On the Run

Chapter One

"Multiple Choice"

The Reds and Blues were fucked. Totally and completely fucked. Space pirates had infiltrated the Federal Army of Chorus and the New Republic and blocked most radio frequencies using a network of radio jammers, preventing the Reds and Blues from informing the two armies of the trap they were being lured in to. Now, the two armies were converging on the capitol city of Armonia in a battle that would leave no survivors, would leave a planet devoid of any life aside from the merciless marauders that had kept the civil war going for so long. Meanwhile, the Reds and Blues were being hunted by two ruthless mercenaries and their cronies. They were outgunned and outnumbered with no way to escape the doomed planet.

That is, until Locus and Felix, their hunters, contacted them, informing the stranded band of soldiers that they would provide them with a fully-functional ship to take them off-world, with the one condition that they never inform anyone of their activity on Chorus. Aside from the fact that the two mercenaries had proven to be untrustworthy in the past, the colorful band of soldiers also found the idea of leaving their friends in the New Republic and Federal Army undesirable. Nevertheless, it was a way out, and seemingly the only way they would be able to escape Chorus alive. Now, the Epsilon A.I, more commonly known as Church, was laying out all of the group's possible options.

"Alright," the cobalt A.I began, "the way I see it, we've got three options. I'm going to go through these in the order of 'fucking terrible' to 'god-damn nightmare,' he explained. "Option A: we can take our last teleportation grenade and jump to a place on Chorys where we can lay low for a little while. The obvious downside to this plan is that the armies will probably blow each-other to bits, but, Carolina and I have gotten pretty good at fighting these guys on the run. If we're careful, we might be able to gather enough equipment and intel to get off this planet and bring Control to justice."

"Just to clarify, that's the best option?" Simmons asked incredulously.

"That was fucking terrible," confirmed Epsilon.

"We lose Chorus, but we still have the chance to bring down Control and walk away from this alive," Carolina clarified. "That gets us two out of three," she added solemnly.

"What's option B?" asked Grif.

"If, and , let me tell you, I cannot stretch this if enough, if Locus and Felix are telling the truth, we go back to the canyon, get on the ship, and go home," answered Church, "if anyone asks, we tell them we left before all the crazy army people showed up and started murdering each-other."

"Gotta be honest, I'm not the biggest fan of the 'if,'" said Sarge, "and the thousand of deaths aren't great either."

"What about option C?" Tucker asked, dread filling his voice.

Church sighed. "We teleport to the radio jammer. If we take out their defenses, and shut down the machine, and if we're not too late, then we can broadcast a message to The Captiol."

"Oh, well that one doesn't sound too bad," observed Donut cheefully.

"Well, here's the thing, I've been running Carolina's healing unit non-stop, but her leg's still garbage." said Church matter-of-factly. "Combine that with the fact that these guys have Freelancer equipment, advanced weaponry-"

"We get it," Carolina interrupted, "some of us won't make it back." The dread was audible in her voice, a rare thing for one as stoic and daring as Carolina. She had, though she would not admit it, grown to care for the red and blue idiots, and Washington, of course, he was, like her, one of the last freelancers, making him the only one who she could truly relate to, with the possible exception of Epsilon.

Church's holographic image flickered out and reappeared in front of Carolina. "Most of us won't make it back," he corrected her.

"But we could save everyone at The Capitol," Tucker insisted, a small bit of hope in his voice.

"Yeah, if, if, if we make it back in time," Church reminded the cyan soldier. "Then, you just need to find a way to convince two armies that a bunch of dead people are actually alive and telling the truth." Following the Reds and Blues learning the truth and being forced into hiding, Locus and Felix had each told the general of both armies that they were dead, using the death as a symbol to inspire the soldiers into one last battle.

"There's a fourth option," said Agent Washington, who had quiet until that point. He had been contemplating the different options and looking at the likelihood of everyone surviving. In short, the odds were slim. Over the course of his time wth the Reds and Blues, he had grown to cre for them, after all, it was because of them that he trusted anyone and wasn't a cold-hearted killer anymore, though he wasn;t exactly warm, and he was more than ready to take lives when the need arose. "Carolina and I go on he run with Epsilon and do our best to bring down Control," he suggested, walking up to Carolina's side and turning to face the others. "The rest of you can take the ship and go home."

"That's... actually not a bad plan," commented Epsilon.

"The three of us would be able able to move around quicker without the extra baggage," Carolina agreed. "No offense," she added, turning back to face the Reds and Blues.

