With Chief and Sara
While Cortana seemed to busy herself with running calculations in regards to the necessary amount of compacted steel and other materiel necessary for an ascent up to the Forward Unto Dawn, Sara continued building out their little compound deeper into the mountain. With the additional defenses secured outside and the Spartan actively on patrol, she felt comfortable enough to work on.
Chief stared out into the wide forests around the mountain range they were settled in, noticing a slight beauty in this alien RimWorld. Even the people who waded by, Marshal Service or part of other factions they've yet to meet, seemed friendly enough. A Marshal trading convoy walked by, trailing with several animals with blueish-silver wool, faces concealed by said wool.
The leader waved to him and the Spartan simply gave a nod in greeting. The Marshal smiled and walked on with the rest of his crew and pack. Chief had counted about twenty armed individuals, plus four pack animals with heavy leather backpacks strapped onto them, probably carrying the items they were going to sell.
Sara stepped outside, dusting her hands clean of sawdust and stone, before crossing her arms and taking in a deep, deep breath. Exhaling, she said, "I managed to dig out a bit more and I can start installing flooring and the walls… Should get us a few more cots in a jiffy, if you want to actually rest, Chief."
"I'm fine," The Spartan replied, squinting and allowing his visor's systems to polarize, providing a zoomed-in view of the treeline. There was no movement beside the Marshals that were leaving. He then spoke observantly, "The Marshals have a lot of equipment from Old Westerns. Any particular reason as to why?"
"I think they just like the style," Sara shrugged, tapping her own bodysuit before adding, "You'll find a lot of factions like that out here, like we talked about," and staring out into the distance. A quiet orchestra of gunfire echoed far, far away from them, probably from the other factions engaging in a fight. The Clouds above them, meanwhile, still covered the Dawn perfectly, though they were already breaking.
The Spartan almost didn't want to believe it was simply aesthetics. He asked, "That simple?" as his AI companion chuckled in his helmet. She loved how the Spartan could both be a very complex person and somehow the most simple man in the Universe. She thought to herself that she meant 'simple' in the sense that he was easy to understand, not that he was stupid, before her avatar tinted slightly red with embarrassment.
"Yeah, that simple. The Marshals ain't…" The young woman winced, scratched her cheek and thought of how to best put it, before continuing, "Exactly nice people either, though. So looking like western Sheriffs and stuff is probably them trying to seem like the Law. Approachable. Compared to the Federation's high-tech, almost biological-looking tomfuckery…"
"Yeah, that sounds like it'd go well…" Cortana piped up with some mild sarcasm in her tone, trying to get her mind out of her own machine head. She appeared on Chief's shoulder, wearing a small smile on her face while Sara looked back at her. The former Federation member still seemed surprised by the presence of a Smart AI. Even if she was, she did a good enough job of keeping any dissenting opinions to herself.
"Well, they're getting recruits," Sara offered with a shrug, walking over toward their planted food with Chief following behind. She knelt beside one of the plants, examining it while she told the Spartan and AI, "More than the Federation can say, what with them dragging people into their ranks by force," and they recalled McKay.
"And you?" Chief crossed his arms.
"Oh, I've been in the Federation since I've known myself, heh…" Sara chuckled awkwardly, rubbing the back of her neck and seemingly hesitating to delve any deeper with her answers. Chief noticed and nodded, mentally noting she had yet to pry much into his service record or Cortana. With that in mind, he chose the professionally courteous way of not prying any further. They'd learn to trust each-other soon enough.
With that in mind, he asked, "Any other factions we should keep tabs on?"
"On this planet?" The woman hummed thoughtfully, then replied, "There's the remnants of the Empire that the Feds broke off from, a few Moonshiners, the Thrumboians, which are basically people who spliced their genetic code with that of the very rare Thrumbo, an ancient and venerable animal around which they built their whole religion, plus tribals and other assorted groups of varying tech levels. I think the Feds are the highest up in terms of tech with the Imps."
