SEPTEMBER, 29TH 2561
8:00PM

SIRCA, UNKNOWN

Nick opened his eyes. He was dazed but heavily injured. The ship around him was almost completely gone, with only some of the main deck and the entire flight deck still intact. He felt something in his chest, checking it he found a metal rod sticking out of his right kidney. Nick winced in pain as he looked around. Rookie was largely unscathed, save for a few bruises. Nick realized that they couldn't stay here long, someone would have seen the ship go down. He would slowly remove the rod in his chest, his body gurgling and squelching as he removed it. He cried out in pain as he pulled it out, hurting immensely. The metal rod made a loud thump as it hit the ground. Nick slowly calmed down as he regained his focus. Slowly getting up as Teardrop appeared in the corner of his vision. "Nicholas, I advise you to seek immediate medical aid." "I know Teardrop, just... give me a moment please." Nick stumbled around covering his wound with his hand. Finding a medkit on the ground nearby he opened it and took the bandages from inside it. He then quickly wrapped his wound to stem the bleeding and ease the pain to allow him to try and make sense of his surroundings.

Looking outside the wreck he could see jungle-like scenery, indicating to him they crashed somewhere in the rings tropical region. Teardrop activated Nick's motion tracker as he took a step outside. "Teardrop, any idea where the other half of the ship landed?" Nick quipped as he looked around for any clues. "Scans indicate that the other part of the ship is 20 miles west of our current location." Teardrop said, with a somewhat sad tone. Nick then felt his ear buzz a bit. Curious, he tapped his ear to see what it was about. "Hello? Anyone on this frequency? If you're from the ship that crashed, please respond." A female voice said over the radio as Nick smirked. "This is Nick, you've got my full attention." Nick said confidently, even though he was in pain.

"Great! So you did make it. Can you maybe relay your coordinates so we can send someone to get you?". The female voice said with a sense of urgency in her voice. "Yeah, but first I need a name. Not gonna just give my coordinates to some random woman on the radio." Nick said as he paced around the wreckage, making notes of the angle of the wreckage. "The name's CT. One of the three leaders of the movement. I'm the one who sent out the distress call you answered." Nick nodded his head now knowing he could trust this voice.

"Ok, Teardrop relay our coordinates to them please. I'm gonna try and get my weapons in case any trouble comes our way." Nick said as he walked back to the flight deck. "Coordinates received, we'll be sending an agent to come and get you shortly." The female voice said as she walked away to find an agent to get out to Nick's location. After finishing the radio call Nick went and woke up Rookie. He was slow to wake at first but after a few minutes he regained his senses. "Where... are we?" Rookie said as he got up from his chair. "We're on Sirca. We made it but not without some damage." Nick pointed to his covered up wound. "Jesus Nick, are you gonna make it?" Rookie said worriedly. "Don't worry, I'll be fine. I've gotten injuries worse than this that I thought I wasn't gonna come back from." Nick said as he unlocked his locker and got his M16A4 and M45 pistol and reloaded them. Ready for any gunfight ahead. "Ok, but just be careful man, please?" Rookie said as he also grabbed his backpack and weapons himself. Nick nodded in reassurance as he walked out with his M16 in hand and looked around. He didn't spot any immediate danger but then looked out into the distance. He noticed two distant figures walking towards the wreckage. In what appeared to be blue spartan-like armor. Noticing they weren't human at all, but rather some bipedal furry like creature. Nick immediately went into combat mode. Cocking his gun, he watched as they inched closer. They couldn't see him yet, even with his bright green and yellow cloak the darkness made the perfect cover.

"So, you think anyone made it?" The first blue chupa said to the second one. "I dunno, maybe. But from the large fireball they probably died on impact." The second blue chupa said as he checked over his gun. They weren't ready for what they'd be encountering next but it would still be better than standing around all day waiting for red soldiers to shoot. "Don't you ever feel like this Holy war is for nothing? Like we're just fighting for nothing?" The second chupa said to the first one. "No? We're fighting for OMEGA. And when this is over we'll probably be celebrated as heroes." The first chupa said as he scratched his arm as it was itchy. "Ugh, why'd we have to be put in the jungle, momma always said Lactan was dangerous." They continued talking as they walked towards the wreckage.

Nick watched as they inched closer. He wasn't entirely fit for battle but he would have to make due with what he had for now. The pain was annoying him but he didn't show it. Nick waited quietly until they came within range of his motion tracker. Nick made note of their features. They possessed no ears, had snouts like his, but without fangs. Or at least, no visible ones. Some weird clawed feet/hands and long thin tails. They also stood slightly taller than him. Nick hid behind some wreckage to conceal himself. Listening as they got closer he took a deep breath.

It had been a while since he last killed someone. It always weighed heavily on his conscience but it was part of his duty. Even though he could try to pacify them there was no telling if they'd listen to him. Rookie sat in the cover across from him ready to fire on his command. "When they get close enough that I can see them on my motion tracker, open fire." Nick whispered to Rookie as he nodded in response.

