Legal Disclaimer: I do not own Red vs. Blue or any of the show's characters. They are the rightful properties of Rooster Teeth.
Chapter Thirteen:
The current steady thrum of the air transport that was normally such a calming presence for Four Seven Niner did little to soothe the growing unease building in her gut. As the black-haired woman glanced over at the intimidating figure of a female in black-armor sitting across from her with arms crossed over their chest, she knew that she wasn't the only one currently feeling anxiously frustrated.
The tan-skinned pilot sighed, turning back to check her readings for what felt like the millionth time since this flight began, "I wish that I could get this transport to fly faster without it breaking into a million pieces everywhere," She stated at length, "Or that Chorus wasn't so damn far away to begin with. We're still several days away."
Not to mention that that was with them traveling as fast as possible. They were being pretty damn reckless and ignoring safety protocols as it was. While Niner was confident in her skills, she wasn't sure the carrier could hold their current course's speed.
Plus, sneaking in once they got to Chorus would no doubt be pretty tricky too. The organization they had been trying so hard to nip in the heels often cast a much wider security net to avoid suspicion from those inside it when preparing their assaults.
Not that Tex wasn't aware of all of that already. The redhead shifted in her seat at Niner's commentary before speaking.
"Radioing in or messaging any other way now is pointless since they have everything monitored." She frowned, recalling past experiences the two had had with this particular group, "All we'd do is just get them to move faster by adjusting their time table before we even arrive."
The atmosphere was tense and Niner could tell, though Tex would never admit it to her or to anyone else, that she was regretting having left the little small knit group in the first place. It was a feeling that Niner could understand, but both women knew they had no time for regrets now. Not when a whole city, including several people they both cared for, needed their help.
"If we hadn't been investigating, if we had stayed? Well, we wouldn't have the opportunity to help now." The dark-haired pilot said quietly, not really expecting any response.
She was surprised when Tex gave her one all the same. "I know," The former Freelancer remarked, looking down at her hand as she clenched it tightly into a fist, "But that doesn't mean I still can't wish I was there with them for the start of all of this shit."
It was a sentiment that Niner had no trouble relating to, so she remained silent while once again checking over the controls to make sure they would get to their destination as quickly as possible.
Washington watched as the security gates to Chorus dropped their humming energy field at the announcement from the sentries that Malcolm Hargrove's retinue had arrived.
"What did I tell you?" Felix asked from his spot standing close to Locus, a smirk on his face, "He's always been the punctual sort."
Washington sighed from where he stood next to Doyle, Kimball, and Carolina, "Hopefully that punctuality will go hand-in-hand with the repairs too."
"Oh, I'm sure it will." Felix grinned even more, "Hargrove doesn't let his clients down either. Am I right, Locus?"
There was a slight nod from his mostly silent partner, and that seemed to be all of the contribution the green and steel-armored mercenary was willing to supply to the conversation.
Another few moments passed before a dust cloud signifying the appearance of a large, heavily-armored ground transport appeared as the already force field deactivated gates opened to receive Chorus' guests.
It was actually three heavily-armored transports, some of the largest that Wash had ever seen even with all of the years he had spent in active combat during the war. Plus, there was a contingent of armored soldiers walking alongside the transports for added guard support.
…He could just picture Tucker joking about obvious "overcompensation" the second the younger dark-skinned man ever got a look at the retinue, fighting the subconscious urge to preemptively roll his eyes at the inevitable joke. The blond was clearly spending too much time with Tucker if he could already predict what the other would say in certain situations. He had to close his eyes for a moment to bring his attention back to the matter at hand.
Clearly, Hargrove's willingness to travel across the lands assisting regions was not a trait that had been exaggerated. The caravan seemed designed to travel long distances over turbulent ground rather securely.
"Huh." Felix muttered from behind him, "The air transports must be coming later."
"A—air transports?" Wash couldn't help but splutter at the admission in disbelief.
How much power and influence did Hargrove actually have?
"Oh, don't look so shocked, Wash." Felix joked amicably, "Rich people just love showing off. I know I'm sure as hell going to the second I make it big too."
As Hargrove's group rounded to a stop just inside the safe confines of Chorus, both Doyle and Kimball signaled for the gate to be closed and the force field activated once again. The two leaders of Chorus both turned quick glances towards the other, surprised at having thought of the same action and for having performed it at the same time, before awkwardly looking away and focusing back on the newcomers in front of them.
