Halo: Arizona Backroads

{|style="width:100%;" "A wet-behind-the-ears Spartan team's first visit to Earth involves a road trip into the Arizona backcountry to meet a UNSC Army unit in the middle of nowhere."

Dramatis Personae
Protagonists

Chapter One: Arizona Backroads

 * Merlin
 * 1423 Hours, 29 November 2557
 * Outside Tuscon, Arizona
 * United Republic of North America, Earth

The dusty gravel road crunched under the tires of the HuCiv HC1500 Supreme as it rolled through the American Midwest. A passenger cabin was mounted in the back, capable of holding as many as fourteen passengers. Today it only hosted seven.

On one side of the cabin interior sat a Sergeant Silverthorne, Major Duceppe, and Zachariah. On the other side, Daniele, Roxanne, Andra, and Merlin. It was quiet in the back of the vehicle, it been like that for the last two hours of a three-hour journey through the rural countryside.

Merlin peered through the tinted one-way window adjacent from his seat, taking in the passing waves of yellowed prairie grass that extended toward the distant horizon. He wondered how the grass survived in this climate as he leaned his head against the window behind him, feeling the cool surface tickle his neck.

Winter on Earth, at least in this area, was mild but significantly colder than what Merlin was used to. However, his previous point of reference was borderline-tropical, so it was a poor comparison.

He examined the gray overcast sky and wondered where the Sun was. Arizona was supposed to be a sunny, desert province in North America, and yet, the cloud bank refused to part. The local star was obscured, barely a dull-yellow circle behind the stubborn haze.

The wind danced across the plains outside, occasionally pounding the side of the HC1500 with a jostling whoosh. Another one arrived this time several magnitudes greater than previous, aggressively throwing the cabin back and forth. Merlin's head bounced off the glass and back softly, but his sore stomach had other ideas.

A thought slipped to the front of his mind; it imagined a strong gust of air slam against the cargo truck, tipping it one way and then the other. The truck rolled, spun out, and landed in a grassy ditch. Everyone climbed out, maybe a little hurt, but they were stranded – in the cold. His stomach lurched at the daydream causing him to wince uncomfortably.

One thing led to another. A closely-wrapped arm around Merlin's waist slipped a little. In response, his back flared up, causing him to squirm and curve his spine to release the tension. The arm relinquished quickly, recognizing someone in pain. Merlin blinked in rapid succession, a reaction to the imaginary needles jabbing him in places underneath his abdominal cast.

"Sorry," Andra whisper-hissed in alarm next to Merlin. Her arms were raised up in the air as if in surrender. After the boy failed to respond to her apology, she moved her arms just above his shoulders, preparing to provide renewed support. Zachariah glanced up at his teammates from his personal distraction before glancing back down without a word.

"It-it's fine…"

Merlin eased back into his chair once the pain subsided, cautiously shifting his spine until he was comfortable again. Andra, after a couple more seconds of silence, stopped eyeing him in alarm, and gingerly wrapped her arm around his shoulders. Even after she hurt him, she still kept close.

She squeezed her hand around Merlin's left shoulder and planted it there, unwavering. A glance in her direction only revealed a distant look in her eyes, tiredly directed toward the fields outside.

He glanced between the window and her, looking for the unseen thing she was focused on. Afraid to break the silent spell hanging over the passenger cabin, Merlin said nothing and Andra did the same. Her shoulders eventually slackened, and she leaned her head full of brown hair against his shoulder, returning to a state of relaxed contentment.

An adventurous strand of her hair danced toward the boy's cheek which he kindly responded to with a short puff of air, chasing it away. Merlin considered whether to lay his own head against Andra's but decided against it after a second of contemplation.

He laid his skull against the glass instead, welcoming the familiar chill that mingled with his short black hair. His eyes darted back to the pressure of Andra's head against his shoulder and considered the recent development of the gesture.

The Spartan girl had always been close with him, ever since their first tumble together in the mud on Argus V. They were best friends, a bond that went beyond the fire-tested resilience of their Spartan team's family unit. And yet, since the day Joshua-G024 got carried away in training and broke Merlin's right arm and three ribs, she had grown very touchy – almost like she was afraid she was going to lose him.

He liked the feeling, the constant reminder that the one he trusted most was nearby. However, the recent development was still unexpected. Back in training, this kind of behavior had been discouraged exhaustively – drilled into the Spartans' heads regarding the kinds of comradery that promoted strong unit cohesion. And now, Andra was blatantly ignoring it, in front of a superior officer even.

Merlin turned to the officer in question, Major Duceppe. The man was lost with a content smile on his face as he worked his way through what appeared to be the second half of a decently-sized hardcover novel. It was a worn blue cover as if it had been read more than once. The book's title, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, glinted of gold-lettering in the natural light around them.

