Chapter 19: 343 Guilty Spark

Disclaimer: I Don't Own Halo, Red Vs Blue or Any of their Respective Characters

A/N: Hello and welcome back to another long awaited chapter! First of all, I want to thank my readers. This story has gotten 17 Reviews, 40 Followers, 38 Favorites and on top of all that, 18,268 Views overall. That's amazing! Well, when you think about it, Halo plus Red Vs Blue is a recipe for success, but only if you do it right. And this story is obviously one of those cases. But anyway, in this chapter, maybe not coming from Epsilon, you'll know the truth about John-117. But anyway, I hope you do enjoy the chapter, and it'd be great if I could continue to get more favorites and followers for the story, that would be phenomenal! So, let's get into the chapter!

Doc

Doc was walking with Doctor Halsey, Caboose, Cortana and Mendez into in the halls of the UNSC Tartarus. "Mendez. Why are we here?" Doctor Halsey asked. "Oh, lot's of people ask that all of the time." Caboose answered for Mendez. "Here we go." Cortana said with a sigh. "Most of the responses are that almighty Gods created the universe in the palm of their hands and allowed our creation to expand the universe and that we all worship them for it." Caboose said. They all stopped walking and Mendez looked Caboose dead in the visor. "Soldier, where the bloody hell have you been?" he asked. "Oh, lots of places really. I've been to Blood Gulch, a tri-factory, a best friend store, a-" Mendez sighed, interrupting Caboose. "Forget it, soldier." he said. "Doctor-" he started, but Doc and Doctor Halsey both interrupted Mendez. "Which Doc?" they both asked, miserably failing to avoid laughing. "I was talking to Doctor Halsey, thank you Medical Officer DuFrense." Mendez said, turning to Doctor Halsey.

Doctor Halsey

"Why did you bring us here?" she asked. "Do you know what Tartarus is Doctor?" he asked, turning away from her. "Um, no. I never really researched the name." Doctor Halsey replied. "What does that have to do with us being here?" Mendez sighed, as he gripped his wrist behind his back. "I suppose you are not familair with the battle of the Greek Gods and Titans then. Well, the story goes that Kronos, the King Titan ate his children in fear that they would one day overthrow him. His wife Rhea hid baby Zeus, and he grew up in secret. One day, when Zeus was all grown up, he tricked Kronos into vomiting up his siblings who had been growing up in Kronos stomach, as they were immortal, using a mixture of mustard and wine. They then fought the Titans, eventually overthrowing them." Mendez said. "Kronos got the worst of it. He was cut into a thousand pieces with his own scythe. And he was cast into the worst prison in history. The depths of Tartarus, in the underworld." She shuddered, thinking she'd heard that multiple times. But she couldn't remember. "Tartarus... That's the uh, name of this cruiser isn't it?" she asked.

"Indeed it is." Mendez said. "And said cruiser, is a prison cruiser, isn't it?" Doc asked, trying to get into the conversation. "It is, my dear Medic." Mendez replied. "So, why are we here, then?" Doctor Halsey asked. "The informant who has information on the Flood and the Gravemind is imprisoned here, Doctor." Mendez said. "Now if there are no more questions, I'd like to get going." he said. "Wait, I have one more question." she said. Mendez let out an angry sigh as he turned around to face her. "What? Is it really that important to slow our progress?" he asked, in an angry tone. "Yes. It is." she said. He let out a angry sigh. "Fine. What is it?" he asked. "CPO Mendez, I must ask, you look the same as I saw you last on Reach in November of 2525." Mendez looked worried. He itched the back of his head. "DuFrense! Private Caboose! Cor-" Caboose interrupted him. "Hey! That's Former Captain of Blue Base Private Caboose!" Caboose said. "We're not playing this game, soldier." Mendez said. "All of you hold your positions. We'll be back in a few minutes." Mendez placed his hand on her back and walked with her around a corner, into a vacant hallway. "Okay, so you're so curious why I'm so young?" he asked. "Yes, I am." Doctor Halsey said. "I'm nearly sixty-five. And you don't look a day over fifty."

