Hunter exited the hatch, only to be greeted by a frosty wind and a snow-white background. He scanned the landing platform, spotting 3 soldiers in white armor at the bottom of the loading hatch's ramp, standing patiently for him. Hunter scanned the area one last time with a careful eye before walking down the ramp to greet the soldiers. He reached the bottom of the ramp and stood eye-to-eye with the front soldier, who was a head taller than him. Hunter sized this soldier up, and saw that the soldier was a sergeant. He turned his head slightly to size up the others, who were privates, respectively. Content, Hunter saluted them, and they saluted back.

"So, who's the commanding officer here?" asked Hunter to the sergeant.

The sergeant responded, "Our CO is Lieutenant Colonel Cheknov. He's been waiting for your arrival, sir."

"I see. Did he order that I visit him immediately upon my arrival?"

"He did, sir. Right this way." The sergeant turned and began to walk toward the blast doors, the entrance to the Hoth base. Hunter looked at the two privates, and then began to follow the sergeant. He walked briskly to catch up to the sergeant.

"So, sergeant, I didn't catch your name." asked Hunter once he caught up with the sergeant.

"I apologize, sir. Name's Hutch. Daniels Hutch."

"And them?" Hunter pointed to the two privates.

"They're brothers. Anthony and Benjamin Carmine. Ben is the younger one of the two," explained Daniels.

"I see." Hunter looked back at the brothers. "I would have expected the military to keep brothers separate. Less chances of both dying," remarked Hunters.

"From what I heard, Anthony punched the enlistment officer when he and Ben were placed in different units. He managed to grab the attention of a high-ranking officer, who let they be placed together. Guess Anthony convinced that guy."

"I see," repeated Hunter in his monotone voice.

Suddenly, the sergeant stopped. He turned around to face Hunter.

"The colonel is waiting for you in there." He pointed to the door left of him. "Good luck." Daniels turned to leave, taking the Carmine brothers along with him.

"Luck?" thought Hunter. He headed toward the door and knock.

"Enter!" barked out a voice from the other side.

The door slid open and Hunter stepped in. Right in the middle of the office sat a golden-brown hair, masculine man with squinting eyes behind a desk. Cheknov's beady eyes bore a hole though Hunter. Hunter just walked forward and stopped when he arrived at the desk.

"Sir, Captain Hunt-" began Hunter.

"I don't give a damn what your name is. NOW, sit your ass down on the chair!" roared Cheknov.

"Sir, I respectfully decline. I prefer to-"

"Damn it! Sit your ass down or I'll have you arrested for insubordination! You Spartans are all the same, thinking that just because you are the best of the best that you can disobey orders! I will have none of that here! I'm in command and don't you bloody forget it!" Cheknov pointed his index finger at Hunter. Cheknov's face was turning red. Hunter remained standing, staring at Cheknov, seemingly oblivious to what just happened. Hunter then relaxed.

BANG!

A shot rang echoed around the room. Cheknov was frozen in place, eyes wide. Behind him was a smoking bullet hole. In front of him was a pistol, pointed 2 centimeters to the left of his face. The person holding the gun with his left hand was no other than Hunter.

"Now, I suggest you to be quiet before I forcibly relieve you of your command," threatened Hunter quietly. He walked toward Cheknov and leaned toward his ear. Hunter whispered, "I despise pigs like you. You treat those below you as slaves to obey your every order. I can feel the hatred the troops have for you. If a leader cannot have respect for his troops, how can he expect his troops to show the same to him? You'll die soon, and you can only blame yourself."

Two soldiers suddenly clamored into the office, G36s out and ready to fire. Hunter glanced over his shoulder calmly.

"Sir, we don't want to hurt you. Lower you weapon," ordered one of the soldiers. Hunter glanced back to Cheknov. He slowly lowered his arm and holstered his D-12.

"Don't forget what I said, Colonel. Otherwise, face the consequences of your actions," said Hunter. He turned and walked toward the exit. He stopped in-between the two soldiers and looked at them. "Huh," was all he said, and then he left. The two soldiers stood, wondering what all the commotion was about. They looked to Cheknov, who was still in shock from the whole ordeal.

"Nice of Hutch to show me to my quarters," thought Hunter. It was a tiny gray room, with only a bed and small desk. He was unpacking what little he brought with him on the bed. He propped his XR on the side of the bed, unfolded his spare black army fatigues onto his bed, and placed his D-12 on the desk. Then he just planted himself onto the bed, deep in thought.

"What has the world turned to? In times of war, why do we have idiots commanding troops? We need more men like Daniels leading our troops and men like Cheknov serving as infantrymen. They need to see what the troops go through. Aristocratic pigs." Hunter got up, still in thought. "We shouldn't be fighting each other. The enemy is out there, not here. Internal fighting will get us killed. No wonder there are rebels. The Republic is no longer what it once was. We're fighting for a lie."

Knock, knock!

Hunter stirred from his thoughts. "Who is it?" asked Hunter.

"It's Hutch, sir," a voice responded through the door. "The mess hall is open now, sir, if you're hungry at all."

"Thank you, Hutch. I'll be down in a minute," answered Hunter. He looked around his quarters, taking in the cramp setting one more time. Hunter sighed. He went to the desk and took his D-12 off the desk and holstered in his leg holster.

"Looks like that's everything," he thought. "Time to go." He left his quarters and started strolling off in the direction of the mess hall.

The mess hall was packed by the time Hunter arrived. The soldiers were all socializing, talking about the events of today.

"Yeah, that speeder was a-"

"Hear about the Cax's dog getting loose?"

