Chapter 1
A room. A simple room. No windows, no doors- just four walls, a roof, & a classroom desk strategically placed in the exact center of the room. This simple room is where everything began to unravel like a ball of yarn. A man stepped in through a secret passage outfitted in a full suit of purple military grade body armor & set in the lone desk in the simple room.
He didn't speak, he only waited in silence, never moving a muscle as if he'd been frozen in time. A voice suddenly engulfed the room through an intercom, but the man still didn't flinch. "Hello. My name is Surge. Can you tell me your name?" The voice kindly asked.
The man in purple replied, "My name is Dalton Arnold Johnson. I-"
The voice interrupted him with a slightly angered tone, "No. That isn't your name. Think harder." The voice asked again, "what us your name?" The man glared through the visor of his helmet confused.
"My name is Dalton," he told the voice again, " I don't understand how it isn't."
The voice sighed. "You're the first agent of Project S.T.A.T.E.S.. Designated as Delaware. You're to follow General Sanderson's orders until you, along with the other agents, are shipped out. Do you understand? Now, what is your name?"
Something changed inside Dalton's head. "My name is Delaware."
"That is correct. Congratulations, you've been accepted into the project. Expect your training to begin promptly at seven in the morning. There you will meet the other agents. But before you're dismissed, tell me everything you think you know & I will correct everything that is wrong."
"Test subject 1: Delaware, ready for final authorization."
"Authorization approved." General said.
"Test subject 2: Pennsylvania, ready for final authorization."
"Authorization approved. Surge, when will subjects three,four, & five be ready?" Sanderson asked.
"They will be ready in approximately four to five days, sir.
" Four to five days?! Surge, we don't have time for waiting." Sanderson said angrily slamming his fists on the keyboard.
"I'm sorry, sir. My generators are running at their normal safe speeds as we speak." Surge replied.
"Surge, put the generators at full capacity."
"But sir-"
"That is an order, Surge." Sanderson interrupted.
"Generators are running at full capacity."
"Good. Now how long until three, four & five are ready?" Sanderson asked again.
"Approximately ten minutes to an hour." Surge answered.
"Perfect." Sanderson said as he left Surge's room & went yo his office.
"Sir, Delaware & Pennsylvania are ready to see you." Surge said over the intercom. "Test subjects three four & five are ready for final authorization as well."
"When the others are ready send all five of them in together." Sanderson replied.
"Yes sir." Surge said logging off. About ten minutes later Surge came back over the intercom. "They're all ready for you now, sir."
"Send them in please."
Delaware, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Georgia, & Connecticut walked into Sanderson's office soon after. Delaware was the first to speak.
"Sanderson, I mean General, we can do anything you need. We're here to serve." He said with a hand salute.
"Kiss-ass..." Jersey muttered.
"Hey, leave him alone. He isn't bothering you." Georgia said getting in Jersey's face.
"Sanderson, Massachusetts has failed." Surge said interrupting Georgia & Jersey's confrontation.
Sanderson stood up. "Failed? How did he fail?" He asked confused.
"I tried to to tell you when you order me to out my generators at full capacity of the consequences." Surge answered.
"Will this occur often?" Sanderson asked.
"Sir,its a random thing. It can't be predicted. Maryland is ready for final authorization."
"Authorization approved. Delaware, Jersey, Georgia, you'll be accompanied by Maryland. You four make up the hand to hand combat squad. Connecticut, you'll be part of the back up squad with Pennsylvania."
What does back up do?" Connecticut asked.
"You stay here & get sent out if another squad needs help." Sanderson answered.
"So backup is just the ones that aren't good enough to be a part of an actual squad." Jersey said.
"I'm getting tired of you already Jersey. Sanderson, can we go to the arena? Jersey and I need to go test it out." Georgia said barely holding back her anger.
"Hot headed girl she is." Sanderson thought to himself. "Follow me." He said, walking out the our the door & down the hall. Georgia & the others followed Sanderson until they arrived at the arena. "Take the elevator down." Sanderson said, pressing a button that opened the elevator door. Georgia & Jersey stepped in and were taken down to the arena floor.
