-New Republic Headquarters HQ-

Grif was seen in front of a crowd of soldiers of the New Republic. To pass the time, he was telling them about one of their adventures; Shawn was listening as well despite the fact that she was told this story before, as she was polishing her gun.

Grif had said to the crowd, "And than... BOOM! Huge explosion out of nowhere! But wouldn't you know it? He just shook it off like it was nothing! Than he comes right us, charging head on! He cuts a rocket launcher, than Tucker goes to stab him, but nothing is working. All hope seems lost!"

"What did you do?" One of the soldiers asked.

"They tied him to a car and pushed it off a cliff!" Shawn shouted to the crowd, since she heard the story before Grif could reply.

"Yup, she's right, that's what happened." Grif said casually.

The whole crowd just stood there in silence for a moment, before one of the soldiers finally said, "... That is the most meta thing I have ever heard."

"Anyway, the moral to this story is, you never know when random, seemingly unimportant stuff will turn out to be very important. Which is why you shouldn't question me when I tell you to build me something like a hammock or… a human slingshot."

Simmons soon came into view; Shawn placed her gun to the side and said as she picked up her helmet to polish, "Hey Simmons."

"Hey." Simmons greeted, "What is Grif doing?"

Shawn had replied, "He was just telling the story of how you guys defeated the Meta."

Simmons gave a quizzical look under his helmet, "Why would he want to do that?"

"I think it was something about…" Shawn said before her words trailed off.

Jensen and another female soldier noticed Simmons. "Simmons!" Jensen said getting his attention, "Is it true? Did the Meta really have the strength of ten bears?"

Simmons replied while he stammered, "Uh… I-More like… twenty bears?"

The women both looked at each other.

"Wow…"

"So hot…"

"Impressing the ladies." Shawn said finishing her sentence.

Simmons sighed at this, "I swear, Grif is spending WAY too much time with Tucker." Their attention was soon drawn away, when they heard Kimball's voice over the intercoms.

"Grif, Simmons, Caboose, and Shawn, report to my office immediately." She said.

"Oh great, I wonder what it is this time." Shawn said.

"I have no idea." Simmons said.

Grif said to the crowd, "Alright, that's enough for today. Run along."

The whole crowd couldn't help but let out a disappointed groan.

"I like the part about the bears." Caboose said suddenly in the crowd. Shawn couldn't help but double take at this when she saw Caboose in the crowd, "Okay, where did you come from?"

-Earlier; F.A.C Outpost 22-

"Sir, but I think the Feds are onto us."

"Okay, okay, we can gooooooooo…" Tucker looked back at the computer screen and saw that the information was done downloading. He took the memory stick from the computer and turned on his camo.

"Now!"

BANG!

Cunningham fell to the ground limp; revealing that Locus was behind the him; with two other Federal Soldiers beside him.

"Oh shit…" Was all Tucker could say.

Locus walked over to the corpse, examining it; That was when he heard the radio come on.

"Cunningham?" Palomo said over the radio, "Cunningham? Hello are you there? Jason? Is everything okay? Uh… Guys? Cunningham isn't responding."

"We've been infiltrated." Locus said before turning off the radio and turning to the two soldiers, "Sound the alarm."

The two Federal Soldiers turned to one another before going off to do what Locus told them. Just when Locus was about to leave the room he noticed the computer on; the words read on the screen "Transfer Complete". Arming his gun he walked forward, just to where Tucker was. Tucker's body tensed up when he saw that within his helmet it had read "EQUIPMENT MALFUNCTION". Don't break on me now, Tucker said internally in his thoughts.

BOOM!

Locus turned around just as Tucker's camo fails and he reappeared. With a growl Locus went to check it out, as Tucker sat there perfectly still.

"Ah fuck…" He said quietly as looked over to the body of Cunningham.

Felix soon came over the radio, "Goddamnit! Everybody move! We're aborting the mission!"

Tucker heard a couple of more explosions just outside as he stood up.

"I detonated some C-4 as a distraction!" Felix said over the radio again, "So get out of there!"

Rogers heard the commotion going on via radio and the explosions just outside just as he was finished planting another bomb within a cave.

"There's a good chance they'll be searching for, and disarming the bombs!" He heard Felix say.

"Oh man…" Rogers said standing up and leaving the cave, "Gotta go! Gotta go!"

"Hey you! Stop!"

Rogers stopped and turned around to a Federal Soldier, thinking that he might've been found out by the enemy. "Uhh… Yes?" He said nervously.

"You're a specialist right?" He said, "Come on we need your help!"

"Oh…" Rogers said slouching slightly, "... Great…"

"Fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck!"

