Rachel

Rachel threw herself roughly to the ground as the ball of green energy sailed through the air and crashed into her previous cover, throwing rubble everywhere and scorching the area around it. She scrambled into a shallow trench, debris raining down onto her back, deflected by her shields, which slowly recharged.

"Supressing fire!" Ordered Jacob-209 over the COMMS, and she heard the steady rapport of Josef's SRS-S5 rifle as he targeted their adversaries. She checked herself for damage as she lay on her front, relieved to find all limbs still attached. Sabina's MA5D Assault Rifle joined in the attack, spraying the massive armoured beasts with Armour Piercing round, to little effect. The giant Hunter combat troops shrugged off the hail of bullets, crouching behind the monolithic shields on their left arms, grunting. Even at 30 metres distant, they seemed massive in the confined space of the cave.

"Petty Officer, you hit?" Asked the CPO, taking aim with his DMR and squeezing off a few well-placed rounds into the soft unprotected torso poking out from behind the lead Hunter's shield. The creature groaned loudly and shifted its body, its massive energy weapon glowing brightly as it charged, ready for another shot.

"Negative" she reassured, dragging her BR85 Rifle from under her and resting it on the lip of the shallow depression, sighting up on the trailing Hunter. She took careful aim, and fired a three round burst into the alien's midriff, and it issued a similar grunt as it shuffled around to protect itself.

She rolled away out of the ditch just in time, a swathe of green energy bathed the location seconds later, scorching the rock and dirt. She slid behind a rocky formation jutting from the cave wall, poking her head out from cover to analyse the situation. They had been pushed back into the long cave, firing everything they had at the advancing Mgalekgolo pair. The massive forms were not actually one begin, but a colony of small eel-like creatures, who structure themselves in a form that massively increases their manoeuvrability and strength. They fought in pairs, the exact nature of which was still unknown to the UNSC, they only knew that if one Bond-Pair was killed in combat, the other would go berserk, killing anything in its path to avenge its fallen team mate. That's if they had enough firepower to bring the massive combatants down; they were covered in starship-grade composite armour, with only a few chinks available for exploitation, usually in the small of the back or neck.

The lead Hunter shuffled further into the cave, its mate following close behind. They needed to take them out before they were reduced to really close quarters fighting, and Rachel had an idea on how to do it. She had always been the fastest runner in her old Fireteam, leaving most others in the dust when she raced.

"Grenade!" Sabina pulled the pin on a Frag grenade and tossed it towards the Hunters, taking advantage of their momentary steps backwards in the wake of the detonation to pump a few rounds from her own Battle Rifle into the exposed midsection of Hunter number 1. As the others blanketed the Hunters with fire, Rachel dashed out from her cover and ran along the left hand wall of the cave towards the exit, weaving in between rubble. She sprinted up alongside the recoiling aliens and darted towards them, stowing her Battle Rifle and wielding her M7 SMG. She approached the second Mgalekgolo at lightning speed, ducking under its spikes protruding from its back and pressing the muzzle of her M7 into the orange flesh under the armour, pulling the trigger and emptying 60 caseless rounds into the crawling mass of worm-like beings. The Hunter twitched and groaned, slumping over forward onto the ground with a heavy boom; its partner spun around, emitting a low screaming noise, and charged at her.

She dived out of the way of the five-ton alien, but it was quick; as it passed by her, it swung its massive shield, swatting her from the air. Shield warning sounds blared in her ears as she was bodily thrown further into the cave, tumbling down the slope. Oddly enough, she felt no pain, although her flashing biomonitor system warned of cracked ribs and internal haemorrhaging. She stood up, stumbling forwards towards her team. She drew to a halt before Jacob-209, who was saying something over the comms, but she couldn't understand the words. Blackness ate at the periphery of her vision and she slumped to the ground, fighting to stay conscious.

Sabina

Sabina had been forced to watch from her defensive position as the small Spartan had made her assault, expertly dispatching the trailing Hunter, and had had to watch on as she was brutally assaulted by the other, all the while taking shots at any exposed flesh she could see. Even as Rachel stumbled towards them, her helmet visor cracked, the remaining Hunter was turning around, charging its heavy weapon.

"Rachel, get behind me" ordered Jacob, but the injured soldier just collapsed slightly next to him, barely staying upright. "Damn it, Josef, get over here and drag her back towards the door."

