Disclaimer: Red vs. Blue belongs to Rooster Teeth, not me. I make no profit from this, and no copyright infringement is intended.

Chapter 14

Sister practiced and trained hard every day. Her theory was that one, she didn't have anything better to do, and two, Grif wouldn't be able to complain about her showing up in a war zone when she found him if she was a total badass. She was still a beginner, of course, but she was confident that she would have been able to defend herself in that alley now. Not that she really minded being rescued.

She was thinking about this one morning as she referenced a translation app that Tomoko had given her for her alien journal when she heard a shout outside and someone banging on Sven's door across the hall. She hopped down from her bunk and opened her door a crack to see what was going on. She was momentarily distracted when Sven appeared without a shirt and she stared, mesmerized, at his muscular torso. She noted his many small scars, probably from knife fights, his favorite, before the crewman's frantic voice regained her attention.

"We just received word. Sebial – he's dead. The Freelancers – " she handed Sven a report on a data pad.

"Did they get the codes?"

"That and more."

"Son of a bitch. Get everyone on alert. Now!" Sven looked up and saw Sister staring.

"What's wrong?" she asked.

"Do not worry. It does not concern you."

"Well that's obvious, but still – who's dead?"

"The second in command of our operation. The Freelancers killed him to acquire some classified resources. They destroyed an entire building, actually. We lost a lot of men … again."

Sister noted to pained look on Sven's face and reached out to him.

"Was you cousin … ?" Sister started.

Sven nodded. "He was just reassigned there after he got out of the hospital."

"Wait … Girlie went to get him the other day. Is she still with him?" Worry edged into Sister's voice.

"Do not panic Kaikaina. They are capable soldiers. They will make contact if they are able."

"Right, of course." Sister took a deep breath. "Who is it that contacted us if Demo and Girlie haven't?"

"Sleeves. You haven't met him yet."

"Sleeves?" Sister questioned.

"A nickname," Sven replied.

"You're only telling me people nicknames at this point because you've figured out I suck at remembering most people's actual names, haven't you?"

"Yes. I figured that out when I told you Girlie's name and you never used it. Everyone has actually started calling her Girlie now; she hates it," Sven smirked. "But back to my original point.

"Right, sorry." Sister waved a hand for him to continue.

"Connie wasn't able to inform us of this attack beforehand, which is what we were counting on. They may suspect her. Tomoko is going to need to reset all of our security. Cody will need to check all the ships for tampering. I need you to keep to your bunk, the mess hall, and the training floor, and do not distract them, understood?"

Sister nodded, and Sven ducked back into his room for a moment, coming out again putting on a shirt. When he began to walk away Sister called out to him.

"Sven, can I help? Can I do anything?"

"No. We are mobilizing everything in case they have more information that we thought. We are going dark for a while, essentially. So just sit tight."

"Will Girlie and Demo even be able to find us again?" Sister asked worriedly.

"Sleeves is trying to regroup the survivors in from the city. After that, we have protocols for this." Sister sighed, and Sven ruffled her hair. "Try not to worry. Remember, a warrior doesn't have the luxury to worry – only to act."

Sister went back to her bunk. She paced. She un-braided her hair and re-braided it. She practiced speaking Sangheli from the journal. She lay down on Girlie's bed, surprised at how much she missed the woman. She had started teaching Sister how to fight with knives the week before. Finally, Sister made her way to the training floor.

%

"It's not fair!" She said to herself as she threw knives at a target. "They're my friends. I want to help! I'm training; I can fight; I can fly. I'm not weak! I'm not just some kid!" She threw her last knife as hard as she could. It didn't even hit the target, but struck wide and bounced off the wall with a metallic bang. Sister sighed.

"Some help I'll be," she muttered to herself. She turned away, thinking she'd go back to her room and sleep. Cookie was standing near the door, watching her.

"You're not gonna quit so soon, are you?" She smirked at Sister.

"It's not like I'm actually any good at it," Sister pouted.

"Don't be ridiculous. How long have you been on the ship, a month? Do you really think Sven and the others became experts so fast? Honey, these people are professionals. Most of them have been doing this a long time. Most of these people's families are mercenaries and marines too. They've never known any other life."

