Tex woke up.

She wasn't expecting that.

The last thing she remembered was the explosion, Andy cackling gleefully as fire and light filled everything. She remembered Gamma crying out and Junior screaming. She remembered moving towards the kid, and then…

Nothing.

She shot up, reaching for her gun, all of her senses on high alert. But there was nothing.

Wherever she was now, she was alone. There wasn't even any sign of the ship, let alone the other people who'd been on it.

"Fuck," she muttered, looking around. She didn't recognize the landscape; it was far too picturesque to be Blood Gulch, she was sure of that. Tex had spent so much time in that shithole that she'd be able to recognize it under any circumstances.

Wherever she was now, she was far away from everything.

"Damn it!" She scowled, looking for something to punch. Unfortunately, she was in the middle of a clearing, without so much as a rock, let alone a convenient Red.

There was nothing but grass, stretching out in all directions. In the distance, she thought she spotted the rough rise of a mountain, the spire of a tower, and a patch of darker green that indicated the possible presence of trees. The ground she stood on was rough dirt beneath the tall grasses.

There was a deep imprint in the earth, as if she'd landed here at great velocity. A quick check of her armor confirmed that her back was covered in the same dirt. She'd have to clean it later, when she was under cover, not in the open.

She took a deep breath, trying to steady herself. Her emotions were warring with each other; confusion and rage and adrenaline all trying to take control.

She needed to find Church. She would get back to Blood Gulch, and figure out what happened, and hope that everything was fine. That somehow Omega's plan had worked, and the war was over, and Freelancer wouldn't be able to hurt Church using it as an excuse.

He wouldn't understand, but he'd forgive her. She knew that much. It would take time, but he'd forgive her. She knew that like she knew her own name, like she knew his. He'd gripe about it, complain about it, bring it up in arguments years from now, but he'd forgive her in the end.

She nearly activated her invisibility, but she paused. She didn't know where she was, and she probably should conserve power. She didn't have Omega to run everything anymore; and although she'd gotten pretty good at running it herself, she'd rather not run low when she needed it.

She checked her radar, and, not finding anyone nearby, picked a direction at random, and walked towards it.

Find civilization. And then find Blood Gulch.

She could do this.

The first town she found was abandoned. That was worrying.

What was more worrying was the date on the newspaper that she found.

"That can't be right," she whispered, staring. She wasn't sure what the exact date was supposed to be, but she definitely hadn't been lying in that field for over a year and a half.

But she knew what Wyoming's ability was, and she knew how finicky Freelancer armor enhancements could be, especially if something was happening with the AI—and Gamma certainly wasn't in the best state of mind when Andy had done his best to kill them all. What couldn't say that time travel wasn't actually possible, just like the Reds' ridiculous theory? Although she liked to think her logic was sounder than theirs had been.

She pushed aside that thought. She didn't miss those losers. She was Texas, a certified badass, and she didn't miss people.

She found an internet connection, and went digging, desperate for answers. She was even further in the future than she thought; it had been three years since she'd left the Reds and Blues behind.

She threw all the furniture in the abandoned house, smashing them into pieces systematically. It was like Omega all over again. She couldn't think of anything except how much she wanted to break every single thing on this stupid planet.

Three years.

Church must have thought she was dead. She screamed in frustration. Presuming he was still alive, that was. Three years, without her to keep an eye on him. Three years, and she wasn't even sure if the war was over. What if Freelancer had come back for him? What if they'd cut him apart again, trying to make more weapons?

She'd like to think that Tucker and Caboose would try to stop it, but they didn't know what she knew, and anyways, if it was official orders from Command, they probably wouldn't protest.

And even if they hadn't started hurting him again, historically, Churches hadn't taken the deaths of Allisons very well. She didn't know what Church would have done.

There were so many gaps in her knowledge, and it set her teeth on edge. She stood there, in the middle of that abandoned house, surrounded by splintered furniture and ruined electronics, and strode out to find another house with a computer so she could learn more.

