ParaCom: Adversary Uncertain
Prologue:
December 31st, Year 2020 was the start of the war between the normal and the paranormal. Just as the western world was celebrating the eve of the New Year, they attacked. During Times Square's annual ball drop and while shouts of “Happy New Year” echoed the area, the attacks commenced! The civilians of New York City were absolutely in shock and awe, due to the holiday letting the guard down. Unbeknownst to the supernatural forces, humanity would retaliate after a reeling assault. The armed forces across the world defended their nations from the attacks happening across the globe. However, despite dealing some damage to the enemy forces, they kept coming. Not even nuclear weapons stopped the otherworldly enemies in their tracks.
After grueling defeats in the name of species preservation, the UN realized that alone the nations cannot stop the threat. On August 1st, 2021, humanity formed a new line of defense. The elite, multinational, paramilitary team known as ParaCom was formed to act as the specialized line of defense against this threat. Thanks to heavy investments from the UN and all monetary sources, ParaCom has access to the top notch technology, science, engineers, and soldiers. The fate of mankind rests in their hands.
Act 1, Chapter 1—Operation Diving Pelican:
March 1st, 2022, the ParaCom operatives were deployed via a Vertical Take-Off and Landing troop transport aircraft. Their commander, Main Officer Arnold Bradley, instructed the squad, “The operation is taking place in the West Coast of the continental US. Paranormal activity has been reported and eyewitnesses reported abductions during the assault. Because there are no civilians, this mission is a search and destroy one for any paranormal activity.” The troop transport landed, allowing the squadron to exit to begin the search and destroy mission against the paranormal.
Though a beach would be relaxing during daytime, the time was of the witching hour, when the paranormal was at peak activity. Sea creatures might rise from the tides. Monsters are definitely on the prowl. Fortunately, the lifeguard tower was nearby and it could prove a very helpful asset. Stores by the beach can provide urban combat and locations of the supernatural enemies. A pier also provided an area to explore. Though it theoretically would have been crawling with the paranormal, the team would have to search and destroy them systematically.
Goliath Gath pushed passed the other ParaCom soldiers discourteously and exited the troop transport craft; being the first to tread on the mission territory. He spat toward the ground and kicked up dirt before turning his head to address the rest of the soldiers behind him. "Another moment stuck in that transport craft with you runts..." Goliath said in his low raspy voice as he paused and turned his body to face the troops directly "...and I would have taken my chain gun to the lot of you." he finished patting the body of the weapon as he broke into unnerving laughter.
"It seems Gath is feeling that he must prove his manhood to us all... again." Dilara Burük muttered in Lazar Golubic's ear to which he reacted with a subtle smirk before whispering back "You know having to spend time in his company makes me understand why the paranormals want us all dead." this comment caused the two to struggle to contain their laughter as Goliath turned his back and lit up a cigar unaware of their insults directed towards him.
Lazar Golubic exited the transport craft and trod down on the earth. He scanned the area quickly and cleared his throat before addressing the rest of the troops "I'm taking the beach to see if I can find any of those paranormal scumbags hiding out down there, who's with me?” Goliath turned and blew smoke in Lazar's direction and said "Count me in, I'm sure I could find some pretty nice merchandise in those stores, my personal supplies having been running a little low recently." he grinned and took another draw from his cigar. Lazar Golubic fanned the smoke away from his face "This isn't a scavenging mission Gath, this is purely extermination." Goliath grinned releasing more smoke through his teeth "Don't worry, I'll be doing plenty of that. Lock and load!"
William Burkley gripped his sleek Pump Action Shotgun tightly. He wasn't religious, so he didn't have to pray. As the large door lowered to the floor, he set foot on the yellow sand, shining in the moonlight. "Save it for the enemy, Gath..." Looking over the battlefield, it was fairly empty around the drop ship. "I'm going up the tower. You with me, Dilara?" Pointing at the top of the tower with the back end of his Shot-gun.
Xavier Otieno Northway cautiously scanned the air as he stepped out the aircraft, looking through via scope of the impressive, and beautiful bolt-action they gave him, blocking out Goliath's cocky tone and ranting. Scoping out the area, Otieno looked over at the tower where William pointed at, mentally noting how it should give a nice overview of the area as he says to his team mate, "Going with ya Will, hope you don't mind the company."
Just as Xavier and William were ready to approach the tower, both could notice from a distance that ghouls were near the tower. They were carrying automatic crossbows as their primary weapon. The ghouls were not aware of the operatives' presence and can be either become victims of a sneak attack or assaulted directly. The ghouls looked hideous, like walking corpses with rotting flesh. But since they were light infantry, they could be taken out fairly easily compared to their cohorts.
"Shhh, shhh." Will pointed a finger at the ghouls silently. Crouching low, he moved quietly and slowly, pointing at his grenade. "If I can't kill them, I have a nade as backup...I think I'm gonna go in. If one of them spots me, put one in between the eyes, mate." He whispered to Xavier. William took out a sleek, black combat knife in his other hand, holding it backwards. He crouched there, scanning the surroundings. He snuck up to an isolated ghoul, slowly and carefully, preparing a knife assassination. Sneaking up behind the grotesque beast, William attempted to stab at the things neck. His kill was hidden by the towers wooden wall, providing cover and avoiding line of sight with other enemies.
William's blade made contact with the ghoul. He directly severed neural connection from the head to the rest of the body, causing the ghoul to drop. Surprisingly, the crossbow shattered into fragments once the user took a dirt nap. Even more surprisingly was that the shattering was noiseless. As expected from the execution, the sneak attack was a miraculous success! The other ghouls, in a drone-like manner, had not noticed the assailant. In fact, the ghouls carried along in their patrol. The path to the tower was secure for now. Xavier was able to ascend the tower to optimize performance.
Dilara Burük had opted to act as support for Xavier and William as she didn't want to get caught up in one of Goliath or Lazar's high risk tactical assaults on the enemy, she nodded at William as he asked for assistance in getting to the tower. It was a good tactical position and the best choice of action. Dilara crouched behind William and Xavier as the three of them observed the ghouls ahead.
Meanwhile Lazar and Goliath were walking downhill towards the beach and its seaside stores. They walked in a slightly cautious formation but didn't put as much effort into stealth as William, Xavier and Dilara had done with their approach of the tower however, they were highly alert.
Charles walked behind Lazar and Goliath, making sure nothing came up from the rear. Without his visor down from the trip in the transport he decided to pull it down just enough so his eyes were looking through the bottom. Now he saw the figures walking in front of him in 30 different ways, but he quickly settled on heat detection as it proved to be one of the most reliable. Then again this wasn't normal war... and it seemed like Charlie was telling himself that more and more each day. He took a cigarette out from the pack in his back pocket, quickly lighting it with the small flame that shot out his fingertip. Perfecting this technique without blowing yourself up as you could imagine was hard, and the draw back was he could never really produce much flame at a time, and at best he could give a good little blast before he was left with nothing for hours.
From the corner of the visor his ember glowed with intensity, and Charles listened carefully as they tread across the sand. He lifted his Uzi and looked around there rear, the day looked to be rather uneventful. He didn't mind.
Xavier nodded to William, watching as he did so, his scope on the one William wasn't going for as the blade in his hand ended the first one. Nodding his thanks, he slowly made his way inside the tower, never once letting his rifle fall off the pack of ghouls just in case he was spotted. He slowly made his way up the ramp, hoping it doesn't creak, or squeak with no loose floorboard that would give away his shot as he whispered into his earpiece to inform Bradley and the rest of his unit as he made his way to the top, "Sir I got x-rays right in front of me, taking fire on one of them now." He zeroed in on the one in the middle, aiming at his head, taking in a deep breathe before slowly squeezing the trigger.
After gathering the weapon fragments, William heard Xavier. "I'll back you up, mate." William whispered through his earpiece. Sneaking to the entrance to the tower and the start of the ramp, Will took out his silenced pistol, aiming. If a single one of them spotted his teammate, he'd shoot to kill. He kept his hand steady, breathed slowly and kept his pistol at head-level of the ghouls. This had better work or the stealth take-over of the tower would be a failure.
"Going on Overwatch."
Goliath Gath kicked a metal trash can in his path as he yelled in his painfully raspy voice "Come out, come out where ever you are!" he turned back to Charles and Lazar and said in a slightly lowered pitch "I hate it when these damn things hide." He grinned and spat out the stub of his cigar. Lazar ignored him and kept up a vigilant state. The trio was getting closer to the beach side where the deserted stores laid in wait. The waves smashed against the shore eerily as the isolated atmosphere provoked a tense feeling in Lazar, he gripped his rifle tightly. Dilara also provided cover, drawing her pistol which was her main weapon. She waited with baited breathe for one of the others to give a signal to engage the enemy.
Xavier landed a bullet right between the eyes of the ghoul, which made the ghoul's head as expected, explode just like that of a watermelon. William's overwatch proved to be very useful. He exposed the enemy for a shot by blasting off an approaching ghoul's jaw. Dilara noticed that the ghouls had a particular physiology as well as the opportunity to finish off the jaw-less ghoul. With the amount of ghoul corpses littering the beach, autopsies would not be an option. It would be a necessity.
Goliath's thrashing around provided bait for two ghouls to come to their direction. The noise just provided enough to attract them. The crossbows were readied and they fired bolts with some sort of energy surrounding the bolts. The silver lining to the clouds was that the ghouls were not accurate and they missed the party.
Goliath and Lazar were taken by surprise by the ghouls’ shots but were fortunate not to be hit. "Here they come runts, hope y'all ready!" He laughed as he opened fire with his chain gun on the approaching enemies. Lazar also opened fire with his assault rifle. "If the ghouls don't kill you Gath, I will!" Lazar yelled over the gun fire.
Dilara heard the gunfire from coming the beach as she fired her pistol into a wounded ghoul approaching her, finishing it. "It seems as if Gath and Lazar decided not to take the stealth approach." she muttered as she quickly examined the ghoul's corpse. She thought to herself "We should really haul a couple of these corpses back for biological research, perhaps we can perfect a way to kill them."
"We've already perfected a way to kill them. A bullet through the head." William got up, as there weren't that many ghouls left inside the tower to spot him "I'm going out to help the two idiots down there." Pumping his shotgun, then attaching a rope to the end of the tower, he rappelled down while the ghouls were distracted. He ran up near the ghouls and hid behind a small rock. Aiming, he took a shot at a distracted ghoul with his shotgun, up close and personal.
Dilara was now free to recover bodies as she pleased, due to the group efforts in regards to finishing off the monsters. Lazar and Goliath were rather busy in suppressing and slaughtering the ghouls with rapid fire, with one ghoul in the middle of the chaos getting the messiest of treatment. Running and gunning, William's shotgun blast added to the violence as it connected to another ghoul in the fray. A lone ghoul was in an animal-like panic, running off and taking cover. It also utilized suppressing blind fire to further prolong its life, like a cornered rattlesnake.
Dilara kneeled down next to the corpse of the ghoul she had finished "If only we could catch one of them live next time." She muttered as she quickly scanned before collecting it.
Goliath yelled over the slaughter "Feels good to be slaughtering the ghouleys again!" The fire died down as Lazar and Goliath took cover from the suppressing fire. "What are you waiting for Lazar? You gonna let one get away?" He grinned as he took out another cigar and set it alight as crossbow shots hit random places around them. Lazar reloaded his assault rifle and broke cover to pursue the fleeing ghoul. "Cover me Gath!" he yelled. Goliath grunted a response and began firing his chain gun in semi blind fire to keep the ghoul on its toes.
While his team mates fired upon the now-alerted ghouls, Xavier made his way to the main lookout point of the tower, squatting down in low cover as he zoomed over to any ghouls he could spot when he saw Lazar run after a retreating ghoul. He quickly aimed right upon the running ghoul's knee as he muttered to himself before taking a deep breath to study his aim, "Get ready for a crippled meat-monkey, doc." With that said, Kenya's favorite sniper slowly squeezed the trigger, the scope zooming in on his victim's knee.
"It'd be good if we could bring in something alive sometime for more detailed stu-" She quickly covered her ears as the end of her sentence was drowned out by Xavier's rifle firing at the fleeing ghoul. Lazar stopped in his tracks as he heard the rifle fire and looked up to the tower area to see what he could see, he then quickly looked back to the ghoul to see if it was hit.
While Xavier's round hit the ghoul right in the knee, Lazar and Goliath's firing patterns were enough to send the crossbow flying ten meters or over thirty feet away from the ghoul. Surprisingly, the weapon remained intact from the firepower. William and Charles were ready to capture the creature, much to Dilara's delight. The team would capture one disarmed, crippled, and alive! If the capture goes through, the mission would be accomplished!
William took out his silenced pistol. "STOP FIRING!" He took aim at the ghoul's wrists, both of them, moving closer and closer. He shot at a wrist then ran towards the hideous thing, holding it at gunpoint. "FREEZE OR I WILL USE EXTREME FORCE!" He yelled at the top of his lungs, aiming the pistol at the ghouls head. Hopefully, it understood and didn't try to pick up the crossbow. He kicked the crossbow away, just in case.
Though, it probably didn't speak English anyway. Hey, it was the thought that counted, right?
Lazar quickly sprinted to the wounded ghoul's side and pointed his rifle at it "Prepare to die you son of a bitch!" he gritted his teeth and was about to pull the trigger when he heard Dilara yell from tower area "Don't shoot! We want it alive!" Lazar lowered his rifle and looked the ghoul in the eye right before he stamped his boot down on its wounded knee to make sure it was incapacitated "I don't know if you can understand me ghoul, but if you try anything I'm emptying a clip into your skull." He pointed to his weapon as he waited for the others to come and help him properly subdue and capture it.
Goliath approached behind Lazar "What is that crazy bitch thinking? Must be her time of the month." He sneered as he inhaled deeply breathing in his cigar smoke. "Shut it Gath, she is in charge of medical and scientific decisions." Lazar snapped back. "That doesn't mean we can't have some fun with it." Goliath grinned as he pushed the still lit cigar on to the ghoul's torso. A searing sound was heard and black smoke protruded from the end of the cigar as it was extinguished into the ghoul's flesh. The ghoul didn't react one bit to the abuse. Lazar smacked his rifle against Goliath's chest knocking him back a little before turning his aim back to the wounded ghoul.
"Don't test me right now Gath! I have to keep an eye on this wretch damn it!" Lazar yelled, his back turned to Gath. "You think you can get away with that you dirty little runt!" Gath took out his combat dagger and quickly approached Lazar's back as Lazar slowly turned his head not expecting Goliath's approach.
"GOLIATH!" Xavier yelled jumping over cover and running at the big bastard, drawing his pistol out to lock on the back of the large man's head, glaring through his iron sights on him. He would put up with the big bastard's snared comments about the unit, when he talked about Kenya, or his people he would step up, but aiming or attacking the team is where action was demanded. He stopped a couple feet away, growling in his low, raspy voice, "Put. The. Knife. Away."
William rose up, staring at Goliath. His eyes weren't angry. They weren't sad. They were just disappointed. Pulling out his Paracom standard issue combat knife, he held it backwards. "Don't fucking try it, Gath. Don't even fucking try it." He said, his voice raising in volume after each word. They had just fought against a common enemy that in the future would need teamwork. If this was the way it was going to be, this would be disastrous.
Goliath Gath stopped in his tracks knowing full well that most of his unit would be happy to put a bullet in him if they had an excuse. "So Xavier, you'd really shoot a fellow soldier in the back?" He turned his head slightly but kept his back turned as he addressed him "I always knew Kenyans were cowards, not much better than Serbs in my opinion and as for you..."
He laughed and looked at William "I'm not going to even get started on you." Thanks to Xavier and William's quick action, Lazar was given the time he needed to turn around. "You heard them, put the knife away and keep your comments about Serbs and Kenyans to yourself." Goliath grinned "I was just playing, what's wrong? Can't you boys handle a little bit of hard ball?" He put the knife away and walked away from the scene. Lazar approached Xavier as Charles took care of the Ghoul "Thanks for watching my back, I wouldn't have put it past that bastard to shiv me in the back." He extended his hand to shake Xavier's.
Xavier shook Lazar's hand, his grip shaking and tight as his eyes burned on Goliath, his nostrils flaring with his pistol never being let down for a moment. He calmed down slightly and quickly put the sidearm back in its holster, growling as the big bastard walked past him, promising, "One more snide comment and you'll have your own cigar burning into your chest." He turned to Lazar, nodding his welcome before quietly saying, "We need every soldier we can get unfortunately, though not a madman." He snarled the last four words, his eyes moving back to glare at Gath, his body tense, yet challenging. Really, he needed to be reprimanded after the mission was over, he knew, but this was the furthest he ever saw Gath go, and he was tired of it.
"Don't waste your time thinking about Gath, the man's a colossal asshole. I would report if I thought high command would actually do anything. Sadly we need all the soldiers we can get. I don't know if he would have really shived me but I'm glad I have proper team mates watching my back." Lazar walked back to the Ghoul where Dilara and Charles were working on it. "Is it ready to be moved back to the transport craft?" He asked
Goliath stood looking out at the sea his back to all the other soldiers, he stayed there a moment before walking towards the abandoned shops to investigate even though the mission was presumably over.
