Chereads / Halo Retainer: Start Of The Journey / Chapter 6 - Welcome To Reach

Chapter 6 - Welcome To Reach

June 4, 2525, 1830 hours

Location: En route to Epsilon Eridani system, UNSC Epoch-class Heavy carrier, Atlas

Third Person POV

It was all blank and silent for Tyler. Then he woke up and came out of his cry pod and started breathing for air, as he was gasping for air a technician suddenly approaches him. "Sorry for the quick wake up sir, but it seems your cryo pod malfunctioned a bit so we had to take you out" said the Technician.

Tyler nodded still on the floor, as he got up to his feet he looked at the technician, "Are we at Reach yet?" Tyler asked.

"No, sir, but Reach is only a day away from slipspace now" the technician answered.

Tyler nodded and exited the cryo bay heading to his room to grab his clothes and get a shower. As he was walking through the hallways of the ship he came into contact with Chief Mendez who was passing by, Tyler immediately saluted.

"At ease, 071" Mendez said. "Care explaining why you're out of cryo right now"

"Sir, the technicians said my pod had some malfunctioning so they took me out" Tyler said. "I was just heading to my room to grab my clothes and take a shower sir"

"Is that so" Mendez said as he raised his eyebrow. "Carry on then" with that Mendez left walking in the opposite direction. Tyler glanced at Mendez walking away at the distance and continued heading to his room.

As Tyler entered his room he immediately grabbed his PT uniform which was a T shirt with his number on his right chest and the Spartan insignia on his right arm and grey camo pants.

As Tyler walked towards the shower he started thinking about the weird dream he had been giving lately, 'What could they mean' Tyler thought. 'Are they some kind of warnings or just the effects of the augmentations?'

After showering Tyler had returned back to his room now wearing his PT uniform, he decided to open the box that was kept bellow his bed, as he brought the box and kept it on the bed, he opened it to find It...empty.

"The hell" Tyler said. "Did I get robbed or something?"

Tyler was freaking out at the fact that his personal belonging which was his diary and all the things he had brought from his universe had practically vanished, nowhere to be seen, as Tyler frantically searched his room to find any clue of where his tuff had went, he started fearing for the worst. What if it was ONI that took it?' Tyler thought. 'If it was, is my cover blown?'

"I'll have to ask Halsey" Tyler said under his breath. As he was about to leave his room he decided to stop and not go. 'But she could be sleeping right now' Tyler thought, 'God damn it, I'll have to ask her tomorrow then'

With that Tyler simply fell on the bed, face first not carrying about his sleeping position. As he fell asleep he continued thinking. What if it was really ONI, will it affect the Halo universe…will it screw me up?

—————————————————————————————————

June 5, 2525, 0830 hours

Location: Epsilon Eridani system, Reach, UNSC Epoch-class Heavy carrier, Atlas

As the Spartans started waking up from their cryo pods one by one all of them started heading for the exit. Except blue team which consists of John, Kelly and Sam, with Kelly looking around to find Tyler but finding him nowhere, even his cryo pod was empty.

"Where did Tyler go?" Kelly asked still looking around the cryo bay which only had them and the technicians inside.

"No idea, I didn't see him either when I woke up" Sam said.

"Maybe he woke up before us and already left" John suggested.

"Well let's go find him then" Kelly said walking towards the exit followed by Sam and finally John.

"Any idea where he could be" Sam asked

"Most probably the hanger bay, that's where all the Spartans were instructed to head to after waking up from cryo" John said.

"Then let's go there then" Kelly said walking faster.

"Hey, Kelly, wait up" Sam said as he went after her.

As the three Spartans arrived at hanger bay they saw all their fellow Spartans 35 in total waiting at the hanger bay for their pelicans to load up. As Kelly looks around hoping to find Tyler she still did not see him in the vicinity.

"Where is he at" Kelly murmured as blue team heads for their Pelican standing at the hatch of it while waiting for Tyler.

As the three of them continue to wait Chief Mendez arrives and notices them still not boarding their pelican. He approaches them to inquire about it. As he arrives the three Spartans immediately snap into a salute.

