Sona 'Demal had arranged for a small meeting room to be set up down near the residential areas where the human visitors had been quartered. As Felix sat on one side of a makeshift conference table, he kept his eyes on the door and waited for Simon-G294 to arrive.
The Sangheili chairs were little more than tall, wide-seated stools and the hard surface was doing little to improve Felix's mood. The meeting with Kahn had rattled him more than he cared to admit, to the point that he was beginning to wonder if he should put off this meeting until he'd had a moment to center his thoughts.
No. This needs to happen now. He'd called in more than a few favors to move his plans for Cassandra and Simon up through ONI and the jury wasn't entirely in on whether his superiors would decide to go with his scheme at all. Felix needed Simon on board, and quickly; Rosch was still out cold, but if he woke up now all bets were off.
They'll dissect her, Kahn's warning echoed in the back of Felix's head. They'll want to see how close Venter got to their super-soldier formulas.
Nimue would have to come back with him. He couldn't get away with getting her off the hook, not after what he'd just done for Cassandra and Simon. She would come back, and then he could figure out how to keep her out of harm's way. Maybe some of the Delta Spartans could be convinced to help him protect her...
But the mere thought of it rang hollow even as it passed through Felix's head. If ONI wanted Nimue, there was nothing he could do to stop them.
The door slid open, ending his reflection. Jake stepped in, helmet off and assault rifle slung over his back. He snapped off a quick salute. "Sir, I brought him."
"Good." Felix rose and returned the salute. "Get him in here."
Jake's face was hard as Simon-G294 stepped passed him and stalked towards the table. The former teammates didn't so much glance in each other's direction, and Felix had to wonder if anything had passed between them in the hallway.
A third person entered the room, timidly following after Simon. It was the girl who'd been with him back in the facility. Felix caught Jake's eye and raised an eyebrow.
"Sorry, sir," Jake said. "She insisted she come along."
"She's just worried an alien will eat her face if she gets left alone here." Simon slung one leg up onto table and leaned back as far as his stool would allow. "She'll be sitting in on this one."
It wasn't worth arguing about. "Wait outside," he instructed Jake. "Dismissed."
The Spartan nodded and stepped back out. The door slid shut behind him, leaving Felix alone with Simon and the girl.
The ex-Spartan wasn't in as bad shape as he'd been back at the facility, but the marks of his ordeal were plain to see. Bandages were slapped over his arms, legs, and face, and, of course, his eye. The remaining eye was narrowed, its grey pupil alive with suspicion and mistrust. Gazing out from his pale, thin face, the eye was a swirling cauldron of emotion, but at the crux of it all was a core of calm rage.
"Well, let's get this thing started," Simon said, folding his arms across his chest. "First things first: according to Zoey here, you have something that belongs to me."
The A.I. chip that Jian had taken off Zoey was in Felix's chest pocket. He dipped his metal hand in over his injured arm and pulled it out. "You mean this."
"Yeah." Simon extended his own prosthetic hand, palm open. "I'll be taking her back now, thanks."
"Not just yet." Felix closed his hand over the chip. There was something that needed to be settled before this went any further. "Back on Beta-14, you killed one of my Spartans."
Simon's eye narrowed even further and his mouth twisted into a scowl. "So that's how it's going to be, huh?" He folded his arms again. "Are you going to keep Diana then? Going for a little payback?"
"I don't work that way," Felix replied. "But I can't say it feels good to be putting my neck on the line for someone who killed one of my soldiers."
"One of your Spartans," Simon repeated. "What, did the poor schmuck belong to you or something?"
"You know that's not what I meant," Felix said. He wouldn't let Simon get to him like Kahn had. "But he was a Spartan-III, just like you. Doesn't that mean anything to you?"
Simon's intractable expression didn't change. "Not really. He wasn't really in a talking mood when he tried to blow my head off. I was just trying to get away."
"You cut his head off and left his stripped corpse for us to find," Felix reminded him. "Not exactly what you do when you're running for your life."
"I'm always running for my life in some way or another." Simon shrugged. "He nearly killed me, and the armor was too good to pass up."
"And where is it now?"
Simon's scowl deepened. "Do I look like I have it on me?" he demanded. "An asshole named Ro'nin stole it from me. You want it back, he's your guy."
Ro'nin. The name didn't mean anything to Felix, but at least they had a lead on the armor. He'd send it up to ONI the minute this meeting was over. "So you don't regret killing him? Nothing at all?"
"Why the hell should I?" Simon demanded. "If I hadn't, I wouldn't be sitting here now. Do you waste time thinking about all the people you kill?"
"Cassandra told me you fought for the insurrectionists on Mamore," Felix pressed. "Is that why you hate the UNSC now? Do you still support independence?"
"Is this some kind of personality test?" The ex-Spartan's fists clenched. "The insurrection can go fuck itself. Same with the UNSC. You're all a bunch of corrupt, murdering shits in my book."
