Vandread Fan Fiction ❯ VanDread - Halo ❯ Sand Box ( Chapter 5 )

[ Y - Young Adult: Not suitable for readers under 16 ]

VanDread - Halo
Disclaimer: How many times have I done this? Ah well, VanDread is the property of Gonzo, and Halo is the property of Bungie. I own neither and I am only using them to make story.
Chapter 5
Sand Box
< >: Thoughts
**************
In the newly named ship, the Nirvana…
The crew members were very much busy with the day to day operations of the Nirvana and were very much taking it easy for a change, however, they were now over what appeared to be some sort of desert planet. As of right now, most of the bridge crew were busy getting whatever information they could manage to acquire on the desert world.
Right now, the two top officers of the pirates were getting ready to discuss the crew's recent findings on the planet.
**************
Buzam and Magno were currently looking over the images of the newly located desert planet as more data was coming in from the rest of the bridge crew.
“This planet…” Buzam began as she and the elderly woman looked at the images being shown to them.
“I know BC…it looks as if it's dead…something happened here all right.”
“You're right, but something that could cause a world to be like this? It's very strange indeed…with you're permission Captain, I would like us to find out what happened here, there just might be some sort of valuable information that we can get once we're on the surface.”
Magno sighed and looked at the planet and then to her second in command, who happened to be the most efficient officer she had on her roster to date.
“BC, I'm not entirely worried about you going down there, since you're very capable in your own right, but I'm more worried about the others.”
Buzam nodded at the Captain's worries as the two of them looked at the barren world, something had happened here and though it was strange, the second in command had a feeling that they were going to find out just what that thing was one way or the other.
**************
In the Frigate section…
BLAM!!!!
Master Chief Petty Officer John-117 looked at the target he had just hit with the SRS99D-S2 AM Rifle as the vapor trail faded out of sight. The Spartan was still wearing his Mjolnir Mark VI and was currently working out on his sniping skills on a lying position with the rifle in front of him. He looked through the scope of the Sniper Rifle once more to see a clean hit, though a little bit off for his taste.
As he placed his sights back on the scope after making the adjustments to his aim after the first shot, he began to look through it once more and track his next target and when he spotted it, he focused himself and fired out another round.
The APFSDS short spear shaped round, which was inspired by the Russian made 14.5 x 114 bullet used in HMGs and Sniper weapons, made from a mix of super dense depleted uranium and covered in a strong skin of titanium flew through the air as it discarded the sabot in mid flight and smashed right into the target, which was a humanoid shaped dummy following the design profile of the foes he had dealt with before. The round cut deeply into the head of the target dummy, between the chin and neck and blew the head clean off the target. He then stood up and took out the spent magazine and pulled the bolt back and loaded a fresh magazine and got the weapon ready as he moved to another sniper position in the weapons practice yard of the ship, as soon as he got there, he took a crouching position and got ready to shoot once more.
The SRS99D-S2 AM Rifle was one of the most powerful sniper rifles the UNSC had in it's arsenal, and was well know to slice through body armor and flesh with frightening power. He had taken out a large number of Elites with precision shots with the older variants of this weapon, and this version had more than enough power to stop even a Brute with a torso shot, and even if the Brute was still standing, the creature was stopped long enough for a second round to be fired, of course, the first round would have sliced through the Brute's body and into another Brute's body and killed the Grunt which would be behind the first two. This weapon did have a recoil dampening piston and that helped somewhat with the recoil this weapon had. This was standard issue for all UNSC soldiers who were trained snipers. If he was not in the front lines, Sergeant Major Avery J. Johnson, before he died was seen wielding a Sniper Rifle.
(APFSDS stands for Armor Piercing Fin-Stabilized Discarding Sabot)
The Master Chief also knew that he was among the most skilled users of the Sniper Rifle, though he knew that he was not the best, the best of the best among his fellow Spartan kin was Linda-058, his lone wolf female friend was the finest sharpshooter in the teams during the 27 years they had been fighting the Covenant, he remembered at one battle she had fired her weapon so fast, he had no idea just who she was shooting at first, the only thing that told him that she had done her duty was the number of dead Elites and Grunts that all had Sniper wounds to their bodies. He and Fred admitted that she made sniping into an art form. And he and his other Spartans agreed unanimously that Linda was their finest sniper.
The two of them worked together on their first mission on Eridanus Secundus when he and the others were to capture Colonel Robert Watts, leader of the Eridanus Rebels, she had been there as well on Jericho VII when they fought the Covenant, and she was there also on Sigma Octanus IV, she and her fellow team-members evacuated 20 civilian survivors before his team used a HAVOK Nuclear Warhead to kill the tens of thousands of Covenant in the city.
In the Battle of Reach, he, Linda, and James were sent to Reach Station Gamma to destroy the unsecured and undeleted NAV database on the UNSC ONI Prowler Circumference as it was against the Cole Protocol, he lost James in that mission and while they had defeat the Covenant forces there, including Elites and Jackal Rangers, and complete the mission, along with rescuing then Sergeant Johnson's squad, Linda had been hit with so many overcharged Plasma bolts from the enemy's Plasma Pistols and Plasma Rifles, that they were able to bypass the shields and armor plating of the Mark V she wore and burned through her flesh, all the way to the carbonized bones of her body, one bold hit her on the back of her skull and he thought she was dead.
He had taken her to the Pillar of Autumn and placed her in cryo-sleep until they arrived at the first Halo Ring, he knew that as per UNSC protocol and procedure, her cryo-pod was jettisoned when the ship was shot down by the Covenant Fleet, he had hoped that she was alive, and his belief was rewarded as he and Cortana were able to find her cryo-pod and take her with them to Reach, she stayed on their newly acquired Covenant Flagship, the Ascendant Justice until Cr. Catherine, along with Will-043, Kelly-087, Grace-093, Fred-104 and Admiral Danforth Whitcomb came with them and the creator of Cortana and the closest person to a mother to him and the other Spartans resuscitated Linda and she was brought back into the fight…much to his relief.
On their mission on the Unyielding Hierophant, she provided cover for him, Grace-093, Will-043, and Fred-104 , and there she had her best shooting record ever as she shot down five Elite pilots out of their flying Banshees, she made sure they escaped but she was willing to die so they could escape, but he was not about to lose anyone else and therefore, he ordered her to let him rescue her. She called in their code of Oly Oly Oxen Free and he located her NAV marker and he was able to rescue her in his own Banshee and they made it back to the Gettysburg and headed back to Earth.
That was the last he ever saw of Linda and the others…and he hoped that they were still alive and safe.
He then put those thoughts aside and went on with his practices runs and took down the other targets, and as he was going to do the routine of loading the Sniper Rifle, he turned to see Cortana walking towards him, he could see that she was a bit tired and needed to rest, and since she was wearing her normal clothes and not her Register uniform, he could guess that her shift was over. With that, he put aside his sniper practice aside and walked over to her.
Cortana smiled warmly at her friend and protector, she might have a few friends on the ship now, including her boss Gascogne, but she still felt more comfortable around her long time protector.
“How are you doing Cortana?'
“Oh, the usual, got my break for a time and figured I'd see how you were doing, how's the practice?”
“Doing fine…you look like you need something to eat, let's go to the galley.”
Cortana couldn't help herself and decided to tease the giant Spartan a little, just like she usually did when they were together on missions and when they were not getting blasted at by the enemy forces that they usually dealt with.
“Is that a request for a date John?”
Before the Spartan could comment, she smiled and took his armored arm and began to pull at him to follow her. She was not as strong as he was so there was no way she could force him to follow her with her own physical strength, but he didn't fight her and followed her wish to go with her.
“I'm just joking, but thanks for not arguing with me, by the way…where's Hibiki?”
As they walked to the Megele galley to see what was on the menu, he told his companion of what he knew on where the young teen was.
“He's supposed to be making modifications to his Vanguard today, so he should be in the Hanger Bay right now. I gave him the time off for that part of his job, he needs to make sure that Vanguard of his in good working order. After that, he has to go to the Medical Bay for a check-up with Duero and Paiway. I might have to deal with something about him soon enough though.”
“What do you mean? What's wrong with the kid?”
“He gets tired too quickly, and I've noted some past injuries to him, I don't know why, but I think he needs not just the right diet, but also decent medical care to be stronger.”
**************
In the said Hanger Bay…
As the three Paeksis enhanced Dreads were in their berths and on standby, one of the occupied Vanguard Hanger Bay's was currently occupied by the young Vanguard pilot and his partner. The teen looked a bit different from before…no doubt from his time under the Spartan's training and supervision. He was a bit taller and had more muscular definition, though not that much at this point and time, though he was still wearing his normal clothes from his home-world. With him was his handy tool bag and mechanic's supplies as despite having systems flooded by the Paeksis, the Vanguard still needed regular Vanguard maintenance to fix any bugs and Hibiki was the kind of guy who wanted everything to work just fine. He also wanted to fix any leftover damage from the time that alien Space Urchin ship had fired on them both.
Still, the young man was still very tired, having been working out under the Spartan and working on several matters with Gascogne watching over him. Though he had been working out to improve his physical self, he was still not very healthy. Since he was a Third Class Citizen on Tarak, he and others like him barely got decent medical care when they were sick or injured, as it was reserved for the upper classes on their world…, thus they had to make due and tolerate it when they were sick or injured… so it was not very surprising that he was not as fit as some of the other men.
As soon as he closed the panel, he sighed as he spoke to his partner…
“They really know how to work a guy to the ground around here, don't they buddy?”
Unknown to him, while he was busy giving off some complaints about how tired he was and the women not all that appreciative of his efforts, a certain redhead was about to ambush him. Dita did her best to climb up the ladder to surprise her Mr. Alien and since Hibiki had his mind on other things, she did just that as she fired a floating heart right at him. As soon as the floating heart hit Hibiki, was very much startled, hit his posterior on the bar and landed down on his back.
Hibiki sighed and spoke carefully.
“Maybe I'm just not eating properly again.”
It was then that he spotted Dita looking at him while she was standing up.
“Are you okay?”
Hibiki didn't say anything right now as he tried to make sense of his exhaustion, unaware of the fact that he was very much looking up Dita's skirt…for some reason, he felt this suddenly feeling of embarrassment and managed to get up to his feet and sit on the floor. Dita looked at him, concerned somewhat as Hibiki seemed very much exhausted, and the two of them heard a loud sound…coming from Hibiki's stomach.
***************
In the Medical Bay…
Hibiki was now bare of his clothes and wearing only his loin-cloth underwear as Duero began to check his vital signs on a health monitor, that showed that while he was exhausted, he was still fine so far as the young Doctor placed his next sensor right on Hibiki's forehead and the next one on the right side of his face.
The Tarak teen suddenly reacted when Duero placed his hands on his leg and run them up and down. He was not aware that the young doctor was checking to see if there were any growths in his muscles that could be a sign of something being physically wrong with him
“Hey?! What are you doing?!”
Duero looked somewhat surprised at Hibiki's reaction and naturally replied.
“I'm examining you.”
Hibiki glared a bit and replied still in a very wary tone.
“Keep those hands to yourself!!!”
“You've been acting really tense lately Hibiki, not to mention that you appear to be very exhausted, are you still not getting used to being trained by the Spartan?”
“You might say that…he wakes me up in the middle of early morning and starts training me with the same exercises as before, not to mention working with those women is really tiring, not to mention protecting them. Fighting side by side with them is no picnic at all Duero.”
Duero looked a bit surprised, but smirked at the very same time at Hibiki's words.
“So you're protecting the women, kind of an odd twist for a man of Tarak to take, don't you think?”
“Well…I am stronger than them, after all the training the Chief's been giving me…and they…are well, weaker than I am, though not all of them are… I mean, they are good pilots…but still, it kind of feels, right to be protecting them…somehow…”
Duero smirked a bit more and noted the slight elevation in Hibiki's pulse rate, along with his twiddling of his fingers, and realized that maybe talking about women right now was not a good idea for the still exhausted Tarak teen.
“Maybe we should not talk about the women for the time being, you need to rest and get some more food.”
“Good idea Doc.”
It was then that Paiway showed up and looked at the pulse monitor that the Tarak medic was using to check on his fellow man's current medical condition.
“What's this thing? A video game?'
Duero was somewhat surprised by that question as he knew that before he had been assigned to the Medical Bay, Paiway was the chief medical officer on the pirate group and thus was knowledgeable on most if not all medical equipment and devices used in medical treatment, and the most basic of those devices was naturally the pulse monitor he was using. He wondered why then was she not familiar with basic equipment.
“You mean you don't know that it's a pulse monitor?”
Paiway then gave the young doctor a slightly annoyed look, and replied back at his question.
“What's it to you if I haven't seen one? Anyway, all health problems can be fixed in the Jacuzzi!”
Both men looked at one another with some note of confusion as to what sort of place or location on the Nirvana was Paiway talking about, of all the places on the ship, they had never heard of this placed called a Jacuzzi.
“Jacuzzi?”
“What the heck is that?”
**************
In the said room…
“Ah, space battles always damages my hair."
The blonde Dread pilot, Jura Basil Elden said as she lounged on a salon chair with a towel wrapped around her head, keeping her long blonde hair from flowing out. She was naked, save for another large towel wrapped around her body. She continued to relax as several attendants were massaging her legs and there were others who were giving her a manicure and a pedicure.
“Don't worry Jura. We're here to revive your beauty." One of the attendants assured the blonde Dread pilot.