"At trainees" Mendez said. "Why have you not boarded your pelican yet?"

"Sir, we were only waiting for Tyler" John answered.

"071 is currently preoccupied with Doctor Halsey" Mendez said. "He will be joining you planet side, later"

"Understood, sir" John said and soon boarded the pelican alongside Kelly and Sam who sat next to him.

As the hatch of the Pelican closed it started taking off and headed towards Reach, inside the Pelican a red haired girl who was sitting opposite to them speaks.

"So who were you all waiting for, all the others had already boarded the pelicans by then" the red haired girl asked.

"We were waiting for a new friend we made, Linda" Kelly answered. "He was recently brought into the Spartan program so we decided to help him familiarize himself with the others."

"Oh? Is that so?" Linda asked. "Can you tell me more about him?"

"So-" Kelly said.

—————————————————————————————————

As Tyler continued to walk along the hallways of the ship alongside Halsey he asked. "So, Doctor where are you heading to"

"I have been called to earth to give a report about you" Halsey said.

"Wait what" Tyler said confused. "I thought you said I was clear and ONI wouldn't be able to track me down?"

"Yes, this report is to explain to the Higher ups as to why I chose you specifically and why at such a late age Halsey explained.

"Hopefully they won't get too suspicious of my cover story" Tyler said.

"Oh don't worry about that, Lieutenant Leroy already took care of that" Halsey said. "I am simply going there to submit the proof that you are indeed eligible to become a Spartan"

"And how exactly are you going to do that?" Tyler asked.

"Your footage of your fight against the ODSTs should be enough, if not then your sparring match with Kelly should seal it" Halsey said earning a surprised look from Tyler.

"Wait you recorded my sparring match with Kelly?" Tyler asked

"Yes, there are cameras everywhere on the ship" Halsey said.

"Damn" Tyler muttered.

"So, where are my stuff at?" Tyler asked. "You said you kept it to keep it safe"

"Yes, it is currently in the hanger bay in Chief Mendez's hands" Halsey said

As both of them arrived at the hanger bay Tyler noticed it mostly empty with only one pelican waiting and with Chief Mendez standing next to its hatch, as both Halsey and Tyler neared the Pelican Chief Mendez greeted them.

"Well Chief Mendez, 'll be leaving Tyler in your care till my return" Halsey said.

"You can count on me, Doctor" Mendez said and Tyler boarded the Pelican alongside him, as they both took a seat the hatch of the pelican closed and Halsey also walked away from it. Inside the Pelican Mendez handed Tyler a bag.

"Leather bag" Tyler asked.

"Similar" Mendez said. "It's wear, weather and heat proof. The zipper is made of Titanium-A, all your belongings including your clothes are inside"

As Tyler opened the bag he indeed did see all his belongings from his Lord of the ring shirt to his phone and medals as well. As Tyler closed the bag he examined it, it looked a lot like a waist bag although a bit smaller, it was really a surprise how all his belongings fitted inside the small thing.

—————————————————————————————————

As the pelican started entering Reach's atmosphere Tyler could feel the G-force as this was his first time actually entering the atmosphere of another planet more or less on a pelican. As the Pelican started slowing down Tyler could see the outside through the window and there he saw FLEETCOM Military complex.

As the Pelican landed and the hatch opened up Tyler followed Chief Mendez out who started giving the tour of the base.

'Holy shit, this looks exactly like the one seen in the animated series' Tyler thought.

"First time on a new world huh?" Mendez said. "Like it"

"The hills look a lot the Highlands back on Scotland" Tyler said admiring the distant mountains.

"Well 071, welcome to Reach" Chief Mendez said.

Mendez continued his tour showing him the firing ranges, obstacle courses and an Olympic sized running track that spanned most of the compound. He could see about 35 people jogging along, some of them running faster than the drill instructors escorting them. Tyler recognized three of them as John, Sam and Kelly.

