Red Vs Blue: FF

by Glynoyri

Picking up a while after the events of Season 13, the Reds and Blues find themselves on a distant planet with nothing to do. Until an old friend of Carolina's shows up. Not much is known about this new soldier. Except that she has some kind of beef with Sarge that even Carolina doesn't know about. "And she has blue eyes." "Caboose! You're making this sound weird..."

1. Arc One

"Do you ever wonder why we're here?" asked Simmons as he looked out over the cliff, barren desert stretching for miles below.

"I think I can see my house from here," Caboose replied.

"Why am I even asking you?" Simmons exclaimed as he walked away, shaking his head. Heading back to the tents, he sighed heavily, "Sarge, why do we have to be right here?"

Poking his head out of the farthest tent, Sarge replied, "It has the most tactical position." Simmons gestured towards the cliff.

"Tactical position? We are on the very edge of a crumbling cliff! Each day more of the cliff falls away," Simmons questioned.

"Exactly! When the enemy tries to flank us, they'll be crushed alive," Sarge exclaimed.

"First, who's going to traverse that giant desert just to try and climb a deadly cliff when they could just walk from any of the other three directions with no barriers? Second, what enemies? Church made sure that we wouldn't have to deal with Control ever again. That cliff used to be twice as far away last week, what will we do when it gets to the tents," Simmons asked further.

"Well, obviously, we move. Once a certain orange soldier and his tent are consumed by the crumbling cliffs, we'll know it's time to change locations, hehe," Sarge explained. Simmons just sighed and walked away, knowing it was useless to argue with Sarge.

Overhearing the conversation on his way to check on Caboose, Washington slipped over to the tent closest to the cliff.

"Psst! Grif! You know, you can come camp over by us if you want," Washington said quietly.

"I already tried. Sarge just wound up dragging me back over here," Grif responded, looking at his rations hungrily. Washington pointed at Grif and exclaimed, "Wait, that was you? I thought Caboose had gotten lost on his way to the toilet again and Tucker was helping him."

"Uh, are shotgun blasts a normal thing when that happens," Grif questioned.

"I did think that was odd, even for Caboose," Washington thought aloud. Turning around, he left Grif to his food in favor of finding Caboose.

Spotting him over by the cliff, Washington picked up his shoulders as he walked, "Hey Caboose!" Caboose turned around, a little confused.

"Oh! Hi Agent Washington!"

"What're you up to," Washington asked.

"Oh, you know. Just walking Freckles. He likes to think over here sometimes," Caboose explained. Having been nervous of Caboose's proximity to the cliff, Washington let out a small breath. Lately, Carolina had been in a very bad mood. She was snapping at everyone, and poor Caboose was taking the brunt of it. Of course, Tucker wasn't helping. His temper was running thin as well, and whenever Carolina went off on him, he'd throw it right back. To be completely honest, Washington was getting sick and tired of it all. Washington stared out over the dunes. The waves of sand were somewhat relaxing.

"Hey, Caboose," Washington asked.

"Yes," Caboose responded.

"I can see why Freckles likes this spot," Washington stated. Before Caboose could respond, a voice from behind them asked, "What're you guys talking about?" Turning around, Washington and Caboose watched Donut approach them.

"Ah, Donut! Caboose and I were just-," Washington began to say.

CRACK!

Washington started looking around, worried, "What was that?" Suddenly, the cliff collapsed beneath their feet.

"Son of a bitch!"

"Son of a bitch!"

"Hold on, Freckles!"

"What happened here," Carolina asked as she ran up to the group gathered at the edge of the cliff. Doc turned, "I was heading to the toilet when I heard a crack. I looked in time to see Washington, Donut, and Caboose fall over the edge of the cliff!" In the background, Sarge was upset.

"Why? Why did it turn out like this? Why didn't you take Grif with you? Or at least horribly maimed him," he wailed.

"Thanks, sir…," Grif muttered.

The entire crowd was babbling and murmuring, slowly rising in volume.

"WILL YOU ALL BE QUIET," Carolina shouted. Everyone immediately shut up and turned to her, "Thank you. Just because they fell, doesn't mean they're dead."

"But Carolina," Simmons interjected, "Physically and statistically speaking, there's no way they could have survived." Tucker turned to Simmons, "Well, considering our track record for surviving stupid shit, they have a good chance of surviving."

"Yeah! I had a spaceship crash land on my head and was fatally shot, but I haven't died yet," echoed Donut's voice from below the cliff.

"Donut?! You're alive," Grif questioned.

"Yeah! Washington and Caboose are here too," Donut's voice shouted back. Everyone rushed to the cliff. Sure enough, there were Caboose, Donut, and Washington staring back from the bottom, mostly unscathed.

"How the hell did you guys survive," Simmons shouted down.

"I'm not sure. In any case, get us out of here," Washington shouted back. Carolina turned and started walking away from the group.

"Hey! Where're you going," Doc asked after her.

"That cliff is too dangerous. We can't go down, they can't come up. So, I'm gonna find a different way," Carolina said over her shoulder.

"Oh, ok," Doc responded. Everyone on the cliff followed her.

"Where – where are they going?" Donut asked timidly.

"Probably to find a better way down," Washington replied. A moment went by silently. Donut looked about, bored, "Soooo…"

"Oo! What a pretty star," Caboose said, looking at the sky.

"Star? There aren't any stars out, it's the middle of the day," Washington said, following Caboose's gaze, confused. Lo and behold, there was something in the sky that looked like a star.

"But – That can't be right," Washington said, not believing his eyes. The star started to get bigger and bigger. Soon, the drop pod's outline was visible.

"This can't be good…" Washington sighed.

The drop pod crashed right in front of them. The impact caused the sand to collapse below them all.

"Not again!" Donut wailed.

THUD!

The three of them, and the pod, landed hard. Taking a moment to compose himself, Washington started looking around. They were inside a small room, with the only light coming in from the hole in the ceiling the drop pod had made.

"Where are we?" Donut asked, dazed.

"I don't know," Washington replied, "but my biggest worry is that pod. What exactly is it?"

"UNSC CRYOSTASIS DROP POD DETECTED" Freckles said, "STATUS: SINGLE HUMAN. STABLE." Looking at the gun in Caboose's hands, Washington responded, "Thank you, Freckles. So, let's leave it at that, and find a way – CABOOSE! DON'T TOUCH ANYTHING!" Caboose had made his way over to the panel on the side of the pod.

"But, there are buttons," Caboose said innocently.

"Yes, there are buttons. But we don't know who's in there. For all we know, that could be an enemy," Washington explained. Donut nervously turned to him, "What, like the Meta? Or Felix and Locust?"

"They're gone, we won't see them again. But possibly along those lines, yes," Washington responded.

"I wonder what this button does," Caboose said, as he reached for a flashing button on the panel.

"CABOOSE! NO!"

It was too late. As Caboose pressed the button, the drop pod started making a lot of noise.

"THAW OUT: INITIALIZED. THAW OUT: INITIALIZED."

"Caboose, get over here," Washington said, backing up from the pod with his rifle raised. Donut skirted behind him, while Caboose just watched the front panel rose to show a new soldier. This stranger had red armor with light blue accents. On their shoulder piece were the letters "ED". As the soldier came to, they shook their head a little. When they finally began to climb out of the pod, Washington slowly put his rifle back down.

"Who are you?" Washington asked. The soldier looked around. Washington was a bit impatient, "I said, who are you?" The soldier suddenly pulled out a rail gun and pointed it straight at Washington.

"Uh, Washington? How many people have you pissed off?" Donut asked.

"I seriously have no idea who this is!" Washington shot back. The stranger nodded their head to the side, indicating that Washington move. Not about to argue with someone pointing a gun at him, Washington complied. The soldier indicated the wall behind them, which Washington was only just noticing was a collapsed tunnel entrance.

"If you blast that open, this entire place will collapse in on us," Washington pointed out. The stranger nodded, and looked at him with what felt like a smile.

"Ok, guys, get ready to run," Washington shouted, getting ready to push Caboose in the right direction. The stranger chuckled.

"BOOM BITCHES!" she shouted as she blasted open the wall. As the debris flew apart, the ceiling began to fall down on them. Not needing much coaxing, everyone ran through the tunnel. As they ran, not only did the room they landed in collapse, so did the tunnel behind them.

"Just keep running," Washington shouted from the rear of the group. Donut, at the front, shouted back, "I can see a light up ahead!" From behind Donut, the stranger shouted, "Good! Either that's the exit, or we're all about to die!"

"How is dying good," Donut anxiously shouted back.

The light Donut had seen was, in fact, the end of the tunnel. As all four came barreling out, the tunnel completely collapsed behind them. Everyone was out of breath except for Caboose. Donut especially. To Washington's disbelief, they were back on top of the cliff.

"Ok, now that that rescue is done with, back to my question: Who are you," Washington said to the stranger. Before she could answer, though, Carolina began to attack her. The rest of the group showed up.

"What's going on," Simmons asked, "And how did you guys get back up here?" With a wave of his hand, Washington replied, "Long story. Carolina's fighting some strange girl we found." Tucker perked up at the word 'girl'.

"Girl on girl action? Fuck yeah! Anyone got a camera," he asked excitedly. Washington's palm found his forehead all on it's own.

They were going back and forth. Neither one pulled out a gun or weapon: seemed it was strictly hand-to-hand combat. A blue fist shot forward, only to be deflected by an open red hand, which closed around the wrist. The new girl then pulled Carolina's hand backwards to the left, turning to deliver her right elbow to Carolina's head. Carolina responded by quickly punching the new girl's wrist, causing her to let go for an instant, during which time Carolina freed her hand and rolled away backwards. Carolina quickly stood, raising her leg to strike with an axe kick. The new girl responded with an upwards double block, effectively stopping Carolina's foot. Carolina quickly retracted her foot, before lunging forward to punch at the new girl's stomach, which was blocked by a downward thrust of arms. The new girl attempted to knee Carolina in the face, but only hit air as Carolina hopped back. Carolina quick sprung forward for another punch.

"Come on Carolina!" cheered Simmons, "Kick her ass!" Grif turned to Simmons, saying, "My money's on the new girl."

"Why," Simmons questioned.

"Just to be the opposite of you," Grif stated.

"Really, Grif," Simmons huffed. The stranger grabbed Carolina's arm, ready to throw her. Before she could fully execute it, though, Carolina twisted out of the hold, landing a foot away. Both combatants ran at each other, prepping one final blow. Everyone (except Caboose) was holding their breath in anticipation. Inches from each other's helmets, they both stopped mid-punch.

"What's going on here," Sarge asked after a short pause, "Aren't you two supposed to be killing each other?" A bit out of breath, Carolina suddenly said, "Long time, no see."

"How many years has it been," the stranger asked.

"Too many, but looks like you can still keep up," Carolina commented.

"I'd say you're getting slower," the stranger said teasingly. Both girls relaxed, shaking hands.

"Will someone tell me who this is," Washington asked. The new girl removed her helmet.

"Captain Skye Redding, reporting for duty," she responded, saluting the group. Her brown hair was pulled back in a braid, and her sky blue eyes shone with pride.

"What does the 'E.D.' On your shoulder mean," Donut asked.

"Explosive Detail," Skye responded, "I make things go boom."

"You always liked big explosions," Carolina commented.

"Wait, how long have you guys known each other," Tucker asked.

"Since we were little girls," Carolina replied.

"We were practically like sisters," added Skye.

"By the way," Carolina started, "What are you doing here?"

"Uh, you sent a distress message? I got it, I came to your position," Skye explained with a shrug.

"That was months ago, we've already taken care of it," Carolina exclaimed.

"Oh," Skye said slowly, "Well, surprise!"

"Redding, go home," Sarge said, menacingly. Skye raised an eyebrow, "Make me."

"Uh, what's going on," Grif whispered to Simmons.

"Get your red armor back in your ship and go home, I said," Sarge growled, pointing towards the cliff.

"And I said no," Skye responded, crossing her arms with a huff.

"Don't make me pull authority," Sarge threatened.

"You're a sergeant, I'm a captain. I outrank you," Skye said, sticking her tongue out.

