Author's note: Yeah, new chapter. Don't worry if the beginning doesn't make much sense right now. I'll flesh out as the story goes on. Also, if your still wondering what the hell the Freedom is and what it has to do with the story, well, lets just say you won't have to worry about that until the sequel...

Chapter 4: Eagle Eyes

"Hey! Sniper! Up front!"

No answer.

"Damnit, Wellings, get up here!"

"Already am, sir!"

Sergeant Donald Paccone almost jumped in fright, but he quickly caught it and managed to reduce it to a stiffening of his muscles at the back of his neck. He turned the face the girl garbed in a gilly suit and holding a customized S2AM sniper rifle.

"Private, what have I told you about doing that?"

"Sorry sir! Won't do it again, sir!"

"Don't give me that candy-ass talk! Get up there! There may be a Covvie Shade up there and I don't want body parts flying if there is!"

Private Samantha Wellings gave Paccone one of her sickenly sweet smiles. She knew it had to infuriate the Sergeant and his men.

"Yes sir!"

Sam darted off into the forest and met up with her spotter, Private Leonardo Carter. Sam just called him "Leo", since saying "Leonardo" was a mouthful, and the fact that Leo hated his full name.

"Hey Eagle Eyes, I wouldn't be messing with the vets, you know. As I recall, this is your first actual combat mission."

"Yeah? Well until you nab a second mission under your belt, I'll just take your advice with a grain of salt."

Like Sam called Leonardo "Leo", Leo often called Sam "Eagle Eyes", as much for her sniping as that cold stare she gave when anybody but him called her that.

"Oh, I've been skewered the by the almighty Sam! Now I'll take seven hours to reevaluate my life."

"Cut it out, Leo. Lets see if your spotting skills are as good as you think they are. Sarge says there might be a Shade around here."

Leo took out his SharpSight and began setting it up. The SharpSight was a scope specially made for spotters working with snipers. It had a nearly 200x zoom capability along with multiple sight functions including infrared, nightvision, and electromagnetic. The only reason why the thing was never mounted on a rifle was because of its size and weight, both of which rivaled that of a light machine gun.

While Leo was busy mounting the SharpSight on its small tripod, Sam went prone and scanned the surrounding area for potential movement.

"See anything?"

"Um, lets see..."

Leo played around with some switches and swiveled the SharpSight around a little.

"I'm getting some unusual heat readings from that hilltop about twenty degrees to your right."

Sam shifted a little to comply with his instructions. Sure enough, she caught a bit of movement on the hilltop.

"You think you can make the shot"

"Leo, did you ever doubt my accuracy before?"

"Maybe."

"Traitor."

Sam put her scope on maximum zoom. On the hill, she saw the barrel of a Shade turret.

"Leo, radio the Sarge. Tell him when he hears a shot, charge the hill."

"You're actually going for it?"

"Yep."

Sam waited for a few seconds as Leo got onto the radio.

"Sarge says okay, and he hopes you know what you're doing."

"Just watch."

A sharp crack filled the entire valley.

Twenty Miles Away...

Lieutenant Karla Wellings ran up to the front of the Warthog formation. For some reason, the lead units abruptly stopped, nearly causing the entire convoy to crash end for end.

"This better be good, Williams. You're oh so great driving nearly got us off the road."

"Uhhh, El Tee, we've hit a little snag in our route."

"Snag?"

"Yeah, apparently, the maps we've got don't show this giant fucking crater in the middle of the road!"

Wellings took a closer look and did indeed see a sudden drop-off in the road.

"See kids? Crap like this is exactly what happens when you go on a mission with absolutely no intel!"

"Um, there's more, El-Tee."

The Marine pointed further down the crater. Wellings squinted and could barely make out the shape in the mist...

"My god, what the hell is that?"

"We don't know, ma'am, but our SharpSights show that's its some, massive thing. Architecture doesn't match any known human structure, and none of the Covenant ones we've encountered either."

Wellings muttered.

"ONI is going to have a field day with this..."

"What was that, ma'am?"

"Nothing. Anything else?"

"Yeah. Looks like the structure is surrounded by, oh... a hundred fifty Covvies, at least."

"Great, more targets."

"I would also like to point out that they have a lot, and I mean a LOT of heavy artillery and weapons emplacements scattered around their perimeter."

"That's why we call in a little air support."

"Huh?"
"As I recall, Firebase Delta always keeps at least two Longswords hot and ready to go, for situations like these."

Williams finally caught on and smiled.

"Yes ma'am! What do you want me to say?"

"Tell them we've got something 'alien'. That should get their attention."

"And what do we do?"

"I want second and third squads to drive around the crater and be prepared the flank the Covvies. Fourth squad goes in from behind, and first down the front. We attack on all sides. And please remember to use the crater lip to cover your movement."

"Signal?"

"Once the Longswords finish their strafing runs. The moment they hit their afterburners and speed home, we show the Covvies that the groundpounders are a lot worse than those Navy flyboys could ever be."

A mile away...

A lone little creature wandered through the forest. This creature knew that it was called a Flood. The Flood creature seemed insignificant. It was no more than a little sack of flesh and tentacles, but inside, brewed a dark, sinister, and ancient entity. Though it was shackled due to the Flood drone's tiny brain, it managed to imprint one thought in the Drone's mind.

Vengeance

The entity did not know why, as it was limited by the small brainpower of the drone, but it knew that it wanted revenge on something. But to do that, it needed a suitable body. The wildlife around the forest provided excellent sustenance, but none where adequate to suit its needs. No, it needed something bigger and better. It remembered its escape just days ago, in the bowels of that ancient structure. Those creatures that released and subsequently destroyed its brethren. It thought back to its escape and remembered one particular creature that it caught a glimpse of.

Yes... that body will do.