//------------------------------// // A State of Confusion // Story: The Rock in the Gulch // by Tatsurou //------------------------------// Texas held Maud firmly yet gently in her hands, one hand supporting her under her barrel while the other gently gripped her tail. Maud supported the grip by wrapping her hind legs around Texas' arm and her forelegs around her hand. While Texas was a little concerned about how comfortable or supportive this was for Maud - much to her own surprise - Maud seemed perfectly happy with the position. She decided to distract herself by trying to get answers. "So, Caboose..." "Yes, Mommy?" Caboose asked excitedly. Texas felt herself tense...and felt Maud's hind legs tighten in response. "Okay," Texas began carefully, "first directive is that you only call me that if it's just the three of us, understand? If anyone else is present, you call me Agent Texas. Understand?" "Not really, but I can do that!" Caboose agreed eagerly. Texas decided she would take what she could get without finding out if Maud's boasts of her strength were idle or not. "What can you tell me about the situation here? Other than taking care of Maud, what's the objective?" Caboose was silent for a few moments. "Hmm..." "Mom wants to know what we do here," Maud translated. "Oh!" Caboose declared happily. "Well, by the time I got here, Blues and Reds only fought once a month to decide which base Maud would stay at. Once a week the other three, there were cookouts between the two bases. I don't really understand why." "How can you fight once a month and no one's dead?" Texas demanded. Remembering why she was called in, she clarified, "Well, no one else." "We use training rounds!" Caboose declared happily. "They cover us in sticky paint so we can't move! It's kinda fun being locked up like a statue." "How did you get the training rounds?" Texas demanded incisively. Those were definitely the ones used in the training room for Freelancers, and those weren't issued to Sim Troopers. "Captain Flowers ordered them for both teams, but told Sarge that Doc did," Maud clarified. Texas frowned as she heard that name. Something about it was familiar... She decided to push past that until later. "Why would the Red Team agree to that?" "Sarge is convinced I'm a super weapon and the entire purpose of the conflict in this canyon is to gain control of me," Maud explained flatly. "Given what I've seen, I can't fault him for that deduction," Texas allowed, "but I'm surprised he hasn't gotten any orders to the contrary." I'm also surprised Freelancer command hasn't sent anyone else, she thought to herself. "He called into Red Command once," Maud allowed. "They just told him to keep up the good work." Texas frowned thoughtfully at that. That did not sound like how Sim Troopers were normally handled. Something fishy was going on here... She would have to investigate when she could. For now, she needed to know what she was expected to do, and for that she needed to know what all was going on. "The message I got said you were undermanned?" she pressed. "How many Blues to how many Reds...not counting Maud, since she's apparently the focus of the conflict. "Two Blues, Four Reds," Caboose answered readily. "But we've got a tank! ...though that didn't work so well. I tried to make the tank work, and Sheila was nice and helpful...but then I killed Dad..." Caboose hung his head, sniffling sadly as he walked. "Friendly fire happens sometimes," Texas offered firmly. "Just get past it. Am I going to be fighting with the Blues during the once a month battles?" "I dunno," Caboose allowed. "Pretty sure Tucker's in charge now, unless Maud is. Guess Tucker will talk it over with Sarge." Reds and Blues talking things out before fighting things out, Texas thought silently. How...strange... "Then lead the way-" "Caboose!" A red armored soldier ran up towards the group. "You're going to miss-oh, new person?" "Hey Cinnamon!" Caboose greeted warmly. The addressed soldier winced. "That's Simmons," he corrected morosely, in the tone of one who fully expected the nearby pony would latch onto it as a hilarious nickname he would never escape and be taunted with for the rest of his military career. "Oh, okay," Caboose allowed uncertainly. "This is Maud and my New Mommy, Agent Texas! But I'm not supposed to call her Mommy if other people are around, so I have to call her Texas now!" Texas turned to point Maud towards Caboose, only for Maud's tail to wrap around her hand in a stranglehold that left her feeling the metal of her armor starting to bend. Texas frowned down at Maud. "Can I at least swat him upside the back of the head for that?" she demanded angrily. "No," Maud stated flatly. Texas promptly kicked Caboose in the shin. "My ovaries!" Caboose cried out as he collapsed to the ground. Simmons stared at Caboose in confusion. "...sometimes I can't tell if he's really that stupid and childish, or if he just acts that way because it makes Maud happy and gets the rest of us to underestimate him," he observed mildly. He then turned back to Texas. "So you're Agent Texas, then. Maud's Mom. Tucker said he called you in to take care of her." "Right," Texas replied slowly. "And...where can I find this...Tucker?" "Oh, he's sparring with Grif right now!" Simmons stated eagerly. "That's why I came to get Maud and Caboose! You definitely don't want to miss this!" Turning, he raced back in the other direction. Curiously, Texas followed. It didn't take long for the group to reach the other soldiers, only to find one in familiar aqua armor fighting another in orange armor. At present, they were both rapidly exchanging punches and kicks that failed to hit their targets. The aqua armored soldier evaded or deflected incoming strikes, while the orange armored one blocked them. "The aqua armored one..." Texas began as she addressed Maud. "That's Uncle Tucker," Maud responded readily. "The armor used to be Captain Flowers'." Well that answers that, Texas thought to herself. That's Agent Florida's armor. So this is a long-running Freelancer project...which means 'Dad' really is- Her thoughts were cut off as the orange soldier - Grif, presumably - caught an incoming kick from Tucker and flipped him over his shoulder. Tucker spun through the air, pulling his gun out as he landed on his feet and was already opening fire as he landed. Grif pulled out a metal pole and caught each paint round on one end as he spun it until the paint formed a large club-end around the pole. Rushing forward, he brought the makeshift club down towards Tucker, only for the aqua soldier to leap into the air in a flip, coming down on the pole as it impacted into the ground, bringing his gun up towards Grif's face. Grif, for his part, was already bringing one fist up in an uppercut, sending the barrel towards Tucker's face and forcing him to backflip as the gun went off to keep from shooting himself in the face. As Tucker came down on his feet, Grif had forced the pole deeper into the ground and spun around it to launch himself in a flying kick at Tucker, who rolled all the way onto his back to go under it...only to have his gun knocked out of his hands by Grif's fist as he spun to land on his feet and prevent getting shot on his way by. "So did anyone else in your family take up pole dancing?" Tucker called out tauntingly as he flipped to his feet. "Bow-chicka-bow-wow!" "Figured shoving one in your mouth was the only time it would stay shut," Grif taunted back as he landed in a combat stance. "Bow-chicka-" "Get your own catchphrase!" Tucker snapped as he charged in for further combat. Texas could only stare in shock at the display. While not quite as fast paced as the fights she was used to, it was still quite impressive for relatively untrained combatants... So how were these idiots not in the Freelancer Program instead of being stuck as Sim Troopers?