Author's Note: So, final chapter of "Tale of Two Cs." We'll see how it goes.
Disclaimer: Red vs Blue does not belong to me, it belongs to Rooster Teeth.
Another Adventure
"It's you!" both Carrie and Caboose gasp.
Now revealed from the memory unit, there stood Delta whom replied "Hello, Caboose, Iota.
"Carrie," she quietly mutters.
"It seems fitting to say that it is good to see you again. Although, technically, that is untrue…"
"Delta!" Caboose cried joyfully, "I thought you were gone! I thought you were erased at the… eh… electronic thing whose name some people have trouble remembering."
"Electromagnetic Pulse," Carrie corrects.
"Yeah that, thank you Carrie," Caboose replies, Carrie smiles back.
Delta the corrects them "Actually, this is not Delta. We simply thought that you would be most comfortable speaking to Delta."
"We?" they both ask.
"Well, you Iota," Delta explains, "Yes. Epsilon strongly remembers all the other AI in fragments. When Alpha went insane, Epsilon carried the burden of those memories. We can appear as anyone, in this case, Delta, whom, from Caboose's stories, was a trusted source of information for you. Therefore, we felt it best that we take his likeness for this conversation."
"Yeah but…." Caboose motions at Carrie, "She wasn't exactly in that part."
Delta responds "We know, but we also felt that it would still be easier if we had your messenger take the form of Delta in comparison to say…..Omega."
"That's a very good point," Caboose comments.
"We thought you would say that," Delta replies thoughtfully.
"So you can… appear as anyone?" Caboose asks. Carrie, slightly confused, glances at him.
"Where's he going with this?" Carrie murmurs to herself.
Delta nods "Theoretically, yes. Anyone in our memory banks."
"What about a chair?" Caboose asks innocently.
"Oh, that's where," Carrie mumbles to herself, again.
Delta replies " If you felt that was fitting, the holographic technology in this room allows us to project ourselves in any matter. It is surprisingly advanced."
Caboose nods, then he asks "How about a giraffe?"
"That would be an interesting way to deliver a message," Carrie snickers.
Delta, now looking slightly annoyed says "Look. Let's just say we can look like many different things and just leave it at that. Okay?"
"Okay," they both reply.
"We regret that we will not be able to appear to you or communicate with you outside this room, so you must listen carefully. …" Delta then turns to Caboose and asks "Caboose, did you understand what—"
Carrie giggles while Caboose gives a monotone reply, "I'm listening carefully."
Delta looks a little worried, but Carie reassures him "Don't worry, I'm recording your message just in case he forgets." She gives the green hologram a wink, "I gotcha covered."
Delta nods, "All right, to put it simply, we need the two of you to find a way to help us. Washington said that when Epsilon was recovered, that our memories could be used to punish people who tortured Alpha." Caboose worriedly looks over to Carrie, Carrie waves him off telling him she's fine. Though Caboose didn't seem convinced, he did respect his new found sibling's privacy, he figured that Carrie would tell him when she was ready.
Carrie then turns to Delta and with a serious look, she asks "What do you need us to do?"
Delta then warns "Washington will not trust us, and our new recent attempts to build a new body are not working."
"It exploded," Carrie murmured with a goofy smile.
"And we had a fire," Caboose adds in a similar tone with a just as goofy smile, both of them let out an awkward laugh as they recalled their recent failure.
Delta continued on "We remember. Your friend from Red Team described a location nearby with a strange energy source."
"Oh, that's where Tucker is," Caboose comments.
Delta pauses for a moment, he then looks at Caboose and comments "We don't have many memories of him."
Caboose sheepishly nods "Yeah, I never really liked him so… I leave him out of most of the stories."
Delta then explains "The Freelancer Project found sources of intense energy, so a scenario team was sent to investigate the area, but they left without doing anything."
"Wow, they sounds dumb," Caboose snickers.
"You said it, what a waste of military resources, Big Brother is never that wasteful," Carrie scoffs.
"Yep!" Caboose says proudly "I always recycle."
"Indeed," Delta nods, not sure who he was agreeing to, "This place sounds like the location of the energy source. You should go there and investigate. We can explain more when the opportunity arises."