"Boys, have you never heard of test subjects? Back when I work'd for America, we had lots of em."
Picking up the crossbow and putting it on his back, he picked the ghoul up by the throat, looking into his eyes. "If we don't fix his leg...we'll probably only have about thirty minutes." Charles went into his med-kit and pulled out a small can with a spray nozzle on the top. "I guess this would be the best time to test this." He aimed at the ghoul’s shredded leg and covered all the bleeding parts.
A lump covered in ice is what the ghoul had for a leg now, the good news was it looked like the bleeding had almost totally stopped, but the ghoul wasn't thanking him. It was laying there, thrashing at him, trying to take a small chunk out of his own legs. Apparently the procedure had been far from painless, but what did he care? Charles put out his now spent smoke on the ghouls forehead. "Worst mistake you made today was not using an arrow on your head." A deep chuckle escaped his lips "We're gonna have some fun with you." Charles started picking up the thrashing cursing ghoul.
Charles looked up at Lazar "Well I'm not sure if he's all that comfortable... but I'd say he was ready to load up." He looked back to Gath as he walked into the small encampment there. Charles fished in his pocket for a data pad and entered Gath’s info into it before picking the body up and carrying it away. You never knew when you needed to know everything you could about someone, he would have to keep a close eye on the man... if he could take his eyes off this ghoul for a moment.
"We don't need the wretch to be comfortable, just alive." Lazar said as he watched Goliath enter the abandoned beach stores. Charles brought up Goliath Gath's file which included information on his incarceration and violent nature. Eighty percent of the information on him was related to his criminal record with the remaining twenty percent dedicated to his ParaCom file which placed importance on him because of his strength, resilience and knowledge of heavy weapons. Lazar carried the other end of the stretcher as Dilara followed both of them, monitoring the wounded ghoul as they carried it to the transport craft.
Charles looked over at Dilara "What do you think's inside that hunk of meat?" He asked as they carried it on the stretch to the shuttle. Dilara laughed as Charles asked the question "Which hunk of meat? The ghoul or Gath?" Her eyes saw Goliath many feet away as he disappeared into one of the stores. "He better not take too long, we have to get out of here." Lazar said as they arrived back at the transport craft.
Charles chuckled "I meant the ghoul, he can be dealt with in plenty of ways." He said pointing his chin at Gath. He wondered what the ghoul's chemical makeup was. Or where its organs were placed...What they all saw as a product of war, he saw as a medical scientific advancement. The DNA that made up the ghoul for all they knew could be totally different from their own, it seemed the possibilities would be endless...if they didn't botch it up along the way.
Dilara looked down at the squirming ghoul "I'm not sure but I am going to enjoy finding out. Headquarters has struggled to keep these things alive long enough back at base long enough for the scientists to test, at the very least we can have a corpse to perform an autopsy on though." She secured the ghoul on the transport craft with the help of Charles and Lazar before taking a seat for the journey back.
Will walked to the transport ship, leaning near the entrance. "Let's get everyone in, mates." He said. "Especially the ghoul wanker." He took off his helmet, holding it in his hand. His black hair finally getting freed as brown eyes scanned the area. Looked different without the advanced HUD of his helmet. Twiddling with his knife and waiting for everyone to get in, he recalled Gath. He was a madman.
Xavier made his way back to the transport, slowly walking into the aircraft after shouldering his rifle, grumbling about not enough meat bags lying on the sandy shores. He nodded to William as he leaned against the entrance, speaking quietly, “Next time make sure a knife goes into his gut." Otieno's eyes still darkened with anger over the bigot's words, his short patience for such prejudice having disappeared since hearing Gath talk from the very beginning though he was slowly getting over himself. Looking over, he saw the big man over at the shores, asking William, "Any idea what he's doing?"
"Resupplying? Getting food? Honestly, mate, I don't know." William walked into the ship and sat on a seat, holding his high tech helmet close. They had survived the first mission. No casualties. No wounded. It was an almost perfect start to the ParaCom project. If only Gath wasn't so violent, but Goliath Gath was supposed to be jailed, anyway. Offered freedom in exchange for service with ParaCom.
The promotion some of them would get was a bonus for surviving. But surviving by itself, was great. With that, Will dozed off into his own little world.
Charles answered "To try and see what he can find in there store rooms I bet. Aren't these creatures just odd? Remember when we used to write novels about beasts like this? In France we didn't get to see any of this. Can you believe that after months stationed there? Not a creepy creature or a crazy crossbow anywhere." He then took the crossbow from his back. "Does anyone know anything in particular about these things?" He said, examining the crossbow lightly. With his visor he could see into the object and the mechanisms there seemed almost alien. He stared at it hard for a moment and took his helmet off letting his hand go to his mouth as it normally did when it was exposed and he was pondering something.
Goliath came back to the transport ship just as it was preparing to leave with his supply bag full of cash from the shops registers, cigars and a couple of bottles of expensive aged whiskey. He stepped into the craft and smirked at their annoyance. "Sorry to keep you waiting ladies and Dilara, because let's face it. She ain't no lady." He grinned and took his seat sparking up a cigar smoking up the whole ship as it began to take off.
The ghoul didn't even try to resist anymore. It was fully captured and was ready to be transported to HQ's Paranormal Containment Facility. For the ghoul, it was damned if it did and damned if it didn't. The mission was a complete success! The VTOL ship was just about ready to deploy. Once the team returned to the base in the USA, Main Officer Arnold Bradley, code-named Center, was to debrief and promote the soldiers who earned them.
Back at the base...
"So far we have done a decisive victory. With another exemplary performance, we will for sure turn the tables against the supernatural. They will never know what hit them. Burkley and Northway, you are to receive promotions to Corporal. Golubic, Burük, and Gath are to also get promotions for their actions, but Gath, I have some words for you. The rest of you are dismissed."
When all the other soldiers were dismissed, Center warned Gath of his behavior. "Please do not loot abandoned areas next time or threaten your teammates. If you were to do any of your actions when the civilians were near, it would have tarnished our reputations and cut our funding. That funding is your paycheck too! Acts that lack professionalism are not tolerated in ParaCom and compromising your duties compromises your money. Keep that in mind because they invest trillions on us." He was disapproving because he felt unprofessional behavior would tarnish not just the public image, but also the funding.
Goliath Gath had learned the hard way that arguing with those above you yielded few positive results and at least he wasn't having his loot confiscated. He took the verbal discipline and saluted after Center was finished. Goliath didn't have anything to look forward to if the war ever ended except life imprisonment in a high security cell so he was living while he could. "Is there anything else... sir?" Goliath asked in his deep growling voice.
"No. But keep what I said in mind. You are dismissed." Center was at least trying to be stern and fair in his duty. Perhaps if Gath did very well, Center could make a deal with him. Everyone else either practiced in the shooting range or relaxed in the recreational lounge. The recreational lounge contained exercise machines and television. The shooting range was heavily regulated like the armory and was right next to the armory. Function was the main goal of the base. Form over that was a losing strategy. As long as all were at their best behavior, nothing should be wrong.
END OF CHAPTER 1
2: Act 1, Chapter 1.5Act 1, Chapter 1.5—Homefront Hijinks
Dilara had gone to oversee the medical experiments being done on the ghoul that had been captured. Lazar had gone straight into the shooting range to practice his aim, his older sister had been a very precise shot and his younger brother had had immense agility and had been able to sprint for long distances. Lazar hated the fact that he was only an average skilled soldier and average shot at best so he practiced whenever he could although it did little to improve his aim. He emptied shells into the targets, cursing whenever he missed. His survivor's guilt weighed heavily upon his soul and he was determined to make a difference in this war so that his life would have some sort of meaning. Goliath Gath headed to the recreational lounge and opened a bottle of whiskey and lit up a cigar "Feels good to be home. I wonder if there are any working girls in base camp." He looked around the room to see who else was there.
As Charles went exploring through HQ, he noticed Dilara heading away with the ghoul and he figured he would get his chance to prod it soon enough if they didn't kill it. So Charles decided to drop his gear off his gear in his quarters, put on a normal sleeveless blue shirt and took the crossbow with him to find an appropriate lab. He smelt the thick cigar smoke coming from the lounge as he approached it and knew who must be in there. He entered and said, "Do you know where there are any labs around here? I don't know how the fuck this thing works." He said as he was holding up the crossbow.
"Do I look like a scientist to you? No wonder you're still a rookie, I'm here for one thing and one thing only; to smoke the paranormals. So run along gringo, unless you've got a number for a skilled prostitute." He broke into laughter and flicked his half-finished cigar into a nearby bin, taking a large swig of whiskey as he did so...
Charles walked up to one of the tables in the room and set the crossbow down sitting down, directly across from Gath. "Where do you think I am from?" He said lighting a cigarette. This man knew nothing about him, or his past. At least he wasn't forced into being here because of his own stupidity. Basically Charles wasn't going to let this man insult him then and there.
Goliath took a long drink from the whiskey bottle. "Look rookie, I don't know and I don't care and you better be careful. I've beaten a few arrogant rookies into bloody pulps, I hate to be interrupted when I am...celebrating." He took out another cigar and cut off the end with his combat knife, placing it in his mouth then lighting it. Goliath watched as Charles entered his vision and smirked as he placed the cross bow on the tables, he blow a smoke ring in his direction.
Charles cocked his head to the side a bit letting smoke fall out his mouth. It was obvious this guy was looking for a fight, Charles just wasn't sure if he knew who's door he was knocking on. "Shut the fuck up you convict peca Europeu de merda. You don't know me or anything about me, I look at you and see trash boys from my childhood wouldn't even wipe their asses with. I'd love to see you try to touch me." Charles stood up and grabbed the crossbow. "I'm taking this to my quarters, When I get back we can test you theories." He went to do as he said he would and when he returned one of the bartenders told him that if they were going to fight here he would get both of them written up, apparently there was a gym with a ring we could spar in. Though spar isn't the word he would have used himself, he looked over at the big man still puffing on his cigar. "So what do you say? Want to prove what you said about juicing me? Prison rules of course. In France, we don't use gloves generally." Charles walked out of the lounge yelling back "I'll see you there if you not a pussy!"
Goliath stood up and threw the half empty bottle of whiskey against the wall, smashing it loudly. "I don't speak gringo but I'm sure going to enjoy beating one to death! I'm going to do more than touch you, I'm going to batter your scrawny little bottle into a bloody pulp!" Goliath roared "If you have a death wish then you'll enter the ring with me. Either way, I win. If you enter, I'm going to teach you a lesson you will feel for weeks and if you don't you'll be seen as the coward rookie child gringo you really are!" Goliath Gath marched out the room towards the gym.
Charles was waiting in the gym, shirtless, revealing the scars all over his body. He was wrapping his hands up and waiting for Goliath to get ready. The guy sure was quite the cocky one. He would be glad, given that the man quits talking chaff and realize he was about to get a real fight. Charles popped his neck and stretched while he was waiting for Gath to get in the ring, and he wasn't for sure going to hold anything back, as he was sure the other man wouldn't either. One thing was for sure, Gath looked mad and that made Charles smile for a brief moment.
Goliath stepped into the ring breathing heavily. He threw his armor from the ring hastily which made a crashing sound as it hit the floor. He was a large muscular man and very tall. Word quickly traveled about the hostilities between Charles and Goliath, Dilara was leaving the lab when a rookie told her about the fight and Lazar also heard as he was packing up his rifle in the armory. Both hurried to to gym to watch the commotion. Goliath punched the air violently as he warmed up. "You ready to meet whoever the fuck botched up making you rookie?" He snarled as he came towards Charles. The gym had filled with various members of ParaCom as a fight was always an exciting spectacle and a break from the constant training the troops often had to endure.
Charles dodged the half-hearted punches and took one of the opportunities to slip under Goliaths arm, swinging a punch at his kidney as well as sweeping his foot back to catch the foot that was off balance, and send him on his back. Charles had waited for what he thought was the perfect moment. If the man rolled out of it, he would try something big, but if the fight went to the ground this battle was going to go on a lot longer. Goliath wasn't necessarily strong, but his shots were a little off. Either a moment too early or a moment too late and Charles felt like he might be able to just wear the guy out without even hurting him. The look in Goliath's eyes as he swept his foot back told Charles that wasn't the case.
Goliath wildly swung with a drunken rage. However, Charles was able to take him down with the sweep as the punch did not knock out Goliath. The sweep allowed Charles to gain the edge. Whether he would end the fight or kick the giant when he's down was up to Charles. Goliath attempted to get up to retaliate, as he was down but not out.
Suddenly, Charles jumped on top of Goliath and started hammering elbows toward Goliath's face without even looking with his head out of the way tucked down to the left he couldn't see much. He then push himself up with his left arm, and made sure Goliath didn't have a chance to swing. He then let his head arc and slammed his forehead into Goliath's making a definitive sound as the heads connected. Charles then stood up before walking away he looked down at the man and kneeled back down next to him. "I'm Brazilian you piece of shit, we speak Portuguese." He then walked out of the ring leaving the man where he was.
Will had been promoted to corporal, just for his first mission. He felt great. He didn't go and celebrate in the bar with everyone else-He wasn't a drinker-So he just went to the shooting range to practice shooting and possibly knifing. He walked in, wearing a regular ParaCom suit, which was gray with a yellow diamond-shaped emblem. He pulled out his knife, threw it at the head of a target and walked over to it. Pulling it out, he stabbed it in the neck, the head and the heart. Then he practised slashing. Needless to say, William was skilled in knife fighting. All from his days at war. Putting his knife away, he stood back and practised his aim with a pistol.
Meanwhile Xavier was in the barracks, cleaning and tuning up his rifle, it having been a habit since his old one always misfired or jammed. His teammates always told him he spends too much time with that rifle, but personally, he didn't care. He was just cautious over everything, and God knows what will happen when they run into something that's not ghouls. He sighed, smiling weakly as he slid the scope back on his rifle after inspection, laying it beside him. Having already checked his pistol, Xavier pulled out what his ex-CO of his old unit gave to him, a chopper style homemade machete. When he first received it back when he was seventeen years old, it was so dull it couldn't even cut butter. But after being sharpened every day, Oteino is positive this baby can cut through his own guns. Still, it killed time for waiting for either his mother or father to write, or for a mission. He grabbed a whetstone beside him, sliding his blade across the tough rock, causing a rough spark to go across it, repeating this process over and over.
Dilara and Lazar along with many of the others watching the fight cheered in surprise at the rookie's victory over Goliath, many in the crowd had had conflicts with him and enjoyed seeing him put in his place. Goliath lifted himself up, he got up quickly as he recovered quickly but he had still lost. He left the gym to crawl away to some hole to lick his wounds. The crowd dispersed after congratulating Charles and many departed to the common room to relax for the rest of the evening.
END OF CHAPTER 1.5
3: Act 1, Chapter 2Act 1, Chapter 2—Tehran Terror
March 8th, one week later. The weapons fragments were studied as well as the ghouls both dead and alive. It was discovered that the ghouls have a hive mind and from their conclusion, something or perhaps someone was leading them. Autopsies report that they have enhanced senses which help them aim after they miss. The nervous system was well developed for the purposes of maintaining the body even after the organs cease functioning, meaning severing the nervous system is the best way to kill them. The interrogation had the captive ghoul suddenly possessed, with eyes and skin glowing yellow and red respectively, and spoke with an otherworldly and raspy voice. "You humans think you are scientists, warriors, and priests! But to us you are nothing more than youngsters with sticks! Your filth defiles the very fabrics of reality. I would spit upon you all if I could! Let this be a warning for what is to come!" The knowledge extracted helped in understanding the principles of the weapon fragments and the crossbow, assuming it was handed over to the scientists. The ghoul possession stopped and it dropped dead after the interrogation was done.
A new arrival came and she visited the living quarters to make herself at home. She was a tall, well-muscled Russian woman named Alina Ivanova and her rank was lieutenant. After packing her heavy weaponry in the armory, she then announced, "Center referred me here. As lieutenant, I will be his voice when he's not present. Any questions?" She did not whatsoever accept subordination in the face of adversity and took the job rather seriously.
"Yeah, I have a question" The raspy voice of Goliath Gath came from the back of the room where he was nursing his new bruises "How do I get out of this chicken shit outfit?" He smirked. Dilara rolled her eyes as she had recently come in from studying the captured ghoul which was now deceased. Lazar had wanted to ask a question but he waited in case Lieutenant Ivanova wanted to make an example of the pig headed Goliath.
Charles sat on toward the front of the room with some blood on his face from a hit Goliath had landed. He tasted some blood as he took an unhealthy drag of his cigarette and glanced to the back of the room were Goliath had just made a comment. "See you'd have to stop being Chicken shit to get out of it... That would be why they gave it to you in the first place." Charles chuckled and took another unhealthy drag. Goliath wasn't the only one that could hold a grudge for no reason. Charles just hoped the commanding officer wouldn't started riding them for it. Charles believed Goliath could be a good person, underneath all that con.
