Intermission: UNSC. (IC)

[z]

-Lucy-

"Well, Sir..." She said, pressing the ice pack to her pounding head and slightly swolen lip.

"Was playing cards with the guys.... Coxxy flies in, lands on the table looking beaten to all hell. I put myself between them and Cox. One.... His me, bloody fucking hard too. And then, with the help of the bar patrons they were subdued through knocking out."

She grumbled a bit and rubbed her face. "Damn that hurts..."

[Spartan 999]

First Lieutenant Isin Herald

Isin scrutinized Lucy for a couple seconds, before nodding. He looked over at Cox. "Get some rest, Private. You'll need it." His gaze moved back to Lucy. "Good job looking after your men, Z. I expect that in the field."

[Martial Virtue]

Captains Dylan and Sierra Lloyd

Sierra was struggling to keep her emotions to herself throughout the ceremony. She felt the only reason she wasn't bawling her eyes out in public right now, in front of her Marines, was because Dylan was standing beside her. He had his arm wrapped tight around her shoulders, keeping her together.

Glasgow had been a rough assignment. Sierra didn't realize exactly how rough until she'd been notified on that damn Pelican that had evaced her off the Command Center building in the city.

Her best friend and second platoon's commander, First Lieutenant Hailey Koppre, was dead.

The tall, formidable woman had taken a devastating plasma hit to her chest armor as Sierra's Marines had been defending the lobby of the building, waiting for everyone else to get onboard the Pelicans. Koppre had been hit while Sierra had been engaged with a group of Covenant on the opposite side of the entrance. Captain Lloyd felt worst about that fact. She hadn't even known her friend was dead until twenty minutes later, when she was already safe inside the transport craft.

Now they were here on Reach. Second platoon already had a new platoon leader - the newly promoted Second Lieutenant Killinger. Even in her grief, Sierra had had to do her duties as company commander after the mission and try to figure out who'd be a good match for the position. She'd finally decided on the former Sergeant Killinger because of his exceptional performance in Glasgow. He'd certainly saved Sierra's ass as they'd been pulling out - despite the fact that he'd first tried to paint her as a target with his well-intentioned but ill-timed salute. She owed him greatly for that, and so he had been repaid.

Captain Lloyd was brought back to the present when she heard the honor guard firing the shots. She was startled and shaken for a very brief moment. No one else noticed, however, except for Dylan. He knew, because he was suddenly squeezing her shoulder more tightly. Sierra felt the tears brimming in her eyes, but she wiped them away with her dress uniform sleeve, loathe to cry in front of an audience. Hell, she hardly ever did that in private, either. The only recent time she could remember doing so was when she'd thought Dylan had died. That had been beyond a dark period for her.

The Marine captain turned to look up at her husband now and slowly slid an arm around his waist. In the look they shared, Dylan saw all the pain in Sierra's eyes that she'd never say aloud to anyone, or allow anyone else in the world to see. That was her duty as a commander, to keep her emotions to herself. His duty as husband was to allow her small moments like this one - a respite where she could truly be herself and not act so tough all the time.

Dylan gave her shoulders another quick squeeze. "You okay?" he whispered.

Sierra dabbed at her eyes several more times before answering. She just now realized that most of the crowd was beginning to disperse. It was quickly becoming just her and Dylan out there on the cemetery grounds. "No," she answered honestly. "But I will be. It'll just...take some time."

Dylan frowned. He knew what else was bothering her, because it was bothering him, too. It had been months since they'd been able to go home to Kholo and see their two kids. The painful separation was beginning to take its toll on both of them. He leaned in to give her a quick kiss on her cheek as they finally turned to leave.

"It'll be all right, Sierra. I'm sorry. I know she was a really good friend of yours. But you'll make it through this. You always have before."

His wife sighed at that. "That's what I'm worried about. I don't want to always be forced to 'get through' things like this. I want to bring my Marines back home alive, D. All of them."

Sergeant Janice Reed, REVIVE-5

Janice sat beside her ORION teammates, busy doing nothing. Waiting was always the worst. Reed could think of several dozen things she'd gladly endure in the place of the lull between battles.

But, she had to admit, at least they had a good view of the city down below. And being on Reach was always something of an awe-inspiring experience. The seat of UNSC power. An image that made humanity hope in their survival of the Covenant.

Eden spoke then, bringing Janice out of her thoughts.

"What do you think they are gonna make us do next?" she asked.

Simon answered her first. "No idea, but I would guess it has something to do with killing Covenant," he said. "That's what is usually entails, anyway."

Sergeant Reed tucked the combat knife she'd been playing with back into its sheath on her hip. "I hope so. I'm ready for those butt-ugly alien bastards. I'll be ready with my gun and my blades." She gave them a dark grin. "Lots of shots, lots of kills. They won't know what hit 'em."

[Deleted]

Killinger grumbled as he got up, the football lying just to his right - A clean fumble. He looked left and their was Hicks, running for it. "Ain't going to happen! Hicks!" Killinger yelled and reached his hand out, the mark of third down for Killinger. Hicks was leading three touchdowns to two, by now four other Marines who decided to miss the Funeral Service had showed up. Killinger would pay his respects later, he had already bought poppies imported from Earth for the fallen soldiers.

"Hut!" Yelled on of the Marines, and received the pig skin from Killinger. The Lieutenant ran straight down the middle, an open slot. The Marine with the ball threw it towards Killinger, a clean toss, and a better catch. The football nearly rolled of the tips of his fingers, but he got it. The game was tied 3-3.

The game lasted for a few hours, resulting in Hick's team blowing out Killinger's, 30-18 in touchdowns, but Hicks was limited to only nine of hem thanks to Killinger, who tackled him every chance they got.
"I hate you, Killinger." Hicks joked, he was still mad at the fact he had to actually rely on other people he had never played with before.

Killinger pulled out a small box. "I'm going to the burial service now. It should be over, I hope these poppies are good enough. Well Killinger didn't lose any men, it was his team that did. he would still pay respects to the fallen. Killinger got up, turned and headed for the door.

[dave36464736]

- Dave Kabruski.

As Dave and Chris were discussing normal, ordinary things, Sarah and Nick walked into the hospital room.

