HRP Reboot - Chapter One: Breakups Suck

Daniel gave one last push and rested the bar on the holsters, and sat up. "Honestly, if I was an onlooker I'd just say get a room." Chris grinned and patted his back. "Well, we share our room with a dozen other people. I'd say we just get a storage room or something. It's going to be a long flight after all." Once more he jus shook his head, this time yielding. "Jesus Chris, you never give up do ya?" Smiling, she kissed him. "You really expected your girlfriend to miss out on a cruise?" Yeah, they were in a fling. They had fun, got along. And it certainly made long jumps like these enjoyable. "I think there was a supply closet on E deck no one uses. Meet you there in five minutes?" He asked her, to which she rose and headed for the door. "Maybe I will, maybe I won't."

Marcus looked to the rest of his squad, saying "Get some shut eye...I'm thinking we'll need it." He looked to Jose, "And Doc, keep an eye on this bunch will ya? Cause I'm getting too old to baby sit a bunch of kids." Jose simply tilted his head, saying, "You got it, sir. They won't be too much for this old hombre. He gave Marcus a grin and an ironic salute.

With that, Marcus left the room out of his armor, wanting some time alone. As he walked around the ship, those that had heard of him parted to the side. They knew the expression on his face right now: world weary, and tired. I'm 37, dammit. I'm old, and I hear the remarks that I should retire. I'm not retiring yet. I want to finish this war, and then I can retire...Yeah, that's something to look forward too: A nice home on Earth, nothing to do but relax and live out the rest of my days not holding a rifle. Yes...that's something I want to happen.

Once out of the reactor room, I heard Marik's voice over the comm, though it still had some static in it, I was still able to make it out.

"Moving now.  ETA less than a min-"

Plasma fire hit a wall near me, causing me to raise my rifle toward the enemies.  Birdlike creatures stood at the end of the hall.  I immediately activated my active-camo and began rushing down the hall.  I zig-zagged as I did so, knowing that these Jackels would know about this camo.  They fired wildly down the corridor, sending green streaks of plasma speeding at me.  One finally hit me in the shoulder, making that area become visible, but it had already been too late for the beak-faces.  I was just two-meters from the first one.

My knife was already in his throat before he had time to react.  At the same time, my rifle found its way to one of the other ones, standing behind the one I just stabbed.  Firing the weapon with one hand, I blasted the Jackel back with a three-round burst.  Quickly recovering, grabbing the weapon with my other hand and put two more bursts into the last one.

"Minute."

roger that

=fires at several more jackals who dive for cover on the side of the door way outside the room=

their getting bolder gonna use our last rocket

=dives to avoid heavy return fire and scoops up the rocket launcher and fires it at the door=

On the bridge of Hammer Time, the captain, Captain Oswald, went over the orders from ONI, while the ship AI, MC, monitored the ship systems. MC appeared as he always did; as a black man in retro glasses, baggy jeans and dance shoes, and a loose shirt. "Captain, all systems are operating at peak efficiency. It would appear the retrofits will hold." Oswald sighed, thankful for the news.

I just flashed the green light to Marik's response. Running past some enemy fire, ignoring them, as they were further down the hall behind me.

"Marik, fire her up!"

I put my rifle on my back as I reached for two frags, holding one in each hand, to cover our escape.

=heads to the cockpit of the ship and begins starting it up=

hurry before they recover

Rushing into the room, I began taking enemy fire from another entrance. That's where my first grenade gets thrown. I then toss the other at the doorway I just came from, keeping the Coveys that were down the hall back.

Rushing up the ramp I yell to the front of the ship.

"Onboard! Let's go!"

=finishes the start up and the ship rockets out of the base=

fire the emp cannon and try to patch us into their comms

Moving over to the weapons station, I sat down in the seat and pressed a few buttons on the lit up console. A targeting system came up and I directed it at the Covenant ship, above.

"Got it locked. Firing..."

The cannon charged for a couple of seconds, before it fired. It was hard to tell if the ship was hit or not, but they would just have to hope it did.

=increases thruster output and the ship rockets past the corvette and attempts to make a clear break for space=

how long till the reactor goes?

As the few men argued, Doc tried to calm them down. Trying to keep the situation under control.

Doc- "Stop it you two! Now! I will send you to the brig if this doesn't cool down... Immediately."

They both stopped, and looked at eachother. Sitting at opposite ends of the table, Barnes looked from the window towards them, "Fuck you guys. I am embarrassed to even call you guys my squadmates! All you do is bicker like and old married couple! Why don't you two stop the fuckin' fighting and act like god damn ODSTs? Huh?!?"

