Felix

Somewhere in Space - Present Day

After the whole fiasco at the radio jammer, Felix played with his knife while sitting in a pelican. Because of Project Freelancer's former members, their plan failed. Felix's grudge against Tucker was stronger than ever. He looked across the pelican to his teammate, Locus, who silently stared back.

The people of Chorus now had them outnumbered, a thought Felix wasn't too fond of. To counter that, Control believed the best course of action would be to commandeer the UNSC Tartarus—the nearest prison transport for ruthless criminals. With Control aware of all UNSC protocols, he recommended Felix damage the pelican in such a way that communication would be one-sided.

As the group floated far enough into space, Felix knocked on the pilot's door. With the flick of a lever, a light appeared in the pelican, a sign of having activated the distress signal. Within minutes, the pelican detected a slipspace rupture.

The Tartarus was here.

A man with a weak, southern accent contacted them through their comms, reporting, "Unidentified pelican dropship, this is Captain Mayers of the UNSC Tartarus responding to your distress signal. Come in, over." The group stayed silent. Once a minute passed, Mayers already sounded somewhat annoyed. "Unidentified pelican, please respond."

"Seriously? If we could, we would," Felix sighed, shaking his head.

Locus snapped, "Quiet."

"Don't worry, they can't hear a thing. I made sure of it back on Chorus."

The Captain's voice came over comms again, "Pelican, can you just give us a sign that you're reading us?" Felix tapped the door again, and the pilot flashed a light at the Tartarus. "Pelican, are you able to make your way to our starboard docking bay? We'll be able to assist you from there." The pilot flashed the light again before steering toward their destination.

"Remember the plan: Have your invisibility and don't come out until I give you the signal," Felix ordered. The others nodded. When the pelican reached the docking bay, he continued, "Get ready. The mission starts now."

Felix stood up, waiting for the Captain's orders. Unfortunately, all he heard was what sounded like three men bickering on the other side. One eventually called for him to open the bay door and slowly exit the vehicle. When he did, he saw three men who looked to him like—even if they worked together—they probably couldn't lift him.

The three men quickly raised their guns at the mercenary. The man in green ordered, "Hands in the air!" Felix complied.

"It's... just one guy?" another man asked, this one in red.

"You won't find anyone else on this ship," Felix lied.

The man in green continued, "Come on out!" Though Felix found him obnoxious and wanted to kill him, he knew it would be a bad idea. He continued with the act. He slowly walked down the ramp with his hands in the air.

"You alright?" the man in red asked.

"Yeah, I'm just glad you found me," Felix chuckled, lowering his arms and facing him. The man shuddered in place before the one in green called for Felix to follow him. The over-the-top confidence made the mercenary smile.

As the crew walked by the dozens of prison cells, some criminals called out to Felix as others called to the prison guards. Felix quickly learned their names. The one in red was Killgore, Stassney was the one in yellow, and Blanton wore green. "Just ignore them," Killgore cautioned. "That's what I've been doing since I got on this godforsaken ship."

Felix laughed, "You're free and they're not. Why ignore them? Boast that you're free!" The mercenary flipped off some of the inmates as he walked by.

"You're not stuck here every day with them," Stassney replied nervously. "If something were to go wrong and they were freed, I wanna be on their good side."

"None of us are on their good sides," Blandon interjected. "We keep them locked up, don't we? Plus, they act up, we got The Purge, so we'll be fine."

"The Purge?" Felix asked, enjoying the sound of their secret weapon.

"Every cell can open up into space, sucking everyone out. If they act up, we could get rid of 'em all at once."

"Sheesh, that sounds dark."

Killgore joined the conversation, "We've only had to do it once before, but that was a long time ago. It's efficient and stops us from even trying to kill them ourselves. If they think they'll get purged, some will grab their cell bars. They don't normally last long."

Before he could continue the conversation, the door to the cockpit opened up, revealing a man seemingly in his early fifties. His gray hair was short and his skin wrinkled. As he stood at the control panel with his arms crossed, he scanned the mercenary's body. "So, you're the one who asked for our help," he inferred.

"That's right."

"How about you relax here for a moment and tell us why you're all the way out here, in the middle of nowhere? You must 'ave been out there for quite a while."

