Jane Kellys POV

We all packed our gear and waited outside for our Pelican Kelsi was also with us. Sara added more paint to her helmet which dawned scars thanks to the grenade that shattered her visor. As usual, though Koa was complaining.

" Is it just me but why does it seem the pilots are taking their sweet damn time." Makoa said.

" All you do is complain, this is why you have no hits." Manny said starting another fight.

" Manny you know what fuck you!" He yelled.

" You have no hits you have no hits you have no hits you have no hits you have no hits you have no hits you have no hits!" Manny yelled.

" Kat," I said.

" Got it." She said knowing what she needed to do. The Spartan walked behind the two and grabbed them both up with ease " Wait Kat, wait please." Makoa begged. It was too late she slammed both their heads together. " Aww fuck." Makoa groaned on the ground.

" Fuck me." Manny moaned too. I decided the best way to keep the two morons under control was using Kat, wish she was assigned to us earlier would have saved me a lot of headaches.

" I honestly feel like there is a better way to deal with those two." Athena told me.

" Any ideas?" I ask her.

" None yet so far." She told me.

Even a Smart AI like Athena has no idea how to deal with the idiots.

The two mo both got up and looked in my direction. " Kells you know if you want us just to shut up you can tell us right." Makoa complained.

" And when was the last time that worked?" I shot back. The brothers stayed silent knowing I was right. I then spotted the Pelican. The ship landed on the tarmac. " Guys ride here." Carlos said. We all packed up our stuff. The backdoors opened and we boarded the ship.

I took my seat near the cockpit while everyone else got situated and started to relax.

"Does anybody know what ship we are being assigned too?" Makoa asked. Rigo groaned. " Makoa do you not listen, actually don't answer that." He said before he could respond.

" Makoa we are boarding the Kronstadt you silly goose." Ashley joked.

" Shit my bad guys." Makoa apologized.

" No, I don't believe you." Rigo mocked starting another fight.

" You would think that they will get tired of annoying each other." Athena commented.

" I really wish that was the case." I said sadly.

Ashley then sat right next to me.

" How are you feeling." She asked me.

" Good I suppose, I am eager for this mission but I not going to lie I am feeling a bit nervous.

Ash placed her hand on my shoulder. " Oh, Kells you got this, after all, a smart Ai did choose you." She reassured me.

" To tell you the truth Kelly I made the right decision." Athena added.

"Thank you Athena and Ash." I told them. Ashley then let me go and started fiddling with her thumbs. " Uhm Kelly can I tell you something?" She asked me.

" Of course Ash, you can tell me anything." I responded.

Before she could ask she was interrupted by Dubbo. " Oi Kells check out the ship she's a beaut." He said. Well looks like Ashley is going to have to wait.

" Coming, sorry Ash can you tell me later." I apologized. She nodded to me but I could tell she was visibly upset. I entered the cockpit and saw the ship docked to the Cairo Chips was right it was a beaut as he said in his own words. The ship was a Degilence-class light destroyer and an older model retrofitted for the war. Well looks like she is going to be fighting another one.

" Not going to lie a cool-looking ship." Jesus said.

The pelican landed in the space station, we disembarked, and made our way to the ship. We were greeted by the captain who was nice enough to show us to our barracks for the time being. I then saw Kelsi call someone. " Hello sorry I didn't call sooner I am sorry about what happened. "

Rachels POV

I was so glad to hear her voice. " How are you holding up?" Kelsi asked me.

" I have been better." I responded pacing in my kitchen.

" The important thing is, that you are safe now." She told me. Yeah, I was lucky to be alive, but most of it belonged to a certain brunette who I can't stop thinking about the past few days.

" I heard that you were taken hostage." She told me flashbacks from that encounter started to make my heart race.

" Yeah, a Marine I believe saved me." I responded.

" A Marine, do you know their name?" She asked.

" Jane Kelly I think." I said kind of unsure. There was a long silence on the phone.

" Did I hear that right you said Jane Kelly?" She asked again.

" Yes." I simply responded.

