Kholo, Aberdaus System

Adrian sat on the porch outside his parents' multi-level apartment, starring up at the vast expanse of stars. It made his head spin to think that off Kholo there were more people somewhere in that inky blackness, that he'd probably never even foot on most of the planets within the control of the UEG. There was so much that he'd never know, never experience, it boggled the mind. Though when he thought of the universe like that, it made sense that they would eventually make contact with another species or group of them he supposed. A shame they first thing they did was go to war with humanity, he'd heard the reports of the last couple of years and while they were putting up a tough offensive, humanity was holding strong. It seems like a waste – to see a culture, a people, and world so utterly different to your own and the first thing that happens is conflict. The 'covenant' as the media dubbed them, were more of a shoot on sight sort of group he supposed, and he understood that war was an inevitably in some sense or another. Despite that…what if the covenant didn't open fire on Harvest? What if they'd peacefully negotiated with humanity, shared their vast knowledge with us, allowed us to explore their culture, their passions…nothing but a pipedream for now he supposed.

The glass door behind him slid open with a silent whoosh, the quiet patter of feet caused him to turn his head. His little sister Chloe narrowed her eyes at him, "What are you doing out here so late? There's not even anything cool to see."

"Just ahh – couldn't sleep."

She huffed but took the seat next to him, "Do you think we'll ever go to space?"

"We already have doofus."

She stuck out her tongue, "I mean you and me. Mom and dad have never been out there, seems boring to be able to go and not do it."

Adrian tilted his head back up to the stars, he imagined himself as some sort of adventurer, cruising from each little sparkling dot to another. Listening to music, making friends, seeing the sights, exploring everything the universe had to offer.

He grinned to himself, "Of course we will, I'll be the pilot and you can be my co-pilot. We'll have our-"

"Why do I have to be the lame co-pilot!"

"Because you're young, duh." Adrian huffed. "Anyway, we'll have our own ship, travel wherever we want, and do all sorts of crazy things."

He turned to Chloe to see her grinning wide before faltering a bit, "But what about the aliens? Won't it be dangerous?"

"Pffft, aliens? Give the army a couple years and we'll whoop them back, make em' think twice about trying to start a war. Besides, I'll always protect you."

"Always?"

"Always."

Forward Operating Base Verani, Utgard, Harvest, Epsilon Indi System

"A spook, a freak, and soldier walk into the bar." Second Lieutenant Delan drawled, his eyes narrowed as his pupils shot between the trio of people gathered in front of him, "I wish there was a punchline to this joke, instead I'm left wondering what the fuck I'm supposed to do with you."

Adrian awoke from his daydream, his mind slightly foggy until he remembered why he'd zoned out in the first place. Fighting the urge to roll his eyes, he settled for drumming his fingers against the helmet held in his hands by his side.

"Something bothering you Lance Corporal?"

"Negative sir." Though he was thinking what everyone else in this command tent was thinking, what's the point? To a point he could empathize with the Second Lieutenant, the military hierarchy was rather strict for reason though it became increasingly jumbled as ONI stuck their fingers into it. Though they technically had a naval rank structure accorded to their division, it frankly didn't mean shit. With the exception of a few very specific instances, the command structure of any branch of service held no sway over ONI. As such when two ONI spooks, Angela and himself specifically enter the fray…well it throws a wrench into that system. Obviously, they weren't ONI but neither were they in the system at this point, a common tactic with ONI personnel beyond having their records sealed, it ensured that they never existed in the first place. To make matters worse for the poor son of a bitch, Aliza not only technically outranked him, but fell under navy jurisdiction. Meaning that unless onboard a ship – in which case she reports to the captain – she does not have to answer to anybody. Though usually Spartans defer to ranking officers for simplicity's sake, still at this moment Aliza claimed both Adrian and Angela as ONI operatives under her purview to accomplish a classified objective. All of this being the roundabout way to say that Second Lieutenant had no actual authority at this moment, and everyone knew it. The past fifteen minutes were practically just to make himself feel good, letting off one scathing remark after another.

"I have to say, to see an ODST under the thumb of the spooks seems a breach of moral code." Adrian couldn't disagree there, but it seemed the Second Lieutenant was finally relenting. "Spartan-054." Delan spit the words out as if they were poison on his lips, "Does this secret mission of your in anyway jeopardize my mission or the lives of those under my command?"

"No sir." She spoke curtly, Delan glanced at the spartan as if hoping for more but clicked his tongue in resignation.

"Right fine, do whatever the hell it is you need to do. Just get out of my face and make sure you don't fuck anything up." He flicked his hand in annoyance.

Adrian and Aliza saluted with Angela following suit a few seconds after them, though the Second Lieutenant changed his mind at the last second. "Actually Spartan, stay. I want a detailed report of what you saw on your previous mission, command wants to plan its next move and for that it needs to know what it's up against." He flicked his eyes towards Adrian who had stopped at the entrance, "Dismissed marine." This time Adrian didn't bother with a salute, simply ducked out from the command building, raising a hand to cover his eyes at the sun's bright glare.