"No," said Grif, "baggage is right. W're comfortable with who we are."

"But, we can't just leave," Donut pleaded.

"Yes you can," said Dr. Grey, who had been standing off to the side during the conversation. "This isn't your responsibility, you all held up your end of the bargain, you helped us fight, you saved your friends, so now all that's left is for you to go home," she said, a hint of saddness creeping into her normally-jovial voice.

They all pondered this for a moment. A few weeks ago, they all would've agreed with Dr. Grey, in fact, the only reason they became involved was because they were split up in the Battle of Crash Site Bravo. Now, they had their own reasons to fight beyond simply rescuing their friends, which they had done. They had made friends on both sides of the war, Tucker, Grif, Simmons, and Caboose had been placed in positions of authority and learned to lead soldiers, soldiers they had learned to care about.

"Where will you go?" asked Wash.

"I don't know," replied Dr. Grey, her usual tone back in full force. "I guess it's one of life's great mysteries."

Grif and Simmons exchanged a look. "Yeah..." said Grif.

"Wait," said Tucker, "what are we going to do?"

"Epsilon and I aren't going anywhere," said Carolina, "we still have a job to do and we have a decent chance of doing it."

Wash looked at Carolina. "Are you sure?" he asked. He knew that, if she stayed, he would stay as well. They were tied, the last freelancer. Where one of them went, the other would certainly follow.

"I'm sure," the cyan freelancer confirmed. She could tell, even through Wash's polorized faceplate, that he would be with staying as well.

Wash turned to face the Reds and Blues. "You all should go home, you've more than earned it," he said. "You never signed up for anything like this. Dr. Grey is right, this isn't your fight, you have the right to leave."

"If it's not our fight, then how is it yours?" asked Tucker persistently.

"Well, these space pirates, whoever they are, are using freelancer equipment," said Wash.

"It always comes back o the damn freelancers doesn't it?" sighed Grif.

"It certainly seems that way," Simmons agreed.

"As former freelancers, it's Carolina and I's duty to fix this, we owe the universe that much. We may not be able to take back the things we did under the project, but we can still do our very best to make things right," Wash continued. "You guys have done enough, let us take it from here."

"Finally! An order I can get behind!" said Grif cheerfully, though his cheerfulness was a mask.

"That's fucking bullshit!" Tucker exclaimed. "No way, no way are we leaving you guys behind!"

"But Carolina's right, we'll just end up slowing her down," said Simmons, attempting to placate the cyan soldier.

After a long pause, Wash spoke up. "Tucker," he began, "you have come so far from when I first met you,," he said.

"Then let me come with you," pleaded Tucker. "I can help."

"I'm sure you could," said Wash, "but I need you to take care of the rest of them, alright. You've become a respectable leader and soldier, Tucker, so lead these men back home, okay."

Tucker remained silent how a long while, pondering his mentor's request."We'll be back," he vowed. Wash was his mentor, the man that had taught, not just how to fight, but how to be a good person in general. He was glad he had reconciled with Church earlier, as it seemed they would be parting ways, for good, this time. The old Tucker would have been glad for the cobalt hologram's departure, but not the new Tucker. "I'll miss you, Church," he said genuinely.

"I'll, uh, miss you too, buddy," the A/I replied awkwardly.

"But, we can't leave," said Caboose, "I just got my best friend back and I can't leave him."

"Caboose..." Wash began.

"You just came back and now you have to leave again," Caboose continued sadly, "that is not fair."

"No, Caboose, it's not," said Church. "I'll be back," he assured his blue teammate, "I always come back."

"Yeah, you do," agreed Caboose.

Carolina passed the one remaining teleportation grenade to Tucker. "Don't do anything to stupid until we get back," she told him jokingly.

Under his helmet, Tucker smirked. "I'll take good care of them," he said. "He taught me well," he continued, nodding at the black and yellow freelancer standing beside Carolina.

"Good luck out there," said Sarge.

"Try hard to win," SImmons advised.

"Meyor tu que yo (Better you than me)" said Lopez.

"Don't worry," said Donut in his typically upbeat tone, "we'll be back, and we'll take on those mercenaries and come in behind."

"Goodbye Agent Washingtub! Goodbye Ms. Fuzzy Briches!" exclaimed Caboose, waving his hand.

"Goodbye guys," said Tucker solemnly.

And, in a flash of orange, accompanied by a loud crack, the Reds and Blues were gone.

Wash and Carolina were alone.

With the exception of Dr. Grey, of course.