William Burkley shook his head at Gath and Charles's antics, staying silent. He was still wearing the standard Paracom outfit. There had been no need to put on anything different. If one cared about looking stylish in an environment like this, they were fucking bonkers. So were Charles and Gath. They were fighting fucking paranormal beasts for God’s sake, it was time to kill enemies. Not each other. He sighed deeply and fiddled with the collar on his suit.
"If I'm chicken shit then what the hell does that make you rookie? The chicken shit of chicken shit and that's corporal chicken shit to you." He spat out blood to his side, the kid had got him good but if he tried again next time he'd win. He had been drunk but he'd beaten many of the other males in ParaCom drunk before, beneath his grudge there was a glimmer of respect although it was buried too deep for Goliath to notice it.
"Shut your holes, you two." Lazar snapped. He was a disciplined soldier and couldn't stand in fighting. Goliath chuckled at his rigidness knowing full well that for all the hard work Lazar put in he'd never be as powerful a soldier as he, himself was.
Xavier sighed, leaving his suit unbutton as the damn thing always left his skin itchy, his medals on the side from his precious fighting days. He raised a brow over at Charles's and Gath's antics, knowing Charles was just egging him on as well as Goliath doing the same goddam thing. He pinched the bridge of his nose in annoyance, slowly shaking his head as he whispered over into William's ear, "And they're trained soldiers." He then turned to this new CO, asking, "One quick question ma'am. Just out of curiosity, what were your previous assignments? Black ops, Spetsnaz, or what?"
"This is how, big man: DROP AND GIVE ME A THOUSAND!" She was determined install discipline in the heavy. As for Lazar, she determined that he wanted questions judging from body language. "Any other questions?" She scanned the room for others. Clearly she was the bad cop if Center was the good cop. She noticed that though Alina is one of the few females, she would still be just as scary as her male counterparts.
Needlessly, Alina was not to be trifled with. She then responded to Xavier's question, "Spetsnaz was my previous specialty."
Goliath Gath grinned. "If you wanted to see me work out honey, all you had to do was ask." He took off his bloody shirt and began doing pushups. He carried on doing pushups while the conversation continued. He had easily cleared around six hundred pushups in training normally but one thousand would be a challenge if he could do it at all but he took his time and conserved his energy. He was easily the strongest in the unit. Lazar smirked as Lieutenant Ivanova showed her leadership, as he was impressed and would be happy to serve under her.
William stared at Goliath as he got to work on pushups. He had to admit: Goliath was most definitely the strongest of the group, at least physically. Mentally? Not by a long shot. The rookie...Damn, that mouth! Stitched together and shit. Wow. Alina was tough. Spetznaz was tough, though, so it was to be expected. This squad wasn't the best the world could offer, but it was near that. Lazar was a respectable soldier, by all means. Not much else to say. Private Charles Luz and Dilara were smart. Given the fact Dilara was the head of science and research, though that was to be expected. Xav...He didn't know that well, honestly. They might have to eat dinner together or something. It would be Will's treat. Thinking about food made his stomach rumble. Hopefully a mission didn't start before he could get a meal.
"You're lucky I'm not sitting on you, big man." After Lieutenant Alina Ivanova was administering corrections, she then scanned the area as she was keeping an eye on Goliath. "If you think Center is tough, you're nightmares will start with your's truly." She vowed to discipline anyone who gets out of line, even physically. Her husband, she reflected, was bigger than this man. "Let this be a lesson."
One hour later, once things died down, the television screens showed horrific images of civilians being slaughtered at random in Tehran. "Breaking news brought to this hour! Eyewitnesses show a change in the paranormal phenomenon! Civilians are being targeted at random. For those who are unarmed and unable for self-defense, lock your doors and bar your windows! The supernatural are attacking citizens in urban and suburban areas!"
An alarm blared throughout the headquarters. Main Officer Arnold Bradley briefed the crew. "The paranormal are doing this to send a message. That message they want to send is that no one can stop them. Let's prove them wrong. Pack your bags! We're heading to Tehran, Iran!" The alarm continued to blare as the armory opened up. "Saved by the bell! Let's GO!" Alina saw that she commanded the group. She would also partake in and observe the mission. "Do not disappoint us."
William rushed to the armory. Putting his armor over his Paracom suit, he followed up by strapping on the holsters. He picked up his trusty Paracom knife, strapping it onto his waist. Putting his pump action shotgun on his back, he strapped a pistol to his hip. Finally, he put on his helmet. "H.U.D: Active. Paracom and Paranormal detectors: Online. Thermal, NV, motion detection and infra-red status: Ready. All systems, online." The A.I voice of his high tech helmet spoke into his ears. Solemnly, Corporal William Burkley turned around. "Let's go."
A thought raced through his mind: He was going to kill these alien bastards. They took families and children from the world. Innocents. They will pay.
Xavier's face hardened immediately, his hands tightening into white-knuckled fists at those paranormal monsters. He knew exactly how bad things were with them when a terror attack happened. He saw it in Kenya one too many times. Though killing pirates was never something he would complain about, the things he saw them do....It was enough to shut even Gath up. His jaw set in anger he immediately grabbed slung his rifle over his shoulder, rushing to get suit up and throw off the grunt jacket he wore at the barracks, slipping on his body armor and clothing before slipping on his helmet, rushing to meet up with William as he spoke up, "What do you think we'll be facing this time? Doubt damn meat monkeys can do much in this case."
"I don't know, mate. Those things we fucked up on the beach seemed like grunts, to me. Bottom of the food chain. If they have a commander...They probably sent in stronger wankers." He sighed. "Those things they did, on the TV...It just..." He slammed his fist into a wall. "GODDAMMIT! It just isn't right. They're going to pay for this. All of them." He breathed slowly. "All of them." He continued walking to the VTOL plane, passion in each step.
"After the sniper of course," Xavier agreed, hands clenching tightly on his rifle with a shaky grip as he met Will's angered steps with his own, flashes of men getting mauled by beasts, getting ripped limb from limb appearing in his mind as his nostrils flaring as he lost some good men to it. Deciding to let some insight for Will, he recited from the tattoo he long ago got on his back, "Sniper, first one in, and first one to fire. Got that tattooed on my back a couple years ago."
Charles didn’t really wait too much when he heard the alerts in the mess hall. He calmly walked to the barracks and found reached under his bed pulling out a black box, he reached inside in pulled out the desert-camo painted Kevlar armor from his service for the US. The Kevlar seemed to fit as well as it had and there was actually still a clip from his M9 still in one of the pockets. He then strapped the helmet he had spent a few nights upgrading in France, onto his head and went to the armory to see what he could grab that would be the best tactically for this mission. He spotted a rather old, but still quite pristine HK33 lying in the back he blew the dust off it and told the attendant he was going to be taking it on this mission. To which he replied, "Man no one’s touched that thing since I been here, I'm not even sure if it’s on record." After a quick search though the gun was in fact in the system and he told him all his information and went on his way. He quickly got the ammunition he needed and was at the drop ship waiting with the rest of the crew.
Unlike the usual helmet, he was wearing sort of a normal issued Kevlar helmet with a HUD visor that slid down in a single panel to his nose. The outside of the heads up display had the top half of a skull visible and he could change it to a blank state pretty quickly with a simple touch. He also had a scarf from Afghanistan wrapped around his neck. He sat down on the drop ship and pulled out the cleaning kit he had stored in the compartment just under his left arm, on his side. He got to work making sure the ACOG was lined up and the mechanisms were clean.
Dilara and Lazar were horrified by the television announcement, the faces of the suffering on it reminded them too potently of their own loses. Goliath sat in the corner breathing heavily after his work out, he wasn't paying much attention to the television and scoffed when the report mentioned the unarmed civilians had no way to defend themselves. He lit up a cigar to ease his breathing.
Lazar retreated to the armory to collect his arms and Dilara to the lab to collect her equipment for the next mission. Lazar was searing with rage as the memories of his older sister and brother entered his mind. He remembered the warm Serbian summers where they would all play soccer, they both were better than him but their sibling loyalty possessed them to always pick him for their team so he would not have to bare the humiliation of being chosen last, even though he wasn't a good player. He slammed the gun cabinet shut and checked the magazine of his gun, he knew he had to rescue these civilians, who else would? ParaCom was the last line of defense between the Paranormal and the innocent civilians of Earth.
"If we don't fight them... who else will?" He presented the rhetorical to himself as he stared into the mirror and sorrow filled his heart.
Once all the active operatives loaded up, they were to be at the troop transport. Like a bat out of hell, the operatives were transported to the heart of Tehran, Iran. "Center reporting. This is a rescue mission so be quick! Watch your fire out there; we have civilians in the AO! Rescue all civilians and eliminate all enemy forces! Center out."
Alina decided to lead the squad. "Follow my directions and we'll finish the mission faster than greasy lightning!" She carried her Nanogun in 4.63 mm. Though small in caliber, the multiple barrels would make the gun fire at a faster rate than Goliath's chain gun and would be much more manageable. The amount of ammunition was also lightweight and fed via belt and pack.
The area of Tehran was full of buildings and near mountains. Though normally the streets would be filled with cars and heavy traffic, the nature of the mission made the streets full of broken cars, debris, and corpses. And this was during the day! It was apparent that the monsters did not settle for night time to catch the humans off guard.
Goliath Gath played old rock songs on a small boom box he had looted from one of the beach stores as he rode the transport ship. His deep mono-tonal voice drowned out the song playing, he was the only one on the craft who was relaxed. Lazar was looking out the window trying to catch a glimpse of the Iranian city in hopes it might help him later while Dilara stared down at her feet, preparing herself mentally for the mission ahead.
Lazar was first to exit the transport craft, he scanned the area quickly and had his assault rifle at the ready for any incoming paranormals. Goliath came out next and spat out a hunk of murky yellow spit, obviously a product of his constant smoking to which he immediately engaged after getting out. His face was still bruised after the fight with Charles. Dilara exited last checking information on her medical device as she walked slowly behind the others. Goliath yelled unexpectedly "Hey! I thought you critter only came out after dark!” His voice echoed down the large seemingly deserted street.
William got out of the transport, scanning the area. Crouching, he went behind cover. Peeking over, it was clear. Seemingly. Hopefully. Could they go invisible? He hoped not. Walking behind a pillar, he looked around, with his pistol in hand. "Overwatch. Scanning." He said, looking around and trying to find an enemy. The television showed various beasts he had not seen before. He'd have to be careful.
Xavier slowly went out of the aircraft as well, scanning the area through via scope before crouching behind an abandoned, burning car that was near the craft, holding the rifle onto the vehicle for leverage as continued scanning the area. "Moving over," He mumbled, quietly, yet cautiously making over to the pillar William was located at, setting up over it as he mumbled, "Ask not whom the bell tolls, for it tolls for thee."
Charles saw and heard the team with Goliath as they headed down and apparently straight into some muck. Charles took a deep breath and quickly saw Will and Xavier seeming to find a perch above everyone else. He ran over to see what he could find out when he heard loud screeches in the distance. “Do you guys have any idea what we’re fighting here? These don't sound like ghouls." He said to Will and Xavier. The desert was already playing little tricks with his mind, the screeching echoed in his mind long past the time it should have until it turned into a scream almost seamlessly. He really hated the desert he thought pulling his scarf around his face.
William, while on overwatch, spotted a civilian escaping from a hungry manticore. The civilian was running as fast as he could so as not to be devoured. Unless the team acted fast, the civilian would certainly become breakfast! Goliath's yelling must have attracted the civilian plus the monster! William can choose to either attack the monster with his pistol or switch over with his shotgun.
Xavier would see the manticore as well. The manticore was a vicious attack animal used by the Paranormal forces. It had the body of a red lion, large bat-like wings, a human head with three rows of sharp teeth, and a trumpet-like voice as it roared. The tail looked fearsome and it may shoot poisonous spines to either paralyze or kill its victims.
Lazar ran as fast as he could towards the civilian firing his assault rifle at the same time to try and repel the beast and cover the civilian. He hoped he could save the civilian by getting to him before the manticore did and covering his escape. He gritted his teeth and empty many shells toward the beast, he hoped all his target practice would aid in his aim.
Switching to his shotgun, William went under some debris. As the monster charged for the civilian, he aimed and shot it while it passed close by, buckshot sent flying. Hopefully it paid off. If not, he was screwed. But he had Xav to watch his back. Hopefully he was a reliable shot and actually hit. But he was a sniper, so he probably would. Damn he was good with a rifle. If all else failed: LMG.
Charles spotted the manticore as Goliath was opening fire on it. Charles rushed as fast as he could down next to Goliath and started letting out three rounds at a time at the beast trying to get as close to it as he could. The Civilian was almost frozen with fear and as Charles through a smoke grenade just under the Manticore an array of colors shot out the canister. The smoke was thicker and much harder to spot an object in but if the crew switched there thermal's on they should have no problem spotting the creature. In the smoke he ran at the small glowing dot that was the civilian. He prayed to any god that he confused the Manticore long enough for him to get to the Civilian. He was also praying Gath didn't shoot him in the ass on his way in...
Set in action, Xavier immediately zeroed in on the monster's head, slowly sucking in a deep breath before slowly squeezing the trigger. He hoped it hit the fucker before it got ahold of Will, the giant man-lion looking like something he would see in old paintings of hell. He had to admit, Will had some balls running on the beast like that, and even with a shotgun Xav wouldn't go four feet near that tail.
The concentrated fire paid off! Charles and Lazar was able to save the civilian. The smoke grenade was just enough to distract the beast and make it vulnerable. The manticore was shot right on the left eye, making it roar loudly in pain. Assault rifle rounds hit the hide of the creature, though it did not kill outright. The manticore was angry and bleeding badly, firing a trio of spikes at the direction of where it was hurt before charging. Though Xavier had to take cover as well as Lazar, this was an opportunity to ambush as it charged. If it bleeds, it can be killed.
Charles grabbed the civilian and ran to cover as he heard the echo of a large round hitting a soft surface. Thank God he was a good shot or X would have blown his head off. He then looked to the civilian "Are you hurt? Do you know were any other people might be under attack around here?" He said letting his gun fall to the side and taking out a smoke and offering it to the civvie. Just in case, he’d want one after an experience like that.
"Hey, mate." He took aim with his shotgun. "Fuck off!" He shot at the manticore with his shotgun. It was extremely close, un-comfortably so. But he didn't care, because it was about to get killed. Half blind, bleeding profusely, he was doing the shithead a favour. No more suffering. Just endless sleep for it. Brought about by the sound of a gun firing and lead.
Goliath gave supporting fire from a distance as Dilara took cover. Lazar covered the civilian and Charles's escape as he walked slowly towards the manticore firing his rifle at it, the empty shells hit the ground echoing as the wall of sound created by the combined gun fire masked all other sound in the area.
Both Goliath and William were able to finish off the enemy, despite Goliath being excessive. It was evident that the manticore was dead in a bloody mess. Now it is time to move on. Alina observed and said, "You all make a good team! I did not have to intervene for this one. Central was right about your team work." She then sensed something in the air and saw a Djinn flying. "Look out!" She laid suppressing fire on the Djinn to keep it at bay.
"Shit!" the sound of gunshots so close made him drop the pack "What was that?" He said after a quick glance up, all he saw was a fleeting image of floating through the air. He immediately looked back to the civilian and raised his gun up making sure this wasn't some sort of distraction, they could afford to all look up at once. "Don't tell me that's what I think it is, because if we start going to war with flaming FUCKING GENIES, were not gonna make it out this one!" Charles reached down to his belt and pulled out a red marker and drew an x across the back of the civilian’s hand he then pointed back to where there drop ship sat. "Get the hell out of here while you have the chance, they will help you." He said in broken Farsi to the civilian. The scenery might have been similar but this was a totally different war.
"Trust these sand peasant to have a whole lot of their own paranormals for us to fight." Goliath grunted as he aimed to open fire on the creature. Lazar brought up the rear of the retreating civilian and Charles and took cover. Dilara sprinted toward the civilian to see if he or she was injured. The roar of Goliath's chain gun and his constant yelling of insults directed at the Djinn drowned out the eerie silence that had preceded it.
William pumped his shotgun, the common sound drowned out by Goliaths' chaingun spinning and roaring, accompanied by his insults. "HEY YOU, FIRE DICK!" He nodded to his teammates. "I KILLED YOUR PET MANTI-FUCKTARD OVER HERE!" Banging his chest with his fist, Will ran away behind a solid piece of debris, awaiting the fire genie to come at him. Talking through intercoms, he told his teammates his plan. "When it's comes at me, distracted, shoot the hell out of it." He watched for the Djinn, awaiting its arrival. If his teammates didn't kill it, he would. "Overwatch."
