Authors Note: Alright, here it finally is. This story is my first, and so far only, piece of work to actually be followed through with… when it comes to writing. This story is meant to focus very heavily on a darker and out of combat view. That may change as the story evolves but for now that's the plan.

I would like to take this moment to thank my editor(s).

Kriegslied, a close friend of mine and the person who did most of the corrections and served as a draft board to bounce ideas off.

GeneralMayhemYT, again a close friend of mine and someone who really helped rejig the first chapter, recommending a re-write that was 4 thousand words...UGH. It is far better than what it was and I appreciate the help, just...so much typing.

Gingerscape, again a close friend of mine who helped to get me through my early days of writing and serving as a good grounded state for the initial work. His procrastination knows no bounds...dick. I approve this message.

All three of them are working on their own stuff and if you have the time I recommend taking a look… after you finish mine of course.

That's all I have to say for now. I hope you enjoy.

Sincerely SardonicEffigy


Office of Naval Intelligence Black Site Charium

"Are you sure we should be sending them? They have an excellent service history, apart from a few incidents, and they are loyal to the UNSC."

"We have two problems that need taken care of immediately, do we not?"

"Yes, but I feel this may be extreme, we're throwing away a Spartan team and a damn good one at that."

"We will either be rid of one or the other, a win-win."

"It really seems like a waste of resources though..."

"It is my call, and we will be sending Fireteam Delta, is that understood?"

"Yes ma'am, it's just that it was an order from command. They did their job."

"That is irrelevant, they know too much for their own good."

The male officer in his black fatigues saluted, picked up his data pad, and left the dark room lit only by the flickering of dozens of computer screens. Each one displaying a hidden camera feed, the one of particular interest however, was the main screen. On the display was a complete summary of every mission that the members of Delta had ever been on, including the ones that never happened.

It's a shame really, MacDavis can mix an excellent martini.


Fireteam Delta Quaters

Alessandra West

The cracking of glass against metal brought Alessandra out of her slumber to see her teammate, and closest friend, Benjamin MacDavis standing in Fire Team Delta's quarter's doorway drunk. Nothing unusual for the off duty Spartan. She watched with one eye as Ben walked into the quarters still head to toe in his armor, reeking of alcohol. Aless had tried once or twice to pry into Ben's psyche to understand what was going on, only to be stopped by a mix of Ben's unwillingness and her own indifference. In the end she decided it was best to let him drink it out during his own down time so he would be, at the very least, mission ready.

"Take that! You filthy Unggoy!"

Ben's words came out slurred as his attention focused solely on the bottle he had just thrown onto the floor, seeming not to notice that he wasn't alone in the room. Ben walked over to his own bed and fell onto it without bothering to take off any of his armor, had the bed been on a frame and not an outlet of the wall it likely would have collapsed.

"That's what you deserve"

Ben's voice carried no louder than a whisper as he drifted off into a drunken slumber. Aless looked to the clock on the wall which read 0136.

Might as well get in an extra hour, not like I was sleeping soundly anyways.

Aless waited to make sure Ben was asleep to sit up. She paused a moment and looked over at Ben.

Wonder why he was drinking this time? None of my business I guess.

Aless stretched and got out from under her covers. Her feet landed softly on the cold metal floor, careful not to make a sound, Aless got up and went towards the bathroom to change. She stepped out in her armor's black undersuit.

The air in the corridor was no warmer than that in her quarters, she was already regretting getting out from under her warm covers. She headed down the corridor towards one of the many workout facilities on the Infinity that at such a late hour would be mostly empty, just the way she liked it. The door to the workout room swooshed open revealing the large empty room. Mostly empty... that was.

Wonder what they are doing here so late...or early as it is?

Aless was referring to the group of six men in ODST fatigues working out in the corner, she chose to ignore them and made for the set of doors that lead to the Spartan armor stations.

Hope one of the engineers are here to help me get my suit on, don't want to get in trouble for hacking in again.

The door opened swiftly into a larger, usually brightly lit, room. At such an odd time in the Infinity's day schedule the room was kept quite dim, except for a man sitting at a desk in the corner who, with the aid of a desk lamp, appeared to be reading. Aless approached and caught a look at the title of the book he was reading.

Sun Tzu, The Art of War.

"May I ask what you're doing here, ma'am?" he asked "This section isn't meant to be used between work cycles" The man sitting at the desk didn't look up from his book.

"I was hoping to get my armor on so I could do some cardio and distance workouts, the usual attendee never seemed to mind" Not that he was usually awake, but you don't need to know that.

"Well..." the man finally looked up from his book to see Aless "I guess it wouldn't be to much trouble." The man got up from his desk, set his book down, and made his way towards the rest of the facility.

"What's your code number?"

"C412, sorry to interrupt your reading."

"It's no problem, I can only read Mandarin for so long before my eyes start to hurt."

"You were reading in the original dialect?" Aless asked "Could I borrow your copy when you're done?"

"You can leave with it if you want, I've already read it a few times." the man shrugged his shoulders a little. "Personally, while it's fascinating, I find that it doesn't apply as well nowadays, with space travel and all that. Still good principles, don't get me wrong, just some of the details are fuzzy when you're looking at a galactic wide battlefield, but what do I know." The man turned to face Aless, and stuck his hand out. "Name's Daniel."

"Alessandra West, but Aless for short." she shook his hand.

"Pleasure to meet you, Aless."

The rest of the long walk was in silence, something she could enjoy. When they reached her suit's station Daniel gestured for her to step into the center of the circle, he pressed some buttons and the machine whirled to life. Aless felt her armour begin to be attached to her undersuit. Piece by piece, her white, modified Mark VI Mjolnir Powered Assault Armor was situated and secured onto her body. While the traditional Mark VI was far worse than anything that the modern Spartans used, this was no traditional set. Everything from the exoskeleton to the shields had been revamped, redesigned, and improved by not only her, but also a weapons fanatic.

Ben, you may be certifiably insane, but I got to hand it to you, you know your stuff.

Aless felt the shields connect to the suits power systems and spark to life, she turned and picked up her helmet from the pedestal it was sitting on. After her armor and helmet had been put on, Aless stood at nearly seven feet tall, cutting an intimidating figure to most.

"Thanks Daniel." She turned and made for the door she had come in at.

"Don't forget your book, don't think I could read another character." Aless was looking forward to reading it, not that she would ever tell anyone about her love for books, everyone already knew, but she didn't need to say anything.

