UNSC Destroyer Naginata January 5th 2553
The world began to refocus as Parisa's vision registered where she was. She moaned as a throbbing in her head awoke her even more.
"Owwwww," she groaned as she sat up.
The white walls and the red cross on the wall made it clear where she was. "Medbay, right," she sighed as she lay back down.
"Well well well," someone said making her look up. "Rise and shing sleeping beauty," a shaven headed man added as he walked in.
"Fuck off Adams," Parisa smiled. "Or this sleeping beauty will shove that rifle up your ass,"
"Och," a woman added as she walked around the door. "That's harsh," she said as she tried to fix her hair back up into a bun. "Even for you L.T,"
"I have a headache that will shatter a planet," the L.T. said as she rubbed the side of her head. "I don't even remember what happened to me. Guess I got lucky Rwby,"
"A Jackal took a pot shot at you," Adams said. "Hit the side of your helmet and you fell a good few feet. Knocked you out cold,"
"How long was I out?" the officer asked.
"About 3 months," Rwby said. "You missed the end of the war, and the beginning of a new one,"
That made her jump. "You mean the Covenant war is over?" she asked. "I assume we won?!"
"Yep," Adams nodded, but his expression darkened. "But now we're in the middle of a civil war," he spat to the side. "Someone leaked ever single ONI file they could get their hands on. All their skeletons were pulled out for the whole of human existence to see. That made several words defect with their UNSC compliment," he spat again. "Goddam traitors,"
"Out of the way!" a woman in a white doctor's coat said as she charged in. "Joe said you were awake, glad to see it,"
Parisa blinked at the doctor who took several deep breaths. "Kat, what…" she tried to say but Katrina thrusted a tablet in front of her.
"Look, read this before Lieutenant Obi leave the ship," the doctor said.
Parisa's brow furrowed as she took and read what it said. "John 117…" she muttered before looking back up. "What about him?"
"Read further down," Kat insisted.
The L.T. said nothing as she scrolled down the file. After a moment she stopped and her eyes went wide. Adams and Rwby watched as Parisa's grip tightened on the tablet tightened to the point where the plastic began to distort. Her team looked to her to see her expression being a mix. The problem was that they couldn't tell what she was feeling.
"Listen," Kat said not expecting to get her friend's attention. "ONI is looking for people to take part in Spartan IV. Think about it, it's the best way to find him,"
Parisa's eyes then narrowed and she pulled herself out of bed. "Where is Obi?" she asked, venom dripping from each word.
"Bridge, talking to the Captain," Kat replied.
With that, Parisa charged out of the medical bay with the two ODST's looking from where Parisa left. "What was that about?" Adams asked.
"Remember how Parisa talks about her old friend John?" Kat asked and the two nodded. "Turns out, he's not as dead as we've been told,"
"Wha…." Rwby began to ask but her eyes widened, "Oh… shit…"
But Adams just looked between the two still not getting it.
OOOOO
Lieutenant Obi stood on the bridge of the Defiant as Captain Zubof commanded his destroyer for deployment. The Asian man stroked his blond hair before setting his officer's hat back on his head. His tanned skin shined in the light of the screens, which he scanned. But nothing of note came from them, he would ask the crew, but the leek prevented that.
Ever since the leek, ONI had been turned away on every note. Now they were just being tolerated, their power just about gone. There was little he could do without being threatened with a pistol in his face. He turned only to stagger back as a fist met his face. Obi fell back on his rear, he looked up only to stare down the barrel of a pistol.
"Lieutenant Neova, what is the meaning of this?" Zubof asked as he looked over from his console.
Obi looked up to see the ODST officer looking at him with a fire in her eyes that he rarely seen before. That fire was only seen when someone had an emotional fury of a demon. He took a quick glace round only to see people looking at them and no one getting up to help. Gulping, he turned back to the L.T. and tried to smile.
"Wh…" he tried to say but that earned him a kick to the leg. "Ahhh,"
"I want in to the Spartan IV," she said.
Obi looked to her as did several others. "I don't know if you're on the list," Obi defended.
"Then put me on it!" she demanded as the Captain walked up.
