Missilis Headquarters
One of the many laboratories of Missilis currently lay occupied as everything from external spectrographic analyzers to coolant modification testers and centrifuges and even a NIMPH examination device connected to a table were actively being used. Laying on the table, the weapon turret she'd used to defend herself floating by her side, Marian stared up at the scanner as a bifurcated beam of light ran across her entire body.
Doctor Halsey, who was sat in a separate room with the Chief, Commander Harris and Cortana, hummed as she read the reports mentally. Cortana looked at them from beside her with a small smile on her face. While the quiet tunes of Tears for Fears's 'Everybody Wants To Rule the World' lulled them into calm, they watched the NIMPH scan turn out NEGATIVE.
That confirmed the known hypothesis, that Vapaus and the compounds that make it up, actively sought to destroy the nanomachinery within the bodies of Nikkes. The same nanomachines that worked to actively keep them on their side, the same ones that had been corrupted in Marian's case to turn her into the Heretic Modernia.
Gone…
"This could prove to be the greatest discovery of the century for Nikkes," Halsey spoke softly, the numbers, calculations and images that shifted between each-other on screen stunning her. The 'fancy jar' which contained the human brain of what was once Special Purpose Nikke Marian of Elysion, now Heretic Absolved Marian, was free from the NIMPH.
Cortana quipped, a hint of sisterly care behind her words, "Considering the fact the NIMPH's basically their shackles to mankind's whims?" all while her own systems had connected to the Missilis databases on the NIMPH and its capabilities. There were certain firewalls she needed some extra help to access, though. And she could even feel an 'All-Seeing Eye' watching them.
"And their only way to retain immortality…" Alyosha mumbled, arms crossed to his chest. He looked at Chief and Cortana and said to them, "Bit of a double-edged sword," all while wondering what this would mean for others. Any Nikke who heard that Vapaus was the 'cure' to the condition of basically being enslaved, even with the current government treating them much better, would be quick to jump on the wagon.
"We've just confirmed Vapaus is a weapon that may very well be deadly to any other Heretic that may exist out there, if for nothing else than to turn them to our side…" The Doctor answered, shutting off the machines. She then spoke over the intercom, "Thank you, Marian. You may stand up and rejoin us here."
The young, silver-haired former Heretic smiled and did as asked, rejoining them within the confines of the main room. She inquired, "I hope everything is in order, doctor…" while ensuring that her uniform was still fitting. She'd decided to keep the Heretic garb she had been 'gifted' by her malefactors for her own sake. She was a new Marian. No longer Modernia, but no longer her old self either.
"It is. You're perfectly healthy, save the destruction of your NIMPH," Halsey spoke, which seemed to cause the girl to freeze and stare at her and the other three with concern. Specifically, she looked at Alyosha, with the young man looking right back at her and smiling. Cortana and Chief looked at one-another, meanwhile, with the AI-turned-Nikke(sort of) cracking a smile.
"My NIMPH? Isn't that a problem?" The young woman then asked, scratching the side of her head.
"Aside from perhaps needing to be much more careful in combat, there is no major change you should be worried about," The good doctor answered calmly as she slid her hand across several haptic feedback touchscreens to save and package the recorded results. She then looked the girl over and nodded in approval, somewhat able to make out the small incision where the Vapaus round had penetrated her forehead.
"Unless ya suddenly start wanting to harm humans again," Cortana joked, but saw a visible look of distress in the girl's eyes. She told her, "Let us know ahead of time, will ya?"
"Oh, I have no intention of harming anyone…" Mari replied, smiling sheepishly and rubbing the back of her neck. She quickly clarified the obvious, "Raptures are excluded, obviously," while raising her hands defensively. Raptures weren't exactly people. That some could wind up mimicking human speech felt like an evolutionary mishap, rather than an actual issue.
Halsey looked at the remains of Chatterbox's body, what was tantamount to a pile of ashes, then hummed.
"Welcome back to the world of the living, Marian," Alyosha said to the girl, seeing the girl's smile immediately brighten again. Putting a hand on her shoulder and squeezing, he warmly said, "Welcome home…" while the Doctor focused on writing down a few last-minute notes for future analyses. Doctor Anders, meanwhile, still audibly struggled with the issues of aiding Halsey fix this nightmare joint.
"Glad to be home, Commander…" The girl replied, soft-spoken, then sized him up. With an even brighter smile, she stated observantly, "You seem to have gotten an upgrade from the last time I saw you, allies notwithstanding," and motioning to the MJOLNIR suit, the height changes, basically the sudden shift.
