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Chapter Two: Roll Call and Departure

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Planet Orion, Ft. Hood

UNSC Army Captain Alexander Martinez was not having a good day. For starters, he had lost a good sniper yesterday in circumstances unknown.Secondly, Zack was acting strange: although, considering that Zack was one of the most sociopathic and insane Spartans in his company, Martinez simply noted that the soldier was acting odder than usual. No, it was the fact that Martinez lost a Spartan who would have been like a son to him, and that was Tom. Groaning, Martinez walked into the base's central command center. Walking up to a communications officer, he asked, "Did that request from ONI go through?"

The comms officer nodded."Yessir," he replied. "We're getting Drifters. I mean, we get to have actual Dimensional Rift Recon troops here!Are they even better than the Spartans?"

Martinez shrugged. "I don't know," he said honestly. "I've never served with one, even though they have an outpost somewhere in the Outer Colonies, near Harvest I think."

The technician smiled."Well sir, they'll be here in about ten minutes. Oh, and ONI says that for best results, that Sierra-667 be sent with them."

Martinez nodded and left the room. Outside, he was calm. Inside, the man was furious. Zach was a loose cannon, a potential renegade that Martinez knew to be addicted to the thrill of battle. Both Martinez and Dr. Walls, God bless her soul, knew that the Spartan was a bit out of his mind, and sent him to the base psychologist often. However, the damn bastards in ONI made sure that he received a clean bill of health. Mentally fit for duty his ass, Zach was a threat. And while on the subject of threats, there was Harkov to consider as well.

Dr. Ivan Harkov was an ONI doctor, plain and simple. He was also the man in charge of making sure that all the Spartans in Bravo Company were augmented to ONI standards. In all honesty, the man creeped the hell out of Martinez. Chances were, he was the one who placed the order that Elizabeth be killed, just so that he could be head of the project here.

Martinez shook his head and entered his office, if only to tell the Spartans to assemble on the parade grounds. He did so, and with trepidation, walked out to the place where the Drifters were supposed to appear. With only a minute to go, he decided to address his troops.

"Listen up!" shouted Martinez as he looked upon the company of Spartan Vs in front on him assembled in parade rest. "This may be the only time any of you will get to see a Dimensional Rift Reconnaissance trooper, so pay attention!And last but not least, look sharp people!" All of a sudden, a small blue...tear appeared in the space reserved for high ranking dignitaries of the UNSC military and the representatives of Sanghelios and the newly discovered Voxins, a race of vulpinoids from somewhere outside the newly reclaimed Outer Colonies.It grew larger, slowly at first, but then glowed brightly.

"Atten-shun!"

With a massive flare of light, the rift soundlessly exploded, leaving the shocked Spartans - and their CO - with a rather odd sight. Some weird pink haired girl dressed in an offshoot of the old Mk. V MJOLNIR armor - well, actually, her and three others were suited in a MJOLNIR style combat suit - was currently talking rapidly to a clearly annoyed Arctic Voxin, the latter glaring at her. The Spartans also gazed in awe at the Sangheili sized robot at the back of the group.The person in an EOD suit was also interesting, with all the bombs, rockets, and all other sorts of explosives strapped onto the soldier.

What truly fascinated the Spartans was the fairly small soldier who now marched confidently up to Captain Martinez. Even though they were all about twenty meters away from the two, all of the Spartans within the first few rows could see the newcomers shining silver oak leaf cluster.Captain Martinez saluted immediately.

"Captain Alexander Martinez, serial number 55672-99070 AM sir!" He said. Most, if not all of the Spartans could hear their CO say this. The lieutenant colonel nodded.

"Name is Coyote, and I'll be the one in charge of this recovery op," he said, returning the captain's salute. "Now captain, what's your role here?"

