Halo: Freefall

**Halo: Freefall** follows the story of the CRF members Darren Morse, Rusty Coburn, Andy O'Kane, and the two Archangels Grant Mendoza and Lara Vásquez during the first half of the CRF Civil War.

## Appearances

### Characters

#### Falaknuman Rebels

* Abel, Kodey
* Banks, Arthur (Mentioned only)
* Cross, Richard
* Mendoza, Grant
* Torres, Elizabeth
* Vásquez, Lara
#### United Liberation Coalition

* Cartwright, Alyce (First appearance)
* Morse, Darren (First appearance)
#### Mamore Revolutionary Force

* Coburn, James
* Murphy (First appearance)
#### Freeguard

* Burke (First appearance)
* Floats Perfectly (First appearance)
* Harper, Scott (First appearance)
* Lighter Than Air (First appearance)
* McCoy (First appearance)
* O'Kane, Andy (First appearance)

# PART I — MAMORE

## Chapter 1

**TIME/DATE:** 16:03 (UNSC Standard), November 4th, 2561
**LOCATION:**
Bridge of the CRF *Venture*, In orbit above Crest

"Harper! Report! What happened?"

Andy O'Kane—elected leader of the Freeguard and captain of the *Venture*—paced back and forth as he waited for a response. Scott Harper was leading a boarding party, attempting to capture some much needed ships to add to the Freeguard's fleet.

«Nothing, sir. A couple of miners tried to fight back, but we handled it.»

"I assume the ship is still in one piece then. Cargo?"

«Nothing but mining equipment and building supplies, as usual.»

"Slipspace drive? Nav computer?"

«Yeah, one of those Shaw-whatever drives. It looks to be brand new though. And McCoy got access to the Nav system, so we're good.»

"Tell him that we're leaving. Use our wake, as usual."

The Freeguard was the only major CRF member that wasn't entirely human. A few years back they struck a deal with some Kig-Yar, obtaining two of those things they called Huragok, Lighter Than Air and Floats Perfectly. One of the things that L.T. and Floats had tampered with was *Venture*'s slipspace drive, making jumps take much less time with much more accuracy.

Andy knew that if the slower ships, such as the *Solstice*, entered the *Venture*'s slipspace rupture, they would reach their destination with the same level of precision and speed. It was one of those things that became well known after it's use during the war.

«Understood. Hey, McCoy! We're shipping out!»

Harper's voice trailed off as he walked away from the transmitter. Andy cut the transmission and looked towards the men in the bridge, giving a slight nod.

*All good, time to jump.*

He laid back in his captain's chair and watched as the ship was engulfed by the black void of slipspace.

## Chapter 2

**TIME/DATE:** 17:01 (UNSC Standard), November 4th, 2561
**LOCATION:**
Bridge of the CRF *Venture*, In orbit above Mamore

"Sir!"

The sound of Burke's voice started Andy, waking him up from his nap. Slipspace causes problems for some people, such as making them feel nauseous or unbalanced. For Andy O'Kane, something changes in his mind that makes him feel extremely tired. Andy sat up, wiped the drool from his mouth, and saw McCoy on the video display next to Burke.

"McCoy, what is the problem?" Andy yawned and stretched his whole body before standing up. His men were used to his condition, and this time was no different.

McCoy was a younger man, no older than 25. His usually clean clothes were instead covered in grease stains. Andy could only assume he got them during the capture of the freighter *Solstice* prior to the jump. In stark contrast, his blond hair under his cap was clean and well brushed, revealing his light stubble. But McCoy's usual smile was missing, instead replaced with a subtle indication of fear.

«Look out the window, on your left side.»

Burke pulled up a view from the one of the port-side docking cameras so Andy wouldn't have to walk down the stairs in front of him to the viewport half a level down.

Andy rubbed his eyes and saw, among the thousands of dots of light that were stars, two ships firing shots at each other from range.

"Are we under attack?" Andy barked as he finally became completely aware of his surroundings.

«Those ships are identified as the *Vendetta* and the *Forgotten Prayer*,» McCoy replied. «They're both CRF.»