"Dave, surprised to see you here." growled Nick. Nick was not happy at Dave's behavior that past few weeks. Dave had been withdrawn, grumpy, tired. Not the usual self that Nick had been accustomed to.

"Yea? Well sometimes we need to make amends to our situations and suck it up" Replied Dave, getting up to leave.

Sarah walked up to Dave. "Whats with you. You've had your head up your ass ever since you got us back from that airfield." she said accusingly, putting her hand on his shoulder.

Snorting, Dave went to go around her when Nick came up to the side and gave Dave a punch to the right temple. The last thing Dave remembered is the cold concrete floor rushing up to greet him.

**UNSC AIRSTRIP, GLASGOW**

"WATCH OUT!" screamed Dave, diving to the side into a mud puddle, as a gigantic bolt of plasma whizzed by him, fired by a fuel rod cannon. Covenant were swarming all over the place, the situation was hopeless, Command had sent them in to recapture the airbase, but never expected the Covenant to have such a commanding force.

Covered in mud, Dave rolled himself upright and looked frantically for his squad mates. Had they made it out alright? Did they get hit? Dave was frantic, his eyes wide with panic and fear, His gut knotted from the fear of loosing good men and women.

"Dave, you copy?" His earpiece sputtered to life. Warm relief flooded through Dave. Sarah, the one he feared most for, was alive. for the moment.

"Copy, where are you?" Dave stammered, relief overwhelming him.

"In a pelican, 500 meters from your position. Nick and Chris are here. Nicks fine... Chris.... well, needless to say, Surgeons may have to take some artistic licence to put his face back together, Not that it wouldn't be an improvement." replied Sarah, using gallow humour to try and cover up the fact that she was scared shitless.

"Copy, Ill try to make it to your position." replied Dave, stumbling to his feet, grabbing his dropped MA5B.

"Roger, Luck." was the reply. Now Dave was on his own, cut off from his squad, to try and hump it 500 Meters to a pelican, in the middle of a battlefield.

Yanking the lever on his MA5B, he racked a round into the chamber and swept the rifle left to right, looking for any hostiles in the way. There was none.

It can't be this easy... thought Dave, as he bee-lined it to the pelican. Well, unfortunatly for him... he was right. Not 100 metres infront of him were 2 grunts and an elite.

Quickly, Dave brought his rifle to bear, Spraying a full burst at the grunts, hitting one in the head, dropping it, and the other, catching the grunts methane hose, causing flame to gout out the tube and panicking the grunt, who was now flailing its arms, screaming "AIIEEEEEEEEE" in its weird guttural voice.

Now annoyed, the elite backhanded the grunt away and looked at Dave, its mandibles clicking as if it were wondering the best way to dispatch such an impetuous human.

Suddenly, the elite had a blank stare, as it toppled over, a sniper round through its head. Confused, Dave looked behind the elite to see Sarah, a sniper rifle slung on her shoulder, its barrel still smoldering.

"MOVE YOUR ASS" She shouted... Her voice getting fainter as light started to permeate his vision.

[Wax™]

1st Lieutenant Matthew Eversmann
UNSC ONI: Orion REVIVE Project.
New Alexandria - ONI HQ Command Centre

Matthew just stood their with his hand's linked behind his back as he waited one meter away from the door leading into the ONI debreifing room, he had seen ordinary soldiers walk in there and come out looking as if they just faced a fireing squad in the eye, so Matthew sure hoped to whatever God was up there that, that was not going to happen.

Matthew like the rest of the team, was wearing his ONI recon armor, his was jet black, with a white stripe down the centre of the helmet and two white stripes painted across his forearms like band's to signal his command to the rest of the team and any ordinary ODST's not that the ONI gear would have already suffised at that.

Matthew turned around on his heel's and looked at the rest of the team, facing ONI he would rather wear his Dress Blues, the Ex UNSC Marine did not quite like wearing gear to a de-breifing, he looked to Sergeant Janice Reed as she finished her sentence on killing lot's of Covenant.

"That could easily be you aswell Janice... The Covenant will be just as ready as we are by the time we get to where ever it is we are going, you can count on that."

[z]

Staff Sergeant Eden Lawrence, REVIVE 2

She listened to them talk. Simon, Janice, Matt and her eyes closed for a moment, reaching down she put her helmet on and darkened the visor. Closing her eyes she attempted to sleep, failing of course.

After hearing Matthew talk, Eden turned her head to look at him, speaking very quickly. "Buzzkill says what?"

[Cabel]

[Epsilon Eridani System: New Alexandria: Olympic Tower: Upper Levels: Interior]

“Welcome to the Olympic Tower, Captain. I’m glad you could make it,” an ONI officer, by the rank of Commander had said after Matvey had been greeted on the VTOL Pad. The two officers had head inside the building, the ONI HeadQuarters in New Alexandria otherwise known as the Olympic Tower to most that lacked the required security clearances.

The ONI Commander had appeared in a black uniform, not unlike those worn by other ONI agents Matvey had seen or even heard of, had led the Passchendaele’s Captain to a well furnished lounge complete with a bar and mini-fridge before leaving the Russian-born officer to wait. There hadn’t really been any explanation on what the special package Matvey had been ordered to retrieve or what the Passchendaele would be transporting. Left to wait with his own thoughts and devices, Matvey had turned to the room’s only rather expansive bookshelf dotting one wall of the lounge as he’d never had the tendency to drink on duty and it wouldn’t do to be inebriated within the presence of the Office of Naval Intelligence. Finding a book on the Crimean War amongst the fairly slim collection, he’d taken a seat on the lounge’s only couch and began reading.

[kuran]

Sato sat, cross-legged, on the floor next to the other members of REVIVE.

"What do you think they are gonna make us do next?"

Sato shrugged and busied himself cataloguing the people that passed them by. He had recently developed this game for situations like this, when he was bored. He would watch people and study them, sorting them into threat categories based on how likely they were to be able to stop a strike, how far away they were, and what weapons, if any, they were carrying. He would then mentally map out exactly how he would go about clearing the room of the perceived 'hostile' in a way that minimised risk for himself and the rest of the team.

His game was interrupted by the officer who had brought them here in the first place.