"I don't know. Normally Sarge is all for new 'red team' members," Simmons whispered back.

"Grif! Tell her she needs to go home," Sarge said.

"Me, sir? I don't really feel like–," Grif groaned.

"Simmons!"

"Yes, sir! Uh, Redding, you–," Simmons started saying nervously.

"Private Simmons," Skye said, "As a captain, I'm overriding his command. New command: stay out of it."

"Yes, ma'am," Simmons quickly replied, saluting nervously. Carolina stepped between, "Ok, Sarge. I don't know what your beef with her is, but if that drop pod was Captain Redding's, then that means–."

"It means I'm not going anywhere," Skye interrupted, "Those pods are one way, and my ride's already out of range. So you're stuck with me." Sarge stomped away, grumbling to himself.

"What's his problem?" Grif asked.

"Long story," Skye replied.

"Well, now that you're here, I might as well catch you up on what's happened," Carolina gestured for Skye to follow. As the two walked away, Grif turned towards Simmons, "Wow, I'm surprised!"

"About what," Simmons asked.

"Well, you didn't argue about your ranking," Grif shrugged. Simmons scratched his head for a moment, "You're right! I'm a captain too! Dammit!" Washington interjected, "Actually, you're back to being just a private."

"What," Simmons questioned, incredulous.

"First, you were made a captain during the war on Chorus. Now that that's over, that temporary title is gone. Second, that title isn't officially recognized by the UNSC because it was given to you by a smaller army," Washington explained.

"Huh, so I've been demoted for a second time," Grif said matter-of-factly. Simmons, turning to Grif, "You do understand that that looks bad, right?"

"Perhaps, but I've changed ranks more times than you," Grif pointed out. Simmons sighed.

"So, now what?" Donut asked. Washington shrugged, "Guess we go back to what we were doing before."

"You mean being bored in the middle of fucking nowhere? Yeah, no thanks, I'm going to do some 'investigating'," Tucker replied, before walking in the direction of the girls.

"What do you think he means, 'investigating'," Doc said.

"Maybe he wants to find out where she got that awesome armor," Donut responded enthusiastically. Grif turned to Donut, "No."

"Knowing Tucker…" Washington started. Simmons quickly jumped in, "Yeah. And I give him three min—,"

THUD!

"Ow," Tucker groaned in the distance, "My kidneys!" Grif turned to Simmons, "Wow, you failed before you could even start. You're on a roll today."

"Oh, shut it Grif! I'm gonna go check on Sarge," Simmons said as he stomped off in the same direction that Sarge had.

"Do you think we can trust her?" Doc piped up.

"Her?" Grif responded.

"You know, that new girl. I mean, I know she's an old friend of Carolina's, but, no offense Washington, you Freelancers make some really, uh, weird friends, if you can call them that," Doc said.

"No offense taken. I really don't know much about Carolina before her days in Project Freelancer, to be honest," Washington said, pondering.

"And what about the fact that Sarge really doesn't like her?" Doc replied.

"I think the word you wanted was 'hate'," Grif added.

"Abhor, loathe, deprecate, or my favorite: detest," O'Malley said, bored.

"Whatever. Sarge seems to hate her more than me," Grif said.

"That's strange, though," Washington thought out loud.

"That Sarge hates someone?" Grif questioned.

"No, that Sarge knows one of Carolina's friends…," Washington pondered.

"Hmmm… So that's how it is…" Skye said.

"So much happened since we crashed, this is the first time we haven't been hunted," Carolina stated, looking across the desert.

THUD!

"What are you doing?" Carolina questioned. Skye stretched out on her back and folded her arms behind her head, "Taking a quick rest before setting up camp. Seeing as there's nothing here for me to do, I'll have to send out a message for pick up via my drop pod. But the sun'll set soon, and it'll be too dark, so you guys are stuck with me for the night."

"You make that sound like a bad thing," Carolina said, raising an eyebrow. Skye shrugged, "Might be, we'll just have to see." Confused, Carolina asked, "Does it have to do with Sarge?"

"Perhaps," Skye responded, scratching her chin.

"Will you tell me about it," Carolina asked.

"Not now, I'm not in the mood to discuss it," Skye said, feigning a yawn. Carolina sighed. She knew that if Skye didn't want to talk about something, there was no use pushing the topic. Skye knew how to keep quiet.

"I guess we should get you set up for the night," Carolina said, reaching her hand out. Taking her hand, Skye pulled herself up. "Sounds good."

"My head…," Washington drowsily got out of his tent.

"Shut up," Carolina snapped.

"Don't start acting like a bitch already, it's too early," Tucker exclaimed.

"What did you say," Carolina threatened.

"I said-"

Washington cut Tucker off mid-sentence, "Knock it off guys, we're all tired and grumpy." Doc and Donut were already sitting next to the fire pit, sleepily watching Lopez cook breakfast. Simmons appeared next, scratching his head tiredly, "What was all that racket last night?" Carolina shook her head, "Sarge and Skye were fighting."

"What about," Simmons asked. Lopez responded, "Disputa familiar."

"Yeah, Lopez," Donut piped up, "It's a mystery!" Lopez looked at Donut before returning to the food.

"We don't know. They were too far away to make out actual words from screaming," Carolina said.

"Oh," Simmons replied.

"Carolina, you've known Redding the longest. Any ideas," Washington asked.

"No, and she won't tell me," Carolina said, "How about you, Simmons? Did you ask Sarge about it?" Simmons shook his head, "Grif pissed off Sarge before we could."

"Damn," Carolina said.

"Where's Grif and Sarge now," Washington asked.

"Sarge was grumbling in his tent, and Grif was, well, Grif," Simmons replied.

"Still sleeping," everyone replied, Lopez saying, "Todavia durmiendo." Washington turned to Carolina, "Where's your friend?"

"She probably headed out early to get to her drop pod," Carolina responded, amused.

"Guess I should wake up Caboose," Washington stated, getting up. Washington lifted the flap of Caboose's tent, "Time to wake—." The tent was empty.

"What's wrong," Simmons asked.

"He's not here…," Washington said.

"Where do you think he went," asked Carolina. Lopez said, "Estaba siguiendo a la chica con la pierna protésica." Washington thought for a moment.

"Yesterday… He was over by the cliff…," Washington started getting worried. Normally, Caboose would've been waking up at the same time as everyone else. He looked over at the cliff. Caboose wasn't there, and it looked like a bit more of the cliff had crumbled.

"Oh no," Washington groaned, as he rushed over to the cliff. Carolina was right behind him, followed by the rest of the group. Lopez stayed behind and kept cooking.

"Caboose," Washington called as he came up to the cliff.

"You think maybe he fell again," Simmons asked what everyone was thinking.

"CABOOSE," Washington shouted, going right up to the edge. Carolina pulled him back, saying, "We don't need you going over, too!"

"We'll find him, Washington," Donut said, nervously. Everyone was fidgety.

"What are you guys shouting about," Skye said, as she walked along the cliff towards the group. Behind her was—

"Caboose," Washington said, relieved.

"Hello," Caboose waved back.

"I got up early to search for a good way down, and five minutes in found him following me," Skye said, jabbing her thumb over her shoulder.

Skye heard footsteps behind her. Turning, she saw Caboose walking behind her. She stopped walking. He stopped. She took a step, so did he. She tilted her head.

"Hello," Caboose said.

"Hello, Private Caboose," Skye said back, "Can I help you?" Caboose gasped, "How do you know my name?"

"Your IFF tag," Skye answered, pointing. Caboose tilted his head, confused.

"My helmet can show me what your name is," Skye said, tapping the side of her helmet. Caboose got excited, "So you can read minds?" Skye raised an eyebrow, "Not quite…" It didn't seem like Caboose was comprehending.

"Anyways, what are you doing up this early?" Skye asked, continuing to walk. Caboose started following her, "Oh, just taking Freckles for a walk." Skye stopped and turned around, "Freckles?" Caboose held up his rifle, "Freckles!"

"Freckles is… your gun?" Skye asked, confused.

"He's been needing to go more often lately," Caboose whispered.

"Uh-huh…" Skye said, and continued walking. Caboose continued to follow, talking about different stuff as the sun just started to peak over the horizon.

"Caboose told me all about everyone," Skye continued, "We did find a way down, but I figured I should bring him back before continuing on." Tucker jumped forward, "CABOOSE! You can't just run off!"

"Tucker, back off," Washington said, cautiously.

"We didn't know if you were dead or not, or if you'd fallen off the cliff or what," Tucker continued yelling.

"TUCKER," Washington placed a hand on Tucker's shoulder. Tucker looked at Washington.

"Calm down, Caboose is fine," Washington said.

"Sorry, it's my fault," Skye said, "I must've woken him up when I was leaving the camp."

"Well, don't do it again," Tucker grumbled, walking away. Washington sighed. Skye turned to Caboose, "Don't take it to heart."

"Oh, he was just worried," Caboose said. Skye patted him on the shoulder, "Got a good head on those shoulders." Simmons held in a chuckle.

"Can't a guy get any sleep around here? How am I supposed to get 12 hours of sleep with you guys yelling," Grif said with a yawn, walking over to the group.

"Sor-ry Sleeping Beauty," Simmons said, sarcastically.

"He is joking about the 12 hours of sleep, right," Skye whispered.

"Unfortunately not," Washington replied.

"So, is breakfast ready? I'm staaarving," Grif moaned.

"Let's go check on Lopez," Carolina said.

As the group reached the fire pit, they found Tucker angrily eating some of the food Lopez had made.

"Finally! Food," Grif said.

"You've only been awake for five minutes, Grif," Simmons said.

"Yeah, five minutes of no food," Grif said back. He ran over to the pot and looked inside, "What the fuck is that?" The pot was full of brownish goop.

"Comida," Lopez responded.

"It's surprisingly good," Tucker mumbled through his food. Grif sat down with some of the food, unsure if he could trust it, "Why do we have a robot cooking, anyways?"

"Because someone kept complaining about Donut's eggs and bacon," Washington said.

"When I hear applewood smoked bacon, I'm expecting actual bacon, not bacon shaped wood," Grif said.

"You said you needed bacon, Grif. It was a healthier alternative," Donut said.

"It's also not like there's a grocery store nearby we could just pop into, Grif," Simmons stated.

"Whatever," Grif muttered, taking a distracted bite of food. Everyone got their share of the pot.

"By the way, what IS in this, Lopez," Washington questioned, not really touching his food.

"Huevos, suciedad, hojas, corteza de árbol, y la canela,"Lopez responded. Grif leaned towards Washington. Pointing with his fork, Grif asked, "Are you gonna eat that?"

"Huh?" Washington glanced at Grif's plate. It was empty.

"I'm eating this," Washington said, pulling his platter closer to himself. Grif sighed, "Is there enough for seconds?" Simmons looked in the pot.

"Looks like there's only just enough left for Sarge…" he replied, a little disappointed.

"I'll go tell him that breakfast is served!" Donut offered excitedly, hopping to his feet as he spoke and heading off towards Sarge's tent.

"Do you think he's gonna finish that?"

"Grif!"

"What," Grif shrugged innocently. With only a short pause, the group suddenly heard angry shouting from the tent.

"I said no!"

Donut came scurrying back, "He said you can have his, Grif…" Not at all miffed, Grif grabbed the pot and started digging in. The food was gone in a flash. Tucker had already finished his share, and Skye was just finishing hers.

"So how far is this way down of yours," Carolina asked.

"It's about two hours walk out," Skye said.

"Why don't a couple of us go with you," Carolina suggested.

"I can handle myself," Skye retorted.

"At least to keep you company," Carolina urged. Skye picked up the hidden meaning.

"Ok, how about Private Tucker? He's done with his food already," Skye said, pointing to Tucker.

"Me? Maybe I don't wanna go," Tucker said.

"You're going," Carolina said roughly. Tucker growled.

"Oo! I'll go too," Donut said excitedly, "We'll have ourselves a little outing!"

"This is already an 'outing' Donut," Simmons said.

"Oh, you know what I mean. An adventure," Donut said. Skye shrugged, "Why not."

