Planet Sera
Day 1
It felt like an eternity as their gazes remained locked but, in reality, it only lasted maybe five seconds. Ten at the most. Blood thundered loudly in the Spartan's ears and her throat went dry. Before Baird could react, Auri had already launched into motion. She sprang up from the edge of her bunk and strode forward, reaching him within the span of two seconds. All the Gear managed to do was let out a "Hey!" as the commander grabbed a fistful of his shirt and yanked him inside, growling out, "Get in here."
Baird lurched inside stumbling once before regaining balance. Shutting and locking the door behind them with a dull thunk, Auri gripped the handles in front of her and breathed out slowly in an attempt to cool her temper and her rising fear. Damn it all. Baird just had to come down here and for what? Okay. Let's just start with that. "Why are you down here?" the Four asked sotto voce, keeping her inflection firm and even as she let go of the door and turned to face the blonde standing maybe six feet away from her and two feet away from her helmet. Much too close for her comfort.
"Because I'm allowed to go anywhere on the ship," Baird countered in a matter of fact tone. "Why the hell'd you yank me inside like that, huh?" Auri pursed her lips in response, expression tightening.
"Because you had seen me," came Noesis' voice as her avatar manifested above the Scout helmet. Baird whipped around at the sound and glanced downward at the source as the AI laced her fingers in front of her person. She regarded the man coolly before her gaze flicked over to the commander who was pinching the bridge of her nose with her thumb and forefinger.
Auri looked over at the construct in frustration. "Noesis, you didn't have to-"
"I was right!" Baird had cut the Spartan off, looking from Noesis to the commander and back.
"Wait. What? Right about what?" An incredulous look rippled across her face, arms spread out a little. The Gear faced her once more with a half grin on his face and held up his right index finger, pointing it right at her in a "Gotcha!" moment.
"You lied. I knew you were hiding something."
The Four brought her hands up and clasped them together, bracing both index and middle fingers against her lips as she tried to staunch her rising irritation. "Okay. Yes, fine. I lied, Baird," she replied, voice straining as she dropped her arms to her sides. "Of course I lied. You'd think I'd be stupid enough to trust you all completely? I don't even know you!"
"Right back at you, sister. You just drop outta nowhere with some weird, bullshit story, and then you act like you're not hellbent on getting back to wherever the crap it is you came from."
"Is that what this is all about?" She threw her gaze to the ceiling in exasperation then looked back to Baird. Oh, for the love of… "Of course I want to get back home!"
"You also said you weren't familiar with how that teleportation network works and I'm betting this thing over here is a computer program by the looks of it," Baird replied, hooking a thumb over his shoulder at the construct. "What the hell are you, anyway?" He glanced back at Noesis at this point.
"She's none of your business," Auri had all but snapped at him, striding over to herself between the two, fury plain on her face. For once, could something go right just for one damned mome-
The door opened a second time and a cheery man's voice called out, "Hey, hey. I'm back, baby. Pickin's were a little slim but I managed to, uh… Is this a bad time?" Cole had walked in balancing two trays full of food and drink then paused in the doorway upon seeing the two mid-argument. "Hey, Baird. What're you doing down here? Didn't Marcus tell you I was watchin' her, yeah?"
"Yeah, Cole, he did," Baird replied in a succinct voice, turning his body halfway to greet his friend before returning his attention back to the Spartan. "I also wanted to come down here and ask her a couple questions. Didn't really get a chance to do that back in Michaelson's." His tone was easy and nonchalant. Nothing at all like the one he'd been using seconds before Cole arrived.
A muscle in the Four's jaw twitched. "You're full of crap, you know that, right?" Auri said as she crossed her arms over her chest plate and arched an eyebrow at Delta's tech. Damon looked back at her, ready to shoot off another sharp retort when Cole spotted the AI's green avatar still hovering above the bed.
"O-kay. Someone want to introduce me to the little lady or…?" Cole asked as he set the trays down on his bed, eyes bouncing between the soldiers.
The commander let out a heavy sigh before replying in a clipped voice, "Cole. Baird… This is Noesis. She's an artificial intelligence that specializes in cyber warfare and intelligence gathering. Noesis, meet Cole and this jackass."
