[Kairu]

After 10 minutes of absolute mental agony, Reynolds started to feel his ambitions beginning to change. He adamantly refused to believe that Admiral Harrison was acting with the best judgement, but without the support of the other senior officers of the fleet, his opinion was alone, and he dared not speak it. When he returned to the bridge of the Mind's Attrition, he proceeded to the medbay where his CMO and Cochraine were waiting for him. Cochraine was already sitting up and eating, which was quite an improvement given her previous condition. Reynolds: "How are you feeling, Lauren?" Cochraine: "If I could say being hit by a Covenant Assault Carrier is an acceptable and plausible situation, then I would feel like I was. But realistically, I would really like to return to active duty." Reynolds and his CMO looked each other, sharing the same look and empathy. Reynolds: "I doubt that would be a good idea. You still need to undergo physical therapy. Plus, given your current condition, you may not survive a briefing." Reynolds had joked trying to make Cochraine smile, but only make her feel more disappointed and unwanted. Cochraine: "Marcus, I'm fine. I can handle it. I want to be back on the bridge and doing my job. Staying here in this bed is just... boring!" Reynolds shook his head. Reynolds: "I'm sorry, Lauren. I cannot allow you to bypass your Doctor's orders. If you want to know what's going on, here's a brief synopsis: We're losing San Angeles. The Covenant have pushed us back from orbit and at last known intel, they were holding position outside of the Regional HQ Bravo in White River. Right now, the fleet is prepping a communications beacon and ODSTs. We're going to send the beacon out to re-establish communications with our ground forces, if there's any left. While we are doing that, we will be hitting the Brute fleet with our guns and blast ODSTs into their hull, taking the fight to them. That is pretty much what you've missed." Cochraine looked downhearted at Reynolds. Cochraine: "So you're really going to keep me here?" Reynolds sighed. Reynolds: "Yes, Lauren, I am. See you in a few hours." Reynolds walked out and proceeded to the bridge. By the time he arrived Anderson was ready to brief Reynolds. Reynolds: "Give me the word, Lieutenant." Anderson: "ODSTs are prepped and standing by as well as all other stations reporting combat ready." Reynolds: "Good, give the Admiral our green light. If there is nothing else, LT-" Anderson: "Actually Captain, there was one other thing I want to handle with discretion. I've noticed something... peculiar going on about the situation on the surface." Reynolds: "Alright, Anderson, I'll listen to your conspiracy." Anderson began replaying saved time indexes from earlier and began explaining the correlation between all of them and how the mysterious duo was linked to everything. Anderson: "In conclusion Sir, I feel that we should be keeping an eye on them. I think they may have had an involvement with the UNSC's condition on the planet." Reynolds: "Very thorough, Anderson. Package these findings up and encrypt them using Top Level Shipboard permissions, senior staff only. And you are right about one thing." Anderson: "What is that, Sir?" Reynolds: "We need to keep an eye on those two."