[M] IC: Forced Destiny [ADN & Numbers]

[Numbers]

Allura was currently in the elevator riding down to the floor were her agents were resting. Really though the only agents who where there were Helena, Agent 3, Agent 1, and Agent 1's daughter. Her two other agents were still out on the field since they were in the process of currently heading home but got caught in a blizzard. Bad luck annoyingly. She would have rather had more agents at her disposal to bring with her on the mission to go visit a biodome that was on the other side of the continent, but she only had one combat ready agent at her disposal and it was Helena.

When the elevator doors opened she walked out and pulled out her tablet for a moment. She looked over the trackers that showed up in the building, showing her where everyone was. It looked like Helena was in the process of leaving from training in the gym so Allura decided to head to her room. Having beat Helena there she went and sat down in one of the chairs in the room. She quickly started to pull up some files for the upcoming mission. When Helena finally did arrive at her room Allura was still sitting there in the chair.

"Greetings Helena, I hope you have had enough time to get used to the living arrangements. I have a mission for you. Normally it would require the whole team of agents however, Agent 1 is still down and healing. Agents 4 and 2, will be returning late from their mission due to a blizzard that they got caught in and Agent 3 is usually kept away from the field of combat." Allura stood up from where she was sitting and passed the tablet over to Helena.

"The mission is a simple one. Guard duty. Specifically guarding me. I'm gonna be traveling to a biodome that is on the other side of the continent, on the Atlantic ocean's coast. There I will be having a meeting about possibly buying some intel from them. After all their biodome largely specializes in information gathering and warfare. We're going to need their help in the future when we take the fight against other bio-domes, not to mention, me making an alliance with them, will only further the council votes in me becoming the next CEO, something I shouldn't have to worry about, but something that will be helpful either way."

She walked and turned to look through a window that was in the bedroom that was overlooking the city some more. It wasn't as high as the windows that she had but they were still pretty high up. "There are many threats out there in the wasteland of the old world. Rebels are the least of the threats as well. Of course I am sure you are well aware of the beasts that lurk out there. The beasts that have been warped and changed due to unknown circumstances. Beasts that can bite through steel, or pick up and fly away with tanks like they were nothing more than a stick. Beasts that are several yards wide that dig through the ground at high speeds."

[AngelDellaNotte]

Walking back into her room she was a little surprised to see Alessia there. Not that she had entered her room without permission but that she was here at all. She had hardly seen her all week. Alessia started talking about a new mission and Helena somehow managed to bite back a snide remark about enslaving another dome, that one wasn't enough. But she held her tongue. She was tired of arguing with Alessia. Neither of them would bend and it was pointless.

Helena moved about the room listening as Alessia went on about the mission. She got some clean clothes from the dresser and set them on top. Then Alessia started talking about the dangers outside the dome. Helena had lived outside the dome she knew how dangerous it was. The extreme weather wasn't the only danger, there were beasts, frightening beasts out there. She stood with her back to Alessia kicked off her shoes and pulled the tank top she had been training in off dropping it on the floor then slipped out of her pants. Leaving her standing there in her underwear. Being a soldier had stomped out any sort of modesty she had left. “I know more about those beasts than you can ever imagine.” Helena said, along her back there were three long scars starting on her left shoulder blade and going down into her underpants. Helena closed her eyes thinking about how she got those scars.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

It was only a couple months after she had been exiled from the dome, she had been living in the abandoned mines with the other rebels. With her military training she often ended up doing guard duty or with one of the hunting parties. Both lead her to be outside the mines quite a bit. She had gotten used to the biting cold and the dangers. They had some hydroponic bays to grow food in but there wasn't enough room in the mines to keep livestock. Which led them to have to venture outside to hunt for meat. Helena currently was on one of these hunting trips. They had been tracking a small herd of wild deer that somehow managed to survive the harsh weather. Mother nature was interesting that way, creatures adapted to survive. Then add in the affects of the solar radiation and you got a unique mix. Wild creatures grew much larger than they had in the past. These deer they were hunting, just one of them could few so many people.

