Hey everyone! So after A LOT of thought, I decided to continue this story. However, I did make a few changes, only one of them major, so please reread this chapter. The next three will come out soon after minor edits. Michigan was just too OP too soon. If you have not read Animal Bonds, I highly recommend you do that. Again, I don't plan on explaining anything that is explained there, unless you want a small explanation because you didn't really like Animal Bonds. Thank you!
"What do you think is going on?" Freelancer Agent Washington asked the other men with him. One wore dark purple armor with green accents. He was the tallest of the group. Next to him stood the shortest, with tan armor that had silver markings. His helmet was in his hands and his short, styled brown hair rose both in the front on purpose and the back as a result of helmet hair. Last was Wash himself. His own armor was grey with yellow and he found his height smack dab in the middle of the other two.
"I don't know." York shrugged as a fourth person walked up. They were clad in light blue armor that was a different style than the others. "Hey, Carolina." York greeted her.
She nodded at him. "It might have to do with the pod that arrived a few weeks back." She was referring to the small transport pod that had docked at the Mother of Invention. No one had seen who had arrived, but they were all curious. Project Freelancer was still relatively new and it was entirely possible that it was a new agent, although they hadn't had one in a while.
The purple one, North, spoke up. "I could see that."
Wash seemed to be about to say something when a door opened again and group of young animals trotted in. A grey husky practically slammed into North's legs joyously before jumping on him. The agent laughed and ruffed up the fur of the ecstatic dog.
A much calmer wolf walked up close on the heels of the husky and circled York before sitting in front of him. The agent stroked the wolf's head, who shifted until York's hand was just behind his ear.
Wash's jaguar made her way over to him and rubbed herself against his legs, purring loudly. He watched her before squatting down and petting her fur, allowing her to rub herself over more of him.
Last, a young looking grizzly bear walked over to Carolina and stood by her side. Carolina's fingers touched his head but that was about all the exchange between the two amounted up to. York was convinced that she was secretly very affectionate towards him and simply refused to show it. Wash had taken him up on the bet.
Wash straightened up as Maine and Wyoming walked in with a hyena and a large lizard. Not far behind them was Florida with his alligator, Atucus.
"Hello, chaps." Wyoming greeted them as Atucus took off in an odd run towards them before sprawling across York's feet.
The tan soldier shook his head and scratched the alligator affectionately. "Hey there, Atucus." The wolf with him only stared at York's hand until he put his other on the canine's head. "Yes, hello, Timber."
By this point, the three men had gotten to their small group and Atucus promptly went back to Florida.
"Do any of you know why we're here?" Florida asked.
North shook his head. "No, although Carolina thinks it has something to do with the pod that came in."
Maine spoke up and the hyena that stood by him let out a grunt. "I agree."
"Hey, where are South and Connie?" Wash asked. "I haven't seen-"
He was cut off by the door opening and those very people stepped through. South's orangutan, Pongo, was on her back, arms wrapped around her neck. Teba, Connie's hawk, flew close to them. She landed on Connie's shoulder, the agent taking the sudden weight with practiced ease.
"Oh." Wash said softly. At his feet, Noca purred softly.
"When is the Director going to get here?" South asked.
The others could only shrug. They stood quietly before the husky, unable to hold still, leapt forward onto Noca. Wash stepped back as the small jaguar rolled underneath the husky and bit down on his ear. The two began to wrestle, the husky making weird groans and whines.
North shook his head. "Chukcha…"
The husky stopped and looked up at the sound of his name. He wagged his tail, only to be distracted when Noca bit down on his leg and the two went back to playing. Eventually, the ball of animal made its way over to Timber and Chukcha promptly grabbed onto the wolf, dragging him into the fight. After a moment of playing, Timber disengaged himself from Noca and looked at the young bear. They stared at each other for a moment before Timber seemed to shrug and go back to playing, much to Noca and Chukcha's delight.
