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"Solo Poker"

March 23 2527 - Hour 1201

MSGT Logan 'Log' Sutton

Damascus Materials Testing, Vhalkem, Planet of Chi Ceti IV

What would come down to be known as 'Operation COLUMBUS' was ultimately deemed a successful mission for how things turned out to be. Both Spirit of Fire and Blue Roman made it out of the Core World safely, and while the Prophet evaded our assassination attempts, the boons we brought from the Core World such as Perpetual Comprehension, the damaged Soujourn-Class destroyer and the knowledge that the Flood was a thing made up for that kind of fuck up.

Now, that would have been a good reason to just pat me and my team's back for a good job, yet there was a group of people that was still displeased at us for not killing the Prophet too. Also, because we ended up recruiting new potential Covenant informants and new troops to deploy in the field if doctors checking on them could tell if they could and would pull through with this task.

ONI had been struggling against the Navy for a while. It was paradoxical how the Military Intelligence was butting heads with a group of people it was tasked to keep an eye for any potential corruption... when it was being accused of internal corruption by the HIGHCOM itself. The growing list of accusations leveled by the Marine Corps and the Navy had created this crisis which the UEG was facing issues in dealing with. ONI may not have gained the absolute control over the civilian government as it would have by 2553, but they had enough blackmail to steer some politicians to side with them against that sort of 'stupid lies made by suspicious individuals'.

What really made ONI annoyed at BALMUNG wasn't the notion of 'potential failure' as they addressed it as, but the fact we were outperforming Spartans on a matter of missions we were dealing with. This is not to say that we were better than Spartans, but due to the ONI affiliation that the older project had and the fact BALMUNG was created by a collaboration between the Marine Corps and the Navy, we were those called in first. The 'only' reason that the Spartans were being employed just as much as we were was a matter of numbers.

BALMUNG still hosted a limited number of troops but... that was bound to change in the next two-three months as the recruitment campaign advanced by Cole had yielded about twenty to thirty new recruits that the team and I were going to handle under a specific hierarchy. If before our ranks meant we had a high permission grade, now we had the proper duties tied to it such as leading large contingents of troops which would further bolster our ranks and make difficult missions somewhat easier on most occasions.

Still, through what happened in the Core World, I couldn't do much to dodge an 'interview' by ONI. Actually, I could, but Cole suggested I actually went through with it if I had nothing to hide in regard to that mission. Technically-speaking, I had things that I wanted to keep quiet about, but nothing on the reports gave any opening for them regarding my talk with Thela.

It was around lunchtime when the agents came looking for me. They asked for an empty room, with cameras, but nonetheless empty as they would interrogate me on what unfolded during Operation COLUMBUS. It was... a walk in the park. The agents in question were Captain Jilan al-Cygni and Lieutenant Aaron Gibson.

The former I knew because she was there in Harvest during First Contact and had been present during the attempted diplomatic approach before the Battle for the planet started. The smile she was bearing at me was not one of genuine peace, but one of thankfulness for my work. I knew, I had seen it on many faces now. Gibson was not a familiar face, but I think I heard him being buddies with Colonel Ackerson and that he had a bit of a hate-boner against 'Super-Soldier projects' that weren't his.

The interview was fairly extensive. Where Jilan kept her focus on legitimate questions regarding my own reports, Gibson decided to steer into a few unusual topics, bringing up assumptions or theories on some unknown factors I hadn't described in my reports for good reasons. He raised some concerns on how I knew about the bunker I had been holing myself in during the fall of Harvest, but his superior quickly remarked how this was common knowledge to the Marines and the various ONI officers in the planet.

The reason why I was the only one making it was driven by two elements I highlighted in my reports: 1) I had been aware that no 'hold your ground' order had been omitted by the planet's commanding staff, so I had all legitimate reasons, if found overwhelmed by the invasion, to seek protection in the small bunkers within the planet; 2) The early assaults targeted primarily the various leading officers that were left behind, thus all privates panicked at the decimation.

I had been 'better-minded' for this because I had expected this and I had known it was meant to be horrible. What I didn't know was how horrifying it was on the spot. That had delayed me from moving any faster than I did but... I pulled through nonetheless. Once the interview was done... I was entertained with the notion that I had to be kept there a little longer.

"So, why am I here now?"

"Your conduct has been quite impeccable, and we wished to see if all you have reported was sound within what you can describe on the spot."

I slowly nodded, but questioned how reasonable that was of a method.

"And you have answered these questions a bit too perfectly. I think another interview is necessary, Captain."

"Is that all, really?" I questioned flatly, looking at the Captain first and then back to the Lieutenant. "You bring me here, strut around like some school bully and you expect me to drop some suspicious and secret info which may help you advance in ranks? Is it even an official interview at this point?"

"You should stop, Marine." Gibson tried to reassert control but... oh well. I knew I was in a position of power, and I was not going to let go of it until I was done chewing him up.

"I don't have any lunch money on me, but, if you ask me nicely, I'll go and ask for some candy for you, kiddo," I interrupted cheekily, and the subordinate snapped by retrieving his magnum and aiming it at me.

I kept quiet, as the gesture itself, quite impulsive in nature, had already sprung someone else in action.

"Put that gun away, Lieutenant!" The woman finally snapped, shifting her handgun and aiming it at her colleague.

That was enough to freeze Gibson, shock filling his eyes as he realized he had snapped for something that simple and... yes, this was all it could take to start chipping at Ackerson's chances of pushing the Spartan-III project through ONI's leadership. Gibson gave up his gun, looking away in embarrassment while Jilan took my promise of reporting her subordinate about his horrid behavior today, and no amount of protests dented my interest to go through with this. Gibson had to fall fast, together with the rest of Ackerson's clique. The faster they fell, the less trouble we were going to have about a potential Spartan-III Project.

Truly an interesting interview, but I had poked the hornet nest with that move. I was 'polite', but I was also willing to bite back at any idiotic remark which could endanger my standing. I was not a dog, but a goddamn marine. And for that, I already knew, Margaret Parangosky was going to cause me some hell about. But for now, there was training to do. Doc said that he was also close to making a major update of the Suit, and he mentioned that some of the data he obtained by Sif over Forerunner's technology may improve some of the already-existing features.

I guess this is good news for now...

AN

Next up... new faces.

P.S. I now have a discord server! Discord .gg/ceBMM2Zz6c

REVIEW Q&A!

Danielsnow: Good question.

Legolas9144: Maybe.

AHAROO: In the QQ version, I am using the Rubee's style as reference for how Sangheili/Brutes looks like.