LOCATION: REMNANT – SOMEWHERE OUTSIDE VALE –

/OCT-11-2533 SOL/ 2320 Universal Time/

"Nooooooooooooooo!" Ruby screamed in horror and despair as the last of the ashes that had once been her good friend were whisked away by the wind. Pyrrha's Amazonian crown clattered to the floor, rolling to the feet of her killer. Ruby fell to her knees as she bore witness to the scene as she had countless times again and again. She should have been faster! Maybe if she had been a second or two quicker in her assent up Beacons tower, she could have done something, anything to intervene. Tears streamed down her face as her head hung in defeat. Pyrrha's crown was now in her hands, only for it to turn to dust in her grasp. Just one more thing she couldn't hold on to. She looked up from the ashes as they fell from her hands only to find that she was no longer in the shattered remains of Ozpins former office. She now found herself in the burning ruins of Beacon Academy's courtyard. But something was different than she remembered. The grounds of the courtyard were black and molten, all of the academy was less than rubble. Fires burned with an intensity that made her skin burn with screaming pain, even at a distance. Everything around her was slag, and the sky was black with smoke. She could not make out the sun, nor see it's light. The only thing lighting the world around her were the burning fires and molten ground. But what horrified Ruby more so, were the bodies that were strewn about in the areas that weren't covered in melted stone. Atlassian soldiers lie about, dismembered and disfigured nearly beyond recognition. Their faces frozen in absolute agony and terror. Some lie torn in half or missing limbs, while others slumped to the floor long dead. Parts of their armor melted into their flesh. Other bodies had large spikes piercing into there chests and limbs that nailed them against the remnants of Beacons once great walls. But Atlassian soldiers weren't the only ones to suffer these fates. Atlassian Paladins lie in melted and shattered heaps, White Fang grunts lie in piles of twisted corpses, and Beacon Academy students, many of whom were unrecognizable suffered much the same fate. Ruby didn't know what to think of the vision before her. Her friends, the people she studied and fought along side were nothing more than ash. Ruby snapped out of her daze when she heard a familiar voice.

"R…Ru…Ruby…"

Ruby searched for the source of the voice, a glimmer of hope in this realm of desolation. Her frantic searching was rewarded when she spotted Jaune among a mound of charred rubble. She dashed over to him, falling to her knees next to his prone form. "Jaune! Jaune, are you ok!?"

"Her…"

Ruby didn't pay much mind to what he was about to say as she looked over his body. To say he was hurt was beyond an understatement. His legs were near gone, nothing more than seared bone and muscle. His armor had done little to protect him as a hole had been melted straight through into his chest, the area surrounding had been melted and burned into what had been his skin. How he was alive Ruby couldn't explain, all she knew is she couldn't fail again. She had to save him.

"Heri…"

"What is it Jaune, save your breath!" Ruby said but she listened in panicked concern as her friend continued.

"Heretics...We… We are all heretics." Upon his saying that, the screaming started. The pained and twisted corpses all split the air in agonizing screams. All Ruby could do was cover her ears and squeeze her eyes shut.

"Heretics. We are all Heretics. And for that, we shall burn." They all screamed.

Ruby woke from her nightmare screaming and crying.

"Ruby?! Ruby what's wrong?!" Tai Yang ran into her bedroom to check on his younger daughter. Her older sister Yang followed closely behind, checking the room for intruders before focusing her attentions to her younger sister. "Ruby?" Tai grasped her shoulders to steady her and bring her to reality.

"Everything was burning, they were all dead, Pyrrha, Jaune, everyone!" Ruby sobbed. "There was nothing I could do!"

"Ruby, it's okay." Tai pulled Ruby into a hug in attempts to comfort his daughter. "You are safe, and so are a lot of people. Jaune is still alive, you just saw him a few days ago. Shhh."

Ruby latched on to her father with all her might. She was tired of these nightmares, she experienced them almost nightly. But this one had been the worst one yet. She couldn't even begin to fathom the reason behind why this one was so bad. What had Jaune meant by 'We are all Heretics'? She was scared, and confused. Her screams had quieted to muffled sobs into her father's shoulder.

Tai just sat there, stroking his daughters back. He had noticed the difference in Ruby's reaction to her nightmares tonight. She had seemed more terrified than the nights before. "It's okay Ruby, I'm here. You're at home, Yang is here too."

