Halo ODST: The Great Journey

And so, The Journey recommences

The Mongoose's engine rumbled, it's the firey roar contrasting so heavily with the silent beauty of the plains around it. Its rider was, of course, was The Rookie. He silently looked forward, his hands strongly attached to the Mongoose's handles. He had been traveling for about three hours now, and the marker on his map was growing closer and closer.

"I believe it would be best to continue on foot, from here, Rook." Vea's voice spoke from his helm.

"Right."

The plains that they were in before were now turning into hilly, rocky terrain. And now, Rookie's vision of the world was more clear than in the wide plains where he had started in. There was a large, expanse of a mountain range before him, towards the north of this land. The building they had seen earlier, was an abandoned shack. It seemed to be made out of wood, something The Rookie had almost never seen. There was nothing interesting in the shack, other than it's strange, short doorways. However, when they had arrived at that abandoned shack, they had noticed something in the distance that they had not seen before. In those large snowy mountains, there was a large, white tower, of a pearly white. It glimmered brightly, even from where they were. It seemed that there was also a city around that area, but it was hard to tell from their vantage point.

Henceforth, their objective had turned to that white tower, and what was in it. They had traveled for a while before arriving here. The Rookie went into a bush, turned off his Mongoose, and took it's key, stuffing it in one of his packs before he hopped off. It was well concealed enough now. He took a hold of his gun and began to make his way up one of the smaller mountains. It didn't take him long to climb it, he had done much more in less time. He trudged through, ignoring the strange fact that the plains had been a perfectly temperate temperature, and yet here, it was beginning to become quite snowy. When he was at the top, he saw the city, in its full glory.

Crystals.

That was the thought that went through his mind when he did look at that city. It was a large expanse of a settlement, seemingly made of pure crystals. He had never seen anything of this, not before. He had once seen a small forerunner outpost, the predecessors of humanity, and it stunned him, but not to this degree. The way that the building glittered, reflecting the sun's warm, loving gaze onto him. The way that the tower gazed onto him, even up here, gave him a sense of calm that he had never felt, certainly not from looking at a city.

"Where am I?" He whispered as he toggled his helmet's visor, to three times the intensity, so he could see the city closer.

"I haven't got a clue, myself." He heard Vea's voice whisper, the same tone of surprise in her voice as she saw what he saw. As he did look onto the settlement with the visor zoomed, he saw what seemed to be variations of, well, Vea all walking about. They were hard to see from this distance, but they seemed to be walking about, doing what one would in a normal human settlement. It reminded him of Luna, before the wars. Everything was oh so... calm.

As The Rookie looked at the settlement, Vea's voice surprised him. "Hostile!" The Rookie backed up with surprise and turned around, only to face a pack of wolves. They had snuck upon him, and his systems hadn't registered it. It seems that Vea was distracted, taking in all the view of that city and that she too had only just noticed. The Rookie whispered a curse, and raised his favored weapon, the SMG, to the wolves.

They snarled, and their teeth did shine a gnarly yellow. There was a total of six of them, and they were approaching him from all sides. From where The Rookie was, it was impossible to back up more. There was a snowy hill behind him, and falling would not be to his advantage. So, he would need to fight. His finger went to squeeze the trigger of his gun, but, he couldn't press it. He was frozen.

A memory from before, one he did not know existed came to him. When he was on Draco III, with his squadmates, his friends, they were to quell a rebellion. It had all gone smooth, all until the end. The rookie had gotten himself into a trap, as he attempted to win the battle over. He was held, hostage. He knew that. That's what he did remember. What he didn't know, what had implanted itself into his mind only now, was the shot that rang out as his helmet's visor cracked, and the looks on his friend's faces as they watched him die. It all came now. He felt his death, just now.

"Rookie! Rook! Shoot!" Vea yelled out. "You have to shoot now!"

The Rookie fell to his knee and coughed loudly as he was brought back to. Vea's yells to regain his attention worked. He squeezed the gun's trigger once, and the familiar sound of a bullet sounded.

Boom. Click

A wolf was stopped, only mid-jump towards Rook, it's jaw opened wide as it fell short. The bullet hit, right on the mark. The Rookie raised his gun, and shot the other five, in quick succsesstion.

