Chief almost couldn't believe his eyes.
Though she was covered in a few layers of clothing and another thicker layer of snow, the silver-haired woman staring at him with a Magnum pistol in one hand and a heating lamp in the other was, in fact, Doctor Catherine Elizabeth Halsey. Sliding her pistol into its custom leather holster, Halsey pushed her glasses onto the bridge of her nose and watched the data dance on the Heads-Up Display. His IFF tag played across the screen, alongside diagnostics, data and information about his health.
Minor chill that the armor was already countering, the gel layer's enhanced heat resistance boosting the Spartan's metabolically-induced heating immediately. All else save for two things seemed in order:The structural integrity of the man's armor, which Halsey could easily put on the mend with the right tools... And his heart rate. Though she knew his trusty companion was in the armor, helping tend to everything, she also knew Cortana could not conceal a genuine emotional response out of the Chief.
And an emotional response worthy of a Spartan, he gave. With his index and middle finger, the Spartan drew a half-circle with the concave part pointing upward on his face plate. The standard Spartan Smile, Halsey recalled. She returned it in kind, though hers was less a sign language and more a genuine, if imperceptibly small shift of her lips curvature into one such smile.
She was about to speak again, before another Spartan popped out of the ice just in front of the two companions that had guarded her in the cold North. It took a second for her glasses to register the new contact, but when his tag appeared, too, the woman's breath stopped. Her heart had almost stopped with it, her mouth agape. A warm breath escaped her mouth, forming a cloud of steam ahead.
She blinked, then heard Cortana tell her with a most jovial tone, "Hey Doc. Yes, that's Sam... And we have a few more survivors you'll be glad to meet..."
Halsey seemed to take a moment to process it. Though Samuel was by no means a fresh loss, the throbbing pain that had stabbed at what she thought was a cold, long-numbed heart came back in full swing. The First. The First to have befriended John, the First to have proven himself human amidst her children, the First to have died. Sam noticed her, too, from between her guards, then offered a Spartan smile as well.
Halsey took another deep, shaky breath, then nodded and smiled at him, too. She looked to John and told him, "Certainly took you two long enough... Three, if Sam is to be counted," her demeanor immediately turning back to the stern, usually calm Doctor Halsey both Spartans knew. The two women with her, one looking middle-aged, fairly fit and beautiful, with blonde hair and clad in white clothes, turned to her. The good doc told her, "It is fine... Your Highness... They're my friends."
'Her Highness'? Chief, Cortana and Sam shared a glance, before Sam showed everyone to pause. He dived back into the snow, much to the surprise of both the Nikkes, one of which was way too pink to not stand out, only to crawl out of the snow again, hefting a man in a brown winter coat, as well as his cap. Alyosha began to cough hoarsely, his face scarlet due to the chill, then said, "Thanks, Sam..." through the coughs.
Halsey blinked, then snorted, "I take it that is the Commander sent here, eh?"
"Ma'am," Chief replied as he and Sam waded out of the snow with the man. The two noticed the blonde and her pink jumpsuit-wearing, pinkish-haired companion. The latter was smaller in stature, but a bit more developed than the former. He nodded to them, then checked the Records Cortana had given him just prior to Mission Start and asked, "You must be Unlimited."
"That we are," The blonde nodded approvingly, quirking a brow at him, "Someone did their homework. Truly worthy of a knight."
"Knight?" Chief and Sam both blinked.
Halsey immediately whispered to them over single-beam, "The pink one, Alice, has a bit of a thing about childhood stories with knights and Queens and heroes of yore... Alice in Wonderland, I believe. Just play along for now," before crossing her arms and speaking aloud, "Indeed, these are the Knights I foretold of. You remember my stories, do you not, dear Alice?"
"Indeed I do, Mage!" The girl beamed. She looked at them and said, "It's an honor to meet you, Knights of the Order! I'm Alice and this is my queen!"
"Ludmilla. Greetings," Blondie told them, leaning her extremely-strange assault rifle onto her shoulder.
"Right," Both Sam and Chief said at the same time. The two exchanged one quick look that Halsey immediately deduced was concern. She gave them a reassuring nod, before telling the girls, "We should go, Your Highness. All of my other... Apprentices... Are waiting for us to return, after all. And we've a lot more to search along the way for certain others, too, do we not?"
"And go, we shall," Ludmilla nodded, maintaining that poise for Alice's sake. The Commander and Spartans then looked to one-another, before Alyosha shrugged and went to join Doctor Halsey at the front. The woman turned to the Commander and examined him quickly as the snow storm around them began to pick up again. She gave him a sign that pretty much just said 'we need to talk' before the group continued their trek.
As the two Nikke led the way and the two Spartans brought up rearguard, the Doctor spoke to Alyosha, "I was there when the message about your supposed deployment here was received... Before these Rapture machines kicked in the door and took it over," which made the boy balk. She raised a hand and said, "Worry not... Most of the technology is still intact, so the information you seek will be inside... Meanwhile, though..." She looked back, "How did you come upon my Spartans...?"
