Richard stirred. The embrace of the bed's sheets was warm, kind and soft and the breathing of his partner was light. She seemed content with how last night had gone and it would be a lie to say he didn't feel the same. He smiled as he saw the white-haired beauty fast asleep in his arms, her head laying on his chest, ears droopy and a little drool dripping from the corner of her mouth.
He put a gentle hand on her head and ran his fingers through her hair, earning himself a couple of pleasant sounds of contentment from the Queen of the Warrior Bunnies. She shifted a little, then slowly opened her beautiful red eyes, staring into his. A small smile formed on her face, a strand of hair stuck to her mouth.
The man greeted her with a lightly voiced, "Good morning, beautiful."
"Good morning…" She replied, face flush. Then, she yawned, before curling up more under the blanket, arms wrapped around her lover. She started with a little embarrassment, "I… It was…" though he could hopefully tell correctly that she had enjoyed it as much as he did. He hugged her tighter, then nodded and nuzzled her forehead. She let out a giggle, then said to him, "I do wonder what the betting pool got to…" in an attempt to avoid any upcoming embarrassment.
"Oh, I know for a fact Kurokawa won it for the SDF," He joked, then heard her laugh. It was a beautiful, melodious and warm laugh, as he'd come to expect from her. He pulled her closer, looking her in the eye, then spoke, "I really don't care about betting pools right now, though," as he cupped her chin, causing that red on her cheeks to glow brightly.
She giggled again, embarrassed, then buried her face in his chest. It felt good to finally be together, he thought to himself as he pat her head, causing her to let out a few happy noises. He joked, "I don't think we're ready to be parents yet," which got a laugh out of the girl and a gentle pat on the back meant to signify a playful slap.
He chuckled at that, while she said, "Hopefully, I was careful enough not to get us in a weird situation like that… Yet."
The two lay there for another thirty minutes, content with letting the light of the sun gently wash over them as they woke completely from their momentary fugue. It wasn't until a knock on the door caused them to stir that they decided to get up. Tyuule was first, stretching and sighing, "Well. I'll go take a shower…" before she stood up completely, revealing her full, uncovered form.
He smiled a little as he saw her strut off with some spring in her step toward the shower, then sighed and stood up, donning a shirt and some pants before answering the door by the time a second and third knock came. When he opened it, he paused as he saw Doctor Halsey standing there, her tablet slung under her arm and a smirk on her face.
Doctor Halsey with a smirk. That was weird…
She spoke, "Had fun, Lieutenant?" with a slightly teasing voice. She poked her head in as she heard the shower running, then saw the clothing splayed out on the floor and smiled, "Good to know you two finally decided to further this bond… Alas, I'm afraid I'll have to rush you and the others to the check-out…" to which Richard noticed the Spartans behind the woman and a few new faces on escort duty.
She told him, "Get dressed and follow us. Make sure your weapons are loaded…" then she shifted her glasses onto the bridge of her nose. The man seemed to tense, offering a nod to the Doctor before walking back and closing the door. The Doc then looked at her Spartans and, with a single swipe of her hand, she sent them out to secure the perimeter.
After gathering every other member of the squad, Halsey wordlessly led the group downstairs under the escort of armed Private Military and the Spartans, much to the surprise of everyone else inside the place. The convoy that had escorted them to this place waited for them outside, now reinforced by a platoon of new National Guard vehicles and even Police elements.
As they boarded an armored truck, Piña and Bozes looked around at the massed force, with the Princess looking at Doctor Halsey and asking, "What is going on? Why the Force Deployment? It seems to be twice what we had when we came here…"
"Word is someone is searching for us," Halsey replied as she climbed aboard the transport with the help of Kelly. Fred, Chief and Linda manned a Warthog that had been brought for them by UNSC forces in the city, with Chief manning the gun. She told them, "A friend warned us that there might be issues on this Earth. Issues that might beget greater ones in a death spiral, should we be caught in the middle…"
"So, we're heading home," Torres quipped as he sat himself down and checked the M4 he'd received from one of the nearby National Guardsmen. Itami and Rory seemed tense, with the latter cradling her exposed ax as if preparing to strike at any oncoming enemy. Kelly checked her shotgun over, too, then slammed home the pump, feeding an eight-gauge buckshot shell.
