SEE CHAPTER ONE FOR DISCLAIMERS
PLEASE READ & REVIEW, AND TEND TO THE TROPE & CHARACTER PAGES
-CHAPTER START-
Black Sun Paris-class Heavy Frigate Procyon
Outside the elevator to the bridge
Gamma, Theta, and Lancer Teams waited by the large double-doors of the lift. Sigma Team emerged from a doorway ahead.
"Hey, guys" Teana waved them over. "Welcome back. What took ya?"
"A pack of Type-Bs" Subaru replied. "So who're we missing?"
"Just Team Blood-Gulch" Carolina replied. The last door began to open. "Or maybe not."
(MUSIC: the 'lonely piano' bit from Halo 4 OST – "Green and Blue")
Washington walked out, the others behind him. Their body language looked… off, somehow.
"What happened to you guys?" Ginga asked.
They said nothing.
"Hey…" Marie said, looking concerned. "Where's Caboose?"
Wash stepped forward. "We were ambushed – dark room, EMP took out our shields, and then Black Suns jumped us. We killed 'em, but… Caboose took five to the chest. He…" his head hung low, as he pulled out a set of dogtags. "He didn't make it."
There was dead silence as it sank in. There were two clatters as Erika's Keyblade and Erio's Device fell from their grips.
"No…" Marie whispered, eyes wide and with building tears. Kaede F. walked over to her and held her close.
"I'm sorry, sir" Fred said to the Master Chief. "It happened too fast. We were too spread out. I couldn't…"
"It's alright…" John replied. "Sometimes there's just nothing you can do…"
"We need to finish this" Texas said. "For him."
"Let's get to the bridge" Tucker said in a low, even tone, with barely-restrained emotion faintly detectable. "So we can kill every last fucking one of these assholes."
The massive double-doors slid open, revealing the large lift. Everyone walked in and stood atop it. Church hit the button, the doors slid shut, and the lift moved up.
-SCENE BREAK-
Outside
The Black Suns were in tatters. At least 70% of their numbers were dead. The Starshot, the Halberd, and the Blunt Dagger hovered overhead, providing overwatch. Enemy air forces were already completely eliminated, with their heavy armor close behind.
A few hundred coalition personnel took the opportunity to blitz through them and get inside the Procyon, engaging the relatively little resistance inside, slowly claiming the rest of the ship.
-SCENE BREAK-
Procyon
Elevator 2-B
The double-doors slid open as the elevator reached its location. The door to the bridge was straight ahead. Unfortunately, however, between it and the teams was a horde of demons and Black-Sun troopers, all of them armed and ready.
(BATTLE MUSIC – Red vs. Blue Season 10 OST – "The More")
"They really think this is gonna stop us?" Carolina remarked.
"I believe they do" Teana replied.
"Well, let's show them just how wrong they are!"
("Aggressive tendencies lead to trauma. Ain't changin' shit; fuck the karma")
Carolina leapt in first, dual plasma rifles blazing, cutting down three Black-Sun troopers. A Type-E with a sword came in behind her, only for Teana to spear it through the chest with Mirage Longsword.
("Let it be, just what it is. No matter what, I handle biz'")
"Everyone, attack!-!" Sarge cried.
"For Caboose!" Church shouted, firing his BR85.
("Real as ever, never fake. Fuck da bullshit, fuck the jakes")
North and Linda immediately started working their magic with sniper rifles, each of them taking down at least two targets with every shot fired. A Type-F swooped down at them from the ceiling, only to be blown out of the sky by a shot from Will's railgun.
("Kiss my ass; that's attitude. Common sense, no gratitude")
Tex and Sarah rushed in together, using devastatingly powerful blows to one-shot lesser demons and Black-Sun soldiers. Sarah handed her Lancer off to Tex, who wielded it in one hand and an MA5D in the other, using them to gun down scores of foes, while Sarah drew her gravity hammer and was pulverizing Type-Es.
("Pistols drawn, better squeeze; casket-bound if you freeze")
York and Sarge fought together, shotguns blasting apart armored Black-Sun soldiers. A pirate in stolen ODST armor rushed at Sarge, who judo-flipped him, cracked his visor with the butt of the shotgun, stuck the barrel through the new hole, and pulled the trigger.
("Shells fly, bodies bleed. Me a pussy? Bitch, please!")
