Red vs Blue
A Blast From The Past
I punched my way through another training simulator in the Training Room, barely breathing hard as FILSS announced, "Simulation complete. A 3% increase over the last simulation..." "Run it again, FILSS!" I ordered, shaking my hands before starting again. I swung my right fist in a powerful Haymaker before stumbling as a flash of a Energy Sword piercing through an armored figure appeared in front of me and I barely caught myself as I fell to the floor, off balance. "Stop the sim, FILSS!" I said, my voice shaking as I moved into a sitting position. I shook my head s if that'd get the image out of my head.
"Why are you still haunting me?" I whispered, taking a deep breath before pushing myself to my feet and said, "That'll be all, FILSS."
"Okay, Agent Indiana." She replied in her usual cheerful voice. I shook my head and removed my helmet as I walked out of the training room.
"Well. I should probably get something to eat before I get pulled into something else and have no other chances to eat." I said, turning down the hall towards the mess hall. Director will probably want me evaluating the other Agents and prepping for my upcoming mission ASAP. I thought as I grabbed a tray and made my way through the food set out and grabbing things as they caught my eye. I sat at an empty table and my thoughts strayed to during my training sim earlier. It's been awhile since that's happened. Why now, though? Of all times, why now? I questioned, confused. "This seat taken?" Someone asked from beside me. I jumped, reaching for the nonexistent knife on my chest.
"Geez Tex. Don't do that, someone might get hurt." I said, relaxing and resting my head in my hands.
"Are you okay? You seemed like you were somewhere far away just a minute ago." She asked, sitting next to me. I sighed into my hands.
"Yeah, just had something pop up earlier from what feels like a lifetime time ago." I said, rubbing my face and then looking at her. "Where've you been? I haven't seen you since the heist." I asked, crossing my arms on the table. She groaned.
"Director had me testing out some equipment and going over parts of my report. I barely got enough sleep to function properly." She said, her head falling onto the table as she spoke. I chuckled at her.
"Join the party! Between training, reports and equipment checks on top of evaluations and mission prep. I've barely slept a wink either." I agreed, resting my head on a hand and eating with the other. We both laughed at each other misfortune. "What kind of equipment does he have you testing anyway?" I asked, curious. She shook her head.
"I've said too much already." She explained, returning her head to the table. I shrugged.
"Say no more then. I get the picture." I said, finishing my food and pushing my tray away. She sat up and looked at me.
"What do you mean, 'mission prep'? There's no upcoming missions. Al least, not that I've been made aware of." She said and I bit my tongue.
"Now I've said too much." I said with a sheepish smile. "Director needs some more Intel and we found a couple more locations that may yield the answers we need. He gave me the mission and I need to prep for a few weeks planet side." I answered and she nodded.
"But why keep it under wraps?" She asked. I sighed.
"So it doesn't look like he's playing favorites." I replied, looking at the leaderboard, specifically the #6 spot at the bottom of the board. 'Indiana' was displayed with an Infiltration icon next to it with my 'score' or whatever following it. She nodded in understanding.
"Although it'd seem like he was playing favorites more if he gave me the mission." She replied, looking at her #1 position on the board. I nodded in agreement.
"True, true. That's why he told me to tell you in person instead of calling the two of us in to tell you. Makes it look like I asked for your help on the mission and you agreed with an 'okay' from the Director." I explained, to which she nodded.
"That makes sense, somewhat. So, details?" She asked, looking at me. I shook my head.
"Not here. Too many people and not enough privacy." I said, pointing a thumb over my shoulder as North, South and York came walking in followed by Carolina and Wash. I grabbed my tray and stood, "Meet me here after dinner. We can discuss details then and I'll inform the Director afterwards." I said before turning to take my tray to the trash and we parted ways.
That evening,
"Tex. Glad you could make it in time!" I said, sitting down across from her. I set my tablet on the table.
"At least one of us did. You're late." She said, frowning.
"By, two minutes!" I exclaimed, pausing to check my watch.
"Still late." She argued, trying not to smile. I snorted.
"Oh please. Let's just get down to business shall we?" I asked, unlocking my tablet and pulling up the needed information. "First things first. Destination. We're going to fly out to this planet, here." I said, pointing to said planet, which was located on the edge of Human controlled space. "Lots of Insurrectionist presence on the planet and very little UNSC planet side. The UNSC control Space, however. The Director secured us a little time for this Op with UNSC Command since they were going to start sending troops down while we were on the surface." I explained. She nodded.
