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Episode 13: In the Bag

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Episode 12: Full Payload

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The Story of FERO (Season 2)

Episode 13: In the Bag
Cover artwork for Episode 13: In the Bag.
Series overview

Series:

Hunt the Truth

Season:

Season 1

Episode specifications

Episode:

13

Air date:

June 14, 2015[1]

Run time:

18:41

 

Episode 13: In the Bag was the thirteenth and final episode in the first season of the Hunt the Truth audio drama.[2] The episode was released on Soundcloud on June 14, 2015,[1] as a two-part release alongside the penultimate Episode 12: Full Payload. The two-part finale's release coincided to release the day before the Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3) showing for Halo 5: Guardians on June 15, and the release of the novel Halo: Hunters in the Dark on June 16.[3]

Official summary[edit]

“ Every story has a villain. Today, we meet ours.[4] ”

Plot summary[edit]

ECB News goes live and Benjamin Giraud is introduced by the host, Charles Kesler. Before Ben can start speaking however, news comes in that the Unified Earth Government has cleared the Master Chief and has placed charges on Sapien Sunrise. Ben starts by saying that the ambassadors on Biko petitioned the UEG for support due to a massive security threat but the UEG ignored them. Kesler says they are still working on trying to figure out the legitimacy of the files Ben sent them. Ben asks where Ray Kurzig and Anthony Petrosky are, and Kesler tells him Ray is unavailable and Anthony will be patched through shortly. Ben starts telling him about how he was hired by ONI to make a profile on the Master Chief but found out the truth about his interviewees and the Chief's origins. "Deon Govender"'s rehearsal is played, showing he is in fact an actor. After outlining the SPARTAN-II program, Ben tells Kesler to check the files, but Kesler says they discovered the files are dated 40 years ago but only created 2 months ago. Ben demands Kesler get Anthony on the line. Kesler agrees to patch him through. However, instead of telling the truth, Anthony says he was undercover, trying to gather information on an insurrectionist group bent on starting civil war between colonies by smearing the Master Chief. Ben, knowing ONI is coercing him into saying this, begs him to tell the truth, but Ben gets his mic cut. Anthony goes on to say he never witnessed the events on the UNSC Atlas nor ever met John-117, and he was just dramatizing old military ghost stories that no one believes. Anthony's signs off, and Kesler demands Ben tell him where he got the "fake" records from. Ben tells him he found them in an abandoned ONI facility on Bliss, and Kesler shows him footage of him inside the facility. Kesler says the facility has ties to an insurgent named FERO, who was the arms dealer for the Sapien Sunrise members who attacked the embassy on Biko, and that the weapons found in the facility came from the same place that the weapons used in the Biko attack came from. Ben accuses them of falsely labeling him a terrorist, but Kesler tells him that is not the case. Kesler then shows footage of the ONI agents searching for Ben, calling them members of Sapien Sunrise, much to Ben's frustration. Ben demands he give him proof of Ray and his family's well being. Kesler tells Ben that Ray is alive and well and that he gave them detailed information on how Ben fabricated his evidence. Kesler goes on to condemn Ben as a traitor and Ben is taken away against his will into federal custody. Kesler apologizes to everyone who had to witness the events.

Petra Janecek, now recording her own audio log, exclaims how ONI have laid all the blame at Ben's feet and now that the problem is resolved, the Outer Colonies will come back into the fold, and the anger will die down. She says how they used both her and Ben, and that she now realizes that the server on Bliss was bait, and now she is going to continue where Ben left off, but this time doing it ONI's way.

Audio transcript[edit]

(ECB theme song plays)

  • Charles Kesler: Welcome back. Later in the show, we'll be continuing our Day of Remembrance Coverage with more survival stories from the labor camps. But first, we have an exciting ECB exclusive: journalist Benjamin Giraud is here to talk about his story that has been making waves throughout the colonies and here on Earth. It's called Hunt the Truth: The Story Behind the Master Chief, and Ben is here to tell us about some exciting developments. Welcome to the program, Ben.

(ECB theme song plays)

