Hey guys! Long time, no update on this story, huh. But this idea has been in my head for a bit and someone finally motivated me to actually write it down by pointing out that there was actually zero explanation of how the Reds and Blues met their partners. So, we have Blue Team meeting their animals. I don't actually have an idea for the Reds yet, so I really can't say when that will come out. If you have an idea, let me know. Hope you enjoy this!
*~~~~Q~~~~*
"Shit!" Tucker yelled, narrowly dodging a blast from a Needler.
"Blargh!" Tucked between a branch and the trunk of the tree they were crouched in, Junior made a distressed sound.
Tucker raised his weapon, waving it menacingly at the foliage above, although he didn't fire. Not when he was almost out of ammo. "You fucking bird! Why did you fucking do that?"
The bird above him only tilted its head. "Language." It said proudly.
A parrot. A fucking parrot. Who thought that was a good idea? Not only had the stupid bird insulted the aliens that he and Junior were supposed to be making a deal with, but he had gone and shit on them too!
Below, one of the aliens shouted something and Junior cringed. Tucker swore under his breath and scooted over to the small alien. "It's all right, buddy, we'll get out of this."
Junior looked up at him, dirt spotting his hard body and made a small sound.
"I'll figure something out." Tucker told him.
"Loser! Loser!" The parrot chanted proudly.
Tucker glared up at him. "After I kill that goddamned bird!"
Command, in their eminent wisdom, had sent Tucker the parrot to become his new, bonded partner to help him and Junior in their ambassadorial missions. Needless to say, that had failed spectacularly. Tucker and the bird still weren't bonded, despite working at it since the bird's arrival. Command sent them out after almost a month of struggling, in hopes that they would bond while on the job. This was their first time out together, and it was not going as Tucker had hoped. Or Command, for that matter.
Speaking of, Tucker had radioed for help almost ten minutes ago. He changed his helmet's radio frequency. Nope, still hold music.
"Come on." Tucker groaned.
The parrot shouted something in the alien language and Tucker cursed at the bird. "No! You aren't helpful. We need them to be our friends!"
Tucker shook his head in disgust and crept out along the branch again, ignoring Junior's protests. "We aren't with that bird! You can eat him. Actually, please eat him."
The aliens fired again and Tucker jerked backwards with a low curse.
"Tucker, Tucker are you there?"
"Vic!" Tucker cheered, reaching Junior again. "Vic, yes we're still here. Please, dude, get us out of here."
"Roger doger, amigo, help is on the way."
Junior crowed happily and Tucker grinned. "When will they get here?"
"ETA says 46 minutes." Vic replied.
"What?!" Tucker shouted.
Vic sounded apologetic. "Sorry, dude, but that's the best we can do. You haven't had any issues before, so no one was stationed nearby."
"I didn't have this fucking bird before!" Tucker protested.
Vic began speaking again, but Tucker wasn't listening. Instead, he was watching as another alien came running up, this one carrying a chain saw. With a sharp yank, the blade whirred to life and the alien approached the tree.
"Uh, Vic? We definitely don't have 45 minutes." Tucker swallowed anxiously, watching the blade bite into the thick trunk of the tree. Luckily, the tree had to be at least a meter in diameter and would take the alien a few minutes to chop through it. Not enough time, though.
"Now you're in trouble." The parrot said brightly, watching Tucker and Junior with his beady, black eyes.
Tucker ignored the bird. "Come on, dude, we need back up now!"
"Weeeeell," Vic stretched out the word in thought. "There is someone who can get to you in a minute or two, but I don't know how much help he'll be beca-"
"I'll take anyone!" Tucker interrupted, firing his last bit of ammo in desperation at the alien with the chain saw. Miraculously, one of his bullets hit the alien, who fell to the ground with a cry of pain. Two of his buddies dragged him away, while a third picked up the chain saw again. A fourth fired at Tucker, shouting something very obscene.
"Not in front of the kid!" Tucker yelled back before addressing Vic again. "When is this backup getting here?"
"Should be there any second, amigo." Vic replied as though Tucker and Junior weren't about to die.