Ruby mumbled something unintelligible between sobs.

"Hmm?"

Ruby pulled away slightly so that she could be heard. "He said we were Heretics, and that we would burn for it. I don't even know what it means, how are we heretics? Why did they have to burn for it? This didn't even have to do with Beacon, none of it makes sense!"

"Shhh, don't think about it too much." Tai replied, pulling Ruby back into his embrace. He shot Yang a worried look, and from the look she fired back he knew they were thinking the same thing. They were concerned for how deeply the fall of Beacon had affected Ruby. And tonight's nightmare was a plain example of why they were concerned. No one had come from that dreadful day unscarred. A fourth of the worlds communications had gone down, the Atlassian military had been bested from the inside, a feat previously thought impossible, and countless people lost their lives as a result. To top things off, the grim were infesting the region and much of the region was still suffering as a result. The local authorities were barely holding the line and plenty of refugees were swelling the local hospitals and inns with their casualties. To make matters worse, relations between the Kingdoms now seemed at an all-time low. Tai Yang was worried about a lot of things, but at the moment his focus was his daughter. "Try to go back to sleep, I'll sit with you tonight until you do. There is nothing to worry about, your friends are safe and so are you. You didn't fail anyone."

"O... Okay…" Was all Ruby replied with as she laid back down and tried to fall into what she hoped would be a peaceful sleep.

Once Ruby had fallen asleep, Tai stood up and motioned for Yang to follow him out of the room. They quietly went moved out and closed the door behind them.

"I'm worried about her." Yang started.

"I'm worried about both of you. You've each been struggling in your own ways trying to cope with what happened." Tai replied evenly.

"What happened… we lost Beacon, we lost friends, I lost my arm!" Yang replied slightly irritated.

"I know, but right now we need to be there for each other more than ever. I know the both of you have been through a lot, but we need to push through this together. I'm here for you, and so is Ruby. But we definitely need to be there for her.

"I know." Yang sighed. I'll talk to her in the morning.

Tai gave a slight smile, "I'm glad. Now let's get some rest for tomorrow."

With that, they parted ways to their individual rooms.

LOCATION: OUTSIDE UNSC COLONY ON TITAN

/OCT-13-2533 SOL/ 2320 Universal Time/

A lone D77-TC Pelican Dropship screamed through the skies of Titan as it moved for its destination. It flew alone, its target being a Hydrocarbon Refinement Facility located 110 kilometers from the nearest colony on the moon. It carried a deadly payload comprised of ten ODST troopers from the garrison located on Earth, each prepared to give hell to any unfortunate soul who would dare stand in their path.

Gunnery Sergeant Patrick Bowman sat in the main hold of the pelican, something he and his fellow Marines fondly dubbed the "Blood Bay". Like the rest of his team, he was double checking and triple checking all of his equipment. The rifle he was checking over for the third time that flight was a BR55. His weapon of choice was a capable one, utilizing the M634 High Powered Semi-Armor Piercing round. With it, he could reach out and touch anything within a nine-hundred-meter radius if given the proper conditions. But he wouldn't need to do that for this mission. No, this mission would be much closer and much more personal than that. He began going over everything he and his team had been briefed on in his head since before embarking on the Pelican. As he did so, he switched to his M6D sidearm, something that had been with him since graduation from his ODST training.

Bowman knew this mission had a high risk. He along with his team had been hand selected and briefed directly by the Commanding Officer of his regiment. Along with that, intelligence had suggested that the insurrectionist forces who were holding the UNSC official hostage were in fact disguised as UNSC forces. The up side to this however, is that intelligence had also suggested that the current enemy forces were made up of a small group of specialists. Patrick could only guess that these forces were probably made up of elite units that had acted as the initial snatch and grab force, and had yet to link up with their primary unit. What that meant for he and his team was that they wouldn't be completely out classed numerically. Combine that with the fact that his team held the element of surprise, the odds were looking pretty good for a swift and aggressive takeover of the facility. So long as they could move quickly and take out the opposing force before they could realize exactly what was happening, Patrick was confident they could win this. However, some things didn't exactly add up. How had insurrectionist forces gotten their hands on enough fully operational UNSC Battle Dress Uniforms to disguise such a force? This pointed to a much larger threat. A traitor in the ranks perhaps? That question was above his pay grade, and right now his focus was keeping his team alive. The thought of his team provoked him to look up from his trusty sidearm and check on them.

