- Wolverfrog
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- Fabled Legendary Member
Part Seventeen: Disturbed Slumber
Lord Eden was awoken from his peaceful slumber by a call from his secretary. He rose from the cushy bed in his quarters, and, rubbing the sleep from his eyes hit the answer button.
"Yes Mary, what is it?" He demanded impatiently down the intercom, at the same time pulling on his navy briefs. He missed the days when he would of got away with a pair of starched jeans and a loose polo, but that was no longer the case.
"Sir, I've got an incoming transmission from one Commander Samuel Bairns." Mary replied in a youthful, exuberant voice. Caffeine helped her get through the night.
"Commander who?" Eden asked in perplexity, wondering why it was so important that he had to be woken at 2am.
"He's with the Office of Naval Intelligence sir. Sector Three."
"Patch me through." Eden said without a moments hesitation. Sector Three was where all the covert activities happened, anything from there was bound to be intriguing.
A few moments later, and a worried, worn looking face appeared on the large screen .
"Ah, Commander, how wonderful to see you." Eden said, acting as if they'd been friends since college.
"Lord Eden sir! I-I-" The man began, but he suddenly burst out crying. Eden felt a knot twist in his stomach.
"What the devil is wrong Commander? Where are you?" He demanded angrily, he had no time for theatrics.
"J-just outside Onyx sir. Me and the AI Dark Harvest have been monitoring the situation since the explosion. It should be somewhere in the archives. I'm sending you an authorisation code now." He added when noticing Eden's confusion.
Eden walked over to the computer and quickly typed in the override commands he had just received.. His face displayed wonder as he beheld the file.
"My God, they were training Spartans there? Why the hell was I not told of this?"
"Sector Three wanted to keep it quiet sir. Lord Hood didn't know either."
"Hmm...this is very interesting. Next time ONI discovers something like this, I want to be told okay? Now, why did you call me? Surely it wasn't just about Onyx...." Eden used, closing the file temporarily, and opening another he had found. He hit the print button, and allowed himself a lazy smile. He now was in possession of every ONI password for the next twelve months.
"No sir, it wasn't about Onyx. Something worse. Much worse. The Master Chief is dead sir!" The Commander cried, and his voice broke. Eden was staring at him like he had gone mad.
"Well of course he's dead Commander, he's been dead for nearly three months dammit! Listen, Samuel, do you need help? Because I can send some very talented psychiatrists over within less than a day..."
"No sir, he's alive! Well, he's not now, but he was!" The Commander shouted disrespectfully.
Eden sighed, he was getting no where.
"For the love of God man, shut up and put the AI on!" He ordered, and reluctantly the Commander moved away from the camera. For the first time, Eden wondered how they were talking despite the fact they were light years apart. A few seconds later, a hologram popped up of a Grim Reaper with straw in it's mouth. Couldn't he talk to anyone normal?
"Good evening sir." The hooded AI spoke, giving a salute. Well, at least it wasn't crying.
"AI, what on earth is the good Commander over there blabbering on about?"
Dark Harvest regarded his companion with bemusement, and turned back to Eden.
"Earlier today sir, as we were monitoring the situation, I detected a slip space rupture of the port side. Initial diagnostics didn't show it as one of our ships, so we assumed it belonged to the Elites. We were somewhat surprised as but a small Seraph fighter emerged, we'd been expecting a fleet at the least. Presuming it to be a scout, Sam here perhaps a little too eagerly gave the order to fire. Exactly three MAC shots crashed into the side of the Seraph before the Commander could shut it off, enough to destroy it."
Eden's brow furrowed with confusion.
"And why did the Commander attempt to cancel the attack AI?" He questioned of the program.
"I believe it had to do with the message we received from the cruiser seconds before impact sir."
Eden leaned forward in his chair.
"And what was the Message?"
"My data banks recorded it as "This is Spartan 117, do not open fire!" .
Eden gasped, and hit the back of the chair hard. He reached for the flask to his right, and hastily poured himself a shot of whiskey, draining it instantly. Without replying the to Artificial Intelligence, Eden stood up and hit another intercom button.
"London? Yes, this is Admiral Eden speaking. I want you to send a fleet to the co ordinates I'm sending you. Certain events have...transpired."
"You want them to go now sir?" A voice Eden recognised as the newly promoted Captain Daniels asked.
"Yes Daniels, the sooner the better. I need to know for sure if he's dead."
*******************
John woke up to a bright light, and raised a hand to his head. His hand felt resistance as it hit the visor of his Mark VI suit.
"Hey!" A distant, familiar voice called. "He's woken up!"
He felt a strong hand grasp his, and pull him up. John realised he must have been looking into a mirror of sorts, because through his eyes he saw a blurry suit of Mjolnir Mark VI.
"You had us worried there for a second." The voice spoke again, John knew he'd heard it before but he couldn't quite place a finger upon it.
His confusion doubled as another blurry suit of Mjolnir dashed into view, and hugged him round the shoulders.
"John thank goodness you're alright!" A different voice this time, female.
"I think he might be concussed." Another female voice sounded, and John turned to see another suit of Mjolnir. He felt faint, and let out a slight groan. What the hell was wrong with him, was he dreaming?
"Whoa, he's swaying! I think he's falling back into unconsciousness!" Shouted the first voice, which John now realised was male. "Someone go get the doctor! It's gonna be alright John, stay with me now, you're safe."
He heard one last sentence before darkness consumed him.
"Your back with us."