Hello again, everyone, and welcome back to the next short story in Star Wars: Tales of the Infinity's Odyssey.

Thank you all for your wonderful patience and support. I deeply appreciate it.

As always, leave a review, and enjoy!

Disclaimer: I do not own the Halo or Star Wars franchises. They are the respective properties and trademarks of Microsoft Studios, 343 Industries, Bungie, Lucasfilm, 20th Century Fox, Disney Films, etc. Any material original to the franchises belongs to their respective developers, producers and publishers. Any material not original to the franchises is of my own invention. I do not own any music listed in each chapter. Any music listed belongs to its original composers and/or artists.


Fallout 2 OST – City of The Dead

UNSC Infinity

Geosynchronous Orbit, Pantora

June 2nd, 0BBY, 0900Hrs (December 16th, 2559, 0900Hrs)

"Sir, there's someone that wishes to talk to you," Lieutenant Jessica said.

Lasky looked up from the paperwork on his desk. Now, of all times? he grumbled inwardly. "Who is it?" he asked.

"One Sabine Wren, sir."

Lasky frowned, then his eyebrows went up. Usze 'Taham mentioned that someone named Sabine requested to speak with me. He'd been meaning to talk to her, but his promotions and newfound desk job had deprived him of the time needed to do so. "Send her in," he said.

The door hissed open, permitting a young woman inside. Her hair color was black, but gradually turned blue towards each end. If there was one thing that was certainly unusual about her, it was the color of her armor, which was a riot of colors, from oranges and reds, to blues and greens.

Lasky cocked an eyebrow. Looks like the personnel reports were right, he noted. She's not just an artist, her entire outfit is non-regulation. However, since she's a Mandalorian, trying to convince her to follow regulations would be like trying to pull teeth from an elephant. He sighed, then extended a hand. "Contractor Sabine Wren," he said. "I take it you wish to speak to me about something?"

"Yes, sir," Sabine said.

"At ease, Sabine. I appreciate protocol, but when we're talking, I prefer a more laid back atmosphere." Leaning back in his seat, he said, "So, what do you wish to talk to me about?"

"I was wondering if I could make a request, sir," Sabine said. "I tried doing so with your subordinates, but they all said to ask you."

How strange, Lasky thought. She came all this way to make a request of me. "What about?"

"I was wondering if you could help me find someone," Sabine said. "He's… a really close friend of mine."

"All right. Tell me who he is, and I'll see what I can do." He picked up a datapad and a stylus. "So, who's this person you're looking for?"

"Ezra Bridger," Sabine said. "He's around my age, has dark brown hair and blue eyes. There's more to my request, though, than his appearance."

Lasky paused. "Go on."

"He's been missing for around three months now."

That caused Lasky to stop. "How did he go missing?" he asked.

"It's… a long story," Sabine said. "Are you interested in hearing me out? Most people say that it's just another sob story, but it's more than that."

"Go ahead. I've often learned that so-called 'sob stories' can often be a good source of information."

Sabine took a deep breath. "All right. Around two months ago during February, like I said during my security interview, I was part of a Rebel resistance cell working to free the planet of Lothal from the Imperials. The team I worked with was huge. There was Kanan Jarus, a former Jedi Knight, myself, Hera Syndulla, who was our pilot and Rebel contact, Garazeb Orellios, our astromech droid Chopper and finally Ezra.

"The Imperials had been on our tails for a really, really long time. We most conducted acts of sabotage, provided supplies while running blockades, that sort of thing. It was just three months ago, though, that we had to deal with a really big problem."

"Let me guess: Thrawn," Lasky said.

"How'd you know?"

"I met him at Coruscant shortly after the Infinity misjumped into your galaxy," Lasky said. "He struck me as the kind of person that is very cunning and intelligent. Why?"

"He's responsible for Ezra's disappearance."

Lasky cocked his head to the right. "Do tell."

"Around two years ago, we had to deal with Thrawn a few times. Eventually, we discovered that he had not only developed a new TIE fighter designed to destroy X-Wings, he had helped with the creation of a mobile Imperial Planetary Occupation Facility. I'll see if I can contact Hera and have her send the specs for both over when we're done here."

"All right," Lasky said, "Go on."

"During that battle, the Emperor tried to convince Ezra to turn to the Dark Side of the Force. When he refused, the Empire sent an entire fleet to deal with us. Ezra, though, managed to summon some purrgil with the Force. When they got there, he had them take himself, Thrawn and the Star Destroyer Chimera, into uncharted space." Sabine sighed, her body slumping. "He's been missing ever since. I was beginning to lose hope of finding him when you guys showed up. If anyone can find him, it's you and the entire UNSC."

