Chapter 9

October 1, 2552 1045 Hours, Sydney, Australia, Planet Earth

Spanner Misriah had been having an unusually busy day. Armaments orders had increased and he was having trouble meeting demand. The transfer of the bulk of his production was almost completed and he'd been able to accomplish it, it seemed, without the UEG's Department of Commercial Shipping finding out. The information he'd received at Reach had caused him no measure of concern. He knew the Covenant would find Earth and if they did they'd find Mars and all his manufacturing facilities. So he'd been starting to shift production to plants on Earth and several other planets. The problem was he'd not informed the Industrial Council so was doing it under the radar. That was hard enough without increased orders. While he loved Earth and was patriotic towards it he also was a businessman and was looking towards his future so had no plans on being caught with his proverbial pants down.

The aggressive businessman congratulated himself on his foresight but still he was not content. It wasn't business or even the threat of Covenant invasion that bothered him, something else was troubling the successful billionaire.

It was his conversation with Natalia that stuck with him like a burr

"Niccolo," he called out after electronically sealing the door to his office.

"Here, my lord," his Smart AI answered, appearing in the form of a Renaissance era gentleman compete with soft velvet cap.

"What's happening on Mars?" the executive asked, trying to figure out clues to this puzzle.

"Production at our remaining facilities is steady and guards have been increased to keep the curious out. All our operations appear to be fully staffed, as ordered," the AI answered in a distinct Italian accent. The AI had taken on the form and avatar of Niccolo Machiavelli a philosopher from Earth's 16th century. The fact that a civilian had a Smart AI was a testimony to Spanner Misriah's wealth and influence.

"Very well." Misriah had to frame the question differently. He hadn't wanted to tip Niccolo to his true intent for calling him. He wanted to have the guise of power over everything. "Is there any unusual activity happening? Anything that sticks out?"

It took Niccolo about two seconds to respond which for a human would have been the equivalent of reading all the books in an entire section of a library. "All is functioning under normal parameters and historical boundaries, my Lord. Civil government is stable, UNSC military activities have been ramped up but that is to be expected after Reach, industrial output is at high volumes and there have been no increases in crime." The AI paused for a nanosecond, as if assessing the asker. "May I ask the nature of your inquiry, sir, so as to be able to better assess what you are looking for?"

Spanner swore to himself. Niccolo had figured out he was fishing for something. He wanted to say that he'd like information on why his daughter who hated Mars was suddenly interested in going there but he wouldn't tip his hand, not at this point anyway. He wanted to continue to at least project the image he was in control.

It seemed that not only AI's had avatars.

October 1, 2552, 1100 Hours, Losantiville, Seven Hills Region, planet Mars

Wolf Pack…Adam liked the sound of that and he was now 2ic of the new team. That would still take some processing. Matt didn't seem too pleased with the appointment though Terrell appeared comfortable with it. It'll take some time for us to gel Adam reminded himself. He'd vaguely remembered the pair from Onyx but had never mixed with them. That was his nature: a bit reflective and solitary. Team Rapier had been his family and he'd stuck with them. While still getting used to the idea of Dilhan and Spencer being gone the idea was already growing on him. He'd always been in the shadow of the bigger, louder Spartan and so now could truly thrive, he felt, in this new environment.

Mike had moved the five into a new team area so that no one could be territorial. In addition he had moved his own things there as well. Time to start being a team.

"Promoted to PO1 and team 2ic? Way to go Adam," Alissa congratulated him, as they sorted out their new berths.

"Thanks," Adam responded, uneasy with the acclaim and also the look he was getting from Matt. The black haired former member of Team Claymore was easily the biggest of the five and didn't seem happy with the command structure. He went over to him and said, "Hey, I'm glad you and Terrell made the team. It's going to be great working with you."

"Humph…," Matt snorted, obviously displeased. "Would have been better if the CO had kept our full team together. We ran circles around you guys."

"As if," Alissa shot back angrily before Adam could speak. "I saw the vid of you guys doing that warehouse clearing last week. It should be on the Comedy Channel."

"Hey!" Matt snarled, his dark grey eyes flashing. "What do you mean by that?"

"That's what I thought," Alissa smirked, "too thick to figure it out."

The two continued to quarrel, drawing Terrell and Maia into the argument.

