- Spartan249
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Hi. My name is Andrew. I'm Asian. Still trying to figure out who I am. Yup. That's it.
Folded Steel’s and 249’s mission was suicidal, a “lose one to save a hundred” type of mission. It was actually absurdly simple as well, simply cover the rest of Bravo Company with sniper fire while they moved to an extraction point just below the carrier’s field of fire. From there, Pelican dropships would pick them up, and then a UNSC cruiser would jump in system to evacuate the ninety Spartans. (Bravo Company started off with one-hundred, eight of which died in previous missions minus 249 and Folded Steel.)
“249, this is 283… over. We need a best route.” Came a voice over the COM. Spartan-283, Bravo Company leader with the rank of Commander.
“249 to 283, head due west of your position, proceed half a kilometer and then make a hard left into an alleyway.”
“Roger that.”
Far away in the middle of Eiffel Camp, a large group of Spartans were seen running through with their rifles flaring. All around them, Elites, Grunts, and Jackals fell in large numbers, aided and abetted by 249’s and Folded Steel’s skilled marksmanship.
Folded Steel hit the COM just as he nailed an Elite Zealot directly in the head, making it flop lifeless to the bloodstained ground. “Marine forces ahead of your position, they are under heavy fire I repeat: they are under heavy fire. Advise you come to their aid.”
“Negative, the Admiral’s orders are clear: head to the evacuation point as quickly as possible. They’ll just slow us down… I’m sorry Ford.” Came 283’s reply.
“Roger that.” Folded Steel said in a hard voice. He shook his head and muttered, “Poor bastards.”
249 continued to look through his rifle’s scope, eyeing one Spartan from the rest and bringing down any Covenant bastard that dared to open fire. There was no possible way that he was going to let any harm come to her… never.
Folded Steel, meanwhile, continued to snipe at the general flank of the Spartan team, clearing out roughly seventy percent of the hostile troops. “Proceed another half kilometer now; Pelicans are waiting at the landing pad... good luck guys.”
There was a pause over the COM. “Thank you both… we couldn’t have done this without you.”
249 hit the COM. “283, one favour… tell 255… ‘je taime’.”
There was silence over the COM once again. “Roger that 249… goodbye.”
Far ahead, with the setting sun in the background, five Pelicans rose into the air and cut through the A-200’s atmosphere, heading to the UNSC cruiser.
“Good luck everyone….” 249 whispered.
Then something went horribly wrong, the Carrier above started to head upwards… towards the UNSC destroyer. There was a lance of plasma and then a sick flash of white….
-----
PORTAL, Earth – Year 2554
Spartan-249 got up with a start, gasping for breath. It was the dream… again. Bravo Company’s last mission together… Bravo Company’s end. Only he and Folded Steel remained… and yet.
There was a nagging feeling in the back of 249’s head; he couldn’t tell if it was the Flood strand inside him… or instinct. Then he remembered all at once… a tiny voice that meant everything. For, as they had evacuated the Super-Carrier at the end of Battle of the Mirratord, a voice had come out of a terminal just as 249 himself passed it.
“Thank you for freeing me. Your brothers are alive. 25-09-555”
A message, from Ado Mormoslee… and stellar coordinates. 249’s mind roared as he stood up, donned his MJOLNIR armour, and headed out. High Councilor Lai Tasha… that was his destination….
-----
Aardvark passed through yet another grand archway and into the very center of the PORTAL facility, an awesome platform that descended kilometers below ground to the lower facilities where most Sangheili and Human envoys worked. That, and Lai Tasha’s office was there.
The Strike Team Councilor waited for the platform to rise, and it did so slowly. For lack of convenience, the platform took an entire hour just to descend to the lower areas, so Human and Sangheili technicians had quickly fitted it with many different facilities, such as one for working out, another with several plush and conformable chairs with a grand holo-panel in their midst that always showed the news. Other things included a snack area, a reference area, and even miniature offices should one be piled with work and needed a silent place to attend to them.
“Platform has reached top floor, all passengers please exit.” A Human attendant announced. A small crowd, maybe about thirty people or so, immediately filed out. Then, a final figure exited… it was Spartan-249.
“Euh, hey Aardvark.” 249 greeted. “Sorry I still can’t chat but um… I got to go. Au revoir then.”
