(A/N) Hey all, it's time for our Monday update, and we've got another Virginia chapter for you! We've closed our forum for X-Ray and Vav submissions, but are still looking for writers for the sequel of this fic. We're looking for writers for any and all kinds of original freelancers, along with writers for Wyoming, Utah and C.T., so if you're interested and haven't applied yet, get going! ;) The clock is ticking, get on over to out forum!

Enjoy!


Chapter Fifty-Five – Watch and Learn

Agent Virginia

Written by ann1795


"Agent Virginia's interaction with the other Freelancer agents is an...interesting subject to consider. She only talks when spoken to by the others, and rarely begins discussions herself. Her previous superiors reported somewhat similar findings. A pre-existing behaviour, possibly, or drawn on by fear of others?" – Extract from the Counselor's private log.


Virginia sat against the wall of the training room to ease the slight twinges in her back, revelling in the silence that greeted her ears. True, there were other noises from the ship as it continued its endless journey through space, which she felt through her socks. Still, it was the silence of being away from the other Freelancers that gave her peace and quiet to think. It gave her a chance to reflect on the newer agents and on the failure of the last mission.

Who was she kidding? The mission had been a complete and total bust. The Insurrectionist hit team had gotten away from them by a long shot, and they had the armour specs that turned the Freelancers' own abilities against them. Her back pulsed as an aching reminder of that disastrous Warthog chase. They had saved the life of the General, but nearly at the cost of Florida. Virginia had visited him twice during his recovery, and couldn't help but feeling twinges of guilt whenever she saw him on his cot in the recovery ward. The last think she truly wanted was the weight of a teammate's death on her soul. Well, except maybe Carolina...

She had breathed a small sigh of relief when Florida had been let out of the Recovery ward, but then the damn idiot had went and aggravated his injuries in the training room, testing out new equipment! Virginia only hoped that they'd be able to instil him with a little common sense before letting him out the next time…

As she rubbed a polishing cloth over the fiberglass of her bow and rubbed her back, Virginia's thoughts strayed to the freelancers that she had interacted with on the ship, especially the new ones. If she had to settle on one fact, it was that she would never get along with South Dakota. She got along better with Carolina than with the blonde agent, and that was saying something. Carolina wasn't intentionally mean, just competitive. South, on the other hand, seemed to want to pick a fight with anyone and everyone. Even in their initial meeting, South had been quite unpleasant. She wouldn't last long in Project Freelancer if she kept getting into fights, that was certain.

Her brother, North, on the other hand, seemed to be a jovial fellow, with a temperament comparable to Florida and York; always wanting to get along with everybody and for everyone to get along. Virginia figured that she could get along with him well, as well as Arkansas and Minnesota. Maine and Michigan, she would try her best. They wouldn't be the best of friends by any means, but Virginia had the feeling that she could depend on them in a fight. Georgia was an odd one, sure, but he wasn't so bad, either. He knew his way around machinery, at least.

California...well, there seemed to be a cocky something or other if ever she saw one. Was he ACTUALLY trying to pull the moves on her when they first met? Then that angry outburst right before their mission started up...in all honesty, it had startled her quite a bit. There was something about him that made the hairs on the back of her neck stand up whenever she saw him, but she couldn't exactly put her finger on it.

Reflecting on the other Freelancers and how she wasn't especially close with any one of them caused a sense of loneliness to enter Virginia's heart. She hadn't been popular ever, by any means, but she did have those one or two special people near and dear to her. An image of a smiling young woman with blonde hair and a bright red streak of hair on the side of her face crossed Virginia's mind, and she shut her eyes tightly to block the image out while braiding her own strand of neon blue hair in two fingers. The first few words that she had managed to read of the letter she had received echoed in her head: "My beloved sister..." Her sister was off somewhere having fun, and she certainly didn't need Virginia holding her back.

"Agent Virginia, the Director wishes you to report to the observation deck to monitor the simulation mission." F.I.L.S.S.'s voice crackled over the sound speaker. Virginia shook her head to clear her mind and slid back up the wall, bow in hand. She looked up to the Observation Deck above her. A solitary figure stood watching her. She caught a flash of glass lenses perched on his face.

"Does he want me in armour, F.I.L.S.S., or am I alright in fatigues?"