For some reason, all of the information she could find was old when it comes to galactic news. Local, she found newer things—there was some sort of civil war on this planet, which, she was frustrated to discover, seemed to be on the ass-end of nowhere. And, infuriatingly, the opposite ass-end of nowhere than Blood Gulch, which would make her journey back there even more complicated.

The capital of the planet was called Armonia. She figured she'd head there, see if she could find a ship. Hopefully, for once, she'd have luck on her side, and find someone who could tell her where Church was.

She closed her eyes, allowing her awareness to sink into the electronics. It had been a while since she'd try to be Beta, and it was incredible. Everything around her shifted. Some things became heightened, others dulled. It was right, in so many ways.

Something was wrong. The radios felt off—jammed, she decided, almost completely. Which was strange. Something was blocking communication on this planet, filling the entire planet with what felt like a low level hum.

She frowned again, and pulled herself back into her own body.

She still didn't know what was going on. Something was wrong on this planet, and it bothered her like a phantom itch.

She turned back to the computer again, and kept looking.

The Great War was over—that was a relief—and Freelancer, from the look of it, was destroyed. She breathed a sigh of relief. Church was safe. The Director couldn't touch him. But she did take note that there was a standing order to arrest any agents of PFL.

But that did mean she had to be careful. Carefully, she went over her armor, being sure to remove anything that might differentiate her from a normal UNSC soldier. The hardest part, she knew, would be her invisibility. She'd have to be careful about using it.

She kept moving.

One foot in front of the other.

Tex was lucky she was an AI, otherwise things would have been even more complicated than they already were. There was little food to be found in this wasteland, and although she took whatever she found in hopes of being able to use it to bargain a ride off this fucking planet, she wasn't feeling too optimistic.

She wasn't good at scavenging. Which irritated her, because she was good at pretty much everything.

Admittedly, she'd only tried a handful of things, most of which tended to boil down to kicking ass.

She hadn't seen anyone since crashing. She'd found bodies, she'd found abandoned settlements, she'd found the wreck of a few ships, but nothing that indicated the presence of anyone living.

She made sure to keep her rifle nearby at all times. She didn't like this at all.

Her HUD told her exactly how many days had passed on this planet, exactly how many steps she'd taken, and exactly how few people she'd met.

Zero.

It was like this entire planet was abandoned, but that couldn't be right. Entire swaths of it were torn up like a battlefield, entire towns were ruined piles of bombed out rubble. She passed mass graves and burned forests and strange alien sites that were pocked with craters and mine fields.

Tex frowned, running her hand along the length of one of the temples. It reminded her, in some ways, of a herding strategy. Driving everyone into concentrated areas, making sure there weren't any stragglers.

She sighed at her own paranoia. Whoever was running the civil war here probably wasn't doing any of this on purpose. War was long and bloody and costly. She probably was in what had once been a valuable piece of territory before they destroyed it.

She'd been on the planet for almost a month before she finally found people.

Gunfire was almost music to her ears when she heard it. Her head snapped up, and she turned on her invisibility, creeping towards the noise to investigate. She climbed up a pair of steps in severe disrepair, and found herself on top of a building, overlooking a badly damaged street.

The scene below her could be called a massacre if Tex was feeling kind.

She wasn't really.

There was a single attacker—a man in Locus armor with what looked like an entire arsenal strapped to his back, and he was attacking what appeared to be a couple of skinny kids in armor.

There was no way those were real soldiers—they were tiny, and their screams were painfully high and young.

Tex wasn't actually sure if she'd ever met a child before. Theta was probably the closest she'd gotten.

But it didn't mean she was inclined to let a bunch of them get slaughtered by some jackass on a power trip.

Sighing, she decloaked before drawing her rifle. "Hey cockbite!" She leapt down to his level, moving between him and the armored 'soldiers'.

"Who are you?" He growled.

She smirked at him behind her helmet. "None of your business." She aimed and fired.