Nick watched as two red dots appeared on his motion tracker. Since they didn't have IFF tags his radio could recognize the motion tracker marked them as enemies. Nick took his gun off safe and sat up throwing the top part of his body over the wreckage aiming through his sight. He aimed at the first one on the left. What would happen next would be quick, bullets rang out as Nick pulled the trigger. The first chupa fell like a stone as bullet holes appeared in his head. The second one yelled as he watched his friend drop dead next to him. Rookie fired at the second one, grazing his chest and arm. They yelled out in pain as he grabbed his radio.

"I need backup! ASAP! My friend just got killed by an unknown force! I've been hit in the arm and chest." They let go of the radio and fired back at Nick and Rookie, the bullets hitting the metal wreckage with loud dings. Nick sighed as he now knew there'd be a large gunfight ahead. Nick ducked back over and finished off the second one with a shot to the heart. They fell over immediately as it fell quiet again, for now. Nick clicked the safety back on and stood up, walking over to the dead bodies. Checking over their gear he noticed several greek omega markings. "Why'd they have those?" Nick thought to himself as he looked at their weapons. The first one had a M392 DMR while the second one had a MA5C. UNSC standard issue weapons. Nick was curious as to how an army that wasn't from earth had UNSC weaponry in their possession. Then he remembered the missing UNSC ship. Perhaps they got the equipment from there? Who knew at this point.

Nick walked back and got on the radio with CT. "Hey CT, I don't know if you can hear me but I ran into two blue guys, killed them both but the second one called for backup. Me and my friend Rookie might have gotten ourselves into trouble." Nick called over the radio as he walked back to the wreckage. Something silvery glinted out from the grass near the wreckage. Curious, Nick walked over towards it. What he saw next brought him only anger. It was a DREAMBREAKER crate. The same kind that he saw on earth a few months ago. He knew they had spread out across the galaxy but didn't realize they had gotten this far. If the blue guys had gotten their hands on this, there was no telling what kind of destruction they could cause.

"Whatcha' looking at Nick?" Rookie said as he stood next to Nick looking at the DREAMBREAKER crate in front of him. "Bad omens, is what it is." Nick said with a serious look on his face. He knew he had to destroy it but with Rookie around perhaps they could use the gear to help them. After all, They were injured, and running out of options. "Really? How bad is it?" Rookie said curiously.

"This is a DREAMBREAKER crate, remember how I told you I fought a faction called the DREAMBREAKERS? This is the gear they stole from people's dreams. They used innocent people's hopes and imaginations against them. Causing untold destruction across the earth. And guess who had to clean that all up?."

"You did?" Rookie said answering Nick's question. Nick nodded, "Yes, but since they're gone now we can use this gear for a better purpose. Go ahead, open it." Nick said, moving out of Rookie's way. Rookie walked over and opened the box, finding some ODST and UNSC weaponry in the box. "Hey! This is what I need!" Rookie said as he grabbed the gear from out of the box. Nick stood by trying not to be visibly angry. It caused him PTSD after seeing this box. But he had to put the past behind him.

Rookie put on the ODST gear and readied the MA5C in the box and stood ready for whatever came next. "Wait, I feel there's more to you than you let on when I first met you." Nick said feeling something inside Rookie's SOUL. "Oh! Right, I guess I should introduce you to my paracausal friend, Cardinal." As Rookie said that a genie-like figure appeared next to him. "Hello, my name is Cardinal. I'm Rookie's shadow/butler. Nice to meet you Mr. Nick." Cardinal bowed in front of Nick. "Shadow? What the heck is that?" Nick scratched his head in confusion. "Oh! Wait, you're like his.. Stand?" Nick remembered JOJO and quickly realised the similarity. "Yes, but I mainly assist Rookie on his adventures. Giving him guidance and keeping him in the moment." Cardinal said calmly as he held his hands behind his back.

"Ok, so not much different from Teardrop or my friend Ralsei." Nick said calmly as he looked around, keeping an eye out for reinforcements. "Teardrop think you could tap into those guys' radios?" Nick said as he realised they could get an advance warning if they did so. "Yes, allow me to decrypt their radio transmissions." Teardrop did so and Nick was able to hear this. "Ok, we're sending reinforcements, plus one Freelancer agent." Nick's eyes widened. A freelancer agent? He thought those were exclusive to a tv show he watched when he was younger called Red vs. Blue. Essentially a different spin on the SPARTAN program he participated in.

"Great, just what we need, a pseudo-spartan." Nick said annoyed. "A pseudo spartan? What do you mean by that, Nick?" Rookie said curiously. "Have you ever seen the show Red vs. Blue?" Nick said, trying to fill in Rookie. "Yeah, what about it?" "Well I just tapped into those guys' radios and they called a freelancer agent in with the reinforcements." "Also we're sending in a warthog to come and provide cover fire. ETA 5 minutes." Nick heard in his ears. "Oh, and a warthog." Rookie's eyes went to dots. "WHAT?! But I thought Freelancers and all that stuff were only in that tv show! Are you saying we're on the literal set of Red vs. Blue?!" Rookie said surprised and shocked.