"What is the meaning of this?" he asked again, he got an answer as Parisa handed him a tablet which he read. "117… what…" he tried to ask until he read the name of the planet the Chief was born on. "Eridanus II…" he muttered and looked up to the officer. "Is this the same John you talked about?"
"Yes, I recognise that face anywhere. ONI kidnapped him when he was six and turned him into a Spartan," she kicked Obi again. "You took my best friend from me, made me think he was dead! I want to become a Spartan even if I die!"
Obi looked into her eyes again, those fierce eyes. "Okey!" he said fearing for his life. "Okey, I'll get you on the list. Not like we have a choice," he muttered the last part to himself.
Parisa backed down and turned away. "I'll get my stuff ready," she said before walking off.
Obi got up only to be sent back down to the ground with a punch to the gut. "What was that for?" he asked looking up at the Captain.
"Because I felt like it and I'm losing a fine officer. Now get the hell off my bridge," he said before giving the officer a final kick.
"I didn't sign up for this," Obi moaned as he stood and walked off.
OOOOO Present day, Mars, Presidential Palace.
After being held by the man she had thought dead for years, Parisa reluctantly pulled herself away from his grasp. John didn't do anything to stop her, he didn't have much experience expressing his emotions. Unlike Kelly. The President backed up a step and looked up to the Chief.
"I fully intend to hold you to your promise," she smiled as she wiped the tears from her eyes. "We need to get to know each other all over again. It's been almost 50 years since we even talked. You've changed so much that I hardly even know you," that smile didn't leave her face. "So, there's no need to rush things, let's take it slow," her expression then hardened. "But that's not the only reason I wanted you back,"
As she spoke, she walked up to the holo-table and activated it. "I assume that Six, Kelly and Roland talked about the Empire and their Hive?"
John nodded. "Yes, they said that they had a number of AI linked together. It countered rampancy,"
"Correct on both counts," Parisa said as she brought up a holo of AI code and structure. "We discovered this little problem about three years ago when we intercepted this," she then played a sound file.
John focused as he listened to the file. He could make out something in it, but it was mostly just static and voices talking over one another. The file only lasted for ten seconds before it ended. Once it did the chief shook his head.
"I did hear voices, but it was mostly static," he said. "Nothing useful,"
"Our thoughts exactly," Parisa nodded. "But listen to what happens when we filter it,"
She then pressed for another sound file to play; this time John could hear voices. "Troop movements and instructions," he said but his eyes widened as he focused on one particular voice "Cortana,"
"Yeah," Parisa nodded. "After this, we redoubled our efforts to find you,"
"To go after her," John guessed.
"That right. You are the only one who had any kind of major relations with her," the president said as she closed the files down.
"What about Halsey?" the chief asked.
"Dead," Parisa said flatly. "As soon as people knew what happened during the Spartan program, she was found and lynched. Her death was…" she shook involuntary. "It wasn't pretty. She was stung up by her feet and slaughtered like an animal before her body was burned. No one stopped her or even cared. She was the one who committed the sin of kidnapping and turning children into Spartans. To their eyes she was the devil, nothing would have stopped them from killing her,"
"So, there's only me left who can help Cortana," John muttered.
"Yes and no," the president said as she activated the holo-table again showing the Empire's territory. "For a start we have no idea where she is. She could be on New Reach, Neos Atlantis… we just don't know. I have Fred and Linda looking for the source of that transmission, but that would just complicate matters as we wouldn't know where to begin looking. ONI left a lot of places when they vanished, she could be there,"
The chief nodded understanding the logic and sighed. "So, there's little we can do for now,"
"Yeah, as much as I hate waiting, we have to," she rubbed the back of her neck in frustration as John failed to contain a smile.
"I'm the same way," he said. "I hate waiting," that made her smile.
"Speaking of which," she said as she walked over to a small black box. "I know you only recently met us but things are bad for us. As such I have to ask," she dropped her smile and an aura of authority emanated from her. "Master Chief Petty Officer John 117, I offer you to join the Mars Federation. Do you accept?"
John stood straighter and saluted. "I accept," Parisa followed the salute before picking up the box and opening it.
Inside was a stylised eagle of the Spartan program set on a red planet. Next to that sat three patches. Each one had an eagle's head sitting on top three bars.
