Chapter 1

—

"Punch it, Tucker!" A voice yelled out over both the engine of the tank and the rumbling of the earth. Rocks slid down the sides of the canyon walls, and dirt tracks were left behind by the treads of the machine.

"I am punching it!" The driver yelled back, turning the tank as it encircled their home base. The vehicle moved slowly but surely, slowly leaving the residence behind.

"Well punch it harder. That- try kicking it!" The voice belonged to the passenger manning the turret, scanning their surroundings as they drove off. All the while these two were observed by another figure on top of the compound, watching these two fumble around with the tank.

"Caboose, this is as punched as this thing gets! It's a tank, not a fucking lamborghini…" The operator argued with his companion, their voices drowned out by both the noise and distance.

The soldier left behind watched as the two drove off, a warm smile on his face underneath his cobalt helmet. He was going to miss those two.

"Good luck guys…" Is all he said, those three words holding all the memories he had made. Most of which were yet to happen. The memory unit was just… it was confusing like that.

"So, think they'll make it?" Another soldier called out from behind him, this one clad in black armor and sporting a feminine tone.

The cobalt soldiers' smile just grew, his heart pounding. "Oh, I think they might have time to squeeze in one last adventure." Atleast, he hoped so. They deserved to last. "Can't really ask more than that, can ya?"

"I suppose not." Is all she replied with, her voice solemn.

He turned to face her, visor to visor contact established before he continued. "So you decided to stay?"

"Yeah." It was blank, yet full of trust.

"Finally gave in and believed me, huh?" He said, almost sounding proud in his tone.

"Ah, not exactly." She denied, "I just figured you haven't steered me wrong so far, why bet against a streak?"

He sighed, thinking something over for a few moments before speaking once again. "Well, come sit with me then. I've got some great seats for the end of the world. I saved you one."

She had an empty stare, her visor making her emotions unreadable. Half a moment later she finally responded. "Okay…"

The two sat down on the edge of the base, dangling their legs over the side and looking at the open canyon in the distance. The silence was deafening, cut only by her voice.

"You sure you wanna do this?" She asked, placing her rifle on the metal ground next to her, still looking out at the view.

"Yeah… You know, it took a couple versions of me to understand it but I think sometimes… sometimes…"

He lost his words… he knew what he was thinking of saying, but the words wouldn't come out. No, there was another way. He'll make sure of it.

She didn't pry on his silence, instead keeping their conversation going; albeit a little awkwardly. "So, uh, any regrets?"

That reeled him back to 'reality', the cobalt soldier turning his head slightly and shrugging. "Eh, a few. I mean… probably shoulda learned how to shoot this damned sniper rifle." As if to prove a point, he hefted the weapon in his hands to show it off.

It elicited a small laugh from the black warrior, and he could just imagine the small smile on her face. "You guys did have a lot of downtime. Could'a practiced.. I dunno, once or twice?"

He nodded, letting the rifle slip out of his hands and topple over the edge, the weapon thunking in the dirt at the bottom. "Well, what can I tell ya. I had other things on my mind, I guess."

Their moment was cut short by more shaking and rumbling, this time more violent than anything that had come before. The sky was ripped in two, like a curtain being opened at the scene of a play. Only this time, a blinding light emerged, and then dulled seconds later.

The woman sighed, looking up at the tear in the blue sky. "I guess this is it..."

"Hey, Tex?" The cobalt soldier said, desperation and agony in his voice, like he was worried he wouldn't get the time to say what he had to say. "There's something I need to tell you. I think it's important I say this."

Tex stiffened a little, looking at her friend hesitantly. "Wait a second. I can take the whole 'at peace with the world' thing, and I can even stomach all the 'accept your fate' stuff, but-" She locked up, as if this was the most important thing in the world to her. "Just- do me a favor, okay? …Don't say goodbye. I hate goodbyes."

She gave an empty laugh after she said that, like it was the silliest thing ever spoken. "I mean, we are space warriors right? We should try to maintain some level of credibility."

He knew why Tex hated goodbyes. And he wouldn't dare call her out on it. Instead, he just continued.