“I appreciate it. I don't feel like going into battle unless my hair is set just right."
Pyoro floated around the room and was now beside Jura, being a machine and not a man, the little automaton was allowed into the recreation center where the women relaxed and took the time to clean themselves. As he observed them he wondered just what was going on here.
“Sometimes I just don't understand humans at all, as they make no sense."
Jura sighed as she felt her body tension melt away from the massage she was getting, she moved her head to the side and saw a hot tub where Meia soaking in it.
“Meia, are you trying to lose more weight again?"
“Excess fat gets in the way of combat."
The blue-haired girl replied to her blonde comrade's inquiry in a simple way.
“But you won't have any breasts left at that rate."
Jura pointed out to her leader.
“Heh. Don't worry too much about me. I can take care of myself Jura."
Meia wasn't as interested with maintaining her feminine appearance was her blonde comrade was.
**************
In the galley…
Many of the women were taking their lunches and were enjoying the mood as well as the food, however, one table was given some fair distance by the others, and for some good reason, as there was Cortana and the Master Chief, he had decided to take off his helmet, showing his face once more in public as there was no way at all he could eat his meal with his helmet on.
Many of the women tried not to look, but couldn't help themselves as they looked at the Spartan who was not wearing his helmet, they were whispering about how pale he was, almost like his skin was permanently bleached and some of them commented on how scary he looked. He paid them no mind as he focused on eating his meal, of sliced beef, cooked in barbeque sauce, greens and mashed potatoes, this dish was among the ones not all the women touched as they were conscious of their weights, which he knew was to be expected from an all female world.
He didn't mind the change of pace from the usual MREs and Rations he normally ate in years of fighting in the UNSC Covenant War, but a change of pace was sometimes welcome as he continued to eat his food with the methodical patience and efficiency of his eight years of UNSC Marine training on Reach.
Cortana however took her time to eat her meal with relish, which was hot rice with well done sliced mutton and diced vegetables, the former UNSC AI loved the feel of the hot food that she was chewing and eating, though she didn't gain too much weight, apparently the method in which she returned to her AI form and back to her human form gave her a strong and efficient metabolism, meaning that while she may eat a lot of food, she used up all the food well and didn't need to store the food as fat, allowing her to retain a slim, but well formed figure.
“No matter how many times I eat, I never get tired of tasting new food…does you're taste good too John?”
“Good enough.”
They then spotted Dita as the redhead stared intently at the nearby food conveyer belt that ran from the kitchens to the galley and back, allowing the women to easily get their dishes by merely picking them up from the belt and taking them to the tables. It seemed that Dita was looking for a particular meal of some sort.
It was then that her comrade Barnette was arriving to get one of the dishes for her own meal, and the emerald haired woman then selected a dish that had sliced fillet mignon, with baked potatoes and some basil on it with a tag of 789 calories. Naturally Barnette was surprised to find her intended meal in the hands of the bubbly Dread pilot.
“I think I'll take this one!” Dita said cheerfully as she held the meal in her hands.
Barnette was not very happy with what had just happened and made Dita aware of her displeasure as she glared at Dita.
“Dita! That's loaded with calories, why would you want that?”
“That's all right Barnette, he told me he wasn't eating right.”
Dita said with a smile as she headed off with the meal, leaving Barnette confused to who she was referring to. However the two former members of the UNSC military already had an accurate idea as to who the young redhead was referring to.\
“Bet ten to one that meal she has is going to wind up in Hibiki's stomach before long.” Cortana said with a smile as she looked at the redhead.
“No doubt.” John-117 replied as he continued to eat his meal diligently.
“Do you think Dita's got a crush on our young trouble maker John?”
“I wouldn't know really, but if their situation is the same as ours, I won't be surprised.” John replied without cracking a smile, making Cortana blush a bit and laugh.
It showed to her that while the Spartan didn't take her too seriously when she made jokes about the two of them having a relationship, he did appreciate her company, and with that in mind she left and got to the conveyer belt and grabbed another meal, this time it had smoked fish with soy sauce, hot rice, asparagus, and hot bread. She then placed the meal before the Spartan who was somewhat surprised at the sudden gift.
“What's this for?”
“It a gift…for making me laugh, like I said, I do know how to pick them.”
With a slight hint of an amused smile, the Spartan nodded as he finished his first meal, and then when on with the second course.
“Lucky me…thanks for the meal Cortana.”
“You're welcome John.”
**************
On the bridge…
“Heat signatures have been confirmed.”
Ezra then looked over on her own scanners and made her own report on her findings.
“There's a very large sandstorm in the area so I can't be entirely sure Captain, but there appears to be signs of habitation on the area we are currently in and several large artificial structures as well.”
The bridge crew was very much busy with their duties on monitoring the planet that they were currently orbiting. As they were getting ready to start a ground operation, Buzam then began to tell the Elderly women that they would have to make ready a ground team, they however had to use Vanguards for this operation.
For their advanced weapons, armor, systems, and more, the Megele built Dreads had one fatal design flaw, they were never designed for planetary operations. The Dreads were meant only for space borne operations and were not able to handle land operations.
“I think that it is best that we do investigate the surface Captain, we might find not just information but supplies as well.”
“Hmm…the kitchen is running a bit dry so no sense not stocking up on some fresh supplies. All right then, we'll do this like old fashioned pirates.”
“Thank you captain, attention all crew members, we are about to begin a surface operation, begin monitoring weather conditions and also begin calculating the best location for a landing zone to be where our forces shall be deployed, along with the right time to send them down there.”
As soon as Buzam made that announcement, she made another one that really got the attention of all the people on the ship. But most of all, the men, she decided to inform the ground team that would be sent down of their new form of transportation.
Dita currently had an arm load of food with her as she tried to hide from the nearby galley staff, but as she was now sure that she could escape, the communications system throughout the ship came to life and Buzam's voice came on.
“Attention all crew members, we are going to being a landing operation to the surface of the planet below us…All crew members are to report for simulation training for Vanguard operations.”
Cortana and John-117 were busy in the UNSC section, running through the manufacturing section's latest inventories when they heard that announcement, they were surprised at the call, as they knew that since the women from Megele considered the machines of men to be ugly and fashionable, they would not dare themselves to be seen using the mecha, but now it seemed that the higher-ups have just decided to take it up a notch.
Cortana smiled a bit.
“They're going to use the Vanguards? Well…this will be interesting.”
“Maybe…but I doubt Hibiki will like it much.” John-117 remarked, as he considered Hibiki's love for the vanguards and his still lingering distrust with women.
And the Spartan was right, since Hibiki was in his current bunk and heard the announcement, and he naturally reacted in the expected pattern.
“WHAT?! WOMEN ARE ACTUALLY GOING TO USE THE VANGUARDS?!”
**************
In the Hanger Bay where the Vanguards were being stored…
Ever since the incident that had flung them half way to this side of the universe and into the aliens' back-yard. The Vanguards were there on the newly named Nirvana, but unlike the Dreads, the Vanguards were not used in most of the battles, and were naturally beginning to show signs of neglect and disuse, no doubt due to the women not finding a need for them…so much so that the pirates have even cannibalized them for spare parts. Now however, since this mission was going to be on the ground, they were about to get into gear and be used for their maiden purpose…combat. Thus they were getting repaired, refueled, and more in order to get them all back to operational condition.
The women however were not impressed with the Vanguards, namely in their current color scheme of gun-metal grey and metallic silver, as such, the women began to paint them and place colorful patterns on them, in order for them to look more…presentable.
Barnette sighed as she, Jura, and Meia, along with a handful of female Dread pilots looked at the Vanguards that were still being colored up by the engineering teams.
“Geez, I know that the Dreads were never meant for atmospheric operations on a planet, but that certainly doesn't mean I have to like using the Vanguards.”
Barnette disliked the mecha and she was very much opposed to them as weapons. Jura on the other hand was not concerned with that as she had her sights on something else entirely as she looked in the direction of her own mecha, since she had in her favorite shade of crimson, after her Dread, and it was armed with a sword.
“I really don't care much if it's a Dread or Vanguard, just as long as I can combine to make something beautiful.”
At this point, the young cadet Bart took the time to boast once more. “Hey there! If anyone has any questions, feel free to ask me! During my long years in the academy, I have endured hundreds of training missions. You could then say…"
He didn't have the time to finish boasting when he was…
KLONK!
Bart stopped as he was floored by an anti-gravity lift came down right on top of him. The technician who was on the lift gave a look down and scolded the young boastful cadet,
“What are you doing standing under the lift? We're busy here so try to stay out of the way!"
“Okay." Bart moaned as he rubbed his sore head.
Hibiki ran into the Hanger Bay was stunned somewhat at what the women had done to the Vanguards…but as he directed his gaze to where his Vanguard was, he gasped as he spotted Dita on the ramp, and she was brandishing a…SPRAY PAINTER?! He didn't need to look around him to know just what the young redhead had in mind.
“HOLD IT! DON'T YOU DARE!"
Hibiki cried as he immediately rushed to his mecha. The mere thought of having his Gundam decked out in cute colors made him feel very uneasy and uncomfortable.
On the ramp, Dita readied and aimed her instrument at the Gundam. “I'll make Mr. Alien's partner clean and pretty! I'm sure that Mr. Alien will really like it!"
Just as Dita fired off a stream of pink paint, Hibiki arrived and stood between her and his Vanguard, and the liquid smashed right into the young Tarak teen. As a result he was doused in the liquid, he was now half covered with the paint, making him look very weird.
“AAAAAAAAUUUUUUUUUGGGGGGGGHHHHHHH!!!"
As soon as he got the paint out of his eyes, Hibiki directed a rather angry glare at the young Dread pilot.
“WHAT THE HECK ARE YOU DOING THIS TIME?!"
Dita however, didn't pay attention to his angry look and voice, as a starry look showed itself in her eyes.
"WOW! A PINK ALIEN! HOW CUTE!"
Hibiki glared at Dita as he couldn't believe that she was still fawning like that after dousing both him and his partner with pink paint.
“She's really crazy!"
**************
In the bridge…
Magno and Buzam smiled as they saw the arrival of the Spartan and Cortana, the two saluted them as Cortana once more let herself enter the holo-tank that was reserved for her, and moments later, she was now in her human sized AI form before the Captain.
John-117 then spoke to the Captain as he placed his hand down and waited for his new set of orders from the elderly woman.
“You wanted to see me Captain?”
“Yes I did…Chief, I am very aware that you have proven yourself to be a very capable soldier, and as such, I will be asking you to be part of the landing team as well, since you know ground warfare as I have seen on you're records. Since you have means of transportation already at your disposal, along with your own supplies, weapons, munitions, and more, I don't think you would need to use any vanguards, am I correct?”
“Pretty much, I'll go on ahead once the team is ready.”
Buzam wondered why the Spartan wanted to be the first ahead of the strike team that was to be sent out, and she didn't wait long for her answer as the Spartan spoke then on why he wanted to go ahead of the others once they were all in ready position.
“I'll go down there and secure the drop zone for the others once they are ready, Cortana will be able to patch into my Mark VI so I can send you all here some of the first view information.”
Buzam thought about it and nodded.
“I'll pass that information to the rest of the ground team, though it will take us a bit before we can send them down as we still need to find the best candidates for piloting the Vanguards from the crew that we have here right now. This will not be easy for any of them since none of them have any field experience with the Vanguards.”
The Spartan nodded as he recalled seeing the Vanguards when the women were busy painting them, he didn't say anything at first but he found their ways of coloring up the Vanguards to be better looking was down-right foolish and stupid from a very strict military stand-point, doing that announced you as a target to the enemy.
Putting that aside, he asked permission to leave so he could see the performance of the women who were going to be part of the landing group, he had nod doubt that since Hibiki was the only qualified Vanguard operator in the entire ship, then he was no doubt going to be part of the team for this mission.
Cortana and the bridge girls worked on the scanners, but the three of them, Cortana, Belvedere, and Amarone began to get suspicious as they were not picking up any life signs on their respective scanners and the UNSC AI tried using a well known old Colony frequency to see if anyone was receiving the message she was sending out.
“Odd…”
Both the women turned to look at the AI as she began to scan again.
“What's wrong Cortana?”
“I don't get it…there's nothing on any communication frequencies, no replies… nothing, either something's gumming up my sensors or no one's on this planet.”
Belvedere then looked through her scanners and so did Amarone and they found out that Cortana was right, something was very odd with this world…they picked up plenty of heat sources on the world, but absolutely nothing on their life scanners, it was as if this entire planet was deserted or abandoned, but what could have made this world barren and it's inhabitants leave it in such a state?
“Cortana's right…there's plenty of heat sources to suggest possible habitation, but nothing shows up on life scanners, something's not right.”
“Do you think that those aliens we fought with have something do with all this? Could this be part of some plan of theirs?”
Buzam looked at the two of them and replied as she looked at Ezra's own scanners as the pregnant woman did her own work.
“Keep you're eyes on the monitors, once the storm clears and the results are in, we can send in the landing party to get some answers.”
“Roger.”
**************
In the simulation room…
As the Spartan observed the training runs of the women, he made a quick guess that since the women were trained in long range strikes and maneuvers in their Dreads for a very long time, they were more used to flying Dreads and this meant that they were totally ill-prepared for the rigors of warfare demanded by the Vanguards.
