[IC] Before RvB there was; Project Freelancer

[Nytefall]

The Director looked over the agents with hidden curiosity. They were all either quiet or engaging in mindless chit-chat to pass the time. The Director smiled as he looked over the files that were on his desk. "Jacob Huntington? Fairly dull background to the collection of people here. But still someone to keep an eye on. Counselor, what happened to the last shipment of experimental weapons. Binary rifles? Was that there name?"

The Counselor looked at his PDA and sighed. "I am sorry to report sir but they are currently in rebel hands, they ambushed the delivery ships and stole the cargo."

The Director slammed his fist down on the table making the Counselor jump. "God damn it! This rebels stealing everything I try to get delivered! No matter. A perfect first mission for our new recruits however training time first. Then mission briefs." Pressing a button on his desk a woman's voice spoke slightly robotic in the way it spoke she addressed the Agents in the large hall, who had now gone quiet.

-Recording Start-
Welcome you are one of 49 elite military members who have been chosen for the new Freelancer project. We hope that you have gotten your self comfortable to listen to this recording as you will need to listen very carefully! You will no longer be know by your Civilian names, instead you will be addressed by your new codename which will have been assigned to you before you entered this hall. This must be used at all time this is for your safety! Before entering live combat you will be hooked up with various armour enhancements and an extremely Valuable AI. This AI is suited to you and will help you use your new abilities safely and efficiently.

Working together is crucial to completing your objective and scoring high in the leaderboards. The leaderboards track your personal progress throughout your missions. No matter where you are on the leaderboard you will not be treated any differently, these leaderboards are for The directors and the boards feedback as to how well the Project is running. There are a few rules that must be followed:

AIs must not communicate with each other.

No contact to the outside is allowed via any mode of communication.

Use of live weapons or abilities unless inside a training zone is prohibited.

Obey any orders given to you by the Director or Counsellor.

We hope you enjoy your time with us here at Project Freelancer!

-Recording End-

The Directors voice followed the womans after a short pause. "Good morning agents. To assess who is going to be implanted with what A.I. we will begin this morning with a round sparring. We will be assessing how you fight and act individually and together. Your opponents will be military grade Mechanoids with military A.I.. You will be outnumbered two to one so take this into account. Please make your way towards the training facility now."

The training facility in question was a large room filled with a simulation battle environment made to look like an abandoned village. All of the agents would be able to use live round however their armour abilities would be disabled. Their opponents stand at the other side of the room, black suits of armour armed with simulation rounds that pack a hell of a punch but are not lethal.

Washington was the first in, looking at situation he grimaced. "Man, robots punch like heavyweight boxers and take as much punishment as a tank. Not fair."

Once all the agents were in a horn buzzed signaling the start of the exercise. The robots jumped to life taking up defencive position and throwing smoke grenades in front of them to cover their advance. Advance they did slowly moving forwards preparing to engage whoever got close.

Washington looked over at the rest of the agents. "Hey guys and gals names Washington, these robots are going to be a bitch to take down. Word to note they'll keep on going even if you knock of their heads. They can take information from other bots to see so if one sees you they all see you. Only reason I know so much about these bastards is this ain't my first rodeo with them. Got stuck in a training simulator with two of them, they beat me good. So don't get caught and if you do have to hit them then hit them as hard as you fucking can! Apart from that..." Washington pulled the pin on a grenade. "Have fun!" Vaulting over the wall he had been hiding behind he threw the grenade into the crowd of machines. They jumped away from the explosive and Washington was there to meet them blasting one in the arm with his AR he was met with a punch to the gut sending him flying over a wall. "Son of a bitch"

[Heroic]

Garret Hood followed the rest of the group out to the "training" room. "I can almost guarantee that this isn't going to be anything like your standard PT." Garret said as he chambered a round into his Sniper Rifle. "But as long as I'm with a scoped death-dealing, lead slinging boom-stick, then I'll be alright. See you all later!" West shouted as he dashed away from both the group and the oncoming bots, toward a bell tower.

West climbed up the bell tower at an incredible speed. This was almost definitely not his first rodeo. He had a good side view of the whole battlefield. "Heheheh... Let's see how many rounds these guys can take from ol' Betsy." He remarked smugly before lying prone at the edge of the bell tower, peering down his scope, and searching for a target. He found one in the form of the one that had just punched Washington. "Bang." He muttered just before firing a round off with pinpoint accuracy at the head of the unfortunate machine.

