“And that's it. Anyone have anything for the platoon?” Sergeant Torres asked at quarters the next morning. Freya struggled to repress a yawn that threatened to over take her mouth. Quarters this morning focused mostly on cleanliness. The Sergeant had stumbled on a messy commons room when he woke up that morning and, while he smiled a lot, there was steel in his voice when he talked about people picking up after themselves.

“Command staff briefing in five. Platoon briefing in ten. Freya, you can sit this one out. No dropship for us on this one. Corporal, if you would.” Sergeant Torres said, nodding to Corporal Leni.

“Platoon, atten...chen!” Corporal Leni called out. The platoon snapped to attention.“Dismissed!”

“Dammit, no respawns.” Patterson muttered, as the platoon broke up.

“Hey Magic, you going to get some breakfast?” Dust asked, as he walked up to Freya’s squad.

“What? No, ‘hi Tike. How’s it going Tike’. Not even a ‘Morning everyone’?” Tike said, with her hands on her hips.

Dusty smiled. “Sorry Tike, I just didn’t think you ever ate breakfast.” Dusty said, with an apologetic smile.

“Nah, I’m good but thanks for asking.” Tike said, suddenly smiling. “My people don’t eat breakfast for religious reasons.”

“That true?” Patterson asked, frowning.

“No.” Tike said, laughing right before she turned around and walked away.

“You coming, Patterson?” Freya asked him, as she turned to follow Dusty.

“Yeah.” Patterson said, shaking his head.

Breakfast was omelets cooked any way the person who ordered it wanted and some green jelly plate with some kind of food floating in it. Freya had only had real eggs a few times in her life and the fake stuff not only tasted bad it also had a lot of cancer-causing chemicals in it. She was hesitant to get the eggs but the green jello thing didn’t look all that great either. With a sigh, she got a ham and cheese omelet with a side of bacon. Dusty convinced her to get a small portion of the jello thing to taste test. She also poured herself a glass of a weird-colored milk. It was sky blue and thicker than normal - almost like the Marine nutrition drinks.

The omelette tasted amazing and Freya closed her eyes in appreciation. The green jello thing tasted just as awful as she thought it would. The green jello melted as soon as it hit her tongue. The globs of food inside were crunchy and spicy. Freya had to take a drink to get the taste out of her mouth. The odd-colored milk tasted really good though and when she put her cup back on the table she could feel that she had a milk mustache on her upper lip.

“Hey Magic.” Dog yelled across the table. When Freya looked up, he opened his mouth and showed her a mouthful of the green jello plate. “Blaaa.” He said, showing her his food.

“Dammit Dog, I didn’t need to see that.” Netty said, as she scooped up a spoonful of the green goo and flung it at him.

The food hit him in the chest before bouncing off and landing on his plate. He looked down and smiled as he picked the food up with his fingers and put it in his mouth. He smiled at Netty who was making a disgusted face at him. “Thanks.” He told her, after he swallowed it.

“So gross.” Netty said, shaking her head.

“Two minute warning, people. Let’s get this place cleaned up before we report to the briefing.” Petey said, ending whatever Netty had in-store for Dog.

“Does he have to do that at every meal?” Netty said, spinning her fork around so that it was facing down again and picking up her tray.

“Come on people, let’s get this done.” Petey said, as the platoon slowly got to their feet. In response, someone threw a used, crumpled napkin at him. It struck him on the side of the head.

It was all Freya could do not to laugh as the PFC stood up in rage and yelled. ‘Who did that?”

Freya quickly made her way out of the caferitera while Dusty used her body to shield himself from Petey’s view. She sat beside Patterson after she split off from her friends in the briefing room. She used the locker to equip her battle gear and waited on the command staff meeting to be over. Tike came in a few seconds later and sat beside her. The command staff was standing around the holo table but, unlike last time, they were mostly talking to each other rather than listening to the Sergeant.

They broke up about a minute later and Sergeant Torres stepped in front of the holo table and brought up a map of their next mission. The map showed a seven-storey building and about a block surrounding it. The streets were filled with cars and people. The surrounding map was shaded red. The front of the building was marked A. If a person was going to go around the building in a clockwise fashion, then the next side of the building, the left side, was marked B. The back side of the building was marked C and the right side of the building was marked D.

“This is a short, tier three mission. The time limit is two days but it is solvable in a day in a half. We will finish in a day and a half.” Sergeant Torres said, emphasising the word ‘will’ in his sentence.

“We are restricted to this single block and we are not authorised to go beyond that. If someone wanders into the shaded areas the mission will end in failure. Anyone who does that is out of the Platoon. No questions. No reprieves. You wander outside of our target area, you’re gone. It’s that serious.” Sergeant Torres told them.

