Overview:
The original title of " The Frozen Shadows " was to commemorate all the spartans who gave their lives for those final days on Reach. Our particular stoy starts with a safe gaurd plan thought up by ONI. In the beggining we were told we were mean't for greatness but we never even fathomed of becoming heroes on a galactic scale. This story was built from the backbones of those men and women who both lived and died defending our race from threats unmentionable. We are the Frozen Shadows and that is who we shall forever remain. For those who did'nt make it their memories will forever remain as shadows glassed to the surfaces of Reach.
The Untold Story
My name is Juggernaut, spartan number 205, my buddies call me Jugg for short. The current year to date is 2553, my team and I are currently loading up for a search and rescue mission for some spartan who's apprently responsible for destroying that damned " Halo " array the UNSC stummbled upon last year. Of course I guess I can't speak out of place on his behalf, after all he is the hero that won us that bloody war. The squad consists of six highly recommended spatan II's that were until now, listed as MIA under the strict orders of ONI. There name's Riz-s234, Twitch-s114, Biig-s156, Wolf-s286, and Raptor-s237 however, the other guy I dont know much about, real shady spartan, sports some white armor detailed with cobalt I think he's some sort of medic. I took a glance at his shoulder and saw an emblem of runes with four diamonds in the background. Anyways, whatever way you want to spin it, our story dose'nt start here at our current date nor does it start with me, it starts with a secret plot congered up by none other than ONI themselves.
ONI Base of Operations 20445/8 LOCATION: New Mombasa, Africa, Earth- ONI officer Gary Norman
Gary was nervous, why was he being called to the Chairman's office? " Oh I know it's gotta be because of that slip space drive malfunction that killed those colonists I just know it! " he said to himself. His breath was heavy, time just seemed to slow and quiet as he passed everyone by and made his way to the elevator. The Chairman's office was on sublevel 50. Gary had never been down that far before, whatever it was it had to be bad. He made it to the elevator and before he could even press the button the doors slid open. He was startled, in it's cabin were two fully armored ODST's. " Sir, if you'll just come with us" he heard one of them say from underneath their helmet. Gary walked in, now sweating and wanting to cry, if he was being escorted by ODST's he had to be in deep. He watched the floor display overhead as the numbers passed 37, 38, 39. He was starting to break down on the inside. He started to shake, one of the ODST's let out a quick giggle. Just then there was a jingle " DO-DO " the elevator had reached S50, the doors slid open.
Gary looked out and saw a short hallway with a door at the end guarded by two more ODST's. He stood there, frozen for a moment until one of the soldiers behind him tapped his shoulder. He began walking down the hallway the ODST's remained in the elevator. He then reached the door and one of the guards turned to a terminal, pressed a button and spoke " Sir, he's here " , another voice responded from an unseen loudspeaker " Good, send him in ". The ODST proceeded to the door panel and began entering a code. The door divided into the walls and Gary walked into a dark room lit only by an array of computer screens. The door's halves rejoined behind him. He spoke " Y, you wa, wanted to see me sir " a voice responded " Yes, agent Norman please, have a seat ". Gary made out the silouhette of several chairs and a desk in front of him and proceeded. The Chairman's chair spun around. In it was an older man in what looked like to be good health, black and gray hair and strange almost flourecent green eyes. His voice was'nt threatening at all, it was warm almost soothing " Gary, you can relax your not in trouble " Gary stummbled over his words " You know my first name? ", " But I thought ", " And the ODST's though " the Chairman responded " Relax, it's just protocol ". " Gary I called you here for something important. I'm shore you've heard rumors of The A.R.C. project haven't you? ". " Well yes, but sir I have no idea what it's for " Gary said. " The A.R.C. project is a safeguard plan several years in the making, but it has'nt until recently been ready to launch " said the Chairman. " It's a program designed to take several mix matched squads of spartan II super soldiers and put them on advanced recon, recovery, and destroy missions that will ultimately ensure our survival as a species ". " I see " Gary said. The Chairman threw a file on the desk, " You should be happy agent Norman, I'm appointing you with one of the most important tasks of this galactic war. This file in front of you has all the profiles of the prospects for the project as well as detailed information on where to find them " said the Chairman. " Chairman sir, I, I, I don't know what to say" said Gary. The Chairman spoke " Thank me later agent, you've got a pelican to catch " Gary spoke " Where at? " " It's up top " said the Chairman " It'll be taking you to the MAC station Malta in the orbital defense grid. There you'll find your first prospect. He's spartan that goes by the name of Willis-spartan number 229, he specializes as a medic. He'll be one of the easier ones to recruit " . " What about the ones that won't be easy? " said Gary. " Tell them it's mandatory " said the Chairman. " Now hurry Gary, your pelican is waiting ". Gary whisped from the chair and headed to the door. Just then the Chairman spoke " Oh and agent ", Gary responded " Yes, sir? ", " Good luck " said the Chairman. Gary walked down the hallway to the elevator, got inside and proceeded to his transport.