" That is surprising considering she is under my command." She responded as soon as she said that my heart skipped a beat.

" You do, by any chance I can talk to her I want to show her my gratitude." I quickly said.

" Easy there of course, you can when she is not on an active mission of course." She said.

" Thank you so much, Kelsi you are the best." I told her, ever since we became friends as kids she always had my back harder for her now ever since she joined the military.

" Also by the way she is an ODST, not a Marine." She corrected me.

" Oh my bad, you know I don't know much about the military." I said making her chuckle.

" Anyways I got to go, but I am glad to hear that you are feeling better, I will have her call you later today ok." She told me.

" Thank you Kelsi I appreciate it." I responded thankfully.

"You're welcome love you Rachel." She said.

" Love you too." I said ending the call.

I screamed in excitement I got to see Jane after all this time, I could not wait, I should probably put a little make-up on, to impress her not too much since this was not a date, But I could barely contain my excitement.

Jane Kellys POV

I dropped my gear near and flopped onto my bed. Man, I was tired I could use some shut-eye. " Ok mind telling me why my callsign is Stitch and not Maui!" Makoa screamed, and just when I thought I was going to get peace and quiet. " Here they go again" Athena said

I got up and scowled at Makoa while the rest fo the squad specifically Jesus, Rigo, Carlos, and Manny laughed.

" We all voted in on it, Kelsi decided to change it." Jesus told him.

" Oh my god even you too Ash?" Makoa said turning to her.

" Sorry, Koa it was just too funny." She chuckled making him groan.

" Why Stitch out of anything?" He whined.

" Isn't it obvious you are Hawaiin it was too perfect." Carlos laughed.

" That is why I opted for Maui but no, you guys wanted to change it. " He said.

" If we are being honest bro you are not Maui, you are too scrawny to be a demigod." Rigo told him

" On god." Carlos added annoying Makoa even further.

" I fucking hate you guys." Makoa seethed.

" I thought we were family Makoa what about Ohana!" Rigo shouted. Kat shook her head in dismay.

" Yeah Makoa Ohana means family." Carlos said putting on his best stitch impression making everyone die of laughter. Sara and Kat just rolled their eyes.

" That was too perfect mate." Chips said.

" This is bullshit the rest of you get to choose your callsigns, Carlos gets Wolf, Rigo gets Tim, Jesus gets Jesus Christ, Manny stays Manny Kells gets Celt, Ashley gets Ash, Chips gets Mozzie, Kat remains Kat, and Sara gets Scar. Hell why can't I couldn't I get a cool nickname like that look at my face." Makoa finished ranting. Rigo then smiled at him " Makoa before the scars you were already ugly regardless." Everyone laughed.

" I hate you all." Makoa said.

" Makoa." I said getting up from the bed, he turned to me.

" Just take the L your callsign is Stitch, deal with it." I joked with him.

" Ohhhhh! Lakoa Lakoa Lakoa! " Manny screamed being joined by everyone else. The doors then opened making everyone go quiet. Kelsi then came in making my heart skip a beat. " Sergeant Kelly." She said, she was breathtaking, oh how I would love to see her out of that uniform.

" Yes ma'am" I responded.

" Got a phone call for you." She told me

" Oh" I said, getting up, I walked out with Kelsi, and as soon as the door closed the squad went back to flaming Makoa.

Kelsi then turned to me. " So about the woman that you saved from the university?" She asked me.

" Yeah, what about her?" I asked back.

" Well she happens to be a friend of mind, and she wants to talk to you." She said, handing me her phone.

" Seems like she is grateful for saving her life." She smirked at me. And walked away leaving me alone in the hallway. I put the phone to my ear. " Uh.. hello." I said.

" Oh uhm Hi, is this Jane?" She said.

" This is her." I responded.

" Jane uhm I just wanted to thank you again for saving me back at the university." She told me.

" Uh, no problem it is my job." I awkwardly said back nervously touching my neck.