"No no no, Tex. No. I think… I think I just figured out what the Director couldn't. And the Alpha either." He paused, thinking over his words before he continued, and when he found them; his mind spoke free.

"It was always about you, Tex. Even from the start. When the Director lost Allison, it sent him down a path; a path that got him to wherever he is today. When she didn't come back, he blamed himself, blamed the world, blamed everyone and everything. He spent his life mourning, even when there was nothing left to mourn. And when Alpha came along, and you with it… he saw a chance. He saw what could've been, and he strove to bring her back."

Her full attention was on her friend, Tex listening fully as he explained.

"But he never let go of his blame. He could never stop thinking that he failed her, that he lost her. He… we thought that it was on us. That we should have done more. But the truth is..? The truth is that it was never our choice. Every time we lost you, it wasn't because we failed to stop you, or that we failed to hold you back. Every iteration of Allison died doing something she believed in. It was our inability to let go and honor the choices you made. But now I know… what should have been done from the very start. I just need to tell you three words, Tex. Three words none of us were capable of telling you before. Not me, not Alpha… not even the Director himself."

Tex breathed shakily, her body trembling slightly. She didn't know what to say.

"Church?"

Church shuddered, looking down at his lap and away from Tex. "I… I understand you, Tex. I understand you. I'm letting it all go…"

He looked back at her, Tex still sitting there, lost for words and just silently looking back at him. She reached over, taking one of his armored hands, thumb gliding over his palm gently. They stared into one anothers' soul, no amount of words could ever do justice to the understanding they had just come to.

Slowly, they both began to fade away. The contact of their hands fizzled, soon their presence so weak that they could no longer feel each others' touch.

All Church could think about was that: If he was going out like this, it wasn't so bad. Finally at the point where they completed each other; right at the end of the fuckin world. It could do its worst, he wouldn't care. He just found his own.

And just like that, they both slipped away, as did the rest of their world.

—

"You're alive!" Caboose yelled, rambling on about how he knew it, and how 'she' was right all along..

Church cracked open his eyes, looking down at his hands and the world around him. He was a pale white, with see through features and equipment. Looking to his right, he could see Tex mimicking his actions and trying to make some sense of what was going on.

"Alright then, we're square, Blue." A soldier next to Caboose said, this one in red and toting around a shotgun. "We helped you get your shiny blue buddies out, so that makes us even."

Church quickly got back into his mindset, standing around and talking. "Sarge? Caboose? Where are we? What are we even doing here?"

"This is the place they were keeping you! We traveled a really, really long way to come to this place and fought a bunch of people, and then fought a bunch of more people; and then we got here and took you two and saved you two. The end." Caboose explained, Sarge chuckling to himself when he mentioned how they fought some people.

"Why'd you go through the effort?" Tex asked, getting in on the topic; curious for answers as much as Church was.

"Clearly it wasn't to hear a: 'Thank you'." Sarge complained, glancing between the two ghostly figures.

Tex and Church just looked at each other, Church heaving out a sigh before speaking again.

"Thank you." He said, his gratitude riddled with a forced tone.

"It was actually because someone needs you." Sarge explained, looking back at a hallway Church could only assume they came from. "Knew where they were keeping you and whatnot."

"And this someone is..?" Tex prodded, getting agitated with all the circling around the key information.

"The new lady." Caboose said nonchalantly, as if Tex and Church were gonna have any idea who the 'new-lady' could possibly be.

"New lady?" Church repeated, just making sure he even heard him right. If it wasn't Tex, who the hell could it be?

As if on cue, a voice called out from the hallway they had just taken a peek at; a soldier in turquoise armor just standing there; rifle in hand.

"Hey there, Epsilon. Been looking for you for-" Is all she got out, her own words being twisted at the cutoff point. Whatever she was going to say was lost the moment she saw the black figure.

Tex looked back, time at a standstill for what felt like years. Eventually, Tex simply put her right pointer and middle finger to the brim of her helmet; flicking them away in a casual salute.

"Hey there, Carolina."