SPARTAN-017: Linde's Story

---

John made his rounds with everyone, checking all who were present and doing a head count. There were thirty eight civilians and a total of eight marines. Including John and Bentley, and that monkey of his, the head count was forty nine. John was satisfied that the head count was correct, and so he set about making plans for moving the group away from the open location they were at now.

"Private, do you have a map?" He asked the nearest marine.

"Uhm..." The marine responded as he started searching his person.

"No, sir. But I believe the lieutenant has a map." He finished.

"Thanks." John replied.

John walked over to the Lieutenant, who was partially injured and had his left arm in a sling. The lieutenant was in his early thirties and had very short brown hair. His skin was mildly pale, and he was decently built and strong despite his injuries.

"Lieutenant, do you have a map on you by chance?" John asked.

"Yes, sir." Came a brief reply.

The lieutenant brought out a map from his left breast pocket and opened it as best he could. John and the lieutenant looked over the map together, spotting potential sites for them to await rescue when John spied a small base a few miles away which was just barely visible on the map and poorly detailed. Had he not been so attentive, he would have missed it completely.

"What about this base here?" John asked the lieutenant.

"Oh, that one there? It was abandoned early on when the brass first decided to change the location of the Colony. Right now it's not good for much, as it doesn't have any protective fencing or anything of the sort to keep the animals out. If we go there, the only defense we'll have will be what little ammo we have left. Are you sure you want to go there?" The lieutenant asked.

John mused over this for a moment, and had a thought.

"Does it have basic communication and a kitchen?" John asked.

The lieutenant had to think for a moment.

"I believe it does have basic communication devices, but I'm not certain of a kitchen. It might have something, but I wouldn't hold out much hope for it." He responded.

John stood up straight and folded the map, having committed the location of the base to memory.

"I can improvise the kitchen if they have the right tools. Anyway, let's move out. The longer we stay here, the more time not so tiny baddies from the forest have to find us. Let's move out people!" He called out.

The civilians were a bit reluctant to leave, but after a brief persuasion from John, they got up and started moving in a semi organized fashion. John was out in front, with two marines in back, two up front behind him, and two on either side of the group as they walked to keep the civilians protected in the middle. As they walked on, John and the marines up front started talking about past missions and training to break the ice and lighten the mood. They spoke to each other about the people they met and some of the crazy and stupid things they did, and a few of the stories got some laughs out of the civilians who were following them as well.

Things were going well until John realized that they were suddenly walking through a forest which was not making any sound. He stopped the group and listened, but there wasn't a single thing to be heard anywhere. John looked around, and the marines all did the same as they tightened the circle they made around the civilians. Each member of the group looked around, but none could see anything nor hear anything. The only sounds were those of their footsteps as they tried to scan their surroundings.

Suddenly, there was a deep, low growl echoing from all around. It was impossible to place the source, but everyone knew that whatever it was, it was very, very large. John took a moment to close his eyes and try to see if he couldn't single out the source of the sound, but there was nothing he could do to pinpoint it. The growling came in short bursts, but each time it grew slightly louder and more menacing. Some of the civies were already starting to panic, and the marines had to tell them not to move a muscle or they risked being the first to die. While it didn't exactly help morale, it got the job done when it came to keeping them still and quiet.

Minutes passed, but that tension never faltered.

John took a single step forward, and then the beast made its appearance. It looked to be something out of a children's horror story, with a serpentine/reptilian face combined with a somewhat stubby humanoid body with large spikes along its back almost like that of a Hunter of the Covenant. This was no Hunter, however. This creature stood about sixteen feet in height and probably weighed in excess of three tons. John and the marines all took their positions as it darted out from the trees towards them, and the civilians all scattered, which was exactly what John was hoping to avoid. However, it was now impossible to control what was going on, as all Hell had just broken loose.

Not one, but three of these creatures came from the forest to take their new prey, and John used what remained of his ammo for his side arms in an effort to bring the first of them down. His efforts, however, were unsuccessful, and he resorted to using his combat knife in close combat to get any damage in on the beast. He could see through his peripherals that two civilians had been taken by the other beasts, and at least three of the marines had also fallen victim to their attacks. John was able to do some mild damage with his knife when he jumped onto the beasts right arm and slashed some of the musculature in its shoulder. He was then thrown off the beast as it circled around to try and take John out, but luckily he was able to recover in time to move before being crushed.

