"Everyone prepped and ready to move?" Moroni asked. He received four acknowledgement lights on his heads-up display. "Good. Mafua, you've got point. I'll pop the hatch for you; watch out for hostiles." "You got it bossman," Mafua said, raising his M319 grenade launcher. "Allie," Moroni turned his head to her, "you've got the rear." She nodded the affirmative. Marcus looked at him expectantly, the barrel of his SRS99 Sniper rifle resting on his shoulder. Bryan stood next to him, his BR55HB Battle rifle hanging loosely from his hands. "Marcus, Bryan, I want you two to follow closely and keep your eyes peeled." "Sir, what exactly is our objective now?" asked Bryan. "We need to get as far away from that carrier as possible," Moroni stated. Bryan shifted his shoulders as he were about to respond. Moroni, knowing Bryan's natural urge to fight, clarified. "I know what you want to do. But we don't have the firepower to face an ship-full of Covenant troops Bryan. You know it, and I know it." Bryan sighed. "Acknowledged," he said; Moroni could detect a tinge of frustration in his voice. "Right, radio silence from here on out." Four acknowledgement lights winked green on his HUD. "Mafua, you're up. Popping the hatch in three." Slightly raising his riffle Mafua nodded. Moroni held up three fingers and slowly dropped them until his hand was balled into a fist. He pulled the lever sharply and was gratified to see the hatch explode up from the bunker. Spartan B304 pointed his weapon outside and cautiously took a few steps onto the pulverized streets of New Gettysburg. He swept his weapon from left to right and raised his hand to motion Zulu team forward. Moroni stepped out into the rubble filled street; his body was tense as he raised his MA5B cover them. Bryan followed closely, then Marcus, then the rear guard Allie. Moroni cautiously observed the desolate city surrounding him. The city had been evacuated five days before the Spartans had been stationed there. When the Spartans were given their orders, they were told that they were to be stationed at New Gettysburg after the evacuation to observe Covenant troop movements. Now that Moroni thought about it, it was a very odd job to give Spartans. Why waste such valuable assets observing the Covenant when they could be out on the frontlines? It really didn't make sense to him. [i]Perhaps ONI knew something we didn't,[/i] thought Moroni, as he thought of the carrier. The thought of the carrier pulled him back to reality. Save for the sound of gravel crunching underneath their boots, New Gettysburg was eerily silent. [i]Good place for an ambush,[/i] he observed as he took note of the unbelievably tall skyscrapers, the could-be sniper nests, and the numerous alleyways littering the city. Noting that Mafua had stopped for a moment to let the team get in position Moroni turned to Marcus and Bryan. He pointed at their visors then at the rooftops. They nodded confirming that they understood his order to watch the skyscrapers. He beheld Allie steadily gazing back at him from under her visor. He simply nodded at her, knowing that she would watch their backs with careful precision. Swiveling around Moroni faced Mafua, who had been waiting patiently for them. He nodded for Mafua to continue leading them forward. Without a second glance he was leading them through the city. While navigating the rubble-strewn streets of New Gettysburg the air was pierced by the distant hum of the Covenant carrier approaching the city. Mafua, fully aware of the approaching ship, motioned for them to take cover inside of a black tower at the center of the city. He glanced back at the ship, and increased the pace of the squad dramatically as he saw the ship closing the distance between them rapidly. Moroni glanced back at the ship and increased his pace twofold. He could hear the hum of the carrier become a distant roar. Along with that the ground began to shake slightly; the ship was getting closer. Remembering that he had ordered them to keep off the radios, Moroni switched his mic to external speakers. "Get moving Zulu team, that carrier is almost on top. We can't have them finding us; we'll be heavily outmatched," Moroni ordered them. As if on cue, the ground began to shake with an increased intensity than it previously had. Moroni staggered but continued to run; the team's pace was suddenly decreasing. He could feel the tremor continue to increase in strength as the carrier bore down on them. Their hearts pounding and adrenaline pumping through their bodies the Spartans made one final effort to close the 50 foot gap. About 15 feet from the entrance of the tower an especially strong tremor tore through the earth. Moroni stumbled and caught himself; he heard a loud mass smack against the earth. Skidding to a halt Moroni wheeled around, his weapon