A/N
Hello, everyone. Welcome back to Blood and Ash. Sorry it took a bit to upload again, but y'all should be used to my non existent schedule. It took a bit to get to where I wanted in this chapter, because I hadn't really planned what I would do past chapter four, lmao. Anyway, if this chapter isn't really up to my normal standards, that's why lol. Thanks to the like one person for favoriting this and following it, it means a lot. Enough from me, I've kept y'all waiting for long enough, onto chapter five. :)
Five
The frigate they were meeting up with was much bigger than it had originally looked. After a few terse minutes, the Master Chief had managed to force the shell-shocked Tai into a seat, keeping a large hand on the girl's taught shoulders. The New Hope was a beacon of light compared to the macabre Pelican slowly flying towards it. Which was strange considering the large frigate was a drab gun metal gray.
Tai felt cold, even with everyone sitting so tightly to each other. She hadn't been expecting the ONYX Spartan to just… jump out of the Pelican, carrying a pack of grenades to blow the Phantom ship sky-high, her own life being torn to bits along with the Elite piloting the ship. She'd been a witness to death before, hell she'd killed not even moments ago. But with the way the Spartan's are seen as myth, you don't expect them to be killed, especially not in the way the ONYX Spartan was.
The girl had managed to zone out for most of the ride to the frigate, her once bright blue eyes now close to a drab gray. She didn't know how to handle a death like that. She had been too young when her parents were killed, too young to realize that the blood over her hands had been her parents' life force draining out of them. Her childish brain wasn't meant to comprehend something that traumatizing, so she hadn't.
But now, having witnessed a death right in front of her, and at her age, she was forced to recollect it, having it forever burned into her memory. When the Pelican finally docked at the hangar bay of the New Hope, the civilians were escorted out by other Marines on standby, each being taken to one of the three infirmary's on the large ship. The Chief had been called into a meeting by the Captain of the New Hope, but he was hesitant in leaving Tai and the civilians, at least, not without making sure they got the care they all needed.
So, he did what he could, and postponed his debriefing, asking Cortana to come up with an excuse for him, given that staying behind for civilians wasn't exactly normal for Spartans. Much less the Spartan II's. As he walked with the group, he kept an eye on the Woods' family and the small teen from behind his golden visor. The Master Chief had easily noticed that the girl had pulled into herself, walking towards the back of their rag-tag group, consequently beside the Chief.
Bringing himself to stand next to Tai, he let his presence be known, not talking or disrupting the solemness that had befallen the normally talkative teen. Subconsciously, Tai stood closer to the towering Spartan, using his presence as a shield almost, from the rest of the ship and its inhabitants.
They were finally coming up on the infirmary when she said something. "Thank you. For saving them, I mean. I don't think they would've survived without the help of you and the ONYX Spartans." Her voice was low, quiet. Tai wasn't one to want to break the seemingly easy silence the Master Chief held.
The tall man said nothing to her thanks, opting to merely glance at her from behind his helmet. He did, however, take note that she mentioned nothing of herself when referring to who exactly he'd rescued. It had him slightly worried that she didn't mention herself. But, he didn't know why.
"We weren't the only ones that saved them. You had a play in it too." At his words, Tai scoffed, turning to face him from behind her shoulder.
"If only that were the truth, ay mate?" With her last response, Tai walked into the lower deck infirmary, not bothering to look back once.
With nothing else to do, the Chief made his way to the debriefing rooms that had been set up for him, the ONYX Spartans, and the Captain of the New Hope. As he stepped into the room, the Captain stood to greet the ever empowering Spartan, having to crane his neck up to actually meet the super soldier's visor.
"Master Chief. It's good to have you back, sir. I just wish it were under better circumstances." The Captain, Warden, stated. The Chief merely nodded.
"Obviously, I'll need a full report of what occurred while you were planet side. Everything that you were conscious of, anyway. And I believe Cortana mentioned something about civilians aiding in their own rescue? I'll want to meet these people, as soon as physically possible, so long as they're not too terribly banged up from the Covenant.
