"Also, Hopefully I can get another chapter up soon. 'Soon' Meaning 2-3 months. No promises." - Me, Nov. 7, 2016. One year, Two months, and six days ago.
2-3 Months my fucking ass. Anyway, I spent way too much time away from this show. I stopped watching it live not long after I released the first chapter, as I didn't want the progressing story to change how I wanted this story's plot to unfold, and in the process, steered clear of the fandom, as I knew I'd get spoiled with how far behind I'd fallen. I thought I'd only be gone for a month. Then, One year later, releasing chapters 2 and 3, I thought I was going to be back. Hell, I started this chapter on Nov. 8 2015. Considering that my "Hiatus" lasted TWO AND A HALF FUCKING YEARS, and I only watched Season 13 and 14 just last week, I fucked up. This is my favourite show ever (of all time), and hell, I didn't watch season 13 or 14 live.
What I'm saying, is that I missed out on so damn much. When I finally caught up last week, I decided to check out this place, DA, etc. To see the new contributions of the community. What I'm feeling like I saw, was a fanbase that was much smaller than it was back in late 2013-Early 2014. I noticed that, for example, all the Freelancer OCs and stories (One of the main reasons I love this series) were no longer As popular as they used to be. Hell, this whole community didn't seem to be as popular as it used to. It just doesn't feel as...alive.
So Answer this for me: Are you guys still out there? Is RvB still the thriving fandom it was in 2013-14? Or is it only a remnant of itself?
Lastly, because of how Season 14 turned out, The character I'd called Ohio is now named Montana. (Dammit Miles I wanted that name. Hell, I had an OC named Iowa, too.)
Anyway, [Obligatory Disclaimer].
Planet Chorus, New Republic desert base outskirts, UNSC Paris-Class frigate "Mother of Invention", 1250 feet altitude, 0600 hours.
"So, day one of Chorus' quest for vengeance?"
"Technically yes, but we've got a lot to do beforehand."
"Such as?"
"Well, training you guys, as well as the New Republic and Feds, Resupplying them, and logistics and coordination of our forces in conjunction with theirs."
Tucker walked with Carolina towards the mess hall, the two of them being some of the first ones up that day. They were both wearing MARPAT BDU pants, and UNSC t-shirts matching their armour colours, Carolina's with white shoulders.
"Soooo, when do we start?" Tucker asked.
"Two hours maximum. I want you guys to be introduced to our new armor, equipment, weapons, and vehicles first."
"Okay." They walked in silence for a few minutes, before Tucker spoke again. "So, how come you're actually speaking to me for once?"
"You're the only other person I've seen awake so far today. That, and you're possibly the best fighter out of the simtroopers, and by that, I mean you have the most level head. What I mean is that all of you can undoubtedly hold your own together, but you can still think straight when being shot at. Sarge can do that too, but he's just a bit...off."
"Sarge seems to be really... like, 'America, fuck yeah', just, with the colour red."
"Explains a lot, doesn't it?"
"Yeah." There was another brief moment of silence, before Tucker decided to be himself.
"You know, I can't believe I've never seen you without your helmet before yesterday."
Carolina rolled her eyes, before replying in a slightly annoyed tone. "And why is that?"
"Because I wasn't expecting you to be this hot! Or a redhead!"
"Here we go again..."
Tucker went on as they entered the mess hall. "Seriously, I should've known, like-"
"No."
"Whaaat? Why not? You're still single, right?"
Carolina picked up a tray of food and waited for Tucker to follow. "First: Take a guess why the hell not. Second: None of your business."
"C'mon, I thought you may have been starting to like me!"
"Have you ever entertained the idea that it could possibly be just because I just stopped having urges to snap you?"
"Yeah I know, I'm just taking the piss." Tucker admitted, picking up his own food
"So was I." Carolina turned to go to the nearest empty table, before noticing one other person that wasn't a marine sitting in a corner with a few friends, or a crewmember cleaning up. "Huh. I thought we would've been the first of our teams up."
Montana waved the two of them over. "Heyyy, looks like someone else is up this early for whatever reason. Carolina I'm not surprised about, but this guy - Tucker, I mean, I didn't really expect."
"Well, what dragged your ass out of bed this early, then?" Tucker said.
"Four-Seven and I had to help get the aircraft fueled up, re-armed, and do maintenance."
"What, high and mighty Freelancer dudes like you guys aren't above all that?"
"Freelancer or not, pilots are still pilots, and while every aircraft has a ground crew, a pilot still must know exactly what he's flying, and how to maintain it. Most of the few other guys eating here right now are pilots too, who just finished early."
"Admirable mindset. Four-Seven still working on hers?" Carolina said
"She was almost done when I left 'bout five minutes ago, should be here in about a minute." Replied Montana.
"Good. Hopefully we can plan our setup today and get some supplies on the ground."
"We'll need a whole 'nother ship to get the guys on the ground fully resupplied and rearmed, as well as a combat ship, like a frigate or small cruiser, if we want more actual UNSC support with us."
"Okay, I can just get a radio link to a command, and just, ask for a ship?"
"Well, considering command hasn't officially switched back over to you yet, Tex will have to make contact, then give it to you, and they can acknowledge the change, as well as confirm the order, and we'll get the ships here within three hours."
"Certainly faster then they used to be. Took 12 hours for a fast mover to get four planets over in a solar system during the project."
"Making peace with the Covenant did help."
"I can imagine. Anyway, where is Tex right now?"
"Well, as we both know she probably got up at least a half hour before anyone else, not really any idea. Wouldn't put it past her to set up a few targets on the roof of the Invention's bow and shoot at them."
"That's... actually quite accurate."
"Heyyyyyy, what are you chucklefucks up to at 0615 in the morning?" Four-Seven said cheerfully, sauntering up to the table and grabbing a seat.
Tucker Looked up at her. "Well who's this?"
"I'm that pilot that got you guys out yesterday, and I can and will dump you out of the back of a pelican at 35,000 feet, so don't try shit." Four-Seven said, smirking.
