(A/N) It's another chapter, this time brought to you by the exceptional ParabolaOfMystery, and occurs from the viewpoint of Agent Carolina herself. Come on, admit it. You've all been waiting for this. I can promise that you won't be disappointed. This'll conclude the training excercise, and on Saturday things will...begin to make sense a little more I think... After reading this chapter, I'd love to know what our readers think the results will turn out. Be prepared for some...surprises.

'Til next time! Enjoy!


Chapter Eight – One Woman Army

Agent Carolina

Written by ParabolaOfMystery


"I do the very best I know how - the very best I can; and I mean to keep on doing so until the end." - Abraham Lincoln


Carolina looked down at the fleck of paint on her finger that had come off Massachusetts' armour. Under her helmet, she couldn't help but smirk. Massachusetts' trial had been okay, but noisy and messy. Not to mention she'd gotten splattered. If she was actually out in the field, that paint splatter could have been a shard of shrapnel, piercing one of the softer parts of Massa's armour. She sniffed and flicked the speck on the floor. There would be no splatter during her own trial. None at all.

She had been observing the others, carefully. Wyoming had been stealthy and precise, but cocky. Alaska had been sly and aggressive, but reckless. And Massa just seemed somewhat inexperienced to her. Out of those few, Carolina decided Florida had the best run; he was practical and clever, and didn't take unnecessary risks. There was also that grenade trick. Carolina tucked that into the back of her mind. It could come in handy one day.

"This is exciting!" Florida chirped happily, breaking the silence.

"Agent Pennsylvania, report for round five," F.I.L.S.S. stated calmly.

"Good luck, man," York said, clapping him on the back as Pennsylvania left. Carolina stared at him. Of all the freelancers here, he seemed the only one besides Florida that sincerely wanted to be nice to everyone. It was strange, and somewhat unheard of. She blinked, and noticed that York was staring at her as well. She looked away quickly, trying to ignore the heat that had rushed to her face.

Meanwhile, Pennsylvania was getting himself situated. He had seemed hesitant in grabbing weapons, but eventually chose a DMR and a few grenades.

"Round, start," F.I.L.S.S. announced.

Most of the white-armoured soldiers had spread out, occasionally ducking behind a different block or peeking out the sides. Only one soldier was creeping toward Penn, who had his back turned.

"They seem to be pretty scared of us now," Massa pointed out.

"I wonder why," Virginia chuckled.

"He'd better check his sensors," Wyoming muttered as the lone soldier crept closer and closer yet to Penn.

"Just wait," Carolina said. There was no way Penn would go down so easily- and she was right. Just as the soldier triumphantly put his battle rifle to Penn's blue-armoured head, the Freelancer spun around, fist flying; there was a large crackthat reached all the way to the observation deck as the soldier's head was smashed into a block.

"Ho-lee shit," York gasped. "He just punched that guy in the face." The soldier lay crumpled on the ground, his helmet cracked. There was a bright smear of blood on the block where his head had connected. Penn didn't seem to care; he had silently slipped away and began stalking the remaining soldiers.

"Is he even still alive?" Virginia said, her helmet pressed against the glass as she peered down.

Carolina stared at the blood smear. "Does it matter? This is training. Accidents happen." The words tasted sour in her mouth. She felt the other Freelancers staring at her, but she didn't say anything. They needed to get used to accidents like this, whether they were truly accidental or not. She already knew that there would be many, many more accidents to come. As she watched Penn take out another soldier, this time shooting with the DMR at point-blank range, she had the feeling that Penn might be a bit more involved with accidents than necessary.

Penn continued to take out the soldiers one by one in the same brutal manner until the remaining ones were simply trying to stay away from him as long as possible. Unfortunately, their evasions led to a lot of time-consuming chasing by Penn, which added to his time. Finally he had cornered the last soldier, swept his legs out from under him with his foot, and shot him square in the forehead.

"Round over. Agent Virginia, report for round six." F.I.L.S.S. said. Virginia got up and left to prepare. A door opened and a group of white-clothed medics rushed out with a stretcher to examine the fallen soldier, who was still on the ground. Carolina couldn't tell if he'd stirred or not. Get well soon, buddy.

York tilted his head as if not sure what to make of Pennsylvania's trial. "Hmm. Well… I guess he was effective," he managed.

Penn re-entered the observation deck. Carolina couldn't help but noticed the chipped paint on his knuckles. "How'd I do?" he asked, taking off his helmet and running a hand over his dark hair.

No one said anything at first. Carolina herself was trying to come up with something to say, but held her tongue.

"Seven minutes thirty seconds," Alaska said finally.

