Bodark-B076

This article, Bodark-B076, is currently under active construction.

This fanfiction article, Bodark-B076, was written by EvenManatee887. Please do not edit this fiction without the writer's permission.

Bodark-B076
Armored Unarmored [Mark V[B] [2552]
Biographical Information
REAL NAME	Svetlana Rusakov (Former) Bodark (Current)
DATE OF BIRTH	28th August 2528
HOMEWORLD	New Harmony
Physical Information
SPECIES	Human
GENDER	Female
HEIGHT	2.13 meters (7ft 0 inches) (In Mjolnir armor) 2.03 meters (6ft 8 inches) (Out of Armor)
WEIGHT	118.39 kg (261 lbs) (Out of Armor) 572 kg (1239 lbs) (In Mark IV Armor) 348.39 kg (768.0 lbs) (In GEN2 Armor)
HAIR COLOR	Platinum Blonde (Dyed)
EYE COLOR	Hazel (Green Outer Iris, Red Inner Iris)
Political/Military Information
SPECIALTY	Piloting Vehicle Operation/Maintenance CQC
RANK	Lieutenant Commander
SPARTAN TAG	B076
SERVICE NUMBER	S-B076
CLASS	SPARTAN III
BRANCH	UNSC Navy, NAVSPECWAR
UNIT	Team Kilo (Former) PERUN Team (Current)
AFFILIATION	UNSC
NOTABLE INFO	WIP
[Source]

"You will hear thunder and remember me, The sky will be the color of hard crimson, And your heart, as it was then, will be on fire."

―Anna Akhmatova

Bodark-B076 is a SPARTAN-III supersoldier, formerly part of Beta Company, who fought During the Human-Covenant War and after in the Post War years.

During the War, Bodark was selected from among the best of Beta prior to Operation: TORPEDO where most of Beta had perished. She was selected for the 'Cat-II' program and placed into PERUN Team, a Cat-II team geared toward high speed, high value target elimination operations. Prior to the Fall of Reach, PERUN was sent on numerous missions targeting HVT's including individuals, infrastructure and military targets belonging to the Covenant and Insurrectionists.

In 2548 PERUN received a 'Smart' A.I named Shtorm. He became the team A.I for PERUN and would act as their main support and handler for the course of the War until 2555. When Reach was attacked PERUN was re-tasked from counter insurgency on Tribute and deployed planetside to support UNSC Forces on the ground.

During the Fall of Reach they saw action in the Battle of Szurdok Ridge alongside the main armored spearhead. After the appearance of the Long Night of Solace they retreated from the area and to the city of Manassas when reports came in of Covenant forces pressing into the city.

After the Battle of Manassas Bodark and PERUN were evacuated from Reach aboard the UNSC Sentinel, a Stalwart-class Frigate, to Earth. From there PERUN were supposed to be deployed on several missions to try and slow the Covenant's progress in finding Earth. However prior to deploying the alarm was raised that the Covenant had found Earth. PERUN was deployed on numerous back to back operations in support of larger UNSC forces in Southern Asia, the Middle East and North Africa.

Following the end of the war and despite the establishment of Spartan Branch, what remained of PERUN, by now lead by Bodark, was kept under NAVSPECWAR. They were tasked with conducting a variety of disruptive operations against Covenant Remnants and force assessments from 2553-2556 however all these operation came to a halt with the Battle of Requiem in 2557 and the Attack on New Phoenix.

After New Phoenix PERUN was re-assigned, Bodark in particular was tasked with conducting vehicular warfare war games alongside Spartan IV's to train them for the upcoming Requiem Campaign. Prior to the Requiem Campaign she was issued a new 'Smart' A.I, Kadia. The two got along easily with Kadia's more laid back and fun personality balancing out Bodark's temper. During and after the Requiem Campaign Bodark was once again leading PERUN.

Biography

Childhood

Born on New Harmony on August 28th 2528; Svetlana Rusakov was born to a upper middle class family in the city of Tyumen. Her father was the owner of a large interplanetary shipping corporation while her mother was formerly a lawyer but she quit due to the amount of malpractice and illegal dealings her firm was involved in.

As for Svetlana herself she was quite different from other children age. She had a particular interest in mythology and its creatures both human and not from a very young age. She quite liked hearing stories about Slavic mythology and the Bodark's in particular, people who willingly became werewolf like monsters. This would however come to result in much teasing and jeering from other children. As a result she began to draw further into herself and away from others and bottling up her anger until one occasion when she knocked another student's tooth out. This lead to further social seclusion for her due to her now prominent anger management issues but also a new interest, sports. Despite her age, she exhibited impressive physical abilities both in strength and speed, taking gold medals during sporting events.