Great, Adam thought, unsure what to do. 2ic of the team and I can't stop this. Some team. I thought I would be done with this when Spencer left and now I'm going to have to deal with Matt, he thought with a fatalistic air. One seemed to be replaced by the other. What would Mike think?

You sure about this, sir?" Gunny MacGregor asked as he and Mike watched the confrontation on a video monitor. "It's not too late to call back the last batch of recruits we sent out."

"No, this is a natural outcome. We've stripped them from the team they've known for 6 years and thrown them together," Mike sighed. Though he understood it, he wasn't happy. Again he wondered if he was the right man for the job.

"Want me to go and break it up?" the ODST NCO asked.

"No, let it play out," Mike shook his head. "We've got a bit of time to come together."

"Yea, wait 'til they start working with you. That'll be a new challenge for all of you," MacGregor correctly surmised.

"We'll throw them into a couple of scenarios where they have to work together. They'll bond. Besides, they need to learn to channel their aggression. I got a file from Lieutenant-Commander Kurt from Currahee. Apparently when they played around with our bodies to make us they screwed around with the minds of these poor sods. They did some reprogramming with their brains during the augmentation program for the III's to make them tougher and more aggressive. They were given some kind of mind-altering mutagen which allows them to shrug off traumas to the body that even a Spartan II couldn't take. Problem is if it's not countered they could become psychotic."

"So that's why they've been getting the regular supplements of Cyclodexione-4 and Miso-olanzapine," MacGregor connected the dots. "Poor bastards." Then his eyes narrowed angrily and he spat in a nearby trash bin, "Bloody ONI."

Mike didn't comment but he shared the gunny's anger. He knew what the augmentation process had done to him and how hard he struggled to keep it all together. To mess with the Spartan's mind may have been more efficient on paper but it was just plain cruel.

"This stuff can lead to bouts of hyper-aggression," Mike confirmed. "I need to find the balance point so we need to work that out of them before we get into the field."

"Okay, well it sounds like it's going to be a fun couple of week," MacGregor declared empathizing with his CO. But then his expression shifted and became rock hard. Mike had his job to do and so did he. The ODST wasn't about to let sentiment get in the way of his orders. "And just as we discussed, me and the boys aren't going to hold back just because you're out in the field with your little lambs, sir."

Mike chuckled. "I think you're looking forward to this, gunny."

"Oh I am, but what about you, sir?" MacGregor asked.

That was the question, Mike thought. Was he? No, after Reach that had changed as well. Instead he was prepared for what lay ahead of him.

October 3, 2552, 1530 Hours, Losantiville, Seven Hills Region, planet Mars

The rain that had continued to fall all day formed a mist that made it hard to see. The Wolf Pack had been inserted by Pelican dropship north of Losantiville well away from any developed area. They were in a hilly, barren area dotted by copper-red coniferous trees. The team was on a stealth insertion mission with the goal of moving towards an abandoned logging compound and securing a package that had been placed in one of the buildings. While all carried weapons none were loaded. They'd spent their time since the team had formed getting used to working together and while they'd seemed to gel okay this was going to be their first real test against a live opponent, not simulators

As usual, the enemy force was ODSTs. Though they were no longer allowed to beat anyone captured the team had found out they were adapt at liberally using stun rounds and the Spartans being in black BDU's not armor didn't help their disposition. The five members of the team hadn't realized how much they'd come to rely on their armor during their days on Onyx. They felt naked; vulnerable without it. Mike had to confess to a degree of the same feeling. While the former members of Gamma Company were issued with SPI armor he had the luxury of MJOLNIR and he found even going into a simulated combat experience he missed that protective shell.

They'd been dropped early in the morning and had carefully worked their way to a position to observe the designated area. The 'Identification of Friend or Foe' or IFF system used to tag friendly or hostile forces had been turned off on the Heads-Up-Display of their helmets, the only armor they wore. They did have the location marked and satellite map access but would not have the luxury of the tracking device.

Mike was allowing Adam to lead the exercise since this was an opportunity for the young 2ic to grow and him to observe. The previous two days had gone okay. They'd gone through some simple exercises the first day, spent some time on the range and basically had the chance to get used to the new team and their roles the first day. Yesterday they'd spent the morning working on role-specific skills with the ODST directing staff. In the afternoon they'd began some tactical movement exercises which had been choppy. There was a hesitancy of movement that would need to be fixed but Mike reminded himself they were new working together and it would take time.

