Beginning Anew (Michigan/OPEN)

[Freelancer Kansas]

((March 1^st, 2025, South-Western Colorado))

Kansas was no longer in Kansas. She would not go back to Kansas again for a long time - she no longer had a home there. Her helmet sat on the ground beside her, her dark strawberry blond hair wet with sweat spilling over the back of her golden armor, blue grey eyes staring almost blankly into the water in front of her. It was a small creek - she wouldn't even call it a creek, really, more of a trickle - but it was a welcome break from the land that they were approaching. They had gone from mountains and woodland to desert gradually, and she was afraid that this trickle might be the last creek she came across.

She was crouched next to it, silent in thought. So much had happened, so quickly, and there had been no real reprieve. Kansas had slowly retreated back into herself, withdrawn back to a state she'd been in once a long time ago, a mental state she had been in for years. She'd been declining ever since they'd left what had once been her hometown. Oklahoma had stayed with her, though he had now wandered off - maybe he'd be back, maybe he wouldn't. She couldn't really bring herself to think about it. She had to get back - back to her team, back to that mystery in Nevada. That was her life now... Right?

She had lost her best friend to save Oklahoma - and she wasn't even sure why. Did she, after all these years, really like him... Or had it been a mere impulse decision? A mere rage that had brought her to shoot her team mate? She had made no effort to hide her current location - she wasn't sure anymore that it mattered if anybody found her. Let them come - she'd decide who got through to her when she wanted to.

[/blockquote]

[Deleted]

Michigan had been walking along when he notices another Spartans by the water, and by their body language, a female Spartan. Once he got closer he noticed that she was beautiful. Well at least from the neck up.

Once her got close enough to her he spoke to her.

"Well there beautiful. Why the sad look?"

Once she looks at him she'd see a really large man standing 6' 4" (1.9304 meters) and weighing in at 288 Pounds (130.634603 kilograms, 20.5714286 stones), in a Spartan suit of the CQB/Assault Infantry variant walks into the scene. He is decked out in lots of melee weapons with a melee shield strapped to his back. His armor is black with various shades of gray in a digital camoflauge pattern. The suit also inclides custo,ized plating designed to look liek old fasioned armor or black and gold (like a Spartan suit with plating and helmet additions to look similar to Achilles' armor in the movie Troy).

On his suit she would notice colonel ranks on his collars, colonel ranks on top of his shoulders were shoudler boards woudl normally be and us joint special operations command emblems (USJSOC) ensignia on the outsides of his shoulds liek unit patches.

[Freelancer Kansas]

Beautiful? She hadn't heard that in a while. She stood up to her full height, only a few inches over five feet, look at - and up into - the face of the giant who'd approached behind her, his black and grey armor in none of the styles that she'd seen yet. A faint frown toned her face and grey eyes traced the contour of his armor, her eyebrows knit together for a moment before she replied. "I made a grave mistake." It wasn't in a rude tone, merely a vaguely saddened one, laced with curiosity. She didn't mention her recent discovery in Kansas, only her encounter with Oregon. He didn't need to know everything - or anything, really.

She didn't know him, and her foot edged toward her helmet, prepared to kick it up at a moments notice. "Who are you?" She spoke slowly, narrowing her eyes slightly, not sure what to make of this man. This was not a hostile situation, but there was a small part of her that kind of wished it were, that kind of wished she could take out the frustration that had been building up in her lately. Hopefully Oklahoma would get back soon - Kansas wasn't really good at fighting alone, not unless she had personal motivation - and right now she really didn't. She would likely take a beating before she actually got into a fight.

But again,the situation didn't really look hostile - not yet. Her golden armor caught glimmers of sunlight as they came through the trees, catching them and collecting them, as it always was. It was so hot inside of this suit, it was like the heat sucked the energy right out of her. That was why she had her helmet off - not because she had been relaxed, but because it was hot in that thing. That was why her hair was sweat drenched, at least - not that Michigan would know that. She didn't remember ever seeing this man before at the BWC... And all of the freelancers came from there. Of course, she couldn't assume he was one, but he certainly seemed like one.

[/blockquote]

[Deleted]

Michigan took a few steps closer to her and spoke again.

"Must've been a big error to cause this."

Michigan extended his hand in a hand shake.

