Assault (Red vs Blue)

3: General Disagreements

3: General Disagreements

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

Kimball walked down the hall, her mind going in a hundred different directions. She'd been trying to discuss things with Doyle all morning, but they hadn't made much progress. The freelancers — minus Washington and the one called Tex — had come to try and help move things along. However, despite their best efforts, it hadn't worked. And considering it was now early afternoon, Kimball decided she needed a break. She'd been starting to think that if she didn't step away soon, she wouldn't hesitate to put Doyle through the wall.

The issues didn't stop with just her and Doyle, either. None of the soldiers were getting along. There was still a very clear dividing line between the Federal Army and the New Republic. Not to mention either side wouldn't listen to the other's leader. Kimball's troops hated Doyle just about as much as the Feds hated her. It made getting anything done around the city rather difficult.

With her and Doyle being at odds over literally everything, trying to keep track of daily tasks had gotten extremely hard. Kimball was thankful the Reds and Blues had volunteered to help run things. While they didn't always do the best job, they were still helping. Any assistance was better than none at all. And with Washington and the other freelancers helping with training and the more serious issues, things were managing to stay somewhat under control. If it weren't for any of them, things would've been complete chaos. They'd all been such lifesavers. And with how much help they really still needed, it made Kimball wish her other lifesaver hadn't turned out to be a two-faced liar. . . .

Shaking her head, Kimball stopped the last thought dead in its tracks. Felix had been a huge help to the New Republic for years. He'd been the one person Kimball turned to when shit got tough; she confided in him when she felt like she'd been failing her people. But as it turned out, he'd been playing them — playing her — for years. Felix's loyalty had been a lie. A big, ugly, grandiose lie. Everyone had believed that lie right until the end, too. Kimball hated herself for getting as close to him as she had.

Stepping out of the main complex, she decided to make her way toward the armory. As she neared, Kimball saw quite a line stretching from the building toward the road. It was second shifts turn; that meant it was Simmons, Lopez, and Donut were in charge at the moment. Sarge and Church had done the first shift, then Tucker, Grif, and Caboose covered the third shift. Some of the freelancers stepped in to give the Reds and Blues a break at times, but not too often. They were busy enough with everything they were helping with.

"I see you guys already have quite the line this afternoon," Kimball commented as she stopped beside
Simmons.

"Yeah, but not all of them showed up when we got here. A few were left from when Sarge and Church were here," the maroon soldier replied.

"How's Donut doing on the uniform end of things?" she asked. "He's not going too overboard with things, I hope."

Simmons shrugged. "He's doing all right. Though we do have to keep reminding him that he's just in charge of handing out uniforms. Not designing them, too."

Kimball shook her head. "At least that's the only thing you've been having to tell him." She turned and looked toward the vehicles. "What about Lopez? How's he doing with all the repairs? I know there were a lot of vehicles that needed to be fixed up."

Lopez, having heard Kimball mention his name, appeared from behind one of the jeeps. "Los vehículos están saliendo muy bien. Pero, por favor, por el amor de Dios, di a Jensen deja de conducir ellos. Estoy bastante seguro de que ella es la razón por la que están todos aqí. (The vehicles are coming along nicely. But please, for the love of God, tell Jensen to quit driving them. I'm pretty sure she's the reason they're all here.)"