Disclaimer: Once again all halo characters that are not my OCs belong to Microsoft and 343 industries [Now to Halo studios].

Chapter 9: A new addition

December 31, 2525, 1327 hours

Location: En route to Epsilon Eridani system, UNSC Halcyon-class light cruiser, Persian Gate

Third person POV

Sam paced around inside the gym of the Persian Gate. Their previous mission did not sit right with him, although John and the others had already gotten over it a long while back, Sam simply couldn't. "GAH!" Sam expressed his frustration and anger as he punched a nearby punching bag hard, breaking it apart due to his raw physical strength.

Sam was not happy with how their last mission on Alpha Corvi went. Not only did they have to run and leave the planet and its people to its fate but also leave their unlikely allies behind as well.

Sam never had any remorse or pity for the Insurrectionists, he and his fellow SPARTANs were trained, taught and shown that the insurrections were their enemies, that was why they were being trained in the first place. But the previous op completely changed his view, for once he felt opposed to the idea of leaving insurrectionist behind to die to their own fate.

Captain Whitaker and his band of local insurrectionist militia even though had every right to shoot them on sight, helped them instead to complete their mission and to fight a common enemy, the covenant. And as much as he hated to admit it, he, John, Kelly, Fred and Linda would have probably never made it off were it not for them.

Sam simply could not believe that they were not allowed to EVAC from the pelican just because they weren't UNSC personals, because they were insurrectionist, sure he didn't trust them as they were innies but as the saying went, 'Fate made us enemies, but this battle will make us brothers'.

Commander Yao, the officer in charge of their mission had only shot down their protests of abandoning their allies. Typical political bullshit, John wasn't happy, and neither were any of them. Were it not for Doctor Halsey, Sam was sure he would have punched that Commander in the face.

Sam left the Gym through the entrance and walked down the hallway passing by crewmen and marines alike. They all gave him the stare, staring at him as if he were some lab specimen or a freak. This was what he and the other Spartans were subjected to now.

As Sam entered the barracks and laid down on his cot, he only wondered if Tyler was having the same issues as they were. 'It's only been a month and I am already missing him…everyone is' Sam thought as he closed his eyes…the one thing that would have probably helped him cope with this dilemma, this emotion that he was unfamiliar with, would probably have been Tyler.

January 6, 2526, 1145 hours

Location: Touchstone system, Andesia, UNSC Paris-class heavy frigate, Macron

It had been a month since Tyler had taken command over Kilo-2; he found them quite reliable having done small ops with them in the passing month. He had finally deciphered each and every one of their traits, Elijah or Elijah Agar was the more level headed, friendly and the most relatable of the three, specializing in heavy weapons and explosives.

Elizabeth or Elizabeth Kristine was the sniper and scout of the team, and an accurate one, Tyler admitted that she might even give Linda a run for her money, she was however more calm, cool, blunt and straight to the point type.

And Martinez or Martinez Garcia was the resident joker and trouble maker; he was however skilled in Close quarters combat and really agile, but his personality sometimes reminded Tyler of one of his old Friends back in his old Universe.

Kilo-2 was all once again gathered at the bridge of the Macron; Captain Rodriguez in front of the Holotable, the table projected a hologram of Andesia. The Hispanic Captain cleared his throat and spoke, "Andesia, colonized back on 2450, one of the more developed outer colonies, on 2523 a rebellion broke out, with factories and facilities belonging to mega-corporations on the planet supporting its war effort against us" the Captain stopped as he changed position around the table.

"The 10th Shock troops battalion had been deployed as in response to the outbreak of the insurrection, as of present day the colony remains in a stalemate with neither side making any progress" The Captain then looked directly at each and every member of Kilo-2 starting with Tyler who stood in attention like a statue and ending with Elizabeth on the far right. "Your previous ops have brought command to dispatch you to take care of this insurrection"

Elijah raised his hand and speaks, "Permission to speak sir" he said.

"Permission granted" the captain replied.

"Sir, how are we supposed to end a two year long insurrection?" Elijah asked, Tyler was thinking the same, he may be a Spartan but he knew from the lore and books that taking out a full scale insurrectionist on a planet, even for a Spartan was a challenging task.

"Good question, marine" The Captain said as he pressed a button on the Holotable, the hologram of Andesia zoomed into a more ground level, the topography of the Planet's Capital of Noctus was displayed, tall buildings rising up till the clouds.

"This is Andesia's capital of Noctus, it houses the main hub of facilities belonging to AMG transport Dynamics and Traxus Heavy industries, the ODSTs had already manage to take out the AMG facilities, but one Traxus Heavy industries Facility still remains" the Captain speak, Tyler picked up on what their next mission would probably be.

"The Helljumpers have tried and failed in the past to neutralize this facility, it is highly guarded and defended with a formidable garrison and an array of M12 light reconnaissance vehicles or Warthogs and two M808B Scorpion main battle tanks which these insurrectionists, if Intel suggests is correct, stole and repaired from scrap yards"

"A tough nut to crack, and that's where you four come in" the Captain says as he looks at them, "In the pass month you four have shown exceptional teamwork and stealth capabilities, I will be honest, I was skeptical of the Master Chief's idea to lead you three, but your past ops have proven me wrong" the Captain applauded, Tyler silently sighed of relief, he wondered if he, made the right choice by taking these three ODSTs under his wing.

