[}{]
Captain Maddie "The Viper" Harper
August 23rd, 2552
24:47PM
New Alexandria
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They were in the basement of the New Alexandria ONI building scrubbing as much dirt and blood off their uniforms as possible. Finding a spare uniform for Mikaela was challenging but they'd manage to source one by prying open the lock to a kit locker. Maddie looked at Mikaela, wondering if she had looked so out of place in the uniform when she had first donned it on Skopje. Mikaela was patting down the collar and cuffs as she tried to smooth out the wrinkles of the uniform.
Their plan was ready. Katya, Jack and Preston would head to the security station keep Maddie and Mikaela covered while they snuck into the server room and searched the archives for the Sorvad research data.
"We will be fine so long as their security teams don't look too closely at Preston and Mikaela" Jack said, tightening the straps on Mikaela's utility belt.
"As long as we get to the security room undetected, it will not matter." Katya said, slipping a clip into her magnum. "From there we can keep their focus away from the inside of the building and on the covenant forces approaching from the west."
Maddie stood by the elevator, holding Preston's rifle as he tied his laces. Katya didn't betray an ounce of worry, which had a calming effect on both Preston and Mikaela, who wore their worries on their faces. Mikaela looked at the robotic limb attached to Maddie and then back at Katya, who softly assuaged her of her fears. Maddie understood her worry, she had worried once upon a time. Preston asked for help and grimaced as he took her by the prosthetic hand, a cool and gentle reminder that his sister had suffered for her choices. He stood eye-to-eye with his sister and nodded; he still didn't seem to feel too comfortable with her.
"Well, this either works or we die. Don't really want our own to shoot us, though." Mikaela had approached and was scratching the back of her head, still nervous about being so one to the people who had ordered her death.
"I have no problem killing pigs." Preston spat.
Maddie shot him a look only a real viper could give him. "ONI or not, killing humans is not something you should have 'no problem' with, Preston."
He didn't relent but he also didn't push the point further. No one wanted to mess with Maddie when she had that particular look in her eye. The group filed inside the elevator, each of them knew what to do. The archives came first and Maddie stepped out with Mikaela, who seemed to harden, like steel under pressure or carbon fiber under tension. They were in a long, quiet corridor. The walls were the bare steel coloured chambers that Maddie had come to find all too familiar. One day, she'd be dragged to some exotic location again. It'd been too long since she'd seen something as striking as Mount Sundial.
Their steps were poignant. Maddie wondered if they sounded casual enough as they wandered towards the center of the archive. Somewhere above them, the others would be gaining access to the security control room.
"It's a bit quiet, right?" Mikaela whispered.
Maddie looked around and took a deep breath. Mikaela was watching her like a cat, her head tilted at an angle. Maddie raised a brow in agreement and looked about the pristine halls. Then, spotting the arrowed sign saying 'central hub', she notional with her hand for Mikaela to follow.
About fifty feet down the corridor, Katya radioed in.
"Security is ours, Maddie. I think we have maybe twenty minutes until they figure out we're down here.
"Gotcha, boss." She replied, then quickened her pace towards the location that Katya had linked with her HUD.
Her Recon helmet felt heavy on her head as she lead Mikaela onwards into the rows and rows of databanks. They had steadily replaced the titanium-coloured walls of the corridors; each hard drive glowed in the quiet light of the archives. Maddie felt torn as she scanned them, she could still envision a civilian life as an archivist here. Her mind sent images of meetings over coffee, cigarette breaks between long sessions sifting through the dark records that were kept here. She also knew that these records housed the dark secrets and morally abhorrent decisions that had lead to the dismantling of her entire life. It would be east to say that the archives were an evil place, and it would certainly be true that Pandora would open these boxes in earnest. Maddie knew better. That she could see herself as an ONI record keeper was proof enough that she was always susceptible to the dark strings that had pulled her.
"I think this is it."
Maddie frowned, she hadn't been paying attention.
"Are you sure?" She asked, watching Mikaela as she approached the drive.
"Yeah, it's from Visegrad, for sure."