Chapter 1: The Medic
Gary glided down the hallway, he felt a strong sense of euphoria rush over him. His nervousness had completely passed. What was once a gut wrenching fear of punishment had been replaced with a new found sense of accomplishment and responsibility. " Finally an actual assignment " he thought to him self as he made his way to the service lift. " No more, Get the cofee Gary " he said under his breath as he reached the lift. He pressed the door release, the doors opened, inside the lift was a squad of five marines. The squad leader approached him. He was an older man, not quite as old as the Chairman but he looked to be in his late 40's. " Agent Norman? " the squad leader said. " Yes, marine? " Gary replied. " Sir, I'm Gunnery Sgt. Stacker, my squad and I have been assigned to be your personal gaurd for the duration of this trip " said the squad lead. Gary was confused he didn't know what to say. The sergeant spoke again " Sir, I can see this is your first time on this kind of mission ". " Get inside and I'll explain it to you on the way up ". Gary took a deep breath, stepped inside and pressed the L40 button. The service lift was slow which gave Stacker plenty of time to brief Gary. " Basically Sir, my job is to see you through this mission with little to no " accidents" ". " Should things hit the fan, my squad and I will take control of the situation and make sure you keep your head down ". Gary spoke " Undertsood, sergeant ". Stacker spoke again " Ultimately your in charge of the mission sir ", " But, I would suggest you let me run things should a combat situation arise ". " Got it sergeant " Gary responded. The lift had almost reached of the top and Gary was ecstatic. The lift doors opened and a wisp of fresh air filled the lift. Gary and the firing squad proceeded down a brief open hallway and a bright ray of sunlight hit them.
Gary took in a deep wiff of the outside air, for him the day elevated to better things each moment. Stacker however, felt a very unusual chill down his spine. They approached a pelican docked on the landing pad. Gary turned to look inside it's passenger hold and his jaw dropped instantly. Inside the hold, sitting in the seat closest to the cockpit was a spartan. Stacker let out a cry of frustration, " Damn it! I knew there was something they weren't telling me at the briefing! ". Gary interupted, " Sergeant calm down! ". Gary was mesmerized, he had just came to the realization that he had never seen an actual spartan. The spartan stood up and began walking out of the hold and dropped to the ground. He stood at over seven and a half feet tall. Stacker muttered irratantly " And he's a model 2 this mission is going to be suicide! ". Just then the spartan spoke " Calm down! " he turned to Gary and held out a hand to shake " Spartan 118 Warrant Officer, Agent Norman it's good to meet you. ". Gary went to shake his hand. It was so much bigger than his, in fact everything about him was awe inspiring. His towering height, his voice was empowering,he had a strong grip. Gary felt he was in the presence of a true hero. Gary finally replied to him, " It's an honor sir ". The spartan responded " Please, your the head officer on this mission, I'll call you sir. ". " Alright then " Gary rplied. Gary was still admiring the sleek armor the spartan was wearing. Just then Stacker spoke up " Alright ladies, times a wastin we got a mission to do, let's go get on that bird! " 118 spoke up again " C'mon agent we've got to get moving. ". The marines loaded up, locked there weapons and strapped themselves in. Gary lifted himself up the step and into the hold of the pelican. He strapped himself in and gave a quick node to Stacker. Stacker noded back and yelled to the pilot, " Hey Shiela, let's get this bird moving we got work to do! ". A female's voice responded from the cockpit " Okay boys, I hope your strapped in get ready for lift off. ". Just then then the hatch to the hold folded shut and locked. Lights lit up the cabin and air began hissing out to pressurizing the hold. The pilot's voice came over the intercome " Hey you boys tell that ONI agent back there to hang on to his lunch. ", " Not sure he's used to ground to orbit acension. ". The pelican began to lift, Gary felt the vibration from the thrusters. He had rode in a pelican plenty of times, he smirked thinking " How bad could traveling into orbit be? ". They had traveled for about five minutes when the pilot's voice came over the intercome again, " Okay, were beggining our acent. ". Gary felt a slight tingling in his stomach. The subtle hum of the thrusters quickly turned into startling screeches. The occasional bump had turn into continous violent rattling. Gary's stomach dropped and stayed there, his face became scrunched from ripples. 