Nick shrugged. "Maybe, but it's more like a furry version of it." Cardinal then had an idea. "Master Rookie, I suggest I shapeshift you into one of those things to conceal yourself better to confuse the enemy." Rookie looked at Cardinal. "Right, ok Cardinal, do it." Cardinal did so and Rookie reappeared as a chupathingy but with digitigrade feet instead of the normal chupa feet. Nick then realised he needed to try something. "Ok Rookie I need you to stand back." Nick said, getting into his charging stance. "Ok Nick, I'll move away." Rookie moved away as Nick yelled loudly trying to make his aura appear. Which was to no avail. Nick tried again, gripping his fists harder and getting angry. Again, to no effect. "Dammit, my powers aren't working. I guess I must've knocked my SOUL out of sync when we crashed." Nick sighed assuming his normal stance. The distant sound of a warthog approaching at speed threw everything out of sync as Nick turned toward the noise. "Crap, get ready we're about to have some company." Nick rushed back to his cover and readied his gun. Rookie did the same and waited for Nick's command again. The warthog stopped 500ft from their current location as 4 blue team chupas and a blue and white freelancer chupa hopped out of the warthog. "Assess the situation, I'm going to check out the wreckage." The Freelancer agent said as they walked towards the wreckage. "You got it Indy." The C.O. chupa said as they inspected the dead bodies. "Dammit willy, you just got married too." The 2nd chupa said as he looked at the headshot chupa.

Nick held his cool, SPARTAN-III vs Freelancer would be like a goat vs a ram. Same thing but slightly different. Nick felt his fighting itch but tried to ignore it. If he jumped out now he'd be filled with lead and left dead in seconds. He might be a super-saiyan goat but he was still human. Indy approached seeing Nick's footsteps in the mud. "Hooves? How could a cow kill two ARMY soldiers?" Nick frowned. "Really? A cow? I'm a fucking goat, not a damn cow." Nick thought to himself.

Indy caught a whiff of Nick's scent. He smirked. "Got you now, intruder. Better come out now before I let these guys fill you with lead." Nick didn't budge, he might not be the smartest goat around but wasn't stupid. Indy was basically 5 feet from Nick's location as he inched closer. "Alright I see how it is, you're not that stupid are you?" Indy quipped as he put away his gun. Nick put down his gun and slowly stood up, fists clenched and ready to swing. "Yeah, I'm not stupid, but I'm not easy to beat either." Nick said, making eye contact with Indy. "Nick don't do something stu-" Rookie stopped before he could finish as Nick jumped at Indy fist forward. Indy dodged landing a chop to his back. Nick winced since it was near his injury but spun around and threw a kick, landing it on his neck. Indy cocked his head to the left from the force but chuckled. "Ah, so you're tough. But you're gonna need to hit me harder than that to beat me." Nick was shocked that someone took a hit that well from him. Normally it would almost break their neck.

The other chupas finished and stood behind Nick guns lined up to shoot him. At that moment Nick felt something spark in his body. A familiar feeling in his chest. His powers had come back for a moment. And that was all he needed. Nick smirked as he removed his leg from Indy's Neck and glanced behind him. "Well, I've got tricks too." In a split second Nick charged an energy blast and shot it behind him, knocking the soldiers on their asses. Nick put his energy into his fist and punched Indy in the chin, sending him flying over his feet back a few feet. Nick took a deep breath as his aura appeared. "Ah so you got super powers now?" Indy said as he stood back up putting his hands in his pockets.

"Yeah, and it's not a cakewalk either." Nick taunted Indy by motioning him to come towards him. Indy did so moving with incredible speed but Nick dodged a straight punch before countering with a block for an upwards kick. Indy moved away as Nick spun around with a kick to his face, then followed up with a headbutt sending him back a few inches. Indy countered with a flip jump and kick to Nick's face forcing him down to the ground and then slammed his fist into his chest causing Nick to spit out blood. Nick groaned in pain slightly. "Dammit, you caught me off guard." The Soldiers barely got back up before Rookie fired at two of them, killing one and injuring the second one. The other two scattered as Nick continued fighting Indy, back and forth Nick and Indy traded blows. Even injured Nick still hit hard and quickly.

"Man you're tough, no wonder those army guys couldn't take you on." Indy said as they stood across from each other, bleeding from his head and leg. Nick on the other hand was still bleeding from his wound and head with some bruising on his face. "Heh, I've been fighting hard since I was 17. I'm a SPARTAN after all, and I'm on par with you." Indy was perplexed by this. What was a SPARTAN? And what did that have to do with the freelancer division? Either way this goat guy was no pushover. He had given Indy a good fight and it was something Nick wanted. He hadn't fought this hard since the DREAMBREAKERS. And even with 15% of his power back he was still struggling.

Nick could sense however that Indy had no killing intent. Maybe this Freelancer wasn't all bad? Or was it a part of some elaborate plan to capture him and his friend? Either way, Nick wasn't done yet. Nick ran at Indy full speed and charged another energy punch as Rookie dropped the last two soldiers. Nick was just about to impact Indy's chest when he yelled "STOP!!!" Nick froze before dissipating the energy, feeling it slip away from him again. "Dammit, it's gone again." Nick said as he felt powerless again. "Ok you better have a good reason I shouldn't clock you in the chest right now by yelling stop." Nick also said as he stood back up calmly but still in battle mode. "Ok, I'm not actually here to capture you. Or take you in. I came with these guys per CT's request. I assume you already have the coordinates for L-base?" Indy said dusting himself off. "I just had to make sure I wasn't going to blow my cover."

