Chapter 10: Frostbite
Disclaimer: I Don't Own Halo, Red Vs Blue or Any of their Respective Characters
A/N: I want to say thank you to all of my readers who have read this far. Um, in this chapter, lets see. The Chief, Dr. Halsey, the Reds and Blues, Cassie, and Mendez will embark on "Operation: Frostbite." They will possibly recover Cortana's data chip. The group will also encounter the new infected Spartan, dubbed "NS." A few chapters from now, you will learn the truth about Cassie, her past and one of her flashbacks will be revealed to the Chief in this chapter.
The Chief stood in the armory, readying himself for the numerous tasks ahead. He took a fully loaded Assault Rifle and a Shotgun. "You ready for this, Chief?" Tucker asked, walking up to him. "Oh, hell yeah," he said. "I'm going to Antarctica with one and only goal." Tucker readyied his Energy Sword, making sure it was operational, and shut it off. "And that is?" he asked. The Chief snagged a few fresh Fragmentation Grenades. "I prefer not to respond, soldier." he said, turning to Tucker. "You're not big on giving things away," Church said, walking into the UNSC Infinity's armory. "Are you, Chief?"
"Like I said," he replied turning to Church. "I don't have to tell you what I plan to do." Church stared at him. "Can you at least drop a hint?" Church asked. The Chief placed the Mark VII helmet on, immediately being exposed to an all new HUD. He saw the usual things, such as energy shield bar, his ammo count, etc. But also, there was a 3-D representation of him down in the right hand corner, detailing if he was wounded, if his armor was malfunctioning, etc. "I'm looking for something." he said. "Well," Tucker said, patting his shoulder. "We hope you find it. Right, Church?" Church turned to Tucker. "What?" he asked. "Oh, yeah! Yeah! We hope you find what you're looking for." They walked out of the armory. Yeah, the Chief thought. So do I.
NS
A light brown Spartan walked through the halls of the UNSC Infinity, with Active Camoflauge on. He had followed the Master Chief around the Infinity all morning, but kept himself at a distance. Once, throughout the whole morning, the Chief turned around, thinking he had seen him. The Spartan followed at a longer distance after that, and overheard him speaking to a light blue Spartan about going to the UNSC facility located in Antarctica. That's the facility you're going to be at, the Master's voice gurgled in his mind. "Yes, I know." the Spartan said, his voice barely above a whisper. The Spartan had closely watched the Chief for days on end after the events on Sidewinder. He had also watched the Red and Blue Spartans, although he didn't any interest in them.
John-117
"Church!" the Chief called, looking around for the cabolt Spartan. "Oh my God!" he heard Church say, from inside one of the rooms. "What?! Will you please quit yelling! I'm in here!" The Chief didn't like how the cabolt Spartan responded to his call. The Chief walked down the hall and into the room where Church sat, cleaning his Sniper Rifle. "What do you want?" Church grunted, angrily. The Chief frowned inside his helmet. "Can you be a little more rude, Church?" he asked. "Shut up, Chief!" he said, loading the Rifle. "What is wrong with you?" he asked. "What do you care, asshole?" he yelled at him. "Aren't you the one who just asked for no yelling?" the Chief asked, trying to keep his cool.
"Oh, shut up!" Church said. "Again, what do you want?" The Chief cleared his throat. "Are you ready yet?" he asked. Church looked up at him. "Can you just give a couple minutes?" he asked. The Chief shook his head. "Church, we don't have a couple minutes." The Chief heard rustling as Sarge walked in, loading his Shotgun. "Are we ready to go yet?" he asked. The Chief turned to the Spartan in Regulation Red Armor. "As soon as Sniper Church here gets ready." he told Sarge. Sarge looked at Church. "What's takin' so long, bluetard?" he asked. "Shut up, asshole!" Church exclaimed. The Chief sighed, and checked to see if his Assault Rifle was loaded. It was. "Church, we don't have all day." John said.
Church looked up at the Chief. "Fine!" he said, getting up. "Let's go." He and Sarge walked out of the room, Church right behind him. "Why are we going to this Arctic base?" Sarge asked him. "I have a goal." Was all the Chief said. "And that is?" Sarge asked. "Classified." Tucker said, running up to the three. "Thank you, Private Tucker." the Chief said, with noteable sarcasism in his voice. "Really?" he asked. "No, that's not a real thank you." the Chief exclaimed. "I could have easily have said it! No need to waste your breath!" Tucker grunted. "Thanks, Chief." he said, sarcistically. The Chief thought he saw something out of the corner of his eye. He turned his head to the source of the disturbance. "You okay, Chief?" Tucker asked. The Chief turned his head toward the Spartan in Aqua Armor. "Yeah," he said, continueing to walk with them. "Just thought I saw an Elite wearing Active Camo." Little did they know, he knew he saw... it. The shimmer in the air. Someone or something, was following them. He was sure of it.
