The warthogs all stopped when they entered a large, beautiful area. A cliff hung on one side and the ocean rested at the other. Everyone exited their jeeps and got a feel of this place.
"So this is Valhalla." Jena said. "And you guys used to live here."
"Yeah." Simmons said. "You see, after we first beat the Meta and exposed all of Freelancer's illegal deeds, the UNSC sent us here to occupy the abandoned bases until further notice."
"So why does Carolina want to check this place out?" Jena asked. "She said something about a crashed pelican."
"Yeah, that's the one Tex escaped in." Tucker said. "She took off with to fulfill some kind of evil plan, so we blew it up, and she crashed around here. The Meta found her there and absorbed her."
"If there's nothing here, why is she checking?" Strike asked.
"You're asking me?" Tucker asked. "Every time I tried asking you, she threatened to turn my face inside and out."
"Well, you did keep hitting on her." Jena said.
"Yeah, but I gave up after the 300th failed attempt, so I genuinely asked. Same threat."
"Wait, what about the UNSC?" Simmons asked as Carolina and Washington was passing by. "What if they ambush us?"
"What are you talking about?" Carolina asked.
"Wash told us we were fugitives of the law!" Sarge exclaimed.
"And the UNSC was setting up an ambush for us as soon as we returned." Grif said.
Carolina looked at Wash.
"It was a possibility." He said.
"Wait, why are you afraid of the UNSC?" Strike asked. "Don't you all work for them?"
"Not anymore." Simmons said. "When we broke Church out of storage, we did so breaking the law. Now, we're wanted criminals of the UNSC."
"What?" Jena asked. She then gave Carolina a distrustful glare. "I thought you said you'd turn us into the UNSC if we didn't help. How do you expect to turn us in to the UNSC if you're wanted too. …Unless you were lying. You tried to trick us!"
"Look, all you need to know is now, you're with us. And while you're with us, you do what you need to do. Now, if you excuse me, I've got a ship to search." Carolina turned around and left with Washington.
"Well, that was rude." Strike said. "So we weren't in any trouble at all?"
"Well, technically, we're all in trouble since we're all fugitives." Simmons said.
"Well, since we're here, this is our chance!" Sarge shouted.
"For what?" Simmons asked.
"You said Lopez was shot here." Sarge said. "Let's go get him back! Leave no man behind, Simmons! No robot without his nuts. No warthog unlubed."
"What's going on?" Jena asked. "Who's Lopez?"
"He's this robot we had around us." Grif said.
"A clanker?" Strike asked. "You know, we fought armies of droids in the Clone Wars."
"Eh. The most Lopez could do was threaten us in Spanish." Grif said. "It's this quirk of his."
"Why do you need Lopez, sir?" Simmons asked.
"He's a robot, Simmons. We can rebuild him and activate him at any time. Gives us an edge over those pesky Blues. In the battle of ghosts versus robots, robots always win… except in anime."
"You're still picking a fight with the guys in blue armor?" Strike asked. "You know, Sarge, without the colors, you're exactly the same."
"You fought robots yourself, Strike."
"That's different! For one thing, those clankers were trying to take over the galaxy!"
"Give it up." Simmons said. "Sarge has a one-track mind. When he set his eyes on a fight, nothing can stop him."
"Well, I think I'll stay here and take a siesta." Grif said. "Lopez would have wanted it that way."
Jena walked away rubbing her face while Strike followed her from behind. "You all right, kid?"
"No, I'm not all right." Jena said. "We've been hiding from the empire for ten years, we meet up with a bunch of unreasonable idiots, and we let one of them trick us into helping them find a guy and kill him. If anything, I think I'm losing my mind. I thought things were going to be simple, but the longer we go on, the less okay it seems now."
"I know. I know. Honestly, I feel the same way. I mean, what are we really fighting for?"
"You know what." Jena said. She turned her head to the direction where Carolina was. "That's a very good question."
As the day coursed, not much happened. The most exciting thing that happened was Lopez found alongside a pink soldier named Donut and a purple medic named Doc. Much later, the Reds and Blues were summoned underneath the Red Base. They took an elevator down to an underground Holographic Chamber.
"What is this place?" Jena asked.
"A holographic simulation room." Simmons said. "Lopez built it."
"Why?" Strike asked.
"Sarge asked him to." Grif said.
"Maybe we should've had him in charge of capturing our flag." Tucker taunted.
"Technically, we did manage to capture your flag before," Simmons said, "So you know, suck it, Blue."
"Oh, yeah?" Caboose asked. "Well, our team has the most kills."
"Team kills don't count." Sarge protested.
"You don't make the rules!"
"Technically, Project Freelancer makes the rules," Washington said, "And I say Blue Team gets to add my kill count to theirs."
"Do droids count? 'Cause I've got quite a number." Strike said.
