Nighttime, when everything goes dark and everyone stops to rest. When everyone puts away their work, stops their play, and sleeps, waiting for the next day. There was little difference on the jungle planet. The Covenant there had put away their work and gone to bed, only the sentries watching for trouble had stayed awake.
At one of the sentry posts, a pair of jackals looked out into the night. One in sniper wear, he held a beam rifle, and swept the area with his cyclonic mask optics, back and forth. His companion was a little less attentive, and would occasionally look up into the stars, and at the bright glowing moon. He wondered why they were out here, their elite commander hadn't issued sentries before. Perhaps he was nervous, the distant explosion they had heard the day before, and the excited transmissions over the comms hadn't sounded reassuring.
The Kig-yar shook his head and looked up again, at the bright white moon. A little twinkle seemed to emerge from behind it, and moved away. Another, slightly larger speck of light appeared in front of it, and as the two met they simply disappeared. Then, there was nothing there but the stars. The jackal stared there for a few more seconds, before shrugging and continuing his lonely search, the sniper by his side.
"ALL HANDS, PREPARE FOR SLIPSPACE JUMP."
The intercom blared throughout the Infinity. In the quarters of Hammond Waters, the Spartan continued cleaning her sniper rifle. The Spartan-IV would not be affected by the turbulence that would soon ensue, her genetic enhancements reducing the load. Besides, there wasn't a lot of rumbling to worry about anyway.
Next door, Axel Lenovo was reviewing battle stats and comparing fireteam records. He always preferred to pass the time figuring out how to fight better, how to be a better leader. Right now he was comparing His team's performance to that of Fireteam Crimson. If the Marines considered Spartans to be the big boys, then Crimson was the father. Some of the best UNSC Fighters to come around since the John-117, they were on that Fireteam.
Sighing, Axel put down the tablet. He considered taking a nice bath, or heading to the gym. He wasn't just a fighter, he liked to relax sometimes. Opting for the bath, he walked into the bathroom and started running the water.
Across the hall, Sam and Mickey emerged from the same room and started walking down the corridor. "So, what's it going to be today, Mick?" Sam was referring to the war games training simulations, a simulation that could create massive battles with multiple Spartans, right down to the last flower in a field or drop of spilled blood.
"Hmm, how about some Longbow BTB?" Always opting for the larger maps, Mick enjoyed about any War Game with a vehicle. In addition to being an ideal training machine, many of the Spartans onboard Infinity enjoyed the Simulated battles like a form of recreation.
"Sounds good to me!" Said Sam, and they soon rounded the corner to the War Games Room. Walking into the nearest open simulation chamber, they joined the 'server,' ready to fight whatever the game threw at them.