This chapter has been made a lot earlier than it is to be uploaded. I just finished chapter 23 and I'm already writing it. Amazing what summer does right? Thank you for all people who have supported this story. As an added note, my vacation was great. Now to the story…thing…

Chapter 24: Investigation Part 1 – Getting Started

Eight mouths dropped as Agent Cross entered the room. A few hours ago, Agent Washington had been released from the medical bay and as they had promised, they had called Cross. However, they never would have expected what met their eyes. There, in front of them, was Cross dressed in an old fashioned Stockholm detective outfit complete with a pipe and magnifying glass. Cross, completely unfazed by their gawking took a deep puff before speaking.

"Well chaps, it looks like we're all assembled. We have some very important business to do." He spoke in a fake British accent earning a glare from Wyoming. Cross gave a nervous chuckle before returning to his normal voice. "In reality, I called for us to assemble so that we could get together and figure out who the hell the people that tried to kill us were." The others nodded in agreement. "For this investigation, we're going to need to split up into two teams. Team one will consist of Agent Washington, Texas, North, South, and Maine. Team two will therefore have myself, Wyoming, York, and Carolina. Team ones mission will be to search the bodies in the morgue for any hints one who hired them or where the hell they came from. Team two will search their Pelican and see if there are any hints there. Any questions?" All the assembled shook their heads. Cross nodded in acceptance. "Good luck guys."

Team one had an, 'interesting' time with their investigation. This was mainly due to the fact that the morgues lead caretaker was a total prick. As soon as they had entered and looked for the assassin's bodies, they were stopped by the short old man who immediately asked if they had orders from the director. When he discovered they didn't have any, he started to push them towards the exit. In response, Texas knocked him out with a blow to the head and they force fed him a pill that would cause him to lose his memories from their encounter. After this was successfully accomplished, they began their actual search. However, their second problem came with the fact that the lockers with the dead's belonging were locked. After a few minutes of searching for the key, they gave up and Maine ripped the lockers doors off. Inside, they found some useful objects.

First off they found a kill order from a possible employer named "The Beetle". The order read:

Kill all eight top agents on the UNSC ship 'The Mother of Invention'. Leave no survivors and take their heads as proof of their death. Payment will be given once mission is complete.

Second, they acquired a pilot's license from the somewhat nearby planet 'Kalahs'. Finally, they found a phone number that had a note that labeled it as "for when the mission is complete, call this." The rest of the items in the locker consisted of weapons, armor, ammunition, an assortment of undergarments, and a few packs of gum. Overall, their investigation had been rather successful. They just hoped that the other group had the same results.

Team twos search of the Pelican was much less climactic than team ones. They entered the hanger and boarded the pelican with no problems. Their search was the same. They first found a pile of dust covered garments in a corner and a few cases of beer and rations. With a more in depth search they were also able to locate vast quantities of explosives, weapons, and ammunition. They also recovered 14 ID cards and an address. With the help of the AIs, they were able to access the ships on board navigation system and discovered that the Pelicans previous destination had been the planet 'Kalahs'. At the same time, the AIs were also able to identify the ship belonging to a mercenary group known as "Blood Paw". With these new found pieces of information, they left the ship to go meet up with team one. Of course, before he left, Cross grabbed a few explosives.

"So I think we can all agree that that went rather well." Tex said after they had regrouped. They were now in possession of a kill order, a phone number, an address, a mercenary group's name, and a destination. "Now we just have to investigate each of these things." She continued.

"Wait hold up." Cross interrupted. "Delta, do you have that information I asked you to get?"

"Affirmative Agent Cross." The AI in question replied as he appeared on York's shoulder. "According to my research, Kalahs has a bitter history with the UNSC. After many attempts to get supplies from the UNSC, and with constant refusals, the settlers of Kalahs have turned to violence against any military or diplomatic persons of the UNSC. This includes torture and rape before hanging the officials or soldiers on meat hooks." All the agents eyes widened in horror and disgust at this prospect. "As for geographical properties," Delta continued, "the planet is a large desert biome with a few major cities and miles and miles of dry, arid farmland."

"With this newfound information," Cross began, "It looks like we're going to have to abandon armor, and go with just regular clothes and bring along our weapons. However, considering how they hate the UNSC, I'm also personally going to take along non-UNSC weaponry just to be on the safe side. You guys however may be screwed." He finished giving the other agents a small shrug.

"Weapons made by the UNSC won't be problem." Delta responded. "In fact, almost all weapons on the planet were made by the UNSC." The other agents gave a sigh of relief.

"Well, let's get ready for our trip. Tomorrow at 0400 be ready to head out. Meet at the mercenaries Pelican. We'll take that to get to Kalahs." Cross stated as he started to leave the room. "Also," he added with a small smile, "don't be late."

The next morning, at 0400 on the dot, the nine agents boarded the pelican and took off towards Kalahs. They all wore long sleeved shirts and pants and had their weapons strapped to their backs and pistols in holsters on their legs. As for Cross, he wore his usual black long sleeves along with sand colored cargo pants and cloak. He once again carried his shotgun, which turned out to be the AA-12 he talked about, and his black 1911. He also had goggles, a strange black satchel hanging from his shoulders and a few grenades lining his belt.

"What? I like to come prepared." Cross said defensively as he saw the others stare at his gear. The other agents just shrugged before checking their own gear.

After a boring flight that consisted of a small fight between Texas, Carolina, and South, the nine Freelancers finally arrived at the main spaceport of Uritheg, the capital of Kalahs. As they landed, they ran through the plan once again in their heads. Agent Washington and Texas would form Team Omega and track down the issuer of the original kill order. Team Delta that consisted of York, Carolina, and Cross would visit the address they had acquired. North and South of Team Theta would go ask around about the "Blood Paw". Finally, Wyoming and Maine formed Team Sigma. They would be in charge of tracking the phone number and identifying its owner. With all their roles planned out and their Pelican landed, they departed from the ship.

"Good luck everyone." Cross said one last time before the four teams split up.

And done. Wow, this entire chapter was written and edited in a car. Sorry also for any grammar mistakes and spelling problems due to this. Spending 16 hours in a car does things to you. And that's not in a good way. I seriously can't feel my legs right now. Well, I hoped you enjoyed and if you did, don't forget to favorite and follow. All reviews are welcomed and I'll see you next time! Adios!