Red vs Blue: Zero (Re-Write)

Episode 1: Finding

Three shadows traversed under the cover of night. Armoured, and loaded, they surveyed the area around them. As the ground beneath gently squished, and their visors blurred from the contact of the water, they smelled the fresh, dusty, and yet sweet smell of the wet rocks lift up into the air. The rain did them little favours in moving through the more treacherous areas of this land. Their leader, dressed in a black armour with red trims, held up a hand to stop, as he scanned the whole area once more with his thermal vision. "No enemies in sight, let's go."

The trio continued the trek as they finally came upon their target of interest. The red armoured man looked back to a woman, in a sleek black armour with purple trims, agile, yet imposing with the many thorns protruding outwards. "You are sure this is the artifact they were talking about?"

"Yes," she answered in a straight tone. She leaned forward to rest a hand against the engravings of the rock. "These scriptures look alien. I would bet that this is what they are after, Zero."

He thoughtfully gazed at the massive block. He walked about and looked to their massive companion in a silver and blue trims armour. Dressed like a tank, and built like one as well. "Diesel, keep an eye out. Make sure no one interferes."

"Understood," he answered as he began his rounds. Every step left a deep puddle for the water to create a new pool in, every step left the rocks beneath his feet cracked. Zero shook his head as he playfully pondered, I would feel sorry for anyone to meet him on a bad day. He ran his fingers along the walls of the large, rough cube. The woman bent down to the very bottom, where she took note of a few indents, and what seemed like button shaped designs. "What's this here?"

"What did you find, Phase?" Zero bent down by her side, and his eyes glimmered with curiosity. A sigh of content left him full. "This is it, this is what we have been looking for."

"You mean, the key?"

"I don't know exactly," Zero stood up to study the scriptures closely, but quickly gave up with the shake of his head. "I can't read this, but if we aid a certain organization in getting their hands on this, I bet they can decrypt it."

Phase slowly stood back as she caught up to Zero's train of thought. "No...you don't mean to hand this over to the A.O.D, do you?"

"Yes, I do. Make an anonymous tip call to them, let them know of a strange artifact discovery."

"Like hell I will!" Phase pushed the man backward. And once more, further back from the object, yet this time, he felt her feelings etch beyond the armour. "I'm not helping those bastards. You KNOW full well what they did to me, to us!"

Zero quickly caught a fast flying fist in the air and held Phase in one spot. He took note of Diesel's glare, but the big man, while a tank, he would be able to take only so much before even he went down. And from where Zero stood, he was rather confident in being able to outperform the brute. Zero pinned Phase down as he then took a small device out towards her. "Calm down Phase. Heated emotions will cause you to falter in your judgements in the field. We are not helping them with their agenda, they will be helping us."

"What's this?" Phase stared at the small circular device, far smaller than a quarter. The grey exterior lent it well to blend in with most environments, if placed properly. Zero walked towards the large cube and snuck the device in. "This will let us know exactly where they take it, and let us listen in on them. Once we have what we need, we come back for this cube, and break it out."

"Heh, this is the A.O.D we are talking about, do you even have a plan in mind?" Phase straightened out her arm and spoke, "In case you haven't forgotten, they are still a pretty big division with great manpower. Maybe not as strong as the UNSC, but they have good numbers."

"Number of soldiers doesn't account for everything in a war," Zero motioned for Diesel to fall in. "How well you use your numbers also matters. Make the call Phase, you know how to smooth talk them the best. Give them the coordinates, keep it anonymous and once they are here, we let them do what they need too. Once we have what we need from their services, we do what we need too, simple."

"Simple, my ass," she muttered as she engaged the call on her visor. Zero instructed Diesel to hide their warthog in under a dense foliage. Zero looked at his two comrades, each with their mission, and he turned back to the large cube. Things are finally going to come together after all these years of hiding, running, fighting, and weariness. He heard Phase's voice behind him finish up with her call, who gave a simple thumb up following that conversation. He prompted for her to follow close. Alongside Diesel, the two waited in the car. Under the guise of this rain, and the silence, the three felt their blood slowly begin to boil, and their bodies warm. The itch was ever so present to fight the A.O.D once again. Yet as he believes himself, one must remain calm, as calm as the gentle seas to make a sound judgement. For it is only calmness that would help lead to victory.

