Justice League of Amazons: Halo

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Chapter 16

It was dark o'clock in New York City as a large vehicle of unidentifiable make and model drove down the street at an almost break-neck speed, going around the corners, almost drifting across the asphalt and just missing the curb and other parked cars. The occupant of the vehicle was the Master Chief in full armour. It was nearing quarter-to-four in the morning as the Spartan II Commando drove down the streets of Manhattan to reach his destination. An apartment complex in Soho. Who it was the Chief was going to see at this hour in the morning in full armour would be his client for the day; Victoria's Secret supermodel Candice Swanepoel. Having taken up the statuesque's blonde's offer of escorting her in her duties, the Chief had woken up an hour earlier and suited up in his MJOLNIR armour.

Some like Cortana and the Justice League members who were aware of the Spartan's current mission would say that doing a simple bodyguard job didn't require wearing what could be likened to wearing a military grade army tank and being armed to the teeth. But years of warfare against the Insurrectionists, the Covenant and later the Flood had drilled into John of the importance of being fully prepared and going the full measure. After the death of his fellow Spartan and technically commanding officer, Kurt, after an accident which resulted in said Spartan being declared MIA, every Spartan checked their gear themselves personally and John was no exception to that practice.

Besides wearing his armour, the Master Chief was armed with an arsenal that if it were any other normal person carrying such armaments would've gotten them tried and sentenced. Among the Spartan's gear for the day were a BR75 battle rifle, an M45D Tactical shotgun, a standard M4D magnum sidearm, some stun & flashbang grenades, an M11 Spartan Combat knife and lastly a humbler stun device.

The League raised some concerns about the guns, citing that a simple bodyguard job wouldn't require such overkill, but Chief made a compromise saying that he would use rubber bullets. But in the trunk space of the Warthog, there were cases of live ammunition should the need arise, but there was some small hope that it wouldn't come to such. The combat knife also raised some concerns, but Chief had promised that he would only use it as a last resort or for situations where it was needed to cut something other than human flesh. Which was why the humbler stun device was in the Spartan's arsenal for the day.

Was all this a tad excessive? Perhaps, but John preferred to be overprepared than under. Reaching the address of the apartment complex, the Spartan had to fight a small grimace that formed on his lips as he sighted some truly dedicated paparazzi, a polite way of saying stalker in his book, camped outside the building. Parking almost a block away so as not to alert them, John waited until it was 4am. Hopefully Candice would already be awake and getting prepared for her duties for the day. The Master Chief had taken the time to read up a little on Candice's background; she had been born in the Kwazalu-Natal region of South Africa and grew up in Mooi River, a farming community. Her parents were Willem and Eileen Swanepoel and she had an older brother named Stephen. Willem was a beef and cattle farmer and Stephen had been a concierge at a popular restaurant and winery in Cape Town and they were sadly among the numerous victims of Aresia's virus. Eileen was a ballet dance instructor and her daughter had been one of her students in her youth. John briefly wondered what Candice's mother would be doing now that her husband and son had passed on; had she kept the farm her husband presumably ran and operated?

Brushing the thought aside, the Chief went over the rest of the information he had collected on his client. Candice had attended a girl's boarding school in the midlands and was discovered in a shopping mall by a model scout at sixteen. The first agency Candice had worked for was Ice Models, but due to her looks at the time, she was quickly sent over to London where she found a growing success. But according to some interviews Candice had given in the past, she had been so homesick and exhausted from the near constant travel around Europe she had actually contemplated quitting modelling and going back home to South Africa and picking up her studies again. But, according to Candice, her parents knew there were more opportunities overseas and encouraged their daughter to "hang in there."

It was in Paris, France at the age of seventeen, Candice had met who would soon become her first boyfriend, Hermann Nicoli, a male model from Brazil. Chief suspected that during the times Candice had contemplated quitting modelling, Hermann had been a source of comfort and stability for her. Hermann had even taught Candice how to read, write and speak fluent Portuguese and coupled with her knowledge of both English and Afrikaans, Candice was trilingual, an impressive feat of knowledge on its own. Chief knew dozens of languages and dialects of Earth's people as sometimes during the early days of the Insurrection, the Innies would sometimes slip or converse in dialects other than English to confuse UNSC troops not versed in foreign languages. John and his fellow Spartans had been given a broad and extensive education in the languages of Earth so if the Innies had decided to speak another language, or in the rare instance where conversing with colonists who did not speak English at all, the Spartans could understand and translate for those who didn't.