Aless left the facility and began to run laps around the gym in her half ton suit of armor. With the help of the suit's exoskeleton and her augmented muscle, the suit might as well have weighed nothing. Spartan Three training covered a broad range, all in an attempt to create the perfect soldier. She had never scored any lower than the top ten percent of her company, a fact she still took pride in. She was, however, only looking for a short warm up, and opted out after only a few dozen laps. Aless made to move for the door and head towards the gun range, until an ODST stepped in front of her.

"You're the one from Delta, right?" The ODST still had sweat pouring down his face from his workout, speaking in-between heavy breaths.

"I am from Fireteam Delta, yes."

"Are you and that Benny guy together?" The man put extra emphasis on the together part.

"Together? I don't know what you mean." Of course we are together, were on the same team.

"Well there's a lot of rumors that you two are partners. If that's not true, I guess that means you're still on the market." The ODST appeared to have something in one of his eyes, because he kept closing just the one.

"We are partners, sorta, it just depends on the situation. Sticking with one partner limits your freedom, why would someone do that?" Hell, depending on the situation, we would all go solo.

"Wait, what... oh." the ODST began to laugh until he could no longer stand. "They weren't kidding, you really are clueless. Classic."

Aless pushed the ODST to the side and walked out of the gym.

ODSTs can be really strange.

Aless spent the rest of the walk to the gun range trying to think of what the ODST was laughing so hard about; she concluded it was an inside joke. She reached the door to the range and was about to enter, until a man stopped her.

"You're Ben's teammate, right?" The man in question had a deep, soft voice, but the man's face was far less friendly. He had glasses halfway down his nose, and eyes with dark bags and lines under them, clear signs of sleep deprivation. The man hunched his neck and head slightly, even then still achieving a well above average height. Nothing to rival a Spartan, but still tall.

"Yes." What did you do this time, Ben?

"Can I talk to you in private? It should only take a moment."

"Lead the way."

The man gave her a friendly nod, then turned and walked down the hallway, looking over his shoulder before stopping and speaking again.

"The lounge should be empty this time of the day, it would allow us to talk in private." he then continued down the hall, Aless followed.

"So what's this about?"

The man stopped "It…" he took a moment to think "We should really wait until we're in a private section." And then continued down the hall.

The short walk to the lounge was quite after that. When they arrived the man checked to make sure they were alone, and turned to offer Aless his hand.

"My name's Dakota." Aless, paused for a moment before shaking his hand.

"Alessandra West. Now, mind telling me what this is about?"

"It's about Ben." Dakota took his hand back and walked to the bar.

"What did he do this time?" Ben's habits, while making him popular among the standard soldiers, and even some of the officers, had him labeled a troublemaker.

"He didn't do anything." The man visibly struggled to find the right words. "I'm concerned about him."

"Don't worry, he won't do anything stupid." Aless recalled several of the discussions she had with officers over the past couple years.

"That's... not what I meant." The man began to mix something from the bottles he had grabbed from the bar. "I am concerned he might… how do I say this... I think something is wrong with Ben."

"Well... Ben has always been a little weird, nothing to really worry about though."

"Not that kinda wrong. I work as one of the cooks on the Infinity and as a bartender in my off time. I actually serve Ben quite often and I've noticed something over the past few days, usually Ben comes in and drinks socially, but not for the past week or so. Ben is drinking to forget something, and I thought you might know what."

"I… I'm sorry, I can't think of anything, Ben doesn't trust me enough to confide in." Dakota's face twisted into a look of confusion.

"But I thought...well with the way he talks about you... never mind, just keep your eyes and ears open please, a lot of people like Ben, I don't wanna see him hurtin' like that, it is bad for business after all." Dakota gave a forced chuckle.

One thought came to Aless' mind

"What does he say?"

"Sorry?" Dakota seemed to snap out of a daydream when Aless spoke up.

"You said he talks about me, what does he say?"

"Oh, well um... just how much he respects you and... How much he… likes spending time with you I guess, he's usually drunk, so most of it I don't keep in mind."

"I'll ask Ben if anything's wrong later. Will that be all?"

"That… do you really think you should be so up front about it?" Dakota's eyebrows scrunched up, "If he wanted to talk, wouldn't he have done that already?"

"Never underestimate the power of asking, but if you want, I could try to take a more subtle approach?"

"I... personally feel that may yield better results."

"Sure thing, I won't ask him up front." Aless planned on asking him upfront about it.

Why dance around when you can brute force your way through, right?

"Thank you, by the way. Some people were starting to get concerned about him."

Aless nodded and left before he could say anything more, heading to the food court for an early meal. Her walk was quiet, but her mind was busy at work trying to understand what their conversation had really been about.

He has no reason to care for Ben, so what's his motive? Are the higher ups worried Ben's performance might be slipping and sent Dakota to check if it was some kind of team dynamic?

Aless' thoughts kept dancing through her mind, but none of them seemed to make sense.

Are they planning on removing him from Delta?

That thought scared Aless, more than she could rationally explain. The topic of her thoughts switched, from what she and Dakota had talked about to why it bothered her so much.

If it's what they want then that's for the best, right?

Aless had always been one to follow orders, never deviating from the mission plan, or even so much as disobeying an order; she was the perfect soldier. She avoided getting attached so when the people around her died she wouldn't be broken up about it, Aless didn't make the mistake of getting attached to anyone; the perfect soldier. Duty always came first.

The perfect soldier.

Aless' thoughts were thrown aside as she entered the cafeteria. The Infinity had several to avoid any getting crowded and so people wouldn't need to go too far to get food. The one closest to Delta's quarters was one of the smaller, thankfully quieter, cafeterias allowing her to get her food in peace. Aless grabbed her food and sat down at one of the tables off to the side; it was solitary and quite, exactly how she liked it. She failed to notice Jax approach until he set his tray down. Aless was slightly startled at how he had managed to sneak up on her but quickly wrote it off as her being distracted.

"Hello Jax, feeling well today?" Aless had come to know Jax, and more usefully, how to read him despite his mute nature.

"..." Jax nodded, to which Aless took as both a greeting and him saying he was well. Jax than gestured to her.

"I'm well. A little tired thanks to Ben, but fine." Jax's head bobbed up and down in a sign of understanding.

Jax and Aless both turned their attention to the food in front of them, choosing to eat rather than talk, not that Jax could have talked anyways. The table was quite once again, until a certain someone came in yelling.

"Where is he? He's done! I'm gonna get him court-marshaled!" James Roberts, Fireteam Delta's leader, was shouting across the mostly empty cafeteria in their direction. Aless looked to Jax, who offered a shrug in reply.

