A Saga of Clashes

Despite the Lord of Time's rather spectacular defeat , the legions of monsters under his command were not fully wiped out. Now with the increasing number of claimed demigods clambering their way to Camp Half-blood , it became imperative that the senior campers set up a search and rescue system which was not solely led by Satyrs . Oh , and a hunter-killer team , because why let Artemis have all the fun.

Chapter 1 : A Decision made (Percy)

Chiron had called for a meeting of all the head counselors in the Big House , for what purpose , I had no idea. The Camp still showed the signs of war, their numbers were at an all time low , they had lost half their strength defending Manhattan not to mention the losses incurred in Luke's invasion of the Camp.

And yet, new faces started streaming into the Camp at increased rates, all of whom were rather quickly claimed. Perhaps my request had truly brought about this attempt at proper parenting from the Gods .

As Chiron wheeled himself in , I noticed a list of sorts in his hands. Perhaps some kid has gotten a quest.

"As you all know, Percy's request here has kickstarted a serious attempt at parenting from the Gods. More and more children are appearing and all seem to have had indirect or even direct help from their divine progenitors, " Chiron paused for a moment, looking at the paper more seriously.

" The monster attacks however, have not stopped. My father's legions were ,after all, not hunted down properly due to the losses suffered by the Hunters and Campers. Even now, they pose a serious threat to the demigods attempting to reach us or otherwise engaged. "

I could somewhat deduce where this was going , well time to let Riptide swing again.

"I believe, " Chiron continued, "that the senior campers present here should aid in the retrieval process. The satyrs after all are not exceedingly proficient in combat, and may get overwhelmed should they encounter larger groups of monsters. "

"Seconded, " came the voice of Clarisse. Of course a child of Ares will like it, but then again, the proposal had merit. Had there been a demigod guardian present along with Grover all those years ago, perhaps Thalia would not have turned into a tree.

"I agree," I declared. We'd save more people if we sent out actual fighters and not semi combat effective satyrs.

"Same," said Jake Mason, he still had not fully forgotten Beckendorf's death and as such had a rather vicious bloodthirst for monsters.

"I support it," said the Stolls simultaneously.

Katie Gardener and Will Solace nodded in the affirmative followed by Nico saying, " It is prudent."

Malcolm and Castor too agreed , followed by a reluctant nod from the Aphrodite counselor Drew Tanaka.

"Then it is agreed. Camp Half-blood will engage in an active search and retrieve program," declared Chiron .

Chapter 2 : I host a Dance Party in Boston (Percy)

I was in a bit of a pickle. Nothing out of the ordinary of course, but a pickle nonetheless. See the Apollo and Demeter campers were sent out on searching and protection details , the Aphrodite cabin along with the Athena campers were put on logistics, while the Hermes, Hephaestus, Ares, Nico and I were assigned elimination and active combat support roles, the latter for the benefit of the guardians who would call upon us should things turn sour.

All of this was perfectly acceptable, however Thalia had sent word that the Hunters had spotted a large group of monsters just around Philadelphia , and another by Boston. Clarisse had taken a contingent of girls from the Ares and Hermes cabins, while I and Jake took a few guys from the Hephaestus cabin to strike out against the Boston legions. Nico had been assigned to combat support, he'd effectively be in reserve and would act when any team needed desperate aid.

This is where my pickle comes in, you see I am a rather good bait for monsters due to my parentage and I am perfectly fine with facing down a hundred or two monsters, if you sensed a 'but' coming - congratulations, you would be correct give yourself a pat on the back ... now where was I, oh yes, the monsters. Now monsters alone would have been fine, but Jake had set up almost two vans full of traps and some of them were, safe to say - not safe at all. To add fuel to the fire, Jake had not informed me of the position of these traps to provide a "realistic effect ".

Suddenly a cacophony of crackles and crashes shattered my reverie. A veritable horde of monsters came charging down the alleys , Telkhines leading the push followed by Empousae and hellhounds, with harpies, manticores and dracneae bringing up the rear. Ah well, I suppose monsters cannot resist my charm. There had to be well over a hundred of them, might be over two hundred. Heh, just my luck.

"Sea-scum ! You will pay for your transgressions," shouted the Telkhine leading this suicidal attack. I must say, I felt a little bad for him, he didn't know what he was charging into. The manticores though, they had better protection and would likely survive the initial impact. I'd have to take those out separately.