Nick nodded. "Yeah, Teardrop was able to grab the base's coordinates from the distress call. I've got it set on my HUD as a waypoint." Nick said as he took a deep breath. "Ok, well I just need to let CT know that I got you two. Get whatever gear you need before we travel to L-base. It's a bit of a trip." Indy said, walking back to the warthog slightly limping from Nick's heavy onslaught.

Nick walked back to the ship wreckage's main deck and took the mag out of his M16. Walking to a replicator he placed the mag in the receptacle. "I need 20 of these." Nick said as the replicator cloned the full mag twenty times. Grabbing all the mags and he strapped them to his belt. If they ran into any more company he'd need the ammo. Nick also cloned 20 Ak-47 mags for Rookie per his request and handed them to him. Rookie thanked Nick and they walked to the warthog together.

Even though they almost didn't know each other. Nick felt like he could count on Rookie to stay by his side. He had all the qualities of a valuable ally. And with his magical abilities it was the icing on the cake.

Rookie on the other hand, was still surprised by how quickly Nick was able to fight on-par with Indy. Even being injured Nick showed no weakness. Only when he was pinned was the one time Nick admitted he had made a mistake. Was this a result of his involvement in the SPARTAN program? Or was it a result of his long training? Either way, Nick wasn't a pushover. And if anything could kill him, it'd have to be something as strong and powerful as himself.

As Nick hopped in the passenger seat next to Indy and Rookie hopped in the back. Guns still ready to fire at a moment's notice. Nick felt he should question their new friend some. Indy started the warthog and they began their trip to L-base. "So Indy, who exactly are you? I mean. You're definitely not a normal.. Well actually, what are you? I've never seen anything of your kind before in my life. Nick said before finishing his initial thought. "Oh me? Ohhhhh wait your asking what I am like, physically. Ok, well I'm a chupa, or what others might call a chupathingy. As far as I know Sirca's the only place you can find us basically." Indy said as he kept his eye on the dirt trail. "A chupa eh? That's new honestly. Never knew there were otherworldly bipedal creatures out there." "But you're more than that, obviously you couldn't put up a fight with someone as strong as me as a normal chupa. I can tell that much." Nick quipped cheekily. "Well I am a freelancer. We're basically the best of the best of our species. Behind those they call werewolves." Indy said before Nick cut him off.

"Werewolves? Like the ones in those old movies?" Nick said curiously. "No, not really. Werewolves are freelancer agents and one army soldier who were part of a program the director created called the WEREWOLF program. They wanted to make the perfect supersoldier for HADES. However it would make most chupas feral and hard to control. And was largely done by volunteering. So the program was cancelled after 3 groups were made." Indy said with a calm tone in his voice. Nick was surprised by this information. Perhaps this was their version of the SPARTAN program. But unlike theirs, it wasn't as successful.

"Interesting.. Sounds.. Scary and terrifying honestly. Giving someone that much power with no control only leads to disaster. I saw it happen with some of the SPARTANs and what I had to deal with the DREAMBREAKERS was a haunting reminder of that." Nick said comprehensively. But what Nick really wanted to say was it sounded interesting and like a good challenge. But he had to hold back that side of him, even if it was hard too.

Perhaps it was his eagerness to push his limits. He had, in the past, pushed beyond them several times to fight on even ground with his opponents. Even being near-death compelled him to fight, no matter how dire the situation was. Perhaps it was his willpower that compelled him so. Or maybe his greed for battle. But to Nick, these werewolves both sounded like a challenge and a threat to avoid. "So, how exactly do these werewolves work? Since they don't obviously get activated by a full moon."

"Well, for most it's triggered by an activation word or by sounds. For some it's instinctual but most are triggered by codewords. Church, for example, has his activated by farm animals. Which I fear might be dangerous to you." Indy said, glancing at Nick in his eyes. Nick raised an eyebrow. "Wait, hold on. Did I hear Church? As in.. Leonard Church? THE Church from RVB.??" Indy nodded his head in response.

"Holy crap! No goddamn way." Nick was surprised and excited by this information as well. Not only did they run into the freelancers, but the same characters from that show, but in furry form. This could cause issues in the future, fangirling and all might make things slightly awkward. But Nick had to keep his calm. After all, he came here with Rookie to help these people. Not get indulged in some weird fantasy. "Sorry, it's just familiar to me, is all." Nick said, calming down. "No worries, I assume this is all new to you. Being around a new species probably does that to a person." Indy said as he looked at the GPS, seeing they weren't that far from the base now. "I've been on rings like this before but not one with sentient life before. This is new for me and my AI."

"Ah, so this isn't the first ring you've been on then? There's others?" Indy said with a raised eyebrow. "Yes, I've been to Alpha Halo, Delta Halo and Zeta Halo. This one however wasn't on the records for halo rings. We know of two others that I haven't personally visited. 03 and 06. But as far as Rings go, this one is very unusual." Nick said as he checked over UNSC records. "However a UNSC ship did get lost around here in 2532. I have a sneaking suspicion it crashed here around that time. But until I get my eyes on it I'm going to assume it's floating around here somewhere." Nick said as he closed the windows and focused on the task at hand. Indy, Nick and Rookie stayed silent for the rest of the trip until reaching the entrance of L-base. A large garage door greeted them as they passed the entry checkpoint. "So, this is L-base I assume?" Nick said, lookingS at the door. "Yep, welcome to the Movement". Indy said as he radioed for the door to be opened from the inside.