"You will be dropped VIA drop pods near and around your targeted location, expect heavy resistance as the insurrectionist here have a knack for urban guerilla warfare " the Captain paused for a moment before continuing, "Good Luck, and Dismissed!"

All four of them Salute, "Yes, Sir!" all four of them said unanimously and filled out the bridge one by one, as they walked down the corridor of the frigate, Martinez couldn't help but speak, "Sure as hell was a boring briefing, at least I'll be able to crack me some innies".

"I am surprised you were able to stand quietly while the briefing was going on" Elizabeth said in a deadpan tone. Elijah simply snickered. Tyler held in a chuckle as well, he had grown fond of these three and their dynamic.

As they entered the Armory, Tyler went over and immediately grabbed a DMR and dual M6D magnums, it was starting to become his standard load out, Elizabeth grabbed her SRS99C Series-2 AM sniper rifle while Elijah grabbed a MA5B assault rifle and a M41 SPNKr or Jackhammer as it was commonly referred as and Martinez grabbed himself a M7S SMG and MA2B assault rifle, Elijah commented on him as he slung his SPNKr on his shoulders, "Two weapons? You sure you're gonna be using both of them Marty?"

"Two is better than one, they say" Martinez replied as he grabbed some ammo. "All done, Boss"

Tyler simply nodded, "Let's move out" he said as he walked towards the entrance, with the three of them close behind.

It wasn't a long walk until they finally reached the SOIEV launch bay or as the three of them called it, Hell's waiting room. Tyler got in the first one, Elijah took the second, Elizabeth took the third and Martinez took the fourth. As the hatch closed Tyler opened TEAMCOM and spoke, "Make sure to enable your IFF tags"

"Roger" he heard Elijah say.

"Affirmative" Elizabeth checked.

"Got it clear" Martinez checked.

Tyler leaned his head against the seat behind; this was his second time dropping in. And this time he'd be once again fighting fellow humans...again. He may have not had or indoctrinated the hatred for the insurrectionist, but he knew what they were, terrorist at most…and if there was one thing his old man taught him, terrorist are not negotiable.

"Drop pod ejecting in 5..4..3..2..1" Tyler heard the ships AI before he felt his pod free falling. 'Here we go again' Tyler thought.

"This is gonna be a loud landing" Elijah said through COMs.

"Isn't this what we Helljumpers are meant to do, making sure the place we are dropping in is crowded, haha!" Martinez commented with a bark of laugh.

"You take it way too seriously and lightly, Martinez" Elizabeth said.

After a few seconds of freefall all four of them respectively deployed their pod's chute slowing their descent down on Andesia. "Drop the chute's in 3..2..1" Tyler said through COMs as all of them ejected their chutes, now descending onto Andesia…another world plagued with war…atleast not as bad as those under covenant attacks.

"Oh boy, here we go" Elijah said through SQUADCOMs.

"Time to kill me some innies" Martinez said excited like a little kid on his first fishing trip.

"In a rare occasion, I agree with him on this one" Elizabeth said.

The pods then all landed, the impact jerking Tyler a bit, 'Ok, that was way worst than my previous one' Tyler thought as he kicked his hatch open, as he came out he pulled out his DMR, and scanned the area. His HUD showed the locations of his team, Elijah was 30 feet away from him up north, while Martinez and Elizabeth seem to be near each other west about 40 feet.

The place they had landed in was woodland, Noctus was seen up ahead as its skyscrapers were an easy sight. "Kilo-2 report in" Tyler spoke though his TEAMCOM.

"Elijah here, all green sir" Elijah checked in.

"Elizabeth here, Green as well sir" Elizabeth checked in.

"Martinez here, greener than grass boss" Martinez checked in.

"Regroup on Elijah's position" Tyler instructed as he moved towards Elijah, who was taking over behind a fallen tree, although they weren't anywhere near their target this place was still an active warzone, the sound gunshots and thunderous sounds explosions could be heard from miles away. As Tyler approached him, he kneeled besides him, soon being joined by the other two.

"Seems like we missed our drop" Elijah said as he readied his assault rifle.

"Yeah no kidding, genius" Martinez sarcastically remarked.

Elizabeth who was quiet looked at Tyler and asked, "What now, sir?"

Tyler looked towards the city up ahead, "We walk there" Tyler said as he got up, his DMR readied, "Keep your guard up" with that Tyler started walking towards the city, Tyler made sure to slow his pace so that the other three could catch up with him.

After a minute long walk through the woodland, they exited into a plain field, the field was littered with craters from explosions and artillery, some parts of the ground charted black due to previous skirmishes. Tyler heard Martinez mutter something but didn't pay attention to it. As they continued on they heard some distant gunfire up ahead, Tyler immediately halted and motioned his hands. Elijah and Martinez, who were already alerted, immediately took up his flanks while Elizabeth stayed behind Tyler.

All four of them moved forwards, weapons aimed and ready, as they closed in closer the gunfire got only louder before they had a good view behind some trees.

Cadmon took cover by leaning against a wall, his M6C on one hand and his other hand slamming another mag into it. He was hit on his left shoulder, his entire team was already all KIA. The damn insurrections had taken them all by surprise, picked them off like flies.

