York

"The whole universe is moving too fast, Wash. I think we're just trying to keep up."

- York

Freelancer Agent New York, also codenamed Foxtrot 12 and better known as simply York, was once an agent in the Special Operation's Project Freelancer who specialized in infiltration. York was the second best Freelancer agent at one time. In his role at Project Freelancer, York was paired with the AI Delta, due to his personality being best compatible to deal with Delta's rather, "persistent" behavior.

Project Freelancer
For a time, York was the second highest rated Freelancer agent. In the episode 'Introductions', York (along with Agents Maine and Wyoming) fought in a training excercise against a new recruit to Project Freelancer, Agent Texas. During the fight, York repeatedly tried to coordinate his team's attacks, but Maine and Wyoming ignored him and tried to fight Tex on their own by recklessly charging at her, which led to them being easily taken down. Tex bested York and his team in eight rounds of combat that included the use of melee weapons, hand-to-hand combat, and guns loaded with paralyzing paint.

However, in the ninth round, Maine and Wyoming switch their guns' projectiles to live ammunition and attack Tex with them, prompting York to try and help Tex, though she repeatedly resists his aid and attacks him each time he attempts to help her. Tex eventually immobilizes Wyoming and Maine, but Maine breaks free and rams a column towards Tex. She dodges it, but it hits York instead and sends him reeling. Tex fights and defeats Maine, who throws a grenade in a last ditch attempt to beat her. Again, she dodges it with ease and it lands next to York instead. Still stunned from the earlier impact, York is completely oblivious to the grenade. Tex fires rounds of the paralyzing paint at him in an effort to harden York's armor, thereby protecting him from the grenade's explosion. The grenade goes off and York is sent flying across the training room. The Freelancers watching come to his aid with medics. He is shown with multiple large cracks in his visor and a hole above his left eye.

Mission for the Sarcophagus
He later recovered enough to join the other Freelancers in their next mission, though his rank had fallen down to sixth. York is then seen inside a building, where Carolina has him pick a lock for her. He notes that it's holographic, and she asks if he can do it. He does so, but accidentally sets off an alarm. York alerts the team of an enemy patrol coming in, and helps them acquire a window washer lift to carry the package to the roof. Later, he is told to shut down a bomb planted by Agent Texas. However, he reveals it to be a transmitter. He asks the insurrectionist soldier to hold the transmitter and attempts to escape. Thanks to a MAC round fired from the Mother of Invention, the building collapses, and York is sent in a freefall.

He is rescued via a Warthog driven by Agent Maine, and is later seen driving himself. He gets the coordinates to Team B; however, they are told to go after Rhee Sebial. Maine kills Sebial and takes the briefcase. York picks up Maine with Carolina in the Warthog and they leave the scene of the crime with York stating that Response Teams are likely already on the way. They are pursued by Hornets. Later when Carolina is fighting two jetpack soldiers and Maine is injured in the warthog, York tosses Carolina Maine's Brute Shot. He also picks up Carolina when the truck they are on swerves, sending them flying.

Pursuing the Insurrectionists, Carolina tells York that they have to get the briefcase before Tex with York questioning why. While pursing the Insurrectionists, he is told to bail out of the Warthog to allow Carolina to get into a closing door. Later when Carolina is being picked up by a Pelican, York extends his hand to help her up and she angrily grabs it.

Back aboard the Mother of Invention North tells York the scores have changed (with him placed in third). York says everything has been changing while going to his locker and picking up his old helmet, which he tosses in the trash. He then says everything has been changing since Tex showed up and brings up the police shooting at them as an example. He asks North if they're the good guys and North says they are but York points out the uncertainty in his voice.

Mission in Space
Sometime in the future, York is on a mission aboard an Insurrectionist ship with Delta, trying to access a holographic lock. He sounds a remote alarm, but continues hacking the lock until F.I.L.S.S. fires at the side of the ship, creating a hole and sending York into the vaccum of space.