His eyes first fell on Corporal Velda Erika, a good Marine of high standing and renown dedication to the corps. She was his fireteams medic. She never spoke much, but Bowman had served with her since the beginning of the war and could safely say that he was happy that if something happened to him, he could trust her to be there. He couldn't see behind her blackened visor, but he knew her piecing blue gaze was watching over everyone around her.

Next to the Corporal sat Sergeant Al Donald, he was the fire-team's lead expert in Close Quarters Battle (CQB). He was a seasoned soldier, formerly an Army transfer before joining the ODSTs. Al was a good man, tough as nails and with a good heart. Patrick watched him as he helped the team's newest addition who sat to his right. The Rookie was Corporal Jack Goodman, a greenhorn to the ODST corps who just finished his training. He was the team's new rifleman and had proven to be skilled on the range. Bowman was curious how he would perform in the field. Finally, his gaze turned to his right hand, Staff Sergeant Denzil Martha. She, like Corporal Erika had been fighting by his side since the beginning. Together, between the Insurrection and the start of the Human-Covenant War, they had seen everything. No one could come close to describing the brutalities encountered on both fronts. Especially those committed by the Covenant. Bowman was happy when the three of them had been given transfer orders to one of the defense garrisons stationed on Earth. But now it was time to get back in the action. And to be honest, Bowman was grateful he wouldn't be immediately thrust back into fighting the alien juggernaut. No, he was glad to have received this assignment, and even happier to hear that they would be facing the traitors of the Insurrection. His thoughts were interrupted by his helmet comms buzzing to life.

"Heads up Gladiator, entry point ETA is 5 mikes out. Be ready to go, landing zone is said to be cold but intel isn't always spot on." The pilot informed the ten ODSTs.

Bowman activated his mouth piece, "Copy. Everyone, check each other over. I want a perimeter established as soon as we have boots on the ground. Staff Sergeant Kirk, I want you to take your team and swing a wide left flank. We will be approaching the facility by foot, so let's move swift and let's move silent. We have the element of surprise on this one, and brass is saying they want no witnesses. In other words, time to stomp on some throats."

There was a small cheer and a couple of "Hell Yeahs" from his ODSTs. All of whom began finalizing their equipment checks and moving to check the equipment of the fellow soldier to their left.

LOCATION: OUTSIDE UNSC COLONY ON TITAN – 6 KILOMETERS SOUTH FROM THE HYDROCARBON FACILITY -

/OCT-13-2533 SOL/ 2330 Universal Time/

No time was wasted as the pelican came to a hover less than a meter above the ground, its loading ramp lowered to allow the ODSTs to disembark onto the drop point. As soon as the last trooper put boots on the ground, the pelican took off into the night. Gunnery Sergeant Bowman looked about his surroundings, his team had set a wide perimeter around the area as instructed and were currently holding position. He spoke through his helmet comms, "Alright, Staff Sergeant Kirk, take your team and go northwest. That will put you on the facility's left flank."

A green light blinked on his Heads-Up Display indicating that his order had been acknowledged. Five of his ten ODSTs split off from the group and began making their way northwest in a wedge formation.

Bowman then addressed his own fireteam, "Lets make our move directly north of here. We have a small walk ahead of us. I want a wedge formation, five-meter spread."

Four green flashes of acknowledgement told him his team understood. With that, they began to make their way to the facility.

LOCATION: OUTSIDE UNSC COLONY ON TITAN – HYDROCARBON FACILITY -

/OCT-14-2533 SOL/ 0122 Universal Time/

The gunfire had started when the team was still a kilometer from their target. This was something that had taken both fire-teams by surprise. 'Who could be attacking the facility before them?' Bowman thought to himself. He had ordered his team to approach with extreme caution, as they were now thrust into unknown territory. As far as he knew, they were supposed to be alone in this Op. Did the UNSC send another unit along with them? Were some locals attacking the facility under their own authority to try and expel the insurrectionists? These were all questions Gunnery Sergeant Bowman wanted answered. And now that they were about to have a visual on the facility, he hoped the answers would be waiting just beyond the ridge. He turned his attentions back to the situation at hand when Corporal Erika opened comms.

