"BB, please record."
"Recording, ma'am."
"As you are all well aware, in the recent months since the 'Convergence', we have formed sufficient alliances and gained a handful of enemies, both new and old. However, what I find curious is that certain threats that we, our enemies, and our allies faced seem to be absent. Take, for example, the Flood. We know for a fact that Cortana's fragment is still out there and is still infected with the Logic Plague. Given that evidence, it would stand to reason that the Flood were not cured and did not revert to what they once were. Which begs the question: where are they? I have attached a list of additional missing threats as well as more details regarding the subject. End recording."
"Recording ended. Would you like me to send now or-?"
"New recording, please."
"Yes ma'am. Recording started."
"According to some of our allies, we have learned of various superweapons, including the Halo arrays, that are also absent. It is unclear what happened to these technologies, but it would be safe to assume they are not in the hands of any of the factions we are aware of, as I'd imagine it would be very difficult to hide such destructive wonders. In addition, the Forerunners responsible for creating the Halo arrays are nowhere to be found either. Documents with further details are attached. End recording."
_____
Nibelungen: 0 C
An assassin darted between columns. He had long since lost the element of surprise, but that didn't mean he couldn't use his skill and agility to regain it. He scaled one of the columns and caught a glimpse of his prey; a hunter from one of the companies brought to Nibelungen to help with the native dinosaur population. The hunter only wore a kevlar vest with a brimmed hat and sunglasses and carried a double barrel shotgun, but the assassin knew he could switch to one of several weapons at a moment's notice. The assassin dropped down just before the hunter turned to his position. He can detect my movements the assassin gathered. Gauging his opponent's abilities, the assassin dashed from pillar to pillar in view of his opponent. The hunter took the bait and tracked his movements, but slower than he had expected. The assassin readied his blades and dashed again. This time, he got ahead of the hunter's aim and lunged from his cover before he could lead his shot. When he got within the shotgun's reach, the hunter switched to a pistol, but the assassin swatted it away with one of his blades while grabbing the wrist to anchor himself to his opponent and went in for the kill with the blade on his other arm. A loud PING followed by a burning sensation forced the assassin to yank his hand back and release the hunter.
"Excellent work, gentlemen," a young woman wrote something down on a clipboard next to the sharpshooter who had shot off his hidden blade. "This exercise goes to Altair."
Altair cursed at the sniper in his mother tongue as he recovered his blade. "I know how to hold back," he snarled.
"It's a live-fire exercise," the sniper plead innocence. "Can't take any chances, especially not with blades. Don't worry, I got your other hooded friends too, I wasn't just singling you out."
"This is the third time, Sharp!" he shouted and held up his blade and finger alike. Altair complimented his opponent then left, cursing the whole way. "Clones," he grumbled.
_____
Rocket scraped to a halt as he was sent skidding face-down along the ground. Tex lifted her leg to avoid him and charged her three remaining opponents. Spartan Will saw her coming as he blocked a blow from Wrecker with his arm. The Spartan punched the giant oaf in the gut, doubling him over and threw a hook at his head to push him into the Agent's path. Tex jumped into the air and dunked her fist into the large clone's face as he tried to recover.
Still momentarily vulnerable, Commander Uru picked himself up and attempted to synergize with Will by kicking her legs out from under her as Will let loose a full-force jab at her visor. Instead of her receiving both blows, however, she allowed herself to be dead-legged and leaned all the way back, turning the target of Will's fist into Uru's face. To the Commander's credit, he anticipated the possibility rather quickly and leaned with the punch, but it wasn't enough to keep him from being sprawled out.
Tex squared off against the Spartan and waited for him to make a move. The two paced each other for a bit when Tex noticed Maine getting back up. When she was sure he had recovered enough, she charged. She kept level for most of her advance then went low for an uppercut just before she reached him. Will seemed to be going for a kick but sidestepped and grabbed Maine and shoved him towards her. The agent in EVA had no choice but to catch the entirety of Tex's attack. As she sent him off the ground, Will punched Maine from his back and sent both of them flying, the pair knocking Rocket back down as he started to recover. The Spartan cautiously stepped closer to examine.