He was fast, she'd give him that. He picked a shotgun as his weapon of choice as he moved towards her. That was a mistake—Tex had been learning to avoid that particular weapon for the better part of five years.

She grabbed it with her right arm and shoved it aside, causing it to discharge harmlessly against a wall, and kicked him right in the chest.

"Get out of here!" She yelled at the kids, who were terrified enough of either her or their would-be-killer to scramble away, some of them still screaming in a way that almost reminded her of Donut.

"You will regret this," the man snarled.

"Doubt it. I rarely regret anything. Kicking your ass probably won't even make the top hundred."

The hand that wasn't holding his shotgun pulled out a pistol and tried to shoot her. Ambidextrous then. Not bad. Tex threw herself forward, sending them both toppling to the ground, but pushed herself into a somersault so she rolled over him.

He tried to draw back, clearly hoping distance would give him advantage, but Tex charged, slamming her fist against his helmet.

"You know, I really hate assholes who kill kids," Tex decided out loud. "Honestly. I'm not a nice person, but wow, that's just a dick move."

"I am a soldier," the guy snapped. Ooh, she'd clearly hit a nerve there.

"Please." Tex laughed. "Doesn't mean you can't be a dick." She slammed her foot against his midsection, savoring every second of it. It had been so long since she'd fought someone, and her mind was shooting off in all directions, coming up with creative ways to kick this guy's ass.

"The cavalry is here!" Tex blinked in shock as the kids from earlier rounded the corner, holding what appeared to be a machine gun between them.

Tex hit the deck just as they started firing. The armored man did too.

"This isn't over," he growled at her before vanishing from sight.

Tex stared at him. "Oh you fucking did not!" She leapt forward, punching the air where he had been. "Damn it!"

"Yeth. He doeth that thometimes," one of the kids appeared at her side.

"You all good?" Tex asked, choosing to ignore the lisp. She glanced at them.

There were ten of them, all in matching armor that didn't fit them very well.

"We're fine, mith! What about you? I've never theen thomeone who wasn't Felix fight Locuth before!"

"Please," Tex said. "Takes more than someone like that to scratch my armor." But why he had an invisibility armor enhancement worried her—as well as why someone with that kind of skill was going after a group of barely armed, barely trained teenagers. "What's your name?"

The girl saluted in a way that was so terrible it physically pained Tex to see. "Private Katie Jensen of the New Republic, at your thervice!"

"Don't salute me, I'm not in your army," Tex said, frowning.

"You're not?" Jensen seemed shocked. "But, but, you saved us!"

Tex shrugged. "I was in the area. Heard shouting. Decided I didn't like the look of that guy's face."

"You're not a Fed, are you?" One of the others asked timidly.

"Don't even know what that is, kid," Tex said. "I'm new to this planet. My ship crashed a while back and I've been trying to find civilization ever since."

"Well, isn't that a story we don't hear nearly often enough."

"General Kimball!" The kids all yelped, quickly throwing themselves into a mass salute that closely resembled .

"What's your name, stranger?" The woman wore the same armor as the kids, but hers fit better, and there were light blue streaks on it. Behind her was a man in orange and grey armor, who actually seemed to hold himself like he knew what he was doing.

Tex didn't even hesitate. "Allison Houston. Guess you're in charge around here."

"You're with the UNSC?" The woman asked, clearly hoping.

Tex shook her head. "Used to be, but I've gone freelance since. Security work, retrieval, bodyguard, that sort of thing."

The woman seemed interested. "You fought off Locus," she said.

"I think your privates scared him off with that big gun of theirs," Tex said.

"Still. You stopped him from massacring another one of my patrols."

"Eh. They were the first people I'd seen in a while. Seemed like it'd be hard to ask them for directions if they all were dead."

"Directions to where, exactly?"

"I'd say the nearest spaceport, but given the state of most of the ships I've seen, I somehow doubt that I'd actually be able to get a ride off this planet."