As Mendez left Tyler alone in the centre of the ground he went ahead and dismissed the Spartans. "You are dismissed for the afternoon trainees" Mendez said "Report to your barracks at 18:00"

With that the Spartans started to disperse and started leaving the compound one by one leaving only Tyler standing in the middle of the tracks. Three specific people noticed the clueless Spartan and decided to approach him.

As Tyler stood around thinking on what to do he noticed three people who he recognized as John, Kelly and Sam approaching him. "Hey Tyler, we were wondering when you would show up" Sam said.

"What took you so long" Kelly asked.

"Had to discuss something Doctor Halsey" Tyler said. "Had to ride in with the Chief"

"Must have been one hell of an experience" John said.

"It was actually a quiet and peaceful ride surprisingly" Tyler said.

Soon two more individuals a girl with red hair and green eyes and a boy with black hair mixed with some silver strands that looked about their age joined in as well.

"Hey John, what's going on here" the boy asked.

"Oh nothing Fred, just talking to our new friend here" John answered.

The red haired girl took a closer look at Tyler as if examining him, "Hi, I am Linda" She introduced.

"I am Tyler pleasure to meet you" Tyler said extending his hand for a handshake, Linda also extended her hand shook hands with him.

"So you're the new guy Kelly's was talking about all day" Linda say's with a small smirk.

"Have not!" Kelly defends.

"Now now ladies let's not keep our new friend here waiting" Fred said. "I am Fred by the way"

"I am Tyler" he said as Tyler extended his hand again for a hand shake which Fred happily received.

"So, want to go to the shooting range Tyler" Linda asked.

"What? Of course he coming with me to the sparring grounds, he is my partner after all" Kelly said snatching lyler away.

Tyler just stood there confused as to how he got into this situation, What is even going on, they act so differently compared to how they did in the books, maybe it's because they are still not in active combat' Tyler thought.

"Why not we ask him where he wants to go, am I right Tyler" John asked snapping Tyler out of his thoughts.

"Oh what" Tyler said. "I was actually thinking about getting to know the other Spartans and familiarize myself with them"

"Well then allow me Sam to guide you then Sam said as he snatched Tyler away from Kelly and started walking away with him.

"Hey, Sam, wait up!" Fred said running along to catch up him followed by John, Kelly and Linda.

——————————————————————————————————

As Tyler went on with Sam and the others to familiarize himself with the others he met some friendly Spartans like Jorge and Kurt.

Kurt being extremely friendly with Tyler and even volunteering to show Tyler around the base, an offer which was quickly put down by Sam and Kelly as they continued on they met some more Spartans like William, James, Joshua, Malcolm, Arthur and Solomon.

As they entered the barracks Tyler met a familiar face that being Naomi who showed him around the barracks while John and the others talked with the other Spartans inside like Grace, Vinh, Anton and Li.

As Tyler left the barracks with Naomi he came outside to what looked like an Obstacle course Naomi had gone back inside the barracks as she had been called inside by someone, as he watched the obstacle course a girl with blond hair and blue eyes, approached him, she was shorter than him by an inch or two.

"So, you're the new guy everyone in base has been talking about?" the girl said.

"Yeah, probably" Tyler said. "I'm Tyler" Tyler extended his hand out for a handshake.

"I'm Daisy" she said as she received his hand and shook it.

'Bloody hell, didn't think I'll actually meet her as well' Tyler thought. "So Tyler, what do think about the Spartan Program as a whole?"

"Well..if you ask me personally, I think it's a great opportunity" Tyler said somewhat lying, 'of course that's the first question she asks me Tyler thought.

"Really...you don't feel any distain, being taken away from your family?" Daisy asked.

"Well.. my parents...aren't really around anymore" Tyler said and Daisy's eyes widened

"I-I am sorry I didn't mean to trigger some bad memories for-" Daisy apologized before being cut off.

"No No, it's actually fine and well I am not really mad about being conscripted into the Spartan program" Tyler said. "At least I will get to pay those bastards responsible for it" Tyler lied.

"Huh…well I hope we can meet again, Tyler" Daisy said, giving a small smile as she left, eventually disappearing into the barracks.

