Disclaimer: I do not own Red vs. Blue, RWBY, nor the items and some of the lore from Halo. RvB and RWBY belonged to Rooster Teeth while Halo is 343 Industries' and Microsoft's IP.
The conference hall had seen a rather large gathering, a rather uncommon occurrence in truth. Typically the most it would see was a mandatory assembly or the occasional high-ranking birthday. This was to be expected this time, however, as every solider and trooper wouldn't be ones to miss a meeting from the president herself. And she was hardly the only big name hosting; Gulch's Secretary of Defense and retired general Donald Doyle, CEO and Chairman of Hargrove Industries Malcom Hargrove, even the director of Project Freelancer Leonard Church, were all waiting on the podium for the madam of the hour to arrive, as well as any stragglers in the base.
"Hey dude," Tucker remarked as he nudged his leader's arm, "you're dad's at this shindig too. Pfffttt hahaha!" he joked as Caboose forcefully laughed alongside his aqua friend. Even if he didn't quite understand why, he did understand laughing was fun, and that was all he needed.
"How many times do I have to tell you morons that's not my dad!?" Church groused irritably. "I'm Leonard L. Church, and he's Leonard A. Church! Our similar, common names have no damn relation!"
"Yeah, totally no relation" drawled Tucker.
"I mean, seriously. My dad's last name is Church too, and he's the left wing janitorial chief, what makes you think I would have anything to do with the director? Leonard and Church are just common family names, unlike your, Lavernius."
"Fuck you! You're just jealous 'cause my name's unique, and not some cheap copy."
"And Caboose, too!"
"Hell yeah, high five buddy!"
SLAP
"Son of a bitch!" Tucker exclaimed as he massaged his now red palm. It was a little too easy to forget Caboose's strength sometimes.
"Will you three idiots shut up!?" a nearby soldier interrupted their little spat, which was met with a unanimous "Sorry."
"Ugh, gods, how long do we have to keep waiting for this shindig to start already?" Church complained as he began to rub his temples, the onset of his usual migraine returning.
"Would you like some pills for that, Church?"
The trio turned at the new voice to a familiar purple medic approaching a seat next to them.
"Doc? What the heck are you doing here?" Tucker inquired.
"Oh, well, the medical personnel were to report here. In fact I think most of the entire base is here today." he replied. "And besides, I'm just really excited to be here for this. I mean, it's always been a personal hope of mine that we finally leave the past with the past and rejoin our brothers and sisters across the sea. *sniff* It honestly brings a tear to my eye; I just can't wait to finally see remnant with my own eyes. Did you guys know that my-"
"Ahem."
Suddenly, much of the sporadic chatter came to a halt as the president had finally arrived and made her presence known.
"I would like to thank you all for coming here on such short notice, and on a day as busy as this at tha-"
She was interrupted from her greeting as the entrance doors slammed open to the piling of a familiar crimson crew.
"Jumpin' Jehozafats, we haven't missed it have we?" Sarge bellowed out.
His response was an awkward silence as all eyes were suddenly boring through him and his team. With what little dignity they had left, Sarge led them to the nearest available seats whilst muttering something about taking a wrong turn, and should've shot Grif when he had that chance earlier.
"Agh, dagnabbit!" he cried out once again upon noticing his team's neighbors. "How did these dirty blues beat us here? We even used the warthog! Simmons, this calls for-"
*SSSHHHHHH!* he was interrupted as the rest of the room took it upon themselves to silence the crazed Sargent's yelling. To which he responded with a grumbled "Damn it."
Noses were pinched and eyes were rolled throughout the hall, whilst the freelancers either snickered or looked on in disapproval.
"Thank gods we weren't assigned to those losers," South groaned out. "I honestly can't imagine lasting a damn hour, let alone several days, with those nitwits. However you do it, Tex, is honestly beyond me."
The aforementioned freelancer seemed unfazed by that. "You'll get used to it." she muttered.
. . .
With silence returned to the room, Kimball took a deep breath before tapping her microphone. This truly was it, years of hard work and dedication had led to this moment. No going back now, for the sake of both the nation, and her hopes and dreams.
"As I was saying, thank you all for joining us today. As some of you may know, the decision has been made for the reunification with the rest of the planet and within the next few months, Gulch shall indeed finally re-open its borders to the outside. The Great War was a horrid blight on our people, one that we still feel today and will never forget. But it has been over half a century since it ended, and I firmly believe that we have kept ourselves in isolation for long enough."
She took a rather large gulp from the glass of seltzer she had brought with her, taking a moment to recompose herself.