The beasts managed to dig their claws into another five civilians when John was finally brought down by the beast he was fighting with. He was expecting to find himself staring at a claw driven through his torso when one of the beasts suddenly dropped dead at his feet. He shook his head and looked up behind where the creature fell, but there was nothing there. The sounds of the other beasts screaming out rang into his ears, and as he looked over at them he found himself watching a spectacle he never thought he'd live to see no matter how old or experienced he became as an ODST. There, fighting with the two remaining beasts were two SPARTANs. The first had sleek red armor, undoubtedly a female given the shape of the body and the rather attractive proportions, and the other was most definitely male in black and yellow armor. The two SPARTANs had almost no trouble at all bringing the creatures down, moving at speeds he never thought possible of a humanoid life form, and using strength he never expected even SPARTANs to be capable of. It was almost a tear jerking sight to see two SPARTANs fighting for the survival of not only himself, but all those with him as well.

John made it to his feet as the beasts were brought down, and the female SPARTAN walked up to him, helping him to his feet.

"SPARTANs... I never thought I'd see the day... What are you two doing here?" John asked.

The female SPARTAN looked his way, though through the visor it was difficult to tell if her eyes were actually on him, but he could sort of feel that they were.

"I am SPARTAN-017, and my name is Linde. I was sent here with the rest of my team to put an end to the Covenant attacks on Genesis and her sister Colonies, but we were too late to stop them. We ran into several waves of Covenant forces before their retreat, and I lost the rest of my team when we fought our way back to the evac ships. I was taken back up to the orbiting exploration vessel, but then decided to come back down to assist the SPARTAN you see behind me, as he and his team were down to their last four members. Once I was down here, he was the only one left, so we decided that while we were here, and since there were no more evac ships on the way that we would search for survivors and do what we could to provide the help they needed."

She turned and looked at the group, eyeing the civilians who were still alive and the two marines which remained.

"It seems, however, that we were too late to get here as well... I'm sorry." She said quietly.

John shook his head.

"Were it not for you, we'd all be dead. You have our gratitude, SPARTAN. Both of you. Anyway, we're on our way to an abandoned base to see if they have anything we can use to send out a beacon or a signal of some sort to try and call in help, but if you're here, I guess that rules that option out doesn't it?" He asked.

Linde looked at him and shook her head.

"That's actually not a bad idea. A few of the ships protecting the evac flights may yet still be close enough to receive the call if we move quickly enough. If we don't get a reply within two minutes time, however, I wouldn't hold out much hope for a quick rescue."

John nodded to her, and the two of them waited for the other SPARTAN to join them before coming to the agreement that they would stay together until their rescue arrived in a few weeks time. With the agreement, they gathered the fourteen civilians who were left and the two remaining marines and took off. Together they arrived at the base not more than a few hours later, and they all hunkered down to rest while the SPARTANs stayed up and on watch. John stayed up too, sitting near the SPARTANs and listening to them talk before chiming in.

"So... tell me again how you two came to find us?" John asked, aiming the question more at the male SPARTAN.

Bentley hoisted himself up, walking into Covenant like that was a bit embarrassing. "Commence scan," he voiced out of interest. He had never had to opportunity to exam a live specimen up front like this. From what he could tell, these things were composed of worm like life forms in the shell. The metal allow was something he'd never seen before, but the part that most interested him was the plasma mechanism. "A mixture of tungsten and magnesium...trace amounts of lithium. All of which superheated and directed through nothing but magnets, the arrangement and composition is a more advanced array of a MAC." The degree of similarity between UNSC and Covenant technology was frightening.

The tool kit in his lab would be much better at stripping the equipment down. But as is, like earlier he'd have to rely on his nanites. a small piece...about a cubic inch was all he could cut off in terms of metal. As for stripping the cannon, it was impossible with his current lack of tools. At this point, the two Spartans caught his attention. Admittedly an impressive piece of work, but for the most part he'd done it better. Granted it was only in part by part experimentation but that was the limit of his concern...a full test wouldn't be containable. "Monkey...come here," time to get more active data on the bigger soldiers. A human nervous system wasn't too difficult to interfere with and standard UNSC gear did nothing to slow his nanites. Spartans on the other hand were a much harder course, being able to mess with the suit would take about ten days, nervous system could easily require a month. This was all dependent on how the machines interacted with the augmentations.

