So new chapter is finally here, enjoy.

-

Unknown Inner Colony, 2535, one day later

It's a new day. The sun was burning today, the sky was clear and cloudless, and the various birds and fliers that had been brought to the colony were flying and chirping outside. The insects were buzzing, the water had evaporated and the drought had arrived. Such weather was typical of this colony, sometimes it would rain, but then the heat would come. Such tropical weather. John cried all yesterday after his story. His AI didn't try to intervene or comfort him in any way, just waited until he cried and moved on. John was looking much better today. He had to admit himself that the telling had helped, it had lightened his mind, but there were still some memories. He let those go though and had much bigger problems to focus on.

"Okay, we've got another day here and…hot as hell, I'll tell you that. The thermometer reads…oh man, 45 degrees."

John was recording again. He was taking notes like this, thinking it was for possible future generations, if they somehow managed to survive this period. With the war raging on the edge of UNSC space, however, that is uncertain.

"So, things are finally drying up for me and what I could…and should…do is look at the broken ones and try to fix it…well, that's gonna be a bummer. I don't have the finances, I don't have the materials. I don't even have a fucking car. I've already started to do a little bit too.", he said, taking the camera and pointing it next to him.

"I've already built some of that shack over here so I don't have to sleep right on the ground. Trust me, sleeping on rocks isn't twice as comfortable."

He stood up with the camera and walked closer to his little hut. It wasn't anything fancy, just a small house made of wood, more like a platform and some kind of boundary. It was backed with rocks to compensate somehow. The structure didn't look very plausible and it looked like it was going to collapse at any moment.

John also had some lighting in the cave and a small work area where he had things laid out on a makeshift workbench. It was quite a mess around, with stuff and materials and other things strewn about. He had a few things set up on his desk for repairs, tools and an MA5 rifle.

"I hope you clean up after yourself too, I'm not going to watch this forever.", the AI remarked with sarcasm.

John snorted.

"Sure, don't worry.", he replied back.

"Well, my main job for now is to get a car and some income plus supplies. There's a chemical plant not far from here, but we'll leave that for later.", he continued to explain and describe.

John turned off the camera, set it down on the table and walked over to his backpack.

"I guess we have a hike coming up.", teased Anabel.

"Yeah, I don't know if I'll be able to get here in the day. Maybe we'll sleep over and finish the rest the next day."

"At least we'll have a nice time together!", AI exclaimed excitedly.

"We've had it so far.", John was amused at her comment.

"We do, but…with you always being stressed and everything feeling a bit rushed.", she explained.

"Oh, I can see that."

John packed up the essentials, checking his weapons. In addition to the MA5, he had brought his M6 Magnum. He didn't want to bring the MA5 with him, so he figured this would do the trick. He tucked his weapon into the sweat belt of his shirt, threw on his vest and hat, packed his food, and headed out.

"Try to get us safely linked to the satellite so they can't find us later.", John asked his AI.

"GPS will come in handy.", he added.

"Working on it.", came the reply.

He walked out of the cave, looked around, looked to the left from where he came here, and followed the path to the city.

It was much more pleasant in the woods. The trees made sufficient shade from the sun and it was not as hot as it would have been in the open. There was also a nice breeze that cooled the surroundings considerably, so it was a little less degrees than in the sun. The road wasn't as muddy as it had been the day John had waded through the mud. He remembered it very well, wondering rather that he hadn't caught a cold or some other illness.

But that wasn't important now. What mattered to John was getting into town safely, getting money by any means necessary, getting a vehicle for transportation, and getting the materials he needed. John checked his GPS to see if it was already up. You might wonder how he's going to get back? The answer is simple.

UNSC weapons, hand guns, machine guns, vehicles and more, all have tracking devices in them. Before John got to this point, his AI alerted him to the presence of this device in his weapon, John had to try and disassemble both of his weapons to find it. Of course Anabel helped him, John was not proficient in weapons and needed someone to show him. Once they got to the device, the AI shut it down and he put the weapons back together. All right, what good would that do? Anabel had been tinkering with the device for some time, researching its function and how it was built, analyzing the data needed and examining it.

The tracker had basically been modified so that when it reactivated it wouldn't give away their location, but at the same time John would know where the weapon was. This would lead them back using GPS. That is, if it can be made to work. But he trusted his AI, if there was one thing he would never regret it would be the mistake he had overlooked with the programming that gave it the ability to learn at geometric speed. Having that kind of AI at his disposal was good.

