Grif was heavily buzzed as he stumbled into his room.
Everyone was home on Iris now, after celebrating the engagement of Simmons and Virginia. They partied a bit hard, consuming several bottles of wine and champagne.
Grif's stomach turned, having drank several beers on top of the wine and champagne. He got to his bed and pulled out a package of Oreos from the top drawer and began to eat.
A random knock at his bedroom door startled him, causing him to nearly drop his cookies.
"Come in!" Grif coughed out as he almost choked on a cookie.
Simmons poked his head in and raised a brow.
"You okay?"
"Yeah. I'm fine." Grif huffed as he patted his chest. "Almost went down the wrong pipe."
Simmons smirked as he walked into the room. Grif offered the package to Simmons, who shook a head as he waved.
"So what's up?" Grif asked as he munched on an Oreo. Simmons cheeks were a bit red, mostly from drinking.
"I wanted to ask you something." Simmons admitted, followed by a hiccup.
Grif raised an eyebrow and lightly chuckled.
"Oh?"
"Yeah...I wanted to ask if you'll be my Best Man?" Simmons asked shyly. Grif blinked quietly for several seconds.
"R-Really?" Grif's voiced cracked as he jumped to his feet.
Simmons was startled by Grif's sudden reaction to jump up.
"Um... yeah? I mean, it just makes sense." Simmons explained as he rubbed the back of his neck. "We've been by each other for years and I do consider you my best friend."
Grif slowly smiled and approached Simmons and gave him a tight hug. Simmons was taken back, for Grif was never really one to show physical affection.
"I'd be honored, buddy."

Dr. Raini fiddled with the various wires that stretched before him. He muttered to himself, slightly delusional from the lack of sleep and food.
There was a bit of sparks from copper touching, but Dr. Raini continued on with his nimble fingers.
Mechanical hums began to start up as a disheveled doctor started to smile. He watched the mechanized soldier rotate and move before him as Dr. Raini looked on.
"Yes... yes!" He cried out, holding up victorious fists in the air. He clapped excitedly as all the machines began to move in unison. A wave of relief swept over him as each mechanical whirring grew louder with each movement. It was finally happening...

Virginia was bombarded with various magazines that were wedding themed. Donut rushed into her room with an armful and dropped them along her bed, while she was reading a book.
"Geez, Donut... what is this?" Virginia peeked over her book at the diverse magazines.
"We need to start wedding planning!" Donut gushed as he hopped onto the bed next to Virginia. Virginia blinked, surprised.
"We haven't even decided on a date, yet." Virginia admitted with a chuckle.
"That will be the first thing we decided, then!" Donut smiled. Virginia couldn't help but love Donut's enthusiasm and his neediness to help.
Virginia closed her book and sat it on the nightstand before picking up a few of the wedding magazines.
"Well... Simmons and I do like the idea of a spring wedding." Virginia admitted as she bit her lower lip.
"Ah! Perfect! That's right around the corner!" Donut smiled.
Simmons suddenly walked into the bedroom, arching his eyebrow in surprise to see Donut on the bed with Virginia. His eyes looked over to the various wedding magazines on the bed before he let out a soft sigh.
"Donut, if you harass my fiancé, she may never marry me." Simmons smirked as he went over to see the various magazines.
"Oh, pish posh!" Donut swatted at Simmons. "You'll need a wedding planner to make sure things run smoothly!" Donut explained as he held up a magazine to Simmons' chest. "Now decide, spring wedding?"
"Um... sure?" Simmons smirked as he made eye contact with Virginia. Virginia nodded.
"Spring wedding."
"Good! Now, we need to pick a venue!" Donut opened a notebook and began to take notes. "And you'll need to pick color choices!"
Simmons stared with his mouth agape as all the questions began to fly at him.
"Uuummm...?" Simmons cleared his throat. "Maroon?"
"...And sapphire blue." Virginia smiled at Simmons. "See? It's not that hard." She rubbed Simmons' forearm reassuringly. Simmons smiled, bent down and kissed her forehead and then glanced at Donut.
"Thank you for helping." Simmons gave a pat to Donut's shoulder.
"No problem at all! I'm glad to help! Oooh! I can't wait to talk about the flower arrangements!" Simmons backed away slowly to the door, shaking his head.
"Have fun you two." Simmons closed the door quietly before Donut and Virginia started to laugh.