"We'll have to make sure that they're fully aware of what has happened to them, and I figure they might have some key details that you missed, for instance how we managed to miss them in the evacuation."
Once again, the Chief did nothing but nod, instead allowing Captain Warden to talk over what was needed. The meeting went on like that for a good couple hours, until the sun of Talian could no longer be seen outside of the New Hope. When he was dismissed from the debriefing, he immediately went to the technicians bay, eager to get his armor removed.
The armor did add something akin to safety for him, but not even he could stand not having at least one hot shower for the amount of time he'd been… out of commission. Even without knowing how long that had been. And so, he went down a few levels, walked down a couple halls, and about half an hour later, he found the technician's bay.
Seeing no one in sight, and having done this time and time again, he walked to the front of a large machine, the white monstrosity circling around him when he powered it on. The familiar whirring of mechanics could be heard, easily drowning out the otherwise too quiet ship, letting the Chief sink into his mind. He couldn't help but let his thoughts wander to his time on Talian, as short as it had been.
Those thoughts led him to the civilians he'd met, and their subsequent leaders. Which in turn, took him back to what the Captain had said. He wanted a debriefing with these civilians, one of which he knew for certain would likely have a fit if the man said something even slightly wrong in her mind. Especially if it were against the people she might've called family.
The man let out a huff, the noise of the silent ship coming back full force, the white machine having done its part in removing his MJOLNIR armor. The Chief's dark green eyes watched as the machine took his armor away, likely to store it where a mechanic could take a look at the damages.
With that somewhat daunting task done, he made his way to his dorms, the halls winding like a giant labyrinth. He got to his room and pulled out his keycard, swiping it against the slightly raised scanner on the door. The large doors swooshed open, letting the man walk inside. The door came to a close with a heavy breath of air.
At far too early in the damned morning, Tai's fitful sleep was met with the loud pounding on her dorm door. The teen groaned before she stood from her bed, yelling out to the person disturbing her "notsleep" as she deemed it, that she'd be out in a bit. She huffed and pulled a tanned hand through her hair, trying to get the knots out as best she could.
Standing, she let out a huff of relief when she stretched her back, multiple vertebrates cracking into place. Tai shuffled over to the door, pressing her palm against the flat surface of the scanner to open it. Standing at her door stood a Marine, his hair neatly combed back into the standard military style. She raised a brow at his stance, knowing that he was in a parade rest, or something like that.
"Yeah?" She questioned, her voice rough from not using it in a good while.
"Sorry to disturb you, ma'am, but Captain Warden has requested yours and some of the other civilian's presence at the bridge." The Marine stated.
Tai's blue eyes hardened. She didn't like the fact that this so-called "captain" was requesting the others at the bridge, especially right after the literal war they'd only barely come back from.
"Who else is your Captain wanting to meet with?" She questioned, her voice carrying a threatening lilt to it.
The Marine shuddered slightly at the anger radiating from the woman before him. "I believe he said the Woods family. Someone's already been sent to get them, ma'am."
Tai hummed and stepped back into her room, muttering something about being ready in ten minutes. Releasing a rough sigh, Tai grabs a small bag that had been given to her by the medics and looks through it. Her blue eyes catch sight of a toothbrush, toothpaste, standard deodorant, and a comb and hair brush. Basic toiletries. Good enough.
She looks into the small closet attached to her room and pulls out a gray T-shirt and black cargo pants. Shrugging, she throws everything on and smooths her hair back with the brush into a loose ponytail. Tai rubs her hands over her face to rid her eyes of the evidence of a lack of sleep and leaves her room, small toiletry bag in hand. She finds the conjoined bathrooms with fair ease and sets about brushing her teeth and trying to clean some of the dried blood from her face.
Unfortunately, without the ability to have a proper shower thanks to her injuries, the blood doesn't leave, it merely spreads due to the water and her scrubbing. Sighing once again, she starts to try and find the bridge of the New Hope.
The damned ship was like a fucking labrynth.