"Colonel Jones, United States Joint Special Operations Command on temporary transfer reassignment to BWC. However, apparently BWC ceased to exist before my transfer was complete, so in reality I'm in positional limbo.

However, my cover name is Michigan."

Michigan waited for the hand shake to be completed.

"Who are you?"

Michigan said in a genuinely curious tone.

[Freelancer Kansas]

She rose an eyebrow slightly, taking Michigan's hand and shaking it firmly. She may be small, but she wasn't weak. Somebody new coming to the BWC? She was pretty sure they'd stopped bringing people in... But she learned new things every day. "Freelancer Kansas, ranged fighter of Team C. There was a huge scare with one of the programs going, and my team ran early - not entirely unscathed. I heard that the corporation fell shortly afterward. It's probably a good thing you never made it there." Friend or not, Oregon would always be her team mate - her damaged team mate.

So he wasn't a freelancer - he was freelancer material, but hadn't quite made it to the corp. Pushing her hair back, she tied it back up into a firm ponytail, watching Michigan as she did. She still didn't trust the man, and didn't have experience working with him to help soften that distrust, and so she'd keep a wary eye on him the hole time, even if she didn't look immediately hostile. She was tense, but not aggressive. Even if she was, it was really hard to take the freckled almost-a-red-head seriously when she was upset.

"I don't suppose you heard much about that though, did you?" She added carefully, curious and slightly confused at the same time. The man was in an awkward position at the moment - she vaguely wondered if he also had a bounty on his head, for the suit at least. His situation was definitely a unique one.

[/blockquote]

[Deleted]

"No I did not hear about that. I was just back from the Pentagon. Can you explain to me what has happened?

Kansas you say. I've seen your file. It didn't have any information except the basics."

Michigan watch her as the pulled her hair back exposing more of that pretty face.

"So what brings you out here to the middle of nowhere?"

"Where's the rest of your team?"
(Sorry it's shirt I didnt' know what else to post)

[Freelancer Kansas]

((It is fine, at least it is a post.))

Kansas gave off a slightly nervous smile, tossing her head to the side momentarily, before glancing back at him, a neutral expression returning to her face, one eyebrow ever so slightly above the other. "I'm really not sure how much I should tell you... I mean, I hate to say it, but the whole 'I never made it to my new assignment' thing... Is the perfect set up to fish for information." Narrowing her eyes, the question there was implied - how do I know I can trust you?

It was fairly clear that, for all of his charm, Kansas simply was not affected. He had chosen the wrong woman to be friendly with, if that was any goal of his. After all, the government was after her, and if she could trust anything this man said, that meant that he could very well be after her - and be trying to get information about her team. Even if they weren't exactly the closest of friends to her, they were still her team - and she'd defend them. She wasn't sure how much of a threat he was or wasn't, and had no prior experience to tell her he wasn't, and so she had to go by her own minor paranoia. That had brought her places before, it could save her - and others - now.

[/blockquote]

[Deleted]

"I'm really not sure how much I should tell you... I mean, I hate to say it, but the whole 'I never made it to my new assignment' thing... Is the perfect set up to fish for information."

Michigan stood in a purposefully nonthreatening posture.

"Well I guess that's true. You don't have a reason to trust me yet I guess, but then again, I've given you no reason to NOT trust me. After all, I told you about me."

Michigan turned around with his hands on his waist in exasperation, and spoke once more.

"What would you like me to do to prove it to you?"

Michigan turned around once more, and awaited her response.

[Freelancer Kansas]

He did have point; he had done nothing to earn her true distrust. His back to her, his exasperation clear, he almost seemed to be throwing a hissy fit. A very calm, manly hissy fit. She watched, thinking for a moment, waiting for him to turn back around and face her before she spoke. "I suppose that we're at a bit of an impasse. I'll talk to you, but... Show me your face. I don't like talking to mysterious masked men. Show me your face, and I'll talk to you."

[/color] It was a reasonable request, in her mind. Her team mates could take care of themselves anyway, if something bad did come out of this. Besides, if she was lucky, she might learn to trust him. Maybe he'd travel with her back to NEST; at least then they'd get some use from him, and he would have a place to be.