"Listen up!" Carolina called out from across the room. Church appeared next to her using the technology in the room to look big and solid.
"What's going on?" Jena asked.
"We know where the Director is." Church said. "He's hold up in an off-site storage facility, similar to the ones we've seen before."
"But we don't know what kind of modifications the Director may have made to the compound over the last few years or if he has any security with him." Carolina added. "Essentially, we need to be ready for anything. So let's go over the plan."
"What plan?" Tucker asked.
"The plan to take down the Director." Church said.
"I thought the plan was that we help you find the Director." Grif said. "And now, we've found him."
"The plan changed." Carolina said.
"Have they?" Strike asked. "This seems like a decision that should've been made at the start of the mission."
"Look, we just need enough time to get to the Director." Carolina said. "We need to infiltrate and neutralize the hostiles."
"So we're just the distraction then?" Wash asked.
"No. Wash, you're on lock duty. I need you with me."
"We have to fight all the bad guys by ourselves?" Caboose asked.
"We can't do that." Strike said. "We're going to die."
"Look, will you guys quit complaining and do something for once?" Church asked.
"Son, are you forgetting who we saved you from the military?" Sarge asked.
"Yeah, we almost died trying to find you." Simmons said.
"Boo hoo." Church said. "Why don't you come back when you're on your second or third life? Then, we'll compare notes."
"Wow. Shove off." Grif said. "I'm not going with you."
"You can count me out too." Sarge said. "Don't get me wrong. Busting into a military base on a rescue mission is a lot of fun, but I'm not getting turned into Swiss cheese just so the two of you can finish some personal vendetta. This ain't our fight."
"Took the words right out of my mouth, sir." Simmons said.
"Be quiet, all of you!" Carolina shouted.
"What is your deal?" Jena asked. "Do you value your own vengeance over other people's lives? No one here gains anything but you two!"
"She's right!" Tucker shouted.
"BE QUIET! THAT'S AN ORDER!"
"Well, guess what, psycho! I don't take orders from you anymore?"
"Well, what about… now?" Carolina growled as she pointed her gun. She ended up getting a gun pointed at her as well by Wash. "Wash, what are you doing?"
"Protecting my friends."
"Wash, what's wrong with you?" Church shouted. "We found the director! We can make him pay! This is what we wanted!"
"All I want is for you to leave." Washington said. "I've already been responsible for enough of their problems in the past, and I'll be damned if I let you cause anymore."
"So that's it?" Church asked. "You're just going to turn your back on us? You know, I guess I should have seen that one coming. It's not exactly like you're new to the concept, is it, Wash? But you guys? After everything you put me through? I really thought at least you would have my back?"
"Us?" Grif asked. "What did we do?"
"You shot me through the head! You put a bomb in my gut! You killed me with my own damn tank! AND THAT'S JUST HOW WE MET!" As he ranted, Church began to accumulate mass. He became five times bigger than normal. Everyone stared.
"Church, stop!" Jena shouted. "Anger leads to hate! Hate leads to suffering!"
"WHAT? IS THAT SOME OLD JEDI SAYING? WAKE UP! NONE OF THAT STUFF MATTERS ANYMORE BECAUSE THE JEDI ARE GONE! ALL THAT WISDOM THEY HAD ENDED UP GETTING THEM KILLED BY SOLDIERS WHO SHARED YOUR FRIEND'S FACE! HOW DID THAT WORK OUT FOR THEM?"
"Dude, what's your problem?" Tucker asked.
"YOU'RE MY PROBLEM! YOU'VE ALWAYS BEEN MY PROBLEM! EACH AND EVERY ONE OF YOU IS JUST A PROBLEM THAT I HAVE TO DEAL WITH ON A DAILY BASIS!"
Silence filled the entire room. Church's echoes disgusted and hurt everyone in the chamber. One by one, everyone turned around and left. Church calmed down and tried to talk everyone down, but in the end, even Caboose turned his back on his friend. Carolina growled in frustration and left Valhalla with Church.
Nobody felt good after that. After Carolina and Church left, everyone tried to create a life in Valhalla. After a while, Jena and Strike picked up bags of necessary supplies that they unloaded onto a warthog.
"Well, I guess this is it." Strike said. "We're still running."
"It feels like that's all we're going to do." Jena frowned. "Strike, I can't figure anything out. We have no plan and it doesn't seem like we're going to be free to roam the galaxy sometime soon."
"Well…" Strike turned to the Reds and Blues who were gathering around a brute shot. "Those guys have no plan either. That's not stopping them."
"But they're idiots." Jena said. "Every time they talk, they test my temper."
"Not always." Strike said. "Sunshine, I've seen you smile back at the desert temple with those guys. I haven't seen you that happy in a long time. If these people can handle being rock bottom, maybe we can learn something from them."
"How?" Jena asked. Strike lead her back to the group.
"Hey, everyone. What's up?"
