Chapter 2: Down Mexico Way, Part 1
Sonora, Mexico– some time after Clinton-Sherman Incident
"Control, this is Whiskey-035. We're on final approach to LZ."
"Copy that, Whiskey-035. Tell Gauntlet to keep things relatively quiet– last thing we need is to kick the hornet's nest, MECH or no."
"Roger dodger, Control. Whiskey 035, out." The pilot turned her head back towards the Pelican's cargo bay. "Don't have too much fun down there."
A well-built black man gave a playful smirk. "No promises are made, Ash."
"Just stay on the rails, Mister 'Cole Train'." She turned back to the Pelican's instruments. "Now, as a wise man once said, you don't have to get off– but you can't stay here."
"…the hell does that even mean?" a man with a helmet that fully encompassed his head asked from across the cargo bay, the space between the two sides currently occupied by a quad bike.
"It's beyond your pay grade, Ben." a woman in sage-colored battle armor replied.
"Sure it is, Rosenda." came the retort as the familiar whine of hydraulics and a lowering cargo ramp filled the bay, followed shortly thereafter by a thump as another, somewhat larger, vehicle hit the ground.
"So, why we're out here again?" Grif complained as he and his cohorts drove through the desert in a battered-looking armored truck.
"Because the fine folks over at Ellingson Mineral lost contact with a bunch of rock hounds on their payroll and decided to shell out the big bucks to get someone to retrieve them and their data." Church half-snapped.
"Seriously?" Tucker groaned. "We couldn't have gone to…I dunno, Nanzhao or something?"
"Considering that's where the big boys are flocking right now, we'd be lucky if we landed any contract there." came the retort. "Besides, jobs like this? Good way to start making a name for ourselves."
"Took the words right out of my mouth." Simmons piped up.
"Thom and I'll meet up with you up ahead." a man in greenish-gray battle armor said as he popped a fresh magazine into his sniper rifle. "We'll–"
"Move faster that way." Rosenda finished. "At this point, I'd be surprised if you two didn't do that, Jun." She turned towards an idling Warthog, Cole in the driver's seat and Jorge on the turret. "Catch you two on the flipside."
"Consarnit!" Sarge exclaimed as he looked over what appeared to be a hastily abandoned camp consisting of a large canvas tent, a portable workstation, and various tools scattered willy-nilly on the ground. "Late for the party again!"
"What sort of party?" Sister asked.
"A firefight." Grif replied, shooting her a dirty look. "Question is, with who?"
"Dude, it's gotta be some other merc team working for…I dunno, whoever else wants a crack at some mining op out here." Tucker piped up. "Seriously, abduct a bunch of eggheads, grab their samples– it's free money!"
"Then why didn't we get anything about that in the briefing?" Church retorted. "I mean, you'd think that Ellingson would've told us about something as important as rival units operating out here." He turned away from Tucker. "Grif, you and Donut check out the tent– you find anything that looks important, let me and Sarge know. Simmons, see what you can get out of the workstation. Everyone else, fan out– two-and-a-half kilometer search radius."
"Jun, this is Gauntlet Leader. Come in, Jun."
Jun looked up from a pattern in the dirt. "I read you, Gauntlet Leader. And before you ask, we've found something."
"Define 'something'."
"Tire tracks– Stinger, from the looks of it." He inhaled. "Probably too early to tell, but I've got a feeling we've got more than MECH on our hands out here."
"Here's hoping you're wrong. Otherwise, this mission's just got a lot more complicated."
"You can say that again." Thom tersely replied. "Last thing we need out here is the Red Shadows running around."
AUTHOR'S NOTES:
Much like LuisJM's Season 3 fics, there's going to be a number of reimagined versions of various video game characters (see Noble Team). Following the footsteps thereof, here're the members of Gauntlet Team and their original source material.
Augustus Cole– Gauntlet Leader (Gears of War)
Rosenda– Intelligence Officer (Halo Reach; cut character)
Thom– Engineer; pulls double duty as recon (Halo Reach; promo material only)
Benjamin "Ben" and Clayton "Clay" Carmine– Riflemen/Rookies (Gears of War)
Jorge– Heavy Weapons (Halo Reach)
Jun– Scout Sniper (Halo Reach)
Ash/Whiskey-035– Pilot (Red vs. Blue; originally known as Four Seven Niner)