Her trilingual ability aside, it was widely spoken among those who had worked with or alongside Candice that she was every inch of a professional model. She knew how to pose and even contort her body into various positions photographers wanted to get the perfect shot and she delivered every shot perfectly every time. Candice was also known for her extensive work with Victoria's Secret, having been a fit model for their annual fashion shows where she would come in to try the clothes and pieces that would be worn by the models in the show. Someone among the management of the lingerie brand saw the potential in Candice and they were right on the money, having her walk her first Victoria's Secret Fashion Show in 2007 and became an Angel (contract model) in 2010. The highlight of her career with Victoria's Secret had been in the 2013 fashion show where she had been chosen to model the 10-million-dollar royal fantasy bra set and open the show itself. Chief had raised an eyebrow upon hearing the details of a 10-million-dollar bra; who on earth would pay that much for a set of lingerie?

The HUD sensor of John's helmet then alerted him to a phone call. Using the caller-ID, John nodded in satisfaction that it was Candice's number. It appeared she was trying to contact him; presumably to let him know she was on her way out of her apartment and coming down to him.

Answering the call, John spoke quietly inside his helmet. "Miss Swanepoel. You are to being your day?" was his first query.

"I'm on my way down. Are you out front?" came Candice's slightly sleepy response.

"I'll be out front."

Hanging up, the Spartan started the engine of his Warthog and slowly drove up the curb in front of the apartment building. With a reluctant sigh, the Master Chief steeled himself as he stepped out of the jeep and almost immediately, the paparazzi took notice of him. Cameras flashed and the photographers (read: parasites) all shouted at the super-soldier wanting to get a photo-op from him. Being the professional that he was, John ignored them, although the near constant flashes from the cameras grated on his nerves as he looked over the swarm of flashing cameras to see Candice leaving the building. With all his considerable patience, John calmly walked through the throng, his hands clenched tightly as he was tempted to pull out his pistol and fire a warning shot in the air to scatter the paps. He refrained from doing so as it would set a bad precedent with the public and Cortana would chew him out for it later.

Getting within arm distance of his client, John spoke through his helmet speakers to her.

"Miss Swanepoel," came the terse but polite greeting.

"Master Chief," Candice gave a warm and friendly smile up at the soldier, her head craning to look up at him. "Shall we?" she prompted.

"This way." The Spartan then led Candice to the warthog and upon seeing the vehicle, she commented, "I've never seen a jeep like this before. Is it a military jeep?" she enquired.

"It is a civilian variant of the standard issue vehicle employed by the UNSC's forces, although I have taken the precaution to give it extra armour plating," said the Spartan.

"Are you expecting trouble?" Candice asked in slight disbelief.

"Always," came the blunt reply.

Climbing into the warthog, Candice gave a off hum a of surprise as she sank back into the synth-leather chair of the passenger seat. "It's comfier than I expected," she remarked.

"The civilian models usually are, although comfort isn't the highest priority for me," John said to the blonde. Candice nodded, accepting that statement as it is as the doors to the warthog closed. Chief gave a small grunt of annoyance as the paparazzi tried to swarm the jeep, wanting to get more photos. Starting the engine, John had to stop the small smile of satisfaction from spreading across his lips as the loud almost animalistic rumble from the warthog's engine had nearly all of the photographers backing up and even scattering. Steering out onto the road, Chief applied his foot to the accelerator pedals and Candice's gave a little squeak of surprise as the jeep shot forward like a veritable bullet from a rifle. Her heart hammering in her chest and clenching the arm rests of her seat, Candice gave an accusatory glare at her bodyguard.

"You did that on purpose," she accused. In response, Chief gave a tiny non-committal shrug of his shoulders, but there was a tiny amused smirk on his lips beneath his helmet. Not that his client could see, unless she had X-ray vision which the Spartan very much doubted she possessed such an ability.

Making a brief stop at a MacDonalds to grab a cup of coffee for his client from the drive-through service, the Spartan then drove the jeep to the destination that would be Candice's first stop of the day; the Victoria's Secret headquarters where she had informed the Spartan that she would be getting made-up for the day to do some PR and interviews with some morning news outlets and early morning talk shows. She had also given her bodyguard an itinerary for the day which Chief went over while driving the jeep. It was a pretty full schedule for the day; besides the morning news and talk shows, Candice would promoting some new products from Victoria's Secret. That would take up most of the morning, with a brief break at noon, then in the afternoon Candice would be doing a meet & greet with customers and fans which go up until late afternoon and early evening.