Penn seemed to bite his lip at the time, but then shrugged and put his helmet back on. "Not too bad."

Back in the arena, Virginia had chosen a sniper rifle and a magnum. Long range and short range. It was a good choice, but Carolina felt it was generic, like she wasn't sure what weapons to choose. But who knew? Maybe they worked for her.

"Round, start."

Unlike Penn's trial where the white soldiers had stayed put, this time they all advanced on Virginia in a wide arc. Carolina could imagine gears spinning in Virginia's head as she tried to figure out how to get out of there without attracting too much attention at once. With a blur of dark green armour, the Freelancer leapt on top of one of the tall blocks and flattened raised her eyebrows. Interesting. The soldiers on the ground would be expecting their target to be on the ground as well, and the dark green of her armour helped her blend in at least a little bit. Virginia practically made herself invisible.

"Now that's smart," Massa admitted.

"Look at those hooligans," Florida chuckled, pointing. The white soldiers were standing in a circle around the pillar that she was on top of, wondering if there was a malfunction with their sensors and trying to figure out wherever the Freelancer went. "She's got them in a puzzle."

Then Virginia made her move - she somersaulted off the top of the pillar, planting her feet on the shoulders of one of the troopers and hopping to the next pillar, where she turned at used the magnum to shoot. Out of six shots, four of them hit; by now she had their attention, so she turned and hopped over three more pillars before she jumped down to hide again.

"That was cool," Massa said, smiling.

Carolina didn't agree. "It was a wasted opportunity," she sighed, as Virginia ducked quickly from block to block. "If she'd waited until their backs were turned, she could have taken out more of them."

"Give it a rest," Massa groaned.

Meanwhile, the last four soldiers searched for Virginia in one group. She had them in sight, and seemed to be planning her next move. Finally she vaulted almost gymnastically over a block, where she landed smack in the middle of the group.

Flashy.

Before they could think, she crouched and swept her leg in a circle, knocking all but one onto the ground. He shot at her, but she shoulder rolled out of the way as paint splattered behind her. She then got up swiftly and spun in a roundhouse kick, catching him in the face; he went down. She stood surrounded by downed soldiers. When a two of them stirred and tried to make a move, she decided to end it all quickly by shooting each of them in the head with her magnum.

"Round over. Agent Carolina, report for round seven." Carolina took a breath and started for the arena. She didn't see a reason to wait for Virginia.

"Good luck, Carolina," York called as she hurried down the stairs. "Kick some ass!"

She already knew what she was going for with this trial. Quick elimination. Nothing too flashy, just lightning fast and deadly, not as completely unforgiving like Penn was, not as flashy as Virginia. She still needed weapons, though. On the table was a wide array of weapons. There was a rocket launcher, a gravity hammer, battle rifles, sniper rifles… she needed something small and simple and not too flashy.

A pair of light blue guns that matched her armour lay on the table. She'd never seen them before. They seemed like some sort of alien technology and she resisted the urge to pick them up. Another day. Instead, she picked up two magnums. She could almost hear the other soldiers muttering about her weapon choice, and she smiled.

"Round, start," F.I.L.S.S. announced.

Carolina ducked behind a barrier. Her motions sensors picked them up right away- There were two hiding a few rows down from her, with two more in almost the exact same places in the next row. If she ran down the centre row, there would be a soldier on either side of her. That would work out nicely. Very symmetrical, and if she timed it just right…

The other four were at the very end of the arena, hiding in a group. The soldiers were either waiting for her to make the first move, or still organizing themselves. They won't be expecting this soon, Carolina thought. They probably think I'm trying to make up my mind.She spun from behind the barrier and charged down the centre row.

The first pair jumped in surprise as she approached them. She didn't break her stride, but with both arms straight out at her sides, pulled both triggers as she passed. They both collapsed to the ground, faces and upper body exploding with stiff pink paint. She dropped into a slide as the next pair shot the air where her upper body had been a fraction of a second before. She shot the magnums simultaneously again, this time hitting each in the ground. They clattered to the floor comically, making high pitched squeaking noises.

Carolina jumped out of her slide, and picked up her sprint. She was about five rows away from the other end of the arena now. Out of the corner of her eye she saw that the last four had rearranged; two were behind blocks, as the other troopers had been, but the others stood behind the adjacent sides of the other's blocks. Her double-shooting would work on the two that she would sprint past like it did for the other soldiers, but not the ones that would then be behind the blocks. After she sprinted past, they would move from behind the blocks and shoot her in the back.

This called for some improvisation.

