Chapter 7: Drastic

"So this one time, I told the guy," Matthews stood up and flexed his muscles. "Sometimes you don't think about things. You just believe, and you just do it!"

"Uh-huh," Grif mumbled with a low mood, and growing fatigue. Why did I agree to spend more time with him? I'm so fucking stupid. Matthews again flexed his muscles and bent down shouting. "Just do it!"

"And then what happened?" asked Grif. Matthews stood up and scratched the mouth piece of his helmet. "I think he got the general idea and did it."

"Which was?"

"I thought he was talking about getting back together with his girlfriend, but…," Matthews averted his gaze in a sign of embarrassment. "It turns out he planned on actually killing her out of jealousy for getting over their relationship so quickly. Yeah I'm going to be honest here, that one was not my best client."

"Wow," Grif was bewildered to hear this experience. "I think even Caboose doesn't have that bad of a luck. If anything, he would probably just drive them crazy with his stupidity."

"Yeah," agreed Bitters causing Grif to jump in surprise. "But Matthews is like the exception to the rule."

"How long have you been there?!"

"I have been here a while. I know it can be hard to notice me sometimes with my big body," Bitters answered bitterly. "I like to call it my stealth mode."

"Hmm, I think you have caught the Doc syndrome."

Bitters however was a welcomed changed to the flow of the conversation. Grif found that the more he talked to Matthews, the more he got on his nerves thanks to his constant chirpy attitude. Bitters on the other hand could handle Matthews with no issues, the two had been friends ever since the Chorus civil war and had kept in contact after quitting the military. It was clear that the two had developed a strong friendship over the course of Chorus' resettlement. Bitters recalled a story Matthews once told him before. "Remember that time where you felt really embarrassed at the live event in Armonia II city stadium?"

"Oh yeah," Matthews recalled with a nostalgic voice. "That was super embarrassing, not one of my finer moments."

Grif was very intrigued all of a sudden. "What happened?"

"This event happened in the rebuilt Armonia," Matthews explained as he smiled just recalling how silly it all seems now. "I was invited to give a motivational speech, as well as conduct the event on Chorus day. It's a holiday we started for the day the war ended. To my embarrassment, because of how bored I was getting from some of the events, I ended up falling asleep on live television."

"The aftermath was not pretty," Bitters added as Matthews nodded his head. "Yeah, all those apology letters I had to send. But still, that nap wasn't so bad. I mean the day was sunny and breezy. You just gotta love a good nap on a day like that."

Grif stood still with his arms dropped to his sides. "I didn't know you loved your naps Matthews."

"Yeah, and he hates waking up early," Bitters answered. Matthews agreed again to Grif's surprise. "I always hated having to wake up early for the military exercises. Man was it ever good to be able to sleep in after getting assigned to the special squads with the reds and the blues."

"I hate early mornings as well," Grif admitted as he crossed his arms deep in thought. I don't like the idea of it, but I think we may be more similar than I thought we were. Grif began to take a more proactive approach to the conversation in asking Matthews questions. He even began asking more exploratory questions about the motivational speaker showing clear interest in his work and him as an individual. Bitters was happy to see the growing interest in Grif for his friend Matthews.

In a large area, around a circular table sat Ohio's and Sherry's group with Caboose mixed into the ongoing intense game of poker. Everyone eyed one another from left to right of their visors as they carefully picked out their cards. Terrill called it in, in confidence. "Alright scrubs, lay them on the table."

This time for sure, this time I have it in the bag, thought practically everyone as they eyed Caboose's mountain pile of chips. Everyone flips over their cards, and all eyes hone in on the cards Caboose played. Immediately the urge to flip over the table and walk away was strong in everyone. Darryl stood up cursing the air around him. Idaho was slowly approaching the end of his ropes as well with his patience. Iowa on the other hand was impressed yet again for the twenty-fifth time. Terrill pointed a finger at Caboose demanding an explanation. "How, how is it that you keep on obtaining such perfect victories, how can you be so god damned good at this?!"

"And now we see the men in their natural habitat, quickly losing their shit over a harmless game of poker," narrated Sherry causing Ohio to laugh out loud.

"I have a green friend helping me."