Driving to the Victoria's Secret Headquarters, Chief parked in the underground car park reserved for employees and staff. Getting out of the car, John helped his client out of the vehicle, offering her his hand to assist her. Candice smiled at the gesture appreciatively and gently clasped hands with the Spartan and he gently pulled her to her feet. The pair were then greeted by some security guards who were made aware that the Master Chief would be Candice's personal bodyguard for the day and gave the soldier a keycard pass that would allow him to access some of the restricted areas not open to the public or lower levels of employees & staff not privy to such sections of the building without proper clearance.

There was some trouble with the elevator as it wasn't rated for his weight and he weighed approximately a metric ton in full armour. Opting to take the stairs, John was informed which floor Candice would be going to and setting up the stairs, the Spartan made good time, almost running at speeds that would have Olympic sprinters and track runners envious. Arriving a mere second before Candice had, Chief noted that he was a second behind and made a note to up his training for running once he got back to the Watchtower.

Candice gave a start upon the Spartan waiting for her on the floor they were meant to be on and asked, "Did I move at all?" A humorous smile was on her lips as she asked the question.

Of course, the joke went over John's head a little. "We are on the floor you were designated to meet your team," he informed her flatly.

Before Candice could give out a response, bustling into view was a middle-aged woman with long curly black hair that was starting to grey, a harried but warm looking smile on her face. "Candice, darling! You made it!" she approved and she stopped in her tracks upon seeing the Master Chief. "And the Spartan as well?" she observed in mild surprise.

"Yes, I asked the Master Chief to be my bodyguard for the day. Do you remember I told you in the email I sent last night?" Candice reminded.

"Ah, yes, of course, I remember now," the middle-aged woman nodded in understanding before looking at the Master Chief to greet him. "A pleasure to meet you at last, Master Chief, sir. Adriana and Behati told me all about the times you worked with them," she informed him. "Do you mind me calling you 'sir' or do you have a name I can address you by?" she asked politely.

"UNSC protocol state that I cannot reveal my named unless circumstance or my superiors dictate otherwise," came the monotonous automatic response from the super-soldier.

"Ah, military man through and through. I understand completely," Candice's boss nodded in understanding. "Well, allow me to introduce myself; I am Sophia Nephitou. I am, or was, the head collection designer, but due to the circumstances that have left the world in the state it is today, I am the acting manager for the company," she introduced.

"I can imagine you are very busy, ma'am," John remarked neutrally.

"To say the least," Sophia said blowing a bang of greying hair out of her eyes with some frustration. "But that isn't important," she was quick to add as she looked at Candice and directed her and the Master Chief.

Directed to the make-up salon that the company had for the occasion that models came in to work, Chief stood guard outside the door while Candice went with a small team of make-up artists and hair stylists. Roughly an hair later, Candice emerged; the make-up she had on enhanced her already beautiful features and her hair was artfully styled to look effortless. She had even changed out of her regular civilian attire to a designer label dress that was low-cut in the chest department and the skirt just barely reached her knees.

John must've been staring for a moment longer than he should've, because Candice had asked, "Something wrong?" A warm but concerned smile was on her lips as she spoke.

"You look… good," came the Spartan's awkward response.

"Thank you," Candice said back to him with an almost bashful look in her eyes, smiling modestly.

Heading back down to the underground garage, the Spartan and his client climbed into the warthog and drove out to head to the first of Candice's appointments. Upon reaching the building, there was a bit of as stir as everyone saw that Candice Swanepoel was being escorted by the Master Chief. Some of the newsprint outlets and tabloid magazine journalists tried to get quotes from the Spartan, but he did not respond to any of them, other than the occasional terse, "No comment," when a question seemed a little rude to him.

Thankfully, the morning news interview did not take too long, but the next appointment was a talk show which took longer than the morning news had and the hosts had naturally asked the Spartan to be included in the interview. John had a firm almost adamant, "No," in response to the request. Intervening on his behalf, Candice had informed any who asked that the Spartan was simply escorting her for the day and part of his contract with her was not to be included in any interviews. This had mollified the talk show hosts, plus the subtle twitch from the Spartan's hand towards his pistol which was spotted by the hosts had them acquiescing to the request.