"Alright you two, when the bell rings, you may begin. Take a moment to prepare." Sanderson announced through the arena intercom.
Jersey raised his hands over his head & got into his fighting stance while Georgia only stood there. "You better be glad your armor is red Jersey. That way the blood won't be shown after I'm done with you." Georgia said. The bell rang & Georgia still didn't move.
"What the hell is she doing?" Delaware asked not understanding why she hadn't gotten ready yet. Jersey charged towards her & right as he got within arm's length of her, she moved over making Jersey miss. She turned around, kicking his left leg in, making him fall to the ground. Jersey got back up & tried hitting her again, but this time she grabbed his fist & forced him down on his knees.
Georgia, okay. Okay. Stop please! I'll behave." Jersey pleaded in pain.
"Shut up." Georgia kicked him back to the ground, denting his armor.
"You scratched my paint you bitch!" Jersey yelled.
"Sanderson you have to stop her. She's going to kill him!"
"Penn, let me handle this." Sanderson told her, ignoring her plea. Georgia grabbed him by his right arm& slung him into the wall.
"Georgia. Please. Stop." Jersey pleaded as he stood up from the impact of the wall. "What's wrong with you Georgia? You've got dome serious anger issues."
"There isn't anything wrong with ms. I just hate people like you." Georgia grabbed his helmet and slammed him into the wall again. The bell tang shortly after.
"That's enough. We don't need anyone to die down there." Sanderson announced through the intercom. Georgia came back up with the others while Jersey laid flat on the floor.
"I think you might've spoken too soon, sir." Delaware said.
"Just give him a minute." Sanderson replied. The five watched Jersey's body until finally he stood up, limping to the elevator and coming to the others. He took off his helmet & made his way up to Georgia.
"Good job out there. Hope you enjoyed it." He said.
"Yeah." Georgia replied. She helped make his way to the medical room for treatment.
"Wants going to happen to him?" Connecticut asked.
"Surge'll hook him up to a machine& inject a healing serum into his bloodstream to allow him to heal faster. Why Do you ask Connecticut?"
"Oh, just wondering." She responded.
"Sanderson, South Carolina has failed but Maryland is ready to see you. New Hampshire & Virginia are both ready for final authorization as well."
"Send Maryland to my office immediately. And as for the other two, authorization is approved." Sanderson said. "Everyone come with me. Except you two." Sanderson said pointing to Penn and Connecticut. "You're both dismissed. Delaware & Georgia followed Sanderson back to his office. "You two are about yo met your new partner."
"You've already replaced Jersey, sir?" Georgia asked astonished.
"Why no, of course not. Jersey is still in your squad, bit Maryland is the fourth &/final addition to your team. Sanderson explained. Shortly after Sanderson's brief explanation, Maryland arrived.
"That's some bright armor, Maryland." Georgia said, shielding her eyes.
"Its lime green." He replied shrugging.
"Maryland, these are your partners, Delaware in the purple & Georgia in the violet.
" I thought I was assigned as the fourth member?"
"That's correct. Jersey is in the med room." Sanderson replied. "We had a little fight between Georgia & Jersey earlier."
"When do we get our weapons?" Delaware asked.
"As the hand to hand squad, you primarily use physical attacks, but you do get a few things to help out along the way." Sanderson said, getting up & walking into a nearby room. He came back a few minutes later with the equipment. "You each get assigned three flash bangs, two decoy grenades, a combat knife, & a .45 caliber semiautomatic pistol."
Looking at all the equipment, Georgia asked, "where do we keep all this stuff?"
"The knife goes in the slot on your right leg just below your knee. The pistol will magnetize to the armor on your hip & the flash bangs & decoys will do the same." Sanderson explained as he handed out the supplies.
"What about ammo?" Maryland brought up.
"You already have it." Sanderson said quickly.
"I don't really understand that one, sir." Maryland said.
"Do you see where your wrists are? Each of them has an ammo clip. There is one on each hip & both your ankles. Just press the button & it will eject enough for you to grab it swiftly in the heat of battle. Before you bombard me with anymore questions, the buttons are located at the far end where it begins to slope down into the rest of your armor. You only have seven clips, each holding eight bullets each. Don't waste your ammo. As soon as Jersey is healed you will all be assigned on your first mission to outpost Alpha. For now, you're all dismissed."