118 layed a hand on his shoulder to give him the sense that it would be okay. Gary couldn't hold it any more a moaning yelp reached out from the bottom of his lungs, " WOOOOOOOOOOOOAAAAAAAAAAAAH! ". Just then there was an abrupt stop. The pilot opened the hatch to the cockpit, " Were in orbit boys, approaching the Malta now.", " Agent Norman somebody told told me you had never been off planet, care to take a look? ". Gary unstrapped himself and stumbled towards the cockpit. He looked out the transparant conopy onto a remarkable array of stars and space stations. It was truely breath taking for him. Sheila spoke " Sir, I thought you might enjoy this ". He looked down she had a smile on her face. She looked familiar, then it came to him! " Wait a minute I remember you! ", " We went to officer school together." Sheila responded " Yes, but you went to ONI remember? ", " Anyways, well small talk later lieutenant were approaching the Malta " Sheila pointed out. Gart looked out to see a huge tower with a ring around it. Docked on it's port side was a severly damaged frigate. 118 walked up behind him " That frigate must be the one that made it back from Sigmas IV. ". Gary responded " Sigmas IV? Isn't that like three systems out from Reach? ". " Yep " said 118. " What happened there? " asked Gary. 118 replied " Covenant ", Gary sighed. A voice came over the telecome in the cockpit, " UNSC pelican, this is MAC station Malta please transmit ID and docking codes. ". Sheila flipped a swith and spoke, " MAC station Malta, this is Eaglesword docking code 10 beta 4530 ". The Malta responded, " Got it Eaglesword, hope you wont be taking our head medic away to quickly, we gotta whole crew of wounded on board. ". Sheila responded " Well try to take our time. ". Stacker came in " Alright boys time for docking procedures you know what to do get ready. Gary took a deep breath and thought to himself " This is it prospect one of fifty.". " Let's do this " he said to everyone.
The pelican began it's docking with the Malta. It passed through an energy shield which seemed to be the only thing seperating the artificial atmosphere from the lifelessness of space. The rear hatch to the hold began to as they touched down in the hanger. As soon as the landing gear touched the deck Gary and his crew were up and moving. The doors at the far end of the hanger began to open. From the other side came two ODST's in standard fatigue uniforms. Before Gary could open his mouth the ODST's cut to the chase, " Sir, if you and the rest of your squad will follow us will lead you to your tier one asset. ". " Lead the way " Gary replied. " Tier one assets? ", " Is that what there calling us now? " 118 murmmured. They followed the ODST's from the hager into a hallway and down a stairwell. They reached a commons area where the situation turned caotic. Doctors, surgeons, emergency lights, the entire commons was filled with injured survivors from the frigate they saw docked with the Malta. Gary was becoming aware of just how squeamish he was. Bloody stretchers lined the entire commons,men with wounds ranging from the moderate to the severe. Stacker leaned in towards Gary, " You ever seen plasma scaring before agent? ". " A bullet wound is one thing, but the funny thing about plasma is that not only hits the armor plating but it melts through causing further more serious damage. ". Gary passed by a marine on a stretcher who's leg had been completely eaten off by plasma. He could barely look and the smell made him gag. Just then one of the ODST's spoke, " Sir, Sierra 229 is right through this door. ". Gary's attention snapped to the door and he nodded. The ODST tapped a button on the door with his finger. The door opened inside were several surgeons at various tables operating on survivors. Gary could hear a concerned voice behind a corner, " Nurse give me the isopropyl alcohol we need to clean this wound, and where is that scapal!? ". They walked towards the wall at the end of the room and turned the corner. The working on a badly injured man who appeared to be dressed in an admirals clothes, was a nearly eight foot tall spartan. His armor was a gleaming white under the exam lights. It was a recon configuration detailed with teal. His helmet was off and there was a huge scar stretching down his face through his right eye. He cut some shrapnel from the admirals side torso, cleaned it, stitched it and patched it up. He was a magnificent MD. All this was done within seconds. He grabbed a clothe and wiped dried blood from his forehead. He then turned towards Gary. His facial expression changed from drowsiness to astonishment. He spoke " Pharroh, is that you!? ". Just then 118 stepped in front of Gary and lifted his helmet, " Who else do you think it would be? Hah hah. ". 