Kyle and Gerry looked at eachother, Gerry put his head down, but Kyle needed the last words, "Fuck you Barnes! You and your god damn techy bull shit! You wanted to join us only because you were sick of doing nothing. You still do NOTHING! Why don't you stand up like a man and fight for your own battles instead of having Doc or Gerry take the heat, Hmm?"

Doc looked at Kyle, and at Barnes, "You two need to both cool it! Understand?"

Kyle ignored Doc, as did Barnes. They knew what needed to be done, someone needed to throw that first punch before things got out of hand in the near future. Doc knew it had to be done, as did Gerry. So Barnes took a deep breath, walked over to Kyle, looked at him straight in the eye, and sucker punched him across the jaw onto the table next to them. Before anyone knew it, two men were making the cafeteria into their little arena. Punches being thrown, kicks, bites, etc. The two were fighting because of some stupid BS as always. No one to stop it, no one to even say a word. Until Sargent Do'Tree entered the room, along with Captain Yang of the Hornet.

Cpt. Yang- "What in the hell is going on here? This kind of behavior will not be tolerated on my ship! Achilles Squad! My quarters... NOW!"

Doc- "But si-"

Cpt. Yang- "NOW! Petty Officer!"

Achilles Squad- "Yes sir!"

I look over to Zeru with a joking face, under my helmet.

"Oh, you know..."

I raise a detonator in my hand.

"Somewhere between: now and-"

With that I click the button found on the top of the device, that originally had a safety cover over top of it.  The base was quickly engulfed in a bright blue light, and soon, the falling Corvette would share the same fate.  The Shadow's Advent began to shake as it rose into the atmosphere, then stabled itself once through.

oh you sly bastard, engaging slip space drive and typing in the random coords now

=types the coords in and activates the slipspace drive=

"Great..."

Sitting up from the chair, I slip off my helmet. I sat down on a line of seats across the wall, laying on my back, looking up at the ceiling of the ship, while my feet were still on the floor.

"Guess that was mission success?"

=gets the ship to auto and leans back=

we did what was asked of us so i'd assume so

Captain Yang was beat red. He rested his head upon his hand, disappointed in his star squad aboard the Hornet. They all walked in, and fell in line.

Do'Tree- "Achilles Squad reporting sir. We are ready to take any punishment you give us, sir."

Cpt. Yang- "You're not getting punished. Sit down, you all are going on a patrol on Demeter. This was a direct order from ONI, and they need some boots on the ground. And since you guys are the only ones I trust with this, you're going down there. By Pelican. We can't waste the pods, so take what gear you need, whatever you can carry. Just be at the Pelican bay in 5 hours. Understood?"

Achilles- "Yes sir!"

The squad filed out, walking to their barracks, and grabbing what gear they needed. After grabbing their gear, they headed to the Armory . Grabbing their designated weapons, but this time they all needed to have silenced SMG's with them. None of them liked it since it was their least favorite weapons, but they managed.

As Achilles walked into the Pelican bay an hour early, the Pilot debriefed them as they headed towards the planets surface.

I sighed and finished my drink, ONI had already arranged transport for me to get back to the Nightmare, and I was to be there for morning.

I opened my bag and pulled my datapad out again, unlocking it and checking for the location of my transport.

The firetruck red Hog rolled up to the base as the clouds formed. Looks like it was gonna rain.
She was admitted, and managed to park and get to her office, where she found Rika and Ren, hair tousled and clothes wrinkled, sitting on the couch.
"Uh." Saoirse blinked. "Hey."
"Hey." Rika said. "We came here as the rain formed. Sorry..."
Looking around, she realized that a few magazines and a mug had been knocked off the table. She facepalmed. "Really?"
Ren looked untroubled. "Might as well finish what we started."

Saoirse turned, walked into the adjoining room, and flopped onto her bed.
This was too much.

She heard the door open and close, but then was flopped on. By the breasts pressing against the middle of her back, Rika had stayed.
"..you get away with too much with me..."
"...I know."

Manipulative little bitch.

Jaryd entered the maintenance bay, pushing the door aside to just walk around. He noticed one or two Marines working on a warthog at the far end of the bay, and no one else. A short walk to a workbench on the opposite side of the room, and I began to work. I set my sidearm down on the bench and grabbed a drill, spinning it up and getting to work on carving a little channel.

