What is the definition of War? You ask some bigwig or intellectual, they'll tell you its an armed conflict between two opposing parties. You ask a soldier, they'll tell you it's a living hell. You ask a Spartan, they may tell you the exact same thing. You ask Aura, it's the only life that'll ever be left for her. These reflections didn't mean much in the face of the current situation though, did they? After all, it seemed everyone on Grey Axe had just been subtracted from the war, probably permanently. This was like Shadowed Hilt all over again, but this time they were the ones waiting for a rescue, and unlike the ODSTs theirs would never come. As she crept through the bush, she prodded the jetpack on her back with her finger, double-checking its functionality for the third time in the last hour. The same as the last two times, the jetpack was solid and still connected to her armor. "[color=f7941d]Aura, I'd have told you if the jetpack's status changed, relax. The network's still silent, before you ask, but you know as well as I no Marine, ODST or Spartan will break their radio silence unless it's already far too late to help them.[/color]"

"[color=0072bc]Damn, no need to get all uppity Arielle. Don't be such a sack of sassy sauce.[/color]" Aura grumbled in reply as she moved through the brush, taking point through the trees. Behind her, she could hear Maki and Sal moving around about as subtly as a Scorpion Tank, then again they were all in MJOLNIR, so being quiet was difficult at best. Hell, Aura had been at this longer than everyone except the Sergeant Maj, and she was still far from quiet in her armor. With a mental shrug, she continued forging on, her assault rifle held out in front of her and covering her front. Her senses were alert, but having been at war for so long meant much of this was second nature, leaving her room to drift off into her own mind, remembering the events of this operation. Nodachi had dropped in with the ODSTs, their objective being to assist in securing their initial DZ. All those ODSTs were dead, the only reason Nodachi wasn't was luck and power armor, they'd been located on the left flank of the formation, so when the blasted Scarab appeared, they'd been able to scatter the quickest. She still remembered seeing those soldiers reduced to their component atoms by that blasted gun.

It was sad, yes, but Aura had to stay upbeat for the men and women behind her. They were all veterans, they all knew what they were doing and they'd all seen loss before, but that didn't change Aura's role in the squad. Viktor was the leader, he was the best with tactics and strategy, the fire-team respected him and his orders. Aura was more than just the second though, she was effectively the squad's morale officer, providing a shoulder to cry on, an encouraging word when times were hard and, when it proved absolutely necessary, a harsh taskmaster to keep the squad focused on its orders. As if to confirm her own musings on her own role, she heard Sal's voice from behind her in a restrained whisper "[color=9e0b0f]Hey, All-A, you think any of the other teams are still operational?[/color]" Aura chuckled slightly at the nickname, it wasn't one Sal had helped coin but he'd picked it up fast when they told him it owed to her training record and her designation. "[color=0072bc]Of course they are, Sal, they're Spartans. When we find another fire-team we can coordinate and look into fixing this mess.[/color]"

Re-assured, Sal fell silent again as Aura made her way forward, and that was when she heard the mumbles from her 12. She held up her fist, and the team came to a halt, rifles coming up to sweep as Aura passed the report back through the team to Viktor "[color=0072bc]Noise to our front, no eyes on the source.[/color]" Looking back to see her TL's call, she saw Viktor nod and signal them forward with a hand, so Aura turned back to her front. The fireteam spread out into a combat formation and moved up into the clearing, ready to fight..

Just to come helmet to helmet with another Spartan team, Aura was quick to say loud enough for both teams "[color=0072bc]Friendlies, hold fire![/color]" Nodachi slowly advanced into the clearing, rifles coming down into easy positions when they saw their fellow Spartans. Viktor approached with Aura, heading to talk to the highest ranking team member he saw, a Warrant Officer by the marks on his armor. Aura, meanwhile, nodded to the fireteam and said to the nearest member of the other team "[color=0072bc]I'm Aura, A203, we're Fireteam Nodachi. Glad to see some more Spartans survived the hot-mess that this operation became.[/color]"