[IC] Halo: ODST, After the War

[Nallore]

Julie looked around the large underground hangar for a moment, she took notice in two people in particular two sangheili, though one striked some interest was a female sangheili which she has never seen before on the frontlines during the war. From what she knew of sangheili culture all of the women were always back in their homeworld of Sangheilios running things in their Keeps. When the announcement came on to everyone to board the Achilles, Julie followed behind the rest of the crowd as they climbed up the ramp and boarded the ship, having been in many before she felt more at home instead of being on the ground doing nothing since the war was over.

Julie started making her way following the signs that would lead her towards the crew quarters, she looked in a few seeing the same sangheili female and another Spartan in the room and spotted Knight as she remembered saving him back on the Infinity when it was invaded by the Prometheans. Though he seemed to be preoccupied with things Julie headed towards an empty bunk and stood there looking around for a moment seeing her bags were already in. Inside it contained some equipment to remove her armor, but decided to keep it on for now in case they were attacked. When she heard Chase's voice Julie turned and headed to where they were all going to meet.

[WhenBooksFly101]

Rethea was grateful that Knight had agreed to let her bunk with him and the spartan. He was the only humans she had known since arriving, and from their very short acquaintance Rethea was intrigued by his strange personality.
Stepping into the room she saw him lift an energy sword and activate it. At first she was shocked that the human could own such a weapon, then she realized that his doing so was probably against regulations. Clamping her mandibles shut she turned to one of the bunks and decided to leave the topic be.

Laying her eyes on the bed, she tensed and let out a short sigh. It was much smaller than her......her legs would probably lay over the edge.....
Rethea snorted and set her staff against the wall, then shifted past the female Spartan and grabbed the mattress from the bed's frame.

Gathering the blanket and sheets with it, she lugged it to the other end of the room and laid it down to serve as a sleeping mat. That way she could sleep much more comfortably.
Once finished, Rethea glanced to the female Spartan and tilted her head to one side, "What is your name warrior?" She spoke with a respectful tone.

Oddly, Rethea hadn't heard a word from the human, even when she had asked Corporal Knight to bunk with them.....Then she had used odd actions to describe her needs.....

Suddenly, a voice entered the room and Rethea jerked. Turning she saw a man standing at the bunker's door. His eyes were on Knight in a stern gaze and she immediately smirked. Busted.

But when he didn't say another thing on the matter, she frowned and listened to him order every one to gather In the crews quarters. She nodded, the. Turned to Knight and the female Spartan. Knight had mentioned looking for a sparring partner, so she clicked her mandibles, "if you are still seeking someone to spar with when our meeting is over, I would be happy to..."
She then smirked, "I would like to see just how good you are with a sword."

Moving out of the room she headed out of the bunker and followed groups of soldiers towards what she assumed was where they were ordered to meet. While walking she came beside another female Spartan.
Interesting, she didn't think there were this many of the super soldiers; when she had first heard of the Master Cheif she assumed he was the last of his kind.....but now...
She nodded to the human and continued on without a word.

[Apollosarcher]

Knight shut the blade off, he was glad he had a helmet on otherwise they would have seen cherry red face. He was wondering what the Spartans name was as well so he flicked on the IFF system. The name of the mysterious Spartan was Aria, she seemed to be mute. He sister was the same so he grown up knowing sign language. "Hey Rethea, I believe our Spartan friend is mute. Sure I'd be up for a duel later just know my specialty in Tidal wave is vehicle's however I'm also a trained pathfinder commando. What about you Aria?Whats your speciality on the squad? Come on then Aria lets catch up you can show me later, I know sign language. " With that he rushed out the door hiding the blade in his chest plate and clipped his sidearm on. Then he spotted a old friend. "Hey, Julie your here too huh?" He said walking alongside the new Spartan following here to the meeting room.

[datadogie]

Aria was struggling to find a way to reply to Rethea, however she was saved by captain Chase asking that everyone make their way to the crew quarters, suggesting they 'play, meet and greet'. Aria was perfectly up for that, however she would need to find a datapad to write on. Aria was ready to leave, however her evacuation from the room was interrupted by Knight, who successfully identified who she was, and that she was mute. He wondered how he would come across the information that she was mute, however she figured that such a serious condition (of which she should be medically discharged from the UNSC for) was listed on her IFF so people knew why she wouldn't respond on the COM.

A pair of questions quickly got fired after that, and before she could think of a way to reply, Knight had already vacated the room, as well as Rethea. But I don't know sign language. Quickly, she trotted over to her bedside table again, and searched in the drawers. Great! She thought to herself, finding a datapad. She had not used one to write to someone for a long time, however she figured she could remember how to write proper sentences. She quickly took the datapad and began to follow the others.

[Nallore]

Julie turned around to hear Knight's voice again and smiled at him softly and nodded towards him. "Yeah, I just got reassigned here it's good to see you once again after I saved your ass on the Infinity." She said with a laugh and eyed Aria for a moment and gave her fellow Spartan a friendly nod, her eyes quickly went to Rethea again and walked alongside the sanghelli. "I always thought that the females would always run your city states back on Sangehlios. Not being sexist or anything it's good to see your kind doing something we did many years ago." Julie said speaking in sangheli though it was more sloppy then a normal elite would since she did not have four mandibles to talk with.