"That doesn't mean it's the same one." Maddie shivered and looked around at the silent archive. "I don't like this at all."
"Relax, I've got this." She pulled a datapad out of her rucksack and booted it up.
Maddie smiled and took a knee. "No way, an A.I. toolkit?"
Mikaela grinned and nodded. "My personal specification, too. The building tools are great for dismantling the code of complex security systems."
"I haven't used one of these since the academy." She knelt down beside Mikaela and watched as her fingers danced over the screen. Deja Vu struck again as Maddie watched the woman, a near mirror image of herself, begin to unthread the tangled mess of security firewalls that protected the data they were searching for. Maddie fired off an update to Katya, noting the quietness of the archives and their progress. Then she looked back, watching her new charge work with a singular focus.
What had Drake thought of when he saw me work?
While she was watching Mikaela with wistful appreciation, Drake could only have been thinking about Maddie's utility. It took a few minutes of fiddling about but Mikaela opened the file, it was time that Maddie had spent ruminating. Her brow was furrowed like cast iron as she waited.
Mikaela's face turned white.
A single file remained, a video file titled 'Atlas Shrugged'.
"Play it." Maddie said, feeling her fists tighten.
The video feed crackled into life and Maddie scowled, her face was an inferno of shame and rage.
"It's a sad day when a daughter turns against her mother but you are no stranger to that, are you?" Margaret Parangosky's face was older than Maddie had remembered but the stress of war had a sublime effect on the human body. Her wrinkles were set light iron, her eyes were fixed like lasers, and her brows were knotted like wires.
Maddie saw her own fury reflected back at her.
"I remember you, crying into that interrogation table aboard the Cavalier. Drake had delivered you to me as slag. You were malleable then, nothing but pure potential. Halsey had you pegged as a member of the SPARTAN IIs second generation but luckily that witches pet project was canned before they could have you pinched. What luck it was that Drake had you delivered to me intact."
Maddie could only feel tight in the face. Her rage was so complete that she ceased to feel anything at all. There was only a singular, blinding tightness in her face and muscles.
"You were a good girl for such a long time. On Skopje you were impressive. At the academy you were magnificent, and your finest hour was the elimination of the Nazari's on Meridian… I almost regret," she held up Mikaela's data drive and turned it in her hand. "I almost regret that you ever found ARC DREAM. You were everything Earth needed before that but after… you were too predictable, too filled with hope and desire to become what I needed you to be. That ancient human ruined you, and you became my greatest failure."
She sighed a war weary sigh and rubbed the sleep from the corner of her eyes. "I want you to know that none of this was personal, that I did what I had to. The death of you and your family members is now unavoidable. You have left me no choice but to ensure that only Eliza, Alex, and Joseph remain. You and Preston know too much and ARC DREAM is as great a threat as the covenant to the UEG and ONI."
She sat back, finally indulging in her triumph. "The data you are looking for will be in my office at the ONI Alpha site in New Mombasa by the time you see this. Wellingham was your last chance. When you erased him, his last act was to tell me so that these arrangements could be made. Mikaela will be turned over to us to release the data and the knowledge of the World Forge will be ours."
Then, with an ounce of human sadness, Margaret Parangosky said "I'm sorry it had to be this way, Madeleine." The video ended without fanfare or exhultation.
Maddie's head reeled. She frantically tried to copy the video but the attempt burned up the drive and shattered the systems of her wrist computer. She pulled the foreguard off her arm and hurled it at the wall with a scream.
"Fuck that bitch. Without my bio-key, she will burn it all before she gets a glance at it." Mikaela said, standing up, "Come on. We need to get the others and get out of here."
Maddie began to contact Katya but all maddie could think of as her body moved without her mind, was her first days with Drake. Her first foray into a ruined city had left her a shell, and now the pressure of everything had begun to crack and splinter the edges of her sanity. Drake had used her from the start. Parangosky had used her from the start. Mikaela was acting as though it didn't matter but the taught rope of worry that was her face said otherwise.
