Mythic 6

The serene blue that cascaded from the evening sky had long turned black, alien suns pockmarking the expanse. Every now and then, a lone ghost or banshee would hum by, a single light that ran across the field, running on some errand or scouting mission for a superior.

Viper had retreated back to his room. The barracks, crudely speaking, was built out of necessity, most of it being the acquired Forerunner space, with some UNSC-grade amenities to compensate. The Captain had placed some electronic pads scattered on a wall, a slideshow of memories long gone. In one screenshot, a younger, more enthusiastic Viper smiled with another soldier and an Elite. He glanced at that picture for a while.

He sighed, deactivating the electronic ornaments. Before, he occasionally opened them as a reminder of what he did, of who he met, of why he existed. Now, however, those memories only brought pain to Viper, a distant stab of times regretted.

Viper left his room. As he walked down a hallway, noises from his subordinate soldiers could be heard. Eagle, taking a misstep in his often unkempt room, was heard crashing to the floor, followed by several muffled yet loud expletives. Long-winded chatting was heart from Crackshot’s room, undoubtedly speaking with a friend of hers (‘How does she get bars here?’ wondered Viper). Cheerful tunes of a song of a few years past emanated from Aura’s room. Not a sound came out of Bertha’s abode.

Kai had decided to settle in the room located at the end of the long hallway. The outer walls were barren compared to those of the other soldiers, an indication of very recent inhabitance. Viper stopped as he reached the door. He took a deep breath, and walked in.

The Admiral placed the holopad on the floor. Corey hummed to life before him, bathing the room with a slight blue glow.

“Sir?” Corey said. “According to the limited satellite imagery, it is quite dark out now. Shouldn’t you be resting?”

“In a moment.” Kai responded. He removed his left gauntlet, revealing a pale skin below. There was a dark blue bruise on the back of the hand, but he ignored it. “Status report: how are the armor modifications coming along?”

“Modification process is currently at 40%.” Corey stated.

Kai watched his hand as a tiny spark leapt between his fingers. “This is taking too long… I have long recovered from the side effects of the change. My armor must match it, otherwise I am no more obsolete than I was before.”

“Sir,” Corey interrupted, “why did you decide to come here, of all places? Surely, you are more vulnerable in the front lines than if you were to stay behind and wait for the suit to fully develop.”

Kai replaced his gauntlet, staring at his armored hand before looking up. “It would be suspicious if I was to go on shore leave. Especially because I am an ONI agent.”

“But sir,” Corey continued, “why here, of all places? Why go to an alien installation with very little intel and a significant number of enemies?”

“My choice is my own.” Kai replied flatly. “Go on recon while I rest.” Corey disappeared from the holopad, leaving the room barren once more. Kai picked up the pad and put it away.

Moments later, the door opened. Viper stood on the other end.

“Come in, Captain.” Kai greeted.

Viper looked around. It only took a second, though, as there was literally nothing on the floor, nor on the walls, nor on the ceiling. Kai stood in the middle of it, looking back at Viper, as if expecting him.

“You were never one to be decorative, were you?” Viper quipped.

Kai grinned, his mandibles flexing. “Functionality over aestheticism.”

Viper walked into the barren room, the door hissing closed behind him. Kai walked to the back wall and leaned on it.

“So,” Kai started, “what brings you here?”

“I should be asking you the same question, Chaos.” Viper replied.

Kai smiled again at the statement as he took out the holopad, twirled it in his hand, tossing in the air several times. “What made you tick?”

“There are only so many skilled swordsmen in the galaxy.” Viper explained. “Less if you consider that he’s an explosives expert. And fewer still of people with your sense of… creativity. The only two I could think of was you or the elite, and he wasn’t particularly known for having a bright sense of humor.”

Kai grunted, satisfied with the explanation, catching the holopad as it fell back into his palm. A short pause ensued until Viper said, “So, why did you come?”

Kai put away the holopad. “Like I said, it was an inspection. And it seems that you’re not living up to standards.” He pushed off his leaning position and stared at Viper faceplate-to-eye-sockets, arms crossed. Viper averted his eyes and turned away.

“You’ve gotten rusty.” Kai said. “Weak. You used to last hours, even days in sparring practices. Now it looks like it’s down to minutes.” He gave Viper a slight shove, of which Viper took offense to.