"I hereby promote you from Master Chief Petty Officer, to Lieutenant Commander," she then handed him the box. "Congratulations, I've looked over your files so many times and filed to understand how you didn't get promoted. Now, you are a Commander," she smiled.
"What are my duties?" he asked.
"You'll be commanding a Task Force under the command of General Banks," she said before handing him a tablet. "This is a list of the Task force you'll be commanding with recommendations for your command team. The force is made up of Marines, ODST and Spartans. The force was made for special missions, something I felt you are best suited for,"
"Thank you, ma'am," John said as he placed the tablet under his arm.
"Don't be so formal with me," Parisa shrugged. "I'm rarely formal in front on my of military commanders," as she said that one of her guards opened the doors.
"Ma'am, the company CEO's are here," he said making Parisa sigh.
"Fuck," she muttered. "Sorry, looks like I'm going to have to cut this short,"
"It's fine ma'am. Kelly offered me to lunch and a bunk for the night. Until I get a place of my own," John shrugged.
"Good to hear," she said before looking to her guard. "Get a car ready, Commander John needs to go Spartan hights,"
"Yes ma'am," the guard said before moving off.
Parisa took this opportunity to move up to John and peck him on the cheek. "I'll call you at some point," she smiled. "We can have lunch,"
"I'd like that," John said awkwardly before leaving unsure how to process what he just went though.
OOOOO
A young officer lead Six down one of the corridors of the Ares academy. The main training facility for aspiring Spartans and ODST troopers. Due to the requirements for being a Spartan, the classes of Spartans were less than that of the ODST but had a higher academic and military rate. This didn't sit well with the ODST recruits, so there was some friction between the two. Despite this, the trainers did their best to get the two groups to work together with varying levels of success.
It didn't work 100% during training, but when the troopers got onto the field it was a different story. For the most part, ODST worked with the Spartans on the field with only a few still holding any major grudges. Soon the officer opened a door to one of the rooms. Inside was two chairs, one of them occupied with a young short haired woman and a table. Six walked in and close the door.
"What am I going to do with you?" Six asked as she took a seat. "This is the third time Aniko, the third. I cannot protect you for a fourth,"
"They said Spartans caused this war!" Aniko defended.
"Weather we started this war or not is neither here or there," Six shot back. "You cannot just slug someone who insulted you,"
"He insulted you, mom," the girl defended.
"I have been insulted, denied and more, it's not new to me. But you cannot jeopardise your candidacy if you keep starting fights," Six said making Aniko shrink. "You want to be a Spartan; your marks are top of your class. But that means nothing if you fight for nothing more than words. You need to keep those emotions under control otherwise you will be rejected,"
Aniko sighed and looked away.
"Look," Six muttered as she leaned forward on the table. "You have been working so hard to get the Spartan stamp. I'm proud of you for doing so, but I feel that you have been pushing yourself too hard. You need a break,"
Aniko looked to her mother wide eyed, she was about to say something but looked down. "What will happen if I do?" she asked.
"Your academics will be fine," Six replied softly. "You'll just be given a week or two to relax,"
Aniko sighed as she leaned back in her chair. "And if I don't take it willingly, you'll force me," she said and Six nodded. "Fine," she said. "I'll take the two weeks,"
Six stood and walked around to her daughter. "I'm only doing this to try and help you," she said before embracing her daughter who gave her a shallow hug. "I'll get the paper work sorted and we'll go to the beach. You, me and Sophia. Just the three of us like old times,"
In spite of herself Aniko smiled. "Thanks mom,"
OOOOO
September 3rd 2552 Reach.
Six and two snipers looked though their sniper scopes spying at Iron Base. The base wasn't filled with Covenant soldiers, but there was still quite a few.
"I'm counting, 30 maybe 40," Six said. "Maybe more inside,"
"I'm mostly seeing grunts and jackals," the marine sniper said next to her. "The odd elite, not seeing any heavier units,"
"They are probably on patrol," the final sniper said, a civilian, who looked though an old-fashioned wooden sniper rifle. "But if that's the case, if we start shooting…"
"We'll get noticed," the marine muttered. "And if there are any forces nearby…"
"We'll get spotted," Six nodded with agreement as she pulled herself away from the scope and looked to the others. "Stay here, alert me if anything changes,"
The two nodded and Six slid down the ledge she was on. As she landed one of the few ODST's in the group helped her up. She gave him a nod and walked over to where Rose and Lee's second, Captain Knight an ODST. The two looked up to Six as she approached and squatted down.
