Halo: The Crimson Arc, Abyssal Finn

Raimundo, Evelyn and Anastasia were on their feet when Dylan described the main objective in this new Mission. The three looked confused “I don’t get it” Anastasia began, “After all these months, why now?”

“We’re stuck. After barely any word from Earth or the other colonies, we have no means to stop Cortana. The only one who might give us a chance is on Sanghelios” Dylan explained.

“Dr. Halsey” Evelyn realized.

“And she was with the Commander and Fireteam Osiris, who were on Sanghelios” Dylan explained

“Osiris” Rai stated bitterly, “I can’t believe they got chosen, They barely spent any time together up until this point, we’ve been fighting together for a year now.”

“Are you still bitching about how they got the mission that ended with them killing Jul ‘Mdama?” Ana asked in annoyance.

“It’s bullshit!” Rai shouted, “We’ve been after him since Requiem, but the Commander and Captain gave the job to Locke, of all people, and his team? And now all we get is a simulation in the War Games!”

“Ugh, Rai, you’ve been complaining about this for months now.” Dylan sighed, “Why don’t you take a tip from Queen Elsa and Let It Go.”

“Oh thanks a lot, now I got that song stuck in my head again” Rai said, “That’s the last time we let Thorn pick the movie at Movie night.”

“Rai, Focus” Evelyn interrupted, “We’ve got a new Mission” She turned to Dil, “So how are we even going to get there?”

“Ok, here’s the sitch” Dylan began, he moved to the terminal screen that was in their room and began typing, “In another two hours, the Infinity is going to drop out of Slip-Space, It’ll be another routine scan and another attempt to contact HIGHCOM before Cortana can try and get a lock on us. During that time, We take a small ship with a Slip-Space engine, load it with full armament: weapons, spare armor, repair and medic kits, and leave Infinity just before it re-enters slip-space.” he animates a small simulation of his plan, “Then, with the Nav-data in the ship we have, it’ll be a short ride to Sanghelios, We get our people, tend to any injuries we can and get them out.”

“One flaw in this plan, Dragon” Ana began, “When we leave Infinity, how are we going to get back?”

“Oh that I got figured out” Dylan continued, “You see, even though we are jumping to random locations, there is still an algorithm to the Nav-Data and more so when Roland rolls the dice, so to speak. I’ll add a little subroutine though my usual means, loading Roland’s dice if you will, that’ll allow us to set a rendezvous point where we’ll meet up with the Infinity when it exits slip space again.”

“And what about Cortana?” Evelyn asked, “What if she finds us, she’ll get the data and know where Infinity will be.”

“Remember when we dealt with Gideon on Desdoron V?” Dylan asked.

“Oh yeah, you had Garnet kick his ass” Rai said, remembering that mission.

“Garnet?” Ana questioned.

“Actually that was a combative code I developed back in my hacker days to distract AIs. I only made it look like Garnet, I give them a different body each time so the AI doesn’t recognize them.” Dil explained, “I’m going to be bringing that along with some other goodies I have in storage” He takes out a data chip and inserts it into the terminal.

“But Cortana isn’t a regular Smart AI anymore,” Evelyn brought up, “She’s changed. She’s part Forerunner now after accessing the Waypoint for Forerunners”

“The Domain, I know. I can only hope that it’ll just be enough to slow her down or distract her enough to make a getaway” Dil said, “It’ll take all I can think of to try and combat her.”

“What ship are we taking for this mission. There aren’t that many small ships with FTL drives” Ana said.

“There is one type that I can think of” Rai answered, “A Prowler. But does Infinity even have one?”

“They are part of the Office of Naval Intelligence, every UNSC star ship has at least one Prowler docked in secret somewhere” Evelyn replied.

“And Infinity is no different” Dylan said, “We just have to find it”

“Wait, wouldn’t the Captain tell you where it is if he gave us this mission?” Ana asked

“That was the only flaw, He said despite the circumstances he couldn’t tell me where they have it docked. He says it’s part of the mission, to see if we are good enough for it” Dylan explained.

“…I think I can see him doing that” Evelyn said.

“Really, ‘cause I don’t” Ana argued.

“For once I agree with Wolf, something is off” Rai added

“I thought I told you to not call me that unless we’re on a mission” Ana growled at Rai.

“Technically we ARE on a mission” Rai countered.

“He’s got you there, Ana” Evelyn commented.

“We’re on the clock people” Dil called, “Let’s not waste any more time on this and get to work” He takes his data pad out and starts typing, “I’ll look for the ship, when I do, meet me at that location, with full armor and weapons.”

“Since when are you Squad Leader” Ana asked in annoyance.

“None of us are, we all agreed to that” Dil answered, bringing up that argument from long before they got on Requiem.

After finally working together as a team through the War Games, the four spoke among themselves, many Spartan Fireteams had a member that acted as Squad Leader, who then, in turn, reported to Commander Palmer, who lead all the Fireteams on Infinity. So when the Question was asked, they all brought up their reasons on who should be Squad Leader: Raimundo had the most experience in combat, with more commendation metals than any of them. Evelyn had experience leading as a ship commander during the last days of the war, showing navel skills that rivaled that of the late Captain Jacob Keyes, she would have gotten her own ship and crew, but she declined the offer. Dylan was the oldest, his skills in infiltration made them an asset, and his bizarre logic in his color choice made Rai and Eva curious on whether to not it held any weight. However, it was Anastasia who, rather than vote for herself like the others, suggested that there shouldn’t be a Squad Leader. All of them reached the same level of Commendations when they joined the Spartan IVs, selected every specialization and mastered them, they were all equally important, therefore they should all share the same burden. They all agreed to it and the Commander liked the idea as well, so Fireteam Crimson didn’t have a leader, they all had a say in what should be done.

