This story was written for the Red vs Blue Reverse Big Bang event.
Major love to the wonderful artist Yami-Sama (find her on Tumblr!) for drawing the incredible art that inspired this story.
I'd also like to pass along a major thank-you to ScriptMedic, whose blog and books were invaluable to me in writing this story. Thanks, Aunt Scripty!
"Alright, everyone, we'll leave the vehicles here and proceed on foot."
Jensen tightened her grip on her rifle as Sprinkles pulled their jeep to a stop neatly behind Captain Simmons and Captain Caboose. From behind, there was a soft thud as the newest member of Simmons' Red Team Squad lept down from the mounted gun turret. Idella's red-trimmed armor seemed to glow under the hazy morning light filtering through the jungle canopy. Biting her lip, Jensen climbed out of the passenger's seat and cast a look around the clearing, hoping to find something to focus on besides the Federal Army soldier. Sure, they had a peace treaty and everything now, but it was still kind of awkward.
A few moments later, Smith pulled up beside them with the second half of the scouting team. Leaping out of the jeep, he hurriedly offered a crisp salute to their approaching captains. "Sirs, the team is standing by assembled, ready, uh, and waiting to deploy on your orders. Um. Sirs."
A faint snicker floated over the comms at Smith's stumbling pronouncement, either from Cornwallis or Rowntree. Idella cast a sharp look over at the Feds climbing out of the other jeep with an air of disapproval.
Fortunately, Captain Simmons intervened before anything else happened. "Thanks, Smith. Uh, at ease." Clearing his throat, he pressed on. "As you know, while we took down the Staff of Charon and captured Malcolm Hargrove, a number of the pirates managed to escape and have been carrying out hit-and-run attacks on our own forces."
"Yeah, we know," Cornwallis drawled, fingers drummed nervously on grip of his Boltshot. "We went over all this back at the base. Did something change or-" He broke off for a moment. "Is there new intel about the pirates?" he asked with a new hint of anxiety.
"What? No, nothing changed," Captain Simmons hurried to reassure him.
"Yes, there is no new pirate school."
Everyone turned to stare at Caboose. The Blue armored soldier had been moping for weeks; Epsilon's death on the Staff of Charon had inflicted a wound that was still healing.
Smith brightened visibly, somehow standing even straighter, and puffed out his chest. "Yes, sir! These pirates refuse to accept their defeat, and it's up to us to teach them the error of their ways!"
A bubble of laughter welled up inside her, and Jensen let out a soft giggle. "You always know just what Captain Caboose is trying to say," she teased.
And with that, the nervous tension that had been building up eased off.
Shaking his head in exasperation, Captain Simmons cleared his throat again. "Thank you, Caboose. For… that. In any case, I just wanted to review the situation so we're all on the same page. Anyways, we've gotten some intelligence that some of the pirates who escaped have managed to get their hands on something big. We… really aren't sure what, exactly. Our mission today is to investigate several sites to see if there is any pirate activity and to report back while other teams do the same in other parts of Chorus. We are not here to engage the enemy. If we encounter any enemy forces, priority one is withdrawing and calling for backup."
"Do you think we're likely to find anyone?" Merrick Rowntree asked, staring up at Simmons. His rifle creaked slightly as somewhat pudgy hands clenched tight.
"Well, we got the sites that are the closest to Crash Site Bravo," Idella drawled. She jabbed an elbow into his arm and the soft clang as their armor collided echoed through the clearing. "With our luck, I think we're almost guaranteed to find someone who'll want to shoot at us. We're so good at making friends," she chuckled.
A faint, nervous titter ran through the soldiers gathered in the clearing.
"We're going to die," Rowntree whispered under his breath.
"Okay, let's get going," Captain Simmons quickly insisted. "We'll split by pairs once we're on-site. Smith, you go with Caboose. Rowntree, you're paired with Cornwallis. Jensen's with Volleyball - I mean, Sprinkles -, and that leaves me with, uh, Ruan."