Half-way through their charge I spotted Jake and his brothers take up positions on the roof tops , apparently they had manipulated the mist so that the mortals thought that there was a dance rave going on here. I don't know what the locals thought of this, but I certainly would not have been amused by two hundred odd party goers conducting a rave outside my window.

The Hephaestus campers had stacked the road blocks with vials of Greek fire, celestial bronze spikes, bear traps, caltrops and mines infused with celestial bronze shrapnel and Greek fire. Perfect for monster elimination, but equally perfect for mass property destruction, detection by mortals, and accidental shrapnel shards getting lodged in the small of my back. How wonderful.

"Die half-blood ! Di-" the monster's shout was interrupted by a massive blast which engulfed the street in an inferno of Greek fire and celestial bronze. The columns were vaporized in seconds with only a few dazed manticores in the rear escaping the maelstrom of monster murder. Ah, a few empousae too, well shouldn't be too difficult.

This was my opportunity, I uncapped Riptide and dashed towards the few remaining monsters, two manticores and a few empousae . Taking advantage of their stunned state I brought my blade down on the first manticore in a deadly arc cutting a deep gash across its chest and sending it on its way to Tartarus. The second manticore recovered slightly and tried to impale me with it's thorns but the curse of Achilles showed itself as the projectiles simply bounced off of my shoulder. I brought my blade down in a feint to the left causing the monster to strike out against my blade and thereby opening itself up to a stab in the gut, which promptly ended its tenure.

The empousae however, were trying to form a battle line of sorts, five had their spears facing outwards in a poor adaptation of a phalanx while two sent arrows towards me from the rear. My state of near invulnerability, however, proved too much for them to handle as I shrugged off the arrows and crashed straight into their spear wall. Pulling at one of the spears, I closed the distance between me and the monster before striking it down in a shower of golden dust, another two were taken out by a grenade of sorts thrown by one of the Hephaestus kids. The remaining attempted to withdraw, only to be met by celestial bronze bullets raining down upon them from the rooftops. Jake certainly knew his stuff, I must admit, because the empousae were obliterated in seconds.

"Nice work Percy," said a grinning Jake while loading the weapons onto the van, "We'll get more next time around. "

I gave him a fist bump before going in and taking a seat.

All in all , an absolutely glorious dance rave.

Chapter 3 : A Phalanx in Philadelphia (Clarisse)

Clarisse saw the silent silhouettes of the Hunters moving into position around the horde. Thalia had decided that the Hermes girls would lure the monsters in to face off against the Ares phalanx, once the monsters were fully committed and out of reserves, the Hunters would spring the trap, encircling and anhilating the group. A good plan in theory, but her phalanx needed to withstand the assault for it to succeed.

"Honour and Glory sisters ! In death we shall be immortal !

SHIELDS UP!" her shout resulted in the dozen or so girls locking together their shields and planting their spears on the ground facing forwards. The Hermes girls were closing in, chased by a small army of Echidna-spawn. While their numbers were relatively scarce, she did not think her cabinmates could withstand a charge of the Laistrygonian giants. Sure they would hold off one wave, but they simply could not withstand a proper charge, the giants were far too large for that. This was proved correct when one of the giants slammed into the phalanx with full force, and despite getting vaporized due to impalement, the formation had been compromised.

"THROW SPEARS ! SWORDS OUT!"

At her command a dozen spears went flying as javelins, temporarily routing the first line of monsters. Taking this as brief reprieve the Ares line reformed while the Hermes girls kept up a steady stream of hit and run attacks to distract the creatures further. The monsters did not have a proper battle strategy and yet they were gaining ground. Clarisse clenched her teeth, a shielwall would be the best option.

"LOCK SHIELDS ! SHOW THEM THE WRATH OF ARES!"

The empousae and dracneae battered in vain against their shield wall , with only the occasional stab from her spear or one of the girl's swords being the rewards for their effort. For a moment, Clarisse thought that they could hold out till the monsters were out of reserves. She probably jinxed it because the very next moment a hellhound crashed into their shield wall and tore apart a girls throat, a Hermes girl rushing to plug the gap fell victim to an empousae arrow and another Ares girl got stabbed in the gut by a telkhine spear.