A few hours later, through the air, several Hornets came with their propellers cut clean through the rain. The loud buzz alerted the three, and they watched their clean landing. From one of the Hornets, landed a grey and yellow ex-Freelancer. Several soldiers crowded the LZ, who rushed to secure their object of interest. The ex-Freelancer, Washington, stopped mid-track as soon as he caught a glimpse of the alien like markings all over the cube walls. He motioned for the others to scour the surrounding area. "Make sure we are alone. If you find anyone, detain them."

Diesel gently backed up the warthog and out of view for good. Zero watched the soldiers spread out like ants, searching for their next crumb. Phase gently gripped the side of the warthog and banged the back of her head against the seat, an impact strongly felt by Zero as well. "We could have taken them."

"What did I tell you about a cool head back there?"

"Zero, you may not care about my reasons for being here, and I get it, you are in this for other reasons," Phase smashed her fist against the side of the car, in growing irritation. "But even after everything you have experienced, how can you not be infuriated at the mere sight of them?!"

Zero ordered for Diesel to gently slow the car down, until all they heard was the engine, and the loud pattering of the rain. He slowly bent down behind her with a tight grip on her seat. A grip so powerful that Diesel dared not to utter a word, and rather felt some pity for the head rest. Zero took in a deep, calming breath and said, "I haven't forgotten what they have done. I never will, and never can even if I wanted too. So, instead of arguing, we focus on the mission. No task of great measure can be completed through head strong actions alone. When the time is right, you can go all out as appropriate. Until then, stand down!"

Washington bent down to study every inch of the relic, and took note of a sword hilt, protruding from the top. One of his fellow soldiers returned and held up the results of his findings. Wash quickly glazed over them, "So, nadda then. Okay, prepare this thing for extraction. We take it back to the lab."

"How will we even decipher these glyphs, sir?" asked the soldier. "I doubt we have such resources available on-hand."

"I know a guy," Washington replied, as he handed the pad back. He looked about at the progress and begun to help the others. "Come on, let's do this quick and proper. I want to get out of the rain ."

Now, far, far away from the site of the relic, Diesel parked their warthog under the cover of a makeshift structure. As they departed, Zero studied the locator's position. He tossed the pad in Diesel's direction, and said, "It's on the move. Once it stops, let me know."

"Got it."

Zero entered a large room past the curtains, and rested his weapons amongst the mini-arsenal. He stood up straight to notice the dangling pieces of metals from his neck. Zero sat down by a large, rectangular, wooden table, one that has seen better days. He gently rubbed some remnants of water away from the smooth metallic surface of his tags, and observed the engravings. GLASS, he pondered as the faces of his once friends etched out from his memories. I suppose friends are a thing of wishful thinking in this line of business. He stood up to meet Phase at the entrance, who brandished her knife into the air. "Can I help you, Phase?"

"I wanted to apologize for losing my cool big time back there," she admitted with a slight bow of her head. "But I guess that's not anything new for you necessarily."

"No," he gently pushed her to the side, and reached for a ration of canned food. "But I have grown accustomed to it, not that it's a positive confirmation for you to continue pulling this."

She stood quietly as she watched the man open the can with his bare hands, without so much as a spill. Zero searched about for a spoon and offered some in her direction. Unable to refuse the offer as always, she sat opposite to him, and partook. Zero stopped partway as the contents reached halfway. "Do you still have them?"

"Them?" she pondered a moment to quickly realize his meaning. "Hm, well yes."

"Have they gotten any better though, ever since you changed your diet?"

"No, sometimes it feels like it has gotten worse," she slammed her spoon against the table and held her forehead at the very cusp of her palm. "Fucking nightmares, almost every night. And you, what about you?"

"Me...well, when you have a goal in mind, and that's all you can think of, you won't have much more space in your head for anything else."

"Hmm..."

"What?"

Phase quickly shook her shoulders in a bout of slight disappointment. "I dunno, I was just expecting you to be a little more heated I guess. It's kind of a letdown."

"Sorry, not really sorry," Zero mused as he took another big bite of the canned food. Phase grinned at his attempt at getting a laugh out of her, "You gotta try a little harder, Mr. Big badass."

