07-05-2018, 04:20 PM
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Well, he certainly hadn't expected this. It had been almost a month now since he had been here. Maybe less than a month he was losing track on time on how long that he's been here. But, because of the way that everything had started to work, Washington doubted that anyone had suffered the same fate as him from the Mother of Invention. He remembered the explosion, and he wasn't exactly sure how the explosion could have teleported or even made him into an animal. He still believed in his theory that with the alien technology that they were harboring on board that something could have happened with any of the weapons. Some of the stuff that they had raided from other organizations they didn't exactly know what everything did. They had scientists on board, yes, but that didn't mean that they knew everything either. It was during the Great War where everyone was starting to figure things out and figure out if cross engineering was the best course of action. The only alien technology he remembered being used in the field the most would have been Agent Carolina. After a couple of raids, she had started to sport two plasma rifles. Which he was pretty sure were alien of origin because they didn't use bullets, but some type of energy that probably hurt a lot to get hit with. Either way, he wasn't the brains of an operation and just usually did what he was told. He was a capable soldier and a good strategist, but even he was only capable of doing so much. He hadn't been in the best physical shape when he woke up in the infirmary from his surgery with Episolon. Even what happened with the rest of the Freelancer's AI's when the Director had said a keyword, Allison, all the AI's went out of control. Nearly frying the Freelancer's neural implants. Washington had been skeptical on getting his AI after everything that had happened. Evidentally he thought that maybe it couldn't be that bad. Everyone but him and South had AI's that were attached to them. He would just be part of the crew and figure out how to use his AI. Once in surgery, he got a bad feeling in his stomach for some reason, and he had been right to be worried about what they were going to be doing to him. As soon as the AI was put inside of its head, it tried to kill itself.
Releasing all the memories of the pain that the Alpha had been put through. Forcing Washington to re-live those moments himself. Memories of Allison herself popping inside of his head over and over again. He hated goodbyes.. Episolon wasn't successful in trying to break down it's programming to where there was nothing left, and Washington had to be sedated and have Episolon removed. It was with Episolon that Washington had managed to gain the truth about what the Director had actually been doing. It was a hard pill to swallow, and no one was really able to do anything for him because, by the time he woke up with North and York at his side, Texas already began her raid on the Mother of Invention. Washington had been given on time to recover before the ship began to crash leaving him to land in this outpost. It had been jarring, and he had been incredibly confused. He thought that at first that he was hallucinating, that this was some kind of joke put on by the Project. Maybe they had put something into his pain medication. The Counselor had seemed to be the shifty type to do something like that especially if they didn't want him around after what happened with Episolon. Being in the form he was currently in, there were very similarities between the way that he looked as a human. All of his scars that he had gained during the Project and during his time in the UNSC were still there. A cat with bullet wounds. Not something that anyone saw every day. But finding Agent Carolina of all people? He wasn't sure if he had just won the lottery or just asked for his own death. His current body was larger than hers, but if she could use her speed like she could when she was a human, then he would stand no chance. He had yet to actually test this body in battle. If he was a human he would have enough experience to at least a couple minutes with Carolina. Maybe if he played his cards right. But considering how he ended up being taken down on the border in a matter of seconds, he still didn't stand a chance against the smaller cat. She was also missing her armor, which if she had her armor from the beginning he would have been able to recognize her at least. His armor was basically the same, except that it didn't cover his flank, which would be open to attack by anyone that wanted to attack him. What was strange for Washington though was the way that this outpost worked.
There were no drills. There was no schedule. It was like he was in as civilian refuge almost. But some of them did know how to fight here and there. The worst issue that he had come across though was that they were on Earth. Which didn't look anything like what a war bound planet would have looked like. He thought there would be some wreckage around a human building like an observatory but he guessed that he was wrong. He needed more information other than that and he hadn't had the chance to question Church or Caboose. For now, though, he needed to find Carolina to give him all the information that he knew. Two heads were better than one when it came to problem-solving. He doubted that the Freelancer wanted to stay as a cat forever after all. They had to get somewhere. It wasn't hard to hear Agent Washington walking around with the armor that he had. His padded paws did offer some form of silence, but being the size of a lion made it hard to be even remotely stealthy. He couldn't track anyone by scents yet, thanks to the helmet that he wouldn't take off around anyone. Working on two hours of sleep, which was usual for him, the Freelancer managed to find Carolina in the forested area of the outpost. From the sounds he was hearing, she was training herself. He could hear wood splintering, and thanks to his large size there would be no sneaking up on her and having her accidentally attack him. Again. His left shoulder was still sore from their last tussle. Although it was more of a hostage situation since he hadn't bothered to try and struggle against her. She came into view as he came out from behind a tree, a neutral look hidden behind his helmet as he watched her. Carolina definitely moved a lot better than he did. "You sure have adapted well to being... a cat, Boss." He, of course, was joking with his fellow Freelancer. Something that had done during his Early years of the program. He wasn't here to joke though, he was here to give a debrief, which was probably obvious with the way that he was standing tense and not relaxing. "speech"
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