DISCLAIMER

The following is a fan-based

FICTION

All Installations of Halo are all owned by 343 Industries and Xbox Game Studios.

Please Support the Official Release!

"An offer you can't refuse"

February 2 2526 - Hour 0904

GYSGT Logan 'Log' Sutton

Nueva Lima, Nuevo Cusco, Madrigal

Serin had a look that was well in the midpoint between excited and uneasy. Not a novel gaze to find her with, but definitely one I couldn't blame her to have regarding the situation we were in.

Madrigal was relatively close to Harvest and, if by some absurd reasons, the Covenant managed to bypass the fleet forming a perimeter around the planet and got to where we were, we would definitely face a very big problem in the form of fighting the bastards with close to no garrison on Madrigal. Still, that wasn't exactly the main point of her nervousness, not when she finally realized what was up with the current situation. Our collaborator's identity and nature was part of the dossier we received, and the girl had many questions about this very matter.

"Sir, is this even worth it? Previous attempts to establish contact with any of the races making up the Covenant have failed-"

"Only because it was either with the squid-faces and the grunts. People that got scorned as this one? That's an effort we can put through," I muttered as the dropship taking us to where the Hospital we were checking was started to land. "Remember that one thing is to demonize the scum that has it against us, but we might have a chance if it comes to get one of them, one that got assaulted that way, to give us some insight on their mindset."

"What if she doesn't know much?" Serin argued, her tone taking a more eased tone as I wasn't being disappointed by her lack of formality in this regard. "Sure, she might want to help us, but what if she doesn't have any relevant information on her?"

I cracked a smile. "Getting an informant is currently the main goal, but not the only goal. Knowledge on their weapons, on their culture, on their language- heck, even with what they tend to eat so we know how to treat willing prisoners that we end up capturing in the near future."

The girl nodded, her doubts remaining but most of her queries steered off and answered with a logic she could get hold of.

Also, there has to be said that her mere existence helps us determine that her species is mammal just like ours, and perhaps her awareness of other races in the Covenant will give us the edge on determining new biological boundaries yet to be explored.

Giddy, Sif made her presence known to us. We were wearing our battle armors for extra protection. One can't just be aware of the chance that ONI could take in trying to get inside. And since I didn't plan to let myself or Serin be exposed to any ambush, I had been able to strongarm that kind of move through Cole and Gerhardt.

Speaking of the AI, things had gotten fairly awkward ever since I made her my closest confidant. Truth be told, even now I was questioning if telling her the truth had been a good idea. Sure, Sif had all reasons to trust me and not tell others about this matter, but that wasn't exactly what worried me in the long run. What if she was captured and her knowledge revealed to others? What if the 'others' turned out to be ONI? The mere thought had me shivering, but... it wasn't exactly the most pressing issue. Not when Sif ultimately took more of our free time to poke questions at me regarding my past, my circumstance and about 'Halo'.

Surprisingly enough, she was fine with the notion this world was based on fiction from my original dimension. She admitted that the thought had been quite baffling, and enough to stifle any interest to press more into it the first time around, but the questions she had about it were more focused on defining how 'precise' this base was compared to what was already there and, as I discovered through these talks, some elements were slightly better expanded here. Not a surprise, but it still brought a smile to my lips the moment I started to bring up the Forerunners, the Shield Worlds and the Halo Array systems.

She was absolutely ecstatic. Not like this was unexpected considering her curious nature, but her eagerness was dulled out by the notion that discovering more of that knowledge through a Forerunner's terminal could easily damage her. I thought about what happened to Cortana, withholding the name of the AI that suffered a structural weakening while digging into one of the Halos' systems and its knowledge. Something that we would have to be aware of the moment we stumbled upon one. Considering how things have been, I wouldn't have been surprised if we ended up finding one around the 30s.

Nonetheless, the questions weren't just about the lore. Sif decided to add to the list questions that were also personal to me. Each having specific degrees of privacy that I was willing to provide, and others that I was able to refuse within good reasons. Family situation, home situation, how was the world-wide situation when I 'left', how things were slightly different than how they were in this dimension at that time, and much more. It was entertaining in most cases, and I could tell that with each truthful answer, with more data Sif got out of this, the AI was really growing to accept this as an undeniable truth and no longer something that was mostly kept up by the trust she had on me.

Still, this mattered little on the circumstance we were in. Cole's order could be summarized as: "This is your responsibility, now you deal with her stubbornness to cooperate with anyone."

