Line #43 FanFic/ProjectFreelancerPhaseOneGenesis


1	A ''WebAnimation/RedVsBlue'' FanFic by multiple authors, collectively called the Freelancer Collaboration, found [[http://www.fanfiction.net/s/8935380/1/Phase-One-Genesis here]] at Website/FanFictionDotNet. This collaboration charts the beginning of Project Freelancer from the points of view of the Director, AcePilot Four Seven Niner, [[TheMedic Medic]] Killian Jay, and of course, the [[SuperSoldier Freelancers]] themselves. The story rotates between narrators that include canon characters and {{Original Character}}s as the agents train and begin going on missions against the Insurrectionists and Covenant from the ''Franchise/{{Halo}}'' canon as well as the simulation troopers. Alliances and rivalries build between the agents as they scramble for the top of the leader-board and attempt to chart the reason why they were here.
2
3	------
4	!!This work contains examples of:
5	* TheAce: Carolina tends to stay at the top of the leader-board for a reason.
6	* AcePilot: Four Seven Niner and her associate, Three Four Threer.
7	* ActionGirl: All the female Freelancers, as a matter of course. It comes with the job.
8	* AdaptationExpansion: As stated above, the Freelancer are shown fighting the Covenant as well as the Insurrectionists.
9	* AlternativeCharacterInterpretation - [[InUniverse In-universe]] example: as all the chapters take place from various points of view, it's common to see how different characters view the rest.
10	* AlwaysSomeoneBetter - The more competitive Freelancers view Carolina as this.
11	* AmazonChaser - York admires Carolina for her skill, but the ultimate might be Georgia, who inverts OneHeadTaller in his crush on South.
12	* BadassInDistress - During the first mission against the Insurrection.
13	* BewareTheSillyOnes:
14	** Cal and Wyoming are generally [[PungeonMaster Pungeon Masters]], but you don't want to catch them in a bad mood. Florida and Georgia are hard to take seriously, but carry explosives.
15	** The ultimate LethalJokeCharacter may be in the sequel, however: Utah was written as a joke and acts TheDitz of a DumbMuscle, emphasis on the muscle and determination. [[spoiler: His middle name, [[AnswersToTheNameofGod Jesus]], rhymes with his last.]]
16	* TheBerserker - Penn [[KickTheDog breaks a man in half]] because he can.
17	* BigBrotherInstinct - North is the poster boy for this trope, applying his protective tendencies not only towards his sister, but his whole team. Minnesota also becomes protective of Michigan when she's under stress, saying he grew up with a little sister. Virginia displays a big sister instinct towards Massa and West. Despite their status as only children, York and [[AMotherToHerMen Carolina]] show something similar when the team's in trouble.
18	* BigBrotherMentor - York is the most likely to take the gang out for drinks and encourage them to party, but he's that very rare [[NiceGuy nice]], [[OnlySaneMan sane]] guy who will listen to the others' problems and try to help them from the first batch of Freelancers.
19	* BigEater - Virginia knows that regular meals aren't guaranteed in her line of work, so when she gets one, she makes it a good one.
20	* TheBigGuy - Penn, Maine, and Alaska play this up in nearly every sense.
21	** GentleGiant - Utah isn't the [[WalkingTechbane most]] [[TheDitz graceful]], but is kind towards his fellow agents. Surprisingly, Maine can come off as a gruff version of this as well, to those on his good side.
22	* BlackAndGrayMorality: There are good people on both sides of the Insurrection vs. UNSC war, if both have members who are willing to take their good intentions to awful extremes or didn't have that great a set of moral codes to begin with... and then there are the ScaryDogmaticAliens of the Covenant.
23	* BlackAndNerdy: Seems to be a running theme between the Counselor, [[TheCracker Ark]], [[GadgeteerGenius Georgia]], and [[PlayfulHacker Nevada]]. Chances are that if a Freelancer's melanin count is higher than average, they can mess up your day with nothing but a datapad and wifi access.
24	* BlackmailIsSuchAnUglyWord - Wyoming is not part of a [[PsychoForHire hit team,]] he is on the precision removal unit.
25	* BloodKnight - Pennsylvania, primarily, but Alaska shows shades of this, as well.
26	* BodyDouble - The Insurrectionist leader General Allen pulls this.
27	* BunnyEarsLawyer: Alaska carries on long conversations with [[CompanionCube the ship]]. He also is a master at the JackBauerInterrogationTechnique. [[ThePollyanna Florida]] may not appear to take much seriously, but he is an effective fighter.
