Freelancer

                    Chapter 1   

      Agent Indiana sat on the edge of her bunk, looking dully at her suit of cyan colored armor. It was her identity, the part of her that told her apart from the rest. However much He told them they were individuals, Indiana knew that she and the other forty-seven  were just experiments to Him,the Director, the doctor, their very lifeline.
    Indiana thought morosely about her life. The missions, the game... They meant everything to everyone.... Except her. She knew that this Project, Project Freelancer, was simply a way of getting results from putting men and women in difficult situations. Indiana used to wear the orange armor of team Missouri... The team of her recent fiancé, Agent Missouri. Now Indiana had her own team. Team Indiana.
    Indiana sighed as she stood slowly from her bunk, and started equipping her armor.  In her mind's-eye she could see her desperate team, made up of five agents, struggling to win this, their last game. She knew it would be their last. Ever since the Team had been created they hadn't win a single game. That was six months ago. During those six weeks she had become the joke of the other forty-seven teams.
    Once she had her armor on, Indiana left her quarters and walked down the halls, head held high, determined to go out with dignity. She knew they would lose. They had never won, and now they were fighting the best team in the Project: Team Texas.... The black armored team was the bane of all who fought them. They, exactly opposite of Indiana's team, had won every game they played.  The game was totally one-sided. Indiana stopped outside her team's barracks and took a deep breath. Pressing the button on the door panel, Indiana watched the barrack doors slide open. Indiana gasped at the sight that met her gaze. All her men, her team, were lying about, not halfway ready for their game.
    "What's going on!" she exploded, "don't you know we have a match in five minutes!?"
    A corporal stood slowly and said in a low voice, "It's pointless ma'am... We'll lose for sure... We might as well not even show up."
    Indiana was furious. "How dare you! Corporal Vergus, get your armor on. NOW! I won't have my men quit when the game gets ruff! ON YOUR FEET SOLDIERS!!!"
  Galvanized into action the soldiers quickly strapped into their armor and stood in a line for inspection. Indiana, however, was in no mood the inspect them. The second they all had their weapons, Indiana ordered a quick march to the game room.
  The game room. The room where everything happened. A simple oblong square with hologram projectors everywhere. All scenarios were set up via solidified holographic illusions, creating an ever changing environment for the teams to battle in, on, and around. Simply another experiment designed by the Director, used to test the abilities of His agents and their teams. This game was set in a rocky ravine, with two bases, one on each end of the ravine. One cyan, one black. One side a perfect mirror image of the other, therefore neither team had the advantage, Indiana thought ruefully. Quickly filing into place in the starting room, Indiana took a deep, calming breath, preparing herself for the battle about to take place. She would show her team exactly what a Freelancer Spartan can do.

                  Chapter 2

    Feeling the familiar tingle of the Spawn Dome activating around her, Indiana closed her eyes, completely focused on the battle ahead of her.
  "Alright, slackers, let's get this game going in our favor first off. Vergus, you take Pillar and Davis off to the right, I'll take Beon and Reese on with me on the left. Get to the Charge shelter as fast as you can. Now go."
      With orders in their minds, the soldiers ran off in the direction their team leader had instructed. Indiana took her two off to the left wall of the ravine. She knew that her men lacked the conviction necessary to win, but she hoped that if they could catch Texas in between her two forces, that they would reduce the number of opponents in the field. Sprinting as fast  as they could, her small squad  rushed on towards the Charge shelter in the center of the ravine.
      Charges were the core of the Game. If one team were to reach the Charge shelter first, they would be likely to be able to hold their opponent off until they could rush the opposing base and destroy it with the Charge. This was the goal of the Game. The team to destroy the opposing base first would win the round and move up the ranking Board. If Indiana and her men could reach the shelter first, there would be a greater chance of winning, even against the number one team. 
  Indiana breathed a silent word of anger as she realized that Texas had run her soldiers straight up the middle of the ravine to reach the Shelter first. Now she had taken the advantage that Indiana needed so badly. As this realization dawned on her soldiers, Indiana came up with a reckless, last throw move.
  "I'm gonna rush them." she stated, "I'll try to grab a Charge and get to their base."
  Reese knew that she was desperate. Knowing this, and since he had retained much more loyalty than the rest of the men, he offered to come along and cover her back as she tried to get to Tex's base.
    "Alright then, on three we're going to rush them, get a Charge and get out as fast as possible. Beon, you cover us as we run in.  One... Two... THREE!"  In an rush of adrenaline, Indiana and Reese drove forward into the fire of Texas. Flying into the visors of their helmets, dust from grenades coated Indiana and Reese in a thick layer of brown dirt. Leaping, diving, and dodging, the two desperate agents ran into the center of their enemies. Reese fell, blood spewing from a wound in his  chest. Indiana didn't stop. She had to get a Charge and win this for them. Finally reaching the pile of Charges, Indiana seized the nearest one and burst from the shelter. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Reese staggering to a nearby rock. Over the intercom she heard Reese wheezing at her, "Run... I'll hold them off..." then he coughed. She knew blood came with it. "I'll hold them.. Hold them here.." Knowing her time was running out, she reacted quickly to what Reese had said. More grenades flew around her, but she paid them no notice. One goal, one victory... We need this.... I need this...
    A searing pain ripped through her chest. Shot. She was shot. In a last effort, she activated the Charge and flung it as far as she could towards the black base.... Then the tingling feeling of the Spawn dome doing its work on her. She felt the familiar sensation of floating, then she was standing in the spawn room. Reese and Beon were there. They must have died, she thought vaguely.
    "We lost..." she stated. Reese nodded sadly.
    "Thank you, Reese. For standing with me."
    "It was the least I could do, ma'am. After nearly betraying you earlier... Before the Game."
      Indiana slumped onto the bench to wait for the inevitable.
    As the rest  of her teams appeared in quick succession from apparently nowhere, she knew they had lost. All her men simply looked at her with a look that was either of pity or of absolute disgust.  She knew she was no team leader anymore.

