1851 Hours,
Nine minutes before the mission briefing

"So apparently we got Spartans involved in this op." Backdraft said to Nova, as they walked through the halls of the U.N.S.C. Equis.

"Aqua Team?" Nova asked.

"Not only Aqua Team, but Crimson Team too." Backdraft replied.

"Holy shit... this op just got real hot." Nova muttered.

"Hoo rah." Backdraft agreed, moving aside for a squad of Marines that were jogging down the halls. Backdraft nodded to one of the Marines as they passed, a friend of his from boot by the name of Midnight Sun. He nodded back and saluted the Gunnery Sergeant. Backdraft returned it as he and Nova continued down the hall.

"Backdraft, Nova! Wait up!" They heard a voice with a southern accent call out from behind them. They turned around to see Applebloom galloping up to them, clad in her olive drab MJOLNIR Mark VII armor.

"Hey Applebloom, heard you and your team were involved in this op, too."

"Eeyup! Ah can't wait." Applebloom said, smiling slightly. It was good to see ponies smiling in such dark times.

"What do you think this is all about?" Nova asked.

"You will find out soon enough, Nova." Backdraft promised, as they walked into the briefing room. Luna was waiting for them to arrive.

"Take your seats!" Luna ordered sternly. Everypony in the room sat down in their assigned seats. "Before we begin, ponies, I want to make this very clear. What you are about to hear, is beyond top secret. None of this can leave this room. Any questions?"

Nopony said anything.

"Good, let's get started." Luna said, activating the hologram projector behind her. "A week ago, the UNSC Dusk, an ONI Prowler, discovered a ring world known as Halo." The picture that Backdraft had seen earlier appeared on the screen, although much bigger. "The Halo rings are weapons of destruction on a galactic scale, able to wipe out all the sentient life in the known universe. I was thought that there was only seven Halo rings, but recently, we found an 8th ring, which we nicknamed Beta Halo. Not even the builders of the rings knew about this rings existence, as the remnants of the Forerunners claimed that the five other rings that existed were destroyed by the flood.

"The Dusk observed a small Covenant presence on the ring, with a small fleet made up of one CSS-Class battlecruiser and two SDV-Class heavy corvettes. We want you guys to go in and scout the area, as well as create havoc behind enemy lines, before our fleet moves in. We have a team of Special Operations Elites waiting for you guys on the ring. We will be deploying you, as well as a few Freelancers, via pelican dropships. We will be deploying our forces in a week or so, so take everything you need. Good luck, and God speed. Dismissed."

Everyone in the room saluted as the Captain walked out the room. Backdraft soon followed suit, his squad right behind him.

"What now, Gunny?" Lyra asked, struggling to keep up with the Gunnery Sergeant's pace.

"We're heading to the armory to get ready. Grab anything you need." Backdraft said, as the squad entered the armory. "Come to me once you are done so I can take inventory."

Several minutes later, everypony had at least thirty pounds of gear. Backdraft picked up a holopad and started entering everyponies loadout.

Master Sergeant Nova:

Primary firearm: MA6B with a suppressor, laser sight, and a tactical flashlight.
Secondary firearm: M7A1 SMG with a holographic sight and a suppressor; Two M6E SOCOM's.
Extra gear: Multiple magazines for each weapon, extra ammo, several fragmentation grenades, a M301 underbarrel grenade launcher.

Lance Corporal Octavia:

Primary firearm: SRS99E-S2 AM Sniper Rifle, with an extended magazine.
Secondary firearm: M412 Designated Marksman Rifle with a suppressor and a scope with a 12x zoom; M6E SOCOM.
Extra gear: HE rounds for M6, a couple fragmentation grenades, extra magazines and ammo, binoculars.

Sergeant Lyra:

Primary firearm: M7A1 SMG with a suppressor and a holographic sight.
Secondary firearm: MA6C with a M301 grenade launcher; M6E SOCOM.
Extra gear: A suppressor for the MA6C, extra magazines and ammo, medkit, toolkit.

Private First Class Berry Punch:

Primary firearm: MA6 SAW with a holographic sight and a grip.
Secondary firearm: Two M6E Magnum's; M90A2 Tactical Shotgun.
Extra gear: Multiple explosive devices, fragmentation grenades, extra magazines and ammo, components for making IED's, several trip mines, toolkit, shiva class nuclear warhead.

"Berry, what do you need a nuke for?" Backdraft asked.

"Dunno, might need it." She said with a smug smile on her face. Backdraft turned back to his holopad and continued entering the loadouts.

Gunnery Sergeant Backdraft:

Primary firearm: BR85HR SR with a suppressor, extended magazine, tactical flashlight, laser sight, and a grip.
Secondary firearm: A MA6B with an underbarrel plasma grenade launcher, a laser sight, a suppressor, and a red dot sight; Two M6E Magnum's.
Extra gear: Suppressors for Magnum, several fragmentation grenades and flashbangs, a headset, extra ammo and magazine, HE rounds for the Magnum's.

