0300 hours

"Hey, wake up! C'mon we're gonna be late!" Vinnie exclaimed, shaking the still half asleep spartan

"Five more minutes." The commander replied groggily, before flipping over

"Watch out." Scar said, marching up behind Vinnie before pulling the spartan out of bed and punched him

"Ow- what the fuck?!" The spartan exclaimed in pain, putting his hand on his cheek

"Shut up and suit up, we're gonna be late." Scar ordered

"Alright damn! No need to be so aggressive about it!" The spartan responded back, annoyed before getting up

"Scar really?" Vinnie asked, giving her a glare

"It woke him up, didn't it?" Scar retorted

"Vinnie, don't worry about it, just wait outside." Corey told before crouching and grabbing his helmet

Vinnie and Scar reached the doorway where Jack and Layla were standing before Jack spoke up

"What was that about?" He asked, confused

"Scar is being rude again." Vinnie answered, spinning to her side and glaring at Scar again

"He wouldn't get up fast enough, so I helped him." Scar defended, smirking

"Riiiiight." Jack replied, he knew fully well how Scarlett can be as he's experienced it before

The commander finally walked up behind them and spoke up "Courtyard, right?" He asked

"Yep. Follow us." Jack answered, before doing an about face and walking off with Layla right on his tail

"Layla seems to be really close to Jack." Whispered Corey

"Yeah. For good reason too. A few months back, she went on a mission with a Pelican full of men. Three spartans and twelve ODST'S. They were sent on a search and rescue mission where civilians were located. While the mission was successful, an unforseen obstacle made its presence known as soon as the Pelican took off." Vinnie began explaining in a hushed tone

"A scarab was dropped from a passing Super Carrier who received the distress signal from the Covenant the group took out. The scarab fired it's AA gun at it's right rear thruster and the main gun at it's right wing. They didn't make it 30 meters when they were shot down. Out of thirteen civilians, twelve ODST's, three spartans and her co-pilot, she and two spartans were the only survivors ." Scar continued after Vinnie

"Two pack of brutes made their way to the Pelican in search of survivors. Layla had several broken bones and multiple fractures. She was unable to leave the Pelican, and her only weapon she had was her and her co-pilot's magnums. Within 3 minutes, the Pelican was overwhelmed from the rear and brutes made their way inside the pelican, checking each body and slaughtering the wounded spartans. That's when Jack came along. Like Layla, he was shot down, but by fuel rod guns. He survived in the city for a week on the move. He grabbed a piece of sharp jagged salvage from the pelican and started to pick off the brutes one by one."

"When he the killed pack that was outside, he took the last one's spiker and another's plasma rifle. Armed, he made his way inside and took down each brute singlehandedly. Layla, upon hearing the sound of dying brutes, cried out for help. Jack managed to reach the cockpit and found Layla. He immediately helped her out of the chair and put her over his shoulders. He made his way out of the pelican and into a nearby building before locking it. The two survived together for two entire weeks before being rescued. She's been by his side ever since." Scar finished

"Holy hell. That's horrible." Corey reacted

"We're here." Jack spoke, opening two large pair of doors and entering an enormous courtyard filled with ruins, vehicles, and catwalks

"Ah, you've arrived." Halsey spoke up from the intercom

"There will be a series of three different trials. CSAR, objective securing and finally extraction. To your right you have a variety of weapons to choose from for each exercise. Be aware, while the ammo that is used in these exercises are non-lethal, they will be painful and can put you on the ground for awhile. So try not get hit. You have five minutes to gear up." Halsey continued