Chapter 22: n 1

At the Avalanche outpost, Caboose and Tucker wandered through the hallways gathering tools while the Reds searched among the crates.

"Simmons, what are we looking for?" Grif asked.

"I don't know, power cells, batteries, anything," Simmons yelled, rummaging through a closet.

"How is a power cell different from a battery?"

"Grif, this is not the time!"

Suddenly there was a loud explosion from outside, followed by some shots.

Sarge looked towards the main entrance, "Hey, did you hear that?"

"Yeah, I did," Simmons replied, drawing out his rocket launcher, "Come on, Grif, let's go!"

"Aren't we supposed to run away from explosions?" Grif yelled, running after his teammates.

XXX

The Reds, Caboose and Tucker raced outside just as Epsilon crashed into the snow in front of them, his body sparking badly, "Ow!"

"What happened?" Sarge cried.

"The Meta... there..." Epsilon pointed out and everyone turned to see Washington and Rhode firing at the Meta next to the wrecked Warthog.

"And I was afraid we wouldn't get to kick a little butt today," Sarge chuckled, taking out his shotgun, "Come on, fellas!"

Tucker switched on his sword then turned to his teammate, "Caboose, stay with Church!"

"Okay," Caboose replied.

"And try not to kill him by accident!"

"Okay!"

The Meta opened fire and Wash dived aside to avoid the hit. The Meta charged towards him, brute shot blade raised but Wash whipped out his knife and parried the blow. He then sliced him in the shoulder but the Meta cloaked himself and ducked aside.

Rhode stopped and glanced around the field then he spotted the snow being shifted in one side. Rhode then grabbed Wash's knife and threw the blade towards the movement. As it hit, the Meta uncloaked with a roar of pain. Wash raised his battle rifle and opened fire, but the Meta shot a rocket out and sent Wash flying back under the Warthog.

The Meta stomped forward fight Rhode, but then a plasma grenade whooshed over his head and he whirled round to see the Reds and Tucker come charging towards him.

"Attack!" Sarge bellowed.

"Get him!" Simmons yelled.

"We're gonna freaking die!" Grif screamed.

The Meta growled in annoyance and ran towards them.

As they charged, the Reds and Tucker took out plasma grenades and threw them out but the Meta pressed a button on his right wrist then slammed his hand into the ground, summoning a huge domed shield around him that blocked the blows. He then leapt out through an opening at the top and fired at Grif and Tucker who quickly rolled out of the way.

Simmons then raised his rocket launcher up and fired at the Meta, "Fire in the hole!"

But the Meta nimbly flipped over the rocket and landed in front of Simmons, slicing his launcher in half with the brute shot blade. Tucker then raised his sword and swung it out but the Meta parried the blow then knocked him aside. Sarge raised his shotgun and fired but the Meta blocked that too.

Then, in a rare act of bravery, Grif pounced onto the Meta's back and grabbed him by the neck, throwing him off-balance, "Whoa! This guy's like a bear!"

The Meta grabbed Grif and threw him off, but as he fell, Grif snatched the brute shot out of his hands, "Yoink!"

Sarge charged forward to tackle him but the Meta punched him to the ground then grabbed him by the leg, swung him round twice and flung him into Grif and Simmons, "Ow!"

Tucker then ran forward and thrust his sword right through the Meta's chest, "Stab!"

As the Meta grappled with Tucker, Rhode ran over to the Warthog where his wounded ex-Freelancer friend lay, "Wash come on, we need help!"

"I can't," Wash groaned. "I'm done..."

"Guys, I can't fight him by myself!" Tucker yelled out.

Wash then grabbed something nearby and held it up to Rhode, "Here... Take this... You know what to do."

Rhode stared at the object for a moment then he nodded, took it from Wash and placed it on his belt.

Still clinging to the sword in the Meta's chest, Tucker threw out a punch but the Meta ducked then knocked Tucker away. As he did, the sword deactivated and fell into the snow.

Then the Meta felt a bullet hit his armor, smashing his visor, and he spun round to see Rhode pointing his sniper rifle at him, "Come at me Maine! Get over here!"

