T667: RETURN TO REACH 2

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I will be posting every week a new “episode” of my fan-fiction story, T667:Return to Reach.

Prologue
“Welcome, UNSC ETA to the Grovon International Airport. Your first stop will be New Carthage, ETA forty-eight hours. The boarding process will start in twenty minutes,” T667 dropped his two black bags and stood in awe as the newly launched UNSC ETA, the first destroyer of the freshly commissioned GA-class destroyers, emerged from the darkness and landed at the GIA as midnight hit the sky in the full-force

Like many GA-class destroyers, which were a downgrade due to the Guardians’ Blackout and the emergence of the Banished, UNSC gladly got their hands on anything they could get, even if it meant more streamlined, but less technologically advanced hardware, receiving a nickname “Gutted” Class by both designers and service personnel alike. As a part of the newly enacted directive “need any hardware to fight the Banished,” T667 or Adrian-AB280, among others, was recommissioned for the active duty and made his way through the DART program or Decommissioned Asset Retraining, which took three weeks and soon found himself transferred back and forth.
Through the Grovon International Airport, long hallways were filled with security checkpoints, containers, and MPs running around, ensuring smooth flow. But, as Adrian turned the corner, he came across a group of kids, playing with empty shell-casings, strings, and other waste. Most of them bore the ASF or RSF identification, meaning that they were children of either the Active or Reserve Soldier Family program. One child waved at him, and Adrian, with hesitation, waved back.

Adrian stepped aside and pulled out his tablet, searching for Gate 123, where he would board the UNSC ETA. After a silent curse, the tablet finally downloaded the airport map, and Adrian’s eyes immediately found Gate 123. He looked up when someone coughed behind him.

“Sir, I need to see your identification,” one of the MP’s waved at Adrian," this is an off-limits zone, and only HS Clearance permits you to be here,"

“My sincere apologies,” Adrian handed the MP his tablet and examined MP in front of him was Spartan as well.

“You have the old clearance, but I don’t blame them for not updating it. This entire Blackout and the Banished situation had put us on high alert, but we forgot to speed up the paperwork. We can get new destroyers in three months, but Administration cannot even update the permits. My apologies for the rant. So what brings you here, fellow Spartan?” MP smiled and handed Adrian back his tablet," My name is Rowan,"

“I was assigned to the UNSC ETA, but at the last second, they switched my status, or so I hear. I caught a ride to this X58 planet and was dropped off here at Grovon International, and I am waiting for an update. I have strolled this airport for the past six hours, awaiting UNSC ETA, which had finally arrived, where I should have a chance to learn what is my assignment,” Adrian extended his right arm, “I am Adrian,”

“Honor to meet you. I think I can get you a priority boarding for your service since that is the least I can do for you,” MP’s hands shook for a bit, “my apologies, but you are the reason that I joined the UNSC and became a Spartan,”

“How come?” Adrian raised his eyebrows.

“Back on Earth, I was nobody, strolling the crime-ridden streets of Miami. Thanks to soldiers like you, I am now making a difference, and occasional thank you goes a long way for many of us, but we still look up to the giants like Master Chief or Noble Six,”

“Well, even in decommission, I still serve the UNSC,” Adrian smiled but knew that UNSC propaganda can turn anyone into a war machine if desired.

“Hmm, I wonder who is baldie is,” Rowan pointed at the bald man walking towards them.

Dressed in the black suit and tie, the man walked upright as his eyes scanned the room like a hunter, noticing details, and a moment later, his eyes landed on Adrian, who felt shivers on his spine.

“Good evening, sir; I will need to see your clearance,” Rowan halted the man who tilted his head as he finished reading Adrian but didn’t reply to the MP’s question.

“Sir, I will need to see your clearance,” Rowan placed his right hand on the holster," if you refuse, I shall detain you and bring you to my CO,"

The man handed his identification to Rowan without saying anything, but his eyes hadn’t left Adrian.

“It seems like everything is in order, Mr. Jun. My apologies, but we are on full alert,” Adrian could see MP lifting his visor and drying up a sweat on his forehead.

“Do not apologize for doing your job, Spartan. I understand what is at stake here. And who are you might be?” Jun took his clearance back.

“Warrant Officer Class 3 Adrian- AB280, Sir!” Adrian had his hand up when he realized who was asking him.

“It is an honor to meet you. Are both of you currently on assignment?” Jun saluted back.

“Well, I am supposed to board the ETA and learn what they have in the armory for me,” Adrian pointed at the UNSC ETA outside of the Terminal.

“My shift is about to end, and after I clock out and report to my CO, I am free. Why, may I ask ?” MP tapped his helmet.

“Well, I am putting up together a small unit for a quick recovery mission, but my resources are limited, and the list of available Spartans is short. Are you interested in joining my mission?”