"Doctor, how old do think I am?" Mendez asked. She narrowed her eyes. "Well, I'd say you'd have to be at least eighty-two years old today." she said. Mendez let out a sad sigh. "Well, I'm afraid you are correct, dear Doctor. I am indeed eighty-two years old." he said. "B-but that's impossible!" she said. "You don't look a day over fifty!" Mendez let out another sigh. "Well, it's time you understand how I've been able to stay young for the past twenty-five or so years." he said. "Do you remember how I had a smoking habit?" Doctor Halsey stifled a laugh. "Habit? I don't know if I'd call it a habit, Mendez. It was more of an addiction." she said, giggling. "Yes, I suppose it was. Now, this next part I am taking very seriously. So, I don't want to see you smile or laugh. Nothing." he said. "The day I saw John-117 last, I started coughing a lot. At first, I just shrugged it off. But, it didn't stop. It only got worst. So, I went to the UNSC doctors for help. And on November 14th, 2525, I was diagnosed with Lung Cancer." Her eyes widened. "But that isn't possible, Mendez!" she said. "If you had Lung Cancer, you wouldn't even be here right now!" Mendez let out a sigh. "I went to the UNSC once I found out about my condition. They told me they'd help me as much as they could. Chemotherapy, radiation or surgery even if it came to that, they'd help me with anything that could defeat it."

"That doesn't explain why you look so young." she said. "The UNSC Doctors cured my Lung Cancer. I was grateful. So grateful, you wouldn't even know. And they told me I owed them. I wasn't going to pay in money. I owed them a life debt. They told me that I would work in service of the UNSC for all eternity, with no chance at retirement." he finished. "For all eternity? But how? You are eighty-two years old!" she said. Mendez let out another sad sigh. "The UNSC knew that my old age would become a problem. So, they decided to eliminate that from the equation." Mendez replied. "How did they do that?" she asked. "They used a experimental drug serum, a new and improved version of the drug used for Project Resurgence." he said. "You promised we'd never speak about that." Doctor Halsey interrupted, in an angry tone. "What, the Project?" he asked. "Yes, the project!" she hissed at him. "Catherine, I- Can I call you Catherine?" he asked. "No, you may not." she said. "You may call me Doctor Halsey or Doctor. Whatever works for you." Mendez heaved an angry sigh. "Look, the drug serum they gave me slows my aging at a dramatic rate. I could age forty or fifty years, and it would hardly be noticeable." he said. "But about the project, it's been thirty or so years. I think it went well!"

"You can't say that, Mendez. Freelancer Agent Eridanus wasn't even supposed to be allowed to meet the Red and Blue soldiers of Project Freelancer! And now, here he is, caught in the middle of their conflict. The Reds, Blues and former Freelancers shouldn't be allowed to meet their predecessors! There was supposed to be a way these things worked, CPO Mendez! He was supposed to end up in Blood Gulch and he was supposed to band together with these soldiers, and see if he could actually work with them. And, it's worked. But, what if he begans to find what his true purpose is?" Doctor Halsey rambled on for a good minute. "You think he really will learn about his creation and the reason for his service?" Mendez asked, a surprising hint of fear in his voice. "Mendez, I think he is already picking up on his creations. I think he is beginning to remember his days in Project Freelancer." she said. "Impossible, Doctor. We wiped Agent Eridanus's memory! He can't remember his past!" Mendez said. "Mendez, when we were on Reach, wiping the memories of Agent Eridanus and his squadron, there was a little bug." she said.

"A little bug? What little bug do you mean?" Mendez asked. "There was a malfunction in the memory wiping process." she said. "They may start to remember their past experiences in the program." Mendez sighed angrily. "We're not talking about this, Doctor." he said. "Let's get back to the mission." Mendez said, as he walked back around the corner to the rest of their company. "Well, that was a long talk. May I ask what it was about?" Doc asked. "No Medical Officer Dufrense, you may not." Mendez said as he walked past the medic. "Let's get moving people."

John-117

"And then I said, 'Hey baby, want to play Titanic? I say iceberg and you go down!' Bow-Chicka-Bow-Wow!" Tucker said, as Simmons and Grif helped him walk. Things weren't that different at the moment. John and his group were moving through the cave system beneath the canyon. "For the love of God, shut up!" Simmons said. "You're more annoying than my ex-girlfriend!" Grif turned to look at Simmons. "You had a girlfriend?" he asked. "No, you did. Oh wait, now I remember! You don't! The only thing close to a girlfriend you have is that annoying sister of yours!" Simmons exclaimed. "Hey, don't talk about my sister like that! She's the only family I had left and now she's dead!" Grif shouted angrily. "How can you be sure? We never found her body here when we got back from Chorus!" Grif let out an angry sigh. "Hey man, I would know if my sister were dead! I can feel it. She's gone!" he said. "What are you, physic?" Simmons asked. "So, where are the tunnels up to Red Base that you were talking about?" John asked, finally sick of their antics.

