Greetings! Welcome back to another much-awaited, long-time-in-the-making, writer's-bloc-creating, sometimes-infuriating, chapter of Halo: ROTE. I thank you for your patience and for your continued support.
No, to answer a few curious users, I am not dead. No, this story is not going to die. Yes, I will see it through to the end. If I could have things my way, this story would have been finished months ago with a sequel on the way. No matter. Life unfortunately happens.
So, I hope your patience is rewarded this chapter. Lots of things going on. Some not immediately relevant to the plot, but all things in good time.
Enjoy.
December 11th, 2559: 12:34 Hours UNSC Standard Military Time/Calendar
Elevator Shaft, RSS Galliant
Spartan William Gunther
"She escaped! How?" Ralph exclaimed as he looked downwards into the hole. William rolled over to look at it as well. The interior of the elevator was blackened and smoldering, but a single glowing circle marked where the floor had once existed. William saw a flash of red light far below.
"Elevator structural integrity failing! I'd suggest you get out of there now!" Freya warned.
The elevator roof suddenly snapped downwards along the line Ventress had created.
William had only a moment to try and clutch for a handhold before the four Spartans fell downwards. The elevator floor, already damaged from both the rocket and the lightsaber, gave an ominous sounding crack.
"Ralph, for the record, you are the worst-" Hansu's remark was suddenly cut off as the floor gave out under the weight of four Spartans plunging them downwards into the dark below.
William's stomach was briefly smashed into his throat as the four Spartans hurtled through the dark.
"Oh my gosh!" Ralph called out horrified as the lights that dimly lit the elevator started whipping past them faster and faster. From far below William saw two paper-thin blades snap to life, flash once or twice, and faintly saw Ventress escape the elevator shaft somehow.
"Warning! Target has exited the shaft. You're hurtling towards the bottom of the ship! Estimated time to impact 20 seconds."
"Thrusters!" William called out as he attempted to right himself in the air.
William saw a brief burst of blue light and had no time to react before Castle Six crashed into William throwing him into the side of the shaft. The impact knocked his shields down considerably and dazed him for a precious second. He bounced off the wall once before regaining control. His momentary course correction had slowed him down enough that he was now above his team. The rest of Fireteam Castle, including Ralph had righted themselves and activated their thrusters slowing their momentum.
"We can't do this forever. Freya, where's our exit?!" Chelsea demanded.
"You want that door right there. Something's sealing it shut."
A door to their right far beneath them was highlighted yellow on their HUD.
"Allow me." Ralph said. "Out of the way guys!"
"No! Wait Ralph! Hold-"
William bit off his remark as he was forced to swerve when Ralph suddenly slowed his descent shooting above William. Half a second later, he heard the sound of the armor's thrusters being overcharged and a very distinct idea of what his demolitions expert was trying to do.
"Agh! Ralph, stop!" Hansu yelped as he tried moving out of the way.
Castle Six let out a war cry before William saw the thrusters suddenly paint the shaft blue for a moment before the massive Spartan exploded past him on a trajectory that would collide with the door. He twisted for a second to avoid Castle Three before hurtling slamming into the door.
For a brief moment, the doors held firm before they simply exploded inwards with the sound of metal being wrenched apart and Ralph disappeared
"Holy-"
"Come on!" William cut Castle Four short as he disengaged his thrusters for a second before twisting to face the rapidly approaching door and triggering his own thrusters sending him rolling out into the door. He landed hard but rolled to his feet. Moments later, Castle Three and Castle Four hurtled through the wrecked door moments after each other.
William turned to see Ralph picking himself up from a massive gouge that had been plowed by the combined weight of the doors and Castle Six.
"Hey, for the record, the first idea I had was stupid. This one was better."
"If we weren't in the middle of an active warzone-" William started.
A cry of alarm to their left down a smoke filled corridor cut his reprimand off and William snapped the Hydra launcher to bear on the direction. He swore Ralph whispered "Saved by the bell."
"Come on. We need to catch her." Castle Four said urgently.
"Now you want to chase the woman who just blew out a window and stabbed that Jedi through the heart?" Castle Three gaped.
"She can't block a shotgun shell." she shrugged before cycling the action.
"Four's right. We can't let her get off ship either." William replied.
"I swear I'm teamed up with a bunch of suicidal maniacs." the sniper murmured.
To their right a chime drew their weapons on an elevator door that slid open.
"Hey! Whoa, not the enemy!" Castle Seven said raising his hands in the air as weapons were instantly trained on them.
"Where's the target?" Castle Two replied jogging up to him as the rest of Castle relaxed for a moment.
"I'm guessing that way." William pointed to the smoke drifting towards them.
"Ah." she replied in understanding. She stopped gave a quizzical stare at the wrecked doors and the cratering gouge left in the deck."
"How..."
She stopped and seemed to decide against the question.
Another scream, more distant than the first, drew their attention.
"Double time. Let's go. Freya, do the others know that Ventress is heading towards them?"
"Already informed Castle Lead. I can't pick her up on what's left of internal sensors on this deck but she's still definitely on board.
William motioned and the seven other Spartans quickly fell in as they plunged into the smoke.
"What happened on your end?" Brittany asked quietly in the back.
"Captain tried getting the Confederacy to break off their attack and hold her hostage. The Confederacy totally turned on her anyways. You ever see someone blow out a reinforced window before stabbing that Jedi kid through the heart?" Castle Three grunted.
"Oh no."
"Yeah, nearly got all of us-"
"The poor kid." Castle Eight said sadly ignoring Hansu.
"Poor kid? The kid was an idiot. Straight up charged her." Castle Six shook his head.
"Are we much different?" Hansu asked. "I mean do we have a plan other than chase her down?"
"We corner her until either the other Jedi shows up or we use the shotgun." Will said speaking up. "No, it's not an ideal plan, but if Ventress leaves the ship, who knows what she'll do. If you have any dissent, speak now and I'll give you a different assignment."
His sniper fell silent.
Another yell was accompanied by blasterfire somewhere ahead of them to the right.
They emerged through the smoke into an intersection littered with dead clones who all bore wild slashes across their bodies. William recognized this corridor as the one they had been shot at by the Clones.
"Hangar is on the right. Four, you take point with Five.
The two Spartans moved to the front seamlessly and the formation altered itself.
"Fireteam Crimson to any friendly forces, Ventress just showed up on our doorstep. Requesting immediate assistance."
"Crimson this is Fireteam Castle. We're almost to your position."
"Wonderful." Inigo replied. "Hey, Rapier, flank left and watch those Supers!"
"How many other teams are with you?" Asher asked.
"Just Rapier and... Ho-lee crap. What did you guys do to her?" he asked abruptly.
"Uh, we put a sniper round in her shoulder and messed up one of her hands." Will replied.
"That would explain the flying boxes. If you guys could draw her attention for just a second, that would be wonderful."
Castle moved forward with renewed purpose down the hallway passing two more deceased Clones before a door far ahead of them opened up.
