100 Couple Challenge
Prompt #:001 Beginnings
Title: Forming Noble
Carter stood in the briefing room, a bit nervous. He'd been pulled aside by Lieutenant Ambrose and Chief Mendez. They hadn't told him why he was here, they hadn't told him anything other than to wait. He was starting to wonder if he was in the right place when the door slid open. It was not the Lieutenant as he had hoped, but rather a female Spartan that he did not recognize.
The female Spartan stopped and looked at him. "I'm sorry, I must have the wrong room."
The woman had an accent that Carter couldn't quite identify. "Conference room B?" The woman nodded. "You've got the right room. You have any idea what this is about?"
The woman shook her head. "No, I was only ordered to come here." She moved into the room and stood a few feet away from Carter. "You have any idea what this is about?" Carter shook his head. "Great, standing in a room with a stranger for an unknown reason." She crossed her arms and looked away from Carter. "Kat." Carter tilted his head to the side, frowning in confusion. "My name, it's Kat. Short for Catherine. Catherine-B-three-two-zero."
Carter paused for a moment. She was from a completely different Company of Spartans then him. "Carter, Carter-A-two-five-nine."
"A? As in Alpha Company?" Kat didn't hide the surprise on her face. Carter nodded and she suddenly turned serious. She stared straight ahead at the wall, eyes unfocused. "What does the Lieutenant have planned?"
Carter shifted nervously. He didn't understand what was going on or why they were left alone in a room waiting. He glanced over at Kat and frowned. She was still staring at the wall but there was something in her eyes. She was thinking, a lot. It was the sort of blank look he'd seen on an AI once when it was running more than one task. He wondered exactly what she was thinking about.
Silence hung in the air and Carter was starting to feel a bit unsettled by the situation. The door slid open and two Spartans walked in. "Carter, what are you doing here?"
Carter recognized the two Spartans right away as fellow members of Alpha Company. "I have no idea, Richard. I was instructed to come here. What are you and Sara doing here?"
"I suppose the same thing you are." Sara smiled a bit and moved over to stand beside Cater. She glanced over at Kat. "Who is she?"
"Who is she? I think you mean 'who are you?' Then again I'm sure we could just ask Kat and she probably already intercepted the information." Two more Spartans appeared.
"Why would I have been looking into Alpha Company records?" Kat frowned at the pair. "Besides, I haven't hacked into the camp's system for weeks."
"Oh, must be a new record. You remember her ever going that long without hacking in, Brian?" The more upbeat Spartan looked over at frowning Spartan.
"Be careful or she'll hack in and change your file, Tyler. Turn you into Tiffany." Brian moved over to stand over beside Kat. "So then they are from Alpha Company?"
"Didn't I already state that? I am guessing that both of you are as clueless as us as to why we are here." Kat lowered her arms and set one hand on her hip.
"Not a single clue." Brian shrugged and leaned against the wall. "So what is your best guess as to what is going on?"
Kat took a deep breath. "Well my best guess, seeing as there are three from Alpha Company and three from Beta, a test perhaps. A three on three challenge, though I cannot be sure. There is nothing here I can use to confirm my suspicions."
Carter watched the three Spartans interact, rather intrigued. The guess was a good one but he didn't see it as being likely. "What other options do you have? I can't believe that the Lieutenant would pit the two Companies against each other. There would be no point in trying to prove one is better."
Kat tilted her head to the side. "Well, it is possible that he has a cooperative endeavor for us. Combining members of the two Companies. Perhaps to see if they are capable of working together, or simple because of a reason that we are not to know about."
Carter nodded his head. "Possible, more plausible, though, I'm not sure of the reasoning."
The door slid open again and this time all six Spartans snapped to attention as Lieutenant Kurt Ambrose and Chief Mendez walked in. The Lieutenant looked over them and Carter felt an odd feeling in his stomach. He could only label it as anticipation.
"I know that you are wondering why you are here." Kurt's serious face seemed to be carved in stone as he spoke. "From this day forward you six will be working together. You will be known as Noble Team. Carter," Carter stood up a bit straighter. "You will be team leader. You have control of the team. Lead them well."
"Yes, sir." Carter saluted.
"Get to know each other Noble team. You'll be working together for a long time." Kurt turned and moved out of the room, leaving the Spartan-IIIs.
Once the Lieutenant was gone the soldiers relaxed a bit. "Noble…I like the name." Kat smiled and turned to Carter. "So then what is our next move, leader?"
Carter felt an odd weight at her last word. He was in charge of the team. He took a deep breath and looked over his soldiers. "I say we take the Lieutenant's advice. Let's get to know each other, Noble."