28	* CantCatchUp: How Virginia and Penn often feel in regards to Carolina.
29	* CodeName - All the Freelancers and pilots have them, and the only real names revealed so far in-story have been Butch Flowers, Leonard Church, and Reginald. Later chapters reveal [[spoiler: Darren, Jason Shaw, Hannah Steele, and Kimberly Britton, the lattermost last name added in the sequel. Phase Two also adds R. Cass, Jennie Rogers, Ramona Cassidy and Curt Bonomo to the list.]]
30	* ColdSniper - Wyoming and Virginia can both come off this way. Sota acts as this rather literally.
31	* ColdBloodedTorture - Alaksa's been on both ends of this, along with a few others.
32	* CloudCuckooLandersMinder - Ark gets adopted as the local nut's anchor of sanity pretty much upon landing. Jersey takes over in the sequel for Kent, especially.
33	* CombatMedic - Massa.
34	* CompanionCube - Alaska hears the ''[[CoolShip Mother of Invention]]'' talk to him. No one else does.
35	* DeadlyTrainingArea - The Sim Troopers are issued live rounds.
36	* DecoyGetaway - Allen makes use of this late in Phase One.
37	* DefeatMeansFriendship - For Alaska and Florida. Maybe.
38	* DisabilitySuperpower - New Jersey lost an arm in battle before joining the project. She now has a full-on battle-arm that can punch dents in armor, crush sidearms in its grasp, and even power her [[LuckilyMyShieldWillProtectMe Armor Ability.]]
39	* DrJerk - Killian can come across as this, but generally has his reasons, if you look at the patients...
40	* DrowningMySorrows - Cal and Florida during the beginning arc of Phase Two.
41	** ToAbsentFriends - when they at last straighten up enough to meet at a bar and discuss [[spoiler: Michigan's memory.]]
42	* DyingAsYourself - [[spoiler:Massa and Mich's]] real names are revealed during their death scenes.
43	* DysfunctionJunction: In the words of the Counselor: "Amongst the symptoms observed, I detected characteristics of post-traumatic stress, extreme narcissism, obsession and possible bipolarism. That was just Agent California, and he is one of the least worrying of the group."
44	** ItsPersonal - Florida, Ark, and Cal, in particular, are missing family members due to the Innies or Covenant. Not to mention Allison Church.
45	** DoomedHometown - Florida and Michigan have this on a planetary scale.
46	** WellDoneSonGuy - Even when she's on top, Carolina still pushes to eliminate any sign of weakness that the Director might see.
47	* EarlyBirdCameo - Georgia mentions a UNSC Helljumper who he used to build ramshackle prototype robots with at his last assignment... a one-shot reveals that the Director offered to transfer "S-Dog" in order to make up for stealing Georgia for Project Freelancer.
48	* EmptyChairMemorial - When the Freelancers get Grifball tickets in Phase Two, York buys sixteen. They only needed seven.
49	* EnemyMine - When faced with a sudden wave of [[spoiler: Charon]] "Insurrectionists" and ScaryDogmaticAliens aboard an abandoned station in the sequel, the Freelancers team up with [[spoiler: Ark's Crimson Sun]].
50	** Later, Virginia, Washington and Connecticut must ally with [[spoiler:Ark, Athena and Goliath]] in order to escape the [[spoiler:Soul of Tranquility's crash site and outrun the [[PrivateMilitaryContractors Charon security forces]]. Subverted when the Freelancers double-cross Ark and are shot down by his forces in turn.]]
51	* EnsembleCast - [[SwitchingPOV Each character gets a chapter focus]] (some in first, some in third,) per StoryArc, written by different authors.
52	** NonPOVProtagonist - Except the Counselor, and Four Seven Niner has only had one, so far. The only other MauveShirt to not really get his own chapters but keep showing up has been Three Four Threer.
53	* EpicBattleBoredom - When South and Virginia are presented with more mooks than they can easily clear to get to Harper, they tend to consider it more a chore than a serious problem.
54	* {{Epigraph}} - Every chapter starts with a famous quote or [[EncyclopediaExposita journal entry]] from the Project staff.
55	* EveryoneCanSeeIt - Even [[IRejectYourReality Penn]] has taken notice of the chemistry between York and Carolina.
56	* FallenPrincess - Hints about their past suggest that the Dakota twins grew up in an affluent family, but South rebelled and joined the military when it became clear that she was TheUnfavorite. Her brother, of course, followed in her wake.
57	* FeelNoPain - Maine.