"I will keep that in mind," he stood up with the perfect toss of his spoon in the pot of dirty cutlery. Phase took the final bite and met the guarding giant outside, who stood ever so valiantly. She held out a bar for him. "Here, you haven't had much since we got back from the previous hunt."

"Thank you, Phase," he replied, as he took the bar with a gentle tug. He quietly gazed out into the wet night, as the noises polluted his ears. He looked down towards his female companion, who pulled at his arm. "What is it?"

"You can relax a little," Phase tried harder to pull the man indoors, and into the base. "No one is going to find us."

"You never know," he replied with his feet digging deeper into the ground. "I must stay on-watch, no matter what. Your safety is my top priority."

"As sweet as that is of you," Phase held up her knife and holstered it once more. "I am a pretty deadly girl with a knife. I don't know what person in their right mind would want to attack me directly once they get to know me."

"Fair point."

Wash studied the lay of the land below them. He saw the makings of fortified walls, that boxed a military base. He looked at the other Hornets and ordered for a soft landing. Below them, on the ground, swift preparations were made to receive the relic. Several soldiers guided the Hornet carrying the artifact to gently lower it atop a hovering platform. Once loaded, they undid the clamps and guided the cube towards a large trailer, already loaded with several other soldiers. Wash jumped off the Hornet and walked over to where the truck rested. "How are we looking here?"

"The artifact is almost loaded, sir!"

"Good," Wash looked at the fortifications of the trailer. Several plates of steel, each designed to absorb the impact of at least ten rockets. He peeked in the back, where the relic was being tied down in the middle of the trailer, and took the opportunity to make the needed calls. "Hello, Command, this is Special Agent Washington, contract designation Alpha-001. Do you read?"

"We read you loud and clear, what is your status?"

"The artifact has been retrieved," Wash clarified as he studied the list of added contracts to the job. His eyes fixated on one in particular, one for the tough gal in cyan. "I have a special request to be made. I would like to request the transfer of a specific personnel to help us with the decryption of the artifact."

"Understood, pass us the name and designation of this soldier, and we will immediately issue a temporary transfer order."

Wash just finished as a soldier approached from the back. Wash was quick to take notice as he immediately turned to face the man, much to the soldier's surprise. "Um, the loading has finished, sir."

"Good," Wash walked onto the trailer and ordered for the rest to mount up, and raise the trailer cover. "Make yourselves comfortable, this will be a bumpy ride."

Two hours later, with a great many sore bottoms, the soldiers sat with a sigh of relief for their torture was nearly at an end. The research base came into sight, and their transport job, that once felt like a week long quest was finally about to reach its completion. As the truck entered the base, and came to a halt, everyone stood up upon Wash's command. The bolts on the sides of the door came undone. And slowly, the back door started falling into the shape of a ramp. "Take the artifact to special research divisions, wing D."

"Yes sir!" several soldier complied as they finished unbuckling the safety harness, and began to move the object out. Wash walked about to see the many stares at him. Even after the two months I have spent here, I still can't get used to their gazes. He gently lowered his head and went about his business, pretending he didn't hear the words. One of the soldiers bumped another and asked, "So he is the one who was all messed up with the brain damage?"

"Yeah."

"Why the hell is he here then?"

"Apparently, he is all better now," the second soldier replied. "Some advanced medical technology, or something like that."

"Hmm, I just hope we will be okay housing this alien looking brick."

Wash followed the alien relic into a special storage room, where several metal arms were locked around the cube, and kept behind a thick, see-through door. The tough gal in cyan waited to the side of the room, and it wasn't long before Wash took notice of the extra shadow in the room. "I didn't think you would be taking this contract, Carolina."

"I could say the same for you," she motioned to the back of his head as she stepped out into the light. "I thought you might have developed some more common sense and instead focused on recovering, rather than running around here."

"Well, you know me. Just sitting still doesn't mesh well with me."

"That I do," she shook her head in disapproval. "And that worries me more than I would care to admit at times."

She inched closer to the glass and took notice of the protruding object from the top. "That's a curious sight."

"Yeah," Wash leaned in beside her to get a good look. "We tried to see what it was, but it just wouldn't come loose."