Yet Maddie was angry at herself more than anything. She had been told from the beginning what ONI was. She was only too eager to see the glamour of the clandestine as a means to live a fulfilling life. Now she could see all that it had cost her. Drake had always told her that he was a spider. He had always said that she was a fly.
That was when Katya sent a message back:
"Maddie, be careful. You're not alone."
[}{]
Captain Aurellian 'Ollie' Van Graff
August 1th, 2552
25:33PM
En Route to Fenrir:
Location of ARC DREAM
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"We're being flagged again." James said, moving to the comms panel. For days they had been providing intelligence to Alex and the rest of the Epsilon Eridani Fleet regarding the siege of New Alexandria. Maddie and the others had been in the city for five days now but no news had been received regarding their status. The Winter was en route to the hiding place of the Fenrir where they were due to restock and check up on the folks at ARC DREAM. They'd been running silent for hours and were looking forward to a brief rest.
It seemed the war had other ideas, again.
"Put him through." Ollie said, leaning back in his chair.
"Ollie. You're being retasked." Alex said, concern racked his face.
"That ain't good."
"No. It's Agent Drake. Parangosky wants you to pick up Agent Belloc and rendezvous with Drake when he's secured a HVT."
"That'll be Mikaela, the Sorvad girl."
"Most likely, yes."
"Aw hell."
"I think they're going to have you chase them down."
"They're compromised?"
Alex could only nod in agreement.
"What are we going to do?" Valette asked, looking to Ollie for guidance. Without realising it, Ollie had fallen into the role of commander with frightening ease.
"We can't really do anything. They suspect us of being involved, for sure."
"Ollie," Alex said, "Mei had an idea and… I think it's our only option."
"Go on."
"We comply."
"Excuse me?"
"Totally and unequivocally. I can get a message to them via Tukmen'tukhan and we will have to trust Maddie and Katya to keep themselves two steps ahead of Drake and Belloc until we can seize an opportunity to extract them back to ARC DREAM."
"That's a shit plan. Sir."
"I know it is, brother." Alex sounded ancient, but the familial gesture made Ollie's heart swell. "We know how good those two are. Maybe it's time we let them off the leash."
James and Valette waited for his answer, their eyes hanging off the words he would inevitably say. Agreeing was their only option but it would mean that James would have to remain behind aboard the Fenrir, Belloc would kill him for Parangosky if given the chance.
"All right." He said, finally. "Let's go hunt down our friends, I guess."
Ollie spoolled the engines and made for the Fenrir, where he would bid James goodbye and restock the Winter. There was no back channel for Tukmen'tukhan, no trace of the Fenrir left in the ships logs. The feeds were scrubbed and the supplies restocked with UNSC rations rather than the food from the Fenrir's hydroponics bay. Alex would handle the heads up but the rest was up to The Viper and the Wolf.
When they arrived, ARC DREAM was awash with activity. The Ancient human science ship was now filled with personnel, all led by Jade Roberts, the engineer Maddie had recruited on Meridian and Tukmen'tukhan. The pair greeted James warmly, and Valette took leave to talk with the scientists that had been recruited from the Sabre Launch Facility.
Ollie went to the bridge, listening the the bustle and busy work of Earth's greatest minds. He had never been one for crowds but outcasts were different. Outcasts were family.
"Reverse engineering is going well. We've already developed some pretty crazy tech up here, Captain Van Graff." Jade was gleaming from ear to ear as she bounced along the deck. The bridge was quiet, staffed only by the inner circle of ARC DREAMs most trusted advisors and scientists.
Tukmen'tukhan appeared on his podium beside the helm and smiled at Ollie. "It is all going very well up here." He said, "we no longer need to recruit from those hunted by ONI. We can go dark now that I have a retrieval team."
"Retrieval team?" Ollie replied, "are y'all kidnapping people?"
"Of sorts." the image of the ancient human rippled. "They will be here in just a moment."
Jade grinned, "we're delighted to have James join us. We need a human on the team."
"wait?"
The door to the Captain's quarters hissed and through it stepped the hulking figure of a Jiralhanae war chief and a lithe San'shyun exoskeleton.
"Who the hell are you?" Ollie said, putting his hand on his holster.
