Inside Crash Site Alpha, Felix and Locus are currently talking to man in a gray uniform. He has very short hair and dark brown skin. Felix and Locus had recently boarded and taken a large frigate known as the Tartarus, where they found men to increase their numbers. The man they were speaking to...was none other than Counsler Aiden Price of Project Freelancer. Right now they were discussing a certain inmate they had acquired on the ship. Sharkface.  

"He's been calling himself "Sharkface"." Price informs the mercenaries. 

"What is he, a Batman villain?" Felix says puzzled. 

"His physical appearance, combined with a deep-seated sense of contrarianism seems-" 

"Oh my god, shut up. I don't care." Felix cuts him off. 

"Can we use him?" Locus asks. 

"If we continue our sessions, absolutely." 

"Good." 

Felix shakes his head. ""Sharkface", "Locus". Whatever happened to normal freaking names? I mean, am I crazy?!" 

"Well..." 

Felix stands and gets face to face with the Counselor. "Don't psychoanalyze me." The lights suddenly go out. All three look around.

"What was that?" Price asks. 

"Locus, Felix. We've got a problem." A Pirate says on the radio. 

"Report." Locus orders. 

"Our teleporters malfunctioned. They just detonated." 

"How many?" Felix inquires. 

"Well...um...all of them." 

Locus and Felix look at each other. Suddenly, a red light appears behind them and they turn around. 

-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-

Doyle, Kimball, Wash and the Reds are speaking with Zone, Xi, Carolina, the Blues, Sarge and Dr. Grey via computer. 

"Emily! Please, slow down." Doyle shouts. 

"Slow down?! General, the alien weapons, the vehicles, all of the artifacts we've found over the years, they weren't broken! They were just deactivated!! And Arizona's sword made them work!" Grey explains ecstatically.  

"For all of two seconds." Sarge adds. 

"How is that possible?" Kimball says shocked. 

"Well, his is like mine." Tucker explains. "It's kinda like a sword and a key." 

"What does that even mean?" 

"Yeah, I was part of this "Great Prophecy" thing, because I took a sword-key from a tower and then an alien took on a quest to get a ship, but in the end it all kinda turned out to be an excuse to get me knocked up and have an alien baby." 

"You've...reproduced?" Doyle says trying to process. 

"Heck yeah, Junior is awesome! Check him out and his 5th grade basketball team!" Tucker takes out a picture and holds it up to the computer showwing Junior, grown-up, along with five other kids, all holding basketballs.

"(Sigh) They grow up so fast." Tucker says proud. 

"Well, that's the last thing I thought I'd see today. Or ever." Doyle murmurs. 

"Yeah, I know. Who carries around actual photographs anymore?" Tucker scoffs. 

"Alright, focus. Let's go over what we know." Wash says. 

"Well, whatever Zone did caused all of our teleportation grenades to explode, fried Charon's weapons and almost got me killed. Good going jerk." Simmons explains. 

"Actually, this could be perfect." Carolina puts in. 

Sarge snorts. "Well, maybe if Simmons had been replaced with Grif, and instead of "almost killed", he was..." 

"Stop." Grif cuts him off. 

"The alien weapons may have been active for a few seconds, but Charon's hybrid tech is still inoperable." Carolina clarifies. 

"Whatever pieces they took from the alien technology and crammed into their own, likely short-circuited the equipment when it tried to come back online." Grey adds. 

"Which means the Space Pirates ain't got their fancy lasers no more!" Sarge states. 

"Yeah, but neither do we!" Grif protests. 

"That doesn't matter." Wash argues. 

"Speak for yourself! That's two awesome alien weapons I've lost now!" Grif shot back. 

"Charon has always had the technological advantage over us. The only reason we've managed to win these last few weeks was because we have them outnumbered." Wash points out. 

"And yet we still lose troops with every victory." Doyle adds. 

"True, but now we have them outnumbered and outgunned. Without their toys they've got nothing more than standard UNSC weaponry. It's an even playing field." Kimball states. 

"You know, I've been working with weapons a lot lately and I'd just like to point out, that the standard UNSC weaponry can still put a freaking hole in your skull." Simmons reminds them. 

"We've also yet to encounter Locus or Felix since they left." Doyle says shuddering. 

"We'll deal with them, when the time comes. Right, Carolina?" Wash says. 

"Right, of course." Carolina replies hesitantly. 

"What are you thinking, Kimball?" Epsilon asks. 

"Yes, we have been doing well these past few weeks, but we still can't make contact with the UNSC and we have no idea how many jammers Charon installed on Chorus. For all we know they could have some on the moon. I'm not sure how much longer these small victories will be able to keep our heads above the water, so maybe it's time we aim higher? The tractor beams at Crash Site Alpha are the only things keeping us from leaving the planet." 

