(A/N) Another Wednesday, another update, this one brought to you by anna1795, from the perspective of Agent Virginia, and, excitingly, the very first simulation mission that occurs for Project Freelancer. Who knows how it'll turn out? Only way to do so is to read on!
Once again reminding people to keep watching this fanfic for the latest news. While we're not yet taking applications, I'm going to reveal the first established character that we're going to be taking applications for (but not quite yet):
hddp:/rvb,wikia,com/wiki/File:Character_One,png
This link requires you to do some work, due to the ridiculousness of FF's no links policy. Turn all d's into t's, all commas into full stops and add a / after the :
Sorry about all that. :)
And with that teaser, enjoy!
Chapter Twelve – Bag of Tricks
Agent Virginia
Written by anna1795
"Remember teamwork begins by building trust. And the only way to do that is to overcome our need for invulnerability."– Patrick Lencioni
Virginia kept her footing and just rolled with the motion as the Pelican made a swift descent over the crystal blue water of Eris. White-capped peaks with lush forests rose up on the distant horizon as their pilot, 343-R, flew them on the most direct path towards the base. Florida and York lurched in their safety harnesses, still clutching their respective weapons. Beside Virginia, Massa rolled with the motions as well, though Virginia could only imagine that her roommate was slightly green under that helmet.
Virginia was very glad that she had Massa as her roommate, as opposed to Carolina. The other woman was friendly and motherly, and she respected Virginia's more reserved nature. They weren't the best of friends, but Virginia had never had one. They had their conversations in the privacy of their quarters every morning and night, but not in such a way that they revealed too much about themselves.
"When we touch down," York called over the roar of the Pelican's engines, "we're going to check in with the sim trooper's commander on site, tell him the plan, and prep for engagement. We'll keep Florida and Massa closer to the base."
"Any particular reason you want me on home turf, York?" Massa asked.
"According to the Director, you've got some of the best medical experience out of all of us. I need you towards the back just in case one of us gets hurt, and also if either Virginia or I is put out of commission by that live ammo. Florida, you will be in charge of helping keep the flag safe from Team A."
"No problem, boss," Florida waved a jaunty, casual salute at the team leader.
"Virginia, I need you as my backup for sneaking through the territory and getting to the flag," York explained, and Virginia looked into his visor. "I don't necessarily know what you're good at. I'm pretty sure you can help me get in and out of the other base in one piece, but what exactly can I expect out of you?"
Virginia couldn't help but smile a little under her helmet. Just the slightest curl of her lips. "I can do both long and short distance attacks," she motioned to the sniper rifle slung to her side. "And I'm pretty good with setting traps."
"Works for me," York nodded. "I'll head into Team A's territory first and progress as far as I can. Virginia, you'll stay behind and trip them up a bit. When I give the word, you come in after me. I'm gonna need you to be some of the muscle."
Virginia nodded, taking a look at the ammo pack strapped to her side. She had put it together for when she was doing infiltration missions back when she was a marine, and it blended with her armour quite nicely. One side was a dark green cammo canvas, and the other was light tan. Her former squad-mates had affectionately called it her "bag of tricks."
"This may only be an exercise, but treat it like any sort of mission," York reminded them as 343-R called for a landing. "We have our objective, so let's get it done."
"Were you just channelling the Director, York?" Massa laughed, and Florida gave a hearty chuckle. York shook his head in mock exasperation.
"And…touchdown!" 343-R called back to them as the Pelican lit down on the ground with practiced ease. The gangway opened, and they rushed out without further encouragement from their pilot. Virginia had to blink behind her visor as she got accustomed to the sunlight from the darkness of the ship's interior. Gripping her ammo bag and her sniper rifle firmly, Virginia treading silently with the rest of the group to where another group of soldiers (in various garish shades of red armour) stood waiting in front of the base. York stepped forward and shook the hand of the leader (who wore the least offensive shade of brick red) and started explaining the situation as the Director had told him to: explaining that this was a war game and their objective was to help these soldiers defend the flag from the Blue army.
Virginia wasn't necessarily paying attention to the other soldiers until two of the smaller ones, who had both been conversing in hushed tones, gasped at the sight of her and collapsed in what seemed to be a dead faint. However, upon closer examination, they were actually…bowing to her?! Virginia stepped back slightly as the brightly-coloured sim. Troopers began speaking absolute nonsense. She could barely pick up muffled words from where their faces were pressed against the ground. "Holy Angel…clad in the colour most holy…graced with the blessing of the Flag…"
"Looks like you've got a pair of admirers," Florida joked as she backed up further away from the pair of strange men.
