with more than ten seasons under its belt, red vs. blue weaves a complex tale of bitching and bickering across the past, present, and future. for the first time, analysts have been able to piece together the series of events that brought about this epic, decade-spanning conflict.
note: this relative timeline focuses on the most important moment of the red and blue war — when alpha arrived at blood gulch. information has been parsed from the destroyed case files in the freelancer offsite storage facility. not necessarily infallible.
BEFORE BLOOD GULCH (B.B.G.)
29 B.B.G. — 29 YEARS BEFORE BLOOD GULCH
agent carolina born.
23 B.B.G. — 23 YEARS BEFORE BLOOD GULCH
allison church dies in the great war.
17 B.B.G. — 17 YEARS BEFORE BLOOD GULCH
leonard church receives doctorate in ai theory.
7 B.B.G. — 7 YEARS BEFORE BLOOD GULCH
dr. leonard church's project freelancer is cleared for funding.
5 B.B.G. — 5 YEARS BEFORE BLOOD GULCH
project freelancer receives a single ai, designated alpha.
project freelancer attempts to find an ideal soldier to pair with alpha. fifty new recruits are selected and field-tested. not many survived.
BETA. the alpha spontaneously creates a standalone, sustainable by-product. the fragment, designated beta, is cleared for active duty under the codename agent texas.
dr. church applies for more ai units and is denied. he is told that ais are extremely valuable assets — each one in the field presents an incredible security risk.
4 B.B.G. — 4 YEARS BEFORE BLOOD GULCH
intel stolen by agents north and south points project freelancer to the sarcophagus.
inspired by the generation of beta and working with his project's counselor, dr. church devises a way to engineer fragments of alpha by reverse-engineering a personality disorder. all attempts fail.
two freelancer teams steal the sarcophagus, destroying part of a city in the process.
3 B.B.G. — 3 YEARS BEFORE BLOOD GULCH
the sarcophagus's alien contents are used to harvest delta.
agent carolina offers her ai to agent maine, who has lost the ability to speak.
unsc oversight subcommittee formed. malcolm hargrove named chairman after his predecessor is forced to resign in a political scandal instigated by an anonymous source.
project freelancer ramps up production of its ai units.
2 B.B.G. — 2 YEARS BEFORE BLOOD GULCH
ct defects from project freelancer.
agent washington is implanted with the epsilon ai. the ai attempts to kill itself in agent washington's mind, severely damaging his mental state.
THE BREAKOUT. agent texas leads an attack to free the alpha, who is so fragmented he no longer recognizes her. the mother of invention crashes on sidewinder in the fallout. agent maine uses these events to try and obtain new ai. he, carolina, and and texas all go mia.
unsc oversight subcommittee approves simulation outposts for project freelancer.
1 B.B.G. — 1 YEAR BEFORE BLOOD GULCH
the state of florida sinks into the ocean.
the gamma ai forcibly removes itself from agent wyoming and goes into hiding.
simulation outposts are built all over the galaxy.
agent york leaves project freelancer.
AFTER BLOOD GULCH (A.B.G.)
0 A.B.G. — THE YEAR OF ALPHA'S ARRIVAL AT BLOOD GULCH
alpha is moved to blood gulch under the name church. he is placed in the care of the jovial captain butch flowers, formerly agent florida of project freelancer.
the reds arrive at blood gulch, forcing a stalemate that will last for years. captain butch flowers dies of an aspirin overdose, leaving church to assume command.
red base is sent a kit to build an autonomous suit of armor (normally used to house standalone ais) to mask that blue base has been sent one for alpha.
church is killed by the rookie caboose.
freelancer texas arrives at blood gulch.
texas is killed by the red rookie donut. the omega ai goes missing.
agent washington is cleared for active duty and assigned to locate and acquire missing project freelancer assets under the new designation recovery one.
1 A.B.G. — 1 YEAR AFTER ALPHA ARRIVES AT BLOOD GULCH
medical officer dufresne arrives at blood gulch to assist both teams.
private tucker overhears a transmission between the reds and vic. command conscripts wyoming to assassinate tucker.
private tucker is impregnated with the first human-alien baby.