However her incident with the other student did lead to her having to attend sessions with the school counselor with little success. Due to the lack of progress she was instead sat down by her parents who would come to teach her about the importance of those close to her and that family, by blood or otherwise, was something she could always rely on and trust. This was further ingrained into her as her parents would try their hardest to spend time with her outside their jobs, from talking to studying.

A view from an evac shuttle as a Covenant cruiser begins to glass the surface of New Harmony.

This wouldn't last long, when she was eight the Battle of New Harmony had broken out as the world came under attack by the Covenant. Her parents and her were rushed to the closest space port along with other civilians. However once they reached the shuttle they realized that there was barely any space left; so they placed her on board the shuttle and told her they were going to look for more people to help. By the time Svetlana felt the shuttle lifting it was too late, the last she saw was her parents tearfully waving at her as plasma streaked above them burning the world around them. Svetlana stood frozen watching the decimated port as the shuttle broke orbit, her eyes never leaving the scorched planetside even as it vanished into the blackness of slipspace.

By the time the shuttle, which was destined for Reach, arrived on the planet ONI agents were already waiting to extract Svetlana. However when they approached her she was still standing in place, right where she watched her parents die. When they called her name she refused to respond or even acknowledge the name, when they tried to grab her she violently lashed out and cut one of the agents across their cheek. With a look of unbridled fury in her eyes she stated Svetlana was gone, and that all that was left was Bodark, despite initial hesitation the agents decided to agree if it meant bringing her in.

Breakpoint Academy

Having been led away by the two agents and into a large black ship, Bodark was sealed within one of the quarters under the watch of one of the agents so as to make sure she didn’t harm herself. After the ship had taken off and entered slipspace, a medic entered the room and attempted to interact with Bodark, trying to get her to speak or react while she conducted a basic check-up. Throughout this and the trip through slipspace, Bodark remained completely silent, responding solely with nods or shakes of her head when spoken to. Over the course of observation, she paid no mind to the medic who examined her, barely even reacting to the pinpricks of syringes. Initially she even refused to eat, being forced to by the guarding agent, lest she be pulled from the program.

With no windows and no will to leave the room, Bodark spent days on end sitting in silence, studying the room and occasionally falling asleep, losing all track of time as her mind flashed back to the memory of seeing her parents at the port despite her efforts to block them out. After what felt like days to Bodark, she was woken up by the guarding agent who led her out of the room and through the halls into the hangar where she was ushered into a Pelican which departed for the colony of Actium.

Being walked out after the Pelican landed, Bodark now faced the massive, imposing fortress that made up the Breakpoint Special Warfare Academy. She was led by the agents through the academy and towards the main facility. She was led into a barely lit hallway at the base of the facility by the two agents, before she could question where they were, she was already in an elevator, heading further below the base.

When it came to a halt, she was quickly guided through a maze of hallways and doors before being stopped in front of and then locked into one of the many bedrooms. With the agents gone, Bodark took the opportunity to explore the room, checking various corners and drawers, but in particular a large and sealed door near the bed. Before she could probe it, she was once again being moved, this time to an infirmary for a full medical evaluation. The hours in the infirmary flew by for Bodark, the various doctors and tests they conducted all blurring together as she sat there in silence, only answering when she was pressed to. Following her time in the infirmary, she was not led back to her room, but was instead taken further down the halls and to the psychologists office.

Training

"They're your team, you work with 'em because you sure as shit ain't getting through this program without them, they're all the family you got left"

―Chief Petty Officer Mendez to Bodark-B076 after nearly getting into a fight with her team

Bodark, formerly Svetlana, was taken to Camp Currahee on Onyx where she met with the other candidates of Beta Company. Like other members of Beta Company Bodark held strong motivation fueled by her desire for revenge against the Covenant, however hers was distinctly more prevalent when compared to others. This was first made clear just after she had been brought to Camp Currahee. When faced with the huge armored man that she would come to know as Lieutenant Commander Ambrose she was decidedly apathetic to his presence however when told that they were being given a chance at revenge and that they could leave if they wanted, she didn't move a muscle.

The first of the constant years of tests to come began with them being loaded into a large dropship and being given large, heavy backpacks with a series of straps and clips keeping them firmly attached. As they sat in wait the order came clear as day, if they wanted to stay and fight, they needed to jump and while some hesitated Bodark didn't, she marched straight up to ramp and jumped.

