Everyone stumbled off the ramp and onto the beach. The ship had made a long indent along the sand, burying its nose into the ground. It had taken out a few jungle trees, setting a few leaves ablaze. The ship bellowed thick, black smoke as it lied there.
"Is everyone okay?!" Tucker asked between heavy coughs. Carolina was embracing Wash in a tight hug, while trying to help him stand.
"I'm okay." Kai replied, holding onto her big brother. Grif gave a nod.
"We're okay... except..." Grif said sadly as he looked down the beach to where his maroon roommate was. Simmons had dropped to his knees and threw off his helmet.
"Virginia and Lopez..." Caboose sounded as if he was tearing up. Donut was sniffling as he put a hand on his heart. Sarge began to walk towards Simmons, but he hesitated. He knew he wasn't the best at comforting people, and wasn't sure if he could handle any emotional outburst.
Oregon, Ten, Michigan and Nevada all bowed their heads, giving a silent sign of respect to their fallen friend.
Grif walked up to Simmons, who had balled his hands into fists.
"You think she's okay, right?" Simmons asked suddenly. Grif opened his mouth, but was unable to find the words. Simmons looked up at him, his eyes rimmed with tears. Grif couldn't bear to see his best friend like that. With a big gulp, Grif lowered down to Simmons level and put hand on his back.
"I... I don't know what to tell you." Grif began, sensing Simmons heart breaking with each word. "We... she... it was a big fall..." Grif hated this moment. He hated having to break the news to his best friend. He hated how his best friend was hurting. He hated that he couldn't take the pain away.
Simmons lowered his head back down, and Grif watched as his shoulders shuddered with each sob that he released.
Everyone stood by, choking back tears. They all could feel Simmons pain.
"Aw shit, we got incoming!" Michigan announced as he pointed up to the sky. Through the mixture of white and black mixture of clouds and smokes, they could see in the distance the black ships that tailed them.
"We got to get out of here!" Carolina yelled. She pulled Wash's arm over her shoulder and began to run.
Grif tugged at Simmons arm and snatched up to his helmet. Simmons reluctantly put his helmet back on after Grif forced it into his arms. They both began to run, trying to catch up to the rest of the group.
"Take shelter into the jungle!" Nevada yelled. Tucker was one of the first to make it to the outlining of the jungle. He halted and waved everyone on, making sure that everyone made it in.
"Come on! Go! Go! Go!" He ordered as everyone ran past him.
The sound of bullets firing could be heard echoing through the air, and the distant sound of explosions.
Everyone stamped hard on the sand and jungle foliage as they ran for cover. They smacked the leaves out of the way and brushed away low branches.
"Over here!" Sarge called out, rounding the corner to a boulder. Everyone followed his voice as he jumped down a formation of rocks that led to a pool of water.
As they descended, Tucker noticed a cave.
"Hey! In here!" He yelled with excitement, relieved to have found cover. The team followed behind him as they stepped down into the mouth of a cave. They slid against the mossy coverings and down into the shadowy hole.
Once they were inside, they all propped themselves up against the walls, trying to catch their breath.
The distant humming of the ships' engines could be heard echoing.
"They must be touching down." Ten said as he slid down onto his rear.
"Good luck trying to find us." Doc smirked.
"If they do, they'll be in for a rude awakening. Mu haha." O'Malley cackled.
"What in tarnations...?" Ten asked as looked over at Doc/O'Malley.
"His voice changed." Oregon whispered.
"Everyone, keep quiet." Tucker ordered, his voice echoing into the cave. Everyone tensed up and listened, hearing the sound of distant rustling and voices.
"Where'd they go?!" One voice called out.
"Shit, we can't go back empty handed." Another guard cursed.
"We might have to. At least we know they're on this island." Replied a guard.
"Let's get back to the ships and back to home base." Ordered another soldier. "Mr. Caine will give us direction."
"...Mr. Caine?" Wash whispered.
The voices could be heard growing distant and the rustling eventually stopped. Everyone held their breaths and paused, waiting to make sure that the coast was fully clear before talking.
"Alright, I'm going to check everyone out and make sure they're okay." Doc stated as he went over to Carolina and began to scan her.
"I wonder who this asshole is?" Grif pondered.
"I'm so glad to see you all." Wash said, sounding almost fully awake.
"We're glad to see you, too." Caboose said. "It was just not the same." Wash smiled within his helmet as Caboose hugged him.
"I know what they're doing with the Freelancers." Carolina announced to the group.
"Do tell." Sarge said.
"They're trying to make copies of us as A.I." Carolina explained. "They want aggressive, strong A.I. That's why they subjected us to... mental torture... to bring out our anger. They wanted our fighting senses heightened to their max." Carolina put her hand to her head. "It was a nightmare."
"They tried to do it to me, but thanks to my injury, I was a failure." Wash explained as he pointed to his neck.
"They put Virginia through that..." Michigan murmured, his voice shaking. Simmons began to sniffle.
"I... I can't even imagine what she went through..." Simmons whispered. He reached to his back and took off the katana, and then held it into his lap. It seemed like a precious memento that he couldn't take his eyes off of.
"I'm sorry, son." Sarge apologized.
"I'm sorry about Lopez." Simmons could barely choke out the words. Under his helmet, the tears were running down his cheeks.
Doc checked over everyone, making sure that nobody got injured during the crash. There were minor signs of whiplash, but nothing too serious.
Everyone just collapsed against the cold dirt of the cave and put their heads against the wall, feeling hopeless.
"Where did we even land?" Carolina asked.
"A planet called Chamoru." Ten explained as he lifted his helmet off. Everyone looked over at the Freelancer, seeing his face for the first time. His shaved head had a few scars visible on the scalp. His eyes looked tired. He rubbed his head with his hand and sighed.
"I guess we should set up camp here for the night." Michigan stated.
"I love camping." Caboose chimed in.
"I don't like the idea of staying in this cave. What if there's bats?" Grif whimpered. He looked to Simmons, expecting him to make a joke, but Simmons sat silently and stared down at the katana.
Sarge set up an artificial light in the center of the cave, letting it act as a bonfire.
"Oregon and I will see if we can rustle up some grub." Ten said before stepping out of the cave.
"I'll join yas." Sarge said as he followed behind them.
"How'd you guys break out of the cells?" Tucker asked Carolina.
"Nevada is to thank for that." Carolina replied. Everyone looked over to Nevada for an explanation.
"My armor is equipped with the ability to electrocute those who touch me." Nevada explained. "It's comes in handy."
"It's like being permanently armed with a taser! Cool!" Kai gawked.
"And your friend, Ten? He was making holograms." Tucker added. Nevada nodded.
"Yep. He makes holograms of anything he wants. It's useful. It throws people off. Michigan has the ability to melt things with his touch. Oregon's armor can amplify sounds and create shock waves, and Virginia... she could..." Nevada's voice suddenly grew quiet as he glanced over at Simmons. "Her armor had the ability to be magnetized. She could scale buildings, bridges, anything she wanted with no problem."
Tucker gave a nod.
"We can't let them get away with this." Wash said, gripping the dirt. "Who knows what they'll do with the A.I?!"
"I think I heard them talking about suits of armor they created." Carolina explained.
"Great." Wash murmured.
"Now they just need abled bodies and minds to run their armor." Carolina added.
"I don't know how they're going to recruit Freelancers..." Doc mumbled.
"They might have volunteers all lined up." Nevada said.
Simmons suddenly startled everyone as he got to his feet with a huff and began to storm out of the mouth of the cave.
"Yo, Simmons? Where you going?" Grif asked.
"I need to go for a walk." Simmons replied.
"Hey, I don't think that's a smart idea!" Tucker jumped up to his feet. Simmons continued to walk away as Tucker reached out to grab him. Wash took hold of Tucker's forearm and shook his head.
"Let him go. He needs it." Wash whispered. Tucker hesitated before lowering his hand, watching the maroon soldier stomp away.

