Rico sighed and ran a hand through his disheveled hair. He didn't really care about his appearance at the moment. The squad had made three drops in the past forty-eight hours with about fifteen minutes downtime total. So he hadn't been very happy when he was told to go to the briefing room to hear about a new mission the Roughnecks would be taking on.
Hearing the door open he turned to see Gen. Wolfe and another Lt. walk into the room. He noticed the one Lt. looking at him with a disapproving glare. Rico simply gave it back to him.
"Lt. Rico, meet Lt. Dan Wilson. You and your squad will be working along with his squad on this mission," the Gen. Stated.
Rico only nodded his head. Wilson's Wildcats were said to be the most disorganized and unruly squad in the Infantry. Someone had also told him that things had gotten so bad that an MP had been permanently assigned to them. He was not looking forward to this.
The Gen. called up a 3D map on the table. "Intel says that there's a Brain bug located in the area of West Yellowstone. They were a little sketchy on the details of where it was exactly but they say it's around the Old Faithful area. You're job is to capture this bug alive. Your squads were picked because they have dealt with Brains before."
"Sir," Wilson began, "Only Sgt. Clark and Pvt. Solitario have encountered a Brain. I don't want to put them through the hell of having to face one again."
"Your concern has been noted Lt. but times are tough and capturing a live Brain would help out more then I can explain."
Wilson sighed and grumbled something under his breath. Rico raised an eyebrow. Who would have the guts to do something like that right in front of the Gen.? He figured that Wilson was extremely stupid, very brave, or perhaps some strange combination of both.
"You're squads will meet at transport bay five at 16:00 hours. There you'll be taken to Base Camp Charlie where you'll receive further instructions. Dismissed!"
The two Lt.'s snapped to attention before exiting the room.
Outside Wilson extended his hand to Rico in a friendly gesture, but Rico could see in his eyes that it was forced. To be polite Rico shook hands with him.
Wilson said dryly as he pulled back his hand, "I look forward to working with the famous Roughnecks."
"And I look forward to work along side the Wildcats," Rico mumbled.
"Then I expect you and the Roughnecks at 16:00." Turning on his heal Wilson walked away.
Rico fumed as he watched the other Lt. depart. Who the heck did Wilson think he was? Gen. Wolfe? They had only just met and Wilson was already rubbing him the wrong way. Shaking his head Rico went off to tell the squad to get ready.
Several hours latter, Rico joined by the rest of the squad entered transport bay 5. Wilson and his Wildcats were already there. Wilson nodded to Rico before stepping forward to introduce the squad to him.
"Lt. Rico, I give you the Wildcats." He looked at each one as he called out their name. "Sgt. Elizabeth Clark, Cpl. Robert Fox Marauder pilot, Cpl. Jason Allen our psy, Cpl. Logan Goodrich, medic, Pvt. Rachel Clerk, Pvt. Kim Phillips our engineer, Pvt. Kelly Philip our second marauder pilot, and Pvt. Laurie Solitario."
Rico was a little taken back. He had never expected a squad made up of mostly females. He did his best to hide the shock.
Wilson raised his eyebrows slightly. He could see Rico's surprise written all over his face. He silently chuckled to himself.
With the squads being introduced to one another, they loaded up onto the transport.
"Two to one Wilson and his sergeant are-." Max began before getting cut off.
"Are what?" A cool voice responded.
Max looked over his shoulder and saw Pvt. Solitario standing behind him giving him a look that could kill.
"Never mind." He grumbled taking a seat.
Solitario crossed her arms over her chest. "No, c'mon, I really want to hear what you have to say."
"It's none of your business."
"Wrong!" She snapped. "When you say something about my Lt. or Sarge it becomes my business!"
Dizzy got between the two of them before any blood could be spilled. "Why don't you just back off and take a seat."
"Why don't you back off! This is between me and him!" Solitario snarled.
"You mess with one Roughneck you're messing with all of us," responded Gossard.
"Yeah, but if someone messes with Clark or the LT, we'll fight for them." Fox interjected as he walked up next to Solitario.
The air was thick with tension between the two groups. Everything seemed to stop as they sized one another up.