Upon landing, her and the other cadets made their way back and were given a meal and then sent to their barracks as reward for their dedication. While most of the others spoke with each other, exchanging stories and names about themselves Bodark was decidedly more reserved when talking to others but their stories were at their heart very similar. Most were either already orphans or were made orphans by the War and their endgame was all the same, revenge for those they had lost. The next day saw the, begin their brutal training, from countless hours of PT to mind numbing theory based courses. In PT Bodark, as a result of her previously well developed physical abilities, seemed a natural, fluctuating from the front quarter to the head of the pack. The same could not be said about her theory classes where her temper had a tendency to get the better of her, the more she struggled with a new concept.

As the days wore on they were assigned into teams. Bodark was assigned to Team Kilo along with Jericho-B257, Arlo-B135 and Jamie-B295, Bodark was appointed team leader which initially didn't seem bad, despite her serious demeanor. But as the weeks drudged on Bodark would constantly push herself well beyond their regular training and would force her team to follow. This would continue right-up until they began to introduce more Combat Oriented courses. While her initially blunt and forceful approach seemed to work, her constant hard going began to wear on her teammates which lead to their performance dropping much to her annoyance and later ire.

Kilo, far left on the rope wall, was pushed like other teams and more so under Bodark's leadership.

Particularly in CQC training she performed somewhat above what was expected, despite her less than nuanced fighting style and approach to combat. However it was through CQC that she would meet Adrian-B143, another promising CQC combatant who actually seemed to know a fair amount about fighting. This was put to the test against Bodark's savage style of throws, pummels and locks aimed at beating the life out of opponents as quickly as possible. The two would frequently clash on the mats and while Bodark won most of the time, it became clear that her style and size wouldn't let her keep her advantage for much longer.

Broken Team

As the years of training, continued there was a marked improvement in the skill and proficiency of the trainees. Despite the progress made since their formation, Bodark grew increasingly annoyed with her team's inability to meet her excessively high standards. In one particular instance in 2541, Bodark lashed out at them after Arlo and Jericho failed to beat their respective opponents in sparring session. Bodark continued to call out their incompetence and berate them, her temper almost pushing her to get in a fight with Jericho as tensions escalated. Fortunately, the other drill sergeants took notice and forcibly separated the two before either of them could start a brawl. MCPO Mendez personally pulled Bodark aside to reprimand her, and he made it abundantly clear that she wouldn't get through the program by herself and that her team were the only family she had left. The last part in particular having a lasting effect on Bodark which would see an impact on not only her training but also her sociability with clear contempt being held by her teammates.

As a result she formally resigned from leadership of the team the day after the incident, leaving Jericho to take the leader position. While bewildered by her actions the rest of her team was still wary of her until they had noticed the extent of her withdrawal. She would no longer push them at all, preferring to push herself alone and at the same time she had almost stopped speaking to anyone.

In one particular incident, after she had successfully beaten her opponent,Adrian-B143, he had made a remark about not being surprised that a family would be happy to be rid of a monster like Bodark. At that moment Bodark leapt back into the sparring area and savagely attacked Adrian, beating, bruising and nearly breaking Adrian's bones until she was forcefully restrained by instructors but by then he was unconscious and bleeding substantially. In the aftermath the other candidates visibly avoided her only exacerbating her seclusion.

Eventually this division began to be detrimental to the team as a whole as they began to lag behind even in basic trials like Ring the Bell which lead to Bodark being taken for a Psychological Evaluation. It was here she was made aware of what exactly she had done, how it effected her team and why they had reacted the way they did. She had been unaware or unwilling to entertain the idea that others weren't as willing to push themselves to and past the brink as she was. She was so aloof to this she didn't realize that she had begun to push them away with her extra training, harsh reprimands for failure and uncompromising attitude. When they finally 'left', she was left confused and alone and tried to withdraw into herself again. When the realization became clear that it was her fault, she was determined to not lose the closest thing she had to family.

Reconciliation

While not the most private Bodark had little to no choice of where else to approach her teammates.

The next day in the barracks she had approached the rest of Kilo and to their confusion she seemed uncomfortable, but after a moment she finally spoke. To their surprise she, awkwardly, tried to word an apology for her behavior and promised to try and make up for it. While Arlo was skeptical and Jericho tenuously accepted her apology, the first to actually forgive her was Jamie who despite her initial distaste for Bodark did realize the benefits of pushing themselves to and past their limits.

In the days after, Bodark's attitude towards her teammates had drastically changed, no doubt due to her realization in her evaluation. She had decided to not only stop holding her team to her expectations but also stopped dragging them along to her extra training, having felt she had been the source of enough tension between them.

