The Director's Daughter: Part Two Of The Freelancer Saga

Chapter 12

Carolina POV

I opened fire on the troopers as my knees start shaking, throwing off my aim. I then feel the world spin around me as my blood constricts to the primary sectors of my body. I then collapse as I hear muffled gunfire, and I hear the AI yelling at me to do something but I can't make any sense of what he is saying. My body felt really tired and I just want to go to sleep. I then realize my body is shutting down in a brief moment of mental clarity and I force myself to stay awake. I am barely aware of my surroundings but I can see some details, the flash of a muzzle, the blur of movement from Agent Washington, and then the feeling of being picked up as I struggle to keep taking in more details. I then try to open my eyes to see more but I want to sleep. The sound of sleep, no more violence, no more AI's, I could be done, it sounds so enticing. Then a jolt of energy hits me as I realize, if I go this time. I won't have a chance to say goodbye to the people I have come to love, my new team. The reds and blues.

The roar of a prowler fills my ears as I feel a shift of gravity that comes from the acceleration. I see the white outline of the AI as he is saying something about me being extremely resilient or maybe stubborn. I can feel my eyelids getting heavier as I struggle to keep them open. Just one more minute I keep telling myself, making it into a mantra. As I tell myself this I see my life flashing before my eyes, everything I've done and everywhere I have been. The feeling of firing my first gun, everything. I then see a white tunnel that looks so clean and pleasant. I start willing myself forward towards the light as my pain starts to subside more the closer I get. The tunnel gets yanked farther away from me as I feel a sharp squeeze on my hand and my pain from my wounds intensifies. I then start moving back toward the light. Only to have the same sharp squeeze bring me farther from the tunnel.

I can feel frustration building inside me as I start to cry and I try again to get to the light but the same sharp squeeze yanks it away yet again. I see the light fading as I can feel tears running down my face and the pain returning. I then feel my body picked up again. I realize then they I can't see anything not hear anymore. I just can feel the presence of pain that is fading in and out with every movement. Each movement sends a spike of pain as my suits alarms tell me a blurry message that I can't make out but there is something red splattered on the outside of my visor. I pause and then realize it is my own blood on the inside of the helmet.

I feel a sharp jolt of pain as an IV is placed in an armor port as I can feel my blood returning to the rest of my body and I finally allow my eyes to close as I say words that I meant to say a long time ago. "Thanks you guys for everything, I have to go now. Goodbye." I then feel my heartbeat go impossibly slow as the beats slow down further and further.

I open my eyes to see the ceiling of the caves again. Only this time, I see all of the reds and blues surrounding me, no more freelancers other than Wash. I so a mental headcount to see that 2 of the reds and blues are missing. I remain still however I then realize the Alpha is gone again. I see Sarge, Simmons, Lopez, Grif, Caboose, Donut, and Tucker. I then look for Doc figuring maybe he isn't in the room so I activated my Bioteam on my HUD to see that Doc was offline with no biosigns. I then scan for the missing person to see that the other soldier I added on was Kimball. I then did a reboot to see the same results as I see that both Doc and Vanessa are dead.

I slowly sit myself up as I feel slightly dizzy. Tucker came forward to me as he put his gauntleted hand on my shoulder, "That is war Carolina, not everyone makes it."

I then notice a part of me is hurting inside, yearning for them to still be alive. Sarge looked at met, his helmet off and his silver hair freshly cut "We decided by unanimous decision that you and Washington would be the best leaders for Chorus right now." Sarge then stood up, "However unfortunately the first duty of you guys is to lead the burial service to honor the dead soldiers who bravely fought and still managed come together through all odds. However we won, the UNSC has promised to supply is with materials however they decided to stay back and not send in other troops. And Hargrove, he is dead now, gone. He can't bother is anymore. It is okay."

I nodded slowly trying to take in all the info. "Where is the Alpha AI?"

Simmons handed me a data chip, "Right here, we had him help out Santa the alien A.I. with putting new defenses online in the planet's orbit."

"Alrighty. Guess I should probably get cleaned up huh?"

"Grif said he is going in his armor. I think that would be wise." Sarge then stepped forward. "I know that this is going to be hard to do, just say the right words, you have always been okay with them. "

I paused already formulating what I would say when I had to ask, "Where is Locus and the other freelancers, along with the Admiral?"

Donut then replied, "They all went out on some secret mission. Seems the freelancers are now working as a NavSpecWeap team for the UNSC as part of their Special forces."

"Alright, I'm ready to head out." I say.

"You don't want to clean up your armor?" Lopez asked.

"No, not this time, I want the people to see that I am not invincible, that I am a human just like them." The Alpha AI hummed approvingly in my head.

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This is the End for Part 2 of the Freelancer Saga. I do not own RvB not any of the characters or names. If you enjoyed please leave a vote and comment you favorite part of this part. Part 3 will be The Legacy of Locus. The first full chapter will be released on August 1st. Please share and have a wonderful day.

Adm_Ω out.