(A/N) It's Saturday, and that means it's a new update Phase One: Origins! Really excited to see how this chapter goes down, as Agent Massachusetts undertakes her first stealth mission, written, as always, by our marvellous admin Ayane458. Next update will be Monday, as we're sticking with our promise for three updates a week. See you all then.
Enjoy!
Chapter Twenty-Two - Stealth Mode
Agent Massachusetts
Written by Ayane458
"You want stealth? Be a rogue in 'World of Warcraft'." – John Romero
The ride was bumpy.
Massa wasn't particularly afraid of flying. Even if she ever had been, you got used to it in their line of work, where Pelicans are a primary form of transport. But today, she knew her knuckles were white as they gripped the bar keeping her in her seat. Naturally, she didn't let any of this show on the surface – Carolina was right there, and the woman hardly needed any more ammunition when it came to insulting her.
So Massa sat, only wincing when her head hit the back of her seat too hard after a particularly violent jolt of the plane, and just waited for them to land, damn it.
When they did land with a shudder, and the bay door opened, the reason for their bumpy descent became clear.
"Jesus," Virginia murmured. Carolina stoically left her seat, moving to grab her weapons. Massa sighed and did the same.
"Welcome to Sidewinder, ladies," 479er called, "now get out before my bird gets buried."
Massa cracked a grin that went unseen. "See you later, ma'am," she called back, hopping off the ramp and landing in the snow that instantly swallowed her up, knee deep. She guessed that it would be easier to walk in without the metric ton armour she was wearing, if colder.
"Lovely place," Massa declared cheerfully. She was only half kidding.
Massa had been born in Queensland, Australia. No snow. Ever.
Perhaps not the best first exposure to bitingly cold weather, but it still looked fascinating to Massa. Very white and falling very fast, barely a trace of colour in sight as flakes whipped to and fro with the wind and all sound seemingly absorbed into the surroundings.
"I'll take you again for a holiday sometime," Virginia quipped, and the two shared a quick smile.
"Enough, you two," Carolina snapped, completely ruining the nice friendly bonding moment as 479er took off once again. Carolina looked to the north, where very faint lights could be seen shining through the heavy snow. Their target, the Blue base of Sidewinder. "Our objective is–"
"–to take out the Blue leader without alerting any guards," Virginia finished, effectively cutting off Carolina's first attempt at taking complete control of the mission. She was the team leader, and Massa did follow the chain of command, but even she had to agree that Carolina seemed a little too insecure about her position. Perhaps being kicked down to number two (and placed on a mission with number three, her direct competition) was a bit unsettling to her.
"Can we walk and talk, ladies?" Massa asked. "I have no desire to get myself frozen out here." She shook off snow that was quickly piling up around her legs to illustrate her point. Virginia made a slight motion that Massa believed meant she was rolling her eyes under her helmet, while Carolina seemed to narrow her eyes just the tiniest bit.
Massa gave it a week, tops, before she tired of Carolina's attitude.
Nevertheless, Carolina gestured for them all to start moving towards the faint, glimmering lights in the distance. Massa could see that they primarily came from (what she assumed to be, barring any rises or dips in the snow obscuring her view) the ground floor, with a few a storey up. Bringing to mind previous bases she'd seen, this one probably had the standard build –one floor, plus a roof with cover and turrets provided.
It quickly became evident that Massa's assumptions were correct.
Guards would have a brilliant, 360° view on any incoming hostiles from their positions on the base's roof, with the ability spray the surrounding area with turret fire in case of an attack… if any guards had been paying attention to anything other than their freezing hands and whining.
"C'mon, no one's really this stupid," Massa muttered, absolutely certain it was a set-up.
"Massa, I think you've yet to learn the kind of loyalty that being stuck in the ass-crack of nowhere on minimum wage for months inspires," Virginia noted dryly. Carolina seemed to agree with this statement, as she didn't have many qualms about walking right up to the wall of the base.
