Halo: Sparta

Epsilon

After having her armour fitted, Palmer angrily made her way to the training room. On the way, she saw Thorne. "Gabe! Wait up!" She called. Thorne turned and allowed the female to fall into stride with him. "Hey, Commander. It's been a while." He chuckled. "Lieutenant Commander." She corrected with a grimace. "O-oh... Sorry... Who got the spot?" He asked. "The same bastard who's leading our Fireteam." She cursed. "Wait, we're in the same team? That's cool, I guess. But seriously. Who's the new Commander?"

"Master Chief Petty Officer Spartan-117." She spat with damnation. "Woah... I'm gonna meet the Master Chief? Wow, this is any Spartan's dream," Taking a look at the smouldering LC, he corrected. "M-most Spartans... Some... As a matter of fact, not a lot. He's just a guy, am I right?"

"Do not let my personal feelings interfere with yours, Thorne. Be happy if you want to be happy." She encouraged. "Thanks, Palmer."

Arriving at the training room, they were met with two other Spartans. To be fair it was filled with other Spartans doing target practice and combat training. "Well, it's about time!" Announced Buck. "I've been standing here for 10 minutes, y'know." He groaned. "Apologies on behalf of my friend. He gets rowdy when left with nothing to do." Said Jun. "Senior Chief." Acknowledged Sarah. "Commander."

"Lieutenant Commander."

Buck laughed. "Who took your job? Don't tell me it's this guy?" Sarah sighed. "Nope."

"Anyway, welcome to Fireteam Epsilon. I don't know whose genius idea it was to rip me out of retirement and plant my ass back in active service but when I find out the better be sorry." Jun whined. "C'mon, Jun. It isn't that bad. You get to exercise that old body of yours, dad." Joked the firmer ODST, insulting his age. "I'll assume that was a joke and I don't have to beat your ass until all you want to call me is Daddy."

Sarah snorted while Thorne just said, "Damn." Buck raised his hand in defeat. "So, who's are CO?" Jun asked. "The new Commander for the Spartan-IV's. Spartan-117."

Buck's demeanour immediately shifted. "Hol up. Hol the hell up. Master Chief? The guy I almost died while trying to hunt? The Spartan who went rogue? That Master Chief!?" He sputtered. Sarah nodded. "Oh. Well, ain't that just prime."

Jun shifted his weight to one leg and crossed his arms. "I'll never forget the day I saw him on TV back on my homeworld. Big, strong, fast and mysterious." He marvelled. "I'm really excited to meet him. One question. Palmer. You have the most experience with him. What's he like?"

Sarah thought for a moment, trying to give an unbiased opinion. "Well... He had zero personality as far as I saw. No quirks or anything like that. He's very... robotic. He takes insults to the face but his voice never expresses anger. He does everything with humanities best interest at heart which is admiral... Though I must say, he's getting a bit defiant."

Buck disagreed, "No no. He was done with the bullshit. He's been taking it for decades. He deserves to at least speak up." Jun ticked. "Mm... I understand voicing an opinion but that's a whole nother kettle of fish when compared to disobeying direct orders and going AWOL. In the end, his actions were justified but to what extent does that absolve him?" Jun had a valid point.

"All I know is that we owe him our lives. At least 2 over by now." Thorne added. Suddenly the air in the room. An overwhelming presence overtook the Spartans. All of them. He was here. In response, Palmer announced, "Officer on deck!"

They instinctively stopped what they were doing and stood by one another. All of them, saluting the Master Chief. "As you were." His voice echoed and all the other Spartan's resumed their activities. He walked over to his new team.

"A-266. The man who can hit an elite from 2000 meters. You worked with Jorge, hm?" He asked. "Yes sir. And may I acknowledge that he was an amazing man. Took bullets like a champ and didn't even whine about it." With a nod of approval, Chief moved on. "Edward Buck. I heard you cleaned up my mess back in New Mombasa and partook in my manhunt."

"I get around." Buck shrugged nonchalantly. "Gabriel Thorne. The rookie turned leader. I commend your ambitions on becoming a better Spartan."

Gabriel smiled, "Thank you, sir!"

"Sarah Palmer. Am I still shorter than you imagined?" He asked with curiosity. "I dunno. Are you compensating for something or do you want an apology?" She sassed. With a long whistle from Buck, the atmosphere was thick enough to be cut by a fully powered energy sword.

"Hmm. The rest of you, target practice. Now." He ordered. They saluted a left. "Come with me." He began to march out of the room with Palmer trailing behind him until they made it to the hanger bay. They looked out the window. The Infinity was still making random jumps and now they were orbiting a watery graveyard known as Kamino.

"Listen. You don't like me," He started. "No kidding." She mumbled. "And I sure as hell don't like you either. So let's make something clear. You can have the Spartan Division and I'll be more of an advisor." He offered. She knew she wasn't getting her rank back but it was something.

He then continued, "I don't care, but this Fireteam is mine. Do you understand? No backseat driving, no back talk. You belong to me now. You will do as your told and I don't want to hear any complaints. I believe myself to be a fair man, but we'll see how far I can be tested."

"Understood... Sir..."

"Now put that helmet on until I say otherwise. Report back to the training room with the rest of Epsilon. I'll be there shortly." Sarah shuddered at his tone but followed orders.

Left by himself, John fidgeted with the data chip in his palm, chained like a dog tag. His sweet Cortana. His dear friend. Though a program, he grieved. Though artificial, he felt betrayed. Though a clone of the woman that raised him, he loved her.

"I was supposed to take care of you... But now, I must stop you."

<<Master Chief Petty Officer Spartan-117, please report to the bridge, immediately.>>

Words 1059

Posted 8/30/2021