Alyosha stood out in the balcony of the Command Center, staring at the outpouring of UNSC assets that had formed part of the garrison in the Outpost, either in transition toward the Ark's Outer Rim, or as permanent residents meant to assist in the security of one of the many points in the Ark's thick defense network. The Spirit of Fire had radioed and reported that all facilities were set to begin stripping some important stuff off of the girl. Armor plates to reinforce bulkheads on the Outpost, a couple of anti-air guns in case of aerial Rapture insertion, some coilguns and missile pods and even the MAC.

Some of the few things that were not that transportable were the ship's reactor and much of the onboard factories, meaning that the place would become another Outpost of its own. Landed amidst the farthest dead sister city explored so far, she'd be part of the defenses of humanity's last known bastion, too. UNSC staff in HAZMAT gear were also already sweeping the Ark where Kelly had met that terrifying alien parasite, the Flood. They'd given the All-Clear a while ago.

Still, Alyosha's skin crawled whenever he thought just how close they were to a second Apocalypse. One that would leave the Raptures to deal with Humanity's angered Ghosts instead of a dwindling species. An alien army of the undead versus an alien army of Machines. He didn't even wanna fathom who'd win out in that battle. All he knew was that he and anyone and everyone he loved and cared about would be dead.

Chewing on that thought for a bit, he realized that might still happen before the end of the War against the Raptures, or even now, while they were preparing to counter Syuen's last little trump card in full. He prayed the Civvies and any Nikke who had doubts about Syuen's plans would stay the hell out of the line of fire while the UNSC dealt with the little rat. He also hoped he'd get a chance to choke the life out of her after everything she'd put them all through, though he'd be thankful just to see her hang. He let his mind cool by watching Neon and Anis playing some sort of American variation of Football with Johnson and his Marines, laughing as they ran together with the men and Chief's squad.

He twitched as he felt a hand rest on his shoulder, then cocked his head left. Rapi stood there, her beautiful red eyes glimmering with a hint of surprise. She spoke, "Apologies, Commander. You seemed deep in thought and I just wanted to make sure you're alright..." shyly pushing a strand of hair out of her left eye. To the onlooker, they could faintly make out a blush on her cheeks.

He smiled at his XO. She'd always been there, right by his side. He nodded in thanks and replied, "I'm alright. Just... This is all so overwhelming," before pointing out in the distance. Mighty Tools and the UNSC's Construction Battalion were faux-bickering like they were old friends, all while building an extension to the Outpost to permit the assembly of one of the two Coil-Guns and half-a-dozen AAA guns to be installed. He continued, "A few months ago, we barely had the Chief aboard and look at us now."

"An Army of men and women under our belt and the fate of all of Humanity hanging in the balance, waiting to be tipped one way or another by the upcoming move in a Big Game," She completed his thoughts, leaning against the railing of the balcony, too. She nodded, "I'd be lying if I didn't say that this was... Terrifying for me, too, when we even looked at the options."

"I'm not made for politics," Alyosha chuckled, "Hell, I think I saw my first gray hair appear."

Rapi looked to him, a hint concerned, before noting that his hair remained its usual black. She poked a hand into it almost instinctually, though, only to realize she'd mistakenly given him a pat and blush as she retracted her hand. She coughed and said, "It looks normal to me..." awkwardly starting to play with her own hair. Alyosha's turn to blush came next at the sight of that.

"Was a figure of speech," He chuckled awkwardly, rubbing the back of his neck. He then told her, "Thanks for worrying..."

Almost robotically and partially in denial, Rapi replied with, "It's your second-in-command's main duty to ensure you're in good health..." while averting her gaze. It was truly annoying for both of them that they found little reason to ever tell each-other their true feelings. Though neither realized the other had feelings for them, either, Rapi had the idea of the perfect soldier to maintain for so many reasons, while Alyosha was at least trying to be close to every Nikke under his command so they understood he saw them as human, but he wished he could show more affection in private to Rapi.

It was all the more annoyign to be a third party in this mess. Anis stared up at them with one of her usual 'I am not paid enough for this' looks, her eyes narrowed and mouth slightly agape as she furrowed her brows. Before long, however, she took the edge of 'pig skin'(A nickname for the weirdly egg-shaped American football) to the face. Bisenti winced and called out, "Sorry!"

Anis barely flinched, really, but it was enough to take her out of her stupor. She waved it off and picked the ball up, before calling out, "Yo, Neon, go long!" as she cocked her hand back and threw the ball with a little spin. Neon laughed maniacally as she charged forward at a speed comparable to that of a Spartan, before jumping into the air and catching the ball just as she and it entered the designated touchdown area. She lifted the ball up in victory, to which Anis lifted a balled fist with a grin, "Nice one, you dunce!"