Solitario was the bold one who broke the silence. "You think you're so tough just because you're a Roughneck, don't you?"
"I'm tougher then you!" Max shot back.
Solitario smiled darkly. "Then why don't we see if you're as tough as you talk."
Max narrowed his eyes, accepting the challenge. "Just name the place 'n time and I'll be there."
"Like Hell!" Zim barked. "I don't know how Lt. Wilson runs things but I know that Rico would not accept this, and neither will I! Do you get me!"
"Sir, yes Sir!" they all responded.
With a sideways glance from Zim the three Roughnecks took their seats. He turned to Solitario and Fox.
"You can tell the rest of your squad that as long as you're working with us that I will not tolerate anything of this sort! Is that clear."
Fox nodded. "Like crystal Sir." He hooked his arm through Solitario's and dragged her towards the back of the transport.
Sgt. Clark watched Zim as he sat down next to her.
"You didn't need to do that." She commented dryly.
"No, I didn't, it should have been you. I can't believe you actually let things like that go on."
"I don't." was her reply. "I know the difference between pushing buttons to lean limits and an actual scarp."
"Leaning limits?" Zim questioned. "They were about a minute away from pulling one another limb from limb."
Rico sighed and shook his head. Thirty minutes into the mission and they were already going for each other's throats. Rico was beginning to wonder if the Gen.'s decision to put these two squads together was a good idea. Then again, things might work out. It was always dark before dawn.
"Or was that darker before the storm?" He asked himself.
"What was that?" Wilson asked turning to Rico.
"Nothing. Just thinking out loud," he responded.
Wilson shook his head. "Rico, let's get some things straight right off the bat. I don't trust you, you don't trust me. If I had the ability I would have asked to have someone other then a green horn Lt. and his squad watching my back, but since I don't, I have to be content with you and vise versa."
Rico nodded. "I'm glad we got those things cleared up."
"I don't like to fool around." Wilson stated sitting back in his seat.
"Neither do I."
"Looks like we have something in common, Lt. Rico. Lord knows it will be the only thing."
The rest of the trip was filled by a stressful silence. When the transport touched down the squads began to unload their supplies.
Phillips plugged her computer into the first of the Wildcats' two Marauders and started a diagnostic scan. Taking a seat on the ground she waited for it to finish. She heard clanking coming from inside the transport, looking up from the computer she saw Gossard coming out carrying a large crate. She didn't think much of it until he nearly stepped on her.
She quickly jumped out of the way saving herself and the computer. "Why don't you watch where you're going?!"
Gossard peered over the top of the crate. "Sorry, I didn't see you."
"You didn't see me? Are you flipping BLIND? Do you need to get your eyes checked?" She yelled.
Setting the crate down he took a deep breath; this didn't need to turn this into a yelling match. "Look, I said I was sorry but I really didn't see you."
Phillips scowled at him and huffed slightly. She turned back to the computer hearing it beep, telling her the scan was done.
"What does it say?" Gossard asked looking over her shoulder. He put personal feelings aside when it came to maintaining the equipment.
"Two fuses on the right shoulder joint need to be replaced." Phillips heard Gossard open the crate before he stepped out in front of her and handed her the fuses.
"There." He picked up the crated again and headed off towards the maintenance bay.
Meanwhile Rico and Wilson were once again in the briefing room. They were receiving the rest of their instructions from Gen. Wolfe via video-conference.
"New Intel has come in. They've confirmed that the Brain is in the Upper Geyser basin. In 72 hours your squads will be dropped into the Madison River Valley where you will travel on foot to the designated area. You won't need to worry about any of the geysers going off, the bugs have destroyed them all.
"When you find the Brain and capture it, radio in for pick up. Fifteen minutes after the call a fighter squadron will fly in and carpet-bomb the place. If you don't get the Brain and yourselves onto that transport before the bombing starts you all will be blown to kingdom come. We can not afford to mess this mission up men."
"We understand Sir." Wilson responded.
The Gen. Nodded at them and the screen went blank. Wilson turned to Rico and sighed.
"You heard how he but 'Brain' before 'yourselves' in that one sentence didn't you?"
"Yeah, I guess we now know exactly how much we count for this mission."
