Gregor Canyon, Onyx ? 24 October 2552
?What do you mean you don?t want to kill anyone?? Spartan Yates stared at Lyra dubiously; sure that she was pulling his leg. The female Spartan on his right shrugged once or twice, unable to see the incredulous expression lingering on Yates?s face behind his helmet. Continuing to move forward, she dropped her form lower, concealing all five foot eleven?six foot five in her armoring?of her frame behind the rock formation. For the time being, her focus remained on the HUD, scanning through readouts and reevaluating their plan of attack.
?This ain't really the time for that sorta discussion, but if ya must know?I just ain't too keen on the idea. It gives me the willies and I just don?t wanna do it.? She finally spoke, without turning to look his direction. Gesturing the pair forward, she peeked around the ledge to pinpoint their target.
?Please be careful, Kyle.? Yates muttered with a shake of his head. ?If they hear that, they?re going to mark you as defective and boot you from the program. You?ll spend the rest of your time doing grunt work?or worst?end up with a desk job.? He shuddered as if it were a fate worse than death. For a Spartan, it really was. To go through the whole process only to be relegated to normal people work was a slap in the face. It mattered not to her.
?Ambrose is taking care o? it?he?s trying?? Lyra trailed off as a warning message flashed across her display. An accompanying Ding Ding Ding rang in both ears and idly she wondered if Yates was getting the same thing.
///Receiving priority distress warning
///Sender: Spartan-051
///IMMEDIATE EVASIVE ACTION RECOMMENDED
Her gaze swept side to side, looking for the source of the threat before coming back to eye him. Yates said nothing though and she realized it was a message for her eyes only and she took the hint with a heavy sigh.
?Everything alright, Kyle?? Yates asked curiously, his full attention foolishly on his partner. Before they knew it, they were ambushed by the opposing team and in a hail of rubber bullets the two Spartans found themselves on their backs, looking up at their attackers. That hardly went like it was supposed to. With a click and kshh, the taller one of the pair standing over top of them removed his helmet. Stuffing it under his arm, the grinning Spartan nudged Lyra with an armored foot teasingly.
?Gotcha.? Spartan Redding drawled down to her. Pointing down at her, he bent his thumb down as if firing off a shot at her to go with the wink and thank the heavens she still had her helmet on so he couldn't see the hot swipe of red that crossed her cheeks. Soon he offered her an armored hand which she took almost eagerly. Catching herself, she put on a more begrudging air and once she was back on her feet she jabbed a plated elbow right into his stomach. Not that it did anything of course other than have him taking a single step backwards as his jovial laughter filled the air.
?Not one?a yer better showin?s Kyle, gotta say. Are ya losin? yer touch?? His crooned teasing got her all flustered and with a huff she shook her head and made her way back to camp. He was right, it wasn't one of her better training exercises and she was sure she was going hear about it later. Somewhere behind her Redding and Yates called after her, but heavy bootfalls soon left them in a cloud of dust and Lyra muttered her way back to Currahee. Various messages scrolled across her HUD.
///Gamma Company recommences training exercises @0400
///Team Blackbird v Team Gladius ? Currahee Top Honors Showdown Finals 30-Oct @1200
///Spartan Lyra Sigma242 report to LtC Ambrose stat
///UV Rating for 24-Oct: 6
She almost missed it. Catching the tail end of the message for her, she diverted her path and trudged her way to the Lieutenant Commander?s office. Stopping by the armory on her way, she got out of the MJOLNIR prototype and into standard BDUs before continuing on her way to certain doom she suspected. Met at the door by an incredibly pissed off Commander, she was soon being led away and to the labs.
?What were you thinking?!? He hissed in her ear, fingers latching around her wrist. Lyra cringed and tried to draw away only to find his grip firm.
?I wasn't?? She began to try to explain before she was cut off.
?Exactly. You weren't!? His words came like a slap in the face. He, of all people, was one that she hated upsetting. As he firmly nudged her to sit on the gurney, she did just that and soon laid back. Restraints were strapped around her ankles, then her wrists. A larger band was secured over her chest and finally one to hold her forehead in place. The injections didn't even pinch at this point as she drifted out of consciousness. A routine she had completed many times over the years as Ambrose worked to find some way to make her into the perfect Spartan. Genetics were on her side, now if only there was some augmentation that could change her convictions.
