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Apr. 11th, 2010 11:46 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
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shutupwesleyTitle: To Be Cast
Rating: PG-13
Fandom: Red vs Blue
Summary: [ Prologue & Chapter One ] The Director plots, his assistant smiles and David Stark wonders just what the hell he got himself into when he said yes to Project Freelancer.
Prologue
Her heels clicked out a familiar rhythm on the steel floor as she walked towards the Director's office. A nod to the two guards posted in front of it and she was moving through the automatic door that opened into a long hallway. She snorted as she began to walk the length of it. The Director was much to concerned for his own safety in her opinion. What they had done was more than a little morally ambiguous, but they'd covered their tracks well. He had nothing to be worried about.
Her hand pressed against a scanner, her finger was pricked for a small blood sample and then she was moving into the Director's spacious yet messy office. She carefully picked her way around file folders, pictures and data chips with a disdainful look. “Everything is in place,” she said quietly.
The Director looked up then and smiled at her. “Elena. Wonderful.” He stood and his smile broadened as Elena moved closer to his desk.
“The Alpha and Adalheidis remember nothing of what happened to them here,” Elena murmured, a cruel smirk curling at her red painted lips. “Your precious Adalheidis enlisted a week ago and Alpha, being the smitten fool his is, will follow her. Just as planned.”
“Perfect. Everything is falling in to place,” the Director said as he rummaged through a stack of files on his desk.
“Forty-eight files,” Elena guessed as she looked at the stack. “Your Project Freelancer.” Her fingers trailed up the sides of one of the stacks as she looked at the ones the Director pulled out curiously. “Have you found your Team Alpha, then?”
“Yes. Look at this.”
The first file was dropped in from of Elena and a familiar face looked up at her from the profile picture. “Leonard. This is your Adalheidis.”
Leonard grinned and his eyes sparkled behind his horn rimmed glasses. “Not any more she's not. Say hello to Alison Wyatt. She'll be perfectly paired with Omega. Our Agent Texas.” Elena's lip curled distastefully but she listened as the files came out one after another. “Isabelle Bellincioni, Agent Illinois, to be paired with Sigma. Laura Fredrick, Agent Carolina--”
“It says she's from South Dakota, Leonard.”
“Yes, but the twins from Fargo, North Dakota have the monopoly on those names. Carolina is the closest we could get for her. Carolina is to be paired with both Ro and Pi. Her psychological profile is perfect for the implantation of multiple AI units and Ro and Pi mustn't be separated under any circumstances.
“Richard Wyght, Agent New York, to be paired with AI unit Delta. Joshua Dempsey, Agent Maine, to be paired with Tau. And look at this, Elena.” The last file folder slapped onto the desk and Elena looked at the young face in the photo. “David Stark, Agent Washington, to be paired with AI unit Epsilon.”
Elena looked through the file with an incredulous expression. “Him? He's a Private, and just barely enlisted at that. The rest of his credentials are ridiculous. Leonard, he can't do what we need him to do, he's a bleeding heart if I ever saw one!”
The expression on the Director's face gave Elena pause as she looked up from the file folder. “What is it, Leonard? I know that look. There's something you're not telling me.”
“Look at his family, Elena,” he said as he sat back in his chair.
“Father, deceased. Mother, deceased. Brother, deceased. So he's lost family,” Elena felt the incredulity turn to anger and frustration as Leonard kept that infuriating know-it-all look on his face. “That doesn't mean the kid's cut out for the kind of work we need him to do.”
Leonard's smile just grew in return as he motioned to the folder. “Look at his psychological profile.”
After throwing the Director one last skeptical look, Elena flipped through the folder until she got to the pages in question. Her eyes widened as she looked through it. “Leonard... this...”
“Is a wonderful find, is it not?” Leonard asked with a grin.
Elena's red lips grinned in return and the woman slowly walked around the desk to deposit herself in the Director's lap. “It's more than wonderful, darling. He needs only a little molding and a little... prodding, shall we say, and then he'll be the killer we need.” Her fingers traced over the Director's brow and took off his glasses before resting her forehead against his. “Have I ever told you you're brilliant, darling? You really are. You're magnificent.”