“Inside this building, is an armed group of rebels that, while popular in this city, are not popular for the rest of the country. Expect the locals to keep the rebels informed of our every move. Do not expect any help from the local police or military. In fact, you should expect the locals to do everything they can to sabotage our mission. We are not authorized to fire first. If you are fired on, you need to call it in before you engage or we fail the mission. We try negotiations first.” Sergeant Torres said, looking around the room at each person’s faceplate.

“There is no room for a dropship in the area so we go in on the OTDS (One Time Dropship). We will not have a respawn point here, but if you are shot down on your way down to the surface you are allowed to respawn on the Monarch and try again. Once you’re on the surface you have one life. Use it well.” Sergeant Torres said, looking around the room again.

“First squad will drop here, on the ‘A’ side of the building. I want thirty feet of clearance between the building and where you are dropping. Second squad takes ‘C’ side of the building with the same spacing orders. Third squad will take the A,B corner of the building (the front left corner of the building), and Fourth squad will take the A,D corner (the front right corner of the building). One and Done’s squads are to secure the building and Tater and Ed’s squads will push the crowd right to the edge of the shaded area. Do not cross the shaded area yourself or you’re done in the platoon.” Sergeant Torres said, pointing to the shaded area again.

“Fifth squad will split up and cover both A and C side of the building. Sixth squad will land on the D side of the building and secure a command post. Ostrich, I want a continuous overlapping jammer drone up as soon as you land. Magic, I need you to load a jammer also. If you see Ostrich’s drone go out at any time without another one being sent up, send yours up. Comms may be compromised, so use codewords. Corporal Leni, do you have anything to add?”

“Those squads on crowd control, do not raise your weapons to push the crowd. Use your arms raised by your sides to push the crowd. Do not move your arms forward, as that can be seen as an aggressive move and incite violence towards you. Hold your hands out to your sides and take one step forward at a time and the crowd will back up. Mob mentality is a bitch. Watch those behind the people in front of you. That’s where the violence will come from. If violence erupts at any point, do not point your weapons at the crowd unless ordered to. Your armor should take care of the small stuff, but if they bring the big stuff we want you to do nothing unless we order you to. I would rather you people get injured or die than to set the crowd off. Remember, death is not the end for us nor will you be penalized for dying like this.” Corporal Leni told the platoon. The platoon groaned in response.

“Platoon, atten...chen!” Sergeant Torres shouted. The platoon stood up and snapped to attention. “That’s better!” He said into the silence, looking at the Marines around him.

“Who are we?!” He yelled.

“Federation Marines!” Came the reply.

“What do the Federation Marines do?” He asked, in a quiet but deadly voice.

“Adapt and Overcome! Kill, Kill, Kill!” The platoon replied, as one.

“Do the Federation Marines whine like little bitches?”

“No, sir!” The platoon replied.

“Let me ask you a question: what is more badass? Standing up to a man twice your size and letting him punch you in the face while you do nothing but ask for more, or falling to the ground crying?” He asked them. “That’s what we are doing here. If they swing first, we let them. If they’re stupid enough to swing again, we hit back so hard that their mommas will feel it.”

“We will not let that happen though. You will get the order to raise your weapons and, like the Marines I know you are, you will raise them as one. If they persist, then you will get the order to fire over the crowd’s heads. One shot to scary the naughty children. Then we advance. We are not here to kill naughty children. We are here to kill the enemy. And by God we will do that!” Shouted the Sergeant.

“On three, can I get an Oohra?” Sergeant Torres called out. “One, two, three...”

The platoon yelled out, “Oohra!”

“Oohra.” Sergeant Torras said into the silence, sounding satisfied.

Freya watched the Sergeant walk into the light followed by Sixth Squad. She was not happy that the command staff would rather that she got shot and not fight back than to protect herself. She was not a coward but to let herself get shot? She didn’t know if she could do that.

Toast brought the squad together and told them where he wanted them to land. She was supposed to land on the building behind the target building with Tike. He wanted Tike to booby trap the staircase leading to the roof with nonlethal traps. She surprised Freya when she happily agreed. It was only after that she explained that it would be harder to knock someone out without killing them than it was to kill them. Apparently the rewards were better for successful nonlethal traps.

Freya was the last one in line to enter the lobby door that lead to her OTDS. It was only after Patterson stepped into the light that she realized that she had never used the OTDS. She had only ever used a dropship or, in the case of the recruit mission, literally stepped into the mission from boot camp.