The Lone Wolf observed Adam pick a route for the next bound of their exercise. They were getting close and the chance of running into the enemy force was growing causing tensions to rise. Adam picked a route he wouldn't have but silently Mike decided to let it play out.

"Wrong way, boss," Matt called out over the comms a bit derisively, but echoing Mike's thoughts. "We're going to be too exposed. We should go this way," and the aggressive teen set a new waypoint.

"No, this is the way I've chosen. If we move quickly and use the mist we'll get there sooner," Adam responded, supporting his position.

"That's not going to work."

"Well that's my choice," Adam shot back doggedly.

"That's not your call, Matt," Alissa interjected as the whole group stopped moving and became engaged in the confrontation. "Shut your mouth and do your job."

"Who are you to say that?" Matt shot back angrily, "his little protector?"

"Gotta keep moving," Terrell commented, covering the rear. Sweeping the area with his empty M247 General Purpose Machine Gun, he added, "Standing around is only going to get us caught."

Mike agreed with the light-skinned African American. They couldn't stop in this location but he kept silent since he wanted the other members of the team to sort this out.

"Well, I'm in charge and this is the route we're taking," Adam stated assertively, "Let's move." And with that he began to walk stealthily into the shadows.

"I think it's wrong," Matt argued but he fell in line with the others and began to move.

Adam tried to control not only his breathing but his racing heart. Anger at his new teammate welled up inside of him. He was not going to let this turn out like it had years earlier with Spencer. He was the 2ic, he'd earned it and no loud-mouth was going to undermine it.

The team moved quietly closer to their position for another 15 minutes and as he calmed down Adam realized Matt had a point. The route he'd picked had not perhaps been the best but he'd been put in charge and he'd selected it. The aggressive teen shouldn't have questioned it from that point.

True, Adam thought, but I also should have asked for input when we set out and got the buy-in before we moved. They were supposed to think and he'd denied that opportunity. Stupid! Adam chided himself. They were all still learning. He'd do better the next time, he promised himself.

Mike was still nervous about the tension in the new team and second guessed himself for the thousandth time. He wasn't used to being in such a passive role as advisor and mentor and it went against his own aggressive nature. He'd need to talk to Adam about how he led and Matt about how he made suggestions. Filing the thoughts away he surveyed the hilly, increasingly tree-filled terrain. The area had been part of a logging operation in the past. The compound they were heading towards had been the base of operation. Looking at the copper red trees Mike wondered how they'd gotten there in the first place. Had they been a natural part of the terraforming process? Probably not. The big Atmospheric Processors that had made the formerly barren place habitable would not generate something like that. No, they would have been planted. They were part of someone's design or vision for the place. Kind of like me, Mike thought. I was formed as part of someone's vision. He'd been made into a Spartan, not born this way yet he thought anew as he'd been doing lately if there was even something more than that, a grand Designer who had created all things, including him. Could there be some big picture being played out that he was an actor in? He'd spent so many years on auto-pilot as a virtual killing machine he'd never thought of such things. Yet in the last few months, especially after meeting Natalia, he wondered if there was more. Were there things going on beyond the physical realm but in the spiritual perhaps that dictated much of his life? Where did choice come into play and predestination? That was more than he could process.

No time to be a philosopher, Mike chided himself, they were rolling up onto their objective.

Crouching low and moving in the shadows the team trekked to the crest of the hill selected to give them a view of the compound below. They ensured there would be no silhouette as they stayed just below the lip.

Adam looked at the area below and made his assessment. "Alissa overwatch at the open space 46 degrees out. I'm marking it now. Terrell, you anchor our position here. Matt, Maia and me will move on the position. Sir, you support Terrell. We'll move on the position, grab what we need and fall back here."

"Why don't we wait for night?" Terrell asked quietly. "We're pretty exposed here and don't have anything to fight with."

"Makes sense to me," Matt supported his former Team Claymore member.

"No, quick assault is the best option," Adam countered. ODSTs know we're coming and the longer we wait the better chance they have to find us. We move in fast and fall back to the extraction point. All right?"

"No one spoke though there was an air of indecision.

Alissa moved off to her position followed by Adam and the other two beginning to move carefully down the slope through the tree line.