Her lips gently caressed his before moving to his ear. “And soon, Leonard. Soon everything will be put to rights.”
***
Chapter One
Three Weeks Later
It was a little overwhelming, walking into the mess hall and looking around at the others that he would be working with now that he'd gotten himself into... whatever it was he had gotten himself into. He was one of the last recruits to arrive, and that fact showed as he observed the controlled chaos. With a group as big as what Project Freelancer was going to be, it was no surprise that there were going to be cliques of sorts, people bonding with other like people. He could see a few Army men in one corner, a couple of people from the Marine Corps and there were quite a few Navy recruits milling about. And, of course, there were the three dimwits who were laughing uproariously in the corner.
As he glared at them, a tall woman came up beside him and placed her hand on his shoulder. “They look like total idiots don't they?” He tensed and turned to look at her with a raised eyebrow. “Hey, chill out. I'm Corporal Lilith Guerra, codename South Dakota.”
“Private David Stark, codename Washington,” he said quietly. “... sir.”
South grinned and clapped him on the back. “All our ranks are going down the tubes, Stark. Just call me Lilith or South. If you call me Guerra you'll get two of us responding.”
That comment called for a somewhat confused look. “There's someone else with your name here?”
“Yeah,” she said with a shrug. “My twin brother, Zach. He's over there.” A gesture towards the Army men arm wrestling and Washington could spot the man observing the match. It was easy to see the similarities between him and South. Same hair color, eye shape, nose... The faces were filed away for future reference.
He was about to comment on the resemblance to South when a grizzled old Major stood on one of the tables and begun to yell. “Alright you maggots! Fall in.” The chatter ceased and everyone moved towards the table, quickly coming into lines and standing at attention. “Welcome to Project Freelancer. You all have read your orientation packets, and if you haven't, you're going to be very confused and no one is going to explain to you what the hell is going on.
“Training starts on Monday morning at 0430. Right now we'll be splitting you into your teams for training. There will be eight teams of six and each team will be living together in one of the residence blocks here at Command. Tonight's the last night off you will get for the rest of the time Freelancer owns your lives. Enjoy it while you can.”
The Major began listing off teams, each with a letter or a number and a corresponding residence block. Washington looked around out of the corner of his eyes, watching to see who would be left, who he would end up sorted with. “Last team, Team Alpha: Washington, Maine, New York, Texas, Carolina and Illinois. You're in block A. Dismissed.”
He barely managed to hold back his grimace as he realized that Maine and New York were two of three laughing idiots. Instead he shouldered his duffel and followed the rest of his team to residence block A. It was a relatively small facility, two bedrooms, two bathrooms, a common room and a little kitchen that was big enough for maybe one person to move around in.
"They expect six of us to live here?" Texas asked with a raised eyebrow as she looked around.
Maine poked his head into one of the bedrooms and shrugged. "Three bunks in each room, two desks... looks like men and women's showers. It'll be a bit cramped, but it's not like it's not doable."
Texas glared at him. "I didn't say it wasn't doable."
Maine shrugged and moved into the male bunk to stake his claim on a bed. Washington sighed and moved in after York to take the bed left. He dropped his duffel on the ground next to the bed and flopped down onto the stiff mattress and threw his arm over his eyes. He didn't try to sleep, instead he listened as New York and Maine moving around and whispering to each other. They didn't talk overly much and not about anything important. It was small talk, with a bit of rating the girls on their team thrown in on the end.
"Oh, honey, you don' know nothin'," Illinois' voice came from the doorway. Wash peeked out from under his arm to see her leaning against the doorjamb and smirking at the other two occupants of the room.
Maine grinned back at Illinois and quirked an eyebrow at her. "Don't you go exaggerating your accent at me, missy."
With a roll of her eyes, she pushed off of the door and moved towards the common room. "Come on. Team Alpha get to know you thing. Tex and 'Lina got beer."
Washington let out a small sigh and followed the others into to the commons. He grabbed a beer and headed towards the black leather chair. After downing half the can, he looked around at the other people in his team. Illinois was giving him an incredibly amused look. "Damn, rookie," she said. "You had a rough week or something?"