[Apollosarcher]

"Your forgetting I had just gotten back from my mission on Requiem, I had been awake for 40 something hours and then had to drag myself out my bunk to fight stupid Promethean's. Then again last time we saw each other I was headed for Triage and you were heading down to for the counter strike, of course I got moved back to the front right after I got some morphine in me." He gave Julie the old Spartan greeting she had taught him, the one wear you drag the fingers across your face plate in a smile like way. He caught up to and whispered through his helmet. "I haven't told anyone else yet but the Spartan corp is trying to get me to accept there offer and join up with them. When this is over I'll buy you a drink and we can catch up... And you can fill me in on what the hell happened with Halsey, I heard you Spartans know something about that."

[WhenBooksFly101]

Rethea cocked her head to the side when the new Spartan, who Knight called Julie, spoke to her in the tongue of her people. It was not as clear or defined, but the human was easily understood.
Shaking out of her stupor Rethea smiled kindly, "Whilst the Covenant was still standing, the females of my race were forbidden to fight because the prophets saw them as incompetent."
She chuckled, a deep sound unlike a human female's, "I think they resented the fact that the men in their armies were often distracted by us........males can be males."

Rethea looked down at first Julie, then glanced over her shoulder to see Knight and Aria catching up.
She added quickly before Julie turned her attention to her comrade Knight, "They assigned us to assist in running Sangheilios while the males fought in battle....."

For so many years she had wished to stand by their sides; putting her combat training to good use rather than guarding a temple or political figure. Finally she had that chance......

[Draconis Nevyn]

Remi's head perked up as he heard his new commander's voice sound through the ship's systems, there was even a text version that appeared in the HUD of his helmet, which he had put on at some point during his meal. It had tasted good enough, and while he chewed he was able to run a thorough diagnostic on his armour, and sort through all the new software he had been given, it allowed him easier access to the human systems, and offered him translation software. He understood and spoke the human language but it helped to have it in case a word he didn't understand was used. It was also equipped with a constantly updating Forerunner language and known technology database. Even from a brief cursory glance through he knew that only the surface of the great Forerunners had been touched on.

With a sigh, he rose from the chair, and put his dishes away at the indicated point and closed the files, he could peruse them later, after the briefing. He left the cafeteria and made his way, with the help of an integrated map in his HUD. Remi made his way slowly, trying to weave his way through the people who were milling through the corridor, it was less cramped now though, as most seemed to have found their own destinations or were travelling from one part of the ship to another to deliver news in person, or a part. Whatever the case, they hindered Remi little as his height and build, in addition to his natural commanding presence. He was able to take orders easily enough, so long as they made sense, he was an honourable soul, as were most of his kind. Finally, after a short while, with a few glimpses of others heading the same way as himself, including the female of his race, also a warrior.

He wasn't sexist, he knew some fought just as well as the males but it was still very odd to see one in a warrior's position. Perhaps he would grow used to it, it was a slowly adjusting viewpoint for their race. He raised his hand to the access panel to the Crew quarters and pressed the button, hoping to enter the room. He grinned to himself when the door opened and he stepped inside before taking a seat, awaiting the arrival of the rest of his team. He raised his hands to his helmet and once again removed it from his head, he would respect his commander by not being in full battle gear when he met him. He hoped, though, that the man was competent, else he might have to take command away from him in the heat of battle. Though he hoped battle wouldn't happen, he was hear to research as far as he knew. Though the Storm faction was always a threat.

[WhenBooksFly101]

Rethea stepped steadily along beside Knight, Julie, and Aria. She gazed with curiosity at her surroundings, and frowned when they came to the end of a short hall. A door remained between them and what she assumed to be the Crew's quarters.

As they approached, the door hissed and slid open to reveal a large room. A few soldiers had already arrived, each Rethea studied closely as she moved to one side of the quarters. Some of them would be her team mates.....any of them.....
Suddenly, she caught sight of a male Sangheili in the room, the one she had passed in the halls. He seemed to be patiently awaiting his team.
It also looked as if they were the only Sangheili in the room.

Turning Rethea's gaze fell on one of the chairs in the near corner. It seemed to be a rather uncomfortable thing to sit in, so she decided to stand and lean against the wall.
She hoped that their commanding officer would arrive soon; she was anxious to meet her team.

[Jones Sparrow]

Raymond decided to check on the cockpit before debriefing the new squad he was going to be in command of. The cockpit was full of large screens, buttons, people moving around the area, and the large window. He was then confronted by the Captain of the Achilles, a big chested man with a grizzled look on his face. He was an older man, and definitely gave a radiance of authority. "Captain Chase. I wasn't expecting to have the honor of meeting you. I'm Captain Bryant." The man said, giving a handshake to the ODST. "We were bound to meet eventually, sir. Just wanted to see if everyone was all situated."

