Halo: Reach's Promise

Jumping the Gun-

    Cali charged the pelican's engines, angling them straight for space. They ascended through the clouds, the trip now tedious to her. But this other feeling she had tugging at the back of her mind was beginning to become overwhelming. She wasn't familiar with it, but she swore it's what others would call regret. Regret... yes, she certainly regretted what she was doing. She wanted to turn around and say she was sorry. But that wouldn't have changed a thing. It's happened already. There wasn't any way to change that and no way to make things right either. The best she could do was to not let him down...she wasn't going to fail him like ONI did.
   "What the hell are we doing?" Micheal asked annoyed, not looking at her. She put the Pelican on autopilot and got up.
   "Unfortunately, we can't put you through training. We have to settle for your instincts. Even though you're not completely stable an hour after operation, they want you on the ground. Boots first," She said sourly.
   "Only way in," Micheal said respectively,"But damn, no warm up for my new guns?" He poked at himself curiously.
   "You don't seem mad," Cali noted.
   "Oh, I'm mad. Just, too patient for my own good," He said. And that's when she noticed wear behind his eyes...whatever he was hiding, it was there. Memories...
   "Hey, maybe I finally can get shit done now. Spartan teams should be even, right? So why the hell am I the one with the damn bag!" Cali smiled.
   "Here, let me get that for you," Micheal said, his eyes turning normal again.
   "Much better," She looked him in the eyes, forcing him to look at her, " And uh, that's public orders. They don't want to strike fear in our own civvies. They want you to take 24 hours of rest then deploy East of New Alexandria. There's a town there that contains an underground facility that's there for the security of important intel- we need that information to be extracted and out of Covenant hands, is that understood?"

   "Crystal," Micheal said, "Though I'm not really in the mood for a nap. Haven't they already hit Alexandria?" 

   "Maybe, they don't tell me that stuff..."

   "Makes two of us," He said disgusted. It wasn't true. They told her that the city already evacuated- more of an attempt than anything else. It was almost bad enough to be considered a failure. But she wasn't allowed to tell him that. Reasons unknown, but she was sure she was being monitored through her helmcam and mic they recently installed. Also, for unknown reasons. 

   "I thought they actually told you guys everything though?" Micheal said in an almost accusing tone. 

   "Me too," She continued her innocent act. 

   "Bummer. Alright then. Let's go," Cali thought for a moment, then decided that he'd be fine. Even without armor. This intel was vital to their survival, something to do with Dr.Halsey, the mother of the Spartan program. And if she was involved...well, to put simply, she did not want to fail that particular mission. And there was the risk of the Covenant getting to it first, so the sooner the better. 

   "Fine. But if we get in trouble it's on you."

   "Deal."

   "Okay. Course correcting now," She hit a few modules on the control panel, and the engines kicked in, swaying the ship in the new direction of their objective. Cali felt her stomach toss at the thought of defying her seniors. The last time she'd done that; she was only eight. That didn't go well for her. The memory made her nervous; but she knew better than to dwell on the past. She flew towards Reach with new found determination.  

   Cali revved the engines as she accelerated the ship to it's highest speed, almost plummeting towards the once beautiful planet that had been all but reduced to glass. She knew in her brain it was already over; but this was her home. There was no way in hell she was going to give up without a fight! She could say the same about any other planet, too. They weren't going to get away with mass genocide without punishment. And it was her job to be the enforcer of it!