Oh my gosh, it's mission time! Will General Gray forever be a thorn in 'Rado's side, or will he finally be put down? Only one way to find out :P This update is going out a day early because I'm going to be super busy tomorrow with a bit of cleaning and Dungeons and Dragons :D Anyways, enjoy!

Chapter 10

Seras Prime was the same as I remembered it. As I prepared for my confrontation with Gray, I could see the planet outside of a window. Seras Prime was almost entirely grassland, with a few forests here and there. The climate was perfect for tornados, so all of the settlements came with tornado shelters that were easily accessible in every home. Granted, I just wanted the whole planet wiped from existence in order to get rid of all memories there, but to other observers it could be considered pretty. Tex had opted to take a sniper rifle and a pistol, while I opted for a sniper and two SMGs strapped to my thighs. Instead of packing medical equipment, I filled my pack to the brim with spare clips for my SMGs, and a couple for my rifle. On a whim, I packed some demo charges in case we need to blast our way into Gray's compound. To my surprise, Carolina had accompanied me to the armory. As I gathered supplies she was quiet, but as Tex left, she finally spoke up.

"Be careful where you place your trust, 'Rado, and watch your back."

I nodded and slipped my helmet on.

"Don't worry, Carolina, I plan on coming back in one piece, and without any extra bullet holes. Just make sure Oregon stays where he is in the med bay. If he manages to call Gray, our cover is going to blown before we even hit the dirt."

I frowned in annoyance. Oregon had been moved out of his cell for treatment, in addition to the interrogation room needing cleaning. Blood had a habit of being unpleasant to sleep in, in addition to shattered kneecaps being quite painful. Honestly, why the Director had agreed to Tex's request for the medical staff to treat Oregon was beyond me. The bastard didn't deserve it; in fact he was lucky I hadn't just put a bullet between his eyes when I had the chance. Regardless, my opinion hadn't been requested, and Oregon had been moved to the med bay. The only comfort I took was that he had a higher-ranked Freelancer guarding him 24/7. When I last looked, it was Maine's turn to guard him. I put a bracing hand on Carolina's shoulder and walked out, heading for the hangers. Upon entering the hanger door, I ran smack into North.

"Did you honestly think you were going to be able to get off of the ship without a goodbye?"

I smirked and crossed my arms.

"If Psi and I had wanted to remain hidden, we could have, right Psi?"

"Without a doubt, 'Rado. We make a good team like that."

I laughed, a genuine smile replacing my smirk.

"Damn straight we do, and we're going to prove it again today."

North smiled, but it fell away to a worried frown.

"Come back safe, 'Rado. I don't know what I'll do if you don't come back. Tex has your back. Just take down Gray, and then get back to the MoI, ok?"

Behind the safety of my helmet, my eyes grew wary. I didn't know if Tex had my back at all. It wasn't like we were friends or anything; in fact I had basically shoved myself into the mission. Nevertheless, I did my best to reassure my worried boyfriend.

"Hey, you know me; I'll do whatever it takes to get the job done. Gray won't know what hit him. Hell, I'll be back in time for dinner."

Smiling, I allowed herself to be drawn into North's embrace.

"You're not doing a very good job of reassuring me, 'Rado, but I'm going to hold you to that. If you aren't back by dinner, I'm coming down there myself to look for you."

Despite the seriousness of North's statement, I snorted in amusement.

"Good luck finding a pilot crazy enough to take you; 479er was the only volunteer for this particular drop-off, and the pick-up is going to be a lot messier whether everything goes according to plan or not."

With the shitty luck members of this project seemed to have, I was honestly expecting us to be captured. Or shot down. Or probably killed. All were very real possibilities, but the one that scared me most was being captured, not that I would admit that to North. I had to stay strong for the both of us. I walked away and towards 479er's bird, my hand slipping out of his. If the situation hadn't been so tense, I would've remarked how much of a cheesy goodbye it had been; the kind where the person leaving ends up never returning. I had every intention of returning, and with Gray's head as a trophy. The thought brought an amused smirk to my face that only Psi could truly see, and as the hatch closed, he chose to make himself known.

"Agent Colorado, if I may make a suggestion."

My curiosity got the better of me, particularly because he had swapped to using my full name.

"What's up, Psi? Ideas to beat the shit out of Gray and his cronies?"

