I winced slightly as I looked around the camp. Dead bodies and injured soldiers were scattered everywhere, and some of them our own. Jon seemed just as fazed, while Everett seemed to be doing his best to avoid observing the scene. Behind me, I could hear Soap stomping close to the camp, but paid it no mind as I walked over to an injured grunt and knelt beside him.

"Right here, I got you brother." I said as I extended a hand to him. The grunt groaned in a strange mix of gratitude and pain as he clasped his hand around me. I noticed that his other arm lay limp at his side, with an unhealthy looking bulge where his elbow would have been. Bone displacement, most likely. And based on how he was trying to keep his weight off of his left leg, that was probably broken too. I wrapped the grunt's good arm around my shoulder as I decided to help him towards a medical tent, where he could hopefully sit more comfortably. Looking to my team, I noticed Jon and Everett had both gotten over their initial shock, while Elman still seemed a bit uneasy. Couldn't say I was surprised, this was probably the kid's first op.

"Jon, Gerard, start helping the injured. Remember disaster management." I said. Disaster management was our system for dealing with mass casualty events, like the one we were facing now. Ultimately, it was just fancy talk for saying "if someone's dying, help them first." The two of them nodded and set aside their weapons, Jon going towards a small tent with other grunts, while Everett moved the opposite way, jogging to a small group of grunts towards the edge of the camp. Elman, having just now come out of his trance, finally looked to me and stood at attention, awaiting his orders. I simply motioned for him to follow Jon. He nodded and jogged after him, after which I finally started moving the injured grunt to the tent. I looked behind me and saw Soap looking around at the carnage. If I had to guess, he was probably looking for Arnolds.

I grunted as I kept moving, the other grunt on my shoulder groaning in pain every few steps in so. It was kind of annoying to be honest, but I wasn't going to scold him for it. The guy was hurting. When I reached the tent, I looked around for an empty spot, only to see even more injured grunts as the healthy tried to do what they could for them. I even noticed a few combat medics applying oxygen and trying to splint their patients. Eventually, I found an empty spot by one of the beds, and decided that it was a better place for him than just standing. After carefully, helping him sit down, I placed my hand on his good shoulder and gave it a soft pat.

"You hang in there soldier, we'll have you back in order before you know it." I said reassuringly. The grunt, in turn, simply held out his hand, giving a thumb's up. I nodded to him and stood, studying the interior of the tent a bit closer. It was a bit larger than the others, unsurprisingly, and carried several small cots and mobile medicine stations. However, I took notice of something else. In the back of the tent, Arnolds was helping one of the medics, holding a grunt's head solidly in place as the medic tried to form a makeshift collar for the man. I slowly made my way over to her, making sure to avoid the medics and assisting grunts the best I could. Arnorlds and the medic finished their work as I arrived, as I took off my helmet and held it at my side.

"Ma'am?" I asked. Arnolds looked back at me, her tied hair swishing behind her neck as she did. Upon seeing me, her face lightened, and even formed a small smile as she turned to face me.

"Oh thank God..." She said as she walked toward me and stuck out an arm. I opened my own as she pulled me into a quick hug, gently squeezing before she released me and rested her hand on my shoulder for a second. After observing me for a second, probably to make sure I really was okay, she released me and placed a hand to her hip.

"How are the others?" She asked.

"Well my boys are fine, and I'm pretty sure Price is doing alright with his team. As for everyone else, I'm not too sure. I've already got Everett and Spencer helping the injured, Elman's working with Jon." I reported. She gave another soft smile and nodded, moving her hand to cross them in front of her.

"Good, now we just need to find the Pilot in charge," She pointed to me as she continued; "I want you and the other team leaders with me when we talk to him. Our next stop is the enemy stronghold, and I want you all informed of just what we're getting ourselves into." I nodded as she unfolded her other arm and began walking forward. She gently held out her hand and placed it on my shoulder, pushing just hard enough to pivot my body towards her. I took the hint and turned the rest of the way to follow her outside. Things finally seemed to be calming down slightly as the last of the injured were being helped to various parts of the camp, with the dead being moved aside to be sent home. Arnolds placed her hand to her ear and spoke.

"All team leaders under my command, this is Starborn, meet at the center of the camp. Out." She said. Not long after she had spoken those words, I noticed Desmond not too far to our right. From the looks of it, he was inspecting his weapon, checking for any kind of damage. Like me, he too had his helmet off, revealing jet black hair and brown eyes. As he made his way towards us, I again noticed a loud booming noise, and looked behind me. Surely enough, there was Soap, kneeling down and resting his weapon beside him as he looked to his Pilot. Arnolds smiled and walked towards him. The titan gently opened it's hand, extending it to her. Arnolds in turn placed her hand in his, smiling as she simply looked him in the eye. I in turn smiled at this, as Desmond walked up beside me and rested his rifle on his shoulder.

