is doing right now…
He looked up and noticed Hansu trying to look discreetly at his writing.
"Do you mind Castle Three?"
A sheepish look replaced the impish smile on his face and opened his mouth to apologize.
"Save your breath. It's fine." He said before his teammate could respond.
Will slid the journal into the footlocker and sealed it close.
"Who was she?"
"Who?"
"The girl."
William sat for a moment.
"Commander? Sir?"
"She was someone I knew. We…shared a lot in common, I think we still do. One of these after I finally accrue enough years to retire I want to sit down with her and just talk."
"You loved her?"
"At the time I think I did. Then the war came and changed everything though."
"Was she taken from you?"
Will sat for a moment. "We were on the same Pelican that evacuated us but after that, I don't know." Privately, he did wonder how she was. Some day when humanity wasn't under the threat of some force trying to kill it he would like to sit down with her and just talk.
"If you don't mind I'm going to head up to observation deck. Might as well enjoy it now while we have it." Will said getting to his feet.
"Alright, I'll be up soon."
William turned and exited their quarters and turned towards the S-Deck.
The observation deck wasn't too far away. The signs on the walls directed him to either the left or right side of the ship. He decided. He retraced his steps back to the elevators he saw just before the armor room and waited for it to come to him.
"Look who it is?"
He looked over and saw Inigo walking with Crimson to their rooms.
"Well you managed to do the impossible. You guys are all one **** of a team. What branches do you all come from?"
"Orphanages, refugee centers, Pelicans fleeing a warzone."
The faces of Fireteam Crimson all took on a confused expression until Ingo's face paled."
"****. You're a Spartan III aren't you."
"That's the job title at least." Will replied.
The elevator dinged and Will entered inside.
"Hey, I'm sorry to assume things." Inigo said trying to recover. "Tomorrow we should do official introductions. Sound good?"
"Sounds fine. Have a good night."
"You too."
The door closed and Will found the button labelled Observation Deck and the elevator started ascending upwards.
The car stopped several times to allow other passengers to board who paid little attention to him. The highlight of the whole trip was a scientists huddled over a datapad muttering random words about cryo-research in the arctic, and Mjolnir armor. He got out three floors before his destination and the door sealed close.
He finally reached the Observation Deck and the door hissed open. William stepped out and took in the sight.
They were currently orbiting Cryptum, green, glassy, verdant. None of the signs of a recent struggle were present other than the occasional piece of debris drifting by. There was a single solitary figure hunched over looking at the planet.
"Hey." he greeted.
Asher's hair fell over her back as she turned around.
"Looks like you found the deck."
"Looks like I did." He walked over to her.
"Mind if I join you?"
"Of course Commander." she answered.
"No formality please Asher. I'm just William, not Commander."
She said nothing but they both gazed at the planet below.
"Where's the others?"
"They're taking a walk. There's a hallway further down that takes you to the other side of the ship. I think they're just catching up. Hansu said he needed to run to our room for a second."
"Yeah, I ran into him. He'll be up soon."
More silence filled the conversation.
"How are you doing?" he finally asked.
"How am I doing?" she looked at him and directed her gaze to the floor. "Of all the questions you could ask…"
"Well?"
She sighed. "I don't know Will. You tell me how it feels like to suddenly wake up in a different galaxy where the political climate here and back home is completely different, we're fighting Forerunners, and the world's just upside down."
They watched as the Spirit of Fire flew past them orbiting slightly faster.
"I'd hate to be those guys. When they went to bed we were fighting the Covenant. Now we're friends with the Sangheili and there's 25 plus years to catch up on." Asher finished.
"I guess I don't know how to help." Will admitted after a second.
"You already have Will…thanks for coming to save me—us." she corrected after a second.
"I promised I would keep you safe on Corona to your parents. I intend to keep it that way."
She laughed and the sound was enough to allow a smile to show on Will's face. "I remember I promised you permission to come after and rescue us if we ever got lost."
"Do I still have that permission?"
She looked at him and smiled.
"What do you think?"
It was Will's turn to look away to avoid any unnecessary color in his face.
"Can I tell you something?" Will asked.
"I don't see why not."
"Back when you disappeared I had all the guilt of my failure to protect our team come back. I couldn't face the possibility of having broken the promise, Asher. It tore at me; it still tears at me. Castle used to be twenty-four-man operation but then we had Reach, and Tylos IV and suddenly Castle was reduced to eight. Eight. And then when I lost you and the others…I was a failure, I am a failure."
