We walked over to two Hunters fiddling with scopes and rifles. "Dis is Adam Kubis better known as Hunter one. He is our forward sniper, you vant someone dead without having to leave the comfort of your own home he's your man." Kubis looked up when his short but effective bio was completed and nodded. "Sun Xiang is Hunter two. Sun is Hunter one's spotter and our second sniper." "Do not worry about Kristof pronunciation of Xiang. Hunter two will do fine. And don't mind Kubis, he doesn't talk much." Neither took their helmets off but we shake hands and move to the next member. "Ah Dr. Tanya Volkov, you look as beautiful as my Umbra." He pats his custom PSI Umbra II. "Comparing me to your weapon might be romantic in the shit hole you grew up in, but here your just firing blanks." Kristof looked stunned and hurt. He used a cough to recompose himself. "Dis is our new Titan. Baker. He will be on fire two." "Welcome Baker, I am pleased to meet you." She stood and we shook hands. "This doesn't seem like a normal fire team. I thought that when we fight, we attack in greater numbers." I say looking at the meagre group of soldiers at our disposal. Neither Volkov nor Kristof needed to speak, they just looked back to the captain and awaited her guidance. The captain said nothing. She just sat slumped in the darkest corner sharpening her blade. Her visor hid her face, but I knew she had not taken her eyes off me. What was she looking for? And why am I in this strange squad?. "Ok Kronos, gather in." The Captain brought life to the room with a call to arms. The individuals grouped up like a family at dinner, awaiting to consume every morsel fed to them. "We have been activated. We are to establish comms with a infantry unit twenty clicks south. They have been ambushed and are in need of extraction. Hunter one, two and Titan one, that's you Baker. You will be fire team two. I need fire two to recon the area and take out any threats. Fire one will will handle medical and extract, questions." Hunter one is the first to talk. "Who attacked them and how many?" "We have reports of Fallen. At least two squads, maybe twenty four pirates. But I will rely on fire two to give me a better number." The captain looks at Hunter one and two. "And that number better drop fast before we move in. Am I clear" The two Hunters looked at each other. Even though I could not see their faces, I knew they were smiling. Volkov was the second to add to the briefing. "Any word on casualties?" "We have three down and another three K.I.A., other than that, the distress came quick and under fire. Any more questions." Even if this was my first mission I need to know more. I was taught that information is power and the more information you have the better your chances. "Captain" "Speak up Baker" "What's our extraction?" "We need to clear the area first, patch up any casualties and a Tiger shark will pick us up at a evac point two clicks North of their last known position. Now unless there's more, we need to move. Baker, come over here with me." Both fire teams sprang into action. Guns and ammo were being readied along with a silver box by each of the members. "Baker I bet your wondering what type of squad this is and where you fit in. Well, this is my team and where we are going we don't have the time or space to accommodate fifty or a hundred soldiers. I like two snipers, one shooter and spotter. This also gives me the option of long range crossfire. A medic that doubles as my coms officer. A demolitions expert who also doubles as rear guard. One thing I am missing is a security officer, but you need to be more. I need a hammer. I need a daemon on the battlefield. "Captain I only have my standard issue Viper P3" "Oh stop crying Baker. Everything you see in this room is O.S.P.(on site procurement). Hell even your Ghost was only picked up last week" "My, Ghost, what's that?" The Captain handed me a silver box just like the others were preparing. She lifted the lid and out popped a round glowing ball, about the size of my helmet. "Ahhh. What a relief. I thought I was going to be kept in there forever. Wait. Has it been forever, checking. No, my internal clock has been reset. Outrageous! how dare you presume you can touch my programming. Who's in charge. I demand to speak to a superior officer. Where is professor White?" I thought the glowing orb was never going to shut up. It just hung there flicking between the Captain and me. I assume awaiting it's answer. "This Baker is your Ghost and for your information I am your superior officer. Compute" A flat cone of light came from the orb and scanned the captain. "Well why didn't you say that before?" It spun and scanned me. "This one. You have given me, the most brilliant mind in history, this one. He has only just graduated. Not even top of his class. No. I refuse. I will be yours. Yes, you are far more worthy of my brain" I don't think the captain is use to people or machines disobeying her because the tone that followed could only be described as, to the point. "You are to report to Titan Baker and provide him with every possible piece of information he requires. If you refuse I will be forced to disintegrate you and find another floating dictionary. Understand?" The orb floated further away with every syllable thrown at it. Then turned back to me. "Well Titan what are you standing there for. Are you waiting for me to give you the history of Fallen reproduction. Because I can you know. In two hundred dialects" "Thank you captain for my. What ever this is" I think that was the worst response I could have given because the thing didn't shut up for the next hour. I hope we get to the way point soon, because I know who I would like the next casualty to be.