"I appreciate that," Felix said, taking a seat in Stassney's chair, who rolled his eyes and stood across the room. He began telling the story of a colonized planet at the edge of the UNSC's view; long forgotten by the international organization. While it was a twisted version of one of his adventures with Locus, he told them of how he robbed a rich, corrupt man dry of his fortune before escaping into space.

Enjoying the story, the men in the room began laughing. Stassney walked over to Felix and patted him on the shoulder, exclaiming, "This man's my fucking hero!"

"What, you're telling me you wouldn't have done the same thing?" Felix chuckled, enjoying the attention. Locus called over his radio to ask him to hurry up, but Felix ignored it.

The ship's captain shook his head with a large smile, "That's one hell of a story. But it's about time we got you fixed up and sent you on your way. Lord knows we've wasted enough of the UNSC's time already."

"At least tell me you're paid hourly!"

Stassney began laughing. "Now, that's what I'm talking about!"

"Seriously, though. The ship looks like a fucking antique. You'd think the higher-ups would either use more cash to fix her up or pay you more," he offered.

"Ha, we wish. We can afford to live luxuriously, but a little more couldn't hurt," the green-clad soldier continued.

"Military prison transport isn't too high on the budgetary priorities. No use wasting money on cryo for lawbreakers. These people won't be on this ship forever, and truthfully, nobody gives a rat's ass about them," explained the Captain. "So, they threw together a skeleton crew to make sure they make it over alive. The cells are reinforced, especially given how dangerous some of these men are. It's nothing we can't handle."

"Yeah, we got guns and The Purge if things get bad, but they never would. Nobody's escaping their cells."

"But what about outside threats?" asked Felix. He heard Locus's voice in his earpiece warning him about talking like that. "The disappearances all over the news, ships not making it to their ports? What do you do if you're attacked?" The mercenary noticed Mayers checking Felix's armor for weapons and finding none.

"I doubt anyone's coming for our cargo," Kilgore explained, rolling his eyes.

Mayers shrugged and leaned back, almost relaxed. "Like I said: Nobody gives a rat's ass about these people. They're criminals, after all. If anybody really wanted 'em, they could have them."

The guards laughed. Felix, however, smirked under his helmet. This was exactly what he wanted to hear. "Alright, then. I'll take them."

The laughter died down as everyone focused on the now-serious mercenary standing in the middle of the room. "Uh, what'cha mean?"

"I mean—I'm going to kill you, and take your prisoners," Felix chuckled, cracking his knuckles. Mayers stood upright, watching for Felix's first move. Really, if it were as easy as taking the prisoners silently, Felix wouldn't have minded. But this would be a loose end, and the Chairman hated loose ends. Plus, a fight would be more fun.

A moment of silence passed. Felix had already noticed the pistol on the Captain's hip. So when Mayers reached for it, Felix immediately kicked it out of the way, sending it straight into Stassney's head. He rushed at Mayers, punching him square in the face a few times before turning and kicking Kilgore in the groin. Two down, two to go.

"Come here!" Kilgore exclaimed, grabbing Felix's arm and pulling him over. Felix towered over the man, surprised he was being challenged to a fist-fight. When Kilgore threw a punch, Felix effortlessly grabbed his hand. When he threw another one, Felix caught the other hand. Locked together, Felix bashed his head into Kilgore's, knocking him back. He kicked low, swiping his foot under the red soldier's, knocking him into the air.

When Kilgore accidentally kicked Blanton while falling back down, he yelled, "Shit, sorry!" He threw another punch at Felix, who grabbed his arm an twisted it, hearing the bones shatter in his grasp. I am fucking awesome! Using him as a shield, Felix blocked punches from Blanton before discarding the red-soldier's body. As Felix braced himself to fight the other man, a shot rang through the room as a bullet flew straight into Blanton's forehead.

Felix turned around to see Stassney holding a gun while laying on the floor. He watched regret fill the yellow-clad soldier's eyes. He kicked the gun out of the soldier's hands before taking a knife out of his pocket and performing tricks. Once he felt warmed up with it enough, he tossed it at the ship's pilot, jabbing it directly in the visor. "Bullseye," he chuckled menacingly.