leveled and his finger on the trigger. The sight of Allie sprawled on the ground caused him to take his finger off the trigger. He glanced back at Mafua. B304 stood with both Marcus and Bryan at the entrance of the building. He turned his head back around and ran as fast as he could to Allie. Grabbing her by the shoulders he lifted her to her feet; without saying a word they sprinted through the entrance and into the tower lobby. Not a second later the Covenant carrier passed overhead. "Damn good timing," Bryan muttered. "You know that's right," Mafua agreed. Marcus nodded in silent agreement. Outside the thunderous roar of the carrier's engines was no longer audible. It was instead replaced by a dull hum. "Are they still in the city?" Bryan asked. Moroni shook his head. "I'm not sure." He turned to Marcus. "I need you to check it out; Bryan will be your runner. Find a suitable floor for observation and when you find out what the sitrep is send Bryan down to relay the situation to me. In the meantime Mafua, Allie and I will keep watch on the bottom floor in case of hostiles." "Acknowledged," Marcus stated flatly. "Yeah, great idea Moroni," Bryan said, his voice dripping with sarcasm. "Can I get you anything else?" Moroni grinned behind his visor. "Yeah, how 'bout a bowl of chili?" he quipped. "Oh you got it sir. First batch I come across is yours." "Good," said Moroni. "Now you two get moving, we need to know what the situation is." Together they turned around and searched for the stairwell; they found it on the east side of the room and quickly entered. Moroni surveyed the main lobby. The scene in front of him was unkempt to say the least. A large silver desk near the north wall that had been used by attendants was overturned, its contents spilled onto the ground. Behind the desk several chairs were toppled over, blocking two doors on the north wall. Furniture, such as chairs and couches, populated the south wall behind Moroni. The west wall sported a lone door that stood defiantly, daring anyone to cross its boundaries. Next to the door a bookcase that had once been stocked with intriguing books was now depleted of its store of knowledge. The eastern wall was mostly barren save a first aid kit, a fire alarm, and the stairwell door. "Mafua," Moroni said, turning to the big man, "I need you to check for a back door to our temporary home. We don't want any covenant forces sneaking up on us, now do we?" "I sure don't air," Mafua agreed. "This back door. If I find it, what do you want me to do?" "Simple. Barricade it." "You're the bossman," said Mafua who nodded and took his leave this time, exiting through the door on the west wall. Moroni shook his head in admiration of his Spartans. They were good soldiers, always doing what needed to be done, always taking the initiative. In truth they were better soldiers than Moroni could hope to be, he was just a better leader. that was the only reason Kurt had chose him to lead Zulu team. He swept the negative thoughts away in an instant. [i]We may be in a bad spot here, there's no time for me to get caught up in my disabilities.[/i] Moroni grabbed at the seals of his helmet and pulled it off as he turned around. He was stunned to see that Allie too had removed her helmet and was giving him a puzzled look. Moroni studied her face for a second until he felt unsettled. He scratched at his scalp enthusiastically before he spoke. "We should-" he began before he was curtly cut off. "Why did you come back for me?" she asked. Moroni swallowed hard. There were two reasons he had ventured back to her. The first reason was personal and was unprofessional. It was a feeling he thought he had repressed in himself; turns out he had been wrong. But he wouldn't reveal that reason to her now. Instead he would give her a reason both professional [i]and[/i] personal. "You're my teammate. When I saw you freeze up I knew that I needed to act. So I acted," Moroni told her. Technically he wasn't lying to her, he just wasn't telling her the complete truth. He felt that it wouldn't be that big of a deal; Allie would probably never find out anyways. Allie shook her head. "I could have gotten up myself; all I did was trip," she said sheepishly, her mouth forming a hard line and her expression becoming totally unreadable. "I saw my teammate on the ground and followed my instincts. You know I wouldn't let harm fall on you," said Moroni. He shrugged slightly as if it were nothing. Allie crossed her arms and examined his face closely. Her eyebrows knitted together and she pursed her lips. Neither of the Spartans spoke for a minute; Allie stared at him a moment longer, trying to decipher where or not he was telling the truth. After a moment she relaxed her expression. Her tight lips curved into a light smile. "Well, thank you," she almost whispered.