"Oh and before I forget, what's your two's names?" "My name's Nick. His is Rookie." Nick answered as Rookie followed. "My name's Rookie. Nick's my friend and he's leading me on this mission." Indy nodded. "Well nice to meet you two. I hope my friends here at the movement treat you well. We're definitely going to appreciate your help." Indy said as they drove into the garage of L-base. Chupas moving around everywhere as two strangely familiar figures stood in the back chatting annoyedly with each other. Nick didn't pay mind to it at first before waiting for the warthog to reach its stop. But then Nick recognized the tone's of their voices. It was.. Church and Tucker? But how? In all places of this universe THEY were here? Nick was stunned by this but hopped out with the others as he looked around the garage. Though his attention was quickly drawn to a brown furred female chupa with her arms crossed standing at the double doors to the innards of the base.

"So you must be the survivors of that crash landing I take it?" CT said in a strong independent voice. Nick was impressed by this and became serious. "Yes ma'am. Nicholas Connolly at your service. Just tell me where you need me." Nick said in a calm and collected manner. "And what about your friend there?" She looked at Rookie. "He's ready whenever I am" Nick said with a smirk on his face. "He's basically right about that too." Rookie replied with Nick's statement. "Ok well before you can really get to work I need to talk to you and your friend in the meeting room." CT said adjusting her stance to a calmer one. Tucker however, noticed the goat and strange flat-footed chupa in the center of the garage. "Hey Church, check it out. The new guys are here.. And one of them.. Is.. a... Goat." Tucker said hoping he wouldn't activate Church's werewolf form. "Oh really? That's a surprise, and here YOU were betting they were dead from the crash." Church replied to his longtime friend Tucker. "Yeah but at least they're alive. And not dead." Tucker said, with a cheeky smirk on his face. Church felt something in his gut but tried to ignore it. Tucker was activating his werewolf form slowly but as long as he didn't say anything else about Nick's species he should be ok.

"Well you gonna go talk to the goatman or are you just gonna stand here and look pretty, chicken?" Tucker said not realizing what he had just done. Church looked at Tucker angrily, feeling the urge coming forth. He grabbed his head as it was pounding now as it was now too late to stop the transformation. Nick felt something change in the air and turned his attention to where Church was standing. CT noticed this and was now pissed. "Crap! We're about to have a werewolf problem in a few! York! Wash! Get the tranqs! I'll be there to help!."

CT yelled into her pocpad as Nick readied himself for what was about to happen. "Rookie, get ready for a fight, I think we're about to face a werewolf." Nick got into his combat stance as Church groaned angrily. Tucker without hesitation ran away as fast as he could. "Crap! Crap!! CRAP!!!" Tucker yelled as he got behind a box.

Nick tried to tap into his energy again but found it didn't respond. "Crap, no energy surprise this time. Guess I'll have to fight this with raw strength this time." Nick said as alarms began blaring as Church's eyes turned yellow and he fell to all fours turning to Nick. Nick glanced seriously as he clenched his fists hard. "Alright big boy, give me all you've got!" Nick yelled as Church leaped towards him. Church's claw met Nick's hand as they clashed. Nick was pushed back some as Church growled at Nick. But he didn't falter. Nick pushed back against Church's raw strength with his own. A feat Church had never seen before. But his feral instincts told him to continue fighting. Nick on the other hand was in combat mode. All he could focus was on the survival of himself and defeating his opponent. On autopilot, Nick kicked Church in the chest with his left hoof sending him back a few feet. He caught himself before almost crashing into the wall behind him as he ran at Nick.

Nick shifted his feet as he dodged a lunge from Church. Grabbing his tail and throwing him away and unsheathing his sword. Nick spun his blade before leaping at the off guard Church. Slashing at him 4 times before parrying a hit from Church's claws. Nick was sent back by this but his battle prowess was impeccable. Church on the other hand was still pissed off and not backing down anytime soon.

Nick grabbed his sword grip tightly as he blocked two hits from Church's claws again and was caught off guard by a punch to his chest. Making him cough up blood again. Still injured, Nick couldn't waste anymore time. He grabbed Church's arm and pushed it back taking a beating to the face and legs at Church scratched and kicked at Nick in defense. Nick yelled angrily as his temper exploded. He headbutt Church as hard as he could. Nearly knocking himself unconscious from the force. Church was sent doubling over his back roaring. Nick threw down his sword and said fuck it, all in. Nick ran at Church as he recovered and sucker punched him in the face, then in the gut. And then in the arm. Church countered with a hard punch to Nick's left arm, breaking it. Nick groaned in pain but still held up his defense. He then clawed him across the chest. Ripping his cloak to shreds and making him bleed immediately. "You're a tough one, aren't ya?" Nick said with a pissed off smirk on his face. "Well I can play that game too!" Nick said as he drop kicked Church but was caught and thrown into a pile of metal boxes. Only injuring him further. Nick was near death again this time. Time felt like it was slowing down as Nick fell further and further into his spiral. All he could think now was about his family. His friends. And everyone he lost. At that moment the double doors busted open and York fired a tranq at Church. Nick barely stood up before falling unconscious due to blood loss.