He checked his data base upon approach, the monkey would carry enough nanites for his to begin an in depth analysis of the suit. It was also through this that he might be able to later interfere with the suit's processes. With a nudge, his little trap went to interact with the soldiers. While he waited for his pet to begin a valid interaction, he read up on his files... while incredibly outdated he had some data on 017 and 225. When his pet finally touched a Spartan and began to play nice, he made his approach.

"I do hope, the Capuchin hasn't been a bother," he didn't need to attempt to sound friendly. Things that held some interest to him tended to make him a more agreeable person. "Ah yes, also I'd like a run back to my lab after we gain access to a vehicle. There's some tools I'd like to fetch, potentially items you lot would find interesting- oh and the Cole Protocol hasn't been enacted. A fully intact map to Earth and her colonies or two is free for the taking should the Covenant locate the facility." The last bit was only partially true but that wasn't overly important.

It had been a wild entry into the atmosphere. Spartan K-225, known to many as "Doc", had been briefed only hours ago. He was to meet up with SPARTAN-017 (his old friend Linde), and search for a couple of marines. Sounded simple, but in truth he had always hated Drop pods. Better to let the ODST's accompanying him stick to those.
The worst part was landing on that thing. He had forgotten the name as was busy fighting off a few others with those ODST's that were now dead. They were warm blooded, and he had taken a few samples afterwards as well. It had been three hours, and the four that had survived the entry were now dead as well. He met up with Linde two hours later, and subsequently attempted to track a pack of beasts. It would be pretty simple on paper, if he had any. Shoot them and then they die, or stab them in the eye. Dodge an arm swing here and there, then climb onto the back, holding onto the spines. They had been about ten minutes behind one pack when they both had heard screams, and began running. He had taken point, but when they saw what was happening, they had broken formation. Charging forwards, he rolled, unloading countless rounds into one's chest, watching the guns recoil lead every next shot closer to the head. It stumbled, giving him to get onto its back, and from there he made an "incision", trying to find the brain. Linde seemed to be doing pretty good as well, He didn't have time to think of what might have happened to her, just that his altitude was declining due to the fact that he had killed his target. He jumped off, landed on his feet with a "THWOMP", and regrouped with Linde, who was busy talking to an ODST who was not dead after fighting those things. Finally! A change!
While he walked towards Linde and the ODST, he took a quick note of the bodies still breathing. Fourteen civilians and two marines were making there way to potential safety. He joined them, eventually getting to the bunker. He and Linde were taking first watch, and the ODST who he had met before came up to talk to them.
"So... tell me again how you two came to find us?"
"I got dropped in as your reinforcements with a squad of ODST's". He turned towards the man he had met earlier, his faceless helmet only staring at the soldier. "I had four left after landing, we fell into some sort of nest for those animals. After that we thought we were safe, and I fixed one guys leg up. He didn't need a transfusion, but he had type AB so..." He stopped that thought, that had nothing to do with the situation. "Anyways, we weren't safe, and the rest of them went down. I met up with Linde, and with two Spartans, we tracked yet another pack down, and found you right in the middle." He turned his head back to the area infront of him, watching for any beasts, covenent, or monkey. Monkey? A monkey had just walked up to him, then retreated to a man with a lab coat.
"I do hope, the Capuchin hasn't been a bother," A man, one of the civilians, had stepped in. "Ah yes, also I'd like a run back to my lab after we gain access to a vehicle. There's some tools I'd like to fetch, potentially items you lot would find interesting- oh and the Cole Protocol hasn't been enacted. A fully intact map to Earth and her colonies or two is free for the taking should the Covenant locate the facility." Funny, this deployment just kept getting better and better.
"Good luck then, this is planet is still a death trap. It would be better to just blow the thing up then."

"Luck? You mean proper calculation, an easy feat when one knows the math." While important things like suit of direct neural interference were impossible at the time. Hell, Bentley wasn't even sure that it'd be possible; tapping into the running communications wasn't too hard. Much to his concern and suspicion, there were two Prowlers...ONI only seen in the Prowler Corps when something critical was going on. But even during Reach, only one Prowler was sent in...why were there two this time around?
Despite the questions that would naturally occur to a person privy to the function of ONI; Bentley refrained from asking them. Instead, he'd have to play the role of civilian for now...the politics could be handled later.