While the Vanguards did not have the armor, fire-power, and technological advantage of the Dreads, they made due with versatility, close combat mastery, and adaptation. This was proven true as the Vanguards were made by the men of Tarak to fit their psychological profile of close combat preference, and while the Vanguards were not as well armed as the Dreads, they were able to be equipped with more weapon types and systems than the Vanguards, that and their ability to function on planetary surfaces and in space made these units very well suited for the operation, but the pilots were not.
Many of the women were weeded out by the training program until it only left Dita, Barnette, Jura, and Meia, and it was during these said exercises that he observed them in combat simulations while Hibiki, Duero, and Bart were watching. Hibiki was not yet used to women but was not very hostile towards Cortana, and it seems that they were getting along well enough, no doubt due to Gascogne being around Hibiki a lot as well. The young boy was now bare of the paint that once covered him as he and the others looked on at the women as they went through the combat simulation run.
As the women faced off with their opponents, their weaknesses were very obvious as they thrashed moved about rather poorly.
“I've had it! What is wrong with this thing?!”
Jura said as she got even more upset at how foolish she looked out there on the virtual battle-field, thrashing about like a panicky child.
“Why can't this thing move with a lot more elegance?! I'm out of here!!!”
With that she pressed the switch and got out of the simulator, much to the Spartan's disappointment, with time and training, the blonde lady might make a good Vanguard pilot, at least to him, though he then found himself looking at her figure for a bit longer than intended as she flung her hair aside and began to walk out of the chamber. He briefly had an image of Cortana in the same outfit Jura wore, and Jura in the same outfit Cortana wore as well, but he pushed the brief thought aside as he gazed at the other pilots as he noted that despite her dislike for the machines, Barnette had some latent talent in her with the mecha.
“Don't you need permission to quit the training?” Pyoro asked as the Navi-robot looked on with the others.
“Oh be quiet!”
As Duero summed up Jura's performance records, along with Dita's and Barnette's, since the redhead, despite her clumsiness with the Vanguard was good enough to pass the initial trials, he sighed and spoke out to his cohorts.
“Looks like I'll be heading up to the bridge.”
Hibiki snorted as he looked at the results and replied.
“I told you so, there's no way a woman from Megele can be a better pilot in a Vanguard than a man of Tarak.”
“Don't be so sure of that.” The Spartan replied.
It was then that both him and Duero noted something else that demanded attention…Meia's life support readings coming from the simulator's sensors, Hibiki noted that as well, and instead of saying anything looked on as to what the other two were looking at, he also noted that meia seemed to be breathing much harder than before and seemed to be unfocused on what she was doing. The Tarak teen then looked at his mentor and saw the stillness of the Spartan, that told him enough that the Spartan was concerned with what he was looking at.
“What's wrong Master Chief?”
“I think we have a problem with Meia…I know those symptoms and that condition anywhere.”\
Duero nodded as he recalled his medical classes and lectures concerning the symptoms and readings he was looking at.
“So do I…but let's be certain first…”
**************
In the simulator…
Meia pounded the side of the cockpit with deep frustration as she saw that she had failed her simulated mission dismally and was considered killed in action by the computer. She tried to calm herself down and keep her focus. It was then that the comm.-link came online and she heard Duero's voice.
“Are there Medical overrides on Megele?”
“What are you talking about?”
Duero's face became even graver as he spoke once more.
“On Tarak, doctors like myself are given full authority to ground pilots who find themselves in situations such as the one you happen to be in right now. Do you want that to happen?”
Meia glared and snapped back with her emerald eyes blazing.
“Of course not!”
“All right then, I suggest you switch you're video monitor settings to wide screen, that should make the strain you're mind and body a lot less difficult and keep you focused.”
“Keep you're opinions and advice to yourself! I don't need help from anyone, least of all you! I'll be just fine, thank you very much!”
**************
Elsewhere…
“Hmmm…. How to use the ten-in-one knife shield… following the will of the pilot…ah, simultaneously with the electron pulse beam! I can do this!"
Bart smiled as he went back to reading the Vanguard instruction manual he was reading.
Whatever Bart, just keep doing whatever it is you're doing.”
Hibiki was tired and decided to stretch a bit and move out of the room. However his attempt to leave the room was stopped, as his vision was blocked by a very ample amount of cleavage and added the fact was that he was pressed between them instantly stopped in his tracks as he gazed up and found himself being looked at by a certain blonde Dread pilot as he felt himself suddenly become rather slightly uncomfortable for some rather odd reason.
“Hello there."
Jura said as she smiled her best at the Vanguard pilot.
“In the next battle, you will be combining with me! I hope you remember that."
After she and Barnette left the training center, Hibiki was confused by her actions and for some odd reason he felt a lot more uncomfortable once that was over and done with.
“What the heck was that all about? Maybe I should ask Master Chief for some advice on what's that blonde woman talking about.”
**************
Back at the simulation room…
The simulation unit that Meia was inside of opened there was Meia, panting and lying on the consoles, tired and very much covered in sweat and breathing quickly and with shallow intakes of air, as if trying to calm herself down a lot more.
“I'm very concerned about her Doctor.”
Duero nodded at Pyoro's words as he and the Navi-robot looked at the young Dread squadron leader. Meia's state was another indication to the Tarak medic that she was indeed suffering from a very serious medical condition that had something to do with very tight spaces, namely that of a Vanguard unit.
“Meia…I was looking over the medical readouts and the symptoms you have appear to be psychosomatic in nature, and that tells me that there is something that happened to you that got you with this condition, do you have any clue as t what had caused this?”
Meia looked at him, a bit calmer now, and she gave him a snide look and replied.
“Hmph, you're diagnosis couldn't be any more wrong. It's nothing more than fatigue Doctor.”
Duero sighed slightly.
“An adamant denial I see…well, this tells me that this case is far more serious that I thought it was.”
“I am not denying anything, it's just fatigue, nothing more.”
With that, Meia managed to get out of the cockpit and the two moved out of the way to let her pass. However, she nearly collapsed and Duero managed to catch her to prevent her from injuring herself further, but instead of being grateful, the woman violently pushed Duero's aid aside and got to her feet and moved on, but not before turning to look at the physician and spoke in an angry tone.
“There's nothing I hate more than nosey people.”
With that, she left the room…leaving Duero and Pyoro to discuss the uniqueness of human nature. However, the two were not aware of the fact that the Spartan was watching the whole thing and while Duero said that although he was a highly skilled and knowledgeable medic, he was a man on an all female ship and his opinions no matter how valid they were would not carry enough weight on the Nirvana, thus despite his better judgment, he would hold his peace.
However, John-117 was not the kind of person to let this stop him, he was concerned with the safety and survival of the pirates who were going down there…and he knew that with her condition, Meia was not an asset to the mission, but a liability. It was harsh, but it was the truth.
**************
As she walked down the corridor, Meia turned to the next hall and found herself facing the Spartan who had his hands crossed over his chest. She glared at him and spoke.
“What do you want?”
“You're not going on this mission.”
Meia became more angry at that emotionless comment, she was not in the mood to be lectured by anyone, especially a man, despite the man being a seven foot tall armored warrior that was far more powerful than she was, she had her pride and determination, and those had seen her through some tough times in her life, she didn't need help or advice at all from anyone.
“Who are you to say that?!”
“I am going to be part of the ground team…advanced recon for that matter. And I was there when the Doc took you're medical scans in that simulator, I know what is wrong with you Meia, I have seen it before…and it is a liability, and it makes you a liability as well on this mission.”
“You're as thick headed as that male doctor! It's just fatigue…nothing more!”
“Don't even think you can lie to me about that Meia. I KNOW claustrophobia when I see it. As it stands you are a danger to the ground team, and to yourself, you're better off staying here on the ship.”
“How dare you?! I am an officer on this ship and I lead all the missions the crew takes! What makes you think you can give me orders?!”
“You are the Dread Team leader, I am not contesting that, but I happen to be a Master Chief Petty Officer, and that is a higher rank in the Navy to a Fighter Squadron Leader, and that makes my rank higher than your own, second only to the Commander and the Captain, so I do have the authority to keep you out of this mission.”
“That rank and authority is in YOUR dimension, not mine!”
“Fair enough, if not rank, then on the grounds of common sense. You know what will happen to you when you are in a Vanguard cockpit Meia, I don't need to tell you the details, you nearly froze up in a simulated mission, what happens if we encounter the foes and you freeze up again? You will endanger everyone on this mission and yourself. Do the right thing Meia, not just for yourself , but for the others as well…”
The Spartan then turned to leave the Dread pilot alone to think about what he said to her. He didn't out much hope that she would listen, her nature told him that much, but he hoped that she did have common sense, enough to make the right call.
“…And right now…the right thing to do is not to be on this mission.”
With that, the Spartan left the scene.
**************
In the bridge…
“Hey old lady! You there?”
Buzam and Magno turned to see none other than Hibiki looking very irate and seriously concerned about something. The elderly woman knew that he was looking only for her and would not speak to anybody else, since there was not much for her to do at this point, she then decided to take the call and kind out just what was the problem for this youngster.
“There's an old lady right here little one, what is it you want little one?”
“First off, tell you're women to stop messing up the Vanguards! Geez, all that coloring, we're on a mission for Grand Pa's sake…not a parade…Anyway…”
Hibiki's next line of words were suddenly cut short when he heard another voice and spotted a certain someone coming right at him…forcing to cut communications with the bridge.
“Augh, she's here again!!!”
Cortana was laughing at the whole thing and holding her stomach with her hands to try not to fall over with laughter as she was still in the holo-tank, while Buzam looked on, totally confused with what she had just witnessed, while Magno couldn't help but chuckle alongside Cortana as well.
“It's really ironic now that I look at it, the ship's gotten a whole lot livelier ever since we brought the men onboard.”
“Yeah.” Buzam said as she still was confused by all that had just happened.
**************
At one part of the ship…
“Ahhh! What do you want this time huh? Don't tell me you're going to douse me with paint again!”
Dita however smiled at Hibiki and presented him with a new clothe wrapped lunch box.
“I'm not going to douse you with paint Mr. Alien, here, I brought you another one, I heard you were still hungry so I made some more food for you.”
Hibiki looked down at the box and that was when his stomach once more made that little sound cue that told him he was rather hungry again. With that in mind, he wasted little time and took the box, with Dita following him.
**************
In the Bio-Park…
Hibiki was once more eating the food at a rapid fire pace as he sat on the large picnic clothe along with Dita. Dita was smiling the whole while, as she watched Hibiki eat away at her newly cooked meal for him and she liked it when she knew that Mr. Alien loved the food she was giving him.
Hibiki noted her stares at him and he quickly turned around and went on eating, however he had to stop when Dita once more moved to follow him and stare at him once more…he had no idea what the redhead was doing, why she was doing it, and why was she always smiling at him, with those questions in his mind, he looked at the redhead and glared a bit.
“Why the heck are you staring at me like that?”
“It's nothing, it just makes me feel happy watching you eat.”
“Hmmm…”
Hibiki sighed and focused back on eating once more, the food really helped him with getting his strength back and that was enough, even if it was a bit confusing as to why this young woman was always looking at him.
“Seeing you eat like that makes me feel so happy.”
Unknown to the two of them, they had an unexpected guest watching the whole proceedings. Paiway watched Dita and Hibiki and then took several pictures and smiled secretively at what she managed to gather.
“Heheheh…I got you…Pai Check!”
**************
In one of the showers of the women…
Paiway was now inside another chamber as she gave her latest news to her comrade Jura, not minding the fact she was covered in dirt, twigs and leaves. The voluptuous blonde was currently in a stall taking a shower
" … And there they were, having a nice little picnic. The thing I noticed is, he was completely under Dita's control. And that was all because of one little boxed lunch."
Jura smiled as she heard Paiway's report.
“Hmmm, I see. That is one good bit of information I can use."
She then began to plan her newest attempt to convince Hibiki to combine his Vanguard with her Dread, now with this little tidbit of data, she just might have an edge now, that coupled with the help of her friend Barnette was going to make sure she was going to be a sure fire winner..
**************
At the kitchen…
“That's the reason why I'm doing all this cooking?!" Barnette asked, as she was quite irritated as soon as she learned the reason why her partner Jura had requested her to cook one of her special meals, a fillet mignon, which Barnette was famous for.
“It's so I can combine." Jura explained; as she was rather busy admiring the polish of her nails. “You do love me when, I'm beautiful, don't you Barnette?"
Barnette sighed in irritation, as she knew that once her comrade had an idea in her mind she intended to follow it through, and then she gazed around and smiled evilly when she spotted a bottle of hot sauce. Without making Jura notice, she began to pour liberal and rather large portions of the bottle's contents and added quite a few choice spices to the mix as well to the fillet mignon she was preparing.
“All right, I'm done."
“That's why I love you Barnette. Let's go find him. I can't wait to see the looks on his face!"
<Neither can I.>
Barnette thought evilly.
Unknown to the two of them, another person was in the kitchen, Bart snuck into the place to find out just what exactly was it about the food made by women that Hibiki seemed to be more interested in that Tarak food rations, as soon as the women were out of the area, he went straight for the table and he looked at the pots, woks, and everything else Barnette had been using to create the meal. He was surprised at the mess and couldn't help but frown a bit.
“What is this stuff? Is this really the food women eat?”
With that, he grabbed one of the leftover bits from the pan and ate it, unaware of the liberal contents of tobacco sauce, and spices that Barnette had put into the mix. He was soon to find out as he got up and fired out a tongue of flame and his lips turning puffy red.