Wash shot a questioning look over at Carolina at the exchange, though the older Freelancer merely shrugged. The redhead's body language alone reminded Wash to focus on the task at hand.
Right. Hargrove's retinue. The genetically engineered soldier needed to pay attention to this exchange. That was the whole reason he and Carolina were even here, after all. Wash turned back around just in time to see the first transport's door open and an older man step out, shooting the assembled group and the outskirts of the city an assessing look.
A soldier from the stranger's retinue gave him a datapad that he merely glanced at and nodded towards, saying something quietly to the guard as he walked over to the group from Chorus with authority in his measured and controlled gait. Behind Malcolm Hargrove, soldiers started to remove equipment from the transports with practiced ease.
"Felix and Locus I know from past dealings." He said without any preamble, turning to look at the dark-skinned woman and blond-haired man standing at the front of the smaller retinue, "You are Generals Kimball and Doyle, correct?"
Doyle nodded, "That's correct, Chairman Hargrove." He stated with the finesse of a natural born diplomat, "On behalf of our citizenry, we welcome you to Chorus."
"The pleasure is all mine, I assure you." Hargrove's smile seemed genuine enough, though the assessing look never left his eyes, "It is rare to be able to assist a region as unique in its philosophies as Chorus."
"We are very grateful for the assistance." Kimball added, looking to the equipment and tech still being unloaded behind them, "Is all of that for the repairs?"
The Chairman nodded, not even glancing at what was going on, "With these power outage attacks, it is always crucial to be as thorough as possible with routing out the problem."
It made sense, though all of the movement and machinery made Wash feel uneasy. Perhaps if he could slip away for a second to see what exactly had been brought…
Hargrove noticed his regard and the frown that was no doubt crossing over his features just then. His smile remained intact, however, as he proffered his hand to the steel and yellow-armored Freelancer.
"Agents Washington and Carolina of the former Project Freelancer, yes?" Hargrove asked amicably enough, "I don't believe we've previously met, though I was familiar with that particular project's Director."
The way he worded the sentence made it obvious that the familiarity had not been a fond one, which both Wash and Carolina had known to be reciprocated in the few times the Director had ever mentioned the Chairman.
Still, they both shook his hand as Hargrove continued: "I'd be curious to know how two former elite soldiers such as yourselves came to be here."
"It's a long story, Chairman." Carolina glanced over at Wash as she spoke, apparently thinking that vague was the best way to go for now when it came to Project Freelancer.
"Of course, though you'll have to indulge me and tell me it sometime all the same." Hargrove turned to Kimball and Doyle expectantly just then, "Though I do believe currently that a tour of this wonderful region's facilities are in order?"
Antoine Bitters and the other lieutenants were just finishing up their daily exercises when Kimball, Doyle, the two former Freelancers, and the two mercenary leaders entered the training grounds. They were accompanied by an old man in a rather expensive-looking business suit, the older Chorus residents talking to him as if explaining things around the area.
Which meant that whoever this big wig was, he was definitely someone who hadn't been to Chorus before. Bitters frowned slightly as that knowledge flittered through his brain.
It also seemed as if he wasn't the only rookie with questions as to the stranger's identity.
"Hey! Who's the really old guy?" Kaikaina asked their group with her usual tact and bluntness.
"Um, I believe they prefer being called seniors." Palomo tried interjecting oh-so-helpfully.
"Either way, old people suck." The younger Grif sibling made a face as she regarded the far away group.
"Maybe he's a traveling diplomat?" Volleyball suggested, helping Andersmith and Jensen with putting the training equipment they had been using into their respective storage containers.
Of course, seeing that reminded him how both he and Matthews had been volunteered by the others to put the stuff away again. Bitters swore that if he didn't know any better he would think they were doing it on purpose.
"Or someone important thinking of moving here?" Jensen chimed in.
"Whatever the case, we still have our duties to perform." Andersmith reminded the group pointedly, sealing the traveling container he had been working on.
"Yeah, yeah! We're coming. …And not in the really fun way." Kaikaina reassured him testily.
"You think maybe he's the one who is providing aid for the power outages?" Matthews questioned quietly.
There was a slight pause in the group's activities as they glanced uniformly over to the seemingly influential stranger.
"…Certainly would fit the type." Volleyball finally said at length.
