Bab 82: The Battle of Installation 04 Part 1
"This is just terrible." I said after we pulled up to the Master Chief's crash site and saw all the dead marines strewn about, "How much do you want to bet that all these guys had wives and children?"
"Your sincere grief is noted." John said as he gathered up supplies for the coming battles.
"Don't need sincerity when I got a foldable plasma turret in the back." I told him as I hit the button that collapsed the lid of the trunk and a high powered chrome plasma turret deployed itself, "Get familiar with it then lets go save everyone not killed by faulty landing gear."
The Master Chief climbed into the back of The Good Evening and tested out the ballistics of the orange bolts of plasma against nearby materials. When he stopped he ran a hand down the length of the death spewing turret.
"This." He spoke, "This I like."
"Of course you do." I commented, "My husband made it and he is the king of precision applications of overkill."
"I beg to differ." Linda chuckled as she racked a round into her sniper rifle.
"Keep that attitude up, Eagle Eye." I grinned, "We'll need that when we're neck deep in Flood swarms. Or at least you two will need it, I really doubt the flood can interact with me."
"Lucky you." Linda snarked.
"Eh, luck, quantum cannibalism. Same difference." I smirked and hit the accelerator.
We made great time hooking up with fire team Charlie, the first of the marines we'd save during the day and I grinned as I looked at Sargent Johnson, who would apparently survive a guaranteed death on this ring through 'classified' means and an ass groping by an Elite. Or ass groping an Elite depending on which version of the game you played. Grunt theorized that the power of friendship protected them from the blast.
God I hate the power of friendship.
We spent the rest of the day running around the ring world saving various teams of soldiers before retiring to FAB built by both the Covenant and later the ODST soldiers that took it around Forerunner structures on a bluff. It was impressive how much the marines and ODSTs had accomplished in their salvage runs. The position was as secure as we could make it without getting some heavy AA guns set up.
It had been a full day of rescue ops, but we were still too late to prevent the capture of Captain Keyes and the deaths of his escort and command staff in a box canyon. It wasn't a huge loss. Keyes was pretty cool for a CO, but he wasn't essential to my mission. None of these guys are.
As I enjoyed the hot water shower set up at Alpha Base I thought about the weird disparity between convenience and firepower the humans of 2552 had. They could get working plumbing up in hours on a new world, but were still using gas operated powder based weapons and had just figured out energy shielding.
I was joined in the communal shower by Linda who had been taken out of her power armor using equipment that had been recovered from a crash site. She looked like a bigger version of Commander Shepard with a more crimson red to her hair and a less vibrant green in her eyes. Other than that they were both military hardware to the bone, literally in both their cases, though Shepard's cybernetic upgrades were more extensive and at the same time less extreme.
Shepard was enhanced for baseline power and durability, the Spartans had that and were enhanced to cut down microseconds off their reaction times.
And It was all done by a shadowy government agency with near unlimited funding and near zero morals and oversight. All they need is for ONI to go rogue and you have a perfect Cerberus look alike.
While on the trail of the familiar, I know that look. I know I am eye-catching, had to redo the tattoos a couple times and cover old bullshit up with better memories, but I was still a work of art head to toe. Just a little bit less angsty art.
I doubt Linda was used to looking at many people at eye level, especially not people as close as I got to her or as naked. I could feel her inexperience when we kissed, which is pretty sad for a woman just over forty, but she was ultra high grade military equipment, and they couldn't afford their perfect soldiers to have attachments that could fuck things up in the field. Not on an investment improved to the microsecond.
Despite that, she was a quick study and even managed to get me off after I introduced her to multiple consecutive squirting orgasms.
Tough broad.
Linda didn't talk much, but Goddamn she could scream.
I enjoyed the slack jawed ODSTs at the briefing for the Captain Keyes rescue operation after we woke up and ate. Yes you tools, she is human too. I probably broke some protocol or another in regards to interacting with the space faring war gods in olive drab, but fuck them. I don't give a shit about the carefully crafted persona surrounding the Spartan IIs.
"That's a great plan, team." I snarked when they finished up the briefing, "Not like you guys are going to see much action, but I liked all the thought that went into a plan so complex as, go to the area the Captain is held in and rescue the Captain. Fucking great work."
"You got a lot of nerve stowaway." the ODST Commander Silva barked before I trapped him in a stasis field.
"I'm not like my husband." I stated while everyone pulled their guns on me, "I don't get off on fair fights, I don't meet enemies halfway to draw things out. I can rip that ship apart with my mind. So here's the new plan. I go in a tear the Covies a new one, and the rest of you guys form a perimeter and the Spartans will secure the Captain."
"Release the major." the Master Chief growled.
"Don't make me put you in time out too, John." I sighed, "I'm not doing this right. Grunt, or Grax, or whatever he's calling himself these days would already be your best friend and you guys would be going off on kickass galaxy saving adventures that tickle the lizard part of his brain that craves violence. But me… I'm more of a top down authoritarian. Now you can all go grab your gear, or I can hold you all still with my mind till you feel like complying."
"Capitulation is not an option." John said.
"Suicide is." I told him, "And you are about to lead all these soldiers straight into it."
"John." Linda put a hand on his shoulder, "Take yourself out of the moment and breathe. We haven't seen everything she can do, and what we have seen we have no way to fight against. Put the ego and the training aside and preserve the lives of the men around you."
"Damn it." He growled and de-escalated the situation, "Everyone stand down."
The ODSTs didn't listen and ended up in time out with the Major.
