It had been dark for a while when we arrived at the drop-point. It was a soccer stadium, a massive one at that. It must have been able to seat more than 500,000 people. I guess the locals sure loved their football. I checked the time on my TACPAD. 19:45. Shit, I thought. Between the pace of the others and having to take detours from blocked roads we arrived within a nuthair of missing the pickup. I looked around, making sure we were alone. Nothing, just an empty stadium with 12 people in the center of the field. I popped a purple smoke grenade and threw it at the center circle. That would let them know where to pick us up. Pulowski spoke up on the Radio. “Man...this is creepy.” Barnes quickly affirmed his feeling. “Yeah, too right man. Don't fuckin' like it, we're too exposed.” I knew I had to say something. “You guys are right. But we'll only be here for a few minutes longer and besides, it seems clear. But I want all you guys on best behavior for any assholes that might try and start shit though. Keep those eyes peeled Marines.” I heard Barnes laugh. “Hah! Yeah, it seems clear. Whatever you say, hero.”
	I wondered if the esteemed Major General Andropova had been sending some of her own Army boys to do the job, if she would have given them a better place to hand over the girl. Speaking of which, was doing pretty horribly. She had me examine blisters on her feet earlier and while I cut them open with my knife, they were bad. Her boots certainly weren't made for walking. Danielle also seemed on the verge of collapsing from exhaustion. Regardless of whether or not this had actually been the exfil site, it would have been the end of the line for her. We would have had to spent the night and rested. 
	The Marines had also seen better days. 24 hours of fighting and rucking does that to someone. They were dog-tired, and many were sitting down on the field, haggard faces staring at some object in the distance. Admittedly, even I was beginning to feel the strain of the day. I took off my helmet and took a ration packet out from under my belt. Mango energy gel, a personal favorite. I ripped open the packet and squeezed the contents into my mouth, deliciously cold. I saw Barnes eyeing me, the envy clear on his face. “You know, you get to have one when you're a squad leader” I said with a smirk on his face. A smile appeared on his. “Luckily I am squad leader, asshole.” He motioned towards him and I threw him my spare. He seemed to almost ingest the packet itself, eating like a pig. I decided to shift my gaze on...something. I squinted my eyes. Did that light just shimmer over there?
	A purple flash appeared from that direction, and suddenly one of my Marines was hit in the head with a huge purple crystal. He crumpled to the ground, lifelessly. There wasn't a lot recognizable about his face. “SHIT! SNIPER!” I screamed as I donned my helmet and made my way towards Danielle. The Marines all hit the decks and scrambled for their weapons. I scrambled ontop of the girl to protect her, or more or less held myself up from her as so not to crush her. I heard Barnes screaming on the radio, asking of anyone knew where the shot came from. “Yeah, I know! Over by where I shoot my Automag.” I drew my M6S and began shooting where I had seen the muzzle flash. Danielle screamed. The Marines saw where I was shooting and soon a cacophony of semi-automatic and M247 fire filled the stadium. I turned on my IR setting and spotted 6 Elites and 6 Jackals just below where the Marines were firing. “Marines! Shift fire down one row, they're using active camouflage! If you have IR goggles, now would be a good time to use them!” A few of the guns went quiet as they put on their specs but quickly resumed. We began receiving heavy plasma fire. I saw another Marine take a hit to the arm and scream as the plasma burned his flesh. The corpsman ran over and took a look at the wound as I shot one of the Jackals in the head. It was a bad position for both parties, we were both equally exposed.
	Suddenly, I saw more movement to my right. A squad of Brutes had entered onto the field, flanking us. Our position had just gone from shit to non-existent. “Goddamnit! Bryant! Use your Spanker on those covvie fucks in front of us! I don't give a shit about the shrapnel! Nakamura!” I pointed to the Asian Marine on the M247. “Shift focus to those Brutes! Don't let 'em advance another inch!” “Yes sir!” Her turned to make an L shape with the rest of the unit on his bipod, using short bursts on the apes. I saw one go down, and the gunner used an additional burst to make sure the xeno was dead. I shot my Magnum, and one of the rounds managed to clock one of the Elites ahead of me in the face, deshielding and decloaking him. This gave Bryant a target, and he stood up from the prone and took a knee. As fast as he could, he fired the two salvos from the launcher and dropped back down to reload. About a second later, the bleachers exploded in two enormous fireballs, and bits of Alien and shrapnel were strewn about us. I even saw one of the Elites go flying ten feet in the air. I aimed to the right with my pistol and fired two more rounds at the Brutes making their way towards us. With the Elites and Jackals dead, the rest of the squad shifted fire unto the Brutes trying to flank us. With nothing to suppress us anymore, they were in a fucked situation. I head Barnes' Sniper Rifle and saw one of the Brute's head completely disappear. I threw a frag at the last two and they both stopped running as the shrapnel tore them apart.
	“Clear?” I yelled. I made one more sweep with the IRs. Nothing. “Yep!” was the emphatic response from Barnes. I got up from the girl. She had passed out during the fight. “All vitals seem normal, Jake. She'll be alright.” said Jenn. I breathed a sigh of relief and motioned over to Barnes. His body language didn't seem happy “Dude, the fuck happened? Why didn't we see them when we went in?” “I don't know, they must have been following us and waited for us to feel nice to fuck with us...bastards...Who's been hit?” “Rorke and Martinez each have light plasma injuries. They need a doctor but they'll be fine. Clarkson took a needler rifle round to the chest. He's stable right now but he needs medical attention soon or he'll die. And Boyle...” He looked down at the ground. “I know.” was all I could muster to say. “I'll write his mother something nice. Tell her the truth, that her son died trying to protect an innocent girl. I think she'd like to know that, especially from a Spartan.” He nodded, but didn't bring his gaze to mine.