RECOVERY ONE.after york is killed in battle against wyoming, agent washington retrieves his ai, delta. an enemy later designated as the meta attacks north, south, and washington to collect ais. washington is betrayed and left for dead.
motivated by the experience with the sarcophagus, omega and wyoming kidnap tucker's alien baby, believing he holds enormous power. agent texas agrees to join them.
agent wyoming is killed, and agent texas and omega are once again mia.
THE GREAT WAR ENDS. troopers from blood gulch outpost are reassigned after the catastrophic end to their simulation.
private tucker and his son, junior, become ambassadors for human-alien relations.
2 A.B.G. — 2 YEARS AFTER ALPHA'S ARRIVAL AT BLOOD GULCH
a pelican crash-lands at outpost 17, valhalla.
the meta ransacks valhalla in search of texas and omega.
the unsc oversight subcommittee investigates dr. leonard church.
agent washington is once again cleared for active duty in order to hunt the meta. he makes contact with the reds and blues from blood gulch outpost.
agent south is killed. official reports state that she is another victim of the meta.
a soldier calling himself ct lays siege to an ancient alien temple.
the blues are deleted from command's database.
project freelancer's crimes are exposed by agent washington, who is imprisoned for aiding in the destruction of valuable unsc property.
the alpha is erased by an emp at at command.
dr. leonard church is brought to justice for war crimes by malcolm hargrove.
3 A.B.G. — 3 YEARS AFTER ALPHA'S ARRIVAL AT BLOOD GULCH
agent washington is cleared for active duty to hunt the epsilon ai, along with the meta.
RESURRECTION. caboose installs the failing epsilon in an ancient alien artifact. epsilon leads caboose to a remote facility, where he is reborn as church and creates another version of tex from his memories.
agent texas and epsilon infiltrate sidewinder, where both are retrieved by agent washington.
agent maine and agent washington are kia. the new mysterious leader of blue team reports that agent washington died heroically in battle.
the failing epsilon capture pod is logged into the unsc archives for storage.
the unsc receives strange reports from chorus, but ignores them due to the aftermath of recent freelancer events.
4 A.B.G. — 4 YEARS AFTER ALPHA'S ARRIVAL AT BLOOD GULCH
agent carolina tracks down the reds and blues.
5 A.B.G. — 5 YEARS AFTER ALPHA'S ARRIVAL AT BLOOD GULCH
agent carolina infiltrates the unsc archives.
the director returns to the freelancer offsite storage facility.
carolina leads an attack on the facility. the director takes all of its systems offline and erases all data before taking his own life.
CHORUS. contact is lost with the hand of merope somewhere near chorus.
private simmons creates basebook.
a ceasefire is called between the federal army of chorus and the new republic.
the unsc prison ship tartarus is boarded by space pirates.
alien weapons burn out on chorus and across the galaxy.
the staff of charon is spotted in chorus airspace.
NAME: david ████ KNOWN ALIASES: agent washington, wash, recovery one, prisoner 619-b COLOR: steel or cobalt, yellow trim WEAPON PROFICIENCY: battle rifle POSITION: freelancer-in-charge NOTABLE ATTRIBUTES: surviving, holding grudges, disposing of bodies, following beacons. BACKGROUND: agent washington is a former freelancer and recovery agent who helped bring down project freelancer after meeting up with the reds and blues. during his time with project freelancer, washington was implanted with the tortured ai epsilon. the ai tried to kill itself inside of washington's head, resulting in a psychotic break. when washington recovered, he possessed memories of all of the director's crimes, and a long list of scores to settle.
❝NOW IF YOU'LL EXCUSE ME I NEED TO GO BLOW UP THIS DEAD BODY.❞
DELTA. according to his psych profile in command's database, washington used to be a chronic bed wetter.
washington's history with the reds and blues is fraught with difficulty. at times he has ordered them around, beaten them to a pulp, shot them, and stolen their identities, before ultimately becoming part of the gang. his time in project freelancer led to the development of deep-seated trust issues and cynicism, but joining up with blue team has helped to warm wash's cold, cold heart (even if they do drive him nuts). the ex-freelancer now hopes to put his past behind him.
but the past is not always willing to go quietly.
