Tucker

Charon Research Complex 2C – Present Day

When Tucker received the warning from Carolina, he was a little bummed out. He had been brought onto the mission against his will, having wanted nothing more than to relax in his room instead. The simulation trooper hoped this mission would be smooth sailing and that he would be able to go back home soon.

However, the aqua-clad soldier also understood the importance of the mission. Not only would they be crippling Charon Industries' research, but they would recollect some of Project Freelancer's missing technology and bring the enhancements to their rightful owner. If he could stop the space pirates from learning more about these pieces of gear, maybe the war would be a little easier on them.

"Alright, guys. We have a few pirates we need to capture," he explained. While he was already tired of the mission, he put on an energetic facade, knowing the team would need it to continue. "You, ten, go deeper into the base and take down any of Charon's men. Get any assets you think might be useful and bring them back to the warthogs," he pointed at a group of his men. "If it's something hi-tech like alien guns or freelancer enhancements, radio it in. The rest of you, come with me," he ordered, returning to the entrance.

"We found out there are three personnel on their own out there. Unlike the others, we want to capture these freaks alive. They might be able to tell us something useful about the equipment they've been researching or some secret intel about their group. So no killing them, alright? I know some of you feds have enhancements of your own," he commented at the Federal Army soldiers, "so I'd like to count on you to protect the rest of us in the worst-case scenario. Remember: We're all on the same side here."

The Federal Army soldiers groaned. Despite their civil war being prolonged multiple years by the space pirates, they still despised their Chorusan counterparts and would have preferred to let them die. Tucker knew getting the two sides to trust each other would be difficult—on the account that they'd been fighting for years—but he didn't think it would be this difficult, especially when they had a common enemy.

"We're all in this together, whether you like it or not. If you don't have each others' backs, you might as well be a part of Charon's forces. You'd be making it easier for them to wipe out half the army, which makes it easier for them to wipe out the other half," he reasoned. It was a lesson Washington once instilled in him while hunting the Director of Project Freelancer. While it took him several scoldings to learn the lesson, given that Caboose had a habit of team-killing anyway, he hoped the others would understand it faster than him.

When they reached the facility entrance, Tucker raised a fist, stopping his soldiers in their tracks. He heard Charon's men talking. "I tried getting a hold of Felix and Locus, but they're not responding. Think they're still on their mission?" one asked.

"I thought it was a success, but I guess rumors are rumors. It would explain why they're not back yet," another replied.

Tucker furrowed his eyebrows. Their mission? Where are they? What are they doing? The simulation trooper turned to his team. "On the count of three, we jump them. Again, we don't wanna kill them; we just need to disorient, disarm, and handcuff them," he explained.

Though weary, the armies still looked up to him and would follow their hero's every order. "Right," they nodded in unison.

Tucker whispered his count while counting on his fingers in case he was too quiet. "One, two, three, now!"

The Chorusans ran out and dogpiled their opponents in what seemed like a cartoonish act. The mountain of armored men and women almost made Tucker laugh as the amalgamation of soldiers looked like nothing more than a pile of armor scraps. Under the weight of Chorus's inhabitants, the black-clad soldiers struggled at the bottom, unable to move. Tucker walked in their lines of sight and kicked the guns out of their hands. "You wouldn't even be able to aim that thing anyway," he smiled.

Another sighed in disappointment. "How could we let this happen? "How the hell did none of us notice the enemies on the radar?" She looked at the radar on her HUD. Usually, a single enemy was just a red dot. But with how many soldiers were on top of them at the moment, it looked like a deformed, red blob made of many circles.

"Maybe because you all suck," one of the New Republic soldiers reasoned with a laugh before gasping for air. Everyone was suffering in that pile. Their enemies groaned in response. Tucker reached for one of the space pirates' hands to lock them in handcuffs provided by Doyle. The black-clad soldier flailed his arms to avoid it but gave up when one of the Federal Army soldiers held them in place.

Tucker locked the handcuffs, remembering being told that these were the handcuffs once used on Sarge's crew when they first arrived at the Federal Army Base. The simulation trooper chuckled at the thought of seeing the prideful Red Leader getting caught in handcuffs. Then he thought about Donut, who probably enjoyed it. He pictured Sarge repeatedly complaining while Washington silently wished it would be over.