"Your..." Alyosha blinked, then smiled, "You made them?"
"And the very armors they wear, yes," Halsey nodded, then turned, expectant, toward him, "So?"
He beamed, then replied, "I and my squad actually just found the Chief wandering the Surface in our AO... As for Sam? Kind of a similar story, though with a Pilgrim. Kelly as well," before pausing and blinking, "Oh, hell, right, my Squad. Girls!" He called out. Ludmilla and Alice turned back toward him and he spoke, "I came here with... Three..." He tried to find the best way to voice this, then told them, "About nine companions! They're lost, too!"
"Rabbity has companions?" Alice raised a brow. Ludmilla nodded, to which the girl replied, "Don't worry, Rabbity! We'll help you find them once we also get you and your knights somewhere to rest!"
"Thanks, Alice," The man smiled, then looked to Halsey, who shrugged. She seemed aware Alice was quite openly more childish than the others. Whether the whole fairytale land beliefs she had were really what was going on in her mind, or she just enjoyed doing this type of stuff for the sake of role-playing a warrior of 'The Queen' was not up to him or anyone else to judge. Just playing along seemed to keep her happy. She smiled back at him, then continued skipping happily along.
Halsey hummed warily as she noticed one more thing. The man had what looked to be a medical exoskeleton on his legs. She'd have to check up on that later to best understand the why, but, right now, they needed to find a safe place to talk. And find one, they did. Entering another bunker in the local area, the group was met by surviving scientists and civilians from the Base, with Halsey sighing as she pulled her hood and beanie off her head.
She turned to the Spartans and told them, "We have a lot to talk about..."
Ludmilla seemed to stop Alice for a moment and spoke to her in a whisper. The pink-haired, pink bodysuit-wearing girl beamed, waved to the others and then stepped outside. The blonde-haired leader of the squad sighed and said, "That'll buy us some time... So, if you'll pardon me, doctor, I'd like to introduce myself to the people we just saved. I am Ludmilla, leader of Nikke Squad Unlimited. We're the Search and Rescue squad that is tasked with saving Nikkes that are stranded on the Surface. This is the first time we've ever had to rescue Humans and..." she looked to the Spartans, then to Halsey.
"Humans as well, just modified," The Doctor told her.
"Right..." She sighed, "As far as the scientists told us, Commander, you and the Spartans are here to find a Pilgrim, correct?"
"Yes," The man replied rather calmly as he tugged at his collar. He then added, "Her and another friend of the Chief's that's working with her. Both are apparently snipers," as he sat himself down by the Spartans. Ludmilla nodded, then looked to Halsey, who approached the men and sat herself down, too. Alyosha continued, "Good timing, you finding us, I mean."
"We were all lucky you came with these Spartans," Ludmilla replied, "Any chance we can get EVAC for the civvies here? While the base should still technically be intact, we have another issue... Namely the Land Eater..."
"Take it that's one of the things that stole the base," Sam asked as he saw a couple of people shiver at the name. Ludmilla confirmed, making Sam let out a deep sigh. He told John, "That's probably gonna be the next big issue we're facing," before shifting one of his feet. The Chief nodded, then activated his radio transmitter to try and get through to Shifty.
Halsey told them, "The Alva particle concentration is surprisingly high in this area. Might be the Land Eater itself..." before approaching Alyosha and telling him, "I was actually curious what Spartan this Pilgrim had with her..."
"A sniper," The Commander replied, smiling, "Apparently a very good one. Linda, I think."
"... So, Kelly, John, Sam and Linda are all here," The woman stated, rather more to commit that information to memory than for confirmation. Still, Alyosha tilted his head forward to confirm. She hummed, then added, "That means Blue Team is only missing Frederic for a complete roster..." and scratching her chin, "I will make sure we have a way to track all Spartans whenever we're back to your base of operations. Right now, though, I will assume you require our help to find this Pilgrim and Linda."
"We'd sure appreciate the backup, doc, though shouldn't you and the Civilians wait for evacuation?" He raised a brow.
Halsey shrugged, "Alva Particles, whatever they are, have jammed all communications. If John is lucky enough to get through to whatever Handler you all have back home, let's hope their evacuation chopper isn't shot down..." then she paused. The group listened for a moment as, up above, the snowfall seemed to intensify. Seemed as though Snowstorms here were erratic-
"Mreow"
What!?
That was the sole thought that entered the minds of everyone present. They turned to see a small cat approach them. It was a baby, clearly, going by the fact it barely reached the height of Chief's ankle. It was puffy, looked a little malnourished though, and was silver with black spots. its two blue eyes stared up at the group as it let out another mreow.
Cortana audibly squealed in delight, while Halsey retained a more moderate response. Alyosha looked to Ludmilla, who shrugged and said, "The staff apparently found the little guy wandering around outside their base without food, so they took it in... Though they were planning to let it free after getting it back up on its feet..." before pausing and watching as Chief picked up the little creature.