“As Patterson would say. This is just a sim mission. It’s just a more advanced skill training session. This is how almost everyone else goes on missions.” Freya told herself, as she paused before the door. Taking a deep breath, she stepped into the light…

….And stepped into a small room that contained her OTDS. The door was already open, so she adjusted her weapons and turned around to climb into the cigar-like dropship. She set her feet into the pedals on the floor. She gently eased herself backward until her back latched onto the OTDS. She felt the click as her armor locked in. She placed her hands on the controls, closed the doors and was plunged into darkness for a few seconds as the OTDS booted up. The darkness was broken by a red light that turned on above her.

“Call in your status.” Toast ordered over the radio, as soon as her door closed.

“Tike in and set.” Tike said, sounding bored.

“Patterson online and waiting.” Patterson said, sounding distracted.

“I am… I mean Magic in and set.” Freya said, after a second or so delay.

“Damn Magic, you sound nervous.” Tike said, sounding amused.

“It’s my first time using an OTDS.” Freya responded. There was a second of silence before Tike started laughing.

“How is that possible?” Patterson said, confused.

“I got my Dropship right after my second mission after graduating basic, so that’s the only way I’ve ever dropped.” Freya replied.

“Settle down, everyone. Magic, it's like a walk in the park. You’ll be fine.” Toast said, in a calming voice.

“Unless your walks in the park are like an insane roller coaster where you can get shot out of the sky, I don’t think your walks are the same as mine, Toast.” Tike said, chuckling.

Freya frowned, then asked “What’s a roller coaster?”

“Tike, stop scaring the rookie and Freya it’s like a sim where you sit in this little car that follows two metal rails. They stopped building them like a hundred years ago.” Toast said, sounding like a teacher in one of her skill sessions.

“Sounds boring.” Patterson said, joining the conversation.

“It’s not really.” Tike replied. “It’s kinda fun. I used to go on them when I was a kid.”

“Have you ridden one since?” Freya asked, curiously.

“Not since I was twelve.” Tike replied. “The carts you sit in are really rickety and they feel like they are going to fly off the rails but they…”

“Ten seconds til drop.” Sergeant Torres broke in over Tike. A timer appeared on Freya’s HUD that was counting down. Freya closed her eyes but then opened them because it was worse when she closed them.

At one, the OTDS shook a little then Freya felt like she was floating. Slowly the fear disappeared and her stomach stopped trying to climb out of her throat. She smiled as she relaxed. It was like floating in the rivers back home during the summertime except it wasn’t as cold.

She was still enjoying the sensation about thirty seconds later, when the wall faded away and the OTDS’s screens turned on. She had an almost three-hundred sixty degree view except she could still see the pedals she was standing on. Her head and back were still being held upright by the OTDS’s harness. She hated to admit it, but the view was so much better than the one from her respawn dropship.

Under her feet, she could see the planet below her glowing a deeper shade of blue than Earth’s. The few clouds she could see were really bright against the darker blue of the planet’s atmosphere. Looking around, she didn’t see any of the other OTDSs but she knew they were there. When she looked above her, she could see the massive ship she had been fired from slowly growing smaller.

The OTDS shook slightly as the atmosphere got strong enough to start to affect the flight but it smoothed out a couple of seconds later. She noted that she didn’t see any of the tell-tale signs of any air defences as she dropped deeper into the atmosphere. As she dropped through a cloud, she remembered the difference in how a OTDS and a respawn dropship dropped. The OTDS usually dropped straight down as fast as possible, while a respawn dropship dropped at an angle and got as close as it could to the ground before correcting its arc to where the pilot intended to land.

She could see a smallish city in the distance as her OTDS continued to drop towards its intended target. The city building slowly grew taller and the OTDS shifted, correcting its path slightly. Freya smiled as she spotted the target building in the distance. She wiggled her hands as she felt her excitement rise.

“I may have made a mistake in getting my ship. Dropping this way is a lot more fun.” She thought to herself, as the building she and Tike had been assigned to grew bigger. She was still thinking that, when she noticed the rooftop she and Tike had been assigned grew larger a lot faster than she thought it should. She was about to hit the emergency thrusters when the engines below her turned on and gravity returned like sledgehammer.

While the OTDS harness kept her armor upright she felt her body inside being squished. Her ankles, knees, and back screamed in pain for an eternal second then it was over and she was on the rooftop. The sides of the OTDS broke open and slammed to the ground, breaking up on impact.

In the corner of her eye, she saw Tike race away from her with her weapon at the ready. “She’s going to guard the door.” Freya thought to herself, as raised her own weapon and ran towards the rooftop edge. She stopped about four feet from the edge and scanned the target building. She was still looking through her scope as a massive OTDS flashed by her and, with a boom, landed on the street below.

