"Grif, we just want to look at it." Carolina said.

"That's what the UNSC guy said about the Grif Shot, and I never saw it again!" Grif said standing his ground at the edge of the cliff. While everyone else surrounded him, he kept them at a distance with his newly-acquired laser pistol.

"The what?" Carolina asked.

"Meta's weapon." Simmons said. "Grif kept it as a trophy until the UNSC confiscated it."

"Until then, I thought I was the only one man enough around here to cry," Donut said, "But Grif proved me wrong."

"HA!" Tucker laughed.

"It had sentimental value!" Grif said.

"Grif, if that rifle came from the Empire, we need to learn its secrets." Jena said.

"She's right." Strike said, "We've seen standard Imperial arms before, and they didn't disintegrate people. We need to know it works."

"I already know how it works. Awesomely." Grif said. "I'm not giving it to you effers!"

"Damn it, Grif! Hand over that laser this instant!" Sarge ordered.

"You can't tell me what to do!" Grif said. "I outrank you… again!"

Sarge growled. "Well, let's see you outrank the end of my shotgun!" He aimed his weapon at Grif.

"Uh, done!" Grif said aiming he weapon he's trying to protect. "Effing space laser, bitch!"

Jena sighed before waving her hand at Grif. "You will surrender the gun to us."

"I will surrender the gun to you." Grif said dropping the rifle. He broke out of his trance in frustration. "Goddamn it! I hate it when you do that!"

Carolina picked up the gun. "Thanks, Jena. Ugh! Why is this so greasy?"

"You think that's bad? I could feel the disgusting parts just by manipulating his mind." Jena said.

"FASCINATING!" Dr. Grey shouted in excitement. "How did you do that?"

"The Force has a strong influence over the weak-minded." Jena said. "It's one of the greatest advantages I have over a team this stubborn."

"HEY!" nearly all the Reds and Blues shouted.

"Hey!" Caboose said immediately after everyone else. He clearly had no idea what everyone was talking about.

"Well, it's a good thing I'm an AI." Church said. "Computer mind, even the Force can't hack."

"Man, I wish I could do that." Dr. Grey said. "It would be very useful to calm down the whiny patients I'm trying to amputate."

"Isn't that what anesthesia is for?" Strike asked.

"I keep running out of that stuff after two days."

"Come on." Carolina said. "Let's dismantle this thing and see what we can learn."

"Hey, look, but…"

"When we're done, Grif, you can have it back in one piece… probably." Carolina said.

"Ooh. You mind if I tag along?" Simmons asked.

"Yeah! Advanced weaponry is my fifth favorite hobby." Sarge said. "Right behind destroying my enemies, but just ahead of karaoke."

"No thanks." Carolina replied. "I think Epsilon and I have it handled. Why don't you catch up for a while? You've all been through a lot."

"Yeah. I'd stick around for the reunion," Church said, "But some of you guys still seem pretty pissed at me. So… I'm just gonna wait for that to settle." He disappeared just as Carolina walked away.

"So… How have you guys been?" Donut asked.

"Shut up." Grif sneered.

"Some old, same old, huh?" Donut asked. "That's cool."

The conversation lead to Caboose asking for Freckles, which made Sarge, Donut, Lopez, and Strike feeling nervous. They walked away with the others leaving Washington alone with Caboose. Jena approached the old clone.

"What was that about?" Jena asked.

Strike sighed. "Well, you know that Caboose can be very sensitive?"

"Yeah. He's like a child. What's this have to do with Freckles?" Jena asked.

"The thing is… the Feds destroyed him." Strike admitted.

Jena gasped softly. "Seriously?"

"Yeah. Although, they did manage to preserve his memory into a storage unit. So… that's something."

Jena returned the earlier sigh. "Look at us. Over ten years ago, we were fighting against droids, and now, we're on the run from the people we used to work for and we're feeling sorry for a robot."

"Yeah, the irony ain't lost on me either, sunshine." Strike agreed. "One thing's for sure, I never expected to feel bad for a clanker."

Jena chuckled. "'Clanker'. I really missed your clone jargon."

"Missed you too, kiddo."