"Come with me." He stated in a stiff voice, before wheeling around and heading off.

Sato climbed to his feet and brushed himself off before following the ONI agent through a door and into a room. Again scanning it almost out of habit, he noticed that the rooms only other occupant, a man sitting on the room's only couch and reading a book, was wearing the insignia of a Captain.

Acting on instinct, he stopped in his tracks and snapped his hand up into a crisp salute. "Officer on deck!"

[Cabel]

He’d read the book before, from cover to cover digesting each iota of tactics, the logistics back before the Academy days, but that particular book had been the only one in ONI’s selection that had caught his attention. The familiar clacking of boot heels, accompanied by the statement of an officer on deck was more than enough for Matvey to close the book gently before rising from the couch. Turning to face the six figures near the lounge’s door, with five of those behind armor following the patterns of the Orbital Drop Shock Trooper kit albeit with a few modifications Matvey knew the Passchendaele’s orders weren’t simple clear cut orders one would have expected. The sixth figure had been the same ONI Commander that had greeted him only a short while ago, and to which Matvey gave a respectful nod.

“At ease,” Matvey addressed in that eastern slavic way, returning the salute and relieved it as well. “I am Galina, Captain and Master of the Passchendaele. I will give you the option of either addressing me by rank, skipper or Peter’s Hammer. I will only require you tell me your name, and rank. You will understand, as seeing to the safety of my ship and crew is a duty I do not take lightly. Your service records are, I have no doubt, of the highest caliber, but for the sake of brevity to which I am certain ONI will wish some of that information remain private I will not inquire. I am a fair officer, for which you will come to find and I prefer hearing the opinions of my crew. If I do not agree with a solution, I will let you know. Unless you are a bunch of reporters, I will encourage any off-duty interests you have. I run an honor-bound ship, where duty is a priority, but I will not intervene in minor disputes. I have firmly believed that a well maintained crew must have their disputes every now and then. If you accept that, our futures may look brighter,”

[Deleted]

Klix pulled out his PDA, Dino was doing a lot of work on the ship. The A.I had single handedly brought ninety percent of the systems online. The rest of the ten percent had human only locks on them, areas that he could not control unless given command of the vessel from any bridge crew. Those systems were Navigation, weapons and simple stuff like that.

His PDA hummed a soft melody, a new message. It was from ONI HQ in Alexandria.
"Admiral, we are revealing the Arizona class Cruiser now, we want you too be with us during the revealment."

"Dave, I got to go. Thanks for the drinks!" Klix said as he placed 75 UNSC Credits on the table, it should pay for the brandy.

* 40 minutes later *

"Ladies and Gentlemen, designer of the new Arizona Class Heavy Cruiser, Vice Admiral Klix" The ONI agent said. The Admiral walked up the the microphone and it accompanied stand.
"This is being broadcasted to all navy commanding officers. Those in this room, you will be able to review what I've said about this vessel again on your PDA. Now, let us get started." The Admiral stopped, and took a drink of water.

"The Arizona is a new, updated version of the Marathon Class Cruiser, but at the same time it is it's own class in general. With the outbreak of the human - Covenant war, I have designed a vessel that will bring the fight to them. This vessel has serious fire power, it is well armored and it's now the new flagships of the human race. I'll start with it's armor. On average, this vessel is surrounded by nearly fifteen meters of Titanuim A Armor, five more meters than the Maeathon has at it's most hardened point." The Admiral again stopped, he looked out into the crowd, people were stirring.

"Now, we will move on to reactors. This vessel has a combined count of four reactors, however, one of them is primarily used to recharge the main cannon. This ship is nearly as fast as A Marathon, but due to being twice the size it is slower." The Admiral paused. He saw smiling faces.

"Now is the big news, this vessel has a massive primary gun, ladies and gentlemen, a Siper Magnetic Accelorator Cannon!" The Admiral paused, seeing many people clapping.

He was about to go into further details, but the ONI agent stopped him. "Thank you Admiral, you are dismissed."

Klix climbed down, and turned towards the ONI agent, and walked right past him.

[z]

SSGT Eden Lawrence

Eden also saluted, moving to at ease with her hands placed behind her back when ordered she listened to the man talk... His accent... Russian... Eden nearly laughed hearing the accent, hers sounded different, but it had Russian in it.

"Staff Sergeant Eden Lawrence, sir... Second in command, kinda." Her accent was a hybrid of French and Russian, but it was shown in her voice. "Excuse me sir... Are you from Russia?"

Eden asked, tilting her head slightly, reaching up t remove her helmet and hold it under her arms. By now, just a short time in the helmet and her pony tail had come down, making her curly blond hair fall over her shoulders. It wasn't exactily past standard length, but it was longer then she should have kept it... And she liked it that way.

Her two eyes looked at the man, one hazy green and one a greyish blue.

She looked like she could be no older than Twenty... but this was not the case, Eden was in her Fourties... Which surprised many superiors.

[Cabel]

“Da…, yes. I was born in St. Petersburg, anchored on the banks of the Neva River guarding the Baltic Sea founded by Peter the Great or as legends have it by a giant. I haven’t set foot in my homeland for quite some time. Astute,…I like that, Staff Sergeant Lawrence and I applaud your keen ears," Matvey smiled. "One of your parents must have been Russian and the other French, yes? I served through the ranks as an Operation’s Officer, and developed an ear, you could say,”

“I will tell you a little about the ship you’re to be assigned to. The Passchendaele is a fairly young vessel, with nearly two and a half years having slid from the shipyards. We’ve been on patrols, and other assignments, but the Passchendaele is a vessel in her own right. She’s a stalwart ship with a strong keel, with an even braver crew. I do hope you can find your place among them, and to be remembered when the deeds are done,” Matvey explained.

[darthsloan]

Cpl. "Church"
Approaching Cemetery

The bandage covering his healing wound itched at his chest, but he didn't mind. In fact he was surprised to be alive. But his happiness was blown away by the deathly mood that lingered in the air. He had just talked to two marines from even thinking about suicide, convincing them that it was a permanent solution to a temporary problem. He eventually got to where he was supposed to be, and perhaps a little late.