Even if he didn't admit it, he praised it. There was one thing that concerned John, however, and that was the possibility of hacking, as goofy as that seemed. He wanted to take a look at his AI, its program, and try to strengthen it, add extra protection and other things. But he'd either have to get something to do it on, or he'd have to build his own computer. Given his situation, the latter seemed like the better option.

Right now he didn't trust much of anyone, anything. The ONI is basically everywhere, you never know when an ONI agent is watching you. And John wanted to change that. And that's where this chemist was going to help him. John has plans, lots of plans, but he has to tread carefully. He has to také it one step at a time.

John also had a lot of memories surfacing. His whole life. Just thinking about it made him sick. He was never at peace. He'd lost his friends, he'd lost his parents, he'd lost his friends, he'd lost everything. THEY took it all away from him. It was all that fucking woman's fault, she'd started the whole thing, John thought. He clenched his fists as he walked and reminisced. He was tense and very pissed off. That woman will pay, I'll show her, I'll show THEM, I'll show everyone what they caused. Everybody will pay. He was starting to think more and more negatively. However, his AI noticed this as well. It was monitoring his vitals, it could detect it. It knew exactly what was going through his mind. It needed to intervene, to calm him down.

"John? Are you all right?", she asked.

"Yes…", came the quiet, harsh reply.

"You know you can confide in me anytime."

He didn't answer this time.

"What happened after you got out of the colony?", she asked again.

John paused, interrupting his thoughts, and seemed irritated.

"What colony again?", he asked harshly.

"The colony.", Anabel stood her ground.

There was silence again for a while. John knew what she meant. He didn't want to talk about it, he had given in before, but he didn't want to think about it at all.

"John, if you keep bottling it up it won't help your already bad self, you need to confide in someone too.", she explained.

And she was right. John knew it, she knew it. He took a deep breath and continued walking. He readied himself, tried to remember, once he found that particular memory, he began to tell the story.

-

UNSC Halcyon cruiser, slipspace, 2535, 6 hours after leaving the colony

Once we arrived at the ship, we were given a tour of the ship. Well, at least the important places, such as the canteen, cabins, lounge, games room, toilets, etc. We were only granted access to one quarter of the ship and the Marines kept a constant eye on us. But constantly. They were everywhere. I felt like a prisoner, but these precautions were understandable. Ordinary people were in a bad way, but I was literally on the bottom.

My AI didn't talk, remained inactive. I didn't want to také any chances. I sat on my bed in my quarters, staring out the window into the emptiness of slipspace. Most people were frightened by the sight and avoided the windows. I saw it as a comfort. It reminded me of my condition. Empty. I felt empty, like a slipspace. There was nothing positive left in me, only negative. It sucked. I wondered for a while if it was even worth it. Life is hell, just obstacles, problems.

I thought about those who died there. Maybe I even envied them. They finally have peace, no more suffering. My quarters were a mess. I didn't pay much attention. Sometimes I went to the bathroom, but I never left the cabin. I had no appetite. I wasn't in the mood. I didn't hang around people much, I might hurt somebody else. Anger, sadness, hatred, helplessness swirled inside me, my blood boiled, but the feeling of helplessness was the worst.

At one point I hated the Covenant for attacking us for no reason, at the same time I hated the UEG for not doing enough for us. It was insane and every moment I felt like my head was going to explode. I needed a break, I needed a walk. But I didn't want to leave the cabin. I couldn't make up my mind, I couldn't think, I just wanted to get it over with.

Finally, I decided I was going to give it a go. I got out of bed, made my way to the door, left my quarters and entered the corridor. It was empty except for a couple of Marines at the end of the corridor. They weren't paying attention to me now, they were talking about something. I didn't care. I looked around. There wasn't much to see, just grey titanium walls, lighting, pipes, junction boxes maybe, but nothing else. I turned left, away from the soldiers, and walked.

John did not take his loss well. A few began to notice this behavior, even tried to help him. He was offered a session, he refused. He wouldn't, he just wouldn't. He didn't have the patience to listen and answer some nonsensical questions. Or so he thought.