Xavier listened to Will's plan, nodding rapidly as he agreed with him, "Roger that corporal, fucker's getting a bullet right between the eyes." Immediately Northway set up on position further up ahead on another car, his rifle zeroed in yet again on the head of his next victim, the fire genie, mumbling to himself, "If the team won't kill it, I will." Again he held in a deep breath, inhaling to steady his aim, his heart beating strongly against his chest as the Djinn came closer and closer to Burkley, once it came close enough Xavier slowly squeezed the trigger.
Though Alina and Goliath injured the Djinn, it was Xavier that brought the killing blow. William's plan worked well as the Djinn dropped dead, leaving ethereal substance.as what remains of it. The cleanup crews can send the substance to the lab to study. The team then heard a loud scream across the street they were fighting in.
"VAAAAAAAAAAAAY! KOMAK!" The scream was crying for help in Farsi. This prompted the operatives to immediately investigate. It was not too late, but it must be done soon before it is. "QUICK! We need to rescue that person!" Alina barked the order to do so as she was rushing.
Lazar shot his head round to try and see where the noise came from. "There are more people back there! They sound like they're in trouble." and with those words uttered Lazar quickly sprinted toward the location of the noise. Goliath kicked the body of the Djinn as he passed it and spat down upon it "That's for making me break a sweat, you ugly motherfucker." he growled. Dilara glared at him as he passed. "Leave me something other than your DNA and boot print for me to study Gath, you've already emptied enough bullets into him after all." She complained. Goliath just laughed as he kept walking bringing up the rear of the squad. He was the last leave the site where as Lazar was the first as he ran ahead of the others his assault rifle loaded and ready.
Xavier sighed as the fire entity dropped into the substance, Will still standing as he gave him a quick head nod in acknowledgment to the plan and the bullet that went through the fucker's skull, complimenting, "Nice plan Burkley." He looked down at the puddle of the former genie, wondering what the hell it is to have caused that big ass genie to appear. He was cut off from his thoughts however when hearing the screams of the civie and the ordering of Alina. He quickly bolted his next round of his rifle, quickly falling in behind Lazar as he took lead, asking him as they ran, "What the fuck are we fighting next? Ghosts? Psh, might as well call ourselves the mystery team and get a fucking talking dog."
"No, we're the Ghost Busters. The mystery team is fucking stupid, they don't even fight monsters." Will pumped his shotgun. "Let's check out the civvi."Warily approaching the scream with the rest of the team, he maintained speed and caution while jogging. Scanning around, he looked for any enemies. "We're clear, here." He spoke through coms. "Looking for the civilian."
Lazar broke into an uncharacteristic laugh as they ran toward the civilians location "Just as long as I'm not shaggy." he quipped "The ghost busters look like ragtag team amateurs compared to us." he chuckled before becoming quiet as the three of them drew closer to their location. Lazar spoke in almost a whisper as they came very close to the sound while he reloaded his assault rifle. "I'm going in, we can't wait for Gath to haul his chain gun and his fat ass up here anyway." He grinned. Lazar Golubic then strode out from his cover, his assault rifle at the ready and his eyes scanning the area beyond for the civilians.
Dilara had stayed behind to examine the bodies while Goliath was slowly walking towards the location of of Lazar and the others but taking his time as he had just lit a cigar.
After examining the genie for a moment, Charles jogged at a steady pace to catch up to the rest of the crew when he heard a tiny growl behind a trash can he ran past. He knew that whatever it was couldn't be very big because of the noise it had made but Charles couldn't afford to be too careful so he held his gun up at the ready as he slid the trash can to the side with his foot. Out popped a small almost wolf looking creature that couldn't have been any larger than his own hand.
Charles pulled out a piece of beef jerky from his bag and tossed it on the ground watching as the runt's expression changed and it began waging its tail happily at the treat. He quickly bent down and picked the puppy up, tossing it in his bag in as comfortable a way as he could for the moment. Within the span of 30 seconds with the help of some beef jerky Charles may have found a friend for life, but now there where, much more important things to worry about.
The animal befriended Charles, enjoying the beef jerky. The band would reunite sans Dilara, who was studying the Djinn's cadaver. The group found a caged Iranian POW, who surprisingly recognized the group as foreigners. "I'm glad you are here! A roc is arriving and it already has grabbed a woman to eat! Quickly, I need a gun! I'm a captain in the army and the enemy sabotaged our guns!" He spoke English well enough to convey the message. Judging from his uniform, he was a captain in the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps. Iran has recognized the dire circumstances so much that it had to side with the Western world just to survive and vice versa.
A loud caw was heard from afar. The roc was returning to get another meal, perhaps seconds. Explosives from a rocket launcher would take it down easily, considering the giant bird was crippled first. Alina was reacting quickly, using her Nanogun to fire upon the giant bird in hopes of not just getting the attention, but also crippling the bird. Despite the short burst, the roc was agile and recognized Alina as a threat, swooping towards her, talons ready. "Giant bird! Kill it and its poultry for everyone!"
Goliath walked up and looked down at the POW. "Are we giving out state of the art weaponry to any sand peasant who says please, with a cherry on top?" he grunted. "Shut it Gath and do the only thing you're good at and blast that Roc." Lazar gestured towards the bird before the two took cover to avoid its talons and fired their rounds towards it. "Damn this chicken is hard to hit! Stop swooping so I can blast the hell out of you!" Goliath yelled. The men continued to open fire with Lazar throwing his pistol to the released POW "Here take this, it's all I've got." he yelled over the gun fire. Goliath roared in frustration and threw down his chain gun "The piece of shit is out of ammo! Time to take out the heavy weapons." He grinned and lifted his rocket launcher, pointing it towards the Roc. "Stay still chicken, I'm hungry." Goliath took aim and fired as the bird hovered above them before swooping.
Charles saw Alina's attack on the bird and he wasn't sure what she was thinking, he had to make a quick decision on what to do next, he reached down on his belt and felt in the back for a cryo-grenade, but came up empty handed. He cursed under his breath, he must have dropped them at some point and that would have been great for taking that bitch down without too much injury. Quickly he grabbed one of his three concussion grenades and chucked it as hard as he could at the bird, hoping to give Alina enough time to at least get out of the way. He knew the odds of him knocking the bird unconscious with the nad where low as it would have to detonate right in front of the bird. He wasn't too worried though, he knew that it would go off close enough to jar the bird.
Xavier blinked at the giant bird flying around madly, quickly slinging his rifle on the flyer, aiming as zoomed in on it, trying to get a clear shot on it as he cursed at its blinding like speed, enough to dodge even Gath's machine gun. "Motherfucker, hold still you goddam turkey! I'm going to blow off your goddam gobbler feathers!!" He taunted, gritting his teeth to the point of him shaking before calming down his breathe, hissing, "Fuck it." He aimed at where he assumed the heart would be taking a deep breath, doing his best to aim where it was going to be instead of where it was before slowly squeezing the trigger, praying the round would tear through the monster as well as hoping that rocket will at least cripple feathers here.
Dilara saw the huge beast from a short distance away close in on her comrades and quickly left the deteriorating bodies to sprint towards her squad. She kept low and under cover as she did as not to be noticed, if she could help it by the roc. She came onto the scene of the squad pinned down low under cover, Lazar fired suppressing shots at the creature while Goliath was attempting to fire a rocket at it. Dilara heard him let out a wise crack before firing the rocket, it whistled as it swam through the smoky air towards its target but the Roc delved to one side to evade the rocket and Goliath swore loudly as it crashed into a tall building behind the beast, blowing a portion of it to smithereens. He only had two rockets left. He loaded a second one into the launcher as he took cover from the Roc's swoop downwards. Dilara drew her pistol and moved closer to the fray.
Will hid behind a tower, arming his shotgun. Hopefully the giant chicken shit would come near him so that he could blast it to bits. Or if he had to, jump on top of it, hold on for dear life and cut its brain out with his knife, the latter would cause injury. But it'd be epic. No, survival and practical came first. He aimed his shotgun at a certain point, waiting for the oversized bird to fly by. "Going on over watch."
While Goliath's rocket launcher missed, it provided a good distraction just as Alina did. The concussion grenade did stun the creature long enough for Xavier to injure the beast. Though the bullet hit the heart area, the Roc was so big, that it was a flesh wound. The monster was stunned, but it'll take a ton of rounds to take it down and out. William can go a little closer as he would have a better chance of hitting the enemy.
Dilara noticed that the humongous bird would require a lot of work to take down. The Iranian captain took advantage of the moment the Roc is stunned and shot a few rounds onto the bird. They managed to penetrate even though they weren't lethal. Might as well load for bird because it's not going to be downed easily. Alina initiated the attack by firing rounds at the bird whenever she could.
Will didn't care much about the Iranian Captain. He might be an asset, he might not. As long as he could use a gun and could help against the giant turkey-bird-shithead, he was good in Wills book. Speaking of said giant turkey-bird-shithead...It was probably not going to come near him. It seemed to be clever. It looked like it knew he was waiting. No matter. It was disoriented.
Disoriented and stunned...It was too tempting of an opportunity to miss. "HAULING ARSE, RUNNIN' N' GUNNIN!!" He ran towards it and jumped on to the oversized chicken. Aiming at the wings, he pulled the trigger, waiting for his buckshot to connect. Hopefully it crippled the Roc's wings. If not, he was in big trouble. This was a terrible idea.
Goliath Gath finished loading his second rocket into the launcher through the loud chaos around him and quipped before firing, "I hope you boys and girls like your chicken well done!" and with that he was about to fire the second rocket at the somewhat stunned beast when he saw William leap towards the beast. He cursed and paused under his breathe, taking cover once more. Dilara had used the bird's briefly incapacitated state to rendezvous with her comrades and she immediately took out her med kit to heal any small flesh wounds that the group had sustained. Lazar continued to keep cover only removing himself from it fleetingly to empty clips into the terrifying Roc that hovered above them in a predatory fashion.
Xavier immediately bolted his next round, seeing the thing stunned for a moment as he set work to steady his aim on the thing's head, taking a deep breath as his finger slowly begin to squeeze on the trigger. However that stopped right away as he saw William charge at the thing and jump on it. Immediately Xavier right between the thing's eyes, taking in a deep breath before squeezing the trigger quickly, hoping it hits and kills the monster.
Charles watched as Will flew out of almost nowhere and headed for the birds back. He couldn't believe what he was seeing, this guy had to be insane cause from the point of cover he had taken, and jumping on the bird seemed like the worst idea possible. Just as he had thought everyone stopped firing almost at once, the only shot being heard was Xavier's bullet as it howled through the town, an eerie quite set in as the whole group was at the ready to see what would happen next. Charles was actually holding his breath.
The bird was hit by a barrage of the ParaCom and their new ally. While Will crippled the wings, Lazar pelted the enemy with bullets, and Xavier landed a shot, it was Goliath's shot that did a significant amount of noticeable damage. The Roc awakened from its daze, and noticing the damage and lost ability to fly, it tried to shake Will off, flapping around like a turkey on the American holiday of Thanksgiving. The only weapons it can use now is the talons and beak. Alina was able to send an extended burst, filling the bird with bullets. The Iranian also shot at the bird to put more bullets. The bird was getting weaker. One more barrage and it'll be over! The bird was in excruciating pain and attempted to attack the nearest human with talon and beak.
William held on for dear life as the oversized Thanksgiving turkey shook and flapped. Slowly, ever so slowly, he climbed to the Roc's head. Not close enough to get hit by its beak, but close enough to do one thing. He could not pull out his shotgun as that would require not holding the Roc. He'd get bucked off, easily. Pistol required aim. Aim took moments. Moments were bad. He could get bucked off.
An internal monologue was in William's mind: Buck off, buck off, buck off. This was shit. Why did he decide to go on the bird in the first place? Oh right. Far too tempting of an opportunity to miss. Okay, well! Time to pull something off to get out of a sticky situation. This would require a certain amount of force, determination and finesse.
If it was any time to improvise, it was now. He pulled out his knife, and held it in his left hand. He held it backwards and raised it high, before slamming it down into the head. Keeping it in, he held on for dear life as he took out his pistol in his right hand. He aimed at the head as he was getting shook, waiting for the opportunity. This was high risk, but if he did it, it was another monster down. One that had killed innocent people. Breathing slowly, he pulled the trigger.
Goliath let out a roar "Get out of the way, I'm frying this bird and having it for breakfast!" he waited a moment for his comrades to clear the way before firing a rocket right for its chest. Dilara ducked down as did Lazar as the rocket whistled toward its intended target. Goliath took cover while muttering "C'mon don't miss, don't Miss." under his breathe.
While the rest of the group hunkered down, William finished off the creature while Goliath fired the rocket. The Roc let out a loud caw before it got hit by the rocket. The knife and pistol shot did the bird in and the rocket cemented the death of it. After it got hit by the rocket, it staggered and fell to the ground. Alina lowered her gun and was rather impressed by the group working together.
"Follow me, I know where civilians are!" The Iranian captain was running to a nearby office building. "You all heard the man!" Alina was following the captain to the destination. The two both arrived at a doorway, simultaneously opening the door rather than kicking them open. The method was quieter and did not alert any enemy that would have been present. However, both saw a sleeping manticore. The Iranian captain was able to sneak by it and slit the monster's throat. The basement of the building was now accessible to the team.
Alina gestured the rest of the group to double time it. People have their lives at stake. The basement seemed shady, but with ParaCom's wits, they could enter unharmed. Like the rest of the terror mission, it was all or nothing in Tehran!
Will was sweating. Hard. As the Roc fell to the ground, he pulled out his knife, falling to the floor flat on his back. Getting up, he holstered his knife and pistol, pulling out his pump action shotgun. He kicked the Roc in the beak, before turning around. "We're getting roasted chicken at base, I swear to g-" He saw Alina signaling and heard her. He dusted himself off and double timed it, running to Alina.
The Roc climb was dangerous as hell, but it worked. It worked perfectly. If you described perfect as holding your knife desperately and shooting your pistol while being shook. He wanted to vomit, but he couldn't. Duty. Blood was all over his helmet and chest piece, but he didn't care. "Let's rescue some civ's, people!"
Xavier blinked rapidly in surprise, watching as Will finished off feathers, giving him a thumbs up as he commented, "Nice job with feathers here." Quickly hearing Aliana and the cap Xavier nodded at the both of them before hurrying up to the both of them, stopping to bolt his last round before reloading before rushing to join them. Once they reached the office and entered, he again blinked at the manticore, giving a head nod to the cap before heading downstairs, standing beside the door as he mumbled into the com, his grip tightening on his rifle, "On overwatch."
Goliath approached the smoking Roc and took out his combat knife, with it he cut out a chunk of burnt meat from the Roc's charred chest. He raised the knife to his mouth and took a bite almost immediately spitting it out "This chicken tastes like shit!" he spat out loose chunks of the meat. Lazar followed Alina and the Iranian Captain closely as Dilara followed close behind. Goliath slowly followed turning to Xavier William "We don't know who this sand peasant is but we're following him down into a dark basement?" he said trying to instill doubt in the Iranian captain's loyalty "I've heard about humans who fight for the paranormals you know..." he muttered as they both walked to catch up with the group.
Goliath came to a halt as he reached the manticore "What did I tell you?! The bastard is leading us right into an enemy garrison!" He said under baited breathe.
"Gath, of course it tastes like shit. We just shot it to bits with bullets, rocket launchers and it just got slammed into the ground." He would laugh, but he couldn't. Shit was just too intense right now. "You just tasted sand, lead and burnt meat. That shit ain't clean, mate." He looked around, following his squadmates as they followed the Iranian Captain.
Charles watched the crew take the bird down and almost yakked when Goliath ate the bird. He reloaded and followed the rest of the crew trying to get some info about what had been going on in the city, asking in the man’s native tongue hopefully to put him more at ease with Goliath around. The man didn't get a chance to respond as the Manticore appeared.
The group were led to cages filled with civilians. However, it won't be easy as vicious manticores were present. They were patrolling like guard dogs as they sensed intrusion. The operatives were invisible, but the manticores were on edge. The operatives can either assault the animals, which is simpler but messier or free the captives first then attack. The mission was nearly ended and this was the final point. The monsters were at the end of the rope. All ParaCom has to do is to set it on fire! Three were present and like dogs, sniffed the air. Alina and the man shushed the group as they were detecting the enemy. Both were sneaking across to prime the group for manticore killing.
Goliath's eyes wandered over Charles's weapon for a moment, he raised an eyebrow as he noticed it was of Bulgarian origin and one of the weapons he had trained on years earlier during his time at the military academy. "What's a Brazilian doing with a Bulgarian weapon? I hope you didn't prize it from the cold dead hands of one of my countrymen. That would be unfortunate for you." he said in a low growl. Lazar looked back at Gath and said through gritted teeth in an aggressive whisper "Gath, if you don't shut the fuck up I'll shoot you dead myself before the mants can even reach us to tear you apart." Goliath smirked at this comment "Just like you Serbs, always stabbing your team mates in the back. Attacking the enemy from the shadows like rats!" He said, his voice raising in volume as he preceded further with his sentence but with this Dilara drew her pistol to defuse the situation in the only way the two men would understand and pointed it at them, alternating between the both of them. "If either of you say another word, I'm pulling this trigger. The next words that come out of your mouths better be about our current tactical situation." she whispered angrily as she was on edge with the manticores pacing close to their position.
