-Freelancer outpost 12-B-

-Interview room 2-

-Valencia Koski-

The man who had introduced himself simply as the counselor for Project Freelancer set the papers from her resume down on the desk, only giving the papers a cursory glance as he spoke to her, "Miss Valencia Koski, I'm sorry but there are a few questions I need to ask you before you can move on in the induction program."

He paused as she nodded, "First of all do you have any major issues from your past the project should know about, these can be anything from allergies to PTSD triggers, or even some sort of bounty on your head, anything of note?"

Valencia answered quickly, "No, other than the fact that overly invasive medical procedures could trigger some...unpleasant memories."

The Counselor spoke again, tilting his head ever so slightly to the left, "That's oddly specific, what does this spring from?"

Valencia shifted in her chair, "I'm not obligated to share my medical history with you, and either way I'm not scared of them, I just know it could dig up memories, some of which are not the most pleasant."

He folded his fingers and rested his chin on them, still maintaining a calming but intense stare, "Interesting," he glanced down at the paper again, "secondly, do you have any specialties? What role would you play on a team?"

Valencia answered, attempting to match the man's stare, "Adaptability and resourcefulness, I can thrive with almost any weapon you stick in my hands, and whatever equipment you give me."

He inclined his head, "So you don't have a specific role on a team?"

Valencia spoke again, "my role is that I can fill any role on a team at a moment's notice, given proper equipment of course."

He moved to his next question, "Your reference made a specific request to have special conditions with your equipment, could you please explain this to me?"

She nodded, "they wish to have me test prototype equipment while I am in your program, especially because of my unique skill set, and they advise you to take the opportunity and do the same with any of your prototypes."

He furrowed his brow, "You are aware of the leaderboard system we have implemented in the program correct?"

Valencia nodded, "yes, I am also aware of how I will be exempt from most of the rankings when I am testing equipment due to the possibility of unfairness."

He nodded as well, "good, then you are already understanding the situation, All that is left if for you to pick your preferred state name and you will be ready to participate in initiation trials."

The counselor pulled out a datapad with a list of state names available and Valencia scrolled through, selecting Vermont.

He took the datapad when she had finished and smiled at her, "Thank you, agent Vermont, I hope to see you again soon."

-Freelancer storage and testing facility-

-Agent Vermont-

Vermont stepped off the elevator and into an armory, seeing most of the other initiates already had their armor on, she made a quick scan of the room, seeing four people standing in a corner, one with blue armor, one with orange, another with maroon, and another with plain red, they all appeared to be arguing and Vermont moved on, seeing four with various armor colors, a bright yellow, a green, a pale yellow, and a magenta. These four had patches on their armor that signified that they had been ODSTs, and Vermont tried to scan their stances, but they were all too relaxed to reveal anything about how they fought.

The final three in the room appeared to be finishing putting on their armor, and Vermont walked over to claim hers, watching the only woman of the group of three fasten her light blue shoulder plate on, and saw that on her chest plate was a small sticker reading "Hi I'm Maryland!" With a smiley face drawn on after the name.

The other two had their armor already completely on as Vermont turned to them, seeing one had sage green armor with some white stripes scattered around, while the other had silver armor with red accents.

Vermont moved to her silver and cyan armor up on a wall and gestured to it, turning to Maryland, "hey Maryland could you help me with my armor? You probably know how much faster it is with two sets of hands,"

Vermont could tell the woman was smiling beneath her helmet, the happiness almost radiated from her as she said, "Sure!" And moved to assist.

Maryland spoke as she attached Vermont's backplate, "the big guy in silver and red is New Hampshire, and the green one is Rhode Island, we all ended up on the same transport, so I had to get to know everybody,"

Vermont nodded, "I'm Vermont, and nobody was on my transport, so no opportunities for socialization."

Mary clicked the last piece of armor in place and said, "That's too bad, but you are here now aren't you?"

A holographic screen popped into existence above them with the letters F.I.L.I.S.S. and the A.I. spoke, "please move to the space labeled with your name and the test can begin. Good luck Freelancers and Simulation Troopers!"

There were six plates arranged around the room with two holographic names floating above each one. Vermont quickly looked for her name and spotted it floating on the platform right next to New Hampshire, and they both walked over.

Directly to Vermont's left stood the red one and the blue one, "with the blue one whispering to the red one, "Mr. Sarge why is Sheila here?"

The red one brought up his fists, "who is this Sheila? Is she some sort of Freelancer that makes one soldier way more powerful than anyone reasonably should be? Like that Tex lady?"

The blue soldier didn't have time to respond as the floor dropped out beneath everyone, and they were all dropped down a chute, except Vermont could hear a "WHEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE" from off to her left, mixed in with a couple of thumps and screams.

