I do not own Halo or any of its characters.
Reassigned
Ethan smiled as Sarah sat beside him, leaning on his shoulder as they ate their fish. It had been a fun couple of days since Maria had shown them her Hardlight body. They'd included her every single day at least once, twice yesterday, but for right now, it was just the two of them.
"I know I keep saying it, but this has been paradise," Sarah smiled.
"Yes, it has," Ethan agreed, then frowned. "Roland's calling."
"How do you know?" Sarah asked.
"When Maria's napping, I'm left in control of all of my functions," Ethan explained. "I'd be a terrible fighter right now, but I can do everything that Maria normally does."
"I see," Sarah nodded. "And what does Roland want?"
"The Security Council has requested the honor of our presence," Ethan said. "They want to 'talk' to us about Requiem."
Sarah groaned. "Of course they do. I guess our vacation's going to have to be over."
"I guess so," Ethan sighed. "Oh, he says our new armor is ready, though."
Sarah laughed. "Good. It took them all this time and Maria handing them the blueprints and programming for nanomachine seams for them to create MJOLNIR armor we can take off ourselves."
"No doubt," Ethan agreed. "I should have just made them in the Ferrarius."
"It would have been fragile," Sarah pointed out. "A few shots and we'd have been naked on the battlefield."
Ethan hummed thoughtfully. "That's not such a bad thought."
Sarah laughed, then finally stood, sighing, and held out her hand. "Come on. Let's get back to the Infinity."
Ethan sighed heavily and nodded, kissing Sarah one last time before they both reluctantly dressed themselves in their skinsuits, connecting each other's magnet seams before Ethan used an electric charge to reactivate the suits. Then, Ethan took the controls and flew them reluctantly back to the Infinity. They headed to the armor bay and collected their new armor and put it on quickly. He activated the nanomachines for the seams, and once the armor was pressed against his skinsuit, the nanomachine seams attached it in place, then when the next piece was placed, the nanomachines adjusted it as needed to connect to both the skinsuit and the connecting piece of armor appropriately, such as the front and back of the torso armor, or the two halves of the forearm armor. The boots were easiest, since the top half of the foot and the front half of the shin armor, including the kneepad, split from the opposite half and leaned forward to allow the wearer to slip their foot in, then when moved back into place, it connected to itself automatically. The only piece of the armor that didn't require the upgrades were the helmets, since the bottom of them had always been capable of opening and closing itself to seal and connect to the rest of the armor, allowing the wearer to put it on and take it off themselves. In total, they both had their armor completely assembled after only about four minutes, and could do it faster if needed.
"This is probably the best upgrade you've made to our armor yet," Sarah smiled.
"Well, if we get attacked suddenly, there isn't time for nearly two thousand Spartans to rotate through six machines," Ethan shrugged. "We were lucky that everyone was already in armor when the Infinity got boarded at Requiem."
Sarah nodded in agreement as they headed up to the bridge, finding Lasky waiting for them. "So, Tom, what's this about the Security Council wanting to interrogate us?"
"They insist it's a formality," Lasky assured them.
"And you believe that?" Sarah asked.
"I'm the captain," Lasky said. "Believing's in my job description."
"Which is why you're the boss and I'm just a Spartan," Sarah snorted.
"That and about half a ton of armor," Lasky snorted. " Which I sorta wish I had where we're going. How are the new MJOLNIR upgrades?"
"Perfect," Ethan said. "I'm glad they actually took Maria's designs and accepted them."
"Not just that," Lasky said. "They've begun mass producing the Promethean Vision mod you invented, and several of our most secure factories have begun to try and follow Maria's instructions on creating Hardlight and Hardlight power cells. Hopefully, they'll be able to follow instructions well, and they'll be making the same Hardlight Weapons you designed for the Infinity soon."
"How's that coming, anyway?" Ethan asked.
"Good," Lasky nodded. "Science deck has about half of the weapons aboard the Infinity upgraded and successfully tested."