"Hey Gunny, I have eyes on the facility. And you aren't gonna like this."

"What do you see?" Bowman replied moving to crouch beside the Corporal, who replied by pinging a way-point towards the Hydro-Carbon Facility's courtyard. She had been right about what she said, he did not like what he saw.

The courtyard was littered with multiple dead. Each body was wearing the signature BDUs of the ODSTs. He did not like this situation at all. From here there was no way of telling whether these were the bodies of fellow ODSTs, or those of Insurrectionists disguised as them. Either way, they needed to confirm and secure their target. Hopefully in doing so, they could identify the bodies. There was at least one thing for certain. They had found the source of the previous gunfire.

Bowman spoke into the team's full comms channel, "All units, take up positions to begin the raid. Staff Sergeant Kirk, position your machine gunners on overwatch and have your men ready to flank them. As for my team, we will approach directly and create a breach in the enemy wire. Move on my signal."

Nine green flashes soon followed as each trooper got into position. Bowman and Kirk were the only ones in the group to have both teams fully visible on their HUDs. Each ODST was marked with a small way-point that identified them. He could see Kirk and his ODSTs about one hundred meters to his forward left. They were exactly where he needed them.

The facility itself look exactly as it had in the brief. It wasn't a primary refinery, according to the information packet he had been given, so it was much smaller than average. Apparently, it was owned and operated by the Whear-Tech Corporation, it's purpose being to refine the moons abundant source of Hydrocarbons found in the environment so that the resource may be used for industrial purposes, primarily fuel. However, at the moment, it was serving as the temporary holding point for insurrectionist operatives.

The issue at hand was that the courtyard was still a good fifty meters across before it reached the front entrance. On top of that, the courtyard was fenced in by a standard chain-link fence topped with razor wire. The facility had multiple windows overlooking the primary method of approach making the courtyard a prime kill zone. This was something that the team before them must have not taken into account judging by the bodies scattered about. Another piece of information that the bodies in the courtyard provided to Gunnery Sergeant Bowman was that the Innies had overwatch to the main avenue of approach. Trying to rush the fence line was not going to work. Bowman hopped back on his comms, "Staff Sergeant, can you see into any of those windows overlooking the courtyard?"

It took a moment for Bowman to get his response. "Negative… If they are in there, they are hiding well. I'm not seeing any activity near the windows."

"Very well, keep your marksman on lookout and have the SAW ready to give cover to our approach."

"Roger."

Bowman sighed in slight irritation. He would have rather they could see at least one of the enemies before approaching the facility. It would give his team something to target, and even help draw out the enemy from hiding. But now he had to trust that they hadn't missed anything in their scan, and move in blind. The only thing he and his team had going for them was the Staff Sergeant Kirks Marksman and SAW gunner providing overwatch for their advance. The SAW would be particularly useful in this situation as it provided a large volume of fire to suppress an enemy combatant. It was the UNSC's favored squad based light machine gun, and capable of shredding varied levels of cover and light armor. Bowman took comfort that an ODST was watching his back with one. He looked to his team who had taken up positions beside him along the ridge. "Alright, lets get started. Al, Rookie, you're our forward team. Push to the enemy wire and take positions along the fence. Try and stick to cover. Martha, you're with me, we are going to push as soon as they reach the half way point. Erika, you follow suit."

Green lights of acknowledgement flashed on Bowman's HUD. Bowman pushed his comms, "Kirk, we are moving in. Maintain overwatch, and upon our entry, secure us a landing zone for extraction. If we get engaged during our approach, light them up. Bowman out." A single green light flashed on Bowman's HUD. It was go time. "Begin the assault!"

With the order given, Al and Goodman stood and dashed for the enemy wire.

No gunfire followed their movement, so far so good. Martha gave Bowman a glance as they prepared to make their beeline for the fence. "Maybe they killed each other and we'll finally get an easy mission?"