The Commander cast a glance over at his comrade-in-arms, his AI companion and the ever-busy Scientist that had helped him be who he was today, then gently lifted a hand in an attempt to broadly point them out and said to Marian, "You can thank them for it," before crossing his arms together again.
"Hehe," She giggled happily, "I figured as much. I didn't ever think a Commander would go to this extent to fight side-by-side with us."
"It seems Commander Harris is a bit special, considering he's one of the people that helped orchestrated the change in government on the Ark," Halsey answered without ever looking away from her console, fingers dancing on the touch screen. A professional through and through, Marian thought to herself.
"Thanks for the vote of confidence, doc, but I'm just a soldier, like everyone else…" The young man answered, humble to no end. Marian had always known he was destined for greatness, deep down. Despite it all. He continued, Hell, without you all around, the change this place needed wasn't gonna be possible for a while yet."
"Humble as ever," Halsey answered that, which got a short chuckle out of Cortana and Marian.
The former Heretic then looked at the man and asked, "Should we go home, Commander?" while putting her hands together. Her hovering turret sprung up and linked itself back to her frame, allowing her to wield it again. She set it to standby mode, watching the gun fold in on itself, then smiled again as the Spartan-II, who had tensed a mere second ago, relaxed.
… They'd told her of the Spartans. Amazing people. Almost as amazing as the Commander, really…
"Sure. If you don't mind, doc?" The young man raised a brow.
"Examinations are complete and I will compile a report later down the line for all staff to read. Feel free to go back to the Outpost…" Halsey gave a quick wave, then sighed and said, "I sense we may all be stuck in the Ark for the time being. Take care of yourselves and don't get into too much trouble. John, Cortana, keep them safe."
"Aye, aye," Cortana chuckled. She said, "C'mon, fellas," before leading the way out of the room. Halsey was now alone, listening to the footsteps of the two humanoid machines and of the Commanders of their squads get farther and farther away. Despite the Terror threat, their victory wasn't bitter. It was another ray of light in what felt like an impossible situ-Halsey froze. A momentary fluctuation appeared on the display, in Marian's neural patterns…
She rewound it and, indeed, there it was… Concerning, but not unexpected, she thought. Best to keep an eye on it with checkups…
Meanwhile, as the crew walked out of the Missilis laboratories and marched straight to the train station, where the AZX was waiting, Cortana inquired, "So, how's it feel? Being the first known Nikke to come home from being a Heretic?" as she examined Marian. She had comparison photos for before and after stored in her memory, too. It was odd. Same face, but quite a few different
The girl stopped to think for a moment. How could anyone word that kind of experience anyhow? She sighed deeply, then tried, replying awkwardly with, "Odd…" while rubbing her arm, "It all feels like it was a very awful nightmare I've just awoken from…" and she then looked at her hands. They were stained by the blood of comrades now…
"Trust me… I think all of us are feeling it," Alyosha replied. He walked up to her and gently shifted the bandages, tightening them a little so they stood more firmly on top of her head. She beamed at that, while Chief and his AI companion exchanged a quick look, the train itself starting to move toward the Outpost.
"I'm gonna be going through more Vapaus-related documentation," Cortana said, activating a holographic system connected to her body and showing a few items of interest among the encrypted files. She said to them, "Andersen sent some encrypted Data from the Central Government's computers. Enikk and I are gonna prune it for anything useful…"
"Blue Team, Lucky Strikes and Noble are going to start cooperating on dealing with EXOTIC and Dhoban," Chief stated, then looked at Alyosha, who was looking right back at them, and asked politely, "If you don't mind being on standby as reinforcements, sir, we could use the backup. Especially now that Marian has rejoined the ranks…"
The guilt Chief felt for losing Niner began to slowly taper off to only a mere thought in the back of his head the moment he realized they'd managed to save what the Commander believed to be his own mistake. And seeing Marian, the person that had once been Modernia, back, made the Spartan wonder if he could have done something different to save Niner…
Cortana put a hand on his shoulder, then smiled kindly. Clearly, she knew what he was thinking of.
"Ready as always, Chief. I think I even heard Matis is up, too, though I think captain Cutter might wanna redeploy them with Alpha-9," The Commander spoke. They found chairs that had specifically been made to withstand the weight of Spartans, then sat down as the train continued its long ascent up to the Outpost.