Itami crawled forward and took the wheel from the national guardsman, stating, "I think I'm gonna drive this run. Are we heading back to the same base we landed in, doctor?"
"No," She replied, "We're heading to a decommissioned airstrip nearby for the pickup, as arranged by our ONI assets…" then she handed him her tablet. He set it on the dash and saw the three-dimensional display of their drive, like it was a normal GPS system. He tapped it and started the route, then the vehicles' engines revved as they began to drive.
"Just who would want to do harm to us…?" Bozes spoke, worried, as she looked around.
"Word is it's some illicit third parties here that don't much like the UNSC starting to spread influence," A PMC replied as he shouldered what looked like a matte-black SCAR Heavy, a 7,62x51mm NATO rifle usually meant for special forces. He looked to Halsey and said, "Alice told us to tell you they may be related to the Chinese and Russians, ma'am."
"Russians, I know of, though president Pomorenka contacted me to let me know about that beforehand. Oligarchs she hasn't dealt with yet, who want money," Halsey replied as she hit a button and revealed the icon of two unknown PMCs. The Russians' 'BEAR' and, now, the Chinese RED DRAGOONS. She mumbled, "The Chinese are a new force…"
"We've even got some of our competitors on the market," Another PMC stated as she checked a Benelli shotgun. Seeing the confusion on Piña and Bozes's faces, she told them, "It means another Private Contractor from the US also has the hots for you all. Either they want to abduct you for ransom, or they wanna study the new people."
"That is certainly concerning…" Lelei murmured. She sighed and leaned forward, extending a gentle hand and focusing the energy of her magical powers into her fingertips, thus forming a glowing blue ball. She squeezed her hand, then blinked and said, "I believe we're being followed… And it is not ONI agents…"
Tuka herself tensed, grabbing her bow from nearby and prepping. Shino showed her to wait, then grabbed her M7 out of her pocket and extended the stock, stating, "Someone gonna tell the Nat Guard folks about it, or are we doing this alone?"
"We're not getting United States National Guardsmen involved in a firefight with possible foreign agents, Sergeant," Halsey replied with half a mouth as she tapped away at the screen of her tablet. She added, "Cortana has sent them an updated route back to their Air Station. The risk of US Servicemen and Women dying is high enough, much more JSDF members…"
"Whatever the Dragoons and Bears want," Cortana spoke as she appeared ahead of them, a small hologram, "It's related to us and the Falmart locals. The UNSC can handle things, so we'll take a pit stop, let you all go to the Airstation and grab the bird over to Japan and we'll follow later on today. International Incident or not… It's best if only a few of us get affected."
"Like hell," both Torres and Shino barked, each of them preparing their respective fire-arm. Torres himself looked at Halsey and said to her, "Don't think for a second any of us are abandoning you, doc. Might as well duke it out if it's PMCs. They're deniable ops, meaning if we kill them, it won't start anything except a little exchange of words between Commander-In-Chief and the Russian and Chinese leadership…"
"Still," Halsey spoke, "It is too risky. Take the ladies," she motioned to Lelei, Tuka, Piña, Rory and Bozes, "And get out of here, back to Japan and Falmart."
"Again," Shino started, "Hell, no, Ma'am."
"We'd need to lose the current pursuit, too," Itami stated, "And they might spot us when we switch. PMCs have access to some of the better gear out there, including tracker drones… Best bet is to just keep rolling forward, let the National Guard head home and then hold up at… Where are we going to evacuate, exactly?"
"An old, abandoned airstrip of the United States Army Air Corps, as I said," Halsey replied, then checked her own pistol and told him, "Follow the GPS. Cortana, send a radio ping to the National Guard…" and she eyed everyone else, "If you are determined to stand and leave with us, you should know that we will be receiving pickup from a UNSC ship, a Calypso-class infiltration vessel."
"Stealth ship," Shino grinned, "Makes sense, I guess."
