Europa
"We're approaching the Insurrectionist base. ETA is 4 minutes." Came the unfamiliar voice of the pilot.
The drop bay of a prowler was a sight that not many in the UNSC ever got to see.
A somewhat cramped space with ten reinforced and large grey seats built into the Titanium walls of the Reaper class prowler.
It may have been an entirely new class of stealth ship than the ones she was used to. But in the end they all felt the same. A dark grey room with an opening floor for whatever unlucky saps got wrangled into doing the dirty work of ONI.
But at least this wasn't ONI, this was the CIA. So far they seemed less like a demon that was crawling around human territory. More of an ominous figure lurking in the background. Providing information to those that need it and getting people where they need to go.
They seemed like a much bigger improvement in Naomi's opinion, but looks could be deceiving. She wouldn't hold her breath waiting for them to do something that wouldn't make someone's stomach turn.
A slight rattle made the unfamiliar prowler shudder. The slight groan of metal confirmed for her that they had indeed hit the atmosphere on the jovian moon. It wasn't thin by any means, but thick enough where high speeds would still cause shudders in any smaller ship.
But it would take more than turbulence to take out any human starship.
With that out of her mind, she'd drifted her attention back to the weapons she'd grabbed for this mission. It was a stealth op, making silenced weapons a necessity. Like most of her missions.
She pried the MA5K carbine off the mount beside her. The weapon looked more like the MA37, the predecessor in the series, and a rifle she'd only used twice.
But the barrel was integrally suppressed and only caused a 5% diminishing of velocity. Making it only take an extra shot compared to the MA5B to take down an energy shield. It also used the same 60 rounds of 7.62 by 51 mm cast iron, titanium jacketed, and tungsten tipped rounds.
She strapped it onto the back of her armor, the magnetic locks keeping it firmly in place.
The next in her arsenal was dual silenced M7 SMGs. The bullet hoses being the perfect option for close quarters combat. Just riddle your target with 5mm rounds until their armor or shields broke and they'd get shredded.
They were both strapped to the magnetic thigh plates of her armor. Along with a few hundred rounds of ammo stored for all three weapons.
The last weapon was a trust M6C/SOCOM pistol. Chambered in .45 ACP and damn near silent. It almost sounded like someone made a puff of air rather than a gunshot going off. It was strapped to her lower back. With only a few magazines extra.
Naomi walked over to the edge of the drop door. A strip of black and yellow caution tape signaling the boundary of the decently sized doors.
Her gauntlet grabbed onto one of the roof mounted handles for soldiers to grab onto. Her breathing was slow and steady, a calming measure she had started to use more and more as the years went on.
"30 seconds out, initiating final drop sequences." Came the voice of the unknown pilot once more from the intercom.
God, it really gave her a sense of Deja Vu doing this. Silent storm was heavy I her mind this time. The same type of snowy and cold terrain. Insurrectionist's dotted all over the surface ready to kill her.
But this time there were also a few different things. She was alone, just like she had always been since the mid 2530s. Doing black ops missions against both Humans and Covenant.
They also didn't know they were coming for one. Only the CIA had known about this aspect of the mission. And even then it was only Admiral Reese that authorized her deployment. She was the only one that knew where she was.
Well, besides the crew of the Prowler, but they were all sworn to secrecy for every mission.
Seems the saying really is true after all. The more things change, the more they stayed the same.
And the most important as well? Her armor was a lot more advanced than the original MK IV armor. Her MK V was slightly lighter, significantly faster, and had more maneuverable armor seams that allowed for more free movements. And the biggest one was the energy shields. Suckers were even tougher than field marshall shields.
Her thoughts were interrupted as the doors of the drop bay opened. The black titanium doors slid smoothly into the hull with a faint electrical whir. A far cry from the louder sound as hydraulics that she was used to.
Damn, Will and Quasar really did overhaul a lot of things. She had yet to see all the advancements the two had made. But if this list kept growing, maybe they could go toe to toe with the Covenant. Maybe even kill these 'Homeworld' fuckers that gave them trouble back in Alpha Centauri.
The image of that blue abomination still brought her sought shivers. Just looking at it sent a primal fear coursing through her body. A sense that just screamed what she was staring at was wrong in not just a physical sense, but almost a spiritual and cosmic one as well.