It didn't take him long to find Sgt. Lewis and Cpl. Clay and approached them quickly, snapping up a salute and introduced himself, offering his transfer papers for proof. "Hello Sir, Cpl. Church, or Clifton, at your service. I received orders recently to be placed in your squad as your medic, seeing that you lacked a medic and my squad has passed on."

[z]

Sgt. Lewis Keller and Clay Jason

Lewis looked up at the new addition, while Clay std cross armed in front of the grave. Alex and Raul had run off and left them there, and they hadn't moved or spoken in quite awhile.

"So I see.." Lewis said, reaching over and shaking Clay out of his trance. "We need to move on, she would want us to keep going and not stare at her grave."

Clay nodded and looked up at the new addition and nodded.

"I'm Sergeant Lewis.... Big man here is Clay, he dosen't talk. Our other two Squad mates.... Ran off but i have a feeling i know where they are, or one of them at least. Follow me, you two."

Corporal Alex Summers

Theme:

Sitting on the roof of the tall hotel, Alex's back was to the wall, her hair blew in front of her face. Her dress blues were now wrinkled and bent.

The door opened and she looked up only to see Clay, Lewis, and someone else.

No...

No, not a replacement, anything but a replacement...No one could replace Amy... no one...

..No one can replace Amy...

[darthsloan]

He followed his new squad leader and squad mate to who knows where until we reached a hotel. They took the stairwell, but civilians still stared at him. Perhaps they don't see ODSTs in full combat gear much, or maybe they do.... it is Reach after all. When they reached the roof, they found the other squadmate, who looked at him with sorrow.... with a touch of anger. The look made him wince and look away, making him glad he wears his helmet most of the time, including now. He felt as if she had a gun, she'd shoot him on sight. This caused him to look at his medic patch and conclude that particular funeral was for their old medic..... how.... tragic....

[z]

Alex Summers

Her eyes were full of hate as she stared into the visor of the new ODST. Her cybernetic arm clicked slowly as she gripped a fist.

"Who's that?" She asked coldy.

Her face hidden by her dark colored hair, her jaw out slightly. "I said Who. Is. That!"

"Alex..." Lewis said only to be cut off. "No! I don't care, I don't want to hear it..." Tears stuck to her hair... She felt like her hear had been ripped out, stepped on, then shoved back to its place through her trout...

Amy...

"Alex... We know you loved her. But-" Lewis said again, only to be cut off again.

"NO! Just... Shut up, Lewis!" She said, looking away, dog tags hanging in her normal hand.

[darthsloan]

Church simply kept quiet.... she was mourning, and she had every right to do so. He felt sympathy with her but refused to show it, it would only make her hate him worse. He just stood their and stared at her through his visor. He had chosen his personal helmet to where, which was distinguished with a white cross on its visor. He sighed and shook his head without a word.... none will be needed right now.

However..... It is human to change ones mind, and perhaps other sentient species share the same personality trait. The woman needed to calm down, and his presence stood in the way of that achievement, so he directed his voice toward his new squad leader. "Sir.... permission to.... leave sir?"

[admiral]

Fleet Admiral David Vardy

"Dave, I got to go. Thanks for the drinks!" Klix said abruptly, tossing 75 credits on the table.

Curious, Dave looked at the Admiral, then noticed the time, it was time for his unveiling of the newest ship in the fleet, one of which exclusively belonged to yours truly.

Nodding, Dave watched as the Admiral walked away. Shaking his head, David flagged down the waitress, paid her, and walked out into the still bright afternoon. The pleasure was done. It was time to head back to the ship and continue diagnostics.

**2 hours later, Aboard the UNSC KILIMANJARO**

Walking off the lift to the bridge, he was met by 2 junior grade Lieutenants, who both snapped off crisp salutes when they saw him. He lazily returned their salutes and continued to his command chair, where his brother was still at his station.

"Status of AI?" David asked.

"Coming along nicely, Lambert is almost finished with the ship diagnostics." Nathan replied smoothly, his fingers dancing along the console.

Nodding, David turned to the Holotank and said "Lambert, whats the status of our reactor shakedown?"

Buzzing into existence, Lambert stood akimbo and said "............"

Raising an eyebrow, David was confused for a brief second, until Lambert pantomimed that he was still silenced.

"Ah. Right. I forgot" said David slowly, when in reality, he just wanted to see the AI squirm. "Re-engage the Vocal subprocessor."

"How kind of you." Lambert responded sarcastically.

"Stop the sass. Status" David snipped, in no mood to be sassed by a data crystal.

"Reactors are online. Reactor 4 is on standby." Lambert replied, now standing up fully.

"Good. Ops, confirm that please" David replied.

"You don't need to, I am in direct contact with the ship" Lambert quipped.

"That as it may be, I still don't trust you, as your still just a piece of technology and sometimes... technology fails." David said, folding his arms as he leaned back into his seat.

Arching an eyebrow, Lambert just turned around and stared ahead at the view port.

Looking at Nathan, he shook his head. "Things got a lot of attitude for a hunk of crystal."

Nodding, Nathan replied "Yea, but I'll be honest, I kind of like him."

Shrugging, David had nothing to say to that, but instead turned to Harry. "Mr. Kim, status of our weapons?"

"Weapons are on standby. Mac at 0% charge... wouldn't want a missfire of this thing." Harry replied with a smile.

Grinning, David nodded. "What do you think of our new... gun?"

"Big. and powerful. I love it. I would love to see it in action." Harry replied.

"But not too soon." David added, Harry nodding his agreement.

Turning back to Nathan, David got up and motioned for him to follow. "Come on Nathan, lets go finish seeing the rest of our ship."

Nodding, They fell into an easy pace, walking and talking as if the years between them meant nothing. They discussed many things. Their parents, their loved ones, or in David's case, the memories of such.

Soon, they reached the cafeteria, that was in David's opinion, one of the most important parts of the ship, as the food could make or break people's moral.

Gesturing to an empty table after they got their coffee's, David looked at Nathan and got serious.

"So Nathan, I have to ask you. All these years as a Captain, you've never accepted a commission to Admiral. Why is that?" David began, folding his arms across the table.

Shrugging, Nathan replied "Where can an Admirals position take me? To a desk job? No thanks."

