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Role in Plot[]
Project Freelancer[]
The New Recruit[]
At a time, Washington was listed as the sixth ranked Freelancer. After a failed mission with C.T. Washington tries to console her, but she pushes him away. She then explains that the missions decide between the best and worst Freelancers and that Wash had better choose whose side he's on soon. Hours later, Agent North Dakota approaches Wash, worried that "Internals" had questioned the latter about his use of equipment on a mission. Wash tells him not to worry, but their conversation is interrupted when a group of soldiers head towards the training floor. Wash and North head there as well and witness Maine, Wyoming and York fighting Agent Texas.
After Maine and Wyoming begin using live ammunition and York is seriously injured by a grenade, Wash, Carolina, North, South, and C.T. rush down to his aid. The Director then enters and yells at the Freelancers. When Wash tries to defend himself, saying that Maine and Wyoming weren't following protocol, the Director angrily responds that the enemy won't follow protocol either.
Mission for the Sarcophagus[]
Wash is later seen in the briefing room with most of the other Freelancers, preparing for the mission to retrieve the Sarcophagus. He assigned to Team A, along with Maine, Carolina, and a recovered York. After infiltrating the building, Carolina gets the idea to send the Sarcophagus up a window washer lift by having Maine serve as a counter weight. As the Sarcophagus is being sent up the lift, a soldier with a flame thrower battles Carolina and Wash. Wash tries to kill the soldier with a Fuel Rod Cannon, but the beam bounces and explodes harmlessly behind the soldier. After Carolina defeats the soldier, the two regroup with York at the top of the building, where they unexpectedly confront Tex.
Suddenly, the four become surrounded by Insurrectionists, but are soon saved by the Mother of Invention which fires a MAC blast at their location. When the building begins to collapse, the Freelancers hop off the building and escape. During the freefall, Wash lands on the Sarcophagus and brings down a Hornet with his battle rifle. Afterwards, a Pelican picks him up, with the Sarcophagus in hand. After the mission, Wash spots C.T. talking with an Insurrectionist, forcing her to end the video chat, as a result of being interrupted. C.T. leaves and tells Washington to mind his own business.
A.I. Interaction[]
In the UNSC Scrap Metal Recycling System in space, Wash is sent on a mission to infiltrate an Insurrectionist space station and capture its leader, alongside fellow Freelancers: North Dakota, South Dakota, C.T., and Carolina. Before they set off, Carolina tells them not to over use their jetpacks, or they'll end up like Georgia. This only makes Wash feel uneasy. During the mission he attempts to access the leader's location via a computer module in the space station's main hangar, while the other Freelancers fend off soldiers. However, he accidently disables the station's artificial gravity, due to his own frustration. Managing to re-activate it, Wash nearly gets killed by a falling Warthog. When the Freelancer team obtain new information on the leader's whereabouts, they prepare to depart to Bone Valley, until York crash lands inside the station's main hangar and joins them.
After they leave the station the Insurrectionists plant nukes in space, forcing the freelancers to make a speedy escape. This means they have to burn out their jetpacks in order to make it into the Pelican. Wash is the only one who doesn't do this out of fear of ending up like Georgia, but is saved when a frustrated Carolina locks onto his armor's cod piece with a grappling gun. After the mission, Wash and York are introduced to North's A.I., Theta, where Wash was concerned about the size of the AI. Wash and York witness the test that included North and Theta and are amazed by their success. Wash is then seen taking a class about A.I. theory with his fellow Freelancers. In the mess hall, Washington joins North Dakota and York on their discussion of the Alpha A.I. Wash asks many questions during the discussion, while eating a couple of snacks (through his helmet, to the amusement of his company) in the process.