“Toast in position. Clear.” Toast’s voice suddenly broke over the radio.

“Tike in position. Clear.” Tike’s voice called out from the radio. Freya resisted the urge to turn around and check on her squadmate.

“Patterson in position. Clear.” Patterson responded.

“Magic in position. Clear.” Freya said over the radio. She looked down briefly, seeing Done in his Mech stepping out of what was left of his Vehicle OTDS.

She looked at the back of the five-storey building that was the target. She tried to look through the windows but they were covered in reflective privacy screens. She reached up to her scope and adjusted the vision knob. The scope flickered into heat vision but the windows still blocked her view. She wasn’t really surprised, as heat vision was never intended to see into buildings. She changed to the next setting but the window screen blocked that one too. She was on her fifth setting when the screens dropped as if they weren't there.

“Magic go to the fifth setting.” Toast told her over the radio.

“Already there, boss. All floors appear to be empty over here.” She told him, as she finished her scan of all the windows that she could see. She stood up and moved to the left-hand side of the rooftop she was on to see the other end of the building, but she didn’t see anyone there either.

“Copy, orders are to stay in position.” Toast told her.

“Roger that.” Freya replied, trying to find a place where she could see all the windows at once. She had to back up and lean on the other side of a large AC unit. She absently adjusted the camouflage on her armor to better blend in with her surroundings.

“Magic, I’m headed down the staircase to set some surprises. You ok to be on your own for a few minutes?” Tike asked her.

“Make it fast.” Freya responded, without looking away from the windows across from her. On her HUD map she noted that Ostrich had sent another jamming drone up.

“Yes, ma’am.” Tike said, sounding amused. She was back a little more than five minutes later.

According to the clock on her HUD, Freya had been waiting and scanning the windows for a little more than an hour when Corporal Leni’s voice came over the command channel. “All squads, Torres got a response from inside the building. Negotiations in progress. I need a status update. Squad leaders check your squads then report.”

“Tike, blue 497.” Tike said, giving the all-clear sign.

“Patterson, red 9112.” Patterson replied.

“Magic, green 909.” Freya said giving her all-clear sign. The numbers didn’t matter as long as there was a 9 in the code, no more than four numbers and no less than two. The only color that mattered was orange. If the code they gave was missed a nine, called out the color orange, or used the wrong name then it meant that they were in danger. Part of the code also was that they couldn’t repeat it the next time a status check was called. The number and the color were different for each squad, but the platoon leader and his command staff knew each of the squads’ code words.

“Toast, fifth squad green 909.” Toast called over the command channel. For a brief second, Freya had a flash of fear as Toast used her all clear sign, but then remembered that it only mattered if he repeated the sign once more on the next status check.

“Fifth squad green 909.” Corporal Wilson replied on the same channel.

“Hey Magic, when we get back to the Monarch, you want to do the tank wars at Chivia’s?” Tike asked, after the status check.

“Sure, but just so you know, I’ve never played anything like that before.” Freya said, as she slowly scanned the windows again.

“No worries, it’ll be fine.” Tike said, sounding happy. “I’m pretty sure I can get Patterson to go and maybe Toast, but we still need one more.”

“Just tell me when.” Freya told her.

“I wonder if we can get Torres to buy us an entertainment center for the camp. We can field a platoon team at Chivia’s without actually going to Chivia’s.” Tike said, sounding bored.

“What would our team name be then? Iron Fingernails? Iron Teeth?” Freya asked, not looking away from the building.

Tike chuckled and responded. “Maybe the Iron ….”

They made up a bunch of outrageous names, trying to one up each other, as time slowly crept on. Sometime around noon, Freya grabbed a nutrition drink from her backpack and started to drink from it when she saw movement in one of the windows.

“Movement, C side. Fourth across, two down, C,D corner.” Freya said over the squad channel.

She heard Tike move up next to her. She saw Tike’s rifle point towards the window a few seconds later. Trying to ignore her squadmate, she adjusted the focus on her scope.

“One military-aged male armed with an automatic rifle and two, unarmed restrained individuals. One male and one female.” Freya reported what she saw over the squad channel. She wanted to call them captives but protocol told her not to, in case it was terrorists pretending to be civilians.

“Copy.” Toast replied, then he repeated what she said over the command channel.

“Magic, can you zoom in. They look like they are looking for something.” Corporal Wilson said over her channel.

Freya zoomed in on the window and realized that Wilson was right. The man was going through some desk drawers. She zoomed in a bit more, but what she was looking at started getting fuzzy.