"Lance Corporal Doherty, Alpha-9 and Matis are currently toasting to the dead, so I don't think they're gonna go anywhere any time soon," Cortana chuckled, well aware that Maxwell probably dragged them all over. She didn't feel like the type to randomly get drunk, but considering her psych evaluation being easily available… Yeah, maybe.
"Alright, then yeah. We're your QRF," Alyosha offered, cracking a smile. He offered the Chief his hand to shake and the Spartan gripped and firmly shook, nodding in thanks.
"Seeing actual Coordination in the Ark's military is recomforting," Marian spoke, then let out a giggle and said, "Especially considering your role in it, Commander," which caused the young man to turn red in the face for a second. The AI chuckled at the quip, reading through the Vapaus classified reports and decrypting as much of it as possible for future use.
"Heh. Again, if it wasn't for the Chief and the UNSC, I think we'd still be stumbling around in the dark," The man remained as humble as ever, the Chief thought as the train finally exited into the wider 'surface' area where the Outpost was. They already saw staff gathering around the monument to the dead as ceremonies were taking place to carve comrades' names in.
"You're part of the reason any of us tagged along, Commander. 'Sides from our oath to defend humanity no matter where we are, obviously," Cortana snorted, shaking her head.
"Yeah, but-" The Commander wanted to remain humble…
… But Chief simply told him, "Just take the compliment, sir…"
"Heh…" The young man then snorted, shook his head and smiled, "Alright. Thanks," as the train reached its destination. Exiting the train car and bidding a quick goodbye to Infinity Rail, all of whom were working on the train itself at the moment(but still managed to say bye), the Spartan, Commander, Nikke and AI walked toward the Command Center, past Marines and Nikkes both in celebration and in mourning for their comrades.
Marian frowned, feeling a little guilt as some of the Marines cast glances her way that almost seemed hostile, only for their faces to relax. They waved to the team, letting them pass by, while some even offered non-alcoholic stuff to the crew, like soda and some various sparkly 'wines' that more-so mimicked the taste of champagne.
Cortana was the one to gently squeeze Mari's shoulder this time, making sure the girl could calm down as they entered the Command Center and found it active, too. A smaller Memorial Wall had been built up by ODST forces, with glasses on a table below a hanging flag bearing the burning drop-pod and skull emblem of the Shock Troops.
Climbing up the stairs and entering the dormitory of their elite team, they woke up with a massive 'Welcome Home, Marian' banner, several explosions of confetti and the members of Counters or just Anis and Neon for now(Syuen was in the back, staring), jumping out and yelling, "Welcome home!" as they jumped out of cover.
Rapi sighed, then smiled and said, "... Welcome back, Marian. Apologies for the sur…" She paused, watching the girl sniffle, tears welling in her eyes. As Rapi asked, "Are you okay?" Chief and Cortana decided to check out of it for now. Rio herself snorted at the sight, taking her helmet(which was full of confetti on top) off and crossing her arms.
"Thank you all…" Marian whispered as she wrapped all three of the girls in a hug, "I'm glad to be home," before breathing shakily, happy. Alyosha put a hand on her shoulder and smiled, then looked at Rapi, who also smiled a little, too, while Anis and Neon simply held her close. Neon was a bit stumped, but hey, if the rest of the team liked her, that meant she would like her, too.
"We all are. Trust me…" Anis whispered, patting her on the back. Only to immediately stop and look at the confused Neon. As they pulled away, Anis started, "Oh, right. Neon, this is Marian. Marian, this is Neon. She's a bit cuckoo," before motioning to a glaring Neon whose glasses seemed to turn bright white. Rapi joined the Commander as they watched the introduction unfold.
Marian giggled, then said, "Nice to meet you, Neon."
"Nice to finally meet you, too, Marian!" The girl replied excitedly, putting her gloved hands together in front of her face as her glasses still shone that blinding white. She continued excitedly, "Master talked about you a lot. So did Anis and Rapi," then she hummed and took a moment to think what to ask. She grinned, inquired, "Tell me, do you find Firepower enticing?" with a visible dumb grin, then
"Oh, God. Don't start, you dork," Anis rolled her eyes, all while Rio and Syuen both let out chuckles at the quip.
"Whaaat? It's a perfectly legitimate question to ask our new old member!" Neon demanded… Before they both started fighting again…
Rapi let out another sigh, pinching the bow of her nose, before looking at Marian and saying, "C'mon," while the girl simply let out a short giggle as she watched Rio dogpile onto Neon and Anis. Meanwhile, Syuen shook her head, mildly annoyed, but grinning all the same. She'd been getting soft, of course, to nobody's surprise but her own.
