Holiday Surprise

It was a joyous day aboard the UNSC Stories of the Array. ODSTs, Marines, even the odd Unggoy wearing a blanket like a cape, ran through the halls. It was a holiday celebration, complete with a ‘tree’ built out of munitions crates and then painted green. Though the ornaments were taped to it almost comically, many were snowflakes made from spent bullet casings as was the ‘star’ placed atop the stack of crates. Even the mysterious Spartan-001 was in a good mood, keeping an eye on the festivities with a cup of tea in hand. One massive Spartan II in cyan- or was it teal - armor was content helping an Unggoy add his ornament to the makeshift tree. He picked the alien up, lifting him up so he could reach a clear spot on a crate. After he lowered the little alien back down, placing him on his feet, the whole hangar went quiet. A thundering rumble was heard, prompting a Beta company Spartan III to look up from her new Wart Hog, “What is that?” The massive cyan armored Spartan glanced around, “Not sure Bodark….wait….” A raucous laugh was heard along with the rumbling, warranting a sigh from the Spartan, “It’s UnggoyZealot….Probably riding-!” He yelped as a Unggoy heavy came into the hangar on the back of a massive Hunter that had Christmas lights draped across the spikes on its’ back and a red bow tied to the shield. Everyone ran to get out of the path of the Hunter who slowed to a walk, lumbering around the hangar with UnggoyZealot astride it’s shoulders, “Merry Christmas!” He shouted as the Hunter decided it was going to stop short and send the poor little alien flying. “AAAAH!” Echoed through the hangar as the massive Spartan II suddenly had the madman of a Grunt in his arms. The blue-armored heavy looked up at him, “Thanks Alaska...that was close.” Alaska sighed as he put the alien on his feet, “Be careful! You should know that he’s not as cooperative as his brother…” “Minor details,” he said calmly. Lurking in the background was a ghost that was carrying around a stone. A Spartan with a cowboy hat perched on his helmet discussed a classified file with a person wearing a pink scarf. Of course, everyone stopped what they were doing when someone shouted, “We’ve got hot cocoa! And cookies!” That even got the attention of the Hunter who lifted his head towards the voice. Standing in the doorway was a short young man with fluffy black hair, a blue t-shirt and cargo pants with the pockets stuffed full of pencils. He had a sketchbook tucked under one arm, then yelped as he realized the entire hangar was heading towards him. With a panicked scramble and ducking behind a large crate with a shout. Every single being in the hangar ran, waddled or lumbered out to the mess hall. However, when the stampede was over, one person was still in the hangar aside from the short, almost comically so, young man who was peering out from behind the crate… The massive Spartan II in cyan armor knelt down to be at nearly the short man’s eye level, “Hey, thanks for letting me join this place...I owe you one.” The short young man smiled, “Anytime Alaska. Sorry it took so long big guy.” The massive Spartan ruffled the short human’s hair and walked out of the hangar. “You know what...why did I wait to do this? But it was worth it in the end....now did I draw a way to get home…” The short person muttered as he flicked through his sketchbook. Page after page of ideas, from aliens to new weapons and one Spartan.

“Creativity is a gift that lets you unlock a world...it can drive you mad sure. But it’s a powerful thing that lets you see things no one else can, go places no one has gone. It can manifest in so many ways, it always brings a new life to a blank page. So this is only a beginning to many great things to come. Now if I could find the key to get back home. Guess I didn’t draw that.” A. referring to the gift of creativity while stuck on the UNSC Stories of the Array