Prologue
"its over. All of it?"
"yes."
"project free lancer, the Director, everything."
"that's right."
"Now what?"
"I don't know."
Agent Carolina stood in front of a long line of grave stones. The tiny hologram of epsilon floating beside her head. She looked at each of the stones. Names of friends filled her mind. Friends that had fallen in battle and from the struggle against Maine, the Meta. The hulking free lancer that went mad and tried to kill everyone just to get his hands on their A.I.'s. Altho it wasn't entirely his fault. The A.I. They implanted in his head was the one that pushed him over the edge. It drove ideas into his mind the idea that he could be whole if they gathered all of the A.I.'s. But that idea died along with all the other A.I.'s when Washington activated the EMP at Free Lancer command.
Maine didn't stop their, after the event he was enraged and was further fueled to complete the ideas that his A.I. Sigma had put in his mind. The conquest eventually led to his demise when he confronted Agent Texas and the Reds and Blues from the small secluded base in the middle of nowhere. The brute was out matched and was send to a watery grave, along with a warthog and a pelican.
The names that grabbed her attention the most were Texas and York. In her time at PFL she had learned to hate Agent Texas because she was better then her in every way. No matter how hard she tried she could never beat her. It wasn't until too late that she realized who and what Texas was. Her mother. And a memory, a shadow as C.T. Called her. Carolina barely remembered her mother. She died when she was very young. She always had a smile on her face, was the toughest woman in the room and she fought for what she believed in. in the end that is what killed her. One time when she was on deployment in the military fighting to defend her planet her transport was shot down and she was killed in the crash.
Carolina loved her mom but not the memory that took her place. And the obsession that drove her father to create Project Free Lancer and do the things he did. Just to bring her back. And York her friend from the very beginning. The memory of losing him stung more than the others. And to be honest she loved him and deep down, she wanted to be with him. She knew that he felt the same. Now he's gone. She pulled out a small silver lighter. The orange logo emblazoned on its side of the club they met in shone in the sunlight. She sighed tears formed and rolled down her cheeks. She wiped them away with her free hand. "you okay?" Epsilon asked. She inhaled deeply. "ya just fine." she pocketed the lighter and continued down the line of graves touching each one with a gloved hand.
C.T. North Dakota, South Dakota, Georgia, Wyoming, Texas, York, the list went on. When she reached the end she turned back. Epsilon floating close by. "its time I moved on. I've made my peace with everything and everyone." Epsilon knew that wasn't true if it was she would have left the lighter. But it wasn't his place to judge. She walked off she slide her helmet in place over her head. The seals hissed and locked in place. She looked at Epsilon. "did you want to say anything?" he looked at her and looked to the graves. "no, I made my peace long ago." with that they left the grave yard.