Jyn sighed to himself as he continued to toy with his scope, envious of the jovial conversation behind him. It always took him longer to zero his rifle compared to the rest of his fireteam, and they'd long since gotten bored of waiting for him to finish. Taking aim again, he fired once more at the distant target on the range, before calling the target to check the grouping and placement. Just a touch to the left. Jyn sent the target flying back to the end of the range as he tweaked the optic a bit more. His fireteam leader, Bly, noticing his increasing exasperation, went to check on him.

"You done yet?"

"Just about, if these hit home."

Bly nodded as he stood off to the side to watch his designated marksman pop off rounds. This time, a satisfied smirk replaced the small scowl Jyn had worn for the past few minutes.

"Finally," Jyn said, clearing his rifle.

"About time, too," the fireteam gunner joked.

"Ah, shut up, Sean. You can't rush perfection."

Sean chuckled. "You could afford to attain it a bit quicker, though."

"Says the machine gunner."

"Alright," said Bly, cutting off the banter between the two. "Let's get going."

They walked up to the last member of the team. Sadie, the fireteam assistant, was facing away from them and absorbed in a tablet, tapping away at the screen as she glanced over numerous schematics. Sean lightly slapped her upside the head.

"Pff- what the fu- oh. Jyn's finally done?"

Jyn rolled his eyes. "Guys, it's been months. How long is this gonna drag on for?"

"Awhile," Sadie teased, as she packed up her gear and fell in with the team. "So where are we going?"

"Command's finally got news of our redeployment. We're shipping out to one of the colonies, to either help control Insurrectionist presence or clear out Covenant holdouts."

Sadie made a face. "That's still awfully vague."

"But it's what we've got, and frankly I'm excited that we've gotten any news at all."

"Certainly beats the war days where you just got shipped wherever the hell you were needed," Jyn muttered.

"Forget the lack of info, I'm just glad we're finally leaving. I'd scoured this place for fun spots weeks ago." Sean blurted out, a bit too loud.

Bly let out a short laugh as they walked into the command building. "I'll remember that when we get shipped to some frigid-ass planet out in the boonies."

An aide greeted them immediately, which was odd considering the base's inherent laid back personality. "Bly of Fireteam Sierra, I take it?"

"Aye, that's me."

"Have your team take a seat, sir. Order's've changed, and there's been a recent development in the Outer Colonies that we're deploying you to help handle."

"And that is..?" as the fireteam all stacked up on a single chair sat down.

"The planet Poltava's slipping into chaos. Increased activity from the Brute pockets there have roused up the Insurrectionist cell there, and Army units are starting to be stretched a bit thin. Your fireteam is to reinforce the garrison and execute strikes against targets to relieve pressure. The planet's a bit cold, but it's not that bad- it only got its name because the Swedish explorer discovered the planet during one of its major storms. Your team will still be issued winter clothing, though. The planet's orbit means it has twenty-six hour days and a three hundred day year. Your team is to depart tonight, so you're to prep up immediately. Any questions?"

"None. Thanks."

"Good luck out there, fireteam." said the aide as the team got up and left.

"Aw, hell." Sean muttered as they walked back to the barracks.

Sadie giggled. "Shouldn't have said what you said right before getting briefed, huh?"

Bly grinned. "Certainly serves you right. Alright people, let's get packed up as quickly as possible in case command decides to ship us out immediately instead.

As it would turn out, the team would depart exactly when they'd been ordered to, which was a wonderful change of pace from the Human-Covenant War.