Chapter VIII

After discovering that Doc, Andy and Tucker's alien baby had been abandoned at Blue Base, Master Chief decided to make them temporary members of the Red Army. Almost a week has passed. The new Reds have adjusted to life at the Red Base and Phase Two of Operation: Red Rage was coming to a close . . .

Master Chief stood on top of Red Base watching the sun set on the horizon. The light from the setting star cast shadows across the whole canyon until, slowly, it was completely dark and the stars shone down from the heavens. Crickets began their nightly chorus of chirps and were soon joined by a myriad of other nocturnal creatures and their voices. The last week had been exactly what the Master Chief needed; a break. He had been able to relax and clear his mind with ease. The former Blues had no trouble adjusting to life at the Red Base. Doc and Donut got along just fine and talked about all sorts of things from medical science to interior design. Andy had made friends with Grif and Simmons, who watched TV with him and helped with his diet, respectively. Lock-jaw, who was now the same height as his alien parent, followed Master Chief like a bipedial loyal hound. He had also explained the rest of his made-up story to Caboose, who had bought every last word about him being an ex-spy and having no memory of his life beforehand. Master Chief no longer called Caboose Gamma-twelve becasue he decided it was unnecessary.

The Master Chief took a deep breath and, followed closely by Lock-jaw, departed from his spot and made his way down to the hangar where Caboose and Lopez had announced that they were finished modifying Sheila. The Chief entered the hangar and saw a massive sheet draped over what would have to be Sheila, although it appeared much too large.

"Lopez, Caboose, you have something to show me?" the Chief said. The two looked at the Chief, at each other, then at the sheet. Lopez nodded at Caboose who walked forward and cleared his throat.

"Casper Weed," he began.

"Master Chief, Caboose, Master Chief," the Chief corrected.

"We have finished fixing Sheila. She is bigger, more powerfuller and scarier than ever." Caboose turned to Lopez. "Was that right? Did I say it right?"

"Close enough," Lopez said. "Behold, Sheila, version two point zero! The M808C Main Assault Tank!"

Lopez yanked the sheet off of Sheila and the Chief took an involuntary step back.

"What in the world?" the Chief was in awe.

Sheila had been given such an extreme make-over the Chief wouldn't have known it was her if he didn't already know. Her front treads now sported their own individual machine gun turret and were covered in spikes. The front of her body had a triple-barrel plasma cannon mounted on it. There were spikes along that surface too. The driver canopy was gone. In its place was a rocket panel that held six individual rocket launchers, three on top, three on the bottom. The turret had changed drastically as well. There were now two main cannons attached to the rotating turret and there were also two smaller machine gun turrets instead of one. On the right side of the rotating base was another rocket panel with the same setup as the first one. The left side sported a plasma weapon that the Chief had never seen before. On top of the turret base was another weapon the Chief had never seen before and it was massive. It had a large cannon-like barrel and extended behind the tank for five feet. It was attached to the rear of the tank and several cords ran from it into where the driver canopy used to be.

"You two are incredible. Tell me, what is that plasma weapon on the side?" he asked.

"This is a weapon of my own design," replied Lopez. "It uses a high powered focusing lens to magnify the power of a regular plasma laser. It is capable of independently tracking a target in a one hundred and eighty degree angle."

"And the weapon on the top?"

"That was Private Caboose's idea. It was taken from the original Magnetic Accelerator Cannon used on the Gauss Warthog and was amplified five times its normal size and strength. A single round can shatter a boulder."

"Caboose's idea?"

"He wanted something that went 'boom'."

"I see. So, she is ready for her assignment then?"

"Affirmative."

"Excellent. I will be on top of the base if you need anything."

The Chief turned to leave and Lock-jaw followed. He returned to his spot on top of the base. Lock-jaw walked over to his corner and fell asleep. After several minutes, the Chief heard mechanical footsteps coming up the ramp to his left. He turned to see Lopez, who had come to give him an update.

"I trust everything is going well?" the Chief inquired.

"Yes, everything is going well. Sheila is downloading her mission objectives from the computer and Caboose went inside to watch The Notebook with Donut, Simmons, Andy and Doc."

"Good work Lopez. You should be proud of yourself, you and Caboose. The work you did on Sheila in truly incredible."

"Thank you, sir. I also have a message from Red Command. The Blue soldiers known as Tucker and Church have left their previous location. They are currently moving to an unknown location in response to a message sent to them from an unknown sender. The last recorded location was a construction site in the southern hemisphere of the planet. The small land formation that is our next destination is on the way there."

"Understood. Tell Command that we will have departed by noon tomorrow."

"Yes sir."

Lopez turned and left. Master Chief departed the other way. Lock-jaw awakened and followed the Master Chief into the base. They passed Grif's room, which also doubled as the team's den. A large, high-definition, flat-screentelevision hung from the wall and a couch sat several feet back from it. On the couch, Donut, Doc, Simmons and Andy were crying because someone in the movie died or something to that effect. Caboose was watching and pretending to know what was happening. The Chief made his way to the kitchen where Grif waseating a box of cookiedough ice cream.

"Hey," he said casually.

Master Chief had come to accept the fact that only Simmons and Donut would ever greet him as 'sir'. It no longer bothered him, since he was used to the informal manner now.

"Hello Grif. I take it the ladies kicked you out so they could watch their movie?"

"Yeah," Grif said between spoonfuls of ice cream. "I saw it already. It sucks."

Master Chief turned and patted Lock-jaw on the head. Lock-jaw then went into the corner, curled up in his blanket and fell asleep.

"I take it you packed for the hike tomorrow, right?"

"We're hiking? Why? That stupid valley is over a hundred miles away! We should take a ship or something!"

"A ship would attract unwanted attention. Besides, you need to get in shape. Have you seen how much weight Andy lost already?"

"Yeah, he'll be real good at exploding when he's the size of your thumb. Look, I wasn't too excited about this mission to begin with; getting the Sarge back and all, but now you want me to hike for over a hundred miles? That's insane, sir."

"Suck it up, Private. We'll be out of this canyon before noon tomorrow. Get some rest, you're gonna need it."

The Chief walked back to his room. The floor, walls and ceiling were spotless thanks to Donut's intense cleaning methods. Master Chief's camo-pattern blanket was tucked neatly around his cot. The Chief turned off the light and crawled into his bed. He was tired from a long day of preparation and he would need energy for the journey ahead. The Chief removed his helmet and placed it on the floor. Then he rested his head against his pillow. After a few seconds, he was fast asleep.

To Be Continued