"What does it look like?" Knight asked.
"Not bad, but I'm more concerned about the ones we cannot see," Six said as she drew a diagram of the base in front of the others.
People gathered round to see what the plan was going to be. "We've detected at least 40 troops around the base, but that number is most likely wrong,"
"Troops inside and on patrol," a sergeant said out loud. "Sorry,"
He got a look from the Captain, but little else. "What he said, not to mention we cannot let them alert any other bases in the area," he sighed. "So, we need to do this quick and as quiet as possible. Shame we don't have suppressors for our big guns,"
"Agreed," Six nodded. "But there is a way to do this, even if we have to go loud," she pointed to an alien antenna in the middle of the compound. "This is a Covenant mobile relay. It's a purple box with a large arial coming out of it. It can be mistaken for a general use, but that arial on it makes it stand out. If we secure that, and make sure it's not damaged we can take our time getting all the supplies we need,"
Knight nodded and looked to Rose. "You fine with this plan?" he asked.
"I'm a civilian," Rose smiled. "I'm leaving the military stuff to you and Six,"
"If you have anything to add, don't be afraid to speak your mind," Six said. "Sometimes a fresh mind is needed," Rose nodded at that and continued to watch and listen. "Either way, this is the plan I have," she then made lines into and out of the compound. "We split the group up into two. One group made up of soldiers while the other is civilians and a few soldiers. Group one will move silently into the base from the south and take out the Covenant as silently as possible,"
"No offence to our marines," Knight said that got him some looks. "But we ODST's know how to be stealthy. We'll take point,"
Six nodded. "Agreed, the rest of us will hang back until we hear gunshots," she then looked at the drawing. "Once the courtyard is clear, we then need to clear out the base. I'll do that with a some of your ODST's," Knight nodded.
"The once we're clear on Covenant, the civilians move in and get as many supplies we can onto trucks," Knight added.
"It will help if all of us help with that," Rose said. "Not just the civilians,"
"It would also speed things up," Knight agreed. "But we need a protection detail," he stroked the goatee on his chin thinking. "If we set up people here, here, here and here, we'll be able to see the enemy coming," he pointed to four vantage points that the Covenant had failed to take advantage of. "Four troopers per point, that should keep us covered,"
Six nodded. "I agree, we also have sniper support, so that should help,"
Rose and Knight nodded. "Then let's get to work," the latter said.
OOOOO
Evocatus Bako 'Lufam growled as he walked around the base looking at the primitive human technology. While he found it disgusting, he was one of the few of his kind who wanted to know more about the humans. 'To fight one's enemy, one must learn about their enemy', a philosophy he and his family followed. But given how weak the humans were, it didn't mean much now.
However, he still had an interest in the humans. What made them fight? What did they know? Why didn't the Prophets let them join? That latter question was one that some of his fellow Sangheili shared. He walked over to a human desk and picked up an object from it. It was an image of a human male, human female and smaller ones. His eyes narrowed, was this what humans considered family? He placed it back down and looked at the white sheets on the table. Human script was the most confusing to him, over the years he had found hundreds of types of script that the humans used. It seemed that they did have a primary one that they used, but event that was inconsistent.
Some of the words used were ordered differently, different icons used to mean the same thing. Bako was always fascinated with how strange humans were, how they managed to reach the stars was beyond him. But he couldn't deny their creativity and resolve. This world, Reach they called it, he had rarely seen humans fight with such fury and zeal. They showed what proud warriors they were. If only the Prophets could see what these humans could add to the Covenant.
Smash…
Bako turned, his weapon up looking around the room. A small object filled with a brown liquid had fallen onto the floor. He walked over to it and squatted down; he had seen stuff like this before. Did the humans drink it? As he squatted something moved out of the corner of his eye, but he didn't move. He could see the pinkish tinge of a human there. They were trying to hide from him. And why wouldn't they, he had killed so many that fear was their only response.
