Prologue New Beginnings

AN: So This is my first story so please be nice , constructive criticism would be appreciated.

Content warning: Like the Halo video games this will be rated M for mature this story will contain Strong language blood and gore, Violence, etc. If you do not like that please don't read. I will also give warning for sexual content

I will also try to keep this as lore-accurate and lore-friendly as possible

Disclaimer: I do not own the Halo series, it belongs to Bungie, or 343, characters like Chips Dubbo are not my characters. and I do not own the artwork, I just own some of the OC characters.

The War finally ended.

Thanks to the actions of both the Elites and Humanity they won, with the Ark destroyed, and the Covenant gone, along with the Flood as well. The United Earth Government was now focused on rebuilding with their newfound allies by their side. However, as one of the biggest threats to humanity ends many more appear.

With the Master Chief gone, it is uncertain how humanity will fare. While his story ends another begins. About a certain Marine and this is her story.

Athens Station September 25th, 2554, Wednesday, 08:00 present day a year since the war ended

" Give up and submit." A nightmarish voice said.

"No no no no! Get off of me!" Someone screamed.

"Let go forget everything, Nooo!"

" Kelly!, Kelly!, KELLY!". The Marine shot up punching the person who was unlucky enough to wake her. " Aah fuck!, what the hell Kells." Another marine screamed now holding his bleeding nose.

" Oh my god, Makoa! I am so sorry" She screamed scrambling out of her bed to help him up.

" It's fine, my bad for waking you." The marine apologized

"Your fine Makoa, I was having a nightmare, now let's get you cleaned up" she responded dragging him to the kitchen.

She got out of her bed and led him into the kitchen. She opened one of the cabinets

" Where is it, ah there it is" She said taking out a medkit. She opened it and grabbed some nose plugs and napkins. " Let me see it" She asked him. The marine let then let go of his bloody nose. " Damn I got you good," she said wiping the blood off. " It is not as bad as it looks" he responded.

" Still though, thank you again for waking me."

"You're welcome, Again sorry for startling you .." He apologized again causing her to roll her eyes

"Makoa, it is me who should be sorry if anything" She sighed still cleaning his nose. He knew what that tone of voice meant well knowing each other since elementary school would do that.

"Yeah," Makoa said, trying to avoid her different-colored eyes. Seeing as he was not going to look at her. Kelly then grabbed his chin so she could scold him

She looked over Makoa's face which was covered in scars. With one huge gash across it, " Poor guy, Elites did a number on you" she thought to herself

Makoa always thought her eyes were cool. Her left eye is colored purple, and her right is blue. It was interesting because she had a purple eye which was pretty rare among humans and to top it off has a heterochromatic condition.

" So cool." the marine thought to himself, entranced by her eyes.

"You need to stop apologizing for no reason, You know I hate it when you do it." She abruptly said bringing him back to reality

"Sorry, my bad Kelly". He apologized once more rubbing his neck.

"There you go again" She shook her head.

She sighed letting go of his chin. She grabbed a nose plug and stuck it into his nose. Makoa's face blushed red and he opened his mouth again but Kelly quickly covered it.

"Don't," She said gazing at Makoa. He then nodded signaling her to take her handoff. " Again I was having a nightmare so don't overthink it."

"Anyways what time did you get up?" She asked wanting to switch the topic.

" At 0730" He replied getting off the counter. She eyed him curiously.

"Well, that is odd considering how long you sleep".

"I just woke up early," Makoa said.

" I could not sleep all night. My back is aching. "Kelly responded.

"That's what she said,'' Makoa laughed.

Kelly then crossed her arms over her bust and glared at Makoa

"Seriously he's a fucking child," she said to herself.

Ignoring the Marines' laughter she pushed the cackling corporal causing him to land on her bed, and got up to close the door, Makoa stood up still chuckling. Annoyed, she then spotted a cup on the dinner table. A mischievous idea then popped into her head.

She grabbed it and threw it at Makoa, the object hitting him in the head causing him to yelp.

" What the hell Kells! Can you relax, I was just joking ".

Ignoring her friend's outburst, she then grabs her laptop from her bed. "The fact that you thought that joke was funny proves that Frankie is right about your sense of humor." Kelly said, teasing him. "Now be a good boy and make me some coffee and add the right amount of sugar this time."

