Freya led Toast as she crawled slowly across the grassland just inside the base. She was using active camo to prevent anyone from seeing her and avoid the base sensors. It only worked because they were going as slow as possible. So far they had been crawling for nearly six hours moving inches every few minutes. She remembered her conversation when she told Toast her plan.

“You want to do what?” Toast asked her.

“Steal the cargo plane and blow the camp up, then go rescue as many prisoners as we can before they blow us from the sky.” Freya told him, tilting her head and smiling at her squad leader.

“Yes, I heard you. What I really meant to say is, are you crazy? That’s the worst plan I’ve ever heard.” Toast said, shaking his head. “We’re in a good position. Our orders are to monitor the base, not go off on an insanely risky plan and expose where the only prisoners that matter are.”

“I can send the access to Torres so he can monitor the reports himself. Yes, we won’t have any eyes on the base itself but we will have the next best thing - the reports and orders from those in command. I can write some orders to have the cargo plane filled with some kind of explosives. If we hijack the plane en route to the camp and make it look like we were just hitting a target of opportunity, we should be fine. Then we take the cargo plane to the mountains. We should be able to take, what, two, maybe two-hundred and fifty prisoners to the border? We make a few runs until we get blown out of the sky, then respawn and we’re back at base.”

“Why risk the mission for a few extra points?” He asked her.

“For a few extra points. That’s why.” She told him.

“What if they backtrace the access to Torres? What then?” He asked her.

“They won’t. I’ve hidden the access points. Plus, the moment someone figures something is wrong, I’ll have the signal that we are piggybacking on set to turn off. From there, no one is going to be able to trace it back to his location.” She told him.

He shook his head. “Our orders are to monitor the base. Nothing else.” He told her.

“What if I can find a way to let him know? On top of that, let him tell us go or no go?” She asked him.

“Okay, ask him, but if he says no, it's a hard no. Got it?” He asked her.

“Thanks Toast, you’re the greatest.” She said and sat down to create yet another spoof person. Once the identity was created, she put all the accesses she had for her IDs in a message. She then wrote about her plan and added if he wanted them to go then all he had to do was take over the IDs. If he didn’t then he should just let her keep managing them. She made sure to tell him not to reply to her message in case something was compromised. She showed Toast the message and, after getting his approval, she sent it off. As soon as she was done she deleted the new identity.

Twelve minutes later she got a message from the server that she had compromised telling her that she had changed her passwords. It showed her the new password. It was ‘go_for_it’. She smiled and showed Toast the message. He sighed then they got down to planning what they were going to do when the cargo plane returned from its next scheduled run.

So here she was, six hours later, crawling towards the cargo plane that was being pulled from a hangar and loaded up with the supplies she had ordered from one of her IDs. The cargo plane was two hundred feet long or so and its fat, worm-like body was roughly thirty feet wide. It had short, stubby wings with maneuvering engines built into them. There was a single large fin on the back that sat on top of a large engine. It was much bigger than anything she had ever flown before.

“There is no way they will let us just fill a plane with explosive ordnance without someone checking the orders. That’s a good way to get caught. Let's do this a bit more intelligently.” He had told her as she had made a suggestion on what to order for the plane.

He had her order plasti-steel and two large containers of a cleaning liquid from the list she had brought up on her tablet. Plasti-steel was a quick drying substance that could be easily molded into any shape a person desired. Once it hardened it was as strong as steel, with the added benefit of weighing less while it was in its putty state.

“The reason the Federation military doesn’t use it is because it releases a gas that, if you combine it with some cleaning gases, becomes explosive.” He told her, as they read through a list of things inside a warehouse. “All you need to do is pierce the protective cover and let the gases mingle and spread. Then you add a spark and boom. You have a nice thermobaric explosion.”

“What's a thermobaric explosion?” She asked him, confused.

“Gas-air explosion.” He told her.

“Nice.” She said, with a smile. “How do you know all this? Is it a skill I can get?”

“Yeah, it’s an off-template skill from the engineer tree. Cost a bunch, but it teaches you all sorts of neat ways to blow things up.” Toast said, with a smile.