" Well regardless, I appreciate it." She told me. I don't know what was going on with me but my heart was beating like crazy. I was thinking about her all day yesterday, but now that I am talking to her I can't get the kiss out of my head.

" So.. what you up to?" I asked her.

" Uh well nothing much just finished packing up, we are moving tomorrow." She answered me.

" Oh you are leaving where are you going?" I followed up with another question, what I was about to ask her why, but I quickly remembered.

" To California, got a teaching job in LA" She responded to me,

" Oh, that sounds good, Great place by the way." I told her.

" Tell me about it, I went there for a couple of vacations, it was amazing." She told me. She then started talking to me about her experiences in Cali, The surfing the mountains the food, it was nice hearing her experiences, and she was shocked to find out that I also live there.

" So we are going to be neighbors." She told me excitedly.

" Well, not right now I am on active duty." I laughed.

" Oh yeah speaking of that I heard you became an ODST just recently?" She asked me. I smiled with pride when I heard her say that hey we are the best of the best, well besides the Spartans but we were hybrids so technically we count.

" Yeah, I did." I simply responded.

" I bet your parents must be so proud." She said. My heart stopped and I went dead silent when I heard her mention my parents.

" Yeah, they really are." I muttered.

" So I heard you are being deployed where to?" She asked me I wanted to tell her but I couldn't.

" Sorry, that is classified." I answered her she sighed. " You sound like Kelsi." She said.

" Well I hope so considering she is my commanding officer I am would hope she doesn't tell you classified information." I joked back.

" But seriously though be careful out there ok." She said, becoming serious all of a sudden.

" I will do my best." I responded.

" Kelly, we are about to head into slip space get into your cryo tube." Kelsi told me.

I nodded back to her. " Yes ma'am" I responded.

" Looks like I got to go, Rachel I will see you later." I said

" Bye Jane stay safe out there ok." She said her goodbyes to me.

I hung up the phone and gave it back to Kelsi man she was looking beautiful today. " Good conversation?" She smiled at me making my heart melt.

" Uh.. yeah." I muttered nervously.

" Alright then go join your squad and get yourself in a cryo tube." She ordered me more aggressively than usual.

" Yes ma'am." I saluted. I walked away but I felt her eyes on me throughout the entire time. When I looked back she quickly shifted her eyes away from me. What is with her? " I don't know about you but I think Rachel might like you." Athena said from my helmet that was strapped to my thigh yoyally forgot she was there

Altair System January 28th 2553

It took quicker to get to the system than I thought. The Engineers thawed me out. I could not get ever get used to the cold. I exited the pod as I was led to the armory where the rest of my squad was gearing up.

I opened my locker and put on my black BDU and started strapping on my armor.

" Good sleep Kells?" Ashley asked.

" Like a baby, I swear I would never get used to the cold." I complained making her laugh. I grabbed my helmet and was enthusiastically greeted by Athena. " Uh finally you are here I was starting to get bored." she said.

" You already missed me it has only been a couple of hours." I joked with her.

" When you are stuck in a helmet doing nothing it gets boring really quick."

Once we were all done. We left to where the drop pods were located. And standing there waiting for us is Kelsi who was already staring at me.

" All right we got about ten minutes once we reach the planet, any questions?" She asked. Everyone shook their head in response.

" All right good Bravo squad will be the first to go, then Echo will follow later, you will be deploying during a meteor shower so the Innies don't get suspicious." She said.

"What's the motto again Helljumpers?" She asked us

" FEET FIRST INTO HELL!" we all said besides Kat.

" What is it?" She said trying to rile us up.

" FEET FIRST INTO HELL!" We said again.

" Is the screaming really necessary?" Athena asked making me chuckle

"All right operation Nightfall is a go!" she said. We saluted her and we started making our way into our pods.

" I was then stopped by Ashley. " Stay safe out there Jane ok." She said.

" Will do." I responded.

She gave me a quick hug and ran over to her drop pod, not before noticing a glare from Kelsi. Seriously what was her deal.

" I am so glad I am not with Makoa, I feel bad for you Kells." Rigo remarked. Breaking me out of my trance.

