Welcome to Gaia! ::

"Sir, I'm receiving an encrypted message on channel theta." Captain Mark Williams stepped forward from his post at the topographic map in the center of the room. "Retrace and tab the output of the signal, see who's broadcasting on that channel." The officer stood over Jackson's shoulder why he typed furiously onto his keyboard, making sure that before he left his system to trace the frequency back that he locked all the doors to the network. He reached one hand up to his headset and cranked the volume up and listened for a moment. "Nothing sir; it's definitely not ours...it seems to have gone." The captain wasn't very pleased with the outcome; if there was a threat than he needed to be the first to know. "Bring the channel over the intercom system, and run a debug-scatter program. Filter all noise; let's see if we can crack this son of a b***h."

The lieutenant typed on the key board again, "transmitting encrypted channel to intercom system now." As he had expected, the Captain could hear only white noise. "Debug-scatter program initiated. Complete reconstruction in T-minus 10 seconds." Commander Miranda Keyes stood next to the commander, "what have you got?" The Captain did not turn but he spoke with highest respect. "Nothing as of yet, but we're about to find out." The white noise had dissipated, "reconstruction complete, initializing tab program now. Filtering noise in five." Miranda looked around for a moment at all the personnel working in the Operations center; they did a fine job of keeping the Crow's Nest operational. "Four." All of them had unique backgrounds from which they had experience. "Three." It had been a long day for all of them, "two.... one." The Captain gazed up at the screens with Miranda in awe. It was a transmission from the prophet truth.

"You have brought nothing into this world, and we will ensure you bring nothing out. Our conviction is like an arrow already in flight. Your life will only last until it reaches you. When no single human brick lies atop another, then will we be satisfied with your destruction. The great journey is near it's closure; all those who have believed will be rewarded in heaven. We will light the rings and our journey will complete."

LeDuc was surprised as the spartan showed up in his office nearly immediately after the announcement. Either the Spartan had been very close by or very unoccupied when he had made the call, because LeDuc sat there waiting two more minutes after saluting the super soldier before the other two walked in. He couldn't help but notice that Jaimi was still in her ODST gear, obviously not having gotten the opportunity to take a break from the work she had been doing. It was good to see that she was a hard worker, contrary to his first impression of her.
When all three were in the office and comfortably seated, well, as comfortably seated as one could be while still in armor, as were the case for the Sergeant and the Spartan. Getting over this, he began the briefing.
"Lieutenant, Chief, you both already know the details, so I'll spare you all the long version. Bottom line is:
The destruction of the Covenant forces in New Mombasa was nothing but a hollow victory. No one knows why the want the city so badly yet, so ONI's chosen us for a covert observation mission. Our purpose: to watch and learn about why the hell we haven't been glassed yet.
We'll be 28 in total for this mission, with two Mongoose ULATVs, one chain-gun equipped and one Gauss cannon equipped warthog. Air support includes a flight group of three Hornets, a Pelican in case of emergency EVAC and possible Longsword support. That last bit depends on whether or not one of the few remaining UNSC carriers can spare a wing pair, so don't get your hopes up.
I'm setting up the operation into two groups of nine, one group of ten, dubbed teams red, blue and green. I will be leading red team, which will include myself, eight of the marines currently under my command, and the standard warthog.
We'll be posted along this ridge," a marker appeared on the projection, the blinking red triangle over a hill that was within laser sight of Crow's Nest but still relatively far from the bulk of UNSC forces in the area.
"where we'll have a good view of the surrounding area and be hidden from air patrols by the dense foliage in that area.
Blue team, of which I'm putting Sierra 103 in charge of, will be posted along the New Mombasan waterways, will include 9 other marines from today's earlier operations and will have both Mongoose vehicles. Their task will be to provide quick response and reinforcement in case either of the other observation groups in compromised, and patrol the fringes of the New Mombasan waterfront to see what the nuke has done to the city's superstructure.
Green team will be lead by Sergeant Elan, and will be assisted by Lieutenant Atchison in it's observational Duties. Sergeant, I'm trusting the Lieutenant's safety to you, so make sure he comes back in one piece. You will be accompanied by seven marines and will be given the gauss-equipped warthog. Your post will be along a ridge opposite to red team's, to observe the field from another perspective. A series of caves and tunnels in the natural limestone mountains will provide a quick escape route in case of detection. Again, if in trouble contact blue team.
Each team will have a com specialist, who will be in charge of relaying video and audio data to the nest. Remember, this is only an observation mission, so keep the engines on your vehicles as quiet as possible and make sure no one is watching when you pass. Team rosters are waiting for you on the Crow's Nest network, so get some shut-eye and report back here in three hours. Let's hope this one wraps up what's been an insane day. Any questions?"