After handcuffing the remaining troops, Tucker ordered his crew to get off them. The mountain of soldiers quickly dispersed. "Alright, now up against the wall," Tucker ordered his prisoners.

"Yeah, right! Like we'd listen to you," one said.

"Guys?" Tucker looked at his allies. Pairs of soldiers grabbed the Marines' arms and dragged them to the nearest wall. They kicked Charon's men in the back of the leg, forcing them onto their knees. "Now, was that so hard?" Tucker teased. "It could have so been easier if you'd just listened. How about you answer some of my questions?" His arrogance was starting to show, surrounded by the men who adored him.

"Why the hell would we ever tell you anything?"

"Maybe because you're our prisoners and we could kill you on the spot if wanted."

"Nah, that's bullshit. We won't tell you anything, and you won't kill us. You need us. Otherwise, you'd have killed us a long time ago."

Tucker couldn't deny that the man was right. They wouldn't have to resort to interrogations if they had all the intel. They would have killed these men on the spot without hesitation. Since the questioning wasn't going well, he worried he'd have to resort to torture. He considered the stories Doc told him about Wash and Meta while they hunted the simulation troopers. Then he thought of the world of pain Felix brought to a Federal Army soldier in front of him during one of their raids, back when the Federal Army was still the enemy. Then he thought about Dr. Grey and her fearlessness in taking apart Zachary, the space pirate, to get information from him. Did he really have it in him to torture these men?

He wasn't sure.

"You're right," he admitted. "We do need you for the information. I don't know if I have it in me to torture you, but I do know these guys despise you. They'd have killed you on the spot if I didn't stop them. Do you really wanna test your luck? I'm sure they wouldn't mind hearing your screams." He hoped one of his men would be unhinged enough to torture their enemies. "You and your team caused them a world of suffering; I only think it's right they get the opportunity for some payback. What do you say, guys? Does anyone have it in them to torture these men?"

"I'd love to," one of his men chuckled, cracking his knuckles through his armor. He walked up to the imprisoned Marines.

Tucker made eye contact with the New Republic soldier. He wasn't surprised it was one of his original teammates; the New Republic lived in caves and other damaged infrastructure for years before the peace treaty. "Make it hurt, but don't kill him," he ordered. "We still need information out of them." While he knew this was just as bad as if he were torturing the men himself, Tucker felt more at peace knowing he wasn't alone. He asked if someone else wanted to, and someone voluntarily stepped up. He would have forced himself to torture the man if nobody else could.

"Fuck you," another space pirate spat. The New Republic soldier fired a round in the Space Pirate's shoulders, then a round at the top of each leg, just below the pelvis. "Son of a bitch!" the man shrieked. "Fine, fine! Don't shoot anymore! What the fuck do you want from me?"

"Where are Locus and Felix?" asked Tucker.

"We don't know where they are specifically. All we know is that they're off-planet on some mission. They left a week ago, and we think they'll be back soon."

"What are they doing?"

"We don't know. But apparently, it's supposed to help us take you down. There's a rumor at the base about their mission having been a success. But that might just be a rumor. For all we know, they're dead in space; we haven't heard from them since they left.'

"Is there a Freelancer enhancement somewhere in the base?"

"Yeah, of course. There's a fragment of Project Freelancer at all our bases. Not sure how many are left since your friend has been sneaking around undercover for months, taking them back herself. The one here is in a secret compartment in the underground. I'm the only one with the knowledge of where it is and the authorization to retrieve it. But you crippled me, so I can't get it for you. The code is 2-4-1-10. Good luck finding it."

"Son, what's going on here?" Tucker heard a thick, southern accent from behind him.

"Getting intel from these assholes. They just gave us everything we needed. Guys, find that enhancement. Leave the prisoners to me," Tucker ordered. The Chorusans left the simulation troopers with the researchers. Tucker faced the Red Leader, who was standing slightly up a slope. "Hey, Sarge? This is our first victory together, isn't it?" Tucker asked.

"Of the war, yeah. We've done a lot together over the years."

"We should celebrate. You know any Queen?"

"What, like Another One Bites the Dust?"

"Yeah, that's a good one. Why don't we jam out to it in front of these guys?"

