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>Location - Oman, Shield World 902
>Days Since Evacuation - 2

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"Do you remember it, Grant? You need to make sure you remember it all. As hard as it is, every detail needs to be remembered." For him, it was difficult. He didn't want to remember it all, but he did. Every single detail he saw, heard and spoke of. The communications with his own team wasn't allowed over the Radio. Their presence was to be of the most secret, even to their comrades. In the hands of danger, holding the key to victory. He began to remember it. All of it. From the very start, to the very end. The moments of two behemoths being brought down without much obstruction. The screams of the Naval, and ground, forces as it impacted the surface. Begs for help as executions were held all over the planet. Radar Pings, explosions from both sides...a massacre. He remember having to sit there, listening to Lucinda. Her Falcon was reported to be destroyed, annihilated. He couldn't respond to any messages she'd attempt to send him. Their secrecy was a priority during that time. War, always had a way to break the strongest minds. This battle was one of them. Can it even be called a battle at this point? It wasn't any sort of mission, more of a death sentence. A punishment for simply being human. An oppressive action by their superiors, taking them on a pathway to their demise. Doom was a strong word in this situation, yet so was hope. Not even a metre away from himself, the package was there. Waiting in the hands of a true soldier, a true warrior...it still was to fill a purpose. Already knowing what should it come to, there was nothing to think about. Actually, there was two things he could think of. The Comrades, and the Package. If Fireteam Chariot, infamous, strong and known for their priority, had managed to pull through the onslaught simply by moving quietly with espionage tactics, then surely the other Spartan Fireteams had a chance? Fuck, the Marine and ODSTs would've had a chance. They are tough bastards, even without the enhancements they'd been treated with. "Grant? Is there a response I can take note of?"

"Y-Yeah....Yeah Victor...I...I was just remembering it. But...why do you need me to do this again?" He quizzed his companion. The two had shared a handful of adventures, Operations on the Front and behind the Front. Witnessing deaths, and causing them...That was their job, wasn't it?

"All measurements must be made. Your mental state needs to be measured to reduce the lack of losing focus and distraction whilst finishing the objective that had been set by Admiral Arthurs." Keyword: Had. The Admiral wasn't in any position to make new orders, mainly because of what had happened to him. He left out a final message, broadcasting to everyone...even Fireteam Chariot. It was one move that was risky, but it was what he would've always wanted. Those words, of apology...thanking the sacrifices that were going to be made...He even stated his death was inevitable, and something worthy of someone leading such a massacre.

Taking up this task, wasn't what he had in mind. Fireteam Chariot may be one of the most Highest Respected groups of Gamma Company, as well as the entire Spartan III Programme, that doesn't mean they aren't capable of mistakes. Those mistakes cost lives. That was all it costed. Mistakes take those who you love, like...hate...a punishment from life itself for your crimes. It doesn't seem fair...but that's how life works. Just look at the Fireteam. They've had a total of 14 members, including himself, within Chariot. Many of which had died in previous Operations, as well as on the day of Operations. Nothing could've gone worse. Looking for a way to get into the ship, seemed impossible. Many of the soldiers, as Radios had shown, had lost a lot of reason to fight. Even the Spartans had given up, thinking their only chance to destroy the Fleet Master's ship was destroyed. No one was told that Chariot were to be taking part in this mission, and ever since OPERATION: DIRE CONNECTIONS, the team hadn't actually worked alongside another Fireteam side-to-side. Some had talked to others, or assisted from afar in further Operations, but this was a huge case. Grant had become so attached to his team, based upon the major Operations they'd been restricted to. The closest the team had gotten to working side by side since DIRE CONNECTIONS was indeed Fireteam Cosmo during OPERATION: BLACKFOOT. Hardly anyone had seen their faces since the two Operations, and years had gone by. Living legends was one way to describe them, when really they were just the one's who had to complete the job, with any price. Because of this, the Spartan teams, and those below extremely High Authority, were not aware of Chariot's participation. It was believed that the UNSC were to clear ground forces, allowing them to have less In-Atmosphere resistance to take on the Flagship. Little did anyone know that the Package was what was really going to be the task's completion.

Grant looked around, at the forest's stance. The vegetation looked remarkable, how it formed. Twirling in and out of Forerunner compartments, it definitely took a strange environmental atmosphere to a new level. From his right, still staring at the Package, a noise was heard. His Comrades suddenly leaping into a crouched, squatted or readied position, Grant soon followed. With the words that bellowed from one of his own, looking to their surrounding vegetations. Weapons were slapped into hands, equipment and already taken off helmets were reattached...

"Shit...Everyone...Something's coming!" The loud whisper was more than enough to fix up the attention of everyone. They formed up, not too tightly. Weapons aimed outwards, they waited. Hearing the mumbles, footsteps draw nearer. The bushes would be parted from afar, as they halted until the final second...expecting the Covenant threat...

