-: Sorry for going AWOL. Work hasn't let me take more time to this, nor my own motivation to write. Hope you enjoy, things are getting a bit wild now. :-

Jared woke to a woman's voice yelling, a sharp pain in his chest and sudden alertness. He jolted up and looked around him "Jesus fuck! What the hell happened?" he exclaimed, as his view began to focus he saw the medic that had helped when he'd first arrived. "You're in the communication tower. Barnes said it was the best fallback point." She said "Where's Englewood? I need an update, what the hell happened?" Jared said, he attempted to stand but his right leg gave out, he looked down to see the bandage wrapped around his shin. He shifted weight and attempted to stand again. The medic helped him 'Cato, where are Englewood and the rest of our troops?' Jared thought and made his way down the stairs, the doorway had been blown open and four marines lay at the bottom, a small opening before the door, Barnes sat up against the door which was propped up against the side of the wall close to the door, his helmet taken off and staring at the wall, like it was taunting him, angering him each second. Jared knew the fight had been over, but he wasn't sure they'd had won. "Barnes" Jared said, he said as he walked in front of him blocking his view of the wall, although he took no notice to him, Jared crouched down "Barnes!" he shouted, he finally snapped back. "Sir!" he said as he stood up and saluted. "There's no need for that, what happened?" he replied, Barnes dropped his salute and looked at the four dead marines, two other marines began to cover them up with tarps and tied together clothes, as the clothes touched they instantly soaked up the blood around them. Barnes swallowed "they fired first, and we didn't have time to react, I got hit but I'm good to go sir, Englewood is securing the outside perimeter." He said, Jared noted how shell-shocked he was, he sighed and walked out the door.

Jared looked around the recently fortified position and saw as two sangheili carried a wounded sangheili inside a building adjacent to the tower. Jared watched till the door closed, "what the hell happened" he said. He looked further on and saw Englewood standing over another soldier's body, he recognized it quickly, Cook's dismembered body from plasma burns and cuts from energy swords covered his body. Jared's heart began to race, his anger began to flow, before he could get it under control he turned and punched the side of the wall of the tower, he felt none of the pain but watched as blood began to slowly drip from his fist, he pulled away and looked at the wall, behind the blood that had coagulated on the surface was a sizeable crack.

Englewood turned as he heard the audible crack and saw Jared pull his hand from the wall and look at it. He ran over to him, "Sir, what are you doing!" he yelled before he reached him. Jared turned to face him "This is not how it was supposed to happen. Who all did we lose!" he exclaimed his voice was clear anger. Englewood took a step back, "They turned on the civilians when one tried to take one of their weapons from them, fifteen were killed in both crossfire and self defense." Englewood paused "including five marines, one being Cook and four others from the other squadron." His voice began to get softer and more defeated as he spoke. It only filled Jared with more rage. "Get me the radio and send someone to round up the civilians, I'm done playing nice. They need to hear this"

Eventually all the civilians made it to the tower, Joro stood beside Jared, as did Englewood with the radio and it's massive antenna. Jared grabbed a box and pushed it to the center, now surrounded by wounded and angry sangheili and the few marines that remained he spoke. "I'm sure you're aware of what happened here, we were attacked by our own allies, people I thought we could trust!" he shouted, not because he chose to, but because his anger inside was uncontrollable. "They came here willing to talk about some information that has arisen. I'm sure many of you are aware of the Halo rings we had uncovered years ago, well, we have a possible lead on another, that The Hand of Prophecy has found." as he spoke the crowd began to shift from calm to panic-stricken, "I had invited them here to make a decision, because your fight has grown bigger than one species. Just one of these rings could wipe out all civilization as we know it." He paused for a second before speaking, managing to slowly calm himself down, "I had invited him here to make the decision to get my people involved- To get ONI and the UNSC involved." he finished. Their words shifted to anger, he could tell their anger was hiding their fear. "Before I step off this box, I am letting every single one of you know." he turned around and grabbed the radio microphone, then looked at Joro, which gave him a nod, before turning back around. "I am contacting them, and telling them. My people have a right to know their plans." he said holding the microphone. He stepped off the box and turned to Englewood. "Put in frequency Sigma Alpha Three Eight Romeo Two, one of the emergency frequencies." Jared said, as he said the frequency, Englewood typed into the radios display, he looked up at Jared and nodded. "It's in, Sir" he said and set down the radio. Jared took a deep breath before keying in the microphone "Any UNSC or ONI Stations over Sangheilios this is Chief Petty Officer Peloski, is there anyone on this freq?" he said and waited.