"Damn," Johnson snorted, "Alright, not bad, not bad. Fact you girls can play a lil' URNA special got you a lot more respect from this old man. Let's take five," and he walked over to Anis to join her in looking up at Alyosha and Rapi. He took a puff from the cigar he'd just lit, then asked, "They always been this awkward around each-other?" as he arranged his UNSC-standard grey sports tank top with the eagle emblem.

"Mmmhmm..." Anis nodded, arms crossed below her chest, "It's like watching a pair of lovesick schoolkids, I swear to ya, Sarge. Absolute dorks, the both of'em and they won't even admit their damn feelings," before she huffed and blew a strand of hair from between her eyes. She told him, "And that man's got half the camp on his behind. I don't mean this metaphorically."

"I've seen how some of the other chicks here look at him," He nodded, "Rapi's got a lotta competition."

"Nah, I don't think there's any competition," The girl replied, sounding a little disappointed as she let her hands fall by her hips, "They're kinda made for each-other. I mean... Commander Harris is a great guy, he's friendly, warm, hell, he treats us like humans which is a far cry from anyone else in the Ark. You, Chief and the other UNSC staff that arrived recently are the few others who do the same. And Rapi? Rapi's basically perfect. Top grades, formerly part of Elysion's best squad, though I'd argue she left cuz of Eunhwa-"

"SHUT YOUR MOUTH!" Eunhwa's angry, yet raspy voice echoed from a distance. Anis and the Sergeant chuckled at that, as did Emma and Vesti.

Anis then continued, "And... I mean, look at her. I get we're all supermodels, but the one person in this base that looks like she could strut the catwalk at one of Boss Mustang's shows while not being a Tetra girl is right there. It also helps she's extremely nice, if a little deadpan," and she smiled, "It's why I'd say she's one of my best friends, even..."

Sarge smiled at that, looking at Anis smile, too, then told her, "Sounds like you care a lot about your team. That's a good sign."

"... They gave me a reason to live, Sarge," Anis admitted, her usually bombastic voice uncharacteristically low and melancholic "I was just doing this job on autopilot. I mean, I didn't wanna die, but I knew it was a possibility and was well and truly up and ready to go for it. Then they and that dumbass," She pointed at a Neon who was playing catch with Jenkins, which caused the girl to turn her head and miss the ball while Anis continued, "Had to come by and make me laugh and feel like I belonged."

"That's what a squad does to a motherfucker," Johnson snorted, "My boys, now that they're back, are basically family. And Chief? Shit, girl, if you knew half the crap I went through with him, you wouldn't be surprised I and everyone else here would follow him into the river Styx without floaties," and that got Anis to snort, too. He continued, motioning toward the other Spartans milling about, "After a while, you're no longer just co-workers in the military. You get shot at enough, you start thanking the lord you and the dumbass next to you didn't die and now you two are sharing drinks and goofing off when off-duty and kicking ass with almost a mystic coordination when you're in the shit."

"If that doesn't sum us all up," The girl nodded, still smiling, "Just a bunch of idiots running around with guns and with things just workin' out for us," and she lifted her left index to show Johnson to wait. She looked up at the sky gleaming above, lifted her middle finger at it and said, "Fuck off, Murphy. I did not invoke you willingly and I do not want your stupid issues, ya hear?"

Johnson couldn't contain himself, bursting loudly into laughter next to Anis before telling her, "Here's to hoping you didn't piss him off! That man's screwed more than a few well-laid plans when he felt like a dick!" only to hear the other Marines laughing, too. Neon, meanwhile, stared around, confused. Her glasses gleamed in the sunlight as she pushed them to the bridge of her nose.

"Hey, Sarge," Jenkins spoke through the laughter, "We playin', or we done for the day?"

"We playin', kid. Bring it in, boys and girls!" Johnson replied, still grinning.

In another part of the base, Forge had sat himself down with a bunch of Nikkes, regaling them with the tales of the Spirit of Fire's misadventures near Harvest, Arcadia and the weird alien planet called Etran Harborage per some reports. He spoke, "... And then Jerome helps me a bunch of other Marines rescue some surrounded Elephants. No, not the animal, giant armored transports. Next thing we see is a bunch of Flood sprouting outta the ground. One of'em nicked me here," and he pointed at his neck, where a small, superficial scar resided, before grinning and adding, "But we got'em down for the count. Seeing a human turn live, though... That was a bit..." and his smirk faded, replaced by a hidden fear.

"Kelly told us the Flood's some scary stuff," Pinne quipped as she leaned her shotgun against her shoulder, sat down in front of Forge, "Didn't expect the bastard fungus to be able to infect entire planets, though..." and that caused a shiver to shoot up her spine. Kelly's tales, corroborated by what Forge had told them. She shuddered to think of if they'd escaped containment here.

