Chapter 2

The Insurrectionist Lieutenant's response wasn't immediate. Melicia suspected that his people were hiding the loss from him. It was a tense week of waiting, watching, and listening. Everybody was beginning to feel restless, and squabbling was much more common, even with frequent sparring matches to blow off steam.

        When the Spartans finally caught word, they had almost no warning to prepare. Planted bugs and audio recorders began reporting a mass exodus of Grizer's men all headed off-world. By what they had been able to pick up, they would be moving out in three different vessels, and offloading onto a larger frigate once in space. There was no word of which vessel Grizer was on, but there was no doubt he'd be with them.

        Jackson quickly came up with a plan as they were headed for the vessel depot. There was no way to get eight Spartans into one vessel, so they'd have to divide into three teams. The launches would be staggered to avoid drawing attention, and it would be a simple matter of sneaking aboard and hitching a ride to the rendezvous. With little preparation, however, "simple" would be subjective.

     As they grew closer to the depot, Jackson began worrying about his team. It wasn't like they hadn't done solo operations before, but never for this long. The stakes were high, and there was no room for failure.

The colonist depot was an innocent port for off-world travelers to check in and rest. A simple outer colony station with rugged edges and heavy laborer’s coming home from a hard day's work.

        The Spartans nestled their worn Pelican down into a lot full of ships meant for a prism of tasks. Theirs was one of many old refitted birds sitting around the depot, so they blended in perfectly with the afternoon activity. They had secured a landing pad at the very edge of the lot, one that was free of prying eyes and cameras.

     As soon as they had appeared, the Spartans melted away into the depot and set up a makeshift listening station in between a group of tall crates. Melecia sat in the middle with a datapad hooked up to his suit, listening intently for their ship's arrival. Jackson stood near him, gazing down at the equipment with crossed arms. Both Kia and Janet were laid out atop the shipping crates watching for potential threats.

        The sun was hanging low in the horizon and the temperature had reached its peak. Inside his suit, despite the climate controls, Jackson was sweating. Though the squad leader wasn't sure it was because of the heat, or how tense he had become.

        After two hours of waiting, Melecia pointed to the sky and they all watched an unassuming transport vessel descend from the clouds and touch down onto a landing pad.

     "Team 1, you're up. Remember to stay com silent, and good luck," Jackson said, glancing over his shoulder to his teammates. Chase, Charlie, and Kia moved out of their hiding spots and disappeared into the depot.

     It was another thirty minutes before the transport lifted off, taking his Spartans with it.

     Two hours had passed before the second transport arrived. Jackson sent Melecia, Janet, and Parkson in Team 2. Just Perish and Jackson were left to wait for the final transportation vessel.

     "They've trained for this," Perish assured Jackson as he stood staring into the dusk sky. "Have faith in your team."

    The squad leader inhaled deeply to calm his nerves. If this mission was going to be a success, he couldn't waste energy on worrying. Jackson banished the thoughts from his mind as he watched the final transport descend from the night sky and land in the depot.

    "We're up," Perish said, clamping his weapon to his back.

    Jackson paused to destroy the electronics that were left, then vaulted the walls of their hidey hole to follow the shadows of the containers.

     Both Spartans navigated the maze of empty landing platforms, service booths, and vacant repair vehicles until their target was in sight. The frigate sat with its ramp open, loading boxes of supplies and personnel inside. The cockpit was tilted into the sky, leaving a perfect blind spot for both soldiers to slip past and close the gap.

     The Insurrectionists hadn't been expecting this kind of approach, and no one noticed as two Spartans clambered up the side of the vessel and broke in through a maintenance port. It was a tight fit with their Mjolnir, but the Spartans made it.

      With the personnel still loading up the cargo bay, it gave both Spartans enough time to relocate to a forgotten part of the ship near the waste storage system. It was pitch black even with their augmented vision, forcing the pair to use their headlamps set to their dimmest.

     Jackson and Perish found a spot wedged near the bottom where they would be safe when the ship took off, and wouldn't be detected if by random chance someone came down into the area. It was cramped, and even the suit's filters couldn't get rid of all of the smell.

     Neither Spartan said a word, and had gone com silent. They each knew the plan, and sat in silence as the workers finished loading up. There was a slight kick as the ship took off, and left the planet behind. Fortunately, the waste storage got air so neither had to rely on their suit's oxygen.

     It was a full two hours and thirty minutes before the ship's acceleration slowed, and the tell-tale thud vibrated down the ship signaling they had docked.

     They waited for the ship to empty before exiting and stepping foot into the much larger Frigate. Jackson immediately felt something was wrong. The entire hangar was empty. The crates hadn't even been unloaded, and there was no one there to receive it. It was far too late to abort, and with the rest of his team aboard, he couldn't just up and leave.

    Just in case, however, Jackson took the Assault Rifle from his back and held it low, ready to defend himself if and when trouble arose.

     Breaking from the hallway, the Spartans found a remote maintenance tunnel and popped open a hatch. Using an infiltration device, Perish pulled schematics for the Frigate and found the rendezvous that the team had set up previously.

