Chapter 8 – Projecting Trouble
It turned out that I hadn't gotten the only kills during the mission; Wyoming had used his silenced rifle to snipe an Insurrectionist that had headed towards the door Florida and I had gone through. We hadn't seen the body as we exited the building because it had sunk into a snow drift and been covered quickly by the falling snow. The British man was quite proud of the head shot; it had been from quite the distance through some less-than pleasant weather. The fact that we'd only had to kill four soldiers during the mission pleased me, because I didn't really have any reason to hate the Insurrection, so the fewer lackeys we killed the better. Though the head count will really go up after the others get here.
So after our debriefing; where the leader board was updated and Wyoming took over Maine's spot as third place, and we received an underwhelming amount of praise from the Director, we all headed to the mess for a late lunch after a hard day of work. We still wore our armour, except for our helmets, as well as our weapons, which made us unapproachable to the rest of the personnel. Word spread quickly through the Mother of Invention, and although the crew wanted to chat amiably with us about the successful first mission, they didn't dare approach armed Freelancer Agents. So we got to eat in peace, well as peaceful as a meal could get with an excitable Georgia.
All the Agents except for myself, and uncharacteristically Florida, wanted to discuss what had happened inside of the facility. So the conversation, which the male blue Agent would usually take over, was left to me.
"So how many soldiers did you guys kill?" Georgia asked and I saw Florida flinch at the words. I'll have to talk to him later to find out what's going on.
"Three," I answered simply after finishing a mouthful of dry pasta bake.
"How'd you kill them?" Everyone except for Florida leaned in towards me, eagerly waiting for the answer to Georgia's question.
After another bite of my meal I answered in a cold and factual manner, "Stabbed the first in the jugular, snapped the neck of the other two."
"Wow," Georgia said in awe, "Did you strike from behind all Ninja-like?"
"The first two were asleep, and the second I grabbed from behind when he walked into the room."
"Sounds like an easy time," Maine said, obviously not impressed that much; probably hoping for more action and gore in the story.
"Certainly was for me," Florida said coldly.
"Wait did you not get anyone?" New Mexico asked Florida. The mission-kills hadn't been a part of the debriefing, so the others weren't aware of the death count.
"No," he said before looking at me, "Arizona's a more experienced killer so I let her take them." What the hell? Why did he sound so bitter? This wasn't the Florida from the show, I thought with a frown.
"Really?" Wyoming said while twirling his moustache in contemplation, "I figured you'd be more of the saving type Arizona, being a doctor and all."
"Well it makes it easier when you know where all the important bits and pieces are," I quipped, trying to make myself seem more educated and less experienced. In actuality I'd kill dozen of people in similar ways during my time in the Middle-East while on deployment; sometimes the best sniper nests where behind enemy lines and so get to them you had to be stealthy. This, I figured, was what Florida had a problem with. He'd thought I was a young, inexperienced medic and he obviously didn't like being lied to. Not that I'd actually said I was any of that, but it had been the way I was trying to get them to perceive me as. I didn't want to be a threat here; I needed to fly under the radar to do what I needed to. I was sure that Florida would understand once everything came to light; considering his life would be one I hoped to save.
Although my quip was quite dark humoured, it did seem to make some sense to Florida, and he gave me a small smile and asked, "You gonna teach us those spots then Ari?"
"Sure thing," I said cheekily before grabbing Nex, who was beside me, by the chin one-handed and lifted his head up to expose his throat. I fought the slight wave of warmth that hit me when I saw his cheeks redden from the somewhat intimate action. I used my other hand to gently poke the spot on his neck where I could feel his pulse; the same place in which I'd stabbed my first kill in this universe. "Right here on both sides is where the Carotid, the main neck artery, lies. If you get the angle right, roughly thirty-degrees, and dig in deep enough you'll also hit the esophagus and maybe even the spinal cord. Quick, deadly and efficient"
The look on New Mexico's face was sufficiently horrified, and even more so when I continued to hold him and gesture across is neck with a finger. "If you just slice across the front of the throat you subject your enemy to a longer, more agonising and sometimes unsuccessful death. There's too much muscle and cartilage protecting the area." I then released Nex's jaw and he thoughtfully rubbed his throat, his face still flushed.
