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Delta Team: Midnight Sakura Chapter 01 — Description

Counselor Edward Buck's Office
Republic Center Spire, The Greater Ark (Installation 0)

“Spartan Hamm, hear it's Commander now,” greeted Counselor Buck, as Roy Hamm entered the room with Agent Lau and Spartan Alan Willmore.

“Commander reporting as ordered sir,” said Hamm as he and both his companions snapped to attention and raised their hands to customarily salute the Councilor.

“At ease you three, you know I am not one for formalities,” said Buck as he walked over to his desk before leaning against its front.

“Thank, Councilor,” replied Agent Lau still not sure why they were told to report to one of the civilian leaders.

“Why are we here Buck,” asked Commander Hamm trying to get straight to the point, “And we have seen each other several times after my promotion, so what gives?”

“You always were straight to the point,” replied Buck.

“Not always, but I did learn from the best,” said Hamm as he dropped out of his strict military posture to a more natural one.

“Did you now,” said Buck knowing that the Commander was referring to himself.

“Is this about the complication with Kadmon,” asked Hamm as he pulled one of the office chairs closer to himself and leaned against its back still standing up.

“Not really, but that is a world trouble that you found there, luckily ONI thinks that we can 're-integrate' him back into society,” answered Buck, “It was a good thing that both ONI and the Imperial Intelligence Bureau decided to keep his identity pretty much a secret, even though he still took his surname.”

“Would have gone really bad for the Empire's ati-Spartan propaganda campaign, if their leader was one,” said Alan Willmore as took the last office seat by the desk and actually sat in it.

“Yes, while I think a good number of the higher ups in the UNSC and Empire knew he was a Spartan, I think few really know his actually identity or exactly which of the Kadmons he was,” said Buck as he grabbed a bottle of whiskey from his desk and made gesture to offer it to the Spartans.

While Agent Lau politely made a gesture of refusal, both Roy and Alan customarily accepted the offer from a fellow Helljumper.

“So, why did you call us in here today,” asked Roy again, as he gently sipped the whiskey, “It’s not everyday that we get called into the civilian government, how they don’t like us and all.”

Alan sipped the whiskey as well and made a face at strong taste of the drink, who was not accustomed to the spirit. Buck let out a small laugh, “Do you like the drink, they make it right here on the Ark. Actually on the 3rd Spire is a farming district next the education and research area there.”

“Yes, I know of the place that makes it, and I am well aware that you know that we are staying in the area on some R&R,” replied Roy.

“I did,” said Buck as he looked at his drink, “Why are you taking your leave there, does it have anything to do with Morgenroete facility there.”

“Well Lau and I were requested to help them with some stuff, if we have time. But that’s not why we are being stationed there on leave,” answered Roy.

“Stationed,” said Buck repeating the subtle hint, “So I assume ONI is stationing you there for some security reason.”

“You’ll need to talk to Emily on that one,” said Roy not revealing the true nature of their assignment.

“Well I hope you all get some rest, which reminds me of something else I need to talk to you about,” said Buck slowly changing the subject, “The reason I called you here today is, I convinced the civilian government to give your team Guardian status.”

“About time,” said Alan in excitement as he clapped his hand on his leg.

“Hold on, there is a catch,” interrupted Buck.

“There always is,” added Lau.

“I got the civilian government to get their heads out of their asses,” said Buck, “and got them to see that having you too much on the side lines isn’t good for them and may cause them more harm then good.”

“Because they need us,” asked Alan with a proud grin on his face.

“Or because, we will just go to ONI and not have as much oversight as compared to the Guardian program,” asked Lau with a more pessimistic tone.

“Depending on the Councilman, one of those reasons or both,” answered Buck, “Problem is they are a proud full bunch.”

“What does that mean,” asked Roy trying to get Buck to tell them straight.

“There isn’t going to be any public ceremonies,” explained Edward Buck, “or announcements.”

“I’ll live,” responded Roy with Lau and Alan giving similar gestures.

“You also won’t be publicly acknowledge as Guardians, but you will be given the same operational freedom as them,” responded Buck, “But don't worry everyone in the military will know what you are.”

“We don’t need the spotlight,” said Roy not caring about the fame that the Guardians often got.

“You’ll also need to be able to operate almost financially independent,” said Buck with a sigh, as he looked the Spartans for their reaction.

Lau finally broke the silence, “Good thing Emily gave us a ship.”

“So how are we suppose to operate financially independent,” asked Roy, “Lau makes good from his family business, but he gave up most of the rights to the Dynasty. Not only that, but it’s too much to ask of him to pay for all our operations.”

“Well, your ship’s crew and support staff are all paid by the UNSC, plus you’ll continue to receive your normal salary,” explained Buck, “You’ll also be given several monthly allowances to strictly be applied for certain consumables like; fuel, ammunition, food stock.”

“What about weapon stocks and vehicles,” asked Lau wanting to know more, “and specialized equipment.”

“Well you’ll need to find someway to pay for those yourselves,” answered Buck, “Which is like any other Guardian unit.”

“Fair enough, considering that we will have more freedom on what equipment that we can purchase and use,” replied Roy, “So how are we going to be different then them.”

“Not too much,” replied Buck, “but you will need to pay your ships maintenance and operational fees. So if something breaks, its your job to fix it. Additionally things like ship weapons and landing fees are on you too.”

“Also some of your budgeted allowances are a lot smaller then the rest and have a much smaller selection,” continued Buck as he bit his lip hoping the questions would stop there.

“How much smaller,” asked Alan.

“Your fuel allowance is quite generous, but your food is rather poor. Pretty much just enough to buy basic emergency rations,” responded Buck, “So good luck on not having a mutiny on your hands.”

“Also the ammunition is limited to several basic 7.62 loads, so I hope you like running your MA5 rifles a lot,” said Buck as he set his empty glass on his table.

“No marksman rounds then,” said Alan.

Roy looked at Lau, “we still have a several crates of M634 left don’t we?”

“Yes, Emily got us a large number of cases of it, about fifty-five thousand rounds,” answered Lau.

“Which is good, I know you guys prefer running the Battle Rifle,” said Buck, “But you guys will need to pay for it from now on, unless you can get some from your friends at ONI.”

“So other agencies and branches can give you supplies,” asked Roy.

“Yes, but they are going to limited how much they can gift you in a certain time period,” said Buck, “But if you accept a mission from them, they can pay you all they want for it.”

“So payment can be in credits, supplies, or gear,” asked Alan.

“Or a mixture of the three,” responded Buck.

“We almost sound like mercenaries,” commented Roy, “What anti-corruption measures are there?”

“The Guardians kinda are state sanction mercenaries in a way, but they are still the good guys and very closely monitored by ONI Section Zero,” answered Buck.

“Which if you guys are interested, the Diplomatic Core has a mission for you already,” said Buck with a smile.

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