"Why don't you take Grif, too" Carolina suggested.

"No!" Grif quickly replied. Skye looked at Carolina questioningly. Carolina looked straight at Grif and said, "You said you can't cook, clean, or chop wood. But you can walk."

"You can't make me go," Grif shouted back.

"I can't believe she made me go!" Grif said disheartened.

"Wasn't it awesome how she was able to drag you AND Tucker out of there so easily," Donut happily exclaimed from the back of the group. Tucker grumbled with his arms crossed. Skye was still dragging Grif and Tucker behind her with ease, "You guys gotta walk sometime." Tucker huffed.

"What's that girl up to," Skye wondered aloud.

"Huh," Tucker stood up, confused.

"There's nobody there," Donut said, scratching his head.

"Private Caboose's analysis of you may have been a bit off," Skye said to Tucker.

"Well that's because you decided to listen to Caboose," Tucker retorted.

"Eh, it got you to walk on your own, either way," Skye shrugged. Tucker pouted. The group continued on, with Donut talking about different things.

"…and that is why you should never paint a horse like a candy cane," Donut was saying.

"Will you shut up already, Donut," Grif said, crossly.

"No one's been listening," Tucker said.

"Captain Redding has, haven't you," Donut said, hopeful.

"Huh," Skye responded, then waving her free hand, "Yeah, good story."

"Told you," Tucker and Grif muttered.

"Here we are," Skye said suddenly.

"How do you know," Tucker asked.

"I marked it with an 'x' in the ground," Skye said, pointing to the dirt.

"That's an x," Donut asked, staring at a very poorly drawn 'x' at Skye's feet.

"Oh, shut up, it's harder than it looks," Skye muttered.

"Suuure it is," Tucker said sarcastically.

"So we climb down here," Donut asked. Grif peeked over the edge, "I'm not climbing down that."

"Ok, this is going to happen one of two ways. Either the easy way, where you climb down yourself," Skye said. Suddenly, Skye thrust her arm out so that Grif was dangling in the air, "Or we can do this the quick way. How 'bout it, Private?" Grif looked down, then up at Skye, "You won't." Skye tilted her head to the side.

"See? She won't really—," Skye suddenly dropped her arm a bit.

"Ahhh! I'll climb, I'll climb," Grif screamed. Skye turned and set him on the ground. As Skye started to climb down, Grif muttered, "Bitch."

"Agreed," Tucker said back.

"Wow, she's strong," Donut exclaimed, "She's almost as strong as Caboose!" Grif and Tucker shot him a glare.

"What," Donut shrugged questioningly.

"You seem to trust Redding a lot," Doc said, cheerily.

"And," Carolina asked.

"I'm just saying," Doc quickly added.

"I've known her since middle school, so my trusting her shouldn't be a surprise," Carolina stated.

"Let me guess, she's just like you," Washington asked.

"Not quite," Carolina responded, "She idolized her father, but she was also the one starting all the fights at school. I just would help her finish them if the teachers were coming over."

"So you were her wingman," Washington said.

"No, I was trying to focus on school," Carolina scoffed.

"Wingman," Simmons whispered to Doc. Sarge suddenly went storming through the fire pit.

"Sarge! Watch out for the—," Simmons started to warn of the fire. Sarge paid no attention and marched straight through it.

"—fire…" Simmons finished his sentence.

"What IS his problem with her," Washington muttered.

"Has she ever told you anything regarding Sarge," Simmons asked Carolina.

"I didn't even know that she knew him," Carolina shrugged, "But we haven't spoken in a couple of years."

"Why not," Doc questioned.

"With everything going on here on Chorus and Project Freelancer, I haven't had a chance. For all I know, they could have had a run in without my knowing," Carolina responded.

"You think that's what happened," Washington asked.

"Well, I haven't seen her since I met Sarge," Simmons stated.

"The weird part is she won't talk about it," Carolina pondered aloud.

"That's weird," Doc asked.

"If she had issues with someone, she'd be gung-ho to talk about it," Carolina responded.

"Huh," Washington said.

"Maybe it's something really personal," Simmons suggested.

"Huh," Carolina looked up at Simmons.

"Just an idea," Simmons suggested with a shrug.

"I guess it's possible," Carolina said.

"You guess," Washington wondered.

"She never really took anything personally," Carolina said.

"Perhaps that why she won't talk about it," Doc said.

"Maybe…," Carolina trailed off, deep in thought.

"Hurry up, Private Grif," Skye shouted up from the bottom of the rock wall.

"Don't tell me what to do," Grif shouted back, a quarter of the way from the bottom.

"Come on! I want to get this over with! It only took us 10 minutes, you're past 30 now," Tucker shouted.

"Shut up," Grif shouted nervously.

"You can do it, Grif," Donut shouted encouragingly.

"This is bad enough without your cheering, Donut," Grif growled.

"Private," Skye calmly shouted up, "Just look forward and climb down. You can do this, just focus on the wall in front of you!"

"I said, don't tell me what to – SHIT," Grif's foot slipped, causing him to fall.

"Oh great," Tucker groaned as Donut gasped. Skye quickly rolled forward, spun around, and shot her palm forward, just in time to send Grif flying away from the group. He landed hard and groaned as he slowly got up.

"Why the fuck did you do THAT," Grif said.

"I didn't think you wanted to be cradled like a babe," Skye responded. Grif started muttering angrily.

"Come on, it's not too far now," Skye said, walking ahead.

"So we have another two hours of walking," Donut asked.

"I'm not going," Grif shouted.

"Actually, it's only about five minutes from here," Skye pointed to a hole in the distance.

"Huh," Donut responded, confused.

"Geography," Skye shrugged and kept walking.

"Whatever," Tucker muttered.

"…and THAT'S why you—,"

"Just stop, Donut," Tucker shouted.

"But, Tucker -," Donut complained. Skye suddenly stopped.

"Are we there yet," Tucker asked, annoyed. Skye turned around, "How did your buddy fall for such an old trick?"

"Huh," Tucker questioned, confused.

"Donut's friend," Skye pointed out. Donut started hopping excitedly, "You were listening!"

"And, in regards to your earlier story: Why would you put that there," Skye asked, incredulous.

"Well, you see—," Donut started to explain.

"I said, are we there yet," Tucker asked, more annoyed.

"Oh, right," Skye spun around and spread her arms wide, "I give you… a giant hole!"

"All I see is sand and rocks," Tucker stated.

"Yeah, isn't there supposed to be some sort of ship thing," Grif said skeptically.

"Oh right! It would've been buried, wouldn't it," Donut replied.

"Time to start digging. You three start over here, I'll tackle over there," Skye commanded.

As Donut dug through sand, Tucker and Grif worked on moving medium sized rocks. A short ways away, Skye was chucking giant rocks over her shoulder. Grif paused, "You're right Donut, she is as strong as Caboose. Think she's fast enough to catch us if we bolt?"

"She did keep up in that fight she was having with Carolina. Besides, anyone could catch your slow ass," Tucker retorted.

"Besides, we're already here, so we might as well help her. She helped us out when we got stuck in that cave," Donut replied.

"Uh, she's the reason you guys were stuck in the cave in the first place," Grif stated.

"But that was by accident," Donut said.

"Whatever…," Grif said, done with the argument.

"Are you guys done yet," Skye questioned, walking over with a rope around her shoulder.

"Done? How could anyone possibly be done already," Grif exclaimed. All three of them peeked around Skye, only to discover her side was already cleared.

"What. The hell," Tucker stated.

"What's with the rope," Donut asked.

"Oh, this? I found it in the rubble, figured we could use it to climb back up faster," Skye replied. Tucker and Donut looked at Grif.

"Hey, what's that sound," Donut wondered aloud.

"What sound," Tucker asked.

"That scratching sound," Donut replied.

"There are no sounds besides us," Grif said. Skye grabbed her gun.

"What's up with you? There's no sound," Tucker stated.

"Never dismiss what someone says is amiss," Skye said, alertly.

"Come on, I think we'd all hear that sound if—," Tucker was cut off by some rocks crumbling out of the far wall. Everyone paused, waiting.

"What the—," Grif started saying. A hand slowly reached through.

"Run," Skye said. The hand pulled the hole bigger.

"I said RUN," Skye shouted.

Everyone scrambled quickly out of the hole and was running towards the cliff. Behind them, they could hear bodies tearing open the wall and climbing up the hole. At the base of the cliff, Grif moaned.

"How're we supposed to climb this before they reach us," he asked. Skye tossed Tucker the rope, "You first!"

"Why does he get to go first," Grif demanded, as Tucker started climbing.

"Because, he's the fastest and you're gonna help me hold them off," Skye cocked her pistol. Donut cocked his rifle next to her, "What happens when he reaches the top?"

"Then he anchors the rope and tosses the other end down," Skye calmly replied.

"And then," Grif asked.

"Here they come," Skye announced. Tucker was halfway up the wall when Skye fired the first shot, a headshot. Grif and Donut were firing into the mass of bodies coming at them. Donut got a headshot here or there out of luck, but any other enemies they hit barely even staggered.

"They aren't stopping," Grif shouted in panic.

"Private Donut, your turn," Skye said as the rope dropped down behind them.

"Yes, ma'am," Donut said as he scooted up the rope.

"Fuck this! I'm climbing now," Grif yelled.

"No, that rope won't hold you both," Skye stated. Grif lowered his gun, matter-of-factly saying, "And how do you know that?" While still firing and reloading, Skye responded, "Do you want your faces ripped off? Because that's how you get your faces ripped off. If you wanna get out of this, I need you to trust me."

"And why should we trust you," Grif questioned angrily. Skye didn't respond immediately, "Just keep firing."

"Yeah, whatever," Grif started to turn back towards the mass of bodies while raising his rifle, only to see one of them had lunged at him, mouth gaping open. All he could scream was, "Shit!" before he was knocked back. Skye was in front of him, and the attackers face had been blown off from the force of the pistol firing from within its mouth.

"Your turn, Private Grif. Start climbing."

"Huh," Grif responded shakily, still a bit dazed.

"Get up, grab that rope, and start climbing," Skye responded calmly, raising her free hand to her helmet.

"Privates Tucker and Donut."

"Yeah?"

"You're going to get Grif up faster by pulling that rope up as he climbs."

"WHAT?"

"Just do it."

"But what about you?"

There was a pause.

"Just do it. Get him up as fast as you can. I'll get up on my own."

Grif grabbed the rope and paused.

"Get climbing, Private," Skye instructed.

"Yeah yeah, I'm going." As Grif began to climb, Skye pulled out her rail gun and began firing it from the hip into the crowd. Unfortunately, it was only knocking enemies back, where they would get back up and continue on.

"Hmmmm…," Skye began planning. Grif was about a quarter way up the wall when Donut said to Tucker, "How is she gonna get out?"

"Why are you worried about her," Tucker asked.

"Well, she did make sure we got out first," Donut explained.

"And?"

"She climbed faster than you," Donut pointed out. Tucker sighed, "Pull harder." When Grif was halfway up, the enemies were practically right on top of Skye.

"Tucker," Donut wailed.

"I know," Tucker responded.

"We gotta help her," Donut said. Tucker sighed again, "We can't."

"WHAT ARE YOU TWO TALKING ABOUT? PULL ME UP," Grif shouted.

"SHUT UP GRIF," Tucker shouted back.

"But," Donut began. Tucker looked at him, "How? We're too busy with Grif here!"

"ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT ME," Grif's voice questioned.

"JUST SHUT UP AND CLIMB!"

Skye holstered both her rail gun and her pistol, and grabbed a box off of her right leg.

"What is she doing?" Grif echoed the others' thoughts. Skye charged forward, leaping into the air. She threw the box into the middle of the group, then pushed off the chest of one with her right leg, catapulting a quarter way up the wall and effectively punching a hole big enough in the body to detach the head completely. Before reaching the wall, she squeezed the button on the detonator in her hand, yelling, "BOOM BITCHES!" The explosion rocked the earth as she grabbed the wall. Body parts went flying everywhere. Any bodies that still had a head attached kept going after them, albeit much slower now.

