A tall soldier wearing a very dark, midnight blue Mark-5 Mjolnir armored suit sat on top of the Red Team base's roof, going unnoticed by the two members of the aforementioned team that stood a few feet in front of her as she began writing something down into her private journal.

Journal Entry: #????
Date: XX/XX/2552
Subject: Why are we here?
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Hello once again, old friend.

It's been a while, hasn't it?

Oh, me? Well, I've been doing...fine, thanks for asking.

Hm? You wish to hear about the subject and how my week has been since I've last written?

Alright then, here it goes...

It's been approximately two weeks since I've arrived on the planet called "Chorus", and it has been an equal of two weeks since I've started staying in "Blood Gulch", an unknown area that seems to be located in a large box-like canyon isolated from the outside world.

The other soldiers that I have met (and later observed from a far distance) are mostly unintelligent and non-resourceful in any sort of basic military training, being only told to hold a gun on them at all times while seemingly being dead set on trying to eliminate each other base off of the different colors of their armor and the team that they represent.

One color being "Red".

And the other being "Blue".

Honestly, I find it highly unreasonable for the two teams to be fighting against each other over a reason such as that (especially if this were to be based off of a similar situation that has already been resolved over five centuries ago), but one of my personal theories is that the people who run the U.N.S.C. only did this as an excuse to throw these young souls away just because they didn't make the cut, sending them off into a different part of the galaxy on an abandoned (yet still colonized by humans) planet just so that it appears as if they were going there to do a "noble effort" for the military by defeating the Reds/Blues, only to be immediately forgotten once they've left them alone with a couple of other soldiers who also didn't make the cut.

But enough of my ranting, let's go to the subject at hand.

The subject being: Why are we here?

This question was asked by a member of the Red Team, whom seemed to be in the moment of thought when asking this question to his fellow teammate.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
(His) Designation: Richard D. Simmons

Description(s):
-Gender: Male
-Physical Features: N/A
-Armor Color: Maroon
-Military Rank: Private First Class
-Current Status: Alive

Relationship with teammates/others:
-Has a fairly decent relationship with his orange-armored teammate; regardless of the constant bickering between the two. However, I don't believe he will act the same way to the rookie once he or she arrives, but that all depends on what his opinions are on the matter.
-Has a somewhat "father-son" relationship with his commanding officer, but is believed to be ignored at times regardless of the constant praises he gives to his commanding officer.
-Dislikes the Blue Team, and will do anything to get rid of them for his commanding officer.
-Although he gets intimidated by my appearance and doesn't engage in combat against me when our teams are "fighting", he seems to have some sort of "neutral trust" towards me, and has at least communicated with me a few times whenever I've pass by their base; even if it was only for a short while.

Notes (based on observations):
-Very attentive to his commanding officer/Obeys his every order regardless of how far fetch it can be at any given time (can be portrayed as a "brown-noser" in simple terms).
-Is tactically minded and has an ability to continuously demonstrate a formulaic and effective battle plan and strategy, but was never able to perform it because his plans were continuously overlooked by his commanding officer.
*When having the chance to attempt and put his plan into action, the plan will often fall apart and cause the soldier to go into a panic state of mind before breaking down and eventually crying afterwards.*
-Tends to express enjoyment when in physical combat against Blue Team.
-Weapons used: M6D Magnum Sidearm, BR55 Battle Rifle(preferred)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Now, here's how the question was brought up:

It was early this morning, and I was assigned by my "commanding officer" to walk around the area and see what the Red Team could be up to (chosen to be in Blue Team by both groups due to them being two (soon going on three) members shorter than Red Team (and for the fact that my suit was colored a dark midnight blue; even though I consider myself a "neutral" in this situation)).

And so, with a wave of a silent salute to him, I left to do what was assigned to me, hearing the whispers of my fellow "teammates" talking about me as I go (mostly continuous questions about my "outrageous height" and praises of how much of a "good soldier" I am).

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Here's some information that I've collected about my teammates:

(First Teammate)
Designation: Leonard L. Church

Description(s):
-Gender: Male
-Physical Features: N/A
-Armor Color: Cobalt
-Military Rank: Private/the "de facto" leader of the Blood Gulch Blue Team
*Something doesn't seem to add up right about the death of their previous commanding officer, but I'll put that on hold for a later observation.*
-Current Status: Alive

Relationships with teammates/others:
-Is quite bitter towards Private Tucker, and is most likely to act the same way to his new teammate once he or she arrives at a later date. Again--like I've written for Private Simmons--it all depends on his opinions on the matter.
-With me, however, it's completely different. The only reason he gives out is that I'm the only one that "makes sense around here" to him, to which he would then praise me exponentially everytime I do something that was "right" in his opinion.
-Dislikes the Red Team, and will give at any chance to take them down and end the fight against them (as long as it doesn't involve with himself getting K.I.A in the process).