Tex was still able to fight, but she decided to stay down to see what was going to happen. Rocket somehow managed to recover again and took a defiant stance. The clone trugged forward carefully, which Will imitated. From the side, Agent New Hampshire charged in an effort to tackle the Spartan. In one swift motion, Will disrespectfully grabbed New Hampshire by the horn and flung him towards Rocket. The clone avoided the flailing agent, sending him on a collision course with Tex. I think that's enough she kicked her legs forward and landed on her feet and knocked out the agent as he passed by. By some miracle, Rocket was barely keeping pace with the Spartan, successfully dodging his blows and managing to stay on his feet when a hit connected. Tex stalked around their duel and waited for an opening until she realized she needed to wait for one of them, preferably Rocket, to make a misstep in order for her to attack the other. Fortunately for her, Will caught one of Rocket's punches and caught the other he threw with his free hand. The clone immediately went for a kick to the groin, the results of who was in more pain was hard to tell with both dropping to one knee each from pain but in different areas. Tex rushed in and landed a kick to the side of Will's head thanks to Rocket barely holding him down.
The super soldier went down with a THUD as Rocket scurried back on the ground. He began crawling away as Tex loomed over him to finish the job. She cracked her knuckles and punched the back of his head, but he moved his head at the last second and swept her legs. Tex went down and rolled away to gain some distance, but when she looked up from a kneeling position, she saw him charging at her. She scrambled to her feet and caught his charge, the two grappling one another. She went for a kick to the groin, but he intercepted her leg with his own. Their legs eventually became entangled and they fell together. They both stared at each other and came to the same realization that there were only two options left.
"So, how's your day?" Rocket panted.
"It'll be a lot better if you fold," she felt her own fatigue setting in.
"I'm guessing you're not going to give up," they both tried to break away, but they kept a hold on each other with equal ferocity.
"I'll tell you what, I'll give up if you give up first," Tex offered.
"I think I have a better idea. You thinking what I'm thinking?" Rocket and Tex wound their heads back and crashed them against each other, rendering both unconscious.
"That's a wrap, people. Well done," she heard the A.I. Roland announce when she came to and realized she and her opponent were still entangled.
"What the hell is going on?!" Church demanded.
"Daaaamn, Church, your a*s just got replaced," Tucker teased.
"Did you get a robot one?" Caboose inquired.
"Both of you shut up!"
"Hey, uh, buddy?" Tex tapped Rocket's shoulder. The clone groaned and began to move. She knew he was awake when she felt him tense up.
"Whoah," he seemed surprised. "That got you too?" he looked down and examined their position. "Oh, well this is interesting. Uru! Can you give me a hand? I don't know where my limbs are." The three worked carefully to get them untangled.
"How'd I do?" Wrecker sat up and rubbed the back of his head. "What did I miss?"
_____
In the section overlooking the arena, the participants tended to their injuries and aching bodies as they checked the scores.
1. William
2. Texas
3. Rocket
4. Maine
5. New Hampshire
6. Uru
7. Wrecker
"What?!" Wrecker slammed the screen. "How'd I get beaten out by a couple'a regs?!"
"Maybe if you didn't go down straight away and not even try to get up, you might've done better," Crosshair said as they departed.
"I hope you aren't going to ask for dinner," Rocket rubbed the back of his head.
"Nah, don't sweat it," Tex punched his arm. "But I think we're on a first-name basis from now on. You fight good, Rocket. Gotta learn how y'all trained."
"Likewise," they exchanged a firm, platonic handshake and Tex was gone, the Blues harping her along the way.
"That was pretty good," Will complimented him and his Commander. "Both you and Tex. There aren't many who can keep up with Spartans in hand-to-hand. How'd you do it?"
"I'm not sure about the agent," Uru stepped forward. "But my squad and I were trained in a special form of combat from a very young age." At this point, members of Blue Team and Pandemic Squad had rejoined their teammates.