[MaskedHeroZ]

Yeah, this is exactly what Arizona wanted to see when he woke up that morning; A mechanized army coming to beat his head in. He honestly should have suspected something of the sort when he joined up with the secretive project, still, he liked to believe he had hoped for something better. He didn't of course, so that's why he was quick to move after one of his moronic peers tried to jump straight into the fray and another found it necessary to run away from the incoming wave.

"Imbeciles" He muttered to himself as he stalked away from the main group of Agents, already forming out a plan as he found a hiding place among the shadows of the village. He would out-flank the machines and use his explosives to dispose of them quickly, or he would have, if one didn't turn a corner. The machine's back was to him though, so he had one shot to take it down.

Taking out his combat knife in one deft movement, he crept closer behind the black armored machine, flipping the blade so it would go straight down through it's neck. Without another thought, he struck at his target with as much force he could muster. The metal of the knife sinking into the metal that made up the machine itself, it felt somewhat satisfying to Arizona. That was, until the machine began to turn and face him.

"Dammit." Was all the poor Agent got to say as he backed away, unsure of why that hadn't worked. He seemed to finally catch a break as the enemy slumped and finally fell, the machine disabled from the normally lethal blow. Sighing in relief he retrieved his knife, only to see in it's reflection two more of the machines with their guns raised at him.

"I hate today so much right now." He yelped as he turned to run from the ensuring gunshots.

[datadogie]

Ruby Arrowson moved to the right, and vaulted a wall. She ran forward, and fired on a pair of robots. Unfortunately, at the same time she moved forward, the robots did too, and she was forced to backpedal and fire at the same time. She rolled into cover at the same time as the robots began to fire, and lifted her M7 around the wall, firing blindly. The shots that were hitting the wall ceased. Ruby quickly rounded the corner, and her eyes widened. "Hey, handsom-"

Before she could finish her sentence, a robotic fist hit her stomach, and she was launched backwards, firing as she went. Her back hit something, and she let out what sounded like a yelp, dropping her entire magazine into the robot, which quickly approached to finish her off. The robot collapsed inbetween her legs, and she quickly got up, inserting another clip into her M7 and delivering a good kick to the bullet-filled robot. "Can't a girl get help around here?" Ruby giggles, before walking back to the scene to engage some more robots.

[Kralion]

An- I mean, Alaska just chuckled as Washington complained about the robots. "Oh, but that's what makes it so fun!" She said a laugh as she readied her M739 Light Machine Gun. Normally, she would move almost a snail's pace with the weight of the gun, plus her two submachineguns and Jiralhanae combat knife, but the good thing about losing an arm was that the new arm they gave you could handle a lot more weight than your previous one. She took out the magazine, checking it for one last time before reloading it and jumping into the fray.

The first thing she noticed was how the robots were easily starting to push them back. They might be more skilled, but those robots had tactics. Fortunately, big-ass gun usually triumphs over anything. She took cover behind a chest high wall before rolling out and letting out several bursts of fire towards the incoming robots. Two of them were ripped apart by the sheer firepower before the rest started to supress her. She didn't even saw the one coming behind her back due to the combined noise.

Alright, so maybe sometimes tactics DID triumph over big-ass gun.

The robot smacked the machine gun out of Alaska's hand and, before she could react, it grappled and started choking her. The operative quickly grabbed the Jiralhanae combat knife around her belt, which was a lot closer to a sword due to the sheer size, and stabbed the robot on its back with it. If it had been a human the shock would have knocked him out, but the robot just faltered for a few seconds before resuming the chokehold.

Alaska was loving this exercise already.

[cerozer0]

It was starting to become a natural sight, seeing the new, small, angry Louisiana sitting on one of the many chairs throughout the ship, book in one hand and a cigarette in the other. Many of the workers had noticed her throughout the days with slight confusion; unlike other soldiers who would take a few hours or days of rest after a mission she was on a constant move. Exercise, essays, training, the only time she wasn’t on the move was when she was reading, and even then her eyes swam quickly through the seas of letters and her lips trembled with unsaid words while her eyebrows furrowed in concentration. It took effort to grab her attention when she was in a state of retaining knowledge, but there was always one sound that drew her eyes upward. The buzz of the intercom, the sound of the man that can make her efforts worthwhile, was the one thing that can catch and hold her always fleeting attention. Once the intercom and messages silenced, Chris Valentine glanced down the hall, eyeing where plenty of newbie Freelancers (much like herself) were gathering. The training room.