It licked his visor.
... To say that melted some hearts and caused some swooning would be an understatement, much to Chief's confusion.
Johnson gave one motion of his hand as bullets sparked around them. He ducked behind cover, reloaded three slug shells gifted unto him by that kid, Neon, then popped up and slam-fired all three of them into a squad of Raptures. Damn things blew up like it was the Fourth of July back in the URNA, courtesy of what seemed to be high-explosive yields embedded within the Slugs themselves.
He flashed a grin, then dipped back into cover and reloaded his weapon as Stacker ran up to him. The Marine with a Battle Rifle pied the corner and fired a burst at the smaller enemy units, before stating, "Kelly's pushing up with Mendoza and Jenkins! They're trying to flank the Lords, the units in charge of these bastards. One of said Lords was what the data sent by Cortana identified as a 'Loud Mouth'. This one had what looked to be a metallic mouth, like a combination between a wolf's snout and the cogs in a mechanism. It also had two heavy railguns on the arms at the left and right and two missile launchers as part of its central body.
It aimed its twin railguns at Johnson and the others, to which the old Marine barked, "SCATTER!" as he pushed Stacker into cover and jumped out of the way. What looked like two burning white beams lanced forth out of the railguns, two-prong, electrically charged magnetic launchers, before they struck the rear and slashed a building behind the Marines in half.
"Jesus fucking Christ, that was close!" Jenkins called out as he ran up to Sarge. He grabbed him by the arm and dragged him toward Kelly and the rest of the squad, while Stacker stayed in cover. Kelly had jumped onto the roofs of the unfinished buildings, apparently, utilizing her mobility and parkour skills to dodge the projectiles fired by the two Lords and their escorting units.
Two fragmentation grenades and a plasma grenade left her belt, the lattermost sticking to the rear lord, a Thermite Beta. The blast, subsequent EMP and energy discharge zeroed the machine, while Kelly drew her shotgun off her back and popped several rounds off in slam-fire. The slugs pierced the body of the Loud Mouth, but it swiveled about and launched a dozen missiles.
Kelly jumped off the roof as the missiles impacted and kicked one of the railgun prongs, bending it and forcing the machine to back down with a screech. It opened its mouth, exposing the core inside, but closed it the moment bullets started flying from the Marines' rifles. Kelly felt the air get knocked out of her lungs, her shields flaring as the beast stood on its hind legs, kicking her away with her front.
She slammed into the floor and managed to dig a nice trench into the concrete before she stopped herself and jumped back to her feet. Charging forward, she radioed the Marines, "Focus fire on its mouth!" as she pushed forward. She hit the sixty-two kph speed she was so known for in less than a second. She ducked and weaved under several more swipes from its legs and shots from its missile launcher, managing to kill several more of its smaller escorts.
A momentary lapse in judgement seemed to kick in for the machine as the surviving Raptures from the dead Thermite switched to its mainframe for control. Kelly primed another frag off her belt and tossed it into the machine's open mouth, busting its teeth wide open and causing it to scream in pain once more. Still, she couldn't aim for the oculus within its belly.
"Alva particles are decreasing!" She called out to the Marines, "I started picking up the signal agai-..." only to pause. She ducked under another strike, drew her pistol and fired again as the Marines began to whittle down the leg armor. Each bullet tore a chunk of alien metal off its body, each shot pierced bio-sinew and each bit of shrapnel shrunk the beast's capability to resist. Kelly jumped out from underneath it as it began to collapse, putting several more rounds from her pistol into its mouth, then reloading.
"I got it, CPO! C'mere, you big fugly bastards!" Johnson, however, slid in this time. As he performed a shoot-and-slide, the man pumped multiple HE slugs at the beast's mouth, shattering even more armor and peeling away the cover on its Oculus. Beside him, his Marines moved up and fired as well, forming into a circle to surround and whittle whatever was left of it down. As its weapons broke and its body.
The Marine Sergeant-Major stood to his feet and, with a flick of his wrist, drew and fired his pistol into the broken machine's oculus. It shattered and the last gasp of life left the metallic body of the alien creature. Johnson let out a deep, heavy sigh as he said, "Swear to Christ, this is some shit..." as he slung his pistol onto its maglock, shotgun onto his back and pulled out a cigar. He looked to Kelly and asked, "Everything in order? You cut off there for a moment, Blue."
"... I'm suddenly picking up two signals. One's farther away than the other," She told him. While the Sarge coughed, she added, "Either one was offline, or the two were interspersed and mixed in with the noise." as she quickly reloaded her shotgun. She told them, "Ammo check. We might be hitting something important further down the line, but for now, I want us to RTB. We found the cube we were looking for in that Elysion building."
"Roger," Johnson sighed, turned and ordered "You heard the lady, boys. Pack it up, double time."
