ik u guys have been waiting for this and im srry tht its short but bridge chapters r hard to write so bare with me here.

We all sat around the meeting room on Port Stanley waiting for someone to speak up and break the silence. Fortunately, Osman let us dress casually while we were on her ship so I didn't have to feel suffocated by the stupid uniforms the entire time we were there. I may be a Spartan but I was still a sixteen year old guy and even through all the training, I still have that rebellious teenage instinct on having to wear uniforms. I felt someone pat my shoulder as I was staring out the window.

"Kinda boring in here don't you think?" asked Ash. I stared at him with a raised eyebrow but just shrugged and continued looking out the window into space.

"What do you expect being cooped up in a room like this with no one talking?" I said. "But your right, this room could use a little life." I looked over at Ash and saw his eyes light up with amusement. I then regretted ever saying anything to him because I had the feeling he was going to pull one of his pranks. He glanced over at Nova who was chatting quietly with Sam.

My eyes went wide because I knew who he was going to prank this time. The last time he decided to prank Nova did not end well. He was bed ridden for four weeks with some cracked ribs and a broken arm. If he tried to prank Nova again then he was either very brave or even dumber than I thought.

Ash went over to one of the ships computers and pressed a few keys. A couple seconds later, Norah popped up in her avatar and she did not look happy.

"Ash," she scowled. "You know that I do not appreciate it when people mess with the computers on the ship." I wondered what Ash had done in the ships computer when I noticed a hatch open above Nova and Sam.

I continued staring at the opened hatch waiting to see what was going to come out of it when finally I got my answer. Two robotic arms slid out, both of them carrying Nova AND Sam's helmets. I could not believe what I was seeing but what I could believe was that Ash was stupid enough to try and pull a prank on both Nova and Sam.

As the metal arms slowly descended, I noticed something slide out of one of the helmets. I watched as the small pink drop of liquid fell down and hit the ground. That's when I got really suspicious so I turned toward Ash who was trying to hold back his laughter.

"Um…Ash," I started, dreading the answer that I was about to get. "What did you put in Sam and Novas helmets?" Ash gave me a sly smile and pointed at the helmets.

"Hair dye," Ash said plainly although I could tell he was trying really hard not to laugh. I was about to protest and tell him to stop when I heard the sound of something splashing. I spun around and saw Sam and Nova drenched and struggling to get their helmets off but they wouldn't come off. "And I may have set their helmets to lock onto them for five minutes."

I was about to hit him but then I thought better of it and went over to help Sam and Nova get their helmets off. Stephen and Mark followed my example and tried to help.

I had to get Stephen to hold Nova down as I opened the back panel to her helmet. I switched a couple wires and pressed a button on the side of the helmet. I felt the latch open and Nova must have too because she stopped struggling. I slowly lifted the helmet and what I saw made my eyes go wide.

"Oh…my," I said shakily.

"God!" finished Stephen. "What happened to your hair?" Nova's eyes went wide and she pulled out her stainless steel combat knife and looked at herself in the reflection. I noticed Nova grip the knife so hard that her knuckles turned white.

I heard the chirp of a computer as Mark finally got the helmet off of his sister. When the helmet came off of Sam I had to rub my eyes because my mind could not register what I saw. Sam didn't get the pink hair treatment instead her hair was neon orange and she was furious.

"Who did this?" demanded Nova. Immediately, Mark, Stephen, and I pointed directly at Ash. Ash started to move toward the exit but Sam moved in front of him, cracking her knuckles. Sam pushed him on the ground and allowed Nova to walk over and have the first punch.

"Nova and Sam," I started. They turned around and looked at me. I also noticed that Ash looked at me with hope in his eyes. "Don't hurt him too bad. We need him for this op otherwise your good to go." The blood drained completely from Ash's face as Sam and Nova smiled evilly.

"Yes, sir," They both said. Nova picked Ash up by the back of his shirt and carried him into the next room with Sam following.

"No, not the face!" yelled Ash. I winced as I heard the boom of Ash flying back and hitting the wall. I looked at Stephen and he just shrugged and went back to talking with Mark. After I listened to a few more crashes come from the other room, I decided to join Stephen and Mark.

"—what do you think this op is about?" asked Mark. Stephen took a swig of his soda and just shrugged his shoulders.

"Hell if I know," he said. "Osman's not exactly the type of person to just give us details before we get to the rendezvous point."

"Yeah, but still," I said. "It would help if she gave us some info instead of just whisking us off into space."

"Oh relax, Sol, it's not like she's not going to give us details whether it's now or when we get there doesn't really matter," said Stephen. He drank the last of his soda then crushed the can and threw it into the trash. I noticed that the crashes from the other room had stopped.

I got up from my chair and went over to the door. I was about to open it and see what was going on when I heard the click of the door. I quickly moved out of the way as Sam threw Ash out onto the ground.

"Holy crap," said Stephen and I couldn't agree with him more. Ash's left eye was swollen shut. He had a cut just above his eye brow. He was holding his sides so I assumed that a couple of his ribs were cracked and his nose was bleeding all over the floor. I kneeled down and took out some bandages from the first aid kit that I always carry around.

"Jeez, Nova," I said as I was patching up Ash. "I told you to go easy on him." Ash groaned as I stitched up the cut on his forehead.

"Hey, compared to last time, this was going easy on him," said Nova. I just shook my head and went back to fixing Ash up. Ash said a few words in Spanish but I couldn't make out what he said. I heard a door slide open and looked up to see Osman looking at all six of us.

"What happened in here?" she asked. I lifted Ash up on my arms and sat him down in a chair next to the table.

"Something that you definitely did not want to see, ma'am," said Stephen. She looked at Sam and Novas hair then she looked at Ash. I had a sneaking suspicion that Osman had a good feeling on what had happened.

"Very well," she said. Osman walked over to a screen panel and pressed a few commands. Immediately, a blue hologram of Trevelyan showed up above the table. The planet like Dyson Sphere was huge. It took up the entire solar system where planet Onyx had been.

"Hard to believe that we can't go back to Onyx, huh?" whispered Ash. I knew what he meant, Onyx had been the only home we felt like we had when we were Spartan threes, what with the training and all with Mendez there.

"The mission," started Osman. "Is to link up with a team of ODST's that were suppose to work a Torch and Burn op. Unfortunately, they lost contact with three of their own who were carrying the explosives. Since the ODST's cannot continue the mission, I am sending the six of you down there to complete what they could not. Just as a precaution, I am equipping all of you with explosives in case we lose any of you. Since Ash is our explosive expert I am giving him most of the explosives," Osman turned around and stared at us. I could swear I saw a slight smile as if the mission was already completed. "Any questions?"

any questions? feel free to review