--
Stars End Spaceport, Rhy?Din?6 August
Lyra awoke with a start. Drenched in a cold sweat, she squinted in the darkness, trying to seek out some indication of the time. Rolling out of her bunk, she clumsily caught herself and padded her way toward the Covenant ship?s control room. Slumping into a seat at the helm, she folded her legs underneath her and for a drawn out moment stared at the blank panels.
?Endless Summer, please pull up the report on the Battle of Onyx. Thank you.? She said flatly, any hint of the adopted drawled accent had bled away from her words and all that was left behind was the clear cadence of her broken tone. It took Endless Summer what felt like an extended amount of time to respond before his gruff baritone filled the command room.
?Again? Certainly you must have it memorized by now.? Despite the fact that she had read the report over and over since coming to Rhy?Din, she continued to torture herself with it at least once a week. More often than that when she had trouble sleeping on nights like this. The AI was already pulling up the report, spreading the information across the monitors and for the umpteenth time, she poured over every last detail.
Sentinels that numbered in the trillions.
Voro Nar ?Mantakree and his Covenant forces.
The detonation of FENRIS warheads.
Bloody Arrow.
?Get the hell out of here, Ash!? Ambrose had screamed at her, shoving her through the doorway.
?Damn it, I?m staying to fight!? Lyra had yelled right back.
?Like hell. I made a promise to your mother, I?m keeping it.? He had said as he flashed a solemn grin, smacking the control for the security door. She watched as the heavy steel door began to slide shut, powerless to stop it.
?You?ll die in there!? She had screamed, armored fists pounding against the panel.
?Die? Don?t you know? Spartans never die.? The door shut as if punctuating his words and she had had no choice but to turn and run.
And now she was here. On this God forsaken backwater planet, further from home than she had ever been and wishing to every deity she could think of that she could have gone out with her team. And for another night, she fell back asleep at the control panel, the pictures and case file lingering on the screens above her head until Endless Summer shut it down with a sigh uncharacteristic for the Artificial Intelligence. And she was left with dreams of days past and the fitful sleep that accompanied such things, Ambrose's final words echoing in her head.
?What do you mean you don?t want to kill anyone?? Spartan Yates stared at Lyra dubiously; sure that she was pulling his leg. The female Spartan on his right shrugged once or twice, unable to see the incredulous expression lingering on Yates?s face behind his helmet. Continuing to move forward, she dropped her form lower, concealing all five foot eleven?six foot five in her armoring?of her frame behind the rock formation. For the time being, her focus remained on the HUD, scanning through readouts and reevaluating their plan of attack.
?This ain't really the time for that sorta discussion, but if ya must know?I just ain't too keen on the idea. It gives me the willies and I just don?t wanna do it.? She finally spoke, without turning to look his direction. Gesturing the pair forward, she peeked around the ledge to pinpoint their target.
?Please be careful, Kyle.? Yates muttered with a shake of his head. ?If they hear that, they?re going to mark you as defective and boot you from the program. You?ll spend the rest of your time doing grunt work?or worst?end up with a desk job.? He shuddered as if it were a fate worse than death. For a Spartan, it really was. To go through the whole process only to be relegated to normal people work was a slap in the face. It mattered not to her.
?Ambrose is taking care o? it?he?s trying?? Lyra trailed off as a warning message flashed across her display. An accompanying Ding Ding Ding rang in both ears and idly she wondered if Yates was getting the same thing.
///Receiving priority distress warning
///Sender: Spartan-051
///IMMEDIATE EVASIVE ACTION RECOMMENDED
Her gaze swept side to side, looking for the source of the threat before coming back to eye him. Yates said nothing though and she realized it was a message for her eyes only and she took the hint with a heavy sigh.
?Everything alright, Kyle?? Yates asked curiously, his full attention foolishly on his partner. Before they knew it, they were ambushed by the opposing team and in a hail of rubber bullets the two Spartans found themselves on their backs, looking up at their attackers. That hardly went like it was supposed to. With a click and kshh, the taller one of the pair standing over top of them removed his helmet. Stuffing it under his arm, the grinning Spartan nudged Lyra with an armored foot teasingly.