"Let's not jinx ourselves on this. Come on." Bowman said as he and Martha picked up their weapons and began sprinting for the fence. It was about ten seconds of running before they caught up with Al and Goodman who had both set up positions behind two concrete foundations that served as the base for a stilted container containing some sort of liquid. Looking back, Bowman could see Erika was already well on her way to their position before a sudden crack split the calm atmosphere. A round pierced through Erika's visor killing her instantly and sending her body crashing to the ground. There was less than a second of silence that felt like an eternity to Bowman before the sound of their overwatch opening fire towards the building shattered it.

"Hostiles spotted in the second-floor window! Looks like a lone individual!" Staff Sergeant Kirk's voice came over the comms. Moments passed before the individual was riddled with bullets from both the SAW and the Marksman from Kirk's team.

"Get out of the open! To the building!" Bowman shouted over the gunfire as he and his team returned fire.

"Breach in the wire complete!" Al shouted as he put away his wire cutters. His task of cutting a hole in the fence complete.

"Push to the front of the building, we need to get in there! Kirk, you've got our backs!" Bowman said. Bowman and his team then charged through the breach and towards the entrance of the building. All the while, the SAW was maintaining a volume of fire towards the windows, and the Marksman looking for any movement. As his team got close, Bowman gave the signal for the SAW to shift fire to prevent any friendly fire. Three green flashes signaled the gunners compliance. Bowman and his team quickly stacked along the double door with Bowman taking up the rear.

Al scanned the door with his tactical pad to check for any explosive traps that could have been set, giving the signal when he saw it was all clear. With that, the entire team gave the signal and Al blew the door hinges off with two blasts of his shotgun. Goodman was the first into the breach, his MA5B raised and ready to waste anyone in his path. He crossed right while Martha went left. Bowman and Al followed suit and the team began going room to room.

Surprisingly, there was not much resistance at first. That was until they came upon a hall, only for an attacker dressed in ODST BDUs jumped Martha from around the corner. They grappled brutally, the attacker going for pressure points. The grappling was stopped however when Goodman drew his knife and plunged it into the distracted assailant's neck turning angry shouts into choked gurgles. He tore the now dying enemy off of Martha before putting two rounds through the man's visor. "Thanks." Said Martha as she got back on her feet.

Their small moment was quickly split however when several rounds flew about their heads causing the team to take cover and return fire. This was not a good situation, they were caught in a hallway with the enemy boring down on them. Rounds tore away at the cinder block walls of the facility as both teams traded fire. Finally, Al pulled the pin on a grenade before tossing it down the hall towards the enemy. "Take that ya bastards!"

The grenade detonated and there was a scream of agony from one of the enemies. The gunfire ceased for a moment giving Gladiator an upper hand in the fighting. Al and Goodman immediately surged forward to take advantage of the break. They had narrowed down the enemy fire to the room on the left side of the hallway. To solve the problem, Goodman primed a flash-bang and sent it into the room. It detonated blinding the rooms occupants, and both Al and Goodman pushed in. Bowman and Martha followed closely behind, to quickly see the fighting before them. Al unloaded two rounds from his shotgun point blank into the chest plate of one enemy. The slugs destroying the ceramic-titanium plating and tearing straight into the man's chest. The insurrectionists partner was faster than his fallen friend however, his helmet visor protecting his vision from the worst of the flash. He slammed the butt of his rifle into Goodman's shoulder, a missed attempt for his neck. But this was enough to temporarily cause the rookie to recoil, something the Innie took advantage of. The Innie continued his assault to finish Goodman only for Bowman to put him down with a three-round burst from his battle rifle. "You good Rookie?"

"Yeah, Gunny. I'm good, fucking bastard got the drop on me."

"Alright, glad to hear it. Room clear, let's move."

With that, Gladiator continued their assault. They exited the room and made for a staircase at the end of the hall. "Al, you take point." Bowman ordered.

"You got it boss"

Just as they began making their way up the staircase, a blast came from the top of the stairs. A clay-more device had been set at the top of the stairs. Its detonation caused thousands of small metal pellets to explode out towards the team at high velocities. Many of these pellets pinged off of the ceramic-titanium armor worn by Gladiator. Unfortunately for Al who took the brunt of the blast, any gaps between his armor plating were quickly rewarded with piercing pieces of metal. Al began screaming in agony as he collapsed on the stairs.