Makoa Sighed.

"First of all, my Coffee is not even that bad, you are so ungrateful". He responded only for Kelly to roll her eyes again.

"Whatever," She said.

" Women '' Makoa said under his breath. Even though he said it quietly the female Marine still heard him but decided to let it slide."Anyways I am starving." Can you make me something to eat, a bowl of cereal would be nice" She demanded

Makoa then grabbed two MREs from the cabinet and handed one to Kelly, and pulled out a chair. "Uhm I thought I said cereal. ," Kelly said in a spoiled tone.

"A you're welcome would have been nice, but also we ran out of cereal. Now be a good girl and eat your food." He Said ignoring the corporal's gaze.

"Anyways still want that coffee" He smugged at me

"Yes, please add more milk and sugar " She demanded.

" Relax I will this time," Makoa said making the Coffee. While he was doing that Kelly then turned on the flatscreen TV to watch the global news. The tv turned on to show two news anchors, one male and the other female with blond hair and blue eyes.

"Welcome to BNN News we like to thank you for joining us this morning. Today's news reports the recent protest against the UNSC alliance with the Elites. Elizabeth has more news on the protests.

The News channel switched to New York City and saw a news reporter with short brunette hair and blue eyes wearing a black skirt and collared shirt. "Thanks, Rebecca, as you can see behind me you see that these protesters are out here against the Alliance that the UNSC has made with the covenant races about two years ago". The protesters were holding up signs saying xenophobic things and pictures.

"Only good split-lip is a dead one" she read.

"Rebecca I was also able to interview one of the leaders of protesters and protests taking place here in the city, take a look."

The TV station then changes to a clip of Elizabeth with a man in a nice suit with blonde hair and blue eyes and a few other protesters. Elizabeth then brought the microphone to his mouth.

"So David, why have you decided to organize this protest, and what for?"

The man known as David then gave the reporter an annoyed look. "Well the answer is quite simple, we are out here in protest against the UNSC, the people that are supposed to be protecting us, Making this alliance with the aliens is one of the most terrible decisions they ever made.

"Well that sounds great but why exactly are you so against this alliance can you tell me more? David then postured up"

"Well for one miss, everyone seems to forget that the Elites committed so much genocide," He said, raising his fist.

"Well, David, a lot of people criticizing you are saying that it is time to move on and spend time to heal and forgive". The reporter responded

David then glared at the reporter and acted as if she was crazy. "Heal!," He laughed hysterically

" Nothing can heal what they have done to us. I demand justice for humanity, and I can't believe you would even say that to me! How dare you! This interview was a waste of time". He said leaving

"But before I leave I want the UNSC to know that you are a bunch of cowards for accepting this peace deal no more questions. "He finally said walking away to join the other protestors. Elizabeth just stood there awestruck at the sudden outburst and David taking out his anger on her.

"Well I guess that's all we have for the interview," she awkwardly said, chuckling nervously. Huge amounts of rage started to develop inside of Kelly; However, she knew not to waste her energy no point. How could he say that after all the sacrifices we made to keep humanity safe? On the other hand, one marine couldn't hold it in.

"What an asshole" Kelly turned to see Makoa fuming with anger. "

"How can he say that after all, we have done for them" he continued

Kelly knew what was coming next and that was an hour-long rant coming from her friend. If you talk about anything controversial Makoa ends up in an endless rant.

Before he continued any further Kelly placed her hand on his mouth. "Makoa stop, I get why you are angry but every time you get like this you end up in a sour mood for the rest of the day, so please shut up and make me some coffee". She smirked at him.

"Fine," he said reluctantly. Satisfied Kelly turned back to the tv. "NYPD and other local police departments across the world have made arrests, and some protests have sadly turned violent. I am Elizabeth Warren BNN ."

"Well John, should we move into sports?"

"Yes we should, Smith, can you tell us what's going on in the sports world."

Kelly then averted her attention back to Makoa who finished making their coffee She could care less about what is going on in the sports world.