“Magic, can you clear that up?” Wilson asked.

Freya adjusted her focus knob slightly and the picture became clear again. She watched as the armed man pushed the woman towards the wall and it looked like he was shouting at her. The restrained man moved in front of the woman and the armed man stepped up and hit him. The restrained man fell to the ground and held his head. The woman knelt down and put herself in front of the armed man.

“I have a shot.” Freya said over the command channel but no one responded. “I have a clear shot at the gunman.” Freya repeated and then waited for orders as she lined up the shot.

“Do not fire.” Corporal Leni ordered over the radio.

Freya moved her finger off the trigger and watched helplessly as the man took a step closer and shouted something. Whatever he said motivated the woman to do what he asked. She got up and quickly walked towards another room. She searched another desk and pulled out a tablet. She tapped on the tablet for a few minutes before she returned to the room and gave the tablet to the man.

“Magic, I need a no BS answer.” Sergeant Torres said over the radio. “Can you take out the tablet but not hit anyone?”

Freya watched as the man looked down at the table and she lined up a shot. “If he gives me an angle.” She replied.

“If you get one, kill the tablet but do not hit anyone else.” Sergeant Torres told her.

“Roger.” Freya said slowly. She watched the man as he read something on the tablet. A few seconds later the man smiled and let the tablet fall by his side. He raised his weapon up again and said something to the two restrained individuals. As he did, he gestured with the hand that was holding the tablet. Freya saw her chance and pulled the trigger.

The top half of the tablet exploded as her round passed through it. The round exploded behind the gunman and almost everything on the desk behind him was knocked off. The gunman dropped the tablet, grabbed his hand under his arm and frantically looked out the window, searching for her.

The two restrained individuals were much smarter, as they both dropped flat onto the ground. Freya lined up a shot at the gunman’s chest but left her finger off the trigger. He yelled something and forced the two people on the ground to stand up. He hid behind them and slowly backed out of the room, his weapon trained on the window, pointing nowhere close to where she was hiding.

“Good shot, Magic, but you need to relocate before someone sees the hole in the wall and comes investigating.” Corporal Leni told them.

“Moving now.” Freya replied, then lifted her rifle up and turned around, heading towards the door. Tike was already at the door disarming one of her traps. Tike didn’t disarm all the traps on the staircase but she did point them out so Freya could avoid them.

They went down one floor and Freya motioned for Tike to follow her. She went down the hallway to the last door on the left then motioned Tike to stop. She terminated the jammer drone she had on station then created a surveillance drone. Once it was built, she sent it in under the door. She targeted herself and Tike for the feeds and watched as the drone scanned the room. When it found nothing, Freya turned around and tapped TIke’s shoulder.

Tike nodded but didn’t turn around. Freya turned back to the door and, using her Personal AI, as a hacking tool she hacked the electronic lock using a standard military program. It was a simple lock and it opened roughly ten seconds later. Freya tapped Tike’s shoulder twice then opened the door.

Tike spun around and rushed into the room while Freya slowly followed, backing into the room while keeping guard on the hallway outside. Once she passed the door, Freya closed it and locked it again.

Tike motioned ‘clear’ and slowly straightened up.

Freya nodded and moved to the window to look out. She decided it wasn’t the worst position but it wasn’t the best either. She couldn’t see in the top left window and part of the second window on the same row from where she was at. She looked around at the surrounding buildings not in the shaded area but didn’t see a better angle.

She keyed up the squad radio. “Toast, we have relocated but blind to One and One and part of One and Two..” She said in a voice that was not quite a whisper.

“Copy blind to One and One and a partial of One and Two.” Toast repeated over the radio. “Can you get a better angle?”

“Not without leaving the combat area.” Freya replied.

“Copy. Take up position there.” Toast told them.

Freya killed her drone and created a new jammer drone. She looked at her HUD map and saw that Ostrich still had a jammer drone up but he was flying a scanner drone over to the hole she had shot in the window. She watched the drone on her map sneak into the building.

“We now have eyes in the building.” Freya told Tike.

“Nice.” Tike whispered, setting up a new trap on the front door of the apartment.

Freya found a small table and pulled it to the living room where the window was. She set it about four feet away from the window. She then found an old plastic, printed chair that looked like wood and scooted it over to the table. She sat down and used the table to rest her big rifle on. She looked through the scope and nodded to herself.

Roughly ten minutes later, there came the sound of people running along the hallway. Freya tensed up but didn’t look away from the building in front of her. She could hear Tike move around but she trusted her to watch her back. She had a job to do and so did her squadmate.

“Status check, Toast.” Tike said quietly over the command channel and Freya tensed.

