“ IT WAS MY BIRTHDAY TWO DAYS AGO AND NO ONE TOLD ME?? FUCK “

Your Monitor on the arc went crazy when we tried destroying the flood. And then, I’m sure you know about the Didact. That makes two cases already! Plus, didn’t your AI join the flood back in the day? That makes three!

Yeah, until you go batshit crazy like all the other forerunners…

What are you looking at…?

“ Oh… right. Hobbies. “ He shrugged in defeat. “ I don’t exactly… understand hobbies. I talked to someone else about them before but, I don’t necessarily have any. Nor do I understand why other soldiers have them… “

( Cocks assault rifle menacingly )

...is this going to be a rerun of Halo 4? God damn it...

Yeah. Uh. You- You think you could help with, like, the Banished?

Yeah... instead, Cortana... ... ... Sigh

For one of me, yes. For three of me? Hell, we could've taken down the Covenant in their prime.

" Anything specific? Not really... I'm just kind of... browsing around town, so to speak... " Eventually, he made it right up to the counter. He glanced to see what kind of pastries and things she might have baked " I don't know what the norm is for civilians... do I just say 'one bread please?' "

" And what if they don't want to tell you about those things? Or what if it is classified? " Chief crossed his arms over his chest, a sigh coming out from behind his helmet " I can't tell you how many times I've went no-contact because of secret operations... "

" A new weapons? I'm unsure if a civilian can craft something that hurts more than anything the UNSC can come up with. " Chief nods " Though I would be willing to see what you can make. "

Wait, really? I thought transformers had something to do with... powers stations or something

" 'Removing one head will only see another take it's place-' exactly! With the Harbinger gone, another Endless will break free and find a way to save their kind. Only by ending the Banished threat can we truly be safe and make sure no more of those things get out! " He let's out a sigh---

Hell the three of us could take down the Banished in a week, I bet

Stares at the reader “ I need a weapon. “

Whats a... transformer?

" Ain't that the truth. Spartans die every day, and marines and others die even more... " He sighed " We can win, though. Ain't nothing gonna stop us to all of us are dead. That's what I think. "

Oh, yeah, that's cooler... Sometimes I wish I could turn into a tank y'know. Could use it on the battlefield...

" Yeah, well, I ain't heard about much 'collaborating' in my time... I do know about Reach though. And every other planet they've exterminated. Those damn Covenant... " He sighs " The aliens I've met certainly haven't been the nicest, to say the least. "

" A bakery? " Hm. It did smell like bread, after all... " Then, well, what exactly do you bake here? I am... curious about this place. " By 'this place' he kind of meant the whole world... but he'll leave that out of the conversation for now. He took a few more heavy steps towards the counter---

What? Like... you could give yourself bigger boobs?

" ...are you saying the Harbinger broke out of her cage on her own? And now with her dead it doesn't matter? " He shook his head. Letting out a sigh, he took a step closer to the Master Juridical " You're wrong. Something broke her out of that prison- and that something has to be the Banished! ---

" 'Live life,' huh? " Chief wasn't too sure about this. But, hell, if he's talking a fellow soldiers who was similar to him... it couldn't be that hard, right? " Okay... well, what do you think we should do then? I have never really... 'lived' like this before, so... " ---

" I see. " Chief let out a small sigh. Not really sure what to do. " I don't suppose you could have my commanding officer do the paperwork, hm? " Chief looked down at the book in his hand, his helmet tilting as her tried to make sense of just the title. He hopes this book is helpful for him...

" Oh. How... human. " Chief stared blankly at his fellow soldier. Even if he had a mask on- you could tell, he was slightly shocked. Chief, on the contrary, was only raised a soldier. From birth to death. 'Personal' items were not a concept to him. So he wasn't really sure how to react...

" I see. That's good. Well, um... " He let out a small sigh. To be fair, he didn't really think this through before asking away. " Sometimes I feel... scared, approaching other Spartans. Mainly because of Cortana... I'm scared people will blame me for her so... How would someone go about---

||: So uh Took me another five days to start doing replies, sorry! My GF's childhood cat passed away on Saturday so I've been helping/comforting her.

||: Let's begin with the obvious. It's been 3 months Now, why did I disappear for 3 months? Sometimes I just disappear because I lose Muse or whatnot. But this time, I had an actual reason! So, back in November of '24, I was just a dude chilling in Central Texas. Now? I'm currently in France!