’Fantastic, a team training session.’ Her mind whispered, hand snapping the hardcover copy of “Armor Weak Points and Mental Capabilities” shut as she rose and wandered towards her room to suit up and prepare herself for the hard fight ahead.

---

Louisiana eventually caught up to the rest of the group, just in time to hear the one named Washington explain the cons of their little robot opponents. Then they were alive as the room buzzed to life, and everything was moving. She had only been able to catch a glimpse of the black suits, but that was enough. Robots or not, they were humanoid. Humans were weak creatures, from their brains to their bodies, and just because these bots were programmed to be fearless didn’t mean their knees could withstand a caving kick. The explosion of Washington’s grenade set her off in the opposite direction, towards the darker parts of the village, and instantly her hands wrapped around the two pistols holstered at her side as she turned the corner of a building and was met with the barrel of another weapon.

The robot’s black armor gleamed in the artificial light, but Louisiana knew where her focus should lie, even though her mind was screaming to run, and instead of cowering back from the gun at her forehead she ducked, swiping her leg across the earth. The shadow of the bot casted over her for a moment, and then a cloud of dust filled the general location of where it had fallen to. In only a few easy movements she was up again, four single shots into the bot’s head, elbows, and knees. One final kick assured her victory and once again she was on the prowl, eyes scanning the shadows of the village simulation. One of her teammates, the sniper, had seemed to find a comfortable area to scope out some enemies, and constant explosions reminded her of the other Freelancers that were trying their best to be on top today.

’I’ll try even harder, then!’

In the next instant she was running quickly through a narrow path between two buildings, eyes set on the back of one of the robots. The guns were holstered, and instead she pulled out one smoke and her well-maintained combat knife. Her eyes narrowed once another bot came into view, and it seemed she was noticed as well as instantly the tech’s gun was brought up, ready to fire. Instantly, her thumb pulled the smoke's pin and it was thrown in between the two robots. The puff came with a small bang, and instantly white smoke filled the general area. The sudden bangs of gunshots, and a sharp pain in her shoulder gave Chris a reminder of where the enemies were located. Her knife eventually met metal, and her eyes the back of a helmet, and a few quick, forceful stabs to the back, arms, and a slash across the neck sent the bot shuddering down. Her free hand quickly caught the metallic monster's armor, and she turned just as the smoke began to clear, using the body as a shield while the other robot opened fire.

The bullets sent her tumbling back slightly, each shot adding weight to the heavy metal in front of her chest, but her idea seemed to bear fruit once the shots ceased and the robot instantly began to grapple with new rounds. Louisiana rushed forward then, body dropping as she flipped the knife, preparing to slash, but her blade was met with another. The robot pushed against her knife with its own, obviously upping the small woman in strength, but still she attempted to keep one step ahead of this fearless machines, slashing and ducking and kicking at whatever opening she could find. Eventually, she had worn down the robots defense (and her own as well) just enough for her take make a large gash on its lower stomach, and once it reacted she kicked forward and sent it flying, just as it's hand conked her right in the side of the face. Both bodies went flying, but Louisiana quickly recovered with a single flip, landing in a crouch as she attempted to regain some sense of concentration while the bot slowly rose from the ground once more.

Her vision was blurred as pain filled her head, but again, she could not remain still, and once the shaking image of the machine came into view she jumped forward, quickly pulling out and firing at least five shots forward. The black blur fell, and Louisiana slowly stood and vanished back into the shadows of the village, breathing slightly as she awaited her next confrontation.

[Argetlam350]

"Yeah whatever," Montana said facing down one bot ",Time to lay the pain train on this hunk of junk. Good think I can return the same hits they can give." To prove his point, he ran forward at the bot he was facing, landing a bone shattering blow onto the robots head. Normally a hit like that would perhaps knock a person out for the count. Montana was surprised that the punch didn't just drop the bot and had little time to react when the robot punched him back, sending him skidding across the ground.

"Okay maybe these bots do pack a punch," he grumbled to himself as he got himself back open and getting his bearings back ",Fine but lets see how they like meeting Scorn." With that he with drew his trusty shotgun, something he had kept with him over the years ever since he was given it from the military. It was one item he never leaved without and if anyone dared to try and steal it, they wouldn't be walking for awhile after wards when Montana caught them. He aimed at the bot coming towards him and fired, blowing a hole through it's chest, but not even that seemed to stop these machines. The bot fell onto the ground seemingly lifeless, making Montana feel smug but after a few seconds of laying still it just got up again.