Mike settled down near Terrell and assessed the situation. The heavy weapons specialist was correct in his assessment; the location was exposed and afforded poor sight lines for approach. He could see why Adam had picked it though, it did seem the logical choice on the map which would mean it was logical to anyone looking. Mike shifted his gaze to the former logging camp to assess the situation. Years of doing this type of thing allowed him to shift easily into a tactical mode. He could see six ODSTs on perimeter duty. Four were static and two roaming. It was a textbook layout. Difficult to penetrate but not impossible. Something about the whole thing didn't seem right. They knew the nature of the exercise though not the objective. They knew the Spartans would be coming but not for what or when. Something just didn't seem right. Then it hit him- this was a textbook guard layout and no ODST would use the text book. Should he warn them? The trio were already down on the floor of the valley and using good cover to get into position. They were invisible to the guards in the camp but not to anyone on the hills above looking down. Still, there was no unusual movement in the camp so he let it play out.

It still wasn't sitting right, his intuition was sending up all kind of alarm signals. He'd allowed Adam to make the call but he also didn't want his new team to get embarrassed. No, he decided, time to call them back and reassess. Just as he was about to do that he heard a tree branch break in the dense forest to his right.

Adam had pushed the pace. He knew they were going in fast but felt the risk was worth it. The ODSTs knew they were coming so speed was critical. They'd made their way to the camp perimeter. It had a chain link fence around it mainly to keep stray animals out. He wondered what kind of animals there were on Mars but blocked the curiosity. A precise incision in the links allowed them in and they moved among several piles of cut copper red trees that were stacked over seven feet tall. The rain continued to fall and the mist shrouded their view which Adam saw as a bonus since it not only made visibility poorer but dampened any sound.

Using hand signals he motioned for Matt and Maia to move with him around several outer buildings to their objective. He knew from satellite images there was a main door and secondary one to their objective. They'd move in, grab the package and move out. It would take less than five minutes.

The trio moved undetected to the door and Adam paused to listen. There was no sound. He signalled Matt and Maia to keep watch for the roving guards and he tested the door handle.

Unlocked.

Good. He turned it and opened the door carefully. The room was black; all the windows had been shuttered. Crouching down he moved in and towards the package on the table in the center of the room. No sounds Adam, he willed himself. His eyes fixed on the objective he began to plan their extraction. Time to think ahead. As he grabbed it, lights went on in the room.

"Hello mate!" an ODST lance corporal called out as he and three troopers emerged from the darkness just as a call came over the comms.

"Contact!" Mike called out urgently, as a hail of stun rounds came down on his position. He was peppered by rounds and pain lanced through his body. He heard Terrell's anguished yelp as a half-dozen ODST's came out of the woods.

"Damn!" Alissa said to herself, watching what was going on. She'd inched out of position as she saw movement below her in the woods.

"Not so fast, little lady," a grinning ODST with helmet off said to her, coming out from a defile of rocks, Assault Rifle leveled.

In one swift motion, she sprang at the Helljumper and swept his feet out from underneath him. The ODST was caught off guard and went down in a heap. Fluidly she dropped her Sniper Rifle and grabbed his weapon. Levelling she pulled the trigger and a three round burst hit the trooper square in the chest. He yelped in pain as the stun rounds hit him. She spied movement to the left out of her peripheral vision and shifted, opening fire, dropping the first ODST coming out. His partner ducked and returned fire. Alissa jumped from one rock cluster to another, taking down another before she herself was brought down by two who'd bisected her route of retreat. She lay their stunned as an angry ODST came over and emptied his clip into her, bringing blissful unconsciousness.

Adam had no time to react. His helmet filtered the light automatically but his mind reacted too slow. He was hit full on with a burst of automatic rifle fire that knocked him painfully to the ground. It was over almost before it began.

A short time later Gunny MacGregor came striding in from the command center he'd been watching the events unfold as Mike and the team lay on the ground of the compound zip tied and surrounded by two dozen ODSTs.

"Kendrick, get them on their feet," MacGregor ordered the stocky lance corporal who'd led the ambush that captured Adam and the assault team.

The blue eyed ODST grinned as he and his team freed the embarrassed members of the Wolfpack.

Terrible!" MacGregor shouted at the team, making no concessions for Mike. "You did no tactical assessment, had no idea of the size or disposition of the enemy force and you blundered in blind. God awful! You'd all be dead if this was real," he roared in his Scottish brogue, spit flying through the air. "You better get your collective heads out of your arses or you'll be no use to us."