Niner replied, "We probably should've expected it. You saw the helmet footage, too... The damn things owned that part of the Lost Ark."

"I'm glad we had a Spartan on-station to deal with that crap," Forge told them as he shifted his ass a bit on the ammunition boxes he was sat on.

"Yeah," Sammy shot back, "Now, onto other stuff, Sarge, you guys fought on a bunch of worlds. How was Arcadia, exactly?"

"Lush, green and barely colonized," The man replied, "Hell of a nice resort world for as long as it lasted. Can't tell you how the services were, because I never got to visit before the Covvies started shooting the place up, but from what little I'd seen of it during urban combat? Yeah, would recommend for a vacation if it was still whole..." and that quip received a few quiet laughs from the Nikkes. He continued, "Can't complain about the fact we're all alive here, though. Ark seems like home, if underground."

"Well, for you, maybe," Niner spoke in a murmur. Her comrades set hands on her shoulder and Forge winced. He recalled that Nikkes weren't treated the same by the people of the Ark as they were by the UNSC staff. His eyes locked onto a trio of people. Two Nikkes, doctors at the local hospital, and a Corpsman marching and chatting with smiles on their faces. He should'a known better than to say that.

He said, "Didn't mean it like that, kid. It's still not my homeworld. Not our Earth. And we're here to fix the mess we're all stuck in together," then stood up and approached her, taking a knee in front of the whole of the Lucky Strikes and the other Nikkes that were clustered around, listening to him tell stories. He told them, "UNSC Marines don't leave their own behind. You'll be up there with us when this is all over, fellow soldiers and humans. I'm sure Chief promised you the same, so I'm just reiterating what he said, but..."

Niner looked him in the eye, then smiled and nodded, with Layla in the back chuckling. The other girls let out short laughs, too, while Delta and Signal walked to join them, food in hand. MREs, surprisingly enough, brought over from the Spirit's cold storage. A few Marines assisted them in carrying the stuff, one of which was exchanging small-talk with Delta while both of them smiled. Soldiers getting along wasn't new, but it was still nice to see. Alas, the Sergeants' minds wandered to the Spartans and their assignments now.

He paused, however, when he saw four new figures approach from one of the Landing Pads. Three Nikkes, two of which he recognized from reports, a third that was clad in what looked to be priestly clothing and armor that barely hid her form and a Spartan clad in bulky, matte cyan armor and carrying a DMR. He blinked, then radioed, "Uh... Guys? We have a sitch..."

The ID tag on the Spartan read '104'...

Andersen's Office

The Chief Deputy sipped his coffee, staring at the plump, strangely ugly man in front of him. He asked, "I hope you understand what we're doing, Burningum. Tell your girls that if they don't wanna wind up in the Crossfire when this entire thing blows up, they'll either tag along with us or stay out of our way... And that stands for you, too. Tell anyone about what we just talked..." and he jabbed a thumb back behind him. The audible crack of knuckles and a muffled laugh echoed as if to make the man's point clear.

"I know, I know," The man waved it off and sighed, "Such a crass attitude toward a workmate," then he wiped the sweat off his brow with a very yellowed handkerchief. He was deathly afraid of the woman sat in the shadows behind Andersen, taller than him by a country mile and wearing armor thick enough to make a tank blush. He told them, "... You will have the cooperation of Triangle when the situation calls for it. Syuen's little betrayal of trust cannot be taken lightly. I do wonder, however, why you haven't sent Perilous Siege after her..."

"With Enikk the way she is and the Court being heartily in favor of Syuen, I'm not risking deploying the Assassins without any sort of backup or proper, unshakeable and undismissable evidence. It's why we saved your sorry ass and several other Chief Deputies I know I can trust," He told the man. Standing up, he told him, "Now. Go. We'll be watching..." to which Burningum sighed deeply. He bowed and stood up, walking out. The clap of his cane against the floor grew ever more distant.

Andersen sighed, dropped back into his seat and rubbed his eyes, "Now that that's over... In comes the hardest part..." only to watch as three figures, one clad in a black bodysuit with blue accents, one clad in a bra, cap and what looked to be leggings and one clad in an amalgamation of weird clothing colored red and black, stepped in. The former-most beamed, pulling her hood off her head.

"Greetings, Chief Andersen!" She smirked, "Your Hero, here as you requested!"

The blonde with the bra and 'leggings' sighed and said, "Sorry we're late, sir... Syuen was really adamant we shouldn't leave. She seemed really on edge-" only to pause as she noticed the girl in the back. Her eyes shot wide open, hand hovering over her pistol. The others noticed this and prepared their own sidearms, but Andersen raised his hand, showing them to calm down.

"Who the heck is that?!" Drake, the white-haired, red-eyed and self-declared 'villain' of the squad asked.