“And yet here you are, acting like it” Ana told Dylan, showing him that he was breaking that agreement.

“I was given a message from the Captain, I’m just relaying that to all of us” Dil replied. The two looked at one another, there was a feeling that heads would butt. Despite the many missions, Ana still didn’t get along with the rest of Crimson.

“Look, we should focus on the task at hand. Dil is good with these things, he can find the ship.” Evelyn stated, “Rai and I can go through the inventory and decide what we should bring, and you can…um…”

“Stand around and growl at everyone?” Rai teased.

“Not Helping” Eva groaned.

“Ana, you have a skill with choosing the right weapon, maybe you should go with Eva” Dil suggested.

Ana looked at him for a moment before saying, “You have a point there. Alright” Ana said as she walked over to Eva.

“Rai comes with me” Dil turns to the last teammate, “I’m gonna need your expertise on vehicle requisition, You never know if we’ll need to drive through some terrain when we land”

“Can we even fit a Hog on a prowler?” Eva asked

“Let’s cross that bridge when we get to it” Rai answered.

Ana sighed, “Fine, just don’t get lost.”

“We won’t” Rai said as they left their quarters.

////////////////

Evelyn and Anastasia looked over all the weapons in one of the Ship’s armory. They were the only ones in this specific armory, allowing the two a moment of piece.

“So many weapons…so little choices” Evelyn chuckled lightly, examining a Covenant Carbine, a red one that she had come to like; the Blood of Suban, a specially crafted carbine by members of the Sword of Sanghelios, it was unique for firing needler rounds rather than its usual ordinance.

“We’re going to be on a prowler, so who's to say we can’t bring one of everything.” Ana suggested, “or in the Cripple’s case 4 of everything” she added with a smirk.

Evelyn couldn’t help but laugh at that “That’s true, Dylan can sometimes be a bit trigger happy, not one to spare the ammo.”

“Well, he better learn. I don’t want to end up stuck on another planet with no Ammo” Ana added as she finished looking over a DMR.

“Don’t worry, Prowlers do have Armory sections in them. I know because I’ve been on a few” Evelyn explained as she then looked over a battle rifle, “Though there are different models of the Prowler, not every one of them is the same.”

“You think we might get stuck with an old ship?” Ana asked

“Nah, Infinity would most likely have a new model, and it should be enough for this kind of op” Evelyn described.

“Though it’s strange that the Captain wouldn’t just tell us where the ship is, even if it’s an ONI thing” Ana said while checking a sniper rifle.

“Yeah…something about this doesn’t add up” Eva said skeptically, “I’ve never known Dil to lie but the way he described this op feels like he’s not telling us everything”

Ana turned to look at her. throughout all their missions as a team, Ana grew to trust Evelyn’s instincts and her observation skills, she called out different plans in the past due to how she sees troop and ship movements, and she had always been right, so if she thinks something is off about this mission, she chose to listen “Well why didn’t you bring it up before?” she asked.

“I guess hearing that we got this mission distracted me from any nuances that I might have caught” Evelyn answered.

“Maybe you should ask him now” Ana suggested.

“No, I’ll wait until he and Rai find the Prowler, I don’t want to waste any time auguring about it if it turns out to be nothing. At lease this way, we can abort before it’s too late.”

Ana rolled her eyes at that before saying, “whatever” before putting the sniper rifle back together. She hoped that the Hot Pocket was wrong, she did not want to feel like that they were going to go AWOL on the UNSC. The last thing she wanted was another fireteam, probably Majestic, going after them, they could kick Majestic’s ass but still, she didn’t care for the added aggravation or the mark on her records.

///////////////


“Are you sure we’re going the right way?” Raimundo asked as he followed Dil. The two were in their full armor now, save for the helmets which hung behind their backs.

Dil looked at his data-pad. He did through searches on the ship while they were in line to get their armor, and even though it involved a little trickery to break the code, and more so to keep Roland from seeing him, he found a section in Infinity that looked hidden enough to have a Prowler away from prying eyes. “If what I’m reading is correct, we should be.”

“You know, I kinda do agree with Anastasia. This feels weird that the Captain wouldn’t just tell us where it is” Rai began, "I mean hell, he told us about everything with Cortana, Osiris and Blue Team, why wouldn't he just tell us"

"That's exactly what I said when I asked him that question" Dylan said, his eyes still focusing on his data pad, "But like I said, he wanted to see if we can find it, it's another part of the mission, a test if you will, to see how good we are in this endeavor."

Rai narrowed his eyes, wishing Evelyn was with them, she could probably see if he was lying about this. After all, how many times has he used an excuse like that to swipe a vehicle or a pelican back when he was an ODST? Though Dylan has never been known to pull a stunt like that, it still felt suspicious, “We've been under his command for a year now, he doesn’t seem like the type to test us…that’s more of the Commander” he continued, pressing on.

“Well, maybe some of her thinking brushed off on Lasky” Dil retorted.

“Maybe. I mean they have been closer before all this started” Rai pointed out.

“I’ve noticed, and I recall you still owe me that 50 credits” Dil said with a smile.

Rai rolled his eyes at this, “The moment I see those two connect lips, THEN I’ll transfer the money.” 

“Wait, stop” Dil suddenly put a hand up. He looks at the readings before facing a wall. “Here” He said.

“Here? But there’s no door” Raimundo noted.

“That terminal” Dil pointed out. they see a small keypad and a small digital readout. Dil hands Rai his pad before cracking his knuckles and fingers. He began typing on the screen several codes, trying to get access.