"So you are basically cheating," Idaho accused never figuring Caboose for a cheater. As if insulted by the accusation, Delta appeared by Caboose's side. "Hardly Agent Idaho, Caboose is merely acting out my will and probabilities of which card hold the greatest chance of victory. If anything, I would say I'm the player and Caboose is my body to carry out my will."

Everyone nearly jumped back in surprise. Idaho leaned in close to slowly hover his hands through Delta who zoomed to Caboose's other shoulder. "Please do not do that."

"Wow, so you are an A.I.?" asked Ohio very intrigued. "I mean I heard about them being experimented with during Project Freelancer, but to see an actual A.I., just wow."

"Correct, I was once part of Project Freelancer. I am the logical core of my brothers and was conceived with the purpose of providing superior computational and mathematical abilities."

"Caboose and maths?" Darryl looked around holding back his laughter. "Anyone else see something contradictory about this?"

"Hardly," Delta replied. "Caboose and I were bonded long after Project Freelancer was shut down and I was liberated from another iteration of what can be considered our father A.I."

"He means Church," Caboose added getting a few confused nods. Delta clarified. "Our father A.I. makes up the whole of what we individually are. I'm the logic. My brothers would represent the various aspects of the mind. These aspects are fear, deceit, rage, ambition and creativity, trust, happiness and memory."

"So I guess you can help Caboose out in battles as well?" inquired Sherry officially taken in by the technology Project Freelancer once possessed. To think that they were so advanced and Charon Industries on the other hand were still twiddling their thumbs in this area of innovations at that time. Delta nodded his head. "Affirmative, I have aided Caboose in battle previously to help tip the tides of combat in our favor."

"Cool," Iowa said with glee. He was like a child seeing something very curious for the first time. Idaho laughed crossing his arms as he recalled their treatment in Project Freelancer. "Man, that program was a joke, a rip-off. It was always pitting us agents against one another rather than working together for a greater goal. What were those rankings supposed to achieve anyways? What a dumb system that was."

"I disagree," Delta spoke up gathering the many eyes in the room. "Had it not been for the competitive system, my brothers and I would not have come into this world with the intention of being paired up with the most compatible and best. The rankings were designed to study the best Freelancers and find us a match."

"What about Caboose, how did you know you were compatible with him?" questioned Terrill. Delta looked down in thought and answered. "Honestly I did no tests of any sort. Instead for once as per our father's will, we chose to take a leap of faith and believe that things will work out."

"That sounds like something kind of farfetched for an A.I. to say isn't it?"

"Agreed, but we have learned that always being logical does not lead to the best possible solution," Delta recalled the brave sacrifice of the original Epsilon unit. "Sometimes we just have to make decisions based on faith."

Terrill shook his shoulders still uncomfortable with the idea of an A.I. talking about these emotional concepts. But it was evident to all in the room that the Project Freelancer A.I.'s were nothing normal in comparison to the most advanced UNSC A.I.s. Iowa leaned forward with his hands joined together. "So Delta, would you know how we can get an A.I.?"

"The possibility of that happening is very low Agent Iowa," Delta explained the importance and uniqueness of the A.I.s associated with Project Freelancer. "Plus, A.I. acquisition has been made increasingly difficult due to the new regulations and laws."

"It can't be that hard," argued Darryl knowing a few tricks here and there to discreetly bypass some laws. Delta was less than enthusiastic to hear this idea. But at the same time he was very skeptical. "Corporations have an immensely difficult time obtaining one. For an individual to try, the difficulty would be amplified by at least a hundred times."

"Agh, all this talking is making me thirsty!" Darryl noted and the others agreed with him. Both the women groaned in disgust thinking, how is it that it always leads back to drinking?!

Sherry knocked a few heads and said. "You boozers need a new hobby."

"You know what happened the last time we tried doing that?" Terrill asked sending a clear picture in Sherry's head. When the group went on search for a hobby, Iowa had accidentally set one of the microwaves on fire just by passing it. Sherry remembered with a meek tone. "Y- Yeah, I'm still trying to wrap my head around that one."

"You girls know us so well," Idaho shouted coming back with a glass of whiskey. Sherry groaned in disgust. "Ugh, pigs. That was not a compliment."