" Hey, I heard that asshole!" Makoa said before getting into his pod making everyone chuckle.

" Still no hits." Manny added.

" Fuck the both of you." Makoa cursed.

" No mames can you just get into the fucking pod." Carlos told him off.

" How about all of you just get into your damn pods already!" I ordered them god they are supposed to be professionals.

I finally made my way to mine and took a seat. It closed and I took a deep breath, just like the simulations. The hud came up and I saw all my squad members on my feed. " Remember guys we are using callsigns from now on no first names and last names." I reminded them.

" Copy that." they all said.

Approaching the drop zone in 1 minute. The pods then went out and we saw the planet, Pandora it was beautiful.

" 3 2 1 Launch." The engineer said. The 5 of our pods were shot out heading to the planet. We went at such high speeds, passing the meteor shower. I felt myself growing hot as the pod was engulfed in flames. When we finally entered the atmosphere the pod grew hotter until it finally cooled down.

" Hitting the drop zone in 50 seconds." Athena calmly said. I saw that we were landing in a forest to meet up with them

" Landing in 5...4...3...2...1" Athena counted. My pod slammed into the ground. The door shot open and I grabbed my BR equipped with a silencer including a grenade launcher and the rest of my gear. I hopped out landing in some grass and checked my surroundings. The forest was beautiful, especially in the night.

" A successful landing." Athena said. Yeah well, considering I didn't die yeah. I kept scanning the forest until I spotted another pod.

It shot out as my heads-up display came on identifying it was Manny.

" Celt over here." He said using my callsign that would take some getting used too.

I quickly ran over to him. When I went there he took out his light machine gun turned around and gave me a fist pump.

" Where are the others?" I asked him.

" Scar and Kat are nearby, Stitch I got no clue." He responded.

I looked to my left and saw Kat and Sara emerge from the treeline.

" Any idea where Stitch is at?" I asked them.

Sara shrugged her shoulders while Kat checked her datapad." He is 2 clicks out" She said.

" I will mark it on your hud". Athena said.

We instantly started sprinting to his location. Once we arrived we spotted his pod in the lake. It was sinking and worse off, his oxygen tank was punctured.

" It will take about 5 minutes for his pod to sink into the bottom of the lake we need to act fast." Athena said

" Someone got a towe cable?" Manny asked. But Kat brushed past him and went into the lake approaching Makoa's pod. The water barely made it to her hips. She grabbed the pod and with all her strength threw it out of the lake landing with a huge thud. The pod's door blew off and Makoa crawled out.

" Jesus Christ, a warning would have been appreciated." He complained.

" A thank you would be nice." Kat retorted walking up to him.

" Of course thank you Kat, I was just surprised is all." He responded grabbing his silenced BR that was equipped with a foregrip and grabbing his sniper.

" Alright, enough chit chat we need to get moving." I said refocusing on the task at hand. We moved out deeper into the forest.

I brushed past some branches and spotted 2 Innies out of a farmhouse. I quickly ducked down behind some bushes with my squad doing the same.

" We got two contacts." Kat said.

" Are they the guys were supposed to meet?" Makoa asked.

I peeked up and noticed the rebel insignia on their armor.

" Negative these guys are innies no doubt" I said.

" Stitch, Kat get in position, let's take these guys out." I added. We moved up through the bushes making sure for them not to hear us. I then spotted another rebel pushing someone into a ditch alongside another person. Making matters worse I noticed that these guys had much better gear than your average rebel.

What the hell, before I knew it they gunned the two men down. " What the fuck man" Makoa commented. I agree with the sentiment. There were reports of innies killing civilians but the question is why

" I got a shot" Makoa said.

" Same here." Kat said.

" Wait for my mark" I told them.

I had one of the innies in my crosshair. " Ready Mark." I ordered them.

The three of us all shot at the same time hitting our targets. The rebels fell to the ground dead. We got out of cover to investigate further. What we found were more bodies of dead civilians.

