Halo: Road Less Travelled/Prologue

The room was darkly lit as the sole occupant moved towards the softly beeping com. He was a well-dressed man in his late forties, his skin was dark and puckered with scars. He was bald and most of his lips were missing, seared off in a Covenant attack almost ten years prior. He gestured with his head and two scantily clad humans left the room quietly. He reached the com and pushed in the receiver. He waited a moment and squeezed the brow of his noise.
“Yeah, what is it?” He said, his voice laced with apathy.
“Shipment’s in.” The tinny voice on the other end replied. 
“You sure? I wasn't buzzed about it being in System.” A small amount of agitation entered his voice. 
“That’s what I mean: it’s in System.” There was a pause. “Bruce?”
“Thanks.” Bruce almost slammed his fist down upon the com to end the dialogue. “Fucking split-lips.”
He sat down upon the nearest chair and closed his eyes, reclining all the way backwards until there was a satisfying strain upon his spine. His room was sparsely decorated and the power was incessantly kept on low. The reason for this was to hide him and his small, but effective, crime organisation from the vast powers that be. They had set up shop in a medium sized UNSC space outpost, long since abandoned during the devastating Human-Covenant Wars. What’s more, it sat on what was now the border between the rebuilding United Earth Government and the Sangheili. Any form of wayward burst of energy would almost certainly draw untoward attention upon his little operation. But that didn’t stop them from small little incursions to help fill their coffers.
The need for hiding was also due to the nature of the organisation. As far as Bruce knew, and it was a source of great pride for him, it was the first cross-species Crime syndicate in the galaxy. He always knew he was destined for something perhaps a little bit different from everyone else he knew. His door buzzed.
“Yeah, come in.”
A Sangheili clad in old, red armour entered the room. “The shipment is here.” 
“In the docking bay?”
“Yes.”
“Good,” he got up and rotated his shoulder blades, trying to remove the stiffness that sat between them. “Lead on.”
The Sangheili turned and headed out the door. 
“Any anomalies with this shipment?” He asked. The corridor was dark and grey and the lights on the ex-Sangheili Major’s armour shone the 
brightest through the dark.
“Unlikely. Nothing appeared on the scanners.”
“Do they ever though? We run on such low power I’m not entirely sure they work properly.”
“The Engineers have it working well, it works.”
“If you say.”
They reached the turbolift to take them to the hanger. It was barely big enough for both of them to fit into; they were pressed up against each other, but the two stood in stoic silence.
The door opened and the Sangheili nodded, Bruce stepped out first. The Sangheili followed.
“We’ve news on the other two transports scheduled for today.”
“Go on,” Bruce replied as they began climbing down the stairs that took them to the cargo. The hanger area was the brightest place on the space station, it was a constant hive of activity as shipments were packed, loaded and sent away, while shipments were also unpacked, inspected and then catalogued for the future. Bruce’s crime group had to make do with obsolete Behemoth-class tugs that had been completely overhauled by the small contingent of Engineers his Sangheili cohorts had brought with them. 
“The second shipment has been delayed. Unsure why, but I think it’s safe to assume he’s avoiding a pursuing UNSC vessel. I wouldn’t worry, we’ve one of our best pilots at its helm.”
“I know. I picked him.” Bruce pinched his nose. “And the second?”
The Sangheili gestured as they went through the door that finally brought them into the cargo area. “We’ve manage to rustle up a few recruits. A lot of potential.”
“I’m sure.”
They finally reached the Shipment that he’d been informed about. He looked towards the nearest human technician. 
“This it?”
“Yessir,” was the timid reply.
“Open it.”
The young woman delicately and carefully removed the safety clamps on the casing. Next she began to lift the cover up and gently set it down. Bruce himself bent down hastily and looked at his precious cargo. A manic grin swept across his face. He turned to face his comrade.
“Oh, this is going to be absolutely excellent. We’re in for a treat now.”
Category:slowfuture
Category:Stories