The Federal Army of Chorus

The Federal Army of Chorus is the ninth episode of Red vs. Blue: Season 12 and the 254th episode overall. It aired on July 7th, 2014.

Federal Army of Chorus

 * Donald Doyle
 * Locus
 * Sarge
 * Donut
 * Washington
 * Lopez
 * Emily Grey
 * Various soldiers

New Republic

 * Simmons
 * Felix (Mentioned only)
 * Grif (Mentioned only)
 * Tucker
 * Caboose

Blue Team

 * Freckles (Storage chip only)

Project Freelancer

 * Counselor (Flashback; Voice only)
 * Leonard Church (Flashback; Voice only)

Plot
Taking place weeks before their encounter with their friends, Washington, Donut, Sarge, and Lopez are overseen by several Federal Army troopers, after the battle of Crash Site Bravo. Locus approaches Wash and tells him that he should've come with him rather than fight, but admires his decision nonetheless. As Wash falls unconscious, he starts having flashbacks of as his final encounter with the Director, his talk with the Counselor, and him shooting Lopez and Donut. When Wash finally regains consciousness, he finds himself, along with Sarge and Donut, handcuffed at F.A.C. Outpost 37.

Shortly afterwards the general of the Federal Army, Donald Doyle, greets and apologizes to the three, having his guards uncuff them and return their weapons. Confused, Wash threatens Doyle for answers but the latter faints. After Doyle is treated by the Federal Army doctor, Emily Grey, he again apologizes to the Blood Gulch Crew for their troubles. However, Wash expresses his anger for what the faction did to them and again threatens Doyle to give them answers. As a result, Doyle asks the three what they know about the New Republic, with the three responding that they're rebels fighting to overthrow a corrupt leadership. Doyle states that they got that biased answer from Felix and explains that the rebels are actaully aiming to dominate the planet.

He adds that while the Feds did their best to govern their citizens, the rebels began performing, what Doyle describes, "acts of terrorism." Doyle then confesses that he ordered Locus to capture them, but was unfortunately not specific enough on the latter's acquisition methods, and explains that Locus has been a significant help to the Federal Army. Doyle then assures the three that the Feds are not the enemy and promises them that if they help the faction defeat the New Republic, they may leave Chorus with their friends when the time is right. With no other option, the three reluctantly agree and soon reunite with Lopez inside the compound, now rebooted and repaired.

Unfortunately Locus reveals that Freckles was destroyed after refusing to surrender, causing the group to express their discomfort of speaking to Locus after what he did to them. Locus explains that his raid on their base was calculated, choreographed, and designed only to apprehend them, not kill them, but they are not moved. Suddenly, Emily enters the compound and asks Locus to leave the Reds and Wash alone. Locus complies and gives Wash a storage unit containing Freckles' "heart and mind," before leaving.

As Emily introduces herself, Wash states that he recognizes her, in which Emily responds that she performed surgery on him earlier. Emily then tells the four to stop by her office the following day at 0800 to be ready to ship off, before leaving. As the group discuss their concerns over their recent affiliation with the Federal Army, Wash tells them to play along for now and proceeds to voice his concerns about the other Reds and Blues.

Transcript
'WEEKS EARLIER... JUNGLE CANYON, "CRASH SITE BRAVO"'

Fade in to Washington's point of view, who sees several Feds assisting an unconscious Sarge nearby.

Fed Soldier: I repeat, we have three survivors in need of immediate assistance. (to a Fed) Make sure the docs are ready. He really did a number on them.

Washington: (weakly) Sarge...

Locus approaches Wash.

Locus: He's not dead. ...Not yet.

Washington: No...

Wash turns his head towards the sky and sees Locus looking down upon him.

Locus: I warned you, Agent Washington. I gave you a choice. But you chose to fight. I admire that decision.

Washington: (weakly) Fuck... you... monster.

Locus: No, I'm not a monster. I'm a soldier, like you.

''Locus leaves as the screen fades out. Fade back in to reveal a broken down facility. Wash is seen wearing his blue armor, hearing the Director.''

Director: (voice only) Why hello, Agent Washington.

Washington: Project Freelancer?

Counselor: (voice over) Agent Washington.

Washington: Huh?!

Wash suddenly flashes back to the past where he sees himself talking to the Counselor.

