Easy Pickings

2335 HOURS, K-1023 Lunar Body, Alpha-Delta IV system
Reentry turbulence shuttered the inside of the Basilisk, a nickname Delvin-A125 had come up with for Raptor Team's personal stealth dropship. Once in atmosphere, red interior lighting switched on, a sign that they were reaching their deployment window. He slotted C-13 charges into the rig harness of his MJOLNIR, each one on its own capable of of blowing the cap off a mountain. With the six on his chest, the aftermath would be like a meteor impact. Dust, glass, and ash. 
"All set?" Elise-A100 looked back from the weapons locker where she picked out a MA5K and several magazines of FMJ-AP ammunition. She stowed them in the hardened pouch that adorned her thigh, before also stowing away the carbine onto her back.
"Set." Beside him, Nelson-A089 put on his helmet, a modified Air Assault helmet, that featured an ECM capable of blocking out transmissions outside of those on a specific SQUADCOM frequency, which only the Spartans and their superiors knew. It amber faceplate also included a mission specific BIOS, which enhanced target location and tracking during rapid movement.
"Set." Melody-A003 waited by the cargo door, her body language clearly indicating an eagerness for the firefight to come. On her back was a M739, bearing notches in it for every completed operation they'd been on. She was going to run out of room soon on it. 
"Set." Delvin confirmed alongside the others. The lights in the bay would flick from red to green, and the other three would join Melody by the door.
"Alright, Raptors. Let's shred them." Elise hit the release for the door, letting in the roar of the outside night air. Below them, a mountainous region came into view, with specks of light below indicating habitation. And their target. One by one, the Spartans dropped from their transport, descending on the unsuspecting below like fallen angels of a reckoning yet to come. It was going to be a long night.
0750 HOURS, K-1023 Lunar Body, Alpha-Delta IV system
Delvin peered into the horizon, the light of the world's orange sun tinted a deep crimson hue thanks to the choke of black smoke that rose from what remained of the extremist base. His satchel rig sat empty, the Spartan having put the explosions to good use through the firefight. While the others drew the heat and lead towards them through a direct assault, he slipped in from behind their lines, planting the C-12 on select structures, before blowing them in sequence. The effect was immediate; the internals of the base and buildings collapsed in on themselves, while a subsequent avalanche buried the rest. After, it was a matter of cleaning up the remnants. Mission complete. Job done. Too easy, honestly. Especially for one of their missions.
"Raptor-Four... Delvin. Get over here, asap." Elise's voice crackled over TEAMCOM. Her voice was... off. Uneasy. For as long as he'd known and fought under here, Delvin never knew his leader to falter, not an inch. That meant whatever was going on was serious. In a brisk jogging pace, he followed the IFF tags of his teammates towards the western part of the base, coming across the aftermath of his teammates work. He took second-glances more than once. The extremist were very, very well equipped. With UNSC assets no less. Two tanks, multiple single-occupant fliers, and weaponry commonly distributed to the Army or Navy. It looked like they'd robbed an entire supply depot. Or taken one over.
The others hovered over what looked like a line of bodies, laid out side by side, as if undergoing an inspection. Elise kneeled over one at the far end of the line, seemingly not noticing Delvin's approach.
"What's going on? We doing a pyre for them? Thought this was a scorched earth op." he said, as he stepped towards the line of bodies. But again. Something was off. The equipment they had, the armor they wore. They bore names, ranks, even unit patches on their shoulders. Their harnesses and helmets were equipped in military standard fashion, not in ad-hoc or improvised fashion of someone who'd have stolen it would have. "They're-"
"ONI Security. Checked the IFF's on their IDs. It's all legit. " Nelson cut in as he walked up beside Delvin. "Explains the ordinance they're packing, too."
"Hell." Melody's voice came from nearby, instead of from TEAMCOM, his teammate having removed her helmet in a display of confusion and tiredness. "This was supposed to have been a Insurrectionist holdout. So why did we just sweep and clean out an ONI black site? How the hell do you make a mistake like that?"
"Command doesn't make mistakes." Nelson said. 
"Well there's a first for everything, Nelly. Or how else would you explain use taking out two of our own?" she shouted over towards him.
"Adrenalines wearing off, huh, Melody? Count more than five here." Delvin gestured towards the bodies.
"Not what I meant." She gestured behind her, toward Elise, and the two bodies she kneeled beside. Walking over, Delvin recognized the armor they wore almost instantly, even with parts of its photoreactive panels flickering in and out of view. His hands tightened into fists. 
"Was there supposed to be a preliminary team out here?" 
"Negative."
"Who the hell are we looking at, El?"
"Not from our cohort. Younger, probably the next class. No tags on them."
Delvin followed Melody's idea and removed his own helmet, kneeling beside Elise and laying a hand on one of the dead Spartans.
"What're we doing out here, boss?" He asked, without breaking his gaze on the bodies. "And what's the next move."
Elise brought her own gaze from the bodies, before standing up. "I...." She looked out towards the rising sun, the smoke that cloaked it dissipating. "I don't know."
Category:The Weekly