Chapter 24

Robo Reader 21- Most critiques have been considered and have been implemented. Thank you for your service.

Also, uh…the salt thing wasn't intentionally done to be a reference to that. I put it there because of the whole idea that different species not being able to eat everything like another species can eat. That reference was completely unintentional.

R reyes- No, I haven't. I can afford to watch it, but I'm saving money. Not because I have to, but because I want to. Also, do you have a fanfic account? I can walk you through it if you want. It's not that hard to do.

Warmachine375- No piloting, sadly. Robo Reader 21 pointed out that it's better, or rather more logical, for the Zaku to be given to the supply corps rather than Chief piloting it. Sad times, but ultimately not important.

Surprising no one said anything about the Age of Sigmar game, but I shouldn't be that surprised.

Master Chief

"Well, isn't this a shocker." Said Kai Shiden as he along with everyone saw Chief in the Mess Hall, sitting in a chair with Lilith at his side. "Guy is finally acting like an actual person. Only took a pretty woman to make him act non-robotically." Sayla, upon hearing that, elbowed Kai's rib for his rude, but truthful, remark. Lilith, as well, glared at Kai for his comment, but choose to not say anything. Master Chief, meanwhile, was looking at the assembled teens and spoke.

"It's come to my attention that you all are still scared of me." Said Master Chief. "That you're unnerved with how little I interact with you all. So, to deal with this, Lilith asked me to interact with you all on a more daily basis. Beyond just training." That caused some people to start speaking to each other, stunned and curious on what this meant. While they spoke to each other, Master Chief recalled the events after Lilith talked to him about this.

It's been two days since she talked to him about this. Since then, he spoke to Joy and Fernando about this, wanting their opinion on this as well. Both the human and AI agreed with the Witch, thinking it be best for morale if he would interact with them more in a non-military capacity. Plus, it'd help them as well by making the crew less likely to report them to the Earth Federation once they establish contact with the main government entity. Hearing his two close allies and compatriots at the moment agreeing with the Witch, Master Chief agreed to do it. Thus, he was here. With Lilith and Joy in an attempt to get to know the White Base crew on a personnel level.

Looking at the assembled crew in the Mess Hall, Master Chief spoke up again.

"I'll start." Said Master Chief before giving his name. Joy and Fernando helped give him some things to say first to break the ice between him and the crew. That included saying his real name, despite it going against UNSC protocol. Joy pointed out that the UNSC won't discipline him for saying his name to non-UNSC personnel if they don't know and she really doubted Fernando or she will report this minor infringement on protocol. "My real name is John. John-117." Upon hearing his name, a few of the crew looked like they wanted to interact with him more but were still scared of him being the first one to talk with him. Lilith, upon seeing this, frowned and was about to encourage them to talk with him when suddenly Sayla Mass, the blond-haired girl responsible for communications control in the White Base, spoke up.

"My name is Sayla Mass." Said Sayla as she walked over to Master Chief and held out her hand for him. "It's a pleasure to meet you." Recognizing her as the comms woman that helped them find Lilith's belongings from the Zeon base a while ago, Master Chief took her hand and shook it.

"Likewise." Said Master Chief, impressed that, while she was unnerved by him and his appearance if her eyes were anything to go by, she was willing to interact with him. And it seemed to have an effect on everyone else as they were all now coming towards him and giving their names to him. Even Kai was doing it as well, no matter how reluctant he was in doing it. Despite it seemingly being overwhelming, Master Chief handled the group of teens with ease and interacted with each and every one of them. Soon, everyone was done introducing one another. With that done, a random boy from the crew asked the Spartan if he'll show his face to them.

"Negative." Said Master Chief. That was one thing that he drew the line on. It was one thing to fraternize with others. It was another to reveal his face to them. While people were disappointed at that, including Lilith as she wanted to see what he looked like underneath the helmet, Sayla defended him, saying it's his choice to reveal his face or not to them. Giving a nod of appreciation, Master Chief was about to start a topic when suddenly another crew member showed up in the Mess Hall, calling for Sayla.