Later, when Carolina and her team neutralize the Insurrection forces in the recycling station, they begin their departure for Bone Valley, the leader's location. York comes flying in from the vacuum of space with a jetpack and humorously crash lands in the station.

He jokes about no one welcoming him back, and asks Wash where everyone is going, in which Wash replies the leader's location in Bone Valley. York is surprised that they're heading out there, vaguely hinting of a unfortunate incident with Georgia to Wash. Still in the dark, Wash humorously asks York about what exactly happened to Georgia, but York doesn't tell him

York is later seen flying through the junk debris field in Bone Valley with the rest of the team, searching for the leader. Only a short moment later however, Four Seven Niner quickly finds out that the Insurrection has led the Mother of Invention into a trap with their flag ship, the Staff of Charon, disguised in the junk field. As the enemy ship attacks, the Director and Counselor try to ward it off, until the Insurrectionist Leader discreetly leaves behind a nuclear device as a "present" for his guests before the Staff of Charon jumps into slipspace. Four Seven Niner immediately detects the nuclear bomb and warns the team to get away as fast as they can.

York and the rest of the team manage to get back to their Pelican only to notice that Wash was still flying in the field. York tells Wash to hurry and get into the ship by using his jetpack, but Wash panickly remarks that he doesn't want to end up like Georgia. Carolina, realizing time is running out, fires her grappling gun onto Wash's groin armour plate and pulls him into the Pelican before the bomb detonates behind them. When the Director asks if the team accomplished their mission, Carolina states that the leader wasn't there at all. The Director then asks if all the agents were accounted for, before Carolina tells the Director that C.T. is gone.

A.I. Interaction
Back aboard the Mother of Invention, York is introduced to North's A.I., Theta. York, seeing that the A.I. is a bit nervous, allows Theta to meet his A.I. Delta. Though North is cautious about doing so, he lets Theta greet Delta. Soon after, the Director along with the Counselor approaches them and tells North and Theta to begin the test. Upon seeing Delta conversing with Theta, the Director is quick to remind him that interacting with other A.I. is against protocol. York quickly claims responsiblity, stating he did so to set Theta at ease as he seemed nervous. Along with South and Wash, he bears witness to North and Theta's test. When they complete their test objectives, York excitedly compliments the two.

Much later, York is seen along with the rest of the Freelancers (without C.T. and Tex) attending a class session about A.I. theory led by the Counselor. South poses the question as to why she has to learn such things if she doesn't have an A.I. Carolina mentions to South that she does not have an A.I either, but York reprimands her, stating that she doesn't have one due to her giving Sigma away to Maine. York and the other Freelancers are soon dismissed by the Director. In the Freelancer mess hall, York asks North if he could talk to him about the Alpha A.I. as both Delta and Theta are obsessed with him. Wash, also at the table, quickly asks what an Alpha is. North tells Wash that it's the Alpha and that Theta is often thinking about him.

York mentions that Delta is the same and states that while the other A.I. units refer to each other as "brother", they all refer to the Alpha as the "creator". Wash then states the idea that he believed that the Director was their creator, but York corrects him, stating that they are copied from someone's mind. North adds the fact that their A.I,s are only fragments, which causes York to raise the question of where the original is.

Battle at the Longshore Shipyards
Later, York is seen gathering in the hangar with the rest of the Freelancers, as a part of Carolina's team to find C.T. at the enemy FOB. While there, he introduces Delta to Four Seven Niner, who in turn believes that Delta is there to take her job. On the way to the enemy base, York joins Carolina on teasing Wash about him attempting to throw up in his helmet. As soon as the Pelican lands, he charges into battle alongside Wash.