"Heh, I wonder if it's the King Arthur scenario," with a small laugh she flexed her muscles and said, "Only that who is worthy shall retrieve the power of the weapon. I have been working out, bet you I could do it."

"Loser buys the other person 10 tequila shots, agree to that and you're on."

"Feeling a little risky now, aren't we?" she grinned as she ordered for the door to open. "Just remember, I can hold my alcohol quite well."

Carolina's fingers gently flexed around the hilt. Her knees bent and braced for pressure. She gently gritted her teeth and groaned ever so slightly as effort exerted from her arms. Slowly, she dedicated more effort to the task. Not even a budge, the hell is this thing made out of? She pondered. Her muscles slowly bulged out from the shape of her biceps. Wash felt a raise in his eyebrows, as he studied her form rather inquisitively. Yet, alas, it was of no use for she could not make a single crack in the relic. Wash clapped his hands and said, "A+ for effort, but looks like someone will be taking me out for drinks after this job is over."

"Yeah, okay. You just got lucky and called it right," she admitted as she jumped back down, and felt the soreness grow in her arms. "But that's one tough nut to crack. And those glyphs, don't they remind you of Chorus?"

"Yes," Wash confirmed and added, "I called in an expert to look at it."

"An expert you say," Carolina mused, only for the two to hear their supposed expert from out in the hallways. "Hey girl, can you show a badass space warrior such as myself to the special holdings room for your new alien relic toy? And then, maybe after that, we can go find a quiet space, just the two of us."

"Ah, speak of the devil," Wash looked at the entry way to find a rather nervous soldier guide the aqua one into the room. "Tucker, how nice of you to join us."

"Yeah, nice to see you Wash, Carolina," he promptly turned to the female soldier who was already out of sight, and much to her relief, out of the creep radius. "Ah man, this blows."

"Glad to see that your time as an instructor here in the Alliance of Defense has served you well," Wash mused as Carolina added, "I can really see the maturity in you that came along with that responsibility."

"Hey, up yours," Tucker replied as he walked further into the room to look at the artifact. He turned back to the two ex-Freelancers with a string tug up at his lips and said, "Gotta say though, it's good to see you guys again. So, what was I rushed over here for?"

"We need your help with the deciphering of this thing," Wash gently rested a hand on Tucker's back. "You are our best bet."

"Then you must not know very many people," Tucker mused. "You do know that my Sangheili is pretty shit, right?"

"You were an ambassador for the aliens at one point," Carolina pointed out as the aqua soldier was then quick to rebut. "Hey, I never said I was a good ambassador. I swear, one time, they called me a Shisno at least thirty times in one conversation and then threatened to eject me out the airlock, as far as I could tell. Good times."

"Wow," Carolina caught her breath as she took a moment for thought. "You are really selling your services to us."

"I try."

"Well, we need you to try a little harder with this one," Wash pointed back to their cyan badass gal and whispered, "Plus, she owes me ten shots. I would be willing to share some with you."

"Include a couple of girls in there and you are on."

"I thought you would have plenty falling into your lap as the training instructor of new recruits."

"Me too, but for some odd reason, they keep on running away. I mean look at me," Tucker's hand slowly trekked it's way down to his prized sword. "I think I'm a badass myself. I tell you, people nowadays don't know awesome when they see it."

"Charming," Carolina snarled as she looked down the tip of her finger to the relic. "But I know you can do it."

Tucker felt the scratch on the back of his helmet as he turned to face the relic once more. His eyes squinted at the various carvings and like a spike on a heart monitor, he felt his confidence rise. Maybe I can. Wash gently bumped Tucker on the back and said, "Whatever you find, don't log it on the base computer or verbally discuss it with others. Keep that information stored in this pad here."

"Getting paranoid now?" Tucker booted up the pad and studied the available applications. Wash with a small chuckle replied, "Haven't I always been like that?"

"True that," Tucker tucked away the pad in his back pocket as he then left the area for the night. As did the rest for the room now rested silent, and cleared of all noise. The outcome, as heard by those on the other end of the communicator left a lot to be desired. Zero looked back to his comrades who, in their own zones of comfort, found the much needed rest after their long search. "Phase, Diesel, get out here. We have a situation."

At a moment's notice, she was out and about and studied their wet surroundings. "What's going on, there are no enemies here?"