"Yessir, we are. We're ready to leave when you guys are. Tell me, captain... Does the thought of going to the edge of our known galaxy with a group of Spartans and Elites seem a bit unsettling to you?" The Captain asked. Raymond had been asking himself that ever since he got the call to come back... Raymond shrugged, giving a smile. "As a part of the UNSC I put that 'unsettling' part of my brain in the backburner. We'll be alright, Captain. It looks like we have a great crew, we got Spartans on board too. It'll be a piece of cake, and we'll all get home after this." Chase said, smiling. He wasn't sure if that was going to be the case, but it was nice to have some sort of hope. They were good at that.

"I gotta run, Captain. If you're ever down in the barracks, look me up. I'm hoping to start Poker Thursdays soon."

As Raymond made his way back to the crew quarters, the more he felt those butterflies in his stomach. Sure he shot a lot of enemies, and jumped out of a lot of ships... But that was a while ago. That was when he didn't have a kid to worry about, and was waiting for him to return in one piece. He never went on a mission that made him in command of Spartans, and Shangheilis that could possibly turn out wrong... They got him back for a reason. He was a hell of a leader. A small legend in the War. He wasn't going to gloat. He wasn't like that. But he will do his best to make sure everyone gets out of here safely.

As he entered the room, he gave a quick glance at everyone that heard his announcement. There was Knight. The confident, cocky ONI agent that seemed to love to talk about his experiences in death. He respected the man for all he went through, but if he thought he was going to be swinging that sword around him anytime he wanted; he was wrong.

The other was the elder, and religious man named Brian Holt. A man known for cheating death more than a handful of times. Many people called him "Preach" or the "Crusader". He's older than most for assault, but that won't stop him from wiping out a lot of enemies. His talent on the squad though will be the medic, which he hoped he wouldn't have to worry about much.

Aria Applecot was a respected soldier back in the war. Another story worth telling back in the day. The famous ODST leader who lost her voice in a fight. The rest he knew about her was filled with black ink, except the part of her Joining the Spartan IV program.

Remi Kusov'ee was the much larger Shangheili male on the team. His records were something Chase couldn't get a hold of, but he does know that he's the forerunner/covenant tech specialist, and one of the few of his species that would agree to this... It also turns out he's fascinated with human technology as well.

Rethea 'Yurume was the other Shangheili that volunteered to join. She was a female, and served in the Honor Guard Ultra, but was soon exiled due to her loyalty to the Arbiter in the war. Like Remi, she seemed to be fascinated with the human ways and culture, just as much as the humans are of them. Her weapon of choice is an energy staff, so close combat is her forte.

The last name caught him off guard. The first time he met Julie she was an Orphan living in Georgia, and the two of them became close friends. Raymond didn't remember much of his younger childhood, but he knew that Julie was someone he fell for, if you could at that age... So when she passed away from a disease a bit later, Raymond didn't take it very easily. It was even worse at the Fall of Reach, where the girl he thought died so many years ago was fighting along side the now older Raymond, escorting civilians off the planet. From that point he didn't really care much for ONI, and had trust issues with some of the decisions the UNSC made. He faked the death of his best friend to inject her with God knows what. She never had a choice on what she wanted to do. So when he read "Spartan II Julie B162" on his roster, he wasn't sure if it was a glitch, a cruel joke, or something else. Now there she was. A walking relic, someone Raymond never forgot. He wondered every now and again that if she did "live", if they would have had anything, if she would have joined the UNSC voluntarily, if she would be someone he trusted... Now She was a jack of all trades in the squad now. He was staring at her in disbelief for a few seconds before snapping out of it.

He gave a little cough before standing in front of them, giving them salutes as they did the same for him. "Ladies and Gentlemen. Welcome Aboard the UNSC Achilles. A ship that's mission is to interfere with Storm Faction attacks on the outskirts of human and covenant colonies. I'm Captain Raymond Chase, the leader of this squad. I read a bit about every one of you, but I don't claim to know you just by that. I'm not going to make you do fifty push ups for mouthing off. I'm not going to be the stereotypical C.O. that has a stick up his ass-- for being strict..." Ray added, looking over at the Shangheili, he didn't know if they knew the term "stick up their ass", and didn't want to concern them. "We're going to be with each other for a while, and you all may have some questions on why exactly we're doing this. To be honest, we're just to play it by ear. Patrol the outskirts, and once we save the day, we get to go back home. I'll do everything in my power to make sure you all get to make it home. I expect you all to do the same for everyone else."

As he talked, he gave an aura of confidence, the more he talked he felt more at ease, even staring down Spartans and Shangheilis. "Take off is in a few minutes, and our mission will start. Adventure, serving a good cause, getting to know a little bit about everyone and where they're from.... The rules are simple. If you think Captain Chase won't approve, then don't do it. If it endangers the lives on this ship, don't do it. If something's broke, fix it, if someone needs help, help them.... Simple rules to follow, right? Now that all that's taken care of, we can all get situated. Make yourself at home, eat, drink, ask questions if you have them. I'll be here if you need me."