"Relax, Captain." the brute said, as the Prophet revealed its face from under its suit of armour.
"He is Ketarus, and I am Redemption." the prophet said, humbling itself as he bowed.
Ketarus was dressed in a flowing white robe, which hung from his battle armour like a lab coat. "We have been working with Tukmen'tukhan in secret since the Miracle at Ballast."
"Once, my people and yours fought side by side. Our ancient ways were corrupted by Zealots and the Forerunners. We exist to correct the past and carve a new future, just like yourself."
"War makes for strange bedfellows indeed." Tukmen'tukhan mused, "James is to join them for special assignments and recovery missions, we will keep him busy, don't worry."
Ollie grimaced, "just keep him safe, he's been through a lot."
"We can give him purpose and hope, Captain. Don't worry."
Ollie was unsure but Tukmen'tukhan was serious about his vendetta. Human ascension was his only goal, the covenant must be destroyed as much from within as from beyond. He looked into space and marvelled at the quiet solemnity of it all. From here Reach was out of sight, and though it was due to burn within weeks, Ollie could only marvel at the small band of the disparate and hopeful that The Wolf had assembled.
He looked at the Captain's chair he longed to helm and tried to believe that he might actually sit there one day, head of a new human fleet, an Admiral in his own right.
Fleet Admiral Aurellian Van Graff, Captain of the Fenrir, protector of the New Human Commonwealth.
His eye for the dramatic made him grin.
"Well, damn. If we ain't a sorry sight, we damn well better be the biggest thorn in the side of galactic order we can."
"That's the spirit!" Jade said cheerfully, "now get back out there and hunt down our leader!"
Ollie smiled, "one last job for the old master?"
"Consider it an exit interview." Ketarus grunted.
"We all have a penchant for mischief" Redemption said, his burned face was bright against the warm light of the bridge.
"Aye," Ollie replied, "one heap o'trouble coming up."
[}{]
Captain Maddie "The Viper" Harper
August 23rd, 2552
25:50PM
New Alexandria, The Archives
ONI HQ
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The attack came swiftly and Maddie was only just able to push Mikaela out of the way as a round burst from a weapon and slammed into the server stack they had been looking at.
Shot after shot rang out.
Bang!
Crack!
Tsting!
Mikaela yelled a flurry of curses as she rolled away. Maddie scrambled after her, drawing her Axe and her pistol as the shots pursued them around the corner.
"Get back to Katya. Go!"
Mikaela nodded and didn't hesitate as Maddie fired shots back in the direction of their attacker.
The tannoy system, crackled. Maddie peered around the corner and advanced, hunting her hunter. The announcer crackled again.
She heard steps.
She spun and fired.
Nothing.
"Did you ever think it would come to this, lass?"
Maddie froze. The tannoy laughed. It wasn't fair. She wasn't ready for this.
"We've stalked prey together in the dark. Never each other."
Maddie felt her hands shaking. She was a girl again. Sixteen. Afraid. Unsure.
She tried to take a deep breath.
"Tch. Now, now, lass. I won't be having our reunion totally ruined by gunfire. I'm sure you have a lot to say."
Maddie rounded a corner, hoping that Mikaela was already off the floor and heading to Katya.
Keep him here. Buy her time.
"Nothing to say, eh?" He laughed, "that's not like you, Madeleine."
"It's hard… to know what to say to a stranger." Her voice sounded younger, as though it was a script from a different time.
"A stranger? No. You always knew me. You watched me kill half a fleet to deploy a SPARTAN on Skopje. I always said that the day will come that you regret this."
The words had come to haunt her with each piece of her life that ONI and the war took from her.
"That day came and went, Felix." She felt calmer as she addressed him. It wouldn't do to hide from the monster haunting these halls. It was time to face her past. "you weren't there, remember?"
"I remember."
"It would have been smarter to stay dead, Drake. I mourned you."
"And look what you did with that pain."
"You knew what ONI was doing there. You knew enough that you could fake your death when they planned to assassinate you. You let all those people die, really die."
