Chapter 7: Fall from Heaven

MOTHER OF INVENTION HANGAR A1

MANY YEARS AGO

"No, no!" Four Seven Niner yelled crossly, "This one goes here, that one goes there!"

The trooper gave an annoyed sigh as he started pushing the crate he'd been hauling back the way he'd come. Four Seven Niner rolled her eyes and resumed the preflight checks on her Pelican. Good helpers were so hard to come by...

She then heard the sounds of affable chatter and she turned to see Carolina, Rhode, North, South, York and Washington entering the hangar.

"Wrecked him?" York was saying, "It near killed him."

"York, how many times are we gonna have to listen to this story?" Rhode sighed, "Get a new one."

"We ready?" Carolina called to the pilot.

"Just about," Four Seven Niner replied, "Running final checks now..."

"Alright, you heard her!" Carolina yelled to her team, "Everyone on board!"

"About time," Rhode cried.

"Great," Wash muttered.

"Alright," North beamed.

"C'mon D, let's go," York said to his AI, ""Let's get this mission going."

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, hang on a minute," Four Seven Niner jumped down from the Pelican and pointed to Delta, "What is that thing?"

"This is Delta, our new addition," York replied.

"Your new addition is pretty small."

"I said the same thing," Wash muttered to himself.

"Delta is a computer program," Rhode explained, "He helps us figure stuff out. He's an AI."

"Oh, AI, huh?" the pilot asked, folding her arms, "What's the 'A' stand for?"

"Artificial."

"I know what it stands for!" Four Seven Niner snapped, "What's it doing here? Isn't it like one of those robots who takes people's jobs and puts them out of work?"

York frowned, "I don't think so."

Four Seven Niner was about to make a snappy retort when she spotted the trooper staring at Delta, "What are you looking at?! I said put it over there, pay attention!"

With a groan, the trooper turned and continued pulling the crate.

"Hey guys," Carolina called from the bay door, "Get a move on."

"Hang on a minute." Four Seven Niner turned to Delta, "You, green guy, do you know how to fly a plane?"

Delta looked slightly baffled, "No, I do not."

"Oh, right, we're cool then," Four Seven Niner said with some relief, "Everyone on board!"

As the Freelancers ran into the Pelican's loading bay, the trooper called out to the pilot, "Is this okay?"

"Not over there, over here!" Four Seven Niner sighed, "Just quit screwing around and put that thing back where you found it."

"Oh man..." the trooper sighed, slamming his head onto the crate.

The pilot made her way into the flight deck and strapped herself into the pilot's seat next to Carolina.

"This is Four Seven Niner," she announced on her radio, "We are wheels up and engine's hot. Leave a light on for us, Command."

"Roger that, Four Seven Niner," the radio operator replied, "Good luck."

"Thanks, command. Four Seven Niner out," As she switched off the radio, she shook her head, "Man, I would hate to have that guy's job."

With that, she switched on the engines and the Pelican took off out of the hangar and out into the depths of space...

XXX

As the Pelican entered the planet's atmosphere, York felt the ship judder with the turbulence and turned to the flight deck, "We parking?"

"Indeed we are," Four Seven Niner replied, "The enemy base is right below us."

"How far below?" Wash called.

"Do you really wanna know?"

"Probably not... do I want to know?"

"Seventy-five thousand feet."

Wash gulped nervously, "Uh, that's high."

"No wonder you guys need a computer program," Four Seven Niner muttered to herself, "Yes, that's very high."

"That is approximately 14.2 miles," Delta added.

"Thanks, D," York sighed, "You don't need to do that anymore."

"Automatic conversion routines, offline."

In the flight deck, Carolina climbed out of the co-pilot's seat, "What's the plan?"

"Well, we know they're ready for us," the pilot replied, "So I figure they have defenses pointed in every direction. Except..."

Carolina quickly got her meaning, "Except... they're probably not looking straight up."

Four Seven Niner nodded, "They're probably not looking straight up."

"You thinking about a dive-bomb?"

"Oh no," Wash cried.

"Sort of," Four Seven Niner replied, "But if we did a dive-bomb, our engines would register on their thermals and let them know that we're coming. I'm thinking... something else."

Carolina patted the pilot's shoulder for luck then ran into the rear bay and sat next to Wash, "Probably wanna tighten that harness."

"Oh no!" Wash cried again, as the Freelancers lowered their harnesses over their chests.

"Express elevator goin' down!" With that, Four Seven Niner cut the power in the engines and the Pelican abruptly stopped in midair then plummeted towards the ground at breakneck pace.

As the whole ship began to shudder, Wash clung onto his harness like his life depended on it, "I think I'm gonna be sick!"

"You know these suits are supposed to eliminate all waste," Carolina called, "You could probably throw up in your helmet and it would take care of it for you!"

"Yeah!" Rhode teased, "You should test that, Wash!"

