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Halo 5

Deviation Actions

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John stood alongside his teammates, not really sure what to expect. The other Spartans seemed to be at ease, but he couldn’t help but feel like he was missing something that they already knew. The only thing he was sure of was that the message that had directed them here was conveyed by a hologram of a black figure with red eyes. Now Blue Team was onboard a Sangheili ship, waiting in a chamber that consisted only of a round holo-tank in the center of the room. Linda and Kelly were calm and still, though John noted that Fred was absently flexing his hands as he stared at the door. John was about to open a private COM channel and ask for an explanation from Kelly when a door on the wall slid open. The Sangheili that stood in the entrance was familiar, but at the same time different.

"Arbiter," John greeted the golden-armored Sangheili. The Arbiter’s current armor wasn’t quite what John recalled him wearing when he’d last seen him on the Ark, but it was hard to mistake the ornate plating for anything else. John had been briefed on Thel Vadam’s activities and position as leader of the Sangheili after the end of the war (if you could even call it an end), but he hadn't thought he’d get the chance to meet with the alien again. Though perhaps he really shouldn't have been surprised, as this was the Arbiter's home planet. "I didn't expect to see you."

"I had heard you were back, Spartan, though it is good to have that information confirmed." The Arbiter took a step closer to John and his mandibles twitched slightly before he held out his hand. John took it and shook it firmly. "It is good to see you my friend, though now is not the best time." He then stepped back and looked over the Spartans. "Unless you have been sent as backup."

"I sure as hell hope not." John looked back to the open door where a woman in black MJOLNIR armor stood, helmet tucked between her arm and hip. She had short blond hair, and her armor was scratched and the black paint was severely worn away in several places. Her ice-blue eyes were traveling between John and his team, and she appeared displeased. "They'll only get in our way." Her gaze stopped on John and she looked him over. "Glad to see you thawed out. Hope you didn't lose any toes, Boy Scout."

"I had ten the last time I counted," John responded; not quite sure who the Spartan was, or what was their rank. "...And you are?"

"Depends on what capacity you're asking," the woman replied.

"This is Shadow Demon," the Arbiter cut in to answer John’s question. "She is one of my Commanders leading the assault on Sunaion."

"I didn't know there were any Spartans stationed on Sangheilos," John admitted. He still didn't recognize this Spartan, but judging from her height and armor she must have been a Spartan-II. However she didn't act like any Spartan-II that he could think of; her attitude reminding him more of the Spartan-IVs he’d more recently encountered.

"That's because there aren't any," the woman said before she looked to Linda with a smirk. "I bet they've been driving you nuts." She nodded her head at John and then at Kelly as she spoke.

"They've been touching and holding hands almost constantly. They've got no shame," Linda responded with a light tone, giving away the smile that lie behind her helmet.

"Holding hands, in public? I didn't know they were so adventurous," the blond woman joked with a slight laugh. "He's stepping off of home; be careful or he might make the walk to first base."

"He's been back for over a year," Kelly interjected. "He's rounded home several times."

John understood the baseball analogy well enough to get what they were really saying, but he still couldn’t help but feel a little uncomfortable about Kelly openly referencing certain private aspects of their relationship. He was just thankful that the Arbiter didn't seem to have any idea what they were talking about.

"Must be nice having your mate on the same ship as you,” the woman continued. “Mine has his own ship," she then turned to look at Fred and scowled at him, "and he still doesn't come to visit."

John saw Fred shrink away slightly from the woman's anger, but there was still defiance in his stance. "We've been busy, and you've been busy," Fred defended. "It's not like I’ve tried to avoid you."

"Sure thing," the woman responded, clearly not accepting his reasoning. "It's fine, if you don't want my company I've got another man that does."

Fred clenched his hands for a fraction of a second before he turned to John. "John, you remember Kathleen, don't you?" he said as he gestured toward the woman.

John did remember the violent female Spartan from their training days, and how she had been close to Fred. He also remembered seeing her name on the list of casualties from the augmentations so many years ago. "You're dead," was all John could think to say.

"No I'm not," Kathleen replied bluntly. "Now that we've got that out of the way, how about we talk about why you're here messing up my op."

"Our intentions aren’t to interfere with anything,” John tried to assure her. "There's a Forerunner artifact located near the base you’re assaulting, and we need to get to it. We can accompany you during the initial attack, assist as needed, and as soon as we have our objective secured we'll get out of your way."

"Do you even know what this thing looks like? What is it?" Kathleen asked.

John didn't know what to say or how much he should really tell her. He only remembered some things about Kathleen from when they were young, but not enough to be sure she would keep any sensitive information to herself. He looked to Fred, knowing that the other man knew Kathleen best and would be able to make the right call.
 