229 responded, " oh my god it is you, how've you been? ". " Oh you know just back from a debrief on a counter ops, now I'm on cool down just doing an escort for an ONI agent who's here to recruit you. ". 229 looked pass Pahrroh to face Gary. He then approached him and pulled off one of his sealed gloves. He then gestured a hand shake and spoke, " Spartan 229 but you can call me Willis. "," I heard you'd be coming. ". Gary appreciated Willis' enthusiasm. Gary smiled and replied, " It's an honor spartan, and I have to say I'm impressed with your medical skills. ". Pharroh spoke, " Thats not the only reason he was selected, Willis here is going to be A.R.C.'s first officer. His leadership skills are acceptional. ". Willis replied back, " Yes well, Pharroh here likes to beef everyones talents up a notch but I can assure you I give my best in any situation sir. ". One of the ODST's behind Stacker nudged through, " Agent Norman we know you all want to get aquainted but the ONI chairman is expecting to brief you here soon. If you follow us well escort you to the briefing room. ". Gary looked back at Pharroh and Willis they noded, Gary turned to the ODST and mimicked the motion. " Great it's out through the commons and to the right down the hall, follow me. "said the ODST. They started behind the ODST duo and once more they entered the commons still draped with bloody curtains and stretchers. The stench of hot plasma melting through flesh was still present in the air. Gary was overwhelmedith nausea agian. Stacker noticed the queasiness in his face and placed a hand on his shoulder " Look sir, I don't want to step outside my lines by saying this, but you really gotta beef-up that lead stomach of yours before we get any further into this operation. ". Gary smiled and said, " Thanks for the tip sergeant. ". They reached the briefing room and just as they did the doors slid open. From the other side came Sheila with an attitude so fierce it could send a g'uta packing. Gary approached her, " Sheila, I thought you stayed on the pelican? ". Sheila responded angrily, " Well that was my original plan, that is until I was called down to have a chat with your partner in crime! ". Gary's eyes popped, " Whoah wait, you mean the Chairman, w-what did he say? ". " Figure it out! ", Sheila responded. Sheila bumped through the rest of the group and stormed off. " Wow! I thought I was the only one who hated ONI. " said Pharroh. " No offense Lieuenant ". " None taken. " said Gary. They all proceeded into the briefing room. It was brightly lit and covered with battle plan etchings and computers. In the center of the room was a table with a hardcased monitor screen. The ONI Chairmans face was already present on the screen. " Ah, it's relieving to see how well this project is already coming together. " said the Chairman. Gary spoke, " Chairman well, I have your first prospect whats the plan? Head for the next prospect? ". " No, actually. " said the Chairman. " And you actually you have two of your prospects with you if you had checked under 229's profile agent. ". " 118 will also be included in this project. " said the Chairman. " What!? I was never told this! " responded Pharroh. " On the contrary 118, you accepted this role in your last debriefing, but as always you rarely pay attention. ". said the Chairman. Willis butted in, " Sir, the mission at hand? ". " Ahh yes straight for the gold, thats what I like about you 229. " the Chairman responded. " Who out of the group is familiar with the newer colony of Stratos? ". Willis, Pharroh, and Stacker raised their hands. " Good. " said the Chairman. " People Stratos is playing a very important role in the expansion of our galactic empire. ". " Shes currently under siege by several hundred thousand Covenant troops. ". "
