07-06-2018, 02:36 AM
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It was rare for him to ever really take charge in a situation. If he had doubt about a commanding officer that could easily mean that he wasn't going to listen to what they had to say and make sure that he was going to be the one to give orders. Although after what the Director had done not only to him, but to everyone else, he realized that he may not be willing to do everything what other's asked of him. There could be instances where he would just simply refuse an order that was given to him. And that was partially because he needed some form of actual therapy to deal with the trauma that Episolon had done to him. It was horrible to that extent and despite this, he was doing his best to hide the problems that he was actually going through. He was a soldier. He could suck it up and still do his job. Hell, he continued to do his job with a bullet wound through his stomach and still managed to make it out. Dealing with a little bit of pain in his head wasn't going to kill him, at least he hopes that wasn't going to be the case. Either way, it made it easier for him to follow orders. That's all that he had done when he was when he was in Project Freelance.
He was so low down on the list that was the leaderboard, he wasn't really allowed to do much other than do what he was told. He had a little bit of free will here and there, but he made so many easy mistakes and got too easily distracted during missions that it was probably best that he shouldn't lead anyone into battle. That had been Carolina's job. Always appearing when missions went south to help their fellow Freelancers. Helping with the raid against the insurrectionist ship. Which he had almost messed up because he had turned off the gravity in the ship causing all the vehicles and soldiers that they were trying to kill now floating around in zero gravity. Luckily for their suits, they came with gravity boots which let them hold onto objects. That had probably been what saved their lives, but it had been Carolina that had taken out the majority of them. Using a mixture of Freelancer equipment and alien tech that they had managed to grab from their previous missions. The enemy soldiers didn't stand a chance against them as they were all slaughtered in the hangar. It was from there that Carolina gave the shots and gave them all different tasks, which they were quick to comply. Having faith and trust in a commanding officer was the first part when it came to someone giving out orders.
It made everyone's lives easier, and it was exactly how the military worked. His free will had been taken away from him a long time ago, specifically, it had been the moment he had signed to be in the military. He was capable of making his own decisions if someone wasn't around to order him. Just like what happened with his outpost. So far he hadn't heard anyone giving out orders back and forth. Which was something that he wasn't even used to anyway. Agent Washington still wondered how this place remained into any sort of order anymore. Wash had been hoping that he could just get Carolina and Church away from everyone. This way he would be able to explain more openly instead of Carolina looking at everyone as a current threat that needed to be handled. Besides, he was pretty sure that if she didn't get some rest soon her body was going to give out on her whether she liked it or not. The last thing that he thought was going to happen was for Bast to appear. Basically out of nowhere. He was barely able to see the commanding officer out of the corner of his visor, and the other appearing out of nowhere made him just a little. Barely.
He wasn't afraid of the commanding officer, but he was the guy that ran the outpost and was due some sort of respect, and from the look on his face he wasn't exactly happy with what was going on. This was going great. Everything was going to hell, and his headache was starting to get worse and worse with each passing second. His lack of sleep and the effects of his starvation were still taking its toll on the rest of his body. All Washington wanted to do at this moment was yell and shout for everyone to shut up so that he could explain everything without everyone speaking at once. He was perfectly fine with dealing with stressful situations. Before the trauma. Now though? He wasn't all that sure. He turned toward Bastille though, a worried expression hidden behind his visor. He was keeping his breathing under control. That was a start. "Sir if I may, she recognized me and thought that I was a threat because of what happened to all of us. There is plenty of time to explain everything later, and she isn't going to hurt anyone here. She has no reason to, just like I've had no reason to attack to. If you knew what she went through then giving her a bit of a break would definitely be nice. Not to mention we don't know who is who right now without any sort of investigation. It's literally engraved into our training." His voice was calm and almost apologetic to the Astral Seraph.
Part of him knew that his words would mean nothing. These guys weren't military. They didn't know what meant to be a soldier. One that wasn't really capable of free real, and the trauma that all the Freelancer's had gone through. Now all he had to hope was that his words didn't piss of Bastille. Although with past experiences Washington had a knack for pissing off people by speaking when he shouldn't be. Washington also didn't seem to be bothered at all that she had just nearly threatened to break his arm just two seconds ago. It was almost as if something like that happened on a daily basis. The Freelancer was only capable of keeping his nerves intact. When Carolina set her sights on the biggest guy that was around them, Washington felt his jaws clench. "Carolina..." The smilodon would warn the leopard. She had to see that this wouldn't end well if she wanted to start a fight. He couldn't take on all of the members that were around them now, could he? He could barely fight her in his condition. The armored smilodon could do a couple things, but he also had no reason to try and dispatch any of those that were around him. Who would he even defend first? If he had to choose, it would probably be Carolina.
Having felt alone since the Episolon unit was removed, he was bound to latch onto anything familiar and they had worked with each other for years. He did lean his head a little bit away from her when she did start hissing at him again. He was used to it, but he also had yet to hear a hiss coming from an animal that large before since he had been here. The Freelancer would shuffle his paws onto the ground as he let out a low sigh from his jaws. There was no point in arguing her about that, and he was probably going to have to explain a lot to literally everyone that was here. Even if he didn't want to bring this up ever again. At the mention of the supplies, Washington now was the one to become confused. Supplies, specifically for what? To sleep or to take all of their stuff and move it somewhere else? He debated whether or not asking would get him hit again, something he was trying to avoid. "They usually have some rooms already set up, and they're decently sized. I have acquired a decent amount of supplies while I was gathering intel and data on where we are." Washington would be quick to respond with that.