Captain Martinez relaxed slightly. "Sir, I'm in charge of all of Beta Company's operations and procedures," he stated, turning to face the Spartans under his command. "If I may sir, I would like to say that -"

"KATHERINE ALEXANDRA DESSERICH, LEAVE THE SNIPER ALONE!! HE DOES NOT WANT TO MAKE OUT WITH YOU!!" yelled Coyote in fury. Everybody present, sans three, turned to look as Kat tried to make lewd advances toward the fox, the key word being tried. Kat was about to retort to her commanding officer when the robot walked over to her and lifted her into the air by the back of her combat vest.

Captain Martinez turned back to look at Coyote, who was currently muttering something about "what the hell are those recruiters thinking?" under his breath. Martinez wasn't sure, but he was absolutely sure that Coyote's face was scrunched up in anger behind the dull black visor of his helmet.

"Sir, about why we called you?" It was a rare occurrence that the captain showed anything close to meekness to anybody; that was reserved for the retired Lord Hood, the Arbiter, and other select members of both the UNSC and her allies.

"Yes, you called us about a missing Spartan," Coyote bluntly stated as his team moved towards the base's motor pool. Martinez nodded.

"Well, technically ONI did sir, but reasons aside, Spartan 707 disappeared at 0640 hours local time; that was about thirty - six hours ago. Last person to see him was Spartan 667." Martinez pointed towards a Spartan in the front row of the company formation. Coyote glanced over at the Spartan, glad that no one could see his disapproving face. He seemed to be a fairly typical example of what a Spartan should be: six and a half feet tall, back ramrod straight, and a spit-and-polish living weapon that didn't question orders. Also dressed in the new MJOLNIR Mk. X Powered Assault Armor. But for Coyote, something just didn't seem right about the guy.

"Sir, if anybody can help you fetch 707, Master SergeantZachary can. Now-"Captain Martinez said before he was interrupted by Coyote.

"Captain, I don't give a rat's ass about what he can do, I just want to know if he can get the job done without letting his emotions get a hold of him," Coyote interrupted sharply, helmet turned to look at his team approaching on a transport 'Hog that also had a LAAG right behind the shotgun seat and a Mongoose hitched to the back.Gym was of course not on it.Ronin was driving, Varak had the turret, Mother had shotgun, and Kat was hog tied in the back, if her constant stream of curses were any indication. "I'm also going to need whatever files you have on Spartan 707 transferred to my TACPAD. I'm sure you know the value of good intel."

Martinez nodded silently."Of course sir. Now, I have to remind you sir that the Spartans are UNSC property, more specifically ONI's so please make sure that both 707 and 667 make it back, preferably alive," the middle-aged captain said."I've been authorized by my superiors to grant you access to whatever you need. However, the damn spooks won't give you all the files on Tom, so - "

"Tom? Is that 707s name?" asked Coyote curiously as he walked towards the modified transport 'Hog, Martinez and Zach following.

"Yessir, and as an early warning, he's a sniper - scout, so you may not find him as easily as whatever it is you usually look for," Martinez responded briskly as the trio reached the medium sized jeep. To his astonishment, Coyote managed to shrug.

"He's never met Ronin.Besides, we have sensors that can pick him up. And we're pretty sure he didn't turn off the IFF tags," Coyote explained as Ronin jumped to the back to allow the lieutenant colonel access to the driver's seat. "If you're certain that no one with the right equipment is looking for you, then why bother, right? And you," Coyote said to Zach bluntly and aggresively, "Get your ass in the Hog. We'll be stopping by the armory to pack up some gear, and then we are looking for your comrade."

The TACPAD on Coyote's left wrist beeped quietly. Coyote looked down at it and smiled beneath his visor. "And now that I have some info on who this guy is, I suppose we should get going. Been a pleasure meeting you captain," Coyote stated matter-of-factly as he put the M12/M APC into gear and drove off to the armory. As the dust cloud settled, Captain Alexander Ricardo Martinez whistled.

"Damn Tom, you're gonna have a helluva time shaking these guys off, that's for sure."

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Digital World

Tom felt a shiver as he left Rena's home to go out and spar with her. Somebody back home-most likely Captain Martinez-was talking about him.Tom shrugged and ignored it.