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Part 14: Family
Location: classified, forty eight hours after the destruction of UNSC naval base on planet Reach.
The shuttle sat in silence, mimicking its crew as it drifted in the darkness. The endless vacuum seemed welcoming with its pin pricks of light in countless formations, swirling nebulas off in the distance, Scott 079 and the remaining marines and stood watch through the view port of the cockpit. Less than a day ago Scott had struggled with the one ONI tech they had rescued to remove his heavily damaged Mjolnir armor, his wounds were field dressed and most of his body felt as though the dull embers of fire lodged in his muscles were cooling.
Kyoko Yu sat behind the helm looking out at the night sky, she didn't know the first thing about flying ships, but she was there anyways, and refused to go into stasis until she knew exactly what was going on. Scott couldn't refuse her; she had the same persuasive logic as her father that manipulated him so. She had stopped sobbing and her bleary hazel eyes were scanning the infinite night for any sign of hope of rescue or direction that the others knew they couldn't possibly find in this empty space.
"We're between systems, and god knows where we are, no planets in sight." Corporal Simmons young voice reminded them of their quandary. "So what the hell are we going to do? We don't have any food or water on board, just our rations, we need a plan."
"We know we need a plan Corporal," responded Hector in his strange slow drawl, "but we don't have many options without a damn navcom or an AI."
"We have a navcom," reminded Jorge sullenly from the back of the cockpit, looking at the tall Spartan in his ill-fitting fatigues they had scrounged off of Private Durley's corpse when he had succumb to the wounds from their escape. The trousers were long enough for the tall broad shouldered soldier, but the shirt barely fit him and remained open, the tattered holes from needler barbs let all company present see the patchwork of scars that dotted the Spartan's torso. But strangely, and what reviled Jorge most of all was the face of Scott 079, pristine in its pale porcelain skin, lacking any sign of age or weathering, he looked like a perfect twenty three year old with piercing cold blue eyes and close cropped black hair. How had this fraud of a hero gone so far with out even one reminder of his cowardice? "We just don't have any data for it."
Engineering Officer First Class Jorge Whitman was correct, the navcom in the A36 was operational, but had been purged of any relevant information for human colonies and their locations. Protocol had dictated a massive wipe of all the ships docked on or around Reach to prevent the location of Earth from being ferreted out by the Covenant. Jorge was angry though, brooding in his silent fury, although he was alive the memory of his wife, left alone on Reach to die like all the other civilians, ebbed at his conscience. The Spartan had come to save one girl, and took them all with them, but Jorge knew why he had come. ONI corruption had saved the little bitch from burning like his Helen, her father had used his rank to order a Spartan to get her off planet. In his mind the logic of the argument conflicted with his emotions, he knew he was wrong to blame anyone but the Covenant, but his mind reached for answers. An hour ago he had been sobbing in the cold bay, hidden away from the Marines.
"There's one place we can go," Scott said flatly, his mind thinking back to the events of the past two weeks, it stopped in analysis of the report Adrian Yu had given him, the background about his birth, his past, and his family. A star location was in that report and he had memorized the coordinates as he had with every other aspect of the words. And around that star was a research station codenamed Kappa, just Kappa. "But we need to know if it still exists, we'll need to check the identification chips of everyone on board."
"Why the hell would we need to do that?" Jorge replied caustically.
"We need to find ONI First Division personnel, someone high up." Scott answered him without notice of the engineer's disdain.
"We're not going to find any 079," Jorge continued, "even if we had brought a spook on board, they're not going to have it listed in their manifest, we'd need a damn AI to sort through all the encryption to figure out if they're sleepers."
"Jorge's right Scott," Simmons cut in seeing the Spartan turn his cold gaze on the engineer, "besides, we cant deactivate the cold rooms now, our oxygen supply wouldn't stand the extra mouths."
"Then we have to use the coordinates without verification." Scott answered walking to the navigation console.
"Coordinates? What coordinates?" Private Homer asked, a strange gleam of hope in his wrecked hard voice.
"Research station Kappa, ONI Section Three." Scott said typing in the commands to the computer from memory.
"Are you suggesting we make another blind jump?" Jorge was irate, and feeling a sense of panic. "The coils will take another forty eight hours to recharge after that and we only have thirty six hours left of oxygen." "It's not a blind jump Jorge, pull your panties out of a twist," Simmons was feeling the pressure of leadership, the only binding force in the cockpit. He could tell the Spartan was tired and frustrated, the lack of emotion he showed was a clear sign as far as Simmons could tell, blocking out everything, ignoring everyone. "If a Spartan knows there's a goddamn ONI station, I say we jump."