"No. I just wanted to say that if this mission goes badly… I recommend pulling my chip from your implant. It would be disastrous if I fell into enemy hands."

If I had had a drink to spew, it would be all over my visor.

"Psi, wasn't one of the main rules NOT to pull you from my head since it could cause brain damage or insanity or something?"

"While you are correct, some sacrifices have to be made in war, and the Freelancers that aren't accompanying us are depending on us to keep their secrets safe."

I knew he was right, but at that moment, the weight of having an AI felt heavier than before. Psi was my personal responsibility. There was no way I could allow him to fall into hands other than Project Freelancer's or mine. If Gray got a hold of Psi… I could only imagine what information he would get. Steeling myself, I took a deep, steadying breath.

"Psi, I swear that I won't let anything happen to you. Partners have each others' backs no matter what," a twinge of pain shot through me as I remembered Aaron, "and I'm never going to let you down. Got it?"

It almost felt like Psi was smiling as he replied, "I've got your back too, 'Rado, and I'll always be here to help you out."

I smirked, feeling my confidence of success return. Tex was quietly sitting in her seat, and to the untrained eye it would seem like she was talking to herself, but I knew she was having a private conversation. My immediate guess was that it was the Director, and my suspicions rose further. However, as if reading my mind, she dismissed her caller and spoke.

"Chill out, that was North. Tried making me swear to make sure you came back in one piece. If it makes you feel any better, I told him no guarantees."

I wasn't impressed so far with Tex herself, but I couldn't help the grin that cracked across my face.

"Yeah, well, that's North for you. He has to know that I'll do whatever it takes to get this job done."

"Whatever it takes? Does that include dying, Colorado?"

For a moment, I hesitated. Dying was not something I wanted to personally experience. Now that I had North and actual friends, I didn't want to lose that. However, I realized that it'd rather be me who died to keep everyone else safe. A groan rolled through me at how cheesy the sentiment was; I was getting soft.

"Yes, that includes dying, Texas. I bet you'd do the same for your friends and significant other. Assuming you have them."

Tex shook her head and answered tartly, "If you plan on dying, you'll make stupid decisions. Keep a clear head and plan on getting out alive."

"I don't plan on anything happening on this planet except for Gray dying, and us getting back to the ship for a hero's welcome."

Tex snorted in exasperation.

"Ya, we're real heroines alright."

The rest of the ride went by in silence, except for when we got five minutes away from our destination. 479er came over the mic, voice annoyed.

"We're coming up on some anti-air defenses, ladies. Your call to get the hell off of my bird now, or get a bumpy ride closer to the destination."

"Just drop us off here, 479er, we can't afford to draw attention to ourselves."

The pelican abruptly stopped moving forwards, and the back hatch opened. I stared at it, waiting for us to descend, but Tex merely got up, and leapt out. I felt my eyes go wide, and 479er threw me a look from the pilot's seat.

"Well? Are you going or not?"

I groaned inwardly, and forced myself out of the bird. Looking down, the drop was only about fifty feet above the tree line. Branches broke as I slammed through them, and I landed hard on my feet. My suit absorbed the shock thank goodness, but I vowed never to jump out of a Pelican again. Heights weren't my thing. Tex looked me over and gave me a sharp nod.

"We've got a new objective, Colorado. We're going to have a hard time getting out of here with those anti-air defenses up. We're going to set up some charges to neutralize them when we kill Gray. We're about a thirty-minute run from the defenses, and I want charges placed in five. Sync?"

"Sync. Let's get this done so we can go after Gray. Let's go in with weapons quiet, knives if you have them."

Silence fell after that, broken by the occasional birdcall. There were no roads in the forest, and for that we were thankful; less chances of being discovered. The only patrol we encountered was about a mile from our first target. There were four guys and I was positive that we could take them, but when I caught Tex's eye, she shook her head. Despite the silence, I understood what she meant: we couldn't take any risks. The patrol passed without incident, and we continued on. Ten minutes later, Tex and I were staring out at a small facility with four anti-aircraft guns. The guns themselves weren't very big, but they looked like they could do some serious damage.

Something tapped my shoulder, and I turned to see Tex gesturing at me and towards the two towers on the right. Even the dumbest Freelancer could understand what she was saying: we're splitting up. There was over seventy feet of open ground between the trees and the first gun. Personnel swarmed around the guns, and I silently hailed Psi.