Over the next few months Bodark's consistent, although not always successful, attempts at being more of a team player did go a ways to improving relations with her team. Jericho eventually beginning to trust her and Arlo, with some prodding, doing the same while Jamie had forgiven her only, much to her surprise, a day later and would go on to become Bodark's first true friend. As the years trudged on however, she did become closer to them, joining in conversations, making the occasional quip or joke and even laughing more openly with them. Over the years she started calling them her friends and eventually even family.

Scarred Mind

However, while she did improve her relationship with her teammates, Bodark did have a slew of her own mental issues. As the years progressed, especially in her teens, these became even more exacerbated; the most notable of which were her continued attempts to distance herself from her past. While others had at best fleeting memories of their past and some even tried to hold on to their memories, Bodark actively tried to detach herself from them. Which started when she had begun to use Bodark as her real name as opposed to Svetlana, further attempts included dying her hair silver and speaking English more and more as opposed to Russian. This was not lost on Instructors or Psychologists who while initially worried it would lead to further issues in her combat effectiveness were proven wrong as her performance only seemed to get better.

Focusing the Anger

As the Vehicle Warfare training continued, the forests near Camp Currahee became littered with destroyed husks of vehicles and divided by the Driving courses cutting through them

Despite the concerns about her mental state she continued to push herself alone and sometimes her teammates would willingly tag along and try to keep up. She would go further and further namely in her CQC training where she spent extra time practicing and learning several different fighting styles in order to clean up her unorthodox style which others were beginning to exploit. While she would at times attempt to mix the styles she often found little success, until in her last two years where she made some progress.

Outside the Combat Training and PT courses she had also found a particular fondness and interest in Vehicular Warfare in the last few years. Bodark showed uncharacteristic levels of interest in the classes and their focus on how to identify weaknesses and flaws in Covenant vehicles and knowing how to exploit them to take them out, among other courses such as vehicle operation and maintenance. Her skill became apparent in practical training where she would land her shots with surprising accuracy in all listed weak points and she would even go so far as to find new ways to defeat the vehicles in her spare time. This dedication, along with her obvious skill, earned her a place in advanced sessions dealing with utilizing the environment to their advantage and how to utilize a range of vehicles to work together seamlessly. The training and learning about these tactics would occur alongside wider scale classes of advanced offensive and defensive driving and ambush tactics.

In their last four years Kilo had gone from a embattled, detached and conflicted team to one of the closer teams in the Company. For Bodark especially she became far more sociable although this only extended into her immediate team as she exhibited her quiet, serious demeanor when interacting with other cadets.

Graduation

After several years of training the Spartans of Beta Company underwent their augmentation procedures on the UNSC Hopeful as part of their Graduation. After the augmentations Bodark and her team all woke to their greatly increased size, speed and strength. However, this growth spurt did lead to several days of rehabilitation for the Spartans to adapt to their newfound capabilities. Following their rehab, the teams were put into competition for Top Honors to find the true standouts from among the Company.

Kilo performed well in Marksmenship where all four members performed impressively, with Jamie standing out thanks to her excessive training in sniping and marksmenship. Bodark also performed well, however her speed in switching between targets saw her miss some shots during the long range course. Arlo and Jericho performed similarly, resulting in Kilo taking fourth of the teams competing in the event. In Demolitions both Arlo and Bodark performed exceptionally well, no doubt due to the Arlo agreeing to instruct her on more complex explosives during training. Jamie and Jericho did not perform as well, Jericho having some ease due to his training in Cyber Warfare and Hacking. When the Cyber Warfare and Hacking event came around, it was Bodark who would see difficulty over the course of the event, having difficulties in breaking firewalls and encryptions despite prior aid and advice from Jericho who would stand out from Kilo in the event but being bested by Catherine-B320.

When it came to the CQC event, Bodark was the one to shine in her team as she quickly rose through the ladder, displaying her newfound mastery in several fighting styles and Spartan CQC. While Jericho and Jamie performed quite above average before being eliminated, no doubt due to intensive sparring with Bodark, Arlo had struggled through his matches. As a result of her rapid climbing and the quickly thinning roster, Bodark had neared the top and her progression had slowed as she went against other well trained CQC specialists in the Company. However it was not until the final five, her teammates having been eliminated, that she found herself fighting Adrian-B143, the same person who was nearly beaten to death in a blind fit of rage at Bodark's hands, the difference this time was that there were no restrictions and no one to stop her.

