Isolated (Red vs Blue)

20: Supervised Boredom

20: Supervised Boredom

Present Day: Somewhere on the Edge of Colonized Space

When he reflected on recent events, Tucker almost couldn't believe what had happened. The aqua clad soldier didn't think that things could get much worse after crashing on an unknown planet — he'd quickly been proven wrong. Donut and Doc failed to actually rescue them, Caboose's gigantic robot demoted Washington and promoted the blue armored man, and they were still stuck with Simmons. If there was ever a time he wanted to die, this was it.

Tucker found himself envying Church and Carolina for not having to witness the mess.

The aqua armored man sighed as he stared at the controls for the comm tower. Tucker didn't know the first thing about trying to fix the radio. When they'd unfortunately made contact with Donut, they'd barely been able to hear him or even maintain a semi-stable connection. It was a miracle the pink clad soldier had been able to hear them at all — not that it seemed to have mattered. The "rescue crew" had done a spectacular job of botching their job.

Sighing in frustration, Tucker turned and walked away from the comm tower. He couldn't stand there and pretend he knew what he was doing anymore. The aqua armored man turned and walked away; he needed to find something else to do for a while. The only problem was there really wasn't much else to do.

As Tucker walked back toward the base, he spotted Washington coming from the direction of Red Base. Ever since Caboose had assigned him to patrolling the canyon, the former freelancer seemed to be sulking and brooding even more than normal. Tucker didn't particularly feel bad for his former C.O. — it was his fault they were in this mess to begin with. If Wash wouldn't have been trying to be so controlling with everything, none of this would've happened.

Before the aqua clad soldier can get too far, the ground began to shake, causing him to immediately stop. Freckles stopped directly in front of him and aimed his cannons at the man. Tucker quickly held his hands up in surrender — he didn't need to look like he wanted to fight the giant robot.

"Private Tucker, you have abandoned your post," Freckles stated. "Leaving your post before your job has been completed can be punishable by death."

"You don't need to threaten me, you motherfucking toaster," Tucker muttered. When the robot's cannons began to glow, the soldier quickly began to backtrack. "I mean, I'm sorry. I just needed a little break. Trying to fix the radio is super stressful; I thought I'd take a walk to clear my head. Ya know, help me think better."

"You did not clear this break with Captain Caboose. Therefore, you have abandoned your post," the robot said.

"I, uh, that's not true," Tucker replied, looking around for anywhere he could possibly hide if the cannons started firing. So far, he was coming up empty. Not knowing what else to do, the soldier settled for his last resort. "Caboose! You need to tell your pet that I'm allowed to take a break!"

Caboose came running from the base as soon as Tucker yelled. Before the Mantis could fire, the other soldier hollered, "Freckles, no! Bad! Bad, Freckles! We don't shoot someone for taking a break!"

The robot lowered its cannons and looked at the blue armored man. "Private Tucker did not authorize this break with you before leaving, Captain Caboose."

"That's okay, Freckles," Caboose told the robot. "Everybody needs to not work sometimes. You don't need to shoot Tucker."

"Gee, thanks," the aqua clad soldier muttered. "I feel so safe and secure now."

"You're welcome, Tucker!" Caboose exclaimed happily. "I am glad to know I am succeeding as a leader!" He turned to Freckles and climbed up on the Mantis' back. "Let's go, Freckles! It's time for your walk!"