1135 hrs, July 3rd, 2545 (Military Calendar)

HEV pod: 0186, inbound to target area setting coordinates.

Target: 51 Pegasi-B System, Target Area Apache, Planet Pegasi Delta

His pod landed abruptly, it landed so abruptly in fact, that it not only forced the air from the occupants' lungs, but it caused his vision to go black for a moment. As his vision returned he noticed something amiss.

While his pod was indeed intact for the most part, the four lights inside that were supposed to signal the manual release were just as dark as the rest of the pod. That could only mean one thing; the pod was electronically dead upon impact. The occupant simply sighed, rolled his eyes inside his helmet, placed his right foot against the edge of the pod door and pushed.

At first the door didn't even budge. The S-III now getting irritated pulled both his feet up off the bottom of the pod and with all his augmented might, he slammed them into the pod door blowing it completely off its hinges and sending it skidding across the ground. The Spartan then grinned deviously as he stepped out of his pod suddenly surprised by his surroundings.

The planet Pegasi Delta was in a binary star system, and despite the beauty the planet once held, it was now reminiscent of hell. The sight of the landscape around him caused the Spartan III to grip his sniper rifle even harder as he dug his feet into the ground and took off at full speed. He immediately knew two things had to happen. He knew without a doubt he needed to get to higher ground if was to be of any use, and to link up with the rest of his squad.

As he climbed up a set of sloping rocks he found he had enough distance and a clear line of sight straight to their goal: The Covenant fuel refinery at the edge of the massive plateau. The Spartan then used the reactive panels on his armor to blend himself into the rock-face, and the air. After he was certain he was properly camouflaged he blinked and pulled up his TEAMBIO to see who in his personal unit had made it.

The five names appeared the last name being dimmed, as he was not assigned this mission:

His name being first, naturally, second was Jason the techie of the group, third was Jessica one of the most analytical Spartans he'd ever met, fourth was Max one of the biggest pyrotechnics out of all 300 of the other Spartans, and finally there was Christian, whom despite being the best close quarters combatant in his personal squad, had been reassigned right before the operation was set into motion bringing the total down to four.

The answer shocked him for a moment as it pulled up four names, two of which had bright red X's next to them. Team Arrowhead had been reduced to a two man firing squad and he wasn't even sure HOW the others had died to begin with! But the sight of several Seraph fighters pulling up from a strafing run immediately caught his attention and the Spartan raised his Sniper rifle up and within an instant had found an Elite trying to use their infamous Plasma swords to kill another Spartan.

With the quiet stillness of a storm he fired two shots the first piercing the Sangheilis energy shield and the second which was only milliseconds behind the first ripped right through the aliens head and splattered it's brain across the ground. He then reloaded his gun with a practiced ease that came with an entire lifetime of drills and training being forced into your body.

He remembered the commanders' words like it was yesterday. "Train! Train until it replaces your five senses, and then train until it becomes your sixth as well! Never forget it… Rely on it, trust it, and focus on it and it will never let you down." The Spartan then looked down the scope of his rifle again taking two more shots at a pair of jackals and a grunt trying to pin down other Beta Company Spartans.

He continued to fire always being sure he left one bullet in the chamber so he wouldn't have to pull the bolt back on the gun. He took down several more jackals and Elites but it was odd, for every one he killed it seems literally ten more took its place. It was unusual to say the least. He was expecting firepower but not to this degree.

He then took a moment to scan the battlefield and was almost awe struck. There were was a small army of jackles around the base of the refinery not that it wasn't unexpected, but with so many overlapping their shields it made any shot from ground level next to impossible. Lucky for the other two hundred and ninety one Spartans he and the other member of Team Arrowhead were doing what they did best: Shoot things from two football fields away.

He looked up at the sky as another trio of Seraphs passed by overhead after performing another strafing run.

He then realized those aerial vehicles would be a major problem if they kept that up. So thinking ahead, he switched his visors overlay from TACMAP to PT mode. He quickly raised his rifle up and using the 5x scope used an electronic laser to 'pant' the targeted Seraphs and then opened his COM as he spoke. "M19 SAMs execute Bravo maneuver targets painted. All other teams ready to move!"

He then peered up at the sky as he watched the contrails of the several dozen rockets fly from their tubes and intercepted the flying craft in the air, turning several into slag, and leaving only two able to pull up and retreat. 'A small victory.' Thought the Spartan to himself as he continued to fire rounds from his sniper rifle.

Now realizing that there were too many Spartans intertwined with the Covenant enemies. He clipped the heavy weapon onto his back, while flashing his amber light to the other member of his team, pulling his MA5K rifle from his back, sliding down the rocks as he did so.

Once on the ground under his sniping position he broke into a full out run, using all the strength and speed his augmented body would give him and then some. As he ran he heard the battle cry of all the other two hundred Spartans near him and he too roared in return for the fallen, for the living and the absolute death of his enemies who were still standing strong.

Then something dawned on him. The feeling hit the S-III so hard it forced him to slide to a halt. It was the aerial attack craft. They were Seraphs… ships meant for space combat!