Nothing but silence for a few minutes, calling again and again. "Any UNSC or ONI Stations within readable range, this is Chief Petty Officer Peloski, I was stationed at the intelligence outpost in Hilot, I hold a small resistance located inside Bdaoro. Is anyone listening to this frequency?" he said once more, his hopes began to diminish after waiting for a response. "Last calling station this is UNSC Frigate Clear Midnight you are on an encrypted channel, state your purpose and location" the radio hummed to life, Jared stood up and looked at Englewood, what felt like a moment of triumph rushed through Jareds body.

"Clear Midnight this is Chief Petty Officer Jared Peloski- Requesting immediate assistance, I-" he cut himself off and looked around "we have uncovered information about the Hand of Prophecy." he said his voice slightly shaky from the unnecessary adrenaline that flowed through him. "Sir, are you sure you're on the right frequency? I'm sure you can provide this information to your superiors." they spoke, confused and agitated. "Clear Midnight, I am on the right frequency! Get me your superior. We have evidence of another Halo ring found." Jared said, the radio fell silent for a few seconds. Another voice spoke "This is Captain Golubev, did I hear you right. You have found another halo ring?" The Captain said, Jared took a minute to respond. "Yes sir, we need to get this information somewhere immediately." he said

There was an hour of silence before the frigate responded, during this time, Jared advised a proper clean up and organization of the surrounding city. "CPO Peloski this is Clear Midnight, we have a pelican on it's way to pick you and the information up from your position, requesting coordinates." the communications officer responded, Jared looked at Englewood and Joro for a second. "If I'm coming up with them I request my troops and advisor to come with me, along with the one whos given us the information." Jared responded, a long pause as the officer relayed the information to his superiors. The Captain's voice spoke "We can arrange that, assuming you're running on nothing down there, we're sending supplies to the people." he said. Jared sighed in relief "Englewood, tell the rest of our troops to rally just outside and the civilians ready for supplies." Jared said, Englewood nodded and walked away. "Thank you sir, medicine and food are greatly appreciated." Jared said to the captain. "The Pelican is on it's way, and should be there within the hour."

Jared stood just at the gates of the city, a glint of light shone in the sky "Here they come! Pelican inbound!" he turned behind him and shouted. He watched as it slowly descended, sand getting kicked up below it. As it's wheels hit the sand the remaining six marines made their way to the pelican. Jared made his way behind them "Unload all the supplies, were not getting off this rock till that's done!" he shouted over the roar of the engines all acknowledged and began unloading them.

Once all supplies were off Joro and Zoso entered the pelican. "Welcome aboard, shits gonna be different than you're used to." He said to Zoso, who looked like he hadn't been off the ground at all in his life. Jared sat down in a seat, opposite to Zoso, who looked at Jared "I have never left my planet before" he replied. The back sealed up and the pelican slowly lifted. He looked at his marines, then outside the back window, smoke lifted from the city. He knew he shouldn't be leaving them, months ago he'd liberated this small city, and now he was leaving it. Eventually as they left the atmosphere he leaned back in his chair and felt the zero g make him feel safer than he'd been for the past few years even. Jared fell asleep quick in the chair.

An hour later he was awoken by the feeling of the ship landing on a hard metal surface. He removed his restraints and stood up. Bringing nothing but the clothes on his back and the tablets he walked off first. Captain Golubev stood at the bottom of the ramp, Jared eyed the bay they'd landed in, he felt relaxed standing inside a ship again. He shifted focus back on the captain and extended his hand. The captain accepted it and shook his hand, "CPO Peloski, sir" he said and rendered a salute, returning the salute the Captain turned to walk. Jared looked at the two, Joro and Zoso and waved them over. Both wandered behind him, earning looks from the marines around them. Joro in his dark blue armour and Zoso in his tattered clothing.