...
The Chief sat down in the Pelican dropship next to Cassie, whom was bundled up in warm clothes. He loaded his Pistol, and placed it on his thigh, his new set of armor electrically "sticking" it to his thigh. His head was swimming with thoughts of who or whatever was following him. "Are you ok, Chief?" she asked him. He turned to Cassie. "I'm fine," he said. "I just have a bad feeling." Cassie looked at him. "If you're feeling sick, we can get you some medicine." The Chief shook his head. "No," he said. "Not that feeling. I just feel like someone or something was following me, while we were still on the Infinity."
"Oh, is the big bad Master Chief actually scared?" she asked, laughing. The Chief looked at her once more. "Don't make me laugh." he said. "Don't be harsh to my daughter, Chief." Dr. Halsey replied. Cassie looked up at the doctor. "I thought I wasn't your daughter?" she asked. "Ok, ok," Halsey said. "Adopted daughter, whatever." The Chief cleared his head, and banished the uneasy feeling that was growing in his gut. "Chief, what are you expecting when we get to that base?" Simmons asked. The Chief looked up at the Spartan. "Son, I honestly can't say." he said. "Why exactly am I coming along again?" Church asked.
"Because," the Chief said. "I need you for recon, Private Church." The Spartan shook his head. "Yeah... whatever." he grunted. "Why is your AI's data chip so important to you?" Cassie whispered to him. "I can't say." he said. "She's just..." His voice trailed off, and he lost his train of thought. "She's just what, Chief?" she asked. He just sat there, trying not to think of... her. The AI that he knew, had cared for him. Could AI's care for a person? It seemed like Cortana had cared about him. Cassie snapped her fingers in front of his faceplate. "Leave him alone, Cassie." Dr. Halsey said. "Let him be." The Chief heard Grif clear his throat. "What are we doing again, Sarge?" he asked. "Put a cork in it, Fast Eddie." Sarge grunted.
The Pelican had just left the Infinity, and was on it's way to Earth's orbit. The Chief snapped out of his thoughts, and readied his Assault Rifle, taking it off his back. He made sure that the Rifle was fully loaded, which it was, and sat back. "Chief, how long is this going to take?" Tucker asked. The Chief looked at the Spartan. "Kid, don't worry about that." he said. "You're going to be here a while." The Spartan had spent a lot of time with Cassie in the last week, and they'd gotten to know each other, if possible. "Now entering Earth's orbit." the pilot said.
"Get ready, everyone." the Chief said. The Chief felt something as the Pelican fell into Earth's orbit. As the ship entered Earth's orbit, the Chief thought he saw "it" shimmering in the air, but a second later, it was gone. The Chief narrowed his eyes, and tried not to think about it. "Touchdown in twenty!" the pilot yelled over the roar of the engine. The Chief signaled to his crew, as they got their weapons ready. Twenty seconds later, the Pelican touched down on the snow. The pad opened up, and touched down on the ice and snow. "Ok," the pilot said. "This is as far as I can bring you. The guards of the place could have noticed us."
The Spartans walked off the Pelican, with Mendez, Halsey and Cassie right behind them. "That's ok, Crewman." Mendez said. Church changed seats, and looked at the Spartans. "I'll have the pilot stay here, and I'll provide intel, and all that good stuff, and we'll take off if things get too heated." The Chief nodded, and turned to his crew as the dropship closed. "Ok, we're going to split into three groups, and all of us will find seperate routes into the base." The group nodded. "Mendez, Halsey, Cassie, and Sarge," he said. "You're a group." They nodded, and got together. "Let's see," he continued. "Simmons, Grif, Carolina, and Wash. You're another group."
Simmons let out a groan. "Do I really have to go with this idiot?" he asked. "Are you complaining?" the Chief asked. Simmons groaned, and sighed. "No." he said. "Ok," the Chief said. "Tucker, Caboose, and Donut. You're with me." Caboose started jumping up and down. "Yay!" he exclaimed, with excitement. "Are we going to have a sleepover?" The Chief shook his head. "Just ignore him," Tucker said. "That's what I do." The Chief lifted his head. "Ok, let's move out!" he exclaimed. He and his team ran towards the west of the facility.
