Stained (Red vs Blue)

The Toll Has Risen

Before The Storm

---Nevada's POV---

I shouldered my Sniper Rifle as I approached Iowa, Alaska, Michigan and Hawaii. Hawaii scrambled to his feet. Iowa, Alaska, and Michigan chuckled at his display. "So how are you guys?" I asked with a smile. "Glad you're here, Neva.... But why are you here? I thought the Director said you couldn't come," Alaska asked. I frowned. "He didn't say I could come. I took a pelican, a sniper and my pistol and left. By now, I'm sure he knows..." I said.

"Can't this get you kicked out of the Freelancers?" Michigan asked. Alaska punched his arm. I simply nodded. "I wasn't alone. You can thank Kansas for that one," I said. As if on queue, the pelican lifted off the roof, and disappeared into the dark sky. "You... got Kansas to help you?" Hawaii asked. I nodded. "Yep," I wasn't going to get payback on the man. He wasn't worth it. I let my anger guide my actions then, and I shouldn't have.

"Hawaii, stick with Alaska and Michigan. Iowa you're with me. Split up and cover more ground. We'll go left, you guys go right," I said. I had my own reasons for doing this. Normally, I wouldn't want to split up. But... well, this time we needed to. The boys just nodded. After they left, Iowa looked at me curiously. "What are you going to do Nevada? What made you want to split up?" Iowa asked.

I sighed, and started walking to the left side. Iowa jogged to catch up with me. "He knows, Iowa. He knows everything," I said. She just looked at me. "Who knows? And what's everything?" She asked. "Our old Mentor. He knows who we are, Iowa. He doesn't know our codenames in the Project, but he knows who we were before," I said. Her shoulders dropped. "So Tracer and Echo knew us, too," She said. At that, I shook my head. "No. He kept it to himself. He knew they wouldn't fight us if they knew," I said.

"How did you find this out?" Iowa asked. "He told me. Well, told Chi to tell me," I said. "Damn. She can still get in your head like that?" Iowa asked. "Not all the time. Zeta blocks her. But this time it wasn't to hinder me, just to relay a message," I said. She nodded and sighed. "If it comes down to it, will we have the guts to kill him? He was the one that basically raised us. Without him, we wouldn't be here," Iowa said.

I shook my head, "I don't know, Iowa. I really don't. If he pulls a gun on us, we definetly will. But we won't just feel... nothing from it. But, at the same time, he deserves to die. Look how many he's killed," I said. But Iowa and I were thinking the same thing. "Look how many we've killed," We both said.

"This... war is getting ridiculous. Sometimes I'm not sure we're even fighting for a cause, or if it's just a never ending battle to see who can come out supreme. Project Freelancer was funded to study A.I., not fight a war like this. And the A.I. are only given to the soldiers, and are not even being studied. Yeah, I prefer it this way, but none of it makes sense anymore," Iowa said. I nodded in agreement. "You're wrong on one part, Iowa. Poject Freelancer was established to study soldiers with A.I., see how they react. They gather their data off of us, not the A.I.," I said.

"That makes more sense, now," Iowa said as we arrived at a building. Iowa looked at me. I walked over to a control panel beside the door, and typed in '1213124' the code that Chi gave me. The door beeped open, and slid open. We walked in. The room was a colorless grey with nothing in it. There was a single door leading to the right. I nodded, and walked to it, Iowa just a step behind me. The door opened as we neared it, revealing a large room filled with terminals, some on some not.

It was starting to look like a military base.

The further we walked, the more advanced, professional it looked. Even I was impressed with the ammount of time and effort it probably would have taken to build this place, and get it all wired up. Iowa's and my radio clicked on, signalling that someone was comtacting us. "We haven't found anything yet. How is it on your end?" Alaska asked, his voice breaking up slightly. "Still looking. We'll call when we find a clue," Iowa said. We... I knew where we were going.