Helena was riding backwards on the back of a snowmobile they had found in the mines and restored. They had a number of them that were used to travel outside. She held a rifle in her hand while her driver rode parallel to herd. There were a couple other snowmobiles with the same step up flanking the herd. Helena took aim and hit one of the deer dropping it to the ground as the other riders did the same. By the time they finished they had felled four of the beasts. Her snowmobile pulled up beside one of the fallen deer and she set her rifle down drawing a long machete knife. She walked to the deer, it was still alive and thrashing around. Helena moved up next to it cutting the beast's throat and ending its suffering.

“Nanook!” She heard one of the others shout. Nanook was what those outside of the domes called the humongous bears, referring to the Inuit legend of a god in bear form. Helena quickly turned around running back to her snowmobile seeing a large bear rushing towards her driver. She made it there at just about the same time as the bear. She grabbed her rifle and fired off two shots. The creature let out a loud growl and staggered back on two legs but the bullets didn't stop it. “Get the hell out of there Oliver!” Another hunter shouted.

Helena didn't need to be told twice she turned and started running from the bear. It was much faster than her and was right on her tail. She ran toward the others noticing one of them had gotten machine gun out. She needed to get behind it soon, with her in the way they couldn't take out the bear. The creature reached out with one of its massive paws slashing across her back. She let out a cry of pain and then fell to the ground under the weight of the paw. The pain was incredible, but she heard the machine gun go off and stays as low to the ground as she could. After what felt like ever the bear came crashing down on top of her.

“Oliver can you hear me?” She heard someone say it sounding muffled. The weight of the bear was making it hard to breath and her back hurt so bad. It took one of the snowmobiles to pull the creature off of her. “God Helena.” The hunter said dropping beside her and looking at her back. The bear had easily cut through the leathers and fur she was wearing. The other hunters moved around her one of them packing the wound with snow. “Come on get some snow on it to slow the bleeding until we can get her back to camp.” That was the last thing Helena remembered before waking up in the camp infirmary a couple weeks later. The medics told her that she had almost died and they weren't quite sure how she had survived.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“Do I at least have time to shower before we leave?” Helena said, looking down at a leather string that was around her neck with a bear claw tied to the end. The only good thing that had come out of that hunting trip was between the deer and the bear they had enough meat to last them several weeks. Not to mention the furs they had gotten from the bear. Being as the bear had nearly killed her Helena got first pick of the spoils. She had taken a piece of its pelt for her bed and made a necklace out of the claw. Since coming to live here, Helena was given back the belongings she had on her went she was arrested which mostly was just the clothes she had been wearing and the necklace. She turned back to Alessia and stood with her arms crossed waiting for an answer.

[Numbers]

"Of course but after your shower, report to the science lab that's on the floor beneath my office. Since we're going out into hostile terrain its time for you to get the armor that I give my agents when they go outside. Of course there are multiple types of armor we have for different people." Allura went to turn to leave but before she did she turned back around to Helena. "Just don't forget, you're not the only one with scars." She said with an amused wink before leaving the room.

She closed the door behind her and moved her hand, pushing some of the hair past her ear for a moment, feeling the small scar that was there. The scar was mainly hidden by her hair and was rarely seen. She had the option to use medical technology to remove the scar, but she chose not to because it was a reminder as to the reason why she did her actions.

She shook her head for a moment though. Now was not the time for remembering the past, but was the time to achieve the future. She left the floor she was currently on by using the elevator and took it up to the floor where most of the labs were.

She found the lab where they would be getting their gear. It was a large warehouse style lab with people running around in lab coats. Gear was everywhere, several different test centers were around the place as well. She already knew what gear she was getting so she proceeded to go and get them. She was going to be getting a light scout's uniform and gear.

It involved a lot of lighter weapons. A knife, a sword that forms a blade out of energy, and a standard round pistol. Lighter survival gear. They wouldn't be able to take big vehicles for the trip since they brought to much attention. She getting to work on getting into her armor.

[AngelDellaNotte]

It only took her a few minutes to shower, Helena wasn't one for long showers. Growing up in the slums there was always a limited amount of water. It was quite ironic given that the dome was surrounded by snow but it took a lot of resources to melt the snow. When she had enlisted water was easier to come by but nothing was wasted and showers were to be kept brief. While she had been living with the rebels outside the dome most people used the natural hot springs in the mines to bath.

