AN: I'm really not going to waste time reintroducing Wrall's crew. If you really want to know about them, go read up on the Mist/All or Nothing/Conflict of Interest trilogy. And yes, I'm still alive, but have drastically less time to dedicate to writing these days.

"The search continues for Anthony Bellarius' mystery heir, whose only confirmed location is somewhere in the Rama System, where UNSC forces are currently battling the Covenant. The heir's identity, which has not been publically revealed, stands to inherit the entire Bellarius Conglomerate, which is estimated to be worth almost five hundred trillion dollars. Calls have been made to Bellarius' legal representatives, but they have not returned our calls. In other news, with the recent amendment and expansion of the Private Security Treaty, the UNSC has authorized the deployment of ten thousand additional private military contractors to the Rama System to assist UNSC forces currently engaged there…"

-UNSC News Network

Chapter 8: Open Season

Fort Teller

Gotts and his small convoy rolled into the only remaining human-held military facility in the southern continent. Once a small UNSC airfield, the facility was leased to J&R as a forward operating base and headquarters. J&R was quick to consolidate its position, shipping in men and equipment to expand and modernize the base. In a few short weeks, anybody who had previously worked at the base would be hard pressed to prove that Fort Teller was the same facility before J&R arrived. The fortified perimeter, mass military force, and relative proximity to the northern defense line all proved to be effective deterrents to any Covenant attack.

However, it wasn't just military contractors populating the base. There were now a number of bounty hunters, mercenaries, hitmen, and professional assassins milling about in the base, clearly unhappy that they were being kept here by the contractors, rather than being out there earning their keep. This was exactly how he wanted it.

"Ladies and Gentlemen." Gotts announced to the gathered mercenaries through a loudspeaker. "I would like to welcome you all to Fort Teller. I do hope you've found our accommodations and hospitality adequate to your needs."

He grinned as he ignored all the various catcalls, curses, and insults thrown his way.

"Now, before I let you loose to do your jobs, I need to lay down a few ground rules." Gotts smirked. "First of all, you will be following MY orders. Anything you do, or you think you want to do, is going to have to be cleared through ME first. Second, in the event you actually do manage to catch your bounty, seventy five percent of the reward will be split with J&R."

If the boos and insults were bad before, they really picked up now. Some of the angry bounty hunters even started throwing random trash at him.

"Well, you're free to go strike out on your own I guess, but then you would no longer enjoy the hospitality of J&R. If you so happen to get a flat tire, run out of supplies, or god forbid, get ambushed by the Covenant, don't expect us to be your personal AAA. Oh, and if you want to actually get off this rock, the only other base with spacecraft is behind the UNSC defense line, so good luck trying to explain what exactly you're doing here. If you don't like any of that, well, you ships are still here and just waiting to take you back to whatever spider hole you came from."

There was silence, apart from the usual frustrated grumbles and grunts.

"Well then, let's get started, shall we?" Gotts smiled. "Over there, you'll be assigned to special J&R units whose job is to support you and make sure you don't get yourselves in trouble. After that, you're free to move along and do your business."

Of course, none of the independent hunters were happy about the arrangement, but unfortunately for them, Gotts held all the cards in this situation. However twenty five percent of the bounty that was being offered was still more than enough to retire on, so it was a loss most of them felt they could swallow.

Gotts meanwhile merely smiled and walked off to scrounge up more men and equipment.

The Dry Bed

Like a great herd of steel beasts, the steadily growing convoy of human vehicles began trudging their way across the unforgiving desert. Hundreds of years ago, the Dry Bed was once a mighty river that stretched across the entire continent, and was believed to have been miles wide. However, a combination of time, climate change, and tectonic activity conspired against it. By the time the first human settlers arrived, the Dry Bed was exactly what it said on the tin, nothing but a massive canyon of dry dirt and sand. Daniel and Alicia believed that it would be the safer route, since the only way to tell if there was anything moving in it was from the air. This gave them much more concealment than if they decided to travel on the more exposed highway above.

