(http://i689.photobucket.com/albums/vv251/nightsketcher1/Star%20Wars/HaloNoble_Team_Sniper-1-1-1.png)<br/><br/>Gladiator rapped knuckles with Lance and gave a snort to the Spartan's jeer "Yeah and maybe you scouts wouldn't be running yourselves ragged if you were quieter, like us snipers" a grin plainly evident in his deep voice. The Spartan swiped a water bottle from the counter and walked after the dark purple colored Spartan. "I'm on my way to brief right now" Lance explained simply before taking a drink of his water.<br/><br/>"Yeah, same" Everyone in the UNSC was family, sure everyone had their own groups but, everyone in those groups were brothers. It didn't matter if you were a ODST, Marine or Spartan, in the heat of the moment, everyone helped each other out.<br/>It was a bond that was difficult to explain. If someone broke that sacred trust though,<em>they</em>were the outsiders, shunned by everyone. The Spartan's in general though, were viewed like distant cousins, or second cousins by some, and just like real families some cousins were closer than others. Gladiator grew to his customary silence as they walked on, his mind caught on two subjects both with equal importance to him personally. One was the mission to come. The other was of a more personal nature. Relationships. He didn't have any of a personal sort and that's what was eating at him now. Ofcourse, technically relationships of that kind weren't allowed but, everyone knew that the brass tended to look the other way now-a-days, especially now with the future of humanity at stake.<br/><br/>A few turns and an elevator ride later they approached the briefing room and Gladiator swept the troublesome thoughts from his mind.<br/>The doors whisked open at their approach, revealing a man in his later forties. A glance at his service stripes revealed a thirty year veteran, while a glance at his rank insignia revealed the rank of an Admiral. The Spartan instantly snapped into a salut "Sir, Gladiator0161 reporting sir, as requested." The Admiral snapped a salut back "at ease gentlemen, you're early. I like that. Make yourselves comfortable while everyone else arrives. You've got a long mission ahead of you and I won't have you standing around like statues." Gladiator just nodded and walked over to an empty space of wall, leaned against it and crossed his arms.<br/><br/>With that the Admiral returned to examining a holographic display of a Covenant Cruiser.