"Great so apparently we will be fighting the undead," Montana said and then shrugged ",Oh well means more action for me." He charged forward again, enjoying the thrill he was getting going toe to toe with a force that could match his strength. It got quite dull winning a fight with one punch sometimes so now having something he could beat to death was far more entertaining. As he approached the bot another jumped onto him from behind but it hardly fazed Montana and he kept going, now having a passenger on his back as he slammed his gun full force into the bot in front of him that he had started this fight with, nearly detaching it's head. Once he dealt with that he grabbed the robot from his back and threw it across the room.

"That's a home run," he said before turning around to see the headless robot get up again ",Right I forgot you can still fight without the head perfect." Today was going to be a long and fun day for him to enjoy as he got ready to spar the bot once more.

[Heroic]

West analyzed the situation at hand, it was pretty impressive that all these other recruits were so skilled in hand to hand combat, he had to admit. But in his mind, what good was your ability to fight up close if you could keep a foe from even getting near you? This thought boosted his confidence as he located another bot. It was getting ready to round the corner and take one of the recruits by surprise. This recruit, he had not yet had the pleasure of meeting, but it was obviously a girl. She had retreated to a darker part of the village to recover after a confrontation with a machine. Well, if Hood could help it, he would make sure she got an extended recovery.

And he did.

He purposely fired his first shot behind the bot's knee, causing its leg to fail and making it tumble several yards. It came to a rest in front of Louisiana very suddenly, and West ended it with another simple headshot, followed by a shot to the chest and a reload. "Merry birthmas..." He remarked. Two kills for him. But before he could pick out another target, he was picked up by his head and tossed into the wall of the bell tower rather roughly.

West pulled himself to his feet after having his back slammed against a wall, and looked up to see a third machine. Clearly, it had followed him up here from before and had just taken a while to catch up to Hood. If it had seen him while he was set up, he would have seen it and taken it down earlier. "Rats..." He muttered before drawing his custom-made, antique Bowie Knife. It had a solid neptune-blue blade with a gold, edged handle. For the inch of the blade closest to the handle, the sharp end was jagged. "Party time."

The robot charged West. West anticipated this and he sidestepped just as the robot passed him, and he roundhouse kicked it in the back of the head, slamming it against the wall in the same spot that he was. He then stabbed it in the back of the neck with his knife. The bot turned and swung his arm in an arc, knocking West onto his back. The machine pounced on him just as he yanked his M6 from its holster and swept the robot's legs out from under it with a sweep kick, forcing it to land on its side. West the aimed the magnum at his knife, still lodged in the thing's neck, and fired. The round twisted the blade a little over 90 degrees with its momentum, and the humanoid cog system twtched before going limp.

"Man, I am awesome." He smirked before climbing back down the tower to find a new spot.

[datadogie]

Ruby rounded a corner, and fired on some more of the hostiles. Before they could think about walking toward her, she had moved to the right, and was thinking about moving around the building to shoot at them from behind when she came face to face with another 'bot. She pulled the trigger of her M7, however the robot pulled the gun out of her hand and slapped her with it. Ruby quickly walks backwards as it drops her gun and pulls out it's own. She quickly grabs both of her M6Ds and whips them up, unleashing a quick barrage of bullets into the bot's arms and chest. She then kicks it over, and stomps on it's head.

Ruby quickly grabs her M7 from the fallen 'bot, She then runs around another few corners until she is behind a pair of 'bots that appear not to see her. She pulls out her knife in her right hand, transferring her gun to her left. She then walks up to the bots quietly. Knowning that she couldn't stab her knife into the bots, as it would barely faze them, she holds her knife with the blade pointing down instead of up, and puts the knife to the front of the neck of the robot to the right, her left hand shooting the left 'bot in it's back and head. With the right hand, she pulled back as hard as she could, also pulling sideways. The left bot 'died', and the knife managed to get into the neck of the right bot. In addition, the knife pulled the bot down to the ground, and Ruby delivered a swift kick to the head of the robot, the head of it falling off. She then delivers more kicks to the robot, keeping it's gun down, at the same time reloading her gun. She then unleashed some bullets into the robot, and therefore ended it's 'life'.

[Kralion]

Alaska gritted her teeth as the combat robot increased the strength he put into the chokehold. You know, for a simulation battle it was top notch. She was pretty sure that if he put a few more ounces of strength into his hold that her head would pop off. Sadly for the robot, his story wasn't going to end in sunshine and popped heads.