"Damnit" Cadmon cursed under his breath. With the insurrectionists swarming his position and him already injured on his shoulder, he knew he wouldn't make it. He could hear the footsteps of oncoming innies, their weapons drawn, Cadmon took a deep breath his helmet was polarized. 'Well, this it for me, hope you have a better run than me little bro' Cadmon thought.

As he was about to get up and leave his cover to go out with a bang and joining his fellow teammates, gunfire came from behind him and he had to duck back down to cover behind what used to be a wall. As the gunfire went on he heard the innies behind the wall go down one by one, their bodies hitting the floor and them groaning and grunting as they got hit. Cadmon wasn't a religious man but for once he actually thanked God for sending whoever it was to save his ass.

Cadmon was expecting Marines or ODSTs to be his rescuer but the first person that approached him was a 7 feet tall blue armored individual with a dome shaped golden visor. 'Am I hallucinating?' he thought.

As Tyler approached the injured ODST he noticed the guy staring at him. He remembered that the Spartans still weren't public or hadn't been seen often. 'I can only imaging what's going through his mind' Tyler thought as he kneeled down besides the ODST, "You hit marine?" Tyler asked.

Cadmon snapped back into reality and shakes his head a bit, "Uh, well uh no, sir, I mean yes" Cadmon fumbled his words as he was still dumbfounded at the fact that a 7 feet tall mech was the one that saved his life.

Elijah was the first one after Tyler to move in onto their position, his assault rifle aimed towards the direction where the insurrectionist came from, Martinez followed behind, his SMG also aimed, then finally followed by Elizabeth who reloaded her sniper as she reached their position.

"No more innies in sight, sir" Elijah said as he looked at Tyler.

Tyler nodded then returned his gaze to Cadmon, "What's our name, marine?" Tyler asked as he noticed the wound on his shoulder.

Cadmon still quite shaken by Tyler mere presence realized that he was being asked a question, "Cadmon, First Lieutenant Cadmon Lasky, sir" He said, Elijah simply looked at Tyler while Elizabeth and Martinez looked at each other then at Cadmon.

Behind his visor Tyler's eyes widened, 'Did I fucking hear that right' Tyler thought but remained calm on the exterior. "Where's your squad, Lieutenant" Tyler asked, technically Cadmon outranked him but Tyler had no time to correct him.

"All KIA, I would be too were it not for you and your team" Cadmon replied as he placed his right hand covering his left shoulder, "Shit that was a bad hit" he cursed under his breath.

Tyler went for his medkit taking out his combat knife as well, "Hold still Lieutenant" he said, and Cadmon simply held his left arm and bit his lips as to not scream in pain. Tyler then precisely with the knife took out the bullet embedded in his shoulder, Cadmon grunted and hissed as the bullet was taken out. Tyler then put some biofoam on the wound.

"Damn, I never expected to be treated by a 7 feet tall armored guardian angel" Cadmon said as he moved his left arm, it was still numb, but he could atleast properly move it, Tyler chuckled while Martinez snorts out a laugh.

"Trust me LT, this won't be the last" Elijah said as he helped Cadmon up.

"Can you use a weapon?" Tyler asked as he picked up his DMR.

"Probably but I only have a pistol with two mags left" Cadmon said as he took out his M6C.

Tyler pondered for a moment until Elijah spoke, "Hey Marty hand the LT your unused MA2B"

"But I could need it" Martinez sheepishly argued.

"Just shut up and give him your gun already" Elizabeth said as he smacked Martinez on the back of his head.

"Fine" Martinez grumbled as he rubbed the back of his head and pulled out the MA2B and its mags.

"Thanks, it's been a while since I last used this" Cadmon said as he puts his MA6C back on his waist and takes the MA2B and its mags, strapping it.

Tyler watched for a moment, 'Well this changed a lot of things' he thought. "Lieutenant, I am not in the position to command you or anything but, would you mind if you accompany us?" Tyler asked. Elijah simply looked a bit stunned even though his helmet was polarized; Elizabeth was unreadable while Martinez was himself.

"Well, it might be my only option here" Cadmon said as he scrubbed his chest piece, "Either way, I'll probably be demoted after this"

"Why is that?" Elizabeth asked.

"Well my whole squad is dead" Cadmon said with guilt, "and I am the only one left, the leader, they'll probably blame me for getting them killed"

"Command can be rough sometimes" Elijah said as he patted Cadmon on the shoulders, "But cheer up, you're still alive and you can still carry your team's legacy with you…I mean, that's what a soldier would do"

Tyler had been looking over the cover, their targeted facility was still two kilometers up ahead, if they passed by without problem it would take only ten minutes, but if they ran into trouble, it could take from thirty minutes to an hour straight.

"Let's move" Tyler said as he moved out of the cover and started heading to where they were meant to go, Elijah followed up with Cadmon behind him, Martinez took the rear while Elizabeth stayed on the flank.

"Sorry to break the silence but, what are you guys after exactly?" Cadmon asked through TEAMCOM.

"Traxus heavy industries facility, the one that is still intact" Tyler answered.

"Oh, that place….it's quite heavily defended" Cadmon said.

"We already know that's why we're going there" Martinez said. "How many innies you think are there? I am sure you've been here for a while now"

"I don't know the exact amount but I'd say, 400 to 700 at worst to best" Cadmon said as he scanned the area for any ambushers, he would not make the same mistake twice.