///////////

Roland had several things to do on the Infinity at once, but being a Smart AI, he was able to do it without breaking a sweat. He stood in cyberspace as he monitored War Games, the oxygen levels, artificial gravity, the ship’s personal shields and the rations, all were enough to sustain the crew for years to come, what with the gardens they have on the private habitat levels on Infinity.

That’s when he noticed a blip, an unauthorized access to the hidden Prowler station where Infinity kept it’s small slip-space capable ships. “Well, looks like I was right” Roland said to himself, He opened what looked like a vid-window, he was about to call Lasky to tell him this when the screen turned to static, “What the hell?”

The screen then changed to an image of a man with glasses, his head photo-edited to a cartoon body, shaking his finger back and forth as he said “Uh-uh-uh. You didn’t say the magic word. Uh-uh-uh. Uh-uh-uh.” It continued in an endless loop, Roland opened another window and got the same loop, a third window gets opened and there’s another.

“PLEASE!” Roland cried out, “Goddamnit! I hate this hacker crap!” He cursed, “Ok, screw visual, Audio only.” He closes the windows and forms a microphone. “Captain Lasky, Spartan Rodriguez is-“ feedback stops him from talking, and the microphone becomes a speaker.

“Take a moment to think of just” the speaker began broadcast in tune, “Flexibility, love and trust. Take a moment to think of just, Flexibility, love and trust. Here comes a thought…”

“Ugh, I wonder if Cortana ever went through this shit” Roland sighed to himself, then he bobbed his head to the tune, “Well, at least it’s better than Halsey’s ‘Undid Iridium' hold on me.”

//////////////

“…and Boom goes the dynamite” Dil said as the screen read ‘unlocked’ and a seam is revealed, opening up into a small hanger, in the hanger they see a large, black ship, stealth in appearance, no markers of any kind. “This is it. Our Prowler.” Dil said

“Huh…it’s shape would classify it as a Winter class” Raimundo said while looking at it, then went to Dil’s pad and opened a file on ship stats, “But it’s bigger, around the size of an average prowler, and it seems to have more Armament than the others.”

Dylan took the pad and looked over the specs, “Hornet mines, Shiva-class Nukes, Pulse-Laser Turrets…Damn, all the features” He said.

“Dusk to Wolf and Boss” Rai began, speaking into his comms, “We found our Prowler, sending directions.”

/////////////

The Prowler station, as it turns out, was a level below where Anastasia and Evelyn were gathering their weapons. The two arrived caring large loads on robotic Dollies, Dylan exited the ship “Well, we’re in more luck, there’s a Mjolnir Assembly apparatus inside, Looks like this thing was made for Spartans in mind.”

“Excellent. Well, Ana and I figure it’d be best to bring 4 of every weapon we have, Including double the ammo” Evelyn explained.

“Good thinking, what with Dragon’s Trigger finger” Rai teased, earning a “Hey!” from Dil, making the two chuckle.

“Uh...Hot Pocket…” Anastasia whispered, getting Evelyn’s attention.

“Oh. Right…” Eva remembered, then she turned to Dil, “It must have been a pain finding this prowler, it’s a shame that the Captain didn’t just tell us.”

Dil looked at her as he said, “Yeah, Rai and I were talking about it too, we think it might be some of the Commander’s attitude rubbing off on him.”  

Evelyn looked at Dylan, observed his stance, noticed his voice and his facial features, “…That’s not it.”

Rai turned, looking surprised that this, “I’m sorry?”

“Lasky doesn’t even know we’re here, does he?” Evelyn asked walking over, “And I bet you’ve kept Roland blind too.”

Anastasia focused on Dil, wondering what he’d say. The Spartan was silent before he sighed, “I should have known I couldn’t fool you.”

“Ugh! I can’t…I fucking knew it!” Ana cursed.

“Whoa wait a sec” Rai began, “Are you telling us that there is NO Mission to get Commander Palmer and her team?”

Dil looked at them as he said, “Yeah…yes, ok? I…I made it up.”

“Un-fucking-believable!” Ana shouts, “Do you have ANY idea how many rules we broke just being here alone?!” She marches towards him.

“Whoa-whoa, cool it” Dil called out, holding his hand and stepping back, “You didn’t know, you, Eva and Rai had Plausible de-“ He didn’t finish as Ana socked him in the eye, Rai and Evelyn held her back.

“Whoa, calm down wolf!” Rai shouted, making Ana turn on him and punch him, but Rai saw it and held his gauntlet-covered arm, blocking it, Ana cursed as she held her hand, it didn’t break but it still hurt like hell.

"Thanks guys" Dil said rubbing his eye, only to see Rai's fist come at him, striking his other eye, this punch sent him to the ground. "Ah! Jesus..." He called out holding his other eye, "The fuck was that for?"

"Next time, don't lie to your teammates and friends" Rai said sternly.

"You're wearing armor, you dick! And I have contacts on" Dil lets out as he got to his feet.

"Yeah, well, you deserve it" Rai added.

“Why Dil? I don’t understand, you always seemed the most level-headed of us, I mean more than Rai or Ana” Evelyn stated, earning both a “Hey!” from Rai and an indifferent grunt from Ana, “Well it’s true. Never once I saw him violate anything this major” Evelyn turned back to Dil, “Why risk everything for this?”