"You two are jerks!" Wash snapped.

"Actually, Rhode," Delta cut in, "We were never able to get the vomit disposal patch beyond beta. Agent Washington would likely drown."

"Yikes," York grimaced, "Way to kill the mood, D."

"Hey York," Four Seven Niner called out, "Send that little green guy up here."

"D, you heard her! Front and center!"

With a nod, Delta disappeared from York's shoulder then reappeared on the flight deck's console, "May I be of assistance?"

"Hey, buddy," Four Seven Niner said, "I need you to tell me when I can fire the jets at the last possible second. You know, to avoid crashing."

"Please don't say crashing!" Wash yelled.

"I understand," Delta replied, "To prepare, I will need to calibrate your reaction time."

"Fine," Four Seven Niner replied, "Go ahead."

"When I say 'mark', you say 'sync'. Mark."

"Sync."

"Mark."

"Sync!"

"Calibration complete."

"So, we're good?"

"I have high degree of confidence we will be able to complete this maneuver," As he spoke, Delta's body suddenly flashed off for just a split-second then on again.

"Wait a second," Four Seven Niner cried, "Why did you just blink like that?"

"That was just a standard maintenance routine," Delta replied.

"Dude, did you just make a backup of yourself?"

"Confidence is one thing, but it is always prudent to prepare for failure."

The pilot shook her head. "That's a jerk move, green guy."

"I apologize if I have offended-"

"Jerk. Move."

"Prepare to fire engines on my mark." Four Seven Niner grabbed the lever as Delta began the countdown, "Five, four, three-"

In the bay, the Freelancers braced themselves for impact...

XXX

On the edge of the docks, two Insurrectionist soldiers stood on guard, keeping their eyes out for an attack.

For a while, they were silent then one soldier turned to his teammate and spoke, "Hey."

"Yeah?" the other soldier asked.

"You ever wonder why-" Suddenly, a Pelican dropped down right behind them, its jets firing at just the last second.

"First floor!" Four Seven Niner called to her passengers as she opened the bay doors, "Everyone out!"

"Go, go, go!" York yelled, snatching up his shotgun as he led the charge out, "Let's move people!"

Carolina meanwhile pressed a button on her hip then braced herself against the wall, "Yeah, let's move."

At once, her speed unit kicked in and she charged out the bay, grabbing onto the Pelican's underside before propelling herself down, and landed right in the middle of some gathered Insurrectionists. The other Freelancers landed beside her, whipped out their weapons and charged right into the fray.

Just then, two Warthogs armed with gauss-guns came roaring onto the dock and the soldiers fired a blast at them, sending the Freelancers flying back. Rhode quickly hopped on some boxes to get to higher ground. Quickly, Carolina ran up to the nearest car and used it to leapfrog up to the higher platform next to Rhode.

Meanwhile, the twins took cover by a large crate.

"South, stay behind me!" North ordered, as he fired at the Warthogs to draw their fire away from Carolina, "Go, go, go!"

Wash and York ran around another container and charged towards the jeeps.

"York, move up!" Wash yelled.

"On it!" York charged forward but was then thrown back into the crate by an explosion and slumped to the ground, "Screw grenades..."

Wash quickly ran right in the middle of the Warthogs and clenched his fist, making it glow with a bright blue light, and then he slammed his hand into the ground, sending out a pulse of energy. Suddenly the Warthogs' engines erupted into sparks and stalled. The gunners leapt down from behind the turrets, only to be taken out by South. By then, York had recovered and he and Wash charged for the main shipyard.

XXX

In the observation room, C.T. watched the battle in horror, "They're here! I didn't think they'd find me so quickly!"

"It was only a matter of time," Mark muttered, "Let's deal with this!"

He crossed over to an intercom and switched it on, "All hands topside! We are under attack, this is not a drill! Let's go people, MOVE!!!"

XXX

Outside, Carolina whipped out her plasma rifles and fired at the gathering soldiers from the roof but then Rhode pulled her back as the snipers opened fire on her.

Below her, Wash and York ducked behind a shipping container as another Gauss Warthog came into the dock.

"We've got to time it just right!" Wash ordered, "Wait for my mark!"

"Call it," York replied.

Meanwhile, the four snipers continued to fire at Carolina and Rhode as Sniper stepped forward, raising his rifle, "Okay, what have you got for me?"

He fired a shot and just missed Carolina's head as she ducked behind the crate.

"Alright, boys, me first!" she pulled out a grenade and threw it at the snipers but Sniper turned and fired it right out of midair.

"Now!" Wash and York dashed out of cover and fired at the snipers, only to be driven back by the Warthog, "No, wait! Not now, not now!"

"Come on!" York groaned.

"Crap!" As Carolina ducked another shot from H.S., she quickly got on the radio, "North, we're pinned down, I need you to take them out!"

By the disabled Warthog, North observed the situation through his sniper scope.

