I walked down the hallway confidently, boots thumping on the metal floors, heading towards the pelican bay. I holstered my gun in my thigh holster and made sure my knives were firmly in theirs. I approached the entrance to the vehicle bay and walked up the vast ramp into the hangar.

There were pelicans and small ships everywhere, including frigates, smaller ships about 150+ meters long. A pelican flew in and touched down as I took in my surroundings. The hatch opened and soldiers walked out. A lot of the spots were vacant due to search parties and recon to make sure we were safe. The word going around was that Master Chief had gone AWOL(Absent Without Official Leave) and gone on a mission to save the planet from the Didact. So far, the Didact was trying to get the composer back, a gigantic weapon that turned humans into the Prometheans we fought often now and that could do it again to the humans on Earth. Rumors were that he already had it and was coming to earth to finish what he had started before the Halo rings had fired.

I didn't want to leave with that threat on Earth, but I had my orders and I had to leave for my mission. By the time I got there either all life on the inner colonies would be gone or the Didact would be defeated, so it was even more terrifying to leave but I had to trust Master Chief and the UNSC. Unfortunately Del' Rio wouldn't let anyone help him after Cortana had an outburst of rage, which is a sign of rampancy and usually dictates deactivation, and Chief defended her, but officially the reason was because the Infinity was still vulnerable. I could only hope Master Chief succeeded.

I spotted my frigate being prepped a few crafts down. I quickly walked over, putting my helmet back on from when I took it off earlier in the hall. I saw a Spartan with standard MJOLNIR Mark VI armor enter the door of the small frigate and I followed. Allowing my eyes to adjust to the lack of light, I looked down the hallway, seeing the Spartan just as they disappeared further down on a door to the left. I hurried after them and turned the corner, just in time to see him turn again farther into the ship.

I followed and walked into a cryo-room, where all of the cryo-tubes were held. There were a few Spartans in different armor talking around each other as mechanics checked the pods. They stopped talking as I stepped in the room and turned to look at me, there were about 14 guys dotted around the room, about 5 in the group talking, and 8 women.

I slowed my pace slightly but kept walking towards a pod that said my name.

"Hey," a female voice called.

I stopped, waited a second and turned around as someone approached me. It was a woman with black hair cut short. She stood about 6'9 and was significantly taller than me.

"This is the last one." She called back to the group. A guy nodded and walked off to were I presume the main deck was a give the pilots the all-clear. "So, you're a Spartan?" She asked incredulously, her face showing a bit of disbelief.

"Not exactly." I admitted.

"How so?"

"Well I haven't gotten the augmentations yet, but apparently I'm strong enough to handle the armor after they modified it a bit." She looked me up and down and seemed to believe me, but was still suspicious. "Just keep up and don't make us pull your weight. You got that?" I nodded. "Affirmative." She nodded and said, "Why don't you join us? And drop the formality for once, we have to be a team after all." I nodded at this and walked after her as she turned and joined the group. She paused and asked, "What's your name?" I looked at her, surprised that she cared about my designation beyond the number on my armor. "Kyle." She smiled, "I'm Shelby." she said and walked to the group. I followed.

Helmets and foreign faces turned my way as I walked over, all looking down at me due to the height difference, except for two exceptionally short Spartans who were my height. I came to a halt and waved a little with my right hand, not trusting my voice with all of the superior Spartans judging me.

They immediately started talking, no longer paying attention to me. "Turns out that our target is a lot more classified than we thought." Said a tall Mexican Spartan who happened to not be wearing a helmet. "We aren't allowed to know the location of it, not even the planet coordinates that it's on. Apparently the coordinates will be broadcast to us using a closed and secured network with the highest security measures, and on top of that, in code."

A woman with a dark blue and green armor spoke up and started talking about the planet, but as she did so, the ship rumbled and slowly moved, probably lifting off. The floor shook a bit as it did so. I looked around a little and widened my stance a bit to stay upright, trying to hide my worry. I looked at the other Spartans and they didn't even seem phased. The conversation hadn't paused for a moment. There was a bit of a pull as the frigate took off, which lessened as it reached its target speed. I shrugged it off and rejoined the conversation.

"...eams of 3 or 4. We should be fine with having small groups help different parts of the planet, and apparently one team has already been decided as there is some specific mission they have." A few Spartans nodded and the Spartan who had left came jogging back in. "They're almost ready for slip-space, and according to some new intel the trip will take a year." He said.

The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.

"Let's go then." The Mexican said, who I could now tell was a commander, and the Spartans immediately dispersed to their pods. I walked towards mine and seeing the others getting in, stepped into mine. Subconsciously I raised my hand to knock and smiled. The knock never came. My smile faded. Oh, right, he isn't here. I lowered my hand. Knock knock. I looked up, surprised, and saw Shelby's black hair disappear from view as I quickly knocked back. The pods started to close and I laid back, smiling. Maybe I'll like it with them after all. I closed my eyes and slept.

