The transport ship touched down, the engines shut down and the door slid open. The base was surrounded by high walls with several watch towers, it seemed more like a prison than a military base. The main building was large, with small windows and a few balconies, the main entrance had heavy metal doors. The barracks were a separate smaller building with a few large windows and normal metal doors. The group got out of the transport ship onto a landing zone, a deep brown chupa walked up the steps of the landing zones.
"Welcome new recruits, I hope your special forces training was fun because now you're with the big dogs. We here at the Freelance core will show you all the cool gadgets and armor as well as special training only provided by us." The brown chupa said as the group lined up standing at attention.
"I expect hard work from all of you and to work well together that's why you were even put here. You pre selected few have shown skills that not many others show, you will be put to the absolute limit to test your abilities." The brown chupa announced looking at the group seeing their reactions, they nodded to this info.
"I will show you around the place before letting you settle in for this first week," the chupa finished before turning around and commanding them to follow behind. The four followed, now looking at the other two chupas of the group one was a deep black and the other purple, they both had short hair with eyebrow piercings, the black having it on the left and the purple having it on the right. They were quietly talking to each other, they must've known each other before the grouping, being behind them made it hard to tell gender but he thought the purple one might be female.
"Why do you think we were selected?" Kokobiel asked, bringing Tom's gaze back to him, he had zoned out looking at the other two.
"Um, maybe we just look really good," Tom said, being sarcastic.
"Ha, probably not you but I'm serious, why do you think we're here," Kokobiel said, clearly he meant it and wanted a direct answer.
"Maybe we're a test group to try something new out or maybe we just are actually good," Tom said, he couldn't fully know but he took his best guess. Kokobiel nodded, clearly he was processing Tom's ideas, he didn't respond, just took in the info and processed it.
As they got closer to the main building the brown chupa spoke up.
"The big building is where you will be spending a lot of your time for the first few days, this is where we conduct our tests, trials, and show off new tech. It is also used for your training and health. The other building is the barracks where you will be spending your down time, get to know your barrack group well because they will be with you often." The chupa said as he got to the door to the main building.
"By the way, I am Lieutenant Tred, your superior and who you will directly take orders from, now inside," Tred said as he turned around, swiping a card in the door and opening the door letting the four inside. Tom nodded to Tred as he walked in first then the three others. Once they were inside a red chupa in a lab coat greeted them before telling them to follow him, several chupas were walking around, some in armor, others in uniforms, a few in lab coats.

The floor tile was cold and the air was stale as they walked through the building, there were so many rooms and hallways and the red chupa was fast for his size. Finally he stopped in front of a door before swiping a card and walking inside waving the others in.
"Full name and stand in front of the camera," the red chupa barked as he got behind the camera and started up a computer. Tom stood behind the camera first stating first and last name before a bright flash and a clicking noise, Tom blinked a few times before his eyes readjusted to the normal light. The red chupa typed on the computer before handing a card to Tom, it was an ID badge. "Next in line," the red chupa said, looking over to Kokobiel. As Kokobiel stood getting ready for his picture the building went dark before a red light came on and an alarm started blaring, the PA system came. "Code black, all personnel to defense stations, containment break in, I repeat code black, all personnel to defense stations, containment break in." The PA system announced this as sounds of heavy footsteps came down the hall and gunshots coming down the opposite way.
"Shit, not now, you four grab a gun and come with me," the red chupa said as he went over to a locker, opening it and showing several standard issue assault rifles. The red chupa tossed one to each of the four before the four were rushed out into the hall. They had no idea what they were doing before they were pushed along with other soldiers going down the hall, the gunshots got louder the further they went down. Bodies laid on the floor as bullets whizzed past Tom's head as he hid behind a metal container, Kokobiel was behind him having to duck down more, being too large.
"How the hell did they get in here!" Kokobiel yelled amongst the gun fire, Tom shrugged as he tried to peek the corner, seeing four guns trained on him before they opened fire again and he flipped back around.
"There's about four of them, I say we blind fire and hope we hit or we are going to get pushed," Tom said to Kokobiel. The clink of metal against the floor was heard as a grenade rolled around the corner, the both of them looked at the grenade with an "Oh shit" face. Kokobiel grabbed the grenade before throwing back over, it blew mid air, the sound was deafening as Tom's ears rang and dust filled the air. Tom pushed against the metal container as it fell backwards, Kokobiel stumbled forward firing a few shots, the hallway seemed to fall in toward the rebel force, the ruble forced the two back. Tom coughed as he got up and moved back the way they came, Kokobiel followed him, turning the corner. Tom was pressed up against the wall by another soldier when he turned before letting him go, the soldier said something but still deafened by the blast made it impossible to hear. The soldier waved him off as soldiers raced down another corridor, flashes of lights came from the same corridor. As Tom's hearing came back the fighting and alarms seemed to stop. As he went down the corridor, medics helped wounded soldiers, as others carried full body bags out.
"Hey, help me with this!" A chupa called out to Tom, he struggled to carry a body bag, Tom came over and helped him out with it.
"What happened to this dude?" Tom asked as they carried the body bag to a set up line.
"Pretty sure this was one of the rebel soldiers, surprised we dignified them in this way," the chupa said as he sat down the body, nodding to Tom before walking away. Tom looked at the bag before looking around, he kneeled down opening the bag, the chupa had been shot in the chest, straight through the heart. He looked through the pockets of the body finding a wallet, and a note.
"It's not him, luckily" Tom said to himself as he took the items. Tom put the items in his own pockets before returning to the building, meeting back up with Kokobiel.
"Just got the report back, turns out it was an inside job. We lost twelve dudes because of it, there were four of them and they took out triple of their numbers. The facility is going to be increasing security and extra searches," Kokobiel said to Tom as they helped with wounded soldiers and cleared out the rubble. "Think they'll be given us those enhancements anytime soon?" Tom asked Kokobiel.
"Probably not, heard that's for high ranking soldiers or those who show great significance. Maybe if you kiss ass you'll get moved forward on the list or maybe you'll get a promotion." Kokobiel jokes to Tom as he nudged his elbow smirking. Tom shook his head as he walked into the barracks, they seemed much more personal and gave them privacy.
"These are really nice, and there's tiny sliding doors, better than anything in spec ops. Though I still have to deal with you, so no staring, don't make it weird," Tom said as he sat down on his bed and closed the sliding door.