"Holy shit!" A marine shouted as they spread out and formed a perimeter around the grav lift to the disabled Covenant battle cruiser Truth and Reconciliation.
He did this in response to me destroying a Spirit Class dropship with an incendiary biotic Flare.
I caught the pieces in a Lift field and sent them flying into the Covie ground forces with a curving Throw that impacted the field in a powerful combo destination, adding even more umph to the flack barrage raining down on the helpless aliens.
A couple of Shockwaves later and the Covie defenses were nothing more than burning wreckage.
"Alright, Linda, John, you're with me." I shouted, "The rest of you swinging dicks are out here in the breeze waiting for the chance to prove that you are more than window dressing."
"Lady?" a nearby marine asked, "Do you accept disciples for whatever new religion is going to be forming around you? I'd really like to get in on the ground floor of that, my name is Jeff and I am a true believer in the fiery blue destruction goddess. Please rain death down on all my enemies. Amen. "
"About time people started worshiping me." I grinned and stepped onto the grav lift to fuck shit up on the Covie command center.
PERTIMBANGAN PENCIPTA 
JManM
JManM The results are in and all mentions of Grunt's feathers are gone. He now has a short mohawk made of raised plates on his head and neck and a short Abe Lincoln style chin strap made of the same matterial.
As for the other poll, the results are less conclusive as I have noticed that most of the people voting were confused about Kat. She is a permanant romance no matter which way people voted.
The poll was just to determine if people were big Linda fans. She has a lot less personality than Kat as she is a Zen Bhuddist. She is calm, quiet, and level headed under all levels of preasure. We saw this play out with her talking Master Chief down, but I am concerned that she may feel like a wet blanket as there won't be any fools for her straight man act.
Come to think of it she may be essential for when we start going to Shonen worlds and start dealing with Shonen protagonists. I can see Grunt, Jack, and Kat developing a WMD that destroys everyone in the multiverse that draws strength from the power of friendship and nakama.
Let me know what you thinks of Linda now that you know Kat is locked in.
You can all send your praise to SeekingRaven and MrBadMan17 for sponsoring another 2 bonus weekend chapters.
You to can contribute to the Weekend Bonus Chapter Stockpile at
ko - fi . com / jmanm
Bab 83: The Why of Grunt (Essay)
What follows is an essay for those interested in answering a question that has been in the hearts of some of my fans since the start of the story, but I have never elaborated on. The question being: Why do chicks like Grunt?
That is a question with a very simple answer. I am the author and I want it to be.
But that is both a simple answer and a poor one. If the only reason why chicks like Grunt was because I say so, then the comments section of my story would be full of people complaining about how forced everything is and how undeserving Grunt is of the attention and affection he receives. We have all seen the multitude of stories on this site full of protagonists awash in female love and completely undeserving of it and we can all identify it with ease. So why doesn't Grunt make us feel this way?
Grunt is the quintessential female fantasy.
Le Gasp!
The most common female sexual fantasy in the world is a version of Beauty and the Beast with either a vampire, werewolf, pirate, billionaire, or surgeon in the role of the Beast, the aggressive and commanding creature that the female heroine needs to seduce and tame.
This may sound like bullshit, but this is empirical. Don't hate the player, hate the game.
Grunt fits nicely within this role, but if that was all he was we would still hate him, because spoiler alert, all those categories are edgy, angsty, and overly dramatic which is why male and female literature is so different. To a woman all of those things sound romantic, but they are not. They are things to build an obsession around, not a genuine romance.
Ladies and gentlemen, obsession sells.
Twilight, 50 Shades, and all the "Romance" novels of their ilk are all steeped in obsession, not love.
So why do we all like Grunt, then. He is a huge reptilian monster with a deeply entrenched violent psychopathy. He is an unrepentant rapist, murderer, and cannibal. By all accounts even if I was trying to portray him in a steamy light at best he would be an Edward Cullen, Christian Grey, Sasuke Uchiha type that would make my vastly male audience want to hurl, but Grunt isn't just the monster in need of taming.
Under all the insane violence is a mother fucking cornucopia of hugely attractive social traits and skills. When Grunt enters the scene he is almost always an energy level or two above the other people in the conversation, he treats almost everyone he meets with kindness, respect, and intimacy that most people are afraid to engage in. Everything he does is full of power, precision, and good cheer. Grunt is never afraid to be himself, or be the butt of the joke, or be criticized and because of that he is socially free and empowered.
Grunt is a Magnificent Bastard. Despite his monstrous appearance and actions, his charm, style, and sincerity elevate him to a position that we can't help but like.
If you are interested in how I accomplished this, then you need look no further than a pair of YouTube channels I watch regularly before writing chapters: Charisma on Command and The Critical Drinker.
Charisma on Command is likely the best channel I have found that analyses social skills and provides incredible examples of the skills in action and mistakes to avoid. If you are feeling like your people skills are rusty from the various lockdowns and social distancing we have all been going through since Covid hit, then I cannot recommend enough some time spent going through their catalog of videos.
The Critical Drinker is one of the best film critics I have seen, and it for far more than his alignment with my world view and sense of humor. Drinker does an incredible job going through new and old movies and breaking down why people liked and didn't like the films. Watching a couple of his videos makes me more aware of story telling and characterization pitfalls and how to keep a plot and cast on course and interesting.
So there we have it. Let me know if you enjoyed this essay, or if you think I am full of it and completely missed the mark. I don't think I'll likely do more of these if at all, but this was a topic I've been thinking about and it helped to get it all written down, and since I took the time to write it, I might as well share it.
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