58	* FictionalSport - York is a big fan of Grifball. Most of the other Freelancers of his wave have never heard of it.
59	* FriendlySniper - North is one of the top shots, and also one of the kindest.
60	* GenkiGirl - Nevada and West are very enthusiastic to join the project in the sequel... as well as everything else they do.
61	** {{Keet}} - Kent is Keetucky when he's playing with his toys, and Georgia can give him a run for his money for sheer energy.
62	* TheGuardsMustBeCrazy - The simulation troopers in the training missions are from the bottom of the UNSC barrel. They aren't very bright.
63	* GreatEscape- the Crimson Sun members pull one off during Phase Two, complete with a PrisonRiot.
64	* GuileHero - York's initial run-through of paint-training was one of the fastest timed. He offered to buy the simulation troopers a round for letting him take them all down without a struggle.
65	* [[GuestStarPartyMember Guest Star Collaborator]] - Martienne has only one chapter in Phase One, but it hits hard.
66	* GunsAkimbo - Alaska and Carolina are especially known for this; Alaska with a pair of [[{{BFG}} DMRs]], Carolina combining pistols with [[DanceBattler serious agility]] and GunKata.
67	* HeadDesk - Killian's reaction to the new additions to the team. ''thump''
68	* HeelFaceTurn - [[BlackAndGrayMorality Though there could]] [[GrayAndGrayMorality be some argument]] [[HazyFeelTurn that they were]] [[KickTheDog justified,]] certain Freelancers abandon the project well before Texas shows up and join up with some shifty characters.
69	* HeroicBSOD - Alaska, during the fight with the Covenant.
70	* IgnoredEpiphany - Ark gets called out several times, and begins to recognize some truth in it by the sequel. He doesn't change his behavior.
71	* ImaginaryLoveTriangle - Georgia CannotSpitItOut, South's a grade A {{Tsundere}} with her default mood set to "maim," and Ark [[IceQueen very rarely allows]] anything past his mask of DeadpanSnarker-y. When Ark saves South during a mission, Georgia suspects a SlapSlapKiss RescueRomance, though Ark assures him that nothing's been going on. Meanwhile, other members of the team are seeing HoYay between the two of them.
72	* ItsAllAboutMe - Penn shows hints of this until his wake-up call.
73	* LoopholeAbuse - The Freelancers' weapons are equipped with non-lethal lockdown ammo for most of their training sessions. This hasn't stopped Penn and Sota from finding some potentially (or actually) deadly workarounds.
74	* MakeItLookLikeAnAccident - Implied for [[spoiler: the destruction of Ark's DoomedHometown, by the UNSC]] as well as the deaths of [[spoiler: Georgia and Vosine and Utah's traumatic equipment failure]], stemming from the Director.
75	* ManipulativeBastard - The Director is a {{Chessmaster}}'s chessmaster, and often manipulates everyone from Penn to the Counselor - not too shabby of an emotional puppeteer himself - into doing what he needs done on sheer force of personality and [[BreakThemByTalking the right word in the right place.]]
76	* MaybeMagicMaybeMundane - The avatar of the ship that Alaska talks to is all in his head... except that one of his nurses bears [[NotSoImaginaryFriend a striking resemblance]]...
77	* TheMedic - [[DoctorJerk Dr. Killian Jay]] and [[CombatMedic Massa]].
78	* MorallyAmbiguousDoctorate - Dr. Church, full stop.
79	* {{Necromantic}}: Dr. Church building the Tex AI and Ark [[spoiler:trying to create an AI of Georgia]] both have shades of this.
80	* NeverFoundTheBody - until they do, the savvier agents know better than to count an enemy dead.
81	* NewMeat - While many of the Freelancers come from military backgrounds, the high stakes and [[OnlyKnownByTheirNickname lack of history]] means that they all go through this stage, especially the second batch of agents to join the team.
82	* NoKillLikeOverkill - Penn likes to have enough weapons on hand that even [[TortureTechnician Alaska]] is taken aback. And Penn's best weapons are [[GoodOldFisticuffs his own two hands.]]
83	* NoMedicationForMe - Al would rather remain of questionable sanity than give up on the idea of Moi.
84	* NoSocialSkills: [[SacrificedBasicSkillForAwesomeTraining Maine]] and Georgia come off this way in particular, but [[IRejectYourReality Penn]] is in no hurry to make friends, either.
85	* OCStandIn - Georgia, by canon, is a NoodleIncident that the more senior agents won't elaborate on. In the fic, his characterization stems from his inevitable LastWords: "[[LeeroyJenkins Hey,]] [[SouthernFriedPrivate y'all!]] [[DitzyGenius Watch]] [[GadgeteerGenius this.]]"
