B-292

I would have died for him... Fought alongside him til the very end... I even disobeyed him and tried to stay. But he wouldn't have it. He knocked me out and left me in charge of the three's. It may not have been what I wanted, but it's what Kurt wanted. The III's still need a commander, and I'm the only one left that's qualified.

[survivorofonyx]

"Tom," she addressed by his name -- a signal to the heightening of her concerns. "Would you like to tell me what happened?" continued the Spartan in a quiet voice as she brought him closer to her sight; "You look paler than you've ever been."

“I… I’m not sure. I might be hallucinating.”

[temporaria-ouium-blog]

“……………..”

“That’s impossible. We’ve searched – at least the ones who did… They’ve searched all over ground zero, there were nothing; and now you say… he’s on the ship? Here? This ship? It’s been years, that is impossible.”

[survivorofonyx]

“I’m aware.”

“Hence why I believe I was hallucinating. It was a very... convincing hallucination.”

[survivorofonyx]

"Tom," she addressed by his name -- a signal to the heightening of her concerns. "Would you like to tell me what happened?" continued the Spartan in a quiet voice as she brought him closer to her sight; "You look paler than you've ever been."

“I… I’m not sure. I might be hallucinating.”

[temporaria-ouium-blog]

“As in?”

[survivorofonyx]

“I thought I saw Kurt. Talked to him.”

[survivorofonyx]

"Tom," she addressed by his name -- a signal to the heightening of her concerns. "Would you like to tell me what happened?" continued the Spartan in a quiet voice as she brought him closer to her sight; "You look paler than you've ever been."

“I... I’m not sure. I might be hallucinating.”

[astra-incliinant-deactivated201]

┌▉ ᴀᴍʙᴇʀ ▉┐

        Split Timeline…–         “…What could have triggered a branching timeline?         I’ve not been involved in anything in regards to         slipspace anomalies aside from the slipspace pods         from Team Katana–”

[survivorofonyx]

Tom froze. The realization hit him like a ton of bricks.          “I might have.” “Just an hour ago. The Destroyer my team arrived on hit a rough wake in Slipspace. Felt like the damn thing was going to shake apart.”

[survivorofonyx]

//Splitting headache. Was at Oktoberfest here all day.

…. so much beer…. :P

[survivorofonyx]

//Got to take a look at a lot of new breweries that have opened up in the past year or two here in the state, including one owned and operated by US veterans called “Service Brewing Co.”

[survivorofonyx]

//Splitting headache. Was at Oktoberfest here all day.

.... so much beer.... :P

[astra-incliinant-deactivated201]

┌▉ ᴀᴍʙᴇʀ ▉┐

        “…Because you did. I’ve never seen you get so angry.         You shouted about how I was being a ‘fucking idiot’,         and how the team would need me more than it’d need you.”         His voice nearly cracked as he recalled that day.         “It took every last one of them to keep me from going back         through the portal to get you.”        “As I said. Something isn’t making sense here.”

[survivorofonyx]

Tom remained silent for a while. The stories not only didn’t match up, they actively conflicted each other.

“So what are we talking here? Split timeline? Some kind of Forerunner... thing? Every time we come up against a piece of their tech it’s bad news.”

[astra-incliinant-deactivated201]

┌▉ ᴀᴍʙᴇʀ ▉┐

        051 motioned for Tom to take a seat too with a simple little hand motion.         He rests is elbows on his knees, and stares at the floor for a         long while. Something was wrong.         And that’s exactly what he’d say. No point in holding it back.         “Something’s not adding up here, kid. I remember it much differently.”         He looks up, and smirks. “But you’re– You’re here.         I can hardly believe my eyes.”

[survivorofonyx]

Tom moves to sit on a nearby crate and sets his helmet down beside him. “I...” He starts.

“I still can’t. It’s been years. The Lieutenant helped me cope, got me back on my feet, gave me a mission. Now I know how he felt to see you again, but I don’t have swarms of sentinels here to distract me like he did.” He sighed as he ground his temple with a pair of fingers in an attempt to alleviate an oncoming headache.

“And why do you say I fought you back? You knocked me out cold when I checked my rifle for ammo and Lucy dragged me into the sphere.”

[astra-incliinant-deactivated201]

┌▉ ᴀᴍʙᴇʀ ▉┐

        The pair arrive only a short walk later to a supply room Kurt knew         wasn’t in use often enough to warrant unwanted visitors.         He settled down on an equipment crate, the metal barely even         making a sound at his added full armored weight.         A small pop, and a hiss, and his Gungnir helmet came off,         revealing reddened hazel eyes, barely able to hold back tears.         When Beta fell at Operation Torpedo, Kurt fell apart.         When he heard Noble Team’s fate at Reach, and his         long time teammate’s sacrifice, it shattered the pieces even         further.         But when he heard of B-312′s survival? A small spark of hope         resurfaced.         And now, with Tom here, he was the happiest he’d been in a very         long time.