Battle at Longshore Shipyards[]
Washington is soon sent on mission to obtain C.T.'s armor at the Longshore Shipyards, along with fellow Freelancers Carolina, York, South, and North Dakota. During their arrival at the Shipyards, the Freelancers quickly attack the Insurrectionists. Wash and York pair up and fight numerous Insurrectionists together. At one point, Wash activates his armor enhancement: an EMP unit that he uses to shut down two Warthogs before they hit him. Carolina then gives York and Wash a signal to eliminate an Insurrection sniper group firing at her. The two see the signal and begin firing at the snipers, but are forced to retreat when a nearby Warthog fires back at them. As a result, North eliminates the sniper group on his own. Suddenly Wash and York are attacked by the Sleeveless Insurrection Soldier. Wash manages to disarm the Sleeveless Insurrectionist, but is soon chased around by a Warthog. Taking cover, Wash activates a beacon, which sends down a drop pod containing Maine and Sigma.
As Wash and York watch Maine handle the Insurrectionists from behind cover, Sigma appears before them to speak with Delta. He soon dismisses himself afterwards and Wash, along with York, soon join Wyoming inside the Leader's bunker, but are pinned down by Twin Insurrectionist Chain Gunners. When Carolina arrives and begins to give orders, a cloaked Tex breaks through the Twin Gunners' line of fire and surpasses them. Carolina, enraged, charges after her. Still under fire from the Twin gunners, Agent Florida, who had recovered after being hit by a tomahawk to the chest, shoots a crane arm and sends the crate it was carrying at the Insurrectionist soldiers, splattering them underneath.
Epsilon Incident[]
Back aboard the Mother of Invention, Washington was scheduled for A.I. implantation, along with South Dakota, for either the Eta or Iota A.I. Unfortunately, his schedule was pushed back by Carolina, who decided to take both A.I. for herself. While Carolina was being prepped for surgery, Wash, along with York, North, and South, is seen in the locker room, listening to South complain over Carolina's decision. She is further angered when Wash claims that he has been rescheduled for implantation sometime soon. Inside the recovery room, Washington and York visit Carolina after her surgery. They spot Maine being examined by a doctor, where Wash remarks that Maine has been having headaches. He questions York on the side-effects of implantation, in which York replies that the headaches passed away after some time. Carolina soon wakes up, and demands for a match.
Afterwards, he is seen along York, North, Wyoming and Maine in the observation room to watch the match between Texas and Carolina. 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. in to a relapse, calling out "Allison" as a result. Carolina and the other Freelancers, except Wash, double over in pain in response to the A.I.'s screams. However, this quickly subsides, and the Freelancers recover, except for Carolina, whose A.I. have become unstable.
Several days later, Washington is assigned to be implanted with the Epsilon A.I. Immediately after the operation, Wash loses control, seeing numerous memories of Allison, which causes him severe pain. Wash is soon sedated and sent into Recovery. A few days after his implantation, Washington wakes up in Recovery center, with North and South standing by him. North tells him that The Director not only removed Epsilon, but began to remove all of the A.I. from the Freelancers. South, in response, yells at him for causing a halt to the implantations. Wash then questions Carolina's whereabouts, in which North reveals that the Director has been planning to send Carolina to go after Tex, who has recently gone rogue.
Post-War[]
Recovery One[]
Some time after the events of the Freelancer break-in, Washington attains the new call sign, "Recovery One" and is charged to recover the Delta A.I., after Freelancer York is KIA. While recovering Delta, Washington plants an explosive onto York's armor; but is then attacked by Wyoming. As Wyoming corners Washington, he realizes that the explosive on York's armor is about to detonate and flees as a result. When Delta reminds Washington about the detonator, Washington takes Delta and manages to escape the explosion. He is then contacted by Recovery Command and is sent to answer a Priority One Distress Call.
Wash responds and finds the two Freelancer twins, North and South Dakota. North is KIA, but South was left alive. Upon questioning South, Wash discovers that North still had his A.I. construct, Theta, but is soon contacted by Command, and is ordered to kill South. Wash only pretends to kill her, later saying that he needs her help. He orders Delta to lie about South's death, much to South's disbelief. Wash and South go to a city, where Wash explains the situation to South: something is hunting down the Freelancers and stealing their armor enhancements and A.I. Wash plans to implant Delta into South for safekeeping, but South protests, saying that she isn't rated for implantation.