She grabbed her sword and pistols from her locker then headed to the floor Alessia had instructed her to go. One step in the lab and she was feeling uneasy. Knowing that she had one of these scientist's experiments in her head wasn't a pleasant feeling. Who knew what else they were cooking up in this lab. She noticed Alessia getting fitted for her suit, the suit was a lighter color which was good. The agents she had observed a couple days before had dark colored suits weren't didn't offer as much concealment as a light colored or white suit. Sure they can appear as a rock from a distance but the closer one got the easier to see they weren't.

Helena didn't go directly to Alessia instead she went to a storage area where equipment was stored. She found a suit similar to what she had used when she worked for the corporation outside the dome. It offered protection from both the elements and light weapons fire. She would have loved to have been wearing one of these suits when she had been attacked by the bear but the little equipment the rebels had was stole. It was mixed and matched, often not the best quality. After she got fitted for her suit she went to the armory section of lab grabbing a high powered rifle then going to Alessia wondering what sort of transportation they were going to be using. There were train lines that was the most common type of transportation between dome but judging by them getting these suits she figured they weren't taking the train.

[Numbers]

As soon as the scientists finished getting her suit properly on it started to hum with energy as the computer part of the suit turned on. 'Loading Orion. Orion loaded. Hello commander, my name is Orion. I am experiment A.I. Alpha One. Nicknamed Orion. I assist in combat, social handling, bodily control, and other functions. I will automatically provide gathered information on targets and other things into your vision via the implant.' The suit could audibly be heard speaking, even to those around it.

Allura smiled before taking the hood and putting it on to cover most of her head with it. "Thank you Orion. For now enter mute mode." With that she looked around for a moment before spotting Helena. She started to walk over to Helena, seeing her in some winter guard armor. "I see you found yourself some gear. That's good. Before we go ahead and leave are there any questions you have?" She said, crossing her arms over her chest as she watched her agent.

This mission was important and left no room for mistakes due to someone being confused about something. More so since she was only taking one agent with her. It meant her agent would have to not only be more guard but also more proactive. As she continued to look at Helena Orion started to send data to her vision on the subject. "Orion, add Hel... I mean add Agent 0 to the exclusion list of data projection." After she said that the data in her vision disappeared. "Thank you Orion."

[AngelDellaNotte]

Helena growled deep in her throat, a sneer on her face at being called Agent 0 she really disliked that a refused to have her name taken from her. It was one of the few things that truly was hers and she wasn't about to let it go. She was still wearing her helmet and Alessia couldn't see her expression or hear the growl. It wouldn't have matter anyway the heiress seemed to enjoy flaunting that she basically owned Helena. She had a feeling Alessia was speaking to an A.I. in her own suit. Helena had heard of them trying to create the technology. She had used a few suits that had computer aids in them but nothing as sophisticated as an A.I. Frankly Helena didn't care much for them finding them to be more of a pain in the ass than useful. Most soldiers felt that way as the computer assisted helmets never really seemed to project useful information. That was the hope with using an A.I. that they would be able to better predict what the wearer wanted.

Helena reached up and pulled her helmet off resting it on her side as she looked over to Alessia. “I don't gather that we are taking the train what is our mode of transportation?” Helena asked, thinking that they weren't flying either. The Fairbanks area was well known for its storms and the electromagnetic disturbances that made flying very dangerous and nearly impossible.

[Numbers]

"Correct. A train is too noisy. It may be fast but it also grabs attention and is easy to sabotage. Normally they're best for carrying resources like water to other places. For people it's better if they're not important since then they're not targets to rebels. However, having a VIP take a train could be dangerous if the rebels learn of such a thing. Since there is obviously a leak somewhere, then right now it is best to take a route more unpredictable." She looked to a guard that was near a door and let out a loud whistle. He turned around to the door he was guarding which was simply another elevator. He started to press some buttons on it until an elevator came up to the floor they were on.

Alessia started to walk toward it. "With no train the amount of travel that is left is much lower. Planes can't be used due to the unique weather around our area. As I am sure you are aware, we have really bad storms around this city and the areas around it as well. Which is great for defense, means we are safe from the air. However, it also means that if we would like to use aircraft ourself, we have to launch them from outside the storm zone. Which we can only really do from ships. Only way to get to ships is well.... complicated. Better to show than explain, however, we do not have time for that right now. No right now, we need to focus on the transportation that we will be taking this time around." She waited for Helena to follow her into the elevator before pressing a button to make them head down. The two of them were left in the elevator alone, since she made sure the guard stayed out of it.

