Halo: Sparta

Reassignment

The Masterchief stalked the halls, accompanied by two Spartan-Iv's. Originally in handcuffs, he easily broke them on accident. He was aboard the UNSC Infinity and escorted to Captain Tom Laskey's office. "Leave us." Spoke to the Captain. With a salute from bot Spartans, he and the Chief were left with silence. "You know why you're here, right?" Chief looked to the floor. "Alleged desertion." He answered. Tom stood from his chair and chuckled. "Chief. You defied direct orders and went AWOL." He corrected. John looked at the Captain and adjusted his posture. "With all due respect, Cortana would've killed any others who were sent to stop her."

"But she didn't kill Fireteam Osiris."

"Because I was there."

Tom pinched the bridge of his nose, tired from work and stressed. Spartans are very stubborn. The more experience they get, the more confident they get and more often than not, they're correct. "You are very lucky that ONI pardoned you. They saw the human aspect of you and are offering a deal." He informed. John perked. Tom took up a file and scanned it over. "Retire to Earth. Remote, private and safe." He recited. John growled silently at the thought of retirement. "Or," Tom flipped a page, much to the interest of the Spartan. "Stay in active service. You'll be under my direct command alone. And there is a bonus. While on deployment, you have full command of all Spartan IV's with the UNSC Marine rank of Commander with Sarah Palmer as your Lieutenant. Furthermore, you get to hand choose your own Fireteam." Offered the Captain. Chief state quiet, trying to deduce the tradeoff. "There is something you aren't telling me. This is too good to be true."

Lasky shrugged and sat back in his chair. "Nope. It's that good." John hummed softly. "Do I get to train them?" He asked. "Train? Chief, they're capable." Lasky commented. "Permission to speak freely," Chief requested.

"Granted."

"The Spartan-iv's are a disappointment. They may have the augmentation, the skill, the training, but they lack the indoctrination. Even the Spartan-iii program did better by raising their recruits as I was raised. I want to teach these Spartans what it means to be a true warrior of humanity." John's rant opened the eyes of Lasky. John was feeling something. He was expressing his emotions. He was becoming, slowly, more human. "No."

"Excuse me?"

"I know what you'll do to them. You're going to take their humanity. Intentionally, or not. You can have them run drills but that is it. Am I clear, soldier?" Lasky wanted to hear it from the Spartan's mouth. With a salute, John agreed. "Sir, yes sir."

"Good. Send the request form to your team. ONI is limiting you to Spartan-IV's for PR reasons but I can't squeeze it a Spartan-iii if you like. You have 2 days."

The next day- Sarah Palmer

Sarah awoke in a cold sweat in her quarters. Being the commander of an entire Spartan Division has its perks. Wearing a sports bra, tank top over it and camo print cargo pants, she was somewhat ready to start her day. She stretched and got out of her bed and then went to drink her coffee, poured by one of Roland's subroutines. "Morning, Roland." She purred, consuming the warmth of her beverage.

A hard light construct of the aviator appeared. He had a coy posture. "Hey," He dragged. "Morning, Palmer. How was your sleep?" He asked nervously. "Roland. You and I both know the answer to that. What has you so on edge?"

"So um... Y'know how the Master Chief is on the Infinity now?" He queried. "Yeah?" She answered with a bit of annoyance. "Well yeah... He kinda... Took your job."

Immediately she coughed and spat out her liquid concoction of beans and boiled water. Roland nervously chuckled and waited for, "What!?"

"As of now, you're being demoted to Lieutenant Commander and being reassigned to a Fireteam." He further informed. "When was that decided!?" She shouted with betrayal laced in her voice, knowing Lasky made the decision. "Yesterday."

"Roland."

"Yes ma'am?"

"Get out."

"Excuse-"

"GET OUT OF MY ROOM! NOW!"

The AI disappeared into the ship's wiring as Sarah collapse against her bed frame, clutching her head. "I worked so hard to get that rank. This is unacceptable." She muttered. Finishing her coffee, she stripped herself naked and took a warm, soothing shower. Despite its properties, she was too distracted to enjoy it. Finishing her bathe, she dressed in her body glove and exited her quarters, immediately making her way for the bridge.

When she arrived, she eyed Lasky. He made eye contact and immediately ushered her over to his office. "Why didn't you tell me about this?" She asked. "I did. I sent Roland, didn't I?" He clarified rhetorically. She furrowed her eyebrows. "Did ONI put you up to this? To undermine me? Or to empower him? Which is it?"

"Bold of you to assume that I didn't make the decision on my own."

"So ONI didn't make you do this!?"

"Now I didn't say that now did I?"

She grew tired of his games, sending her hand down to his desk. "Why him? You could've easily made him a Lieutenant Commander. Why did I get demoted, Laskey!?" Shouted the Spartan. "You're getting out of line. Remember who calls the shots around here. The Master Chief has a lot more experience and can benefit the Spartan-IV's program more than others." He explained. "Others? Are you saying I'm inferior?"

"If that's what you want to hear, Palmer." Sarah clenched her teeth and growled. "Tell me about my new team." She demanded. " Fireteam Epsilon. For one, we have Gabriel Thorne, formerly from Majestic. Then Edward Buck from Osiris and lastly we got Jun-A266, your trainer from the KIA Noble Team." He assured. "At least I can still lead something."

"Master Chief chose them. And you." He clarified. She was ready to throw a fit but clung onto the few strands of dignity she had remaining. "Anything else, sir?" She strained.

"He wants you in the gym for team orientation at 0900. I'd better hurry. He's not very patient."

Words 1035

Posted 8/29/2021