" Is it just me but I am seeing a lot of dead Arabs, and Asians here." Makoa took note. There were at least 30 bodies here but looking at the tire tracks and ammunition shells this was just a clean-up crew.

" I think we can put two and two together on what they are doing." Manny commented.

" Uh, Celt you should see this." Sara called me. I walked up behind her, where she took off the helmet of one of the rebels. The man looked to be of European descent and in his early thirties, his gear was typically more advanced than your average rebel with green camo on his armor but what was not normal was symbol on his chest plate ,but what I think it is a Swastika I believe it is called, his helmet was a bit older but had had tactical eyepiece attachment similar to Makoas. But most noticeable was the SS bolts tattooed to his neck.

" Hey Athena, is that what I think it is?" I asked her.

"Analyzing, the markings on his neck originate from the SS short for Schutzstaffel the paramilitary branch of Nazi Germany during WW 2" She told me.

" Athena." I said before she would go on a tangent.

" Sorry, anyways yes these guys are neo-Nazis." She told me Well that is just great.

" Anything specific about these guys?" I asked her.

" They are called 3rd Crusaders battalion specifically belong to the Freedom and Liberation party, one of the most anti-UNSC political groups, and according to ONI very fanatical." She told me. Well, there is something else that we have to deal with.

" I like these guys already." Manny sarcastically said.

" So they got better gear and they are fucking crazy I am loving this." Makoa added coming up right next to me.

" Alright everybody cut the chatter we got to keep moving." I told them getting up.

" What about the dead civvies?" Koa asked me.

" Nothing we can do for them." I told him.

We kept moving passing the destroyed farmhouse and dead civilians. We then came across a river to our right as we kept on moving to our objective. " Athena how long to the rendezvous point with the loyalists?" I asked her.

" 3 Kilometers out." She responded.

" All right everyone keep moving, check for any innies." I told them.

" Loyalists huh, are they the good Russians or the bad Russians" Makoa Joked.

" They are not all Russian Stitch" Athena joked back.

" What do they consist of again? Japanese and Chinese and what else?" He asked.

" You forgot Arabs dumbass." Manny insulted him.

" Hey, this shit is complicated as hell man." He responded.

" On an off note, what the hell are Russians doing in the resistance?" He followed up with another question.

" Sticking with their neo-Nazi roots these innies subscribe themselves to neo-positive Christianity, Majority of Russians on Pandora are Orthodox." Athena said info-dumping.

" And let me guess that led to conflict." Makoa said.

" Well, some of the dead bodies that we passed earlier would be an appropriate assumption." She answered.

We kept moving through the forest until we came upon another house with two innies.

" Drop them." I ordered.

Kat and Makoa Opened fire taking the two out with deadly precision. We passed by the house and bodies into the pretty shallow river. In front of us was a bridge which we moved up through. We kept on running until we made it under. I was about to go until. " Hold up insurrection convoy incoming." Athena warned. We waited until the vehicles finally passed us. " All right it is clear, let's move." I ordered. We exited from the bottom of the bridge and moved up to our objective.

We ran across the water until we came up on another set of buildings. " I am picking up three heat signatures, I advise caution." Athena said.

We hid behind the house I looked over and saw one Innie sleeping on a chair at the second house in front of us.

I looked through the cracks of the first house and saw one innie inside.

I motioned my squad to stay here as I went inside. I aimed my BR and killed the innie with a shot to the head. Kat moved up to the next target and slit his throat with ease. While Manny and Makoa followed behind her. The three then stacked up on the next house. " We are ready to go." He said.

" Execute" I ordered. The three breached the room and took the three rebels out.

" That was easy." Makoa said.

" Celt, we got more dead bodies in the back of the house." Sara told me.

" Take pictures and make sure to send it back to command, they need to know what these innies have been doing here." I grimaced.

We kept pushing forward passing the houses, to get to the rally point. We came upon another house. Manny broke the front door SMG in hand and was followed by the rest of us. We moved through the abandoned house with no problem until we came upon the rear exit. " Opening this door will lead us to the Rally point." Athena told us

This time it was Kat who opened the door and we followed behind. We came into an open field with tall grass and farming equipment.

