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Halo: Bad Blood: Difference between revisions
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On their way to Cassidy III and the settlement called the [[Hole in the Wall]], Mickey claims the Rebels will have nothing but hostility towards Buck and his crew for being part of the UNSC, but Romeo, holding back tears of laugher at Mickey’s reasoning, rebuts that because the Hole in the Wall is one of the only human settlements left undiscovered by Cortana, they’re going to want and need help. Veronica then explains that ONI had been using Cassidy III to store goods during the Human-Covenant War after having discovered the colony by accident due to a [[slipspace drive]] malfunction. One of humanity’s backup plans was to retreat there if Earth was destroyed. Dare also reiterates that their intent is not to expose the colony but to understand how Cassidy III has stayed out of Cortana’s sight, to replicate the phenomenon for other colonies. Mickey acknowledges. Later, in the cockpit, Dare and Buck also talk about their relationship. Veronica brings up marriage, and Buck, reluctant to commit to a relationship that he’d inevitably abandon by dying, quickly changes topics. | On their way to Cassidy III and the settlement called the [[Hole in the Wall]], Mickey claims the Rebels will have nothing but hostility towards Buck and his crew for being part of the UNSC, but Romeo, holding back tears of laugher at Mickey’s reasoning, rebuts that because the Hole in the Wall is one of the only human settlements left undiscovered by Cortana, they’re going to want and need help. Veronica then explains that ONI had been using Cassidy III to store goods during the Human-Covenant War after having discovered the colony by accident due to a [[slipspace drive]] malfunction. One of humanity’s backup plans was to retreat there if Earth was destroyed. Dare also reiterates that their intent is not to expose the colony but to understand how Cassidy III has stayed out of Cortana’s sight, to replicate the phenomenon for other colonies. Mickey acknowledges. Later, in the cockpit, Dare and Buck also talk about their relationship. Veronica brings up marriage, and Buck, reluctant to commit to a relationship that he’d inevitably abandon by dying, quickly changes topics. | ||
They soon exit slipspace, and Dare immediately contacts Cassidy III as a UNSC [[diplomatic shuttle|diplomatic vessel]]. With no response, they circle the planet to make sure the Front sees and acknowledges them, and are soon contacted by Cassidy Ground Control, who hands the comms to Mayor Juanita Wells. Although she initially threatens to shoot the Condor out of sky, Mickey convinces her to negotiate, and Dare then navigates to a beacon on the desert outskirts—a stony basin at the south end of the city. While Vergil works on figuring out the reason for Cassidy III’s radio silence, Alpha Nine leaves, with more than a dozen soldiers surrounding them. Mayor Wells appears, and Dare argues that the UNSC would simply ignore the colony’s presence as opposed to Cortana, who would impose her kneel-or-die rule if she discovered the planet, and for that reason they should trust Alpha-Nine. With Wells unconvinced, Veronica brings Mickey forward, and he eventually sways the soldiers by insisting that humans themselves are easier to reason with then Cortana. Wells also gives in and motions Alpha-Nine towards the city, where they ride odd wheeled platforms to an outdoor amphitheater. Over tea, Veronica explains the future of the planet under humanity, and after a long back-and-forth argument, eventually convinces Wells to share her information. She explains the source of the cloaking: the three [[Forerunner]] spires around which the settlement was built. The cloaking is essentially a massive slipspace shell—an extremely thin field with extraordinary density. Ships can fly through unphased, but it blocks all communications in and out of the planet. To counter this, the citizens of Cassidy III constructed a long antenna, explaining how they learned of [[Cortana#Reclamation|Cortana’s ascendancy]]. Wells reasons that replication of the effect is not feasible, as scientists had been studying the phenomenon for years without much progress, but Dare proposes to leave Vergil to analyze it, using Mickey as [[wikipedia:Collateral_(finance)|collateral]] to ensure the Huragok’s safe return. | They soon exit slipspace, and Dare immediately contacts Cassidy III as a UNSC [[diplomatic shuttle|diplomatic vessel]]. With no response, they circle the planet to make sure the Front sees and acknowledges them, and are soon contacted by Cassidy Ground Control, who hands the comms to Mayor [[Juanita Wells]]. Although she initially threatens to shoot the Condor out of sky, Mickey convinces her to negotiate, and Dare then navigates to a beacon on the desert outskirts—a stony basin at the south end of the city. While Vergil works on figuring out the reason for Cassidy III’s radio silence, Alpha Nine leaves, with more than a dozen soldiers surrounding them. Mayor Wells appears, and Dare argues that the UNSC would simply ignore the colony’s presence as opposed to Cortana, who would impose her kneel-or-die rule if she discovered the planet, and for that reason they should trust Alpha-Nine. With Wells unconvinced, Veronica brings Mickey forward, and he eventually sways the soldiers by insisting that humans themselves are easier to reason with then Cortana. Wells also gives in and motions Alpha-Nine towards the city, where they ride odd wheeled platforms to an outdoor amphitheater. Over tea, Veronica explains the future of the planet under humanity, and after a long back-and-forth argument, eventually convinces Wells to share her information. She explains the source of the cloaking: the three [[Forerunner]] spires around which the settlement was built. The cloaking is essentially a massive slipspace shell—an extremely thin field with extraordinary density. Ships can fly through unphased, but it blocks all communications in and out of the planet. To counter this, the citizens of Cassidy III constructed a long antenna, explaining how they learned of [[Cortana#Reclamation|Cortana’s ascendancy]]. Wells reasons that replication of the effect is not feasible, as scientists had been studying the phenomenon for years without much progress, but Dare proposes to leave Vergil to analyze it, using Mickey as [[wikipedia:Collateral_(finance)|collateral]] to ensure the Huragok’s safe return. | ||