***************
Elsewhere…
John-117 was busy gathering his supplies and equipment for the recon mission, he made sure to pack a good stock of ammunition, weapons, and some rations, just in case he might need them. He and Cortana had already worked out a plan and that was to have him drop in first, while a Pelican Drop-ship would be on standby, a good distance from the surface and drop him ammunition canisters and once the mission was complete, the drop-ship would come in and pick him up as the rest of the team would leave the area.
This meant that he would have to take one of the HEVs in the HEV Bay to get to the surface, and secure the drop-site for the rest of the landing party. He checked his newly added weapons, which included his usual MA5C ICWS Assault Rifle, a BR55HB SR Battle Rifle, a M90A CAWS Shotgun, and a Weapon/Anti-Vehicle Model 6 Grindell/Galileian Nonlinear Rifle. As soon as he had the weapons stored into his HEV, all he had to do was wait for the call from the Captain or the Commander to let him out.
As he stepped into the HEV, which was armed with a copy of a dumb AI program, and sealed himself in, Cortana contacted him.
“Take good care of yourself down there, and hold on to your helmet.”
“I will.”
**************
In the Bio Park…
Hibiki had no idea just what was going on, he had just managed to avoid Dita and head off to his vanguard, but he was suddenly stopped by Barnette and Jura, before he could even find out just what was going on and what they wanted, they grabbed his arms and began to drag him to another part of the parl.
“Hey! What are you two doing to me?! What's the big idea?!”
His next barrage of questions disappeared when he spotted the tray table on wheels that several containers on them, and he wondered just what those were. He didn't have to wait long as Barnette took off the cover of one of the dishes and revealed the very first dish, the fillet mignon that Barnette had secretly doctored. He was stunned and smiled the meal quickly.
Jura took the chance and whispered into her target's ear in the most seductive voice she could manage at point and time.
“If you agree to combine with me, then you can eat this one.”
Hibiki frowned, he should have known there as a price attached to the meal, and despite his suddenly returning hunger for food, he stubbornly refused to be bribed in such a fashion.
“Fine then, I don't want it.”
Jura smirked, she was not the shallow blonde most would mistake her for as she could tell that Hibiki was affected by the food, and she was closing in for the kill as she smiled.
“Too bad…it's so tasty it's to die for.”
**************
In the kitchen…
<Women eat stuff like that?! And Hibiki's eating those things there's no tomorrow, that guy's really tough! He should be in the military to be able to tolerate that stuff!>
Bart thought to himself as he downed yet another glass of water and tried to cool down his badly burned tongue and lips after eating the super spicy bit that he had taken from the still unwashed cooking skillet that Barnette had been using. He then took a long drink and felt some measure of relief as the water cooled his tongue. However, the door to the kitchen opened and in walked a certain young red-haired Dread pilot.
“Mr. Alien, where are you?”
Bart quickly turned and spotted Dita, and after managing to cool his tongue, he began to speak.
“Oh…it's you…”
“Oh, hello Mr. Pilot, are you all right? You're face seems kind of weird.”
Bart realized that he still has the puffy lips, he placed down the glass quickly and then covered them with his hands, the last thing he wanted was for the news of what happened to spread all over the ship.
“Oh…it's nothing really!”
Dita looked on at him and noted that the ice cream she was carrying for herself and Hibiki was already starting to melt, and that was not a good sign.
“Uh oh, that's not good, you want some?”
Dita offered the ice cream to Bart…who naturally screamed out as he recalled what had happened when he tried a bit of the food, and seeing such a large pile of the stuff before him, he was NOT going to risk igniting his innards and killing himself. (He was not aware of the fact that ice cream did nothing of the sort on people.)
“No…No thanks! Maybe some other time! See you!”
With that, Bart left the kitchen in a hurry, making Dita very confused as to what had just happened before her. It was then that she spotted Ezra walking into the kitchen, with a large collection of sour dough bread in her hands and she was currently munching on one right now.
“Men certainly do strange things, I saw him sneaking in here and getting some food from the pots.”
Dita looked at her friend with some considerable confusion and asked.
“Ezra, why are you eating all that sour dour bread?”
Ezra blushed a bit as she took another bite from the one she had on hand already, and gave a sheepish smile.
“I just had this craving for something sour today.”
Dita smiled at that as she knew that Ezra's cravings were due to her growing baby and she hoped that Ezra would have a healthy baby girl.
**************
At that exact moment on the bridge…
Amarone scanned the surface and got confirmation that the sandstorm had just died and the weather conditions were good enough for them to send down the landing party, but she knew that they had to send out the advanced recon unit first to make sure that things on the surface were good enough for the teams to land in ahead.
“The planet's surface is stabilized Commander, we have good conditions to send in the ground teams!”
“That's good…Cortana, tell the Master Chief he has the green light.”
“Understood, you heard that John? Time for you to, as the ODSTs always say, `Jump feet first into hell!' Good luck John.”
On the monitors, John-117 nodded and spoke to Buzam.
“Commander as soon as I am out of the ship, send them down after me.”
Buzam nodded and waited for confirmation that the HEV was now released. And sure enough, in the HEV Hanger Bay, the clamps that held the Master Chief's HEV pod were released and the pod slid out of the Hanger Bay.
Outside of the Nirvana, the HEV pod left the area as the bridge crew looked at both images from inside the HEV pod through the Master Chief's optical camera feed, and their own scanners as they tracked the pod…as soon as it was entering the atmosphere of the planet, the pod began to heat up.
Amarone, and Belvedere tracked the pod and were in shock as the temperature in the pod and outside of it began to grow even hotter, and Buzam was concerned as well, the numbers showed that the heat was rising to the point that it could very well cook a person in their own body fluids, even with all the protection the Pod had on.
“He must be very brave…” Belvedere said as she tracked the pod.
“…or insane!” Amarone commented as the heat continued to rise as Duero came, along with the others, Magno herself was in awe as the Spartan seemed to be relaxed as the whole thing went underway.
“Has he done this before Cortana? The whole Drop pod insertion thing?”
Magno asked the AI as she monitored the Spartan's life readings. The AI nodded as she smiled, her scanners showed him to be in good health as the pod dropped in.
“Yes, he's done this before, If I were to recall right, this would be his second HEV insertion, the first one was rather bumpy, I was there with him as well, when I was still an AI.”
Buzam then gave the order for the rest of the pilots to get ready, it was time to begin the landing operation.
**************
In the Bio Park…
Hibiki has just given in to Jura's cajoling and had taken a piece of the fillet mignon and was about to eat it, Jura was eager to see this and when it worked, she would have Hibiki wrapped around her finger. Barnette on the other hand was eager see the young man panic and scream in pain as soon as he ate the meat and ingested the spices, they were not enough to kill, but enough to seriously cause pain.
However, the alarms went off and Hibiki turned, realizing that the mission was now underway and despite his own reluctance to leave the meal behind, his training under the Spartan told him to drop everything that he was doing so as to get into the mission.
“Ah damn it…this is no time for eating, I'll see you guys at the Vanguards!”
Barnette able to avoid dropping the plate as Jura looked on in surprise as Hibiki took off to meet up with them in the hanger Bay so as to get his own Vanguard ready for combat deployment. Jura however was not happy that her plan had been foiled and called out to Hibiki
“Don't forget that you promised to combine with me!”
**************
Outside in deep space…
“I won't let the women make a mess out of my partners!”
Hibiki was currently the first to leave the Nirvana and head for the planet below. His Vanguard was armed with a special rocket umbrella, behind him were the three Vanguards, one belonging to Jura, the other to Barnette, and the next to Dita. The drop-ship was like a sled used by old Earth bobsledders and was designed to allow groups of Vanguards the chance to drop in simultaneously into the battle zone. Beside the ship was one of the Pelican Drop-ships as it was launched from the UNSC Section of the ship.
<Damn it…they're here too?>
Hibiki thought as he accelerated his Vanguard as the drop ship followed him.
Inside her Vanguard, Jura controlled the drop-ship in order to keep up with Hibiki, after she had gotten over her first bad performance, the blonde was able to use the Vanguard better. She kept herself right after Hibiki and smiled warmly.
“I'm not going to let you get away that easily.”
Dita however was not going to have Jura get her fingers on Hibiki and she made her intent known to her blonde comrade.
“You stop that right now Jura! The only one Mr. Alien is going to combine with it me!”
Jura glared back at Dita and replied.
“You keep the heck out of this and be quiet!”
Both women glared as Barnette sighed to herself.
“Hopefully this mission will be over soon.”
It was then that they all got within sight distance of a small pod like object, they wondered what that was as it was not detected before.
“What's that thing doing out here?”
Jura asked, her argument with Dita momentarily forgotten as she managed to get a closer look at the pod as it was beginning to become even redder from the heat of reentry.
They got their answer as Buzam came on their communications networks.
“That pod is a HEV, or Human Entry Vehicle, it's used by the UNSC to send out advanced special forces infantry to the surface of planet before the main strike force. The Master Chief is inside that pod, he will be the advanced recon member of you're party. The Pelican following you will be his support ship and his way of getting off once the mission is over.”
The women were shocked at that and Hibiki was as well. He had wondered why the Spartan was not in their group. Barnette had wondered if the man had chickened out, and Dita wondered if Mr. Green Alien was left behind.
“The Master Chief's inside that thing?!” Hibiki asked, with awe on his face.
“That he is Hibiki, he volunteered to go ahead of you and the others to recon the planet. Considering the way the HEV works, we're lucky that we do have the Tarak Vanguards.”
“What's that supposed to mean?”
Barnette scanned the pod and was stunned to see the massive numbers that indicated just how hot the pod was getting as it was pushing through the atmosphere.
“The temperature's enough to flash fry a human being into cinders!!!”
Cortana then broke in and spoke in a calm voice.
“Don't worry about John, he's done this before, it's his second HEV insertion.”
“HE'S DONE THIS BEFORE?!”
Cortana then told them what a HEV pod was, what is was made of, what it could carry, and what it was used for. She then smirked a bit and told them how lucky they were compared to the Spartan and the ODSTs as they were in the Vanguards. She then told them about the various ways the HEV could fail and kill the occupant inside of it, either from the heat of reentry, or from the failure of each system, from the metal drag chute, to the secondary chute and the retrorockets. That, and the significant g-forces one feels as the pod slows down…which could make anyone in the HEV lose consciousness.
Needless to say, the women were in shock and awe as they gazed at the pod as it was now halfway through the atmosphere.
“Mr. Green Alien is so brave!!! He's amazing!!!” Dita said as she smiled at the pod.
“Brave?! Amazing?! Dita are you blind?! He's insane!!” Barnette said as she looked at the pod, thankful that she was not in such a pod right now.
“He may be insane Barnette, but Dita's right, he is brave to go down a planet in that coffin.” Jura remarked, her opinion of the Spartan rising a bit more as she looked at the now red hot HEV pod.
Hibiki's own reaction was one of awe and respect, John-117 had just proven that he was a true man in the eyes of the teen, and that made Hibiki even more determined to win the Spartan's respect. He wanted to be a man just like the UNSC Super Soldier.
As soon as they were able to get past the atmosphere, the Vanguards on the sled activated their own umbrella rockets as Hibiki had used his to shield himself from the heat of reentry, As they drifted, they saw the metal drag chute of the HEV open and the pod slowed down and kept it level. The chute then released as the pod was still on course and then they got a communications signal from the HEV and then they saw the Spartan's face…showing that he was very much alive and safe.
“I'll be touching down shortly, see you guys on the ground.”
The pod streaked down like a meteor and then the retrorockets fired in a moment and the pod slowed down. The landscape of the planet came into view of the Spartan and he beheld the desert landscape with massive structural ruins jutting out of the sand and the various dunes were covered in various piles of junk. It reminded him of Voi before the Covenant were pushed out of the city and before the Flood landed in the area.
The pod smashed into the dunes and a massive boom was heard as the Spartan waited inside, the door punched out from the explosive charges on the hinges, allowing him to step out. As soon as he did so, he took out his MA5C ICWS Assault Rifle and the BR55HB SR Battle Rifle, the Assault Rifle on his back as he had the Battle Rifle in his hands as he looked through the scope and scanned the area and moved about somewhat. He then contacted the Nirvana.
“This is Spartan-117 to the Nirvana, I have made planet fall and I am securing the drop-zone now, are you getting my data feed over?'
**************
On the bridge…
“We read you John, and we're getting the data feed right now…how was the trip?”
“Bumpy if you want to know.”
Cortana smirked as she kept the data feed link up between her and the Spartan, The women who were on the bridge when told of what the dangers were for those who used the HEVs were impressed that the Spartan was unharmed and ready for combat once he hit the ground.
“The Vanguards will be hitting the area in a minute John, I'll have the Pelican drop off you're ammunition supplies now and I'll send it back into orbit.”
“Understood.”
**************
Back on the surface…
John-117 looked up to see the vanguards approaching the area and head of them was the Pelican which was also being piloted by Cortana via remote uplink, the Pelican hovered a good distance from him and dropped off a few supply canisters near his HEV. The extra fire power might not seem needed at first, but those could be picked up later, and if there was one thing he and Cortana knew intimately, it was to never go into battle without a full arsenal just in case things get too dicey.
He then waited as the Vanguards began to land on the surface, the first to land was Barnette who did well on the landing as she deactivated the umbrella mode of the rocket, while Jura landed on a dune but slipped, and Hibiki crashed into another dune with a squawk.