The female Brute had done nothing to warrant aggression, surprising a few skeptics with her lack of violent retaliation when she woke up. She was weakened by the numbing meds used to keep her calm during her patching up. She had been subjected to close monitoring, with her tension over the situation she was in having long subsided, leaving her just in a cautious 'animal-in-the-corner' kind of behavior.

So, we were going there to make sure our collaborator was a bit more complying to the questioning rather than exploiting the Fifth without even knowing what it even was. The walk through the hospital was quite calm, with us stopping and pausing to greet wounded marines that were recovering there. Officially, we were there to have a little morale tour over the hospital to check on those that were injured in Harvest. With Madrigal being the closest to the big battles unfolding in that 'frontier planet', the hospital had been expanded to allow a greater number of people to be tended, but also keep our new friend in a safe enough space from other issues.

I removed the helmet when we entered, keeping it to the side as I greeted the nurse acting as a receptionist for the time being, the woman almost going for a military salute at our sudden arrival. Serin kept hers on despite the fact it would have been best she showed her face around. I hadn't given her an order about it, and I could tell the reason why she didn't want to have her face seen was more of a personal issue with the scenes we were soon introduced to.

Some marines were doing fine. Concussions, some plasma burns that were going to be patched up and leave them able to resume service as soon as they were physically ready for it, and those that had other non-lethal injuries. Then the wards got a bit more unpleasant to explore despite the dry humor still being used around. Mostly everyone was fine with what they got, even though some of them had injuries that weren't negligible.

Mutilated soldiers, those suffering from grave forms of PTSD and those that were just 'numb' to the world. War was horrible no matter where and when it happened. And the pressure of being there, healthy and all, felt like a slight to some of those good people. To those real heroes. I shook hands, I patted shoulders, I even ended up hugging two marines that were unable to fully react to small stimuli.

Serin watched all of this and I could tell from her rigid posture and Sif confirming that her heart rate tended to spike at times when seeing specific injuries that she was upset towards herself.

It was the same anger I had back during the first time I fought in Harvest, the first time I felt I could have done more. That I should have done more. But I took the 'worm' approach, I decided to survive or risk being the last human death on that planet for that First Contact. I was keeping her close all the time, and, as we were finally moving to deal with our real objective today, I patted her shoulder, surprising her with the gesture.

"S-Sir?"

"Don't you dare let the guilt drag you down, Serin. That's not why it's there. It's a reminder, to be better, not to linger in the past."

She spared me a tense look at my words, possibly stunned at how precise my words were about her current mood and... she nodded.

"Yes... sir. Thank you, sir."

"Just keep your mind sharp. War isn't going to get any easier on our conscience."

The bitter reminder worked both as a warning and an answer to a big question many asked themselves in these instances: will it ever get better? No. It will just become easier to face it, only because we will be more accustomed to that kind of pain. It will remain.

After going through a quick control with the guards set at the door, we were finally allowed inside. The door opened, and I was the one that entered first. The 'woman' was in her bed, sheets covering a good part of her uncovered body but reminding me that she had refused to put on any clothes.

Pride? Distrust? The list of possible reasons was long and particularly unimportant to the current instance we were in. Red eyes darted from the window back to us, gleaming in recognition as soon as she saw me. She never saw my full face, yet she understood who I was. Either my armor or my voice, maybe both but... her behavior seemed to change instantly. Gone was the tentative peace, and the tension was back... just not one that was prone to wild reactions.

Her vitals are stable, but you got her attention, Logan.

"I see you're awake. Good morning."

My words seemed to resonate within her mind, and her face scrunched in a careful expression of... intrigue. She was wearing a small collar, one meant to keep her tracked all the time but also provide a translation device similar to what her kind used with their armors. So, she knew what I was saying.

"Morning."

A response, it wasn't driven by a good mood, but I couldn't see anything too bad. It was neutral as far as I could see.

"Do you know who I am?"

She slowly nodded. "You... you were there. You killed..."

"The bastard that was getting a bit frisky with you," I continued for her, noticing reluctance in being fully honest, and my bluntness drew a flinch out of her. "And trust me when I say that scum like that begged to die."

"...Why are you here?" She asked, half-growling.

I grinned. "I have questions."

Sourness flashed. "I'm not answering questions."

"Oh yes, I also heard that. You don't like the notion of snitching on those that were once your buddies, your pack, or whatever your species calls your comrades," I said, humming in delight as her scowl softened at my response. "Still, I am not here to do that. You see, I just have these questions that I think you wouldn't mind answering. How about we start with something simple: who are you?"

She blinked, perplexed by my jovial tone but also by the simplicity of her question.

"I-I already answered that."

"Not to me as far as I am concerned. Maybe you have yet to understand this, I don't have any papers of your previous answers, as far as I'm concerned you are that one lady asking for help and we got you there. After that, I got mostly nothing on ya."

