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Maddie "The Viper" Harper
August 14th, 2552
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It had been a day since the alien attack commenced, and darkness had engulfed the launch facility. The deafening sound of explosions reverberated in the air, sending tremors through the ground beneath us. As I stood among the remnants of what was once our base, desperation clung to my every breath. All hope seemed to have deserted us, leaving us vulnerable and defeated.
The Viper's story made me revered as a legendary hero, but time and time again, I had done nothing but bare witness to the devastation that the alien forces had wrought upon us. Our defences had crumbled, our fortifications lay in ruins, and my comrades-in-arms, who had fought alongside me with unyielding courage, were scattered like fallen leaves in the wind. The two and a half companies I had sent into the mountains were only a clutch group of marines, barely organised to each choke point as rank and structure dissolved around them.
The darkness matched the heaviness in my heart as I watched the carnage unfold. Our once mighty launch facility, where we had dreamt of exploring the unknown reaches of the universe, now crumbled under the merciless assault. The aliens' advanced weaponry had rendered our attempts at resistance utterly futile, as was the case every time we lost air superiority.
As the AA batteries finally ran out of ammunition, their fierce airships descended from the sky like monstrous predators, raining down death and destruction upon us.
The enemy's merciless siege had pushed us to our breaking point. I felt the weight of our impending defeat, the burden of every life depending on me, pressing heavily against my shoulders. Doubt began to gnaw at my resolve, whispering that perhaps I had reached the end of my storied tale.
Noble team are on the way but… would that be enough?
But even in the darkest hour, a flame flickered within my weary heart. It was the memory of every victory, every life saved, and every hope rekindled by my hand. The Viper was not one to surrender. I had faced countless trials and emerged triumphant, robbing fate of its spoils time and time again.
I had begun to redefine The Viper. I lifted my eyes to the smoke-filled sky, bracing myself against the barrage of alien onslaught. Though my strength was waning and the odds were firmly stacked against me, I would not yield. Section Two had built me an identity ready for me to assume. I wasn't the girl from Skopje, I realised this as I lit a cigarette with firm and determined hands. I also wasn't the muted stooge that ONI wanted me to be. I would channel every last ounce of bravery, valour, and cunning to survive this war. The Viper was revered, as I learned from the staff and soldiers, for winning insurmountable battles. For one reason or another, I was perfectly suited to the fall of human civilization.
Like De Gaulle or Athurian legend.
It was that story, which I had begun to lean on, telling those around me of my fantasies of victory and how attainable it is… I was lying, sure, but the troops appreciated it regardless. The fate of our launch facility hung in the balance, and with it, the dreams of the several dozen souls who still dared to gaze towards the stars in the face of death.
I could feel the weight of the secrets pressing against my chest, like a gnawing beast that refused to be tamed. The taste of rebellion lingered on my tongue, constantly reminding me of the life I had chosen. As a would-be enemy-of-the-state and legendary spy, my existence was paradoxical - caught between the thirst for the truth and the necessity of deception.
I'd a knack for deception and a talent for the strategic but these were not on my mind as I drained the stimulating cigarette. I was unique because I was a historian, I loved the stories told throughout history. The truth is ugly and complicated but the narrative of a man uniting an empire? A queen defying convention? Splitting a church? That truly fascinated me.
The status quo, that stagnant pool of conformity, suffocated me. The system that Margaret and Serin operated suffocated us all, but I was determined to break free and take humanity's best and brightest with me. A flicker of doubt occasionally crept into my mind, whispering that perhaps it would be easier to simply accept the rules and conform; it was the very essence of individualism, however, that coursed through my veins, compelling me to resist, to fight against the norm. I couldn't be silenced; I refused to let the truth be buried beneath convenient lies.
In many ways, I was the ideal candidate for ONIs section three. Self-assured, hyper-critical, focused, charismatic… emotionally isolated. Yet, the miscalculation was laid bare. I was the result of too much of a good thing. I was too individualistic to truly stay in line, too self-assured to completely buy into the words of my masters, too critical to be anything but cynical about the system that created me, and I was emotionally isolated, which drove me ever further into the arms of those in my life who didn't approve of my choices.
That night, the darkness had embraced me as though I was a long lost companion. As I dwelled on my plans to expose the rot hidden within the seemingly impervious walls of power. I was a shadow in the night, stealthily infiltrating layers upon layers of secrecy. The adrenaline surged through my veins, mingling with the intoxicating thrill of rebellion. I was an outcast, a renegade soaring through a world of conformists.