Gary took in a deep wiff of the outside air, for him the day elevated to better things each moment. Stacker however, felt a very unusual chill down his spine. They approached a pelican docked on the landing pad. Gary turned to look inside it's passenger hold and his jaw dropped instantly. Inside the hold, sitting in the seat closest to the cockpit was a spartan. Stacker let out a cry of frustration, " Damn it! I knew there was something they weren't telling me at the briefing! ". Gary interupted, " Sergeant calm down! ". Gary was mesmerized, he had just came to the realization that he had never seen an actual spartan. The spartan stood up and began walking out of the hold and dropped to the ground. He stood at over seven and a half feet tall. Stacker muttered irratantly " And he's a model 2 this mission is going to be suicide! ". Just then the spartan spoke " Calm down! " he turned to Gary and held out a hand to shake " Spartan 118 Warrant Officer, Agent Norman it's good to meet you. ". Gary went to shake his hand. It was so much bigger than his, in fact everything about him was awe inspiring. His towering height, his voice was empowering,he had a strong grip. Gary felt he was in the presence of a true hero. Gary finally replied to him, " It's an honor sir ". The spartan responded " Please, your the head officer on this mission, I'll call you sir. ". " Alright then " Gary rplied. Gary was still admiring the sleek armor the spartan was wearing. Just then Stacker spoke up " Alright ladies, times a wastin we got a mission to do, let's go get on that bird! " 118 spoke up again " C'mon agent we've got to get moving. ". The marines loaded up, locked there weapons and strapped themselves in. Gary lifted himself up the step and into the hold of the pelican. He strapped himself in and gave a quick node to Stacker. Stacker noded back and yelled to the pilot, " Hey Shiela, let's get this bird moving we got work to do! ". A female's voice responded from the cockpit " Okay boys, I hope your strapped in get ready for lift off. ". Just then then the hatch to the hold folded shut and locked. Lights lit up the cabin and air began hissing out to pressurizing the hold. The pilot's voice came over the intercome " Hey you boys tell that ONI agent back there to hang on to his lunch. ", " Not sure he's used to ground to orbit acension. ". The pelican began to lift, Gary felt the vibration from the thrusters. He had rode in a pelican plenty of times, he smirked thinking " How bad could traveling into orbit be? ". They had traveled for about five minutes when the pilot's voice came over the intercome again, " Okay, were beggining our acent. ". Gary felt a slight tingling in his stomach. The subtle hum of the thrusters quickly turned into startling screeches. The occasional bump had turn into continous violent rattling. Gary's stomach dropped and stayed there, his face became scrunched from ripples. 118 layed a hand on his shoulder to give him the sense that it would be okay. Gary couldn't hold it any more a moaning yelp reached out from the bottom of his lungs, " WOOOOOOOOOOOOAAAAAAAAAAAAH! ". Just then there was an abrupt stop. The pilot opened the hatch to the cockpit, " Were in orbit boys, approaching the Malta now.", " Agent Norman somebody told told me you had never been off planet, care to take a look? ". Gary unstrapped himself and stumbled towards the cockpit. He looked out the transparant conopy onto a remarkable array of stars and space stations. It was truely breath taking for him. Sheila spoke " Sir, I thought you might enjoy this ". He looked down she had a smile on her face. She looked familiar, then it came to him! " Wait a minute I remember you! ", " We went to officer school together." Sheila responded " Yes, but you went to ONI remember? ", " Anyways, well small talk later lieutenant were approaching the Malta " Sheila pointed out. Gart looked out to see a huge tower with a ring around it. Docked on it's port side was a severly damaged frigate. 118 walked up behind him " That frigate must be the one that made it back from Sigmas IV. ". Gary responded " Sigmas IV? Isn't that like three systems out from Reach? ". " Yep " said 118. " What happened there? " asked Gary. 118 replied " Covenant ", Gary sighed. A voice came over the telecome in the cockpit, " UNSC pelican, this is MAC station Malta please transmit ID and docking codes. ". Sheila flipped a swith and spoke, " MAC station Malta, this is Eaglesword docking code 10 beta 4530 ". The Malta responded, " Got it Eaglesword, hope you wont be taking our head medic away to quickly, we gotta whole crew of wounded on board. ". Sheila responded " Well try to take our time. ". Stacker came in " Alright boys time for docking procedures you know what to do get ready. Gary took a deep breath and thought to himself " This is it prospect one of fifty.". " Let's do this " he said to everyone.