Makoa then handed her coffee. The microwave then beeped. "Yes, my steak is ready!" Makoa said, running over to the microwave. "You are such a fat ass Makoa" she insulted sipping her coffee. "Hey, now that is just rude. I just like to eat plus I am in shape. I mean I am a marine you know." Kelly snickered at him " I am one too"

Makoa then sat down next to Kelly and started to devour his food. Kelly was taking some quick sips while working on some paperwork. While Makoa was eating his food she decided to say something " You got to understand you know." Makoa stopped eating. "Understand whaat exawrey ." He asked.

"Don't eat with your mouth full." Kelly said, sounding like a mom.

Makoa, a little bit embarrassed nodded. Kelly sighed " I mean you got to understand why they are a bit angry. "I mean what the Elites did to us it will take some time to reconcile."

" Of course, I understand that but what they failed to realize is that they helped us finally beat the Covenant and flood and save the whole galaxy! I mean yes but you and I both lost a lot of good people from the war and those idiots seem to want to start it up again. You also got to look from the elites' point of view. They were lied to this entire time and served the covenant forever only to be backstabbed." Makoa said

" Yes, I understand, but you can't blame them for protesting." She responded.

The marine sighed " Alright just as long as they stay peaceful I guess it should not matter but I still don't agree with them". Makoa stated,

"Plus I like the Elites not to mention the grunts and hunters as well when they are not trying to kill us."

Kelly was about to reply when the door opened and in which two grunts came through the door which made her groan.

Two Unggoy in special forces gear walked in and argued with each other. Kelly groaned to herself; she was still pretty tired. "You need to stop eating and stealing my food Wipid!" the grunt squealed. "Only if you stop stealing my needler how many times do I need to say that it is mine!

"Then I would stop eating your food nipple!" The two grunts kept on arguing like children and flailing their arms around. Makoa smirked at Kelly, " I will let you deal with this one." Kelly then stood up angry that the two grunts decided to disturb her breakfast.

She walked over to the two of them. The grunts upon seeing the brunette quickly stopped arguing and had fear in their eyes. "Yaz and Wip." She said threateningly with fire in her eyes.

She gazed at the two grunts and all of a sudden she kicked Wipid out through the sliding door. His grunt companion flailed his arms and panicked. But Kelly quickly shifted her focus and gave the other Grunt a swift kick in the face, causing them to hit the fridge. "Hey Kelly!, be careful man, that is where we store our food!" Makoa screamed.

Seriously what a fat ass. She ignored Makoa and stared down at the two grunts. Wipid walked through the door rubbing his head. His friend known as Yaz or Yazad slowly got up slightly out of it. "Yaz and Wiz come here." She commanded. The two grunts nervously walked over to her with their heads down.

" You two need to stop arguing and acting like children." Makoa then snickered. "Grunts have the mentality of 11-year-olds so...".

"Shut it" Kelly responded. Makoa put his hands up not wanting to piss off the enraged brunette "Shutting Up".

"Now you two need to stop, okay what happens when we are on a mission and you two decide to argue and someone gets killed hmm". She questioned

The two grunts put their heads down in shame knowing she was right. "Now, Wipid stop stealing Yazad's food, and Yazad stop using Wipid's needler." She said sternly. Both grunts nodded their heads. "Now wipid you two skedaddle out of her"? She asked nicely.

With that, both grunts quickly ran out the door like a bunch of children. Kelly turned around to see Makoa staring at her. "What." She asked.

Makoa Smiled" You make a good mother you know".

"Shut up Makoa", Kelly said shaking her head, chuckling. Kelly then turned to hear the door to their room opening. Suddenly a big marine walks in "What's up everybody! Kelly, your favorite Marine is here!". Before she knew it she was suddenly picked up and hugged by the huge man.

"Jesus Manny put me down, I can barely breathe,'' she said, wincing. Not wanting to kill her he set the brunette down.

She looks up to see her good friend. He was a pretty tall man with the signature marine haircut and was big, 300 pounds worth of muscle. Makoa then gets out of his seat and opens his arms. " Manny brother, where is my big..".

"Man fuck you!" Manny shouted before he could finish. Makoa widened his arms more. "Come on show some brotherly love".

"Fuck you, you sure did not show that when you fucking let me die when we were playing together cunt."

"Hey, that was not my fault. I am sorry that the game targeted you because you were brown". Makoa then laughed.

Manny then faced palms.

"This is why I fucking hate you, Also". He said reaching into his pocket.