"I'm not-!" Baird interjected before getting cut off.
"Look, Baird, to be candid with you, you are. My stress levels are through the roof right now. I was thrown through some bullshit portal and ended up here. I haven't eaten or slept in a long time so you'll have to excuse my lack of a filter. I-" Movement to her left caught her eye. It was a worn blue tray that had appeared, courtesy of Cole.
"Alright, Commander. Why don't you eat then?" the big man offered. "Then, when you're done eatin', we can talk about what the hell this all's about." A headache that had been pounding since she'd gotten in that gunboat had crept from her temples to her forehead and was practically screaming for relief. Enough so that Auri took the tray without another word and plopped herself back down on the edge of her borrowed bunk, chewing mechanically through the warm chicken and veggie soup Cole had been able to scrounge up for her. She nodded her thanks as she dug in, biting back a small groan of pleasure at that first sip. It definitely could've been a bit warmer but she certainly wasn't complaining. She'd definitely had worse in the past.
Cole motioned to Baird to take the bunk opposite his and both he and the Spartan ate in relative quiet until the bulk of her food was demolished. Noesis remained visible, her avatar still projected above Auri's helmet. Every so often, she and Baird would lock eyes with one another; no doubt he was still trying to puzzle the AI out. The commander set her tray aside a few minutes later and ran a hand over her face as she tried to sort through her thoughts, what needed to be prioritized and what could wait until later. Cole patiently sat on his bunk, halfway through a bright red apple, as Baird not so patiently drummed his fingers on a bicep. Luckily, Delta's tech knew better than to open his mouth this time.
"Okay," Auri began quietly. Both soldiers' gazes snapped to hers, Cole stopping mid-bite. "I hid Noesis for a valid reason. I do not know or trust the personnel aboard this ship well enough to reveal her to your superiors. AIs, 'smart' or 'dumb', are extremely valuable assets both on the ground and in space and to have them fall into enemy hands-"
"Wait, how can artificial intelligence be classified as dumb?" Baird interjected, head tilting to the side as his brows furrowed together. He then held up his hands, palms out, in a placating gesture as the female soldier shot him a tired look as he mouthed, "Sorry."
"AIs defined as 'smart' aren't confined to just one specific type of purpose," came Noesis helpfully, her avatar striding forward to hover near the Spartan's left knee. "We're more… creative than our counterparts. Unfortunately, our memory cores cannot be replaced and, as time goes on, as we download more and more data, the less thinking space we have to deal with. Our cognitive processes can and will begin to deteriorate rapidly, more so the older we are, and we can literally think ourselves to death. We only have an operational lifespan of roughly seven years, which is decades to us considering how fast we can interpret, consume and analyze data.
"The 'dumb' AIs," she continued on, using air quotes, "don't learn like we do. Or I should say they don't have the ability to problem solve, if that makes sense. They retain information and are like a standard computer you would use. They may store data and act as personal assistants or teachers. Since they're subjected to only one function, they become very adept in that particular field of work. And as they don't have that creative, problem solving side to their memory processing matrix, they don't have to worry much about deteriorating into madness like some of us do."
Baird narrowed his eyes a fraction at the construct, glancing briefly over to the commander who took a swig of her drink before returning his attention back to Noesis. "So, lemme get this straight: are you telling me that, at any point in time, you could start going bonkers at the drop of a hat if your storage completely fills up?"
"Not exactly, no." Noesis shook her head causing a few soft white strands to fall over her right shoulder. "From what I've gleaned from previous… constructs," she said with a small wince, "if we remain operational past our original lifespan, and if we aren't… decommissioned, that's when we begin our descent into what we call Rampancy. Although a very small handful of AIs, some on planets held by insurrectionist forces or planets outside of the UNSC's jurisdiction, have lived past that lifespan but it's not without severe consequences." She tapped one long finger against her chin in thought. "Alright, think of Rampancy as human insanity. Some 'smart' AIs can begin to have delusions of grandeur or think themselves gods. Or others daydream their existence away, sending out hundreds of thousands of queries to unanswered questions. Our processes begin to get bogged down from that massive query influx.