York joins Wash in engaging the enemy, and the two notice Carolina under heavy sniper fire. York and Wash attempt to take out the enemy snipers on Wash's signal, only to be forced back into cover when the enemy Warthog opens fire on them due to Wash's premature signal. North quickly kills the enemy snipers with his armor enhancement, allowing the two to continue from there. York is then sucker punched by the Sleeveless Insurrection Soldier along with Wash. The latter then knocks York's shotgun away and tackles him before being forced to fall back in credit to Carolina firing upon him. York quickly rejoins the fray, besting the Sleeveless Insurrectionist in hand to hand combat. Recovering his shotgun, he then engages the Female Insurrectionist, but is hit by a Warthog, throwing him backwards against a dumpster that Wash was hiding behind.

When Maine arrives at the battle in a drop pod in part to Wash throwing a location beacon, York is seen along with Wash taking a cover from behind a dumpster. When Sigma then greets both of them, Delta reminds Sigma that interactions between A.I. units is against protocol. Sigma interrupts him saying that the Director has always said there are no rules in battle and they really should stick together. He excuses himself, leaving to help Maine in battle. York mentions that Delta's interaction with Sigma creeped him out.

York and Wash later regroup to Wyoming's location, where the latter locates the leader and C.T. While under heavy fire, Carolina meets up with the three and asks York if he has a plan. York jokingly asks if they had a nuke and humourously suggests that Wyoming try one of his knock-knock jokes. As Carolina begins to tell them her plan of attack, Tex suddenly runs up behind them with her cloaking armour enhancement and begins to chase after the Insurrectionist leader and C.T. Realizing that Tex was there as well, Carolina hastily changes her plan and tells York and Wash to cover her as she rushes the enemy and follows Tex. Wash comments the fact that Carolina really wants to win, York's reply being that that is the case, but it's not the Insurrectionist she's trying to beat.

When Carolina and Tex reach the room where C.T. and the leader are hiding, Carolina asks York to shut down the power at the main complex. York, unfortunately, is unable to, still under heavy fire by the Insurrectionist Twins. Carolina tells him to do so anyway as quickly as possibly. He remains under heavy fire with the others until the Unidentified Blue Soldier gets up and eliminates the twin guards. York mentions that he cannot believe his luck and informs Carolina that he is now able to complete the task. Moments later, Carolina and Tex confront C.T. and the Insurrectionist Leader, where York radios Carolina again telling her that the power is off. Carolina informs him that they already noticed. York jokingly asks why she doesn't thank him as the task was complicated for him to complete until Delta reminds York that it was him who did most of the work.

Back aboard the Mother of Invention
Back aboard the Mother of Invention, York is seen watching over Carolina as she trains during late hours. North soon comes into the observation room as well and mentions the fact that Carolina has always done so before. York points out the fact that the leaderboard is what's beckoning her to do so. York then discusses about Theta and how, like Delta, the chatter in their heads takes some time to get used to. When he asks North about why he simply can't pull Theta out so he could get some rest, North simply says that he feels obligated to help Theta. North, exhausted, tells York that he should get some rest as well before leaving to do so himself. York, watching Carolina as she contiunes to train, then tells himself that they could all use some rest.

Much later, York is seen with North, Wash, and South in the locker room after hearing about Carolina's decision to take two A.I.s. He witnesses South furiously rant about how Carolina has taken away both hers and Wash's A.I. just to be better than Tex. Tex shows up and informs the Freelancers that she is looking for Carolina. York tells her that she is currently in surgery to recieve her two A.I.s and asks if Tex would like to go with him and Wash to the recovery room to wait for her. Tex tells them to go ahead and that she'll catch up.

After the surgery, York and Wash visit Carolina, while noticing Maine in the recovery room as well. Wash tells York that Maine has been experiencing severe headaches and asks York if the same happened to him when he first recieved Delta. York replies that he did but they passed fairly quickly, and that the other side effects were far worse. Messing with Wash as a joke, he mentions bleeding from the eyes, ringing ears, and also adds inverted penis which humorously sends Wash into a brief panic. At this point, Carolina wakes up and quickly demands a match against Tex.