Nonetheless, South goes through with it. Wash and South are then attacked by The Meta, the entity that is hunting the Freelancers. In an effort to protect Delta, Wash suggests that South escape while he provides her cover. This turns out to be a severe mistake when South betrays Wash and shoots him in the back. South then confronts The Meta and convinces it to steal Wash's armor enhancement before the timed charge she allegedly placed on his armor detonates, giving her the time to escape with Delta. Washington is last seen lying on the ground motionless with The Meta looming over him.
Pursuit of The Meta[]
Washington makes his re-appearance in the very first episode of Reconstruction, having escaped The Meta from his last encounter simply by playing dead. Wash also reveals that he was able to survive South's betrayal because he had taken York's Healing Unit. Upon offering counsel to Recovery Command on the incident at Outpost 17-B: Valhalla, Wash is ordered to investigate the last known location of the Omega A.I.: Blood Gulch. When he arrives, he learns that all of the soldiers, with the exception of Sister, have been transferred, as their bases were rendered "obsolete", although Sarge is also present, having refused his reassignment orders. After a fruitless attempt at interrogating Sister, Wash questions Sarge, who shows him Caboose's reassignment orders as recorded by Lopez.
When he arrives at Caboose's new base at Outpost 28-A: Rat's Nest, he learns about Caboose's incredible stupidity the hard way. Shortly afterwards, Wash and Caboose manage to find Church at Outpost 48-A and persuade him to join them in hunting The Meta. After finding and re-activating Sheila at Valhalla, Washington's suspicions about The Meta are confirmed, but he is interrupted by a distress call from Delta, implying that South is under attack by The Meta. After a series of events leading up to South's death, Wash manages to track The Meta back to Zanzibar, only to have Sarge and the newly reformed Red Team show up and ruin their hopes of stopping The Meta. As a result, Wash manages to convince the Reds and Blues to work with him to stop The Meta.
After Wash assumes command of both teams, Church gives him a message that he received from Delta: "Memory is the key." Wash reveals that the message meant that the Alpha A.I. is the only thing that can stop The Meta, and that there is only one place where they can find it: Freelancer Command. After commandeering some vehicles at Valhalla, Wash, the Reds, and Blues sneak into Freelancer Command, where, Wash takes Church with him down into the A.I. Containment Facility where he begins to search the corridors. After some searching, Washington finally comes across the panel he was looking for, but instead of extracting the Alpha A.I. from it, he extracts his A.I.: Epsilon.
Church is furious that Wash lied to him, but Washington explains everything. He explains that all the other A.I. were never copied from the Alpha (because one cannot copy an A.I.), but instead fragments of it, created by torturing the Alpha until it began to split off parts of its personality in order to protect its sanity, which were then harvested for use. Finally, Washington provides Church with a jarring revelation - the reason why Church always agreed with everything Delta said, why he was assigned to Blood Gulch, why he can live without a body, and why he was unaffected when the Omega A.I. jumped into his head, is because Church himself, is the Alpha A.I.
Church refuses to accept Wash's explanation, and insists on leaving with the rest of the Blood Gulch crew despite Wash's appeal for help. Wash makes his way back down to a computer terminal in order to trigger Command's EMP, luring The Meta in behind him. The Counselor and the Director of Project Freelancer each plead with Wash not to go through with his plan, but when Wash refuses, they allow The Meta to attack him. When Wash is injured, Church appears and stalls The Meta long enough for Washington to activate the EMP, destroying the electronic facilities of Freelancer Command and The Meta's collection of A.I.
Imprisonment[]
Washington's fate is revealed in Catching Up, where it is shown that he survived the gunshot wound, but had been stripped of his Agent status and imprisoned in a UNSC Maximum Security Detention Facility for his actions in Reconstruction. Caboose contacted him, requesting help for himself and Donut, but Wash stated that assistance from him would be unlikely; however, when approached by the Prison Guard, he claimed that he needed to see "the Commander," stating ambiguously that he had found "the missing piece to his puzzle." The commander is revealed to be the Chairman, who in turn makes a deal with Wash: Wash promised that in exchange for his freedom, he'll find and return the Epsilon unit to the UNSC.
