For all the comforts of humanity, Shawn felt that cryo-sleep needed major work.
It was cold and slimy. He hated it and was glad that they weren't required to constantly stay in hibernation once they got closer to their destination. Using the downtime, he pushed himself more than ever in the gym.
They were on a ship called the Commonwealth, on their way to Chi Ceti IV. Halsey hadn't told any of them why, but a few had heard whispers about something called 'Mjolnir'. The others didn't know, but Shawn did; they were about to get their armor.
Taking this enthusiasm, he went at it, pushing his body as much as possible. He wasn't the only one, though, as John had also opted to stay out of cryo to train; he also tried to get Shawn to open up more about what had happened on the Rubble.
He'd also been trying to dig more into what ONI had assigned Shawn to do for the few months he was gone. They had all been getting used to their augments, but Shawn had been shipped out as soon as he was awake.
John was able to access all the mission logs for the others, able to track how they got used to their augments as the missions went smoother, but Shawn was nothing but a blotted out mess, a patchwork mess of black ink and code-names upon code-names. He went to Halsey to see if she had the clearance, but she didn't either.
"If you want to know, go ask him yourself. Try and find him in a good mood." She'd told him, though she admitted to herself that she didn't know if it would work either. So that's how John found him self on the observation deck, standing next to Shawn, staring at the stars, twinkling away in the void of space.
"Do you not trust me?" John broke the silence as Shawn smiled, something John hadn't seen since training. "More than you know, John, more than you could know." "Then why won't you tell me where you've been? I just want to know so I don't put you in a situation where you'd be at a disadvantage."
'Textbook John, always thinking about the mission, about winning,' Shawn thought as he turned away from the observation window and looked John in the eyes. "Because you aren't ready, not physically, mentally."
John didn't understand. They have been through eight years of grueling mental and physical training, pushing themselves to be the best Humanity has to offer. That, plus the augmentations, put them a step above even the best soldiers; all they needed now was experience.
Seeing John still didn't understand, Shawn asked him. "Why do we fight? Why was the Spartan program created?" "To combat insurrectionists threatening peace in Human space, to stop terrorists."
"Tell me, John, what kind of insurrectionist has Blue Team been sent after, probably defectors from the UNSC, like Colonel Watts."
John nodded, though they had been sent behind enemy lines to get information, scout out bases, and take out high-profile targets; they'd all been UNSC turncoats.
"Do you know what kind of people I've been sent to deal with?" Shawn asked.
"No, ONI has your combat history hidden."
Shawn laughed at that, but he didn't sound happy. "Good, fewer people that poke around the better. The plain and simple version is this, John. There are people in the Insurrection that do things that can't be told to the wider UNSC, people that abuse their fellow humans in sick ways, some of them are connected to officials, some are just monsters in human skin. Regardless, I'm sent in to clear out the trash that ONI doesn't want their fingerprints on."
"I still don't understand?" John said as Shawn sighed. "I kill people who treat humans like cattle. Rapists, human traffickers, and smugglers who deal with drugs and organs. The only 'clean' person I've been sent after was Colonel Watts, and even he had some things hiding in the closet. Just go look up the Night Haunter, you should find something related to me."
He turned and left, drained after saying so much. 'I need a drink, curse this child soldier body,' He thought ruefully as John mulled over what he'd heard, deciding that once they made it to wherever they were going, he was going to look into this 'Night Haunter.
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As the Commonwealth exited slipspace, the Captain ordered long range scans as soon as possible, after what happened to Harvest, and the battle group sent afterwards, he was a lot more cautious than usual.
"Good morning Captain." Dr. Halsey said as she entered the bridge. He nodded to her as reports came in. "Engine stable, we're at full power" "Other than a few pods, all unnecessary crew are in cryo, vitals are stable." "Sir, we pinged something."
Captain Wallace called for him to report. Their long range scanners had picked up another ship nearby, but well out of weapons range, 80 million kilometers away. Halsey had just called John and Shawn to the bridge when she saw what was on the scanner.
John was giving orders to Blue Team so he was a few steps behind Shawn, but both of them walked into the bridge to find Captain Wallace and Dr. Halsey arguing about whether or not the aliens (Not yet know as the Covenant to the rest of the USNC) could preform and intrasystem slipspace jump, the Captain didn't think it was possible.
She had finally convinced him when alarms started blaring. "Sir, slipspace rupture ahead, somethings coming through!" "All hands, brace for impact, move to battle stations, this is not a drill!" Wallace ordered as he turned to engines, "Reactors to 90%"
As he went about preparing the ship, the Covenant ship flew out of slipspace, narrowly avoiding them as the two ships swung around in the void to reengage each other. Halsey filled Shawn and John in as arcs of fire left the Covenant ship and raced towards them, the Commonwealth sent forth a swarm of missiles.