"Alessandra! Have you seen Benjamin?" James covered the short distance at a swift paced walk.

"He was back in the room, drunk on his bed."

Sorry Ben, you deserve it... probably... well more than me that is... probably.

"I was just in the room, he wasn't there. If you're covering for him agai-" James didn't get a chance to finish before the man in question strode through the doorway, nearly falling over his own steps.

Great, he's still drunk.

"Care to explain yourself?" James spoke like he was disciplining a child.

Not that far off.

Aless reprimanded herself for thinking something so rude about possibly the only "friend" she had.

"Um... did... did I do sumpin?" Ben's words came out slurred, as he plopped himself down at the table with Aless and Jax.

"You know damn well what you did!" James slammed a fist on the table in frustration.

"Do I though?" Ben's voice took on the familiar cocky tone he reserved for James.

"You assaulted three officers!"

Oh... that's actually quite bad. Dammit Ben.

"Oh yeah... huh that was pretty fun." Ben let off a soft chuckle at the memory.

"You nearly broke one of their arms!" James's face looked a mix of disappointment and frustration.

"Nearly? Huh, I thought I broke that, ah well, I can rectify that next time." Ben stiffened for a second as James picked him up by his chest piece before relaxing in the man's tight hold.

"What you doin' sarge? Not something against the rules, surely."

Ben knew exactly the words to use to make James both more angry and back off. James practically threw Ben back into his seat and stormed out of the cafeteria, the bemused looks of the people who saw it dwindled fast when they saw the looks Aless gave them.

"Is he gone?" Ben held his head down to the table, and waited for someone to speak up.

"Yes Ben, he's gone."

Ben stood up and walked over to get himself some food, not swaying or staggering on the way there or back.

"That was an act, wasn't it?"

"What? No. I got over my intoxication already, augmented liver and what not, I would never lie to a superior officer. Frankly, I'm offended by such a comment." He replied sarcastically.

For Spartan IV's like Ben, the concept of getting drunk was still a viable option, not the case for earlier Spartan models such as the III's, which Aless was. She was unable to get intoxicated; at the very most she could get buzzed when she really tried. Ben, however, had a knack for getting over hangovers and sobering up in such a short time that it seemed almost impossible. With the state Aless last saw him in, passed out drunk, he should have needed at least several hours of sleep, not, at most, a single hour.

"What did you do anyways?" Aless could admit to being slightly curious as to what Ben had done.

"Apparently, only almost broke an officer's arm. Personally, I thought it was broken, then again I was drunk."

"Yeah I got that bit, I meant more why you almost broke someone's arm."

"Oh, they were saying some rather... unsavory things, that drunk me did not appreciate." Ben was moving his arms around wildly as he spoke.

"What were they saying?" Aless knew the difference between drunk Ben and sober Ben, sober Ben was difficult to make act on anger in any violent sort of way, drunk Ben was a lot less tolerant.


Benjamin MacDavis

Infinity Cafeteria

Ben was trying to decide how to answer Aless' question, he knew it couldn't be the truth. The truth was that those officers had been mocking his team, Aless specifically. He was usually willing to overlook stuff like that, Delta had a reputation after all. Ben was about to leave when the officer, the one whose arm Ben thought he broke, dropped a comment comparing Aless to a dog people would train for war, and that was enough for Ben. Normally, Ben would have told the truth, he hated lying, but he knew that Aless would blame herself if he said anything about it, so he lied.

"I can't remember, must have been important." Even Ben knew that sounded like a weak excuse with the time it took for him to answer, thankfully Aless wasn't very perceptive when it came to social actions.

"You nearly broke his arm, and can't remember what it was about? Ben you really need to stop drinking." Ben was tempted to tell her the truth to make her feel bad.

Never tell me to stop drinking! It's nice to not have to think, or dream, for a while.

Ben liked to imagine he could have said some snarky comment back to Aless to make her feel bad, but he couldn't, not to Aless. Ben had spent too much time with her. The rumors that circulated were wrong, he was not in a relationship with Aless, but not for lack of trying. Ben had pulled every trick he knew, nothing worked. Well, nothing that worked on any other girl. He brought it up with her once.

Once.

The argument that unfolded was long and tedious. Aless said a relationship was impossible due to her augmentations and history, most of which Ben had no idea about, and that he should simply forget about it. Ben said she couldn't know for sure because she never tried, then she would loop back to the augmentations in a never ending circle.

Ben had given up. At the very least Aless made a good friend, even if she didn't really understand the concept of friendship. Ben realized both Jax and Aless were staring at him as he just sat there not saying anything.

"I like alcohol." Not the best argument but... fuck it

"That's partly the pr-" Aless did not finish as she jumped up from the table and saluted towards the door, Jax did the same. Ben looked over his shoulder and saw Commander Palmer standing there, Ben gave a half salute from his sitting position.

"At ease." The commander waved her hand in a dismissing gesture. "I wanted to inform you of a new mission opportunity."

"In person? What's the occasion?" Ben could practically feel the cold glare from Aless as he spoke.

"I wanted to stress the fact that you are not required to take the mission, but you are the only team that meets all the requirements. Where's Roberts?"

"He stormed off somewhere, don't know why. But did you really have to ask? Of course we'll take the mission."

"You should probably discuss this with your team first. Don't you think?" The commander's voice, remarkably, did not sound frustrated.

"Trust me, they want the mission. Right guys?" Ben turned to the other two sitting at the table

"Ben would be right on this account, we'll take the mission." Aless agreed.

Jax nodded.

"I really thought I would need to convince you, you did just get back from a four-month deployment after all. Are you sure you don't require time to rest?"

"Trust me ma'am, this team is getting stressed having someplace safe to sleep at night. No danger, where's the fun?" Ben shrugged and stood up.

"And when will we be shipped out?"

"In about twelve hours. The mission came out of nowhere, and is marked urgent."

"In that case, I'm gonna go get some shut eye, then gather my gear."

The commander nodded, and left the room.

"I'm gonna go crash for the next nine hours, you guys coming?" Ben turned to his two squad-mates.

"You didn't even eat anything." Aless looked down at his plate.

"Well of course not, I still have my helmet on. How would I eat though this?" Ben knocked a fist against his visor.

"You could have taken it off." Aless reached down and picked her own helmet up and attatched it back atop her armor.

Aless turned to look at Jax, who shrugged and then turned and walked off.

"How are you two not dead from lack of food, water, or sunlight? You guys barley leave your armor, even when you sleep."