"What in Sam Hill are you on about? How and why would we do that?"

"Because we completely kicked their asses. We're free, and they're not. You can't tell me you don't wanna gloat at all," Tucker joked. He began beatboxing poorly, trying to imitate the bass guitar from Queen's famous piece while dancing. Sarge wasn't entirely sure what was going on, but he laughed along, watching the Blue soldier embarrass himself in front of the Red leader and the space pirates. Tucker, however, didn't care at all.

As the song went on, Sarge found himself wanting to join in. Tucker was right, after all: This was a victory, and they deserved to celebrate it. Sarge quietly joined in, acting as the drums in the song but refusing to dance. His imitation was even worse than Tucker's beatboxing and singing, but he didn't care either. He became louder and more confident as the song continued. Enjoying gloating, Sarge began adding single words in the quiet parts, like "what," "uh," and "word."

At the song's end, Tucker rhythmically teased, "Oh, we kicked your ass, bitch!" He flipped off the soldiers in front of them.

"Get down with your bad selves," Sarge added, grinning from ear to ear.

Somewhere behind them, Tucker heard Carolina struggling to hold in her laughter. She stood at the top of the hill. "Alright, that's enough," she joked. "We just took their base. There's no need for cruel and unusual punishments." Tucker wondered if he should tell her about the torture. It was definitely very cruel, even if very deserved.

"Are you sure? I could drop some sick beats on 'em! You know, bust out some rhymes! Make it old school!" Sarge offered. Tucker pictured the older man rapping. While he would have loved to see it, Carolina quickly shot down the idea. "Square..." Sarge's disappointment was immeasurable.

"Oh, thank God," one of the other space pirates whispered, barely loud enough for Tucker to hear.

"Carolina, we got some intel. There's some freelancer equipment in a secret part of the base. I sent my guys to look for it. Locus and Felix have been off-planet on some other mission for the past week. But nobody here knows what it is."

"Is that so? Well, that's great news. But unless you tell me where your bosses are, you're gonna have a problem the size of a golf ball in your head," Carolina snapped, repeating Felix's words to her opponents. She walked closer and pointed a gun at one's head. For once, she found peace in knowing nobody could stop her.

"You wouldn't," one of the space pirates chuckled nervously. While he knew Tucker's personality stopped him from killing in cold blood, he was unsure about Carolina's.

"Unless you have more information for me, you're just a loose end. And I hate loose ends. Leaving them could cause a lot of problems, right?"

"Exactly," Tucker agreed. "Especially when those loose ends can tell their asshole bosses what we've been up to."

"Shit..." The soldier replied. He closed his eyes and understood what would happen now that the Project Freelancer personnel were on the same page. Without another second of hesitation, Carolina shot them all dead.

"Great job, you two. Other than that one slip-up with the C4, I think you led your teams really well. I shouldn't be surprised either; you two have been leaders for a while. Even with a mix of Federal Army and New Republic members on your teams, you came up on top. They might not be working together perfectly, but it's getting better with your help," she assessed.

Tucker felt a sense of pride with Carolina's comments. Years of being a human-alien ambassador thrust him into a leadership position. When he rejoined the Reds and Blues, especially when the freelancers joined the Blue Team, Tucker was able to relax. But Kimball gave him another leadership position when the simulation troopers separated, forcing him to be responsible again. People often focused on his failures rather than his accomplishments. Receiving that praise boosted his morale, knowing he was improving and getting the recognition he deserved. He stood tall with a smile.

A researcher of the Federal Army of Chorus approached the group from inside the building. "Agent Carolina, we've retrieved what appears to be a domed energy shield from within the complex," he reported, standing straight and holding his hands behind his back.

"The bubble shield? Are you sure?" she asked.

"Uh..." the man paused briefly, contemplating. "We're pretty sure!"

"That's great! We can hook it up and start running some tests in a couple of hours," Carolina said eagerly, ready to reclaim one of her team's assets.

"Hey, uh... Carolina? I have something else you might wanna see first," Church materialized beside her head, pointing behind them. When Carolina turned to face whatever was in the distance, she gasped. Curious, Tucker and Sarge ran up the hill to her side, noticing a skyscraper seemingly hovering just over the horizon.

Tucker gasped in awe. "What... What is that?"