Grif lobbed grenades with his Brute Shot, blowing apart a few armored soldiers. A Black-Sun rushed at him, combat knife drawn, and Grif dodged the blow and then slashed the man's throat open with the Brute Shot's blade, kicking him away afterward. Another tried to get him from behind, only for a shot from Agent Florida to put the kibosh to that.
("Never that, don't fit the bill. Never have, never will")
Tucker's plasma blade slashed and stabbed trough demons and Black Suns with ease, the man's utterly serious mood bringing his skills to the max. Subaru was covering him, using her DC-15 to take down targets at range and her Revolver Knuckle to deal with closer-in threats.
("Cook the beef, 'til it bakes. Won't bend, never break")
The Master Chief cut down scores of hostiles with little effort, dual-wielding MA5Ds and lashing out with lethal physical blows. Kaede K. and Mariko became whirlwinds of destruction, their vectors hacking apart demons and Black Sun soldiers alike, their precision weapons taking down even more; Kaede reloaded her carbine and then switched to her shotgun in time to blow a Type-E's head off, while Mariko's needle rifle proved its worth as well. Mana and Ginga were double-teaming Black Suns, using their cyborg super strength to bash and crush them while using their MA5D and Concussion Rifle to take down those out of melee range.
("You fuckin' soft, what a shame. Just as I thought: fuckin' lame")
Marie fired Annihilator Beam shots from Charon, thinning out Type-Gs and the occasional Type-E. Kaede F. was sticking close to her, using her DMR to pick off longer-range targets. Mai was nearby, putting her SAW to good use.
("Flipside to that, stands me. Hard as stone, Straight-G")
A Type-B leapt into the fray. Laicixa and Erika rushed it together, using a well-synchronized combination attack to bring it down, with Aqua leaping in to deal the finishing blow. The three Keyblade Wielders charged into a mass of Type-Gs, hacking them apart at a significant rate.
("Ice-cold, call me glacier. Doin' me; hi, haters!")
A Rairyōken no Jutsu from Timmy tore into a group of Type-Es, the two Lightning Hounds bringing the tall demons down quickly. The boy's M6C was then used to take down a pair of Black Sun Jackals who tried to flank him. Erio & Caro were taking down a rather large pack of Type-Gs with electrified slashes and focused balls of Fire and Light.
("Motivation on my grind. Back down? You outcha' mind")
Shion was putting her Dark Templar powers to the test, Void-Jumping amongst the enemy and cutting them down with her Void Blade, while also using an M7 SMG. Washington and Fred were taking out Black Suns, their BR85s being fired with pinpoint accuracy; every pull of a trigger meant someone on the other side died.
("Call me crazy, but I'm the best. Nothin' more, nothin' less")
Asa and Ahsoka were helping fend off the horde trying to get to North and Linda as they continued dealing out long-range death. Asa's Lancer fired until the air around the muzzle wavered with heat, while Ahsoka's twin energy blades hacked and stabbed at anything that came close while also deflecting shots sent the snipers' way. A rocket was blocked by Asa's bright-green shield spell, and the Black Sun responsible was then sniped by North.
("Talkin' shit, it's what I do, and back it up without a crew")
Carolina rolled under a Type-E, hosing its back with plasma fire. A Black Sun in power armor came at her, only to be blindsided by Texas, who then (with Carolina's consent) launched the blue-armored ex-Freelancer upward enough to catch Sarah's thrown gravity hammer and use it to smash two Type-Fs and a jetpack-wearing Black Sun trooper.
("Stand strong, never bail, all heart, never fail")
Though they hadn't truly fought together since Crassus seven months ago, the Master Chief and Teana quickly fell back into rhythm with each other, big Spartan and little Spartan carving through Black Suns and demon-entities with practiced ease. Teana had a Mirage Pistol in one hand and a Mirage Longsword in the other, backing up the Chief as he used an MA5D and a plasma sword, the enemy folding like a house of cards before the super-soldiers' might.
("Raised different, family first, from the birth to the hearse")
Church and Donut fired their BR85s with respectable accuracy, picking off Black-Sun soldiers. A *boom* sounded as Will fired another railgun shot, blowing a Type-B apart. Sarge and Grif were covering each other, BR85 and M90 mowing down hostiles. Kelly's shotgun blasted a Type-E's head off, and she then spun around a Black Sun soldier's attempt to tackle her, grabbing hold of him and twisting his head 150 degrees.
