Reach, Epsilon Eridani System, FLEETCOM Sector 1 May 7th, 2517 0300 hours The twin moons cast an eerie white glow throughout the forest, illuminating the near-invisible trail that Adriana-111 had marked with a stun baton. Jai-006 followed the burn marks left by the electric baton, quickly reaching a clearing in the forest. This was their 4th escape this month. Scanning his surroundings, he spotted a branch ever so slightly out of place. Pretending not to notice, Jai crept up a rock, and spotted Adriana in her hiding place, Stun Baton in hand. Deciding he wanted to surprise her, he leapt down from the rock, landing behind her. In a flash, she swung the baton, only to be intercepted by Jai. >‘Relax. Let’s get outta here.’ Moving through the forested terrain quickly, they avoided the motion trackers, laser tripwires, and sentry patrols. The patrols they could not avoid were dispatched non-lethally, often with a struggle to prevent the UNSC personnel from radioing in. >‘Got a group of five here.’ Jai whispered to Adriana. >‘We can’t go around. There’s a Motion Tracker tower next to the checkpoint. They’ll spot us if we try to crawl past it.’ Adriana replied in a hushed voice. >We’ll have to go through them. I count 2 in the posts, 4 sentries, and a patrolling group of five. Let’s get the two in the posts first, then the sentries. We’ll hit the patrol at the same time.’ Jai stated. >‘What if we get the patrol first? Then we won’t have to worry about them walking up on any bodies.’ Adriana pointed out. >‘Fine. Let’s go.’ --- SSgt. Tanaka was tired. A 4 year veteran of Operation: TREBUCHET, Tanaka was supposed to be on Reach for ‘R&R’. If R&R was patrolling a checkpoint in the middle of nowhere, Tanaka wondered what the hell the point of R&R was. Even so, Tanaka kept half-alert for any Innie rebels. Out of the corner of his HUD, Tanaka spotted an ever so slight movement of a shadow in the forest. Raising his MA37, Tanaka tentatively took a step towards the shadow. Keeping an eye on his motion tracker, Tanaka scanned the woodline. >‘Must’ve been nothing.’ He thought. One of the yellow blips on his HUD went out, and another. One by one, the rest of his 5 man patrol blinked out. Pressing the transmit button on his radio, Tanaka let out two words before his world went black, curtsey of Adriana’s Stun Baton. >‘Sound Alarm!’ --- >‘Let’s go! They’re on alert now!’ Jai shouted. >‘Moving!’ Adriana replied. Within minutes, a D77-TC Pelican was airborne, equipped with thermal imaging and spotlights. Commandeering a M274 ULATV, or ‘Mongoose’, Jai and Adriana began their high speed escape attempt. Within seconds, the duo was spotted by the Pelican. Roaring along the road at 90km/h, Jai kept the Mongoose steady even as the D77-TC fired warning bursts from it’s chin-mounted 40mm. Having exhausted all options to get the escapees to slow, the Pelican shot ahead of the Mongoose, opening the rear troop compartment hatch, revealing a lone UNSC marksman, with a modified M392 DMR. Two tranquilizer shots impacted Jai in the chest, severely inhibiting his motor coordination. Realising he would crash, Jai reluctantly slowed the ULATV down, before falling unconscious. Adriana began her sprint away into the woods, but could not hide from the Marksman’s Infrared scope. A single tranquilizer round found it’s way into her back, rendering her unconscious. The D77-TC landed, and Jai-006, and Adriana-111 were cuffed, and loaded inside, back to CASTLE Base. --- Reach, Epsilon Eridani System, FLEETCOM Sector 1 CASTLE Base, Level Scarlet, Medical Ward May 8th, 2517 1400 hours Jai awoke alone to painfully bright white lights. He attempted to lift his arm, only to find that he was chained to the bed. The door hissed open, and Dr. Catherine Halsey entered, not looking up from her datapad. Instead, she simply read information off it out loud for Jai to hear. >‘Jai-006. Age 6, Candidate for the SPARTAN-II program. Escape attempts total 30, over a period of 4 months.’ She says,looking up from her datapad. Without breaking eye contact, Halsey opened a case that laid on the counter next to the bed. Inside was a syringe filled with crimson liquid. Picking it up deliberately, she inspected it slowly, before turning back to adress Jai once more. >‘Contained in this syringe is a antidopaminergic compound. Specifically, a Hydroxyzine Dopaminergic Blocker. Once inside your bloodstream, you’ll have lost all memories of the past 6 months. You’ll wake up in a city, with no recollection of who you are, where you are, or how you got there.’ She paused before speaking again. >‘I want you to think this through. I’m only offering this once, and only to you. I know Ariana has been trying to escape with you as well. I want you to consider how she’ll feel when she’s alone. Are you going to be the one to desert her? It’s up to you.’ Halsey inserts the syringe into a receptacle built into the hospital bed. >‘Just a push of this button, and the serum will be injected into your bloodstream. I’ll leave this here.’ Halsey says, exiting the room. The holographic button pulses, as Jai internally debates whether to press the button. --- May 9th, 2517 Somewhere in the woods outside of CASTLE Base, Reach 0100 hours Adriana waited patiently in the canopy of a tree, awaiting Jai’s arrival. The twin crescent moons provided dim light, dulling the shadows in the forest. Adriana began to doubt if it was even possible to escape. >I won’t stop if Jai keeps going. If he can do it, I can too. Adriana was pulled out of her thoughts when she spotted a downcast Jai walk out into the clearing, directly underneath one of the moons. Leaping down from her hiding spot, Adriana rushed over to Jai. >‘What’s going on?’ She asked. Jai explained to her what happened in the Medical Ward, and Halsey’s offer. >‘I don’t want to lose you. I can’t leave you behind.’ Adriana couldn’t speak. It was as if something formed in her throat, preventing her from expressing her emotions to Jai. All she could do was nod. >‘Let’s just go back. If we’re together, we’ll be able to handle it.’ Jai finally spoke. They walked back to CASTLE Base in silence, side by side, underneath the glimmer of the crescent moons. --- In her office on Level Aqua, Halsey watched the exchange between Jai-006 and Adriana-111, jotting down notes every so often. When they began their walk back to CASTLE Base, she wrote down one final note before closing her notebook. >JAI-006/ADRIANA-111/MIKE-120 - FIRETEAM GREY