Veronica radios Sadie, but she refuses to stay behind with Vergil. Veronica keeps pushing, but Sadie cuts the comm. When the Condor arrives, Vergil explains that he found a portion of Leonidas’ code in Gretchen’s armor. Buck, worried, has Vergil look at Dutch’s [[MJOLNIR_Powered_Assault_Armor_(GEN2)|suit]], which also contained the AI. When plugged into a [[data pad|spare tablet]], all forms of communications removed for safety, Leonidas explains that he had already contacted Cortana’s distributed forces just after they landed on Cassidy III. Minutes later, just as Alpha-Nine takes off in the condor, a [[Guardian]] arrives, sending an [[EMP]] throughout the Hole in the Wall. This renders the aircraft powerless, and after they fall back down, Wells moves in to arrest them with her forces. Realizing that she would need their help to evacuate the citizens, she forms an unlikely alliance with the crew. As Vergil works on getting the Condor flight-worthy once again, Wells decides to use him to fix the colony’s [[Civilian_vehicles#Aircraft/Spacecraft|civilian transports]] and help the Hole in the Wall residents escape. Shortly after, Forerunner Armigers begin emerging from portals around the city, attacking residents and Alpha-Nine. Wells shows Alpha-Nine minus Dutch to the city’s armaments, heading to the [[First Precinct]] for ammo and [[ODST armor|suit]] for Mickey. | |||
Vergil fixes the Condor as more portals open, and the Guardian opens fire on the city, melting buildings and razing the landscape. When Gretchen and the Condor arrive, Vergil and Sadie hop out to fix Wells’ radio, fix up another wheeled platform, and head to the [[Cassidy III Airfield|airfield]], where the civilian transports lay dormant. After another short argument between Buck and Mickey, the team arrives at the warehouse, where every corner of the hangar is packed with citizens determined to evacuate. Wells pushed Vergil and Sadie to fix large transports as pilots in [[Broadsword|Broadswords]] distract the Guardian from the hangar until everyone evacuates. However, citizens are cluttered around ships, preventing them from properly exiting the hangar, so Buck fires rounds into the air to get their attention while Mickey, seen as a hero in their eyes, demands them to move. At this point, the Guardian had just shot down the last of fighters, but not all transports had departed. As a last-ditch effort to prevent their total destruction, Buck reactivates Leonidas to communicate with the Guardian, spreading Wells’ reluctant [[wikipedia:surrender]]. He agrees, so Vergil reenables communications on the tablet, and Leonidas broadcasts that their planet is “responsive” and ready to submit to Cortana’s rule. More soldiers begin to appear in portals around them on the airfield, but shortly thereafter leave through one big portal to the snow-capped Forerunner spires of where Buck notes as Genesis. The Guardian detaches a “durance node” to retrieve Leonidas, as per his agreement with Alpha-Nine and Governor Wells, and Buck steps forward to comply. Placing the tablet on the “durance node,” Buck is subsequently informed by Leonidas that the Spartans are no longer needed in a galaxy ruled by the “[[Created]],” so he flees to the Condor commanding Gretchen to leave ASAP. After takeoff, just twenty seconds from slipspace, the dropship is hit with another EMP. Now in freefall, Vergil climbs into the cockpit to fix a control panel and hitches a ride on Buck to repair an engine from the outside. As soon as he succeeds, Buck demands that Gretchen start the engines without them. She obeys, sending the Spartan and Huragok into freefall, but soon returns, parking below the two skydivers with Condor bay doors open. The rest of the crew literally launch head-over-heels to grab onto Buck, with Mickey jumping out to be the final link that saves them. With all passengers accounted for, the Condor finally hits slipspace. | |||
After a series of [[Cole Protocol|random jumps]], they head back to ''Infinity''. Mickey is assigned an armored escort instead of being imprisoned, Dutch and Gretchen head off to their first joint quarters in a while, and Buck and Romeo have their armor removed for the first time in weeks. To recount the very (first-person) events of the book, Buck is called to meet Lasky and Palmer for a debriefing, putting in his best word for Romeo. He leaves satisfied and heads toward [[Full Moon]], a nearby bar popular with Spartans, finding their favorite [[Helen Fink|bartender]] serving Fireteam Osiris. Popping a chair next to them, Buck catches up on their time apart. Locke eventually pulls him aside to talk about Mickey, to which he expresses his gratitude despite a little hostility. Right on cue, Alpha-Nine enters, the entire bar turning heads to stare at Mickey as he moves quickly to Buck’s table. Locke greets him, and the two head off for more drinks while Buck is left with Veronica Dare. To continue their conversation before landing at Cassidy III, she ''dares'' him to marry her, to which he agrees, surprised when she initiates a makeshift ceremony from the bartender's tablet. Popping up on the nearest table, the ship’s AI [[Roland]] officiates their matrimony | |||
Just after his honeymoon, Buck is on a highly classified mission with Alpha-Nine as he appreciates their reunion. | |||
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