"How to kill bad-guys one-oh-one with Arizona," Wyoming joked.
"I can definitely see how anatomical knowledge would benefit a soldier," Florida added. Maine grunted and Georgia gave a thumbs-up in agreeance with the statement.
"Well this has been fun, but I've got two reports to write and a shower to take," New Mexico said excusing himself. We nodded as a farewell as he left the mess hall.
"He's probably going to be doing more than just washing himself in the shower," Wyoming insinuated and giggled. Georgia sprayed his mouthful of soda all over Florida in astonishment at the innuendo. I just flushed and coughed awkwardly. Maine chuckled in amusement.
"Ari, you seriously didn't think that we didn't notice you and New Mexico have a thing going on?" Florida asked with a sly smile while drying himself off with a napkin.
"Especially after your spectacular entrance onto the bridge last night," Wyoming added with a smirk.
Speechless, my fair skin turned tomato red while I spluttered an attempt at a reply, "Uhh … but … ahh ... umm"
The other three Agents just laughed in unison, before getting up and leaving the room, while I continued to try and tame my facial features. Dammit, I cursed at myself. Day three and I was already unconsciously flirting with a fellow soldier to a noticeable extent. God fucking dammit. After sulking for a while I headed to the gym after dumping my armour in my locker and prayed that Nex wouldn't be there. It would've been the fucking cherry on the top of the whole bloody ordeal.
After a session in a blissfully empty gym I showered before lying in bed with my tablet. Using my neural link I quickly compiled a mission report for the Director, as well as an after-action personal assessment for the Counsellor. I tried to not make myself seem too cold and heartless in the second one, as it wouldn't do me any good to become a blip on Aiden Price's craze-o-metre. With the boring work done, I then decided to do some online shopping to see what I could buy with the money that I'd recently discovered was in account in my name. Turned out I was a fairly wealthy combat medic; what with my family in my fake profile having the same profession in this universe as my old one. Turns out cattle farmers make a killing in the future.
It surprised me that even during a quarter-century long war with an army of multiple alien races' that I could get almost anything shipped to the Mother of Invention. Drones apparently were used for pretty much everything these days, and even had their own Slipspace capabilities. So I thought, fuck it, and bought some decent clothing for if we ever had shore-leave, as well as a decent toothbrush considering the one I'd had in my transported-through-time-and-space duffle bag was not only now 535 years old, but had also been pretty worn out before I'd arrived in this universe.
However I didn't only purchase sensible items. After an hour of browsing modern gadgets I came across an item that I felt the overwhelming need to buy. It was a set of four holo-projectors; however they didn't just project light as an intangible image. They used military-grade technology to turn the photons into a substantial object; like the energy shield Felix uses later in the timeline. In fact, the devices where made unsurprisingly by Charon industries, and were only found on the black market as they were extremely exclusive. Exclusive because they were the only prototypes made and had been stolen by pirates. These projectors could be used in conjunction with a neural link to form whatever the user intended; anything from roller-skates to jet-boots. Two were to be used on each foot, and two were for either the back of the hand or palm, depending on the user's preference.
The listing had only be posted for less than a minute, and I didn't hesitate over the enormous asking price, clicking the purchase button before even reading the contents of red warning block at the bottom of the page. It was nothing important anyway; just some stuff about making sure you didn't activate them with any important body parts in the projection range, as well as a recommendation to wear them in conjunction with body armour to prevent 'mishaps'. I almost felt sorry for the pirate that was the guinea pig and found that out, that was until I found out that it would take a bit over two weeks to ship to my location. Of course I couldn't really blame them because they'd have to send it through back channels to avoid any trouble for both them and myself.
With the arrival of the next batch of Freelancers not coming until just before then, I steeled myself for a boring week and a half of waiting. However, it turned out that being bored would be the least of my problems.