Chapter 2

"Out of the frying pan and into the really humid oven," thought Delaware.

He used his hunting knife to hack through the foliage in his path. Alaska trailed behind him, eagerly observing the jungle like a child in a museum. California brought up the rear with SMG in hand.

"Zeta, how close are we to the storage facility?" Delaware asked.

"Nearly there. The entrance is less than thirty meters away."

"Hey, Captain!" interjected California, "Remind me why we need to find this offsite building in the middle of God-knows-where?"

"Because it's been days since we last had decent supplies," he explained between slices, "and this old Freelancer facility is our best bet for restocking."

California noticed that Alaska was still staring in awe at every bush and tree they passed. Was it really that interesting? He poked him in the back with the butt of his gun. Alaska snapped forward with surprise.

"What are you gawking at?" he asked. Alaska recomposed himself.

"Well, I- I've never been in a jungle before. There's so many kinds of exotic fauna, I just thought I would try to see as much of it as I could."

California chuckled. "You're a real nerd, you know that?" he sneered. "Agent Alaska, aka Mr. Encyclopedia Britannica!"

"Shut up!" Alaska stuttered.

"If you two are done, we're here," Delaware interrupted.

They looked up to see that they had arrived at a large stone building. The walls rose high up in the air, but there were no visible entrances.

They approached the side facing them and Delaware pressed in on a panel that was eye-height. The panel slid to the right, revealing a control terminal with the anagram "F.I.L.S.S." at the top.

"Hello!" an energetic digital voice said, "Thank you for using the Freelancer Integrated Logistics and Security System, but you may call me Phyllis! You have reached Project Freelancer Offsite Storage Facility B34. Please identify yourself to verify entry."

"Hey, it's Phyllis!" California said to the side. Delaware stepped closer to the terminal.

"Agent Delaware, Captain of Asgard Squadron Alpha. I request access to all supplies and equipment available at this facility."

"Welcome, Agent Delaware! I'm sorry, but I am not allowed to grant anyone access to this facility, even agents."

"Phyllis, who gave you this order?"

"The Director himself. I'm afraid that you will have to contact a superior officer before I can permit you entrance."

"I don't have time for that, Phyllis. We need access, otherwise-"

Zeta appeared next to him. "Let me handle this," he said.

Zeta's hologram merged with the terminal and the screen became covered in static. Garbled bits of Phyllis' speech attempted to warn of a system intrusion, but she was cut off by a short buzz. She began to speak again, but it was as if she was replaying a prerecorded message.

"Welcome back, Director! Allow me to open the passage for you."

To their left, a portion of the wall slid slowly to the side, revealing an entrance to the facility.

"Why would Phyllis greet us as the 'The Director?'" asked California.

"Probably because The Director reserved private access to this building," Alaska answered.

Zeta reappeared in front of them. "Phyllis should be much more cooperative now," he smirked.

They entered the connecting hallway. Luminescent blue lights surrounded them as they approached the opposing door. It slid open when they were within a few feet of it, revealing a large warehouse. Storage crates were stacked almost to the ceiling with a few open areas in between. Warm jungle light flooded through windows near the ceiling. They stepped on to an elevated walkway and followed it to their left and down a set of stairs.

Dusty weaponry and random pieces of armor littered the floor. There were multiple colors of helmets, but mostly red and blue. They explored for a while until Delaware broke the silence.

"Alaska, I want you to find the power control and see if you can get this place up and running. Cal, come with me. We need to see if we can find some decent supplies."

"Yes, sir!" they replied in unison.

Alaska worked his way through the maze of crates to the far side of the room where another staircase connected to the walkway. He followed the path to a windowed room overlooking the entire warehouse. A set of switches and buttons collected dust across from the door.

As he investigated, Delaware and California began to break open the metal crates. Delaware pounded the butt of his rifle against the lock, eventually smashing it. He flung the doors open. He could smell something musty through his helmet.

"Whatever's here, it's been here for a while," he mused.

He turned his helmet flashlight on to reveal three long rows of what appeared to be charcoal-black armor. It was almost as if they were in perfect form and prepared for combat.