"Good," Ethan nodded. "After we get done with the inquiry, I'll get to work figuring out how to upgrade the Infinity itself."
"Maybe don't turn all of our guns into bombs," Lasky said.
Ethan rolled his eyes. "I'm not going to make them bombs, but we need the Infinity to have better weapon systems. We may be the biggest ship Humanity has ever built, but our weapons don't make us the most powerful."
Lasky sighed, nodding. "Just be careful about it."
"I will," Ethan promised.
About fifteen minutes of flying later, they landed at the UNSC HIGHCOM Facility where the highest-ranking officials of each branch of the UNSC and ONI were gathered. They were led through the facility to a room where the Security Council sat behind a raised, elongated desk, a bright overhead light making it slightly hard to make any of them out. The three of them took their seats at a desk facing the Security Council and waited to be questioned.
"Thank you all for coming," General Strauss of the UNSC Army greeted them.
"As I'm sure you've guessed, we've asked you here today to discuss Infinity's involvement in the events surrounding the Requiem mission," Admiral Hood explained.
"More directly, Captain Lasky," Osman spoke up, tone cold and accusatory, "members of this committee have some significant misgivings over the handling of the campaign."
"Sirs, not to be contrary, but I was led to believe that this was not an official inquiry," Lasky spoke up.
"Relax, Tom," Admiral Hood assured him. "No one is pointing fingers."
"You're not," Ethan said. "Osman is. Why don't you just speak for yourself and say that you're not happy with us?"
"You should be careful to watch your tone," Osman warned.
"Or what?" Ethan asked. "You'll blow me up? Turn me into a robot? Send me away to serve at the most hellish frontline battles, such as, for a completely random and unlikely example, a Forerunner Shield World where I have to fight against an army of Prometheans despite my PTSD from having felt all of New Phoenix being composed into new Prometheans?"
Osman glared at him.
"He has a point," General Hogun of the UNSC Marines pointed out.
"There are some lingering questions I think many of us need answered," Osman said, her tone cold.
"Of course," Lasky nodded. "Whatever we can do to help, Admiral Osman."
"Captain Lasky, Infinity's mission was to reconnoiter the Forerunner Shield World, Requiem, and determine if another Forerunner attack on the Earth was imminent," Osman began.
"Admiral, Forerunner or Covenant," Lasky corrected her. "We'd had a lot of chatter about Jul 'Mdama's Covenant entering Requiem's vicinity."
"And what part of the mission, exactly, necessitated the request for Catherine Halsey, one of the most dangerous assets we have in custody, to be remanded into your care?" Osman asked.
"That would be the Forerunner trap we were caught in creating a Slipspace anchor holding us in orbit on Requiem," Ethan said, his tone lacking anything resembling courtesy for Osman. "Even Maria couldn't figure out how to free us, so we needed Halsey."
"Yet somehow, under your supervision, that 'expertise' was allowed to conspire with 'Mdama and his new Covenant," Osman accused. "A breach which resulted in the good Doctor's escape and the complete destruction of Requiem."
"No huge loss there," Ethan said dryly. "Requiem was a hellhole. It's better off destroyed."
Lasky cleared his throat, and Ethan rolled his eyes. "Jul 'Mdama's fleet was forced to flee, and further access to Requiem's technology was denied to them. Our mission was to stop another attack like on New Phoenix, ma'am, which I believe we did."
"Commander Palmer," Osman turned on her. "You're aware that Captain Lasky was ordered to neutralize Doctor Halsey. You, in fact, were assigned the task."
"Yes ma'am," Sarah confirmed.
"It is my understanding that, after giving you the assignment, Captain Lasky then dispatched another team to prevent you from accomplishing that goal," Osman almost purred, believing that she had the advantage. "Is that correct?"
"No, ma'am," Sarah said calmly.
"It's not?" Osman was taken aback.
"After the captain conveyed your orders, he left it up to my discretion how to proceed should the opportunity arise," Palmer explained calmly. "The other team was, to my knowledge, a contingency."