I walked down the hallway, my stomach was really growling. I was hungry. I had to eat something. So I headed to the cafeteria. The cafeteria was empty. No one was there, and it was late, around 11:00 p.m. By then everyone was asleep. I couldn't sleep, even the fucking sleeping pills didn't help. And I was taking a double. I took some light food and sat down at the furthest table from the entrance. Somewhere in the corner. I stared at my food. It was some kind of sandwich, vegetables, something sweet. There was no security in the cafeteria, maybe just outside the entrance, but not right inside. They were a little surprised when they saw me come in, I wasn't surprised. I ignored it. I felt distanced from everything, from everyone, I didn't talk much to anyone. I wasn't able to talk to anyone, nor did I want to. I could manage a few words, but otherwise nothing.

But John wasn't the only one who couldn't sleep. Later, the captain of the ship entered the mess hall. He looked rather exhausted. He was wearing the standard UNSC naval uniform, with his rank on his shoulder. On his chest was a nametag with an abbreviation saying his rank, the UNSC insignia, a flying man clutching the Earth in his talons, and some medals. His eyes were slightly red, his hair was disheveled, and his expression was tired. He was surprised to see John this late. He wouldn't expect anyone in the cafeteria this late. John ignored his presence and attended to his thoughts.

"Hmmm…that tom must be really sick.", the ship's commander thought to himself.

"Maybe you could try talking to him.", came a male voice out of nowhere.

It was an artificial intelligence, it assisted in the control of the ship and was basically omnipresent.

The commander thought for a moment. He didn't know how to help this man, let alone what to say to him. Yes, as a soldier himself he had suffered losses, but this? Ever since he had casually listened to the conversations between soldiers earlier, or even joined in the discussion himself, there had been talk of one man. And it was this man. Some admitted that he made them severely nervous, or even to the point of frightening them.

The commander didn't quite understand why, but the Marines seemed to think much further. Now that he had seen him live for the first time, he had to agree a little. He felt slightly nervous just looking at his face. You could see on this man's face that he might be fighting an internal battle, he was angry, devastated, sad. We all lost something in the war, but this man was really experiencing it in a completely different way. This could have led to several scenarios that even the captain didn't want to think about in any way. Finally, he snapped out of his thoughts, grabbed a small meal, and walked over to John.

"Can't sleep?", the captain spoke first before sitting down.

John just sat and stared. He chewed his bite slowly, paying little attention to the commander. It was weird, so weird. The silence itself was uncomfortable.

"I heard you refuse to see the local psychiatrist, is that right?", he tried.

God, what a question, thought the captain.

John just snorted, put the sandwich back on his plate and gave the commander a stern look.

"Do you think I'm the kind of guy who has the nerve and patience to sit in a room for hours with a completely random person posing as a psychiatrist and listen to some drivel about the meaning of life and other shit like that?", John asked harshly.

Yeah…this was very bad. The captain shifted uncomfortably in his seat. He didn't know what he should say. But he tried.

"Look…I know what it's like to lose someone you love, someone close to you, everyone's been through this and-"

"Did you ever lose a parent in your childhood? Friends? Do you really think you know what that's like? I lost two friends when I was five. Fucking five years old. Allegedly unexpected death, but I didn't believe it. Neither did my father. I lost my parents when I was 16. They said it was a car accident, they went down a slope, when they first told me, I couldn't believe it. But I didn't buy it, I didn't believe they'd just drive down the slope. This loss on that colony was just one of the other incidents. My whole life is falling apart like a house of cards. Do you know what it's like?" interrupted Captain John.

The atmosphere was tense now. It was deathly quiet. John leaned his elbow on the table and propped his head up. He was obviously starting to remember, it wasn't doing him any good. He was getting so angry. Even the captain felt uneasy.

"Look, I'm very sorry about what happened to you, you must have been through hell and you haven't had an easy life, I admit that…but…you've come such a long way…do you really want to give up now? Life is a struggle, you can't let go, get too top8te in your past, let it go…what's done is done. You can't reverse it anymore, but you can do one thing. Fight and move forward, don't look back. But don't forget it completely. What would your parents say? Don't give up. I know it's not easy, but…at least try.", the captain spoke.

"You're not alone, there are plenty of people in the world who have gone through similar events.", he added, standing up and walking away.

John sat in silence and thought about it. After a moment, he started to cry. He hung his head on the table and cried.

Presence

John interrupted the story. It had been about four hours of walking. Four hours of describing various details and memories. But now they were nearing the city and that required the utmost concentration. The AI was still working on the GPS, so John would have some adjusting to do.

"How's the navigation?"