                      Chapter 3

      Forty-eight agents, the team leaders, were assembled in the large meeting room. Most of them wore their armor all the time, but Indiana had taken her's off. She was a failure, she told herself.
      "You all must be wondering why you have been called here." Turning, everyone saw the Director stalking towards them, his counsellor at his right and slightly behind.
    "I will tell you bluntly. We are reinstating one of the currently inactive agents. Agent Rhode Island will be brought into action within the next week. Also, as we have seen, Indiana is completely unable to lead a team. She will be one of the five soldiers to play on Rhode Island's team."
      Indiana scowled at his bluntness. He should have a little more sensitivity on the sore subject. She knew she was no good, why bring it up in front of everyone? Then she remembered that she was simply an experiment for his enjoyment, he could do what he liked with her, and she couldn't resist him.
    "Agent Rhode Island, please come meet the agents," called the  Counsellor.
    At the Counsellor's call, a tall spartan in white armor with a secondary color green stepped into the room. All eyes scanned him. He had armor unlike anyone else. Instead of the usual almost full body armor, his armor was less covering, leaving more of his gray and lime-green body glove showing. All the agents sighed inwardly as they realized how much more agile and flexible his armor must be; he would be able to move much easier, with only minimal energy shield reducing.  Many of the agents were wondering about the strange attachments on his back, but they would soon find out about them.
    "This, is agent Rhode Island, our newest agent.
    "You are probably wondering about this new armor," explained the Director,
"his armor is specially built for him, with his skill sets only. All of you will be receiving a few upgrades to your own armor, such as his Ability units, attached on his back. You see these packs on his shoulder blades. These are the Ability units. Rhode Island has three Abilities imbued into the armor itself, then he has two in his Ability units.  Also, Rhode Island has an Artificial Intelligence, or otherwise known as an A.I., therefore he can run several Abilities at once."
      As the Director indicated his armor pieces, Rhode Island stood still, refusing to do as the Director indicated.
Indiana noticed this sign of rebellion and wondered why the Director didn't punish him for it.  As Rhode Island scanned the crowd of Freelance Spartans, his visor stopped, looking straight at Indiana. Instead of the usual glance--glance away, he held he gaze and nodded his greeting to her, almost an unnoticeable movement. Indiana noticed it, however, and nodded her acknowledgement. Only then did Rhode Island look away. She realized that he must know she was assigned to his team. The Director asked if Rhode Island would bring his A.I. out so the other agents could meet it. Rhode Island nodded slowly... Then an orange light started shining over his left shoulder. A small glowing figure of an orange spartan appeared where the light was half a second ago.
      "Greetings, agents of Project Freelancer," came  the synthetic sounding voice of the A.I. "I am the Artificial Intelligence system known as Khoppa. I am pleased to make all of your acquaintances. Surely we will get to know each other quite thoroughly in the next several months. I will be watching your fighting skills and figuring out an easy way to defe-"
    A deep, almost raspy voice came from Rhode Island's helmet, "Khoppa, command: Silence"
        "Complying,"  came the synthesized reply.
        "Talkative little blighter," muttered agent Michigan.
        The Director continued, "Team Rhode Island will be in action by next starting Game. You are all dismissed." and with that short, rather surprising ending speech, the Director and his counsellor turned and marched off, leaving the agents to meet Rhode Island.