("The more (you knock me down, the more I get back up)")
Erika's Keyblade bisected a Type-E at the waist, the two halves rapidly dissolving into Darkness particles.
("The more (you shut me up, the more I'm gonna shout)")
Kaede F.'s DMR brought down a launcher-wielding Black Sun trooper, as a beam-rifle-carrying Jackal was killed by Mai's SAW.
("The more (you take from me, the more I'm gettin' back)")
Tex stole a Black Sun trooper's shotgun and started putting it to use against his buddies, while Kelly stuck a Spike Grenade to a Type-B's head with brutally lethal results.
("The more you try to break me, you're gonna SEE!")
A swing of Mirage Longsword decapitated a Type-E. A Photon Lancer barrage from Laicixa took down four Type-Fs. Assault rifle fire from Mana killed a pair of Black Sun Kig-Yar. A gravity hammer strike from Sarah crushed a Black Sun trooper with a shotgun.
("YOU!")
And the hits
("WON'T!")
just kept
("BREAK!")
on
("MEEEEE!-!-!")
coming.
After nearly 10 straight minutes of ass-kicking, the last hostile – a Type-E – fell, blown apart by Erika's Needler. The way was clear. Everyone stopped to reload and catch their breath.
"Everyone okay?" Teana called out.
"No injuries with the Spartans" Cortana reported.
"Blood-Gulchers are good" Wash said.
"Lancer Squad all in one piece" Carolina said.
"Sigma Team a-okay" Aqua reported.
"Theta Team is fine" Laicixa said.
"Gamma's all good too, Boss" Marie said.
"Alright, everyone head for the door to the bridge" Wash said. "It's time to finish this."
They made their way across the now-quiet big room, up to the doorway. The Chief inserted Cortana into the network, and a few seconds later retracted her as the doors opened. Everyone filed in, weapons ready… and came across a graveyard. Desiccated corpses of Black Sun officers – human and Kig-Yar – filled the bridge. Up at the center, near the captain's chair, the ship's commander floated helpless, twitching as the life force was sucked out of him, being gathered in the extended hand of a figure clad in a dark-brown hooded robe. After several seconds, the man dropped, withered and dead. The figure turned to face the heroes, its face still shrouded.
"These men have paid the price for their failure" the figure said in an unnaturally deep, slightly-flanging voice."They sought to double-cross us, refuse to hold up their end of the bargain. This is the result."
"I assume you're another of our Mysterious Enemy's high-ranking personnel?" Teana asked as she drew Mirage Longsword.
The 'man' chuckled. "I am one of the four – well, three now – Dark Generals subservient directly to our Master. You did quite well, Lanstar, in disposing of Kadak. Such skill and power is a rarity."
"I had help, just like I do now."
Everyone pointed their weapons at the cloaked figure.
"Stay your hands, young prodigals. I have no reason to fight you right now; I must return to my Master and inform him of recent events."
"As if we'd let you leave" Church growled.
The 'man' chuckled… and then vanished into thin air, leaving the material plane.
"As if you had a say in the matter" his voice retorted as it faded away.
After a moment of stillness, the Master Chief walked up to the captain's chair, inserting Cortana into the main network terminal. All across the vessel, the few remaining Black Sun holdouts found the environment turning against them, aiding the coalition soldiers now combing the vessel.
-SCENE BREAK-
Starshot Port Hangar
45 Minutes Later
The Phantom dropship settled into its dock, allowing the infiltration teams to disembark. Before they could do anything, a corpsman came running up.
"Hey!" he shouted. "You guys! I need to show you something! Follow me!"
So now, everyone found themselves following the excitable young corpsman, leading them to the primary medical bay. Along the way, they found several injured soldiers being tended to, along with a handful of occupied body bags. He led them to the ICU waiting area.
"What's this about, corpsman?" York asked.
"Okay" the man replied. "So, while you guys were fighting up at the top level, we were making our way up in your wake, clearing out any Black Suns you missed. That's where we found him. He'd lost a lot of blood, and when we got to him his heart had juuust stopped beating. But his brain hadn't suffered oxygen deprivation damage yet, and his synapses, though slowing down, were still firing. …My point is, if we'd found him just minutes later than we did, it would've been too late."
He called up a holo-screen showing the interior of a room in the ICU, showing a certain pale-blond-haired man hooked up to monitors, bandages wrapped around his torso, a breathing mask on his face.
"Michael Caboose is alive. We saved him."
