Authors note - Looking for new pre-readers. Contact me if you are interested.

The Freelancers quietly trekked through the forest, scanning around for Covenant using their thermal vision. Tex came to a halt and held her hand up, signalling the rest to stop. The other Freelancers halted and crouched low to the ground, as Washington slowly walked up to her.

"What is it?" He whispered quietly. Tex pointed to their east, before Wash peered in that direction, noticing two brutes on his thermal. Wash nodded, pointing to her and pointing at the brute on the left, before jabbing his finger into his chest and pointing at the brute on the right, before running his finger along his neck. Getting the picture, Tex nodded, as they slowly crept up behind the brutes.

"What is this I hear about demons being on this ring?" The one on the right asked the other.

The one on the left shrugged. "The prophet won't like this one bit."

"At least we get some fresh meat..." The one on the right muttered, rubbing his stomach.

"Wait a second..." The one on the left muttered, sniffing the air.

"What is it?"

"I think I have a fresh sce-"

Before the brute could finish its sentence, Tex jumped up and dug her combat knife into the brutes spinal cord. The other one raised its spiker and unleashed a storm of glowing spikes in Tex's direction. Tex jumped out the way, activating her active camouflage. Confused, the brute started firing its spiker wildly. Suddenly, it felt something grip its shoulder.

"Hi there." Washington said to it, digging his knife into its neck. The brutes eyes widened, as it fell its knees and falling face first into the ground, a defeated groan escaping its lips.

"A prophet... do you think he could be on this ring?" Wash asked Tex as her form slowly uncloaked. She answered his query with a simple shrug.

"We should probably find a member of the Covenant and interrogate it..." Wash muttered to himself.

"A grunt would crack easily." Tex stated.

Washington nodded in agreement. "Good point. Team, regroup." Wash ordered over the COM.

"That the last of them?!" Backdraft called up to Octavia.

"One second!" She called back, before the air was filled with the deafening crack of Octavia's sniper rifle. "Alright! We're good!"

"Celestia damnit!" The larger of the two Spartans in Crimson Team shouted, who Backdraft immediately identified as Artemis. "This thing won't shut up!"

"What's wrong with you, Artemis?" Ghost asked, his concerned face covered by his helmets visor.

"This A.I.! It won't shut the buck up!" Artemis shouted, shaking her head wildly. Widow and Squirt stood idly by, leaning against their Cougar and watching silently in grim amusement.

"I don't know how many times I have to say this..." A new voice muttered as a life size aperation of a cobalt Spartan clutching a sniper rifle appeared in the middle of Crimson Team, "I am not a freakin' A.I.!"

"Oh yes, because the explanation that you are a ghost makes so much sense." Ghost said, rolling his eyes.

"That's exactly what Washington said." The Alpha stated.

"Wait... they gave us an A.I.?" Backdraft asked as he trotted up, flanked by Spartan-053 and Nova.

"Oh my God..." Alpha muttered angrily to no one in particular.

"Not just any A.I.!" Ghost stated excitedly. "They gave the Alpha A.I. that was used by Project Freelancer."

"He's a smart A.I." Widow stated.

"Listen, I'm not an A.I., I'm a ghost. A spirit. Geist. Phantom. Whatever you want to call it." Alpha stated in an annoyed manner.

"Is he rampant?" Sweetie Belle asked.

"I'm not sure." Widow replied with a shrug.

"Hey, Ghost, why wasn't he put with those Freelancers? Why me?!" Artemis asked, glaring at the Alpha.

"The Alpha kind of has a... history with some of them..." Ghost replied.

"Listen, guy, my name isn't Alpha, my name is Church."

Ghost ignored him. "So pretty much, Command decided it would be better to give us The Alpha."

"But why me?!" Artemis demanded.

"Probably thought you two would get along." Widow stated. Ghost chuckled a little, but an angry glance from Artemis shut him up.

"Kiss my plot..." Artemis muttered.

Widow was going to say something, but decided against it. "Backdraft, right?" She asked, as Backdraft replied with a nod. "Do you know what the plan is?"

"Luna said we needed to secure a base of some sort after regrouping. Scans of the ring located a spire not far from here, with a great vantage point and room for our remaining pelican, as well as a little surprise Luna left us in orbit."

"What kind of surprise?" Nova asked.

"Oh, just five pelicans carrying three warthogs, two scorpions, and two platoons of ODST's, as well as two albatrosses, each carrying an elephant." Backdraft replied, a smile spreading across his face.