But the consequences stood tall in my mind's eye. The path of a whistleblower is plagued with uncertainty and danger. A voice within me questioned whether my actions were worth the potential sacrifice. The thought of my life crumbling, of being a fugitive and a target, caused my heart to flutter with trepidation.
Why worry? Has your life not already been filled with such distraction?
The voice was not Drake's but wholly my own. It was like a hug from an old friend, one I was surprised to find still harboured kind thoughts despite the many years of estrangement. For a while now, the voice in my head, once dripping with Drake's oily and slick tones, now sang the song of a woman much younger and ignited with the fire of vengeance.
The fire within me burned brighter than the fear. The responsibility of truth fell upon my shoulders, and I knew I couldn't forsake it. The lives destroyed, the injustices ignored, they all demanded that someone take a stand. Someone had to challenge the ever-turning wheels of corruption.
As a spy, I had seen the darkest corners of humanity. The true face of power lay hidden behind a delicate veil of lies, and I refused to be blinded by it any longer. My footsteps echoed against the empty corridors, strewn with bodies, my heart pounding as each ring of my footsteps prattled off the walls of this tomb. With each piece of the puzzle, with each cautious step, my rebellion grew stronger. I had become a catalyst for change, a defiant old history left abandoned in an old library.
The path before me was not that of an individualist, nor truly of a rebel against the status quo. It was, undoubtedly, filled with uncertainty and risk but it was a path worth taking, for the sake of my soul if nothing else. The world needed girls like me, but it also needed legendary spies who walked that line between right and wrong, even if their own lives were forever altered. In the end, I supposed that I may never be a hero in the traditional sense, but I did know that my actions would forever linger in the hearts and minds of those who dared to live, those who yearned for change.
Mikaela sat in a sniper's nest, not unlike the one I had lived in back in Orest on Skopje. My life had changed forever in the CDS building. I hoped that if change came for Mikaela, it was more positive than the change that had come for me.
"Hanging in there?" she asked, looking up at me.
"It's nothing I haven't faced before," I shrugged, inwardly laughing at a nearby marine who gawked at my indifference.
"Cool" she grinned, reverently, "Is Valette okay?"
I nodded, "She's coordinating the defence for me so I can take a break."
She moved over and patted the slab of concrete beside her, "take a seat" she said, drawing her DMR to her chest.
"Put the safety on, first and I'll think about it" I said, nodding to the rifle as it perched in her lap.
Her face reddened and she winced, "Sorry."
"It's alright, when I first started skeet shooting, I would forget all the time."
"You shot in comps?"
I nodded, "mostly just regional tournaments but yeah, I did."
"Cool" she said, again, "what's that?" she asked, as I finished producing some of Drake's favourite 'cake' from my breast pocket.
"The guy who trained me used to swear by it. It's just mint and sugar as far as I can tell."
"Funny how history repeats itself, huh?"
"What do you mean?"
"Well he gave it to you and now you're giving it to me" she laughed, reaching over and taking a piece from my hand.
"You're welcome, I guess."
"Ain't no thing," she shrugged, nibbling on it.
I took a look out beyond the nest, watching the remaining defenders scramble for discarded weapons, dragging corpses into piles for cover, and sighed.
"You're a student of history, you should know it doesn't repeat."
"But it does rhyme." She smiled, before a severity fell upon her face, "and don't call me a student."
"Fair enough, professor. What do you think of the Forerunner God's?"
"They weren't God's, as I'm sure you know. Just a hyper advanced race of aliens. They vanished a hundred millennia ago, built huge installations across the stars and burned their cities to dust."
"Ever spoken to one?"
"You have!?"
"In a way, I guess."
"The Gaes! You activated one?"
"I don't know the specifics off the top of my head but if you join me, I can show you the full file. Every gory detail of it."
That didn't have the effect I expected. As she turned slightly to face me, I noticed her eyes were very much like my own.
"You want me to sit in judgement of you?" She asked, after letting a poignant silence hang between us.
"Someone has to."
"Life isn't fair Viper, if you want forgiveness you earn it. If you want to show off then do it. If you want my help, don't placate me with offers of clandestine materials, just command my respect."
"You're not curious?"
"Oh, very. I'm just not falling for the idea of lost knowledge as a means of control."
"I wasn't trying to-"
"Not consciously, maybe."
"Look, I understand that you don't trust me but I really am just being honest, here."
"Well stop it, your world just turned on its head and you can finally be what you choose to be. All I'm saying is, for the love of God, don't be humble."
"Why not? Isn't that what good people are?"
Mikaela laughed, "you are a good person, Viper. You're also exceptional and you know it."
"So?"
"So fucking act like it."