To be fair, she did take all the usual precautions –staying low, out of view of windows, etc., etc… but nothing special.
Massa and Virginia followed, Massa very aware of the green armour she wore and how it would stand out against the snow. There was limited visibility out here, but get close enough with this white background no one could miss her.
As the three women ducked against the curved wall, the lights of the windows mere metres away and the quiet drone of the guards' voices drifting down from the roof, Massa tried to shake those thoughts away. So stealth wasn't her strong suit and she was a little out of her comfort zone here. Didn't mean she had to be so bloody paranoid…
"Not a single guard inside can be alerted of our presence," Carolina hissed. "We go onto the roof and take down the guards quickly and quietly. Understood?"
"How many are up there?" Virginia asked.
"I can't tell from trackers," Massa informed them, eying the red dots scattered across her HUD. Trackers told you how many were in the general area. No indication of elevation or anything like that.
Carolina sighed a little dramatically, and Massa raised an unseen eyebrow. Virginia just wearily stared at her through the visor.
"Four up top," she declared. "I took a look while we were further back."
"Visibility's bad," Massa pointed out. "Are you sure you saw them all?" As soon as the question left her mouth, Massa predicted the slight twitch Carolina gave in response and the cruel stare that was somehow only partially hidden by the visor.
"I'm sure," Carolina replied, nodded her head slowly as if talking to a small child. Massa felt the very sincere urge to throw the mission and toss Carolina in through the window for the Blue troops to handle, but she hadn't gotten through several years of medical school and UNSC training by being impulsive.
"Massa, you're not very experienced in stealth, right?" Virginia asked, casting a warning glance at Carolina in case she would pipe up again. "Maybe you stay on the edge take out a few with your pistol."
Massa nodded, hoping Carolina wouldn't jump on her for that. Carolina seemed to naturally excel at most things, sneaking being one of them. She had no idea where on Earth (or wherever) Virginia had acquired her skills, but she had them. Massa knew that here, she was the weakest link. It wasn't a pleasant feeling.
Carolina and Virginia, in a rare moment of agreement, separated opposite ways to find the most convenient place to get onto the roof without getting in each other's way.
A window surrounded by a ledge provided Massa with ample height to peak over the edge of the roof, careful to keep her head down and her feet up –the last thing she needed was for some idiot drinking nice warm cocoa to see her foot dangling from above the window.
She pulled her pistol from its holster and scanned the rooftop. Four guards, like Carolina had said, and one of them was quite near her. None were paying attention, though, as they were all whining about being put on guard duty in the snow. A brief flash of green from her right alerted her to Virginia's presence. She couldn't see Carolina, but a muffled voice over the radio let her know she was ready.
"Take them out," Carolina hissed, and Massa didn't hesitate.
The silencer did its job well, only a muffled thump escaping the gun barrel as she fired at the guard closest to her. He fell silently, his armour lock activating and muting any curses he might have said.
Before any of the other three could yell, Carolina and Virginia hopped up onto the roof and attacked. Carolina hit the gun from one's hand and followed by pounding his head into the ground, shooting him before he could get up.
Virginia grabbed one by the arm and spun her around, taking her down with a shot to the stomach.
Massa finished off the last one with another two shots while the others were busy, lifting herself up onto the rooftop after he had fallen.
It had taken roughly fifteen seconds to take down all four guards.
Virginia went to work arranging them in vaguely natural positions, as if they'd all decided to nod off on the job. That was fairly possible in this place, so it probably wouldn't cause too much suspicion if no one looked too closely.
Carolina gestured Massa over to the open stairway leading down into the base. Disgruntled voices drifted up, indicating the presence of at least two. Massa topped up her Magnum, not wanting to be caught with too little bullets.
Virginia approached them, Carolina nodding to the stairway as she came. Virginia shrugged, crouching and silently making her way down the stairs to the inside of the base. She slowly put her head around the corner, shoulders hunching a bit –annoyance. She wasn't able to see them from that angle. She crept to the opposite end of the corridor and examined the same area from where she was now. She looked back up the stairway and help up three fingers. Three targets, that she could see.