"Ready to penetrate the enemy site, Captain!" Idella chirped.
Simmons twitched, fumbling his gun. "Right, uh, let's… head out," he stuttered, then quickly scurried away.
Idella glanced over at Jensen and Sprinkles. "Is it wrong to find that insanely cute?" she murmured.
"He's always been like that," Jensen giggled.
"Ask him about fighting the Meta sometime," Sprinkles sighed and fanned herself with an armored hand. "Oh my god, that story is hot. Make sure Captain Grif is there, too. The two of them together are just-" Breaking off, she pressed the tips of her fingers together and bounced them off the front of her helmet, pretending to kiss them.
"Jessica! Shh." Casting a quick look around, Jensen waved the other women forward. "Come on, we have to get going!"
The gossiping continued in whispered voices as the three women hurried to catch up with the others. Leaving the jeeps and the overgrown road behind, they forged through the rough jungle terrain, climbing over fallen trees and pushing low-hanging branches aside. Many of the leaves were still damp with morning dew and left streaks of moisture on their armor as they brushed past.
It wasn't long before they drew close to the target site. The first location they'd been assigned to investigate was an abandoned farm; the main house itself was mostly intact, as was the barn, but the other structures had long since fallen into ruin after over a decade of civil war.
Captain Simmons raised a hand, gesturing for everyone to stop. They huddled close, crouching down so that they were hidden by the wild underbrush.
"Alright," Simmons whispered over the comms, "this place may look abandoned, but that's no reason to be sloppy. If we encounter any pirates, disengage and fall back into the jungle, then alert the rest of the team. We are not here to engage. Smith, Cornwallis, take your teams around the farm and approach it from the sides. Be thorough, but careful."
"Yes, sir," Smith whispered back. The younger soldier reached out and grabbed Captain Caboose's shoulder, tugging him up and away from the team.
Cornwallis and Rowntree, meanwhile, quickly disappeared in the opposite direction after offering their own quiet affirmatives.
"What now, sir?" Jensen asked in a bright tone.
"We'll wait a short while," her captain replied as he peered back out onto the farm. "Give Smith and Cornwallis time to get in position."
There was a brief moment of silence, then Idella leaned forward.
"So Jensen and Sprinkles were telling me that you have some great stories about all the adventures you and the other Reds and Blues went on before crashing on Chorus. Maybe you could tell us some of those stories while we wait!"
Simmons turned to stare at her, clearly startled.
The Federal Army soldier, meanwhile, stared back at him with puppy-like adoration that was evident even through her armor.
Reluctantly, Simmons started recounting the time he and the other had broken into Freelancer Command. Discomfort laced every word.
Biting back another laugh, Jensen listened with interest. Sprinkles suddenly nudged her side, just as a message alert icon appeared in her HUD.
Spr: This is better than that time Lily tricked Venkata into asking her on a date back before we joined the New Republic. Remember that?
Oh, it was getting really hard not to laugh. Pressing her lips together, Jensen replied through her own messaging system.
Jns: I remember you helped Lily trap Venkata in the backroom of the general store so he had nowhere to run!
Spr: Good times
Spr: Plans after the mission?
Jns: Back on maintenance duty. Would still be stuck there if Cmd didn't need all possible hands for these mission
Spr: ROMANTIC plans, omg
Spr: Gonna give Palomo a shot or r u still crushing on Simmons?
Spr: Totally understand that, btw. He is fiiiiine
Jns: Jess!
Spr: Come on, you raved about 'the mechanical properties of his customized prosthetics' for hooouuurs last week
Jns: They're cool machines! Worth "raving" about. Totally custom parts with a higher degree of interoperability with his organic systems than anything on Chorus - or used by the UNSC
Beside her, Sprinkles let out a soft, fake snore, and bobbed her head like she was falling asleep.
Unaware of the private conversation passing between the two women, Simmons started and paused mid-word. "Sorry, I, uh, know not everyone is as interested in computers as… Um…" His voice drifted off as he stared at Sprinkles.
