Red vs. Blue - What If?

Carolina Died (S13E11) - Chapter 4

Staff of Charon (RvBluniverse-57)

Upon his arrival aboard the Staff of Charon, Sharkface was quick to get off the Pelican. Surely enough, the U.N.S.C.'s chairman, Malcolm Hargrove, was waiting for him. The man extended an arm to the return of his strongest soldier. "It is good to see you again, Terrance."

"Likewise, Malcolm," Sharkface accepted Hargrove's hand, grinning under his helmet.

"Come, walk with me," Hargrove gestured, heading out the room. Sharkface followed close behind. As the duo began walking through the twisting hallways of the ship, they occasionally looked out the window to the tiny planet below. "As you are aware, Chorus has been my mission for quite a long time. It has valuable resources, thanks to the temples. If we can control the resources, future conflicts with alien species will be child's play. What if the Covenant comes back to attack Earth? What happens when someone like Ur-Didact comes for another ancient artifact? We must be prepared."

"The Temple of Arms would give us stronger weaponry. Hybrids based on research could be more powerful than anything we could make. The Temple of Bountiful Harvest would help feed the military a hundred times over," Sharkface reasoned. "And if we could find out how The Purge works, we could reverse engineer it into our own, personal weapon."

"Precisely. We could finally be at the top of the food chain again. I like the way you think. I've tried reasoning with the inhabitants of Chorus. I offered to help them when their planet was prosperous, and I asked for the temples in return. However, they claimed they wanted the temples untouched for... 'tourism reasons,'" Hargrove said disgustedly. "I stopped contacting them. If they were ungrateful for my support, I wouldn't offer it."

"But war broke out."

"And then they begged me for the help they once turned down. I ignored them, and it gave me the opportunity I needed to research the temples in secret. Three years. That is how long the war has been going on. Truthfully, they have had every opportunity to end the war in the past, but both leaders are too stubborn. They don't realize they are the only ones to blame for the war lasting over a year. Yes, Chorus is small, but it is large enough to support them as two nations."

"Hasn't anybody come up with that idea, though?"

"You'd be surprised at how idiotic some people can be. They want total control, not peace. Plus, I couldn't have peace happen quite yet; we're still learning about the temples. I hired Locus and Felix because of past experiences. They would prolong the war as long as possible so I could research the temples."

"The lives of a planet to potentially save the lives of humanity. It's a no-brainer," Sharkface agreed. "Of course, some of the hundreds of billions don't deserve to live, like Project Freelancer's goons."

"Unfortunately, Locus and Felix have failed their duties. This forced a war against us. We needed help, so I redirected the Tartarus to Chorus, giving us more men. You. And you, specifically, have become a key player. In such a short time, you've taken out their strongest soldier and helped to defeat three more of its so-called 'heroes.'"

"Things are about to get harder for me, aren't they?"

"No, more fun. Do you remember Agent Maine, the brute from Freelancer who stole our Covenant Weapon before we could make the modifications?"

"Yeah, the behemoth who took three bullets to the neck and still walked away. Freelancer's ripoff of me."

"When his A.I. achieved the metastability stage, Maine lost control and began targeting other freelancers. He became the 'Meta.' Stealing other freelancers' gear and AI became his primary objectives. The reports claim he wanted more power."

"What's this got to do with me?"

"When the Reds and Blues killed him and took down the Director, Maine's armor became our property once again. We've been studying it in secret," Hargrove stopped outside a door. He placed his eye in front of the retinal scanner, allowing the door to unlock. The two entered the dark room, with the door closing behind them. A single light shone from the center of the ceiling. "Part of the incentive to do well on Chorus was getting this armor as a form of field-testing and personal use. But you succeeded where they failed. FILSS?"

"Yes, Chairman?" a female voice asked monotonously, almost tired.

"Bring up the suit."

"Yes, Chairman," the voice sighed. A panel on the floor opened as a pillar appeared. When the side opened, it revealed the brute's armor.

"This is the future of modern warfare," he explained. "With this and the Temple of Arms, we could make our very own Master Chief, who could even rival the legend. And because of your success, I believe you are our prime candidate."

"Poetic. He takes my weapon, I take his suit."

"Well, not exactly. While you are tall, I can already tell you won't fit into his armor. However, we can transfer the remaining enhancements from his suit into yours. You will become a one-man army."

"I like the sound of that."

"I warned Locus and Felix, however. The equipment can be activated without an A.I. However, running multiple enhancements becomes significantly more taxing on the human mind, which is where the problem lies. Though, based on previous tests of yours, I believe that you may be capable of overcoming that issue. Your mental fortitude and resilience to any situation may render you unphased by this inconvenience. And if we were to try and restore the Epsilon Unit to its previous capabilities, it may prove useful if my theory is incorrect."

"What does the suit have that I don't?"

"A temporal distortion unit, which allows you to reverse time slightly—only you and the sword-wielders will remember—or to slow time down to a crawl. An active camouflage makes you invisible to the naked eye, unlike Agent Carolina's which only makes your armor blend in with your surroundings. It has an enhanced motion tracker, allowing you to see thermal imaging of those in range. A voice manipulator allows you to record, edit and send radio transmissions. Agent Maine only used this once, trying to get the Red Simulation Troopers to turn against the Blues and Washington. Finally, overshields are stronger versions of armor-locking; perfectly capable of absorbing all oncoming kinetic energy and changing it into energy your armor can use."

Sharkface walked up to the suit of armor and traced it with a finger. He pictured freezing time, individually breaking every bone in Agent Washington's body, then resetting time to do it all over again. He could live in that moment forever without getting bored. The healing unit could keep him there indefinitely. He wished he could use the temporal distortion to go back to when the building collapsed and kill the freelancers back then. The death brought to his family was unfair, and he wanted to make things right. But he knew his first idea would have to do. "Of course, you will have to stay here and train while we see if you can truly handle multiple enhancements and to resurrect the Epsilon A.I. if possible. You will continue your sessions with Aiden Price as he helps you control your new weapons and become truly unstoppable."

Sharkface turned to face the chairman. Becoming "truly unstoppable" was music to his ears. He could inflict endless pain while surviving horrible wounds. If he could keep Carolina's strength boost and healing boost while occasionally running the overshield or temporal distortion units, he believed he could end the entire war by himself. "When do we start?"