Well, maybe that explained why he wasn't saying anything.

The Spartan looked over the vehicle interior, assessing every detail for something of interest but intentionally avoiding the windows and the passing plains beyond. His stomach already sent a clear message, he would not look outside again until the truck reached its destination.

A glance at the unfamiliar individual at the front end of the cabin, Sergeant Silverthorne, featured a man dressed in a full kit of the UNSC Army's standard battle-dress uniform with URNA Desert-type camouflage. A plain service cap covered his pale-bald head. A BR55 Service Rifle was nestled between his boots and thighs. He seemed like a dutiful, experienced man, typing away at a military-grade laptop.

Merlin's eyes dragged away from the rather uninteresting Army man, they instead settled on the heavily-armored duo: Roxanne and Daniele. Twice their usual bulk out of armor, the SPI-clad Spartans were indistinguishable from one another with exception to behavior. Their fishbowl MIRAGE-class helmets obscured all facial details but their friend's watchful eyes picked up on who was who.

Roxanne was the sprawled-out girl half on her seat and half in the passenger cabin's open aisle. Her head was resting on Daniele's armored thigh. Daniele and his helmet were glaring down at a grasped computer tablet in a manner that Merlin vaguely understood to be concentration. Evidently, it was a game given the small Spartan running around shooting aliens on screen.

And then there was Zachariah sitting right in front of Merlin. The tinkering boy was reaching in and out of a small tool pouch at his feet and flipping through a paper manual regarding the M6I automatic magnum in his lap. A disassembled MA5D assault rifle and M7 submachine gun rested neatly on the seat next to him.

Of five SPARTAN-IIIs present on this road trip, only two were dressed in armor. As he understood it, the get-up was a kind of gesture to the combat unit they were meeting.

Many things about this trip were unusual, or at least did not add up to Merlin's rationality.

This was his team's first time on Earth but they didn't get time to offload their few belongings and Spartan armor from the UNSC Infinity. Apparently, that was to be handled by someone else. Instead of putting the Spartans on a Pelican flight directly to their destination, they were ordered onto a nondescript cargo truck and told to dress as civilians.

Only two Spartans were asked to wear armor, and not even of the MJOLNIR variety. Instead, Daniele and Roxanne volunteered to wear the less-protective Semi-Powered Infiltration armor, favored by SPARTAN-III suicide troops in the Covenant War. With his own broken arm and ribs, Merlin was unable to put on any armor for the time being. Along with Andra and Zachariah, they attempted their best to appear civilian with the limited options available in the UNSC Infinity's shipboard exchange.

It was all so strange, coming from the harsh training of Argus V, the aggressive tutelage of Amy-G094 and Joshua-G024, and now, here, where regulations and practicality were being thrown aside at a world-shattering pace.

He had asked Duceppe about the odd mission orders and the man's only response was "relax."

Merlin wasn't quite satisfied with the vague answer but the Major was his direct superior. He did as he was told.

Time continued to pass and the rumbling in the less-than-paved road continued unobstructed. Merlin's lack of concentration on anything meaningful left him focusing on the individual vibrations passing through the glass behind his head. His eyelids drooped, and eventually, they closed entirely into darkness.

. . .

He awoke to someone tapping his knee.

"Yo, Merl. Doll. We're here."

Merlin cracked an eye open to the sight of Zachariah leaning towards him on bent knees. He felt soft hair pressed under his cheek that smelled of salt and flour, the scent of military-issued shampoo.

"Zach. Would you stop calling me that?" Andra's voice growled from a place between Merlin's shoulder and head.

"Nah," Zachariah responded, standing up. He picked up the MA5D from the seat next to him and threw it to someone out of view, outside the truck.

"Thanks," Daniele called to Zach.

They were stopped. Merlin's eyes opened fully and his head lifted off the top of Andra's. A glance at the passenger cabin told him that everyone was beginning to exit the vehicle. Daniele, Roxanne, and Sergeant Silverthorne were already out the door. Major Duceppe eyed Merlin and Andra from his seat with a wordless half-smirk.

"Alright, that's everyone then. Out we go." The Major announced, gesturing them out the back with an open hand.

Merlin stood slowly, careful not to twist his slung right arm too quickly or to not overuse his abdomen. Andra was careful behind him, always a hand's distance away. He winced at the effort but pushed past the minor pain, mostly unbothered. This was nothing compared to that metal knee Joshua had shoved in his side, the catalyst for the injuries. That trainer was a menace, having little restraint or respect for his junior Spartan. He didn't understand it, however, he accepted it. This wasn't his first training injury or his first one motivated by personal reasons. Taking pain was part of the Spartan experience, he would recover.