Spr: Ooops
When she saw the newest message, Jensen really wanted to give Jess a smack. She'd made their captain doubt himself! He was… delicate… in a lot of ways. But, they were on a mission. And that came first.
"Captain Simmons, do you think we've given Smith and Cornwallis enough time?" she suggested.
"Oh, yes, we probably have." Springing to his feet, Simmons turned back to face the farm. "Alright, remember everything I told the others. Stealth and safety are the key. Let's move."
"Idella was right!" Sprinkles yelled as she dove to the ground. Splinters flew through the air as bullets ripped through the wooden support beam over her head. As she landed, Sprinkles twisted around and brought her rifle to bear on the enemy, firing off several controlled bursts.
The enemy fire sputtered to a halt and Jensen used the lull to grab her friend's arm and drag her behind a large horse stall.
"We definitely found people who want to shoot as us," Sprinkles groaned as the gunfire started back up. "But I don't think they want to be friends."
"We need a way out!" Jensen craned her neck and started staring around them, looking for something to help their escape.
"No luck with the comms?"
"They're jamming us somehow. I haven't been able to get ahold of anyone. We weren't affected in the jungle, though, so they must have turned it on after attacking," Jensen realized, then started considering what it would take to jam communications this thoroughly. Several thoughts ran through her head: power needs, effective range, equipment size. Then, her eyes fell on a heavy-duty metal ladder leaning against the upper deck of the barn. It was new, she realized, with no sign of dust or the wear everything else on the farm had. "Upstairs!" Jensen cried, pointing at the ladder. "They're doing something up there."
"Right." Without hesitation, Sprinkles pushed herself up off the ground and re-checked her weapon. "I'll cover you. On my mark. 3. 2. 1."
At the end of the count, the women sprang into action with a well-practiced maneuver.
Sprinkles rolled out into the middle of the barn, the pink highlights of her armor flashing as light hit her. The enemy faltered, confused. Which gave Sprinkles all the time she needed to start laying down cover fire.
Doing a countdown in her own head, Jensen sprang forward moments later and raced for the ladder. It groaned ominously as she clambered up, but miraculously, didn't buckle under the weight of her knock-off Mjolnir armor.
Below, Sprinkles kept up her attack. She darted in and out of cover, her weapon always trained on the enemy. The wooden stalls around her couldn't stop a bullet, but they did keep the enemy from knowing exactly where she was. The handful of pirates trying to kill them barely budged from their position in the doorway of the barn, disappearing long enough to reload their weapons out of sight of Sprinkles' deadly aim.
In a last ditch maneuver, Sprinkles dove out of cover once more. But instead of pausing to fire and then disappearing yet again, she raced forward, rushing the pirates and taking them by surprise. One managed to bring his weapon to bear on her before she took him down. The bullet ricocheted off the armor on her arm, leaving a noticeable dent before flying off into the barn.
Sprinkles stood dead still for a moment after the last body fell to the ground, then spun and dashed over to the ladder. "If there are more, they're probably on their way," she called out as she climbed up to the upper deck.
"Right. Um, this isn't the jamming equipment," Jensen responded in a slight daze as she stared at the machinery she'd found. Distantly, she was aware of Sprinkles stepping up beside her.
"Is that a fucking missile?"
"No wonder we found all those new support beams down below," Jensen breathed, still staring. "The launcher alone must weigh a ton."
"Oh, shit." Sprinkles hurried over until she was standing directly behind the mounted missile, then spent a few moments looking at it and referring to the map in her HUD. "Katie, this is pointed right at Bravo!"
"We have to disarm it." Pushing her nerves down, Katie hurried over and starting looking over the missile and the launcher, looking for access panels. Then, she pointed at the missile. "There, open up the missile. You work on getting the payload out while I disable the launcher. Worst case scenario, we can at least keep them being able to fire this thing."
"Fucking hell."