There was a brief second of silence where the two men composed themselves, allowing their adrenaline to cool off. Goliath then muttered "I say we go in all guns blazing, take the scorpion kittens by surprise." Lazar snapped back before he could finish his sentence "There are civilians down there, we put all of them at risk if we use your cowboy tactics Gath." Dilara nodded and whispered "I'm with corporal Golubic on this one, our mission is to rescue the civilians of this city. Not to put them at more risk. Center would have our military contracts shredded if we fucked this one up. There are innocent people down there." She gazed out of the shadows warily, her eyes fixed on a little Iranian girl who was shivering in her cage and clutching a small battered doll. Lazar nodded once in agreement "It looks as though it's two against one, where do the rest of you stand on this? What are your tactical orders Lieutenant Ivanova?" he asked in a hushed voice. Goliath grumbled his protests as Lazar addressed the group.
Will was crouched low. Stealth was what they were doing now, eh? "I'm going with stealth. It worked last mission. Don't fix something that isn't broken." He took out his knife, twirled it around and held it backwards. This knife had just recently killed a giant turkey bird via steel to the head, so it was a good weapon. Besides, it would help not to use firearms when trying to be stealthy. "But it's up to you, Ivanova."
Ivanova affirmed the stealth tactics. She too was sneaking around the cages where the civilians can throw off the scent. Her combat knife was out. She suggested a two pronged attack as she whispered, "Take one side and I'll take the other. Two on one should make the monsters easy work." The Iranian Captain was also following cue, with his combat knife ready. Once the team was ready, the ambush will be perfect.
Will realized something. He still had blood on his armour from leaping on the Roc. Shit. These things would smell him if he got close. He was better off killing it rather than it alerting all of them as that would mean there would be two left rather than three. "I have blood on me. The smell will attract them. Attacking one." He said as he sneaked up on the one to the left. Staying just out of reach, he jumped forward with his knife, attempting to go on its back and stab it in the head.
Lazar, Goliath and Dilara moved into position and corporal Golubic gave a hand signal when they were ready. When Will lunged for one of the manticores so did Lazar with his combat knife at the ready, Goliath aided with his own knife in the take down of the beast. Dilara had her pistol trained on the beast just in case she needed to use it. Lazar was attempting to grab its head and slit its throat.
Xavier meanwhile stood at the top of the stairs, watching as the team went for the manitcores, seeing them go for knives to kill the beasts as he mumbled, "Fuck me." He slowly pulled out his machete, the curved blade glistening slightly as he slowly strolled up to the closest one to him, the thing alerted towards his teammates, but not himself. He quickly pounced, taking advantage of the mini ambush by quickly swinging down with both hands towards the things neck, screaming out, "Die you lion-bird shit!"
As Charles lept forward to attack the lone manticore with its back to one of the cages, aiming his knife low as to gut the bastard quickly. To his left he heard Xavier's battle cry, and felt all stealth go out the window, as soon as he saw the man flying through the air from his left he left his knife in the beast and pulled his pistol off his hip aiming at the beasts head just in case. He knife was still stuck in the things side.
The barrage worked! William's ploy slew the manticore instantly. Xavier and Charles worked in tandem, with Charles' knife hitting the manticore in the gut and Xavier decapitating the monster. Both Goliath and Lazar were able to stab the last manticore to its death. Alina and the captain worked in helping the group free the civilians. The Iranian captain was able to gather the civilians back to the drop ship, with Alina coordinating before sticking around with her group. All of a sudden, after the mission was accomplished, knockout gas seeped through the vents. Lights were activated and through a windowed area, the group can see someone with a very toothy and wide smile. He didn't look like any Iranian human at all. An otherworldly wrongness was visible at a close distance. "Look what we have here! Very valuable specimens from ParaCom! I have a surprise for you all, AHAHAHAHAHAHAH!" The basement was sealed and the group would be knocked out cold within a minute.
Sometime later, the whole team were shackled. "The terror mission was planned just to lure you all here! Because my operating table has room for one experiment and I feel merciful, I will let you vote among yourselves. Vote and tell me who I shall...dissect! I will defer to any of your choices!" The man was a mad scientist, but not human whatsoever. An ex-human at least. The white room was designed to be maddening for short periods of times and he did not look one bit promising.
Lazar came to as he heard the twisted scientist’s words "Why should we vote? What’s in it for us? Are you going to make us?" Dilara and Goliath were too coming to consciousness as well. Goliath grunted as he struggled with his shackles.
It soon came clear to the group that one of them would die, but which one? Dilara looked over the faces of her comrades as the room was silent and the scientist waited, leering over them as if they were a prey of some sort. The cold echoing reverberations of the room created a horrid atmosphere.
What seemed like an age passed before Lazar spoke up. "I can't have any one else die in my place." He said, his voice raspy from the effects of the gas and echoing in the dark basement room. "I will surrender myself." he said proudly but in a crest fallen fashion. He then hung his head and looked over his fellow ParaCom operatives. Corporal Lazar Golubic stood up proudly, ready to embrace his fate. "It was..." he paused to find the right word as he looked over the faces of his comrades "An honor serving with you all." he said formally before he lifted his hand to give a military salute straining his arm to reach his forehead in the shackles. Almost breaking into emotion as he gritted his teeth and holding his salute he said "I am the last of my blood line and now I must accept death without having achieved vengeance for my brother and sister who died at the hands of the paranormal forces..." he paused to attempt to compose himself "Please... avenge them... avenge... me." He lowered his salute swiftly and stood tall as he said "Remember: If it bleeds, we can kill It." and with that comment made he turned his back to his comrades to accept his fate. Lazar closed his eyes, his head tilted upwards slightly as his thoughts carried him away to memories of his childhood spent on the vast and beautiful Serbian planes playing games with his older brother and sister, Bojan and Anica. He gave a faint smile as he remembered, a smile which was soon ceased as his life was extinguished.
Charles wasn't going to let that go down, what purpose did he have? Besides Lazar out ranked him, he couldn't let him sacrifice himself for no good reason. “I vote you dissect me," Charles looked to the ground. "I’m o-negative... if that matters." Charles hoped he would get another vote so Lazar wouldn't die. Charles reached down and felt that they had left him with his smokes, so he pulled one out and lit it. This could be his last one.
"Two volunteers! WONDERFUL! I will have a hard time deciding between both of you, so I'm going to wait for your friends to vote. I have patience. Plenty at that too. I can wait for minutes, hours, days, until my job comes. I have nothing to lose myself, for now. There's nothing you can all do and I already locked the doors so nobody can come in...Or out. Take your time, folks! One of you will contribute to the science by me...Head of Death...or as properly said...KALLEH-E MARG!"
It was, for the first time, a dire situation for the squad. Damned if they did and damned if they didn't. Either way, Head of Death was not very encouraging. His mocking veneer of politeness was contributing to the horror of the room. Alina was silent, defiant at that. She would spit in the direction in the madman's face. "Oh, we have a feisty one here. I'd like that. Still, I'm waiting for the final result. If a tie is indeed reached, I will flip a coin. Head for the first man, tails for the second man! Even if your group sends a rescue mission, I have preparations. This won't be easy."
One moment, Will was jumping on a manticore and slitting its throat. The next, knock out gas came in. Now, he woke up in a strange room with a madman alongside his squadmates. He didn't know what was happening, but two of his squadmates were standing, shackled, Lazar saluting and Charles...Wait. "Head for Lazar, tails for Charles?" Then it hit him.
Another thought formed in William: This fuck. This sodding, old, miserable fuck was going to kill one of his squadmates. He should not be allowing that. He reached down to his belt, took out his knife, flipped it up and gripped it in his mouth. Bringing up his shackles, he attempted to lock pick his shackle. Hell if his squadmates were to end this way and not in a blaze of glory.
Xavier's eyes slowly fluttered open, his vision burly as he slowly began to stir, trying to stretch out, only to hear a metal clink and his body barely move an inch. Immediately alarmed, he looked over to see himself in shackles causing him to call out mumbling, "What the fuck?" He looked around, seeing his squad mates in shackles as well, listening to the madman with an immediate burning glisten in his eyes. Kill Charles or Lazar huh? Not on his watch. Knowing he didn't have anything that could pick the lock, Xavier sighed, mumbling to himself, "This is going to hurt." He then began to slowly, yet roughly clench his hands together, pulling them down at the shackles contiously, ignoring the peeling to his hands as he mumbled, pulling his hands against the metal cuffs, "I'm going to peel like an apple."
William's and Xavier's attempt to escape both failed. Xavier's hands were too big to slide out. William noticed that the lock could not be picked by the knife as it was a tube lock, which required a drill to destroy.
The mad scientist saw the escape attempts from William and Xavier coming. "Just so you know, the shackles are made of solid steel and the locks are of the tube type! I shall now flip a coin!" Head of Death flipped a coin. The coin landed on heads! "Sorry Mr. O negative, you will not be dissected today. Your friend who offered first shall be the sacrificial lamb!" Head of Death then would throw Lazar onto an operating table. The dissection was quite horrific. First, the madman thrusts his scalpel into the eyes of Lazar in order to take them out, leading to another horrific procedure. Then, via a drill and vacuum tool, the skull was then penetrated to have the brain sucked out into a jar. The other organs followed suit and surprisingly undamaged into the jars.
"Count to four, inhale. Count to four, exhale." Alina was coping with the horror and tried to help others do so too. Every ParaCom squad member was to witness the horrific dissection. It would also be a source of tragedy for all of ParaCom, but Center will make sure this never happens again.
Xavier watched in horror for a moment as Lazar was manipulated, dissected right in front of him for a moment. Immediately he roared, "Don't you fucking touch him you bastard! You undead cocksucker!" Immediately he began pulling his hands at the cuffs, to the point of it bleeding around his wrists yet his hands slid no further than they were, Xavier continuing with, "I'll cut you open! I'll burn you! I'll find what makes you tick and turn it to ash in front of you! I'll fucking kill you!" When he began panting and couldn't move his body anymore, his wrists throbbed as he looked up, knowing he was too late, seeing his teammate already getting drilled as his eyes slowly shed tears, him shouting, "You bastard!" Though he killed many people, Xavier experienced few loses among his team, and none like this.
Will's hand started shaking. He was too late. The combat knife was dropped, the clanging repeating and repeating until semi silence. But, Lazar...The drill...Will shook in his shackles, roaring. "YOU MONSTER SCUMBAG!" He shook his shackles to no avail, but he still shook violently. He didn't care for the drops of water building up in his helmet, even if the HUD was malfunctioning.
He would avenge all three. His sister, his brother and Lazar himself. But for now...He was more concerned by his bindings. He started banging on his armoured legs, but it didn't help. All he could do was shout swears and angry, unintelligible gibberish. He continued struggling as Xavier shouted his protests, he continued swearing incoherent swears. "FUCKING...COCK SUCKER...MONSTER...BASTARD!"
Dilara Burük shut her eyes immediately as the knife graced Corporal Lazar Golubic's skin and even Goliath Gath looked away in disgust at the sight of one of his team mates being tortured to death. Lazar screamed as the Head of Death cut out his eyes with his scalpel, a haunting scream none of them had heard him make before. A scream that was only silenced suddenly as his brain was forcefully removed from his head. Lazar's corpse then laid still as the rest of his organs were harvested from his body violently.
Tears were escaping Dilara's eyes as he prayed for rescue of some sort, the horrors she had heard had conjured images in her mind of Lazar's death that would stay with her forever. Goliath had a disgusted look on his face as he stared at the ground.
Charles listened. Unlike the rest he didn't want to cry or scream, he didn't want someone to avenge. He wanted peace, and this was the last way it was going to happen, crying over Lazar would have been like crying at his own funeral. Charles was tired of death, he was tired of this alone feeling... Alone. He felt the word reverberate through the cell without him saying anything. His mind made little death clouds in the air from his cigarette smoke, but he couldn't close his eyes.
As the mad scientist retreated into the back room to place the organs, a thumping sound was heard. BANG! The Iranian captain gathered allies to gather a rescue mission. The shackles were smashed open and the operatives were freed. "Hurry before he returns! Gather the remains for a proper burial!" The Iranian troopers made sure Lazar's remains were recovered for a proper treatment. Alina and the captain were running out of the area as well as gathering the rest of the operatives. They were running like the wind.
Suddenly, the Head of Death was armed with a G18 machine pistol, roaring, "NOBODY LEAVES MY LAB ALIVE!" A click was heard and the gun was ready to fire! In his frenzy, he'd attempt to blast everyone with short bursts, but a flashbang interrupted the shooting. If everyone doesn't run quickly, they might be turned to Swiss cheese when Head of Death recovers. Plenty of time for the operatives to escape. They soon will find out that they are trading one ally for another. As they all escaped to the drop ship, they found the Iranian captain. "As a token of Iran's gratitude, they had assigned me to the ParaCom project. My name is Farhad Mehrzad, or call me Bolt if it is too hard to pronounce." Most people were able to get out alive, save for Lazar.
As soon as Goliath and Dilara were freed they ran, escorted by their allies from the basement that had become the death place of Corporal Lazar Golubic. The flash bang had provoked the dust in the dungeon to cloud their vision as they struggled to find their way out before the Head of Death recovered. Goliath and Dilara did the only thing they could do in that situation, placed one foot in front of the other in quick succession and fled the building.
Charles hesitated, when they came for him. He stood up and walked away, he had no intention of running, or even trying to get out. He walked past a room and saw a blow torch laying on a table and grabbed it. He then heard the roar of the man and walked into the room he was going crazy in, sneaking up behind him as best he could he tried to set him on fire. That's when he ran.
Will ran out the door lightning fast as the thing kept firing. Eventually, they would get revenge. There was something inhuman about the Head of Death, so it had to be a monster. A hybrid? Just a madman? Whatever it was, they'd get revenge. Interrogations. He snapped out of his train of thought, focused on running, running and running. He rolled out of the doorway and into the cover of the adjacent wall, avoiding the hail of bullets from the machine pistol.
Xavier immediately began running as the bullets began firing, pausing at the doorway, and turned as he yelled with a promise towards the firing pistol, and the screams of the mad man, "You're dead motherfucker! You're so fucking fucked! When I get my hands on you, even ghouls will find you ugly motherfucker!" He would have continued if not for the burst of rounds hitting the wall not four inches from him, reminding him that he was defenseless against him as he hauled ass again, ignoring the throbbing of his wrist and the burning of his chest from sobbing and screaming so much.
Now that everyone was recovered at the drop ship, everyone found that their weapons were recovered, with Bolt personally handing weapons back. "Let's get back to your base. We have some mourning to do and I'd like to meet your leader in person."
Everyone was flown as quickly to the base as possible. Center was very attentive as he debriefed. After the debriefing, a funeral service was to be held as Lazar Golubic's photo was posted on the Memorial Wall. "Today we have lost an ally and a friend in which we will call our greatest failure. As a band of soldiers, we will still press on for truth and justice for our own and those who depend on us. The being who has done this will be our target. We will follow the ends of reality to get his head on a pole! He can run from us, but he cannot hide from us! As ParaCom, we will never be too weak to find the Head of Death and PUT! HIM! DOWN! LIKE A MANGY DOG! Not even monsters, not even magic, not even might can stop us. If it bleeds...it can be killed! And now, a moment of silence as we properly cremate the body."
Lazar's remains were to be cremated. The dissected body was placed on tinder and set aflame. After the body was reduced to ash, all ashes were placed in an urn that was locked and securely tight. It was not porcelain, but tungsten carbide. Lazar Golubic was inscribed on the urn and placed on a shelf on the wall, below the photograph. All ParaCom operatives were expected to salute their fallen comrade. Center stoically showed a feeling that he failed. He vowed to never allow this to happen again. "Never again" were the final words from Center.
A funeral dinner was held with kebabs from the dead Roc. The body was cleaned and properly cooked after the autopsy and scavenging. The giant bird was indeed found to be edible. The bar and eatery hosted the funeral dinner for all operatives to partake. This was not celebration, but mourning.
END OF CHAPTER 2
4: Act 1, Chapter 2.5Act 1, Chapter 2.5—A Morning of Mourning
Will had, solemnly, saluted to Lazar at the cremation. He couldn't even avenge his sister or brother. He died a non-dignified death with dignity: Being dissected. It made Will's heart ache, but for once, he was reminded of what alcohol was good for: Drowning out sorrows. He was in regular ParaCom attire as he chugged down another mug of beer and taking a bite out of the Roc kebab. All of his thoughts of it being a chicken were true: It tasted like chicken. A faint smile formed on his face, but it disappeared. "Never again." Will swore to himself and took the oath to heart.
ParaCom will come. They will see. They will destroy. If it bleeds; it can be killed. That was the ParaCom way. Will chugged down another mug of beer as he swore an oath.