"I'm picking up faint signatures from orbit and from all over this planet that say that might not be true," Cortana quipped with half a mouth, grinning as she looked at the confused Engineer, who was trying to process just what she was referring to. A moment later, recognition crossed her face as she seemed to recall it.
"There's the possibility of the ancient Mechanoids, yeah, but those are rare… Old enemies of the Empire and Federation, plus all the factions the Feds fought against…" She then added, arms crossed to her chest, then hummed and remembered, "Not to forget VOID. Surprised those pricks haven't visited us yet, considering how they laid claim to this entire planet…"
"Noted," Both the Spartan and AI replied quickly.
"Huh…" Sara nodded, then paused as she looked up. She squinted as she saw something overhead, only for a sudden flash of white light to fill the few cracks in the clouds they could see. She gasped, "Hey, what the-!" as the Chief jumped to his feet, weapon already drawn. As the flash of light cleared, the two caught sight of debris raining from the heavens, a shower of burning extraplanetary steel raining down on the planet.
"I just picked up a mayday! That's a Colony Ship!" Cortana called out with concern clearly audible in her voice. The Spartan tensed, while Sara stared, stunned. It took a moment for her military training to kick in as she visibly steadied herself. She did, however, manage to in the end, her brain immediately going into action mode.
"And it just blew up… Quick, see if you can't track the escape pods!" Sara ordered almost instinctively, then winced. Chief, however, nodded in agreement to the girl as he readied himself to burst into a sprint. He saw various markings appear on his HUD, strips and lines with projected landing areas for debris and the activating Mayday Beacons of the pods themselves as they were coming down.
"Tracking…" Cortana whispered. The dots linked, connected and the targets were painted as the Spartan stared at six egg-shaped pods coming down at near-enough to terminal velocity to concern him. The AI spoke to Sara more than to him, "I have them. Trajectories point to at least six Pods landing very close to us!"
"Let's go retrieve them," The Spartan spoke with a steady voice, causing the young woman and his AI companion to crack smiles.
"Was thinking the same thing!" The girl said excitedly, then turned about and muttered to herself, "More people means higher chances of survival. I'll go grab my pistol and gear!" then she rushed inside. Moments later, she came out, armed and ready to fight whatever came down. The two then broke in to a sprint toward the calculated drop-site.
Chief had kept his speed down to what Sara could manage, obviously, as they ran through the thick shrubs of the pine forest, weapons drawn and at the ready in case some troops from the Federation would have noticed the pods landing. Chief tracked the trajectory and estimated location via his HUD, watching all six pods approach in a surprisingly packed formation.
The pods soon vanished behind the treeline, the distant drone of deceleration engines kicking in filling the Spartan's ears. Cortana voiced, "Sounds like our friends touched down. Be ready for anything out there, John," which got an affirmative huff from the Spartan. The pair of survivors reached the landing site of the pods, a wide glade and clearing right next to another rock face.
Chief balled a fist and showed Sara to slow, then stop, before chopping his hand left. The two took cover behind thicker trees and behind shrubs as they eyed the survivors from the Drop Pods. Sara blinked, whispering, "Holy shit… I recognize them," before getting a glance from the Chief. She spoke, "They're from a PMC."
Indeed, the survivors down below, two men and four women, slowly scrambled to their feet, retrieving ancient-looking firearms and old plate carrier pieces, plus backpacks. They wore camouflage fatigues that resembled the old M81 American Woodland camouflage in style, with splotches of browns, greens and creams put together to form a disruptive pattern.
Each carried a different weapon, but all of them wore similar uniforms. Heavy duty body armor, The rifles were modified, ancient designs that fired different calibers, while one of the men touted a general purpose machine gun with a wood grip and stock that also had a hole in it. A PKM Light Machine Gun and Kalashnikov-pattern rifles. Chief recognized most of them.
They had no patches, nor any identifiable markings on their shoulders, just blood types on the sides and name plates on their plate carriers, which they soon loaded with ammo from their pods. They started speaking to one-another, the PKM machine gunner, a young man with jet-black hair, turning to talk to a couple of young women with blonde hair, one of which had, much to the Chief's surprise, the traits of a fox, like ears and a tail, but was still human.
