Halo: Front Lines [BOOK ONE]

Chapter Nine - R & R

UNSC Military Headquarters Colony: Reach,
Epsilon Eridani System,
0545 Hours October 15th, 2526 (Military Calendar)

Six Months Later...

Joseph Gray awoke with a start as his cryopod opened with a hiss. He'd been asleep for months aboard the Prowler that Anthony had orignally arrived on at the start of the Battle for Harvest. He fell to his knees stark naked, as wearing any clothing while being flash frozen often times led to serious rashes upon being thawed out, and abruptly choked up the fluids he was ordered to drink before being frozen.

"Jesus that taste never gets better..." He coughed, stomaching a gag and wiping his forearm across his mouth. There wasn't a rush about the vessel, so that meant they'd made it to their destination without incident. To his left and right, Brown and Alissa fell from their cryopods in a similar fashion. However, when Sarah emerged from her icy slumber she was still clad head to toe in her mjolnir Spartan armor.

"You...you good lass?" Brown asked the soldier in between coughs and sputters.

"Affirmative." She replied without giving any further context or emotion. When she saw that Brown required more she added: "Pain can be ignored. The mission always comes first."

"One thing they seem to have forgotten to teach you in your training," Brown said as he rose from his knees and began to clothe himself. "Is that people aren't expendable."

Sarah began to speak, but Brown wasn't having any of it. Before she could give her rebuttal, he pointed a finger at her faceplate and added: "You're no exception, and when this is all said and done you're going home to your parents. I'll make bloody well sure of it."

The young girl behind the visor winced. She always told herself that home was the belly of a frigate, or amongst the chaos of a battlefield, but Sarah knew deep down that she'd been wronged. She also knew that she was born for the life she was living. Her entire existence was based around ensuring the safety of humanity, and who better to carry the burden than her? She certainly didn't trust anyone else. However, instead of arguing with a superior officer she replied: "Yes sir, understood."

"Everybody get dressed," Anthony said as he entered the cryo-bay. He was already wearing his unmarked naval fatigues, a sure sign to everyone around him that steering clear as he approaches would add years to their life. "We're about to hit the dirt. I want Sarah with me for the debriefing at ONI HQ.

"As for everyone else," The typically deathly serious and stoic Agent couldn't help but give a smile. "Enjoy your time off, but be ready for anything."

That was all Gray needed to hear. He'd been waiting for this day ever since he left home over a year ago. No doubt his parents had already been notified of his impending arrival and would already be waiting at the spaceport when he landed. All he could think about was home and all the comforts waiting for him in civilian life. He was finally safe, finally away from the chaos and hell that was enveloping the outer colonies. Reach would never fall, no matter what advantages the Covenant had.

Within minutes, everyone was dressed and headed to the various sections of the Prowler. While some of his cohorts decided to go to the lounge, and others decided to raid the mess area for nourishment, Gray ran straight for the bridge's observation deck.

Home never looked so beautiful.

He could barely contain his childish excitement, and hardly dared to try. With its vast oceans and massive supercontinent, Reach was symbolic of all that Humanity could achieve in its effort to spread amongst the stars. If the Covenant were to ever stumble across Humanity's crown jewel, they'd probably think that it was their sworn adversaries' home world...right before they were disintegrated by the dozens of Super MAC orbital platforms and countless state-of-the-art naval vessels that constantly patrolled the entire solar system.