Pursuit of Epsilon[]
In Think You Know Someone, Washington soon arrived at Valhalla to find Donut, Lopez, and Simmons trying to escape in The Meta's Warthog. Wash orders The Meta to stand down before demanding the Epsilon unit from the terrified Reds. Deeming Lopez and Donut to be useless to him, Wash shoots them both and holds Simmons prisoner back at Blue Base. Revealing that he's working with The Meta, he then forces Simmons to make a call for a medic, and results in Doc responding to the call. When Doc arrives, he is quickly subdued and held prisoner alongside Simmons.
After receiving a call from Sarge, Wash forces Simmons to reply with an all-clear message, hoping to lure the rest of the Blood Gulch squad with Epsilon in tow. However, Sarge and Grif return and overtake Wash with an unexpected plan and in the process, incapacitate him. The Reds then rescue only Simmons and reunite with Epsilon, who followed them back to Valhalla, until Wash reappears alongside The Meta in pursuit of them. He is forced to detour, however, when Epsilon blocks his progress by causing a wall to collapse. Forced to abandon his pursuit, Wash and The Meta attempt to free Doc from the wall, but only succeed in tearing away Doc's wall fragment. The two then question Doc, who replies that Simmons "mentioned something about sand."
They then tracked down a Recovery Beacon to the dig-site, where Washington forced The Meta to dig until he found the source of the beacon: C.T.'s helmet, surprising Wash. After Wash and The Meta free Doc from the wall by blasting it, they encounters the Aliens. Doc convinces them to draw a map to Epsilon for them, but humorously, the map turns out to be an insult to humans, leading The Meta and Wash to open fire on the Aliens. Wash then tries to get Doc to check if one of the Aliens had survived the attack and ordered The Meta to find something they could use to help track Epsilon.
The Meta tosses out an empty storage unit and Washington orders The Meta to modify it into a capture unit. While The Meta works on the storage unit, Doc asks Wash if they have any way to track the Reds, such as following their footprints, or looking for broken tree branches. Wash informs Doc that they are in the desert, and calls him an idiot. As Doc walks away, Wash asks The Meta if they can track the Reds, with The Meta telling Wash they are in the desert. After modifying the unit, The Meta manages to find a faint trail, and the three prepare to move out. Wash then gets a beacon, and he, The Meta, and Doc leave for Epsilon.
Battle at Sidewinder[]
Upon arrival at a snowy Freelancer base, they find the body of Epsilon lying in the snow, but Washington is reluctant to approach. Doc suggests that they would possibly be expected to remain in position by their would-be assailant, to which Wash scoffs at, but is quickly proven true when a ring of mines detonates around them, sending the three flying. Wash is soon subdued by Tex, who demands the Director's location. Shocked that Tex is alive, Wash expresses confusion at her question, when suddenly The Meta attacks. Wash then regains his weapon and joins the brawl. As Tex escapes from a falling cliff she detonated, Wash and The Meta run to safety, barely escaping the fall.
After the fight, The Meta captures Tex inside the capture unit and uses it to obtain Epsilon, betraying Wash. Wash manages to save Epsilon, at the cost of his own safety. As The Meta gets ready to kill him, Wash is saved by a close rescue from the Reds and Blues. He then finds Tex trapped in the memory unit and begins a short conversation with Epsilon over Tex's past until The Meta returns for a fight. After an intense battle with The Meta, Wash is badly wounded and gives Sarge the Warthog tow cable, which he uses to defeat The Meta. Afterwards, Sarge tells Doc to go help the wounded Washington, expressing doubt that he will survive.
Joining the Blue Team[]
When UNSC Police forces arrive, the Blues help Washington evade arrest by faking his death and giving him Epsilon's armor, now with a yellow trim. When Wash asked why they were helping him, Caboose told him that they were returning past favors, while Tucker said it was because they were one guy short. Nonetheless, Wash thanks them.
