(A/N) Right guys, time for another Phase Two: Betrayal update, written by our very own Jerem6401! Now, this is the first of his chapters to go up since he became an Achievement Hunter, so I hope you'll all enjoy it. However, knowing what's in store for you all, I'm pretty positive that you will. Maine gets to smash stuff – it's a winning combination already! Some more updates coming over the next few days across just about every one of our fics, so keep an eye out!
Enjoy!
Chapter Sixty-Six – What We Deserve
Agent Maine
Written by Jerem6401
"We all make choices, but in the end our choices make us." ― Ken Levine
"Arrive. Raise hell. Leave," Maine growled, leaning back slightly as Colorado and Nebraska laughed.
It was quite the team the Director had assembled for this mission. Maine sat in the pelican, loading his magazine one bullet at a time, counting each one as he did. While he was impressed by the soldiers joining him, he was again frustrated the Director didn't trust him to lead the group. Maybe it was the aggression he had shown in the past… but then again, he wouldn't be the first team leader to show that tenacity. He could lead, if the Director gave him the opportunity. Instead, the opportunity had fallen to Wyoming.
"Alright gents," Wyoming began as he stood in the walkway between the two lines of seats. "Since I'm in charge, now, you'll be following each of my orders to the point. Have I made that perfectly clear?"
"Whatever you say, Captain," Nebraska replied in a snarky tone. Maine smirked at his cockiness beneath his helmet, smiling thinly. Nebraska was clearly poking fun at the more experienced freelancer, but behind his brassiness he clearly held a considerable level of respect for the Brit. He and 'Rado would eventually know better. Maine didn't trust Wyoming. Not completely, anyway. He knew the other three veterans on the team didn't either. But then again, California, Minnesota and Alaska had learned the same way Maine did, that it wasn't safe to trust anyone anymore.
"You'll be careful to watch your mouth, Neb," Wyoming snapped back. "It's remarks like that which make me think you'll want to disobey your orders. Very unwise. Very, very unwise. I'll be keeping my eye on you." Wyoming turned away from Nebraska and lifted his hand, motioning to the other soldiers. "The CS'll be there waiting for us, so we're going to have to hit them hard and fast, if we're going to keep them off Carolina and her team."
"What kind of intel do we have on the hit-squads?" Colorado inquired.
"One of the squads is led by our old pal, Mr Harper. He is our primary target, should his ship reach the facility. We'll engage on sight and keep him away from the doctor at all costs. Our main goal is to try and distract the hit squads and keep them away from Carolina's extraction team."
"Who's leading the other hit-squad?" Alaska interjected. He was staring at the floor, but his words were clear, and hung in the still air of the ship. Wyoming turned to him, choosing his response carefully.
"That isn't of our concern. We have our orders, and the other hit squad does not fit in with that agenda." Alaska stood up from his seat and approached Wyoming. He stood only a few inches away, staring into his visor.
"You know exactly who's leading the squad… don't you?" Wyoming sighed and looked away.
"We are not cleared to engage Penn and his squad. Neither of our teams are. That is why we are tasked with distracting them and letting the mission play out as directed." Alaska laughed to himself as he shook his head. Maine looked up at the two. The other members of the team stared, and didn't dare make a sound.
"You're acting like it never happened, Wyoming," Alaska observed. "Like we were never betrayed."
"Agent Alaska I'm well aware…"
"You know damn well we should be the ones going after him!" Alaska shouted as he rammed his finger into Wyoming's chest. "We were his squad, Reggie, damn it! We were under HIS COMMAND! Remember our mission to assassinate Colonel Allen?! The three of us! A well-oiled, perfect machine! And he turned his back on us! I watched him murder Massachusetts with my own fucking eyes! We should be the ones to pull the trigger!" Maine suddenly pushed himself to his feet and forced his massive frame between the two.
"The rest of Project Freelancer has just as much play in this as we do, dear Alaska," Wyoming returned. "The decisions my former captain made are not admirable, but that does mean I will sacrifice a mission to pursue him."