"It would be awesome if he was!" Palomo was grinning at the prospect, "The sooner that gets taken care of, the better we'll all be."
"That's really well said, Palomo!" Jensen nodded her head appreciatively at his comment.
"Y—you think so?" The dark-skinned young man blushed at the surprising praise thrown his way from his not-so-secret crush, grinning like a dork.
That was more of the exchange than Bitters really wanted to take currently.
"Come on." He told Matthews as he hefted several of the storage units in his arms, "Let's get this over with."
"R—right." Matthews replied as he received help from Volleyball, Kaikaina, and Andersmith with stacking up the rest of the storage units.
While it looked like the auburn-haired lieutenant was struggling slightly under the weight, it appeared as if this time a return trip wouldn't be necessary. The two were off as the others continued their conversations, their path taking them rather close to the "Chain of Command" group in their midst as bits of conversation began floating over towards them.
It looked as though Matthews had been right about the man being the one who was going to help fix the power outage situation. His name was Malcolm Hargrove and, evidently, he was the Chairman of something or other. Bitters wasn't able to get a ton of details through the snippets of conversation he was barely able to make out.
The newcomer had just arrived recently, and it seemed as if their leaders were giving him a tour of Chorus that started with the facilities here in Armonia. That made sense too, he supposed. All diplomacy bullshit and the like. That shit he never cared enough to pay attention to.
However, what didn't necessarily sit well with Bitters were the sudden eyes on him and Matthews as they walked past them.
"So what are the statistics of the newer recruits here?" He heard Hargrove saying in a polite, curious-sounding voice before the two rookies were out of earshot.
The dark-skinned man frowned, unsure as to why the question bothered him so much. It was just that the genetically engineered lieutenant wasn't really sure why a guy who was just supplying power outage aid needed that type of information as well.
He sighed in annoyance, shaking his multi-colored hair in the process. Maybe he was just being paranoid. Matthews looked over at him questioningly just then, concern evident in his hazel-colored eyes.
Bitters managed to muster up a reassuring smile, oddly touched by the sentiment. He stepped a little bit closer to Matthews protectively all the same and, if the auburn-haired young man noticed the action, he made no comment on it.
There was an uncomfortable silence filling the clinic area, which Leonard Church found disconcerting as all fuck since normally one couldn't get either Sarge or Doctor Grey to shut up about any test findings they had on hand.
Still, the couple was remaining uncharacteristically silent just then, datapads with what Church assumed were the results of the myriad of tests they had just run at the ready.
But, the odd looks of unease and regret covering their features did little to ease the tension thick within the space. If anything, it was just serving to really piss him off.
After all, it wasn't just Church who had been waiting oh-so-patiently for the test results to come back. No, Simmons was there as well, the cyborg looking as though he was just minutes away from puking. Sheila and Lopez were also there, quietly holding hands in an attempt to reassure one another as they waited. Fuck, even Freckles was there.
Church had managed to finally convince Caboose to loan the talking gun to him for some quality "Caboose's Two Bestest Friends" bonding time. Freckles had been a little disappointed to learn they weren't going to karaoke as Church had told Caboose, but seemed to understand the reason behind the deception all the same. Currently, the gun was propped up on the wall behind Church.
"So, we ran the gamut as far as tests were concerned." Doctor Grey finally started, glancing over for a nod from Sarge before continuing, "I'm afraid to say that the results were inconclusive."
"W—what?" Simmons' already anxious voice went to a loud squeak at the lousy findings.
"How is that even possible?" Sheila asked, also sounding quite troubled by the news.
"Así que esto era una completa pérdida de tiempo, entonces? Increíble." {"So this was a complete waste of time then? Unbelievable."}
Lopez squeezed Sheila's hand even more, the other robot tilting her head gratefully in his direction.
"HARD TO PROCESS." Freckles' loud voice remarked disappointedly from the wall.
"That's because it's fucking bullshit is what it is." For once, it seemed as if Church and Freckles were on the same wavelength even without karaoke, which he supposed Caboose would be glad about.
"Now, hold on!" Sarge took a step forward, "We did learn some things."
"Really? Then leading with that instead of 'inconclusive' is probably the way to go." Church shot back at him.
"Son, I know you're upset, so I am going to let that slide. For once." The red-armored soldier commented, frowning all the same.
"Actually, there was a reason we didn't lead with that." Doctor Grey supplied helpfully, dark eyes glancing down at her datapad once more.