"Any idea whether UNSC is going to try and tag along on this Op, or are we on our own?" She asked. I shrugged.
"Not sure on that, so expect ONI to try and snake this out from under us while we're there." I warned. "Second, our targets. Both are higher ups in the Innie command structure. Not VIP material, but close. We are to capture and get any information we can from both before removing any trace of our being there." I explained. We bantered back and forth on the different parts of the mission, from different roles we'd be playing to backup strategies and their backups.
"It's just the two of us on this. No backup from either the UNSC or Project Freelancer on this one." I said. She nodded, taking in the gravity of our situation once we were on the surface. I swiped to the final page of the document. "Ahh, yes. Your identity." I said, handing her the tablet. She took it and looked it over.
"Ally Summer." She said, reading her cover name. I nodded.
"Your 26, single and finally getting away from home with your best friend on a weekend getaway." I said, scrolling the page down to show my information.
"Nick Jumper. 28, dating and was able to tag along with his best friend at her request. We both come from decent families and we met at the Military Academy. We became friends after being paired together and quickly became the top two in our class." She said, nodding as she read over the background info. I nodded in agreement.
"We'll be leaving in a couple days, so I'd get packing Ally." I said, grabbing my tablet and sending her a copy of the document. She nodded and we stood and walked towards the entrance to the mess hall.
"See ya later, Nick!" She called as we parted ways. I waved over my shoulder and made my way to my room.
Three Days Later…
"Well, that could have gone better. How'd they find out about the mission?" I wondered, panting and leaning against the bulkhead of our Pelican. They would be Carolina, South and CT. Tex had shown up at the Pelican and we had stored our bags on board and were making our way to the Bridge to get the final instructions from the Director regarding our mission when we were intercepted by the trio.
"Where are you two going?" South immediately asked, slamming me against the wall of the hallway. I grunted, but kept silent.
"To talk to the Director, South. Now let him go!" Tex said, pulling South off me and I took a breath before straightening and looking at our interrogators.
"The Director has a mission for me. I asked for her assistance and the Director gave his approval." I said, pointing a thumb at Tex. "Now if you'll excuse us, we have a meeting with the Director to get to. Goodbye!" I said, walking away with Tex following beside me.
"What mission? And why'd he give it to you?" Carolina demanded, grabbing my shoulder. I looked over said shoulder at her.
"First, Classified. Second, I'm probably the best here in long-term infiltration and intel gathering." I explained, ticking off the reasons on my fingers as I shook off Carolina's hand.
"Still didn't say where you were heading." CT pointed out, prompting more questioning looks from the other two. I sighed.
"Again, Classified. Anything else you want to ask that we can't answer?" I asked, sarcasm filling my voice. When nothing followed, I waved and Tex and I continued to the Director's office. "Sorry we're late, Sir! We got held up on the way by a couple of curious Agents." I said in way of greeting as we stepped into his office. He nodded and we stood in front of his desk.
"Indiana, Texas. I don't believe I need to stress the importance of this mission." He said, not turning from his viewport. We both answered in the affirmative and he turned to look at us. "The two of you are the only Agents I trust with this mission. Do not disappoint me." He said, eyes shifting between Tex and I before returning to a file on his desk. "One more target has been added to the list of objectives. This is his entire biography." He said, holding up the file as he spoke. We nodded. "He'll be arriving during your mission. It is imperative that you either capture or kill him. His removal is a top priority in this mission." He added, handing me the file and I opened it, holding it so that both Tex and I could see as the Director continued. "You will be docking with the Trebuchet class ship: Heat of Summer, they will transport you to the surface in one of their shuttles to keep your identity masked from any prying eyes." The Director informed, looking at us as we went over the file.
"What should we do if the UNSC tries to tag along, Sir?" I asked, wanting to clarify our orders in regards to friendlies. The corner of his mouth turned up in a smirk.
"If they attempt to do so, tell them that you are on a Priority-One Classified mission and that if any attempts to 'tag-along' as you say, they will be removed from service and dishonorably discharged." He replied. I nodded in agreement.