Alaska closed her robotic fist and smashed into the robots visor with a single strike. Her fingers could feel several cables and circuits inside of him. She hoped they were important as she began pulling them out, a shower of sparks coming from the robots head as she ripped them out. He let of her for a moment as his system tried to continue working, but that was all the freelancer needed. She took out her SMG and fired at the robot, a shower of lead covering its metalic body as he went down with a loud THUD.

Alaska took her her knife from the robots back, putting it back into her belt before grabbing her SAW once more. She dashed towards the east side of the battle as the robots focused on the recruits on the west side. She dashed between ruined houses until she reached to the collapsed rooftop of one of them. She didn't waste any time before opening fire, flanking the robots. One more of them fell apart under her automatic fire before her gun went dry. Pffftt, who had time to reload?

Alaska threw her SAW to the side before reaching for her knife once more. As a few robots turned on the human that had flanked them they were greeted by a screaming, airborne berserker who had thrown herself from the roof. She brought down her knife hard, landing on one of the robots as went right through him. Before he could react she let out another burst of fire from her SMG and it went limp. One down, two more pissed-off death machines to go.

Grabbing her other holstered SMG she rushed foward as they opened fire. Once she was close enough she suddenly slid down, opening fire once more as she peppered the robot both from the front and from its back as she slid between his legs. It let out a long, robotic whine before going limp. Before she could get up the other robot rushed foward and slammed its leg onto her chest, knocking the wind out of her, making her drop her SMGs and pinning her to the floor as it raised its rifle to her face. Alaska was really having fun now.

"Yoink!" was the last words the robot heard as Alaska ripped the gun from its metal fingers. She then smashed it into the leg that was pinning her down, forcing the robot to step back. She then threw it against his its chest, doing nothing more than leaving a dent on its armor but distracting it enough for her to recover her SMGs. She emptied what was left of her magazines into it, making it dance as the bullets went right through him. She pulled back into a ruined house, grabbing her knife once more and reloading her SMGs as she heard the robots closing in. They weren't lying when the recruitment papers said they would be facing challenges tougher than some Covenant.

"Lovin' it." Said Alaska with a chuckle as she finished reloading her SMGs, waiting for the robots to close in.

[Argetlam350]

"Here's your present," Montana said through gritted teeth, both him and the robot fighting to kill one another. Montana finally was able to hold the bot off with one arm and grabbed one of the grenades pinned at his side, and then quickly unhooked the pin and shoved it into the robot's chest where his shotgun had made an impressive hole earlier ",Now go share it with your friend who tried to sack me." With those words Montana got underneath the bot and picked it up, having it above his head before throwing it in the direction of the other bot he had thrown previously. The other bot had just gotten up only to be toppled over again from his headless comrade. Shortly after that, the grenade went off, a showing of robot parts falling in every direction.

"And that's how you get rid of two birds with one stone. Who's next?" Montana said looking around for a free target and cracking one of his knuckles ",I need to put some more pain on these guys." He soon spotted another target, or more like several of them in a group seemingly and within his mask he smiled."Perfect, a party to crash."

[cerozer0]

The sudden body landing before her was definitely a surprise, though she showed her caution by grabbing the hilt of her knife instead of shrinking back. A gunshot quickly disabled the bot, however, and Louisiana quickly casted her gaze upwards to the sniper in the tower. A half smirk, masked by her helmet, graced her lips momentarily, not feeling the usual distrust she would have felt, but it faded when she lost sight of West, catching only the glimpse of black armor. The flash of arms and knives came to and fro momentarily, and with a sigh she turned, quietly muttering 'RIP' before circling the village slowly, the pain from her past battle fading with time. Though, it seemed her time couldn't last any longer, as she noticed a few robotic soldiers climbing up to the roofs of the many buildings. Her mind quickly returned to the sniper, who's name escaped her for the moment, and with a sudden, uncharacteristic thought and sigh she slunk into the battle field.

Her hands gripped the Carbine on her back, and she lowered into a defensive crouch, quietly aiming the weapon at one of the bots which was carefully trying to lift one of his programmed comrades up onto the sloped surface. Louisiana breathed softly, finger itching the trigger, and then finally shot, nailing the machine right in the back of its head. It staggered, then tumbled off the roof, and all at once the comrade in his hand was dropped and crushed beneath the still, metal body. Her eyes turned towards the last place she had seen the sniper, and once she realized he was gone she shrugged and moved on, stalking through the streets quietly.

