A little later than I planned, but here is Chapter 2.
Chapter 2
ONI Training Facility C-88- Keyes Island, Earth
5th December 2568 Military calendar 0.630
Kyle woke as the blaring sound of his alarm clock sounded next to his bed. He rose and flicked it off. He stretched, feeling the slight pain in his chest. He ignored it and got dressed. He was planning on exercising today, to get back to top performance; he’d been on forced bed rest for several days, while his body had been healing after the last mission.
Beside his bed, a flicker of blue light appeared, and a holographic image of a woman appeared. She was purple and had short cropped hair. Her face reminded Kyle of his mother, full of kindness and understanding. She crossed her arms and glared at Kyle.
‘And where do you think you’re going?’ She asked.
‘Training. Why?’ Kyle asked.
‘Because you’re not ready yet, you’re still not fully healed,’ she replied.
‘Mira, I’m fine and I’m sure Dr Singh would agree with me,’ Kyle argued. Dr Singh was the creator of the Spartan IV project, and Mira’s creator. He was the only non- military figure the Spartans respected.
‘Maybe, but I don’t like it, I’m coming with you, I’ll be monitoring your bio readings while you train. The minute you start pushing yourself too far, I’m pulling the plug. Deal?’ Mira said.
‘Deal. I’ll just get my suit,’ Kyle said.
Even though Mira seemed a little overprotective, he knew she did it for a good reason. During the last mission she had been with him when he effectively died when a Covenant bomb detonated in the building he was in. It was only due to her intervention that he was still here today.
As he grabbed the bulky MJONLIR armour and put it on, he thought about the last mission. It had been very tough. A Spartan team had gone missing and they had searched for them on the planet of Frontier and found a lot more than they bargained for. A Covenant fleet, a deranged UNSC admiral and a biological weapon that could wipe out all life on a planet in a few minutes.
Though they had put an end to the crisis, destroying the biological agent and the Covenant hunting for it, the cost had been heavy. The planet was destroyed and several of the team they had rescued, had died in the line of duty. It had tested Blue team both physically and psychologically but they had a learnt a lot from the experience and were more determined than ever.
He put his helmet on and walked back to Mira’s holographic image and outstretched a hand over the holo tank. He felt the cold watery feely at the back of his head, as Mira entered his armour.
‘Is it me, or is it smaller in here? Have you put on weight?’ Mira asked in an amused voice.
‘Very funny,’ Kyle replied sarcastically.
He walked out into the steel corridors of the facility and headed to the gym. The facility was relatively empty, with most of the Spartans being deployed throughout the colonies. Kyle wasn’t sure about the motive behind this, but he assumed it was just a precaution. Ever since Blue team had been de-briefed after the last mission, the brass in Washington had been mobilising the fleet. They seemed to be getting ready for an attack.
Kyle believed this as well. He didn’t think that the Prophet of Remorse, the Covenant’s fanatical leader had been killed when Frontier was destroyed. Kyle was certain that if he was still alive, he’d be back and all the colonies would face his wrath.
He entered the gym and headed straight to the weights. He set the gravity to normal, and lifted the large weight with ease and started a steady rhythm. He then moved to the next weight up and started again. Over the next hour he used every piece of equipment in the room at their highest difficulty setting. After he was done he crouched on the floor and took a moment to catch his breath.
‘That was…..impressive, it seems you’ve healed faster than I thought,’ Mira acknowledged.
‘I’ll guess that was a compliment, thanks Mira,’ Kyle said as his breathing returned to normal.
‘Well, sorry to spoil your fun, but Blue team has been called to the conference room, it looks like we have a new mission,’ Mira replied.
‘Looks like I healed just in time then,’ Kyle said.
He jogged down the empty halls and to the conference room. It hadn’t changed at all since he last visited at the start of his last mission. The four flights of stairs that lead to metal benches which all faced a central podium. Blue team were already at the bottom, in their green MJONLIR suits. Though to an outsider they all looked identical, Kyle could easily distinguish them. He sat next to the squad leader Caspian and his childhood friend Shen.
‘Any idea what the next mission will be?’ Shen asked Kyle.
‘Not a clue, but I’m sure it will be important,’ Kyle assumed.
‘Yeah, with the fleet mobilising and all the other Spartans deployed, the brass is definitely getting ready for something. Something big,’ Peter warned. He had always been pessimistic, but it prepared him for the worse case scenario.
‘I think they’re planning a surprise party for us, for all the hard work we’ve done,’ Alex said.
‘It’s probably the Covenant showing their faces again,’ Shen guessed.
‘Shhhh…. That’s the surprise,’ Alex replied.
‘All right it’s starting,’ Caspian said.
An elderly man in a dirty lab coat walked up to the podium. He wore thick glasses and his brown skin was covered in deep wrinkles. But his eyes still bore the same fierce intensity that they had when Kyle had met him as a child. This was Dr Singh. He cleared his throat and began.
‘Thank you for getting here so quickly, to be honest we need all the time we can get. The situation is dire,’ Singh said.
‘What’s happened doctor?’ Caspian asked.
‘This recording was taken yesterday by a remote sensing station on the edge of the New Berlin system.’
Kyle watched the holographic screen as it showed the recording of the battle, and how the colony had been wiped out. When the recording ended Dr Singh asked,
‘Do you recognise the ship?’
‘Yes it’s the Forerunner Battleship that we first encountered several months ago. I’d assumed it had been destroyed in the NOVA detonation,’ Caspian said grimly.
‘Well apparently it survived and they’re using it against us. Command thinks this is the prelude to a full borne invasion, which is why they are mobilising the fleet,’ Dr Singh said.
‘So what are our orders?’ Caspian asked.
‘Your main goal is to destroy that ship, by any means possible, but until it reappears, you’re going to defend Sanctuary.’
Kyle could understand this move. Many consider it to be ‘the new Reach’ it had been the UNSC’s main Naval port and ship production facility, though no where near Reach had been in its heyday. Like most UNSC worlds since the war, it was well protected, but in the face of the Forerunner ship that meant very little.
‘The Southerland will be departing in three hours. Good luck Blue team,’ Dr Singh finished.
The Five Spartans walked out of the room and headed for the hangar. They knew they had a score to settle. A few months ago they had been ordered to destroy that ship, but had left it intact to stop a greater threat, and now it had come back to haunt them. This time they wouldn’t be so lucky.
End of Chapter 2
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