Lasky leaned on his elbows and clasped his hands before his face. "I see…" he said. "So what you're asking me is to have people start looking for Ezra, even though he is likely in uncharted space."

"Yes," Sabine said. "I know that I'm asking for a lot here, but Ezra's one of the more powerful Jedi that I've worked with. He managed to take on Thrawn and defeat him, when everyone else was unable to. That kind of genius with the Force is something you guys could definitely use."

"Why is that?"

"Because, sooner or later, you're going to go to war against the Empire," Sabine stated. "I've seen some of the holo-tapes of your war against the Covenant, and I can say for certain that the Empire is definitely emulating them to a significant degree. But to fight against the Empire, you're going to need to have Jedi on your side, otherwise there's just no point. Plus, you'll need people like Ezra to defeat Thrawn."

Lasky leaned back in his seat. So, she wants me to have ONI begin hunting for a Jedi that, while he was able to defeat Thrawn, was yanked along with that Admiral and his ship into uncharted space, all because she wants him back… He shook his head. It's a terrible idea, but then again, terrible ideas have worked out in the past.

Leaning forward, he shook his head. Sabine frowned, then her eyes went wide when he said, "All right. I'll have ONI begin looking for Ezra. Given that Thrawn was taken along for the ride with him, investigating him will likely lead us to Ezra."

Sabine smiled. "Thank you, sir. You have no idea what this means to me."

"I know," Lasky said. "However, I want to make it clear, Sabine, that ONI Section One will be handling this. While you have command of any squads that are sent out to investigate areas, you will still be following my orders. For all we know, this could become a wild goose chase, but then again it might not. I do not want to be wasting ONI's time."

"Thank you sir," Sabine said. "And trust me, you won't regret this." She saluted, then left the room.

I hope not, Lasky mumbled to himself. If you turn out to be right, Sabine, that could give us a huge advantage in the war against the Empire. If not, then you'll have wasted not only my time, but ONI's time as well. He had an odd feeling, though, that this small decision might have major consequences in the future. With a shrug, he returned to his work.

. . .

Man, I wish I had a desk job other than this bullshit, Captain Edward thought as he made his way through a fraction of the vast junkyard that was Lotho Minor. At least the only things I'd have to worry about would be paper cuts and coffee, not noxious air that can kill me in an instant.

A loud squelching sound promptly reminded him of why he hated Lotho Minor. Looking down, he found that he'd stepped into a puddle of what appeared to be gelified chemicals. Thank goodness for the armored HAZMAT suits we're all wearing down here, he thought. Without those, we'd all have chemical burns on our bodies and lethal amounts of chemicals in our bloodstreams. Good thing the ONI brass in charge of this operation mandated HAZMAT equipment for this planet.

His gaze shifted upwards. Throughout the entire polluted landscape, he could see IFF markers that showed where other ONI teams were located. A large blip around two kilometers away marked the location of the UNSC's newest base on the planet. I'll bet the people in that facility are having a load of fun sifting through all of this junk.

"Damn, those facility folks have it made there," his subordinate, James, said with a sigh. "Right now, I'd kill to be anywhere but outside, where the air is lethal to breath." Taking a step forwards, he shouted when the ground there began to collapse.

Edward turned to catch his friend, only for a pair of four fingered hands to catch James before he fell in completely. "Careful, human!" the owner of said hands said. "The ground here is treacherous. You would do well to watch your footing."

Edward glanced at the source of the voice. Dressed in maroon colored armor was their Sangheili attache for the squad. According to his personnel file, Corus 'Jondalum was an expert Artisan-Engineer that specialized in salvaging operations. As such, Lasky had decided to have him go with the ONI teams heading to Lotho Minor in order to assist in the technology scavenging/salvaging operation that had been set up here. So far, he'd been proving his weight in gold.

"James, are you all right!" Edward asked.

"I'm fine," James said. "At least I didn't pull what happened to you a week or so ago. Or was it two weeks…? Never mind." He stood up and brushed off his armored HAZMAT suit.

"Oh, not that again," Edward grumbled. "What happened was a complete accident."

"Sure," Gerald, another member of the squad, said teasingly. "It was complete accident that you stumbled onto a major intelligence find for the UNSC." He smiled sympathetically. "I understand how you feel, though."