At any rate, he put on a face of more than a little irritation, "Boo you're boring." His natural personality couldn't be suppressed in this situation. The professional image of a scientist was gone, in its place was just a whiny,overgrown child. "It's bad enough my lab equipment for the past five years has been sub-par but now people expect me to accept a two year delay minimum." He was openly sulking in front of the crowd. Hopefully 017 would prove more interesting than 225...so far he didn't have much hope for brains in the soldier department though.

---

John was satisfied in the explanation given to him by the SPARTAN known as "Doc". It was a nice nickname which would help him keep pace with the additions of new members to the group since he sometimes had trouble with names. The other one, Linde, was quite the little model if John did say so himself. Her armor hid most of her form, but it was fitting enough to get a good idea of what she looked like underneath it, body wise. Normally he wan't one to look, as he put duty before pleasure, but this time, he thought it wouldn't be a horrible idea to at least see what he had to work with as far as new allies were concerned.

Linde, in the meantime, listened to Doc tell the story of their meeting while she listened also to the scientist Bentley speak about his lab. There were some tactical advantages to going to get his gear, but some serious risks involved as well. Going through this forest with beasts roaming around which could tear the little scientist in half was not a wise idea, but if luck held out then there could be some good intel and equipment which might be salvaged from the site.

"... I'll take Bentley and the monkey to get his gear." She said, rather suddenly.

You sure about this Linde? I don't know about this guy... He's kind of... Creepy... Came the voice of Valkyrie, Linde's AI.

Linde ignored her AI for the moment and walked over to the scientist. She looked over at the monkey, who stared at her for a moment, and then looked back over towards Bentley.

"You ready to go?" She asked.

She looked over her shoulder towards the other SPARTAN.

"Doc, you stay and watch out for everyone while we're gone. I'll get this done as fast as I can and join up with you guys before nightfall. With any luck, this guy's gear will have something worthwhile to getting us off this planet." She said calmly.

Bentley couldn't hide his surprise at 017's response. In fact his instinctively adjusted his glasses, trying to reaffirm that they were actually there."Y-Yes," he stuttered out; for the first time Bentley felt himself offset by another person despite having his usual social barriers in the way. He cleared his throat before he spoke again.

"What was ID code again...017?,"without thinking he found himself questioning his memory. "Whether some kind of sled or cart were involved, would carrying or dragging a piece of sensitive equipment fall within the scope of your operational parameters?" His demeanor was back to that of experimenter, what could be learned in this micro experiment would be interesting.Especially since he had about zero interaction time with the female specimen of his species. Still his first priority was his energy reactor, a project he started with ONI Sector 3 and ultimately would up dropped and sealed by Sector 0. Then again, most of his work was held by Sector Zero in ONI... something he found depressing.

He'd do his best to keep up with this SPARTAN in the trek to the lab, but his physical abilities were paltry at best in comparison to what one of these super soldiers. He felt himself adjusting his glasses again, hell, even Ricky the monkey was showing concern for his current behavior. "Though I feel the need to prove something of my capabilities at this moment, a slight matter of pride." He reached inside a hidden coat pocket and pulled out what appeared to be a small ceramic tile. He flipped it to his escort while elaborating.

"99.998% uncontaminated Boron Nitride, wurtzite crystalline molecular structure. Estimated Moh's hardeness of 24, for a note diamond is merely 10. Estimated to be able to withstand 185 giga pascals of pressure before denting, roughly the equivalent in one of the Rammeseum giant statues of Ramses as PSI. Hypothesized vaporization point of 3100 Celsius in Earth atmosphere, true values untested due to improper equipment after I managed to synthesize this." He didn't mention that the machine used for his creation of synthetics was also a casualty of creating that small black. If the material tested for even a portion of the estimated values, it'd be the greatest synthetic material man had made to date. The data needed to attempt making more was in one of the many drives he'd left behind in the lab. In truth, the piece he'd just handed away was more accident than experiment...once more a detail he'd keep to himself.

---

Linde looked at the piece of tile given to her and looked it over, flipping it upside down and tossing it up and down a few times before handing it back to Bentley.

"That was quite the mouthful... I can't say that I was able to comprehend more than the fact that it's a bit more than twice as hard as a diamond, using basic math as a way to compare anyway. As for the sensitive material, I'll carry it if it's too heavy for you. If there's a lot of stuff that I can't carry in my hands then I'll improvise a sled of some sort and drag that back with your gear stowed on top."

He turned her head over her shoulder.

"Is that alright with you?" She asked.