Nodding, David understood where his brothers line of thinking came from. He too, at one point had a desk job. Boring stuff.

"Well, I guess I cannot argue with that, but you do realise that sooner or later, they'll stop asking." David responded.

"Thats fine. Better to be a Captain and making a difference on the front lines than being cooped up in a stuffy office all day." Nathan said, grinning.

Nodding, David sipped his coffee, savouring the flavor. He had spent some money and bought premium grade stuff. Nothing but the best for his crew.

"Lambert to Admiral Vardy" the comm bleeped. "Incoming message, Line 3"

"Who is it from?" David asked, annoyed.

"Admiral Klix sir, its not marked urgent, shall I store it for you?" Lambert replied.

"For now. Vardy out." David replied, cutting the comm channel.

"Where were we?" David asked, continuing his conversation.

**2 Hours later, David's Quarters, UNSC KILIMANJARO**

"Lambert, Play message" David ordered.

Admiral Klix's face appeared on screen with a bright smile that could only mean one thing. He didn't have to hide his ship.

"Admiral, I hope this message finds you well. Your ship has been announced, and we are missing your presence. Compliments on the brandy. Klix out."

Amused and proud, David got up and walked to his door, pausing at its threshold. He put a finger to his mouth and then to the aged photograph of his wife and son. Both lost to the Covenant.

"For you my love. For you my son." David whispered, as he turned and exited his room.

Walking at a brisk pace, David entered the lift and said "Bridge"

When he got to the bridge, he quickly strode to his Chair, and again his brother was already there at his post.

Smiling, he put on the shipcomm. "Attention all hands, ONI has given us the green light to finally reveal ourselves. Time to see what this baby can do. Vardy out"

Looking at Tom, he gave the command. "Reactor to 1/4 power, ease us out into the open. When we clear the moon, Dock at the space ports. Make sure to get us a good seat"

"Aye Sir!" Tom replied, entering the co-ordinates.

Smiling, David relaxed back. It was good to be back.

[Deleted]

"Sir, our sister ship is moving." Dino said. By now the Admiral and his bridge crew were aboard the vessel. "Thank you, Dino." The Admiral simply replied. The Arizona was docked on a station already, but it as still hidden from most UNSC personnel.

"Engineering, bring reactor one online." The Admiral said. "Sir, reactor one hot." The Officer replied.

"Ops, unlock docking clamps. Navigation, plot a course for Docking Station Romeo." The Admiral ordered as he picked up his PDA.

"Vardy. Dock at Docking Station Romeo. Klix out." The Admiral sent to the Fleet Admiral.

They were revealing the Arizona's alright, by docking on the largest docking station in orbit over Reach.

"Comms, free up docking room on the Romeo." The Admiral said calmly.
"Sir, they have already free'd up room. Bays 1, 2, and 3 have been opened for the Arizona. Likewise for the Kilimanjaro, sir." The communications officer replied.

So they just opened six docking bays for us? The Admiral thought. Perfect.

The Admiral watched out the viewport, smiling as he laid eyes on the Kilimanjaro, the second of just two Arizona Class Cruisers. Hell, they were freaking battleships.

The only damn thing wrong with the Arizona, it didn't feature any Long-Sword fighters, just drop ships. However, it was nearly impossible to board, thanks to it's four thousand marine contingent, plus another two thousand ODST's.

On that note, he decided to message Captain Lloyd, both of them.

TO: Captain Seirra Lloyd,
Captain Dylan Lloyd.

Hello, Captain. I'm trying to fill out a roster for four thousand marines and two thousand ODST's on my vessel, and was wondering of you and your division would like the job. You'll pretty much be used for ground engagements and holding off boarding parties.

FROM: Vice Admiral Eric Klix, commander of UNSCS Arizona

[Wax™]

1st Lieutenant Matthew Eversmann
UNSC ONI: Orion Revive Team
New Alexandria - ONI HQ Building

Matthew turned his head to look at the Navy Commander as he entered the room, he watched for a minute as he had a small conversation with Eden, Matthew sighed quietly to himself before loudly clearing his throat, he didn't bother to salute the Naval Officer nor nod his head, Matthew simply spoke to the man as he did to any other.

"1st Lieutenant Matthew Eversmann Commander... I have heard a few thing's about you Commander but never seemed to have met you in person..."

The 1st Lieutenant turned on his heels to face the Commander and stepped closer to him, now standing about a meter away, he un-shaded his visor that his bright blue eye's were staring at the man, unblinking through his visor.

"This is my team..." Matt turned to Eden and nodded. "You have met Eden..." Matt paused again to turn and look at the rest of his team. "That pretty woman over there is Janice, followed by Sato and that is Simon."

Matt stopped before turning his head to face the Commander blankly once more, he was then interrupted by a voice coming from his Helmet COM.

"Did you forget something?"

"Ah... And that's Fiona, our AI, so... That's -my- team Commander, when will we be meeting yours?"

[Cabel]

“You’ll do fine on the Passchendaele, Lieutenant,” Matvey said, with a smile. ’This First Lieutenant Eversmann seems to have a lack of trust, or at least until it‘s earned. We‘ll see how long that takes‘, Matvey mused quietly. That was more to his liking, in fact, as trust had to be earned and when it was earned it had to be protected. “Blunt and direct,…a trait I find refreshing. I expect you to give me a challenge, in earning your trust, and you have my word the challenge is well met. Fiona? Your team‘s own individual A.I…that is a little different, but she is welcome aboard as well. You will meet Nadezhda when we dock in the Passchendaele’s hanger, but I would not be master of my own vessel if I told you she didn't already know of our meeting. She is a quick one,…one of the reasons I suspect she was chosen for the Passchendaele. You will all have the opportunity to meet those of my crew, including the bridge crew once we set down on the Passchendaele or whenever you're settled in. If you have all of your belongings, we will head outside to platform four where a pelican is waiting to take us into orbit. Please, come with me,”

The fifty-year old Russian officer signed off on the orders before stepping around the five commandos to head out of the lounge and into the corridor beyond. He’d been glad the ONI Commander had been partial to vodka, especially vodka from Earth as a gift for setting the group of commandos at Matvey’s feet. Remembering the path they’d taken into the tower, Matvey retraced his steps as he’d never visited the ONI Headquarters before and made his way out to where the pelican waited for them. The dropship had been of the more recent D-77 model lineage, with the chin-mounted M21 Forty-millimeter autocannon linked to an ocular-sight attached to the pilot’s helmet, and as Matvey approached the thirty-meter long transport the pilot ran through the pre-flight checks.

