A/N: Chapter 34 of Agent Reach is here, and I am really hoping for making this as good as possible. It will be similar to the mission in Season 9 at the Bjorndal Cryogenics research facility in the Arctic, and again, Happy Holidays!

*Chapter 34*

Washington sighed as he looked down at Earth's surface. 'It's the first time I've laid eyes on Earth. They have orbital defense platforms in position, and can obliterate an entire Covenant battle group. Yet we're sitting here, sneaking in like war criminals.' They had just left Slipspace and entered the most secure airspace in humanity's worlds without so much as a single shot fired at them, even though the UNSC still saw them as war criminals. That, or the UNSC simply couldn't pick up their Pelican thanks to the tremendous stealth features on the dropship.

He checked the radar, his grey eyes narrowing as the ship plummeted towards the South Pole. 'Not a thing. They should know that we're after them.' The Pelican's descent increased, and he looked back at Massachusetts. "Hang on. We're going to have a fun little dive-bomb for an entry." 'They might find us on their thermal imaging cameras, but they don't have defenses that point straight up.'

"Whoo-ho~! I love rollercoasters~!" Xei sang. Massachusetts face-palmed, letting out a low growl of frustration. "Shut up Xei. Wash, I'm sending her up to you. As much as I hate it, you'll need her to calculate the last possible braking moment." Washington nodded, and Xei's hologram flashed up. "Hey cutie~. I need to calculate your timing~. When I say mark, say sync~. Okay~?"

'If I ever get over my fears of an AI going rogue while in my head, I'm making sure it's not like this one,' the black/gold Freelancer thought. "Fine. Let's just get this crap over with." Xei smiled and flickered closer to him, wiggling her hips. "Mark~."

"Sync."

"Mark~."

"Sync." Washington continued, pressing the engines further into the redline. Xei jumped up and down happily, producing a small hologram of a jump rope. "Done~. You can cut the engines in exactly 5 minutes and 21 seconds~. Good luck, pretty boy~." She began to play next to him, and Washington looked back at Massachusetts in exasperation. "Has she always been like this?" 'No wonder she said she enjoyed sleeping without having her chirpy AI in her head. If I had this one, I'd go crazy just like Epsilon did.'

"Sadly, yes," the blue/white Freelancer replied. "Now you see what I mean when I said I was happy that I could sleep, despite that I was in a maximum security prison guarded by who knows how many pissed off soldiers." Washington snorted and continued to accelerate, the Pelican creaking and groaning from the strain. "Tell me about it." 'At least Xei isn't trying to become metastable like Epsilon…or whatever AI the Meta was originally given.'

"Here are the latest images of the Basilisk Fang's base~," Xei called out, still jumping her holographic rope. "An anti-air cannon is trying to track our position~." Washington growled and gave the pink AI a sharp stare before looking at the base images. "Thanks for that." 'They have a Mass Accelerator Cannon defending the installation. That thing can take us out in a heartbeat.'

He looked back to Massachusetts, preparing to fire the reverse thrusters. "We need to take the MAC out, now. Charge the Spartan Lasers." 'The Shivas will end up destroying everything, and we need Epsilon back. The two Spartan Lasers will disable it and destroy the magnetic coils.'

"Fire reverse thrusters~," Xei said. Washington engaged the reverse thrusters, slowing the Pelican's rapid descent. The ship hovered just above the base, and the wing-mounted Spartan Lasers flashed, destroying the MAC gun. Massachusetts jumped out of her seat, grabbing her weapons. "Target eliminated. Let's move! Xei, I need you up here, now!"

"Coming~!" the pink AI sang, throwing her holographic jump rope away. Washington set the Pelican down on a piece of ice, and they jumped out of the dropship, their weapons drawn. "Go, go!" As they ran across the ice, a pair of machinegun turrets began to fire at them, and Washington drew his pistol, returning the fire. "Turrets! Take them out!"

"Got it! Duck!" Massachusetts aimed her Sniper Rifle and fired, taking both gunners out. "We're clear!" Their path was blocked by a heavy metal door, and the blue/white Freelancer looked at her AI. "Xei, get us in! We'll hold them off!" Xei floated over towards the door, smiling and flexing her fingers. "Yay~! This is the most amount of fun I've had in a long time~!"

She hacked into the door's mainframe, and it slid open with a loud screech, an alarm blaring. "We're in~. Though it seems as we've been spotted~." The pink AI vanished back into Massachusetts's suit, and a large group of soldiers jumped down from a top platform, their Assault Rifles blazing. "Get them!"

