Freelancer Command Medical Center. Many Years Ago.

We hear a heart monitor flat lining and we see many doctors running around the room doing many different things. On an operating table we see Minne without his armor. 

Blood is everywhere. 

A overhead light is covering his face.

On his right arm there is a tattoo, along with strange looking scars.

In an observation room next to the operation room there is the Director and the Counselor overlooking the procedure. 

A doctor grabs a pair of defibrillators and puts them on Minne's chest and shocks him.

The monitor is still flat-lining. 

The doctors begin shouting stuff and they ready the defibrillators again and put them on Minne's chest and shock him.

The monitor starts to beep at a steady pace.

"Good." The Director says.

"It's good to see Agent Minnesota still with us." The Counselor says.

"Get his implants removed." The Director orders.

"But, sir, dong that in the current state he's in could lead to brain damage, memory loss, and-"

"That's the plan Counselor, now get it done."

"Yes, sir."

The Director begins to leave. "And see what you can do about his augmentations." 

"Right."

FREELANCER OFFSITE STORAGE FACILITY. PRESENT DAY

The Director is seen sitting alone in a room watching the last known recording of Allison over and over again. Carolina and Ash walk in as the video plays.

F.I.L.S.S: Beginning playback.

Allison (on video): Leonard, come on, stop it, put that thing down. You're gonna make me late, they're waiting for me.

Carolina: Hello, Director.

"Director." Ash says.

Director: Hello, Agent Carolina. Agent Minnesota. Would you two like to watch this file with me?

"No." Carolina and Ash say.

Director: Play it again, F.I.L.S.S.

F.I.L.S.S: Director?

The Director smashes his fist onto the arm of his chair.

Director: Again!

Carolina: So, this is what you've become?

The Director lowers his head in sadness.

Director: I just need to watch this. I think I have a way... a way to bring her back right this time.

"The UNSC is hunting you down. If we found you, they can as well." Ash says.

Director: I just need a bit more time.

Epsilon appears and floats over to the Director.

Epsilon: No! You've had your fucking time. You have to answer for what you did. To the Meta, to Washington, to Ash, to Carolina, to me and to her! To Texas!

Director: Hello, Epsilon. You came all this way just to see me?

Epsilon: I'm here to remember what you've done. Somebody has to!

Carolina: Church...

Epsilon: Not all of us got off scott free, Carolina.

Epsilon begins to change into the different AI fragments of the Alpha.

Epsilon (in Delta form): He was brilliant...

Epsilon (in Theta form): ...and we trusted him.

Epsilon (in Gamma form): But he lied to us. He twisted...

Epsilon (in Omega form): ...and tortured us, and used us!

Epsilon (in Sigma form): Manipulated us for his own purposes, and for what? For this? This...shadow?!

Epsilon converts back to his original form.

Epsilon: He needs to pay.

Carolina removes her helmet and stares at the Director. The Director removes his glasses and hesitantly looks up at Carolina, revealing he has the same green eyes as her.

Allison (on video in background): And, don't worry, you'll see me again.

Carolina continues to stare at the Director, and seems to become sadder with every second she looks at him. She leans down, and kisses him softly on the forehead.

Director: Just a bit more time.

Carolina: Come on, Church. We're leaving.

Epsilon: I thought we came all this way to kill him.

Carolina: Church, remember what you learned in the memory unit? You need to let go. Your past doesn't define who you are. It just gives you the starting point for who you're going to be.

Carolina turns and begins to leave, but the Director puts out his arm, stopping her.

Director: Agent Carolina?

Carolina: Yes, Director?

Director: Would you be so kind as to leave me your pistol?

Carolina removes her pistol from her holster and places it on the Director's desk.

Director: Thank you, Carolina.

Carolina: Goodbye, Sir.

Carolina leaves the room, leaving just Epsilon and the Director alone.

Director: You were my greatest creation.

Epsilon: I don't know what I am, but I do know this - I'm more than just a copy of you. I'm better than you.

Director: I wasn't speaking to you.

Epsilon leaves the room and Ash begins to.

"Minnesota, before you go." The Director says and Ash turns around. 

The Director holds his hand out and two dog tags hang from his hand.

"These belong to you now." The Director says as Ash walks over to him. "They're yours and... your sister's dog tags."

Ash shakily grabs the dog tags from his hand. "I..." Ash voice catches in his throat. "Thank you, sir."

"Just take care of Xi, for me."

Xi peeks out from behind Ash's helmet.

"I will, sir. And goodbye." Ash says as he clutches the dog tags and walks out of the room.

"Goodbye, Private Ash."

Director: Play it again, F.I.L.S.S.

F.I.L.S.S: Beginning playback.

The video of Allison begins to play on the screen once again.

Director: Thank you, F.I.L.S.S. Now, I would like you to erase all our files except for this one.

F.I.L.S.S: All our files? Does that include me, Director?