An explosion to her left, down an alley, drew her attention slightly, but once she saw the massive figure of Montana pummeling the hoard of black bots around him she shook her head and continued on, that is, until she was thrust roughly to the ground. The Carbine slipped from her grasp and she was blinded slightly by a puff of smoke, but the sight of the black armor above her gave her enough of a notion to begin moving. She rolled back, dodging a kick, and instantly pulled out her twin pistols, aiming forward with a hidden glare that could easy stop one's heart. The barrel of a shotgun met her stare, and something similar to a Mexican standoff began to play out. They circled, neither firing, which gave Louisiana just enough time to take in her surrounds. A street, or maybe a large alley. It was an intersection; there were four paths that led into much more open areas. The footsteps echoed off the walls, and each creak of their armor of shift of their gun was enhanced by the surrounding buildings, and below a thin coating of sand and dirt was constantly kicked up by their circling feet. An idea instantly popped into her head, just as the robot shifted and lowered, ready to fire,

"Ah, gonna make a move?" Chris taunted, lowering herself as well, but instead of raising her weapons she holstered them, instantly gripping one of the flash grenades at her side. She chucked it at the ground and quickly flipped away, wincing as a bullet streamed passed her side, and she very nearly missed grabbing the edge of a roof with her hands as the near deafening sound filled the echoing alley. Her eyes shut, leaving only the imprint of the flash on her eyelids, and the sound of countless metallic cries (possibly a few nearby bots had caught the sound as well) were drowned out by the ring of the flash. Half-deaf, she quickly clambered onto the shingled rooftop and quickly pulled out the pistols once more, opening fire below her on the stunned machine. The thought of jumping down to retrieve her Carbine once the machine fell passed as other robots entered the alley, quickly returning fire, and instead of confronting them all head on she simply dropped a frag down into the alley before turning to sprint up onto the roof.

[Heroic]

When West dropped down to the floor of the tower, he casually turned to see if any other enemies were approaching. Of course, there were none, but knowing what Washington had said about all of them seeing you once one does, he made it his priority to get out of there quickly. He pulled his Battle Rifle from his back and proceeded to leave the tower. He checked his surroundings upon leaving the feeling of being safe indoors, and found no baddies.

"No one wants to come out and play with me?" he asked himself. He then proceeded to move along several buildings with caution, but finding that no one was nearby. "Their numbers must be dwindling by a lot. There aren't really many left. Not on this side of the battlefield, at least." He then heard the sound of a flashbang going off from not too far away. West thought that it must have been that one chick he helped out earlier, as he did head in her general direction upon leaving his roost. Deciding to see if his potential teammate needed help, he headed toward the sound of the frag grenade that had also just went off near the same place.

When he arrived, he saw the one he expected dashing along the roof. She was obviously still dealing with bogeys, so he decided not to say anything to her but instead prepare himself for a joint effort in taking down whatever threat may come. Of course, some charred metal humanoids were still left, most likely from the frag grenade explosion, and he decided to spray one down while it was trying to focus on the girl. He snapped the Rifle up, aimed, and fired six bursts, eighteen rounds off at the black bot, not missing a single shot. The bot turned to him as he shot it a seventh time, again nailing all three rounds into it. The android had enough, it seemed, as it collapsed right there. Another turned to fire on him, but West put his back against the building and hid behind cover.

"Your move, girl." He said curiously, wanting to see how she fought.

[MaskedHeroZ]

Bullets whizzed past Arizona's head as he bobbed and weaved between the buildings of the village. The two machines behind him were relentless in their pursuit, having turned the game of predator and prey on it's head. He wasn't obliged to give them such a title, but they've earned it as they continued to try and out-flank him. The sounds of other battles filled his ears as he passed by other Agents on his run, they were just distractions so he wouldn't have to deal with more than he was already.

There was a flash of light from one alleyway and the usual ringing sign of a flash-grenade being used. It gave him an idea, not particularly a smart one, or even a sane one. But he wasn't really caring to those two aspects. Reaching for his Grenade Launcher, Arizona hurriedly pointed it at a nearby wall and shot one of the explosives. The small grenade bounced off the hard surface and came back towards him. It was do-or-die time for him, so without another thought he jumped.