Freya smiled at the memory as she inched forward again. In front of her, she watched as they loaded the cargo plane. They were using cargo mechs to load the plane. The mechs were about eight feet tall but more of an exoskeleton than a real armored mech, which left the cargo handlers exposed to the elements. She could hear them talking. They were all really angry about some entitled-acting officer who didn’t know what he was doing.

Freya made a note of the officer’s name. She thought it would be funny to mess with the officer even if he was just a sim controlled by the Monarch. She wondered if she messed with the sim officer was she messing with the Monarch. Would the Monarch get the joke and would she appreciate it?

Freya was pulled out of her distracted thoughts by Toast, who suddenly walked by her and tapped her on the shoulder. She looked up at him as he passed her. He pointed at the cargo plane, so she looked at what he was pointing at and cursed. The cargo handlers were done loading the plane. She looked around for them but didn’t see them. She cursed again for getting distracted and stood up to follow Toast.

Freya stayed crouched as she and Toast jogged slowly towards the plane. She spotted the cargo plane pilots. One made his way into the plane while the other one walked around the plane doing his preflight checks. Toast stopped a few feet away from the back of the plane and slowly walked around so that he could see inside the back of the plane. Freya followed him, making sure to stay twenty feet behind him.

She looked inside the back of the plane and cursed once more. The three cargo handlers had stored their mechs inside the plane and were strapping themselves into seats near the cockpit.

“There goes that plan.” She grumbled to herself.

Toast waited until the pilot finished his preflight checks then motioned for Freya to follow him. They had to run the last bit as the pilot hit the button to close the ramp to the back of the plane. Freya bit her lip when she realized that the pilot was not leaving the ramp controls but waiting on it to close. Toast didn’t slow as he ran onto the ramp. He jumped upwards, grabbed the ceiling and pulled himself up. Freya watched him crawl along the ceiling towards the middle of the plane as she followed him. She had to jump onto the ramp as it was already nearly closed and use it as a springboard to reach the ceiling. The pilot didn’t react to the two scouts as they jumped on board his plane.

Freya reached up to the metal D rings in the ceiling and pulled herself along the ceiling, following Toast. A couple of seconds later the door closed and the pilot walked off, seemingly unaware of the two new passengers. Freya followed the pilot with her eyes and only put away her handgun when he entered the cockpit and sat down, leaving the door to the cockpit open. She sighed with relief and looked over at Toast. He too put away his handgun and looked back at her. He motioned for her to stay where she was.

Freya looked down at the three cargo handlers as they sat in their seats. One looked like he was trying to take a nap. The second one was playing with his tablet and the last one put on some VR glasses. She could see both pilots flying the plane. One was actively flying the plane while the other one had his tablet out and was doing something on it. It was the same one who had closed the doors. Freya bit her lip as she worried that he had spotted them getting onto the plane and was reporting them now.

Freya looked back at Toast who was hanging upside down looking at a crate full of plasti-steel. He had his back to her. She looked back and forth between the pilot and Toast hoping that Toast would turn around so she could motion to him her concerns. It seemed like it took forever for Toast to turn around but when he did Freya motioned towards the pilot. Toast twisted around and looked at the pilot and then turned back to her and shrugged his shoulders.

She motioned he was making a call, but Toast shook his head no then motioned with his fingers like he was tapping something. Freya took that to mean he was writing something. She still felt like the pilot was reporting them, but Toast didn’t look concerned, so she kept it to herself and nodded back at him. Toast turned back to examine the cargo crate.

Freya waited, hanging on the ceiling for nearly ten minutes, according to her HUD clock, as Toast examined one crate after another until he found what he was looking for. She watched him turn back to her and motion for her to come closer. She nodded to tell him she understood and crept along the ceiling towards him.

Once she was close enough to him he pointed at a red label on the side of a plastic box. When she nodded her head that she saw what he was pointing at, he pulled his knife out and made a small hole in the side of the box. He then pulled himself upwards again and motioned for her to head back and search the rest of the crates for the red labels. Then he motioned with his knife to make a hole. She nodded her head and did as he asked, as he headed towards the front of the plane to do the same.