Chief looked at Sara, asking her, "You know their PMC?"
"Yeah. It was a security detail for VIPs back in the day, but I think it went under," The girl replied quietly, then asked, "How're we doing this? Cuz we could just go talk to them before someone makes a mistake," to which the Spartan nodded. He stood up and showed her to stow her pistol, but keep it ready. Meanwhile, he held his rifle close as he began his descent, leading the way down.
As they approached, one of the group, armed with a designated marksman rifle of some kind, noticed them. She called out, "Contact!" And the entire team immediately swiveled about on their feet, weapons drawn. She was one of the two blondes. The normal human one, without the added animal traits. Beside her, the young man with the PK lifted the weapon.
He called out to Chief and Sara, "That's far enough!" before murmuring, "Jesus Christ, look at the armor on that big bastard…" as the Chief and Sara stopped in front of them.
"He's got a Federation soldier beside him," The blonde with fox traits spoke, her accent heavy. She shouldered her AK. The group grew even more tense, a couple of them providing rearward cover while the four in front held their guns up toward Chief and Sara. The Spartan was tense, having every instinct within his body screaming at him to lift his rifle up, too. But escalation was the last thing they needed right now.
Instead, he chose a diplomatic approach, stating, "We're not here to harm you," as he raised an open palm, then visibly flicked the safety of his MA5 on. The six former military contractors stared with mild surprise, while Chief continued, "I and my associate are stuck on this planet, just like you. She's a deserter from the Federation."
"As if," Another blonde, this one with purple eyes, spoke as she kept an AR-style rifle's barrel pointed at the Chief, "The Feds don't let Deserters exist…" and that sounded like experience to the Spartan. Sara sighed, then showed them the red fiber suit's various molten spots and other items. The blonde blinked and said, "Holy fuck…"
"Yeah," Sara sighed, "We do exist, though we're about as rare as a good night's sleep on the Rim…"
A moment of tense silence passed slowly as the two sides stared each-other down. Though neither seemed willing to budge at first, the machine gunner breathed a sigh and lowered his weapon, stating, "Alright, well… Since we're landed here, we've not got much of a choice but to believe you. Weapons down, folks…" and he watched his team lower their weapons. He smiled at the blonde foxgirl, who smiled back in return.
"We could use some help back at our camp," Chief stated, slinging his rifle onto his back, "It's also safer to talk back there than it is out in the open," and he waited again. The six-man team nodded to one-another and the young gunner turned back toward the Chief. He gave a gentle, forward tilt of his head in approval. John nodded back, then balled his fist and pumped it down, showing them to form up.
As they gathered around him, weapons at the ready, the normal blue-eyed blonde quipped toward Sara, "Glad to know the Feds can miss. Gives me hope when it comes to fighting them. Y'know, provided you're okay with shooting your old comrades in the future," causing the former Fed to crack a knowing smile. Cortana also audibly chuckled as they walked.
As they approached Base Camp, the six-man fireteam finally began to relax, walking past various makeshift barricade defenses that the Spartan and his compatriot had erected. Waist-high and good for cover, made of slate and steel and lined with barbed wire. The Foxgirl quipped, "You seem to have security down pat…"
"For the most part," Sara replied, "We did just drop in here, though…"
Chief looked at Sara as they entered the building, then said, "Set up some bunks for them," before looking at the squad and asking, "Who's your squad leader?" only to watch them look around at each-other. The blonde foxgirl raised a hand awkwardly. He stated, "Guessing you're temporarily in charge until someone else lands?"
"A dozen of us were aboard that ship, going to a RimWorld to set up our own little independent colony away from the clutches of the Empire and Feds," The PKM gunner replied, leaning his gun onto his knee so he could gesticulate with a free hand. He continued, "If the others survived, we're hoping they'll be able to find their way here… Unless they never made it to the other Pods," and that seemed to put a damper on the squad's moods, each of them frowning.