What is the definition of War? You ask some bigwig or intellectual, they'll tell you its an armed conflict between two opposing parties. You ask a soldier, they'll tell you it's a living hell. You ask a Spartan, they may tell you the exact same thing. You ask Aura, it's the only life that'll ever be left for her. These reflections didn't mean much in the face of the current situation though, did they? After all, it seemed everyone on Grey Axe had just been subtracted from the war, probably permanently. This was like Shadowed Hilt all over again, but this time they were the ones waiting for a rescue, and unlike the ODSTs theirs would never come. As she crept through the bush, she prodded the jetpack on her back with her finger, double-checking its functionality for the third time in the last hour. The same as the last two times, the jetpack was solid and still connected to her armor. "Aura, I'd have told you if the jetpack's status changed, relax. The network's still silent, before you ask, but you know as well as I no Marine, ODST or Spartan will break their radio silence unless it's already far too late to help them."

"Damn, no need to get all uppity Arielle. Don't be such a sack of sassy sauce." Aura grumbled in reply as she moved through the brush, taking point through the trees. Behind her, she could hear Maki and Sal moving around about as subtly as a Scorpion Tank, then again they were all in MJOLNIR, so being quiet was difficult at best. Hell, Aura had been at this longer than everyone except the Sergeant Maj, and she was still far from quiet in her armor. With a mental shrug, she continued forging on, her assault rifle held out in front of her and covering her front. Her senses were alert, but having been at war for so long meant much of this was second nature, leaving her room to drift off into her own mind, remembering the events of this operation. Nodachi had dropped in with the ODSTs, their objective being to assist in securing their initial DZ. All those ODSTs were dead, the only reason Nodachi wasn't was luck and power armor, they'd been located on the left flank of the formation, so when the blasted Scarab appeared, they'd been able to scatter the quickest. She still remembered seeing those soldiers reduced to their component atoms by that blasted gun.

It was sad, yes, but Aura had to stay upbeat for the men and women behind her. They were all veterans, they all knew what they were doing and they'd all seen loss before, but that didn't change Aura's role in the squad. Viktor was the leader, he was the best with tactics and strategy, the fire-team respected him and his orders. Aura was more than just the second though, she was effectively the squad's morale officer, providing a shoulder to cry on, an encouraging word when times were hard and, when it proved absolutely necessary, a harsh taskmaster to keep the squad focused on its orders. As if to confirm her own musings on her own role, she heard Sal's voice from behind her in a restrained whisper "Hey, All-A, you think any of the other teams are still operational?" Aura chuckled slightly at the nickname, it wasn't one Sal had helped coin but he'd picked it up fast when they told him it owed to her training record and her designation. "Of course they are, Sal, they're Spartans. When we find another fire-team we can coordinate and look into fixing this mess."

Re-assured, Sal fell silent again as Aura made her way forward, and that was when she heard the mumbles from her 12. She held up her fist, and the team came to a halt, rifles coming up to sweep as Aura passed the report back through the team to Viktor "Noise to our front, no eyes on the source." Looking back to see her TL's call, she saw Viktor nod and signal them forward with a hand, so Aura turned back to her front. The fireteam spread out into a combat formation and moved up into the clearing, ready to fight..

Just to come helmet to helmet with another Spartan team, Aura was quick to say loud enough for both teams "Friendlies, hold fire!" Nodachi slowly advanced into the clearing, rifles coming down into easy positions when they saw their fellow Spartans. Viktor approached with Aura, heading to talk to the highest ranking team member he saw, a Warrant Officer by the marks on his armor. Aura, meanwhile, nodded to the fireteam and said to the nearest member of the other team "I'm Aura, A203, we're Fireteam Nodachi. Glad to see some more Spartans survived the hot-mess that this operation became."

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The team kept their sights fixed, all swivelling around to finally see the confirmed spot in where the approacher was coming from. Easing their fingers on their triggers, eyes would narrow from each of the four surviving members. They may not have looked strong in numbers, but their will and experience was more than enough to prepare for whatever was about to storm them. Finally, the final bushes began to rumble, and the members of Chariot finally tensed up, ready for the upcoming conflict.

"Friendlies! Hold fire!" From the shrubbery, five Spartans emerged. Looking like they hadn't taken the worst of the Planet's conflict in the past two days, they surely did seem to be alive and well. The quad didn't lower their weapons straight away, allowing them to slightly get closer. This was all that they were told to avoid...The Others. Eventually, Oslo lowered his weapon, followed by the other three. Grant was the one to relax the easiest, lowering his firearm completely to his side. He stood firmly next to his IC, his superior, looking around slightly. His visions weren't still at their full performance, something Victor had been working on for the past few days. From what looked like their IC, or surviving superior, and their 2IC, two approached the other two. Oslo sighed with slight relief, although it sort of sounded like shame. He loved a good fight, especially with odds that weren't in his favour. Oslo hated forcing it upon his own team, but it still didn't mean he could enjoy it. Oslo looked back at the other two Corporals, both who were getting back to setting the Package's maintenance. He turned, addressing his Gunnery Sergeant.

"Grant, stay with these lot. I need to get back to what I'm doing...just...keep 'em occupied or some shit." He spoke in a gruff whisper, only audible to Grant. Even Grant himself had trouble hearing it, seeing as they both still kept their helmets and full armour on. Acknowledgedly taking in the advice, he nodded and let out the smallest of sighs. Upon returning to the approaching friendlies, one began to speak directly to him.