"Ready to go, Blankey?" Nova asked, a smile spreading across her face.

"Blankey?" Octavia asked, an eyebrow raised. Berry and Lyra giggled a little.

"It's her... pet name for me..." Backdraft muttered.

"Why, because you are a blank flank?" Berry asked, smirking at him.

"No, he has a cut- stud stamp. I call him that because of what happened on our first night together."

"Oh shi-" Backdraft began, before Lyra and Berry cut him off.

"Tell us the story!" They called out in unison. Octavia remained quiet and watched the others.

"Well... I was getting cold, so Backdraft here climbed on top of me and said he was going to be my blanket, before running his hoof in between my flanks and-"

"Nova! Seriously!? Stop! That's an order." Backdraft stated coldly, a deep blush covering his face.

"Ugh, fine! You're no fun." Nova said, pouting playfully.

"I'll make it up to you later, Nova. Come on squad, let's go." Backdraft ordered, waving the squad to follow him.

The next day
0400 hours
Hanger B

Backdraft looked around the hanger. In front of him was some of the best soldiers the UNSC has to offer. His eyes were drawn to four humans, wearing MJOLNIR Mark VI armor of varying colors. One was dressed in pitch black armor, another was wearing black armor with a yellow trim, another one was wearing gray armor with a black trim, and the last one was wearing a light blue variant of the Mark IV, with a silver trim.This variant was similar to the famous Recon variant, but the Freelancer was also wearing a Rogue helmet variant. These guys were obviously the Freelancers, the only soldiers in the UNSC who could truely go one-on-one with a Spartan.

His eyes then moved onto what Backdraft guessed was Crimson Team. In a mission where its primary mission was to wreck havoc behind enemy lines, you would have to be foolish not to include them. He first noticed the infamous Artemis, or Spartan-013, who was sitting on a crate, cradling a heavily customized DMR. She was wearing her trademark custom armor, pitch black MJOLNIR Mark VII armor with a crimson trim. Standing next to her was Spartan-893, or Squirt (formally known as Rookie), on account of his smaller stature. Unlike his counterpart, he wore the standard armor for Spartan-IV's, Mark VII armor in olive drab, but also had a crimson trim. Next to them were two ODST's, known as Ghost and Widow, who wore the standard ODST armor with a crimson trim.

Backdraft's eyes then fell upon Aqua Team, made up of Sweetie Belle-053, Scootaloo-132, Applebloom-083, Surprise-231, and Firefly-332, all of which were wearing olive drab MJOLNIR Mark VII armor with an aquad trim. Backdraft also noticed Isaac Colt sitting next to Sweetie Belle, holding her hoof.

"You guys can do what you want, I'm going to go talk with Aqua Team." Backdraft said, walking away from his squad. Nova ran up next to him, cracking a smile at him. He shot a smile back at her, as Applebloom and Scootaloo walked up to welcome them.

"Howdy!" Applebloom called out. She was starting to look like a spitting image of her late sister, Applejack.

"Hey Applebloom." Backdraft said, resisting the urge to salute his friend.

"Hey!" Scootaloo said, hugging Nova. Nova and her were good friends ever since the aftermath of the Nightingale.

"Is Isaac going with us or something?" Backdraft asked.

"Yeah, Luna said we might need an engineer. Isaac seemed like the most logical choice." Sweetie Belle said, walking up.

"Among other reasons..." Scootaloo muttered.

"Shut up, we all know you are jealous." Sweetie Belle stated, smirking at Scootaloo. Scootaloo slugged her in the shoulder.

"Alright Omega, mount up!" Luna ordered, walking into the hanger.

"Guess it's time, see you guys on the surface." Backdraft said, before he and Nova trotted away. They quickly jumped on board their pelican, where the rest of their squad and two SSEAL's were waiting. The passengers of the pelican watched as a Cougar Armored Fighting Vehicle was attached to the pelican, before the pelican bay doors closed. A dim, red light lit up the interior of the pelican.

"Exiting slipspace in fifteen seconds!" Luna's voice reported over the radio.

"Here we go..." Backdraft muttered.

"Five... four... three... two... one! Deploy! Good luck, Task Force!" Luna's voice stated, as the pelican lifted off and accelerated out of the hanger. Backdraft looked back to see the Equis quickly enter another slipstream portal, disappearing seconds later. Backdraft exited his seat and climbed into the cockpit, looking out at the Halo ring that was quickly becoming closer and much, much larger.

"We will be landing in five minutes. LZ may be hot. Recommend you and your team get prepared." The pilot said. Backdraft nodded and walked out of the cockpit, facing his squad.

"Lock and load, team!" Backdraft ordered.

"Hoo rah!" They all chanted, sliding a magazine into each of their firearms.