Why were they here, and more importantly where were they coming from? Something was wrong he could feel it. And there was a reason to it as well. He felt as if his SPI armor was crawling with insects. And that feeling could only mean one thing… and it wasn't good.

At first he figured it didn't matter, but as he went to sight down his scope once more he saw something that made his blood freeze in his very veins. The telelink scope for his sniper rifle, which was hardened against most forms of EM pulses, was giving off a dull, grainy haze, almost as if it were getting a bad reception on a monitor. The shock of the moment in realizing what was happening he actually stopped breathing for a full ninety seconds, before once more, his training kicked in.

He lowered his rifle and stared up at the sky, time seeming to slow as he felt his emotions freeze in his mind, not being able… or wanting to comprehend what was happening.

The clouds rippled, but then he could clearly see what looked to be stars in the clouds, but… the problem was it was broad daylight! Which could only mean one possible thing… a Covenant Cruiser.

But as he stared up, he realized again with blood freezing horror… that it wasn't just one, he counted with clarity a total of six, SIX enemy battleships in the sky above them. Now everything made sense. Why there was such stiff resistance, why there was Seraph fighters meant for space combat dropping shots on them.

Even with all this realization time still seemed to crawl as the Spartan stood staring up at the enemy cruisers. Almost as if sensing his emotions his helmet TEAMCOM activated and as it did he knew exactly what he had to say… and he feared doing it.

With his TEAMCOM still active he clenched his fist tightly as he finally found his voice shouting aloud, "Omega Three! Execute now! NOW!" and even before he heard the COM deactivate, he turned, dug his feet into the ground under him and bolted.

He was running fast, he knew that, but his body thanks to the adrenaline was giving him a boost, enough of one in fact that the world around him appeared to blur as he sped past rocks, boulders, and other outcroppings in his path in his utterly mad dash to escape this now FUBAR siege.

There was only one true problem, despite knowing the exact location of several of the exfiltration craft in the area, he couldn't remember correctly, which one was the closest to his current position.

So engrossed he was with running and escaping, he'd almost missed the yellow dot on his motion tracker that was directly behind him. He blinked in surprise when her voice filled over his COM as if she could read his mind: "Follow me! I know the way!" cried Jessica as she peeled off the straight path they had been running down.

Even as they ran, something else was wrong. It wasn't the ships in orbit this time… it was something else.

A bright light, brighter than the systems own sun seemed to illuminate the sky behind them. Then a wave of intense heat hit them both from behind. A heat so fierce in fact that their skin blistered inside their armor and a few of the active panels on their suits cracked.

The combination of light and heat didn't dissipate the further they ran… it seemed to only be getting stronger and stronger by the second. It was only then that both S-IIIs looked back, and saw something that forced them to run faster.

It was a literal wall of white fire. Where it came from, how it got to this point, and most importantly how quickly it had gained on the two sprinting Spartans didn't matter.

What did matter to both he and Jessica was simply surviving it. Despite the speed they were running at, somehow they managed to run even faster as the duos salvation came into view.

The sea. The sea on this planet was toxic, but right at that moment they both knew, that it was there only saving grace at this moment. Jessica was prepared to jump into the sea, but in a momentary lapse of situational awareness, she tripped.

Time once more seemed to slow for the Spartan as he felt Jessicas hand slip from his own, his head turning to watch, as Jessica hit the ground, and in short order, the wave of horrid heat, and light, engulfed her very body. Starting with her feet as it made contact he could clearly see her body being flash vaporized even down to the bone, and watching the bone disintegrate as well.

The wave continued to travel up Jessicas' body vaporizing her as it went. It was such a sudden shock, she didn't have time to scream, all she could do was look up at her teammate and extend her hand as if to say 'Don't stop… just GO!'

He watched with a gut retching finality as the wave washes over Jessicas' head and then her hand seeing it flash vaporize with the rest of her. And with that last image quite literally burned into his mind for the rest of his life, he turned his head back to where he was running towards, and with one powerful push of his leg muscles, he jumped.

The water came up to meet him quickly enough that he was shocked when he hit the surface and sank below it. Exactly one heartbeat later, the wave of fire washed over the water as well and heated the water to almost scalding levels, forcing the S-III to claw for the surface… and for air as he quickly realized he was on the verge of passing out.

The Spartan breaks the surface of the water a second time, clawing at his helmet and pulling it free, taking a breath of air, fresh breathing air. He then used the last of his strength to claw his way up the shore where his exfiltration craft sits.

The Spartan dropped his waterlogged helmet to the ground, and immediately thought back to his first day in boot camp. He had clawed his way out of that lake too, alone, and unsure of what was to happen next. When he rose on the grass back on their training ground of Onyx, he'd stood up looking up at their commander and said this line, which at this moment in time… at this place in time with his mind set in the past he said it again.

"My name… is Ricktor Landon! And.. I WILL survive." With that moment out of the way, Rick turned towards his Black Cat Prowler and looked back for only an instant before climbing aboard and starting the engines. The ship rocketed into the air and quickly enough into space as well. As he input the coordinates for his rendezvous point, a single tear slid down his face as he replayed the scene in his head again and whispered her name.

"Jessica"