"Well I think it's time for you two," Ohio spoke to Iowa and Caboose. "To get on out of here. The less drunks the betters."

"Where do we go?" Iowa inquired exiting the room with Ohio, Caboose and Sherry. The two women looked around the ship both thinking what can be done to lighten their luggage. Sherry then had an idea. "How about we all watch a movie together?"

"That's a great idea!" Ohio confirmed. Sherry turned to the boys who rejected it on the grounds of finding it to be too boring of an activity. They made it clear that they would much rather want to move around rather than just sit down for hours for a passive activity. Ohio took that as a sign and leaned close for a whisper in Sherry's ear. "That just makes it all the more better. It means we will have more alone time together."

Sherry's mind immediately flooded with thoughts of perversion imagining Ohio's great curvy figure. The chemicals in her mind went crazy, the beast within awoke and she locked her arm around Ohio's left bicep. The soldier looked at her girlfriend in surprise who suddenly began dragging her away. Like a helpless kitten involved in a kidnapping, Ohio screamed for help only to have her words fall on deaf ears. Iowa and Caboose looked around and Caboose suggested. "So, want to roam the ship until we find something to do?"

"Yeah, let's do it!"

The two walked from one hall to the next. Many crossed their paths greeting them along the way. It seemed that both of them had managed to make quite a few friends here thanks to their friendly, and child like innocent demeanor. They walked from one side of the ship to the other until they came to one of the many observatories. The huge window, tinted in a light hue of blue displayed the brilliant color mix of outer space. The two stopped in their trek to observe the beauty that was breath taking, quite metaphorically and literally as well. Space was always a mystery to mankind in the past, to some extent it still is. But no matter how much time would pass, the fact that it can kill you will remain the same. It was a beauty, but a deadly beauty.

"Sure is pretty," Iowa noted.

"Yeah."

"You know, I always wanted to be an explorer, not a fighter or a soldier," said the ex-Freelancer. Caboose was intrigued to hear his friend's words. "What happened then? Did you flunk the exams to get into exploration school? That happens a lot to me as well."

"Heh, nothing of that sort," Iowa clarified with the wave of his hand and turned his attention back out the window. "You see, there is this family tradition of being in the military. My father was in the UNSC, and my grandfather was part of the UNSC as well. Said expectations basically pressured me into carrying on the tradition."

Iowa stopped to study a nearby asteroid field. He then continued once again finding the silence to be a little unnerving. "When I applied for the military, I failed the entry exams."

"How badly?"

"Is that really important? Anyways, after that I didn't know what to do. Eventually my family found out," Iowa's voice turned to that of sadness. The once usually aloof soldier was very serious discussing his past. It almost seemed as though the brain cells he lost in the past due to his incident were lighting up again. "When they found out, they picked me up and tossed me out of the house. Then they threw my belongings out the window towards me telling me not to come back until I join a military."

"That's not nice."

"It's not," Iowa said just recalling how much he initially missed the connection with his family. "But now I have gotten used to it, I don't even know if they are still alive or not. Still it is what it is. I was recruited into the Freelancer Project the night I was kicked out of the house and trying to drown my sorrows in a nice refreshing beer. You know, we became pretty famous once we joined the project."

"Famous for being the worst freelancers," Delta added for clarification. Iowa moaned at the sudden interruption as if rain came down on his parade. "Come on green dynamite, don't be like that in my moments of awesomeness."

"Understood, shutting off fact checking subroutine."

"So Caboose," Iowa turned to his friend and asked. "Why did you join the blue team?"

"I joined because I thought it would be fun, spoilers, it is!"

"Really, that's it?"

"Well that and it was a good way to get away from my parents and the repressive memories they represented."

"Dude, look into therapy for that."

"I have it under control for now," Caboose mentioned. "But I do go to Doc from time to time. Every time we finish, he looks like a dead husk for some strange reason, almost like he heard something weird."

"What do you two talk about?"

"Just the sounds of my parents having sex in the middle of the night, or the one time I walked in on my mom as she was stepping out of the shower."

