Red vs Blue: Heavy 'META'L

Standardized Testing

Three gunshots are heard, and Tex and Slade are standing over three dead bodies.

Epsilon: Wow. You took all those guys out at once? Was that really necessary?

Tex: Eh, they'll live.

Slade: No... they won't, lass. 

Tex: Oh. Yeah, I see your point. Come on, let's get inside.

Epsilon: Ok. Man... those guys got fucked up... What? Wait a minute... Oh no...

Epsilon has a flashback of Tex walking into the base at Valhalla like he did back at the desert. 

Epsilon: Tex, Slade, hold on a second!

Tex: What's wrong?

Epsilon: Um... Yeah... Don't know if I mentioned this before, but I've kind of had psychic visions about this place. Yeah, I thought it was Valhalla at first, but I guess it turns out it was here... Probably should have told you this earlier.

Tex: Yes, you should have told us this earlier.

Slade: The "Oblivious Sniper" strikes again. 

Epsilon: Okay, first off: fuck you. And secondly, I'm telling you now, does that count?

Tex: Do you think it counts?

Epsilon: Nah, probably not.

Tex: You're not psychic, genius. You're just remembering. You've been here before. We all were. This is where they moved Alpha. After a few of us Freelancers went rogue, we compared notes and pieced together what they were doing to him. I convinced them to come back. Break him out. The project moved him here to try to protect him, so that they could keep experimenting on him.

Epsilon: Woah... You were in charge of the break in?

Tex: I couldn't just let them destroy him. He was being tortured. The Director had even started to use some of the other AI against him. Think about that. Turning his own pieces against him? It's sick. Gamma and Omega would fabricate scenarios where he was designed to fail, and they made it seem like his failures were hurting all of the people he cared about. And there was nothing he could do about it. It drove him mad, broke him down even more.

Epsilon: But you came back. You saved him.

Tex: No... I didn't. It was too late. By the time I got to him, he was already long gone. I don't even think he recognized me. I failed... Only in my case, it really was my fault.

Slade: (pats her back) Don't be so hard on yourself, love. 

Epsilon: Wait, where were you in all this, Slade? 

Slade: I was long gone by then, mate. CT, OUR CT, left me a hard drive like she did Tex. Except I read mine sooner. Once Rho and I had learned what the Director had done.... I just stay there anymore. Carolina didn't associate with anyone, Wash was unconscious after having you ripped from his head, Maine was nowhere to be found, so I just grabbed a Pelican and left. 

Rho: (appears) I stayed behind to spoof surveillance and lower the shields so Cal could leave. Needless to say, the Director was pissed. 

Slade: And when we find that son of a bitch, I'm gonna pummel his ass before throwing him in the darkest jail-cell the UNSC has. 

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In the desert, the Meta is beating the corpses of the Elites.

Washington: Doc, do you have a second?