There was a point being driven home about the UNSC's capabilities. By the second planet, UNSC Orbital capability had yet again won them a stunning victory, the remnants of the Federation's picket ships hanging in low orbit, slowly losing their altitude as gravity took its effect. Meanwhile, on the ground, a Thunder Run was happening toward the enemy command post, which the shipboard AI of the command vessel had identified as such during an Electronic Warfare session that was, to her, more like fighting someone completely naked with a knife.
Zero protection and zero chance of said someone surviving said encounter for the enemy. Disarrayed Federation resistance pockets fell prey to concentrated UNSC Armor and Air Support, their TAC Fighters wrecks on surface. UNSC Air Assets pummeled the enemy heavily while infantry continued to advance alongside the tanks. Basically, there was fighting wars and there was the mop-up the UNSC had done on this world.
Jake was sat on his ass in the middle of the Barracks aboard the UNSC Cruiser their division was being transported on, staring up at the ceiling. He clicked his tongue, bored, as music played from a pair of speakers on the nearby desk. Their unit didn't even need to be deployed on this planet for a change, meaning the UNSC was pretty much dealing with the unintended consequences of too much success.
He hoped they wouldn't get complacent, though. He didn't really know the Feds that well just from a couple weeks of fighting, so the idiots might've just been playing dumb, waiting to spring some new hell on them. He sighed, stood to his feet and decided not to dwell on it too much. Stepping off toward the mess hall, the man was met with a company of Marines and a couple of eggheads.
Marching past them after giving them a wave, he entered the mess hall, grabbing a bite to eat before he headed back to the barracks to wait on the orders for deployment. Obvious to many of his team-mates was that he was still pretty bummed about his girl leaving him. At least Jane, who had been in the mess hall, could see this much. She hummed and tapped her foot while Niura smoked a cigarette beside her.
"Jake's bummed out still, ain't he?" The Sergeant asked, flicking some ash into a makeshift tray and holding some cards, "Poor guy doesn't see he's got people that care for him right here..." and she gently nudged Jane in the back. The woman grew flustered as her teammates let out a few short chortles at the quip, before frowning and turning to the Sergeant. The woman was smiling deviously, her cigarette at the corner of her mouth.
"C'mon, Sarge. Give the poor girl a break," Nico quipped as he set his cards down, "All in..." and took a sip from some soda. He looked to the two women and offered, "Jake is fine. He'll be back to his usual self when we're down on the ground, fighting again."
"He has always been twitchy about orbit, ever since that one event... Y'know, the Midas Touch, back just before Reach," Marta hummed, "Poor guy hates space for good reason..."
The entire team winced, remembering the fateful day one of their good friends nearly got spaced by the Covenant's plasma beams. It wasn't a pretty day to be aboard a UNSC destroyer, considering the Covenant picket they'd engaged solely focused on them and their unit, which was, all-in-all, a painful series of losses. Some veteran crews, some Marines that barely escaped, Jake included, and the ships themselves still bore the scars of that battle.
Jane shook her head, though, "Doubt it's just that. Feds have been awful weak compared to what we'd expected out of someone with the balls to straight-up execute the people we sent to them so they can talk and make nice..." turning back toward the team as the guy left with some packed food for his room. She eyed him with a hint of worry, then noted, "Poor bastard's always been paranoid when things are going too well."
"We're all like that, Jane," Ayaan commented, before taking a bite of his food, "It's not unusual for soldiers to be paranoid when things are going a little too well..."
"Yeah, I know. Still," She shrugged, "I'm with him on it, too. Feds have either been holding back, or we just entered the most pointless Nuke Fight since the Insurrection decided to reappear post-Great War..." then she scratched her chin, "Something doesn't fucking add up about them, either. I heard rumors from an ONI Spook friend of mine that the Feds have 'bigger issues' to deal with."
"Like?" The whole table asked simultaneously.
She shrugged, "Some alien species leaving in a nearby containment zone... I think they called them 'Arachnids'," And she hummed. She saw Ayaan's face morph into a rictus of disgust and fear, before she snorted and asked, "You afraid of Spiders there, Ayaan?" making the man shake his head rapidly in denial. She giggled, then planted a palm on her face.
Niura let out a laugh, "Our glorious ladykiller's fucking scared of spiders?! Oh, this one is new!" and everyone else joined in on the laughter. The Arab man sighed and rubbed his face, then leaned forward and continued eating his food. The Sergeant chuckled and shook her head, then murmured, "The more I learn about you kids, the funnier I find this entire unit... And you'd think I'd've learned everything after so many years together..."
"We're just full of surprises, sarge," Nico commented calmly, looking at the soda in his cup. He looked to the worried Jane and told her, "Jane, why don't you go talk to Jake if you're so worried about him?" continuing when she turned toward him with, "You two know each-other best out of all of us. You can more easily tell what's on the man's mind than most of us can."