"But of course, you aren't the general populace, you are the military. As such I am not here to give you the rousing, comforting speech, for what need is there for those who are already willing to give their lives for their beautiful Nation? Today, I am here, along with my esteemed guests, to give you all your mission. Mr. Secretary of Defense, if you please?" she closed off, gesturing Doyle up to the podium.
"Yes, thank you Madam President. Now then, from what I understand some of you may or may not have gained an idea of what your mission shall be pertaining. Allow me to clear up those rumors," he announced as he straightened out his tie. "Your mission is a massive stealth-op codenamed Operation STAGEPLAY. Your duty will be to infiltrate each of the four kingdoms in various teams, posing as citizens of your respective nation, and gather information. Your mission shall include, but will not be limited to: scouting out the terrains, interaction with the locals, understanding the current culture, essentially you are to gain as much data and information of the current state of the other kingdoms and report back. Simply put, this mission will be likened to an actual stage play, and you are the actors. Some of you will be placed in the country side, some in the capitals, and some outside the walls of the kingdoms themselves even, but your goal will remain all the same. Mr. Chairman?"
With his piece said, the wealthy mogul then stepped up to say his.
"Yes, thank you, Donald. Once you have gathered sufficient data, you are to report it all to your superior or mission handler, where you will then await further orders. I cannot stress how diligent and delicate you must be as what we learn from you will essentially determine whether or not we shall go through with our plans to make official contact and host a summit at Vytal, the very same place the Great War came to an official end all those years ago." He began to slightly shift as a beguiled look flashed across his face. "On a lighter note, do not be nervous to also scope out the local businesses and resources that may or may not have developed in all this time. I would like to confirm the rumors that a rather flattering bonus will be in line for those who do indeed perform favorably, so let that be another motivator for you all then."
Felix energetically pumped his fist at that while Locus simply groaned at his partner's immaturity.
"Once this meeting is adjourned," the Director continued in the Chairman's place, "we will be assigning differing regions for different volunteers, based on your experience, capabilities and . . ." he faltered for a moment as he glanced at the (attempted) silenced bickering between his most problematic sim trooper teams. ". . . Skillset. The professional of you will be sent to the more volatile or priority locals, while the more mediocre will head for where it is more pacific. Once you have set off," his voice began to take a more hardened tone, "any and all orders you will receive are expected and required to be followed exactly to the letter, regardless of any qualms or personal gripes you may have, as soldiers and as professionals. Failure is not an option; insubordination, in any way, shape, or form, will not be tolerated. Am I clear?"
"Sir, yes, sir!" the crowd chorused at that. No one would voice it, but the mood had certainly become a great deal more tense at that declaration.
"Now, now," Doyle elected to interject and try to relieve the tension, "there is no need for any of that. After all, we are on a mission of peace. Now, I'm not naive and ignorant enough to believe that things always go as planned, and that military work in and of itself is a pretty job. But I'm confident that so long as you remain competent and cautious, we will have no need for any . . . unpleasantries. Suffice to say, engagement should only be applied when and if absolutely necessary. Is that understood, you all?"
Another round of agreement sounded in the crowd, with the freelancers making their voice heard as well. "We will not fail you sirs, and madam!" Carolina announced as she and her teammates saluted together.
"Right then." The president finally made her voice known again. "With all that out of the way, I would like to impart one lass message to you all." She took a deep breath, this was the hard part, and let it out. "I understand that some of you have your objections to this operation."
"Heh, I'll say" Grif silently muttered.
"That many of you, in fact, are opposed to reintegration as a whole. While I can understand your stance, I myself have been there more than you may think," a forlorn look flashed across her eyes, "I implore you all to see this through to the best of your ability. What happened in the past was tragic, no one will deny that, but we cannot continue to live in a misguided paranoia that the only thing that lies beyond our borders is trouble. We have come a long way from the Great War, so long that many of you may have forgotten where our true inception was. How we first came about and why we have done what we have done since. Please do not misunderstand me, I am not asking you all to forgive and forget. We can never forget. What I want of you all is to let history be history. To leave the past behind us and not let it continue to shackle us from a better tomorrow. For the fact of the matter is, we are not alone on this planet, and we are more then a nation of fighters and survivalists. We are just like our long lost brothers and sisters, who have also fought so long and hard for life, freedom, individuality and self-expression. They were misguided for a time, but I have faith that like us, they too have risen above their base desires and have bettered themselves as we have. If we do not act now, we may never truly become one with them once again, as we have once craved nothing more then. We do this, not just for our sakes, but for theirs too."