"Sanderson, New Hampshire & Virginia are ready." Surge said on the intercom.
"Good. Send them in." Sanderson replied. The two agents walked in soon after.
"Hello, sir. Yo wanted to see us?" New Hampshire asked.
"Why yes, yes I did, Hampshire. You will be accompanying Penn & Connecticut in the backup squad. Virginia, you will leading the support gunner squad." Sanderson said.
"Sir, mind explaining all this shit on my helmet screen?" Virginia asker in an annoyed tone.
"Ah. That's right Virginia. I had forgotten that you have the bronze armor. Well you see, you're randomly selected for our new armor test. Each armor set has slightly better abilities going from bronze, to silver, gold, titanium, & finally platinum. Since you have the bronze edition, your weapons all sync to your helmet, telling you how many rounds are in your current clip. It also has a healing chip that allows you to heal 10% faster than the average human." Sanderson explained.
"How do I sync a weapon?" Virginia asked.
"See the line wires running from your palm all the way up to your helmet?" Sanderson asked demonstrating with his own hands. Virginia looked down at the lines. "You'll notice Hampshire doesn't have those lines. The two agents exchanged glances at each other's armor.
"Any weapon you pick up, as long as it in your palms, will automatically sync itself to your helmet. The healing chip is always on though. It can only be turned off by destroying it." Sanderson explained further. Surge came back over the intercom.
"New York is ready for final authorization."
"Approved." He said. "I'd you don't have any more questions, you two are dismissed." They both left immediately.
"New York is ready to see you sir." Surge announced.
"Surge I just approved his final authorization moments ago. How is that possible?"
"He's ready for you." Surge repeated. Sanderson sighed and told surge to send him in.
York walked in shortly after. "What was it you wanted from me, sir?" He asked.
"Nothing. I just wanted to we your navy blue armor. You're dismissed." Sanderson replied.
"Um... Okay..." York said, turning & walking back out. As York walked out, Jersey stepped in.
"What are you doing in here, Jersey? You should be in the med room with Surge."
"No sir, I'm fully recovered & back to standard protocol."
"That's great news. You'll be going to outpost Alpha shortly with Delaware, Georgia, & Maryland. While I'm thinking about it, here's your equipment." Sanderson said.
"Surge, get me the hand to hand squad." Sanderson ordered.
"Yes sir." Surge replied. The three soldiers came in to Sanderson's office.
"As you three already know, you're going to outpost Alpha. You should also know that jersey here has made a full recovery & you, Georgia, as the leader, you're responsible for getting him up to date on everything as of yet." Sanderson said. A few minutes later, Georgia had finished her explanation & Sanderson continued.
"You're going to outpost Alpha because there is a bandit camp set up there. Your job is to eradicate them all. No mercy."
"How do we get there?" Delaware asked.
"We're teleporting there and back." Maryland answered to his squad's surprise.
"How'd you know that?" They all three asked.
"Maryland is going to be setting up the teleporter for your leave." Sanderson answered. "Are you all ready?"
"Yes sir!" They replied with enthusiasm.
"Step onto the pads & I'll beam you up." Sanderson said. They each stood on the pads and were teleported to outpost Alpha. "Georgia, I've synced your helmets so that I can communicate with you. The room you're currently in is clear, but the room ahead shows four targets. The majority seem to be patrolling the perimeter on the outside so there's not much to worry about. Go in, kill them, & proceed with your objective."
The four soldiers prepped at the door. "All right. I'll toss a flash bang in & then we go in and kill them. Remember, we don't want to use our guns u less necessary." Georgia said as she clicked a button on the wall that made the door slide open. She quickly tossed the flash bang in and pressed the button again, closing it. When Georgia had counted to three, they reopened the door and rushed in. The four bandits had dropped their guns & were dazed & confused. They didn't have much armor on. It was mostly only generic chest plate armor. Georgia walked up to one nearest her, grabbing him by the head slamming it into her knee plate, crushing his skull, killing him instantly.