The first crate she checked had four boxes with the red labels. She held herself up by her legs and lowered her torso so that she could make a hole in the first label. A quick poke and she pulled herself up again. She moved closer to the second label and repeated her action. One by one she checked all the crates and made holes in the boxes. When she was at the very back of the plane, she turned back to Toast to see he was already done. She motioned that she was done. He motioned for her to come to him near the cockpit. She nodded her understanding and crawled along the ceiling towards him. He moved off to one side and she made her way to the other side near the cockpit. She wrapped her arms around D rings and let herself hang while they waited.

The plan was to let the plane offload then steal it when it was in the air returning to the base. Toast had planted something that should create the initial spark to set the bombs off. He had used one of his armor batteries and messed with it so that it now had some wires exposed. The plan was for him to hide it among the crates. She had been too busy to see where he had put it and a quick examination of the nearby crates didn’t show where he had hidden it.

It took the cargo plane nearly an hour to reach the camp in the woods. The first indication that they had reached their destination was that one of the cargo handlers shouted for everyone to wake up and get ready. A few minutes later, Freya felt the cargo plane slow down and then descend.

They waited, clinging on the ceiling, as the three cargo handlers got up and got into their mechs. It took nearly half an hour for them to remove all the cargo from the plane. Toast kept motioning for her to wait until they returned and the plane was lifting off. She could hear the pilots as they said their goodbyes to the camp before they turned the plane back towards the base. She kept her eyes on Toast as he watched the pilots. Then he looked up and nodded to her.

She dropped down right in front of one of the cargo handlers. He must have heard something because he looked up from his tablet, but by then it was too late. Her knife flashed forward and buried itself into his neck before she ripped it out. He reached up and put his hand on the wide jagged wound as blood squirted in a thin line out of his neck. She turned towards the second cargo handler, but Toast was already there, having killed the third already. He had one of his hands over the man’s mouth while he was stabbing the poor soul in the chest over and over again.

Freya looked back at her target but he had passed out. She figured he was dead because the neck wound was no longer bleeding. She turned back towards Toast and he nodded his head towards the cockpit. He motioned for her to take the one on the right while he took the one on the left. She nodded and followed him into the big cockpit. There was a navigator’s seat just behind the left pilot seat. She absently wondered why they didn’t have a third pilot on board then reasoned it was because the camp was so close to the base that they might not have thought they needed him or her. It made her life easier, so she just mentally shrugged and moved behind her target.

The pilot was sitting unaware in the cockpit as she crept up behind her. She raised her knife and looked towards Toast. He saw her looking at him and counted down with his left hand from three. As soon as he folded his last finger Freya struck. She reached around the pilot’s head with her left hand and drew her knife across the woman's neck with her right. She held the struggling woman as she fought to pull Freya’s arm from around her face and bled all over the console in front of her. Freya waited until her struggles stopped before she moved her arm. The plane was still on course and the autopilot light was still green.

She unlatched the dead woman’s seat belt and pulled her from the seat. She sat down and looked over the semi familiar controls. The plane was similar to a shuttle but less complicated. She ran her eyes over the controls to puzzle out where the important bits where. Once she figured everything out she nodded her head.

Warning, you do not have the copyright to this plane. As a Federation Marine, on an authorized mission, you have the right to purchase the rental agreement to this vehicle. Do you wish to purchase the rental rights?

Cost 100 credits.

Yes/No

“Got it.” She said clicking yes and flipping a switch turning the autopilot off.

“Blowing it.” Toast said and tapped his wrist. The sensors on the consol started screaming at her as the camp behind her exploded in a huge ball of fire and smoke.

She cursed as the shock wave hit them and she struggled through the turbulence. “This thing flies like a friggin’ brick.” She muttered out loud to Toast.

“You got it?” Toast asked, sounding worried.

“Yeah.” She replied as the shock wave passed. “That was some explosion.” She told him, as the plane settled down.

“Thermobaric bombs often are.” He told her, as he changed his console screen to show a satellite view of the camp behind them. She gave it a brief glance before looking back at her sensors. What she saw made her smile. The camp was mostly one big crater now.

