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Hey, guy! I'm so sorry for the long wait! My computer has been being really dumb recently. Okay i've got some news for you. I've been working on a new huge story for a long while now and it's almost ready to be uploaded. But, it's better than all my past stories and i'm thinking of deleting them and starting over. So, if you guys like this story the way it is, i'm gonna need a total of 6 reviews before July 15. That gives you guys ten days to get five reviews and save this story. So, keep reading and review!!!

Nightfall fell over the strange planet.

Felix and Dominic looked at each other as they walked through the forest toward the Beta pelican, and the mine. Delta squad was right behind them, and Victor could almost be heard breathing down the back of Dominic’s neck. He shivered a little, nervous.

After an hour of walking and trying to keep as quiet as possible, the procession made it to the pelican. Victor looked at the crashed ship and frowned. “Where is this mine, Felix? You said it was close.”

Felix turned and glared. “Victor, it’s right through there,” he said, pointing at the rocky tunnel they’d passed through. Without waiting for a response, he ducked into it and walked through quickly. On the other side, he led them to the edge of the brute-made ravine.

Some of Delta squad actually gasped as they spread along its edge and looked down in it. Victor drank in every detail as he said, “Okay. Let’s get down there.”

“How?” asked one of Delta squad.

“They must have a ladder somewhere,” hypothesized Felix as he looked along the edge. He pointed further left. “There.”

Sure enough, there was a blue ladder dropping down into the mine. Victor nodded and waved the men on. Felix and Dominic watched them for a moment, before Felix whispered, “I don’t trust them. I think it’s best if we stay behind. I don’t like the thought of them having their loaded weapons pointed at our backs.” He then marched on to descend into the mine.

Dominic followed in silence. He knew his captain had a right to be worried. But he didn’t think all of Delta squad was bad. Victor though… something was up.

As his feet touched the ground of the mine, he forgot these thoughts and was on full alert. They were deep in enemy territory now, and needed to be careful. As they walked around the mine, he switched the safety off on his suppressed SMG.

After checking out the first section of the mine, Felix jogged over to peer around the corner and look for enemies. Dominic was behind him, and soon most of Delta lined up against the stony wall, waiting for Felix’s order to move forward. His voice crackled through his helmet speakers. “Okay, guys. Four brutes, walking this way. Beyond them, there seems to be a processing area. We can find some samples there. Who’s got suppressed weapons?” Several signaled him that they did, Dominic was among the first. “Okay, get up front, and take them out when they get close. Wait for my mark.”

Felix then moved out of the way and let Dominic and five of Delta squad line up near the corner. They could hear the monsters talking, and Dominic started to sweat. If the alarm was raised, they’d either be quickly killed, or worse… taken prisoner to be some chieftain’s snack. He shuddered at the thought and readied himself. Just as the first brute began to turn the corner, Felix said, “Mark! Fire!”

The six suppressed weapons caught the brutes totally unaware, as they were quickly chewed up by the bullets. Victor tried to take control of the mission. “Good work, boys. Let’s go.”

Felix stopped him with a hand on the man’s chest. “We have to hide the bodies. We don’t want some curious brute finding these guys and raising the alarm while we’re here in the middle of this mine.”

Dominic couldn’t see through the man’s helmet, but he pictured the big burly man going red. He nodded and looked down. “Right. Um… Those with suppressed weapons come with me. The rest of you stay here and clean these up.” The man then ran around the corner without checking for enemies first.

Felix and Dominic rolled their eyes as they followed the idiotic soldier. He would get himself killed. But then again… was that such a bad thing? Dominic laughed a little to himself at how Felix kept embarrassing Victor and putting him in his place. That was why he respected Felix so much: Unless you were of higher rank than Felix, he wouldn’t take shit from you of any kind.

Victor, meanwhile, had run ahead and stopped at several carts scattered around in the next area. The others walked up, more alert and ready to fight as he sifted through the materials inside the cart with his weapon. Felix walked up and looked in the cart.

Rocks. Lots of them. Other carts were filled with them, too. So far, nothing seemed to stand out to them.

Victor glanced at Felix. “I don’t know what to look for,” he confessed. “I don’t know if it’ll be glowing or… or what.”

“Keep looking through it. I have a feeling we’ll know when we see it,” said Felix. He then walked to the side with Dominic. “I’m going to radio back to Red. Let him know we’re here and we’re looking.”

“Okay,” replied Dominic as he went to look for samples with the rest of the group.

The rest of Delta squad, the ones cleaning up the bodies, walked back. They were covered in blood now and a little out of breath. One went up to Victor and said, “We dumped them in half-full carts of rocks and covered them up. At first glance they might not see them.”

“Good work,” said Victor. “And by the time the sun is up again we’ll be gone. So hopefully it won’t matter.”

The man nodded silently in reply.

Dominic then looked at the cart in front of him and started looking around for some sort of stone that looked different from the rest. He shook his head as he looked through all the grey rocks. Everything looked the same. Shit. They had more important things to do them look at rocks. He walked over to his captain and said quietly, “To hell with this! We got more important things to do.”