"Okay I don't need to hear anymore," Iowa answered immediately blushing under the helmet. I can see why Doc would be like a carcass. But there was something strangely relaxing for Iowa to talk to Caboose like this. He could be drinking with Idaho and the others right now, but most of the time it would just end up with him listening. For once it was nice to have someone else listen to his story with such attentive ears. Too bad for Iowa, he didn't realize that the little hamster wheel in Caboose's mind spun with his imagination on fire zoning in and out of what Iowa was saying.

"You know what Caboose? It's cool talking to you. I can pretty much talk about anything with you and it still ends up being fun."

The blue soldier looked at the ex-Freelancer with a wide smile underneath his helmet. Welcome to the friends club, best friend number four. He looked high up with a proud grin. "Neat!"

Ken watched Siris tap his fingers in impatience who gazed at the news caster with soulless eyes. A woman in her mid thirties presented herself with a clean and professional smile all the while delivering the daily dosage of grim and despair. "The crime rate surrounding the explosions involving space companies, agencies and supply trucks have been on the rise lately. It had seemed that they may have finally decreased for good, but recent reports suggest otherwise. The attacks themselves have multiplied to several locations at a given time and greater in intensity. We have 30 known casualties so far from just yesterday's attacks."

Siris slammed his fist against the desk startling all those closely around him. He gritted his teeth feeling his nerve build up in anger. Day in and day out, it's same old bullshit. We are trying to do something about it! He rested his glabella against his hands and breathed out a sigh to relax his blood pressure. "To think that Cradle of Hope would not be able to get its dormant members active so soon was our grave error. Not just here, but all across the United States they have become very active. What they are doing is a clear cut declaration of war."

He slowly raised his head like an old man and looked to Carolina. "What's the update on that army?"

"The search is going well," she gave some semblance of hope to the ATSG. About damn time we get some good news, thought many in the room. She asked for Church to display the data collected so far on the mission. "We have quite a few numbers on our side. But, and this is a big BUT, there are still plenty more that need to be found. Based on the amount of activity the Cradle of Hope has been engaging in, it's safe to say that our current numbers don't stand a chance. However with at least a few more recruits under our belt, we may just stand a chance against their desire to wage war."

Siris gripped his own hair and began pulling on it in frustration. "We don't have a whole lot of time!"

Everyone in the room went quiet at the sudden rise in his voice. He huffed and puffed. He looked around with some control and managed to calm his stressed mind temporarily. "Everyday these incidents continue, we get closer to the red line. We are already on the brink of being put on the chopping block thanks to influence from external political parties. If we are unable to do anything about these terrorist activities, then it will only hasten our downfall as an organization."

Church crossed his arms and tapped his foot on air. He was just as fed up as the others in the room, but knew that losing their cool now would be overall detrimental. He gripped the sides of his waist and spoke in a very commanding manner. "The guys are doing their best, they are not magicians. They can only do what the ship technology allows them to. The rest is up to whether they get the time or not, so take a chill pill and relax!"

Everyone in the room stared back and forth from Siris to Church. Carolina was surprised at the development as well, but at the same time displeased with Church's outburst as a means of an answer to Siris' frustration. However she was still glad to see that it worked. "I'm sorry about my losing my cool there."

The time to act is now. Ken looked around wondering if he should state his opinion. But we waste precious time arguing amongst ourselves. He studied the hesitant eyes of many. To him, they all seemed afraid, even Carolina. Fear held them tightly with the prospect of the unknown strong in their minds. He looked around in disapproval of this attitude and pushed past the others to leave. Ken entered the men's washroom, made sure it was clear and locked the door behind him.

Ken wiped a mirror clean and looked at his own image. This is against the ATSG rules, but desperate times call for desperate measures. He gripped his hair and pulled it right off. Underneath was a hair net protecting a healthy crop of short black hair. He ripped off the various adhesive that kept the hair in place and threw the hair net away. He carefully took of the blue eye lenses and threw them in the garbage bin. You served me well all this time, but now I will see this through to the end not as Ken, but as who I really am. He looked at his bare dark brown irises and began to peel away at the mask on his face.

Little by little, the sticky paste on his face began to scrape away at the friction from his finger nails. His real skin began to unveil and give it much needed room to breathe. Ken reached to his left for a paper towel and dampened it to provide the finishing clean. Gently, he wiped his face of any leftover face mask and dried it off with another dry paper towel. His eyes fixated at the face that now looked back at him in the mirror. This was the face he grew up with, and the face he locked away behind that façade.