The ship shook and even the Spartans grabbed onto something as those on the bridge watched the missiles they sent to nothing, only causing the ship's shield to flare up as it blocked the barrage.
"Bring the ship around, and start up the MAC!" Wallace ordered as Shawn turned to Halsey, who was to busy gazing in wonder at the Covenant's shield technology to be of use. "Dr. Halsey, we need to get planeside, we're of no use here." She snapped out of it and nodded "Yes, go get the others awake, prep pelicans."
Finally free he left, going to get the others ready as John stayed behind to watch the show.
As Shawn stirred the others awake, the ship shook for a moment as something launched then the lights went out, red emergency lights snapping on. "All hands, brace." Captain Wallace came over the PA, Shawn didn't stop though as he and the rest of the Spartans filed into the dropships.
A few minutes later the lights came back on, almost done with the pre-flight check list, Shawn sent someone to get John and Dr. Halsey from the bridge. They quickly returned with good news, the Covenant ship had been hit by a nuke and had left for repairs, they had their window to head planeside, MJOLNIR awaited.
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"Damascus Materials Testing Facility to incoming Pelican. Identify."
"This is Dr. Catherine Halsey, Damascus clearance 197371-Alpha"
"Doctor, you're cleared for landing. Pad four."
As they landed, all the Spartans were aware and nervous at all the anti-air cannons aimed at them, only Dr. Halsey seemed at ease, though she did relax more once they landed and entered the facility.
They didn't get to see much as they walked swiftly passed through sleek halls and came into an open area. "This is project: MJOLNIR" Halsey said with audible pride as the floor opened and huge sets of armor lifted up. She gladly went over the various specs that made the armor a step above anything else the UNSC had, as well as the drawbacks.
As she explained and the Spartans questioned, Shawn gazed at the suit in the middle, 'Mk IV Mjolnir power amor, just like I remembered.' He saw flashes of his old life, fighting the Covenant on massive rings in space, facing down horrors the galaxy hadn't seen for millennia, all from behind a screen.
The wasn't the case anymore, now this was his life, and planned to save everyone. Dr. Halsey asked for a volunteer, John and Shawn both raised their hands at once, "I'll do it!" They looked at each other in surprise, though most were shocked that Shawn had volunteered. John was bout to insist before Shawn suddenly smiled, "Go for it man, you've earned it."
Surprised he'd backed off but not about to let him change his mind, John suited up with he help of technicians as they all watched in anticipation.
"Are you ready for your first step?" Halsey asked, she felt nervous despite herself, but trusted that everything would work out. John nodded, still flexing his hands, getting used to the gel layer of the armor, he slowly pushed himself up and took a heavy step off the armor rack, his boots thudded as the others watched in awe. Halsey came over his the helmet, and John lowered his head and let her place it on his head.
She stepped back, and marveled at her work, Spartan and MJOLNIR, finally one. "How does it feel, John?" She asked, gazing into the amber visor. "Like I was meant to wear it ma'am!"
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They spent the next few hours getting the rest of the Spartans into their armor. A few took longer as they were more specialized, such as Linda's for sniping, and Kelly's for speed, but most had the standard look the John had. (A/N Its just basic spartan armor from Halo wars 1)
The only one that was different at this point was Shawn's, he'd taken liberties with his armor and had already decided on the first decoration for his armor. On his chest plate right below his I.D number, was a small white skull, with golden winds behind it. (Basic Night Lords insignia but with gold wings instead of red, I don't own 40k or the night lords, f u GW)
Dr. Halsey had noted the small thing but made no comment as the others wondered about what they would style their armor with. They were too busy putting their new suits to the test to worry about that however as they pushed themselves more than ever. While John and Shawn took the time to better examine their armor, the others were busy testing out the 5x enhancement.
"Commonwealth to Dr. Halsey." Stepping aside Halsey answered "I'm here Captain." "The Covenant ship is moving. They'll be on us inside 10 minutes. The Covenant ship is moving. They'll be on us inside 10 minutes." John stepped over, having heard everything as did the others.
"Dr. Halsey, let us take a shot. We're the best possible option, your only option. Blue Team is ready, and you know it." She did know it, she glanced at Shawn and decided it was time to see her Spartans in action, rather than read reports sent in by ONI. "Godspeed John."
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Listening to the rest of Blue Team banter, Shawn smiled. Despite all the grueling training that Mendez and Magnus had put him through, it was moments like this that made it all worth it, seeing them act like real humans, not just super soldiers.
As they went over the plan Shawn zoned out as he thought of how he could keep Sam out of harms way, yes it was important and gave John the need to fight on, but he also didn't want to see someone who'd gone from a line in a book, to a real friend, die in a massive nuclear explosion.
"What'd you think of the plan, Shawn?" John asked as he came to. "I think it's time to kick alien ass." Shawn said as Sam grinned "Now your talking."
