22:58, 22/11/1620 PD
Faris Base, Cascanna, Stoinia

- "ETA three minutes to drop zone, Chief." the pilot said over the Pelican's intercom.
- "Affirmative. Prepped and loaded." Sherman replied dryly.
He locked the M28 Magnum Pistol to his right thigh first, just close to his 5 grenades he had attached to his lower back. The main pistol of the Stoinian Armed Forces which packed perhaps too much power for the gun's size. Nonetheless, it was the perfect fit for Spartans. He then picked up a X-55 Battle Rifle and holstered it to his backplate through magnetic locks. Last and not least he attached a brand-new combat knife to his left calf before finally equipping his standard M65 Assault Rifle. He had enough ammunition to last a few days with him. Enough to finish off the Battalion's worth Venterran Drop Shocktroops. 500 enemy soldiers he had to eliminate. He'd even received the green light to shoot any feral Mardakii from the reservation if they were to interfere. 
- "Chief, do you copy?" Lieutenant General Muntoiu called over the coms.
- "Roger."
- "We're linking our interface with your helmet's visors. We're going to broadcast your vision live over all battlenets for the Venterrans to intercept it. They'll learn to fear us."
- "Sir, what about our internal communication?" Chief asked worryingly.
- "Will be dealt with by our engineers. Don't worry, any conversations between us won't be broadcasted."
- "Copy that."
- "ETA 30 seconds!" the pilot said again over the coms.
- "Good hunting, Chief."
- "Will do. Sir."
Chief Sherman then stepped forward as the Pelican's backdoor opened up and the sounds of blazing winds filled the holding room. The Pelican was flying at 80 meters above the stream's shore at 350 m/s, just above the speed of sound to mask their approach. Sherman was going in hard and catch the scattered troops by surprise. Bringing fire from above and then engage in close quarters combat.
- "Mark." the pilot finally said.
Chief then sprinted forwards, jumping out of the Pelican and letting himself fall down. He immediately caught a grenade in each hand and calculated the trajectories to eliminate two large squads with the help from his visor. He threw the grenades onto their trajectory of certain doom and began to fire his X-55. Aiming for the scattered few Venterrans with precision shots. 20 meters above ground, he holstered his gun and prepared for the shock, locking his armour into position.
He landed hard, creating a small crater in the dirt and a dust cloud. Landing with his right knee and right fist on the ground he looked up. His visor flared up with red silhouettes. As he stood up, he grabbed the M65 and aimed it towards the enemy. Firing rounds as he now ran towards them before they could react, turning their disorientation to an advantage. However, as the Venterrans shot to him from all direction, Sherman kept running forward as his shield took plasma round after plasma round. Some of the Venterrans stopped firing as they sought a new way to adapt to Sherman's shields. Sherman shot those individuals first. Within the first minute, Sherman counted roughly 36 tangos down. A great start to his mission. The whole Venterran Battalion hadn't linked up yet, so he'd have to eliminate them group by group.
The stream started to fill with blood of all colours as the Venterran corpses fell into it. Sherman picked one such Elite corpse from the river and used it as a shield. Not because his shields had failed, but merely to install fear into the invaders. Sherman kept advancing to another group of Venterrans that was trying to flank him. He sprinted towards the flanking elements. Firing his M65 towards the larger group while he held the corpse up with his other arm. By the time he reach his targets, the corps had been charred by all the plasma rounds it had taken. No doubt the smell would be terrible. Sherman then threw the corpse towards the flanking soldiers and jumped two meters high while shooting three more enemies down. Kicking another Elite's jawless face with the brunt of his left foot and putting his right foot on the chest of a Venterran so as to land straight on it. Sherman's weight ultimately squashed the Venterran's chest open and lungs spilled through its ribs.
Sherman's motion sensor then picked up a fast approaching enemy coming his way. He ducked down and twisted around nearly doing a pirouette. When he turned sufficiently around he saw his first Mardakii for the night. Cladded in armour, the brute tossed its hammer where Chief's chest had stood only a mere seconds ago. A huge miscalculation as Sherman unsheathed his combat knife and stabbed the brute right under his jaw. Lacerating his enemy's throat wide open, he shot a few more rounds, eliminating two more tangos.
He felt a moment of silence and looked around for a moment. It had seemed the first group had been eliminated. The scattered bodies formed a grotesque sight as blood and guts were spilled all over the river. The brief moment of silence was then disrupted by plasma that fired up. Sherman looked immediately towards the source of the sound and saw only a blue visor and double edged plasma sword. A ravenous scream could then be heard coming from its direction, but it was all a distraction. He heard incoming plasma launchers  coming his way and instinctively jumped into the air. As he fell back down the cloaked Elite jumped towards him. Not wishing to grant the Elite's wish, he pointed his M65 straight at him. The Elite tried to sweep his plasma sword towards Sherman, but he kicked it away with his left foot at its handle, breaking the cloak for just enough moments for Sherman to make a clear shot in-between the two lowest jaws. Killing the Elite as he grounded himself before taking a tumble forwards.
 

He took another look around him and located the source of the plasma launchers. Making his way towards it, more and more plasma swords appeared out of thin air. Sherman, though, dodged, blocked and even captured such a plasma sword from the enemy combatants. Slicing them off one by one at the mere ignition of their plasma sword. The night had merely begun.
 

---

06:14, 23/11/1620 PD
Faris Base, Cascanna, Stoinia

The night had been long and tiring. Sherman had returned back into the valley where he landed the night before. The corpses were all there still, though no more blood filled the stream. The bodies had dried out. Over the entire Valley, Sherman had completed his mission in eliminating all Venterran Drop Shocktroops. Through trees and caves he had hunted the last Venterran on Stoinia. He could finally receive a pick-up now and hopefully get the answers to his questions. Though not before he heard a sizzle from a far off bush.