"I'm with the Corporal," Homer acknowledged.
"Good God, are you serious? How can you blindly follow him?" Jorge stood now, shouting as he could, barely able to control himself. "How many of us have died because of him?"
"Seventeen," Scott replied looking back at the engineer, "five marines, twelve
civilians. Four from plasma fire, three from a strafing run, one from a grenade misfire, and nine from needler barbs from one squad of grunts. All dead within five hours of our making the jump, all died from internal bleeding."
"Seventeen out of one hundred and fifty is pretty impressive still," Homer said with a shrug of rationalization. "I think he's right, if he could get us off Reach he probably had a plan, and a destination."
"No... I didn't..." Scott responded.
"You're fucking kidding me." Simmons said in shock.
"My only goal was to secure Kyoko and get her off planet, away from the Covenant." Scott answered him, looking the young Corporal in the eyes. Simmons had a shock of blonde hair stained red with his own blood, grey eyes and grey skin from the plasma burns he had suffered. His left arm was in a sling with hefty bandages and tissue boosters on it, not long ago he had been moaning in pain and filled with bio-foam. Simmons had been Scott's first successful field surgery, done in the modest medical bay of the shuttle.
"Your only goal... you never though about more than getting off of Reach? Didn't you realize you'd have to go somewhere afterwards?" Homer was almost laughing as he said the words, "I thought you Spartans were supposed to be the best of the best."
"My mission was from Rear Admiral Adrian Yu, he never specified where I take her, she's safe and alive." Scott said folding his arms over his massive chest.
"For now," interrupted Jorge.
"Fuck it. This is getting us nowhere Jorge, Paul." Simmons sat down at the other control stick with frustration. "Just make the damn jump, if there's nothing there just fly us into the goddamn star."
"Keep calm Corporal," Scott said finally breaking his monotone, "we're all going
Home alive, I promise you."
"You promise us? What happened to your parameters you fucking robot?" Jorge said bitterly.
"New mission," Scott responded with a wince of pain in his ruined shoulder, "we're going to Kappa, and then to Earth. There's enough dead heroes on Reach."
"Sounds good to me Corporal," Homer chided, "man I've never been to Earth before."
Kyoko sat silently looking at the night sky while the others argued; in her pocket was the data module for her personal Botany AI named Gaia. She had pulled her from the network when the word came about the data sweep, and a second level AI such as hers would automatically be completely deleted to prevent data incursion. Kyoko's life's work was in Gaia, and the friendly AI had been her research partner all those years working with her team on building a sustainable ecosystem for Reach. The planet she loved so much had been so resistant to Earth bacteria and vegetation, it had taken years of work to terraform it, and still her team worked to ensure that the terraforming process would not undo itself.
Kyoko was just one of many scientists on that world, working to sustain the Navy's favored training grounds, and indeed the home of the Spartan IIs. Kyoko sat in quiet reflection as the men bitterly argued, and the Engineer furiously berated the man who had saved her, the pale faced soldier who she had given that disc to for her father. Scott 079, she didn't know how to address him, did he have a rank, did he like his first name, was there even a last name to call him by? Kyoko didn't even think the Spartan knew half of what they were talking about.
"Sounds good corporal," the younger private had said, and Jorge started a new tirade she ignored. The Spartan left the cockpit with Simmons and Jorge stormed off on his own. Only Private Homer remained with her, he was a rugged faced dirty marine with coppery skin and hazel eyes, his dark sandy hair was short to his scalp and matched his wiry thin visage.
Kyoko looked at him through his reflection in the view screen, his transparent image blown up on the starry night looking like a God surveying his creation. Her head hurt then as he spoke to her, "Dr. Yu? Everything alright?"
"We're going to Kappa," Yu replied to him, "Tell the others to get ready for a jump."
Private Homer smiled at Kyoko as she turned her pretty doll like face at him; she was but slightly older than him, but her youth and vitality shown brightly in her. Her eyes looked to the navigation computer. "Doctor's orders?" he asked as she stepped over to the console.
"Doctor's orders," Kyoko looked at the screen not knowing what would activate the slip drive. "Please tell Scott to come back in here, I'll need his help with this."