                      Chapter 4

      Agent Michigan was the first to break the silence, "Well, we might as well be friendly, all of you." he said, "Agent Michigan, leader of team Michigan. Pleased to serve with you, Rhody.
" I hope you don't mind the nicknames. I'll never be able to call you Rhode Island all the time."
      "Glad someone has manners." came the same almost raspy voice from inside Rhode Island's helmet. "Otherwise I'd only have Khoppa to talk to.
    "I will need a of your State-names." Then gesturing to Indiana, "I don't need your name. I already know you."
Indiana wondered if he meant to say that he knew her, or if he knew who she was. She was on the verge of asking when agent Colorado, a big, gold Spartan heavy gunner, introduced himself: "Agent Colorado, obviously the leader of team Colorado. Hope to battle you soon, Rhody."
    Rhode Island simply nodded acquiescence to the fact.
      "I didn't nessesarely want them all at once." he stated matter of factly.  Michigan laughed out loud at the statement, "It's not often you find someone as blunt and straight forward as you are, Rhody. I like you already!"
    Once again, Rhody just nodded.
    A man of few words, thought Indiana. How very appropriate for such a mysterious man, and such a surprise appearance. There was something he seemed to know, something subtle, something... Indiana didn't want to think about it now. She had had a tough week, and now she had a request to make of Rhody.
      "Permission to make a request, sir." she said. It was more of a statement that a question.
      Again, jut a nod in reply.
      "I respectfully request for one of my old teammates to be included in team Rhode Island. Private Reese, sir."
        Rhode Island thought for a moment before answering in his deep scratchy voice, "Granted. You go find him now and tell him to report to me in Level two, Section three, room 12. That's my quarters. If ever you need me, you can look for me there."
      Indiana gave a slight, casual salute, and left the room. She couldn't  believe what was happening... She needed to sleep.
      Indiana didn't notice Rhody's gaze following her out of the room. Michigan did, however, and made a mental note to try to take her down first in their first battle and see what his reaction would be. Rhody obviously knew something about her.
      Although Rhody was new, he seemed to know more about everyone than a rookie should have. Michigan noticed this too. Everyone he met, he had some kind of statement that really hit the person to the  core, forming a kind of intimacy that no rookie should be able to do in his first day on base. Almost all his comments, however few they were, made an impact on someone. Michigan, who was more observant than most of his compatriots, really felt an odd sensation that he had known Rhody somehow, somewhere, but he couldn't put his finger on it. He would look into Rhode Island's past a bit after all this was through.

                          Chapter 5

    Team Rhode Island had been drilling for several weeks. Private Reese had been promoted to Corporal now, and the team had several rookies, one of which had been a high school friend of Indiana's fiancé, agent Missouri. Small world, thought Indiana. Zookie, the girl who had been Missouri's friend, had nearly broken down when she heard Missouri had died. Indiana remembered that day almost as well as yesterday. Being the reason for Missouri's death, Indiana felt a horrible sense of responsibility for his old friend. Zookie was three years younger than Indiana, and she looked up to the young agent like a sister. Missouri had been an older brother to her, so she started looking to Indiana as a sister.
    As team Rhode Island assembled for the beginning of their third week of training, Rhody walked purposefully toward them.
    "Well, soldiers," he began in his scratchy voice, "We have our first match today. We will be facing Team West Virginia, the Forest green squad. Currently they are ranked number twenty, so we will not start at the bottom, however, if we win we will be bumped directly into twentieth place. No practice today, stay in your armor and get focused."  With that, Rhode Island turned on his heel and marched off toward the barracks sector.
    The team, comprised of mostly rookies, stood in shocked silence.
      "Our first match?" came Zookie's voice, pitched higher than intended, "but, we only just started training! It's not fair!"
        Indiana tried to reassure the young soldiers, "Don't worry, Rhody knows what he's doing." I hope, she added in her mind. She knew the Director was testing them, just to see how they would handle the news. In fact, he was probably watching right now, seeing how they would react to the stunningly terrifying news.
      "For now, though," said Reese, "just do as Rhode Island says. Go to the barracks and rest up. We'll need all the energy we can get, if I'm not mistaken." A silent message passed from Reese to Indiana, even through their visors, Indiana could see what he was thinking: How are we going to do this? This isn't impossible... Right?
    All Indiana could do was shrug.
    Back in the barracks, Indiana and Zookie sat on their bunks and looked at each other.
      "Is Rhode Island crazy...?" wondered Zookie, "why would he accept such a dumb match like this? We don't stand a chance!"
        "Don't say that," commanded Indiana, "last time I had someone tell me that, it proved only too true..."
    Zookie stood and paced and paced the confined space of the two girls' barracks.
      "If he knows we don't stand a chance, why did he accept?" she continued, unfazed by Indiana's warning, "he must be either cocky in his own ability, or he is stupid enough to think we're ready for this."
    For the second time that day, Indiana could only shrug.