"Can you tap me into their communications?"

"I can certainly try."

My helmet burst with static a couple times, and I felt myself wince, but soon I heard voices coming over.

"-spotted an unidentified blip on radar over thirty minutes ago. It disappeared, but General Gray wants us on high alert."

"Whatever. It was probably just a kite or something. He thinks it was a bunch of Freelancers, but we haven't heard anything out of the ordinary from the patrols AND shit isn't exploding."

I rolled my eyes, and Psi silently chuckled. They had no clue how wrong they were, but I was worried that Gray was already on high alert. So much for going in undetected. The two men that were talking rounded a corner from their post, and I took the opportunity to request Psi to run my invisibility. The charges were easy enough to set, the key was staying silent. A click here and there caused my heart rate to rise as the fear of being discovered spiked, but I set my first round of charges without incident. From my count, three minutes had passed since we had found the guns. My second target was in sight, and as luck would have it, no one was guarding it.

"Psi, keep an eye on my motion tracker."

"Of course, 'Rado."

While Psi had my back, I got to work with the charges. Halfway through my work, Psi flagged me.

"'Rado, check your six!"

Immediately I froze as two Innies passed by. Their lack of helmets revealed battle-scarred faces and cold, calculating eyes. Unlike the soldiers I had overheard earlier, these guys seemed intelligent enough to catch sight of my present for them. Tex had said my luck would run out eventually, and this was not one of those times. The two men passed without incident, and I sighed in relief. Another minute later, the charges were set, and I moved off towards a position Tex had marked. I assumed it to be our rendezvous, and sure enough, the black-armored woman was waiting for me.

"Took you long enough; I thought I was going to have to kill Gray without you."

"Well when two baddies nearly run into you, you tend to be late to social gatherings. Let's go."

The guns had been surrounded by forest, so we contentedly took our places among the shadows of the trees yet again. Psi had continued to run my invisibility without hint of stopping, and I allowed him free reign to do whatever he wished with my equipment. When we had gotten a good distance away, Tex stopped us.

"Colorado, while we were planting charges, I caught radio chatter that Gray had been moved into the most secure part of the facility we're going to. We're going to have to infiltrate the building to take him out."

I felt my temper start to boil at how our job had become that much harder. Gray was a coward; as soon as our ship came on radar he had hid. He had to know that nothing would stop me from getting to him. Sighing in frustration, I had Psi cut the invisibility.

"Where's our access point?"

"We don't need one. They know we're coming; we're just going to go in through the front door and wipe them out. At least after we sabotage their vehicles so he can't escape before we get to him."

"So we're running demolitions first? Why didn't we just bring Maine then? He could easily keep these assholes busy and break some shit at the same time."

"This mission requires finesse, Colorado. We can't just set off a whole base because it would be easier."

Rolling my eyes, I gave an annoyed reply.

"Sure we can. He has to know we're coming. Much as I hate to admit it, Gray isn't a dumbass."

"It's that fact that we're going to use against him. Now quit bitching and follow me."

Grumbling under my breath, I followed Tex towards our target. As I approached her, she held up a hand to stop me, and pointed out the structure ahead of us. The bunker looked to be about half the size of the Mother of Invention and was settled down in a slight dip. I drew in my breath at the enormity of the facility. The place looked to be heavy with Insurrectionist activity, if the patrolling Gauss Warthogs were any clue. There would be no way to cleanly disable those without drawing attention to ourselves, and if there one thing that wasn't on my to-do list, it was to get hit by a Gauss round.

I turned to Tex.

"So, can we go in loud NOW?"

"What are you, crazy? That's more dangerous than necessary. We could just sneak in."

"How, may I ask, do you plan on running your invisibility while watching your motion tracker AND avoiding obstacles?" I inquired hot-headedly.

Tex grumbled something under her breath and almost immediately disappeared from view. Fine, have fun with that. Dumb bitch. Nevertheless, I requested Psi to run my invisibility again, and I tracked Tex down the incline. She was moving quickly, obviously not waiting for me to keep up, not that I cared. If she wanted this to be a more solo operation I could easily go off and kill Gray myself. However, I had to agree with her about the vehicles though, and followed her as she dove into a door. The lights were already on. The room was large enough to fit over fifteen scorpion tanks, but mostly held only warthogs and even some civilian vehicles. Neither of us ditched our invisibility, as there were armed guards patrolling through rows of cars. Tex's voice flooded over my helmet.