Boom. Boom. Boom. Boom. Boom. Click

They all fell, after they all did too run at him. The Rookie looked at their bodies, the blood of the canines now seeping into the soft snow and soil below, tainting them with their wicked blood. Rook did fall on his knee and take a couple of deep breaths, regaining his composure soon enough. He had seen worse, his death, it shouldn't be enough to stop him. Not at all. The sound of silence that followed the small battle was sickening, it made The Rookie's mouth dry.

"Are you fine?"

"I am."

The Rookie replied, bluntly. He reached for his side and grabbed his canteen. He raised his helm, only just slightly, and took a small sip of the water inside, the dryness in this throat fading away with its refreshing taste. "Let's keep going." He said, taking out the clip he had just used with his gun. He put it into a pack and clicked another one in. He stood back up and stepped over the wolf that had almost got him, beginning to make his way down that mountain, towards the glittering city. He had to investigate further.

And so, The Rookie trekked onwards, through the snow. He did walk closer and closer until eventually the zoom on his visor was no longer necessary. Now, he was on a marbled path that lead into the gates of the city, and the glitter of the stones was right before him. The Rookie was now noticed by the inhabitants of the city, and they did look at him. Some were curious, simply staring at him, others ushered themselves away as he did walk through the gates. What seemed to be a mother, and her child rushed into a building, while what seemed to be a male looked at him with more curiosity than anything, only a few meters away.

"This is strange." The Rookie whispered as he looked at the inhabitants of the town. They all were very alike Vea, but instead of her strange glow that could be assumed to be from her AI nature, they were all made of the same crystal that she was. Vea herself was a mare, and from what The Rookie could tell, she was shorter but more 'adorable' than most of these 'people.' The Rookie did also notice that unlike Vea, which had no 'strange' features, some of these people did have a single horn or a pair wings.

"Indeed. It seems we have found where my creators took their inspiration." Vea spoke as The Rookie continued onwards. He was now nearing the pearly white tower, and he could see a sort of crystal castle near it. "Perhaps it would be in our best interests if I appeared next to you. It seems that these people are somewhat unsettled by you."

"Not yet," The Rookie said as he walked on, "I would rather not have you found out, just yet." The Rookie was now near that castle, and he had passed what now was hundreds of onlookers. People in the streets stopped to look at him or to hide, some murmuring among themselves. And now that he was in what seemed to be the town's square, which was more of a circle of glittering homes and 'people,' he was looked upon all sides. None of them seemed to have ill intent towards him, though he did manage to hear a couple of mentions of a resemblance to a 'Sombra.'

The Rookie was now stopped on the 'street' of this square, apprehensive as to what could happen, with what seemed to be dozens, if not a hundred of onlookers looking towards him. The time now seemed to go still. They were all looking at him now, wondering what he was, what he was doing, and who he was. The silence was broken, though, making The Rookie back up in surprise. What seemed to be another child or foal, with wings, flew towards him with a slightly goofy-looking smile. What seemed to be the child's mother, who looked on in shock, fainted, in quite a comedic way. Her 'hoof' raised to her forehead, and she fell onto a bystander's side.

"What are you? Are you a bad guy?" The child spoke as it did a little lap around Rookie, it made him do a three-sixty just to keep looking at her. "If you are a bad guy, you'll be in a lot of trouble you know! Miss Twilight and her friends stopped even Lord Sombraaah!" The child was suddenly encapsulated by a light red and suddenly pulled back quickly, back into the crowd. The Rookie was all too confused by that, but a sudden noise took that train of thought from him.

Footsteps, or 'Hoovesteps' loudly clicked against the crystal floor behind The Rookie. He turned, to find four distinct-looking of the 'ponies' approaching him. They wore different attire than the rest, which seemed to be crystal armor and helmets, with a royal aura surrounding them. They must have been the guards of that tower, and they must have come to investigate the commotion of the disturbance in the town.

"We have been asked by Her Majesty, Princess Cadance Mi Amore Cadenza, for you to immediately seek an audience with her. You have been granted an escort, and have been asked to follow immediately." The way the guard spoke, it made it clear that this was not a choice. As dangerous as this could be, The Rookie was confident he would be fine. He always was.

"Lead the way."