Me and Kayla ran out of the tent with our weapons ready, Dad ran up two us and said " elites and brutes heading our way fast, we need to get ready" I nodded and said " Me, Dominic and Ben will meet them head on and distract them until you and Hogan get the torrents ready." he nodded. Before We set out I told Alice to call in for two warthogs to be dropped on our position just in case. She started on this while We got on the mongooses left. When We came into sight of the enemy they opened fire on us with their ghosts. I yelled to Ben and said " jam the gas down and jump off!." He grabbed a spike grenade and used it to jam the gas down, I did the same and We both jumped off. The first mongoose hit a ghost and detonated fallowed by the second, this took out all of the ghosts, The brutes started charging at us, I yelled to Dominic " you got these assholes!". He nodded and sprinted forward drawing his gravity hammer, he came to the first one and jumped onto its back hooking the blade of his hammer into its shoulder, He grabbed its spiker and fired at another, He took out two more before the spiker ran out of ammo. He grabbed the brute He was on and snapped its neck and jumped off, He did not notice the one raising its spiker to slash him but before I could call out his name a silver knife stabbed into the brutes left temple, I looked to the side of me and saw Ben throw two more knifes quickly killing two more brutes. He looked to me and said with a cocky voice " what would you do without me". I shook my head and faced the elites, I counted seven. all had energy swords and jet packs. I told Ben to stay back and watch our backs, He nodded and Dominic and I faced the elites. He glanced at me and said " just like reach huh?" " You and I remember reach very differently" I replied and we charged the elites.

The last of the elites begged for mercy but I would have none of it. Leaving the bloody and smoking ruins behind started back to camp. When we got there we got a not so warm welcome. Dad was furious with us for destroying the mongooses, I told Ben and Dominic to go have a cigarette while I talk to my dad. They both nodded and hurried away, they have seen what I can do when I'm angry but not what my dad can do. I started with :" look don't get pissed at me okay, they had ghost's and we did not want to face those on foot, besides were you not one who taught me that trick?''. I saw most of the anger in his face fade, he sighed " you're right I have to start trusting you more." I nodded and said " I'v only been doing this for five years". He nodded and walked over to the sleeping tent. I walked over to the rest of the team who all were taking a smoke break and grabbed one for myself. Ben asked how it went, I told him " it went pretty good, my dad is pretty easy to disarm when he's angry". Ben nodded and asked what are we going to do until the profit shows up?" . I thought for a moment and finally said with a grin " take a much needed break". Hogan came up behind me and handed me a beer and he gave one to everyone else. We all raised our cans and said " NOT AS MEAN, NOT AS LEAN, BUT STILL A MARINE!" then we drank. after a few hours of stories and a few drinks we went to bed with me on the first watch. as I sat there under the stars, I thought to myself " maybe I should retire and start a family with someone and quite almost getting myself killed" I was deep in thought when Cortanna popped up on my shoulder scaring the living shit out of me. I fell to the ground and fired three rounds before I relied it was not a enemy. Cortanna burst out laughing and said " sorry Sky I didden't mean to scare you, I just wanted to talk to you since us AI's don't sleep". I got up from the ground and said " isn't there something else you could do instead of bugging me". She replied back with anger " well I thought you would like someone to talk to while your on watch, but if your gonna be a brat then I'll just leave." I looked at her and yelled " WELL I'M NOT THE ONE WHO CAN'T TAKE A DAMN HINT AND LEAVE ME ALONE, FOR GOD SAKES YOU FIRST IMPOSE ON MY LIFE AND THEN YOU ACT LIKE NOTHING HAPPENED!". She looked me and yelled " I WAS ONLY TRYING TO HELP SINCE I SAW HOW BAD YOU WERE HURTING WHEN YOUR MOM DIED, BUT NO YOU JUST HAD TO BLOCK ME OUT WHEN I WAS TRYING TO HELP YOU" she flashed red and continued yelling " WELL I GUESS I'LL JUST LEAVE MISTER HEADSTRONG ALONE WITH HIS THOUGHTS!''. before she left I whispered " bitch". she heard this and turned to my with tears running down her cheeks. I didn't know AI's could cry. I instantly felt heavy guilt and apologized but before I could She flashed away and left me alone with my heavy guilt. ten minutes later she came back and said sorry, I stopped her and said " no I'm the one who should say sorry, I snapped at you and made you cry and you're right I can be a brat sometimes and I'm sorry" she looked at me and smiled a bit, she was about to speak but before she could a bright blue light flashed behind us.