The Fight

Squaring off, Bodark and Adrian circled one another, each sizing up their opponent until Bodark made the first strike. The two traded blow after blow across each others bodies, their swift movements interrupted with flurries of kicks, punches and attempted locks. For a brief moment, Adrian seemed to have the upper hand, using his smaller stature to strike past Bodark's defenses. However, as he continued, Bodark managed to successfully combine her now well-trained combat methods with her old, savage way of fighting, turning the tide and eventually knocking him out with a flash kick to his jaw which would see her reprimanded by the instructors.

Kilo would go onto take 2nd in Top Honors in the CQC, thanks to their impressive performance, Bodark in particular was able to successfully include her old rage fueled savagery into existing forms which took form mainly in her last match. B312 had managed to match and even outwit her throughout their fight but as the match drew on longer he fought far more reservedly and opted for well placed hits to conserve his stamina. Bodark meanwhile tried several times to take him out with her more aggressive attacks which culminated in him taking advantage of one such attack to take her down and deal the knockout blow

She managed to lead her team to take top Honors in the Vehicular Warfare, her vast knowledge of design flaws and weakpoints in Covenant vehicles allowed her to instruct her teammates how to most effectively take out targets and with the least time. When it came to the driving courses she exhibited exceptional ability in managing the vehicle over rough terrain, around tight circuits and even under fire. When it came to her teammates, her advice and instructions would see them set impressive course times, surpassing many within the company with Bodark's blistering times leading them to victory. In the maintenance course Bodark would once again show her prowess as she was able to guide her team through disassembling and reassembling various parts of Warthogs, Scorpions and even Pelicans to have them, Bodark in particular, stand out amongst their peers and allowing Kilo to take top Honors in the event.

Operation: CARTWHEEL

Just as their Graduation ended Kilo along with the rest of Beta Company were being assembled for their first mission, their target was a Covenant Base on a far away moon. As preparations continued the anxiousness ran high through the Company including Kilo and Bodark.

Beta Company is deployed via SOEIV as Operation: CARTWHEEL kicks off.

The mission kicked off with Beta being deployed via SOEIV's to surprise the Covenant forces. Kilo was deployed two clicks north of the facility along with two other teams and was tasked with targeting the garage and armory in support of the teams targeting the comms relay and the main force targeting the supply depot. Bodark along with Jericho and Arlo had landed around the target area but Jamie was off-course by half a click and had landed near a large rock formation overlooking the base. After blowing a hole in the wall near the garage, Bodark took point in covering Jericho while he hacked the doors to get them in.

Once they had broken in, Bodark finally got a first-hand view of the Covenant, of the source of all her years of pain and anger. Grunts, Jackals, and even a few Elites were scrambling, trying to get the vehicles moving. While Arlo and Jericho took cover near the entrance after sealing it, Bodark opted for a different approach firing off rounds from her grenade launcher to disable the vehicles as she weaved between cover and closed the gap to dispatch several Grunts and Jackals with her knife as they tried to get to the vehicles. She also killed a couple of Elites with well placed shot into the gun carriage of a Wraith before a massive door slammed down in front of her.

Unknown to her, Jericho and Arlo were keeping up as best they could trying to make sure she didn't get herself killed in her anger, picking off targets which she had missed in her charge. After a good deal of reprimand from Jericho as they checked their section of the garage, they set to work. While Arlo set about planting the charges around the Garage they were interrupted by the sounds of Covenant forces trying to break in from the outside. Bodark was sent outside to flank them from the east entrance while Jericho struggled to keep them locked out.

She rounded the structure and spotted the group trying to break in, a lance of three Elite Minors and one Brute supported by a trio of Jackals. She successfully attacked them with a combination of grenades and slashes from her knife. As she turned to meet the next she was nearly knocked back by an attempted kick to her chest which she met with grabbing the foot and redirecting it into the Minor behind her, knocking it back, and then breaking the foot. Not wanting to waste anymore time and get back to her team she finished them off with a burst to their skulls with her MA5K.

However as she turned to leave she was blind sided by the Brute, throwing her backwards into the garage doors and winding her. She recovered in time to meet the Brute, dodging several blind punches as she relentlessly beat and slashed it with her knife. Suddenly it lashed out with a loud howl and struck back out in surprising speed throwing Bodark at the sealed garage doors with a thud. Feeling her anger come back full force, Bodark threw her knife into the charging brutes knee, grabbing its head as it stumbled and beat it repeatedly into the garage door before it managed to kick off but Bodark was ready to meet it. As it lashed out with another blind punch she grabbed the brutes arm and flipped him into an arm bar as she suffocated the brute with her legs while its body flailed uselessly.