"Keep climbing, Private," Skye shouted up at Grif, who had stopped and was staring slack jawed like Tucker and Donut were. Skye quickly reached the top, and helped Tucker and Donut finish pulling up Grif.

"That was amazing," Donut squealed.

"Now what," Tucker asked, winded.

"We go warn the others," Skye stated as she started jogging. The others followed.

"So, how'd it go," Doc asked, as Skye, Grif, Donut, and Tucker rounded the corner into the camp. Skye pointed at Carolina, who immediately stood up, "What's wrong?"

"Trouble."

"I'm not going," Sarge shouted.

"What do you mean you're not going," Simmons asked.

"I mean, I'm staying right here," Sarge said, sitting down in front of his tent. Everyone else had dismantled their tents and were packing them into Warthogs, except Grif, whose tent was only half dismantled.

"But if you stay here, they'll get you," Donut wailed.

"Poppycock! You expect me to believe that they, whatever 'they' are, will choose to come here? What makes you so sure," Sarge questioned.

"Because, they appeared to respond to us, and there is no one else around, anywhere," Skye said.

"Well, maybe you did something to cause that while you were ordering my men around," Sarge growled. Skye glared back at him.

"Uh, blue team," Tucker said, annoyed.

"Well, then how about you march your men to a safer location," Skye snarled.

"You still haven't proven that there's any danger," Sarge exclaimed.

"Yeah, not like they can follow our footprints or anything…," Grif said. Sarge looked at the path of three normal footprints alongside a trail of dragging footprints.

"God damnit Grif! Learn to pick up your feet," Sarge said.

"You still staying, or are you gonna stick with us," Carolina asked. Sarge grumbled as he started dismantling his tent.

"So what exactly is coming after us," Simmons asked, as he handed his pack to Washington, who was organizing them into the back of a Warthog.

"First, move. Then talk," Carolina stated.

"Why here," Simmons asked, kicking at the water. The beach was surrounded by palm trees, and the sun was setting over the water in the distance.

"It's quite the tactical position," Skye responded. Sarge grumbled from the back of a Warthog.

"Donut, you need to work on your driving," Tucker said.

"Sorry! Grif always hogged the steering wheel before," Donut said, scratching his head.

"At least he got us here," Washington stated.

"Yeah, while bouncing my face off the dashboard every time he shifted and at every little bump in the road and every time he had to brake…," Tucker complained.

"So, what are we being chased by," Simmons asked.

"Soldiers," Washington asked.

"Trained assassins who will destroy all of you insolent fools," O'Malley asked.

"Zombies," Grif yelled, "Motherfucking zombies!"

"Come on, Grif," Simmons said, "Everyone knows that's not possible."

"I'm telling you, they had to be zombies," Grif exasperated.

"Grif, they proved that it would be impossible to create actual zombie people centuries ago," Washington stated.

"Oh, really," Grif said, skeptical.

"Well, viruses and bacteria need living hosts, so that's out with corpses, and that fungus thing only moves its host to sunlight before growing out of their heads and becoming a stationary plant thing, so not much to be scared of there," Doc piped up.

"You know all that," Simmons asked.

"That was in our second training lesson to be a medic," Doc answered.

"What was the first lesson," Donut asked.

"The five signs of death," Doc said.

"Which are," Donut continued asking.

"Hmmm… I don't remember," Doc responded, scratching his head.

"Good grief…," Simmons sighed.

"So if they weren't zombies, what else could they have been that acts just like zombies," Grif asked the group.

"Actually," Skye chimed in, walking towards the group behind Carolina, "Zombies might be the best term for them."

"But it's scientifically proven that zombies can't exist," Carolina echoed Washington's earlier comment.

"Honestly, the only thing stopping them were head shots. No matter how many times their bodies were hit, they kept walking until they were hit in the head," Skye shrugged.

"We've seen some crazy strong guys that could probably do that," Simmons stated.

"They also smelled good and bad at the same time," Donut added.

"How do you smell good and bad at the same time," Simmons questioned.

"Well, they smelled like fresh linen. But they also smelled like dead fish, especially when that black stuff came out of them," Donut said, getting grossed out thinking about it.

"Black stuff," Carolina asked, suspicious.

"Yeah! It was all black and glowy! I thought it was blood at first, but what kind of blood is black? Glowing blood, maybe, but black," Donut thought out loud.

"So they were oozing a black glowing liquid," Doc asked.

"Yeah," Donut responded.

"Wait a minute," Simmons said, excitedly, "That sounds just like nanobots!" Everyone looked at Simmons. "The black liquid sustains them, and the glowing comes from the machines themselves," Simmons continued, "Everyone knows that, right?"

"Nerd."

"Oh, shut it Grif."

"I was wondering why it sounded familiar," Carolina said.

"Huh," Simmons asked.

"Just before everything went south with Project Freelancer, they were starting to brief us on nanotechnology within the human body," Carolina remembered out loud.

"I don't remember that," Washington said.

"You were still recovering from your implant fiasco," Carolina said, "But the question we should really be asking is, why here?"

"What do you mean," Simmons asked.

"This planet is supposedly a low population planet, meaning there's only one or two settlements. Not nearly enough to utilize nanotechnology," Carolina brainstormed. Skye began to respond, "Perhaps we should try to investi—,"

"Hold it right there, little missy," Sarge interrupted.

"Little.. Missy," Skye growled.

"I ain't following anymore of what you say, Redding," Sarge said.

"It's not a bad idea," Washington interjected.

"This is none of yer business," Sarge shot back.

"Huh," Washington was confused.

"But-," Simmons started. Skye held her arm out, stopping him.

"Fine! What'll get you to see the error of your ways, Piggy," Skye sneered.

"P-P-Piggy," Sarge said, angrily astonished, "Now you've done it, Redding! This calls for a good old fashioned brawl!" Skye stretched her shoulder, "Same old rules?"

"Yup!"

"Fun! Incapacitation or death."

"Did she say death," Grif asked.

"Yup!" Sarge responded. The rest of the group stepped back.

Sarge and Skye were facing each other, fists raised. Sarge lunged forward, punching. Skye jumped back. Sarge kept lunging and punching, and Skye was simply dodging, "Come on, you're fighting like an old man!" Sarge growled, "What's the matter, too scared to hit back?" Sarge threw another punch, Skye leaned away and kicked at his head with her left leg. Sarge chuckled, having found his opening, dropped down and aimed to smash down on her right knee. Skye was already prepared though, using the momentum of her kick to quick spin around, then pushed off the ground with her right leg and vaulted backwards over Sarge. As soon as she landed, she buried her fist into Sarge's right kidney, sending him flying.

"Nice try. Trying to use one of my moves against me," Skye smirked, "But it's so outdated." Sarge groaned as he picked himself off the ground, "Fine, then." He looked over at the group, "Simmons! Grif! Donut! Get over here and help me!"

"Um, isn't that cheating," Simmons asked.

"There is no thing as 'cheating' in this fight. Now get over here," Sarge commanded. Simmons ran over.

"But, I don't wanna fight her," Donut said.

"Yeah, I'd prefer to not die," Grif said.

"Man up and fight," Sarge exclaimed back. Donut shuffled over, nervously.

"You know what? I'm still not fighting. I've already had a close enough encounter with death," Grif said, dismissing Sarge's summons. Tucker hopped over.

"What are you doing over here," Sarge asked, surprised.

"Well, I don't wanna get bossed around by some new person," Tucker replied, "And if we win, she can't boss us, right?" Sarge paused for a second, then nodded saying, "Welcome to the team! Now, let's get her!" Skye took a neutral position with her left side facing her opponents.

"They seem really, really familiar with each other," Doc commented.

"Who," Washington asked.

"Sarge and Captain Redding. Like, as if they were really close once or something," Doc replied. The group charged at her, Sarge followed by Simmons followed by Donut followed by Tucker. She took a step backward, grabbed Sarge's wrist with her left hand and pulled down, pushed up under his elbow with her right, and threw him to her left, causing him to flip. She took another step and mirrored the move with Simmons. Another step, but this time as she pulled Donut's wrist straight, and pushed on his back with her right hand, causing him to run a couple more steps before losing his balance and falling forward. She then turned and kneed Tucker in the stomach, flinging him back a few feet.

"Dammit," Tucker groaned.

"This doesn't seem very fair," Washington stated.

"You know what? I've been thinking," Grif suddenly said.

"Oh, really?" Carolina said, sarcastically, "What about?" Skye turned and pounded the ground at Sarge, Simmons, and Donut's feet, sending the men sprawling back before they finished getting to their feet. Tucker had gotten to his feet and was rushing Skye, about to punch her in the back of the head.

"I think I've figured it out," Grif responded to Carolina, "I think they were once dating." Skye reached over her left shoulder, grabbed Tucker, and threw him… straight into Grif, which resulted in a very satisfying thud.

"What the fuck," Grif shouted, sitting up and rubbing his head.

"STAY OUT OF IT," Skye and Sarge shouted at the same time, before turning and growling at each other. Tucker shook his head as he stood up.

"Washington, help us out," he said, as he ran back to the fray.

"Huh," Washington responded, caught off guard, "But—." Carolina gave him a small push, "Go on!"

"What," Washington stumbled a little before catching himself.

"Go give her a real fight," Carolina chuckled. Washington saw purple armor run past him.

"Let's make this interesting," O'Malley cackled. Washington sighed, and ran after him.

O'Malley ran straight up to Skye, punching at her. Skye quickly threw him, but Washington landed a punch to her shoulder before she could turn back.

"Fuck yeah! We got a hit in," Tucker cheered.

"Huh…" Skye muttered, before vaulting backwards, landing on her right hand on Washington's shoulder. She paused for a second, chuckled and vaulted off of him. She threw a punch, but Washington deflected it as he spun around. She threw another punch, but Washington deflected that one, too. Carolina rubbed her chin, contemplating, "Hmmm…"

"What," Grif asked. Washington quick dropped and swept Skye's left leg out from under her, causing her to fall. She winced. Skye quickly rolled backwards and vaulted up, landing on her right leg, and keeping pressure off of her left.

"Gotcha," Washington muttered. Skye leaned into a back stance, with her left leg up front and barely touching the ground and brought her hands in front of her defensively.

"Go get her, Washington," Simmons and Tucker cheered.

"Hmpf," Sarge snorted.

"What was that for," Simmons asked. Washington charged forward. Skye tilted her head and lifted her left leg.

"He fell for it," Carolina and Sarge stated simultaneously. Skye slammed her left leg down, propelling herself up and forward as she round house kicked with her right.

"BOOM," she shouted, as her foot connected with Washington's side. The force of the kick sent him flying through the trees at the edge of the beach, where he disappeared from sight.

"HOLY SHIT," Simmons, Tucker, and Grif said in unison.

"Psychological warfare," Sarge grunted.

"She eliminated her strongest opponent first," Carolina mused.

"Well, now what," Tucker asked, angrily.

"I'm guessing no guns," Simmons asked.

"Nope," Sarge replied.

"Well," O'Malley said softly, picking up a rock, "Rocks aren't guns." He lobed it at Skye, and it bounced off the side of her helmet as she attempted to dodge a little too late.

"Yeah-ha! Rocks away," Tucker shouted, lobbing a few himself.

"I'm so sorry," Doc shouted to Skye.

"Shut up, you fool," O'Malley replied, lobbing another rock, "This is fun!" Skye began dodging the rocks, eventually running towards the trees. She quickly dodged to the side, just as a rock was whizzing towards her back. Unfortunately, she was dodging around Washington, who was just stumbling out of the trees and took the rock full force to the face.

"Sorry, Washington," Simmons shouted.

"I'm out," Washington said, walking towards Carolina, Caboose, Grif and Lopez. Skye vanished amongst the trees.

"Let's go get her," Tucker said.

"Wait," Sarge said, everyone else stopping in their tracks, "She's got the high ground."

"So then what do we do," Simmons asked.

"I don't wanna fight anymore," Doc wailed.

"What do we do? We send a scout," Sarge said.