    With a nod, Perish replaced the panel and picked his weapon back up. He picked up the lead and they slowly threaded their way through the ship, occasionally popping into a hallway to cross into another corridor and back into the shadows.

     Jackson's unease only grew when they found a mostly derelict ship. They heard voices drifting down from rooms, saw a shadow of someone moving within, and only occasionally an actual person. The vessel was far too quiet for how many troops they had just received.

    The Squad Leader had made the decision to retrieve his Spartans and abandon the mission when they reached the rendezvous; a former medical bay that had been turned into storage.

    Jackson gestured for Perish to cover him as the Squad leader tapped out a rhythm on the walls with his knuckles. There was nothing but a darkened room and silence until the faint sound of a return tap reached his ears. It was the corresponding response the team had set up long before being deployed. Jackson responded with the answer, and Team 2 appeared from the shadows like phantoms.

    "Where's Team 1?" Jackson asked, glancing around the room.

    "Unknown," Parkson answered.

    "Then we've got a problem," Jackson stated.

     "That's not the only one. This place isn't right. Something's up," Melecia observed.

     "Agreed," Jackson answered. "We're not leaving without Team 1."

     "Do you know if their ship got here?"

     Melecia nodded. "Picked up on it before we arrived, even read the others leaving the ship. Lost the signal after that, though."

    "What are our options here, Jackson?" Janet asked.

        Jackson went through all of the options in his head, and was failing to see any other option. Time was running out, and they had to continue with the mission.

    "We find Grizer and finish the mission," Jackson stated.

    Though the others had concerns, no one would voice them. They trusted their squad leader to know what was best.

        The Spartans held up in the abandoned medical bay as Melecia tapped into the ship's network. It had no AI, smart or dumb, so there was nothing but automated programs to stop his intrusion. This process took time, time that Jackson spent thinking about their next move. No one had survived to give a solid report about Grizer's tactics. The only thing they knew that he had killed an entire platoon of ODST's, and a Spartan. He obviously wasn't a coward, and was a solid tactician, and had serious firepower at his disposal. What would he do when confronted? He had been avoiding them so far, would he jump ship to continue the streak? Or would he stand and fight?

    Melecia stood from his spot on the ground and handed his data-pad to Jackson. "Found him. Signal's faint, but he's holed up in the armory," the Spartan reported.

    This was perhaps the worst place for a dangerous target to be. Within arms reach of every weapon on the ship. There was no backing down, though, If his team couldn't kill him, no one else could.

     The Squad Leader devised a short plan of attack, and the Spartans moved out to face down the Insurrectionist Lieutenant.

If the ship had been quiet before, it was almost derelict now. Not a single voice, nor body, or even a shadow was to be seen or heard. It was almost certainly a trap they were walking into. They would prepare appropriately, and avoid being caught by surprise.

The armory had a second tier, accessible by doors set parallel of the main entrance. Two Spartans would go up either side, and Jackson would enter the bottom floor alone.

     When they reached the entrance, the others split up and Jackson waited thirty seconds, counting each heartbeat and calming his mind, then slid open the door and cautiously stepped inside with his rifle shouldered.

    He was met by a room with a high ceiling, and the floor overhead creating a kind of low roof. The room had been completely cleared of any components to create an open almost arena-like floor.

   Dominating the center of the room was a massive powered exo-skeleton machine. It boasted two arms and a powered jackhammer that could easily crush a Wraith. Jackson had to run through his years of training to remember the name of this monster; the Cyclops. The Mjolnir's predecessor.

    Seated in the machine's neural harness was none other than Grizer. His military styled cut, jagged scar, and silver hair was a perfect match to the dossier. Except now he was grinning from ear to ear as he raised the Cyclop's massive arms.

    Behind him were two motionless suits of Mjolnir.

     "You fucked up, Spartan. Its time to add another one to my list," he laughed.

     The Insurrectionist wasted no time in powering up the jackhammer and lunging forwards, nearly pummeling Jackson with the weapon. He managed to roll around the bulky chassis and come up the other side firing his weapon. The bullets pinged off of the metal, leaving no more than a scratch in the thick armor.

     The other Spartans popped up over the railings and began raining fire down on Grizer. He stepped back to look up, and growled in annoyance at the bullets hitting his cockpit.

    "This doesn't change shit. You’re nothing but UNSC lap dogs,” Grizer jeered.

     Jackson had to think of a strategy, or he was going to die. Soon. He backed all of the way to the edge of the armory, mind racing. Lessons and lectures of the schematics of a Cyclops came to mind. The armor was thick, too thick for normal weapons fire to penetrate. They could run at 30mph, too fast to outrun.

    There was only one option Jackson could think of. Take out the fusion pack.

    Hoping his teammates would pick up on it as well, Jackson kept the Cyclops turned around and tried to keep his distance. The armored machine charged him, its footsteps shaking the ground.

    Jackson dodged out of the way, but the suit was faster and backhanded him across the room. The Spartan slammed into the wall and pain exploded around his body, blurring his vision and fogging his thoughts.