"Are you like, as psychotic as the rest of these assholes?"
"From time to time."
"What does that even mean?"
Four-Seven rolled her sky-blue eyes. "Oh Never mind, I was trying to make a joke."
"You know, I'm starting to like you."
"Huh. I think you're actually MORE mental than South. Didn't think that was possible."
"Bullshit, I take pride in being a douche!" South said, standing right behind Four-Seven.
Four-Seven whipped around in surprise. "What th- how did you get here?"
"I dunno, maybe I WALKED."
"No shit, really?"
"Hey, ask a stupid questi-"
"Get a stupid answer, yeah yeah, I get it, you wanna-"
Carolina cut in.
"Alright, that's enough. Can either of you tell me if you've seen Tex?"
South took a seat next to Four-Seven. "I saw her leaving her room, looked like she was talkin' to herself, probably was screwin' off somewhere with that AI."
"Epsilon."
"Yeah, him."
"Probably going to just have a talk or something while sitting somewhere dangerous."
"Wouldn't doubt It. I need to get contact with HIGHCOM to send some supply ships our way."
"Give her 10 minutes, she'll show up. I guarantee it."
"Alright, I'll take your word for it. After we request supply, we'll need to get the Reds, Blues, Wash and I, as well as that Federal army medic, updated on equipment. Who's in charge of Firearms and Armor on this ship?"
"That would be me, as well as one or two Marine and ODST friends." Montana said. "I can give you exactly what you want and more."
"You WERE always the one who took a special interest in the weapons."
"In other words, Montana is such a massive fucking gun nut that it actually started to rub off on all of us." said South.
"Not like that's a bad thing!" Montana seemed slightly offended.
"I was taking the piss, calm down. There's nothing wrong with it."
"Anyway, In the project, I played with the guns in the armory to the point that I could field strip and reassemble an Assault rifle blindfolded in a firefight."
"Wouldn't expect anything less from you."
"Ha, thanks." He laughed at Carolina's comment.
"You know," He added. "All of us on the team like to carry something of their more, personal preference when out of armor." He said, as he brought out his P226, motioning for South and Four-Seven to bring out theirs.
As they set their handguns on the table, Montana gave an explanation of each one.
"My gun is a Sig-Sauer P226 Combat TB. The Frame and grips are a Flat Dark earth tan color, with an attachment rail in front of the trigger guard, and a threaded barrel for a suppressor. chambered for the calibre of 9x19mm, I have it loaded with overpressure rounds."
"Four-Seven's gun is a Smith and Wesson M&P 45 M2.0 tactical. Flat Dark polymer frame, matte black metal slide, underbarrel rail, threaded barrel. chambered for .45 ACP.
"South's weapon is an FN Five-seveN MK II. chambered for 5.7X28mm, hence its name. It has, like the others, an FDE frame, rail, and a threaded barrel, but is configured similarly to her in-armor sidearm, being equipped with a custom made Osprey 5.7 supressor, an X300 weaponlight, and an RMR red dot sight."
Tucker looked over all three weapons. "That was...cool, Too many words for me to remember half of what you said, but still cool."
"I tend to do that."
Carolina reached across the table and picked up the Five-seveN. She weighed it in her hand, tested out a two-handed grip, and aimed it at the floor.
"I like the grip, but it seems a little light, and the calibre is a bit low for me."
She set it back down and slid it to South, who picked it up, and examined it. "Well, lucky for you, there's lots more where this came from, and lucky for ME, I won't have to worry about you stealing mine." She said, before she returned the weapon to her holster.
"Well, now that you seem keen on a sidearm, I should also let you know that everyone who's new here will have a chance to pick out a primary type weapon from our armory, for use out of armor." Montana said.
"You know, Your method of dealing with obtaining weapons out of armor isn't what most would think of, but it's...interesting, and presumably effective, to say the least." Carolina said.
"Eh, I signed up to fly planes and shoot things, may as well have some variety."
"That's possibly the coolest way to describe what you guys do." Tucker said, turning as he heard someone approach from behind.
"Oh, hey Tex, wh-FUCKING HELL." Tucker scrambled Four-Seven's sidearm off the table before he could be stopped.
Tucker started to raise the gun, but was stopped by the view down the barrel of Tex's USP .45 Tactical, and the sound of Montana and South's weapons being brought to bear behind him.
"Tucker. What the FUCK are you doing.?" Tex said through gritted teeth.
"First, better question, why the fucking hell did you let this asshole get a physical form again!? Second of all, I don't really know."
"Okay, first of all, HER idea." Said Church, who was trying to pretend he hadn't hid behind Tex when Tucker pulled the weapon.
"Second," Four-Seven said, grabbing her weapon by the barrel and twisting it out of Tucker's hands. "This," She tapped Tucker on the head with the side of the pistol.
"Belongs to me." She returned her weapon to her holster, as Montana, South, and Tex did the same.
"Next question. HOW. How are you human now? I mean, both you and Tex." Tucker said, trying to make sense of the situation."
"We had some reverse engineered forerunner technology."
"Forerunner?"
"Ancient, humanlike species. basically our creators. That hovering ball shell like Warbird uses, and like Church used once? Forerunner. Those giant rings you hear about
that can kill everything? Forerunner. Same applies to that weapon Carolina retrieved yesterday, and Montana here 'graciously' relieved Grif of."
"Sooo, what was it that turned you human?"
"They had a device, it was called the composer. It turns people's physical bodies to ash, but turns their consciousness into a digital form. Our tech can do the same in reverse."
"Huh those Forerunners were some fucked up dudes. Well, the whole conversion-to-human thing is Kinda cool, I guess, but At least I won't have this asshole inside my head anymore."
"Oh yeah, we still have a copy of Epsilon available?"
"Aw come on, really?"
did I mention that while he's wearing armour, he can still jump into anyone any AI compatable systems? Of course, as a last resort, Church can still transfer back to AI form if his physical body is destroyed...Again."