"A scout? Who do we send, then," Simmons asked. Everyone looked at Doc.

"Huh? Oh, no. No, no, no. I said I don't wanna fight anymore," Doc responded, walking backwards and shaking his hands in front of him.

"Just go in there, and tell us when you find her," Sarge said, pushing Doc towards the trees. Doc fought against the pushing, "But, but, but!"

"Look, Doc, you don't have to fight her. Just find out where she is," Tucker reasoned. Doc sighed, "Fine." Picking up his shoulders, he cautiously walked into the trees. The others watched, waiting.

"So… How dead is he," Simmons asked.

"So totally dead," Tucker replied. Suddenly, Doc screamed from within the trees.

"Yup, he's dead," Tucker confirmed.

"Alright, men," Sarge said, turning to the others, "Time to go get her."

"Huh," Simmons questioned.

"Our scout is gone, so now it's time to attack," Sarge responded.

"I'm, uhhh… Gonna go check on Wash, make sure he's ok," Donut said, scurrying away.

"Geronimo," Sarge shouted, rushing into the trees. Simmons and Tucker looked at each other, then followed. As they cleared the tree line, they discovered Sarge was long gone.

"Oh great," Tucker groaned.

"Sarge? Where are you," Simmons shouted.

"Are you a fucking idiot," Tucker hissed.

"Sorry," Simmons whispered back. They both started slinking forward, cautiously. A bird rustled some leaves off to the side. Three rocks went sailing at it.

"Don't freak out at every little thing," Tucker scolded.

"Me? You threw two," Simmons shot back, turning towards Tucker. He was gone.

"Tucker," Simmons asked nervously. He started backing into the trees, looking every which way. "Tucker? Sarge? Anyone?"

"Hello, Private Simmons," came from right behind him.

Simmons' scream echoed through the trees. Sarge turned towards it, "There you are." Pushing through bushes and foliage, Sarge soon found himself in a small clearing.

"Sarge!"

Sarge looked around, confused.

"Up here!"

He looked up. Doc was wrapped up in a vine, hanging from a tree, "Please get me down, before she comes back!" Sarge quickly released Doc, who came tumbling to the ground.

"Hurry on back," Sarge said.

"Huh? What if she ambushes me," Doc questioned.

"What are you talking about," Sarge scoffed, "You've been incapacitated!"

"Wait, you mean I'm out," Doc asked.

"Yup, in quite an embarrassing manner, I might add," Sarge answered, walking away. Doc was left there, sitting on the ground, puzzled. He slowly got up and started heading towards the beach.

Sarge continued pressing into the brush. Branches were bouncing off his helmet every once in a while, but he didn't even notice.

"Now, where did you go," he muttered. He slowly continued, not even noticing the shadow in the trees. Skye raised her arm, getting ready to throw the rock she held, as Sarge began to pan to the right. Suddenly, Donut's scream from the beach pierced the silence. Sarge and Skye both turned towards it, Sarge still oblivious to her location.

"What in Sam Hill was that?" Sarge said, "Well, guess she got him, too." Skye suddenly sprung off her perch, heading towards the beach and out of sight. Sarge turned towards the rustling leaves from her departure.

"Huh," he pondered, setting off back the way he came. After a couple of minutes, Doc came bursting through the brush. Startled, Sarge whirled and punched him.

"Ow! What was that for," Doc stammered breathlessly, holding his face.

"Sorry," Sarge said, "What are you doing back here?"

"Gotta… Get out," Doc struggled to say.

"Yes, you're out. Rules already stated that," Sarge responded.

"No! Out… Of here! Back," Doc said, still unable to properly explain.

"What," Sarge asked, completely confused.

"They're back," Doc said.

"Who's back," Sarge asked.

"Those… Zombie things! They found us," Doc exclaimed, jabbing a thumb over his shoulder. There was rustling in the distance, accompanied by moans and groans. An explosion was heard from the beach.

"Well then," Sarge said, unholstering his shotgun.

"No, no, no. We have to meet up with the others," Doc said, grabbing Sarge's shoulder. Sarge shrugged him off, "Says who?"

"Carolina and Wash…," Doc said cautiously. Sarge sighed, "Fine!"

"Great! This way…," Doc said, unsure.

"What's with the question," Sarge asked.

"Hmm? Nothing," Doc responded, quickly walking into the brush. Sarge followed behind.

"What's taking them so long," Tucker asked.

"I don't know," Washington responded. Skye gave Carolina a worried glance.

"They need to hurry up," Carolina said, "We can't stay here much longer."

"I betcha they're lost," Grif said.

"We gave Doc directions, they should've been here by now," Washington reminded him. There was static on their radios.

"Hey, guys," Doc radioed.

"Doc, where are you," Carolina demanded.

"Did you find Sarge," Simmons asked.

"Found him! Uhhh… About where we are…," Doc's voice said.

"Numb nuts here got us lost," Sarge's voice scoffed. Doc laughed nervously over the radio.

"Called it," Grif piped up.

"Can you describe where you are," Carolina commanded.

"Uhhh, well, there are a lot of—." The radio suddenly cut to static.

"Doc? Doc! Sarge! …Dammit," Carolina shouted.

"Uh, what was that about," Grif asked.

"Are we being jammed," Washington questioned.

"Yes. Dammit," Carolina responded.

"We gotta go find them," Donut said.

"But we have no idea where they are," Simmons responded.

"Also, we'd make a bigger target," Carolina thought aloud.

"Are you saying they're specifically coming for us," Washington asked.

"That's how it looks," Carolina responded.

"Well, now what are we gonna do," Tucker asked.

"I'll go," Skye said.

"What," Simmons asked.

"Don't you hate Sarge? Why would you go save him," Grif asked.

"We need everyone together, and I have the best chance of finding them," Skye responded.

"You'll have to go entirely on foot," Carolina said.

"Yep," Skye said, "Where're we meeting up?"

"How about the campsite," Washington said.

"I like your thinking," Skye said, pointing over her shoulder at him, "Get ready to move, ASAP. Blasting through this jam will alert them to this spot." Skye put her hand to her helmet, as everyone got ready.

"What's so good about your idea," Simmons asked Washington, curiously.

"When you are trying to figure something out, it's good to start from the beginning," Washington shrugged.

"And… Now," Skye shouted, then into the radio, "You two are to stay put and keep any attackers off you." She paused for just a second, before taking off into the trees.

"Let's go," Carolina said to the others. Everyone started moving. After a moment Tucker paused, looking around, "Where's Caboose?"

"God damnit," Washington groaned.

Skye was quickly, but quietly, pushing her way through the brush. Suddenly, she turned, raising her gun. There were footsteps coming towards her, accompanied by rustling leaves and branches breaking. She focused down the sights, then lowered her gun.

"Private, what are you doing," Skye asked, confused. Caboose appeared out of the shrubbery, "Hi! I am following!"

"I can see that. Why are you following me," Skye questioned, placing a hand on her hip.

"Oh, so that you aren't alone," Caboose said cheerily. Skye laughed a bit and shrugged, "I intended to go alone, but I guess it can't be helped. Who'd you tell you were leaving?" Skye looked at Caboose. Caboose looked back. A moment passed.

"Well then, I should probably let them know where you are," Skye said, placing her hand on the side of her helmet.

"Ok," Caboose said.

"Hmmm, another punch will give a very definitive location, though," Skye thought out loud. She looked around, then smirked, "Ok, here's how things are going to go down, Private."

"Where did he run off to," Carolina shouted, frustrated.

"This is so stupid," Tucker shouted, equally frustrated.

"Why haven't you found him yet," Carolina shouted at Tucker.

"Me? Why me," Tucker shouted back.

"Because you have the high tech suit," Carolina shouted.

"Maybe, but it's not like I can use it," Tucker responded.

"What do you mean," Washington asked.

"Church might have made it so I could use those abilities during that fight, but then it deactivated itself," Tucker said. Carolina growled out of frustration.

"Maybe we should put a cowbell on him," Donut said. Everyone turned and looked at him.

"What," Donut asked.

"I vote for it," Tucker said.

"Me too," Grif said.

"Third," Simmons added.

"Really? A cowbell," Washington questioned, "You know what? Screw it, cowbell it is."

"But first we have to find him," Carolina reminded him. Static came over the radio.

"Private Caboose is with me. We're pressing forward. Over and out," Skye said.

"Well, there's that mystery solved," Washington said.

Skye lowered her hand from her helmet. She turned to Caboose, "Ok, private, time to move out!"

"Okay," Caboose replied, loudly. Skye put a finger to her lips, "But you have to stay quiet."

"Okay," Caboose whispered.

"Good. Now we need to go that wa—Shit," Skye quickly turned around. There was some rustling in the distance.

"I didn't think they'd pinpoint us that quick," Skye quickly looked around, assessing their situation, "They found us too fast to just outrun them… There! Time for some hide and seek…"

Skye crouched on a branch, turning a stone over in her hand. Caboose was on the same branch, holding onto the tree itself. The rustling of leaves got louder and the footsteps closer. One of the zombs poked it's head through the brush. Skye stared at it intensely. It walked right below their branch, followed by four others. They looked in a circle around them, without looking up. They made some strange noises to each other before walking back towards the trees.

"Did they find our hiding spot," Caboose whispered. The first zomb turned around, head tilted. Skye quickly tossed the rock past the zomb into the trees. It stopped, turned, then slunk back into the trees towards where the rock landed. A moment passed, then the forest became still and quiet.

"Alright, private. We should be clear now," Skye said. She stood up, and started to turn towards Caboose. Suddenly, Skye froze. She quickly moved over to Caboose, placing her hand on his shoulder.

"Don't move, don't make a sound. Period," she said, menacingly. They both watched the ground below them. A strange robot floated into sight. It was looking around, occasionally pausing as a red line circled around its "eye", resulting in the whole circle flashing red. Caboose's hand slipped a little. Skye tensed as the robot snapped it's gaze towards them. The red line circled around its "eye" for twice as long as before. Suddenly, it flashed red, and the robot turned around and floated back into the trees. After a moment went by, Skye let out the breath she had been holding, letting her shoulders drop.

"Are we invisible? Did we win," Caboose whispered. Skye hopped down from the branch, "You can speak normal, Private. No, we weren't invi—." Caboose fell from the branch, landing on Skye. Skye pulled herself out from under Caboose, stood up, and began brushing herself off.

"Ok, how the fuck did that happen," Skye questioned aloud.

"Because I fell," Caboose replied.

"I know that, I meant how did I not notice you falling," Skye tapped the side of her helmet, "A sensor might be going… Anyway, we weren't invisible, it just couldn't see us." Caboose gasped, "You mean it is blind?"

"Not exactly. I made it so that it just couldn't see us. Using our measurements, and the right program, our images were cancelled out on its screen," Skye explained. Caboose just stared at her. Skye shrugged, "Let's get moving, before they decide to double check this area."

"What are your friends like," Caboose asked, following Skye.

"Huh? My friends? Well, there's my team, I guess. But they're more like family than just friends. There's…," Skye began telling Caboose all about her team as they disappeared into the trees.

"So we're supposed to just sit here," Sarge said, outraged.

"Well, they do say that when you're lost, you should stay put so that you're easier to find," Doc responded.

"Yeah? Easier for who to find us," Sarge threw back.

"Good point," Doc replied.

"Well, seeing as we're stuck here for now, did you get a proper gun yet," Sarge asked.

"Someone is overly attached to their medical scanner," O'Malley replied.

"Can't you force some sense into him? Seeing as you're in his head and all," Sarge asked.

"Surprisingly, no. He was very firm on this one," O'Malley said, resigned.

"Humph," Sarge responded.

"I don't need to kill anyone! I can disable them just fine. Ask Simmons," Doc retorted.

"Well, Simmons ain't here," Sarge gruffed. There was a rustling of leaves and pounding of feet.

"Uh oh…," Doc said. Zombs rushed out of the trees. Sarge began firing his shotgun at them. Doc raised his scanner, which began glowing.

"Why aren't you firing," Sarge questioned.

"It takes a moment to charge," Doc replied nervously.

"How long is a moment," Sarge asked.