Jensen tore into the missile launcher while Sprinkles started to gingerly poke at the missile. She needed to disable the launcher so the pirates couldn't fix it, make sure it didn't explode, and talk Jess through removing the missile payload without setting it off. Easy, right?
As time passed, her breath got shorter and shorter, a wheeze building up in her throat. Stress always did this to her, Jensen reflected with slowly growing panic. Made her throat tight as it swelled and an ache settle in her chest. All the while, it got harder and harder to breath. She lived in terror of the day she actually stopped breathing. Fortunately, she had plenty of practice working under stressful conditions. Rather than focus on the mucus building in her throat, Jensen kept her attention on the machine sitting in front of her and everything Jess was describing to her.
Finally, with Jensen's guidance, Sprinkles dug her way through the layers of armor, guidance hardware, and more to the actual payload buried deep in the missile.
"There's two things in here," Sprinkles reported. Her words were rushed and slightly higher pitched than usual. "One looks like, well, a bomb, and the other is - it's some kind of canister. Like an aerosol can or something." Pausing, she let out a string of curses. "Shit, Katie, I think it's a chemical weapon or something. What the fuck do we do?"
Jensen froze, hands buried in a tangled web of wires. "Pull the canister," she ordered. "Pull it and get it out of here. We need to get it back to Dr. Grey."
Whimpering, Sprinkles obeyed and started undoing the latches and connectors attached to the canister. "Goddamn, I'm going to have to carry this thing, aren't I?" Taking a deep breath, she yanked it out.
A moment of silence passed. Neither woman moved. The canister sat inert in Sprinkles' hand.
"Oh, thank god."
Some of the tightness in Jensen's throat eased off and she returned to her sabotage. "Get that out of here, Jess," she ordered. "I'll be right behind you."
"You- shit, Katie. If I see any of the others, I'm sending them in after you," Sprinkles swore. Shifting the canister to her off hand, she drew her pistol and peered down to the ground below. "No sign of hostiles. Katie? Stay safe."
Jensen looked up for a moment, watched as her oldest, and closest, friend leapt off the platform. Heard the thud as she landed down below. Then, with a flash of tan and pink, Jessica "Volleyball" Sprinkles raced out of the barn and disappeared.
New tension flooded the upper deck of the barn as Jensen took a moment to come to terms with being completely alone. Outside, she could hear the distant sound of gunfire, but it was too distinct to make out where exactly it was coming from, or who was doing most of the shooting.
Gasping, she forced air through her swollen throat and returned her attention to the launcher. She was almost done. She's swapped wires, broken components, and trashed the control boards. It was already starting to overheat as power went to all the wrong places. Pulling her hands free, she rose, ready to race after Jess… then hesitated.
Jess had the chemical weapon, or whatever it was. But there was still an explosive in the missile. If someone got in here before the launcher had a meltdown, it was just possible they could salvage the missile.
She whimpered. "Captain Simmons wouldn't like this one bit."
Instead of running, she leaned over the open panel on the missile and plunged her hand inside, groping for the explosive. Without this, the missile was just a hunk of metal and wires. After a moment of searching, she found the device and grabbed it. Just as she started to pull it free, however, fresh gunfire sounded down below. A loud scream rent the air as a black-armored body flew backwards into the barn. Smoke poured out of several bullet sounds in the pirate's chest.
On the upper deck, Jensen let out a startled, strangled scream. Inside the missile, her hand jerked, yanking the explosive free of its housing and slamming it against the interior of the missile.
"Jensen!"
"Capta-"
The explosive erupted with an ear shattering roar. For a brief moment, fire raced up Jensen's hand and arm. Then, she was flying backwards, propelled by the force of the explosion. She soared through the air, clearing the upper deck, then falling in a perfect arc towards the ground.
Darkness crept into her vision, slowly filling her sight.
She was falling so… slowly…
The arm that had been buried in the missile floated into view.
That wasn't right-
Everything went black.