Achilles Squad landed to the destination. Grabbing their gear, they were ordered to head for the Colonel's main office. Marines stopped and looked at them, wondering why ODSTs were here. Landing from a pelican instead of a Pod.

Yeoman (Desk Jockey)- "The Colonel isn't in at the moment. You can go to your designated barracks though, if you would like."

John- "Thank-you ma'm, Let's move Achille's!"

The squad went to their barracks and saw a note,
Achilles,
I apologize I wasn't there to debrief you, but in the mean time. I want you to go further out from the base as our patrol area. I have an unsettling feeling about it out there. Make sure to give all of your reports to my Yeoman at my office.
Thank-you,
Colonel [name is rubbed out]

Doc- "Well, does it say when we start Sarge?"

Kyle- "Yeah, can we make ourselves at home first before hand?"

John- "We start now. We are not going to fuck this up for ourselves. Especially after today's events. Understood?" John smacked the back of Kyle's head as e said that.

Gerry- "So we patrol the area outside of the base? What good does that do to us? Or to anyone, does it even say what we're trying to find?"

John- "Negative Corporal. I guess we'll find out in due time. In the meantime, get your gear on. We're heading out in 30 minutes!"

I had a strange feeling.  I got it after every mission, sometimes even on it.  I didn't feel accomplished, but instead, tired.  Mentally over physically.  I wondered if Marik felt similar.  When we were younger, we were put together because we were a near perfect match, but after all the training, maybe we had become different? maybe our views of the life had changed?

"Remember what they told us before we joined the Spartan program? when we were just kids?"

I continued looking at the ceiling.

"They said we all had a choice..."

i remember that

=lies down on the other line of chairs which acted as makeshift bed=

back then things seemed so different you know?

"Yeah..."

I leaned up, now sitting on the seat.

"It was simple. Join the military, get revenge. Not thinking of our own future. Now, we have people giving us orders to go on high-risk missions, that we have such a low chance of surviving on, that it's only luck keeping us alive out there."

[u] i hear you we signed up to fight to save people not go on near certain death missions,starting to think it's not about the missions anymore[/u

10 miles outside of Demeter research Station
Achilles Squad- Patrol Alpha 23
March 2551

John- "Alright, I want a good 5 feet between all of us, no funny business. See anything suspicious, you report to me. Understood?"

"Yes Sarge."

Achilles moved through the area. Nothing was seen yet, just trees, bushes, and some rocks. Barnes looked up to the sky and saw the Hornet sitting in the sky, along with some other ships. Doc looked around, but found nothing. The reasoning for this mission was down right retarded. They had no idea what they were looking for, and the area had been clean for weeks. If anyone saw anything it would've been the satellites up in space. Of course, nothing the UNSC does is 'picture perfect'.

Gerry was bummed out that they didn't get to use the pods this time. Usually it was the most exciting part of the job, and to make it even more boring, they were out fighting nothing... Kyle was contemplating whether or not to kill a squirrel ontop of a tree, because he could. Then again, he would get into a lot of trouble. Ah what the fuck, might as well. Kyle pulled out his Sniper and pulled the trigger. The squirrel became a red mist, nothing was left. But John turned and looked at Kyle with a death glare.

John- "Do you really want to be put into a jail cell Sargent? Huh? We are inches away from being dishonorably discharged, and you want to fuck around?" John took Kyle's sniper rifle, strapped it to his back, and they kept moving. Moving ever slowly, and hoping that Kyle didn't attract any attention.

I look over to the cockpit window.

Whole lotta stars out there.

"Sometimes I wonder just how much of a choice we really have..."

I had pondered what Marik said for a moment.

"There's only selfish and selfless choices, Marik.  And choices are what makes a person a person.  So what is someone who never makes any choices?  Are they a person? are they selfish?  I don't want to die being nothing but a tool of others."

I looked over at Marik.

"So what kind of choice will we make?"

Saoirse tried to get up, but was forced down by Rika. She sighed.
"If you're gonna force me down, you better be having sex with me."
"If that's what it takes to stay here longer." Came the matter-of-fact reply...which led to Saoirse stutteeing a bit, then pausing to collect her thoughts.
"Didn't expect that from a Spartan."
Rika sighed. "I'm a person too."

That struck home. Saoirse felt bad.
"Hey..."
"I know. Now stop moving. You're a good pillow."
Saorise laughed. "Manipulative, controlling little bitch."
"Amazing mom."

At that...Saoirse gave up.

=looks over at dan=

the kind we truly believe in,so question is what are out beliefs to us

"I want to help... just, not like this."

