Matt-038 (Halo Fanfiction)

Chapter 15: Mission is a Go

Author's Note: If you have any tips writing tips, please feel free to comment.

Again, I gratefully accept constructive criticism as a means to help me develop my skills further as a writer.

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Chapter 15: Mission is a Go

Location: UNSC Red Horse, en route to Epsilon Eridani System, planet Earth

August 3, 2537

0600 hours

Matt snapped his eyes open and looked around the room. He was lying on his bed onboard the ONI Prowler. Strangely, he didn't have a nightmare last night. He had been onboard the prowler for 4 days now, and he was getting restless. He wanted to get the mission started, but it would take about a week to reach Earth and then he would see his old mentor again for the first time in 18 years. He had been ecstatic to learn he had heard that Jack had selected him for a mission. He always enjoyed being around Jack because he was a friendly man.

Matt sat up and swung his legs to the floor. He reached over to the table by his bed and grabbed on to the table until he was resting on top of it. After he had pressed his finger to the biometric, the pad turned on and immediately looked at the details of the mission he had already looked at many times before.

Vladimir Zemo was born on June 7, 2494, on Earth. In particular, he was born in Voi, Africa. He had a normal childhood growing up, but after he completed school, he joined the insurgents in the fight against the United Earth Government. After a few years, he left the insurgents and became a black market arms dealer. According to intelligence reports, the city of Mombasa, Africa was being used as a trading point for Zemo to trade gold and spent uranium rods that he had somehow acquired to give to the insurgents, in exchange for weapons and nuclear materials. The city of Mombasa had a nuclear accident 10 years ago. It was caused by the nuclear power plant there, exploded, and radiation leaked out into the air. The event was called the Mombasa Disaster or more simply, Mombasa. Now after 10 years, the place was a ghost town. There were still pockets of radiation all of over the area around Mombasa. The least likely place for a spent uranium rod and gold exchange to take place.

Matt supposed to rendezvous with Jack at space station Cairo above Earth, grab his equipment, make final mission checks, and then head to down to the city of Mombasa by pelican to start the mission. Once on the ground, they would make their way to the abandoned Hotel Polissya, go to the top floor, wait and eliminate Zemo when he came for the meeting, which was only three days away.

Matt turned the pad off, got up and stretched. After dressing, he walked down the long and narrow corridors to the mess hall on board the ship to get some breakfast. After piling his plate scrambled eggs, bacon, sausage, and toast he found an empty table near the back of the room, sat down and began eating. As he was eating, Matt kept thinking about what Jack would look like after 18 years. He was pretty sure he'd age quite a bit and look older now. No matter how old Jack was, Matt would always be happy to see him.

After finishing his food and putting his dirty tray in a bin, he headed to the gym to workout. He began with some simple arm curls, push-ups, and curl-ups. He then walked over to a punching bag and suspended it from the ceiling by a chain. He got into a fighting stance and began punching the bag. After about an hour, he stopped, grabbed the towel he had brought with him on the floor, and wiped the sweat from his face.

He walked back to his room and laid down on his bed and fell asleep for a few hours. When he woke, he saw that the time read 1400 hours. He heard a tapping on his door. He got up, made sure he was presentable and said, "Come in."