Chapter 2: Liftoff
"What a dump." Simmons mused. He the last to enter the 'eyesore' and no one within earshot could disagree with him.
The interior was littered with garbage. Mostly food wrappers, empty bottles, and cardboard boxes with food brands on them. It wasn't anything out of the ordinary for a college student's dorm after a party, but for a "Professional Freelance Investigator" it was off putting. The dorm comparison is even more appropriate as there was kitchen, sofa, and even a bedroom. This wasn't just a transport, this man lived here.
"Welcome aboard the S.S. Awesome." Chris proudly declared.
"You named this ship after yourself?" Carolina asked.
"Naw, my brother named the ship, he gave it to me through his will when he died."
"I-I'm sorry, I didn't know."
"Its not a problem, he went out just as wanted. Trying to get high from plasma venting."
…
"That does not sound smart." Grif quipped, breaking the silence.
"No kidding, Melted his face off almost instantly. For a moment I thought it was because I was high myself, but then I remembered that we ran out of earth-based drugs weeks ago and I couldn't have been high."
"M-moving on," Wash interjected. "Where do we strap in? I don't see any safety harnesses."
"Oh right, I had most of them removed so I could have room for my kitchen and bedroom. I didn't get around to re-installing them though."
"That is a problem."
"I have three extra seats up front that you can strap yourselves into, and all my furniture is welded into the ship so could hold on to them."
"That chair is upside down." Sarge said, pointing to one of two sofas in the 'living room.'
"I was…like drunk…when I welded them, sooooo… they may not all be perfect."
Tucker then ran up to wash and grabbed his shoulder.
"Excuse me, but I need to speak with my commander in private."
"No problem brah, I'll get ready for the launch." He then walked off to the Command deck. Once the door closed, Tucker spoke.
"Wash, this guy is absolutely insane! Why the fuck are we going on this stupid mission?" Tucker was wearing his helmet, but even without seeing his face it was clear he was glaring at Washington.
"I told you all already, Kimball hired us to escort Chris in his investigation, in exchange for waving the fees for rebuilding our bases."
"Which we wouldn't need, IF DOUNT DIDN'T BURN THEM DOWN!" Grif shouted.
"I said was sorry!"
"Enough! Both of you relax!" Wash ordered. "Aside from his...'personality' nothing has gone wrong."
"Why would Kimball even hire this guy? She's the president of an entire planet. She could easily have sent her own squad to this. Why send someone from outside chorus?"
"Tucker's right, why would she go to such lengths for something as simple as a derelict ship investigation?" Simmons added. "If there was something dangerous on that ship. Sending her own, competent army would have been better then a lone space hippie guarded by us."
"I told you all this already. About Kimball's situation and everything. You mean to tell me none of you were paying attention to anything I said?"
…
"WELL?"
"In our defense, grif's sister was showing us what she did for a living while we were gone, and it was hot."
"I was also focused on grif's sister"
"I wanted to keep those two from looking at my sister."
"And I wanted to know why her room was so poorly lit. She had only candles for lighting and they weren't even the scented kind."
"Carolina can you help me expla…" Wash interrupts himself when realizes something important, Carolina wasn't there anymore.
"Uh guys… Where's Sarge?" Simmons nervously added.
"Caboose is missing too," Tucker said.
The Reds and Blues look around, but to their surprise; all three were missing.
"Do you think they all got off the ship?" Simmons asked.
"No, Carolina has never abandoned a mission before. At least without informing her team." Wash defensibly stated.
"¡Idiotas, nos abandonaron! ¡Están con el idiota Hippie!"
"Lopez, don't be silly. They all can't go to the bathroom at once." Donut proclaimed.
Suddenly the ship began to rumble and shake.
"No," Grif said.
"Holy crap, the ship is starting!" Tucker shouted.
"No no."
"The door's are locked! We can't get out!" Simmons yelled as he repeatedly slams on the electric door to the Command Deck.
"No no no."
"Aw crap," Wash said.
As if on queue, the entire ship began it's accent from the planet's surface. Instantly, all the soldiers went from standing straight to falling down as the ship faced away from the planet. What was once the rear end wall became the floor and all the soldiers feeling immense pressure pushing them towards it.