Tucker scanned the area, but the only other life form was some birds too dumb to flee. One of them was even flying straight at the area.
Junior pulled his arm. "Honk, blar!" He announced.
Tucker frowned and looked more closely at the bird. "Is that bird carrying a grenade?"
Sure enough, the bird flying towards them held a grenade, with a small pack strapped to its back.
"That is our backup? We're going to fucking die." Tucker groaned.
The bird let out a piercing cry and released the grenade from its claws.
The small piece of hardware hit the ground directly in the middle of the group of aliens. It bounced once, then exploded, releasing shrapnel and flames on the aliens.
"Shit!" Tucker exclaimed, raising his arms to protect himself and Junior as best he could. When he lowered them and opened his eyes, the bird was sitting on the branch in front of him. Below, three of the aliens were dead. Another was rolling on the ground in pain, while the fifth was scrambling away.
Tucker unclipped the pack from the bird, opening it to find more ammo inside. "Fuck yeah! Come on, Junior." He slid down the tree, catching Junior as the small alien slid down after him.
He reloaded his weapon, ordered Junior to stay close and behind him, and was quick to execute the alien still on the ground.
"Blarg, honk, blar blarg."
Tucker looked around. "I know. We'll find the runner."
The other bird, the useful one, flew into the trees, followed by the parrot. Tucker hesitated only a moment, then followed, making his way with Junior just behind through the woods.
Not five minutes later, the other bird flew up, stopping only a few yards from them. He flew in circles, then off at an angle to the left. The bird doubled back, then went the same way.
Tucker shrugged. "I guess it's this way." He took off at a light jog after the bird.
It wasn't too difficult to figure out where the alien was, because the parrot was trailing after him, calling out insults in both languages.
"Hey you, shithead! Take some of this!" Tucker shouted, aiming and firing at the alien.
Evidently, shouting at your target before you fire wasn't smart, however, because before he finished saying "shithead", the alien was dodging his attacks, then charging straight for them, shooting wildly.
Tucker swore and dropped to the ground in front of Junior, using his larger body to protect the young alien while also trying to pull out another pack of ammo and reload his rifle. Something caught his eye above the alien, and Tucker looked up to see the bird diving down at the alien. The grey bird pulled out of his dive at the very last second, it seemed, his wings outstretched and completely blocking the alien's view.
Tucker finally grabbed the ammo and popped it into his rifle. "Get out of the way!" He screamed at the bird, who immediately dove to the side. Tucker fired, releasing half the pack at the alien. The enemy dropped, and Tucker slowly rose.
"Glad that's over." He muttered, turning to Junior. "You ok?"
The young alien made a happy sound and Tucker picked him up, letting him latch onto Tucker's back. "Let's get back to base." He looked around. The grey bird flew up to him, and Tucker offered his arm out as a perch. The bird landed, to Tucker's surprise. The parrot never did that.
"Where's your partner?" Tucker asked, looking around.
The bird tilted its head. *I don't have one.* He answered.
Tucker frowned. "Well, you deserve one. Come on, I'll give you a ride back to base." He raised his arm to his shoulder. The bird was hesitant, then stepped carefully onto Tucker's shoulder.
The parrot flew down too, landing on Tucker's head. He swatted the bird. "You, you little shit, can fly."
"Little shit." The parrot repeated before flying at Tucker again.
The bird on his shoulder took off, swiping at the parrot with his sharp talons, before circling back to land on Tucker's shoulder. The parrot gave an indignant squawk, and flew off, heading in the direction of the base. Not hurt then, just miffed.
Tucker made a pleased sound. "I like you." He told the bird.
*~~~~A~~~~*
They reached the base before nightfall and Tucker, after letting Junior into their room to clean up and go to bed, went straight to the bar. The parrot was waiting for him, and went into the room when Junior went in, but the grey bird stayed with Tucker.
He sat down and ordered his drink. The current shift was about to end, and Tucker had been talking up some of the female workers who frequented the bar around this time.
Sure enough, the group of women walked in at the same time they always did and sat down in the same seat they always did. Which just so happened to be right next to Tucker's seat.
