Chapter XXI
The Tex clone had been interrogated and decided to join the Master Chief upon her release. Phase Four had extended for a week after the encounter as Master Chief, Commander Schreiber and Tex planned their next move . . .
During the final week of Phase Four, Red Command had extracted the Blue Lieutenant and had taken him in for interrogation. Tex had gone about socializing with the members of Red Squad while helping Master Chief determine the location of Tucker and Church.
"Why do you need to find them so badly?" It was the final day of Phase Four and Tex was tired of sitting around doing nothing.
"They were the last two people to encounter O'Malley that I have not been able to locate. Doc, Caboose and Andy are already members of our team and everything they knew about O'Malley was already passed on to me. However, Andy was rarely around O'Malley, Caboose was . . . well, you know, being himself, and Doc already divulged O'Malley's secret plans and base locations, which you explained are now obsolete. Tucker and Church might know some more information."
"Yeah, I bet they know a ton of information." You could cut the sarcasm with one of Ryan's forearm blades.
"We still should make an effort to find them. You don't think O'Malley would send clones after them, do you?"
"I don't see why he would. The only reason he sent me after you was to steal your information on the Flag."
The Chief stood from the chair he was sitting in and paced the floor.
"We did discover that they were here, and that they moved west, but Red Command lost track of them. Have any ideas as to where they might be headed to? You have all of the original Tex's memories, so you would know how Church behaved and anything he told Tex."
"I wish I could help you on this one, Chief, but Church has never left that godforsaken canyon of his own free will, except for when O'Malley escaped. I could see why he and Tucker would leave the place since you guys were going to kill them, and I could see why they would come here, since this place has been abandoned for a while. As to where they went next, I have no clue."
"They received a transmission and headed west. The Office of Red Intelligence has monitored all Blue transmissions surrounding those two, but they never reported any orders telling them to move anywhere, so Blue Command is out of the picture."
The Chief sat down at the table again and looked at the map he had been given. They were on the west coast of the continent and the only thing out there was hundreds of miles of water until the next continent. No hostile air travel had been reported, so they hadn't escaped across the planet. Then the Chief realized something.
"Tex, are you sure O'Malley abandoned all of his old bases?"
"Not all of them. You know how hard it is to come by abandoned fortresses these days? It's even harder to build them. He kept a few of the less obvious ones."
"Was one of his bases on an island?"
"Yeah, there was an island base. He called it Relic because it was one of the oldest structures on the planet. Blue Army architecture is actually quite nice, especially when-"
"What was it used for?"
"At first, it was his primary base where he built all sorts of doomsday weapons, but after a while, he started to use the giant repulsor lift to transport supplies into space where he began making a space station."
Master Chief sat back in his chair.
"My guess is that O'Malley is the one who called Tucker and Church," said the Chief. "They got the call and went to check it out. It's strange that ORI never recorded their flight, though."
"That's because there probably wasn't one. Relic is guarded by several Air Defense turrets so if they flew to the island, they would have been shot down."
"Wouldn't O'Malley just power them down to let them in?"
"The turrets are kept alive by energy siphoned from the solar particles that are collected by the repulsor lift. They can't be turned off; only destroyed. And they target any aircraft that enters the firing range."
"Why?"
"O'Malley gets around by using a teleportation grid that he has established. There's an old, burned down warehouse along the coast that he fixed up. It takes him to his main bases; Relic, Lockout, Containment and Colossus."
"Do you know where the warehouse is?"
"I think I could find it."
"Good. Get everyone in here; we need to have a final meeting."
"Alright, but I'm not your errand girl, Master Chief, remember that."
Tex walked out of the main level of the abandoned building. The dirt floor was surprisingly level and made for an excellent base to put tables and chairs on. There was a door that led to a staircase and a ramp that was large enough for a ghost to drive up. The highest level opened out onto a walkway that was unfinished. There was a support beam that hung precariously from an old crane near it and a section of road was suspended in the air behind that. The building had made for an excellent briefing room, but its usefulness was coming to a close. The Chief looked around and saw Andy lying in a corner.
"What are you doing there, Andy?"
"I'm thinkin, Chief. I'm thinkin about what I should do with this thing I have here."
Andy's casing slid open to reveal a strange cylinder-shaped device. There was padding where a person would hold onto it . . .
"Look Andy, I know you don't like Tex, but if you give her that so she can-"
"Whoa, Chief, take it easy. This isn't a personal device for our newest member. I was thinkin about givin it to Lock-jaw."
"Why? What is it?"
"It's the key I told you about."
