No one's POV
Currently, within Armonia, the Capital City of Chorus, Doyle walks up towards an intercom, beginning to speak.
Doyle: (clears throat)
Three members of the Federal army are talking to each other when they hear Doyle over the intercom.
Doyle: Men, may I have your attention please?
Elsewhere, Kimball is doing the same, speaking to the Rebels over an intercom.
Kimball: Alright everyone, listen up. Today's the day.
Doyle and Kimball, continued speaking to their respective armies.
Doyle: Today is the day we defend this once great city from those who wish to take it for themselves.
Kimball: You all know your roles. Squads will split up and surround the capital, then we sneak in and hit them from all sides.
Doyle: Once the enemy has entered the city, the exits will be sealed and any hope of retreat will be dashed.
Kimball: I won't lie to you, today maybe one of the worst days of your life. And for many of us, it's going to be the last. But we can't give up. We've come too far and lost too much to throw this all away.
Doyle: The New Republic believes they can end this war today. And they are correct. What they fail to realize is that the Federal Army of Chorus shall be the ones standing victorious after the smoke is clear.
Kimball: So remember the plan-
Doyle: -remember your training. And most of all-
Kimball: -remember what you're fighting for.
Bitters: Yeah, we're totally dead.
Smith hits him.
Bitters: Ow!
Smith: Not. The time.
Back with Doyle, he sighs after the speech.
Locus: Well said.
Scarlet: Looks like you're little speech got everyone pumped up.
Doyle turns around to see Locus and Scarlet behind him, making him jump.
Doyle: Oh my- Locus, Scarlet, yes. Oh dear God man, you both nearly gave me a heart attack.
Locus: Sir, we have some rather urgent news.
Doyle: Right. Well, spit it out then.
Scarlet: Well, we've just been informed that the New Republic has dispatched the mercenaries to scout ahead for their forces.
Doyle: My word, first the news of their invasion and now this? Heh, you are just a wealth of information aren't you?
Scarlet: Well, we aim to please.
Locus: We'll be leaving to track them down.
Locus and Scarlet both started to walk away.
Doyle: Oh yes, yes. ... Wait, no, no, NO! Yo-yo-yo-you can't just leave! W-what about the ah- the impending battle? I need you both here, by my side to ah- boost the moral of the troops!
Locus: Don't be concerned General. Once I've taken care of this issue, We'll return to take care of you.
Doyle: Oh right. Uh yes, YES! Ah- excellent thinking Locus. I can always count on you to get the job done!
Elsewhere, back with the Reds and Blues at the fueling station. Caboose presents Freckles' storage unit to Epsilon.
Caboose: Give it to me straight Church! Is Freckles gonna make it?
Epsilon: Your robot's fine, I just need a few more-
Epsilon disappears. Freckles' storage chip begins beeping.
Epsilon: Ah there we go!
Epsilon reappears.
Epsilon: Congrats, your pet has been debugged.
Caboose: (sighs out of relief) Oh God! (puts chip away) Now all we have to do is get him fixed.
Carolina: I can't believe you would just accept something from the enemy like that!
Washington: It was a lapse in judgement, it won't happen again.
Epsilon appears next to Carolina.
Epsilon: Yeah because next time we'll be dead! Come on Wash, you're supposed to be the smart one in the group.
Simmons: I thought I was the smart one in the group?
Grif: Ehhh. Smart's relative. Like good looks or skills. Sometimes you have to settle.
Tucker: Would you guys all shut up! This isn't helping!
Epsilon: Oh yeah righ- since when have you manage to help around here?
Tucker: Hey, maybe you haven't noticed, but I've been kinda running this shit while you were gone.
Grif: Just out of curiosity, who ran stuff when he was here?
Epsilon: Well you ran straight into the ground Tucker, great job, you must be so proud.
Emily: Oookayy. Everyone's a liiittle tense right now.
Tucker: Well at least I tried!
Epsilon appears in front of Tucker
Epsilon: You!? What about me? You think I'm in a vacation this whole time?
Donut: Please! Stop fighting! Can't you see you're tearing this family apart?!
Everyone just stared at Donut.
Epsilon: Right. This shits getting weird. I'm out. Hey if you need me I'll be thinking of a way to keep us alive for the next 24 hours.
Epsilon disappears.
Tucker: Good riddance.
Epsion: (voice only) Hey I heard that! I'm still actually in the room dumbass!
Zero: Alrighty then, how about we go check the perimeter...
Tex: Yeah...
Washington: I'll do the same. Why don't you guys just take a breather.
Zero, Carolina, Wash and Maine all walked away.