As the five of them traversed through the empty and war torn streets of Noctus, on the horizon smokes could be seen rising from the tall skyscrapers. Tyler was truly awed by the sheer size of Noctus, this was the first city that he is stepping foot on, the first city he was actually laying his eyes on ever since getting transported into the Halo universe.

Their travel to the facility was undisturbed, no insurrectionist had tried to ambush them, Tyler knew that usually it meant two things, either they were expected and a trap was readied or the enemy had been alerted about them and were simply observing them from far away. Either way he hoped that he was wrong.

The rest of Kilo-two including Cadmon seem to share the same thought, it was quiet, too quiet for anyone's liking, Elijah was the one who was most on edge, his fingers nearing the trigger.

As they approached a highway, Elizabeth Noticed the sever lack of any air vehicles. "Are the skies usually this empty?" she asked.

"Definitely not, it would be filled with Pelicans, Falcons and Hornets flying around both UNSC and innies" Cadmon answered. It only further answered Tyler's suspicions, but there were no alternatives, the mission always came first.

The facility was now visible from the side of the highway, the only problem; the highway was 121 feet high from where the Facility was. "Liz, check out the exterior of the facility"

Elizabeth nodded and went to the edge positioning her sniper and viewing through the scope….after a few moments, she picked up her sniper and returned back to the group. "It's empty, no one guarding the outside" she said.

Tyler simply turned to look at the other three, who looked at each other and nodded. This was now one hundred percent a trap. "Do we still continue?" Cadmon asked.

"Of course we will if the innies took all that trouble to set a trap for us, it would be bad manners to not spring it" Martinez answered. Trap or no trap, they had no choice, the mission came first and they would have to adapt.

"That's okay, but how do we plan on getting down there?" Cadmon asked.

"Elijah" Tyler said as he gestured towards Elijah.

"Got it, sir" Elijah answered as he went to the edge as started attaching a rappel to it checking to see if it was tight enough, "Its ready"

Tyler went over to the edge, Elizabeth followed, and then Martinez and Cadmon came over as well. "Guess I'll be taking one for the team" Elijah said before going down the rappel, it was a solid twelve seconds drop, as Elijah landed on his feet he looked up and gave a thumbs up.

Elizabeth slung her SRS99 sniper on her back and then went next, then followed by Martinez and then finally by Cadmon who seemed reluctant but with a small push from Tyler went down as well. "Hey boss! How are you gonna get down without breaking the rappel?" Martinez shouted from bellow.

Tyler simply leaped off the edge falling down, before activating is thrusters to slow his fall and allowing to land safely on his feet. "I forgot you have that" Martinez remembered sheepishly.

"Jesus H Christ, how many cool things do you have in that armor?" Cadmon asked amazed.

"A lot of cool things, LT" Elijah answered

The facility they had neared was more like a factory with multiple warehouses and garages. There were signs of defensive emplacements outside with some sandbags still left there, road tracks of Warthogs and one which unmistakably belonged to a Scorpion. The main entrance which was a large sealed double door was charted black with some dent from previous engagements although the number 03 was still visible on the door.

As Tyler looked around the large facility to find another entrance, Elizabeth nudged him to which he looked down at her.

"There's a ladder leading to one of the windows sir" she said as she pointed towards the ladder which was placed above some containers, the windows it led to were broken.

"Well let's get climbing then" Martinez said as he placed his SMG on his back as stood on some nearby crates before using it as a boost to reach the top of the container gripping the edge of it as he got up.

Elizabeth followed up as she passed her sniper up to Martinez and used the same strategy to climb up, then Elijah who was helped up by both Martinez and Elizabeth due to his heavy load, as Cadmon got up as well he spoke through COMs, "You know, I never got any of your names"

Elijah scratched the back of his head, "Our bad, well I am Elijah, that's Elizabeth or Lizzy as we call her and the gung ho guy is Martinez" Elijah introduced, "Oh and that's the boss" he pointed towards Tyler who easily jumped up due to his augmentations and height.

"Just boss?" Cadmon asked confused.

"We just call him that, he leads us so, Boss" Martinez explained in a simple manner.

"He'll introduce himself later, right now we have a job to do" Elijah said as he approached the ladder and started climbing, Elizabeth had already entered the facility, Martinez followed up next then by Cadmon who gave a glance to Tyler before climbing, then Tyler finally entered through as well.

The insides of the facility looked more and more like a factory, they had entered into what could be said as the storage unit, multiple crates left untouched, forklifts parked and transport trucks, "Damn, the innies are either stupid or ballsy to not take all of this" Elijah said.

As they got down Tyler couldn't help but notice whom the crates belonged to, 'Misriah armory' Tyler thought, if he remembered correctly Misriah armory was the main corporation responsible for producing almost all UNSC infantry weapons and ground and aerial vehicles.

"Holy shit, some of these is marked as High explosives!" Elijah exclaimed as he examined a few of them, indeed some of the crates did have the designation of High explosives on them.

"Now this is straight up cocky, innies never leave any high valuable equipment like these behind" Cadmon said as looked around the storage unit, if it wasn't already clear, he was highly alarmed now.