"Yes ma'am," Homer replied walking back towards the cockpit hatch, "after all, he is the only one of us who knows how to fly this damn thing." He finished with a chuckle. The marines were in good spirits Kyoko thought, the Spartan did that to them, he had lead them away from oblivion and helped them protect nearly one hundred thirty six civilians and non-combat personnel. But the Spartan didn't realize that, didn't realize his affect, the hope he gave them when he strode into that bunker after killing the hunters who were readying for their slaughter. Everyone had looked at him in awe, and she in shock, in terror from all that she had witnessed. But now she was safe, and warm, in on a ship away from the Aliens, away from the pain. All because of him, and he didn't know it.
It seemed like ages she stared at the blinking holo-screens waiting for Scott to return, when he did his bandage was fresh and his eyes were bloodshot, signs of a struggle. He had been redressing his own wounds, she could tell. His hands were scarred and had a slight crimson tint to them, but his face, from the neck up was so pale and white. He addressed her.
"You wanted to see me Dr. Yu?" Scott said to her, and instantly memories of Dr. Halsey came to his mind, and the hours spent waiting for her analysis of him, and the discipline of the squad leaders. Kyoko was better than that though, and now without the din of battle his cursed mind was over analyzing everything about her again. He almost wished they were still in danger, so he could take control and block out everything else.
"I don't know how to activate the jump drive," she replied to him simply, looking at him with a strange cavalcade of emotions hiding in her eyes. "I'd like you to activate it, and pilot us into the system where Kappa station is."
"I can't do that Dr. Yu," Scott replied flatly, "Corporal Simmons has rank here, and he is currently arguing with Engineer Whitman." Instantly his mind went back to the torturous debate his mind had gone through on the Pillar of Autumn before descending to Reach. Can't or won't help her? His orders had been to protect the silos with the others and yet he disobeyed them to come to her rescue, those were his interpretation of Adrian Yu's orders, his gift to the man who gave him his past. But still it bothered him, did he was a past, why wasn't he more like John 117, why not like Colin, or Errol, or the others. Why did this bother him at night, but never on the battlefield?
"Scott," Kyoko looked at him intensely, "not for me, not for my father, for them." She looked to the rear hatch, where the cold bays were. "You have your orders; you were ordered to save me but took them with us, that changes everything."
"I can't put them in jeopardy anymore, if the Covenant found Reach there's a strong chance they found Kappa Station on their way to Reach." Scott sighed, Jorge had a point, he had but more than a hundred civilians in the line of fire, and twelve of them had died. The nightmare mission he had been designed for was never like this, in his mind his life had always been that of the tool of the Navy, and it was so easy to feel a cacophony of contradictory emotions about the life they had forced him into. But in reality, he had his own responsibility to look to. He had their lives in his hands.
Kyoko's hand rested on his, "Please Scott." Another Yu was asking him to break his orders, to break protocol, to betray what he had been created for. For her he dropped a thousand meters in the air, slew an army, and escaped the burning plasma hell that Reach was inevitably to become. For her father he had been prepared to kill the Covenant hierarchy, let his brothers and sisters become cannon fodder and betray their mission, all for one fatal blow to the great alien enemy of mankind. Rear Admiral Yu had never supplied him with an escape from that assassination, Scott had known this, but he had never expected to survive. And now he had survived, he had betrayed, and he had let his brothers and sisters die.
"There has to be something good out of all of this," Scott felt a decision made in his heart. His hands moved on the control panel and activated the slip drive. He didn't understand what he had done, he knew they were on their way, but inside something was changing, hardening. He had accepted what he was.
On ONI Section Three Research and Decryption Station Kappa third watch gunner Lieutenant Allen Sahid watched his radar console. At his command was the anti missile cannons and the minor MAC cannon system that accelerated the surrounding asteroid field into a weapon against incoming ships. The weapon was ingenious, albeit not as accurate or as easy to wield as a standard MAC gun system. Allen was tired from his long shift and drank lazily from his cup of tea as his mocha colored hands adjusted the controls. "I can't do that Dr. Yu," Scott replied flatly, "Corporal Simmons has rank here, and he is currently arguing with Engineer Whitman." Instantly his mind went back to the torturous debate his mind had gone through on the Pillar of Autumn before descending to Reach. Can't or won't help her? His orders had been to protect the silos with the others and yet he disobeyed them to come to her rescue, those were his interpretation of Adrian Yu's orders, his gift to the man who gave him his past. But still it bothered him, did he was a past, why wasn't he more like John 117, why not like Colin, or Errol, or the others. Why did this bother him at night, but never on the battlefield?