He took the wallet and note out from his pocket. He opened the wallet seeing the ID inside, it was of the chupa that he took the wallet from, Jack Furmesh is what the name read he was barely older than Tom. He took the ID and turned it around as he looked at the few cards that were in there. He tossed the wallet to the side of his bed before opening the note and beginning to read it. "Alpha blue we request something important of you that could lead to an honorable sacrifice, your family will be informed and we will try to retrieve your remains if we ever can. You will be sent into a Freelancer facility as a distraction so we can raid a much smaller facility. May your spirit be strong, and your teammates stronger.

Sincerely, M.G." Tom read this over a few times, he hadn't heard about any small Freelance facility, but they were fairly secretive. Though the sign off seemed familiar he knew these initials, so familiar yet so distinct, it made his head hurt and he put down the letter. He shut his eyes as he tried to sleep from the long day, the bed was comfortable and it almost felt like it was sinking in and holding him. After awhile he fell asleep his body becoming that of a brick, he woke up a small while later as he pushed himself off the bed and onto the ground. When he touched the ground with his paws the ground was that of snow, when he looked down it was crunchy snow. He looked up as dead trees covered in snow lined a path, he followed this path getting a feeling of similarity, comfort, home. He sped up his walking, breaking out into a sprint as his childhood home came into view, he hadn't felt this happiness in years. He stopped when seeing it.
"Wait, no this isn't real, it burned to the ground," he said as he moved onto the porch of the home before the wicked smell of smoke filled his nostrils, the home burst into flames as he could hear crunching snow behind him. He tried to open the door, but he couldn't, he began to throw himself against the door over and over before it fell inward. He could hear the cries of help, he stumbled through the house as flames spread and the smoke filled the home. He brushed against a doorway as he coughed, going down a flight of stairs and in the middle of the flames his mother and father stood. The flames moved in closer as he tried to get rid of them in any way he couldn't as his parents cried out. The house cracked and a flaming board fell upon him, it burnt his back deeply as he cried for help as smoke filled the room. His lungs filled with smoke as he was engulfed in flames. He shot up in his bed yelling and choking on his own saliva, panicking deeply as tears filled his eyes. The sliding door was flung open as Kokobiel looked in.

"The hell are ya screaming fo- oh well this is awkward." Kokobiel said as his abrupt opening of the door shut Tom up and he forced himself against the wall.
"S-sorry, had a nightmare and it just wasn't very good," Tom said as he curled himself up into a ball as he laid back down.
"You wanna talk about it, or maybe I just sit here with ya till you go back to sleep?" Kokobiel asked, seeming softer than normal. It was odd to hear his voice so calm compared to his normal voice. Tom just nodded as he sat up letting Kokobiel sit down as he leaned against him not saying a word. Kokobiel didn't say anything either letting Tom lean against him, Tom soon fell back asleep and Kokobiel slowly got up and covered the now again sleeping chupa before returning to his own bed.

Red vs Blue © Rooster Teeth. Halo © 343 Industries. Concept by Myshu, assisted by The Department of Chupapology.