“Because we need them” Dylan began. “We have been on the run for Months now, with no plan of attack or defense. The question isn’t ‘where’ or ‘How’ will Cortana strike us…it’s ‘when!’ And the only people…the only ones that can give us so much as an iota of a chance of countering that traitorous bitch, are stuck on a planet with the only group of allies we have that won’t be able to stand for long with whatever Cortana is packing!” Dylan shouts, the rest of Crimson stood silently as their cryptanalysis continued. “Commander Palmer, Dr. Halsey, and Fireteam Osiris went to Sanghelios to find Blue Team and whatever Cortana was planning, for all we know they could have the keys we need to stop her and they can’t get to us. That’s why I did this! That’s why I tried to get us to leave to get them!”

The three were silent, processing what their 4th member said. In Rai’s point of view He understood perfectly why Dil did this, and to be honest, if Dil didn’t, he probably would have tried it himself. Anastasia looked angry regardless, there may have been some levity in what Rodriguez said, but he went about it the wrong way, he should have asked the Captain about this, it wouldn’t have worked but he still would have gone through the right channels. Evelyn, however, processed this like when she analyzed Dil the first time and saw something else.

“There’s more to it isn’t there?” Eva asked, “I mean, yes that’s the main reason and you believe it 100%, and to be honest, so do I, but it wasn’t the catalyst. Something else triggered this, and you’re hiding it.”

Dil was quiet for a moment, Then he reached in his armor and pulled his tags, earning an “Oh Christ…” From Ana.

Dil glared at Ana but began regardless, “I’ve told you all before, about my brother and his sacrifice at the Rubble while we made our escape, that he gave me his tags for safekeeping” He began. The three all knew this, he had told it to them at different times and situations, Ana heard it during a card game they played. “Well…There’s more to it, I left some parts out because they were personal to me. You see, Tommy had another person in his life…a girlfriend. Her name was Kimiko…Kimi for Short. Heh, I use to tease my brother about it all the time, but in honestly, I was happy for him.” His mind wandered a little as the memories returned.

————

She was his third girlfriend from what my parents told me, the first was a childhood sweetheart that was before I was born. The second, as far as I could remember, actually dumped him…brutally, I never learned why but I do remember Tommy in a depression after a few days. It wasn’t until we started to settle in the Rubble when Tommy met Kimiko and began going out. When they were around each other, I saw how happy they were, It was a special kind of feeling I saw in them, love. Love that was as true as I’ve ever seen or heard of in the stories our parents told us when we were younger.

The Fire and Water tags that he had, the ones he wore with his charm, He actually gave one of them to her, she got the water while he kept the fire, it was a commitment charm, a promise ring if you will, to show that they were two halves of one whole. When they announced this to the family, they were so happy for them, and I was too. Even though I was young, my brother helped me understand how great love can be, and it made me proud of him too. Despite the hardship and troubles, we had been through, to see happiness like this was something that I thought would never end. But sadly…life doesn’t always go according to plan.

When the Battle for the rubble took place, I was 11, our families were all being escorted by Juliana, the AI who was in charge of controlling the Rubble, to an emergency asteroid Habitat called “The Exodus Project,” an evacuation plan in case the Covenant came looking for us. While the majority of civilians were being evacuated, Those who were part of the Rubble Security Council were armed up and sent to fight off any wandering forces that might try to get us. Tommy was part of the Security Council so he had to go. Before he left he came to me and gave me his charm and the Fire tag, “Keep this safe for me, ok Dil?” He asked, “Kimi would kill me if I let this get banged up when I get out there.”

I gave him a hug, begging him not to go, “Sorry Dil, but they need me. But I’ll be back, we’ll have to start a new life but we’ll all be together. Now I need you to keep my charm safe, will you do that?” he asked me. “…Ok Tommy. I promise.” He looked at me and got to my level, “Dylan, whatever happens today, I want you to be strong. Never give up, if you do that, you can overcome any obstacle.” …And with those last words, He left. I didn’t learn about what happened to him until the Exodus asteroid made it to colony world of Falaknuma.

We made it to the planet surface and were placed in an emergency shelter. Since a lot of residents in the Rubble were part of the Insurrection, The UNSC had to catalog everyone that was there, look up their files and see whether or not they were a threat. It was here I was told Tommy didn’t make it, that the ship he was on that defended the Rubble was destroyed by plasma bombardment. I was shocked, I must have cried for hours when Kimiko’s family found us. They had all made it out and had heard what happened to Tommy, Kimi turned to me, asked me if I was ok. I didn’t answer. “I’m sorry about Tommy, I knew he went to help but…I thought he would make it.”

“Me too” I said tearfully. I saw that she was trying to hold back tears, she missed him too, I wanted to make her happy, so I tried to give her Tommy’s charm. She let the tears flow and she hugged me, “That’s sweet of you to offer Dil, but I can’t, he gave them to you for safe keeping. In fact…” She reached around her neck and pulled the water tag that Tommy gave her, and she gave it to me, “Here…I wouldn’t want to break up a pair” she said. “But this is yours” I said, “You…can keep it safe for me. I almost lost it during the evacuation, and I might lose it here, but you’ve kept Tommy’s safe, you’re perfect for keeping mine safe too.”

So she gave me the second tag, I promised her I’d keep it safe. We were all put to bed that night, we’d be processed the next day and be free to either go back to earth or another colony. I woke up to the sound of screams. My parents were alert, as were the soldiers who were guarding us, they all rushed to the source of the scream. I tried to see what was going on but the guards kept many civilians away, what I saw was my parents tending to Kimiko’s parents, who were in tears…and two men pulling a stretcher out of their make-shift shelter…Kimiko’s hair stuck out before medics covered it up. I learned that Kimiko hung herself, she left a note, I didn’t know what the note said until I got older; The lost of Tommy broke her heart and she felt incomplete, she couldn’t go on.