"Almost there, I'm making the final adjustments and checks."

"Excellent, get ready, I'm entering the city now, I'll try to find an ATM.", John pointed out.

He slowly walked out of the woods onto a firmer path. Already the first houses and bigger houses were visible. In the distance, skyscrapers and smaller high-rise buildings could be seen. John was very careful now. The city could be crawling with lots of agents or police looking for him. He could pray they wouldn't recognize him. He put on his hood so the cameras couldn't recognize him and moved carefully. He wondered if it was a good idea to just walk into a store and buy a car. Someone might recognize him and the whole thing would go to hell. So he had to figure it out differently. In the form of a black market. You might be surprised, but this colony is particularly famous for these markets. It's mostly people who've been in trouble, criminal gangs, etc. You can find everything from everyday items, illegally imported food, weapons, even military vehicles and equipment. You would find everything there.

The police don't go into these areas much, at all actually. The groups here don't like the cops very much, and a lot of them carry guns. Literally everyone is armed with something. What's a little bizarre is that you could sometimes find old equipment there. No one knows how, but somehow they've managed to get 21st century tech from somewhere, make minor modifications and upgrades, and then sell it to various gangs and criminal groups. Stryker APCs, Pumas, even the iconic American Humvee.

John got to the suburbs and looked around. He had this weird feeling like he was being followed. It would almost seem that John was starting to reach for his gun.

"Okay, I'm there, getting eyeless navigation. What do you need to find besides the ATM?", Anabel spoke up.

"Find me a black market.", he replied simply.

"A moment…okay, I got it. Two and a half kilometers straight into the center, then six hundred meters left after the intersection and you'll arrive at the place. If I may ask, why the black market?"

"Because going to a regular store is risky.", he replied while finally finding something.

"Okay, I'm plugging you into the systém and…you can go on a rampage.", John said.

Using a small device in the form of a flash drive, it worked similarly, he loaded Anabel into the systém and tried to withdraw some money. A lot of money. She got through the protection systems and started withdrawing. Yes, it took a while, but after a while the AI quit, it had to quit or someone would notice and someone would be sent in their place.

"Done, you're good to go.", she informed John, who then immediately disconnected the AI.

He checked the contents, rolling his eyes for a moment when he saw how much he had collected, but a backup is a backup. Now he could go to the black market. The journey wasn't pleasant though, there were plenty of troops all around, looking out for him. And he was aware of that. The black market wasn't so easy to find because it was underground. It provided the perfect cover. But they also had people out in the open, guarding the access routes. John made it to the center. The city was bustling, there were various advertising banners on high rises, people and cars everywhere, the smells of different foods from various fast food joints and restaurants in the air. There were also a few helicopters flying over the city.

John watched every person who passed by. It could have been anyone. If there was a patrol, he'd také a different route. What scared him most was the possible presence of ONI agents. They could be anywhere, they could be anyone, no one could be trusted. The journey, however, seemed uneventful. He turned off the main street into a small, narrow, and sunken street. He looked around. A good place to hide, he thought. Finding an abandoned building, he cautiously stepped inside. He looked around, searching for an entrance.

"An? See anything?", he asked.

"They seem to have some kind of jammer here, I'm working on it. Anyway, there should be a staircase to the underground somewhere.", she replied.

Jammers. Unexpected and clever. The bastards seemed smarter than they looked. They didn't want to také any chances. Which was logical.

"Looking for something?" came a harsh female voice from across the hall.

Out of the darkness emerged a woman of medium height, holding an old M4A1, wearing some sort of black uniform, bulletproof vest, canadian, a bandana over her mouth, and gloves. It was very strange to see this old weapon in the 25th century. However, this weapon seemed to have been heavily modified and adapted for this century. Although he didn't know what they had done with it. And this woman was pointing this very weapon at him. From behind her came another person, this time a man, wearing a similar uniform and equipment, but equipped with a BR55.

"I would like to make a… „small" purchase. I hear there's something in the area…I'm a little lost though.", John spoke cautiously.

John had his hands above his head and was trying not to make too many sudden movements. It wasn't acceptable considering his situation.

"Against the wall! Search him.", the woman said again.

Without any response, the man walked over to John, grabbed him by the arm, pushed him against the wall, and began his search while the woman kept her gun pointed at him. The man grabbed John's backpack and gave John a good search. John stood motionless against the wall, not resisting. Once the man was done with him, he lunged for the backpack. Fortunately, John had the AI with him, well hidden. Anabel kept quiet, not intending to give herself away and cause possible concern.