"Most AIs are immediately removed from our housing and taken away as we lose our effectiveness in combat and can very easily be a liability to our starship or team. To compare us to a human's body during this state, imagine taking an opiate or a strong drug of sorts. You become so fixated on that substance that, over time, your mind loses the desire to supply oxygen to your lungs or pump blood through your heart. You're either locked away mentally in a state of perpetual daydreaming or godlike superiority until you're no longer functioning as you're constantly chasing that high." The AI grimaced as she laced her fingers together. "It isn't pleasant but death never is. Luckily I'm not anywhere near that as I'm only four." A quick smile pulled at her lips before it disappeared.
Baird blinked twice before sharing a look with Cole who'd stuffed a dinner roll in his mouth. "Damn. That got darker than I was expecting," the tech remarked with his teammate nodding his own affirmative. Baird leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees and steepled his fingers between them. "Is there… anyway to combat that? The Rampancy, I mean." Noesis and Auri looked at each other as they shared a wordless conversation before turning back to the man. The AI chewed her lip before lifting a hand up and waggling it in the universal so-so gesture.
"We aren't necessarily sure and it hasn't been confirmed," Noesis said as the Spartan leaned back on the bed, the box springs squeaking loudly in protest against her suit's added weight.
"Besides, most of it is classified," Auri added in a firm tone, her gaze flicking up to rest on Baird's.
Baird's mouth pulled into a line at that and rubbed his palms together. "Kinda figured as much. So your friend's basically a portable supercomputer." The tech then gave her a smirk. "You're not gonna try to insert her into the mainframe we've got here, are you?" he asked, cocking an eyebrow at the pair. It took a massive effort on the commander's part to not roll her eyes given her withering patience.
"No, I'm not. One," she said, holding up her left pointer finger, "I wouldn't be stupid enough to try that and, two, I don't know if Noesis is even compatible with your tech. We wouldn't want to risk compromising your network." The food Cole brought her was starting to work its way through her system and she could feel her headache's claws begin to retract but just barely. A certain someone, however, was threatening to bring it back.
Baird nodded to himself, that smirk still on his face. "That's fair. Just figured I'd ask."
"Right." Auri downed the rest of her drink and set the empty can to the side as she got to her feet. She placed her hands on her hips, trying not to fidget. "Look. It's probably not my place to make demands-" She paused briefly to catch Cole nudging his friend with his leg to cut off whatever snarky remark Baird had cued up. For once, Baird obliged. "-but don't mention Noesis to Michaelson. At least not yet. It may seem like I'm overreacting but I swore to keep her from harm. I'm sure you both understand the implications of that."
"Yeah, we do," Cole replied with a short nod as he piled his trash atop his tray. "We may have to tell Marcus, Anya and Dom, at least." He'd opened his mouth once more to continue his train of thought when Cole had paused, realization kicking in. A broad grin formed on the big man's face. "Is your AI the reason you were able to backhand the Brumak's mortar shell?" he asked, looking up at the commander who dipped her chin down in a nod.
"She is, yes."
"Well, damn, baby. Seems me and Dom owe the little lady some thanks." Cole let out a short bark of laughter. At his praise, Noesis' normally green avatar turned a bit pink at the edges then faded back to her original color and a small smile pulled at her lips. His eyes widened slightly at the change.
"I'm just grateful it worked," the AI replied, holding her hands behind her dress once more.
"You and me both." Cole sent another wide grin her way before pointing his index finger at her person. "So, you can change your appearance whenever you like?" he asked.
"Yes. Upon our creation, we create our persona. Some AIs choose to simply not take on a human avatar but the vast majority of us do. And, depending on our emotions, we can alter our color scheme."
"Huh. That's pretty handy." Noesis flashed the Gear another smile and nodded. Cole then turned his gaze over to the commander who was discreetly rubbing at her eyes. Her gaze flicked up to meet Cole's and she dropped her hand onto her knee. "Alright, well, Baird, was there anything else you were wanting to ask our resident Spartan or can it wait till tomorrow?"
