Chapter 1

      The call of a bird, and the gurgling of a stream is interrupted by the subtle sound of metal sliding over wood. A monocular lens slid from between two branches, and watched a single aircraft hovering over the treetops. It seemed to be waiting for something. Its engines burned bright to keep it still, and their unaware pilots could be seen within.

      Using their suit's neural link, the watcher sent a warning signal to their teammates. She hadn't seen anything to warrant calling off the attack, but something just wasn't sitting right.

     As the suit's owner changed positions; she saw it. A disturbance just under the treetops revealed two more aircraft waiting in stealth. The obvious one had been the bait, and the hidden fighters would have tracked down and killed those that took the bait.

     The watcher slid down her perch and threaded her way back to the rendezvous point. Waiting there were three massive armored soldiers; Spartans. Each were waiting for the fourth to return, their figures barely detectable against the shade of the trees.

     The shortest of them all approached the watcher with their Assault Rifle shouldered. "Code," the Spartan demanded.

     "Eclipse Jackers," the watcher responded without hesitation.

     The other Spartan lowered his weapon and turned back to the makeshift camp. "Sitrep, Janet. What's going on out there?" the squad leader, Jackson-332, asked.

     The watcher, Janet-335, answered as they stepped into the clearing. "I spotted two ambush ships guarding the first. Attacking the main target would draw their attention and jeopardize the mission," she answered.

     The squad leader thought about it for a minute, arms crossed in thought. "Does Perish know about them?" Jackson asked.

     "Negative. They got the same warning you guys did," Janet answered.

     "Kia, I want you to tell Team 2 to send someone to the main ship, and have two others take the hidden one. Kill the pilots and crew. You've got thirty minutes before we take ours," the squad leader ordered.

       A Spartan moved from the shadows and took off without another word, quickly disappearing into the dense collection of trees.

      "Janet, take Parkson and get to the hidden aircraft. Set your timers to thirty minutes," Jackson told the others. He was met with affirmative nods and the two remaining soldiers headed off into the woods.

     The squad leader turned and set off for the main ship. He was careful to stick to the shadows and move as quietly as he could without wasting time. Through gaps and breaks in the canopy, the Spartan could see the main ship hovering in the distance. It was a cargo ship, and still laden with supplies it was to unload. However, the Spartans had hijacked the convoy, and its pick-up would never arrive. They must have suspected something, and sent escorts to guard the offloading.

      As the countdown timer reached five minutes, Jackson came close to the ship's underbelly. Once the clock hit three minutes, the squad leader spotted movement at the edges of his peripherals. A close-range signal blipped in his helmet and he spotted Perish-338 appear from the grass.

     "We should have kept the flat-bed," Perish said with a frown in his voice.

      "It can be forced down if we need to," Jackson reassured.

      Once the mission timer hit two minutes, he produced the stolen all-clear signal and pressed it. The device pulsed up to the waiting ship, and it began to lower itself to the grass.

     Once it was down, the ramp lowered and two security guards stepped out, weapons sweeping the area for threats. They stayed there, looking the wrong direction as both Spartans broke out in a full sprint towards its nose. Keeping in the cockpit's blindspot, the two brought their weapons to bear and gunned down the guards.

      Just inside was the cargo bay, which was filled with floor-to-cieling with crates. Personnel had begun to unload them, and stopped cold when they saw the Spartans who didn't hesitate to shoot them dead.

      Quickly clearing the cargo area, the soldiers swept through the rest of the ship, clearing rooms and dropping bodies. The hostiles had been armed with both Covenant and pre-war weapons, proving that they were in fact insurrectionists like what had been suspected.

Jackson looked out of the cockpit window to see both ambush vessels rising out of the trees and prayed that Spartans were piloting them. When their teammate's voices flooded his helmet, Jackson was both proud and relieved.

"Ambush ship number 1 captured and secure," Parkson-333 reported.

"Ambush ship number 2 in Spartan hands," Chase-211 said.

"Have any tracking devices been located and neutralized?" Jackson asked. The squad leader glanced over his shoulder as Perish pulled a string of wires attached to a chip from the wall.

"Yes sir," Chase answered.

"Janet's getting it now," Parkson responded.

"Good work. We'll pick up Kia and Melecia, then head home," Jackson said.

The squad leader piloted the cargo vessel where Perish had left the last two Spartans, then they sent out an all-clear signal before landing to let them in. Once the final soldiers had boarded, Jackson pulled the ship up and out of the forest, then headed East out of the area. He made sure to stay low over the terrain to avoid sensors, and remain undetected.

Not a word was said for the entire two hours it took to reach their base in the mountains. It was slow going once they entered the mountains and the weather turned harsh. Wind threatened to dash them against the ragged cliffs, and the rain showed close to no visibility. It was a relief like no other when the familiar pop-up buildings and lights of their temporary "home" appeared out of the rocks. The stolen defensive turrets tracked their approach as they passed through the defensive grid and parked on the landing pad.

"Think this will get Grizer out this time?" Perish asked Jackson as he swiveled out of the pilot's seat.

"If this won't, our mission's a bust. Time's almost up," Jackson answered.

The rest of the Spartan team came to help unload the stolen supplies and stash them inside. Jackson stopped to watch his team and felt immense pride. This was their longest mission yet, but no one had ever complained or shown any hesitation to what their squad leader ordered. Ten years of training was finally being put to good use, and everybody was happy about it.

The squad leader closed up the ship once it was empty and descended into the main building. He pulled off his helmet and ruffled the jet-black hair that had outgrown regulations.

Kia-334 was in the hallway checking the manifest and matched Jackson's stride. "There's some good stuff in there," the female Spartan said. "Food, munitions, even a couple weapons. Make sure to thank Melicia, because this stuff was going straight to Grizer."