"I'm Aura, A203, we're Fireteam Nodachi. Glad to see some more Spartans survived the hot-mess this Operation became." Grant took a second to study the team. All of them had scratches on their armour, though it wasn't in great mass. They all had their own sets, colours, everything...Weaponry, they seemed well balanced. The ranks on their arm showed a good contrast of experience between one another. Grant took another second to look back at his own team members. Corporals Burnie and Bella, both sat with Oslo. They tended to the Package, now stressed out that they had Guests. From what Grant could tell, none of them liked having guests. It was what got Rick killed, in fairness...No one had ever let that go. Grant turned back around, breathing slowly in his armour.

"Well, congratulations, Aura. You happen to come across the trail of suicide...Woohoo...Grant...G419. Back there, you have Corporals Burnie-G618, Bella-A951 and Warrant Officer Oslo-G935." Grant paused, taking out the showing hologram of Victor and hiding it yet again into his helmet. "If you haven't guessed already...You've just met Fireteam Chariot. All hiding from both sides, 'n' shit..."

Under the cover of the forest landscape, a Spartan clad in the famous green powered armor carefully inched along from tree to tree. Frequently his back cradled the trunk of one of the many mighty oaks that swallowed the earthen hills within this zone, as the soldier proceeded with extreme caution. Though he might not offer the absolute best in stealth, what he bore proved quite ample considering the bulky half-foot layer of alloy material, liquid crystal, and active gel that shelled his body.

Eventually, the fighter reached a break in the treeline, the great plants relenting to the yet tougher earth of a large rocky outcropping jutting from the geometry of the hill. Perhaps a long time ago it, or this whole hill, might've been a part of some greater earthen structure that was simply eroded down by time and elements. Whatever the case, the crop provided an ample observatory foothold to outlook over the rest of the zone beyond the hills. Apparently satisfied with this discovery, and the sights he saw to test the outlook's use, the supersoldier fell back into the shade of the trees to wave over some unseen associate.

Marcus exhaled more deeply this time, as if breathing a sigh of relief. Making any attempt to be sneaky in this bulky Grenadier-issue MJOLNIR armor was next to impossible - another aspect that Jackson was quick to quietly lambaste the SPARTAN-III for at whatever opportunity. It made the operative actually miss the old SPI suits to a certain degree, if only because they were deliberately built for use of survival and sneak tactics.

Of course, without the greater durability and energy shielding, he would probably already be dead as a result of this colossally failed operation.

Fireteam Fortune was previously to provide the primary escort for a platoon of UNSC Marines that would help storm one of the Covenant forward outposts and secure it for further relay among the ground teams. The whole thing fell flat right out the gate when two of the Pelicans were shot down and most of the marines were absolutely massacred dropping into the field. Unable to take on the brunt of the entire Covenant troop themselves, Fortune was forced to retreat into the hills, unable to account for Farris-B099 or Cyrus-G109. From that moment on, radio chatter made it quite clear that the Covenant forces stationed on this world had very clearly expected the UNSC.

Within the hour, both a frigage and the heavy cruiser were both shot down, and the Nimble Spirit quickly made its leave, abandoning the remaining ground forces to their duty without so much as a single objective completed. Fast-forward two days, and here was Fortune now: two men down and carefully tromping through the silent wilds of the Shield World. The ambient silence was only ever broken by the buzz of Covenent flight-craft zooming overhead, accompanied by a scramble for cover and bated breathing from the squadmembers.

"What'd you find, Brian?" Jackson cut to the chase as he and the others approached where their CQC artist had waved them over. Their adoptive hand gestures allowed the Spartans to move down the line without speaking whatsoever- the team leader insisted this was quite necessary to maintain their overall silence on the planet.

Of course, not saying a word got very tiring after a while, something Jackson himself so demonstrated. Rolling his eyes beneath his tinted visor, Brian lead the team out to the brink of the trees' cover and pointed out, "Over there. I see it."

It would take a moment of looking from each of them, but sure enough, one by one, each of the present Spartans were able to spot what their teammate had picked up. In the area where they were able to look out past the hills present in their current zone, the valley beyond and below was only dotted with a few scores of trees here and there, exposing most of the spring-green land. But upon that expanse lay a key monument: a black and grey obelisk, toppled and lopsided in ruin. The awkward angle of its perish was emphasized by the scratchy streak in the earth that drifted out about half of the object's length away, long-wise.

As Fortune's members probed at the sight, another droll reverberation echoed overhead. On pure instinct at this point, the Spartans retreated into the trees, falling hard and still to avoid detecting as best as they could. For an agonizing minute they held their position, the dreadful hum of the alien machine over their heads reaching a crescendo. As quickly as it did, however, in then faded, now accompanied with the image of the Covenant ship floating by through the air. Jackson decided it was safe enough to exit upon auditory confirmation that there were no additional craft in company.

A humanoid mirage shimmered in the air before Brian's armor came back into focus, carefully peeking out in the act of double- and triple-checking their observations. Again, one by one, the supersoldier returned their gaze to the fallen craft- and, now applying their built-in zoom, the Covenant presence that could be seen approaching. They really didn't want to be detected now, of all times.

"The Burning Hope," James breathed, taking in the full intensity of the sight.

Thomas woke to the sound of gunfire. Realistically speaking, this should not have been an unusual sound for him. Yet he bolted awake, his heart beating hard. His hand reflexively reached towards his back, where his battle rifle should have been. Once he realized it wasn’t there, he took a moment to gather his bearings. He was sitting in the wreckage of a pelican, and as he noticed this, he remembered the events of the past few hours. His Fireteam had been riding in a pelican, searching for survivors. Richard was in the pilot’s seat. Covenant artillery had struck the side and sent the ship spiraling into the ground.

Thomas’s hand felt the ground around him until he found what he looking for. His helmet. As he put it on, he was greeted by Chauncey.

”Sleeping on duty, Tommy?”

”Not. The. Time. Chauncey.”

”You remember what happened, correct?”

”The pelican crashed.”

”Your powers of observation are staggering.

”What’s the Fireteam’s status?”

”Not good. Jane and Adam are missing, presumed dead. Amir is missing, though we have no evidence that he’s dead. Amber is wounded, you and Richard are the only fighting members of Prosperity at the moment.” This news was a bit much for Thomas to handle. He stared at a spot of dirt on the barren ground. He might have stayed like that for a while, had it not been for the intervention of Rich-A196.

”Oi! Tommy, get your ass over here!”

So he did. Thomas ran forth, grabbing his battle rifle off of the ground as he sprinted towards Richard’s position. He slid shoulder first into a slab of metal that had once been a piece of the ship’s hull. On the other side was a few grunts and an elite. Richard popped his head up and loosed a burst from his assault rifle, beheading a grunt.

”Amber’s over there, I have no fucking clue where anyone else is though.”

As Richard popped up for another burst and killed another grunt, they heard a roar. The elite had rushed forwards. Richard was reloading, so Thomas took a shot with his BR55. He missed. Thomas saw a flare of light as the Sangheili leapt over their cover. It slammed into Richard with bone crushing force. Thomas was paralysed as the creature grabbed Rich from the ground by his throat. The elite’s other hand held an energy sword, the flare of light he had seen. Thomas blinked and when he opened his eyes, the sword was poking out of the other side of Richard’s chest. The alien cast Richard’s body aside and ran towards Thomas.Thomas couldn’t move, his vision narrowed. It was as though his whole world consisted of only he and the elite. He may have died if not for Richard once again. The Warrant Officer tackled the elite with a live grenade in each hand.

”Run, you idiot! Get Amber!” Thomas needed no further provocation. He ran towards Amber’s unconscious body some thirty feet away. He slung his rifle over one shoulder as he grabbed her shotgun with one hand and her body with the other. Adrenaline led him to run for some time. Finally, he collapsed in a clearing.



”Thomas. Tommy, wake up.”

He sat up with a gasp, startled awake for the second time in as many hours. His eyes scanned Private Melchiori’s armor-clad body, searching for wounds. He saw a rent in the armor near her hip, the twisted metal darkened with dry blood.

”Amber! Are you okay?” His hand touched the wound, and her face reddened. She was suddenly glad that she was wearing a helmet.

”Tommy, I’m fine. She stepped backwards. ”A-are you alri-”. She stopped. Thomas had gestured for her to listen. They heard a voice, a human voice coming from the other side of the trees to their left.

"If you haven't guessed already...You've just met Fireteam Chariot. All hiding from both sides, 'n' shit..."

Without speaking they burst through the trees, weapons drawn. Amber winced as she raised the shotgun to her shoulder, praying that Thomas hadn’t noticed. He hadn’t. THomas was too busy being glad that they had met other humans.

”Hold your fire!” Thomas lowered his own weapon as he shouted. ”I’m Lance Corporal Thomas-B311, this is Private Amber-A199. We’re the only active members of Fireteam Prosperity. You guys are sure as shit a sight for sore eyes..

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>Subject/Lucinda_Owens/Airman_First_Class
>Time/12:31

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All around her, Covenant Artillery bombarded the surface of the Battleground. Her very own seat jolted and shuddered as the world began to collapse around her. All she could think of was both her friends on the ground...and wherever her brother was. Was this what he experienced on a regular basis? Was he this embedded into the life of conflict that he no longer felt the need to panic? She listened to her mind, trying to focus as her AV-22 Sparrowhawk. These things may have been limited from production and deployment since 2550, they still packed a punch fit for the Human-Covenant war. Zooming above ground, buzzing with activity. Behind her, the Gunner was almost going wild, constantly finding ground and air targets to intercept in their high speed Showdown against a seemingly unbeatable enemy. Her owns hands were twisting and turning, moving the craft at tremendous speeds [For its model]. Lucinda's eyes darted around the world, her peripheral vision constantly bursting with fire, colours of plasma and sheer destruction. Ahead, a Scarab trod its way through and over the deployed Armored units, making swift work of Pelicans and Scorpions.

"Lucy, change course and aim for the Scarab. It's the best way we can save the ODST and Spartan Drop-Point from collapsing!" She nodded, looking to her left. On her left, two similar aircraft, more than just a rare sight to see deployed together, sped towards the target woth her. She held the Right Flank of the group. Ahead, the lined up Plasma Turrets scaling the sides of the behemoth began to spray an unrelenting wall of death towards thr approaching Hawks. The centre comrade lasted the quickest, having a sudden push of Plasma projectiles penetrate the glass and murder both Pilot and Gunner with swift succession. The far-left Hawk began to fire, drawing the Plasma away from Lucy's craft. A single shot made its way through the glass, slamming into her right shoulder. She screamed in pain, the Craft's line jolting as she yelled to her Gunner to open fire. As she looked back, a horrifying image of her Gunner's head split down the centre only was there to answer her. Her fear was interrupted by the screams of the last Comrade, their craft exploding under the heavy fire. The shrapnel and metal flung into Lucy's craft, colliding with the Rotary engines. Flames and smoke burst from the engines as it began to slowly tumble downwards. She would see the Scarab, weakspot in plain sight, still barely damaged...No...Of course not? Now cannot be her time? She has family, friends and a Child to go home to! Now cannot be her moment of self sacrifice...But...There were Spartans down there. Their lives counted more than her's. Nodachi, were their names...They had an important task to fulfill, and she was but Cannon-Fodder, waiting to open the gate fot them. Tears streamed down her cheek as she tightened her grip around the Joystick. This was that time...no guns...No more time. This was for the good of the mission. This was for the good of the Human Goal. This was for the good of Nodachi. For the good of Humanity...For the good of her Brother. Her craft spiralled into thr Scarab...Clipping the weakspot as metal pierced the cockpit entirely...

The soldier. A Hyper-lethal killing machine, No compassion only a will to do what it is told, Orders drilled in them from conscription. That’s what they thought at least. Of Course; they are wrong, And this ‘battle’ was certainly a prime example of that fact. You will get casualties in every battle and every war, but this, this wasn’t a battle, nor was it a war. It was a massacre. And unfortunately, Fireteam Mammoth was right in the middle of it all.

The warthog was packed Leo didn’t manage to fit in the warthog and so hopped on the a mongoose with a marine “Let’s run through this objective then DD, ” There was a pause before DD activated his Radio; “Our target is an Elite Zealot by the name of Vula 'Kocamai, he travels on a cruiser called ‘The Clarity of Salvation’. You’ll know him if you see him he’s got silver battle armour and 4 glowing dots on his head, not to mention he carries the mother of all fuel rod cannons.” Carly finished checking through her supplies and spoke up “Sir, We have a problem Radio reports are coming in all over the place the covenant is here in force We need-” Her comment was cut short by a wraith’s plasma round in the air Randall, who was driving managed to miss it barely, “Fireteam mammoth Ready up This is gonna be one hell of a trip.”

The team dismounted on the road and moved into the forest hoping to avoid further conflicts moving quickly through the forest they heard the distinct hum of a drop ship on their position there was no point hiding at this point. DD shouted to the squad “Mammoth set up a defensive position, Pope get some heavy ordnance ready take that drop ship out, I do not want our position on the covenant battle-net, Kaylee Take out the grunts, Leo, you’re taking out the elites, and Carly, I want you supporting Leo. Here we go Mammoth, make every shot count." The team took cover behind trees and rocks the firefight began.

As soon as the grunts and elites had jumped out the ship, Randall took out his spartan laser and aimed it directly at the dropship's connection to the troop pod taking it out. As it crashed down it took out half of the elites with it. Leaving one or two commanders and a handful of grunts. Leo took out his shotgun and charged the elites trying to engage their warrior nature to leave their squad so Kaylee could take out the grunts easily. Leo’s shotgun quickly took down the elite’s shields. He quickly hit the butt of the shotgun into the elite’s face making him stagger and then proceeding to shoot him in the face. As he took down the elite Carly had been making short work of the other Elite and Kaylee had annihilated the other grunts. “We need to move quickly guys They’ll be on us for sure.”

Mammoth moved quickly through the forest. Leo was at the front of the line With DD behind him. And the rest of the squad following shortly behind. They had tried to avoid the contact as much as possible only encountering small patrol units during their journey Only stopping briefly. In order to Re-hydrate and recover. “You wouldn’t think they’d just run like that, would you? I mean Huge ships like that” Aegis Replied instantaneously “It is the most probable scenario B021. It is better to have the ship then men. It is the standard military strategy.” Leo stayed quiet for a moment before hoping for some good news Leo spoke up to Daedalus, “DD Any news on the Other spartan’s, or, at least, our target?” Daedalus took his Helmet off, Exposing his Scar from the augmentations, wiped the visor and put it back on, “I have no clue Leo, I would like to say that they would've done the same as we did, and started taking an alternate route to their objective. And for ours, I’d think a high-ranking Sangheili would stay to enjoy the executions of his enemy, he is probably at the landing co-ordinates.”

Randall spoke up at the back to Carly. “You ever been in a situation like this before?” Carly had always been a solitary But Randall could probably get Dogs and cats to have a conversation, She paused for a moment not making eye contact still. “Some. But nothing like this. I’m been in a few close shaves with the covenant, But this is more like a stab wound.” She paused before coming speaking up again, “Sir, I've got radar pings to the north directly in our path 500m ahead”

They jogged up to the radar pings Each member hiding behind a piece of cover close by Leo went in first Crouching behind some shrubs before taking out his knife. Aegis spoke up once again “21, I’m not sure if you’re aware but those don’t look like grunts to me, I think you’ve stumbled upon a spartan fireteam board meeting” "Any from Beta company?" Leo inquired, “Just one, and One from Alpha and another from Gamma” Leo retreated to DD’s position, “Well turns out It’s not The Covenant, instead, it seems to be Spartans” DD paused for a moment Thinking out his options “We could probably join up We’ll be stronger travelling together” Leo moved through first with DD behind and the others moving in from the other angles Leo held his hands up high “Hold your fire It’s friendlies, I’m Sergeant Leo-B021 This is Sergeant Daedalus-B223, Corporal Carly-B187, Corporal Kaylee-B202, Lance Corporal Randal-B009” Carly looked onto Private A199 and ran up to her wound. “Private you’re going to need to sit down, your wound is rather heavy It’s impacted the armour It could be a serious injury.”

It has been two days since an all out evacuation order had been called. OPERATION GREY AXE was a total disaster, and the UNSC forces left stranded on Oman were as good as dead, for there would be no pick up, and no further evacuations. It certainly did not help that she and Jackson-D468 were only what's left of Fireteam Cerberus. The Fireteam was to provide escort and guard alongside a company of UNSC Marines to an armoured column on route to a major battle down south. The journey had been rather uneventful for more than half of the way before a whole fleet of Covenant Banshees showed up in the air, and the shit hit the fan.

The attack had come all of a sudden, and without warning, and the entire mobile armoured column that had been caught out in the open were completely and utterly obliterated. The major battle down south would be getting no armoured reinforcements. Many of the marines who had gathered close to the vehicles were thus thoroughly massacred. Their Staff Sergeant, Catherine-D614, was KIA after taking a direct hit from one of the payloads who went astray. D614 was not the only casualty of the massacre as the Sergeant Major, Xavier-C614, who also happened to be the Fireteam leader was critically injured when the right portion of his body was exposed to the blast that killed his second-in-command. His injuries proved too severe, and he eventually succumbed to them, being the second team member to be KIA. Being on the opposite end of the column was what saved the remaining Spartans in Fireteam Cerberus as they were simply thrown back several feet, concussed with their armour slightly blackened, but otherwise alright. What was left of Cerberus had then recovered and moved on towards their initial target until the order for an all-out evacuation was given to all UNSC forces on Oman. They were pulling out.

Unfortunately, with many of the allied forces stuck in engagements that made an hasty retreat mostly impossible, a large amount of UNSC forces were thus left stranded as such on the planet, abandoned. Now it was just the two of them wandering around Oman. "Nadia, our best best is to look for other UNSC forces. I'm damn sure that there are still whole Fireteams of Spartans out there. They all can't be as lucky as us can they?" She stifled a snort as she knew that her friend was only joking, trying to keep their spirits up as high as they can to avoid falling any longer morale-wise. "Yeah, that's the plan Jackson. Let's keep any eye out for other Spartans. I wonder how many of us are actually still alive?" Cera then piped in, taunting and teasing her while at it. "You're alive, I'm sure that means that there'll be others too. After all, you were never the lucky sort." There she went again, the AI of hers, which always seem to tease her of her ineptitude, although she wouldn't consider herself too bad. Cera knew, that was without a doubt, but she just simply loved to make a dig at Nadia whenever she could. And this was one of those times. She just knew how to pick them it seemed. The Spartan pair continued wandering, hoping to chance upon other Spartans soon enough. There had to be some of them still alive. Nadia was sure of it.

Amber moved away from the spartan inspecting her wound.

”I-I’ll be fine. Besides, we have to go find Amir. Right, Tommy?”

”Right, we’ll be heading off now. We have to find a few members of our fireteam. Great seeing that there are this many fucking spartans still alive and kicking, though.”

As they started to walk away, Amber moved wrong and opened the wound. She yelped in pain. Thomas set down his rifle down as he set on hand on her shoulder. The other held a few inches above the wound as he used his armor ability. She sighed in relief, and threw one of her arms around his shoulder. He helped her up as he grabbed his rifle and they walked away. They walked like that for awhile, her leaning against him. Eventually the stem-cells kicked in and they agreed it was best for her to sleep for a while to allow the mending spray to do its work. As she took off her helmet and laid her head on her arms, Thomas kept watched. Once he heard her breathing even out, he let out a breath he hadn’t known that he was holding.

”Goddamnit!” Thomas yelled, a decent distance distance from Amber. He punched an armored fist into a tree and heard a resounding crack. ”What the hell did we do to deserve this?”

”Exist, for starters.”

”Then why the hell doesn’t shit like this ever happened to the damn covies?”

”Because they have better technology?” Thomas couldn’t help but laugh. It didn’t take long for the laughter to turn into tears as he removed his helmet and held his head in his hands. After a few minutes crying into his hands, he lifted his tear covered face to the sky.

”Hey, God.”

Silence.

”You listening?

Silence.

”Well, I just wanted to let you know that I think you’re an ass hat!” He shouted. He kicked the same tree he had punched and deepened the dent he had put in it. ”Why us? What did we ever do to the universe to get marooned and this godforsaken planet in the ass-crack of the galaxy?” He leaned his head against the tree and sighed. He stayed like that until he felt a hand on his shoulder.

”Tommy? You alright?”

”Not particularly.”

”It’s gonna be fine. We’re gonna find Alfarsi and kick the Covies to hell and back.”

”My god, Adam was right.”

