(Red vs. Blue) Project Freelancer: The Other Agents

The Waiting Game

"When I am free, I will shred you all apart and feast on your flesh and crush your bones!" the bound Brute threatened them. The few prisoners they had taken included this Brute, five Grunts, two Jackals, and four Insurrectionists. They had initially intended to keep the Engineers alive, but the second the final Elite was killed, their harnesses went off. Rhode Island stood up and sauntered over to the beast.

"I'm sure you'd like that," he towered over it and kicked it to the ground. "I'm sure the thought of eating us humans just makes your mouth water. How many of my comrades have you eaten, huh?" He stomped his foot against its jaw. "ANSWER ME!!!"

"We will win this war," it growled. "You will all be slaughtered! Your flesh would be wasted if we did not partake!" New Mexico stood by his side and handed him his Brute Shot, the other agents close behind him.

"I remember running across some of your kind commenting on how tasty we are to you," Maryland loomed over it. "I wonder how you taste?"

"Gamey," Rhode Island and New Mexico said in unison, both using their blade of choice to end its life.

_____

"So, what's everyone's deal?" New Mexico asked as they sat around an open flame, the prisoners having been shoved into their own respective cargo containers. "What did y'all do before this?"

"Everyone at Project Freelancer was military at some point," Rhode Island told him.

"Then I guess what I'm asking is where'd everyone serve before this," he shrugged. The agents looked amongst each other, unsure whether or not this was something to be discussing, or repeating in the case of some.

"I was with an armored cavalry division, if you can believe it," New Hampshire broke the ice. "A lot of the crew members were from Earth; Poland, to be precise. Joined up a little later into the war with the Covies. I was asked to join Project Freelancer after most of my unit was wiped out when Felta got glassed." The flame crackled gently and the aroma of meat filled the air along with the silence. "How bout you, rookie? What's your story?" New Mexico looked to Rhode Island who gave him a light nod.

"You tend to tell it a little better," he said and prodded at the roasting meat with his knife. "You also don't get as angry as I do." His friend returned the nod.

"Rhode and I were both Jumpers with the 82nd," he began. "We joined at the same time... saw and heard a lot of stuff we can never unsee. Rhode made Corporal and I was a terminal Lance. Both of us lost a lot of good folks, even a couple of a-holes, but soldiers nonetheless. But I think Rhode got it worse. He was in charge of us, and to nobody's surprise he lost a lot of those to Brutes while I saw people in my fireteam get cut down by Elites." He paused to make sure it was still okay to be sharing this information. Rhode Island nodded and he continued. "But through all that, we stuck together through it all. So imagine my surprise when my good ol Corporal buddy tells me he's leaving to join some fancy branch where he gets to test out a bunch of cool stuff."

"And the rest is history," Rhode Island concluded. "I mentioned his name around the director a few times and he winds up beating out the other candidates. Now we're here."

"Well that's not fair," Maryland pouted. "We basically got both of your stories in one go." She cut herself off a chunk of meat and nudged Vermont. "Ya know, Vermont's got a good one too. Oh you were right. They are gamey. Could use some Old Bay."

"Is that so?" Rhode Island leaned in. "Never heard yours." Vermont calmed herself before giving a response.

"I don't like to talk about it," she said and tore off a chunk for herself.

"Neither do we, but we're sharing right now," New Hampshire informed her. Vermont looked around then sighed.

"I actually dropped out of the Spartan three program," she sunk her head down. New Mexico spat his drink back into his flask.

"A Spartan?!" Rhode Island stared at her in disbelief.

"My parents were killed during the invasion of Altus when I was nine," she continued. "ONI picked me up shortly after that and ran me through their little program. Week before I was slated to get my augments, I get injured in a training accident. Told me I couldn't get my augments until another month after I'd healed." She paused and stared blankly into the fire. "Two weeks after my injury, they shipped all my buddies off on a suicide mission to hurt the Covenant. Needless to say, none of em made it back." She chuckled to herself and looked at her team. "Ain't that somethin? Only reason I lived is because I got hurt." She shook her head. "After that I submitted to be transferred to the ODST's. They accepted, but they didn't want their little pet project to go to waste, so they kept a close eye on me and shoved me here first chance they got to have me test out their more exceptionally experimental tech. Been here as a Guinea pig ever since." She slumped back and stared back at them.

"So that's why you've got the fancy gauntlets and the portable gauss," New Hampshire guessed.

"Yep," she sighed. "Best case for them is they get their technologies tested and approved. Worst case I die testing it and they have one less potential loose end to deal with later on."

"You didn't walk away with their super juice," Rhode Island reassured her. "I doubt they'll come back to do anything."

"Thanks," she smiled. They sat in silence before New Mexico spoke up again.

"What about you Maryland?" he asked.

"What about her?" New Hampshire cocked his head.

"She hasn't told us her story yet."

"She hasn't told YOU her story yet," Vermont corrected him. "She's already told us."

"It's alright," Maryland spoke up. "We are sharing, after all."

"You don't have to," New Mexico seemed apologetic.

"It's fine," she pulled out a small yellow can from of one of her pouches and shook some of its contents onto the meat. "You'll hear eventually, so I may as well let you know. It's not as sad and dramatic as they're making it seem." Maryland looked to the others and rested her gaze on New Mexico. "I was initially a part of the Planetary Militia on Almac. Covenant came along and wiped most of us out. Formally joined the UNSC and got stationed on Palar along with some of my old Milita members. Covenant hit there too a month afterwards and lost even more people. They moved me to Spatha where it happened again." She furrowed her brow and glared as her voice rose with each passing word. "Then on Gladio, and then on Felta, and it kept happening again and again on every planet I was stationed on and kept losing more and more people until everyone I had ever known and served with either went missing, resigned, or died." Maryland finally stopped and caught her breath, tears streaming down her face. She looked around and came back to reality. "I'm sorry," she dried her eyes and smiled. "Anyway, Project Freelancer reached out to me two weeks after Tula fell and after I'd been reassigned to Reach. Been here ever since. This is the only family I've managed to keep after all that time and I wouldn't trade it for anything. I've finally found a home, someplace where I'm not all alone."

"Well, we've still got Reach and we all have each other now," Vermont pat her back.

"To new beginnings," Rhode Island raised a slab of meat in the air. The others followed suit with their own drinks and food. The group laughed into the night as they waited to be picked up.

Author's Note:

So, first off, super sorry for the short chapter. Also, I know I said I'd be prioritizing some of my other stories before this one, but I was motivated to write this bit and wanted to strike while the ideas were fresh. Also also (yes, I did that on purpose), Spartan-L058 and I's conversation got me really pumped to put these ideas in writing. Anyway sorry again and I'll see y'all in the next one.