Baird frowned a little before shrugging and heaved himself up off the bunk, arms swinging by his sides. "Nope. I'll bug ya in the morning if I do." He tapped his first two fingers on his right hand to his temple in casual salute to the Four before taking his leave. Once the hatch closed behind Baird, Auri exhaled heavily and leaned her head into one hand. Cole let out a short laugh at that and offered her an empathetic smile.
"Is he always like that?" Auri asked, her voice sounding a little muffled from her palm.
"Hm. Eh, yeah. Kinda. He can be a bit of a smartass-"
Auri lifted her head up, raising both her brows at Cole and the man laughed aloud.
"Okay. More than a bit, I'll give you that one, baby. He does mean well and he grows on you. I know when we first got together with Marcus and Dom, those two butted heads somethin' fierce. It's gotten to a tolerable level now."
"How long did that take?"
Cole frowned before nodding his head from side to side. "Maybe a year? Give or take a couple months."
"Hopefully I won't have to stay around here that long," she muttered.
"I'm sure once we get some time, and let Anya work on Michaelson, we'll see what we can do to get you home." He got up briefly to squeeze her shoulder once in reassurance. "You need to grab a shower now or anythin'? Pretty sure the head's empty this time of day."
"Maybe later. Or I'll grab one tomorrow morning. If that's alright."
"Hey, you do you, man. I don't care which way you go about this. Anyway, I've got some stuff I need to take care of so I'll be out for a bit longer. I'll be sure to pass the word along to Baird to give you some space."
"Thank you." A small weight lifted up from her shoulders and the fist that had been wrapped tightly around her heart eased up just a bit. "And… thank you for not treating me like a prisoner here."
"Anytime, baby. We're all just tryin' to get by out here. You're no different. Try to get some rest if you can." He reached out to pat her on the shoulder for a second time before he scooped up the trays and stepped out of the room as well, leaving the Spartan in silence.
"Hah, rest," Auri said to no one in particular. She leaned forward to rest her forearms on her knees for a moment and took stock of the additional bunks and personal effects. There were footlockers at the end of each bunk and a weapons locker near Cole's space. Photos were stuck haphazardly on a cork board above a small desk next to his bed as well as what looked to be dog tags in the form of gears on the flat surface. While Auri knew she shouldn't snoop, she also knew she wasn't going to disturb anything. Still, she cast a look at the door once more for a few seconds before going over to the desk to peruse its contents.
The desk itself looked beat to hell with scuff marks covering the bottom half and the chair that went with it didn't fare too well either. Small knicks and gashes littered the top though it was mostly covered with disorganized papers and what looked to be cleaning supplies for guns. Auri carefully pulled back bits of paper, scanning them briefly before turning to the tags. The metal caught the light of the desk lamp illuminating the small text facing her. One side indicated that it was the property of the Coalition of Ordered Governments. She reached a hand out to flip the tag onto the other side and revealed them to belong to one Augustus Cole. Carefully setting the tag back on the desk, Auri glanced up to the cork board. It looked to be a communal sorta thing for those living in this section with notices and reminders stuck about the place but what drew her eye were the pictures.
A couple were worn at the edges or had corners completely ripped off over time. In them were a handful of men and women decked out in armor similar to what Cole and the others were sporting. Some of them looked pleased, triumphant, but others… While they appeared cheerful, their smiles didn't quite reach their eyes and their shoulders sagged with that familiar weariness that came from extended battles. It was that ache that got deep into one's bones and no amount of sleep or shore leave could get rid of it entirely. Auri knew that feeling all too well. She lifted the corner of one photo up slightly off the board with the pad of her index finger. Light spilled over it to reveal Dom, Cole, Baird and Marcus. The last not really cracking much of a smile as the photographer caught Cole, mid laugh, smacking Baird on the back of his shoulders making him stumble. Dom looked to be rolling his eyes at whatever had been said.
