HRP reboot - Chapter 2: On the Run

=continues folling the man while thinking to himself=

whatever happened to professional courtesy

The officer led the headhunter deep into the complex, leaving him at a door to the meeting room. "They're expecting you," was the last thing he said before leaving.

=walks into the room and does the basic miliart address=

reporting in as requested

The room itself was very low lit, with a raised platform on one end of the room, and a semi-circle desk placed on it. There was someone seated there, a man, though that was all that would be known. The low light of the room concealed his features, while the light shining down on the headhunter kept him well illuminated. "Well," the figure soon said. "How did the mission go? What do you have to report soldier?"

The December exited slipspace closer to Cesaro then intended. Siri grimaced, but apparently they did t care for now. Moving off towards the moon, the December slid into it's shadow and settled down in the safety of a mountain range. Siri boarded a Pican with Rika and Michael, leaving Jaryd and Lina to see to the civilians and marines. Siri was going to check if it was safe to return them to the UNSC before heading to her destination and let Rika and Michael keep an eye out for trouble.
"Lets hope we can let them all off." Michael said. "No need to bring them down with us."
"Yeah." Rika agreed.

Siri only nodded.

The figure still wondered what reasoning there was in planting targeting beacons on ship parts when the Orbital Defense Platforms would target the ships already. But he wasn't about to argue over a mission that was already completed. "Alright, well done soldier. That will be all, dismissed."

one thing before i go sir

=straightens up more=

i was told we'd be ugprading from the spi to actual mjolnir to improve mission success

The shadowy official paused, looking over their notes on the data-pad. "Hmm.....I wasn't made aware of this. If that's the case though I'll have to check and be sure; those suits are more expensive than your SPI-armor. Stay planetside for a bit until we get this sorted out, and we'll see if you're getting new armor or not."

undestood

=turns around and leaves the room and starts heading back to his ship=

After Dragon squad had reached the surface, they were sent to a military hospital, along with the other wounded. Granted Daniel and Chris didn't need any attention but neither was willing to leave their teammates side. A doctor had come by to check on Lin, who had during the jump to reach been given dermacortic steroids to help speed up the recovery for her wounds. After checking her stats, the doctor stated that she had healed up nicely, save for the scar, and that she was free to go. The wound in her leg had been patched up, and apart from some pain felt when she walked, she was fine. After the doctor had left, the mood in the room quickly changed from one of cheer.....to grief. The fact that their friend was dead had not escaped any of them, and Chris, who had stood with her back pressed against the wall and arms crossed, was the first to break the silence. "So.....who should tell Oz's parents?" she asked. "I'll do it," Daniel said. "We were friends in boot camp, longer than Dragon's been together anyway."

Lin nodded, silent as she looked at her lap. "If we get any shore leave out of this," she said, "I'm gonna head back home to Cesaro. Check on my sister.......and if you guys want to join me, give Oz a decent send off." Chris and Daniel were still for a heartbeat, before their heads jerked almost in unison. As if on cue, the door to the room slid open, and a man dressed in an officer's uniform walked in. His hair was gray, trimmed neatly and he walked with a slight lope, a 'space walk' that showed he spent a great deal of time in microgravity over his career. Despite that and the appearance of his age, there was strength in his posture, the way he held himself, and his eyes spoke volumes of how much he had seen. He bore a silver eagle on his uniform, the symbol of a Colonel. All three members of Dragon squad recognized him immediately: Colonel Stefan Pollini, the commanding officer for the 12th Battalion. Daniel and Chris both stood at attention and snapped a salute, while Lin simply gave a salute. Stefan returned it, then said "At ease Dragon Squad."

Everyone relaxed, and the Colonel walked further into the room. "Of all the squads in this battalion, I never expected yours to perform as admirably as it has in the past few days. Because of you, and the squads that fought alongside you, a world was saved." His expression grew very somber though. "But I know it came at a great personal cost for all of you. You have my sympathies soldiers." None of them spoke, unwilling to respond. "That said," Stefan said, "I want you all to know that you're being given some time off, in light of your recent victory and injuries sustained in combat. You have one month of shore leave, but remember you can be called back into service at a moment's notice. And finally......you've all been promoted." Everyone looked up at that, surprised. Their eyes widened when the Colonel pulled out from his pocket three small boxes, presenting the first to Lin. "Corporal Tanaka, you have been promoted to the rank of Sergeant. Lance Corporal Alvarez, you have been promoted to the rank of Corporal. And Sergeant Lampert," Stefan said as he came to Daniel. "You are hereby promoted to the rank of Second lieutenant, and relieved of duty."