Delaware and Jersey had snapped their targets necks & Maryland was finishing his off with a punch to the chest that broke a few ribs & had pierced the bandit's heart. He fell to the ground coughing up blood & died.
"Okay, Georgia. There are thirteen bandits patrolling the perimeter." Sanderson said as the approached the exit.
"Let's split up & come from both ends. Maryland, you're with me. Delaware, Jersey, you two go left." They split & continued their missions.
"Maryland, there's 3 around the corner. Two are facing away, but the other one will see us if we come around. We can wait for him to turn or go now." Georgia announced to her partner.
"Georgia. You're the leader. Its not my place to choose."
"And a good leader listened to their partner's opinion." She bounced back. Maryland sighed.
"Let's go. We need to hurry & regroup." He told her.
"You called it." She replied as she rounded the corner and charged at the three bandits. Georgia jumped & kicked the one facing them in the chest making him launch backwards into one of the other bandits. Maryland kicked the other bandit's leg in and Georgia threw him into the wall with the other two.
"Eight left. Keep up the good work everyone." Sanderson said approving their performance so far.
"Shit! The alarm!" Georgia said with a grunt as she heard it sound off.
"Its only eight bandits. Its not an army Georgia." Maryland told her.
"Go get the others Maryland." Georgia ordered. Maryland quickly ran back around to catch up with Delaware & Jersey.
"Hey! Let's go. Georgia needs us to regroup!" Maryland said as they all raced back to Georgia's position. Georgia had shot two of the bandits with her pistol already.
"About time!" Georgia said, squaring behind a small cement wall for cover.
"We've been gone for like two minutes." Maryland replied.
"Just Kill them! It doesn't matter!" She yelled.
"Four left." Sanderson announced as Georgia killed two more.
"Maryland, go get the teleporter ready." Georgia ordered.
Maryland snuck back inside making sure not to let anyone see him. Delaware shot one of the bandits in the head.
"Only three left. Pick your target & shoot." Georgia said.
"I got the far left." Delaware said.
"I got the far right." Georgia added.
"Then that means I've got you Georgia!" Jersey said as he pulled his pistol out and aimed it at Georgia's head.
"Jersey you've got until three to put it down." Georgia warned.
Jersey not caring quickly replied, "three". The three bandits were approaching fast. As this event unfolded, Delaware took out the final three bandits.
" Jersey , I will shoot you! Lower your weapon! That's an order!" Georgia said raising her pistol to Jersey's head.
"I don't take orders from you, Georgia. I take my orders from someone more important & I was instructed to kill you."
"Who do you work for?!" Georgia asked, growing tired of this.
"Why does it matter? You're all going to die soon anyway." Then, as soon as Jersey had finished, two shots were fired. Jersey fell to his knees & collapsed to the ground, blood pouring from his helmet visor.
"Teleporter's ready." Maryland said, his pistol still pulled out, he barrel smoking. Georgia & Delaware came up to him.
"How'd you know which one to shoot?" Delaware asked.
"I had my suspicions & when I came back a few moments ago, I saw the whole thing."
The three went to the teleporters & returned to Sanderson's office. Sanderson immediately noticed Jersey's absence.
"Where's Jersey?" He asked curiously.
"He didn't make it." Georgia answered with an aggravated tone.
Sanderson took a deep breath. "What happened?"
"He pulled his gun on me. Said he was taking orders from someone more important. He didn't say who & then Maryland shot him in the head.
" just so yknow, I helped. I killed the last three bandits." Delaware added.
"What about his body? What did you do with it?" Sanderson asked. "And please don't tell me you just left it there."
"Considering we were never informed on what to do in this situation, its not our fault we left his disgraceful body there to rot." Georgia replied.
"Well, you're going back. Find his armor & bring it back." Sanderson pointed to the teleporter.
Surge came on the intercom. " Vermont & Kentucky failed, but North Carolina, Rhode Island, & Tennessee are ready for you."
"Send them in, Surge." Sanderson ordered. The hand to hand squad left his office just before the others stepped inside Sanderson's office.