Since then, I kept the tags on me at all times, never letting them out of my sight. Whenever someone asked why I never took them off, I always told them the same, “I promised to keep them safe.” I got a little crazy when they would be taken for me, one time I knocked out a kid at school because he swiped them from me and was playing keep away with them. I told the school counselor about what they mean to me. He told me that I hadn’t fully accepted Tommy and Kimi’s death and that the tags were a representation of the two, he suggested that I get rid of them, or at least store them away, letting them finally rest. I thought about this for a long time, my parents thought it was a great idea, they wanted to help me move on, my grandparents said that there was nothing wrong with keeping their memory alive, in fact, they thought it was a noble idea. Ultimately, it was my choice in the end. That’s when I realized something: the tags weren’t just a representation of Tommy and Kimi. the tags were their commitment charms…It represented their love…a love that never got to grow. It was this and Tommy’s sacrifice that fueled my choice, the choice to both keep the tags and the choice to elitist with the UNSC

——————

“It was the start of another promise. I was too young to do anything about it then, but I vowed that if I had the opportunity, I would make sure that Tommy and Kimi’s fate would not be the same fate of another love” Dylan said boldly.

Evelyn looked like she was brought to tears when Dylan told the story, it was no wonder he never mentioned his brother having a girlfriend. Raimundo looked at Dylan with a sense of understanding, admiring the noble cause that drove him to fight. Anastasia, however, didn’t look like the story based her at all…or if it did, she did a good job of hiding it, “So what does that have to do with now?” She asked

“Captain Lasky doesn’t want to admit it, and I know you all have seen it, but he’s worried about Commander Palmer. You may not want to believe they have a thing together, but I’ve seen the way they look at eachother…it was the same looks Tommy and Kimi gave to each other” Dil said, “I can’t sit by and watch as another love might end before it even has a chance, I won’t. And if it means my inevitable court-martial, then so be it. I shouldn’t have even asked you to do this with me, I was risking your lives for something stupid. I’ll understand if you want no part of it.”

The three were silent again, Dylan didn’t know what they would do, but he had an assumption, “Well…I guess this is goodbye” He said as he walked towards the Prowler entrance.

“Dylan wait” Evelyn voiced, “…I’ve seen you fly a wasp, you’re a terrible pilot” She said with a smile before walking towards the entrance, “You’re gonna need my skills to fly this thing.”

“Your skills? What about me?” Rai asked.

Evelyn smirked, “Rai, you’re good with driving but I’ve had more experience with a star-ship.”

“Please, I was the number 1 fighter pilot back when I was with murder, I can fly a Prowler” he boasted with a smile

“Hold up” Anastasia said finally, “You two are actually going along with this bullshit mission? The Cripple lied to us with a stupid reason.”

“Anastasia you are as emotionally sensitive as Seto Kaiba” Dylan said to Ana with annoyance, then turned to Eva and Rai "Though she does have a point, I did keep my reason secret because-"

"Dil, you don't think I wanted to die back on Jericho VII when it got glassed?" He asked him in a serious tone, "My entire family perished that day, and I had to live with my survivor's guilt. So don't think I need your reasons when I'm already committed to seeing this through."

"We were already going along with this for the more practical reasons" Evelyn added, "But you shouldn't feel ashamed. After all, what's wrong with honoring the dead?"

“Because the dead shouldn’t have any holding on us, no matter what he believes in” Anastasia said, “Everybody’s got dead people, it’s no excuse to get everybody else dead along the way. If you three wanna risk court-martial or even your lives for a reason like that? Well, then be my guest.”  

Having nothing else to say, Ana turns and leaves the three alone in the hangar. The three stood, unsure of what to do. “You think she’ll tell Lasky on us?”

“She might, or maybe not. It’s hard to tell with her.” Rai answered.

“Well, let’s get out of here before either occurs” Dylan said, “We’ve only got another 55 minutes to take off” he explained.

“Then let’s load this bird up” Rai said as the three continued their mission.

///////////

Anastasia marched with a purpose, if she hurried to Captain Lasky now, she might stop her teammates from doing such an insane thing. She shook her head, Rodriguez was usually level-head, she didn’t think he’d be crazy enough to pull a stunt like this. Those damned cartoons of his, she was surprised he didn’t rid himself of that silliness during boot camp, he must have gotten a wuss of a drill sergeant, not like hers. And of course Riviera and LaCoste were on his side, Riviera’s an idiot and an adrenaline junkie, while the Hot Pocket was still a Navy Brat inside, Jesus, if these three ever fought with the Wolves, they wouldn’t stand a chance.

The Wolves. No matter how many times she tried, her thoughts returned to her old Hell Jumper Squad, most of which were no longer among the living. After the end of the Covenant war, Anastasia Novara became one of the last surviving members of one of the ODST’s most legendary squads, each of them were given new names, names that they earned through their actions, actions like surviving an SOEIV Pod when it burned up. She still remembered the burns and the pains she felt, she thought for sure it was her end, but miraculously she survived. It was this, along with her unending will when taking on a small troop of Covenant forces, that she was given the name Fire Wolf, and she felt that was her true identity rather than just a call-sign.

As she walked she noticed some Spartans in full armor, There was no real point to wearing the armor unless given a mission, that’s why she was still in her undersuit. One of them was showing off a new helmet to them, she rolled her eyes, they’re treating armor as some sort of status symbol, like a fancy car. She recognized the helmet, it was from a set known as Decimator, She only saw images of it during armor selection, this was the first time she actually noticed it, the Spartan’s armor was all black, the helmet and color triggered a memory…Rory.