Washington let out a small, bitter chuckle. “You have no idea. And I have a feeling it's going to get even worse.”
Rating: PG-13
Fandom: Red vs Blue
Summary: [ Prologue & Chapter One ] The Director plots, his assistant smiles and David Stark wonders just what the hell he got himself into when he said yes to Project Freelancer.
Her heels clicked out a familiar rhythm on the steel floor as she walked towards the Director's office. A nod to the two guards posted in front of it and she was moving through the automatic door that opened into a long hallway. She snorted as she began to walk the length of it. The Director was much to concerned for his own safety in her opinion. What they had done was more than a little morally ambiguous, but they'd covered their tracks well. He had nothing to be worried about.
Her hand pressed against a scanner, her finger was pricked for a small blood sample and then she was moving into the Director's spacious yet messy office. She carefully picked her way around file folders, pictures and data chips with a disdainful look. “Everything is in place,” she said quietly.
The Director looked up then and smiled at her. “Elena. Wonderful.” He stood and his smile broadened as Elena moved closer to his desk.
“The Alpha and Adalheidis remember nothing of what happened to them here,” Elena murmured, a cruel smirk curling at her red painted lips. “Your precious Adalheidis enlisted a week ago and Alpha, being the smitten fool his is, will follow her. Just as planned.”
“Perfect. Everything is falling in to place,” the Director said as he rummaged through a stack of files on his desk.
“Forty-eight files,” Elena guessed as she looked at the stack. “Your Project Freelancer.” Her fingers trailed up the sides of one of the stacks as she looked at the ones the Director pulled out curiously. “Have you found your Team Alpha, then?”
“Yes. Look at this.”
The first file was dropped in from of Elena and a familiar face looked up at her from the profile picture. “Leonard. This is your Adalheidis.”
Leonard grinned and his eyes sparkled behind his horn rimmed glasses. “Not any more she's not. Say hello to Alison Wyatt. She'll be perfectly paired with Omega. Our Agent Texas.” Elena's lip curled distastefully but she listened as the files came out one after another. “Isabelle Bellincioni, Agent Illinois, to be paired with Sigma. Laura Fredrick, Agent Carolina--”
“It says she's from South Dakota, Leonard.”
“Yes, but the twins from Fargo, North Dakota have the monopoly on those names. Carolina is the closest we could get for her. Carolina is to be paired with both Ro and Pi. Her psychological profile is perfect for the implantation of multiple AI units and Ro and Pi mustn't be separated under any circumstances.
“Richard Wyght, Agent New York, to be paired with AI unit Delta. Joshua Dempsey, Agent Maine, to be paired with Tau. And look at this, Elena.” The last file folder slapped onto the desk and Elena looked at the young face in the photo. “David Stark, Agent Washington, to be paired with AI unit Epsilon.”
Elena looked through the file with an incredulous expression. “Him? He's a Private, and just barely enlisted at that. The rest of his credentials are ridiculous. Leonard, he can't do what we need him to do, he's a bleeding heart if I ever saw one!”
The expression on the Director's face gave Elena pause as she looked up from the file folder. “What is it, Leonard? I know that look. There's something you're not telling me.”
“Look at his family, Elena,” he said as he sat back in his chair.
“Father, deceased. Mother, deceased. Brother, deceased. So he's lost family,” Elena felt the incredulity turn to anger and frustration as Leonard kept that infuriating know-it-all look on his face. “That doesn't mean the kid's cut out for the kind of work we need him to do.”
Leonard's smile just grew in return as he motioned to the folder. “Look at his psychological profile.”
After throwing the Director one last skeptical look, Elena flipped through the folder until she got to the pages in question. Her eyes widened as she looked through it. “Leonard... this...”
“Is a wonderful find, is it not?” Leonard asked with a grin.
Elena's red lips grinned in return and the woman slowly walked around the desk to deposit herself in the Director's lap. “It's more than wonderful, darling. He needs only a little molding and a little... prodding, shall we say, and then he'll be the killer we need.” Her fingers traced over the Director's brow and took off his glasses before resting her forehead against his. “Have I ever told you you're brilliant, darling? You really are. You're magnificent.”
Her lips gently caressed his before moving to his ear. “And soon, Leonard. Soon everything will be put to rights.”