Tucker quickly ran across the base avoiding the attention of the Federal Agents that were roaming around the grounds, most likely evacuating or looking for the bombs that was on the base; he was armed in case he had to engage the enemy. Luckily he didn't encounter any so he was able to make it back to the cave in one peace.

"Tucker!"

"Jesus dude!" Tucker exclaimed jumping back, only to find that it was just Palomo.

"Are you okay? What happened?" Palomo asked him sounding concerned.

"No!" Tucker said, "I mean yes! Where's Felix and Rogers?"

Just as this was said, Felix came into view, dodging a hail of oncoming bullets. Three trooper were hot on his tail; acting fast he quickly hid himself from behind a tree. With a deep breath, he jumped out from his hiding place and activated his shield. The bullets that were fired were deflected and it hit his enemies. An enemy trooper came from behind, charging at Felix, attempting to attack him from behind. Felix on the other hand acted fast, and kicked the soldier's legs causing him to trip; Felix stood up, as he had his gun armed.

"Right." He said to himself, before backing up into the cave where Palomo and Tucker stood. "Talk to me people!" Felix said to them, "Where's Rogers?"

"Not here!" Tucker replied.

"And Cunningham? What about him?"

"... Locus got him."

"What?! Locus is here!?"

Felix turned from outside of the cave and looked through his scope, and out from the shadows Locus appeared via cloaking. The very minute Locus had been spotted, he armed his sniper and fired a shot; Felix, Palamo and Tucker immediately ducked. "Shit, we gotta get out of here!"

"Wait! What about Rogers!?" Palomo exclaimed.

Tucker was put into shock when he saw Felix pull out the detonator.

"GET DOWN!" Felix yelled.

"NO WAIT!" Tucker shouted soon after.

Rogers was over at the bomb, pretending to be one of the people that was going to disarm. Him and the other Federal Soldiers stood over the device.

"You can disarm this right?" The Federal Soldier said.

"Um…" Rogers started to say hesitantly, "Right… No I um… Don't know?"

"Whaddya mean you don't know!?" Another Soldier said, "This is your job! So go ahead and do it!"

"Well, uh…" Rogers started to say.

Just before Rogers could say anything, the bomb right in front of them started to beep loudly and Roger knew what that meant.

"Oh son of a-"

-Present-

Grif, Simmons, Caboose and Shawn walked into Kimballs office all of them equally wondering as to why she had called them in in the first place. Though it wasn't long till they got their answer when they saw two familiar people standing within the room.

"Felix!" Shawn said with a smile before running over to him and giving him a hug, "You're back!"

"Hey there short stack." Felix said ruffling her hair a bit, "You miss me?"

"Tucker!" Caboose said going to him about to hug him, "You're back too!"

"If you hug me, I will shoot you." Tucker said to him.

Caboose stopped in his tracks, "Ah it's okay Tucker. I know you're more into groping. Come on, let's grope!"

"Uh…" Shawn said awkwardly as she broke out of the hug, "... You know what, I'm not going to comment on that."

"Best that you don't." Simmons said to the teen.

"When did you guys get back?" Grif asked.

Tucker had replied, "A little while ago."

Shawn noticed the way Tucker's body language looked and took note at the sound of his voice. "You sound kind of… Off." Shawn pointed out, "Is everything okay?"

"Yeah, did something happen on the mission?" Simmons asked.

This time, Felix was the one to speak up, "I'll tell you what happened." He said getting their attention, "Captain Tucker here, decided to disobey orders and took it upon himself to recover a hard drive filled with Federal Army secrets. A decision that only cost him the lives of two of his men."

Everyone was silent at this, all of them equally shocked to hear that two men didn't make it out. Shawn was especially shocked to hear, since she knew practically everyone in the New Republic and some she even knew personally, so she had silently mourned their death. Although-

"That's a pretty damn good trade if I do say so myself!" Felix suddenly said.

"Huh?!" They said, even Shawn was especially surprised.

"Uh Felix?" Shawn said, "What are you saying exactly? You lost two men out there."

"I know, I know, but you should've seen it short stack you would've loved it!" Felix said to her, "This guy was all like, 'I don't play by the rules'. Fucking James Bond and shit all over the place! It was crazy!"

"Crazy!?" Tucker and Shawn said at the same time.

"I thought that you would be pissed after what happened." Tucker said.

"Oh don't get me wrong." Felix said, "I wanted to beat your worthless skull into the ground until it was paste. But look where we are now, you took a risk and paid off."

"Paid off!? Dude, two of our guys are dead!"

"And more will probably die tomorrow. Seriously what don't you people get about that?"

"Felix!" Shawn exclaimed, "How can you say that?!"

"What? I'm just stating the facts." Felix said to her.

Soon Kimball's face came over them as she stood at the ramp of her office walking to the group, "Felix." She said, "That's enough."

Felix cleared his throat, "I'm just saying."