A green acknowledgment light came on next to Josef's icon on the TEAMCOM display on her HUD, and moments later he appeared next to them, he draped one of Rachel's arms over his shoulder and helped her retreat further into the cave.

"Sab, if you've got any ideas, now's the time." Muttered Jacob, sliding a fresh magazine into his Assault Rifle and ducking behind his cover as a large bright green bolt of energy slammed into the boulder.

She popped up from behind her position and fired her Battle Rifle. Bullets deflected off of the Hunter's armour, and it growled deeply. It moved further into the cave, swinging its 2 ton weapon and demolishing a row of stalactites to make room for its monolithic body. Sabina reloaded her weapon, looking behind her and spotting a purple crate of covenant ordinance. She crawled over to the small box, opening it to find exactly what she had been hoping for; a neat row of three Type-1 Antipersonnel Plasma grenades.

"Got one." She said, priming one of the grenades and throwing it over her cover. The ball began throwing out a ball of plasma gas, glowing bright blue as it arced and struck the Hunter's shield, immediately ionising and adhering to the dark blue metal, glowing brighter. The alien growled loudly, but its yell was quickly overcome by the rising pitch of the plasma grenade's whine as it ate through the metal and detonated, vaporising anything within a 2 metre radius. Once the flash had subsided, half of a Hunter's still wriggling corpse lay on the floor, the large Lekgolo worms writhing on the ground. Jacob poked his head up from cover.

"Good kill, Sab, grab anything else you've got and get ready to move, because this won't be the last of them, not by a long shot." He was referring to the large Covenant force currently forming up outside the mouth of the cave.

"Affirmative." She replied, stashing the other two plasma grenades and reloading her rifle. "Hold the line, I'll be back in one." She moved back towards Josef and Rachel, who were leant up against the cave wall next to the entrance to the Forerunner tunnel system. Josef looked up at her as she rounded the corner, reaching to grab his DMR rifle instinctively.

"At ease, I need your SRS." She said, and they traded weapons and ammunition, he took her Battle rifle and she shouldered the Sniper Rifle. "Be ready to move, both of you, we can't hold the line for much longer." She said, giving Rachel a thumbs up, which she weakly returned.

She darted back to her original position and rested the Sniper, complete with bipod, on her cover, pointing it squarely up the slope towards the cave mouth. She looked through the scope, adjusting for the inclination, and waited for her first target.

Suddenly, the entire cave mouth was filled with targets. Grunts, Elites, Jackals, every rank waving every weapon as they charged into the tunnel. Needle shards rained down, and plasma fire sputtered from the advancing crowd. She calmly began picking her targets, downing Elites and Jackals quickly and efficiently, and she could hear Jake open up with his Rifle, cutting through the Grunt ranks. Frag grenades sailed through the air as Jake and Sabina slowly fell back towards the door, covering each other's withdrawals with sustained fire and grenades. The increasingly accurate plasma fire harried their retreat, scorching the walls and leaving a sharp metallic taste in the air.

"Sabina, pull frags and let's go." Ordered Jake, priming his last grenade and tossing it. She did the same, and before they had even landed the two soldiers were both ducking into the Forerunner corridor, following the two younger Spartans into the tunnel system. As they rounded the corner into the Cartographer room, the C-12 enriched LOTUS mine detonated, creating an immense fireball that instantly barbecued nearby Covenant troops and collapsing the cave on top of the rest. The extended rumbling of the tunnel collapsing echoed through the tunnels. They came to a halt inside the Map room, barely breaking a sweat.

"Well then, that could've gone worse." Mumbled Jacob, depolarising his visor to reveal a grin. The adrenaline was wearing off, and Sabina felt heavy and exhausted, drained. But she pushed those thoughts to the back of her mind, and enjoyed the brief moment of relief.

"What now?" She asked.

"We may not be able to get to the Control Centre from here, but we can look for another way out to the surface." Jake replied, activating the Cartographer with a wave of his hand. "Unfortunately, the comms relay will have most likely been destroyed, so there's no way of contacting Command, but we can re-establish contact once we return to the surface."

Josef nodded, "How much trouble do you think we've caused these hinge-heads?" he asked, sounding satisfied.

Jake didn't reply for a minute, staring at the holographic map, calculating a route out of the tunnels. "More than enough, Petty Officer, more than enough."