Chapter One
Three Weeks Later
It was a little overwhelming, walking into the mess hall and looking around at the others that he would be working with now that he'd gotten himself into... whatever it was he had gotten himself into. He was one of the last recruits to arrive, and that fact showed as he observed the controlled chaos. With a group as big as what Project Freelancer was going to be, it was no surprise that there were going to be cliques of sorts, people bonding with other like people. He could see a few Army men in one corner, a couple of people from the Marine Corps and there were quite a few Navy recruits milling about. And, of course, there were the three dimwits who were laughing uproariously in the corner.
As he glared at them, a tall woman came up beside him and placed her hand on his shoulder. “They look like total idiots don't they?” He tensed and turned to look at her with a raised eyebrow. “Hey, chill out. I'm Corporal Lilith Guerra, codename South Dakota.”
“Private David Stark, codename Washington,” he said quietly. “... sir.”
South grinned and clapped him on the back. “All our ranks are going down the tubes, Stark. Just call me Lilith or South. If you call me Guerra you'll get two of us responding.”
That comment called for a somewhat confused look. “There's someone else with your name here?”
“Yeah,” she said with a shrug. “My twin brother, Zach. He's over there.” A gesture towards the Army men arm wrestling and Washington could spot the man observing the match. It was easy to see the similarities between him and South. Same hair color, eye shape, nose... The faces were filed away for future reference.
He was about to comment on the resemblance to South when a grizzled old Major stood on one of the tables and begun to yell. “Alright you maggots! Fall in.” The chatter ceased and everyone moved towards the table, quickly coming into lines and standing at attention. “Welcome to Project Freelancer. You all have read your orientation packets, and if you haven't, you're going to be very confused and no one is going to explain to you what the hell is going on.
“Training starts on Monday morning at 0430. Right now we'll be splitting you into your teams for training. There will be eight teams of six and each team will be living together in one of the residence blocks here at Command. Tonight's the last night off you will get for the rest of the time Freelancer owns your lives. Enjoy it while you can.”
The Major began listing off teams, each with a letter or a number and a corresponding residence block. Washington looked around out of the corner of his eyes, watching to see who would be left, who he would end up sorted with. “Last team, Team Alpha: Washington, Maine, New York, Texas, Carolina and Illinois. You're in block A. Dismissed.”
He barely managed to hold back his grimace as he realized that Maine and New York were two of three laughing idiots. Instead he shouldered his duffel and followed the rest of his team to residence block A. It was a relatively small facility, two bedrooms, two bathrooms, a common room and a little kitchen that was big enough for maybe one person to move around in.
"They expect six of us to live here?" Texas asked with a raised eyebrow as she looked around.
Maine poked his head into one of the bedrooms and shrugged. "Three bunks in each room, two desks... looks like men and women's showers. It'll be a bit cramped, but it's not like it's not doable."
Texas glared at him. "I didn't say it wasn't doable."
Maine shrugged and moved into the male bunk to stake his claim on a bed. Washington sighed and moved in after York to take the bed left. He dropped his duffel on the ground next to the bed and flopped down onto the stiff mattress and threw his arm over his eyes. He didn't try to sleep, instead he listened as New York and Maine moving around and whispering to each other. They didn't talk overly much and not about anything important. It was small talk, with a bit of rating the girls on their team thrown in on the end.
"Oh, honey, you don' know nothin'," Illinois' voice came from the doorway. Wash peeked out from under his arm to see her leaning against the doorjamb and smirking at the other two occupants of the room.
Maine grinned back at Illinois and quirked an eyebrow at her. "Don't you go exaggerating your accent at me, missy."
With a roll of her eyes, she pushed off of the door and moved towards the common room. "Come on. Team Alpha get to know you thing. Tex and 'Lina got beer."
Washington let out a small sigh and followed the others into to the commons. He grabbed a beer and headed towards the black leather chair. After downing half the can, he looked around at the other people in his team. Illinois was giving him an incredibly amused look. "Damn, rookie," she said. "You had a rough week or something?"
Washington let out a small, bitter chuckle. “You have no idea. And I have a feeling it's going to get even worse.”