Setting the ship on auto-pilot, John grabbed his assault rifle and joined the rest of them in the pelican's bay as the door opened and their suits sealed. They checked everything one last time, and Kelly asked quietly, as if afraid to jinx it "John, what if we miss?" "We won't"
They launched themselves into the vacuum, small thrusters on their armor pushing them towards the covenant ship that gradually filled their view. "The turrets, they have to IRIS for them to fire!" "We time this right and we're behind their shields, move!"
"We time this wrong, we're smoke!" "Sam, Kelly, you're with me. Fred, Linda and Shawn, take the other side." His stomach lurched as the plasma lance powered up and the shield lowered. Shooting past it just it fired, Shawn followed behind Fred as he scraped his hand along the ships hull trying to slow down to not shoot past the breach.
Shooting into the breach, Shawn, Fred and Linda take a second to get used to the gravity before pushing forward. "The air is different, keep the suit sealed until we know it's safe." Fred warned as they walked through halls, past massive doors that emitted soft purple light.
"There's a massive radiation spike near the center of the ship, my guess the reactor is there." Shawn said as he noted the abnormal levels of Cherenkov radiation that permeated the ship. "I'll bet the others are headed that way, Shawn you lead the way, I got the rear, Linda spots." Fred ordered and the pushed forward.
Agitated that Sam was getting closer to that terrible moment, Shawn pushed aggressively through the halls, almost colliding with a small stout alien as he rounded a corner. 'Grunt!' On reflex after years of playing, he smashed the butt of his assault rifle into the aliens face, caving it in from sheer force.
"Linda take samples, Halsey will be interested." He said as he scooped up the aliens plasma pistol, mag locking it to his thigh. They pushed forward towards what they assumed was the reactor, finding more aliens. "Contact, trio rounding the corner!" Shawn called out as he opened fire, killing the aliens.
As they reached the bodies, Shawn took all their weapons, confusing Fred and Linda. "Are you really trophy hunting, now?" Linda asked and Shawn grinned. "Of course not, I'm just requisitioning alien weapons so that our dear ONI spooks can have something to do back home, one or two might disappear though, your know how things get." He said as she grinned inside her helmet, taking one for herself.
Entering a much larger room, Shawn paused. The room felt silent, unnaturally so, he could feel the piercing gaze of something watching. 'Shit, it's a spec-ops, it has to be.' He thoughts as he scanned the room, just as heavy footsteps sounded and a much larger alien uncloaked itself.
"Contact!" Shawn shouted as he opened fire, not wasting any time as he emptied the magazine and reloaded. 'Not fast enough, it's getting closer, time to see if old tricks still work.' Firing another burst into its side, he dodged a swing from a plasma blade it had ignited as he slammed into it, it stumbled but came back quick as Fred and Linda opened fire.
The alien roars as Linda's shot breaks its shield, charging at them Shawn fire into its back one handed as the other grabs the looted plasma pistol and pulls the trigger, letting a green plasma bolt fly across the room just as the alien turns to face him.
The plasma slams into the alien and it goes down howling in agony before a burst from Fred puts it down. "What was that thing?" Linda asks as Fred shrugs. Shawn goes over and takes the deactivated plasma sword from the aliens hand, claiming it as his own.
'No plasma rifle, or pistol, what a shame.' He thinks as they reload and sprint the rest of the way to the reactor. Reaching it the find the others already fighting a pair of shield wielding aliens, these are also different from the other two, looking more like birds.
"Nice of you to drop by!" Sam teases as Kelly and John take out the two aliens. "Is the warhead primed?" Sam nods as he finishes setting the timer. "Let's go then, I'm sure there's plenty more aliens aboard." "You guys should get moving." Sam nods as Shawn and Kelly freeze, Kelly confronts him as Shawn feels sick. 'I knew it would happen, and I couldn't do a damn thing.'
Frustrated he balls his fist and slams it into a control pilar, denting it as the others step back surprised, Shawn could be a tad aggressive sometimes, but they'd never seen him lash out like that. "We have to go, now." John says as Shawn goes over to the two bird aliens, taking their plasma pistols and shield gauntlets, he hands the two pistols and one gauntlet to Sam.
"Give em hell, take down as many as you can." He says as Sam removes his helmet, looking each of them in the face plate before saluting. They salute back and make a break for it, going to the breach that John and the others entered from.
Finding the breach, they have to waste a few precious seconds as the plasma lance powers up, before they are able to exit the ship. Flying through the vacuum, Shawn ignores John's warning to angle himself around and watch as the ship detonates from the inside, going nuclear as the shockwave pushes them further.
He finally remembers the name of this ship, mentioned only once in Lore, the Unrelenting. 'I don't care how many come, grunt, elite, brutes, jackals, even the Prophets will pay for this. I won't rest until every last Covenant bastard is dead, forget about the 'Demon' the Night haunter is here, and he has come for you.'