"Plenty, the toolkit is something I can easily carry. The same with all the extra data storage, the issue is the energy reactor." Bentley did his best to refrain from paying too much attention to Linde- 017 he mentally corrected himself. "That's the main reason I wish to go back. That thing would take about two years or so to rebuild and become usable again.Unless you find something in there that specifically captures your attention, I don't expect anything else being carried out." He tucked the tile back into his hidden pocket. In all honesty he was sore and all the signs of out of shape as it was...he began to realize how monstrous SPARTANS truly were in physical ability. He did however have one question that he had to ask.

"So why exactly did you decide to help me? After all the ODST lead me out with so much as letting me back and 025 seemed rather eager to just blow the place and leave?" The idea of a soldier with anything resembling an academic passion never occurred to him. Sure, he showed something resembling a concrete benefit but she'd volunteered before that...was it a condition of the female specimen?

---

"Plenty, the toolkit is something I can easily carry. The same with all the extra data storage, the issue is the energy reactor." Bentley did his best to refrain from paying too much attention to Linde- 017 he mentally corrected himself. "That's the main reason I wish to go back. That thing would take about two years or so to rebuild and become usable again. Unless you find something in there that specifically captures your attention, I don't expect anything else being carried out."

Linde chuckled a little bit to herself as she listened to him talk about what he needed.

"So why exactly did you decide to help me? After all the ODST lead me out with so much as letting me back and 025 seemed rather eager to just blow the place and leave?"

Linde looked over her shoulder for a moment, and then continued to look forward as they came upon their destination.

"I decided to help because we need every piece of salvageable equipment we can get our hands on. If your gear leads me to anything that we can use to get everyone off the planet, then going with you will have been worth the trip. Also, I think that this planet is quite beautiful, even if it has suffered a Covenant attack. Exploring it has, and continues to be, quite the adventure for me."

She stopped at the entrance, and turned and looked at Bentley.

"And don't worry about Doc. He's had his fill of this place and is eager to leave it behind. It's already put us both under a lot of pressure and given us another slew of bad memories. Just try to give him his space and you'll be fine. Anyway..." She said as she turned around.

"This is the place right? Lead the way, and I'll watch your back as we get your stuff. When we get to your lab, give me some time to look around to see what I can find and then we'll get out of here."

"Yeah, this is the place," Bentley managed to gasp out, fuck it...next time he'll swallow his pride and let the SPARTAN know he needs a break. The entrance into the place wasn't an issue, he just stepped around the blown in door and went to his primary desk. "The reactor is in a sealed location towards the rear, I'll get that door in a bit so feel free to check the place out until then." The area he spoke of had more than that...in fact most of the contents in that district could land him prison time or worse in a court system. The primary tool kit was easily found on a desk in a corner and it didn't take too long for him to pack it. After that he went to each individual work station and computer, purging each and every one of the machines of all data. Painful as it was to admit, this facility wouldn't be usable again.

"Code Omega, Winter Contingency scenario; implementation on signal.User Bentley Masters, Code ONI-SEC-ZERO-3." He chose his ID out of irony for his old UNSC days, but with that a panel emerged in front of him and dispensed a massive data core. Within it was a record of every experiment in exact detail done since his days in ONI. The data in this would allow him to continue his work without any issues provided he had the proper facilities. With that done, he went to his reactor.

He leaned against his reactor, on its own about the size of a Warthog. "Yoko, I have a feeling that I've opened up a giant can of trouble." His address to the monkey was more of a sigh than anything...it'd seem the enigmatic assistant had packed his own little bag as well. He scratched the creatures head, the action was oddly soothing. It was currently just paranoia on his part, but he had the strangest reason that there was a room somewhere around here that he didn't know about. One that unlike the current room he was in that had a splash of everything only held materials of war or illegal Covenant trading contraband. His captors were of the extra crazy radical variety so he couldn't be sure about the validity of his paranoia.

---

Linde looked around when Bentley led her inside. The room was full of equipment which would, once Bentley was done with it, be unusable. However, Linde spied a few small electronic devices which could become useful if she got it in the right person's hands. She was more of a combat specialist, but she wasn't completely ignorant to the makings of electronic devices. There were some slightly out of date transmitters and receivers on a few old school motherboards inside a desk drawer, so she got ahold of them and put them into a pouch on her armor near her left thigh. She gave the place a complete once over, and had Valkyrie do a scan of the place.