"Fuck. Why do we need two of these assholes?"
"He knows a lot of things we don't. It would be good to be able to have ourselves completely updated on intel."
"Well, as long as he doesn't have a breakdown and send this thing into the dirt."
"Trust me, I - he won't." Church said."
"Okay, now that this...exchange is over, let's get things moving." Carolina said. "Tex, you still have official command of the team, so I'll need you to get through to navy HIGHCOM so I can inform them of the leadership change, and request backup vessels on our location. Montana, Four-Seven, one of you go down to the base and fly Kimball and Doyle up here. The one who stays behind will go with South and get Warbird to map the surrounding terrain and highlight potential locations of strategic interest. Tucker, Church, stay here and get the others in here. Fill them in on the current situation as they eat. Clear?"
"Clear." The team replied.
"I call the flight!" Montana said.
"I call i-! Fuck!" Four-Seven said. "C'mon, you're a fighter pilot, not the transport pilot!"
"We're trained to fly anything, remember?" Montana said smugly
"Yeah, fine, I'll start up the radar, but fuck you anyway."
"It's okay, Four-Seven, you'll get enough of him when you get back." South joked.
Four-Seven glared at South. "Oh, fuck off."
Four-Seven turned to Montana. "It's fine. Go ahead. I think we'll both be doing a lot of flying today anyhow."
"Thanks, I'll try and not get killed." Montana said as he started to move for the hangar.
"You know I won't care." Four-Seven called back, as she and South started to head for the early warning/navigation radar center.
"You know you would!" He replied.
Four-Seven playfully flipped him off before disappearing around the corner.
Montana
Montana entered the hangar, crossing over to the aircrew locker room to grab the gear he needed.
He wouldn't need full gear, as the flight would last about 5 minutes each way, so he grabbed the basics; pilot's helmet, rig, and parachute.
Fastening his harness, he walked out into the hangar as he contacted Warbird.
"I'm going to be taking Kingfisher 595 down to the base and bring the commanders up here, make sure no-one's launching or landing, as I'm leaving right now."
"Roger that, skies are clear, I'll keep you updated."
Montana stopped at a falcon with a kingfisher's head painted on the tail, and the number 595 on the nose, which was sitting on one of the VTOL landing areas, walking around it and inspecting that it was in working order. Three deck crew helped him
"unpack", or unfold the rotor blades, lock them in place, and check that the blade angles were adjusting properly.
Montana Climbed into the cockpit resting his helmet on the edge, and switched on the systems, checking that all parts of the aircraft were receiving power, and tested that the engines and flaps were rotating as they should be.
He pulled his helmet on and gave the aircraft director a thumbs up, which was returned with the signal to start the engines.
The left engine spun to life, the blades turning into a blur, but not near enough to move the aircraft. Montana repeated with the right engine.
Montana pulled the canopy of the falcon shut, and saluted the aircraft director, who returned the salute and gave the signal to launch.
"Kingfisher 595, requesting clearance to take off."
"Skies are clear Kingfisher, you're go for takeoff."
"Roger that. Kingfisher away."
Montana pushed the throttles forward and tilted the engines slightly forward, easing the falcon off the deck and moving slowly out of the hangar, only 3 feet off the ground.
As he passed the entrance of the hangar, he tilted the engines fully to the forward position and pushed the nose down due to the fact that the engines couldn't go fully level because of the short wingspan, making him fly the aircraft like a really fast helicopter.
Montana pushed the Falcon's nose down farther, putting it into a steady descent, and contacted the New Republic base.
"New Republic command base, this is Kingfisher 595, requesting permission to land within your premises, over."
A static-distorted voice came over the channel.
"Uhh, copy that Kingfisher, you are uhh, clear to land, set down in the clearing in the base center, uhhh...over."
"Copy that command base, Kingfisher 595 out."
Montana kept bringing the Falcon down to the deck, leveling out and rolling the engines back at 250 feet above the ground, and let off the throttle slightly as he passed over the base's wire.
He pulled the nose up a bit, slowing the bird down as it came over the clearing in the middle of the above ground part of the base complex. As it slowed, he brought it down into the clearing. Kicking up dust from the rotors, Montana touched the skids to the ground, disengaged the motors, and opened the canopy.
Montana stepped out of the Falcon and pulled off his pilot's helmet.
He turned in the direction of the command centre and saw Kimball and Doyle exit and move in his direction.
Montana greeted them at the edge of the clearing and saluted.
"General Kimball. General Doyle."
They returned the salute and Montana shook hands with both of them.
Kimball clasped her hands behind her back. "Nice to see you and your friends decided to stick around, Agent."
"It's Lieutenant. operational name Montana. And thank you."
"If, I may ask, can't help but notice you came down here alone." Doyle said.
"Carolina's up on the Invention, setting up a massive supply run for your people. I'm here to take you up to the ship, if you're ready."
"Sounds good, I'll notify the base that I'm leaving as we lift off." Kimball said, starting to move for the Falcon's bench seats, radioing her second-in-command.
"Nice. Takeoff in 1. Might wanna strap in, I'll be doing 'bout 100 all the way there." Montana put on his helmet and snapped the visor down, returning to the cockpit as Doyle took a seat in another one of the benches.
The Engines of Kingfisher 595 spun to life, as Montana closed the canopy and switched on the radio.
"This is Kingfisher 595, taking off."
"Copy that Kingfisher. 595"
The Falcon lifted off, leaving swirling clouds of dust in the dirt of the base.
"Kingfisher 202 away."
"Copy."
The Falcon adjusted heading towards the Invention as Kimball and Doyle looked over the terrain below.
South Dakota and Four-Seven-Niner
South entered the Electronic warfare and nav room, Four-Seven close behind.
She pointed at one of the sets of station "Okay, you help run up the early warning radar array and airspace monitoring rig, I'll take the terrain mapping hardware and IR cameras. Warbird will get the ECM and radio jamming modules online."
"Got it. I'll power up the holographic table while we're at it."
