Chapter 6: Along Came a Spider
All around the city of Armonia, the Federal Army and the New Republic scrambled to get ready for their journey to Crash Site Alpha. With help from the Reds and Washington, everyone was nearly ready to go.
In the garage, Kimball approached two Fed soldiers loading some weapons into a Warthog, "Alright men, let's get this Hog lined up with the others."
"Uh, have you filled out the vehicle request forms?" asked one Fed.
"What are you talking about?" Kimball cried.
"The Federal Army follows a very strict regime when it comes to requesting weapons and vehicles," the second Fed explained.
"Well, this isn't the Federal Army."
"Tell me about it," the first Fed muttered bitterly.
Kimball's eyes narrowed in anger, "Listen, you little-"
"You two!" Washington yelled, coming into the garage, "Why isn't this Warthog over with the rest of the vehicles?"
"Oh, Agent Washington!" the second Fed gasped, snapping to attention.
"We will get right on that, sir," the first Fed agreed.
"Good," Wash nodded as the two Feds climbed into the jeep, "Now, is there anything you feel like you should say to General Kimball?"
The two Feds looked at each other and then down at Kimball.
"Nope!" the first Fed stated, starting the jeep and driving rapidly away.
"Hey!" Wash snapped, running to the entrance.
But the Feds were gone. Wash shook his head with a sigh. He'd offered to stay to with Kimball, partly because of his disciplinary skills, but mostly because for such a dangerous mission, the two armies needed the strategic planning of a Freelancer. The trouble was, the Feds were so used to following Doyle's orders that they weren't too eager to follow anyone else, especially not from the leader of their greatest foes.
"Remind me to put those two on the front line," Kimball growled, visor-palming.
"Don't you start too," Wash warned.
"I told you they won't listen! They're just a bunch of mindless drones that do whatever Doyle tells them to do."
"And you're the leader of the cave-dwelling savages that blow things up to get what they want."
"You know that's not true."
"Well, you haven't done anything to prove them wrong yet, have you?"
Kimball stepped closer to the ex-Freelancer, "Agent Washington, I'd appreciate it if you didn't lecture me on how to make friends with the enemy."
Wash raised an eyebrow, "The enemy?"
"You know what I mean," Kimball sighed, turning away.
Wash sighed and put a hand on her shoulder, "We're all on the same side here, Kimball. Have some faith. If you start believing in them, maybe they'll start believing in you."
"Yeah," Kimball replied slowly, nodding, "Maybe."
At that moment, another jeep drove past the garage.
"Ethcuthe me," called the driver with a pronounced lisp, "Vehicle coming through."
"Please tell me that wasn't Jensen," Wash groaned.
As if in reply, there was suddenly a screech of tires followed by a loud crash.
"OH COME ON!" Simmons yelled out.
"Thorry!" Jensen cried.
Kimball and Wash ran out into the road to find Grif and Simmons standing next to a massive car pile-up. Then they spotted Jensen climbing out of the bottom jeep.
"How?!" Simmons yelled in utter disbelief, "How was that possible?! You were going like five miles an hour!"
"Uh, I'm thorry, thir," Jensen muttered, "Just bad luck, I gueth?"
"Yeah," Palomo groaned, pulling himself out of another wrecked Hog, "Uh, just so you know, I'm fine."
At that moment, another jeep came around the corner, smacking into Palomo as it came to a stop.
"Uh, is this where we are parking the cars?" called Bitters behind the wheel.
XXX
CHORUS
UNSETTLED TERRITORY
"Epsilon?" Carolina called out, "Hey, Church!"
"Huh, what?" Epsilon asked quickly, looking away from the horizon, "What?"
"I said, is this where we're parking?" Carolina stated.
Epsilon took a moment to glance around the jungle clearing that the jeeps had stopped by, "Oh yeah, this is it."
"Sweet, we're here?" Tucker cried, climbing out of the Warthog that he and Caboose were sharing.
"Nah, just a pit stop," Epsilon said as Carolina, Rhode, and Dr. Grey got out their car, "We need to refill the jeeps while we have some cover. There should be some gas cans in the back."
"You told me those were lemonade cans," Caboose said accusingly.
"What?" Epsilon cried, "When?"
"The first week we met."