After an hour of morning talk show appearances, John then escorted Candice to the next scheduled appearance of promoting the latest fragrance from Victoria's Secret. Going to fashion magazines to speak with representatives explaining how to use the product, Candice conversed with the representatives, instructing them on the details of the fragrance and how best to use it.

Soon, came a much needed lunch break which was provided for. With some reluctance, Chief had removed his helmet, if only for the purpose of eating a midday meal for sustenance. He had packed some protein bars for this purpose. The flavour wasn't anything special, almost tasteless, but taste wasn't on John's mind right now as he bit into the bar of protein supplement. Candice who had been eating a chicken Caesar salad looked at the pale food item in her bodyguard's hands and chose to comment.

"You can eat from the buffet table," she told him.

"Hm," came a grunt from the Spartan.

"Aren't you hungry?" Candice prodded her bodyguard.

"I have these to keep me sustained," replied the Chief as he indicated his half-eaten protein bar.

Candice raised a sceptical eyebrow at this and asked, "Does it even taste good?"

"Taste isn't important with these," stated the Master Chief. "It provides me with energy to function. I can eat a meal when I finish for the day," he said plainly.

"I don't know if you would agree, but I think I am obliged to keep you fed and watered," Candice then said to him seriously. "Besides, Mari would have my head if she learnt that I didn't let you have real food," she quipped humorously. Narrowing her blue eyes at John, she asked, "Do you really want to annoy Mari?"

The Spartan was silent for a moment as Candice looked at him expectantly and he finally replied, "I acknowledge the logic in your statement." Going over to the buffet table, the Spartan picked out a simple roast chicken, cheddar cheese and mayonnaise sandwich and a bottle of plain water. Smiling to herself that she had gotten her bodyguard to accept the offer of actual food, Candice resumed eating her lunch with Spartan eating his own within seconds.

"Did you even taste it?" Candice deadpanned at the soldier who nodded in reply. Shaking her head in amusement, Candice continued eating her meal.

Then walking into the room was a tall woman wearing a neat business dress suit. John looked at the new arrival with some suspicion; her skin tone was a shade of pale brown making it hard to determine her ethnicity, her hair was a warm dark brown coiffed elegantly in an asymmetrical style with a curtain falling over the left half of her face. Her eyes, with the left being concealed by the curtain of hair over her face, were a pale shade of green and they almost seemed to glow in the natural light of the sun. Her lips were coloured a deep pink colour and curled into a calm almost contented smile. Hanging from a thin gold chain around her neck was a medallion of an unknown design. She then locked eyes with John who stared back at her evenly. Sauntering almost sashaying, the woman approached the Spartan and stood but half an arm's length from him.

"So, you're the Spartan. I've heard much about you," she spoke. John took note that the stranger's accent was hard to place; there was a hint of a Middle-Eastern accent, but at the same time, a touch of a Japanese accent as well. Perhaps this woman spent time in both the Middle-East and Japan? That might explain the odd accent.

Taking a moment to look more closely at the woman, John felt a small shiver run down his spine as a funny feeling tickled in the back of his mind. Something about this woman set him on edge. He didn't know what, but his gut told him that this woman was not trustworthy, or was at least hiding something.

"And you are?" the Spartan asked the stranger, prompting her to give her name.

"Apologies. Miranda Tate, of White Hand Industries. I heard that you were in the building and I thought to introduce myself," the woman said with a friendly smile.

"A pleasure to meet you, Mrs Tate," the Spartan said to her coolly.

"Miss Tate," Miranda corrected him gently. "My other half died to the virus," she said with some displeasure.

"I am sorry to hear that. But rest assured, Aresia was punished accordingly by her patron gods for her crimes," John said sincerely.

"Yes, but I think many on the mortal plane would disagree there. Many would be lining up for the chance to put a knife to Aresia's heart for what she did," Miranda said with a dangerous look that seemingly made her eyes flare brightly, but they dimmed just as quickly.

"I would be inclined to agree with you, Miss Tate," John agreed professionally.

"And there among those of us who say that the Amazons themselves should be punished, as it was their beliefs that led to what some have taken to calling the Night of a Thousand Tears," Miranda said conversationally. "A rather poetic name, don't you think?"

"Call it whatever you want," John said politely. "But to tar the Amazons with the same brush that Aresia had been painted with would be unfair," he stated.

"Oh?" Miranda raised an eyebrow at this. "What makes you say that?" she enquired.