I looked down and noticed the cigarette buds. " Uh, Kat you smell that?" I asked her.

" Yeah, Loyalists." She said. In the corner of my eye, I saw a figure appear from behind a tree raising his weapon up and waving us over. " Ni Hao, Helljumpers welcome to Pandora, my name is Captain Li" He greeted us. The man appeared to be of Chinese descent. Interestingly enough for a resistance fighter, he was well geared with a green Camo with standard Marine armor alongside a beret with the UEG symbol on it.

Then behind him came out of the bushes and treeline appeared 10-20 men wearing the same uniform and gear. Some even had a different version of the Marine helmet with green covering. Some had the older ACH helmets or were just wearing caps and boonie hats. All armed with all sorts of weaponry

"Likewise Captain, we are here for an informant?" I ask him.

" Just over the hill they are holding him in a compound they have also been using their artillery to kill civilians in the valley below." He also said.

" Saving a bunch of civvies again looks like we are playing babysitter." Manny said sarcastically.

" Bro shut it." Makoa responded. The two went at it again.

" All right you stick with us, Kat, Manny, and Sara you will help accompany his men." I ordered them. The Captain then ordered his men in Chinese as they moved up the hill and we followed behind.

" When they told us they were sending special forces, I wasn't expecting a Spartan." He told us as we kept moving up the hill.

"That's the point." I Responded to him.

" Are they as good as the rumors say they are, I was told they could take out hundreds of aliens during the war?" He asked.

" They were called Demons for a reason by the Covenant" I responded.

" Well, I am glad they are on our side." He responded

We finally got up the hill Captain Li's men and my squad split up while Makoa stuck with me and the Captain. They took a right while we went left coming across a hillside overlooking the insurrectionist base. They had Wolverines shooting their rockets into the valley no doubt decimating the towns below. Makoa pulled out his sniper and put down his visor.

We saw as his men appeared on the ridge below us armed with LMGS and rifles some set up mortars. Makoa aimed in his rifle as we waited.

Captain Li then went onto his radio " All units commence attack he ordered.

The base down below erupted into explosions taking out a few of the wolverines and troops. The Loyalists immediately opened fire and started attacking them, moving into the compound alongside my teammates. They were immediately met with machine gun fire pinning them down.

" Stitch take out the machine guns so Li's men can move up." I ordered.

" Got it." He said. Aiming with his sniper. He fired off two shots eliminating the the machine gun nest and letting the loyalists move up with Manny taking point. His helmet cam appeared in the corner of my hud. He took the lead with his smg as he kicked down the door and cleared the room with Kat. Makoa fires two more rounds taking out a couple of innies before reloading.

Something then flew over us causing me to duck down.

" Crap enemy air support!" Captain Li exclaimed.

I looked up to see three Pelicans fly over.

" Innies got air support!" Manny yelled over the radio.

" We need to protect my men from those reinforcements this way." Li told us. We went on the move again as the captain took point. He kicked down a door of a burning house damaged by the fighting. We went through the house and exited into a farming field. We went into cover as Innies started disembarking from the Pelicans and started to set up positions on the cliff. Makoa and I readied our grenades we tossed them at the same time. Both grenades detonated killing a huge chunk of them.

The three of us opened fire killing a few more. The innies were surprised at first but immediately scattered into cover returning fire.

" I am pushing up!" Makoa yelled shooting his BR his shield absorbing the bullets heading his way. Captain Li watched in awe as Makoa went to work, Killing one Innie after the other with ease. I got out of cover shooting my rifle, and helping Makoa clean out the rest of them.

Once we killed the last one.

" Enemy Pelican incoming." Athena said

Another dropship came by and dropped off more innies. I Switched to my grenade launcher and shot one round off killing five. While Makoa and Li came in with support. I fired another round bringing them down to half their number.