"Sayla, Bright needs you in the Med Bay." Said the crew member. "We found an Earth Federation soldier out in the desert. He's injured really bad." Upon hearing that, Sayla looked at the teenager and asked how bad. "I couldn't see much, but I was bad. Real bad." Concerned, Sayla excused herself and went to the Med Bay, having some medical training under her belt. Once she left, they heard the chef speak up.

"Oh, this is bad. Real bad." Said Tamura as he left the kitchen area. "I need to speak to Bright about our salt shortage now. It's even worse than I thought. We're nearly out of salt for our food."

"Salt?" Asked Kai as he watched the cook leave them. "A guy is injured and he's caring about a salt shortage? What's the big deal about salt?"

"It's an important mineral for the human body." Said one boy out of nowhere. "We need its sodium contents to conduct nerve impulses, contract and relax our muscles, and help maintain our bodies' balance of water and minerals. It's really important. I assure you." While Lilith was curious upon hearing that, Kai was looking at the guy in annoyance.

"And where do you learn all that?" Asked Kai as he eyed the guy in annoyance.

"I learned it in school back at Side 7." Said the boy simply. Before Kai could escalate things further, Master Chief spoke up.

"Then we need to find more." Said Master Chief as he got up from his seat. "Your chef may not be a military combatant, but he is in charge of ensuring you all receive your nutritional needs. All of them. A soldier won't be able to perform optimally if they're lacking even a single part of aspect of their nutritional needs. And it'll only get worse if they continue to lack that single aspect. Believe me, I've seen it happen." While people were unnerved by that statement, others could see the logic behind it. "And depending on when we get another resupply, we may be in trouble." As he looked over everyone, he saw the teens being full of anxiety and worry. All except Kai, who looked nonchalant about the whole thing. Despite an urge to talk to Bright about this situation, he resisted it. The chef was able to inform Bright of the situation well enough and he trusted Bright enough that the Spartan believed the young man can handle this situation without his aid. Thus, he went continued interacting with the teens in an attempt to warm relations between them and him.

Meanwhile

Fernando

"Well fuck." Said Fernando as he saw a girl named Fraw Bow around Amuro Ray, who was underneath his sheets and in a ball in his bed, trying hard to ignore her. He had wanted to check up on Amuro on account of what he'd been through on that island and things have gotten worse it seemed. The boy was clearly shivering and suffering from PTSD on account of what happened on that island. He couldn't blame him. Chief told him what the Banished did in detail and he can be one hundred percent sure that would scar most soldiers. Much less a teenager.

"Amuro." Said Fraw Bow as gently as she possibly can while trying to get her friend out of bed. "Amuro, you need to eat. I know that you were traumatized from what you went through on the island, but you need to eat."

"Go away, Fraw. I…I can't be around anyone right now." Said Amuro as he made a tighter ball of himself. Fraw Bow, not knowing what to do, simply placed the plate of food that she brought with her to Amuro's room on his dresser. She then looked at her friend in pity and worry, wondering what to do. It was then that she noticed Fernando watching her and she felt embarrassed.

"I'm sorry, sir. I should go." Said Fraw Bow as she left the room, leaving Fernando looking at Amuro. Once she left, Fernando looked at Amuro and saw how he was doing after what happened on that island. Judging by the boy's shivering frame underneath the sheets, Fernando realized his PTSD from the island was much more severe than he originally thought. He needed professional help now and he needed it now. Something beyond his skill level. He was a civilian engineer. Not a psychiatrist. That was someone that Amuro needed now and, unfortunately, they didn't have anyone like that on the ship. With that, Fernando went outside Amuro's room and closed the door. He then saw Fraw Bow looking at him in concern.

"Is Amuro going to be okay?" Asked Fraw Bow as she looked at the closed door of Amuro. Fernando sighed at that.