“Toast, blue 4019.” Toast replied.

“Patterson. Indigo 9041.” Patterson also replied.

“Magic is soft orange, 4119 and I’m 4109, soft orange also.” Tike said in a tone barely above a whisper. Freya turned her head to look behind her.

Tike motioned for her to be quiet. When Freya nodded, Tike motioned what Freya interpreted as ‘Enemy outside’ and ‘Safe for the moment’. Tike then motioned ‘return’ and ‘outside’.

Freya nodded but motioned ‘drone’?

Tike tilted her head. She motioned ‘drone’ and ‘time’.

Freya replied by motioning ‘dead’ and ‘five’.

Tike nodded her head ‘yes’.

Freya cancelled the jammer drone that her cloudforge was creating and had it start to create another surveillance drone. She turned back to scanning the building in front of her as her back itched like crazy at the thought that the enemy was possibly outside in the hallway waiting on them.

“Platoon, this looks like it’s going to be a long one, guys. I’m sending some food your way. You can pay me back later when we get back.” Corporal Leni said over the command channel.

In one of the windows on the floor one down from the top, she spotted an armed man looking out the window. He was looking at the building they were in. Freya zoomed in on him and saw that he was talking to someone. Freya scanned behind him and the two windows either side of him. There was no else there. It looked like he was talking to himself. Freya looked at her HUD map and saw a jammer drone high in the sky. She looked back at the man and frowned.

“Command, this is Magic, can you check my feed? I think Patterson is mooning me again.” Freya said, focusing on the man talking to himself.

“Wait one.” Corporal Leni replied.

Freya watched the man. A few seconds later he stopped talking, tapped his ear several times and looked confused. Freya kept the man in her sights and waited for orders.

There was a loud explosion behind her. Freya dove to the far wall, rolling over the floor before she came up on one knee with her rifle pointed at the door. Tike was lying ten feet from the door, covering it, with her weapon covered in wooden splinters. Freya spotted a man lying on the ground in the middle of the doorway, not moving.

“Contact! Under fire at my position.” Tike called out over the radio as she reached behind her and pulled out an odd-colored grenade. Using her teeth, she pulled the pin and tossed the grenade out of the door.

At first Freya though the grenade must have been a flash-bang grenade because there was a very bright, blue light, but she changed her mind because there was no sound accompanying the flash. Tike stood up and moved to the door. Freya stood up and moved to where Tike had been lying, covering her squadmate. Tike leaned up against the wall by the door and, with quick motions, peeked around the corner before pulling herself back. Tike looked back at Freya and motioned for her to move up.

“Platoon, hold positions. Fifth squad bravo, what is your situation?” Corporal Leni asked over the radio.

“Four down but alive. Situation stable for now but we need to move.” Tike replied.

“Copy, I suggest you use alternative route to second squad. If possible bring those who are downed.” Corporal Leni ordered.

“What the hell?” Freya muttered, but was careful not to say it over the radio.

“Copy.” Tike replied. She peeked around the doorway again then turned back Freya.

“Why doesn't she send up second squad? They are right below us. We could catch them in a pincer.” Freya complained to Tike.

“Ours is not to reason why but to do and die.” Tike said, taking her backpack off and pulling out a rope.

“You’ve gotta be kidding me.” Freya said, when she saw Tike with the rope.

“Nope.” Tike said and handed the rope to Freya. “I’ll keep watch and you tie the rope around their feet. We’ll lower them down to Done.”

Cursing, Freya took the rope and tied the man in the doorway’s feet. Tike crouched down by the doorway and covered Freya as she worked.

“Join the Marines they said. What a crock.” Freya muttered out loud. “Stun grenade?” Freya asked, motioning to the three unconscious bodies in the hallway.

“Yup.” Tike replied.

The man was really light and Freya was able to pick him up. She dropped him by the window, not too gently, so that she could open it. She looked out the window, looking below her for Done. He must have figured out what they were going to do because he was already under her with his hands up.

Freya looked around the room for a place to anchor the rope but didn’t see anything that she would trust. “Tike, where should I tie the rope off to anchor it?” Freya asked.

“Punch a hole in the wall and find the studs. Tie it off around at least two of them.” Tike said, not looking away from the hallway.

“Yeah, like I’m going to punch a hole in the wall.” Freya complained.

“You have what twenty, twenty-five in strength? You should have no problem punching a hole in these walls.” Tike replied.

Freya blinked in surprise. She had thirty in strength. She hadn’t really thought about what that meant besides being able to run longer. She mentally pictured punching through the wall and threw a punch. To her surprise, her fist easily went through the wall. She pulled back the siding that made up most of the wall and found the black, printed studs. Smiling, she tied off the rope and went back to the window.