"So then, your attempt to kill Catherine Halsey-" Osman began.
"Missed, Admiral," Sarah shrugged. "I missed my shot."
"I see," Osman mused. "Ethan, why did you not get assigned the task, or the task of being the contingency?"
"I wasn't assigned the initial task because we couldn't be sure that Halsey didn't hide programming to shut me down, or force me to follow her orders, or wipe my memory entirely, or something to that effect," Ethan explained. "As for being the contingency, I have the highest combat rating on the Infinity, and am capable of working with, and improving, any Spartan Fireteam I am sent to reinforce. I also was serving as the next in the Spartan chain-of-command after Commander Palmer. When she went to Requiem to eliminate Doctor Halsey, I took over command of the Spartan Fireteams, at least until my own Fireteam, Crimson, located a Forerunner facility of unusual interest to the Prometheans, and on the grounds of ensuring it was not the staging site for another attack against Humanity, I went planetside with my Fireteam and Fireteam Intrepid in order to investigate."
Osman narrowed her eyes, then nodded. "Yes, we've received your report about the Ferrarius Assembler Vat. It is to be turned over to be reverse-engineered and studied."
"No, ma'am," Ethan said flatly.
"Excuse me?" Osman growled.
"Currently, ma'am, it is the only functioning Assembler Vat that Humanity is in possession of, and Humanity lacks the technology to create one," Ethan explained. "Maria has scanned assessed all of the data the Assembler Vat possesses, and would be more than happy to transfer the data, allowing Humanity to attempt to recreate the Assembler Vat, but unfortunately, the Assembler Vat itself is too great an asset to the Infinity to turn over. However, once Humanity has successfully learned to create Hardlight and more advanced nanomachines, the data and instructions for which Maria has already turned over to ONI, Humanity will be capable of producing Assembler Vats of our own, so it's simply a matter of patience, and ripping apart the Ferrarius Assembler Vat will result in nothing more than the loss of a very useful asset."
Osman glared at him, but relented. The Council took a few moments to ask a few more questions, but the inquiry was clearly finished, so a few minutes later, they were dismissed and headed back to the Pelican together.
"You didn't need to stretch the facts back there," Lasky said to Sarah once they were aboard the Infinity again.
"Uh, yes I did," Sarah said. "I don't know if you noticed, but Osman was painting a target on you they could have seen from the outer colonies."
"If Sarah had admitted Majestic was sent to rescue Halsey instead of only eliminating her, you'd have been dishonorably discharged on the spot, and the Infinity would probably have been taken by ONI," Ethan said.
"They pulled Del Rio from the chair, Tom," Sarah reminded him, "and he had twenty years of experience on you."
"Good riddance," Ethan grumbled, "but she's right. You have to make sure to protect your position, Captain."
"Maybe you could boyscout your way around those people as an XO, but not anymore," Sarah said. "Now, let's go for a run."
Lasky sighed, nodding, and Ethan and Sarah dropped off their armor in the armor bay and their skinsuits in the room they now officially shared before changing into the UNSC's standard workout uniforms before heading to a section near the top of the ship designed like a park. They ran for nearly an hour, making Lasky work for his health, until Roland called them, appearing on a holotank just ahead of them.
"What is it, Roland?" Lasky asked.
"Hey Cap, Orbital command just alerted us to a shuttle inbound," Roland informed him. "Diplomatic transponder. Don't suppose you're expecting anyone for dinner."
"Maria?" Ethan asked, Maria appearing beside them in her Hardlight body, though in the more appropriate version that she formed any time she wasn't having sex with Ethan and Sarah.
"I'm borrowing the Infinity's sensors for a moment, Roland," Maria warned him.
"Borrowing them?" Roland blinked. "But the Infinity can't...oh, hey! I didn't know it could do that!"
"Do what?" Lasky frowned.
"ID individuals on a nearby vessel or station," Maria explained. "It's Lord Hood."
"Guess I better go and get cleaned up, then," Lasky said. "Thanks for the exercise, you two."