-Most of the Reds and One of the Blues-

Grif, Simmons, and Sarge came to on the floor of a large freelancer storage facility piled up in a heap, and Sarge remarked almost immediately, "We're lucky Grif didn't land on top or we'd all be crushed,"

Caboose looked over at the heap of Reds, and shook his head, "You guys suck at going down slides,"

Sarge ignored the blue's remark, "Obviously command called us to this secret base to both test us and have us perform a vital operation. The utter obliteration of the blues and the rescue of any loyal red soldiers that those blues may hold hostage with their evil mind control. Did you see the others to our right? The woman in silver and," he paused to shudder, "blue, she was standing right next to and on the same team as that poor soldier in silver and red. No true red soldier would willingly work with an enemy like that, it has to be mind control."

Grif simply pointed at Caboose, and Simmons said almost immediately, "you do realize that's Caboose? I don't think he counts."

Grif lowered his finger and sighed, "I hate to admit that you are right, so I just won't,"

Simmons shook his head and ignored Grif, "Sir, with all due respect, command said this was a training exercise to get us used to our new armor while they prep our new bases,"

Sarge's response was cut off by Caboose turning back to face them all, "Hey guys I found a grenade,"

Suddenly the sound and light of a flash-bang filled the area and mixed with screams and the sounds of people falling over in full armor.

-Agent Vermont-

Vermont and New Hampshire were moving through stacks of crates in the large facility, looking for their opponents and possibly weapons.

Just as they were about to round a corner one of the others jumped out in front of the pair. It was one of the former ODSTs, and the guy was big, actually a few inches taller than Vermont, and able to look New Hampshire in the eyes, and he wore a pale yellow set of armor. The yellow freelancer started running towards the pair and New Hampshire moved to intercept. Vermont immediately sprung to the side and started climbing up one of the stacks of crates.

New Hampshire shouted back to her, "Aren't you gonna help!?"

She yelled back as she crested the stack, "Yeah! Just trust me!"

Vermont spotted what she was looking for just as she landed, and the other member of the pair stepped out to confront her, this one a woman in magenta, and they each squared up.

Magenta made the first move, throwing a quick right hook towards Vermont, who sidestepped easily, but made no move to counter, and Magenta threw a kick towards Vermont's chest. This time Vermont deflected it with her forearm and started sprinting towards her opponent, reeling her fist back, then swapping her stance at the last minute and jumping, sending her knee flying into the chin of Magenta, but she recovered quickly, and managed to grab onto Vermont's leg and bring them both to the floor.

Vermont was the first to move and started pulling herself forward as she kicked out, hitting Magenta squarely in the face just as she looked up, disorienting her, then sprinting towards the teleporters she spotted earlier and grabbing one and clambering up to the top of the crate stack.

Now to complete the illusion Vermont thought to herself, as she set the teleporter up against a wall and pretended to be holding a gun with her back to her opponent and firing upon Pale Yellow.

Vermont watched carefully as Magenta roused herself and took in the situation, and upon seeing both the teleporter and the fact that her partner could be being double-teamed, Magenta sprinted towards the portal at the bottom of the crate stack.

Vermont knew she had a very short window to act, and she quickly took the portal and sent it hurtling through the air towards Pale Yellow, who was currently reeling from one of New Hampshire's punches.

Magenta came flying out of the portal directly into her partner, and they fell together in a heap, then the portal landed on top of them and sent them both to the other side.

Vermont hopped down from her perch and quickly snagged a paint pistol from a nearby supply crate, checked the chamber, and poked her head and arm through the portal, sending immobilizing shots directly at the faces of both prospective agents.

New Hampshire whistled appreciatively, "Where in the hell did you learn to do that?"

Vermont hesitated, "Uh...I was never taught to do exactly that…" she said, dodging the question and handing him an AR modified to shoot paint just as FILISS said over the speakers, "Squad C eliminated"

Vermont eyed her prey as she moved through the shadows behind a large shipping container, and watched the simulation troopers from earlier, the red one stood on top of a crate holding a paint shotgun and speaking to the other soldiers, "We will take the center of this facility and absolutely obliterate any blues that cross our path in a resounding Red team victory, then we will return Caboose to his base, and then defeat him there, where command will deploy us to the next base of blues to brutally destroy with our superior skill, firepower, and tactics!"

The soldier in maroon saluted and said enthusiastically, "yes sir!"

Orange one simply scratched his head, "uh guys I think something is wrong, my body actually feels like it wants to do things, which is definitely not right."

The maroon one scoffed, "you are just feeling motivated, probably for the first time ever."

The orange one shook his head, "well whatever it is, it's disgusting,"

Vermont decided to make her move while they were bickering, and snuck up behind the red one on the crate and pulled his sidearm from its magnetic clamp and shooting him twice in the back. He immediately fell to his knees, spouting obscenities as he was immobilized, "dirty blue," he managed to mutter as Vermont emptied the rest of the magazine into his helmet until it was so covered in paint that he was completely muffled.