“Done, first one is coming down now.” She said over the talk-around radio channel.

“Copy that.” He replied.

She lowered the first man into the Mech’s hands and waited as Done lowered the man all the way to the ground. Someone untied the unconscious man and Freya pulled the rope back up.

“This is taking forever.” Freya complained, as she leaned against the wall beside Tike.

“It’s better than getting ambushed on the stairs or elevator. The last thing we need is a stray bullet hitting a civilian.” Tike said, not taking her eyes off the end of the hallway. “Go, you’re clear.”

With a sigh, Freya raced out into the hallway and dragged the next body into the room. It was a woman and she must have weighed less than a feather because Freya found her easy to carry. She lowered the woman to the Mech that Done was piloting. One after another she lowered the unconscious bodies to the ground.

Freya was on the last one, when there was an explosion that knocked her sideways. In the process, she accidentally let go of the rope. She cursed as soon as she sat up. She felt bad for a second for dropping the last guy but she was distracted as gunfire exploded over her head. She dove back to the floor and looked around trying to see Tike.

She spotted Tike face down on the floor by what was left of the door. She cursed again as she low-crawled towards her squadmate. She flipped a small piece of metal sheet off Tike’s armor and saw that, while her health was low, she was still alive. She grabbed a medi pen from her pocket and slotted it into Tike’s armor. When it was empty, she slotted another one in.

The gunfire slowed down and Freya looked up. She pulled her backpack off, pulled out two grenades and set the timers for five seconds, then threw them down the hallway. It was only after she threw them that she remembered that there were still civilians in the building. Hoping she hadn’t just failed the mission, she grabbed Tike and pulled her squadmate’s body under hers right before the grenades went off.

The gunfire completely stopped and Freya wasted no time dragging Tike’s body towards the window. “Done, Tike is out but alive. We are coming down hot!” Freya yelled, as she tied Tike’s feet. She wrapped the rope around her arms then lifted the other woman up and out the window. She grunted as Tike’s body fell. She cursed as the rope tightened around her arms, squeezing her armor so hard that she could feel it through the armored plating. She felt the rope slacken and gently pulled the rope off her arms.

She peeked out the window and sighed with relief as Done lowered Tike. Cursing stupid Corporals who are too stupid to do the right thing, Freya grabbed the rope and looked back at what was left of the door.

What she saw scared her to death. A heavy armored assault trooper was standing in the doorway with a grenade launcher. He pointed it at Freya. She grabbed the rope with both hands and leaped out of the window.

The next thing she knew, she bounced off the respawn pod doors. For a split second, she was still in the mission, still falling. The panic evaporated as the high of coming back to the Monarch after a mission hit. She took a deep breath and slowly let it out. She looked at her notifications as she hit the button to open the pod doors.

You have died. Cost of respawn: 75 credits after discount.

“But I get to respawn for free.” She muttered, then looked away from the notification and really took in what as all around her. She was back on the Monarch but she had not respawned on her ship. She had respawned under the Marine concourse in the Monarch’s pod bay. She cursed as she realized what had happened.

“Magic.” A voice that sounded a lot like Sergeant Torres greeted her. She turned to look across the pod bay and saw a very naked Sergeant Torres walking completely unconcerned towards the lockers. Freya immediately looked away, embarrassed. She hurried to equip her working uniform.

“Sergeant Torres.” She greeted him, once she was dressed. He chuckled and waved his hand at the steps.

“After you.” He told her smiling. “We really need a respawn pod for the camp. This is embarrassing. What do you think? Do you think the squad will go for it?” He asked her, as he stepped beside her and they climbed up the stairs to the main concourse.

“I agree, sir.” Freya replied, looking around as a bunch of recruits and a few privates hurriedly stepped up to the console trees to get missions.

“So we completed that mission with only two casualties. That is really good.” Sergeant Torres said, smiling, as they continued up the stairs towards the Camp.

“We did?” Freya asked, surprised. She brought her notifications back up and looked at them, amazed.

You have completed the mission successfully.

You are awarded one thousand E-points, fifty skill points, and fifty mod points.

Completed mission: 250 credits. Looted credits: 50.

Bonus 1: For completing the hidden objective, discovering the true reason the Rebels were attacking the building, five-hundred E-points, twenty-five skill points, and twenty-five mod points

Completed bonus: 125 credits.

Bonus 2 : For completing the hidden objective, discovering who was aiding the terrorists, five-hundred E-points, twenty-five skill points, and twenty-five mod points.

