Chapter Text
Smoke drifted up around Theta, giving him the cover that he needed to carefully watch Kappa through his scope as she crept along a nearby gray wall. She easily knocked a guard off of the walkway and they both stared after him as he plunged into the icy cold water.
The two of them had been assigned to retrieve some information from a big oil platform. They had been dropped off in the middle of the ocean with instructions to keep quiet and be fast. "Fast" to command meant less than a day. They had been waiting for five hours to find the perfect window.
Theta's toes had gone numb long ago. He had shut off his armor's heating systems to avoid being spotted on someone's thermal, but he was starting to wonder if it was worth it. The air was freezing. Theta could somehow feel it on his skin, even through his purple and pink armor.
Kappa snuck past a couple of tired, complaining guards. She easily got up behind them without either of the two noticing. With one swift movement, they were plummeting off of the edge. Kappa watched, her gloved hands gripping the short railing.
An alert came through on Theta's HUD, catching his attention. "You really should set your trackers," Theta suggested quietly. He didn't want to accidentally alert the two guards that stood near his hiding place. He had sneezed earlier and they spent half an hour looking around for the source of the noise.
The sound of Kappa grinding her teeth in frustration came through on the radio. "You should've told me that while we were just sitting there for five hours, Theta."
"Sorry. I didn't know that yours weren't on. My HUD doesn't tell me that information unless enemy activity starts to picks up and someone's are off," Theta explained, a little nervously. He always got anxious when he had to instruct agents that were more experienced than him. Even with people that he was closer to, like Kappa and Delta.
Kappa sighed, the sound causing a sudden rush of static in Theta's ears. "It takes way too long to set them up, Theta. They aren't that important, I'll be fine without them."
"But the smoke is messing with my thermals and the package is inside! I won't be able to help you unless you set your trackers," Theta sounded unsure of himself, like he didn't know what he was doing. In reality, that wasn't true. He had been in this position many times, sitting, watching, and waiting.
Unfortunately for both of them, Kappa ignored his advice. She usually listened, but right now seemed to be an exception. She had been getting more and more intense on missions lately. Every move she made had been deliberate. Kappa ran along a slightly sloped, metal roof and jumped off, landing on an unlucky soldier. She snatched his shotgun from the air as it flew up. "I'll be fine on my own, Theta. Keep an eye on the time."
Theta would've protested, but a patrol walked right under his hiding spot in the smoke stack. He was forced to keep his mouth shut and watch as Kappa ran into a closed off section. The walls were too thick for any of Theta's equipment to get any readings from inside.
Once the patrol was out of earshot, he frantically whispered, "Kappa, I can't see anything in there!"
"Just trust me, Theta. I can do this on my own." Her radio switched off and Theta resisted the urge to curse. Kappa could be unnecessarily stubborn, sometimes at her own risk.
There were a few moments of anxious silence for Theta. Then, Kappa came back on the radio. "Alright, I've started the transfer. It should only take a few seconds." At least she had called to tell him what she was doing.
Theta sighed quietly in relief. He glanced nervously at the blinking notification on his HUD. "Now can you please set your-" He was distracted mid sentence by two red dots showing up on one of Theta's scanners. "Kappa, I'm getting something on thermal. There might be something behind you, check your six!"
Inside the terminal, Kappa whirled around and had a knife in her hand before the soldier standing there could even blink. He held two steaming mugs of coffee in his hands and had stopped dead in his tracks. Kappa glared at him through her brown helmet as he nervously glanced at the nearby alarm button.
"Don't even think about it," Kappa warned.
She watched as Coffee Man looked between her and the big, red button hesitantly. She knew that he was deciding between his life and his job. The moment he made a move for it, she hurled her knife at him. It stuck in his chest, killing him instantly. But, according to Newton's laws of motion, his body still fell towards the button.
"Watch out, Theta. It's about to get loud," Kappa warned her partner apologetically. She grabbed the data file from the nearby machine, wincing in regret as Coffee Man slammed against the button. Alarms blared and lights flashed. She rushed out of the terminal, grabbing her knife from his body as she passed with little resistance.
Theta jumped at the sudden noise and felt his heart leap into his throat when he realized that there would be fighting soon. Theta got up from his position, feeling a little stiff. "Can you meet me at the helipad?" He asked Kappa over the radio, not bothering to be quiet anymore.