"You're welcome," Sarah nodded.
Lasky left, and Maria vanished, Sarah and Ethan heading back to their room to get cleaned up and dressed back in their skinsuits. Then, they headed to the COC, arriving just in time for Admiral Hood's briefing. The Brutes, who were technologically behind all of the other Covenant races, and even Humanity in some aspects, were raiding Sangheili territories more and more aggressively, because despite being settled on resource-rich worlds, they didn't know how to mine the resources themselves. Eventually, one of the highest-ranking Chieftains had been identified as a possible target of negotiating a peace treaty, and the Arbiter, Thel 'Vadam, agreed to negotiate as the leader of the Sangheili. Admiral Hood had had the Infinity assigned as an escort and security for the negotiations, which also meant they had been pulled off of the standing mission to track down Jul 'Mdama and Halsey.
"I don't get it, Commander," DeMarco spoke up as they rode a diplomatic shuttle on the way down to Ealon IV where the peace talks would be held. "Why would the Covenant terraform an entire planet just to produce plasma?"
DeMarco had been reassigned from Majestic to Fireteam Bailey for the duration of the mission, and on Ethan and Sarah's urging, Thorne had been given command of Majestic in the interim.
"DeMarco, did you even read the briefing?" Vladimir Scruggs, a member of Fireteam Jackknife, asked.
Scruggs was a skin-bald, white man with a gaunt face. He looked kind enough, but there was an arrogance in his eyes that reminded him of DeMarco a bit, but less because he's popular with women and a bit more because he was drunk on his own Spartan abilities. Ethan hadn't seen him out of his skinsuit a single time, and while they hadn't interacted very many times, Ethan knew from Maria that Scruggs' record was barely average compared to other Spartan-IVs.
"Of course he didn't," Ethan snorted, spinning his helmet on his finger like a basketball to show off for one of the other members of Fireteam Jackknife, Naiya Ray. "DeMarco doesn't know how to read."
Ray was a pretty woman with tan skin and wavy, jet black hair just past her shoulders. Her own record put Scruggs' to shame.
DeMarco grumbled under his breath as Sarah reached over and knocked the helmet to the ground.
"Stop flirting," Sarah said flatly.
"I'm not flirting," Ethan said, picking up the helmet. "I'm entertaining the newbie."
"I'm not that new," Ray said, crossing her arms. "And don't worry, Commander. I'm not going to step on your toes."
"Oh, I'm not worried," Sarah assured her. "If I actually thought he was flirting, I'd have killed him by now. Besides, stupid tricks aren't how he flirts."
Ray nodded as Ethan pulled on his helmet.
"Anyway, DeMarco, as I was saying," Scruggs said, "the weapons and ships generate their own, but for more industrial applications, they needed something scalable."
"That, and the Covies insist on doing things the hard way," Sarah added, looking out the window at the storm they were passing through. "Regardless, with the capital ships prohibited from entering the planet's neutral airspace, hopefully the weather will be discouraging enough to keep everyone playing nice."
"And due to the unreality of that, is why I brought this," Ethan said, raising his Assault Rifle.
"Where are your spare mags?" Scruggs asked.
"Spare mags?" Ethan frowned. "Why would I need those? It's a Hardlight rifle."
"What?" Scruggs asked. "That wasn't a rumor?"
"No," Sarah said, raising her own rifle as well. "Mine's the same. So's my Magnum, and my DMR fires Beam Rifle shots and recharges itself."
"Remind me to upgrade that into a Binary Rifle later," Ethan said.
"Will do," Sarah nodded. "But I thought half of the weapons on the Infinity were upgraded."
"They were," Ray nodded. "I have a Hardlight Assault Rifle. Scruggs wanted a SAW, though, and those haven't been upgraded yet."
"Sucks to be him, then," Sarah shrugged.
"Captain, contact from Platform Control," the pilot called back. "We're cleared to land. And they say we've got someone waiting for us."
"Who?" Lasky asked.
"Thel 'Vadam," Ethan said, staring out the window. "The Arbiter came to greet us in person."
