Isolated (Red vs Blue)

12: War Games

12: War Games

Not So Many Years Ago: Unspecified Location (Somewhere near Blood Gulch)

Agent Texas had been on her own for weeks. She was on the run from the U.N.S.C., the other members of her squad from Project Freelancer were either dead or had disappeared, and most recently she'd been cut off from Command's servers. Which, considering what her current task was — she'd appointed herself to findin the Alpha A.I. — created a very annoying problem.

Before Command had locked her out, Tex had managed to get the Alpha's last known location from one of the files. He'd been sent to the middle of nowhere; the location name in the file was Blood Gulch. As she'd neared the canyon, her own A.I. — Omega — had started getting anxious. It was an uncommon reaction for the usually violent A.I. It meant Alpha had to be close by. There was just one problem with the Alpha being in Blood Gulch: It was one of Project Freelancer's training canyons. All the soldiers there — whether they new it or not — were just cannon fodder for the actual agents to practice their skills on. And because the canyon technically belonged to Project Freelancer, it meant there was a chance the Director or someone from the U.N.S.C. would spot her there. However, Tex had decided she didn't care. She just had to figure out how she was going to get into Blood Gulch without getting caught.

The sound of a Scorpion flying overhead caused the former freelancer to run for cover. Tex ducked into the shadows of a group of trees and activated her camouflage unit as an added security measure. She watched from her hiding place as the bird flew directly above her; it never slowed down as it passed, and the two soldiers hanging out the sides barely seemed to scan the area. Once the small aircraft was out of sight, Tex sighed with relief. Another bullet dodged.

"Hello, Agent Texas, hello. Can you read me, dudette?" a voice loudly asked over comms, causing the black clad soldier to jump a bit with surprise. "Yo, come in, Agent Texas. Can you read me?"

"God damn it, V.I.C.!" Tex hissed in annoyance after quickly composing herself. The Virtual Intelligence Computer — not-so-affectionately called V.I.C. — had been a constant thorn in her side for the last week. He'd been somewhat helpful in keeping tabs on the Alpha, but he wasn't exactly the smartest A.I. she'd ever met. "What the hell do you want now?"

"I've got a distress call comin' in from Blood Gulch, dudarino," V.I.C. stated. "Blue Team is requesting immediate help. Told 'em I'd contact you for relief."

The mention of Blue Team caught Tex's attention. "That's Alpha's team. V.I.C., do you have any information about why the distress call was made?"

"That would a negatory, dudette," the A.I. replied. "Just said they needed more men, and they took the quicker solution. Couldn't even tell ya which team member made the call. Don't exactly pay attention to their names."

"I'm starting to think they should've called you M.I.C. — Minimally Intelligent Computer."

"Yo, so not cool, dude. I take offense to that."

"Good. You were supposed to."

"I would've thought you would've been grateful for the news, dude. I don't have to help you, ya know. I could get in big, big, big trouble if someone found out."

Tex sighed. "I'm aware. Do they think I'm just a gun-for-hire? Or what's my story this time?"

"They do believe you are just a hired gun, my dudette. And they're expecting you anytime," V.I.C. answered.

"Roger that. I'm on my way," Tex said, then cut the transmission. The momentary silence was welcome. "God, I hate talking to him."

Omega appeared next to her head. "Alpha's in distress. We need to get to Alpha."