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Halo: Bad Blood: Difference between revisions
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En route to collect Mickey, Dare reveals that he had been held at the same [[Spartan-IV_training_station|SPARTAN-IV training facility]] that Buck, Romeo, and Mickey had trained at, located in a remote star system orbiting a dwarf planet. Dare finds that a report from the station’s [[AI]], [[Leonidas]], labels supervisor [[Jun-A266]], the primary recruiter of the [[SPARTAN-IV]] program, current supervisor of the station, and Buck's recruiter, as "indisposed," which leads the crew to believe the AI had turned to Cortana's side. Posing as the only one onboard the [[D81-LRT Condor|Condor]], Buck contacts Leonidas as they near the station, who tells him to report to [[Musa]], the de facto supervisor of the SPARTAN-IV program, that "everything here is fine." Buck insists to board, and is then aided by two technicians, who ask to refuel and clean his ship, to which he denies in an effort to prevent Leonidas from locating his crew through the station's crewmates. Walking down the corridors while reminiscing his time training at the facility, Buck encounters a walking [[hologram|holographic]] projection of Leonidas. The AI reiterates that Jun is asleep, only to be woken in an emergency, to which Buck is highly suspicious, but Leonidas still cheerfully provides Buck with Mickey's location in the dorms-turned-brig of the station. Buck arrives at the brig to find Mickey, serving his life sentence, but eventually leaves after a heated moral argument, despite the prisoner agreeing to join him. | En route to collect Mickey, Dare reveals that he had been held at the same [[Spartan-IV_training_station|SPARTAN-IV training facility]] that Buck, Romeo, and Mickey had trained at, located in a remote star system orbiting a dwarf planet. Dare finds that a report from the station’s [[AI]], [[Leonidas]], labels supervisor [[Jun-A266]], the primary recruiter of the [[SPARTAN-IV]] program, current supervisor of the station, and Buck's recruiter, as "indisposed," which leads the crew to believe the AI had turned to Cortana's side. Posing as the only one onboard the [[D81-LRT Condor|Condor]], Buck contacts Leonidas as they near the station, who tells him to report to [[Musa]], the de facto supervisor of the SPARTAN-IV program, that "everything here is fine." Buck insists to board, and is then aided by two technicians, who ask to refuel and clean his ship, to which he denies in an effort to prevent Leonidas from locating his crew through the station's crewmates. Walking down the corridors while reminiscing his time training at the facility, Buck encounters a walking [[hologram|holographic]] projection of Leonidas. The AI reiterates that Jun is asleep, only to be woken in an emergency, to which Buck is highly suspicious, but Leonidas still cheerfully provides Buck with Mickey's location in the dorms-turned-brig of the station. Buck arrives at the brig to find Mickey, serving his life sentence, but eventually leaves after a heated moral argument, despite the prisoner agreeing to join him. | ||
The team narrows down their options to disconnecting Leonidas’ [[data chip]] from the station entirely, determining the only location capable of housing the AI to be Jun’s office. As soon as Buck nears the office, he loses comms with Alpha-Nine and Leonidas’ [[avatar]] pops in front of him, demanding that he leave. When Buck refuses, he declares the [[wikipedia:AWOL|AWOL]] code [[STOLEN GAUNTLET]] over the intercom, ordering everyone to neutralize the Buck on sight. Three nearby Spartans move in to arrest him, though willing to hear him out and summon Jun, but Leonidas pops the room’s [[airlock]], threatening to depressurize the entire station if Buck continues to resist. Just before he does, however, Dar ecuts power to the station, but inadvertently deactivates the force fields that housed the prisoners. Buck unplugs Leonidas' data chip, sprints to the brig, and much to his surprise, finds[Mickey still there, holding a pistol to a security guard’s head, with another unconscious on the floor. Mickey then proceeds to lock the security guard in the brig before agreeing to accompany Alpha-Nine. The two make their way to the Condor, with Mickey acting as an escorted prisoner, but halfway, a Spartan recognizes Buck and opens fire. They immediately duck to cover, and Buck decides to smash Leonidas’ data chip to prevent further complications of the mission before receiving a [[COM|comms]] request from none other than former squadmate [[Dutch]]. Meeting him down the hall, Buck is shocked to learn that Dutch, along with his wife, [[Gretchen]], had joined the SPARTAN-IV program just several months back. Now with backup, Buck and Mickey continue to push towards the Condor, making it inside safely before Dare navigates out of the hangar. Jun then makes contact with Alpha-Nine, now composed of Buck, Dare, Romeo, Mickey, Dutch, | The team narrows down their options to disconnecting Leonidas’ [[data chip]] from the station entirely, determining the only location