Taking point was their prize vehicle, Wrall's Scorpion tank Amanda. Like the leader of the pack, the tank led the convoy down the snaking canyon route. Behind was a row of over a dozen civilian vehicles, with a number of Warthogs and Viper APCs interspersed among them to provide protection. Never one to take unnecessary risks, Welkin and another Warthog had sped ahead of the convoy to scout for any potential hazards.

"Full stop." Daniel said over the radio to all the vehicles as he checked his watched. "Fifteen minute break."

Suddenly, the air no longer thundered with the roar of dozens of engines, and was instead replaced with an eerie, almost unearthly silence. Very quickly, people started piling out of their vehicles, all too happy to get a few minutes to stretch their legs, relieve themselves, or for those with less fortitude, empty their stomach contents.

"It's all clear for the next few miles." Welkin said after his Warthog returned to the convoy and pulled to a stop. "I also took the opportunity to try and reorient ourselves on the map, and I think I've found something."

"What is it?" Daniel wondered.

"We're near the town of Saar, just about five miles west of here." Welkin brought out his map. "From what I remember, it was a UNSC rally point for their retreat. I picked up some random radio traffic, so I thought there might be stragglers or something hiding out there."

"That makes sense." Daniel nodded. "It couldn't hurt to look."

"And if we don't find anybody there, there's at least a good chance that we can find some leftover equipment." Alicia quipped.

"Really?" Daniel's heart skipped a beat as he hadn't realized Alicia was even there.

"Of course. During a retreat, it's human nature to ditch everything weighing you down." Alicia explained. "Everything that keeps you from running faster is the first to go. That means weapons, ammo, electronics, armor, the works. It also gives them a convenient excuse to not fight."

"Ah, I forgot, you'd have experience in that sort of stuff."

"Just what are you trying to imply?" Alicia glowered.

"Uh," Daniel blinked, suddenly realizing his life was in grave danger. "That wasn't what I meant!"

"Alright, we'll check it out." Alicia said, apparently satisfied with Daniel's apology. "We'll link up with you later if we find anything."

"Uh, last time you said that, we nearly had to leave you two behind." Welkin pointed out, worry creeping onto his voice.

"We could bring Wrall and his tank along." Daniel shrugged. "It would certainly help to give them something to do. I swear, there are times where I think the crew going to snap and just start killing each other."

"I'm sure they're just doing it all in good fun." Welkin grinned.

"Still, it doesn't exactly inspire a lot of confidence." Alicia frowned.

"Just go along with it. From my experience, the squads that bicker the most among themselves are the most tightly knit." Welkin said sagely.

Outskirts of Saar

Bluntly speaking, there didn't really seem to be anything special about Saar at all. In all respects, it was just another nowhere town in the middle of the desert, very much like Perfection. However, what did make this town special was that it was basically a road hub, connecting six different highways together at a single point. This made it an invaluable asset for staging an offensive, as well as the mass evacuations the UNSC arranged. As a result, there were numerous supply, weapon, and vehicle depots littered around the town brimming with goods that the previous UNSC forces here left behind. At least, that was the theory.

"So, any ideas on how to approach?" Daniel asked as the town's silhouette grew in the horizon.

"Well," Alicia squinted as she peered through her binoculars, "there doesn't seem to be any activity, human or Covenant. I'm pretty sure we can just go straight through the front door."

"Whoa! Hold it there!" A loud Scottish voice blared through the radio. "The place is mined!"

"Are you sure?" Daniel asked.

"Scottie knows his mines." Wrall vouched for his driver. "If he says they're there…"

"Damn right they are! You can see some depressions in the dirt where they loosened up the soil from digging, and the road section here is newer than the one we're on. They probably stripped the pavement and repaved it with mines under."

"Would they still be active?"

"Don't know." Alicia frowned. "In most cases, you could disable the mines if you sent a proper IFF code, but there's no way for us to know, or even if the mines are armed or not."

"Isn't there a way to test?"

"Well, you're always free to step on one and find out."

"Jeez, you two bicker almost as much as my crew." Wrall said in a disapproving tone. "Maybe you should devote more time to actually figuring out a way through this minefield."