The Hangar bay was shaped like a U. Castle had entered at the bottom-left curve of the U. Ahead of them lay empty stations for fighters. Further on were a few gunships and re-arming stations. To their right was an open space littered with crates and boxes hastily set up as cover. The area was covered with droid pieces intermingled with the bodies of clones. In the center of the U, in between the two arms, was a massive open space that allowed for craft landing and departing to have enough space to maneuver. There was a squad of Clones charging forward firing cautiously.
Castle charged forward and saw briefly Ventress twirling about her single blade, her injured hand clasping her shoulder.
"I got eyes on Castle. Welcome to the party." Rapier One chimed in. "Castle, we're charging up the middle. Go around and flank left. We need to keep her away from those shuttles on the far right."
William flashed a green light in response.
"Fireteam Crimson to Captain McQuarrie, we have eyes on Ventress. She's making a run for the shuttles." Crimson One reported.
"General Reus is almost to your position with a platoon of Troopers. Kill Ventress if you can." the Captain replied.
"We're working on it. Crimson out.
Castle was rapidly approaching the end of the hangar. William signaled and the eight Spartans turned to the right and fanned out. Ventress was to there left being chivied into a corner by what the remaining Clone Troopers and both Fireteam Crimson and Rapier.
Ventress gave a snarl and removed a blood-stained hand to send a maintenance crate flying towards Fireteam Rapier causing them to scatter for a moment. A Clone gave a terrified cry before Ventress pulled an immoblized Clone towards her and held the blade at his throat.
"Hold your fire!" a Sergeant ordered and the clones spread out to surround Ventress and her hostage. "Stand down Ventress. You're surrounded."
Ventress looked around, caught sight of Castle closing in on her unprotected flank, and began to laugh."
"Is this it? Is this all that you can throw at me? Is this how it ends?"
"Lady, please shut up." Sophie barked. "Blocking blasters is one thing but you can't block bullets and you got at least a dozen guns trained on your brain alone. You're running out of boxes to throw as well."
She backed away against a shuttle of some sort. The Clone was struggling feebly against an invisible bond.
"Hold it!" the Clone Sergeant demanded. "You're not going anywhere. The Hangar's locked down."
"I wouldn't be so sure." Ventress said dangerously.
"I would."
They all turned to see a female Jedi accompanied by an additional two-dozen troops.
"Aha! I was beginning to wonder when you would discover my ruse in the brig!" Ventress cackled. "I suppose you expect me to surrender now?"
"Lay down your weapon Ventress. You've caused enough damage and death today. You're going to die if you prolong this conflict any longer!"
"Fools! I am as dead as your Apprentice!" she gestured with the scarlet beam. "Would you like to know how? General Reus?"
The older woman's face hardened causing Ventress to errupt into another bout of cackling.
"He dies like an animal!" she said gleefully. "You can feel it now can you. Oh you should have felt what went through his mind when he was stabbed through the heart. Pain, loss, despair."
There was no response from the Jedi General but William saw a pained expression settle on her face.
"He ran to me, looking to smite me down but I took my blade and burned him from the inside out." There's nothing left for me here." she sneered. "I have no Master to return to, no fleets to command, no safe refuge to flee too."
"Then put down the blade and come quietly!" General Reus demanded, slightly pleading.
"And rot in a cell for the rest of my life? I'm afraid you're mistaken General. It doesn't matter whether I live or die at this point. If I die, fantastic. No one will mourn the loss of Asajj Ventress. So, what are you waiting for! You can't kill me, your code forbids it."
The Jedi looked to make an angry retort but stopped and looked slightly defeated.
"You've got to be kidding me." Felix fumed over their Team-Com. "They have a code that forbids them from killing? What kind of warrior-monk-mystic-person-thing are they?"
Another fit of laughter escaped her. The clone struggled again but Ventress held the blade closer to his throat.
"Three, take the shot." William ordered privately.
In his peripheral vision, he saw the sniper tighten his stance slightly, saw the fingers tense on the trigger.
Ventress moved her hand and William heard the sniper rifle give a loud crack which silenced everything in the hangar for a brief second. He fully expected to see an expertly placed shot decapitate Ventress or blow off her leg. When none of this happened and all eyes moved to his left, he watched momentarily surprised as not Ventress, but Castle Five give a sharp gasp before she collapsed to the ground.
William did a double take and saw that her left shoulder had now become an extremely bloody mess.
He took a look at her and then looked at Castle Three who seemed equally surprised by this outcome. What had been a rifle pointed at Ventress, was now pointed where her shoulder had been.
Castle Three swore and stared at his rifle in disbelief while the rest of Castle, save Castle Eight who instinctively knelt in front of Castle Five, bristled with a mixture of alarm and anger.
"Ironic isn't it." Ventress said amused. "I find it odd that I can't use the force on you directly, but I can do all sorts of things to you indirectly."
"You... you...!" Castle Three spluttered unable to find words.
"Ventress!" General Reus gaped horrified.
"I know, I'm just a darling." she drawled.
Her hand removed something from her belt behind her. And William caught sight of what looked like a detonator from her belt, armed it, and triggered it.
The gunships they were standing near suddenly exploded into fireballs sending everyone running for cover. William ducked as a piece of the wing nearly clipped him. He was able to catch Ventress decapitate her hostage before springing into action with an almost drunken gait and dueling General Reus.
"Get down!" William ordered. He scrabbled over to where Castle Eight was.
Additional explosions chained down the ceiling where the ventral doors were causing huge sections to break off immediately exposing the ship to the vaccum of space. William's roll to avoid a section of the hangar coming down turned into a mid-air flail for a moment until he triggered his thrusters and skittered away moments before energy shields protecting the hangar from decompression materialized. Several clones who were unlucky enough to be airborne fell to the ground and didn't move.
He looked around to see his team, but except for Five and Eight, they were no where to be seen.
"Status!" he called out.
"Trapped sir!" Chelsea hissed.
He snapped his around and saw that a section of the plating that had been blasted off had made a twisted pyramidal shape around the rest of his team.
"I'm good but Five's critical!" Eight replied from behind him.
"That round hit an artery! She needs urgent medical attention right now!" Freya warned.
A deflected blaster bolt flew past them.
Right. William realized. Still in an active combat zone.
"Come on! Get her out of the line of fire!" Brittany ordered.
William heard a muffled scream utter from Castle Five and he began dragging her limp body behind the cover of one of the shuttles.
Castle Eight darted around the corner a moment later carrying a medical kit which she had removed from her leg.
"What do you need?" he asked as he traded positions with her.
"Biofoam, two packs of the medigel, and one of the insta-gauze rolls. And I need you to watch out for Ventress.
William yanked the kit open and grabbed the required supplies.
"Elizabeth? Elizabeth can you hear me?" Brittany asked concerned.
A long drawn out cry was her only response.
"Elizabeth, I need you to focus on my voice okay? It's going to be okay. I've got you, we're going to fix you up, everything is going to be just okay." Brittany said soothingly while her fingers and hands frantically began assessing her injury.
