Old Enemies
Prologue
Cally looked at herself in the mirror, she looked pale and tired.
-You are a SPARTAN! She told herself. Nothing can change who you are. She
walked out of her cabin. She was on board the Prowler “Out of
Hope”, mission completed and on course through slipstream space
towards Earth. The captain had called her to the control room. Cally
entered the large space filled with computers and other equipment
that she had never seen before. Even though Prowlers had been used
for a very long time, most of the parts they were built of were
classified.
-Ah good, there you are. Said captain Savor Calrades as she took a step
towards the large figure leaning over one of the computers.
-You sent for me sir?
-Yes.
I have the mission log here, I was wondering if you would like to
take a look. He stepped aside and she approached the computer.
"Mission
log: assignment 768380-03
SPARTAN
Cally-329 Engaged hostiles on planet 47-98-9 “the Price”.
Covenant mining facility became a threat to UNSC forces when the
Covenant started building a shipyard for enemy warships. The SPARTAN
was send to sabotage the facility, mission success.”
She looked over the report twice.
-This does not make any sense, this is not what happened. She said this
with caution, she had worked with captain Calrades before and he
usually knew what he was doing.
-The UNSC does not know that. What really happened down there stays
between you and me. He looked her straight in the eyes. Agreed?
-But... It is against protocol, this is illegal. She still had difficulties
believing what she just read.
-Look! The factory was destroyed, that is all that matters. He said this in
a tone she had never heard from him before.
-The mission log has already been sent on a subspace channel, I just
needed you to see it.
-I don't know if I can accept this. She started to sound uncertain.
-But... She thought, Maybe it's better if no one knows what happened.
A light flashed indicating that the ship would soon drop out of
slipspace. That means that they are back. Earth.
The ship that brought her back to base was empty. It was the middle of
the night and most people were asleep. She entered the familiar room
where other SPARTANs sat around a table reading. She walked into the
locker room. Cally looked in the mirror, she looked worse than
before. At that moment she drew her sidearm and did something no
SPARTAN had ever done before.