Director: It has been a pleasure working with you, F.I.L.S.S. I am sorry.

F.I.L.S.S: And, you, as well, Director.

Director: And, before you do, please shut down all the facility systems as well. Take everything offline.

F.I.L.S.S: Director, this is a sealed facility. If I shut down all the systems, life support would not...

Director: Thank you, F.I.L.S.S. Shut them all down. Lock me in.

F.I.L.S.S: Alright. Was the project a success? Did you find what you were looking for?

Director: No. No, I did not. But I believe I might have come very close. I wish... I wish I knew.

F.I.L.S.S: I see.

Director: Perhaps the next time around.

The Director raises Carolina's pistol to his chin, as the door to his room begins to close.

F.I.L.S.S: It has been an honor, Sir.

The door closes and locks down. Cut to black, as Allison's final words from the video can can be heard in the background.

Allison: (voice over) Don't say goodbye... I hate goodbyes.

Cut to outside the facility. Carolina and Epsilon, appearing at human size, they watch as Ash exits the building, holding onto the god tags.

Ash stops and looks at Carolina and nods. Carolina nods back. Ash continues walking and Xi waves to Church as they walk by.

Ash is now on a roof and he walks to the edge of it and looks up to the sun.

He then looks down at the dog tags, both are bloody. Ash wipes the dried blood off the dog tags, to reveal two names.

Ash-142
Cal-141

Ash breath hitches for a few seconds. And he reaches up to his helmet and takes it off.

We move to the front of Ash and he takes his helmet off. Ash's white hair billows as a breeze blows by.

Ash has his eyes closed.

A scar starts thin at the top left of his forehead and as it travels down it becomes wider and deeper. The scar travels down his face and barely misses his left eye and the scar is the widest just under his left eye. It thins out as it travels down his cheek and stops at the bottom of his chin.

Ash takes a shaky breath as tears begin to fall from his right eye. Ash opens his eyes and revel a golden right eye and a cloudy golden left eye.

Tears fall down from his right eye and Xi appears on his shoulder then jumps off and grows to the same height as Ash.

Xi hugs Ash. "It's okay. It's okay. Everything will be fine."

"Ash!" Sarge yells. "Private Ash, where are you."

Xi flashes and disappears. 

Ash wipes his eyes and puts his helmet on and jumps off the building and lands on the ground with a thud.

Ash runs over to Sarge and the other Reds.

"Private Ash, reporting for duty." Ash says with a shaky voice.

"Woh, dude. Are you okay?" Grif asks.

"Yeah, you seem sad?" Simmons says.

Ash takes a deep breath. "Guys, I just want to say that all of you are my family. With all the crazy shit, explosive shit, insane shit, and just outright shit shit. You've been there with me. You guys didn't care that I had no memories before joining all of you in Blood Gulch. You guys didn't care that I was crazy and insane. Hell, you didn't really mind me failing with all my experiments. We've been through thick and thin, we've bleed together, almost died together multiple times. Even though I've threatened to kill most of you and almost succeeded multiple times, you never pushed me away. But you want to know something, dying is a hell of a thing. I did it and would not recommend it. But if I had to choose between dying and meeting all of you or not dying and keeping all my memories. I would choose to die again. 'Cause you guys are my family and I cherish all our moments together. So I just want to say, thank you. For everything."

Donut sniffs. "Oh that's so nice." Donut walks over to Ash.

"Donut if you hug me, I will shoot you."

Sarge sniffs and clears his throat. "Well said, Ash."

Ash turns to Grif and Simmons. "And guys."

"Yeah?" Grif and Simmons asks.

"Shotgun!" Ash yells.

"Shotgun, FUCK!" Simmons and Grif yell.

Ash hops into the passenger seat of the Warthog. "Fuck you guys, I'm always having to stand on the roof."

FREELANCER COMMAND. MANY YEARS AGO...

Cut to the past where the Counselor and Director are seen standing in the control room.

Counselor: This seems like a major setback for us.

Director: Only momentarily, Counselor. We will recover. The Alpha will need to be moved, though. Somewhere far from here. Somewhere where no one knows who he is.

Counselor: He will need a security detail. Someone we can trust. Might I suggest Flowers, Sir?

Director: Flowers? You mean Agent Florida?

The door to the control room opens and the blue U.N.S.C trooper, Butch Flowers, enters the room.

Flowers: Ready for duty, Sir. And, might I say, pleased as punch you picked me.

Director: Hmm, we will need a good cover story to explain his disappearance. People will wonder what happened to Florida.

Counselor: Leave that all to me, Sir.

Behind the Director and Counselor is a computer display of the United States. Several targets lock onto Florida and it breaks apart into nothing.

"We also had a plan to deal with Agent Minnesota." The Counselor says.

Minne walks into the room in some Scarlet armor. Minne salutes. "Cyprus Ash, reporting for duty, sir!"