I barley had time to roll out of the way before a plasma mortar hit where I was. I glanced in the direction it came from. I saw nothing, I turned on my infer red in my helmet and zoomed in on the source. I finally spotted it, it was a reverent a smaller version of a wraith. I told Cotanna to alert the team and tell them to pack up and move while I keep them busy. She nodded and flashed away. I grabbed my DMR and charged. I ran straight to the reverent and jumped onto the top, I grabbed the cannon and snapped the spine but not the wires, the elite that was driving started yelling in its native language, I yelled back "YEAH WELL FUCK YOU TOO ASSHOLE!". I stomped on the fire button and jumped off, I rolled away as the reverent blow apart in a huge plasma burst, sending elites part everywhere. Cortanna popped up on my shoulder and said " good work Sky, maybe your dad is going to be out matched after all". I chuckled and said " naw no one can beat dad, he's still the top rank, second is better than none". She chuckled and said " well still you're pretty skilled, I remember when you're dad was like you, young, spirited and resourceful" I chuckled and we went back to the camp. when we went back dad ran up to us and said " Sky, Cortanna what happened out there?" " It was a reverent with one elite, I took care of it but they know where we are so we should pack up and move before more come" I replied with urgency. He agreed and went to wake up the rest of the team while I pulled up the warthogs. just as dad put the last of the tents in there was a bright flash behind us fallowed by another. I yelled to dad to get on and floored it. I glanced back just in time to see a plasma mortar land. I looked back and saw three wraiths moving closer, I knew the can match their speed with a warthog so I told dad to take the wheel while I stay and hold them back. He looked at me and said "are you sure you want to do this by yourself?" I was about to speak but was stopped when Kayla jumped down from the back and said " he won't do it by himself, I'll keep an eye on him." Both me and dad looked at her shocked, she doesn't usually do things like this, but I shrugged it off and said " If you want to, I won't hold you back" she nodded and told dad to leave. We were about to charge the wraiths but Kayla stopped me and have me a small black case and said " I was going to give this to you when we finish the mission but now seems like a good time. I opened the case and found a small collapsible hatchet with a small rope attached. I looked at her confused. she told me " you tie the rope around your hand and throw the hatchet and it will come back when you pull the rope" I tied the rope around my arm and said thanks and we faced the wraiths. we started running at the wraiths barely dodging two plasma mortars, we reached the first wraith, it started trying to ram us but we managed to stay out of its reach. Kayla jumped on top of it and fired her shotgun into the driver hatch breaking it, she grabbed the hatch and ripped it off the hinges and throw it. she aimed her shot gun into the drivers seat and fired twice, she picked up the elite and threw him to the ground. She looked at me and said " beat that". I chuckled and said " don't get so cocky, your still my little sister now watch and learn". I ran up to the next wraith and slid under it and planted a EMP and slid out, the EMP detonated and disabled the wraith, I jumped on top and cracked the cannon open with my axe and dropped a plasma grenade down the barrel and jumped off as it detonated. I looked over to Kayla and chuckled. she shook her head and we faced to last wraith. we started to charge but were forced to duck when the gunner opened fire on us. I looked at Kayla and said " you got you're over shield on ya?". she nodded and I asked her " you remember the fishing a barrel move" she nodded and took out her over shield. we both counted to three, I threw two plasma grenades and she threw the over shield. just as the grenades hit the wraith the over shield expanded and covered most of the wraith. when the grenades detonated the over shield caught the blast and sent it back onto the wraith. When the smoke cleared I saw the wraith in pieces and kayla shouted out " GOD I NEVER GET TIRED OF THAT MOVE". I chuckled and said " still my little sister". she laughed and we went to the warthog.

