A/N: I'm terribly sorry for, once more, taking forever to put up a new chapter. The creative juices just don't want to flow. But hey, at least we got a release date for Cyberpunk 2077.

Reach

UNSC Hyperion

5th of December

It wasn't the deaths of three of her people that pissed Evangeline Graves off the most. Logically, she knew that it was not her fault - even Jackson, all but mummified in bandages, had vehemently insisted that the guilt lay squarely at the feet of 'those piece of shit Insurrectionist bastards', sic erat scriptum. No, it was not the loss of three of Hyperion's Marines that upset her so.

It was the relief she felt at not having to report their deaths to their families. All three Marines were - or had been, rather - survivors of colonies long since torched by the Covenant. No other family to speak of. It made her want to deck herself in the teeth.

But that would accomplish nothing. So instead, she let out a frustrated sigh and finished her after-action report to Stanforth. But even as the computer announced departure of her message with a cheerful ping, her mind still raced, mulling over her close brush with death not long ago. She was convinced that Ackerson wanted her dead, or otherwise disposed of. A well-armed Insurrectionist, ambushing her not even five minutes after she'd left the planetary governor's office? Way beyond coincidence. Linda was right. It was through sheer luck - and her Remlok suit's life-protection capabilities - that she had gained the upper hand in that fight. If nothing else, it was a sobering thought.

Alas, much as she would have liked to share her suspicions with Stanforth, she lacked any concrete proof of Ackerson's involvement, or means of acquiring said proof. She'd just have to be better prepared in the future. It could very well cost her life if she wasn't.

It was very difficult - near impossible, in fact - to put Cortana in traction, or the AI equivalent thereof. Yet here she was, all but unmade by the sensation of the cloth clutched in her hands. Even the most mundane sensations was something she revelled in. And even though she knew that this was a very sophisticated recreation of the real deal, it still somehow felt more real than the scant few memories she'd retained from when Doctor Halsey had created her. The experience was surreal, to say the least.

A ping at the back of her mind drew Cortana out of her contemplation and she swiftly exited the simulation. There was a new message in the inbox, sent from IMCS Fortunate Son, an aging Narwhal-class mobile refinery that served as the headquarters for the Independent Miners Coalition. While not exactly capable of rivalling the likes of BXR even before the war, IMC nonetheless managed to stay in business through grit and determination. Of course, the outbreak of the war against the Covenant meant their fortunes took a turn for the worse.

However, the Covenant had been stonewalled in the last few months, their attempts at destroying the Inner Colonies unsuccessful. In light of such events, many were willing to reach out to UNSC in an attempt to aid the war effort. Even the IMC, who greatly valued their independence, seemed ready to swallow their pride. The message said as much, requesting an overhaul of IMC's mining vessels in return for effectively placing themselves under direct UNSC control.

And their military industry certainly needed lots of materials as of late - tantalum, for one, was a crucial metal in the production of Frame Shift Drives. The price of tantalum had soared as a result, exceeding even that of rare metals like iridium or platinum, and likely would remain high for the rest of the war.

Cortana bookmarked the message for the Commander and sent it on its way. Normally, she'd be annoyed to serve as a secretary, but the Commander had asked nicely. And good manners never were out of style.

"I remember the Alamo."

"She's fine." Kohler rolled her eyes as she pulled Evangeline upright.

"Are you good to continue, Commander?" Fred asked, entirely unfazed by having laid out a superior officer. Not that the list of things to give a Spartan pause was very long, mind you.

"Yeah, but you'll have to teach me that move." Evangeline grinned as she resumed her attacks, with Fred expertly blocking each and every one. He didn't speak much, only doing so to correct her stance or movements. The same scene played out through the entire hangar, with Spartans and Marines alike vigorously worked to hone their CQC skills.

This was their routine as of late - with no imminent Covenant invasions reported as of yet, much of UNSC's ground force was left twiddling their thumbs. At the end of the day, they could only wait for their enemy to make another move.

Fred tried his trick again, but Evangeline was a bit smarter to it this time - instead of getting laid out again, she rolled into a crouch before launching into another attack against the Spartan. The slight nod Fred made was the only sign of his approval as they continued sparring. She didn't harbour any illusion of ever being able to match a Spartan in a one-on-one fight, but that wasn't the point of this training. With Fred as her sparring partner, she didn't have to hold back, and therefore he could get a good measure of her strengths and weaknesses. In his own words, her lack of hand-to-hand skills allowed him to teach her from the ground up, as it were. And one would be hard-pressed to find a better instructor than a Spartan.

Fred attempted the move once more - this time, she expertly avoided it, moving aside and grabbing hold of the Spartan's arm. With a grunt of exertion, she pulled the man over her shoulder and flung him down on the training mat.

"Well done, Commander." Fred gave her an encouraging thumbs-up from the floor. He, predictably, was not winded or disoriented in the least. Both of them knew that the Spartan had allowed her to win - if she hadn't exploited the opportunity, Fred would have no doubt laid her out again.

"Uh-huh." Evangeline exhaled tiredly, planting her hands on her thighs to stop herself from keeling over. Every muscle in her body was screaming bloody murdering protest, her clothing clinging to her sweat-drenched body. She couldn't remember when she'd been this exhausted before. And Spartans considered this light exercise, to boot. At least she'd be alive to bitch about it.

Evangeline had a certain weakness. Specifically, it was athletic women. And a certain Spartan sniper was very much both athletic and a woman. There was no denying that she was also attractive in a striking, rugged sort of way.

No. Bad lesbian. She hurriedly tore her gaze away from Linda, resuming her cooldown stretches. Straight women are friends, not food.

Well. Not that she had any idea what Linda's preferences were. However, the point was made moot by the fact that fraternizing with another officer was just as verboten in UNSC as it was in Federal Navy. If you were stupid enough to go and undermine your integrity as a leader, shacking up with someone under your command was the way to go.

And she liked to think that she wasn't quite that stupid.

7th of December

"Is this intel solid, Sir?" Evangeline asked after a long stretch of silence, raising her eyes from her computer's screen.

"It was recovered during a salvaging operation of an assault carrier following Battle of Meridian. It's as solid as it can be, Commander." Whitcomb replied. "What we have here is a chance to strike back at the Covenant, and make it hurt."

"I'm all for kicking the enemy where it hurts, Sir. But destroying planets? That's…" She shrugged lamely, at a loss for words.

"Believe me, Commander, I hate the idea of it just as much as you do. But the Covenant have forced our hand in this." Whitcomb stated grimly. "We've been on the defence ever since the war began - of course, we made them pay dearly for every system of ours that the enemy destroyed, but it's been repeatedly shown that they are both willing and capable of shouldering the costs of this war. However, were we to deliver a precision strike deep in their heartlands - even if it's not a high-value target - then they'll be forced to acknowledge that they are nowhere near as safe from retribution as they think."

"And we need them to second-guess every move they make. I guess a surprise Exterminatus is the most effective way to go about it. Doubt the Covenant are going to just stand there and take it, though."

"Agreed. But we've had time to reorganize and replenish our forces. Now we'll show the Covenant that they could not have picked a worse enemy than us. It's time we were on the offensive for once. You have your orders, Commander."

Evangeline saluted crisply as the Admiral cut the connection. "Cortana! Contact the crew, get everyone back on board. We've got a job to do."