"But why are crates from Misriah armory here in a Traxus facility?" Elizabeth asked, Tyler had wondered the same question, but the more important one was why they left this behind.

"They are filled up as well" Martinez said as he tried moving one only to struggle due to the sheer weight of each crate.

Tyler continued to examine the area, sure there were many more crates here, but the question was, where the insurrectionist were at. He got an idea as to how this mission could be completed easily. "Elijah, how many satchels do you have?" he asked.

"Well, about seven of them" Elijah said as he removed his back bag which he had been carrying this whole time.

"Good, Liz take point, the rest of you put one satchel on each HE crate, we're gonna send this place ablaze" Tyler said as he grabbed one of the satchel and placed it on one of the crates, lifting it up with ease. "Let's do this".

"Hell yeah!" Martinez excitingly said as he took one of the satchels.

"Oh it's gonna be beautiful" Elijah said as he took two satchels. Cadmon simply shrugged and grabbed done as well

As the three of them placed the Satchel, Tyler was the one that placed the crates right next to the facilities weak points and joints which held the place together. It took a solid 7 minutes to get everything set; Elijah had timed all the satchels, giving them all about 30 minutes to get clear of the area.

"Well, that took longer than I expected" Cadmon said as he let off a huff and panted. "Let's get clear of this place, won't want to be caught up in the blast".

"Yeah, although I am quiet disappointed we didn't get much innies to shoot" Elijah said as he walked up the stairs to where Elizabeth was keeping watch from.

"Fucking pussies if you ask me" Martinez said from behind. Tyler quietly followed from the back as well. "Ey Lizzy, how's it looking out there?"

As they reached the place where they had first entered from, Elizabeth was ducked behind cover, gestured her hand telling them to 'stop'. Tyler and the others immediately halted with Tyler and Cadmon drawing out their guns and taking position against the wall. Martinez and Elijah simply ducked down as well.

"We got multiple contacts outside, all innies" Elizabeth said through TEAMCOMs.

"How many?" Tyler asked.

"Platoon, possibly Company size" Elizabeth said as she peeked out slightly to have a small look. Tyler looked out slightly as well, and just as Elizabeth said there were about 60 to at least 150 men outside, all armed, Warthogs were starting to drive in as well.

"What the fuck" Martinez cursed, "Were they having some kind of lunch break or something, why are they showing up now?"

"Because it's like we anticipated, a trap" Cadmon said as he also took a peek.

"Well what now? We can't just waltz out there and take on a hundred innies; we may be good but not that good…" Elijah said as he took out his assault rifle.

"We're Helljumpers, we can't run away from this juicy fight, and we can get some much desired innies to kill" Martinez said as he readied his SMG.

"Not good" Elizabeth disagreed, "They probably got snipers around the buildings, and we won't last even ten seconds if we walk out"

Tyler silently agreed to Elizabeth on that one, even though he was a SPARTAN in full Mjolnir, even he knew he had his limits, and he had terrible flashbacks of the mission outskirts during his LASO play through of Halo 2, he had nightmares of the legendary Jackal snipers and hoped that they weren't as accurate and crack shot as they were in game.

Tyler went through the options in his mind, either he could just go out guns blazing and break though hoping none of the others get killed or wounded in the process, take them out one by one from inside the building which would kill them all as the satchels would go off soon, or he could just use his thrusters like last time to fly out, which wasn't viable as that time he was ascending and not descending, and he only had to worry about three a people, now he had to worry about another one.

However his thoughts were cut short as he noticed a warthog approaching the entrance, instead of the of the usual M42 light anti-aircraft gun on the back, it stead carried two large speakers.

The man on the passenger seat got up and looked directly up at the large entrance; it didn't take a genius to figure out that he was probably the guy in charge.

The man grabbed a loud speaker holding it near his mouth, "Attention all UNSC personals inside, you are surrounded from every direction and have no route of escape, lay down your weapons and come out with your hands up, we guarantee that if you surrender you will be treated with just, if not you will join your fellow comrades, you have thirty seconds to consider before we begin the assault and take this facility back" as he finished the warthog reversed backwards and insurrections took position, their weapons aimed towards the entrance, the turrets on the Warthogs also tainted towards the metal entrance.

From their window Tyler cursed under his breath, he had only 30 seconds to decide whether to go out with a bang or surrender, neither of which he liked.

"That guy is full of himself if he thinks we'll ever surrender" Martinez said.

"For once, you have a point" Elijah said as he let out a small chuckle.

"Elijah, how many minutes more before this place is turned to rubble?" Tyler asked.

"Well………about 12 minutes and 17 seconds" Elijah said as he checked the timer on his wrist.

"They're bringing in a scorpion now" Elizabeth said as she peeked out slightly. Tyler did the same and just like she said, a M808B scorpion main battle tank had just rolled up in front of the entrance.

"Well that ain't good" Elijah said.

"No kidding, genius" Martinez sarcastically said.

Cadmon was in deep thought, 'Come on Cadmon think, think, there has to be one way out of this, you didn't spend years acing Corbulo academy just to be stuck between a rock and a hard place' then his head perked up as he remembered, "We could use the sewers" he suggested which gained him a look from everyone. "I saw a manhole inside the facility"

"Where" Tyler asked

"It was beneath one of the trucks" Cadmon said, Martinez and Elijah looked at each other.