Memorial Park Area
Platoons of Marines had gathered 'round the memorial plaques meant for their fallen comrades, raising high glasses filled with various alcoholic beverages. The rowdy bunch of troops from the UNSC and their Nikke compatriots had formed a sort of impromptu memorial party for all the dead, calling their names as if on roll call while drinking together.
Members of the various Nikke Squads that called the Outpost Home held vigil over the party, some of them laughing at the sight of the men and women cheering as they recalled fallen comrades from the previous operation. Brid, one of the members of Infinity Rail, stood by on one of the park benches, looking at them all.
They were mentioning the names of both human and Nikke alike, which made the workaholic Nikke operating the rail train that had just brought the Commanders over happy. They were being remembered side-by-side with humans, like they always should've. Though she was tense because of the rumors of Exotic's involvement with a bomb of some kind, she knew better than to espouse said worries now.
She felt a hand clamp onto her shoulder, then looked up, eyes widening. The brown-haired, brown-eyed beauty that was Diesel smiled at her, greeting, "Hello, Brid! Sorry if I scared you, but I figured you'd like some company," as she cradled a bouquet of flowers to place at the bottom of the memorial wall.
Brid nodded, "Of course…" then looked around for the smallest of them and asked, "Where's Soline?" as she leaned back. Her peppier compatriot sat down beside her. The bouquet in her hands was a mix of Hyacinths and roses, a fitting little companion for the semi-dour mood in the Outpost and the new names being laser-etched into the stone and armor.
Diesel herself took her cap off and replied with a little more calm, "Currently a bit busy helping repair the AZX after the supply runs," as she rifled through her pockets for something sweet to eat. Probably one of her usual strawberry candies, if Brid was gonna guess. That stuff made the girl who she was. She was thankful the UNSC wasn't trying to take it away…
"Good on her for being proactive, then," Brid murmured. She didn't wanna keep up a conversation for too long, as she wanted to relax and process their losses alone for now, so she asked, "I see you have flowers."
"Yeah. I'm gonna go place them soon. Just wanted to see how you're doing," The girl beamed, kindness radiating off of her despite the sadness hovering in the air, which mixed in with the rowdiness of the Marines giving cheers to each name their Chaplains and even Rapunzel, who sat among the crowd, spoke aloud.
"Perfectly fine," Brid partially lied, though she was a little less sour now than prior, "The little break from work is welcome, but I wish it came under better circumstances…" before her gaze locked onto one specific plate pressed into the Wall, a name she'd spoken to only days prior to the operation. With a heavy sigh, she said, "We've lost much…" as she tugged at her fingers.
"I think that's a pretty common feeling among the ranks, but we did win. Took out a Heretic and a Tyrant. There must be some jubilation going on in there…" Diesel stated, slightly more hopeful as she looked at the flowers.
"Probably," Brid conceded. She then asked, "Did you hear anything from the engineers that were supposed to come and help us refit the AZX's armored cars? Just in case we ever have to go into actual combat again."
"I hear they're currently busy dealing with making a functional dock for the Admire closer to the Surface, so we're gonna have to rely on our own repairs and refits for a while," The girl replied, pointing to a distant scaffolding attached to the Outpost itself. A new, larger elevator and a tunnel being built to get the ship seaside, presumably.
Brid nodded understandingly, "That makes sense. Having an actual battleship ready for combat would be a nice boon for any coastal operations,"
"Yep!" Diesel said with a bit more pep.
"Feel free to go deposit the flowers, Diesel… I think I might just sit here and relax," The white-haired, green-eyed member of Infinity Rail requested. She saw Diesel's face slightly shift to sadness, then back to her normal, happy self. Pulling out a piece of strawberry candy and handing it to Brid, she stood up.
"Okay. Call either me or Soline if you need anything!" She spoke, waving goodbye before walking over to the Memorial. A Marine who had seen her shouted 'Make a Hole!' really loudly and they parted like a green sea, allowing her a path through. All of them had taken their helmets and off-duty garrison caps off and bowed their heads for one solemn moment, to allow her to safely deposit the bouquet.
… It was sort of heartwarming.
Meanwhile, in the 'Seedy Bar', as it had been so blatantly nicknamed by most of the staff stationed within the base only due to it being basically the polar opposite of the more fancy establishment literally across the street, the Shevchenko twins, their squad and a few dozen other Marines celebrated more quietly, drinking to the tunes of smooth jazz playing from an old jukebox.