"Ursus, you can play." Carolina told the bear. The young grizzly looked up at her, then stood and walked over to the playing animals. They stopped and stared at him, before Chukcha, ever the frisky one, darted forward with a whine and crouched down, begging to play. Ursus waved a large paw at him and Chukcha darted in. Noca and Timber leapt in almost immediately after and the four descended into play.
The other animals only watched, either being uninterested like Teba and Pongo, the orangutan, or happier with their agent, like Atucus was.
The doors slid open again and the four animals instantly pulled apart, dashing to the sides of their agents, who were already at attention. Wash could see Noca from the corner of his eye sit with her shoulder nearly touching his leg. The other animals did the same, both agents and partners coming to attention as three more people entered the room.
The two in front, Wash recognized: the Director and the Counselor. The person who walked behind them, though, he had never seen before. They were wearing dark green armor, like the forests Wash had grown up around. He was also pretty short. Unlike the other agents, he had no partner. So, apparently this was a new addition to the team.
"This is Agent Michigan." The Director introduced. "She will be joining us." Ah, so "he" was a girl.
"I trust that you will all make her feel welcome and show her around." The Counselor added.
"Her testing is in fifteen minutes. One of you can show her where to go." The Director continued before turning and walking out of the room. The Counselor followed him, leaving the nine agents and animals alone with the new Agent Michigan.
"I'm North, nice to meet you." Of course, Wash thought, North was the first to step forward and greet her.
She nodded at him. "You too." She shook his offered hand, and like the doors of a subway opening, they all moved forward and introduced themselves to her. She seemed nervous, but then again, most people would be.
Carolina watched her carefully. She was timid and almost afraid of them, so much so that Carolina was uncertain just how she had gotten into Project Freelancer.
"Where's your animal?" South cut in on the formalities.
"Oh, um, they apparently need more observation? I don't know, but they should be here by the end of today." Michigan shrugged.
Carolina raised an eyebrow. That was…odd.
"We should probably start walking over." Wyoming put in.
Carolina nodded her agreement and waited while the others walked ahead. She watched as Chukcha jumped around the new agent's feet. North apologized for him, but she didn't seem to mind. When she told him it was fine, Carolina could almost hear the smile in her voice. That soon left, and she went back to being nervous.
"So, when did you get here?" Connie asked her.
Michigan looked at her. "About a month ago."
Carolina could hear North's surprise. "Where have you been?"
"Here, training. The Director wanted to work with me before I met you guys, I guess." She shrugged. Carolina frowned. She seemed uncertain about a lot of things.
"Why would he work with only you?" Wash asked.
The new agent looked at him, then at the rest of them. "You mean, he didn't tell you anything about me?"
They all shook their heads, a few "no"s chorused in. Why would the Director need to tell them anything?
Carolina could hear Michigan's grimace. "Oh. It's…it's easier to show you why, rather than explain it."
The other agents exchanged looks. What did that mean? By this point, they had arrived to the training rink and stood just outside the entrance.
"Can you show us now?" Florida asked cautiously.
"I would rather wait to be in there." She gestured towards the door.
The doors opened when Wyoming pushed the button and she stepped in, pulling her gloves off and exhaling deeply. The agents all looked at each other again, before nearly running to the viewing deck.
Apparently the Director was waiting for them to get there before starting the program because he and the Counselor stood there patiently. York saluted, as did the rest, then made his way over to the windows after the Director nodded his recognition.
Down in the rink, Agent Michigan stood at parade rest, patiently waiting to begin. Although, with how jittery she was, he doubted that she was truly patient and at ease.
The Counselor leaned forward and spoke into the microphone. "Just as we have done before. Begin."
Instantly, three turrets sprang out of the ground. At the same time her left leg moved forward and both knees bent. Her bare hands came apart and up. She looked ready for hand to hand combat…against a turret. York saw Wash look at North, who shrugged. York snuck a look at Carolina. She was watching intensely with no visual reaction.