Her rage boiled over in a tempestuousoutburst of violence. She rushed the gap, impaling the telkhine, dismembering two empousae and pushing back the hellhound. Her spear crackled with electricity as she dove to the side and impaled the beast with a precise blow.

"ARES CHARGE!"

With that she rushed forward spear at the tip with her sisters following behind with their shields up, and the Hermes girls continuing their hit and run strikes. The Hunters moved at last, with lightning from the sky smiting a group of dracneae and quiver loads of silver arrows ripping into the monster legion's flanks with deadly precision. Thalia moved forward to engage in melee, her shied scattering monsters as the Hunters completed the encirclement. It was messy and bloody and brutal, and half a dozen of the campers and four of the Hunters were injured by the time they had slain all the monsters.

Perla

Irina

Claire

They had been true heroes, she would remember their names.

Chapter 4 : Solace sucks at school security (Will)

This was bad, really bad. The satyr Narses was nowhere to be found, and a cohort of hellhounds, it seemed, really fancied a half-blood meal, judging by the inordinate amount of saliva dripping from their partially bared mouths. Just my luck I suppose, I am the one who gets stuck with an inept satyr, five demigods and a cohort of hellhounds. Fantastic.

I am not a fighter, well I did survive a war but my abilities were better put to use as a healer, rather than a fighter. These kids had not the remotest idea with regard to what was going on, and that made it all the more difficult to avoid danger. I had sent Katie along with two of my siblings to set up a temporary safe house earlier, and could only hope that they returned quickly. Should they delay, this could turn ugly real quick.

"So you can see them too?"asked one of girls, " I thought I was the only one. "

"Liz, I think it's looking at us," came the slightly frightened whisper of another child, Tiffany I think.

"Can you not keep quiet please," pleaded Pete, "I don't want to die."

All six of us were huddled together in one corner of the school courtyard, desperately praying for those hairy fur balls of death to just ignore us and pass on.

"Just stay calm and follow my words, you'll be just fine," I sure hope they felt reassured because I certainly was not, "I'll get you to a safe house okay, then we can talk about what is going on. So stay calm and act normal."

Nico, yes Nico, if I can send an Iris message to Camp, Nico could probably bail me out. The washroom, yes, we can very likely hold out in there till either Nico or someone else arrives. Celestial bronze xiphos - check. Celestial bronze dagger - check. Packet of ambrosia - check. Well then, time to move.

"Right so guys, we'll be moving to the washroom," I whispered to them, keeping an eye out for the hungry hellhounds and the oblivious mortals, "I need to call for back up okay," one of the hellhounds just twicthed, shrugging off some plastic wrapler, 'They'll get us out. So keep calm and slowly move towards the washroom, I'll bring up the rear."

Liz moved first, followed by Kendrick and Tiffany. I took Steff and boundedPete by their hands and followed the first group. It seemed easy enough, as Liz reached first and entered, holding open the door for the rest of us. However as soon as Tiffany stepped in, all things went to chaos. The hellhounds probably smelled us and bounded towards us, I panicked and pushed the kids forward drawing my xiphos and the courtyard fell into a frenzy, they probably saw a guy with a gun aiming at half a dozen high aggressive lockers or something.

Right, don't screw this up Solace, there are kids to save. With that, I did the most anti-climactic thing I have ever done. I lobbed my blade at the nearest hellhound and rushed the kids into the washroom, closing the door behind me. I took out my dagger and handed it to Liz before turning on the taps for an Iris message.

"O Iris, Goddess of the Rainbow, please accept my offering, show me Nico di Angeo please," with that I tossed in the drachma. A subtle shimmer graced the air as I now came face to face with a slightly haggard looking Nico.

"Nico, it's me Will."

" Wha- , who... oh... yeah sorry. So Will why did you ca-"

"Look man we're stuck here with a bunch of hellhounds trying to break in, could you-," my plea was interrupted when I heard a loud crash just outside the washroom followed my a series of screams from the kids, they were trying to break in using the windows and the door. Ah, we're done, I am the worst counselor ever.

"Will ! WILL ! Where are you guys at?"

"What ... oh yes, yes. It's this school called Albert Hall, just in the outskirts of Concord, yes. Please hurry Nico." With that the connection severed and I once more started placating the kids, what else could I do really, if the monsters broke in we would all be hellhound lunch.

CRASH!