The smell of cheap alcohol filled the room the same way the music currently was, all while Valentina Shevchenko, who was mildly injured by shrapnel during the last battle and bore bandages over her left bicep and right calf, sipped from a whiskey, mumbling to herself, "... Could've certainly gone a lot worse," all while still feeling the sting.
"Heh. You're telling me," Her 'younger' brother(they were twins and she was only older BY TWO MINUTES!) replied, grinning a little as she held the same kind of cheap Scotch Whisky in his hand, swirling it around in the glass as he felt the mild pain of two of his own injuries:Two bullets that struck his gut, which was bandaged under his shirt, and a bullet in the thigh that missed the femoral by a bloody inch. He teased, " You nearly lost your dome to a sniper more than once, sis."
Val rolled her eyes, "Har di harr, miy brate," she shot back, then pointed at the top of his noggin and told him, "I wasn't the only one, considering the fact Centi had to fix three separate helmets of yours…"
"Least she does it free of charge," Another member of their squad quipped, garnering a few quiet laughs.
"Hah. Yeah, because he's paying her in other ways," Val wiggled her eyebrows, causing her brother to stiffen up, face red, while their comrades, both Nikke and human, laughed. Mihara walked over, handing a couple of the boys drinks while Yuni worked on cocktails in the background for the Nikkes. They'd been getting the good stuff.
Sev raised his hands up in annoyance, defending the relationship via saying, "She's a great girl, we share interests and having an engineer close always helps, don't it?"
"I never argued it doesn't. Just glad you finally found someone, dude," Val replied a little more genuinely, smiling at the guy. She gave him a gentle jab in the ribs with her elbow and he groaned, which caused her to raise her hands and quickly apologize in their 'native' language. They were born on Harvest, but their parents had still taught them their ancestors' language.
"Yeah…" Mike Shevchenko then sighed, leaning onto the counter with a small, loving smile, "She's something else, I tell ya. I can't believe people in the Ark aren't fond of Nikkes."
"I know, right? They're built all nice, too," Val quipped, making an hourglass shape with both of her hands while their comrades, now both human and Nikke, laughed. Yuni and Mihara both visibly winked at Val, causing a few of the men to wince while Val herself suddenly covered her own butt, both literally and figuratively.
"Heh. Course that's where your mind is, sis," Sev ignored the wink, then took a sip from his drink.
"You're talking like half the Marine Corps doesn't think the way I do, Mike. I doubt ya had pure intentions when you and Centi became 'friends'," Val chuckled, looking at her brother and seemingly de-stressing as she leaned herself forward again, looking her little brother in the eye. He snorted and nodded in understanding.
"Well, good to know the Corps's gonna be the Corps regardless of time and space," Spoke the familiar voice of a badass Marine. The entire place stood up and stood at attention, to which Sergeant-Major AJ Johnson simply told them, "At ease, kids. Only here to grab a drink," before raising a hand toward Mihara, who nodded with a proud smirk. The other Marines in Johnson's squad were there, too. Dubbo, Bisenti, Stacker and Jenkins.
"So, what's the scuttlebutt about today?" Sergeant Stacker asked as he sat down next to Val and Sev.
"Some of our boys dating Nikkes, Sarge. Turns out a lot of the lads found fellowship with the gals," Val quipped, grinning as she looked at her brother specifically, plus a few other boys who were now hiding their faces. Johnson cracked a grin at that, shaking his head as he sat down between Valentina and another Marine.
"Considering even Spartans are in the sack with some of them," The eldest Marine quipped.
"Wait, what?!" Almost everyone swiveled on their feet to face him. Marines, Nikkes, staff working the counters. Hell, even Mihara and Yuni had turned toward the old man, eyebrows raised in disbelief. The man blinked, realizing what he'd just done. Yes, he'd done it on purpose, because Nikkes had somehow gotten into the pants of the hardest-to-reach lot.
"I said too much already, heh. Ask Rapunzel if you guys feel like embarrassing one of the Goddesses live, though," He spoke, taking a puff from his cigar, then flicking the ash into a tray in front of him, one that was being used for simple cigarettes. As the proverbial dust began to settle in the thoughts of the patrons and workers of the Bar, the Sergeant-Major couldn't stop grinning.
"... Holy fuck," Sev mumbled as he realized what that meant.