It wasn't until maybe fifteen minutes of aimlessly wandering that Tai finally found the damned to hell bridge. Nodding to the Marines outside the room, she walks in and immediately, all eyes turn towards her, including those of four giant people. People she didn't recognize, but for the MJOLNIR armor they wore.
Ignoring the stares of the rest of the occupants of the room, she goes to stand next to the Woods', putting herself between them and the captain. Tai crosses her arms over her chest and leans her weight onto her uninjured foot.
"Sorry if I'm late. This ship is like a damned maze. Now then, what were you wanting to discuss?"
The captain clears his throat then goes back to what he was saying. "Right. I was just about to ask the Woods' family what exactly had happened before finding the Chief and then fighting the Covenant."
Tai nods and stays silent. The meeting lasts for maybe two or three hours, the captain trying to grasp how they had missed such a significant amount of people during evac. When the story becomes blurry on some edges, Tai steps in, providing answers to the unasked questions. And then it turned to discussing the actual steps in making the plan. The captain turned to Derrick and Lydia, leaving his stare away from the youngest of the group.
"I understand that after the Chief was found, y'all made an escape plan?" The adults nodded. "How did that work out? Is there anyone else I need to pull in to help fill in the lines?"
This was the first time Anya stepped in to speak, her voice small compared to the adults in the room. "Actually, it was Tai who made the plan. When she woke up, we were discussing a plan, but she was the one who found the faults and made it better. She had been the one to execute it and make sure the rest of the camp survived enduring what we had. Without her, we'd be stuck on the planet being glassed with the rest of the corpses."
When Anya was done speaking, both the captain and the other Spartans turned to look at her. Tai was forced to crane her head up to meet the encased gaze of the Spartans, trying to guess what they could be thinking.
"You made the plan?" Tai nodded, finally acknowledging the captain in the room, meeting his hazel eyes with her own blue ones.
"I did. With the help of the Chief and the Woods'." She stated, inclining her head to the mentioned Spartan. The captain nodded his head and put his fists onto the table, his hands clasped together.
"Do you think you could fill in what had happened on your end?" He questions, his gaze tired, solemn.
With the invitation to speak, Tai started retracing her steps, telling him more details that were left out by the Woods' family. It only took a good twenty minutes or so to walk the older man through the escape plan, then another half hour to briefly discuss what had happened in the city. When Tai went on to talk about setting up the communications device, she gave as much credit as was due to Ryner.
"And I'm assuming that's where you received most of your injuries?" The captain asked. At his question, she nods, recalling the different ways she'd gotten as injured as she had, though keeping out the part that her fractured wrist was caused by a disorientated Chief.
"Would you care to discuss the extent of your injuries some time later? So we can better understand what transpired with the rest of your refugees." Tai nods.
With the rest of the plan and her actions laid out on the table, the captain dismisses them. Tai is the last one in the briefing room with the man, still seated in the chair across from the captain.
"Just one thing before I leave. Don't ever talk to one of the other refugees without my approval. Especially not the children. I want to be there for every damned meeting y'all have about our escape. And don't bother telling me that I can't just because you make the rules. If I'm not in there, I swear to the gods I will find some way of hearing the meeting and I will be on your ass if one of my people is in there being interrogated without me. Have we come to an understanding, sir?"
The man is too stunned to speak, so he weakly nods. Clearly, people haven't ever had the audacity to speak to him in such a manner.
"Good. These people are traumatized by a war that was never theirs to fight. They were forced to join this damned fight when your enemies came knocking on their doors. Don't forget that. You can't just order these people around, they aren't your soldiers to do whatever you please with. They're mine to protect and I will go down fighting for them tooth and claw, no matter the repercussions."
With that last thinly veiled threat, Tai walks out of the briefing room, catching sight of the lingering Spartans in the halls. She gives a tight lipped smile when she walks past them and disappears from their sight. The Spartans looked at each other from behind their visors, each one having the same thought.
That girl was a firecracker, and she was one wrong spark away from blowing them all to hell.