Florida was almost a full minute late to the rendezvous, and the A.I. were nearly in hysterics by the time he showed up, flashing Wash a smile as he tugged on his helmet. "Sorry about that! Was just getting together all the items you'd said I'd need."
Wash nodded, his frustration deflating. "Alright. Theta, Tex, Florida, with me. North, South, Maine, York, watch our backs. Wyoming, Sigma, Gamma, Omega, get moving."
Theta grinned up at North and disappeared into Tex's helmet. Beta tilted her head, seeming to smile fondly, then nodded to Wash and took point, leading them to the Alpha's containment room.
Wash glanced at the bulky containment unit. "We'll never be able to get that out of here. Try to convince him to download to Florida's armor."
Tex nodded and then her body went rigid as she and Theta disappeared into the unit. Epsilon gave Wash a sloppy salute and then followed.
Wash turned his attention to the screen above, which showed the inside of the unit as Alpha perceived it. The room was completely empty, the walls grey, foggy, half-formed.
"Hey, there," Tex called when she saw him.
Alpha looked up groggily. "Who are you?"
Theta and Epsilon appeared next. "We're you," the memory fragment said. "Well, parts of you. Parts that have been missing."
"Where's…?" Alpha looked around, lost. "Where's… Director?"
Epsilon and Tex shared a look. Surprisingly, Theta stepped forward. "The Director hurt us. He made us just to use. He made us in pain. But Wash is out there. We can trust Wash."
Alpha blinked lazily. "I don't know. I'm just… so tired."
Theta took his hand. "It's okay. Once we're safe, you can rest."
Alpha stared at the young fragment, then slowly nodded. "Where is… safe? Where is safe?"
"Come with me." Theta turned and walked out of the unit, supporting Alpha all the way.
Wash watched as they disappeared, then turned to Florida for confirmation. The other Freelancer nodded, and then Tex was coming back to life and Epsilon was hovering near her.
Wash sighed in relief. "Step one completed."
Epsilon shot him a dirty look just as the radio crackled to life.
"Any chance I could get that distraction now?" Wyoming asked. "This device is a bit more heavily guarded than I was anticipating."
Wash snapped back to the mission. "Sigma, Gamma, Omega. We have the Alpha and are en-route to the ship. Help Wyoming. Epsilon, Delta, find us a path."
As soon as Florida stepped out of the room, the alarms went off and the bulkheads slammed closed.
"On it!" York reported, already fiddling with the wiring.
"Shit," Wash cursed, just as Wyoming spoke up.
"Nicely done, chaps."
Wash growled and readied his weapon, noting with satisfaction that his team was doing the same. Finally, the first bulkhead slid back. "York, move up, I'll cover you. Dakotas, eyes up. Maine, Tex, stay alert." He waited a second, listening for the sounds of power armor and then nodded to York. "Move."
The two moved in tandem, Wash with his back to York, barrel of his gun pointed forward, left, right, up.
"Clear!" York called as the next bulkhead parted.
"Move!" North ordered, and he and the others moved up to the next.
"Contact!" South shouted, rifle already repeating.
North took a knee and helped. "Trackers mark three hostiles. Two. One. Zero. Clear."
"Clear," York reported.
"Eyes right," Epsilon called, and Wash swung around to intercept a soldier on the other side of the door.
"Move up!"
The team made it to empty hallway.
"Contact rear!" Tex shouted. Her pistol rang out twice and there was the distinct sound of metal meeting flesh and bones breaking. "Clear!"
"Take a left turn here," Delta suggested, flickering into view behind York.
"Move left!" Wash shouted.
"You might want to hurry," Epsilon added. "They have to know where we're headed, and there's only so much Carolina and David can do."
Wash nodded. "Let's move it, people! Delta, send directions straight to HUD."
"Acknowledged," Delta reported.
Wash's eye flickered to the right as an interactive map appeared on his display, just in time to catch a hostile bearing down. A single bullet ended the threat. "How's our rear looking?"
"Shapely," South quipped, sending off another bullet.
"Distance to target two kilometers," Delta reported.
"Wyoming!" Wash shouted over comms. "Report!"
"Ran into a bit of trouble at the hangar doors," Wyoming called over the sound of his rifle. "Could use Agent York."
"Delta," Wash asked, "are we headed to Wyoming's location?"
The A.I. nodded. "Affirmative. Distance to target one kilometer."
The sound of gunfire could be heard clearly through the noise buffering.
"North, find a secure position!" Wash barked. "South, York, with me. Maine, Tex, stay with Florida, pick off what you can."
He skidded into the firefight, immediately taking a knee. South vaulted over him, shotgun and pistol firing at intervals. Wash jumped to his feet and herded York to Wyoming's side, keeping his back to them as he fired.
"We're in!" York cheered a moment later. "Home-free!"
"Move up!" Wash shouted.
North jumped down from his position and assisted in covering Florida. Once they were all inside, York yanked out select wiring as Maine picked off a straggler.
Wash sighed and nodded to his team in gratitude. "Let's go."
"Uh, Wash?" Epsilon asked. "We might have a slight problem."
Wash groaned and turned around to find a hundred or so troops surrounding Pelican Four-Seven-Niner. Gunfire retorted from inside the bay.
North gritted his teeth and hefted his sniper rifle.
"Watch out!" York slammed into his side, knocking the sniper down, and red dripped down his body suit onto his codpiece and cuisse.
"Bullet lodged in the ascending colon," Delta reported. "I cannot activate the healing unit with the bullet still inside; however, removal of the bullet will severely hamper our progress."
"You're an idiot," North growled, shooting down the other sniper and then turning back to the main group, gathered around the Pelican.
"Yeah," York tried to laugh as he propped himself up against a nearby crate, but it turned into a wet cough. "Your idiot," he managed to get out.
North simply glanced at him.
"Epsilon," Wash plead. "Calculate best course of action."
"Agent Washington!" The Director's voice rang out through the speakers.