" I should of got a launcher instead." Makoa complained. The remaining innies pushed up, but it just made it easier for me and Makoa to shoot them. Another came out of cover with a rocket launcher, He shot it at me but I dodged out of the way as it hit a shed behind me. Makoa quickly took him out as Li tossed a grenade. We cleared out the rest of them with ease.

" Celt we have run into heavy resistance we could use some sniper support." Manny said over the radio.

" Copy." I responded. Makoa and I went to the edge of the cliff overlooking the base.

Makoa started taking out the machine gun nest allowing my squad and the loyalists to move up. However, they were stopped dead in their tracks by a crocodile. It began opening fire taking out some of Li's men.

" Shit, they got armor!" Kat exclaimed.

" Celt go grab the Rocket launcher off the dead innie." Athena told me.

I ran over to the dead body and plucked it off him " Won't be needing this anymore." I said.

I ran back to the cliff and aimed it at the vehicle, I fired two consecutive shots at it. Once they hit the crocodile blew up into flames letting the loyalists to advance.

The three of us then left the cliffside and pushed up to a power station overlooking the other half of the base.

" Where is the informant?" I asked turning to Li.

"They're on the northeast side of the village" He pointed.

"Celt we have the insurrectionists on the run, did you find the whereabouts of the informant." Manny asked.

" Yes." I responded.

" My men will wrap up the stragglers, you go get your informant." Li told us.

We then jumped down off the cliff much to Li's surprise. We hit the ground Manny and the rest of my team jumped over a wall regrouping with the rest of us. We helped the loyalists push up as the innies were in a full retreat. We met some resistance as we advanced but we handled it with ease

We then went right up the hill letting the Loyalists mop up the rest of the rebels. We came to the front entrance of the house. " Sara go in the back and cut the power, the rest of you with me." I ordered. We slowly moved up to the front door.

" When the power went out we breached in clearing the first room. We took some rebels out since some of them didn't have their night vision on.

I heard one speaking Russian I turned the corner and saw a set of stairs, while one innie was hugging the wall. I put a bullet in his head and watched as his body hit the floor. " Our Night vision visors make it way too easy." Manny gloated.

We advanced up the stairs with Makoa behind me. The rest of my squad cleared the rest of the 1st floor. We went up meeting two more rebels but it was easy dispatching them. We were about to turn the corner. When gunshots rang out. I peeked over and one guy was blind firing using a door as cover. I easily shot through it killing him. We kept moving forward Going to another room only to have a light blinding me. The guy opened fire but my shields protected me. While Makoa shot him down. Once clear we entered the last room we saw a man curled up in the back. We approached him. " Athena?" I asked her.

"Analyzing, yep that is De Lafayette, the informant." She said. I brought him up to his feet he was bruised but still alive.

"Lafayette?" I asked.

" Yes." He answered me

" UNSC special forces we are getting you out of here." I said.

" Can you fight?" I asked him

" Yes." He answered me.

I handed him an assault rifle as we escorted him out of the house.

" Captain Li we have the informant, can you get us out of here?" I asked him.

" Yes we captured many of the Insurrectionist's vehicles. We will take you back to our base." He responded.

When we finally got out of the house we were met by a convoy of Warthogs and old Humvees.

" I see you got your informant, come we must go before their reinforcements get here." He told us.

" Yallah!" One of the loyalists yelled.

I entered the back of a Humvee with Makoa and the informant while my squad mounted onto a transport hog.

" So tell me what info were you trying to give us?" I asked him.

" The innies are looking for something a weapon of some sort, but to get it they need to find the minister's daughter and wife." He answered me.

" Do you know what they are looking for?" I asked him.

" No, but they will get their hands on it, if they find them, you need to make it a priority to locate the minister's family." He told me.

I nodded at his answer.

" I wonder what they are trying to find that is so important?" Makoa joined.

" I don't know but whatever it is, it can't be good." Lafayette responded.

Moments later

The ride back to the base was quiet and peaceful for the most part Makoa and Manny didn't even argue surprisingly.

When we finally arrived at their base. We dismounted and followed Li to come and meet their leader while the informant was taken to do a medical check-up.