" This is for you" Manny then tossed an eggroll hitting Makoa square in the face. " The hell man is this! Is this going to become a thing where you two just throw shit at me." He yelled. " And it had to be an eggroll, racist ass" He added.

" That it was you get you Asian-eyed—-. Ignoring her friend's banter, Kelly walked over to the dinner table and took a seat, and started eating her food. While eating she simply watches her two best friends argue with each other. "Screw this I need to eat," Makoa said grumbling.

"You always need to eat fat ass".

"Fuck you Manny you are one to talk".

Manny stood there outraged. "What do you mean I could bench 300 pounds and not to mention I have a six-pack as well". Makoa snickered and sat back down to finish his food." Also Kelly why does Makoa has a nose plug? He asked her.

" You know instead of asking her you could ask me you know" Makoa interrupted. " I wasn't talking to wasn't I" He responded

" Homie, but you are talking about me" He shot back

"Whatever, I am telling mom you are a Japanese bitch." Manny said with Venom "Fuck you, you weeaboo motherfucker."

Kelly continued ignoring the two so-called brothers arguing and just continued eating.

She then suddenly hears her phone go off. She then takes it out to see her friend Ashley has texted her.

Ashley: Hey Kelly I was wondering if you want to come to the mess hall and hang out with us?

Kelly then started to text back, still ignoring her two friends arguing. "I am just saying it is not my fucking fault that I keep on stealing your kills to be fair I save you—" Bah bah bah bah bah bah bah, yeah sure you do Makoa you still steal my kills and purposely follow me you fucking asshole". Makoa facepalmed " What the fuck you mean—" Still ignoring her friends Kelly kept on texting and sent it to Ashley.

Kelly: Sure I am down just asking can I bring the two sad excuses of squadmates with me?

Kelly then hits send her phone then rings again. She then looks at her message it says "

Ashley:" Sure you can bring them I would love it those two are fucking funny together see you soon!"

Kelly:" See you soon as well Ash love ya"

She hit send on her phone. She then picks up her bowl and walks over to the sink and places it there. She walks over to the kitchen table and still sees her friends arguing. "Hey, you two" no response, they're still arguing. "Hey!" She says. Kelly was starting to get a bit agitated "Hello can anyone hear me!"

" I am telling you Manny it is fucking skilled matchmaking is so fucking stupid". "To be honest it is not that bad." He responded. "Hello earth to fucking idiots." What do you mean not that bad it fucking ruins the fun".

The two continued arguing, much to Kelly's annoyance. She finally had enough, took a quick swing at Makoa who quickly blocked it, and swung at Manny who blocked her attack and then lifted her up with one arm.

But Kelly quickly kicked out of his grip, got into a fighting stance, and started throwing a bunch of punches at the two. "What the fuck Kelly chill why are you attacking us?" He asked while blocking a kick to his face.

"This seems to be the only way to get your guy's attention, I swear you guys tick me off! I could be topless while you two are bickering and even that would not get you two to stop arguing." Makoa quickly started to blush while Manny was not fazed by the comment and continued blocking the marine's attacks.

Kelly quickly saw his red face and shifted her attention to him and landed a strike on his face causing him to fall to the ground holding his face. "Ahh! what the fuck Kelly! he said rubbing his left cheek.

" Kelly then stopped attacking the two and bent down in front of Makoa's face. Smiling, she said, "You should never let your guard down no matter what and you are also a pervert. She said playfully poking him.

Makoa then swathes her hands away " Not my fault you made me blush after that. Kelly just grinned and shook her head. She then held out her hand so she could pull Makoa up. He saw it and gladly took it. Kelly lifted him'' Come on you two let's go to the mess hall Ash wants to hang out."

Her two squadmates just shrugged and followed her. Manny then looked over at Makoa and gave him a smirk. Noticing Manny staring at him "What?" He asked. " Oh, nothing lover boy." Manny teased. "Fuck you." The trio then continues out of the room and started walking to the mess hall.

The trio was walking for about a few minutes and Kelly looked out at the other stations. While walking she was not paying attention she suddenly bumped into something causing her to fall to her bottom. She looked up to see the ferocious sight of an elite Major in red armor looking down on her, his black eyes piercing her body. She started breathing heavily and started to lose consciousness. The sight of the formidable warrior sent a shiver down her spine and she suddenly passed out.

