ARES:Gods of War

Ice Encounters

Chief almost couldn't believe his eyes.

Though she was covered in a few layers of clothing and another thicker layer of snow, the silver-haired woman staring at him with a Magnum pistol in one hand and a heating lamp in the other was, in fact, Doctor Catherine Elizabeth Halsey. Sliding her pistol into its custom leather holster, Halsey pushed her glasses onto the bridge of her nose and watched the data dance on the Heads-Up Display. His IFF tag played across the screen, alongside diagnostics, data and information about his health.

Minor chill that the armor was already countering, the gel layer's enhanced heat resistance boosting the Spartan's metabolically-induced heating immediately. All else save for two things seemed in order:The structural integrity of the man's armor, which Halsey could easily put on the mend with the right tools... And his heart rate. Though she knew his trusty companion was in the armor, helping tend to everything, she also knew Cortana could not conceal a genuine emotional response out of the Chief.

And an emotional response worthy of a Spartan, he gave. With his index and middle finger, the Spartan drew a half-circle with the concave part pointing upward on his face plate. The standard Spartan Smile, Halsey recalled. She returned it in kind, though hers was less a sign language and more a genuine, if imperceptibly small shift of her lips curvature into one such smile.

She was about to speak again, before another Spartan popped out of the ice just in front of the two companions that had guarded her in the cold North. It took a second for her glasses to register the new contact, but when his tag appeared, too, the woman's breath stopped. Her heart had almost stopped with it, her mouth agape. A warm breath escaped her mouth, forming a cloud of steam ahead.

She blinked, then heard Cortana tell her with a most jovial tone, "Hey Doc. Yes, that's Sam... And we have a few more survivors you'll be glad to meet..."

Halsey seemed to take a moment to process it. Though Samuel was by no means a fresh loss, the throbbing pain that had stabbed at what she thought was a cold, long-numbed heart came back in full swing. The First. The First to have befriended John, the First to have proven himself human amidst her children, the First to have died. Sam noticed her, too, from between her guards, then offered a Spartan smile as well.

Halsey took another deep, shaky breath, then nodded and smiled at him, too. She looked to John and told him, "Certainly took you two long enough... Three, if Sam is to be counted," her demeanor immediately turning back to the stern, usually calm Doctor Halsey both Spartans knew. The two women with her, one looking middle-aged, fairly fit and beautiful, with blonde hair and clad in white clothes, turned to her. The good doc told her, "It is fine... Your Highness... They're my friends."

'Her Highness'? Chief, Cortana and Sam shared a glance, before Sam showed everyone to pause. He dived back into the snow, much to the surprise of both the Nikkes, one of which was way too pink to not stand out, only to crawl out of the snow again, hefting a man in a brown winter coat, as well as his cap. Alyosha began to cough hoarsely, his face scarlet due to the chill, then said, "Thanks, Sam..." through the coughs.

Halsey blinked, then snorted, "I take it that is the Commander sent here, eh?"

"Ma'am," Chief replied as he and Sam waded out of the snow with the man. The two noticed the blonde and her pink jumpsuit-wearing, pinkish-haired companion. The latter was smaller in stature, but a bit more developed than the former. He nodded to them, then checked the Records Cortana had given him just prior to Mission Start and asked, "You must be Unlimited."

"That we are," The blonde nodded approvingly, quirking a brow at him, "Someone did their homework. Truly worthy of a knight."

"Knight?" Chief and Sam both blinked.