Ken studied the scar on his left cheek that ran down all the way to his chin. Still as noticeable, he smirked recalling the training incident that forever left him with this mark. He cleaned up the area and left the washroom for his room. In his quarters, Ken collected various writing utensils as well as his weapons. He wrote a small note with the intention of passing it onto one he figured would be best to leave it with. Proofreading the note, he left the room for Carolina's. To his surprise however she was there enjoying a glass of wine and a plate of cheese. Upon entry, she nearly jumped at seeing the stranger before her. He defensively raised his arms as she stood up in a battle stance. "Whoa, hold on, it's me, Ken!"

Carolina looked at the young man in front of her in disbelief. "Church?"

"Voice pattern matches," her AI partner confirmed. "It is him. But I gotta say, that scar is looking good on you, buddy."

"I can't tell if you are being sarcastic or legit serious," Ken replied taking out the note. "So why the sudden wine and cheese? That's not for at least another hour for you isn't it?"

"The news didn't exactly leave us feeling all optimistic now did it?" she replied sitting back down. "I figured I may as well drown my sorrow away in a little bit of flavor."

"Well, here," Ken threw down the note her way and turned to leave. But he was quickly stopped by a strong grip. "What is this?"

"It's a note, sort of like insurance. Don't show it to anyone, and don't let anyone come following after me."

"What are you planning Ken?"

"Yeah dude, if it's something insane, I'm sure she wants in," Church mused. "She kind of gets her kicks from doing crazy shit to you know."

"I'm planning something stupid," Ken smirked sending an alert in Carolina's mind. "But something that will hopefully be effective."

Carolina read the note as Ken departed. Her eyes widened at its content and without a second thought, she followed after leaving the note on the table. Church in her sub-consciousness argued, I know what you are thinking and it's dumb. "Like you said, I get my kicks from doing crazy stuff like this."

I was kidding, he was growing worried about all the various possibilities this could turn out as. Just stop to think about this for a moment. Inform the others. Ken is making this mistake, don't you make it as well.

"They are smart, I'm sure they will figure it out."

Oh yeah, just wish to the magical wishes granting fairies that they figure it out and come strolling along to help us. Church was clearly unimpressed by this rash behavior. I know you like a sense of adventure, but this is going too far. This isn't just some adventure. It's a matter of life and death. Do the smart thing, coordinate a plan with the others and attack.

"It will take too long," she argued putting on her armor and loaded her weapons with live ammunition. "But it's not like I'm leaving without giving the ATSG a trace to follow."

Carolina activated her beacon that at all times transmitted her position to the base. Church was still against this lone wolf routine, but somewhat eased by the beacon. You do know just how fucking crazy this still is right?

"Here we go."

Yeah, you know. Church knew just how silly it felt to believe in a higher being that may or may not exist. But if there is such a being, all he could do now was pray for success. Carolina left the base under the cover of the night and followed Aria's trace all the way to the headquarters. She landed safely and surveyed the area for her comrade. The area was huge. The base was large and filled with many guards all on high alert at all times. Church felt queasy about this and suggested, still feel like backing out? Because now is the chance sis. She grinned underneath the helmet and relished the challenge. "Fat chance."

Ken took out a pair of binoculars and studied the various patrol routes. It looks like a party down there. Time to go crash it. He activated the gauntlet and brought up a holographic display of Aria's trace. Ken studied the map and then the real layout of the base. He looked to his right. Too many guards. He looked to his left. Too many guards here as well. My jet boost doesn't last a long time and I risk being seen in the air like that. I'm going to have to knock around a few skulls here if I want to rescue the princess and go home. He grinned at the prospect of Aria ever acting like a princes. She would probably break my arm if she heard me say that out loud. Sis was never one to act feminine, no wonder she couldn't get dates for prom nights when we were younger.