	I looked up and saw the Pelican. “Fucking finally. Her ride's here. Now we can finally be done with babysitting.” He looked up and gave me a pat on the shoulder as he went to rally the Marines for our own exfil. I ran to the girl and picked her up, carrying her in my arms. The crew chief was waiting for me. “Here, take her! She's just passed out from exhaustion, but take her to a doctor just in case once you get to wherever you're going. Got it?” “Yes sir!” He gave me a crisp salute and buckled her in before taking off. I watched it leave the stadium as I approached the dying Special Ops Elite. It's right leg was gone and his right side was covered in shrapnel wounds. He was bleeding profusely. I drew my Magnum and aimed it at his head, which was now being used to look at me. I heard it chuckle, or something like a chuckle, as it chocked up blood. Annoyed with this act of arrogance, I hastily made my way towards it. I grabbed it's neck, and put the barrel of my pistol an inch from it's head. “What's so funny split lip? The fact that I've come to finish off what my Marines started?” He laughed again. “Did you really think that we would let you have her?” I looked over my shoulder to see two Banshees on the tail of the Pelican carrying the girl. “No,” I whispered. I saw them fire their fuel rod cannons at it, and a ball of flame engulfed the night sky. I turned back to the Elite with fire in my eyes. He was now laughing hysterically. “You son of a bitch!” I pulled the trigger on my Automag, and with that he was no more.
	The next few hours seemed like a blur. Another Pelican picked us up, and we made our way to the Army HQ on the other side of town. Somehow, we had managed to drive off the Covvies, but something told me that they had pulled out of orbit by choice. I couldn't get what happened out of my head. It seemed, neither could my teammates. All that bullshit; all that rucking, all that fighting, and all that dying were for nothing. We hadn't participated in the battle against the Covenant and the girl died anyways. What a fucking waste of life. I felt guilty about the girl too, even if it wasn't my fault. She didn't deserve to die. She was just a civilian who got born unlucky I suppose. Maybe, in the end, she wasn't as privileged as I thought. We landed on top of the building and we shuffled out. My favorite Lieutenant was waiting for us. “Marines, to the barracks on level 23. Except you, Spartan. The Major General wants a debrief. Now.” I saluted him “Yes sir, I'll be with her shortly.” I got in the elevator and stepped off before the Marines. Lieutenant Morrison followed me inside her office.
	She looked particularly horrible. Her eyes were bloodshot, and had bags under them. A cup of coffee was in her hand as she stared at strategic data on a holographic display. I suspected that she had been awake even longer than my squad had. I gave her a rigid salute. “Chief Petty Officer Jake One-One-Four reporting as ordered ma'am!” A long and awkward silence followed the address. “Permission to sit down ma'am?” “Denied,” she replied coldly, as she kept her gaze on the data. Finally, after a few seconds, she sighed and turned off the display. “I want you to give me an abbreviated but inclusive AAR. If there is something you felt was important, you will tell me. Got it?” “Yes ma'am.” I filled her in on the important parts of the night. Picking up Danielle, our first contact, overhearing the Zealots, our battle in the stadium, and the Pelican getting shot out of the air.
	“So what you're telling me is that you failed the one thing I needed you to do?” I was taken aback by this kind of rudeness even from her. “Excuse me ma'am?” “She died under your watch Petty Officer! You failed your objective!” Her tone of voice had risen sharply. “Ma'am, there was nothing I could have done to save her. She died on the Pelican. And by the way the only thing you told me to do was to put her on the ride. which I succeeded in. So don't tell me I didn't accomplish my mission.” I stared at her, and she gazed back. Suddenly, she broke off the gaze, and the passion on her face eviscerated. A confused expression appeared on my face.“Very well then Petty Officer, that will be all.  You will rest until your next mission, on which you will be briefed tomorrow. The Lieutenant will show you to your quarters.” “What about the Forerunner excavation site? They've probably pulled back from here to search for it. And we happen to know where it is, or at least moreso than the Covenant. And you want us to do nothing?” “Yes Petty Officer, and I don't appreciate this type of attitude from my men. Now, get out of my office and get some sleep. That is an order.” I stared at her before storming out of her office.
	Admittedly, I was a little glad to be for the rest, although I still would rather have been taking the fight to the Covenant or finding this excavation site. I went to the armory and changed from my armor into the army-supplied pajamas. Amazingly, they had found size SPARTAN. I slipped them on, and found they were a bit more comfortable than the Corps-issue ones. I put Jennifer in my pocket and made my way from the armory to my quarters. It was bigger than the one on the Vienna. I guessed that had to do with the fact that space wasn't at such a premium anymore. But, it wasn't home. It didn't have any of the personalizations that make it home, per se. I knew the terminal wouldn't have my music collection on it, and that unless Jennifer saved it from the logs of the Vienna, I was going to have to rebuild it. Other stuff like my model Warthog, P-51 Mustang, or anything else that made my room mine. I felt a bit nostalgic and melancholy as I plugged the AI into the projector across from the bed. She appeared just after I did so. “Want to talk a while?” she asked. “No, no I'm sorry. I'm just tired Jenn. Next time, whenever that is. Goodnight Jenn.” “Ok. Sweet dreams Jake.” The blue AI vanished and the lights went out across the room. I got into bed, groaning in comfort as I pulled to blanket over my body. I fell asleep almost instantly.
	I dreamt I was still aboard the Vienna. I had just crawled into bed when I felt something else crawl in with me. It was warm. Feminine. I turned to see who it was, and immediately recognized the face. It was Jennifer.