________________________

Steele's POV

I walked into my room, closed the door, and sat down. I put my head in my hands, I don't know what I was feeling. Regret? No. Disappointment? ...Possibly. Did Silas not trust me? No, he knows he can trust me. I didn't really feel anything, just acceptance, and a weird sense of obligation to do what was needed. I guess that's my way of telling myself that it was either me or them. I heard footsteps outside my door.

That must be my new escort. I opened the door and looked out... and then up. It was a Spartan, and he was about 4 inches taller than me and didn't acknowledge me when I opened the door, but he knew I was there because his head had turned slightly. He was standing next to the door, facing away to guard me essentially. I drew my head back in and sat down again. I had expected a Spartan, no one else would have been able to keep contentions against me at bay.

The sound of approaching boots once again appeared.

Another escort? I looked out again and saw a lower class soldier walking towards my room. He stopped in front of my door and was about to speak before the Spartan at my door held a hand out to stop him. "State your business." A voice with a slight ...Irish... accent said, coming from the Spartan. "I'm here to bring Spartan 118 to his armor and deliver a message." The soldier said calmly, looking directly at me.

I returned the look until he broke eye contact to look at the Spartan who had brought his hand down. "You may bring him to his armor, but you have to remain within arm's distance at all times." The Spartan replied. The soldier looked at me and chuckled lightly before gesturing for me to come.

I squeezed out the doorway past the Spartan and walked behind the soldier. We walked slowly, and after a minute the soldier stumbled, leaning off balance. I quickly went closer to keep him from falling and he grabbed onto me. He pulled me closer for half a second and softly said in my ear. "Silas wants you in the docking bay ready to leave for Atrius in an hour." And quickly pulled away, pretending to be relieved. "Thanks, almost fell back there." He said, smiling at me, and started walking again.

The Spartan did not seem to have heard the message but watched us closely after that.

I walked after him and we quickly arrived at a private armory. He slid a card and walked in. I followed and the Spartan tried to follow as well but a scientist said, "You will have to wait here." And closed the door before the Spartan could say a word.

He gave me an under-suit for my armor. I quickly stepped into it and made sure it fit. The scientist checked me and nodded.

He gestured me to step on a platform, the only difference between it and regular platforms being that it was a full circle and the mechanized arms hung straight from a circle in the ceiling. I stepped on and put my arms straight out and my feet apart. I stepped into my shoes, clipping them in. They put on my armor pieces, taking care to be precise. I finally watched a scientist get on a stool, holding my slick black helmet with small Grey bits on it. I bent my head down low as he reached up to put my helmet on. It clicked and I looked up, my eyes adjusting to the digital display. The visor allowed me to see all but the very edges of my peripheral vision.

"Any pains, trouble seeing, or dizziness?" the scientist asked me through his white shield mask. I flexed my arms and looked at my new armor. "No." The scientist wrote something on his pad and the other scientists examined me, lifting up each arm and looking at different things. I stood there and let them look over me until they finished.

"Ok, you can go." The scientists said as he put down my arm and wrote a few things on his pad.

I stepped off the platform, noticing a long curving holographic desk. A memory flickered at the edge of my mind. Have I seen that before? For a second the room flickered to a white one that was empty with nothing floating above it, a littler me standing at the desk. I gasped and it flickered back.

"Something wrong?" The scientist asked me. "No, I... I thought I saw someone." I said and walked towards the man who had guided me here, the scientist shrugging and writing more things on his tablet.

That was weird. I stopped outside the door as it closed and searched my memory for it but I was losing it. A boy......at a table? No,...a desk. Was it me? I don't know. The fragments were slipping away. ...a desk?... It's gone. No use in trying to remember it now.

I shook my head, the weight of the helmet surprisingly light. I looked at my newly gloved hand and my armor. My knife was in a sheath at my right thigh, camouflaged and part of the armor. There was another knife sheath over my left shoulder, this one much shorter but tough. I had to get to the pelican bay. It has almost been an hour putting on my armor and being examined so I had to hurry. The guy from earlier made sure I had exited a different door than I had entered so I could shake my spartan escort for Silas's request.

I had no personal belongings and my clothes were the ship's anyway so I went directly to the hangar. I sped up into a military fast march, getting used to my new armor. I arrived at the pelican bay and looked for Silas. There! A few pelicans down to my left.

I hurried over and saluted. "You wanted me?" I said. He nodded, "Yes, I asked you here because the doctors say you are fully recovered, you can return to Atrius. I agree that it is time for you to go back. It will also avoid further contentions with the ODSTs aboard this ship. It's better if we do this discreetly for everyone's sake."

I nodded and stepped onto the ramp, sitting on one of the side seats and strapping myself into the slanted seat and pulling my gun that they had already attached to my armor off my back to lay it down next to me. Silas boarded and sat across from me. "All clear." He yelled up to the pilot. The pilot put up a thumbs up and the back hatch started closing.

Goodbye ship. I thought as the hatch covered my view.

The pelican shook slightly as it took off and Silas strapped in. Pretty soon we were off towards Atrius. Silas immediately pulled out a tablet and started doing something on it. I settled back into my seat and looked out the small window in the back. See you soon team.