                      Chapter 6

    Agent Rhode Island walked into the spawn dome, head erect, body tensed and ready for the battle yet to come. His intense gaze fell on agent Indiana, obviously nervous about the battle coming. Knowing more about Indiana than anyone else, Rhode Island was sure she would pull through. He had studied her files and he had watched her in her final battle as team leader of Team Indiana. Her tactics were good, but she lacked the control over her men that she had needed to be a good leader.
        Tingling with the energy of the spawn dome, Rhode Island thought about the last three months of his active duty in the human Covenant war. Covenant were an alliance of aliens: the Sangheli,  fast and agile, true fighters, they had quickly cut off their alliance with the Covenant, in order to help fend off a bigger threat to the universe.. Then there had been the Jiralhannae, a brutish type of alien that somewhat resembled the gorilla. Several other types of aliens had also been involved in the war, including the Kig-Yar, the Unngoy, the massive and terrible Hunters, Rhode Island could never remember their true names, and lastly the Buggers, the insectile aliens from a distant jungle planet. Rhode Island had fought these in the final battle of the human-Covenant war, more commonly known as the Halo wars. His skills had greatly improved during the War, and then the Director had taken new interest in him. If only he hadn't made quite so big a name for himself, he wouldn't have had to come on yet another stupid experimental mission. It was all over now. He had to go through with it.
      Sensing someone watching him, he turned and saw Zookie looking at him, a look of utter frustration on her face.
      "I know you think we're going to loose," he said in as much of a consolatory voice as he could muster, "but if you follow what I say, to the letter, we'll win. I do know what I'm doing."
    Zookie gave him a slight, relaxed salute and turned away in disgust.
      As the doors opened, Rhode Island checked his soldiers, to make sure they were in the position he had trained them in. As soon as the doors were fully opened, Rhode Island gave a simple, one word command: "Move."
      Instantly, all five of his soldiers started jogging forward, slowly gaining speed until they were in a full tilt sprint. Rhode Island had no weapons, Indiana noticed, however, once bullets started flying in their direction, his hands started to shimmer with a purple glow, slowly spreading into the shape of a rifle, then solidifying into a gas-block sniper rifle. Rhody raised the rifle and fire the first shot, striking agent West Virginia square between the eyes. No pain was felt on that end. One second Virginia was on the field, the next he was in the Spawn Dome.
      Running wildly for the Shelter, the rest of Team West Virginia felt a new sense of fear that they had never expected from their rookie opponent. Two more men went down before the last three reached the Charge Shelter, but by now Team Rhode Island was already almost on top of them. Within three seconds of the first shot, half of their men had been killed, all with a bullet right between their eyes.
        Team Rhode Island quickly encircled them and killed them off, with as little delay as taking out the garbage. Pinned and cornered, W. Virginia didn't stand a chance. Rhode Island quickly ran into the Shelter, snatched a Charge and destroyed the green base, winning the round in less than two minutes.

                    Chapter 7

      Passing in a blur, the next few days brought a match every day. Every time a win. Team Rhode Island moved up the ranking Board quickly.
      Team Michigan was lined up for the next day, the next Game. Rhode Island knew that Michigan had been watching every Game, learning his tactics. However, this was a new month of Games. A new scenario, a new mapping layout. Neither Rhode Island or Michigan would be able to scout out the map, therefore both teams would need to find the Shelter and the  find the opposite base.
    As Michigan walked the catwalk over the Game Room, he heard the buzzing in his helmet of someone paging him through the intercom. The Director himself was paging him. Then he noticed that all other forty-eight agents were being paged also. Accepting the link, Michigan waited for the rest of the agents to do likewise; only after everyone had accepted the link would the Director tell them what he had to say. Likely it was going to be a dumb meeting, thought Michigan. Rhode island was next to accept the transmission, his name on the list of agents becoming green on Michigan's H.U.D. When all the agents had accepted the link, the Director's voice came over the intercom, "Good afternoon agents, you are all required to attend a meeting at sixteen-hundred hours in the briefing room. The Counsellor and I look forward to seeing you there."
      Michigan sighed as he cut off the transmission. He started a private message transmission with agent Wisconsin, the agent ranked 15th on the board.
      "So," enquired Michigan after Wisconsin  had received the message, "what do you think of the Director's 'invitation' to the briefing room? Any ideas as to what it might be about?"
        "Well," came Wisconsin's  deep, heavily Dutch accented voice, "I have heerd rumors thut we moight be gettin' some o' those A.I. thingys thut Rhude Eesland hus goot... Boot I dunno fer sure.... Do ya think eet moight be aboot thut?"
    "Uuuhh....." thought Michigan, trying to decipher what Wisconsin had just said. "I doubt it, that seems like an expensive procedure, copying the persons memories and such.... I doubt it would be cost effective to get all of us an A.I. all of our own... It seems to costly."
      "Weell, the Dericter neever seems to vorry too much aboot cost ut ull. Mebbe he isn't thoo, I dunno."
    So ended their conversation.
    At sixteen-hundred hours, all the agents gathered into the briefing room, awaiting the Director's arrival. When the doors slid open, all eyes fixed on the floating, glowing green Spartan that shimmered next to the Director's hand. In the Director's hand was a small computer chip with three small prongs jutting out of the bottom.
      "Good afternoon agents of the Project." said the Director, "We have summoned you here to introduce you to a new era of Spartan technology. The A.I. era. This Artificial Intelligence fragment  is named Delta. There are many like him.  I say 'fragment' because these A.I. are not full Artificial Intelligences. These are simply memories, copied from an unknown human."
      "Delta is a very... Analytical A.I." explained the Counsellor in his soft voice. "He tends to analyze a situation before running into it; unlike the A.I., Omega, who is a very aggressive A.I." Michigan wondered jut how the Director had obtained these, 'fragments', but he didn't want to press any matter with the Director... He wasn't the kind of person to push things with.
      As the Director explained the Artificial Intelligence system and how the A.I. helps Spartans in battle, Michigan noticed Rhode Island turn and leave the Briefing room. He obviously already knew everything there was to know about A.I., considering the fact that he already had one: Khoppa. Michigan wondered if these so called 'fragments' had been derived from Khoppa. No, decided Michigan, Rhode Island seemed like the kind of guy to keep his things out of reach, even from the Director.
        "Are there any questions?" asked the Counsellor, snapping Michigan back into reality, out of his thinking and wondering. Indiana's hand shot into the air, and without waiting for acknowledgement of the fact, she jabbed her question: "Yes, all of this is well and good, but, if you don't mind my asking, how or where did you get these 'fragments' as you are so proud of describing them as? And if these are the first, as you stated previously, how did Rhode Island attain one, if these are your so called 'first'?"
      "Rhode Island had his from his involvement in the Halo wars." explained the Counsellor, "He was granted the ownership of Khoppa, due to the strong bond between himself and the A.I.;  Khoppa is a direct copy of Rhode Island's mind, therefore they formed a very strong attachment.
    "Khoppa is not one of our fragments. He is a full Artificial Intelligence, or better known as a 'smart' A.I.; not smart as we humans would think of it, but he is 'smart' as in he is fully capable of learning and improvising. Having the ability to think for himself. Also, Rhode Island knows everything Khoppa knows, and Khoppa knows what Rhode Island knows, no matter the distance, such is the the bond between their minds. Hence is Rhode Island not present, but Khoppa is." With this, the Counsellor gestured to the back of the room. There, floating over Rhode Island's holographic desk, hovered the small orange Spartan.
      "Greetings, agents, from both... Rhode Island and myself" Khoppa said.
    Michigan noticed the slight hesitation as the glowing figure stumbled over Rhody's name.
      He must have been about to use Rhody's  real name, not the State name given to him through the Project.
      Michigan raised his hand and he also didn't wait for the reply from the Director or the Counsellor, instead launching straight into his question, "So, these A.I., when do we get our own?"
      "The A.I. will be available for implantation in a week, the first agent on the schedule for implantation is agent New York." finished the Director, then he turned And marched out of he briefing room, leaving his experiments to their own devices.