As the pilot had raised the ramp to stave off the rapidly growing cold on Reach’s surface and to make it easier on the built in heaters, the ramp lowered before coming to a rest on the platform allowing easier access for those boarding. Matvey climbed up into the cockpit to speak with the pilot, exchanging a few things and general small talk, before returning to the affectionately referred to blood tray by troopers dropping into a hot zone.

“Take a seat, and stow your gear. I’m going to remain back here with your team to run through the basics, and for any questions you may have,” the Passchendaele’s Captain said, before taking a seat closest to the cockpit on the bench lining the starboard side of the craft. Before long, the Pelican lifted off from the platform and proceeded on a course laid in by its pilot for Marathon Cruiser in the careful arms of the repair cradle Orinoco in the planet’s parking orbit. The pilot’s abilities were clearly evident the moment the transport had pushed off the deck, as the Lieutenant’s confident hands handled the transport with care as if it were an extension of his own limbs.

[Wax™]

Staff Sergeant Jason Bowers
ALPHA Company - Delta Destroyers
New Alexandria - UNSC Training Course

Jason Bowers marched across a training course ground in full gear, the experienced soldier was not even breaking a sweat after five kilometers yet but the replacement's he had been tasked in warming up some replacements for the next Operation which would be deployed with the remaining Heros of Lethe and the Survivors of Albert, in total he was marching about 100 men across this dusty old road.

"Delta!"

"Sir yes Sir!"

"Sing the replacement's a song would ya!"

Bowers smiled, he was marching on the right and side of the 100 men at the very front and to his left was Jake Winter's his best friend since Primary School, he laughed before starting off the song for the rest of the twenty plus men in Delta to follow on to.

"Your left
Your left
Your left right left
My back aches
My belts too tight
My balls shake
From left to right
I don't know but I've been told
Eskimo Pussy is mighty cold
Sound off 1, 2
Sound off 3, 4 "

Jason laughed, that was a classic, Jake's and Jason's drill instructor used to sing it to them all the time, Jason stopped a moment to watch the soldiers march past him to see if he could find anyone out of step then he eard a Private whine out something from in the ranks.

"Drill Sergeant Sir?!"

Jason's head almost exploaded when he heard that.

"HALT POSITION!"

The 100 man formation stopped and slammed their right foot on the ground, after that it was quiet and no one moved, the only thing that could be heard this time of night on this muddy old road was the crickets and these soldiers breathing.

"COMPANY! COMPANY BY YOUR RIGHT! RIGHT TURN!"

The Company he was marching turned right all at the same time in perfect synch, Jason with a furiouse look on his face then walked up and down the rank's of the company while he spoke at the top of his voice.

"Who the fuck do you think you are calling me Drill Sergeant boy! Get your arse out of formation and form up infront of the company!"

Jason stopepd and pushed through five soldiers to get to the front of the Company, he looked from left to right, no one moved for ten seconds before the boy who yelled out Drill Sergeant emerged from the seasoned soldiers and the replacements and formed up infront of Bowers.

"Twenty push up's now! Delta... Sing us a little song!"

It was quiet for a few more seconds before someone started up the song they were taught in boot camp.

"The Army calls 'em drill sergeants,
The Navy calls 'em RDC's,
The Air Force calls 'em their TI's;
But mine is strictly a DI:
"Drill Instructor," then his rank
Unless you want to play games,
Never "sir" or something more
Or my face is on the floor.

If I called him "Drill Sergeant,"
He'd take me out to the pit.
If I called him a TI,
He'd make me feel like I would die.
If I called him RDC,
He'd make an example out of me.

So make sure you get it right,
Or you'll end up in his sights"

[milostsamis]

PFC Jake Rotan Task Force 77: Able Company Shore Leave: Reach

Jake sighed as he looked back at the ODSTs that had been confronted by the other men. The cause of his sigh was from two things, A.) He wasn't all that much of a fan of the ODSTs and their attitudes, and B.) He knew that the other guys were in for a bad time. There wasn't much point in watching, seeing as Jake knew what the outcome of such a confrontation would be. He heard some more slamming and yelps of pain, a few punches connecting, some others being thrown into tables. His body shook with silent laughter. He didn't like the ODSTs, but they sure brought some quite entertaining events with them.

Ryan sat to his right, a Labatt Blue Light held in his right hand. He had a grin plastered to his face as he listened to the brawl going on behind them. "They're going to be in some real shit when command hears about this." Ryan commented, taking another sip from him can. "But I doubt that they give that much of a shit. You don't mess with an ODSTs buddy."

Jake looked over at him, a matching grin on his face as well. "Hey, when these guys get outta here, wanna go meet up with Michelle and Lenny? This is getting kind of lame. We're on leave, we should be spending time with our team." Jake said.

Ryan looked at him with an eyebrow raised. "Are you sure you don't just want to spend some time with Michelle?"

Jake's eyes widened slightly, and then they narrowed. "Oh shut up."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Cpl. Mattie Stroud Lunar Squad Shore Leave: Reach

Mattie looked around, at the stop light above his 'Hog, the tops of the buildings above him, the civilians walking on the sidewalks. He was on his own at the moment, he had lost sight of his squad a short while ago. He wore a simple red T-shirt with a matching hoodie, with blue denim jeans on his legs. Apart from the civilian clothes, he still had an M6 strapped to his hip for protection. No matter where you go, there is always something, or someone, that could cause you harm.

"Damn it.. Where the hell did they go?" Mattie asked himself as the light turned green and he put more pressure on the gas pedal, propelling the 'Hog forward. "They were heading to a bar, of course, but there are like forty fucking thousand of them in this damn city." He sighed as he slowed slightly to make a sharp right turn. As he did so, he slowed and pulled over to the side as an ambulance came rushing down the street. Mattie watched it as it went by, but he became focused again as the car behind him honked its horn at him.