The radio started squawking and she frowned. She had no idea what they were saying because the radio was encrypted. She tapped her wrist, pulled up a list of all her hacking programs and used her Personal AI to connect to the network. Then she downloaded the program. A few seconds later the voice on the radio became understandable.

“SC2021 please respond. SC2021….” The voice on the radio was suddenly saying.

“They’re tracking us. We need to get rid of the flight transponder.” She told Toast, as she flicked through the plane’s computer. She pulled up the damage map of the plane and found the flight transponder on it.

“There! Can you get to it?” She asked Toast, pointing at the screen. The damage map showed that the flight transponder was in the back of the plane under the deck.

Freya watched as Toast tapped the map and zoomed in on the section. “It’s going to be ugly, but yeah, give me a few seconds.” He told her as he stood up and ran out of the cockpit.

Freya flipped the radio on and cursed into the mic. “Taking enemy fire. Repeat, can anyone hear me. We are taking enemy fire…” She said into the mic, abruptly cutting herself off. The person on the radio got frantic and tried to call her back but she ignored it.

“We need that transponder dead.” She told Toast over the talk around channel on her radio.

“Working on it.” Toast replied. on the same channel.

Freya started making zig-zag motions in the plane like she was trying to avoid enemy fire, but kept her heading towards the base. She was worried about the enemy base sending up fighters to help her. She bit her lip again, but smiled a few seconds later as the damage control screen lit up with a warning that the flight transponder had stopped working.

“That got it.” Freya called out and immediately changed directions. She headed towards the ground and turned the plane north at the same time, like she was crashing. Less than fifty feet from the treetops she leveled out and changed directions once more. This time she headed towards the mountains.

“Dammit Magic, you could have warned me.” Toast said, climbing back into his seat.

“Oh hey Toast, hold on. I’ve got to pretend like we’re crashing.” Freya said. lightly.

“Shut up.” Toast grumbled, making her laugh.

Freya fiddled with the radio until she got the right channel then she downloaded another program to encrypt her message. “One, this is Magic. Verification code P,1,20,R,9,15,T,19. I have a ride for your escorts. Call me back on this channel.”

“Magic, One. D. 21. 3. 11. 27. N. 15. 27. 4. U. 3. 11. I hear you.” One replied. Freya checked the verification code and smiled when it came back green.

“One, I borrowed a bus for you guys. Where do you want me to land? I can carry about two hundred and fifty or so people.” Freya said over the radio.

“By Thomas’s toes, Magic. Where did you find the time to steal a… bus was it?” One replied, sounding amused.

“Got bored and needed to stretch my legs. Give me some coordinates and I’ll pick the kids up and give them a ride.” Freya replied, smiling into the mic.

One laughed over the radio. “I have them hidden in several places. It’s really hot here so be careful. First coordinates incoming.” One replied, before she gave Freya the first set of coordinates.

Freya plugged in the first coordinates and frowned. She was twenty minutes away at max speed. She checked her fuel and her frown deepened. She was already past the halfway mark on the fuel gauge. She was not sure how many trips she could take to the mountains. She couldn’t do the math because she didn’t have all the specs to the plane she was flying. She had no idea how much fuel the engines were consuming so she had no idea on how to even calculate it. She checked the weather and sighed with relief. She had clear skies for the rest of the day and into late that night.

The first coordinates were to a local school. Freya landed her plane in the empty parking lot. A lone Marine came running out to greet her. As soon as she landed, a crowd of prisoners came out from the building and started running towards the cargo plane.

“I got this.” Toast said, getting up from his chair and heading out of the cockpit. He closed the door on his way out. Freya reached out to the console and locked the door. She turned back to her console and planned her trip the mountains.

It seemed to Freya that it took forever to load everyone up and she was glad when Toast told her they were ready to go. She took off and turned the plane towards the mountains. There was a knock on the door and she put the plane on autopilot before she reached behind her to unlock the door.

“Hey Magic, love the new bus. You planning on keeping it?” A marine from Tater’s squad asked as he climbed into the cockpit. He leaned on her chair and looked out through the viewport in front of them.