Notes (based on observations):
-Prefers to be alone to keep himself aligned with his thoughts.
-Has a very angered personality; leading for him to be hateful and annoyed by everyone on both teams (excluding me).
-Weapons used: M6D Magnum Sidearm, SRS99C-S2 AM Sniper Rifle(preferred)

(Second Teammate)
Designation: Lavernius Tucker

Description(s):
-Gender: Male
-Physical Features: N/A
-Armor Color: Aqua
-Military Rank: Private First Class
-Current Status: Alive

Relationship with teammates/others:
-Seems to be well acquainted with Private Church, but his relationship with him seems to have its ups and downs due to Private Church's bitterness towards him.
-With me, it's equivalent to Private Church, but sometimes likes to ask questions about my outer appearance--my height specifically--and prefers to use me as a comrade that doesn't question about him saying things that are mostly related to something about the opposite gender.
-Dislikes Red Team to some extent.

Notes (based on observations):
-Personality comes off as an unruly/immature teenager.
-Lacks in prudence and common sense.
-Has a strange obsession with the opposite gender.
-Uses an equally strange and unusual catchphrase after almost every sexual innuendo at any given point ("Bow-Chicka-Bow-Wow", I believe is what he says).
-Weapons used: M6D Magnum Sidearm, M392 DMR(preferred)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

As I headed off towards the location of where Red Team's base was (while using stealth to my advantage), I then came across two of Red Team's members standing at their stations on top of their base's roof--one of which being Private Simmons and the other being his fellow teammate, Private Grif.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Designation: Dexter Grif

Description(s):
-Gender: Male
-Physical Features: N/A
-Armor Color: Orange
-Military Rank: Private
-Current Status: Alive

Relationship with teammates/others:
-Has a fairly decent relationship with Private Simmons; regardless of the constant bickering between the two.
-Has a passionate disgust for his commanding officer, resulting him to always be talking back with the distinct vocabulary of sweet sarcasm.
-Dislikes Blue Team to some extent.
-Like with Private Simmons, we have a "neutral trust" relationship, and sometimes would communicate with me whenever he spots me sitting in the shade beside a few rocks--even though the majority of our time would be spent on him taking a very lengthy nap in the process.

Notes (based on observations):
-Is fairly brash and has a certain flare for being melodramatic.
-Seems to be non-motivational in any activities involving with movement in general.
-Weapons used: M6D Magnum Sidearm, BR55 Battle Rifle(preferred)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Continuing on with the events:

After successfully sneaking pass them without them noticing, I then climbed up onto their roof and sat myself down a few feet behind them in complete silence, waiting patiently for them to start discussing on anything that could be relevant to my assignment.

After an hour or so of waiting, I've then decided that it was about time for me to message to Private Church about there being nothing out of the ordinary when one of the soldiers before me finally spoked.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
(Play Audio Recording File#????):

Simmons: "Hey."

Grif: "Yeah?"

Simmons: "You ever wonder why we're here?"

Grif: "It's one of life's greatest mysteries, isn't it? Why ARE we here? I mean, are we the product of...some cosmic coincidence, or...is there really a God? Watching everything? Y'know, with a plan for us and stuff? I dunno, man. But it keeps me up at night."

(Pause Audio Recording File#????)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Although I can't feel much emotions, I knew that deep down, I felt the familiar feeling of "sympathy" towards Private Grif's answer, knowing full well as to what he meant by that (especially since I have asked those questions myself a long time ago, but a little...different).

But apparently for Private Simmons, he didn't seem to get on what his teammate had meant by that (probably not the answer that he was looking for) as he stood in silence for a few seconds, staring at Private Grif in confusion.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
(Continue playing Audio Recording File#????)

Simmons: ".....What? I meant why are we out here, in this canyon?"

Grif: "Oh, uh...yeah."

Simmons: "What was all that stuff about God?"

Grif: "Uh...hm? Nothing."

Simmons: "...You wanna talk about it?"

Grif: "No."

