Sun, Sep 6, 2015
The Chairman releases numerous Mantis droids around the Comms. Temple and begins annihilating both Chorus troopers and Space Pirates left and right, saying if he is going down then he is taking them all with him. With Wash, Carolina, Kimball, and the rest of the Feds and Rebels forced to take cover, the Reds and Blues contemplate a way to shut down the robots. Epsilon states that they must reach the Staff of Charon in order to override the Mantises' controls. So, in order to get inside the ship, the crew board Locus and Felix's damaged Falcon and fly it towards the Staff of Charon. After successfully getting inside, the crew search around the ship's engine room for the override controls, and soon discover F.I.L.S.S. F.I.L.S.S. explains that she was recovered by Hargrove and was illegally reassigned to work under him. When Epsilon pleads for her to shut down the Mantises, F.I.L.S.S., despite the action violating Hargrove's orders, gladly agrees to help, due to her deep dislike for the Chairman. Unfortunately, Hargrove stops F.I.L.S.S. from deactivating the droids and sends his own forces to attack the crew, prompting them to flee. As Hargrove's forces corner the crew, F.I.L.S.S. uses the ship's blast doors to protect them. She then directs the Reds and Blues to the location of the terminal containing the override controls: the Chairman's trophy room. As casualties build up outside the temple, the Reds and Blues hurry to the Chairman's trophy room. Upon reaching it, Tucker and Epsilon enter the room while the other Reds and Blues stand guard outside. Epsilon quickly becomes angered upon seeing Tex's cracked visor and orders F.I.L.S.S. to bring up the terminal to the Mantis controls, which she does. As Epsilon gets to work on overriding the controls, Hargrove, speaking to the two from the ship's bridge, admonishes that the crew will not leave the ship alive. Tucker, however, remains unfazed and shuts down the Mantises after Epsilon finishes overriding the controls. After the Mantises all shut down outside, the Feds and Rebels rejoice. Back in the trophy room, the Reds and Blues rush in and seal themselves inside as Hargrove's forces close in. Epsilon contacts Carolina demanding an extraction, in which Carolina states that they will fire up a Pelican to pick them up in a few minutes. Unfortunately, Hargrove's forces immediately begin welding through the door, shortening the crew's time to make their escape. As a result, the Reds and Blues bravely prepare themselves for the oncoming attack, with Grif arming himself with his Brute shot, Lopez, Doc, and Donut barricading the door, and Simmons attempting to start up the Monitor. Tucker, concerned, asks Epsilon if they can win, but the latter explains that they still need one more piece. Having discovered it while overriding the Mantis controls, Epsilon has F.I.L.S.S. release the Meta's modified suit and asks Tucker to put it on. After Tucker dons the suit, he changes the color to his regular aqua. Hargove's forces prepare to breach into the room with blowtorches. In response, the Blood Gulch Crew say their goodbyes to one another and ready themselves for the impending attack. Epsilon then states that out of everyone he's met he hates the crew the least, in which Tucker responds saying that he'll see him on the other side. Suddenly, time slows down, with Epsilon assuring that he will not make it back. Epsilon-Delta soon appears and asks Epsilon if he really wants to go through with this, in which Epsilon ensures that he does. Epsilon then begins a recording and says his final goodbyes to the Reds and Blues before dematerializing for good: "Hey guys... if you're hearing this then it means you did it. You won. You kicked the shit out of Hargrove's forces. I knew you could. But this is my last stop. See, when I came into this world, I was really just a collection of somebody else's memories. But with your help, these memories... they-they took form. They became my voice, my personality. And, after a while, I... I began to make brand new memories of my own. All of these things are what make me who I am... but they're also holding me back. I can't run this suit as Epsilon, but if I erase my memories, if I... deconstruct myself, the fragments I'll leave behind will have the strength to get you through this. I believe that. I wish that there was another way. But, I'm leaving this message as well as others, in the hopes that you'll understand why I have to go this time...hehe, it was actually Doyle who made me realize something that I've never thought of before. There are so many stories where some brave hero decides to give their life to save the day, and because of their sacrifice, the good guys win, the survivors all cheer, and everybody lives happily ever after. But the hero... never gets to see that ending. They'll never know if their sacrifice actually made a difference. They'll never know if the day was really saved. In the end, they just have to have faith. Ain't that a bitch." After he gives his speech to the team he deconstructs himself.