"Got anymore explosives?"

"Besides the ones we put on the guns? I'm out. Most I've got is a couple frags."

"Well shit. Enough to take out the garage?"

"Psi?"

"If you destroy several key support pillars, the building will collapse."

I found myself smirking at the idea of taking down a shitload of Innie vehicles.

"Psi, light up the weakest or most important support pillars for Agent Texas and myself."

"You've got it."

Almost immediately, pillars of Psi's choosing lit up green to signify a target, and I could only assume that Tex had the same view. Looking around, I could see six targets. I had only two frags, and I was almost positive that Tex didn't have four grenades. Glancing at the circling guards, a cunning smile began to grow on my face.

"'Rado?" Psi questioned nervously.

"Don't worry, Psi… I've got this."

Without alerting Tex to my idea, I wove my way stealthily around cars and towards the first guard I could see. The woman was about my height, and even while I was crouching I easily was high enough to see the grenade she had strapped to her belt. At one point she stopped and I had to slam my mouth shut to keep from cursing as I came to an ungraceful, but silent, stop. Fear shot through me as she whipped around, her face registering suspicion. I didn't know what she had heard, but clearly something had tipped her off. I didn't dare let a breath out, and my shoulders sagged with relief as she turned and scanned the area. I took the opportunity to gently unhook the grenade from her belt. It clicked as I removed it, and I waited for her to start yelling about intruders, but my luck held out; I was good. With three grenades, I made my way towards a pillar and breathed out a question to Tex in our private channel.

"Tex, are you good for explosives?"

"I could use one more, but it's not necessary."

"How is it not neces-"

"Just trust me, ok? Take the three pillars on the east side."

Psi could feel my apprehension growing by leaps and bounds, and directed me to where Tex had indicated. I placed each grenade I had in hard-to-spot places on the pillars and hailed Tex.

"When are we setting these off?"

"When I give the signal."

"Ok, but what's the sig-"

For the second time I found myself interrupted as an explosion ripped through the air. The garage was old fashioned and had stone pillars, and pieces of cement flew everywhere. I ducked down behind a car as numerous alarms screamed in the aftermath. Shit! Well, that's a signal if I ever saw one. One by one I primed the grenades, and as I found a car far enough away to hide behind, explosions once again rocked the building. The entire thing groaned in protest, and at the far north end, the roof began collapsing. Eyeing a door across the room to the west, I broke cover and sprinted towards it. Tex's cloaked silhouette spirited out through the entrance, and I triggered my thruster pack to throw me through the door just as the roof finished collapsing. I gasped in relief, aware that now dozens of armed Insurrectionists were running towards the now ruined garage, including the two Gauss hogs that were patrolling. Frowning, I took off towards what I thought was an entrance into the main facility, and what I saw both infuriated and shocked me. No less than fifteen Innies surrounded Tex, and all had their guns trained on her. I was about to rush forward and help, but Psi held me back.

"Think about the mission."

I nodded and watched from the shadows of the entrance, and just when I thought she was going to surrender, she triggered her invisibility and started doing what she did best: kicking ass. She was nothing more than a transparent blur as she weaved around her enemies, dispatching each with well-trained precision. I had no love for her, but I could easily see that she could beat even Carolina in training. Within two minutes, the Innies were either dead, groaning in pain, or knocked out cold. A Gauss blast flew towards where Tex had been, and I saw her fly past me.

"Move it, Colorado!"

Without hesitation, I turned and sprinted up the path in her wake, just as a Gauss round hit where I had been. Despite what Tex had said, my luck had been holding out nicely. I caught up to her as she rounded a corner, and we found ourselves face to face with about twenty Innies. Tex deactivated her invisibility first, and their guns turned to her, but when I had Psi get rid of mine, they became conflicted. My hands twitched over my SMGs, and Tex shot a look over to me before speaking, and she clearly meant for the Innies to hear her.

"Idea, Colorado. We're going to have a race. Final objective is worth twenty points; the grunts are worth one. Any special bodyguards are worth five. The loser obviously is going to die here. Deal?"

I smirked and cracked my neck.

"You are ON, Tex."

With that she grabbed her pistol and I unhooked my SMGs. After our initial volley, we were forced to take cover, but seven Innies were dead or injured, and that was good enough for me.

