User:Minuteman 2492/Sandbox

Short Story
"Halt, patrol ahead!", hissed Sam-G019 to the rest of Ion Team. Ahead of them were two rebel soldiers, silhouetted against the night sky, an MA3A cradled in each of their arms. "Kodiak, Dyne, take them out.", continued the SPARTAN. The two other IIIs nodded, and moved up. Kodiak quickly jabbed one with his knife, and he dropped. Dyne, however, struggled to try and subdue the other man, who quickly fired his rifle. All of a sudden, the low drone of a siren wailed across the base, and the entire base was teeming with rebels. "Shit.", said Dyne.

"Sir, sir, please wake up!". Ryan Lee awoke to the sound of a pounding on the door to his quarters, and his aide's muffled voice begging him to wake up. Opening the door, his aide immediately began to babble at him. Holding up a hand to stop him from ranting on any more, he studied the man for a second. Something was wrong. His aide was wearing combat gear, equipment reserved for a UNSC attack. "What's going on?", he asked. "Sir, the SPARTANs are here, we have to get you out of here now!"

"Calm down. I have to get something.", Lee responded. Unlocking a compartment in his desk, Lee pulled out a bound pile of papers, and gave them to his aide. "Give one of each to the couriers, tell them to make haste to their assignments." Despite the fact the young man was obviously shaken by the attack, he immediately ran for the motorpool with little hesitation. Sighing, Lee sat down at his desk. He knew he couldn't escape, and he was at peace with that fact, as he looked out his window, heard the gunfire, and began to finish the constitution he had been writing for the settlement.

"Keep 'em back!" yelled the rebel in charge of Second Squad, as he raised his own MA3A, and fired a forty millimeter grenade from the underslung launcher on his weapon. The explosion threw up a massive amount of dirt and debris in front of his targets. Looking through the cloud that had been conjured up, his heart sank as he spotted the armored figures continuing towards their position.

"Let 'er rip! Unload your ammunition!", he screamed, terrified, at Second Squad, as their position erupted in a cacophony of gunfire. The noise of Confetti Makers, MA series rifles, hunting rifles, and all manner of firearms filled the air as they attempted to stop the inevitable.

Before anyone knew it, Kodiak was in their midst, illuminated by the light of their muzzle flashes, tearing through their ranks with a knife, spilling crimson across their fortifications. Attaching a bayonet to his rifle, Second Squad's CO charged at him, hoping to run him through with the weapon. Before he knew it, a knife had extended from within the SPARTAN's armor, and he himself had been run through.

"Forward!", ordered Sam to the rest of Ion Team after the first fortifications had been overrun. "Sepia, go in the commander's residence, and take him out. We'll deal with the rest of these Innies."

"Yes sir.", responded Sepia, cold as ever. Within her mind, she knew the rebel commander was more than just another name, another Innie. He had been a friend, a comrade, and now here she was, sent to kill him. Moving through the settlement, she began looking for the commander's residence, skulking through the darkness, and looking in the windows of each residence, trying to see which was the commander's.

Eventually, she found it. The home looked the same as most of the other domiciles, but it had a two guards outside, one of which, a young man, no older than eighteen, had arrived only seconds after Sepia did. Raising her silenced M6, she fired twice, and the guards dropped. Turning over one of their bodies, looking for the key to the home, Sepia was greeted with the sight of the younger one's face, his eyes locked straight ahead in fear, something she was unable to forget.

Opening the door, Sepia began checking room to room, trying to find her friend, no, target. Hearing the scratch of a pen against paper behind one door, she slowly opened it to see a man with a head of sitting hunched over at a wooden desk. At the sound of his door opening, he set down his pen and straightened up. He had no weapons. "No. No. No.", went Sepia's conscience as she walked behind Lee, and pressed the pistol to the back of his head. "I'm sorry.", she whispered, before pulling the trigger. The shot echoed in her mind, and the image of Lee's destroyed head imprinted itself in her mind. She had just killed a friend, for the UNSC. A friend, for a faceless organization that wanted to use her as nothing more than a human weapon. On the desk, there was a manuscript, what Lee had been working on. Out of curiosity, she picked it up, and placed it in one of her armor's storage compartments. Contacting Sam, she said, "Mission accomplished, Ryan...the target has been neutralized."

