I want to thank you all for sticking with this story for as long as you have. I'm really excited (and a little bit scared) about where it's going to go from here on out. I'm gonna make it happen though.
This will probably be a two-part fic. I'll probably cut off "Retribution" at about Chapter 40, then start up again in "Red vs Blue: Revenge." It depends on reception for the rest of this story.
Here's chapter 20. Enjoy!
Warning: language...you're probably used to it
Chapter 20
North lazily batted a hand over his face as something pecked gently at his forehead. He didn't want to get up right now; he was way too warm and comfortable to have anything disturb him. Dawn lay in his arms, still asleep and curled against his chest comfortably. The pecking was persistent, and he blearily opened one eye to stare at his "attacker." A beady black animal eye stared down at him in disbelief.
"Yeah, yeah, I'm here," North told the disgruntled Predator, who flapped his wings indignantly a few times and hopped over to another perch, not pleased with the man's presence. Tensing his muscles and then releasing them, North sat up a little bit to take a look outside the porthole window to the starry space outside.
However, it wasn't so starry anymore. A large, crystalline blue and green sphere had appeared outside of the ship (or rather, the ship was currently orbiting the planet). Sounds from elsewhere in the ship showed increased activity as the Outer Colonists neared their home.
North gently nudged the sleeping Dawn in his arms. "Time to get up," he whispered in her ear, but the woman gave a mumble and returned to her sleep. He gave a poke, and Dawn finally opened her eyes, blearily staring up at him. He tilted his head towards the window, and Dawn shifted so that she could see the planet outside.
"Terra Beta," she whispered, leaning up slightly. Suddenly, she turned to North and began blushing furiously. Though nothing beyond sleep had happened during the night, each of them felt that what had happened should remain a secret. Dawn propped herself on her knees and blushed, while North scooted away and leaned against the wall. They wouldn't meet each other's gaze.
"I guess I should…get ready to leave," Dawn finally said after a while, and North nodded furiously, using the opportunity to walk to the door. "Thank you," Dawn called after North, and he gave her a smile before disappearing into the hallway. Everyone was so busy running around with supplied and notes to different commanders that they paid no notice as North went back to his and York's room.
"I'm guessing somebody got lucky last night?" York teased as he finished putting on his chest armor. North shut the door with a snap.
"NOTHING HAPPENED!" he almost yelled, but managed to keep his voice down enough to not catch anybody's attention from outside. York laughed.
"Ah, denial," the auburn-haired man shook his head in amusement at North's fluster. The blonde did not respond, instead quickly changing into his black body suit and pulling out his purple armor. "You don't have to tell me all the details, you know. Just the really juicy stuff."
"For the last time, York," North hissed in frustration, "Nothing. Happened."
"Dude, I'm just messing with you," York laughed, putting on his helmet. North quickly finished up and, since they had brought no personal belongings with them on this trip, they both exited their quarters to make their way to the main hangar. Texas was already there, and she was staring out the window at the planet below, as well as a point just above it. A round silver moon sat in orbit a distance above the planet. Terra Beta was truly a second Earth.
"What's up?" Tex asked as the other two Freelancers joined her, leaning against the railing to keep out of the way of the other IAOC soldiers around them. They shrugged and looked out the window with her. The planet below was mostly oceanic blue with large patches of green and brown forming the continents of the planet below. Here and there, large settlements and cities could be seen, though not nearly on the magnitude of Earth. It looked like they were seeing a past Earth instead of the present. The moon above lay barren, no lunar base immediately evident.
"Hey, look at that," North pointed downward, towards the southern pole of Terra Beta. They all looked downwards toward a smaller polar ice cap, where a space-borne object floated serenely above the planet's atmosphere. They gasped as the structure that they had only every heard about and seen in pictures came into view. Like a thin ribbon of silver metal cast off from some gigantic hand, the ring-shaped object glinted in the light of the distant yellowish sun of the planetary system. It seemed to reflect part of the planet's surface on the inside of its gigantic interior edge.
"You know, we kept telling the UNSC that this was found orbiting our systems when we first arrived," a voice came up behind them. "Things were so busy with the Covenant, though, I think that they forgot to log that we had one in this colony system." Dawn came up behind them in her HAYABUSA armor, latching her katana to her back.
"You never told us that you had a HALO orbiting your planet!" York said indignantly. Dawn shrugged.
"The truth is, we don't really talk about it much. We haven't really had the chance to send a recon team to the Halo to see what actually lives on it, so I never really thought to mention it to any of you guys," she said apologetically. "It's cool, though, isn't it?"
"You haven't had the chance, or you're worried that there might be some Flood on the ring?" North asked curiously.
"A little bit of both, honestly." The answer made sense. After the reports came out from ONI that a Flood epidemic had been found on the Delta Halo about four years ago when the Elites and the Master Chief went to stop the firing of the Halos by the Covenant, nobody really seemed too keen to extensively explore any of the eight Halos that the UNSC had cataloged.