"Good. I was starting to think I'd never hear the end of it." Looking towards the sky, Edward frowned at the dark brown and gray clouds. "We might want to head back to base. I don't like the look of those clouds."

"What's the matter?" Gerald asked. "Afraid of the dark?"

"I'm not afraid of the dark that I know or don't. What has me concerned is what's in the dark. Besides, it's standard procedure for us to head inside to get into our heavy duty HAZMAT suits for that kind of weather. Need I remind you of what happened a day ago?"

"Nope," Gerald said. "I know what you mean. Some of the raid turned out to be corrosive enough that the armor plates on our suits, not the suits themselves, were becoming corroded."

"Exactly. Now let's move. We've got to get back to base." A loud humming sound became evident, then a Spectre flew over to their position. Piling on, the team secured themselves in, with the Spectre taking off for the base…

They arrived just minutes before everyone had headed inside to get their HD HAZMAT Suits on. Jumping off the Spectre, Edward proceeded towards the airlock/decontamination chamber doors with the rest of his team. Hitting a button, he heard a voice say, "Please step into the decon chamber."

Piling in, everyone watched as the doors closed. There was a loud hissing sound, then their suits became covered in a fine layer of mist and cleaning agents. The air inside whistled as the toxic atmosphere of Lotho Minor was replaced with clean, freshly scrubbed air provided by the oxygen scrubbers. Powerful UV lights came on, degrading any chemicals the cleaning agents had missed into harmless compounds. After two minutes, the UV lights switched off, and the same voice said, "Decontamination Sequence Complete. Door Unlocked."

The door before them opened, allowing them into the dressing room. Reaching towards a clasp, Edward gleefully tore off the suit, while the others undid theirs more slowly. "You guys can get into the HD HAZMAT suits," he said. "Corus and I are going to check in with the Chief Engineers and the salvaging crews on what they've found so far."

"Got it, sir," the others said.

While the rest of the team swapped out their normal HAZMAT suits for the heavy duty versions, Corus and Edward proceeded towards the main processing center. Passing through a door, the silence was promptly replaced with the sounds of machinery as they entered the processing center.

The processing center was currently the largest, and only, UNSC controlled processing center on the planet. Here, ever bit of scrap metal, plastics and whatnot were moved on large conveyor belts. Items that had high metallic content were separated from the others using high powered magnets and other devices, while other items were sorted out based on weight and scans. Everywhere one looked, human and Sangheili workers stood at various stations, grabbing anything that was remotely worth studying.

The two moved up a flight of stairs and entered a smaller room. Here, technicians and workers were examining whatever had been gathered by the workers in the processing center. Near the back of the room were two bins. The first one was marked 'Discard' while the other was marked 'For Packaging.' Both of them were in alcoves, near which were a pair of robot recharging stations.

As soon as they entered, a short and stocky man with dirty blond hair and green eyes came over. A name tag identified him as Benjamin Nygård "Hey there," he said in a thick Norwegian accent. "Is there something you two needed?"

"Just coming to get a progress report," Edward said. "Corus was the one that suggested it."

"That I did," Corus said. "I would like to know what we have recovered thus far. Given that I am the head of the Sangheil that have come here to assist in this operation, it is my duty to see if we have found anything worthwhile."

"You bet your alien ass that we have," Nygård said. "Come here, and let me show you." He led the duo to a table where a number of items were laying. Picking up what looked like a gun, he said, "Guess what this is."

"A disruptor of sorts?" Edward asked.

"Correct. This must've been recent. It's one of the new DRX-6 Disruptor Rifles. They're quite mean weapons, let me tell you. We're going to be shipping this one off for study at Earth."

"I see," Edward said.

"Anything else?" Corus asked.

"Yeah," Nygård said. "S&R Team Bravo-2 was checking through the remains when they found something. They haven't reported back to me yet, but -"

He was promptly interrupted when the PA crackled. "Benjamin Nygård to Communications. Nygård to Communications."

"Finally," Nygård said. "That's got to be Bravo-2. Care to come along?"

"Of course," Corus said…

The Communications Center was one of the smaller ones. Around the size of a bedroom, it had enough space for ten people to fit in comfortably. Activating the COM tank in the center of the room, they watched as the hologram of a man in full HAZMAT gear appeared. "Nygård here. What is it Fergus?"

"We've found something huge over here!" Fergus, the man in question said. "From what we can tell, someone dumped what appears to be a ship here! Take a look!" A holographic feed appeared to the right of Fergus' hologram.