The Pelican entered the atmosphere and finally broke free, entering the clear blue skies of Cesaro. Siri aimed for the ocean below, sliding...ungracefully into the sea.
"Oops. Sorry!" She sighed. Hitting the turbines, the pelican shot forward, heading for the beach. A cove gave her and the Pelican decent cover from prying eyes. Surfacing, Siri hurried off the dropship and watched as it slid below the surface. The two Spartans would enjoy the sand and sunshine while she hurried to shore. Calmly stepping onto a bus, she asked where car rentals were.
Informed of the stop, she sat down.

Soon enough she got off and briskly walked over. Requiem had made a temporary driver's licence under the name Kenna Mc'Affy - which helped, as she was Irish.
Driving away, she pulled up the navigator and the service record for Lin, then did a quick search.

Plotting a primary course, she made Lin's secondary and drove off. She had a promise to keep after all.
Oh. Groceries. She's have to check out if Lin had food. Probably all expired.
Sighing, she finally got to her first stop hours later. The trek across town was anoying but no matter. Spending an hour refining her purchase, Siri placed it in the passenger seat and headed off to the grocery store.

An hour and a half later, filled with fresh groceries, Siri started the car.
She frowned. No, that...
Nope. Not ONI. Just bodyguards to some dude getting into a limousine. Backing out, Siri started off, clothes to her right, groceries behind her, and Lin's place ahead. She'd crash there and wait unti Requiem picked up Lin's neural net number, then start cooking.

Daniel blinked, stunned. "Sir?" he asked. Stefan gave him a level look. "You're being relieved of Dragon Squad son, and being put in command of a platoon. I need soldiers like you leading our men on the ground son." Daniel still didn't move.....but finally gave a salute, which was mirrored by Chris and Lin. Stefan returned it, and soon made for the door, but stopped. "Sergeant Tanaka, you're now in command of Dragon Squad. It's not official yet I admit, but by the time your shore leave is over, it will be. Lieutenant, I'll send you the details of your new platoon, but for now take the time to rest. You've all earned it." And with that, the Colonel left, leaving Dragon squad to ponder what had happened.

=gets back to his ship and starts weaving his way through the crew loading the ship up torwards where jan and serah were loctated=

~John "Cobra", Back aboard the UNSC Dream Catcher~

"There's one less of you. Who?" These are the first words Captain Greene says to us upon seeing us in the bridge.
"Garza... He - I..." I fight back tears of rage.
"He died in battle I presume?"
"It was my fault. A sniper... I could've saved him, Sir."
"Just go get some rest before we need to deploy you again," he says, sighing.

Back in our room, I slam my helmet onto my bed. I start to pull my armor off when Jake comes over.
"You need to calm down. It wasn't your fault. I don't know what's-" he starts.
"I've seen more men die than you ever will. I just can't get over this one. I'm closer to everybody in this squad than I have been to any other soldier. I could've saved him."

= as he is heading back he see's an oni member tinkering with something so pulls him away and and lets go letting him hit the wall=

what the hell are you doing on my ship?

Wolf got about as warm a reception on Reach as Dragon had, the squad grateful to be together and whole once again. Dermacortic steroids shots given to Lily while on the jump to Reach had made the recovery process much better. So when they arrived at the surface, the doctor at the military hospital had given the two wounded members of Wolf a quick check-up, giving Markus the good news that both had healed up nicely. However, Lily would still have some nasty burn scars for years to come.

The cheery mood dampened with what happened in their recent action, and Lily was the one to break the silence "If we get shore leave after that damned mess, I'm going back home to see if my boyfriend hasn't dumped me yet. I swear that bastard's been cheating on me." Jose chuckled, "As for me...I'm heading back home on my shore leave. Mi hijos are growing like weeds, my wife says. Plus...I need some cervesas after this mess."

And with that, the squad got back some of the much needed levity. Of course, the chuckling hid the sound of footsteps, and Markus turned his head and immediately shut up. It was Wolf Squad's battalion commander, a veteran ODST not much older than Markus. Markus  and Jose snapped a salute to the man -Col. Maes Williams- with the rest of the team simply saluting the man Markus jokingly called 'The Old Man'.

