A Red vs. Blue Fanfiction Story:
"I against I and Me against You"
Episode III: Meet Mission Disaster
In the end, Carolina had managed to get drunk, if the marginal headache that plagued her was any indication. The sad part is, she remembered what happened last night. It was hardly anything embarrassing, aside from stripping as she entered Blue Base and threw her clothes aside before getting into bed. Tucker had made a snide comment about her sleeping in the nude the best thing he's heard or seen since he got to Blood Gulch.
Naturally, she made him pay the viewing fee with a sucker punch to the gonads. It also doubled as a warning not to peek on her. Church was laughing at his expense.
After suiting up, Florida had come to find her and led her out of the base, heading into a cave system. "Where's all this lead?" she asked curiously, holding her assault rifle in hand in case something happened.
"An old catacomb system." her comrade answered her. "Before Blood Gulch was to be made a testing ground facility for Project Freelancer, it was an outpost during the Covenant War. During bombardments, the soldiers stationed here would take refuge in the catacombs. Some had taken to holding themselves up here and running technical support. When the fighting moved away, though, and the soldiers reposted elsewhere, they left behind their equipment. Good thing, too."
He jumped over a small chasm with ease. Carolina followed after him, sliding down a nearby slope. The system looked pretty old, but fairly stable. There were light posts set to guide anyone who got lost, along with a mess of cables snaking about the ground. She damn near tripped on one of them. Eventually, though, stone became replaced with metal plating. Florida led her down what seemed like a corridor, showing her a command room of some sort. At the far end of the room was a giant console, screens lit up with different pictures of the Red and Blue bases.
"Carol," Florida waved his hand in a grandoise manner. "May I introduce Blood Gulch's mission control, VIC."
"VIC?"
"Virtual Intelligence Computer." he explained. "It's not an advanced AI like the Alpha was, but it helps keep up the illusion that the Red and Blue Army are at each other's throats. Its primary directive is to ensure that Church never discovers the truth. In the event the simulation ends, VIC has priorities to schedule a transfer and send him to another location."
She tensed. "Where?"
"Unfortunately, that's up to the Director." Florida said regretfully. "Of course, I'm trying to make sure that doesn't happen and keep this war going as long as possible."
"I take it it's other directive is to ensure the war keeps going?"
He nodded. "That's right, Lieutenant." he said cheerfully. "In the event that a soldier is killed, they'll be replaced by a Freelancer agent." He leaned over and tapped a few keys. Surveillance on both teams was promptly put on halt, the feeds cut off. Instead, the monitors showed off a list of names, each very familiar. "They're not aware what the Director is like, but most of them are trustworthy."
"...you put Wash's name on the list." Carolina remarked blandly, staring at him flatly. "No offense, but isn't he still a rookie?"
"And clearly, you haven't been keeping up with your old friends."
Carolina gritted her teeth. While she wouldn't deny that, she still hated the fact that she was unable to get into contact with anyone. For years, she had put up the idea and illusion that she was dead. It would be troublesome if the Director knew she was still alive. The only reason she was even here was because Florida had somehow managed to track her down and covertly asked for her help. He was the only person she was able to catch up with, after all this time. But as for the others… York…
"...you know why I haven't been able to keep up, Butch."
"Right, sorry." Florida had the decency to look ashamed as he rubbed the back of his neck. "But, to clarify, Wash has been doing better. He's been recently made as a Recovery Agent. Unfortunately, he's been partnered with South."
Ooh, ouch. My sympathies, Wash. Carolina secretly prayed for his health. South wasn't a bad person, per say, but she could be difficult. It was why most of the time, she was partnered with her brother North. He had been the one most capable to handle her. The fact that poor Washington of all people being forced to work with her was enough to make anyone in Project Freelancer pray for him.
"Hope he hasn't killed himself yet." Carolina said dryly. "Or gotten himself killed. Either, or." She looked at the list again and frowned. "Really? You have Wyoming here on this list too?"
"He's good for some things." the blue-armored Freelancer replied. "At any rate, we should head back. Need to make sure the boys haven't killed themselves." He turned to leave, but he found himself tripping over one of the cables, accidentally pulling it from the consoles. "Oh, darn it!"
The red head smirked. "Should've cleaned up, Florida." she teased as she turned her back to the console, just as the screens glitched out and warped before settling back down again.
"Hey, now! Didn't I tell you to call me Cappy?"
"Flowers, it will be a cold day in hell before I call you that."
Project Freelancer, Mother of Invention – Many Years Ago
"Check again!"
"I did. Five times already. Look, obviously you're memory is scrambled from when you got tossed into the Mother of Invention."
"No, it ain't! I keep telling you, there's a chick named Agent Texas! Now, check again!"
Carolina sighed in annoyance, pinching the bridge of her nose. She felt a headache crawling up the back of her neck. She wasn't entirely sure why she was doing this. The AI was clearly not stable, maybe suffering from rampancy. It claimed it was apparently from the future of all things, and that it was a soldier named Leonard L. Church, originally stationed at Blood Gulch under Captain Butch Flowers alongside two other soldiers named Lavernius Tucker and Michael J. Caboose.
She ignored the middle part of that explanation, considering who else shared the name Leonard Church.
Continuing on, the AI said that it was facing off against the Reds until it was accidentally killed by Caboose while he was piloting a tank. Then it came back as a ghost to try and dissuade them from hiring another Freelancer agent named Texas from getting involved.