"Will, that's not your fault. You couldn't have done any more about their deaths on Reach and the refinery. None of us knew about the Navy's orders to literally burn the whole thing if we couldn't get it done within the timeline. I felt their deaths just as much as you. Let's look at me on Noble Team. What am I supposed to do about them?"
"You know Jun is alive right?"
"He is?"
"Yeah. I've heard his name tossed a few times. No idea of the conditions of the others."
"Oh. I'll have to get in contact then. But still, Jorge was right. We all make that one-way trip. Some of us sooner than others."
"But still. Do you still see their faces?"
"I do. They don't haunt me though. I'm of course sad they're gone, anybody would feel that way, they're in a better place now, you and I both know that."
He said nothing but looked at the planet, particularly at a thunderstorm that was brewing near the southern pole.
"Can I tell you something?" she asked.
"Sure."
"Some days...some days I just feel...horrible about what I've done. It's like I said when we dined with Majestic, I have a talent for killing. It's one that I don't like but I use for others benefit. I've hated how Colonel Ackerson used me as a "private grim reaper." and I hated what happened on Mamore."
Will put an arm over her and she turned with eyes slightly watering.
"Ash, what is it?"
She gulped a couple times swallowing her emotions.
"I just want to go home." She said weakly.
"Go?"
"Yes. Go. When we're done with the war here, if we're even allowed to retire, I want to go home, I want to find my family, and just tell them I'm sorry for disappearing for the last 16 years of their life."
He gave a small squeeze.
"I know Ash. I want the same."
"Will? Do you think they'd accept what we've done? What I've done?"
"We've done a lot. What are you referring to?"
"Well...when we encountered them on Earth during the battle of Baltimore they...they didn't recognize us."
"Well, to be fair we were equipped with a pretty thick suit of armor."
"Yes, but would they recognize us now? We're not the children we were when we were separated. What would they think of me? I'm not cute little Asher that can play piano and not have a care in the world." she finished bitterly.
"Hey, come on, don't do this to yourself." he said
She repressed a sniffle, then two."
"You need a hug." he said simply. It was clear to him that she was nearing a breaking point.
He extended his arms and she buried her head on his shoulder and began to cry. Will moved his other hand to her back to comfort her. She remained on his shoulder for a few minutes while Asher released pent up emotion inside.
"You okay?" he asked.
It was a little weird seeing one of the strongest women he had known start to break down. He didn't know what to do so he continued as he was.
She regained control of herself slowly and Will removed his other hand.
"Thanks. I'm sorry about that. I'm supposed to be a Spartan...not some kid."
"Are we not allowed to feel now too? We're human Asher, human as much as everyone else on this ship and back home. If there's anything I don't want to lose, it's my humanity. Without I'm just a machine."
She laughed shakily. "As much as I hate to say it, you're right."
He nodded. "So what do you think of the War Games?" he said changing topics.
"Uhh...well, I'd be okay with not doing that again. I mean, it wasn't the most difficult thing we had ever done. I think taking out an entire Corvette was harder than this. I mean, we've done harder things like this before. It was the type of operation that you just have to get done and make it home in one piece." She said.
"You did a nice job leading today." she said as a quiet afterthought.
"Thanks. I need to apologize to you though for recklessly endangering myself."
"It's okay, really William. We won, that's what matters. I just...didn't want to see you get needlessly hurt."
"You care that much?" William asked.
He privately wondered where this conversation was going. This conversation was straying into territory he was unfamiliar with.
"I…uh…well. Yeah." She fumbled awkwardly. "Will, I've known you for most of my life. Are we not friends?"
"You've always been my best friend." he said automatically.
They both took sudden interest in the dull luster of the handrail while William mentally shot himself in the foot for being stupid.
"I...uhh." Will stumbled. "I mean you fight good and we've fought together and-."
"Just stop." Asher said with a trace of humor.
"Right. Sorry." he said.
Will turned to her and noticed a piece of foam sitting in her hair. How it had escaped his and her notice was unknown but suddenly it stuck out to him.
"You have a piece of foam in your hair." he said bluntly.
"I do?" she asked skeptical.
"Yes."
She ran her hand through her hair and missed it.
"Did I get it?" she asked.
"That would be a negative."
She tried again and missed.
"Here let me get it." William said bringing his face close to hers.
"Did I ever tell you what I thought about you?" Asher asked.
"Uhh. No?" Will said absent-mindedly as his fingers tried to separate the foam from a strand of her hair.