I blinked and she smiled. I burst out laughing, my raucous sounds of glee echoed in the emptying halls of the Sabre Launch Facility. It could be heard Iver the sounds of gunfire and the roar of aliens and engines alike.
"Wow, harsh" I said, as I calmed down, taking a hold of a pair of binoculars that had been discarded by a dead lookout and scanned the area behind the base. In the distance, a flight of phantoms approached, looming larger and larger as the next wave prepared to assault us.
"Do you think I care?" She replied, flinching as another artillery round exploded upon the mountain.
"No but its refreshing, I'll admit."
She seemed to like that, a little smirk serving as proof.
"You're too used to working with SPARTANs, I expect."
"As if you know what SPARTANs are like" I laughed, "you're not wrong, though."
"That's because I do know what SPARTANs are like," she said, moving to a crouched position behind some rubble.
"Drake?"
"He had a friend."
"Did he say her name?"
She nodded, "yeah, it was Naomi."
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Aurellian "Ollie" Van Graff
August 14th, 2552
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"So, you and this Savatier woman rescued some SPARTANs?" Preston asked, hanging over my shoulder.
"Yup. Ya'll should have seen the state we came back in."
"Rough?" James asked, leaning back in his chair with a glass of water.
I smiled, "we lost three ships, two in the jump, then we did the interstellar equivalent of crawling home."
"And the SPARTANs?"
"Not seem 'em since."
Preston whistled through his teeth. "Hey James, could you-"
"Check on your sister?" He shook his head and smiled, "for the last time, she's still okay."
"This is FUBAR" he groaned, "Why can't we just go?"
"Alex said that HIGHCOM wants us for some op over at one of the Anchor stations, he's says we're grounded until they iron out the details."
"So we're just leaving them?!"
James sighed, "Noble team are almost there, Preston, there's not much else we can do to help."
"SPARTANs answer to ONI."
"Those ones don't" I said, cutting him off before he could complain more.
As I and my two new crew members sat inside the UNSC Winter aboard the Aegis Fate, our minds raced with more than a little worry and frustration. Outside the metal cocoon, our friends were in grave danger, fighting for their lives against the onslaught of ferocious alien invaders. The tense silence which followed left the cockpit feeling like more of a cage by the moment. I looked to the sky, sighing as the only break in the silence was the flickering red alerts and the crackle of the radio, which carried Maddie's voice to her troops in the mountains.
Or what were left of them.
Beyond her, distant echoes of explosions could be heard as I glanced at my crew. Their faces were tight with concern, and I gripped the yoke, feeling my anger fuse with determination.
"Why is it taking so damn long?" I grumbled, my voice laced with frustration. I glanced at the radar screen, tracing the position of our troops but I was taken aback when James' usually calm demeanour shattered. He slammed his hand against the instrument panel.
"This is infuriating! We're trained for situations like these... we should be up there, covering them!" He clenched his fists, the realisation of our helplessness gnawing at his soul. Preston, his brow furrowed with anxiety, desperately scanned the control tower for any sign of movement. "We're running out of time, Captain. They need us, and every second we wait-" he urged, his voice quivering with a mix of concern and determination.
I sighed and sat up in my chair, "Well, we can't just sit idly here. We have a duty to save our friends. Our aircraft is armed — let's push the limits and request immediate clearance. If they won't give it, well, we'll have to take it."
"Alex is gonna kill you, if he doesn't give the order just to leave " Preston grinned.
With a renewed sense of purpose burning within us, we each leaned forward in our seats, hearts pounding in our chests. They knew that, regardless of bureaucracy or clearance protocols, the lives of their friends were hanging by a thread. The courage, worry, and anger radiating in the cockpit were now the fuel that would propel us into action against the alien assault.
As we waited for clearance, the determination within our eyes must have mirrored the steadfast resolve only found in the stories of old heroes and ancient myth. Alex, coming through as always, expedited our request and the landing lock lights on the monitor flicked to green.
"Alright, boys. Let's gun it."
[}{]
Madeleine "The Viper" Harper
August 14th, 2552
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So Naomi knew as well. I suppose that shouldn't have surprised me. It was all I could think about however, as a clerk in the control room radioed to tell me Noble team were in the AO. When the line was unceremoniously cut, I knew that Noble Team couldn't save the base.
Their approach was covered by the UNSC Winter who had bought us enough tike to evacuate what remained of our defensive force. The stragglers, lead by myself, were now spread into random bands of fighters. Like bacteria on a petri dish, small pockets of resistance were all that remained as Noble team arrived to claim the launch site.
Mikaela pined to see them as their callous rattled through the loins of the radio:
"Launch facility, dead ahead."
"Hostile transport coming in!"