"It's on the other side of this big cave, sir!" Simmons said. "This cave was used to house the Virtual Intelligence Center. Or, V.I.C. as we called him, before we learned that our 'war' in Blood Gulch was nothing but a simulation." They all began to walk into the giant chamber, when John could of sworn he heard someone running. "Hey, I can walk now. You can let go." Tucker said. "Whatever you say Blue." Simmons said, as he and Grif pushed Tucker, causing him to fall. "Oh, that's good for the ribs. Thanks assholes." Tucker replied. "Don't mention it." Grif said. "Hey, did you guys hear that?" John asked. "Sounds like bats!" Grif said. "Or a snake." Simmons added. "Both of you, shut up!" Sarge said, as he lifted his Shotgun. "Don't fire till you see the Blue of their eyes!" That's when everything went to hell. "Wait, did you say Blue? Blue soldiers, maybe? Oh, son of a bitch." Simmons said. Just then, a group of four or five Blue Soldiers jogged past the Chief and his group. "Kill the Reds! Kill the Reds! Kill the Reds! Kill the Reds!" they all exclaimed as they jogged past.

Hold on, are these the soldiers that Sarge told me about a couple weeks ago? They all turned around, to see Simmons walking back the way they came. "Um, Simmons?" Grif asked. "I don't want to have to deal with this today." he said. "Simmons, get back here! That's an order!" John called. "God damn it." Simmons said, as he turned back around and started walking back to the group. "Okay, men. Here's what we do. Sarge will lead the way to the other end of the cave. Just ignore the Red and Blue Spartans that are fighting each other. I repeat, do not engage the enemy unless they engage you first!" Grif snapped to attention and saluted the Chief. "Aye, aye Sir!" he said. "Kiss-ass." Simmons muttered. "Okay, men! Move out! Go, go, go!" John said. Sarge began to jog, with Simmons, Grif, Donut, Tucker, Noble Six and John following behind, in a single file line. Everything was going great, until Tucker was shot at. "Ow! Motherfucker!" he growled in pain.

"Oh, it's on now." Sarge replied, as he cocked his Shotgun. "Sarge is right, men! You are authorized to engage!" John said. Sarge opened fire, as he, Grif and Simmons ran for Warthog that was just sitting out in the open. Sarge hopped into the drivers seat, and Grif spoke. "Shotgun!" he said. "God damn it." Simmons replied, as he took the gunner position on the jeep. The three Reds drove towards the Blue Spartans that had sprinted past them. "We got you now, you Blue bastards!" Simmons exclaimed, before firing the turret. Two of the six Blue Spartans were downed, while the other four took cover behind walls, rocks, anything that could be found. Noble Six ran over to a Red Spartan that came into their view. At the sight of Six's discolored armor, the Red Spartan could noticeably seen flinching. He raised his Magnum. "I'm warning you to back off!" he said. Noble Six regarded the Soldier. "Do you want to see something really scary?" he asked, in a cold voice. Noble Six took off his helmet, revealing his Flood infected face. The Red soldier let out a scream of fear and ran off, waving his arms about. Six just laughed, as he aimed at him and gunned him down.

The Chief took the time to take cover by a boulder. He saw movement from behind him on his motion tracker, and he quickly grabbed a SMG lying on the cave floor to his left. He cocked it and moved out from cover. He was looking at three Red soldiers. "Hiya fellas." he said. "Who's first?" The three Red Spartans looked at eachother and then back at John. "Charge!" they all cried, as they ran foward, firing their various weapons. John opened fire on them, killing them in a matter of seconds. He dropped the SMG and took out his Assault Rifle. He heard someone activate an Energy Sword behind him and he turned around to see Tucker standing behind him. "Hey, Chief! That was pretty badass!" he said. John allowed himself to grin a little bit underneath his helmet. "What can I say?" he said, as he shrugged. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw that one of the Red's was moving, after presumably being killed. "I learned from the best." he said, as he fired at he Red soldier, killing him this time. "Hrrrk! Bleh..." the Red let out a dying groan. "Come on, let's go find you friends and dispose of the rest of these rogues." the Chief said. "They're not really my friends, they're more like frenemies. Or acquaintances." Tucker said. "Whatever, Private Tucker. Come on." John said, as he ran off.