Xavier's voice was the loudest among the pledges to avenge Lazar, and again to never again have it happen before hitting the gym, blowing off steam with the loudest punches there on his punching bag there. Nothing, he didn't do a dam thing, and because of it, Lazar was tortured for it. Eventually his blows upon the giant bag stopped some of the ParaCom staff, making them look at him as his body drenched entirely in sweat. His thoughts distracted him that he didn't care how much his body begged him to stop, his chest burning and tightening before he stopped after a few hours, panting before heading to the bar, stripping himself of his shirt. Underneath it, his hard body glisten with sweat, showing off what few scars he had, a line running down from chest to waist, along with other lines to show off a pre-six pack. He sat himself down in the bar, panting as he grabbed himself a beer, popping it open as he took a giant gulp of it, looking around the room to see William there.
Kiril dropped, slamming his fists into the ground, and proceeded to do pushups. Muscles bulged under his pale skin, blood pumped through his pulsing veins and sweat glistened in the dim sunlight as the team's new heavy exercised. Today was a big day: finally, Paracom had accepted him to service, finally giving an opportunity to fight in the avant garde of mankind's forces. He had been nothing at first, a civvie wimp - and now he was eve more than a soldier. A cold-blooded warrior with nerves of steel, Kiril fought like ten men and recovered faster than a lizard grew its tail back; never letting emotions get ahead of him, the Russian had one goal, and every step he took towards it would be filled with the perfection of a spotless mind.
His new team, on the other hand, would be overwhelmed by grief and anger. Kiril had been taught of Lazar Golubic's death, and he feared that such a gruesome experience would take its toll on their condition, making them subject to irrational behavior and dire mistakes. While most had faith in them, a failsafe had to be provided. This is where Kiril would come to play: even other recruits could be shocked and affected by this in some manner, but he would remain unmoved; calm and collected. He would be their "bodyguard", keeping the situation under control no matter what.
But there was another small detail that kept bugging him; something the impeccably calm soldier was worried about. Aside from protecting Paracom's field operatives, Kiril had also believed that he had been asked of a certain favor: if they meet Lazar's killer, shoot him before the team gets their hand on him. They could want him to suffer, but Kiril Laretzkiy believed that his superiors were against any risk, demanding immediate elimination. A new question for Kiril: could he really go against his team?
Corporal Goliath Gath had been drinking heavily and was unusually quiet, he slumped down in a chair next to Dilara who was equally quiet. He turned his head to his right, towards her face. "You know..." He began slightly slurring his words "I..." he paused as he had trouble saying what he was about to say "I... thought Golubic was alright." he admitted almost choking on his words "He was a good soldier." he finished. Dilara raised her bottle of alcohol to her lips and took a deep drink, saying nothing in response. Goliath opened his mouth to speak again "I'm..." he paused again "...Sorry.... Dilara.... I know you and he had a thing a while back." Goliath struggled to say these words as they were obviously against his nature of speaking. Dilara turned around sharply "You know nothing! Leave me alone!" She preceded to stand up and walk out of the hall. Goliath took another drink of his whiskey "Well that's what I get for trying to be nice." He grunted to himself "I don't know why I even bother." Goliath spotted center and stumbled over to him "Hey Center, what gives? I heard you are making me serve with ruskies and even worse, jocks!" He leaned on the table letting his whiskey bottle fall to one side and hit the ground, spilling a puddle of alcohol onto the floor. "I'm getting pretty sick of this rainbow coalition you're running here." He coughed.
Center would reply in a stern and fair manner, "We need all the help we can get to defeat the supernatural menace. This isn't a war a single country can defeat. If we were this divided, the paranormals would enslave us within a week. Also, after the dinner, we will have promotions. You'll be included so be sharp."
Once the dinner was completed and over, William, Xavier, Goliath, and Charles were called for promotions. "I have called you for your hard work and heroism. I will promote all of you to the next ranks. William Burkley, Xavier Otienio Northway, and Goliath Gath, you will all be promoted to Sergeant. Your code names will be Assassin, Hunter, and Crash respectively. Reasons for the code names is because of first, William's efficient killing, Xavier's calculation and methods, and Goliath's power will make the enemy crash and burn. Charles Luz, you have been promoted to Squaddie. Be confident and feel well about yourselves. Remember, your kinsfolk are counting on you."
As Center was about to dismiss the group, he had received a call from Bulgaria. "Hello? What is this? Oh I'll get to the matter right away. Please hold." He turned to the promoted group. Goliath, I have something special from a Bulgarian official. Everyone else is dismissed. As soon all but Goliath was dismissed, Center would tell Goliath of what entailed. "From your background, I believe we can make a deal. If you do exceptionally well in ParaCom in performance and professionalism, you won't have to go back to prison. You'll be completely absolved of whatever crimes you might have committed. After all, whatever happens in the past stays in the past." Center was ready to tell Goliath of the Bulgarian official and have the official involved in cementing the deal.
Charles put out his cigarette, taking another out of his pack and lighting it. He then brought the pup up and set her down on the table making sure she wasn't injured or anything. She had a bushy coat with an almost white base ranging closer to a creamy yellow. Her back was golden and her hind end had a few black spot here and there. "What do I name you?" Charles had never had a pet as a child and he wasn't sure what a conventional name for a Jackal would be. "Anubis?" He said drunkenly at the puppy seeing if she would respond. She was finding the table fascinatingly scary, running from edge to edge trying to figure out how the thing was even standing up. He took a deep drink of the Bourbon he had got from the bartender, the sweet pain it caused was worth the money he had to cough up. "Kali?" He said a crazy light reaching his eyes? The pup was having none of it and she just sat there starring at her new master, head on paws. "Well, help me out here..." He took a deep drag of his smoke and another idea rose to his mind, a story his mother had told him as small boy. "Sampson?" The puppies eyes lit up and she began waging her tail and biting at his hand wrapped around the bottle. He chuckled under his breath. "So... you're a Christian Jackal huh?" He laughed deeply when the pup jumped down onto his lap and began stretching out to take a nap, apparently no longer questioning the integrity of the table. Goliath Gath, The now sergeant stood with a somewhat puzzled look on his face. "Why have I been ordered to remain behind? I haven't done anything this time." he thought to himself "If he tries to place the fault of Golubic's death on me I swear, he'll need to send my back to prison to prevent me from skull fucking him to-" Goliath's thoughts were interrupted by a Center's mentioned of Bulgaria, his home country. He listened to Center's proposal and breathed deeply and violently.
"You want me to become a dog and jump through hoops for you and ParaCom for some empty promise?!" He yelled as he grabbed Center by the shirt in an emotional outburst caused by the offer and his not wanting it to be false. "You!" he paused, his eyes wide as he breathed hard "Are a liar!" he yelled "You would have me blown to bits on an empty offer?!" The sergeant let go of Center's shirt and turned around overcome with emotion “I... I can't believe you... this is a trick to persuade me to keep in line and risk my life in hopes that you will never need to fulfill your side of this offer." He said in a low shaky voice. He looked out a nearby window which faced to the east. "Bulgaria... home... it is not a place I have known for multiple life sentences." He said solemnly.
"Assassin, huh?" He mused after being dismissed. Will WAS a stealthy rogue. He wondered what Laz's codename would be. Scalpel? Patient? Surgeon? William's mind was still focused on the horrific scene in the previous mission. He sighed, putting a palm to his forehead. He needed another drink. Or something to do. Xavier had a machete, so he probably knew how to use it. He looked for Xavier, thinking about trading tips on how to wield blades.
“Oh no. I was contacted by a Bulgarian official. I'm patching him through." Center patched Goliath to the Bulgarian official via video and speakerphone. "Your officer is correct. If you do exceptionally well in the ParaCom project, the Bulgarian government is BOTH able and willing to absolve you and render your life sentences null. You will be as free as a bird with the deal." The Bulgarian man even spoke in Bulgarian and even cemented the promise further. "It will be worth it. Center is a trustworthy man. There is no strings attached whatsoever. Besides, ParaCom will give you a huge paycheck at the end of the month. I don't think I need to say more. I'll give you a minute or so to discuss with Center."
Center kept his cool during the exchange. He knew that Goliath would be a brave solider with plenty of potential. It would be pointless to see it all go to waste. Also, due to UN backings and investments, ParaCom practically has the tigers by their tails. "In ParaCom, whatever happens in the past stays in the past, Leave it all behind with an exceptional performance and see this as a second chance and an easy ticket to freedom. The official even proved it was real. They can't chicken out because ParaCom, just as with every other nation, has Bulgaria by its balls! It's impossible for them to back out of the deal."
Goliath looked down at the floor as the truth became known to him, Center's word washed over him and he felt a tension ease in him that had been there for years. He glanced out the window at landscape drenched in sunshine and he knew that freedom was obtainable to him. Goliath gave a salute and asked for permission to be excused "Permission to vacate the premises sir." he said in an uncharacteristic fashion. Once Center had given him permission to leave, he walked to the door before stopping at it and turning his head to address Center side on "Center... I..." He grunted then grumbled trying to spit the words out, "appreciate this." He muttered, finishing his sentence and leaving the briefing room.
Meanwhile Dilara was in her quarters, the shades were pulled over the windows as she lay motionless on her bed; her eyes fixed on the dull grey wall in front of her. She continued to lay in this catatonic state for the rest of the evening.
Xavier nodded when informed about of his promotion, and codename as he wondered what Dilara wasn't promoted. So he walked up to central, saluting quickly as he asked, "Sir, quick question, why wasn't Dilara promoted sir? She did just as much as the rest of us." He turned around when hearing footsteps coming to him, seeing Will come up as Xav tilted his head at him as he walked toward him, calling out, "What's up Assassin?"
"Hey, Hunter." Will smirked, a sharp tooth shown. "Wanna trade tips on how to handle a blade, or spar?" His smirk turned into a smile. It helps to know and practice how to slice and dice those monster bastards to bits." When the two words 'Monster bastards' were said, Will's smile dropped. He sighed and put his hands in his pockets. ParaCom's third loss. Lazar. They were doing so well, then the knock out gas... He shook his head, snapping out of it. "You up for it, Xav?"
"Oh thank you for reminding me, Hunter. I'll call her up soon." Center then called Dilara for her promotion. As soon as Dilara came to Center, she too would be promoted to Sergeant. "I hereby promote you to Sergeant. I will code name you Nightingale from here on." Four sergeants for every specialty would be a winning strategy. Center was confident that the group would handle the new recruits coming in with discretion.
Xavier nodded, turning to Will with a raised brow, wondering why he's so interested. He's know that Assassin has had a sort of obsession with knives, though he didn't usually mind to it. After shaking himself back into reality, The Hunter nods, walking over to him as he answers, "Why not, got nothing better today. Might as well do both, aye Assassin?"
"Aye." Will started walking to the ring, with Xavier in tow. "You can call me Will in base, Xav. Assassin is for the battlefield." As he got there, he reminisced about when Gath and Charles had fought. It was natural, as Gath was aggressive and half drunk at the time. He took out a combat knife and a whetting stone, blunting the edge so no permanent wounds would be left on Xav. "Better do the same. I don't wanna have my head hacked off."
Dilara received an order to report to Center immediately; she left the solitude of her quarters to attend. She was unemotional in regards to her promotion but proceeded to engage with the formalities anyway. After muttering a few words of thanks and giving her word that she would endeavor to do her duty to the best of her abilities, she left and returned to her quarters where she spent the remainder of her down time.
Meanwhile Goliath Gath was celebrating in the bar and had made himself eminently intoxicated but his usual aggressive tendencies that were usually amplified while he was drunk were replaced with ones of happiness.
Xavier nodded slowly, slipping off his Paracom jacket to revel his wife beat before pulling out his curved blade, along with his whet stone as he complimented, "Good thinking Will." He carefully began dulling the blade, slowly doing so by blunting it a bit as he grumbled, "Took me hours to get it just right dammit, you're paying for this Burkley."
The light over her bunk was just bright enough to read by, but not bright enough to bother anyone else currently in the area. Teresina Medici, new recruit, gently turned the pages in her book as she read through it, a book on ancient monsters of the night. The book wouldn’t likely lend her any information on how to truly fight these creatures they were facing in this war. She took a deep breath and sat up slowly setting the book down in her lap as she took out her IPhone and scrolled through the social networks she had signed up on. No one has messaged her, no comments nothing. That was just the way she wanted it though. With little effort she slid off the top bunk she had chosen and grabbed a towel out of her footlocker. With a swaying stride she walked on soft feet and headed towards the shower room.
For fellow rookie Ilsa Strauser, the trip here had been a long one and Ilsa wanted to unwind a bit after such a flight. As soon as she had gotten everything put away in her foot locker she had dressed up in a pair of Lycra work out shorts and a sports bra. With water bottle in hand and towel over her shoulder she entered the gym. She was wearing a pair of low top Nikes that were black with bright neon pink stripes across them. She didn’t seem to notice anyone else in the area as she went straight for the pull up bar and tossed her towel over one end and her water bottle on the floor. After a minute or so of stretching she does a little hop and grabs the bar under handed. Without much strain she starts pulling up easily over and over, her chin lifting easily over the bar repeatedly. The muscles along her back began to strain as well as her biceps and forearms once she reached the thirteenth pull up, but still she kept going sweat starting to bead on her skin.
"Well, let's go at it, Xavi." Twirling his now blunt knife in his hand, he held it backwards. He went into the ring and waited for Xav to attack to counter attack. He would have the ferocity and efficiency of the Assassin, but non-lethal. "Loser has to sharpen both weapons." He grinned, sharp teeth showing. "C'mon! My nan fights better than you!" William taunted, hoping the Hunter would attack.
Xavier smirked, getting into his fighting stance as well, clutching the knife with both hands as narrowed his eyes at the Assassin, letting his smirk die down. He slowly began circling his opponent circling him, raising a brow at the taunt as he tsked at him, mock disappointment in his voice as Xavier taunted back, "Where'd you get that? Gath's pun book Little Will? I thought you would be better than that, perhaps you would be more aggressive after some hot tea, brit." Burkley wants to play the mocking game? Two can play at that game.
Among the influx of rookies, Donald Colbeck entered the gym dressed in a plain white t-shirt, grey gym shorts and a pair of black trainers. He perused his surroundings for a moment or so, familiarising himself with his current setting. He noticed a couple of punching bags in the corner and grinned. Something he was finally good at. Fighting. Even if it was just an inanimate object, Donald would be happy to get his hands on something. He clenched his fists and slowly walked over, preparing himself. He hadn't fought anything for a while, so he was a little bit rusty, but what's the worst that could happen?
He started off with a few warm-up punches. A couple of left hooks here, some right hooks there. Sometimes he even brought a knee into the equation, after training for a week or so with an MMA trainer. Donald thought that any type of combat would come in handy one way or another when or if he got deployed into the field. He was a fairly large, muscular, intimidating male and that was why he got classed as a 'heavy' soldier. He got to carry the light machine guns and the rocket launchers, and he loved every single minute of it. It made him feel a class above the rest.
After hitting the punch bag for just over twenty minutes, Donald got bored. He punched the bag one last time before stopping. As he walked to the next activity, people began walking past, to the ring. He turned, to see two other soldiers of ParaCom about to fight. Donald became interested and followed the crowd over. Two men were in the ring, holding blades. One of them sounded English, so Donald decided to root for him, on account of coming from the same country. As they began, Donald started shouting encouragement for the fellow Englishman, in amongst the shouts of the other watchers.
"Ohohoho! Xavi, is that the best you can throw at me? Hah!" Will grinned as he was cheered on by a fellow Brit. He never saw him on the field, so he was probably a rookie. "Hell, I think I'm angry at you for not having an imagination!" He could play that game.
One foot after the other. Assassin ran at Hunter, holding his knife in a backwards grip. He feinted a blow to Hunters left side, only to aim a kick at the back of his knee to knock him over. He'd used this move in training quite a few times and hell if it wasn't effective.
Will didn't know what happened next. Matured reflexes? Luck? A bit of both? Whatever. Assassin hopped, quickly, to the left to avoid the kick, the front of his right foot hit. He dropped on his left knee, his right leg on the floor, his knife in his hand. He put it to Hunters neck, grinning. "If this weren't a spar, you'd be dead right now." He held the now blunt knife near his opponent's neck.
Xavier smirked yet again, chuckling as he slowly shook his head, careful on the blunted blade edge. He looked up at Assassin, raising his brows high as he spoke, "You'd be coming with me then handsome." To point out what the hell he was talking about, he slowly pressed the tip of the machete against Will's back, winking at his comrade before stating, "And we're just getting started." Immediately, Xavier wrapped his arm around Will's bent leg, the Hunter then twisting it so that Will laid face first before jumping up, swinging his kukri around so that the blade held upside down, cracking his neck as he taunted, "Us snipers are tricky bastards Willy, if we were in Kenya you have a bear trap clapped to your ankle and a land mine under your chin."
For a while both the Assassin and the Hunter would duel it out in a practice spar. Popcorn was thoroughly enjoyed during the midst of it as well as the trainees watching and learning. However, the fun wasn't going to last for a while. Center would have something in mind for the operatives.
