Assault (Red vs Blue)

36: The Last Stand, Pt. 1

36: The Last Stand, Pt. 1

Present Day: The Temple of the Purge (The planet Chorus)

Carolina stood at the start of the hardlight bridge with Washington, staring at the looming alien structure in front of them. They'd been dropped at the temple roughly ten minutes ago; so far, there hadn't been any other activity. It was obvious the mercenaries hadn't arrived yet — everyone would be dead already if they had. And there hadn't been a smug radio broadcast from Felix to alert everyone of Charon's victory, so they were still in the clear. Though, at this point, Carolina didn't think the mercenaries were looking to end things on Chorus to please the Chairman. Somehow, the fight felt more personal.

"Just standing here looking at it, it doesn't seem like this simple structure has the ability to kill all life on the planet," Wash commented. "It's kind of an intimidating thought knowing we're the only things standing between Locus and Felix getting inside to activate it."

"We're up for it," Carolina assured him. "You and I have been up against tougher opponents in worse situations over the course of our military careers."

The other freelancer looked at her. "Have we? Because I'm pretty sure facing off against two highly skilled mercs while guarding a temple that houses the ability to kill everyone on the planet tops my list of tough fights."

Carolina just shook her head. "You're psyching yourself out; you always did have a bad tendency to do that before big battles. You and I have gone up against Locus and Felix before and came out alive. We've got this."

"I'd feel more confident in that if we had access to our A.I.s. Or maybe if York and Tex had been dropped off closer to us. I don't like having any added security."

"York and Tex couldn't be dropped off any closer — it'll be hard enough keeping ourselves hidden, and there's only two of us. Trying to keep four of us out of sight would be almost impossible here; this is a shockingly small temple for how much destruction it can cause. Besides, they're securing the outer perimeter. We can't count on the mercs to not play dirty. If they bring back up, York and Tex will be on it. Plus they're supposed to be serving as lookouts. And it's strange hearing you say that you wish we could use our A.I.s. You know, all things considered."

"I've gotta admit, having Epsilon this time around hasn't been bad. The fact that he's a more stable unit now might have a little something to do with that. Turns out he can actually be pretty helpful when he's not unraveling inside your head."

"I would imagine. And be happy you didn't have him when he had his full Church personality — he would've drove you insane. Now let's get up to the temple and get ourselves hidden."

The two freelancers took off, moving quickly to get across the bridge and to the platform the temple sat on. It seemed rather fitting that the Temple of the Purge was located in what looked to be an area that had once experienced volcanic activity. The sky was tinted red, and the lightning that ripped through the clouds glowed the same color. Steam rose from the cracks in the ground and from the canyon the temple sat in the middle of. Two rows of platforms floated above their heads, circling the temple in opposite directions. Carolina found herself already thinking of ways to try and use them to their advantage during the fight.

When they reached the temple's platform, Carolina and Wash separated, one hiding in the shadows on each side of the temple. Once she was hidden, the cyan clad freelancer rested her back against the wall. She took a couple quiet deep breaths; her nerves were starting to creep in on her. For as much as she'd been trying to tell Wash that they could handle whatever the mercs decided to throw at them, she was having a hard time believing it herself. There were a lot of chances for things to go wrong — too many chances. Too many variables. And without the assistance of their A.I.s or any teammates, they had to be right on their game. If they weren't, it was game over everyone on Chorus.