we finally caught up to the team. who decided to set up base camp in a deep secluded canyon, dad walked up to us and hugged us both and said " I'm so proud of you two, you handled those wraith with ease. so Sky I now give back position on leader to you" I thanked him and asked " but what are you going to do, we don't need you here anymore and you're needed back on the flood mission" he replied " I already planed that, I'm going back with the next ammunition drop and leaving you guys alone". I nodded and extended my hand. He looked at me and shook my hand. he looked back to me and said " and I'm leaving Cortanna with you" I immediately yelled " WHAT WHY!". he said back sternly" because you both need to start getting along with each other and that that" I sighed and walked away. I helped set up the tents and laid down with my thoughts " I fell into a deep sleep. about five hours into sleep the sun came up. I was woken by Cortanna saying " Sky get you're ass up and tell the team what to do, they won't stop bugging me to tell them" I got up grumbling and said " whatever, we will just take it easy today and rest up for the profit" I started changing into my armor but stopped and said to myself " hey its my day off I don't need my armor today, we are far from where the enemy last spotted us and pulse we are deep where banshees can't get or see into." I changed into my usual cloths, a black t-shirt and a pair of blue jeans and walked out of my tent. My team was all there except for dad who left when I was asleep, they all where dressed in their armor and loaded up. I shook my head and said " look today is our day off and so is the next two days so I would change out of that armor and grab a beer". Dominic ran into his tent and started changing Hogan went to his tent and also changed. Alice and Kayla went to change which left me alone with Ben, He chuckled and said " well look who's finally becoming less of a tight ass" I chuckled at this remark and said " get your ass in gear and relax soldier, that's an order" he chuckled yes sir and went to change. Cortanna popped up on my shoulder and said " and what am I to do huh, there isn't much for me to do around here" I looked at her and said " do what ever you want" she looked at me with a gleam in her eye and said " oh ok then" she flashed away for a split second and flashed back in her full size form. I looked at her with a confused look, she saw this and said " I know i can't touch anything but still it makes me feel normal and i can talk to people face to face. I nodded and caught movement in the left side of my eye, I barely had time to duck before a football whizzed past my head, I looked over to see Dominic standing there in jean shorts and t-shirt, I gave him a fake glare and threw the ball back to him. after three hours of football. we all where exhausted and sweaty. I looked at my team and said " hey lets have a race on the warthogs and cool off", Dominic and Ben said yeah and we got ready. we set off down the canyon bottom going at least 80mph. we raced for a good twenty minutes before we came across and freshwater spring, I called for Cortanna and asked her if it was safe. she looked at me and said " its fine go jump in, This planet it exactly like earth but with no human cities and different animals" I told her thanks and jumped in fallowed by Dominic ,Hogan and Ben. the girls stayed on the shore to "tan" while we had fun. I got out to go get the football at camp, as I drove through the canyon to base camp with Cortanna in the passenger seat, I tired to focause on something other than the awkward silence, she finally spoke to me " thanks for being so nice lately Sky, It means a lot to me" I looked at her and said " hey its no problem, I was being a ass before and you just steered me in the right direction, so if it means anything thank you and I'm sorry for being an ass the last few years" she looked up and me and smiled. we got to base camp and I grabbed the football and a few other "goodies" and we went back to the spring.

after our day of swimming and football we retired back to camp for a few drinks and stories around the fire, we didn't know what to talk about so I decided to talk about our lives before the UNSC. Ben started by saying " I grew up in the country and hunted before the covenant attacked earth, since I got my first rifle I always was a good sharpshooter, you know shooting cans in the back yard or shooting the foxes that tried to get in the hen house." He chuckled and continued " believe it or not I save my family when the covenant first came. They landed in the field that was behind the house and I knew since I was the best shot, I had to save my family so I got my hunting rifle and hid on the 3rd story window, as they walked through the fields I was about to fire but was stopped by our front door opening, I saw as my younger brother walked out and tried to greet the aliens, I was to late to yell at him to come back to the house before those fucking monsters killed him.I opened fire on them, killing everyone of them leaving not survivors, I buried my brother the next day and the year after that I joined the UNSC and four years later I was transferred here and met you guys"we clapped and then Hogan went next " you know I was the teams football star at my high school and was always the strongest on the team, The couch was like a father to me since I was an orphan and he trained me to be strong and never back down, then the covenant attacked earth, It was in the middle of a football game and we were winning, I started hearing screams from the stands and I looked up to see grunts in the stands killing the people, I started running to help but stopped in my tracks as I saw my couch fall from the stands covered in plasma burns, I ran up to his body and check him, he was dead. enraged I picked up a metal bar from the pole vault and attacked the grunts, I didn't stop until I knew all of them were dead. five years later I joined the UNSC and four years in the service I met you guys". I nodded and gave him a beer, Alice went next by saying " I was the creative kid in my school, I was skilled in drawing and writing, I was top in my science class and very skilled hacker. I met up with Sky in high school and we knew each other ever since. I joined the UNSC a few years after he did cause I knew he was going to get in trouble since he always does and I've been with him and Kayla ever since" I grinned at the last remark, Dominic went next " You know me and sky knew each other since high school. I grew up in the same town and we hung out and everything, but then the covenant attacked" he looked down and continued " I lost my family and girlfriend to those dame covenant, I got my dads axe and killed them all in a blood rage. I didn't stop until sky secured me and told me what happened to his family, me and sky joined up at the same time and we've been in the same squad since then." I slapped him on the back and gave him a cold beer. Kayla went next " Me and sky grew up together, the slandered big brother little sister thing, I remember he was so protective that when ever I had a boyfriend he always had to be the alpha male and scare him. When the Covenant attacked I was at a friends house, I watched on the news as the covenant attacked everything. I tried calling home but no answer. I finally drove home, I found our house in ruins and Sky standing over a smoking heap. I walked up behind him and saw what the heap was, It was our mother and younger brother. I grabbed Sky on the shoulder but he tackled me to the ground with a knife to my neck, He saw it was me and started crying, we sat there until our dad showed up and took us to a recovery tent" I saw her crying and I put my arm around her. finally I went next " I was the average kid in my town, during the week I was in school pissing off the teacher and hanging out with friends, during the weekend I was either gaming or helping my mom around the house, but when the covenant attacked I had to sit there and watch as my mother and younger brother where killed by those covenant bastards!, I killed every one of them with my bare hands, I finally stopped when there was nothing left to kill. After my dad took use to a recovery tent we got in a huge fight and fist flew. I rather not go into to detail's but I will say this, I joined up the UNSC to make my dad proud of me and to kill every one of the damn covenant. everyone nodded and we sat there in silence starring into the fire, saying nothing. we quietly retired for the night.