William leaned out from behind his cover and looked for Ventress. Whatever momentary advantage she had gained with the explosions, she had lost that now in her weakened dueling state. The Clones were attempting to flank around in his direction. Ventress and General Reuss were wheeling about making the Clones of little use. Ventress used this to her advantage feinting a strike and lashing out with the Force sending the General hurtling backwards. There were too many friendlies in front of him to allow him to fire. He looked for an opening but found none.
Fireteam Rapier chose this point to make their move but they were forced to duck for cover as Ventress sent one of her blades spinning towards them in a wide arc.
"Duck!" Kevin ordered frantically as the blade nearly decapitated him. Rapier Three and Five barely missed the blade but received bisected weapons as a consequence. The rest of the Fireteam rolled to bear weapons and fired. Ventress was forced to duck and immediately charged towards the Clones. The Clones scattered but in vain as Ventress cleaved a path through their line straight towards the shuttle he was crouching behind.
"She's coming!"
"Buy me some time!"
William saw her path was taking them straight towards him and he felt a prickle of fear run through his spine. He noticed her wounded arm was now noticeably sluggish and so fired. The round hit the blade and half-vaporized, half exited as molten slag on the other side.
Ventress immediately shifted course and aimed directly for him. With a sudden burst of speed, she was almost on top of him. He fired another shot and sent one of the blades skittering out of her hand, deactivating it. Ventress paused for a moment but in a second she was upon him. Her overhead strike was blocked for a second by his DMR before it was cleaved in two as well.
William instinctively rolled into her to avoid the blade and crashed into her pinning her to the deck. He drew his knife and barely missed her neck as he stabbed downwards. Ventress gave an angry cry and kicked. William found himself tumbling head over heels until he crashed into the wall next to Castle Eight and Five where his shields flared alarmingly and his vision blurred. He had no time to comprehend how she had found the strength to literally send him flying.
Castle Eight immediately seized her sidearm from her leg with a free hand and fired four shots before the weapon jammed. Ventress saw an opportunity and recalled her fallen saber towards her before sprinting towards them.
In a move of desperation Castle Eight activated her Regeneration Field which suddenly enveloped the area in a glowing green circle. The circle also had the benefit of turning a midair jump into a tumble backwards. Ventress recovered and charged again. William fumbled the Hydra off his back and sent the remaining rockets spinning towards her. She leaped over them and gave a triumphant shout as she leaped again towards William.
"Will! Look out!" Castle Eight warned.
William tried to move out of the way but he was still too dazed from his impact against the hangar wall. It was too late. She was moving too fast. He wouldn't make it this time. He squinted his eyes and prepared for the worst.
Instead, he heard a shum-WAH! before a steel and orange colored figure leaped in front of William and a massive shield of blue light spawned into existence in front of him.
Ventress' blades smashed against the shield sending tendrils of electricity crackling into the air.
"What the-" William groaned trying to comprehend the source of the shield.
"What's this?" Ventress hissed as she staggered back from an unsuccesful attack.
"Hardlight shield. It makes a pretty cool sound. Turns out it's also good against blocking swords." Felix said.
"Get out of my way!" she hissed.
"Make me."
The sabers smashed against the shield again. William expected it to start to fade red as it's energy depleted, but the shield remained the same blue color.
"Tsk tsk." Felix said disappointed. "My turn."
The black and orange mercenary rolled to her right and swung his arm wide. The shield slammed against Ventress sending her sprawling to the ground. Her injured arm's saber tumbled out of her hand once again.
He then disengaged the shield and with one fluid motion, hurled the knife which nicked Ventress. A cry from the Clones came out and Ventress realized she was in a precarious situation again. She scooped up her fallen blade and jumped away to another shuttle to William's right that was still intact.
"Mark my words primitive!" she said defiantly as she slumped over. "You and your kind don't know what you're getting yourself entangled in! You would have been better off never coming to this galaxy. There is darkness in the future."
"Shoot the shuttle!" A Clone Sergeant called out desperately.
Ventress streched for her head which was all the warning William had before a wave struck them and everyone but the Spartans sprawling back. Ventress darted inside and within a few seconds, William heard the engines start.
Blasterfire began pounding the craft which roared to life and suddenly lurched into the air as the engines fired. One of the engines suddenly belched smoke causing it to drop a few feet. Even so, William watched helplessly as it clipped the edge of the hole in the hangar bay covered by the shields and disappeared from view leaving the Hangar bay suddenly quiet.
"HVT escaped. Let's hope the fighters can finish her off." Freya said unhappily.
William caught his breath and a hand from Felix helped him to his feet.
"Thanks." he grunted.
"No problem. Just glad I could get you guys in the nick of time."
"Where's your partner?" Will asked looking around.
"Dealing with stragglers in the brig. He'll be fine." Felix said dismissively. "I'd be more worried about your teammate."
William looked to Eight who was still attending Five."
"She needs a medevac. She's stabilized for the moment but I can't do anything more." Brittany said concerned. Would you call one in?"
William nodded once and turned away.
"Already made the call." Freya informed him. "Confederacy's retreated. There's a Pelican on the way. Might I suggest checking on the other Spartans?"
William looked back towards the rest of the team. They had mostly freed themselves but Castle Six and Seven had most of the wreckage pinned to their bodies.
"Status?" he queried.
"Oh just peachy Commander." Ralph grunted as he heaved a metal beam away from them."
"We're all green except for Five." Asher reported as she tugged away a jagged beam, snapping it in half allowing Felix to remove himself. "We lost Ventress though."
"We..." he paused. "I overestimated her." he grunted as he corrected himself, suddenly eager to not talk about Ventress anymore. William bent down to help Ralph who was the only person still surrounded by debris. The other five Spartans surrounded him and pulled away until piece of armor plating caved way.
"Castle Team? Commander Palmer." his comms crackled.
"Go ahead." he replied as he bent down and started trying to pry a jagged piece of metal that was blocking Ralph's foot.
"Sorry to hear Ventress slipped your grasp. ETA on your Pelican is two minutes. I'm leaving Rapier, Crimson, and Charon to clean up. Once you're back on board we need a full debriefing since you were in contact with an HVT. How many Spartans are green?"
The plating gave a sharp shriek as William and Hansu forcefully bent it out of the way allowing Ralph to free himself completely.
"Seven ma'am."
"Think you can pull an extra duty shift tonight? We..." she paused. "We lost a Fireteam during counter-boarding operations." she said.
Castle collectively shared a surprised look.
"We will." William replied after a second.
A loud sigh was heard on the other end.
"Thanks." Palmer finally said. "I'll send you your room number when you're back on board. Palmer out."
William gestured with his head.
"Spartans?"
They turned to see General Reus who had deactivated her blade and was helping a Clone limp away.
"Thanks for your efforts today. I'm sorry about your comrade."
"We're sorry about your apprentice." Chelsea replied.