Church fell to his knees in disbelief and relief.
"…Thank God…" he whispered. "Oh, thank God, that lunkhead's still with us…"
"It was touch-and-go for a bit" said "Doc" DuFresne as he walked up, "but we pulled it off. Good thing I had recent experience treating those kinds of wounds thanks to Donut."
"Gee, you're welcome" Donut replied with snark. "Should I get myself shot again so you can have more practice?"
"Can we see him?" Tucker asked.
"He's probably gonna be out-cold for the rest of the day" the corpsman replied. "Once he's up, we'll let you know."
Marie showed similar joyous relief to the Blues, allowing herself to sink into a nearby chair. Teana let out a sigh of relief as she took off her helmet, allowing her butt-length red-orange hair to flow free.
"…How the hell do you fit all that inside your helmet, anyway?" Grif asked.
"Magic" Teana replied.
"Infiltration teams," Col. Holland said over a nearby terminal, "now that you've found out your friend's still alive, please report to the debriefing room. I know some of you will file after-action reports later, but after hearing confirmation of nether-realm interference I wanna hear the details from you all personally."
"Affirmative, sir" Teana replied. "On our way."
-SCENE BREAK-
Starshot Medical Bay
Next Day – 855 hours
"Knock, knock"
"Yeah, who's there?"
"It's us, Caboose"
"'It's us, Caboose' who?"
"No, I mean… Ugh."
"That's not a very funny joke, Church."
The hospital door opened, revealing Caboose sitting in the bed. Church and Tucker walked in, the latter carrying a tray, checking out their teammate, who still looked a tad pale and was still wrapped in bandages, but was otherwise his usual self.
"Look, Church!" he said as he held up a tiny purple… thing.
"What is that?" Tucker asked.
"Y'know how the first time I got shot, a few years back, they gave me a Purple Heart? Well, this time, besides another one they also gave me this Purple Lung! I'm one step closer to getting that Purple Person I've wanted!"
Church couldn't help but laugh. Yep, definitely his usual self.
"Ooh, are those Mickey Mouse-head pancakes? Yay!"
In another room, Teana, Washington, North, and Ginga sat; the two Freelancers' helmets were off.
"So much stuff's happened in the past week, it's insane" Wash remarked.
"How do you think I feel?" North said. "I came back from the dead!"
"How's Theta settling in?" Ginga asked.
"He seems to be doing fine" North replied. "A little shy, but he's getting used to it all. Cortana seems to be taking him under her wing a little. And he was quick to see Church as a big brother."
"I still say we should've killed those Black Suns who surrendered" Wash mused.
North looked at him. "Jeez, David. What the hell happened to the bright and cheery naïve Wash I knew?"
"…You know damn well what happened."
"…Yeah. Yeah I do."
"The captured Black Sun personnel have promised potentially vital information in exchange for their lives" Cross Mirage stated. "They are more useful alive."
"For now" Teana added.
"So what," Wash said jokingly to Mirage, "does that mean that if I outlive my usefulness you'll just stand back and watch me die? Seriously, though, promise me you're not gonna end up like those crazy AIs in old sci-fi."
"I'm sorry, Dave" Mirage replied. "I'm afraid I can't do that."
Everyone went quiet. Teana arched an eyebrow at her Device, while Wash (having seen that old flick as a kid) backed away slowly.
"That was a joke" Mirage stated.
"Fuckin' AIs…" Wash muttered.
In yet another room, a more serious conversation was taking place between two ex-Freelancers.
"I was just trying to keep my status," Carolina said angrily, "but you always tripped me up! Every single time, you always outdid me, made me look week and ineffectual, like I couldn't do anything right when you got involved!"
"I was never trying to outdo you!" Texas replied. "I never wanted to! I was just doing my job! I didn't want to outdo or overthrow or overshadow you, Carolina! I didn't see you as a rival; I saw you as a comrade! I even tried to help you whenever I could! When we were going after C.T. and you got pinned by those gunners, I was trying to clear a path for you guys. When the Director ordered that you be left to suffer when Eta & Iota went nuts in your head, I disobeyed his orders and sedated you. When I came to rescue Alpha, I tried to convince you of how far the Director had fallen, that I was trying to do the right thing! You were the second-best Freelancer operative, and the best actual human operative! And towards the end, when I learned what I was, I realized you were also the closest thing I had to a sister!"