"Kelly, Kelly, Kelly!." Makoa yelled, shaking her once again, She opened her eyes and saw that she was in the infirmary

Makoa sighed in relief "You alright, you were out for a long time you had me worried there." He said checking her face

"Yeah I am fine, how long was I out" she groaned

"For about five minutes, since we took you to the medical room."

Manny then came in to view. She sat up above the bed

"Many apologies' ' an unknown voice said Kelly looked up to see the elite she bumped into. "It is okay my fault," She said touching her neck.

"No." he said sternly. The elite bowed " It is my fault I was not paying attention." He then grabbed her hand. "I am deeply sorry." Kelly was caught off guard and was blushing a bit. This must be one of the most polite elites she ever came across well most of them tried to kill her. Well, this one wasn't. " Well, I—-I-I-I l-l-like '' damn it she thought to herself what is wrong with me. "It should not be you apologizing out of anything it should be me," Kelly said " But thank you," She said. The elite then bowed and walked ouf of the medical room with a few grunts waddling behind.

Kelly and her two friends watched them leave until they were out of sight. The trio then looked at each other confusingly. "That has got to be the most polite elite ever." Makoa said

"Not to mention smooth, especially with the ladies' ' Manny said eyeing Kelly causing him and Makoa to laugh. Kelly got annoyed

"Come on you two let's go get some grub."

" Sure you don't want to talk about that very nice elite Kelly." She then looked at Makoa threateningly.

" Chill, I am only joking". He put is hands up.

The trio finally arrived at the mess hall. Upon arriving they see a few grunts and Elites with Marines chatting with each other and eating their food. Kelly looked over to see the two grunts yip and yap talking with three other female marines laughing.

Yaz and Wip then looked over and saw their friend and quickly waved at which she returned the gesture.

Kelly then saw her best friend Ashley sitting on top of a table with four other marines. She then looked over and spotted Kelly. She sprinted over and engulfed the other marine in a bear hug. "How are you doing?" She said, still holding her " I am doing fine, '' Kelly responded.

Ashley then looked over at Manny and Makoa. "Manny, Makoa, come here you two." The two brothers then walked over to her to receive a warm hug. Kelly chuckled. Despite being a woman Ashley was slightly taller than Makoa in fact all of them were taller than Makoa which they no doubt made fun of him for. Out of all the Marines Makoa has got to be the shortest.

Ashley lets go of the two and guides them back to her table. At the table, four marines were playing cards, all of them Mexican 2 wearing glasses, one that is really attractive and another one that is buff. The very buff Marine is known as Francisco Nieto,

Frankie is his nickname. The other one across the table is Jesus Torres. His skin was a bit darker and wore glasses. The one in the middle is Rigo, slightly larger and also wearing glasses, and has light skin. The one on his right is Carlos Ochoa, the attractive one and tall.

"Yooo, what's up you guys." Makoa said.

"Shut up Makoa!'' They all said except Carlos who got up and gave him a fist pump.

"This is very important I put a lot of fucking money in this so be quiet," Jesus said to Makoa who put his hands up "Ok Jeez"

"What are they playing? '' Kelly asked Ash.

"Blackjack, it was getting intense. 500 credits is involved". Kelly nodded. "Okay you guys are betting everything. Show your cards," Frankie said. Jesus then showed his cards 20 points. Then Carlos 19. Rigo then smirked and showed his 21. Everyone stared down at his cards.

Jesus slammed his fist onto the table " What the fuck! this is bullshit!" He yelled. "no mames guey!" Carlos said. Rigo just laughed. "Give me my money bitches! Hah hah hah!." Frankie then handed the 500 creds to Rigo.

"You are a lucky bitch Rigo '' Makoa said.

"It ain't luck, it's skill hahaha!" Rigo laughed.

"Fuck this shit!" Jesus shot up getting the attention of everyone in the mess hall and stormed away. "Someone's not happy," Ashley said. Kelly turned at her " Well I will be mad too".

"What do we have here? '' The group turned to see the Battalion commander Captain Shepard Standing her blue eyes piercing into their souls.

Everyone quickly got up and saluted her. "At ease men '' she said She then looked at the deck of cards on the table. "Are you gambling?" She asked. Nobody responded. She sighed " I will ask one more time, are you boys gambling?" she ordered.