With a growl, the Meta stomped towards Rhode. Rhode stepped closer firing his sniper with each step but the Meta's armor blocked each hit and his visor cracked a bit more.

Grif looked up and stared at the sight, "What's he doing?"

"It looks like he's killing himself," Simmons gasped.

"Oh no!" Sarge exclaimed.

As the Meta drew closer, Rhode fired another round and the top of his visor finally shattered like an egg, the glass falling into the snow. With an angry growl, he pulled off his helmet, revealing his face. He was completely bald with a strange tattoo on the back of his neck, he had an angry grimace on his face and his eyes were cold and lifeless. Rhode fired again, but the Meta ducked the next shot then he knocked the sniper away, grabbed Rhode by the throat, knocked Rhode's helmet off, and began to choke him one-handed.

"Hey Reds!" Rhode gasped, "I need a shotgun! What am I gonna do without a shotgun? Shotgun, dang it!"

"Shotgun?" Grif turned towards the wrecked Warthog then he noticed the long cable snaking along the snow and realization hit, "Come on, Simmons!"

As Rhode felt his life ebbing away, he pulled off the object on his belt and attached it to the Meta's chest plate, "Hey Meta, settle a bet for my red friends, would you?"

He then nodded to his right, "Does that thing kind of look like a big cat to you?"

The Meta looked round and spotted Grif, Sarge, and Simmons pushing the wrecked jeep towards the cliff edge.

"Come on, push Grif!" Sarge grunted.

"I am pushing!" Grif yelled.

Quickly the Meta looked down and realized that Rhode had attached one of the jeep's tow-hooks onto his armor. He noticed Rhode's smirk.

"For Carolina..." He choked out.

Maine tried to grab the hook, but by then it was too late. Simmons, Sarge, and Grif shoved the jeep right over the edge, and just as the cable tightened, Rhode grabbed the capture unit from the Meta's back. As the Meta was thrown off his feet, Rhode fell to the ground and the unit flew up, landing next to Epsilon, Caboose, and Doc.

With a roar of agony, the Meta was dragged along the ground towards the cliff, his arms flailing for something to grab.

As he neared the edge, he caught hold of Grif's leg and dragged him down after him, "Whah!"

"Grif!" Simmons screamed, racing after them.

"Simmons, grab my hand!" Grif yelled, "Help!"

Just as he reached the edge, Simmons dived forward and grabbed Grif's outstretched hand. The sudden stop caused the Meta to lose his grip and he fell with a distraught roar down into the frozen sea and to his death.

"Hold on!" Simmons yelled at Grif, "Don't let go!"

But as Rhode got to his feet, he could see that Grif was starting to slip out of Simmons' grasp, "Uh oh."

Then the inevitable happened.

"Grif!" Simmons screamed as Grif fell.

"SIMMOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOONS!" Grif yelled, disappearing over the edge.

Tucker and Sarge ran up and helped Simmons to his feet.

Simmons stared at the edge in stunned horror, "He's... gone..."

"Yes, Grif is dead," Sarge murmured, "It's a sad day. But he died as he lived, trying to get someone to do his work for him. He will be missed, until we get a replacement, and then forgotten about immediately."

Simmons turned away from the cliff, Freon tears streaking his cyborg face, "I can't believe he's gone..."

Rhode got up and glanced at the edge, "You know, sometimes when somebody falls off a cliff in movies, he's actually just over the edge hanging on a tree branch or something."

"Nope," Sarge sighed, "He's definitely dead."

Simmons looked round in hope, "Maybe we should look, just in case."

"I think looking would get our hopes up," Sarge breathed, leading his teammate away, "And Grif wouldn't like that. Grif would want our expectations to be as low as possible. Let's honor him by not looking. And then have a nice lunch. I'm thinking Monte Cristo sandwich."

"Are you sure? I could just peek right over the edge."

"It sounds like a waste of time."

"It wouldn't even take a second."

"Nope."

"Oh for God's sake, just look over the stupid edge!" Grif's voice rang out, "I can't hold on for much longer!"

At this, Sarge and Simmons ran up to the edge and looked down... to see Grif hanging from his stolen brute shot that he'd stuck right into the ice.

"Grif!" Simmons cried joyfully.