  • Kesler: Oh, Ben, sorry. We've just got a breaking development from Biko. After a tight-lipped investigation, Magistrate Laurel Adams and UEG officials have just released additional security footage and autopsy reports from the embassy massacre, issuing a joint statement that federal charges have been filed against an extremist group called Sapien Sunrise, effectively clearing the Master Chief and the Sangheili of any wrong doing. The UEG called the massacre "an attack against peace" and vowed to continue supporting local diplomacy with alien delegations. Freshman Senator Andrew Del Rio also came forward to recant his earlier condemnations, calling the Chief a perinatal hero, and saying quote, "Every statue of him is a monument to be treasured." Now quoting to his office as of this morning the senator is taking some time off for unrelated family matters. Wow. Well, Ben, you've been working on the Master Chief's profile for... a while.
  • Giraud: Um--
  • Kesler: What do you make of all this?
  • Giraud: Did you ac-- did you actually believe the Chief did that?
  • Kesler: Well, Ben, my speculations about guilt are irrelevant.
  • Giraud: Well, it's classic ONI half truth. Yes, was the hero on Biko, but the Sapiens couldn't have done it without the UEG. If you pull up the Adams conversation thread from the from the files I sent you'll see what I mean.
  • Kesler: Oh, it appears we're still processing the files. Just for a moment--
  • Giraud: It's fine. I can just pull it up here.
  • Kesler: Oh, ok.
  • Giraud: Huh. Sorry, I'm-- I'm having issues with it too. Oh, they better not have-- I can't even-- Hold on-- hold on-- Let me try it again. Let me try it again.
  • Kesler: So wait, let's back it up just for those unfamiliar with your story.
  • Giraud: Ok, look--
  • Kesler: Are you saying--
  • Giraud: Sekibo asked the UEG for security help before the talks and they rejected it flat out. Could have prevented a couple dozen deaths, but they didn't even read the request!
  • Kesler: Let's--
  • Giraud: And-- and-- and now they're peace partners with Adams?!
  • Kesler: Now hold on--
  • Giraud: I mean, come on!
  • Kesler: You're saying the Biko embassy made a federal security request, but was left vulnerably because the senate refused the request without proper deliberation?
  • Giraud: Arrogant negligence is what I'm saying.
  • Kesler: Right, but the embassy hasn't said that.
  • Giraud: Not to reporters. Well, not to anyone anymore now that they're in on it. They took whatever Earth table scraps they could get, um... I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I have a question. Where is Ray Kurzig?
  • Kesler: Um...
  • Giraud: I mean he sent you the files, right?
  • Kesler: Yes, we received your files, but--
  • Giraud:And-- and now he's not here. He was supposed to meet me here.
  • Kesler: Let's move on, shall we?
  • Giraud: What about Petrosky? Is he gonna disappear too?
  • Kesler: Corpral Petrosky is being patched through shortly. Let's change gears.
  • Giraud: Yes, of course. Sorry.
  • Kesler: You were originally hired by ONI to do this story, correct?
  • Giraud: Yes, that's right.
  • Kesler: And, what happened?
  • Giraud: Well, I stumbled on several inconsistencies between the sources and they fired me.
  • Kesler: You were fired for finding inconsistencies?
  • Giraud: No. Look, don't act that surprised. You and I both know ONI makes you twist the story just, ya' know, to placate, but this Chief story... I'm telling you, was a whole other animal. At first, the cracks were small but then it got worse and worse until nothing made sense and I tried to fix it, ya' know, I-- until... until I found out the truth. The sources they'd given me were fake. They were actors. I mean, not all of them. Some of them were just real people who just needed a push and others just had no problem feeding me the elaborate lie, but seriously, actors! How devious is that?!
  • Kesler: We're still working to verify the legitimacy of all of those files, but we have the video queued up. Would you like to introduce it?
  • Giraud: Yeah, absolutely! So you're-- you're about to see the actor who played Deon Govender, John's supposed childhood boxing coach. This guy had me hook line and sinker, and then I found this video of him honing in on his performance for the role.
  • Simon Kensington (recording): (in character) In Elysium City, people just disappeared back then. I rem-- (out of character) Uh, what's that? Mm, well, ok, ok. Cause he's cracking here, right? Right, alright, cool. But, uh, we're still good with the working class serving barbecue granddad overall though, right? Ok. (clears throat) Yeah, I'm bringing the waterworks with this guy. (in character) In Elysium... In Elysium...
  • Giraud: Ok, you can stop it there.
  • Kesler: That's-- I-- I don't know what to say.
  • Giraud: I know!
  • Kesler: (sighs) We are here with Benjamin Giraud for this breaking story. The team is working diligently to verify all the evidence and documentation that Ben has provided surrounding his story, if your just joining us.
  • Giraud: And-- and-- and-- here's the disgusting part, right? The real Deon... is dead. That's how far ONI was going to cover this up.
  • Kesler: So what exactly are you saying they were covering up? Why would ONI go to the trouble of furnishing--
  • Kesler: Ben, sorry to cut you off. First of all, what you describe is unconscionable. And if true, we're not talking about deceit here. What you're asserting here are capital crimes against humanity.
  • Giraud: Completely, that's exactly where I was, but I brought files to--
  • Kesler: Hold on, before you continue, I'm getting word that our team has just finished reviewing your files, including what we just watched, some of which are dated from forty years ago. And I'm wondering, how do you explain the fact that all of the files you sent were created in the past two months.
  • Giraud: What?
  • Kesler: Ben, I don't know what kind of game you're playing here but none of the seals are real. You've provided us with fabrications.
  • Giraud: What? No!
  • Kesler: The interviews, the documents, all of it.
  • Giraud: No, no, no, no, that's not true, Charles--
  • Kesler: Now I don;t know what you're trying to do here or why you think you can come on my show--
  • Giraud: (chuckles) That's insane! Charles, how can you even inte