"But Cookie, Sven isn't that much older than me," Sister insisted.

"He learned to fight as soon as he learned to walk. He threw his first knife when he was six years old. He may be only ten years older than you, but he's got close to twenty years of experience on you."

"Ah ha! I knew I'd get someone to reveal his age eventually!" Sister pumped a fist in the air triumphantly. Cookie just laughed.

"Don't change the subject. This life requires discipline, Sister."

"Definitely not my strong suit," she sighed.

"Discipline isn't natural; it's learned. You can do this – if you want to. It's just something that most people never learn to do, so you've never had to think on it before."

"What, throwing knives?" Sister snorted. "Well, that's obvious."

"No, Sister – trying." Sister blinked. It had never occurred to her that trying hard was something you learned to do through practice, just like everything else. Now her cheer leading coach's constant exclamations of, 'Practice doesn't make perfect; perfect practice makes perfect!', suddenly made a lot more sense. Sister walked over to the target and picked up the knives.

"Okay. Let's try this again."

%

Demo and Girlie made contact soon enough, and the panicked energy on the ship died back down to a quiet tension. Ship life continued as normal, except that Girlie and Demo went to another planetside base instead of returning to the Staff of Charon. Another month passed with Sister doing little besides training and deciphering her alien diary.

The past few days had been different though. Sven was tense and growing more so by the minute. Sister had interrupted more than one whispered conversation between him and Rick, and she'd been promptly chased away. Tomoko was just the same, shooing Sister away from her computers before she could see anything or ask for news of Grif's whereabouts. Even Cody was busier than usual, nit-picking and worrying over every last bit of equipment. Sister had even seen Doc counting his supplies no less that four times. To say she suspected something was afoot was an understatement.

She was in the training room doing chin-ups when Sven found her. Sister dropped to the ground and flashed a grin at him.

"Hey handsome."

"Kaikaina …." He looked at her as if trying to decide something. "We are going to be executing a very complex mission in a few hours. If even one thing goes wrong we could all die."

"Oh … come to confess your undying love then?" Sister teased. Sven smirked, just barely, but became serious again instantly.

"I want you to take your ship and go. There is a planet near here that is safe." He clenched his jaw and waited for her reaction.

"Sven, just stop. We made a deal to help each other. I've stuck with you this far. Why won't you stick with me?" Sister put her hands on her hips and stared at the man accusingly.

"Because our ship could be blown to bits soon," he said seriously.

"So, you think the mission will fail and you're going to do it anyway?" Sister raised her eyebrows skeptically.

"No, but we have to cover all our bases," he insisted.

"I could think of another baseball metaphor I'd prefer when it comes to you and me, Sven."

"That is an idiom actually, but that is beside the point." He glowered at her.

"And she strikes out again, despite imminent doom," Sister muttered, pouting. "I'm staying, you nerd. I'll be fine as long as I'm with you," Sister smiled at him. Sven looked at the hand she had placed on his arm, nodded once, then walked away. Sister sighed and resumed her training.

Eventually, Cookie came in. Sister turned away from the mirror where she had been checking her form for some of her strikes and smiled at the woman.

"What's up?"

"A dangerous mission. Our job right now it to hunker sown somewhere safe and out of the way," Cookie said in her sternest 'mother hen' voice.

"Aww, come on Cookie! I don't need a baby sitter. This has been building up for weeks! I want to see what's going on," Sister whined.

"Not an option," Cookie said sternly. She took Sister by the hand and led her away. "We'll go to my room. It's close to the escape pods."

"Escape pods? You guys really all think we're going to die today, don't you?" Sister asked incredulously.

"Considering our track record with Freelancer, it is a distinct possibility," Cookie admitted.

"Well, if we're going to need to escape I'm going in my own ship, not an escape pod," Sister said stubbornly. Cookie was about to argue when another crew member jogged up.

"Cookie! There you are. We need the extra shotgun ammo. Where have you hidden it this time?" he demanded. Cookie began explaining, and as much as Sister wanted to know why the ship cook of all people was in charge of shotgun ammunition, she took the opportunity to slip away unnoticed. Sister made her way to the bridge, counting doors to not get lost, as usual.