Standing he looked around to see if there was a place where he could look at them without making obvious, he was looking. Bako moved over to a set of shelves and began to inspect the items. His back was to where the humans were, so it looked like he took an interest in something else. But one of the items on the shelf was a reflective item. As he looked, he saw movement from the reflective item, this time the human moved out to another hiding spot.
He growled slightly. A small human, younglings. As the human hide somewhere, else Boko turned to look around the room. He didn't kill children; he wouldn't kill children. Warriors yes, they were dedicated to fight others to protect their race. He was here to fight warriors, not kill younglings. He turned and walked into a corridor as human weapons fire echoed in his ears. Several Sangheili passed him but he stopped one.
"Give me your sword," he said.
"But sir," the minor said but Boko just faced him.
Reluctantly the minor pulled out his sword and handed it to Boko. The latter then went back into the room and stood in the middle of the room. He did look to where the youngling was just to see that they were still there. The gunfire and yells got closer until the door he was in opened. A group of humans then fired at him which he blocked by holding his sword in front of him.
The fire stopped and he lowered his sword as a demon stepped forward. Boko smiled and threw the other sword onto the ground. The demon picked it up and activated it before dismissing the other humans. As soon as the last human left the demon charged, moving fast. But Boko was fast as well as he blocked the demon's attack. The demon then kicked itself off pushing itself back. The two circled each other not taking their eyes off the opponent.
Boko's mandibles twitched; he hadn't faced a demon before. This was going to be a good fight. The demon moved in again this time with a straight trust which he parried with ease. But the demon spun and back handed him making him stagger backwards, he responded by kicking the demon in the gut. Boko then swung his sword managing to slash at the demon's plate.
He managed to scar it, but as he turned the demon pulled off its helmet. As she cast aside her helmet Boko noticed the damage he did to her helmet. The demon then moved in again only to be blocked, this time she had a trick up her sleeve. Boko felt a pain from his side and looked down to see a human blade stuck there. His mandibles twitched as he pushed the demon off who came back at him with a thrust. Boko cried out as the plasma blades pierced his torso. He knew he was going to die as hr dropped his sword and fell to his knees. The demon pulled out her pistol and aimed at his head.
She was about to fire but Boko held up his hand. He knew that the human couldn't understand him, but he was going to give it a try.
"You have done well," he said before pointing to a slightly closed off alcove. "I am no murder of, take care of them," with that he slumped and died.
OOOOO
Six just stared at the elite she had just faced before looking over to the alcove. She walked over to it and pulled a file cabinet away before she was staring a young girl in the face. Her mouth dropped slightly as the kid looked up at her. She had dark brown hair and fair skin that was covered in muck. She also carried a bundle with her with the face of a baby visible. Six looked over to the elite then back at the child and squatted down.
"Hey, I'm not here to harm you," Six said as softly as she could.
"You… Sparten?" the kid asked.
Six nodded. "Yes, I'm a Spartan. Is that your sibling?"
The girl shook her head. "N…no mom found her, told me to take care of her," the girl stood and climbed off the alcove. "I want to go home,"
Six nodded. "C… can I pick you up?" she asked and the girl smiled and held out her hand allowing Six to pick the kid. "What's your name?"
"Aniko," she responded.
"Well Aniko, I think you are very brave trying to hide from the monster there," Six said trying to raise the girl's spirits.
"Monster saw us," Aniko then said.
Six looked and walked up to the elite. "He saw you, but didn't come to you?"
Aniko shook her head. "No, he saw but didn't approach," the girl replied.
Six squatted down and looked at the elite finding something hanging from its breastplate. She had seen these before, elites had pulled them off dead. Reaching out she did the same and pocked it. With that she and the two walked out of the compound. As they walked into the burned skies of Reach Six called out.
"Medic!" she yelled and one of the marines came running.
"Where did you find these two?" he asked looking at the small child and baby.
"Inside, an elite ignored them," Six answered making the marine stare at her.
"Seriously?" he asked in astonishment. "Ok wired, but let's get these two looked at," he brough Six over to one of the functional warthogs.
Six set the two of them down. "Aniko, I'm going to be helping out getting food onto the trucks. I want you to say here with the doctor and…. And keep your sister safe,"
"Yes miss," she said nervously.
"You are very brave," the medic said. "Can I look at your sister?"
As he said that Six moved off to help load supplies onto trucks and warthogs.