Going to try a different style of writing that was suggested for this chapter, and then I may switch back. If it's preferred by readers I may continue with it, but the way I normal write is the way I prefer just as it helps with my work flow, so I don't know how well this will go.

Chapter 3

A few moments passed before the engines of the pelican roared to life. A blue glow emanating from the tail wings began to glow brighter and brighter until the vehicle started to lift from the floor of the hanger. As the ramp before us closed the vehicles started to move forwards quite quickly. A few moments later the pilots voice came through on the intercom. "We are approaching the target now. Estimated time until contact with the hanger is two minutes."

I then stood up, grabbing my rifle from the rack above my head before turning around to address my team. "Remember the plan. Franklin and Barry will take and keep the communications relay down, while Katy, Sam and myself make our way to the bridge and acquire the target. Remember to check your corners, watch for active camo and keep your six clean."

The team all have me a quick nod before we heard the ramp behind us start to hiss open. Once again the pilots voice came through. "Hanger is clear, no hostiles in sight. Proceed to exit the vehicle Raven."

As the team disembarked the Pelican shot through the other end of the enemy ship, leaving us to carry out the mission. "I'll be back to pick you up when your ready." As the pilots voice disappeared from the radio we were in a technical sense, alone.

I looked around, scanning the large room around us, seeing nothing. Motion tracker was also clear, which started to raise questions. "Maybe they didn't expect us to land on their ship." Announced Franklin from the rear.

Thinking nothing by it I turned around, beginning to address the team. "Alright, the door to your left is the door we need to take. Let's move."

With that the team began to start a light jog to the door, keeping the same pace up as we continued through the unfamiliar hallways. "Barry, where is the communications relay?"

We moved down the hallway, passing one more door before he spoke up. "Just here, on the right."

"Alright" I responded. "You and Franklin get in there and do what you need to do. Once the relay is down radio through to Hardy and inform her of your progress." A quick nod from Barry had my team moving towards the bridge.

The hallways were still clear, which was getting to the point of it being extremely strange. "You think we'd see something by now, right?" "Ya" I said in response to Sam. "This is just getting weir-"

As if on Que several elites came from the doors to our front, left and right. With myself facing the front, Katy the right and Sam the left we each had our targets and went about eliminating them. I emptied about ten rounds into the first elite, taking down his shields and then pulling my side arm up to finish him off, which worked wonders. The second one came at me with an energy swords which I ducked, then coming up with my pistol in the hinge of his jaw I fired off three shots, taking him down all the same. The third one did the same, only this time I drew my knife, slashing at this legs, bringing him to his knees. Knocking his sword aside I grabbed his head, pushed it to the left and drove my knife down his neck, killing him immediately.

I then pulled my knife from his neck, cleaning it off on my armour and sliding it back into it's holding place. I looked back down the way we came to see Katy and Sam come round their respective corners after they finished off their contacts. "Well I guess that's why it was quiet. They were waiting for us."

"Aye. Which means the bridge will also be prepared for our arrival." I pulled a fresh clip for my AR from a pouch, pulling the used one out and replacing it. We then continued down the next hallway, more alert than before. As we entered yet another hallway we noticed something at the end of the room. The door, it was much different than the ones we had seen on the rest of the ship. "That must be the bridge."

"You don't say" replied Sam. "You think their ready for us inside?"

"Of course they are. Where else would the rest of the crew be?"

A split second later the radio came to life and Barry's voice came over transmitting. "Raven-lead, this is Raven-2. Communications relay is offline, we'll continue to keep it that way until a point where the mission moves to exfil phase."

"Copy that Raven-2, keep us posted. Raven-lead out." I quickly changed channels to get into contact with Hardy. "Captain Hardy, this Raven. The next door we see seems to lead to the bridge. Any Intel on it from your end?"

"Affirmative Raven. I'll have Siris update your motion tracker with enemy positions. It also seems like their ready for you, so you'll need to make your entrance as loud as possible. And also, for the sake of operations, use the call-sign."

"Copy that Havoc. We'll keep you posted. Raven out." As the radio died down I turned to my two teammates. "So, either of you got any ideas on how to get in there and kill the..." I looked at my motion tracker, taking count of the hostiles in the room. I noticed one was golden, meaning that was the admiral. "Eleven. How do we kill the other eleven hostiles?"