When she arrived, she stayed just outside the door, in shadow. It was a challenge for Sister to keep quiet, but she was desperately curious about what was going on. She saw Rick and two others in full combat gear talking with Sven.

"I do not like this Rick. These are not just aliens trying to destroy the world. They are people like you and me."

"How can you say that after all the people we've lost to them, Sven? Destroying entire bases and buildings from space? They are as bad as the aliens!"

"So we are sinking to their level now? With a nuke?"

"Those are our orders Sven. Deal with it. You knew what we signed up for."

"I am beginning to wonder, actually," Sven murmured. Rick just kept prepping his equipment. "Connie will not like it." Sven said, trying again to protest.

"What Connie doesn't know won't hurt her," Rick said with a hard look. "You have the bridge. Get the ship in position in the junk yard as soon as everyone else is deployed." Sven nodded and Rick signaled to his men. They left the bridge in a hurry.

Sister didn't move from her place in the shadows. She watched as Sven expertly directed everyone and wondered why he wasn't the leader; she thought Rick was too hot-headed. It took Sister a few minutes to decipher what was going on – an ambush – and she was still trying to decide how she felt about that when Tomoko came onto the bridge.

"Sven – " she called, and he looked over at the woman. "We're ready."

"Very well, going dark now." He nodded at her and she shut down the majority of the ships systems, making it infinitely harder to spot without the most specialized of equipment. In the dark and silence that followed, Sister couldn't but feel a deep sense of foreboding.

%

Rick and his men had an easy enough time getting onto the derelict ship in Bone Valley – the junkyard where UNSC ships went to die. The ship had been attacked by the Covenant last year and then relegated here, but the rumor of what the crew discovered before that losing battle had gotten around, and interested parties had started digging. Those in charge of such things at the UNSC were worried about things like winning the war, not "alien antiques," so those interested parties had to go outside the lines a bit to recover the information they needed, rather that wait for it to rot in a junkyard until war's end.

Charon had won the first round when Sven had successfully stolen the information from under Freelancer's nose at the facility where he'd met Sister. After they had this location, it was easy enough to get their own troops in the USNC stationed there. Control agreed that is was time to pull Connie out of Freelancer or risk losing her, so they "leaked" the location and the trap was laid.

Now, as Rick watched his men checking every corner and doorway for the enemy, he was nervous for more than one reason. He hadn't been in charge of a team this big – an entire ship, though a minimally staffed one – for very long, and he was still afraid he would screw it up. He was afraid of Freelancer; they were powerful and had done a lot of damage in an incredibly short amount of time. He wasn't sure Charon was a match for them. He hadn't seen Connie in the flesh for literally years. Did she still feel the same way? Had she met someone at Freelancer that she would say was just misguided and being lied to and try to save them? Was she even still loyal to Charon, or had she switched sides?

"Sir, this is it," one of his men said quietly.

"Good work," Rick replied as he approached the door and keyed in the code. He was glad to be at the part of the mission that required his full attention. The last thing he needed now was for his anxieties to get the best of him.

"Sir, everyone is in position." The other member of the team looked up from listening to radio chatter. :The enemy is on their way in. Their infiltrator is attempting to hack into the station we broadcast your signal from earlier."

"Perfect. I'm patching through to Tomoko's channel now," Rick responded. He had kept off the other radio channels, relying on his soldiers to keep him informed of anything important, to prevent any distractions. Hacking into high security computers was not his strong suit, and he wanted to be completely focused.

"Tomoko, do you read?"

"Copy that sir; you are secure. Go ahead." the woman's voice crackled over the radio.

"Okay, I'm ready for you to walk me through this. Though I still don't know why you refuse to come on these missions," Rick grumbled.

"You know perfectly well that I refuse to be in a situation that could involve gunfire. Working remotely isn't nearly as inconvenient as you and Sven say it is," Tomoko quipped.

"Yeah, for you. How are things back on the ship?" he asked.

"Perfect, as usual when Sven and I are running things. Now stop wasting time. You need to be ready when Connie arrives."