"Don't mind them, miss," the commander saluted as he spoke to her. "They just got transferred here from…I don't know where. Just a couple of odd ducks, but this means that they like you, I guess. Probably cause of the bits of red on you." Virginia wasn't necessarily as sure, but she held her tongue.
York, sensing Virginia's discomfort, pulled her aside. "I know we're supposed to work as a team here, but do you wanna go ahead and take off and set some traps?" Virginia heaved a sigh of relief and nodded. "Keep in touch. I don't think I'll have to send anyone after you though. Just one more thing-" Virginia turned back around from where she was going to take off. "Just…try not to snag Carolina."
Virginia could not believe it. There wasn't room for romance in war! What was her team captain thinking?!
"I'll try, but I make no promises," was all that she could say, and York gave her a nod of thanks before she took off running.
Virginia dashed low along the sides of the valley, closer to the shade where she knew that some of Team B would be sneaking along to try and get behind the Red base. She spotted a few bushes that would provide good cover, and took a spool of thin metallic wire from her trick bag. Grabbing a knife strapped to her thigh, she cut a sizeable length and began to set up a good trip wire system. Through one branch, along a cluster of leaves, behind this rock…
In less than forty-five seconds, Virginia stood up and inspected the nearly invisible wire, then dashed off to another spot to repeat a similar process. She kept ducking into shadows and inspecting for places to set traps, and her mind settled into a regular rhythm that she had almost forgotten in the hastiness of her induction into Project: Freelancer. Memories were coming back of the good old days, back when she and her slightly older sister had been younger and used to go play in the woods behind the town.
"You take this snare here and cover it with some of this leaf litter…"
"I don't know…won't they get hurt by it? Won't it just strangle them to death?"
"If you set this trap right, it snaps the neck quick and clean."
"You think this might be your calling, sis? Setting traps to catch animals for food?"
"I can't say for sure," she remembered saying years ago. "I just feel like it's something that I can do easily, and it'll help people."
"Come in, Virginia," York's voice crackled over the radio. Virginia finished covering up the loop with leaf litter, as she had learned to long ago, and brought her finger up to her radio.
"I read you loud and clear, York," Virginia whispered, dashing back to the cliff face and starting to scale the side for a better look while keeping to the shadows.
"I'm getting into Blue territory right now with three of the Reds. I left five of them behind to defend the Flag with Florida and Massa."
Virginia crouched on the ledge and scanned the more open spaces in the direction of Blue base. "I've got you in sight." She saw something else, too. "Pennsylvania, five o'clock. He's got a Blue with him."
"Copy that." York's voice cut off as he and the Reds raced towards the base, splitting into two groups and forming a pincer manoeuvre. Penn and his tag-along continued on their way towards the Red base.
Suddenly, there came a loud scream as one of the Reds in the other pincer group collapsed to the ground, his armour crackling with yellow energy as he entered armour- lock. His partner took off in a blind panic, crashing into a bush, and chaos ensued. Virginia could only shake her head as shots, both from the Freelancer's laser-operated weapons and the Sims' live ammo, went rocketing through the air in every direction.
"We're taking fire!" Massa's voice came over the radio waves. "I've got Alaska, Pennsylvania, and about three Blues shooting at us."
"I've lost my cover, too!" York replied. "And someone keeps sniping at me. Virginia, take care of that sniper if you can and get to me at Blue base. I'll order the rest of the Reds back to the base to protect the flag."
Virginia dodged a few stray bullets and ducked back into the shadows of the cliff side, looking for where York would be and the sniper aiming at him. Catching sight of where the shots might be coming from, she crept along the ridge and slid down a long slope back to the main valley floor, sneaking up behind the perpetrator. Grabbing a Magnum from her pack and slipping in a cartridge, she snuck up behind him and gave an honest to goodness grin under her helmet.
"Nice to see you, Wyoming," she said, and the white soldier whipped around, facing the barrel of her gun.
"Oh dear," the Brit gasped as Virginia fired -
"Damn it!" she cursed as the white Freelancer ducked out of the way and took off. She ran after him, noticing that they were heading towards Red base. Getting an idea, she started firing at the ground at Wyoming's feet, steering him in a certain direction. Seeing the bushes ahead of him, Wyoming took the opportunity and started running at an angle to get away -
"Nice try, Wyoming," Virginia released a rare expression of emotion at the Freelancer frozen on the ground at her feet, armour crackling with yellow energy from the lock-up. Turning from her 'kill', Virginia took off again towards Blue base. "York, I've taken care of the sniper."