"More hostiles in the rocks to the south, root 'em out."
Maddie was crouched behind some sandbags as they approached, she could see them as they cleared the beach and jogged up the beach towards the doors. As they slid open, a dejected trooper hurried them inside, bemoaning the fact that more Covenant were on the way.
"Flight control's this way! They're expecting you." One of them said, and Maddie jogged beside Bee, following them back towards the control hub.
"Still can't believe Holland said yes to this." Jorge said, pulling the corpse of an Elite off the controls.
Cat laughed, "Well, some plans are too good to say no. Let's get that Sabre airborne before he changes his mind."
On the ase PA: "WARNING: LAUNCH FACILITY BREACHED. COVENANT FORCES HAVE ENTERED THE BASE."
They moved inside and Maddie scowled toward the horizon. She knew that time was short. If she was to pull off her plan, then they needed to move fast. Noble team moved passed her, each of them silently nodding as they did so. Maddie followed them until they reached the control room, which was now filled with dead troopers, aliens, and debris. As they reach the far side of the room, a bulkhead opened with a groan to reveal a Sabre: the latest in military technlogy.
"Jorge, Six: get to the Sabre before the Covenant wreck it." Carter said. Maddie sent for Valette and Mikaela. A young man in a technicians coat ran quickly down the corridor as she watched the SPARTANs converse.
"What about you and Kat?"
"Jun's on his way with a Falcon, we'll exfil after you launch. Move!"
"You heard him. Six, let's go."
"Launch teams, Sabre is prepped and ready for launch."
"You go, Six, I'm just a passenger on this one."
She watched them go, her eyes lingering on Bee the longest. She silently prayed, for the first time in a long time, that he would find salvation in this wretched life. Mikaela and Valette arrived to find Maddie already hammering at the controls to the comms array, tightbeaming the Winter a set of coordinates where they could rendezvous after he had taken her scientists back to the Fenrir.
"What's going on?" Mikaela asked, "the siege, it's-"
"Over," she said, watching as the last of her forces began to board trucks in the garage. "The SPARTANs bought us some time, Ollie is overhead dropping banshee's out of the sky like a wombat shitting cubes."
"Cubes?" Vallette asked, cocking her head.
"Australian marsupial. If we find the forge and save Earth, you might just get to see one."
"I don't like this. It feels like a defeat." Mikaela said, watching the last of the trucks flee from the garage.
"It is a defeat, Mikaela. This isn't a movie, and Reach won't be saved. We pack up and move on, so we can make these fuckers pay."
"Are you talking about the Covenant, or ONI?" Mikaela asked, a little grin playing at her mouth.
For the first time, Maddie knew the answer to that, she felt it in her gut.
Both.
[}{]
Alex Harper
August 14th, 2552
UNSC Aegis Fate - Weimar Station
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"I don't like this, Liang." Alex said, chewing his thumbnail. As he looked at the pocked skin around his ring finger, he realised why Maddie had smoked.
She gripped a mocha, inhaling its dulcet steam before sipping it.
"They're gone. Savannah is now stuck in this system, Winter just bolted from its dock, Maddie is out of contact."
"We keep going." she said, when his rant abated.
"What is command saying?"
"The usual. Countering on every front."
Alex laughed a sickly tune. "Christ!"
"Freemont and Stanforth are rallying, Trafalgar is with them."
Alex rubbed his temples, the Aegis Fate was in a holding pattern near Weimar station, the name given to what was officially named Anchor-One. As he and Mei sat in his office, they stared out in the direction, vague as it was, of Anchor-Nine and the battles happening along the defensive line. This sector had seen minor action, which is why his ship was being patched up there.
"Any update from Savannah?"
Mei shook her head.
"Damn it," he turned his teeth over in his mouth.
"Kohli, Brettman, and Brit…" Mei said, sighing.
"You sound like they're already dead."
"Aren't they?" Mei said, raising a brow, "close cover against a Corvette, doubt even you could pull us out of a bind like that."
"Longcross is capable." Alex told himself.
There was silence.
"We keep going." Mei confirmed, "because we have to."
Quick note:
The perspective has shifted again. I know it is a mess and irritating but part of the reason I dropped this was because of the perspective. This has always been Maddie's story and I was a bit stupid for thinking that it should become more than that. Yes, there are still other perspectives but ultimately, its her that I am most interested in writing. She really grounds the story, and her journey of self-discovery is the most compelling part. I know that this makes this installment a bit messy but its fanfiction and its an amazing place to make mistakes like these.
Enjoy the chapter, this was the last one written before the hiatus so bear with me, there's a lot of fun to come.