"He'll live." she said looking instantly relieved. "Contrary to what Ventress said, he'll live. Without a doubt he was foolish and reckless, but he'll live." she repeated. "I wish the same could be said for the Clones."
An alarm suddenly started blaring, different than the combat alarms.
"That must be your ride. Quickly, they'll be opening up the shield doors soon."
From all around, the Clones that weren't securing the detritus of Ventress' escape broke off to help them. The shields materialized over different compartments of the hangars a second or two later. When they were finished, the clones scrambled back and through the safety of the shield.
When they had done this, a different portion of the hangar not connected to the ventral doors, opened allowing a single Pelican to descend through. The door closed and the Pelican extended it's landing gear.
"Done. Brittany announced as she finished packing her gear. "Let's get Liz on board."
The exit ramp opened and a medical crew carrying an oversized stretcher ran out to meet them.
"Ralph? Think you can be gentle?" Eight asked.
"I'm offended you think I can't be." he huffed before delicately picking up his wounded teammate. "Easy does it. We'll have you back on board soon Liz."
A congregation started forming around the Pelican as the Spartans picked their way towards the transport.
"Hey!"
Will stopped walking up the loading ramp and turned to see Fireteam Rapier and Crimson assemble.
"Best wishes, okay?" Kevin offered.
William nodded and Rapier turned away running for some different assignment.
"Our condolences as well. We'll find the witch and give her your regards." Inigo said seriously. Crimson One motioned as well and the rest of his team filed off in a different direction.
"Spartans? May the Force be with you." General Reus said as the Pelican's loading ramp started closing.
William said nothing, unsure how to respond.
The engines ignited on the Pelican and the aircraft began ascending out of the hangar. William placed a hand on the railing above the seats and braced himself as the Pelican rocketed into the inky black of space towards the Infinity.
DSC Class Support Vessel 'Humble Tithe', attached to Fleet of Reluctant Vengeance.
In orbit around Forerunner Planet Cryptum
Special Operations Officer Ripa 'Talam
A fresh, floral smell greeted his nostrils as the door to the hunting preserve of the Humble Tithe opened. In an instant, pale, cold, purple walls were replaced with the wide open space of the ship's hunting preserve. The DSC class of vessels were designed as agricultural support ships, responsible for feeding the armies of the Fleet. The floor, or rather "dirt" sloped downwards into a small forested valley. A tiny river cut across the preserve and disappeared in the distance. Above him, in the shielded dome, the planet of Cryptum lay as a blue marble as the ship orbited the planet.
Ripa looked at the holo-pad he had been using. His search for the traitor that had slipped information to the Covenant had led him to this ship. Only those with high seniority were permitted access to the hunting preserves for recreation. He had long suspected this was no rank-and-file soldier, but someone of strategic importance. The problem was that he had no idea who.
That was why he had come here. He had left his lance in the middle of a training session to come to this ship. There was a single terminal inside this dome. It would be his job to ensure that communications had not been transmitted from this ship. If he so happened to run into the culprit, then he would apprehend him to stand trial. While he had to admit this would have been more of a job for Fleet Security, with the Great Schism and the separation of the Sangheili from the Covenant, traditional roles had been dissolved. For now, Special Operations would have to fulfill the mantle.
He triggered his camouflage unit and moved down the hill swiftly. He whispered a silent prayer of thanks for the newer module attached to his suit which enabled him to move faster and remain invisible.
He pushed a branch out of his way and swiftly forded a small creek. A branch to his left snapped and he froze. The source of the disturbance was made clear as a large hoofed animal meandered by, unaware of his presence. While this beast would have been a fine trophy for any keep, he had a mission to attend to. He ignored it, and waited for it to move so that he didn't spook it.
When enough distance had passed, Ripa moved forward. The river, shallow yet swift, coursed ahead of him as he crested another hill. He saw a small cephalopod dart into the shelter of some rocks and made a note not to step there. He saw two large rocks that would enable him to cross it and carefully stepped across. The ground started climbing again and suddenly stopped. Ripa picked his way forward and saw his goal. In the middle of a clearing of trees lay a computer terminal on a circular piece of nano-laminate plating, purple and sterile against the verdant preserve around him.
In the right corner of his HUD, he noticed his camouflage module was overheating slightly. He deactivated it for a moment and powered up the terminal. He reached around his back and removed a bundle of thick cable. Inserting it into the port, he hooked up the other end to his device and watched as data started streaming towards it. He placed it back on the pedestal and cloaked himself again.
Time passed. Data streamed silently. An insect hissed loudly as another attempted to capture and consume it.
Finally the pad winked blue indicating the transfer was complete.
Ripa strode forward and disconnected it before scanning through.
"Personal, Shipboard, ahhh. Fleet-wide." he muttered as he found the desired filter.
The characters reassembled themselves on the screen detailing an extensive list of communications sent and received from this ship to all the others in the fleet.
Ripa had to give it to the traitor, they knew how to hide their tracks well. He had searched one ship prior to this and learned that the support ships handled a lot of virtual traffic, more than one would think. The coordination it took to ensure supplies were growing and delivered to their proper location meant a lot of messages, usually automated requests and responses. It would have been easy to hide one in the sheer volume.
He quickly isolated the date range he was looking for and started scanning though slowly until he found a message that caught his eye.
Curious. He thought as he examined it. On the surface, it looked like a routine response to a ship asking for a shipment of grain to be brought aboard...but there was a small glyph error where there should have been none. Supposedly it was sent in response to one of the lighter cruisers, but there was no message from it to initiate the exchange.
Ripa opened it and felt his blood run colder.
The first image to appear was a schematic of the Supercarrier's bow with several decks deep in the center highlighted. Closer examination yielded the label Sharquoi pen. There were others too, a detailed schedule of a Corvette's crew rotation, diagrams of the ship's electrical system, sensor data of the Coruscant system."
"By the rings..." he breathed out. He had evidence of subterfuge but was no closer to figuring out the identity of the traitor. He marked the document for future reference and continued scrolling, looking for another such document.
A sudden crash from the trees startled Ripa and he threw the datapad under a couple low-lying shrubs for cover before placing his hand on his hip. He thumbed the sword off his side and held it tightly.
The crashing came closer and closer. He could tell that it was quadrupedal...one of the animals in the preserve. It bounded out of cover and ran for safety to his right.
Ripa grunted in frustration but stopped. Something had spooked the beast, and it wasn't him.
Someone else was here.
Heart racing, Ripa pushed the data-pad farther under cover and waited.
Hoof steps approached him now, slow, faint, but undeniably Sangheili.
The Sangheili emerged suddenly as it ducked under the cover of tree branches. It was an Ultra, but couldn't make out anything about the face or armor.
Ripa watched to see what it would do.
The Ultra paused, hesitated for a moment, and then stepped towards the terminal. He paused before producing a small antenna-like device and opened an access panel on the front before sliding it in within the bundles of wiring.
Ripa stepped forward. He was sure this was the traitor.