A small smile pulled at the Four's lips at that and she lowered her hand as she cast a look back at the small bunk she'd claimed as her own for the duration of her stay aboard the Sovereign. She didn't necessarily relish the idea of getting out of her armor at the moment, she'd luckily grabbed a kit that contained the tools required to remove her protective plating prior to leaving for the mission her team had been assigned. It took much longer than the Infinity's Brokrr Mechanism but it still did the job. The assembly system got a Spartan out of their suit in no time flat. When morning came, she'd jump in the shower. Hopefully no one would be there and she could just slip in and out.
In the meantime, she could feel the siren call of sleep tugging at her mind. Since she sat down, it had been slowly wearing on her. That jump through the portal network must've taken more out of her than she'd expected. Noesis had been busy analyzing the data she had pulled from the facility's system. The construct looked up at Auri as the Spartan approached her borrowed bunk. She dismissed the windows hovering in front of her as Auri sat down, raking a hand through her hair for the umpteenth time.
"I'll keep watch if you need to sleep," the AI said, studying the other woman's face.
"There's no guarantee I will sleep but…"
"A nap at least."
Auri's mouth pulled into a line as she nodded, knowing her friend was right. It wouldn't do either of them any good if she was only running at fifty percent. She swung her legs up onto the mattress, bouncing a little as she tried to get comfortable. Moving her helmet beside the lumpy pillows, Auri rolled onto her side facing the door as Noesis' avatar retreated back into her head piece. Taking in a deep breath, the Spartan closed her eyes in an attempt to rest.
—
The commander felt her body suddenly jerk upright as… something pulled her from sleep. Then a resounding thwack! sounded off as her forehead collided painfully with the metal frame of the bunk right above her. Auri hissed in pain, swallowing a curse, and immediately pressed her palm to the affected area. She rubbed it gently in an attempt to get rid of the sting.
A large shadow moving out of the corner of her eye made her look about the room. It was Cole. "Oh, hell. I'm sorry, ma'am. Are you alright?" The man had knelt down by her side of the bed, concern plain on his face. "I knew I should've gotten that door fixed."
"No. No, I'm fine. Ow." Auri winced a little as she gently probed the spot. It didn't seem like there was any broken skin, just some minor bruising. "Just kinda startled me."
"Yeah, sorry 'bout that."
"What time is it anyway?"
"Last I checked, it's close to midnight."
Okay, so a bit later than I thought. She let out a breath, pushing a few loose strands of hair behind her ears. "Alright. I'm gonna try to get a couple more hours of sleep. Uh, are the showers, like, 24/7 sorta deal or do they open up at certain time?"
"Tell you what. I'll set an alarm for five and I'll walk you down there. Shouldn't be anyone hogging up the hot water. If we time it right, we might get first dibs on breakfast and with that supply cache we brought in… Mm! We're gonna eat well for the next week or two!" The commander knew she'd have to wake up a bit earlier than that if she wanted to get out of her suit in order to leave on time. Nodding once, she bid the Gear good night and rolled back over onto her other, hearing Cole do the same thing. Before too long, she could hear the man's breathing even out as he drifted off. Auri readjusted her pillow and fell into a fitful sleep of her own.
—
The Spartan had tossed and turned for the bulk of the night, only managing to doze off about two hours before her personal alarm woke her. Sighing softly into the pillow, she thumbed off the faintly chiming device on her helmet and pushed herself up into a sitting position. Sleep still had a tight hold over her brain and being in an unfamiliar place didn't help much as she swung her legs over the side of her bed and fumbled around at her belt. By the time her eyes had adjusted to the darkness that shrouded the entire room, graying light leaking in through the shuttered window and the cracks beneath the door, she removed her tool kit from her belt and got to work on her armor plating.
It was a slow, tedious process and she was further limited by the amount of noise she risked making. By the time she'd moved to the upper plating on her legs, a small buzzing sound came from Cole's end of the room. The Gear shifted in his bed and she heard a few loud pops as he stretched before he got up himself. He reached over and flicked on his desk lamp and warm light filled the space. She watched Cole roll out his neck before his gaze met hers.
"Oh. When'd you get up?" he asked around a yawn.
"Eh, maybe forty five minutes ago?" Auri replied in a low voice as she unhooked her thigh plating and set it next to the growing pile of armor resting on top of the mattress and the floor beside her feet. "I should be done with this in the next fifteen minutes or so. Uh, where did the captain say that extra set of clothes would be?"