Completed bonus: 125 credits

Bonus 3 : For completing the hidden objective - psychological warfare. Capturing enemy combatant/s who can prove your story satisfactorily to the citizens of the city

1st Hidden: Captured enemy combatant able to confirm the Federation’s story. Two-hundred and fifty E-points, twelve skill points, and twelve mod points.

Completed bonus objective: 25 credits

2nd Hidden: Captured enemy combatant able to confirm the Federation’s story. Two-hundred and fifty E-points, twelve skill points, and twelve mod points.

Completed bonus objective: 25 credits

3rd Hidden: Captured enemy combatant able to confirm the Federation’s story. Two-hundred and fifty E-points, twelve skill points, and twelve mod points.

Completed bonus objective: 25 credits

4th Hidden: Captured enemy combatant able to confirm the Federation’s story. Two-hundred and fifty E-points, twelve skill points, and twelve mod points.

Completed bonus objective: 25 credits

+1 Personal AI for hacking a Common-ranked electronic lock.

Congratulations! You have leveled up.

“Whoa.” Freya muttered, amazed.

“How many E-points did you get?” The Sergeant asked, sounding curious.

“Three thousand.” Freya muttered, still dazed at the numbers she was getting.

“That’s it?” Sergeant Torres said, shaking his head. “To be a low-ranking Marine and be happy about three thousand E-points.”

“If you don’t mind, how much did you get, sir?” Freya asked, curious.

“Thirty thousand. I hoped for better, but I died before the bonus objectives were completed.” The Sergeant told her.

“You don’t get the rewards for a bonus mission if you die?” Freya asked, surprised. She thought back on all her mission and she couldn’t remember not getting a bonus after dying. “Is it because we didn’t have a respawn available?”

“You do, but platoon leaders don’t. The curse of ranking up. It gets harder and harder to get E-points. Just wait until you are trying to get corporal. It’s a beast.” Sergeant Torres told her.

“No offense sir, but thirty-thousand E-points sounds like a lot.” Freya responded.

He chuckled. “Not for a platoon leader it isn’t. Think about it this way: you have to get 1 million E-points to get from recruit to private, right?” He asked her. When she nodded, he continued. “It's three million to get to Corporal from Private and you have five years to get it. Six million to get to Sergeant. This time, you get six years to get the rank or you’re out. It takes twelve million to get to Gunnery Sergeant, but you get eight to ten years depending on your Commanding Officer’s recommendation. Starting to see a trend?”

“I didn’t know.” Freya said, feeling both amazed and embarrassed.

“Don’t worry about it. Just concentrate on getting PFC as soon as you can. You’re way ahead of the people who graduated boot at the same time as you..” Sergeant Torres said, smiling.

“Thank you, sir.” Freya said, nodding to him as they came up to the door to the camp.

“I’ll see you at quarters tomorrow, private.” Sergeant Torres said, as he stepped into the light.

Freya looked at her status screen, right before she stepped through the door to the place she called home, and smiled.

Status Screen

Name: Freya O’Malley

Rank: Private. Level: 2

Template: 1st Company Scout

Enlisted points: 23,120

Credits: 6,463

Skill points: 170

Mod points: 149

Weapons:

Desus MOA Magnetic heavy rifle

Mega Colax purified battery Six heat sinks NG rod ammo.

Armor:

Wrath Tier 4 (modded to tier 3)

Massimio friction assistance Veddarius battery Cloudforge Sensor alert Five drones Memory expansion module

Side weapons:

GMZ 127 energy rifle

Colax purified battery

Hayes 2020 pistol

Two Mrock pistol ammo rods

Basic combat knife

Ship:

Goozden 127 light armored Respawn Dropship

Causnix Mac 127 Recurve Engine Active camouflage Six respawn pods Vehicle dock Mech reloading printer Shand’s Auto Cannon

Wetware mods

Health

Level: 25

Health Regen

Level: 25

Strength

Level: 30

Perception

Level: 150

Agility

Level: 75

Dexterity:

Level: 100

Memory

Level: 125

Processing speed

Level: 158

Personal AI

Level: 7

Skills:

Enhanced sensing

Level: 2

Tracking

Level: 1

Acrobatics

Level: 2

One time infantry Dropship

Level: 1

Advanced combat Infantry

N/A

Math and Military studies

BS

Engineer

Apprentice

Advanced Drone Operator

Level: 3

Piloting

Level: 4

Silent Walking

Level: 1

Silent Combat Running

Level: 1

Advanced Targeting

N/A

Hacking

Level: 5

Hardware mods: Suicide mod

Medals: Gold E Sharpshooter