capable of housing the AI to be Jun’s office. As soon as Buck nears the office, he loses comms with Alpha-Nine and Leonidas’ [[avatar]] pops in front of him, demanding that he leave. When Buck refuses, he declares the [[wikipedia:AWOL|AWOL]] code [[STOLEN GAUNTLET]] over the intercom, ordering everyone to neutralize the Buck on sight. Three nearby Spartans move in to arrest him, though willing to hear him out and summon Jun, but Leonidas pops the room’s [[airlock]], threatening to depressurize the entire station if Buck continues to resist. Just before he does, however, Dar ecuts power to the station, but inadvertently deactivates the force fields that housed the prisoners. Buck unplugs Leonidas' data chip, sprints to the brig, and much to his surprise, finds[Mickey still there, holding a pistol to a security guard’s head, with another unconscious on the floor. Mickey then proceeds to lock the security guard in the brig before agreeing to accompany Alpha-Nine. The two make their way to the Condor, with Mickey acting as an escorted prisoner, but halfway, a Spartan recognizes Buck and opens fire. They immediately duck to cover, and Buck decides to smash Leonidas’ data chip to prevent further complications of the mission before receiving a [[COM|comms]] request from none other than former squadmate [[Dutch]]. Meeting him down the hall, Buck is shocked to learn that Dutch, along with his wife, [[Gretchen]], had joined the SPARTAN-IV program just several months back. Now with backup, Buck and Mickey continue to push towards the Condor, making it inside safely before Dare navigates out of the hangar. Jun then makes contact with Alpha-Nine, now composed of Buck, Dare, Romeo, Mickey, and Dutch alongside Gretchen, Vergil, and Sadie. He indirectly confirms Mickey’s whereabouts, thanks Buck for dealing with Leonidas, and wishes the team luck on their mission. | ||
On their way to Cassidy III and the settlement called the [[Hole in the Wall]], Mickey claims the Rebels will have nothing but hostility towards Buck and his crew for being part of the UNSC, but Romeo, holding back tears of laugher at Mickey’s reasoning, rebuts that because the Hole in the Wall is one of the only human settlements left undiscovered by Cortana, they’re going to want and need help. Veronica then explains that ONI had been using Cassidy III to store goods during the Human-Covenant War after having discovered the colony by accident due to a [[Slipspace drive]] malfunction. One of humanity’s backup plans was to retreat there if Earth was destroyed. Dare also reiterates that their intent is not to expose the colony but to understand how Cassidy III has stayed out of Cortana’s sight, to replicate the phenomenon for other colonies. Mickey acknowledges. Later, in the cockpit, Dare and Buck also talk about their relationship. Veronica brings up marriage, and Buck, reluctant to commit to a relationship that he’d inevitably abandon by dying, quickly changes topics. | |||
They soon exit slipspace, and Dare immediately contacts Cassidy III as a UNSC [[diplomatic shuttle|diplomatic vessel]]. With no response, they circle the planet to make sure the Front sees and acknowledges them, and are soon contacted by Cassidy Ground Control, who hands the comms to Mayor Juanita Wells. Although she initially threatens to shoot the Condor out of sky, Mickey convinces her to negotiate, and Dare then navigates to a beacon on the desert outskirts—a stony basin at the south end of the city. While Vergil works on figuring out the reason for Cassidy III’s radio silence, Alpha Nine leaves, with more than a dozen soldiers surrounding them. Mayor Wells appears, and Dare argues that the UNSC would simply ignore the colony’s presence as opposed to Cortana, who would impose her kneel-or-die rule if she discovered the planet, and for that reason they should trust Alpha-Nine. With Wells unconvinced, Veronica brings Mickey forward, and he eventually sways the soldiers by insisting that humans themselves are easier to reason with then Cortana. Wells also gives in and motions Alpha-Nine towards the city, where they ride odd wheeled platforms to an outdoor ampitheater. Over tea, Veronica explains the future of the planet under humanity, and after a long back-and-forth argument, eventually convinces Wells to share her information. She explains the source of the cloaking: the three [[security spire|forerunner spires]] around which the settlement was built. The cloaking is essentially a massive slipspace shell—an extremely thin field with extraordinary density. Ships can fly through unphased, but it blocks all communications in and out of the planet. To counter this, the citizens of Cassidy III constructed a long antenna, explaining how they learned of [[Cortana#Reclamation|Cortana’s ascendancy]]. Wells reasons that replication of the effect is not feasible, as scientists had been studying the phenomenon for years without much progress, but Dare proposes to leave Vergil to analyze it, using Mickey as [[wikipedia:Collateral_(finance)|collateral]] to ensure the Huragok’s safe return. | |||
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