Shawn looked cross at Felix as she folded her arms and looked away from Felix; Felix himself noticed this from the girl but chose to say nothing, for now. Kimball turned over Tucker. "Tucker…" She started to say, "Your choice cost the lives of two men… But it also granted us access to valuable information. Whether or not this was the right thing to do is a conclusion you'll have to come to on your own. I'll leave at that. Right now…" Kimball looked to Grif, Caboose, and Simmons, "... The six of us need to talk."

"Can it not be as depressing as the conversation we're having right now?" Grif asked.

"I know where your friends are." Kimball said.

The group seemed shocked at this, and once again, Shawn was put into shock as well. "Hooray! I have friends!" Caboose cheered.

"Wait a minute…" Shawn said, "... You mean to say those other soldiers, Sarge, Washington and Donut right? You mean to say their alive?"

"That's exactly what I'm saying." Kimball said.

"That's actually… Great news!" Shawn said with an honest smile.

"I'll say!" Simmons said as happy as Shawn was, "Finally we can rescue Sarge, and everything will be back to normal! Isn't that great Grif?"

"Great." Grif said sarcastically, "You know that's a strong word, I would've gone with tolerable."

"I wouldn't be celebrating just yet." Kimball said to them, "As I said before, they've been moving around fairly regularly, and from the looks of things, it's not going to stop. Right now they're held up in a compound just north of a nearby mountain range. But in about a week, it sounds like they'll be transferred again to the capital."

"The capital?" Shawn said, "But… That's way out of the New Republic's reach."

"Like how far out of reach are we talking?" Tucker asked.

"Far, far, far out of reach, both figuratively and literally." Shawn replied, "Like seriously going in there is like a death trap times several other death traps you can think of!"

"Than why don't we just save time and go get them now?" Simmons said.

"The compound they're talking about is twice the size than the one Tucker and I raided." Felix explained, "Breaking in would be suicide. Breaking someone out on the other hand… Would be like suicide and a bunch of puppies dying."

"How do you know something like that?" Tucker asked curiously.

"Well, he tried to break in once." Shawn explained.

"Spoiler alert." Felix added, "It did not go well."

"Were the puppies okay?" Caboose asked.

Shawn looked at Caboose, pretty much confused as usual, though Felix on the other hand turned to Kimball, "Look, can you just talk some sense into these guys? Tell them that it'll get them killed?"

"Yeah, I'm sorry, can we get back to the puppies?" Caboose said.

"Uh…" Shawn started to say, about to comment, "... Yeah, I got nothing."

Kimball looked to Tucker, Grif, Simmons and Caboose, "Look, I'll be the first to admit. When I first heard about you four, I envisioned strong, daring, and respectable soldiers."

There was an awkward silence between the whole group.

"...But…?" Shawn said, speaking up first.

Kimball said to them, "But now that I've come to know you, I found something else entirely. It turns out that all of you are just a bunch of-"

"Cowards?" Simmons said.

"Losers?" Tucker spoke up.

"Idiots?" Grif added.

"Spacemen." Caboose stated.

"Why spacemen?" Shawn asked.

"Misfits." Kimball finished before continuing, "You're oddballs that don't exactly fit in. Which is why my men all look up to you and why morale has been at an all time high; because they can relate to you. Because together we're an army of underdogs and outcasts. But as of right now, I cannot authorize a rescue mission of this scale."

The simulation troopers looked down in disappointment and Shawn couldn't help but give a sympathetic look. She went over to them, and gave them each a comforting pat on the shoulder.

"Though interestingly enough…" Kimball began, "When you all fight together, you work well. But individually, you still haven't been able to show what it takes to lead others. Which is why… I'm giving you five days."

The four of them looked up all of them surprised at this; Shawn raised an eyebrow at this.

"Five days to assemble a smaller team." Kimball explained, "One comprised of the best of your platoons. And if you can convince me that you're ready by the end of those five days, then you will have my full support."

"Five days!?" Tucker exclaimed.

"That's not really a lot of time." Grif pointed out.

"Well, it's all you're getting!" Kimball said.

"Whoa, you're actually serious about this?" Shawn asked.

"Yeah if you are…" Felix said, "... I'd like to be paid in advance."

"Thank you for being here, you're all dismissed." Kimball said, "Except you Shawn, Felix and I would like a word with you."

Tucker, Grif, Simmons and Caboose looked to Shawn awkwardly, and Shawn couldn't help but have the same look. "Uh… Yes ma'am." Shawn said. While the four simulation troopers left the office, Shawn stayed behind and looked nervous. "... What did I do this time?"

"Short stack, you did nothing wrong, we just want to ask you something." Felix said.

"... Okay, what?" Shawn asked.