Turning his attention to Stassney—who he thought was the only survivor—he wondered how he would take him out. He grew to like the soldier who killed a teammate by accident and had a bubbly personality. He was distracted for long enough that Mayers, in a last-ditch effort, silently got back up and blared the alarms throughout the ship. The ship went dark before red, and emergency lights glowed. Another gunshot rang throughout the ship as he heard Locus's voice order, "No survivors." Felix, annoyed he had let his guard down, ran to Mayers and snapped his neck, feeling the pop.

Aware that others may attack, Felix picked up the Captain's lifeless body and aimed it at the door, anticipating more guards to appear. Though slower than Felix would have liked, a pair of soldiers came into the room calling out for their Captain. "At ease, gentlemen," Felix said, trying to mimic their boss's accent. The two were confused for a moment before the mercenary dropped his body and shot them down.

Stassney slowly reached for one of the soldier's rifles. Noticing this, Felix kicked it away and aimed his gun at the soldier. "Please, don't!" Stassney begged, covering his face with his hands as if it would stop a bullet.

Felix raised his gun in the air, relaxing his grip slightly. "Don't worry, Stass, I'm not gonna kill you," he reassured the soldier.

"You're not?" The poor man sounded hopeful.

"No, he is," Felix aimed the pistol at the door as Locus walked in. He glared at Felix, aiming his gun at the ground.

"What the hell was that?" Locus asked, shooting the man without so much as a glance.

Felix laughed. "It's called having fun. You should try it sometime," he explained. "Now, come on, we have a ship of new recruits to talk to." Felix walked past Locus, who grunted. As the duo walked through the ship's corridors, their other soldiers announced as sectors of the ship became clear. Finally, by the time they reached the cells, they had gotten rid of all the original crew members.

The room filled with the sounds of the cellmates talking with one another. Felix pressed a button on the control panel to disable the alarm. Locus picked up the microphone and ordered the room to be quiet. Within a few seconds, the room fell silent. "As of now, we're the new crew of this ship." He said.

After a moment of silence, a prisoner yelled out, "Well, who the hell are you?"

Locus glared at his partner, already fed up and impatient with the others. Felix placed a hand on the emerald-clad soldier's shoulder. "Why don't you let the people-person handle this?" he asked. Locus begrudgingly gave Felix the microphone. "Thank you."

Felix cleared his throat. "Listen up! We're looking for soldiers who aren't afraid of killing lots of people for lots of money. We don't care who you are, and we don't care what you've done. Because, quite frankly, we've probably done everything you've done and then some," Felix chuckled. "All that we care about is that you can follow orders and hold your own on the battlefield. We're going to war, folks. Now—our enemies are weak, but there's a lot of them."

Felix turned to Locus, knowing he could get under the mercenary's skin. "And they've got a couple of badass agents from Project Freelancer on their side. Give me a shout if one of them is the reason you're in here!" A decent number of voices hollered throughout the room, more than he was expecting. "Now, if you survive this war, you'll be rich enough to live out the rest of your lives as free men!" The prisoners began talking to one another, clearly excited by the offer.

The mercenary cleared his throat. "Now, if this totally awesome idea doesn't sound like your kind of job, we'll let you off the ship. But, if you're ready to fight for your freedom, then please, firmly grasp the bars of your cells in a sign of solidarity." Felix clenched his fist around an imaginary bar, joining the prisoners. Echoes of people grabbing the bars filled the room. When it all calmed down, Felix smiled. "Well, alright then." Charon's soldiers activated their gravity boots as Felix pressed a giant, red button.

While every cellmate held onto the bars, a few of them were too weak not to be pulled into the vacuum of space. After a minute passed of keeping The Purge active, Felix deactivated it. People slowly began calming down, their screams quieting. Locus yanked the microphone from Felix's hand and congratulated the crew on their new employment. They headed back into the control room.

Before they could close the door, one of their teammates ran in behind them. "Locus, Felix. We found something interesting: A prisoner who doesn't look up to par put two and two together and tied his bedsheets around his waist before the purge."

"Smart bastard," Felix shrugged.

"That's not the interesting part. He says he has something you need."

"Oh? Bring him in."

When the soldier left the room, Locus turned to his coworker. "Why are you humoring this? We need brawns, not brains."

"Relax, man. We've got all the soldiers we need. We might as well see what this man has to offer. Worst case scenario, we kill him. Best case scenario, we use him to our advantage," Felix explained. Locus groaned in response.