Oregon, Ten and Sarge came back several minutes later, having various fruits filled in their arms. Ten had a rope of fish strapped to his back.
"Micah, get to cooking." Ten grinned as he tossed him the fish. Michigan chuckled and put each fish between his palms, and everyone watched as his palms burnt orange-red. They saw the smoke trickling up from his palms and heard the sizzling of the fish.
"Now that's a trick!" Sarge said as he put down the miscellaneous groupings of melons on the ground. "Hey, where's Simmons?"
"He went to get some air." Wash explained. Sarge inhaled and sat down, knowing that he couldn't do anything to help ease Simmons' pain.

Simmons watched as the sun set, and two teal-blue moons rose in the sky. He stared out at the waves that crashed against the beach. He was perked up on a boulder, watching the stars dot the purple sky. The tears formed in his eyes as he felt himself crumble. The weight felt unbearable in his chest. He collapsed onto his side as he sobbed uncontrollably. Simmons wasn't religious, but in that moment, he prayed to God or whomever that would listen to please take the pain away.

Everyone was eating when Simmons finally stumbled back into the cave. It was pitch black out and he had the lights on his helmet.
"Welcome back." Wash was the first to greet him.
"..Hey.." Simmons slumped against the wall.
"Hey buddy, I saved you some food." Grif handed over a fish to Simmons. Most of the team wad impressed by Grif's restraint to not consume everything.
"Thanks, you can eat it. I'm not hungry." Simmons admitted. His voice seemed robotic and low.
"You got to keep up your strength, son." Sarge insisted. Now he was sounding concerned.
Simmons sighed and laid down, facing his back to the wall. The katana still clipped to his back.
Grif sadly recoiled his hand and placed the fish down. Maybe he'll get hungry later...

Everyone finished eating and decided to curl up against the wall.
They decide they would take turns keeping watch, starting with Tucker, then Nevada, Sarge, Oregon, Donut and Michigan.
Carolina had her head on Wash's shoulder as she gripped his hand.
Everyone, except who was on guard duty, quickly fell asleep.
Tucker sat up, having his wife Kai leaning her head on his lap. He felt grateful in that moment that she was alive, but when he looked over at Simmons, he saddened himself with the thoughts of losing her...

Simmons dreamt of her.
The way her cheeks turned red and her freckles stood out.
He replayed some of their conversations.
"What nationalities are you? I'm Dutch-Irish." Simmons asked.
"I'm English, Scottish, Irish and Native American."
"Well... you want a little Dutch in you?" Simmons asked, recalling the joke Tucker taught him.
Virginia threw her head back and laughed.
"You're a dork." She smiled at him.
He recalled their first kiss, and the first time they made love.
He thought about the times he watched her while she was asleep next to him. He would watch her face twitch, or the way her eyes rolled under their lids. He would comb his fingers through her brunette hair, seeing the strands of red. Her lips were perfectly plump and pink. Simmons would kiss her forehead, feeling totally and utterly at bliss. He was so smitten. She was his first serious girlfriend. The only one that has said 'I love you'.

Then when Simmons was awoken by Michigan, Simmons felt himself consumed by sadness. He silently wished he was still asleep.
"Rise 'n shine." Michigan called out as he shook everyone awake. "They landed their vessel."
"What?" Tucker asked.
"The 'Gears of Time'. It's landed on the beach." Michigan announced.