"To be fair, I take my helmet off to drink, you just don't go to bars with me." Ben recalled the handful of times she and him had gone out and done anything. Ben didn't mind staying in their quarters playing some of Aless' classic games, or watching some of her old movies, it was just good to go out and socialize sometimes, Aless' social skills could definitely use some practice.

The three members of delta left and made for their room, Ben was not looking forward to the night. With him officially no longer drunk that meant he would be able to dream, not a comforting thought to the avid alcoholic.

Wonder which one it'll be about this time?


9 hours later

Infinity corridor

Alessandra West

Alessandra walked towards the armoury looking to get her gear as quickly as possible so she could get back to her room and finish her film, not that she hadn't already seen it a dozen times, but she always hated being interrupted mid movie. She had hoped to finish it before deployment but was running out of time. Aless rounded the corner to the armory to see a familiar face talking with the quartermaster. Talking might have been too polite, the Spartan looked rather annoyed and was on the verge of shouting.

"Well how long is it gonna take? We deploy in 3 hours!"

"I'm not sure if it will be done by then….but we have plenty of repla-" The sweating man behind the counter didn't get a chance to finish before Aless interrupted.

"What seems to be the problem, Benny?" Aless felt uncomfortable saying his name like that.

"The Quartermaster here says my gun is busted. My Jezebel, the girl I spent hours modifying!" The Spartan didn't even look at Aless, just staring at the young man behind the counter.

"When did you break Jezebel?" Ben loved that thing, and he spent hours, if not days working on it; the idea he would break it was absurd. Aless realized her question was just as absurd only after asking it.

"I didn't break her!" Ben replied, the anger palpable. "The bastards dropped it while they were fuckin' around with it!"

And there is the shouting.

Aless didn't get attached to her weapons. Sure, Ben had had it for a long time, but it was an older model that had been replaced several years ago. She had learned to avoid bringing it up unless she wanted to hear a three hour talk about how weapons are an extension of one's blah blah blah. The lecture always went the same, usually ending with him dragging her to the workshop to do some work on her weapons in an attempt to "bond" with them... Aless didn't get it, but the help with her weapon maintenance was appreciated.

"Sir, we have plenty of replacements you can use, if you want." The Quartermaster replied sarcastically, not quite realizing his mistake until it was too late.

"That's not the point, asshole!" Ben slammed his fist into the metal wall next to the window one would stand at to see the quartermaster through, leaving a sizable dent in the wall.

"She is a custom M247 GPMG! Twice the ammo capacity with a custom-made barrel designed to lessen overheating! She has a fuckin' energy bayonet strapped to her undercarriage! If Jezebel isn't ready for our next mission, I swear I will-"

"He gets it Ben!" Aless's voice had enough sternness to make Ben understand she was being serious while being able to avoid raising her own voice.

"I'll just fix her myself... hand her here" Ben's attention was flashing between Aless and the man behind the counter.

"I'm afraid I can't do that, it's already being run through the computer."

Apparently this guy also doesn't get the attachment Ben has to his weapon.

"Fine." Ben stepped back from the counter and started towards the door before the quartermaster stopped him.

"It should be ready for your mission just don't quote me on it. The computer shouldn't have a problem with giving me the instructions." The man behind the counter really was trying, but he had made the mistake of getting between Ben and his Jezebel, and Aless knew.

No one messes with Jezebel. No one…

"Thanks jackass… Just be gentle." Ben followed that with a wink before leaving the armoury, not that either of them could see it through Ben's helmet, but Aless knew he had winked, he always winked. Aless also knew he was probably heading to the weapon workshop to blow off some steam after hearing what happened to his weapon. He was quite predictable when he was angry.

"That man has issues." The quartermaster said boldly, snapping Aless back to the moment.

"I'm taking it you're new?" The way he talked you could tell he hadn't spent much time with Spartans, let alone the ones on the Infinity. Delta had a reputation that usually preceded them; take for instance Ben's attachment to his guns.

"Just got placed here, my first day actually. Thought it would be cool to work with Spartans and all, but that guy was a dick; all we wanted to do was try it out, what's the big deal?"

Oh, this man has no idea.

Aless took a deep breath trying to keep herself from punching this guy in the gut.

"I mean, so what if we dropped the thing? It's just an old gun with some slight modifications... nothing major." The man looked genuinely pleased with himself at his statement, not realizing the trouble he was getting himself into.

"He's really a nice guy if you get to know him, just a little too sentimental for his own good." Aless was gritting her teeth trying to make sure this guy didn't end up in the med bay on his first day. "He may act like and say that he's a dick, but he has a big heart." The words had a calming impact on Aless as they came out making it easier to restrain herself, but it would be best to change the subject.

"Anyways, I need to get my gear, should be in locker C412"

"Hmm? Oh yeah, no problem." The man disappeared for a minute behind the counter in the back were Aless couldn't see him before coming back with a medium sized metal container.

"Ok, let's see here…. one M392 modified." He said handing over the white DMR with the scope missing off the top, replaced by an iron sight and a holographic one on the side.

Not too good at long range, but that's why we have Jax.

Aless attached the rifle to her back before reaching out to get the next items the quartermaster was giving her.

"Two modified M6Cs."

The M6Cs both had extended mags custom built by her and Ben a few months back, with doctor sights on the top and a flashlight on one of the pistols. Ben had insisted that the sights were to be tactical and not a bad joke about her being the team's medic… she didn't believe him. The pistols had a white tint to them that Ben had said would help make them identifiable if they got mixed up with someone else's guns, because the modifications weren't enough. Aless was pretty sure it was so they would match the DMR and her armor while giving her her own custom look. She couldn't care less about that kinda stuff but she did care what Ben thought and he said it would look good, so she took them.

"And one Type-25 Covenant plasma pistol." He said handing over the small purple weapon.

While relatively weak, they did have a few useful aspects to them, such as the charging mechanic allowing you to disable vehicles, and hers wasn't standard issue. It was modified to have far lower power unless it was charged. The idea behind this being that it would now be safe to use to cauterize a wound on the fly... That's the idea anyway... She hadn't gotten the opportunity to use it in any serious situation yet, probably a good thing.

"I suppose I should grab Ben's gear too so we can avoid another confrontation. Should be in locker C094." Aless knew that Ben would respect her wishes and avoid a fight, she wasn't so sure the soldier would. Not like Ben would lose, he was a Spartan after all, but he would be in for another report and a long talk from James. Quite frankly, Aless didn't want to have to serve as intermediate for that again.