He shook his head a bit and continued to scan the area before him, he was happy to note that Meia was not among the ground team and he hoped that she had taken the advice and stayed out of the mission for today.
**************
Boy was he wrong…
**************
In the Hanger Bay…
“Darn it! I didn't make it in time!”
Meia swore as she was now in the Hanger Bay and her uncolored Vanguard was in the area. She had hoped to be the one leading the ground team as she was indeed the leader of the pirates' forces , but she had not arrived in time for the deployment.
Pyoro arrived and then spoke, hoping to keep the Megele woman calm, he had been there when she and the Spartan had the conversation between them.
“You shouldn't be pushing yourself like this Meia. Won't they be fine without you on this mission?”
“This shouldn't have happened! I'm responsible for all of them…even that Spartan!”
“The Master Chief can take better care of himself you know, but the real problem is that the Drop we have is only a one way use, there aren't any other Drop-ships on the Nirvana's inventory right now.”
Meia didn't like the sound of that…
**************
On the surface…
The Spartan moved around in the area, doing his run of scanning the location for threats to him and the ground teams, while the Vanguards also looked around as well, however, the women were not doing things in proper formation, at least to the mind of the Spartan.
Jura looked about and seemed very bored.
“Just look at this place, it's completely deserted.”
“You're right, there's no need for Meia to be down here with us right now.”
Barnette answered as the two of them moved about, the Spartan wanted them to stay close and move as a team, but like before, he didn't have the access codes to the communication systems to those Vanguards, the same way he had no communications with the Dreads in the past until Captain Magno gave him permission and Cortana then gave him the access codes, he only could communicate with Hibiki's Vanguard at this point and time.
He didn't like the silence on this planet, it reminded him way too much of a trap. With in mind, he placed his Spartan Laser and M90A Shotgun with easy reach of his HEV just in case he needed to run back and get them.
<This place is too quiet.>
“Wow! Look at all the sand!”
Dita exclaimed as she also looks about to see what was in the area of their current location.
“Hey! Don't you go wandering about on your own out here! This is not some sort of field tri….whoa!!!!”
Hibiki had tried to climb up a dune, but his very much high lack of ground warfare experience quickly shows as his Vanguard slips, lands on it's back and slides down the dune.
“ Mr. Alien!”
Dita then began to guide her Vanguard towards Hibiki, just as the Spartan contacted the young Tarak Vanguard pilot.
“Hibiki, you all right?”
“Yeah, but I'm really embarrassed now, this is my first time moving and using my Vanguard on land and now look at me…flat on my back and looking stupid.”
Before the Spartan could answer that, he spotted Jura's Vanguard as it closed the gap and landed on top of Hibiki's own Vanguard…in a rather suggestive way. The Spartan couldn't help but stare at the sight as he tried to figure out just what the blonde Dread pilot planned on doing with Hibiki.
“Well now…this looks like a good a place as any for us to combine don't you think? So let's get on with it…”
Jura spoke a very seductive way, and Hibiki couldn't help but feel even more confused and somewhat uncomfortable as he gazed at the blonde Dread pilot, though why he still didn't figure out, which made him wish the Spartan, having worked with Cortana for a very long time could at least tell him how to deal with women. It was then that he heard yet another voice getting involved.
“You out of you're mind?! You want to do it here?!”
“Stop that right now!”
The Vanguards looked and saw Dita's Vanguard nearby. Inside her own Vanguard, Dita was not very happy and made her displeasure known.
“The only one Mr. Alien's going to do it with is ME!!!”
Jura naturally retaliated at that remark.
“Now wait just a darn minute Dita! Who do you think you're talking to here?!”
Dita knew for a fact that she was still and apprentice Dread pilot, and while Jura wasn't always in the lead, the blonde was the second in command of the Dread Fighter Squadrons, next to Meia, therefore, that made the blonde her commanding officer, and talking back to her was not the sign of a good person, and Dita' didn't like to fight with her comrades in the pirates…but when it concerned Mr. Alien, it was a different story.
“W….Well you can't do it!!!”
Jura and Dita began to glare at one another, neither willing to back down and let Hibiki get a way from them.
Naturally, Hibiki was not in the mood to be fought over like some sort of trophy, it was demeaning to him and he made his displeasure obvious as he shouted out and activated his Vanguard's thrusters.
“WILL THE TWO OF YOU JUST CUT THAT OUT!!!!!”
The Vanguard Hibiki piloted took off in a flash, but that was when the Spartan spotted something in a building nearby and from what he could see it was some sort of warning device and he saw a flash. He realized that it was a triggering system and Hibiki's actions must been sensed, the Spartan immediately realized it was a trap.
“HIBIKI!!! SHUT DOWN YOU'RE ENGINES!!!!!”
The Spartan took aim at the device with his Battle Rifle's scope but he then noted that several more laser beams began to appear in the area of their landing zone, showing him that there were more of the things around their area and even if we took one other, others would replace them. He then noted that they were not firing in random, but were firing into a set pattern…like a net…
“Damn it!”
Barnette likewise saw the laser beams and commented quickly…
“What the heck's that?!”
It was then that a beam fired out from the structure near Barnette and quickly slammed into Hibiki's Vanguard. The shot quickly disabled Hibiki's Vanguard temporarily and sent the youth falling back down as arcs of energy surrounded the Vanguard and him as well.
“AAAAAUUUUUUUGGGGGHHHHHH!!!!”
“HIBIKI!!!!”
John-117 shouted as he saw his charge fall down. He quickly scanned the Vanguard using the advanced optics and was happy to see that Hibiki's vital signs were still good, he was just caught off guard as the optics allowed him to detect Hibiki via heat and bio sensors.
“MR. ALIEN!!!!”
Dita and the others looked on and before they knew what was happening around them the sand suddenly seemed to come life…even if there was no wind anymore. The Spartan noted that and got ready for anything.
“What the heck's happening over here?!”
Jura shouted out as she and Barnette spotted the sand coming right at them at high speed like waves on a beach.
**************
In the Nirvana…
Duero was busy monitoring the life signs of the ground team when he noted the change in Hibiki's life signs, then it was on Jura's Barnette's and then Dita's. The changes told him quickly that something was going on down there, amazingly enough, the only one of the landing party who showed no signs of surprise was John-117 as the Spartan's life signs were normal.
“The pulse rates for the Vanguard pilots are rising very fast, something happening down there.”
Buzam wasted little time and quickly spoke to the bridge crew.
“Give me a status report, what's going on down there?”
“There appears to be some sort of defense system that was activated somehow.” Amarone reported.
“The landing party is being held in place by some sort of energy grid shield, the only one that is not being held down is the Pelican Drop-ship that is above the shield right now Commander.”
“Cortana! Is the Pelican armed with any weapons?”
Cortana nodded and began to show Buzam and the others the data specs of Pelican Drop-ship.
“It's got two ANVIL- II ASM Pods filled with eight missiles, and one rear entrance mounted AIE-486H Heavy Machine Gun.”
“Can you use the Pelican to free the ground team?”
“Negative Commander, from the looks of that shield below I can't begin to start, there's too many emitters in place and not enough ammunition in the Pelican to do enough damage. The weapons might take down some of the emitters, but there might be more of them down there.”
Buzam nodded at that, as she knew that Cortana was right, who knew how many emitters were there and even if some were to fall there was no telling how more would take their place.
“Ground team can you hear me? What's going on down there?!”
John-117 was the first to show up on the monitors.
“We had a commotion down here and Hibiki was spotted by some sort of scanner and triggered the trap. The section of the planet we're on was nothing more than bait to lure us down here.”
“What's the status of the others Master Chief?”
“Not good…”
The rest of the ground team appeared on screen as Jura, Barnette and Dita were in shock as they tried to make sense of what was happening to them all.
“What the heck is going on?!”
“It's no use, the shield's completely surrounded us!”
“Mr. Alien is going to die!!!! Please help him!!!”
“Calm down everyone! What sort of trap is it?” Buzam said, hoping to keep the situation from getting even further out of hand.
“Ahhhhh!!!!”
“I don't know!!!!”
“The…the sand…it's attacking us!!!!”
Buzam was stopped cold by that and looked on in disbelief…
“The...the sand is attacking?!”
**************
On the ground…
Dita was not kidding as the sand that covered the planet began to cover up their Vanguards at a pace that was not normal by weather pattern standards, it was almost as if the sand seemed to be alive as it spread all over the Vanguards.
“What the heck is up with this sand?!”
Hibiki shouted as he looked at the sand that was rapidly covering up his partner's form and body. Dita likewise was panicking as well as she tried to use her Vanguard's arms to block the sand but the sand seemed to spread over her Vanguard's body rapidly and seems to move on it's own as there was no wind to move it along.
“There's something really freaky about this sand!!!”
“What is this stuff, there's no way this is normal sand!!!” Jura said as she looked at the sand covering the surface of her own Vanguard.
“It's almost like it's actually alive!!!” Barnette cried out as it was also covering her Vanguard.
The only one who was calm on the surface throughout all this was the Master Chief as he stood in the sand, knowing that any movement from him would only made the sand even harder to move in. However, he quickly looked at the sand that was on his Mark VI and spoke to the bridge.
“Cortana…can you scan the sand sample?”
“Give me a few moments John…”
**************
Up on the atmosphere, another umbrella rocket was coming down to where the others were and then the umbrella units broke off to reveal Meia's own Vanguard as she began to guide her mecha down to the surface.
“This is Meia, does anyone copy? Is anyone down there?”
On the bridge, Duero couldn't believe his eyes as Meia's picture appeared on his monitor along with her vital signs below Dita's own.
“She's pushing herself.”
**************
John-117 was not worried as he quickly scanned his Mark VI and noted that while the sand had covered him it couldn't damage his systems. He then noted that the sand seems to be trying to actually absorb him, or rather his Mark VI's systems as he picked up faint scanner readings coming from the sand itself, but his shields seem to be holding the sand off…however, he waited for Cortana to send him her analysis of the sand…it didn't take very long for Cortana to send him a field report.
“The sand's actually mixed with what appears to be nano-bots, the nano-bots are the ones that are moving and controlling the sand on that planet, and from what I can see, the nano-bots are scanning and trying to copy you're Mark VI's systems, but it seems that you're shields are acting as a buffer and preventing them from touching you're Mark VI and copying the system, it can only copy you're basic body form. The nano-bots appear to be advanced but are like slaves…”
“What do you mean by that?”
“They seem to have only basic information processing functions and are similar to a to a Class C AI, only having one function and that is to gather information and control sand, nothing more. That must mean that they are under the control of a much higher level system.”
“How do I get it off?”
“I have an idea…I can transmit codes into your Mark VI so you can make an EM screen into you're shields, the EM will deactivate the nano-bots as they seem to be very much vulnerable to EMP and that will return the sand to normal and free you. Don't worry John, the EM won't harm you're shields and it will keep the sand off of you.”
John nodded and waited as the codes were sent down, and when they were send, the Spartan quickly uploaded the data to the Mark VI and sure enough the shields were now able to emit passive EM energy/ The results were very much to Cortana's predictions as the sand was briefly glowing and fell off of him like the way a fish sheds it's scales. It didn't take long for the Spartan to be free and able to move once more. He did the same thing and his weapons on his hands were very much free of the sand and the electronics systems of the weapons were already shielded from EMP so they were not affected by the new amounts of EMP coming from the Mark VI.
The Spartan then saw Hibiki's Vanguard try to stand up but he fell down once more as the sand was rapidly covering his Vanguard. The Spartan then tapped into the communications of the Paeksis enhanced Vanguard to find out what was happening to his charge.
“Damn it…I can't move at all!!! What the heck is going on?!”
“Hibiki! Don't move your Vanguard! The sand will only cover you even faster and become even harder if you struggle.”
True to the Spartan's words, the sand had hardened all over the Vanguard and stiffened it to the point that it fell on it's back and was unable to get up as the layers of sand continued to thicken all over the Vanguard. Dita then managed to turn her Vanguard to the side and try to reach Hibiki's own Vanguard.
“Mr. Alien!!! Try to hold on! I'll do what I can to help you!!!”
Dita tried to move her Vanguard to reach the fallen Vanguard but her own Vanguard was getting stiffer as the sand began to cover her own Vanguard. Hibiki noted that very quickly and communicated to the redhead.
“Don't try to force it! If you keep on moving, the sand will keep on spreading further!”
“Leave this to me!”
Jura said as her Vanguard suddenly came over to Hibiki's Vanguard, and amazingly enough, her crimson Vanguard was free of the sand that had tried to cover the others as well. Barnette also appeared to be clear of the sand as well. As soon as the crimson vanguard landed on Hibiki's own Vanguard, right on the hips no less, the blonde activated her thrusters in reverse and the air vents on her Vanguard fired out a massive blast of air. The air blast moved the sand away and for then Hibiki noted that with the sand off of his Vanguard the response systems of his Vanguard were now a lot better now.
“Thanks a lot!"
Jura then smiled as she replied. “You're welcome. By the way, why don't we combine? That's what I want in reward for freeing your partner."
Hibiki glared once more at Jura sighed a bit and he gave an unbelieving expression to his face.
“Are you still stuck on that combining business? If so I think you've forgotten something, and it's the fact that there's no way that I can combine with your Vanguard. My Vanguard can only combine with your Dread. How do you expect me to fuse my Vanguard with your Vanguard anyway?"