York looked back down in time to see… at first he didn't know what. Fire shot out from her left hand and onto the nearest turret while her other hand moved in a circle around her body. In its wake, something green shimmered. The bullets bounced harmlessly off it- a shield. York stared at the fire. Sure enough, it burned the turret up quickly- and it did come from her hand. Her gloveless hand.
"Woah!" York shouted.
"What is that?" Wash demanded, leaning forward.
Carolina again remained silent, although York could tell from her body language she was impressed.
Down in the rink, the remaining two turrets began to move as she pulled her attention to the next one. They rotated in circles around and above her. She took a moment, then aimed her fire at the track that the turrets moved on. Flicking her hand up, the fire hit the track, then followed it up in a thin line until it reached the turret. With a tightening of her fist, the fire consumed the turret.
York and the others watched in awe as the fire, still burning on the turret, split. One part remained while the other followed the metal onto the last turret. That turret lit up as well. The entire time, she had a shield surrounding herself and never got touched.
The fire soon left the turrets and launched back at her. Her shield went down and the flames went back to her hand to rest there, engulfing that fist before dying away. No more bullets hailed down.
The turrets remained, possibly unable to move anymore. Three hatches opened and three combat robots rolled out. York grimaced. Combat 'bots were a bitch.
However, she didn't falter as she sent the flames towards them, splitting the fire again. The fire didn't seem to have any effect and York realized that the robots were protected against her flames.
She seemed to realize this too and the fire dissipated as she ran forward, moving very fast, despite weaving from side to side. She reached the first bot- and jumped over it, twisting in the air. She landed just behind it and rebounded on top of it. Michigan's hands gripped its head and twisted. York could imagine the squeal of metal on metal and the sound of wires being pulled apart as the head came off. She tossed it aside and jumped off as the bot fell to the ground.
The other two 'bots had been watching and their heads condensed down into their bodies- no grip there. She didn't falter. Instead, she ran forward again and her right hand shot forward like a knife. It broke through the chest plate of the nearest bot and York watched as the flames reappeared. The bot was destroyed from the inside out and she pulled her hand out- only to have the last bot ram her from behind, it's claw-like hands gripping her arms. Immediately, they caught fire and she grabbed the chest plate. The bot didn't notice, but York could see the cracks appear on her armor where the claws gripped. He resisted a whistle. The 'bots had never done that before.
He glanced at the Director- the man wasn't concerned, though the Counselor did seem a little nervous.
"Director, perhaps-" The Counselor began to voice his thoughts.
"We will let the test continue." The Director interrupted him. York got the sense from the Counselor's rigid, tight expression that her testing had never gone this far.
Down in the rink, she was still struggling. Suddenly, there was a burst of dark green pieces everywhere. The bot had broken through her armor. Still, she didn't seem to cry out. Instead, even from the distance, York could see something flash in her eyes.
Her entire body became engulfed in flames and she pushed backwards, falling on top of the combat bot. Her arms straightened as best as they could and flames burst forth again, the fight in the rink now being too bright to look at. York quickly dimmed his visor.
The flames propelled the rookie and the bot across the ground and bits of metal began to spring away, scorched black. After only a moment, the bot began to jerk and twitch, as though having a seizure. The flames stopped and the agent planted her feet on the ground, flipping over as best as she could, then rising to her feet. Her hands lit one of the turrets on fire again, then she ran towards it despite the bot hanging on her back desperately. At the last second, she pivoted and slammed the bot into the flaming turret. It seized up, then its lights dimmed and it fell off.
The agent darted forward and turned around, hands up and ready to continue. But the bot was down and done. Her hands lowered then, and she swayed unsteadily.
The Director looked at the Counselor. "I do believe this test was a success." He, oddly enough, nodded to the agents gathered, who still had enough mind to snap to attention, then left, the Counselor trailing behind.
The agents looked at each other. They were silent.
Finally, Wash spoke. "Damn."