END OF CHAPTER 2.5
5: Act 1, Chapter 3Act I, Chapter 3—Operation Obscured Intelligence
March 16th, 2022:
Center was getting a call from the United Nations Council. The Council representative's face was obscured and spoke in a deep baritone voice. "Hello Center. We are contacting you because we ask a small favor. We attempted to deliver intelligence that would be useful for the ParaCom project, but it got mysteriously sidetracked along the way. The coordinates are a remote location in Bulgaria. The data has been sent to you and your officers. Pick the most willing to volunteer for this mission. Though there are paranormal forces, they are light in both quality and quantity relative to Tehran. Good luck."
Center relayed the commands to all troopers Sergeant Level and above. "I'm calling all rookies and volunteering officers for the next mission. This UN mission will help us gather vital information. We are heading to a remote location in Bulgaria. A crash site contains the intelligence so we need to get out there as well as looking for survivors. Paranormal activity is present there, but light in quality and quantity relative to last mission. Consider this on the job training."
Goliath, wanting to prove himself as a better soldier in lieu of the deal, immediately volunteered. "I'll lead the rookies! Time to show them some tough love and how a real operative does things!" The large Bulgarian immediately geared up for the mission, noticing new equipment in the armory.
The armory opened up revealing electronic weaponry. The weaponry included railguns and vibroblades. ParaCom has made advancements with their armaments! The rookies and officers were free to take their designated specialty weapons and head to the hangar. The VTOL drop ship would take the troops to Bulgaria. The employees in the armory directed, "Go to the specialty stations and take what you need! Good luck out there!" Armor was in the form of a powered exoskeleton and was much more durable than conventional Kevlar. In fact, the armor was modular for more versatility.
Central approved of Goliath Gath's initiative. "Excellent! Meet the rookies at the armory and then to the hangar. Do not let them disappoint me!"
Kiril's attention was caught by Center's last words of, "...consider this job training."
"Training, huh?" Kiril smiled to himself, and then emptied the glass in one gulp, finishing breakfast. This would be a good chance for test to see how well he will fare against the paranormal. The last thing he wanted was to end up dead the first day just due to his lack of experience, but judging by the information available, this mission was pretty safe to take. Could it be trap? It could. But most likely, the paranormal wouldn't bother slaughtering volunteer rookies over their advance in Tehran. Either way, this was his chance.
Goliath Gath assembled in front of the rookies, noticing details of country of origin and even gender. "Alright rookies, it seems that ParaCom accepts trash of all types. I see krauts, jocks, wops, limeys, and even russkies! Half of you rookies are also women! It seems that the brass wants you on a data fetching mission. If I had my way, I would have each and every one of you fight a manticore, one on one, just like Sergeant Burkley did! However, the mortality rate for the idea is too high and looks like they'll make you fetch like dogs for training. My friends call me Goliath 'Crash' Gath, but you call me either Sarge, Sir, or Your Royal Highness.or Your Royal Highness. Now board the ship!"
Their leader was quite the rough man. Good. Those were the kind that wouldn't back off from danger, and considering that intelligence reported relatively weak enemy forces, they would risk nothing with a bull rush tactic; moreover, Kiril were sure that Gath wouldn't let the team down if they were actually ambushed. Heaving his gun - a full-auto grenade launcher equipped with top-notch fire control systems and loaded with 20 close quarters combat thermobaric grenades - onto his shoulder, and letting his coilgun light machinegun sidearm around on its straps at waist level, he followed Gath into their air transport.
Donald had gotten bored of the fight and went back to his quarters before getting a call informing him of a mission. He smiled at the prospect of his first mission and got dressed in his heavy armor. Donald made sure everything was on correctly before heading out. Many thoughts were going through his head as he approached the armory. What if he was killed? What if he got someone killed? Donald pushed the thoughts from his head and carried on his journey to the armory, determined to get to the best weapons before others. He almost broke out into a jog before remember how much effort it took and decided it was better to just walk. Afterwards, Donald got into the armory and grabbed an LMG and a rocket launcher before heading to the transport craft. He was met by a large, intimidating Sergeant who was barking out abuse to anybody who got near him before boarding the craft. Donald checked all his weapons were working properly before sitting down, preferably as far away from the Sergeant as he possibly could. He wanted to sit with his fellow Englishman, since he'd settled much easier after finding out he'd joined a fellow countryman.
"Damn, Xav, you're goo-" He was interrupted by a new mission briefing. Pushing Xavier off and rushing, he went to the new 'specialty stations'. Grinning, he took out one of the new vibroblades. In theory, the generators built inside it would make the knife vibrate like a mini chainsaw and make slash wounds even deadlier, turning a simple knife into a weapon of murder. William also picked up a new Pump action rail-gun. Will grinned. He spotted a new suit of armor: A powered, modular exoskeleton. Otherwise known as: "A badass iron man suit". Supposedly, it helped with reloading, had a built in friend or foe detector, and a heads up display. This would help, a lot. After putting it on, he went to the dropship and said through the radio, "Don't count me out of it. Hell if the 'Assassin' isn't going to help make badasses out of these rookies." He sat near his fellow Englishman, nodding his hello.
Xavier blinked as he was suddenly shoved, before immediately jolting up he followed William close behind, grabbing the new tech while whistling, petting the glistening metal of the vibronic machete, the vibromachete. Not shaped as his precious kukri it had a rectangular chopper blade form, sharpen nicely while also feeling slightly heavier with the built in generator. He made note to customize his weapons later, the bland dark grey metal not going to do at all before slipping on his new, fancy armor, mumbling excite fully, "Ohh boy aren't you beautiful." He winced slightly though at the sight of the built in visor and filter to his helmet before shaking it off, slipping it off, then grabbing his new toy, carefully examining the black, coiled barrel from stock to the glowing slightly hue it had, mumbling, "This is going to split some bodies apart." He quickly shouldered it, running to the drop-ship.
Charles woke up early in a groggy mood and proceeded to find some food and coffee, feeding Sam most of his plat as she ran around his table as he read Candide, ou l'Optimisme as he heard the announcement. He quickly found a scientist who he arranged to take care of Sam while he was gone and he made his way to the armory. He found his rifle and tried on one of the new suits, hearing Gath's yelling over the headset and he grabbed his belt and ran to catch up to the crew. Charles took a seat and pulled his banana across his lower face, it was a skull with a vivid picture of earth etched into the skulls mouth.
Once all rookies and volunteers are loaded up, the missions would commence fortunately, the spare VTOL drop ship was used in case of claustrophobia. "For the mission, the area in Bulgaria have little to no civilian traces. No need to watch out for them this time." Center assured the rookies and bolstered their confidence. "Take deep breathes before you go out. Besides, it's should be nothing more than a walk in the park."
The VTOL ships landed in the middle of nowhere for the mission and where the data was allegedly traced. Goliath encouraged the rookies, using thinly veiled tough love with, "Out! Out you rats! Let's make this quick! I think I'll get sick being a minute longer with all of you! Follow my lead and stay low because enemy snipers may lurk ahead in those ruined buildings."
Out of the Cash siblings, Milo was silent the whole way to Bulgaria, lost in thought thinking about everything that’s happened between the hellish beginnings and now, all the dead people, all those he failed to save. Milo heard the big man shouting, snapping him from his thoughts. Grabbing his rifle and pistol Milo walked off scanning the area around the ship before rounding up near the Heavy. Tiffany was off in her own little world, she did as she needed mindlessly before snapping into it as the VTOL hit the ground. Quickly grabbing her rifle she ended up leaving her pistol behind. She stayed back on overwatch near the Drop ship. "Gath, I'm going to stay near her for a bit. Something doesn't feel right," she called up to the leader.
Will, after taking the rookies pistol, ran out of the ship and quickly gave the rookie her pistol back and with a quick "You forgot this," he was off. Assassin took cover at a nearby wall, looking around. He glanced, absently, to his new Vibroknife. This little beauty packed the punch of a chainsaw without all that noise and easily concealed and sheathed. This is gonna be more than a little useful. He thought, before he snapped out of his thoughts and scanned his surroundings. "Going on Overwatch." He spoke on intercoms.
Ilsa and Teresina were up front. Suddenly, a cry for help was heard. Ilsa warned Teresina that it could be a trap. However, the warnings fell on deaf ears as Teresina wanted to rescue what sounded like a survivor. Teresina quickly arrived at the source to find out it was an ambush. Five ghouls with crossbows appeared along with a side of a trio of skeletons, a new enemy. The skeletons were wielding another new weapon: A magic carbine that utilized a scope and a revolver's swing out chamber system. The skeletons seemed to be more armed and competent than their ghoul counterparts and as a result, Ilsa attempted to land a head shot on one of the skeletons. It was a success as Ilsa's rail sniper landed right between the eye sockets of the skeleton closest to her. Teresina directly retaliated at the ambush with a shotgun blast to the one of the ghouls. After the attacks, both would hunker down. While the enemies were to find better cover, one of the ghouls shot at Teresina, who was in low cover. Although she was hit, the powered armor proved its improved strength by shrugging off the enemy bolt! This was a testament of humanity advancing in a matter of weeks. Now it was the rest of the force to demonstrate their prowess.
Goliath kept yelling at Ilsa and Teresina, "Don't go for---Ah dammit, I'm shooting deserters." He threatened to do so in an attempt to keep the diversion in line. Besides for him, he does not want to fall for the same trap in Tehran as last time and be a good soldier in following orders. Grimly, the heavy sighed, "They made their beds, now they must sleep in them."
Will stared at Gath. "You know what? No. We AREN'T leaving our comrades to die. You lead the...'Pups.' I'm going. “He ran off to where he heard the shots, finding the large amounts of ghouls and a trio of skeletons. "Shit..." He muttered, eyes lingering on the carbines. They got an upgrade, huh? He thought, grimly. Pulling out his pistol, he took aim. The HUD helped his aim, if only a little. Breathing slowly, he pulled the trigger at equal speed.
Kiril frowned. "Sergant Gath. I have requested a real-time data feed from the cameras installed to our armor in order to observe the situation. Something seems wrong over there - I’ve looked through the Paracom database, and I must say that several enemy units look like nothing I have seen before," - he said, hoping that Goliath would change his mind.
"Assassin, confirm contact with unidentified enemy forces!"
"We're here to retrieve data, rookie! Not rescue overzealous women! At least some of you are following orders though." Gath brusquely responded to Kiril and gestured the group to follow the orders promptly.
Xavier noticed Teresina being shot at by the ghoul. Being an experienced sniper, he shot at the ghoul. The ghoul had no cover and was promptly hit right between the eyes. This was done as Xavier was moving. Eventually, the team with Goliath was able to make it to the data without incident. Goliath would notice a key and a briefcase in the area. It may contain the data that the paranormal forces were trying to secure!
William and the other two rookies made a great effort as a distraction. William's pistol, utilizing rail technology, was able to hit a skeleton right in the sternum, having the skeleton's bones shatter like glass. Just as with ghouls, the new weapons also broke into fragments. William will have to tell the rookies to spare the last skeleton for capture. Ilsa was engaging a ghoul in high cover. Although Ilsa was unable to kill the ghoul outright, the cover of the enemy was compromised. This meant opportunity for Teresina to finish off the ghoul. However, she missed her target! The attacked ghoul was scrambling for new cover. The skeleton retaliated against William, but was unable to penetrate the armor. The powered armor was not invulnerable despite demonstrated durability.
Milo kept with Gath the whole way through, orders dominated in an unknown area with people he didn't know. "Tiffany should be fine, she can take care of herself" Milo thought to himself, "She'll make the right choice even if it's not the same as mine." "Sergeant," he asked looking at the briefcase and moving towards it, "Is this what we came for?" Tiffany saw the fighting start, "Damn it, she's in danger, I have to help her, but Milo is going with Gath!" Her conflictions were eating her alive. "Stay calm, he's with a higher rank he'll be fine, she might not be though" she though moving down towards the firefight. She got behind the front of a car further down the way and took a shot at the skeleton shooting at Teresina.
"Contact confirmed! Shit!" Will answered the rookie as a stray bullet hit him. The armour took the blow, but he still felt it. "Moving to better cover." He spoke through intercoms, moving to a nearby pillar. He would slowly advance towards the skeletons, but for now, he took aim with his pistol and shot at the skeleton who shot at him. Charles rushed to Will's side as he found cover throwing a stun grenade toward a skeletons rib cage. "Are you hurt?" He said pulling his med kit out instinctively, but he noticed that the shot hadn't broke through the armor. "Damned lucky then?" He said dropping his med kit to his side as he radioed up to Xavier. "What's it look like we're dealing with here? You think it’s safe?" Charles risked a peak over the barrier quickly. Xavier quickly made his way to cover, crouching down behind it before placing his new railgun-sniper rifle on the top of it, holding it there as he steadied his aim on one of the bone-monkeys, skeletons as it was in the middle of the remaining ghouls, slowly steadying his breath as he answered Charlie quietly, hearing his question through his HUD, "Got a trio of meat-bags and bone monkeys left." He slowly breathed in, ready to fire a round, whatever the hell this new, beautiful weapon did, when he noticed the ghoul attacking Teresina. Immediately his aim changed, aiming over the ghoul's head, pausing to let his scope get a perfect aim on him. He inhaled deeply, his finger slowly squeezing the trigger, muttering, “Now only three meat-bags”. He fired.
"Finally one of the rookies gets it! Now let's get back to the ship! The ladies can take care of themselves!" Goliath barked the orders to the rookies who followed him and the data was to be quickly secured as they were rushing to place the briefcase in one of the drop ships.
Goliath and the rookies following him were able to secure the data and opened to find dozens of protected holographic layer discs. The discs can be played back at ParaCom, as they were the memory storage of the 2020s. Tons of information can be derived from one disc alone. The amount of information would be nearly limitless if it was recovered back to the base. Perhaps Center has a man for that job.
During the firefight, Charles got the drop on the skeleton with a stun grenade after Tiffany's barrage lead it to the line of fire. Though Tiffany didn't hit the skeleton, it did kill a ghoul via collateral damage. William and Xavier were able to kill the skeleton in tandem while Tiffany's shot being the catalyst. Reasons being that while William hit the center of mass, Xavier shattered the head! The three ghouls were left out of the picture. However, one was able to knock Teresina out cold for the purpose of capturing her. Ilsa also followed suit in rushing to rescue her, blasting with her pistol to rescue Teresina. She attempted to wake Teresina, but to no avail as it was too tough of a job! With that vulnerability, another ghoul showed up and knocked out Ilsa! Who was behind all this? It revealed itself. "How are you doing ladies and gentlemen? I really do want my data back! If you dare steal something from me, I shall steal something from YOU! HAHAHAHAHAHA!" This was played into the radio messages to the operatives. In fact, the voice sounded sinister and familiar to the veterans. Ilsa and Teresina were being carried off as they were knocked out cold while attempting to suppress the nearest enemies as they were running: The ghouls were strong enough for one hand for each task! Scarier though is that the monsters were becoming more competent with the sinister announcer in charge.
"Shit...it's that wrinkly bastard again. You rookies disengage! Let real soldiers handle this fight!" Goliath was ready to lay suppressing fire on the ghouls. His motives are to install discipline into the two women. His misogynistic attitude was coming into play internally though.
"It was the same bastard who took Laz!" Will spoke as he continued shooting at the two skeletons. But, sniping was not his strong point and they were retreating fast. He wanted to chase them. Hell, he would. But for the first time in a long time, he just slumped and spoke over intercoms. "Centre, we've lost two rookies. Got the data. Skeletons are retreating with recruits, knocked out. Permission to pursue?"
Center promptly responded, "Permission granted! ENGAGE! Besides, we do not negotiate with terrorists." Center gave the authority to engage the kidnappers. This was an attempt to stem Kalleh-e Marg from getting more experiments performed. "ALL ROOKIES TAKE THE DATA AND HEAD BACK TO THE SHIP!" Goliath, William, and Xavier were free to pursue the kidnappers. Goliath's suppressing fire canceled the attacks of the ghouls. This gave William and Xavier leeway to attack. "Such gorgeous girls will make a fine addition to my laboratory! If not, they can always fill the stomachs of my minions!" Kalleh-e Marg was threatening to either experiment or have monsters eat the two women. Either way, it would be a harrowing trial. However, it was not the officer's fault, but the rookies who arrived guns blazing. If they weren't kidnapped, they would have been disciplined by Center and possibly Alina.
"I'm only going to do this so I can discipline those rookies myself! Now I'll show the ghouls a true fight!" Goliath roared angrily as he used his coilgun machinegun to shred the two ghouls. The women were then suddenly dropped while the third ghoul was taking the two women. The ghouls were getting smarter with their tactics. However, the ghoul carrying the women was slowed down considerably. Once the two women were being carried, they have limited time before they go into two porous sarcophagi! The linen wrappings stack did not help their intentions.
"Looks like their getting away! To hell with it, just a bunch of women!" Gath pouted as he fired more magnetic rounds on the enemy in order to "rescue" the rookies. Not that he cared though, as Gath felt the two women deserved their fates.