"BACK OFF, LADY, OR I WILL PUT YOU IN THE GROUND!"

"Oh, perfect. Let's see what Grif's upset about this time." Jena sighed.

Jena and Strike returned to the group finding Grif with his laser gun back aiming it at Carolina.

"You were about to take it apart!"

"What did you think 'dismantle' meant?"

"How did he get that away from her?" Jena asked.

"He's deceptively heavy." Simmons said.

"Well, he already looks fat. So that's saying something." Lopez commented.

"Grif, for the last time, put… the laser…" Carolina was interrupted by a couple of bullets which shot out of Grif's rifle. She managed to duck out of the way, but Grif immediately regretted what happened.

"Uh, okay. Look, that was an accident."

"I'm going to break your fingers now."

"Excuse me." Dr. Grey said. "Where did you find that rifle?"

"Hey, I picked it up after Carolina dropped it at the snow base." Grif said. "Are you even familiar with the International Dibs Protocol?"

"Is that a thing in the UNFC?" Strike asked.

"No, it is not." Washington said.

"The Empire has been manufacturing these along with the armor enhancements." Carolina explained. "They've got facilities scattered around the planet."

"So you're sure it's manmade?" Dr. Grey asked.

"Yeah, positive. Why?" Church asked.

"Well, for starters, it isn't using human technology. It just fired some kind of modified plasma energy. Very deadly… and pretty. I've seen this kind of stuff a bunch of times at archaeological digs."

"Wait. I thought you were a surgeon." Simmons said.

"I have an IQ of 240. A prodigy can only cut people open so many times before she needs to find a hobby."

"Jesus. Did you try cross-stitching?" Church asked.

"I sewed them back up. Thank you very much."

"Now that you mention it," Jena said, "It did seem to be more powerful than the standard blasts that come out of Imperial weapons. And come to think of it, didn't Felix say he was paid in alien tech?"

"I believe he said he was paid in babies." Caboose said.

"The eff?" Church asked.

"Don't ask." Grif said.

"He was definitely carrying an old plasma rifle," Simmons said, "But I thought he said it was broken."

"It's likely it was." Dr. Grey said. "The Federal Army arranged a similar deal with Locus. They figured trading useless antiques for military assistance was a good deal."

"So the mercs stock up on alien technology and hand it over to the Empire for reverse engineering." Carolina said.

"Giving them a new kind of weapon." Washington said. "Half-human, half-alien."

"And every single wone of them pointed at us. Fantastic." Church said.

"So could that be why the Empire wanted Chorus in the first place?" Tucker asked.

"That can't just be it." Jena said. "Remember what Felix said? He said the Emperor himself is invested in this. The Emperor wouldn't have given Chorus this much attention just for a new line of weapons. Whatever he wants from this planet must be something big."

"Do you have anything else like the gun?" Dr. Grey asked.

"What about the future cubes?" Grif asked.

"The what?" Carolina asked.

"Future cubes! The cubes of the future!" Donut presented as Grif laid out the three cubes on a nearby table.

"They look kinda like the laser gun, right?" Grif asked.

"That's your deductive reasoning?" Simmons asked. "They're related because they're both orange and glowing?"

"So?" Grif asked.

"'So'? If I heated your armor to a thousand degrees, would you think you're related too?"

"Fahrenheit or Celsius?" Donut asked.

"Oh, come on! There's clearly a resemblance!" Grif argued.

"Oh, of course! Just like the uncanny resemblance between apples and firetrucks, or Caboose and the Pacific Ocean, or Lopez and a dingleberry!" Sarge mocked.

"Okay! I get it!"

"How about a Stormtrooper and a field of snow?" Strike chuckled. "After all, they're both white and cold."

"Hey, Grif, let me ask you a question." Church aid. "You ever get you sister confused with mustard? You know, since they're both yellow and cheap?" Grif fired bullets through Church. "Nice try. Still a hologram by the way."

"Epsilon, he's right." Carolina said.

"Yeah, I know. I just wanted in on the action."

"Both types of equipment seem to utilize some form of alien engineering. But you did you know what the teleporters looked like?"

"'Cause we had them in the canyon. Duh." Grif said.