Suddenly Makoa spoke up "Yes ma'am nothing bad though.

"Nothing bad oh nothing, really all of you know the rules." But ma—''

" No buts this is against the rules and you all know it, however, I will let it slide as in I will cut all you some slack after all you survived the ark, but only this once. But, I better not catch any of you gambling again, am I clear?"

"Yes ma'am," All of them said.

" Fucking Narc" Rigo whispered to Makoa, who then responded by elbowing him.

"Good" With that they saluted her, and she walked away Makoa could not help but stare at the nice frame of the CO watching her hips sway back and forth Makoa blushed as he watched her leave the room. Makoa sighed "Well boys all I can say is the CO is very hot!."

"Shut up!" Everyone yelled except Ash, and Kelly.

"Makoa you are such a horny bitch" Frankie said crossing his arms in disappointment.

Athens Stations command room:

Terrence Hood stood in the command room along with the arbiter and shipmaster Rtas Vadum, now promoted to fleet master alongside Shipmaster Orna Fulsamee. And Admiral Andrew Gering, Vice Admiral Ysionoris Jeromi, Admiral. Margaret Parangosky Commander in chief of the office of Naval Intelligence, alongside her assistant Serin Osman and Admiral Micheal Stantforth. "Shall we get this meeting started then"?

Everyone nodded their heads agreeing with him. A blue figure then appeared right on top of the command table. "I would not recommend that, we are still waiting for General Victoria Lensky, and General Adam Patton." It said, "Athena, I must have forgotten about those two. " Hood said

"Do you know when they are arriving? Athena" The station AI was about to respond when a fist was slammed upon the table. Everyone looked to see shipmaster Orna Fulsamee, his mandibles turning into a snarl. " What seems to be the problem shipmaster," Hood asked. " Why must we wait for your kind, almost everyone is here so why should we wait any longer!" Everyone stood silent at the Elite's outburst.

Until the Arbiter spoke up, "Now listen to Orna without the Humans' help we could not have won the war against the covenant and the flood, so show some respect"

" Yeah, you split-lip asshole." Everyone turned and saw Admiral Harold Standforth standing.

" Without us, you had no chance with the covenant and the flood," he said

This enraged shipmaster who rose to his full height. " What did you say to me, human, because if I remember correctly we were slaughtering your navy and glassing your worlds!" Admiral Micheal Standforth then slammed his fist on the table.

"You split lips committed genocide and stand here proud of what you did you should be ashamed, and also Killed my father on Reach." The elite then grabbed his energy sword." You dare disrespect me like that." the elite said going into a fighting stance. " I will fucking love to". Admiral Standforth then grabbed his magnum.

Not wanting a fight to break out vice Admiral Jeromi jumped over to the enraged Admiral and grabbed his magnum while the arbiter tackled Orna. Jeromi quickly pinned Stanforths arms and disarmed him.

"Stand down Admiral! '' He ordered.

" Out of my way that bitch needs a fucking lesson!." The Admiral yelled trying to break free. While Arbiter struggled to contain the enraged Sangheili. "Shipmaster, you need to calm down now, the humans are our allies ."

"Let me go, Arbiter let me put this human in his place!"

"If it were so easy," he responded the arbiter then quickly threw the shipmaster to the ground and twisted his right hand, causing him to lose grip of his energy sword... "Admiral Stanforth, I order you to stand down." The angry admiral then looked over to Hood. " "Now Admiral!" Hood ordered. Jeromi then let go of his Magnum. The Shipmaster holding his head then stood up to be met by a not-too-happy arbiter. With a death stare, the Arbiter then grabbed the energy sword and handed it back to the shipmaster.

The shipmaster reached out and grabbed it but the arbiter did not release his grip. He then looked up at the Arbiter. " I trust that if I will give this back to you and you will not attack the Human,'' the shipmaster nodded. "Good".

With the situation now calmed down, everyone then heard the door open to see a nervous Marine walkthrough. "Uh Admiral Hood sir" the marine saluted.

"What is it son because it better be important for you to interrupt us. "

"Well, now sir um um ahh" the marine was stuttering his words, scared at the 3 elites glaring at him. "Well um, sir I just want to let you know um" The Marine kept on stammering.