Like many ODSTs, she wasn't a fan of the Spartans back during the war, but she did make a connection to one, a Spartan III by the name or Rory B-312, she was surprised that he was assigned to solo missions, missions where he didn't have a team, she often wished she had that luxury, maybe things would have turned out differently. But alas, like many Spartans, they weren’t as invincible as the propaganda let them believe. Rory was on Reach when it fell, he was assigned to another team of Spartans, Noble Team they were called, She heard that they did all they could to help civilians escape and try to hold back the Covenant, but according to reports, they each fell, one by one, Rory was the last of Noble team to go, and she didn’t take it well. She rubbed at her arm…The scaring on it is almost invisible now, but back then, they were fresh again, but it wasn’t an attempt at suicide, she wore a scar for every Wolf that was named that died during their missions, Rory was an exception because of the bond they formed. She sometimes wondered if in his last moments…he was thinking about her.

“I was" a voice said, startling her, she looked annoyed and turned to the person that surprised her, but she froze at who it was: That Mark V(B) armor and helmet, that Black color…it was Rory.

She cried out and jumped back in shock, falling to the floor, getting the attention of some of the other Spartans, “Hey, you ok?” one asked.

Ana turned to him before turning back to where she saw Rory…only to find he was gone. “I…I’m fine” She said sharply before getting up. She turned around and went back to marching to Captain Lasky’s quarters, she turned a corner and her heart skipped a beat again.

“Still as anti-social as last time” The figure that looked and sounded like Rory said as he stood in front of her again.

Anastasia began to hyperventilate and did the only thing she could think of, Run. She turned and began sprinting as fast as she could away from the figure, she ran out into the hanger bay, turning as she approached the railings on the small catwalk. At that same time, Fireteam Majestic was walking opposite direction, Thorn saw Ana come her way, “Hey Novara, what’s the rush?” He asked with a light tone in his voice, trying to be friendly, however, Ana just plowed right through them, pushing Thorn over the railing and down on the next floor. Madsen, Hoya, and Grant rush to the railing to see where he landed “…I’m ok!” He shouted with a grunt.

///////////

Ana continued running, she wanted to be in a secluded area, so she was trying to find her barracks, However, she turned another corner and saw Rory again, “Fire Slow down” He called out, but Ana did not yield, she found the first door she saw opened and entered, she slammed on the panel and it closed. She breathed heavily again as she began to search her suit.

“Where is it? I know I packed one in here!” She said in a panicked tone as she frantically searched. She was in Africa during the battle of earth in the last days of the war, it was where the last of her teammates fell under something that was out of a nightmare: The parasitic life form known as the Flood, which came on an infected covenant cruiser. She and a Wolf named Timber were the only survivors, though Timber was attacked, Ana was able to revive him…only to have him live the remainder of his life in a vegetated state. Since that day, Anastasia developed a Post Traumatic Stress Distorter, whenever someone brought up the flood, she would go into a panicked state and lash out, it happened rarely though as all the remaining halos were decommissioned and rid of their Flood samples, also not everyone wanted to bring up the flood, she would avoid the training exercise Roland had set up to prep Spartans in case the parasite ever came back, even the war games where other Spartans became flood. Though her PTSD was only in response to triggers of the flood, Ana was still prescribed some form of medication: a small auto-injector pen she carried at all times in case she entered another panic attack, even during combat.

“Looking for this?” A voice asked, she froze, then turned to the voice and saw Rory again, holding onto the pen, “Never thought you’d be the type to take happy meds, Fire” He said.

“No, no! This isn’t happening!” She shouts, going back into her pocket, the Rory facing her can’t be holding onto her pen, no this was her hallucinating from her panic attack, the pen was still in her pocket, but why can’t she find it? She turned to the door to get out, but thanks to her Spartan strength on the panel, the door was stuck…she was trapped.

“I remember doing that after the augmentations,” Rory said, “Had to have the CO get me out.”

“Shut-up! Shut-up!” Ana cried out as she entered a fetal position, covering her ears with her hands and closing her eyes shut, “Go away, you’re not real, you’re just a figment of my imagination! You’re not real, you’re not here! You’re dead…you’re dead…just like all the others! Just like the Wolves!” She shouted

“Just like Crimson?” Rory asked, even though Ana had her ears covered, she still heard him.

“No, Crimson is different, they’re alive!” Ana argued, “But they won’t be if I can get to the captain, so just leave me alone!”

“And since when do you care about the rest of Fireteam Crimson?” Rory asked, “I thought you wanted to go Solo, like me.”

“I don’t care about them, they’re just risking their lives for stupid reasons” She shouted, trying to block Rory out. “Just shut up! Go away! Leave me alone!” she cried.

“If you really didn’t care about Crimson, you wouldn’t be in this situation,” Rory said. Suddenly, Ana felt something drop on top of her, she looked and saw her injector pen, then looked up to see Rory looking at her, his helmet off, his face was the same was the last time she saw it. “You’re a Wolf, Fire, and Wolves protects their pack. Figure you should know that by now” He added.

Ana took the pen, she looked up at Rory one last time before she plugs the pen into a small area in her undersuit, built specifically for injections. She felt her heartbeat lower as the meds finally kicked in. “You know…the real Rory wouldn’t say something like that” She said looking down and closing her eyes.

“Good thing I’m not the real Rory,” He said, his voice echoing as he faded away “Good luck Spartan Novara…Novara…”
 
///////

“Novara? Spartan Novara, can you hear me?”

Anastasia opened her eyes, her vision blurred a little before it cleared up, there she saw Captain Lasky facing her, “Captain?” She asked She looked around, she was still in the room she entered, she realized that she was in one of the armories.