"Do you have any idea where the ring is as of now?" Golubev asked. Joro chuckled, drawing the attention towards himself "something to add? Last I had checked all of you are a guest on this ship and you will give the respect due" Joro folded his arms in defiance. Adjusting his attention back to Jared "sir, we hardly have any idea where anything is, hadn't it been for what little we did get, you wouldn't have even known about their plan." He said, standing up in the chair he sat in.

At one end of a glass oval table sat the captain and the other, Jared now standing and leaning over the table, with Joro and Zoso at his left and Englewood at his right. "So you have nothing but these tablets as evidence?" He asked, Jared looked down and sighed before looking at the few tablets spread across the table, then finally at Golubev. "Sir, we risked our lives to get this intel, hell- we lost one of our Soldiers getting these, I believe with everything I know that this isn't something to ignore." He said, he became more volatile. The captain picked one of the tablets up, though unable to read Sangheili he studied the tablet before setting it down. "I don't hold much sway, but I'll bring this to ONI, Osman specifically, see what she can muster." Hearing the name of the Commander in Chief herselfs name mentioned made his heart drop. Peloskis own track record during his time with ONI he knew they either wouldn't bat an eye at the issue, or would seize the ring for themselves. He realized he'd begun sweating and wiped the sweat off his forehead and stood upright. "Sir you can't possibly leave this to the bureaucrats, they won't make this issue-" Golubev cut him off "Are you trying to tell me to skip the chain of command? Hell right now I should hold you in confinement with your band of misfits for disobeying orders and not reporting as soon as you had the ability to!" He said, Jared cursed to himself, Golubev sighed "Son, I didn't want to pull that card, but if you wont listen, I will keep you there till we get to Earth and sort this out there" he finished, Jareds anger gree more "We can't do much here, we'll have to do something sir." Cato said, the shiver she sent down his back calmed him down slightly "So, what if we're too late? We don't know when they're conducting this test, or if they haven't already. We need to stop them before they target a human colony" Jareds voice seemed calm and almost soft. "If we can at least take the chance and go to Charybdis IX and see if the ring is still there, or at least send someone to" he finished. Golubev looked at Jared and pursed his lips. "Fine, we'll go to Charybdis and see if there's anything there, under the condition you come willingly to earth. Jared thought for a second before nodding. "Will you send these men back to Sanghelios before we leave?" He said, gesturing to Joro and Zoso. "With all due respect, you have earned my loyalty, I wish to carry on my duties beside you" Joro said. "You remain with your people, command in my place, they need a strong leader and this is no longer your fight." Jared said and Zoso had no objections to his statement. "I can send a pelican down and send him down to Sanghelios, after that we make our way to Charybdis, dismissed" He said and turned around Jared saluted as he left.

Jares turned to the three behind him "Once we get to Charybdis, we're hijacking a pelican if the ring is there. We need to stop this before it gets worse." Jared walked past them towards the door. Englewood chuckled "glad to know we're still going AWOL even after everything, glad to know we're still a band of misfits" he said sarcastically. "I'll round up the men then, sir" he finished and walked out. Both Joro and Zoso followed Jared into the pelican bay, ones engines whirred up "hop on boys, perhaps after this shit is done we can meet once more. Best of luck!" He said, his voice getting louder as the engines began to cut through the air.

The two loaded on and the doors sealed, Jared disliked how easy it was to say goodbye to the men he'd served with while down there, but he felt there were more pressing matters than to think about his previous duties. He made his way to the barracks.