I miss her.

||: Sorry, I wanted to get to replies and stuff today, but I was spending time with my Grandmother and cleaning… Hopefully tomorrow I can manage my time better and actually be able to spend some time for myself 🥹👉👈

" Er... " Chief paused as he tried to think. In times of peace, he was normally cryo-frozen... he didn't exactly have 'downtime' " I don't think so. I do enjoy spending time at the range, but... it's pretty important to make sure a soldier can hit its target. " He shook his head, trying to---

" Oh, hello... " Chief continued to look around as he slowly approached the counter. It was a nice little place. In the same vein, he wasn't exactly sure what this place was... As he stopped at the counter, he looked down at the human in front of him. " What... exactly is this place? I'm not---

" Really? What are you going to get? New weapons? " Chief crossed his arms over his chest. He's always interested in the new and latest weaponry. If there was a hint he was missing out on anything...

" Emrys, huh? " He nods. " It's good to meet you. " He didn't 'have a group' so to say. No, from a young age, Halsey saw Chief's potential. And, well, she made sure he didn't form attachments with others. So he wasn't dependent on them. Perhaps that lack of attachments is what's made him---

" I appreciate it. " He sighs " But before anything. I'd like to ask your name. Everyone knows who I am, but I certainly don't know who everyone is... so... "

Huh He's surprised they didn't raise any other concerns. Normally, marines would ask for fire support, or some sort of advantage... but they just didn't care. He might actually get along with these people Cocking his rifle, he follows them, actually a little eager to see what they're going to do

" Yeah... if it's not too much to ask of you? " Surprisingly, it seemed like Chief himself was actually slightly embarrassed. It obvious he's not very social... I mean, that's what happens when you see all your friends die in front of you and then get frozen for a few years without processing it..

- @delicaterose.bsky.social - Everythings been a bust. No matter how many people he's talked to, books he's read, or things he's done... he still doesn't feel 𝘩𝘶𝘮𝘢𝘯. Everything he's tried on base hasn't worked. So he's come up with a better solution. Go off of base. And he did exactly that---

" I said this to the other one, and I'll say it to you too. Wearing our armor helps against slipping. " Of course, Chief was practically never out of his armor. If he was out of his room, he was in his armor. " Anyway, where were you off to, Spartan? "

" I... " Truth be told, he didn't need anything. Outside of his curiosity, he really has no reason to speak to this Spartan. However, the truth was always easier than making something up. So he'll go with the truth. " I wanted to... get to know my fellow Spartans. If that makes sense? "

" Huh. I was expecting it to be smaller... " Is being a human really this complicated? If only he had Cortana now... " Thank you. Again. " Chief picked up the book, glancing at it. " You said this has a lot of what I need to know, right? " Tilting his helmet, his gaze then shifted back---

" The hell is a Jedi? " His shoulders and helmet dropped, as he stared at the ground in defeat. " Ugh. Fine. " Looking back up, he re-centered himself. No matter what, he's got to the job done. " Alright, two klicks North of here is an entrenched Covenant position. We need to hit that place---

" Look, the aliens came at us first, I was just protecting humanity. " He shrugged. What else was he supposed to do, let them murder civilians? " That, and I also stopped them from igniting a superweapon that would have cleansed all life in the universe. So I feel I'm justified! "

" Huh. I suppose all Spartans have their quirks. " He shrugs, walking in front of her to open the door to the mess hall. " Do you spend any time down in the range? It's where I spend a lot of my off time. Never can be too good at hitting targets, I think... "

Oh, that makes a lot more sense then... ( Flashbacks of a certain blue AI woman... )

" So we're being a grammer Elite now? " He shakes his head. " But I'll give you that. Fine. Help us clear out the rest of these Covenant, and I'll let you go without reporting you to command. You think you can do that? "