"The one that can be used like a sword?"
"Yeah, that's the one."
"You should give it to him. You two are friends, he'd love it."
"The problem is that I don't know what he'll do. I mean, he might try to go and start up that quest again. And you know what happened the last time anybody tried to go on a quest."
"Yes; CrunchBite died, Tex was captured, Tucker ran away like a little girl and Caboose carried you away not having a clue as to what was happening. I still want to check out that place. It's one of O'Malley's Fortresses and the Zealots said they found something there."
"Hey, it's your call. If you think I should give Lock-jaw the key, I will."
"He can't just carry you around with nothing to do all the time."
"I guess. Here, you give it to him, but do not turn it on. I cannot stress enough how important that is."
The Chief held the hilt of the sword-key in his hand. The activation button seemed a little out of reach for his thumb, but for Lock-jaw it would be easy to ignite the blade. The Chief put the sword-key on a clip on his belt.
"Thanks Andy."
"No problem."
Just then, everybody started to enter the base. Tex was the last one in, making sure she got everyone.
"Everyone, I have some sad news. We're going to have to cut our get-together short. Operation: Red Rage is proceeding to Phase Five."
"Which is?" Grif asked.
"Phase Five was intended to locate O'Malley, but since Tucker and Church are still at large, they are the primary targets. We're also going to find out where O'Malley's bases are, which may give us a clue as to where the Blues and Sarge are. We start by locating a burned down warehouse. There are several that we know of thanks to Commander Schreiber, so those will be our first stops. Any questions? No? Good. Red Squad, listen up! I want you all ready to go in five minutes. Doc, you have ten. Make sure that gear is packed up tight."
With that, Red Squad said their goodbyes to Commander Schreiber's team and left to go pack for the trip. Master Chief walked up to Ryan,
"You're welcome to come with us, Ryan."
"Thanks, but no thanks Chief. I'm gonna hang around these clowns for a while. They need my help more than you do."
The Chief nodded and extended his hand. Ryan held out his finger and the Chief shook it. He turned to Schreiber.
"I guess this is so long for now."
"I guess so. We'll be keeping a close eye on you, Chief. Don't get into too much trouble."
"I'll do my best."
Schreiber patted the Chief on the shoulder and went to go prepare his Special Forces team for their next assignment. Master Chief walked outside. His squad had already assembled near two of the transport hogs and was making final checks on their gear. Lock-jaw appeared at the Chief's side.
"Lock-jaw, Andy wanted me to give this to you."
The Chief pulled the sword-key from its clip and handed it to Lock-jaw. The alien's eyes grew wide and he took it and examined it. Satisfied that it wasn't locked to the Chief or anyone else, he puffed his chest out and roared. The sword-key's blade came to life in his hand and Lock-jaw inspected it. He deactivated it and slung it on his own armor, then made a face at the Chief that he could only guess was a smile. The two made for the transport vehicles and were soon on their way. Phase Five had started.
O'Malley walked through his cloning facility. Large containers filled with light blue, highly flammable nutrients were being processed by the facility's computers. The substance, dubbed O'Mallior, was proficient in growing his clones at hyper accelerated rates, but if it came into contact with oxygen, it would explode with tremendous force. It was a risk he was willing to take.
The red armored host body stopped in front of one pod in particular. It contained the original Tex. She was completely conscious and aware of what was happening to her, but could do nothing about it. O'Malley realized that, after each sample of DNA he took from Tex, her health condition would decline at an alarming rate. To counteract this side effect, O'Malley had literally plugged hundreds of life-support devices into her back and head. Tubes had been forced down her throat and into her stomach to pump O'Mallior into her system to keep her alive. She would never be able to live without them, as her body had become dependant on the machines. Every day, Tex wished for death, but every day, her life was prolonged by some advancement in the machines. O'Malley would make sure that his unwilling cell donor would remain alive until he had his own body and every other living soul was wiped from the face of the earth.
O'Malley smiled through Sarge's mouth and moved to the pod next to Tex. While the bounty hunter looked terrifying and disgusting with all of the mechanical protrusions that jutted from her spinal column, the creature in the pod next to her would be the stuff of legend as far as terror went. Inside floated another body. It was also hooked up to life support systems, but not permanently. This body was the result of the combination from several different DNA samples taken from the smartest and strongest the Red and Blue armies had to offer. O'Malley made a mental note to thank Doc for his access to medical files and blood samples of every soldier in both armies. There were a few pieces for his biological puzzle that needed to be put in place, but he would have them. When he did, he would no longer require a host body. He would have his own.
To Be Continued