She put as much power into her sprint as she could. She would need it. She passed the first pair of remaining soldiers. The paintballs hit them each full in the face. Then it felt like time slowed; the final two soldiers stepped from behind their blocks. Carolina planted her foot and pushed herself into the air. She felt pellets of paint whizz by her. She arched her back and flung her other foot forward, feeling her body spin upside down, until she had a wonderful of her magnums firing pink pellets at the inverted soldiers. She couldn't see if they it, as she kept spinning. She didn't need to. Her foot hit the ground again first, and she landed in a kneeling position. Her landing ankle twitched in pain, but she ignored it, instead listening to the two soldiers clatter to the ground.

She heard York's muffled yell from the observation deck. "What?!"

"Round over. Agent York, report for round eight," F.I.L.S.S. stated in her cool tone.

Carolina stood and headed back to the observation deck, panting slightly. She dropped her magnums on the weapons table as she passed.

"Don't tell me," York said, striding down the last couple of stairs. "You're a Galactic Olympic Gold-Medal Gymnast. If I would've known that earlier, I wouldn't even have come. They have a one-woman army right here."

Carolina blushed. Why am I blushing? Stop it. "I don't know about that."

"Come on, you were the best so far." He leaned against the stairwell casually. "Besides me, of course."

"You didn't even go yet."

"Yes, but I'm about to." He strode past her, snatching a battle rifle and shotgun off the table. "Watch and learn, baby!" he called.

Carolina rolled her eyes and went up the observation tower.

She was greeted by some clapping (Wyoming, probably trying to be polite), cheering ("You go, girl!" yelled Florida), and what she could only guess was jealousy or disbelief from the others. She half wished that they weren't wearing their helmets right now, so she could see their reactions. Not that she really cared if they liked her or not. She was simply curious. She wasn't expecting anyone to be friend with her, nor was she aiming to be buddy-buddy with anyone.

"Look who decided to use some flashy acrobatics," Virginia muttered. It seemed like she was a little bitter from the cafeteria earlier. Sure, Carolina had been a tiny bit of a bitch, but that was how she usually was. People were going to have to get used to it. "'Those aren't going to get you credit anywhere.'"

"It's not flashy if it is necessary for survival," Carolina answered calmly.

"Flashy or not, that was quite the show!" Florida clapped her on the back. "I've never seen someone move so fast in my life! Your whole trial was under two minutes!"

"Maybe you and Alaska should have a race," Pennsylvania suggested. "You're both pretty quick. That would be interesting." Carolina glanced at Alaska, who was cold and impassive as ever. There was something about him that unsettled her, but she respected that. He wasn't afraid or hesitant at all. Penn turned to the window. "Oh look, he's started."

"What is he doing?" Massa asked, half laughing.

York was calmly striding down a row of blocks, his gun over his shoulder. Whenever a white soldier peeked out from behind a block, York flipped the shotgun off his shoulder in one lightning fast movement, and there would be a blast and an explosion of pink paint and a soldier would clatter to the ground. It seemed a little too easy to be possible; there were some split seconds where a soldier could have shot and easily taken York out, but waiting for him to shoot them instead.

Carolina looked around; no one else seemed to notice. "How is he just walking though the place and winning?"

When he came to the last two soldiers, he hardly did anything. They stood facing each other, guns aimed. It seemed like York was talking to them, but Carolina couldn't even fathom what. Eventually the two lowered their guns and York shot them both in the chest. They clattered to the ground, and he walked over to them, said something else, and patted them each on the head.

"Round over. Session One Complete."

"What the hell just happened?" Penn growled, clearly infuriated by York's display.

When York arrived back the observation deck, he bowed. "Thank you, thank you."

"How did you do that?" Virginia asked.

York shrugged. "Those guys have been fighting us all day. They're tired. I just asked the last two guys if they wanted to spend a while fighting me vigorously or if they just wanted to be done for the day. Then I asked them if they wanted to get drinks with me." He paused for a second. "Does this ship have a bar?"

Florida yawned. "Well, I'm pooped. Might as well go look at the results so we can scurry off to bed. I'm in need of some shut-eye."

He paused for a moment. "They do put up the results, right?"

Carolina only shrugged in response, turning away from the blue Freelancer and staring back out at the Training Room floor. The other Freelancers filed out of the room, Penn glaring at York on his way out, until it was only York and Carolina left in the deck.

"You bribed them, didn't you?" Carolina asked, although she already knew the answer.

York shrugged and took off his helmet, revealing an easy smile. "I got to know a few of them, yes. No one told me I couldn't. It's all strategy," he added, tapping his head with his finger.

Carolina rolled her eyes. "I'm going to if we can get a look at the results," she said, brushing past him.

"Come on, Carolina!" he complained. "Have fun, Carolina! We're on a spaceship,for god's sake!"