"Check the footlocker there," came the man's reply with a nod at the metal container at the end of her bed. "If it's not there, you can try the other ones. There should be at least one or two here." Cole had already begun to rummage around in his own locker and procured a fresh set of clothes for himself along with two towels slung over one arm. The Spartan worked on the remainder of her armor as quickly then paused after setting the plating down next to the rest.
While she could lock the suit up and Noesis would be here… "Will it be safe to leave everything here?" Auri asked as she moved from her suit to the footlocker. Flipping the lid up revealed nothing but dust bunnies. As did the second one.
"Hm? Oh yeah. I've got the only key. Michaelson's people can bypass it but only if necessary."
Auri cocked her head to the side as she stopped her search to look at him. "I thought it could be unlocked from the outside."
"Not if you got the key. Your suit'll be safe while we're out. If you want, we can bring breakfast back here. Sound good?"
"That's… That'll work. Thanks." She checked the next footlocker and was rewarded with a set of sweats and a white shirt with the Coalition of Ordered Governments logo emblazoned on the back and on the right breast pocket. They smelled a little stale but were fresh and unworn. Auri scooped them up and strode out of the room with Cole in nothing but her boots and bio-layer that had been mostly concealed under her armor. The Gear stopped long enough to lock the room behind them before leading the way to the ship's head. Brisk, cold sea air smacked Auri in the face as the Sovereign plowed through the ocean. Gray clouds littered the skyline, fighting back against the upcoming sunrise that was just barely peeking over the horizon. Nothing could be heard past the wind blowing by and the sound of the dark water churning meters below them.
They had only passed by three other people moving about that section of the ship by the time they reached the showers. Cole handed the Four the extra towel before heading over to the men's side. "I'll be out in a few. There should be some soap and hair stuff some of the gals left behind that you can use. I doubt they'd mind," Cole called out over his shoulder at her before disappearing around the bend. With her temporary safety net out of sight, Auri resented the swirling apprehension dancing around in her stomach. She hated that she even considered the Gear a safety net. Standing around out in the cold wasn't going to do her any good so she sucked it up and moved into women's showers.
Someone had already turned on the lights before she had gotten there and revealed at least twelve different private stalls. Curtains were either drawn back completely, showcasing the aging metal, or were closed shut. The sound of running water and steam was rising up from one stall at the far end but that was all that indicated this place was in use. Setting her fresh clothes and towel on top of the little bench outside the stall she chose, Auri pushed back the old curtain and swung it behind her before stripping out of her under suit and boots and got to work scrubbing off the dirt, sweat and grime. The water was luckily still hot and, once she had gotten clean, Auri stood under the shower head for an extra few minutes, relishing the warmth rolling down over her shoulders.
As soon as she had thawed out enough, she shut off the water and toweled off, donning the COG issued shirt and sweats. That was when she had found out that the top was oversized and stopped just below her hips and the bottoms had to have the waistline rolled up at least four times before she could get it to stop falling down. She was definitely going to have to take Anya up on her offer. The other single occupant had since left by the time the commander had finished and had been rubbing the towel over her damp hair as she walked out to meet up with Cole. The Gear had been waiting patiently just outside and he smiled as soon as he saw Auri.
"Nothing feels better than a nice, hot shower, huh?" He then spied her oversized clothes and attempted to cover his subsequent bark of surprised laughter with a cough. "Uh, yeah. We're gonna need to get you some new clothes soon." Auri rolled her eyes, slinging her bio-layer over one arm, as Cole reached out to take her towel and tossed them, along with his used clothes, in a bin that would be taken to the laundry room later in the day.
"No kidding. If Baird says anything snarky, I'm not going to be held responsible for what I may say or do," she replied as they began walking down to the mess.
"Hey, as long as there's no lasting damage, I don't think Marcus'll mind. Come on, let's go grab a bite before the morning rush gets in." The thought of fresh food was enough to get her to pick up her pace as she followed Cole down another three decks before entering the mess hall. Already a small handful of people were milling about. The cooks behind the counter were hard at work getting breakfast ready. Cole raised a hand up in a friendly manner, waving over someone Auri recognized to be Dom. The other man had been in the middle of munching on a piece of toast and jam nodded at the pair as he walked over to join them.