"Good," Admiral Hood nodded.
A few minutes later, Fireteam Bailey had been assigned to overwatch for the ships while Fireteam Jackknife secured the area and provided security during the meeting itself. Ethan and Sarah accompanied Jackknife and after a few minutes, they were all in a square room with a ring of seats in the center, the Brute Chieftain and his security detail, the Arbiter and his security detail, Admiral Hood, Lasky, and another human all seated in them, the Spartans and Ethan all spread along the walls.
"These tribes take what they are owed!" the Brute Chieftain negotiating with the Arbiter, Lydus, argued once the basis for the negotiations had been stated. "Nothing more!"
"We know the Jiralhanae are months away from an out-and-out famine, Lydus," Admiral Hood spoke up.
"Without true leadership, their attacks will soon expand beyond the Sangheili, and unto one another," the Arbiter warned Lydus.
"Scruggs, cheat one of your folks towards Lydus's entourage," Palmer instructed quietly over a secure line, only the Spartans and Lasky hearing it, and her voice not transmitting out of her helmet. "One of those Brutes is looking a little squirrely."
"I don't think they like it when you call them Brutes, commander," Scruggs replied, also using a secure line and speaking softly.
"Yeah, well, I don't like it when they go berserk and start ripping people's legs off, so I guess we've got a lot to learn," Sarah countered.
Just then, her communicator beeped, and she raised a hand to the side of her helmet, switching to the incoming signal.
"Palmer. Go."
"Commander, this is Infinity Overwatch," Spartan Miller radioed. "In the last two minu..." the radio began to cut to static, "we've seen about...adjacent to the...go dark...Is ev...thing okay down...ere?"
"You're breaking up Infinity," Sarah radioed back. "Hold the line."
No response.
"DeMarco, you copy?" Sarah asked. "Infinity's reporting tactical blackouts. You see anything? DeMarco?"
"We're jammed," Ethan said, pulling his rifle off of his back.
"I'm going to check it out," Sarah said. "Ethan, you're in command."
Ethan nodded. "Spartans, be ready for fun."
The other Spartans all readied their own weapons. A few seconds later, Sarah radioed.
"Spartans, go red!" Sarah said urgently. "We've got-"
"This is DeMarco!" DeMarco radioed urgently. "Fast movers...bound! Mult...contac..."
The rest of his statement was lost in an explosion as the outer wall of the room was blasted apart, hurling everyone to the ground. Instantly, multiple Sangheili wearing Vacuum Suits began to fly down into the hole, armed with Storm rifles.
"Guardians of the Righteous!" the lead Elite shouted. "Silence the Blasphemers!"
"This is an outrage!" the Brute Chieftain roared.
"Palmer, on the delegates!" Lasky ordered.
"Already on it, Captain!" Sarah said, holding her two Hardlight Magnums as she vaulted over a broken piece of table. "Jackknife, clear this room, now!"
She slammed a kick into one of the three Elites' faces as Ethan sprayed the other two with his rifle, still seated on the floor but killing both. He stood as Jackknife began to fire out through the door, and as he reached his feet, he saw why. It wasn't just a handful of Elites. There was an entire force of all of the Covenant races except for Brutes outside of the facility.
"Jackknife, on the delegates!" Ethan ordered, swapping his Assault Rifle for his own Hardlight SAW and beginning to spray through the hole. "Commander, I'll be bringing up the rear!"
"Understood!" Sarah shouted as she, the delegates from all three races, and Jackknife all sprinted out of the room.
Ethan continued to spray for a few more seconds before turning and sprinting after them as Sarah ordered Majestic to clear the delegates a path to the shuttle.