The Ultra quickly keyed the terminal. The terminal whirred on and a holographic projector burst to life.
Ripa took two more steps and his fingers twitched above the activation mechanism.
He heard a rustle above and looked up, just in time to see a bird gliding toward him. It collided with his armored chest making a slight gong and causing his camouflage to shimmer.
The Ultra whirled around and Ripa heard the whine of an overcharging plasma pistol before he saw the muzzle appear and flash.
He braced himself and the green bolt collided with his chest, a hot searing pain that dropped his shields to nothing. He stumbled for a second which was all the time the Ultra needed to run forward and deliver a kick that floored Ripa.
"Traitor!" heaved Ripa as the Ultra planted an armored boot on him before igniting an energy dagger and holding it to his neck.
"How many more of you are there!?" the Ultra demanded.
"Vermin! You dishonor your family!" Ripa spat back.
"Insufferable whelp! How much do you know?"
"Everything." Ripa growled.
The Ultra's eyes went narrow for a second. His mandibles clacked nervously.
"Are you bluffing?"
"How would you know?"
"I should just kill you-"
"Then do it!"
The Ultra roared for a second.
"You were searching my communications records weren't you!"
Ripa remained silent.
The Ultra forcibly turned him over. His sword was tossed to the side and he was searched.
"Where is it!?"
"Where is what?"
"Your device!"
"You'll have to kill me first."
"Rraaggh!" he roared. "I'll find it myself."
Ripa felt his hands being forced into gravity cuffs behind him. He tried accessing his communications gear but to his fury, it was inactive. Most likely due to the EMP effect. He was alone, caught, and bound.
Once the Ultra was done, he sat him roughly against the pedestal and started looking around.
Ripa looked around desperately. He tried scooting himself closer to his sword.
"If you move I'll kill you!" The Ultra barked angrily from his position.
"By Sangheilios! What is this disturbance?"
They both cocked their head to the left and saw a Sangheili in golden armor striding towards them with blade drawn."
"Shipmaster? Thanks goodness you are here! I have discovered a tra-"
"He's the spy that betrayed our fleet!" Ripa bellowed.
"Lies! He's the traitor!"
"I was assigned by the Arbiter himself to hunt him down! I have proof!" Ripa howled. "And I know where it's located."
"I shall kill you both if you are not silent! Bridge, send a security team down here at once." the Shipmaster snapped his mandibles furiously.
The Shipmaster turned to face them both.
"Now we will wait to see who is right and who is wrong."
"Fool! You leave me no choice!" the Ultra groaned.
He snatched his plasma pistol up and fired blindly at the Shipmaster who cursed once before rolling away.
Ripa was roughly dragged to his feet and forced in front of the the Ultra. A dagger was once again at his throat.
"Coward! Put your hostage down and fight me!" the Shipmaster ordered.
The Ultra started backing away dragging Ripa with him.
"Have you no honor?" the Shipmaster asked.
"That word has no meaning anymore."
The Ultra scooped up Ripa's energy sword with his free hand and ignited it.
"You'll pay for what you've done traitor."
"So be it."
He swiped at a tree which gave a shrieking crack as the sword cleaved itself through the tree. The tree trembled and then fell with a thunderous crash ahead of them.
The Shipmaster gave a cry and Ripa couldn't see whether the Shipmaster was harmed.
The dagger was deactivated and Ripa found it easier to breathe.
"Come with me."
"Sheathe my blade. Your hands defile it with your touch." Ripa said quivering with anger.
"Are you in a position to be making demands?"
Ripa fell silent.
"I thought so. The hangar is this way."
"You can't run forever. The whole Fleet will know of your treachery. You will not escape."
"Perhaps, but I have found some new friends that are willing to...pay for my services. I'll be safe with them."
They came to one of the doors and they exited. They were heading to the hangar.
They heard footsteps ahead and suddenly the Ultra shoved the energy dagger so close to his face that his skin started blistering with the heat of the blade. He shoved him into the corner of a bulwark.
A patrol of four waddling grunts with a Sangheili Officer rushed past into the ship.
As soon as the door closed they were on the move again. They were near the hangar. The door they approached suddenly opened and an Unggoy yelped in surprise.
Without hesitating, the Ultra stabbed with the energy dagger on his other arm and the Unggoy plopped to the ground lifeless, a smoking hole going all the way through its head.
"Another sin upon my head." the Ultra said sardonically. He deactivated the other dagger and Ripa's sword
The door to the hangar slid shut behind them and they approached the largest vessel inside, a Contrition-class Transport.
The only vessel that possessed a slipspace drive. Ripa realized.
A high pitched alarm suddenly started squealing and the Ultra stiffened. Two Sangheili turned around and barked for them to stop.
"It's time we left." He said shoving Ripa up the loading ramp.
"And yet you still heft me around?" he asked as he was pushed to the floor.
The Ultra laughed.
"You're still my hostage until we're far away from the fleet."
He could hear the guards banging on the ship's hull outside, calling for a plasma torch to be brought. Ripa knew there was no chance for escape. The guards on these ships were sloppy, undisciplined. Just like he had been. They wouldn't be rescuing him. His shields were still down, a side effect of the gravity cuffs holding him bondage. He tried rebooting his communications suite. Nothing.
Ripa clenched one fist in anger. How could he have been so stupid? There was no way his suit's systems could be down. Did the Ultra use a modified plasma pistol? No standard-issue sidearm should have had this effect on his armor.
The engines turned over and the ship jerked into the air before a pressure change told Ripa they had just left the confines of the support ship.
I'm still alive. Ripa thought to himself. Yet already I feel dead.
Spartan Dormitory 25A-B, "S-Deck, UNSC Infinity
20:50 Hours UNSC Standard Military Time/Calendar
Spartan William Gunther
"Man having a funeral before dinner sucks." Felix protested.
"Could you be anymore sensitive?" Chelsea asked sternly.
"Not in the mood guys." William replied from his seat at the table in the common room.
In fact, if Will was perfectly honest, he would have rather they all went to bed, but duty called. Tomorrow they were supposed to have a funeral for Fireteam Ostrich. William didn't know much about the team (he was still trying to learn the names of everyone on the Infinity), but according to DeMarco when they bumped into him later "They were good guys. Kind of an odd bunch, but they did their job and didn't complain about it." The team had been killed in counter-boarding operations by MagnaGuards on a different Venator class Cruiser. There were four other teams who had sustained injuries, Castle was one of them.
"Well, if you're all not dressed in dress uniform let's go get suited up." Asher replied corralling the male members of Castle together.
"Sure sis. Whatever you say." his Combat Engineer replied.
Castle Eight opened the door and the team filed out one by one.
"You coming Will?" Castle Eight asked.
"Yeah, yeah I'm coming." he said distractedly.
He got up and stretched for a moment before exiting through the threshold.
The armor bay was a little louder than normal. The technicians were still busy doing diagnostic work on the armored suits that saw combat today. Because Fireteam Castle was slated to be pulling a double shift tonight, their armor had been the first to go through the cycle.