"You guys are just in time. Rita's got a good batch of strawberry jam going," Dom said by way of greeting. "And it is going fast. You better grab some before it's gone."
"Good to know," Cole replied, handing Auri a tray and grabbing one for himself. He gave his hellos to the cooks as he moved down the line. Seemed Cole knew them all by name and vice versa. One man elbow bumped Cole's fist to avoid using his hands as he went back to the sausage links sizzling on the stove top. The commander heard the phrase "Cole-train" being used more than once and remembered she heard it when she was back out in the field the other day.
"Hey, Dom. Dumb question: everyone's calling him," she nodded her head at the other Gear, "the 'Cole-train'. Where'd he get that?" Dom fell in with her as Auri moved down the line, piling her tray with food as well.
"Cole used to be a thrashball player before he joined the COG," Dom replied as he finished off his toast and wiped his hands free of crumbs. At the Four's questioning look, he elaborated on the sport enough that it reminded Auri of Grifball sim back on Infinity or football back on earth. "Yeah. He was super popular and a hell of a player. 'Cole-train' was basically his callsign. Then E-day hit and everything went to shit. He enlisted and the name stuck." By the time he'd finished, Auri had picked out what she needed and they fell in with Cole. Dom kept with them as they walked back to Cole's bunk before taking his leave to go tend to his personal greenhouse, promising he'd pass word along to Anya for better fitting clothes for the Spartan.
They reached the bunk soon enough and they both dug into their food in relative silence. Twenty minutes later, two rapid knocks sounded off from the door; it was Anya with four small bundles in her arms. "Hopefully these'll work a bit better," the woman had said, passing the clothes off to Auri who gave her thanks. "Boots still good?" The Four nodded once and Anya smiled. "Good. Footwear's a little harder to come by nowadays. Give me a shout if you need anything else." The female Gear left the pair a moment later and, after finishing up the meals, Cole took the Spartan on a short tour of the entire ship. Auri had changed quickly into one bundle of clothes Anya had given her and was relieved they actually fit this time. Folding her bio-layer and setting atop her bed, she joined Cole as they walked from stem to stern before heading below deck.
It was still odd to be aboard a ship that wasn't in space. Auri kept half expecting to see Spartans walking around one corner but, instead, they were Gears decked out in their bulky plating. Now that she was out of her own suit, most people didn't pay her mind much, probably thinking she was a COG recruit Cole was showing around. The day passed rather quickly as the tour went on. The sun had finally broken through the drab clouds but it wasn't enough to chase away the chill in the air. The pair took lunch and dinner in the same manner and the next few days followed a similar pattern.
Five days had passed in relative monotony, and the commander had yet to be assigned to Baird, when, on the afternoon of the fifth day, the Sovereign had lurched to a halt in the water. Auri had been with Dom in his greenhouse needing a break from all the varying shades of gray, black and brown that covered the ship. Dom had braced himself against the closest wall and shot out an arm to grasp the Spartan by the shoulder to steady her but just barely. The pair shared a look of worry as alarms blared loudly and the sounds of several pairs of feet pounding on the decks above them as people got into motion.
"What the hell's going on?" Auri yelled to be heard over the noise. "Did we hit something?" Dom ducked inside his room quickly and came back out with weapons. He shoved what looked to be a handgun into the Four's hands as he hefted what she found out to be a Lancer with a chainsaw bayonet attachment. He also handed over additional clips which Auri stuffed into her pockets as they hit the stairs, Dom taking the steps two, three at a time, a sense of urgency lending him speed.
"No. Something hit us," Dom called back at her as they finally reached the top deck of the Sovereign and stumbled into chaos. Men and women ran to and fro, the sound of chattering gunfire echoing everywhere. That's when Auri's gaze landed on the odd, twisted looking structures that were springing up out of the water at a startling rate. She'd seen those once before and knew they spelled disaster.
The Lambent had found them.