"I'll be right there," Kappa's tense voice answered in Theta's helmet.
Theta hooked his sniper rifle to the back of his armor and then dropped to the ground, right behind a pair of guards. Theta cracked their heads together, cartoon style, efficiently knocking them out. They slumped to the ground, their bodies leaning back against each other.
He rushed down the walkway, knocking a couple of soldiers into the water as he ran. Theta could hear a few shots being fired from not too far off. He hoped that it was Kappa who was shooting and not any of the guards. Or if the guards were shooting, he hoped that they weren't hitting their mark.
He ran through the oil platform, occasionally shooting at guards with his rifle. Off in the distance, there was the sound of gunshots and armored bodies smacking against the ground. Theta hoped that Kappa was the one doing the damage. Theta caught sight of her running in his direction, along the same walkway. They switched spots, Theta jumped past her, shooting at the following of guards she had gathered. Which was quite a lot.
A guard tried to grab Theta and in return, he snatched the guard's gun and fired a row of shots up his body. The others stepped back for a split second, slightly terrified of the bloody mess the young Freelancer had caused. Theta whipped the now dead guard into another nearby one. The two of them crashed to the ground.
"I need a shotgun!" Kappa cried out from across the pathway.
Theta snatched one from a nearby dead body and tossed it to her. "Catch!"
"Thanks," Kappa said politely before she shot a soldier in the head. His helmet came clean off.
Across the ledge, there was a huge door with an overhang on top. Theta barely had time to think about the good hiding place before a sniper started to shoot at them. Theta ducked, then motioned for Kappa to take cover. They hid behind two tall pillars. Between them and the several gunmen that blocked their progress was a small bridge. It had no railings and no cover. Theta tried to get a clean shot, but he couldn't. "We need to switch! On my mark! Sync!"
Kappa rolled over to Theta's former spot and Theta took her place. He shot the only sniper and watched as he fell off of the platform.
"I'm moving!" Kappa grabbed the dead body of a nearby soldier, adjusting it to cover her body. She rushed forward, using it as a shield against the other guards.
"Go!" Theta yelled, firing off another shot. He followed shortly after her, ducking to avoid the spray of bullets. Everything was becoming automatic now. It was when he did this that scared Theta the most. The killing and running was like a second nature to him and Theta hated it.
They shot the remaining snipers off of the roof and Kappa set to work on the door that blocked them from the helipad. Theta quietly admired how calm that Kappa seemed as she forced the door open. She always was so cool and collected, while Theta felt like a nervous mess.
As he thought about his job, Theta held off the soldiers that rushed toward them, firing into the crowd. Even though he detested it, it was either kill or be kill. The doors finally slid open and the two of them ran through them, rushing into another crowd. Theta completely forgot about his worries and concentrated on getting them both out of there alive.
Kappa slid along the ground, firing more shots. They were both panting now, out of breath from the intense fighting. Theta followed behind Kappa, gulping at the amount of gathering guards. Using a machine gun that he had picked up, Theta showered an approaching group with bullets, knocking them to the ground. More still came.
"Move up!" Kappa ordered, running head first into the crowd, showing no fear. Theta groaned and followed after her, using a shotgun to clear out anyone in his way. The guards spread out around them, blocking off all exits.
The two of them came to a stop in the empty helipad, pointing their weapons nervously at the surrounding guards. They were completely encircled and everyone had something aimed at their heads. Kappa and Theta slowly lowered their guns.
"Uh oh," Theta whispered to Kappa.
"Out of the frying pan and into the fire," Kappa muttered back.
A dark figure stood at a turret and called out to them. "Attention, assholes. Stand down, you're surrounded. Give us the data file now. You will be taken into custody. We can either do this the easy way or the hard way. There is no escape, so give us the damn data file!"
He was interrupted by a soldier in black armor jumping into view and kicking down several guards. Theta stumbled backwards in surprise at the sudden appearance of the soldier. The newcomer punched the man at the turret away and took hold of the gun, aiming it at the ledge opposite to the one he was standing on. He fired at one of the support beams, sending the guards that were standing on top of it into the ocean. Theta and Kappa both ducked to avoid the bullets and shrapnel. The soldier repeated this with one of the other ledges.
"What's going on?" Kappa yelped as she straightened up.
Theta caught sight of the soldier and nearly gasped. "Oh, wow."
Kappa gripped at his arm. "What?"