Church fell like a stone after being hit with the tranq, returning to his normal form. Nick and Church were bloody and bruised. Nick was lying face down on the floor from falling off the boxes. With a small puddle of blood under him. Rookie quickly rushed over and flipped Nick over. Taking out a med kit and bandaging Nick's chest wound and putting a cast on Nick's left arm. Rookie breathed a sigh of relief as he finished. "Jesus Nick, don't try to kill yourself man." Rookie said as he stood up and looked at York, CT and Wash all standing there assessing the situation. Tucker creeped out of his hiding spot after hearing all the carnage. "Is he sleeping now?" Tucker said scared. "Yes, he's out cold. For now." CT said looking over Nick unconscious. "Damn crazy bastard, almost getting yourself killed on your first day." CT said under her breath. "So, that's the guy you were talking to over the radio CT?" York said with a cheeky smirk on his face looking at her with romantic eyes. CT rolled her eyes.

"Yes, That's Nick. The guy I was talking to on the radio. He and his friend survived the crash landing. Though the poor bastard's obviously got a death wish going toe-to-toe with an Alpha werewolf." She said as she walked over to Nick, slowly picking him up. "I'm going to take him to the medbay, Wash. Get Church to the Lab and have them look him over. Patch up any of his wounds. York, get the others rounded up for a meeting in the briefing room. This goat guy has some stuff to answer for." CT said as she started walking to the medbay through the double doors. "What about me ma'am?" Rookie said looking at CT. "You can come with me, your friend's gonna need you when he wakes up." CT said motioning for Rookie to follow. Rookie nodded and followed CT to the medbay. A few hours later, Nick woke up in immense pain. Wincing, he slowly got up. He was in a medical bed. Perhaps a medbay of some sorts. A doctor with purplish fur came over. "Ah, so you're awake, clearly that werewolf didn't kill you." He noted on Nick's med sheet. "Yeah doc, it.. Takes a lot to kill me. I don't die easily." Nick weakly smirked. "Well you keep that up maybe you'll get killed by your own ego." The doctor quipped as he walked away. Nick rolled his eyes.

"Hey Nick, you ok?" Rookie said getting his attention. Nick returned to reality as he turned to Rookie. "Yeah, could be better but this pain is annoying as hell." Nick said as he rubbed his broken arm to ease the pain. "You think you'll be ok after all this?" Rookie said worriedly. "Yeah, not anything I'm used to. I'll be better in an hour or so. Thanks to my SOUL energy my healing is accelerated. I'll be back to my normal self in an hour or 2." Nick said reassuringly. "Ok, just.. Don't kill yourself please. I know your super tough and all that but your not invincible. Your still human under all that fur." Rookie said apprehensive. "I know Rookie, I just get caught up in the moment sometimes. It's just a part of my life at this point. But don't worry, I got a family to get back to. I'm not going to kill myself." Nick said calmly, getting out of bed slowly.

CT walked in as he did so. "Ah you're finally awake, welcome back sleeping beauty. Doc over here said you were sleeping like a baby. Good thing you made it out alive. Church barely got lucky himself. You basically beat the shit out of him. I'll make a note to never piss you off." CT said as she checked over his body. "I think you'll make it, definitely tougher than you look. Anyway, I've got the others ready to meet you in the briefing room. Follow me." CT motioned for Nick to follow her to the briefing room.

Nick followed behind slowly peeking into the lab, he saw Church's feet as a bunch of scientists looked over his body. Nick felt bad that he might have killed Church in a fit of rage, but held hope that he made it. Nick returned to walking behind CT as they reached the briefing room. CT opened the doors and the group was greeted with a large group of Chupas standing around the briefing room. Some looking familiar to Nick and Rookie more than usual. The blue and red team chupas meddling with each other as usual. Wash and York talking about battle plans and general ideas. Nick felt like he was almost at home again. But was saddened by the thought about how much he missed his family. Rookie felt that same sadness as well but held hope they'd both make it home safe.

"ATTENTION! Listen up! We've got some new recruits here for you all to meet. But without further adieu, allow them to introduce themselves." CT moved out of the way to let Nick and Rookie speak. The crowd turned to Nick and Rookie as Nick spoke. "Hello everyone, I'm Nicholas Conolly. But you can just call me Nick. I'm the TRUE HERO of earth. The original TUFFMU team leader and a SPARTAN-III super soldier who has participated in many important battles in my career. And in fact, earth's strongest warrior who has protected my home planet time and time again." Nick finished speaking as Rookie stepped forward. "Hello, My name's Rookie Sparrington, but you can call me Rookie. I'm a friend of Nick's from another timeline, I guess. I came from Hope county montana. After fighting against a cult and getting nuked and clipping through reality itself and becoming a reaper. I went into a 17 year coma before waking up to a post-apocalyptic montana. Now I just try to keep Montana safe and my world safe too. But I'm not a pushover, I can fight too. Just like Nick here." Rookie finished talking as the crowd cheered. "Wow, the white fluffy creature and blue cat man are like superheroes." Caboose said in response to Nick's and Rookie's speeches. "Yeah no shit Caboose, these guys are like, the best of the best from their planet I guess."