"That's… probably for the best. Let me go get the locker." He said, picking up the now empty locker and carrying it into the back. He returned with a heavier locker that made a loud thud when he set it down.

"Check to see if it's all there... well except the GPMG. I'm gonna go start on that by the way. The ammo for your weapons should be over there." He said, gesturing towards some lockers on the other side of the armory before heading into the back again.

Aless opened the locker to check and make sure Ben's stuff was in there.

It's not like the soldier would be stupid enough to pull that twice, but it never hurts to check.

She opened the locker pulling out the green MLRS-1 HGL Hydra with the word "BULLDOG" carved into the side, not really custom aside from some paint, the name carved in the side, and the strap that allowed Ben to carry it slung over his back. She set it down and pulled out the green M301 Grenade Launcher Ben had dubbed "Demise". The launcher was pretty standard, save the paint, name carved into the side, and the large plasma emitter that sat at the end acting as an energy based bayonet.

The bayonet took hours to get into a working shape, and served as Ben's melee weapon when he had the launcher in hand. While the bayonet on Jezebel was bigger and more powerful, this one served as the test build for it. Trying to tear apart an energy sword and keep it working proved to be a challenge and took about 9 months and a half-dozen swords to get the smaller one to work, and even then the original had almost no charge, after several tests however the new sword had a battery that took power from the Spartan's armor at only a minimal power loss. Next, she pulled out the two green M363 Sticky Detonators named "Mustang" and "Sally", name recommendations that came from Aless. Last was Ben's combat knife, a standard UNSC knife with a custom hilt made with brass knuckles serving as part of the hilt itself.

After putting the weapons back in their case. Aless walked over to the lockers to fill up her duffel bag with her and Ben's ammo. After collecting the supplies, she made her way for the door heading to the Infinity's weapons workshop to give Ben his gear.


Infinity Weapons workshop

Jackson Rodriguez

The weapons workshop was a place someone could go to work in peace and clear their head, a place that was quiet, save the sounds of people modifying or repairing their weapons... unless Ben was there.

"Whoa, Black Betty Bam-ba-Lam, Whoa Black Betty Bam-ba-Lam. Black Betty had a child, Bam-ba-Lam, The damn thing gone wild, Bam-Ba-Lam, She said-" Ben had insisted on installing a speaker in the only weapon workshop available so he could have "entertainment" while he worked, Jax was sure he only did it because he was bored.

Jax was actively blocking out Ben's less than accurate singing by focusing on the task at hand, his SRS99-AM sniper rifle. The loading mechanism was catching and the barrel was starting to wear. He had spent three hours trying to get the new barrel attached. While the standard SRS99 was definitely a sniper, Jax had made some modifications to his, namely removing the standard 30'' barrel and replacing it with a smaller reinforced 8'' barrel. Jax had also removed the bipod from the underbarrel and modified the scope to be only a 2x zoom, while not very suitable for long range anymore, it served very effective for close and medium range engagements. Jax still carried a standard SRS99C-S2 AM for long range and actual sniping, but his 99-AM was without a doubt his pride and joy.

Jax had spent plenty of time behind the scope to know what he preferred, a weapon meant to kill from a mile away adapted to be more personal, Jax thought it served as a pretty good metaphor for himself. The rounds had to be bumped down a few calibers so they weren't overkill and so he could fire more than four rounds before he had to reload, a slight drawback but worth the trade off. The modified rifle was his main weapon with a special fixture on the side meant for his energy sword to sit if he wanted a fixed bayonet, though rarely used it was still a good idea, even if Jax preferred to use the sword as just that, a sword.

"Man I love that song, so how goes the repairs Jax." Apparently the song had finished while Jax was focusing, and Ben had finally decided to take notice of him.

"..."

"You know one of these days you're gonna actually have to speak to one of us, right?"

"..."

"But that is not this day... well mind if I help with your rifle there."

Jax shrugged and handed the 99-AM over to Ben. One thing had become clear in the time Jax had been a part of Delta, and that was that Ben knew guns. Sure Jax had modified his and could keep most the maintenance up, he was mostly used to installing pre-built modifications or only slightly adapting them, not really making them from scratch or a custom build; that was Ben's specialty. If he could get the barrel to fit then great, if not Jax had one hour and 46 minutes to either fix it or replace it for their upcoming op, preferably the former.

"Well here's your problem, the lining is stripped along the holding bolt for the barrel, and the clips got some scarring from backfire in the chamber." Ben took all of 10 seconds to find the problem.

"..."

"Don't worry should be easy, just need to replace the bolt, and maybe the washer, and just grab a new clip. May I?"

Jax shrugged and gestured towards the clock

"Don't worry should only be like ten minutes." Ben had gotten rather good at determining what Jax was trying to say, after countless hours together in the workshop a somewhat friendly demeanor was common among them, unlike between Jax and the rest of the team or anyone on the Infinity really. Jax did all he could to avoid anyone, whether that be by hiding away in the workshop, or the gym all day. He had no problem with the people on the Infinity, he just liked to be alone. His teammates were the only ones that ever had exceptions to that rule, usually Ben, sometimes Aless, never James.

Ben finished the repairs after only seven minutes.

"Okay that should be good, try to do this more often and you won't have this problem again."

"..."

"No thanks necessary, it was my pleasure."

"..."

"One of these days Jax, one of these days." Ben said joking, he was very aware Jax couldn't speak. He never meant it to be mean it was just a part of who he was.

"..."

"Just won't hold my breath. I'm gonna head out, see you at the debrief." Ben handed over the rifle before making his way out of the workshop.

Jax packed up his gear and set his rifle on his back, and his sword to his hip. He made his way towards the door only to be stopped by two marines.

"Hey aren't you the sniper for Delta team?" The one nearest the door asked

"Yeah the one that never speaks?" The other man said

Oh great, here we go again.

"So, is it true that you killed like 60 covies during one drop back during the war?" Asked the marine.

"No no no I hear it was like 80." The other man asked.

Jax just stood there while he waited for the two men to finish arguing.

For the record it was 94, on an abandoned planet, with nothing more than a combat knife and a scavenged energy sword.

He still had both, and brought them on every mission. The sword had proven to be one of the best pieces of equipment he ever grabbed off the field.

"So why do you pull overwatch if you can't speak?" Apparently they had resolved their argument.

"..."

"I mean the person on overwatch has to relay in scout info, how can you do that without talking?" A fair question, not that Jax planned on answering.

"..."

"Wow… you really don't talk... how the hell do you do your job?"