Simmons: "You sure?"

Grif: "Yeah."

(Pause Audio Recording File#????)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Even though I could've just left and ended my assignment there, I've decided to stay a little longer, seemingly intrigued by what else they could possibly conclude about as to why they were left here in Blood Gulch.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
(Continue playing Audio Recording File#????)

Simmons: "Seriously though, why are we out here? As far as I can tell, it's just a box canyon in the middle of nowhere, with no way in or out."

Grif: "Mm-hmm."

Simmons: "The only reason that we set up a Red Base here, is because they have a Blue Base over there. And the only reason they have a Blue Base over there, is because we have a Red Base here."

Grif: "Yeah, that's because we're fighting each other."

Simmons: "No, no, but I mean, even if we were to pull out today, and they would come take our base, they would have TWO bases in the middle of a box canyon. Whoop-dee-fucking-doo."

Grif: "What's up with that anyway? I mean, I signed on to fight some aliens. Next thing I know, Master Chief blows up the whole Covenant armada and I'm stuck in the middle of nowhere, fighting a bunch of blue guys."

(Pause Audio Recording File#????)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

After hearing what Private Grif had said, a memory then flashed over my eyes, remembering reading about this classified information on my portable private computer module during my first week of staying here as I continued to listen in on what else they might say, keeping the thought of wondering who was the person that had told them the news in the back of my mind for later.

But after going back to observing the scene before me, I've then started to notice a bright glare of the sun's rays reflecting off of something in the distance, making me look up to where a certain ledge was as I then use my visor to zoom in on that location, seeing that it was two of my aforementioned teammates looking down on us from their current position across the canyon while arguing about something that was most likely relevant to the SRS99C-S2 AM Sniper Rifle that was being held by Private Church.

*Theory: They've began to wonder where I was and had started questioning on what was taking so long for me to complete the assignment that was assigned to me, so they've immediately assumed that something was wrong and have decided to take matters into their own hands.*

As I was observing my teammates' argument from afar, a new voice then suddenly popped up into the clear, leaving me to believe that I must've briefly distracted myself from doing my previous task on listening in to Private Grif's and Private Simmons' conversation as I immediately listened in on the voice that belong to the Red Team's leader, Sergeant Sarge.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
(Continue playing Audio Recording File#????)

Sarge: "Ladies! Front and center on the double!"

Simmons: "Fuck."

Grif: "Yes, sir!"

(Pause Audio Recording File#????)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Designation: Sarge

Description(s):
-Gender: Male
-Physical Features: N/A
-Armor Color: Red(Standard Issue)
-Military Rank: Staff Sergeant
-Current Status: Alive

Relationship with teammates/others:
- Has a passionate disgust for Private Grif, having to have a whole list of plans on how to kill him.
*Found it behind a few rocks near their base one day and decided to read it.*
-Has something of a "father-son" relationship with Private Simmons, but is either oblivious to the maroon-armored soldier's feelings, or just doesn't seem to care as long as he gets praises out of it.
-Dislikes Blue Team to a massive extent.
-Is "mutual" towards me to some degree.

Notes (based on observations):
-All ideal plans were made personally by him, strategically being "suicide" missions as most of them are reckless, illogical, and always involved with some sort of violent gesture.
-Succeeds very well in mechanical engineering even with the limited supplies given to both teams, henceforth to how he had build his first robot-soldier.
-Suspected with mental issues: insanity, paranoia, etc.
-Weapons used: M6D Magnum Sidearm, M90 CAWS DTM Shotgun(preferred)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

As the two soldiers were about to turn around, I then immediately use my armor suits' camouflage system to hide me from their eye sight, silently watching as Private Grif and Private Simmons look into my direction in mild confusion.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
(Continue playing Audio Recording File#????)

Simmons: "Did you just...see something?"

Grif: "I don't know. It could've been a bug or something. Now lets go before Sarge starts shooting at us."

Simmons: "You mean shooting at you."

Grif: "Exactly."

(Ending Audio Recording File#????)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

And with that idea in mind, I then watched as they both headed on downstairs to meet up with their commanding officer outside of their base.

As for me, well, I've decided to walk towards the front of their base and sat down where they've last stood, continuing on my observations on the Red Team with my interests peaking in on how this day would go for me.

And that is the end of how my two weeks has been here in Blood Gulch.

This is Spartan 100, Freelancer Atlantis, and Soldier (First Name) (Last Name), signing off.