"Almost there," Doc muttered. Suddenly, a red blur leapt out of the trees and landed in front of them. Doc instinctively pointed his scanner at it and fired the burst. Skye rolled to the side and avoided the hit, immediately following up by kicking a zomb's head off with her right leg.

"Yeah, you can disable someone just fine," Sarge said sideways.

"Shoot to kill," Skye said, pulling out her pistol and firing a couple of head shots.

"But, I don't want to kill! I'm a pacifist," Doc complained.

"Numb nuts here doesn't even have a gun," Sarge stated. Doc looked at him.

"Fine," Skye said, tossing her pistol at Doc. He caught it nervously, "But—." Skye pulled out her rail gun, "Smell that? They're already dead. Now start firing and help protect us." Doc raised the pistol nervously, with Skye's back shaking in and out of sights.

"And aim at them, not me," Skye added. Doc nervously set his jaw, aimed away from Skye, and started shooting at the zombs on the outskirts. Each shot he made was a headshot. Between Skye's rail gun, Doc's surprisingly accurate pistol shots, and Sarge's occasional shotgun head shots, the group of zombs quickly went down.

"Nice firing, Private," Skye said to Doc. Doc looked down at the pistol in his hands, quickly and shakily handing it back to Skye.

"We heard you say that Caboose was with you," Doc questioned in a high pitched voice. Him and Sarge looked around.

"Couldn't even keep one soldier alive, huh," Sarge menaced. Skye looked at him sideways, "He's just hanging around."

"Huh," Doc asked, confused and still shaking. Skye walked through the trees she had entered from. Doc and Sarge exchanged looks and followed.

"See," Skye said, pointing towards the treetops. Doc and Sarge looked up. Caboose was tied to a tree with vines, "Hi!"

"Uhhh…," Doc said. Skye started climbing the tree, "His gun doesn't fire, and I was trying to avoid using the rail gun. Figured he'd be fine for a few minutes up here." Sarge and Doc glanced at each other.

"Uh, you know, you don't need a gun to disable someone," Doc said.

"Yeah, just ask Simmons," Sarge added.

"I'll believe it when I see it," Skye said as she was untying Caboose, "Incoming!" Sarge quickly stepped back.

"Huh," Doc asked, looking at Sarge. Caboose landed on Doc.

"Now you just need to work on your catch…," Skye said as she hopped down.

"What do you think you're doing," Sarge growled.

"What do you mean," Skye said, instantly annoyed.

"Dropping things on my soldiers," Sarge said.

"Uh, people aren't 'things'. Private Caboose here is a person, not a 'thing'," Skye argued.

"I don't care," Sarge growled back. The two stared angrily at each other, the tension thick enough to cut with a knife.

"Uhhh… Maybe we should just start heading back to the others," Doc suggested. Sarge and Skye both looked at him, simultaneously responding, "Sure," before looking at each other again angrily.

"Which way do we go," Doc said, trying to distract them. Caboose began conversing with his rifle.

"We go that way," Skye said, pointing through the trees.

"Nope," Sarge said.

"What," Skye growled.

"We go that way," Sarge said matter-of-factly.

"What makes you think we go that way," Skye questioned angrily.

"That's where you came from, so that's where the others are," Sarge said smugly.

"Except that the group continued on after we left. Doing the calculations, they should be that way," Skye argued, pointing in her direction.

"No."

"Yes."

"No!"

"Yes!"

"Let's go that way," Caboose said, walking through the middle of the group, pointing in the direction directly between Sarge's and Skye's routes.

"Huh," Sarge and Skye asked.

"Freckles says that we go this way," Caboose responded cheerily. Sarge and Skye just stared at him, "Why would—,"

"I vote for Freckles's idea," Doc interjected. Sarge and Skye looked at him.

"That means, due to the vote being 3 to 1 to 1," Doc said, "We follow Caboose?" Skye and Sarge just kept staring at Doc.

"Diplomacy ruling says we must," Skye sighed.

"Unfortunately, you're correct," Sarge said, unhappily. Everyone began to walk through the woods, with Caboose leading.

"You need to keep a better eye on him," Carolina lectured to Tucker.

"What," Tucker responded.

"He's your teammate, you have to keep an eye out for where he is," Carolina said.

"What do you mean I have to," Tucker said, pissed.

"Like I said earlier, you have the equipment to do so easily," Carolina responded matter-of-factly.

"Here, wait, let me just quick Google the instruction manual on this suit that I already told you I can't use," Tucker shouted.

"Well, get it working! I want you watching Caboose when they get back," Carolina commanded. Washington was walking over to where they were standing.

"That's not my job," Tucker responded.

"You—," Carolina started.

"He's right," Washington said, calmly, stepping in between the two. Tucker and Carolina both looked at him.

"Caboose is all of our responsibility. You can't just blame Tucker," Washington said.

"But, he has the suit," Carolina began.

"It doesn't work, though. Simmons and I have been trying to activate it, but nothing happens," Washington shrugged.

"Still," Carolina asked, "And why haven't you let me in on this?"

"Well, we weren't sure if we could get it to work. And we were right. Something's missing," Washington explained.

"Church," Tucker said, depressed. Carolina sighed, then walked away. Tucker looked at Washington.

"We all miss Epsilon," Washington said.

Suddenly, there was rustling from the trees behind them. Everyone spun around, weapons aimed at the trees.

"Are you sure it's this way," Sarge's voice questioned.

"AFFIRMATIVE," Freckles's voice answered.

THUD!

"What the hell is up with my sensors," Skye's voice asked. The group lowered their weapons as Caboose, Doc, and Sarge appeared from the trees, followed by Skye who was brushing herself off.

"Taken out by a tree root," Sarge chuckled menacingly.

"Ah, shut up," Skye shot him back a death glare.

"What took you so long," Tucker scoffed. Sarge and Skye immediately blamed each other, followed by them growling at each other, helmet to helmet. Washington quickly stepped between them, "We need to figure out our next step."

"How about why they're coming after us," Tucker said.

"It's all her fault," Sarge stated, pointing at Skye.

"How is it my fault," Skye growled back.

"They didn't show up until after you arrived," Sarge pointed out.

"It takes more than twenty-four hours to cross a desert that big," Skye responded, pointing towards the cliff. She then turned away, contemplating, "How long were you camped here?"

"About a month," Carolina responded.

"That would have been plenty of time to locate and attack you guys if you had been their target," Skye thought aloud. She turned to Sarge, arms crossed, "I… hate to admit it… but this is a very strange coincidence in timing."

"But you only just arrived, and you even said that it would've taken longer than that for them to traverse that desert," Washington said.

"I should also point out that the only good landing area for a ship holding that number of soldiers would be on the far side of the planet," Skye said.

"So, they were after us," Doc asked.

"No," Skye responded. Everyone else looked at each other in confusion.

"Well, get your story straight already," Grif said.

"Something seems… familiar… about them, but I can't place my finger on it…," Skye said, deep in thought.

The group was standing around the hole in the sand, where the zombs had come out of.

"Explain to me again why we're here," Grif said.

"Answers," Skye responded.

"No shit," Grif said back, "I meant why are we going into this hell pit? There's gotta be more of them on the other side!"

"Yup," Skye said, hopping in.

"So, wouldn't it be smarter to go the other way," Grif questioned.

"If you want your answers direct, you gotta go to the source," Carolina said as she dropped down.

"Maybe I don't want answers," Grif huffed. Tucker, Donut, and Doc hopped in.

"They're just going to keep coming after us, so we have to go cut off the flow," Washington said, standing next to Grif. Simmons and Caboose hopped in next.

"You can always stay here with me," Sarge said. Grif looked at him, confused, "Uhhh… Thanks?" Washington nodded to Lopez, "About that…" Washington pushed Grif in as Lopez pushed Sarge, and then both hopped down. Sarge rolled halfway to the opening in the wall, while Grif rolled to and through it. Simmons and Doc peeked into the opening, seeing Grif standing up about 20 feet away in a tunnel that slowly descended. Donut skipped past them, stopping just inside the tunnel, "Whoa!"

"You can say that again," Simmons said. Tucker stepped inside the perfectly carved out tunnel, "How could mindless zombie things do this?"

"They didn't," Carolina said. Grif, Tucker, Simmons, Donut, and Doc turned to look at her. Washington walked past her to examine a wall more closely, "Micro machines could easily dig this out."

"Really?" Donut asked.

"The walls have tiny grooves running along them," Washington observed. He turned back to the group, "Clear evidence of micro machines."

"Micro machines, nanobots… What's next? Miniscule mites," Grif said sarcastically.

"The term would be Pico mites," Simmons said.

"Whatever," Grif said starting to walk forward. The others started following. Washington turned around, watching as Sarge and Skye entered the tunnel simultaneously, staring daggers at each other.

"Hey, Lopez," Washington grabbed Lopez's shoulders, "Could you walk right here?" He placed Lopez in between Sarge and Skye, who kept staring daggers through the robot.

"¿Por qué es mi trabajo?"

"So, what do you guys think the connection between Sarge and Redding is," Simmons asked as they walked.

"I don't really care," Tucker shrugged.

"Well, if we knew their connection, maybe we could get them to stop fighting," Doc suggested.

"Still don't care," Tucker responded.

"Ok, so what do we know so far," Simmons asked, dropping his fist into his palm.

"She's a captain," Doc responded.

"That one is obvious, dig deeper," Simmons urged.

"She has really blue eyes," Caboose said. In the far back, Skye cocked her head to the side.

"Not really what we're looking for, Caboose," Simmons sighed.

"She's good at fighting," Doc questioned.

"That's… Something…," Simmons responded, scratching his head.

"She cares about others," Donut piped up.

"My gut says otherwise," Tucker responded, rubbing his stomach.

"I have to agree with Tucker on that one," Simmons said, stretching his shoulder.

"Like you guys can talk," Washington said, joining the conversation. He gave his head a quick rub.

"But, remember the cliff, Tucker," Donut said. Tucker grunted, "She just didn't want us in the way is all."

"And when we were at the beach? She made sure to cut you all down as soon as there was trouble," Donut continued.

"That's true," Simmons said, agreeing. Tucker just gave another grunt.

"Ok, what else," Washington said, continuing Simmons' analysis.

"Hmmm…" Simmons thought, then shrugged, "She likes to blow stuff up?"

"And we are now down a warthog thanks to that," Washington observed.

"Buuuuut, it did get rid of a lot of those zombie guys," Donut pointed out.

"True... Anything else," Simmons asked, "How about you, Carolina? Wish to add something?"

"I'm staying out of this," Carolina replied, unamused.

"Ok… So where does that put us," Simmons questioned.

"Why are you guys still talking about it," Grif questioned, annoyed.

"What do you mean," Simmons asked, confused.

"I mean, I've already figured it out," Grif said. Everyone looked at him.

"They used to be dating. They just don't want to admit it!"

A shotgun cocked right behind Grif's head.

"You shut yer mouth, you dirty bastard," Sarge growled.

"See? He's pissed because I'm right," Grif said, matter-of-factly.

"You've got til the count of three," Sarge said angrily.

"Well, I've made my own observations," Grif said, "Hey! Redding!" Skye was glaring at Grif.

"Yeah, I know you go against whatever Sarge says. Well, he thinks I should be shot, so you're gonna save me, right," Grif said smugly. Skye raised her pistol towards Grif.

"Yikes! What the hell," Grif panicked.

"We have a truce going for such instances," Skye responded, angrily.

"Why in Sam Hill are you using your pistol," Sarge said, outraged.

"Because rail gun shots aren't easy to come by and he ain't worth one of them," Skye shot back. Sarge grunted. Washington stepped in between, "Ok guys, let's put the guns away for now."

"What," Sarge shouted back, "This bastard—,"

"I know you're mad. I know Grif is an idiot. But shooting in here is just going to make the tunnel collapse in on us," Washington reasoned.

"Just wait until we get out of here," Carolina added. Sarge grumbled a bit, then holstered his shotgun, Skye holstered her pistol.

"Good! Now let's move on," Washington said, relieved.