Katy seemed to begin mumbling something, only to stop herself short, shaking her head. Sam spoke up a few moments after. "We could always flash and bash? Toss one half cooked flash and three raw frags in? Could take most of them out before they know what's going on."

I considered this for a moment, thinking if we threw the grenades closer to the door the admiral would be OK and at least nine of his soldiers would bite the dust. "It's either that or we breach it. And the latter is really a bad idea."

I turned to Katy, who shrugged her shoulders. "I got nothing."

"Alright then." I said. "It's the best plan we got. Stack up on the door and get those nades ready."

We then half jogged to the door, standing in the gaps on either side. I looked at Sam across the way who had a flash in on hand and a frag in the other. Both Katy and I had frags ourselves. "Ready?"

A quick nod from Sam answered my question. He pulled the pin off his flash, chucking it in the room as soon as the door slid open. He then pulled the pin on the frag as the flash went off, both Katy and I doing the same and chucked them in. A few seconds later explosions were heard, along with screams of elites and grunts. With that we entered the bridge.

The first enemy I saw still standing was an elite major. I rushed him, letting off several rounds into his torso before bashing him over the head with the butt of my weapon. As he fell to the ground with his shields dying with a soft sizzle I let off a few more rounds in his head, finishing him off. I rose my head to see a grunt charging me with a plasma pistol. I took cover behind a nearby console as he let off a few charges. Pulling my side arm I let one round in his head to all the work, only to shift my sights to the enemy behind him. The admiral.

He was an elite, standing an intimidating nine feet tall. He rushed me with what looked like an energy dagger. I pulled the knife from my shoulder mount as I placed my rifle on my back, quickly parrying his strike into a deadlock. He snarled in my face for a moment before I shot him in the left with my pistol. His shields were down to my surprise, possibly due to the grenades. He fell to his knee, letting out a screech of pain before I used the other end of my knife to slam him across the face, knocking him out cold.

I turned around to see Katy and Sam done with the hostiles they engaged, so I proceeded to contact the Captain as I secured the admiral. "Havoc, this is Raven. Package is secure, proceeding to exfil." A response came through quite quickly. "Good job Raven but your not out of the fire yet. Our sensors just picked up a large group of hostiles on the stern of the ship. You better make your way to the hanger quickly. We've sent the pelican to pick you up along with several marines, so don't keep them waiting."

"Affirm Havoc, Raven out." I picked up the admiral across my shoulders and started running to the door with Sam and Katy in tow. It didn't take us long to reach the area where Franklin and Barry where, who followed us through all the same.

As we reached the hanger we saw several marines holding off an onslaught of covies from the door opposite us. We began sprinting down to the ship when the marines noticed us. "Get the package on board now! We gotta go!" I threw the admiral into the pelican and raised my rifle towards the covenant forces to hold them off. "Get on board Raven! You too marines!"

As I continued to fire at the enemy, keeping them in place I saw the last man board and jumped on myself. As the door of the pelican quickly slid shut the force of the acceleration nearly knocked me off my feet. We were clear of the hangar. I took this time to do a quick headcount. Everyone was there, including the marine fire team. I radioed into command to tell them the good news.

"Havoc, this is Raven. Mission is complete, we're just coming into our hangar now. Zero casualties."

"Fantastic work, Raven. It's a good thing ONI sent you guys in. Get the package to the brig and report to the bridge afterwards, we're bugging out."

As the pelican came to a landing I felt the force of the ships main engines shake us a little. The pelican doors hissed open and I dragged the groggy admiral to his feet and got him to start walking through the hanger. He was flanked on all sides by Raven, so escape would have been difficult for him.

As we passed marines and naval crewmen they either gave us thumbs up and smiles, or the admiral looks of disgust and hatred. He snarled as every single one of them.

As we were walking down the hallway, leading the now conscious admiral to the brig I took a moment to reflect on the operation. It went well all things considered, but I kept thinking, why did he keep most of his men near the stern of ship? I brushed it off as him trying to intercept us during our exfil. Wanting to get my mind of it I decided to talk to Barry. "So, did you guys find anything while you were in the communication hub."

He turned to face me. "Nothing much. Some channel codes and s- Boss, the package!"

I felt as this chapter needed to be very straight forward. Not much faffing about so we can get a move on.