There was no way the Freelancers would be able to take out the likes of a telescope. Besides, it was better to leave something that big there and not move it if possible. The way that she addressed Church was definitely something that he wasn't expecting either. And then Carolina finally exploded. Washington made sure to be directly at her side to make sure that she didn't attack Bastille. This was going to end bad wasn't it? He sure as hell hope it didn't because he was actually making progress on figuring everything out. He had one of his arms raised, poised to stop the leopard if he could in time if she decided to lunge toward him. He had to admit that the term Friend was indeed not the right word to say. No, they weren't trying to hunt down the people either, and he knew that once Carolina finally got time to cool down and get the information she needed she would be easier to tolerate. She always was. The increasing tension though was making his headache worse. For the span of a couple seconds, one could see his head twitch slightly to the side.
A bad habit that was starting to develop. He was certainly glad that he had a damned helmet on. "Sir, I've known Carolina for years. She literally just arrived after an explosion and needs time to come to terms with things. We trained together so I knew what was going to happen when she did attack me, as she thought that I was going to attack first. I can debrief in a couple hours with some information, sir. I'll be keeping track of her the entire time that she's here." Washington knew that Carolina was going to beat his ass for saying that. She was probably going to think that he was babysitting here. While it was the exact opposite. He wasn't going to do anything against her because he knew better. And honestly, he agreed with everything that the fellow Freelancer was saying. They weren't looking for their friends. They were looking for their former teammates that could be a potential threat not only to them but also the surrounding outpost. At the mention of Maine though, Washington couldn't help but clench his jaw. He had been his friend. They had talked a couple times even if the big guy hadn't been much for words. He changed as soon as he acquired sigma though.
The Freelancer lowered his head a little bit, his gaze now on Carolina. He looked back toward Bastille though, hoping that his willingness to talk to the other was going to be good enough. No one was going to be fighting anyone. And he was mostly protecting them from Carolina because he knew exactly how lethal she could be no matter what form she took. As she turned around to walk off, Agent Washington finally lowered the paw back down to the ground. He hadn't noticed that he started to shake a little bit, and this was only because of the stress of everyone yelling at each other. It was pointless. Ridiculous. They should just trust them that they were just going to stay out of their way. Hearing Carolina telling them to leave, he nodded in the other Freelancers direction. His golden gaze turning toward Church. "Church we're moving out, lets go." Wash commanded the simulation trooper like he usually did. However, it was during this time that a familiar voice rattled through his helmet and his attention instead turned to Imperia, stopping him in his tracks.
Great. They had almost managed to leave but this wasn't helping either. He was about to open his mouth when the smaller canine walks in FRONT of him. Was she asking to get herself killed? His helmet looked down at the wolf before looking back at Carolina and shaking his head toward his fellow Freelancer, as if to say 'I have nothing to do with this'. What the hell was he supposed to do now? Imperia obviously wasn't a fighter, and someone challenging Carolina, in general, was bound to get attacked. What the hell was he supposed to do? She was talking about warzone, and that made sense to Washington, but the only time they had ever lived had only ever been in a warzone. Nothing else. They had never come to a time of peace. And there probably never would be either. Agent Washington remembered plenty of what it was like to fight in those wars. The Great War had started itself. A pained grunt escaped his jaws as his head would suddenly start hanging.
You're going to make me late.
They're waiting for me.
Don't worry you'll SeE mE aGaiN
Images of Allison flashing across his face. Memories given to him by the AI that nearly killed him. His jaws slightly gaped in his helmet as he kept himself from repeating the same words that were inside of his head. He knew that she didn't come back. Leonard had a sinking feeling that she wasn't going to come back either. He needed to get a hold of himself. These weren't his damn memories. It's whatever that damn AI did to him. Feeling the pain of Leonards loss was enough to nearly make his knees buckle but he stood strong again. His breathing had increased, but this only lasted a couple of seconds before he seemed to return back to normal. He could hear his heartbeat in his ears, and he needed to get away from this heated situation and get away from it now. "The thing is. Our world never knew peace. I and Carolina have been fighting in wars to protect the human race since we were young and we've never been outside of a war. It's going to take more than just say it's not a war zone to change how we feel about a strange place. She also isn't ordering any of you. She's ordering me. In the military its normal for a higher ranked officer to give orders to another. She's done it for years, and I followed her through missions and back because of her orders. I've followed instructions and orders since I was just a kid." Wash would speak basically directly toward Imperia. Maybe it was giving a little bit too much information. But he didn't care.
They needed to understand that they were soldiers. And that just telling them that this was a peaceful place wasn't going to be enough. There was going to need to be time to adapt. His breathing returned back to normal as he tilted his head back and forth. Raising one of his paws and scratching at the massive scar that was on the back of his neck. Not enough to draw blood with his claws, but enough to bring his attention to where his claws had just been. When Imperia looked at him, the armored smilodon looked down at the smaller female. He had a choice. But in his mind, his decision had already been absolute. "The thing is, I want to." The Freelancer would say with confidence to her. He would offer her a reassuring grin behind his helmet as he walked around her. He would stop short though, looking over his shoulder. "It's complicated." Agent Washington would say to the other calmly, before turning his head toward Church. He hoped that the other would just follow them as it would make their lives easier. He had intimidated the other but hadn't attacked him. He made sure he wasn't going to attack a subordinate if he could. "Church come on." The Freelancer would say as he would gesture in the direction that Carolina was walking. His body ached. He just wanted to get out of here so that he could have a moment of peace, or just have someone talking to him so that he could just focus on something that weren't the damn memories. "speech"
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