"Oh, shut up," Washington growled, shooting his Magnum. "You assholes have something that belongs to me." 'Even if the bastard went rogue…Epsilon is mine. I have to hand him over to the Chairman and get my ass out of this ridiculous mess.' A pair of soldiers dropped dead, and above them were a group of snipers, and the two Freelancers hid behind a pair of pillars. "Snipers! On top of that platform!"

"I'm on it!" Massachusetts aimed her rifle and took out a sniper, though the remaining four forced her to take cover again. "Shit! Xei, you're up!" The pink AI winked, and the shield appeared, surrounding them. The sniper rounds deflected off the shield, and Massachusetts fired. Her shield dropped for a split second, and she killed another one of the snipers. "One down, three to go! Wash, cover me!"

Washington drew his Battle Rifle, firing a series of three round bursts. "Got it." 'They were ready for us. But, we're not members of Project Freelancer because we look good. We'll show the bastards exactly what we are capable of.' He struck a pair of the snipers in the chest, and the remaining one was killed by Massachusetts. "Nice shot." 'She can rival North in terms of her shooting, even though the record on the Invention is held by both Reach and Wyoming.'

The blue/white Freelancer reloaded, and she plucked her Grenade Launcher/Flamethrower from her back before unleashing several streams of fire. "I doubt you just admire my shooting, Wash." A few grenades soared into the air from the launcher, and four soldiers screamed in pain as they were sent into the icy depths below to a watery grave.

Another group of snipers fired at them, and the two hid behind a solid titanium wall, reloading. "Dammit! We're pinned! Throw a Hail Mary!" 'North did the exact same thing when we tried to get CT's armor, and it worked to perfection. All he had to do was throw and let Theta guide it.'

Massachusetts plucked her Drop Shield from her back and cocked her arm back, ready to throw. "Xei! I'm sending a hard pass! Guide it down to them!" Xei cheered happily, and the blue/white Freelancer threw it into the air. "The best offense comes from a good defense." The unit soared into the air and landed in the middle of the snipers, who had stopped shooting from orders the lead soldier. One of them drew his Magnum and fired, causing a deadly ricochet. As they started to drop to the ground, their weapons released their fire, killing everyone inside the shield.

The last sniper fell in a heap, and Massachusetts ran to retrieve the unit. "Thanks, Xei." She placed the unit back in its place, and they returned fire to eliminate another pair of the mercenaries. "Move, move!" Washington slid underneath one, firing a three-round burst through the man's crotch. As he howled in agony, the black/gold Freelancer punched him into another member of the mercenary group, both of them falling off the platform together. "Asshole." 'Worst way to die ever. Of all time. But the bastards deserve what they get. For as long as they hold Epsilon, I will never get out of this mess.'

Another group of heavy machinegun turrets blocked their way, and Massachusetts pushed him out of the way to fire a quartet of grenades from her launcher. "I'll handle the turrets! Just keep the bastards off me for a bit!"

Washington slapped a fresh clip in his Battle Rifle and fired as four of the mercenaries tried to surprise them from behind. "We're good! How are those turrets?" He heard the grenades exploding, along with bloodcurdling screams of pain, and he snorted. "Never mind. Pretend I didn't ask that question." 'No mercy. There's no reason for us to play the nice guys anymore.'

The two ran through the complex, with Massachusetts incinerating everyone in her path. "Main complex dead ahead! Open the door! I'll cover you!" Washington pushed by her, flexing his fingers before he tried to hack his way through. It was a holographic lock similar to the ones the Insurrection loved using, and he silently wished that York was here, for he was the lockpick master in Project Freelancer. 'Damn. I guess the traitors got that technology from here, too. I'm kicking that asshole's head in when I find him.'

He disabled the lock, and the heavy titanium doors slid open to reveal a darkened room. Washington ran forward first, and he gritted his teeth as he saw his target. "Yeager…" 'You fucking asshole. Even death is too good for you.' The leader of the Basilisk's Fang held the Epsilon unit in his hand, and he smiled mockingly as he saw the two Freelancers. "My oh my, we meet again, ja. I was expecting a much more romantic setting zan zis, ja."

Massachusetts shot her Grenade Launcher furiously, letting out a growl. "How does Hell sound? I hear it's hot all year long." Yeager hid behind his arm shield again, laughing. "I was zinking of somewhere where ze zree of us could have a little private party togezer, ja." The explosive deflected into the room, and the mercenary leader waved his hands. "Zough, I'm afraid I really must dash, ja. Till we meet again, ja."

