(A/N) Right all, here we are for another Saturday and another update! This particular chapter is written Avalanche Wolf, and we get to see a little bit more from the oh-so twisted Agent Alaska. He's decided to do something a little different this time, and I hope you'll all love it as much as I did! Gear up for something that'll change your perspective on this man, and maybe change Project Freelancer itself.


Chapter Eleven – Gear Up

Agent Alaska

Written by Avalanche Wolf


"Sometimes it isn't easy to be sane, smart, and responsible. Sometimes it sucks. Sucks wang. Camel wang. But that doesn't turn wrong into right or stupid into smart." - Harry Dresden


The young officer sat next to the wall. He had black hair that was in a typical officer cut. Long, yet professional. His blue eyes looked down at the DMR on his lap. Today, he was getting his cherry popped. His first mission out to find insurrectionists. He tried to keep his thoughts under control. Wouldn't look right to throw up in front of troops. Yeah, defiantly not a good idea.

He managed to get himself under control as a marine walked up to him. "Sir, are you alright?" The officer looked up at the marine and nodded. "Y..yes. I'm fine. Just...a little nervous. I mostly work behind a desk, or in an enclosed room." The marine chuckled a bit. "Eh, you'll be fine sir. Just stay close."

Another officer walked in and ordered the men to form up. Once everyone was in formation, he began his brief. "Alright, ladies. Our mission is to find us some Innies. We have reason to believe they are hiding out in a small village on the planet below. We're going to drop in, find them, and take them out. We have someone from ONI to handle tracking and interrogation. Now then, let's get going. Load up!"

The officer looked down at his DMR and walked down the hall. A marine ran up to him and slapped him on the back. "Don't worry sir. We're prepared if the bullets start to fly."


"I'll be prepared if the bullets start to fly." Alaska picked up the DMR and looked over it. The weapon was more familiar to him than anything else in the room. Alaska preferred to take out targets from a distance and then do his work up close and personal. The DMR was very precise. Once everything is adjusted, he could shoot the wings off a fly at 900 yards.

Alaska was grabbing his ammo when a cocky voice spoke up. "Quite the bit of ammo for a training mission." Wyoming. Alaska never cared for the guy. Something just didn't sit right with him. Alaska was strapping another holder onto his leg. "I believe a wise man once said, though the worst may come and the world end, you can always win with more ammo." Alaska took the DMR and placed it on his back, knowing exactly what angle it sat for a quick grab.

He looked around at his team's equipment. Wyoming seemed to appreciate the sniper rifle. Powerful though it may be, limited shots could be fired. Hence why Alaska preferred the DMR. Stopping power with enough bullets to get the job done. Carolina decided to use a pair of magnums. An up close and personal type fighter. Alaska would have thought she was insane, but with the moves he's seen, it seemed appropriate...for an overachieving attention grabber. Pennsylvania was equipping an assault rifle with some grenades, a DMR already slung on his back. Alaska couldn't help but think of him as a child. With a magnifying glass. Over an ant hill. On a clear day. With a bottle of water to drown the survivors. Too much?

Maybe a little.


There went his lunch. The young officer left the remnants of his chow on the ground as he turned back to where the marines gathered around. He could hear them arguing among themselves. "Man, we are screwed. Really, really screwed."

"Will you just shut up?! We have a mission to complete."

"Mission? As far as I'm concerned, this mission just became fifty different kinds of screwed up. We just lost our CO, and we don't have any way to track." One marine looked over at the ONI officer. "Sir, you have to take command. You lead us to the Innie base, and we'll take it from there."

The officer was stunned. "I...I...I don't know if I can. I mean...I've never lead a unit before. I'm an intelligence officer. I work on paperwork."

"Well right now, you're a commander. So start commanding. Where to?" The ONI officer sighed and looked around. "This way. There is an insurrectionist base not far from here." The marine nodded. "Alright, you heard the man, let's get moving."


Alaska walked to the end of the room. Their flight was supposed to be leaving soon, and he wanted to be on it. As he walked by Florida, he nudged his shoulder. Alaska cocked his head to the right and spoke hard. "Watch it." Something in Florida's voice told Alaska that Florida snapped. "What is your problem with me? I'm just trying to be nice." Alaska turned and walked up to Florida, towering over him. "That's right. Nice. That is the problem." He jabbed Florida with his finger. "Your too nice. Too happy. Too energetic. To you, this is all just some game for you to play. Well for me, it's a nice meal ticket out. You're small, and not as tough as you think you are. If you been what I have been through, you wouldn't last the first half hour. So I give some free advice to you, little Florida. Stay out of my way, or you might get some metal put through your skull."

Alaska was very much aware that people were starring. He could feel it in the room. With that, he turned and walked out. As he walked down the corridors, she appeared next to him, as she always did. "Did you have to be so mean to him? I think you were a little hard on him." Alaska sighed. "You're not picking sides now, are you Moi?"

"You know I'm on nobody's side. Not his, yours, or anyone's."

"I will handle him how I see fit. Besides Moi, I think that it might make him a little tougher. Sometimes, you have to apply a little pressure to ensure something hardens." Moi moved in front of him and placed her slender hand on his chest, causing him to stop. "Too much, and that same thing you're trying to harden will shatter." Alaska looked down at her. "Philosophical as always." Another voice spoke. "Sir, you are you talking to?"

Alaska turned and looked at a pair of crewman who were staring at him. When Alaska turned back, Moi was gone. That made him upset. He grabbed one of the crew and lifted him up. "Next time, I crush your spine into powder." He lightly tossed the man back and continued down to the hanger. As always, Alaska was the last to arrive. He got into the Pelican as the engines roared and the rear door closed.

A woman's voice came over the speaker. "Ladies and gentleman, welcome aboard Pelican flight Four Seven Niner, I'll be pilot today. This is a non-smoking Pelican. In the event of a water crashing, worry about your damn selves, and I'll worry about me. For a land crashing, well...let's not worry about that shall we? Due to the shortness of the flight, there will be no inflight snacks or movies. And if you have a problem with that, take it up with my port exhaust. So for now, just sit down, shut up, and no puking in my bird."

Alaska sat down and leaned back as he felt the Pelican take off and fly to their mission. "Easy as pie."


"We can't. It's not right." The rain had just begun to fall. The officer and marines were just outside the base and performing a recon of the area. The marine glared down and held his weapon. "We can. The Innies are going to pay for what they did."

"But they aren't insurrectionists. There are no one down there. I made a mistake. You can't attack. There's women, and children down there." Another marine spoke. "This guy is starting to sound like one of them. I'm going in." The officer stared at him. "Stand down. We are not doing anything until we have orders from command. It's the right thing to do." He turned his back and was about to make a call, but now...he couldn't remember. He was going to do something, something important, but now the base of his skull hurt. He fell to the ground, having no idea how he got there. He heard the marines talking like he couldn't hear. "You...I can't believe you did that."

"Waiting for orders? That's going to take too long. We go in guns blazing."

"This isn't right. We'll be court-martial. I think we should..." The marine never finished. There was a muffled pop and silence. "Anyone else wanna join him? Good. Let's burn this base." The next thing he heard in the distance was the screams of women among the gunfire. Was he right? Did he do the right thing? It didn't seem that way with his face in the mud and innocent people dying.