About Three Days Later

"Riots continue on the planet of Tyrene as rebel leaders continue to incite the populace against the UNSC. Many have attributed these riots to the recent death of infamous rebel figure Ryan Lee. So far, multiple firefights have broken out, and rioters have set fire to multiple UNSC government buildings with improvised explosives, and engaged in fights with police. Fatalities are not known at this time however.", the news correspondent said, as Sepia listened to the latest news on the newest insurrection on Tyrene. The UNSC's actions had come back to haunt it, and they were blaming it on the Insurrection. As she looked at the document that had been on Lee's desk, she pondered what this all meant. But she didn't know. Maybe she would in time.

It's a Long Way To Victory
Verse 1:

Up to mighty New Tyne

Came a young recruit one day

As the streets were packed with troops,

And everyone was gay,

Singing songs of Eridani, The Rubble, and Sigma IV

Then Johnny got excited and he shouted to them there:

Chorus:

It's a Long Way To Victory,

It's a long way to go

It's a long way to Victory

To the sweetest maid I know,

Goodbye, Eridani

Farewell Sigma IV

It's a long, long way to Victory,

But my mind's right there!

Verse 2:

Johnny sent a message

To his girl in New Cassino

Saying "Should you not receive this, reply and let me know"

"If I make mistakes in spelling, my dear", said he

"Remember its the pad that's bad, don't lay the blame on me!"

Tyler Sharpe
"I do not follow any government, or movement, or what have you. I only follow those who are braves that hold honor and right above all else. Do I always love to work for the UNSC?  No, no I don't, but right now they're our best hope against a genocidal evil.  When this war is over, we'll see who I believe stays right, and whoever does, I shall follow."

- Tyler Sharpe

Lieutenant Tyler Sharpe was a member of Project FREELANCER during the Human-Covenant War. Born in 2528 on New Vermont in a rebel enclave known as Camp Patriot on the planet of New Vermont, Sharpe joined the enclave's militia in 2546. After a period of time fighting for the rebels, he went AWOL after he was ordered to take part in an attack on the civilian populace of the planet by Jonathan Ulan, who at the time was acting as an advisor to the rebels.

Believing the Covenant to be the greater threat, Sharpe left the rebels and became a civilian on the planet, and about a month after his desertion, joined New Vermont's Colonial Militia unit. Less than two years later, a Covenant scouting force came to the planet, and Sharpe showed extraordinary valor during a skirmish between his scout unit and the aliens.

After this display of skill, the Office of Naval Intelligence began considering to place him in Project: FREELANCER due to his actions and qualifications. Despite his Insurrectionist past, ONI kept it hidden from the Director's prying, and he was allowed into the program.

To Hell...and Not Back
"Think they can see us man?"

"Doubt it. The truck's cargo is protected from surveillance, remember?"

"Oh, right."

"Just stay cool, we'll be ok."

Looking over the dash of his civilian truck, Jonathan Ulan looked around for any of the local constabulary. Chewing on his lower lip, he looked around one more time before turning off the main road onto a dirt path that led below the New Richmond Centennial Bridge. Halting next to one of the bridge's support struts, Ulan hopped out, walked over to the truck's engine, and began looking over it.

"Try it now!"

"Still won't start man, the engine's busted!"

"Damn. Where's our mechanics?"

"Eh, they're on their way, might be seven more minutes according to them."

"I see. Check on our cargo, make sure it hasn't spoiled."

"Alright.", said Ulan's partner as he hopped out of the cab, and walked nonchalantly to the rear of the truck. Opening up the door, he studied the Archer Missile warheads inside for a moment, before closing it and saying to Ulan, "Don't worry, our cargo hasn't spoiled."

"Good. Now let's wait for the mechanics."

Leaning up against the cab, Ulan produced a Sweet William Cigar, and lit it up. Inhaling the fragrant smoke, he looked around, watching for any more constables. Although there were none to be found, he did spot another truck pull off the road and pull up next to him.