As he turned, Washington fired his Battle Rifle at the Epsilon unit, knocking it out of Yeager's hand. "You have something of mine, and I'd like it back." The unit slid towards the far end of the room, and Yeager grinned. "Oooh, look who's making demands now, ja. Zis will be fun, after all, ja."

He ignited his Energy Sword, and he picked up the unit again before turning his back to them. "Come after me if you dare, ja." As he finished speaking, a pair of women dropped down from the ceiling, one armed with combat knives and the other with seemingly no weapons at all.

"Violet, Ayumi. Please…keep them busy, ja," Yeager ordered silkily. "I have a flight to catch, you see." The woman on the left had bright pink hair, the other with dark brown. "As you wish, Yeager~." The two women got into fighting stances, winking at the two Freelancers.

Washington growled again, and he looked back at Massachusetts. The blue/white Freelancer was infuriated, and he nudged her shoulder. "Go. I'll handle these two myself." 'Two against one…but there's no time. Either we split and get the bastard, or we waste our time playing with these two.'

"Wash, are you sure?" Massachusetts whispered. The black/gold Freelancer nodded, and he rushed the two women, drawing his knife. "Go!" Massachusetts ran alongside him, but as he blocked one of the rapid strikes, she leapt past him in pursuit of Yeager. "Good luck, Wash."

"Thanks. I won't need it," Washington replied as he lashed out with his hand. The pink-haired woman winked at her partner, who was forced back by the strike. "My, should I join in on the fun, Violet~? It's been awhile since we had a playmate who looked as sounded as good as this one~."

"Yes Ayumi~," Violet purred. She flipped backwards, and Washington raised his hands to block the kicks before circling the brunette slowly, his grip on his knife tightening. 'They're more agile than I am. I have to use their speed against them.' Ayumi joined the fight, and she smiled as a pair of blue blades extended from her wrist gauntlets. "This looks like it will be very fun, indeed~."

Washington's grey eyes narrowed as he saw the weapons that the pink-haired woman had, for they looked to be something he had seen far too often during the Covenant assault on Reach. "You've got to be kidding me…" 'Plasma daggers? How the hell did Yeager manage to get them? That's not something you find on the open market…'

Ayumi spun, and Washington jumped backwards to avoid being cut in two by the superheated daggers. He landed a punch on her chest, and she stumbled before he sent her spinning away with a high kick. 'Too hot. Those gauntlets are specifically designed to handle the heat…but Freelancer armor isn't.'

Washington then blocked a series of rapid strikes from Violet before swinging his own knife, the sharp blade catching her in the leg as she tried to flip away again. The brunette fell to the ground with a cry of pain, and Washington grabbed her by the ankle and threw her into her partner. "Sorry, but just because you two are girls doesn't mean I'm going to hold back." 'I threw that away a long time ago. If you think I'm showing mercy, then think again.'

Ayumi got up with a hiss, and she leapt forward, slicing with her plasma daggers. "You dare hit a girl?" Washington sidestepped, brought his fists up, and slammed them onto her back. "That's about right. I don't have that taboo in me." 'The only one I have left is killing kids. There's simply no forgiveness for that.'

As desperate as he was to get himself out of prison, Washington was going to obtain the Epsilon unit at any cost and bring it to the Chairman for the AI to say tell exactly what happened. As far as he was concerned, anyone who tried to either stop him or get in his way was an enemy that needed to be eliminated, no matter who it was.

The pink-haired woman fell to ground, and as Washington got ready to deal the finishing blow, he heard footsteps charge behind him. 'Damn. Brownie's still willing to fight, even wounded. Normally, I'd find it admirable. But here, it's a pain in the ass.' He stepped to the side, using his arm to send Violet over his shoulder and into the wall. She crashed into the heavy titanium, and her knives slid away from her. "Nice try."

Washington then focused on Ayumi, who was back to her feet and furious at seeing her partner unconscious. "You bastard! You'll pay for this!" She lunged forward, and the black/gold Freelancer used his knife to parry a blow, the heat from the energy blades sizzling the metal blade. "I doubt I will." 'The damn blade's getting too hot. At least it hasn't melted.'

Washington rolled under Ayumi's attacks, and he grabbed her wrist before twisting, breaking it and forcing her to her knees. "Give up. Otherwise, I'll just kill you both." He drew his Magnum, leveling it at her head. "I don't give a damn."