The entire backpack was spilled on the ground, which might have been fine if his gun hadn't fallen out. Carefully, the man picked it up and showed it to his companion.

"Self-defense…you never know if there's some ONI bastard or other agent wandering around…", John tried to explain.

The woman thought for a moment.

"Okay, he can go. Help him with his stuff.", she finally replied.

"But the gun is being confiscated, then it will be returned to you, please follow me.", she added as John was about to thank her.

He finally gathered his things and followed the woman. The man remained on guard. They walked over to a wall. The woman pressed one of the bricks that went in, there was a click and a hiss. Then the door slowly opened, revealing a staircase.

The woman motioned for him to také the stairs. Reluctantly he nodded and so went first, the woman second, and the door closed back.

„M4? It's kind of weird to see these weapons in action even in the twenty-fifth.", he tried to lighten the atmosphere.

„We modified it for today's battlefield. Don't underestimate it, it can make its way through a UNSC BDU using the proper ammo.", he got an honest reply.

„Why the M4? Isn't it a bit old?", he asked again.

„Business is business.", she replied.

By then they had entered the main marketplace and John could only stare.

-

UNSC Stallion, Epoch class carrier, slipspace – on the way to the outer colony Delta Oregon XII, one hour before arival, 2535

A lot has changed since the advent of Covenant. All of UEG space has fallen into utter chaos, UNSC fleets have been decimated, the enemy has raced through human space at overwhelming speed. Delta Oregon XII was the next colony in line.

The enemy didn't seem to be attacking completely along the entire length of the front, but going right into the interior of our territory, sometimes picking planets randomly in our space, but only sometimes. Which is good, but the other problem is that the enemy has significant numerical superiority, not to mention technological superiority. Things look much more promising for our forces on the ground, but for what is dominance on the ground good if you don't have the protection of ships from orbit? I'll answer for you, you don't give a shit.

Now we're heading to the colony with a larger fleet to support the current defenders and try to get as many people out of there as possible. And for that task, they sent us Spartans, the most elite troops the UNSC had available. Sure, there were ODSTs, but…well, let's leave that for another time. And I'm one of the Spartans. Specifically, Spartan II, Miles-039. In total, there are about twelve Spartan IIs on board, including my friend, Abigail-040, and even the Master Chief himself. Just the name, or the nickname, I can't help but think it's just so awesome, I mean it's an immense honor to fight side by side with the legendary Master Chief and the entire blue team. We've all heard about his exploits, everybody knows about it. It's just so amazing. But those thoughts aside, we've got a mission here and it requires total focus.

I'm at the training ground with Abigail right now, getting ready, or rather, training together. We've been doing this for a long time, learning kung fu and karate together, which I think is the most important and could be very useful in hand-to-hand combat. The first one we tried was empty combat, we didn't fight against each other but instead we had a simulation, basically something like VR, the AI was very useful and helpful in that respect. After that, we went against each other. At the same time, I emphasized melee gun combat. A gun can be used as a melee weapon, especially sniper rifles and long guns. But I'm getting into the details.

But somehow we also became famous, or famous…well, not exactly. But we're also known to the public and the military because of our teamwork. I don't mean to sound egotistical, but several high-ranking people praise our teamwork. Even Mendez was approached, but you know how it is. It's better to have some help from a partner than to be on your own. So I don't take these compliments and criticisms for granted.

I blocked the incoming fist aimed at my face, looking for a good opportunity. Abigail was quick. She executed her punches quickly and retreated quickly, resulting in a set of very fast punches and kicks. She also targeted weak spots each time, such as the head, neck, nerve points and more. You're not allowed to play with your enemy, but in this case it's just a friendly fight. On the battlefield, it's a fight to the death. The stronger survives. Either you're lucky or you're not. There is no room for making mistakes, any slightest mistake can cost you your life. You must be alert at all times, you must not lose sight.

I ducked under an incoming right hook and attempted an uppercut aimed for the head. Abigail quickly brought both hands together to form a wall and caught my punch. I quickly retreated and went on the defensive. She didn't let me breathe, she didn't give me a chance. But I was already starting to figure out her tactics and create countermeasures.

The fight went at a similar pace for a while, eventually I figured out her style and waited a while before going into a full counter attack.