"Well, he seemed pleasant." Angela remarked.

"There's plenty worse, but I'm sure Overwatch has had its own fair share of uptight asses."

"Maybe, but if we did, they seemed to leave me well enough alone."

"Hah, every soldiers dream." He glanced around him, there was a slight buzz as gear, supplies, and troops were being mobilized for a new deployment but there was an underlying weariness despite the success. Most of the troops here had likely been stuck on the front for weeks, if not months of nonstop battle. It took its toll on a person's health, physically and mentally; on top of that no one, not even the officers had an inkling of what was about to come next. Sure, the average grunt was used to taking orders no question, go where they're told, but that was always with the assumption that somewhere, someone up the chain had a plan. To see that no one had any direction didn't exactly spur any confidence in an already drained battalion. More than that though, there was something more pressing.

"How have you been holding up?" He asked Angela, the sudden shift was something that couldn't have been easy for her. Hell, it was hard enough for him coming back to his own world and he wasn't dropped into the middle of a damn warzone.

"I've…I'm…" She tried to find the right words but couldn't, "Not great to be honest."

He nodded, they talked briefly before being summoned and she'd been plying her trade at the medical stations. Not a position he envied in the least. Most soldiers don't live long enough to make it to the med station, those that do are usually on the verge of death from any number of nasty wounds. He seen a lot of shit, and done a lot worse, but the cries, the screaming, the begging, that always struck him to the core. Watching a young boy get his stomach get eviscerated, guts piling out but die on the spot? He could handle that. To see a grizzled veteran, whimpering as plasma caused his skin to melt like putty, the muscle to sizzle, and bones shatter from the heat…that was something he could never get used to.

"I'd be lying if I said it got easier." He clicked his tongue, "With any luck though you won't be here much longer."

Angela glanced at him, "So there's actually a plan to get back?"

"Well..." Adrian avoided her gaze, "More like a loose conglomeration of ideas that put together sort of give us an idea of what to do. Alright look the basics are easy, we need a power source and a way back to where I came in."

"That seems deceptively simple."

"Well the hardest part is the journey. A power source can be grabbed from anywhere if I'm being honest, UNSC or Covenant, either works and being in the middle of a war zone isn't leaving us strapped for options."

"I feel like you're overlooking the warzone part of this plan."

"No no, I accounted for it. That's what makes the journey back so difficult. I may be a hunk of pure ODST perfection, but we're losing the war for a reason."

"You're also not in the best condition." She flicked his chest plate causing him to wince a touch, "When is the last time you slept?"

He took the question literally, when a few seconds past as he did the math Angela rolled her eyes, "The fact you're counting isn't a good sign. You need to get some rest and let your body heal, since we can't act on this plan yet anyway it's a perfect time for you to take it easy."

Adrian wanted to argue but came to understand there wasn't any real benefit to it, the slipspace drive would hypothetically send them back to the exact point at which they left. Though even knowing that, he wanted to avoid spending months on harvest like he has with Overwatch. The biggest worry was dying, death tolls on Harvest are frightening with the whole planet practically being one massive meatgrinder. This worry was less for himself and more for Angela or any other Overwatch personnel that got brought with them.

"Yeah – you're probably right."

"Of course I'm right, the Doctor always is." Angela smirked as she led Adrian towards a medical tent. The two walked in relative silence, the surrounding landscape wasn't exactly something to spark conversation. It was a rare moment of peace, their push into the Covenant held territory had secured the bottleneck on the skybridge, now supplies could be ferried in and out with relative security for the moment which is more than the troops had before. He thought back to his daydream earlier, it had been ages since he'd thought of Chloe and that moment. His heart ached for the simplicity of that time when things had seemed so clear cut with his whole future laid out in front of him. Endless possibilities, a multitude of ideas. When you're young nothing seems out of reach because the world has yet to stomp you under the heel of reality.

"Angela, if you had the chance to live your life differently, knowing everything that happened to you in this life. Would you take it?"

She tossed him a confused look, "Where did this come from?"

"Just humor me."

There was a silent few seconds before she answered, "I don't think I would."

"Why not?"

"Everything that's happened, everything I've experienced, has shaped who I am. To change even one thing would change the person I became."

"Even the bad?"

"I'd argue especially the bad, those moments in life are awful and every second past them can feel like agony, but I became stronger in spite of those moments."

"Hmm."

"Going to fill me in on what's running around in that head of yours."

"I – Uh. It's nothing, just wanted some something to consider."

Angela looked at him with concern for a few seconds before humming to hos non-committal response. The rest of their short walk was uneventful, after finding Adrian a spot to rest, Angela wasn't given much time to administer care before being whisked away on her temporary duties to help with the more critical patients. Like they'd discussed they had time, and who knows, maybe one of the lives Angela would save today will end up becoming a war hero down the line. It may be unlikely sure, but it was something nice to believe in. Laying down upon a tilted cot, Adrian rested his eyes, allowing his body to relax for the first time in – fuck how long has it been – days? It came with the downside of all that accumulated pain dropping on him at once, his whole body felt sore, sluggish, and unresponsive. His breathing felt ragged, with each gulp of air feeling like it sent little pricks down his throat, probably a sign of a greater injury but he didn't have the energy to care. That said, he was feeling rather relaxed, the ambient noise was a welcome familiarity that he long yearned for. Troops hustling, officers barking orders, vehicles rumbling with supplies; it brought him back to a world that for better or worse, he called home. His time with Overwatch was interesting to say the least, and there were many he'd considered to be good friends, yet in spite of that it was never a place he could truly get used to.

