GOLD [Book 2 in the JESSE series] | Completed

Chapter One: Journey

"Trigger." You wake up in a cold sweat to an empty girl's dorm. They're already up and at it.

Your dreams are always vivid. As you hazily pull on clothes, Gabriel's voice haunts you. You feel as if he's in the room... but he's gone. You pull the door open to see your nine other team members sitting around the table. They all stare at you.

"Don't give her sympathy. She should know to set her alarm." A dark skinned girl you recognize as Madison, the Primary of Gold Team, snaps at you. She's due to be an upper agent within the year and she knows how to command a team.

"Sorry."
"What was that? You should speak up to an authority."
"I'm s-"
"Madison, give her a break. She just got back from a month of hell, let her alone." The boy with dark hair who you first saw in the commons sticks up for you.

The day before, well, 6 hours before, Ginger had helped you pick out a new weapon. It was still a pistol, yes, but it had detail, and it was nice to look at. You trained with her that day, and she taught you some basic team strategy.
"I can blab at you all day, but the best way for you to understand Team Comp and strategy is by doing it. So stick to the Primary, and stick next to me. You'll be okay." She'd said.

You snap back into the present to find Madison still staring at you. "Well, come on." She gestures for you to join them.

"So, Team one, you go with me to confront Clawe directly. Team two, you'll take over damage control and background damage. Get civilians safe, and take out any Clawe members trying to escape. Got it?"
You swallow, and nod. You haven't even had a proper night's sleep and now you're being thrown into the belly of the beast all over again.

You sigh and try to tune back into the conversation. "... standard formation and tactics. Don't pull anything with me." Madison looks around, and you feel her stony brown eyes pierce through you. "Lastly, shoot to kill. Gold Team doesn't do capture missions." She looks at you. You try to push down the heat rising in your cheeks.

"You think that killing people is better?" You retort before you can stop yourself. You hear Madison about inhale sharply before saying, "And you would rather have them break out like Doomfist did? Regardless of what I think, I take orders, without complaint. You should learn that in order to stay here you'll have to treat me with as must respect as Commander Morrison." You prepare for her to lean over you or get up and move, but her words are enough to impress what she says upon you.

You take a breath and look her in the eye.

"Yes ma'am."

___________________________________
The plane ride is boring, and parts of the uniform are itchy. For the first few hours no one says anything. They're all doing their own thing.

Madison is gazing out the window, then looking at her watch. Calm, but impatient. Ginger has earbuds in and is polishing her staff. The dark haired boy is staring off into the distance, which happens to be right through you. It's unsettling.

Ding
"Attention Gold Team, we're going stealth mode. We have another hour until we touch down." Madison stands up and stretches.
"(Y/N), what do you know about team comp?"
"Umm, not a whole lot. My only mission has been solo-"
"I told her to stick with me, Mads. She can hold her own but I can pocket until she gets her bearings."
"Thanks Ginge." Madison massages her temples and states right at you.
"Stick to your support, and for god's sake, don't die. Last thing we need is an dead agent" She sighs, stretching some more, and puts in earbuds.

Forty-five Minutes pass before lights go out and red ones take their place. "That's our cue." Madison takes out her earbuds and stands up. "Gear up. You know where the chutes are after that."

Chutes? Parachutes? Oh no. Ooohhhh no. You freeze up, but Ginger's hand on your shoulder takes you out of it. She smiles, and moves to get her gear. That snaps you out of it. You get your armor on, it's lightweight but protects your shoulders, chest, back, elbows, wrists, pelvis, knees, and ankles. They're like tiny bracelets with buttons that you hook on to the right areas of the jumpsuit you've been given, and the armor expands when you double tap the button. You see others doing this and follow. You were given one chance to try it the day before, and it didn't seem that hard, but now you fumble to get it on.

"Double tap, (L/N)." The quiet boy from yesterday, the one with the brown hair speaks up. "Oh thanks, uhh,"
"Aden. Don't worry about it." He smiles before grabbing his massive gauntlet off the wall of the ship. He slams his fist downward and a giant shield erupts. He checks the numbers on the pad of the helmet, and remarks, "yep." Before doing so again, deactivating it. Right, the helmet!

"(L/N), helmet!" Madison throws your helmet at you. The display has a targeting system built it, right now it says "no targets" at the top, and the damage percentile is at 100%, as you haven't taken any yet.

"5 minutes til drop!" You hear someone say. Your heart is pounding so loudly it fills your ears. You grab your pistol off the wall, and a couple refills of ammunition and watch Aden get his parachute on. You grab one too, putting the safety on your pistol before setting it down.

"Need help?"
"Oh, yes please." You say, almost frantically. He chuckles before helping you click in.

"I'm with the other team, but I'm sure you'll do great. You've got Ginger, and she's on top of the healing. Got skills almost on par with Mercy." he chuckles. "You'll do great." His voice is quiet, almost as if he's nervous to even be speaking aloud.

"Pull this when your helmet tells you to," He motions to the string on the side of the circular pack. "Then just follow Gold One. Good luck." He pats you on the back and heads to the other side of the ship. You put your pistol in its holster, and lock it in.

You hear a distant countdown as you're pulled into your spot by Ginger. It's a circular area on the floor.

The countdown gets louder. 9...8....7....
You look over at Ginger, she gives a thumbs up and winks at you.
3....2...1....

And you drop.