Four-Seven paused for a second. "Wait, you do know how to work these things, right?"
"Well, as you know, we have only about 90% of a crew since we relaunched the ship, so as you know, You and Montana wanted to make sure we knew how a decent amount of the systems worked, you know, Your idea?"
"Oh calm down, I was just making sure."
Four-Seven moved to a console to the side of the room, flipping through a few status windows before initiating the power-up process for the atmospheric radar array, which was not used during spaceflight, and as the Invention had entered the atmosphere less than 24 hours before, was not yet set up.
She turned towards the window facing out the back of the ship, and watched as the giant radar array unfolded to the upright position and started to slowly rotate.
"Okay, online now, should have a picture in 3...2..Clear picture." She said, returning her gaze to the screen.
Four-Seven turned to one of the crewmen on the console next to her, also working to set up the radar.
"Notify ATC that we've got full view of our airspace, and can start tracking any aircraft that comes close."
"Got it." The crewman got on his radio to the control in the hangar and on the bridge and relayed the message.
In the middle of the room, South had switched on the holographic table, and was setting up the scanners to do a 3D map of the base and desert below.
She brought up a hardlight interface, hovering above the table in front of her, and selected a link to the multipurpose camera set on the bottom of the ship.
"Check daylight view cams...#1,2 working fine,...3,4 fine, okay, set to 3D monitor mode and map all terrain within 150 km, confirm." She said as she flipped through the menus.
After she sent the confirmation, she waved her hand through the menu, erasing it from the table, and watched as a solid holographic block rose out of the whole table, before slowly being sculpted into the same pattern as the desert below by the cameras, with a full-detail model of the Invention hovering above it
South brought up another interface from the table, this one for the IR sensors, and selected a direct visual feed from the cameras.
"IR reception...clear. Syncing with terrain monitor system." The holographic map burst with colour as the heat signatures were matched with the 3D imagery.
South leaned over the table, looking down at the model of the base, as tiny white outlines popped one by one into view.
She stood up as she heard the door open behind her, hearing Warbird float into the room.
"Took you long enough." She said.
"Didn't know I was on the stopwatch."
"Just get the ECM and jammers online."
"You didn't say please."
"erghhh, fine. please?"
"Please what?" Warbird asked smugly.
"Godfuckingdammit Warbird! Please set up the damn jammers!"
"I finished five seconds ago."
"When Did you start?"
"5.5 seconds ago."
South folded her arms and put her head in her hand. "You know you're a huge dickhead, right?"
"Takes one to know one!"
Four-Seven came up behind South and put a hand on her shoulder. "You guys havin' fun or what?"
"I don't know about Mr. Sentient lightbulb over here, but I'm having the time of my fucking life." South replied sarcastically.
Four-Seven rolled her eyes at South's comment and glanced at the table, to see the tiny model of a Falcon ascending towards the Ship, with two glowing heat signatures riding in the back.
"We should probably get moving. Let's go make sure the Reds and Blues are ready."
South looked up, turning to the table. "What are you t- Shit. Okay, let's go."
"May as well come with you." Warbird said.
Carolina and Texas
"Still remember Exactly where to go, don't you?"
"It's been a while, but it's not like it's something I could forget." Carolina made her way up the stairs, Tex close behind.
"It's changed a bit, but not much." Tex said, as they reached the top of the stairs, stepping on to the bridge.
Carolina took a second to look around as she walked across the room.
"Huh..."
"Been too long?" Tex said.
"It has been a while, hasn't it?" Carolina turned back to Tex, before looking to the hologram table. "You going to patch us through?"
"On it." Tex stepped up to the table and brought up a communications interface, Carolina watching from the side, arms folded across her chest.
"Okay, signal clean, receiver identified, verifying security clearance...Here we go."
A second display jumped out of the table above the interface, displaying the officer on the other end of the transmission.
Tex straightened up and saluted the man on the display.
"Commander Lasky."
"Lieutenant Commander Texas." Lasky returned the salute, and Tex lowered her arm.
"Sir, We found our guys."
"Yeah, I see you've got Carolina herself."
Carolina moved up beside Tex.
"Commander Lasky, Sir." She saluted, and Lasky returned it.
"At ease. Let's skip the formalities for the time being, I've never been fond of them anyway."
"It must feel weird to be back on your ship again, I'd expect, Carolina."
"It is rather...surreal, if nothing else." She replied.
"Sorry to interrupt, Commander, but I need to get to down to business."
"Go for it."
"Okay, first off, I'd like to hand the position of Freelancer leader to Carolina, effective immediately."
Lasky looked to Carolina. "You sure about this? Last time you got way ahead of yourself, and well...you experienced all of it."
"The fact that I experienced all of it is exactly why I'm going to make sure it doesn't happen again, Sir."
"Very well. Carolina, I'm giving you the rank of lieutenant Commander. Texas will keep the same rank, but will no longer have full command of the team."
"Thank you, Sir." Carolina and Tex replied.
Carolina took her turn next.
"Next up, this planet we're on was engulfed in civil war until ten hours ago. Seventeen hours ago It was revealed to me, Agent Washington, and the sim troopers that this war was a complete setup by an unknown mercenary group to turn the inhabitants of the planet on themselves. We were able to prove this to both sides of the war, who have since made peace, and are en route to here as of now. Due to the fact that nobody's really been here in three years, military supplies are outdated and low. We would like to request the establishment of supply route to the planet, some support warships on station with us, and another frigate to assist us in the inevitable combat against these mercenaries."
"Understood, Carolina. Infinity's battlegroup has just finished replenishment on Earth, I'll send two ships from your way now, if you like."
"What are our choices?"
"Take your pick." Lasky's hologram moved to the side, and a 3D hologram of the battlegroup of the Infinity appeared before them.
Tex examined the battlegroup for a second. "One Strident-class frigate, Twilight's Radiance and one resupply variant Autumn-class cruiser, Reborn Hope. We've done a few operations with them both, we know their crews well. I know one of them has a former agent onboard, too."