It reminded him of a conversation he had with an old sergeant of his when he'd asked, "What would you do if the war ended tomorrow?" A ridiculous question, everyone knew it wouldn't, but to him it was a curious hypothetical.

To Adrian's surprise the sergeant genuinely considered it before respond, "I couldn't tell you. I'm not trying to be glib; I honestly cannot conjure up an answer. I think the reality for me and many others, is that we don't know anything other than this war. Not just in a literal sense of time of birth, but in what gives us purpose, gives us motivation." He distinctly remembered the look his sergeant gave him that seemed as if it stared deep into his soul, "People like us, we're married to war. We might hate it with every fiber of our being, but the truth is this war is all we have left now."

A week later Adrian joined the ODSTs, completely unrelated to his sergeant's speech as it was something that was discussed prior, but it always seemed more than a coincidence to Adrian all these years later.

Opening his eyes, he stared up at the space above them, in the distance one could see a number UNSC ships in low orbit around Harvest. The Covenant were likely on the other side of the planet, according to the chatter passing through the camp Admiral Preston Cole had pulled off another pyrrhic yet ultimately successful victory against the alien fleets. Of course, Adrian had already known this, one of the few highpoints in humanities campaign. Still there was an uncertainty that filled the camp; weariness permeated every aspect of the camp as he noted on his way out from the Second Lieutenant's location, but it was contrasted with a hopeful optimism at the string of recent successes on the ground and in the sky. For many it didn't seem they knew how to behave, whether they should be somberly prepared or energetically confident. Sighing he propped himself up and flattened the cot, then grabbed his helmet from its place on the ground next to it and repositioned it to the head of the cot to act as a pillow.

He closed his eyes once more, while it felt as if only a few minutes had passed, the UNSC ships were no longer in position and the sun had passed when his eye's cracked open. Blinking the last bits of sleep away, he sat up in the temporary cot as his body seemed to whine against the action. No time was wasted as a scruffy looking private jogged up next to his position, an uncertain expression adorning his face.

"Lance Corporal Kasporov?" The kid asked.

"Who wants to know?"

"That's what we were hoping you could answer…sir. An ODST with a group of unknowns appeared at the Southern border of the FOB, they were granted access obviously as they're human, but the watch captain wants a second opinion."

Adrian grinned to himself, Liam just doesn't seem to give up, like a tick on a hound. "The Second Lieutenant is gonna love this." He murmured to himself as he stood up, the private nodded his head towards a warthog idly rumbling above the trenches. Equipping his helmet, Adrian flicked on the comms with his chin and swapped to a private channel he had set up with Angela and Aliza.

"Doc, I think I might have as close to good news as were going to get. I'm going to check it out at the southern entrance, will update as I understand it."

"That's a relief, please let me know as soon as possible."

Pushing himself out of the trenches, he slid into the passenger seat of the vehicle only now berating his inaction as he realized he never snagged a new rifle. Out of habit he usually laid his weapon across his lap, now however all he could do was drum his fingers anxiously against his leg as the private hopped into the driver's seat and revved the engine. Most of the brief ride was spent in silence with Adrian looking out from their vantage point on the skybridge, perched among the clouds it was hard to believe this single area could be considered its own suburb. Many things shocked Adrian with the contrast between his world and that of Overwatch, one of the more societally driven ones was the contrast of development. He had traveled to several dozen if not a hundred worlds, ranging from former megacities to rural agricultural centers and barely hospitable lands. However, the sheer scope of what the UEG engineering corps could accomplish was staggering. Angela's earth had plenty of sprawling metropolis, but they were usually standard in their design, tall skyscrapers that gradually tapered out as the city expanded but that same style would be a single layer in Utgard. Skyscrapers would stand upon others, interconnecting skybridges formed expansive swaths of territory rivaling colony villages, feats of construction unparalleled in their scope. Though not everything was so perfect he noted as he chuckled to himself, it made traversing the city an absolute nightmare, though he'd already bitched to himself enough about that.

"So uhh…an ODST huh." The private spoke up, though his focus was still straight ahead.

"Uh-huh."

"Listen is it…how difficult is it to be one? Like do you think I could ever be one. What are my chances right now?"

"The fact that you're asking means you're not ready." Adrian spoke simply, being an ODST was something one sought it. The opportunity came to you if you showed potential, most who were offered washed out with a few even dying in the extended training. Not to say it was filled with self-righteous and unwaveringly honorable folk, there were plenty glory hounds and adrenaline junkies in the program, but you could count on every one of them to excel in their position. ODSTs were forged in the fires of war, it wasn't something you worked towards even if it was a goal of yours. The ODSTs that were accepted all tell the same story, they did their job to the best of their ability without giving a thought to be a trooper, then one day after any other routine mission they were singled out and given an offer.