Seeing a pair of D77-TC Pelicans inbound on their position he added, "You all can walk back to the original insertion point. You haven't earned a ride from here."

Mike was furious not only at the way they were being spoken to but by what had happened. If he'd run the mission he could have taken their smug opponents apart.

But he hadn't.

His new team had run things. His new team, he emphasized. He was angry and embarrassed by what had happened, especially in front of MacGregor who he'd come to respect immensely.

The walk back to the extraction point seemed to never end. Mike led the way and though he pushed the pace it seemed to go on forever. He kept ahead because he didn't want to talk to anyone. While Matt grumbled mostly to himself Adam walked with his head down most of the way. The others didn't let on if they'd picked this up or not but kept their thoughts to themselves. The rain had let up so while visibility improved the team's disposition didn't. Their BDUs were soaked through from rain and exertion. It was a totally miserable team that made the pick-up spot in the darkness of growing night. To add insult to injury there was no Falcon there; MacGregor had likely called it away, so Mike had to call for pick up.

The Lone Wolf turned team leader had calmed down a bit on their trek through the hilly terrain and had used the silence to think. He'd been unfair to the team, Adam in particular. While the Spartans had gone through years of training they were still learning. They'd faced a group of battle-hardened and motivated ODSTs.

What did he expect?

Mike admitted he'd expected perfection since he'd demanded no less from himself. He was particularly disappointed with Adam who'd run a sloppy mission. But again, that was not fair; he'd never likely done anything of this nature before. The kid had potential, Mike reminded himself, that's why he'd been picked. What should he do? This was new ground for him as well as these teens. He was no leader, he had no experience either. He'd allowed the team to be set up to fail. Instead of blame Adam he should blame himself for not showing them how it was done and leading himself rather than test them yet again.

That's what Commander Carter would have done.

Mike swore to himself at the realization. If blame should rest anywhere it should be on his shoulders. What would Carter do? He'd tell the truth.

"Guys, listen up," Mike called their attention. "I screwed up today and set you up to fail."

Though the other Spartans still had their helmets on he could see he'd gotten their attention by the surprised responses.

"It wasn't on purpose. I shouldn't have thrown you out of the boat like that. We're still learning how to work together and work our roles. I'm sorry. I won't let that happen again."

"No, that was my fault," Adam confessed. "I picked all the obvious spots and I rushed us in there. I also didn't listen to Matt. You had some good suggestions." The troubled teen dropped his head. "I don't think I deserve to be 2ic of the team."

"Hey man, this is on all of us," Terrell countered.

"T!" Matt protested.

"Shut up Matt! I'm sick of your whining too," the lanky African-American cut the aggressive teen off. "If we're going to be a team we got to make this thing work and that starts with us looking out for each other." Then he turned to Alissa, "And I saw you take out that one ODST. Sweet move."

"Thanks," Alissa responded in pleased surprise at the compliment. "But I hurt like hell now for the effort."

"Yea," Terrell gave a pained chuckle, "they sure unloaded on you."

"I think they unloaded on all of us," Alissa responded. "How do you feel, sir?" she asked Mike.

"Not so great," he replied, rolling his painful shoulder out that had been hit twice. "That wasn't fun."

"Now you know how the rest of us feel," Matt added, anger still in his voice.

Mike caught the touch of insubordination but let it go, instead saying, "Yes, I do. Stun rounds hurt."

Despite his frustration Matt couldn't help but laugh. "Stun rounds hurt? You think?"

The rest joined in the laughter, the heaviness of the moment broken. They'd shared their first genuine experience as a team.

Maybe they would be able to come together after all, Mike thought to himself.

The whine of a Pelican's twin engines inbound signalled their ride had arrived. It turned out while they'd been defeated in this particular exercise they'd not been beaten. There was a growing determination by the members, though it remained unspoken, to show they were better than this.

The team arrived back at their base well into the night. The mess hall had been closed by Gunny MacGregor but Mike woke the cooks and ordered them to prepare food for his team.

To the five other Spartans of Team Wolfpack it was a simple gesture but a powerful one. The leader of their new team had sided with them and not with the key member of the directing staff. That meant something. Perhaps they'd come together in the end after all.