They lined up at their machines and William took a moment to count six Spartans. Elizabeth had been out of surgery for a few hours while Hansu was being grilled by a panel about her "accident". As it turned out, there was no protocol for Spartans that shot other Spartans under the influence of telekinetic assassins. Freya had assured him that Hansu would eventually be released but William wouldn't believe it until he saw it himself.
As he was sealed into the cocoon of his armor, he wondered whether his sniper hated him for giving the order to shoot.
A technician removed a data-chip from a terminal nearby and William offered it to Brittany. Freya noticed the change and her avatar appeared in the left corner of his helmet.
"You all seem happy."
"Far from it." William replied.
"Yes, well, that was supposed to be an attempt at sarcasm."
"Roland playing nice?" he inquired as he stepped down and checked his boots for a good fit.
"Actually he's a little too scattered at the moment running the Infinity and arguing with an ONI Lieutenant and the others over biomedical markers during the time of the accident.
"Are you serious?" Asher asked joining in the conversation. Evidently Freya was manifesting herself to all of Castle.
"Captain Lasky's under the opinion to release him but ONI and Spartan Branch Brass want to keep him under observation for a few hours.
"And you found this out...?"
"Roland."
"He's passing you along the data?
"Well," William swore he could see a blush. "Information's an hour old. Lot could have changed between then and now."
"Palmer approaching." Chelsea warned.
William turned to see the Commander walking towards them.
"At ease." she nodded before William could call his team to attention.
"What's going on with Hansu?" Ralph asked.
"Castle Three is going to be put under observation for a few hours."
"Are you frickin-"
Will flashed a red light HUD light and Ralph stopped mid-sentence.
"Why?" Brittany asked. "He didn't do anything wrong, it was all Ventress' fault."
"Be that as it may," Palmer said behind slightly clenched teeth "Captain Lasky had to compromise."
"But Captain Lasky's supposed to make the final call right? I mean it is his ship."
Palmer sighed.
"Yes, but you forgot the other ONI personnel attached to this ship."
"The Scientists?"
"Among some. There are other Recon teams stationed aboard. Nothing too fancy, just intelligence gathering units. ONI essentially believes they have a claim on this ship as well."
"Figures.." Asher grumbled. "Give them an inch and they'll try and take a mile."
"Well, he's not in any trouble...is he?" Chelsea asked.
"No. Captain Lasky secured that much. Roland did an excellent job of using the bio-metric data during that time to prove that Hansu wasn't responsible. He'll be fine. He's just going to spend a few hours in observation and then we'll release him. They're going to have to draft new protocol in any case."
"Then can we go visit him?" Asher asked.
"Elizabeth is two decks above. I'm sure she would an appreciate a visit. When you're done, you guys will make perimeter rounds around the ship."
"Anything else?" Freya asked.
"I have another team covering for the extra shift. You can head to bed early tonight once the first one is done. Dismissed."
She turned and walked towards her office.
"So...was that a yes?" Chelsea asked.
"She didn't say no." Asher pointed out. "And we get to sleep earlier."
They took a lift two decks up and walked into the atrium of the hospital. A receptionist pointed them towards Elizabeth's room and they found their way there.
"This it?" Ralph asked.
"2216. Just like she said." Felix quipped.
Ralph knocked three times and a voice beckoned them in.
They did so and found themselves in a brightly lit room. Two nurses were standing nearby taking vitals. Elizabeth was laying in bed with the blankets pulled up.
"Hey." she called out exhausted.
"Hey yourself." Brittany replied.
"What are you all doing here?"
"Visiting you. What else would we do?"
"Making rounds?"
"Not until we had a chance to say hello."
One of the nurses beckoned to the other and they moved out of the Fireteam's way.
"How you doing?" Ralph asked.
"Well, surgery went well. They anticipate I should be out of here within a few days. I'm sorry we didn't grab Ventress though."
"We'll get her next time." Chelsea promised.
"How's Hansu doing?"
"He'll be in observation."
Her face soured.
"I thought that might be how it turned out. When I woke up from surgery the Captain, Palmer, and a bunch of other people were all in my room. Nurses were not happy about that. I'm guessing one of the guys was important with ONI because he kept trying to get me to say that it was friendly-fire incident that was premeditated. Stupid idiot wouldn't take no for an answer. Mind you I wasn't exactly in a position to recall what happened. All I remember is her talking and then suddenly I was on the ground."
"That's ONI for you." William shrugged.
"Shall I find the Lieutenant and expunge him from their pension database?" Freya politely asked.
"No need. He was just being a little more ONI than most. Besides, Hansu wouldn't shoot me in the back. It's as simple as that."
"Alright then I think that's enough." one of the nurses said from the back. "We're on a tight schedule here. Doctor's orders. Shoo. Shoo."
"We're going." William nodded to the nurses.
"I'll see you guys soon okay?" Elizabeth called out.
Castle nodded and gave their goodbyes and soon found themselves outside her room.
"Now where do you figure observation is?" Felix asked.
Freya ended up being their saving grace and directed them to observation. The staff inside as well as a trio of armed Marines were a little surprised by the sudden arrival of Six Spartans but showed them where Hansu was.
Hansu's "cell" sat at the very end of the corridor. The room had a thick glass window protected by an energy shield. There was a single chair with a microphone on the other side whereby they could communicate with Hansu.
Hansu sat in workout attire on a bunk that looked suspiciously overbuilt and stared up at the ceiling.
"Never thought I'd see you in jail." Ralph chuckled.
Hansu looked over and a look of annoyance crossed his face.
"Shut up Ralph. It's not "jail", it's a perfectly kept luxury suite. Care to try?"
"Nawh man, I'm good."
"When do they release you?" Will inquired.
"Technically before you guys wake-up but I'll just stay here until breakfast."
"You mad?" Felix spoke up.
"A little. I mean, I guess I don't blame them. For all intents and purposes I nearly killed another Spartan in the field. They don't ignore those things easily."
"But that was Ventress though." Brittany piped up. "That wasn't you at all."
"Well, that argument's already been made and they didn't really like it. It's fine. I just get to stay with all these luxurious accommodations." he said gesturing to his utterly spartan room. "What have you guys been up to?"
"Nothing really. After our debriefing we left you with Palmer for further debriefing and we've just stayed in our quarters really. Tomorrow there's a funeral for a Fireteam." Ralph finished somberly.
"So I heard. What happened?"
"Fireteam Ostrich. They were trying to clear a different Venator out but they were cornered by MagnaGuards and killed." William explained.
Hansu quietly swore.
"Not the way I'd want to go out. Did they just kill them with those staffs?
"Heard it was a mix of the electrostaffs and heavy blasters." Will answered. "At least we recovered their bodies. Good thing too. Imagine if we had to fight an army of Mjolnir-wearing droids."
Hansu changed the topic. "Anyone know any of them?"
They all shook their heads.