Shipmaster Cro 'Cylen, 4th Fleet of Retribution, aboard the cruiser Sanctified Dawn

"Shipmaster, the Human fleet has powered down their weapons systems, and the enemy has been located on the surface of Larris." Barked the Sanghelli officer, bowing slightly. Larris was the Sanghelli name for the planet below, which had once had enormous significance in their religion. The San 'Shyuum had ordered a missionary exploration of Larris when they had been in charge of the Covenant, and even established a research facility in orbit, but during one of the many Grunt uprisings the station had been destroyed, and the planet was forgotten upon the discovery of the Halo ring.

'Cylen disliked the Human name for this place, 'Sigmus IV". It was so clinical, so dispassionate, lacking all creativity, like the rest of their weak race. It was so tempting to blast this pitiful human force from orbit, to heat the plasma and evaporate the ugly grey vessels. The Arbiter may be convinced that the two empires could co-exist, but 'Cylen wasn't entirely convinced; for all the talk of humans being weak and cowardly, they were certainly resourceful creatures, and sly as well. Unlike most of his compatriots, he held a certain level of respect for them.

"Show me the coward's hiding place so that I may vanquish him." Growled the Shipmaster, and the purple-tinted projection of the crater in which Mal 'Furak's fleet lay. "How many ships does he have at his command?"

"Preliminary scans show one CCS-Class Battlecruiser, the Enlightened Prophet, two CPV-Class Destroyers, three Corvettes, and five SDV-Class Corvettes." Reported another officer on the other end of the bridge.

"The Enlightened Prophet?" He mused, clutching the arms of his levitating command chair "I thought she had been destroyed in the Great Schism." This was not good; the Sanctified Dawn, the flagship of the 4th Fleet was a CRS-Class cruiser, of much lower tonnage and offensive capability, the information they had paid the Kig Yar for had apparently not been worth the cost, as they had far underestimated the size of the Loyalist fleet. "Very well, it shall be an even fight. What is the status of the Fleet?"

Flashing status lights appeared in the holographic display, and the shipmasters from every ship in the Fleet called in the status of their vessels; no abnormalities so far.

"Shipmaster, the human destroyer has transmitted the co-ordinates of access points through their minefield." Said the first officer.

"Good, descend to the planet's surface and attack the ground forces. We need that Battle-cruiser in repairable condition." He ordered. Ever since the Covenant collapse, the Sanghelli fleet had settled into disrepair, and the number of operable hulls had dwindled. Now the Arbiter needed ships more than ever, to combat a civil war that had erupted on Sanghelios between Thel 'Vadam's forces and a religiously fanatical group called the Servants of Abiding Truth, who thought that 'Vadam's declaration that the Forerunners were not the gods that religion dictated was heresy of the highest order.

He thought a second, then amended his orders. "If the Enlightened Prophet cannot be captured, I would rather see her burn than in the hands of this deserter." His venomous tone was met with growls and roars of approval from both his bridge crew and the collection of shipmasters on the communications network.

"Take us into polar orbit and deploy our ground forces. This is an invasion, be aware of disloyal members of their ranks who may feel compelled to abandon the traitor's ways." He paused, checking that he was broadcasting to the entire fleet "We do this for the good of Sanghelios, and all of our fragmented empire. Do not fail us, and you shall secure our place in the galaxy for the next Age. Act swiftly. Act boldly. Fulfil your duty. Shipmaster Cro 'Cylen out."

Hall

"Sir, the Arbiter's Fleet is establishing polar orbit, under the minefield." Athena informed him. Their group was staying in geostationary orbit, looking down upon Sigmus IV. "I do hope they don't glass the planet, there are plans with the CAA for a health spa and beauty centre, and if the surrounding countryside is molten slag, it might detract from the relaxation slightly."

"Unlikely." Said Mallard "Their shipmaster has decreed that the battle-cruiser is to be taken whole. It's quite the speech actually, very heroic."

"How noble." Muttered Hall "Has Admiral Yao re-established contact with her team on the surface?"

Athena stared into the distance for half a second, the orange holographic symbols rolling across her body intensifying in their movements. "No sir, and I think you can call them Spartans, the entire fleet is talking about them. News spreads fast it would seem. I wonder how the 4th Fleet of Retribution would feel about having 'Demons' on their battlefield." She smirked slightly.