"I was given instruction, so I followed it"
"You knew about it. You knew the whole time that ONI was experimenting with Gaesh technology on Ballast."
"Aye, I did."
"I'd ask if you had any shame but I know how you play the game, Felix." She was heading towards the central archives now, he would be there. Waiting.
"I wanted to bring you on board but Old Ironsides said you had too much heart. Clearly, she was right. Even now you cling to whimsy and hope like a child."
"I want what everyone wants: An end to the war and a life without fear."
"No, you wanted adventure, Maddie. You wanted to be special. You wanted to know forbidden knowledge and fight battles that mattered."
He was calm and corrective, even now, he was still trying to teach her.
"It's easy, when you're that young, to believe that was all it would take to satisfy me. There was no way I could understand what that would cost, Felix."
She entered the central hub to see Felix Drake holding the microphone. He held his pistol by the barrel and placed it beside him on the desk that housed the computers dedicated to maintaining the library.
"Figured we could use knives. You always did have a flair for the dramatic." he said.
He was greyer than she remembered. That salt and pepper look was gone and he was nearly white haired as he stood in the dim warm light of the central hub. His brow was cut like glass and his jaw like stone. He didn't have the same suave and domineering air about him that he once did. Now, he stood hawkish, like a vulture. His skin had lost the last vestiges of youth and had settled neatly into the throes of serial adulthood.
She approached him, not holstering her pistol. "You don't dictate terms to me. Not anymore."
"You always were a brat. You never truly understood that entitlement won't get you what you want."
"I am entitled to free choice, Drake. You took advantage of me, made me want your approval. There's no world where that's okay; not even this one."
"Look around you, Girl." He held his hands out, they looked pallid in the dusky light of server stacks and the emergency powered lighting. "Look at what's happening. Again. We have stood in the ashes of four worlds, seen four planets glassed-"
"Three." Maddie said, "I saved Ballast. You faked your death, you knew about the Gaes experiments and the ONI cell. You let them exist. You caused the death of my fucking sister, Felix." She was seething, now. Her hands balled tightly around her weapon, her eyes raged, and her brow knotted like melted steel. "I just never understood how you could give yourself away to ONI so completely."
"Duty. Loyalty." He shrugged, "Did you forget about what you did to Katya? You came very close to seeing things my way, lass. You're not better than me, you're just naive. Only total commitment to the cause will save humanity, now. Surely you understand that."
Maddie paused less than seven feet in front of him. The silence was deafening.
"I gave everything to ONI, just like you. Maybe more. I don't know how you do it, Drake. Really, I don't." She wasn't sure when her fury turned to exasperation but the cold truth of the matter was that she was tired. She was tired of fighting. She was tired of facing friends and old masters. She wanted to be free.
"I know you did, lass. You just weren't cut out for it." Drake had moved slowly, Maddie hadn't noticed. Too caught up in their confrontation, Maddie had allowed her guard to drop and her old mentor took advantage.
She saw the gun too late.
Drake jolted and Maddie felt herself being torn backwards. Like an actor hooked from the stage, she was cast backwards and onto the floor as a chunk of her helmet fell away. She was on her back, wheezing in shock and patting herself feverishly for damage. Drake approached, the barrel of his magnum smoked, a signal of her end as it wafted gently into the stagnant air of the archives. Maddie pushed herself backwards, shuffling away from him as he approached her. She began to disassociate as she felt a wetness on her brow, whimpering as she reeled backwards, her eye fixed on the gun as it swayed softly towards her. She grunted, holding her pistol in her prosthetic hand, raising in was quicker. His magnum bucked and Maddie screamed, convulsing as he put a round through the primary motor and disabled her arm. She reached for the axe but he was already kicking the gun away.
She swung wildly, not in rage or control or defiance but in resignation. The action resulted only in him taking it from her and turning it in his hands.
"All this time… you kept this." He said, admiring the gift he'd given her upon her graduation. "You never learned to just let go."
Like a wounded animal, Maddie whined. Drake flipped it and swung the axe down hard. Blood spilled from her mouth as Drake left it there, lodged in her Viper tattoo.