She stood from the corpse and made her way to grab her rifle and rejoin the team she was surprised by a lone Elite with a sword but before she could respond it was sent to the floor by a sniper round fired by none other than Jamie some ways away in the rock formation to their north.

A few minutes later Jericho and Arlo exited the Garage due to Arlo making some mistakes in placing the charges due to the constant enemy fire and Jericho no longer being able to keep the Covenant locked out. As they withdrew toward their Calypso Exfiltration Craft, with Jamie guiding them out of the base and picking off patrols in their way, Bodark was met with a degree of reprimand from all her teammates, even Jamie. But after she joined them boarding the craft, the charges detonating in the distance and the chain reaction destroying the whole garage, they did commend her for giving them time to complete the objective.

While her teammates shared experiences with the rest of the company, boasting about their accomplishments, Bodark seemed to opt for her usual quiet and uncaring demeanor, but here and there, a snort or light-hearted eyeroll broke through, much to the surprise of the others. It was here, listening to the stories around her, that she first took the plunge to share a little herself, though it was more due to her teammates exaggeration of her experience. As the night went on she would come to ease herself comfortably into the various conversations going on around her.

Sitting there, with her teammates around her, she though back to earlier in the day. Even then, when she was with Jamie in the infirmary, getting checked for concussion damage from her last drop, she found that the rest of the company/team cared about her. Jericho and Arlo had made the point to come check in with her, and later that day, when they were in, she and Jamie returned the favor. Now, better than ever before, she recognized something. This was her family.

Selection and Reassignment

A week after Operation: CARTWHEEL, Bodark and her team were resting after another day of training. However their rest was interrupted as an Officer entered the barracks and began to call out a series of names, including those of Bodark and Jamie, before announcing that the named individuals were being permanently assigned to a special mission from Lieutenant Commander Ambrose.

As the officer departed, Bodark felt a creeping dread at being torn away from her newly-found family - only for it to be interrupted by Jericho and Arlo who, noticing her behavior and the similar behavior of Jamie, decided to cheer them up. Together they began to reminisce about the experiences they shared over the years, Bodark and Jamie joining in when their own experiences were brought up, sharing stories until there was only ten minutes left before their departure.

After packing her gear, however, Bodark would find that her teammates had one last surprise for her. When she turned to them she was presented with a section of metal, cut out from one of their bed frames, with the letter ‘K’ carved into it, her teammates having made each line with each one of their knives.

"Don't worry Svet, we'll be back at it before you know it" - Jericho-B143

Grateful at the token she insisted on doing the same for the rest of her team before she left. Before gathering her bags to leave, Bodark took the chance to gather her teammates into a hug, which they returned in full force as they shared their final words before she and Jamie were ushered outside by the Officer from before.

Bodark was led out of the barracks and into the main grounds where other Spartans were similarly being led by other Officers away from the main grounds. Giving Jamie a final nod with a small smile, she followed the Officer in front of her, paying no attention to anything going on around her - her mind instead occupied with the storm of emotions at being taken from her team.

She was also lead away from the main grounds and to a clearing where several ships had landed and were being boarded by fellow Spartans. She subconsciously followed the Officer up the ramp at the front of the ship, not paying attention to the other spartan being lead on board behind them. She was escorted to what she was told would be her temporary quarters for the journey and was left to settle in. Not long after, the ship began to lift off as she gave a final look back to the barracks, which itself disappeared as the ship shot through the sky and broke orbit, entering slipspace moments later.

The next few days saw little activity for Bodark as she was mostly confined to her room, spending most of her time shadow training in a mirror or looking longingly at her pendant. She would occasionally leave the room to roam the halls of the ship and even took the opportunity to acquire some cord so she could wear her pendant like a necklace. On the fourth day, she was ordered to attend a briefing in the drop bay of the ship, which she now knew as the UNSC Vorpal Sword.

Walking into the briefing area she saw none other than Adrian-B143, but rather than approach him she simply took her seat next to him and kept her eyes focused on the holo-table in front of them. In the following few hours they were informed of their appointment as team leader and second in command, for Adrian and Bodark respectively, of a new team known as PERUN Team. Following their briefing of the team they were then introduced to their new armor, Mjolnir Mark IV.

The next few weeks of their time in slipspace were spent acclimatizing to and training in their new armor. When Bodark had initially put on her armor she was surprised at the Mjolnir's greatly increased speed and strength, having found out when she attempted to raise her arms and sent a table and armor tech across the floor. As a result of this Bodark spent the rest of the day simply learning to walk, run and handle things without breaking them. This would continue into the night with Bodark remaining awake for hours to get comfortable in the armor so that she could move on to more advanced movements. The rest of the week would see her and Adrian going through basic and advanced combat drills such as handling their weapons with their greatly decreased reaction times and, for Bodark in particular, getting used to piloting vehicles, using both simulators and driving the Warthogs in the hangar on a small course she set out.