    His instincts kicked back in and adrenaline coursed through his system just in time to throw him to his feet and run back around the charging Cyclops. All the while, his teammates were raining bullets on the machine, denting the covering to its fusion pack. It wouldn't be enough, though.

     "I killed one of you, I can kill the rest!" Grizer bellowed, slamming the machine's fist into the ground where Jackson had just been. The impact made the floor jump out from underneath Jackson's feet and his tumble was interrupted. Grizer bore down on him, bloodlust in his eyes.

     Perish hit the floor behind the Cyclops and unloaded. This made grizer stop and turn on the Spartan and swipe an arm at him. The Spartan dodged around his reach, allowing Jackson to get to his feet and sprint for the back of the machine.

    Grizer saw Jackson's movement and whipped around, bringing the jackhammer to bear. It beat the air right next to the Spartan's head but missed by less than an inch. The Spartan jumped onto the Cyclops's back and almost lost his grip as the machine whipped around trying to throw him. Perish had stopped harassing it in fear of injuring his squad leader, and was circling around for a better shot at the fusion pack.

    Jackson got a grip on the armored cover and started pulling with all of his strength. He had pulled it back a few inches, exposing just a sliver, when he realized the Cyclops was running for a wall. The Spartan couldn't bail in time before he was slammed in between the Cyclops and the cold metal. The air exploded from his lungs and the Spartan felt something break. Grizer backed up and slammed him again. This time Jackson felt his armor crack, a truly damning sound that made his electronics fritz out and die.

     Before he could ram him again, Perish tackled the Cyclops from behind and started trying to pry open the cockpit. The attempt made Grizer stop attacking Jackson and back off as he tried to get Perish off.

   Jackson pulled himself to his feet, blood dripping through his fingers, to watch as Perish figured out he couldn't rip the cockpit open and relied on smashing the reinforced glass with his fist. The realization on Grizer's face was priceless as he realized how angry Perish was. The cockpit shattered under the angered Spartan's strength, and he wasted no time in widening the gap. There was a gunshot, and Perish fell away just in time to avoid being shot as Grizer disengaged the neural harness and pulled a pistol.

     The Cyclops reengaged its neural harness and turned on the others. The gap wasn't wide enough to shoot through, so the other Spartans couldn't hit their target. Jackson cursed under his breath as he pulled himself to his feet.

        Grizer, now more angry than excited, decided he wanted he was done messing around. The Insurrectionist targeted Jackson again and pinned him under his foot. The Spartan felt the Cyclops's weight bearing down on his cracked armor and crushing his ribs. The crazed look in Grizer's eyes was terrifying. Pure rage and bloodlust.

     "The UNSC has sent all seven of you to die! Say your prayers, military filth," Grizer said.

   Jackson then realized he only saw two bodies. Where was the third?

    "Seven?" Jackson wheezed. "You're missing one."

    Grizer hesitated, and his expression morphed into worried confusion. "What-"

    He didn't get to finish before a massive explosion shook from the center of the ship. The lights flickered and the ship listed, sending the Cyclops tumbling downwards and off of Jackson's chest.

Perish was there and helping the squad leader to his feet. "Move. To the hangar!" Jackson exclaimed. "Grab Chase and Charlie."

      As Melecia and Janet were grabbing the others, Jackson picked up his knife and hobbled to the crumpled Cyclops. The cockpit had broken properly, revealing a trapped Grizer. He was struggling to free himself of the mangled neural harness.

     He froze when he saw Jackson's emotionless visor appear from over the cockpit. "What worth am I to you? This ship is going down. Is it really worth it to kill me?" Grizer pleaded.

     Jackson paused, thinking back over the last eight months. The relentless chasing, ghost trails, always two steps behind their target. He remembered the endless nights of planning and executing that never quite got him close enough. The amount of times they had to relocate because Grizer had once again slipped away.

    Behind his visor, Jackson smiled. "Yes," he answered, and plunged the knife through Grizer's head.

Jackson stepped away, feeling immense satisfaction and no small amount of pride. The squad leader wiped the blood from his blade, and sheathed it. He then jogged off to join his teammates, dodging fire and falling panels as the ship fell apart around them. The corridors were quickly filling with smoke and venting air as countless explosions rippled down its hull.

    They found a transport intact and Melecia quickly got to work getting them out of there. There wasn't a doubt that Kia, their missing Spartan and savior, would get out alive. She was the craftiest of them all.

    Jackson watched from a porthole as the Frigate fell apart in the distance, internal explosions quickly dying out in the vacuum of space.

   Kia rejoined them soon after in a similar transport. She docked with them, and left the spare drifting in space.

    The Spartan team returned to their home in the mountains and began wiping any trace of their presence. Chase and Charlie woke up soon after landing after being pumped full of bio-foam.

    They then explained how Kia had decided to sabotage the reactor as a back-up plan, and how Perish had sent out a broadcast once he realized Kia was missing. That's how she knew to blow the reactor, and save the team from certain death.

    The Spartans were celebrating as best as they knew while packing up base, and everybody was in a very good mood. Jackson stared out with pride and joy as they left the planet behind and headed back to the Inner Colonies to inform Project Freebird of their success.

For a first mission, it had gone pretty well.