"It's called a Guardian," Fred began, clearly considering each word carefully. "It's Forerunner, and as soon as we can get to it it's going to take us somewhere else...somewhere that we won’t be disrupting your operation." Kathleen didn't respond. She just stared at him, waiting for more. "That's all I can tell you. Please trust me, Kat."

John new right away that Fred had made a misstep as Kathleen suddenly became furious. "I told you not to call me that. Ever," Kathleen scolded. "I'd hit you, but today's you're lucky day as I'm saving my energy for ripping Telcam's skull out of his head and beating him to death with it."

There was a deep laugh that sounded from nearby and John turned his attention to the Sangheili who was joining them from out of the same doorway which Kathleen had entered. He wore ornate black and blue armor, and his bottom two mandibles were missing. "Your threats, Love, are always entertainingly violent - though physically impossible."

"Like I care about physics," Kathleen muttered angrily. John furrowed his brow as he watched her, something about her words were off. "So what do you want, Salad Tongs?" It was then that John realized that the voice in his ear was artificial, a digitally produced copy coming from his helmet’s translation software, and that the moments of her mouth didn't match what he was hearing. This was the first time he'd actually seen another Spartan speak the Sangheili language.

"We’re commencing the last of our preparations, and the orders to our squads need to be finalized," the Sangheili answered. "The Supreme Commanders would also like to speak with you, Arbiter."

The Arbiter nodded and turned to Kathleen. "I leave this to you, Shadow Demon, as you know your fellows better. You can report your decision to me once you have made it."

"Yes, Kaidon," Kathleen answered in the Sangheili tongue as she put her fist against her chest and bowed slightly. The Arbiter inclined his head and moved out of the room, leaving Kathleen and the other strange Sangheili behind. "So how about you give me a good reason to let you potentially risk ruining years of my hard work?"

John was considering just how he was going explain the situation, but Fred spoke up first. "It's better if we don’t tell you," he said.

"What, is it because you're AWOL?" Kathleen asked, setting her hands on her hips. She raised an eyebrow at Fred; waiting for his response. When it became clear however that he wasn't going to say anything more she shook her head slightly. "You really think I care about you being here without permission? I only need to know that I'm not throwing away my big chance to put an end to the Covenant."

"We're four Spartan-IIs that have gone off the grid, Kathleen. They're going to send people after us, and I don't want you to have to lie or rat us out in order to protect the peace between humans and Sangheili,” Fred reasoned.
 
Kathleen sighed, and glanced at the Sangheili next to her for a second before she looked back to the Spartans. "Five years..." Kathleen began, her voice low and serious. "Five years I've been working toward this day. Each Keep, every ally of these bastards, and every priest that pops up trying to rally the remaining Covenant. I've spent the last five years trying to finally end the war the UNSC turned their back on because they thought they could leave it all up to the Arbiter. You keep that in mind, and realize that if you mess this up for me the people the UNSC sends for you will only find your bodies among those of my enemies. And you three," Kathleen pointed at Linda, Kelly, and John. "You better bring Fred back alive, because I'm not finishing the fight you left behind and then not getting laid."
 
"Isn't that why you have Half-Face?" Kelly asked, motioning to the Sangheili.
 
"Dawn already called dibs, and I don't share," Kathleen responded with an amused smirk on her lips. "Just don't get in my way, and don't kill the wrong Sangheili."
 
"We'll try our hardest," John assured her. "Why don't you come with us? We could always use another Spartan."
 
"That would be great - if I was still a Spartan," Kathleen said. "I'm sure whatever you're doing is important. I mean, for the four of you to brush off the UNSC it has to be. But this is important too. Besides, I don't belong in combat with you guys. You four are meant to fight together, but I haven’t been one of you for a long time now."
 
"We'll try to reach to the Guardian as quickly as we can." Fred took a partial step toward her and seemed to want to say more, but then thought better of it.
 
The Sangheili then leaned down a bit closer to Kathleen. "If you're done, My Angel, we need to be sure the Shadows are ready."
 
Kathleen nodded and took a deep breath. "Make sure you're ready to move when we start the assault, and take a Phantom so you don't stand out. This victory needs to be fully credited to the Arbiter, so I don't want to give anyone a reason to think the UNSC was significantly involved here."
 
"Yes, ma'am," John responded. Kathleen let out a chuckle before she nodded and turned, her Sangheili companion following behind her, leaving the room and the Spartans alone. Blue Team stood in silence for a moment before John looked to the others. "Let's get moving, Spartans. We've got a big task ahead of us."
A piece based off of what we currently know about Halo 5. I don't own anything from Halo. Please read and comment.

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That was great