"Shit! Al is down!" Shouted Martha who had been spared the blast as Al had been in front of her smaller form. She grabbed the screaming man by the collar and began dragging him down the stairs so she could give him basic aid. With Erika gone, the team didn't have any serious help available.

Bowman and Goodman pushed up the stairs only to encounter more of the enemy waiting at the top. "Shit!" Bowman said as they ducked away from the barrage of fire. He touched the comm pad on his helmet, "Kirk, we need immediate assistance! We have one trooper dead and another well on his way to joining the first."

Kirk's response came in a moment later. Gunfire clearly heard on Kirk's side of the comms. "We are having a bit of an issue ourselves! Some of the enemy wasn't even in the compound! They were waiting for us to attack, then swooped in to hit us from behind! I've already lost two of my team!"

"Kirk, fall back into the facility and call for immediate air support if you can!"

"Negative, they have us pinned down. We can't move and air is saying nothing is available at the moment!"

"Shit, do what you can to hang in there. We are pushing on the second floor. If we can get to those windows, we can give you fire support!"

"Gotcha! We'll hang tight and fight them off. Kirk out!"

With that, Bowman continued the fight.

Martha was doing everything she could to stop the bleeding. This wasn't her first time dealing with a combat injury. Except Al was bleeding from everywhere! What worried her was the blood flowing from his neck and groin regions. The arteries there had been damaged by the pellets, and if the bleeding wasn't stopped Al would be a goner. Martha tried not to think of what had just happened to Erika, and she did all she could to stop Al from joining her. But her efforts were in vain. A bloodied hand grasped her arm as she tried to apply dressing to Als wounds. "Martha, it's okay. Save it. Go fight for the team and keep THEM alive."

"Shut up you dumb ass!" Martha replied harshly. But her words had fallen upon deaf ears. Als grip loosened from her arm and his arm fell to the floor. Al died on the spot. "GOD DAMNIT!" shouted Martha. She looked at Als body in frustration, then at her teammates currently fighting those fucking Insurrectionists. They were going to die today. She was going to make sure of that. Martha picked up her rifle and got back into the action.

Goodman was getting tired of fighting an uphill battle. He primed another flash-bang and tossed it at the enemy. "Give me covering fire, I'm pushing!"

"God speed Greenhorn!" Was all Bowman could say before the flash-bang detonated. Bowman laid down suppressing fire while Goodman pressed up the stairs and into the enemy line. Bowman quickly got up to follow, not wanting the rookie to be surrounded.

The battle was bloody at the top of the stairs. Two enemies had taken position and were quite surprised when a lone ODST charged them in their daze. Goodman delivered a jab to the throat to the first enemy causing him to real back choking. The second enemy tried to grab Goodman, only to be tackled by the lone ODST. Bowman made it to the top of the stairs and immediately engaged the second enemy with his knife drawn.

Goodman worked fast on his victim, who wrestled him on the ground. Both had knives drawn and were fighting for dominance. Something Goodman quickly won when he drove his knee up between the Innies legs. This gave him just enough leverage to drive his knife into the enemy's lower rib cage. He followed the stab with a cross to the face before withdrawing the knife and plunging it into the Insurrectionists neck.

Bowman who meanwhile was fighting his enemy standing, tried for a quick jab with his knife into the enemy's neck. The Innie quickly countered by blocking and grabbing Bowman's arm, getting inside his defense and using his body to throw Bowman over his shoulder and onto the ground. The Insurrectionist was now on top of Bowman, who was fighting for his life. This didn't last long however as Martha shot the Innie in the side of the head from the entrance to the stairs. "Thanks, guess I owe you a drink." Bowman said as he got up. "Where's Al?"

"He didn't make it." Martha stated. We need to end this before we lose any more people.

"Agreed. Staff Sergeant Kirk and his team were engaged outside. We need to get to the second story windows and give him assistance."

The team moved further down the hall encountering little resistance. After a short distance, they came to a set of double doors. "Alright, stack up." Ordered Bowman.

The team did so swiftly before giving the signal to breach. Bowman opened the door slightly and tossed in a flash-bang of his own. It went off after a moment and the team pushed through the door. Bowman was immediately greeted by a round into his right shoulder plate before he and his team lit up the single Innie standing behind a desk. The Insurrectionist slumped to the floor dead. "Clear!" Bowman sounded off.