"I think I've got an idea." Alicia pointed over to the west. "There's a small ridgeline over there that looks like it cuts through the town."

"Huh." Wrall looked through his image enhancer and examined the area Alicia mentioned. "Yeah, looks good. It looks like solid granite, so there's no way they're digging through that."

"Yeah, but…" Alicia examined the ridge. It was extremely uneven and jagged, with random rocks jutting out in all sorts of directions. A Warthog could easily navigate it with some careful maneuvering, but she doubted anything as large and heavy as a Scorpion tank drive though. "can your tank make it?"

"There's nothing Scottie can't drive over." Wrall replied.

"Well, better hold on to your panties." Scottie cracked his knuckles. "This is going to be a rough ride."

"It can't be any worse than your regular driving." Kazi sighed.

"Oh shut up, woman."

"Hey now, let's save the language for when we really need it." Kris laughed. "Like when we're getting shot at by Covvies."

"Whatever." Scottie put Amanda into full throttle. "Here we go!"

In a feat that Daniel and Alicia previously thought was impossible, Amanda thundered forward and began negotiating the uneven and rocky terrain of the ridge. There were times that they though the entire vehicle would gut itself on the sharp rocks, or even worse, completely flip over onto its back. However, Scottie managed to keep the tank on its treads and twisted and turned the vehicle to keep it moving through the rocks. After a few minutes of tense, controlled maneuvering, Amanda finally cleared the rocks and broke into the town.

"Well, now the only problem is getting back out." Scottie mused.

"Okay, I will officially never question your driving abilities again." Alicia announced. "I've never seen a Scorpion do that."

"Damn right, because I'm one of a kind, motherfucker!" Scottie yelled jubilantly.

Daniel and Alicia followed suit with their Warthog, which took significantly less time due to their smaller size and better off road capability. Within a few short minutes, they joined Amanda within the confines of Saar. Unlike Perfection and Springtown, Saar had an odd, empty feel to it. Perhaps it was the gloomy atmosphere, or the complete absence of any life, including Covenant. Saar was truly a ghost town.

"Well, this is certainly a depressing locale." Wrall remarked dryly.

"Which is why we're not staying." Daniel shook his head. "Let's split up. You take this side of town. I'll go check out the far side."

"Sounds good to me. If you're in trouble, just give a holler."

"Probably won't have to. Just follow the explosions." Daniel joked weakly.

J&R Recon Team 8
Twenty Miles from Saar

"Sir, we've been receiving some scattered radio traffic from Saar." Lieutenant Mudd reported. "What are your orders?"

"Is it UNSC?" Gotts' distorted voice asked back through the radio.

"Yes sir. It sounds like they're scouting the town."

"Check it out. If it's them, then you know what to do. Bring along the auxiliaries just in case."

Mudd scowled and turned his head back. By "auxiliaries", Gotts was referring to the civilian riffraff that had decided to tag along. Though priding themselves to be professional killers, there were nothing more than a rabble of thugs and hired guns. They lacked the discipline and professionalism of real soldiers. However, even auxiliaries had their uses, and Mudd intended to take full advantage of that fact.

Saar

"Damn, they were sure very thorough with their evac." Daniel sighed as they came across yet another empty supply dump. Evidently, the retreating Marines had taken everything they could with them, and destroyed whatever they had to leave behind. It was soon getting to the point that Daniel thought that coming here was a waste of time.

"Whoa, stop!" Alicia yelled.

"What?" Daniel slammed on the brakes, bewildered.

"I think we've got something." Alicia hopped off the Warthog and approached a warehouse. "It looks intact. The demolition charges they placed must not have gone off."

"Wait… doesn't that mean they're still there then?" Daniel asked nervously.

"Oh, don't be such a baby." Alicia sighed. "If they didn't go off a month ago, they certainly won't now. The C7 is probably inert, or it's a faulty detonator. Either way, it's good for us. Now help me out here."

