Under the Maroon

Disclaimer: The RvB cast belong to RoosterTeeth. I own Commander Duke and General Vincent.

A/N: Sorry for the delay. Hope to get the next one up quicker.

Dear Commander,

the broadcast was a complete success. The public is asking a lot of questions and pretty much every department of the UNSC is under investigation. Autonomy is within our grasp. You should also be pleased to hear that the discontinuation of the SPARTAN program has been announced. Unfortunately, the UNSC wouldn't disclose the location of Dr Halsey. Fortunately, however, our reconnaissance teams discovered the crew list for the "Golden Autumn", which recently departed Earth and apparently had Dr Halsey and various SPARTANs on board. They also discovered its destination and I am forwarding the coordinates to you now. We cannot allow her to continue her work. We're counting on you Commander.

Good luck.

(**)

Simmons stared at the memorial wall. Commander Duke had it set up back when the Freelancers invaded their base. His eyes scanned the pictures that plastered the wall in front of him and came to a halt on one. Frowney, cleaning her turret with her helmet off. Her ebony hair tied to a bun, her pale skin shimmering, her eyes glistening with silent glee as they stared down upon the tool she wielded with such ease you would think it weighed nothing. He slowly raised his right hand up to the picture and gently ran his fingers across it. He then let it drop back to his side and looked down. He had been provided his old set of armor after a warm welcome from Commander Duke upon arriving on the Charon. He had been a little disappointed that they hadn't killed the Freelancers, but didn't really care. Right now, he was focused and hell-bent on getting to Dr Halsey. Simmons didn't like it. There was something disturbingly familiar in Duke's obsession with Halsey.

"Simmons," Snyder called over the radio.

"Yeah?"

"Get to the command center! We're having a briefing on the mission."

(**)

"Hustle, lassies! I ain't got all day!" Duke barked as Simmons and his team entered the command center. Suddenly, Simmons perked up.

"Sir, do we have someone on the line?"

"General Vincent is currently listening from his ship. How did you know?"

"I'm a cyborg. My sensors picked up on it."

"I see. Wait, what? You're a cyborg? Since when?"

"Oh, for a while now. Sarge decided a cyborg would give Red team an advantage and volunteered me for the part. Sure, I had my objections, but the perks are quite satisfactory."

"...Moving on. Halsey was recently taken to a small planet somewhere on the outer rim. Place is crawling with UNSC vermin, so the "Charging Unicorn" will help us with the pest control."

"Correct," came Vincent's deep, booming voice over the intercom, "the Unicorn will punch a hole for the Charon to slip through and reach the planet."

"Then we will initiate bombardment. The main facility is heavily fortified, but the bombardment will take care of anyone outside. Then our boys will land and enter the facility."

"Once the Unicorn has taken care of the UNSC ships, our forces will join you."

West raised his hand. "Yes, West?" Duke asked.

"There are four ships in orbit of the planet. How can you be so sure that the Unicorn can handle them?"

"The Unicorn is the strongest ship the Insurrection has to offer. Thick armor, tough shields and a head-cannon capable of taking down any ship in one hit. Though it does take some time to charge."

"Ten minutes." Duke stated. "And the energy drain is so strong that it deactivates the drive core. The ship can't move for a minute."

"A setback, yes. But our shields aren't affected due to their separate generator. Don't worry, the Unicorn has proven herself against far worse odds."

"Alright, we all know the main objective. Halsey. I won't leave that place until I have her head on a silver platter. Understood?"

"Yes, sir," the team replied in unison.

"Ready, General?"

"Ready, Commander. See you on the other side."

(**)

"So... What do we do now?" Wash asked.

"Isn't it obvious?" Carolina asked. "We can't let them win."

"But they already have. The Insurrection is practically autonomous and already hounding in on Halsey. There's nothing we can do."

"Come on, Wash. I'm sure we could take on a few hundred Insurrection thugs."

"Even so, we could never get there in time."

"Well," Sarge interrupted, "that's not exactly accurate."

They all looked at him. "Is there something you wanna tell us, Sarge?" Wash asked.

(**)

The Freelancer symbol appeared on the screen as Sarge stepped in front of it. The screen was built into the mountain the group currently stood in front of. "I am sorry, but this area is off limits to unauthorized people."

"Open the door, F.I.L.L.S.," Sarge said," it's me."

"Apologies, Agent Alabama, I didn't recognize you. Welcome." A secret door opened next to the screen.

"Agent Alabama?" Wash exclaimed, "How did you get her to believe you were a Freelancer?"

"I am." Sarge answered as he entered.

"Right, and you were put in charge of Red team because..."

"F.I.L.L.S.!"

"Agent Alabama was put in charge of observing the activities in Bloodgulch and ensuring the safety of the Alpha A.I."

"So...he really is a...but he..." Wash rambled on as he tried to comprehend this new information.

"And this place is...?" Carolina interrupted.