"WARNING: ALL HANDS, REPORT TO EMERGENCY BATTLE STATIONS IMMEDIATELY. APPROACHING UNKNOWN VESSEL, POSSIBLY INSURRECTIONIST. AGAIN, ALL HANDS, REPORT TO EMERGENCY BATTLE STATIONS AND PREPARE FOR ENGAGEMENT."
The voice of Chickadee rang through the PA system, and the IAOC soldiers all started rushing to drop off their packages and report to their stations. The Freelancers and Dawn had all jumped at the loud warning, accompanied by the wailing of an alarm from somewhere on the ship.
"Guys, it might be beneficial to get close to a Pelican," Dawn said calmly, though she seemed disturbed by the battle call. "And get your AIs online as well."
They didn't need to be told twice to online their AIs. Theta, Delta, Omega, and Chi all blossomed into existence.
"If I may suggest, Dawn," Delta spoke up, "will you allow me to integrate with this ship's artificial intelligence to help provide a plan of action?"
"Good idea," Dawn agreed, typing into a ship's computer. "We'll need a level head with this situation. In fact, all of you guys can go ahead and integrate with Chickadee. She'll need all the help that she can get."
"Do you think it's a good idea for us to let them help out with keeping off some Insurrectionists?" North asked uncertainly as Chickadee sprung to "life" and began conversing with the AI fragments. "I don't know if they'll all be ready to handle something like this."
"Do we really have a choice?" Texas asked as the ship gave an ominous lurch from enemy fire. "Huh. I guess that it IS the Insurrectionists."
"Ma'am," a soldier with three gold stripes on his shoulder ran up and bowed to Dawn. "The Insurrectionist vessel has been identified as the Cote de Azure."
"Damn," Dawn hissed as the runner retreated to his post. "It's Jin's flagship. How did he know that we…were…" Dawn cursed loudly and punched the ship's wall, creating a neat dent in the hard metal. "Kilt. He must have found out that the IAOC was leaving and told his dad. Sneaky bastard."
"Dawn, we're here for you if you need us to be," North placed a hand on his girlfriend's shoulder, tossing a look at the other Freelancers that dared them to argue. Dawn flashed him a grateful smile.
"Thanks you guys, but my top priority is making sure that you stay safe while you're with me, and I intend to make sure that I don't fail," she replied. "Stay close to a Pelican until I can give the order for us to retreat. I'll stay safe, don't worry," she reassured them at the sign that they were going to protest. "I just need to check whether we can salvage the situation or scrap it and abandon ship. Now, go," she said with finality, like she was delivering an order. The intensity of the situation gave no room to argue, and the Freelancers shakily made their way to a vacant Pelican.
They certainly didn't have to wait long. After several more shots against the Nagasaki and the sound of several holes being made in the hull, Dawn's voice rang throughout the PA. "ALL PERSONNEL, REPORT TO EVAC SHIPS AND PREPARE TO ABANDON SHIP. ALL PERSONNEL, REPORT TO EVACUATION STATIONS."
"Things must be bad," Texas mused as she grabbed a rifle for herself and York, then tossed a sniper rifle to North. Their AIs came back and projected themselves off their hosts' armor.
"The ship's life support systems took a big hit," Theta reported. "There's no way to save it."
"You guys did your best," York consoled the AIs, but Omega only gave a hug.
"Our BEST is not what's going to keep us from burning up in the atmosphere," the AI snarled before he was quieted by Tex and offlined. A steady stream of soldiers were all retreating towards the available Pelicans, Longswords, Sabres, and an Albatross available on the ship. Julius directed about fifteen soldiers with markings for their allegiance to Black Phoenix and Red Stallion onto the ship, taking a count of the heads. The grey-haired man gave a huff and took stock of how many more people they could squeeze in with the Freelancers and his allotted soldiers. Grumbling, Julius shouted out into the crowd of soldiers for a squad of soldiers for Blue Andromeda to come on board. At this rate, though, the Pelican would fill up quickly. The soldiers already on board were already strapping themselves into the safety harnesses or attaching themselves to a sturdy object with karabiners. Two of the soldiers had taken positions as co-pilots of the ship.
Two Longswords, a Sabre, and two Pelicans had all rocketed away into the starry vastness, their hulls almost bulging with the overcrowded soldiers eager to escape the dying ship. Sparks flew as the hull of the Nagasaki began falling apart, and the Pelican that the Freelancers had boarded lurched ominously. Another Pelican, still loading its overcrowded hull with soldiers, slid across the tilting platform and dropped into space. The ship hurriedly closed its gangway, but three or four soldiers were left to drift out into the endless vacuum, unable to be saved before their oxygen reserves shorted out.