"Drop point is now!" Came the voice of the pilot once again. Naomi didn't hesitate and leaped through the shimmering barrier that had represented the active camo that invaded the ship. Bending the photons around them to make it seem invisible, but also allowed them to see out.
The thin atmosphere of pure oxygen rushed past her visor as she fell. While her suit and even her body was extremely heavy, the thin atmosphere did not help at all. The low gravity of the Jovian moon made her fall significantly slower in general.
But she only watched the snowy white ground slowly approach her. Like talking into a barren hellscape of cold. With nothing but your own mind to keep yourself company.
Her HUD gave her a waypoint that ended several miles away. It automatically zoomed in, filling her vision completely with the structure of the base. The ugly and somewhat ramshackle collection of steel and Titanium prefabricated structures liked out of the glacier it sat upon like a great castle of old.
She sent a mental command to her Mjolnir and the zoom snapped back to normal viewing. Filling her visor with only her shield bar, weapons and ammo, and armor integrity.
Naomi angled her blue armored body in the direction of the base. Letting the atmosphere and low gravity do part of the trick. But a certain jetpack strapped to her back also gave the rest of the energy needed.
The compressed hydrazine mixture burned a bright white as it ejected out of the thrust baffles. Propelling Naomi at a speed near those of the fighter planes of old.
She'd like to see these damn Innies try and shoot her down though.
She sent yet another mental command that had her visor shift once more. Giving her a small box in the center of her vision that told her the distance to the base. Which was rapidly dropping by the second.
At only a mile out she cut the stealth jetpacks thrusters. Even with the quiet and baffled engines on her back. She still wouldn't risk it. No point in being spotted on a stealth mission.
The ground approached her far faster than it did before as she'd angled downward before the engines cut. With less drag to slow her down, it was a fast landing.
She bent her legs to brace for impact and held her arms in front of her face. Trying to further cushion her head from the impact. Mjolnir may have a reinforced spine, but no need to test things unless needed.
Her body sank much further into the ground than she expected. Going up to her mid thighs in snow before the hard ice underneath met her Titanium boots. Cracking and breaking it. But after another few inches deeper into ancient ice, she didn't descend any further.
The sudden stop made her flip forward, her own mass leading into a roll throat she couldn't correct.
Her vision focused immensely as the world around her slowed for everyone but her. She brought her arms out to push against the hardened snow. Raising the shield thickness on her hands to spread out her surface area better.
Her lower body flipped upward with the help of her arms. She then tucked her legs close to her stomach and rolled along the snow for a dozen feet before stopping from her hands digging into the ancient snow once again. The shields that contacted briefly glowing a dull gold while force was exerted against them.
Naomi stopped as her hands gripped the snow that acted more like sand due to how compact it was. She stood there motionless for a moment as her shields faded back into invisibility and the strength on her boots and hands were lowered once more.
All this took place in only a second.
She tested her footing cautiously, seeing if the snow would hold her weight as she stood up. But to her surprise found it to be ice under about two inches of snow.
'Must be the start of the glacier the base was located on' she thought to herself.
She brought her rifle off her back and scanned the surroundings. Searching for any sign that enemies were close by or ready to attack. One thing she'd learned after 30 years of fighting. Always check your surroundings.
Nothing
She crouched down and slowly made her way across the ice. The snow causing her to sink deep into it. But her sheer strength proved to be enough to easily glide through the tundra.
It was always strange, fighting on an unearthly planet that is. Low gravity, little to no oxygen, various terrains. It was a lottery to see what you would get. But at least this wasn't the swamps of Reach.
Her blueish armor blended into the snow as she walked. It felt like climbing Everest. Like some of those old twenty first century books she'd read while being transported from one battle to another. She loved her armors inbuilt library. So many books, songs and other files!
A soft version of take it off by Kesha played through her helmet. She needed to hear if anyone snuck under her.
When she got within 50 feet of the top of the ice shelf she started to crouch down. Making her silhouette as small as she could make it.
Within ten feet she crawled along the loose snow that constantly seemed to blow on this moon. The wind whipped up the ice crystals in a way that made it impossible to get accurate images past a hundred feet.