"Best bet to get us out undetected," Cortana spoke as several algorithm lines on her body glowed. She snapped her finger and the distant screech of wheels echoed, muffled by the armored walls of the truck they were aboard. She grinned and said, "Sorry it took me so long. Decided to see what kind of car our pursuers were driving. Smart car, so…"
"Hacked it and hit the brakes," Itami smiled, "It feels nice to have the advantage."
"Agreed," Halsey replied.
Piña nodded in agreement, while Bozes stated, "Your people truly are all magical…" before looking at Tyuule and Richard, both of whom were sat in the back, weapons drawn and sat next to Rory. She spoke, "I suppose you are now royalty, Lieutenant Samuels," and that caused both him and Tyuule to stagger. The others chuckled, but it was quiet, all due to the building tension.
Rory herself sat, quiet, her face a stone mask, eyes closed and her lip turning into a deep, dark purple. She opened her eyes, staring at the doctor and telling her, "If you will fight these Mercenaries… Please, do not attempt to restrain me as I deliver unto them Emroy's justice. They seek to kidnap and harm my comrades and my wards."
"I do not oppose it," The Doctor replied in a murmur, "Just make sure not to be hit by too many rounds. I dread what Lieutenant Itami would do to us if you died," and she smirked. A few chuckles yet again filled the hold, with Rory smiling a little in her usual, somewhat smug demeanor as she looked at Itami. The man laughed awkwardly, rubbing the back of his neck, while Torres and Richard laughed, too.
The convoy exited the city, separating at an intersection as the National Guard(despite the protests of their officers) turned toward their base of operations on the Highway. Meanwhile, the convoy, now made up solely of the truck, a single Humvee that disobeyed orders and the Warthog, rolled forward upon a side road that led deeper into New York's heavily-forested areas.
As they drove further and the sun began to slowly set, Cortana spoke, "I'm picking up encrypted communications. Trailing five miles behind us. Signal is weak, but encryption keys match Russian PMC ones that were fed to us by madam President's people. Second set of encryption is Chinese in nature, but not PLA. Less sophisticated."
"Means they caught up to us," Itami mumbled as the vehicles now rolled out onto an open field, to the sight of several distant buildings, many of which were covered by moss. Grass poked through the tarmac of a single runway of concrete, lined by broken light bulbs. A Control Tower with an old, early radar installation sat atop it was at the side of the Runway they were approaching and two large, metal hangars sat opposite.
The vehicles rolled through, past the guard fence and into one of the hangars. The troops dismounted, followed by the Civilians and those with lighter weapons than standard. Alice's PMCs pushed forward toward the tower, with Linda not far behind, sniper at the ready. Fred, Kelly and John coordinated to set up proper defenses and Halsey ushered the unarmed toward the safety of an old concrete bunker.
Rory, meanwhile, joined Chief, Kelly and Fred at the front, her polearm leaned against her shoulder as she glared at the roadway they'd come from, an old dirt road flanked by wide fields on the right and a thick forest on the left. She snipped the air as the full moon glowed and rose, then said, "They aren't far now…"
… While the others prepared the defenses, Torres had decided to look around the place. It had proven to be a good decision, for, in the other Hangar, which was locked off, he found something interesting. Covered by a tarp, the unmistakable shape of a plane stood in front of him, the windows overhead letting a faint breeze in alongside the moonlight, the wind blowing through the tarp and exposing the worn wheels of the aircraft's wing-mounted landing gear.
"Lieutenant…?" He heard a voice call out, then turned to see Piña. The young woman had ditched the more regal outfit she wore for a tank top and a pair of leather jeans that they'd brought as extra clothing for her. She approached the man and asked, "What are you doing?"
"Contemplating a bit," The man smiled, then looked at the shape of the aircraft ahead. She sat down next to him on an old, long wooden box as he told her, "This is a P47. I could tell you everything you wanna know about this thing without even taking the tarp off of it…" as he looked at the profile. He smiled, "My great grandpa flew these in the last war…"
"Last war…?" She raised a brow, "How many wars…?"
