Matt-038 (Halo Fanfiction)

Chapter 84: Inquisitors

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 84: Inquisitors

Location: Sol system, M25L Recovery Station

September 15, 2552

0800 hours

Linda awoke in a private recovery room that offered a full view of Earth from the window. She figured she was sedated during the night and moved in here, she was also dressed in a white robe, under which was the underwear she was given yesterday. The door opened and a Marine Private entered carrying a black uniform and he placed it on the bed.

"There's a transport leaving in thirty minutes for HIGHCOM," he said, "you need to be on it".

"Can I see Matt?" she asked.

"Who?"

"Sorry, the Commander," Linda corrected.

"I'm sorry, ma'am, but the orders are to keep you all separated until after the debriefing," the Private said again. "Oh, I almost forgot." He set a small case on to of the uniform and saluted as he left.

Linda crossed over from the window and opened the case, inside was a purple heart and an oak cluster. She took it out and inspected it, this was her third purple heart and her second cluster, the clusters were only awarded when you got a subsequent metal. At the bottom, the box was the accompanying ribbon she would have to pin to her dress uniform.

She made the changes to the uniform the marine dropped off for her and began putting it on. She had finished with the pants and was about to put on the black wool jacket that bore her rank, name, ribbons and the patch of the Spartan program. But she stopped for a minute to inspect it.

Linda had gathered her fair share of ribbons over the years but it was nowhere near as impressive as Matt's. She donned the shirt, went down to the hangar bay and boarded her Pelican to the surface. On the ride, she pondered why she asked the Marine to see Matt instead of the team as a whole. She pushed this thought aside as her Pelican arrived at Sydney.

After going through rigorous screening Linda was admitted to the lobby of one of the briefing rooms and told to wait. The room had a high ceiling with the UNSC seal brazen on it, the floor was marble and there was a comfortable lounge area where she took a seat.

"Nice to see you up," said Sergeant Johnson as he sat next to her.

"I'm doing fine, sir," said Linda.

"They asked some pretty tough questions of the Commander when he was here earlier," said Johnson.

"Matt was here?" Linda asked she realized she did it again.

"Yeah, but he left a few hours ago, they did my debrief, and now I'm just waiting for a friend," said Johnson.

Linda's green eyes gravitated to Johnson's medals, one, in particular, stood out among the rest. It was of a planet with a sword going down the middle, on one side of the sword the planet was a lush green-blue but on the other side, it was burning. This medal was the first contact medal and it was only awarded to veterans of the first battle of Harvest, there were only a handful of people left alive who had it.

"You were at Harvest?" Linda asked.

"I was," said Johnson, "in fact, I was the first marine to meet a Covenant ugly up close."