Chapter
2
Jim stepped into the meeting room once more; a steaming cup of coffee in one hand, a packed duffle bag in his other. He glanced at the rooms occupants, this doesn't look like my team, he thought. "Hello…" he greeted awkwardly as he found a seat. The group just sat silently. Jim thought he recognized a few of the room's faces.
The first, right of the bat was a giant of a woman named Daisy "The Fridge" Schwartzenheimer. She easily stood over seven feet tall and was built like a refrigerator. Jim had run into her on a mission a few years back. This chick was so amped up on her own cocktail of roids, that she went ape-shit on a whole town after killing a few Pirates that were smuggling women's lingerie. Daisy had the smarts, of a gym-rat, or cavewoman, and when she juiced up… well, one should just remain out of the way.
The second face Jim recognized was a tall, lean woman with black hair and blood-red streaks. She was dressed in peculiar black steampunk fashion. She was known as the Queen of Death, for her wild obsession with the deceased; as well as emo things among others. Her name was Kira Akira-Akuma, but everyone called her Reaper.
The last person Jim remotely knew was a man dressed like a character from an old treasure hunter movie. Stories of this man's exploits were the stuff of legends. It was even told that he had solo raided a Vault on some remote planet, and tamed the Vault monster. Kentucky Joe was his name, and lootin' dead stuff was his game. He also had an extravagant collection of exotic animals and aliens.
Two other characters sat across from Jim, and these folks he did not know. One was an older gentleman. He wore a long coat and a patch over an eye. Jim noticed that under the long coat was a pair of metallic arms held to his body by a metal belt. The arms lay crossed in his lap. The other, was a man from what Jim could guess. The muscular build was hidden behind a skin tight suit that flickered little hexagons as the suit caught the light. The man looked like a comic book super hero.
Just then Janice entered the room, "Jim can I see you for a second?" she asked as she passed to a door at the back of the room. Jim stood and followed the woman into a small separate room.
"What's up Janice?" asked Jim.
"I wanted to get a sense of what you thought of your team." Janice said.
Jim's mouth dropped in surprise, "You've got to be shitting me Janice!" he roared; which prompted the others to peer through the slit in the doorway.
Janice closed the door and crossed her arms, "This is who the company has put together for you. You're going to have to deal with it, sorry."
"What about Lazer, or Tazer, or Phazer, or Pat? Where's my normal team?" Jim inquired.
"Sorry but I can't get into it with you." Janice apologized, "You are going to have to make the best of the team given."
"Janice, I don't even know these people. I mean, you expect me to protect a bunch of 'coats' with a gang of people I've never worked with besides The Fridge." Jim huffed, and slammed his fist on a nearby table. "I mean, you couldn't have picked better? I have freaking The Fridge, Miss Emo-pants… probably going to kill herself before the enemy can. Some weird old man with robo arms, and superhero McGee if freaking TIGHTS!" Jim spat in exasperation. Janice just sat in silence and listened to the rant. "I mean okay, I get Kentucky Joe, the man's a legend. But what does he have to do with a protective detail?"
"Are you done?" Janice interrupted. Jim looked befuddled, but nodded. "Good, this is your team, deal with it. Now, before we step back into the briefing room, I want to let you know that you're co-leading this team with another member. You two can meet as soon as he's here." finished Janice. Jim was so enraged by this second bit of news that he couldn't even formulate a complaint. The two walked back into the room to begin the mission debrief. Janice told the group to introduce themselves and give a brief description of their specialties.
Daisy put her hand up first, "Name is Daisy. People call me The Fridge. I like ponies, and frogs, and kittens, and guns, and TO CRUSH! AUH AUH YUH…" The large woman slammed her fists down on the table and snorted. Jim rubbed his head in disbelief, and sank low in his seat.
The emo girl stood next, "Mein Name ist Kira Akria-Akuma. Ich mag die Farbe schwarz, und tote Welpen und ..." she stopped when she noticed the blank stares. "Oh sorry," she apologized in a thick Japanese accent, "my name is Kira Akira-Akuma, and I like black and dead things." Kira reiterated. "I heart dead puppies. No soul for the chosen dark angels." she muttered under her breath. "Oh, and people call me the Reaper." Kira added. Jim could not believe the audacity of Flare Corp. He had been with Flare for a while, he had a good team… and now, he was just dumbfounded at the group unfolding before his eyes.
"Wait one sec missy," Joe started, "Kentucky Joe by the way," he leaning forward in his chair, "you speak the Earth version of German, but you seem Japanese?" he inquired. Kira nodded. Kentucky sat back and acknowledged the strange complexity that was Kira, "Well I like diggin' shit up and collecting rare creatures as a hobby." said the man in the leather jacket, with his thick Aussie accent.