Ken moved out and stuck to the shadows hiding from the moonlight. He took notice of the cameras around the base and moved underneath them. Ken turned a corner but immediately went back as soon as he saw a guard approaching. He stuck up against the wall, and focused his hearing on the guard's footsteps. He is close. Ken suddenly turned the corner, punched the guard on the nose and disorientated him. He took him in a tight restraint and knocked the guard unconscious. Ken dragged the limp body away into a hiding spot and dumped it in a bin. The area was clear for now. He activated his gauntlet and saw that the little red dot on the map was stationary. Aria was standing still in a room located nearby. But how will I get inside? He looked around for entrances which were all heavily guarded. There were no grates either leading to underground passages for him to make use of. But then an idea occurred to him. They never suspect from above.

Carolina moved towards the red dot herself and knocked out several guards along the way. She did her best to keep it as quiet as possible, but in her excitement, she nearly slipped up alerting someone nearby. The guard came to investigate, but thankfully she was already well hidden. They shook their shoulders and continued monitoring their assigned area. Carolina snuck up behind that guard and blocked his passage to air. He struggled against her grip, but the lack of air made it harder for him to keep up his strength. He reached out for help, but he could shout no words with her hand covering his mouth. He soon faded away and was left in the cold stillness of the night.

Carolina walked up behind two other guards and smashed their heads together. Church noted of her harshness. Carolina defensively whispered. "They are getting off easy. Be thankful I'm not going on a rampage breaking bones."

I guess that is worse, he noted still putting up quite a resistance to her thrill seeking adventure. Watch your right, camera up above. Carolina stopped in her tracks and hid behind a cover. She poked her head out upon Church's command and noticed the small electrical device swiveling left and right. "Nice catch."

I have found Ken, Church said marking it on her HUD map. Carolina eyed the map on the bottom right of her visor and looked in the general direction of his location. She moved through various little pathways until she was closer. Carolina hid herself away upon seeing Ken standing atop a rooftop. Church began to question Ken's sanity as well now. I know you are crazy for this sort of stuff Sis, but him to? What is he thinking standing out in the open like that?!

Ken placed several explosives around himself at a fair bit of distance in a circle. He centered himself and looked at the blinking lights. Please let this work, we are so close to one another now sis. He activated the button on his gauntlet and the devices began beeping. Aria moved underneath the spot he stood on. She signaled for her troops to stop upon hearing a faint noise. Ken activated the charges, with a loud thermal explosion the metal roof gave away. He jumped down and slashed one of her guards' in the arm. He stole the weapon and knocked the guard on the forehead with its butt. Acting quickly, Ken kicked the other guard down and dismantled the weapons. Just as he was about to go for his sister, she held him at gunpoint to his chest.

"That was his grand plan?" Carolina face palmed as she heard the intruder alarms echo through every inch of the base. It didn't take long for Carolina to be discovered who for once wanted to keep her head down. The guards quickly converged on her location. She drew her rifle and open fired dealing several non-fatal injuries. She found new and more effective cover to hide behind. "So you boys want to dance? I will show you how to dance."

The two sides opened fire, emptying their guns, reloading and repeating. The guards suffered the casualties, and Carolina played it safe only coming out when necessary to accurately nail her targets. She looked at the last clip left and sighed. "Let's make this one count."

Aria reached out slowly towards the hood. Ken remained still. His heart beat hastened at the prospect of looking at one another eye to eye. She hesitated at first, but quickly overcame the feelings to know just who her enemy is that claimed to be her brother for she recognized the armor and the voice. Aria rested the gun's barrel against his chest armor where it could easily pierce through his rib cage. She slowly pulled down the hood and backed away wide eyed. "A- Alexavier?"

"Sister."

Ken's concealed, and true identity was now engraved in enemy eyes. He slowly lowered his arms as she lowered the pistol. He held out a hand for her to take. "I'm here for you sis."

"What are you doing here, and why are you wearing that combat armor?!"

"I'm here for you," he replied. "The only reason I have worn this thing is to find you, and make sure that no one can stop us as we leave this damned fight behind us."

"Leave?" she asked as other guards suddenly entered interrupting the conversation to Alexavier's annoyance. She studied the scar on his cheek and was horrified at the sight. What could you have been doing all this time to cause such an injury? She motioned for the guards to arrest the assassin. Without a struggle, he let himself be hand cuffed as she guaranteed his safety. Aria turned to another group of guards and motioned for them to spread out. "Search the perimeter for any other intruders. He might not have been alone."