"So, what are we going for?" Tucker asked, as they ran. "We're going to find a way in, and hopefully not attract any unwanted attention." They continued running toward the facility, and stopped. "Look!" Donut said. "Sleeping people!" The Chief looked at the bodies, which had been ripped into, with it looked like with bullets and plasma? "This isn't right," the Chief said, getting on one knee, examining the bodies. "These guys were killed by humans and the Covenant." He looked at their uniforms, and that's what frightened him. On their uniforms, it labeled them as UNSC operatives. But that's not what scared him. Their bodies had a lightish gray and green tint to their skin.
"Is it hypothermia?" Tucker asked. "I don't think so," the Chief said. "It looks like these men were killed by their own sides, and/or killed by Covenant forces. The question is, if they were killed by UNSC forces, then why?" That's when he heard quiet footsteps behind him, thanks to his Spartan "reflexes." He quickly turned around, and kicked the person off their feet, and she landed on her back in the snow. The Chief leveled his Rifle to Cassie's face. After realizing who it was, he lowered his Rifle and helped her up. "Jesus Christ," he said, as she gripped his gloved hand. "Don't scare me like that. Why aren't you with your group?"
"Dr. Halsey said that I should come with you," she said, brushing herself off. "Something about being protected." Tucker stepped forward. "I guess you're really important to her." he said. "Shut up." she grumbled, frowning. It was clear to the Chief that Cassie extremely disliked Tucker, and this wasn't the one that she had feelings for. "Ok," the Chief said. "Just keep up." He went back to examining the bodies. He noted the tint to their skin. "Could the Flood be here...?" he whispered to himself. He got up and took out his Assault Rifle, and looked around. "Whoa," Tucker said. "What's wrong?" The Chief grunted a response. "New plan," he said. "Fire at anyone first, ask questions later."
Tucker took out his Energy Sword and turned it on. They kept walking in the same direction. "Chief?" he heard Church's voice over his radio. He activated his external radio system. "Go ahead, Church. We're listening." He heard Church clear his throat. "I just wanted to tell you guys to be careful," he said. "I managed to hack into the facility's cameras, and there are a lot of dead bodies. Looks like most of the staff have been killed." This sent a rare chill down the Chief's spine. "Thank you, Private Church." he said. "We'll stay in contact." He continued to walk towards the compound, but more slowly. "Chief," Tucker said. "What could have killed all of the staff?" The Chief turned to Tucker. "I don't know," he said. "But now, I have a bad feeling in the pit of my stomach."
Simmons
"I can't believe the Chief paired me with this idiot." Simmons groaned. "Oh, quit your complaining," Carolina said. "Or I'll slit your throat while you're asleep." That shut Simmons up. "You didn't have to be so rude about it." Washington said. "Oh, shut up Wash!" Grif said. "I wasn't talking to you, Grif!" he said. They continued walking until they saw the first bodies. Washington got on his knees, and examined the bodies. "Three dead Covenant tangos." he replied, getting back up. "What happened?" Carolina asked. "I have no idea." Washington asked.
"Looks like they were killed by their own side?" he asked. "That's weird." Simmons said. "No kidding," Washington said. "Thanks for the update, Simmons!" Simmons looked at the alien bodies. "Something here doesn't feel right." he said. "How'd you figure that out?" Grif asked. "Well, face it," Simmons said, looking at his orange teammate. "They were killed by their own side, but why?" Grif just looked at him. "Well," he said. "I guess that makes sense." Washington and Carolina walked off, and Simmons and Grif followed.
All of a sudden, a trio of machine gun bullets fired into the snow. "Fuck!" Washington said, dodging the shots. "Take cover!" Simmons was confused. "Take cover where?!" he screamed, dodging bullets. "Good point!" Grif said. "You're god damned right it is!" Carolina screamed, doding and looking for the source of the fire. "Now look for the shooter!" Simmons was even more confused now. "I don't want to die!" Grif said, as he and Simmons continued to dodge bullets. "Grif," Simmons said. "Hand me your Sniper Rifle!" Grif looked at him. "Why?!" he screamed over the noise. "Just do it!" he screamed, almost getting shot.
Grif threw him the Sniper Rifle, and he loaded it. He looked through the scope, and looked around for the guy who was firing at them. "There he is!" Simmons said, putting his recticle over his head. "Say good night, buddy." He pulled the trigger, and saw the man's head explode. "He's gone." Simmons said. "Good shot, Simmons!" Grif said. "Yeah, yeah, whatever." he grunted.