The man in the long jacket shifted in his seat, "I guess I'll go next," he said in his gruff, old voice, "the name's Lumpy McSqueezy-Pants." The others giggled under their breath. "I know, silly name, damned situation. Family name's McSqueezy. My mother said she named me Lumpy because I had a lumpy head when I was born. Pants… well that was the maiden name of my deceased wife." Lumpy said. "I am a professor of robotic engineering at GIT." the one-eyed man finished.
Lastly, the mystery man stood up, "I am Orion the hero of the galaxy." stated the man. "I am an android constructed by Tommy Tuner, to protect those in need and to bring the swift, hard knuckled fist of justice to those who dare to challenge it." finished the robot, whose voice sounded like something out of a cheesy superhero cartoon. "Just remember everyone, FREEDOM and JUSTICE prevails over all."
Jim frowned and rubbed his throbbing temples, how could this get worse? he thought. And then, the front door hissed open and standing in the doorway was Axton. The former Commando walked into the room and stood next to Janice.
"Glad to see you made it Axton." she said. The man just smiled back. "Everyone, this is Axton Rutigliano, formerly with Dahl Company. He now commands the Crimson Commando's in Sanctuary on Pandora. He will be leading this expedition." Janice said. And with that Jim stood up and walked out. "Jim come back here." shouted Janice.
"I'll handle this." Axton said as he followed Jim out.
Jim slammed his fist into the wall. "This is skaggshit!" he roared.
Axton stood in front of Jim, "Look kid, I'm not trying to neuter you here. This is just the way Flare rolled the dice." said Axton.
"Axton what are you even doing here? How old are you?" Jim asked, frustrated beyond all belief.
"I'm here because of Maliwan. They froze me for nearly two centuries. There was a bandit raid on the facility I was at, and I was thawed prematurely. Then a few years ago I found Sanctuary… or at least what was left. I began to rebuild the place with the help of the locals. Eventually I became the leader of the city, and formed the Crimson Commando's to as a form of protection. Now Flare Corp. has asked me to lead this expedition on a new planet they've found. Honestly I'm just looking for another adventure. I've been feeling a bit out of place since I came back." Axton said.
This did not make Jim feel any better, in fact something was fishy. But what bugged him the most was the fact that he was now co-leader of a team of misfits; people with no real combat experience. Besides Axton and himself, the only fighting the others may have seen was a school yard fight or a bar brawl. "What are you really here for?" Jim inquired again.
"I told you, I need another adventure." Axton replied.
"Why leave Sanctuary? You rebuild it, become their leader and protector, only to ditch them for some security job any soldier could do?" Jim said inquisitively, "Doesn't make sense."
"Look my reasons are my own." said Axton, whose demeanor had become more serious and less empathetic. "Why don't we head on in and get our brief from the beautiful Janice." he said ushering Jim into the room. The two sat at their seats and Janice began.
"Our target planet is being dubbed T3-TR4, or Tetra. It has just been discovered in the Atlantis Cluster within the last few weeks. This planet is unlike anything we've ever seen before, in that it is still evolving. The planet is growing, and changing." Janice said, as a picture of a holographic planet hovered next to her. It expanded to show all the points of data that had been found by the company's external scans, as well as the info gathered on ground by Alpha team the day prior. "We are sending down a second team of scientist to conduct research no more than seven kilometers away from the first team." A little red blip appeared on the sphere's surface. "You five will follow Axton and Jim's lead in providing personal security for the scientists. Your job is of the upmost importance, keep these researchers alive at all costs." Janice said. The rest of the meeting was logistics and munitions. The who, what, when, where, why, and how of the mission.
Jim left the briefing room and headed to the cafeteria for some chow before their departure. He ate his meal in silence until he was accompanied by The Fridge and Kira. "I'm so ready to get this mission over with, am I right?" Kira said. "Hate my life, darkness."
"Fridge can't wait to kill things." the mammoth woman said before swallowing her trey of food in one foul gulp.
Jim just snorted and remained silent. Kira slurped her soup loudly, and after every bite let out a satisfyingly loud, "Aaaah."
Jim glared at her, "Can you please eat quietly? How old are you?" he snapped.
"Despite looking like a young tween, I'm actually twenty two." she answered. "And I hate this soup like I hate your pink soul."
"Flare Merc angry." Daisy said between large bites.
"My name's Jim, and yeah I'm pissed." he replied.
"Why?" inquired Kira.
"Because I was supposed to lead this mission with my team. Not this rag-tag group of desk-jockeys." Jim said.
The Fridge frowned, more so than normal, "Fridge could crush puny man if like."