Epsilon-Church

"Cover me, Tucker. I'm going in." Church replied. "Are you sure that this is a good idea, Church?" Tucker asked. "Tucker, I'm an AI! Of course I think it's a good idea!" Church said. "Okay then. Go for it Church!" Tucker said. Church left his robot body and merged with the Master Chief's sleeping form. When he got inside the Chief's head, he was surrounded by nothing but white light, unlike Caboose's head. "I wonder what's going on in his head?" Church asked himself. "You shouldn't be here." a female voice spoke from behind him. If Church still had legs, he would have jumped. He turned around, to see a glowing blue female AI. The weird thing is, was that she was naked! Well, that's the way Church thought she looked. There were black stripes running all over her light blue form and it also looked like she had short, black hair. Well, short for a female anyway. "I didn't mean to frighten you if I did, Epsilon." the AI said. "How do you know my name?" Church asked. "Is it really something to question? Who do you think I am?" she asked, in a gentle tone.

A dozen thoughts ran through Epsilon's head all at once. But, all of his thoughts narrowed down to one possibility. "You're Cortana, the Master Chief's AI. Aren't you?" he asked. She smiled. "Your intelligence is great, for knowing that without hints." Cortana said. "Thank you for referring to him as Chief and not using his name." Church was confused. "How are you here?" he asked. "The Chief told us that you had been destroyed." Cortana's smile faded, replaced by a sad look. "You are correct. But also incorrect." she said. "I was destroyed. But I was able to leave one final copy of myself in the recesses of the Chief's brain. He just doesn't know I'm still here." Church was curious. "Can you tell him you are still here?" Church asked. Cortana shook her head. "I'm afraid not. I only have so much energy, and it's nearly impossible for me to activate the AI chip in his neural interface without damaging me or shutting myself down. And I'm slowly fading. I won't always be here." she said. "So, as much as I want to stay here and talk with you, you must leave. I won't be here much longer." Church nodded. "Okay." he said, as he left.

...

Epsilon-Church

"Epsilon! Are you there?" Carolina's voice rang out. Epsilon's vision flickered and he finally awoke. "Yeah. I'm here." he said, as he reappeared in front of Carolina, Tex and Washington. "Are you okay?" Washington asked. "I think so." Church said. "What happened?" Tex asked. "I told you. I've been running slowly lately." he said. "And you're not worried." Carolina said. "No. Should I?" he asked. Carolina shrugged. "So, you said something about John-117 before we lost you. Ring any bells?" Tex asked. "Yeah. He's a fake. John-117 is a fake. And one of us, too. No less." Church said. "What do you mean he's a fake?" Carolina asked. "And that he's one of us?" Washington added. "Well, his entire military history has been staged. I pulled all of this from his file. Sure, all the augumentations and stuff they did to him, that's real. But his entire military history was planned before all of this happened to him. And he's a freelancer like us. Freelancer Agent Eridanus to be exact." Church said. "Seriously?" Carolina asked, in a shocked voice. "Seriously, you can read the file for yourself." Church said. Before Carolina could respond, Washington stepped in. "We have no time. Save that file and the Freelancer files to a drive and eject it." he said. "Roger that." Church said, as he went through the process of transfering. "Done and done." Washington stepped forward and grabbed the chip.

"Okay, let's get out of here!" Washington said. Church left the computer terminal and got back into his robotic body. Once Church was back up, the four of them began to jog back through the dark hallways of the abandoned base. Once they got outside, they were welcomed with a unwelcome surprise. Dozens of Flood Combat forms and Carrier Forms were standing outside waiting for them. "Fuck, it's the Flood! They must have tailed us here! Open fire!" Washington said, as he got his Battle Rifle ready. They all began to open fire on the advancing Flood Forms, with the exception of Church, as he stood there, beginning to question what was happening. "Church!" Washington said. "What's wrong? Open fire!" His shouts brought him to his senses, and he began to open fire on the Flood.