"Y-You can't possibly be suggesting, that-" 

Kimball cuts Doyle off. "If we take them down, we can send a ship to bring help!" 

"The mercs have to know that. Those towers are probably the most heavily defended targets on the planet, especially now." Wash points out. 

"Yes, precisely!" Doyle cries. 

"We lose people with every fight. You said so yourself. If we don't make a move now, while they're weak, we're going to keep losing people until there is no one left!" Kimball shouts. 

"Both of you! Knock it off!" Zone snaps getting everyone's attention. "Now look, granted Kimball has a point about taking down something that'll give us a higher advantage, but Doyle is also right in saying that we'll take too many casualties. Now placing that aside, we also have to take into account the coordinates that appeared after whatever it was that happened to me. We need to check it out before the Pirates do. 

"Zone's right. Could be buried treasure." Caboose says. 

"Or a stockpile of alien weapons that melt your face off! Or turn you to stone. Or turn stones into people!" Sarge says uneasily at the thought. 

"They have a point. Taking Crash Site Alpha is possible, but not without heavy losses. Those coordinates could lead us to something that might save lives." Carolina points out. 

"Uh, yeah. "Could"?" Grif emphasizes. 

"One tower took out all of Charon's weapons. There's no telling what another one could do. I mean, heck! If it gives us a way to turn the other tower back on, we can add cool alien lasers to the armory! Why else are we in this war?!" Xi chuckles. 

"And I get to add another weapon category to the armory spreadsheet." Simmons says. 

"Nerd." Tucker breathes. 

"Organizing data's not nerdy, it's efficient! Come on, Church and Xi are computers. They know what I'm talking about." 

"Yeah, that nerd doesn't speak for me." Epsilon states. 

"Nor me." Xi adds. 

"We don't have time to investigate! For all we know, Charon's already working on a new batch of rifle replacements." Kimball cries. 

""Don't have time?" We can just fly right over and check it out." Tucker says. 

"We already know Locus and Felix have scouts monitoring our activity whenever possible. If we send a ship to the middle of nowhere, they'll notice and they'll follow." Wash points out. 

"If these coordinates lead to something, we can't afford it falling into Charon's hands. We need to send a small team on foot." Carolina argues. 

"And that will take time that we don't have." Kimball reminds them. 

"But what if Charon's already there? What if they've been sitting on this ship for years and we've just turned it on?! We gotta find out what's out there, even if it's just to make sure the mercs don't use it against us!" Zone persists. 

"I-Is it possible to...divide and conquer?" Doyle suggests. 

"Yeah, Zone and Carolina could take an away-team out to the coordinates and Kimball could lead the charge against Alpha." Wash says. 

"Why does Kimball get to lead the charge?" Doyle asks. 

"Are you volunteering?" 

"Well, I...heh, unfortunately we'll need someone to stay behind and guard the capital and I know this city better than anyone." Doyle chuckles nervously. 

"Nice bail." Griffith mutters. 

"Then it sounds like Kimballs' our leader." Wash states. 

"The Feds won't take orders from me." Kimball retorts. 

"They will if their lives are on the line. I've been training them. Both sides have come a long way and we'll need all hands on deck if we wanna pull this off." 

"Well, then you can count me and my boys in!" Sarge replies. 

"Ooooohh, ah we need to work at the armory actually." Grif points out. 

"Shshshsh, yeah, really sorry, guys. I wish we could help." Simmons hisses. 

<Nice bail.> Lopez mutters. 

"Well, if you really wanna go, Lopez and I can handle the armory." Donut suggests. 

"Excellent suggestion, Donut! Simmons, looks like you're gonna get to see your fearless colonel on the battlefield after all! I wish I could look through your eyes, and see me." Sarge chuckles. 

"Yaaaaaay." Simmons says looking down. 

"I'm gonna kill you in your sleep." Grif growls at Donut. 

"Right. Then the rest of us can act as the "away" team. Tucker and Zone bring the swords, Grey brings the brains,-" 

"And I bring the comic relief." Caboose finishes. 

"I was gonna say "the rifle with auto-targeting software"." Epsilon clarifies. Caboose presses the trigger, once again releasing confetti and making a party sound.

"We'll hop on the next Pelican to Armonia and prep to head out." Zone states. 

"And if we play this right, the mercs won't even know what hit 'em." Xi adds confidently. 

-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-

Back at the Crash Site, Locus and Felix are looking at something while a Pirate walks up behind them. 

"We had the scientists check everything. Binary rifles, suppressors, they're all dead. Even the ones on the ship." 

"Then send them up here. We have another job for them." Locus orders. 

"You got it, boss!" The Pirate leaves. 

"Sir, we just received a communications request from Control. What should I tell him?" Locus and Felix continue to stare at the map identical to the one the Blues found. 

"Tell him we'll call right back." Felix says.