Ayumi's crimson eyes glared hatred at his shiny visor, and she spat angrily. "You won't get away with this! If you do kill us, Yeager will hunt you down until the day he slits your throat!" Washington heard the sound of a DMR firing, and he snorted. "I seriously doubt that. I was only here to get my AI from him. But since you decided to get in my way, I guess I just have to kill you." 'You brought this on yourself.'

Ayumi struggled to free herself, panic flooding her eyes as Washington's finger crept into the trigger guard and he took aim at her unconscious partner. "W-wait! I can give you information…information about Epsilon." The black/gold Freelancer didn't lower his weapon, and he tightened his grip on her broken wrist. "I haven't heard anything convincing." 'Is this just her trying to distract me? Or is she serious?'

The pink-haired woman whimpered in pain, and she looked up desperately, sheathing her daggers. "When Yeager brought the Epsilon unit in two days ago…he hid it in a security safe, protected by a holographic lock. The one he has in his hands is nothing more than a copy. He cloned the fragment, but the real Epsilon has Alpha's memories, along with the Director of Project Freelancer's."

"Really now. Go on," Washington ordered through gritted teeth, his jaw tightening. Ayumi bit her lip to prevent crying out, her eyes watery. "The safe is located on Level Alpha. In addition to the holographic lock, it has a password built into the door. The password is…Memory Is The Key. No spaces between, and the first letter of each word is capitalized. Please…let Violet go. Do with me as you wish, but leave her alone. Please."

'Killing them will only make it worse. And if they're right, then they're taking a risk by helping us.' Washington lowered his pistol, and he released his grip. "Take her out of the place, ASAP. If you're lying to me, then you'll get it."

Ayumi ran over to her unconscious partner's side and picked her up, whimpering painfully as she ran away with Violet in her arms. Washington placed a hand on the side of his head, trying to get in contact with Massachusetts. "Massachusetts, fall back. Disengage your pursuit. Yeager only has a fake copy of Epsilon."

"What!? Are you serious!?" the blue/white Freelancer demanded. "How the hell did you figure that out!?" Washington spied a secret door to his left, and he pushed it open. "Yeager's little friends. I had them at my mercy, and one of them broke down and told me. I let them get out before we blow this place."

"Got it. I'm running back towards you, now. The slippery little asshole got away anyway via an escape ship," Massachusetts growled. The channel ended, and it was only five minutes before Massachusetts returned, panting. "Sorry to keep you waiting. Let's grab Epsilon and get out; I already want to shoot a few nukes at this place."

"You're not the only one," Washington muttered as they stepped inside the door and onto an elevator lift. He pressed the button that read Level Alpha, and the elevator dropped several meters before screeching to a halt. The steel doors lifted, and Washington stepped out first, his Battle Rifle aimed. 'Epsilon…your ass better be in here. Otherwise, I'm hunting those two little liars down.'

He approached the safe, and he set about cracking open the holographic lock. "Xei, get your jumpy little self over here. You focus on this part while I enter the password." He flexed his fingers and opened the keypad, typing in the password he was given. "MemoryIsTheKey."

Xei finished opening the lock, and the heavy door swung open slowly, where indeed there was an AI unit. "Epsilon~? Are you in there~?"

A powder-blue hologram with a sniper rifle appeared, flickering. "Who the fuck are you? Why the hell am I in some stupid metal box? And…Agent Washington!" Washington's eyes narrowed as he saw the AI that nearly went metastable while being implanted inside of him, and he tightened his hand into a fist. "Epsilon. It's very nice to see you're not completely crazy." 'He sounds like an asshole. Wait…memory is the key. When Alpha was tortured, it must have discarded its memories to protect itself. Epsilon is Alpha's memories, just like that little girl said.'

"I have memories of being fucking tortured!" Epsilon snapped, brandishing his holographic weapon. "Not to mention I can recall just about everything that Alpha and Beta have gone through!"

"Wait…do you know where Beta is?" Massachusetts asked, stepping forward. Washington snorted as he picked up the unit, placing it on his lower back. "We'd have to find another AI capable of jacking his memory or come across some of the journal entries from the Director." 'Sorry, but I am not implanting the AI that attempted to become metastable inside me.'

"I don't know. I'd have to find some logs from the Director," Epsilon answered. "After all, he's the asshole who made me like this. But if you don't fucking mind, I'd really appreciate it if you got me the fuck out of this place. That piece of shit Yeager fucking cloned my ass, and now intends on giving the copy to someone he called the Meta. Who the fuck is that?"