On it, Edward could make out what appeared to be a structure. At first, he thought that it was an abandoned building left behind by squatters or other people. Then the feed shifted as the drone it came from elevated.

Then it hit Edward. What had looked like pavilions now looked like the bridge of a starship. What he'd thought had been a large plaza now appeared to be part of the hull of a ship. "Is that what I think it is?" he asked.

"Well, I'll be…" Nygård gasped. "That looks like the bridge of a Venator-class Star Destroyer!"

"Elaborate, please?" Corus asked.

"Right. According to our friends back at Pantora, the Venator-class Star Destroyer was designed and built during the Clone Wars roughly twenty five years ago. From what we've been able to gather, the Venators acted in a similar role as aircraft carriers did during WWII back at Earth. The question, though, is why they would so casually throw away such a valuable piece of equipment?"

"Perhaps the Empire, in its arrogance and dishonor, decided to do away with a symbol of the Clone Wars and replace it with a symbol designed to create fear," Corus mused. "Given that they are very much like the Covenant that I once served before the Schism, it is fitting, though dishonorable, that they would leave such an impressive and storied ship to rot here."

"Yeah," Nygård agreed. "Still, it might not be all of a Venator. It could be just the bridge, though that in itself would be valuable as well. Imagine the star maps that would be onboard the computers in that ship." Keying a small button, he said, "Fergus, do you think you and your team could get inside of there?"

"Yeah!" Fergus nodded. "It'll take us some time, but we should be able to get in there and salvage whatever we can from the wreck. Even if it's just the bridge of a Venator, we should find something for the UNSC to study. Hell, we've got some old droids that were dumped off here, including some old blasters."

"Understood," Nygård said. "Report back when you've got something valuable from the wreckage. I'll be certain to give you guys an extra two hours for your break time."

"That's good to hear, boss! We'll report back as soon as we can. Fergus over and out."

"Copy that. Nygård out." Closing the COM, Nygård turned to the others. "As you can see, we've been having a lot of major discoveries. I just hope we don't start using entire planets as junkyards."

"We won't," Edward said. "Besides, you know UEG environmental regulations. If we started pulling that kind of crap, the UEG Congress would be tearing our asses a new one. Plus it's downright unsightly and inconsiderate. Who would want to live on a junk world like this?"

"That's a fair question. For salvagers like me, it's nothing short of a paradise, if you don't count the threats that we're facing here that is."

. . .

It feels good to have my journal back again, Halsey thought, the pages quietly flapping as she thumbed through them. It had been some time since ONI had confiscated her journal for their own use. Now that it was back, she felt as though a part of her had been restored.

She couldn't help but shake her head at some of the earlier entries. I was such a young and naive person then. What did I know of the ways the universe works? She shrugged. Live and learn, I guess.

The sound of her personal COM pinging interrupted her thoughts. "Dr. Halsey," Cortana said, "Sounds like someone's paging you."

"I guessed as much. Who is it?"

"ONI Director Parangosky," Cortana said.

"Director? I thought she retired."

"She did," Cortana confirmed. "However, it appears as though Parangosky returned to her position following Osman's demotion to RDML. Given recent events, I can't say that I disagree with her decision. Shall I put her through?"

"I'll take her message at the COM Array in my lab," Halsey said. Getting up, she left her quarters and proceeded to her lab. Inside, she found the new HoloCOM Tank that had been installed. Opening it, she watched as Margaret Parangosky's hologram appeared before her. "Is there something you need, Director?"

"Yes," Parangosky said. "But first things first. How are you doing?"

Halsey frowned. Parangosky's words were laced with a not insignificant amount of hate and contempt. She still blames me for that one person's suicide, she remembered. We all made our choices. Some just didn't back out until it was too late. "Fine," she said. "However, I don't believe that this is a courtesy call."

"You'd be quite right," Parangosky said. "Look, Halsey, we both are old women and we both have other things to do, so I'm going to cut to the chase. I don't like you; in fact, I hate you. I recognize, however, that we are going to have to work together if we're going to bring the Empire to its knees. That being said, I was wondering if you still recall your rivalry between you and Ackerson."

Halsey cocked an eyebrow. How strange. Why is she asking me about this. "Of course I do," she said. "Why?"