He scurried off, leaving Aardvark to mutter to herself dark and suspicious thoughts as she boarded the platform and prepared the long descent down.
Luckily, a familiar figure entered along with her… it was Acetylcholine, his ODST armour donned, though his helmet was absent.
The Human smiled and said, “Hey Councilor, how’s it going?”
“Just going to see Lai Tasha, who seems to insist upon being holed up in his cave.” Aardvark replied. “How about you Ace? I hear that the construction of the new Super-Carrier has been quite a challenge.”
“That’s an understatement.” Ace chided. “Diamond coated titanium alloy… it’s hard enough mining the stuff from Mars without those god damn machine thingies. But this has been absolutely nothing compared to making three Normandy-class Corvettes, now that was a pain in the ass.”
“You’ve reconstructed the Normandy? How come I never heard about that?”
“Well um….” Ace scratched his head. “They were kept a big secret, but if you simply head to PORTAL’s hangar you should find the Versailles, the Midnight Paris, and the Bordeaux waiting… though I think the Bordeaux is the Supreme Commander’s personal ship.”
“Cool, can’t wait to see them.” Aardvark replied enthusiastically, but changed the subject to a much darker one. “Any luck with Aozora’s… “probleme”?”
“No.” Ace replied. “He’s refused to go into any diagnostic tests, and data from 249 won’t match up because… well, the species difference.”
“That’s great.” Aardvark muttered. “Maybe we should knock the High Councilor out and take some blood samples there and then.”
“Well it’s not that simple; I got to have Aozora in a concious state so I can get some brain activity readings and whatnot. Added to that, even if we forced the High Councilor into my lab, he’d probably kick my ass and ask questions later.”
“That’s true.”
“Yes it is.”
The two stood for a few seconds, contemplating their thoughts, until Aardvark said, “Well, I guess I’m heading to the gym, wanna come?”
Acetylcholine shook his head. “Nah, I need to catch up on some stuff, need an inventory list for the ‘Emerald Nebulae’… stuff like that.”
“The ‘Emerald Nebulae’???” Aardvark asked incredulously.
“Hey!” Ace protested, holding up his hands. “I don’t come up with these names!”
“No, just sounds pretty cool.”
“Great, because I made it up.”
“See you later Ace.”
“Goodbye, Aardvark.”
From there, Aardvark proceeded to the gym, taking one look at the time and realizing that her chat with Acetylcholine only took five minutes out of sixty.
“Damn.” Aardvark muttered, grabbing a set of weights and hefting them.
-----
“Platform has reached bottom floor, all passengers please exit.” The Human attendant announced.
Aardvark exited, going through yet another grand archway that glowed blue, even in the well-lit corridors that were no less magnificent. The Forerunners were great architects, that was for sure. The Sangheili strode through the hushed and bustling crowd, smaller Humans swerving to avoid her. Tensions between Humans and Sangheili were still high, Aardvark couldn’t blame them. Years of fighting and slaughter didn’t easily disappear.
Aardvark entered Lai’s office, where he sat on a gravity chair shuffling through files on his computer terminal.
But at the sight of the Councilor, Lai switched the screen off and said, “Hey Aardvark, what’s up?”
“Hi Lai.” Aardvark replied. “Nothing much, just came to see you about… oh, by the way, I saw 249 as I came here, where’s he going?”
“Nowhere much, just to get a ship.”
“For?”
“Um, he got a message from Ado Mormoslee saying that his Spartan company was still alive, or most of them.”
“WHAT?!!? And you LET HIM??!!”
Lai held up his hands. “I said ‘no’! But honestly, do you think he’ll listen?”
“No.” Aardvark answered, calming down. “But we got to stop him; he’s probably walking into a trap or something!”
“You’re welcome to do so if you want.”
“You don’t really care, do you Lai?”
“Honestly, he can take care of himself. Plus, Tru7th and Spartan-09 are coming with him.”
“WHAT?!!”
“Oh jeez.” Lai said, rolling his Sangheili eyes. “He took the Normandy-class Corvette, the Versailles. But actually, I don’t want you to go after him.”
“Why?” Aardvark challenged.
“Just don’t.” Lai calmly replied.
Aardvark turned, storming out the door just as Warbirds entered.
“Where is Aardvark going?” He asked.
“To get a ship.” Lai replied shortly.