Carolina and Massa followed her down, and they each took up positions in the hallway where they wouldn't easily be seen. Not that there was anyone to see them. Seriously, what the heck was up with these guys? Shouldn't they be patrolling the hallways or something? Whatever, idiots. Their rookie mistakes, our easy win.
Through the open door a little down the hallway, it was fairly easy to see three Blues sitting around the table, playing a game of cards and one occasionally laughing uproariously. The three women exchanged glances before lifting up their guns as one and firing two shots each. The three soldiers' heads hit the table. One rolled off onto the floor.
Virginia tilted her head to the side. "Shouldn't this be harder?" she murmured.
"There is a time and place for paranoia and suspicion," Carolina said, "this isn't it."
Before Virginia could snap back, Massa smoothly cut in with, "I believe that means there's no trap set. These people are just that dumb."
Carolina nodded in approval –something Massa had mixed feelings about –and the three continued on.
"How many more can we expect?" Massa asked, looking around the empty corridors at a T-intersection. From previous missions, she suspected the number wasn't much. Seven was already a fairly large number for one base.
"I'd say no more than four, including the leader," Carolina said decidedly. Massa doubted she would've been able to hear her speak without the comm link. Massa should've thought of that – they only had to speak as loud as what would be picked up by their radios. Anything more could risk others hearing.
Virginia hushed them. Carolina was about to take it as an insult and chew her out, but Massa made a motion of hearing something (she couldn't hear anything, but Virginia sure looked like she could) and Carolina turned her attention to the right corridor.
Very, very faint voices began to register with Massa. The three exchanged quick glances, and Carolina took point down the corridor, M6G at the ready.
Massa focused on staying quiet and as out of the way as possible. She highly doubted real stealth missions would be quite so simple –there would be better security, more troops and an objective that was important. Because of that, she tried to make a show of being cautious and quiet.
As the voices got clearer, Massa paid attention to the tone and let the other two worry about direction.
Three of them, once again. One voice was fairly dry, sort of amused. Another was high-pitched and scared. Not as if they thought their life was truly in danger and that the Freelancers' presence had been betrayed, just as if that was their natural state of being. The third was… it reminded Massa of Carolina's voice, in a way. Trying a bit too hard to be authoritative.
The leader, she presumed.
"Does this next bit truly require stealth?" Virginia asked honestly.
Carolina shrugged. Massa translated that to: does it truly not require stealth?
The next door down was the source of the voices. The three Freelancers had flattened themselves against the adjacent wall, listening in.
"I'm guessing the leader is the guy who keeps saying 'I'm in charge'," Carolina surmised.
"I wouldn't bet against it," Massa agreed.
Carolina quickly spun to the other side of the hall and shot three times through the door. The voices stopped and there was a definite thump.
After a second of silence, one voice started up again.
"Oh God, sir! Oh my, Zsasz, did you see that? She just–" Virginia made the executive decision to shut that guy up.
Massa cautiously joined the other two at their position staring into the room. The third man –Zsasz –stared back unflinchingly.
"Hello, ladies," he greeted, raising a glass of what Massa assumed was apple juice to them.
"Aren't you going to try and shoot us?" Massa inquired, hands on her hips because the other two were already itching to shoot him before he could move an inch.
"Nope, no point," he replied sweetly. "Tell ya what, though. How about we get this over with? The suspense is just killing me."
Massa and Virginia glanced at each other briefly while Carolina just stared.
"Ok then," Massa shrugged and shot him herself, as the other two seemed to not be all that bothered.
"That was strange," Massa said, holstering her pistol.
"Did he know these things aren't lethal or was he just going down with a smile?" Virginia asked breezily, turning around and making her way back down the hall.
Carolina radioed in, declaring their objective achieved and their mission a success.
Well then, that was her first stealth mission as a part of Project Freelancer. Rather anticlimactic, to be frank.