Jura gave a shocked and rather disappointed expression. “Are you joking?! NO! Why didn't you tell me before?! I shouldn't have trained for this mission!"
**************
Meia tried her best to guide her Vanguard properly for landing, but the Vanguard landed hard on the surface of the desert planet, which was now in a blazing sandstorm. Her cockpit was covered in darkness for a few moments and was now in deep red as the emergency lights kicked in, as several systems were now offline.
Due to the sandstorm that arrived unexpectedly, she had landed several hundred meters from where the others were. As soon as she opened her eyes and looked around, her eyes widened and her breathing became rapid and she took in air in short gasps, her heart rate began to gain speed and thundered in her chest. Her forehead became sweaty and her eyes widened in fear and terror.
It was then that Duero's voice managed to reach her through the comm.-link on her Vanguard.
“This is not good!!!Meia! Meia! Do you hear me? Turn on your main monitor! Look as far away as you can! Meia! Can you hear me?"
Duero called out in a commanding voice as he tried to get Meia to recover.
The young Dread pilot reached out with a trembling hand and activated a switch to bring her monitor back online.
“He…should mind his own… business!"
As the monitor came back to life and showed the barren and sandy landscape, her breathing came back to normal and her heart rate returned to being steady. However, the Dread Leader's relief was short lived, as she caught movement, something was heading at her direction, right for where she was.
“What's that?"
Meia had no time as she spotted a Vanguard coming out of the sand…and it was also made out of sand as well. Before she could even consider trying to defend herself, the Sand Vanguard erupted outwards and slammed like a tidal wave into her Vanguard.
Meia could only look on in fear and scream in terror…
**************
The Nirvana…
Belvedere gave a gasp of shock. She was monitoring the scene on the desert planet and was watching the markers that told her where the landing party was. Her cry of shock was due to the fact that one of the markers had disappeared… Meia's marker on her Vanguard.
“Meia's mecha has disappeared from the sensors!"
“What was that?!”
“The pilots are hopelessly confused and afraid, they are all in grave danger!!!
BC acknowledged the report from Belvedere and Duero's warning and immediately got into contact with the landing party. “Barnette! Jura! Dita! Hibiki! Master Chief!!! Do you copy? Meia has disappeared! You have to find her!"
**************
As Meia's Vanguard was being covered by the sand, she was in panic as the red lights flashed in her cockpit as she held her face with her eyes wide and her face in fear.
“W-W-What should I do….? I am so scared….”
**************
“What?!" John-117 called out as soon as he got the message from Buzam.
“I repeat… Meia's mecha has landed some distance from where you and the others are. But she's no longer in our sensors' display! Find her!"
“Roger that!" Master Chief called out as he and the others were now nearing their recovery from the massive storm of sand that threatened to hinder them. The Spartan kept his calm, but he was not very happy with what he had heard as he had hoped that Meia had taken the hint and stayed on the ship…now she was down here and no doubt in danger..that and her claustrophobia as well…
It was then that the Spartan and the other Vanguard pilots found themselves facing another threat as several of the same Sand Vanguards that attacked Meia appeared before them and the Sand vanguards began to close in and walk to them like a pack of zombies.
“Wh…Wh…What are they?!”
Once attacked Jura with a fist strike and the blonde was barely able to block the attack and was forced to move back as the Vanguard charged at her. The blonde was naturally in a panic as she was not expecting to be suddenly attacked on this mission and by a copy of her own Vanguard made from sand no less.
“S-Somebody help me!!!”
The others were already in a panic as they tried their best to fight back with the Sand Vanguards but were not getting far as the Sand Vanguards far outnumbered them and were able to be reinforced by more of them. Dita also stated that the Sand Vanguards' attacks were copying their systems, and it was like their blood was being drained out. It was then that they lost communications to the Nirvana.
It seemed that things were going to get even worse…
Until the Master Chief took the plate, as his link to Cortana was unbroken…he knew that with them not having any form of leadership structure, they would be in serious trouble as more of the Sand Vanguards were coming in. he then studied their numbers and the Vanguards. He knew that while the Sand Vanguards were numerous, they were only limited to close combat, and while the real Vanguards were designed for close combat as well, they were equipped with weapons and that would give them the advantage they needed. He then contacted Hibiki and issued an order.
“Hibiki, download me the communication frequency to all the other Vanguards now.”
Hibiki did so and in a few moments, the Spartan contacted all the members of the ground combat team.
“All Vanguard pilots, this is Spartan-117, I am taking full operational command of this mission, All Vanguard pilots are to get their weapons and place themselves behind one another to as not to get separated from one another and attacked.”
Barnette, despite being engaged by one of the Sand Vanguards was not in the mood to be ordered around by a man, even one like the Spartan.
“I don't take orders from men!”
The Spartan however was not in the mood for dissent in the ranks of his newly acquired fire team and replied to Barnette's rebellious words with an emotionless and stern tone.
“Either follow my orders or you will die here, is that clear?”
Barnette growled and didn't reply.
“I'm right behind you Chief!”
Hibiki said as he managed to fight off his foe and took out his Vanguard's energy sword. The Spartan nodded and reached the HEV that was still there and took out his Spartan Laser and put aside his Assault Rifle and Battle Rifle as the weapons won't be very effective against foes that size…but the Spartan Laser was more than enough to handle them.
He then took the lead and when Dita's Vanguard was about to be surrounded by the enemy Vanguards, he moved past their legs, moved in front of Dita's Vanguard and fired a powerful beam from the weapon that quickly sliced deeply into the Vanguards and destroyed one, allowing Dita to launch out a punch at the head of the Sand Vanguard. Dita cheered as she spoke to John-117.
“Thanks for the save Mr. Green Alien!”
“No problem…Hibiki, Dita, both of you fight side by side and follow my lead, we need to hold a good combat position before we can go and rescue Meia. Jura, Barnette you do the same and get ready to fight.”
With that, the Spartan spotted another trio of Sand Vanguards coming right for them he aimed the weapon and fired, but a split second moved the Spartan Laser…while the beam was not in a straight line, the movement caused the laser beams to scatter and was now a mass of split laser beams that sliced into the torsos of all three targets with ease, reducing them back into sand.
“Whoa! That was some shot!!!”
Jura replied as she was able to fend off her attacker and Barnette coming to her rescue in time with her Vanguard's massive axe, as the two decided to follow the Spartan's orders, though Barnette was still very much against following the Spartan's commands.
John-117 then took to the ammunition canister and acquired some extra power packs for the Spartan Laser and quickly began firing beam after beam on his foes with deadly accuracy, allowing the vanguards to regroup and rally together and fight more cohesively. He had paired them with each other and told them to fight in unison and to cover one another as he provided them with support fire with his Spartan Laser as beams of destructive energy slammed into the Sand Vanguards as they tried to recover, some of the sand beings were either losing arms, legs, or heads, or had their bodies blown in half by the shots of the Spartan Laser. Every time he ran out of juice for the Spartan Laser, the Vanguards would provide him with support as he reloaded his weapon and fired another barrage.
Soon enough, the numbers of Sand Vanguards were dropping to the point that Hibiki, Dita, Jura, and Barnette were able to even up the odds as they got into the swing of things. They moved in formation and began to hack and slash their way through the remaining Sand Vanguards with the Spartan supporting them with the Spartan Laser. The Spartan then took out a Missile Pod from the supply canister and took the massive weapon and was blasting away as the fast moving missiles blew apart the sand Vanguards like they were nothing but paper targets in a shooting range.
As soon as the numbers of Sand Vanguards dropped to the point that the Master Chief was assured that one of the fire team members could go out and find Meia, he checked the data once more as he had asked Cortana to fill him in on Meia's last known location, as soon as he was able to triangulate the location, he spoke to none other than Barnette.
“Barnette, you need to go and find Meia, we will provide you with covering fire.”
“I said…”
“I know, you may not like me since I am a man, but the life of you're comrade Meia is on the line, the more you argue with me, the more likely she will be lost, are you willing to let you're pride and this belief that all men are the enemy be the reason she dies?”
Barnette gulped a bit and Jura spoke to her best friend.
“The Master Chief is right Barnette, you have to find Meia now…Grand Ma knows how much danger she is in right now…we'll be all right, so get going please.”
Barnette nodded and quickly made her way to Meia's location as the others got ready to face off with the next batch of Sand Vanguards. As soon as Barnette's Vanguard was out of sight another batch of Sand Vanguards came out to engage the remaining ground team, but this time, they were not alone as a large number of human sized beings came out to follow the Sand Vanguards. And these beings seemed to be about the same size as the Spartan…apparently, whatever controlled the sand Vanguards realized that while the Spartan was not in a Vanguard, he was the overall leader of the group and from the weapons and the way the Spartan fought and led them, he was a deadly threat and had to be taken out.
The Spartan spotted the large number of Sand replicas of him and knew that the device that was controlling the sand nano-bots must have sent them to deal with him alone. He quickly placed aside his Missile Pod as the figures came at him slowly and got his Assault Rifle and Battle Rifle. The weapons unleashed their rounds right into the new enemy types as the Sand Vanguard concentrated on the Vanguards.
Dita was now able to use the punch blade attached to the Vanguard she piloted, while Hibiki used his Vanguard's energy sword, and Jura also used her own sword and began to use her training in fencing, unknown to others with the exception of her family and Barnette, Jura didn't carry the rapier on her waist merely for show, in her youth, she was the premier fencing champion of her school and despite the vast difference of using her own arms and that of the vanguard, the training was paying off. The Spartan also was busy blasting away at the Sand Copies of himself and the bullets ripped through the sand being effectively as more of them were reduced to sand.
“John! I have something that might help you in that ammunition canister! Grab it and use it!”
The Spartan heeded Cortana's advice and went to the canister and took out one massive looking hammer with a long shaft, a large head with lines of energy on it, a power cell on the back and a massive blade at the back. He knew that this was a Type 2 Energy Weapon/Hammer, or better known as the Gravity Hammer. The Brutes loved this weapon and only high ranking members such as Captains, and Chieftains were ever seen using them…considering the close calls he had with such foes on more than one occasion, he knew that these were not weapons to look down upon.
He hefted the weapon and used it and his Assault Rifle to smash through the Sand Copies of his Mark VI, as the bullet rounds left them into piles of sand, he was able to completed his reloading of the Assault Rifle when he spotted a Sand Vanguard lumbering towards him and he took out the Gravity Hammer. The Spartan moved out of the way in a roll as the Sand Vanguard tried to crush him with it's foot, but that was the opening he needed as he rapidly got to his feet and swung the Gravity Hammer…the weapon smashed through the other leg and left the Sand Vanguard with only it's raised leg…naturally forcing it to fall down and before it could recover or regenerate, the Spartan smashed the head of the Gravity Hammer right on it's head, crushing it. The Spartan then swung his weapon right through four of the sand Copies that tried to ambush him and the blow smashed them all into sand and sent the sand flying, another one was crushed into sand from head to feet with one powerful downward swing from the Gravity Hammer. All throughout this he kept track of the Vanguards and monitored their conditions and locations as they were given friendly marker tags by his systems.
 
Another Sand Vanguard tried to grab and crush the Spartan with it's arm, but the Spartan merely stepped aside and smashed the Sand Vanguard's arm off with one blow and spun the Gravity Hammer as best he could, and despite the slow speed of the Gravity Hammer in attack, the blow was enough to slice the head off of the Sand Vanguard, sending down for the count as the Spartan took out his Assault Rifle and fired another lethal barrage into their ranks. He then fired another fresh load and then took back his Battle Rifle and used the scope to fire three round bursts into the newly advancing crowds of Sand Copies to send them back down. The M634 9.5x40mmm X-HP- SAP rounds did their part as they sliced down more of the Sand Vanguards as the Spartan fired with a clean, efficient, methodical, and patient approach. He still commanded the Vanguards and kept them focused and organized
Hibiki, Dita, and Jura were impressed by how the Spartan fought and commanded them as he spoke in a calm and patient manner, almost like a seasoned commanding officer, both women thought that he was like Meia in a way, while Hibiki thought that the Spartan would be a truly worthy addition to the men of Tarak and their military if he was born there. This was natural as the numbers of Sand Vanguards were being cut down in a much faster pace than they could regenerate.
It became obvious why the Spartan was part of the ground team as he knew land warfare better than anyone else, as he grabbed his Spartan Laser once more and blasted apart groups of Sand Copies and took down several more Sand vanguards that were trying to overwhelm the ground team with their numbers.
**************
The bridge…
Buzam and Magno nodded as they saw the location the thing that was controlling the sand that attacked the landing party. It resembled some sort of insect, like a tick and according to Cortana, it was using slave nano-bots to control the sand. It was too risky for the ground team to leave and hunt it down as they had to rescue Meia.
“So the Chief was right in this being a trap…no doubt left by our enemies.” Magno said with her eyes narrowed.
“What's happening down there BC?”
Buzam looked at the scanners and was quite surprised as she looked at the results.
“The Vanguards are mounting a very fierce counter attack and are also doing well on defensive actions.”
“Really? Is Barnette the one leading them?”
Magno had been told by Buzam and Duero that out of the Vanguard candidates that were chosen for the operation, Barnette was the one who had the most skill out of the other female pilots.
“No Captain…she's been sent out to find Meia.”
“Then who's leading them?”
Cortana smiled and replied.
“You already know who is leading them Captain, he might not pilot a Vanguard, but considering his Mark VI, his weapons, training, and his experience in ground warfare, he's more than capable of leading the ground team.”