"Looks like our mechanics are here", Ulan said as he strode over to the truck's cargo bay, his head swiveling back and forth. As he opened the door, a group of rebel plainclothes fighters jumped out. One of them, who had a distinctive scar above his right eye, came over to Ulan, and said, "Your mechanics are here sir."

"Good.", Ulan responded.

"Has the cargo spoiled?"

"Nope, it's still good". Leaning in closer, Ulan whispered, "Were you followed?".

"I don't know. I don't think so, but I'd stay cautious."

"Alright. Come with me, we have to get the cargo ready."

"Atkinson, status report?"

"All good here Ulan, no intruders detected."

"Excellent, keep a watch out."

"Will do, out"

Returning his radio to its position on his web belt, Major Ulan scratched his stubble as he looked around the dull gray walls of his quarters in his destroyer, Revolutionary Fervor. Pulling out one of the drawers on his polished wood bureau, Ulan pulled out his M6C/SOCOM, and stuck it in its holster. Tapping in a code, Ulan opened the thick door leading to his quarters, and stepped out into the hallway, which were the same gun metal gray as the walls of his room. As a team of engineers rounded the corner, Ulan pulled one aside, and asked, "What are you doing? Has there been a breach?"

"Nothing major sir, just another problem with the outer hull. One of our bolted on Titanium-A plates fell off in Section 9, most likely due to stresses."

"I see. Get a security team to come with you though", Ulan responded. At this, the engineer nodded, and began to move out.

Although these things had happened before, Ulan was cautious. The UNSC would more than love to neutralize him after his recent string of successes, including the theft of the Fervor, and there had already been multiple attempts on his life by ONI agents in the past years. Being cautious had kept him alive, and he wasn't about to let up now.

Continuing through the hallways, Ulan began his trek to the bridge, which he had changed the position of to the middle of the ship, with the former bridge turned into an observation center. As he passed through the mess hall, Ulan grabbed an MRE breakfast bar, which he consumed on his way to the bridge. Entering it, the entire bridge, which wasn't very busy as compared to other days, snapped to attention, or at least a loose approximation of it at their stations.

"At ease.", Ulan said with a quick wave of his hand. Pacing past the United Rebel Front flag that adorned one of the bridge's bulkheads, Ulan approached the surveillance officer, Lieutenant Harrington, he asked, "How're the repairs going?", he asked, "Any incursions?", Ulan continued.

"No sir, nothing that I can see. However, would you like me to contact the security team?"

"Yes Lieutenant, I would."

Nodding, Harrington brought his microphone up to his mouth, and said, "Security Team Four-Tango, what is the situation?"

Silence followed, and again, Harrington repeated his statement, to no response.

"They might be having some trouble with their radios. Ask one of the teams nearby.", Ulan said, clenching his fists.

Nodding, Harrington spoke into the radio once again. "Security Team Ten-Yankee, any activity in your area?"

Once again, there was nothing, only silence. Ulan was now convinced that this was no simple accident. Getting on his own radio, he stated, "To all security teams of this ship, we are on high alert. All teams, begin sweeping the ship, with focus on Section 9, over".

Checking his M6/SOCOM, the Major flipped off the safety. Turning to the rest of the bridge crew, he ordered, "Lock the entrances to the bridge". Nodding, the systems operator, Captain Burke, turned to his station, and four distinct thumps sounded through the room.

Wiping the sweat from his forehead with a handkerchief, Ulan began to pace back and forth across the room, his footfalls distinctive amongst the silence that had enveloped the bridge. Although the UNSC had made attempts on his life before, none of them had ever breached the Revolutionary Fervor.

Turning back to Harrington, he asked, "Can you show me what's going on out there?"

Nodding, the Lieutenant swallowed hard, then responded, "Yes sir, I can. Do you really want to?"

"Yes, I would."

"Understood", said Harrington as he pulled up the security feed.

Ulan's mouth turned dry, and he felt queasy. On the screen, in the mess hall, one of his sergeants pointed out a target from behind a flipped over table that was acting as a makeshift piece of cover for he and his squad, but before he was even able to get a shot off, he fell to the ground. The rest of the unit was in complete chaos, some holding their ground, others begging and praying, hoping to survive. But it did not matter, it all fell silent as each man died.