"We're discussing what to do with the weapon Grif has hoarded." Simmons said.
"I was going to have Donut mount it for me in the base." Grif said.
"And you know I can't resist a good mounting." Donut said.
"Does he say stuff like that a lot?" Jena asked.
"You have no idea." Tucker said.
"You've been hiding a very advanced piece of technology… so you can hang it in your living room?" Wash asked.
"Well, when you say it like that, it sounds dumb."
"That's because it is dumb!"
"Well, I think it's kind of cool. I mean, when I met you guys, all you did was just stand around and talk. But now, you can't walk five feet without getting wrapped up in some crazy adventure. You've been through a lot together. Don't you want something to remember all the good times?"
"Good times?" Tucker asked. "I got stranded in the desert!"
"We were almost killed!" Simmons shouted.
"I found out my entire military career was a lie!" Sarge shouted.
"Same here!" Strike said.
"My whole religion was literally shot down by the Empire!" Jena shouted.
"And I got shot!" Donut shouted.
"Okay, yeah, it wasn't perfect." Doc said. "but look what you all got out of it. Sarge, you got to lead an actual military operation. And Tucker, you learned to use your sword like a pro. Wash, Jena, and Strike found a new team. Simmons got back his old team. I managed to keep a patient from dying…"
"And in return, I didn't die!" Donut cheered.
"You see?" In the end, we all worked together and everyone got what they wanted."
"Not everyone." Caboose pointed out sadly.
Everyone fell silent. Tucker then pulled out his sword and got ready to leave.
"You realize that if you go after them, there's no promise you'll come back." Wash pointed out. "This isn't a game to the Director. He plays for keeps. And after everything Church and Carolina said? The way they treated you!"
"If we quit every time Church started shouting, this would have been over a long time ago." Grif said.
"We'll be outgunned. We'll be out… everything. This is stupid. Just think for a minute before you do anything reckless."
"Wash, stupid and reckless is how we always get things done." Sarge said. "You know, there's one thing you Freelancers always seem to forget. And that's the fact that we've managed to kick your butt time and time again. Sure, you've got all your smart plans and your fancy technology, but in the end, what has that gotcha? Without a team you can count on and your fellow soldier by your side, all that doesn't really amount to squat, does it? So instead of standing there bellyaching all day, just ell us, are you going to keep playing it safe… or do you wanna get a little reckless?"
Jena smiled slightly as he held up her lightsaber. "He's right. For over a thousand generations, the Jedi Knights were the guardians of peace and justice in the Old Republic. As one of the last Jedi in existence, it's up to me to keep the peace. Carolina is in pain. I've felt it since we first met. If she keeps being driven by that pain, it's going to kill her and Church. As a Jedi, I can't let that happen. I know our religion is almost dead, but maybe we can help it. And out of everyone, I'd like you all to help me, and we can start with Carolina and Church. What do you say?"
"I'm always at your side, sunshine." Strike said.
"This has to be worst idea ever… but you can count me in." Washington said.
"Me too!" Donut declared.
"I'm in too!" Doc shouted. "Oh, man, this is cool! I love how inclusive you guys have become! I'm going to pack my medical gear for the trip!" The medic turned around and headed into the base.
"Um, guys," Simmons said, "They have a huge head start. How are we supposed to reach them in time?"
"FREEZE!" shouted a man as three Hornet airships appeared from out of nowhere. "This is an ambush! You are under arrest for the theft of UNSC property!"
"What?" Simmons gasped. "We really are wanted criminals of the UNSC? Wash was right?"
"Oh, you've gotta be kidding me." Washington exasperated.
"Hang on." Strike said. "I think we've got our way to reach Carolina and Church."
As soon as the ships landed, the pilots came out and approached them. One of them went close to Jena and Strike.
"Who are you?" the soldier asked.
"I'm your worst nightmare." Jena smirked.
"Wait." The soldier said. "You're me when I'm late to school and I forgot my homework and my pants are made of pudding?"
"What? No, I…" Jena shrugged off the stupid question and waved her hand. "You're going to let us take your Hornets"
The soldier looked to his fellow comrades. "We're going to let them take our Hornets."
And just like that, the Reds and Blues got into the airships and flew right out of the canyon.
"Goodbye, people we stole these planes from!" Caboose called out.
Jena and Strike took a look out the window. They could see the canyon shrinking as they kept flying.
"I hope you know what you're doing, kid." Strike said.
Jena responded, "Well, in this day and age, we could always use some hope."
Author's Note: Merry Christmas... or in this case, Life Day. Sorry if this has been long and not so detailed, but I've started working on this since earlier and I've been hoping to upload this before Christmas Day so I can make this Life Day. I admit, this hasn't been the most energetic few chapters, but once we get to the Season 11 story, it will get much better. I promise. Until then, happy Life Day.
Any and all comments are welcome.