"Pretty damn well, if I say so myself." Alessandra had made her way into the workshop, probably looking for Ben, and judging from the bag she carried she had a few presents for him.

"But how does he relay information… that's like half the job." The technician had a point, Jax acted as both cover and a scout.

Looks like the secret is finally out

"He has a live camera feed coming from his helmet, it ques up whenever Jax wants to report something… or maybe he speaks in morse code… or maybe he's psychic."

Or she could fuck with them… either way is acceptable.

"Now get back to work before I report your asses for harassment!"

no wonder she and Ben got along so well.

Although this was very clearly an empty threat from Jax's perspective, the soldiers were very clearly not so observant.

"Yes, Ma'am." They saluted then ran out the door.

"Hope they didn't give you to much trouble." Not that Jax cared, or that they could really do anything to bother him, but the thought was nice.

"..."

"Have you seen Ben around." Alessandra was always to the point, Jax respected that… not that he would let anyone know.

"..." Jax gestured towards the door she had just entered through.

"Just missed him huh... did he say where he was heading?"

"..." Jax shrugged his shoulders.

"Thanks Jax, see you at the debrief." Aless moved to the door turning to see Jax following her, parting ways in the corridor

One hour and twenty six minutes.

Then Jax would be expected to be at the debrief.

One hour and ten minutes of prep time before he would need to get on his way to the hanger, leaving the sixteen minutes it took to get from the gym to the briefing. Time to get in some laps around the Infinity's gym, this time of the day it would be mostly empty, keeping it quiet since Ben was otherwise occupied. Jax was looking forward to a little time for quietly working out, a retreat from the annoying tendencies of the crew.


Delta Quarters

James Roberts

James looked over the mission packet commander Palmer had sent him again, committing the details to memory. Mission parameters were simple and straightforward enough, insurrectionist stronghold past the outer colonies. While the packet gave James an idea of what his team would need to bring it was lacking on the finer details, which he would get at the briefing. James looked down at the data pad scrolling before him with basic weapon needs; heavy weapons, covered by Benjamin, Long range cover fire, taken care of by Jackson, while the medic and translator role were jointly covered by Alessandra. The mission date was blacked out as well as its mission goal, which should be told at the briefing, as long as it wasn't classified. James was interrupted by the sound of the room's door opening and Benjamin walking in.

"Howdy Sir, anything interesting on the report?" Benjamin gave a sloppy two-finger salute as he headed for his bed.

"Nothing you won't hear at the meeting." James would rather have Palmer explain anyways. "Where's your gear?" Benjamin had left to go to the armory and collect his gear by 0400 and have it all squared away by 0430,

Hard to do that without your guns.

"That basta-! The new quartermaster dropped Jezebel and dented her up, said he might have her ready by mission though." As usual Benjamin had overlooked some key details

"Where's the rest of your gear?"

Sure your main is out, but what about the rest of your over-sized armory.

"I... I'm gonna be completely honest, I forgot about those."

Of course you did, damn it, Benjamin.

"Well go get the rest squared away before 0430"

"Well if I see that quartermaster again I might beat the shit out of him, especially after what he did to Jezebel." Benjamin probably didn't intend for James to hear this but he did nonetheless.

"You'll do nothing of the sort, if I hear anything like that you'll be on latrine duty for a month!" Benjamin was clearly showing signs of insubordination, according to James.

Maybe enough to get him out of my fireteam once and for all... maybe I should let him beat up the quartermaster, a small price to pay.

"You're no fun, Sir." Benjamin made for the door only to stop when it opened and Alessandra came through, carrying what looked like hers and Benjamin's armaments.

"Hey Ben, I was looking for you, got your gear right here. Also the quartermaster says sorry." James was not a fan of Alessandra's attitude towards Benjamin. She was his second and he needed her to maintain an image of discipline, not a friendly status with the team's most troubled member.

"Gonna take a whole lot more than an apology to stop me whupin his ass." Benjamin followed this up with an inappropriate display of a whipping motion that James tried to ignore.

"Well in the meantime get your gear loaded up, and Alessandra stay for a moment." I have to sort this out one of these days, maybe today is the day.

"Yes Sir." Both responded, Benjamin taking the weapons locker from Alessandra and moving out the door. Once he was gone, James turned to the remaining Spartan.

"Alessandra, you need to stop instigating him." James chose to be blunt and to the point. A far better option when dealing with Alessandra, who's social skills flexed from fluent to non-existent.

"Yes Sir" Alessandra had adopted one of her neutral tones of voice, that to many may have been seen as respect, but to James it was a sign she was holding back.

"I know you two are close, but you need to maintain an image, and you won't be able to lead him if you continue to treat him like that!" James voice took on a sharp tone at the reference to Benjamin. I need my second to be ready to take control if something happens, which is a full possibility if Delta keeps up the pace we are at currently.

"Sir, yes Sir." again with the neutral tone being forced.

"Speak freely." James needed reassurance. I need to know what she is holding back if I'm gonna make her understand the position she may find herself in.

"Sir, I don't think that's wise." James thought he heard just a hint of annoyance in her statement.

"I want to hear whatever you have to say, I will listen" If only to find a hole in your logic.

"Sir… I think you are wrong about how to lead Benjamin, and the rest of Delta for that matter." The bluntness of her comment shocked James for a moment before he remembered who he was talking to.

"And may I ask as to why?" Some reasoning would be appreciated.

"Ben is a good man, and a hell of a soldier, Jax is an amazing fighter and I feel that the bond you are trying to destroy is a huge part of the reason this team is so effective!"

"Duly noted, you are dismissed." James needed to finish reading the information packet before the briefing.

"Yes Sir" Alessandra saluted and made for the door.

"See you at 0500" I will not stand for them being late again.

Alessandra didn't stop or say anything as she walked out the door.

I need to get him transferred off my team. Jackson is okay and effective but Benjamin… he's a troublemaker, no matter how good he scored or how effective he is in the field… Benjamin has to go, sooner or later. Preferably sooner.

James looked at the clock to see that it was nearly 0400.

"Better go get my gear." James exited his room heading to the armory.

Time to meet the new quartermaster.


Infinity corridor

Benjamin MacDavis

Ben had waited outside the quarter doors until he saw Aless walk out, he wasn't gonna leave her here alone, not with a beast as deadly as Sir. When she walked out Ben knew something was up. The way she carried herself and the lack of words were enough for Ben to understand, this hadn't been the first time she and Sir had a "friendly chat". Aless had nerves of steel, but that didn't stop Ben from worrying.

"That bad huh?" Ben had to lighten the mood somehow.