"Boss, I know what you're thinking and I'll say this, I am not getting in there" Martinez protested, "I can face off aliens and all but getting into a sewer? Hell No"

"What do you mean by Aliens?" Cadmon asked, it was a valid reaction as the Covenant threat had not been made public…yet, the reason being to not cause wide spread panic…but that was inevitable

"I'll explain later" Tyler said, "Can you lead us to the manhole"

"Right this way" Cadmon said as he took the lead down the stairs, Tyler followed close with Martinez and Elijah taking the flanks and Elizabeth in the rear. As the sprinted towards the place where Cadmon led them to, Elijah checked the timer, only 6 minutes and 11 seconds left.

The place where the manhole was located as Cadmon said was over a truck, a freight transport. "I don't know about you all but, I'm not going to be able to squeeze down there" Cadmon said as he bends down to look at the small gap below.

"No worries about that" Tyler calmly replied and Cadmon looked at him confused, Tyler walked to the back of the truck and with a deep breath, placed both is hands on the back, pushing it away from the manhole.

"Are you even human at this point?" Cadmon asked baffled.

"Trust me, he's really human" Elijah said, Tyler meanwhile ripped the manhole open, looking down he already guessed that he wasn't going to enjoy this one bit.

"Who's going first?" Tyler asked and all eyes were now on Martinez who backed away a bit.

"Now hang on a minute" Martinez said but was stopped by Elizabeth go pushed him forward, "We can talk about this boss, I am su-" he was cut off as Tyler picked him up and sent him down the manhole, his screams could be heard as he fell.

"I'll check on him" Elizabeth said as he slung her sniper over her shoulder and started descending the ladder.

"See you on the other side boss" Elijah said as he went next.

As Cadmon was about to enter he stopped and looked at Tyler, "I just wanted to say…….thanks for saving my ass, you're a God sent angel, sir" he went down as well.

As Tyler was about to enter he heard loud noises coming from the main entrance, 'Alright, it's now or never' he thought before entering the manhole as well closing it in the process.

Outside, the insurrectionist officer checked his watch and gave the order to move in, six insurrectionist moved toward the entrance placing satchels, their Scorpion tank positioned right in front of the entrance, 'Poor fools, I gave them a chance to peacefully surrender yet they still chose to fight, how delusional' he thought.

The satchels went off the door still remained intact, he ordered the Scorpion to open fire, as the tank fired its 90mm cannon, the door was starting to break open, and after the second shot, it was blasted apart, creating a massive hole.

As more and more insurrectionist moved inside the officer could only smirk, his scouts had informed him of the five man squad that was heading towards the facility, but what caught his attention was the presence of a tall armored giant, he had heard rumors of these tall soldiers, how a few months earlier a group of them had captured Watts, although his superiors and peers in the URF dismissed these claims, calling them 'UNSC myths', he had his suspicions, it was why he had set this trap in the first place.

"Sir, the facility is empty, no one in sight" one of his men approached him.

"What? Have you checked everywhere?" he questioned, this was not what was planned, he had made sure to cut off every possible escape route and even if they did slip away from a small hole his scouts would have informed him, as he walked into the facility he looked around the place, his men went around checking every corner, checking every room, every place they could possibly hide.

As he walked next to one of the pillars he head a strange beep, his guards stopped and he motioned to check it, his guards left him there as they went ahead, their weapons drawn, the beeping only got louder as he stood by the pillar. That's when he turned around, a pile of high explosives crates, one they had stolen from the Misriah armory facility on the planet, but the noise came from the pile, as he pushed some of the crates, he noticed something, the first thing was a timer, it was going from 10..9..8..7..6..5..4.

He realized what it was and backed away, "MEN, GET CLEAR O-" he shouted but was cut off as the explosion went off. Explosions went across the facility as Tyler had stacked the crates to cause a large enough explosion to turn this place to rubble, the building started to collapse, as fire engulfed the insides, even those outside were not spared as the debris and rubble took them out as well, while burying the tank and warthog in rubble in the process.

As Cadmon and the three other ODSTs made their way through the sewers underground, they could feel the ground shaking due to the explosion, "Damn that was a big one" Elijah said as he ran through the disgusting sewers. Tyler was quite a bit behind them but was catching up as well, 'Thank goodness I can't smell anything inside the Mjolnir' he thought.

"Fuck, I'll have to clean my gear after this" Martinez cursed as the sewer waste splashed onto his visor.

"We'll get plenty of time after this" Elizabeth said.

"Do you always do these crazy things?" Cadmon asked

"Yes" Tyler answered as he caught up to them as well.

"Welcome back boss" Elijah said as they continued through the sewers taking a turn as they reached a dead end. "How long are we gonna be in here, the smell's gonna kill my nostril"

"There, I see the ladder" Cadmon pointed out.

"I went in first, I go out first" Martinez stated as he stepped up the ladder climbing it, Elizabeth followed up, and then Elijah.

"I wanted to ask, why do you always go last?" Cadmon ask as he gripped the ladder and placed his left foot on another ladder beneath the one he gripped.

"Someone has to cover your back when you get to safety" Tyler explained.

"Huh, I guess that makes sense, how did you get so…..big?" Cadmon asked.

"Classified" Tyler said.

"Guess I tried, see you up there" Cadmon said as he climbed up the ladder.