"Captain!" California yelled

Delaware turned to see California kneeling over the body of a dead soldier next to the crate, still in full armor. It was scraped and dented all over. There was a large hole in the helmet visor, as if a rock shaped projectile had shot straight through it. Strangely, there was no hole on the back side.

"What do you think happened here?" he asked.

"Looks like this guy got into a fight. A bad one. And I have a feeling that whatever killed him might still be here…"

Alaska patched in though their helmet radios. "Captain, I've found the central power switch. It appears to be connected to solar power, probably from panels on top of this building. Should I activate it?"

"Go ahead. We need these lights on, it's way too dark in here."

In an instant, flood lights on the ceiling flashed on, lighting up almost every inch of the warehouse floor.

There was some clammering behind them. Delaware and California turned to see one of the suits of armor approaching them. It's helmet visor flashed on. It stopped and made a fist, punching its other palm. It made a motion like it was cracking its neck, but there were mechanical snaps instead of human muscles. More suits of armor, mimicking the first's actions, walked up behind it. A crackling, low voice addressed them.

"You have no idea what kind of trouble you're in," the armor said.

"Androids!" yelled Delaware. "Scatter!"

He ducked for cover behind a crate. California turned to run, but wasn't fast enough. Three androids charged him from behind.

Two grabbed his arms and a third used his shoulders as bracers and cartwheeled over his head, punching him in the face upon landing. The other two let go as soon as he was hit. He flew backwards into a crate, denting the metal on impact. He attempted to get up and drew his pistol, but the same androids that double teamed him before grabbed him again and flung him towards the other. It disarmed him and used the pistol to hit him over the head.

Delaware watched the scene unfold from behind the corner of a crate. An android attempted to round the corner after it had seen the edge of his helmet, but he used the butt of his rifle to bash it in the chest as soon as it came into view.

"Zeta, what are these?!" he shouted.

"Military-grade androids. Combat robots. They seem to be modeled in the appearance and fighting style of Agent Texas."

"Tex? Why would there be robot versions of Tex in some abandoned warehouse?!"

"Probably another one of The Director's 'projects.' Also probably why security was so tight on the way in. I can analyze their origin given more data, but you'll have to get up close and personal with them."

"We've always got to do it the hard way, don't we?"

"What other way would there be?"

The three androids stood in combat stances in a triangle around California. He stood up and dodged the leader's incoming punch. As he leaned to avoid, he slipped off the shotgun strapped to his shoulder and aimed it directly at the attacking android. He cocked it and immediately pulled the trigger. Its front visor exploded upon close impact with the lead, then fell backwards as electricity sparked from the severed wires. The other two androids caught him off guard and punched his head from behind, knocking him back down to the ground.

Delaware rounded the corner and drew two pistols from each side. He kicked one of the androids in the back. The other turned to him as he aimed the left pistol to shoot. It disarmed him and threw the pistol to the ground, but speed was his advantage. He immediately flipped around and aimed the other pistol directly at its helmet. In the second that it took for it to process the new situation, he shot the android point blank.

"Come on." He offered his hand to California. "Let's show these machines what we can do."

California grabbed it and pulled himself up. "Couldn't have said it better, captain," he responded.

Delaware returned his pistols to the holsters at his sides. He and California both drew rifles from their backs and rounded the corner of another crate to see an open area where several androids milled around, looking for their targets. They ducked behind a concrete barrier on the outer edge, just high enough that their enemies couldn't spot them.

"On my mark," whispered Delaware. California nodded in return. They peaked over the edge of the barrier.

"Fire!" They both pulled their rifles over the cover and unleashed a shower of bullets. The unsuspecting androids were quickly mowed down. They continued until each of them had hit the floor.

As they turned around and prepared to stand up, an android had crept up on them and held two rifles at each of their heads.

"Crap," California muttered.

A shot rang through the air and the android fell over backwards, dropping both of its weapons. It was instantly motionless. Retracing the bullet's path, they turned to see Alaska wielding a sniper rifle on the other side of the room, still on the elevated walkway.

"I have you covered, chief," Alaska said through the helmet radio.