I Do not own Halo or Alien/predator series

Chapter Two: Gearing up

Kendra Herrera silently readied her AIE-486H Heavy Machine Gun with it's nickname, "Katie" stenciled into the bullet guard. Kendra double checked the barrels and the ammo belt. Everything was in place. Placing the AIE down, Katie quickly drew her magnum side arm. She did so five times as fast as she could. Her blood was boiling, she wanted to launch.

Kendra was the weapons specialist of Benny's team. She also was the youngest. Despite that, no one on the team messed with her... Well almost everyone. Harmon and Lance never learned when to leave her alone, today was no exception.

"Hey, Herrera, need help carrying that heavy thing?" Harmon asked with a tint of sarcasm in his voice.

"Yeah, Herrera, you look kind of tired, let us help you." Lance continued, the sarcasm doubled in his voice. Kendra only continued prepping her gear. Over the years of working with these two, Kendra had learned to just ignore them.

Her silence worked. Both Lance and Harmon shrugged at each other and stopped. Harmon turned back to his locker and loaded his 99C-S2 sniper rifle. He looked down its electronic scope and adjusted the calibration. He did this twice before turning back to Kendra.

"You nervous." Harmon asked seriously.

"Because of the Flood?" She replied quickly as she placed her 486H machine gun into the SOEIV . Harmon nodded his head. Kendra was silent for a moment then smiled and said lowly.

"Me and Katie, are going to love this."

"I figured you would be scared." Lance butted in. Kendra's brow furrowed and she retorted.

"I'll give you something to be scared about!" Lance just threw his arms back in surrender. He would rather face a Hunter than make Kendra angry. Lance was the demolition expert. Out of two hundred he was top of his class. As long as it had a detonator and a hint of gunpowder, he could make anything go boom. It was no secret that Lance lived for explosions and the thrill of blowing up stuff. He was also Harmon's spotter when on assignment.

Lance finished loading his M90 shotgun into the SOEIV and leaned his back against the wall. Scanning the room he spotted Jin. The team's medic and tech specialist. He was kneeling with his rifle, knives and machete in front of him.

"Hey, tech head, load up! We launch in ten." Lance barked. There was only silence. Jin was... odd. At least Lance thought so. He was too silent.

"Hey, tech head! Quit thinking and –

Jin stood. He grabbed his MA5 assault rifle and looked down the sights. He smirked. Placing it into his drop pod's weapon cache, Jin knelt back down. He was praying. Jin was a spiritual man. A warrior. Bowing his head, Jin prayed a final time and stood again. He sheathed his twin combat knives and squeezed there handles. Then he grabbed his machete. It was an old weapon, one that had severed many Covenant heads. It was Jin's weapon of choice. Along the blade were many notches, thirty one to be exact. Each notch was for a Covenant Brute or Elite he had killed.

"A warrior lives by acting, not by thinking about acting, nor by thinking about what he will think when he has finished acting." Jin stated as he sheathed the machete. Lance just looked at Jin.

"Okay... no idea what your saying." Lance said in confusion. Kendra only laughed.

"He's saying shut the hell up and get ready yourself." Lance scowled and cursed to himself as he turned back to his pod and loaded the last of his explosives.

"Many Covenant will die on this mission." Jin said suddenly. Lance just smirked and replied.

"You said it, man."

"I was talking to my machete." Jin remarked. Lance's face fell flat.

"Well, I was too." Lance quipped

"Good." Jin replied. He took a seat in his pod and began the locking procedure, sealing himself in. Both Lance and Harmon looked at one another. Jin was a good man and loyal to a fault but both agreed on one thing. They could never fully understand him.

Then all three turned to Benny. He had been silent for the entire time. He had loaded his BR-55 and sat near his pod, his head bowed. Everyone knew that he was against the mission. Yet he agreed to it. It was his call. Looking up, Benny saw his team eying him. He hid his fear with a smile and an order.

"Alright, load up. We're launching." Benny quickly jumped into his pod, the others doing the same. Now they waited for the green light to engage.