"Alright, I'll send them the message once this transmission ends. Should be there in two hours."
"Actually, I'd suggest you hold off on the backup until further notice, commander. something's brought down every single large ship that's attempted to come or go. I'm assuming it was only the Invention's stealth capabilities, that kept it from the same fate. I'm not even sure how this transmission's getting through." Carolina said.
As If on cue, the hologram flickered slightly.
"That sounds a lot like something Infinity experienced on a shield world. We'll hold off, but we're standing by."
"Perfect. And it appears that our two friends have arrived." Tex said, as Kimball and Doyle entered the room behind her.
Kimball and Doyle exchanged salutes with Lasky.
"Greetings Sir. I'm General Vanessa Kimball, leader of the New Republic of Chorus, this is General Donald Doyle, leader of the Federal Army of Chorus."
"Nice to meet you, Generals. I'm Commander Thomas Lasky, captain of the UNSC Infinity, and commander of the UNSC 1st superheavy combat warship fleet. I'd like to start by apologizing on behalf of the UNSC for letting your world fall into disrepair, and we'll do all we can to help you reclaim your planet."
"Thank you, commander, the presence of UNSC forces in general is much welcome here..."
Kimball removed her helmet, revealing a darker skin tone that her armor would betray, dark brown hair, which was pulled back into a bun from her forehead, but hung just below her chin at the sides, and blue eyes that had the gaze of someone who had seen more than most people her age would ever see.
"...But in the meantime, we've got some planning to do. Where do we start..."
She paused for a second.
"Six weeks ago. Six weeks ago these people, the Reds and Blues, along with Agent Washington, crash-landed their ship here on Chorus. They were the only survivors. They managed to build shelter in the wreckage trench, and survived for eight days on their own, before coming in contact with Felix, a mercenary for the New Republic, and Locus, a mercenary for the Federal Army. Felix stayed with the survivors and explained the state of the planet to them. Two days later, Locus returned with a large amount of Federal Army soldiers. In the ensuing battle, Felix managed to bring in reinforcements, but they were off quickly. Using tech recovered from the ship, half the team escaped, and the rest were seemingly captured."
"I'll take this bit, madam." Doyle said, having also removed his helmet, showing dark brown eyes and short blonde hair, paired with an almost nervous look to the way his gaze glanced back and forth between the people in the room.
"We had taken in the Reds and Blues that had been left behind, treating them for their injuries. Agent Washington was hit with with a rather hard blow to his top, and was out for another half a week. When we had them all in good health, I told them our side of the story on the war. WE thought that the New Republic blokes were the ones doing the capturing, and us the rescuing. Approximately one day after I left the base they were on, multiple events conspired to eventually bring us to this ship."
"My turn." Kimball said.
"When we took the Reds and Blues we recovered in, we assumed they were skilled in combat, due to their experience. This...was obviously not the case, we later discovered, but they were better than many of my basic soldiers, so we assigned them as squad captains to train some of my troops. After two weeks of training and one infiltration mission that ended in and engagement with two of my soldiers dead and half a federal base destroyed, they took it upon themselves to 'rescue' their friends. Upon reaching their friends, they discovered that their friends thought that the guys that WE took in were the ones that needed saving. As they tried to leave...Well, I think Carolina can explain this part the best."
Carolina stepped forward. "When the Reds and Blues tried to make their escape, they witnessed the Federal soldiers being vaporized by high-tech weaponry. They were surrounded by unknown mercenaries, seemingly led by Locus. I was disguised as part of that team. I watched as Felix seemingly came to their aid, only to turn on them, and explain how this whole war was setup by this group he's working for, and neither side realized it. Knowing Locus intended to execute the Reds and Blues, I took action, by revealing myself and engaging the mercs, giving the Reds and Blues an opening to engage as well. I had intended to use some stolen tech to extract us, but that's when one of your - our - pilots, and two of our agents, found us. Along with one other pilot, we destroyed pursuers, and reached this ship safely, before going directly to the two leaders of the Chorusian militaries, and managed to convince them to make peace. And less than 24 hours later, here we are."
Lasky took a second to let the info sink in.
"So, I think your biggest priority now is making sure these 'Felix' and 'Locus' guys don't know where the team is. My original training was to fight these guys. Terrorists. They failed to execute a high-value-target, so the first place they'll look is their base of origin. If they aren't there, they might try to inform the base occupants that the people in question have been killed, as to lower morale. If they can't convince the people on base, they'll probably do the same thing as they'd do if their intended targets WERE on base."
"Which is?" Kimball said.
"Lay a strike on the base, leave no survivors, and make sure no one calls for help."
"When I learned the truth, I told at my place to send Locus on a long scouting mission to confirm their deaths and find survivors, if he actually says anything about the Reds and Blues. Unfortunately it appears my radio is a bit fuzzy as of this morning, so I haven't heard anything back." Doyle said.
"I experienced something similar, although Felix got to the base before the Reds and Blues returned. He said that they were dead, and that our only plan of action was to make a push for Armonia, our capital city. We were all devastated. Your forces showed up just in time, we were about to move out to prepare for our assault. Felix disappeared, said he had business to take care of. I'm not sure even sure I want to know what it was." Kimball said.
". I think your next priority is recovering tech from that ship. From what I know, the ship the Reds and Blues crashed on, the Hand of Merope, had some weaponry that is EXTREMELY high-grade. I think you should start planning to secure that wreckage." Lasky said.
"There's still a lot of stuff in there." Doyle said. "We didn't have time to extract anything, Locus wanted us the hell outta there."
"Then you should start planning."
"Okay." Doyle said. "Um...We have a lot of light transport, so I'll bring four hogs, maybe we should meet up with New Republic forces either north of the site that the main body landed, or all the way back here at the base?"
"Actually I think we should go as long as possible without letting them know this ship is here, and the war is over. I don't want your men risking their lives yet." Carolina said.