"Well, I guess we'll just mourn them as fallen comrades then. Those MagnaGuards are no joke though. I heard a rumor that when we get sent into training exercises with the Clones we're going to be fighting all sorts of stuff we haven't seen before."
"Who'd you hear that from?"
"Oh, just another Fireteam I passed on the way over here. Supposedly Kamino's got a War Games simulator that's much bigger than ours buried under the ocean.
"Isn't the planet entirely ocean though?" Brittany pointed out.
"Details, details. Anyways, we can probably expect some sort of massive joint-fire version of Warzone. We'll have to see how that turns out. How did you guys get up here anyways?"
"Palmer may have left us an unspoken invitation to visit." Asher explained.
"I see. Well, give her my regards. Probably want to be out of here before security thinks you're trying to break me out. You can't see it, but this entire corridor is filled with auto-defense mechanisms.
William eyed the ceiling.
"I see. Well, we'll be off then. I'm sorry I got you into this." William offered apologetically.
"Meh. They'll just write a new chapter in the book of protocol because of me. Seriously Commander, don't sweat it. You gave the order, Ventress just messed everything up She's probably dead from all the blood that she lost anyways."
"At least we learned that shotguns beat Sith."
Hansu chuckled.
"Have fun stormin' the castle."
Ralph snorted. "Is that supposed to be some sort of bad pun?"
"You decide. They were showing 'The Princess Bride' earlier on the ship's entertainment channel. Not sure whether to love it or hate it. Watch the movie some time and you'll get the joke."
When they had finished saying goodbye to Hansu and left, Roland directed them to the armory where they kitted up with weapons. William snagged his modified FS-2000 from the armory's "special collections" and they left the ship. Roland then put a navpoint on the main corner
"Guess we're starting in the back." Asher commented when they stepped through a door and into the main access corridor of Infinity. A Warthog rolled by with a trailer carrying several large pallets and the driver waved.
William motioned and the team moved forward.
"Why are we here?" Asher suddenly asked over a private channel.
"Seems to be one of life's great mysteries." Will quipped.
"No, I don't mean anything existential. Why are we here in this galaxy. For all intents and purposes, the UNSC's goal has been accomplished. You found us and the Spirit of Fire."
"It doesn't make a lot of sense that we're escalating our involvement." he conceded.
"No, it doesn't. I don't like it Will. From what intelligence we've been given by the Republic, we know that the Confederacy's leadership is guilty of many crimes. But are the Republic's hands clean as well? Have you read the files on the Senate's history?"
"A little bit. To be honest I was reading up more about the other side."
"Chancellor Palpatine has made enormous power grabs in recent months. He's slowly given himself more and more power through the 'Emergency Powers Act'. It's a Republic by name but most of their authority is being siphoned away to the Executive."
"Sounds Caesarean."
"Exactly. Democracies aren't overthrown William; they're given away."
"So, what are you suggesting?"
"I'm suggesting that perhaps that history could repeat itself."
An uncomfortable silence settled between the two.
"Look, all the signs are there William. If the Civil war doesn't kill the Republic, the Senate will. I don't know about you but I don't want to be around if that collapse happens. We have too many problems in our own galaxy to justify committing as many assets as we have to this one."
"I'm not saying you're wrong. What exactly makes you think the situation is so dire?"
"Well, are you familiar with the name Mina Bonterri?"
"Should I? I've run across it once or twice." he admitted.
"Mina Bonterri was a member of the Separatist Parliament. She represented the planet Onderon."
"Go on."
"The closest this galaxy ever came to Peace was last year. A vote was proposed in the Galactic Senate on whether the war effort should be escalated. As it turned out, a similar vote was being considered in the Separatist Parliament. Bonterri as it turned out happened to be the champion of peace on the Separatist's side and even managed to convince the Parliament to extend an olive branch towards the Republic. When the Senate moved to hold a vote on the offer, there was a terrorist attack on Coruscant's power grid, severely crippling it. The mood shifted in the Senate and a day later, Count Dooku announced the death of Bonterri as a martyr at the hands of the Republic. The peace offer was withdrawn and both sides moved to escalate violence."
"Do you think Bonterri was murdered by Dooku?"
"Republic Intelligence seemed to think that way, though how trustworthy it is when Dooku accused the Republic of killing her is up for debate."
"So what does she have to do with the Republic being ready to fall?"
"I think both sides were manipulated.'
"Manipulated? By Dooku?"
"I...I don't know." Asher sighed. "It just doesn't make sense. Why would the Separatist's have ordered a terrorist attack when they literally just voted for peace?"
"It sounds like someone was trying to prolong the war."
"Well, they got what they wanted. We just happened to walk into a very precarious position."
"Agreed. Look how many people called for our blood when Coruscant was attacked."
"You remember that 'the most dangerous foes..."
"...are often the ones that we don't understand or comprehend.'" he finished. "You talk with anybody else about this?"
"Just the girls." she glanced over at Castle Three and Eight. "I have half a mind to talk to Captain Lasky. He seems to respect the opinion of those he commands."
"Maybe you should."
"Are you done discussing conspiracy theories?" Freya asked.
"Were you listening the whole time?" Asher asked.
"Kinda hard not to." she admitted.
"Alright then Freya, what's your take on all this?"
"Well, that's the thing. If you want to talk logistics, it doesn't make sense for us to actively engage in a fight here. We're here out of revenge now. Both sides now know that a relatively untarnished galaxy is waiting beyond their own, both sides possess a stupid amount of assets at their disposal, and like Castle Two mentioned, we have our own problems at home. We may have almost killed Jul 'Mdama, but we have dozens of other like-minded villains out there. By committing assets to this galaxy, we greatly reduce the force we can project at home."
"What about the Forerunner tech we found?" Will asked.
"While it would be to our tactical advantage to deny both the Republic and Confederacy access to it, how would we do it? Given enough time, they would smash our fleets apart and then eventually take it for themselves.
"Then what about asset denial? Putting a NOVA bomb on the planet and threatening to destroy it?"
"Pyrrhic at best."
"All right. You win Two. I still don't feel like we can totally abandon this galaxy while there are still many things wrong with it."
"But it's just not possible for us to play God in this galaxy."
"I know." Will grumped.
Fireteam Charon emerged suddenly on the opposite side of an intersection and crossed away from Castle.
"Bree?" William said turning to his medic.
"Yes Will?"
"Do you remember Isaac's shield earlier?"
"From Fireteam Charon when he blocked Ventress from stabbing you? I do."
"What do you remember about that shield?"
"It..." she paused. "It didn't run out of power. Right?"
"That's what I remember. That shield should have winked out of existence. That wasn't the case today."
"You think it was a prototype from the science lab?" Felix asked.
"Could be. It doesn't make sense though. Wouldn't we have heard about it? That's the kind of thing that the science department would want you to know. More money and resources to them."
"Wait. I didn't see it." Brittany said in remembrance.
"See what?" Ralph asked in clarification.