Felix nodded as he looked through some of his own rocks. “But, we have orders.”

“Yeah, we also have priorities, sir.”

Felix looked up at the angry Dominic. “I know.” He sighed. “I’m… I don’t know.” He then shook his head and turned around to lean against the cart. He whispered, “I’m just… I’m so worried about Victor over there…”

Dominic nodded. He put a hand on his friend’s shoulder and nodded. “We need you, sir. Felix.”

Felix nodded and looked up at him. “I know.” He stood up straight and hefted his weapon. “I think it’s time we got moving.” Dominic smiled behind his helmet visor as his leader marched over to Victor.

He didn’t watch as they started arguing, but pretended to be looking for a sample. Meanwhile, he thought about what Felix had said. Victor was up to something. Personally, he believed the man wanted control of the men. The leader of the operation would certainly be greatly praised. Victor was a poor excuse for a soldier, but he wanted to be recognized and worshipped by others.

Felix was in the way.

What bothered Dominic, was thinking about how far Victor was willing to go to secure control of the unit. Would he intimidate? He was already doing that. Would he manipulate? Possibly. Would he kill? That was a disturbing question that needed an answer. But Dominic feared that by the time they got the answer… someone, meaning Felix, would be dead.

Dominic put his helmeted face in his hands and propped his uniformed elbows on the metal cart in front of him. “Oh, God…” he whispered to himself. They had enough to worry about without an officer going crazy.

“You alright there?” asked Felix as he walked up.

Dominic straightened. “Yeah. Just…tired.”

Felix could always tell when Dominic was lying by his eyes. He craned forward, trying to see his eyes through his visor but couldn’t. Straightening, he said, “Okay. Well, Victor’s gonna give us the go-ahead to move forward. “

Dominic laughed a little. “You mean you forced him to give the go-ahead.”

Felix laughed too. “Of course.”

Minutes later, they were out of the mine. The land past the mine was flatter, less trees and foliage. All cut down by brutes.

The men were uneasy about walking on through the land beyond the mine. It was foreign compared to the couple miles surrounding their cave. They’d all travelled through there many times and were getting to know the land. This area was totally different and unfamiliar.

Felix spoke over the team’s intercom. “Okay, boys. Let’s stay on our toes and be alert. We’re deep in enemy territory now.”

“No shit,” said Victor.

Dominic growled quietly in his helmet and shook his head, but kept walking. Far ahead, he saw buildings. Dominic keyed his mike, “Sir, buildings.”

“Where?!” asked a Delta.

“Up there. See?” he said as he pointed, heart pounding.

The men all looked at a high up ridge at least several miles away. Their buildings were too far to have details made out, but they seemed to be in the typical brute fashion: uncivilized and decades behind advanced buildings of the day. The men wondered how they made it to space. Probably with the help of the Covenant and the Prophets… but those days were over.

Felix broke his train of thought. “Let’s go.” He then started walking along the path between the stumps of cut down trees and deep tread marks in the dirt.

“Whoa. What?” asked a Delta.

“I thought we were supposed to find a city,” said another.

“Yeah, that’s why we’re here.”

“Well…” he pointed. “found one. So let’s go back to the cave!”

“No. We need to get closer. So we can pinpoint the exact location for the ships above,” ordered their leader.

Victor was trying to decide whose side to take and was staying silent, looking back and forth between the arguing men. Dominic was again astonished by the man’s idiocy. By now though, he should be used to it. Even expect it from the man.

Felix didn’t wait for the man to say anything, just turned and started marching into the forest. Dominic, always wanting to support his leader and friend, followed him without hesitation. Then, they heard the trotting footsteps of Delta squad behind them.

After nearly an hour of careful travelling through the forest, they came out to a large clearing on a hill. The men all sat down on boulders and tree stumps as Victor and Felix looked at the city in the distance.

Dominic joined them and asked, “So, how close do we actually have to get? Like a mile away?”

Felix glanced at him, but didn’t reply immediately. He sighed and said, “We need to get close enough, and set up the beacon, so that the ships overhead can unload on the beacon’s location and destroy the city.” He looked at him silently then.

Dominic took a moment to understand what he meant… and then understood with a sickening feeling. “You mean… in the city?!”

Felix looked at the other men quickly and walked him away from them and Victor. “Quiet! We don’t want to tell them.”

“Well they’ll understand when we’re right at the base of one of their buildings, sir!”

Felix shook him. “Quiet! We don’t want them to panic or try to leave…” he glanced back again and looked at Victor for a moment longer. “We can do this. We’ll just have to be very careful.”

“How close does the beacon have to be?”

“Within the city itself, but it could be right at the edge. It should be no problem,” he said and shrugged.

Dominic stepped back, as though he had just taken a blow. “’No problem’?! Sir, with all due respect, we’re waling right into the hornet’s nest! Hell yes it’s a problem!” His voice was rising.

Felix squeezed his upper arm. “Shut up! We can do it, and we will. Or die trying.”