"By the holy relics, humans just tell us already!" Rtas Vadum roared. The Marine Shit himself, he then wiped the sweat from his head and removed his glasses. " I just w-w-want to say that General Victoria Lensky and General Adam Patton will be arriving in 5 minutes, sir". The admiral processes the information

" Alright, son you are dismissed".

Saluting the Admirals, the marine quickly walked out of the command center.

Lance Corporal Raj Singh was waiting in the middle of the hallway when suddenly he saw his friend come out of the station's command room. The fellow Marine was dripping in sweat then walked over to him. Singh then got off the wall and greeted him.

" So how did it go Dani," he asked.

"Absolutely fucking shit!" The marine screamed hysterically.

"Jeez, calm down what happened?" Singh asked. "For one Raj I was fucking stuttering like an idiot and three elites were eyeing me like I was a piece of meat or something," Dani whined.

"Well, it could have gone worse" Raj responded.

"Yeah, fucking right, like bro that shit-" Since Dani was not paying attention he bumped into an Elite causing him to fall to the ground.

The person then turned around alongside, another one in gold armor and the other in red armor. Dani quickly apologized. " Sorry, he could be an idiot at times" Raj apologized.

" Fuck you Raj" Dani whispered to him

The Sangheili nodded "It is okay just watch where you are walking," it said the other Elite stared down at the clumsy Marine and growled, causing Dani to crawl behind Raj. The other Elite placed a hand on the others shoulders motioning them to leave and just like that the two 8'6 giants just walked off. Jazz was dumbfounded while Dani was still pissing himself. "Was it just me, but did that one elite look slimmer and a bit shorter?" Dani asked.

"I believe one of those two is a female bro." Dani's eyes widened.

" I knew their asses were bigger than normal," Raj then suddenly slapped Dani on the head. "Ow, what the fuck dude." Raj ignored him and continued walking with a smirk on his face

" Fuck you dude," he said. Dani ran to catch up to the other marine

Time skip 21:00

Athena's station training area/ shooting range

"Come on Christian you can hit better than that!" Makoa shouted. The marine was getting frustrated and started quickly jabbing at Makoa's pads and doing swift kicks as well.

"Faster! Come on man, you could do better than that."

"I am trying you dork" Christian yelled, frustrated. Christian kept on repeating the same motion and swinging. He did a combo of two jabs and a high kick, then repeated. While Christian and Makoa were training, across the way Manny and Carlos were bench-pressing together while Kelly and Ash were doing pull-ups. "Man, he is pushing Christian very hard bro," Carlos said, watching the two.

While Carlos was busy watching Makoa and Christian's training session, he quicky forgot about Manny who was struggling with his weights. "Carlos! Carlos! Carlos!" He desperately yelled. Despite his yells, the marine is still distracted. "Carlos!" Carlos finally snapped out of it and responded with "Yeah".

His eyes then widened to see the state that Manny was in, he was barely hanging onto the bench and his face was turning red. Carlos quickly grabbed the weight and lifted it to help him.

"Shit, I'm sorry Manny, I got distracted," he said apologetically.

"What the hell man! Normally you don't get distracted," Manny said frustrated. "I mean look, bro", Carlos responded pointing at Makoa and Christian. The two then walked over to them. Christian was covered in sweat and just kept on fighting even though his body was in pain. "And that is time." Relieved Christian quickly ran out of the ring to the nearest trash can and started to vomit. "Damn you got better, still need to work on cardio though," Makoa said. "

Who does?" A voice said, making Makoa turned to see Kelly and Ash walking towards them. "Who needs Cardio?" Ash asked again.

"Christian, the man got a little fat honestly " Manny then interrupted, "Not as fat as you!" Carlos luaghed.

"Fuck you I am not even that fat you piece of-"

Kelly once again ignored her friends' argument then looked around the gym and you could see Marines lifting, training, and Elites as well. She looked where all the Elites were training with their energy swords." At least he is getting better," Makoa said.

Meanwhile, at the shooting range Rigo, Frankie, and Jesus are betting money to see who could hit the targets the quickest. "Alright, you guys whoever scores the most points wins you also are being timed, and remember gold targets are worth 500 points. , All right, ready, set go, !' The Sergeant then pressed the Start button and it was on. Targets then appeared. The three then quickly started shooting at them with good accuracy.