Conflict With Carolina[]
As time passes, Carolina takes the Reds and Blues on a mission to rescue Epsilon at the UNSC Archives, where Wash informs Epsilon that he took his armor, his place on Blue Team, and even his name. After the group leave the facility with Epsilon in hand, they make a pit stop at a UNSC Wind Power Station, where Carolina expresses her regret over The Meta's rampage to Wash, as a result of it being caused by her A.I. Sigma. The two suddenly discover Tucker and Epsilon spying on them nearby, in which Carolina threatens them to get out. After sweeping out the facilty, Wash tells Carolina that he was unable to find anything new. As a result the two ex-Freelancers decide to locate a new target: C.T.
When the group arrive at the desert, Wash quickly directs Carolina to C.T.'s grave site. While there, Wash wonders why Carolina wanted to find her, in which she retells the events at the Longshore Shipyards, where C.T. was killed by Tex and that the body discovered by Wash and The Meta was in fact the Insurrectionist Leader. After Carolina takes the data pad containing the information on Project Freelancer, Wash plugs it into the computer of an Elephant, but the data file becomes corrupted. Frustrated, Carolina departs on her Mongoose to an Abandoned Island Fortress, in which Wash has everyone move inside the temple, before dark.
That night, Wash overlooks the desert on the roof of the temple and hears Caboose attempting to sneak up on him to voice the groups' concerns about Carolina. Wash tells Caboose to get back inside, but is caught by surprise when Caboose tells him he considers him a friend. Carolina returns with Epsilon and tells the group that they are moving to Outpost 17-B. Upon returning to Outpost 17-B, Wash and Carolina head to the Pelican, after a debate with the Reds about the possibility of an ambush due to the teams being wanted fugitives.
After scanning over the Pelican crash site, Wash informs Carolina about his findings: a dog tag and a couple of shell casings. Carolina, angry at the fact that they were unable to find anything useful, decides to leave Valhalla and orders Wash to tell the Reds and Blues that they will be moving out again. Wash points out that Valhalla is still their home and they won't be ready to leave, but Carolina stares him down and says she will see the mission completed regardless. Wash, clearly fed up with Carolina's attitude, then leaves to inform the others. As he goes to tell the Reds, he eavesdrops on a conversation they're having, listening to Sarge state that if they leave, things are going to get worse.
Wash and the others then gather in the Hologram Chamber, where Carolina and Epsilon discuss their plan to kill the Director. However, the Reds and Blues refuse to help and as a result, Carolina holds Tucker at gunpoint, forcing them to assist. Furious, Wash aims his pistol at Carolina's head, threatening to kill her if she tries to hurt his "friends." Epsilon then begins to blame the Reds and Blues for all the problems he had to deal with. Feeling betrayed, the Reds and Blues depart from the chamber, leaving only Washington, Carolina and Epsilon. Wash coldly tells Carolina that she needs to figure out the difference between her enemies and her friends before walking out of the room.
Rescue Mission[]
Sometime later, the Blues manage to take all of the Reds' equipment, and continue to torment the Reds, but none of the crew feels into it. When Wash questions what else do the Reds have, he becomes astounded when Grif reveals The Meta's Brute Shot to them. Doc soon reminds the Reds and Blues on how much they have changed since they first met. Following Doc's speech, the Reds and Blues decide to go help Epsilon and Carolina but Wash reminds them that the mission will be dangerous. After a brief speech from Sarge however, Wash agrees to help. Suddenly, a trio of UNSC Police Hornets surround the group and attempt to arrest them.
The Reds and Blues, however, steal the Hornets and fly off to Carolina and Epsilon's location. The group find Carolina being attacked by an army of robotic Tex drones. Washington helps Carolina to her feet and gives her his pistol. Afterwards, the Reds, Blues and Carolina follow suit and battle their formidable opponents but are soon overwhelmed. Wash tells Epsilon that he must find Tex in order to stop the drones, in which Epsilon does so. After Epsilon shuts down the drones, Wash reminds them that the Director must be dealt with, but Epsilon tells the group that he and Carolina must complete the next task alone. After Carolina and Epsilon confront the Director, they decide to relocate the Reds and Blues to a place where they can call home.