"Great," the team captain had a grin embedded in his voice. "I could use some help here, though."
"On my way," she confirmed, but her attention had strayed from her surroundings, and she crashed into an object with a solid object and crashed to the ground. A weapon cocking above her signalled who she had just ran into.
"Nice try, Virginia," Alaska chuckled as he aimed his DMR at her. "But I guess you lose."
Two blurs of red crashed into the taller agent though, and knocked him off balance. "Defeat the Blue Demons, Holy One!" one of the Red weirdos from earlier called to Virginia as he attacked Alaska with his bare hands, while his partner kicked at Alaska's shins angrily. "Carry the Glorious Red Flag to splendid victory!"
Without another word, she took off again for the Blue base again and slid along the wall.
She couldn't see York anywhere. Bullets and lasers were flying everywhere in the heat of battle, and bullet holes riddled the wall that she slid along. "York, come in. York!" Virginia hissed into the radio. Had something happened when he went to get the flag?
"Can I help you, miss?" a voice sounded behind her. Virginia jumped and whirled around. York stood with his arms folded, holding a tall flag in his hands. The blue fabric with the flying bird on it hung lazily against the metal of the pole.
"Let's get you out of here," Virginia said, nodding, acknowledging that he had the flag.
They took off together, Virginia switching out for the sniper rifle and taking out and ready for any obstacles in their path. Everyone seemed so caught up in the heat of battle that no one saw York and Virginia running towards the border. The adrenaline was pumping through Virginia so fast that everything seemed to become a blur.
One of the Blues screamed as they came to the last stretch of open ground, and loosed a shot at them. Virginia brought her Magnum around on instinct and shot the Blue once. Twice. Three times. Each round struck him in the chest, and he crashed to the ground before his armour had even completely locked down. York called back to her for some reason, and she followed him the last few feet…almost there…
"Yes!" York crowed as they crossed the border line, jumping into the air with the flag in his hand. The one Red soldier still standing gave a few claps at their victory. "Mission accomplished!" York offered a hand upraised, and it took Virginia a moment to realize that he was asking for a high-five. Grinning slightly, she slapped her palm against his.
"Too little, too late," a female voice spoke up behind a rock on the other side, and they turned around. Carolina leaned against a boulder, her arms crossed around the flag pole of the cobra-emblazoned Red flag. "It's those last few seconds that count there."
The hairs on the back of Virginia's neck stood up like hackles on a cat, and she glared at Carolina as the aqua-armoured soldier sauntered forward, tossing the Red flag into the dust at their feet.
"You've got a little something on your shoulder, Virginia," Carolina nodded at her. "It helps if they don't hit you." Virginia looked down to her upper arm. Blood had spattered on her shoulder from the Blue's bullet, which had grazed a space in her armour and grazed the skin. Virginia stared down at the wound for a moment. Her brain failed to register any pain, only annoyance.
"Better make sure that you don't have the same thing, Carolina," Virginia replied smoothly, reaching down and picking up the Red flag. "You never know when someone just might shoot you in the back.
"Is that a threat, Agent Virginia?" Carolina growled, bringing herself way too close to Virginia, but she stood her ground.
"No, Carolina, just a warning. And hold onto that pedestal while you can," Virginia snarled in response, dragging the defeated Red flag in defeat along the ground and away from the victor. A few moments later, York jogged up to her and started walking in step.
"I'd be careful if I were you," York warned the fuming young woman. "You wouldn't want Carolina as your enemy."
"I'll keep that in mind the next time she starts talking down to me," Virginia replied angrily. Her wound had just started to throb. She took a deep inhale through her nose and an exhale through her mouth. Runaway emotions didn't help after the fact. "Agent Carolina won fair and square. Let's just get back to the base, check on Massa and Florida, and go home."
"You don't seem like you're too happy about the fact," York started to say, "but I don't want my head to get chewed off right now, so let's go with your idea."
"Thanks for not arguing," Virginia mumbled as her injured arm became more accustomed to the flag's weight behind her in the dust. "I wonder how everyone did."
"343-R, this is Agent York, radioing for pick-up," York called through the radio as the base came in sight. Massa stood out front, inspecting wounds on the Reds while waiting for Florida's armour to unlock.
"Copy that, Agent York," the calm voice of their pilot responded, then paused and shifted to a more inquiring tone. "Care to say how the mission went?"
"It went fine, just not quite good enough," York replied in a guarded tone. "Why?"
Virginia zoned out, reflecting on the truth of his words. Not quite good enough indeed.