"See anything Val?" She asked.

Scanning....... Scans seem to show a hidden room over there on the western end behind the wall they've set up. I'm guessing it was meant to be used as something akin to a last resort weapons storage unit in case of severe emergencies, only this time they weren't able to access it fast enough. Care to do the honors?

Linde smiled inside her helmet as she walked over to the western wall and used his open hand to gently caress it as if she was telling it that everything would be alright. That, of course, was a complete lie if ever there was one. Linde gave the wall a single well placed punch, and it dented inward to almost ten inches, exposing the edge of the false wall where Linde was able to grab ahold of it and tear it away. Though it took a fair amount of effort, she still made it look very easy to do. Once the false wall was disposed of and tossed to the side, she looked over at the scientist and jerked her head to signal him to come over to her side. She saw a large crank on the door and turned it, unlocking the giant hunk of metal which was being dubbed a "door", and pulling it open to reveal a secret weapons stash of high grade military equipment. Among them was a single SPARTAN Laser, which Linde instantly gravitated towards until she was able to pick it up and examine it.

"... It's a shame it has no energy left... This could have come in handy." She said sadly as she dropped the massive weapon to the ground.

She inspected each and every weapon in the room and found that there was another small passageway in the back behind a few crates. After moving the crates to the side, she opened the door which led to a small hallway. She traveled down into it, ducking since it was a shorter hallway meant for smaller human bodies than her 6' 7" frame, and found a room full of computers and monitors. She had no idea what it was, but she was willing to bet money that whatever was stored inside was important to the operations of the group which had previously occupied this hidden base.

She turned her head to Bentley.

"Care to examine the contents?" She asked.

Bentley heard the sound of metal being ripped from the wall and ran to the sound. He got to follow Linde- 017 he again corrected down a hallway he'd never known existed. It must have been the confined space, he just now realized how much larger than him she was. The room full of computers and monitors was really strange, 017 picked up a massive gun before dropping it for lack of energy.

"We might be able to refuel it the care station by the reactor... though I think at best we'd only be able to prime it for one shot." He found himself speaking up in reassurance, normally he'd have stayed silent on the matter.

"Care to examine the contents?" The very idea he had was expressed by the female SPARTAN.

"Funny, I was just thinking that,"he answered as he began trying to access the system. The defenses were incredible, it was an evolving algorithm that followed more variations than that of a UNSC mainframe. It was because of the controlled evolution and counters in UNSC mainframes that kept them hackable. But for this, he'd need to directly plug in to even try to crack it...when did rebels get this advanced? " It's an unrestricted evolution system that resets itself once per millisecond... a human can't hack this." He sat back and looked at the SPARTAN, "Don't suppose you have a specialized or strong AI we can hardline into this?" He began searching through his kit as he spoke. The activity of his nanites had been too high so far, he'd need to manually inject more into his system to access the tech in his system.

Of course increasing the concentration of machines in his systems carried dangers of its own. But he'd rather risk it than wait long enough to regenerate the machines he'd already lost. He found the pack he was looking for, twenty syringes filled with a mercury appearing substance would be inside. He pulled out an adapter, the machine didn't have something to plug an AI into...clever defense but it was machines like what he just pulled out that could bridge the gap. If Linde didn't have the AI for it then he'd open the pouch and use an injection.

---

"Don't suppose you have a specialized or strong AI we can hardline into this?"

Linde smiled inside her helmet as she took the chip which contained her AI, Valkyrie, from the back of her helmet and held it out to Bentley.

"Valkyrie is a next gen AI system and should be perfect for this job. Just tell her what she's working with and she'll break it down in no time."

Valkyrie was actually quite advanced as far as AI systems were concerned when it came to SPARTANs. Normally they were simple AI systems, but Valkyrie was created in the same manner as the AI Cortana in that she was a flash clone of a living brain of one of the UNSC's top scientific minds who worked beside Dr. Catherine Halsey on the SPARTAN program. However, even Valkyrie didn't know her creator very well other than the fact that she looked like her, only younger in appearance. Valkyrie had a number of special talents as far as AI's went, including wireless hacking without any loss of signal or strength in her systems when doing so. If Bentley wanted her to get inside this system, the only thing better than using Valkyrie would be asking the UNSC's entire top tier research division to do the job when they used every system at their disposal. Valkyrie was quite the contrast to her current owner, who was just another SPARTAN among SPARTANs and was otherwise unremarkable despite her rather exceptional close combat capabilities.