Carrie nods "Alright, we'll do it." Carrie turns to her brother and asks, or more like she states "Right Caboose?"
Caboose lowers his head and grumbles "Okay, we can help you. Even though it means we have to help Tucker too."
"Thank-you, both of you. We have to go now. Someone is coming. Remember: memory is the key," Delta then vanishes back into the Epsilon unit.
Caboose cocks his head and cries out " What? I thought we were done with that part."
Rowe comes running in and cries "What are you two doing?!" She was closely followed by Sarge with Grif and Simmons hot on his heels with Donut in the back.
Sarge shouts "A-hah! Somebody is down here!"
Simmons grumbles "See, I told you it wasn't me who moved your favorite crate."
Sarge turns to Simmons retorts "All right, Simmons, I said I believed you. So just drop it already!"
When Sarge looks away, Simmons mumbles under his breath "I don't know why you like that stupid thing so much anyway…"
The two look up at the reds as Sarge shouts "Hey, Blues! What do you think yer doin down here? You better not have messed up any of my stuff!"
"Caboose, Carrie," Rowe calls out, "What are you two doing down here?"
Carrie freezes while Caboose shouts back "Nothing. We were just, um, we were just looking around. We need to leave anyways. I have to pack."
"Leave?" laughs Grif, he turns to Sarge, "Problem averted, back to—wait." Grif looks back at Caboose and in surprise asks "You're leaving leaving?"
"Leaving where?" Rowe asks looking serious.
"We're going to find Tucker!" Carrie replies.
"The guy in the desert?" Donut asks, "Awesome!"
Grif then cries out "But then there won't be any more Blues here. Which means they'll probably send—"
Carrie then cuts in saying "Actually we're going to go find Tucker and bring him back, that way there will be more Blues for you to fight."
Rowe facepalms while Grif sighs "Why don't I have confidence in this mission?"
Rowe smirks "You better have faith, I'm going with him."
All the Reds looks at her in surprise and they ask "Why?"
Rowe replies "Look at them, he's not going to make it on his own, even with Carrie looking after him, there's just too much that could go wrong."
Caboose laughs, "Thanks for the offer Doctor Rowe, but I believe we will be fine. Yeah, it sounds super dangerous but I'm sure we can manage. I've done dangerous stuff before and I've always come out fine, both physically and…" Caboose just stops for a few seconds, he literally just stops. Carrie nervously shifts her eyes between the Reds while they share concerned glances.
"Caboose?" Rowe asks.
"Mentally!" Caboose joyfully cries out of nowhere causing everyone to jump.
Grif shakes his head and says "Yeah, this is not going to work. Hey, Sarge? Permission to go with Rowe on the Blues' stupid mission?"
"What?" Sarge asks in a confused tone.
"What?" Simmons asks in a similar tone.
Grif then reasons " Don't you see? If he dies on this mission – and let's be honest, when he dies on his mission – that means they won't be back in Command's records yet."
Sarge comments "Well, that's not good."
Grif then adds "But if I help him pull this off, then Command might notice them and put 'em back in."
"Excellent point, Grif!" Sarge muses.
Simmons looks on in disbelief and says "No. It isn't."
Sarge replies nonchalantly "Permission granted." Everyone just stopped at that moment and they all stared at Sarge with wide eyes.
Grif, completely puzzled by the unusual response asks "Um… you've never, actually said that to me before. That means "yes," right?"
Sarge nods as if nothing is wrong "Yes."
Grif nervously nods "Okay, just checking."
"And I'm coming with you!" Sarge announced. It was now Sarge's turn for everyone to be surprised at him.
"What?" Grif asks.
"What?" Simmons asks again,
"Looks like I'm going to be drinking today," Rowe mutters as she glances at the flask in her hand.
Sarge turns to Simmons and asks "Simmons, how about you? You in?"
Simmons rolls his eyes and sarcastically says " I think I'll stay at the base and provide logistical support, sir."
Sarge cheerfully nods "Sounds good. Let's get a move on! We'll either restore the Blues or we'll fail and I get to watch you die! It's a no-lose!"
"Sounds perfect!" Caboose nods.
"How soon can we leave?" Carrie asks.
"Tomorrow," Rowe rpelies, "I'm still waiting for a word from Lockett."