"Wait. You did?" Church asked.

"Oh, yeah. You weren't there." Jena said.

"Apparently, Red Team was searching for weapons on the crashed ship and found those things." Strike explained.

"Which reminds me, how did you guys teleport with those things?" Grif asked. "We can only figure out how to transport random junk."

"And Doc. You accidently teleported Doc." Lopez said.

"Oh, my gosh! That's right!" Donut said. "We did use them to defeat Dos.0!"

"Oh, for eff's sake!"

"So what does this mean?" Strike asked.

"Well, if the same people making weapons on Chorus had cargo on our ship, we might be able to find out who the Empire's UNSC partner is." Church said.

"How?" Simmons asked.

"The manifest?" Carolina guessed.

"Yep!"

"A transport ship that size would need to keep track of all its cargo." Washington said.

"So if we find the manifest, we find out who supplied the teleportation grenades for the Empire." Jena said.

"So you think a bunch of evil soldiers working outside the law are going to worry about paperwork." Tucker said condescendingly.

"What? You got a better idea?" Church asked.

"…No."

"Then we have our objective." Carolina said. "Half of us will travel back to the canyon and search crash site Bravo for the manifest."

"Why half of us?" Strike asked.

"Because the rest of us will be searching the other half of the ship… at crash site Alpha."

"All right. Each team has two teleportation grenades. One to transport you there, and one to get you back." Carolina said. She'll be joining the team to her right, which consisted of Jena, Strike, Caboose, Tucker, and Washington. The other team—which consisted of Sarge, Lopez, Grif, Simmons, and Donut—stood across from them. "First priority is obtaining the manifest, but while we're in, we should also search for additional supplies. Teleporters, weaponry, anything that can help. I don't expect there to be a hostile presence at Bravo, but be careful nonetheless."

"Don't get shot. Got it." Sarge said.

"Alpha's another story." Carolina said. "We've acquired its coordinates for teleportation, but never actually investigated the area. From what we've gathered, it's a massive hotspot for Stormtrooper activity. I'd understand if you don't want to join us, especially you, Jena. We may end up meeting that Inquisitor again."

"That's all the more reason for me to come." Jena said. "I might be the only person who can go toe-to-toe with her."

"Dr. Grey, you stay here and keep an eye on things while we're gone." Carolina said.

"Wonderful." Dr. Grey said excitedly. "I'll prepare a meal out of the surrounding fungi and vegetation for your return."

"Please, don't." Washington said.

Both teams threw down their grenades and went to their respective places. When the Alpha team arrived at the desert area, they laid low and used caution.

"Epsilon."

"Motion tracker says we're clear."

"Clear?"

"What, did I studder?"

"And you're sure we're in the right place?"

"I'd say we are." Strike said. He pointed at a nearby structure. It was a metallic machine that lit up the sky with a mysterious light.

"THIS IS BULLSHIT!" Tucker shouted. "They've got armor enhancements! They've got laser guns! And now, they've got giant space dicks shooting loads of energy out of the ground?! The eff is that about?!"

"Tucker, stop shouting." Jena said.

"Whatever. Church said the place is deserted."

"That doesn't mean we should act carelessly. Besides, this place is driving me nuts. I can already feel a very strong connection to the Force."

"Really? Where?" Strike asked.

"From that machine out there." Jena said. "I don't know how to explain it, but it was like the light blasting from it was made from the Force."

"So you're saying the Empire has a machine that can harness your space magic?" Tucker asked.

"I don't understand what this means, but I know something's wrong."

"I saw several other ships that crashed around here." Washington said. "We may not be the first ones to crash here."

"Oh, what was your first clue?" Tucker asked sarcastically.

"Mine was the spaceship." Caboose said.

The team found the other half of their transport ship and entered. Once they were deep enough, they found a working computer system which Carolina plugged Church into.

"Think this will work?" Carolina asked.

"Well, it's still online, so there's that at least." Church said. "Infrastructure's a mess though. Just let me… Hold on…"

"Seriously?" Tucker asked. "Church couldn't find the zoom on a sniper rifle. What makes you think he can just plug in and…"

"All right. Got it." Church interrupted. "Sorry, Tucker. What were you saying?"