The pelican began it's docking with the Malta. It passed through an energy shield which seemed to be the only thing seperating the artificial atmosphere from the lifelessness of space. The rear hatch to the hold began to as they touched down in the hanger. As soon as the landing gear touched the deck Gary and his crew were up and moving. The doors at the far end of the hanger began to open. From the other side came two ODST's in standard fatigue uniforms. Before Gary could open his mouth the ODST's cut to the chase, " Sir, if you and the rest of your squad will follow us will lead you to your tier one asset. ". " Lead the way " Gary replied. " Tier one assets? ", " Is that what there calling us now? " 118 murmmured. They followed the ODST's from the hager into a hallway and down a stairwell. They reached a commons area where the situation turned caotic. Doctors, surgeons, emergency lights, the entire commons was filled with injured survivors from the frigate they saw docked with the Malta. Gary was becoming aware of just how squeamish he was. Bloody stretchers lined the entire commons,men with wounds ranging from the moderate to the severe. Stacker leaned in towards Gary, " You ever seen plasma scaring before agent? ". " A bullet wound is one thing, but the funny thing about plasma is that not only hits the armor plating but it melts through causing further more serious damage. ". Gary passed by a marine on a stretcher who's leg had been completely eaten off by plasma. He could barely look and the smell made him gag. Just then one of the ODST's spoke, " Sir, Sierra 229 is right through this door. ". Gary's attention snapped to the door and he nodded. The ODST tapped a button on the door with his finger. The door opened inside were several surgeons at various tables operating on survivors. Gary could hear a concerned voice behind a corner, " Nurse give me the isopropyl alcohol we need to clean this wound, and where is that scapal!? ". They walked towards the wall at the end of the room and turned the corner. The working on a badly injured man who appeared to be dressed in an admirals clothes, was a nearly eight foot tall spartan. His armor was a gleaming white under the exam lights. It was a recon configuration detailed with teal. His helmet was off and there was a huge scar stretching down his face through his right eye. He cut some shrapnel from the admirals side torso, cleaned it, stitched it and patched it up. He was a magnificent MD. All this was done within seconds. He grabbed a clothe and wiped dried blood from his forehead. He then turned towards Gary. His facial expression changed from drowsiness to astonishment. He spoke " Pharroh, is that you!? ". Just then 118 stepped in front of Gary and lifted his helmet, " Who else do you think it would be? Hah hah. ". 229 responded, " oh my god it is you, how've you been? ". " Oh you know just back from a debrief on a counter ops, now I'm on cool down just doing an escort for an ONI agent who's here to recruit you. ". 229 looked pass Pahrroh to face Gary. He then approached him and pulled off one of his sealed gloves. He then gestured a hand shake and spoke, " Spartan 229 but you can call me Willis. "," I heard you'd be coming. ". Gary appreciated Willis' enthusiasm. Gary smiled and replied, " It's an honor spartan, and I have to say I'm impressed with your medical skills. ". Pharroh spoke, " Thats not the only reason he was selected, Willis here is going to be A.R.C.'s first officer. His leadership skills are acceptional. ". Willis replied back, " Yes well, Pharroh here likes to beef everyones talents up a notch but I can assure you I give my best in any situation sir. ". One of the ODST's behind Stacker nudged through, " Agent Norman we know you all want to get aquainted but the ONI chairman is expecting to brief you here soon. If you follow us well escort you to the briefing room. ". Gary looked back at Pharroh and Willis they noded, Gary turned to the ODST and mimicked the motion. " Great it's out through the commons and to the right down the hall, follow me. "said the ODST. They started behind the ODST duo and once more they entered the commons still draped with bloody curtains and stretchers. The stench of hot plasma melting through flesh was still present in the air. Gary was overwhelmedith nausea agian. Stacker noticed the queasiness in his face and placed a hand on his shoulder " Look sir, I don't want to step outside my lines by saying this, but you really gotta beef-up that lead stomach of yours before we get any further into this operation. ". Gary smiled and said, " Thanks for the tip sergeant. ". They reached the briefing room and just as they did the doors slid open. From the other side came Sheila with an attitude so fierce it could send a g'uta packing. Gary approached her, " Sheila, I thought you stayed on the pelican? ". Sheila responded angrily, " Well that was my original plan, that is until I was called down to have a chat with your partner in crime! ". Gary's eyes popped, " Whoah wait, you mean the Chairman, w-what did he say? ". " Figure it out! ", Sheila responded. Sheila bumped through the rest of the group and stormed off. " Wow! I thought I was the only one who hated ONI. " said Pharroh. " No offense Lieuenant ". " None taken. " said Gary. They all proceeded into the briefing room. It was brightly lit and covered with battle plan etchings and computers. In the center of the room was a table with a hardcased monitor screen. The ONI Chairmans face was already present on the screen. " Ah, it's relieving to see how well this project is already coming together. " said the Chairman. Gary spoke, " Chairman well, I have your first prospect whats the plan? Head for the next prospect? ". " No, actually. " said the Chairman. " And you actually you have two of your prospects with you if you had checked under 229's profile agent. ". " 118 will also be included in this project. " said the Chairman. " What!? I was never told this! " responded Pharroh. " On the contrary 118, you accepted this role in your last debriefing, but as always you rarely pay attention. ". said the Chairman. Willis butted in, " Sir, the mission at hand? ". " Ahh yes straight for the gold, thats what I like about you 229. " the Chairman responded. " Who out of the group is familiar with the newer colony of Stratos? ". Willis, Pharroh, and Stacker raised their hands. " Good. " said the Chairman. " People Stratos is playing a very important role in the expansion of our galactic empire. ". " Shes currently under siege by several hundred thousand Covenant troops. ". "