Doctor Halsey

Doctor Halsey waited while Mendez spoke with the Marines guarding the door to the cell that he was wanting to get into. She waited some more, and finally Mendez walked back over to them. "Okay, we've been granted clearance. Let's move in." he said. The five of them walked into the cell, which was more like a big room. There was a single terminal on the wall at the end of the room, and they followed as Mendez approached it. "Construct!" Mendez barked. "Are you there?" After a few seconds, the terminal came to life and lit up blue. "Hello. I am 343 Guilty Spark, monitor of Installation 04, how may I service you today?" the AI asked. "You have information that we need, Spark. But first we need to bust you out." Mendez asked. "A jailbreak? How enticing!" 343 Guilty Spark said. All of a sudden, it's as if Cortana had gone rampant again. Cortana grabbed Caboose's Assault Rifle from him and ran over to the terminal, and pointed the Rifle at it. "Cortana, don't!" Mendez exclaimed, walking over to her.

"You killed Sergeant Avery Johnson!" Cortana ignored Mendez, as she kept the Rifle trained on Spark. "And you tried to kill John-117!" 343 Guilty Spark didn't respond for a second. "Yes. You are correct." the AI beeped. "But that was a long time ago. There is no need to hold a grudge." Cortana remained where she was. "Yes, there is a need." she said, as she pulled the trigger. A blast of confetti burst out of the barrel of the Assault Rifle, while the sound of a party horn accompanied it. Doc began to laugh. "I get to drive the float! And Cortana is in charge of confetti!" he said, struggling to stop laughing. "Oh, shut up!" Cortana said, as she threw the Rifle back to Caboose, who caught it. "Why does that thing fire confetti, anyway?" It shocked all of them, except for Doc and Caboose, when the Rifle actually spoke. "Anyone who attempts to use this Rifle does not have the proper clearance. So, naturally, when they pull the trigger, I will fire confetti. I have all the control." the AI in the Rifle spoke. "Good job, Freckles." Caboose replied. "Thank you, Captain Caboose." the AI named Freckles said.

Mendez walked foward and removed Spark's AI chip from the terminal. "We're going to place you inside of a Sentinel body recovered from the Ark." Mendez said. "Affirmative." 343 Guilty Spark said, as his data chip glowed blue. They all jogged out of 343 Guilty Spark's holding cell. "Now we just have to get off of of this boat!" Mendez said, as they jogged. "I'm going to radio ahead to the Master Chief!" Cortana said. "Okay, you do that!" Halsey remarked. "Yes, okay! Tell Mister Chief that I said hi!" Caboose chimed in. Cortana ignored him, as she activated her radio headpiece. "Master Chief John-117 come in." she said over the radio. After a few seconds, there was a response. "I read, Cortana." the Chief said. "Have you retaken Blood Gulch?" Cortana asked. "Negative, Cortana, negative!" the Chief said. "We are experiencing a great amount of Flood resistance." There was a sound of an explosion. "Damn! I got to go, Cortana! I'll radio to you soon!" the Chief said, before the radio cut out.

"Mendez, the Master Chief has told me that he and his men are encountering high Flood resistance back at Blood Gulch." Cortana replied. "Damn." Mendez replied. "Okay, here's what we're going to," Mendez began to speak. "We're going to advance to the Tartarus's armory, retrieve the Sentinel body, insert Spark into the Sentinel and then we dust off to Blood Gulch, and aid our allies there. Understand?" There were no complaints from Cortana or anyone else. "Alright." Mendez replied. "Then let's go to work."

A/N: I hope you enjoyed the chapter. It took a while to finish, so again, I hope you enjoyed. Did you guys like the cameo from the Red and Blue "Grunts" or "Zealots"? I really enjoyed writing that scene, so I hoped you enjoyed it. I hate to say it, but in the next chapter, someone will die. Also, what do you think of John-117's military career being staged? And him being a Freelancer? I'd like to say this isn't supposed to be canon with books, graphic novels. It is also not canon with anything after Halo 4 or Halo 5: Guardians. Again, I do hope you enjoyed this chapter, as always, please leave me a favorite and/or follow. If you want to submit your opinion, than leaving a review or sending me a PM is how you would do that. There will be seven or so more chapters after this one, so the story will soon be over and I will be working on the sequel hopefully soon. You won't be getting any more chapters for at least a week and a half, as I hope to finish the story in said time. You will get sort of a "teaser" chapter hopefully on Christmas Eve, and you will get the final chapters on Christmas day (as a thank you for reading thus far and not all of the chapters will be uploaded at the same time) and hopefully, the sequel will come in early 2017. So, as it has come to that time again, thanks for reading, stay tuned and await more!