- 1900 hours, 13 October 2549 // UNSC Memento Mori, Reach orbit, Epsilon Eridani
The rear hatch of the Pelican opened with a slow hiss, the pressurized atmosphere mixing with that of the larger vessel before equalizing a moment later. Ethan Woods stood in the blood tray, a single bag at his feet, steal eyes glancing about the hangar bay as men and women scurried about with whatever tasks assigned to them. In the organized chaos Ethan spotted a stationary figure standing not too far from where the transport had docked, a young woman in clean pressed fatigues and a pleasant smile on her rounded face. The soldier stepped down from the Pelican, bag in hand, and was greeted by the woman with a small bow of the head.
“Commander Woods.” Her voice was light with a slight cheerful undertone.
“Lieutenant, actually,” Ethan corrected, the promotion still new to his tongue.
“A technicality. I’m Lieutenant Welles, Communications Officer for the ship. The captain would like to speak with you on the bridge. If you’d please follow me.”
Lieutenant Welles led Ethan away from the hangar bay and deeper into the ship. The halls were near identical to any other vessel Ethan had previously served aboard but held the indefinable look of something new. Untouched by war. More intriguing was the seeming lack of crewmen. The halls of the UNSC Avalon, Ethan’s previous assignment, were not often bare to such an extent as they were now. Of course comparing a frigate to a destroyer was akin to comparing a Grunt to an Elite but regardless the Memento Mori seemed to be operating on a skeleton crew at best for a ship this size. There was the off chance that not all crewmen were aboard as of yet or that this section of the ship was merely empty for the time being, but ONI had a history of working well enough away from standard procedure so Ethan felt certain to a degree that what he saw was what he got.
“This ship is designed to be operated with fewer personnel than other ships of comparable size,” Welles stated suddenly, knowing exactly what Ethan was thinking without him needing to ask. “Less crew means more dedicated space for other critical systems, chiefly the reactor and cooling structures. Our operations within the UNSC are unorthodox as it is, stealth being the ship’s foremost priority, so something as trivial as crew size shouldn’t be cause for alarm.”
Ethan looked to the woman, his face passive. “Unusual is all.”
“We work for ONI.” That was all she said. That was all that needed to be said.
They reached the bridge soon enough, the wideset doors sliding open as they approached. Inside the room was dark, the only light coming from a multitude of dimly lit consoles and the planet Reach as it was framed in the viewport. The bridge, like other areas of the ship, was noticeably bare, only a handful of stations being manned at this time. A few heads turned to look upon the new arrivals, most returning to their work but some giving a small wave or other gesture to acknowledge their presence.
Welles strode over to the central console, several screens showing various data readouts with a single large monitor displaying a holographic image of the current location – Reach was easy enough to identify as were the various MAC platforms encircling the world, the defensive fleet being little more than specks of blue scattered about. On either side of the map were two holo-projectors, both inactive for the time being, and sitting amongst all of this was a man who, for all it was worth, appeared to be dead to world around him. Fatigues had been abandoned for more casual wear and he was in need of a good shave, currently residing in the grey area between cleanshaven and a respectable beard.
The Communications Officer made herself known, the captain seeming to awaken with little effort, no doubt having been awake this whole time. He swiveled in his chair, facing Ethan with dark eyes that were almost challenging. Ethan, not adverse to such a thing, stood his ground, and after a moment the building tension broke with a grunt of acceptance from the captain. “Look like a someone who enjoys flying coffins.”
“14th Squadron,” Ethan admitted.
“Well, let’s set some ground rules before you go jumping off somewhere. This is my ship. I run things in orbit and I don’t need some Helljumper trying to command everything from the backseat. You’re the head honcho planetside but if you need something done from where I’m sitting then you let me do it my way.”
Ethan didn’t need to consider such a thing. He knew little in terms of naval operations and leaving such a thing in more capable hands was fine by him. “I think such an arrangement can work.”
The barest hints of a smile appeared on the man’s face. He stood, standing a bit taller than Ethan himself, hand outstretched. “Jason Shepherd.”
Ethan shook the man’s hand. “Woods.”
“Spooks drag you in? Was enjoying my post before being reassigned to a dead man’s crew. Guess I tried a little too hard over Arcadia.”
“Speaking of ONI,” came a sudden and calm voice over the ship’s intercom system, interrupting Ethan before he could reply. The rightmost of the two holo-projectors came to life, erupting in a flash of colour that was unbecoming of the dimly lit bridge. Azure light formed itself into the figure of a young woman wearing a technician’s outfit, translucent hair cropped short and square rimmed glasses perched precariously atop her nose. The A.I. didn’t wait for a response before carrying on. “Transmission from ONI Sword Base. Your handlers have an assignment for you. Should I patch them through?” The last bit was asked but said in a way that made refusing a non-option.
Shepherd sighed, collapsing back into his chair. He gave a wave of his hand, motioning for the artificial woman to go ahead with little enthusiasm. The map projection changed to that of an all too familiar face that Ethan had only recently seen in person, the same smug grin and calculating eyes as unnerving as they were face to face.
The ONI Section Head spoke in a cool manner. “Something has come up. I think this would be a good opportunity to… test your abilities. I trial run if you will. I’m certain you won’t disappoint.”
