Those last couple of minutes before Patric sat up and coughed were the hairiest Gladiator had experienced in a long time. He breathed a sigh of relief when his comrade grabbed the bottle and began chugging water. A couple of seconds afterward, he slowed his drinking speed and began to sip at it. The big blue and gold armored Spartan laughed as his friend commented that he didn't want to know where the water had come from. Still grinning, Gladiator returned the smile gesture and patted his friend on the back "That's probably for the best for now, and you're welcome."<br/><br/>Gladiator got to his feet and made some room as Patric began to stand and give his report "Yeah, that explosion might have been a clue" he said wryly, a grin beneath his golden face plate "before we move, we need to gather as many containers as possible that can carry water. I heard something over the comms as I was preparing the water for you. I think it was Shana and her squad. Look around for some type of container while I try to reestablish contact, after that, we head back, and find water as we go."<br/><br/>Gladiator took a glance over at the ruined window and door, nothing stirred but, it wouldn't stay that way for long. That he was absolutely sure of. He brought the comms display up on his HUD, and studied the signal in front of him. It was still crammed with static but, it looked like it had lightened quite a bit in their immediate area. Microwaves, gamma waves and radio waves, as well as other types he couldn't identify, all separated in front of his eyes as he focused on increasing his comms bandwidth and strength. Finally, after a few minutes, he found a combination that seemed to do the trick.<br/><br/>The radio waves coalesced into one single strand that jumped and twitched but, it held. He whistled a tune that he knew his fellow Spartans would know, an easy four tone tune that had been around for years that they used to determine if the channel, and the team, was in the clear.<em>"Olly Olly oxen free! We're all free!</em>" he gently sang into the mic.<br/><br/>He waited a couple minutes, giving his team the chance to respond "This is Gladiator zero one six one. I've found Sierra three three four. Repeat, I've found Patric. He's alive, and we're making our way back. Shana, Hunter, sitrep. I hear something about snipers? Over."