Taking a deep breath, Ulan saw his hands shaking uncontrollably. As he continued to force himself to watch the massacre on the fuzzy screens, he felt a tiny wet drop run down his cheek. As the battle neared his position, Ulan began to hear the muffled crackle of gunfire through the hull as each security team was taken down one by one. All of a sudden, Ulan felt extremely queasy, as though he had a terrible flu.

After what seemed like an eternity, there was a thumping outside the bridge door. Unholstering his pistol, Ulan took up a position next to the bulkhead, waiting.

After two more minutes of thumping, an explosion threw both riveted gun metal gray doors off their hinges, and two black armored personnel, Ulan could only assume they were ONI, breached the room. Any bridge officers who were quick enough to draw a weapon were quickly neutralized by the ONI agents, splattering blood and gray matter across the consoles.

Ulan had decided already he wasn't going to die in some UNSC prison. Lashing out with a sidekick at one of the agents' midsections, he heard a series of snaps as the agent tensed. Taking advantage of his sudden lapse in concentration, Ulan put the man in a headlock, and stared at the man's female partner, a scowl of anger on his face.

"Make another move, and your friend gets it!", the Major screamed, spittle flying from his lips. He had no qualms whatsoever about killing the agent, but he was worth more as a bargaining chip to stall for time for now.

As the seconds ticked by, the standoff continued, until Ulan released his grip on the agent, and kicked him towards his partner. Charging forward, his head down, Ulan aimed for the other agent's midsection. However, she deftly sidestepped him, and her partner took the hit, his head slamming into the bulkhead with a thud, before falling down, limp.

Turning around, Ulan raised both of his fists, and watched for the agent to make a move. Twitching, and adrenaline running through his veins, Ulan threw a quick left hook at her midsection, which made a series of snaps, but despite these noises, the agent's face stayed stoic, as if nothing had happened.

Despite the damage already done, Ulan was in no mood to be merciful to her. Yelling a war cry, he threw a roundhouse kick, aiming to hit her in the ribcage again. But she quickly caught his kick, and, using it as leverage to force him to the ground, she stood over him, threw one last punch, and he was enveloped in darkness.

Awakening, Ulan was all but certain he was now on a UNSC prison ship. But, opening his eyes, he saw three of the Fervor's security personnel and a medic, standing above him. "Steady there.", said one of the troops, who he recognized as Jack Carlson, as he helped the Major to sit up.

"What happened?", Ulan asked groggily. "Where am I?"

"You're still on the Fervor sir. You're alright, you just got coldcocked."

"What happened to the other agent?"

"I don't know sir. We saw 'er hauling ass off the bridge as soon as we and a couple other squads rounded the corner, but I don't know where she went.  Probably escaped aboard one of our Pelicans."

"Shit. Casualty report?"

"Almost all security teams sent to intercept the agents were killed."

At this news, Ulan did a double take. "What?", he asked. "Did you say that everyone, who intercepted them is dead?"

"Yes sir. Us, and a few other squads are the only survivors."

At Carlson's confirmation, Ulan knew that almost all of his friends were now dead. Although his outward appearance was completely calm, his only thought was: "I'm going to kill that agent, and destroy the UNSC. They've taken everything that matters from me now, and for that, I won't just make them suffer, I'll torment and attack them until they beg me to stop, and then annihilate them!  Complete annihilation of the UNSC, that agent, or death are now my options."

"Are you ok sir?", Carlson asked, concern evident in his voice.

"What? Yes, I'm alright, I just need a moment to myself", Ulan responded as he staggered off the bridge. Stumbling through the bloodstained hallways, Ulan came face to face with a dead Sergeant Danson, a comrade he had known for his entire time in the Insurrection. Rushing into the nearest latrine, Ulan began retching heavily.

Sitting with his head against the wall of one of the stalls, Ulan yelled, "Goddamnit! I'll kill them all!  I'll fucking make them all suffer and die!  UNSC, ONI, I don't give a damn!  They're all fair goddamn game!"