As the days progressed Bodark became more used to using her armor more deftly and was able to pilot the Pelican onboard with ease, however when one of the Pelicans was shifted for maintenance Bodark and Adrian took the opportunity to use the empty space as a makeshift obstacle course. Using a trio of Warthogs as hurdles, followed by a series of crates, meters apart and finally using the Pelican in the hangar as a high wall substitute, the obstacle course proved more than sufficient in testing how far they had come in using their armor, with Bodark clearing the course in less than a minute with the only damage being dents in the crates from the weight of the armor.

By the third week Bodark had completed the majority of available weapons training including various combat simulations ranging from urban combat to long range shooting, for live combat exercises she had set up a shooting range with Adrian, using crates and printed targets to keep their aim sharp. As for hand to hand combat, she practiced her various styles using holograms and training dummies, many of which were broken in the process. Most of her time was now spent reading various theory material such as those relating to leadership, mission planning and squad tactics, this largely due to her past experience in leading a team making her uneasy about being put into such a position again. Given her past leadership of Kilo being decidedly harsh and uncompromising, she studied how to better communicate and compromise with teammates and how to better lead them without needing to be aggressive or threatening.

With few options left to keep her busy, she decided to enter the sparring ring with Adrian. As the bout came to an end, Bodark having drawn it out intentionally, she attempted to approach Adrian to speak to him, but she was cut off by his curt response to leave things in the past.

"Let me stop you right there Bodark, I don't care what you have to say. I don't care if you feel guilty or not about our past, because this team, the missions we are going to be tasked with, are bigger than either of us and are damn sure more important than a spat between teenagers. So leave it in the past"

―Adrian-B143's response to Bodark when she tried to talk to him

Bodark had been left somewhat dazed after Adrian's reply, not having expected him to be so blunt or willing to bury the past, though she suspected his placement of the mission and team above himself was one of the reasons he was made leader. The last few days of their journey were spent in similar sparring sessions with no conversation between the two aside from nods to each other after each round.

Just over three weeks after entering slipspace, the Vorpal Sword dropped out near the colony of Pertinax. In minutes a pelican laden with the two Spartans headed to the surface soon after they boarded. Bodark had a pang of anxiety but calmed herself by thinking of Kilo before stepping out after Adrian to meet the three other Spartans of her new team, PERUN.

PERUN Team

"It's quiet, much quieter than I expected."

―Bodark-B076 upon landing on Pertinax

Exiting the Pelican, Bodark was met with the sight of a destroyed colony. In the distance she could see ruined remains of a city and around her she could see the series of tents and covered buildings which made up the camp. But what drew her attention was the officer talking to Adrian. Heading over, she was greeted enthusiastically by the officer who introduced himself as Lieutenant Ozan Basset, to which both her and Adrian saluted, the mission handler and ONI liaison for PERUN. He quickly led her and Adrian over to a secluded building hidden beneath a series of tents, whose doors locked shut as Bodark entered. After taking a seat at the Lieutenants request, Bodark and Adrian were informed of their upcoming mission to target an Insurrectionist base by the name of Camp Hawkhurst. However, they were soon joined by another man who entered the room from the door they came through. He introduced himself as Major Roland Braughner, the commanding officer for PERUN, and wasted no time in informing Adrian and Bodark on the classified information regarding their teammates, which had been absent from their briefing on the Vorpal Sword.

Following the briefing, Bodark and Adrian were instructed to meet the rest of PERUN in the armory section of the command building; However, Bodark would have to go alone as Adrian was held back by Major Braughner. Entering the armory, Bodark spotted the other three Spartans checking their gear and steeled herself before approaching them. Catching the attention of the three, she questioned the command structure only to be confronted by Cassandra-A096. To resolve the standoff, the two took their grievances to the shooting range; But as they started, Bodark noticed that her shots weren't landing, and found her pistol to be firing blanks, causing her to march up to Cassandra and take her pistol, landing several shots with perfect accuracy before she could protest. Hearing the gunshots, Major Braughner and Adrian entered the armory, the Major scolding Cassandra for her behavior, before announcing Bodark and Adrian as they new second-in command and team leader and then leaving the two to deal with the team.