The guards holding Alex captive looked at their leader for orders. She pointed behind them and said. "Take him to the holding cells. Strip him of his armor and weaponry. I want to talk to him later."

As she watched him disappear from her sight, she sighed in confusion and concern. Why are you here as an assassin Alex?

Carolina studied the last bullet exit her rifle's barrel. All dry? She threw away the rifle and drew the pistol. Each shot hit the target and discouraged the enemy. But the growing numbers did not help encourage any sense of forward momentum and progress.

Click! Click!

Oh you have got to be kidding me. She reached for the magazine on her side. But before she could load the clip in, she was tackled down to the ground. The clip slid away from her in the struggle and she lost her weapon. She punched the guard off of her and left him squirming in pain. She stood up raising her fists in front of her and cracked her neck. "Okay, so you guys want to get intimate."

"Please stop with the cheesy one liners," Church begged as he counted the enemy numbers. "There are at least thirty here."

"Only thirty?"

"Don't get cocky sis," he reminded her and she breathed deeply. "I don't get cocky."

"That's arguable," Church mumbled as the guards began their approach. Many came in swinging hard. But Carolina ducked and dodged every attack and landed hard, impactful blows on their abdomens, jaws, noses and crotches. Several guards who dared to cross paths with her were quickly made to meet their unfortunate and painful fate. She kept up the fight for a long time. The guards began to worry about their chances of victory. Even though they had the numbers, she herself was the walking talking embodiment of a badass warrior. But even as badass as she was, she too had her human limits. Her mind grew tired, and her muscles ached from the heavy usage.

She flipped over one guard and pinned two against the wall with a thrust. Carolina activated her jets and jumped through the crowd hoping to escape. Four generals looked at the bustle down below with their arms crossed, and faces amused. The enemy began jumping in the air in an attempt to catch her. Sooner than she expected, she slipped and was caught by one guard. She hit the back of her head hard against the ground. Her painful grunt sent signals of confidence to the enemy. They could do this. Rather than attacking with one, two, or three people at a time, they all ganged up on her jumping atop her well built form. Church panicked informing her of her low power supply. "The shields are going to give out soon, figure something out!"

"I'm trying to!" Carolina stood up against all odds and pushed everyone off of her. She activated the speed module and broke several knees in the process. As she prepared to leave, she was tripped by a new group of guards. Carolina went tumbling down to the ground face first. Fuck! She stood up with blurry vision and gritted her teeth for the punch coming her way. With a hard impact, her face went twisting to her right.

The generals jumped down hoping to join in on the fray. The group of four guards all ganged up on her landing several notable blows. Her armor absorbed most of it, but the ones that did make it through left a lasting impact. She wanted to call upon the healing unit, but it was clear that Church was in no condition to aid her. He was tired. He felt that he was being pushed too much. He tried to contemplate the various possibilities his algorithms would allow, but all ended in their failure. Carolina swung her arm wide and with a loud thud she hit one guard on the cheek bone. That guard fell down, and upon encouragement from the others, they all landed equally dangerous kicks on her helmet. Carolina kneeled down feeling the disorientation at its strongest now.

"Now, let's do it!" shouted one guard as the others followed to beat her with their fists until she was finally subdued. The generals made it to the location only to be disappointed. Kai noticed one of the soldiers retrieving their fists from Carolina's face. "Tch, lucky bastard."

"Not bad boys," Kabira complimented. "Keep this up and you may just be due for a promotion."

"Enough talk," Dallas motioned for the group of nearby guards to continue patrolling. He pointed to two guards out of the four responsible for her defeat. "Make sure she isn't transmitting any information. Once you are done with that, take her to Aria. I'm sure she would love to see Creed's killer in the flesh just as much as we do."

The two soldiers saluted. They picked her up and dragged her off into the young night for her encounter, and to a test of will.

A/N: More development, dun, dun, dah! Also, music suggestion "The Shadows Betray You" from The Dark Knight Rises OST. Start playing it at the fifth break line when Ken is infiltrating the headquarters.

So what do you think will happen now?

Constructive feedback is always welcomed.

Thanks for reading, I appreciate the support! :)

~ Monty