Chapter 2: Reuniting
A response, from the Director of Project Freelancer
Dear Chairman, while I am obligated to assist in your investigation, I ask that you not waste my time with irrelevant questions. My agency is normally unconcerned with such minute directives as troop reassignment... except, of course, in the most critical of matters.
XXX
Agent Rhode Island woke up to hear a Hornet class ship. He looked outside and saw a familiar looking figure in gray armor with yellow highlights. His eyes widened as Wash started heading towards the base.
"Sister!" Rhode called, getting on his green armor with blue highlights, "We got company to get rid off!"
He heard Sister groan, "Fine..."
He and Sister had been living in Blue Base alone for quite some time now. Church, Tucker, and even Caboose had all transferred to other bases, like Rat's Nest. But for the moment, he had to get Sister to make Wash go away. As excited as he was to see Wash, since he was an old friend, he just couldn't tell him Rhode was alive. Wash would report it to Command, and Rhode would be busted.
"What do you want me to do?" Sister asked.
"Just improvise," Rhode said, "Just get him out of here. You're good with that stuff."
"On it."
She walked to the door and waited.
XXX
Once he'd landed in the middle of the canyon known as Blood Gulch, Washington left the Hornet and made his way towards the nearest outpost, the Blue Base. As he reached the building, he noted the rusty Scorpion-Class tank parked nearby.
"Hello?" he called out, "Hello? Anybody here?"
There was no reply so he switched on his radio, "Recovery 1 calling Command... Come in Command."
"Go ahead, Recovery 1," the female radio operator confirmed, "We have you."
"I'm at Outpost 1-A," Wash explained, "It looks deserted."
"Roger that," the operator replied, "See if you can find any evidence that would suggest where they all might have-"
"HEY! A-HOLE! What's with all the noise? People are trying to sleep here!"
Wash looked up in surprise to find a red-haired, freckled girl wearing bright yellow armor standing in the base's entrance. As he stared, the scanner in his helmet gave the details of the female soldier.
Name: Kaikaina Grif
Nickname: Sister
Rank: Private
Group: Blue Team
Status: Angry in more ways than one
"Um... scratch that, Command," he muttered in his radio, "It appears I've found someone. Recovery 1 out."
As he turned off the radio, Sister staggered out of the building, clutching her aching head, "Ohhh, man..."
"Hi, I'm Agent Washington," the agent called up, "This is Blue Base, correct?"
XXX
'Yep,' Rhode thought, 'That's him.'
"It was," Sister groaned to Wash
Wash frowned, "Was?"
"Everybody's gone, transferred. Something about this base being obsolete now or whatever."
"Right," Wash muttered unsurely, "Where did they go?"
"I don't know! All different places... Nobody told me anything."
"Well, I'm trying to locate some people who have experience with the Freelancer program."
Sister looked up at this.
"Freelancer? Is that the band we had here last night?"
"You had a party here?"
"Yeah! I throw raves every night, charge five bucks a head. Last night I made ten bucks. Ooah ooah! Nice."
Rhode couldn't help but grin at Sister's fake antics.
"You use the base for raves?" Wash asked, folding his arms, "That doesn't seem like the proper use for official resources."
Sister glared at him, "What are you, like a cop or something?"
"No."
"Because if you are, and I ask you, then you have to tell me. That's totally a law or something."
"I'm not the police, and that's not a real law."
"Well if you're not a cop, then how do you know it's not a real law? Busted!"
It was all Rhode could do to not bust up laughing. This was exactly how he and Sister met.
Washington sighed and rolled his eyes, "You caught me. Hey, is there anyone else... smart... here that I can talk to?"
"Yeah, right," Sister snorted, "Like I'm gonna tell you. I don't rat people out, COP!"
Wash then tapped his helmet and frowned, "I'm picking up scans of another life form inside."
'Wait, what?' Rhode thought.
"Wait, what?" Sister said.
"Let me in," Wash said, "Now."
"Whatever... COP!"