"Dangling on the job again, I see," Sarge scowled, "Dag nabbit, I hate cliffhangers."

"Oh, just pick me up," Grif yelled.

XXX

Meanwhile Epsilon had limped over to the capture unit but Doc was looking very unsure, "Yeah, I don't know. It's in really bad shape, and so are you."

"There's not much time," Epsilon declared, letting off more sparks, "I need you to use it on me."

"Me?" Doc cried, "I can't! I'm a medic! I took an oath!"

"Oh yeah, the first is 'do no harm', right?"

"Well, actually now first is 'lobby against socialist reform.' But second is yeah, that no harm thing."

Epsilon then turned to his friend, "Caboose, here, pick it up."

"I can't, Church," Caboose whispered.

"Yes, you can," Epsilon insisted, "You do this all the time."

Caboose stepped away from the unit, "Yeah, I don't want to."

"Yeah, okay," Epsilon conceded, "Ok, Caboose, I'm sure I can do it on my own."

He then stepped out of his damaged body, letting it slump to the ground.

"But what if you don't come out again?" Caboose cried.

Epsilon placed a reassuring hand onto Caboose, not easy when he's see-through, "Well, you know what Delta always said, right?"

"Memory is the key," Caboose recalled.

"If I don't come back, you're in charge of remembering me, ok?" Epsilon stepped towards the unit then looked back, "Don't let Tucker help; he'll just mess it up. Bye, buddy."

He then knelt down, closed his eyes and placed his hand on the spike sticking out. The unit flashed out so brightly that Doc and Caboose had to cover their eyes and when the light faded, Epsilon was gone.

Just then Sarge came running up, Simmons and Rhode just behind him, "What's going on here?"

"Church went in," Caboose replied, pointing at the humming flashing unit, "He's going to find her."

"That unit looks bad," Simmons knelt down and picked it up carefully, "Let me see what I can do to stabilize it."

"Doc, go check on Wash," Rhode ordered, "I don't know if he's gonna make it."

As Doc ran up to the wounded Freelancer, Simmons suddenly let out a gasp, "Oh no!"

"What?" Caboose cried, "What?"

"It's only going to be open for a few more seconds," Simmons replied, "After that, he'll be trapped."

"Come on, Church," Caboose yelled, "You can do it. Can you hear me? Run towards my voice!"

But the humming started to fade and the light dimmed.

"It's shutting down!" Simmons cried, "I can't stop it!"

"Church, are you there?" Caboose screamed.

But then the humming stopped and the light shut down.

Simmons bowed his head sadly and sighed, "Caboose... I'm sorry..."

Caboose fell to his knees in shock, "Church?"

Tucker and Grif ran up at this point, questioning looks on their faces. But when they saw Caboose burst into tears, they knew immediately and they, Sarge, Rhode, and Simmons bowed their heads in commiseration...

XXX

Five hours later

The members of the UNSC Investigation Division scoured the field and the nearby base for all sorts of clues as to what had happened. They had heard news from the Oversight Sub-committee Chairman that something was going on at Sidewinder. When they arrived, they found two factions of simulation troopers; one Red and one Blue.

So while the others gathered Tex's body and the remains of the battle, the leader of the group interrogated the two teams, "And where the heck did the Pelican in the water come from?"

"Hmm, I don't know," Tucker lied, "I guess the Meta must have hijacked it and crashed it here. That makes sense, right?"

"Man, the Chairman is going to be mad," the leader sighed, "The budget only allows for one crashed Pelican per mission... All right, well I guess you guys check out. You can head back to your training bases now."

"We just call them bases," Sarge corrected.

"Hmph, I bet," the leader snorted.

"Hey, we solved your problem," Grif pointed out, "Not bad for 'Trainees.'"

"I gotta hand it to you," the leader admitted, "Killing one of these agents would be tough, but three, even with one helping you? And this guy..."

He turned to look at a grey-and-yellow armored body lying motionless in the snow, "The Chairman will not be happy he's dead. I think he wanted to debrief him personally. Oh well."

"Yeah," Tucker sighed.

"Yeah, that's too bad," Caboose agreed.

"It is," Rhode said.