"Wait, so Lieutenant 104-" Val raised a brow, only to immediately get a no-hesitation confirmation from the SMAJ through a nod. He took a deeper puff of the cigar, then paused as he also realized he'd just done a major stupid move. Fred was probably gonna have his ass. Spartans were still very much professional military.
"Oh, God…" Sev mumbled, grinning as he already pictured it.
"Yeah, let's not ask him about it. I don't think I wanna know how Spartans or Nikkes as weird as Rapu bang," Val snorted, rubbing her eyes. She took a sip from her drink, while the other Marines still processed it. It had hit the entire place like a sledgehammer:One of their very own badass, immutable supersoldiers… And one of the Goddesses.
"Amen…" Everyone else replied. The subject of the discussion then changed to cars and the Jukebox, to what was called 'City Pop'.
Outpost Medical Center
Most of the survivors, the wounded, had been transported over to Mary and Pepper's care. Hundreds of surviving Marines, pilots and more currently lay in beds, being actively treated for the injuries sustained during MODERNITY. Their victory over the Rapture Force that defended Heretic CODENAME:MODERNIA, their command squads bringing her back to their side and the whole victory.
It had cost a lot, but if Doctor Halsey was to be believed, all of it had been worth it. Just the intelligence they could acquire from Modernia alone could shift the entire tide of this war. Stella, however, didn't care about all of that at the moment. Dressed in more casual clothes and carrying a basket of food over her shoulder, the young woman marched down the intensive care section, looking for a specific someone.
Pepper, the peppy pink-haired doctor, stopped her and said, "Hello, Stella! Guessing you're looking for Daniel?" to which the girl nodded, visibly worried. Pepper smiled, grabbed her by the shoulder and led her over to where Dan was laying. The young man looked completely and utterly defeated, staring down at the bandaged stump as he twiddled his thumbs. He hadn't even noticed Stell or Pepper.
Pepper leaned over to the girl and whispered, "Captain Cutter and Doctor Halsey have already slated him for a Prosthetic replacement… He'll be back in action in no time…"
Stella visibly relaxed, nodding, "Good to know… PALAIMON's nearly completely repaired, too… Thank you, Pep," and she received a smile in return. The young doc soon returned to her business as usual, assisting Mary in tending to the other wounded. Some Marines in the place had tubes sticking out of them due to the damage. Others had to have their lungs reinflated. More yet missed limbs, too.
She sighed. She'd treated a good few of those injuries and stabilized them for MEDEVAC. She, however, came here to visit a specific person. And as she slowly walked forward and sat down next to his bed, she couldn't help but crack a smile the moment she saw his eyes light up. He looked at her, then said, "Stell… You're here," with a hint of disbelief.
"Of course, I am. Why wouldn't I be?" The girl asked with a smile as she sat, setting the picnic basket aside as she decided to just listen for now. He needed all the help he could get, especially from those close to him. She'd call the others over for visits, too, she thought to herself, when they weren't mourning the dead or celebrating Marian's return.
"I just thought that…" Dan started, then paused, shook his head and smiled tiredly, "Nevermind. Old habits," before looking her over. If even for a moment, the young man seemed to perk back up again to a fraction of his former self. She wasn't sure how damaging it was for a mech pilot to lose his limb, but she knew it was solvable with that prosthetic…
In the meanwhile, she thought, taking his hand, then spoke to him, "Hey… I'm right here. And I'm not leaving."
"Yeah. Thanks, Stell. You have no idea how much I need that kind of reinforcement right now…" The young man's smile seemed to brighten just that little bit more. She smiled back, caressing his cheek, then hummed. Best to tell him about the Prosthetic. It might get him to be a little more happy. Or would at least get him out of his rut enough to eat.
"Good news for that is you may be receiving one of the UNSC's top-of-the-line Prosthetics. And PALAIMON is nearly fixed," Stella said, squeezing his hand. She watched his face momentarily light up, before he noticed the stump again and sighed deeply. Great, that plan failed. She noticed Mary and Pepper watching them, too.
"That's good… Old guy deserved some refurbishment, heh…" He mumbled.
"Daniel. Look at me…" Stella spoke with a sterner voice, grabbing him by the chin and forcing him to look at her. As gently as possible, though. She didn't want to give him any more issues, like whiplash. Still, she spoke to him, calm, collected and loving, "It's going to be fine. I know it's tough right now, but I am going to be right here while you recover, okay?"
"... Okay…" He sniffled, a slight crack in his voice.