Simmons and Lopez Fall first slamming into the wall. Intuitively, Lopez chose to stand near the rear wall from the outset so despite being extremely heavy, he doesn't get hit by the full force of impact. Simmons not so much, but thankfully his armor was designed to help him survive a fall from orbit so no real injuries occurred.
The others had their falls broken by the sofas and laid themselves on top of each other, "Bow-chick-bow-wow?" to avoid stretching out their arms and breaking them. Surprisingly, the furniture was sturdy as the tables, chairs, sofas and even the garbage wasn't effect by the g forces that thrown around the Reds and Blues.
"He welded the fucking GARBAGE!" Grif shouted.
"HANG ON!" Wash shouted.
"AAAHHHHHHH!"
Meanwhile at the Command Deck
"You sure your bros'll be ok? They seemed concerned at the lack of harnesses." Chris asked Carolina. He was wearing a dark green Helmet like the others now, no doubt because it would have protected him better against the g-forces.
"Their suits were designed for much worse and Washington was freelancer like me. All they needed was your warning and they'll be fine."
"Besides," Sarge interjected. "They would have spent so much time arguing for these seats we'd never leave the planet. First come, first serve. What I'm surprised about is you joining us Caboose."
"I was here the whole time. I wanted to see all the buttons and boy are they bright and fun to push. Like that one there!" He points to a lever on the control panel.
"That's the power supply to the Speaker system," Chris notes. "And its currently off…"
"So the others did not hear the warning for liftoff…" Carolina worryingly states.
…
"WE'RE GONNA DIE!"
"Tucker did it."
The door to the Commander's Deck opened with Carolina, Chris, Sarge and Caboose walking out.
In the living room almost nothing moved except the various soldiers. Lodged either in the rear wall or on top of each other. Only mindless groaning can be heard from them.
"Oh walk it off you babies. Red team needs to be more durable then that." Sarge stated.
"Fuck off, Sir!" Grif moaned.
"Uggh…" Wash is the first to stand up. "Head count, Everyone."
"Alive…"Grif groaned.
"Barely breathing…"Tucker coughed.
"I hit the wall hard but somehow lived!" Simmons said.
"I was sandwiched between two dudes!"Donut added.
"Todavía estoy funcional" Lopez spoke.
"Good. Everyone get up as quick as you can." Wash then turned to Chris. "As for you, WHAT THE HELL?"
"Look brah, I announced the launch, but your blue friend cut the power to system."
"I'm not talking about the launch itself. You were told specifically how many would be joining you and you didn't even prepare something as basic as SAFETY HARNESSES. If we weren't in top of the line power armor we would have been crushed." Wash was harsh and clearly angry. "You ignored every call we made so we couldn't adjust the damn pick site when it was clear the it was flawed. The only reason we didn't dump your ass is because the UNSC wouldn't give us the time to find a replacement."
"Wait, the UNSC? What do they have to do with this? I thought we were working for chorus." Tucker asked.
"Didn't you pay attention to the briefing from Wash?" Carolina asked.
"No, too busy staring at Grif's sister. She was in a micro bikini."
"YOU FUCKER!"
"Do you have anything professional to add to this shitshow you've put us through?" Wash continued ranting at Chris.
"W-we'll arrive at the Mugunghwa in about an hour."
"Very well. You go fly this ship while I debrief my squad the explicit details of this mission…" Wash turns to the Reds and Blues "AGAIN…" He turns back to Chris. "Are we clear?"
"C-crystal!"
"Good. You're dismissed."
Chris ran out really quickly. His helmet obscuring the panic in his face. Wash walked towards the rest of his squad, who at this point have taken seats in the various chairs and sofa.
"You ok? You don't normally blow up like this." Carolina asked with concern in her voice.
"I've been better. At least my time training the feds and rebels payed off. Now that we have some privacy I'd like to explain the whole mission again. Granted, Chris should know as well, but I honestly doubt it." Wash sighed as he took a seat. "I don't want to repeat myself or be interrupted, and I'm only telling this once."
Wash sighs and takes a deep breath.
"A week ago, Carolina and I were called into Kimball's office to discuss something important…"