I snapped out of this when I noticed the other team leaders begin to congregate towards the center. I carefully observed each member, all of them with their helmets off, save for one. Ramirez still had his helmet tightly packed on his head, only a light blue glow emanating from it. The others, Mochida, Freeman, and Hans, were all unmasked, revealing varying hair colors and eye colors. I looked back to Arnorlds, and watched as she pulled her hand away from Soap's. She looked us over once, before asking each f the other leaders how their men were doing. To my relief, nothing but good reports all around, besides one of Hans' men getting shot in the shoulder. After he assured Arnolds that he was going to be okay, she motioned us to follow her.

We eventually pinned down the command tent, which seemed no different from any of the other tents. Probably intentional, if I were to guess. As we approached, Mochida jogged ahead of the rest of us and grabbed hold of the flap leading inside, pulling it back for everyone. Arnolds gave a gentle smile and nodded at him before slowly entering. I went in after her, noticing a large map strung along the furthermost wall of the tent, with what looked like a few tables and chairs along the side and front of it. A few officers lined the front of the tent, with a Pilot in full armor, minus his helmet. The Pilot turned to face Arnolds, and looked on in bewilderment as he saw so many grunts entering behind her. Deciding against commenting on this, I stood off to the side and placed my hands behind me respectfully, as Arnolds walked ahead of us and extended her hand to the Pilot.

"Major Gudam, Captain Arnolds." She said. The man looked back to her, then nodded before shaking her hand.

"Good to see you Captain. We appreciate your backup." He said. Arnolds nodded back before releasing the major's hand.

"Of course sir, we gotta look out for each other." She responded. To this Hans gave out a quiet 'hooah', just loud enough to be heard by us grunts. I smiled lightly as I looked to him, and he to me. I gave him a silent nod, and looked back to the Pilots. Gudam looked to us and crossed his arms, a confused and seemingly frustrated look in his eyes. I simply held my attention, keeping my hands behind my back. The major took another look at Arnolds, as if he was expecting her to tell us to leave. When she didn't, he groaned in annoyance.

"You can tell your grunts to leave now, this meeting doesn't concern them." He said.

"With all due respect sir, these grunts are my comrades, and my brothers. Not only that, but they will be right by my side every step of the way when we're taking those plans, so yes, this does concern them." She retorted. I stifled another smile as the Major narrowed his eyes at Arnolds, almost as if he was trying to tell if she was serious. Despite only being able to see the back of her head, I knew that Arnolds would have a straight face on. It was always a joy to hear Arnolds standing up for us little guys. Gudam groaned in annoyance as he turned back to the map.

"Fine then, they can stay." He said. This time, I couldn't hold my smile, and gave a soft chuckle as Arnolds turned around to face us. Once again she was smiling, and gave us a subtle wink before turning back to the Major, who was now attaining a small marker from one of the tables. As he walked back to the map, he circled a small piece of the map to the north.

"From what we can tell, the Militia is hiding out in a small city ten miles outside the range of this forest, at least based on what our scouts told us." He began. I studied the map dutifully as the other grunts beside me gave their full attention to the Major, as had Arnolds, though her arms were crossed in front of her rather than folded behind her back.

"Now our guys ran into a couple of snipers in the forest when they were making their way in, it's possible that the Militia will double down on them once they realize we've pushed back one of their attack parties. As for the city itself...' The Major pointed towards it, "Militia has patrols lining the entire perimeter, IMC forces would be seen within seconds of getting close. So your best bet will be to go in civilian casual." He finished. Arnolds gave a light nod and pondered this for a moment, as I looked to the other Grunts. Only Price caught my eye, and nodded to me. I nodded back and stood back at attention.

"Permission to speak?" Price asked. One look from the Major seemed to answer the question, but that wasn't the one any of us listened to. Instead, we listened to the next response. The one from our sister.

"Go ahead, Desmond." The Major turned an angry glare her way, though she paid it no mind. Price continued.

"Initial recon of the planet indicated that there was a major road about 20 miles to the east. If we could get the necessary vehicles to carry us all, we could pose as tourists to sneak our way inside. As for the blueprints, it would just be a matter of getting the information we needed to act." Arnolds smiled and nodded to him, silent appraisal going unsaid as pride beamed in her eyes. I knew that look all too well, as did all of us. The captain turned back to face the Major, and gave a slight nod.

"Major?" She asked. Gudam sighed and crossed his arms, looking to the ground as he seemed to think about this. I frowned and looked straight at him. If he had a better plan, he certainly hadn't said anything. Heck, that seemed to be what he was hinting at us to do. Maybe he was just angry that it had been a grunt to come up with the idea, and not Arnolds. With one last sigh, the Major looked up to Arnolds and nodded.

"I'll do what I can."