Assault (Red vs Blue)

26: A House Divided

26: A House Divided

Present Day: Main Business Complex (Downtown Armonia; the planet Chorus)

To say things had been tense upon everyone's return to Armonia would've been an understatement. When all the survivors returned from Crash Site Alpha, CT witnessed some of the worst mental breaks she'd ever seen. All those soldiers — if you could even call most of them that — hadn't been ready for a fight of that caliber. Those who weren't completely breaking down were acting so numb to the situation it made them seem like zombies. And then there was Kimball; while she wasn't having any kind of extreme behavioral reaction, her entire attitude had shifted. The general had gone from being a confident leader to being completely unsure of herself and doubting their chances of being able to win the war. About the only people who hadn't been effected in any way seemed to be the Reds and the other freelancers.

Then, when the away team returned from the temple, it created a whole new set of problems. Carolina was unconscious when they arrived, and she was immediately taken to the E.R. Which, at the same time, meant York had become pretty scarce. He'd barely left the waiting room while the doctors had been checking Carolina over; and when they moved her to the infirmary, he followed and had been by her side ever since. It got to the point where CT and Wash were taking turns bringing him things to eat and drink because he wouldn't leave their team leader's side.

North and Tex had also been taken in to be checked over, but they weren't made to stay in the infirmary. Their injuries had been much less significant than Carolina's. They were sore, that was for sure, but they were at least mobile. Tex and North explained the whole ordeal after they had been released. The fight with America, Germany, and the former Insurrectionist — that part had got to CT a bit — the trip through the ice tunnel, their A.I.s failing, and ultimately ending up going over the cliff. Apparently, Carolina had been in the middle of using various armor enhancements when the A.I.s had given out; she didn't have time to recover or brace herself before going over the edge of the cliff. Tex and North, on the other hand, had jumped willingly to escape their assailants. It explained why the two of them had made it through the jump with only minor injuries while Carolina was lucky to be alive.

Another soldier had been brought back and taken to the infirmary as well — one CT didn't recognize. The soldier wore entirely purple armor, and she thought she heard one of the sim troopers call him "Doc". According to Church, he was a medic that they'd known for years. Though CT didn't believe the story about him having been lost in some sort of alternate dimension before being found in the cave. It just didn't seem likely that it actually happened. Then again, herself and most her team were brought back from the dead, so anything was possible.

Currently, CT found herself in the infirmary with Wash, North, and Tex. The group had gone to fill York in on how things had gone down on the mountain — he hadn't been present when it was explained the first time. So instead of leaving him completely in the dark, the group decided to fill their teammate in sooner rather than later.

"I just don't understand," York was saying for at least the third time. "I told her she didn't need all those armor enhancements. I made her put some of them back. Why would she go behind my back just to grab them all again?"

"You know better than anyone just how Carolina can be," North told him. "She's stubborn. And when you told her not to take all the enhancements, it just made her want them more."

Wash looked at his teammate. "It's more than that, though. She was used to being on her own for years. She was in a position where she always had to be the best; she needed to be fully prepared for anything. And even though she knows the team has her back, those old habits haven't fully gone away."