Gesturing to the soldier, Theta said in awe, "It's him." It wasn't often that command would send in backup, especially such a high ranking backup.
Kappa sounded pretty unhappy when she saw who it was. "What? Why is he here?" Theta didn't blame her for being upset, he wasn't delighted either. This was supposed to be their job and they didn't need any help.
The black soldier kicked the still firing turret, sending it spinning in a circle, taking out several guards around him. He jumped off the platform, doing a flip in the air. As he moved, the black melted off of his armor and turned to white. He landed on the helipad easily. "Alright. It's my turn now, bitch."
Alpha rushed to the nearest guard and hit him as hard as he could. Theta and Kappa took this as a sign to join in and they all started to finish off the guards together.
As he kicked a guard away from himself, out of the corner of his eye, Theta could see the dark guard getting up to the turret again. It took Theta a second to realize the gun was aimed at Connie and her back was turned. His heart twisted and his stomach dropped. He needed to do something and fast.
Without much thought, Theta threw himself in front of her. "Connie, watch out!" He accidentally called out her real name in the process of pushing her away.
Connie was the Freelancer who had been the nicest to him when he had showed up as a scared seventeen year old. She had watched out for him and taught him everything that he needed to know. Theta would give his life for her and Kappa would give her life for him.
Bullets tore into his chest and Theta fell to the ground with a cry. Theta could feel the three bullet wounds each time he moved, even if it was only a centimeter. Every breath burned and his vision clouded.
"Theta? No!" Kappa cried. Theta could barely hear her over the sounds of gunfire and his own thumping heartbeat. There was a loud crash and the screams of guards as they plummeted to their deaths.
Kappa helped pull Theta up from the ground and dragged him over to the side of the platform. They could see down into the blankness of the ocean from where they stood. "I got you, Theta. Don't worry," Kappa tried to sound calm, but for once, her composure was breaking.
Theta supported himself on the railing as Kappa fired back into the overwhelming crowd. She turned on her radio as a last resort and frantically tried to call for help. "Come in, command! We need evacuation, Theta is wounded!"
Out of nowhere, Alpha showed up behind them. "Okay, come on you guys. We gotta go." Theta jumped, then tried to twist away from him as Alpha grabbed ahold of the back of his armor. A quick glance at his other hand showed that Kappa was stuck in his tight grip too. Theta only had a brief second to wonder what Alpha was doing. Then, he pulled them over the ledge with no warning.
Theta screamed helplessly at the sudden sensation of falling. He could faintly hear Kappa's screams and Alpha's audible smirk. The way the air rushed around him felt exactly like when he had fallen out of a swing when he was eight. Except this time, death was the result instead of a scraped knee. Theta barely had time to think about Alpha's insanity before his armored body smacked against something hard.
Squeezing his eyes shut while his mind raced, Theta wondered if he had died. It was a lot less painful than he had expected, only a couple things ached. The three bullet wounds in his chest were excluded from that list, they hurt like a-
"Sorry about our mess, guys. I'm sure you'll have fun cleaning it up."
Theta could barely hear Alpha's lighthearted voice over the sound of the wind in his ears. He could feel Kappa fighting to sit up next to him. So maybe he wasn't dead yet. Theta opened his eyes and was faced with the gray metal of a pelican and a warning from his HUD. He pushed himself up onto his knees and started to drag his body toward the closest entrance.
Alpha walked ahead, a hand to the side of his helmet. "Command, the package is good to go. Everybody's gettin' on board." He jumped down into the pelican, too distracted to help Kappa and Theta.
Kappa helped Theta climb down the ladder, struggling with his height. Even though he was years younger than her, Theta still towered over Kappa. Once they were inside the ship, Kappa helped Theta into one of the seats lining the walls. He managed to pull his own safety bar down and rested his head against the back of his seat as they to sped off.
Suddenly, there was explosion behind them. Theta jumped against the restraint and his head snapped toward the source of the noise. His already adrenaline wrecked body tensed up, ready to jump out of the ship if need be. The pelican rocked with the force of the blast. Theta's ears rang and Kappa stumbled backwards in surprise. Theta gripped the armrests of his seat tightly and ground his teeth together as he tried to relax.
Kappa sighed nervously and started to pace around the pelican, her armored feet clanking against the metal floor. Alpha answered a call from FILSS and exchanged some banter with 479er, his voice still light and teasing. Theta fought to keep his eyes open. He was getting pretty tired from this slightly overwhelming mission.