Abigail jumped up to my head level performed a 180 degree spin with a kick aimed at my head. I responded with an elbow strike. I ducked, locked elbows, lunged forward and delivered a forceful elbow to Abigail's chest as she hit the ground, momentarily throwing her off balance. Abigail recoiled in confusion and tried to recover quickly…I didn't give her a chance.

I quickly jumped to Abigail and performed three 180 degree spins with kicks to the head and chest. Abigail backed off again, but she didn't want to fall to the ground. As I was about to finish her off, she surprised me with a counter attack of her own. She was the first to land a knee to my chest. It was a very hard punch, I could literally feel it through my suit, which surprised me. I even felt nauseous for a moment. Suddenly a roundhouse to the head came and I didn't have time to block it. I dropped to the ground on my knees trying to recover from this attack, I tried to get up but the final attack came from Abigail in the form of a backflip with her back to me with a kick to the head from above and I was on the ground.

My head hurt beyond belief. It was like someone had dragged a steel beam across your head and slammed you into the ground a few more times. I rolled over onto my back, it was all I could do. I couldn't get up.

"You okay?", Abigail asked offering me a helping hand.

"Yeah…ouch…nice punch…", I replied, accepting the help.

I got back to my feet and got back to my feet again. It wasn't that bad.

"You should have rather scooped me up and put me down.", Abigail said.

I didn't say anything, but I agreed. She was good, very good. Maybe even better than me. But that would change in time.

They weren't alone on the training ground, though. There was another Spartan sitting on a pile of crates at the entrance. A Spartan named Kelly, a member of the blue team. She watched their duel with considerable interest.

"He's holding back.", a male voice suddenly spoke behind Kelly.

"Looks like it to me.", she replied without taking her eyes off the duel.

Fred moved over to Kelly and also watched. Miles was quite cautious, perhaps too cautious. Maybe they were trying out different fighting moves, maybe they weren't taking it too seriously. The former sounded much more real.

The Spartan had to admit that they were quite adept at it. He recognized kung fu and karate very quickly by some of the moves and moves, but they seemed to have gotten much better. They had shown interest in karate or kung fu earlier as children. They got into it after augmentations, they learned karate first. They've been learning for a very long time and now they've newly switched to kung fu. But they learned much faster than karate, maybe it was because they had mastered karate and they had some overview, they had a foundation that helped them. He had even wondered a few times if he would join as well, a few extra fighting skills wouldn't hurt. However, they also seemed to be a little nervous.

For some reason ONI kept them in reserve along with a few Spartans, they were focused on counter insurgency and raids, they had experience, yes. But this is the first time they'll be facing the Covenant on the battlefield.

"I must say, it's a good way to make yourself ten times more deadly than you are," Kelly said thoughtfully.

"Phew, as if speed and strength weren't enough.", Fred snorted.

"Apparently not for you two."

"I can see that."

There was silence for a while. The only sounds were the clinking of titanium, fists landing, chewing on the ground, kicks, and more.

"Maybe we should arrange fighting lessons for Chief. He could use it, don't you think?", Kelly asked amusedly.

Fred mused. He was literally smiling under his helmet at the idea. He was snapped out of his thoughts by a hard thump on the ground as Miles did a suplex with Abigail, holding her to the ground.

This time I won. My move caught Abigail completely off guard and that gave me a chance. I honestly didn't expect it to work at all, I've never tried it before. But it worked, so it was quite lucky. I ran out of some, but it was so slight that it wasn't even worth mentioning. We are Spartans after all, we don't get tired just like that. I held Abigail in my grip for a while, but after three seconds I let her go and helped her stand.

"Shall we take a break?" I suggested.

"Sure…shall we go to lunch?" she asked.

"Sure.", I agreed and we started moving.

At the entrance we met two members of the Blue Team. Kelly-087 and Frederic-104, or Fred-104 as most call him. Kelly was known for her tremendous speed and agility, I don't know if I could keep up with her during a fight to be honest. And Fred was known for his fighting skills. He made an impression on me too. However, they had the upper hand in one thing. They had extensive experience fighting the Covenant. It was the first time they put us here, not that I wasn't scared or anything, I was just nervous.

"Good duel. You've made a lot of progress.", Fred spoke to us first as we walked past them.

A couple joined us and we walked together. Along the way we met several marines and other personnel who avoided us so we could pass.

"How are you feeling?", Kelly spoke to me walking beside me.