As the match begins, York preps Carolina on the training floor, advising her to listen to her A.I.s' intel as the match progresses. She does not listen to him, and he is soon forced to leave the floor or be forced to fight Tex. He quickly rejoins Wash, Wyoming, North, and Maine in the observation room to watch the match. As the training match begins, the Director suddenly comes in and questions why there is an unscheduled match going on before noticing that Tex herself is in the match. The Director yells out her name in concern, which sends all the A.I.'s in to a relapse remembering and calling out Allison's name.

York and the others, with the exception of Wash, double over in pain in response to the A.I.'s screams. However, this quickly subsides, and the Freelancers recover, except for Carolina, who's A.I.'s have become unstable. Seeing Carolina still in unbearable pain, York asks in distress for somebody to help her. Eventually, Tex knocks her out to ease the pain. After the incident, York is seen in the recovery room, sitting asleep beside Carolina, who is in a coma, while North watches over them from a medical observatory. When Tex comes along and asks North how long York has been with her, North states that York has not once left Carolina's side for several days.

Freelancer Break-In
York is later seen with Texas at a restricted area of the Mother of Invention, where Texas has enlisted his aid since she went rogue. York tries to access the door only to inadvertently set off an alarm. Realizing that time was short, Texas quickly punches the door aside and asks York to create a distraction for the others while she goes to meet up with someone. While Tex engages the Freelancer forces, York sneaks into a nearby locker room and quickly kills two Freelancer soldiers. York then engages Wyoming in hand to hand combat, whom he swiftly defeats by throwing a locker at him. York then has Delta activate the heavy weapons systems aboard the Mother of Invention and causes them to fire upon the vessel itself. Knowing that the distraction is minor compared to what Tex needs, York heads to the gravity plant section of the ship, where Delta turns the gravity off.

When Carolina rushes down to an elevator in order to locate Texas, she finds York instead, where the latter tells Carolina that he is doing this for the right reasons having learnt the truth about the Director and his activities. He then asks her to come with him but she refuses with the belief that Texas only wants to steal his A.I. York again pleads for Carolina to let go of her jealosy/hatred of Tex and come with him but she does not listen to him, and engages him in close combat. While York is able to hold her off initially, she quickly incapacitates him and kicks him into the air while tossing up his lighter before heading to find Texas. York keeps floating in the air due to the lack to gravity until his back hits a wall, stopping him. Seeing his old lighter that Carolina had tossed up earlier, he reaches for it.

Post-War and Death
Sometime after the events at Project Freelancer, York seemed to have abandonded the program and become a thief, still in posession of Delta, claming that he was never a threat to anyone. Tex finds him breaking into a building and the two soon greet each other after the passing time. By this point, they seem to be on friendly terms with one another, as York refers to Tex by her real name (Allison). She asks for his assistance in locating Wyoming and her old A.I. Omega, who has taken on a new host.

York assists Tex by breaking into Wyoming's hideout, in which they both receive heavy fire upon entry. They are successful in eliminating the armed guards, but are unable to eliminate Wyoming himself. Tex had a clear shot at Wyoming, but her gun jammed, requiring York to cover for her. Moving in panic to cover Tex, York put himself in a position where he couldn't see Wyoming (due to his damaged eye) and was mortally wounded. His armor shut down once he died, sending out a "Priority One" Recovery Beacon. His AI was eventually retrieved by Agent Washington, and his armor was "decommissioned". As revealed by Washington in Reconstruction Chapter 1, York's armor enhancement was not destroyed, but taken by Washington.

Revelation
After his death, by Season 10, Carolina heads to York's final resting place so that she can clear her mind and apologize for not listening to him. Epsilon shows Carolina a memory of York making journal entries which apparently were made some time after he left Project Freelancer. His first few journal entries touched upon the fact that a female Freelancer was causing trouble for the project, where in each entry he shows excitement and hope at the possibility that it could possibly be Carolina, who was believed to be dead at the time. York expresses his feeling for Carolina and also mentions their first meeting at a nightclub. He even tells a pickup-line he would use if he ever saw her again.

