07-15-2018, 03:11 AM
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Trust wasn't something that was readily available anymore. It wasn't something that was really available in the first place. When in the military, one could only have so much trust with comrades that basically came and went. When Washington was inside of the UNSC for the first part of his career, it was difficult for him to trust those that were around them when the majority of them had egos that were tied to their helmets. They thought about making themselves special among the ranks too so that they could end up getting promoted, while there were those that didn't care and just wanted to help defend the human race. No matter who is asked, someone is always going to remember the news of the Great War starting and how terrifying it truly was. Trusting an enemy wasn't something that most sane minds would think to end up doing, and yet there were those that wanted to appease the likes of the alien race that they were going up against. They thought it would be the best means of survival, and there were others that were taking the advantage of there being a war by starting crimes and going against other humans instead.
Washington started out having doubts in the squads that he worked it, it was only when he started to work with the same squads over and over again that they would believe with the abilities that they actually had. Washington didn't have a reason not to trust them because he knew that they would end up doing their best and some of those squads ended up becoming part of his responsibility in the end. When he finally reached Project Freelancer he was allowed to be more like himself. He wasn't given dirty looks when he made a joke as long as it wasn't during something important. He didn't get punished for making a sarcastic comment to his comrades. Maybe that was because there was only one person that was in charge of them and they barely saw his face half of the time. The Freelancers were usually left to their own devices because the Director had faith that they would be capable of keeping up with what was expected of them, and they did just that. Sure, there would be a moment here and there where they could make mistakes but they were incredibly rare to even happen at all.
They would just always try better next time and Washington had always been the one that raised morale. After working with the same people for years, they were a family and nothing more and nothing less. One grew to trust those that would be more than willing to take a bullet from them if it could mean a lethal shot or risk their lives in order to get them out of danger. Most of their group could definitely be intimidating, especially someone like Maine who was basically the physically strongest out of the bunch. But he wasn't the best of the best as one needed more than brute strength to get things done. That didn't mean that Maine was an idiot though. The man was more than capable of coming up with plans himself, although he and Wash were usually grouped up together if they were going on duo missions. After a while, those that were considered intimidating immediately for the rookie no longer scared him. He, of course, knew his limits on what he could actually get away with, but most grew used to his antics and let them slide. He remembered being incredibly afraid and confused when he first met Carolina. He was afraid that anything that he said would end up triggering her to almost kill him if she wanted to.
She was the best of the best, and the military portion of him told him that she demanded utmost respect because she had experience and talent under her belt. Washington sure thought that Carolina was going to have to say something after calling her short, although when she was a human she was far from short. He wasn't even concerned with the way that she looked at him, knowing that she was going to take it as a joke, although he knew that if he had said that when he was considered the rookie he probably would try and take what he said back in fear of the way that she would react. Now, they were basically on even ground. Washington had to admit that there was a lot that needed to get done, and if this had been before Epsilon became an issue, he would have recommended taking a small break, even if it was just an hour. But they had so much to do and there was a lot to catch Carolina up on. It was good to get another's opinion on the human raiding idea, as he had been planning on doing it soon with or without the Civilians information on where it was at exactly.
"Agreed. But humans, in general, aren't exactly that hard to kill, and we have to remember that they won't be armed to the teeth. There's a chance that we could just find a civilian city because from my research there's no actual war going on this Earth right now. Something as big and as quick as we are should be able to at least knock them out if we need to, and I doubt if we pick and scope out a place that we'll have to deal with their equipment." Washington was quick to explain, especially since if they wanted more gear they could just go to a civilian city. If they wanted something more militaristic then that was going to make their life difficult. His armor was bulletproof to an extent, but there were plenty of gaps in his armor where he could get shot and killed in his current body. Carolina could dodge bullets if she was quick enough using her speed as an advantage. The last thing that Washington wanted to do though was get injured in a place like this, where the only way someone was going to get healed was with the likes of plants. Something that he wasn't willing to trust right now even if they said that the plants were going to be just fine.
Armor was basically one of their lifelines and losing it was certainly a blow that wasn't exactly easy to deal with either. The Freelancer nodded his head at what she was planning on doing. Going from place to place may help. "There are certain groups that may be risking to search as they perceive us to be a threat. They're hostile groups that go by the name Tanglewood and Typhoon. The other outpost that is like this one where there is less violence is called Snowbound. We could start by checking Snowbound and then going from there to the more violent areas." Washington offered up the idea, although it would be a coin toss as it could mean that someone could end up getting injured against the violent groups. Washington wanted for the both of them to stick together in case something went south, but they could cover more ground if they separated from one another. Washington watched as Carolina began to stand up, and he shuffled his own paws in response to her movements.
The former rookie would shake his head at her statement. "No, I don't think you're being too much. Believe me, I would much rather have these guys out of our business like the next person. But having them around to get as much information as possible out of them will help speed things along a lot quicker and make our lives easier. Not to mention that we don't know what is going on this Earth and what is actually capable of being done." Washington states calmly, as he knows that there was talk about the magic that they continued to talk about. They said that they could manipulate elements, something that Washington doubted was actually possible and hadn't seen in action either. At the mention of Maine though, Washington clenched his jaw at the thought of the former friend coming after him because of some damn computer. "We aren't here to protect them. The rest of us wouldn't go after the likes of civilians if they have no connection with us, and if it gets to that point then we'll deal with the consequences after. I'm sure that as long as there is two of us, that we'll be able to stand up to Maine.
We'd just have to plan our strategy so that he won't try to take us out one by one. We've already told them that this isn't their fight, so they should figure out that trying to fight with us is a bad idea." Washington obviously didn't care if there were civilians casualties. They were barely civilians after all. They were just animals and that's what they remain for the time being. He doubted Maine could be considered that strong, as in this world he wasn't sure that AI's would have the same effect. He was pretty sure that he didn't even have any of his Freelancer equipment installed in his armor. They needed to take on one problem at a time if they wanted to be successful. A snort came from his nose though at Carolina's comment about his room. Really? "Come on Carolina. I'm not exactly some teenager boy decorating a locker." Washington would make sure to say sarcastically with a smirk hidden on his face as he turned himself around, looking over his shoulder before making his way toward the place that was called the Bunker.
It was an easy walk, up the stairs, taking a right and going to the very last room that could look out across the plains and the entrance of the observatory at he same time. Raising one of his paws he turned the doorknob and opened the door up to his room. It was decently sized, almost the size of a dorm room that someone would live when they were in college. There was a chest in the far left corner and a large mattress to the right wall of the room. There was a nightstand that held a knife inside of it as he hadn't gotten used to carrying it around with him just yet. There was nothing on the walls and there was nothing on the floors either. It seemed strangely... barren. Which was strange because Washington had the entirety of his locker on the Mother of Invention decorated. "See? Simple. I'm only here a couple hours out of the day." Washington said with a shrug of his shoulders not exactly knowing what Carolina would think of it. There were some blankets at the end of the bed for colder temperatures, not like he got all that cold. While he spoke, the Freelancer raised one of his paws and absentmindedly scratched the AI implantation scar on the back of his neck. "speech"
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