                    Chapter 8

    Michigan entered the Spawn dome, feeling the prickling of the dome doing its work on his body. His blue and turquoise armor shimmering as his energy shields recharged, once again making it almost impenetrable. All Spartan armor was like this, made from an adamantium-vibrainium alloy with energy shield projectors placed efficiently all over the armor.
    Michigan looked over the new battlegrounds, hoping to see some kind of advantage, but knowing it wouldn't be there. The only farmiliar objects in the Game room were the bases and his own men. Everything else was foreign.
Team Rhode Island on the other side of the Room was farmiliar, but Michigan made himself forget that he had ever known any of them. Being his enemies, Rhode Island had become an unknown person to Michigan. Funny, thought Michigan, considering the fact that nobody knew who Rhode Island really was. He was unknown anyways. As the Freelancer computer, F.I.L.L.S., counted down for the beginning of the round, Michigan remembered that he needed to take out Indiana first to see what Rhody's reaction would  be. 
    In the very second the starting ring began, Michigan shot out of the blue base, rocketing toward the white at the other side. Charges couldn't be farther from his racing mind as he blew passed the Shelter. Surprised at finding no one at the Shelter, Michigan slowed his pace, taking in each of the surrounding areas for cover. At every rock, bush, or tree, Michigan expected a white-and -green Spartan to start slinging lead in his direction, eliminating his chance at the experiment in mind. The Director may have his experiments, but Michigan also had his, and he would like to fulfill it.
    Finally, reaching the white base, Michigan found Team Rhode Island: waiting. As soon as the starting bell rang, Rhode Island had formed his troops into a defensive position around their base, knowing that Michigan would outsmart himself in a mad rush to find them. The tactic worked on almost everyone, but not Rhode Island, thought Michigan ruefully. At least he could preform his experiment.
    Aiming down the sights of his slug-shotgun, Michigan found Indiana's faceplate fully visible and open to fire. No one else in the Project could have made that shot. Soaring through the air, the heavy slug smashed into Indiana's face, crushing the faceplate and crashing into Indiana's face, causing her to respawn without any of the usual pain.
      Instantly Michigan's gaze swept to Rhody, who had been directly behind Indiana. The response was as unexpected as it could come. Rhody simply took Indiana's body from the ground, used it as a shield, and rushed Michigan head on, firing his sniper rifle one handed. The first shot flew a little wide, but the second took Michigan in the throat, blood spewing freely, dying his blue armor a dull purple with the bright red, lifeblood pumping from Michigan's heart. The battle that ensued was short and decisive. Michigan's men took several more of Rhode Island's men, more than any other team had taken, but in the end, Rhody had his agents surround the remaining troops and pick them off from a distance, winning the Game by destroying the blue base after all the enemy had been defeated.
    Michigan was stunned at the way Rhode Island had used a body for a shield. Obviously something terrible had happened while he was in the Halo wars that had taken all emotions away from this horrible fighter. There was however, something terribly loyal about Rhody. Michigan couldn't put his finger on it, but he could tell that if a teammate, or even another agent, were in danger, Rhode Island would be there to help. No matter the cost.