"A lot," He shrugged, "Humans have a propensity for fighting each-other, but none were worse than World Wars One and Two…" only to see the horrified look on her face. He waved it off and said, "We'll tell you everything later, but things were much simpler back then, I guess."
"Oh?" She raised a brow.
He nodded, "Weapons and wars were. In World War 1, it was a family feud between various Royal Families that controlled a multitude of European nations. It was basically just the deadliest family brawl in history for the Great Powers. For smaller countries, it was gaining independence or long-coveted land. World War 2, though. Fighting the Axis was like fighting Demons. Gramps barely told me stories about the stuff he saw in China as a Flying Tiger."
She giggled a little, to which he snorted and said, "No, not an actual flying tiger, but close enough…" then he added, "After China, though, he joined the USAAF proper. Fought over Europe in exactly one of these old birds. Helped save the world from a thousand-year darkness… And if I'd have told him the stories I have to tell now with you folks, he'd laugh. Probably wouldn't believe how weird things got."
"I suppose you're skipping some of the details," She stated, looking at the vehicle, "Still… A shame for such a mighty war machine to lay here, wasting away. I hope she served her user well in whatever fights they faced. How old is it?"
"Eighty years old," He replied, which caused the girl to pause. He chuckled and said, "Yeah, we had about that many years of relative worldwide peace, but we were still developing weapons in the meantime. You can imagine just how kind humans are to each-other…" then he looked back at the others outside and stated, "And then there's the UNSC, who fought a whole-ass war against aliens."
"I don't suppose they mean the same kind of aliens they are to us…" The Princess joked, which got a laugh from the man. She sighed deeply, leaned forward and added, "The Gate should not have opened, as far as I know. It had been inactive for centuries before my father deployed much of our army to fight you all."
"Guessing one of your Gods got a bit uppity," He replied, staring at the aircraft, "Alas, no time to mope… C'mon, let's get you back to safety before the shooting starts."
"Lieutenant," She started. Their gazes met and she told him, "Be careful."
He replied calmly, "Yeah, I know… You don't come out 'till we give the all clear, okay?" before shifting his rifle off of his back and cradling it in his arms. They stepped out of the hangar, with the man escorting her all the way over to the shelter. He marched to join the others, looking at Kuribayashi as the girl shouldered her SMG.
He joined Halsey, Richard, Itami and Tyuule in the middle of the Tarmac, with Halsey telling him, "Good of you to join us, Lieutenant Torres… There is an enemy Drone currently surveilling our position, similar to how we, too, have them in the sights of our own PMC drone," before she turned the tablet to show them.
Two approaching convoys and a third hanging out in the far back. One unit, probably the Russians, approached from the North-West in six black SUVs. The Red Dragoons approached from the South-East in a similar setup, though with only four SUVs. Each side split its forces to attempt to surround the airstrip.
"How long 'till our Evac gets here?" Richard asked as he held close his own rifle.
Halsey spoke, "There's been a change of plans with the arrival of an allied unit, but they should be here within the next fifteen minutes. Until then," she hit a transmit command and asked, "Cortana, did you crack the encryption of the Dragoons?" while she looked over the data streaming from the enemy units' com systems.
"Cracked it hours ago," The AI quipped, smiling as she appeared on the screen. She asked, "Planning on telling them to back off?"
"I would genuinely rather avoid pointless bloodshed," The woman replied, then told her, "Patch me through… Richard, Torres, Itami," and looked over at the men, "Join the defense. Just in case these people will not listen to reason. I'll stall for the arrival of our allies for as long as I can, but I'm afraid it may go awry, or that they will figure it out."
The three men nodded and moved to join Chief, Kelly and Fred, while Linda and the PMC sniper that were with them prepped. The Doctor noticed that the com system had linked and saw a transmission button. Breathing in, then out, she sighed deeply and spoke, "This is Doctor Catherine Elizabeth Halsey of the United Nations Space Command to the BEAR and Red Dragoon Private Military Contractors… Cease your advance and go home. Nobody needs to die here."
