Where It All Begins

Modern Warfare 2

By: Emily 'Gadget' Robins

My name is Corporal Emily Robins. You can call me Robins or 'Gadget', depending on whether you're a ranger from my old team or a member of the 141. This is my first day at the 141 base.

I have to say it's pretty different than working with the Rangers. There it was all 'Rangers lead the way' and the oath and your honor and your country. You snap off salutes and you give your Co's your number and you go into the field and you hope to God you don't die.

Here it's organized and everything is a MUST COMPLETE mission. The training is harder and the missions…well I don't really know about the missions yet. Right now I'm just unpacking in my room.

It's a nice base too. It's got electricity and everything. Running water is always an added plus.

Anyways I'm getting off track already. You probably don't want to hear my every narrated thought on every little thing that goes on here. So I'll cut the crap and give it to you straight.

I'm barely old enough to drink and basically your every-day-sob-story. My mom died when I was two and my dad ditched me and my older brother. When he and I were adopted life seemed to turn around until he enlisted in the army when he was still in high-school. Our step-mom kicked us out and he's been caring for me since. One day he was shipped home after having his left leg blown off.

Before you roll your eyes and go find a better story to read, lemme finish.

Now I'm here. On the 'prima donna squad' as my old friend would call it. Today is my first day and of course, there's new Co's to impress and new comrade's to be teased by. Honestly, as I stand here un-packing my bag, I couldn't be more excited.

"Hey new guy, are you ready to—"

I turn around to see a tall, muscular fellow standing in my door frame. He seems surprised to see me. "Yes?"

He blinks a few times in surprise and says, "Uh… are you Corporal Robins?"

"That's me." I extend a hand and he shakes it quickly. "Call me Gadget. And you are?"

"Royce is fine." He smirks a bit. "Now I knowMactavish was trying to surprise me. He never even mentioned we had a lady in the house."

I roll my eyes, grabbing my gear off the floor. "Now, aren't you the charming one." I note sarcastically.

"Sorry, I'm just a little shocked is all."

I shrug on my thick coat and supply vest. "Get used to it." I lace up my combat boots. "So, where am I needed first?"

"The Captain wants you in the briefing room right away. Says he needs to explain how things work."

"Thanks Royce. Are you gonna carry me or do I have to walk?"

He laughs heartily. "No, I have to go. It's been nice meeting you Gadget."

"You too Royce," I call over my shoulder as I walk down the hallway towards the briefing room. I met Mactavish before and he seems like a great guy. He also seems to be a strong leader and protective of his troops.

I tug my beige face scarf over my mouth and nose and pull my helmet on (even though my short pony tail sticks out in the back). I put my goggles in place and push the door open to the briefing room.

Two men are bent over a table, looking at charts and maps and whatever other parophanalia they have. I recognize one as Mactavish. The other is a rather tall man with sharp blue eyes. "Royce sent me down, sir." I explain, snapping off a stiff salute.

"A new recruit," The un-named tall guy asks. "Where'd Shepard find you?"

I realize he probably hasn't even noticed I'm a woman so I decide to surprise him. I keep my voice a little too quiet and a little too low to distinguish as a girl's. "The rangers… he said I was one of the best troops to come through there."

"Anyways," Mactavish tries to steer the conversation away from what we were talking about and back to the maps. "Have your men practice the course a few more times, Scarecrow, and get them to the shooting range. We NEED accuracy."

"Sure thing," Scarecrow nodded and headed out the door. "Send the recruit down when you're ready."

Mactavish nods and starts gathering the maps. "You're Corporal Emily Robins, aye?"

"Yes, sir, but please call me Gadget."

"It said in your file that you specialize in computer hacking, snipers, UMP45's, and combat knives." Mactavish looks up at me expectantly. I nod, not really sure what to say. "Are you ready to get started?"

"Always, sir."

"Good. It's time for you to meet your training officer. Then we'll see what you're made of."

As it turns out, my training officer is a lieutenant that has dubbed himself 'Ghost' and wears a mask and tinted sunglasses. You can not see ANY part of his face. "Grab what gun you want and get down to the shooting range. You'll meet the rest of the team and then we can start training."

I nod silently and turn to leave.

"Oh, and Gadget?" I look at him over my shoulder. "Welcome to the team."

I smile and keep walking. I grab a UMP45 off of the crate next to me and slam on a red dot sight. It feels good to have the gun back in my hands.

When I get down to the range there are seven or eight guys there, waiting. I recognize Royce and Scarecrow immediately. The others are all talking or working on their guns. Scarecrow spots me and waves me over.

"Okay, listen new guy; this is basically where you make a name for yourself. Don't screw it up."

I know I won't but I feign nervousness. This is gonna be even more fun than I thought.

Ghost appears out of nowhere, nearly giving me a heart attack, and gestures at the range. "Shall we?"

The range is much like one at the Rangers base, but with more targets that move quicker and spew paintballs at you all at once.

I take down the first and second sets with no problem. The third set I miss a few times because my goggles are covered in paint splatters, but no biggy.