This kid might be an ODST one day, clearly not now, too green behind the ears and too optimistic but who knows what the future has in store for him. If Adrian's learned anything, anything is possible.

His attention was focused when the warthog slid to a stop, a few meters away Adrian saw a recognizable ragtag group of people and released a breath he didn't even know he was holding. Turning towards the private he patted the kid on the shoulder, "Keep your head down, be smart, and don't get yourself killed. You'll be an ODST in no time." The kid struggled to keep a smile from forming as Adrian hopped out, walking over to the rugged looking ODST leading the bunch.

"Well well well, as I live and breathe if it isn't Liam White." The two quickly embraced, "Just can't seem to get rid of you, can I?" The benefit to fighting Covenant was there was never any confusion as to who's blood adorned your body, Liam smattered with neon viscera was a hell of an ugly sight, but one Adrian knew was good as one could be in this situation.

Liam smacked his back, "Who knows what kind of shit you'd find yourself in if I wasn't here to guide ya.' You look like shite, but I supposed that's nothing new." Glancing around briefly his tone became serious, "Onto business though, what the hells the situation. I remember the fight with Talon then well…everything goes to shit and were here. I'd be thankful it was familiar if I wasn't weighed down by how little I fuckin' know."

Adrian began to fill him in on the situation, simultaneously he took a headcount of those with Liam, all typical Overwatch personnel, a few he recognized along with Vickers and Kadia. Probably a little under a dozen by his estimates, more than he anticipated but it also made him question how large the radius of the slipspace rupture was and who else came in with them.

When Adrian finished his recap, Liam took a step book in exasperation, "Fuck I know we've been through the shit, but this is…pretty rough mate."

"Yeah we've had better odds, still what happened to you? Is that everyone you met?"

Liam shook his hand side to side, "More or less, though they're having a hard time of it, not that it's much of a surprise."

"It complicates things, not that I'm glad to see them but still…"

"So there's a plan then? Better than nothing."

"The vague ruminations of one, more of a set of goals with no meat. Still that's something we can work out later." Adrian waved the young soldier over, go back to where you picked me up. Find medic Ziegler, keep it quiet and bring her back here."

He saluted before running off to the idling warthog, as it tore off back down the trenches Liam gathered the Overwatch crew off to the side, finding them a quiet dugout for them to recuperate. Adrian noticed Vickers and Kadia among them, though neither seemed to be fully aware of what was happening, not so much as even sparing a glance his way. Liam's voice drifted through the wind, trying to explain what would happen though it was a futile effort for now. A couple UNSC soldiers gave them curious glances but most ignored it, they had their own shit to worry about and already by this point in the war, there were more pressing concerns.

"Friends of yours?" A voice spoke beside him, he was surprised but didn't let it show.

"Fucking…. How'd you get here so fast?" He said to Aliza next to him.

"I always keep an ear close to the ground, besides the ODST wasn't exactly subtle getting into the camp. I was on my way over before you even mentioned it over comms."

"Christ, not a second wasted."

They stood in silene for a moment before Aliza broke it, "One of your missing squadmates?"

"Yeah, the only one I've found and the only one I'm likely to find for the time being." Adrian said as Liam was making his way over to them, his pace slowing when he saw the towering Spartan.

"Is he going to be a problem?" Aliza questioned, the rivalry at this point was new but not unheard of.

He sighed, "Probably not in the way you think." She shot him a sideways glance through her helmet but otherwise said nothing.

When Liam reached the pair, he moved his head side to side between the two, whatever expression he had concealed by his helmet, "You always seem to make new friends when I'm away, starting to feel like you don't want me."

He rolled his eyes, "Staff Sergeant Liam White, this Spartan-054 Aliza…yadda yadda."

Aliza kept it curt, nodding her head while uttering, "Staff Sergeant."

Before Liam could even open his mouth, Adrian shook his head, subtly slashing his hand across his throat, he trusted the man not to make an ass out of himself but sometimes it's better to be safe than sorry, "Spartan Aliza." He said respectfully, surprising them both by sticking his hand out. Aliza gently reciprocated the gesture, shaking her arm in tandem with Liam's.

He felt like a hypocrite, while there wasn't any immediate rush, the incomprehensible mechanics of slipspace travel insured that on top of it being practically suicide to try and make a path back to the device with a party in such a state. Still he felt like this was wasting time. Time for what exactly, he wasn't sure and thus the feeling raging inside him.

Liam brought him back on track with a question, "I know what you said, but is there anything we should be doing now to prep?"

"There's not a whole lot to do, we need a power cell either UNSC or Covvie, and a way to make a trip South. That's really about it. Angela is going to be focusing most of her time with Vickers' squad, which I guess leaves me and you for the energy source, maybe start planning a route."

"Well it shouldn't be hard to find a fusion coil laying around though I can't say I'm looking forward to lugging or even risk carrying that thing for any serious amount of time."