"Scott," Kyoko looked at him intensely, "not for me, not for my father, for them." She looked to the rear hatch, where the cold bays were. "You have your orders; you were ordered to save me but took them with us, that changes everything."
"I can't put them in jeopardy anymore, if the Covenant found Reach there's a strong chance they found Kappa Station on their way to Reach." Scott sighed, Jorge had a point, he had but more than a hundred civilians in the line of fire, and twelve of them had died. The nightmare mission he had been designed for was never like this, in his mind his life had always been that of the tool of the Navy, and it was so easy to feel a cacophony of contradictory emotions about the life they had forced him into. But in reality, he had his own responsibility to look to. He had their lives in his hands.
Kyoko's hand rested on his, "Please Scott." Another Yu was asking him to break his orders, to break protocol, to betray what he had been created for. For her he dropped a thousand meters in the air, slew an army, and escaped the burning plasma hell that Reach was inevitably to become. For her father he had been prepared to kill the Covenant hierarchy, let his brothers and sisters become cannon fodder and betray their mission, all for one fatal blow to the great alien enemy of mankind. Rear Admiral Yu had never supplied him with an escape from that assassination, Scott had known this, but he had never expected to survive. And now he had survived, he had betrayed, and he had let his brothers and sisters die.
"There has to be something good out of all of this," Scott felt a decision made in his heart. His hands moved on the control panel and activated the slip drive. He didn't understand what he had done, he knew they were on their way, but inside something was changing, hardening. He had accepted what he was.
On ONI Section Three Research and Decryption Station Kappa third watch gunner Lieutenant Allen Sahid watched his radar console. At his command was the anti missile cannons and the minor MAC cannon system that accelerated the surrounding asteroid field into a weapon against incoming ships. The weapon was ingenious, albeit not as accurate or as easy to wield as a standard MAC gun system. Allen was tired from his long shift and drank lazily from his cup of tea as his mocha colored hands adjusted the controls.
Suddenly Allen saw the fluctuation, tell tale signs of an incoming system jump. On his holo-screen projection was a three dimensional map of the system and the asteroid belt that concealed Kappa station and its minor manufacturing facilities, and in the bottom south west of the projection was the slow building ripple of space distortion that signaled an incoming jump. His hazel eyes widened and he immediately went to the communications relay channel "command this is gunner position bravo, we have inbound fluctuation, putting weapons on hot stand by."
The command station responded "roger that position Bravo, all essential personnel to your posts. Radar ops, give us a look."
"It's a human ship that's for sure sir," the channel crackled with a female voice, Allen knew to keep the weapons ready though, Covenant had used human ships before for infiltration. This knowledge was provided to him from his post and his appointment to Section Three. "It's entering real space now sir! We'll have an ID in moments!"
Satellites floating in system relayed to Allen images of the white shuttle that had just entered real space with a flash of white energy. The Shuttle was broadcasting A36 Identification, and the readout declared it was the personal ship of Colonel John Abrams, ONI section three tactical analysis pool. Within an instant the communication channel with command went dead and Allen was locked out of his console.
The only message being relayed was "All hands, prepare to receive wounded." Rear Admiral Drake's own voice issued the order. Allen wasn't surprised by this, Abrams was always sent on sensitive assignments to catalog covenant activities and technology. This was all day to day operations for Kappa Station and its crew.
Allen knew Drake; he served with him on the bridge of the station. The man was older, nearly sixty seven now if Allen remembered right. Tall and lean with a slight paleness to his skin tone and cold blue eyes. His hair was black on top somewhat, but with faded grey beneath it, and a graying goatee around his mouth. He had a bearing of a somewhat menacing figure, as if all he cared for ONI and its work, the man opened up to no one and nothing save for his personal AI Demetria that operated in his private office. ONI high ranking personnel always had their little privileges; an AI to do busy work was no surprise. The man was married; it was rumored, with a wife back on Earth.
On his tactical relay screen Allen watched as the ship was escorted in by long sword fighters, Colonel Abrams never got this kind of escort before. And then the voice said what no human in the service of the UNSC had ever imagined they would hear, "attention all personnel, Reach has fallen, all non essential personnel to docking platform A and prepare to receive wounded."
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