Vindicates Chapter 7

Chapter 7 of Vindicates.

## Story

**Location: Watchtower Hangar**
- 2183, Aug 7

Rhodey did her best to remain conscious, but had lost all control of the situation. Thankfully, Samus was handling it all beautifully. When the two ships pulled into the Watchtower’s main hangar bay, all was silent, nobody dared speak a word.

Ben hadn't said anything for a while, he just glared at Samus beneath the helmet, cold and unforgiving. It was funny how Spartans could do that, make you feel their emotions through their armour, even when you couldn't see their faces, you know when they're pissed. The Spectral touched down on the third pad to the right coming in, second and last row inwards. It faced towards the back of the hangar. As they got out they all looked to their right, at the ONI Pelican facing the same way.

"So, you're really doing this Samus? You're going to imprison UNSC personnel?"

She looked at Rhodey, who was going pale, and then back to Ben "Sorry Ben, but that's the way it has to be for now..."

Jane Shepard came running over from the Pelican and administered some Medi-Gel and a stimulant to keep her from passing out again. Rhodey perked up for a moment and gave a more firm answer.

"We're going to detain you and anyone else who's still feeling patriotic, temporarily, until we can sort this out, everyone else is free to roam the hangar but don't touch anything. Jarvis, lock down all controls, including the spacecraft." She winced at her pain. Samus asked John to hold her up whilst she escorted Ben and a few of the other troublemakers. Jane and Isaac stayed to watch over the hangar and everyone in it. Sam Gideon and Nomad were anxious about the situation as well. Sam piped up "What about us? Are we prisoners too?" Before Rhodey could reply, Nomad raised his M41A Pulse Rifle at Rhodey and Samus. Rupert with a few of his men moved quickly between Nomad and his targets, "I can't believe this!? You call yourselves soldiers!? Where's your conviction, your loyalty!?" Jane then threw Nomad up against the Pelican with her biotics, sending his weapon flying as he laid there only half conscious.

Rupert spoke up, "You weren't on that station as long as the rest of us Major... they left us for dead. Don't blame us for our lack of loyalty to the UNSC. Our morale is low, and we're tired."

She looked at them as she was half walking, half carried away by John "So long as nobody touches anything until I get back, you won't end up in a cell and you'll all be able to go home - if that's what you want."

Rhodey returned before the hour was up. Shepard didn't think whatever it was she shot herself up with could have been healthy, but she was operating again at optimum efficiency, as JARVIS put it.

All the soldiers were scattered throughout the hangar, barely taking up any space in the massive compartment due to their small numbers, as they huddled up in little groups, no doubt chatting about the events that had transpired and the station they realized they were in; the old heroes’ Watchtower. Sam and Nomad were chatting with each other, and evidently Nomad had calmed down and wanted to hear Sam out, who had previous experience with Rhodey. Rhodey had considered putting Nomad in a cell like Ben, but she needed as many allies as she could get; Ben was simply too dangerous to be left out. She had heard of Spartans hacking into entire Covenant battleships, and though that had to be with their own AIs, she wasn’t sure if Ben had one or not. Isaac, Jane and Samus joined her and John at the right side command bay. Her voice rumbled and demanded an audience as she stood before them, and the holographic screens began flickering up blue and orange. Sparks flew out of cords hanging from the roof, as turbines began to whirl. These parts of the station had been left off for over a century and a half. She made sure the audio was being transmitted all over the station so that the prisoners in their cells could hear.

"You know me as the Vindicator, this is my station. These are my teammates. We've come together to answer threats to our galaxy that no one person can answer alone. We're doing this because our governments can't, or won't do it themselves. You saw what happened at that joint research station; Weyland aren’t the only one's trying to develop dangerous weapons or technology for the UNSC, weapons that'll doom us all, believe me. And now you're all fugitives, because you were meant to die there. I understand the loyalty they've manufactured you with, but let me offer you an alternative. Instead of fighting for what and when they deem important, why not fight for what you want instead? Besides the fact that most of you will probably be killed by ONI spooks if you go back to the UNSC, stay with me and I'll arm and fit you for the missions you want to take. If anyone has any family they need protected, I can organise that as well.

For anyone who isn't interested in fighting anymore I can only offer you a new identity, a lift to a friendly Citadel colony that accepts human refugees and some luck. Who's interested?"

They all looked at each other, and every single one in the hangar, even some in their cells, who Rhodey could see on her helmet's VISR feed, stood up. Ben remained seated, though, as she thought he would. Rhodey called out to the Commander she met at the Weyland facility "Rupert, feel like stepping up to station commander? I liked the way you handled the situation in the Wey-Yu research facility."

"Well, I didn't."