"That's enough!" Maine yelled. "It doesn't matter! Harper, Penn, or Ark, we kill them, we hurt the CS. Then we go after the other two." He turned to Alaska and pushed the freelancer back a step. "Not here to kill one man. Save the doctor, stop the CS. Do your job."
"Don't you talk down to me, Maine," Alaska continued. "You might be strong, but you're still not one of us. You weren't here from the beginning like Wyoming, Pennsylvania, and I were. Back when Project Freelancer was just an idea and not a force. You think because you can hold your own in a fight, you can walk beside us? Well just remember that someone had to be there to pave that ground you walk on." Maine squared himself with Alaska as the two tried to stare each other down. Eventually Alaska sighed and looked slightly to his side, breaking the eye contact.
"Not here to fight with you, Alaska," Maine said quietly, still staring at the other freelancer.
"I know," Alaska quickly replied, shaking his head sullenly. "Look… there's just been a lot happening lately. A lot of questions left open and unfinished business hanging over me."
"You'll get your closure, old chap," Wyoming added. "At the same time the rest of Project Freelancer does. When the Crimson Sun goes down in flames."
"We're here! Get ready!" 479er shouted back to them, suddenly, ending the conversation.
The other freelancers stood up and got their equipment ready. Maine fastened his domed helmet onto his head, which turned his world dark for a moment before the HUD lit up and took control, bathing the area around him in an orange tint. Alaska grabbed two DMRs and strapped one of them to his back, shouldering the other, muttering under his breath.
Minnesota glanced over to Maine, having fallen quiet during Wyoming's rundown and Alaska's outburst. For all Maine knew, he probably had been in a world of his own. California certainly had been, and Maine just hoped that the other freelancer's don't-care attitude wasn't beginning to affect his friend. "You ready?" he asked, as Maine rolled his neck and cracked his knuckles in anticipation.
Maine smiled over at him, although the other freelancer wouldn't have been able to see his expression. "Always…"
Wyoming stood to the side, loading one round at a time into his sniper rifle, and straightened up as 479er shouted back to them once more.
"Get ready!" she yelled, and a second later the doors behind them began to descend. "Opening rear doors!"
The doors fell down to show swarms of CS soldiers beneath them, and the freelancers collectively took a slight inward breath, surprised at the sheer size of the force assembled against them. Wyoming was the first to look away, turning towards the others, knowing that they only had a minute or two left.
"I've done some reading on your files," he remarked. "Agent Colorado, you'll be equipped with a standard issue assault rifle, magnum, and UNSC grade frag grenades. I know you are trained with those." Rado nodded and began to collect her weaponry. "Agent Minnesota. I understand you are much better off using handguns and smaller weaponry. So you'll find two magnums, and two SMGs have been assigned to you." Minnesota lifted the UNSC submachine guns in the air, one in each hand.
"Shit's pretty heavy," he remarked. "Wouldn't want to hold two of these for very long."
"But I do recommend it," Wyoming added. "If you find any trouble trying to coordinate two weapons at one, I advise you talk to Alaska. He has mastered that skill." Alaska nodded and tilted his head to Minnesota, no doubt grinning beneath his helmet. Wyoming glanced back out through the rear doors, noting 479ers slow, but careful, descent, before turning to the two remaining freelancers, Nebraska and California. "Speaking of being with a master… it is my understanding that you two are well versed in hand-to-hand combat."
"Damn right," Nebraska commented. "Not a lot can go toe-to-toe with…" Nebraska stopped as a shadow formed over Wyoming. Wyoming turned his head slightly to see gleaming white armour only a few inches behind him. Wyoming chuckled a bit before shaking his head and turning back to rifle. Maine rolled out his shoulders before stepping around Wyoming and in front of the two remaining freelancers.