Caboose: Hey! Bye Wash! By Zero! Bye Carolina! Bye big scary quiet person! Bye Church!
Tucker: Caboose aren't you even like the tiniest bit pissed off at Church?
Caboose: Ahhhhhhh Nope!
Tucker: Not even a little?
Caboose: Nah.
Tucker: At all?
Caboose: Yeah no. Not really.
Tucker: How? He's being such an asshole!
Simmons: I'm pretty sure Church has always been an asshole.
Grif: Yeah. Isn't that kind of his thing? Like Simmons is smart, I'm good looking, you guys are the dumb one, the lazy one, and the mean one.
Tucker: But he doesn't even care about us. he abandoned us.
One: Last time I checked, we did the same thing, Tucker.
Tucker: Huh?
Grif: Uh, the rebels.
Tucker: Well, yeah. But there were more important things we had to do.
Simmons: I kinda feel like stopping the sale of illegal military equipment might have been more important than hanging out in a canyon.
Caboose walks up to Tucker.
Caboose: Okay Tucker, I'm gonna tell you this only because you respect my opinions so much.
Tucker: I actually don't listen to anything you say. Ever.
Grif: Classic lazy one.
Caboose: If you keep being mean to Church, Church will just keep being mean to you, and then everyone will be mean to everyone all the time and everything will be bad and no one will have fun.
Tucker: Is this- are you trying to give a motivational speech right now?
Donut: Shh! I want to see where he's going!
Caboose: I mean come on! Is this really what you want? You just- you just want to be angry and mean all the time? Because that is dumb! And you know what? You are dumb for thinking that!
Grif: Did Caboose just call someone dumb?
Sarge: Well that's calling the kettle blue.
Caboose: So Church left! And maybe some of us were sad! But you know what, that is okay! Because he was just trying to do something good! And he just made a mistake! And we all make mistakes sometimes.
Tucker: Wow! Caboose I-
Caboose: So shut up and get over it! ...Well, my work is done here.
Caboose walks away.
Everyone: ...
One: Wow...
Tucker: You know, I really do fucking hate him.
(Timeskip)
Currently, Tucker was watching Carolina scope out the perimeter. He approaches her.
Tucker: Hey, Carolina. Can uh,... you think I can talk to Church for a second?
Carolina: Oh, um sure. Epsilon? Church, get out here. Church!
Epsilon appears alongside his memories of Delta and Theta.
Theta: (whispering) Just say you're sorry.
Delta and Theta disappear.
Epsilon: Can't a guy have a little privacy around- (notices Tucker) oh.
Tucker: Hey.
Epsilon appears beside Tucker.
Epsilon: What do you want?
Tucker: So. I guess I've been kind of a dick since you got back.
Epsilon: Oh. Well yeah, I mean sure if you want to put it lightly! Heh!
Tucker stares at Epsilon.
Epsilon: Uhhh... I mean... I mean I guess I did... you know, leave you guys without saying anything. Which at the time seemed poetic and, heroic and all that, but... you know, I guess from a practical stand point I probably should have left a note.
Tucker: Yeah....
Epsilon: I'm just not used to you... actually... doing stuff, y'know? I mean, it's weird. Normally you guys just dick around and I have to do everything.
Tucker: Well... you don't have to do everything anymore.
Epsilon: Yeah, well... I guess it just takes getting use to.
Tucker: Y'know I, uh... think I saw some beer back at the gas station.
Epsilon: Hologram dude, still a hologram.
Tucker: Oh, right.
Epsilon: But thanks... you can have mine.
Carolina: Seriously...?
Tucker and Epsilon look at Carolina.
Carolina: That's it...?! No "I'm sorry." Nothing...?!
Epsilon: Carolina. We're... dudes.
Tucker: Yeah, this is pretty much as emotional as we're gonna to get.
Epsilon: Yeah, you just witnessed like... an entire lifetimes' worth of male emotion in one minute.
Tucker: Huh... What was she expecting?
Epsilon: Beats me. Can you believe that I have to live with her?
Tucker: Dude, that sucks.
Epsilon: Tell me about it...
Tucker: Oh, wait, does that mean you get to see her naked?
Epsilon: Okay, man don't make- don't make it weird.
Wash and Zero walk up next to Carolina.
Carolina: Sooo... Are they good?
Washington: IIII... think...?
Tex: They're as good as they're gonna to get. For a bunch of idiots.
Carolina: About time.
Sarge: You're tellin' me.
Tucker, Epsilon, Zero, Carolina, and Wash notice the other Reds and Blues standing nearby.
Simmons: Now can we get back to the whole civil war thing please?
Suddenly, a harsh screeching sound activates through the group's radios.
Maine: (Growls)!
