Chapter 18
Drake glanced around the briefing room at his fellow ODSTs, his new team members of Wayfinder as they waited patiently for Shapiro to arrive and give them their tasking. He couldn't see their faces, their helmets donned for their upcoming mission and their visors polarized. If they were showing any feeling about what was to come he couldn't tell. Their helmets and armor bathed in a soft blue glow as they stared down at the holo-table in an awkward silence.
In the short time he had spent working with his new teammates he had gotten to know them and understand their strengths and weaknesses. Staff Sergeant Chad was a demolitions expert. If you handed him something that exploded or pointed at something that needed to explode he was the one to do it. He was also the one in charge of the team.
Corporal Gibby was the team's RTO. She ran alongside Chad most of the time, keeping his ears silenced as she relayed everything to him through her radio pack. She grew up in the outer colonies. She understood their lingo and could translate any slang the Innies used against them.
Lastly, Corporal Rogue. He was the strong, silent type. What he lacked in communication skills he made up with his ability to go unnoticed. If there was a location that needed to be infiltrated he was nominated. His uncanny ability to get places he shouldn't wasn't brought up a lot. Drake assumed a criminal background that he left behind once he joined the military.
His new team could never replace those he lost on Reach, but for now they were the ones he trusted his life to, and they trusted their lives to him. They continued to glance around at each other, shuffling their feet in silence before Gibby finally opened up.
"So what do you all think? Drake's already been out on an asset grab recently. Something you're still not telling us about I might remind you." She began as she nodded to Drake who simply shrugged in response. "You don't think it's something serious?" She finished as she placed her hands on the holo-table and continued to inspect the terrain displayed.
"Not too sure honestly. There's been whispers of Covenant contact on the planet, but there's nothing confirmed as of yet. Unless One knows something we don't?" Chad asked as he joined Gibby in prying for info.
"Like I said, it was something Shapiro sent me out to grab which I can't talk about." Drake replied as he shook his head.
"Well you clearly know more than we do. Sharing is good for the team." Chad replied as he nudged Drake in the side with his elbow.
"I'd get into even more trouble than I already am. I'll pass." Drake replied as the door to the briefing room hissed open. The interior was bathed in orange light for a few moments as Shapiro stepped inside and closed the door behind him. Chad, Gibby and Rogue standing to attention as he entered. Drake simply nodded to him before focusing on the display.
"At ease. I've got some work for you Wayfinder. Gather round." Shapiro said as he walked over to the head of the holo-table and began tapping some keys of the display. The terrain slowly focused and zoomed on Destiny Base. Wayfinder glanced at each other as they watched the display then slowly zoom out, keeping Destiny centered.
"I've received intel that the Covenant might have landed on the planet. We don't know where they are, how many of them there are, what their forces are comprised of. Nothing. All we know is they might be here. Wayfinder are to split individually and travel out of Destiny. One to each cardinal direction before sweeping counter-clockwise. Maintain radio contact and report anything you see." Shapiro explained as the holo-table began to project 4 Mongoose heading away from Destiny, following paths that Shapiro had described.
"How credible is this intel sir?" Chad asked as Shapiro turned the holo-table display off, the interior lights slowly turning on as the blue hue calmed and bathed the room in white light.
"ONI credible. This needs to remain quiet. I don't want the entire base locking up in fear of another Covenant attack so soon after Reach. Lock your comms to your own net, report back if you find anything at all. If you come into contact with the Covenant you do one thing. Run." Shapiro began as he slowly walked around the holo-table towards the door.
"You will be alone. I don't care if it's one Elite or one Grunt. If you come into contact you turn and run, get back to base and report." Shapiro concluded as he stepped to the side of the door, keeping it closed and turned, waiting for the impending questions.
"Are we expecting to see something along the lines of what happened on Reach?" Chad asked as he followed Shapiro towards the door.
"We don't know. That's why I'm sending you out. Did you not listen to anything I just said?" Shapiro asked with a chuckle.
"Right. But if we do come across something like that. What's the plan?" Chad asked, a hint of fear clear in his voice.
"If you come across something like that, you get back, report in and we get the hell out of dodge." Shapiro explained. He had no intention of leaving his men and women on the planet to die when he could get into contact with Fleetcom and let them know he was evacuating the planet.
"And if we're compromised?" Rogue asked quietly which drew the attention of everyone else in the room.
"Depending on how many of them there are. If there's only a few of them, run as far and as fast as you can. A small group we can deal with." Shapiro began as Rogue began shuffling on the spot, every member of Wayfinder knowing what was going to be said next.