Blue/Grey eyes watched him carefully, her right eyebrow pressed down slightly, her left eyebrow raised, her head tilted slightly forward - her expression indicating that that would be her only offer, and that she would be keeping careful note of this conversation. She wondered, again, where Oklahoma had wandered to, but for now she could handle herself. She was a big kid, after all.[/size][/blockquote]

[Deleted]

"I suppose that we're at a bit of an impasse. I'll talk to you, but... Show me your face. I don't like talking to mysterious masked men. Show me your face, and I'll talk to you."

[/color][/size][/blockquote][/quote]

"Well.. I'll show you my face, as long as it won't be on any recorded media."

At that Michigan paused a moment, and then a sound of decompression would be heard. After about four seconds, Michigan lifted his helmet off of his head and revealed his black designer sunglass covered eyes, special forces "High & Tight" covered scalp, and full goatee covered face.

"Is this better? Does this meet your satisfaction?"

Michigan stood there awaiting her response.

[Freelancer Kansas]

Kansas watched, a rather unamused, straight expression on her face. "Better. At least now I'm talking to a human face, and not a helmet." She took a bit of a side step, leaning on a nearby tree, trying to force a relaxed position, though her face remained straight. "Alaska and Arizona are in Nevada. I haven't spoken with them for a little while, but I've heard they're tripping over something big. Oregon... Well, I don't know where she is, and I honestly don't want to. You might also like to know that I have a friend nearby - though I figure he'll introduce himself if he wants to, since he's here to make his own decision."

[/color]

With a bit of a sigh, Kansas continued, to answer his other question. "I'm out here, because I wanted to see my home."[/color] She let out a slight snort, wrinkling her nose - though it was obvious that this was just an expression for show - there was something that she wasn't saying, something that pretty deeply disturbed her. "That was a mistake. I'm a freelancer; home doesn't matter... Not anymore. I'm startin' over, one step at a time."[/color]

She pushed back off of the tree, deciding that forcing relaxation wouldn't get her anywhere. "I don't suppose you wanna come with? A lot of the freelancers have wound up in that area - a lot of big stuff goin' on, an' we don' want left out."[/color] She stood firm, holding herself up - though she couldn't exactly say much more than that, considering she obviously was not a tall woman - and looking this giant as squarely in the eyes as she could, a kind of confidence that she hadn't exactly expressed until just now.[/size][/blockquote]

[Deleted]

"Well... home is important to ground you in the person that you want to be, unless you're purposely trying to reject your original self, that is."

Michigan returned his helmet back to his face and spoke some more.

"I'd be glad to come with you, to meet some more veterans of the project."

Michigan began to look around to keep up his situational awareness and spoke once more.

"Take me to your leader. Hahaha. But seriously tell me what I end to know on the way, like protocols, and who to watch out for, ect."

[Freelancer Kansas]

Kansas nodded slightly, putting her own helmet on, carefully tucking her ponytail inside of it, ignoring the blast of helmet heat. She was used to it. Instead, she turned in the direction Oklahoma had gone, looking to see if there were any sign of him even as she continued to speak. "Well... I'll see what I can do. I don't know much about the higher up freelancers - I'm only in the third team, there are two teams above us, after all - but I'll tell you what I can, as long as you stick with us. I just kinda have to wait until Oklahoma gets back before we can set out again..."

[/color]

Her tone tailed off slightly as she continued to watch in that direction, glancing over at Michigan, wondering for a vague moment if they should try to find the other Freelancer. "I suppose we could give him a bit more time, to come back..." Normally their breaks lasted a good thirty minutes, so there was time anyway. It's not like they took these breaks often, anyway.[/size][/blockquote]

[Deleted]

Jul 12, 2012 16:28:06 GMT -8 Freelancer Kansas said:

"Well... I'll see what I can do. I don't know much about the higher up freelancers - I'm only in the third team, there are two teams above us, after all - but I'll tell you what I can, as long as you stick with us. I just kinda have to wait until Oklahoma gets back before we can set out again..."

"I suppose we could give him a bit more time, to come back..."

[/blockquote][/quote]

"Well.. guess we'll just have to wait then."

Michigan said, in a tone as though he was half speaking to himself. Hopefully this interaction would lead to something lucrative and prosperous. Only God knows how insufficient his military salary seemed.

"So.. what else do I need to know while we wait on your friend's return?"

Colonel Jones said the last bit just before putting his helmet back on, the last few words being altered by his voice modulator.

[SeekerWing]

THREAD CLOSED

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