"Excellent," he responded as he linked the AI into the network through the adapter. He figured the situation had been picked up by the AI through the armor and thus didn't say anything further. It took no real form of measurable time for images to start showing on the various screens, on of which held what appeared to be a time line or a record of sorts. One he didn't see, was a silent recording of one of his former lab mates handing over a copy on his profile... two weeks before he left the UNSC.

"How much is in here, and for what purpose?" he could think of no reason for this amount of seemingly random data. It wasn't things mostly in his domain, maybe it was more in the lines of military thinking.

---

"How much is in here, and for what purpose?" Bentley asked.

It would seem that this place was meant to be a safe storage for information regarding the UNSC's activities and personnel files so that the rebels could analyze both in order to give their operations a higher chance of success, predict or infiltrate the UNSC's operations in this galactic sector, and possibly even try to recruit UNSC personnel which they know have a sketchy past or who are having a bad day in the UNSC's employ... Never does seem to be a shortage of those who aren't happy with their work, you know. Valkyrie responded to Bentley.

Linde came forward and retrieved Valkyrie's AI quite suddenly, putting Valkyrie back into her helmet as she walked away.

"Go ahead and finish gathering what you need Bentley, I'll be right back." She said.

She walked outside of the facility and had Valkyrie boost the signal so she could hear the transmission she was picking up more clearly.

"Uhm.... Hello? Anyone there?" She heard a voice say.

Without interference from the building structure to impede her, the signal came through loud and clear.

"This is SPARTAN-017 of the UNSC. Identify yourself." She said into her comm to whomever was making the transmission.

Alexander heard a female voice answer in his helmet. Shit I just broadcast to everyone didn't I? He shook his head, then cautiously keyed the button on the side of the helmet. That's how they did it right? "Good you aren't a rebel. Phew. Uhhmm. This is, uhh... He thought for a moment. Should you tell them you took the ODST armor and that you are a civillian? Isn't there some sort of law against it? He continued. "Sergeant Jon Micheals sir. I mean Maam. Is there, uh, anyone else with you? I have been wandering around for quite awhile... Hoping to see a friendly face. I'm outside what I think is an ONI base...Need me to do anything for you?" Alexander patted his Rail Rifle more so to make sure he hadn't lost it on the way here smiled when he realized it was still safely on his back. He wrung his hands nervously, knowing he was about to meet a SPARTAN. The same SPARTANs that could just as easily punch your face into your skull if you ticked them off...

---

"Sergeant Jon Micheals sir. I mean Maam. Is there, uh, anyone else with you? I have been wandering around for quite awhile... Hoping to see a friendly face. I'm outside what I think is an ONI base...Need me to do anything for you?"

Linde was silent for a moment, with Valkyrie chiming in a thought and a joke while masking the comm from being heard on the other end.

"So... Sergeant Michaels..." Linde replied, slight sarcasm in her tone, "You're outside what you think is an ONI base? Do you see any markings which would distinguish it as such, or perhaps do you see any signs around you that would indicate it's being used by anything or anyone other than UNSC personnel?" She asked.

Thanks to Valkyrie, Linde was able to keep the signal strong as she walked back inside the base she was at where Bentley was still finishing up getting ready to leave, so Linde gathered what she could carry or drag back and took off to wait for Bentley outside at the entrance.

---

John took a head count at the end of the day after all was said and done. Two SPARTANs, a scientist, an ODST, and a guy who had taken his roommate's ODST armor and worn it for protection. His little charade hadn't worked out on Linde very well, as she was able to pick out his little white lie without ever laying eyes on him. She seemed to have a knack for the little details which most others tended to miss. It was quite attractive actually. The other SPARTAN seemed nice enough, but was a little less talkative than Linde was.

Speaking of... He thought to himself.

Linde was laying out in the sun with her helmet sitting next to her and her long flowing dark brown hair cascading down from the debris she was laying on. It was quite a sight, to see such a beautiful woman wearing SPARTAN armor. John never thought he'd see the day where he saw a SPARTAN's face. Her skin was not as pale as he thought it might be, given her time spent inside. She was quite the sight for sore eyes, actually, and she had ben approached by some of the male civilians more than once about spending time with them and talking about random things which John felt were completely unnecessary and not useful to their situation.

