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Halo Side Story Chapter Four: The Plot Thickens
Posted By: Jordan Dotson<juniormint37@hotmail.com>
Date: 10 October 2002, 12:34 am
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Jessica Monroe walked through the halls of the Archimedes, she was completely lost. She wasn't a member of the UNSC, she was a reporter assigned to cover the return of the Angels back to the front. The red tape she had to get around to get this story was amazing, after three ONI security checks, Two interviews with the unit's general commander, and a letter from her supervisor, she still wasn't fully cleared to put her story on the nets. She also had to be escorted by an armed and uniformed ODST. He wasn't a bad guy, an Australian by the name of Paul Fincher. He led her through the confusing maze of corridors that led to the Angel's quarters. He stopped at a door and knocked.
"The door's unlocked, you know." A voice answered from the inside.
Fincher poked his head in "Someone here to see you sir."
"Who?" the voice answered
"A Miss..." He turned towards her and whispered, "What's your name again?"
"Jessica Monroe." She answered
"Jessica Monroe." He said poking his head back into the room.
"On what business?" The voice responded.
"She's a reporter." Fincher said
"Well send her in then." The voice responded
" Go right in ma'am." Fincher said turning to her
"I heard him." She responded matter-of-factly.
She walked into the room to find it was a neatly kept military bunkroom. Several duffel bags were sitting on bunks or at the foot of bunks. The Angels were scattered about the room, two of the larger Angels were arm wrestling at a desk. Three others, two men and a woman, were playing cards on a bunk. One of the angels was fiddling with some form of electronic device. Another Angel sat on his bunk cleaning and maintaining his sniper rifle. A rather attractive female Angel who was leaning back in a rolling chair with her feet the sniper's bunk, gave her a once over followed closely by a dark look. The Angel whose bunk her feet were on glanced at her with a look of annoyance and lightly kicked the base of her chair. She glared at him and tossed her head towards Monroe, followed by holding her hand out at chest level and shaking it. Monroe could clearly read the unsaid conversation. The female Angel clearly meant, I don't like her, she doesn't seem right. The other Angel, who was obviously a superior officer, made a slashing gesture with his hand across his throat as if to say, knock it off. Then as an after thought he pointed to his eye, then to Monroe, then shrugged, Keep an eye on her if you want. He then turned to her.
"So, you're here to do a story on the Angels?"
She straightened in surprise, " Yes, how did you know?"
"My superiors told me you'd be here sometime today, I'm not quite as under informed as I used to be." He said putting away his sniper rifle.
"Well, I'm Jessica Monroe." She said recovering her composure.
"Lieutenant Dotson, The Angel's squad leader." He said offering a hand to shake.
She glanced at the offered hand and then shook it, " Your speech was excellent, Lieutenant."
"Sorry, ma'am it'll take more than brown-nosing to get answers out of me. Not to be rude of course."
"Oh come on, Dotson, you're a sucker for a pretty face." Said one of the arm wrestling Angels.
"Hey, your lucky I just put my rifle away or we would see if you could dodge 14.5 AP rounds as well as offensive lineman, David." Dotson retorted jokingly.
"Anyway, lets cut to the chase." Dotson said while sitting down.
"Would you mind if I recorded this conversation?" Monroe inquired
"Go ahead, I really don't care."
"Alright then," Monroe said reaching into her bag for a recorder.
"First question," she said switching her recorder on, "Why do you think the Angels were called back into active duty?"
"Why?" Dotson answered, "Because next to the Spartans, we are the best"
"But the Spartans were all killed at Reach!" she said
"I guess that makes us the best then" He answered nonchalantly
"Second question," She continued, "What is your outlook on humanity's future?"
"Bleak," he said, "But me, along with every other person in the UNSC, will send as many of those alien scumbags back to hell as we can before we give up the ghost. We're not gonna roll over and die just because we're taking some licks"
"Final question, how do you intend to help humanity survive?"
"The same way I always do, kill the enemy, complete the objectives, win the war." He responded.
"Well I thank you for your time, Lieutenant." She said shutting off her recorder and putting at away.
"Anytime, ma'am."
As Monroe walked out the door Dotson couldn't help but feel that he had just committed treason.
Some distance away, in a deserted section of the Mandolin highlands, a meeting was taking place. The meeting place was a grand estate; it covered almost a hundred acres of land and was done in a combination of Greco-Roman and modern architecture. A limousine pulled in front of the entranceway and a man got out. He wasn't an ordinary man. He moved with astounding grace and agility for a man of his age. He had long flowing white hair that reached to his shoulders. His face looked like he had seen decades upon decades roll by, which he had. According to the public, he was an eccentric billionaire named Elijah Marks, when in reality he was something more sinister.
The doors to the estate opened as he approached, as if moved by an unseen hand. Upon his entry to a grand foyer, a second man greeted him. The second man was a black man of equal or greater age. He had curly white hair and wore a long sinuous white robe. He walked down the stair with a greater grace and agility than the other man did.
"You're late, Marks." He said in a deep, gravelly voice.
"I know, and I apologize." Marks responded, "Did you read Monroe's report?"
"Yes," the black man responded.
"What's your opinion on it?"
"I find it, ... Disconcerting. Dotson and his squad are back and they seem to be healed of all of the scars of Capelli. And he seems to be determined to fight until the end."
"Him and his Angels should've died at Capelli." Marks said with a note of irritation.
"Ackerson was a fool!" the black man said, turning towards Marks in anger " he should have nuked the area and wiped The Angels clean off the planet and out of our way."
"What ever happened to Ackerson anyway?" Marks asked
"He was killed by one of the covenant mortar tanks during a mission to hunt down the survivors of the nuclear strike on Capelli."
"I assume the Covenant gunner was one of ours."
"Yes, and to answer your next question he was killed by an ODST with a Jackhammer launcher, leaving no traces to our organization." The black man responded
"Not entirely," Marks responded, "Colonel Curtis initiated an investigation into Capelli."
"What has he found out?" the black man said, showing a small amount of fear.
"Next to nothing," Marks responded, "he knows Ackerson was responsible, but he has nothing linking it to our organization."
"Make sure he doesn't find anything linking us to Ackerson"
"And if he does?" Marks asked
"Deal with him." The black man responded with sinister meaning
"Speaking of loose ends, what should we do with Monroe?"
"Eliminate her, she knows too much for a hired spy." The black man said
The Black Man turned to leave and then stopped and said over his shoulder.
"Do not fail me, Marks."
"I wont." Marks answered
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