Chapter 1: Pilot

A sudden jolt woke me from my sleep, I wearily opened my eyes and yawned as my body began to wake up, I looked around at my surroundings but I could barely see anything past the unusual fogginess in my vision. As I went to rub my eyes I noticed that I had slept sitting up, which was odd I thought but I quickly shrugged it off, I had woken up in weirder positions before. But what was even more strange however was that as I began to move my hand towards my eyes I noticed that I was wearing black kevlar gloves that I didn't even remember putting on. But what really made me question my own sanity was that when my vision cleared I noticed that I was not in the comfy bedroom I had grown accustomed to but instead I was in some sort of plane.

I was sitting on the right side of the plane, rows of dull brown seats streched across the dull brown wall at either side of me towards a doorway leading to what I assumed was the cockpit. The left side of the plane wasn't much different, except for the absence of a door leading to the cockpit and a blue soldier sitting directly across from me. He was wearing some kind of armor, like the one Master Chief ususally wears except blue, come to think of it he kinda looked like...

"Hello!" said Caboose in his usual ecstatic tone.

My jaw nearly hit the floor as I realised what was going on. I went to pick my ear, to make sure I wasn't hearing things, but instead of my ear my finger hit something hard. That was when I noticed I was wearing a helmet. I damn near tore the thing off my head and stared at it in shock, it was the same helmet Caboose was wearing except this one was colored light green. As I stared at the helmet in my hands in horror I heard Cabooose speak again.

"Oh don't worry about it, I ususally tear off my helmet when I'm nervous too, it helps me breath. But there's no reason to be nervous, I'm sure our new teammates will love us! Oh! I know! We can start a best friend club with them when we touch down! Oh, I'm sure they'll be so happy!"

Yep, that was Caboose alright, but if that really was Caboose and we really were on a plane and if these "new teammates" were the ones I was expecting them to be...

I turn my head to doorway leading to the cockpit, "Hey! Where are we landing again?!" I yelled over the whir of the plane engine at the pilot.

"What?! Don't tell me you forgot too! God, all you sim troopers are so damn annoying! Uhm I mean... were landing at Blood Gultch Outpost Alpha!" yelled the pilot.

Shit.

"Um yeah, don't worry, I'll totally remember this time mister pilot man! But just so I can remember it more uh can you reapeat yourself one more time... pretty please?" said Caboose.

I stifled a laugh, god damn it Caboose even when I'm scared out of my mind you still find some way to make me laugh.

The pilot ignored Caboose and spoke over the intercom.

"Brace yourselves boys, were coming down!"

I jolted forward in my seat as the plane jerked violently. The plane shook the entire time we descended, it felt like being in an elavator during an earthquake. I swallowed hard, doing my best to keep my lunch down, whatever my lunch had been. Suddenly the plane stopped shaking as we smoothly landed on the surface of the... planet? Or was it a ring?

"Alrighty boys this is your captain speaking, feel free to leave the plane as soon as possible, make sure you don't forget any of your possesions or they will be jettisoned into space, have a horrible day assholes," the pilot said crossly.

The door of the pelican slowly opened outward until in hit the soft dirt beneath it, outside I could see what was unmistakably Blood Gultch. I suddenly felt another wave of nausea hit me as I realised exactly what sort of predicament I was in. I must have sat there in silence for what must been at least 5 minutes, staring out at the landscape in front of me before I heard the pilot roar over the intercom again.

"Hey come on! Get off! I'm running a tight shift and I still gotta eject the tank! So move it or lose it!" the pilot shouted, annoyed.

Asshole. I shoke my head, snapping myself out of my trance then slowly got up from the seat, clutching my aching stomach. I noticed Caboose had been sitting there as well this whole time, watching me. I looked at him in confusion.

"I was waiting for you," said Caboose before I could ask what he was doing, "we can't start our new best friend club without all of the members!" said Caboose enthusiastically.

I smiled lightly and picked up the rifle that was on the seat behind me, placing it on my back. I took small steps as I descended down the ramp, still fighting not to empty my stomach. Caboose followed at my side, mimicing the small steps I was making as if we were playing some kind of game. As soon as me and Caboose stepped off the ramp, the plane took off behind us, flew a few feet, dropped the tank that had been attached to the bottom of it in front of blue base, and took off towards the sky, quickly dissapearing from view. Two other soldiers, one cobalt, the other teal, stepped out of the base and walked towards the tank, admiring it.

Welp, here we go, I thought as me and Caboose began to walk toward who I already knew were Church and Tucker.

Hopefully they weren't huge assholes.