[survivorofonyx]

Tom removed the Orbital helmet and held it under the crook of his arm. To see his old commander’s face again.       Alive.

The confusion was evident on Tom’s face. “Sir, I... I don’t know what’s going on. After you didn’t follow us through the portal, we knew you were done for. There was nothing left of Onyx once we finally escaped the Shield world. I read every after action report. Nothing survived that blast.”

[astra-incliinant-deactivated201]

┌▉ ᴀᴍʙᴇʀ ▉┐

        Brow furrowed, he released Tom as soon as he moved again         on his own. Kurt had his own questions, of course, but the anger         from Tom caught him a little off guard.         “…” A pause, a silence coursed between them for a moment         as he mulled over his thoughts.         “You fought me back–It took all of them to keep me from running         back to get you–” His gears churned with straining effort,         trying his best to remember. But how could he forget that day?         Kurt no longer did well with loss.          That was why he flew solo these days.         “Come, we’re making a scene. Follow me.” His gaze drifted          among all the techs watching them anxiously.

[survivorofonyx]

The retort completely threw Tom’s train of thought off track. Fought him back? Died in his place? Sure Tom had always wished he had, but Kurt had cold cocked him in the jaw. Tom was out cold when Kurt actually died and Lucy was the only one that got to say goodbye.

So what the hell was going on? 

Anger left him entirely, but he was far more confused now. His shoulders slumped slightly.

“...Yes, sir.”

[astra-incliinant-deactivated201]

                  You can’t wake up, this is not a d͉̎ͩ̔ͭr͔͈̠̿ͫ̑̆͗ͤ̏e̤̒ͫͣ̎̌̀a̘̭̞̗͑͛͌ͤ̏̚m̲̞̯̭̗͍̈̉ͭ̀ͅ ,               You’re part of a m a c h i n e, you are not a human being

┌▉ ᴀᴍʙᴇʀ ▉┐

        Kurt stiffened at the response–he could even hear the         warning screech from his armor from here.         Lightning quick reflexes caught the young man before         he could potentially fall from the obvious shock         his heart was suddenly enduring.         His grip around Tom’s wrist, he hefted him back onto         his feet, stabilizing him with his hands around         B292′s biceps.         Something of the solidity helped reassure him.         This wasn’t a ghost.         “I-..I can’t believe it. How a-..re you…How did you survive,         Tom?”

[survivorofonyx]

Tom’s brain was heavily overtaxed, and he struggled to latch onto anything that was going on. What Kurt was saying, if he was Kurt, didn’t make any sense. Tom’s survival wasn’t the one everyone questioned, it was Kurt’s.

“But... wait. Hold on.” He pushed back from the man, latching onto the anger and confusion once again.  “What do you mean ‘how did I survive?’ You’re the one that Sucker-punched me and had Lucy drag me through the Rupture at Onyx’s core. As far as any of us knew, you died in that core holding the detonator to that cluster of FENRIS warheads.”

[survivorofonyx]

[Weapon of mass Feels has been unleashed]

[Stand by for casualty estimates]

[astra-incliinant-deactivated201]

┌▉ ᴀᴍʙᴇʀ ▉┐

        “Tom,” The name rolled from his chest like an ocean wave,         “I’m certain you were trained to talk to a CO better than that.”         He wanted to laugh. Not out of enjoyment in any form.         Simply sheer denial.         Ghosts haunted him on a daily basis, but they didn’t         normally have a shipboard AI in on the joke.         Every piece of evidence showed that yes, this was in fact         Tom B-292.         Lucy would slap him across the face if he found and told her.         She’d not recovered after Tom’s sacrifice. It’d caused a full mental         breakdown for the young girl.          But she was not the only one to have suffered. At least Kurt had been         there with her.         Hesitant, Kurt dragged two fingers across his MJOLNIR Gen II faceplate.

[survivorofonyx]

                                                   Tom froze.

They could fake the height. They could fake the IFF tag. They could even fake the ‘Spartan Smile’.

                       But they couldn’t fake the voice that still haunted him.

~”Okay, you win. How much ammo do you have? We’ll pool our reserves.”~

Tom took a step back and his vitals spiked. He felt like someone had just injected him with an ice cold syringe of adrenaline. His throat dried up and his eyes went out of focus as his body replayed those final seconds years ago.

“Nuh.... buh... You. You can’....”

His vitals climbed higher and higher. His heart rate had spiked so high that his vitals posted red to his IFF and his suit read him as Tachycardic. The onboard medical module of his suit went so far as to shock him to attempt to stabilize. The result was a violent twitch. 

“GUhh.”

He took another step back and willed himself to stand at attention. If this was all true, he couldn’t fall to pieces now. Not in front of...

                             ...him.