As I laid there I thought about what happened tonight,We all opened up to each other like we all were family. It finally accrued to me, we are a family. we've only known each other for five years and we know each other like were siblings, finally I fell asleep with a clear mind. the next day I was the first up in camp, I went on my morning walk to think over what to do today since it was our last day off, I decided to check out this canyon some more, I put on my armor and grabbed my DMR, axe and hatchet and went off on foot, I walked a good eight miles before I found small opening in the canyon wall. I looked through my scope and looked though the opening. I looked down into the Vally below and spotted a Covenant base, I zoomed in and spotted a few zealot elites barking orders, I watched as they moved crates off the landing plat form and clear the was. I heard a loud humming sound and looked up to see a covenant ship send down a platoons of brute,jackles,grunts and elites all of them carrying heavy armor and weapons. I watched a elite that caught my step down gravity lift. I zoomed in closer and saw it was a arbiter, I knew that shit just got serious and hurried back to camp, on the way I radioed Cortanna and said " Cortanna I need you to call in a drop for two scorpions and one hornet NOW!". she heard the urgency in my voice and made the call. I got back to camp and woke up the team, I told them " covenant, all of them are first class and have heavy weapons and there is an arbiter on the planet, WE HAVE TO MOVE AND FAST!". they all broke into action by packing up the tents and communications equipment, I asked Cortanna whats the story on the tanks, she said " they will drop them in five hours in the safe zone, I also asked for a two rocket launchers and a spartan lazer" I told her good job and she flashed away into the communications array, I grabbed her card and put it in my helmet, I heard her in my head "Wow not that different from you're dad, just smaller and younger" I chuckled and helped load up, we got everything in the warthogs and left deeper into the canyon, we got to the small hole in the wall and set up camp, I put Ben on watch, Dominic and Hogan on retrieval of the tanks,Kayla was checking ammo and guns which left me and Alice on attack. When Dominic and Hogan got back with the tanks and hornet I told Alice to get in the drivers seat and start up the hornet, I grabbed a sniper rifle and got into the gunner seat and we lifted off. We flew to the top of the canyon and landed on a high plateau. I got off and positioned my in some rocks and started peering through the scope, I watched as the arbiter below barked orders at some grunts and started walking away, he stopped and looked around, he looked up and our eyes locked. he looked closer and I saw his eyes snap wide open, he started yelling to a group of elites. they got in a pod of banshees and lifted off. I yelled back to Alice " GO HIDE YOURSELF I'LL KEEP THEM BUSY!" she loaded her rifle and said " No I"m going to stay and fight, I won't back down" I looked back at her and said " then get the hornet ready just in case, they are almost here" she got on this while I opened fire on the banshees. I knew they didn't have strong armor so I used my ammo well, the first two shots took out one banshee fallowed by another banshee. I didn't have time to reload so I drew my hatchet and readied myself, as the first banshee came into range I jumped and using my jet pack I managed to get just above it and in mid air I threw my hatchet, It struck into the drivers dome and pulled me along with it, I pulled myself in with the rope and grabbed the side of the dome and stabbed a spike grenade in the windshield and jumped off, I landed on a small bluff below where the hornet was parked. I heard a loud humming behind me, I turned to see the rest of the banshees hovering around me, I knew I couldn't get out of this mess so I braced myself for what was going to happen, I saw a shadow flash above me, I looked up to see Alice jump from the plateau and land on one of the banshees, she planted a plasma grenade and jump down in front of me. the grenade detonated and the banshee flew out of control hitting another one and firing its cannon taking out the last one. I looked at her and said " well then,looks like someone learned well" she giggled and asked " how are we going to get up to the hornet?" I looked up and then checked my jet pack, it was empty, I looked at her and asked " any ideas?" she looked at me and said " we could use you're hatchet to throw up and hook onto something and pull us up." I looked up and threw my hatchet, It came back down. after the forth try I finally hooked onto something, I pulled myself up first and then I pulled up Alice, we got back to camp, I check in with Ben and asked if anything was happening, they haven't done anything few hours, I nodded and set up alarms a mile around camp and went to sleep, just as dawn was coming over the canyon wall the alarm went off.