Grif cries out " Wait! You mean Simmons will get to hang out at the base while I go out on a dangerous mission?"
Simmons laughs triumphantly " That's right. Enjoy the limelight, Private Kiss-Ass. I'll just be hanging out here with Donut until you get back." Simmons lets out a fake yawn and says tauntingly "I think it's time for a nap." Rowe holds out her flask towards Grif.
Grif grabs it and he asks "What is this whiskey?"
Rowe replies glumly "Vat 69, only the best for Mrs. Rowe's baby girl."
Grif smirks "Well you know what they say," Grif takes a swig from the flask, "It's a sin to waste good alcohol."
Right as Sarge leaves with Caboose, Donut starts getting excited "Oh man, this is going to be great. It'll be like a sleepover! And we can decorate. How awesome is this gonna be? I'll go get my wallpaper book, Simmons, you be thinking about paint colors! " Donut then runs out after Sarge.
"So, an ordinary day huh Simmons?" Grif asks with a smartass attitude.
Simmons groans "Aw man, I think I'm regretting this already."
Linebreak
The guard walks out from the door and says, "Lieutenant? The Chairman will see you now."
Lockett nods and says "Thank you." He then proceeds into the office. Lockett proceed to walk in and stand at attention.
The Chairman glanced behind him, "Oh, Leftenant Lockett."
"Sir," Lockett saluted.
"At ease," the Chairman walks over to his cabinet, he looks over at Lockett and saw him still standing, "Well, go ahead, take a seat." Lockett nods and proceed to take a seat in one of the chairs in front of the desk.
"You have quite the exemplary military career Leftenant," the Chairman commented as he grabbed two glasses and poured scotch into them.
"Sir?" Lockett asks, slightly confused about the topic.
Chairman hands him a glass, walks back to his desk and continues "You were promoted from an enlisted to an officer quicker than almost anyone I have ever seen and if it weren't for the event that got you courtmashereld and results in your loss of rank and your transfer, I would say you are one of the finest soldiers I have had the pleasure to meet."
A handful of those promotions were circumstantial, he thought. Lockett glances downward slightly, but he looks back and says "Thank you sir."
"Now, I believe you wanted to see me?" Chairman asks.
"Yes," Lockett snaps to as he remembers why he came, "Sir, the simulation soldiers in Valhalla received a message from an unknown source. It said "It's in the sand." Normally I would have passed it off sir, but it was who sent that message that has me concerned."
Something seemed to spark in the Chairman's eyes, he asks now slightly serious "Who sent the message?"
"Lavernius Tucker," Lockett replies, the Chairman backs up and walks to his filing cabinet. "Sir, I was hoping-"
"You were hoping I could tell you about his where abouts," the Chairman finished.
"That's right sir," Lockett answers.
The Chairman pulls out two files and walks over to Lockett and hands them to him, "A few moments ago, there was an archaeological excavation that was funded by the now defunct Project Freelancer. They were searching for Forerunner artifacts in an old temple they found buried in the middle of a desert. The overseers of the excavation were Lavernius Tucker, and Katie Fergo. Two former associates of yours if I am not mistaken."
"Do you know if anything happened to them?" Lockett asks now worried.
"After the UNSC took back the Freelancer assets, they immediately tried to regain contact with the excavation site," the Chairman explained. Lockett closes the files and places them onto the desk. "The last transmission was made by your friend, requesting help and that they found something, after that it was nothing. We tried to send transports, but it's sandstorm season at this time of the year in that area making air extraction unviable. The only way we could reach them is by land."
"Did you send anymore?" Lockett asks now even more concerned.
"We lost contact with the recovery team we sent a week ago," the Chairman replies darkly, "According to their last transmission, they had just arrived at the site, after that silence."
"We suspect there may be insurrectionist activity involved and since you knew the overseers personally," the Chairman pauses, "I was thinking that you would want to take this mission personally."
Lockett ponders for a moment, he then stand up and asks "When can I start?"
The End
Author's Note: There it is, the ending to "Tale of Two C's." Now I can get back to work on the other story. I hope you liked this story as a whole, I hope you liked this chapter. I'll see you all soon, thanks for reading and remember, Big Brother is Watching.