❝HOW ABOUT, MINOR JUNIOR PRIVATE GRIF, NEGATIVE FIRST CLASS?❞
project freelancer audio log 03221a-g, 0907. psych evaluation of corporal david ████, prior to designation as agent washington.
COUNSELOR: ah, corporal ████. you are late. please have a seat. ████: sorry, sir.
(sounds of chair moving.)
████: i had a car thing. me and cars don't get along. COUNSELOR: how unfortunate for you, david. may i call you david? ████: sure . . . sir. do i call you sir? all i know is your code name. COUNSELOR: you may continue referring to me as counselor. ████: hmph. i'm not used to all these secrets. COUNSELOR: do secrets make you uncomfortable, david? ████: i just prefer transparency. i like to know what i'm getting into. COUNSELOR: well, if you are admitted into the project, then i am sure we will get to know one another very well. ████: aren't you the psych doctor? in that case, i hope we don't.
(nervous laughter.)
COUNSELOR: let's get started then, shall we?
(rustling papers.)
COUNSELOR: how are you, david? ████: is that a trick question? COUNSELOR: there are no trick questions.
(pause.)
████: i'm super.
(writing.)
████: you're writing down an awful lot there. COUNSELOR: just my observations. does this evaluation make you . . . anxious? ████: let's just say being psychoanalyzed doesn't top my list of hobbies. COUNSELOR: why would you say that is? ████: i don't like people trying to look around inside my head. COUNSELOR: what if a mission required it? ████: i said i don't like it, not that i won't do it. COUNSELOR: that is good, david. why do you want to join the project? ████: i've seen the status reports from the war. the lists of casualties. i can read between the lines. we're losing, aren't we? COUNSELOR: the unsc's official position — ████: i know the official position, counselor. is it true? COUNSELOR: i would prefer not to comment on speculation. ████: i speculate that you just answered my question for me. COUNSELOR: what if i told you there was a man, david? a man with an idea that might tip the balance of the great war back to humanity's side. ████: is that what this project freelancer thing is about? an idea? COUNSELOR: ensuring the survival of mankind in a harsh and hostile galaxy. enabling our soldiers to go to greater lengths than we ever thought possible. ████: and what do my feelings have to do with being a better soldier? COUNSELOR: let's just say a soldier's mind is of critical importance to project freelancer.
(a chair creaks.)
████: ok. i'm interested. COUNSELOR: tell me about your service record, david. ████: nothing you don't already know from my file. basic training in the leonis minoris system before . . . well, you know what happened there. bounced around to different systems. patrol duties, stuff like that.
(pause. ████ hesitates.)
COUNSELOR: and then the alien attack at your last post? ████: yeah. that. COUNSELOR: your file speaks of an incident. you had . . . a disagreement with the staff sergeant? ████: he wanted to send everyone to their deaths. i disagreed. COUNSELOR: you disobeyed orders? ████: i saved a platoon. COUNSELOR: you injured a commanding officer. ████: yeah, command thought that was the more important part of the story, too. COUNSELOR: would you say you still harbor strong feelings of resentment about this incident? ████: ok, that's got to be a trick question. yes. of course i do. COUNSELOR: thank you for your honesty, david. honesty is good. would you say you hold a grudge against this commanding officer? ████: grudge is one word for it. my mom used to tell her friends about the fights i had with my sisters. "that boy can hold a grudge better than any gossip i've ever known. he's got such a . . ." what did she call it? such a . . .
(snapping fingers.)
████: a long memory. look at that, you've got me talking about repressed memories now. COUNSELOR: that's interesting. thank you for sharing.
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RED VS. BLUE: THE ULTIMATE FAN GUIDE
TIMELINE
CAPS
CHARACTER DOSSIER
CAPS
TRANSCRIPTS ( WASHED HANDS )