"Oh. My. God. I love your bird!" One of them stopped dead in her tracks, before rushing over to Tucker to stroke the bird with one finger. The others circled around him, all trying to reach in and pet the bird.
Tucker wasn't sure how he felt about that. On one hand, this was the most attention he had received from them. On the other hand, he wasn't really receiving it. The bird was.
"Yeah, we worked pretty well together in the field today. You know, taking out some aliens." Tucker shrugged confidently.
One of the woman looked at him and asked in wonder. "You took out aliens?" Finally!
"Yeah. We went to work out an agreement with them over this crumbling village, but then this stupid parrot messed everything up." Tucker said.
"A parrot? Can we see?" Another one asked.
Tucker grinned. "He's back in my room."
The women debated amongst themselves for a moment, but they did agree to go.
As they were walking over, one of them turned to Tucker. "By the way, what's his name?"
Tucker's mind went blank. Shit! "Uh, Lovebird!" He blurted.
The women cooed and Tucker felt a surge of confidence. The bird, Lovebird, he supposed, was giving him an odd look, but the bird didn't say anything, so he must have been fine with it.
Tucker slid his pass to get the door open, and he and the women entered. Junior was sitting on the ground, playing games. Scales was on Tucker's bed, of course, preening. He looked up to see Tucker enter, and immediately began swearing.
One of the women frowned, Tucker's favorite, frowned. "Is he always like that?"
Tucker blew out an annoyed breath. "Yes. That's what got us into trouble before."
Another one, a blonde, was watching Junior. "And you let him do that with a child around?"
Tucker could feel his chance slipping away. "I tried to stop him, but he won't listen to me."
"You aren't even bonded?" She accused.
Tucker stared. "He won't bond with me!"
"Now you're just making excuses."
"He isn't even in control."
"I can't believe I came here."
With similar comments, each of the women walked out, leaving a confused Junior, a proud parrot, an unreadable bird, and a very peeved Tucker.
*You could have told them you were bonded.* The bird said after a moment of listening to Tucker curse.
"But I'm not!" Tucker argued.
The bird tilted his head. *We're bonded.*
"Wha-" Tucker was cut off when a dam burst into his mind and he fell to the ground with a cry.
After what felt like an eternity, it receded. He opened his eyes- he hadn't even noticed he closed them- to see Junior's concerned face.
"What the fuck?" He muttered, rubbing forehead as he sat up.
*We are bonded.* The bird- Tucker now knew he was a peregrine falcon- said.
"I got that much." He grumbled, looking over at the parrot. That useless beast was laughing. Laughing at him. "You know, there's only one other person who I hated this much. You two would be a perfect pair." In fact… Tucker grinned.
*~~~~B~~~~*
Tucker slapped the address onto the wood crate between two rows of air holes. He brought the box over to the counter, setting it down. "Get this on the next flight.* He told the man working the postal station.
The other nodded, checking the box for the necessary labeling as well as air exchange, food, and water. Tucker paid his fee, and with a short pat and a "bye, fucker," he walked out of the post office to where Junior was waiting in their Warthog.
"Come on, Lovebird. We'll get you some armor, then we've gotta settle a conflict over some sacred cave." Tucker said, sliding into the driver's seat. The falcon stood next to Junior, eyes unreadable, but Tucker knew that the bird was pleased to finally have a partner. Tucker knew it and more importantly, he agreed.
*~~~~C~~~~*
"Oh boy, oh boy, oh boy." Caboose chanted. "A present. It must be my birthday."
"Sure, son." The nice Blue leader said, pushing the box carefully over to Caboose before leaving. Caboose didn't care- all his focus was on this box.
Eagerly, he opened it, gasping at what he saw inside.
"A birdy!" Caboose cheered, pulling the parrot out from the box.
"Birdy." The parrot repeated.
Caboose watched, entranced, as the bird hopped from his hands up his arm, eventually resting on his head. "We're going to be friends."
The bird made a clacking sound with its beak, then settled. "Friends." It agreed.