The three Spartans still in the compartment filed out quickly: Zachariah in front, Merlin next, Andra behind him. Duceppe took up the rear. Upon exiting the HC1500 Supreme, the Spartans were welcomed to a sight unlike anything witnessed by them before.

Infantry fighting vehicles lined up next to one another over trampled grass. Tanks were pointed toward a giant hole, a crater in the earth. Quick-assembly and prefabricated structures were strewn about doubling for cover and concealment and for meeting the amenity needs of military forces. Military vehicles were everywhere and so were military personnel. Men and women in uniforms similar to Sergeant Silverthorne passed in and out of buildings and between vehicles and tents. Above them, guard towers, floodlights, and flagpoles stood tall.

The phrase 'tent city' was an apt description of the combat staging area. Sergeant Silverthorne was standing off to the side with Roxanne and Daniele, each lightly armed with weaponry, courtesy of Zachariah. The Sergeant gestured for the Spartans and Duceppe to follow him as he guided the group toward somewhere deeper in the encampment.

It was clear that the soldiers did not see children here often. Darting eyes from UNSC personnel did not latch on to Roxanne or Daniele, instead, they locked onto Merlin, Andra, and Zachariah. Even in civilian clothes, toughened bodies, and unnatural heights, they still did not appear as adults. The soldiers could tell, there was something unusual about the strangers walking among them.

No one spoke to them, no one shouted out an objection to children being in the staging area. He still felt it though, the confusion and paranoia. Without his armor, Merlin felt naked in front of all these judging eyes. Andra fell into step with him, snaking an arm lightly around his waist.

Major Duceppe stepped in line next to Andra and looked as if he was going to say something, however, the challenging gleam in her eyes made him swallow his words. The Army officer walked past Andra and fell into step with Silverthorne instead, leaving his two subordinates to walk together in silence.

"Hey, Merlin! Look over there." Zachariah called out, pointing toward a purple mountain range in the distance.

"What is that?"

"You don't recognize the shape? That's a Covenant cruiser!"

Merlin's eyes widened, locking onto the object of interest due north of their position. Upon closer inspection – the rounded, bulbous hull, the metallic glint, and the dirt lining its sides – clearly the edge of a crater. It was definitely a Covenant warship, a crashed one.

"That's the Wonderous Resolve. It was part of the Covenant's invasion fleet when they hit Earth in late 2552," Sergeant Silverthorne hollered, speaking to the Spartans for the first time. "We hit it with a number of nuclear missiles before it came down over there. There are another fifteen or so sites like it dotting this basin."

"Is it still radioactive?" Roxanne asked from right behind Silverthorne.

"Fatally. We deployed radiation scrubbers as early as December 2552. Nanomachines, you get the idea. However, we also programmed the scrubbers to maintain and increase the radioactivity presence on all known Covenant wreckages in the area in case the 'locals' attempt to salvage them for one reason or another."

"Locals?" Merlin called up to the front of the group, directing his question to Silverthorne.

"It's best we show you, the fireworks are going to begin soon."

The assembled group of Spartans and Army personnel arrived at a large metal box with several doors embedded in each side. Knocking on the nearest door, it took a few moments for a response but a dark-skinned Army Sergeant First Class eventually peered out and looked the Spartans over. The name "Howard" was velcroed to his collar under his rank insignia.

"These are the Spartans they sent us? Aren't they kind of young?"

"They're Spartans. This is Major Kyser Duceppe, he's an Army liaison with the Office of Naval Intelligence and formerly with the Ohio National Guard. This is his unit, Spartan Team Boson."

"Sir. Spartans." The noncommissioned officer saluted the Major and greeted his subordinates.

The Spartans said nothing to the upper-level enlisted-man but Merlin nodded to him out of respect. The Sergeant First Class smiled awkwardly at the injured Spartan before turning back to Silverthorne.

"Take them to the observation point. The Air Force boys are telling me their fast-movers are two minutes from Point Striker-Charlie. Bombs will fly fifteen seconds after that."

"Roger that. I'll take them now then Sergeant."

"Dismissed."

Silverthorne turned from the combat information center and proceeded to take his group back in the direction of their cargo truck. The Sergeant First Class closed the CIC door behind him.

A feminine-sounding radio announcement pierced the air, "Attention, all combat personnel, please report to your action stations. Operation begins in two minutes, secure all doors and prepare close-in weapon systems. Keep vigilant and barrels hot."