"Well," said the mad doctor, "what now?"

"I was thinking the same thing," said Wash, "we can't go to the jammer or The Capitol."

"I actually had an idea about that," said Church.

"Let's hear it," said Carolina.

"Well," Church began, "Carolina and I have been tapping into these guys' communications for weeks now. I figure that we can just do that and figure out our next step after that."

"Great idea, Epsilon," praised Carolina.

"Yeah," said Church smugly, "I know."

"Alright, get on with it," ordered Wash.

"On it," Church responded.

For a moment, static filtered out of the speakers in Carolina's helmet until it was replaced with Locus' deep voice. "They accepted the offer," he said.

A distorted voice responded. "Good," said the unknown voice, "was it planted?"

"Of course it was," answered Felix petulantly.

"Good, fall back to The Capitol. Make sure that neither leader survives the battle, see to it personally, if you have too," the unknown figure ordered.

"Yes sir," Locus acknowledged.

The comms went silent.

"They're leaving the jammer," Carolina observed.

"Whoch means we could easily take it," said Wash.

"What do you mean?" inquired Carolina.

"Think about it, the mercs are going back to Armonia, they can't have left many guards behind, they'd need most of their men to ensure they secure The Capitol," Wash explained.

"That's right," Carolina agreed, "and I'm sure we'll be able to take care of whatever forces they did leave behind, especially between the two of us."

"My thoughts exactly," said Agent Washington.

"Three of us," Dr. Grey interjected.

"What?" asked Carolina.

"Not two, three. I'm coming with you," she continued.

"That's ridiculous!" exclaimed Wash.

"Yeah, you're not exactly battle-ready," observed Carolina.

"Uh, guys," Church interrupted, "I hate to defend the crazy science lady, bu where else is she supposed to go?"

"Thank you, Epsilon," said Dr. Grey sweetly.

Carolina groaned. "Fine, we'll take you," she relented.

"Oh, and, one flaw with you plan, Wash," Church continued.

"What do you mean?" asked the yellow-striped freelancer.

"We don't have any teleportation grenades," stated Church bluntly, "and that jammer isn't exactly close, even if we did manage to find a warthog or some other vehicle, it would take way too long for us to get to the capitol city."

"Well there is that weapons depot not too far away from here," said Carolina, "we were planning on hitting it, but we decided to follow our colorful friends instead."

"Oh, right,I can;t believe I din't think of that," admitted the cobalt A.I.

"Alright," said Wash, "we'll spread out and find a vehicle, radio the others and we'll meet up back here."

Roger that," acknowledged Carolina.

"Got it," responded Church.

"Okay," Dr. Grey answered cheerfully.

The trio split up and went in separate directions, looking to secure a mode of transportation. When Wash was alone, he thought of his friends. The Reds and Blues, what an interesting group of people. Despite him supposedly killing two of them and relentlessly pursuing the rest of them, they had saved him from a life in prison.

There was Tucker, a man who put on the act of a slacker and ladies man, but had proven time and time again that he was a capable soldier. Even before Wash had met him, he had outsmarted and killed Wyoming and held out alone against a rouge group of insurrectionists for months alone, killing several of them in the process.

Caboose, the lovable idiot, had been the most forgiving of Wash's sins. He had shockingly clear and intelligent worldview. Jealousy and fear were nonexistent in his mind.

Sarge, the fearless leader of the reds. Despite his rashness and boldness, which bordered, and sometimes surpassed, stupidity, he was not only a good soldier and capable fighter, but a good man who cared for the well-being of his men, even the ones he despised. He had accepted Wash openly and held a large amount of respect for the former freelancer, respect which Wash reciprocated.

Grif, much like Tucker, always put on the act of not caring about anyone or anything, always stepped up to help his team. When Sarge hatched a plan to rescue the men Wash and Meta had kidnapped was going to fight The Meta, Grif helped him accomplish the task, and when his red leader once again needed support and decided to might The Meta. Wash respected the orange soldier, who, in Wash's opinion, had a lot of potential.

Simmons, the, for lack of a better term, nerd. Always knowing the right answer or having tech info ready. Wash had taken the amn prisoner when he had been in the employ of one Chairman Malcom Hargrove, which he had regretted ever since. Simmons and his team had once again shown great resilience and ingenuity when they escape his and The Meta's clutches.