"Oh," Epsilon chuckled uneasily, "Caboose, have you been drinking-"
"The first gulp was pretty rough," Caboose admitted, "But you know, I didn't want you guys to think you made bad lemonade."
"Well, that explains the crap out of your birthday candles," Rhode said.
"Yeah, I wished I was a dragon," Caboose laughed, "It was the best birthday ever."
As Dr. Grey took out some gas cans from the back of the jeeps and handed them to Tucker, Carolina went over to the edge of the forest that they'd stopped by, "Hey, Epsilon."
"What's up, C?" Epsilon asked, flashing onto her shoulder.
"Wanna run some more equipment training?"
"What? Right now?"
"Might as well while we're stopped. It's good knowing the bubble shield works, but I still feel like my deployment time could be better."
"Carolina, you're fine," Epsilon insisted, "Just relax, alright?"
"But-"
"Hey, hey, Carolina, come on," Epsilon cut in, appearing in front of her visor, "You know how you used to be, okay? You start pushing yourself too far, you're gonna get hurt. And the last thing we need right now is another stupid injury."
Carolina bowed her head, looking down at the leg that Felix had stabbed a few weeks ago, "So come on, take it easy. Loosen up."
"Loosen up, right," Carolina muttered.
Epsilon frowned, "Hey, are you doing okay?"
"Okay," Tucker called out, "We're ready to go."
"Oh, that was fast," Epsilon beamed, "You filled up our car too?"
"Yeah, I gave it to both of them. Bow chicka bow-" Tucker paused when he realized that Carolina was saying his line at the same time.
"Wow... What?" Carolina asked, "That's the joke, right?"
"Did she just say my thing?" Tucker breathed while Rhode stared in shock.
"Um, no," Caboose replied, "Uh, Tucker, that's 'Hey chicka bum bum'. Awkward."
"You said to loosen up!" Carolina hissed to Epsilon.
"That's a little too loose," Rhode mumbled, "Just tighten that back up a little bit."
"I feel violated," Tucker grumbled, as they got back into their cars.
XXX
Many miles away, Felix was also feeling in a very sour mood. Once he and Locus had worked out the coordinates on the map, they'd left Jackson in charge of guarding the tractor beam and taken their teams of scientists on separate Pelicans to their destination. But on the way, Control had called them again, harshly insisting on speaking to them both.
"I can't stand this jerk," Felix muttered crossly.
"He's our employer," Locus reminded him.
"Still a jerk."
"Felix," Locus snapped.
"Whatever," Felix sighed, flicking a switch on the computer terminal, "Let's just get this over with."
The screen on the terminal turned on, eventually showing the image of an office on board the Staff of Charon. In one corner, an assortment of objects could be seen in display cases, including a pistol, a black helmet with a hole in its visor, a purple capsule marked with the epsilon symbol, a massive grenade-launcher with a blade on one end, and a large round monitor. And standing in front of his desk in the middle of the office, looking very impatient and utterly ticked off, was their employer, Chairman Hargrove.
"Control, this is Chorus transmitting on a secure feed, over," Locus announced.
"Locus and Felix," the Chairman stated, notes of irritation lacing his British accented voice, "I was beginning to wonder if you were purposefully neglecting my transmissions."
"What, neglect you?" Felix burst out laughing, in a desperate attempt to hide his seething anger, "Chairman, please! Never in a million years! We were just... kinda in the middle of something."
"Oh, I'm terribly sorry, Felix," the Chairman apologized sarcastically, walking towards his desk, "I know exactly how frustrating it is to be interrupted. Just this morning, I met with a client who was very interested in our new Suppressor sub-machine guns..."
At this point, he snatched a very damaged futuristic gun, "...until the bloody thing BLEW UP IN HIS HANDS!"
Felix gave Locus a nervous glance.
He'd been hoping that the freak incident had only occurred across the planet, but now the Chairman had just proven that this wasn't indeed the case, "Gosh, you know, we are so sorry to hear that, sir. But it kinda sounds like you should take that up with your science team."
"Oh I did," the Chairman stated firmly, tossing the rifle aside, "In fact, I spoke with the members stationed with you on Chorus. They seem to believe that the colonists and their heroes-"
he spat out that last word like it tasted poisonous in his mouth, "-are responsible for the incident. Last I checked, you are responsible for them."