As it turned out when Linde got back with Bentley and the other guy, Alexander, the equipment found was nice for Bentley's research, but not much more. Linde had thought that she could use a few things she found to make a radio to call out, but it was no use. They were stuck here on the planet for another three weeks minimum, with almost no ammo to protect themselves with anymore. The only ammunition they had, really, were the SPARTANs themselves, as they were weapons in their own right in a way that most other guns could never be. Still, John found himself missing that feeling of a full ammo clip in his guns. There really wasn't anything quite like a fully loaded weapon to make an ODST feel protected and useful.

Linde, on the other hand, was laying quietly in the sun and enjoying the feeling of it on her face. It had been a while since she was able to just lay outside and relax like this, so she was enjoying every minute of it. The others seemed to still have a slight sense of unease, but thankfully their time spent at this base was rather uneventful. Even the local wildlife had left them alone for quite some time, which was somewhat strange, but Linde decided not to question a blessing. Instead, she just continued to lay out under the sun.

Bentley felt a tinge of curiosity towards what had been in the computers before him, but decided it was too dangerous to let sitting and too boring to take himself. With that in mind he simply reset the computer, taking pains to make all the old data unrecoverable. With that he returned to his reactor, and after a period of waiting instead found Linde at the door waiting for him.

All-in-all the return back to the group was uneventful, and the next couple days were even more boring. Though a currently "missing" civilian had confirmed that natural horizontal evolution was currently outside his ability to design. Seems more research on the gametic level genetics was required for that. But he could artificially replicate it between hosts provided they both were infused with nanites, that was something he found out three years ago. Currently, he was happily working away at his reactor, which was in its cart. Fortunately his pet had found the all terrain model other wise the thing would have to be discarded. He had just finished implementing an improvised version of the Covenants magnetic arrays, and it was just enough to push the machine past equivalency. He'd have to make a real one later, it'd be more efficient and maybe even more powerful than his current set. He'd also need an expert on gamma radiation if he wanted to really use the energy of his machine.

"HAHA! I DID IT!!!" Bentley hopped up and skipped around his machine a bit, hands clapping the entire time. "Just exceeded equivalency, WE GOT POWER!!!" His current method of halting gamma radiation involved a layer of a helium bose-einstein condensate followed by lead. The condensate is cold enough to slow the radiation down to that of a bicycle and thus stopped by the lead, the excess energy is then converted back into maintaining the condensate. Earlier an extra power source, similar to the fusion reactors on the SPARTAN's suits had served to make sure this could occur, since the reactor could now contain itself, this meant more power was available for use.

After his quick celebration, Jeff the monk tapped his shoulder, causing him to calm down. "Oh yeah, power source is useless without something to be powered." The monkey kept chattering, apparently not pleased with being misunderstood. "Tommy I don't speak Capuchin, so this really isn't getting us anywhere." With that the monkey stormed off, perhaps to find a new playmate, but a quick ping from his nanites got his attention, it was a notice saying that the best he could do to stop the SPARTANS was force the armor to lock for thirty seconds. "Seems like I may be stuck playing by the rules this time." Which gave him a bad premonition, he willingly tapped into the UNSC communications just to have a private chat with the soldiers.

The machines converted his thoughts into words on the channels, Is it me, or is something up? After all, the Covenant took this place and haven't glassed it. Nor have they to my knowledge begun to construct a shipyard...are they searching for something? The message was in a text format, encryption code was red. He'd just sacrificed any chance of him being a civilian, but something was just wrong. Two Prowlers, the fact the Covenant hadn't glassed the planet- heck even two SPARTANS that arrived on scene in such a timely manner, one of which with exceedingly high rank. Chance might exist, but so many chances at once usually meant that there was something going on behind the scenes.

---

Linde noticed Bentley looking a little strange as she opened her eyes to look around and see how everyone was doing. Even though she didn't stand up or even bother to sit up from her position laying down on the debris, she thought it'd be nice to instigate some conversation in this otherwise too quiet environment.

"Something ailing you Bentley?" She called over.

Being as advanced as she was, Valkyrie had noticed something off about the good scientist. While she didn't know exactly what it was, she warned Linde about him and told her to keep an eye on the man. Whatever he was doing, and whatever it was which was bothering Valkyrie about him was enough to make the AI nervous in his presence.

John heard the call and walked over, hoping to join in on the conversation just in case there was something he could add if the need arose.