Counselor: (voice only) So you would say that you have overwhelming feelings of anger, and a need for revenge?

Past Washington: More than you know.

Washington: ...What?

''Wash then flases back to the point where he shoots Lopez and Donut. He runs towards his past self in order to stop himself from shooting Donut. However, the scene goes as it did before.''

Washington: Wait! WAIT!

His past self fires at Donut, causing him to collapse immediately.

Simmons: Why did you do that?! What's wrong with you?!

Washington: No...I was just...

Locus: (echoing) I was just following orders.

Washington: I was just following orders...

Voice: (echoing) You shot him!

Washington: What?

Simmons appears in front of Washington.

Simmons: You shot him! You shot Donut!

Washington backs away and aims his pistol at Simmons.

Washington: No I just... I did what I had to do!

Locus appears behind Washington.

Locus: Don't we all?

''Washington turns around and shoots at Locus. However, he finds his own body on the ground.''

Locus: (voice only) Agent Washington...

Now back in his steel and yellow armor, Washington stares down at himself.

Emily Grey: (voice only) Agent Washington? Agent Washington!

Cut to black.

Emily Grey: (voice only) Oh. Well...that was close.

Cut to Washington, Sarge, and Donut, handcuffed inside a Federal Army outpost.

F.A.C. OUTPOST 37

Sarge: Dirtbags! Each and every one of 'em! The soldiers: dirtbags! The medics: dirtbags! That good-for-nothin' mercenary, who shoots a man when he ain't even lookin': you best believe he's a numero uno dirtbag! And you...

Sarge acknowledges a Fed standing nearby.

Sarge: You know what you are...

Donut: Ooh, ooh, me! Pick me, Sarge!

Sarge: Shut up, Donut.

Donut: But I was gonna say "dirtbag".

Sarge: What? Doh! Doh- For the love of-! Now you've gone and given away the answer to my rhetorical question!

Washington: I have an idea. Let's play the quiet game.

Donut: Ohohoho. It. Is. On!

Sarge: Great Monopoly's top hat, Wash. Now is not the time for games! Now is the time for action! Come on, help me get out of these cuffs. There's a certain someone in this room that I feel like bludgening to death!

Donut: Just use your feet, Sarge. If he fights back, I'll beat him off ya!

Sarge: You're not thinking, Donut! That'll just alert more guards.

Donut: Well if I can't beat off a room full of dudes, then what have I been training for this whole time?

Washington: I would really like to play the quiet game, please.

Fed: (off screen) Officer on deck!

To be continued...

Trivia

 * This is the third longest running episode of the series, behind Why Were We Here?, and Silver Linings.
 * Freckles' body was revealed to be destroyed after the events of Fire. However his storage chip, also referred to as his "heart and mind" by Locus, was recovered, indicating that he may return.
 * Locus is revealed to be bilingual.
 * Donut's safe word is revealed to be "Chrysanthemum."
 * Doyle's promise to Wash, Sarge, and Donut about allowing them to leave Chorus if they help the Federal Army defeat the New Republic is very similar to Kimball's promise to Tucker, Grif, Simmons, and Caboose in Lost But Not Forgotten.
 * When Lopez boots up, part of his visor reads "Switch not found", which may be a reference to a series of events during The Blood Gulch Chronicles, though Lopez's original body at that time was destroyed.
 * During Lopez's boot up, the infamous "Blue Screen of Death" can briefly be seen.
 * The blue screen shows three steps to fix a persistent error: "Quit being an Idiot", "Stop damaging hardware", and "Perform proper repair".
 * Lopez is shown to have categorized Donut and Sarge as "Idiot" and "Loud Idiot" respectively.
 * Lopez's hardware is shown to be "v2.0" while his firmware is shown to be "v1.01," a reference to him stealing Lopez 2.0's body while still retaining his original personality.
 * Lopez's boot screen shows "English.exe failed to initiate" referring to the fact that his speech unit is damaged, as well as "sarcasm mode 100%" referencing his sarcastic attitude.
 * Lopez says he made friends with a space rat, this most likely is a reference to Hit and Run.
 * Wash "killing" himself at the beginning of the episode might be a reference to the Cave of Evil from Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back, where Luke Skywalker "kills" himself after believing he was battling Darth Vader.

Video
S12E09