As Tyler continued to walk around the base, Blue team was frantically looking for his as they had not been paying attention to him while inside the barracks.

Sam was freaking out at the fact that the person who he was supposed to show around had pretty much disappeared, Kelly on the other hand was equally worried at the fact that Tyler had practically disappeared while under their care.

As Blue team continued their search for their new friend, Tyler on the other hand was walking near the outskirts of the base where a wall was erected, as he continued looking at the wall he was approached by a guy from the back, the guy went ahead stood next to him.

"Already thinking of escaping?" the guy asked, Tyler looked the new fellow that had approached him he looked about his age as well; he had black hair and brown eyes.

"No, just admiring the walls" Tyler said, "and thinking of what weapons will be effective at breaking it" The guy just chuckled, "damn, Kurt wasn't lying when he said you had a nice sense of humor" the guy said, "I'm Jai by the way"

"I'm Tyler" he said as he extended his hands and they shook hands. 'So I am meeting Gray team now' Tyler thought.

Then two more individuals a girl and a boy approached them from the back. "Hey Jai, is this the new guy everyone has been yapping about" the girl who had blue eyes said.

"Hi there, I'm Tyler" he said.

"I'm Adriana" she said. "And that's Mike" she pointed at Mike who was standing next to her; Mike simply gave Tyler a wave.

"So what actually brings you to this part of base Tyler?" Adriana asked.

"Just exploring" Tyler said. "But you could say I got lost halfway and ended up here"

"So you aren't actually escaping the place" Adriana said to which Tyler nodded, "Wow look at him Jai unlike you Tyler here didn't try to run away on his first day" she said jokingly.

"Well not everyone is as special as me" Jai said.

"Yeah right" Adriana said.

As the two continued their banter Tyler just stood with Mike who watched the two Spartans bantering.

"So...you deal with this every day?" Tyler asked.

"Someone has to" Mike said and Tyler simply chuckled.

"I guess you have a point" Tyler said.

"What are your specialties Tyler" Mike asked

"Well you could say I am good at Hand to Hand combat and marksmanship" he said.

"Interesting, well I specialize with technical activities" Mike said.

"Must be quite the fun" Tyler said.

"Oh it definitely is" Mike said. "Speaking of fun, have you ever tried to mess around with a vehicle?"

"Tried to fix a car once, instead broke it even further" Tyler said. "Turned it into something that only your intrusive thoughts could create"

"Damn, it was that bad" Mike asked suppressing a laugh.

"I might have a better chance at medical than technical" Tyler said.

"I say you go for it" Mike said earning a surprised look from Tyler. "I mean we don't really have a Spartan that specializes in medical activities"

"That...a good point" Tyler said as he remembered that in the book no Spartan was ever mentioned to be a medic or someone that solely specializing in medical.

"I guess I'll ask Doctor Halsey for that one" Tyler said.

"Oh yeah I forgot to tell you" Mike said Tyler looked at him curious. "John and the others have been looking for you; Sam and Kelly were freaking out especially Sam"

"Well I guess I'll have to head back now then" Tyler said as he looked at Jai and Adriana who were still bantering. "Will these two ever stop"

"I will last about ten minutes" Mike said.

"Well it was nice Talking to you Mike" Tyler said.

"Same here Tyler" Mike said. "See you around" and with that Tyler left the area heading back to where he hoped was the barracks.

As he walked for a couple of minutes he finally came across blue team, Sam immediately saw him and walked towards him.

"Where the hell have you been Tyler?!" Sam said. "We were getting worried over here"

"Yeah sorry about that" Tyler apologized. "Mike told me that you all were looking for me"

"So you met gray team, huh" Kelly asked.

"Yeah met them near the wall" Tyler answered.

"How did you even to the wall in the first place, I thought it was heavily guarded" John asked.

"I don't know" Tyler simply shrugged.

"Well we should probably get back to barracks, it's almost 19:00 now" Kelly said

'Damn how long was I out for' Tyler thought. "Yeah...we probably should"

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