Jane took a moment to think, her lips razor-thin. She nodded and said, "Yeah. Alright." then turned to the platoon and asked informally, "You guys mind?" getting shakes of the head as replies. She stood to her feet, coffee mug in her hand, then stepped off to find Jake. The group looked to one-another and shook their heads, all thinking about the same thing. When were those two finally going to get together?
Jane, meanwhile, simply thought to herself what got Jake so down. Hell, she usually knew him as a little more quiet on their days off, but that didn't mean he shouldn't join them at dinner. Arriving at the barracks, she heard music playing through the speakers. An old song, from the 1980s, called 'Crazy Train'. Written almost six hundred years ago, its singer long dead. She smiled as she heard the tune and realized the poor guy was simply bored, sprawled on the bed and writing
Entering the place to find it half-empty, sans for Jake and a couple other guys from their company, she approached his bunk and watched him scribble something on an honest-to-god pen-and-paper notebook. He saw her coming with the corner of his eyes, then set the notebook down and smirked, "Came to check on me, already, Doc? I just had my Medical two days ago."
"I know, dumbass," She chuckled, then sat herself down on the bunk next to his, "Folks and I were worried when we saw you walk in with your semi-usual long face. You bored?"
"Outta my goddamn mind, ever since they gave the Reapers and the Helljumpers the planet below... Been almost a week of fighting down there," The man snorted and picked the notebook back up off his chest. Reapers were the Ninth Infantry Company, First Division. Some of the best Veteran Troops the UNSC still had at their disposal. The two had met the folks in combat a while back, on the Ark.
She took a sip of her coffee, then chuckled, "Your usual hyperactive ass. I get you, but I don't have to fix you guys after you take shots," and set her cup aside as the song faded out and another tune faded in. She and Jake looked to one-another, recognizing the song, then both grinned. Jake snapped into a seating position as both he and his childhood friend belted out, "Shot through the heart and you're to blame! Darlin', you give love a bad name!" which surprised the two or three other Marines inside.
The two laughed as the guitar riff kicked in, before Jake smiled brightly and said, "Holy hell, I missed that song..."
"Take it Tim found your and your dad's music collection, eh?" She asked, standing up and then sitting back down next to Jake. The man handed her one of the chips containing the songs. It had the playlist name etched at the top with black permanent marker. She grinned and slid it into her cargo pants' top-most left pocket, before elbowing Jake in the chest gently and stating, "Been a while since we just sat like this, listening to old tunes."
"About nine years, specifically. We were both around seventeen, last time I found this stuff..." He quipped, then turned himself to sit side-to-side with her, "Sure have been through hell since, eh? The Corps, the War's End, the fights against the Storm Covvies... Shit, I think we nearly saw Jul 'Mdama face-to-face during one deployment. I really wanted to put that squid down myself."
"Heh," The girl snorted, "As if you'd get a shot off before he skewered you with that energy sword he keeps touting."
"Fucker stole that off some other Elite he shanked for leadership of the Storm bastards," He joked, grinning, "The 'Didact's Hand'. Fucking pompous little shits couldn't get past the Chief to activate whatever they wanted to activate in the core of that shithole planet," and he hummed, "Hey, d'you reckon they'd deploy BLUE Team here? I mean, I get we need every Spartan on deck against the Covvie remnants, but..."
Jane shook her head, "Nah. If they're going to deploy Spartans, it'll probably be Fours. Chief and his team are a dying breed out there, so I highly doubt they'd drop them on the Feddies' heads. Even so, Fours might be overkill, what with the new GEN-3 Armors I hear they're deploying for them... Fuck me, man... Imagine if we'd actually made the cut..."
"The Threes?" He asked in a whisper, "Yeah... Would've been something... Though I heard from some old pals I kept in touch with via back channels that it's better we didn't. Onyx got fucked by something that ONI's been keeping under wraps very well," before humming. He chuckled, "We'd've sucked as Spartans, honest to god... Good thing they weeded us out early."
Jane shook her head, "Speak for yourself, dickhead. I'd've made a fine Spartan." And she puffed her chest out proudly.
Jake rolled his eyes, "Think whatever ya want, Touma..." before chuckling and shaking his head. The girl slammed a hand into his shoulder to try and get him to shut up, but laughed with him all the same. Yes, they'd have made for very shitty Spartans, whatever variation of them there would've been that late into the War. They were better off where they were, anyway. Marines, Semper Fi.
The two kept rocking on to old tunes, while Niura watched them from the door, hidden behind the walls so they wouldn't see her.
She was happy to see them smiling. Certainly had been some time since they had downtime like this.
UCF Earth, Boot Camp
His back still hurt from the whippings.