Daniel disembarked and helped pull the doors upon, which was much harder than it sounded since the unused door mechanisms had ample time to clog themselves with dust and dirt. However, the doors finally conceded defeat and creaked open, revealing the contents within. What they found was a veritable goldmine of salvageable loot. While the supply depot provided them with ample ammunition and small arms, this particular warehouse happened to be storing heavy weaponry. M247 heavy machine guns, M19 rocket launchers, and even SRS99 sniper rifles, along with ample ammunition for each kind of weapon. In the back, there were crates of unused carapace armor.

"Jackpot." Alicia grinned with a devious glint in her eye. She picked up one of the sniper rifles and began inspecting it carefully.

Meanwhile, Daniel wandered further into the warehouse. However, as he continued, he began to find items that were less and less useful. There were flashlights, cans of face paint, and bizarrely enough, a crate full winter gear. Then he rounded a corner and then saw something he clearly wasn't expecting.

"Holy shit."

"What?" Alicia bolted by his side, her rifle ready, when she slid to a stop and gaped alongside him. "Oh wow."

There, sitting as if it were waiting for exactly this moment to be found, was a SP42 Cobra. It was an armored vehicle that looked similar to a Warthog, except slightly larger and sporting a pair of heavy gauss cannons that would make a Scorpion cannon look like beebee gun.

"Shotgun." Both Marines said simultaneously.

Meanwhile, on the other end of Saar, Wrall and his crew had no such luck. They found nothing worth taking from the empty and destroyed supply dumps.

"Ah, typical. We pretty much wasted several hours for nothing." Scottie sighed.

"At least you actually get to do something." Kazi yawned. "I pretty much fell asleep."

"What?" Scottie turned his head. "Why you-"

"Hey, knock it off!" Wrall was clearly far too tired to be dealing with their bickering right now.

"Huh, what'd I miss?" Kris rubbed his eyes as he woke up.

"Jeez, you too?" Scottie shook his head.

"Shut it, everyone!" Wrall hushed his crew as he glanced at his sensor screen. "The sensor is picking up contacts just several kilometers out.

"Covenant?" Kris asked.

"No, the signatures just don't quite match up." Wrall narrowed his eyes as he examined the sensor readings. "They look human, and they're broadcasting on human codes and chatter."

"Survivors?"

"Maybe." Wrall frowned. "But there's something off about this."

"What's the problem?" Daniel asked.

"Ah!" Wrall forgot that he was still broadcasting. "We've got contacts. Radio traffic shows that it may be a civilian convoy, but the sensor readings don't quite match up. It looks more like a military formation…"

"What direction?" Daniel asked, suddenly tense.

"They're coming in on your side of town."

"Wrall, can you get to work clearing out some of those mines?" Daniel said. "I hope we won't need it, but it'll help to have a quick escape route out of town."

"There something I should know, Captain?" Wrall asked suspiciously.

"Nothing really, just being cautious."

"Great, now we've been demoted to mineclearers." Scottie shook his head. "What are we going to do? We don't have the equipment to handle that."

"We don't, but the town might." Wrall popped open the observation hatch and grinned when he saw a small construction yard nearby. "All you have to do is know where to look."

Outskirts of Saar

As Mudd's column rolled into town, the mercenary commander ordered a full stop. He remembered from the briefing that Saar was surrounded by a network of anti personnel and anti tank mines. Fortunately, the UNSC was kind enough to provide J&R with the necessary arming and deactivation codes. However, Mudd was not one to take unnecessary risks. There really was no reliable way to tell if a mine was disarmed except by actually stepping on it.

"Perhaps we should give the auxiliaries the honor of entering the town first." Mudd said diplomatically. "I'm sure they would be overjoyed to finally be able to have their leash loosened."

With that, a number of Warthogs barreled over the minefields. Mudd then breathed a sigh of relief in the absence of explosions and destruction. At least the IFF codes were still working properly.

"Sir, we got a visual." One of Mudd's scouts transmitted a picture. It was still blurry, but Mudd could make out the blurry silhouette of a Marine crouched atop a shallow ridge. He waited for a few seconds for the image to zoom in and the facial recognition to confirm whether it was their target or not.