"Two rules," he said in his deep, growling voice. "One. No matter how good you think you are… don't get caught without a weapon. And two…" Maine looked back and forth between the two before sighed and walking past them. "…don't get in my way." The back door of the pelican finally connected with the intended landing point, which was actually a balcony on a high floor in the facility.
"We have reports that the insurrection is in the building, but the hit-squads still haven't arrived," Wyoming reported. "Get in there and clear out as many soldiers as possible. Understood?"
"Roger that," California replied, the first time he had spoken in quite a while.
"We can cover more ground if we split our unit in two," Alaska stated. "Stay within a reasonable distance, in case one unit encounters a hit-squad."
"Good thinking, Al," Wyoming commented. "I've been asked to assess the third-round agents on this missions, so I'll take those two, and Cal and Sota. Alaska and Maine, you two are together." Maine looked towards Alaska, who thought for a moment, before nodding.
"Any word on the target?" one of the soldiers asked. He was wearing brown and green armour, with the bold red CS insignia on his chest, as were the other twenty or so Crimson Sun soldiers in the large room. Some paced around on catwalks up above, and others scanned the equipment in the room for any useful information.
"Harper and Penn should be hitting the building soon," another soldier replied. "They'll handle it. Our job is just to look out for those freelancers."
"Eh, we can take em," a third soldier added as he joined them. The other two turned to face him as he entered their conversation. "How bad can they be, right?" Suddenly there was a loud bang, and the third soldier ducked out of instinct. He shook off the whine in his ear and looked upwards.
"What the hell was that?" No answer.
"Guys?" He looked up at his friends to see two dark holes in their visors, which leaked some blood before they both collapsed onto the floor. The third soldier slowly turned around to see Alaska with a DMR in each hand, both smoking from the last shot.
"Don't worry," he said quietly. "We're not thatbad." The third soldier pulled out his pistol, but stopped when a hand grabbed his wrist. He turned to his side to see Maine holding his arm and slowly twisting it. The soldier fell to his knees, still staring into the emotionless visor. Maine kept twisting his arm until the soldier's metal gauntlet shattered like splintered wood, following by the loud cracking of the bone underneath.
"There they are!" another soldier shouting from the catwalk above. "Get them!" Maine growled and ripped the soldier off his knees, launching him into the catwalk and shaking the others off balance. Alaska aimed upwards and fired two rounds, which hit the supporting cables of the catwalk, causing it to detach from the ceiling and swing downwards.
One of the soldiers tumbled towards the floor, but before he made contact, Maine slammed rammed a fist into his back, launching the soldier across the room and into some machinery, making it spark and erupt into flames. Maine ducked under a knife as another soldier took a swing. He dodged slashes and stabs before throwing a knee upwards into the man's elbow, knocking the blade into the air. Maine threw two punches, knocking the wind out of his opponent before catching the knife on the way down. He slashed it across the soldier's throat, then whipped around and threw the knife into the visor of another approaching attacker.
"One, two, three four," Alaska counted quietly to himself as he fired his DMRs in all directions. Sometimes he held them straight out to his sides, ripping bullets through the helmets of two opponents at once. "Fourteen…" Alaska lowered one rifle and lifted the second, practically pressing it against the head of another soldier. He fired it, splashing blood across the wall behind him. "Fifteen," he counted as he dropped the empty mag out of his rifle. He grabbed another magazine and got ready to reload.
"Your six!" Maine yelled. Without thinking, Alaska saw a magnum on the ground and quickly kicked it into the air. It flew across the room, before landing perfectly in Maine's grip. Maine fired two rounds, both hitting the soldier running up behind Alaska.
"We need backup! We need backup!" one of the soldiers screamed into his headset. Maine and Alaska eliminated another few enemies, before they heard a clicking sound behind them. Then turned just as the massive metal door exploded off of its frame and rocketed into the room. They ducked underneath it, letting it fly overhead and imbed itself in the wall at the back of the room, slicing several machines in half as it went by. They both stood up straight as the smoke swirled in the doorway. It started to dissipate as three figures formed and began walking towards them. There was a soft whistling in the air as the smoke finally faded and the three soldiers came into view.