"And you're a victim of the circumstances." Felix hadn't needed any details from Cassandra to figure that much out. Simon's personality had self-pity written all over it.
"I've done plenty to deserve what I get," Simon growled. "But that stuff isn't what makes me a criminal. The things you guys want me for, all those big words like desertion and treason? I've got no regrets about any of that."
Felix watched the ex-Spartan closely. He wouldn't make the mistake of assuming that he understood what made this one tick again. Guesswork with Simon would get him nowhere. "What did you do?" he asked carefully.
"None of your business," Simon snapped. "Now are we going to get down to this offer you're making, or should we waste some more time playing twenty questions?"
"What I'm offering is amnesty," Felix told him. "A clean slate. ONI will wipe you out of its files and you'll never have to worry about them again."
"That's awfully generous of you," Simon noted. "Considering all the trouble you guys went to kill me. So what do you need me for?"
"You know how to get around on the frontier," Felix explained. "Your mercenary contracts have taught you how to navigate the criminal elements out there. And best of all, you already have a reputation for being a dependable merc."
"Huh. So how does that fit in with you trying to get back into the UNSC?"
"That's where you're wrong," Felix told him. "I'm getting Cassandra back into the UNSC. After everything you've done, I doubt you could ever come back, even if you wanted to."
"You're right about that." Simon's mouth smiled, but his eye remained as cold and angry as ever. "So what do you want from me?"
"Your services. I want you to go back out into the underworld and start gathering as much intelligence as you can on the Syndicate."
Simon laughed. "Yeah, right. You think the UNSC will go for that? The Syndicate's got half the colonies in its pocket already, not to mention a shitload of the weasels back on Earth. Good luck getting the go-ahead for that."
"Exactly." Felix leaned forward. "The Syndicate thinks it's using the corruption within the government to keep us from cracking down on them. But once this business with the Path Walkers is finished, all that is going to change."
With another laugh, Simon leaned back even further. "Okay. I'll be really dead by then, so tell me about this big plan of yours."
"You won't need to worry about the Syndicate," Felix assured him. "You'll be in close contact with agents ONI has already placed out on the frontier. Gathering information is just the first step to dismantling the criminal networks."
"Really?" Felix had almost forgotten Zoey was there. She looked completely flummoxed. "You really think you can take on the Syndicate?"
"That kind of attitude is what's let it get so powerful in the first place," Felix explained. "Right now they're responsible for helping fund every rebel and pirate group in the known galaxy. Taking them out will be a huge step towards galactic piece."
The table shuddered as Simon slammed his other foot down on it. Glaring at Felix over the top of his boots, his face had returned to its old furious self. "Yeah, that's a pretty dumb plan. You sure this isn't some weird scheme to kill me off? Why should I trust you?"
For a moment, Felix honestly considered getting up and letting the whole deal fall through. Why should he even bother trying to make use of someone so stubbornly self centered? Simon couldn't care less about all the people who would benefit from the Syndicate's destruction. He was probably thinking about how much scarcer mercenary contracts would get once the organization was gone. It would be better to just cut him loose now and let ONI finish him on its own time.
But as he looked across the table at the young man, taking in all the bandages, the ruined eye, the furious expression, he felt an unexpected sense of understanding flood through him. For reasons he couldn't quite explain, he suddenly imagined what this poor, outcast Spartan's life must have been like. Constant fear, an eternal hunger, all that pent up anger and grief, and no end ever in sight. The utter misery of Simon's existence stopped Felix in his tracks. He had no one to rely on, no one to look to for comfort or support. He and the galaxy had conspired together to deprive him of everything the Spartan might have ever thought was good or just.
The worst Spartan in Gamma. Felix thought about all the insults Ralph had heaped upon Simon since he'd assumed command of Jian. He spent half his life being trained as a suicide soldier, and every day they told him he wasn't even good enough to die for them.
You can save him, Cassandra had told him when he'd explained his plan to her. Now he had a chance to do just that.
"Because I can set you free from all this," Felix told him. "If you agree to only work for the UNSC, I'll make sure you never want for anything again when you aren't in the field."
"Generous," Simon noted. "A bit too generous if you ask me. Let's cut to the chase. What do you really need me for?"
"You're the beginning of something new," Felix explained. "Another way of keeping the peace without direct military intervention. The galaxy's full of mercenaries and outcasts just like you, and we can pull them together to help us stop people like Venter and the Path Walkers."
"A paramilitary force? Some kind of merc team?" Simon shook his head. "I think you've got a little too much faith in how these people's minds work. No one wants to lick the UNSC's boots no matter how much propaganda you throw up."
"They may change their minds when they see what's been made of you," Felix assured him. "This initiative will keep the frontier intact without the Interspecies Union needing to interfere with how the new colonies govern themselves."
"And so we keep guys like the Path Walkers in line and work towards some fairy princess galaxy where everyone lives in harmony with the government." Simon laughed. "You've got imagination, I'll give you that."