"Facial recognition complete." The software said in a monotone voice. "Accuracy of 96 percent with a margin of error of two percent."

"That's her." Mudd nodded. "All units, you are clear to engage."

From the looks of it, the auxiliaries seemed as if they were going reach her first. No matter, at least they could test her and her companion's mettle.

Saar

Alicia sighed as she heard the undisciplined whoops and cheers over the radio from the oncoming Warthogs. There was no way any solider, UNSC or mercenary, that would deliberately give themselves away by broadcasting over an open channel. Great, she was essentially being assaulted by frat boys with guns.

They began firing wildly, which pretty much confirmed the fact that they weren't friendly. She then fell back, hoping that they would fall for the trap. As she sprinted back to her fallback position, Alicia noted that the narrow street she was moving down was forcing the Warthogs to travel in single file, a perfect situation.

"Now!" Alicia yelled, throwing herself to the ground.

There was a loud, thunderous boom as a hypersonic 150mm kinetic rod punched through several buildings and went straight through the column of Warthogs, annihilating all five Warthogs.

"Damn." Daniel whistled as he sat in the gunner's seat of the Cobra. Even though he wasn't trained to operate the Cobra, the UNSC was forward thinking enough to make their equipment as user friendly as possible, so it was fairly easy to intuit what the controls were.

Outskirts of Saar

Mudd blanched as he saw five Warthogs instantly disappear from the sensor screen.

"What the hell happened?!" He yelled at his driver.

"I have no idea! I can't pull off anything coherent from their comms!"

"Damnit!" Mudd seethed. It seemed like before, their quarry had some crafty tricks up her sleeve. "Send the rest of the unit forward. Have them flank the position the auxiliaries were at."

Saar

"Time to go." Alicia said, waving Daniel out of the gunner's seat. "They're not going to fall for it a second time."

"Right." Daniel nodded, flipping a switch before exiting the vehicle. The Cobra then automatically and smoothly "packed" itself from its artillery mode into its mobile mode, converting its destructive 150mm rail cannon into a pair of smaller but no less deadly gauss cannons. Alicia then hooked up a trailer filled with their salvaged loot.

Once they were ready, Daniel, who had been relegated to driving again, gunned the engine. Though not nearly as powerful or fast as a Warthog, and being weighed down with extra cargo, the Cobra made a decent effort at getting distance between itself and its enemies.

"We got company!" Daniel yelled as a pair of Warthogs arrived to cut them off. Alicia fired off a short burst of gauss fire and quickly reduced both vehicles to slag.

"We just lost two more units." Mudd's driver pointed out.

"Damnit." Mudd seethed. There was no intel to suggest that the target had anything as powerful as a Cobra! Fortunately, he still had the numbers advantage. All he had to do was surround them. However, not one to make assumptions, Mudd keyed his radio again. "Reactivate the mines. They're not getting out."

"Uh, Wrall, I hope you've got a way out of here." Daniel yelled over the whine of the Cobra's dual gauss cannons. "We're knee deep in hostiles!"

"Just home in on our position. We'll cover you!" Wrall responded.

Daniel flinched as bullets began ricocheting off of the rear of the Cobra and the trailer it was towing. "They're behind us!"

"And in front." Alicia scowled.

Sure enough, they were surrounded by no less than six Warthogs, each painted black and bearing the J&R logo. There was no way the weighed down Cobra could outrun them, and even with its superior firepower, there were simply too many to fight off.

"We're in deep trouble." Alicia scowled.

"Which is why you've got the Armored Cav covering your back!" Wrall yelled happily through the radio.

Mudd gaped when he saw the Scorpion tank pull into the street, plowing straight through his carefully crafted formation. Now there definitely wasn't any intel on this. He had no weapons or equipment that could even hope to put a dent in that titanium monster.

"Fall back, FALL BACK!" Mudd screamed in panic. None of his subordinates needed to second guess him. Within seconds, Mudd and the remnants of his scouting force were barreling out of the town. However, Mudd was not about to leave it at that. "Rearm the minefield, and get me a line to Fort Teller! That should keep them penned in there long enough to get some reinforcements, and tell them to get some anti-tank weapons!"