The door cracked open and a hellhound eagerly tried to enter only to be stabbed in the snout by Liz. The beast gave out a wail of pain and shock before disintegrating into a pile of golden dust. The rest of the monsters immediately backed off, wary of the bronze knife and its weilder. There was no way we would survive an actual charge, not all of us at least. Where was Narses when you needed him, that idiot Satyr was probably off flirting with some tree spirit or nymph. I would have a word with Chiron about the type of protectors he sends out.

Just then, a blood curdling howl ripped across the courtyard, as I saw the hellhounds charge towards the courtyard gate. Nico must be here then. Thank the Gods! Ah, I could see him now, hacking and stabbing at the beasts, his stygian iron sword warding off hellhound charges with practiced efficiency. My cabinmates decided to show themselves now as well, for two arrows found themselves lodged in the hellhound nearest to washroom door.

Nico was the shield it seemed, he was pushing back the hellhounds while Andrew and Anna fired repeated volleys at them. Eventually I found enough courage to rush out and retrieve my celestial bronze xiphos. Once it was firmly in my hands, I stabbed the nearest hound in the hind leg causing it to buckle over, following which I brought my blade down upon its abdomen, turning into an archipelago of golden dust. At the same time, I saw Nico finishing the last beast with a deadly stab to the eye.

"Right kids, follow me out now. We'll go to a safe house where we'll explain this okay. Come now, let's move out. Best get there before dark."

Chapter 5 : A conflict in Connecticut - War Preparations (Percy)

It was a slightly overcast day in Connecticut. Chiron had manipulated the mist and had supposedly hoodwinked the mortals into believing that the state park was holding some form of military drill and that they were liable to get arrested if they inquired about the park took much. This was not so far from the truth either, Camp Half-blood was assembling a force here together with the Hunters. Shocking, I know. We had received reports that the state park had become a mustering point for the remnants of the Titan lord's legion following their defeat at Manhattan. Chiron did not really want to force such a confrontation, but Clarisse and Malcolm insisted rather forcefully, forcing him to give in.

So here I was, camping with the force sent out from the Camp. There were ten campers from Ares led by Clarisse. Malcolm and two more from Athena, Jake Mason and four others from Hephaestus, Will Solace with five Apollo campers, four from Hermes, me and Nico. Across our camp on the other side of the narrow path leading to the city proper, were the Hunters, Thalia and some fifteen others had set up camp on a slight elevation, from where they had a goid view of the area, the presence of this many half-bloods is bound to attract monstrous attention, however this was exactly what our plan hinged on. We needed them the come out in the open with their full strength so that we didn't have to hunt down the routed foes after our victory.

Clarisse wanted a head on engagement, Malcolm however advised a hit-and-run strategy, while Thalia wanted to ambush them. All three plans could not be executed at once so the head counselors and Thalia decided on a step by step implementation of the strategy.

The Hunters, archers from the Apollo and Hermes cabins would engage in extremely conspicuous hunts and ambushes in order to alert the monsters of our presence. Once successful they would slowly retreat to our position on the hill, luring the monsters into the traps set up by the Hunters and Hephaestus campers. The surviving monsters would be faced down in a traditional battle by the combined strength of the campers and Hunters.

When the battle did come, Clarisse and the Ares campers would be in the first line in their phalanx formation. Malcolm and Mason would hold the second line with Athena and Hephaestus campers. Me and Nico along with the remaining Apollo and Hermes campers would be in reserve, our task was to lead the downhill counter charge. On either flank there would be placed the Hunters and archers from Apollo and Hermes cabins, the right was under Thalia, while the left wsd under a huntress called Phoebe. Our battle strategy was simple, the monsters would advance uphill while under constant arrow and Hephaestus cabin gun fire. They would meet the Ares phalanx head on, who would rotate out with the second line troops after four to five minutes of fighting. After the expected fatigue amongst monsters took hold amongst their ranks, me and Nico would lead a downhill charge with the reserves to finally crush their forces.

While it was certainly not a plan worthy of Athena, it would do just fine... or atleast I hoped it would do just fine.

I was roused from my musings when Nico approached me with the list of traps set up in front of our battle line.

"Look at what they have come up with Percy, we'll be arrested for damage to public property at this rate."

"Oh don't fret too much, the mist will probably make it look like an accidental fire or something, the mortals already believe that there is some sort of secret military drill going on here."