" Massoud is in this room, it was a pleasure fighting alongside you, especially you Spartan." He said referencing Kat.

" I see that the rumors weren't lying about their combat prowess" he added. We watched as the Captain took his leave. I then turned back to the room and went. We all entered the room and inside were a bunch of paper maps and billboards. We saw Ahmad Shah Massoud talking with one of his officers at the main table I approached him as I waited for him to finish his conversation.

He dismissed him and then turned to us.

" I am assuming you are Sierra's squad?" He asked me.

" Yes, we are." I nodded.

" General Massoud." He responded shaking my hand.

" According to Captain Li, I heard you took on 30 men with ease is this true?" He asked.

" I had some help." Motioning to Makoa.

" I also see you have a Spartan with you." He said

" Kat is her name." I said.

" A pleasure." She said shaking his hand.

" And the rest of you are?" He asked.

I introduced the rest of my squad and their roles to the General, who shook every one of their hands. He was very polite and also offered us tea.

" You know before the Insurrectionists came we lived peacefully I never had a care for politics." He said sipping on his tea.

" What changed?" I asked him.

" When they first came I had little care who was in charge, but they started suppressing my people." He said.

" Not only me but the majority of the Pandora population, the people were not having it and started staging peaceful protests." He continued. Everyone in my squad face turned into disgust upon hearing that

" That of course turned violent when they started opening fire on them." He finished.

" You got family general?" I asked him.

" I have a wife and daughter, I lost contact with them a week ago." He answered me. He set his cup down.

" But enough about me did you get what you wanted from your informant." He asked.

" Sadly not much, only that the Innies are looking for something and to get it they need to find the peace minister's family." I said.

The general nodded at me. " I see what a shame, but we will uncover what they are looking for eventually." He responded.

" There is a high chance of that happening." Athena commented, catching the General off guard.

" Who was that?" He asked.

I took the chip out of my helmet and set it on the table, where Athena appeared surprising him " I am sorry general I forgot to introduce the last member of my squad, meet Athena." I said introducing her she smiled and waved at him, which he awkwardly did back.

" An AI I never met one before." He said looking at her with great interest.

" Not just any AI a smart AI to be exact." She said proudly.

" You are also a woman, I didn't know you had genders." he responded.

" Dumb AI don't have genders we do." She said.

" I see." He said rubbing his beard.

" I think he likes me." Athen said turning to me proudly making me roll my eyes.

" But back to serious business, General have you considered joining forces with Dragovich?" I asked him.

He scoffed " I've had but Dragovich insisted on remaining independent." He said.

" Why's that?" I asked him.

" Listen he is no fan of the Insurrectionist, but he doesn't like the UNSC either." He told me.

" Well, that would work out greatly for Ash's team considering they would be meeting with him soon." Makoa sarcastically said.

" Look I want Pandora free, I could care less if the UNSC takes control afterwards, but to get Dragovich on board he needs guarantees that Pandora would be independent." He finished.

" The likelihood of that happening is very low." Athena calculated.

" Without him retaking the planet will be close to impossible, I simply do not have enough men to retake the cities." Massoud told me.

" Unless of course, you can convince the UNSC to send a force in to help us." He finished.

" We were sent because they can't spare anyone else." I responded.

" Well, it is better than nothing, from Captain Li's report you hell jumpers sure are useful, listen I could use your h— General!" One of his officers interrupted him.

" What is it?" He asked annoyed.

" It is the village of Nue-York Innies are attacking it!" He said.

" Damn, do we have any troops nearby!?" He asked.

" We have elements of the 212th responding, but they need reinforcements!" The officer told him.

" Damn it! Celt." He said turning to me.

" Yes." I said standing up.

" I know you just got back from a mission but I do not have anyone else to spare– We will get it done." I quickly answered him.

He put his hand on my shoulder. " Thank you." He told me.

I turned back to my squad and put the Athena back inside my helmet.

" Well, Sierra gear up looks like we got another fight on our hands." I told them.

" Yes ma'am" They saluted me.