Simmons ventured out to the living room, where he noticed Washington and Grif sitting on the couch. 'Battle Star Galactica' was playing on the television.
"I don't think that's very realistic." Wash commented. Grif groaned before driving his hand into his opened bag of potato chips.
"It's sci-fi! Obviously, it's not that realistic!" Grif snapped as he put a handful of chips into his mouth.
"I think I've seen this episode." Simmons chimed in as he sat on the couch.
"What's Donut up to?" Wash asked.
"Him and Virginia are looking at wedding details." Simmons sighed as he rubbed the back of his neck.
"Isn't that your duty?" Grif snickered; wiping his crumby-covered hand along his shorts.
"Well, I'm helping. But... you know... there's some things that Donut is better suited for...," Simmons blushed as he fumbled with his words. "He's the official wedding planner. It's helping to make it easier."
"Mhhmmm." Grif snorted before scooping more chips into his mouth.
"Hey, you're not going to fit in a tux if you keep stuffing your mouth like that." Simmons complained as he stared with disgust at Grif.
"Tux? Why do we gotta wear a tux?!" Grif groaned. "Let's forget about the tux talk, let's talk about the bachelor party!" Grif smiled with excitement, nearly dropping his chips on the floor.
Wash sat between the two, looking side-to-side at the conversation, feeling uneasy.
"Oh lord, I can only imagine the craziness you could concoct." Simmons leaned back against the couch with a smirk. Grif jumped to his feet while pulling Wash up with him.
"You and me, need to go hatch our plan!" Grif smiled and shoved a reluctant Wash out of the room.
"Why do I need to help?!" Wash asked, throwing his hands up into the air. Simmons shook his head and reached for the remote to change the channel.

...

The UNSC headquarters on Earth was running as it typically did. Several soldiers were bustling through the corridors and in-and-out through the entrances. Soldiers flocked to the hangers to work on their ships or some swarmed to the ports to work on vehicles. More were tinkering away in their offices while typing reports or reviewing camera footage.
It seemed like the typical day...

An alarm blared as the foundation of the building trembled violently. A massive hole was blown into one side of the roof, causing the fire alarm to scream. Red lights flashed with warning as an automated announcement was made for all personnel to evacuate.
Soldiers clambered to the exits in an attempt to get to safety. Once they flooded outside and got to a safe distance from the building, they were able to gawk at the bellowing smoke that rose from the gaping hole.
"What the blazes?" The soldiers conversed amongst themselves as some scrambled to get the emergency personnel to the side.
A whirling of rockets suddenly shot out from the smoke and aimed at the soldiers. Various soldiers screamed and attempted to dart out of the way as the rockets impacted, causing debris and rubble to explode everywhere.
"We're under attack!" An older soldier cried out over his walkie; attempting to alert his comrades.
Shooting down from the sky, replicating a lightning bolt; a charge of electricity split the sky and hit several soldiers.
Everyone frenzied in any direction that looked safe, only to find their escape routes blocked by several strange beings in unique armor.
One armored being stood close to seven feet tall with black armor decorated in blue stripes that replicated lightning. The soldier cracked its neck as it approached the scared soldiers at rapid speed.
Another armored being, dressed in black and silver armor that was covered in claw markings, swooped up a soldier and slammed it into the ground.

Dr. Raini was laughing uncontrollably as he watched his five soldiers. He looked over the names he had scribbled down in a frenzy.
Perun - was his black armored soldier with lightning markings.
Bast - was his soldier with claw markings.
Mars - was his soldier dressed in red armor with a black helmet that looks to be bleeding black streaks into the red.
Virtus - was a soldier of silver armor with various black gashes along its body sporadically.
Ares - had a mixture of red and gold armor that almost replicated embers. Along his chest was black streaks that made an 'X'.

Dr. Raini watched the screen before him as it displayed the brutal slaughtering of several UNSC soldiers. Several of them attempted to arm themselves with tanks and weaponry, only to have it explode. He was enjoying this moment with a permanent grin.

...

Simmons called everyone to the living room.
Slowly, the team assembled and their eyes were drawn to the news that flashed on the television.
A reported was reading a prompt as words scrolled along the bottom of the broadcast.

"UNSC on Earth under attack"

"This is fucked." Tucker gasped as a distant news crew could only hunker down on top of a cliff and watch the various explosions surrounding the building.
The camera crew had a hard time trying to focus on one thing. There were distant sounds of tanks firing and several guns going off.
The reported talked about several military militia coming to join in and help the battle.
"Do we think we know what this is?" Wash pondered.
"You mean, you think it has something to do with that whacked doctor and Caine?" Carolina replied.
"My spider senses are tingling." Nevada said as he leaned across the back of the couch.
"I didn't know you were a spider." Caboose gasped.
Most of the team rolled their eyes, but kept quiet as they watched the news.
Donut and Virginia finally emerged from the bedroom with a wedding magazine in each hand.
"I booked a few venue showings-," Virginia began to say until the news on the television caught their attention.
The camera crew was running from something, until a bluish blur ran across the screen. A muffled scream was heard until the static cut out everything, and the screen went black.
"Ah, it looks like we're having technical difficulties..." The reported stated as he looked at the studio camera.
"Why does something have to happen every 5 minutes?" Grif groaned before he threw his hands up in the air and stomped out of the living room.
Everyone sat in silence for a few moments before slowly going their own separate ways to their bases.
Virginia sat next to Simmons and slid her hand into his. They looked at each other and Simmons pressed his lips to her forehead.
"We have something good to focus on." Simmons said as he forced a smile. Virginia returned the smile and rested her head onto his shoulder.
"All good things don't have to come to an end, right?"