“The Master Chief is in command?”
“Correct, he knows what he has to do for this mission to be successful, he didn't become the leader of the entire Spartan II Super Soldier teams for nothing. He might not excel in one field like the others do, but he is more than balanced in all of them, but his leadership talents among the Spartans are unquestioned, though his friend Fred-104 comes close. Don't worry, with him in the lead, the ground team will be all right.”
**************
On the ground…
Cortana's words were very true as the Spartan continued to reload and rearm himself, while leading the Vanguard pilots with calm and precise commands, showing that he is the best officer to be chosen for ground operations and battles. He was currently using his M90A Shotgun and the Spartan Laser to support the others as they held off the enemy force, that dedicated themselves to taking out the Spartan and his fire team. The Spartan provided the ranged firepower to take out the Sand Vanguards and thin their numbers, and took out the Sand Copies of himself to even up the odds a bit more.
As another sand Copy fell to the ground…riddled with fifteen pellets from the Soelkraft 8 Gauge Shell that the M90A used, the Spartan fired another shell right into the face of another Sand Vanguard that tried to come closer to him, he then took out one of his Fragmentation Grenades and tossed it into a band of the Sand Copies…blowing them all to hell. He then took out the Spartan Laser and fired a spread fire shot at another bunch and blew them all to hell with one massive blast. He then contacted Barnette to give him a progress report on her attempt to find Meia.
**************
Barnette was looking as hard as she could for Meia's Vanguard when John-117's voice came on.
“Barnette, have you found Meia?”
“Not yet…wait…my Goddess… it's Meia's Vanguard!”
“What's her status?”
“Her Vanguard's covered with Sand! I'm going to try and free her!!!”
Barnette knew that she couldn't use her Vanguard's air vents to free Meia the same way Jura had done, as her vents had been damaged during the fighting before the Spartan took command of the operation and had led them to making a counter attack. Thus she decided to use her shovel extension and began to move the sand off of Meia's Vanguard.
Suddenly the sand covered Vanguard suddenly took off and pushed aside Barnette's Vanguard, the sand covered Vanguard suddenly slammed into the force field and that had an even worse effect on the situation that they were in. Suddenly loud alarms filled the air, and several large structures began to rise from the ground and began to move and expand.
“Barnette! What was that? What's Meia's status?”
“The sand…it's gotten control of Meia's Vanguard, it made her Vanguard trigger something…it's moving her to where we were!”
**************
“What the heck is happening now?” Magno asked as they suddenly picked up massive energy spikes from beneath the surface of the planet.
Belvedere offered her report as she and the others scanned the area.
“The self destruct system for the defense system has been activated, there is at least 300 hundred seconds to detonation.”
“That's not good!” Magno commented.
“This is Buzam to all members of the Landing Party, you have to evacuate from the area now!”
**************
On the surface…
“We can't go anywhere right now Commander, the shield is still up and as long as that shield is online, there's no way we can leave.”
John-117 replied as another Sand Copy has smashed by the Spartan's fist as the Master Chief reloaded his weapons and led the Vanguards.
“That's right, if we could leave this moment, we sure as hell would have done it already!”
Hibiki said as he managed to slice down another Sand Vanguard and then spotted yet another one coming up the dune behind them.
“What?! Another one? How many are there?!”
He took out his smaller throwing sword and was about to fire when Barnette's Vanguard came beside the new unit and spoke to them all, just as the Spartan also turned after blowing apart another Sand Vanguard with the Missile Pod, it was already out of ammunition and had to be left behind.
“Don't fire! That's Meia, the sand's taken control of her Vanguard and she can't get it to move at all!”
“What did you say?!”
**************
“200 seconds to detonation!”
Buzam and Magno looked on as Cortana kept herself calm, but she spoke then to the Master Chief.
“John…things are about to get very hectic down there, better get out as fast as you can!”
**************
Inside the mecha, the Dread Leader was in full state of catatonic shock and naturally was unaware of what was happening outside of her machine. She was shocked back into reality as something smashed into her Vanguard and knock it to it's back. She then heard Hibiki's voice in the communicator of her mecha.
“What the hell are you doing in there?! Taking a bloody nap? We don't have the time for this sort of thing! Get that stuff off of you right now!!!"
Hibiki then tried to remove the sand with his Vanguard's hands. But every-time he managed to brush off a layer of the sand; it would be replaced by an even thicker coating.
“S-stop that! Forget about me…save yourselves…" Meia said weakly.
“Will you cut that out?! Stop being so selfish!"
Hibiki shot back at her. “Your reason to live right now may be to make life for me on the ship a living hell. But I'd feel like crap if I'm just going to let you die in front of my eyes today! Don't think for a moment that life is all about you!"
“Damn! I'm not getting anywhere here! There's got to be some better way to do this!!!”
Hibiki knew he couldn't ask Jura to do the same thing she had done to free his vanguard neither could he ask Dita as she and the other Dread pilots were still fighting it out with the Sand Vanguards while the Spartan was holding off the sand Copies of itself, and the process would take way too long, and time was running out for them.
The layers covering the mecha were too dense for such a plan anyway, he needed another solution and fast, he then recalled the Spartan's teachings about finding a solution in the least expected places.
<Think Hibiki…there has to be an answer here somewhere…wait a minute!>
He then spotted something resembling a massive storage tank near them. His Vanguard's sensors systems then detected a large concentration of gas that was a full sixty degrees cooler than the outside temperature. Just the thing he needed.
**************
“One hundred and twenty seconds until detonation."
“ Did you hear that?" Buzam cried out on the communicator.
**************
“WE KNOW THAT ALREADY!"
Hibiki shouted back as he directed his attention to the storage tank. He then tossed his throwing energy sword to the side of the storage tank. The powerful impact from the weapon made the tank explode, unleashing the gas payload inside it into a cooling mist. The mist then covered the entire area, rapidly cooling everything in it's path.
At the same time the mist had completely frozen the circuitry of the force field emitters, disabling the barrier above them all.
“What the heck are you doing?! It's getting cold in here! I'm freezing!"
Jura complained as she was shivering from the sudden drop in temperature, but then she realized something.
“Wait a minute…?"
She looked through her monitor and saw that the Sand Vanguard she was fighting with earlier had suddenly stiffened and became brittle. In a second it broke into shards of sand. The mist spread out rapidly, turning all the remaining Sand Vanguards into brittle statues that exploded immediately. The Sand Copies of the Spartan also froze up and were now exploding all over the place
“Good thinking there Hibiki.” John-117 said as his Mark VI kept him warm.
“You're so smart Mr. Alien!" Dita cheered.
Barnette never wanted to admit it, but to her also, it had been a good idea.
 
Hibiki nodded at Dita's praise but he knew that now wasn't the time to be choosy. He then directed his attention to Meia's Vanguard. The sand that covered her mecha cracked and broke away, allowing the young Dread Leader to see daylight once more.
Inside her own machine, Meia had a deep scowl on her. To think that she now owed a man her life… and to Hibiki no less.
She then tried to make her machine move, but it wasn't responding at all. She checked her readouts and saw that the sand had accomplished part of its objectives; it had completely drained her mecha of power. There was no chance of her to escape in time.
“The sand's drained my Vanguard of all power!!! I can't move.”
“Hold on!”
Before Meia knew what was happening, the sounds of metal being brutally forced apart was heard. Outside, the Spartan had ran up to the fallen and free Vanguard and had began to punch into the Vanguard's armor and then took a good hold of the metal, he tore the armor off and then tore out the powerless parts and systems…and ripped the cockpit open using his enhanced strength and that of the boost given to it by the Mark VI. It didn't take very long for the Spartan to literally rip the Vanguard's cockpit wide open and show Meia to the others.
Hibiki and Dita…although having seen the Spartan's strength in action before were still in awe as the Spartan did the deed and got Meia out of her now powerless Vanguard as the Pelican landed near them. Jura and Barnette however stared wide eyed at what they had witnessed.
“Whoa! That guy sure is strong!!! He ripped the Vanguard cockpit open like he was opening a can of tomatoes!!!!”
Jura said with awe as she saw the Spartan's raw strength for the first time.
“That's guy's certainly something else…” Barnette said with a gulp.
Meia herself was shocked at seeing the Spartan rip her cockpit apart like a rapid and hungry wolf and when she was now face to face with the green armored giant of a man, and she saw her frightened reflection on his golden polarized visor. The Spartan noted that too but cared little for it and offered her his hand.
“Give me you're hand, I'm getting you out of here!”
“W-What?”
“We might not see eye to eye, but I will not leave a person in my side to die alone like this and in this place, if you want to live, give me you're hand.”
**************
“Thirty seconds!”
“All units! Get out of there!!!”
**************
On the surface…
“Hibiki, you and the others take off now!”
Hibiki was reluctant to leave behind his mentor but had no choice as he, Jura, Barnette, and Dita took off, using their rockets, and meia was forced to follow the Spartan to the Pelican.
The trooper bay of the Pelican was open as the Spartan salvaged what he could from his soon to be abandoned supply canister and found pair of FURY Tac nukes and he quickly armed them for remote detonation as he and Meia were now onboard and he then turned to the holographic image of Cortana who piloted the Pelican.
“Seal the bay and punch it!”
“Got it Chief!!!”
Several more Sand Vanguards tried to get closer, but Cortana was able to punch the engines at full power and the Pelican left the scene…and with that, the Spartan remote detonated the FURY Tac nukes.
The surface of the planet where the ground was before was blown into glass as the Fury Tac nukes detonated. The Sand Vanguards were also blown to bit as the Pelican rocketed up to the area of space…meeting up with the Vanguards as they all moved to get out of the area.
**************
“Time's up." Amarone replied as the countdown meter on her console reached a full zero.
On the bridge of the Nirvana, Magno and the rest of her crew watched with apprehension as the surface of the desert planet was engulfed in huge balls of fire and explosive force in orange-red color. Duero's medical monitors were showing nothing but static. There was a deep foreboding silence all over the ship, as the pirates feared for the worst. Then Duero's attention went back to the monitors as all five readouts displaying the landing party went back online as several objects broke out of the massive conflagrations that tore up the planet's surface.
“Four Vanguards are accounted for, along with the Pelican Drop-ship." Ezra said with a mixture of relief and concern.
“Only four?" BC said with growing apprehension. “Which ones?"
“I count Dita, Jura, Hibiki, and Barnette's Vanguards." Ezra replied.
“But where is Meia?”
They got their answer as Cortana smiled and replied.
“Meia's in the Pelican Drop-ship with John…she's alive and safe.”
The rest of the bridge personnel let off a collective sigh of relief as well. It was then that one of the bridge crew namely Belvedere announced that she had received some data from the investigation.
“Read it." BC ordered.
Belvedere became a bit tense, but nodded, with a little prodding from Buzam.
“Attention. This year's harvest includes red blood cells, white blood cells, platelets, lymph products, etc. All blood products are in good condition. That's where the data ends."
The whole bridge personnel became shocked to the core by the information, even Cortana was stunned at the ramifications of the announcements. Magno looked down of the ground with a barely controlled anger. BC turned to her commanding officer.
“They… They can't really mean…"
“I know BC, but the evidence is right here, and from what we have seen. Our enemies meant harvest completely. We're nothing but vegetables to them!" Magno then looked out to the stars and gave an outraged look.
“Whoever our new enemies, these aliens are. One thing is certain, they are quite formidable."
**************
In the hanger bay, the Vanguards minus Meia's Vanguard were now being sent back to dry dock, but Parfet had decided that the Vanguards were now to be repaired and maintained, in case the next battle would call for their use. With the aliens now stepping up their attacks to ground warfare, it was now going to be a growing possibility that they would be part of their forces.
The Spartan was also in the Hanger Bay talking to Hibiki and the young man was smiling and saluted the Spartan as the Master Chief commended him for his quick thinking and initiative. John-117 was happy that his lessons were working on Hibiki, and he hoped for more in the long run.
On several crates, were Dita and the others, namely Jura and Barnette, resting after their first taste of Vanguard combat. On another crate at another location sat Meia, who watched with a bit of anger at Hibiki and the Spartan.
< Being saved by someone is bad enough. But being rescued by a man is a complete disgrace, let alone TWO men. And of all the men in this whole universe, I had to owe my life to THEM! >
Meia's thoughts were still on red light as she gazed at Hibiki and the Master Chief. Her pride was strong and right now it felt battered by the fact that she was still alive due to the young man's plans and the massive armored male soldier in front of her. Hibiki then noted her looks at him and the Master Chief then turned and was now gazing at her, along with the Spartan. She immediately tore her eyes away to look elsewhere… anywhere but at them.
Hibiki sighed and glared at Meia.
“Man, what is her problem?!”
“Cool it Hibiki, fighting with her right now isn't going to change things.”
“I know Chief…but she could at least be grateful and thank you and me, I mean, I came up with the idea of the freezing gas that freed her from the sand, and she should thank you for getting her out of the powered own Vanguard.”
“It's all right…the thing that matters is we're all here.”
“Yeah…achooo!!!”
Hibiki then discovered that what he had done on the planet with the coolant gas tank had somehow given him a cold and he now had a runny nose.
“I think it's time to head off to the Medical Bay though, see you around Hibiki.”
“Thank you Master Chief!”
Hibiki said as he saluted the Spartan once more and he was saluted back as the Spartan left the scene.
**************
CLICK! CLICK! CLICK!
“Pai check!"