“What are we recovering, and where are we heading?” Adrian grabbed his two black bags as he felt adrenaline flowing through his veins.

“I can only tell you where are we going, but I what are we recovering, that is classified,”

“So, where are we going?” Adrian tilted his head.

“Epsilon Eridani System, Reach.”

2

CHAPTER ONE- GUTTED

Recording in Progress, you may now speak. Once you finish, say stop.
I have to say, Mr. June can be rather persuasive. He resembles more UNSC Gov. man rather than Spartan. I don’t know what he did to get his mission approved, but we are flying to the Epsilon. I don’t know what to say. Why? What is Jun’s connection with Reach? He said that the planet is the most gorgeous yet dangerous planet. Only a limited contact has been kept with the planet itself. If I recall correctly, the New Alexandria is the only city currently standing as a beacon of hope for a new future. Still, the re-colonization efforts are on the way, but most of the planet is still inhospitable even after all those years. While being a more mysterious individual in our group, Rowan, the MP we picked up, is also an interesting individual. I have respect for Spartan Four Program, and since all those men and women made a choice, which I never had, but now it is not time to feel sorry for the past. I would like to see how he will hold on. He has the standard Spartan training but nothing else. How did he end up as MP, working on the X58? I have to go now, but I will try to log more. Stop.
Recording Finished.
Saved to the Adrian AB-280 personal file.

“Well, you could have told us that there are abandoned armories on the Reach, and UNSC, as we know, is in the shortage of pretty much everything. Why such secrecy?” Rowan pounded the black conference table, leaving a hole behind," we have been here for two days, held like hostages without any intel or a hint. Why?"

Even Adrian turned towards Jun, who silently sat at the black table, waiting for Rowan’s rant to be over. Rowan is right. Why being so secret?

“Everyone is focused on Banished, but insurgents are still a problem. They just get shoved aside because of bigger problems. Ears, eyes, and cameras are everywhere. Thanks to Blackout, most servers have been breached, leaking data left and right, so it is hard to trust everyone. Now, I will tell you everything in due time, but in ten hours, we will gear up at UNSC Infinity, I will call in some favors, and in precisely seventy hours, we will land on the Reach: first stop, Asźod Ship Breaking Yard,”

“So, how will this work? They drop us off; we find the armory, and then cargo ship will pick it up?” Adrian looked at Jun," why do you need two Spartans?"

“We might have some encounters on the way. Rowan, what were you expecting? You have a severe disciplinary problem on your record, and you were about to be court-martialed for your actions, but Banished appeared out of nowhere. I have to say that Palmer didn’t saw that uppercut coming,” Jun watched Rowan’s face changing colors and turned towards Adrian, “Any questions?”

“Yes, what do you have on me?” Adrian sat down next to Jun, relieving Rowan from Jun’s pressure.

“Why should I reveal my cards?” Jun scanned the room," know that we all have something on our plates,"

“I can already see that your recovery mission is about something else than weapons, Mr. June. Alright, I will play your strange, off-the-books game, and Rowan will do as well. Last time I recall, Reach is still a hostile planet,” Adrian tapped his forehead, “I should have figured, staying in the shadows but still close to the action as all snipers do,”

“You can have that card, Adrian, but there are more to come,” Jun’s smug face just asked to be punched, but Adrian held himself.

“On a different note,” Rowan decided to add fuel to the fire, “I have to say that Mr. June has his fronts covered, but I don’t understand this. I am an MP; you are a former sniper turned g-man, and Adrian is recommissioned Spartan III. We would need Recovery Equipment and an entire armada of cargo ships to take the weapons from the Reach,”
Silence spread across the conference room, and it seemed like footsteps from outside vanished into the Void as well.

“Meeting dismissed. You will be called if needed,” Jun exalted and was first to leave the conference room, leaving both Spartans alone.
Just as the lights were about to turn off, Adrian took a deep breath and looked at Rowan.

“Are you hungry?” Rowan stood up from the chair.

“You know what? I am,” Adrian smiled and followed Rowan.

Navigating gutted hallways proved to be somewhat more manageable due to the signs and flashy terminals.
A moment later, both Rowan and Adrian made it to mess hall no.2, where long lines of both service personnel and marines stood in line, waiting for the food to arrive. Apart from SNP, Standard Nutrition Program, larger ships of the UNSC fleet served ice cream, and luckily, UNSC ETA also got hold of the ice-cream machine for its crew, and soon first shouts of joy filled the room as the ice-cream machine came to life and dessert was served. Finally, both Adrian and Rowan found an empty spot in the right corner of the mess hall.

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These are really good dude! Do you have any more? would be great to read more :slight_smile: