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SCS Fafnir, Loading Bay 02

First Lieutenant Matt November looked into the dark, scary.
His plaster gray standard-issue combat fatigues felt seven sizes too large, probably more fear and paranoia than anything else. UNSC 'Standard Issue' wasn't exactly synonymous with quality goods, though.
"At ease Marine."
He nodded to his immediate superior, Uvriel Ishda.
She was a far cry from 'pretty' in every way, with incredibly dark-brown eyes, which Matt was seeing as pieces of coal. Had a fat nose too, but a nice smile.
He looked from right to left, checking the faces of his squad. 'Echo' and 'Splash'. No one knew his or her actual name anymore.
"Dark in here... Scary." Echo commented.

Matt couldn't really see their faces, he tried yes, but that didn't mean he could actually do it, since everyone was wearing some form of gas mask or another. Everyone save Uvriel.
Maybe that's why she dropped first.

"What the-
Splash was cut off when Uvriel started to convulse, coughing up blood- and likely her own lungs and heart- seconds later. Biological warfare, not a usual method, but effective nonetheless.
"Don't drag over it." Matt calmly held his fellow marine back. "We've got better things to do, and apparently someone to kill, lets get to it.
This someone, or something, is using some sort of toxic spore to get the job done, and obviously their objective is the Fafnir. We, gentlemen, have a job to do. People aren't supposed to be here just yet...
So if it moves, shoot it."
Splash and Echo nodded. All three were professionals in their field, each one knew that; and had been in situations like these. Civilian as they were, undisciplined, and ignorant of actual combat procedure, it was only right that they invent their own.
The 'soldiers' stood grimly, already hunching to stand of the balls of their feet, with their heads bent. No one had said it better than ancients, who'd constantly quoted "Make your every day stance, your combat stance."
More effective than people thought it was.

Battle rifles in hand; they traversed their little scene like vultures easy for weary prey. Down and around a bulkhead, crouching in a grate, off toward the massive hatch.
"Nothing here." Echo echoed.
All of them were thinking the same thing; no one needed voice their thoughts, however Echo always saw fit to do it even when it resulted in dropping the team into hotter water. Not that, that matter either.
"Keep it quiet."
Something above them broke loose, denting the floor as it hit and practically punching through the floor and straight into a vat of reactor coolant.

Matt knew what it was for too. The ship's three hundred some MAC Cannons needed an extensive amount of power to fire, and in this case they operated under their own power, meaning the source itself needed to be constantly at just the right temperature to fire the Cannons effectively.
Thusly, such coolant tanks were situated below every docking bay, near Fafnir's main reactor, and just behind every Cannon.
This, he thought to be interesting. He didn't know why really, but it just was.
Especially when you could hear the stuff ebbing below you, as if it was natural, a constant swathing sound that seemed to soothe your spirit.
Only right now it just served to scare the hell out of him. The titanium-plated floor kept creaking with every step taken, complementing the roiling sea below.

Cree-

Splwish... Sloish.... Slwish...

Eeeeaak

Despite each fragile sound he knew the bays themselves had been thoroughly supported, crossbeams, nets, rigging, they were set in the superstructure, which meant they actually acted as a support themselves.
"This is Tango Niner, we have visual on deceased officer, dog-tag DDC-22-334."
Splash was whispering into his com-thing.
"Suspect biological weapons use, all crews advised to use appropriate precautions. Tango Niner out."
Shadows danced around them, making them seem like little imps. There were a few bright lights, yeah, but the radius of each wasn't very big, not with main power off.
Stuff was bright, barely visible or not there.

"You two check ops. I'm going to have to link with Echo Alpha."
Slight pauses followed.
"Aye sir."

Matt hadn't made it ten steps however, when something in his head just started talking.

Don't ask questions; just do what I say.

"What the-
"Sir?"

If you want to live...

"Nothing-

Down!


The main hatch exploded in blue motes of flame, crushed under its own weight as it flew clean out of the wall and yawed across the massive chasm of the loading bay and pushed into the coolant tank like an armor piercing round-
Which caused the floor to splinter and crack, the support it gave being the cause of its own destruction. The entire apparatus crumbled, gradually slipping out of the epicenter, catching Echo, Splash and Matt unawares.
They had good balance though, and managed by some extreme measure to remain standing.

Several black wraiths charged through the smoke, heedless of the dangers lying in wait. Splash, closest to where the hatch formerly was, let off three shots before his weapon was gone, and he was on the floor with three of his own rounds in his face.
Echo actually managed to let off about half a clip before his head disappeared.
Green flames were already dissipating.

Matt was lucky. He'd managed to duck behind a few crates.

Behind the shadows strode two figures, one with a height of about four feet two inches, the other... Dominating the room with an 8'6 frame.
On the left was an elite. On the right was a grunt.

Loading Bay 02, Previously

Kayo crouched just outside a set of massive doors, composing a hatch. Kerdel was across from him. The Jackals waited in a staggered formation, somehow retaining shape for what was known as a 'Dynamic Entry.'
"Charges ready." Rasped an Everlasting. Special Forces.
The Jackal took up his assigned position.

"Three."

Each one calmed their breathing.

"Two."

Their weapons hit peak charge.

"One."

The Jackals tensed.

"Go, go, go!"

<Disturbed - Enemy >

The charges exploded and sprayed the doors with molten liquid, collapsing them under their own weight, and sending them inward, across the room with every ounce of force admitted.
The Everlasting charged in, greeted rudely by 7.62mm human 'Shredder' rounds, which tore into their ranks with reckless abandon.
The first let off a total of three bullets, based roughly 11.25 militerra-seconds apart before one of the Jackals overtook his position. Leaping from point A to point B it arced downward as if it was an anvil, snatching the rifle- still the human's hands- and brought itself into a ninety-degree L as it slammed the butt of his weapon into his stomach-
Which flung the pathetic flesh-wad across its arm and splayed him to the floor- as it set its clawed digit on the firing mechanism and buried three bullets into his skull.
In five more militerra seconds it was off to secure the area, noting the presence of its companion dealing with another threat.

* * * *

The Jackal charged in after its companion, spotting his target it chose another one. This specimen was farther back; meaning it seemed to have more time to fire its weapon. It did not waste that time.

Before the Jackal could move more than an inch, the first two rounds were upon it.
They were fast, but the Jackal was faster.
It swerved around the first, which was in a linear curve toward the floor. It hadn't made a warped trajectory, but it was already starting to break apart.
The second round shot cleanly over him, the reason being he'd just made a belly flop and started sliding along the floor-
Until he noted six more coming straight for where he would be mere moments later.
Time was on his side though.

He slid those clawed digits forward, and pushed off on his palms, using his momentum to catapult into a forward flip. The human projectiles slammed into the floor behind him and ricocheted off to some harmless angle.
This time the Jackal pushed off of its feet and sailed into the air as twelve more rounds came straight for him.

Flip!

Duck!

Swerve!

Lunge!

Dive!

Arc!

Bend slooowly...

Flip!

Go!

Sixty centimeters...

Five more rounds shot out of the barrel...

Thirty centimeters...

Four more rounds...

Close!

The Jackal kicked the human's weapon upwards; causing one final depression of the trigger as the 30'Th round cut through the air and made its way toward the roof. Half the clip, the Special Forces 'Everlasting' Jackal noted.
.0003 Militerra seconds later the Jackal kicked Echo in the side of the head with his right foot and shoved its heel into his face, breaking his nose and jaw.
It caught his shoulders and front-flipped over him, yanking itself into a disproportionate angle in mid-air and raising his fully charged wrist mounted plasma pistol only to let off the overcharged gob and totally vaporize Echo's rather thick skull.
The human, who had been on a diagonal fall since the Jackal's foot crushed his face, fell at last with no claim to ever having a brain.
The Jackal landed soundlessly, and slipped off to aid its brethren in securing the docking bay.

This entire exchange... Had taken a total of three seconds.
Far too long

Fourteen blurry shapes gradually collapsed into solid Jackals, their motions painstakingly exaggerated, somehow slow, They ducked and swept around each other, blows ringing on a constantly crumbling battleground.
Victory rituals now complete, those Jackals disappeared from normal eyes, and crouched opposite their next intended target.

Kayo and Kerdel walked rather briskly onto the crumbling floor.
"We're in." Kayo whispered through his comm.

* * * *

"Son of a bitch! They're right on top of us sir!"

Terranus Vector Constellation, Surrounding Space of Reach II, Rear-Guard Cruiser "Tyranny of Oppression"

Captain Franks dropped his steely blue eyes to his tactical screen.
One little red dot- and one little blue dot. A big green dot, (The planet) and a yellow dot- His ship.
They'd been chased around for over two hours, one lively game of cat and mouse, though a more appropriate term was how long can your ship survive till that Covenant CCS Class Battleship gut you from stem to stern.
"Archers ready on port side, all tubes!" Shrieked Tactical.

There was no hesitation. "Let 'em have it!"
His ship, the Tyranny of Oppression, rocked to one side rather violently as over 600 Archer missiles broke away, splitting apart and heading for the enemy ship at blinding speeds, trails of vapor slithering dully in their wake.
Just about half were cut down when small little hull mounted point defense guns made themselves known, their deadly plasmatic weaponry more than sufficient to break through the Archer's shells.
Again, half of those were still coming down hard.
Each one detonated by several seconds interval, though the packages should have let them off in simultaneous motions, exceptions did occur.

To his satisfaction, the blasted Covenant ship's shields flickered away, allowing the other blue dot... (Currently out of view) to fire its MAC Cannons.
Each of the two successive shots hit home, driving clean through the enemy's hull, causing the ship itself to spin out of control and eventually explode.

The attack had made itself apparent only twenty minutes prior, the fleet guarding the planet had been hard pressed to guard against such an attack, but so far they were doing an exemplary job, given the circumstances. Nothing could change the fact that they were losing, but they were still doing well.



"Get the Falling Darkness up on my view, we need to make contact with Ramsey's fleet, apparently the ONI spooks have something up their sleeve."

Five Minutes Later. . .

Engineering's Tech/Bridge guy spun his polished black dress shoes in crazy loops. "Communications is established sir! Crystal clear!"
"Excellent-

The ship sounded as if it would crack in half when a plasma torpedo found its way starboard, like the little boar that it was it shoved through deck after deck, having gone straight through a weakened section in the ship's battle plate.
"Communications are off line!"
Franks cursed and slammed his fist down.

"Stealth corvette sir!"
His eyes narrowed.
"Keeper of the Watch, verify my target and give me a firing solution!"
"Watch-keep acknowledges sir!"
"Keeper of the topside, level firing vector and arm our MAC, get those missiles running hot!"
"Topside-Keeper acknowledged!"

The Tyranny of Oppression fired off her emergency thrusters, counting on the force of the constellation's very odd forces of gravity to hurl it out of the way. It worked. The MAC charged to a point of minimum firing-power and hurled its deadly thermonuclear hellfire towards its intended target.
Seconds later Two hundred Archer missiles followed suit.

A waste of firepower, some might say. But people had no idea how strong Covenant shielding actually was. "That was a mistake-

No one could have spoken that long. Not under current circumstances, it was amazing Franks had even managed to say that much.
His insides pasted to his ribcage just as the ship threw out a violent gravitational pull due to the shear force involved with that final shot. The crew hadn't even righted their "hulking crate" before firing that MAC, causing an extreme force to pull the ship out if its alignment with the star and launch itself straight towards the stealth Corvette seconds after weapons had fired.
Thank all that was holy the MAC round never had a straight path in the first place. The Archers fired off erratically too, half of them speeding towards the Stealth Corvette, half of them slamming into the Tyranny of Oppression's hull and detonating with deadly force, ripping holes in almost every deck and throwing their crews to very agonizing deaths.

-[ Sickening crunching sound, a barely audible groan as everything goes black ]-

Franks awoke on top of some control console that kept letting off gradual sprays of 23 Amp currents.
Amazingly enough he was still alive.
But he couldn't move.
His world slid back into focus at its own pace, little gobs of gray and red resolving into figures, letters...
Bodies.

Some were twitching... some were impossibly still. Others were rising and sinking.
Funny thing was... All of them were floating.

He tried to speak, but he couldn't scream. Tried to move something, anything, but he couldn't breathe...
His body smacked into a big red button.
"Oh..." He tried to say.
It ended in a weak gurgle.

D i s t r e s s B e a c o n

His mind stammered.

UNSC Rear-Guard Destroyer "Falling Darkness", Terranus Vector Constellation

"Captain the Tyranny of Oppression just shot off thermal!"
One snag after another...

"Easy now, Ensign." Flowed the calm, reserved voice of Captain Veers Cameron. "No need to start choking yourself.
Keeper of the Watch, glue your eyes to my star charts and report any oddities with all your half-ass mathematical calculations."

"Aye sir." Replied Glace Hills, a young woman with a talent for violent uprisings.

"Keeper of the Topside, I need a silent alarm relay to all navy personnel, man stations on full alert."
"Full alert status ready Captain." Quoted an old veteran in his sixties quite dryly.
"Weapons, get that MAC running hot and release all safeties to the Shiva missiles."
"Understood sir."

With each task done, Veers continued. "Comm. Do we have any friendly calls in range other than ourselves and local traffic heading from Reach two?"
"Negative sir."

His soft crimson eyes scanned the bridge crew. Ragtag bunch, yeah, but some of those career veterans too. Not many these days, considering average life spans of such people were five minutes.
"Head us forward at fifty Helm."

His ship jerked slightly as the main engines flared to life, causing it to move toward the Tyranny of Oppression's last known location at moderate speeds. As UNSC Navy forces, it was their sworn duty to investigate any odd happenings with fellow Navy personnel and aid in any way they could.
"Sir I think our scanners are malfunctioning... Because I've got a very likely signature reminiscent of a Covie Stealth Corvette." Chimed the Keeper of the Watch.

"Alright people..." Veers' eyes narrowed, causing his charismatic, happy-go-lucky smile to sprout. "Let's roll."

ONI Facility 04, Airbase Medical

This wasn't right. She was gone.
Alec shook his head again, paying tribute to one of those many times in which he had done so. Where in all possible places could she be? Not far, he hoped. Halsey would flay him alive if he failed to pull his end of their bargain. Laura and her sappy Uncle Augustus were becoming rather troublesome.
Something stepped into view, no, charged into view, slim, black and evil. Wearing a marine BDU.

Her fist cracked across his face as he turned to face his newfound opponent, blinding him momentarily until his broken nose slid back into place.
Laura punched again, and again. He caught both fists and pushed as hard as he could, simultaneously bringing up his right foot, snapping it into her ankle. She pushed back shoved him into the wall.
That kick hadn't even phased...

"There you are..."
"That a sausage in your pants, or a .45?" Laura queried snidely.
"It's a sausage." Alec replied.
"Liar."

He moved as if he was a giant bull, heaving her away rag doll style. Not quite counting on her hand actually going into his pants before he had the momentum-
She snapped off three shots in mid-air, all toward his center of mass, not even bothering to break her fall she slammed into the wall just as the three rounds contacted.

His blood splayed outward, and he coughed twice. He was... Dying.
Winded and out of breath, Laura managed to slip off four words. "I told you so."

Just when Alec opened his eyes and started to stand. "Damn woman, that hurt. Now get over here so I can rape you."
What...

Run.

"What?"
Alec must have though she was talking to him.
"You heard me, L, get over-

Run!

"What are you talking-
Alec's eyes started to glow- dull golden yellow.

For the sake of Executor run woman!

Alright- that was enough.
Laura pushed with all her strength and angled toward the exit, breaking through a pair of flimsy doors and out onto the runway, still somewhat winded but otherwise... unhurt, again.
Alec's head smashed through, roughly one meter away. "Get back here..."
She started dumbly at it for what seemed like forever, until she gathered her courage, walked up and stared into his eyes.
"Who's your Daddy?"
Laura might have laughed after her brief commentary but- right about- five seconds before his entire mass came crashing through to snatch her up.
"Cocky little hussy." He sneered, throwing her across the asphalt and landed her smack dab on top of a Warthog's steering wheel.
Aside from every little ache and pain- which seemed to be subsiding fast- she felt fulfilled, somehow alive. Alive!

Christ she didn't know whether to thank god or wish her old hell back.
Over some rather gory two to four days, and all in double hours this had happened.
Sometimes she just wished she could sit back and let everything take it's course, let it all flow off and stop... And she'd wake up and see that this was another bad dream.
This, however, was not one of those times.

Wham!

Either he was in something of a hurry or he just plain sucked at punching things- because his fist buried itself into the engine, and apparently wouldn't pull away. Wasting no time in retreat, Laura wove her way across the Warthog with more finesse than she should have ever been able to do and made a double-take full sprint towards the biggest thing she could see.
Over ten kilometers in width, and probably two times that and more in length.
Right now it looked half what should've been.
"Get back here and face me like a man!"
Some 'man' he made.
Ten paces, meaning... well, she didn't really know, but strangely enough, more stuff exploded.
Before she could turn back to look six types of plasma projectiles, composed of various rounds- impacted several areas to her left and right a few yards in front.
Yeah, she could feel the intense heat, but not for long. Her blistered skin was already smothering itself back into perfection.
She could get used to this...

To the right, roll now!

Laura ducked in time to see Alec whip the thing aside as if it was nothing more than several bothersome flies, causing it to skip over her prone form like any rock on water.
Pressing off, feeling well the Warthog's underbelly as it cut a deep gash into her back, she drilled a heel full force into his shin and felt it snap like it was a twig.
Losing initiative was a bad thing, so she decided it was time to get it back.
Alec collapsed and tried to snag a piece of her clothing, ultimately failing when she dropped her steel-toed combat boot into his gut and expended several bullets in the task of making his face and midriffs look akin to cheesecake.
Growling boars couldn't match her fury, she was bearing down on him with an unmatched madness, loosing pistol-whips, neck snaps and roundhouse kicks whenever he tried to rise, a serial killer matched by no other.

Enough!

This is my kill voice, my! Kill, kill, and kill!

It is overcoming you, leave him; he will get up again. You cannot defeat this foe without aid!

My kill! Die! Her mind kept screaming bloody murder, who, was Laura to deny it?

Bow!

"Argh!" Unholy pain to every nerve!

The Captain doubled over in agony, clutching her head with much more force than necessary. Honestly she felt that her skull was going to burst.
Only her torso did the job first, after Alec started kicking it much as she had his own.
"You like that Captain?"
He grabbed her tactical vest, and heaved her upward, following through by grabbing her hair and yanking her head back. She struggled, but considering he was handling her as he would any child she couldn't do much.
"You try to run... you won't be getting up."
Oh, Laura wouldn't even think about that. There would be no more running.

UNSC Rear-Guard Destroyer "Falling Darkness", Terranus Vector Constellation,
Last known co-ordinates of the "Tyranny of Oppression"

"Arriving on present location now sir, I'm picking up a random distress beacon, but I can't read squat, and I ain't got no indication of any Covenant presence in the area."
Veers shook his head.
"Captain, what do we do?"

There was a foreign presence here, one that did not belong. Veers knew it was there because... he was that presence. He was too calm, too understanding to be human.
"About thirty minutes ago we all knew we were picking up traffic from Reach II, since then it's been increasing at increasing rates. What the hell's going on down there?"

The Keeper of the Watch answered his call with flawless elegance. "They're spreading warning of Covenant attack as usual but..."

"But what?"

"Some barren place classified as hostile and uninhabited with... ONI Facility 04 sir."
So now ONI was into the equation. The bastards needed help; he wouldn't deny it. Maybe they could gain some insight as to what the next big thing was.
"Somebody go find that marine... D'crose, get me the first recon."


SCS Fafnir, Loading Bay 02

He shoved Laura into the airlock, not really caring if it caused more injury or not.
"Bridge, L."
She actually looked as if she was going to comply, until she saw the bodies. Dead mercenaries, and a big cracked floor.

"My... my ship..." The Captain muttered incoherently.
"Suck it up, bitch." Alec snapped, throwing her over the coolant pit...
"Why Alec?"
He laughed. "They always ask right here, its like a goddamn Hollywood movie, the defenseless camera-grabbing sex-icon asks the grand question."
Laura frowned.
"Alright, I'll tickle your palate.
It all started with Halsey; do you really think humanity created all the augmentation shit? Bull. Muscle mass simply can't be enhanced that well.
There are no genetic tags, no superhuman selections, no Super-soldiers.
Halsey created the Spartan-II warriors in her own image, the image on any perfect killer. They were half-breeds, like your beloved Uncle Augustus. Ever stop and think why everyone was covering his or her ears when he spoke?
His voice borders on supersonic frequencies, he, like Halsey, is a vampire."
"You're the one talking bullshit now, sailor boy." Laura chuckled.

"Am I? Or is it only that you don't want to face up to the truth?
After the Spartans fell on Reach, our good doctor sought to create a new batch, and she found the perfect place, right here in our place of employment- ONI.
It all started with the Carter family, David and some other twit. Bubba and Grigor- those two lovely gentlemen sent out to kill everyone- finished one loose end off so they could take the other one; rulebook procedure.
After they took in Carter-Dearest, they moved on to our base, and laid their little plans with you."
"You see, our world is a complicated place, politics... heh.
Remember the night you woke up in a bed of sweat with almost no clothes? You don't have any idea, do you? You hadn't even had the intelligence to realize you'd been raped. Stupid as ever, I suppose."
Laura was too stunned to even think about reacting.

"Halsey came to me after our rather 'unfortunate' night in the tower control-room, offering the chance of a lifetime- Immortality. Didn't you see how I acted... more at night? I used to think you had some form of intelligence, until now.
That was when I had my fun with you. You're great in bed, you know. You're just like the good little slave I imagined you to be." He continued rather brazenly. "Then come our little night at the ball, I was about to do it again, when the fucking gun-shot snapped you out of thrall. Halsey wanted you at that ball; that's why all the shooting started in the first place. No loose ends.
We obviously couldn't do it alone, so we snatched the help of some Covenant who were more than willing to give us a hand."

How could anyone betray a people in such a way? How could Alec do such a thing?
"Alec Duran... You son-of-a-bitch... Why the fuck does this all revolve around me?" Laura shrieked, pushing herself upward and taking a swipe at the vampire with a large steel bar. He stalled the clumsy charged effortlessly, and held her in place.

"You're Halsey's daughter, dumb-shit.
She craved immortality from the get-go; she's a vampire already and she wants to walk in daylight... she wants immortality even though she's already got it, ha.
A vampire, just like me... like you."

Beyond anger, or rage- Simply emptiness. "Alright genius... Why the hell do I have recurring dreams of bloodshed and the like?"
Alec paused a moment. "Could you be the one?" He looked into her eyes with those shining golden oculars of his, deeply, too deeply. "No, You're not." His tone disappointed.

He took a step forward, half-shoving her into corridor A-1- the heart of the ship.

Meanwhile...

UNSC Rear-Guard Destroyer "Falling Darkness", In orbit around Reach II,
First Recon, Lower Holds

D'crose nodded, watching every move, every little motion of each man.
Clad in simple military dress, they looked like desk jockeys. Appearance was deceiving. If anything, these men and women were far from it.
"Ten-shun!"

A single intoxicating thud resounded throughout the room.
Emotionless hazel eyes peered up at him, from a slightly shorter origin.
Corporal Erica McKnight.
"Where is Marshall Tiers?"

"Marshall Tiers is dead, sir."
D'crose swallowed. "Oh..."

For some time, all that seemed to occur were blank stares and a steadily building tension.
"In any case, Captain Veers needs you all in brief in about twenty minutes. Don't be late."

UNSC Rear-Guard Destroyer "Falling Darkness", In orbit around Reach II,
Ten minutes later...

The briefing room was pretty much barren, other than a titanium 'boardroom' table and some chairs.
"I'm sure you all know why you're here; so I'll skip right to the point." Veers stated plainly. "We've received a distress signal from some barren land. Facility Four... ONI."
Some may have expected gasps. Nothing happened.

"You're going to head in and ascertain the situation. If it's as we fear, and hostile forces are acting in the area, it'll your job to evacuate any civilian population and assist ONI personnel should circumstances permit.
The plan's going to be a little different this time, you'll be acting in combination with 31st Marine platoon personnel; these guys will be both your reserves and your blocking force. Use their support well, and don't give any shit to D'crose. Do I make myself clear?"
"Till the dawn drops, sir!" The First Recon exploded unanimously.

A unit motto; Veers supposed they had more heart into this mission than most others, usually they'd just nod, and give him a look that suggested they wanted him to get on with it. Despite what he thought he knew, he realized he didn't know these guys at all. Just as well, he supposed.

"You'll be inserted in a rather unconventional way too... Yer' gonna' be exiting the ship via self-controlled cryogenic pods fired from the starboard torpedo tubes. These pods will break away in mid-flight; meaning you'll need to enter the atmosphere in a Zero-G transfer. Be careful with the gravitational forces here, no need to have a skull crushed on part of equipment malfunction."
Some of them gave small, curt nods.
"Make your way to the surface at a steady pace, be careful of incoming air traffic, the 31st will be tailing you in various modes of transportation; Three squads, which means you'll be getting no less than three CSaR Pelicans for the entire operation. D'crose and his personal little lackeys will tail you first, assault pods."
Nods of approval this time.

"Next comes the final squad... In one of three Pelicans."
A six-foot guy named Neil raised his hand.
"Yes, private Grawson?" Veers responded.

"You said we were going in with three squads?"
"You are, two men to a pod."
At first he thought he'd thrown himself into hot water, but Neil merely nodded, and leaned back.

"Don't worry about the atmosphere, there's already a sizeable hole where plasma seems to have burned through. Everything else you'll need is already smart-linked to your HUD bands, any questions?"
Erica raised her hand.
"Corporal?"
"Standard equipment, I presume?"
Veers nodded.
"First Recon... You are dismissed."

They stood as one, maintaining eye contact with him the whole time. In another simultaneous motion they saluted, and filed out towards the armory.
To say he was proud of them... That was going too far. These poor saps were as good as dead.

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