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Chapter 11

1900 Hours, April 13, 2547 (Military Calendar) /
Derias System, Derian Prime Theater
of Operations

The hike back to the RV point was a tough one for Manny. He had been relegated to the back of the line, whilst Brad was up front with Raynes, telling him why he was here. It was frustrating to say the least; he had just found out his brother wasn't dead, and he couldn't get a chance to speak with him about it. Still, the adrenaline from seeing him alive was still pumping through him, and kept him in good spirits.

It had taken the better part of an hour for them to get near the RV, and all Manny wanted to do was sit down and talk with Brad. But he knew it would never come, the moment they met up with the other two squads they'd either get to work immediately trying to defeat the Covenant, or Raynes would have Brad taken away to answer why the UNSC hadn't been told about an ONI presence on Derian Prime.

The RV point was a large, open area, where the two Dropships carrying Bravo and Echo squads were to land. Alpha squad go to work quickly and set up camp in the large plain.

Designated Camp Zero, it was basically a huge field. Trip wires and mines had been set up around the perimeter, and half the squad were put on patrol, to make sure nothing got near them. Three memory-plastic tents brought in by Alpha squad's Dropship acted as a Command Post, Med Point and a make-shift canteen. The canteen was designed for a hundred, but at the moment was only populated by a handful of men and women, waiting for the other two squads to drop in.

Manny sat with Walker and Harris, bowls of sludge in front of them. None of them spoke, mainly due to the fact that both Walker and Harris respected the fact that Manny had just found out his brother was in fact alive and thought it best not to speak unless spoken to. Harris sifted through the green food, searching for the slightest hint of any morsel deemed appetising. Walker just stared at Manny, his expression one of sadness and worry for his comrade.

Manny fingered a bread roll, contemplating whether to eat it or not, his mind on Brad who was confined to the command tent, a direct order from Raynes, despite the man's lower rank. Manny had the feeling that even if he did get to speak to his brother, he wouldn't hear what he wanted to hear. Harris had told him that due to Brad's involvement with the Office of Naval Intelligence, he would be restricted to saying very little about where he had been the passed year. But that wasn't Manny's main query. He wanted to know why his brother's death had been faked, why he and his family hadn't been told about it, and most importantly, why Brad hadn't told them. But despite trying to answer the questions himself, Manny came about the same conclusion every time. It came down to the simple fact that if Brad or any other ONI agent was thought dead, people wouldn't have to worry about them and would therefore not know of the activities they got up to.

Essentially in his parents mind, and many other people's minds, Brad didn't exist. But in the passed few hours, Brad had become more and more real by the second, not just a figment of Manny's imagination. But he was reduced to sitting in the hastily built mess hall with his comrades rather than finding out about Brad. Harris had tried to comfort the smaller man but found a barrier erected, and Walker's attempts to try and humour Manny proved fruitless.
Over an hour passed since their arrival at the clearing and there was no sign of Bravo and Echo squads as well as no sign of the Covenant Task Force Brad had warned them about. The three men sat in silence, trying to make conversation but failing miserably.

It wasn't until the loud roar of a Pelican dropship could be heard above them, followed by the rumbling sound of another. The threesome rushed out of the tent to see the metallic crafts hover above them, Warthog jeeps suspended from their bellies. Flares had been ignited to guide the ships in, giving the blue sky a reddish tinge.

The dropships extended their undercarriage and descended onto the grassy plain. As a dozen troops exited the ship, the lightweight transports were disengaged from the ships midriff, the jeeps landing with a metallic thud. Manny and Walker rushed over to the commanding officers of each squad and quickly briefed them on the situation, then guided the commanding officers to the tent where Raynes, Harland and Manny's brother currently resided. Before issuing a few quick orders, Staff Sergeant Bogg and Sergeant Major Hilner disappeared into the makeshift hut, leaving their men to get to work. Echo squad set up base East of the camp, relieving the three men from Alpha squad. Bravo squad set themselves up South-West of the command point, with the troops from Alpha squad moving to cover the North of the encampment.

Alpha squad assembled around Manny, who was seen by many to be the next in the chain of command were Harland or Raynes not present. The men and women stood, sat and squatted around the North perimeter, weapons ready. Manny had dug his knee into a grassy patch, and was kneeling down behind a large crate. Sarah came to settle next to him, placing her MA5B on top of the crate and turning to face him. She stared at him, a look of worry playing over her face.

"Are you alright?" she stroked his leg, trying to offer as much comfort as possible. He turned to her, knowing his expression was not one of happiness. He had sensed her watching eyes on him as they made their way out of the forest, and for some reason had found himself avoiding her when they reached the camp to set up. He exhaled deeply, taking her hand in his. Pulling it up to his mouth he kissed it gently, putting on the best smile he could manage.

"I'm fine," he replied, "just a little run down with all that's happened."

"I know you, this isn't easy for you, I know. Finding out someone you love isn't dead is a shock." She moved her hand to his face and stroked his cheek. "And the fact that you haven't had the chance to talk to him to set things straight can't make it any better."

He was about to reply, but realised everything she had said was exactly what he wanted to say. He felt a warmth build up in him. Leaning over, he kissed her on the forehead, not an easy thing to do with a great big helmet on his head.

"You'll get the chance to talk to him, you know you will." She reached and grabbed her rifle, settling into a crouch. "Just realise that the mission has to come first." She winked at him, them turned back to the dense forest in front of them. Manny thought for a minute, then hoisted his own weapon over the crate and into a firing position. He clicked his mic on.