"Ah that's just officer's bullshit to keep you from messing around with them, their surpassingly resilient."

"Uh-huh."

"If they were so volatile the military wouldn't bother shipping them planet side, let alone chancing them for ground use." Aliza chimed in.

"See? What have you got to worry about?" Adrian smirked.

"I'm really not liking how it's already assumed I'll be the pack mule."

"It builds character." Aliza added. "Though it's bold to exclude me from the planning."

Adrian whipped his head to the side, "How so?" She didn't respond, Liam muttered that he'd fucked up under his breath, "I didn't assume you'd be helping. Don't you have your own orders to follow?"

"Unless specifically directed by their commander, Spartans are usually free to operate as they see best."

"The marines here need you more than we do."

"I never leave a debt unpaid."

It puzzled him for a second before his mind brought Pari to the forefront, "You never I never helped expecting anything in return, it wasn't an obligation to be fulfilled." He couldn't see past her visor, but small movements such as her finger tapping, or the slightly tilted positioning of her body spoke volumes.

"All the same…"

"Yeah – yeah I get it."

"So then we're settled?" Liam spoke up, "Cause I won't complain about having a fucking spartan with us."

In Adrian's peripheral, he eyed a warthog with a familiar passenger riding shotgun nearing them, excusing himself he left the immediate planning in the hands of Aliza and Liam while he went to meet up with the fourth member of their party. As the warthog slid to a stop, Angela stepped off in her UNSC garb, making her almost unrecognizable especially with her hair braided into a tight crop and covered with a slim MED COM helmet. Depolarizing the visor on his helmet, he intercepted Ziegler, her face was stern, but her eyes betrayed the genuine worry within.

"How are they?" She asked.

"Physically they're fine. Mentally though – that's what I'm worried about. They never had the luxury of being eased in like the upper echelon of Overwatch, Vickers and one or two others participated in a skirmish or two but even that was pushing their limits."

She frowned, "That's a bit out of my expertise, but we don't have much of an option here. Besides it's probably better they deal with a familiar face."

"Exactly my sentiment, now we're not pressed for time, but I can't guarantee how long this FOB is going to last before command wants us to push the advantage."

"It's a good thing I work well under pressure." She gave as confident a smirk as she could muster given the situation.

Adrian smiled warmly, "That's my girl. Now I know damn nothing about mental health, so I won't overstep, but at the least they must be responsive. The more combat ready the better, but if we go out with them as is, practically comatose, they won't last a second outside UNSC territory."

"Well it's a good thing you prefaced it with your lack of understanding but I'll do what I can." Before she left to evaluate the Overwatch troops she gave him a peck on the side of the helmet, "It's nice to see Liam, with him here at least I know he'll keep your head on straight." With that she went to the small grouping of soldiers, behind the helmet his face with grim.

It was always hard to see someone lose their sense of self; he'd seen it plenty of times over the years and it never got easier. Combat suffering was visceral, but mental anguish – always felt so heinous, like the person wasn't just losing their body but their soul, their very being gone in a flash of trauma. He just hoped that Liam and Aliza had something, anything to take his mind from this torment.

…

…

…

Left foot on the dashboard, he used his arched knee to support his aim as he scanned the horizon through his DMR though the warthog's less than consistent suspension made it harder than he'd liked to keep an eye for hostiles. This wasn't exactly what he had in mind when he asked the two for a plan, but it gave them something to do. After Adrian and Angela had been dismissed, Second Lieutenant Delan had confirmed Adrian's thoughts when he'd last talked to Ziegler, all forces located within FOB Verani were going to be mobilized within the week. High Command wanted to seize the momentum started by our recent upset and hopefully relieve pressure from other sectors within the city by pushing for an offensive to the West. Delan thankfully wasn't a complete used condom, after such a defeat the Covenant would want blood, more than usual. A number of squads were being deployed westward to probe covvie forces before committing the offensive. Aliza was to head one of these squads to the Southwest, which just so happened to overlap with the general direction of where they would need to go after acquiring a fusion coil or plasma battery. The trio of marines under her had no qualms about bolstering their forces with two ODSTs, in fact they saw it as a point of pride to work with the UNSC's best. Liam couldn't soak up their admiration fast enough, even Adrian enjoyed it to a point though he wouldn't express it.

Commandeering two warthogs, they set off to patrol a general route through areas that had been under UNSC control not long before. Delan wanted the safest path inwards, much of the city was so devasted that little worked as a viable defense and if they got caught between an ambush they would certainly be slaughtered. Lowering the DMR he snagged along with a new submachine gun and more than enough ammo, he glanced to the young marine driving. It was the same one who ferried him before, who he now knew to be Private First Class Ferrara, a relatively new recruit who came in as a replacement only a month or two ago. On the turret was PFC Richter, who was recommended alongside PFC Yu by Angela, apparently they'd been her first contacts among UNSC forces and we're a reliable enough sort. Whether they could hold their own in battle was a different matter.