I look to Ghost and the others when I finish. "Not bad." Ghost smirks. "I have to say, the Rangers beat you into shape well."

I pull my goggles up and let them rest on my helmet then pull my scarf down so I can talk clearly. "Thanks. Ya know I was shooting blind there for a second..." I notice one of the guys look like he's in shock. "You okay big guy?"

He shakes his head, apparently trying to clear it. "Yeah…I just wasn't expecting the new recruit to be a nice mamasita. The name's Meat."

"Gadget…" I pause shaking his hand. "You call me mamasita one more time and I'll castrate you with a garden weasel."

And thus begins my odd friendships with my team.

If you're not really interested in me and want to just skip to the action, go from here to the magical 'rock on character'. If you wanna hear more about the guys (trust me it's worth it in the end) then READ ON!

Mactavish and I have a pretty level understanding. I'm just another one of his men. Most of the time that would mean that I still had to snap off salutes and call him 'sir' constantly, but in Mactavish's case it means I might as well be one of his old friends considering how he treats us all as if we were his family. I trust the man with my life.

Meat and I seem to clash a bit. He's always pestering me about something. He has also refuses to call me by my callsign and instead refers to me as 'woman'. Nothing else. Just 'woman'. When he first came up with it he yelled, "Bring me my gun, woman!", and ever since it's the same thing. I'm gonna beat him senseless one day.

Scarecrow and I get along pretty well. Mostly it's just war talk, never personal, never more than the bare minimum. I'm fine with that as long as he has nothing against me.

Worm, Toad, and I are pretty much best friends already. To me they're just Worm and Toad, and to them I'm just Gadget. That's the way I like it. We joke around and pull pranks and get into the occasional play argument but we don't try to be closer than friends. We all steer clear of family talk, the same as scarecrow, but we still talk about friends. Like Toad will gush over his girlfriend sometimes and Worm and I will yell at him to shut the cuss up or we'll skin him.

Archer and I don't talk much. He's quiet and serious, but he's an amazing sniper and a good man to have on the team.

Ghost and I clicked the second we started talking. He's the only one I really talk to about my brother (I'll get to that later) and the one I trust most…maybe even more than Mactavish. He's a good leader like the Captain but won't take crap from anyone. I've never seen his face and I've never heard him talk about things other than the war, but I know that he's a great guy. I try my best to stay on his good side because, let's face it; he's intimidating as anyone to ever walk the earth. But hey, we get along and he's a good card player too.

Shepard. I'm not even going to add the 'and I' part because there's none of that. It's just Shepard, we have no relationship. I don't trust him what-so-ever. Maybe it's the fact that he doesn't give a rat's rear about any of us. I can see it in his eyes when he looks at me or any of the other men. It's a permanent look of this never-ending indifference that just ticks me off. I made the mistake of mentioning it to Mactavish one day. He said that indifference was the way Shepard dealt with the war. He made no attachments and no friendships so in the end he lost nothing. I hate that man for it.

\m/(-.-)\m/

Thank you to those of you who endure/enjoyed my spiel.

Anyways, now I'm packing to go on a mission. I've been here one day and already they're sending me to Russia with Archer, Mactavish, Ghost, and Meat to escort some British movie star through a danger zone. I have just one quick question, 'Who's idea was this and where is their head so I can hit it with a hammer?'

I stuff an extra pair of gloves into the bag. Meat pokes his head into my room. "Don't forget your tampons, woman."

I roll my eyes. "Go harass your mom for once Meat, I'm sure you miss her."

"Told you she was cheeky, Ghost."

"She sure is. At least the mission will be a little more interesting with an FNG around." Ghost was suddenly leaning in my doorway. Did I mention he just appears whenever and wherever he wants?

"Give me a heart attack why don't you?" I grumble, zipping up my coat. "You guys know the General doesn't want you in my room. Out."

"Is that any way to talk to your superior?" Meat asks.

"Fine then... My apologies Ghost; Meat, get out, now." I point to the door.

"What—but I—"

"Nope! I'm Corporal, you aren't. OUT!" I go over to him and try to push him out the doorway. "I will go find a garden weasel!"

I almost fall flat on my face when he runs out of there. Ghost manages to catch me by the back of my coat.

"I love the way you handle him." He laughs, his accent thick.

I straighten up and dust off. "Thanks, is he always like that?"

"Usually worse."

"What a fun camping trip THIS will be."

Hey Hey!

It's me, Gadget.

For those of you who are wondering, this is during the five years between MW 1 & 2. Think of it as MW 1.5, special edition…

Yes this is going to be a pretty fun week for me and the guys and yes, there will be some pranks and nonsense along with a serious lesson to be learned…haha jk it's just gonna be a week of lovely retardation.

This is the first story I've appeared in but you'll hear from me a lot.

Other stories you might wanna check out are:

Allen's Choice (by me)

And pretty much anything by Erin Peepsta.

And now I leave you with this notice:

*REVIEW! It helps my brain juice recuperate!*