"Clear!" Both Martha and Goodman repeated.

They were in a small conference room that had a long meeting table and chairs surrounding it. At the end of the table sat a lone man who was unarmed. He was dressed in a tan trench coat and wore circular glasses. He looked to be middle ages and was completely shaved. Bowman took notice that he matched the description of their missing UNSC Official.

"Mr. Linch?" Bowman questioned.

"That would be me trooper." The man replied.

"I'm going to need you to answer a couple of confirmation questions for me to make sure you are who you say you are."

"Shoot."

"What's your mother's maiden name?"

"Jane."

"What was the name of your second pet?"

"Lance."

"Where were you born?"

"Tell me, do you like Rueben Sandwiches?" The man answered with a small grin.

"Thank you, Mr. Linch." Bowman tapped his comms. "Package is confirmed and secure. Staff Sergeant, what is your status?"

Silence ruled the communications channel.

"Kirk? Come in."

Again, nothing.

"Shit, Martha get me eyes on the outside to the building. But do so carefully."

"Will do." Martha replied before going down the hall to check out the windows. Meanwhile Goodman turned to watch the staircase.

Bowman turned his comms to signal their extraction, "Overlord, this is Gladiator. Package has been confirmed and secured. Requesting immediate extraction. Be advised, we have multiple casualties and potential hostiles around the AO."

Bowman felt a wave of relief when he heard the reply, "Gladiator, this is Overlord. We are in bound to your location. ETA five mikes. However, be advised that scans are showing no sign of hostile or friendly movement within your AO."

Bowman felt a pit form in his gut. Something that only got worse when Martha called him over. "Watch Mr. Linch, Rook." Bowman told Goodman as he walked out of the room and over to where Martha had taken position. "What is it?" He asked.

"Look for yourself Gunny." Martha said, her voice drained of emotion.

Bowman peered out the window only to see something that confirmed the gut feeling he had. Outside lay the bodies of Kirk and his team. Along with them, were the scattered bodies of the Insurrectionists that had ambushed them. Staff Sergeant Kirk and his men had fought to a bloody last stand. "That explains the scans." Bowman sullenly stated. He gave Martha a tap on the shoulder. Keep watch, we have evac in bound about five mikes out."

"Gotcha, I'll keep watch. Oh, and hey, what do you think about all of this? None of this makes sense to me."

"How do you mean?" Bowman questioned.

"We are fighting Innies wearing our gear? We are rescuing a UNSC official from said Innies within the Sol system? Without support beyond what we were sent in with? Doesn't this whole thing seem odd to you?"

The tone in Martha's voice backed his feelings of confusion that had followed him throughout this mission. This whole thing didn't feel right to him, and Bowman wanted answers. More importantly, he wanted to know who Mr. Linch was. That seemed like a good start. "I don't like it any more than you do. But right now, let's just wrap this up. We can ask the big questions later." With that, Bowman made his way back to the conference room.

Upon his arrival, Mr. Linch had not moved an inch. Bowman was starting to get that gut feeling again. He couldn't tell why, but he knew he didn't like something about this man.

"Mr. Linch, if you'd please come with us, we can get you out of here." Bowman said.

Mr. Linch stood and began making his way over. "Thank you Mr…?"

"Call me Gunny."

"I see, well thank you Gunny." With that, the four of them made their way out of the building. As they waited for transport, they kept Mr. Linch inside the compound under guard. Meanwhile, Bowman went out to gather up his dead brothers and sisters in arms. The more he thought about it, the less he liked this whole mission. It almost made him sick. He had lost too many good troopers to this raid, and there were to many questionable factors involved. Who was this Mr. Linch and why was he so important? He didn't seem all that significant of a person to be a high-ranking official in the UNSC. Then again, Bowman had been surprised before. He didn't like any of this at all, and he wanted answers. Why did he have to lose seven troopers in one raid to rescue this mystery of a man? His thoughts were interrupted by the whine of an incoming D77-TC Pelican Dropship as it approached to extract his team. 'Looks like questions are going to have to wait for now.' Bowman thought to himself as he and what remained of his team secured Mr. Linch on board and quickly began loading the bodies. As soon as they had finished, the pelican closed the cargo hold and took of for the skies of Titan.