[h1][center][color=0072bc]Ben-E218[/color][/center][/h1] 

Ben's time in the mess hall passed quickly. Grikgar went about his business with the food, and the mess the Unggoy had made was cleaned up. Quickly finishing his own meal, the Spartan-III reported to the war games deck, where he proceeded to practice his sniping skills and use of grenades. There was less time than he had anticipated, as by the time he had moved on to training in the use of the grenade launcher, Phong (who he had unmuted at this point) contacted him.

[color=fff79a]"Ben, I had received a signal from Major Robinson. Please proceed to the designated hangar immediately."[/color] Not that there was much of a choice. Phong had taken the liberty of ending the simulation in any event. Quickly gathering his gear, Ben-E218 made his way to join with the rest of the team. He stopped to find Grikgar still milling around the simulator. 

[color=0072bc]"Come on, Grik. You can tell me all about your virtual kill count later; it's time for the meeting."[/color] He briefly paused to wonder what Covenant mission briefings were like. It was probable that the Grunts were given much less explanation than the Elites had been told. Cannon fodder only needed to know where to be pointed. Still, he supposed that a Grunt like Grik would have been considered a bit more than the usual bullet-catchers his brethren were. An elite grunt- used in the sense of superior soldier- might have been afforded at least an explanation about [i]why[/i] he was about to die and what he had to accomplish before that happened. 

Sarcophagus was impressive, despite being very hard to fully see in the dark. It was almost like a gigantic bowling ball set in a badly-lit room. Ben had his sniper rifle stowed on his back, and had a designated marksman rifle and a pistol with enough ammo for an extended engagement for all firearms. Doubtlessly, this wouldn't suffice, so he brought a complement of frag grenades and a combat knife along with him. Obviously, a one-man mission was out of the question, although he [i]was[/i] technically the only one assigned to [i]his[/i] special mission in the event one of the team proved to be a liability. 

[color=fff79a]"As a reminder, the capture or corruption of a UNSC AI is unacceptable, especially for AI whose rating is above my level."[/color] It wouldn't have been the first time Ben had to destroy a smart AI. At least they knew it was nothing personal and accepted their fate, insofar as an AI could be considered a "he" or "she." Even so, he hoped it didn't come to that. So far, nothing about the mission was too exotic or difficult to comprehend, even if it took place on a rather exotic location. Get down the surface and take a mammoth to a destination, then attack.