"No." Said Fernando honestly, seeing no point in sugarcoating it when she saw how bad Amuro was at the moment. "No, and he's never going to be for a long time. Maybe even never. Amuro needs a full psych evaluation to recover from this type of trauma. The only thing is that we don't have a fully trained professional on this ship, meaning we're short on a very crucial thing that can help Amuro right now. Dios Mio. We're in a real sh…conundrum right now." Fernando then sighed as he tried to think of a way to handle this. Fraw Bow, meanwhile, was looking at Amuro's door in worry. She wanted to help her friend, but she didn't know how. She learned what happened to Amuro on that island from Ryu. She was horrified at what she heard and wanted to be there for her friend, but he was shutting her off. But not in the way he used to. He used to just get angry with her or demand she leaves him alone, but this. This was different and it both scared and hurt Fraw to see him like this. He just cuddled around his bed sheets in his bed with his side monitor on. Not eating or even responding to her. It would have been pathetic if she didn't know why he was acting like this. It had only been a few days, but Fraw was already at the point where she would give anything to get the Amuro she had before he went to that island. Anything. As she thought about Amuro and what to do, Fernando suddenly spoke up.

"*Sighs* Okay, we can make this work. We can make this work." Said Fernando as he looked at Fraw Bow. "This is going to be a difficult process, but if we want Amuro to even remotely be back to the person he was before going to that island, we need to work on this immediately. Not to mention we need constant, full support from his friends. Along with the adults here. I'll see what I can do to help, but I think Lilith needs to be here along with Master Chief. PTSD is a tricky thing to help a person deal with it. It's going to require constant attention and patience if one wants to help someone affected by it. That means you have to help your friend a lot. Even more, than you're already doing." Fernando then looked at Fraw Bow straight in the eye, kneeling to her height to do so. "You hear me? He needs you. Now more than ever. Can you do that?" Upon hearing that, Fraw Bow nodded in understanding.

"Yes sir. I can do that." Said Fraw Bow as she looked at Fernando with understanding. "I'll do the best I can, sir."

"Good. Good." Said Fernando as he relaxed. "Alright, here's the plan. You go in there and help your friend. I'll go report this situation to both Bright and the Chief. And Lilith as well. I got the feeling we need a lot of help in dealing with this. I'll try to send help to you as soon as I can. Good luck." Fernando then contacted Chief with his ear communicator for further assistance in dealing with this. Fraw Bow, meanwhile, went to Amuro's room. Though she was a bit confused at why Fernando was staying here and not leaving to get help, and looked like he was talking to someone invisible along with putting two of his fingers to one of his ears, that didn't matter to the girl that the moment. What mattered was her friend and he needed her help right now.

Going back inside Amuro's room, Fraw Bow readied herself for what was most definitely going to be a long and arduous process in helping her friend get through this, but she was, hopefully, prepared to help him out through this.

Meanwhile

Master Chief

"Understood." Said Master Chief as he walked with Lilith at his side. After the talk he had with the various crew of the White Base, Master Chief decided enough was enough and ventured back to the hangar with Lilith in tow, who was satisfied with the progress they made in making the crew warmer towards the Spartan. It was during that walk that they received a call from Fernando. "I'll send Lilith to help you out. Do what you can, I'll relay what you told me to Bright. He'll need to know before we get sent into another battle." He then cut the comm line before looking at Lilith.

"What's wrong?" Asked Lilith as she saw the Spartan staring at her. Based on what he spoke out loud, she guessed it was something bad.

"It's Amuro, He's suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder." Said Master Chief to Lilith, who was confused at the term he used. "It's a condition of persistent mental and emotional stress. I suspected he already had it on account of what battles I've seen him participate in, but it must have increased further after what he endured back on that island."

"Oh." Said Lilith upon hearing that explanation. "I see. And…that's bad right?"

"Very." Said Master Chief. "I need you there to help Fernando in helping Amuro recover. They're in Amuro's room. Do what you can to help him. I need to inform Bright about this, so he can be informed that his best pilot is incapacitated."

"I understand." Said Lilith as she looked at Master Chief as he looked at her. "Do you wish to help in dealing with this?"

"Later." Said Master Chief. "Right now, Bright to be informed about Amuro being unavailable for combat. We cannot let him out in the field. That'll only make things worse for him as well as handicapping one of our best assets." Lilith nodded in understanding at that before taking off to find Amuro's quarters, knowing its general location on the ship after spending some time on the ship and interacting with the crew. Once she was gone, Chief headed for the bridge, where Bright was no doubt there.