Yuri Pasternack
Yuri Pasternack, also known as the Armored Ace, was a rebel tank commander. Born in 2532 in an isolated rebel settlement on the colony of Oceania, Pasternack lived an unremarkable life until 2547, when Tess-B312 was sent to the settlement to eliminate a United Rebel Front Colonel who had taken up residence there. As the SPARTAN went house to house, eliminating all resistance, the Pasternack family, who were sheltering the Colonel, lay in wait. As B312 breached the house, she killed both his parents as they attempted to resist. During this, Yuri's arm was shattered and he was knocked unconscious after he tried to attack Tess.

After he awoke, Pasternack found himself lying on the back of a rebel armored vehicle, its crew having picked up his unconscious form. Without any family left, he took on the vehicle's crewmembers as his new family. For the next few years, he worked with the crew, as they taught him a great deal about armored tactics and maintenance.

By the time he was twenty, Pasternack had become the gunner after the death of the previous one in a skirmish with the UNSC, and proved to be a far above average shot with the main gun, destroying seven enemy armored vehicles in one engagement. After a period of a few more years of service, he had become the tank commander, and had earned a half a million credit bounty on his head for his actions. As time passed, Pasternack recruited more members to the cause, eventually forming a motorized unit as a fast attack group.

As the group gained strength, Pasternack decided to make it a roving group. Hijacking a long haul freighter, he loaded it with the group's most valuable vehicles and provisions, destroying the rest, before making a random slipspace jump. Explaining to his unit the plan, Pasternack led them across the galaxy, aiding rebel groups in return for provisions or spare parts for their vehicles.

However, in 2581, Pasternack was heavily burned when an incendiary shell hit and set his armored vehicle afire. Barely escaping with his life, he was believed dead for some time, until he reappeared in 2584 on Oceania, commanding the Oceanian People's Resistance. Despite the UNSC's best efforts to capture or kill him, he continued to escape, and by 2600, was still believed to be the active commander of the OPR.

Childhood
Yuri Pasternack was born to William and Julia Pasternack in an isolated rebel settlement on the colony of Oceania in 2532. As a child, Pasternack developed a close relationship with his parents, both of whom were not rebel fighters, and so were able to spend more time with Yuri. Save for some manual labor he had to aid with for the settlement now and again, Yuri lived a comfortable life, socializing with the other rebels in the settlement.

As a child in school, Pasternack was interested in history, especially military history of the conflicts long past, seeing them naively as a time of honor and glory, and had a tendency to daydream about those times long gone, something that he grew out of by his teenage years, but kept his interest in military history.

Loss
"Mom! Dad! No!"

- Pasternack at the deaths of his parents

However, Pasternack's idyllic seeming life was shattered in 2547. In November of that year, a man who was only referred to by the settlers as "Colonel", was taken in by his family. Unbeknownst to Yuri, the man was an infamous rebel commander who had escaped capture on the planet of, and had come to Oceania in hopes of evading the UNSC. Despite the man's checkered past, Yuri knew nothing of it, and saw the man as a hero, having learned about the Insurrection's great icons in his schooling, which was slanted towards the sympathetic view of the rebels.

After two months of sheltering the Colonel, the settlement came under attack by the UNSC, who sent the SPARTAN-III operative Tess-B312 to bring the man in dead or alive. Awakening to the sound of gunfire, Yuri was herded into a closet in the home with the Colonel by his parents, attempting to hide the two from the UNSC. When B312 breached the home, William and Julia attempted to fight her off, but were quickly killed by the SPARTAN. Bursting out of the closet in a display of sheer grief and rage, Pasternack's arm was shattered by B312 and he was knocked out as he attempted to attack her.

Adopted
When Yuri awoke, he was lying on the hull of a rebel controlled mobile gun platform, surrounded by its crew, who had picked up the unconscious teenager after they returned to the settlement after a distress signal was sent to them, and watched over him until he awoke. In a state of grief following the death of his mother and father and grateful to the crew for rescuing them, they took on the status of family to Pasternack. As they roamed around from settlement to settlement, Yuri learned about the systems of the vehicles and the tactics the rebels used in combat.