Rico had failed. Failed as a squad lead. Got one of his comrades in arms killed during Basic Training of all things. He was ready to walk down washout lane any minute now as he sat there, watching the news on information about the fighting going on in multiple systems at this point. As Diz sat herself down next to him, looking mighty upset, he told her, "We stopped hearing from Planet V... Wonder if that means they beat them back there."
"Not like it's gonna matter if they encircle it," Diz murmured. A bit defeatist, Rico thought. It was obvious that they hadn't won Planet V. Quite the opposite, in fact. Nobody was saying anything about it, though. Word was that the bugs were also starting to stir in the Quarantine Zone sector nearby the enemy forces' advance, so they might have bigger issues coming than any Victory the Feds got.
"You'll beat them back. Hell, Ace's got his finger on the trigger as is," The man said as he slung his bag over his shoulder. The two started walking out together, Diz ready to protest his departure as they walked through the place. He stood to his feet and slung his pack onto his back, then stepped off. Diz tried to protest his departure, partially begging him.
He walked to the com station and waved Diz off, with the girl sighing deeply as she took a step back as he rang up his parents. She blew a strand of hair out of her eye and walked to wait outside. She cared about Johnny, far more than she'd let on, honestly. Sure, the bastard was probably still hurting after Carmen and he thought he'd gotten one of their team-mates killed, but...
She shook her head. It was entirely up to Rico if he left. He was technically a grown man. He'd soldiered on through his parents' crap about joining the service to become a Citizen, so it was entirely up to him if he was gonna wade down Washout Lane today. She hummed and scratched her chin, then looked around as some of the other recruits ran toward the massive television screen in the center of the base.
She clicked her tongue, then looked to see Rico stepping out of the com tent. She asked, "How're your folks?"
"Good enough..." He shrugged, "Connection got cut for some reason."
Diz squinted, "Huh..." before watching the rest of the camp scatter toward the TV. She stopped one of their teammates and asked them, "Jacobs, what's going on?"
"War!" He replied, part excited, part terrified, "We're going to war!" And he motioned for them to follow him. The two confused friends looked to one-another and did so, marching toward the board with the TV and stopping as the FedNet broadcast played live. The two pushed their way through the crowd as officers ran past all of them toward the Command Tent.
"The Devastation we are seeing is unparalleled..." The FedNet reporter seemed a fair bit more somber than previous accounts as he spoke, "Judging by early reports... Millions dead, a city in flames." And images played of the damages for a moment. Johnny asked something from one of the other girls in the division as she teared up. They didn't know how bad it'd get. A 3D animation showing the trajectory appeared as the FedNet announcer spoke, "The Meteor was shot out of orbit by Bug Plasma that derived from Klendathu, the Bugs' Home Planet..." and as more images of the devastation played, wildfires burning everywhere, the announcer continued, "Nothing lives in what was once called 'The Latin Paradise'..."
"Oh, Johnny, that's us..." Diz covered her mouth as Buenos Aires's remains appeared on the map. Rico felt his blood boil in his veins at the sight, though he stared, dumbfound and unsure of what to do now that he saw why the feed from his family had cut. He grit his teeth, then stepped past Diz and ran toward the command tent. Entering it to find it in disarray, the man saw Drill Instructor Zim, their hard-boiled bastard of a DI.
"The hell are you doing here, Rico?" Demanded the man, his voice rough, "Can't you see we're a little busy now?"
"Sir," The man replied, "I wanna come back..."
"That's impossible, Rico," The officer in charge of the entire base turned toward him. The man lifted up a paper and said, "You already signed your form. MI Bureaucracy doesn't do take-backs," as he watched the young man before him sat there, eyes filled with rage toward the enemy. He hummed, then looked to Zim, waiting to see what the young man had to say.
"I know, sir, but I made a mistake in the heat of the moment. I knew why I joined the Service in the first place and what happened..." He paused and looked between the two officers ahead of him, "It blinded me, sir. I know I can do this. Especially now, when more and more MI are needed to fight the two-front war the Bugs just opened up..." and he held his breath, waiting for a moment.
The commander and Zim looked to one-another. The former wrinkled his nose, then nodded to Zim. Zim picked up the paper on the table and demanded from Rico, "Is this your signature, Rico!?" to which the young man replied a strained 'Yes, sir', only for the Commander to turn around, much to Rico's surprise. Zim smirked and looked to Rico, then stated, "Doesn't look like it to me..." before ripping the paper apart. He yelled at him, "Report back to your Platoon, trooper!"
"Yes, sir!" Rico beamed, saluting him, then stepped off to find his team, to find Diz. To go to war... For revenge...
