As I check over my sniper, I eyed Washington from the other side of the Armory as he pulls the slide of a Magnum, checking the barrel for any bullets, then letting it go and making a large click as the slide returns to its former place. He seemed calm and serious as he prepares for the mission compared to the butterflies in my stomach. It's been years since I had a mission where I was not the commanding officer, and with my "commanding officer" being a dangerous Freelancer, I have no clue what to expect.

I holster my sniper on my back and put my Magnum in its hostler on my right thigh. I have to focus on the objective while keeping my guard up. While our first encounter was friendly enough, I can't rely on him for every bit of information. If I ask him straight blank, "Tell me about Project Freelancer and where are they now?" he will get suspicious and maybe turn me in for treason as well as whatever missing piece of the puzzle he told the Chairman about.

"Lieutenant McKenna."

"Yes, sir." I snapped to attention, doing an about-face to look at the Chairman. He was in a more composed state, with his hands behind his back. He puts a hand up, signaling for me to be at ease, before returning it to his original position. My body slightly relaxes, although still ready if Washington decides to draw his gun at him.

"I trust that you will keep an eye on the prisoner for me and that he succeeds in his mission." He says, keeping his voice loud enough for me only to hear.

"Of course, sir. I will make sure the mission will be completed as quickly as possible." I answered. And of course, I will make sure that I get as much information that I need from this mission.

"Very well," The Chairman states, before raising his voice so Washington can hear. "I have a Pelican that will drop you off at Outpost 17-B. That is the location that the UNSC had given these Red and Blue soldiers for new bases. I expect you to be down at Docking Bay 3 in ten minutes."

Outpost 17-B? That's where the incident happened... "Thank you, sir. We will be there at the appointed time." I answer. The Chairman salutes me and walks out of the Armory. I hear a short laugh from Washington and look over at the Freelancer. "Something funny, rookie?"

"Do you just follow the orders that you are given like a puppet?" He comments, filling his pockets with ammo and grenades. 

I huffed. How dare he... "Like you're one to talk, Washington. You were a part of an organization that stole from the UNSC and did questionable things." I shot back with the same tone. He stops filling his pockets and looks at me. He slowly walks across the room before stopping a foot in front of me. I raised my head slightly to see his gold visor staring right back. 

"Careful what you say, Lieutenant." He warns. "I'm leading this mission, and if you try to stop me, I will kill you."

My eyes grow wide, and I held my breath as I see the haunting amber eyes slowly form on Washington's gold visor. My heartbeat begins to quicken as I recognized the eyes of the Zealot, the one that killed my team. Slowly the Zealot's face began to take shape, and I begin to panic internally. What the heck did I get myself into? Did I sign up for a mission that leads to my death?

"And my name is Agent Washington." I blinked once, and the Zealot's face disappeared, only showing the face of AGENT Washington. I narrowed my eyes and straightened my stance. I cannot show any signs of weakness. I kept eye contact with him for a second more until he backs away and faces the Armory exit. "Let's go. We can't be late... Rookie."

He goes to grab the rest of his weapons and walks out of the room. I let out a sigh of relief and follow him out of the Armory, but my right arm begins to shake again. I quickly held my right arm with my left to stop the shaking before Washington noticed and continued to Docking Bay 3 as the Chairman requested.

A Pelican was docked at one of the landing pads with marines loading a few duffel bags into the ship. Washington and I approach the ship as the pilot comes down the ramp. The pilot salutes Washington as Washington asks. "Is the Pelican ready to go?"

"Yes, sir. The marines loaded the last of the cargo." The pilot answers as two marines walk down the ramp, giving Washington and me a salute before continuing their regular duties.

"Good. Then we are ready for takeoff." Washington said, walking past the pilot and taking a seat on the right side of the Pelican. The pilot nods to me, and I follow him inside the Pelican, setting my sniper in the weapon holder and taking the seat on the opposite side of Washington. The pilot opens the door to the cockpit and announces. "In five minutes, we will be in the air and on our way to Outpost 17-B, which should take about two hours of flight time."

She walks in, and the door closes behind her. Within a few minutes, I felt the Pelican lift into the air, and soon, the familiar feeling of flying was felt throughout the ship. I've almost forgotten what it was like to be on a Pelican after being stuck on the Chairman's ship.

"I suggest that you get some sleep. It's going to be a while before we get an opportunity to sleep again." Washington states, bringing me back to reality.

"Right," I said. "But first: is there anything I should know before we land at the Outpost?"

"Just be prepared for anything." He says simply before crossing his hands and lowering his head, getting into a comfortable position to sleep. I rolled my eyes slightly. He's worse than Zack when it comes to certain details of a mission. "Yes, sir," I answered and tried to get comfortable for a short nap.

***

We approached the so-called "Blue Base" with caution. I eyed Agent Washington as he walks up the right ramp to the top of the base. He seemed more on edge ever since we landed, always looking behind his shoulder, expecting me to backstab him or something. He disappears after rounding the corner, so I quickly looked around at the surroundings. The place was beautiful with a stream and waterfall despite being a boxed canyon. 