“Roland alerted me that your Vitals were spiking,” Lasky told her, he then gently pulled the injector out from its slot, “Another Panic attack I see. Do you need me to call the medics?” he asked

“No sir, I’m fine” Ana said. She looked at where Rory was, but she dismissed it and turned back to the CO,  “I need to tell you something.”  

“It’s Spartan Rodriguez, isn’t it?” Lasky asked, “Roland managed to break his code and tell me. Explain everything” He ordered.

//////////

The rest of Crimson exited the prowler one last time, doing a final check “Ok, so that’s the Rations, the weapons and spare ammo, the extra armor for us and the commander and her team…and we managed to get a troop hog in here” Evelyn said looking over her Data-pad as she was now in full armor, save for the helmet on her back.

“I still say we should have chosen a rocket Hog” Raimundo voiced.

“This fits more people, Dusk, and with heavy weapons loaded, it’s the better option.”

“Well, then I guess that’s everything, we only have another 15 minutes before Infinity leaves slip space” Dylan said looking at the timer on his HUD.

“Looks like I came right on time” The three turn and see Captain Lasky enter the hanger, the three, realizing they were caught, stood in attention, “Well, Rodriguez, Roland really worked to break your code this time, though he told me to tell you thanks for not using that…theme song.” He said with an amused tone in his voice.

Dylan looked down at this, even though he was still in attention, “I’m sorry, Sir, I can explain.”

“That won’t be necessary, Spartan Novara told me everything.” Lasky began, “How you were going to steal this newly minted prowler in order to head to Sanghelios, your interesting plan to get the commander and the Spartan Fireteams and then rendezvous back to infinity once you get them. She also told me about your brother and his finance, and what their deaths meant to you. It’s a noble cause, but you went about it all wrong.”  

The three were silent, ready for their punishment, but Dylan called out, “Captain Lasky, I beg you, Spartans LaCoste and Riviera-"

"Couldn't sit around with our thumbs up our asses, Sir!" Rai interrupted. The moment Dil spoke, Rai knew that he was gonna let himself be thrown under the bus, but he wouldn't let that happen, Crimson was in this together. "We're not going to make excuses, only that we have a plan to get the Commander and her team back. Is it good? I think so. Will go off without a hitch? Probably not. But we can't keep waiting here scared at what Cortana might do to us. You can court martial us AFTER we saved the universe...Sir.

Lasky took this in, Reading his Record, Raimundo did seem like the type to talk back, "And do you agree with your teammate, Spartan LaCoste?" He asked

She stayed in attention before saying, "...Yes Sir"

“I’m glad that you three would take the fall Spartans, it shows loyalty to one another and loyalty to the good of the UNSC” Lasky said before smiling, “But I was going to say you should have asked me before doing all this”

All three turned to him with wide eyes, “Sir?” Rai asked.

“At ease all of you” Lasky said, “I might not have agreed to this at first, but the way you did this…Damn, that’s some impressive work. Now I know why Commander Palmer thinks highly of you. Of course I probably still would have said no, but Spartan Novara convinced me it was for the best.”

At that moment, Anastasia entered the Hanger, fully decked in her armor, her helmet in her arm, this surprised the rest of Crimson even more, “She explained to me your track record, after all, Infinity owes you a debt after what happened on Requiem, and that work you did on Desdoron V? Impressive, I must say. I think if any Spartan Fireteam can do this, it’s Fireteam Crimson. That’s why I’m letting you continue with this mission.”

The three were speechless, Dylan in particular, “I…thank you, sir. I swear you won’t regret this.”

“On the plus side, if you succeed, you’ll all still get Kitchen Patrol and drills when this is over” Lasky added, causing Dylan let out a reflexive “D’oh!” at the punishment they would still receive, Tom couldn’t help but chuckle at that, “Good Luck Spartans.”    

Lasky turns around and leaves the hanger, Dil, Eva and Rai turn to Ana, who was already walking past them, “Come on, you heard the captain, we have a mission to complete.”

“Wait.” Dil said, making her stop, “I thought you didn’t want to risk your life for this mission.”

"You did say it was stupid" Rai added, making Ana narrow her eyes in annoyance.

“No. I said the reason he set it up was stupid, the personal reason I mean, but the other reason wasn't. I just had to tell the Captain that and hoped that he understood” Ana answered, “And he did, so let’s get going.”

“…good enough for me. I call the Pilot seat!” Rai called as he ran into the Prowler, slipping his helmet on.

“Hey, we agreed that I’m flying this thing, I have better experience!” Eva shouted as she followed.

“Guys, don’t touch anything! I’m not done installing my software and code into the Nav computer!” Dylan said as he gave chance.

Ana shook her head at how her teammates acted, they were idiots alright…but they were her idiots, and she would rather have them than be assigned to an even worst Fireteam. Slipping her helmet on, she entered the Prowler.

////////////

After 10 minutes, Fireteam Crimson was now fully loaded and ready to go, though they had to gather extra rations for Anastasia but the four Spartans were at the control room, Evelyn sat in the pilot’s chair, typing in commands and checking the ship’s stats. Raimundo acted as co-pilot, he checked the armament again to make sure that the Prowler was fully loaded. Dylan typed on the screen, finishing his programming in the ship’s computers, Hopefully, they’ll be enough if the worst-case scenario happens. And Anastasia was looking at her data-pad, looking over their inventory, some of their more powerful weapons were in launch pods, ready to shoot down with them if needed.

Roland appeared in the small projector on the bridge “Are you sure you four want to go through with this? ‘Cause there’s no going back once you guys leave the ship, you’ll be by yourselves until that rendezvous point.”