"I can't get a line of sight on the target from here..." He then gave a cheeky smile, "But I might have a way to contain them."

"Just do it!" Carolina ordered.

North stepped back and started pressing a button on his right wrist, "Theta!"

At the word, Theta appeared in a flourish of fireworks, "Ready!"

"I'm putting up a hail-Mary! I need you to guide me!"

"Okay!"

North then pulled out a device from his armor and Theta jumped right into it, making it glow purple. He then stepped back and looked up at the snipers.

"They say the best offense, is a good defense!"

And he hurled the device as hard as he could. The device flew high up into the air before turning and landing right behind the snipers.

"What the...?" Sniper gasped.

Then suddenly the snipers were surrounded by North's Domed Energy Shield.

"Hold your fire, people!" Sniper warned his team, "Stand down."

At his command, the snipers lowered their weapons but one sniper whipped out his SMG, "I got this."

"No, wait!" Sniper cried.

But it was too late. The soldier fired his gun and the bullet bounced off the shield and hit him in the head. As he fell, the gun kept firing and the bullets ricocheted all around the shield, taking down the others. Carolina and Rhode watched as the inside of the shield became coated with blood then it switched off and the snipers fell to the ground dead.

"Did I get 'em?" North asked over her radio.

"Yeah, North," Rhode replied, "You got 'em."

North chuckled and turned to his AI partner as he reappeared on his shoulder, "Thanks for the help, Theta."

"You are welcome," Theta replied.

"Okay, we're moving!" North alerted the others, "York, you guys can handle it from here, right?"

"Handle it? Sure," York replied with false nonchalance, "I mean, I nearly got blown up a minute ago, and now I'm paired with the squad's second worst fighter. But sure, we can handle."

"Great! North out."

Wash turned to York, looking rather hurt, "You really think I'm the second worst fighter?"

"No, I was being nice," York retorted, "You're easily the worst."

Just then, he was punched to the side by a black fist.

"You were saying?" Wash then turned and found himself face to face with the burly Sleeveless, "Uh oh."

Sleeveless then knocked Wash down next to York before pulling out a rocket launcher and firing. As the Freelancers dived out the way, Wash fired his battle rifle and shot the launcher out of Sleeveless' arms. Then a Warthog barreled onto the dock and turned its turret towards them.

"Uh oh," Wash gulped as he jumped to his feet and ran off, the Warthog in hot pursuit, "CAR!!!"

"Dang it!" York got to his feet and fired at Sleeveless, but the Insurrectionist ducked the blast and knocked the shotgun out of his hands before rugby-tackling him to the ground.

Carolina opened fire at Sleeveless who simply rolled away from the shots then her rifles began to overheat.

Rhode spotted Wash being chased by the Warthog, driven by Blondie and Red Leader, "Oh crap. No you don't!"

He and Carolina leapt down from the balcony and Rhode kicked Blondie off the turret then pounced forward but Blondie kicked him off. Quickly regaining her footing after landing, Carolina raised her plasma rifles and fired but Red Leader backed the Warthog in front of Blondie, blocking the hits.

Then he raised a shotgun in his robotic arm and pointed it to Rhode, "Sup. It's payback time!"

Rhode stared at the robot arm, "Copycat..."

Carolina and Rhode dived out of the way of the shot but then Blondie opened fire with her pistol.

Nearby, York got up and ran for his shotgun but nearly ran into Sleeveless. He quickly pounded into the Insurrectionist with powerful punches then knocking him aside, he grabbed up his shotgun and pounded it into Blondie's gut before raising it up and cocking it. But then Blondie ducked down as Red Leader sent his jeep into a swerve and bashed York back into the crate.

"Oh, my head," York groaned as he slumped to the ground.

On the other side of the crate, Wash assessed the situation then pulled out a small pad from his belt, "Okay, time to fight fire with fire!"

With that, he threw the pad out into the battlefield and then pressed a button on his wrist.

As Blondie and Sleeveless charged towards Carolina and Rhode, the pad between them began to flash a red light... and then a huge drop-pod came crashing down right on top of it. Blondie and Sleeveless skidded to a stop at the crash then whirled round to stare at the pod. Then the hatch was kicked open, just missing Blondie as it soared over her head, and she and Sleeveless looked up... to see the six-foot figure of Agent Maine stepping out of the pod, growling as he stared at the Insurrectionists.

Then Sigma appeared on his right shoulder, "Agent Maine, isn't that the soldier from the freeway, the one that shot you in the throat?"

Maine closed his eyes and growled again, the Insurrectionists reflected on his EVA visor. Then he opened them again, showing a cold and lifeless stare.

"I thought so," Sigma smirked. "Sic 'em."

Maine gave a terrifying roar and charged straight towards the soldiers.

XXX

And you have gotten Maine mad, good sir. You are already dead. Till next time guys!