The targets kept on popping up each time getting hit over and over. The trio kept shooting trying to get an upper hand in the contest. However thanks to Rigo's slightly slower reflexes and horrifying eyesight he was then accumulating fewer points. Jesus was desperately trying to keep up with the others. However, Frankie was instantaneously taking down one target after the other.

The time was now down to twenty seconds. More targets kept on popping up and Carlos and Frankie were still hitting all of them with no hesitation.

Rigo just kept on shooting, missing his shots. "10 seconds remaining" the Sergeant announced "10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1! Time." A loud buzzer went off, they then put down their rifles and waited for the score. Frankie 358 points, Jesus, 298 points, and Rigo 200 points. Rigo threw his glasses in fervent anger. Frankie Fist pumped the air, Carlos looking at the score" Just saying, alll I got to say is that it's not my loadout".

"Fuck yeah anyone else want to have a go!". Frankie said, boasting. "I would like to," someone said with a thick Australian accent.

Everyone then turned around to see a Marine wearing an orange visor and a few scars on his lips and cheeks. "All right but I warn you I won't go easy".Frankie said the two then walked to the shooting range and picked up their rifles.

They then looked to the sergeant waiting for him to start the course. The sergeant pushed the start button and the course then started. Frankie and the unknown Marine then start shooting at their targets. Frankie was hitting his target with ease.

However, the other Marine was so fast with his reflexes that it was hard for Frankie to keep up. The targets kept popping up one after the other; the two were not showing any signs of wanting to lose. The unknown marine was keeping a steady pace of shots while Frankie was struggling to keep up.

Frankie cursed to himself when he missed one of his targets. The other Marine however did not miss a single one. This competition now has the attention of the entire gym. Makoa and his group looked impressed by the sight. "Is that who I think it is?" Makoa thought to himself. The time was now running short and Frankie desperately tried to keep up with this unknown Marine. "10 seconds left!," yelled the Sergeant.

"10,9,8,7,6,5,4,3,2,1 time put down your weapons," the sergeant said. The marines set their weapons and waited for the score to show up. Finally when it came up. Frankie 853, No name 933 The gym then erupted into cheers, congratulating the unknown Aussie. "Fuck, man!" Frankie yelled and then threw his helmet across the room. He then turned around angrily to the victorious marine. " Who the hell are you?". He asked "Good question" the unknown man then takes off his glasses.

"The names Chips Dubbo mate". Makoa then perked his head up, Chips Dubbo that is his old squadmate! What is he doing here? He thought.

Frankie just walked off angrily only to be teased by Carlos, Jesus, and especially Rigo "Na na na na, na na na na, hey hey, goodbye" They chanted pissing him off more.

Makoa then walked up to his old friend alongside Kelly and Ash. "Dubbo, how are you doing man?" Makoa greeted with his hand out. Dubbo then grabbed his hand and pulled him into a hug. " I am doing fine,'' he said." He then let go of him to look and see Ash and Kelly Staring at him. " Come here you two" Dubbo then opened up his arms to receive an embrace from his two best friends.

After a little while, Kelly and Ash then released Dubbo from their group hug. All of them having many questions.

Kelly was the one to go first. " So what have you been doing lately?" "Nothing much has just been providing security on the Cairo station nothing else" He responded

Ash then went up " Why are you here?"

"I was transferred here." he responded

"I was also assigned to your guys' barracks as well."

Makoa smiled " Great, it will be like old times then.

" So that means you are part of our squad now?" Kelly asked. The legendary Marine just nodded. Ahs squealed in excitement and could not believe that they are now sharing their barracks with their old squad mate and a Legendary war hero as well. Then suddenly announcement speakers came on. "Attention this is Captain Shepard speaking the time is now 2200 please go to your barracks". Makoa then sighed " Come on guys let's go and get some shut-eye, yo Chips will take you there."

" Lead the way." the Australian responded.

The group then quickly said their goodbyes to Carlos, Rigo, Jesus, and Frankie and were joined by Manny back to their barracks. Everyone else then started clearing out of the gym to their designated rooms. The group then walked out and started reminiscing about the Missions they had with Dubbo.