The last journal entry played shows York speaking in a sad tone, as he reveals that the female freelancer causing trouble for Project Freelancer was Tex and her A.I., Omega. Saddened, believing that Carolina was actually dead, York jokingly tells Delta that if he tried to use a pickup-line on Carolina, he literally wouldn't see her again as she might have punched out his good eye. Delta inquires what he would have said then, and York mournfully tells that he would have told her that he understood why she did what she did but wished that she hadn't, and that he wished she could've learned to let things go. He ends the entry in a sorrowful tone, saying that maybe he should as well.

Skills and Abilities
In Introductions, York, along with agents Maine and Wyoming, displays considerable combat prowess in his fight against Agent Texas. While unable to defeat her, he is the only one of the three capable of blocking several of Tex's attacks, even managing to disarm her during one of the lockout paint rounds, though she was quick to nullify the achievement by swiftly defeating him with his own gun. York is ranked as the second best Freelancer, before Tex's arrival, which is another indication of his combat expertise. Within the Freelancers, York is the highest ranked male member, despite his disabled eye.

By Season 10, York futher displayed his proficiency in close combat. During a battle with high ranked Insurrectionist soldiers, he was capable of fighting both the Sleeveless Insurrectionist and the Female Insurrectionist, besting them singlehandedly. He also managed to defeat Wyoming in hand to hand combat, during the Freelancer break-in, using his resourcefulness to his advantage. Afterwards, however, York failed to defeat Carolina, whom of which quickly over powered him.

York has also displayed a great skill in driving, aiding the escape from Insurrectionist forces during Spiral. He avoided several civilian vehicles at top speed, hit the brakes to throw the enemy off the hood of the Warthog (saving Maine from an inevitable headshot), slammed the Warthog into a truck to throw off the aim and balance of the Insurrectionist Sniper, and drove Maine close enough to strike him, all of this with a damaged eye.

However, his blind spot proves to be a significant weakness, resulting in his death at the hands of Wyoming when York moved in panic to cover Tex, putting Wyoming where York could not see him. York's unique armor enhancement is a healing mechanism, which was taken by Washington upon his death. It is also stated in the mini series Out of Mind that York is an infiltration specialist, as he is seen trying to break into a store, and later assists Tex in inflitrating O'Malley's base.

Trivia

 * The fact that York, who'd been stealing for (presumably) years to make ends meet, has not gone by his Freelancer codename (much to the converse of Tex, who still participates in military operations), explains why York and Allison are names neither are used to hearing, respectively.
 * York's codename Foxtrot 12 is similar to the designation Sierra 117, an alternate designation for the Master Chief within the Halo games, as both are made up of a NATO phonetic letter followed by a numerical sequence. The use of the letter Foxtrot is due to York being a Freelancer and Sierra is due to the Master Chief being a Spartan.
 * York's healing unit is very effective as it allowed Washington to survive a direct shot to the back from Agent South Dakota.
 * In Out of Mind: Part IV, York sheds some light on how he lost his left eye by saying "Omega and Allison were always the best. Nobody could compete with them, not me, not Wyoming, not anybody. Trying to beat them when I should have given up is how I got hurt in the first place."
 * York is the first character in Red vs. Blue to reveal his face on screen. York is also the first soldier shown completely out of armor, wearing a Property of Grifball T-shirt and jeans in Season 10: Episode 11.
 * According to Burnie Burns at Pax East, York was the link in the Season 9 Trailer to show that the season was not taking place in present time.
 * The extents and limitations of York's healing unit are unknown, leading many to question why he didn't use it to heal his eye or to save himself from Wyoming's fatal gunshot. In light of his injury, it likely healed into permanent scar tissue before this became viable.
 * In Season 9, York seems to have a preoccupation with whether or not the Freelancers are "the good guys." Interestingly, after abandoning the program, he became a thief to survive, abandoning that ideology.
 * York is known for making philosophical statements and theories about events during episodes. This is most notable during Seasons 9 and 10.