"Do you think it'd be possible for me to get a lesson?" Will wondered.
"It'll take a while to get good," Rocket warned. "You'll probably get it pretty quick, though."
"Sharp," Linda acknowledged the clone sharpshooter. "Nice shooting earlier."
"Oh, thanks," he beamed. "You're a pretty good shot yourself, and I still can't get over how gorgeous your kit is. You wanna compare mod notes sometime?"
"Where's Fred?" Will asked.
"He's going through the armory," Chief said. "He also mentioned something about a corndog."
"We tied in to your match," Kelly spoke up. "You fought well. All of you."
"But Will still won," Sam muttered.
"It was an overall score," Kelly said. "The rest weren't very far behind."
"Since we'll most likely be working together, why don't we run some drills together later?" Uru offered.
"That sounds like it could be beneficial," Cortana appeared before them.
"I'll gather the rest of Blue Team," Chief agreed. "When did you have in mind?"
"They better not slow us down," Sam grumbled.
"Sam," Kelly reprimanded him.
"Is there a problem?" Rocket stepped up, but Jet held him back.
"There shouldn't be," Chief looked back at his friend.
"No," Jet stepped up this time. "This isn't going to work. Sam, was it? You've got a problem with us, that's obvious, so say it. Let's clear the air and work this out now instead of in the field." All eyes were now on the original but newest member of Blue Team.
"Fine," Sam said. "They don't get it. They don't get us. Nobody can. How can they? They don't know what happened to us and what we did to become Spartans and now they want to train together like they were there with us from the start." Blue Team stared at him in disbelief and Pandemic Squad seemed ready to pounce on him, but Uru held up a hand to call them off.
He took a step forward and asked, "You're the one that died early on, right?"
"Excuse me?" Sam scoffed.
"Wrong," Uru stepped closer, unconcerned about the size advantage Blue Team held. "The correct answer is yes. More specifically, yes Commander. You died early, which means you probably didn't get a chance to learn any manners. So I'll give you a quick summary; do not disrespect an officer and do not disrespect your fellow soldiers, especially not my men. If you feel like we can't have good camaraderie because we weren't in your program, then that is a fundamental tactical error on your part."
"Doesn't know what he's missing," Rocket whispered.
"Don't interrupt, Rocket!" Uru snapped at his own man. That chased away any doubts of how serious he was. "You have a point, Samuel, I'll give you that. We don't know what it's like to have gone through what you did. We don't know what it's like to be born to parents who likely cared for you, and we don't know what it's like to be thrusted into a war that makes sense and given enhancements and gear that are designed to improve your chances of survival and be listed as MIA when we die. No Sam, all we got was to be mass-produced by sociopathic fish that would terminate us at a moment's notice if we weren't up to spec as a proper product and given equipment to help us last long enough to deplete our ammo and put into a meat grinder of a war to fight and die for a Republic we've never seen and be listed as 'acceptable losses' when we die. So you have my apologies, Sam, for not being able to relate to your childhood trauma and not going through your special little boot camp." Both sides were still reeling when Uru continued by addressing Chief. "Master Chief, I'll allow you to select the time. You may choose to postpone or forgo the training if you wish, but my men and I will be ready at whatever time you select."
"We'll be sure to do that," Cortana disappeared and spoke for the Spartans. Uru parted his team and left, the rest of Pandemic squad following uniformly.
_____
"So that's when I said 'If you don't want me to fly this thing like a fighter, then why did you arm it like one?!'" Four Seven Niner had one leg on the table as she stood on her seat.
"Thank you!" Gel gestured to her as the table of pilots erupted in laughter.
"Almost as bad as the time I got chewed out for letting a Scorpion shoot down a Banshee while I was transporting it," Foehammer spoke up. "Like, oh, I'm sorry for keeping myself, a whole freaking Pelican, and a Scorpion from getting blown up. Next time I'll let the hinge head get what they want, okay?"
"Those regulation people have no idea what they're talking about," Trytt shook his head and nudged Gel. "Like that time we used those rocket troops to bust through a blockade."
