Stained (Red vs Blue)

Intelligence

Before The Storm

---Iowa's POV---

Once again, Nevada wasn't with us in the morning. I sighed, knowing where she probably was. My assumptions were proven right when I entered the cafeteria with Alaska and Michigan. Except this time, I could see that she wasn't having a peaceful sleep. Before the three of them even had the chance to sit down, Nevada stood up, knocking the back of her knees against the bench, and threw the empty coffee cup against the wall.

It shattered on impact, the sound echoing through the mostly empty room. I winced at the sound, and bit my lip. The mission hit her hard. Action was the only thing that helped her. I knew that her mind seriously wanted to go out there, kill Tracer, and, most of all, get Montana and C-O back.

I'm starting to worry about her mental condition. I've heard that losing to many A.I. from a bio-implant could cause some damage... Is that's what happening to her? Did Chi set it all off? So many questions and worried drifted through my mind. "Guys, you calm her down. I'm going to talk to the Director," I said. They didn't respond, just nodded in agreement.

They sat down in their usual places across from Nevada. A worker had just come over with a broom and a dustpan, and she took it from him. She cleaned her own mess, then sat down, hiding her eyes with her hands. They shook a little bit. I cursed under my breath, and walked out of the room, heading to the Director's office.

I barged in his office. He was talking to the engineer and Counselor. Their heads snapped toward me, and the Director's body language showed that he wasn't pleased with my interuption of his little talk. "I don't think I gave you permission to enter, Agent Iowa," The Director snapped at me.

I just walked up to his desk, and said, "Well, quite frankly, I don't give a damn about your orders, sir. This about Nevada. The last mission hit her, hard. She's been having nightmares every night. Her only solace is action. Make your damn decision already," I hissed. He just looked at me, and I knew the Counselor and engineer were both staring at me.

"Fine. Tell the others. You're going tonight," The Director said venomously. I smiled, and left through the door, triumphant. I just hope this was the right corse of action for Nevada. I could be messing her up even more. I bit my lip.

---Nevada's POV--

A few hours ago, Iowa informed me that we would be leaving. And now we stood in the hangar bay, beside our pelican, all armored up in our normal armors. Our Spartan armor. It felt good to be back in this armor. My leg was bouncing up and down because of the anticipation.

When we got to board, I was like a little kid on a school field trip. I was actually excited to have something to do. That was probably my problem. I haven't had anything to do lately, and that's when the nightmares took over. I guess I just can't due with out action.

The flight didn't take long. We landed in the area marked by the head of Vanguard. We stepped off the pelican, and it immediately took off, and, after a few seconds, disappeared from our sight. I looked around for a clue as to what we had to do, and my eyes drifted over to a terminal a few meters away.

I had my M6C/SOCOM pistol in my hand, and another on the holster on my thigh. When I was about a foot away, the screen flickered on, and the face of the head of Vanguard appeared. "I was just wondering when you would show up. Just follow the path north, and you'll come to a large building. You'll recieve more instructions there," He finished, then the screen went dark.

I turned to look at the others, and nodded toward the path that we had to follow. They nodded at me, and we cautiously strode down the path. I cocked my pistol, just in case we ran into any enemies. We reached the building with out running into any conflict. The grey steel doors slid open as we approached them.

They barely made a noise, and we stepped in. I looked around for any sign of trouble, but there was none. The room itself was gigantic. There was red designs on the walls, and a few really strong windows dotting the right and left wall. The floor was a dark metal, a few shades lighter than black. The walls, besides the red, were a silver-ish color.

There was a silver stripe going down the center of the room, ending at a single terminal with a chair. It felt suspicious, but we had no other choice, really. We walked to it, still keeping an eye behind our backs. I, for one, didn't trust that man, but couldn't help but feel a sense of familiarity to him. I shook it off. There's no way I can know him.

We reached the terminal, and it flickered on. It just had directions. At the top of the page, it read 'Intellegence'. I sighed, realizing what the first game was. It was a freaking test, basically.

Michigan sighed, and sat down in the rolling chair. He pulled it up a bit closer to the screen. There were three rules to this 'test'. "You miss three, it resets. You take more than the alloted time, a group of soldiers will barge in. No cheathing." Michigan hit a button on the screen, and it turned into a a test format.

A timer was displayed on the upper right side of the screen. It showed one hour left. "I'll work on this, but I need quiet. Try not to be too loud. I'll call you guys when I need you," Michigan said, turning back to the screen. We nodded, and left to find something to do.

We managed to find small white boards with a few erasible markers, and erasers. To be honest, I felt like a little kid still. We are dangerous super-soldiers with advanced combat training in many forms of styles, and here we are. Playing with boards and markers. I chuckled at the thought as I drew a tic-tac-toe board, and set it on the floor between Iowa and I.

We were sitting on the floor, in the corner to the left of Michigan. I was the X side and Iowa was the O side. I managed to set her up, and out my mark in three of the four corners. She just glared at me, then just erased the board. I chuckled. "Shut up. I'll get you back," She said. Sure enough, she pulled the same trick next game.

The rest of the games ended in a tie. We each only had one point by the time there was ten minutes left to finish the test. Five when we finally gave up on it, and went to join Alaska and Michigan. Two when Michigan needed help with the final two questions.

"What was the 121st division?" Michigan said out loud. It didn't even take me a second to spit out the answer,"It was an ODST drop squad that mostly consisted of specially trained Spartan-IIIs," I said. Iowa nodded. Alaska looked at me curiously. Michigan typed it in, and the next, and final, question appeared on the screen. "Name the members," I froze.

"Jules M.... Faith M... Daniel B... Arg! who were the other two?!" Iowa and I exclaimed at the same time. Michigan typed in the names that we told him. "John.... No, Jonathan F.... and... and... " Twenty seconds remaining. I bit my lip, searching through all my memories of my ODST squad. Iowa, Oregon and myself were all part of it, but I always have issues remembering the others....

"Joshua K!" Iowa exclaimed, and Michigan typed the final name down with five seconds remaining. Our score appeared. "One hundred percent... Damn. I didn't think you would get them all, Michigan," Iowa said, clapping him on the shoulder. Michigan let out a breath of relief.

"Congrats, Freelancers. You know your history. Even down to the names. I'm actually surprised. There was a time when I thought they would just train you to be mindless mercenaries. Apparently not. The coordinates to next location should appear on your screen... now," The Creator's face appeared, then quickle changed into a set of numbers that Alaska quickly took note of. "I'll see you then," The Creator finished.

We left through the door we came in through. The path was clear, all the way to the LZ (landing zone). We called in evac, and a few minutes later, the pelican landed. We boarded, and Alaska gave the pilot the coordinates. We took our seats. That wasn't a very exciting mission. It tested Michigan, and our memory.

But my one question was, "How did he know of the 121st division?" I asked quietly to Iowa. "Well, we were a pretty well known group. Not many Spartans served in the ODST," She responded. "But I agree with you. It's wierd that he mentioned it. It almost feels like... He knows about us..." Iowa said.

I nodded. "He looks familiar, to. At least to me..." I said. Iowa nodded. "Just who the hell is he?" Iowa asked to no one in particular. I shrugged, and l leaned back in my seat.

Today wasn't what I was expecting for a game, but I guess we have to take what we get. We can't just leave C-O and Montana out there.

I wondered what the nect 'game' would be.