Ethan swapped his SAW for his Assault Rifle as he began to catch up to the others, then spun as Maria warned him that the force behind him was gaining. He spun, spraying a pair of Jackal snipers and an Elite who had reached the hallway, then swapped to his Spartan Laser, unfolding it and firing into the ceiling, collapsing the hallway before folding up his Spartan Laser and once again swapping back to his Assault Rifle. As he burst out through the front door, he found that the others had already fought their way into the swarm of Covenant forces outside and began to slaughter everything his Assault Rifle aimed at as he charged after the others. An Elite lunged at him, but he dodged aside from its Energy Sword and slashed the side of its throat and its head with his Hardlight Dagger before returning to firing. Except, just as he began to gain on the others, three Phantoms blasted the shuttle, obliterating it. Sarah tackled the Arbiter out of the way of a piece of debris, and Ethan sprinted to them, hauling the Arbiter to his feet.
"It's an honor, sir," Ethan said. "Wear this."
He shoved a Hardlight Shield Projector into 'Vadam's hand, and the Arbiter stuck it to his back instantly, the Hardlight Shield flaring to life just in time to block a barrage of plasma shots from a Storm Rifle. A moment later, Ethan and Sarah had gunned the attacking Elite down, and Sarah pushed herself to her feet just as Lasky ordered her to find them a fallback position.
"Parts depot!" Sarah shouted, pointing to one that didn't have enemies between them and it. "Go!"
Everyone sprinted for it instantly, Ethan passing his rifle to the Arbiter and grabbing his SAW, beginning to spray the horde of aliens pursuing them as he ran backward, Maria guiding him so that he didn't have to turn around or trip.
"DeMarco, when we're in, seal it!" Palmer ordered.
"Copy, Commander!" DeMarco agreed.
A moment later, Ethan entered last, and DeMarco sealed the doors and locked them.
Sarah turned to Lasky. "Please tell me the cavalry's on the way."
"All comm traffic is jammed," Lasky said gravely. "If you're waiting for the Cavalry, I'm afraid we're it."
"DeMarco, find a window and keep a lookout," Ethan said, tossing him Ethan's modified Type-3 Active Camo device, which had been officially named a Type-4 after being approved for mass-production. "They stopped chasing us, and I doubt it was because they didn't see where we went."
DeMarco nodded, sticking the cloaking device to his back and vanishing.
"Arbiter, you know how to use that?" Ethan asked.
"I do," the Arbiter nodded. "Though I almost wish I had brought my Carbine."
"I don't have one of those," Ethan said, sticking his SAW to the magnets on his back and taking the DMR instead. "But I have a Hardlight DMR."
"Hardlight?" the Arbiter asked, accepting the rifle and handing the Assault Rifle back. "Interesting. You don't seem to have any magazines on you."
"Infinite ammo," Ethan smirked. "No reloading required."
"Can I borrow your SAW?" Scruggs asked.
"No," Ethan said. "You're armed, he's only got an Energy Sword and no cloaking tech. If you run out of ammo, I'll give it to you, but for now, I'll keep it. I have shit luck, so I may need it."
"Tom, no dice on the Infinity or the other ships," Sarah reported. "Either they're not hearing us, or..."
"Let's not go down that rabbit hole just yet, Sarah," Lasky said, staring at a computer.
"One thing's for sure," Admiral Hood said. "We can't stay here."
"Agreed, Admiral," Lasky said.
"Lord Hood, do you prefer 'Admiral' or 'Lord'?" Ethan asked. "Out of curiosity."
"We have bigger issues, so for right now, I'd accept just Hood," Admiral Hood said.
Just then, the Arbiter led Lydus over to the computer where Lasky had a map pulled up, courtesy of Maria, who was standing beside it, though not Hardlight at the moment.
"Admiral Hood," the Arbiter said, pointing at a structure on the map. "Given its proximity to your outer colonies, this facility was considered a valued prize during the war. As such, it was not left entirely unprotected. Many of the planetary defenses were decommissioned. Their fortifications, however, remain."
"Weapons?" Admiral Hood asked.
"Most likely," the Arbiter nodded.
"We make for that redoubt, then," Admiral Hood decided. "Hole up until help arrives."
"Help!?" Lydus demanded. "You'd hide even as our ships may have suffered fates worse than ours!?"
