"Are you sure it's them?" the voice crackles through my helmet.
"Pretty sure" I whisper back.
"But are you SURE?" the voice asks more forcefully.
"As sure as I can be" I say, irritated.
"That doesn't sound very sure." The voice in my ear sounds skeptical.
"What do you want form me, Nick? You know I can't be certain until I talk to them."
"And you know we can't risk exposure for a false alarm. It was bad enough the last time…"
"Hey, you know that wasn't my fault," I say defensively.
"I know that, Si. Neon should have known better. Nobody's blaming you." Nick sighs, and I can almost see the tired look on his face. "That still doesn't change the fact that we need to be careful. We can't afford to lose any more family."
"I know" I say, sighing as well. Losing Neon had been terrible, but the fact that all we'd gotten in return was some red nut babbling about a flag had felt like salt in the wound. Nickel's right to warn me, but I don't need the reminder. It's my family's ass on the line, too.
"So, what are they doing?" he finally asks.
"Not much. Standing, talking, walk a few steps, talking some more. It's kind of boring."
"They're not planning some secret cool thing or something?" Nick asks hopefully.
"God, you're such a nerd" I groan. "They're just standing around bitching about how all they're doing is standing around. It's not some great drama or something."
"When do you plan on approaching them?"
"Tomorrow" I say. "I've only scouted the reds and I still need to check where the blues are set up. It's strange. They seem determined to maintain separate bases even though they're no longer fighting each other."
"I guess old habits die hard" Nick muses.
"Those habits will die a lot easier once we get their help."
"You really think they'll help us?"
"They took down project Freelancer. I think it's a safe bet to say they'll sympathize with fighting a corrupt scientist hiding from justice."
"Still" Nick says, "after all they've been through, they might just want to move on with their lives. Maybe they've had their fill of fighting for justice."
"Tough" I say, gritting my teeth. "Whether they like it or not, they're going to help us. They have as much a stake in this as we do." There's no response. "What? You think Carbon will abandon us?"
"Even if Car remembers us, and let's face it that's a slim chance. But even if he does, that doesn't guarantee he'll want to rejoin. And even if he does, his friends might not want to follow him."
"We don't have any other choice" I say quietly. "We've tried everything else. If this doesn't work, you know what will happen to us. The UNSC will kill us all without a second thought. Some of us might be able to run, but not all of us. The kids certainly can't. Lico, Rubi, Franc. None of them would survive five minutes of the experiments they'd put us through. We have to find Doctor Han. It's the only leverage we'll ever be able to get."
"Alright, I get it. Geez, you don't have to give me the whole speech." Nick pauses for a moment before continuing. "Listen, Ruth just told me someone's trying to run a trace on the radios. I've gotta go before they figure out my position. Good luck out there."
"Thanks. Same to you."
"Don't get killed" he says half jokingly.
"Don't worry, I won't."
"I'm just saying, it was nice to have something to do for a change." Simmons says defensively.
"We almost died, and now we're stranded on some unknown planet in the middle of nowhere!" Grif nearly screams.
"Yeah, but you have to admit it was exciting. It was like being real soldiers."
"It was too much work, if you ask me" Grif grumbles.
"You say that about everything. I bet if you could find a way to survive without breathing, you would decide that was too much work too."
"Breathing does get tiring" Grif says wistfully.
"You're-" Simmons stops and turns around quickly. "Did you hear that?"
"What?"
"Something behind us, in the bushes," Simmons points to where he heard the noise. "I thought I heard voices and rustling."
"It's probably just a bird" Grif says dismissively.
"You don't know that. We're on an alien planet. It could be anything!"
"I'll bet you ten dollars it's a bird."
"How will we know if you're right?"
"Easy, if it's not a bird, then it's probably some big alien monster which will come out of the bushes and tear your face off, and you win the bet. If it is a bird, it'll stay in the bushes and we'll never see it, because birds don't do shit."
"That doesn't make any sense! Just because it's not a bird doesn't mean it's a monster. Like I said, it could be anything."
"Fine, then go over there and see what it is."
"What?! I'm not going over there! It could be dangerous."
"Then you forfeit and I win the bet" Grif says happily.
"I never agreed to that!" Simmons cries, indignant. "You're the one who wanted to bet in the first place. You should go check it out."
Grif looks at the distance to the bushes and shakes his head. "Nah, too far. That's way too much work for a bet."
"It's four feet!"
They both stop and listen for a moment, but hear nothing. "Well, whatever it was, it's gone now" Grif says.
I step out of the bushes cautiously, looking every direction to make sure no one can see me. The coast is clear. I sprint forward and hide in the shadow of the damaged engines. Hearing the whir of the machinery, I silently thank Yttri for thinking to make my armor radiation proof. I hope that the Freelancer and Sim-Trooper armor is as well. I hate to think I could have come all this way only to have them all die of cancer a few weeks from now. I see someone in the distance and focus the binocular feature in my helmet. Blue armor with yellow accenting. I check my files, but the only soldier listed with yellow accenting is Agent Washington, and his armor is supposed to be black. I look again and study the armor closer. It's hard to see, but there are a few subtle differences in the helmet and shoulders from what should be seen on a Sim-Trooper. He must have seen fit to repaint his armor.
Another soldier approaches Agent Washington and I begin to compare his face to the pictures in the files. Dark blue and clearly outdated armor. This must be the one they call Caboose. My heart skips a beat as I study him. Even with the armor, I'd recognize him anywhere. Everything from the way he walks to the scent drifting in my direction is familiar to me. This definitely confirms it. These are the ones I'm looking for.
A piece of their conversation drifts my way and I strain to hear it. I can't make out all the details, but I know they're talking about the AI and the other Freelancer, Agent Carolina, who used to be with them. Apparently, they both ran off without saying where they were going or what they were doing. Damn. I could have used those two, especially the AI. According to rumors he could remember everything that ever happened with project Freelancer, including all their questionable business deals. I need that information.
I shake my head. It's no use griping over something I can't change. I'll just have to hope I can track them down later. For now, I need to find a place to rest for the night. It's already starting to get dark, and I need to be rested and ready for tomorrow. It'll take a lot of convincing just to get them to not shoot at me, and I really don't want to get shot at.
Let me know if I should continue with this or not. I know it's kind of a rehash of things that have already happened with the Director and everything, but I want to show a different group in a similar situation. Please R&R.