Washington could've sworn he saw Massachusetts tense up at the mention of the Meta, and her voice was slightly shaky as she answered. "Agent Missouri. Or at least…he was. But the Director turned him into the monster he now is. We're trying to find out where they are."

Epsilon snorted, placing his rifle across his back and folding his arms. "Well, I might have the Director's memories, but for some reason, I can't access them. So unless you know someone else who can help stimulate my memory, I don't know if I can be of any fucking help."

Washington rolled his eyes and led the way back to the elevator, Massachusetts behind him. "Come on; let's send this base to hell." 'We've found my AI, but there is still the problem of Yeager giving the Meta the copy. Not to mention we have no idea where the Director is.'

The elevator shuddered to a halt as it reached the ground floor, and the two ran out of the main complex. Outside were the corpses of the mercenary group, some still bleeding profusely from several wounds.

Washington led the way, making sure to give them a hard kick to verify they were indeed dead. 'Bastards deserve what they got.' One of the bodies twitched, and the black/gold Freelancer drew his Magnum and fired, shooting him the in the chest. "Stay dead, you asshole." The man stopped moving, and Washington looked at the path of destruction they had caused. "Funny. The two of us did this, and yet the Director would've sent in half of the Freelancers to do the same thing."

"Desperation," Massachusetts answered quietly. "As desperate as we are, we won't let being outnumbered stop us from completing our objective." Washington grunted and continued to walk out, spying their dropship. 'Desperate…if only I left with North and South instead of staying like an idiot. I wouldn't have gotten thrown in a cell the minute the Invention split in two and crashed.' The frigate's main reactor had failed while steadily cruising, and a resulting explosion broke the ship in half, with the rear ending up on some unknown forest planet while the front crashing onto Valhalla. During the crash, Washington was knocked unconscious, and when he came to, half a battalion of ODSTs were already placing him under arrest for war crimes.

Washington stepped into the Pelican, placing the Epsilon unit down. "Massachusetts, I want you to arm a Shiva. Once we're airborne, fire the missile. We're sending them all straight to hell." 'Nukes ought to destroy everything in the area. The Basilisk's Fang is finished.'

"Got it. Just point me in the right direction." Massachusetts sat down at her position, and Washington closed the rear gates before taking off. "We're away. Shiva one, take aim."

Massachusetts flicked a series of switches, and the Pelican slowly rotated until it was directly facing the base. "Shiva one, fire!" The missile fired, and Washington pulled on the reverse thrusters as the nuclear missile streaked towards its target. "Reversing now. Impact in three seconds."

The Pelican reversed, and the Shiva detonated as it impacted. There was a brilliant flash, and the dropship's engines shuddered as the shock waves spread out, the EMP destroying any electronic equipment within the radius. Massachusetts slumped down in her seat, wiping her visor. "Target eliminated. We're clear, Wash."

The black/gold Freelancer turned the Pelican away, and he flew up towards the sky, the engines screaming in protest. He reached space, and he leaned back in his seat. "Epsilon, do you know the place where the rear of the Mother of Invention landed? I only know that it was some forest planet." 'That'll be the place to look for journal entries from the Director. If only I knew the damn name of the place.'

"Yeah. It landed on Hypionia," Epsilon answered. "Why, are you planning on going there to find some of the Director's journals?" Washington nodded, pushing the throttle of the dropship. "That's right. We can also pick up weapons and medical supplies if we need to."

"Well, it'll take us a few days to reach it," Epsilon muttered. "But fuck it. I need to learn more about myself before I can be of any use to you guys." Washington looked back at Massachusetts, who was being extremely quiet despite the fact that her chirpy AI was jumping rope again. "You're awfully quiet."

"Sorry. I was just thinking of something." Massachusetts shook her head, and she flicked a switch on her dash. "Course set. Slipspace drive active. Preparing to enter in ten seconds." Washington squinted his eyes as they jumped into Slipspace, and he wiped his visor, breathing slowly. 'You can't hide your secrets forever. No one can.'

'Especially me.'

A/N: One more chapter…and poor Wash will end up shot in the back. Not literally, like in the Recovery One series, but still. I'll try to make the wrap-up of the Wash/Massa series as good as possible, especially since shit will get awesome again (like a final showdown with the Meta, the hunt for the Director, and more shit) and a bit more dramatic considering the condition of our dear Tex. See you!