"Nonetheless, are we certain that this massive party will not be detected by the mortal government. At Manhattan atleast there was godly magic and Kronos himself at play. Here we have the Hunters, the campers and Chiron manipulating the mist. Is Chiron that powerful?"

"We'll he certainly knows stuff does he not, else he wouldn't be teaching these many demigods. "

"So... a downhill charge eh, can't say I have been in one before. Should I seek undead assistance?"

"If the situation turns dire, do whatever is necessary, we'll essentially be the rear guard should things get ugly. There will be losses Nico, when they come by, I expect you to maintain your composure. "

"Will do." With that he left towards the Apollo and Hermes campers, leaving me to stew in my own thoughts. If we were to lose here, almost all the senior campers would die, there would be no more search and rescue missions, no more active monster hunting. Things would go back to the same situation as it was before the war, and with this many new kids appearing, many would die inadvertently. We had to win here, or we'd doom an entire generation of half-bloods due to our own hubris.

I could hear horn blasts and shouts of combat in the distance, the vanguard must have made contact with the enemy legion. Time to form up then. I could see the campers rushing to put on armour, and planting stakes at the bottom of the hill. The Hephaestus campers were setting up two gun nests complete with a rather strange projectile launcher and stacks of celestial bronze ammunition. I could see the silver blurs of the Hunters mixed with the occasional lightning strikes in the distance.

The Ares cabin formed up as the third set of horns were blown. They. Were. Coming.

Chapter 6 : A conflict in Connecticut - The Vanguard encounter (Thalia)

Their numbers were slightly concerning, my suspicions that the remnants of the Titan army had grouped together with the local monsters was confirmed. Atleast three hundred, maybe more were gathered in the area. We were outnumbered ten to one, while the odds were not too bad, the number of manticores and Laistrygonian giants would be a problem. The giants could easily disrupt our battle lines while the manticores would use their armour to provide cover for the advancing monsters. We needed to lure as many of them as we could to the traps set up in front of the hill, should a decent number not fall against these traps, our chances of victory would be questionable at best.

AROOO!

Phoebe had engaged on the left with the Hermes archers, she could see blurs of silver rapidly firing away at the congregation of monsters. Time to move then. I took out my hunting horn and let loose a blast to signal the start of the assault on the right flank. The Apollo campers moved first letting loose volleys of bronze tipped arrows at the startled mass of opponents. My Hunters were not far behind as they too started assailing the monsters with projectiles.

I summoned a lightning bolt, smiting a manticore as I ordered the contingent to start retreating slowly, we had drawn their attention, now we had to lure them into the minefield. Phoebe was doing the same on the other flank, we needed to lure them in and simultaneously avoid the traps we had set up. Everyone had gone through the map of trap placements, this however did not rule out the chances of some unfortunate mishap taking place. Just then a sudden burst of movement caught my attention on the left flank, a cohort of empousae had formed up and had started firing on the retreating campers and Hunters. I saw two of my sisters getting shot and a Hermes girl desperately dragging them to cover. I summoned lightning on the empousae firing battery, hoping it would give enough time for Phoebe to conduct a full retreat.

AWOOOO!

A gigantic hellhound smashed into our lines tearing away at Hunters and Campers alike, one of the Hunters was brutally mauled while an Apollo camper got bitten before he shoved a celestial bronze knife in the beasts gut, turning it into monster dust. I hoisted him up and dragged him across the safe path through the minefield. Atleast Phoebe was already here with her contingent. She had lost two dead and had two injured, double that of my unit.

"What do we do now Lieutenant?"

"We wait and rest till they step into the trap. We'll then retreat after activating it."

"As you say Lieutenant. "

We didn't have to wait too long though as the horde of monsters came charging across the length of the park, eager for demigod blood. Their bloodlust impaired vision failed to notice the patterns on the ground and as soon as my spear made contact with the hidden piston, the field went up in a torrent of smoke, fire and shrapnel.

"Fall back, fal back. We'll take up positions on the flanks," with my command in place we began the retreat uphill, looking down in dismay at the ill-timed activation, the traps had taken down perhaps a sixth of the host maybe a fifth, combined with our assault, less than a third of the force had been taken out. Now to wait for the final confrontation. I took out my horn and gave a final blast, signaling the end of the vanguard encounter and alerting the main host of the monsters approach.