Col. Williams returned the salute, walking into the room with the loping stride of space walk, saying "At ease, Wolf." The squad partially relaxed before the old man spoke up once again, his voice filling the room, "I'll make this brief, Wolf. Of all the squads this battalion has produced, yours has performed admirably over the past few days, Master Sergeant." His tone was more somber as he went on, "A world was saved because of this, but the squad that was with you suffered great loss, and I express our greatest sympathies to Dragon." Markus made a mute nod, knowing how crushing loss was in any unit.

Williams continued on, "That being said, along with Dragon, you've been given one months shore leave in light of your injuries that you've sustained in combat as a result of your victory." He added, "But remember, that at even a moments notice, I can recall you back to duty. And on a lighter note...there are a few of you that are getting promotions." He then presented a box to Lily, "Corporal Inomura, you've been promoted to the rank of Sergeant 1st class," he then presented a box, "Lance Corporal Tarivin, You've been promoted to the rank of Corporal." He then said to Markus, "Looks like your transfer request finally came through, Master Sergeant."

Markus, Lily and Alexia blinked for a few seconds, stunned at the revelation. Markus asked, "Sir?" And Maes gave Markus a level look, which was no mean feat giving Markus' height. "You're being relieved of Wolf, son. Your transfer to take second command of ODST boot camp just came through, cause we need more experienced men training the next batch of ODSTs, and you seem to have quite a bit of it." Mendez, Markus and Lily saluted as Markus did, after the man had regained his composure.

"As for you Sergeant Mendez, your transfer request came through as well, and are being placed back on the home planet." He then turned to Lily, "As for you, Sergeant Inomura, you're officially in charge of Wolf Squad. None of this is official yet, I'll admit, but it will become official after your shore leave has ended." He then looked at Markus, "I'll send you the details of your duties, Master Sergeant, but for now take the time to rest. You earned it." And with that, the Colonel left them in silence, leaving Wolf squad to think on what had just transpired.

"So," Lin soon said. "Looks like this is really the end of Dragon squad huh." Neither Chris nor Daniel spoke. "Well......we had a good run I suppose," Lin continued. "Made it this long together, in spite of everything." Chris snorted. "Yeah, and it looks like things might be looking up; you're in charge of Dragon, and Dan's off to run a platoon. Everything looks......great." And yet they all felt so hollow. Because Oz was dead, and now they were going to lose one more person.

=gets no reponse so drags the person to an exit and tosses him out of the ship befre turning back and heading to his original destination=

dam oni rodents snooping

Lily gave a look to the rest of the squad, "Well...looks like that was Wolf's last ride wasn't it?" The rest of the squad remained in reflective silence, not saying a word until Lily continued, "I do suppose we had a good run while it lasted. We made it though thick and thin this far, and we're still alive to talk about it." Alexia gave a pffft before saying, "Yeah, I don't suppose it's all that bad. Markus is off to light some fires under the asses of a few greenhorns," a snicker came from Mitchell before Alexia went on, "Doc's off to save some lives back home. And silent Lil is charge of Wolf. Overall...I would call that bad."

Mitchell gave a nod of assent with Jose, which was rare for the two to agree with. Markus folded his arms, finally feeling content for the first time in his career. Lily then said, "Mitchell, you know I can pull rank on you now, right? So, be a good boy and behave." Mitchell then let out a groan, Lily chuckling at his expense.

~John "Cobra"~

Jake reaches into the pocket of my armor, which is lying on the floor now. He pulls out my pack of cigarettes and tosses it onto my lap. I slowly pull one out, putting it into my mouth. He tosses me the lighter, and I light it up.
"Just calm down, man. There's nothing anybody can do now. It's in the past. It's over." He turns around and leaves the room, leaving me to sit and think.
I pull the dog tags out, staring at them for a few minutes. I gently put them back in the pocket of my armor, along with my pack of cigarettes.
"That's right. It's in the past. I'm a leader here. I have to act like it," I whisper to myself, before jumping back to my feet.

I start to head to the mess hall, my mind starting to drift away from my squadmate's death. I entire the mess hall, to find it mostly full. All the soldiers stationed on the ship are back I guess. I spot my squad sitting at a table right in the middle. They see me around the same time and call me over.
"You almost missed the party!" Phillips yells to me over the sound of the mess hall.
I hesitate for a second. "Party?" I ask slowly.
"We just fought the Covenant off of Waltari!" Phillips says. More soldiers start to pour in.
"It can't wait? This place is-" the whole ship shakes, sending me and a few others to the floor. It shakes again a couple seconds later, spilling a drink onto me.
"All troops to battle stations! All ODSTs prepare to drop! This is not a drill!"