"I'm guessing not ecstatic." Hall replied. He flexed his fingers uncomfortably. "I feel so helpless up here. We can't do anything, we just look on from up here. Part of me isn't used to this kind of warfare, sitting and waiting." He shook his head, clearing his thoughts.

"Sir, the enemy fleet is moving." Warned Athena, and red flashing lights appeared on the tactical map "All vessels gaining altitude and charging plasma. They might not have noticed our little…"

As she spoke, a corvette came within the radius of the proximity detonator on a MORAY mine, which blossomed in a brilliant white, silent explosion, engulfing the unshielded ship in a nuclear fireball. The rest of the formation halted and lowered back into the atmosphere, point-defence lasers glowing an angry red.

"… surprise. Well, now they know about the mines." Finished the AI, shrugging. "Judging from their acceleration and new radio chatter, the enemy is preparing to engage the Arbiter's forces, sir. I've done battle prediction calculations, and the 4th fleet has less than a 30% chance of surviving."

Hall paced the bridge, listening to the news. He sighed deeply "Get me Vice Admiral Yao. We might need to help some hinge-heads."

Jacob

He was really starting to hate Forerunner tunnels. They had been marching through dimly lit passageways for hours now, swinging their rifles around every corner, hitting collapsed tunnels and solid walls every 20 minutes. Their radios had been full of static since their relay was destroyed, but occasionally garbled UNSC radio chatter would break through the thick isomorphic walls of the ruins, routine messages between ships, the words were unintelligible.

"Sir, where in the back end of hell are we?" Asked Josef, sounding frustrated.

He looked backwards into the visor of his comrade. "If you believe the cartographer, about 200 metres away from an exit to the surface." He turned back towards the front, but as he looked over the passage walls, something caught his eye. "Hold up."

The others took positions around him, pointing their weapons into the darkness on either side of them, and he scrutinised a section of the glyphs that adorned the walls around them. He activated a basic translation programme in his HUD, and highlighted a series of symbols which seemed familiar; the programme scanned the symbols and ran it through the admittedly minimal data that Dr Halsey had been able to provide. After three agonisingly long seconds, the programme chimed and overlaid the English words over the short line of glyphs.

"Ring-world Installation 03. Primed."

He stared at the simple status message, awestruck. He recorded as much of the stone panel as he dared, then straightened up, shaken slightly. "Okay, when we get back to ONI, they are going to have a field day looking through our helmet video feeds. Let's move, the exit is just ahead."

They moved further down the corridor, and Jake's NBC filter system in his helmet told him that there was a higher concentration of organic molecules in the air; they were approaching an exit.

"Got a door." Rachel announced, crouching down next to the frame. Josef stacked up on the other side of the doorframe, and Sabina crouched in front of the doorway, pointing her shotgun towards it. Jake stood in front of the control pedestal and moved his hand over the surface, keying the mechanism. The door swung smoothly open to reveal a rather surprised squadron of Unggoy workers. The trio of Grunts didn't even have time to drop their tools before Sabina fired into them with her M90, spattering her armour with blue blood and killing the unfortunate aliens instantly.

She pumped the action, ejecting a spent cartridge onto the floor, and moved lithely through the doorway. Josef and Sabina peeled away from the walls and followed her through, and Jake took one last look around the stone tunnel before stepping out into the bright early morning sunlight. They had emerged onto a mountainside overlooking the crater, and Jake was momentarily stunned by the spectacle before him.

The entire Covenant taskforce was taking off, the deafening roar of star-ship sized impulse drives turned up to full power maxing out the helmet filters and shaking him to the core. The graceful silhouettes of the formation of Covenant ships slowly rose from the bottom of the crater and soared into the air. His HUD identified the different ships, displaying their tonnage, class and service history next to them on his view. The massive bulk of the CCS-class Enlightened Prophet dominated the area, at almost 1800 metres long, it dwarfed the destroyer and frigate escort which hung around it like a school of pilot fish hangs around a shark. The entire group rose from the ground and accelerated towards them, almost brushing the top of the mountain high above them, shaking the earth beneath with their combined air displacement.

As the fleet thundered overhead, Jake snapped out of his awestruck state and began hailing the Marie Antoinette. On his third attempt he initiated handshake protocols and established a secure line.