The resulting explosion was a lot smaller than he expected, but it served it's purpose. Turning to see his two aggressors laying in respective heaps, almost made him feel like he had accomplished something. Of course, Arizona knew they would begin to move again. The universe had a funny way of messing with him like that. They did of course start to get back on their feet, but he was prepared. Hitting both of them back down with his weapon, until they were little more than gears and scrap metal It wasn't the same as bullets penetrating through, but he didn't care. He just really hated these machines now.

With a sigh, he stalked back over to where he had seen some of the other Agents, hiding in the shadows until he spotted an opening.

[Nytefall]

Washington watched the other agents pass him as he hit a wall. coughing he breathed in deeply. "Ow". Dusting himself off he looked at the robot that had knocked him down. "Lets throw down then" Charging at the robot he fired off his AR into him. The bullets bounced of the robots chestplate doing only minimal damage. Roaring in anger he stabbed the robot as hard as he could in the chest the bayonet piercing the robots and opening him up like a can opener. The bot grabbed for him wildly as Washington pulled the trigger filling it full of led. It arms went limp just as Washington reached the end of his mag.

"Domo arigato, bitch." His sudden lapse of concentration rewarded him with a punch to the face knocking him off his feet and back onto the floor. "No more mister nice guy then".

Pulling out his M363 he fire it at the chest of the robot who had punched him in the face. Kicking the offending bot in the chest it stumbled backwards over some rubble as Washington rolled out of the way. Standing up he saw the bot recovering from the kick. Walking away from the robot he pressed the red button on the side of his M363 the bomb detonated blowing the robots torso clean off. "I'm going to call you the sticky launcher, not the best name but it's better then the M363 Remote Projectile Detonator."

Surveying the battlefield he could only see a few of these robots left. A loud horn could be heard over the gunfire and agents shouts. The robots shut down and stood to attention on the spot. The Directors voice then sounded over the intercom. "Alright Agents that enough, You are dismissed for today. You will all be called to the medical bay and have your A.I.s implanted and our armour abilities activated individually today. Apart from this you are free to explore the installation, go to your room or mingle with the other agents. It's entirely up to you. However you will have a mission tomorrow morning so be prepared for an early wake up!"

Washington reloaded his AR and placed it on the magnetic grip on his back. He did the same with his newly named sticky launcher which he placed instead on the back of his torso. "Well that was a bit nuts right? Those bots always manage to surprise with their resilience to fire. Makes you wonder why they don't use them instead right?"

[Heroic]

Upon the shutdown of the robots mid-fight, West frowned under his helmet. "Darn..." His frown quickly flipped when he realized what he remarked out loud. "Oh well. They were shut down because we were dominating. I can live with that." He then holstered his Battle Rifle alongside his Sniper Rifle and jogged out of the training room.

West realized that he didn't want to carry his rifles 24/7, as they were pretty unnecessary outside of training. He decided to go to his assigned quarters to store them away. When he entered his room, he liked what he saw. It was painted the State colors of his namesake, which he happened to like. His knife was painted the same colors, after all. Old Gold and Blue, treit and true. He smiled as he stored his rifles in the weapons locker in front of his bed, against the wall. He held onto his magnum and knife though. They were less cumbersome, and he always felt safe with at least a pistol.

Hood then proceeded to lock his door behind him as he left his room. "Time to meet the competition." He said with slight enthusiasm, and went off to socialize with the other recruits while he awaited his AI.

[MaskedHeroZ]

Arizona glared at Washington beneath his helmet. It was bad enough he had to hear the Director try and tell him to mingle with others, but the other Agent's idiocy grated at him. Severely. It was better he left before he snapped at the man, while he didn't care for what the others' thought of him, it was more a matter of self-respect. He wouldn't lower himself to speak to him. Holstering his Grenade Launcher, Arizona walked out of the training room without another word.

He needed some place to hide out until he was called up to the Medical Bay. He didn't want any of his peers to try and get friendly with him, he was fine all by himself, knowing people just watered down the experience of being him. His assigned quarters seemed the most likely place to keep his distance from the others, if anything, he could pretend to be asleep. Wandering into the room, he was surprised to find it was a bit cozy. Not exactly small, but everything was grouped together just like he liked it. The walls were honestly a bit tacky for his tastes though, he understood he was Arizona now, he didn't need to be reminded of that.