He continued on his way down the street. "Hope they didn't get into any trouble..."

[z]

Alex Summers

"No.. Oh no he can stay..." Alex said standing and storming to the door, opening it and slamming ti behind her as she descended into the hotel and into an elevator to take her down. Soon as that opened she was on the first floor. Her room was here... and so was the bar...

Taking a seat, she took a shot of Whiskey before looking down the bar at another Marine in her dress blues smiling down at Alex.

...Uh-Oh...

Eden Lawrence

Stepping onto the Pelican, Eden slowly made her way to a seat and sat down, waiting on the rest of REVIVE to come.

"Hey Matt." She said, looking over at him.

"Douchesayswhat? She said abnormally fast, making it even harder to understand with her accent. But she was sure Fiona and a few others picked it up.

[Deleted]

Second Lieutenan Killinger

He had just placed the last poppy on the grave, and his face was starting to crack. He'd been at grave sites before, but passing his former Sergeant's grave always got him. He died in 2526, a long time ago, but it was still singed in his head how he died, his head half paved across the ground well still in the driver seat of the 'Hog.

"Rest in peace, Sarge." He said quietly, tapping the tombstone. Mostly everyone was gone now, so it wasn't worried about showing emotions. Late in the battle, when they were falling back he thought he nearly lost Hicks.

-Flashback-

"Hicks! Right side!" Killinger screamed and brought his MA5C to bare, pulling the trigger well switching targets. Thirty two rounds passed through the weapon, before a metallic click signaled it was empty. Out of the thirteen grunts, only one managed to run behind the remains of a building. Twelve grunts had been killed, but not before they had gotten some plasma grenades out.

A trooper exploded, painting Killinger with a red mist. Some one screamed that a man was down. Yes, a man was down and his guts were all over Killinger. The trooper didn't even have time to respond before a blue sticky plasma grenade landed on his shoulder armor and fused together.

"Hicks!" Killinger screamed. A few more troopers moved toward the now deeper crater, but Hicks didn't surface. Those troopers climbed over, fired at the remaining grunt and some friends that had come to reinforce him.

A brute broke through and charged at the two troopers. They both brought their weapons to face the new approaching target, but only one was fast enough. The brute grabbed the nearest Marine and tossed him into the nearest building. However, the second Marine had a shotgun, and the brute received a blast to the mid section, then the trooper finished him off with a shot to the head.

Hicks slowly got up from the crater. "You freaking scared me man!" Killinger yelled, but a loud groan and a louder thump turned his attention, the Marine that killed the brute fell nearly dead on the side line, two purple needles sticking out of his throat. The Marine looked at Killinger with pleading eyes, then the needles exploded. His head rolled down into the crater.

-End flashback-

Vice Admiral Klix

The Admiral strode over to the Navigation Console and the officer manning in. They were just forty seconds away from docking, again. It wasn't the best thing, docking then undocking just to dock again.

The Admiral nodded, and looked at the main tactical display. The Kilimanjaro was just moments away from docking as well.

"Engineering, let maneuvering thrusters take care of the rest. Disengage online reactor." The Admiral ordered.
"Aye sir, reactor disengaged. Couplings moving back to the standby position. Opening exhaust vents for reactor one now." The officer said.

The Arizona speed slowed down massively the moment the reactor went offline, a notable dis-advantage.

"Sir, we are docked" The Ops officer informed the Admiral.
"Very well. Feel free to disengage any active systems and transfer subroutines to Dino." The Admiral said.

The bridge officers shut down their stations, and stretched a little bit. They had only been on the Arizona for less then four hours. They all looked at each other, they didn't know what to do.

"Well... Go explore your new vessel!" The Admiral said, smiling.

[Daenerys Targaryen]

Captain Lydia Adelle Morgan
Epsilon Eridani System
Planet Reach
Outer Orbit

"On whose orders?" Demanded Captain Lydia Adelle Morgan as another one of those damn docking station communicators demanded that the UNSCS Fire Tear pull out for bigger cruisers to dock.

"Messages from Oni." Replied the communicator with an obvious furrow to his voice.

"Fine.. Guine take us out of here, send a message to Repair Cradle Orinoco, the tear is in need of it anyway. " Lydia muttered, her voice dark. How dare ONI tell her to move her ship after she and the surviving fleet members of that damned Nebula system jumped to random points in space after the area was over-run by Covenant. She then gets words that Albert had been over run by Covenant and was probably being glassed right now. The poor excuse of the Naval forces there couldn't stop it... her stomach churned at the idea of all the poor young faced, bright eyed children she saw running around that were now most likely brute food.

"Aye Captain.." Offered Guine as her shimmering form disappeared from the Holo tank, the old Halcyon refit creaked and groaned as it was released from the docking clamps and began it's slow injured crawl toward one of the repair cradles. Only a few minutes later did Lydia see the reason for her ships undocking, two beastly looking cruisers slowly crawled through the void toward the station.

"What in the hell...?" Exclaimed Troy as he began tapping away at his data pad. Only moments later did a live news feed break out over the bridge. The voice of men announcing the new Heavy War Ships fresh from the docks.

"Funny how this dammed military has a knack for releasing it's new toys after the game is over for another colony." Lydia almost spat, her voice barely lingered across the bridge but she was in a dangerous mood, hardly any other voices were heard along the bridge. A sigh rang out along the bridge as the hull of the ship shuttered again.

"We've docked with Orinoco." Announced Guine, her voice doing little to lift the mood of the bridge.

Lieutenant Jessica Mae Collins
Reach, Planet Side
ONI HG in New Alexandria

"Huh.." Jessica muttered softly to herself as she reviewed the Data on the Arizona Class Heavy Cruiser. "Seems like they had something up their sleeves after all, to bad they didn't reveal it soon enough to help out Albert." She whispered to her data pad before exiting the conference room. She wondered around for the better half of five minutes, tapping a pen against her ruby red lips subconsciously. She was in her casual ONI uniform for show leave to let her usually tied and ratty hair a chance to breath. Her luscious black hair hung down to her shoulders, curling slightly at the ends. Her shiny hair gleamed against her light brown skin. She could be described as a very attractive woman, but she was not out to flirt.