                    Chapter 9

    Indiana flipped through endless pieces of nearly entirely blacked out papers: Rhode Island's papers. These papers contained the history of who Rhody was, what he had done with his life, and how his actions had turned out.  As she flipped through, she came to a page labeled, "Halo Wars: Lieutenant M. Rhodes."
    Rhodes? Was that Rhody's last name? Or was it simply another  codename....  Indiana started reading the chopped up document. Her eyes grew wide as she read that Rhode Island had fought alongside the Master Cheif, had seen him defeat the Didact, an ancient ailien who tried to turn humans into strange living cumputers known as Promethians, and had been present as the Master Cheif, John 117, had lost his A.I., Cortana. 
    Then came a long section where the words had been blacked out, run over by ink. Then came a section where it described the final battle of the Human-Covenant war; Rhode Island had taken on an entire mother ship of Jiralhannae, Unngoy, Kig-Yar, and numerous other species of aliens, finally destroying it, making the expense of the war on humans too great for the Covenant to keep up.
    The document went into great detail on the small things of the battle, such as the enemy fighter ships Rhode Island had put out of commission while on board the Covenant mother ship. Indiana read in amazement about how the young Lieutenant had destroyed the main reactor of the central power hub in the mother ship with only a plasma grenade and his assault rifle.
      The document went on to say that Rhodes' tactics in battle had been set as a standard for imagination on the  battlefield, giving military tacticians new grounds for study.
      Blacked out by ink, the rest of the page was not legible.
      A shadow fell over Indiana, huddled close over the papers. Looking up, Indiana came face to faceplate with Rhode Island. Startled, Indiana jumped, papers sliding from the large stack in her lap all over the barrack floor, making a paper rug.
      Rhode Island looked at Indiana and said nothing, his unwavering gaze unnerving her. Stooping, Rhode Island picked up a piece of paper, read the title, and looked back at the red-headed Spartan, sitting nervously on the edge of her bunk.
      "I suppose I should have known I couldn't keep secrets here." he said, his scratchy voice low, almost sad. "These things you are reading about me... They are not really what happened." Then, seeing her question, he added: "Yes, they are real events that took place, but they didn't happen the way they're let out to be..." he touched the left side of his faceplate, as if he was feeling an old wound.
      "War is a terrible thing," he continued, "destroying everything in its path. We as Spartans were bred for war... Killing... Destruction. Everything we do is for the expansion of our race, destroying anything that stands in our way. We are experiments, Indie, nothing more. Monsters, designed to beat down anything and everything in our leaders' way. Machines. Tools in their hands, ready to be used in a moment's noticed.... And just as easily replaced."
      Rhode Island seemed to be thinking, so Indiana held her peace. Rhode Island took a deep breath.
      "I think it's time Khoppa and I shared our story."

              Chapter 10

  Four months previously: 

  Crisp orders rang through the Pelican bay, sending troops here and there, rushing to finalize the last minute details of the attack. Lieutenant Rhodes stood on a balcony of the Affirm's secondary hanger, watching the soldiers complete their tasks. His job was relatively simple. Destroy the Covenant mother ship. With a small group of soldiers, Rhodes would be dropped onto the top of the ship from a Pelican drop ship... in the middle of a space firefight. After that, the Spartan and his squad would be on their own, with no way out... And many ways in, deep into the core of the ship, where eventually they would find the energy core and destroy it. This was a suicide mission, but it was the last resort.  Rhodes, however, did not plan on letting his men die. He would let them help him get into the ship, take a Covenant Phantom for them to transport themselves away, and then he would destroy the ship alone.
      In his squad was a girl. Only one girl, barely nineteen, willing to give her young life away for the rest of humanity. Rhodes planned on getting her out as fast as possible. He couldn't bare the thought of such a young person, especially a girl, giving their life away, no matter the cost. He respected her for it. The girl's name was Lori. Rhodes would have liked to get to know her better if circumstances had been different. However, under these circumstances, Rhodes was going to protect her.
      Captain Millard, the captain of the UNSC frigate Affirm, approached Rhodes.
    "Lieutenant," called the Captain, then drawing near he continued in a quieter voice, "I'm sorry things had to come down to this... I never want to lose a soldier, especially a Spartan.  You and your men will all receive the UNSC Medal of Honor, the highest honor possible. I would like to thank you personally for this."
      Rhodes wasn't quite sure how to answer that statement, so he simply nodded. If he had known how much that movement would be used in the future, he would have said something, but he did nod and regretted it later in life. Rhodes watched as his soldiers formed a line at the end of an aisle of Marines. Walking down the stairs, Rhodes joined them, standing heads over them at a height of 6 feet and 10 inches.
    "Men of squad Salvation," called the Captain over the loudspeaker, using the squad name given to Rhodes small squad, "we as humans are honored to serve together with such brave and selfless men and women. To give one's life for another is the greatest of gifts. To give one's life for a species is an even greater gift. All of you know the price you are about to pay. Any of you who wish may leave your squad, it being a squad of volunteers."
      None of squad Salvation moved so much as a hair.
      "I am honored to serve as your last Captain. Soldiers!" ordered Millard, "Attention!"
      All the Marines on either side of the small group suddenly brought their feet together, arms to their sides. Then, all as one, they raised their right arms in a stiff salute. Salvation walked through the center of the aisle into the waiting Pelican drop ship. As the last member of Salvation walked into the Pelican, all the Marines finished their salute, bringing their arms snapping back down to their sides.
      Rhodes did not look back.

