Hello to all my readers! As some of you may have noticed, I've had a poll up for a few months asking what I should do next. Final result: Blade goes to Blood Gulch. This is my first RVB fic, so please be nice. Flames will be used on my neighbors in the dorms.
Disclaimer: I don't own Halo or RVB.
Prologue: The Stage Is Set
The woman entered the box canyon, keeping to the shadows with practiced ease. No mean feat, either, considering that it was in the middle of what was proving to be a very hot day. Not many shadows here to work with, but enough. Thankfully, she'd found a network of caves and tunnels both above and below ground, which would come in handy over the next couple of weeks. Not sure why the brass wants me toying with these misfits, but it sounds like fun. Just in case, though, I'll have Lorienna check in and keep an ear out.
Adjusting her pack, she looked around for a worthwhile perch to scout the area. Most operatives would've been satisfied with a high point, but she was no fool and hadn't survived this long by taking what was available. No, she needed a high point with some sort of concealment. A nearby cliff proved the perfect locale—it was high enough to offer a view of both sides of the canyon, and the position of the sun would blind anyone who tried to look up there. Couldn't get any better that that. Now, how to get up there?
From her vantage point, she had an excellent view of the two bases she'd been sent to observe. Neither one had a sentry, and from what she could see there was almost nothing in the way of security. Sloppy, no clue how they've gone this long without an invasion. Then again, this canyon was in the middle of nowhere, so it was likely the Covenant hadn't found it yet. Though that could change any day now, any moment. Granted it'd be mostly renegades, but even so…I'm beginning to see why they sent me out here. A grin began to appear on her face—she had a number of interesting ideas for this place.
RED BASE
"Grif, ain't you got that jeep cleaned yet?"
The orange-armored soldier shrugged his shoulders. "Sarge, you asked Lopez to work on the jeep, didn't you?"
"Nope, Lopez gets to fix the jeep, you get to clean it. Now get yer lazy ass in gear, dirtbag."
Grif sighed, turning to face the jeep right as a shadow ran behind it. "What the fuck? What the hell was that?"
"Grif, quit standin' around and get crackin'. When you're done you get to clean the commissary, I don't want Donut putting lace curtains up again."
Smiling to herself, the woman planted bugs throughout the base as she listened to the CO run his mouth. From time to time she heard a voice agreeing with everything the fool said, and a male voice singing…wait, singing? Sure enough, as she turned a corner she spotted a man in pink armor hanging lace curtains around the firing ports. Wow, just when you think you've seen it all…glad I'm recording this or ONI'd never believe it. Shaking her head, she ran past the jeep, cringing as the orange-armored soldier spotted her; fortunately, the sergeant in charge was so stuck on himself that she was able to get away. Now for the other base…
BLUE BASE
"Church, Church! Look what I found in my room!"
Church sighed as he looked at the small black button in Caboose's hand. "Caboose, that's a button. What the fuck is interesting about a button? It probably fell off your uniform."
"This button is shiny. It flashed a light when I picked it up."
Tex walked in at the end of the last sentence and cocked her head at the pair of Blue soldiers. "A flashing button, eh? Might be important. Caboose, can I see that for a second?" Without waiting for an answer she grabbed the button and crushed it.
"TEX! What the fuck-?"
"It's a bug, Church. Someone's got into the base and put this here. We're being watched." That got the private's attention.
"The fuck? You think it's the Reds?"
"Too smart for the Reds, otherwise I'd've seen them by now. No, this is someone else."
"O'Malley?"
Tex gave an exasperated sigh. "Church, do you REALLY think O'Malley would be spying on us?"
Church shook his head. "No, guess not. Any ideas?"
"Not yet, I'm going to take a look around."
Okay, THAT'S not good. Apparently Blue team has some brains attached—this'll make my job a lot harder. Still, she was up for the challenge; planting a few more bugs around the base, the woman slipped out the back way and cringed: there was a soldier in teal armor humping a good-sized boulder. EWWWWWWW! I am SO not going that way, not after that! Trying to mentally scrub away the image, she turned around and came face-to-face with a soldier in black armor.
"Okay, you've got five seconds to explain or I start shooting," a woman's voice came from the black helmet. She recognized her from the briefings—this was the operative from "Project: Freelancer" that she'd been warned about.
"Hello to you too, Agent Texas; some mutual friends send their regards." Smirking, she activated her camouflage and moved off, deciding that the pervert was a safer bet than the freelancer.
UNKNOWN LOCATION, SOMEWHERE IN BLOOD GULCH
"SPARTAN-000, reporting in."
"We read you, SPARTAN-000. Awaiting status report."
"Red base is bugged, frequency Alpha-Chi-0142. Blue base is bugged, but project may be compromised. Repeat, project may be compromised."
"SPARTAN-000, please elaborate. You said project may be compromised?"
"Affirmative. Agent Texas from Project: Freelancer is on site. She's found and destroyed one of my listening devices already."
"Understood. Await further instructions. Maintain observations for now."
"Copy that. SPARTAN-000, out."
Disassembling the communications relay, SPARTAN-000, the infamous BLADE, settled in for what would prove to be a very interesting assignment.