Donut: Ow! My ears! My sensitive ears!
Felix: (over radio) Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen. This is your captain speaking and boy, have I got some news for you.
Grif: (to Simmons) You just had to ask for it...
Epsilon: It's Felix. He's using the radios.
Tex: Yeah, no shit.
Epsilon: Will you stop being a bitch?
Tucker: (to Felix) Hey asshole! We're not interested in whatever bullshit you're selling!
Felix: (over radio) Oh, but Tucker... In a miraculous, one-time only deal, you've all been upgraded to first class on a one-way flight off, of Chorus. ... Are you interested now...?
Simmons: I would be lying if I said I wasn't a little interested.
Zero: What exactly are you playing at?
Felix: (over radio) Ho ho, okay, easy there sport. I know this is all very exciting, so I'm gonna hand the mike over to one of my partners here to tell you the details.
Locus: (over radio) It's time you people understood the futility of your situation. We know where you're hiding. We know you are in possession of a single teleportation grenade. And we know that you hold the coordinates to a particularly valuable radio jammer.
With Locus, Scarlet, Maverick and Felix, they're standing beside each other at the location of the radio jammer.
Locus: Which is why we are contacting you from its location.
At the radio jammer, Space Pirates are saiming his Binary Rifle. Locus walks towards the edge of the structure.
Locus: Make no mistake, you will not be intereferring with today's events.
Tucker: (over radio) Says you! We're the champs of interferring with shit!
Locus: As we speak, the armies of Chorus are converging on the capital, and the battle that ensues will leave no survivors.
Back with the Reds and Blues listening to Locus at the fueling station.
Locus: (over radio) If your goal was to save these people... you have failed. But you now have an opportunity... to save yourselves.
Washington: What do you mean?
Felix: (over radio) Once the chumps at the capital are all dead, you guys will be the only loose ends left.
Upon hearing this, Dr. Grey sadly lowers her head, as One puts her hand on her shoulder.
Felix: Now, seeing as you disabled our tracking device, and have the means to teleport... anywhere in the world, this poses a somewhat... annoying problem.
Locus: (over radio) Which is why Control is offering to make a deal.
Carolina: Control...?
Locus: If you choose to teleport back to your canyon, at Crash Site Bravo, you'll find a small ship waiting to take you home.
Locus: But if you fail to arrive within the hour, we will find you... and we will kill you.
Grif: (over radio) I'm gonna go ahead and call bullshit on that...?
Simmons: Yeah, why should we believe anything you say?!
Locus: (over radio) See for yourself.
A low rumbling sound is heard nearby, catching everyone's attention. They run towards the open field of the fueling station towards the sound and
spot the ship, which transported Donut, Lopez, and Doc to Chorus, getting ready for its departure.
Lopez: Bueno. Yo les creo. [Okay. I believe them.]
Donut: You're right, Lopez! That is the ship that dropped us off.
Lopez: PARA DE FINGIR QUE ME ENTIENDES.[STOP PRETENDING THAT YOU UNDERSTAND ME.]
Locus: (over radio) It's fully functional and enroute to the canyon now.
The ship flies off.
Washington: So you got a ship. How are we suppose to know you won't shoot us the second we arrive?
Felix: Well... ya can't. But, if it makes you feel any better, this wasn't our idea. (darkly) Trust me, I'm reeally hoping you're dumb enough to turn this offer down...
Locus: Our client is a person of business. They understand that you want no part in this conflict. And they are willing to let you live... if you agree to never to speak of our involvement here.
Felix: And trust us... They'll know if ya do.
Locus: (over radio) Agent Washington, I've been ordered to offer you and your men a way out. And I never, break an order. You have one hour to make your decision.
Felix: (over radio) Hope you make the right one.
Maverick then began to talk.
Maverick: Before we cut this transmission, we're offering you one last chance, Emily.
Everyone looked towards One, as she started to speak.
One: You want me to join you, and Alyssa, right, Jason?
Scarlet: If you're friends decide to take our deal, we'll come pick you up.
One: I thought you wanted us dead.
Maverick: No, we only want Adrain dead. Once we're finished here, you best believe we'll track him down and kill him.
Zero: ...
Scarlet: But we don't want to hurt you. So don't make this any more difficult then it needs to be. Just come back with us. To your real family.
One: My real family, huh?
One just walked over to Zero, grabbing his hand and holding it.
One: I'm already standing next to him.
Zero looked at One, as she looked at him, with Scarlet spoke.
Scarlet: So you really intend to stand by him...?
One: I told you before. I won't turn my back on Adrain.
Maverick: Fine... If your choice is to stay with him, then you can die along with him...