The second warthog was trailing them by about fifty meters, with Liam at the helm driving, Aliza as the gunner, and aforementioned Private Yu riding shotgun. Contact so far had been light, they weren't too far from base yet and he assumed most of the Covenant forces in this area had regrouped. Still they meet a few small squads – almost entirely grunts and jackals – making patrols though they were quickly put down by Richter on the turret.

Ferrara's turning became sharper as they entered into a denser part of the city, the roads tightened, the buildings towered, and the kill zones became ever more frequent. The latter of which he wanted to avoid at any cost, but there wasn't much option for maneuverability.

Liam crackled over the comms, "Contact is light but there's no way we can move troops through this, it's too narrow."

"We're not here for pathing, just trying to be a nuisance to the covvies."

"It's a double-edged sword, there are obvious benefits to scouting ahead but we're pressed for time, loud, and reckless. The Covenant will know we're planning to push sooner rather than later." Aliza chimed in.

"Well let's hope they're too blind to notice." He grumbled to himself.

It was quiet for the next several minutes, sightings were still at a minimum though the presence of elites slowly but steadily increased. Before they could press any further into the city, an overriding communiqué made itself known, switching to the appropriate channel he diverted his attention to the message.

"All scouting parties and relevant UNSC forces within the area, scouting party Stroika has encountered heavy covenant forces and is unable to retreat without aid. All available forces are hereby directly ordered to reroute to Meridian Plaza to reinforce Stroika, hold off long enough to allow evacuation of the injured. Further orders will be given as the situation evolves. Delan out."

There was a unanimous swearing among the UNSC troops, he wouldn't even be surprised if Aliza let out a gripe at the changing of their fortune. Private Yu behind him was organizing the routes, all of a sudden, their HUDs updated to reflect the changing course with Yu outlining a rough path for them to follow.

"Can't account for debris but assuming we can overcome anything we come across; this will put us behind the Covenant line." William mentioned over the comms, Adrian double checked though more out of habit than any doubt in the kid's ability.

Going behind the enemy was risky, but where did anyone ever get without a bit of danger in their life. His main concern was enemy placement, depending on how heavy their forces for they might have a staggered line set up which would mean instead of wrapping around the covvie line, they end up dead center. Wouldn't be the only thing dead at that point. He snorted to himself. Still, in the end it was all speculation with any number of variables. Did Stroika meet a larger scouting party? Were the Covenant forces already entrenched? Was it a picket force or something greater? All questions with no answers, none of it mattered anyway, they were committed and eventually they'd all die in battle. It was just a matter of when, not if, so might as well go in guns blazing instead of worrying about what could have been. All the same, he had a good feeling about this.

His warthog took a sharp turn, slightly drifting as the tires lost the traction they had with the street. Adrian instinctively checked each of his weapons, already knowing they were in top form. It was then he realized that was probably his own nervous tick, something subconscious he never registered before, but it calmed him all the same.

He tapped Ferrara on the shoulder, "Are you nervous? Good, it means you're still human…and not a complete nut case." He chinned his radio to squad-based chatter, "Alright everyone listen up, when we hit that contact zone I don't want a single moment of hesitation. We're not just fighting for our comrades in arms but our own asses, and I don't know about you but I want to live long enough to turn the covvies' homeworlds into desolate, inhospitable rocks of hell. Ferrara, take us along the enemy flank but don't slow down for a second, when we're almost out of room to maneuver, bring us around to the friendly position to support Stroika. Liam follow our tail, ideally when you stop, we'll be flanking Stroika to try and draw enemy fire away from the infantry.

"Turrets should be trying to kill as many targets as possible, but prioritize elites, brutes, or god-forbid hunters. Knocking out the leaders will scatter the grunts, possibly the jackals, but at the least it throws their structure into disarray. If we have room to continue warthog use, we'll utilize it but once the element of surprise is gone, we'll have a big ole target on our back that I'm not looking forward to testing. Is that clear?"

A round of affirmatives greeted his ears; it was odd to think about that by no means other than chance, he'd found himself the defacto leader of not only this squad but the project to get back. He'd never cared much for leadership roles, not that he saw himself as a lap dog but there's something about the weight off responsibly for others' lives that always rubbed him the wrong way. Though he supposed it wasn't that hard to figure out why, his own checkered past dogged him for all his adult life, it leaves little surprise why the idea of responsibility never seemed click with him. Still for this expedition he found it a bit jarring how easily he slid into the role, in his mind he argued semantics that had obvious refutations. The result of his self-philosophizing was throwing those thoughts out to focus on the present, all those mental gymnastics amounted to naught when faced with the tangible reality within his grasp. Briefly he thought how funny it was that it seemed all his moments of introspection came right before battle, maybe the possibility of death made him a philosopher.