Kimball's speech was met with silence so astute you could drop a pin and not hear it. Fearing she may have overstepped a large line, Kimball inwardly cursed her forwardness and made to adjourn the meeting before things could further deescalate when she was broken from her reverie by the sound of a single person clapping. A solider out in the back, seemingly insignificant, had been moved by her words. It would prove to be contagious as one solider became two, then five, then eight, then fifteen, then a third of the hall, until most of the attendees had erupted into a thunderous applause.
She let out a sight of relief she did not know she had been holding in, "I truly must learn to have more faith in my citizens" she mused inwardly.
"Right then," she recomposed herself, "with that out of the way, I would like to call this meeting adjourned. For all who volunteered, your mission will be reported to your commanding officers one week from now. Be sure to enjoy a well-earned shore leave in that time, because you're definitely going to need that rest." That last comment resulted in a few sporadic chuckles within the audience. "Thank you all, and have a wonderful rest of your day."
. . .
"Well, that went well. We even get a whole week off out of it."
York was rather chipper as he and his team made their way out of the conference hall, each with a lot on their minds from the president's words. Tex, however, was interrupted from her thoughts as she caught sight of Church. The poor sap must've taken a detour to "accidentally" run into her. Well, it certainly couldn't hurt to say hello before they left the base.
"So uh, hey Tex." He nervously greeted.
"Church," Tex replied back, trying to remain courteous but also letting him try to pilot his own reigns this time.
"Come on, don't screw this up asshole" Church willed himself mentally. "I, um, I was wondering if you, you know, had any plans for once this whole mission starts. We're one person short and I would really prefer it if we didn't take our chances for when Sarge inevitably tries to screw us over."
Before the freelancer could respond, however, she was cut off by Washington.
"Hey Tex, the director wants to meet us back at the Mother of Invention pronto, and Carolina won't hesitate to leave us behind if we're late again."
"I'll be there," she stated before she turned back to face the sim trooper. "I'm sorry Church, the Director wants all of Project Freelancer at maximum efficiency for this mission, so I can't join up with you and the rest of the idiots. Maybe some other time? . . . Well, I guess I'll be seeing you."
"Oh, uh, yeah sure. You, uh, go kick ass. Heh."
Tex's visor flashed green, a little code between the two of them to let him know she'd be alright, before following Washington to the Pelican.
Church simply sighed as he looked downwards. Well, it was certainly better then not trying. At least he had gotten an answer. He felt a hand on his shoulder break him from his disappointment.
"Hey, don't worry buddy. At least you still got us. What's the worst that could happen?" Tucker tried to cheer his friend up, with Caboose offering a thumbs up behind him.
Church simply smirked at his teammate's words. "I don't know whether that statement should comfort or scare me."
Tucker simply took it in stride, letting out a brief chuckle before patting Church's back.
"Come on, ya big jerk. We got a week off and I intend to use it, so let's get this vacation started!"
. . .
It wasn't long before both teams had eventually made their way to the equipment bay so as to have their armors re-calibrated and removed.
"Well, you dirty blues better prepare to eat it," Sarge decided to break the silence in the only way he knew how, by antagonizing the blues. "Because the glorious red army will be finishing their mission so fast it'll leave your heads swimming. Hopefully, fast enough to the point they actually fall of. Ha!"
"Ugh, seriously Sarge," Church groaned at the red leader's antics, "relax, this isn't a competition. All the volunteers are going to be well compensated. Besides, we're probably going to be put together on our missions, so we're gonna have to put the whole Red vs. Blue thing behind us. Temporarily, of course!" He swiftly added at the end.
"As if I'd be working with a dirty blue, hrgg, the thought alone makes me wanna retch. Ugh, command must be going mad to be issuing this."
"Whatever makes that damn head of yours happy you bastard." Church snarkily shot back.
Back with the others, Tucker decided to pipe up "So, what are you fools planning on doing this shore leave?"
"Well, I'll be catching on some lost Z's" Grif spoke up. "Also, Samie Raphaello's, here I come!"
"Well, I'll probably get back to my studies while I still can, since we'll be out of school once we head out." Simmons retorted.
"Right," Tucker replied disinterestedly. 'Damn nerd.' "What about you Caboose?"
"Oh, I don't know. Ooh, maybe I'll go watch some cartoons! That sounds cool. And maybe take some naps. And eat some snacks! And, uh, watch some cartoons! And, uh, eat some snacks!. And, uh, um . . . I forgot what I was going to say."
Tucker simply sighed at Caboose's expected antics. "This is gonna be a loooong week."
END