"Lydus is right," Lasky nodded. "We could be stuck here indefinitely unless we can restore communications."
"Heads up!" DeMarco warned. "We got dropships inbound!"
"Lydus, we must depart!" one of the Brutes escorting Lydus, the same that had seemed to be getting agitated during the brief attempt at peace talks, advised. "Now!"
"Palmer, get the ambassadors to that redoubt," Lasky ordered leading her away from the others slightly.
"The ambassadors and you, right?" Sarah asked.
"Those diplomats cannot go home with so much as a scratch or the deal to share the Brutes' resources is off," Lasky explained. "And I can't guarantee that, you can."
Ethan turned back to the diplomats, then walked over to them.
"I'll stay with Captain Lasky," Ethan said, passing his Spartan Laser to Sarah. "The switch above the grip folds it up and extends it. Thirty seconds to recharge between shots."
Sarah hesitated. "I don't like it."
"We're going to reestablish coms, so we'll need someone with experience with a radio," Ethan said. "And we happen to have someone qualified."
"Spartan Ray, you have a comms background," Sarah spoke up, understanding Ethan's plan.
"Did four years of SIGINT," Ray nodded, referring to ONI's Signals Intelligence program.
"Congratulations, Spartan Ray," Sarah said. "You're the resident expert. You'll be accompanying Ethan and Captain Lasky to attempt to restore communications."
Ray nodded, pulling her helmet back on.
"Since we all have Hardlight Weapons, we won't need to worry about not getting more weapons," Ethan said. "Captain, give me your Magnum."
"Why?" Lasky asked, handing it over.
"It fires explosives," Ethan said, trading the Magnum for his own. "If you have to use it up close, you'll kill yourself. Mine fires normal Hardlight bullets."
"There's nothing normal about Hardlight bullets from a Magnum," Lasky said.
"You know what I mean," Ethan said.
"Good luck, Commander Palmer," Lasky said. "Whatever happens, those VIPs don't leave your sight 'til they're over the finish line!"
Then, Ethan opened a service tunnel's hatch and the three of them dropped into the tunnel. As they ran, Ethan glanced back at the entrance.
"What is it?" Lasky asked. "I know that look."
"You can't see my face, Captain," Ethan reminded him, then sighed. "We have a traitor."
"I was afraid you were going to say that," Lasky sighed. "Too prepared, right?"
"That, too, but mostly because they fell back," Ethan said. "They had no reason not to pursue us all the way to that depot, but they didn't. One SAW firing at them isn't enough to discourage a full assault."
"I agree," Ray nodded. "Who is it?"
All three stopped, and Ethan turned on Ray.
"Maria," Ethan said.
Maria appeared at Ray's side in an instant and set a hand against her armor, instantly locking it in place.
"How did you..." Ray trailed off, eyes wide with surprise.
"Maria can do a lot more than that," Ethan said, walking around behind Ray and removing her helmet, then parted her hair so that he could press his palm to her neural interface. "I'm going to access your neural interface in order to review your memories. If you're the traitor, I'll kill you. If you're not, you'll live, but you'll have a headache. If you're innocent, you will never breathe a word of my ability to do this to anyone."
"Go ahead," Ray invited him, calming. "I have nothing to hide."
"We'll see," Ethan said, then allowed Maria to access the interface.
Memories flooded his mind instantly, passing through Ethan and Maria's mind in a flood, though they were easily able to see everything. The process took ten seconds, and when Ethan withdrew his hand, he smirked.
"Well, well," Ethan smirked. "I had no idea you held Sarah in such...esteem."
Ray blushed slightly, but said nothing.
"She's innocent," Ethan reported as Ray's armor unlocked and she groaned, holding a hand to her head. "You'll stay with the captain and keep him safe. I'll double back to the others. Here."
He handed her helmet back to her, then handed her his SAW. "In case you need more than that Assault Rifle."
Ray nodded, sticking the SAW to her back. "Good Hunting, Sir."
"Good luck," Ethan nodded. "Both of you."
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