Chief nodded in understanding, "... Do you all have names?"
"Yeah," The gunner replied again, "I'm Vic, that's Vicky back there," he pointed at the blonde with the DMR, then at the Blonde foxgirl, "Ves," then at the purple-eyed blonde and the other two beside her, "Kat, Paul and Paula. Formerly part of the Blackstone PMC, now just independent contractors… And apparently survivors."
"Welcome to our little hidey-hole," Sara quipped as she assembled the bunks.
"It looks… Nice…?" Kat spoke awkwardly, slinging her rifle over her shoulder as she went inside. She poked her head around the corner, then chortled and said, "Of course, you guys have a Research bench. Why wouldn't any upstart colony have o-" then she looked up and saw the Dawn stuck in a mountain before crying out, "JA PIERDOLE, WHAT THE FUCK!"
The others looked up, too, noticing the ship and showing various shades of surprise, concern and fear. Paul stared up, cradling a CZ Bren II rifle, a black-framed polymer and steel rifle, as he asked, "So, is that what you two came in on?" before getting a shake of the head from Sara. Chief nodded, however, to which the man said, "Oh, just you, then…" as he looked up at the Chief.
"That still looks partially intact," Ves observed, smiling, "We could even rebuild it to get us off this World and back on our way to our destination," as she looked at the Chief. The Spartan nodded, then looked up at the ship as diagnostics from aboard streamed across his Heads-Up Display. She was still damaged to hell and back, but her reactor was working at 35% efficiency.
Paula added, "Or we can use it to power any future constructs we have… Disassemble it for defenses, walls, that type of stuff," with a bit more pragmatism. Sara and Chief both affirmed that quietly. The others seemed to take a minute to register the suggestion, but agreed, with her seeming brother giving the young woman a pat on the back.
"Anyways!" Sara began, having finished the six extra bunks, then yawning, "Ugh… Gonna have to go plant more rice and potatoes now…"
The blonde foxgirl perked up, smiling, "Oh, I can help! I've got a background in farming!"
Sara raised a brow, putting a hand on her own hip, then asked, "Really, now? That's great news… And mighty lucky, too," before she smiled. Ves giggled, then nodded, which caused Sara to ask, "Guessing you have a farmgirl background."
"We all came from the Core Worlds, pretty much," Vic explained, "Signed up because of family, or lack thereof in some cases," and he and Vicky bumped the awkward 'Orphaned-Twin-Siblings' fists, which caused Sara to chuckle. Chief understood the feeling, too, at least in regards to biological family, he thought to himself. Vic then offered, "I, Paul and Vicky will be patrolling the perimeter for now. If I can suggest walling up the northern passage as soon as we have the resources?"
"We'll get right on that. Cheers for the patrol," Sara spoke, then watched the trio stand up. Paula, meanwhile, remained at her bunk, tending to her own personal sniper rifle, an RSASS. Both the Spartan and the former Feddie recognized these people's equipment based simply on the historical context of these weapons being used in combat.
Hell, some had seen use as late as the Jovian Moons campaign during the Interplanetary War. Chief still vividly remembered some Frieden or Koslovic soldier in one of the pictures depicted as carrying an old rifle like theirs. It was a fairly vivid picture in the back of the Spartan's mind, too, like most of the history classes on Reach.
"So… What's your deal?" Kat asked as she turned her gaze toward the Chief. She had sat herself down on her bunk, taken her boots off and set her gear beside it, right next to the research table. Sara and Ves dropped their gear off at their bunks, too, seemingly preparing their specific tools to go deal with digging out the soil for extra plants.
"I'm a soldier, like all of you," The Spartan replied, still deadpan.
"No, I mean… What happened to you and your ship if you came down into a mountain?" The seemingly Polish you woman clarified, moving to a seated position on her bunk. As if on cue, the ground seemed to shake a little, metal groaning as the Dawn further shifted itself into place above them all.