“Ehh. It’s a rental.” Freya, replied with a smile. She tried to remember the guy’s name, but came up blank. She knew he was in third squad, and saw him a few times around the camp back on the Monarch, but she couldn’t remember his name for the life of her.

She flew into the mountains and found a good place to land. As soon as she landed, she got a notification telling her and the rest of the platoon that a bonus mission had been completed with two hundred and eighty-eight non essential prisoners escaping.

“Bob, do you have the next coordinates?” Toast asked as soon as the last prisoner disembarked from the plane.

“That’s his nickname!” Freya thought, as Bob gave her the next coordinates. It wasn’t his real name. Everyone started calling him Bob because he had a really long last name that no one could pronounce.

The next coordinates led them to a small town where she landed by a large building. One was hiding in her Mech by a three-story parking garage. She had somehow got her mech to lay down on its stomach to fit into the parking garage. A crowd of people came running from the big building and Toast and Bob helped them get into the plane.

“Toast, stay with Magic. Bob, with me.” One said, once everyone was loaded up. “We got incoming. Magic, get out of here. Your next coordinates are….”

As soon as the ramp in the back closed, Freya took off for the mountains. She got another notification when she landed for a second bonus mission being completed. Once everyone had disembarked she headed towards her next destination. She was halfway there when she got a notification that a pod on her ship was in use. She didn’t have time to check who it was, but she hoped it wasn’t One or Bob.

Her third destination was some docks on the side of a lake. People came running as soon as she set down. There were no marines to welcome her or escort the prisoners into the ship. Freya bit her lip as her plane filled up.

“I got the next coordinates.” Toast said over the radio. “We’ve gotta go. They know what we’re doing now. One is creating a distraction, but she doesn’t think it will last.”

“On it.” Freya replied, as she took her stolen plane into the air. Two thirds of the way to the mountains her sensors started screaming at her. She checked and saw that she was taking small arms fire from a park below her. She cursed and flew higher.

She dropped her next load of prisoners off and got her third notification. Her next coordinates led her to a bunch of small buildings. She landed in the center of them and the prisoners came running. After they loaded up, Toast told her that he had the next coordinates. She was still pulling away when she was hit. She heard a loud bang. Her eyes went immediately to her damage map. It showed minor damage to one of the wings. The plane flew sluggishly and she lost a lot of her turn radius to starboard. She was still able to get to the mountains, but she found that she was losing a lot of fuel. She also had an overheating warning on several of her maneuvering engines.

“We aren't going to make it to the next coordinates.” She told Toast, as she got the next bonus mission update. She did the math again and shook her head. It didn’t change.

“Can you make it here?” Toast asked, a second before a waypoint appeared on her map. She did the math and shook her head.

“I can make it there but we can’t make it back.” She told him.

“Perfect. Get us close. Stay low and slow. Set the autopilot and when we get close we bail. One says that’s where they’re massing. If we can crash the plane there we can give some of the prisoners a chance to make a run for the mountains.” Toast told her.

“Roger that.” Freya said with a smile. The plane shook as she lifted off again. She kept it as low as possible as she turned toward her target.

“We’re about two miles out.” She said, ten minutes later.

“That close enough. Get back here. We’re going to bail.” He told her

She turned on the autopilot and ran for the back. She found Toast in the very back of the plane lowering the ramp. He held some rope out to her. She stopped right beside him and he attached the rope to her. He nodded to her then motioned to her to jump. She jumped, spreading her arms and legs wide to decrease her speed. The plane was going as slow as possible to stay in the air but it was still very fast for a person to safely jump from. She felt the rope yank on her, slowing her down further, then it let go and she was falling towards the ground. She felt a sharp pain in her shoulder as she hit the ground and rolled trying to protect herself. She rolled uncontrollably for a long few seconds before she stopped.

She grabbed her shoulder in pain and sat up. The body on her HUD was blinking red on the shoulder and she was down to nearly thirty percent of her health. She looked around and found that she had landed on a road with some brush on either side of her. She heard a grinding noise behind her. She spun around and looked behind her. She had just enough time to realize a tank was bearing down on her before she felt a flash of pain and she found herself in a respawn pod.

You have died. Cost of respawn: 0 credits.