A military-subsidized education to get her into the golden world of digital security was an opportunity for a Jersey girl with three brothers, no mom and a mechanic for a dad. Project Freelancer was an opportunity for a soldier with serious talent and skill, including when it came to getting her dumb ass into trouble. And when everything else around her burned to the ground and left her in a hole she sometimes only wished were six feet deep, now this -- this is a real fucking opportunity.
Felix and Locus are an unknown quantity, but so had been Project Freelancer, and right now she doesn't have much of a choice. Locus is pretty inoffensive -- quiet, ruthlessly businesslike, almost reminds her of Maine before he went off the fucking deep end, except with manners. Felix, on the other hand, is dangerously smart, and he reminds her of every overcompensating frat boy she met in college, except somehow he makes that work for him, which is an achievement in itself.
Admittedly, after several years in prison, she's not too picky about company. Especially knowing what she knows now. Hearing that Wash and Carolina are not only both still alive but apparently never bothered looking for her, seeing that article about the victory over Project Freelancer -- what, that victory hadn't been in the fucking courts? The ones where they'd sentenced her to hard time, while Wash and Carolina got a handshake and a pat on the ass? Her moral compass was never too tightly calibrated, and years ago she wouldn't have joined up on an op as ruthless as what they're pulling on Chorus. Years ago, she wouldn't have been able to sleep at night thinking of the countless lives lost in pursuit of profit. But she's just not all that picky anymore, and there's good payout in it for her, and more than anything, she wants out. This will get her out for good.
It's Foxtrot now. She hasn't gone by York in a long time -- couldn't really stand to, after the trials, but Foxtrot-12 had been a UNSC designation, not a Freelancer one, and that doesn't sting so badly. But York? The name doesn't have such a nice ring to it these days.
She's aware, to an extent, that Felix is using her resentment for Carolina and Wash to get the job done. She'd have to be more than half-blind not to see it. But the thing is, she just doesn't care. All that means is that Felix is getting what he wants while she's getting what she wants, and what she wants right now, more than anything, is revenge, payout, and retirement, in that order.
The firefight was already underway by the time she dropped planetside, but it's not hard to pick out Carolina in the chaos -- she still favors the same armor as she did all those years ago, almost bitingly familiar. Foxtrot's not in any armor Carolina would recognize, and her stance is even a little different these days, carrying more tension in the shoulders after too many rounds in the prison yard, where glibness didn't count for half as much as it did on the outside. But she favors the same rifle as the old days, and she still compensates for the partial blindness in her eye the way she did before Delta when she fires on Carolina. Back in the day, she'd have opened with some light banter at the very least, but now? Now, she's just feeling a little impatient to get things started.
for carolina
A military-subsidized education to get her into the golden world of digital security was an opportunity for a Jersey girl with three brothers, no mom and a mechanic for a dad. Project Freelancer was an opportunity for a soldier with serious talent and skill, including when it came to getting her dumb ass into trouble. And when everything else around her burned to the ground and left her in a hole she sometimes only wished were six feet deep, now this -- this is a real fucking opportunity.
Felix and Locus are an unknown quantity, but so had been Project Freelancer, and right now she doesn't have much of a choice. Locus is pretty inoffensive -- quiet, ruthlessly businesslike, almost reminds her of Maine before he went off the fucking deep end, except with manners. Felix, on the other hand, is dangerously smart, and he reminds her of every overcompensating frat boy she met in college, except somehow he makes that work for him, which is an achievement in itself.
Admittedly, after several years in prison, she's not too picky about company. Especially knowing what she knows now. Hearing that Wash and Carolina are not only both still alive but apparently never bothered looking for her, seeing that article about the victory over Project Freelancer -- what, that victory hadn't been in the fucking courts? The ones where they'd sentenced her to hard time, while Wash and Carolina got a handshake and a pat on the ass? Her moral compass was never too tightly calibrated, and years ago she wouldn't have joined up on an op as ruthless as what they're pulling on Chorus. Years ago, she wouldn't have been able to sleep at night thinking of the countless lives lost in pursuit of profit. But she's just not all that picky anymore, and there's good payout in it for her, and more than anything, she wants out. This will get her out for good.
It's Foxtrot now. She hasn't gone by York in a long time -- couldn't really stand to, after the trials, but Foxtrot-12 had been a UNSC designation, not a Freelancer one, and that doesn't sting so badly. But York? The name doesn't have such a nice ring to it these days.
She's aware, to an extent, that Felix is using her resentment for Carolina and Wash to get the job done. She'd have to be more than half-blind not to see it. But the thing is, she just doesn't care. All that means is that Felix is getting what he wants while she's getting what she wants, and what she wants right now, more than anything, is revenge, payout, and retirement, in that order.
The firefight was already underway by the time she dropped planetside, but it's not hard to pick out Carolina in the chaos -- she still favors the same armor as she did all those years ago, almost bitingly familiar. Foxtrot's not in any armor Carolina would recognize, and her stance is even a little different these days, carrying more tension in the shoulders after too many rounds in the prison yard, where glibness didn't count for half as much as it did on the outside. But she favors the same rifle as the old days, and she still compensates for the partial blindness in her eye the way she did before Delta when she fires on Carolina. Back in the day, she'd have opened with some light banter at the very least, but now? Now, she's just feeling a little impatient to get things started.