"Great......but terrible," Daniel said. "What do they call these things? A paradox?" Chris, despite the mood of the room, actually chuckled. "Yeah, a paradox. So, Dan what do you plan on doing now that you're in command of a platoon? I mean....think you'll be up for it?" He shrugged, honestly unsure. "I'll need to get a list of names, backgrounds and psych evals. Know just how volatile they're going to be." Lin grinned a bit, shaking her head. "Well you managed to whip Dragon squad into shape. Doubt the new boys will give you too much trouble."

As the day wore on, Lin felt well enough to leave the hospital. Granted, she needed some clothes (one did not leave the hospital wearing nothing but a hospital gown after all) so they sent for some spare clothes. A simple set of uniform clothes; a pair of pants, shirt, undergarments, and boots. Once she was dressed, the team left the hospital their first stop being.....well, anywhere that served food really. They ended up in a diner.

=gets frustrated with them workers not doing things in the preffered way so stops going back and starts directing them where everything goes while talking to the AI=

[u] any word on that armor from command?[u]

~John "Cobra"~

"What is it this time?" I mumble, getting back to my feet.
I rush back to my room, making sure all six of us are here. I throw my armor on, and head to the drop room. We all take our places in our pods, and they close.
"Clear out all hostiles down there," Captain Greene says through our comms.

World Cuisine was the name of the place. A burger stand really, Dragon sat at a table outside, Lin and Daniel chowing down on burgers and fries while Chris ate a chicken sandwich. Also with fries. Despite the mood of the table, the day hardly reflected it, with only a few clouds in the sky that did little to blot out the sun. After their lunch Dragon planned on checking in at HQ, just to be sure they really did have shore leave starting now. If it worked out, they had plans to hop on the first transport to Lin's home, Cesaro. Oddly enough, flights to world like Cesaro, that led further out from the Inner Colonies, weren't that booked, with more ships headed further into UNSC territory getting crammed due to the war pushing further in.

=gets no reponse so continues directing and after a few hours directs the last supply crate to it's area before going to the bridge and and sitting going over the supply manifest=

Stepping into Lin's home, Siri coughed. She set her things down and looked for cleaning supplies.
Nothing.
Figures.

She headed out to get things to clean the damn place.

Serah, aka Anna was wandering round the ship, her wanderings bringing here to what was the armoury. The door opened to let her in and with a quick glance around, she stepped inside. The weapons registered as something in her mind, but the fragments disappeared like mist in the morning sun. She picked up a shotgun, pumping it once before deciding to dismantle the weapon. Though she did not remember how she knew, weapon maintenance was ingrained in her mind deeply. It was still known to her even though she did not know it.

=gets up and decides to go over everything again to make sure it's in right spot=

Serah was still in the armoury, meddling with the shotgun, providing it the same care and attention a mother would have for a new born child. She was fascinated, her mind recognised the object but the name deserted her, she could feel fragments of her past in her skull... Yet they faded and went before she could draw them together.

A few hours later, after Dragon squad had checked with command to see how accurate the information they received was, they hopped on a civilian transport outbound for the inner colony Cesaro. The estimated journey time would be around two days, a day and a half at the least if they were lucky. Unlike military ships though, there would be no cryo aboard the transport, so they wouldn't be able to sleep the trip away. Still, the travel time wouldn't be long.

They caught a shuttle up the ship, as it was docked by one of the orbital elevators. Dozens of other people, civilians mainly, were there, waiting to get aboard the ship. Some were dressed as businessmen, others just typical civilians. Dragon squad was garbed in clothing of......modest fashion, if such a term existed. They simply looked like civilians, though the way they walked marked them as military.

Sitting slouched in a chair on the shuttle was a ODST, in a decorative parade uniform. Lindsey Agna was asleep, her parade cap shielding her eyes from the crowd, medals and numerous campaign ribbons glinted in the lights of the shuttle. A black kit bag occupied the chair next to her. She looked like military and it was clear that she was, Lindsey had not intended to fall asleep but after everything her body still had not caught up on all the lost sleep.

Once the shuttle had docked, the light over the door turned green and a loud chime was sounded as the door itself opened. People began filing out, and Chris, who noted the one person who was asleep, tapped them on the shoulder to wake them up as she passed by.

Lindsey awoke with a start reaching for her empty holster and sighed seeing what looked like a civilian walk off. "Watch it would you?" She grumbled sleepily, as she shuffled on her chair trying to get comfortable again. She sighed not realising that the lady who had disturbed her was an ODST like her. Back in the waking world, Lindsey glanced at her medals briefly but wished she had never been award them, to her they represented fallen friends.