At least for normal people. Her armors systems cleared up the interference caused by the environment. Giving her a damn near HD view of the massive complex before her.
"Seems the Innies have been prepping this for a while. Clever bastards." She remarked to herself. A base like this must've taken years to build. And when you considered this new UNSC only discovered it a few weeks ago, it must've been well hidden.
She spotted at least 50 separate guards that were stationed outside with both good weather gear and breathing masks. Europa may have oxygen, but the human body needed other gases in it's system as well. You'd die without proper medicine before long here.
Nearly all of them had little to no armor on, with only the thin environment suits usually reserved for the civilian population. Provided excellent cold, heat and pressure controls. But it had absolutely nothing in the way of ballistic protection.
They were also garbed in thick layers of what she could only tell was kevlar from her scans. Excellent for the 21st century guns they were carrying. But wouldn't even stop the rounds from her pistol. Although they'd be a lot slower when they punched through.
There were a few old UNSC issued guns among them. MA37's, M30 shotguns and even a few standard issue frag grenades. But other than that it was all M16's and newer AK-47's. They'd barely scratch her armor's paint. And probably take several hundred rounds to take down her strong shields.
She calmly counted down in her head.
3
2
1
Naomi then jumped over the side of the ice shelf. Building a negligible amount of speed before hitting the angled Ice crater the base was built in. Her shields shone slightly as she skidded down the slick ice.
Once she was within a few hundred feet she sighted the first target. A woman with an MA37 who hasn't noticed her. Naomi raised her MA5K carbine and unleashed a near silent burst of rounds. Which drilled through the woman's body with ease. Leaving golf ball sized holes in her head .
She quickly changed targets. Gunning down two more insurrectionists with old UNSC weapons that could actually damage her shields and armor. They stood no chance as what was effectively the closest thing to a grim reaper tore through them silently.
Through the thick haze of snow she lunged at a poor man. She wrapped her arms around his neck. Before he could protest she snapped his neck like a twig. Leaving the poorly equipped rebel dead in the snow.
She carefully stalked through the snow. Her armor once again sinking into the snow. She checked her ammo and saw she had 46 rounds. Good, Mendez always said to not waste ammunition unless needed.
After all, why pepper a target with your whole magazine, when a few rounds to the head did the trick?
Two men with AK's stood twenty feet in front of her. They just stood there, talking to each other through their oxygen masks.
Oh, this was just damn perfect. She thought with a grim smile.
__________
"Hey man, do you ever wonder just what we're doing here?" Said the nameless trooper. The helmet radio gave out a little static as it went.
The other trooper looked up toward the sky, his clear visor staring at the sky. Though all he could see was a haze of snowy white.
"I always wondered about that. Why are we here? Are we here for some devine reason? Are we here to lay waste to the Galaxy? Are we meant to just fade away into the dust like so many probably did before?" He said with a whimsical expression.
The other trooper turned to look at him. His eyes conveying his extreme confusion at his comrades' comments.
"What drugs did you put in your coffee this morning? I just meant why are we out here in this fucking blizzard. Even through my heater I'm freezing my cheeks off!" He said with a pissed off tone.
"Well, if you'd paid attention during the mission briefing then you'd know these old autocannons we have guarding this place have shitty tracking in weather like this. They'd be firing blind." He explained with a sigh.
"Thanks for the info." Came a cold and cruel voice.
The one troop didn't even have time to process it before his head snapped like a twig. The lifeless corpse fell to the snow with a soft thud.
The other soldier was the large blue figure who appeared out of nowhere and just smoked his buddy. His first instinct was to raise his rifle in an attempt to kill this bitch that snuffed out his only good conversation partner on this damn planet.
He barely raised his AK an inch before Naomi drew her combat knife and ran the 10 foot distance in the blink of an eye. Her knife was then slammed hilt deep into the man's skull. Making his body go limp instantly.
His body also fell to the ground in a heap with a barely audible sound. A small pool of crimson blood pooling in the snow from the deadly wound.
Naomi merely flicked the blood of her blade. Splashing brain matter and blood onto the body. She sheathed it before grabbing her rifle once more and nearing the base.
Good to know air support could be provided once she had completed her mission.