"That's not the reason I called you two," Zero motioned towards the chairs opposite to him, as he explained the situation. "We need to start recon on their base, and attack after a few days to retrieve the information."

"If we can't listen in on where they will even store that data pad, how will we get it?" inquired Diesel. Zero pointed to a box, coloured in green and said, "We extract the information straight from the brain."

"No way," Diesel felt a heavy skip of the heart beat, and his chest tighten with an ache. "You know what that does to the person it's used on."

"There is no other way. Agent Washington will be our targ-"

"Wait a minute," Phase almost stiffened by the sheer force of the surprise. "You mean Agent Washington, the one from Project Freelancer?"

"Yes, Carolina is there as well."

"Oh, and here I thought this couldn't get any better!" Phase squealed as she held out her knife, and it glowed a bright, exuberant pink. "To think that I could meet some of the legends."

"So you want to force the information out of Washington?" Diesel pointed back to the case and added, "Isn't there a better way to do this than to use that?"

"It will be a last resort," Zero retrieved the box and kept it firmly by his side. "I don't intend to go against my vows. But we must do what we need to, we have waited far too long, and ran far too much to give up on this now."

His two comrades nodded in agreement as the three quickly took to the warthog. Zero studied the coordinates and pointed in the general direction of their target. "Remember, we go to scope only. Our attack will take place once they are done with their analysis. Probably give them a couple of days, a week at most."

Tucker sighed as he knocked himself back against a wall, and threw the pad onto the chair to his side. A growl slowly escaped him for his legs gave away, and the strength left him dry. He sat down to the cold metallic floor, with a single thought, why don't they ever turn up the heat in here? Shit, this is fucking annoying. He retrieved the pad once more and studied his progress. The date, dated back to a week ago when he first opened this file for noting his findings. Today is the last day to take a proper crack at it, and only one more hour. He shook his head clean and stood back up. Okay, gotta keep on going. Do as much as I can in that time. Yet what was once an hour felt like a minute to him, just as Wash and Carolina walked through the doors. "How'd you make out?"

Tucker tossed the pad in their direction and walked out the room with a small grumble under his breath. Both the freelancers felt the needles stab out from his words, curse the world around him for while his progress was satisfactory, it was not how he had envisioned it. Wash studied the data and nodded to Carolina. "I'm going to put this away. I think it's time you finally give me those shots you lost to me in a bet."

"You still remembered?"

"Of course," mused Wash as he pointed in Tucker's direction. "And be sure to invite him as well."

Wash's feet guided him amidst the cold, metallic walls. His mind studied the pad with intrigue, now finally alone with his thoughts. You did good, Tucker. He walked into the even colder embrace of the storage room, where containers were stacked to the ceiling, all looking forward to their journey on to a new home. Back in the research room, he found a half drunken Tucker, staggering about like a chicken running without a head. "Whoa, watch out arseholez, Imma be comin' through heeaarree!"

"How many shots did he take?" Wash looked at Carolina who held up a count of three. Wash took one and drank it whole. "Just from three, he got like that? And here I thought I was a light drunk."

"He did seem to want to loosen up...a lot. I'm sure the stress from this job didn't help. That and he had twenty glasses of beer before the shots," Carolina felt the chill beer contact her lips, and send signals to her dopamine, happiness. Wash went to hold his friend still, who fought a senseless, and a losing battle. "Let meh gooosss...I neesh to fiins dem bitches. Where be da ladees atto?"

"Yeah, okay, no more shots for you, pal."

"Ah phooey!" Tucker leaned against the table for he felt his legs slowly gave on him, and his arms shake. "I bet I can takez it, brah!"

A sudden light lit up in the orange haired one's brain, and a grin grew to somewhat disturbing proportions from where Wash stood. "Uh, Carolina, are you okay?"

"This could be fun."

"What could be fun?"

Carolina turned from Wash to the aqua soldier and gently tapped against his back. "Tell me Tucker, do you keep in contact with the others from the gang?"

"Whut, ya mean lek Caboozzz, Sarss, Griffeen, Sista, and Seemmosss?"