"Director Church wishes all the agents to become as acclimated and comfortable with the administered armour for long-term usage as possible. I would advise that you do so," the ship's AI responded. With a call of thanks to the AI, Virginia headed to the locker room, stowed her bow, and strapped on her armour with ease. She refrained from putting the helmet on, however, and simply tied her hair back into a tight bun on the back of her head and carried her helmet under her arm. She jogged to the lift that carried her up to the observation deck. Alaska was in the elevator as well. They exchanged nods and didn't speak at all.

"Agents, pay close attention to the simulation mission on the monitors," the Director motioned to the monitors that would be showing video from the armours' built-in cameras. Virginia took her place at the end of the line next to Massa, who gave her a small smile. York waved from the spot next to her, and Carolina elbowed him in the ribs. Alaska took his place on the other end between Wyoming and Penn. Florida was the only one absent, still in the Recovery ward.

"You will be able to hear the radio transmissions between Team A and Team B for this simulation mission, but they will not be able to hear you," the Counsellor advised the Freelancers standing at attention. "This opportunity is being provided so that you may be able to learn from your fellow freelancers' abilities and cooperate with them on future missions."

"You mean to knock them off the leaderboard when we want," Pennsylvania rumbled, and everyone turned to look at him.

"Not an impossibility," the Counsellor conceded. The Director came to the forefront again.

"The crop of new freelancers have been divided into two teams for this simulation mission into Wasteland. Team A, led by Agent North Dakota, comprises of South Dakota, Arkansas, and Georgia. Team B, led by California, includes Minnesota, Michigan, and Maine. They will be directed to two bases, Red and Blue respectively. Each base contains one large bunker and two smaller bunkers on each side. The objective is to clean out the three bunkers first."

"That's it?" Penn asked.

"Yes, Agent Pennsylvania. That task will be difficult enough and is a suitable means to test their skills. The drop ships have just landed." All eyes turned to look at the four screens presented to them: one came from North's armour camera, another from Cal's, and two from orbiting satellites monitoring each team in general.

The teams started communicating between each other, formulating different strategies for clearing out the bases the quickest. Team B would split up, have two people take the largest bunker, and one each for the two smaller ones. Team A would travel as one group and hit each base together.

"Team B's strategy is the weakest of the two," Penn declared. "They'll be breaking up when they have no idea of the forces that they'll be facing. If one of them goes down, then their mission fails because they abandon their objectives to help one fallen teammate."

"I disagree," Carolina objected. "Team A's strategy is weaker because they're taking more time to clear out the bunkers and giving the simulation troopers plenty of warning to regroup and attack en masse."

The Director nodded slightly at the criticism. "What would you have done instead?" he addressed the team in general. There was a moment as everyone thought.

"What about if the teams divided in half and attacked the two smaller bunkers, then convened and attacked the larger base?" Virginia asked. Carolina sent her a scathing look.

"Interesting observation, Virginia," the Counsellor muttered, typing something into his hand-held pad. A small part of Virginia wished that she had kept her mouth shut. By the look on Carolina's face, she was thinking the same thing.

The mission continued to progress as the two teams implemented their strategies and either divided or began traveling as a group. Team A's progression was significantly slower than that of Team B's, and were still traveling across the God-forsaken desert when Team B's small strike teams of Minnesota and Maine had started attacking the small concrete bunkers. However, the single Freelancers were having some difficulty trying to eliminate the Red-armoured soldiers in the bunkers with their laser-calibrated weapons while avoiding the live ammunition from their targets.

Virginia couldn't help but wince slightly as Minnesota narrowly avoided getting hit in the shoulder by enemy fire and Maine bodily threw a Red soldier that had made the unfortunate mistake of getting too close. She certainly wouldn't want to be on the receiving end of his anger. Even at the larger bunker, California and Michigan were not progressing well, and the frustration coming from California was nearly palpable.

Team A's progression was actually speeding up, though they were facing their own troubles. North Dakota was a competent leader, that was for sure, but trying to work with such strong-willed people was going to give him grey hair before the mission was done. South was being insistent that they attack the largest bunker first and worry about any stragglers later, Arkansas was arguing that they attack the smaller bases first, and Georgia was trying to see if they could use a technological (aka explosive) approach. Virginia was tempted to pinch the bridge of her nose as she listened to the radio chatter from Team A, but withheld her urge in favour of rubbing her back again. Massa gave her an inquisitive glance, but Virginia shook her head. No need to worry her roommate, though the concern was appreciated.