I stood up and walked closer to the bridge's window.

As the five crouched and listened for anything, they heard some rustling in the bushes. Barnes aims his gun towards it. It rustled once more, and a spray of bullets went his way. Hitting him in the left leg, and right arm.

Gerry- "MAN DOWN!"

Doc rushed over to him, and popped a few shots at the bush. The rest of the team made a circle around the two.

Doc- "It's just a couple of minor wounds, Barnes. Nothing serious. Sarge, I recommend we get back to base!"

John- "Agreed, Achilles head back to base, let's move!"

Doc wrapped Barnes's arm around his neck. They moved as fast as they could, no one was going to die today. Not on some stupid patrol. They were way to far out to get Barnes the necessary medical attention.

Doc- At least it wasn't an artery or in the chest, then today would probably get even worse.

John- "Let's keep moving, I know we didn't spot the attacker but we just need to keep going. I'll radio the base and let them know what's going on."

John pushed the side of his helmet and started calling out to command, telling them that there are hostiles outside the base. Hopefullly someone was listening.

Gerry- "I think we should get movin'! I see something out there, and i don't think it wants to give us a welcome party."

John nodded, and the followed his lead. Kyle and Gerry covered the rear, while John watched the front. Doc was still carrying Barnes.

John- "Only about 75 feet to go, just hang in a little bit longer."

Quote :

Two days later

Jaryd was still working on his pistol, although now he was just trying to perfect the grooves he had made in the trigger guard and lower end of the barrel cover. He was sitting on the edge of a Falcon, file in hand and working back and forth hurriedly.

i know i'm with you on that

=sits up and leans back=

we'll find something eventually

Two days later, Saoirse woke up, pinned. Little bitch had a habit of, whenever Ren was pulling KP duty and was forced to stay up late for his antics, of sneaking into her bed.
Just like any kid wod do.
So...Saoirse let her get away with it.

She reached over and tapped her PDA. The screen lit up. Late morning. 0100. That was nice.
Saoirse put an arm around Rika and relaxed.

Marcus got up and started rousing the squad from deep sleep. He'd awakened an hour earlier, as was his habit. Jose, Lily and Alexia woke up with only a few grumbles between the three of them. Mitchell, however, woke up with a fit of cursing that would have made a sailor envious.

Alexia simply rolled her eyes at the cursing. Lily, however, giggled slightly at the display. Jose rubbed his chin, wondering if that was a sign that the two might hit it off after a bit. Lily asked Marcus, "So, what now sir?" Marcus simply stated, "Let's wait and see what the old man's got for us, boys and girls. Whatever it is, it seems important enough to bring along ODSTs." Jose nodded at that, used to having to wait for orders. Marcus then dismissed them to the mess, following close behind the squad.

Welp...best get some food in me. At least I'll think straight...

Two days later

I crept through the apartment building, Rifle raised. I checked around a corner, glimpsing a man holding an SMG. Unthinking, I span around the doorway, crouched and fired a burst into his chest.

Confirming the kill, I continued on through the building, before the lights died.
Looks like WIND cut the power. WIND, my partner's codename on this Op, would be on his way inside now that he'd cut the power.

I paused at the next closed door, activating my VISR and watching the call-sign 'WIND' climb. With a crash, it moved forwards, followed by several suppressed gunshots. I opened the door to a broken window and four dead men, along with WIND, holding his SMG.

I nodded to him as we moved into position to breach the next room, where our target undoubtedly had holed up.
"Do you think an arrest is possible anymore?" Asked WIND,

"Our orders are to capture if possible," I said, "But we have authorisation to kill if capture is impossible,"

He nodded and prepared himself for the breach,
"3..." I whispered,
"2..."
"1...."

"Breach."

I kicked the door open and dropped to me knee, raising my rifle as WIND opened fire on a guard armed with a shotgun.

Two days later

The squad was resting, Barnes was still in the infirmary. After whatever had hit them a few days ago, might be coming again. Maybe in a bigger wave then what they had encountered.

John- "I hope the Colonel took notice to what we were saying. If not, then Barnes is in the infirmary for nothing."

Doc stood up, went over to his bed, and lied down. Kyle went towards the door, punched the wall next to it.

Kyle- "This is my fault... If I wasn't so clumsy, and not just thinking about myself, Barnes would be sitting here having a god damn beer with us."

