Military Calendar September 12, 2525, 0605 Hours.
Aboard UNSC Destroyer Pioneer, En Route to Eridanus.
The corridors of the Pioneer were filled with the metallic tang characteristic of recycled air.
Overhead fluorescent lights hummed on low, bathing everything in a ghastly pale glow.
John stood outside the briefing room door, with Kelly, Fred, and Linda lined up behind him.
Sam hadn’t arrived yet—he was always the last to show up, as if asserting his own brand of independence.
Dr. Halsey’s office sat at the end of the corridor, its lights currently on.
John could see Chief Petty Officer Mendez’s silhouette moving behind the frosted glass window like a silent sentinel.
Footsteps echoed from the far end of the hallway.
John turned his head and saw four figures walking toward them.
Tucker walked in the lead, his pace light and confident, a lingering trace of a smile at the corner of his mouth.
Riley followed behind him holding a datapad, its screen casting a blue glow over his face.
Cohen walked with heavy, powerful strides, every step asserting unquestionable force.
Ethan brought up the rear with an even, steady pace, like a precisely calibrated machine.
Tucker grinned and nodded at John.
It was a tacit understanding between brothers-in-arms—no words required.
They had forged this trust through countless training exercises, the kind where you could entrust your back to another in a heartbeat.
“Everyone here?” Sam’s voice came from around the corner.
He walked over and fell into line, his face wearing its usual stern expression.
It looked as though it were carved from stone, devoid of any emotional fluctuation.
“Yes,” John said.
The door to Halsey’s office slid open.
Chief Petty Officer Mendez stepped out, his expression granite as always, showing no emotion whatsoever.
He nodded, gesturing for them to enter.
Inside the briefing room stood a single holographic projection table.
Soft blue light danced across its surface, casting countless tiny specks of luminescence.
Halsey stood beside the table, her fingers trailing across the hologram.
Dark circles sat under her eyes; she had slept very little recently, a fact John could easily see.
Halsey was one of the smartest people they had ever met.
She was one of the founders of the Spartan program, the woman who had taken seventy-five children from their parents and turned them into what they were today.
John didn’t know what to think of her.
He respected her intelligence, but he also felt a subtle unease; the way she looked at them sometimes felt like she was examining test subjects.
“Spartans,” she said. You are reading on g.com, the official source.
All nine Spartans snapped to attention as one.
The movement was perfectly synchronized, as if performed by a single person.
“At ease,” Halsey said, her voice calm and firm.
“You have completed all your training. Now it is time for you to execute a real mission.”
She pressed a switch on the holo-table.
A star map materialized in the air, depicting a remote system.
Those stars looked so distant, as if from another universe entirely.
John stared at that starry expanse, a strange sensation welling up inside him—a mixture of excitement and tension, anticipation and apprehension.
“The Eridanus system,” Halsey said.
Her finger swept across the star map, zooming in on the region.
“There is an Insurrectionist base here, commanded by a former UNSC officer named Colonel Robert Watts. He defected eight months ago, taking a corvette and a wealth of classified intelligence with him.”
The star map magnified further, revealing a chain of asteroids and a massive space station.
The station looked like a giant iron beast lurking in the void.
John stared at the star map, a strange feeling rising within him.
This was their first real mission—not a drill, not an exercise, but actual war.
They were going to bring back a traitor, no matter the cost.
“Your mission is to infiltrate this base and capture Colonel Watts alive,” Halsey said, her voice turning grave.
“I want him alive. At all costs.”
Mendez stepped forward, his voice like sandpaper scraping against metal: “Shoot first, ask questions later.”
John didn’t speak.
He simply nodded, etching those words into his mind.
He knew what they meant: on the battlefield, mercy was a luxury.
“You will travel there aboard a civilian freighter,” Halsey continued.
“The Laden. It arrives at the supply depot in two days. At that time, you will board the freighter and conceal yourselves among the cargo.”
She looked at John.
John met her gaze without flinching.
“You are the tactical commander for this operation,” she said.
John saluted.
“Yes, Doctor.”
“Mission codename: Eridanus Raid. Extraction protocol: emergency beacon, or return to the Pioneer. Mission time limit—” She paused.
“Thirteen hours.”
Thirteen hours.
John repeated the number silently in his mind. Read this novel at g.com for the best experience.
That meant they only had thirteen hours to accomplish infiltration, tracking, assault, and extraction.
If anything went wrong at any stage, the mission could fail.
But they had no choice.
This was their first mission, their chance to prove themselves.
Linda raised her hand.
“What if Watts isn’t at the base?”
“He’ll be there,” Mendez said, his tone leaving no room for doubt.
“Intelligence confirmed it.”
Sam asked, “What about extraction transport?”
“I will have a Pelican standing by at the docks,” Mendez said, turning his gaze toward Sam.
“Sam, you’re responsible for identifying the airlock locations.”
“Understood,” Sam nodded.
“Any other questions?” Halsey swept her gaze across them.
No one spoke.
“Good.” Halsey shut off the holographic projection.
The star field dissolved into thin air, leaving only the pale fluorescent lights.
“John, stay behind. The rest of you, assemble at 0300.”
The others filed out.
John noticed Ethan glanced back at him as he left—an unreadable look, as if conveying some silent message.
Then the door slid shut, leaving John alone with the two officers.
“John,” Halsey’s voice softened.
Only the three of them remained in the room, making the low hum of the fluorescent lights especially clear.
“I am promoting you to Petty Officer Third Class. From this moment on, you are the leader of these people.”
John saluted.
“I won’t let you down, Doctor.”
“I know you won’t,” she said.
A strange look appeared in her eyes—something akin to pride, yet mixed with worry.
It was a look John had seen many times before; when he was still a child, the instructors had looked at him with something similar.
“Go on. Get some rest,” she said.
John turned and left.
His footsteps echoed down the empty corridor like a slow, rhythmic metronome.