Chapter 7 : A conflict in Connecticut - Battle of the Park (Clarisse)

The Hunters were here, they had set up their positions on either side if our battle line. Down the hill I could see the dark shadows of the monsters trying to move out of the smoke. The uphill advance under a constant hail of projectiles should hamper their momentum enough to preserve our phalanx. The stakes should take out a few, and the spears would take out even more. Well then, time for battle, I sent a quick prayer to my father before shouting,

"WE STAND ON THE EDGE OF VICTORY. STAND HERE TODAY AND WIN ETERNAL GLORY! FOR OLYMUS!"

"FOR OLYMPUS" The shouts of the combined host echoed across the park.

"LOCK SHIELDS! LOCK SHIELDS! NOT ONE STEP BACK!"

With that the first line lowered their spears and locked shields, our best bet would be to keep the monsters at spears length. Allowing them to get close would undoubtedly lead to loses. This time would be different, it had to be. We wouldn't get fatigued due to the rotation system Malcolm had come up with, ingenious I must say, I hope it would bear fruit. We had to be better this time. I had to do better.

FWOOSH!

I felt a sudden heat pass over my body, before I could question what had happened I saw the answer right before me. The strange weapon those Hephaestus guys had created, just vaporized a contingent of empousae archers and a Laistrygonian giant in one hit. There was a loud whoop as the campers started cheering and shouting, congratulating the Hephaestus cabin for their invention. Perhaps this wouldn't turn out to be that bad after all.

Aaand I jinxed it again, dammit. A full dozen manticores started advancing up the hill now, their heavy armour acting as a shield for the dracneae and empousae who started counter firing against our flanks, forcing Thalia to order them behind the makeshift covers. Their advance, however, faltered when they reached the hidden bronze tipped stakes we had planted. A few got turned into dust but the majority halted and allowed the giants to rip them off.

"BRACE YOURSELVES ! GIANTS INBOUND !"

The first giant got skewered by half a dozen arrows, the second one received a lightning bolt in the face, while the third and fourth got impaled on our spears. With the monsters stopping once again to regroup, I decided that this was the best time to rotate.

"THROW SPEARS." At my command the first line threw their spears straight at the regrouping host further disrupting their effort.

"ROTATE!"

The Athena and Hephaestus kids launched a limited countercharge before regrouping and forming a shielwall to hold off the next wave of assaults. There had been loses though, one of my brothers had fallen to a stray arrow and one of the injured Hermes girls from the vanguard encounter had succumbed to her injuries, thereby complicating the position of the already weakened left flank under Phoebe.

While the centre and the right held firm, the left soon buckled under a renewed assault spearheaded by hellhounds charging uphill under the cover of empousae arrow fire. The Hunters routed, unwilling to hold onto a suicidal position.

Percy however led a countercharge, using the third line. Two powerful half-bloods along with a fresh contingent of experienced infantry was more than enough for the monsters who had attempted to outflank us. I saw the son of Poseidon almost singlehandedly cutting through the hellhounds as he hacked and slashed and stabbed at an inhuman pace. Spears and arrows bounced off harmlessly as he continued his push downhill closely followed by Nico and the Apollo campers, the remaining Hermes kids were left to hold the flank.

"PRISSY! END THE FIGHT! THE CENTRE IS FALLING APART!"

He must have heard my shout because the very next moment, the contingent under him turned and charged into the flank of the column assailing the central phalanx. I saw Thalia charge too, on the right flank, her shied pushing back even the fiercest of monsters.

"PHALANX DISENGAGE! ARES CHARGE!"

With that I led my cabin into the fray past the exhausted Athena and the bloodied Hephaestus campers. Father must have heard my prayer and blessed us for we were unstoppable. The monster legions now caught in a double envelopment flailed around whimpering groans of pain and shock. Percy and Nico together with Thalia were making mincemeat of the cohorts, their sheer skill and power far over compensating their numerical inferiority.

When the last of those Tartarus dwellers were slain, I could feel a sense of relief flooding through my mind. We had successfully cut down all the major threats in the Camps immediate vicinity and had cleared out the remnants of the Titan army. Seven of us had fallen to achieve this victory, three Hunters, one from Hermes, two from Apollo and one from Hephaestus. They would be honored as the true heroes they were. I would make sure they were.