"Kappa, check out our six," Alpha suddenly ordered.
Seeming glad to have something to do, Kappa rushed to the back of the ship. She balanced on her tiptoes to stare out the small window. "It looks like there are two Insurrectionist ships following us. We might want to hurry up a bit more, they're gaining fast."
A flare shot past them, its brightness temporarily lighting up the vast blackness of the night sky. Niner easily avoided the shot, dipping to the left. Theta was jostled against the side of the seat and he choked back a groan of pain. The sound of gunfire filled the small interior of the ship. Theta wasn't exactly sure who was shooting, all of the dodging and turning was making him a little dizzy.
There were a few pings of bullets bouncing off of the pelican. They suddenly slowed down drastically and two ships sped by. Theta could hear the sound of their missiles firing off at the enemies. He shot a slightly worried glance at Kappa, who was still staring out the back. There were no loud explosions, no shrapnel scraping along the sides of the pelican, and no cries of success from the pilot's cabin to suggest that there had been a hit.
They lurched around for awhile as Niner continued to expertly avoid getting hit. Kappa looked ready to be sick from the way that she groan and tried to brace herself against a seat. A red light started to blink from the cabin and an irritating beeping accompanied it.
"What's happening?" Kappa managed to get out.
479er sounded particularly stressed when she responded, "They've got missile lock on us."
"Uh oh."
"Yes, uh oh. Now, would you please excuse me? I'm trying to fix this." Niner abruptly shut the cabin door and sealed it shut. With a huff, Kappa stepped away from the door.
There was another explosion and Theta sat up, wide eyed. His seat had locked him in place, not allowing him to help in any way. An idea was starting to form in his head, but he would need permission to even try it. Through his HUD, Theta sent a quick clearance request to Alpha and Niner, hoping that they would let him help.
A series of hisses proved that they were releasing the flares. Another explosion shook the pelican and they spun around completely. Kappa lost her footing and started to bounce around. Theta could only watch helplessly as she smacked back and forth between the rows of chairs. He had completely woken up now, the incessant beeping and blasts had rattled him out of his stupor.
They tipped sideways and Kappa gasped loudly. "Oh, shi-" She slammed against the wall and fell to the ground with a thud. She laid there, motionless except for the movement of the ship.
"Hey, hold on back there! Things are gonna get a little crashy!" Niner called out a warning.
Theta finally managed to unlock the safety bar that prevented him from helping Kappa. He jumped up just as they dipped downward sharply. Theta gripped a seat for support and shakily inched his way over to Kappa. With one hand on a seat, Theta leaned down and slipped an arm around her waist. He hoisted her into the closest chair and lowered her safety bar. Kappa slumped down in her seat, still out cold.
Alpha's voice drifted through the sealed door. "Alright, buddy. I'm gonna clear you for equipment usage, but be careful."
"Yeah, but hurry the fuck up!" Niner yelped as the ship took another sharp turn.
Theta's helmet started to malfunction as he stepped away from Kappa. He pulled the now useless piece of armor off of his head and let it fall to the ground. Theta dragged himself to the ladder to the roof, pain shooting up his whole body. His breaths were ragged and he could feel the blood on his face.
Using his gravity boots to keep himself stable, Theta stepped out onto the roof of the pelican. He looked out into the sky, with the wind whipping through his hair and stinging his exposed skin. The sun was starting to rise and Theta could feel the wetness of the clouds around them. The missiles approached quickly and Theta suddenly didn't feel nervous at all.
"Well... Here I go!" Theta nodded, then activated his dome shield. He hit the roof of the pelican, sending up a huge bubble around the ship. The incoming missiles exploded against the shield.
The ship started to fall downward and Theta nearly lost his balance. As soon as he got the chance, Theta threw himself back inside the ship, not wanting to be out there longer than necessary. He fell against the floor and just stayed there, not wanting to move at all. His nerves were fried, Theta doubted that he could take anymore excitement. All that he wanted to do was get back to the another of Invention and sleep.
As if on cue, there was a bright flash of light and one of the Insurrectionist ships exploded. Theta could hear Niner's cry of surprise from the front of the ship. He had to admit, he had been startled as well. There was one more flash, then silence.
The ship started to slow down and Theta breathed a sigh of relief. They were finally home.