”First time I’ve ever heard you say that. She laughed. ”About what?”

”You are an awful liar.”

”God, you are such an asshole.” She smiled. ”But, your my asshole.

”...”

”...”

”Let’s forget you ever said that.

”Agreed.”

On that note, they laughed as they wandered away from their campsite. They had a spartan to find.

"It really is the Burning Hope, isn't it?" James-G043's astonishment didn't speak for all of the group, but there was a certain relief in his tone that the others resonated to. After nearly two days of hiking, sneaking, and generally doing everything in their power to avoid being detected, seeing the sight of a UNSC craft as whole as this brought some worthwhile to this group of displaced Spartans. Perhaps, indeed, there was some hope after all.

Fiddling with the integral zoom on his suit's visor, Marcus relished in the sight of the frigate. Despite the obviously tough landing and the intense shear down the starboard side, the Burning Hope had managed to keep itself upright and intact. "It even managed to make it down mostly intact. I'm surprised," G214 though out loud.

"Don't be," Jackson-A081 tersely retorted, "The Paris-class is built to hold its own against cruisers. I'd call this less of a crash and more of an 'emergency landing'." Marcus quietly sighed at the comment.

A beat of silence, then James spoke up again, "You think there are many survivors?"

"I think a better question," Brian politely interjected, "-would be, 'Did any other ground troops think to trace the ship to it's wreckage?'" As if to directly ask the question to his commander, Brian's helmet turned to face Jackson.

He seemed to weigh the question for a bit before responding, "Maybe, maybe not. Depends on whether or not they thought it would be worth it." The Spartan crossed his arms, letting the pistol in his left hand rest carefully on the crease of his armored arm. "After all, the Burning Hope isn't outfitted to support ground troops- if they don't think anyone survived the crash, then it would be a pointless effort to try and get there."

"What about the Covenant?" Marcus asked, observing another dropship coming in from a different zone. "You'd think they'd be all over this, even if they thought the same way."

"That's exactly the other reason we came out here," the team leader replied, somewhat matter-of-factually. "The Covenant hasn't had the chance to expand their influence all over this world. Out here is territory they've yet to explore. That being said," Jackson uncrossed his arms, tapping his thumb on the hammer of his handgun, "They'll probably be sending a few more search parties once they realize there are survivors around.

"Speaking of-" The Spartan turned back to Brian, "How many can you make out?" Marcus forced himself not to respond, even though he was clearly already looking at the scene down in the valley.

"Two Spirits, so far. Not unreasonable to assume they have more on the line just in case."

Jackson clicked his tongue. "Two Spirits, equals a couple dozen or so Grunts and half as many Elites... or more, if we're unlucky."

Brian and James looked back to their commander. "Weighing our odds?" Brian inquired with a trademark smirk, invisible beneath his thick helmet.

"As if we need to. They're out of their grounds."

"Either way, it'll take a couple of hours to get down there, barring any other encounters."

"Then we'll double-time it, and hope they don't call backup. On me, Fortune!" Jackson announced firmly, allowing his squad to snap to attention. "We're reuniting with the survivors of the Burning Hope, and no alien scum is going to get in our way. Am I clear?"

"Sir, yes, sir!"

A081 nodded, satisfied with the group response. "Move out!" He ordered, leading his fireteam in a headlong march down the hill. Their hope was certainly burning- not in ashes, but with passion.

As what was left of Fireteam Cerberus continued trudging through the woods, hoping to find any UNSC related forces along the way to group up with, it was an hour or two or so before they found any luck at all. Nadia-G389 moved forward as the wreckage of the downed frigate came into view. It was recognisably of UNSC design, and according to her guess must have been the Burning Hope. Nadia then beckoned her only surviving team mate over. "Jackson, come over here. Look, this is the Burning Hope, is it not?" A couple of armoured steps later, Jackson was right up beside her as he replied after taking a glance at the crashed ship himself.

"It most probably is. That's a Paris-class, and I remember something about a distress call of sorts a while back." Although their helmets hid any sign of emotions, there was no doubt that the two Spartans were now excited, mostly positive about the potential people they could hope to find in the downed craft. There had to be still some survivors holed in there somewhere, for they had not seen a soul since they left their initial ambush site hours ago. With a wreckage as big as this, the Covenant had to know, what with their superior technology and all. "Weapons at the ready, there could be a possibility that we'll run into Covenant search parties once we enter the ship."

As the Spartan pair entered the wreckage that was unsurprisingly intact, it was there that they met their first alien contact since the ambush site earlier. There were only a couple of Grunts and a two elites roaming around near the inner entrance of the downed frigate. This time was different, now, Fireteam Cerberus, or what remained of it was more than ready to exact their vengeance on the alien scum.

"Get ready to fire on my mark. ....MARK!"

The staccato sounds of gunfire echoed throughout the crafts as they opened fire, downing several grunts who were caught unawares. Wielding her dual submachineguns with lethal accuracy, Nadia-G389 doved into the fray, like she had done so many times, with Jackson-D486 providing back-up with his DMR assault rifle. The sounds of gunfire echoed throughout the walls of the ship, and if there were any survivors holed up within, they would no doubt hear the signs of a battle.

The time for stealth was over. Now they fight.