Chorus Civil War[]
Shipwrecked[]
However, on their way back home, the Reds and Blues crash land a pardoned ship in an unknown location. So as a result, Tucker, Caboose, and Washington settle at their new Blue base, where Wash creates a journal entry describing his experience at Project Freelancer and his transition meeting the Reds and Blues. However, he discovers the Reds using Blue team's tank on their own base. Frustrated, Wash stops them and explains that they must repair their communications tower before they run out of food. He and Caboose then return the tank back to Blue base, where Wash confronts Tucker about his insubordination.
Wash then has Tucker perform exercises, and later comforts a depressed Caboose. Soon afterwards, as Wash repairs the comm tower with Tucker's help, Tucker questions why they haven't been found yet, stating that the ship's GPS would have also informed command of their crash. Wash brings up his concern of something watching them and reluctantly agrees with Tucker. After they complete their repairs, the Reds arrive to offer help, where Lopez 2.0 successfully manages to complete the repairs, allowing the group to make contact with Donut. Wash and Sarge inform Donut of their situation and Donut agrees to rescue them.
Afterwards Caboose returns and introduces the group to his pet Freckles, frightening everyone. Soon after, Wash enters the ship to check the group's food rations, but instead ventures into another area of it. When he returns, he questions why Simmons is at Blue base, in which Tucker explains that the latter simply joined them. Wash scolds Tucker for this and the two get into a heated argument, until Grif and Sarge attack in their Warthog. Wash attempts to calm Sarge down, but only escalates his argument with Tucker. After Wash makes a sarcastic remark of making Caboose Blue Team leader, Freckles misunderstands this and believes that Wash was demoted and Caboose was promoted.
As things heat up, Donut, Lopez, and Doc soon arrive and end their commotion, stating that they were dropped off by the pilot. Realizing that Donut allowed the ship to leave the Reds and Blues attack them in anger. With Caboose now the mistaken leader, Wash, Tucker, and Simmons are forced to follow his ridiculous commands, in fear of Freckles killing them if they don't. Luckily, Wash manages to trick Caboose into having him enter the ship to "check for enemies". While inside, he is seen constructing something and makes an apology to Caboose. He returns to Blue base and finds Simmons having built an internet connection system, allowing both teams to communicate with one another via Basebook.
Battle at Crash Site Bravo[]
Afterwards, Wash confronts Tucker at the comm tower and tries to give him advice on fixing the radio, but the latter only insults him. Wash then admits that he was one of the worst Freelancers in his squad and has no choice but to assume a leadership position ever since Church and Carolina left, something he has never done before. He then tells Tucker that he can be a capable soldier if he tries and later apologizes to Caboose for being a poor friend in the latter's time of need. So, as a token of goodwill, Wash gives him a new helmet, resulting in Caboose returning the Captain position back to Wash. Suddenly, four white armored soldiers attack Blue base, forcing the Blues to eliminate them.
As the Reds and Blues regroup, they are confronted by both Felix and Locus. Locus asks the group to come with him, but they refuse and Wash orders Freckles to kill Locus. When Locus disappears, the group interrogate Felix, who explains that they have crash landed on the planet Chorus, whose society is undergoing a civil war between the New Republic and the Federal Army. Felix asks for the group's help against the Feds, but they decline. Nonetheless, Felix tells them to prepare for an attack. While the others fortify their bases, Wash questions how Locus has access to cloaking, in which Felix explains that the Feds have access to various pieces of advanced technology.
