Resurrection (Red vs Blue)

19: Mind Made Up

19: Mind Made Up

Present Day: New Republic Headquarters (The planet Chorus)

Tucker paced back and forth across the length of the locker room, a million things running through his mind. After the talk he'd had with Kimball, they'd spent the next day and a half training as hard as they possibly could. Yet even with the increased training, their "super elite team" still sucked ass. There was no way Kimball was going to pass them. They were never going to be ready, and Tucker was getting tired of trying to make them into something they weren't. Just like Kimball was doing with the four of them. They were nowhere close to the soldiers she was hoping for, yet she was still trying to play them off as the heroes. Which they weren't. If Tucker was being honest with himself, it was clear they were still just a bunch of fucking morons. That was something that would never change. How many times were they going to have to prove that to people?

Being in the leader position wasn't his thing, either. Tucker wasn't supposed to be in charge of other people. That wasn't what he'd signed up for. Being the leader was Washington's job. He was the one that was supposed to be in charge, not me. And before Wash took over, the job was Church's. It was almost easier when Church was in charge. He just took the blame whenever shit went wrong, and then life moved on. Everything was a lot simpler back then. He missed those times. He wished desperately that he could just go back to those times and stay there. No serious missions, no wars, no nothing. The only thing they ever had to worry about was Tex showing up. That alone seemed awful before; that was nothing now, and Tucker would take Tex appearing over this shit any day.

Then again, back in those days the Reds were still just a group of nameless assholes that Church and Tucker would yell at from across the canyon back at Blood Gulch. He missed those days, too. Why couldn't everything just go back to how it was back then? Why did it all have to change?

The whole thing had just turned out to be a bunch of bullshit. They were never going to get their soldiers into fighting condition, and it was wrong to make them die for what the four of them wanted. Felix and Kimball would be able to lead them. And South would do good at leading them; if she ever came back. She'd disappeared after they'd exposed her, and no one had heard from her since. But that wasn't the point. The point was that the bigger fight wasn't their problem. What happened to the planet wasn't their main concern. Getting their guys back was the priority. And it was the exact reason they couldn't stay with the New Republic any longer. If they were going to have any shot at getting Wash and the others back, they were going to have to leave. Soon.

"Uh, Captain Tucker?" an annoyingly familiar voice said. Tucker turned to see Matthews walking toward him. "We seem to be having a little situation with the others. . . ."

"What are you talking about?" Tucker asked. "What's going on now?"

"Well, um, you'll see when you get there," Matthews said.

Sighing, Tucker pushed past Matthews and made his way to the others. They were still exactly where he'd left them, and their soldiers were still there as well. He didn't immediately notice anything wrong. Everyone was just kind of standing around and not doing anything. Tucker almost turned around to tell Matthews he didn't know what he was talking about — until he noticed Grif. Or, rather, he heard Grif. He was wailing obnoxiously while pacing back and forth in front of everyone. What the fuck was happening now? There was no time for bullshit like that. Not right now.

"Ah, fun's over. Tucker's back now," Caboose said as he approached them.

"Tucker! Tucker, come here!" Grif exclaimed hysterically. "Tell me I'm cool! Tell me I'm lazy and I don't play by the rules! Just tell me anything like that right now! Please!"