Then Tyler followed up finally, as he came out of the manhole he was greeted with the sight of a billboard, the facility was nowhere to be seen in the distance but the highway was still visible, "Damn ads somehow manage to survive all this chaos" Martinez said as he looked up at the billboard which was about some burger.

"Those corporate bastards probably bribed both sides to leave them alone" Elijah jests.

"At least something survived this mess" Cadmon said.

"You know LT, you really saved our asses back there" Elijah said as he fist bumped his shoulder.

"Just doing what's best to survive, I couldn't let another team go fully KIA especially the one that saved my gut, and your boss is the main reason we even managed to escape" Cadmon said.

"Take some credits LT, the Chief wouldn't like taking all the credits" Elizabeth said.

"Hang on, Chief?" Cadmon asked as he looked at Tyler.

"Master Chief petty officer Tyler 071" Tyler introduced himself.

"Wait we've I mean I have been taking shots from a Master Chief!?" Cadmon asked baffled, he had been taking orders from someone who he outranked, not that he was mad but he was surprised, "Wow, I didn't know the Navy had giant armored individuals like you" Cadmon said.

"Trust me, we had the same reaction when we first met him" Elijah said.

Tyler walked off a bit from the four, opening his COMs channel, "This Sierra 071 to Macron, come in. Requesting extraction at marked co-ordinates, over"

"Affirmative Sierra, a Pelican will pick you and your team up shortly, ETA four minutes" a voice answered through.

Tyler pulled out the mag from his DMR and checked it, he only fired 8 shots today, a first and probably the last for the next coming years, he felt himself becoming more reserved, more distant and losing his humor, 'I'll have to ask Dr Halsey after this' he thought.

"You alright? You've been standing there for awhile now" Cadmon placed a hand on his shoulders as he spoke, "What's your armor made of? Surely that's not classified"

"Titanium-A, weighs roughly about one ton" Tyler said.

"Holy- how the hell are you even able to move?" Cadmon exclaimed.

"Some…extreme measures you could say, most if not all of it is classified" Tyler explained.

"I can guess" Cadmon paused, "By the way, what did you guys mean by Alien back there"

Before Tyler could answer, his COMs came to life again, "This is Pelican Lima 2-7 to Kilo-2 do you read, over"

"We read you loud and clear, how long till you arrive" Tyler heard Elijah's voice.

Then a Pelican flew above their heads and circled around above them landing right in front of Tyler with the hatch opening, "Right here trooper" the Pilot answered.

Martinez was the first, jogging over to the Pelican and entering it, taking a seat, followed by Elijah and then Elizabeth who all took a seat next to Martinez. "Come on, let's go" Tyler said as he started walking towards the pelican.

"Wait, hang on I'm not even part of your team, hell I am not even stationed on whatever ship you came from" Cadmon said as Tyler stopped and turned to look at him.

"Just get in, you're a part of the mission and helped us complete it, and saved our lives as well" Tyler said as he put his hand on Cadmon's shoulder, "So shut up and get onboard"

"Oi! What's taking you so long? Get in already I have to clean my gear!" Martinez shouted from the pelican.

Cadmon still reluctant got onboard as saying 'no' to a 7 feet tall armored giant was definitely not an option so he got in and he took a seat opposite to the three sitting next to Tyler. The ramp to the pelican closed up and the pelican soon lifted from the ground and started leaving the city and headed straight up preparing to leave the planet's atmosphere.

Inside Cadmon sat in silent, going through all the things that had occurred today, from nearly dying to being saved by a bunch of ODSTs and a 7 feet tall guy in some heavy armor made of titanium to joining them on their mission, helping them along to making a desperate escape through the sewers and now being taken by them for a debrief probably.

"So, what did you all mean by Aliens? I still haven't gotten my answer" Cadmon asked looking at the three ODSTs. The three of them look at each other before shifting to Tyler, who took off his helmet.

"Holy shit, you're actually human!" Cadmon exclaimed, today was a weird day for him filled with tragedy and surprises.

"Told ya he was human" Elijah said.

"So….about the Aliens" Tyler said as he turned his head to look at Cadmon.

Cadmon sat there staring into his sapphire blue eyes, he had to admit, his looks and features kind of give him the creeps, pale skin as if it had been deprived of any sunlight, and eyes which unnerved him, but the most shocking was that he looked no older than 16, the same age as his little brother, but he awaited the answer to his long awaited question

Cadmon had removed his helmet to get some actual air after the long and confusing day, but his face right now had so many emotions going at ones, his mouth was wide open, his eyes seeming like they would bulge out and his face showed, confusion, shock, dumbfoundedness and bafflement.

As he recomposed himself he couldn't help but look at Tyler who had a straight face and thought as if he were a mad man. "So let me get this straight, the UNSC, no humanity is at war with a hyper advance alien race or empire called the covenant?" he asked.

"Yes" Tyler reaffirmed.

"And they want us all dead like dead, dead?" Cadmon asked.

"Mhm" Tyler confirmed.

"And they have plasma weaponry which can melt Titanium like it were made of clay" Cadmon asked becoming even more bewildered.

"Exactly" Tyler said.

"How the fuck are we supposed to win against that?! I mean for Christ sake if their weapons can melt through Titanium then we marines would be cattle to be slaughtered!" Cadmon exclaimed.