Only a few moments later did the female stumble upon a group of people sitting in a room. Her cat like green eyes snapped toward the closest people to her. If she had her visor she would of recognized them immediately as Orion Revives, but she did not have it with her. "Am I interrupting anything..?" Jessica asked in her curious Indian accent? Her gaze seemed to focus on the closest to her, Matthew Eversmann.

Lieutenant Aspen Jade Watts and Sergeant David Williams
Reach, Shore Leave
New Alexandria

"I love you!!" Squealed Aspen as she was spun around in the air by her husband David. The couple had left their subordinates behind at the space docks so they can enjoy their leave in the company of each other. Since then they had been wandering around the city streets of New Alexandria looking for a restaurant.

"I love you too, how about this one?" David offered, nodding his head toward what looked to be a small cafe down the street.

"Sounds like a plan." She beamed as the two made their way toward it hand-in-hand, truly happy to have made it through Albert.

[Deleted]

Vice Admiral Klix

The Admiral sighed. His PDA had been refreshed, and it appeared that the docking station had released a few damaged ships just to make room, but what was more weird is that docking bay 6, the last was, was currently un-occupied. Maybe the ones in five and four were not damaged enough.

ONI had something for the ships, perhaps a re-fit, or maybe emergency repairs. Regardless, he accesses his personal message section. Nothing from Fleet Admiral Vardy yet. Nah, he's having fun with his new... Toy. The Admiral though.

He typed in his message, but he needed a serial number to make a direct communication. He had his ways around, he brought up the list of the current ships around Reach and selected the three ships that were released, and started to type in the message to their commanding officers.

"To the UNSC Vessels that were released from the docking station, please know that I did not know that they were doing. The station had already told us that they were free. If I had known, I probably would have found a new station.

On part of the UNSC Navy, I apologize for what ONI had done to your damaged ships. Now, on a personal apology note, we all know ONI is a pain in the ass, so if you guys want I'll put in a reference fo a complete repair."

With that, he pushed the tiny "Send" button with the provided pen-like piece of equipment.

Second Lieutenant Killinger

Killinger slowly walked down the road, a cafe slowly approaching. He realized when he looked at it, he just wanted to go to Earth, and visit some family. He would make a request, and hopefully it would be accepted.

He stopped at the cafe's entrance, the special was a "Beef Bun with any side drink.", but it wasn't UNSC currency, rather then the currency used in Alexandria.

He walked in, approached a table and set down. A middle aged man came up to him.
"Sir, may I get you something?" The waiter said.
"I'll take the special." Killinger replied.
"What side drink, sir?" The waiter added.
Killinger thought for a moment, "I'll take iced tea, thanks"

It took no less then two minutes, and the waiter brought back his food.
"Due to a recent... Situation, I'm going to have to ask you to pay your food now, rather then keeping it on the table." The waiter said.

"That's fine. How much UNSC Currency would this mean cost?" Killinger said.

The waiter brought out a small device, checked something. Killinger assumed it was a currency list and conversions.

"Just two, sir." The waiter pulled out.

Killinger put ten of the credits on the trey. "Eight are yours. Sorry if it's low, I really don't know the currency conversions." Killinger said.

"That's fine, sir." The waiter said. "Have a nice day, sir." He added, and turned to serve another customer.

[admiral]

Fleet Admiral David Vardy

As Tom prepared to dock at a station, David noticed his console blinking, demanding his attention.

**UNSC TRANSMISSION, SOURCE: UNSC ARIZONA, ADMIRAL KLIX COMMANDING**

START MESSAGE:

"Vardy. Dock at Docking Station Romeo. Klix out."

END TRANSMISSION

Smiling to himself, David looked up at Tom. "New orders, take us to Docking Station Romeo. Apparently he wants to posture us to boost morale."

Nodding, Tom input the new course. Just then, Lambert popped up on Holotank 1 and looked over Mr. Paris's console. "That course is off by .02 degrees." Lambert sniffed.

"It'll do fine. Go back to your crystal until needed." David snapped, in no mood for the AI's snotty attitude.

Blinking, Lambert complied with what looked like a sneer, but then dissapeared.

Rolling his eyes, David looked at Tom. "Ignore him. continue on your course."

Nodding, Tom continued to the docking station, approaching on the opposite side of where the UNSC Arizona sat.

Looking at the ship, David couldn't suppress a feeling of pride.

"Docking complete Admiral." Tom reported.

"Good work! Ok everyone, I want a complete system report. Cross reference with the AI if you must. Shut down the reactors, don't need to waste energy if we don't need to." David ordered.

Looking at his PDA, David quickly composed a message to Admiral Klix.

"Admiral, docking complete. Meet on the station?"

[Deleted]

Vice Admiral Klix

The Admiral had just finished painting the wing tips of the first pelican in the red color as a demonstration for the crew. With automated things, it wasn't very hard anymore. "All right, it should only take fifty people to actually paint everything. I'll help you guys out with ten pelicans." The Admiral said.

He dismissed the small crew and climbed on the second pelican, brought over the small floating device and set it on the wingtip. He pushed the greenish button on the top of the device and watched it rotate around the wing tip, painting it red.

His PDA in his pocket shook, so he pulled it out. It was Vardy.

"Admiral, docking complete. Meet on the station?" The message replied.

He typed in his response, but this time activated the voice part.

"Vardy, good to hear your cruiser docked. I had a problem, ONI booted a few damaged ships to free us up some room. Can you see if you can do anything about that? Get them a fresh repair, maybe even a complete refit." The Admiral spoke, the soft buzzing of the machine painting the wing tips.

"I'll be on the station in about twenty minutes. Just painting my pelicans. I want the Covenant to know who the hell they are dealing with when this bad boys show up. Pelican wing tips are red also I'm going to paint our Scorpion tracks red as well." The Admiral said in a more serious voice.

The recent defeat made him wished the Cruiser was actually built, but the UNSC was already on the retreat by the time the two Arizona Class Cruisers got to the Reach. They were built behind MARS in the SOL System.

As soon as they were ready to slip-space, they did. However they didn't put the slip-space reactors until the ship was 100% complete.