Summary/disclaimer: Time for another chapter of Hunter and Soldier. Enjoy the 1500-word chapter. I don't own Halo, Microsoft, and 343 do.
(2526, April 6th Halberd Class Destroyer Rio De Grande, 00:00)
Gram looked at his damaged shoulder. Halsey had moved her 'week of rest and recuperation to a few days. Spartans healed fast unless the injury was severe.
And to Gram? A banged-up arm was nothing compared to what Spartans regularly dealt with.
Cal looked up from her bunk. Halberd class destroyers gave their crew one pod each… Yet the Spartans were fine with sharing a pod, it wasn't like they weren't a close-knit unit, to begin with.
"So, som?" Gram asked, walking to the kitchen within the pod. "How's Solomon doing against that Hunter?" Gram asked, gaining the Spartan's attention as he turned to look at Gram.
"Hunters?" Solomon asked to which Gram nodded.
"Got to call them something, they came at us like hunting dogs." Gram reasoned before Cal chuckled.
"That's the crappiest name you've given something, Gram," Cal said as Gram chuckled.
"Least I call them something, to begin with." Gram stated as he began to look over things to eat. "What do you think the next mission is? Did we kill some high-ranking URF commander? Blow up a covenant shipyard? I figure half the Covenant fleet at Zhoist are space dust at the moment." Gram said as Cal looked at the card deck.
"What makes you think that Prophet won't change the war?" Solomon asked as Gram looked up at him.
"Because of their low ranking, does he look THAT Important?" Gram asked while shaking his head as he grabbed an MRE or 'MEAL, READY TO EAT.' "Besides? Why would one of the leaders of the covenant be at Zhoist? Is there anything at Zhoist they needed?" Gram questioned as he grabbed the hazelnut honey nut protein bar.
As much as he knew the Spartans were given rations? He still HATED them like 99% of the UNSC did.
'I get we're at war, but when are they going to get better food than this crap?' Gram thought to himself as he shook his head while he looked up at Cal.
The spartan sat with her sniper placed next to her bunk. She drummed her fingers on her foot as the Spartan thought about what Silver Team would be doing next.
"Cal, you remember Operation: REVENANT HUNT?" Gram asked and walked to the bunk before sitting next to Gram. "We tracked that official halfway across the planet? We ended up having to knock his Warthog down into a gorge?" Gram asked as he turned to look once more at his ration.
Cal cracked a smile to which Gram chuckled as Gram leaned on the wall. Solomon shook his head at this.
"You're both crazy," Solomon stated to which Gram hummed once more.
"Says the one who used to always engage half the enemy without reinforcements." Gram said as he ripped open the packet. "You can complain about how cocky I am… At least I only attack people who I can handle." Gram stated and took a bite from the protein bar.
"And what about when Cal isn't enough to watch your back?" Solomon asked as Gram shrugged. "You know she's the only reason you haven't got a hole in your skull." Solomon pointed out while Gram took another bite of his ration bar at the moment.
"Yeah, I have a guardian angel, Sol," Gram responded, looking down at his lunch. "Silver is a team… But for me and Cal? Have you ever found her dead on a battlefield? You're going to find my corpse right next to hers. I'm going to be by her side till the end of the road." Gram said which made Solomon silent.
There were one prospect Spartans could not be adept to. The idea of being out of war. After all? They were bred for it. They lived in war; the battle was pretty much a way of life for them. How could they live without a battle to be fought? An objective requiring their attention?
Cal looked at Gram who was busy eating the remnants of his ration.
"Gram, do you ever worry I might not be there one day?" Cal asked, stretching out as Gram leaned away from her feet.
"You said it yourself, Cal." Gram said as he consumed the remains of his food. "We're soldiers, I guarantee there's going to be a mission where we get screwed over. I just don't plan on that being anytime soon… Or at the very least? I plan on taking down plenty of the Covenant with me when I do go." Gram put in while Solomon let out a yawn.
Gram allowed the spartan sleep. There would be more battles, he doubted they'd belong at the medical station before being sent to the next battle. He turned to look back to Cal as the two Spartans shared a look.
"You want an honest answer? NO." Gram said, crossing his arms over his chest. "I expect to die. I expect to take around doing some work for the UNSC. Spartans aren't indestructible, you saw that thing slice open Artie. I think one day? I think I get stupid, maybe a Covenant sniper gets me, maybe I sacrifice myself for the UNSC, we're fighting for people to survive. I don't expect the UNSC to put us in a win, win situation. We're small fry, best of the best or not." Gram added to which Cal was silent.
She looked over at her sniper. That rifle line had been her signature weapon since she was a spartan. Cal had lost count of how many soldiers she had killed in the months following her training.
"We're stopping them even if we have to burn the Covenant down to nothing, Cal." Gram said and looked at his bum arm. "But I'm not losing anyone. I got my arm broken protecting Silver Team. I'll put myself on the line as many times as I have to if it saves us." Gram said, shaking his head.
Cal said nothing, Gram would almost always be ready to dive into combat like Solomon. The difference between them was Gram wanted to protect soldiers just like Cal did, he just didn't want someone throwing their lives away to do it.
"You know what I don't get?" Gram asked as he leaned up to look at Cal. "Why we're still having a civil war. The Covenant is busy burning every system they find and yet? We have thousands of rebel cells ready to destroy everything. They're idiots if they think the covenant wants to be their friend after this. It had to blow up in their face if that's what they wanted at Zhoist." Gram said, frowning at his bad arm.
Cal nodded as she tried not to wound Gram's almost recovered arms more. There were plenty of rebel cells who were using the advantage of genocide to gain independence. It helped Cal focus on destroying them, besides her Spartan training? She didn't feel remorse for people trying to destroy the UNSC during the war.
"They would have still given them intel before they destroyed them." Cal pointed out and slowly climbed out of her bunk. "Meaning they know more about how to kill us better. The only good thing is now they have been wiped at the battle. There will be other cells." Cal added while looking back at Gram.
"We have bigger things to worry about than rebels, Cal." Gram said, using his good arm to pull himself out of bed. "It took planting nuclear bombs on their ships to win. You want to know what angers me?" Gram questioned and narrowed his eyes.
"Spartans are ONLY effective on the ground." Gram stated with a twinge of venom in his tone. "The only time we make a difference is on the ground. Half the time we're aboard warships. Every battle we win? The Covenant just retreats to orbit and melt everything they can't control from orbit. The UNSC Navy is outmatched… And nobody seems to have a plan to fight back at the moment." Gram said and shook his head once more.
Gram watched Cal walk to the pod's kitchen once more. Spartans were supposed to be the most disciplined soldiers… Gram was a good example of an emotional spartan who still put the mission first.
"Leave the strategy to Admiral Cole and Stanforth," Cal stated as Gram simply climbed into his bed at the moment.
"I just want to know how much we're losing." Gram said, leaning back in bed.
Author Notes
Phew. Another chapter is done! I want to point out that the next chapter will be slightly longer and such. Also? If you're going to say Gram healed too fast? Douglas- 042 recovered from a damaged shoulder in 2 days…. The next chapter will be in 2-12 weeks or so and will show Silver Team at the Sanitarium finishing their healing and getting another mission along with Gram and Cal talking more. Until then, Lighting Wolf out!