Meanwhile, back inside the abandoned town, the Marines watched on as the PMC troops swiftly retreated into the desert.

"Who the hell were those guys?" Wrall asked, squinting at the now distant silhouettes of the J&R troops.

"Just looters and rogue PMCs." Daniel quickly explained, leaving out the part where they were actively hunting him and Alicia down. "We've run into them before, and they seem pretty determined to make sure we don't get back to UNSC territory."

"Well that makes sense." Wrall shook his head. "Something like this could ruin them if it was ever made public."

"Either way," Alicia butted in, "we should probably worry about getting out of here."

"Oh right, we've got the mine problem covered." Wrall said. "We found a dozer blade that can dig up those Lotus mines, since they can't have been buried that deep."

"How long?" Daniel asked, wary of the J&R picket line just on the horizon. I doubt they're just going to sit around up there forever."

"It'll probably take about half an hour, tops." Scottie said. "Assuming we don't run into any screwups."

"Why the hell are you looking at me?" Kazi glowered.

Outskirts of Saar

Mudd frowned as he looked down on the town through his binoculars. He could see the targets moving around in the town, obviously trying to find a way to cut through the minefield. This was bad for him, because that meant they would escape the town before his reinforcements could arrive. However, even though he lacked any anti-tank weaponry, he did have access to one other asset that could prove useful.

"Get Colonel Strenkov on the line." Mudd said. "Tell him to fire up the cannons and shell that town, on their position."

Saar

Meanwhile, the Marines were hastily hitching a discarded dozer blade they had scavenged from the abandoned construction yard onto Amanda. Though there were more than enough similarities between a battle tank and a large bulldozer, the Scorpion chassis was never designed to accommodate the blade, so the crew had to hastily weld it directly to the hull.

"Damnit." Kazi muttered as her welding torch sputtered out. "Hey, any of you mind looking for a spare fuel tank?"

"I'll go." Daniel said, sprinting toward a nearby warehouse. He activated his flashlight and began carefully navigating the darkened interior. As he swung the beam of light around, he caught something in the corner of his eye. There, spattered on the wall in bright orange construction paint was a crudely written message.

NOVEMBER OSCAR ROMEO CHARLIE OSCAR LIMA

It took Daniel a few seconds to realize that it was the phonetic alphabet. It was the most basic of codes that all members of the armed forces were taught. He quickly memorized the message and dashed back out of the warehouse.

"Well, it's about time." Wrall scoffed over the roaring engine of his tank. "We're all finished here and was about to send someone after you."

"And you didn't even bring back what you were supposed to." Kazi shook her head.

"Captain, does the world 'NORCOL' mean anything to you?" Daniel asked.

"No." Wrall said, confused. He glanced at Alicia and his crew, who were just as clueless at the meaning. "Where'd that come from?"

"Some Marines left a message behind. They left behind the phonetic for NORCOL."

"Maybe Welkin would know." Alicia shrugged. "He seems to know this whole area pretty well."

"Well, we've got to get out of here first." Wrall clambered into his vehicle. "Just stay close behind us. It's going to be a wild ride!"

And not a moment too soon, since artillery began raining down on the town. Fortunately, the shells weren't properly ranged and were fairly inaccurate. However, it wouldn't be long before the spotter started sending targeting corrections to the guns.

"Let's go!" Daniel yelled.

Amanda roared as its engines powered forward through the minefield. Thankfully for them, the mines were hastily planted, and therefore were not buried very deep. The dozer blade was enough to shove the mines out of the way, while the few that did explode had their force dulled by the blade. Daniela and Alicia followed close behind in the Cobra while the artillery shells began to get uncomfortably closer and closer.

"Faster faster faster!" Wrall urged.

"I get the point!" Scottie yelled. Amanda powered through the minefield, and with one last surge of speed, cleared the danger zone. Free to maneuver, both vehicles quickly made their escape of the area.

Meanwhile, a frustrated Mudd could only radio his superiors and give them the bad news. Maybe they would have better luck at catching that infernal bounty.