"Calm down LT, they may have better guns but we have better troops" Martinez proudly said.

"Questionable but I can agree" Elijah said, "We blew up one of their ships by boarding it"

"You did what now?" Cadmon asked, the more he heard them speak the more baffled he became, Helljumpers were crazy, but these guys were a whole different level.

"You heard him LT" Elizabeth said, "They may have better guns and technology but they aren't invincible, we already proved that, all thanks to the Chief's help"

"Yeah, if he wasn't there we won't be here" Martinez said.

"He saved our asses as well so you're not the only one, LT" Elijah said, Cadmon looked over to Tyler who cleaned his DMR, at first he thought he was only a buffed up superman freak of nature, now his respect for him grew tenfold.

"I guess with people like him…we actually might not have to worry about things" Cadmon said.

"Now that's the spirit, LT!" Martinez praised.

"We're landing in, marines and Chief, welcome back" the Pilot said through the speaker.

Tyler put back his helmet back on and placed his DMR on his back and got up, Cadmon did the same and got up, Elijah and Elizabeth got up from their seats as well but Martinez lazily got up.

"Well time for another boring debrief" Martinez groaned.

"Don't sleep over, the captain might make you do pushups at the bridge" Tyler joked to which Elijah and Cadmon laughed at.

"Come on boss, I may be lazy at times but I ain't a Koala" Martinez defended.

"Let's move on and get this over with quick" Tyler said, the pelican opened the ramp and all five of them walked out.

January 6, 2526, 1307 hours

Location: Touchstone system, Andesia, UNSC Paris-class heavy frigate, Macron

The Debrief like usual was boring, Tyler had to give a full detailed breakdown of the events that occurred during their missions and any important intelligence they may have gathered.

Cadmon however had the most confusing part; the Captain praised him for helping out Kilo-2 in their missions but also rebuked ad berated him for getting his entire squad killed in action, although technically not his commanding officer the captain following protocol had to demote him from First Lieutenant to Gunnery Sergeant after which they were dismissed, although Tyler had stayed behind at the bridge and told them to meet him up at the locker room.

Cadmon sat in one of the benches, he had expected to be court-martial or demoted to a private or corporal for his inability and mistake, but to his surprise he had been demoted to only a gunnery sergeant, the Captain also allowed him to stay onboard until he could decide what to do with him as he wasn't a part of the ship's crew or assigned to it.

"What's the matter Gunny, you seem a bit off" Martinez jokingly asked.

"Cut it Marty, he got demoted of course he would be sad" Elijah defended.

"Just trying to lighten the mood, the boss isn't here so thought I could mess around" Martinez explained

"You always mess around, even around him" Elizabeth remarked.

Cadmon was saddened at his demotion but he knew it would happen if he ever survived that engagement, and they definitely lightened his mood as well, it reminded him of his old team, he felt stupid for not noticing and listening to the obvious warnings from his superiors that where he was heading to was most probably a trap, and his team suffered the consequences of his mistake. Now he had to do what Elijah had told him, 'Carry their legacy by being alive'.

The door hissed opened and Tyler walked grabbing everyone's attention, Cadmon stood up from his seat while Elijah approached him, "So anything new boss?" Elijah asked.

"Yes" Tyler said as he walked away from the entrance which closed, "It's about him" he pointed towards Cadmon.

"What is it?" Martinez asked

"Probably getting transferred back down to Andesia" Cadmon said as he guessed that was the only thing that came to his mind.

"He's coming with us" Tyler said, Cadmon froze,

'Going with them' he thought.

"He's coming with us?" Elizabeth repeated confused.

"Yes, actually he'll be joining us, he's going to be a part of Kilo-two now" Tyler explained, Cadmon's eyes widened he didn't even think about that.

Martinez slapped Cadmon on his back and spoke with a grin, "Welcome to the team Gunny"

"I- well uh…how is that possible?" Cadmon asked confused.

"The captain already spoke with your superiors they have agreed to it" Tyler explained, "And because Kilo-two is currently undermanned, and I need some boots to fill…which you're a perfect guy for it"

"I- well thank you sir" Cadmon fumbled his words as he was still surprised by the news.

Tyler then grasped his arm pulling him close, Cadmon was taken by surprise the sheer strength that Tyler had was insane, his arm would have probably be easily ripped off if he tried, "Welcome to Kilo-2 marine, we'll make the greatest fucking team" Tyler said as he let go of grasp after a few seconds, he had taken inspiration and upgraded the welcome greeting that Kelly had given him welcoming him to blue team.

"Amen to that" Martinez preached.

"Welcome to the team Gunny" Elijah said fist bumping him on the chest.

"Welcome to the gang" Elizabeth said as she patted his shoulders.

Cadmon felt like he was dreaming he had just lost his team and now joined the team that had saved his ass, and they accepted him just like that? It all felt too good to be real, but he let off a laugh as he got welcomed by Kilo-2…..'I guess this is my second chance' he thought as he was heartily welcomed by people who had been strangers to him a few hours ago, 'I guess battle's really do make strangers as brothers' he thought.

A/N: Annnnnnnd that is it folk, another addition to Tyler's band of ODSTs and one which I felt had a death that was too sad. Until next time everyone, signing out.