"Okay, listen up people. Echo and Bravo have our backs so all we have to worry about is what comes this way. I want all explosives holstered. Trees have a nasty habit of bouncing projectiles, as well as falling down, so stick with your rifles only. Grace," he looked over to the dark skinned soldier. "I want you to find a position a hundred metres from here. If you see anything, relay it to us. Hold fire 'till I give the order." He took a quick look round the rest of the squad. They all looked ready. Nervous, but ready. "Stay sharp people."





Bradley Manors felt like he was in an interrogation room or something, what with the way the four men glared at him. He sat with his back to the wall, the chair up on two legs, resting against the thick plastic. The make-shift command point was basically a small tent. Consoles and communications gear had been set up around the small space, with a large table for the commanders to plan out their operation on. At the moment it was empty except for him and the squad leaders. Corporal Harland and Sergeant Raynes stood opposite him, with the other two Sergeants sat either side. One of them, Staff Sergeant Bogg, held a long, brown cigar between his finger and thumb, examining the smoke as it rose effortlessly into the air. His dark brown eyes didn't quite fit the rest of him. Too young. He looked a good thirty, maybe pushing forty, but his eyes betrayed that completely, a sense of youth clinging behind them.

Sergant Major Hilner, on the other hand, did look his age. His hair was streaked with grey, and despite it being no longer than a centimetre, it was still visible. Wrinkles and scars covered his face, turning his mouth into a grimace and his right eye into a constant squint. He leaned forwards, placing his elbows on his knees.

"So, let's start from the beginning, shall we?" he said, his sandpaper voice grating on Brad's ears. "Why exactly is an ONI ghost here, and why weren't we informed?"

"As far as I know, Sergeant, Naval Intelligence sent me down here to investigate Covenant activity. Contact with the enemy was to be kept to a minimum unless absolutely necessary." He rested his hands behind his head and forced the chair back a bit further.

"That doesn't answer our question, Lieutenant." All four of the non-coms had to take into account that they were outranked by him, and so therefore had to be careful about what they said. "Why send you down when they knew they'd have to send us down?"

"I have been here for nearly a month now, sergeant, taking note of everything the Covenant have done; their tactics, their weapons, their fighting abilities...everything that we need to know about them so we can kill them."

"But why not tell us?" Harland spoke up, his harsh voice cutting through the air.

"Because it's Naval Intelligence. Classified
information. You're not even supposed to know I'm here, I wasn't supposed to make contact with you. It was just blind luck. I'm in trouble, you're not." He smiled over at them, but their expressions only soured even more. "Look, ONI have suspicions that a new race has come into the playing field."

"Yes, we know that." Raynes snapped. "Some kind of commanding race."

"Yes," Bradley replied "And I've seen them. They haven't shown themselves on the battle field because they haven't needed to. The Grunts and Jackals can easily handle us in close combat. In most instances we have beaten them, but not without casualties, sometimes severe. I'm out here to see if these guys are here, and how they interact with the other species."

"Would you care to indulge us, Lieutenant?" Bogg said, his voice calm and precise. He blew a smoke ring up into the air.

"Sorry, sarge, that's classified intel." Raynes looked like he was about to say something, but caught himself before he did, biting down on his lip. "Look, you can question me as much as you want, but I'm telling you everything you need to know and more. In fact, I'm telling you people classified information."

The four men in front of him shifted uneasily. Harland walked over to the entrance of the command tent, leaning against the doorjamb. Raynes eased himself up onto the table behind him, swinging his legs up to rest his arms on.

"We're goin' to have to go through a god damned debriefing, aren't we." Hilner muttered. "God I hate those things. They make you out to be the enemy."

"I'm sorry it has to be like that, Sergeant." Bradley said, easing his chair down onto all four legs. "But what I have said here must go no further. I promise they'll go easy on you, as it is mainly my fault..."

"Mainly?!" Raynes snapped

"...and none of your men will need to go through it. Just you four. This is a very serious operation I'm in the middle of here, but it obviously seems that you guys are here to clean up, so that indicates my mission is over. So if you need me, I'm all yours." Hilner stood, walked over to Brad and patted him on the shoulder.

"You understand why we're pissed, right?" a smile broke across his face, contorting the scars into weird shapes. "Having an ONI ghost drop in on us isn't the most pleasant of things, especially as we now know something we really shouldn't."

"Don't worry, sergeant, I'll be the one getting it in the ass." The older man chuckled and walked away from him. Bogg stood, nodded to Brad and followed the other man out of the tent. Raynes came off of the table and stalked over to the Lieutenant.

"Look," he started "we need everyman we can get. I want you to do your own thing, unless one of us says something, alright? You do outrank us, but at the moment, we don't care about rank, we care about who lives and who dies."

Bradley smiled at the sergeant. "I completely understand."
"You know your just like your brother," Raynes said, pulling a cigarette from his top pocket. "Which brings me to another dilemma. Your supposed to be dead, and it is obvious that seeing you has put a strain on Jon. I want you to take the time you have between now and us engaging the Covenant to sort things out. I can't lose a man like him, he is one of the best men I have." He saluted the Lieutenant and turned towards Harland, who skulked by the exit still.

But before Raynes could say anything an explosion shook the command post to its foundations. Gun fire started up almost immediately, and Bradley and Raynes found themselves running outside.

"Shit," Raynes exclaimed. "This I did not want!"

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