"Okay, I'm at the terminal. Let's do it." Rick powered up the computer and began following the woman's instructions through the menus, passwords, and codes. "Good job, Boss," she said after several minutes. "You didn't screw anything up. Now you just have to wait for your girlfriend, and we're all set." Rick sighed at Tomoko's attempt to lighten the mood. The tension in his shoulders began building again.

The small group didn't have long to wait though. Soon enough, the doors behind them hissed open and there stood a brown armored figure, gun raised.

"Intruder!"

"Get him!" The two soldiers fired wildly at the figure, but it flickered and disappeared.

"Stand down, you trigger happy lunatics," Rick said, not even bothering to keep the annoyance out of his voice. He stepped forward, expecting Connie to step through the door now that his men were under control. He was only half surprised when he heard a cry and some thumps behind him and turned to see his men disarmed on the floor and Connie pointing a gun at him. The moment of truth – had she switched sides? Was she about to kill him? Rick had no illusions of thinking he had a chance against the super soldier. He didn't have to worry long though. Connie lowered the weapon an spoke, a teasing lilt in her voice.

"You didn't wait for me to start? I'm hurt."

"I was worried about you – didn't think you'd be able to get away," he said. It was true in multiple ways. They needed to be ready to leave in a hurry. They would also have needed time to coax the codes from Connie by any means necessary if she turned out to be a traitor. They needed time to destroy the information if they couldn't complete it, as they didn't want Freelancer having it either.

"You don't know the half of it," Connie said, seemingly not noticing Rick's hesitation. "They've stepped up production – on the armor, the AI, everything. Security has gone way up …. Here." she said, and handed Rick a data pad. He mentally sighed with relief. He didn't think she would have bothered to keep up the charade this long if she was going to turn on them. He took the data pad to the terminal and plugged it in. With the last set of codes engaged, the download of data began.

"This ship was captured by the Covenant before. I'm surprised there's anything left in the data banks," Connie said casually as they watched the download.

"Heh, not everyone follows protocol with information storage. You should know that better than anyone." Rick smirked.

"Hey, no snarky jabs at the double agent please. So, did we have someone on the ship?"

"Not that I know of. Our intel came directly from Control." Rick shrugged.

"And they really think they found another artifact?" Connie asked skeptically. "How could nobody have discovered that when they were processing the wreckage?"

"I guess they didn't know where to look. And they didn't have what you have," Rick said, indicating the data pad that contained some of the highest level of classified codes in the entire military. "Though I am curious to know how Freelancer had the codes in the first place. Maybe they had someone on the ship."

"Maybe … ," Connie said slowly.

"What's wrong?" Rick knew Connie's every mannerism – they had grown up together after all – and he could see she was stressed and debating whether or not to tell him something.

"I'm just … I've been wondering if maybe I'm not the only agent that's been playing Freelancer. I always had the feeling the Director wasn't the only one plotting and sneaking around., but I just couldn't put my finger on it. Have you been told about any other of our people being there?"

"Seriously?" If any other Freelancers are ours I don't know about it." Rick said skeptically. Connie pondered this silently.

"Sir," said one of Rick's now recovered soldiers, "everyone's in position. Awaiting your signal."

"Right, here goes nothing." Rick secured the data pad and typed one last command on the computer, wiping the entire drive. "Time to get out of here." He looked back at Connie, who was still lost in her thoughts.

"You too," he said, pulling her towards the door.

"I can't, not yet," she said, hesitating.

"If they weren't onto you before they definitely will be now," Rick insisted. "Come with us Connie. I'm not going to lose you over this," he said gently. Reluctantly, Connie followed Rick out the door. "Ray, give the signal." The soldier nodded.

"All forces we are go. Repeat, we are go." He gave the signal for all troops to fall back to the Staff of Charon.

%

Back on board the Staff of Charon, Kandyse finished listening to the something on her radio and turned back to Sven.

"All units are aboard sir. Rick is heading up now."

"Good. And the enemy?"

"They're beginning to head back to the Mother of Invention."

"Very well. Prep all systems to come back online on my mark," Sven ordered. Rick, his two armored assistants, and a person in brown power armor entered the bridge from the other side. Sister couldn't help but tense a little at the memory of the soldier standing there shooting her. The entire bridge crew looked at the group and waited quietly for a moment. Rick took his helmet off and grinned. "We got the data people. Let's move out!" Everyone relaxed at the announcement, and Sven nodded to Tomoko.