"That reason would be…?" Sheila politely prompted her to continue.
The dark-skinned woman sighed, "We can't say for certain just yet, but the continued power outages could be having a lingering effect on your systems."
Church frowned, thinking back to how his headaches always seemed to last a bit longer with each new outage—even when they were on the mild side. He glanced at Simmons and, seeing the frown deepening on the redhead's face, wondered if something similar wasn't happening with him too.
From the sudden stiffness in Lopez and Sheila's frames, and the abrupt silence from Freckles, the dark-haired man knew that their forced shut downs lasted a few more minutes than the outages did. Obviously that was understandably disconcerting too.
No wonder Doctor Grey and Sarge hadn't wanted to lead with that. It was just more bad news. Fucking perfect.
Doctor Grey coughed into the room's sudden stillness, "But, whatever is going on, we won't rest until we figure out a way to combat it." She said, voice both reassuring and emphatic all at once.
"That's right!" Sarge looked at her fondly before vigorously nodding his head, "Don't ya'll fret too much. We'll figure out how to kick this thing in the keister yet!"
There wasn't much they could do beyond running more tests and modifying everyone's respective tech more, but Church was oddly touched by the mad scientist couple's earnestness all the same. He still felt understandably worried as all fuck though. Church hated that feeling and all of the troublesome remembrances it brought along with it.
He couldn't help but sigh again. Yep, absolutely fucking perfect.
Dexter Grif was definitely not what you would call an "errand boy." In fact, there was pretty much anything else he would rather do than go run boring chores for someone else. Like nap. Or eat. Or drink. Or smoke. Or just fucking sit somewhere doing nothing.
But, this time, when Donut had begged him with his patented puppy dog eyes and Tucker had suggested he just "Get a move on it, fat-ass." he had decided to do just that. Not really out of a grand desire to be useful or anything. He hadn't done a total personality makeover.
No, the truth was that Grif could really give a shit less about Kimball and the others bringing the rich Chairman over to the warehouse for a "tour" of Chorus. Besides, any reason he had to seek Sarge out normally he would consider suicidal at best.
But, this time, Simmons was one of the people he had been tasked with finding. The genetically engineered soldier was curious enough that he wanted to find out just what it was that the redhead and the others were up to.
After all, it just so happened that it was the two resident mechanical experts, the two resident cyborgs, and the three Virtual Intelligences of their group who were missing. Grif would not call that a coincidence, especially when he found all of them in the clinic area of the warehouse and apparently at the tail end of a conversation that had caused a heavy silence to fall over the group.
Because he was curious and lazy, the tan-skinned man waited a few seconds to see if anyone would reveal something telling about what was going on. But, when nothing forthcoming came, he decided "Screw it." and knocked loudly on the then open doorframe.
"Grif!" Sarge stated both loudly and distastefully at his presence, "Haven't I told you before to sneak in more quietly so that I have an excuse to test my shotgun reflexes?"
"You may keep saying it, but it's never going to happen." Grif rolled his eyes at the older man's commentary before getting straight to the matter at hand, "Anyways, sorry to interrupt whatever this was, but Doyle and the others brought the big wig here for a tour."
"Oh, that's excellent news!" Doctor Grey clapped her hands together loudly, smiling at the assembled group, "That means repairs for the power outages should be underway in no time flat."
There was a reassuring note to her voice that Grif couldn't help but pick up on.
"Plus I'll get to show off more of our modified weaponry." There was a manic gleam in Sarge's brown eyes at the prospect.
"It would be impolite not to introduce ourselves, wouldn't it?" Sheila inquired as she and Lopez made their way past Grif.
"Creo que sí, aunque no es igual que él sabrá lo que estoy diciendo de todos modos." {"I guess so, though it's not like he'll know what I am saying anyways."}
Church sighed, grabbing Freckles before following Sarge and Doctor Grey out the door next as he addressed the gun, "Might as well give you back to Caboose too, huh?"
"YOU BETTER." Freckles stated emphatically.
Simmons didn't look Grif in the eye as he moved to walk past him, which automatically made the chubby man even more suspicious as to what this secret meeting had been all about. He reached out and grabbed onto Simmons' shoulder gently, ignoring the sudden tingle throughout his body as he pulled the cyborg back inside the clinic.
"Grif! W—what's wrong?" Simmons asked, looking as though he were already caught at something.
