Menagerie's Falling Star

Chapter Sixteen: Beginnings of a Legend

   "Hey, Gary. Wake up." A voice spoke. "The Colonel wants you for something."

   Garett was shaken awake from his sleep. Annoyed, he spoke with closed eyes. "Hal. Tell the Colonel that he can go fuck himself and that I'm on leave till tomorrow. Starting now."

   "Well," Hal replied, as he towers over Garett's slumbering form. "What if it's the Colonel's daughter wanting you?"

   "Then tell her I'll meet her in my finest in five minutes." Garett quipped.

   Laughing, Hal helped Garett out of his bunk. Going to put a shirt on, Garett asked. "The Colonel didn't really ask for me, didn't he?"

   "Nope." Hal smirked. "Just want to get your lazy ass off your bunk."

   "Okay, Bible Boy. Robbing a man of his nap is a major criminal offense. Can be taken before a military tribunal. Even Jesus Christ would arise from the dead to tell you that." Garett protested. Hal chuckled before countering.

   "Pretty sure the Covenant would disagree, Gary. Also, aren't you interested in the Bible?"

   "But they're not here in this part of the galaxy, aren't they? For the Bible, I'm interested in the stories and the lessons and morals they instilled. Not the religion." Garett interjected before getting completely dressed.

   He then walked into the hallway outside of the barracks, before taking a glance out the window. They're currently stationed aboard the Kronstadt, a mothballed Diligence-class destroyer pulled out from storage to be retrofitted for the war against the Covenant. However, the mission Garett and Hal are sent on is different. Instead of coming straight out of boot camp to face said alien alliance, Garett and Hal got sent to the Polaris system. Far from the known front lines. Why? Because UNSC High Command wanted them to deal with the insurgents. All from there, that is all they know.

   'These bastards really want to pick now as a time to believe that this whole war is a made up conspiracy. Sure, the Innies on Reach are  one thing but this is entirely stupid.' Garett thought as he walked to the mess hall. 'The Colonel can just wait. I want a damn fine final meal, before potentially dying.'

   Taking a seat with a full tray consisting of a sandwich and a couple trivial side meals, Garett scooched over to let Hal take his spot. The two ragged each other about small things. Like the time where they managed to trick a MP into thinking that he's delaying medical research for a nearby facility. As the two friends cracked stories about their good times together, a group of men sat around them. Turning to the dark skinned man next to him, Garett stated. "Not here for last night?"

   The man replied. "Gonna get my payday rummaging through your locker when you're dead from this mission, or we're gonna play another game."

   "Still salty from that, Checkman?" The redhead next to Hal piped in.

   "He's a goddamn rookie, O'Brien! This guy should just be knowing the ropes." Checkman leaned back. "Besides, he's just lucky. Nothing major."

  "Right...." A third man trailed on, as he took a seat near the edge. "And we're just here to babysit them for their first mission." The blonde looked at the two rookies. "By the way, nervous?"

   "Besides the obvious factor of having a higher chance of your pod potentially colliding into an asteroid cluster upon drop, Dutch? I'm not." Garett spoke matter-of-factly.

   "Oddly sounds like deja vu to me."

   "Everything does, Checkman!"

   Garett calmly finishes up his meal, as the others around delve further into whether or not Checkman's becoming paranoid. He doesn't care. He just wants the last remaining peaceful relaxation before drop. He called his parents hours ago. The family ranch seems to be fine. The Moas aren't causing any trouble in their pens. His younger siblings, Michael and Kristina, seem to be fine on their own. Michael seemed to get a hang of following Garett's footsteps in hunting competitions. Meanwhile, Kristina's sticking true to her cause and pursue her intellectual dreams of being a researcher.