Putting away his Grenade Launcher and M6G, he only kept his knife exactly where it was. It was all he needed honestly, at least around friendlies. It was more of a attachment than actual threat prevention, like a child with a blanket. Though, he would murder anyone who made that comparison. If anyone would find him that is. Actually, now that he thought about it, hiding in plain sight was an effective measure on it's own. It would seem odd not to be seen by at least a couple people, he didn't necessarily have to talk to them.

It was ingenious and he liked it, walking back out of his room. The door locking behind him with a satisfying click, Arizona went out to walk around and hope that he was called quickly to the Medical Bay.

[cerozer0]

The bullets whizzing passed her heads and kicking the tiles up by her feet allowed Louisiana to realize she had left a few living machines behind, but before she could turn to assess and handle the situations gunshots sounded from above. A flurry of bullets rained from behind, scattering among the charred remains of whatever had survived the blast from before, and Louisiana quickly scurried the rest of the way on to the roof, catching a glimpse of West.

'Looks like I'm lucky enough to gain the help of a teammate already.'

She ducked behind the other side of the roof, counting to ten, and then began sliding down the shingled roof easily, landing with a puff of smoke on the other side of the building. The gunshots had stopped by then, and she had just enough of an idea to round the building one more time and assess the remaining enemies. One was continuing to fire towards West's general location, and she wasn't able to pin point any others. Louisiana smirked, and the jumped forward empty handed, catching the robot's gun with her left hand while her right simply nailed it right under its chin.

Her fist screamed against the metal, retracted and awaited the returning head butt or punch but none came. Instead, a loud horn signaled the end of the test. Instantly her hands dropped to her side, and she bowed her head to West and turned with out another glance towards the bots or buildings. The adrenaline of the fight faded fast, and in the next instant countless pains plagued her body. Bruises from punches, those few gunshot wounds she had suffered to the shoulder and her legs, and her head burned with pain. A short trip to the infirmary would probably do her good, but she was much to concerned about what her results would end up being.

Feeling a bit nervous, she pushed through the rest of the village simulation and exited the training room, removing her helmet as soon as she was surely out of the possibly dangerous environment. Her blonde hair stuck to her head oddly with sweat, and her eyes were best described as stormy at the very moment, and she looked entirely too annoyed to be approached. Instead of mingling around the lobby she turned down the familiar hall, wandering slowly towards her room, mind thick with curiosity and pain and concern.

[Kralion]

Alaska grabbed her M7s tightly as she heard the robots approaching, their heavy footsteps bringing them closer and closer to the ruined house . She held her breath as the foosteps stopped for a second, followed by a shower of dust as the robots punched their way into the house. She aimed her guns at the closest robot to her right, her fingers about to pull the trigger.

Of course, that was the moment the alarm sounded and the robots shut off.

Alaska sighted, dissapointed. She holstered her guns and moved out of the building, stopping in front of a stiff robot as she thought of something. In an eyeblink she had taken her Jiralhanae combat knife and slashed one of the robots chests, a shower of sparks following her strike. The robot stood its ground, still motionless. She sighted and sheathed her knife. "It just isn't the same." She said sadly.

After grabbing her M739 she was about to walk out of training she overhead Washington mention why they didn't use of the robots instead of them. "Well, can a robot do this?" She asked as she threw her knife in the air, let it do a complete flip in the air and then caught it with the tip of her robotic finger. It swayed from side to side but she managed to balance it without taking one step. After a few moments shew threw it on the air again and caught it by the handle, sheathing her blade once more. "Also, we are probably cheaper as well." She added, smirking inside her helmet.

[Argetlam350]

"What no more robots to smash?" Montana said with some disappointment holding a robot head under his arm before deciding to drop kicked it across the room, the head landing on the ground with a loud clattered. He left the training room behind the others, heading to his own room to drop off his weapons seeing how he wouldn't necessarily need them while he was wandering inside the ship. The only thing he kept with him was his shotgun, mostly because he didn't want anyone touching it besides him. Some would perhaps think it odd that he named it but after all the shit he had gone through with it, it was nearly a friend, a friend that never failed him.

Upon reaching his room he looked within and seeing the walls mostly painted a dark blue color with some yellow and brown for the trimming."Jeesh I know I'm Montana, I don't need to be reminded," he said as he entered, partially having to duck as he did and began putting stuff away, so he could quickly leave the rather annoyingly colored room and be able to explore around the place before having to mingle with any recruits. Sure the others might of been good but that was merely a training simulation, he wanted to see what the others could do in the real world when sometimes you had to say screw the rules and take things into your own hands.