"I think we should still plan our moves to an extent, we'll need to know where the exits are." Kimball said, joining in with planning the start of what would be most insane large-scale military campaign ever witnessed by the people of Chorus, unbeknownst to her.
Church and Tucker
"Took you assholes long enough." Church said, as the Red team and Caboose entered the room, everyone reacting to Church actually, well Existing again.
"What in Sam hell? Not again..."
"Argh. Goddammit, I liked you as a ghost-computer person."
"But...You were an AI..."
"Whoa...How'd you do that?"
"Mierda."
"CHURCH! YOU'RE NOT TINY ANYMORE! YAY BEST DAY EVER!"
"Yes dammit. I'm actually a person now." Church replied.
"How." Grif said.
"I dunno, some weird-ass reverse engineered alien stuff, it's hard to explain."
"But..why?"
"As fun as it was, being a computer program wired into the back of someone's head was starting to get tedious."
"But dude, you could just, like, jump into people's heads whenever you felt like it."
"Well, actually, I can theoretically still manifest myself as an A.I. if I'm wearing armor, as in, I can transfer my consciousness into people's heads, provided they have an interface."
"So kind of like back in blood gulch, where your body would just fall flat on its face while you were inside, say, my head?"
"yeah, I could just jump into anyone's head, but god forbid I have to go inside yours again."
"Dude, my brain's a fuckin' masterpiece, I dunno what the hell you're on about." Tucker said, proudly bearing a shit-eating grin.
"No, seriously, you're fucked in the head. Maybe slightly less so than the last time I saw you, but fucked nonetheless."
"You're just jealous."
"Trust me, I'm not."
Sarge cut in. "Well, if tha two a' you are just about done yer bitchin', why exactly are you so getting so arsed-up about the time it takes us to get here?"
"Well, Carolina and Tex said-"
"Why in hell we still listenin' to them? I mean, they're annoyin', they like to boss us around, an' one of 'em tried to kill us!"
"You've done all of those things to us, too."
"Ergh, point taken."
"Anyway," Church said. "What I was TRYING to say, was that Carolina wanted Tucker and I to get you guys to do eat, get yourselves together, and do whatever you need to do for the morning, as Montana's flying Kimball and Doyle up here to talk to the UNSC, while South and that annoying Pilot are going to get the radar array online or something. Don't know why it wasn't turned on already, but either way, you guys were slow as hell, you've probably got about five-ten minutes."
"Anything else?"
"Other UNSC ships are probably going to be joining us sometime soon. That's All I got."
"Good to know." Sarge turned and went to find a table, the rest of the red team close behind. "Grif, don't eat everything again 'else I'll get you with my shotgun. Well,
I'll probably shoot you either way, but just don't eat anything!"
Church turned away from the Reds. "Where did Caboose- THE F- Caboose don't sneak up on me like that. And holy hell calm down."
"CHURCH THIS IS AWESOME WE WILL DO LOTS OF FUN STUFF TOGETHER."
"Yeah good to see you too, go bug Tucker."
Church got a glimpse of Tucker flipping him off as Caboose ran over to him, and returned the gesture with a smirk.
"The fuck are you?" said a voice behind his back.
Whythefuckdopeoplekeepsneakinguponme.
Church took a deep breath. "Uhhh, Church, I guess?"
"Who the fuck are you trying to trick?"
"I ain't tryin' to trick anyone. I'm Church. Well, I am now."
"The only way that's possible is if the A.I. Epsilon was put through a...Goddammit, Tex did this."
Church turned to look at the speaker, a young girl with dark brown hair that was a shade away from black, as well as brown eyes, wearing a close fitting but unzipped brown leather jacket, the standard desert MARPAT BDU pants, along with a suppressed Walther P99 holstered on each leg, and a custom built knife hanging by her right side.
"Going by the brown, I'm guessing you're Connecticut?" Church said.
"Yeah."
"Where's everyone else?"
"Should be not far behind me."
"Good." Church explained the current situation to her. "Can you tell that to the rest of your teammates once they get here?"
"Sure."
"Yeah thanks."
"CHURTH! O'ER HERE COME THIT WITH UTH!" Caboose yelled through a mouthful of sandwich.
"Ah dammit, fine."
Church went to go sit with Tucker, Caboose and the Reds, as CT sat at her own table next to them.
Tucker slid a food tray over to him, glanced at CT and leaned over to Church.
"You think I got a shot with-"
"No."
"Tucker, she has a hugeass knife and she's easily irritated."
"Sounds not too much different from Tex."
"And how'd she work out for ya, dipshit?"
"I think Tex was into me for a while there!"
"Tex tried to kill you. Multiple times."
"C'mon dude, I'm sure she's gonna like me instantly if I do it right, plus, she's cute!"
"Tucker, you're already annoying me." said CT.
"Aw fuck, she heard that?"
"You're loud as hell, Tucker."
dammit. "Well, I still think you're cute!"
"Well, between the fact that I've been told that before many times, and that your advances are cringeworthy, you're getting nowhere."
Tucker put his hands up. "Ok, ok, fine, no need to get pissy, just tryin' my luck."
CT rolled her eyes and stood to greet the remaining Freelancers and Dr. Grey as they entered the room, filling them in on the whereabouts of the currently absent agents, and then led them back to her table.
Grif leaned over to York, sitting at the table next to him.
"Who's the huge guy?"
"That's Maine."
"Will he kill me if I make eye contact?"
York grinned. "Not usually."
"Oh. Uh, good to know." Grif adjusted himself so he was sitting slightly farther away from the freelancers, staring intently in the other direction.
"You really that scared of him?"
"He could probably crush my skull be looking at me, and I pushed a warthog off a cliff with him tied to it."
Maine made a growling sound that sounded almost like laughter.
"What was that?" Grif's voice was up an octave.
"He said that the warthog-off-a-cliff thing was totally badass, and that he wants to apologize for everything, even though he knows what he did was inexcusable."
"Oh...uh...thanks?"