After getting the OK, it was agreed that the infinity will make a calculated jump near where Dylan suggested for their pick up, their window would be short, if they miss it, they won’t be able to return until another few jumps, which might take weeks. “I think we’re all in agreement Roland” Evelyn said.

“Then I guess this is goodbye for now” Roland said before fading away.

“Ok, Infinity is about to exit slip space. The Prowler’s engine is fully primed and ready to go” Evelyn began.

“Control wants to give us a green light, they’re requesting the name of the ship” Rai said.

“Well according to records…this ship doesn’t have a name” Dylan said looking over the Prowler’s  

“Strange that they wouldn’t designate it a name” Eva mused.

“Well, it’s a new one, maybe it wasn’t given a name before the Guardians rose” Dylan guessed.

“That means we get to name it” Rai said with a smile, “I vote for Abyssal Finn.”  

The rest of the Spartans look at him, “Why that?” Eva asked.

“Because Space and the Ocean are referred to as an abyss, that darkness…an ocean of stars…Prowlers are meant to blend in that Darkness, like a creature of the deep. I think it’s a fitting name” Raimundo explained

They thought about this answer for a moment, “I suppose” Eva accepted.

“How about something more uplifting, like Crimson Horizon?“ Dylan suggested.

“How about the Idiot Express?” Ana said with annoyance, “It’s a ship, who cares? It’s not like we’re gonna keep it after this.”

The four were silent for a moment, “…I’m good with Abyssal Finn” Evelyn said.

“Fine…”  Dylan groaned, “tell them the Abyssal Finn is ready for launch.”

Before they could, Captain Lasky appeared via hologram, “Fireteam Crimson” He began, “it is the situation that we have found ourselves that I give the OK for this Mission, If you succeed, we’ll be able to have a plan to stop Cortana. Fail…and we’ll be down another one of the UNSC’s best teams.”

“We won’t fail, Captain Lasky” Raimundo said, “We’ll get our allies back.”

“I surely hope so.” Lasky said, “Back when I was at Corbulo Military Academy, There was a motto all the students and military personnel shouted before going into battle, whether it was training or real” he shut his eyes as the memories of the Corbulo Academy’s fall, “It was a phrase made famous by the school’s namesake, a Roman General who was ordered to take his own life, and loyally did so. While I’m not ordering you to do such a thing, this mission still feels like it. The word he shouted before taking his life was ‘Axios.’ a phrase that means ‘I am worthy.’ That is the battle-cry we shouted, it’s the motto that I’ve grown to accept. So I ask you now, are you worthy?”

Fireteam Crimson looked at him, they all stood up in attention, knowing what he wanted to hear, the four Spartans all shouted, “AXIOS!”

Lasky smiled, “Good Luck, Crimson” and with that, his image faded.

The Prowler, now named Abysmal Finn, began lowering as the platform under it descended to the launch bay. The Spartans were at their stations, ready for take-off. Evelyn began typing in commands, “Ok, engine are hot, cloaking systems on the ready. FTL drive primed.”  The Prowler began to hover, it's engines hummed with life

“Setting coordinates” Raimundo began typing on his screen a star map appeared, highlighting their destination, “Sanghelios, the Urs system.”

“Infinity’s FTL drive has cooled down, We are out of Slip Space” Anastasia reported.

“Abyssal Finn, this is Infinity launch bay control, you are clear for take-off” Infinity’s launch -bay controller announced.

“Copy, control" Evelyn said as she pushed the thruster forward.

Dylan looked out onto the holo-map, there were many quotes he could have said to break the tension: To Infinity and Beyond, Swoop Down and Bring Devastation, Roll Out, But He felt...simple was more appropriate. And so, to quote Stan Pines when he finally activated that great portal, he said to his team "Here we go."

Outside, Abysmal Finn shot out the launch chute and into deep space. once it was far enough away, it glows as it starts to fade away, it’s cloaking systems activating, just before a slip-space portal opened, taking the ship into its waiting entrance. Fireteam Crimson were now gone, their mission has started.

//////////////

Lasky watched the Prowler leave through the Holo-map in the bridge, that’s when Roland appeared on it, “With all due respect, Captain…why did you let them go?”

“What I said before was true, we need every last Spartan on this ship” Lasky said “And that includes Fireteams Osiris, Blue team…and Sarah.”

“There’s a very strong possibly that they won’t make it back” Roland said.

“I know” Lasky said before turning around, he pulled something from his his jacket: His own tags, along with the tags of his older Brother Cadmon Lasky, who died in his SOEIV pod, the tags of his classmate and first love, Chyler Silva, who died during his Squad’s escape from Corbulo’s fall, and the armor fragment of the Hunter that almost killed them all, if it wasn’t for his plan to distract it while the Master Chief finished it off. That day was sill engraved in Lasky’s mind, the day that changed everything and made him the leader that Infinity and its crew looked up to now. It was also the day he lost the girl that helped him make the decisions he made, it was Chyler who saw him for the soldier that he didn’t think he could be, she gave him the inspiration to be a leader that can end war. Though he was now with Commander Sarah Palmer, there would always be a special place in his heart for Chyler, and he’d be damned if he was going to let Sarah end the same way, not if he could help it. “But I have faith. They can do this, Roland.”

“Let’s hope so” Roland said, “Because if they can’t…well, we’re pretty much screwed.”

“Roland, after you try and contact HIGHCOM, prepare the jump to slip-space” Lasky ordered in an annoyed tone.

“Yes Sir” Roland obeyed before fading.

"Axios, Crimson" Lasky said one last time, to himself.