"Yes," Carolina looked back at Wash, with an even wider grin. He knew from the distorted contortions all around her lips, her mouth shut tight in an effort to hold back the flood of laughter that fought to break free. She took a deep breath and turned back to Tucker. "Those are the ones who I am talking about."

"Yee, I talll to thez sometimz...Whot about it?"

"How are they doing, enjoying their retirement?"

"Hmm...they be livin' it large everydaa!" Tucker slowly sat down as he finally felt his feet give, yet his thirst still unquenched. And so, he reached for the last shot Wash neglected to down. "You guyz earned it, here'z to uz all!"

"As did you, you have earned the right to live it up large as well," Wash gently patted his friend and took the seat beside him. Carolina slowly reached into Tucker's pocket, whilst coaxing him with her words. "You should send them a message right now. If they are living it large up there, tell them of what they are missing here. Wash will even help you type it out."

"Um, excuse me, what are you trying to get me involved in?"

"Yeah, thoz asshoes should know abouz thiz," Tucker held out his phone with the help of the orange haired woman. Wash felt his alerts trigger, one after the another. "Seriously, what are you up too?"

Carolina was quick to lean close to alleviate his concerns. "Just play along, Wash. It's only a bit of some harmless fun."

"Fine...what is it you want me to type, Tucker?"

Carolina leaned in with a soft whisper into Tucker's ears, who repeated her words verbatim. As the message pinged through the airwaves, Wash quickly hid his face in embarrassment and handed the phone back. Tucker's eyebrow perked up with a mix of worry and curiosity. "Whatz up, why you hidez ya faze?"

"Nothing," Wash headed for the door towards his quarters, however just before he left, he looked back to his two friends with a smirk. "Try to get a good night's rest tonight. You have a long journey ahead of you tomorrow Tucker. Sleep all that booze off. Oh, and don't look at your phone until you have boarded the Pelican for launch."

"Nighty, night, heh, heh, eh..."

"Okay, up you go Mr. Ladies man," Carolina propped the aqua soldier to his feet and proceeded to guide him to his room. As she lied him down, and rested the helmet to the bedside, she studied his hardened features from years of their crazy adventures. We all have been through a lot, to the point where we have also been changed by those experiences. "Thanks for everything you have done for both Wash and I."

The next night, Wash and Carolina stood to see Tucker off. An uneventful, yet intimate send off for their friend. However, as the Pelican slowly arose in the air, the screams that escaped the metal hull left a loud, mad laughing woman, fight to hold her tears back. Wash chuckled to himself with a small grin. "You are a devilish woman, Carolina."

"Says my co-conspirator."

"I was at the wrong place, at the wrong time," he mused, walking back to the research room. Outside the compound, the trio of armoured rogues watched the Pelican rise out of sight. Zero studied the security around the perimeter. Light on the outside. Most of their guards are on the inside most likely. He turned to his comrades and spoke with a gentle nod. "Remember our plan, we go in, and get what we need. Minimal casualties."

"Got it," the two slowly departed from the vehicle alongside Zero. He led the team closer to the compound where he motioned for Diesel to take his position. Next was Phase, who was quick to place herself up on the walls, near the rear doors, and lie waiting for her opportunity. Zero studied the two, and felt his chest drum with the anticipation of the coming mission. "Operation, start!"

A/N: Hope you all enjoyed that first chapter, or "episode" as I called it. As the title implies, this is a re-write of the season. It will be written mostly in an improv fashion. Meaning, there is no seriously in-depth planning that went into this. I'm writing pretty much in the way I believe the actual season's writers wrote, improv.

I will try to remain as faithful to the original concepts of the "story" from the season as possible, but there was a lot left to be desired, and hence I will change and expand things where I deem appropriate as the author. I hope you enjoy my take and the potential the actual season could have had, that I display through this story.

I must give credit though, the action sequences in this seasons were fantastic if you were looking for over the top, anime styled action. The animation was beautiful to look at, it's a shame the story did not hold the same level of quality to create a fantastic season. Regardless, I hope you enjoy my take on the story, the characters and this world of Red vs Blue that I make here.

This one is separate from my Monty-verse stories in the Red vs Blue fandom. If you like this, please consider checking out my other stuff there as well. Your support is greatly appreciated!

Thank you for taking the time to read, and feedback is welcomed!

~ Monty