Soon afterwards, Wash dons into his original steel armor color scheme for the upcoming attack, when suddenly, both Lopez 2.0, while in control of C.C., and the Federal Army attack, forcing the group to engage. During the battle, both Donut and Lopez become hurt and downed. Locus then incapacitates both Wash and Sarge with a railgun, forcing the unharmed Reds and Blues to retreat with Felix into a tunnel. As Wash regains consciousness, he commands Freckles to "Shake!", prompting the latter to execute a powerful ground stomp that causes the tunnel roof to collapse and seal off, ensuring the rest of the group's survival. Wash is then knocked out by Locus and taken by the Feds, alongside Sarge, Lopez, and Donut.
Secrets Revealed[]
After the battle, Wash, Lopez, Sarge, and Donut are sent to F.A.C. Outpost 37, where they meet General Donald Doyle, who reveals that the Feds are not the enemy, and are fighting the New Republic for their previous acts of terrorism. Doyle then promises that he will allow them to leave Chorus if they help the Feds defeat the rebels and rescue their friends, which the group agree to. Locus then gives Wash a storage unit containing Freckles' "heart and mind", and the group are soon introduced to Dr. Grey, who treated Wash's injuries. Weeks later, Wash and the others prepare to rescue Tucker, Simmons, Grif, and Caboose, but unexpectedly run into them at the compound.
They tell each other the truth behind why the rebels and Feds are fighting one another, and Wash comes up with a plan to end the war by having Kimball and Doyle come to an understanding. Suddenly, the compound is attacked by Locus and a group of mercenaries, who force the Blood Gulch Crew to stand down. As Locus prepares to kill them, Felix arrives and betrays the group, revealing that he and Locus used them as a means to cause further conflict in the Chorus Civil War, all due to their superior wanting the planet free of it's inhabitants. Fortunately, Carolina emerges from hiding, disguised as a mercenary, and uses a Teleportation Cube to escape with the group.
Arriving at a secret Forest Base, Carolina and Epsilon explain that their ship was purposely crashed on Chorus by the Space Pirates, who are mass-producing advanced versions of the ship's Freelancer equipment. Soon after, Wash gives Caboose Freckles' storage unit, overjoying the latter, and the group soon discover a connection between the teleportation grenades and Grif's Suppressor. In order to know who supplied the grenades, the Blues and Carolina leave to search the other half of the ship at Crash Site Alpha, while the Reds search the ship's manifest at Crash Site Bravo. While at Alpha, the Blues and Carolina are attacked by Space Pirates, forcing them to teleport away.
However, when a Space Pirate who teleported back with them attempts to kill Caboose, Carolina rescues him, and the group restrain the mercenary. Afterwards, Wash tries to give Tucker advice on leadership, telling him that he must learn from his mistakes and trust his instincts. He then joins Carolina in interrogating the Space Pirate, Zachary Miller, and learns that they used a tractor beam to attract their ship towards the planet. Suddenly, more Space Pirates attack the forest base, where Wash realizes that the storage chip Locus gave him contained a tracking device. Due to this, he teleports the group to a fueling station and informs them of his discovery. After Epsilon removes the tracker, the group are contacted by Felix and Locus, who offer them a first-class trip off Chorus.
Distrustful of the two, the crew execute a sneak attack on the mercenaries at Radio Jammer Station 1C, where Wash engages in a one-on-one fight with Locus, who questions Wash on why he continues to fight for the Reds and Blues. Wash explains that he has changed and describes Locus as a coward for hiding behind his "soldier" ideology, prompting Locus to attack him. After Felix boasts the Pirates' plans to Tucker, the other Reds and Blues disable the radio jammer, allowing Epsilon to send Felix's recorded words to the Feds and Rebels at Armonia, who finally learn the secret behind the Pirates' involvement in the war. Because of this, Locus and Felix teleport away.
Going to War[]
After the Feds and Rebels form a truce, they thank the Blood Gulch Crew for their efforts, and together, learn the true identity of Control and leader of the Space Pirates: Chairman Malcom Hargrove. When the latter declares war on Chorus, the Blood Gulch Crew, Federal Army, and New Republic, accept. A month later, Washington takes charge in training the Rebels and Feds in combat and self-discipline, inside Armonia's training room. Later on, Dr. Grey, Carolina, Sarge, and the other Blues inform the group at Armonia of the activation of an alien temple, which destroyed all of Charon's hybrid weaponry.