"We can't wait much longer!" the main pilot of their Pelican shouted over the creaking metal of the Nagasaki. "If we don't leave now, we're dead!"
"You hold your position!" North shouted back to the pilot as the ship rocked again. "We wait for Black Phoenix to make it to another ship or to ours, but we're not leaving yet!"
The order startled the IAOC soldiers, and even more shocking was the fact that the two pilots, both wearing the colors of Blue Andromeda, complied. Blue Andromeda's soldiers were notorious for being rather stubborn and stuck to following their own chain of command, not another Operators'.
"There she is!" Tex shouted, pointing as Dawn ran across the wrecked ship platform to catch up to the Pelican. She signaled for the remaining Sabres, Pelican, and Albatross to take off as she ran up the gangway and latched on.
"Go!" Dawn snapped up to the pilots, who primed the engines and took off after the Albatross. She let out a shaky breath, but the IAOC was not out of trouble yet. They had to gain distance from the Nagasaki before the ship initiated its self-destruct to take out the enormous frigate bearing down on them from above. Enemy fire was rocking the shielding on all of the Evac ships as they sped towards Terra Beta, and repeated enemy fire slowly took out a Pelican and a Sabre on their way down. "All Evac ships, initiate a Cyclone maneuver around Albatross 094," Dawn ordered through the mike in her helmet, and the Longswords, Sabres, and Pelicans converged around the largest dropship, forming a sort of protective bubble to guard the bulk of the soldiers.
"Ready to set off the self-destruct remotely?" York asked as Dawn looked out to watch the Cote de Azure. The enemy frigate bore down on the escaping ships, so eager that they were brushing within meters of the damaged Nagasaki's hull.
"Chickadee, now!" Dawn shouted, and the smart AI blossomed to life near the cockpit.
"Self-destruct in 3…2…1…"
Like its namesake back in the Second World War, the Nagasaki exploded with the force of the charges left on board the ship, captivating the retreating soldiers with its brutal beauty. The wreckage and force from the blast caught the Cote de Azure right at its center, severing and shattering the frigate like a bullet through glass. The Pelican rocked with the backlash from the Nagasaki's destruction, and system alarms began to blare.
"We're going in too fast!" One of the pilots shouted back. "I can't hold it in!"
"Brace for impact!" Dawn shouted as the remaining ships fell to the planet's surface in the wake of the Nagasaki's light and a rain of wreckage.
"Man, are you sure that everything's all smooth back home?" a young man with violent red hair reclined against the wall of the Mother of Invention's lounge room.
"Sure it is," Kilt answered his friend, taking a draw on his cigarette. "I just had to tell my old man that Black Phoenix was headed back home, and he'll take care of the rest. That bitch won't know what hit her."
"Funny," a voice interjected. "I was just about to say the same about you, old chap."
The five maintenance men all stood up at the sight of Wyoming, Maine, and several ODSTs at the door to the lounge room. All of the intruders were armed with assault rifles or magnums.
"Kilt Jin, you are under arrest," Wyoming came up behind the unsavory young man with a pair of handcuffs. Kilt gave a slight struggle before the cold metal clapped around his wrist. His other friends were being taken prisoner as well and shoved out of the room.
"On what charges?" Kilt snarled up to the white-armored Freelancer.
"Treason, assault and battery, and attempted murder," Wyoming answered, "to name a few."
"This is crazy," Kilt struggled as both Wyoming and Maine pushed the Insurrectionist towards the brig. "I didn't do anything wrong! I just did you guys a favor, taking care of that bitch."
"I don't believe that the Director sees it that way," Wyoming snarled in response to the criminal's complaints.
Sigma appeared, walked alongside them in mid-air, his color and flame more intense with heightened anger. "Nor are Admirals Tyette and King, it seems."
Kilt's face turned white. "What do the Admirals have to do with anything?" he asked shakily.
"It seemed that our esteemed commanders were taking an interest in what was occurring on Terra Beta, dear boy," Wyoming snarled as he shoved the handcuffed redhead into his cell in the brig. "And you just tried to have their correspondents in the IAOC killed, along with Freelancers, by UNSC-sanctioned weapons and orders that were made to look like you blokes were attacking a URF ship. They are certainly not happy about it."
"Well, it's too late now," Kilt cackled from where he tried to sit up on the floor. "There's no way that they could've survived the attack."
"You are mistaken," Gamma countered, appearing on Wyoming's shoulder. The white in Kilt's face was replaced with an angry crimson.
"If you want the job done right, you have to do it yourself," Wyoming growled to the traitor, beckoning Maine to follow him out as Kilt gave an enraged scream at the news of his failure.
Great. You have incurred the wrath of two Admirals.
Admirals Tyette and King will play a part later in this story and in Revenge.
Keep reading and reviewing please! I'll post the next flashback very soon.
Live long and prosper,
anna1795