Tucker said in response to Caboose's comment. "Also, you lied! I though the goat guy's fur was made of cotton candy! You better get me some cotton candy!" Caboose said angrily. Nick looked at Caboose. "I can fix that. One moment." Nick spun his hands around moved his arms quickly, and a stick of cotton candy appeared in his left hand. "Here you go" Nick handed Caboose the stick of Cotton candy as he began licking it like crazy. "Magic too? Damn, you really are something else." Tucker said impressed. "Yeah, well I'm basically a jack of all trades in most places." Nick said arms crossed. Nick realized he never picked up his sword from when he dropped it. Feeling his sheath it was there. Nick smirked in comfort as he realised someone put it back in his sheath. "Anyway, was there anything else you needed me and Rookie for?" Nick said feeling this meeting was more than a meet and greet. "Yes, we feel you might hold valuable info our upcoming mission." Wash said with a monotone voice.

"What he's trying to say is that you might have some info on things we don't know about. Indy said you have advanced knowledge of these types of worlds." CT said with a curious look on her face. Nick stepped forward, linking Teardrop to the holo console in the center. "Yes, I've been present on rings like this before. This is what me and the UNSC call a Halo Ring." Teardrop showed the corresponding graphic for a typical halo ring. "The forerunners built these to wipe out what they called the flood. A parasitic life form that infects living beings and incorporates them into their hivemind. Basically turning anything it touches into zombies. After these were built, a faction called the Covenant believed these would take them on their "Great Journey". Nick said before York cut-in.

"Great Journey? Wait, doesn't Omega and the high priests always talk about something called the Great Cleansing? York said to CT. "Yes, Omega believes that someday all life on Sirca will be cleansed when a meteor hits Sirca. But what that really means is that it will kill us all." CT said with a serious tone in her voice. Sarge then said: "Excuse me ma'am, but with all due respect Omega himself knows more than all of you lousy freelancers do. If he believes that we'll out be wiped out by a meteor. Than dammit, we will be!" He called out to CT and the others. "Sir, with all due respect, I think this Goat guy knows what he's talking about." Simmons quipped to Sarge to keep him from going on another rant. "Exactly, I've been on these before, I saw the destruction they could cause from recovered data. If my data serves right. This Great Cleansing and "Great Journey" are one and the same. And if that's true, we need to stop this Omega guy and whatever other enemy stands in our way." Nick said, pressing his hands on the holoconsole edge. The air grew tense. "How can we trust an outsider who just came here spewing all these things about the ring being a weapon CT?" Wash said to CT in front of Nick's face. "Wash, I know you don't trust him but he's got a point. If they activate this ring it could kill us all. And what they have in their possession could start it." "Wait, you're saying they have the Index??!" Nick said with a sense of urgency in his voice. "If that's what they call it back on earth, then yes. We believe Omega has the Index." Nick slammed his fist down on the holo-table.

"Dammit! If we don't destroy that Index, all of your efforts, my efforts will be for naught! Teardrop, bring up my combat records. Circa 2552. They need the truth." Teardrop brought up a sheet of battle records. Showing Nick's battle history and footage. Showing the Index activating the ring and nearly killing all life in the universe. This was all CT needed to see to be convinced. "Ok Wash, he isn't lying. We need to destroy that Index, if Omega has that kid activate the Ring, we're all doomed." Wash sighed, knowing that causing anymore problems won't solve anything. "He's probably right. I suggest we get prepped for our next mission asap then." Wash said calmly, glancing at Nick, still not trusting him. Nick returned the glance back at him.

"Teardrop can still stall the activation, but that'll only buy us a little time to try and stop the firing process." Nick said standing back up as Teardrop returned to Nick's neural lace. With most of the main details given, CT felt it was good enough to end the meeting. "Well I think we're done here, you're all dismissed. Nick, I want you to follow me to the shooting range. Wash, York, meet me in my office with Nick after we get back. We'll need him to help us discuss our next course of action. Rookie, go with the others to the mess hall." CT said as she began walking out grabbing Nick's hand. Nick was caught slightly off-guard by this action but didn't retract. Nick pulled away his hand and followed CT. As Nick and CT walked down to the firing range, CT made small talk. "So Nick, you got any family back home?" "Yeah, a kid and my wife. Been married for 3 years." "That's cute, how old is your baby?" "He's about 3 years old, He's a good kid. And I feel like he's gonna be a good successor for me when I can't do this anymore."

"Really? But you must still be young, you can't just retire that early can you?" CT said confused. "Yes, but there comes a time in every man's life where they have to decide if risking their life everyday is worth the pain and regret you might give your family if you die. I realize I'm not as strong as I used to be anymore. I didn't struggle as much as I do now. I'm getting weaker, and I can't do this forever. Sooner or later, I have to stop." Nick said with a somber tone. CT could feel that Nick really meant what he said. "So why'd you and Rookie come here to help us then?" "Because, I'm not going to stand idly by and let a civilization destroy itself from the inside. I've watched too many innocent people die. Lives destroyed and torn to shreds. Worlds shattered. And god dammit, I will not let it happen again. I will put everything on the goddamn line to save every life I can. And If I die, so be it." Nick said empowered. CT was taken aback by this, a man so dedicated to his duty, to his lifestyle. How could one do such a thing? "I mean.. That's.." CT was left speechless. This was more than she could process even now.