Kimball nodded. "The Federal Army of Chorus shoots down pretty much every ship that's trying to leave."

Tex sighed. "Figures. Don't suppose there's another way out of here?"

She knew what Kimball would say even before she said it, and she was surprised to find that she wasn't particularly opposed to the idea.

Fighting was all Tex knew. The war outside was over, and Freelancer was gone. Church was as safe as he would ever be, and it wasn't like she was going to be able to get to him anytime soon.

This might be interesting.

"Why don't we talk back at our base?"

"Are you sure?" The orange man said, finally speaking up. "We don't know anything about her."

"I highly doubt the Feds would bother to hire someone good enough to fight off Locus, and then try to use her as a spy, Felix." Kimball said.

Tex grinned behind her helmet. She liked this Kimball.

She'd figure out the rest of it as she went.

"Hey Aly," Felix said cheerfully, gun casually slung over his shoulder. Tex rolled her eyes. She hated Felix, but then again, she hated most people on some level.

She tried to tell herself that this was the reason he made her skin itch in a way that reminded her of the Counselor or the Director. He was a slimeball, but it wasn't like he was going to do anything that would hurt her or hers.

Not that she had anything left to care about. Church was far out of this guy's reach; not that he knew about Church. All he knew was that she was a former UNSC badass-turned mercenary who'd survived a ship crash, and was willing to work for the New Republic in exchange for a ride off this planet when all was said and done. It had been seven months since she'd ended up with the New Republic, and that's all he knew. All any of them knew.

Felix was good, Tex knew, but he underestimated her. Which was good—she wanted him to. She didn't like the way she thought she saw him looking at her—like he was deciding if she was worth the risk. She shouldn't be a risk, not to him. It worried her. Which was why she was trying not to show off, instead doing her work as quickly and efficiently as possible. She got her people out alive, but it wasn't any particular skin off her teeth if she ended up not slaughtering as many Feds as she could have, or if she wasn't seeking out Locus to try to see how many of his teeth she could make him swallow at once.

Felix was good enough that, if she wasn't careful, he could pose a threat. Tex was sure in her abilities, but she wasn't stupidly so. Felix would have been good enough for Freelancer, back in the day. She wondered if the Counselor rejected him, and, if so, why?

"Don't call me that," she said shortly, continuing to stare over the compound. "My name is Allison."

"Allison Houston, yeah, yeah," he said, holstering his gun and joining her by the railing. "You know, I can't find any records of you in the UNSC." He dropped this casually, as if it was a normal thing to run a background check on someone. Maybe it was. Tex didn't have the best grasp of normal.

"That so?" Tex said idly, not looking at him. She didn't like that he was looking for her files. Freelancer would have hid them well, and a fake name and no personal details or combat history ought to be enough to hide her, especially with communication limited as it was. She'd let him come to his own conclusions. But there was a possibility something might turn up, especially if there was an investigation after everything crashed and burned.

She wondered if the Director or the Counselor had managed to talk their way out of it. She hoped not. She spared a thought to imagine those assholes rotting away forever in a ten by ten cell, and she smirked.

"You really enjoy being the woman of mystery, don't you?" He laughed, moving just a bit closer. Tex shifted away, still not looking at him. She knew what he wanted, and that sure as hell wasn't happening. He was charming—an asshole, but charming—but she couldn't trust him as far as she could throw him.

Scratch that, she could probably throw his skinny ass pretty far. Not as far as Church could throw him. That was more like it.

"I don't see how my backstory gets me off this planet any faster," she said.

"I'll give you that. It's pretty terrible!"

"What do you want, Felix?"

"Ah, c'mon Allison. We're the only people in this entire army who are even halfway competent. Can you blame me for wanting a bit of company without having to watch one of those losers accidentally shoot off his own foot?"

"Better than shooting off his teammate's foot," she said idly, thinking of Church and Caboose with a pang of nostalgia. She was glad her helmet hid her smile as she got lost in memories from those days.