"I bought you lunch, by the way. Your favorites~!" The girl then spoke, lifting up a few specially-made sandwiches she knew he liked. He actually did seem just that tiny bit more happy to actually crack a big, wide smile and that was enough for Stella to know she made the right choice. She wasn't going to leave his side until he got better.
NUEG Headquarters
Within the confines of the Ark's government building, there was tension brewing in the air. Intelligence had been sparse about it, but Dhoban hadn't just escaped with Exotic. He had taken a few of Syuen's loyal lackeys with him underground, a presumed attempt to form an insurgency of some kind. And with the news of the bomb that Heavenly Ascension's extremists had their hands on…
Andersen, Captain Cutter, Ingrid and Mustang sat together at one table for the first time in a long time, reading through the reports delivered by Noble Team and Alpha-9 in regards to what they'd found out so far. Elysion Harper had helped the Spartans with zero hesitation, probably wanting to prove that those she had come with to the NUEG were genuinely repentant.
"The mix of good with the bad in terms of news is genuinely starting to give me whiplash," Ingrid mumbled as she rubbed her temples. The CEO of Elysion had been online for the past forty-eight hours, waiting for confirmation that Operation MODERNITY had gone well and to keep up with Mustang's reports about the bomb situation.
"Agreed. Feels like when we win once, we take two steps back," The Chief Deputy replied, fingers interlaced as he leaned onto the table, hand covering his mouth. He stared at a hologram display primed with an estimate of the depth and reach of all of the tunnels utilized by Heavenly Ascension to safely traverse the Outer Rim. Right under their damn noses…
"Oh, mon amies, s'il vous plaît, calm down!" Mustang spoke up, peppy as ever, though he, too, seemed visibly worried with the current developments. Marian's recovery notwithstanding, they were at a bit of an impasse. Still, he told them, "Zere's plenty of time to deal with the enemy if Underworld Queen's and Noble Team's findings are to be believed."
"There's still a bomb hidden in the city that's powerful enough to flatten an entire district. What we need to do right now, more than ever, is worry." Ingrid replied, looking upon her fellow CEO like he was crazy.
"I'd like to wait for the preliminary results of our ground team's investigation. EH and Noble Team have been pursuing a lead," Cutter offered. Though he wasn't sure they could trust Harper just yet, they had a good start to the business relationship with the former Heavenly Ascension leader. That was to say, she was being extremely cooperative.
"Exotic feels a bit too smart to have just left behind a Lead like that," Andersen hummed, scratching his chin, "And with Dhoban? Have we figured out why he, out of all of them, wants to harm the Ark so badly? The man's been a loyal citizen and model soldier until the takeover despite everything else. I didn't like him, but I didn't think he was capable of treason."
"Enikk's systems intercepted communiques a while ago that we've just been able to decrypt," Cutter shrugged. "Her and Isabel should be sending the report any minute now, but the findings there hint at the fact the man didn't like either Syuen or us," before tapping his finger on the holographic display and watching the image shift. At first, it was a pixellated image of Dhoban's service record and photograph, then it resolved into the burly bastard himself.
"Would make sense. He's a loyal Central Government citizen, not a NUEG one," Andersen replied, highlighting the man's psych profile. Prone to acts of violence, extremely hateful toward his own people, that being those born into the Outer Rim, a complete mental case that made Cutter wonder why they hired him in the first place.
"To add upon zat, mon ami presumably 'ates that you are all aiding in rebuilding the Rim, his former home," Mustang completed that train of thought rather eloquently.
"Which makes absolutely zero sense. You'd think he'd be happy his people get a second lease at life," Cutter shrugged, sighing as he scanned through the files.
"Not everybody sees things the way any sane human does, Captain," Ingrid replied as she leaned forward. A support officer brought mugs filled with coffee over. As the woman took one in her hand, she said, "I'll note Syuen thinking it was a smart idea to try and overthrow the Central Government. She succeeded, but not in the way she wanted to."
"A truly 'umorous event," Mustang chuckled.
"Regardless of that, our main current issue remains. Finding the bomb and Exotic and disabling both. I have full confidence in Noble, ONI and Alpha-9's capabilities to solve the problem," Andersen stated, crossing his arms to his chest and watching as new reports streamed in onto their computers. Noble was set to arrive for a quick debrief.
"... But we'd all like to make sure we do it with days to spare instead of seconds, like in the average modern action movie," Ingrid commented, casting a glance over toward Mustang while the others laughed quietly at the quip. Being head of the entertainment industry meant that the CEO of Tetra had a lot of stuff to answer for when it came to keeping old Tropes alive.