"One of our missions went a bit awry," Chief explained, more so partially omitting the truth of how the ship actually went to become two halves. He continued, "The ship snapped in half while I was in cryosleep and I wound up here. The ship itself is probably still full of supplies, too," before pulling out several magazines for his rifle and setting them on the floor beside his bunk.
"That ought to be our next priority. Digging up to it, I mean," Paula suggested, setting her rifle aside and standing up. She walked over to the door and poked her head out, looking up at the ship that lay embedded within the mountain. It looked like a sword from ancient legends, perhaps, if nothing else. Chief nodded.
"Agreed. I wanna see if I can get myself a rifle like the Chief's from up there," Sara quipped with a smile as she donned what looked like an apron. She looked at the Spartan and told him, "I and Ves will be out tending to the garden, by the way," before jabbing a thumb toward the door, too. The Spartan gave a nod of approval and let the two on their merry way.
"... Question," Chief started next, looking at Kat the moment the fox woman and the Fed left.
"Answer," The Polak joked, which caused the Chief to stare at her. The woman tensed for a moment as the Spartan's visor, or eyes, she couldn't tell immediately, had settled right on her. When she raised her hands to show him to calm down, the Spartan hummed. This team seemed to have found themselves out as comedians.
He sighed, then asked, "Right… Why does one of you have fox ears?"
"Oh, Ves? Heheheh…" Kat's smile grew again, looking at the Spartan. She explained, "Well, she and my cousin, Vic, the guy who's leading the patrol with his twin sis and our best friend, are married. She got gene-modded because she learned he likes foxgirls. Cost her a fortune, too, but it also came with nice boosts, like better hearing and reflexes."
"... So, it was specifically because her husband likes women with fox traits," Chief asked in a deadpan again. Cortana audibly burst into laughter in his helmet, meanwhile, both completely stunned and blatantly unsurprised. That sounded like a healthy relationship if nothing else, with the man getting a little lucky.
"We all got our preferences, big man…" The Polack shrugged, then switched subjects, asking, "What about you? Why is a Mechanoid curious about humans? Was your programming reset by mistake and now you're trying to learn more about having a soul?" and, yet again, she got the Spartan stare, which caused her to tense again.
"You do know she was just joking, right? Although there have been weirder happenings," Paula shrugged. The Spartan turned his head toward her.
"I'm a human," He stated flatly.
"Alright, well… The armor doesn't seem standard. Closer to the stuff Jotun Interstellar sells," Kat added awkwardly to the conversation. The Chief made a mental note to ask about Jotun Interstellar later. If the armors were even a little compatible, Chief would have replacement parts for much later use, should he need them.
"It's standard for the Special operations group I'm part of," He then told them while Cortana also seemed to be making notes about Jotun. He hummed, then asked, "Where have you all served before?" more to sate his own curiosity than anything else. They were all gonna be stuck together anyway and he knew the gist of Sara's service as an Engineer and Shock Troop for the Feds.
"A lot of places in the Core… Helped hold vigil over some people that deserved safety and all, but we couldn't always pick out the jobs that were healthy for the soul," Paula told him, then pointed at his armor, switching subjects back to it by asking, "What can it do?" and making the Chief hesitate visibly. She furrowed her brows.
"Go ahead, John. Don't keep the girls waiting," Cortana teased, smiling.
He breathed a sigh, then replied to Paula, "It's got energy shielding and the battle plate is Titanium," as he used his direct link to the armor to show the flickering energy shields by redirecting their power between various points. Paula's eyes went slightly wide, while Kat yet again grinned. It must've been cool for someone who was using ancient equipment.
"... Damn. I want one, heh. Sounds like we've got one hell of a Team Lead now, eh?" Kat raised a brow toward Paula.
"Yeah. Thanks for taking us in and sorry for the whole 'rifles pointed at you' ordeal," The young woman replied, looking at the Spartan with mild sadness. The man hummed, then nodded in understanding as the sun began to set, rays poking through the door frame into their little living quarters, which was a combination of stone and wood.
"I'd have done the same in your places…" He then replied in a murmur, standing up and preparing to dig a bit further out…
They had to get the gear on board the Dawn quickly.