I really want Tucker to be friends with Thel'Vadam and Rtas'Vadum.
But I think itād be really fun if Thel saw the Project Freelancer Faux-Spartan armor as a hereditary thing. My headcannon is that Sangheili design their armor after their clan or family and blue team unwittingly followed this tradition when making Juniorās armor with Tucker (and Docās) paint/scrap so as far as the Arbiter knows Tucker is the immediate family of a spartan or a spartan-in-training and has continued the family-armor-aesthetic with his own sangheili son.
Anyway, Thel knows that Spartans are rare and few in number so Tucker must be part of this prized warrior pedigree if heās wearing the unmistakably Spartan armor, right? But whoās kin could he be? Those that Thel knows are either old or part of the newer generations, but in the Sangheili tradition armor color is important to denote bloodlines with more respected family members in darker, richer colors and younger ones in lighter, brighter colors. Tucker is bright as fuck blue-ish green! And heās in solid color, no accents or anything so maybe Tuckerās only interested in claiming relation to his green family. Who is the only Spartan who wears dark green armor without accents? Who is old enough to possibly be an uncle if not his father?
Master Chief. John-117. SIERRA MIST OF DEATH HIMSELF. And Thel has stated in canon that Chief is his friend and ally. So when Tucker shows up on Sangheilios to be an ambassador and learn about his sonās people Thel just speculates that this Little Spartan (Tuckerās 5'10" in my headcannon which is short for a Spartan as Chief is canonically 6'7"-6'8" out of armor) is related to his friend in some way and should be treated well. But he mentions it in passing to Rtas'Vadum and maybe some others and it turns out the Sangheili are lousy gossips! If it isnāt classified itās fair game.
And then Tuckerās being avoided/catered to because Old Ones help them if the Demon finds out his kin has been mistreated while visiting their planet. Peace with the humans is a fragile thing!
Tucker didnāt even want to be an ambassador! He just wanted to learn the language and culture for his son because heās trying to be a good dad. The rumor took off though, and now the Demonās kin is here- Little Demon and Little Demon the Second Coming of Lavernius! And then the warriors all want Junior to like their clans so when heās older he petitions for membership because who DOESNāT want the infamous Demonās bloodline to merge with theirs?! So Junior gets an army of friends his age as the adults push their offspring into potentially beneficial bonds but its okay because the kids are actually nice and Juniorās cool and his dadās sword is cool and he knows the Arbiter and Rtas and the Swords of Sangheilios and heās got the best stories about silly warrior humans.
When the UNSC gets word, oh hey we can totally use this to better interspecies relations! Wham bam thank you Ambassador Tucker. Which only adds to the problem as he has Rank and Title so if he is the Demonās kin well now heās coming into his own! The human Master Chief and the Arbiter are friends so of course the Demon would entrust his family with securing the peace.
Thel learns the truth from Tucker who is tired of this wishy-washy too-in-my-face and then not-helping-me-at-all behavior the sangheili keep switching between due to respect and fear for a man who Tucker doesnāt know and isnāt even related to. But itās gotten out of hand so they need Tucker to just go with it.
As an apology, Thel helps him learn the language and how to use his key-sword while teaching him the history about the ancient Sangheili. Rtas shows up one day while theyāre training and no Arbiter the bet way to kill a Brute in tight quarters is like THIS- and soon enough the Swords of Sangeilios, warriors hand-picked by the Arbiter, are putting Tucker through his paces. BAMF!Competent!Tucker is best Tucker.
Then they learn that the Covenant is investigating a temple in the desert supposedly built by the ancients which means Tuckerās sword can probably access it so then send him and a mixed squad of humans and sangheili. They die getting Tucker into the Temple to protect it and he manages to call the nearest Red base where Donut is so he joins him and later goes looking for help and we all know the rest.