Given who had been assembled for this little meeting and where it had been located, it didn't take Grif too long to hazard a guess about what it had been for. Still, he wanted to hear it from Simmons directly.
"You want to tell me what this meeting was for?" The slightly older man asked quietly, voice and eyes serious.
If there was something going on with the power outages that Simmons wasn't telling him? The orange-wearing soldier's chest constricted both with annoyance and overwhelming worry for the kiss-ass at the thought.
Simmons frowned down at Grif's hand still on his shoulder, a slight blush on his face as he still refused to meet Grif's gaze directly, "I—!" he finally started before ultimately being cut off.
"Grif! Simmons!" Sarge was suddenly standing in the doorway again, looking impatient, "The introductions will be over if you both don't skedaddle!"
"C—coming, Sarge!" Simmons called out, for the first time glancing over at the dark-haired man, "Let's go, Grif."
"Fine." Grif sighed, dropping his hand from Simmons' shoulder and immediately hating the sudden lack of contact, "But we'll talk about this later, okay?"
Simmons gulped nervously, but nodded anyways as the two quickly hurried to follow Sarge towards the main warehouse area.
Honestly? Richard "Dick" Simmons was grateful for the fact that Sarge had interrupted them when he had, because he still wasn't sure exactly what he wanted to tell Grif. He didn't want the chubbier man to worry about him anymore than he was already. Besides, given how the results for the tests had been vague, there really wasn't much he could tell the fat-ass anyways.
Grif was, for whatever reason, concerned about Simmons and the private meeting he and the others had just had. Simmons felt his face heating up again with that train of thought, though he tried to tell himself that Grif's actions were probably just those of a concerned friend and not out of something more like he secretly craved.
Still, he should tell Grif something, right? Maybe with the fact that the aid had finally reached Chorus, he could reassure both himself and his chubby friend that any worries they were having now were only temporary. At least, he hoped so at any rate.
The main warehouse area was more crowded than normal with all of the Reds and Blues along with Doctor Grey in attendance. Simmons could understand why, given how rare it was for anyone rather important to visit the area. No doubt Sarge wanted to make a good impression, and Simmons would try his hardest not to let his superior down.
"Well, you found them." Tucker told Grif as they joined up with the others, watching Caboose grabbing and hugging Freckles from Church out of the corner of his eye before turning his attention back to the group approaching them.
It seemed that the dark-skinned man's eyes were especially on Wash, as if he was using the former Freelancer's appearance to gauge how he should be reacting to what was going on.
"Yep, and I think I deserve an extra nap." Grif joked.
"You know, too many naps are not good for you." Doc started conversationally nearby.
"Wow, Doc! You really do know a lot of stuff!" Donut exclaimed from next to him as Doc blushed at the praise.
Grif scoffed, "There's no such thing as too many naps, Doc."
Simmons smirked, "I don't know, Grif. With the way you take them?"
Grif gave him the finger, "Quiet, kiss-ass." He stated, though there was an obvious affectionate note in his voice.
Simmons was glad to hear it, knowing it meant that Grif wasn't too mad at him for before and that the tan-skinned man's frustration was more out of concern than anything else, "Fat-ass." The redhead mumbled just as affectionately.
Before they could continue with their usual banter, the group containing the two generals, the two former Freelancers, the two mercenaries, and an older gentleman in a rather expensive-looking suit were making their way towards them.
All conversation promptly shut off as everyone stood at the ready. Well, as at the ready as their oddball familial unit ever was. After all, they knew how important this aid was to Chorus.
As the elderly man approached for the introductions, Simmons couldn't help but frown slightly. There was something oddly familiar in the man's gait and assessing eyes that he couldn't quite put his finger on…
But, the second the Chairman's gaze fell onto him and surprised recognition clouded over his weathered features, Simmons started as the cyborg remembered exactly who the man was. The lanky man vaguely recalled Grif looking over at him questioningly, but Simmons was too focused on the face from his past to fully acknowledge his presence just then.
It seemed as if his father's old friend and business partner remembered him as well, for the next thing out of Malcolm Hargrove's mouth was a questioning, "…Richard?"
Author's Notes: DUN DUN DUN DUN~! XD Hargrove has shown up and there was a bit of a surprise at the ending of this chapter which I will definitely be going into in the next one! :)
This was a fun chapter to write, so I hope that you enjoyed reading it too! :D Thank you very much, as always, for putting up with me! :)