"You three are going to be part of my second hand to hand combat squad along with Ohio, whom should be here very soon. Tennessee can you stay here awhile longer? I need to talk to you personally." Sanderson said.
"Sure. I don't have anything to do." Tennessee replied.
"Rhode, Carolina, you're dismissed." Sanderson said. The two left, leaving Sanderson alone with Tennessee.
"You're silver armor is similar to Virginia's, but your healing chip is 20% faster than the average humans. You've also been equipped with an enhancer chip. Yours is programmed with superhuman speed."
"How do I use it?" He asked.
"Your armor is directly linked to your brain, just think about activating it & it will. I'm busy at the moment. You're dismissed." Sanderson told his agent.
As Tennessee left, Surge called. "Louisiana has failed, but Ohio is ready for final authorization."
"Authorization approved. Send Georgia's squad back to me." They quickly returned. "You three are going back to outpost Alpha and will retrieve Jersey's armor."
"And if we refuse?" Delaware asked.
"You'll be killed as soon as you return here. You better hope you find his body." Sanderson said.
"What if we don't find it?" Maryland asked.
"Then you will track it down until you do. Luckily there is a tracker in everyone's armor. As of now its still there. Hurry up." Sanderson answered.
"So you want us to go back & get a dead guy for you? Why? What's so important about him?" Georgia asked.
"Nothing. Its the armor that's important. Each suit of armor costs millions. We can't allow i to be taken by someone else." Sanderson said.
"Well let's get this shit over with." Maryland said.
"Step on the pads and you'll beamed back over." Sanderson sent them back to outpost Alpha.
"You still remember where it was?" Delaware asked Georgia.
"I had a gun pointed at my head & watched him die in front of my eyes. Of course I remember that." She replied. They were back where they'd first split up on the prior mission.
"He should be just around the corner." Maryland said as they turned the corner where Jersey had gotten shot.
"He's gone. What the hell?" Georgia said looking around for his body. Maryland bent over & picked up a small flashing object.
"Yep. Here's the tracker." He said.
"What now? Sanderson said to track the armor down down until we find it." Delaware said.
"Let's split up & search for any clues as to where he is." Georgia ordered.
"Do you think the bandits got him?" Delaware asked.
"No. Just look around you. There's no bodies anywhere. Its almost as if it never happened." Georgia ominously replied.
"Maybe the gunfire awoke something that ate Jersey & the bandits."
"A man-eating monster? Georgia, are you all right?" Delaware asked.
"I'm fine. Its just not adding up. The bodies are gone and there's no trace of it ever happening to begin with. So maybe the gunfire awoke something that cleared it all out." Georgia explained.
"If that's the case, I doubt our pistols are going to be effective." Maryland said.
"Sir, Indiana, Mississippi & Illinois are all ready for you."
"Send them to the arena." Sanderson said. Surge didn't respond. "Surge, I said send them to the arena."
"Oh. Sorry. I was just thinking about something. They'll be there soon." Surge said.
"You aren't made to think. You're made to make." Sanderson said as he ended the transmission and headed to the arena where the three new agents were waiting. "You three are going to fight in the arena until one of you dies. No one will leave until one of you is killed."
"Why? That sounds a bit inhumane." Illinois said.
"Because I said so. When one of you die, the two survivors will get the reward of surviving & the choice of either an enhancer chip or a weapon upgrade. Only one of each is available for this event. So choose while you're down there."
"What's an enhancer chip?" Mississippi asked.
"A chip implanted in your armor giving you a special superhuman ability. The one up for grabs today is designed for super strength. Go down to the arena floor & prepare for this death battle."
The three agents headed down to the arena floor. A maze arose from the floor around them and the bell rang.
Illinois and Indiana were close to each other. "What's your plan Illinois?"
"Don't die." He responded through his metallic black armor.
"If you help me kill Mississippi I'll let you have the enhancer chip." Indiana suggested. Illinois looked over at the pearl armor colored man. Illinois took a moment to think.
"Let's go." He finally said. The two agents walked out together searching for Mississippi's sky blue shaded armor.
"There she is!" Indiana called out pointing toward another wall. Illinois sent around the back way while Indiana went the other way to block her off and surround her.