"Spartan-209 reporting in, repeat Spartan-209 re-establishing contact." Jake said, signalling to his team to take a knee. The radio was filled with static for a few seconds before Dr Halsey's tones cut through.

"Jacob, you're alright. Thank god." She sounded slightly panicked, but she soon adopted her usual calm tone. "While you were inside the structures, the new Covenant fleet jumped in-system, but they're Covenant Separatists under the control of the Arbiter. Shipmaster 'Cylen has been tasked with eliminating a Sanghelli Loyalist, but he brought a knife to a gun fight, sending tactical data now."

"Affirmative, ma'am, we spotted the Loyalist Fleet launching from the surface, heading North at speed." He replied as the transcript of developments scrolled across his screen. "We need to get to the Control Centre, any help?"

"I've had five hours to work, what do you think?" Asked Halsey, and Jake could just imagine her smirk. "I've tapped into the Battle-Net and it was under the Enlightened Prophet, underneath a Covenant Firebase. You made quite a mess at the excavation site, the entire Loyalist group is seething. We've also confirmed that the Sanghelli Loyalist that the good Shipmaster is looking for left his flagship with his second in command, who has proceeded to engage the Separatist fleet in polar orbit. Should be a good show."

"Sounds awkward." Sabina commented, looking down into the suddenly empty crater.

"Indeed, the marker on your HUD should lead you to the Control Centre, there are still substantial ground forces in the area, as well as combat air patrols. Good luck Spartans." An orange beacon appeared on their maps, but before they could start to head down the rocky mountain, the sky behind them lit up as a second sun blossomed in the sky.

Jake's radiation detector spiked, and a small shock wave rippled through the air, leading to a muffled booming which echoed around the hills and valleys. Josef's head whipped around, and before he turned his own head, Jake spotted a bright pinpoint reflected in his domed visor, which was realised in the sky to the North, a slowly fading ball of light.

"What was that? Nuke?" Asked Josef

He was answered a second later by a sharp peak in radiation levels detected by all four sets of armour. On the newly updated tactical displays, a covenant corvette winked out of existence from the centre of the fireball.

"Just the calm before the storm, Petty Officer, let's get going." Jake replied, and began the long trek down the mountainside, navigating down rocky cliff faces and sliding down scree-covered slopes. The others followed close behind, and he heard the heavy thuds of either Josef or Rachel stumbling; they weren't as well trained as he and Sabina were for mountainous terrain, he would have to make a note of that for future reference.

They reached the plateau at the foot of the mountain and started on the well-hewn pathway created by Covenant vehicles towards the crater. As they walked, Rachel sidled up to him and matched his pace, tapping her rifle rhythmically, as if nervous of speaking.

"Permission to speak, sir?" She asked, looking dead ahead.

Jake nodded, curious. "Granted, Petty Officer."

"Thank you sir. I had some questions about the Spartan-II project." She sounded wary, cautious of the content of her speech.

He paused, trying to figure out if he was even allowed to talk about the project with a Spartan-III. He supposed that these sorts of situations were the ones that ONI was trying to judge them by. "Okay, I can tell you some things, but don't expect me to know everything, fire away."

She straightened up slightly "Firstly, is it true that a Spartan-II is never classified as KIA?"

He chuckled "That's your first question? It's as good a start as any I suppose, yes, when the programme was made public, it was decided that any and all casualties be reported as Missing in Action, in order to maintain the illusion of invincibility which was keeping up morale." He shrugged "But I can assure you, Petty Officer, that we are by no means invincible."

She said nothing for a few minutes, then voiced another query "What's so special about the Master Chief?"

"Ah, now there's a question. Spartan-117 was always the luckiest of us. Not the strongest, nor the smartest or quickest, but he was a natural-born leader." He coughed "He served in every major battle in the last 30 years in one way or another, and throughout every one he survived. Not all were so fortunate." He lapsed back into silence, wrestling with emotions bubbling to the surface, forcing them down.

"When did you enter the programme?" She asked tentatively.

"2517." He replied quickly

"How many of you were there?"

"33. Including your former commanding officer, Kurt-051."

"And how many are left now?" She asked

He felt a little apprehension sneak into his mind "A handful. Not as many as I'd like."

"Where were you born?"