They entered the shooting range as Nick regained his senses for a moment. "Ok, pick a gun and go over to the stall, I wanna see how good of a shot you are." Nick nodded and walked over to the armory, looking it all over, he grabbed a BR55HB. "BR55, solid choice." Checking the HUD and firing bolt and mag. Nick nodded in confirmation the gun was solid. Walking over to the stall, Nick clicked off the safety putting it up to his shoulder he took a deep breath. 10 targets immediately came down from the ceiling. Nick fired at each one, hitting headshots each time. With almost no misses. After finishing off the last one, just for funzies Nick threw the gun upside down on his shoulder, and fired it at a random target, hitting almost dead center on the heart. "Damn, ok note to self, don't get into a gunfight with this guy either." CT said as she whistled. Nick clicked the safety back on and put the gun back where he found it.

"Anything else?" Nick said eager to show off more of his skills. "I mean, we could sword fight, but given eyewitness accounts of your fight with Church you showed higher than normal combat knowledge with a sword. So I don't think I want to duel you, out of respect." CT said impressed with Nick's combat skills. "Well I didn't train for years for nothing." Nick said, rubbing his broken arm, which now felt healed. "Hey, I think my arm's better now." Nick removed the cast and moved around his left arm, with no hindrance at all. "Just like new" Nick said with a smirk on his face. "Ok follow me to my office, just gotta have a small chat with you and the other freelancers to get battle plans hashed out." CT said as she walked back to her office, Nick following behind.

Nick followed CT into her office as York and Wash stood there arms crossed. CT sighed and turned around. "Ok, so just how exactly do you plan on getting this Index?" She said in front of the others. "Ok, when we get to Omega, IF he has the Index. I'll probably have to fight him to get the Index out of his possession. Then I'll destroy it with my bare hands." Nick said confidently. "You realise getting to where HE is isn't as simple as walking in guns blazing." Wash said annoyed. "I mean, he's not wrong but Omega and his high priests are meeting in Kaprime. I suspect their going to try and fire the ring like you said. And with that kids help." York said with a assuring tone. "Yes, a human is needed to activate the firing sequence. So if we can get it out of their possession quickly then we should be able to prevent that from happening."

"Tex is there too, we think. She left me a message saying she was going after Omega. Chances are she'll probably be destroying the place before we get there." "You can't rely on Tex to do our job for us, she's just one person, not a whole damn army." "Yeah, but you know her history, if she wants to get something done, it'll be done CT. No questions asked." Wash and CT said to each other. "Hmph, sounds like a real doozy. But nothing me and Rookie can't handle." Nick said, crossing his arms. "Thats where you come in, you'll be driving the main assault on Omega's compound with me and the other freelancers. The reds and blues will be providing covering fire while we push in. I assume your friend will be able to help with that?" "Absolutely, your wish is my command."

"Good, and what about you, are you ready for what comes next?" "Yes Ma'am. I was born ready." A confident smile formed on Nick's face as he affirmed his approval. "Ok, then your good to go, go and get some rest, you're gonna need it." CT said as motioned for Nick to leave. "Alright, see you guys around." Nick waved goodbye as he then walked back to the lab. Checking in on church, he was now in a medical bed awake and healing. "Hey man, I see you're awake too." Nick said to Church as he sat down across from his bed. "Yeah.. but I feel like shit. You really beat the shit outta me. And to be honest I kinda needed it. Haven't gotten the shit beaten outta me in a long time." Church said sighing afterwards. "Well I don't give out ass whoopings for free, it comes at a cost. Blood and bruises." Nick said, chuckling. "Clearly, by the way. I never got your name. My name's Church." "Name's Nick. Nice to meet you Church." Nick smiled. "So your the guy who crashed a ship to help us? Why would you risk your life for people that aren't from your home?" "Because Church, when I took up my sword, I vowed to save everyone I could. Earth or not. My duty is to protect the universe. No matter how much it's gonna hurt." Nick said confidently to Church. "Wow, so your basically a comic book hero." "Yeah, when you put it like that I am basically." Nick said scratching his chin. "Anyway, I'm gonna go get some rest. Take care, ok?" Nick said walking out the door of his room. "Yeah, you too man." Church said as Nick waved goodbye. Nick, eyes heavy from exhaustion and fighting against the pain stumbled to the barracks. But before he entered CT stopped him.

She then asked him the most serious question yet:

"Nick." She said, calmly.

"Yeah?" Nick said curious.

"Do you feel like you're fighting for something?"

"Yes, every. Single. Day." Nick replied, emboldened.

And with that, she let Nick by and he found an unoccupied room. Crawling into bed, he pulled over the covers and fell asleep. Nick didn't know this, neither did Rookie. But what they were in for next would be hell on Sirca. And would be the trust test of their strength. For the fight was just beginning..

TO BE CONTINUED..

Red vs Blue © Rooster Teeth. Halo © 343 Industries. Concept by Myshu, assisted by The Department of Chupapology.