Author's Note: I had a dozen ideas for how this next chapter was going to go. Most of them involved them being a lot longer to keep things not too canon, but as I wrote this chapter, I realized that this should suffice. Sure, it's mainly a bunch of standing and talking, but hey, isn't that was half of Red vs Blue is anyway?
Enjoy the chapter. Any and all comments are welcome.
Still in disbelief that Agent Carolina and Church have returned, the Reds and Blues waited to the side while Dr. Emily Gray patched up the stab wound in the Freelancer's leg. She warned her not to put strenuous activity or the wound would reopen. After everyone was introduced, it was time for a few questions, starting with…
"WHAT IN THE NAME OF BENEDICT ARNOLD PALMER IS GOING ON HERE?!" Sarge cried out. "We've been tricked! We've been backstabbed! And we've been most assuredly been bamboozled."
"Yeah," Grif agreed, "And whenever that shit starts happening, it typically means one of you Freelancers had something to do with it."
"Project Freelancer is gone." Carolina reminded. "We all saw to that."
"'Colorful Space Marines Stop Corruption'." Dr. Gray said. "That was the news articles Locus showed General Doyle when he insisted we find you guys. I always thought the title was meant to describe your appearance, but now I think I see what the writer was going for."
"What I'm saying is that Project Freelancer has nothing to do with this." Carolina said. "This is something else."
"Yeah. The Empire." Jena said. "Still can't believe they're sticking their noses here."
"What exactly happened, guys?" Strike asked. "You were with us after the crash, but in an instant, you were gone."
"Yeah. That was a dick move, dude." Tucker said.
"Look, man," Church said, "After we crashed, Carolina picked up a radio transmission. Some assholes were selling Freelancer equipment to another group of assholes. There was no way we were just going to let that slide. So she decided to leave, I decided to go with her. I figured you guys would would be okay without me."
"Oh, sure. We were having a blast. Drinking margaritas. Getting captured by evil soldiers. You know, no biggie."
"Ooh. I'm so sorry, Tucker." Church said. "I mean it. My sincerest apologies. I had no idea that you turned into such a whiny bitch while I was gone." BANG-BANG! "Who apparently still can't concept the idea of how holograms work. Man, this just isn't your day."
"All right, enough!" Washington called out. "Tucker, there was no way Carolina and Church could have predicted we'd be in trouble."
"He's right." Jena said. "For now, let's just focus on what's happening right now. Carolina, how long were you pretending to be a Stormtrooper."
"Not long. After we raided the last Imperial storage base, Church picked up a transmission. He overheard Locus and Felix talk about using you for their civil war plan. They were speaking to a man named Darth Vader. From everything we gathered so far, he appears to be the Empire's top enforcer."
"More than that." Church said. "He appears to be the Emperor's right hand man."
"Right hand man?" Jena asked. "Then he must be the Emperor's apprentice."
"His what?" Tucker asked.
"Ever since the reign of Darth Bane, the Sith Lords have been bound by the Rule of Two, where there can only be two Sith Lords at a time; a master and an apprentice. Emperor Palpatine is obviously the master, so Darth Vader must be his apprentice."
"Why only two?" Sarge asked. "If they were the enemy, wouldn't it make more sense for them to outnumber the Jedi?"
"I don't know all the details." Jena said. "Don't forget, I was just a youngling when the Empire was formed."
"The Empire have managed to acquire Freelancer equipment and are manufacturing more advanced versions of it on a mass scale." Carolina continued. "Versions that don't require the assistance of an AI."
"How is that possible?" Simmons asked. "I thought the UNSC confiscated everything Project Freelancer ever created."
"They did. But then they put those creations on a ship, and that ship crashed here."
"Wait, what?" Tucker asked.
"Guys," Church said, "Don't you think it's a little weird that our 'transport vessel' just happened to be carrying tons of weapons and vehicles, and that it just so happened to magically crash on a planet in need of those kinds of things?"
"What are you saying?" Strike asked.
