A/N: Finally an update, be sure to let me know what you think.
This mission had really gone to hell in a hand basket, it was supposed to be a simple black op, get in, get the information, and get the hell out of dodge. But instead of a rag tag group of insurrectionists they had walked into an extremely well equipped and heavy guarded facility. With only herself, Maine, and the new guy Washington their objective would be near impossible for them to reach. But Carolina was not going to let some bad Intel put a blemish on her otherwise pristine record. The plan was the same, the number of soldiers and how well they were equipped did not change that.
As they moved farther into the compound, things went from complicated to outright chaotic. Washington had accidently announced their presence to the enemy with an extremely load sneeze, Maine and Carolina slowly turned to face their fellow agent. The air was quiet and full of tension, time seemed to slow down as the enemy trained their eyes on the freelancers in the courtyard they were crossing; Washington had chosen the worst possible time to blow what little cover they had, the whole courtyard reverberated with the sound of insurrection flipping the safety off their battle rifles. A moment later the thunderous roar of gunfire filled the area, the freelancer trio dove behind an armored car.
"Way to go rookie" Maine snapped at Washington.
"I'm sorry it snuck up on me!" He cried back desperate to defend himself.
"Knock it off you two, we have to readjust our plan. Maine and Washington you run distraction in the court yard, keep them busy I'm going to access the building from the side. It's going to take longer than our original plan, so don't hold back if you can wipe them out it'd be great" Carolina said the last part with an edge of sarcasm, but Maine just smirked behind his golden visor as he pulled out two grenades.
"Get ready to run" was all the warning he gave as he pull the pins and lobbed the explosives over their armored cover, they landed neatly in the bed of a truck loaded with several fuel barrels, the resulting explosion thundered through the court yard and turned it into a fiery bedlam. With all eyes trained on the monster getting ready to tear into their ranks Carolina activated her enhancements and was off sprinting past to mayhem towards her goal.
As Carolina left the battle field Maine cracked his neck got ready to cut loose, he quickly grabbed a flaming barrel and hurled it into a small group of startled soldiers. Moving swiftly he snatched up a belt of grenades as well as a semi-automatic shogun from the fallen men, with a savage grin plastered on his face, he off to do what he was best at.
Most of the men before him didn't have time to react when he started his assault, moving and firing with precise and deft actions Maine quickly picked off those unfortunate enough to be near him. He had a brutal and efficient not wasting a single bullet, as he drew closing to the bulk of soldiers assembled he brought his shotgun up and tore through them like they were tissue paper.
However the shock of the sudden assault wore off and the insurrectionist rallied and began to fight back against the freelancer approaching them with ill intent. As they began to fight back Maine's mindset shifted from direct attack to a more mobile version. He sprinted and slide behind an outdated looking tanks popping up periodically to take pot shots at the forces before him. While behind his cover Maine had a moment to breath and scan his surrounds. Taking note of scaffolding that rimmed the courtyard, he pulled the pins from two of his pilfered grenades and lobbed the explosives from behind his cover and with burst of speed he ran and leapt grabbed onto the railing of his target and with little effort hauled his massive frame onto the scaffolding.
Maine quickly emptied his shotgun into the offending forces before him before pitching the now empty weapon at some unfortunate soul. The weapon collided with the man's visor and punch a hole clean through it and before his body even hit the floor Maine had snatched his rifle from him and began to once more rain death down on the men in to courtyard, his task was made a great deal easier now that he had gained the high ground.
As the enemies before his dwindled so did his ammo, before long his rifles were out of bullets and resorted to using hiss side arm, and with almost a wicked pleasure he drew his custom bowie knife from its scabbard on his chest. A tungsten carbide blade; a great deal heavier than steel but much stronger, to man like him it felt like a feather in his grasp.
With true aim and a swift hand Maine continued to cut through his foes. A bullet through the visor, a blade up under the armpit and into the heart, the whole thing was a savage dance to the massive freelance. When he finished with the man before him, he noticed a sniper across the courtyard with their sights trained on him. There was only time for a single thought 'Shit' before the loud ring of a high caliber sniper round sung through the air and the sniper dropped. At that moment he heard a voice in his earpiece.
"I got your back big guy" Washington spoke almost cheerfully as he fired again and again picking off those unfortunate to come across his sights.
"Good work" Maine responded simply before setting back to work clearing the courtyard.
As Carolina sprinted through the halls of the compound, she was slightly disconcerted with how little resistance she had met on her way to her objective. That was until she heard yet another explosion from outside and the yelling of insurrection followed by an announcement over the intercom system calling for all available troops the court yard. She couldn't help but smirk at the idea of Maine single handedly putting down a whole base of insurrectionist.
After a few minutes of sprinting through the winding corridors of the enemy's base she found her target. A control room guarded by only two soldiers; for moment she thought it odd before remembering the mayhem going on outside, with little effort she dispatched the two guards before approaching the large panel before her and plugging the drive to transfer the data they had come for.
While she waited her gaze was drawn to the security monitors before her. The screens showing the hall of the base were completely empty, while by stark contrast the cameras with a view of the outside of the base were bursting with chaos as she watch as Maine and; much to her surprise, Washington made quick work of the insurrectionist. Before long it looked as though the entire base had been cleared of hostiles. Once the transfer had been complete Carolina quickly grabbed the hard drive and made for the exit, while Maine's distraction had done exactly what they needed it also meant reinforcements would likely be inbound soon. Carolina's suspicions were confirmed when she heard Maine's gravelly voice in her ear.