On the Hand of Merope Tucker calls Rtas to catch him up but also inform the sangheili embassy of his impending arrival but holy shit the ship crashed. Later on Chorus, Rtas personally comes looking for Tucker only to find out his mentee/annoying friend has been stabbed and betrayed but uncovered a conspiracy and who else but the Demonās kin would be put through such a trial (maybe he knows the truth but still likes to tease Tucker about it) and come out alive. Tucker regains consciousness enough to ask for the Swordās help in liberating Chorus and of course the sangheili leap at the opportunity.The beam thatās been pulling down ships doesnāt target sangheili-built ships so Rtas and his men bypass it repeatedly in order to bring in troops and weapons and food. Damn thisāll look good for interspecies relations! and theyāll reclaim ancient sangheili ruins as well so win-win. Rtas struggles to speak english due to his severed mandibles so Tuckerās practically glued to his side translating sangheili like a pro. But then the warriors see that Tuckerās got a bunch of adolescent humans wearing his color on their armor so the Little Demon has been protecting the clan younglings and thats why he not yet returned! And of course this means that Tuckerās team must all be related to the Demon too, and more sangheili come and eventually thereās so many that individual members of Tuckerās āfamilyā have eight foot tall alien guards following them around (mostly protecting them from Jensenās driving). If Palomo thought Tucker was cool before you need a new word for the kind of admiration he feels for the captain now.
Carolina doesnāt like the Elites and certainly doesnāt trust them but haha, the only adult human female in Tuckerās colors must be his mate or kin and they say that she has nothing to worry about theyāll protect her hatchlings with their lives and they mean it to appease her but it just makes her angry and she chases Tucker down because she thinks heās spreading rumors about them being together. Heās not because he likes his blood to stay inside of his body and has to spend a whole week explaining sangheili armor color family relations. She doesnāt end up hating it all that much because being mistaken for Tuckerās family/wife means that the sangheili obey her commands second only to Rtas, like Tucker. She does hate being called ābrood-motherā and the constant updates on the state of her and Tuckerās āhatchlingsā- and does she approve of Palomoās intended female from the red clans?- but the sangheili presence means that the army is running like a proper military outfit so she tolerates it. (she does like that the closest english translation of ābrood-motherā is āMatriarchā so the english speaking aliens call her Matriarch Carolina). Epsilon fears she will go mad with power. The sangheili think Tucker has good instincts choosing the strongest, smartest, deadliest female for his mate and by the Old Ones she must be fertile for Tuckerās brood is plentiful and strong. And if the younglings are weak it is only because Matriarch Carolina is so strong her offspring can afford to be weak. What a luxury. And if they try to sell her up to Kimball because they can smell the mutual interest and think sheās just nervous and needs the help- which she doesnt but okay- then they are more than happy in securing the Demon clan another powerful female.
With the sangheili there in force, the army finds the second key-sword which is supposed to go to Wash because he has knife/blade experience but Palomo grabs it on accident and oh it must be a sign that the best of Tuckerās brood is a holder of the key! Rtas laughs in Tuckerās face. But this gets some of them to try and wing-man Palomo to Jensen because heās Meant for Greatness and aaaahhhhhh its adorable. Eight foot saurian aliens delivering flowers (and fresh-meat) to Red Team Patriarch Colonel Sarge (its difficult to tell the different red shades apart and Simmons isnāt exactly authoritive) for Jensen, and listening to Palomoās bad poetry and giving advice like you should emphasize her strong legs and uniquely dappled skin and her metal fangs! (sheās faster than him, freckles, and braces respectively). They especially like her metal fangs- maybe their hatchlings will get them!
The army chases Charon forces off planet and we get the epic sword fight between Tucker and Felix that we deserved, and the Swords of Sangheilios put the fear of god in Locus for daring challenge Matriarch Carolina. When Hargrove arrives the Swords and RedsandBlues fight his Mantis mechs and storm the Staff of Charon and Tucker doesnāt need a fancy suit in order to be awesome. They arrest him and finally lay ALL of Project Freelancerās loose ends to rest.
Tucker takes Blue Team and Palomo to sangheilios and reunites with Junior and Junior tells him about teaching his friends how to play basketball and is it true youāre a hero dad? and its great.
BAMF!Competent!GoodDad!Tucker for the all the money.
uuhh cant you tell this got away from me? i love tuckington but i think i would make this gen.