"You should have been there! He just-"

"I see, I see. So what you're saying-"

Hunter just looked around, hearing so many different conversations. He grinned and shook his head.

"Yep, they are a mighty fine bunch," chuckled a male's voice behind Hunter that he did not recognize. Hunter turned around to see who the new person was. Standing behind him was a tall young man with sky-blue eyes, short spiked black hair and bangs framing the sides of his face, which had an X-shaped scar on the left cheek. The man was wearing boots, gloves, and a uniform with 2 pauldrons which were all were black. On his back was massive dark gray sword, about 6 feet long with a single-edged 1 foot wide blade, with two holes near the hilt. The hilt had a gold winged motif, and the handle was a dark red.

The man was smiling. "Name's Zack," he introduced cheerfully. "You look new here. What's your name?"

"It's Hunter. And you don't look like you're a standard trooper, from your choice of clothes. Might you be one of the…Republic Knights?"

"Yep, and proud to be one!" He continued smiling. "What about you? The way you walk, you don't look like a trooper either."

"I'm a Spartan," Hunter told him simply.

"Ah. You know what, let's get a table and continue our talk over there."

"I rather eat alone."

"Come on. It's not good to eat alone." And with that, Zack pushed Hunter towards a free table near the back of the mess hall, not realizing that neither of them had food. Hunter followed along. Once they were at the table, they sat down, facing each other.

"So, where's your partner?" bluntly asked Hunter. "I thought all Knights worked in pairs." Zack's smile began to fade. He then frowned.

"My partner…friend…is missing in action," he said solemnly. "He's been missing for 2 weeks, after a major engagement with the rebels." Zack had a black stare on his face.

"I'm sorry," said Hunter, upset that he caused some painful memories in this person.

"There's nothing you should be sorry about. It's not your fault. We all knew what we signed up for."

"So, what was your partner's name?"

"Hm?"

"Just curious."

"His name was Cloud."

Hunter just muttered, "Strife."

"Huh?"

"Was your partner's last name Strife?"

"Yeah, it was. Wait a minute, how did you know that was it?"

Hunter just stared at the table.

Five years ago.

Vroom.

Cars passed along the road of the busy street. A tiny round table was outside a coffee shop, right in the middle of all the traffic. A black haired 17 year old teen sat at the table, holding a steaming cup of coffee in his hands.

"Hunter!" someone shouted from the distance. The black hair teen looked around the crowd for the voice. "Hunter!" the person shouted again. Just then, the teen spotted a large blond spike in the crowd.

"Over here!" shouted back Hunter.

Cloud appeared, in a full uniform. "Hey Hunter." He took the seat across from Hunter.

"Hey, man. Took your time getting here."

"Sorry, traffic was a nightmare. After all, the war in Japan is now over. Everyone is partying for the troops' safe return."

"I bet. So, I see you got what you wanted." Hunter pointed to Cloud's uniform. "You're a Republic Knight."

"Yeah."

"Congrats. Light will be here, too."

"Light?" asked Cloud nervously.

Hunter laughed. "Don't worry. I'm sure she forgot all about that incident. You're a soldier now. I'm sure she would approve."

Just then, a girl with long black hair came up to their table. "Cloud? Is that really you, Cloud?"

Cloud stared at the girl. "Tifa?"

"Oh, my God. It really is you."

Cloud stood up and hugged Tifa and gave her a peck to right cheek.

Tifa sized up Cloud. "It's been too long, Cloud."

"Yeah, well…" Cloud was blushing wildly. "I've missed you."

"Okay, you two lovebirds. Stop making a scene. Sit down, have a drink." Hunter said joyfully.

"Oh, is soldier boy getting embarrassed?" A sly voice came from behind Hunter. Hunter turned his head to see a female with long, light pink hair, blue eyes, and a small smile on her face standing there, wearing her Republic Knights uniform. Hunter just gave her a small grin.

"Of course not, Lightning. And when did I ever become soldier boy, eh?"

"Well, you are the only one to join the Army, and not to mention, you're a Spartan."

"Okay, okay. I give up. Here, take a seat." Hunter pulled out seat from seemingly nowhere.

"Thanks, Hunter."

"No problem, Light. Now that we're all here-"

"Wait a minute. What do you mean we're all here?" asked Cloud.

"Cloud, you and I are both from Nibelheim. I knew about your relationship with Tifa." Cloud blushed. "Anyway, you've been gone from home for so long, and I found out Tifa had a bar here on Earth, so I decided to throw out a surprise for you. Enjoying it so far?"

"Thanks, man."

"No problem. Now, it's been a year since we've all met each other. Today's that anniversary. All I have to say, now that most of us have a job that requires us to put ourselves in harm's way, is that no matter what happens, we all have to come back here alive. We can't die. I won't let any of you guys die." With that, he raised his cup of coffee. "To friendship."

"To friendship," everyone repeated.

Hunter drank his cup of coffee. His cell phone rang.

"Damn." He picked up the call and listened. "Uh huh. Yeah. Okay, I'll be there right away." And with that he left the group, stepping into the hoards of people that swallowed him up.

Present

"Never got to say good bye to them," realized Hunter.

"Huh? What are you talking about?" asked Zack.

Hunter realized that he had spoken out loud.

"Let's just say that, I need to find Cloud," said Hunter.

"But he's-"

"He's alive. I know it." Hunter got up from his seat, and began walking, but stopped. "See you later, Zack." And he continued walking, never looking back.

Zack just sighed. "What's up with him?"

A/n: And so ends the third chapter.

New non-OC characters:

Anthony Carmine-Gears of War

Benjamin Carmine-Gears of War 2

Tifa Lockhart-FF7

Zack Fair-FF7