"My God... this is so boring..." Heat Streak muttered. "How long does it take to secure a base of operations?"

"Heat, they landed like ten minutes ago. No one can work that fast." Xavier pointed out. Heat shrugged his wings.

"But still... this is so boring!"

"Stow it, Marine." Lieutenant Buck ordered, "They're contacting me."

"Buck? This is Backdraft. We've landed and are heading towards a large spire two kilos south of our current position. How copy?"

"I read you, Backdraft. Need some armor support?" Buck asked.

"That would be very helpful, Lieutenant. What can you spare?"

"I can give you a scorpion and a warthog, as well as two squads of ODST's."

"Thanks Lieutenant. I'm sending you the coordinates where I want you to land."

After a short delay, a stream of numbers and letters appeared on Bucks H.U.D. After sending it to his pelicans pilot, as well as another pilot, he got back on the COM. "Coordinates received. We will be there shortly."

"Alright, we are beginning our assault as we speak."

"Copy, Buck out." Buck said, switching of his COM. "Alright team, we're heading to the surface to give our fellow Helljumpers and Spartans some support. Lock and load!"

"Hoo rah!" The ODST's called out.

"Wash, I have eyes on a lance of Covenant infantry. One brute, six grunts in black armor, and a grunt wearing what looks like an orange tunic. Probably a deacon." California's voice said over the COM.

"Good work. Alright guys, I want that deacon alive. Take the others out as fast as you can."

"Can we go for non-lethal shots?" Carolina asked.

"Too risky. Save it for later. Team, spread out and surround the Covenant. Go for headshots, take them out before they even get to fire off a single round. Remember, I want that deacon unscathed."

"No problem." California stated.

"I've got dibs on the brute." Tex said.

"Tex, you got the sniper?" Wash asked.

"Yeah." She replied.

"You know what to do. Brutes hers, guys."

"Dammit..." Washington could hear Carolina mutter over the COM.

The two Cougars screeched to a stop in front of the spire, mowing down a few brutes and brutes guarding the entrance with their main cannons.

"Dismount!" Backdraft shouted as the Cougars door lowered and the squad ran out, followed by Applebloom and Firefly. Crimson Team and the rest of Aqua Team ran out of the other Cougar.

"Downed phantom, six o'clock." Nova stated. Backdraft looked in the direction Nova was talking about and saw the remains of a green phantom.

"That's one of the Elites phantoms. Must have tried to secure it before us." Lyra stated.

"Obviously, they failed. Hopefully that took a few of them prisoner." Backdraft said.

"Since when do brutes take prisoner?" Firefly asked.

"There is always a first for everything. Aqua Team, you go first. Crimson Team, back them up. We've got your rear. A couple pelicans are on their way to give us support. Let's secure this area before they get here." Backdraft said.

Aqua Team galloped inside, LWC's raised in the air. Surprise's energy shield flared as a few bolts of plasma rained down on them. Crimson Team walked up behind them, as Artemis quickly shouldered her DMR and firing off a single round, hitting the grunt that was shooting at them in the head.

"You guys got pinned down by a single grunt? Seriously?" Artemis asked.

"Who said we were pinned?" Sweetie Belle demanded, gritting her teeth.

"Guys, we have no time to bicker! Secure the spire, we'll cover the entrance." Backdraft stated.

"Ya herd teh colt, move in!" Applebloom shouted.

"Charge!" Scootaloo and Artemis shouted in unison, charging ahead of the other Spartans. Scootaloo pulled out her shotgun, while Artemis activated two energy swords.

"Dammit! Scootaloo, Artemis, you're breaking the line!" Sweetie Belle shouted.

"What? Can't hear ya!" Scootaloo shouted back, as she and Artemis ran up the ramp leading the higher levels. A squad of grunts wobbled in front of them, plasma pistols at the ready. Artemis leaped forward, slicing the heads off of two of the grunts, as Scootaloo stuck the bayonet attached to the barrel of her shotgun into the neck of one the grunts, before blasting its head off with a single shot from her shotgun. The other two grunts froze in fear, as Artemis cut them both in half with a single swipe.

"Slow down!" Widow shouted, as the rest of the Spartans struggled to keep up. But they ignored them and sprinted up the ramp, cutting and shooting down any Covenant in their path with ease. As they reached they top of the spire, they met a frightening sight.

"Chieftain!" Scootaloo called out, as the two Spartans dove out of the way to dodge a swing from its gravity hammer.

"It's mine!" Artemis called out, charging towards the Chieftain.