Halo ODST: The Great Journey

And so, The Great Journey resumes.

Was that a dream? The... woman, or mare, he saw, that was too real to be a simple dream. His train of thought was quickly broken, though, it made him wave it away. It was just a dream.

"...kie? Rookieeee?" A bothered voice spoke. The Rookie sighed and sat up, his eyes quickly glancing at the time in his HUD. Seven A.M. It seemed as if time here was similar as it was on Earth, and most of the other planets he had been on.

"Finally! You suddenly fell asleep just by looking at the moon! Jeez. It's morning, and I've let you sleep long enough. I think it's about time for you to get up." Vea told him, in a clearly annoyed tone. Her front right hoove did a little stomp, a little action that Rookie couldn't help but be amused at. It was strangely adorable.

"Sorry." Was all The Rookie said in response after staring at her bemused for a moment, standing up with a slight stretch. He hadn't intended to fall asleep there. The moon must have been too... comforting. It reminded him of home, all too much. He was born and raised on Luna, Earth's moon, after all. Looking at a celestial object for that long must have made him quite sleepy. But that wasn't worth thinking about, not right now.

"Do you have a plan? Of what to do?" The Rookie had asked, finally standing up with a soft sigh. The Rookie, as intelligent and capable as he believed himself to be, wasn't a leader. He was fine enough leading himself, as he had done several times in the past. Surviving was in his very DNA. But, with someone else's 'life' seemingly attached to his, he needed her input, even if he technically was the reigning member of the UNSC here.

"I've thought of many possibilities, and I do have a plan!" Vea's eyes seemed to lighten up just a bit, her eyes widening as she moved back and forth, her hooves making a soft tap with each 'touch' to the Pelican's floor. "When we were up in the air, I did, in fact, notice a building. It is... strange, it's location makes no sense, and the technological level of the building is that of an era before ours. We may have in fact, traveled in time." Vea said, walking right up to The Rookie. She looked up at him, and he looked down at her. "And... so, we should tread carefully, and visit that building.

"Sounds good." The Rookie had replies after a slight moment of hesitation. He grabbed his SMG, which he had placed on the chair beside his, and slung it onto his back. He needed to get home, back to his friends. That squad he was with, they were the last real reason he had to go on for. It was his duty to return to them. "You coming?" He asked, giving a quick glance at the mare beside him, her translucent body shimmering, turning from the light red it usually was to a pink. She nodded, and The Rookie promptly removed her glowing chip from the Pelican's system.

Normally, an ODST's helmet would never have a chipset made for AI. Those were reserved for the enhanced spartans and their Mjolnir armor. But, because of The Rookie's past work with the engineer that he had helped save on New Mombasa, and the city's AI system, ONI, the Office of Naval Intelligence, had given him a helmet with a chipset. He reached behind his head and inserted the chip into the slot. His helmet dimmed for a moment before the HUD had become a translucent red. It seemed as if she had an effect on his HUD too.

"Ready to go! Lead the way." He heard a voice speak. The Rookie nodded and walked into the cockpit of his Pelican. The lights inside turned on, their dim light illuminating the Pelican's cargo bay, and it's many pallets of supplies. The Rookie's head lightly craned to the Mongoose, a sort of four-wheeler to travel, alone on mostly. It didn't take him long to take a gas canister and put it on the back-side of the Mongoose, just in case he needed more. He opened the door of his pelican and pushed the bike out, the feeling of fresh air flowing through his helmet. It made him enjoy it, for just a moment.

"How far away is the objective?" He had asked after he had shut the door of the Pelican.

"About Eighty Kilometers. You should make it there in an hour or two if you go through the plains.

The Rookie gave a small nod and kicked on the mongoose. Its engine roared alive, the sound of a new engine being clear. He reared his hands forward, making his way to the mark on his HUD. It was time to finally investigate this world.