"I didn't see the shield module on the back of his armor."
"Did he have it somewhere else?" William asked. "I don't remember seeing it anywhere."
"Well, how could he have a shield without the armor module?"
"Perhaps it was built-in with the armor." Castle Six suggested.
"That would break UNSC regulation." Freya replied. "That kind of design hasn't been perfected yet, nor do the suits have the ability to sustain that kind of action for a long time."
"How would you know that?"
"Fifth-generation AI with access to all of the information that the UNSC possesses at your service.
"Is there anything on this ship that you can't touch?" Chelsea asked in muted jealousy.
"Theoretically, no. It's just getting caught that's complicated." she replied meekly.
"So go back to the suit's then. What would need to happen to make that a thing?"
"The suit was probably illegally procured or manufactured and modifications were made to it."
"Didn't Isaac say that he and Samuel were mercenaries?"
"Come to think of it, he did." Asher replied.
"So how did they get the suit's then? If he has a shield, what does the other guy have?" Chelsea wondered.
"Well, what do we do about it? We can't exactly go confronting them about it. It'd be rude."
"And it would blow your cover." Freya pointed out.
William stopped. "Who does the armor maintenance for them?"
"The crew of the Infinity?" Ralph guessed. "I mean, who else?"
"Freya, think you could answer that question?"
"Uh. Yeah, I could give you an answer. Do you want me to?"
"Hold up Will. Interesting as that would be, we can't exactly go about accessing things were not allowed to." Chelsea pointed out.
"Are there exceptions when you discover illegal activity?" Felix fired back.
"Touche." she muttered.
"I'm not going to access it while I'm inside your heads." Freya stated firmly. "Wouldn't be able to access it securely."
"What about our quarters?" Ralph suggested.
"Are we allowed to take her back to our quarters?" Brittany rounded on him?
"Who says we'd have to tell others?" Freya asked after a moment.
Her comment caused the entire team to stop in their tracks. Her avatar briefly turned a more salmon tone.
"What?" she said defensively. "Did you all think I was just some stuffy old AI that did everything by the book? I may not look the part, but I can get my hands dirty too!"
"This plan just screams bad news." Asher said unhappily.
"Relax Ash, that just means it's a good plan." Ralph chuckled.
William motioned them forward and Castle fell silent.
"You feeling okay?" Asher once again asked over private channel.
Castle had patrolled the ship's corridors for a few hours now and it was nearly time for them to return.
"Yeah?"
"You've been unusually sour today since we've gotten back."
William inwardly groaned. He didn't want to have this conversation but Castle Two wasn't one to let things sit.
"Well, what am I supposed to do? I gave the order to pursue Ventress. Look what happened. Five's in the Hospital, Three's in observation, and we weren't able to rein her in."
"And, realistically, what would have happened if we hadn't?"
"I don't know. She probably would have escaped regardless."
"Exactly. While we don't necessarily know too much about the Sith, we do know they're good at running. She's not going to want to face off against us anytime soon though."
"We did bloody her pretty badly."
"So, next time we all go in with shotguns blazing. Look, I don't think you should go blaming yourself. We all know everything can go horribly wrong in combat. I think we should be grateful that it ended the way it did."
"I know. We're all still here. I'm grateful for that. I just wish I could do more to protect our team. We're all a family. I just can't imagine losing more of us."
Asher laughed softly. "We used to be a crazy family, didn't we."
From ahead, Ralph slugged Felix's shoulder as the two exchanged some sort of joke causing the smaller Spartan to nearly trip over Chelsea.
"We still are. There are just a lot that aren't with us anymore."
Asher nodded.
"Still have nightmares about the refinery?"
"If I do, I don't remember them. None of the guys have woken me up in the middle of the night so I guess I'm okay."
They walked past a noticeboard where a large prominent poster regarding December's R&R activities were posted.
"That's new." William observed.
"No, it's been around, we just haven't talked about it much." Asher commented. "All activities are subject to change when we're engaged in military action. I was thinking..."
"About?"
"Well, there's a Christmas Eve dance for Spartans. Assuming we're not trying to save the galaxy, would you interested in going?"
"Shouldn't I be the one doing the asking? I thought you didn't like dancing." he asked wryly.
"Depends on the dancing, but I just thought I'd mix things up a little bit."
Her tone was neutral but William swore he heard a smirk in there.
"I'd love to."
They returned to the armory where they divested their weapons. William announced he would be cleaning his gun which the Quartermaster didn't object to. The S-Deck was quiet with the exception of a few teams who were gearing up to replace those out on duty.
William saw Fireteam Shadow walking to the Mess Hall. Horatio gave a pained smile while Bjorn just nodded. Daniel proceeded to throw a rude hand gesture their way.
"Who's that?" Freya asked.
"That would be Fireteam Shadow. Horatio's a nice guy, but Daniel and Issac are pigs." Chelsea supplied.
"Oh."
"Where is Issac? I don't see him." Felix asked.
"Who cares? Better we stay far away in my opinion."
They proceeded to their row where a few sleepy technicians helped them remove their armor and then retreated to get some sleep.
"I don't know about you, but sleep sounds wonderful right now." Ralph yawned.
"Amen." Will agreed.
The stepped through the door to the barracks and began walking back.
"Wait." Castle Eight said holding up a hand.
"Yes Bree?" Will asked.
"Do you smell that?"
"Smell what?" Chelsea asked.
William inhaled. The hallway just smelled like the floor had been waxed half a day ago and faintly like...
"Blood." Asher answered.
The team stiffened. William, who had the only weapon with them gestured and they moved forward. The corridor was dim except for a few permanently lit lights here and there.
"Help!"
A panicked voice split the silence.
"Move." William ordered and the team sprinted.
"Someone please help!"
"Sounds like it's coming from our room." Chelsea noted.
A figure rounded the corner head of them.
"Freeze!" William ordered triggering the light on his gun.
Sophie's face lit up as the light centered on her and she came to a halt, her hand shielding her eyes. She was shaking.
"Rapier Five? What's going on?" William asked cautiously.
"She's been attacked! She needs medical attention...bad...lots of blood!"
"Whoa. Hold on a second. You're losing me."
Brittany stepped forward and knelt down in front of her.
"Sophie, take a deep breath."
"No you don't understand! Something bad's happened to-" she choked, unable to bring herself to say something.
"What happened Sophie?" Asher asked.
She swallowed deeply, shuddered and then spoke.
"It's Emily ma'am! She's been attacked!"
On that happy note, I would like to thank all of you for your patience again. This story is not dead, but time to write is increasingly hard to come by. I hope you all will understand. As always, my thanks to gwb99, now EternalCanadian for our literary partnership.
Many thanks for your constructive comments and such. Before you pick out grammar and spelling errors, know that this chapter didn't go through as intensive a proof-read. While I am a stickler for perfection, please recognize I am human too. Chapter 27 is coming soon. It's been half-written. Now I just need to write the other half...
Yours in writing,
theotherpianist