"While it is true that the Amazons have largely misandrist views regarding men in general, Wonder Woman herself has seen that as bad as many men can be, there is just as much if not more goodness in them or the potential to be good or better than those bring shame to their gender," replied the Master Chief. "The same can be said of women; there are women who perform heinous actions for selfish gain, but there are those who do much good for others. Wonder Woman is one of those women; she willingly left her island to save Man's World in its darkest hour and became a founding member of the Justice League, proving to everyone that she could stand alongside her fellow heroes and face whatever came her way. And even when Aresia committed her act of gender genocide, Wonder Woman stood against her to prove that not all Amazons have it out for men everywhere."

"Even when accused of not doing enough to stop her fellow Amazon or for her beliefs being the root of the crisis?" Miranda asked lightly.

John frowned slightly and replied, "Diana did all she could, but even though she is blessed with superhuman abilities beyond mortal men and women, she is not omnipotent and the situation had spiralled out of her control. There really was no tactical process in that regard, but she did the best she could in the situation."

A small crowd had gathered around the Spartan and Miranda at this moment as everyone listened to super-soldier speak.

"To my mind, although I do not agree with the Amazon beliefs of men not being necessary or not needed, they had made no move to do anything similar to what Aresia, a renegade Amazon, had done to promote the Amazon beliefs," the Spartan continued. "Believe it or not, there something of a similar situation back in my universe," he added cryptically.

"Oh, do tell," Miranda said with an engaging smile.

John paused as he contemplated what to reveal of the Human-Covenant War. "An enemy that made itself know to the UNSC, with the declaration of declaring us an affront to their gods had enacted a complete genocide of the human race at the order of their leaders under the guise of the will of the gods," he said carefully. "But a schism happened within this foe as many of their ranks had begun to question why their leaders wanted the human race extinct and when it came to light that they had been lied to, they splintered and fractured with those who had realised they had been lied to joining the UNSC in the final fight."

"Interesting. And what did your UNSC have to say about it?" Miranda questioned.

"At the time, personal opinions and beliefs were irrelevant as the fate of every living being hung in the balance. Even I had my suspicions and prejudices at first due to fighting this enemy for so many years, but I quickly learnt to put aside such personal feelings and focus on the mission at hand," John stated.

"Very commendable," Miranda approved. She looked at John more appraisingly and said, "You are interesting, Spartan. Perhaps we can continue this fascinating discourse another time, in a more private setting?" she offered silkily.

"I will consider it, Miss Tate," John replied stoically.

"Well, if you are interested, feel free to call this number," Miranda said to him, handing him a business card upon which were some details such as a phone number and email address. With a warm smile, Miranda then left the room breezily.

John watched after the woman before examining the business had been given. Although the conversation had tread the waters of a sensitive topic, it hadn't been too terrible, but there was something about this Miranda Tate that set off alarm bells in the Master Chief's head. He made a mental note to do a background check on Miranda. Call it being paranoid, but John hadn't lived this long by not listening to his gut and one thin Chief Mendez had drilled into during training was to listen to his gut. If your gut was telling you something was wrong, then nine out of ten times, something was indeed wrong and John's gut had hardly ever been wrong.

Candice having listened to the conversation touched John's hand and asked him, "Did you really mean all that? What you just said?"

The Spartan looked at the South African blonde and nodded quietly. Candice's eyes widened in mild surprise as she looked at the surprising depth and enlightened view her bodyguard had of the world.

"You are just full of surprises, aren't you?" she asked him. The Spartan merely shrugged in response and put his helmet back on.

"Ready?" was all he asked and Candice nodded having finished her lunch and ready to continue her day.

TO BE CONTINUED…

A/N: There! Chapter sixteen is done and dusted, another filler chapter, but there's hopefully some intrigue with the mysterious Miranda Tate introducing herself to the Master Chief. For those of us who are familiar with DC lore and aliases, it shouldn't be too hard to recognise Miranda and those of you who have figured it out already, don't tell anyone who doesn't know, let's keep some suspense, shall we? LOL :-P

In other news, I'm planning an Elder Scrolls/Highschool of the Dead crossover and I've put up a poll on my profile of what the potential setting could be, so please do have a vote when you have the time. I won't say what the options are just so my personal biases don't affect everyone's choices.

And that's all I have right now, so I'll see you all in the next one.

Be kind to one another,

Angry lil' elf.