The warthog popped into the air after hitting a sizable chunk of rubble, it landed with a thud as Adrian observed the area directly in front of them. More of the same, debris covering the path as the sounds of fighting could now clearly be heard, amplified by the tight corridor it was familiar in its cadence. He jostled in his seat and the riding became bumpier, even going as far to wedge himself further into his seat as he eyed what looked to be a building corner blocking their entrance though at enough of an incline to pass it, if just barely. The jolt upon hitting was unpleasant but hardly stopped them as they launched into the air with a bang, quite literally as a Scorpion's HE Shell whizzed on by a few meters in front of them. Slamming into the building perpendicular on their right with a hefty explosion, sending chunks of metal and concrete rocketing out in all directions.

The situation was to put it frankly, an absolute shitshow.

Meridian plaza is a long stretch of relatively open space filled with a large fountain centerpiece, a few dozen planted trees and shrubs, and a handful of abandoned stalls, monuments, public decorations, and the like that were acting as cover for both sides. The Covenant occupied all of the eastern half of the plaza as well as the sole building within its perimeter proper, a multi-storied landmark that was probably at once point a museum or tourist attraction of some sort. It was safe to assume that a handful of sharpshooters would be in any of the surrounding buildings which didn't help the stranded UNSC forces.

Stroika squad was backed into a small section of the western portion as covvie forces had already long passed the 'halfway' point. They were vastly outnumbered, comprising of a little over a dozen men, the only reason they'd held out was also their only way out, an M808B Scorpion. Of which its right track was currently blown to smithereens, meaning any retreat on the UNSCs part would leave them vulnerable to any halfway decent shot within the covvie ranks. Matters were only complicated by their distance from any decent cover, enough to hold out but to make any serious advancement or organized fallback was nearly impossible.

As for themselves, their enemies were certainly surprised though they also erupted in the midst of their ranks. Placing themselves between the Covenant frontlines and the aforementioned occupied building, wheels hadn't even touched the ground when they'd begun opening fire. Behind him the turret roared as Richter lit up the unsuspecting, Adrian focused on marksmen and snipers, together they raised hell. Only a few seconds later and the sound of a second heavy turret letting loose filled the air much to his pleasure.

Ferrara shouted, "This is a bit hairy."

"They're just mad we interrupted!" Adrian replied as he shot a jackal damn near pointblank. Tossing the empty magazine like litter, he took the moment to see what they were going up against. A mix of grunts, jackals, and elites with no artillery or mechanized squadrons, seems like it was an ambush site or temporary outpost.

Plasma fire pelted the warthog, though its armor was tough enough to take a hell of a beating. Needle shards reflected off the vehicle with a screech, one imbedded itself in the windshield between Adrian and Ferrara. He kicked it out with huff, sending the alien round flying off to the side before it exploded in a small but vicious display of its lethality. On the gun, Richter was constantly shifting, his feet always moving, often to his benefit as a couple well-placed rounds would have put him out of commission had lady luck not taken his side.

Just as he had lined up a shot on an Elite Major, the warthog whipped around with some skillful maneuvering, it took a sharp turn in-between to still smoldering crater. Ferrara didn't turn back around as they'd practically hit the edge of the plaza, now a string of buildings flew past Adrian on the right side like a compression of ideas jammed together. He thought of standing on his seat to try and get a few shots off but thought better of making himself a larger target. Sparing a glance to his side, his uneven reflection stared back at him as the windows still standing shared their perspective of the world.

There was a gap where a windowpane laid broken on the ground, between two shining vestiges of what it used be, now a deep darkness filled its space. In that instant of change, where Adrian stared into blackness, the situation changed. When the world looked back at him it wasn't the same, blood splattered the interior windshield as something ricocheted off the back of his helmet. In what amounted to only a few seconds, the situation had gone from relatively decent to shit. Whirring himself around, he was surprised to see that Ferrara was still kicking but unsurprised to see blood gushing from his throat, how serious the wound was he couldn't tell but it wasn't something he had time to worry over. In one smooth motion he threw himself onto the center console of the warthog, with his left leg taking the place of Ferrara's on the gas pedal while his right hand gripped onto the steering wheel as he yanked it to the side to prevent them from crashing. Adrian's free hand went on top of Ferrara's which were wrapped around his neck trying to halt the blood flow, already blood was seeping through their fingers.

"Someone hit? you're all over the place."

"Ferrara, not sure how bad." He kept it curt.

Liam didn't ask a follow-up though his Warthog's engine grew louder as he increased the speed to lessen the distance between the two. Adrian tried his best to drive straight but it such an awkward position made it far harder than he thought. Luckily the UNSC front was easily within reach not long after, a few tense seconds passed before he jammed the steering wheel as far left as it would go. The vehicle practically spun out but deep enough into friendly territory for him to put his full attention on Ferrara. He halted his hand above his trauma kit, Liam wouldn't be far behind and anything he did might only complicate matters if the wound was more serious than he thought. Instead, he doubled up on putting pressure on the wound as Liam's warthog skidded to halt on the driver side of his own.

Yu lifted Ferrara out while Liam kept the pressure on while also rummaging through his medic pack for the necessary equipment. As Liam cleaned the general area, he called out, "Not deep, looks like a shard grazed him. I'll need PFC to help but he'll make it."