The doors slid open, before he could speak the room grew quiet "Attention on deck!" One yelled and saluted "at ease, there's no need for that. Soon we'll be on another planet. If things go the way I hope they do, on a ring" as he finished they shifted, though many had not been on a ring, many had heard stories about the first two. "I know how you all feel, and we are a few, but-" he paused. "What I am asking is difficult, we will be alone on this. We will be going AWOL, but the price to pay is hefty. While in transit, we will be acquiring what we need. If you don't want to be a part of this, you don't need to be, all I ask is to remain silent on our intentions. If you walk out that door, that is all I ask." He said and took a deep breath, one marine left silently. The room remained silent, many eyed as the doors slid shut behind the lone marine. Jared cleared his throat "we start preparations once we enter FTL, weapons, ammo, supplies. We will be going by ourselves, we'll take a pelican by force, we need to get the door open and a pilot willing to fly. Spread the knowledge of where we're going. If we can get help from fellow marines, the better of a chance we'll have. It'll be a long shot, but it's all we've got, make friends, lie, whatever it takes, we are no longer UNSC, we are on our own." he looked at those around him, many easily concerned of weather this was the right thing to do, he cleared his throat "dismissed" he said and began to walk out "Sir!" Englewood called out. He turned around, "if we're doing this. Our ultimate best chance is to get some turncoat ODSTs, if we're getting any, I can call in a few favors with them, it won't be much but I know they'd be willing to do some shady shit." He said, Jared nodded, "anything is better than nothing" Englewood nodded and turned away.

As the days progressed along, a subtle growth in numbers began to rise, Jared hadn't expected to see more marines attend the secret meetings. Captain Golubev didn't care for Jared's whereabouts, each time he was called to the bridge it seemed more to berate him.

Jared stood inside the barracks, several marines and odst sat around the few tables and on the bunks around the barracks in a U shape. Jared swallowed the little bit of spit in his mouth, it felt dry, he looked around the room, attempting to memorize each face. "If i'm being honest, i wasn't expecting this big of numbers" he chuckled nervously. He was used to a tight knit group. Now it seemed as if his mutiny was about to be more than a fever dream. "Tomorrow will be a proper briefing about how this will all go down. Thanks to a few pilots joining our cause we will be able to commandeer a few pelicans to carry our increased numbers. Soon we'll be attempting to set foot on a halo ring." He paused, everyone became uncomfortable at the mention of it. He leaned against a table behind him and sighed "you know what you came here to do. I don't deny this is a suicide mission, the Hand of Prophecy needs to be stopped at all costs. We won't have anyone helping us but those to your left and right." Jared looked at the few he'd known for a decent time. The medic included, he eventually found out her name to be Roslin, she was great at her job, but her innocence had been gone long before he'd met her. "Just be ready to gear up and go. This will have to be swift. Englewood, anything to add?" He asked. Englewood took a step forward beside him. "I don't have much to say, CPO Peloski is a great leader and knows what he's doing. We'll be in good hands on thay ring. We have come a long way from a few to a strong many. We know how to get shit done and how to handle the rough edges, starting today, we are Rebels." He said, Jared nodded and looked around the room, everyone nodded back, hyped up. "Dismissed. Same time tomorrow, bring your gear and everything you can, we will drop out of slip space after our briefing, our window will be short." Everyone stood and saluted Jared before leaving, "you don't really believe i'm that good of a leader do you?" Jared asked Englewood, he nodded "I meant every word, including that last part." He chuckled. "Rebels, I like it." He said as they walked out.

Jared laid in his bed, although his rank gave him some benefits, his quarters wasn't one of them, a small shack made out of scrap metal on the cargo deck which housed the marines that had come with him. "You know you need sleep, especially for what's to come tomorrow" Cato said, he sighed and moved onto his right side, looking out a crack of the scrap metal, dimly lit cargo bay, a stack of crates barely visible through the crack "it's hard to, I know what i'm asking them to do, and to know some won't make it." He stopped, the thought plagued his mind. "Thinking about it now won't solve anything" Cato responded, Jared sat up "since when have you been so sentimental?" He asked out loud, realizing he spoke he covered his mouth and laid back down. "Since when were you about more than yourself?" Cato said. He sighed and closed his eyes. "When it was about more than myself." He thought.He attempted to fall asleep once more. He laid awake for another hour before finally falling asleep.