seiichi:Long story short, by the end of COD4, it was pretty clear that Soap and his squad could kick ass, so Gman couldn't resist doing a little misdirection to take them in. Besides, they'd already ruined Zakhaev's deal with him, so he had to do something.

One Man Army

Chapter Two: The Bench Warmer

A soldier sat alone in the cockpit of a plane. What was he doing? Probably thinking, about himself, about his family back home, or maybe even still about how unlucky he was to end up on the Black Mesa mission. He was Corporal Adrian Shepard, and despite staying in the helicopter for years, he was still scared. Of what, I cannot say, but they were likely all but absolved when the Gman came back in.

"Mr. Shepard...we meet again. I trust your detainment was enjoyable, hmm? Either way, it's time for your next assignment. I trust it will be a very enjoyable experience for you, especially after how long you've been in here. So please, Mr. Shepard, get your things together...it's your stop."

Then, he saw a flash, and woke up in what was clearly a different helicopter. He was landing near a group of warehouses, next to what seemed to be a training field. "Alright, buddy, you ready for your first day of hell?" the pilot yelled to him, "These guys are the best of the best, at least in the S.A.S., anyways, so you might wanna listen to them carefully." Shepard nodded, thinking, it's like advanced training day all over again... He exited the helicopter and went into the warehouse in the middle. The door opened, and he found himself staring at the man in the center, a mustached man with a fishing hat.

"So you're the new guy, eh? Straight from America, it seems. Maybe Griggs will recognize him, eh Soap? Anyways, uh...Shepard. Down here you'll be training with Soap. Don't worry, he's only been here a week, although I'll admit he can take down a Hind pretty damn easily. Now I want you to have a go at the cargo ship solo. The squadron record belongs to Soap with about 12 seconds. But you'll be lucky to get 20, from the looks of you."

"Yeah," Gaz said, "he's barely got enough stuff in him to feed a Roach...or mate with one, for that matter. Anyways, go on, we'll be watching."

On his first try, he got 25 seconds, on his second, 14, and on his third, he was a tenth of a second short of Soap's record.

"My, my, looks like you have competition, Soap," Captain Price said, "I guess it's a good thing you're as scrawny as a Roach. You can call him that if you want, Soap"

"yeah, yeah," Soap finally replied, "but can we get back to work now? I'm about ready to shoot you, sir."

Adrian took a careful look at Soap. Those eyes...heh, it seems he's in on it, then.

"Alright, now lets head back to the barracks. The chopper will be here for our briefing at 0200 tomorrow."

End of Chapter Two

A/N:don't worry, Freeman will make an appearance, just not yet. And plz review!