She killed two more guards on her way to the base. A single bullet to the head of each courtesy of her MA5K. Their brains coating the snow around them.
She scanned the base around her. A 3d stick frame sketch of the base being highlighted on her HUD. A waypoint 200 feet to her right being marked.
She crept along the wall, making sure her large frame stayed as hidden as possible. And to avoid the gaze of any cameras that might make her position known.
She got to the door quickly enough. The Dumb AI she'd been given for hacking was inserted into a slot on the bulkheads keypad. Swiftly bypassing the security of the base and opening the door without anyone being the wiser.
It slammed open to an obvious airlock door. With a similar door a dozen feet in front of her. She grabbed the chip and stepped inside. The slight thud of her boots nearly silent amongst the ramshackle building.
It closed behind her before cycling to what her HUD told her was breathable air. Good, saves on her oxygen supply.
The second door opened to what was obviously a guard caught unaware. She was eating something, with her rifle held in an off hand.
She noticed Naomi instantly. Her frame stood frozen in the hallway. A slight tremor shook her as she realized the situation she was in. Caught with her pants down with a Spartan coming for her.
She gazed down to the rifle now held tightly in her clutches. Her eyes then went back to Naomi.
The Spartan gently shook her head sideways.
Adrenaline kicked in as the woman tried to bring her rifle to hear. Barely making it a few dozen milliseconds before Naomi had raised her own rifle and put three rounds through her head.
The rifle crumpled to the ground with her as three golf ball sized holes were drilled through her head. The slight ping of the bullets ricocheting off the thick walls behind being louder than the Spartan would've liked.
She stepped forward and saw a red dot appear on her motion tracker. Shit, there was someone behind the wall that probably heard those bullets ping.
She rushed to the opposite side of the wall as she skidded her rifle onto her back. Her hand slipped down to her lower thigh where the M6C was. Her other hand grabbed her knife once more.
She waited in silence as the red dot got closer, followed shortly by another dot.
A green looking man walked around the corner, only to get his throat smashed before a moment later Naomi clamped her hand around his mouth while spinning to see the other target.
It was another woman in what looked like a centuries old marine uniform, complete with MA37.
She got farther than any other in trying to attack Noami today. She almost pulled the trigger before three magnum rounds impacted her chest plate. Two were stopped while the third broke through the busted plate. Causing her to gasp in pain.
It was short lived as another round soon entered her left eye. Hitting the back of her helmet with a bang.
She let the now dead man in her arms hit the floor. The blood boiled on her shields. Reducing her cleanup.
She slipped both weapons back in their places. The twin M7 silenced SMGs were the next thing to enter her hands. The Dumb AI had also uploaded a map into her armor.
She took a left turn before she came to another door. She was running against the clock now, someone would eventually notice those people weren't checking in. But hopefully then she'd already have the package and be on her way out. By then there would most likely be Pelicans to pick her up.
She tapped on the touchpad in the side of the door, causing it to open with a shriek that made her wince. Damn shitty building, it was a miracle the thing hadn't already fallen apart.
The shriek had alerted three guards a few dozen feet away. They all turned to see the Spartan and moved to engage. But Naomi simply raised her guns and unleashed a small torrent of bullets. Which riddled their bodies and punched through their shitty armor.
All three fell to the ground.
She walked over to them with her SMGs at her sides. Two had already died, but her sensors said that one was still alive from the barrage. The man looked up and stared into her golden visor.
He spit a wad of blood onto her foot that simply boiled on her shield. A defiant look on his face that so many of these terrorists seemed to have.
"Do your worst!" He growled out in a voice that told her he would die shortly. The blood pooling in the ground was evidence of that.
Naomi simply bent down to his level before unpolarizing her visor. The man stared at her steel blue eyes and smile.
"Fortunately for you I don't have time today, so you get off easy." She said simply before r standing back up and raising her foot into the air.
Simply physics followed suit. Super Soldiers armored boot vs a human head. The result was a gruesome spray of goes that coated the floor around the very dead man's head. The slight watt of steam from flash boiled blood and charring remains was the only thing in the hallway now.
She simply continued down the hallway with a smirk growing on her face. It felt good to be killing those that deserved it once more.