The radio clicked off, and we continued our walk. Eventually, we arrived at a large, steel door. I could hear the buzz of electricity behind it. We had to stand there for a few seconds before it opened. I kept a hand on my pistol, just in case. No resistance was met. The hall would have been dark, but a bright blue light shone. Iowa and I looked at each other and nodded. We crept down the hall, until we could look into the blue light. We both let out an audible sigh of relief.

"Montana, C-O, can you hear me?" I asked. They stirred from their slumber, and groggily looked at us. "Iowa? Nevada?" C-O asked with a yawn. I noticed that her glove was gone on one of her hands, exposing the skin beneath. "Is it really you guys?" Montana asked. She seemed distant, still tired. "Yeah, it's us," Iowa said, setting her flamethrower down on the floor. C-O took off her helmet. She had a gash going down one of her cheeks, but it looked okay, not infected or anything. Montana did the same. All that was left of her cut was a pink line going down her cheek.

"Hold on, let me get you guys out of there," I said. I walked over to the door controls, and typed in the same code as before. I was expecting it to not work, but, thankfully, it did. They both stood up, and lumbered through the door. Iowa activated her radio, "We have them," She said. I could hear chatter on the other end. "We're meeting in the area where you arrived, Nevada," Iowa said to me. I nodded. As we walkedthrough the numerous halls for the second, and hopefully last, time, I heard a voice.

"You've become excelent Spartans," It was our Mentor's voice. I froze when I heard it. "I remember when I trained the five of you. Most of you couldn't even through a decent punch, much less hit me. But, as the months, years, progessed, you learned control, power. Some of you learned patience. I was... proud.

Then I left for the Project, then, after a few short years of working for them, decided that they were wrong. I left, and created Vanguard. If only I knew that you two... or should I say three, joined the Project. Ah, my time grows short. I must leave. We will meet again, I promise," He said, and the 'chat' ended. Iowa and I looked at each other, and sighed. I had a feeling that we wouldn't be able to kill him, even if we were face to face.

We shared so much.

C-O and Montana looked at us curiously, but didn't ask any questions. For now, it was better that way.

We trudged back along the way we came, quiet, no idle chatter. Our main prioity is getting out of here without a casuality. Well, that was my own priority. I didn't want to lose anyone this far into the deep end.

As we exitted, we were greeted by the sound of thunder and gunsots. We all nodded at each other. I handed the sniper rifle to Montana and Iowa gave the flamethrower to C-O, though she hesitated at first. The flamethrower was her favorite. She whipped out her Energy Sword, the blades extending at her touch. We took off at a light sprint.

Insurrectionists were firing at crates, probably where the guys were. I took two out with my pistol, Iowa snuck up behind one, and her energy sword went through his back. People were already burning because of C-O. Montana stayed back, steadily sniping the enemies. After a few minutes, the fight ended. Iowa and I took a breath of relief.

But then a hornet-flying vehicle- hovered a few feet off the ground, dropping a big bulk of a man. The man himself didn't bother me. It was his weapon. A Gravity Hammer. "Son of a..." He was closest to Montana. "Son of a bitch! Montana, look out!" Iowa yelled. We were already sprinting to her position. The man swung the hammer, the wave of energy catching her, and sending her flying back.

Her back hit a metal wall, denting it. The man now stood in front of her. She brought the sniper up to her chest to protect hersef. The sniper bent horribly. He flipped the hammer around to where the blade was facing her. He slammed it against her chest piece. Blood coated the armor. I jumped on his back, jamming my knife through his throat. Iowa circled around, and pushed him away so he wouldn't fall on Montana. I could hear her coughing, weazing.

I hope the attack didn't puncture her lung.

I didn't bother taking my knif back. Iowa and I rushed to Montana's side. "Biofoam? Anyone?" I choked out. A container was handed to Iowa. She unlocked it, and filled Montana's injury. "You're going to make it. Stay strong," Iowa said. I heard Alaska call in for evacuation.

"Please make it," I said quietly, a mere whisper.