"So I said to him, 'That's no pine cone, that's a grenade!' He nearly had a heart attack, he through that pine cone like he was Roger Clemens." Corporal Acosta told the story to the few around him. Freeman stood on the other side of the large hallway, merely observing. He didn't care for the small talk and attempts to loosen the place up with jokes and stories of "old times."

The conversation was merely a distraction for Freeman, and that's exactly how he treated it. Freeman glanced down the large corridor, his eyes were locked onto a Warthog that was heading his way. He watched as it cruised by at the regulation 20 MPH through the corridor, as it passed something else caught his attention though.

Freeman looked back at Corporal Acosta and the group of soldiers only to see them saluting an officer. Corporal glanced over to see the officer was approaching him. Quickly he snapped to attention and saluted the officer. Their eyes didn't meet at all, Freeman was occupied evaluating all of the medals that decorated the mans chest.

"Private First Class Freeman?" The officer questioned Freeman, already knowing who it was.

"Aye, sir?" Freeman responded, as any soldier always did.

"At ease, I need to speak with you."

Freeman eased up only slightly however, he wondered why the officer had to talk with him. He quickly glanced to the shoulder of the officer and then to his pocket. 2nd Lieutenant Witsell.

Freeman followed the Lieutenant into a small office, where the Lieutenant stopped and turned to face Freeman.

"You're needed on a reconnaissance mission, we're short on spare soldiers and seeing as you're open, well, your profile seemed to talk for itself." The Lieutenant explained to Freeman.

"Thank you sir, can I ask under whose command will I be under?"

"Either Spartan 103, Sergeant Elan, or Captain LeDuc. Their are three teams on this mission, you needn't know the particulars. Just watch the Covenant, report anything unusual back. Understood?"

"Aye, sir."

"Good, dismissed."

LeDuc was satisfied with the silence both Atchison and the Spartan exhibited at his query, fully confident that if there were any glaring vulnerabilities in his rudimentary plan they would be immediately exposed and dealt with by the combined tactical know-how the men in front of him possessed. The sergeant's questions, though simple, were things anyone would want to ask when suddenly entrusted with responsibility. LeDuc rubbed his chin stubble, irritated that he still hadn't been able to get a good shave in.
"Not at all, Sergeant. I am going to restate the fact that this mission is purely observational, and that we are under no conditions supposed to initiate combat with Covenant forces. The only exception to this is if any of the three teams is discovered, in which case all measures should be taken to escape. Keep in mind that if you are being followed, do not return to base but rather to the rendezvous point near Tsavo Highway, and that in case of pursuit you will most probably have to ditch your vehicle. Ground-pound it back here if you have to, just don't let any covvies follow you here.
Now if that's all, I'd like to finally get some shut-eye.
Dismissed."
Leduc dropped the hand that had been grasping his chin as the three left his office. Finally, he thought, he would be able to get that shave he desperately needed. Only thing to do before that was review the team rosters one last time. Green team was composed of men he trusted, people that had been with him since earlier that day in the New Mombasan ruins, so he was sure that Elan would get all the support she needed from the experienced troops she was now leading. Blue team was also composed of people he knew were professionals, marines and ODSTs from various units cobbled together into a strangely efficient team. After all, he didn't want to slow down the Spartan too much. It was already a miracle that he had agreed to help out with LeDuc's operations so far. Also, the last non-casualty from the squad he had originally set out with that morning was in Blue team. Arthur was definitely tougher than most, and had been silent as a shadow while sneaking through the city rubble.
In Red team, LeDuc had also been satisfied to know that those he had worked with earlier that day would be joining him. There were only a few unknowns added to the roster, as a few of those who had escaped in the subway suddenly were prescribed with shellshock and were forced to get some rest. A few marines originally posted to Crow's Nest were now going to be working with him, and among them a special PFC that would've been better suited for the R&D department if not for his burning desire to repel the covenant. Ironic, LeDuc thought, that by choosing a more dangerous lifestyle he has in fact avoided a meaningless death on a research colony, at the business end of Covenant ship-to-ship cannons. Well, we still don't know why that hasn't happened to us yet.
With a resigned sigh, LeDuc grabbed the can of shaving foam in front of the small sink, sprayed himself a white beard, and began what he felt was a very satisfying process of removing all the stubble on his chin. Two minutes later, his alarm was set for two hours and a half and his face made contact with a small synthetic cotton pillow. He immediately fell asleep.

As the others departed to get some well deserved rest, Atchison walked over to Sergeant Elan and smiled.