"Rookie, up here."

I sighed, knowing fully well that the name "Rookie" will stick for the whole mission. I walked up the ramp and asked Washington. "Sir?"

"Stay here. There's someone I need to meet." He orders, leaving me confused. 

"Who are you going to meet exactly?" I ask. He doesn't wait for a response and walks into the gravity lift, launching into the canyon.

"You got to be kidding me..." I said as I rolled my eyes. Like he couldn't be even more cryptic about information. I looked around the base and found an opening to the inside. It couldn't hurt to explore, right? This is a former Freelancer Training post. There has to be something related to the organization or, at least, information about what happened at this outpost.

I unholstered my Magnum with my right hand and switched out the mag with the sleeping darts for a mag of regular bullets. I walked down the ramp to the entrance of the inside of the base. I put my other hand on the gun, keeping it slightly raised, and walked down the lower ramp into the base. My HUD radar did not show any signs of movement inside, but there was definitely someone living here.

The place was on course towards getting cleaned up from all the mess that is in this room.  There were burn marks on the walls, a pile of tools towards one end of the room except for a few other random tools in odd areas, and... Spartan armor?

I put my Magnum back in its holster and cautiously walked over to the suit. I knelt down and studied the armor. It was a black MJOLNIR VI and, if I am not mistaken, the same armor as Agent Washington's.  It was not placed in its spot gently, but more that it was thrown into its spot with a deep slice on the left side of the arm and back. If I were to guess, this person might have been in a fight with someone with a huge knife of some sort. I shake my head. No... this is a training post. They would not have giant knives in bases like this.

I opened my visor and sniffed the air. It does not smell like a dead body in the room, which is strange as the armor looked like it as a body inside of it. I closed my visor and reached for the helmet, and gave it a little tug. The helmet didn't move; however, the whole body slightly moved. Then I noticed a patch of exposed wires on the armor's neck, leading up to the head. 

This Spartan... is a robot?

"I mean... sure," I muttered to myself. I gently shifted the Spartan Robot Person to its side and noticed a port on the back of the helmet. If this is a robot, surely it would have some data stored in its circuits. I double-check my radar and the room itself if Washington had returned from meeting his "friend," I suppose. I pulled out a cable from my back pocket, inserting one end in the helmet's port and the other end into my wristpad. I tapped into the helmet from my wristpad and found a few files in a file named "Freelancer," as well as an audio file that looked to be recent. This could be useful in my search. I downloaded all of the information to my wristpad and unplugged everything, stuffing the cord back into my pocket.

I walk back up to the top of the base and saw movement on my radar coming towards the base. I recognize Washington's tag, but there were 3 unidentified tags with him. I know he said that he needed to see someone, but not multiple people. I leaned against one of the walls as I waited for them to get closer. It's possible that these people can be related to Project Freelancer, and honestly, it's the only possibility.

I hear some yelling and then the heavy sound of footsteps running from the base's left side. I push myself off the wall with a hand over my Magnum, quite alarmed with the situation, and then a white figure emerged from the ramp. I recognized the gold-domed EVA helmet and matching armor as I have seen a few Spartans with this. Usually, people with this kind of armor are tanks, and from the way he stands, he's definitely a brute.

I slowly took my hand away from my Magnum and asked, "Are you with Agent Washington?"

The brute just growls, punching his hand, and sprints towards me, pulling the same hand back to setting up for a punch.

"Of course, he won't listen..." I muttered. I ducked under his swinging arm and kneed him in the stomach. He lets out a growl as I did a barrel-roll forward and stood back on my feet in a fighting stance. The soldier recovers quicker than I expected and goes in for another attack. It looks like he's a lot tougher than I thought, and the growl must have been out of frustration instead of pain.

He throws a series of powerful yet predictable punches that were easy to block and dodge. Once I analyzed his movements, I found an opening and threw an upper-cut to his stomach, in hopes of knocking the breath out of him, and then a hook punch to his head to get him to back off. However, my hand did not meet with his helmet, but rather a hand. I blink in surprise as the Brute managed to catch my punch.

"So... can we call this a draw?" I ask sheepishly, making eye contact with him. He growls loudly and grabs me by the throat with his free hand. I start to feel the pressure around my neck, and I frantically tried to loosen the grip of his hand. He then picks me off the ground and throws me to the floor, with his hand still on my neck. I let out a cough and try to kick him off me, but he's way too strong for my kicks to do anything. He growls, knowing that I can't do anything to stop him, and raised his fist to punch me right in the head. I closed my eyes, preparing for the hard blow to the head...

"META. STOP."

The Brute stops to looks behind him and growls. His grip loosens on my neck, so I take the opportunity to kick him right in the chest, causing him to stumble and fully let go of my neck. I roll away from him, propping myself up on one knee with my Magnum drawn at him.

The Brute growls and tries to sprint at me again, but Washington stands in front of him with a hand on his chest. "Meta, that's enough. She's with me."

The Meta growls in confusion as my eyes grow in shock. This "Meta"... is a Freelancer?