"Someone wanted our ship to crash." Carolina revealed.
A long silence fell over the Reds and Blues. Simmons was the one who broke the silence. "So… what you're saying is… there's no way either of us could be responsible for the crash?"
"Uh… Yeah." Carolina answered. "Why do you ask?"
Most of the Reds and Blues suddenly flashed back to shenanigans they each pulled that could have caused the ship to crash. Tucker distracted the pilot by flirting with her. Grif spilled soda on sensitive equipment. Washington tripped over a cable. Sarge messed with the engines. Simmons kept messing with the navigation system. And Jena accidently sliced a power box with her lightsaber.
"No reason!" everyone said at the same time.
"You guys are missing the point." Church said. "The Empire managed to ensure the Freelancer equipment made it right here, to this tiny rock in the middle of space."
"Hold on." Strike said. "That doesn't make any sense. I don't care if the Empire needed that stuff here on Chorus. There was no way they could arrange it. It was still a UNSC ship. The Empire and the UNSC have been at odds over territory since the Clone Wars ended. They've been careful about diplomatic approaches, so there's no way the Empire could arrange for a UNSC ship to crash onto a planet that they control."
"That stumped us for a while too." Carolina said. "But then, we came to a realization; a theory that could possibly work."
"What theory?" Washington asked.
"We believe… that someone in the UNSC is secretly helping the Empire." Church said.
"What?" Simmons asked. "Why?"
"Power, I suppose." Carolina said. "Whoever could be helping the Empire might have been promised a place high up the social ladder thinking that they would eventually overpower the UNSC and take over the entire galaxy."
"So we're thinking that someone in the UNSC, most likely in a political office, might have arranged for the ship to steer into Chorus space and the Empire just pulled them in somehow." Church said. "A special delivery."
"Well, what about the Feds and rebels?" Tucker asked. "They're going to blow each other's brains out thanks to Locus, Felix, and that Inquisitor chick. We've got to tell them they're being used."
"That's not going to be easy." Carolina said.
"What do you mean?" Tucker asked. "You've got those teleporter cubes. That's how we got here, right? Let's just zap ourselves over to the New Republic."
"Tucker," Church said, "We've only got a few of these left, they're really tricky to use, they put an enormous strain on the human body—which by the way all of you have—but that's not even the main problem."
"The Empire is thorough." Carolina joined in. "They've got some sort of radio gammer array that only allow broadcasting on certain frequencies, and they monitor all open channels. We tried to contact you when we overheard your radio transmission to Donut from the crash site. Not only did we fail, but Locus managed to trace the call to where we were hiding. We were lucky he missed us, and I doubt we'll have luck on our side again.
"Yeah, and if these Imperial assholes went through all the trouble of keeping their radios quiet," Church said, "I guarantee they won't let you near a mile of Doyle or Kimball."
"Why all the subtlety?" Strike asked. "The Empire isn't exactly known for being careful. If they wanted this planet so badly, why didn't they just take it by force?"
"Because this place is still technically within UNSC territory. Take a look at this." Church pulled out a holographic map made up of planets. A red line was cut in between them. "Consider this to be a map of the entire galaxy. One half belongs to the UNSC and the other half belongs to the Galactic Empire."
"And what about the other-other half?" Caboose asked.
"Caboose, not now." Church said. He then zoomed the map in to the very top of the edge revealing a planet just an inch away from the red line dividing the map. "And here, this little forgotten rock that's just on the edge of UNSC territory, that's Chorus."
"Of course." Jena said. "Felix did say that this planet used to be a human colony until the war against the Covenant ended. After that, Chorus was forgotten and the remaining citizens had to govern things on their own, which lead to the civil war in the first place."
"That's right. The people were once part of the UNSC." Church said. "As long as they live, the UNSC still has claim over this planet. That's why the Empire needs them all gone."