Silverthorne quickened his pace, guiding the Spartans and Duceppe to a canopied pavilion at the back end of the staging area. From here, Merlin noted its distinguishably higher elevation than the rest of the camp, he could see just above the vehicles and buildings and the crater beyond them with the entire military installation gravitating toward it. "Inside. Everyone. Now."

"What's this operation?" Zachariah asked, looking between the group's two adults.

"Operation: YOSEMITE. You're about to see for yourself." Silverthorne cryptically explained.

Merlin noted that the pavilion was lined on one wall by several screens, the other side by a few benches, plastic chairs, and a few tables. He grasped Andra's arm and gently pulled it away from his body. With her eyes on him, he shuffled over to one of the benches and took a seat on it, facing the large monitor. She quickly followed, taking a seat next to him.

A countdown appeared on screen as it flickered to the perspective of an aircraft's external flight camera. While there was no audio, the footage of familiar plains and a long country road quickly informed Merlin what he was looking at.

The other room attendants quickly found their own seats and silence reigned. Listening closely, Merlin could hear the low drone of an approaching aircraft.

"B-65 Shortswords," Silverstone commented.

The droning noise multiplied and came closer and closer and then completely passed overheard. The noise peaked and then began to recede. That was when the explosions began.

The video feed showed bombs descend from cargo bays, one at a time, in rapid succession.

Merlin felt the rumbling in the ground. One after another after another. Boom. Boom. Boom.

Looking outside the pavilion, Merlin saw dozens of small cylinders descend from the black wedges speeding quickly away from the bombing area.

The concussion from the bombs rushed across the plains, flattening prairie grass and slamming dust along the wake of shockwaves.

The bombing carried on for a good two or three minutes before ceasing with a final crackle of rolling thunder. The bombers ascended back into the clouds, disappearing into the overcast sky. When the dust settled, Merlin's breath hitched at the sight of the field.

Caved-in holes dotted the landscape, subterranean cavities beneath the Earth. Something scuttled about in there, in the absolute dark. And then, they rose.

Thousands upon thousands of creatures sped up into the afternoon air seeking the menace that trashed their home and interrupted their slumber. They were dark in color, but as they zoomed up and out in intelligent patterns, metallic glints of blue, green, red, and yellow adjourned the creatures' forms.

"Yanme'e. Buggers." Andra muttered next to Merlin, recognizing the alien insectoid species racing out of the holes in the ground and the crater that served as their primary doorway.

Air warning sirens echoed across the plains, erupting from the UNSC Army staging area. Attracted to the noise, the Buggers turned to race at the encampment and the pavilion as well.

"Uh, should we move to a more secure...?" Roxanne asked, her helmet tilted to look at Silverthorne and Duceppe who seemed too relaxed for their own good.

"No. Take a seat, this is the best part," Silverthorne replied.

The sirens wailed on but an even louder sound drowned them out, the noise of pure terror filling the air.

Lances of gunfire erupted from anti-aircraft weaponry across the camp. Nearly one hundred rounds per second, the Gatling-style M71 Scythe anti-aircraft guns shredded the flocks of insect aliens, bullets and molten lead splashing them from the sky by the hundreds.

The smashed carcasses fell to the Earth-like black snow. The guns didn't stop and the bugs didn't stop either, becoming long distorted columns being cut down by laser-like streams of gunfire. Merlin could only gap at the display.

"Fuck yeah!" Zachariah shouted from off to the side.

"This is how Earth handles aliens," Silverthorne commentated over the gunfire, "if we can't evict them from the planet peacefully or integrate them within UEG standards, we put them down. This is the fifth Yanme'e hive we've encountered since 2553."

"Impressive," Daniele commented.

"If you're all wondering why you're here, your unit is joining our own. Duceppe wanted to give you a front-row seat of what we specialize in. Consider this a field trip, enjoy yourselves. If anyone wants a drink, there's a fridge in the back with sodas." Silverthorne explained, pointing to the mini-kitchen at the back of the pavilion.

"I wanted to ease you guys into the job before we got you settled in New Phoenix," Duceppe added. "Even if the Covenant War is over, there's still much to do."

"Is it really this easy?" Roxanne asked, pointing to the display of military superiority.

"Oh heck no. This is the easy part, you guys won't have to participate this time around but after we burn the squatters from their caves, we got to go in and make sure they and the Queen are dead. We asked that two of you at least wear SPI in case we needed Spartans on hand but generally, we haven't needed them for the last five years so we should be fine," Silverthorne explained. "Welcome to Earth, and welcome to the Internal Investigations Unit 419. We like to call ourselves The Exterminators."

Return to Top

Chapter Two: The Burn Pit

 * Daniele
 * 1558 Hours, 29 November 2557
 * Outside Tuscon, Arizona
 * United Republic of North America, Earth

Return to Top