After a few minutes passed, the soldier returned to the room with Prisoner 613479 handcuffed. He wasn't phased, being the only unarmed person in the room. He spoke in a calm voice, "Gentlemen, allow me to introduce myself. My name is Aiden Price."

"Okay? Well, Price, here's the deal. We're looking for soldiers, not whatever the hell you're supposed to be," Felix said coldly.

"You say you have something we want?" Locus inquired.

"No, I have something you need. The members of Project Freelancer you mentioned. Am I correct in assuming they are Agents Carolina and Washington?"

Locus and Felix traded glances before the former walked up to Price. "And how would you know that?"

"I know everything there is to know about my agents. As the," Aiden sighed, "former counselor of Project Freelancer, I helped mold them into who they are. Psychiatric analyses, medical histories. They're all housed in here," Aiden tapped the side of his head. "And I can give them to you."

Felix chuckled, believing the soldier was useless. "I'd hate to cut your lifeline short, Counselor, but we've already got access to all of Freelancer's confiscated records—"

"If you're referring to the documents recovered by the UNSC, you should know that is merely the tip of the iceberg," Aiden interrupted him. "My knowledge of those I worked with goes much deeper than anything a lousy report could detail."

Felix, doubting the man's claims, held him at gunpoint. "I think you're bluffing."

The counselor didn't budge. Not even showing a hint of fear, he offered, "Did you know that Agent Washington refuses artificial intelligence access to his neural implants after seeing the memories of the Director's late wife, Allison? The Epsilon AI nearly killed itself in his mind, causing him extreme trauma. His being at the bottom of the main leaderboard caused the rest to look down on him, forcing him to seek affirmations from the weakest three Freelancers. And did you know Carolina is the Director's daughter? She only joined to get his approval, after he drowned himself in the project to resurrect his wife? Her rivalry with Agent Texas is due to the woman being the AI embodiment of his wife and her mother. We found Agent Carolina is fifty-seven percent more likely to entirely abandon her team when presented with a competitive scenario. Was any of that in Project Freelancer's documents?"

Locus and Felix were speechless at the incredibly-detailed knowledge presented by their new teammate. When neither uttered a word, Aiden continued. "No? Then I also doubt you realize there is another inmate aboard this ship who shares a deep-seated hatred toward the Freelancers, and who would like nothing more than to get revenge on them. He would undoubtedly prove useful to you if he were... properly guided," he smiled confidently.

Locus and Felix glanced at one another before Felix nodded. "You know, I think we're gonna get along great, Counselor," he said, putting his arm around the man's shoulder.

"This other inmate you speak of. Take us to him," Locus ordered.

"But of course," Aiden nodded slowly, walking out the room. The trio walked to the main room and down a staircase. When they stopped at a cell, Felix immediately became anxious. Not only was the soldier behind the bars more intimidating than Locus had ever been, but the cell was even more reinforced than the rest, having an iron wall separating it from the rest of the ship and a small window to see inside.

"So I hear you want to take down the freelancers," Felix chuckled. "Let's get this man out of here so we can talk a little more." He pressed a button beside the cell and the iron door began unlocking, revealing the man's burn scars all over his body, the shark tattoo on his chest, and—when he turned around—the quote on his back. "Oh? What does that say?"

Aiden began speaking, "I believe it means—"

"Zhi bi zhiji, baizhanbudai; buzhi bi er zhiji, yi shengyi fu; buzhi bi, bu zhiji, mei zhan bibai," the man said, obviously butchering the pronunciation. In other words, if you know yourself and your enemy, you need not fear the result of a hundred battles. If you know yourself but not the enemy, for every victory gained, you will also suffer a defeat. If you know neither yourself nor your enemy—"

"You will succumb in every battle," Locus finished the sentence coldly. Sharkface smiled at the man. "The Art of War, Sun Tzu."

"And now you know."

Felix smiled at the mercenary before him. Though he couldn't see every detail about the man, he grew excited about the coming conflict. If this man went toe-to-toe against the freelancers and survived, even if he looked like he had been incredibly injured in the past, then he would be a valuable asset. He ordered, "Let him out of this cell. He'll be extremely valuable on our team."

One of the new crew ran up to the group with a key and hastily unlocked the cell. The man stretched his neck, hearing every bone in his body crack satisfyingly. "Thanks. Let's go finish this so-called war."

Excited, all Felix could think was, "This war is gonna be over quickly."