She would go on, but honestly, the story sounded quite far-fetched. Time travel aside, there were several facts that she doubted were real. York was still alive, for one. They didn't have AIs partnered with them, and Washington wasn't fucked up as it claimed he was. And she didn't know anything about some Freelancer killing individual called the Meta. His description matched Maine, but while he was a man of few words, he wasn't mute. And nor was he crazy or fucked up in the head. He was violent, yes, but to him, all of Project Freelancer was family. Comrades who worked together for a common goal. And that was a trust he would not break.
"Face it, Leonard." Carolina drawled out his name, saying it in a way that obviously ruffled its feathers. "You're wrong. There's no Freelancer named Tex here. There is no Meta. And Wash isn't crazy."
"And I keep telling you, you're wrong!" the AI snapped back, folding its arms. "Okay, look here, red-head. We can keep dancing in circles like this all day, but I know for a god damn fact that what happened, or what is about to happen, will fucking happen."
"And how are you so sure?"
"Because you Freelancer dipshits always find a way to fuck everything up!"
Carolina scowled, finding its words insulting. She was not about to listen to some faulty program make fun of her and her comrades, much less everything they had been working for all this time. "Look here, you little-"
[Agent Carolina.] F.I.L.S.S broke into her intercomm. [The Director requests you at the Deck for a new Mission Briefing.]
Already? Carolina thought. It hadn't even been 24 hours since she returned from her latest assignment. Regardless, she didn't want to keep the Director waiting. She looked at the door, about to take her leave before she looked at the AI and glared at it. "I'm putting you back to sleep." she said coldly. "We're finishing this when I get back. And when we do, I am handing you over to the Director."
"What?!" the AI cried, form flaring in anger. "You motherf-!" That was as far as he got before she forced him to go offline. Rubbing her temples, Carolina wondered why in the hell she hadn't done this before. It would have saved her the headache. Why was she even humoring this thing anyway? It would be easier just to hand it over and defrag it and learn everything there was to know about it that way.
Deep down, though, she knew the reason why. What it had said when it found its way into her cabin. Calling out a name that she had engraved forever into her mind.
Just how in the hell does an AI know my mother?
One way or another...she was getting answers.
Blood Gulch – Present Day
Just like before when it came time for curfew, Carolina found herself unable to sleep. And apparently, neither could Church, as she found him sitting on the roof of the base, legs dangling over the edge.
"Private?" she called behind him, approaching while trying to keep her composure. She had to remember. As far as he was aware, this was their first actual meeting. "What're you doing up?"
"Couldn't sleep. Same as you, probably." Church told her. "To be honest, it's hard to sleep when your roommate listens to poor all fucking night. Or day. Or whatever the hell passes for nighttime here in this box canyon."
Carolina grimaced. She had heard how bad Tucker's perversity was, but...was it really that bad? Well, then again, he did confess to catching her naked, so maybe. Sucking a breath and trying to calm herself down, lest she panic and blow her cover, she took a seat next to him. "He does seem like an idiot."
"You have no idea!" Church threw his hands up. "I mean, when he found out our CO's second-in-command is a girl, that being you, he hasn't shut up about it since yesterday! Keeps fucking bragging about it. I'm telling you, it is getting on my nerves."
Carolina smirked underneath her helmet. If you think Tucker is annoying, just wait until you meet Caboose. She thought mischievously. She had to admit, she wanted to see for herself what kind of kid this Caboose was. From what he had told her, he practically worshiped the ground on which Church walked on, but he knew his way around electronics. And for some reason, he was in love with a tank installed with a smart AI named Sheila.
"I can only imagine. So, tell me, Private. What were you doing before you ended up here in Blood Gulch?"
Church shrugged. "Eh, nothing fancy. I used to be stationed at Sidewinder with my partner, Jimmy. But, then my ex came in and..." He sighed, rubbing the back of his neck. "It's a long story." She would have asked for more, but she didn't press it. After all, she had already heard this story before. Or, at least, the story that Church believed. She wished she could tell him the truth, but...she had to remember.
The Alpha AI next to her...was not the Church she had bonded with over the course of her career before everything went spiraling out of control.
"How about you, Lieutenant Mackenzie? What did you do before getting stuck here?"
"Call me Carol." she insisted. "And I used to be in special forces. To make a long story short, a good friend of mine died and I… I needed to some time off. I left my squad and Flowers offered me a chance to blow off some steam."
"By...coming here? To the rat's ass end of nowhere?"
She laughed lightly. "C'mon, it can't be that bad."
"Tell you what, Carol. You stay in a room with Tucker for a week. Then you can tell me you won't hate this place."
Even if she did, Carolina doubted she would come to hate this place. And even if she did come to hate it, it would only be because she failed. Just as Tex had been designed to do. Carolina had to remind herself: she was not Texas. She was not meant to fail. She was a former Freelancer Agent. The Number 1. The best of the best. She was going to do whatever it took to protect him.
She wasn't going to let him say goodbye. Not this time.
Tucker: Whoa, shit! Double update! And talk about some heavy shit, too.
Sarge: This is an outrage! Why is it that I wasn't mentioned at all in this chapter?! Simmons and Griff for God's sake got more screentime than me!
Church: Oh, quit your bitchin' Sarge. Like anybody cares.
Sarge: You'll be caring, Blue, once you get a taste of my Red Team Kick Ass Shotgun Strategy!
Simmons: While everyone else is arguing, here's what I wanna know…
Griff: What's that?
Simmons: When does the canon events start?