Wilson started for the door. "Rico, if we are able to capture this thing alive but we encounter anything that could stop us from making the transport before the bombing, I will tell my squad to drop it and get the hell out."
Rico followed behind him. "I'll do the same thing, but you're squad isn't the only one taking part in this. We're putting our necks on the line just like you."
Wilson gave him a sideways glance and nodded before walking off. Rico just stood there for a moment, he just couldn't figure this guy out.
Clerk stowed her gear into the footlocker at the end of her bunk before collapsing down onto the cardboard like mattress that SICON called a bed.
"I can't believe we're working with the Roughnecks," she mumbled burying her face into the lumpy pillow.
Fox looked down over the edge of his bunk. "You say that like it's a good thing."
Clerk lifted her head up. "What do you mean by that?"
"I mean that I personally don't like them. They start bad mouthing Wilson and Sarge not fifteen minutes after this whole thing started," was his response.
Clerk then questioned. "Well, how many times have we had to deal with that before? It comes with the territory of being a mostly female squad with a male Ell-Tee."
Fox lay back down on his bunk and put his hands behind his head. "I don't know. But I just trust them about as far as I can throw them."
"Well they're probably thinking the same thing about us."
Nodding Fox closed his eyes, "That fits me just fine."
Doc was busy in the camp's clinic, checking his medical equipment and supplies. He looked up hearing the doors open. It was Goodrich. He gave her a friendly smile but she seemingly ignored it and sat down at the table in front of his.
"Talk about an Ice Queen." He mumbled under his breath.
Goodrich pretended she hadn't heard that comment and began to check her own supplies. For the next thirty minutes they sat in complete silence. Every few minutes Doc would look up to see Goodrich totally engrossed in her work.
"You wouldn't know where the suit plug is would you?" She asked breaking the cold silence that had gripped the room.
Doc tossed her a can. "I always keep a few spares around."
"Thanks, I owe you one." She placed the can in her pack. Throwing the strap over her shoulder Goodrich stood up and walked out.
Doc gave a slight shudder. The air that flowed behind her felt like it came straight out of a freezer. "Definitely an Ice Queen."
Later that day the two Lt.'s gathered their squads in the barracks to brief them on what would be going on.
"Seventy two hours? We not only have to do a mission with them, but we've got to put up with them for seventy two hours?!" Max sharply inquired. "Is this SICON's idea of cruel and unusual punishment?"
Solitario shot back. "We aren't exactly jumping up and down to work with you guys either!"
"That's enough from the both of you." Clark and Zim stated in unison.
Wilson cleared his throat and continued. "As of right now we all will be working at a team. Wildcats, I expect you to give Lt. Rico and Sgt. Zim the same level of respect you give me and Clark."
"Which is next to none," Dizzy mumbled.
"The same goes for you guys," Rico began, "If Wilson or Sgt. Clark give you and order you do it as if it came from me or Zim."
The two squads mumbled obscenities about working with one another before Wilson quieted them down.
"All right, to get this team-up started we're going to assign one Roughneck to one Wildcat. Phillips you'll be paired up with Gossard. Goodrich you'll be with Lecoix, Philip and Higgins, Clerk and Flores, Solitario and Brutto, and Fox is with T'Phai."
"What about Allen?" Rico asked.
"He'll be communicating with an Intel opritive who's had experience in this field." Wilson looked down at this clipboard to make sure he had the name right. "A, Carl Jenkins."
Rico nodded. "All right, first on the agenda. Zim and I will be taking the first 3 groups to the VR rooms for sim training. Wilson and Clark will be taking the last three. Are there any questions?"
Fox raised his hand. "Yeah, why the hell was I paired up with the skinnie?"
"Because, that's the way the cards were dealt." Wilson responded. "I'm not asking you to like it, just deal with it. Who knows, you may just learn something."
"There's nothing a Skinnie could teach me." He mumbled a few other choice words under his breath before Clark gave him a look that made him stop.
The Roughnecks and Wildcats glared at one another, not sure how to react to the grouping. Once again the stressful silence took hold.
Wilson shook his head. "Couple up with your partner. The ones who are with me get ready to go to the obstacle course. Those with Rico suite up for the Sims."
They grumbled slightly and formed the groups.
