The next morning came by quickly. Hawaii had woken up especially early to prep and fuel her pelican before collecting her customized humbler stun device from her locker, securing it on the opposite hip as her energy sword. And even then she was not the first person to the mission briefing room; That was California, already decked out in what she guessed was about a quarter of his blade collection. The sight of him reminded her of their English lesson. She would have to thank him again later.
She took her place in her dark corner just as Minnesota strode in, followed by Utah. They were fully-armoured with their helmets off and determined excitement showing through how they squared their shoulders and kept casting each other the smallest of glances.
"Wow." California commented loudly when no one spoke. He was the closest to Hawaii, only a few feet away. "Judging by everyone's reactions, you'd think this was a life-or-death situation." He point-blank turned to look at the Director, obviously hinting towards demanding an explanation. He seemed angrier than usual this morning. Hawaii wondered why.
"We're sending you four to a single location." It was the Counsellor who replied, the way his deadpan tone echoed indicating he had entered the room. Hawaii scowled as he slipped past them to stand with the Director. "A location where four freelancers already reside. The situation is indeed severe enough to require all of you."
"Are eight freelancers really necessary?" Utah questioned quietly as Mini spoke up, "What is the mission anyways?"
The Director stepped up to the edge of the holographic table, calling for attention as the freelancers instinctively fell silent again. He ran his hands over the buttons as he summoned up a projection of a strange nameless planet, before zooming in towards the north-eastern hemisphere. A forested map lay out in front of them, a fully-detailed base located on one side and a clearing filled only by a simple red dot indicating where the enemy base was. She estimated three to five miles of land between the two bases.
"The mission is to defeat the enemy base stationed on this planet. If we can manage to do so, we will have cleared an entire sector of space. The Insurrectionists have approximately two to three platoons of soldiers stationed at this base. Our outpost used to have several squads of ODSTs to help counter these numbers, but the Insurrectionists overwhelmed them easily." The Director pushed his glasses back up his nose, gazing down at the holographic table. Mini and Utah glanced at each other, and started whispering together. The Director caught on immediately.
"Soldiers, please." His voice was strained, Hawaii could almost see the stress encircling him like a dark cloud.
He's scary when he's irritated. Theta whispered in her mind. Hawaii nodded - The Director got angry at their generation of freelancers often, and annoyed even more often. Especially when the others didn't follow basic protocol.
"It seems they are a more difficult opponent than any of us estimated." The Counsellor rumbled quietly, seemingly deep in thought.
"Well no fucking shit, sherlock!" Cali threw his hands up into the air, Mini ducking away rapidly with a startled squeak. Hawaii raised an eyebrow, wondering why Cali was so suddenly annoyed.
"We've been fighting them for months now!" Cali continued, his voice steadily rising, "Do you think we suck at our jobs? What are you trying to imply, asshole!"
"Director," Hawaii spoke suddenly, keeping her voice low, quietly silencing Cali's rant and forestalling the Director's sharp retort. "Permission to speak?" She walked a few steps as the Director nodded in her direction (it was easy to imagine smoke coming out of his ears.) until her hands came to rest on the edge of the table, her head turning from side to side as she gazed at everyone in the room. "How many soldiers have the Insurrectionists lost?" Dang it. She silently reprimanded herself - that had not been what she meant to say - and backed up from the table, trying to form her idea into a useful question. She made eye contact with Mini, who was watching her quizzically. The sage-armoured freelancer relaxed as Hawaii shook her head oh so slightly, twitching her hand towards her head. For not the first time, she wished English was her origin language.
"Soldiers who are good at their jobs don't interrupt their commanders." The Director glared at them, "As for your inquiry, we have not had direct contact with the outpost in the past few weeks, but we can confidently estimate that the Insurrectionists have lost significant numbers. However, the average numbers of soldiers stationed at the Insurrectionist base never seems to drop. There always seems to be immediate replacements for those who were killed in action."
"Permission to speak, sir," Minnesota imitated Hawaii's request, "That's bullshit." The Director raised one eyebrow, looking ever closer to exploding into flame. Hawaii came close to almost smiling. After what had happened with the previous freelancers, she was glad that Agent Minnesota and the gang took everything they were told with a grain of salt.