Director: Very well, but security is not enough. The Alpha needs anonymity. A place where no one will think to look for him.

Counselor: I believe I know exactly the place.

Close up on the Director's face.

Director: Show me.

Fade into the present day at an unknown jungle overgrown with plants and vines. Sarge's voice can be heard shouting.

Sarge: Private Grif, front and center on the double!

Grif: Urgh, Sarge, I'm tired. Do I have to do it on the double?

Simmons: Look at me, Sir! I got front and center on the triple!

Grif and Simmons meet Sarge out the front of Red base.

"Don't forget about me!" Ash yells as he runs out of the base. He's holding his Plasma Repeater.

(I would have a picture of his armor, but my Xbox craped out on me so I don't. So he's just wearing regular Crimson armor with a knife in a sheath on his upper right breast plate.)

"Dah-nabit, now I've got three insubordinate soldiers." Sarge complains. "When I say double, I mean double! Even Emily got here before all of you!"

Next Ash, Grif and Simmons is a grown Xi saluting.

"Always ready for combat, sir." Xi says.

"I will only go so far as single and a half." Grif says.

Simmons turns to Grif. "If these orders were hamburgers, then you'd do a double."

"Oh, burn." Ash says,

"What?" Grif turns to Simmons. "Who has hamburgers?"

"The only hamburger meat here is gonna be your face when I'm done with my shotgun court-martial! And don't even ask me about the type of buns."

"I'm really hungry now." Ash says.

Grif sighs. "That sounds like the most delicious punishment ever..."

"...Of all time." Simmons finishes.

Cut to the outside of blue base, where Caboose is trying to fix something. Tucker is seen watching him.

Tucker: Caboose! Don't touch that, you'll break it!

Caboose: Oh, no, I won't...

Something shortwires and Caboose stands up.

Caboose: ...I broke it... Tucker did it.

Tucker: Dude, you can't say that when I'm right here.

Caboose: Tucker said it.

Tucker: Oh, my god, shut up.

Washington walks out of blue base.

Washington: Both of you shut up! And get back to work!

Tucker: What do you mean "back to work?" That implies previous work.

Caboose: I am putting my back to work.

Cut to Epsilon and Carolina watching both teams from the top of a cliff.

Carolina: Seems like they're getting settled.

Epsilon: Yep.

Carolina: So I guess everything is finally getting back to normal.

Epsilon: What passes for normal around here, sure. What can I tell ya? We're home. I mean - they're home.

Carolina: Can I make a suggestion? Don't say goodbye.

Epsilon: Goodbye? I didn't realize I was going somewhere.

Carolina: I intercepted a military transmission. It seems some low level thugs have some armor and equipment that's way above their paygrade. Sounds like it might be some of the missing gear from a certain defunct military project we both know.

Epsilon: Is that right?

Carolina: Think I'll go get it back. Hate to think about it being in the wrong hands.

Epsilon: And?

Carolina: And, with all that equipment I could really use someone to help me run it. You seem uniquely qualified for the job.

Epsilon: ...I don't know.

Carolina: I figured we could set some things right. That we helped make wrong.

Epsilon: That's a lot of things to make right.

Carolina: Yep. Could keep us busy for quite a while.

Epsilon: It would be nice to be a good guy again.

Carolina: Epsilon, what you and I were involved with... the things we helped do... I'll be honest - I don't know if we can ever get all the way back to good. But, I think that we have a chance to do better. And if we wake up everyday and try to make things better, eventually, we might find that better is good enough.

Epsilon: Good enough...

Carolina: Good enough.

Epsilon: Yeah, still, I hate to leave without saying something. They deserve to at least hear goodbye.

Carolina: My mother had a saying. Did I ever tell you about my mother?

Epsilon: (laughs) No, I don't think you ever did.

Carolina: She wasn't around a lot when I was a kid. And when she was she could only stay a short time. Seems like she always had somewhere else to be. Something important to do. And when she left, she wouldn't say goodbye to me. Instead, she always told me, "Never say goodbye. If you don't say goodbye then you aren't really gone, you just aren't here right now."

Epsilon: Your mother sounds like a smart lady.

Carolina: She was, she really was. Had terrible taste in men though.

Cut to Caboose, standing in front of blue base, looking up at Epsilon and Carolina.

Caboose: Hey, Church! Church! Come down here! We wanna show you something! Church!

Carolina and Epsilon suddenly disappear.

Caboose: Church?

Tucker: Hey, Caboose, you find Church?

Caboose: Nah, I didn't find him.

Tucker: Well, where do you think he is?

Caboose: I don't know, somewhere. He's just not here right now.

The camera pans out as Caboose and Tucker are seen walking back inside Blue base. Pan up to the cliff, where Epsilon's sniper rifle is seen laying on the hill.

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09-19-2022