Jim shook his head and picked up his trey. He dumped his food and made his way to the shuttle bay.
At the docks Jim met up with Orion, Kentucky, Lumpy, and Axton. He loaded his stuff into the red painted ship; a burnt orange fiery sun on the wing symbolized Flare Corp. Jim plopped down on a bench and kicked his boots up. They waited for Daisy and Kira to show up before the ship pulled out of the station and jumped to light speed.
While soaring through the space-tear, Jim removed his Fox Cutter Leather Revolver from his hip holster as well as his cleaning kit from his cargo pocket and began to clean his weapon. Axton stepped into the rear compartment and gazed around at his team. "Five minutes until we enter Atlantis, then another two till we reach Tetra." he informed. "Be ready for a flyby drop."
Those five minutes went by quickly, and gave birth to a sudden stopping motion in the pit of crew's stomach. This happened every time a ship came out of light speed travel. "Have your gear ready." ordered Jim. The crew slung their packs around their backs and locked and loaded their weapons. The seven-man team stepped into the tele-rings and waited. But just then, there was a violent shutter throughout the ship. The gang braced themselves as the ship continued to shake harder and harder. The ship's hull creaked as it strained against Tetra's surprisingly crushing outer-atmosphere.
"This is your Captain speaking, we are entering T3-TR4's stratosphere and are experiencing some slight turbulence." rang the pilot's voice over the COM. "Please remained seated and have your Gravotron turned on. We'll be making… Aaaah!" the pilot's voice cut out along with a huge chunk from the ship.
"Hold on to something!" shouted Axton. The crew grabbed the nearby railing and braced themselves as the ship spun wildly through the air.
Through the gaping hole in the front of the ship Jim could see the planet's floor growing closer by the minute. He pulled himself to the control panel near his tele-ring. As far as he could see; though his blurring, warped vision, everyone was good-to-go. Jim waited a moment, and then slammed his hand on the button, and with that the whole gang disappeared into pixelated particles.
On the ground six bodies rolled along the grassy jungle floor as they appeared out of thin air. Once the force of the fall fleeted away and the gang was able to stop tumbling, they all awkwardly stumbled to their feet. Through the trees was a loud explosion. The gang watched their ship, or what was left of it go up in flames and smoke. Everyone but Axton and Jim began blowing chunks from the extreme vertigo. "Is everyone okay?" Axton asked taking count. "Wait, where is Daisy?" he inquired.
"Up here Daisy is." the large woman shouted from high above.
The gang looked up and saw all four hundred pounds of The Fridge's thick, blubberous flesh being suspended by a thin, little branch. "How is that even possible?" inquired Kentucky Joe.
The tiny branch holding Daisy up fluttered under her girth then shifted, and suddenly snapped. The Fridge plummeted through the treetops; destroying all vegetation in her path like a bowling ball to pins. She had hit enough branches in her descent to somewhat slow her fall letting her strike the floor with a less than thunderous echo. Her shields flickered then recharged. "Daisy okay." she said standing.
Axton glanced at his watch, which displayed a small holographic map. The entire group was wired in to a GPS system which allowed Axton to sync the location of the scientist with a little yellow triangle. "There's the lab coats," he informed, "they arrived her about an hour before us." Axton said. He walked through the jungle, and the others followed in step. Something didn't feel right about this place, but Jim couldn't quite put his finger on it. At least he wasn't sore about the dump Flare Corp. took on him. He had something, a mission to keep him preoccupied.
"How far are the coats?" Kentucky inquired.
"Just under a kilometer from here." Axton answered.
The gang had pushed through the thick, and yet somehow strangely foreign vegetation for around ten minutes before the sky cracked and echoed. They party looked up and saw a small dot of fire. "What's that?" Kira wondered.
"Looks like a ship…" muttered Jim. And he was correct. As the fireball grew rapidly bigger, the gang saw a giant ship burst into hot-red pieces as it fell out of orbit. "It's going to crash here!" exclaimed Jim. The ship sored overhead creating a blast of hot wind that flattened the trees and bushes and knocked the group off their feet. Fire and debris rained down into the thicket barely missing Jim, Axton, and the others. And then behind a veil of heavy jungle trees, quite a ways away, a gigantic fireball erupted into the air and the ground shook violently with numerous intervolved tremors.
"Big boom!" shouted The Fridge. "Big boom, big boom, big boom…"
"Yeah we got it." Jim cut in. He watched the enormous pillar of smoke billow into the air, "Sucks for those folks." he whispered.
"We should go check on them." Kira insisted. "See if their souls remain in their shells."
"Let's reach our doctors first," said Axton, "once we have them we can go see if anyone survived that crash." And with that, the seven continued onward to their yellow triangle.