"And if they persist, Sir?" Tex asked. The Director dropped the smirk.
"Hinder them." He replied, coldly. We looked at each other before looking back at him.
"Rules of Engagement, Sir?" We asked simultaneously, standing straighter.
"Incapacitate. No lasting damage, if possible." He replied and we nodded. "That is all, Agents." He said, turning back to his window. We saluted and made our way out of his office.
"I really hope we don't have to resort to that." I said as we made our way down the hall towards the hangar. Tex nodded and we boarded our Pelican. I took the pilots seat and was granted clearance for takeoff. "Everything strapped down back there?" I asked over the in-ship communications.
"Everything is good to go back here. Making my way to the cockpit now." Tex replied. She walked in a few seconds later and I cleared with the MOI before taking off. "Alright then. Hello everyone and thank you for choosing Air Indiana. We have entered slipspace and will arrive at our destination in approximately 5 hours. So sit back, relax and don't kill the pilot in that timeframe please. Thank you again for choosing Air Indiana!" I said, getting laughter from the MOI and a small chuckle from Tex who was sitting behind me.
"No promises," She replied, grinning as she operated the console above my head. I gulped and checked the readouts before unstrapping and standing. Tex looked at me. "What are you doing?" She asked.
"Like I said, it's going to be 5 hours trapped in this tiny Pelican. I'm at least going to move around instead of stare out at space for the duration of this trip." I said, opening the door leading into the cargo bay of the Pelican and it closed behind me. I looked around the bay, double checking the straps. I stood after my check and stretched again. I glanced at my helmet clock to find that only 30 minutes had gone by. I groaned and walked back into the cockpit, finding Tex out cold in the co-pilots seat. I followed her example and got as comfortable as possible in the pilots chair before falling asleep.
"Control to Pelican 523. Control to Pelican 523, come in! Come in Pelican 523, this is UNSC Heat of Summer." I woke up to the control yelling through the radio. I bolted awake, waking up Tex and she groaned as I grabbed my helmet and replied.
"Heat of Summer, this is Pelican 523 inbound from Mother of Invention. Sorry about that boys, fell asleep in Slipspace." I said, stretching in my seat and receiving a punch to the back of my head from an unhappy Tex. My head hit the console in front of me and bounced off. "Ouch! Tex, I'm on the phone." I said in mock anger. She just huffed and gave me a look that promised pain later. "Sorry, that wasn't meant for you guys. It was directed at my unhappy passenger." I explained, shaking my head to try and clear away the stars clouding my vision.
"Understood, Pelican 523. You are cleared to dock with the Heat of Summer. Repeat, you are cleared to land." The air controller said. I sent my acknowledgement and took off my helmet and rubbed the lump forming on the crown of my head.
"Geez, Tex. I think I've got a concussion." I said, shaking my head again as Tex just shrugged. I shrugged mockingly and directed the Pelican into the hangar and replaced my helmet carefully. I rolled my neck, causing popping sounds as the rear hatch opened and Tex and I walked off the Pelican onto the main hangar floor. "Let's go talk to the Captain before heading down to the planet." I said and Tex gave a nod.
We were making our way through the groups of people in the hanger and were about to walk through the entrance towards the Bridge when someone called out, causing me to freeze. "Greyson, is that you?"
"It can't be!" I muttered, not turning around. "She can't be here, of all places!"
"It is you, thank god! What happened to you? You were one mission on the edge of Space and you just disappeared. Sarah said you were killed, but I knew you couldn't have." The voice continued, unmistakenly feminine and aged slightly. Only now did I dare turn around.
"Dr. Halsey! What a surprise running into you here!" I said, no emotion in my voice as I addressed the woman who had kidnapped me and countless other kids as a science project for the military.
"Where've you been all these years? You just up and vanished!" She questioned, not noticing my companion. I looked over my shoulder at Tex.
"Why don't you go on ahead to the Bridge. I'll catch up later, Ally!" I said, using her cover name. Tex nodded and made her way to the Bridge as I looked back at Halsey. "What are you doing here, Doctor?" I asked, crossing my arms. She returned my obvious glare with her own.
"I could ask the same of you, Greyson. Especially when you're hanging out with one of Director Church's Agents." She retaliated and we stared the other down in the hangar.