Two of the simulation troopers panicked and started to spray in Vermont's general direction as she dove for cover, but the blue trooper was completely oblivious and staring at the ceiling, which left Vermont wondering what the point of having these troopers in the program was.

Vermont poked the edge of her helmet around a corner to see what was going on just as New Hampshire made his presence known by vaulting over a barrel and covering the maroon trooper in pink paint, freezing him in place.

Vermont reloaded and realized she only had one mag left, so she jumped out of cover and sprinted towards the orange trooper. He started to shoot her, but realized his clip was empty, so he grabbed the nearest thing and held it up in a weak defense, "Protect me cone!" he squealed.

Vermont jumped as she got close and raised her knee, blowing through his weak defense and hitting him in the chin, sending him spinning towards New Hampshire.

New Hampshire saw the disoriented trooper stumbling towards him and wound up, then let loose a massive punch to the trooper's helmet, dropping him immediately with the agent's pure strength.

Both agents turned to the final trooper, and saw him waving to them, "Hello!" he said happily.

Vermont was baffled, but then she heard a soft, "Hi!" from behind her and spun, seeing Maryland up on top of a shipping container taking aim with a sniper rifle while simultaneously waving back to the blue trooper.

Vermont dove for cover, but New Hampshire was a tad bit too slow, and had one of his legs coated entirely in paint. Vermont threw a flash-bang backhand towards Mary's position and New Hampshire awkwardly rolled over on the ground, firing back at Maryland, managing to land a few good hits to her chest, and send her toppling off the container backward.

Suddenly Rhode Island appeared out of the shadows and finished off New Hampshire with a blast from a paint shotty.

Vermont cursed herself for not being more vigilant and jumped behind the paint-covered body of the Maroon trooper, then was forced to jump back over towards Rhode as she saw a flashbang roll back behind her improvised cover.

Rhode was rushing just as she vaulted and he blasted her in the right side just as she shot him twice, once in the arm and once in the chest.

Each agent extended for the final shot that would freeze the other when Vermont's entire body except her left arm froze, and so did Rhode's, meaning neither could move or fire their weapon.

Rhode spoke up, "Well this is a bit awkward, how are we gonna resolve this? Drinking contest?"

Vermont almost shot back a retort but then an idea formed, and she turned to her left, "Hey—" she paused for a second, trying to remember the name, "—Caboose! Can I borrow that gun?"

Caboose looked at her, "Only if you say the magic word."

Rhode shouted, "Abracadabra!" and waved his free arm.

Vermont would have rolled her eyes if she weren't so tense, but softened her voice, "Please?"

Caboose walked over and placed the rifle in Vermont's outstretched left hand, then said, "Will you be my friend because of this?"

Vermont pointed the gun at Rhode and said, "Um, sure?"

Caboose raised both his arms in the air, "Yay! I made a friend today!"

Rhode Island locked gazes with Vermont once again, and saw the barrel pointed squarely at his visor, "Well, Fu—" and he was cut off almost immediately by the swath of paint covering his helmet.

Vermont let out a massive breath she didn't realize she had been holding as she barely heard FILISS announce her and New Hampshire as the winners, then a muffled "Woohoo!" from where New Hampshire was frozen.

She started to relax and let the gun fall from her grip and she started tipping over, her one free arm flailing uselessly as she fell to the floor, landing headfirst and knocking herself out.

Vermont came to being carried between Maryland and New Hampshire, and she spoke, her throat dry and her voice dry, "thanks guys, people I've worked with in the past would've just left me and laughed."

Maryland shifted, letting Vermont take some of her own weight now that she was conscious, "That's to bad, how about we make a promise to each other, we'll all look out for each other?"

New Hampshire shifted as well, letting Vermont take her own full weight and walk on her own, "I'm in, but I wanna know how you won, Mary fell over backward, and my face was covered, and Rhodie said he wouldn't talk until you came to,"

The agent in question spoke up, "Sure, I'll be in this pact, but Vee, I wanna hear how you think you won in 3, 2, 1..."

Both Vermont and Rhode said, "BS," at the same time, but Vermont added on a second later, "and a new friend,"

Rhode nodded, "I like you already, but I'm gonna get you back in the ring soon to get you back for that."

Vermont laughed, her throat finally clear, "That's fair, and Mary, I'm in for the pact, it'll be nice to have a family of sorts again."

Mary said, "It's settled then, we stick together," just as the four of them stepped on the lift back to the armory so they could pick their new armor and be formally accepted into the project.

AN: There is the first chapter of this new story.

Credit to AgentNewMexico over on Wattpad for inspiration and 3 of the OC's (Mary, New Hampshire, and Rhode)

I've enjoyed writing this so far, and I hope you guys enjoyed reading it, so leave any comments/questions/concerns and I'll do my best to respond, any type of feedback is welcomed.

Also, I'm still working on the title, it might be changed.