"YES!!!" Gel threw up his arms.
"Oh no," they heard Hawk whisper and facepalm. "You mean that maneuver where you almost shot me down."
"Almost," Oddball emphasized. "And it was the General's idea. The Republic gets a blockade blown open for them, without any friendly fire, mind you, and the pilots that participated catch the flak for it." The pilots continued laughing and further familiarizing themselves with one another. Unlike the troops and staff, the pilots had already had ample time to get introductions out of the way due to constantly flying in proximity to each other while transporting the aforementioned troops and staff.
"Did anyone get their 'favorite' passenger when they brought everyone?" Four Seven Niner asked. "I had South on one of my trips, and believe me when I tell you I've never been more tempted to depressurize an occupied cabin in my entire career."
"No," Oddball shook his head. "But I did escort a shuttle that was carrying a Jedi and the troops who killed him during Order 66 on the last delivery."
"That was an awkward flight, to say the least," Hawk confirmed.
"Speaking of awkward, when was anyone planning on telling me they made a line of Spartan armor named after me?" Foehammer stared accusingly at the other UNSC-affiliated pilots.
"Don't look at me," Burgundy shrugged. "I got blown up on a prison ship after the Ring was destroyed."
"We had a couple... logistical issues around that time," Four backed away from the question. "It could've been in testing, but I never saw it." At the entrance of the room, two more clone pilots and another pilot, Poe Dameron, trugged in.
"I should've seen that coming," Matchstick lamented and slumped in an empty seat in the table next to the other pilots, his two companions doing the same.
"I take it the match didn't go so well," Gel offered three glasses that he'd set aside.
"Didn't go bad, but it could've been better," Dameron said in an attempt to preserve his pride.
"I admire how optimistic you pilots wound up getting," Broadside sighed. "We were obliterated."
"That's what happens when you take on a Fel," Oddball reminded them of what they'd signed up for. "And this time you had two of them, and one of them is part Antilles. Game was rigged from the start."
"How do you know so much about Rebel and Imperial pilots?" Poe asked. "You guys would've been pushing a hundred by the time of the Empire, wouldn't you?"
"Aaahh, so you've got jokes now?" Hawk leaned back.
"So who was your third opponent, pretty boy?" Four Seven Niner cut in. "Or did you three get your a**es handed to you by two pilots?"
"Some person in a weird looking ship named Starbuck," Matchstick said.
"You wanna talk about weird ships?" Poe pointed at his teammates. "Why don't we talk about why you two were flying V-19 Torrents against TIE Defenders? Not fighters, not interceptors, defenders."
"It's what we were familiar with," Broadside shrugged. "It was an option in the sims, so we picked it. Besides, they had access to much better models, and yet they went for the older models they were used to. You were the only one in a new ship and you still went down."
"That's kinda sad, actually," Niner said. They continued relaxing until the original group at the table simultaneously checked the time and cursed before scrambling past the new arrivals and towards the hangars.
"Glad I'm not running deliveries today," Poe relaxed and took a sip.
"What's the next delivery supposed to be anyway?" Matchstick asked.
"Well it says here that it's supposed to be a whole bunch of top brass and a few more personnel," the lanky pilot with a red headset who had been quietly observing the entire time, tapped a datapad. "It's apparently all-hands-on-deck for pilot escorts. Oh hey, look, Henry's supposed to be on one of them." The three other pilots looked at each other for a moment then cursed and bolted after their comrades. "I guess I should go too."
Author's Note:
Sorry that this took longer than I planned to release. I was kind of stumped on a few interactions and reactions, but I hope you enjoyed the chapter and are enjoying the story so far. Quick question about the interludes, though. I have intentionally kept most of them fairly vague for the sake of building suspense and a sense of mystery, but is it working? Or are the interludes just more confusing than world-building? If so, any suggestions of how to improve on them without giving anything away?
Anyway, as always, feedback is always appreciated and I hope you enjoyed this chapter. I'll see you in the next one.