OPERATION EDEN

0010 Hours,

July 3, 2545 (Military Calendar)

Unnamed Asteroid in the Epsilon Eridani System

Ship Roster

PH-1: 1LT James Goodwright

PH-2: CPO Joseph Craft

PH-3: POFC George "Red" Redford

PH-4: POSC Mac Namor

PH-5: POSC Paisley Greeny

The engines roared to life, sending the ship on an intercept trajectory with the smuggler's vessel. As we approached the target the breach pole fully extended, and the radar screen switched to a camera that displayed the direction of the breach pole to aid in targeting.

"Prepare the target for boarding action," I told my crew. PH-5 winked green on the display. Moments later a small blue projectile fired towards the hostile ship, causing the shields to flicker and vanished. The craft was now left defenseless and floating through space, virtually dead.

"EMP direct hit, sir, all systems are down and ready for boarding." Paisley glanced at me, waiting for my next command.

"Engage." The long tube detonated its explosive payload into the side of the enemy spacecraft, instantly deploying an energy seal around the wound to allow safe passage through. "Hull breached; get moving team." I return the screen to passive radar so Paisley can keep an eye on it and double time it to the boarding hatch, where the other three are waiting in a stack next to the door. I take my spot on the left side and signal the countdown with my hand.

Three, two, one, Breach!

I yank the door open, the squad pours inside, and I take the rear. We pushed through the long metal tube and piled up against the glowing blue seal. Mac, who was leading the charge, signaled the team to go in. He pushes through the energy barriers and instantly takes cover across the way and covers the hallway. PH-4 flashed green on the HUD, telling us to move in. Each Spartan strides through the blue, shimmering portal, taking a millisecond to swiftly check their left and right before moving into the killzone. They aligned themselves on either side of the passageway in a staggered column formation.

Finally, I followed suit, checking my left and right before kneeling in the middle of the corridor to look for enemy movement. We power on our active camouflage, and with a hand motion from Mac we walk in unison down the hallway. An echo bounced off the walls, originating from somewhere in the center of the corridor. My audio sensors pick up a quiet whispering, but I can't make out the words. I silently creep up to the front of the formation and keep going forward, taking notice of my team moving with me on my motion tracker. We reach the first set of doors and halt, motioning to clear the rooms. Mac and Red enter their respective rooms, coming out a few seconds later, telling me that the rooms were clear. We push onward without making any noise, repeating the process two more times until we get to the room where the voices seem to have come from. By this point my sound monitors can make out the words, which dictate on my HUD.

"I think I hear them, we need to keep quiet," muttered the male voice, my monitors enhanced the audio.

"When they come in I will hit them with this EMP grenade!" A female voice whispered in response.

Stacked against the wall, two on the left, and me and another on the right, I signal to the others with quick and precise hand gestures to move in on my signal and to expect two combatants. I count down from three and give the signal. Mac opened the door and I entered first. As I cleared the doorstop I instantly noticed the small, thin, young girl in my right peripheral that is in the midst of throwing a grenade and I instinctively send my elbow towards her to stop her assault. My elbow connected with an audible CRACK and the female was sent flying back into the cubby hole she was hiding in, the grenade still sails through the air and detonates directly in front of me.

VIsor has gone black and I am left standing there waiting for it to come back online. I feel my team push around me, and one of them stays with me, tapping my shoulder to let me know he was there. The EMP completely locked the armor up, meaning I'm dead in the water unless the auxiliary power is still functional. After a minute I am able to hear shouting, which is a good thing. It means that my sound sensors have turned back on, they're usually the first thing to come back on since they take the least amount of power. It sounds like the smugglers are trying to put up a fight.

SYSTEM REBOOT appears on my HUD with a progress bar fills rapidly and I feel the suit start loosening up, joints stiff from the lock up, I shake it off as the boot process finalizes and prepare to get going when the first shot rings out, the sound system blocking out most of the bang. I turn and look to my teammate to stay with me, it's LT. He looks back at me and even through the helmet I could tell he was slightly concerned. These pirates weren't supposed to have military fire power. Reports said that the only thing being smuggled was experimental technology and banned media. Nothing important enough to guard with high power UNSC issued weapons. This one was a 7.62x51mm FMJ AP cartridge shot from the M392 DMR. The sound was unmistakable. We trained on that weapon as much as the MA37 Assault Rifle or MA5k. I turned on my heels and rushed toward the direction the shot came from, taking notice of the clutter of boxes, clothes, and other miscellaneous items strewn about. It looks like someone was looking for something. In the next room a medium splatter of blood was plastered on the left side wall right past the entryway, but no body so that is a good sign. Nothing on my BLUFOR Tracker changed so either this blood isn't from a teammate or my systems are still not fully functional.

With swift violence I push through the door jam, scanning from left to right and checking my corners. Room clear. This room seemed relatively empty, save for a small table and set of chairs. Without stopping I move to the next area where I hear commotion on the other side of the walls. Upon entry I see Mac and Red securing three smugglers, two are sitting on the ground in mag-cuffs and one knocked out on the floor, blood flowing from his head.

VITALS UNKNOWN

Damn, systems are still down. After further investigation of the scene I notice blood stains on Mac's arm.

"Mac, your hit! Do you need medical?" I questioned and checked his wound.

"I'm good Sir, I got Biofoam in there."

Two questions still gnawed at the back of my mind; Where did these guys get the weaponry? And what are they fight so hard to defend?