"I've been hearing rumors about some aspects of the Spartan-III Program," Parangosky said. "According to General Strauss, Ackerson blackmailed him into silence concerning various parts of the Spartan-III Program. Cole's report mentioned that the Spartan-III Program had a number of egregious ethical violations. Even Terrence Hood noticed some of the things going on with Ackerson. Is that true, or is there more to that than what I've learned so far?"

Ah, that's why, Halsey realized. She wants to know if it's really true. "Yes," she said. "Section 3 should have all of the relevant information for you. Given your newfound position as the Director, I'm sure they'll comply."

"That they will. Give me a moment." Her hologram became muted, though it was clear from the way her lips moved that she was talking to the head of Section 3. Apparently, they consented, as she smiled and began reading something.

Judging from the way her facial expression hardened, it was clear that the information Section 3 had sent disturbed her greatly. Unmuting her end, she said, "I… I knew that Ackerson was ruthless but this…" She shook her head. "It would appear that giving Ackerson the resources he needed was a colossal error in judgment. It's odd that it would be filed as a complaint, and then disregarded entirely. I'd imagine that Stanforth had something to do with that. Is that all?

"No," Halsey said. "There's something else as well."

"Oh?"

"Look at document #2985-041B, date August 29th, 2552," Halsey said. "That should explain."

"You obtained a copy of Ackerson's files?"

"During the attack the Covenant performed on CASTLE Base," Halsey said. "If you want confirmation, you can send a team to CASTLE Base to learn the entire truth."

"That I may do." Parangosky opened the file though, then read through it. By the time she was done, her expression was stony. Black lightning seemed to flash in her eyes, and her hands were clenching and unclenching with murderous regularity. "Colonel Ackerson, you complete and utter fool," she said softly.

Halsey backed up a step. The rage in Parangosky's voice was so intense that, if weaponized, could cause more damage than a NOVA Bomb. Bringing her attention back to Halsey, she said, "It would seem that you've done ONI a valuable service, Doctor. I'll see to it that Ackerson is fully investigated and posthumously given a dishonorable discharge. It would seem that you were right to be distrustful of him. To think that I was going to have you as Ackerson's deputy for the Spartan IV program..." She shook her head.

"Ackerson was to be my boss?" Halsey asked, stunned.

"Yeah, though it is clear that would've been a colossal error in judgment. Still, as I said earlier. I'll see to it that justice is done. I'll also open an investigation into Frank Mendez and Kurt Ambrose's files as well. If they're connected to all this, they'll be going down too."

"Indeed," Halsey said. "Plus, one of them had the honor of having Trevelyn named after him. Was there anything else you needed to know?"

"Not at the moment. You may return to your duties, doctor." Parangosky's hologram faded out moments later.

"Cortana, did you get everything?"

"I did," Cortana said. "Why?"

"I would like to speak to Lasky about this. He's going to find out, one way or another, and I'd rather have him hear it from me than anyone else."

"Of course," Cortana said…

Up in the Infinity's Flag Quarters, Lasky rested his forehead on a hand. "So, let me get this straight," he said. "Colonel Ackerson, Frank Mendez and Spartan Kurt Ambrose were not only directly or indirectly responsible for turning innocent children into disposable soldiers and animals through the Spartan-III Program, mass murdered hundreds of Spartan-IIIs on suicide missions, and he was responsible for the attempted assassination on the Master Chief. Have I missed anything?"

"Not at all," Halsey said. "To be honest, when I read about the things he did, the experiments Ackerson conducted…" She shook her head. "I know that I'm guilty of similar things, but even I did not turn innocent children into animals!"

"You did turn them into supersoldiers," Lasky pointed out. "That's almost as bad as that."

"And I will gladly submit myself to punishment should I meet my maker when the time comes." She sighed. "Still… to think that Ackerson was so bitter and angry throughout that entire rivalry to do that sort of thing… It boggles the mind."

"It does," Lasky said. "And to think, that of all people, he attempted to assassinate the one man that, not a few months later, saved the entire human race." He shook his head. "Ackerson, you were an arrogant fool. What's Parangosky going to do?"

"She's already taking care of things," Halsey said. "Needless to say, I believe that the pension that Ackerson's family's receiving is going to be withdrawn, and all honors he has revoked. If I know Parangosky, she will make the Ackerson's name mud, as well as Mendez's and Kurt's."

"Probably for the best," Lasky agreed. "Still, I wonder what else he's done besides what you and I know."

"It's probably best that we do not know, Lasky. Still, it brings me warm feelings to know that my distrust of him was vindicated in the end."