Adrian swore, any solider down was a misfortune but in times like these they needed every able body they could get. "Alright, when he's stable check on the rest of the injured and meet back up with me. Richter, keep up the fire as long as you can, when they start to focus their attention on you get the hell off the turret. Aliza…do…Fuck whatever the hell Spartans normally do."

Hoping off her own machine gun, she flashed him a spartan smile as she ran by to wreak havoc. She'd commandeer a vehicle, hijack a ghost, somehow find heavy weapons, something he couldn't plan in his wildest dreams. Her abilities and skillset so far outweighed his own in most regards anything he told her to do would be more of a detriment than a benefit, better to let her to organize her own plan.

Crouching down against the nearest cover, he made his way down the line to find some semblance of command structure. Marking the center of Stroika squadron was the scorpion tank, up close it was clear to see it had been the main point of attack for hours. Without the treads it had no hope of moving, the body itself was scorched, dented, melted, and otherwise abused any number of ways. Smoke was even starting to leak engine vent; it still had some life in it, but he wouldn't place his bets on it lasting much longer. Another thunderous roar filled the air as it fired another shell, the open seated gunner was firing away with the constant drum of machine gun firing setting the rhythm for the battle. It didn't take long to find the one dishing out orders, a Corporal who told him nothing he hadn't already known.

She'd put in the request for backup but hadn't expected anything much. The time spent had been less fighting and more surviving, in his mind Adrian thought, 'Isn't that most of the war?' but kept the remark to himself. Most striking was her comment on Covenant advancement, in that they really hadn't advanced all that much, seemingly content to hold back and try to pick off the UNSC forces without committing any considerable effort. He wondered if that a reflection of lack of equipment or arrogance on their part, both seemed likely, but they'd probably also hoped to have already dealt with the UNSC forces. Reinforcements risked turning a small skirmish into a larger conflict that they might not be prepared for.

Halfway during their conversation, they lost the scorpion gunner, their body laid limp in seat as their blood sizzled upon the tank's scorching armoring plating. There was only one attempt to replace the gunner but suppressing fire kept any prospect of success impossible. His arms stuck flayed out like a tree, his face a caved in horror from a plasma burst now dripping gray matter and brain fluid. The only movement was their half-melted helmet as it tumbled off the tank with a hollow ringing.

The only plan the Corporal had was to avoid stupid risks and stay alive, given the circumstances he wholeheartedly agreed. He had popped off a couple shots when Liam tapped him on the shoulder, he didn't stop his firing but acknowledged with a slight turn of the head.

He didn't need to voice his question for Liam to respond, "Not great, now awful." He replied as he fired off a long stream from his assault rifle. "Most of the casualties are KIA, the few that aren't are relatively stable. Won't be able to do much for them until we're back at base."

"Seems about right, how are the others?"

"Better than most, one of the dead had a sniper with two dozen rounds left. Ordered Richter and Yu to act as a counter-sniper duo, hopefully they'll be able to take off some of the heat. Big Sheila is… off somewhere."

"Now we hold here and wait for reinforcements."

"I thought we were the reinforcements." Liam quipped.

"Funny how that worked out."

A/N: Well uh oof, been a while? I honestly had no intention of what was originally going to be a small break turn into practically a five month hiatus. Nothing serious, I had a University thesis to write (which I did on time and not to brag but was probably the high point of my academic career) and that was the initial break, to focus on that. Well after writing about thirty pages in a month I figured I could extend my break to recuperate, celebrate Christmas, play Halo Infinite since it dropped when I had started writing this chapter. Then the break continued and continued and well here we are so many months later.

Anyway all things considered I'm glad to still enjoy writing this, and it is on the way to wrapping up with Harvest being sort of the grand climax. Still thank you all for your patience and hopefully you won't roast my ass over the fire for this. I think this is my longest chapter to date, and there was even more I had written past the end but I wanted to release a sizeable chunk now on the weekend rather than release a slightly longer chapter sometime during the middle of the weekday.

Fun fact as well, this story has officially passed 200 pages with this latest chapter! So once again thank you all for your continued support and please continue to leave comments, reviews, criticisms, whatever thoughts you have on the story! See you all soon!

Local doc: Funny enough you wrote that write as I was getting ready to post this! I'm very glad to hear you've enjoyed this story so much and I appreciate the cookies! There is no chance for this to be abandoned, especially this far into it and so very close towards the finishing line.

Sm0keyPanda: Reaper is too stubborn to not make himself a nuisance in any way possible, but there's a possibility he's going to meet his match soon. Thank you as always for the continued support, here from the very early days of this story!

Rook435: The battles are both my favorite and most despised, on one hand conceptually I love the battles especially being able to depict them from very grounded point of view. On the other hand they also end up being some of the most difficult parts for me to write, still despite that I have plans to have one truly grand battle in the next few chapters that should hopefully be a culmination of escalation for the Harvest arc. As for Reyes it is absolutely a race against time and a race of wits, his existence is one of perpetual pain and that always struck me as over meaning his immediate hatred overrides his surprisingly sharp intellect. Your reviews are always well written, thoughtful, and give me a lot to chew on so once more thank you more the continued support!