"Firing up all systems," she called out as she and Kandyse started working. A warming chime went off throughout the ship, and Sister braced herself as the ship lurched out its hiding place the the scrap metal and immediately began firing at their enemies.

"Set in a course for our regroup location," Rick called.

"Yes sir," Kandyse replied. The Freelancer's ship got in a few shots – enough to make Sister nervous – but nothing as compared to what they accomplished with the surprise attack.

"We're away sir," Kandyse called a few minutes later. "New course laid in."

"Are you sure you don't want to stay and finish this?" one of Rick's sidekicks asked. Rick glanced over at Connie. She was moving to talk to Sven.

"Heh, I left our guests a little present," Rick said softly as he finished entering the command to drop the nuke in the junk field. "Get us out of here," he said.

"Yes, sir," came the reply. Sister frowned from shadowy hiding place. She had expected Sven to talk Rick out it. It just didn't seem right – like Sven said, wasn't that sinking to their level?

On the other side of the bridge, Connie sighed and looked up into coal colored eyes. She lifted her helmet off gently and smiled up at her cousin.

"Hello Sven."

"Hello Constance," he replied. She sighed and shook her head.

"Are you ever going to stop calling me by my full name? It's awful." She laughed.

"He does that to me too," Sister said, suddenly appearing beside the pair. They jumped about a foot, and she grinned. "I'm Kaikaina. Call me Sister." A few feet away, Rick let out a strangled sound of alarm.

"How – when did you – you're not supposed to be in here!" Rick griped as he hurried over to where Sister stood next to Sven and Connie. "How long have you been here?" he demanded.

"Since you left earlier," Sister shrugged and kept looking at Connie. Rick glared at Sven.

"You didn't tell me you were training her to be a fucking ninja." Sven just shrugged and showed that barely there smirk.

"Kaikaina, extra conditioning tomorrow for disobeying orders …. but only half as much as I would have given, since you didn't get caught." He winked at her, and Rick glowered. Connie grinned at her.

"Nice kid. You would make a good spy," the woman said. "Aren't you the girl I shot to save Sven's ass a while back?"

"That's me!" Sister rocked back and forth on her heels. "Your friendly neighborhood damsel in distress."

"Ha!" Sven chuckled. "Some damsel in distress. She has saved my life twice already. The girl has grit." Rick was waving a hand, trying to get their attention, frowning all the while.

"We need to do a debriefing," he said. "Also, Connie, we need to get your armor into the lab to be analyzed so Nate can start prototyping new stuff."

"Amen to that," she said. "I've been practically living in this stuff. You can do the debriefing without me. I need a real shower."

"But Connie – " Rick started and she held up a hand.

"Just read the files I gave you and you'll know everything I know and more. Fill me in later if you need to. The only debriefing I need right now is to find out how we acquired a five foot three ball of sunshine that makes Sven smile." She stepped up toe to toe with Sister and glared. "Everyone knows I'm the only one that can do that," Connie said in her most intimidating voice.

"Well," Sister said, grinning gleefully and un-intimidated, "I'll tell you the whole story if you tell me some good ones too. Have you been on this ship before? I can show you around. I almost never get lost anymore." Sister grabbed Connie's armored hand and gave it a tug as she turned around. "I bet you're hungry. Cookie makes the best stuff – seriously, its wildly good for ship rations …. " Sister chattered on and Connie grinned and waved goodbye to Rick and Sven as she was tugged along. There was a long pause by everyone on the bridge.

"Sir?" Someone finally spoke.

"Yeah Ray?" Rick sighed.

"Did Sven's girlfriend just steal your girlfriend?" he asked tentatively.

"She's not his girlfriend," Rick pinched the bridge of his nose in frustration.

"She is not my girlfriend." Sven said at the same time. Rick turned to Sven and gave him a hard look. Sven met his gaze without blinking.

"Now that we mention it, what is she to you, really?" Rick questioned. Sven just looked stoic, as always.

"She is herself. Why would she need to be anything else?"