[astra-incliinant-deactivated201]

┌▉ ᴀᴍʙᴇʀ ▉┐

        The tags flooded his vision with assistance from Vali,         little blips that he scanned and passed, once, twice,         no, no, no.         He wasn’t even close to Dock Beta yet, but he appreciated         Vali’s help and watched the blips as they bounced along         beyond the walls.         He gingerly shoved between a pair of techs, then a duo of         Marines hauling off a crate behind them.         Kurt rounded the corner at almost a joggers pace, and skidded         around the bend on the heel of his foot.         His eyes landed straight on the single Spartan-III in the room.         Instant recognition.

[survivorofonyx]

////S-051 - Kurt

Tom looked the IFF tag over again. If this was some prank he wasn’t laughing.  He assumed the Tag was a product of the shield module shorting out another so he reached up to his collar and power cycled his VISR.  The HUD dimmed, then flickered back to life. The IFF tag reappeared.

////S-051 - Kurt

“That’s not funny.” Tom closed on the individual, “Take those tags off Boot, or I will end you. NO ONE gets to wear that number...” Tom was now looking up into the VISR of the other, a full foot and a few inches shorter than the massive Spartan.

“NO ONE.”

[survivorofonyx]

// Off for the night. Got important phone interview in the morning. I probably should have gone earlier.

[survivorofonyx]

                                                   Find me way out there                                       there’s no road that will ; lead ; us b a c k 

[astra-incliinant-deactivated201]

┌▉ ᴀᴍʙᴇʀ ▉┐

        He surged through the ship like a man on a mission,         MJOLNIR systems barely up and running since having         left before everything could properly be brought online.         Massive paws trembled within, barely noticeable. But         the flutter in his chest made him forget to mind his own         strength. A hand shaped indentation was left behind in         the steel.         “Vali ETA on the incoming vessel-”        “Destroyer docking as we speak, Spartan-051.”         “Location.”         “Dock Beta.”         Tom was dead. Tom. Was. Dead.         He repeated it over and over to himself, like a mantra.         Sheer denial. That explosion wasn’t survivable.

[survivorofonyx]

Tom stood at the door to the gangway as the artificial gravity of the ship lessened and was replaced by the larger facility’s gravity. The transition was always a little odd on the body, but it was something he’d come to expect. It meant the ship had more or less docked and was now simply waiting on the door. He grabbed the heavy hardcase at his feet that contained the equipment and information they had retrieved from the raid on the covenant that was to be analyzed and cataloged.

The door popped with a slight hiss as the air normalized and pulled apart to reveal the station beyond. Bright lights filled the platform and Tom’s visor darkened to compensate for the brighter ambient light inside. A pair of Marines were waiting at the end with a rolling dolly to retrieve the hardcase.

“Petty Officer Tom?” One of them asked. The Spartan turned and nodded, making his way to them. “Thank you gentlemen. Make sure S2 gets a good look at the contents before they ship it off.” He set the case down on the dolly with a thud. “Will do, sir.” The other responded. The pair of them then moved the dolly out to the main concourse and out of sight.

Tom turned to look back at the ship and toggled the radio, “Red Team. Make sure you’ve pulled all of your gear from the ship. We’re staying on station for the time being.” He got three acknowledgment lights in response. As Tom turned back toward the main concourse, his VISR began to populate his HUD with IFF tags.       One in particular stood out among the rest.                                  “The hell?”

[astra-incliinant-deactivated201]

                                                   Find me way out there                                       there’s no road that will ; lead ; us b a c k

┌▉ ᴀᴍʙᴇʀ ▉┐

        Air caught in Kurt’s lungs. It singed like thick smoke         and seemed to spread within his entire chest         like a wild fire.         Terror.         This– this wasn’t possible.         Had he heard correctly?         The armor tech that stood small before him shifted         on her feet in discomfort. A little hand waved at him.         “Sir? Are you alright?”         He blinked himself back into reality. Or–         doubt made his skin tingle.         “Repeat yourself, please.”         Kurt finally breathed, and the words croaked from his throat.         “I-I’m– I was saying that a new arrival would be here soon.         Another Spartan. I believe his name is Tom.”

[survivorofonyx]

The ride in had been exceptionally bumpy. Something about the slipspace stream the Destroyer he’d returned on crossing an anomaly. Beyond that small hiccup, the mission had gone off without a hitch. Even with Tom’s newer shield module discharging and shorting out, the team had eliminated the small covenant outpost without taking casualties. Regardless, Tom was ingrained with the same training as all the other Spartans and that training demanded that all equipment be maintained in peak working condition. A faulty module had to be replaced immediately. There was no ‘make do’ with the few earlier class Spartans left in the UNSC. With that thought in mind, Tom had the ship’s radio operator call ahead to the main facility they’d be docking with. He’d need a replacement as soon as was possible. He’d return to teaching advanced tactics to the new inductees of the Spartan Branch. After informing the radio operator and being informed the arrival was soon, he went below-decks and stood by to disembark.