The grass and dirt field of home base served as a comforting respite to the bitter cold and dank labyrinth, especially for Eagle. No sooner had the team been reconstituted and their feet hit the ground not too far from the training grounds, did Eagle drop to the floor, remove his helmet and kiss the earth beneath him.
Crackshot kicked him in the gut, causing him to groan and double over, clutching his stomach. “You kiss dirt like you kiss ass,” she spat. “Lousy.”
Eagle leered at her angrily before rising. He recklessly swung his sniper rifle at Crackshot, but missed as she simply ducked his hasty rebuke.
Viper detached himself from Bertha, limping slowly toward the garage.
“Everyone dismissed.” The captain grunted. “If anyone needs me, I’ll be at the infirmary.”
Eagle shrugged carelessly, and headed for the barracks. Crackshot and Aura went into the garage and dropped their acquired loot on the floor, inspecting their conditions. Bertha followed after Viper, though paused when she walked past Aura as she passed some needle ammunition to Crackshot.
“Hey Aura, can I borrow the drop shield for a sec?” Bertha asked.
“Sure.” Aura returned. She unlatched a thin piece of her armor that housed the mechanism, and tossed it over to Bertha.
“Thanks.” Bertha said. She continued on toward the infirmary.
Kai, who hadn’t moved since being transported, spotted a distant banshee hovering past. The sensors in his armor indicated that it was a friendly. He took an unusual solace to the lone flier, and sighed, shaking his head, before heading down to the barracks.
The admiral strode at a fairly brisk pace as he headed for his room, and had caught up to Bertha as she approached the medical office. As he passed her, he abruptly stopped and turned to face her.
“Lieutenant… Bertha, was it?” He asked.
She removed her battered grenadier helmet. “Yes, sir.” She replied. Her calculating eyes seemed wary of Kai; nothing could be discerned beyond the eye socket visor, nor his calm stance.
“May I have the Forerunner artifact?” He asked.
Bertha was taken aback; he was an admiral, and she was a noncom many ranks lower, yet he politely questioned her for the relic with an unusual informality. Hesitant, or perhaps confused by his approach, she asked, “why?”
“Well, for one thing, you’re heading for the infirmary.” He noted, thumbing the doorway mere meters away. “Surely you’re not going to heal wounds with lethal doses of radiation.
“Second, most of your friends don’t seem to be very interested in the artifact. With Captain Viper in bandages, I would like to take the liberty to do some basic research and study it, and will report back to him as soon as I can.”
Bertha, completely baffled by Kai’s subordinate-like behavior, stood silent. After a suitably sufficient pause, unable to anticipate Kai’s intentions, she grabbed the stone, and handed it to Kai.
“Much obliged.” Kai thanked, and continued walking down the barracks. Bertha leered at the admiral as he walked down the path, before turning into the infirmary.
The room that the admiral had established himself in slowly became occupied with tables and electronics and miscellaneous gadgets and doodads. In the absence of the team when they stormed the Forerunner structure, Kai had asked Corey to create a dedicated subroutine to usher his equipment into the new quarters. Now that Kai had returned, some of the materials he asked for have been placed in the room, though certain areas still looked distinctly devoid.
Kai strolled toward one sturdy-looking table and placed the retrieved artifact on it. The stone dimly pulsed with radiating energy.
“What do you make of it, Corey?” Kai asked.
“It seems to be one of the energy sources that sustains Halo.” Corey responded. He blinked onto a holopad that sat at a corner of the table.
“Do you think we could do something with it? Perhaps harness its power?” Kai questioned. He picked up the artifact and placed it in a metal box, and jammed the lid back onto the box. A dull thump reverberated in the container, causing it to tremble slightly.
“But first,” Kai continued, “how do we deal with the occasional bursts of energy?” He put the box aside, and carelessly threw weapons to a clear section of the room. He retrieved a second holopad; a keyboard appeared from it, as well as various data banks and information, and he began to vigorously type.
“It would be difficult to harness its powers given the random bursts of neutrinos.” Corey contemplated. “The inconsistency could damage the delicate software we incorporate with it. I suggest further research of the artifact.”
“Noted.” Kai reluctantly grunted. “At least I’ve still got my four fusion reactors.”
As he continued to input this information into the holopad, the door suddenly opened, revealing a damaged but patched-up Viper. Dried blood still stained his armor, though gauze and biofoam sealed what bleeding wounds existed. His eyes no longer had the struggling gaze of a disabled soldier, but instead held the stoic glare of a commanding officer. A pistol was holstered at his waist.
The admiral did not turn to greet him. “So, what brings you here again?” Kai asked.
“What did you do?” Viper demanded.
“What do you mean?” Kai responded. The tap tap tap of the keyboard filled the room.
Viper impatiently shoved the holopad off of the table; it landed on the floor with a resounding clack.
“The cave. My sword. What. Did. You. Do.” Viper repeated firmly. His armored hand hovered dangerously close to the gun.
A pause ensued, until Kai stood from his interrupted work, and faced the captain.
“That’s not for you to know yet.” Kai stated. “In fact, I’m not yet confident of the ability myself. You’ll learn when the time comes.”
Viper quickly grabbed the pistol and jammed it into Kai’s helmeted, skeletal chin. The admiral did not seem to flinch at the lunge.
“These are my subordinates, my soldiers, my teammates that are fighting out there.” Viper affirmed. “I will not have anyone, whether you’re Kai or Chaos or admiral or Covenant or Flood, jeopardize their safety with scientific uncertainties and bullshit.” He pressed the gun further into Kai’s chin.
“Put the gun down.” Kai ordered. “Both of us know that the shot will not wound me, let alone kill me.”
But the captain did not falter. “We both understand that scientific advancements have their risks.” Kai continued. “To ensure the safety of some, something else must be risked, possibly sacrificed. It is not an ungodly ritual, but simply the nature of science itself.
“However, if you insist, I can assure you that neither you nor your colleagues will be harmed by my experiments. You are fortunate that it is in my nature to work in isolated environments. But, should it become necessary, I may utilize my findings in combat. Needless to say, do not be alarmed should such a circumstance occur.”
His words did little to ease Viper’s wariness, but they were enough to make him lower the pistol. Kai moved to pick up the fallen holopad and gave it a tap, restarting the screen in front of him. He took his seat again and began typing anew.
“You’ve certainly grown attached to this team of yours.” Kai noted. “Even in our squad, you always seemed to be focused on the objective over us.”
“That’s because I lead this team.” Viper growled. “Whether or not you’re my superior, these are my people. They follow me, not some ONI agent that fell out of the sky.”
“Fair enough.” Kai stated.
A tense silence passed, only punctuated again by the tap tap tap of the keyboard. Viper did not move from his position, a worrisome frown scrawled across his face.
Then, Kai, satisfied with his report, turned to Viper. “You should head back to the infirmary.” He suggested. “Halo is a very dangerous place, and it would be very unfortunate for a leader to be caught with his pants down.”
Viper did not respond to the quip, but turned and left the room. The doors hissed smoothly behind him.
Kai sighed, and shook his head. ‘Even after all these years, you havn’t changed a bit. A pity, ultimately…’