Sarge
"I still don't know what you're talking about," Mendez said, as they neared the rear entrance of the base. "I'm telling you guys, I just heard multiple machine gun rounds go off." The two shook their heads. "Whatever, Sarge." Dr. Halsey said. "Ok, we're at the door. Now all I have to do is hack into the facility's systems, and get the door open." Sarge turned around, and raised his Shotgun, just in case. After a few seconds, the door opened. "That was weird." Dr. Halsey said, standing up. "What?" Sarge asked, turning around. "What's weird?"
"Well," she said. "There was no interference. Nothing. Not even interference from AI based within the facility Something doesn't feel right." Sarge pointed his Shotgun to the open door, and into the darkness beyond. "Well," he said. "Ladies first." Mendez looked at Sarge. "No, no, no," he said. "That's not how it works. We go first, we have to protect her." Sarge looked at the CPO. "Why?" he asked. "Why is she so important?" Mendez didn't respond. They walked into the dark, and turned on the flashlights on the barrels of their firearms. "Just follow orders, Sarge." Mendez said, as they scanned the dark room for anything.
They looked around the room, and they saw a dead marine slumped against the wall. "This isn't right," Mendez said, as he examined the body. "What happened here? Is the whole facility like this?" The Sergeant looked around for a door. He found one, and saw it had been slammed open. "Doe's that catch your attention?" he said, pointing to the destroyed door. Mendez turned to the door. "Yes," he said, walking to the door. "It certainly does." They looked through the door, to find a staircase that was lit by lamps in case of power outage.
"Where does this staircase go?" he asked. "Scanning," Dr. Halsey said, looking at the holographic map of the facility. "According to this map, that staircase goes down three levels." The Sergeant took a closer look at the staircase. He noticed a "stream" of dried bluish-black blood that went down the stairs. "New plan." the Sergeant said. "What's that?" Mendez asked. "We follow this trail of dried blood." he said pointing at the barely noticeable trail. "Yeah," Dr. Halsey said. "That seems like an idea. It's a lead, I'll give you that one."
They walked down the stairs, following the trail of blood. "Whose blood is it?" Mendez asked. "By my calculations?" Dr. Halsey said, following them. "This blood came from a Covenant Sanghelli." The Sarge remembered encountering the infected Elites on the Spirit of Fire, and he banished the thought. They rounded a turn, where they saw a huge hole in the wall. "Where are we going?" he asked, seeing that the blood trail went through the wall. "It looks like, into the main floor of the facility." Dr. Halsey replied. The trio walked through the wall, and emerged into a long hallway, lit by lamps that had came on when the power had been cut.
The trail of blood continued down the hall. "Seriously, what happened here?" Mendez asked. "Attempting to hack into the cameras." Dr. Halsey replied. They continued to follow the trail, and the Sarge noticed that the blood was starting to get a green color to it. It was faint, but it was there. "Why does the blood have a touch of green to it?" Sarge asked. "I have no idea," Mendez said, as they came across a door that had been smashed open, like the door up on the ground floor. They walked in, to see a light flashing on and off.
They walked around the room for a few seconds, before seeing a nearly dead UNSC Marine, with blood slowly dripping from his lips. Sarge was under the impression that the Marine was dead, but he opened fire with his pistol. The trio dodged the shots until he ran out of bullets, but he kept clicking the trigger, so Sarge figured the man had lost his mind. Mendez walked over to the marine. "Take it easy, son," he said, reaching to grab the gun. The marine hit the CPO with the gun. "Stay away from me, I know what you are!" The Sarge was confused. "Hey!" he said. "Just calm down, we want to help you!"
"Go to hell!" he said. "Stay away from me!" The CPO sighed. "Calm down soldier," he said, slowly. "What happened here?" The marine seemed to calm down a little. "It started when the abomination escaped it's holding cell," he started. "What's the abomination?" Dr. Halsey said. "That's just we call it," he said. "It's this big blue goliath that was born here, and it killed every-" His sentence was interrupted when someone shot him dead. The Sarge turned around, but didn't see anything. "What the hell?" he said. "Who killed him?" The CPO looked around. "I don't know," he said, leaving the room. "Let's just go."
A/N: Ok, so I lied. There was no flashback in this chapter, but I promise that it will come eventually. What do you think left the blood trail? What killed the marines? Find some of that out, plus who Cassie really is very soon!