"Greetings, freelancers!" the soldier in the centre yelled. He held his arms out wide like he was talking to a grand audience. "We planned for your arrival… and here you are. Just as expected."
"Maverick," the soldier on the left said quietly, "surveillance indicates that there are more of them in the building."
"Yes," he replied, "Wyoming and company seem to be causing trouble nearby. I'll take the rest of the squad and deal with them."
"What about Agent Carolina's team?" the soldier on the right asked, his voice made noticeable by a deep French accent.
"We've been instructed to let Penn's team deal with them. Though I doubt the big oaf could possibly pull off something like that. Nevertheless, you two can handle Maine and Alaska, I'm sure."
"Maverick, huh?" Alaska asked. "You seem important. So maybe taking you out will be enough of a message for today."
Maverick chuckled a few times before grabbing his helmet and slowly lifting it into the air. "Oh, Alaska," he laughed. "It would be quite the message." As the shadow of his helmet moved away, Ian Harper's smile fell into the light. "Too bad it will never be sent."
"Harper!" Alaska shouted, the fury evident in his voice, a feeling that Maine shared at the sudden appearance of the Insurrectionist lieutenant.
"Take him out! Now!" Maine added, roaring.
"Crosshair! Geist! Deal with them!" Crosshair lifted his sniper rifle and Geist vanished into thin air.
What the hell? Maine thought, as he ball his fists, trying to catch a glimpse of the now-invisible soldier. Did they get their hands on enhancements too?
A round rocketed through the air, bouncing off of Alaska's DMR and knocking it to the floor. Alaska ripped his magnum out of the holster and fired three rounds, each sparking off the wall as Crosshair rolled out of the way. He took another shot, which ripped through a cable holding up a catwalk, before ricocheting and tearing through a second supporting cable. The catwalk swung down and slammed into Alaska, making him skid across the floor into a wall. Crosshair lined up a killshot, but quickly broke his concentration to duck under Maine's fist, which split the metal wall behind him. He used his free hand to bat the sniper out of Crosshair's hands and then kicked the soldier to the floor.
Maine ripped his hand out of the wall and stepped towards the sniper, when his HUD started to light up with warnings. Maine fell to his back, under a swinging blade from Geist. Maine pushed himself back up to his feet, knocking the knife out of Geist's hands as he did so. Geist dodged Maine's next strike and drew another knife, stabbing Maine in the thigh. Seeing that his partner was in trouble, Alaska grabbed his magnum and fired a shot directly at Geist's head.
At that exact moment, a sniper round sounded off and knocked Alaska's bullet out of its path. Crosshair jumped to his knees and fired at Alaska again. The bullet sank into Alaska's arm, knocking the freelancer back to the floor. He quickly rolled away from the next shot and ducked behind some machinery. Maine managed to lash forward and knock the second knife out of Geist's hands, but before he could attack again, Geist pulled out a third knife and drove it into Maine's shoulder. He kicked Maine in the chest, knocking the huge freelancer to the floor. Geist slowly made his way forward, drawing a pistol from his back.
"Al," Maine said quietly into his headset, "I could use a hand here."
Alaska got ready to leap out and help the behemoth, but instead stopped and stared out the doorway in front of him. He could see down a long hallway that connected to another room in the distance. He saw a flash of blue as Carolina tore through the room with the doctor were here to rescue. Knowing her mission was on track, Alaska knew he just needed to hold off these soldiers long enough for her and her squad to come help. As he got to his feet and reloaded his rifle, he saw something else. Someone else running into the room down the hall, but instead of running after Carolina, they stopped directly in his view. A huge man, spikes covering his red and black armour, with blood staining his hands.