Fred was chatting with Abigail behind me about some topics.

"Well, it won't be the insurgents, I won't be taking bullets…cool.", I replied casually, having to amuse her with my answer.

"Everything is once for the first time. When we were first deployed against the Covenant, I was also a little nervous, but now it's good…elites have lousy reflexes."

I thought about what Kelly said for a moment. If that was the case, then I might have a better chance if such a confrontation were to occur. But let's not underestimate the enemy. The ship's master's voice came through the PA in the corridor, announcing that we would arrive at the location in twenty minutes. The ship came to life.

"To the hangar.", i said and we ran…lunch had to wait.

We arrived just in time. Teams and pilots were getting ready in the hangar. Final checks were being made on fighters, bombers, non-military personnel were running back and forth shouting things at each other, bombers were being loaded with bombs, missiles were being mounted on fighters and all the machines were being refueled and ammunition was being replenished. There were 35 Pelicans ready for us. It was nice of them to set aside one whole hangar for us.

On the way to the hangar we stopped at the armory to get our equipment. I finally met members of my Spartan team and Marines and ODSTs that I worked with during counterinsurgency operations. I don't really like ODST, but I've gotten used to working with these guys, nice bunch.

We were currently getting a pre-deployment briefing. They were going to leave us behind more and assist in the evacuation of the inhabitants from the planet, kinda sucks. I imagined we'd be more on the front lines, fighting the bastards. So it looks like Team Blue will také all the glory and my team won't get a chance to shine. Oh well, some other time. After the briefing, we split up into individual Pelicans.

The Spartans were to fly in their own Pelicans, while the Marines and other units such as the Rangers and other conscripts also flew in their own. The last Pelican went out to me, Abigail and my two partners and we had to share with the Blue Team. Somehow we piled in, the ramp closed and we waited. Ten minutes later, the pilot announced that we had reached the planet and were leaving. All of the Pelicans were off the ground and leaving the hangar.

The carrier exited in cover behind the planet along with the rest of the carriers, they couldn't afford to be spotted by the Covenant. They wanted a surprise, which was understandable. The fighters and bombers passed us, darting into the battlefield like angry bees. The flight itself took several minutes, and even the Master Chief himself was with us. Green armor, orange visor, 117 on his suit… just wow. I felt like a kid in a candy store.

The pilot announced ten minutes to arrival and we all got our gear ready. I took my MA5 rifle and prepared my attachments. Everyone was ready, but I seemed to have caught the attention of the Blue Team when they saw what I had done. I checked my magazine and ammo and reloaded. The Beta-C magazine I was using held up to 100 rounds and was located not in the stock but in front of the trigger guard. It was two round magazines connected together.

My MA551CQC was modified specifically for my needs with the magazine in front of the trigger, it didn't fit my original storage. It was also very expensive to do this rebuild. I also put on a CQC extended barrel, tactical grip behind the magazine, dual laser sights on both sides, extra laser on the top, Bugmaster tactical sight with magnification up to 6x, Osprey-9 silencer and extended mobility stock on top above the counter.

I also checked the functionality of the gun and satisfied with the result, I switched to my SMG. I put on the Obsydian-E Silencer, UH-GEN19 with a holosight, tactical grip, Quad-Stack magazine for sixty rounds, dual laser sights on both sides of the barrel and stock. I checked the functionality and last up was my pistol.

I put on the Eco-Tech551 scope, Obsydian-E Silencer, green laser and a twenty-round drum magazine. Checked again and finished just three minutes before landing. That worked out for me to check my reserve ammo and other supplies. My team members were used to me by now, even if I could conclude that it was reassuring to watch me get ready for the mission. All of my team had our suits colored black, a little red and white here and there in the case of our number, our helmets had dark blue visors. I just looked and even though they were wearing helmets I was able to guess their expressions. It was funny.

"Wow…do you really need that much?", Fred asked sitting to the right of Master Chief.

"The more ammo and weapons, the longer my operability on the battlefield will be.", I replied simply.

"A walking armory, literally.", spoke the Spartan of my group, Jimmy we call him.

We all laughed at his remark, except for Chief. Then the Pelican shook and the ramp slowly opened. We waited in silence for a while until the ramp opened completely.

"Out."

-

Finall, we are getting to some action. I hope you have enjoyed this chapter and get ready for a chapter 4. Thanks for reading and don't forget to tell me what you think. Se ya later!