"Yeah, it's good, he's actually a pretty friendly guy at heart, the A.I. had total control over him when he was the Meta, and he still faced lingering effects from them after the EMP. But his mind's been restored to its normal state, so he ain't gonna kill you."
"Well, he still scares me, but I'll try to- woah, fuck. Dude, you only got one eye."
"Yeah. Training accident. Match against Tex. Maine and Wyoming were given some mags of live ammo and live grenades as well as the simunition paint, to test that Tex wouldn't crack under live fire, not to kill her, but they didn't tell me, and Maine threw a live grenade too close to me while I was incapacitated. Really fucked up my combat awareness on my left side, almost got me killed, to be exact, but I just recently got a digital replacement, so now my vision's a bit better on my left, but still not what it used to be."
"Why would you keep the scar on your face and the grey eye colour?"
"It actually gets me a bit more attention from the ladies." York said, smiling. "Not that I would really care, except for the fact that someone seemed to like it."
"Okay... Yeah that's nice, what about Wyoming? Asshole tried to kill us like, 250 times, with 250 of himself, and I don't think he was being controlled by anyone."
"I was only going after a bounty the first time I went after you and your mates when I was on a bounty for Texas, as this was back before I knew the director's dirty little secrets. The first clone was unintentional, and it escaped before I could kill it. Little nob Found its way to blood gulch, and, well you know what happened. When I found out that the first clone made a whole ton of others, I was tasked with hunting them down. I then found out you lads had found them first, and decided to stay out of your way, as you finished the last of them off. By that time, I was in the know about what was what, with the project and decided to leave you be. As the REAL Wyoming, I'd like to give you chaps a bit of an apology, and thank you for taking out those clones." said Wyoming.
"Huh. I ain't sure how that makes sense, but it kinda does. I don't see how I could reject an apology from someone with a mustache like that." said Sarge, who had been listening in.
"I'm glad you noticed, mate, it is no small effort keeping it in this condition."
"Our history is a clusterfuck, isn't it?" York said. "But hey, we got better things to do than dwell on the past."
"Yeah. Uh, also, did someone draw a tiny dick on this cup with a sharpie?"
York laughed. "Welcome to the Marines."
Wyoming shook his head. "Bloody yanks."
Montana entered the room, wearing a pair of marine combat gloves, a coyote tan colour UNSCMC model JPC plate carrier, outfitted with multiple handgun and rifle mag pouches, and his prized M16A4 slung diagonally across his back.
"You guys actually in any position that resembles being ready, or are we just going to stall for the next hour?"
"Yes."
"Perfect, I'm all set. I'm going to bring the Reds and Blues over to the shooting range to pick out their weapons, unless Carolina already planned something for the next hour or so. South, Four-Seven, and Warbird were down there too, last I checked."
As if on cue, the aforementioned people entered the room, both wearing the same gear as Montana, except for South having shotgun shells across her plate carrier, for the Mossberg 590A6 Cruiser she was carrying, outfitted with a pistol grip, tan CTR stock, a heat shield, a top rail, and ghost ring iron sights. Four-Seven's was almost identical to Montana's, as the IWI TAR 21 she was carrying, mounted with the red dot from an M7/S SMG, used the same mags as Montana's M16.
Warbird floated in behind the two. "Yeah, they just decided to showoff their tacticool shit for no particular reason, don't mind them."
"Yes. We're doing it to show off. It's gonna be a few hours at least before other ships arrive, may as well fuck around a bit. Once we got actual shit to do, it's straight to the armour, we got all the new toys, even some stuff that I'm pretty sure doesn't publicly exist yet."
"Soooo, what are we going to do exactly?" Simmons asked.
"We were gonna practice room clearing, and I was gonna help train Four seven on how to do it."
"Wouldn't she already have training?"
"I didn't really do anything else other than fly during the project, and I want to learn how to fight on the ground if I need to. qualifying with a rifle once a month doesn't really cut it."
"Can I join you?"
"Hell yeah, I'll be heading down to the training room soon."
Tex and Carolina entered the mess hall, with Doyle and Kimball close behind, both with their helmets back on their heads.
"I'm going to need The Sim Troopers and Wash, and Grey in the armory." Carolina said.
"Why just us?" Tucker said.
"There's important data in the crash site of the forward section of the ship that got you here. We're getting it out."
"Okay, but why don't we get to have a bunch of geared-up badass Freelancer dudes to help us not die?"
"The Mercs don't know they're here. All they saw was a Pelican and two others, as far as they know, that pelican was on it's own."
"So you want to make it seem like we're still basically the only ones here?"
"What they don't know could hurt them. Badly."
Tucker grinned. "Ohhh, now I see what you're getting at."
"I think I'll join you." said York. "They saw me, when I got you into the pelican, remember?"
"Alright, fair enough. I suppose, by that logic, North can accompany us too, if he'd like."
"I'm in."
"Great."
"When do we have to go? I'm not done eating." Grif said.
"I can almost guarantee that you've had enough, we're going right now."
"Ugh, fine." Grif got up from the table.
"Your armor is where you left it in the armory, get geared up, and then follow me to the center of the training room."
The group followed Carolina into the room, found their armour, and went off to find a spot to put it on.
Carolina checked that the teleportation grenade was still stored in her thigh plate before she attached it to her leg, the latches on the armour snapping shut on their own.
As she picked up her helmet, Epsilon's hologram appeared beside her.
"Didn't like the physical world, huh?"
"I'd be more use to you like this. I can't exactly interface a system in that form, can I?"
"Right. So, do I want to know where physical form of you is now?"
"When I decided to transfer, it just left an empty suit of armor behind. Just like back in blood Gulch."
"I'm sorry I asked. Can you check that my armour mods are working?"
Epsilon disappeared for a second.
"Everything looks good so far. I'll start up the healing unit again, should help some more."
"Perfect, let's get going."
Carolina grabbed an M6H handgun and four mags from the weapon rack, put one in the gun, racked the slide, and set it to safe. She holstered the weapon and did the same with a BR85HB Battle rifle.