“I have not gotten weaker.” Viper retorted, annoyed. He instinctively reached for his swords, but as he tapped the hilts, reconsidered, and his hands dropped from them.

“You havn’t gotten less stubborn since the last we’ve met, either.” Kai stated. He walked to the door, which hummed open to his presence, and strode down the hallway. Viper followed at a short distance.

“You have the capacity to do much more than what was exhibited today.” Kai continued. “And the ability to do much more, for you and your team. So why havn’t you?”

Viper sighed. “It’s a long story. I doubt that you of all people would have the capacity to sit through it all.”

Kai smirked. “Perhaps not. At least, not today.”

The pair walked into the cool night breeze. A lone banshee screeched in the distance, hitting an air pocket and tumbling, then fighting the turbulence, before returning to its journey.

Suddenly, Viper thought of something. “By the way, how did you get here? There was nothing on com chatter that identified any ship inbound today.”

Kai grinned. “Prowler.” he stated, gesturing to a spot a few hundred meters to the left of where they stood. There was an indiscernible nothing, until a gentle gust passed the area, and a silhouette of a sizable ship manifested for an instant, before disappearing into the night sky. Its position hugged the cliff, under the overhang, making it nearly invisible to scouting air forces.

“Huh. Never noticed.” Viper noted.

“Covie active camo tech is gettin’ better these days.” Kai responded. He turned to the Captain. “Alright. Go back to the barracks and get your sleep. You don’t want scouting forces to catch you with you pants down, do you?”

“And what are you going to do, sir?”

“Eh,” Kai shrugged. “I’m going to get some equipment from my ship.”

“Yes, sir.” Viper turned around and slowly walked to the barracks. Kai headed for the ship.

He sighed. “Times have certainly changed.”

The field was awash in red as the dawn sun yawned its way upward. Four soldiers were situated near the outpost and the training facility. Three stood alert, their weapons holstered or slung behind their shoulders, while the fourth sat on a rocky outcrop, his head drooping as he sleepily kept himself upright by leaning on his sniper rifle.

Crackshot slapped the sniper rifle aside, causing it, and Eagle, to clatter to the floor. “Can’t you stay awake for five minutes?” She spat, irritated.

“Yes, mommy…” Eagle drooled, as he picked himself up. “I mean, yea, what’s that supposed to mean?” He shook his head and yawned, before sitting back on the rock.

Bertha said nothing; Aura tossed a plasma pistol listlessly in the air.

“Who do you think this Kai guy is?” Aura suddenly inquired.

“Who knows.” Crackshot responded.

“Maybe he’s a ninja, sent to spy on us from UNSC,” Eagle suggested.

That quip was rewarded with a strike by Bertha. “Who isn’t a ninja sent by UNSC in your eyes?”

Eagle regained his composure. “Well, someone’s eventually got to be one, right?”

Aura stepped forward. “You do realize that ninjas havn’t officially been a unit in the military since the second millennium?”

“How would you know?” Eagle retorted. “How do you know they’re not invisible, working covert ops as we speak?”

“Because we already have those units.” Bertha replied. “We call them ONI agents.”

As the four continued to bicker, Viper neared them, shotgun slung behind his shoulders. The subordinates ceased their chatter as they saw their approaching captain.

“Hey, Viper,” Eagle said, “do we got a mission or anything today?”

“Maybe,” Viper responded, “we’ll do some recon in the ravine down south; I heard that the brutes found some Forerunner artifact there or something. We might be able to do a raid, gather a few resources, and if there is some artifact, take it as well.”

“Sweet.” Aura stated with anticipation, holstering her pistol back in place.

“What about the Admiral?” Crackshot asked.

“He’ll be joining us for this mission.”

“A frontline admiral?” Bertha said. “That’s not something you see everyday.”

“You don’t see an admiral land at your front door everyday, either.” Viper pointed out.

“Then today must be your lucky day,” Kai shouted as he closed near them. His brute shot was ominously slung behind him.

“Lucky for whom?” Viper objected.

“That’s a matter of opinion.” Kai replied. “After all, I’m only adding more firepower to your arsenal, as a person and with my own weapons.” Kai looked at each of the soldiers and shrugged.

“What could possibly go wrong?”