Illinois came around first & Mississippi turned to get away but was blocked by Indiana. Illinois grabbed her, but Mississippi jumped up and kicked him in the face and leapt off his body over the wall.
"Damn it!" Indiana roared as he raced through the maze looking for the agile girl. Illinois quickly caught up with him. Both of them stayed on their guard, pistols in hand ready to shoot Mississippi at first sight.
"If we don't kill her, she's going to kill one of us." Indiana told his partner.
"She's fast. But we can take her. Don't worry." Illinois replied.
Mississippi crept around the corner and grabbed Indiana taking him hostage.
"Fuck me..." He said realizing what had happened.
"Mississippi, please. Calm down now. No need to get rough." Illinois told her. She didn't say anything back. She slowly stepped backwards, pulling Indiana with her.
Illinois drew his pistol and shot into the air catching Mississippi off guard. Indiana took his chance and flung her over his shoulders. She slammed into the ground stunned. She shook her head and regained focus to see Illinois' pistol in front of her head.
"I'm sorry." He whispered to her before shooting her in the head.
Sanderson came over the arena intercom. "Good. You may now return and retrieve your rewards."
The two agents rode the elevator up to Sanderson. "Who's getting what?" He asked.
"I'm getting the enhancer chip." Illinois said.
"So you're getting the weapon upgrade?" Sanderson asked, looking at Indiana. He nodded. "Illinois, you'll retrieve your chip from surge in the med room. Go now if you'd like."
"Sir," Indiana began,"can I have a sniper?"
"Why a sniper, Indiana?" Sanderson asked.
"I don't know. I just do I guess."
"Then sure. That will be your weapon upgrade." Sanderson replied.
"Alabama & Maine are ready for final authorization."
"Authorization approved."
"The bandits may have left a clue as to where they went." Delaware said.
"We still haven't confirmed that yet Delaware." Maryland said. They searched around the area for any weapons that might have some markings or serial numbers that could be tracked but they never found even a single bullet. "Whomever it was sure did a good job at erasing all the evidence." Georgia said. She called Sanderson over her helmet's radio.
"Sanderson, he's gone. And everything with him to. Its as if nothing ever happened here."
"You aren't to come back without that armor. That's an order." Sanderson told her.
"Sir, we don't have any supplies. We'll die."
"Then I suggest you hurry up and find it then." Sanderson said as he hung up.
"He won't let us return to base until we have the armor so we've basically been sent on a death mission." She told her squad.
"How about that building?" Maryland pointed to a large skyscraper."if we get to the top, we'll be able to see better & farther.
"That's at least forty or so floors." Delaware added.
"Let's go. Its our only lead at this point." Georgia said as they headed into the building & used the elevator to get to the roof. A loud growl, or more of a monstrous shriek really echoed through the elevator shaft.
"What the fuck was that?" Maryland asked with a jump.
"Whatever it was, it came from up top. We'll find out soon enough." Georgia said. The elevator stopped on the roof & the door slid open.
Jersey's armor was lying not far ahead on the roof. "What the fuck? How'd his armor get way up here?" Delaware asked pointing towards the air vent his body was propped on. Another shriek was heard & a giant three-eyed bird landed in from for them. It was at least twenty feet tall. None of the agents had stepped out of the elevator yet so they quickly smashed the button to close the door & head back down. The bird pried the door open but the elevator had already began heading down & the bird let go.
"What was that?! Maryland & Delaware asked simultaneously. Immediately after, the bird cut the wires holding up the elevator with its beak. It began falling faster & faster.
"We're all going to die!" Delaware yelled in a frightened voice. The elevator had reach the fifteenth floor.
"Hold on to the bars on the sides! You don't want to go flying up into the top when we crash!" Georgia yelled over the screeching of the elevator. The elevator had plummeted into the floor of the building.
Dust & debris surrounded the area like glue. "Geor...gia...are...you okay?" Delaware asked faintly.
"Delaware? Are you alright?" Maryland asked with a cough. He hadn't been injured very badly himself.
"Where's... Georgia?" Delaware asked again.