That struck home. Before his conscription into the programme at age 6, Jake had very few memories of his old life. Flashes of his past would appear sometimes during his downtime, pictures of urban sprawls and snow-covered streets. "Tribute." He replied, neutral in tone.

"Thank you, sir." She said, and fell into silence. Apparently the topic was finished, although he felt raw, exposed. He cleared his mind quickly, as the navigation point on his HUD came within 500 metres of him, changing colour from blue to orange.

"Into cover, column formation, single file." He ordered, and they sidled over from the flattened pathway into the forest on one side, beginning to walk parallel to the clear strip approximately 20 metres into the treeline. The satellite imagery showed a sprawling Covenant complex, at least as long as the now-absent Battlecruiser; the graceful spires of lookout towers and the low curved buildings slowly came into view through the trees, and they halted in the treeline before the customary strip of barren ground between the perimeter wall and the forest. This base was easily twice as large as the Excavation site, and blue vapour spouted from several large chimney-like protrusions from the roofs of some of the grander building.

Jake scanned over the base, and didn't like what he saw; snipers ringed both the defensive walls and the watchtowers, Jackals armed with high-powered Beam Rifle energy weapons, and Plasma Cannon turrets manned by Grunts were strategically place all along the walls so as to give overlapping fields of fire all around the base. Add in the heavy air presence in the area consisting of multiple flights of Banshees and Phantoms, the height of the fortifications and the suspicious silhouettes of Wraith mortar-tanks within the base, and you had one hell of a challenge.

"Tighter than a Firenzian's wallet." Whispered Rachel.

"No way are we getting in there, just look at the defensive forces. This is double any normal base's security." Sabina sounded matter-of-fact "They must be guarding a huge asset."

"That's the idea" Jake confirmed, hailing the Hydra on his radio.

"UNSC Hydra, this is Sierra-209, do you read?"

"Affirmative Sierra-209, we read you, go for Hydra." Came a woman's calm reply.

"Security at Covenant Base Alpha is tougher than anticipated, request support, over."

"Roger that, patching you through to the Captain." The ID on the HUD flickered and was replaced by Captain Hall's information.

"Hall here" He sounded cool and calm, his voice gravelly

"Captain, enemy installation is highly fortified, we could use a little assistance in opening the doors, but the Control Room is directly underneath the base, so MAC rounds are inadvisable."

There was a brief pause, then Hall came back "Well, the 405th are getting restless, I'm sure they'd love to knock on some doors, sit tight. Hall out."

Hall

"Sir, Helljumpers are ready to deploy, tubes are warmed." Athena said "They've already performed the pre-mission pseudo-homoerotic rituals, lots of chest bumping and back-slapping." She smiled a tad. "And Major Kovic has taken the liberty of readying all Marine forces for the assault." The list of troops and vehicles being prepared scrolled across the screen, as well as the ships they were to be launched from.

"That should certainly open a few doors." The captain remarked. "Is there any word from the Shipmaster?" They had sent a message 20 minutes prior, offering assistance to the 4th Fleet of Retribution in their conflict with the remaining Loyalist forces, in which the former was significantly out-gunned.

"No sir, but their fleet is taking a beating; at least three of their vessels have been neutralised, and the CRS-class Sanctified Dawn has taken moderate damage, the CCS cruiser is just too big a mouthful for our Separatist friends."

"Keep me posted." He muttered, rubbing his eyes. "Launch the Marines, deactivate the mines in their path, and then get ready to intervene in this brawl down below, with or without the Shipmaster's permission. It won't look good if we just sit by and let them get pummelled into the dirt."

"Aye, sir, ODSTs launching, dropships away."

He watched out of the main view-screen as tiny black specks flew away from the ships in his group toward the planet below, each one a HEV insertion pod, and observed the comparatively bulky forms of Pelicans exiting the various hangars and bays, accelerating quickly away from the taskforce.

"Sir, incoming narrow-band transmission from the Sanctified Dawn, allowing us to assist the 4th fleet in any capacity, how nice of them" Athena read, her voice dripping with sarcasm. "Admiral Marden's taskforce is engaging in runaway forces on the edge of the system, so it looks like we're the cavalry in this particular charge."

"Good." Hall said, grinning slightly "Athena, identify and highlight hostile and friendly units, prepare all weapons systems and takes us down into the fray." He looked around at his bridge crew "Once more unto the breach, everyone, let's give them hell."