“21, These guys have enough locked files that even the Dr Halsey would be jealous, I’d prefer if we didn’t end up as a missing spartan fireteam. On some confidential file report.” Leo paused If Fireteam chariot was here that would only mean one thing, they were bringing in the big guns. He moved over to DD "Listen, man we need to move asap, you remember fireteam Chariot the Fireteam from gamma? Well, it turns out we’ve just crossed paths.” DD paused for a moment, as he saw Carly’s patient walk of with a yell “Fuck me, Spartans just never stop do they, We’ll move now, no point asking these guys about what they’re doing, they’ll Just come up with the average answer of 'Classified.'” Carly walked over “Sir with your permission I'd like to observe that spartan in that state there is no chance she could survive an encounter with the Covies” “But surely it would be better to continue our mission, if we fail our mission it could mean the death of more Spartans to come” DD stopped the squabbling with a firm hand, “Leo raises a good point our mission is top priority, sorry Carly, Leo get aegis to patch me through the co-ordinates of his suspected landing position” Aegis didn’t reply “Aegis are you there?” Leo pulled up the Ai’s Activity on his HUD His levels were through the roof after a moment He replied the coordinates, “I apologise for the delay I was-” he paused as if to reassure himself “ -distracted by something” Leo was surprised he’d been with Aegis on multiple missions but never before had he done this.

Mammoth left the other spartan fireteams and went on their way to the Coordinates. On the way, Leo had a conversation with Aegis “What happened back there?” “I’m unsure, I tried to access the Files but they seemed to be deleted,” That’s when he saw it, In the distance was a giant silver building about a kilometer away “DD I’m not one to scrutinise intel, But that looks more forerunner than covenant” DD looked up from his navigation screen on his wrist, and that’s exactly where the Coordinates lead. “Aegis are you sure that is our location,” He replied without hesitation "I’ve run diagnostics 3 times over, this is the location I have been given by command.” Kaylee looked through her binoculars at the structure “Well, I suppose we ought to take a look then.”

The fireteam continued to their objective and was met at the gates by the classic forerunner entrance; a Giant glowing door. Kaylee was the first to investigate, she put down her rifle and inspected a nearby panel, she went to activate the panel and before she interacted with it there was a thud and clunk as the doors opened Allowing the team to enter. Leo had heard of buildings like this but had never been in it. The feel was ominous, The only noises were the natural hum of forerunner tech alongside the banging of Mjolnir armour against the hard metal floor. The hallway seemed to be moving around them, doors opening and closing behind them as if to guide them to somewhere, The only question was where it was guiding them?

Finally after what seemed like hours the finally reached what looked like the main sanctum, and were greeted by what seemed to only be a blue sphere in the room. A strong voice boomed from what seemed to be everywhere "Oh my...The Travellers are here...I was expecting you. Grateful Ignorance is proud to have this opportunity to meet what he desires!" The team raised their weapons. In their heads they, of course, knew that the rounds would do nothing against an AI, DD addressed the fireteam “It’s got to be a forerunner, no way a human AI would refer to themselves in the third person.” Randall spoke up in his lumbering voice;"Or he's not talking about himself.." Leo spoke to the entity; “We are Fire team Mammoth, of the UNSC, Why is it that you desire us ?”

"I know who you are, yes indeed! Let me just close the door!" He flew around them closing the door with a beam whilst moving to another and opening it "Please, follow me." The team were taken back by his knowledge about them, Aegis spoke to Leo only "I'm not liking the looks of this facility Leo," They walked through the hallway The monitor before them seemed to be excited by what was ahead of them The hallway seemed to be gaining more light as they reached the hallway the doors opened as the monitor spoke The monitor spoke; "Grateful Ignorance presents the Cleansing Programme! An ancient tool used to clean the Shield World - 143. He requested you, for your Token! Artificial Intelligence is vital for this power source, and myself cannot be used to power it. I wish for you to hand over the Artificial Intelligence in your possession." The room was massive compared to the main sanctum, in the center was a glowing ball of yellow plasma energy that seemed to be growing by the second above that was a hole in the roof that seemed to shift around adjusting itself for a different purpose. That’s when they saw it, the roof was opening to form some sort of laser aiming directly at the center of the installation. Leo Spoke up with anger, "are you telling me you wish me to hand over a crucial piece of UNSC material? You must be joking" Leo was deadly serious. "You must at once! We must clean the Shield-World. If we do not, the lifeform you are and the invading fleets will capture this location." DD lowered his gun; "Leo, we should think about this, we could take out the whole world out, Meaning the death of an entire covenant fleet, imagine the damage this would do to the covenant armada" Aegis patched himself into the whole squad, "I think you don't quite understand, if I go over to that Monitor You lose all tactical support and way of contacting the UNSC" Carly Added to his point: "If we activate the machine We lose hundreds of Spartans and ODST troops There is very little chance of them sending a cruiser to pick up one fireteam.". DD heard their pleas, and nodded to Leo, DD moved away alerting the rest of the squad of what was most likely to come Once he got the second nod Leo spoke up "Listen here Monitor, You can tell your Grateful-ignorance' to go fuck himself this AI is ours!" The monitor flew close to Leo's helmet "If you will not give it to me...Then he will take it from you...Forcefully."