"A member of the 'Green Folk' you've all probably been hearing rumors about," Andersen stated bluntly, standing to his feet. Daisy remained quiet in the back, arms crossed to her chest as she prepared to intervene. The gasps of surprise from all three women told Andersen and Daisy they'd hit exactly what they needed to hit. He continued, "They're here to ensure something terrible doesn't befall the Ark."

"What? Can we help?" The goofy leader of Team Matis, Missilis's finest, Laplace, asked, looking at Daisy, her face switching from a goofy, over-the-top catty smile to one of seriousness. Drake and the genius of the team, Maxwell, didn't comment, letting their TL speak. She asked, "Is it the disappearances ongoing in the Central Government? Syuen told us it might be the Green Folk and that Master Chief, the new arrival, but..."

"It's not," Andersen replied, then sighed deeply. How would one approach telling the favorite kids of Missilis that their boss was the reason for the disappearances without causing them to turn hostile. He continued, "Ladies... I need you to have full trust in me. We've worked fairly well together in the past, which is why I know all three of you have your share of smarts."

"More like four braincells shared between the three of us, with two on me," Maxwell murmured jokingly, before continuing, "What is it, sir?" still serious. Andersen soon realized he had proof for what he was about to say, so he spun his computer screen and keyboard around and started typing into the secured file search, pulling up all the data accumulated by Chief's AI over the months they'd been here. Not to mention Kelly's finds in the Lost Ark.

He then began to explain everything to them. Every single detail, accompanying image and piece of text, or video, caused the three to become ever more shaken. Even Drake's own goofy over-the-top villain expression had turned to one of pure shock, while Maxwell cupped her own chin, eyes wide as she stared at the Flood and everything else. Laplace herself seemed like she did not want to believe it, but couldn't deny the truth that was staring her in the face.

He continued, "I'm sorry you have to find out this way about your boss... But I swear to you, we'll help bring her to justice."

"H-How..." Laplace whispered, "How could we miss all of this...?"

"Simple," Daisy finally piped up. She walked into the full view of the squad as she told them, "You three are her favorite bauble. The top of Missilis's technological pyramid and the best of the best. You're Matis Squad, the Heroes and Villain... Of course, she'd keep something like this from you out of fear. Fear you'd turn on her more than anything," and she saw Laplace was about to counter her. She raised her hand to shut the girl up and told her, "There's no redeeming your boss. She fucked up... She's gonna pay for everything she's done."

Laplace narrowed her lips, while Maxwell face-palmed and Drake sighed. Both Spartan and Chief Deputy understood if they needed a moment to process it. Laplace, however, was quick to ask, "And what can we do...? We can't let this happen. We've been working for a... A... A villain, all this time. How did..." She sighed and shook her head, "No. How do we help? Matis Squad is at your service... Yours and the Green Folks'..."

Andersen smiled. He gave the girl a pat on the head and said, "For now, girls, just return to Missilis. Don't act any different around her than you usually do. Your presence next to her might be what's necessary to capture her and everyone else that's affiliated. Otherwise, remain low profile and wait for the Next Event to start. We'll send you the details of the op in private. Understood?"

All three saluted. He nodded approvingly, "Good. Dismissed... Godspeed and I'm sorry."

"... So are we, sir," Maxwell replied, then licked her lips, "Wonder how Cutie's gonna see this..." and she, Lap and Drake walked out. It was clear to Andersen that he'd destroyed that illusion of peace that being Missilis's best had brought them. They were still the heroes they played themselves up to be and the Ark's finest weapons against the Rapture, but they were also poor girls, deceived by Syuen like everyone else.

He hummed, then turned to the computer and initiated the Black Room protocol. He radioed, "All eggs are in the basket... The chicken's crowing," and phase 1 was ago. As the Night Cycle fell upon the Ark, the first infiltration teams leapt from their staging areas into the city, sneaking past enemy checkpoints. Nikkes that were on their side allowed them through to the Ark's more important facilities. Power stations, the radio and telecom tower, the Police Stations. Poli and her recruit, Miranda, had welcomed them into the Precinct warmly after Ingrid had given a call. Within hours, several important structures had been seized without as much as a firefight. The Main Force staged within the Outer Rim's most well-defended area. Tanks, infantry, transports and aircraft.

The pieces were moving into place...

In Syuen's office...

... She could feel the noose tightening around her throat. These 'Green Folks', probably that bastard Spartan's friends and then some, were making their moves. She felt it in the pit of her stomach. Hitting the transmit button, she ordered, "Go into Code NIGHTMARE... Looks like we're playing our hand now, hard and fast. Take the CG building with our loyal paid-for fighting force and hold it... I don't care about the cost in scrap-heaps or 'Commanders'."

It was time...