Quite the lie, I had the documents, but none had enough to make a solid conversation out of it. So, I decided to start from square one.

"...Alba," The brute answered and I nodded.

"Your name is Alba. What about your rank?"

"Minor. I'm a Minor 'Brute'."

I smiled. "The rank used for soldiers of the lowest bit of your military... which is still quite interesting considering there aren't many females of your kin working that kind of job."

"That's because the rest is made by submissive whelps. I'm... bigger, stronger."

"And I bet a mean girl when pissed enough," I argued with a giddy smile, one that was half-matched by a shaky one from Alba, one that was brief as she realized how I got her to crack one.

I mean, was that even a surprise? Brutes were known to have a thing for battles, to be vicious, to seek some blood-spilling when possible.

"Now, how about we pick up some pace since I bet you aren't the talkative kind of girl? I bet you want to get back at staring dumbly at the window," I switched up the mood, trying to get a bit more serious in this regard. "Let's go right up to the bit that really got my attention."

A slow nod, she was willing to at least listen from the way she was postured.

"That bastard I killed, what was his name?"

Tension returned, but it didn't stop Alba from speaking up.

"Trotius."

"...So, this Trotius, I have just his death as a framework to base his scumbaggery. Was he that bad even before that event?"

"Yes."

I smiled, she was now more active with her answers.

"And I bet he took it out on you the most. Being the only female and all."

"...Yes," Alba confessed nervously, her gaze lowering to the sheets, unwilling to look at me.

I was handling quite the unpleasant topic, but I knew I could push it to her, that I could get something out that, in the end, was meant to help her in the long-run. I just had to persist about it. Persist and draw out the right kind of emotion out of her through this matter.

"He used his rank as a shield for any repercussions, he had you staked against the others, your value weakened by the mere notion that you were on your own within your own team."

"...How do you know this much?"

"Your face tells all, Alba," I answered readily. "That and your general situation. You were starting your career, and already facing discrimination. Such a shame, I can tell you had plans for the future. Maybe being a bringer of change- for good change within your people's society."

"Yes, I... I had so much to do. All burned down by-"

"Him. By Trotius."

Alba went silent at that, her gaze back at me.

"But that grin, that 'power' he held over you- it pisses you off even now."

"Yes."

"And I bet he was bragging about it as he started, wanting to further shame you. That pisses you even more."

"Yes," She remarked, gritting her teeth angrily.

"And finally, I bet you would want to be there, clawing at his shitty grin, tearing him apart for making you feel worse than dirt, and then trying to have his way on you. Am I right, Alba?"

"Yes. I- I am so furious with him- and you. You stole that kill for me. I wanted to kill him like the bastard he was, the scum that messed up everything, that tried to ruin me and that blasted Great Journey the prophets spit about as a justification for that kind of disgusting act..." She paused, her wide-eyed look looking around before stopping back to me. "I'm stuck. I feel... stuck. I don't like it."

"I bet you don't. I can tell how your muscles, your bones- your everything is itching to be there to do something, to not stay in bed put without a chance to let that anger burn away in a murder or two."

...

"So, here's a bit of a deal I got with the guy that makes decisions about what happens to you. It's a bit of a familiar deal to the previous one, but there is more on your plate compared to before," I spoke up again, her whole attention on me. If before she was reluctant to look at me, now she saw me with a hopeful glance. I was her only way out of that blasted room, from that blasted bed, from that infuriating aimlessness she was forced to headbutt every day. "You will fight for us. You will get the chance to get in our forces to show them what they lost, the scum leading your people, but also the rest of the Covenant. The difference compared to your previous bosses? We have standards for our soldiers. And you would be treated like a proper warrior."

...

"But?" She asked flatly and I smiled.

"You answer 'some' questions. Not everything, you still get the chance to pick what goes and what doesn't," I replied quickly. "So, it's either that or you can go back napping and dreaming of murder. What do you think."

...

...

She grinned.

"I'll do it."

AN

The Covenant are up for some mad shit very soon the moment Alba debuts as a Monkee Vtuber vicious Brutes-killer.

REVIEW Q&A!

Austin:
1) *Looks up* Yep;
2) Harem and there are plans to prevent death by Snu-Snu;
3) No. That sounds incredibly cliche and kind of edgy. We need a marine, not frigging Kaneki Ken- Still, I would see it as a fun way to have some bickering between the two sides to happen eventually. And some hard questions asked to the Covenant;
4) No, Atriox is still part of the Covenant as of yet. The Banished formed around 2549;