The exercise continued as expected, actually. For the slower strategy that they took, Team A's execution was superior. The two smaller bunkers were quickly cleaned out, with the few stragglers taking refuge in the largest concrete bunker. The Blue soldiers didn't stand a chance against the combined might of the Team A Freelancers. They were already calling down their Pelican for pickup when Team B finally managed to clear out their three bunkers of Red simulation soldiers.

The Director signalled for the after-mission radio talk to be cut, and turned to the Freelancers standing behind him. "You have all witnessed the styles of your new teammates. Regardless of rank, you will be working with them on missions in the future. It is imperative that you know not only what you will be encountering, but who they are. A lesson that you should have kept in mind after your previous debacle." He gave them all a hard glare, and Virginia was not the only one who kept a slightly downturned gaze from the Director. "I hope you have learned from watching your new teammates. Let it serve as a reminder that failure is intolerable in war. You are dismissed."

"Yes, sir!" they chorused as one, and left in a single file line. After they exited, they dispersed into a messy huddle, walking as one down the hallway.

"Well, they'll be an interesting bunch to work with," York said after a few moments of silence. "They have potential."

"Hmph. We'll see," Carolina snorted. "Let's not be too optimistic."

"As long as they know their place on the Leaderboard," Penn mused as well.

"I think they'll be great assets to the project," Massa finally said, joining York's positive attitude. "It'll be great to see what new stuff they have to add. I hope we can get along with them well."

"I'll work with them, but we're not going to be all buddy-buddy, if that's what you're implying," Alaska mumbled, with Wyoming muttering something in agreement.

"You're right though, Massa. It'll be interesting to see what they have to contribute in terms of strategy and such," Carolina offered neutrally. "Give another option to some of the stale ones around." She gave a pointed glance at Virginia.

At that, Virginia stopped at the junction in the hallway that they had come to and whipped around to face Carolina. The corners of her vision were turning the slightest shade of red, and she felt her fists clenching at her sides unconsciously.

"What is UP with you, Carolina?" Virginia snarled at the aqua-armoured agent. "I get that you don't like me, and I'm not asking you to."

"You undermined the rest of us in front of the Director with your fancy strategy and made the team look bad," Carolina growled in return, her green eyes fiery. "I took a blow for the team when I reported to the Director about the mission, but I won't let you take advantage of the opportunity again and again to shake me from my place."

"Ladies, there's no need for this-" York tried to say, but Virginia jumped in.

"Would you GIVE IT A REST?! I don't want your spot, and the Director was asking for anyone's input, including mine. Just because you're the leader doesn't mean that you can just be the voice for all of us, Carolina. Deflate your ego a bit, why don't you?" Virginia hissed, before shoving past Carolina into the other hallway, away from the rest of the team. "I'll see you later. Gonna go check up on Florida." Without a backwards glance to see if anyone was following her, she walked quickly towards the recovery ward, breathing deeply to shake the crimson haze at the edge of her vision.

After she knew that she was a safe distance away and within sight of the room where Florida was staying, Virginia slid down a wall and to her knees, ignoring the stress to her back injury. She took several shaky breaths, shaking her head to regain control of her wayward emotions. She hadn't felt such anger in a long time, and it made her feel almost nauseous. At first, she hadn't thought it worth it to fight Carolina because they were supposed to work as a team. Now, Virginia's doubts about the usefulness of a fight with Carolina were waning considerably.

Determined to push the matter from her mind, Virginia stood up again and tried to think of something else. She remembered that she had said she was going to see Florida, and it wouldn't do to back out on her promise. She stumbled slightly to the door and let it slide open.

The grey-haired Florida sat up in bed, and he didn't wince this time. He must be feeling better, Virginia thought. He gave a cheerful greeting and motioned to a chair beside his bed. She took it graciously and gave one of her rare smiles. "How're you feeling, Florida?" she asked.

"Peachy keen, thanks," Florida responded with a chipper voice and a toothy smile. Virginia's own smile widened from his cheerfulness. "I can't wait to get out of here and back in the action. So, what did I miss with the Director's meeting?"

Virginia thought for a moment, wanting to tell someone else about her argument with Carolina, the trouble between herself and the Freelancer team leader. However, she didn't want to put a damper on Florida's mood at all, and pushed her concerns to the back of her mind. "Well, we will have some interesting teammates for the Project...and I think they'll have a lot to offer. The simulation mission gave us a lot to watch and experience..."