Outside of the tunnel, everyone was sitting around a campfire, as the sun was setting. Everyone, that is, but Skye, who was up the hill a bit, separate from the group.

"Why isn't Captain Redding sitting with us," Donut asked.

"Why should she," Grif responded, "She brought those things on us."

"But—," Donut began.

"Grif's right, she said so herself," Simmons shrugged.

"Besides, she's not one of us," Tucker added.

"But that doesn't mean she has to be by herself," Donut said, depressed.

"She's fine," Carolina said. Everyone looked at her.

"From up there, she can keep a better lookout. Why else do you think she went that far from the fire," Carolina told them.

"Oh," Donut said, thoughtful. Simmons looked around, confused, "Uh… Where's Caboose?"

"God dammit," Tucker exclaimed.

"I'll go find him," Washington said, standing up.

"Where do you think he went," Simmons asked.

"I have an idea," Washington said.

Washington peeked out from behind a tree. Caboose was walking towards Skye.

"Hello, Private," Skye said, waving to Caboose.

"Hello," Caboose responded.

"What brings you up here," Skye asked.

"Why are you by yourself," Caboose asked back.

"The way in which I am accustomed to bonding with other units is apparently different from the way your group does it, and therefore has produced negative results," Skye answered. She looked at Caboose.

"I'm not good at making friends," she said, sitting down.

"But making friends is easy," Caboose said. Skye looked at him, amused.

"Oh, really," Skye said sarcastically.

"Yes! Can we be friends," Caboose asked. Skye looked at him with a raised eyebrow. After a moment, she said, "Sure." Caboose got all giddy and excited, "What should we do first as friends?" Skye paused for a moment, "Well, it's not a bad spot for star gazing…" Caboose immediately sat down and started staring at the night sky.

"Hey," Skye said after a moment, "Wanna see something cool?"

"Ok," Caboose said.

"Let me see your hand," Skye said, extending her own.

"My hand is cool," Caboose asked. Skye snorted, "Not quite like I meant. Here." Skye grabbed Caboose's hand, and turned it palm up, "You see these little holes here? They're used to communicate with the computers of other suits." She raised her other hand and wiggled her fingers, "It's how I knew that it was ok to go all out on Agent Washington earlier without hurting him." Skye quick looked at the tree line, directly at Washington. Then, she quick looked a bit to the left, grimaced, and went back her conversation with Caboose, "When you touch someone's shoulder, it tells you about their suit." Washington looked to his right, just in time to see Sarge quietly walking away.

"What's really cool though is when you connect the glove units," Skye continued.

"What happens then," Caboose asked.

"This," she said, touching her glove to Caboose's.

"What happened," Caboose asked.

"Look at the stars again, Caboose," Skye said, pointing up. Washington tilted his head, curious at Skye's sudden lack of formality. Caboose looked up at the stars, and suddenly his helmet was displaying lines between the stars: constellation patterns.

"I see shiny pictures," Caboose said excitedly.

"Here," Skye said, pointing at a pink dot in the sky, "Let's take a closer look at that!" The display zoomed in on the dot, and showed it to be a planet covered with swirling pink at yellow clouds.

"I see cotton candy," Caboose said. Skye laughed, "It looks like that, doesn't it!" They kept looking at the stars. After a bit, Washington started to turn back to the group. Out of the corner of his eye, he noticed Caboose start to sway sleepily. He turned back to get him, when Skye suddenly repositioned herself so she was sitting back to back with Caboose.

"If it's ok with you, I can keep an eye on him tonight," she said closing her own eyes. Washington paused, waved an acknowledgement, and headed back to the group.

"You were gone for quite a while," Carolina commented when Washington returned.

"Did you find Caboose? Why isn't he with you," Simmons questioned, slightly concerned.

"Huh? Oh, he made a new friend," Washington dismissed. Simmons, Grif, and Tucker looked at each other.

"Get some rest," Carolina said, taking up watch.

"So, remind me. Why did we get up so early," Grif groaned, still mostly asleep.

"To get some payback," Tucker said.

"Against who?" Simmons, Tucker and O'Malley Doc just stared at Grif.

"…Oh! Right!" The group snuck through the trees.

"Even she couldn't possibly be awake so early," O'Malley cackled quietly.

"I'm actually surprised you're coming with us," Simmons whispered, "What, with Doc being a pacifist and all."

"He's only a pacifist when he's awake," O'Malley smirked.

"Shhh…," Tucker hushed them. Everyone put their backs to a tree.

"Ok, so according to Wash, they are right over there," Simmons said, indicating the clearing just past the trees behind them.

"We go on three," Tucker said.

"Then what," Grif questioned.

"Huh," Simmons responded.

"We jump out on three, and then…," Grif asked, shrugging.

"Uhhh…," Tucker responded, having not quite planned everything out.

"ATTACK!" Sarge rushed past them all.

"What," Grif asked confused. Tucker, Simmons, and O'Malley charged behind Sarge, screaming confused battle cries. About halfway up the hill, they stopped, having noticed there was no one else there.

"You guys woke me up… for this," Grif said, annoyed.

"But… But… There's no way they could have woken up before us," Simmons exclaimed.

"Er, that's where you're wrong," Skye said from a ledge high up the rock wall at the top of the hill. Caboose waved from next to her.

"What. The. FUCK," Tucker yelled.

"We went exploring," Caboose said, "We found trees, and butterflies, and rocks, and a big shiny cave and—."

"A shiny cave," Simmons asked.

"No," Sarge shouted.

"Yep," Skye responded.

"I see everyone's already gathered together without us," Carolina said as her, Washington, and Donut came out of the trees.

"What are you guys doing up already," Simmons asked curiously.

"Donut told us you guys were up to something, so we decided to check things out," Carolina responded, looking sideways at Tucker, who growled quietly.

"So where are we going," Carolina asked.

"No," Sarge said.

"Yes," Skye said to Sarge, before responding to Carolina, "As Caboose said, we found ourselves a mighty shiny cave. Shiny with lab equipment, that is." The others looked at each other. Washington walked to the bottom of the cliff and turned to the group, "Guess we better start climbing." The end of a rope fell down onto his shoulder.

"Huh?"

"Wow! That was so much quicker with Caboose and Captain Redding pulling us up," Donut exclaimed. Tucker and Doc were holding their stomachs while walking with the others.

"My gut is still sore," Tucker mumbled.

"The irony," O'Malley stated, "A medic getting sick so easily."

"Are we there yet," Grif groaned.

"How should we know," Carolina answered, irritated.

"We should've just left this planet when they showed up," Grif muttered.

"How? The Chorus Army didn't leave us any ships," Simmons responded.

"Well, how about how that Redding got here," Grif suggested.

"That was a single-person drop pod! We wouldn't be able to use it, unless you want Donut sitting on your lap," Simmons said.

"I'm good, tunnel it is," Grif quickly responded.

"What was that? I thought I heard my name and 'lap'," Donut piped in.

"Nothing, Donut!"

Donut sighed.

"What's this," Washington asked, pointing ahead to a hatch. The door was labeled "MOUNTAINTOP ACCESS". Carolina opened the door. A blast of wind and snow hit the group.

"It appears to be a ladder that goes straight up," Carolina observed.

"You want us to climb that," Grif questioned, pointing at the icy ladder.

"No," Carolina responded, "Just a few of us."

"Which few? And what are the rest of us to do," Simmons asked.

"Washington, Redding, and I will go up," Carolina responded, "The rest of you go find out where this tunnel leads."

"What if it leads to more zombies," Simmons asked nervously.

"Then run away. And Tucker," Carolina asked.

"Yeah," Tucker responded.

"Don't lose Caboose again," Carolina stated.

"WHAT?! I'm not a fucking babysitter," Tucker responded, pissed off.

"You're in control, Team Leader," Skye said, smacking Tucker's shoulder, "You got this." Tucker gave her a look.

"Head out," Carolina said. The group watched as Carolina, Washington, and Skye climbed through the hatch and closed it behind themselves.

"Aw man," Donut sighed.

"What's wrong," Simmons asked.

"Why does Sarge get to go with them," Donut asked. Everyone else looked around confused, only to discover that Sarge was missing.

"For the record, I was told to watch Caboose…"

"Why did you follow us," Washington asked.

"I wanna be there when the little Missy here messes up," Sarge said menacingly. Skye growled. They were about halfway to the top.

"So how do we get a hold of the others," Washington asked.

"You can just break through the jam, right," Carolina asked Skye.

"Yeah, I can," Skye responded.

"But…," Washington questioned.

"But, I'm guessing your guys inside aren't exactly versed in it themselves, correct," Skye asked.

"So they'd never be able to warn us of anything," Washington cautioned.

"Any better plans," Carolina asked.

"Short wave radio," Sarge said. Everyone stopped climbing and looked down at Sarge.

"What," Washington asked, caught off guard.

"He's… correct," Skye sighed, annoyed. Washington radioed in, "Can you guys hear me?"

"Yeah, we hear ya," Tucker said. No response.

"If you can hear me, turn your radios to short wave frequency," Washington's voice said.

"How the fuck do I do that," Tucker asked.

"Like this," Simmons said, pressing a button on the side of Tucker's helmet.

"Hey! Hands off," Tucker shouted, shooing Simmons away.

"Sorry," Simmons said, then into the radio, "We hear you guys loud and clear!"

"Good job Simmons," Sarge's voice said, "Now why weren't they already switched over?" Simmons sighed.

"Now we can contact each other if anything happens," Washington's voice said.

"Ok, whatever," Tucker responded. The group found themselves in a big room full of desks and tubes and such.

"What is this," Donut asked in awe.

"Looks like some sort of research facility," Simmons responded.

"Makes sense," Doc said. Grif walked to a desk overflowing with papers, "What's all this shit?"

"Grif! Don't mess with those," Simmons scolded.

"What? It's not like anyone is going to be using these. They probably all got turned into zombies," Grif shrugged.

"You don't know that! You don't even know what's on these—huh, what's this," Simmons started studying the papers before him. The rest of the group just started looking around lazily.

Carolina was the first to climb over the top, followed by Skye, then Washington, and finally Sarge.

"The wind seems to have died down," Washington observed.

"What are those," Carolina asked, dead serious. Washington looked where she was indicating. Ahead of them was a semi circle of storage units. Through the clear doors they could see zombies. For some reason, they weren't moving.

"I'll scout it out," Washington said, raising his rifle to his shoulder.

"Go for it," Carolina responded. Washington cautiously stalked over to the closest one. Peering inside, he saw glazed eyes rolling around aimlessly. He held his breath momentarily when the eyes seemed to stop and look right at him, before continuing to roll around again.

"I wonder what activates them," Skye said from the next unit over. Washington jumped, "What are you doing? You might set them off!" Skye lazily tilted her head towards Washington, "Had they been motion activated, they would've been set upon us before you reached that container."

"Fair enough. So what do we do," Washington asked, easing up.

"Blow 'em to hell," Sarge said.

"Blowing up one could cause the others to activate," Carolina responded.

"I can set up charges on each one, but…," Skye said.

"But what," Washington asked.

"I wouldn't be able to remotely activate them," Skye shrugged.

"What's the use of being Explosive Detail if you can't do that," Sarge exclaimed.

"I said I can't activate them by remote, I never said I couldn't blow them up!" Skye exclaimed back.

"Here," Skye pointed at the ground, "I'll set up the button. I can connect them all to this, then just bounce a shot off the top and BOOM! No more zombies."

"How long will it take you to set up," Carolina asked.

"About five minutes," Skye answered.

"And how long until you set it off," Carolina continued to inquire.

"Five plus one is six, sooo…" Skye shrugged.

"We're blowing charges in six, so you better find a way up in five," Carolina commanded over the radio.

"Jeez, bossy much," Grif muttered, not realizing his radio was still on.

"I heard that…," Carolina's voice growled.

"Five minutes?! I can't read all of this in just five minutes," Simmons wailed.

"Then just grab what you can," Tucker instructed.

"Doc, come help me," Simmons requested hurriedly.

"Now how do we leave," Tucker questioned aloud.

"How about through the door," Grif shrugged.