"Don't be a show-off." Tucker said.

"Do you have the manifest?" Jena asked.

"Not entirely. It's currently downloading into the drive. The data is still damaged a bit, so this could take a minute and… Uh, oh."

"What?" Strike asked.

"Four hostiles just popped up on radar."

"How close?" Carolina asked.

"Not very. If we keep quiet, we should… Oh, boy. Well, eff that! Everyone, set up a perimeter!"

"What's happening?" Tucker asked.

"Yeah… How do I say this?" Church asked nervously. "Um… They know we're here and they're coming to kill us."

"Yeah, one of those days, am I right?" Caboose asked. "Am I right, guys? It's one of those days. Because… it's pretty much the worst."

Strike peeked out the window. He growled seeing several Stormtroopers closing in on the ship. His eyes widened when he saw the Thirteenth Sister among them readying her lightsaber.

"Problem! The Inquisitor is here!"

"How did they find us?"

"I don't know!"

"Church, how much time left on that transfer?"

"Hard to say! The computer is beyond effed! I'm doing what I can though!"

"Don't worry! We can wait!"

"We can?"

"Look out!" Jena shouted. She jumped to the right side of the group and brought up her lightsaber just in time to block the blaster shots. She redirected them back at the Stormtroopers who shot them.

"Behind us!" Strike shouted. He pointed his gun and fired at the Stormtroopers, but they activated shields to protect them.

"Aw, come on! That's just cheating!" Caboose yelled.

"They're closing in!" Tucker yelled.

"Hold on!" Church replied.

Jena looked back at the Stormtroopers at the back just as the Thirteenth Sister turned around the same hallway. She widened her eyes at her and lost her breath. Once the red lightsaber lit up, Jena's flight instincts took over.

"Sorry, Church!" Jena shouted.

"Wait, Jena!" Church yelled, but it was too late. Jena gripped the drive and forced it out of the slot.

"Get us out of here!" Tucker shouted.

Begrudgingly, Carolina threw down the last teleportation cube they had and disappeared. The Stormtroopers and the Inquisitor stopped once they did.

"They retreated, ma'am." One of the Stormtroopers said.

"Not for long. We'll catch up to them when they least expect it." The Thirteenth Sister said. "Hey. I think we're short a man."

"WHAT THE EFFING HELL WERE YOU THINKING?!" Church shouted at Jena who looked down in shame.

"Hey, don't blame her!" Tucker shouted. "She made the right call! We were sitting ducks out there!"

"We almost had it! We only needed a few more seconds!"

"You don't know that!"

"What the… YES, I DO! News flash: I was there, and by the way, I'm made out of numbers! Why can't you just trust me?"

Strike wrapped his arm around Jena. He felt her shaking slightly. "Kid, is something wrong?"

"I… I…"

Jena failed to say anymore before the Red Team teleported back.

"One manifest, hot and ready to go!" Sarge said. "No need to thank us! …But don't let that discourage you if you want to."

"At least the Reds managed to bring something back." Church said. "All we got was a… Wait! Caboose!"

"Hey! That's me!" Caboose said just before he felt someone grab him from behind. "Oh, my God!"

Carolina acted on impulse and used her speed enhancement to dash toward Caboose and punch the Stormtrooper who was about to stab him. But as soon as he went down, Carolina collapsed.

"Where the hell did he come from?" Washington asked.

"He must have teleported back with us." Church said.

"My life just flashed before my eyes!" Caboose yelled. "It was awesome! Let's do that again!"

"Ah! My leg!" Carolina strained herself.

"She must have reopened her wound!" Strike said.

"Out of the way! Doctor coming through!" Dr. Grey said rushing to Carolina's aid.

"Somebody restrain this Stormtrooper." Wash said.

"I've got just the handcuffs for the job." Donut said. "I've been saving them for a special occasion."

Although she was worried about Carolina, Jena couldn't ignore what just happened. She looked at her hands seeing hem trembling out of her control must like her breathing. For the first time in years, she felt something that she didn't want to feel, something that all Jedi dread.

Fear.