"But they can't kill them themselves." Carolina said. "When the Empire was quickly taking over the Republic, they began to develop an uneasy relationship with the UNSC. They also know that if they went to war, there would be severe casualties on both sides, too much for either side to lose. So they agreed to a ceasefire as long as they don't try to claim planets that belonged to each other. The Empire needs Chorus to be a free, uninhabited planet or else it would ruin the diplomacy between them and the UNSC."
"Sounds like we're the deciding factors on whether or not the UNSC and the Empire stay on tolerable terms with each other." Jena said.
"And I thought I couldn't feel more pressured." Grif said.
"Whoever the Empire's spy is in the UNSC would have already erased Chorus' existence from their records." Carolina said. "The people are all that's left, and if we don't do something to save them, then the Empire will have legal right to claim this planet for their own. And to make matters worse, we don't have much time."
"What makes you say that?" Sarge asked.
"We've managed to eavesdrop on a few conversations between the bounty hunters and Darth Vader. They've got plans and protocols for just about everything, and I'm willing to bet they've got one for this."
"Meaning?" Tucker asked.
"Look at it this way." Church said. "Thirteen people on this planet know what's really going on. And until those thirteen people are tracked down and killed—I'm talking about you guys, by the way—there's really only one thing these bounty hunters and the Inquisitor can do, and that's to finish what they started."
Felix grunted angrily as he threw a knife into a dead Fed's face. He paced around in frustration passing by Locus and the Thirteenth Sister.
"Oh, hohoho. Wonderful! Duped by a Freelancer posing as one of our own men. Can you taste the irony in that?"
"If you had kept your ego under control, they'd be dead now." Locus said.
"Okay, we don't have the facts to prove that," Felix said, "So let's not, you know, start throwing blame around or anything. Please? Thank you? You're welcome?" He then turned to the Inquisitor. "And what about you? Why didn't you find her earlier with you psychic powers?"
The Thirteenth Sister sighed. "That's not how it works. Now shut it. Lord Vader's calling."
The three villains turned their attention to the hologram projector. After a machine whir, Darth Vader's projected body appeared towering over them. His heavy breathing was heard through his mask.
"What happened?" Vader asked.
"We were deceived, sir." Locus said. "The Freelancer infiltrated our ranks and helped the Reds and Blues escape."
"And that includes the Jedi?" Vader asked, although he already knew the answer. He turned his head to the Thirteenth Sister. "I sent you to the bounty hunters to deal with that issue. Why did you fail in your mission?"
"It wasn't my fault, sir." The Thirteenth Sister defended desperately. "It was Felix. He…"
"Stop." Vader ordered. "Remove your mask. I want to see the shame in your eyes."
Though hesitant, the Thirteenth Sister tapped the buttons on the sides of her helmet and removed it from her head. She had a fair, young face and eyes which had black irises. She had black, medium-length hair which looked like they had needles hanging off the end. She looked up with much fear at Vader.
"There is no excuse for failure." Vader said. "The Reds and Blues must not save the planet."
"They won't." Felix said. "We've got snipers shadowing the generals. If they see the Reds and Blues coming, they'll take them out."
"Good. Inquisitor, you will make up for your failure by leading the hunting party to go after the simulation soldiers." Vader instructed. "In the meantime, Locus and Felix, you will return to your respective armies and report the deaths of the Reds and Blues. They will become the martyrs to push these fools into one last confrontation. They will kill each other, and Chorus will belong to the Empire. Is that clear?"
"Crystal." Felix said.
"And Inquisitor," Vader said making her more afraid, "Do not fail. The Jedi does not leave this planet alive."
When the Inquisitor nodded her head, the call ended. She let out a hard breath in relief.
"Sheesh. You're taking it very seriously." Felix said.
"You would be too if you knew what he did to the Second and Third Sisters." Thirteenth said. "I'm taking our Stormtroopers and tracking down the Reds and Blues. The two of you talk to your generals. Tell them that their heroes are dead."
"Understood." Locus said.
"Sure." Felix said. "Hey, if you kill them before we tell the generals, then we probably won't even have to lie to them."