The Squad Leader stopped to consider that, and a small smile flickered across his face. It was rare that Jackson got excited about news, but this could mean the success and completion of their mission; capturing a known Insurrectionist lieutenant. It all depended on how angry this made their target.

"Give my thanks to him for me," Jackson said. "Once those supplies are sorted, get some rest. That's an order, Spartan."

The female Spartan gave him a sarcastic half-salute and returned to the storage room, leaving the squad leader to stalk off to the war room alone.

The squad leader rested his empty helmet on the holo-projector and pulled up the dossier of William Grizer. Even with months of hunting and research, the information on this man remained pitifully small. ONI suspected his hand in hundreds of operations pre-dating the Covenant war, and his body count was in the thousands. Jackson and his team had been assigned Grizer after an entire platoon of ODST's was wiped out trying to take him down.

Jackson closed the dossier he had reviewed countless times before, and left the war room to get himself some dinner.

By the time he had wandered towards the mess hall, the smells of food was wafting out of its doors and drawing the Spartan inside.

He was startled by a sudden crash and watched as Chase-211 flipped Charlie-337 over his shoulder and onto the table they were sitting at. The two started wrestling, which ended as quick as it started when the table's legs gave out and sent the quarreling men straight into the ground.

"Keep it up, and this is going straight in the trash!" Janet-335 called from the kitchen.

Jackson pulled Chase to his feet and gave him a stern look, which the hulking Spartan shrugged at. "He started it," Chase said.

"Bullshit I did," Charlie countered. "Say I cheat at chess again and it'll be more than a table broken."

Jackson smacked the back of Charlie's head, then reached down and picked the table back up. Its steel legs popped right back in place with the lock replaced.

"If you want to eat, I suggest you listen to the cook," Jackson said.

"Yes squad leader," Chase said sarcastically, then sat down at the table with Charlie.

Jackson took his place at the second table and leaned back with a datapad in hand. On its screen were the daily chatter reports summarized by an algorithm Melecia-336 had created. It picked out radio chatter, decrypted what it knew, and transcripted it into text for easy review. Information was power, and the Spartans could use any information they got.

From the kitchen, Janet poured soup into bowls and carried them out two at a time. "Squad lead gets first pick," the female Spartan said, setting down Jackson's bowl, then handing Perish his.

The rest got their food and started chowing down. Jackson, however, was transfixed on the datapad he was poring over. He didn't notice as Janet came back out with a ladle, then smacked the back of his head with it.

"Hey!" Jackson exclaimed as Janet took away his datapad and pushed his bowl closer. "I could have you court-martialed for that."

"My kitchen. I outrank you," Janet said. "Eat."

The Squad leader relented to the snickering of his teammates and sat back to enjoy his food. The soup was swimming with fresh seasoning and vegetables.

"Better than MRE's," Chase said in lieu of a complement.

"Thank today's find for that. That's not all, either," Janet said, then produced eight small bags of snack chips. She threw each Spartan one, except for Chase. "I saved these before Chase stashed them away."

Jackson enjoyed the view from the mess' window. It looked out over the entire camp and just over the camp's walls. Rain hit the window, creating streaks of moisture that traveled all of the way down. Clashes of lightning lit up the sky for brief moments of time, showing the sheet of rain that was moving through the mountains. The weather created a cozy feel that, for once, Jackson allowed himself to enjoy.

After everyone had eaten and gone their separate ways, the squad leader grabbed a thermos container, filled it with that night's soup, and grabbed the extra bag of chips. He then slipped on his helmet and stepped out into the rain. The sun had fallen completely and darkness had enveloped the camp. It was lit up by a scarce few lights surrounding each building.

Jackson found the watch tower empty, so he instead climbed the hill, slipping occasionally along the way, to find their sniper camped out under a rocky overhang.

"Brought you food," the squad leader said, handing over the thermos and chips. "Vegetable soup. With a little snack."

Kia took it and set down her Sniper Rifle at her side. "Thanks squad lead," she said.

"Pulling sentry again tonight?" Jackson asked. "Thought I said get some rest?"

Kia looked out over the camp, and the pass beyond. With the storm, visibility didn't get passed the protecting wall. The sniper had ways to get around that, though, and could see for miles with her rifle's scope.

"Yeah. Can't sleep after a score like this," she admitted.

Jackson nodded in understanding. He wouldn't be getting much rest either. Especially knowing they were so close to the end.

"I get that. Melicia will relieve you in the morning. Good luck, Spartan," the squad leader said, then climbed back down and returned to the base.

Jackson grabbed his datapad and stood in front of a window overlooking the base. He became deeply absorbed in his own thoughts. The squad leader barely noticed when Perish entered the room to stand beside him.

The other Spartan was quiet for a while. He had a distant look gazing out through the storm. "Are you ready for what's next?" Perish asked.

Jackson looked up to meet the other's cold grey eyes. The squad leader was perplexed, and sensed a deeper meaning behind his words. "For what?" he asked.

"We all know what's coming, but are you ready to make the sacrifices that may be needed?" Perish explained. "Being squad leader means getting the mission done. No matter what."

Jackson turned to leave, annoyed that Perish was trying to lecture him about his job, but then the other grabbed his arm and held it firmly. What Jackson saw in his teammates eyes was fear, something Perish rarely showed.

"I'm serious, Jackson. We've only dealt with the grunts up until now. Grizer's kill count is high, and one of those numbers is a Spartan," Perish warned.

The squad leader freed his arm and turned to leave, a new determination lighting up in his chest. "Nobody's going to die," Jackson said. "And that's an order."