"How on earth do the Insurrectionists' numbers not dwindle out if we keep killing them?" Mini amended a tad guiltily as Hawaii exchanged glances with her. Hawaii nodded, breathing a silent thank you to Mini. The medic instantly bent her shoulders into a sheepish position and said something she didn't understand, leaving Hawaii confused about her actions not for the first time. Theta volunteered to help her with her English later, which she gladly accepted.
"We believe the Insurrectionists continuously call for reinforcements. However, if that was the case, they would have killed our freelancers already." The Counsellor mused, studying the hologram with narrow eyes.
"Could it be that they have an ulterior motive?" Cali asked slowly, as if he was still trying to analyze all of the information. He sounded like he was trying to talk through gritted teeth, "Like maybe they're trying to capture or-"
"Unlikely." The Counsellor cut him off in a superior tone. Cali's head lowered, a soft growl rumbling in the back of his throat.
I don't like this. Theta whispered in her head. Cali was quite obviously trying to keep his temper under control, and Hawaii made a note to brace herself in case he snapped at the Director. She reached out and placed a hand on his shoulder, asking him if he was okay while simultaneously telling him to calm down. She knew he only understood because of his uncanny ability to read body language. Sure enough, he let out a rough sigh and the tension in his body eased, his shoulders visibly relaxing.
"When do we leave?" Hawaii jumped straight to the chase, unwilling to let the tension rise further.
"Immediately." The Director replied, "The chance of victory is too great to pass over, even with the odds against our favour." His mood changed against instantly, shifting from an annoyed General to the cunning, business-like Director he usually was. He straightened his posture, hands clasping behind his back as he nodded towards her, "Agent Hawaii will command this mission, as well as act as transport between the Mother of Invention and the freelancer base. The coordinates are already downloaded into your Pelican." The last part was directed to her personally, and she gave the tiniest nod in reply.
"You are all dismissed," The Director continued, "Except for Agent California, whom I would like to talk with. Leave. You will depart from the Mother of Invention the moment California rejoins you, and you will not return until you have either captured the planet or have attained significant losses. Now go."
Utah stalked out of the room instantly, pausing just outside the doorway to look back at them. Minnesota patted California's shoulder before bouncing to join the grey-armoured freelancer, her hazel eyes round with worry as Cali clenched his fists, obviously struggling to stay calm. Hawaii followed them out, tapping her own helmet with one finger as a reminder to the Medic and foot soldier to put theirs on. They complied as Hawaii paused to gaze back at the doorway to the mission briefing room, Theta voicing his worry for Agent California.
He's fine. Hawaii comforted her companion, her long legs letting her catch up easily with the others as she reassured her AI. She made an effort to ignore the echoes of the Director's voice.
When Theta calmed down again, Hawaii switched her focus to the soldiers in front of her, and their conversation. It took her barely a second to realize they weren't talking, and that Agent Minnesota was walking alongside her.
"I'm worried about California." The medic murmured, her shoulders slumped, "Both he and the Director were a lot more angry than they should have been." Hawaii agreed with her silently. She tried to think of how to reply, but couldn't, and settled with placing her hand comfortingly on Minnesota's shoulder. They stayed silent, simply comforted by each other's company. Theta joined them, holo-projecting himself onto Hawaii's shoulder in between the two of them. Delta joined shortly afterwards.
Their moment was cut short as they entered the giant main hangar, Utah already waiting for them at the bottom of Hawaii's pelican. Hawaii stalked forward, away from Mini, and activated the hatch, letting them all climb aboard. She made her way robotically to the cockpit, slipping into the pilot's seat in one graceful motion. Straight-backed in the seat, she checked the fuel gauges, making sure they were in working order and the pelican was still completely full before checking on everything else. The last thing she needed right now was a fuel leak. Tapping the pressure gauges and double-checking the throttle, Hawaii finally relaxed. You could never be too sure when it came to flying.
A sudden commotion behind her made Hawaii twist around, watching Minnesota collapse into the co-pilot's seat. The latter took a few seconds to straighten herself out, Hawaii waiting patiently for her explanation. Agent Minnesota rested her elbow against the co-pilot's steering wheel, lurching sideways again before she finally regained balance.
"Since we're going on a mission together," Minnesota started slowly, raising her shoulders sheepishly, "Teach me how to fly?"
Hawaii raised an eyebrow, staring at Minnesota for a second before spinning back around to sit properly in her seat. "Buckle up. And follow my command."