[b]Lance Corporal Lucy Holden
Anvil Station[/b]

Lucy sat and listened to Finnian as he asked her why she didn't go for the Spartan program. There were many other answers to that question. The one she gave the recruiters was, of course, "You guys are [i]really[/i] trying to get me killed now." The idea of being a Spartan was very conflicting, but there was a lot she didn't like. She really especially didn't like how they used them for everything under the sun but without much in the way of support. In the later years of the Human-Covenant War, she had worked with the Master Chief in passing but also noted how he was always sent off alone most of the time. She preferred the support of the platoon, personally.

There was also the idea behind it. Sure it would let her become stronger and better able to fight the Banished one on one, but then she'd be under the Navy's thumb even more. And, to a greater extent, ONI's. Being a Spartan would basically mean Lucy would have to give up on having any sort of civilian life for a long time, and she couldn't have that. She loved being a vocalist in her band. If she couldn't do that, then she'd soon go crazy. No amount of strength was worth that to her. Besides, she had worked her ass off to prove that even regular humans, when given the know-how and training, could take on Sangheili or Jiralhanae in hand-to-hand combat. It was tough and required a lot of luck, but it was possible without being a Spartan.

But as she looked on at the two Sierras mingling with former enemies, she knew what answer to give Finnian. She threw her gaze over at him. She would've been a Gunnery Sergeant easily now if it weren't for her "sparkling attitude." She didn't give a rats ass about getting rank, though. She had lost her Sergeant stripes just as easily as she had earned them, and it didn't make a difference to her anyway.

"McGowan, if I wanted to have command up my ass all the time, then yeah I'd join the Spartans. But I don't want to. We're troopers. We're the best of the best without having to be some super-roided out scientific plaything for some ONI fuckheads. Nah, man. I'm fine right where I'm at. With the boys and girls of the ODSTs. Spartans don't know that kind of brotherhood and camaraderie. It's not something you can be taught. You have to be in it. And those who left to become Spartans? Well, I think that they were the black sheep looking for anyway out they could get. Let them be some power suit jockey for the SPECWAR command. We'll still be there to pull their asses out of the fire when they bite off more than they can chew."

Lucy stoked the inter-service rivalry. Whether through ingrained malice or simple abrasiveness, it was hard to tell. But the feeling was the same, deep down. You just couldn't get this anywhere else. Lucy found a home among the troopers, and she wouldn't give it up for all the money in the galaxy.