And Donut, the one Wash had the most regrets about. He had shot him and Lopez at Valhalla and hadn't forgiven himself since. Donut, forgiving and kind as ever, had forgiven Wash fairly quickly, especially after Wash saved the lightish-red soldier from a Tex robot on their mission to kill the director. Wash admired the man's resilience, as he had survived several injuries that would have killed many other men.

They were a rag-tag bunch of idiots, thrown together by fate, and they were his closest and most trusted friends. And he would miss them all dearly.

Wash was taken out of his thoughts when he heard his name being called over the radio. "Wash... Wash!" Carolina contacted him.

"Um, yeah, what's up?" Wash responded lamely.

"Epslion and I found a warthog, we'll meet you back at the rendevous point," answered Carolina.

"Right, roger that," Wash replied hurridly.

"Wash... are you okay?" Carolina inquired, concern evident in her voice.

"Yeah, of course," Wash lamely assured his partner. "I'll meet you back at the gas station."

"If you say so," she replied dubiously, "make sure to get here quick."

Meanwhile, the cyan freelancer was driving back to the gas station. She had already contacted Dr. Grey.

Carolina had come long way from the obsessive phsyco she had been when she had first met the Reds and Blues. She had grown to care for them as Washington had. Before then, she had lost everyone she had cared about. York, North, Maine, all gone. They had been the best soldiers in the universe, yet they had all died by each-other's hands, York fell to Wyoming, North was killed by The Meta, not Maine, after South abandoned him, later Wash had killed South for revenge, for she had betrayed him as well. Now, it was just them, the last freelancers. Her new family was gone.

Her thoughts were interrupted as Church, who shared her brain, read her thoughts. "We're here," he informed her.

"Right," replied Carolina distractedly.

"You okay, C?" he asked, though he knew the answer was "no."

"Yeah, of course," Carolina replied.

"Oh, come on, you sound like Wash," Church commented. "You do know we share a head, right?" he asked rhetorically.

The cyan freelancer sighed. "I'm fine," she said in a tone that brooked no argument.

Not long after, Wash joined them, who was shortly followed by Dr. Grey.

"Alright," said Epslion, "remember, we're going to raid a nearby weapons depot belonging to these space pirate dudes."

"We don't know if there will be any resistance, so be prepared," said Wash, "that being said, they all most likely ere sent to The Capitol to make sure their plan goes through.'

"Dr. Grey, you're gonna want to stay back util we can confirm if anyone is there or not," said Church.

"That's fine," answered the doctor in her usual, upbeat tone, "I'm much more a a non-combat type anyways."

"Right, let's get a move on," said Carolina.

Wash checked the ammunition in his BR55 Battle Rifle and ammo counter before checking the slide on his M6H Magnum. He didn;t have any grenades or a combat knife, both of which he would've liked to have had with him. Carolina, armed with similar weapons, did the same thing. Epsilon did an internal check-up on Carolina's leg and power supply. Her leg was still rubbish, but he wasn;t too concerned about that, as they weren't expecting to see any major action at that time. Her armor had full power and her speed boost was ready for use. Afte completing their preparations, the three piled into the Warthog, Wash driving while Carolina took the gun, Dr. Grey sat in the passenger's seat. They were on tight schedule, and they had to be quick if they wanted to save the inhabitants of Chorus.

Things were going well, too well. Felix had not expected it, but the Red and Blues had accepted their offer, he had gotten a transmition from the men he had stationed at Crash Site Bravo. Locus had then ordered them to return to The Captiol, they would need all of their men for the final battle. Their loss, he thought cynically to himself. With them out of the way, the operation in Armonia would go off flawlessly.

"We should go back to The Capitol," Felix told Locus.

"Why is that?" the grey-and-green mercenary responded.

"Well, I want to kill one of the two generals myself and see this thing through," Felix explained.

Sure, Kimball had been his friend, but he was more than happy to finish her off after all the bullshit he had had to put up with under her command. After all, why do a job if you can't get any enjoyment from it? H did hold some respect for her, though, though it would not be enough to save her.

Loucs, on the other hand, had nothing positive to say about General Doyle. He was not a soldier, nor was he a good tactician, though, admittedly, his plan for defending Armonia was clever and cunning. Nevertheless, orders were orders, and Locus followed his orders down to the letter.. After that, he would move on to the next set of orders, and then the next, then the next, and so on and so forth.

"It would ensure completion of the mission..." Locus observed.

"Exactly," said Felix. "Now come on, let's go

"Roger that," said Locus.

The mercs ordered their four men to follow them. They had a mission in The Capitol. And they wanted to see it completed personally.

To Be Continued...