Disclaimer: You know the drill; I don't own any of this.
O'Malley was afraid for the first time since he had escaped the Spartan Academy. His host body, Tex had been unco-operative at first, but over time he had quenched any last flame of resistance against his will. But now, as he fought inside her body for control, he finally realised how far she would go to get rid of him. He looked at his options. He couldn't escape. Tex was a good body and it would take too long to break another's spirit, anyway an adjustment that had been made to his programming recently did not allow him to leave a host body until it was dead. He didn't know how the programming had been added, but he suspected that Masterchief had something to do with it, and that when this mission was over, there would be a few other options in store. The programming also made it impossible for him to inhabit another human body. Definitely Masterchief's work. So his only option was to escape with Tex's body in tow. But before he could do that he would have to retake control of her body, of his host.
"You want me to kill you, Tex?" Church was frightened. This was not the same Tex he had known before. She had never been afraid.
"Church, you cocksucking bastard. Pull the fucking trigger and kill me!" A bit more like the Tex he remembered.
"But why?"
"Because… damn it he's taking control. I've seen more bloodshed and death than any person normally does. He broke me down Church. I'm no longer who I was; I'm just an empty husk."
"What do you mean, surely there's another way"
"He killed my family. He broke my spirit, and then he went to my home and killed my family. My own body killed my parents and there was NOTHING I could do" She was screaming now, and inside you could see that she was indeed broken. O'Malley had done his job well.
"But you can control him, can't you?"
"No, he's too strong. Look, I don't want to live any more. I want to be able to see my parents, to be able to think what I want. I want to be free."
Inside her head, however, O'Malley was almost in control. Such heartfelt remarks, he thought to himself, perhaps there's still a spark in her.
Meanwhile, at the Red Base Grunt and Wyoming were on patrol around the base. The Pelican had been landed in the clearing next to it, and currently the others were inside, waiting or their prisoner to wake up. Grunt knew now that the timing was right for his real mission here.
Just before leaving, he'd been in contact with some of his masters in the Pro-Covenant Sects. They had given him a new mission. Just before he joined the others, Wyoming had been taken by the sect and conditioned. Completely normal after the procedure, Wyoming had simply thought that he'd had one too many and thought nothing more of it. But Grunt knew that all it needed was a single catalyst; a reprogrammed AI.
Wyoming had gotten rid of his own AI years before, and when O'Malley, who had been altered slightly by Grunt through a remote network, was forced out of his body, he would immediately move onto the host with the strongest signal, which thanks to a neuron chip in his head, was Wyoming. Then the programming in Wyoming would render O'Malley harmless, and the programming in O'Malley would open up Wyoming's real mission. It sounded complex, but thanks to Grunt's position as mechanic, it had been easy to set up.
Wyoming was looking out towards the Blue Base as Grunt came up behind him.
"I say, Grunt my old chap, I wonder where Tex is off to, don't you?"
When Grunt didn't answer, Wyoming looked around, only yo see a flash of metal, then blackness.
Grunt dragged his body into the bushes and pulled out a small remote. All he had to do now was detonate the implant he had hidden in O'Malley, and finally his real mission would be under way. Tex would die, but that was a small sacrifice of the coming of the Great Journey.
"Church, I swear if you don't pull the trigger, I'll kill you and kill myself."
"Hey Church, why don't you have Caboose kill her? He's the only one here who's come close to killing anyone during this war."
"Yes, why don't you let me kill… lady who wanted to hurt Teddy. Wait wait wait wait wait, do you want to kill her, or, to… make her a sandwich?"
"Oh for love God Caboose, shut up"
Church for that one instant forgot about the captive, but then he turned around to check on Tex only to find her standing there, no longer tied up.
"DOOOOOOOOOOM APPROACHES. DEATH TO THE PEOPLE"
It was then that Church made the decision. He knew that Tex had finally lost control. He had loved her when they had been at Blue Command, but this wasn't the person he'd known. As far as anyone was concerned, she was all but dead. She had given up on life, so what choice did he have.
Church pulled the trigger.
Grunt pressed the remote detonator.
Neither would know who was responsible for killing Allison Matthews, Private in the Spartan Elite Corps, but as she fell to the ground, Church immediately regretted his decision. One of the few people he had ever loved, had ever been close to was gone, by his hand.
"Wow Church, you actually killed her."
"It's what she wanted. She was already dead, inside and out."
"OOkay. Well what do we do about those people she said were out to get us?"
"I don't know, but if Masterchief's here, we'd better batten down the base"
No knowing what else to do, they took Tex's body out of the base and dumped it near the canyon wall. If what she said was true, there was no time for a burial. For the first time since the death of Captain Butch Flowers, Blue Team was actually doing some work.
O'Malley sailed through the radio waves. He had no control over where he was going. But suddenly he found himself in a body. The body with the strongest signal. Lopez silently screamed as O'Malley arrived. A new host, he thought to himself, as he began to go to work once more.
It was a pale world in comparison to what she had just left, but for once Tex was free. For the first time since she had arrived at the Spartan Academy, she smiled to herself, the fact that she could smile was great. The afterlife may not be so bad after all, she thought to herself. Now, she had work to do. O'Malley had almost broken her, but now she was going to show that upstart AI who was boss. But first she needed a new body.
Next Time: We once again visit the Reds as the interrogation of Donut begins, Grunt realises that his plan's gone pear-shaped, and the Blues are the only ones with any idea what's going on.