"'Tis a good trope, however, no? The suspense of having to disarm a bomb with only a second to spare, only to breathe zat sigh of relief!" The man spoke with his usual boast and purple prose, before letting out a quick, "Magnifique~!"
"It's funny the first time around," Ingrid admitted, shaking her head and cracking the tiniest of smiles.
"And it's a classic one for a reason…" Cutter mumbled, then sighed and rubbed his eyes, before adding, "Regardless, this is real life. We're not gonna take any chances."
"Indeed," The Chief Deputy affirmed, then paused as their communication system pinged. He smiled and said, "Ah. Noble Team and Harper have arrived for a debrief of their current findings," Then he pressed a button and leaned forward into the com, ordering, "Send them up," while his gaze shifted to the door. Moments later, the Spartans and Elysion Harper herself walked through the door, though the grave face EH wore worried them.
"Noble. Miss Harper," Cutter gave a nod in greeting to both the Spartan Commander and the 'former' head of a terror organization. Cutter had fought the Insurrection before, though. He knew a little better than to just blindly trust. For the time being, if Harper continued to play ball, they'd have no issues. Anything else, though, and the woman would wake up with RED Team at her doorstep.
"Welcome," Ingrid greeted in the meanwhile, a lot more relaxed than Cutter. For good reason, she thought to herself. She knew EH pretty well, considering they'd been keeping in touch. Meanwhile, she also noticed that Perilous Siege and Underworld Queen also waited outside the HQ, guarding the entrance. Shifty, the operator in charge of the Counters, Lucky Strikes and Blue team, walked in, too.
"Chief Deputy. CEOs. Captain. Good to see all of you here," EH spoke before a grin appeared on her face. She looked at Noble team for a second, then back at the CEOs and Military officers and said to them, "We've got good news:The trail is still warm," which surprised several of them. Hell, all of them, really. Maybe they'd overestimated Exotic. Or maybe they wanted to be found.
"Oh?" Eitherway, all of the CEOs thought, they'd be better off knowing ahead of time.
"Sirs, ma'am," Carter greeted, taking his helmet off. He then began to explain, "We have confirmed explosive residue at the safehouse miss Harper has led us to, not to mention the tunnels themselves," though both the Chief Deputy and the Good Captain would be remiss to not notice the Spartan seemed relatively uneasy. A map of the known tunnel network reappeared ahead of them, combined with an older one from during the Ark's construction.
"We've also deployed a drone and confirmed they're booby trapped…" Kat spoke next, approaching the table and removing a chip from her helmet. She slid it into a slot specifically designed for physical connections, then sighed and said, "Said Drone is currently a molten pile of slag at the bottom of the tunnel linking the safehouse to the rest of the Network," before marking the location on the map with the Drone's last IFF Position.
"Yeah, the flamethrowers they installed could probably fry a living being to a crisp in seconds. Much more a Nikke," EH stated, hands behind her back. There was a bit of military elegance to her movements, Cutter thought. She must've been good friends with Ingrid for a reason. Either both served together in some form of military establishment, or…
"Could we deploy teams to disarm the traps?" Cutter inquired meanwhile, his thoughts drifting back to the problem at hand.
"It'd take too long. You'd be better off capturing one of Exotic to help you find and disable them… I'd recommend Viper," EH hummed, activating an image next to the map that showed the bright red eyes, pinkish hair and pale skin of the young woman, as well as her hand holding up her phone. She thought how to bring the girl out, then, upon getting an idea, added, "And I know just the way to drag her ass out of hiding, provided Commander Alyosha Harris doesn't mind partaking in this little mission. Him and doctor Halsey."
"Considering it's to save the Ark? Mon ami probably won't mind," Mustang offered. All of them were well aware of how the Commander operated when it came to saving his home. Much more, his people. He'd been the one who helped kickstart the whole anti-Syuen rebellion early on. And now that he had her under his command… They wondered if Halsey couldn't also help.
"You all have a blank check… Do what needs to be done to stop that bomb," Andersen ordered. All of Noble Team and EH immediately snapped-to, saluting the Chief Deputy. He cast a glance back toward the map of the tunnels themselves. His mind wondered, thinking of just how many modifications and traps could've been done to the catacombs linking the entire Ark together.
It wasn't painting too happy a picture for any future exploration… Or for finding the bomb.