She shoved those thoughts aside again. They'd be fine. She'd get off this planet, and she'd find them. She'd figure out what came next after that.

One thing at a time, Tex.

"Basic training?" He asked her, not having realized she was lost in thought.

"Yeah," she lied easily. "Idiot couldn't hit a target to save his life, but he managed to nail his squad member's pink toe from halfway across the training grounds." On purpose, too, but she didn't feel the need to tell Felix that part.

Felix burst out laughing. "Oh god, what a bunch of morons! Glad you got out of there, huh?"

"Better company than here."

"Ouch! Allison, my heart is bleeding!" Felix staggered dramatically, pressing a hand over his armor. It was on the wrong side to be his heart. He sighed. "Ah well, I'll win you over eventually."

"Doubt it," she said. "Not unless you're willing to let me try out that shield of yours."

"Ha! As if," he chuckled. "You know, Kimball probably could set you up with alien tech like me, if you wanted."

"Alien tech's never worth it," Tex said. "Trust me."

"One day, you'll have to tell me that story, Allison," he said, shaking his head.

She doubted it.

Tex sighed. "I need to talk to Kimball. I think I'm supposed to be taking a squad out for another patrol." She moved away, without so much as nodding at Felix. He cheerfully shouted a goodbye at her back, clearly amused by something.

They're going to be fine. Nothing ever happens unless a Freelancer comes looking, and none of the others would have a reason to go to Blood Gulch, she reminded herself.

She just wished she could believe it.

"You won't believe this," Felix said, gleefully throwing the door open in the middle of Tex and Kimball's meeting.

"What is it, Felix?" Kimball asked, slightly annoyed at being interrupted. Behind her helmet, Tex frowned. She wondered what, exactly, made Felix so happy.

"Okay, okay, check this out!" He projected a newspaper headline.

"Colorful Space Marines Stop Corruption?" Tex read, raising an eyebrow.

"That's right! The Reds and Blues of Project Freelancer; a group of the galaxy's greatest soldiers!" Tex felt her eyebrows shoot up towards her hairline as she examined the photo.

There was absolutely no doubt about who it was in the picture. There was Grif, sulking about something to the side. There was Donut, practically leaping into the air, waving at the camera, with Simmons hiding behind him, almost invisible. Sarge was saluting, incorrectly, of course. The Reds were all there.

And for the Blues…

Carolina. Carolina, taller than all the others by a good three inches, shaking the hand of some politician. Carolina, alive and whole and with the Reds and Blues.

Washington. Standing towards the back, radiating awkwardness, hands clasped in front of him, not put off by Tucker's antics.

If Tex had actually needed to breathe, she might have been in trouble. As it was…

Church wasn't there. Tucker and Caboose were standing there—Tucker thrusting his hips in a ridiculous, Caboose facing the wrong way and waving—but Church wasn't.

It took every ounce of self-control she had not to push Felix aside and read every word of the article, searching for answers.

As it was, she reached out with a tendril of herself, and copied the file as quickly as she could, saving it to her HUD.

There was no mention of Church at all. She closed her eyes, barely listening as Felix tried to convince Kimball that they needed to recruit the Reds and Blues to the army.

He was gone. She wondered if she'd suspected. If that feeling in the pit of her stomach had been her mechanical body trying to tell her that he was dead.

She forced herself to focus. She didn't have time to mourn. The Reds and Blues were here. She'd make sure they were okay; find out what happened.

Carolina was alive—that was something. And Washington… well, it was always good that more Freelancers weren't dead.

Except Wyoming. Tex really hoped he was actually dead. He better be.

She wondered if Tucker would forgive her for Junior. She wondered if Carolina would shoot her when she saw her. She wondered if they would have the answers she needed.

"I think he's right," she said, which clearly surprised Kimball and Felix. Tex usually made a point of arguing with Felix—mostly because he was wrong more often than not. But this time, she knew the Reds and Blues needed to be brought in. And quickly.

Before she lost track of them again.