Captain Jacob Ralf led his team through the bowels of the Slumbering Whale, clearing each hallway below decks. To his surprise, they had only encountered a few guards, who were easy to dispatch with silence. Ralf became nervous. There should have been more security.

Captain Ralf cleared the last corridor containing the ladder they were looking for. He heard a small whistle around the opposite corner. He replied with another whistle. Barney Calhoun jogged from his hiding place from the opposite side of the hall. Ralf gave him a reassuring nod.

"How'd it go on your end?"

Barney rubbed the back of his neck nervously.

"It went fine, but there were only two guards. I expected more."

"Yeah," Ralf replied, "Me too."

The group moved to the nearby ladder with a small hatch at the top, leading to the top deck. Barney climbed the ladder, pushing the hatch up slightly to peer on the deck. It was nighttime, but he could see most of the ship. The deck was covered in huge metal containers. The only thing out of the ordinary was an armored helicopter at the stern. What bothered Barney was that the only source of enemy activity was around the control tower. About twenty Combine soldiers walked the three levels of the tower. Barney was about to climb down when something caught his eye to the right. It took his eyes a few minutes to adjust to the darkness, but he could make out the edges. The metal "box" was filled with twelve deactivated nightmares. It was a Hunter container. To Barney's dismay, another occupied container was sitting next to it.

"Crap," was all he could say.

Barney jumped from the ladder, grunting as he hit the floor.

"Well," Ralf asked, "What do we have?"

"We have twenty or so guards patrolling the tower and a helicopter on the far side of the ship."

Barney's voice dropped.

"We also have two full Hunter containers."

The group of rebels gasped. Even Captain Ralf looked shocked. His mind started racing, trying to figure out a way to keep those Hunters from being activated.

"W-we're just gonna have to stay stealthy. If they see us, they'll activate those things."

Ralf then turned to each and every one of his soldiers.

"Stay in the shadows. We're headin' up."

All at once, fifty gun bolts clacked into place.

---

Captain Ralf moved onto the deck first, clearing his surroundings. Fifteen men followed their officer, slipping from shadow to shadow. Barney and his men took their turn, moving towards a group of large metal containers. As the men approached the tower, Ralf could see five guards patrolling the three levels of the control tower. Ralf had a problem. His men were in the shadows right now, but when they would attack the guards, they would have to travel in the light. They had to do it, though. Ralf turned toward one of his soldiers, sending hand signals. The rebel nodded, picking up a small pipe of the ground. He then smacked it on the deck, making a loud hollow sound. Immediately, the three guards on the bottom level directed their attention towards the sharp sound. After a few moments of radio chatter, two of the guards moved into the darkness.

----

Ralf waited patiently as the last guard decided to check-up on his comrades, who had been gone for a few minutes. As soon as the CP turned the corner, a knife flew into his facemask.

"Well," Ralf whispered, "That's the last of the bottom guards. The ones who are on the top levels are going to be tricky. Now . . ."

Before he could finish the sentence, the mask radio from the dead guard clicked to life.

"156, COME IN."

Of course, soldier 156 could not reply. Ralf took the portable speaker from the mask's left side and shoved into his own ear. After a few moments of listening, Ralf's eyes grew wide.

A curious rebel asked, "What is it boss?" Ralf turned, shock written all over his face.

"Dr. Breen is on this ship."