                    Chapter 11

      The Pelican flew out the gravity shield and out into space. As the Pelican entered space, all Hell opened onto them. Covenant Banshees' plasma shot through space toward the Pelican, making the pilot need to twist and maneuver through heavy fire. Surprisingly, the drop ship was never hit, even though the whole Covenant war fleet was raining plasma onto them.
      This is too easy, thought Rhodes, they know something is coming...
      Then came the real attack. A Covenant cruiser slip-spaced right in their line to the Covenant Mother ship.
      "Oh, -" the pilot got no further in his ejaculation, for a plasma rocket burst through the glass windshield of the cockpit and smashed into his stomach, lodging and staying. The pilot passed out from the pain of boiling hot plasma stuck in his abdomen.
      Rhodes was fast to take the wheel. He knew now that he would need to somehow fly the ship around the cruiser. This was very bad. As the cruiser began firing plasma at them, Rhodes took the controls, shoving the pilot off to one side. Spinning and twisting, Rhodes maneuvered the shuttle toward the cruiser, his eyes always searching for an opening. As the Pelican drew near the cruiser, Rhodes finally saw a path through.  The cruiser had two projections coming off the bottom, on in front and one in back, making a small gap between them. From a distance, the gap was almost invisible, but with Rhodes flying, the gap was still open for use. Use it is what Rhodes did; ramming  the shuttle's accelerator to full, Rhodes pulled up on the joystick, the ship plummeting toward the gap. This is going to be a close one, Rhodes worried.
      As the drop ship scuttered off the top of the front projection, Rhodes forced all shields top high power in the front of the Pelican, giving them a strong shield in front, but almost none in back. The gap was narrow, and the enemy fighters could only come at him one at a time, so he thought that when he burst out the other side, every Covenant ship possible would be waiting for them.
      Then came disaster. A dead end.... This had been a trap, and he had fallen for it. A sick feeling rose in his stomach. Now all plans to get his soldiers away were useless.
      "Alright, Salvation," he called, "this is going to get rough. Check your ammunition and power cells, we're going to take a cruiser."
    While his soldiers did as he ordered, Rhodes swerved the ship hard to the right, the back of the cruiser, where the central controls would be. He saw a small opening in the armor and fired two missiles at the spot in quick succsetion. As the smoke cleared, Rhodes saw that they would enter in a power room. This was better than he had hoped, because if he could shut down some major power points, the ship might be easier to take. The odds were heavily in their favor, thought Rhodes sarcastically. A whole cruiser against a band of six men. Correction, five men and one young girl. His heart sank at the thought of Lori dying because he had failed. Maybe there was a Phantom bay somewhere on the way to the control hub? Rhodes eliminated that as a possibility. They would be attacking in the middle of the ship, farthest away from any bays, whether they were Banshees or Phantoms, or any other ships. Rhodes was glad they wouldn't be fighting Sangheli, the aliens that had joined the humans, on this cruiser.
      Quickly docking the ship in the hole he had made, Rhodes grabbed an assault rifle and a gas block sniper rifle, and led the way into the Covenant cruiser.