Kimball than spoke up, "Two years ago… The ship you were on, crashed landed near one of our outposts, and from what they told us, the only one that they found alive in that ship was you."

"Yeah, so?" Shawn asked.

"Are you sure, you were the only survivor on that ship?" Kimball asked.

Shawn stayed silent before a few moments before letting out a sigh, "... It's like I told you back than… The other people that were on that ship with me were killed in the crash… None of them made it out. At least that's what I remember. Look why are asking me this? You guys already know what happened so why do you feel the need to bring it up again?"

"Well, the information that Tucker managed to get not only revealed where the other simulation troopers and the Freelancer is…" Kimball said, "... But he found something else, or to be more precise someone."

"... Someone?" Shawn asked, very confused by Kimball's words, "... What do you mean someone?"

"Well aside from my strongest recommendation not to tell you…" Felix said, "As it turns out, the Federal Army's got a kid over at their base, like you."

Shawn's eyes widened at this new information, as she couldn't believe what she had just heard. There was another person that was around the same age as her on the planet, and to make matters worse, the person whoever he was, was in the hands of the Federal Army.

"Are…" Shawn said, still trying to process the information, "... Are you serious?"

All Kimball and Felix did was nod their heads and that was all Shawn needed. "Well who is he?!" Shawn exclaimed, "What can you tell me about him?!"

"Well, unfortunately there's not much to go on about the kid..." Felix said, "... All we know is that her name is September."

"September?" Shawn said, as she wondered why the name sounded familiar, "... Well what does the Federal Army want with her?"

"We're not sure." Kimball replied, "Like I said all we got is her name. And from what we understand, she's been under house arrest for since she quote on quote, mysteriously showed up. They've been moving her around from one place to another, just like they've been doing with the others."

"Well, can you get more information on that girl, September?" Shawn asked, "Can't you access the files?"

"I've tried to, believe me I did." Kimball said, "But, the files on her are encrypted, and it will take time. Unfortunately time is something that we might not have, but we'll try our best to get the files decoded as fast as possible."

"I-" Shawn started to say, for a moment she looked away staring at the floor, before looking to Kimball and Felix, "I understand. Please let me know what you can find on September."

With that she went to leave Kimballs office, fully aware that Felix was following behind her. She still thought about what they had just told her; there was another survivor than her.

Many people in the New Republic knew about how she really arrived to Chorus two years ago. This was something that not even the simulation troopers knew. One of the outposts that belonged to the New Republic saw what happened; it was in a way how the Red and Blue team came to Chorus. The ship she was on crash landed; whether it was a faulty in the ship, or a sabotage no one shall ever know. Though that wasn't even one of the strangest things; according to the New Republic, they said that they had only found Shawn and no other survivors or at least they thought Shawn was the only survivor. She was very near death when they found her but thanks to the medics they managed to save her life. That and they couldn't find out where the ship had originally came from exactly. They tried checking the ship's computer but it was wiped clean by the time they broke in.

Shawn would have been able to help out searching through the ship's origin or at the very least why she was on that ship in the first place, but she couldn't exactly remember. Not that she had amnesia or anything but the medics told her that she had suffered from some sort of concussion that made her lose only some of her memories. She knew her name, or at least her real name, but let's just say she didn't like it that much, she thought the name didn't suit her.

As she walked out of the office she took a seat on one of the crates nearby just wondering about the whole thing. Felix soon took a seat by the crate beside her. "I know that look Short-Stack." Felix said, "You're planning on going after that kid September aren't you?"

"Why wouldn't I?" Shawn asked turning over to him, "Felix, there's another survivor other than myself! And who knows, maybe this September might remember something to why or to where the ship came from."

"You heard where she was remember?" Felix said, "It would be suicide, and you're not even out of your training pads yet."

"So what's the harm in trying to Felix?" Shawn asked, "She might know something that I don't!"

"You already know it's suicide to go to where she is." Felix said, "You're young short-stack and you have spirit, you're going to get yourself killed if you go there on your own."

Shawn sighed before saying, "... Well if getting myself killed means getting answers that I need, than so be it."

Shawn took notice that Felix started to laugh a little. "Just what is so funny?" Shawn asked him.

"Sorry Short Stack." Felix said, "Not that I admire your confidence or anything but need I remind you that you're hardly out of your training pads and still have a long ways to go before you can lead your own squad."

"Funny you should say that." Shawn said with a smile, that had confused Felix, "I wanted to surprise you with this but… Kimball is allowing me to shadow a squad for the rest of my training period."

Felix nearly fell off his seat at this news, "Are you kidding me!?"

Shawn nodded with a smile, "And I think I just know the squad I want to shadow for the rest of my training period."

Felix was confused at this but it only took him a few seconds to realize what she meant.

"Oh shit." Was all he said.