Carolina reeled back. "W-What? What do you mean, sister?-!"
Texas sighed. "You know that I'm an AI, right? What you don't know is that I was created based on the memory of Allison, the Director's girlfriend… and your mother. I came from her; essentially, she's my mother, too. For all intents and purposes, I'm her daughter, just like you. …When I saw the Meta throw you over that cliff, I was heartbroken. I'd just found out I had family, and I wasn't fast enough to save them from death. I spent the rest of my life trying to track down the Director, to get revenge for what he did to me, to Alpha, to York, and to you. And though I don't have it now, in my last life I had a… default; a curse, if you will. It ensured that whenever something important was on the line, I would always fail at the last, critical moment. Because of that, I failed to save you, I failed to find the Director, I failed to stop The Meta at Snowbound…"
She slumped down.
"I'm sorry, Mick. I'm sorry."
Carolina was silent, her helmet hiding her expression. Finally, she spoke.
"This is… a lot to digest" she said softly. "A lot to look over… A sister… I need to think…"
"…Take all the time you need."
Tex's head moved up, looking at Carolina as she removed her helmet.
"I can't promise that it'll be right between us for a long time," Carolina said, "but… maybe we can try starting over…"
"…Okay" Tex replied. "We can give that a try."
"We'll see where this takes us… sis."
-SCENE BREAK-
Later That Day
Gamma and Sigma Teams walked into the bridge. "You wanted to see us, sirs?" Teana said to the ship's two commanding officers.
"Indeed" Shipmaster Zhal Arum replied. "We have determined where our Mysterious Foe may likely attempt to meddle next… and thus, where we must soon depart for."
"Earth in Dimension NGE-79" Col. Holland said. "Your home Earth, Ms. Kirishima."
Mana looked up. "I see…" she said with uncharacteristic quietness. "Y-You're sure?"
"Yes. They're heading there soon. …Don't worry; you won't be facing what's waiting there along."
"Plus," Teana said, "your cybernetics have been upgraded; NHIS can't touch you anymore. And if they try, well…"
"We 'touch' them back" Aqua finished.
Mana took a slow, deep breath. "Alright…" she said. "When do we leave?"
"We enter slipstream space in a few hours" Arum replied. "We should arrive at our location midday tomorrow."
"What about the Blood-Gulchers, and Lancer Squad?" Teana asked.
"They've all chosen to join the UNSC proper" Holland replied. "They're going to be joining us for this next op."
"Okay… I might as well go find them and let them know what's coming."
-SCENE BREAK-
Orbit over Dolus
Three Hours Later
Space-time parted as the Starshot entered the void of inter-dimensional slipspace. Aboard the vessel, Mana stared out at the stars.
"Ikari, Ayanami, Sōryū…" she muttered. "I'm coming back…"
-SCENE BREAK-
Unknown Location
Planet Dolus
(MUSIC: Red vs. Blue OST – "(When) Your Middle Name Is Danger")
He was dying. A once-powerful transhuman titan now lay, broken and forgotten. The icy water that enshrouded him preserved him, protected his core systems from death, but even that could only hold off the reaper's scythe for so long. Now, at long last, his life-force was slowly leaving him.
"YOU ARE BROKEN…"
In his slowly fading consciousness, he heard the otherworldly voice, and agreed with it. He had been broken.
"YOU WERE STRONG, BUT YOU WERE OUTMATCHED – NOT STRONG ENOUGH. YOU ARE BROKEN… BUT I CAN FIX YOU."
Fix him, he thought? How? He was minutes away from death.
"PLEDGE YOURSELF TO ME, AND I SHALL RESTORE YOU STRONGER THAN BEFORE. AND YOU WILL BE ABLE TO BREAK THOSE WHO HAVE BROKEN YOU."
Revenge. Power. This entity promised him the two things that he wanted most in life, the things that focusing on had kept him alive for this long.
"BECOME MY CHAMPION, MY WARRIOR, AND MY POWER SHALL BE YOURS."
The Other offered. And he accepted.
At the base of an icy cliff, a floating chunk of ice drifted. Nearby, the twisted hulk of a wrecked Pelican, fallen over the edge, gathered snow and ice. A hand, clad in white armor and shrouded in a faint, pitch-black aura, reached up out of the near-frozen water and grabbed hold of the edge of the ice float, accompanied by a feral snarl.
-BOOK 12 END-
Next book: we go to the Evangelion-verse.