"Don't worry about her." Maryland said as he pulled the rubble from off of Delaware's body. Maryland nearly fainted at the sight.
"Delaware..." He could hardly finish. Delaware... you've been impaled." Maryland mustered out of himself.
"What? Impaled?" He was so out of focus he hadn't registered the pain he was in. Some of the rubble nearby began to move. When the elevator had landed, it had collapsed the building on impact.
"What... happened?" Georgia asked as she stood up, immediately falling back down at the sound of a crack in her leg. She let out a shriek of pain.
"Georgia!" Delaware managed to muster.
"Delaware, save your energy. Stay calm. If you get too worked up, you'll bleed out." Maryland said. He helped Georgia stand up. Her radio was busted & her helmet visor shattered exposing the left side of her face. She had blue eyes and black hair.
"I think my legs broken." Georgia told her partner. She noticed that Delaware was impaled on the ground. "How'd you manage not to get injured, Maryland?"
"Well, funny thing, I didn't grab the bars in time & when the elevator crashed, I got slung up through the escape hatch. I was lucky enough to land after most of the rubble had come down." Maryland answered.
"Its funny. Everything I say to do just ends up being the worst thing to do. I'm not fit to be a leader." She said looking Delaware and her own leg.
"You're a good leader Georgia. Everyone has mistakes along the way." Maryland assured her.
Delaware spoke. "What... are we... going to do now?" His voice was even weaker than earlier.
"There's nothing we can do. My radio's fucked & I don't see any of your weapons around." Georgia replied.
Maryland grabbed for his pistol on his hip only to grab at nothing. "We have to go back if we don't, we're going to die." Maryland said.
"Sanderson said not to come back until we have Jersey's armor. We can't." Georgia replied.
"Its our only hope." Maryland said. Delaware managed to add to the conversation.
"You'll have to go yourself... we're too injured."
"I'll be quick. I promise." He said as he gently lowered Georgia to the ground being careful not to touch her broken leg.
Maryland raced back to the teleporter pads & teleported back to Sanderson's office. Alabama & Maine were in there.
"I see Georgia & Delaware aren't accompanying you Maryland." Sanderson said.
"They're dying. We need emergency evac now."
"Dying? What happened?" Sanderson asked.
"No time to explain. Just please. Send help." Maryland replied. Sanderson nodded.
"I'll send the back up squad to assist." The general told Maryland. Maryland quickly rushed back to outpost Alpha to his friends.
"They should be here any second." Maryland said.
"I hope so. Delaware won't make it much longer without medical attention." Georgia replied.
Penn, Connecticut, Hampshire & York arrived quickly.
"Oh man. What now?" Hampshire asked his leader, Penn.
"That rebar is probably slowing his blood loss. We need to leave it in. York, use the plasma cutter & cut the rebar from the rubble. After that let's get these two back to HQ." Penn ordered her team.
York lit the plasma cutter & carefully separated the cement from the rebar. Hampshire helped Delaware up while Hampshire helped Georgia limp to the teleporter pads. Maryland managed to find Jersey's armor in the buildings remains & teleported back with Jersey's body. "This shits crazy." He said as he stepped on the pads. After both teams had returned to base, Delaware & Georgia were immediately taken to the med room for treatment.
"How are you liking it so far?" Sanderson asked Maryland. They were alone in his office.
Maryland replied, "i killed a teammate and then the rest of my team almost died on the next mission. I never expected anything this intense.
"If you think its intense now you're in for a wakeup call. If my theory regarding what Jersey said before you shot him is correct." Sanderson said as he leaned back in his chair. Maryland was curious what Sanderson meant by that.
"What exactly do you mean sir?"
"You'll know soon enough, Maryland. All you have to do is have the patience to sit back & let it all unfold before your very eyes." Sanderson replied in an ominous tone as he stared into the ceiling.
"Um... okay? Don't really know what that means either. If anything, that confused me more. I'm just going to be leaving before my head explodes with confusion over here." Maryland said as he turned around and left Sanderson alone.
Sanderson smiled. "You'll understand when the time comes, Maryland. You're smart. You'll figure it out for yourself." He spun hid chair around, staring at the ceiling as he turned in circles.