"Door? What door," Tucker asked.

"That one," Grif shrugged, pointing at the far wall.

"Oh."

"We're ready," Simmons exclaimed, as he and Doc hurried over, arms filled with folders and files

"Donut," Tucker asked.

"Coming!" Donut sang running over to the group.

"Caboose? Caboose! Where are you," Tucker started getting annoyed.

"I found buttons!"

Caboose was standing inside of a tube that extended through the ceiling, reaching for a panel.

"Caboose, no," Tucker shouted, but he was too late. Caboose pressed the big green button on the panel, underneath the words "EMERGENCY EXIT". The hatch into the tube shut, as a mechanical arm attached a pack of sorts to Caboose's back. The jet pack started, and the group was helpless to watch as Caboose rocketed up the tube and out of sight.

"Caboose…"

"What happened," Washington questioned.

"Caboose got sucked up some sort of exit tube," Simmons' voice said over the radio.

CRUNCH!

"God dammit," Skye said, as her right foot got stuck in a crevice.

"Stuck," Sarge asked, mockingly.

"I've got it under control," Skye responded, annoyed, "Just get over there and figure out where Caboose went."

"Huh? Something weird just popped up on my screen," Tucker said over the radio.

"Like what," Washington asked.

"Like everyone's names and squiggly lines," Tucker's voice responded.

"Is Caboose's name on there," Washington asked.

"Yeah."

"And how does the line by his name look," Washington continued asking.

"Exactly like the others. What's that about," Tucker questioned in confusion.

"It means," Washington said, relieved, "That wherever Caboose is, he's alive." Skye was tugging at her leg, trying to pull it loose.

"What's taking so long," Sarge shouted.

"This is some pretty hard fucking rock," Skye growled. Suddenly, one of the units opened.

"Shit," Washington said. A huge form came rushing out.

"Why does that look familiar," Washington asked, looking at Carolina.

"You don't think…" Carolina began. The form started bolting towards Skye.

"Who the fuck is Agent Maine," Skye said tugging harder.

"Get out of there," Carolina shouted.

"Shit! Guess I got no choice," Skye said, reaching for a handle on the inside of her thigh. The handle, though, was suddenly pierced by a throwing knife that had come from the inside of the same unit. Skye gasped, "What the fuck?! Shit!" Maine was close, too close now. Felix was closing in from behind as well. Sarge started running towards Skye, "Get your damn leg -!" It was too late. Maine smashed down on Skye's leg, causing it to shatter into metal pieces. The force of the hit knocked her into the air. Tucker, Simmons, Grif, Donut, and Doc appeared out of a tunnel off to the side. Felix leaped over Maine, and kicked Skye with all his might. Skye was sent flying towards the cliff. Sarge lunged forward, hand outstretched. Skye reached for his hand, but Sarge wasn't close enough. Their fingertips just missed each other.

"Shit," Skye whispered, before disappearing over the edge of the cliff. Sarge ran to the edge of the cliff and looked down. Skye was gone.

"Well, that's one problem gone," Grif shrugged. Skye's rail gun came to a stop against Sarge's boot. Maine and Felix were charging at Carolina and Washington. Sarge picked up the rail gun. Maine leapt into the air. Suddenly, a shotgun blast knocked him back. Sarge was wielding his shotgun in one hand and the rail gun in the other, "Die you bastards!" Sarge began firing off his shotgun at Maine, while walking steadily forward.

"What's up with Sarge," Grif asked, confused.

"I don't know," Simmons responded, equally confused. Felix pounced at Carolina, who dropped and kicked him over herself, before spinning around. Washington joined her, shouting to the others, "Help Sarge!"

"Isn't that-," Grif began.

"Yeah," Tucker responded, "My helmet is saying Maine."

"How," Simmons exclaimed.

"Uh, zombies," Tucker said, rushing forward, followed by the others.

"What does your helmet say about Captain Redding," Donut asked.

"It doesn't," Tucker responded, "I only have you guys and Caboose."

"Oh," Donut sighed, depressed.

"She's dead, man, just deal with it," Grif said, annoyed. O'Malley ran past everyone else, and pounced on Maine, laughing maniacally. Maine quickly knocked him off. The rest of the group attempted, but Maine easily knocked them away. Sarge was still moving forward, firing his shotgun at Maine.

"You bastard," Sarge suddenly shouted, pulling out the rail gun and firing it. The blast from the shot knocked Maine back towards the units, while at the same time knocking Sarge back from the recoil. Washington quick swept Felix's feet out from under him, and Carolina kicked him back as well.

"Great timing," everyone heard on their radioes. Everyone turned towards the cliff, confused. Suddenly, Skye appeared, hovering, holding onto the shoulder of –

"Caboose!" Tucker shouted. Skye aimed her pistol and fired off a shot, "Boom bitches." The bullet hit the button, activating it. The resulting explosion rocked the area as the storage units, Felix, and Maine were engulfed. The wave of damage stopped just before Sarge, who had his arms up to block his face as the force of the explosion blew past him.

"Now that's an entrance," Doc exclaimed.

"Ok, time to land," Skye said to Caboose, whose visor was blacked out. Caboose began to descend, but came in too fast and sent them both tumbling into the snow. While Caboose laid motionless in the snow, Skye immediately sat up, propping herself up with her hands behind her back, "Note to self: Work on landing strategy…"

"You guys are alive!" Donut exclaimed happily, as everyone rushed over to Caboose and Skye.

"Of course! What, did you think we'd—," Skye started.

"God dammit, Redding! Your leg isn't that important," Sarge shouted, pissed.

"Excuse me," Skye shouted back.

"Oh yeah, shouldn't she be bleeding or something," Grif whispered to Doc. Doc just shrugged.

"Your leg is just a god damned tool. If it's in the way, get rid of it," Sarge stated.

"I tried! The locks were frozen," Skye argued.

"Then pull the handle," Sarge shouted.

"If you didn't notice, a knife made that impossible," Skye shouted back.

"Hold it," Washington interjected. Sarge and Skye shot him a death glare. "Shouldn't we be getting you wrapped up or something," Washington continued, "You are missing a leg."

"Been missing it for a while," Skye dismissed, "They destroyed my prosthetic."

"And you were so depressed when you lost the original," Sarge said, annoyed and rolling his eyes.

"Well, isn't that natu—," Washington began.

"What? You're bringing that up," Skye shouted at Sarge, interrupting Washington.

"Of course I am! You lose a leg and get all depressed," Sarge mocked, "You always told me that you didn't care if you lost limbs, as long as you got the job done. Then, when you lost your leg, you were all depressed while you got promoted to captain."

"I knew it! It has nothing to do with my leg," Skye threw back, "You are jealous that I made it to captain before you!"

"Why in Sam Hill would I be jealous of that," Sarge shot back, angrily confused.

"You tell me! Because there is no way I would be depressed over losing a fucking leg," Skye shouted, practically shaking with rage. Everyone else (excluding Caboose) was looking back and forth between them, lost.

"You just won't admit it," Sarge stated, "Just go talk to your former Captain King! He'll tell ya!"

"Captain King," Skye sighed, "Was the reason why I lost my leg. Instead of my life…" Sarge looked at Skye, confused.

"I wasn't depressed because I lost a stupid leg. I was mourning the loss of my captain," Skye continued.

"Oh… Uhh…," Sarge started scratching his head, embarrassed. There was an awkward silence. After a moment, Simmons said, "So, uh, Caboose hasn't moved yet." Everyone turned their attention towards Caboose.

"Wait a sec," Skye said. She dragged herself over to Caboose.

"Come on back," she said, knocking on Caboose's visor. A moment passed and nothing happened.

"Great, you've killed him," Grif said.

"No, he's fine," Skye said, then towards Caboose, "I said, come back."

"That's not how you—," Doc started saying with a nervous chuckle. Suddenly, everyone but Skye and Caboose grabbed their helmets in agony.

"Ow! What the fuck," Grif shouted. Everyone else was making sounds of pain. Caboose's visor turned back on.

"My screen changed again," Tucker said painfully.

"Really?" Washington asked, also hurting, "How?"

"Did you have to do that," Skye said, seemingly to herself.

"The rest of you guys are on the list now," Tucker responded to Washington, "But its weird."

"How so," Washington asked.

"Well, Redding is on here twice," Tucker said, pointing at Skye.

"What," Simmons questioned.

"Yeah, it has Caboose, Carolina, Donut, Du-Du…"

"That's me," Doc stated.

"Yeah, Doc, uhhh, Grif, Sergeant Redding, Captain Redding, Simmons, me, and you Wash," Tucker said, "I don't even see Sarge on here."

"You read his name off," Skye said.

"No I didn't! I read everyone else's off, and yours twice! There is no 'Sarge' on here," Tucker argued.

"Sarge is a sergeant, right," Washington began.

"Yeah? So," Grif asked. Simmons looked at Washington, shocked, "You're not trying to say…?"

"Yeah," Washington said.

"Sarge, why didn't you ever tell us you had the same last name as her? Or, at least, what your last name was," Simmons asked.

"Huh? I guess I never did, did I," Sarge responded.

"It proves it," Grif exclaimed.

"Don't do it, Grif," Washington warned. Grif ignored him, "They used to be married!" Sarge aimed his shotgun at Grif. Skye pointed her pistol at Grif, but not before firing a warning shot next to his head.

"I warned you," Washington shrugged.

"Will you stop saying that kind of stuff about my dad and I," Skye said, completely pissed.

"Wait, what," Simmons asked, totally confused.

"You… didn't know," Skye asked.

"Sarge never told us," Simmons responded, still processing the information.

"It makes a lot of sense," Washington thought aloud.

"Wait. The father you idolized, the father you looked up to when we were growing up," Carolina said, "Was Sarge?"

"Yeah…" Skye responded confused, "What about it?" Simmons, Grif, Tucker, and Washington looked at each other. Caboose suddenly sat up, "Hi!"

"Took you long enough," Grif mumbled.

"Are you ok, Caboose," Washington asked.

"Yes! I had a nice dream. Church was there!" Caboose responded. Washington sighed, "Caboose, Church is—,"

"Sorry about that, Caboose," Church's voice said. Everyone but Skye and Caboose jumped, looking around confusedly. A small hologram of Church popped up next to Skye.

"Finally figured out an appearance and voice you like, huh," Skye teased.

"Actually, it's a bit more than that," Church responded.

"How many of you are there," Tucker asked.

"I don't know," Church shrugged, "I thought it was just me and the Alpha, but then I hopped in your heads, and, well… I was wrong."

"That was you," Grif asked, still rubbing his head.

"Xi lets his curiosity get the better of him, sometimes," Skye said, "So you guys already know about him? 'Cause we found him on a dead soldier floating through space."

"Georgia," Carolina stated, "He had been assigned to Georgia. Xi was a full replication of Alpha, but it was very costly and time consuming to do a full replication. After Georgia was lost to space with Xi, they started creating fragments instead of full replicas."

"So how long have you had Xi," Washington asked.

"Well, we found him not long after I lost my leg. The prosthetic Dad made me was awesome, but no matter how you look at it, rehabilitation is not easy," Skye shrugged, "My men thought having an AI help would be a good idea, so here we are."

"She only lets me help with small things," Church pouted, "She won't even let me help with aiming."

"Maybe because Thumper nearly got sniped on accident," Skye argued.

"Easy miscalculation," Church shrugged.

"He was 100 feet to the right of the target," Skye responded.

"Right…," Church chuckled nervously.

"Yeah, that's Church alright," Tucker said. There was a pause.

"Now what," Grif asked.

"My suggestion, should you wish to listen to it," Skye started, "Would be to figure out how to get off this planet."

"We don't have a ship," Washington commented.

"We might not need one," Simmons said. Everyone looked at him.

"See? Portal," Simmons pointed to the giant circular device. Lopez was working on a box on the side of it.

"Oh, that's where you were, Lopez," Grif said.

"Te olvidaste de mí," Lopez said, before going back to his work.

"Looks like it's gonna take a little bit of time, though," Skye said. Sarge was helping her stand.

"I guess we wait, then," Washington said.