"My secret stash." Sarge answered as he opened a door and turned on the lights, revealing a large hangar. The wall on the left decorated with a large collection of weapons and what looked like a modified pelican. "Give me a moment to check the systems."

Wash looked back at the others. "Why aren't you guys saying anything?"

They just looked at each other. "Yeah, I know you're new to this," Grif answered, "but at this point, it's pretty hard to surprise us. I thought you Freelancers would also be used to this."

"He has a point." Church spoke up.

"Yeah, but still..."

While they continued to argue, Carolina took a look around. There was a small workbench on the right side of the room. Scrap covered what appeared to be a splice between a shotgun and a grenade launcher. She picked it up to inspect it. It was quite impressive, so she wondered. "Why didn't you take this to Bloodgulch?"

Sarge took a look from the cockpit. "Oh, that. It may look alright on the outside, but that old girl is pretty much non-functional. Trying to fire her would be too risky."

"I see." She wanted to put it back, but then noticed what it had been laying on top of. "The twins?" It was a picture of North and South, standing next to each other without their helmets and with North's left arm around South's shoulders. She wanted to ask Sarge about this, but had a feeling that it wasn't such a good idea. "F.I.L.L.S., what was Sarge's, I mean, Agent Alabama's relationship to Agents North and South Dakota?"

"I am sorry, Agent Carolina, but that's classified information. Only Agent Alabama and the Director are authorized to access it."

"Give her the information, F.I.L.L.S.!" Church ordered.

"Oh, Director, I didn't realize you were also present. Of course. Agent Alabama is Agent North Dakota's and Agent South Dakota's father."

Carolina and Church looked at each other. "Right, let's just keep that to ourselves."

"Fair enough."

"Alright, ladies," Sarge spoke through the pelican's speakers. "All systems go. Ready to take off."

They then entered pelican. "And where exactly are we going?" Wash asked. "We don't know where they're going."

"Right. A short while ago I did a little operation on him and turned him into a cyborg."

"...Why?!"

"I don't know. I guess I just got bored. Anyway, I built a tracker into him in case he ever got captured."

"But you were fighting Blue team. And there base was just across the canyon."

"I prepared for any possibility."

"Enough!" Carolina interrupted. "Where the hell are they?"

"Apparently, they're headed for a UNSC colony in the outer rim."

"And how are we supposed to get there in time?"

"This pelican has slipspace capability, though highly experimental. Using it will lead to one of two possibilities. One, we arrive there unscathed."

"And the second?"

"We'll be destroyed in pretty much every possible way."

"Recuérdame por qué estamos haciendo esto." (Remind me why we are doing this.)

"Because we are soldiers of the UNSC and we cannot allow them to take one of our best scientists, even if she's considered a criminal."

"¿Me entiende?" (You understood me?)

"Yes, I speak Spanish among other languages."

"Entonces ¿por qué fingir que no pudo?" (Then why did you pretend you couldn't?)

"I didn't wanna seem too intelligent as to not blow my cover. Plus, I loved to mess with you."

"Sarge," Carolina interrupted, "you said they were after a scientist. Who?"

"Halsey. The woman in charge of the SPARTAN-project. She was declared a war criminal after the truth about the project became public. Now the Insurrection has sicked it's hounds on her."

"And we want to save her why?" Grif asked.

"The UNSC is currently weakened. We're struggling to keep order. Halsey's trial may determine the fate of the UNSC. But if the Insurrection gets to her before that, there will be an uproar. The people will completely lose their trust in the UNSC. And if they learn that might makes right, there will be rioting in the streets and blood will flow. The UNSC will fall to pieces and the Insurrection will win. But I won't force you to do anything. If you don't want to go, I understand and I won't stop you."

"...Ah, screw it!" Wash exclaimed. "I should have died a long time ago. What difference does it make now? I'm in."

"Well, if the UNSC were to dissolve now, then all the work I've done with Junior would've been for nothing," Tucker stated. "I'm in."

"I missed my chance to leave long ago," Grif spoke up. "I can't quit now, unfortunately."

"Yes, I will help Church and become his best friend!" Caboose exclaimed excitedly.

"Todos ustedes van a morir. No puedo perder." (You are all going to die. I can't miss that.)

Sarge nodded in acknowledgment. "Alright, we're all in. Then let's get moving." With that, he sat down in the pilot's seat and turned on the pelican. "Open hangar doors, F.I.L.L.S.!"

"Affirmative."

The pelican ascended as the hangar doors opened. "Everybody strapped in?"

"Yes!" They called in unison.

"Alright then. Here we go. Activating slipspace." The slipspace portal opened and the pelican flew in before it disappeared.

(**)

"We're about to leave slipspace," Simmons said.

"Excellent. General Vincent, are you ready?"

"Affirmative, let's gut the bastards."

"Alright." The two ships exited slipspace directly in front of the UNSC ships. "FIRE!"