86	* TheOnlyOneAllowedToDefeatYou - Harper and Cal definitely give off this vibe. While there are several competing for the honor of breaking Penn, he has claimed dibs on taking down or killing Carolina, Maine, and Alaska.
87	* TheOtherDarrin - Certain characters have had a second writer do a chapter from their particular POV, due to time constraints.
88	* PityTheKidnapper - Wyoming is "held captive" by the Red Team during a simulation mission. They probably go through less stress after the other Freelancers arrive to [[PungeonMaster "knock-knock"]] them out.
89	* ThePollyanna - Florida maintains a front of cheery kindness, but has simply pushed the loss of his family to the back of his psyche.
90	* PungeonMaster - It's not so much that Cal and Wyoming have horrible senses of humor as that the HurricaneOfPuns and knock-knock jokes just keeps spinning between them.
91	* PrecisionFStrike - While many of the Freelancers swear as a matter of course, when [[TheHeart Butch]] [[ThePollyanna Flowers]] curses out loud, the rest of the agents take notice.
92	* TheQuietOne - Maine takes this almost to SilentBob levels.
93	* QuirkyMiniBossSquad - Harper and [[spoiler: Penn]] get these in the sequel.
94	* RealMenWearPink - Though Georgia was iffy about his secondary color at first and Arkansas is quick to clarify that his armor is [[TheEuropeanCarryAll coral]], Georgia has embraced the need to go "balls out if one wanted [[ButtMonkey anything resembling dignity]]."
95	* RedOniBlueOni: In reverse of their armor colors, Alaska acts as the blue [[IncrediblyLamePun ONI agent]] to the more cheerful and outgoing Florida and bloodthirsty Penn.
96	** [[HotBlooded Hotheaded]] South and NiceGuy North make a SiblingTeam with [[CainAndAbel this vibe]].
97	** [[GadgeteerGenius Georgia]] and [[HollywoodHacking Arkansas]] are [[{{Foil}}a matched pair of]] [[DisappearedDad fatherless]] FarmBoy roommates with an almost unhealthy love of [[StuffBlowingUp explosions]], [[MoreDakka guns]], and technology, but Georgia is [[LeeroyJenkins exuberantly reckless]], whereas Ark is more [[SugarAndIcePersonality reserved]] and [[WhatYouAreInTheDark sticks to his principles]].
98	** Room-mates [[CoolBigSis Massa]] and [[TheQuietOne Virginia]] are a less obvious version of this trope, but it still applies.
99	* RedShirtArmy: Just like canon, the whole purpose of the sim troopers is to serve as test subjects for either Freelancer abilities and equipment or various scenarios.
100	* RivalTurnedEvil - [[spoiler: Penn, for certain. [[KnightTemplar Ark's]] [[RoaringRampageOfRevenge motives]] [[WoobieDestroyerOfWorlds are slightly]] more sympathetic.]]
101	* RoaringRampageOfRevenge - a strong motivating factor for most of the Freelancers to survive Phase One, particularly Ark and Cal.
102	* SailorEarth - Massa, Virginia, Al, Penn, Cal, Sota, Ark, and Mich are all named after states that don't get more than a shoutout in "On Your Knees" at most by canon.
103	* ScarsAreForever - Cal sports a burn scar from an encounter with the man who [[YouKilledMyFather killed his brother.]]
104	* ShoutOut - A number of ''WebAnimation/RedVsBlue'' soundtrack lyrics get worked into the conversations, Florida's a fan of Music/JohnnyCash, Alaska [[Literature/TheLordOfTheRings arrives precisely when he means to]], Wyoming clears out [[Literature/DresdenFiles Dresden Street]], various ''Franchise/{{Halo}}'' alien species are discussed well before they appear, Dr. Church [[Literature/{{Discworld}} does not want to detain you,]] and Georgia [[LeeroyJenkins has chicken]]. He also mishears Al's CompanionCube as [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M1qxRZXrtz8 something]] from [[Theatre/{{Camelot}} a musical]]...
105	* SillyRabbitIdealismIsForKids - Alaska subscribes to this theory, whereas [[ThePollyanna his roommate Florida]] believes that cynicism is what will bring them down.
106	* SmallGirlBigGun - Michigan is the physically smallest of the Freelancers. She's a heavy weapons specialist.