"Well it seems we're going to be on the same team, Sergeant. I'm sure you have more experience, combat-wise, but I'll do what I can. I just need you to keep the men in line, and I'll be able to collect the intel we need. Looking forward to working with you. If you need me, I'll be in the armory. I'll see if I can get something with a little more punch than this pistol, and maybe find something a little less formal to wear."

Shaking the Sergeant's hand, he turned and walked away. He was a bit worried as he noticed Elan seemed a little nervous of her assignment. Hopefully when the time came, it wouldn't be a problem. He reached the armory and returned the sentry's salute. Harrison's nerves were finally starting to relax and he asked the marine, "Give me something cool."

Laughing, the Marine nodded and headed towards the gun racks, collecting a BR55 battle rifle and some ammo. Placing the weapon on the counter, the marine then returned to the racks and brought back standard issue armor for the Leiutenant. Harrison thanked the armorer, strapped the rifle to his back, and carried his gear to the room next to Leduc's. He placed it on the cot and headed towards the head to shower.

Clean, shaved, and changed, Atchison's looks dramatically changed from that of a spook, to a battle-ready marine. Looking at his watch, Atchison gave his alarm two hours. Taking out the portable decoder and the data transfer with Cortana's message, Atchison set the auto-decode functions and placed it under the cot. The decoder was handy and Harrison was sure it would be good to have for the upcoming mission. He then ensured his portable intel equipment was in good, working condition and ready to go. He inspected the rifle and tweaked the pistol's sight. Even intel guys recieved basic weapon care training in basic.

After uplinking his com links to the Command Center, the Leuitenant finally laid down on the cot and closed his eyes. He could hear the decoder working below him. Satisfied with his preperations, he fell asleep, hoping that the Sergeant and the Captain were as ready as he was. He was quiet sure the Spartan was always ready for anything.

As Atchison lay asleep in his cot, he stirred restlessly. He was pestered by the same dream, over and over. He found himself wandering a desert, not knowing where he was. The desert stretched for miles, nothing but the sun in the sky and sand at his feet. He would walk what seemed like miles, until he saw a person off in the distance. Each time he would break out in a run, believeing he knew who the person was. Each time he got close enough to almost make out who it was, the man or woman would vanish in the dunes. This repeated several times. Each time, he got closer and closer. Every time, he swore he could hear words.

After what seemed like an eternity, he could see a city off in the distance, New Mombasa. As he walked over a hill, he reached the edge of a cliff, with an extreme drop. It reminded him of the Grand Canyon he had seen in educational vids he studied as a child. He stopped and took in the view.

Exhausted he feel to his knees. As he caught his breath, someone tapped him on the shoulder. Startled he turned and drew his pistol. He was shocked that starring back at him was his mother. He apologized and put away his weapon, asking her where she came from and what she was doing. She said nothing and simply smiled. Harrison attempted to stand but was too tired.

His mother's expression changed and her face went serious. She then spoke to him and he listend closely to every word.

I HAVE DEFIED GODS AND DEMONS.
I AM YOUR SHIELD.
I AM YOUR SWORD.
I KNOW YOU.
YOUR PAST, YOUR FUTURE.

As she spoke, she pointed towards the city. He turned could see a something shining from the middle of New Mombasa. He strained to see whatever it was. He wanted to know what his mother was pointing at. He leaned over the edge.

THIS IS THE WAY THE WORLD ENDS

Once she said this, the light exploded and in a flash everything was gone. All Harrison could do was blink. In an instant there was nothing but darkness.

Atchison bolted awake, and then immediatly fell asleep. The dream the instantly forgotten, and Harrison began dreaming of the beaches of Australia with beautiful women. Below him, underneath the cot, the personal decoder had worked in his sleep. It had played the complete message and then displayed another on it's screen.

ERROR CODE 2AZC-6TH-879THER
MESSAGE RETENTION ERROR
MESSAGE DELETED
We apologize for any inconvinences. Please contact your local IT department. ONI Sector Code APHT-563-HT-IT.

Harrison simply wipped the drool from his mouth and continued to kiss his pillow.

Ssgt. Luke Connors jumped out of a Pelican sent from the Leviathan just in time to hear LeDuc's voice on the overhead speaker system "ONI recon group 111, report to Vehicle bay 3 immediately. I repeat: ONI recon group 111, report to Vehicle Bay 3..."
Connors lowered his sniper rifle and ran to vehicle bay 3 where he could meet with LeDuc in person. All he could remember to do with his quick briefing was something about a recon mission and the names LeDuc and Pvt. Freeman, he really didn't care if this was the wrong place because honestly, he wasn't so exited about going to war and dying at the feet of a covenant b*****d. But since the announcement sounded urgent he ran to the vehicle bay following the directional instructions on the ground.