"Al?" Maine asked on the radio again. Alaska stared at the man, as he too turned and met his gaze. "AL!" Alaska loaded his DMR and yelled as he turned away from Penn and jumped over the machinery. He fired at Crosshair, causing him to lose concentration and miss his shot. Alaska kept charging until his reached Geist, with enough force to tackle the soldier and knock him to the floor. Alaska felt the muzzle of a sniper rifle press against the side of his helmet as Crosshair squeezed the trigger.
The bullet fired up into the ceiling when Maine grabbed the barrel and hoisted it into the air, just as the trigger was pulled. He rammed his boot into Crosshair's chest and ripped the rifle from his hands, before snapping it in two like a toothpick. He threw the pieces to the ground and menacingly walked towards the fallen Crosshair. Crosshair pulled out his pistol, but it was quickly kicked out of his hands. Maine grabbed his throat and threw his fist into Crosshair's helmet. His visor split down the middle as punch after punch landed on its mark. Blood was starting to form, when the building around them started to shake.
"Gentlemen!" Wyoming called over the radio. "Get to the extraction zone! Harper and his men are retreating! Hurry before this entire place becomes rubble!"
Maine turned to Alaska, seeing the red freelancer nod at the order. As Alaska turned back to Geist, a boot smashed into his helmet, knocking him to the ground. Geist jumped up and quickly turned invisible. He shoved Maine to the floor and grabbed Crosshair's shoulder, dragging him out a door into the next room. Alaska aimed his magnum and fired twice, both sinking deep into Geist's back. Geist grunted in pain and turned to throw a grenade, which exploded in the doorframe, collapsing the ceiling and separating them from Maine and Alaska.
"Time to go, big guy!" Alaska yelled. Maine nodded and grabbed one of the fallen catwalks. He held his breath and lifted the massive metal structure of the ground, leaning it against one of the in-tact catwalks above, making an upward path for them to use. The two freelancers ran up the leaning catwalk and out through a door on the floor above. They tore down the hallway, leaving trails of blood behind them. The walls were cracking and fire was leaking out of them.
"Come in, Wyoming!" Maine called over his headset. "Al and I are on the floor above the extraction zone."
"We need to take off, chap!" Wyoming yelled. "The building is starting to collapse."
"Take off then!" Maine yelled.
"What?!" Alaska retorted. "We can still make it! Hold your position, Wyoming!"
"Take off!" Maine yelled again. "That's an order!" Alaska stopped running and grabbed Maine's chest armour. He ripped the freelancer to the side and rammed him into the wall, pressing him into the metal.
"Enough!" he yelled. "You're not in charge! And you sure as hell don't have supremacy over me!" Maine threw his fist forward, smashing it into the side of Alaska's head. His helmet dented inwards and his body fell limp. Maine grabbed his partner and ran for a window in the hallway.
"We're taking off, Maine!" Wyoming reported.
"Good!" Maine smashed through the glass and fell off the side of the building, well over sixty stories in the air. As gravity started to take him, Wyoming's pelican tore by underneath them, just as he had been expecting. Maine's boots attached themselves to the metal as it passed, and they took off away from the building.
Moments later, the huge structure erupted at its base, and fell into a massive pile of rubble and smoke. Maine walked to the back of the pelican and swung down to the open door. He stepped inside and threw Alaska into a seat. The red freelancer shook for a moment, before grabbing his head and waking up. He pulled his helmet off and stared at Maine. There was anger in his eyes for a moment, before he looked around the pelican, realizing where he was. He took a deep breath and shook his head.
"Good shot," he said quietly. Maine nodded and sat back in his seat as the back door of the pelican closed.
"Thanks for the save," Maine murmured, after a moment or two. "Mightn't have gotten out alive." Alaska smirked and set his dented helmet down next to him.
"I appreciate you saving him, too, old chap," Wyoming said as he patted Alaska' shoulder. Maine titled his head.
"Why is that?" Maine questioned. Alaska chuckled and sat back in his chair, folded his arms behind his head while he did.
"He would have lost points if you died."