Paiway was busy gathering new information, namely on Hibiki, John-117 and Meia. Despite being only eleven yeas old, the young nurse had the eye of a seasoned detective, though she had no experience on what she was seeing,
< Something strange will happen soon, I just know it!>
She thought as she scribbled down her observations. It was then that Pyoro flew next to her.
“I guess I'll never truly understand humans."
“What would be the point of it all when you do?" Paiway asked the little machine.
“What's the point of you taking photos right now?"
“You're a mean robot."
“Shut up."
**************
Later…
“You wanted to see me, captain?" Meia asked as she came into the conference room. She then noted that BC, and Duero were in the room as well.
“Yes Meia. There's something that I'd like to discuss with you. Please seat down."
The strong willed and fiercely independent girl became a bit tense as she then suspected on what she had been summoned for and the reason why. “Captain, if it's about what happened on the mission…"
“That's the exact reason why I called for you here." Magno said as she then took a deep breath. She knew that what was about to be said here would not suit well with the Dread Squadron Leader.
“This isn't easy for me to say… but I have no intention of beating around the bush. As the captain of this ship, my first and foremost priority is to the safety and well being of this crew. And as the Captain, I am forced to make some hard decisions." She then turned to Duero. “Doctor, what is your final analysis concerning this matter?"
 
The Nirvana's healer and only qualified physician and his comrade, nodded to the captain as Duero then addressed Meia.
“I'm sorry to say this to you, but as the ship's head physician, I have declared you as psychologically unsuited to take part in any missions that involve the Vanguards. It is my sad duty to hereby permanently ground you from the Vanguards."
That naturally didn't suit well with the young pilot…
“What?!" Meia shot up from her seat and slammed both hands on the conference table. She immediately gave a hostile glare to Duero.
“You can't say that! I lead all combat missions for this ship! You are just a man! Who are you to say of what I can or cannot do?!"
“He happens to be our ship's doctor."
Magno replied sternly, but sighed silently as the reaction from Meia was expected, she motioned for Meia to sit down, which the young girl did so reluctantly.
“Captain! You can't be serious about this! He doesn't have any authority on the ship and he's just a man!"
"On the contrary, Meia. I happen to totally agree with him."
The aged woman said with her usual authority.
“And as I recall, I did make the official announcement that Duero, Hibiki, the Master Chief and Bart are part of this crew for the duration of this voyage. His analysis of your behavior during that mission coincides with something I had long suspected about you for some time."
“What are you talking about captain? I was just suffering from fatigue, that's all!"
Duero shook his head as he began to explain.
“You showed signs of agitation, nervousness, increased heart rate, hyperventilation, and increased lack of focus. You became indecisive and distraught. At one critical point of the mission, your entire body locked up and didn't respond. Those symptoms came up only when you entered the cockpit of a Vanguard. I also have extra data from the readouts from your time in the training simulator. You showed all the classic symptoms that indicate claustrophobia. It seems that you can't stand being placed in confined spaces, and that you panicked while inside the cockpit of a Vanguard. I had not wanted to speak about you're condition since my words might not be heeded, but in light of what had happened on the surface of the planet, I have told the Captain of you're case."
“Ridiculous!" Meia denied in a high voice.
“I'm not going to just sit here and listen to all that nonsense! I pilot a Dread better than anyone else here, so what makes you think that I would have any trouble with a Vanguard?"
“Unlike the Vanguard of my home-planet, you're Dread's cockpit is more open and spacious in design, so it doesn't surprise me that you have excellent performance and feel more at home with a Dread."
“He's correct on that." Magno said quietly.
“What?! You're actually siding with this…this… man?!" Meia asked in shock at Magno.
“It's not a question of whether the doctor is either a man or a woman, Meia." Magno stated firmly.
“The fact of this matter is that Duero has far more medical training and experience than anyone else on this ship and he also raised a valid point, in which the safety of your fellow crewmates was affected. The Master Chief told me about you're condition after the operation and I could tell he was not happy with what you did. In fact both he and Hibiki worked together to save you.”
Meia became silent at that statement and became angry how those two men had saved her and had gotten the others to safety. She had been upstaged once more by those men and now this male doctor informing her that she was unfit for combat! Why couldn't these men just go away? Things had been going on just fine before they came onboard!
Magno noted the girl's reaction.
“Meia, don't get the conclusion that we are turning against you. That's totally untrue. We are only thinking for your safety, and also for the safety of the crew. You are an outstanding Dread pilot and commanding officer, no one here will try to discredit or dispute that fact. Therefore you shall remain as the Dread teams' leader. However, both Buzam and I have already agreed that we couldn't afford to lose you if we were to send you out on another mission involving the Vanguards. Do you understand this?"
Meia took a long time to silently consider the captain's words. Finally, with a long sigh, she reluctantly nodded.
“I can already see that I'm not going to win this argument. All right then. So we just won't use the Vanguards any more, this was just the only time."
“I'm afraid that it's not going to be that simple Meia…the battle on the surface of the planet has told us that the aliens will no doubt have other traps on other worlds like that one and they will no doubt attack us not just in space, but from planets or worse. As it stands, we are going to form a new group of pirates who will be responsible for any operations that will not involve the Dreads directly or need to be done on a planet's surface, and in light of that, we have decided to appoint a ground team leader to handle such operations in the future.
“I see…”
Meia saw the logic there as the aliens would no doubt have more than just this surprise for them, though it grated on her nerves that she couldn't lead all the combat operations of the pirates anymore.
“So who will be the ground team's commander? Will it be Jura or Barnette?”
Magno and Buzam sighed a bit as they knew the next announcement was not going to be very pleasing to Meia, but they had no choice, the decision was already made, in light of the events that happened during the battle on the planet's surface.
“Jura can pilot a Vanguard well enough and Barnette has good talent, but neither of them know how to lead a ground operation, and Jura's Dread also has the same ability to fuse with Hibiki's Vanguard, just as you're and Dita's as well, and those are our best tactical weapons in space battles with the aliens, thus they are not allowed to be the ground commander. Besides…you already know who the leader is.”
Meia was confused at first…and then it dawned on her and she was wide eyed.
“You can't mean you're all going to put HIM in charge of the ground teams?!”
“He is already selected Meia, he has the training, the experience, the knowledge and the skills to lead a ground force in battle…his leadership in the ground mission proves that he is the best candidate for the position of ground operations leader. His battle records also showed to us that he has earned all of his military awards and his reputation as well. He is also the leader of his entire unit of fellow soldiers. The Master Chief IS the best candidate that we have at this point of time.”
**************
In the UNSC section…
“You want me to lead the ground teams Captain?”
The Spartan asked as he and Cortana looked at the Captain as she had journeyed to the section with Buzam along with her and Gascogne as well. The Spartan was a bit surprised at the arrival as he was busy checking his Mark VI for any damages, while the suits were nearly invincible, including the Paeksis enhanced Mark VI…the Spartan leader, like all his fellow Spartans didn't take any chances and always checked and tripled checked their gear before and after a mission.
“That the long and short version of it. Do you want the position?”
“The position isn't the problem Captain…but I do have a problem with the idea.”
“Oh?”
“Captain…I mean no disrespect, but while you're crew are skilled in their own right, they are still civilians in my eyes and they are not yet in the standards of even UNSC Marine recruits, they don't have what it takes to be in the ground teams as of yet. They still need to be trained in basic military discipline, team work and more.”
“I understand that, but you can train them, am I correct?”
“Yes I can.”
“So what is the problem Master Chief?”
“They are still in the belief that men are their enemy, will they listen to my orders, as well as follow my orders? I don't want teams that don't listen to commands given by me if they think I am the enemy.”
“They will, they are a good crew and they will know that this arrangement is for the best, and out of all the people here, you are the best one qualified for the job.”
The Spartan thought about it and sighed a bit, he knew the truth in Magno's statement, and considering that what they had gone through would no doubt be a prelude to more dangers to come, he decided that he might as well train the pirates under his leadership so they can survive the dangers they would no doubt face soon.
“Very well Captain, I'll do it…when do I start?”
Magno smiled and so did Gascogne and Buzam, they were relieved that the Spartan had agreed to train some of their crew to fight ground missions that were of key importance to their return back home.
“You can start once the recruits are chosen Master Chief.”
**************
Later…
The Spartan was walking to the Bio-Park to think a bit more on his latest decision and as he arrived, he spotted Meia who quickly glared at him as he was dress in Marine fatigues and bare of his Mark VI. He walked over to the Megele female and Meia then spoke to him in a rather unfriendly tone.
“What are you doing here?”
The Spartan shrugged and replied.
“To think.”
“Yeah right, you're probably here to gloat, aren't you?”
“Why should I be gloating?”
“Don't lie to me! You were probably happy to be given the post of ground team commander, that's you're line of specialty after all, not to mention you're happy that I'm not allowed to be part of the ground teams!”
“The Captain did offer me the position, and I accepted it, I know the need for it.”
“Hah! I knew it!”
“I didn't come here to gloat about that, I am taking the position not for any glory, I'm doing it because it is necessary and it needs to be done. I will work with everyone to make sure that we all make it out of the alien's traps safely, including working with you.”
“Are you deaf?! I don't want help from anyone, least of all someone who's a freak like you!!!”
Meia then realized what she said and despite her dislike for the Spartan she knew that her tongue had gone too far, and she had already seen what the Spartan was capable of doing and her insult might have made him angry enough to do the same thing that he did to the Vanguard to her.
However, this was not the first time the Master Chief had been called a freak by other people and he shrugged it off and replied.
“I understand you're dislike Meia, but I doubt our alien enemies care for that, to them, we're all vegetables to be harvested. In a way, this reminds me of the time the Covenant came and nearly wiped out all humanity for the sake of their religion.”
He then looked at Meia and spoke calmly and with seriousness.
“In truth, you're not the first one to call me a freak…I've been called that and worse in my world, but I don't care at all. I have a mission to accomplish and I will do what I can to get the job done, but I do respect you Meia.”
“What did you say?!”
“There's another reason I didn't want you on the ground mission, you have the skills of a great pilot, and I said I will not contest you're place as leader of the Dread Squadrons. To have you die there would have been a waste of your life and your skills, not to mention the suffering and grief you're death would place on the crew. I have seen death many times over in the nearly three decades of war that I have been in Meia, and I know that every life is to be saved and not wasted. If you were to die now…how would the Dread pilots fight? They rely on you to lead them, and you are part of their family. Losing you would be a serious blow to them.”
“And I have seen enough death to last me a life-time…and I have lost many of my fellow Spartans and friends in the wars I have ever fought in. I didn't lie when I said that I will not lose anyone from my side anymore. Regardless of how you feel about me being on this ship and on this crew…I want you to know that if you are ever in grave danger…I will rescue you…even if I am the only one to do it.”
With that, the Spartan left the Bio-Park and left a speechless Dread pilot to ponder his words.
**************
To be continued…
Author's notes:
Well, that about wraps up this latest chapter nicely and I will be taking a break for a bit as I need to rest as I have been plagued by headaches for quite a bit recently…and as such I will update a new chapter once I feel much better.
And on the topic of pairings with the Master Chief, like I said before, there will be other candidates to come and they will be shown soon enough in the coming chapters, but don't forget, Cortana still has a very strong lead over the pack as she and the Master Chief are very close, and now that she is a human being, it certainly raises the chances that she will be at the top for getting the Spartan. Let's not also forget that despite his nature, the Spartan does have feelings for Cortana, though he hardly shows them. But he proves it true as he had gone into the now corrupted Flood Hive that was once High Clarity in Halo 3 to rescue her, even if there was a very big chance that it was a Flood trap for them all.
But since we're still going strong here, the other candidates may get their chances as well to get closer to the Spartan, so if you have some paring suggestions for the Spartan apart from Cortana, please send them over to me, but be civil about it.
So how was this one chapter? Not too bad as the Spartan shows his stuff on ground battles, and it seems that despite Meia's hostility towards the Master Chief, he would still help her out in the event she will need some support for any venture that she might be involved in. Will that announcement change Meia's opinions towards the men including Hibiki and the Master Chief?
We'll just have to wait and see won't we?
And now it appears that the pirates are forming a new ground strike force to handle mission where the Dreads will not be helpful and it seems that the Spartan will be the overall commander of the operations. This means that he will not be only responsible for ship defense when he's onboard the Nirvana, but he will be the leader for the ground operations that the pirates will be taking part of. This is his element to start with as he is the best in both ship and ground based battles. For that we will have a filler chapter next so as to highlight the newly created pirate ground teams.
However, will the women be able to work with the Spartan? Will they be willing to listen to his orders once they are in a mission? And better yet…how will they feel now that they will be given the same UNSC Marine training and discipline that Hibiki was subjected to in the last chapter?
Here's a little trailer for you to see:
**************
The three women couldn't believe what they had just heard from their new commanding officer, they had just managed to finished the obstacle course and rang the bell, or one of them did as the others followed. They had thought that with one of their team members ringing the bell ahead of the others, they would win and have a good meal at dinner time…but now they were stunned with what the man said.
“What do you mean we lost and can't have dinner?!”
“I said the first team to ring the bell gets to have the lavish dinner, you didn't make it as a team to ring the bell.”
“But that's unfair!!! I rang the bell ahead of the others for my team?!” One of the women complained.
Master Chief Petty Officer John-117 replied.
“You're team loses, you lose…you don't win until you're team wins.”
**************
See you on the next Chapter! Chapter 6 - Camp Genesis!!!