John looked at Kyle, got up from his bed, and layed his rifle on to Kyle's. He knew Kyle couldn't have been helped, or be consoled about it. He just went outside, dug into his pocket, and grabbed his smokes. He was getting this same pain feeling, from when he lost his to best friends under his command. He knew he wasn't going to lose Barnes, but it still felt the same to him. Losing a teammate is the worse thing that can ever happen. Maybe I should talk to Doc about this, he might know what to do.

After two days in slip-space, the Hammer Time reemerged into normal space within the Demeter system. Most of the crew had kept themselves busy, performing standard system checks, armory inventories, and equipment organizing. Dragon Squad was in the mess, eating when the ship came out of slip-space and they felt the deceleration. "Well," Daniel said. "Looks like we're here."

I fired a burst into a second guard, killing him as well.

I trained my weapon on the last man, a relatively fit one with slightly tanned skin, as he brandished an M6K Handgun.
"Drop it," I said, giving him fair warning, when he didn't, WIND spoke.
"Drop the fucking gun,"

With the prospect of being shot either way, he complied, dropping the gun and raising his arms.

I moved over cautiously, pushed him onto the desk and bound his wrists behind him.

"Target is in custody," I said into my comms, "Requesting extraction,"

Lin, who was sitting at the table with her data pad out, quickly typed a message in and sent it to Saoirse.

Code:

Hey Sao, just dropped out of slip-space and entered the Demeter system. Not sure when I'll next be able to talk though, they have me on babysitting duty.

Hearing the beep, Saoirse pulled her PDA over, then read the message. She giggled, then sent a message back.

Babysitting ONI Lab November. Aka defending me, my Warrior Princess in Shining Armor.
Love ya.

-Sao

John went to Doc, whispered to him if he could talk to him privately, and went for a walk around the base. Doc was kind of shocked to see Sarge like this, usually it never happens but on some rare instances, it does.

Doc- "What's on your mind Sarge?"

John- "I don't know Doc... Just seeing Barnes get shot like that, it brought back memories. Bad ones at that. Things a man tries to forget, but can't. I wanted to come to you for advice on how to handle the situation."

Doc thought for a moment, "Well, with your friends, you knew they were dead. Barnes isn't dead. What I'm thinking you should do is see Barnes until he is healthy once more. Since we are on 'leave' until properly told we aren't, you could see him during this time. No harm into doing so."

John thought this out, he made sense. Talking to Barnes, or even just hanging out with him would make it a bit better. "Alright Doc, thanks. I'll head over there after this smoke."

Doc- "Okay, sounds good Sarge. I'm going to head to the barracks and then the mess for some food. And yes, I will tell the others."

Doc did a two fingered, 'good-bye' salute, and jogged back to the barracks. John had a squad mate to check-up on.

Marcus and the squad had made it to the mess shortly afterward. Of course, they weren't the only squad that was in the room. The squad settled into their seats. And there was some surprise, well, at least to Marcus' perspective. Jose only chuckled, saying, "So, you think that it'll be a bit explosive between those two, sir? No pun intended."

Marcus cocked an eyebrow, "Don't know, Doc. But those two seem to be getting along well." He just smiled, just hoping the recent assignment wouldn't get them riled up.

Lin couldn't help but feel a warm feeling in her chest and a twisting feeling in her stomach. So she would get a chance to see Siri again? She was certainly excited.

Code:

Wow. Maybe we'll run into each other if I get some down time.

Siri answered pretty quickly.

You'll be down here anyways. It'll be simple to assign you as my escort. But...your squad... So you can choose. I'll still find some downtime.

Or come to room 136 in building 5. Passcode is your full name in numbers.

And if you run into a purple-haired girl, be polite. She's...different.

Love you. My bed's open. Those cots are uncomfortable, right?

-Siri

Chris couldn't help but grin as she saw a glow appear over Lin's face. "Hey Lin, who you talking to?" Lin's face quickly snapped up and she looked somewhere between embarrassed and angry. "None of your business Chris. Just a friend." Chris simply smiled and nodded her head. "Okay. Well tell your friend I said hi," she scooted closer to whisper in her ear. "And to be nice to my friend." It was enough to make Lin chuckle. "Yeah, okay."

Code:

Siri, my friend Chris says hi, and that you better be nice.

Reading, Siri giggled.

Tell her hi. And...tell her she has nothing to worry about. I love you and I never want to hurt you. She can come join us if she wants :P

XOXOX
-Siri

Lin blushed at the idea, but she wasn't one to really share.

Code:

Fat chance of that happening Siri.

With that, she turned off the pad and returned to her meal.