"However if this is another Reach level event. You hunker down and take as many of them out with you as possible. You can't lead them to the base and risk everyone here. I know it's not what you want to hear. But the life of one over the lives of many." Shapiro said quietly as he opened the door and stepped outside, leaving Wayfinder alone with their thoughts.
The silence and tension in the room could be cut with a knife as the four ODSTs glanced around at each other, waiting for one of them to break the silence. Finally Chad spoke up.
"Well shit. Guess we've got a massive role thrust upon us." Chad said with a forced chuckle as he glanced at the rest of the team. Gibby chuckled herself as she shrugged her shoulders.
"Nothing new there though is it? ODSTs usually have to do something like this right?" She asked rhetorically.
"Yeah but if we get busted and it's something crazy like Reach then we just have to fight until we die. Not something you want to hear before heading out right? I'm not one to jump to this, but I'd honestly be glad to have a few Spartans here now." Chad replied.
"I'm not exactly keen on throwing my life away. Nor am I keen on experiencing something like Reach again. But as far as we know all the Spartans are dead so..." Drake replied quietly as his teammates glanced his way.
"Spartans never die, remember? But fingers crossed that nothing like that happens here." Gibby replied as she planted a hand on Drake's shoulder, giving him a reassuring shake before walking passed him.
"We'll discuss our routes when we get to the hangar. We're probably going to take some Mongooses out and run heavier than normal. If we're compromised I'd rather go down fighting than running like a bitch." Chad said confidently to which Rogue nodded in agreement.
"Hopefully nothing like that will happen. Let's go catch up with Gibby and head out." Drake said, trying to sound confident himself. He was not. Memories of the burning planet began flashing in his head, the friends he'd lost that day making their way to the front of his mind, he began to feel sick.
"We've got your back One." Rogue said quietly as he and Chad stepped out into the hallway. Drake swallowed his fear and nodded in reply as he joined his two teammates as they trekked down to the hangar bay. Looking for Gibby to set out their plan.
Arriving in the hangar she was already rolling over a third Mongoose as the other three ODSTs joined her. Drake quickly claimed his own 'Goose as he slung his backpack over his shoulders and hopped onto the seat, watching the others.
"Alright so Drake take south. Rogue takes the east. I'll take North and Gibby take west. Like Shapiro said we'll head out then rotate to cover the other bearings." Chad began as Gibby rolled over their final Mongoose and sat atop it.
"How will we know our LOA? If there's more snowfall our tracks will be wiped." Gibby asked as Chad made his way over to a locker by the wall. Inside he pulled out several small metal boxes, passing one each to his teammates. Drake looked the box over and smiled.
"F.O.F tags. Once you're at your LOA for your direction, activate and place your tag. That way, when we begin our movement around we'll be able to pick up the tag on our H.U.D. Call it in once you're out bound and keep moving." Chad replied with a nod as he placed his own tag on the back of his 'Goose, strapping it down securely as he sat down on the vehicle and prepared himself to leave.
"So, head out into the middle of nowhere where we might come across an enemy force so large that we have to sacrifice our lives to keep it there. If we don't, keep heading out into the middle of nowhere until we maybe come across the corpse of a friend and an enemy force so large we have to sacrifice our lives to keep it there. Otherwise, leave and be home in time for supper. Sounds about right?" Gibby asked with a chuckle as Drake swung his legs over onto the Mongoose properly and kicked the engine into life as Chad nodded to Gibby.
"Try to maintain radio contact. If you don't hear from anyone assume the worst and keep pushing back here. Stay safe and stay frosty. We'll be back before you all know it." Chad said confidently as he kicked his Mongoose to life. Without saying goodbye he let the engine roar as he throttled up and sped off.
"Well I guess we're heading out. Stay safe out there guys." Gibby said as confidently as she could before kicking her own Mongoose to life and sped away into the wilderness.
"Before you go Rogue." Drake said as Rogue kicked his Mongoose to life. He glanced over to Drake and chuckled lightly.
"I know it's not what Chad or Shapiro asked of us. But if the shit hits the fan, pop a flare as soon as you can. If I see it I'll back you up as quickly as I can alright?" Drake asked as Rogue stared out of the hangar doors. He nodded slowly without looking back before letting the Mongoose roar into life and sped off, leaving Drake behind to his thoughts.
Drake figured this was something to do with Tz'eal. There wouldn't be any need to go out after a potential Covenant threat unless he was somehow involved. He crossed his fingers for a few moments hoping that something good would come of this and, hopefully, nothing too bad would come of it either. Throttling the Mongoose up his engine roared like the others as he sped out of the hangar quickly. Leaving Destiny behind him once again as he began his second search for Elites.