"Well, be sure to let him know we're sorry," a cobalt-blue armored Spartan added.

"Whatever," the leader muttered, "You're free to go. If we need you, we know where to find you." Then he went off to join his team.

The Reds and Blues watched him go then the cobalt Spartan reached up and pulled the blue duct tape off his shoulders - revealing yellow shoulder pads, "Why are you guys helping me?"

"You helped us, Wash," Caboose replied as he, Tucker and Grif tossed away the three spray-paint cans they'd hidden behind their backs, "It only makes sense."

"Yeah, plus we need to even the teams," Rhode added, "And I couldn't put up with Caboose constantly asking 'can we keep him? Can we keep him?'"

Washington smiled as he took off the tape on his helmet, exposing its yellow stripe, "For whatever it's worth... Thanks."

With that, the Blues set off across the snowy field.

Grif watched them leave then turned to his leader, "Well, looks like Blue Team has a new recruit, Sarge."

"He doesn't look so tough to me," Simmons muttered.

"Maybe this one can shoot," Sarge agreed, "Come on, fellas. Let's go home."

"Uh, the jeep's busted, Sarge," Grif pointed out, "Are we walking?"

"That depends..." Sarge looked over to where a Hornet-Class airship was landing, "You fellas gotten over your fear of flying yet?"

Simmons saw what he meant and nodded, "Yes Sir."

As the soldiers left to join his team, the Reds immediately jumped aboard and Grif leapt into the driver's seat and took off, "Yoink!"

"Hey!" the pilot yelled, running after them, "You can't take that! That's UNSC property! Get back here! Hey come on, I'll lose my job!"

Simmons glanced out the window nervously, "I hope this doesn't go on our permanent record!"

Meanwhile the leader made his way over to where a soldier was kneeling by a greenish unit.

"Hey, chief, what do you want me to do with this thing?" he called out, "I can't get anything out of it; it's dead as a doornail."

"I don't care," the leader dismissed, "Toss it in evidence. It's all a bunch of junk now, anyway."

The soldier nodded and placed the unit into a nearby crate then he turned his attention on a purple medic who was asking for a lift back to Command.

But inside the unit, Epsilon was still searching for Tex.

I'd like to say that I found her right away, that I just walked into the Epsilon unit and there she was, waiting for me. As you can probably guess, it didn't happen that way, but I know she's in here somewhere, and I'll find her. We always seem to find each other, for better or for worse.

As he searched, he could see memories drifting past him, memories of the Reds and Blues, memories of Washington, memories of Rhode, memories of the other AIs and very faint memories of the Director. As he looked at them, he stopped as an idea came to his mind.

I don't know why the Director did what he did. I don't know if he was trying to revive a memory from his past, or if he was trying to get it out of his head. But I figured out something that the Director didn't. It took Alpha, Delta and all the rest to help me piece it together for me, but what I've learned, is that a great love is a lot like a good memory. When it's there and you know it's there, but it's just outta your reach, it can be all you think about. You can focus on it and try to force it, but the more you do, the more you seem to push it away. But if you're patient, and you hold still, then maybe... just maybe, it'll come to you.

He then closed his eyes and focused his attention on one of the memories.

I just need to make sure I'm somewhere she can find me...

After a while, he opened his eyes... and found himself standing outside a base in the middle of a small box canyon. He looked round for a while and then it came back to him: he was standing outside the Blue Base in the canyon known as Blood Gulch.

I think this place is a little different than it was before. See, out there, everything is based on the Alpha, but in here, I guess I'm the Alpha. And maybe this time through, things'll be a little different for me as well. I guess I'll find out.

"Hey Church!"

Epsilon whirled round to see his teammates running out of the Base towards the cliffs.

"Church, come on," Tucker called out, "I think the Reds just got a new vehicle! Let's go check it out!"

"They only got a jeep!" Caboose agreed, following his teammate, "We got a tank! That's way better!"

With a smile, Epsilon - 'No, I'm Church now,' he decided to himself - set off after his team, "Ok, I'll be right there!"

And I mean, come on, if you have to live the rest of your life in a memory... You might as well make it a good one.

XXX

And that's a way to end a season! Now to work on the Season 9-10 book! Till next time guys!