"Carolina one of the insurrectionist was able to get a distress call out, they have a gunship inbound we need to get out now" while his voice betrayed no discernable levels of stress, Carolina knew Maine well enough to know when he was concerned.
"Roger that Maine, I'm on my way out now" she doubled her pace as she responded and quickly made her way out.
She was no longer concerned with stealth as she made her way back to the courtyard. Before long her goal was in sight and her legs carried her even faster than before. However in her haste she neglected to check the area before sprinting into the open area. There was a distant sound of sniper round being fired, and she felt as though she was hit by a trunk. It took her a moment to realize that Maine had tackled her and she had not taken a sniper round. Washington's own rifle rang out as he returned fire and took out enemy sniper.
"Thanks Maine I owe you" she said as they both stood up and he nodded in response before they heard Washington speak.
"Well guys I've got some bad news…" he stared but was cut off by the sudden roar of a gunship approaching them, following by the scream of four mounted chain guns trained on the freelancer.
The three soldiers quickly took cover behind the same tank Maine had used early. With the three of them pinned down Carolina decide whether they should try and run for it or try and take out the gunship before them. Neither option was too appealing but they were left with few options.
"Maine, Wash can you draw their attention…I have a plan" she shouted over the roar of gunfire.
The other freelancers nodded Maine stood up and climbed atop the tank and with a mighty pull he tore the roof door off the tank and stood before the gunship firing at them with a scavenged handgun gun using the tank door as makeshift shield. With all the guns trained on the massive freelancer Carolina once again activated her armor and sprinted off to the side of the building.
Swiftly she climbed the side of and began to quickly run along the rooftop. As she ran he chanced a glance back a Maine. The combined force of four heavy machine guns was starting to tear through the heavy tank door. But despite the amount of force of Maine held his ground and was not driven back; the image invoked in Carolina's mind of a knight facing a dragon, but she dispelled the thought, she had a mission to do.
While the gunners on the ship were distracted Carolina leapt from the roof of the compound and drover her knife into the steel haul. The pilot must have heard her as the ship started to rock as he tried to shack her off, but the efforts did them no good as she pulled herself up onto the top of ship and activated the magnets in her boots. Acting quickly she drew two grenades and pulled the pins, and with an almost carefree attitude she tossed them into intakes of the engines before hoping off and landing before she sprinted towards Maine gesturing for him to take cover.
The moment they were behind cover the gunship went down in flames behind them. The resulting crash ejected an enormous amount of heat and shrapnel. They didn't take the time to survey the damage, more soldiers were likely inbound and they were not about to stick around. As they ran to their extraction point Carolina put out the call.
"Four Seven Niner we need extraction, we have encountered hostiles with reinforcements in bound" her voice calm and even.
"Roger that Carolina we will be ready when you arrive"
The three of them sprinted full tilt towards their destination when they heard the roar of another gunship inbound. As they ran they once again heard the sound of a sniper rifle followed by a scream from Washington.
"I'M HIT! I"M DOWN" he shouted as he fell to the ground. Without hesitation Maine grabbed the back of his armor and through him over his shoulder as he continued to sprint.
"Where you hit rookie?" he inquired to the injured solider draped over his shoulder.
"THEY SHOT ME IN THE ASS" he screamed in distress, and Maine couldn't help but chuckle a little that this fact "IT'S NOT FUNNY"
Before Washington could say anything else another bullet whizzed past the fleeing trio as they leapt over various obstacles on their escape route. Another clipped Maine's helmet and he let out a growl of aggravation, it was taking a lot of self-control for him not to drop Wash and try and take out the offending sniper.
They came to a steep hill and without missing a beat they leapt and slid down the incline that lead to a clearing below were their ride would be waiting. Sure enough the ship was there idling waiting to extract them. Just as they reach the ship they heard more shots being fired behind them. Without delay they boarded and Maine drop Washington without ceremony.
"Let's get out here there hot on our tail" Carolina's voice was slightly elevated but she managed to remain composed.
"Sure enough, strap in kiddies this is going to be a little rough" Four Seven Niner said in her normal tone as the engine roared, the moment they were all secured they took off like a shot. The ship rattled at the sudden jolt of speed as they approached escape velocity, but before long the ride smoothed out and while they were not entirely out of danger they could start to relax. Once they reached orbit Carolina unbuckled herself and went to the control panel at the front of the ship and sent out a call to the director.
"Director sir this is agent Carolina reporting in, our mission was successful, we obtained the intel and we are inbound back to base." There was a moment of silence on the other end before the director responded in his normal drawl.
"Well done Carolina, you have met all my expectations, I will see you when you get back for a full debriefing"
"Thank you sir, Carolina out" she replied evenly, she was not sure whether or not she should have brought up the bad intel, but had decided it could wait until they got back to base. After turning of the radio, she went back to her seat and was getting ready to try and relax when she noticed a stream of crimson coming from Maine's side and she quickly stood up and went over to examine it.
"Maine your hit, when did you…the sniper, you took the round for me when I left the compound" she said sounding guilty recalling when Maine had talked her earlier. Regaining herself she delivered a hardy punch to his shoulder "I told you before that I don't need you to look after me, you're lucky you didn't get yourself killed" she said in a huff, but Maine just chuckled.
"Too tough" he said a grin on his face as he lightly beat his chest with one hand. This earned a small smirk from Carolina. Slowly she stood up and addressed their pilot.
"Alright, let's get back to base before these two idiots bleed to death"
"Roger that captain" Four Seven Niner responded with a hint of sarcasm in her voice as they head back to headquarters.