"I'd rather not talk about it." Aless gave that slight shake of anger at the end of her words that Ben had become all to familiar with, the sound that he was pretty sure no one else noticed... not even Aless herself. That slight waver was the only sign Ben had been able to find that reflected just how Aless was feeling.

"Well, you walked out in one piece, that's something right." Ben was hoping he could at the bare minimum make her smile, not that he would have been able to see it through her helmet.

"Suppose it is."

Whatever Sir had said is really getting to her, that dick. No one can mess with Aless but me.

Ben needed to know what they were talking about; not just so he could help Aless, but to satisfy his own curiosity.

"Come on Aless talk to me, don't pull a Jax." She was already better than Jax, being as how she uttered any sound at all. He felt like she was trying to hide something, and Ben hated it when he couldn't at least try to help.

"He wanted to talk about the teamwork dynamic of our team."

Now we are getting somewhere.

"And...?" Surely there's more, Sir is never that easy on someone before 1200.

Ben blamed the man's lack of a sleep cycle and heavy use of medication. Not that Ben was supposed to know about that, or that he really held the latter over him. Sometimes people needed to forget.

"Nothing, he just asked me to speak my mind and then dismissed me." Aless let out a regretful sigh after saying this. She knew exactly what Ben was about to ask.

"What did you say... was it about me… was it nice?" Ben said the last bit in a flowery voice that made Aless want to punch him in the face.

"I didn't say anything, he did all the talking." Aless let the words out with a mix of confidence and frustration that would have lead anyone to believe her, but not Ben.

"Thank you."

"For what?" Aless stopped in the middle of the corridor, speaking in a voice riddled with confusion.

"For standing up for your team." Aless attempted to interrupt, with no success. "Don't say you didn't Aless, I know you… and thank you." Aless was one of the kindest people Ben knew, and Ben knew a lot of people… like 12.

"I don't know what you're talking about." Aless continued down the corridor towards the hanger. Regaining her composure and confident tone of voice.

"Yeah… sure you don't." Ben couldn't imagine what Sir would do if Aless wasn't there to filter out some of his worse attributes. "So, any idea on how long we are supposed to be deployed?" Can't hurt to have some advance warning on whether or not I should pack the essentials; water, extra food, entertainment... porn... the essentials.

"We'll find out at the briefing."

Damn you Aless, I need answers! Do I bring the porn!?

"So... like, a month... two... sixty?" Ben was counting on Aless for an answer.

"You don't need to bring your… graphic novels." the pause and disgusted sound at the end were becoming increasingly common as Aless and Ben became closer friends.

"I would never do such a thing, I am an innocent boy." Dammit.

"Just don't let Sir find out... I don't wanna have that conversation… again".

Ah, good memories.

"You guys should have knocked. Not my fault you don't knock first."

"Please stop." Aless actually sounded distressed at the direction the conversation had gone.

"You checked to make sure that bastard didn't break these too right!?" Ben said gesturing to the weapons locker he was carrying. In part to change the topic for Aless' benefit and partly because he was concerned about his precious guns.

"I checked them." Aless was definitely a reliable source... but...

"Bulldog? Demise? I swear if he touched Mustang or Sally I'm gon-" Ben was interrupted by Aless putting a hand up waving off his train of thought.

"I already checked, they're all in there." Ben trusted Aless, since Jezebel wasn't at stake. Ben didn't even trust his own mother with Jezebel.

Ben and Aless spent the next few minutes in silence... or Ben making a pun and bad joke and Aless sighing in disappointment.

She just doesn't have a sense of humor.

The two were nearing the hanger when they were intercepted by a crewmen, or crew-woman, Ben wasn't gonna judge. The woman saluted and directed her attention to Aless.

"Ma'am, that package you ordered came through on one of the frigates." The woman had a stern, expressionless face.

Yup... try-hard.

"Thank you Lieutenant." Aless gave a friendly nod to the crewmen, or crew-woman.

Not gonna judge.

"It will be waiting for you in the supply depot."

"I'll be there in a few minutes, just need to take some gear to the hanger real quick." Aless had a hint of excitement in her voice at whatever the package was.

"I can take this stuff if you want to go get the package and meet me at the hanger in about five minutes." It's not like this stuff is all that heavy anyways.

"If you wouldn't mind, that would save me some time." Aless actually seemed slightly giddy in anticipation of her delivery.

"You still have your hard drive thing hooked into your armour right?" They were gonna be pretty early to the meeting, might as well kill some time with some of those ancient games Aless always packed with her.

"Yeah, why?"

"Well if you hurry we can hijack one of the terminals, and I can school you at one of your games. Dealer's choice." Ben felt he was gonna regret saying that.

"Oh, you're on." Aless handed over her duffel bag and followed the lieutenant down the corridor towards the elevator.

Ben was now left with the duty of carrying his weapons locker stuffed to the brim, even without Jezebel, and now the duffel bag full of ammo... not really heavy or anything... just... awkward. Ben spent a few moments trying to rearrange it so it was easier to carry, settling on just setting the duffel bag on top of his locker and carrying it like a tray. Ben had a habit of muting his helmet's external speakers so he could talk to himself. Not that he was crazy, he just liked to talk.

"Wonder what she's all excited about..." Ben entered the hanger and set the gear down near the holo-table that the commander would probably use to show useless maps of the place they were probably gonna blow up by the end anyways.

I really like to blow things up. Ben let of a slight giggle as he waited.


Infinity corridor

Alessandra West

Aless was trying to hold herself back from running to the depot, the only thing really stopping her was the lieutenant, whom she would rather not let see her so excited, bad reputation for a Spartan, but she wished that the lieutenant would hurry up a little. When they finally got to the depot Aless had to wait for the painfully slow lieutenant to go into the back to collect the package. She walked out with a smallish brown box, just what Aless was looking for. Aless took the package from the lieutenant and, after signing some paperwork, started to head back towards the hanger until the Lieutenant stopped her.

"Would you mind giving this to MacDavis? I am expected elsewhere, and you're heading that way." The lieutenant pulled out an envelope that was clearly some kind of UNSC document. One could tell by the ludicrous amount of writing and stamps on the outside.

"Sure, can I ask what it is?"

"Something he requested a few weeks back, I wasn't the one on duty so your guess is as good as mine. All I know is its official, sorry." Aless shrugged.

It's not any of my business anyways.

She knew to avoid overstepping personal bounds. Aless took the letter and went on her way.

