...The time had come.The young Spartan’s superiors had seen fit to find him an new team. The others had already been scattered after Blue Team’s successes, but the misfits like Jorge were left behind. Now they were all to be grouped together like a cluster of pinless grenades. The thought alone of being on a team that wasn’t Amber filled Jorge with gut wrenching grief.But what choice did he have?Jorge had to face it. He had to for the good of his company, for the good of all mankind who relied on him to be their shield. He was Spartan, stronger than this, strong than pain and grief and sleepless nights and self hatred and….Why was this easier said than done.
...It had been a month since Black Team- not to be confused with the nigh-similarly-named Team Black, had gone missing. The four of them-- Weston, Vess, Rila and Katrin --were infiltration specialists, and had been sent away almost immediately following augmentation- an emergency, they’d said. Their bodies still ached when their boots were on the ground, and they’d have to work past it if they were to come back in one piece.
Vess-060, the team’s deadeye, now sat in the medical bay of their home base on Reach, where they hadn’t said a word to the medic since they were brought in. They were something of a grim sight to behold, what with the severity of the burns that ran down the right half of their face now... And their arm, and their chest. Angry, red, scabbed over, as if they’d already been there for weeks.
They hadn’t flinched or vocalized once despite the wounds needing to be scrubbed out and re-treated. As the doctor wrapped over the last stretch of burn over with gauze, the Spartan let out a long sigh, and finally set down the datapad that their slate-grey eyes had been fixed on since it was handed to them on arrival. Their expression shifted, the flat, stony silence taking on a bitter twinge, but still, they said not a word. It was enough to give the doctor pause, but when questioning was simply met with the Spartan standing once more, they decided better than to press it, and let them leave.
Vess left. Their steps were measured, even and purposeful. They shrugged on a jacket- stolen from the doorway -to cover the extent of their burns, leaving only the scarring on their face and neck visible, and the intent expression on their twisted face.
And so, they find themselves walking into the same room that Jorge has been left in, slowing a moment when they see him. They hadn’t... had time to see who all had made it and who hadn’t. Black Team had been sent off too quickly. The realization came quickly, that the others hadn’t made it, and they glanced away, sighing, but... saying nothing.
The young Spartan opted to remain standing, folding their arms carefully over their torso and placing themselves up against the wall where they could watch the door. Their motions were careful, and it wasn’t hard to tell that it was more-so than their usual caution. It was a given, after all, that after being burned so badly, they’d opt to be careful with movement.