"While we have no ears around us Helena, let me tell you our travel plan. My agents do more out in the field than just hunt. They establish hideouts and caches as well. We will be taking snowmobiles to one such hideout. There we will rest for a day, and gather some supplies. After that we will spend roughly a week walking east through extremely hazard terrain. There we reach another hideout and we get more supplies again. We do that one more time and the next hideout we arrive at has some snow mobiles that we can take to get to the other biodome. Spend a week at the other biodome, and then take the same route back home. The exact route we will be taking is known only by me and my agents, something that we don't even have written down. I'm sure the rebels have the same kind of routes. The kind of routes you learn by making." The doors opened back up and Alessia was aware of the security again. "Are you ready Agent 0, for your first transcontinental mission?"

[AngelDellaNotte]

“Lets just get this over with.” Helena said, ignoring the code name. She walked out of the elevator omitting another bit of information that this wasn't her first transcontinental mission. With the rebels she had travel to a neighboring dome. The executives of that dome had thought of sponsoring the Fairbanks rebel in the hope that they would overthrow a rival. Ultimately the rebels had chose not to take the assistance not want to trade one evil for another. The other corporation repeatedly said, they didn't expect anything in return but the rebel leaders hadn't felt good about the deal. Helena hadn't been involved in any of the discussions she had only gone to pull security duty. It mostly was her teams responsibility to get the delegation across the tundra.

She walked over to the snowmobiles conducting a check of it. Most models were the same. With ice cultivation being their main industry traveling in the snow was something that had been perfected. Helena noticed there were two snowmobiles which wouldn't be a problem if Alessia knew how to ride one. On that she wasn't sure Alessia seemed to be woman of many talent. She just hoped this was one of them. There were hundreds of ways to die on the tundra and being an inexperienced rider was high on the list. Helena sat down on the snowmobile and started it up running through more checks. “You ever rode one of these?” Helena asked, if Alessia was inexperienced she would prefer if they rode double but doubted Alessia would go for that.

[Numbers]

Alessia smiled. "I'm not some princess raised in the comfort of the tower, guarded by royal knights. After all, what kind of master of the agents would I be if I wasn't proficient in what it is they do." She said with a sort of sly look as she walked over and sat behind Helena, wrapping her arms around the woman agent in front of her. "I know how to ride one no problem. However, in this case it would be better for us to share. One person focus on driving, the other focus on shooting and navigation. Agents always at least work in pairs, so that they can watch each others backs. Normally we would have another pair with us, but said pair is still out there in a blizzard and this mission can not be delayed any more than it has to be."

She rested the side of her face against the back of Helena. "Not that I don't trust your shooting, but I would wager that considering this was and probably still is, your natural environment, you're going to be the more skilled driver." She said with a sort of sly smile still. She had a smile that this was going to be a fun mission, and she was looking forward to working with this specific agent alone. It would give her time to try and smooth out some wrinkles of resistance. Show her that even if she is evil, she is a necessary evil that will do the world more good than harm.

[AngelDellaNotte]

She tensed briefly feeling Alessia leaning against her, she had rode with people on the back of her snowmobile before. Why Alessia unnerved her, she didn't know. Helena looked up to a guard by a roll up door. She nodded to the guard who hit several buttons on a panel causing the door to open. Once the doors were open Helena kicked the snowmobile on and jetted out of the dome. Even with their suits on they could feel the bite of the subzero temperatures. It was a familiar cold that made Helena feel at home. Yes, she had been raised in the domes but had never truly felt at home until she had lived with the rebels outside.

Visibility was very low and Helena could barely see more than about twenty feet in front of her. She would have to rely on Alessia's navigation. That and she didn't fully know the direction they were traveling. Yes, she knew the general direction of the dome they were heading but not the route they were going. She didn't want to take the route the rebels had gone and give away some info about her. If Alessia pressed her she would be forced to tell her everything because of the chip in her head. Alessia had promised not to use it unless she needed to but Helena didn't trust her. It was best just not to tip her hand. She let go of one of the handles on the snowmobile and tapped several buttons on the chest of her suit activating the comm system between them. “A little direction here.” Helena said.