With the pirates now at a disadvantage, the group devise a plan to overtake them, with Kimball leading Wash, the Reds and Chorus armies to attack the pirates at Crash Site Alpha while Grey, Carolina, and the Blues follow coordinates the temple emitted. Upon arriving at Alpha, the assault team engage the space pirates until enemy reinforcements are brought in via the Tartarus, forcing the squad to take refuge inside the shipwreck. Fortunately, Simmons devises a plan of escape by using the ship's engine to create a smokescreen.
In order to safely execute the plan, Wash and the Rebel lieutenants trick Locus into giving away his position and fire at him in order to cease his attacks. After the assault team release the smoke and make their escape, Wash contacts Locus and tells him that he is the real soldier while the latter is simply a killer. Upon returning to Armonia with the away team, who have "rescued" Doc, Wash stops a heated argument between Kimball and Doyle. He then tells the Blood Gulch Crew that they must get the two armies to trust in each other soon in order to beat Charon, though the crew note that it will take time for such to form.
Sometime after, the New Republic threatens to leave Armonia, forcing the Federal Army to set up a perimeter to prevent them from doing so. As a result, Wash warns the Reds and Blues that if they don't act soon, tensions between the armies are going to rise again. Much to Wash's surprise, the crew inform him of their plan to have Doc hold a counseling session with the army leaders. Unfortunately, the session quickly goes awry, as Kimball and Doyle argue once again, this time revealing their true thoughts to each other. Suddenly, the session comes to an abrupt end when Armonia becomes under attack by Space Pirates.
Charon's Final Assault[]
In order to survive the assault, Epsilon suggests eradicating the pirates by overloading the nuclear reactor in the center of the city, with Wash, Carolina, and Kimball being sent to overload it. However, after running into Sharkface, Carolina asks the latter to spare the two so she can fight him alone, which Sharkface agrees to. As Wash and Kimball proceed to the reactor, they are told that Doyle didn't get on the Pelican with the rest of the Reds and Blues like he was supposed to, but is instead on his way to the reactor, in order to keep the pirates in Armonia. Kimball and Wash try to tell Doyle to return with the others but he refuses.
After informing Carolina of this, the two soon find her and an injured Sharkface in the streets and proceed to quickly kill the latter. As the the Reds arrive to pick them up, Doyle ignites the reactor's core, selflessly sacrificing his life in addition to killing a majority of the Space Pirates. Still within the blast radius, Carolina uses her bubble shield to protect the Pelican. After escaping, Kimball and the crew regroup at Crash Site Bravo with the armies, who mourn the loss of Doyle. As the crew formulate a counterattack plan to stop Felix and Locus, Kimball delivers a speech to the Chorus armies that motivates them to fight as one.
While the Reds and Blues fight off the pirates at the Communication Temple with the Feds and Rebels, Wash and Carolina confront Felix and Locus at the Purge. After a long and brutal fight the Freelancers inform the two that they were simply stalling them and reveal that their base, Crash Site Alpha, has been taken over. Upon seeing the Tartarus being pulled in towards the Purge, due to the tractor beams being reactivated, the four take cover from the ship's destruction. Luckily, Wash and Carolina survive and leave for the Comm Temple to assist their comrades. After Wash and Carolina rejoin the others, the pirates attack using several Mantis.
Because of this, the Freelancers remain outside with the armies to destroy the robots while the Reds and Blues broadcast their message from within the temple's control room. Unfortunately, after Tucker informs Wash that Felix and Locus have reached the control room, Wash tells Tucker that he is unable to assist them but expresses his confidence that the crew will come out successful. After the Freelancers and Chorus armies destroy all the Mantis robots, the crew manage to defeat Felix and Locus, broadcast the message and reveal Hargrove's crimes across the galaxy. In response to this, the Chairman flies to Chorus and confronts the crew himself.