The walk back was quiet and left Aless with plenty of time to think about the package she was carrying. After all the things that Ben had done for her, after helping her with her guns and armour, helping her come out of her shell- even if just a little, and everything he had done for her beyond that... she hadn't done anything for him... this package would help her make up the difference.

Nobody does something without a goal or a motive.

She appreciated Ben and his help, but she refused to be in debt to someone, especially the person closest to being considered a friend; someone she would let herself trust, if she didn't know better. She knew Ben, and she knew what he liked... namely guns. Aless had to call in most of the favors she had gained in her career, but it had finally arrived, a Twenty-First century Super Sport .357 Korth Revolver. Ben had mentioned one day, while he was drunk, that his family used to have one that was passed down from his ancestors as a sort of family heirloom. An heirloom that Ben's family had pawned off before it could get into his hands. Ben attributed his love for all things gun to that revolver, and had said that he wished he could have one. Now they would be even.

Aless had spent the last few weeks trying to decide what she should do to make up for Ben's help, and this was just the thing. The only remaining thing to be decided was when to give it to him. Aless was debating whether to give it to him when they came back from the mission as a reward type thing, or now so he could give it a test run on the mission they were about to depart on. The more Aless thought about it the more she wished she could just ask someone. That someone would usually have been Ben, but he was obviously out for this one.

Or is he? Why cant I just ask him which he would prefer?

Aless had been trying to beat around the bush when she could have just gone through.

Aless made up her mind as she neared the hanger. She walked over to the holo table where Ben was standing.

"What's in the box?" Ben gestured towards the package Aless held against her hip.

"Do you want it now, or after the mission?" Aless hated trying to be subtle... and why should she have to be anyways?

"Wait, what!? That's for me?" Ben straightened up as he spoke into a more formal stance.

"Yep, took a long time to get my hands on an original and not some knockoff." Aless was banking on it balancing out all that had happened between them, which she could only tell if it worked by Ben's reaction to it, she knew he would be excited to take it.

"Keep it."

Wait, what?

"You don't even wanna know what it is?" Aless had spent her fair share of sleepless nights trying to get this damn gun and he was just gonna say no without even looking at it!?

"Save it for when we're on our way back from the mission." Aless couldn't help but think Ben hadn't even looked and was already shoving it back in her face.

"Okay... oh the lieutenant wanted me to give this to you." Aless handed over the letter and then began to think about what to do with the package.

"Oh, thanks. I was wondering when that was gonna get in." Ben took the letter looked at it, then slid it under his weapons locker, and then a silence fell over them for a few seconds.

"So which will it be." Ben, as always, broke the silence first

"What do you mean?" Did I tune out something again?

"Which game am I gonna one-up you in today?"

Oh, right.

Aless had completely forgotten about why they split up in the first place.

"I'm thinking something quick since we only have like twenty minutes, how about one of those racing games?"

"What happened to dealers choice?" Aless reached up to the back of her helmet, pulling out the modified data storage chip and plugging it in to one of the nearby consoles.

"Hey, no one said I couldn't make a recommendation." Aless knew that Ben was trying to coax her into one of the games he was good at, but unfortunately for Ben, she had been practicing.

"You're on"

Thirty Minutes Later

"Damn it!" Ben was scary good at racing games, Aless always came so close only to lose last minute. She was more then able to gain the lead early on, but every time, last minute, he would overtake her.

"Next time we're gonna play an FPS!"

"If you say so, I would love to kick your Spartan III ass at a shoot'em up"

Ben was probably the only person Aless would let say something like that and not get thrown to the ground before they could finish the sentence. She had come to know that Ben was joking... he was always joking, a trait Aless couldn't tell if she liked or not.


Infinity Hanger Control Room

James R. Roberts

"I want him off my team!" James was certain of only a few things in this world and one of those was that Benjamin had to go.

"And I've told you before, unless he brakes regulation, you can't remove him, not unless he requests a transfer."

I don't care about the regulations, I just want the weak link off my team. He's causing everyone to go soft!

"Ma'am, with all due respect, Benjamin cant take any mission seriously enough to be effective. He's no good for a Spartan team, not Delta, not any." How have none of the higher ups noticed this yet!?

"James, you're the only person on the Infinity that thinks that, and he has the track record to debunk your argument. I'm sorry, but there's nothing I can do about it. You'll just have to learn how to put up with him." James always had a certain level of respect for Palmer, except when she refused to do the right thing and remove Benjamin.

"Now, get out to the hanger and get ready for the briefing, I will be out in about seven minutes. Dismissed."

James gave a salute and left, knowing this was far from over.

Regulations be damned, he WILL be off my team.


Infinity Hanger Control Room

Sarah Palmer

Commander Palmer had had this argument with James seventeen times to date, and they always ended the same. James was a stubborn man no doubt, and he had a number of conflicting viewpoints with Ben, but why he wanted him off his team so bad was not easy to understand.

Ben is the only member of Delta that has any real measure of social life, or, hell, any social interaction at all with the rest of the Infinity's crew. That alone makes him a valuable asset. Why James would want to throw that away so haphazardly is beyond me.

Whatever the case, they were stuck together. Ben was a good soldier and wasn't going to break any rules that would give him grounds to be removed. Delta was a house of cards, remove even one and it would come tumbling down. In all honesty it should have fallen apart by now, but it hadn't. There was something holding that team together, something even James couldn't remove.

Delta is one of the older and better Spartan Fireteams. A service history stretching back far before the current Delta were assembled into a team. Are they still effective? Yes, but I think the old Delta would be disappointed.

Palmer saw the Pelican she was waiting for land, she grabbed the mission folders and began heading for the hanger.

Right on time, just like ONI. Maybe now I can get some answers about this mission.


Authors Note: Okay, thats a thing now. I spent the last few months getting this all typed up and edited...and re-edited...and re-re-edited...in the end I think I wrote about 20 thousand words for this story. Most of which was re working a section or the next chapter that is now not gonna work due to changes.

I do want to say that this will NOT be the normal length of my chapters. This is special due to it being the first, and serving as an intro. The average chapter I will try to make about 5 thousand. This will likely be in flux and change depending on the viewer response and the general mood I am in I guess. I also can't guarantee when the next chapter will be available for update. Due to summer and jobs and internet access and the availability of editors...just life stuff. I will try to get chapter 2 going before too long, I understand the pain of waiting.

Any and all criticism is appreciated and encouraged. Thank you for taking time to read through my story, and I hope you come back.

One last time, a big thank you to my editors. Couldn't have done this without you guys and I doubt you will ever know just how much this means to me. Thank you.

Sincerely SardonicEffigy