"So, we're stranded with no hope of escape?" Drip asked, wringing his hands nervously.

I nodded, reflexively as Alex shook his head. "We have one shot at saving ourselves. Grey Team and some ODSTs will board the enemy vessel as they board us, recover the data, and destroy the ship as they leave."

Brit raised a brow, "the Song is dead in the water, Sir. We couldn't escape the blast."

"We can override the cool down on the slip drive." He said, "it'll need to be done manually but the access hatch on the bridge should allow three of us access to the engine room without the covenant interfering.

"Overriding the engine will burn it out, we could only make one jump. You'll be breaking Cole Protocol" Brit added, "we'll be arrested."

That made Drip turn a shade whiter. Even Valette looked a little worried as the bridge sat quietly, listening to the longest shot a commander has pulled in a thousand years.

"Tried and alive is better than dead" I said, shrugging. Then, I surprised myself, "I'm already a criminal in the Admirals eyes. Pin it on me."

Valette's eyes glossed and she mouthed something. Whether her voice was too shaky for sound or she couldn't bring herself to thank me, I couldn't tell; ya'll better believe that the others looked to me with hope in their eyes.

I don't know what possessed me to step in, I should say I feel bad for putting them in danger and that I need to atone for that. That's what the captain would have done. He looked at me strangely, a look of respectful familiarity on his face. This wasn't some noble act to me, though. This was cowardice.

For the first time, I was acutely aware of the sacrifices being made daily across the Orion Arm. A thousand souls, one Frigate, was nothing in a war that had almost claimed a trillion lives. I lived to fly. Space existed between every molecule of my being and I wanted to plot my course through it but unlike my time as a pirate, there was more on the line here than there had been on my last ship. Folks here had plenty to lose.

"No one's going down for any of this," the captain said, holding his hands out as if he were fanning us. "They can't martial all of us, I will take the blame because it's my command."

"I suppose we don't have any other option, do we?" Brit stated, dryly, "we'll, I suppose it's as good a way to go as any."

"Atta girl, Brit" I replied, a wry grin on my face.

"Alright…" Alex said, clasping his hands, "Kohli will take Liang, Fetch, Drippier, and Van Graff through the maintenance shaft and get us that Juice. Everyone else will defend the bridge."

Valette stepped forwards, "Sir?"

Alex turned to her, "what is it, Cadet?"

"Well… what you are about to do is kinda similar to something we- I pulled on the Xanthium." She rubbed the back of her neck, "when the slip drives power up, there's a brief moment where excess power is dumped into the rest of the ships systems. It's a failsafe, mostly, but it should power our weapons if we fire it at the right time."

Alex frowned, "you did that on the Xanthium? That's a space station."

"An experimental one."

"With a slip drive." She added, nervously.

My eyes bulged and I snorted, "wait, you're a criminal, too?"

Valette flushed red but nodded, "I saved the crew but…"

"But you were transferred out…" Alex said, his voice rising as he came to a realization. He paced again, frantically this time. "How many of you have disciplinary marks on your records?"

Slowly, one by one, each member of the crew raised their hands.

"We were set up to fail." I spat, "you sure your old man had nothing to do with this?"

Alex reeled, "Admiral Harper assigned me to this ship because the mission seemed off, he's Navy through and through, he wouldn't sacrifice three crews of officers and ship hands just to mess around with you. Get that damned chip off your shoulder, man."

There was a tense atmosphere as Alex and I shared a glare that stretched out beyond the walls of the ship and into space.

"So, Grey Team, were you gonna tell us this, or are you none the wiser?" Brit asked, standing up. Brettman stood too, folding his arms beside her. It was a dumb move, squaring up to SPARTANs.

The SPARTANs knew it too, Adrianna turned to the captain and sighed, "Sir, we don't have the time for this."

"Yes, actually, we do." He said, his voice calm and firm.

Jai shook his head, "we knew that breaking the Cole Protocol was a possibility. ONI assigned us a crew that could be blamed if brass like Admiral Harper found out"

"So much for all that shit about trust, huh, Cap?" I laughed, turning to leave. "Guess you're too good for the likes of these soulless husks." I said, jabbing a figure at the SPARTANs.

"Hey!" Kohli yelped, walking straight towards me, "you have no idea what they've sacrificed!"

"Neither do they!" I fumed, "gave up their hopes, dreams and humanity a long time ago, didn't you!"

"You hated ONI a minute ago" Brit added bitterly, "they stole your family from you, why are you taking their side?"

Kohli stopped and looked around. Everyone could understand her pain, even the captain, but the SPARTANs, and in turn ONI, had made their opinion on the matter clear. We were expendable. Captain Harper shook his head as he put a hand on Kohli's shoulder.

"Look," he said, his eyes moving from Kohli's to mine and then to each of the bridge crew, silently watching from their station, "you've all run the sims, you know the histories. Sacrifices like these are made in war and as much as we were deceived and as much as we've been wronged, it's always done for a reason. The SPARTANs aren't to blame. ONI isn't to blame. Those alien bastards… they're our enemy. They force ONI's hand. They kill your families. They want you dead. Right now, they probably think they have us cornered, a battered old scrapheap, lurching about in dead space with a new crew and no power to even move the ship. They're probably laughing at us. I don't know about you guys but I'm not going to go out watching them smile. I want to beat them and live until I'm one hundred and fifty, having totally forgotten that this nightmare ever happened, surrounded by a big family and plenty of land in a new colony. I don't expect you to like it and I certainly don't want you to approve of what's happened to us; we are going to do this, not because we can do it if we work together or because of the power of friendship but because I demand it of you. The UNSC expects that each man shall do their part. You made a vow to defend Earth and all of her colonies and I invoke that oath now. We will get this device home. Whatever the cost."

There was a pause. It was heavy and oppressive. I wondered then if this was what I'd been doomed to, a purgatory of indecision. Run and hide, fight and die, it was all the same as far as I could tell. The truth was that I did want to live. I've been a jaded guy for sure. A man like me lives by laws of my own making and I felt that, as I stood here on the bridge of a disintegrating ship, that it was time to lock in my choice. No one was moving still as I rubbed my neck.

If I'm going to die, and if those SPARTANs are going to live, if anyone is going to live, then I'd rather be remembered as the man who died for his friends than the greatest pirate helmsman in human space.

"Aw hell," I said, drawing twenty pairs of eyes to me, "I did good just getting here. I came from nothing and you guys…" I looked at Valette, who smiled painfully, and Britt, who nodded, "you guy's made a man out of me. You made me feel wanted and needed, more than any romantic partner could, and more than my family ever did" I said, chuckling at the last part, "Captain, Sir, I'd be honoured to fulfil your last orders, live or die, you've more than earned our loyalty and our trust. I believe in this plan, I believe in Valette, and I believe in the rest of you… yes, even you Drip" I said, winking at him. "I'm with you, Sir."

Alex stood beside me, looking a thousand miles tall, "those aren't my last orders" he said, seizing the change in mood, "Fight well, friends, and may you see another sun."