107	* SparingThemTheDirtyWork - Played with: South is definitely willing to do what she can to protect her brother's idealism, but [[spoiler: Georgia thinks he's protecting Ark's ethics, when it's really Arkansas's stronger sense of right and wrong that drives him to becoming a KnightTemplar, in part to protect Georgia's boundless optimism.]]
108	* SplitPersonality - [[spoiler: Cal generally keeps his other side under control, but exposure to [[DepravedHomosexual Harper]] and the death of [[LoveInterest Mich]] have loosened that rein by the end of Phase One.]]
109	* SuperSoldier: The soldiers of Project Freelancer.
110	* StuffBlowingUp
111	* TakingTheBullet - Florida takes bodyguarding to extreme levels.
112	* TeamMom - Massa tries to be a CoolBigSis to the other agents.
113	** TeamDad - Florida, although his nature fits more to a [[GenderInvertedTrope gender-inverted]] Team Mom.
114	** Going the other way on gender inversion, Carolina doesn't have time for sparing your fragile little emotions, but she [[AMotherToHerMen leads by example]] and will certainly do all she can to protect her team.
115	* TeethClenchedTeamwork - Penn and Carolina, in particular, have a tendency to butt heads with other Freelancers.
116	** [[spoiler:Almost nobody on the Mother of Invention is happy when the Director has to ask [[GodzillaThreshold Ian Harper]] for help.]]
117	* TermsOfEndangerment - When [[DepravedHomosexual Harper]] starts calling California "Jay," it's not something Cal wanted to share.
118	* TragicBromance - With [[spoiler:Ark and Georgia.]]
119	* TraumaticHaircut - While a few of the girls go through ill-planned drunken makeovers and Connie is forced to DyeOrDie, Kentucky experiences an explosion that takes part of his face and scalp along with his hair.
120	* VitriolicBestBuds / FriendlyEnemy - Al and Penn tend towards this with anyone they even remotely consider a friend, especially each other. As Penn once put it: "It's weird. I hated this guy... I mean ''really'' hated this guy. But he always seemed to understand me... and vice versa. Anyone walking in would've seen me and Alaska, holding beers, conversing with each other... like we were best friends."
121	** Rado and Jersey adopt the former dynamic in the sequel, as well.
122	* WalkingTechbane - Utah tends to inadvertently destroy any delicate electronics in his vicinity, which hardly pleases his GadgeteerGenius roommate.
123	** CaptainCrash - Kent is very specialized in what he unintentionally breaks: any car he touches is [[EveryCarIsAPinto going down in flames]].
124	* WarriorTherapist - Florida can happily dispense life wisdom or asskickings. Sometimes he gives out both. Carolina and [[SherlockScan Alaska]] can also figure out a good deal about their opponents by watching them fight, but tend to use it more to break brains as well as heads.
125	* WeaponBasedCharacterization- While most of the Freelancers are trained in various weapons, many of the agents stray towards specific loadouts.
126	** [[ColdSniper Wyoming]] favors a sniper rifle so heavily that when forced to wield an SMG, he actually dreads the prospect of firing it.
127	** In one Scene, we see Virginia expertly shooting clays in the training room [[TheStraightAndArrowPath with a recurve bow.]] Sadly, we have yet to see this talent used in battle.
128	** Kentucky can and will complain at anyone who will listen is he is forced to fight with anything other than [[ThrowDownTheBomblet grenades,]] [[GrenadeLauncher a gun that shoots grenades,]] [[TrickBomb a bag of his custom grenades,]] [[StuffBlowingUp or anything that out-ka-booms grenades in general.]]
129	** While Pennsylvania carries plentiful high-grade weaponry, by far his greatest weapons are his [[BareFistedMonk own two hands,]] Which are only rivaled in effectiveness by his [[TheBerserker unforgiving rage.]]
130	* WeUsedToBeFriends - [[spoiler: Cal and Harper, long before Cal joined up, were even more. When Arkansas and Penn leave the project, Georgia is devastated as much by the fact that Ark would do something like that as by Michigan's murder itself.]]
131	* TheMole - [[spoiler: Nevada in the Crimson Sun.]]
132	* ToughLeaderFacade - Carolina has had to be the best and toughest for most of her life. She's not good at showing anything but her IronLady shell, even when she's nervous and with people who would bond with her.
133	* WorldOfSnark - Just about everybody gets a few lines.
134	* YourTerroristsAreOurFreedomFighters: The Insurrection has its fair share of psychopaths, but it also has [[WideEyedIdealist young kids]] joining up to stand up against UNSC war crimes.

Context FanFic / ProjectFreelancerPhaseOneGenesis