Rhode tried to think of a way out of this, but Wash yelled, "Don't even think about leaving, whoever you are! I can still track you."
Rhode knew there was no way out of this. He was going to have to meet Wash again and somehow convince him not to call Command on him.
XXX
Wash walked through the base and yelled, "Come on out! I know you're here."
Suddenly, he felt the barrel of a gun touch his helmet.
"Freeze."
Wash was still and slowly raised his hands over his head. But when he did, he grabbed the soldier's sniper rifle and kicked him away, keeping the rifle.
"You've gotten better Wash," the green armored soldier grinned, "I'm impressed."
"Why does your voice sound so familiar?" Wash asked, raising the sniper rifle.
"Wow. You don't remember me right away?" The soldier asked, "I'm hurt. Even Tex was able to figure out it was me by the sound of my voice."
Wash thought for a moment, then his eyes widened, "Rhode?!?!"
"There we go!" Rhode said, "How've ya been Wash?"
"We-we all thought you were dead..." Wash stuttered.
"Yeah... That's what happens when your own boss tries to kill you. You go on the run for a while."
"Wait, the Director tried to kill you?!"
"I don't know why either. All I know is that the Director didn't give me nearly enough time to do my side mission. I saw a blast that could have only come from the Mother of Invention and when I woke up, I realized the Director tried to kill me and decided to lay low until the war ended. Apparently I waited too long though..."
"Why do you say that?"
"Just a few months ago, I learned that Carolina was killed."
"... Oh. I see. How did you take?"
"I felt like strangling Tex when she told me."
"Makes sense. So Tex was here."
"Yeah, why?"
"The whole reason I'm here is because I am tracking a thing that is killing off Freelancers and taking their equipment. The Counselor told me I should contact people at Omega's last know location to help me."
Rhode snickered, "Well, you're in for a treat. Count me in."
"Really? Are you sure?"
"Hey, nothing has happened in months. It would be nice to get out."
"What about your friend?"
"Sister? I'll have to ask her."
Rhode walked up to her and said, "Hey Sister, you think you can be okay here by yourself?"
"Sure!" Sister agreed.
"Sweet," Rhode said, then he walked back to Wash, "Off to Red Base. Oh, and another thing: Don't tell Command I'm alive. I don't know how the Director would react."
"Already agreed," Wash grinned.
So they headed off to the Red Base.
After saying goodbye to Sister, Wash switched on his radio again, "Come in Command."
"Hello, Washington, we have you," the operator replied, "How was the investigation at Blue Base?"
"Enlightening," Wash muttered sarcastically, "I'm going to try the Red Base now. I'm hoping things there will be a little more-"
Suddenly, a Spartan in bright pink armor popped out of the ground in front of him.
"Normal," he finished.
He and Rhode could see straight away that the soldier was just a cardboard cutout then a gruff voice called out from a hidden speaker.
"Halt, in the name of the Red-" There was a cough then the voice continued in a more high-pitched fashion, "I mean, Lightish-Red Army. This Base is operating at full capacity. And if you come in here, you're gonna get into a big uh, uh, slap fight!"
Washington sighed as he and Rhode stepped around the cutout.
"I'm gonna have to call you back," he told Command.
"Yeah, Sarge isn't the most sane of individuals," Rhode said, "The guy he was trying to imitate was Donut."
"Don't come any further, ooh la la," the recording of 'Donut' called out.
Wash made his way further when another soldier cutout popped out from behind a boulder, this one in maroon armor.
"This is your last warning," another recording called out in the same gruff voice, "Stay out! I love math!"
"What in the...?" Wash muttered, walking slowly past the rock.
"That's Simmons," Rhode followed.
"Your only hope of survival is to kiss my commander's butt," the second recording yelled.
As Washington and Rhode approached the Base, a third cardboard soldier swiveled round, this one in orange armor and riddled with bullet holes.
"And this is another warning," the voice called out, "I know the other warning was supposed to be last, but I never listen to orders 'cause I'm too lazy and stupid... and ugly. Did I mention ugly?"