Without warning Asher suddenly leaned forward and kissed him on the cheek startling Will. The shock was so intense that time slowed down and the kiss seemed almost infinite for a moment."
At that moment the elevator chimed open, Will reverted to real time, and Asher suddenly pulled away so fast that Will only registered her movement as pain from his arms as she disconnected violently from him. The spot where she kissed him however burned with a heat that sent shivers up his spine.
"Hey guys." Hansu announced his presence as he disembarked. "Where's the others?"
If looks could kill, William decided he would have been court-martialed in a second. He withheld the look and only looked at his sniper briefly before turning back to the planet.
He risked a glance at his Lieutenant Commander and noticed she had turned a deep shade of red.
"They're on the other side taking a walk. They'll be back soon." Asher said barely holding in her embarrassment.
"Oh. Okay, I'll go look for them." he said turning and running down the hallway.
"For the record that never happened." Asher said still very red. From the intensity of her eyes William knew she meant it.
"Wait, what? Where did that come from?"
"William, it wouldn't work."
"What wouldn't work?" he asked confused.
"You. Me. Us. Together."
"What are you talking about Ash?"
"Look."she said suddenly flustered. "That was a bad move on my part. I shouldn't have done that. We're on the same team for crying out loud. No relations with subordinates or anything."
"But I didn't-"
"I just don't want...just consider that you're thank you for saving me." she said before turning away and following after Hansu.
"You're welcome?" Will shouted down the hallway utterly lost. Where did any of this come from?
They turned into another corridor out of sight and Will slumped on the rail. He heard voices belonging to the rest of Castle Team coming from his other side and he looked towards the source.
"Oh there you are. Where's Asher?" Brittany called out as they emerged from a corridor to his right.
"Asher's that way. I'd circle around to catch them. I think I'm going to turn in now guys." Will said unhappy.
"Oh. Okay then." Brittany said slightly confused.
"Don't take it personally. I'm just...tired." Will said failing to find words.
"We understand Commander." Elizabeth said giving a smile.
"Yeah, go catch some sleep. We'll keep the partying down to a minimum when we get back." Ralph said.
"I'll make sure they don't get into too much trouble." Chelsea said giving him a wave off.
Will saluted and left. The elevator door chimed open and within moments he was descending. His lack of company gave him time to think. He had all but given up hope on any hopes of romance long ago. He was a Spartan now with a job to do. Love was for those who had too much time on his hands. He had reasoned with himself.
This encounter was blowing all of that away. Was there a chance? Still? He had always reasoned with himself that people wouldn't reciprocate any affection. Especially her. At one point things had been different but that had been over a decade ago.
He yawned. He had a job to do and it resumed first thing in the morning. There would be no time for anything like that.
The elevator stopped, the doors opened, and he began retracing his steps back to his quarters. He turned to exit and watched out of the corner of his eye as Daniel and Issac from Fireteam Shadow turned a corner deep in conversation. He turned to follow them and tried to pick up on their speech.
"...I can't believe they won. Bunch of amateurs, the lot of them." Daniel angrily whispered.
"Well of course they had to win. They're a bunch of child soldiers." Issac grunted.
"There's something about those two that makes my blood boil."
"Ha. Which ones?"
"Castle One and Two. Call me crazy-"
"You are. It's William and what's her face right?"
"Yeah, Ashley or something like that. I hate her the most. Something about that ****..."
William froze and his anger flared but he kept quiet. He moved forward again straining to hear.
Will didn't catch anymore of their conversation as they opened up a door and proceeded inside.
So. They disliked him too. Well, the feeling was mutual at least.
Will made his way again to his room and found it empty. The others would be coming by soon enough, he was more interested in sleep than celebration. He keyed open the footlocker and took a few minutes to write in the journal.
As he did so he made his mind up and decided then that rather than focusing on the events of five minutes ago with Asher, he would instead focus on Daniel and Issac. He would talk tomorrow with his team about that. They would support his cause.
With this in mind he found the door to his room, opened and stepped to his bed. He climbed in and lay still and replayed the conversation with Asher in his head. However she had reacted, his cheek still burned where her lips had made contact.
Despite his anger with Daniel and Issac he smiled at the memory and fell asleep.
Aaand we're done. Hope this wasn't too much of a wait.
Many thanks to those who beta read and to gwb99 for use of his characters. I would highly suggest going and checking out his work.
I'll be back soon. Next chapter is kinda open to suggestion as to who to include.
Have any suggestions? Comments? Ideas? Feel free to PM them.
Yours in writing,
theotherpianist