"Pfft, you did good, we could definitely use you."

He saluted her; a gesture that could only mean "Yes."

One soldier raised his hand though, and called out.

"The station's nice and all, but... you don't have a lot of stuff in it?"

John leaned over her shoulder "I know this isn't a good time, but you did mention a ship for us..."

As if to answer his question, a crackle ruptured in slipspace, and four medium-sized (232,5 m), Corporate Frigates and an old Perun-Class Destroyer (536m)  pulled through, all bearing the Stark Industries logo. The frigates were new and from the private military sector, usually used to escort private vessels and pack enough firepower to take on pirates, but they were obviously upgraded with Stark tech. The Destroyer was an old ship, Perun-Class were no longer used by the UNSC, though some mercenary or pirate gangs liked to grab hold of them if they could. This one though, again was upgraded with Stark tech. Just from quick observation, one could see the giant Arc Reactor in the middle of the ships and its particle shields. The five ships were accompanied by one more distinct frigate different from the other four, too far away to visually register though "Perfect timing," Rhodey remarked.

"JARVIS, unlock all systems and prepare for new arrivals."

The cruisers unloaded dozens of dropships, most prominent among them were the old UD-4L Cheyenne Dropships that Weyland used to make for the UNSC. Now, the UNSC has a new contract with Misriah Armory on Mars, manufacturing the newer D77-TC Pelicans. Only a handful of those arrived from the cruisers.

“I‘m sourcing my hardware from a bunch of different places. Some of it’s salvage from battles, black markets, stolen, purchased from other corporations, straight from my own warehouses, or old gear the military doesn’t want anymore. The old used military stuff is cheap, and I can upgrade it to perform on par with current models with my tech.”

The troopers that got off these ships sported what appeared to be standard UNSC gear, though upon closer inspection, was clearly different. It was all coloured a particular shade of black and grey, and decorated with blue stripes, markings, and a cobalt "V" symbol.

These were “Vindicate Soldiers.” Rhodey sent out a list of tasks to Rupert. His helmet buzzed, and he sprang into action, organising everyone, barking orders, taking command from the right side command bay as Rhodey and the others moved. Some of the soldiers unloaded crates, others were being organised into patrols or marching practices, some were being assigned as operators on the controls, some had been moved to other parts of the station to begin repairs and the ones who had free time were socialising.

"Defectors," Rhodey said. "Most of them, anyway, by now you know I'm good with hacking into the UNSC's comm traffic and files. I managed to locate a few dissenters who still didn't like the idea of joining the Insurrectionists, Titan Militias or Cerberus. There's a few fresh ex-servicemen of all shades; dishonourable and honourable discharges, veterans, deserters and some who just served their time and left, a few morally adept mercenaries too."

The slender shape of one of the frigates swiftly steered into the hangar, coming more into focus, and both John and Jane both stepped forward in disbelief. "Is that...?"

Rhodey turned her head to them "Yes, it is."

A white and black Normandy-class frigate with blue lights and markings elegantly pulled into the hangar, the logo of Stark Industries displayed on the side.

"Cerberus had some schematics for an SR2 Normandy ready not long after you guys got spaced. The ship was bigger, and upgraded in a number of ways compared to the old one. "I stole ‘em, and added some upgrades of my own design to it as well. Started making it a few months ago, and the final tests were being completed when I had both of you unconscious in my station. She's brand new, guys, don't wreck this one. I also pulled my two Cerberus double agents out of the organisation to help you, there name's are Miranda and Jacob and they're waiting for you on the Normandy" Rhodey smiled. It was all coming together. Crates full of power supplies, tools and weapons, everything they needed to begin repairing the station properly and get started was here.

Rupert called over Isaac to have a look at one of the computers at his command bay. Its operator was reporting sparks and a malfunction with the station’s tracker originating from there. As he left, a man waddled his way over to them from where the Normandy landed; it was "Joker", the helmsman of the first ship. Rhodey had never seen the Shepards this happy, it was good. She overheard the conversation "Well, when Miss Stark here needed someone to fly the new Normandy, who else but the best damn pilot in the galaxy?"

Rhodey rested against the rail as Sam Gideon and Nomad approached her from below. Sam spoke up "When you asked me to join the first time, I didn't buy what you were selling. But you've proved me wrong, and I convinced Jake here of that as well, if that's okay with you...Vindicator?"

She nodded, still smiling underneath her helmet.

"What's the first thing you want us to do?"

"For now, just relax, take in the view. The missions will come later, right now, let's just enjoy the peace, we may not have it back for a long time. Or help the soldiers unload the next batch of crates when it comes in, your call. We'll get the mess and recreation rooms setup shortly as well."