Along with this, the rebels, little by little, questioned Yuri about what had happened before they picked him up. Describing the figure who had raided the settlement to the crewmembers, the latter told him that the attacker. was a member of the infamous SPARTAN's and the. In a fit of rage at the UNSC, Yuri was itching to get into combat, but the crewmembers refused time and time again, leaving him with rebel sympathizers while they went and did their missions, something Yuri envied greatly.

Gunner
Yuri's role as a simple protege or quasi son to the crew changed greatly in October of 2549, when the rebel crew returned from one of their missions with a member missing. When Yuri asked what had happened, they revealed the member missing was the gunner, who had died when a sniper shot. hit him in the head as he peeked out of the turret. Now confronted with the very real possibility of death from combat, Yuri still volunteered to take his place, feeling he had an obligation to help the crew.

Combat
"They looked just like me. But I put that out of my head. They were faceless drones to me back then.  It's not so simple now I guess."

- Pasternack on his first combat experience

After a three day period of arguing and deliberation, they decided to allow Pasternack to become part of the crew. Issued a captured UNSC tanker helmet, which would become his main headgear for many more years, Yuri became the controller of the vehicle's 125 millimeter main gun and 7.62 millimeter coaxial machine gun. Pasternack's first experience of combat was less than four days later, in an engagement with a UNSC supply convoy, he put the teachings he had been given into practice, destroying four. Later in his life, Pasternack would confide that he felt no sympathy at the time. "We're just soldiers, fighting for different sides. I don't hate them [regular UNSC troops], not anymore. I hate those who are part of the organization known as the Office of Naval Intelligence, those who are behind why I'm an orphan and why so many others are suffering."

- Pasternack on his change of heart towards UNSC troops

Yuri's mixture of anger and skills taught to him by the crew led him to become deadly accurate with the gun, something that was proven at a major engagement between rebel forces and UNSC troops, where he destroyed seven, along with multiple other assorted vehicles. As the combat went on, Yuri began to see the UNSC troops he fought as just as human as he was, started to respect them as equals, and began to accept that the Office of Naval Intelligence were what he saw as the true villains behind it all, and not the average soldier, something that, while it did not impede his fighting against them, stopped Yuri on multiple occasions from committing what would have been effectively cold blooded murder against UNSC troops.

Commanding Officer
As time went on, by 2553 the crew became stretched thin, the constant warfare wearing them down. Needing more help, and with groups of new supporters from propaganda depicting the rebels as heroes, they planned to steal another mobile gun platform. Assaulting a small UNSC convoy, Yuri knocked the treads off of the lead mobile gun, allowing a platoon of rebel infantry to board it and neutralize its crew, while Pasternack held off the other hostile troops in the convoy. Retrieving the disabled vehicle, the rebels brought it to a nearby sympathetic settlement, where the citizens aided in repairing the damaged parts of the tank. After a week and a half, the vehicle had been almost fully repaired.

Requiring a commander to coordinate with, the crew of Yuri's vehicle picked him to command the new addition. Training his new subordinates in the systems of the tank, after two more weeks, the unit moved out. With another gun to aid, the rebels became a massive pain in the UNSC's side, who put half a million credit bounties on each of the tankers' heads, dead or alive. Pasternack's second major loss would come only two months after he became commander of his own crew, when an M808 MBT hit the other vehicle with an armor piercing round, gutting it from front to back, killing everyone inside, including the crew he had come to know as family.

Now knowing that Oceania had become too dangerous a place to stay, he led the crew, as well as a unit of rebel infantry, to an isolated spaceport. Boarding a freighter built for long hauls, the rebels quickly took it over, and Yuri had the vehicle loaded inside the cargo bay. Programming the navigation computer for a random slipspace jump, he escaped from the planet's atmosphere, and then made a jump.

Plan
As soon as the ship jumped into slipspace, Yuri immediately gathered his crew together, and announced his plan for them to become a group for hire. Although it was met with heavy resistance from the other members who did not want to leave their families on Oceania, Yuri made a speech to calm them, declaring they would be of no use to anyone if they stayed there and were killed, rather than go around and decrease their chances of dying. Although those who had family were still bitter, they understood Yuri's reasoning, and followed his orders.

Mamore
"First stop, the hellhole of Mamore."