                  Chapter 12

      As Rhodes leapt into the cruiser, he noticed two things. Firstly, every soldier in Salvation followed without question, knowing they were going to die within the  next few hours. Second was that there were no Covenant aliens in the room where they entered. Instantly Rhodes went to the controls and started turning everything off. He found that one controlled the lights of this sector, and turned it off. Darkness would be helpful in this situation, giving his soldiers another advantage that was so highly needed. As the dark red lights of the backup power generator flared, Salvation was already on their way to the control center.
      Rhodes was the point man, leading his men through the cruiser, so far unmolested. The Covenant were either unaware of their presence, or they were amassing in one main defensive position. Most likely was the latter. Rounding a corner, Rhodes found his hypothesis to be true. Jiralhannae Chieftains and their soldiers were all spread out in a wall along the far wall of a large room.
      "Humans!" boomed the guttural voice of a Chieftain, "you have this one chance to die easily, however much I love torturing you. If you don't accept... You will die a slow, Hellish death. You choose."
      "Lieutenant," said Lori, "you go on, get to the control room and then destroy the Mother ship."
      Rhodes looked sadly into her eyes, through her clear faceplate. So clear, so intensely green. A lock of brown hair fell over her eye, giving her a beautiful, mischievous look. Rhodes couldn't let her die this way.
      "No," he answered, "we stick together. Salvation  will hang together, or surely, we will all die together. I will charge them in the center. Lori, take two off the the left and fire on them from there. Danny, take the rest off to the right and fire at their Chieftains from there with your heavy guns. I go alone."
      Then he was off, not leaving room for argument. Taking the first Chieftain by surprise, Rhodes leaped into his chest, drawing the Jiralhannae's knife and jabbing it into the brute's face repeatedly. Purple blood sprayed over his hands from the Jiralhannae's face. Screaming in agony, the Chieftain reeled back into his troops swinging his massive Gravity Hammer blindly, smashing his own brutes under the crushing force of both the Hammer's lethal weight and his massive strength. Bones crushing and cracking, Rhodes moved on, rolling and sliding under massive legs, swiping out on either side with the Jiralhannae knife, slicing tendons and muscles. Vaugly Rhodes saw his soldiers falling back to the doors as Jiralhannae overwhelmed them. Then something truly horrible happened. Lori stumbled on a fallen Jiralhannae and landed hard on her back. One of the other soldiers rushed forward to help her, but he was shot by a Brute Shot and killed instantly. Rhodes screamed for Lori, but no sound came. He could hear his heart as a Cheiftain leapt forward, drew his knife and stabbed Lori in the chest. Lori looked at the knife, then at Rhodes, a look of confusion in her eyes.
      The  Rhodes went into the blood rage of his Celtic forefathers. His sight narrowed into a red haze and time seemed to slow, all his enemies moving at a slow pace, making it easy for him to kill in the most horrible ways possible. Rhodes strangled his opponents in their companions' intestines, sliced their legs out, their lifeblood flowing freely over their companions. Rhodes was a blur, no Jiralhannae could touch him.
      After all the Jiralhannae were dead, Rhodes slowly became aware of himself, his white armor dyed purple from the blood of the Jiralhannae. Rhodes found he was standing over Lori. Slowly he knelt over her dying form. All the rest of Salvation had died, fighting to the last.
      Lori looked up into his faceplate. Rhodes took off her helmet, knowing what she wanted, knowing he could never give it to her.
      "Can... I see your face...?" she asked huskily, her blood spilling out of her mouth.
      Rhodes slowly reached to his helmet locks, unlocked them and pulled his helmet off. Lori gasped at his face. Rhodes wondered why she seemed so foggy. He cradled he head as tears spilled down onto her bloodstained armor.
      "Rhody...." Lori whispered, "go save humanity... Please." As Rhodes started to rise, she held his armored hand, "Please, wait till I'm gone... Help me go easily...?"
      Rhodes knew he couldn't trust his voice, so he just nodded. Lori reached up and stroked his left cheek. His scars burned under her touch.  He took her hand in his and gently pulled it away from his face, pressing it gently against his chest.
      "The Covenant will pay for this..." he said, flatly, "I will kill the all."
      Lori smiled weakly. "I have no doubt..."
      After a few more minutes of silence, she was gone.
      Rhodes stood, replacing his helmet. All emotion gone. The blood rage had returned.
              *      *      *
      In the blood rage, getting to the control room was simple. No one could touch him. Rhodes cleared the room using just an assault rifle, then coming back out of the blood rage, Rhodes saw the Mother ship, off to his right in space. Rhodes looked for the main steering device. Seeing it in the front of the room, Rhodes quickly strode up to it, no doubt in his mind about what he would do. Whirling the wheel all the way to the right, the cruiser turned sharply toward the Mother ship, heading directly toward the center, where the ship was narrowest, also where the central power would be. Then, just before the two ships collided, Rhodes saw a plasma grenade on his right. Picking it up, he activated it, broke the glass of the control room, and threw the grenade into to gaping hole the cruiser tore in the Mother ship. Then came a massive explosion rushing toward him, then nothing.
                *      *      *
    Rhode Island bowed his head, shoulders shaking. During his narration he had choked and wept, raged and flared. Now, with Indiana watching, he sobbed silently, no sound coming, but every ounce of stored up emotion and pain poured out into a girl, barely eighteen. Indiana stood, crossed to Rhody and pulled his much larger, yet crushed form into an embrace. Rhody was too weak to resist. Indiana felt his frustration. With all his enormous power, all his strength and will, he could save a race, but not one girl. She had felt much the same about Missouri.
      Rhodes separated himself from her, turned and walked out of the barracks, apparently unchanged from when he went in.
      During the past few hours of Rhody's choking story, Indiana had seen more emotion out of Rhode Island than she had ever thought possible of him in his entire lifetime. Lieutenant M. Rhodes had the most overwhelmingly tragic backstory Indiana had ever heard. Even greater then herself. She knew he had wanted to die the day he destroyed the Mother ship, but he had survived, and now was an unwilling agent of Project Freelancer. Now, after all that had happened, Rhodes had no emotions. No anger, no sympathy, no love left to give.