"We are taking care of the situation," Locus reassured, as usual unswayed by the Chairman's tones.
"Are you?" the Chairman asked curtly, raising an eyebrow, "When I hired you, I was promised perfection. I was told that you were the best! Everything we had on your backgrounds and previous missions told me, you were the right choice! But, here we are."
"Sir-" Locus began but the Chairman cut him off.
"Is it lack of resources? Are the ships I've redirected to your front door not helpful?! What about the armor enhancements?! Stopping bullets in their tracks, vanishing into thin air; are these gifts not good enough for you?!"
"It's... complicated," Felix muttered weakly.
"No, it isn't! In fact, it's remarkably simple! Everything I've built, everything I've worked towards, rests upon a strong foundation. An intricate web of partners, politicians and clients, each supporting one another. And right now... your thread is straining to support the rest."
The Chairman paused to catch his breath then looked up at the screen with a smile, "I think I know what the problem is. I think, it's your motivation. Clearly your monetary compensation isn't enough. So I'd like to try something different."
He then turned to his computer, "FILSS?"
"Yes, Chairman," came the AI's very submissive reply.
Next to the Chairman, a panel in the floor slid open and a large pod rose up in a cloud of steam.
The Chairman smiled as the glass in the pod parted aside, "Do you have any idea what this is?"
Locus didn't reply immediately, but Felix gasped when he saw the pod's contents. Inside was a full suit of white EVA-Class armor, taller than him, with orange shoulder pads. But it was the helmet that truly gave away its original owner; a large dome of visor-grade glass, making it look more like a fishbowl than the usual helmets the Reds and Blues wore.
"The armor of Freelancer Agent Maine," Locus stated.
"The Meta," Felix breathed.
"Not anymore," the Chairman replied, "This is the future of modern warfare. Active camouflage, enhanced strength, light shields; Dr. Church paired each of his Freelancers with specialized equipment, but with our modifications, this suit contains all of them."
"I thought that wasn't possible," Felix pointed out.
"Not initially," the Chairman admitted, "The armor enhancements had to be removed and studied in secret, so that we could create the modified versions you both carry now. The variations reduced power consumption significantly, solving a large portion of the puzzle."
"But it's still not ready," Locus said.
"No, not yet. Individually our new equipment can be activated without AI assistance, but tests have shown that running multiple enhancements proves to be far more taxing on the mind than we anticipated."
"So what?" Felix asked hopefully, "You want us to capture the Epsilon AI?"
"Recovering Freelancer equipment is always a priority, Felix, but the Epsilon unit is far too old to run this suit properly. I'm doing my best to secure an AI through legitimate means, but even with my political influence, the acts of the late Dr. Church have made AI acquisition an extremely difficult process. But it's only a matter of time..."
The Chairman rubbed his hand on the armor then he turned to the mercs, "Which brings me back to my point. If the two of you can successfully complete your mission before this suit is ready, Charon Industries is willing to lend you the completed model for your own use, as a form of 'field testing'."
"Ho ho, become a one-man walking weapon?" Felix chuckled excitedly, "I like the sound of that!"
The Chairman's face then became so deadly serious that his eyes could penetrate solid steel, "However, if you fail to eliminate the remaining stragglers on Chorus, then we will find another candidate to test the suit. And their first task will be finishing what you started, as well as tying up any loose ends. Do I make myself clear?"
"Crystal," the two mercs replied.
"Good," With a final smile, the Chairman ended the transmission.
"What'd I tell ya?" Felix grunted, "Freaking jerk."
At that moment, they felt the Pelican landing and Felix immediately ran to the back as the ramp opened. He then realized that Locus wasn't following him.
"Hey!" he called out, "Let's see what this map led us to."
"Right," Locus replied, stepping out into the light.
Felix paused for a moment before he exited. In that moment Locus'd spoken, he'd seemed very... distracted. Was he perhaps worried about the Chairman's last warning?
After a while, he shook his head. It was probably nothing. And with that, he stepped out of the Pelican and stood next to Locus, gazing down at the giant alien temple in the middle of a heavy jungle, already swarming with Space Pirates...
XXX
Oh no... That definitely ain't good. Till next time guys!