"Dreams like that only stay dreams because people don't have the willpower to work for them," Felix told him. "All the misery and suffering you've seen on the frontier could go away if enough people could be convinced to help.
"Stability won't come overnight. Until then you and the people you help us recruit must continue to fight the fight"
Felix dropped the A.I. chit on the table and slid it over to Simon's end. "There, take her. A show of good faith. So are you in?"
Simon picked up the chip and examined it. "I'll need to explain all this to her somehow," he muttered. "Something tells me she won't like it."
"This is a second chance at life," Felix said, standing up. "A chance to be more than just another mercenary. All you have to do is take it."
"Take it, huh?" Simon looked up at him and smiled, though the grin didn't quite reach his eye. "What choice do I have?"
The hallway outside the conference room was quiet. Jake and Ralph leaned against opposite walls, helmets at their sides, while Cassandra lingered a few feet away. All three of them stared at the closed door expectantly.
"I wonder what they're talking about that's taking so long," Jake said, tapping his fingers against his helmet.
"The real question is what the Lieutenant Commander could even want with a shit-licker like Simon," Ralph growled. "I still don't see why we haven't shot him yet."
Cassandra didn't say anything. She had to have faith that Felix would be able to convince Simon to get on a different path. The one he was on now couldn't possibly end well, and it would only lead to more suffering.
Let him understand, she prayed. Let him let go of the past.
As if someone had heard her, the door slid open and Simon stepped through. Zoey followed quickly behind him. Cassandra still couldn't understand the twist of fate that had brought the ex-slave to Simon, but if what Zoey had said about Simon were true than she'd been able to bring out a compassion that he would never have admitted he had.
"That was good for me," Simon grunted, stretching his back out.
"You done?" Jake demanded.
"Yeah. Your boss asked for some water, too."
"I'll get some for him," Ralph muttered, shouldering his way past Simon and into the conference room. He and Simon had never gotten along, and Simon's defection had clearly done nothing to improve Ralph's outlook about him.
"So?" Jake asked cautiously. "Did you make the decision to stay on?"
"Yeah," Simon said. "You're stuck with me."
Cassandra let out a breath she hadn't known she'd been holding. Whatever Felix had said in there, it had worked better than all of her offers for Simon to give up his nomadic lifestyle.
"So you decided to start playing for the right side again?" Jake pressed.
Simon let out a small huff that was halfway between a sigh and a chuckle. "I figure if I refuse, you kill me. Or if I run, you kill me. The choice to stick around with you fine people isn't a choice at all."
He's just saying that, Cassandra told herself. That's how he always is, always focused on the negative. The point is, he agreed.
"There's more to it, right?" Jake asked, sizing up his former teammate.
Simon smiled. "Well, I've gotta make my money somehow."
"And can you guarantee you won't betray us?"
The unbandaged eye narrowed, but Simon's smile remained. "You wouldn't believe me," he sneered. "Not if my answer were a yes or a no."
"Fair enough." Jake hesitated, then stretched out his guantleted hand to shake. "Welcome back."
Simon snorted and pushed past without taking the offered hand. He nodded at Cassandra as he past, his expression completely unreadable. Hands thrust in his pockets, he vanished down the hallway. Zoey gave Jake and Cassandra an apologetic nod before hurrying off after him.
"It'll be good to have you back," Jake said after a moment. "We've missed you a lot, Cassie."
Cassandra glanced back at him and smiled. "You know how much I hate that name. Since I just got back, I'll let it slide this time."
At the far end of the hall, a thin Sangheili in blue armor strode away from the humans and slipped into a small alcove. Pulling a communicator from her armor, Pula entered a coded combination and opened an encrypted channel.
"I have confirmed Mordred is aboard," the Cleansing Blade assassin whispered. "He has the construct as well."
"Good work," Umbra 'Vesic's voice crackled inside her helmet. "The commander will be pleased. Are all the preparations ready?"
"Yes. I delivered the plans to our agents on the bridge earlier."
"Excellent. The strike force is inbound, and the commander is leading the attack."
"He is?" Pula asked. It had been a long time since her master had led an assault like this.
"Yes. The deal with the Path Walkers has been finalized and there will be some of them amongst the warriors. The commander decided this was as good a time as ever to make an impression on them." Umbra paused, clearly disapproving of such a risk.
"You know where Mordred is," the Cleansing Blade's lieutenant continued. "When the attack begins, isolate and capture him. The commander wants him alive, and he wants him before the Path Walkers find him."
"Understood," Pula said. "I won't fail."
"Make sure you don't. Umbra out."
Putting the communicator back, Pula checked to see that the hallway was clear before hurrying away. Her master was leading the attack. Now was her chance to make sure he kept his confidence in her. Umbra could doubt her abilities all he wanted, but Shinsu 'Refum's displeasure was something she would never incur, no matter what the circumstances.
I won't fail you, master, she promised. I won't.
She strode off in the direction of the nearest security center. There was still work to be done before Shinsu and the warriors arrived.