?Gotcha.? Spartan Redding drawled down to her. Pointing down at her, he bent his thumb down as if firing off a shot at her to go with the wink and thank the heavens she still had her helmet on so he couldn't see the hot swipe of red that crossed her cheeks. Soon he offered her an armored hand which she took almost eagerly. Catching herself, she put on a more begrudging air and once she was back on her feet she jabbed a plated elbow right into his stomach. Not that it did anything of course other than have him taking a single step backwards as his jovial laughter filled the air.
?Not one?a yer better showin?s Kyle, gotta say. Are ya losin? yer touch?? His crooned teasing got her all flustered and with a huff she shook her head and made her way back to camp. He was right, it wasn't one of her better training exercises and she was sure she was going hear about it later. Somewhere behind her Redding and Yates called after her, but heavy bootfalls soon left them in a cloud of dust and Lyra muttered her way back to Currahee. Various messages scrolled across her HUD.
///Gamma Company recommences training exercises @0400
///Team Blackbird v Team Gladius ? Currahee Top Honors Showdown Finals 30-Oct @1200
///Spartan Lyra Sigma242 report to LtC Ambrose stat
///UV Rating for 24-Oct: 6
She almost missed it. Catching the tail end of the message for her, she diverted her path and trudged her way to the Lieutenant Commander?s office. Stopping by the armory on her way, she got out of the MJOLNIR prototype and into standard BDUs before continuing on her way to certain doom she suspected. Met at the door by an incredibly pissed off Commander, she was soon being led away and to the labs.
?What were you thinking?!? He hissed in her ear, fingers latching around her wrist. Lyra cringed and tried to draw away only to find his grip firm.
?I wasn't?? She began to try to explain before she was cut off.
?Exactly. You weren't!? His words came like a slap in the face. He, of all people, was one that she hated upsetting. As he firmly nudged her to sit on the gurney, she did just that and soon laid back. Restraints were strapped around her ankles, then her wrists. A larger band was secured over her chest and finally one to hold her forehead in place. The injections didn't even pinch at this point as she drifted out of consciousness. A routine she had completed many times over the years as Ambrose worked to find some way to make her into the perfect Spartan. Genetics were on her side, now if only there was some augmentation that could change her convictions.
--
Stars End Spaceport, Rhy?Din?6 August
Lyra awoke with a start. Drenched in a cold sweat, she squinted in the darkness, trying to seek out some indication of the time. Rolling out of her bunk, she clumsily caught herself and padded her way toward the Covenant ship?s control room. Slumping into a seat at the helm, she folded her legs underneath her and for a drawn out moment stared at the blank panels.
?Endless Summer, please pull up the report on the Battle of Onyx. Thank you.? She said flatly, any hint of the adopted drawled accent had bled away from her words and all that was left behind was the clear cadence of her broken tone. It took Endless Summer what felt like an extended amount of time to respond before his gruff baritone filled the command room.
?Again? Certainly you must have it memorized by now.? Despite the fact that she had read the report over and over since coming to Rhy?Din, she continued to torture herself with it at least once a week. More often than that when she had trouble sleeping on nights like this. The AI was already pulling up the report, spreading the information across the monitors and for the umpteenth time, she poured over every last detail.
Sentinels that numbered in the trillions.
Voro Nar ?Mantakree and his Covenant forces.
The detonation of FENRIS warheads.
Bloody Arrow.
?Get the hell out of here, Ash!? Ambrose had screamed at her, shoving her through the doorway.
?Damn it, I?m staying to fight!? Lyra had yelled right back.
?Like hell. I made a promise to your mother, I?m keeping it.? He had said as he flashed a solemn grin, smacking the control for the security door. She watched as the heavy steel door began to slide shut, powerless to stop it.
?You?ll die in there!? She had screamed, armored fists pounding against the panel.
?Die? Don?t you know? Spartans never die.? The door shut as if punctuating his words and she had had no choice but to turn and run.
And now she was here. On this God forsaken backwater planet, further from home than she had ever been and wishing to every deity she could think of that she could have gone out with her team. And for another night, she fell back asleep at the control panel, the pictures and case file lingering on the screens above her head until Endless Summer shut it down with a sigh uncharacteristic for the Artificial Intelligence. And she was left with dreams of days past and the fitful sleep that accompanied such things, Ambrose's final words echoing in her head.