She attached her helmet to her left leg holster position, moved to the other end of the armoury, and opened the door, stepping onto the floor of the infamous training room.
Carolina stood in the center of the room, folding her arms and turning slowly, taking in the details of the room where she spent far too much time in the days when she last led her fellow agents.
The observation deck.
The projector for the hand to hand training targets.
The retracting weapon racks.
The scoreboard.
But the scoreboard wasn't there.
The screen was there, yes, but it wasn't a scoreboard anymore.
Instead, there was only a graphic of the winged triplicate emblem of the old project.
"I see you've noticed the leaderboard's gone. Not like anyone wanted it to stay." York said as he walked up beside Carolina in full armour, equipped with an older model M45 shotgun on his back, and an M6H on his thigh.
"I'll admit, its absence is rather relieving." said Carolina, looking over at York.
"We got a cool new motto, too. 'Per unitatem vis' it says."
"Through unity, Strength." Carolina replied. "I like it."
"You sure that's what it says?"
"Positive."
York breathed a sigh of relief. "Good. Because I wasn't."
Carolina cracked a grin. "What, you're not fluent in Latin?"
"You are?"
"No, I've just heard this one before."
"I happen to be fluent in Latin!" came an excited female voice from behind them.
"Grey, I didn't say for you to join us."
"You'll need a medic now, won't you?"
"I think we'll be fine."
"Until you re-injure that leg again! It's definitely not fully healed yet, so right now you run a high risk of doing something that would likely open it back up. Not only that, but you'll need someone who knows the planet with you."
"Alright, fine, you're already geared up anyway."
"Okay, I'mma go back a bit, how are you fluent in Latin? Have you ever even been to earth?" Asked York.
"I studied it for a bit during medical school when I was bored."
"A bit?"
"Yep! Three weeks, actually. I did that with a whole bunch of other languages throughout my studying. It's quite an interesting language, really, and I have to say that my vocabulary is really quite extensive! Would you like me to demonstrate?" Grey said, in that cheerful tone that walked the line between adorable and terrifying.
"No, no, I'm convinced."
"Alright, If you change your mind, feel free to let me know. Oh, looks like our friends are ready!"
York and Carolina turned to see The rest of the group, along with Wash and North, enter the room.
"[No. Really. I enjoyed being left to stay in the armoury overnight. Not like I wanted a room to myself.]"
"You're right Lopez, this IS exciting!" Donut said
"Uhh...how does this place get us to the crash site?" said Sarge. "I don't see any vehicles."
"We'll be using a teleportation grenade, and we're not going straight there." Replied Carolina.
"Why wouldn't we? Oh, wait a minute, DISTRACTION TACTICS! we're confusing the enemy by taking a weird route that they're not expecting!"
"No. It's because we only have one teleportation grenade with us, and we're going to need more. If we want to get back quickly." Carolina replied.
"Aw."
"I think we ARE all in the dark here somewhat. Where are we going that you've stored weaponry without anyone noticing?" North said.
"It's a small semi-derelict research station in heavy jungle. Epsilon and I have been using it as a hideout for the past week. It should be secure. From there, we'll split into two teams, and each recover the needed data from the two halves of the crashed ship. Afterwards, we'll regroup at the hideout before returning to the ship."
"That makes sense. Who's going to which site?"
"That'll be figured out once we get there."
"Is that everything?"
"That's it. You guys ready?"
There was a collective agreement around the room.
"Wait, we should probably let everyone on the ship know what's going on, in case we need backup." Said Wash.
"Heard it all." Warbird's voice came over the training room announcer speakers
"Great. Hey Warbird? Notify Four-seven that she should get Doyle back to his base, he said he couldn't get a response over the radio, so they likely don't know the war has ended." Epsilon said, appearing on Carolina's shoulder.
"On it." Said Warbird, and the speakers switched off.
"Okay boys, here we go!" Said Carolina, putting on her helmet. and grabbing the grenade.
"Hold up. This teleportation grenade, uh, well, does it hurt?" York said.
Carolina smirked behind her helmet as she armed the grenade. "That's subjective."
"Son of a bi-"
The group disappeared in a flash of light as Carolina threw the grenade to the ground.
As I'd started this chapter before I'd finished S12, I made it shorter so it'd tie in with the canon better. Trying to depict the Armonia confrontation from the S12 finale will be tricky, considering they've already made peace in my story, but I'll make it work.
Interesting thing to note: I'd written all the way up to the line "Sooo, what are we going to do exactly." back in early Dec. 2015, but got writer's block and laziness for a while.
Funnily enough, due to me revising this chapter before publishing, Four-Seven's sidearm, the M&P M2.0, didn't exist when I started this chapter. (It only got revealed last week, so this might be the first fictional story EVER to feature it. So that's kind of cool. Also, the 590A7 is a fictional version of the 590 shotgun, but it looks identical to the real 590A1. The one in this story is configured pretty much identically to the one that appears in GTA V, with the exception of the CTR stock being FDE coloured, and the gun having a rail on the receiver.
If you were wondering, My description of Kimball is based on the common fanart depiction of her (E.G. Synnesai's) Four-Seven's hair looks a bit like a cross between her (Synnesai's) depiction, and Carolina's hair, although my Four-Seven has much lighter skin, and her hair doesn't have the strands hanging down the sides like that (Is there even a name for that? I'm a guy, I have no fucking idea about this kind of thing). Interestingly, I'd created my headcanon for her back in 2014, and it seems like the fanbase shares my ideas to an extent.
Lastly, I'd spent too much time worrying how I'd tie it in to the events of the show, that I forgot why I was writing this fic in the first place:
To get the freelancers back together and have them tear shit up across Chorus.
As such, The canon events will occur, but many, many non-canon events (lasting weeks, even) will happen too. (I just want to see CT John Wick the shit out of a room full of bad guys, York, Sarge and South clear houses with their shotguns, and Carolina and Tex work together.)
Anyway, If you like it, leave a review!
