Armonia. The city of the enemy. Taken over by the Federal Army of Chorus, countless lives were lot trying to investigate the city and the secrets on getting in there. It was an early morning sunrise with few blues mixing with radical reds and oranges that beat down like an oppressive heat. Only few were up this morning. Carolina and Wash being two of them. Felix and Kimball were also awake, but the pair of ex-Freelancers left them alone to just take in this morning of simplicity. Both held cups of diluted coffee as rations ran thin. It still gave the kick that was needed, but it wasn't the same as what they were used to.

"So," Wash piped up. "What's your take on this whole Civil War?"

"Why would you ask me?"

"Just thought you'd have some feelings about it. After all, when's the last time you were involved in a fight like this?"

"Fairly recently, actually." Carolina spoke with a small smile as she leaned against a guardrail, brushing some of her longer bangs out of her face and tucked behind her ear. "But…this all feels weird, if you ask me." She takes a sip from her cup, eyes glancing over to Wash. "What about you?"

"About the same. After spending that time with the Federal Army…I dunno. Just feels weird being on the other side of it all." He looks out to the sun, doing his best not to make direct eye contact with it. As he goes to say something else, though, he pauses with mouth agape. Wash squints and leans forward, his cup left on a nearby stack of crate. "Hey Carolina, you see that?"

"See what?

Wash leans forward, pointing towards a falling object from the soon-to-be morning sky. The flame coming from it was bright. Which meant they weren't the only ones seeing it. A moment passed by of the two staring at each other before they abandoned their coffee and headed to gear up and go out for the falling object. Epsilon was in a fury wondering what was going on. Carolina didn't answer completely and only told him to keep an eye out for anyone following them or where they were going.

There were some sad soldiers who got in their way that were shoved to the ground as the set of Freelancers started heading out of the base. It didn't take long for people to stop getting in their way and start to create a parting sea of whispers and conspiracies. As the two headed towards the front gates of the city, a familiar voice called out behind the pair.

"Carolina! Washington! Where are you two going?" The two turned to see a woman clad in tan and blue armor. Soldiers got to attention in her wake, then broke formation as soon as her back was to them. As soon as she got close enough, she began speaking again.

"I didn't authorize any kind of recon mission this early in the morning. What the hell is going on?"

Washington tried to explain before Carolina confronted the woman, shoulders square. "We saw something, Vanessa."

"You're going to have to explain a bit more than "something", Carolina."

"We…weren't able to see what it was, but whatever it was, whoever it was, we can't risk it falling into Charon's hands."

"And what if it's a trap? I can't just let the two best soldiers we have here going off and getting themselves dissolved into goo or worse."

"Goo, Kimball? Really?" Washington piped up. "You know who you're talking to right?"

"I know, but I still have a right to be worried." There was a stoic pause, even in between the lingering chatter of troops. Eventually, Kimball sighed. "Fine. Just be back before the Reds and Blues are up. God knows if Tucker finds out you went on a mission without him, I'll never hear the end of it."

"And neither would we," Wash reminisced. The Freelancers walked past the leader, Kimball watching as they began hustling through the gate and into the uncharted wilderness of Chorus. All she could hope for now was that whatever they found wouldn't kill them in the process.

—

Awaking to the smell of charred leather and burning plastic was less of a wake up call and more like a distressed morning alarm. There were no flashing red lights, no warning bells, nothing. Just smoke and a drowning light from a morning sun. The hum of broken computers and sparks of torn wires orchestrated the scene as Coleen awoke. Zeta had been flickering back and forth, the droning of numbers and computations flickering around her head, that was until he realized she had started to awaken.

"Seems like we both survived the crash."

"Yeah," she groaned, reaching to the back of her head. "We really have to stop doing that." There was a dampness that touched her hand. Blood. Not a lot, but enough to have caked her hair and still leave a little dripping through. Her face felt tight with stuck dust and grime from the crash.

"I would suggest staying still until I've determined our location and situation."

"Did we at least crash where we wanted to?" she said, gripping the side of the pilot's seat before pushing herself into a limped position. Stars filled her vision as she hesitated, moving forward slowly to find if her things had survived the crash. It was covered under mounds of debris, but once she was able to drag her things out, it was soon realized her armor was trashed, as were most of her clothes and rations. Her pistol was still in working order, her shoulders relaxing at the motion of reloading it for the first time in what seemed like forever.

Zeta had been lecturing about their current state of affairs while Connie had zoned into her own mind. He quickly blinked in front of her. "But, to put it simply, we landed on Chorus, but since everything is scrambled, I have no idea where we are right now."

"Looks like we're going to have to do some good old fashioned survival, then." Connie grabbed the flash drive from the bottom of her bag, thankfully completely in tact.

"I do suggest you sit back down. At least for the moment. You're going to run yourself ragged and probably pass out due to your injuries."

"I'm not just sitting here waiting to see what the hell finds us. I don't need a repeat of what happened on Oasis Four." Those events seemed like so long ago. Still, she was sure of herself, crawling through what remained of a door. The bright Armonian sun greeted her as well as the well deserved breeze. The ground beneath her shoes radiated warmth that Connie could feel from her shoes. The embers from her entry into the atmosphere still had their faint glow, declaring the path through trees, grass, and rubble that they had crashed through. Fauna chirped and buzzed in the distance, echoing all around in their natural beauty. And the landmark in the center of it all was a high city that was all but dark and quiet. Smoke billowed up to the planet's heavens, demarcating the ship's landing site.

Taking in a real breath cleared the ash from her lungs. Her eyes closed and, for a moment, she felt at home. At peace. That was before she heard footsteps. Crackling in the grass and rocks below. "Zeta. Hostiles?"

"Two. They seemed fully armed. And one has…an AI?"

"What?"

"Hands up!" A voice called from behind Coleen. A…strangely familiar one. One hand went up as the other holstered the pistol at her side. Her other hand then went up as she turned around, the two armor clad soldiers pointing guns in her direction. The color and designation had changed, but those voices were ones that haunted her. Ones that she had been tracing down for the past two years. It couldn't be, but it was.

"Carolina? Wash?"