Come another week, FedNet was playing on all channels on Battle Station Ticonderoga. Square in the Bugs' Back Yard. The talk of Buenos Aires being rebuilt, the rage boiling over into rational thought and the idea that the Federation was now fighting a War on Two Fronts. To be quite honest, Rico didn't mind it none as he donned his grey-and-black uniform and cap, a smirk on his face. He sighed deeply, however, then looked at the picture next to his bunk, what litle he had to remind him of his family.
"We must meet this threat with our courage, our valor, indeed our very lives to ensure that HUMAN CIVILIZATION, NOT INSECT, dominates this Galaxy now and always!" Sky Marshal Dienes's speech played over FedNet from Geneva. Klendathu, the Bug Home, was their target. Rico partially hoped they were gonna glass that place and then head on to kick the treacherous 'Unified Earth Government's' asses all the way back to whatever hellscape version of Earth they crawled out of.
"Hey, Rico, c'mon!" Rosie, another one of their teammates, called out to him. Raven-haired, with lilac eyes, the young woman was a bit of a beauty, but then again, most of MI felt like they were supermodels. She and Kitten waited by the door with Diz and Ace, the lattermost being the new squad leader. Rico chuckled and stepped off, joining the gang as they walked through the station.
"Man, can't believe this," Chuckled Diz, "Finally part of the big leagues. The MI."
"Heh. You're telling me," Rosie joked, arms crossed to her chest as she looked around, "Right in the damn AQZ, too. Seems a bit nutty if you ask me..."
"We're here to kick bug ass and take bug names," Ace snorted, "Wait, do they even have names?" and that got a laugh out of everyone, 'Kitten' included. The group of friends marched down the corridors toward a tattoo parlor, probably to force Rico and the others to get an MI Tattoo to celebrate their deployment. They didn't know what the hell was going on on the UNSC front, but they had bigger bugs to squash.
"... Here's a couple of kids who look like they could eat bugs for breakfast!" Commented a Fednet correspondent on the station, turning toward Rico and his friends. Diz chuckled and made the 'yum' noise, before the group turned around to leave. The FedNet Correspondent continued his broadcast, looking into the camera, "Now, there are voices within the Federation who're looking for co-existence with the bugs, saying that the War between us and the UNSC may've stirred them awake. Others say that the UNSC, perhaps, allied with the Bugs in order to bring an end to us due to mounting loses in the Planet V Campaign. All-in-all, word is the same, that we should ignore the bugs and-"
Rico snatched the mic and glared into the Camera, "I'll tell you what! I'm From Buenos Aires and I say KILL'EM ALL!" To the cheers of his comrades. The group stepped off, with Rico noting Rosie was staring back at the Reporter with a bit of a death glare. "You okay, Rosie?" to which she yelped and turned toward him. A simple nod was all she gave as they marched through the crowds.
"You guys think the eggheads may be right? The other guys allied with them cuz they're losing?" Ace asked, smirking, "Shows how weak they'd be, eh?"
"We'll have to see if we meet Bug and Human in combat at the same time, Squad Lead," Rico replied, clapping a hand on his shoulder, "Though the bugs kinda hate all of us, don't they?" while a few other MI and Fleet units walked past them, alongside a platoon of hardy-looking Marines. Rosie seemed to be taking the sights of the Battlestation in, while Kitten was simply grinning ear to ear.
"Like you said, Johnny," Diz chuckled, "We'll see. 'Till then, we do have bugs to kill."
"Oorah, Diz," Rico gave a nod, grinning.
"Hey!" Kitten clapped once, a smile on his face, "Let's all get matching tattoos!"
That garnered support from the rest of the group, sans Rosie and a protesting Rico. Diz grabbed him by the wrist and said, "Oh, what, your skin too pretty?" as she pulled him forward. Rosie rolled her eyes and followed along. When asked who wanted to get first tattoo, she volunteered just to get it over with, before stepping off outside and finding a secluded place while the others got their tattoos.
After making sure the women's bathroom was clear of any potential extra pairs of ears, she pulled a communication bead out of her pocket and slid it into her ear, before quietly calling, "Nest, this is Eagle Mama. Confirmed Mike India mobilization in the Web, massed. Approximately 300,000, plus several dozen egg carriers... Will report once Outing to Kilo is completed. If I fucking survive it. Eagle Mama, over and out..." and she sent the message via a portable Slipspace beam transmitter.
She pocketed the earpiece, then stepped out of the Bathroom, before putting on her best smile and going in to join the gang. Diz pulled her over and said, "C'mon, Rosie! We were just about to take a picture!" then motioned for her to show her tattoo. The friend group flexed their biceps to better show the shield bearing the MI's emblem of a skull with a cap and two crossed lightning bolts behind it. A bit of a callback to an older symbol, but a good one nonetheless.
Rosie wondered just how bad 'Big K' was going to get. The Arachnids were supposedly one of the toughest species.
That didn't bode well...