Chris simply smirked at the woman, saying "You realize this is where we get off, right?" Without waiting for a response, she and the rest of Dragon squad left the shuttle as they headed for the civilian transport dock.

"Oh thanks" She stood slowly and stretched, before smoothing out the creases in her uniform. Lindsey collected her bag and slung it over her shoulder, a few faces in the crowd turned to see her. She was a rather familiar face thanks to the fact she had recently appeared on the news being awarded her latest medal. Lindsey however ignored the glances, she began to make her way through the crowd towards the civilian transport dock.

It was going to be a bit before everyone was safely secured, mostly in their rooms. The cabins aboard the transport were a bit cramped, but at least they were able to house the passengers. Dragon squads cabin had three beds, arranged in a bunk bed style with a ladder going up next to them. "I get top bunk!" Chris shouted as she ran for the ladder. "Daniel, you get to be sandwiched between two girls, so yay for you," Chris said as she go to the top. Daniel simply rolled his eyes, moving instead for the bottom bunk.

Lindsey had her own private room, rather spacious when compared to most of the other cabins. It was the benefits of being the daughter of a UNSC hero, having a ton of back pay and clever booking. Tossing her bag on the floor she removed her parade cap and took off her jacket before collapsing on the bed.

It wasn't long after all the passengers were boarded, that shudder was felt through the ship as the engines came online and the vessel drifted from the dock, moving a fair distance from Reach before engaging the slip-space drive and entering the slipstream.

Lindsey slept for a while before putting her uniform back on so she looked like she had just come off parade. With that sorted she exited her cabin to try and find the canteen or restaurant or whatever sold food on this tub.

As soon as the ship entered slip-space, Daniel Chris and Lin headed for the dining area of the ship, comprised of several cafeterias clumped together. Grabbing trays that had those little indents on them, the three friends got in line like everyone else as they moved to the food service area. The cooks stood behind the counter, ladle's in hand as they served what was supposed to be mashed potatoes, beef stew, and a whole bunch of other stuff that by appearance alone, did not live up to the name. It was high school all over again.

Lindsey entered the queue just behind the girl she recognised from earlier. She said nothing not certain if she would recognise her. Lindsey seemed content to ignore the attention provided by her uniform, the medals drew more unwanted attention.

The three friends were perfectly aware of the military woman who stood behind them as they waited to be served their meal. They may not have known who she was, but they did know she bore a lot of medals and ribbons on her uniform.....which seemed very pointless. They were not on parade, nor at any other kind of military event that required wearing ones dress blues. It just made them stick out like a sore thumb really.

Lindsey waited patiently in the queue for food. She wore the medals because she did not care for them, they where pointless trinkets awarded to her for doing her job. After this leave she was to be going to a new unit, new squad, new faces... New everything really. Somehow the return trip did not appeal to her as for the dress uniform, Lindsey disliked wearing civvies. The wait continued and she found herself whistling quietly, humming a tune often played by the ODSTs'.

Daniel heard the tune being hummed, and recognized it for what it was. He turned to face the well dressed soldier. "You're an ODST?" he asked.

=gets up from the bridge and decides to check on serah so heads off looking for her=

hope she hasn't gotten herself in trouble

Lindsey stopped humming the tune. "Yeah I was the last time I checked" She shrugged, hoping for the line to get moving, the last thing she wanted was to be drowned in questions.
//
Serah aka Anna was still in the armoury, helping herself to most of the weapons. She was dismantling them, stripping them down, cleaning them all before reassembling them. She had no clue as to how she knew how to do it but she did. It was strangely comforting to do something that seemed familiar.

The line did indeed get moving, and Lin was the first to get served. The cooks plopped onto her tray all kinds of slop, and Lin wondered if any of it would hit her the same way Siri's cooking did. Oh sure her girlfriend's food tasted good going in........but the stuff it did to her stomach later? She'd have been more willing to go another round with that sword toting Elite. "Going to Cesaro then?" Daniel asked.

To Lindsey the food looked great, it sure beat the rations that they got fed. "Yeah going to see an old friend before I get shipped off to join another unit" She admitted casually, though Lindsey was not looking forward to actually going to the other unit even though nothing remained of her platoon, besides herself.

The line kept on moving, with Daniel just about to be served. "Any idea which unit, or did they leave you guessing?"