- Yuri's remark to his crew before they deployed to Mamore

After he finally persuaded his crew to come to a consensus, Yuri set the ship for a course to the war torn colony of. Setting the freighter down in a concealed location on the frontier, Yuri sent out an encoded radio transmission to all known rebel channels, asking if there were any still around. Amazingly, despite the near destruction of all rebel groups on the colony, one rebel unit near Yuri's position responded, and met with him. After a two day period of haggling with the unit's commander, Yuri struck a deal with him, that he and his troops would aid the man, in return for a three fourth's share of any spare parts or provisions they came across.

With the deal settled, Yuri began aiding the cell in attacking the UNSC garrison on the planet. Aiding the cell in harassing the UNSC greatly, Yuri continued to aid the rebels for almost a decade, before his name was confessed to the UNSC by a captured fighter, causing them to restart the hunt for him, as they previously thought he wasdead. With the manhunt having begun, Pasternack and his men quickly boarded their freighter, and evacuated Mamore before the UNSC could find and kill them.

Caspia
Leaving Mamore behind, Yuri and his men went to the colony of Caspia, to aid a nascent rebel group on the planet. Striking nearly the same deal with the commander of the largest rebel unit, Yuri, rather than working with the rebel cell, was allowed to freelance, working as he wished. Without any restrictions imposed on him, Yuri roamed around, endearing the rebels to the people on the frontier through charitable actions, while attacking infrastructure and UNSC military units to weaken the UNSC's hold on the planet.

The most daring attack Yuri organized during this time would also be the one that nearly killed him. Organizing an attack that would completely cripple one of Caspia's cities, leaving it open to capture by the URF, he planned to hit its major targets. Attacking the cities power stations, Yuri managed to destroy two, before the UNSC garrison mounted a response. Attempting to stand his ground, Pasternack's vehicle was hit by an incendiary round, setting it afire. With third degree burns covering his body, Yuri was able to hobble away in the confusion, even though the UNSC believed he was dead with the destruction of his vehicle.

OPR Commander
However, despite the UNSC's belief that he had been killed, Yuri resurfaced three years later on his home colony of Oceania as the commander of the Oceania People's Resistance. Hiding the group within the general populace, he began a campaign of ambushes against the UNSC, as well as the destruction of infrastructure such as power stations in order to try and force the UNSC off planet. However, despite the UNSC's best efforts to find him, Yuri continued to evade capture, and was still active as of 2600.

Personality
Pasternack's personality was described as "erratic" by some of his compatriots. While he did not have any mental disorders, as many of his comrades sometimes suspected, Yuri's changes in demeanor from combat to noncombat were indeed very different. In a noncombat situation, Yuri was described as being a friendly, amicable person, something that helped endear him and the rebels to the local populations of planets. However, in combat, so long as his targets were UNSC military, he was deadly effective, going from one target to another without so much as a moment of hesitation.

However, despite his apparent friendliness in noncombat situations, Yuri had a very short temper with regards to more sensitive areas of his life, such as his parents, leading his compatriots to avoid these areas as much as possible, for fear of Pasternack's mean streak if he lost his temper.

Attacking Civilians
"I might be the black sheep amongst my fellow rebels, but when ONI comes for me, and I know they will, they'll be killing a man who stood up and fought their military, not murdered civilians. I've seen too many innocents killed by ONI in my lifetime, and I'm not about to stoop down to that level."

- Pasternack on his "no attacks on innocents" policy

Pasternack's policy on combat was heavily affected by B312's attack on the settlement in which he lived in. In the aftermath, he discovered a majority of the settlement's population had been killed in the raid, all of whom Pasternack saw as innocents. Having had an almost obsession with honor in his childhood days, this reappeared as he became an Insurrectionist commander, refusing to kill civilians, both on principle and because he despised how ONI had, in his words "butchered" the settlement, and he did not want to follow what they did, which would make him as bad as them in his eyes.

Along with these two reasons, Pasternack also saw it as impractical to make the civilian population hate him in a war that was ostensibly for them, and that it would be a waste of supplies to kill civilians when they could be used to fight the UNSC military proper. These beliefs were reinforced by his study of military history, where he found that resistance groups that gained the favor of the populace were far more likely to succeed.