"That's Grif," Rhode said, "Sister's brother."
Wash shook his head as he moved around the cutout and stopped by an old jeep, "This is going to be a waste of time, I can tell already."
"I don't blame you for thinking that," Rhode said.
As he turned round, a fourth figure popped up, this one wearing scratched standard red armor and holding a shotgun in its hands.
"Yeah, freeze intruder!" it yelled in a deep Southern accent, "Stop your intruding right there."
Wash stared at it then looked back at the other figures, "Who made these things?"
"I did," the voice replied.
Wash whirled round to look at the figure and then the scanner gave him another reading.
Name: Not given
Nickname: Sarge
Rank: Staff Sergeant
Group: Red Team
Status: Poor lonely old man
"Wait, you're real?" he gasped.
"Of course I am," Sarge chuckled, "You fell for a classic misdirection. I still got it."
"¿Esta todo bien aquí?" a mechanical voice called out. (Everything ok out here?)
Wash and Rhode looked up to see a second Spartan in brown armor standing on the roof of the Base. Strangely the scanner didn't give out a reading on this soldier, but a serial number appeared on the screen, which made Wash realize that the soldier was actually a robot.
"We're fine, Lopez," Sarge called up, "I just caught myself two dirty Blues! How many does that make this week?"
Lopez raised a forefinger and middle finger, "Dos."
"Yahtzee," Sarge cheered, "We're on a hot streak!"
"Good to see you too Sarge," Rhode muttered.
"Uh, I'm not actually a Blue," Wash said, "I'm from Command."
"Command, no kiddin'," Sarge muttered, lowering his shotgun, "I didn't think we were due for inspection."
"You're not," Wash replied, "I was hoping you could tell me about the soldiers transferred out of this outpost."
"You mean Grif and Simmons?" Sarge scowled at the maroon cutout and fired a shot at the orange one, "Those traitors, I told them not to go! The battle here isn't even over yet."
Wash glanced at the canyon, seeing no signs of war damage, "Um, it looks over to me."
"Not while there's a single Blue left in this canyon... which there is: Two Blues! Victory or death."
"I see," Wash muttered.
"That's why I refused my relocation orders. Obviously Command wasn't thinkin' clearly."
"So, you're AWOL then," Rhode pointed out.
"I uh... A-what?"
"Don't tell him anything until you talk to a lawyer!" Sister called out from the top of a hill, "You have rights!"
"I'm not a cop!" Wash yelled back.
"You can cut the act now Sister!" Rhode yelled.
"Hey, beat it ya little tramp!" Sarge bellowed, "You see why I can't go?"
"Why not just attack her and win then?" Wash asked puzzled, "It would take about ten seconds."
"One: this Blue guy here kicked our butts the one time we tried," Sarge explained, "Two: I can't attack a girl. So we're locked, in an epic stalemate."
"You're old and I hate you!" Sister yelled.
"You're kidding me," Wash groaned, slapping a hand to his visor.
"Plus she's cookin' somethin' up and I gotta be ready," Sarge muttered, glaring at Sister.
"Edaloo," Lopez added.
"Well, this has been really... informative," Wash muttered, "But I need to find someone who had experience with artificial intelligence."
"Alright," Sarge replied, "You want Caboose then. He got infected for a little while, I think."
"Oh dear Lord," Rhode mumbled.
"Great. Caboose!" Wash cried, "Do you know where he is?"
"Of course," Sarge replied, "We intercepted the Blues' orders. I got it right here."
He looked up at his robotic creation, "Lopez!"
"Sí?" Lopez asked.
"Get this guy and the Blue the Blue Team relocation orders!"
"Sí," Lopez set off into the Base then he came out a few minutes later with a printed sheet of paper.
"Lopez probably converted it into Spanish," Sarge advised, handing the paper over, "So they might be a little hard to understand."
"Yeah," Wash sighed, "They wouldn't be the first thing today."
"Shut up, COP!" Sister yelled.
XXX
And next, we're off to see Caboose! Till next time guys!