The com systems crackled to life moments later, with the Chinese leader, a woman, being the first to ask, "How did you get this frequency, Doctor?" as the sound of cocking guns echoed over the com.
"How I received data on you and your troops is irrelevant," The woman replied, her voice sharp, stern, unshaken. She looked right up at the Dragoon drone and told the woman, "I do know you're here and I know how to contact both you and the Russians. Not to mention the Third Party watching all of this happen from afar…"
A couple of gasps filled the com. She nodded approvingly. Good to scare them. Thank you, Cortana, for being prompt. She continued, "Whatever units you think you've brought, they will not be enough. Even with half the current contingent of bodyguards we have, you would be hopelessly outmatched… Spartans do not take prisoners. So, I ask you again, leave."
"I'm afraid we cannot do that," The Russian Private Military Contractor spoke, his accent heavy, "The Reds can leave, but this contract's paying too well. Boss wants your friends alive, Doctor, so why don't you and your soldiers head back home?"
"Taking the Princess, her Guard and our comrades prisoner will not help you…" The woman warned, turning about. Despite the distance, her ear picked up the thunderclap of something transitioning from hypersonic flight and smirked, "You will only be engendering the ire of the United States and UNSC… And believe me, while we would not care to fight your Nations, two Mercenary groups that the Chairman and madam President would quite quickly disavow would be child's play."
"Idle threats from a woman whose only guards are a few soldiers not worth their salt," The Chinese officer replied calmly, "You can surrender yourself to us, too. It would make our jobs a lot easier… Otherwise…"
Cortana flashed an image on-screen, that of the woman in charge of the Formation of Chinese troops and of the man in charge of the Russians. The distant hum of an antigrav engine filled her ears, followed by the whine of car engines. She smiled and said, "Lieutenant Huang Yanmei and Sergeant Kolya Bobrov. We don't need to fight, but if you so wish…"
The two officers seemed to freeze on the spot as their cars appeared. The Russian and Chinese PMCs dismounted, Kalashnikovs and QBZ-95s pointed at them. Halsey smiled at them, staring right at Huang, then spoke over the radio, "Any time you wish to join us down here, Arbiter 'Vadam," only for the anti-grav engine's hum to grow louder.
Overhead, an alien machine, shaped almost like a teardrop, appeared as if a film of nothingness had peeled away from bow to stern. From within it, two dozen hunchback aliens dismounted, led by one split-jawed alien in golden armor and carrying a glimmering energy sword. Jetpacks hummed, then shut off as a platoon of Special Operations Elites of the Swords of Sangheilios joined the defenders on the ground.
"Greetings, doctor," Thel spoke respectfully, putting his fist up to his chest and bowing his head to Halsey, "Apologies for the tardiness. When Lord Hood requested our assistance in the matter of Falmart, we were still confronting the last of the Covenant's holdouts on Sangheilios, chief among them being Sunayon."
"I understand," She smiled, then added, "Welcome to Earth 2, I suppose."
"Indeed," The man replied. He and the Master Chief then exchanged a nod in greeting before both turned their attention to the hostile human forces around them. Thel then stated, "I did not long for a day of fighting humans again, but if the situation requires that we get our blades soiled red again for our allies, I will not hesitate to do so."
Halsey listened to the radio transmissions of the Chinese and Russians(In their respective languages, mind you), before smiling and answering, "Thankfully, it seems they have some self-preservation instincts. They are retreating."
Tires screeched and the squadrons of vehicles began pulling out of the area, with Halsey commenting, "That leaves one last problem, I suppose," and she locked her gaze onto Shino Kuribayashi, who, for all intents and purposes, had begun losing her mind all over again. The Arbiter was about to ask something as he saw the young woman hyperventilating, but Halsey told him, "This has happened before, yes. She's a fan of the games."
"Ah…" The Elite blanked, seemingly still dumbfound at the fact their adventures were recounted in digital media. Halsey had grown accustomed to it at this point, honestly. And even found Shino's reactions somewhat adorable, if nothing else. Almost akin to seeing a child set foot in a candy store for the first time in their life.
It was time to return to Falmart, however…