Raid on Camp Hawkhurst

After more formal introductions had been taken care of, Adrian and Bodark lead Cassandra, Obadiah-A227 and Damein-A149 into the command building. They gathered around the main holotable where a projection of the large, disused air base that made up Camp Hawkhurst was waiting. Bodark and Adrian briefed the others on the specifics of the mission, Bodark mostly focusing on her and Damien's role of planting the explosives on their secondary objective, a shipment of X-23 Non-Nuclear Pulse Cannons; as well as noting various threats such as emplacements and vehicle patrol routes. The others asked their own questions, however Obadiah called the entire plan into question, pointing out various flaws with Cassandra's support; rather than reprimand him however, Bodark and Adrian agreed to put his plan into action over their own. Having geared up, Bodark and PERUN mounted up in a Troop Hog and departed at sundown towards Camp Hawkhurst.

As they neared the base, Bodark cut the lights and drove off-road towards a ridge overlooking the base, dropping off Cassandra, before proceeding to the next checkpoint. She dismounted along with Damien to make their way into the base while Adrian and Obadiah moved into position, with Bodark taking point as she and Damien reached the outer wall of the base. The two scaled the wall, dispatching a pair of guards and hiding the bodies, before moving on towards the first bomb location. The two of them moved between cover as Cassandra called out passing patrols and targets which the two bypassed or eliminated as they neared the site. Just before they reached the first bomb location, the fuel dump, Bodark was contacted by Adrian, notifying her as they were entering the main facility. She and Damien pressed forward towards the dump, the two of them taking out the five guards before Damien moved to arm and place the charge with Bodark covering him.

Having planted the first charge, Bodark took point as she and Damien made their way towards the second bomb target, the warehouse. She split up from Damien and took a separate route through the cargo yard between the fuel dump and warehouse, moving across the upper sections with Damien below her. Before emerging at the other end of the yard, she reported their status to Adrian who responded with his own as he and Obadiah neared the leader's position. Coming out at the roof level of the warehouse, Bodark spotted Damien below her, coordinating with him to breach the main doors and clear out the warehouse. Entering from the skylight, Bodark made her way down and ambushed the two guards at the door, allowing Damien to move in and enter the warehouse. Once in, the two set about clearing out the warehouse, eliminating several guards before searching for the shipment.

Having located the container with the cannons, Damien planted the charges on the containers as well as support pillars of the warehouse while Bodark covered him. Once all the charges had been planted, the two proceeded out of the warehouse, killing the final two guards, and taking a route through a series of tents so as to avoid patrols. As they neared the vehicle depot, Bodark and Damien were notified that Cassandra and Obadiah had secured a vehicle and Adrian was preparing to breach the main room. With Cassandra no longer providing overwatch, Bodark and Damien had to approach the depot much slower, taking out a patrol before slipping though the back door. Once inside, the two made their way through the litany of wrecks while taking out guards until they could safely move to plant the last charges. While Bodark planted the charges, Damien broke off to clear a path for them to link up with the others at the main facility.

As she was finishing planting the final charge, Bodark was caught off guard as the alarms sounded across the base. Looking down the path where Damian had marked, she was alerted that they had been spotted and had to leave. Before she could however, the route was cutoff as a number of insurrectionst fighters flooded towards her team, forcing them to leave her behind. Alone and surrounded, Bodark quickly escaped through the rear of the depot and eliminated a trio of fighters as she made her way through the tents which made up the barracks, having to eliminate several other fighters who were gearing up. Before she could go further, a series of searchlights lit up the areas ahead of her. She briefly considered her options and opted to make a break for the depot and grab a vehicle. Bodark moved for the depot and snuck back in; only to find the entrance being guarded by several fighters. With the base already hunting her, she moved to engage the guards, throwing a couple of grenades and opening fire to force them to scatter into cover. As they did, she threw her last grenade, using the explosion as cover to drive out a Warthog before jumping out an engaging the last few in hand to hand combat.

With the route finally clear, Bodark got back into the Warthog and threw one of the innies grenades into a pile of ammo as a distraction. Within moments the explosion had attracted the attention of most of the innies, allowing her to break through the front gates and escape. Shutting down any pursuers by detonating the main charges and effectively destroying the base.

Fallout

Arriving back at base, Bodark had quickly made for the command building where she assumed her team were and found them, Obadiah and Cassandra in particular, being chewed out by Major Braughner. Rather than start her own tirade, Bodark simply moved past Adrian and Damien and proceeded to knock Obadiah to the floor with a punch, the Major and others not holding her back or reprimanding her as she left afterwards.

Notes

• The 3D image of the token was modeled by SaucyGrave on Blender