"Psi, is it possible for you to scan the building and locate Gray?"

My AI partner seemed to hesitate.

"Maybe. It would take me some time, but it might be easier to listen in on Insurrection soldiers to determine his location."

"Can you do both?"

Another hesitation.

"Yes, but I won't be able to devote enough thought to running your armor enhancements. You'll have to rely on yourself if you want me to find Gray."

"I understand; go hunting, Psi."

Almost immediately Innie transmissions started flooding my helmet. Unsurprisingly, most seemed to be about a breach in security, and I learned that reinforcements were coming up on our six.

"Hey! Tex! It's about to get a lot more crowded in here!"

"Well what the fuck do you want me to do about it?!"

"I want you to cover me!"

With that I sprang out and raced back the way we had came. Bullets flew by me but as I rounded a corner I ran into a whole different problem. A squad of five men was making their way up the entrance, and two of them had rocket launchers. Some part of me wondered if those were the same ones from Vortex, but I squelched the thought as two rockets came streaking towards me. Thinking quickly, I ran towards them and used my thruster pack to dodge to the side at the last second. The two rockets exploded harmlessly behind me, and shrapnel pecked at my armor, but thankfully none got through. Now I found myself sprinting towards the five Innies. Three of them crouched and pulled out shotguns, and the two in back readied their launchers. Two more rockets came streaking towards my position, and I twisted in a way that they went streaking by me. The explosion was a lot closer this time and I felt a few pinpricks at my skin, but with the adrenaline rushing through me they were barely noticeable. Whipping out my SMGs yet again, I fired a long burst at the line and brought down a man with a shotgun and one of the rocket users.

However I quickly strapped my SMGs back to my thighs as I got close enough for hand-to-hand combat. The remaining two shotgun users fired a blast at me, but I dropped beneath their sights and dodged both shots, landing an uppercut on the jaw of one of the men. The hit sent him spiraling to the floor, and before the other one could retaliate, I slammed my fist into his nose. The crunch I felt indicated a broken nose, and the man reeled back, screaming into his hand. I didn't have time to feel any satisfaction, as the guy with the rocket launcher had pulled out his sidearm. I was forced to take cover behind a support beam as shots slammed into it.

"Psi, give me a status!"

"I've got a relative area for him, just keep them busy so I can get you an exact location!"

I felt myself grow frustrated, but nevertheless I leapt around the pillar when there was a break in the fire and went to bull tackle the second launcher user. What I did not expect was to find one of his buddies armed with knives and ready for me. Hastily, I brought my gauntlets up to aid in blocking his slashes. I had decided against bringing my own knives, as I had no space for them. However I was seriously regretting the decision as he pushed me further back towards the corner. Thinking quickly, I dropped and spun my legs out to trip him, and he toppled over. Grabbing one of his knives, I slammed it into his neck and withdrew it, before throwing it at the man who was hastily trying to reload his rocket launcher. The knife caught him in the chest, and he fell over, his screams of pain echoing down the hallway. I sighed in relief and went to retrieve it, but felt a searing pain slam through the far right side of my chest, near my shoulder. I gasped and felt blood pooling from the new hole in my armor, and turned to see the man whose nose I had broken smirking at me, a smoking pistol in his hands. Narrowing my eyes in fury, I whipped out my sniper rifle, aimed, and fired. He was only about twenty feet away, but Wyoming and North's lessons had proved useful, as the bullet slammed into his heart. He dropped almost instantly, and I flipped my sniper into its place on my back. I stumbled towards the corner and found that Tex had cleaned up the resistance, and was pocketing a couple of grenades. She looked up at my approach, and I felt her gaze immediately turn to my newest wound.

"It's nothing, Tex, we need to get moving."

"Looks like a bit more than just 'nothing,' Colorado."

"It doesn't matter! We need to get to Gray! Psi, tell me you've found him."

"I have pinpointed a small area that he seems to be in; a secure room located in the back of the facility. From the radio chatter, it seems he has two bodyguards with him."

I unhooked my SMGs and reloaded them, before strapping them to my thighs again. A dark tone took hold of my voice.

"Well, let's go meet daddy dearest."

I am sorry for being so mean and leaving it on a cliffhanger xD However if I had written the whole mission in one chapter, it probably would have reached over 9,000 words, and that's a long read! The second half of the mission will be posted next week ;)