"I'll be damned!" Xavier yelled at Gath as he said they were getting away, aiming at one of the ghoul's leg, taking in a deep breath. He planned on doing something he didn't commonly do, though he certainly it was never rare, and that was fire at one, then move on to the other. He steadied his aim on the kneecap of the "bone-monkey", as he muttered, "Time to make another meat-bag talk." He fired at it, quickly moving over, not seeing if it hit the skelly as he zoomed on the other's head quickly, and quickly squeezing the trigger. The Hunter and the Assassin would work in tandem in the next move. Will rushed out. Sliding into half cover, he kept his pistol in hand as he got out of cover yet again. He ran to a pillar. "Chasing them down." He aimed a shot at the ghouls running away with his two comrades, taking a shot.
Though the ghouls were going down, Kalleh-e Marg from afar animated the linen stack in order to wrap up the two rookies and store them in the sarcophagus. Fortunately, Center had a new trick up his sleeve. Via satellite coverage, the two rookies would be tracked. Center comforted the group with the plan and his announcement. "Officers, this isn't your fault. Get everyone back to the ship immediately. I'll debrief everyone." Mission was still accomplished despite the two women being captured.
"Assassin, what the hell were you thinking?!? And you, Hunter! I'll ask the same!" He blamed the "incompetency" of the other officers for the debacle.
Will grimaced. Center had commanded them to retreat. He dashed back, going into it and taking a seat. He sighed, defeated. They had lost two more men. Well, women. God knows what sick shit the Head would do with them. What terrible experiments he'd thought of.
Not long after, Gath was shouting in his face and he was pushed, slamming against the aircraft wall. His armour was still on, so he didn't feel much besides contact with steel. "What was I thinking? I was thinking about helping my squad! I was thinking about saving those rookies!" He shook his head, recalling Gath's attempt to stab Lazar in the back when they had their first mission together. "You wouldn't understand. Loyalty and camaraderie...It seems so foreign to you."
Xavier was about to respond back at the thick bastard, his body clenched as he was ready to snarl, before stopping, William cutting him off. The Hunter just sighed, going to sit down as they went at it, mentally tensing up at the mention of Lazar as he looked up, playing with his fingers before going back to thinking about the rookies, bowing his head as he spoke in a prayer, pleading with God to help them in this time of need, and to tell Lazar he's buying him a round when he gets there.
"Look, I was only trying to scare him. Nothing more!" Goliath and William would have gotten into an even more heated argument until they were interrupted by Center. "Settle down, Crash and Assassin! I'll debrief you with a plan I have to rescue the two rookies once we get back." Just as the drop ship was back to the ship, Center decided to promote the rookies as well as Charles. "Charles Luz, you are now rank of Corporal. Rookies, you're all squaddies. Officers, I would like to discuss the rescue plan if you're all open. Everyone else is dismissed!" Alina and Farhad were among the two to be present with Center. Once the sergeants were seated along with the other officers, Center would tell of his plan as soon as all were receptive.
William Burkley, Xavier Otieno Northway, and Goliath Gath were among those seated. They were all ears on what the plan would entail.
END OF CHAPTER 3
6: Act 1, Chapter 4Act 1, Chapter 4—Yetis and Yellowbellies
March 31st, 2022:
Center formulated a plan to rescue the captured rookies, tracking the primary base of operations the paranormal forces have founded. He relayed the plan to all the officers and was confident in the plan. A few minutes later and suddenly, a red alert alarm was blaring and blaring continuously. The monitors showed heavy activity in Tibet. It was also revealed that a Yeti of gargantuan proportions was terrorizing the area. The current forces were powerless to stop the creature, as it paved a path of death and destruction. The speakers of the monitor showed the mighty roar of the monster and recorded the powers the sonic roar can do. In fact, for ranged fighting, it appeared that the Yeti used sonic roars! Its physical abilities were apparent as it was beating its chest not unlike a gorilla.
"CODE RED! CODE RED! WE HAVE A MASSIVE SITUATION THAT NEEDS RESOLUTION!" Center was yelling to alert all forces. The beast must be put down at all costs before it was too late! Center will further brief the situation, informing the operatives that the group will not fight multiple paranormals, but one big monster. The monster was at least as big as the Tyrannosaurus Rex, if not even bigger! Needless to say, the battle will be the toughest, putting the terror mission to shame.
'Shit. This was bad.' Will ran. Only stopping to pull out his railgun shotgun and powered armour, he dashed to the VTOL ship. This yeti, this absolutely humongous and terrifying beast of a monster, was terrorising an area like Canada. The only way this would resolve was the death of the creature. He got into the drop ship without stopping to say hello to his squad. They'd come. But for now, William 'Assassin' Burkley was waiting in the dark of the plane, only illuminated by the red lights. The yeti was a raging beast. And beasts get put down.
Immediately upon hearing the red alarms Xavier jumped up and ran towards the armory, getting geared up in with his newly customized pain job on the vibro-chete, or the hacker as it new nick-name was given, the blood a nicer shade of neon blue, light orange, and scarlet flames along the edge of the blade, The Hunter giving it a twirl with a large, gleefully wicked smirk as he mumbled, "Oh baby." He sheathed his weapon, grabbing his rail-rifle as he hurried to the ship, freezing as he saw the monitor show the giant, white beast as he breathed out in fearful shock, "We're fighting Frosty the-fucking-abominable snowman? Great."
"We are on route to Tibet. Though we have had suspicions of the area in Canada from first appearance, our trackers indicated that the Yeti is in the rear end of the Himalayas. Watch your step and watch your backs!" Center was warning the group as they were about to take off. The Yeti was definitely not going to be easy, but the weapons and armor of ParaCom will help and become put to the test. As soon as the preparations were finished, all able operatives were called upon for the mission to put down the biggest challenge as of the year! Perhaps it was the latest in Kalleh-e Marg's ploys against the ParaCom project. Why was the Head of Death hitting ParaCom with his hardest? Many questions were raised, but as ParaCom pushes on, they will be answered.
Goliath joined the action as well. During the initiation, he wondered out loud, "Where has our lady friend gone?" He was among the first to notice Dilara missing. He quickly justified his question with, "I'm curious that's all." He changed topics once the VTOL drop ship was boarded. "They say the Yeti is the size of a T-rex, right? Well, the bigger they are, the harder they fall." He smoked his cigar and had a humorous realization, guffawing. Smoke puffed out of his nose. "Also, has anyone realized how manticores are made? Perhaps the bat was fucking the lion and the scorpion finished the job." However, the "mirth" was canceled as the drop ship landed.
As all volunteers were deployed, it was time to press on. As they advanced through the snowy, mountainous region, the group detected vibrations and shaking. A boom was heard and felt. Then a second boom was sensed, with a shrine holding bowls of water vibrating. Dread was an appropriate emotion just as out of the blue, causing a magnitude five earthquake, the Yeti leaped into the center of the area of operations, which was enough for long to medium range fighting. Xavier can see a tower to his left and snipe from there. It was up to the comrades to distract the beast to prevent more destruction. The Yeti roared loud thunder as it was beating the chest not unlike an enraged gorilla. It was time to fight and things will not be very easy. The Cash siblings took cover behind sturdy rubble. It would be a good idea as because the Yeti was as intelligent as a primate, it could use the environment such as throwing boulders and causing avalanches for advantages.
“EVERYONE GET DOWN!” Goliath yelled to his allies. He laid down suppressive fire upon the Yeti as a distraction. This would be a great opportunity for Milo Cash and Xavier to land sniper shots on the enemy. It helped that they used railgun sniper technology for much more accurate shots. “Moving at the speed of death!” Sergeant Burkley attempted to run and gun his way to the Yeti in order to perform the exact same strategy he had done to the Roc in Tehran. However, it would be much more difficult as the Yeti was much more agile plus its intelligence was significantly greater. This posed to be a big threat for the assault sergeant. Xavier held his breath for steadier shots. “Right in the snowballs.” He aimed around the lower midsection of the Yeti as it kept moving. A crippling shot plan was formulated to assist his allies in killing the monster. The Yeti was hit by the shots, distracting it from smashing William. William was then climbing the monster, stabbing it in the calf with his vibroknife just as it was about to roar a sonic boom towards the snipers. The ploy helped William climb the beast, but the calf muscle stab was considered more annoyance than harm. In fact, the Yeti kicked to get William off! It would have been quite harmful if it were not for the exoskeletal armor and the soft snow, leaving the soldier practically unharmed. Tiffany provided covering fire to look after her officer, planning to heal whatever wounds sustained. As a response, the Yeti threw a boulder right for the Cash siblings, destroying their cover as well as the shrapnel compromising Tiffany and Milo’s armor! Goliath Gath fired a rocket right at the creature’s face, resulting in it roaring in pain as some of its teeth were knocked completely out. The Yeti was bleeding from the mouth not unlike getting a fist to the nose.
The Yeti roared angrily and charged even faster to grab the nearest operative, who happened to be Tiffany Cash. However, Goliath suddenly pushed the Cash siblings out of the way to receive the grappling hand instead. Though he dropped his main weaponry, the heavy weapons man was in no way defenseless. Defiantly, he attempted to fish out his dagger and stab the Yeti repeatedly. This made the Yeti mad enough to climb a great height to throw Goliath across! “Requesting air support now! Get this beast off Gath!” Burkley was running to the Yeti’s location while radioing Center. Center acknowledged the request with a couple of fighter jets to distract the Yeti. The fighter jets in question were equipped with Gauss cannons and Heavy Rail missiles, which could wreck a conventional tank in one hit. The Yeti dropped Gath accidentally and had him tumble down a hill, having broken bones along the way! While the Yeti was distracted with the two jets, Tiffany rushed to Goliath and stabilized the sergeant. William, Milo, and Xavier charged for the Yeti, taking aim as they were distracted. “Fangs out!” The squadron also engaged the Yeti with missiles, with the Yeti fighting back with thrown boulders. Though the squadron took a few hits, they were damaging, with the squadron yelling, “We’re getting eaten up here!” As there was nothing more dangerous when a beast is cornered, the Yeti gave all its might to stave off the jets. Before the jets retreated, they fired off the last missiles, to further injure the monster.
The Yeti then tumbled down just as Gath did as the Yeti focused on the remaining operatives. It was quite damaged, meaning a battle of attrition was no longer needed. William got the rest of the group to distract the beast with sniper shots and covering fire while he tried his tactic again. This time William was much more successful as the snipers gave further damage to the creature as well as Tiffany utilizing covering fire to keep the Yeti down. Finally William was able to blast the creature in the back of the head after using his knife as an anchor. “Finally the giant ball of fur is down!” Xavier and William sighed in relief as they escorted the heavily injured Goliath Gath to the drop ship.
END OF CHAPTER 4
7: Act 1, Chapter 4.5Act 1. Chapter 4.5—Tactical Reassessment
Some months later, Goliath Gath was in the medical bay under heavy supervision. Dilara was heavily involved in the medical recuperation as well as Charles. It was evident that he would not recover anytime soon. Center proposed a solution from the science team. The WREC program, standing for Weaponized Robotic Exoskeletal Chassis, would be implemented for the first time. "Now you have two choices. Hospital or morgue, Crash? The WREC trooper program will make you twice the man you were plus more!" "I haven't come here to go back to Bulgaria in a body bag! Just hospitalize me quick!"
Sometime later, a grueling surgery would make the injured sergeant not just receive a medal for his efforts, but also turn him into a powerful being of flesh and metal. Limbs that could not function anymore were amputated as the prodecure follows, but fortunately Goliath's limbs were not beyond saving. They applied exoskeletal limbs and implants for the transition plus to give Gath a semblance when a return to normal life is done. Neural implants were also done to help control the exoskeleton with finesse. Tests were done to ensure well-being for Sergeant Goliath Gath.
"So far the extremities are fine. Now let's check your senses!" Dilara Burük and Charles Luz were both monitoring with attention. Tomorrow was going to be difficult. Goliath Gath surprisingly retained his senses after the accident. But the rather chirpy and defiant attitude he previously displayed seemed to go away, evident by the robotic monotone he spoke in. "Senses operating at 100% capacity." William and Xavier, as well as the Cash siblings, gasped as a response to Goliath's new voice.
The WREC trooper program was a success! But now one of the best troopers became a literal hulk of flesh and metal. The consolation was that the base augmentation has been as human-like as possible to give a semblance of normal life after the war. However, they gave access to the powerful suits the WREC troopers were to use. These suits were enormous for the purpose of wielding even heavier weapons such as miniguns and electromagnetic cannons.
Dilara and Charles also installed a flamethrower to act as a secondary weapon for Goliath. The flamethrower operated by high pressure and jellied propane. This is a cheap yet effective method of fighting the paranormal forces.
Meanwhile...
William Burkley was pacing the halls of the Paracom base. Various thoughts were running throughout his head as he kept walking back and forth, most about Gath. Damn the man for being a trecherous bastard. Damn the man for leaving two teammates behind. Damn the man for being a criminal.
Damn the man for making Will WORRY.
It was so strange. It was so...Foreign. Out of all the people to be worried about, he never expected to be scared for...For...That backstabbing criminal bastard. No. No, he wasn't worried about Gath. Gath was just a really good Heavy Weapons expert for the team. Nothing else.
Right.
Will casted the thoughts aside and stopped pacing, looking at the metal doors to the medical bay. As if on cue; they opened.
Xavier Otieno Northway was worried, albeit in a different fashion. He too was pacing around like William and told his friend, "That new hulk of flesh and metal troubles me. What do we risk with our own investigations into the melding of human and machine? Will we see a line in the sand and refuse to cross it? Or will we move forward, willing to sacrifice everything for the sake of total victory? I have to believe that is not our future."
William glanced at Xavier. "You know, you could have just said 'I'm scared about us becoming robots, man!' Rather than being so...Philosophical. Is that the word?" He shrugs. "Either way...I have to agree, Xavvy. I have to agree."
"Besides, what's next? Implanting paranormal genes in us?" Xavier also placed an off-hand joke in order to relieve tension. Some folks liked comedy just like coffee. Black as the ace of spades.
"...Scientists are always listening. Best not to give those ideas, Xav." William commented, dead serious, for once.
"Let's hope the rookies aren't too traumatized by the events. First impressions are last ones."
"Xav, they joined up for the military. In war time. If they weren't prepared...They aren't fit to be soldiers." Will glares at Xavier.
"Understood. All I can now think of is my bunk. I'll be heading there if you need me." Xavier left to rest. It was a long day, though the good news is that he could sleep at night.
Will sighs and enters the medical bay to check up on Gath. He wasn't the same. Gath was a hulking mass of plastic and metal and flesh and and and..."Gath...You're a 'bot?!"
"You are half correct. I am a cybernetic organism. Cyborg for short." Gath's voice was notably more robotic than before. The word usage has also changed. Will was quiet for a few moments.
Then he stepped back. "WHAT THE FUCK!?!"
"No need for alarm! I assure you that I hav--" Goliath was attempting to calm what seemed to be a hysterical sergeant. Whether or not the cyborg procedure was an improvement was up to circumstance.
"You...You aren't Gath! WHO THE FUCK ARE YOU?! GATH DOESN'T ACT LIKE THAT! YOU...You..." Will steps back again and turns around, sprinting out the door. He runs away. Far away.
The cyborg turned his head around. "What's his problem? I was trying to be polite for once!" Charles provided a theory. "Perhaps your voice might have set up the Uncanny Valley reaction. We added a vocal assistant because of the trauma on the larynx. Once we find a way to heal the voice box, it'll no longer be needed."
Gath only nodded.
END OF CHAPTER 4.5
8: Act 1, Chapter 5Act 1, Chapter 5—Operation: Flaming Omelette
April 3rd, 2022:
Days after the Yeti battle, Center's intelligence operation was able to intercept distinct signals and locate precisely where the main area of enemy operations was. All thanks to interrogations and autopsies performed on the paranormal enemies. The manticore in particular was found to have a crystal buried within the abdomen. The crystal, once studied, proved invaluable further understanding the results of the Djinn autopsy. It was then revealed that the two were linked. The Djinn was the handler of the manticore. Aside from the discovery, the crystals were quite perplexing on their own. What was the purpose? Dr. Semyonov didn't know. What he did know, however, was that the science team had to research. A lot. The lead engineer, Dr. Quincy, stepped in. "With all due respect, I believe this artifact may be out of your expertise. Allow me to analyze it."
Dr. Semyonov, though determined to know the nature of the artifacts, reluctantly accepted the proposal. Though without protest at that. Dr. Quincy took the artifact to her workshop and analyzed with attention. She found out the purpose of the crystals: Tracking device and antenna in one! "Just a very fancy pair of tracking antennas..." The engineers reported their findings and had a proposal: Use the artifacts to trace where the main base of paranormal actions. Thanks to Dr. Semyonov's research team and key developments in engineering, the base of the paranormal enemies was discovered. The first step was to create a "key" to allow access without breaking into the base violently. Using the nature of the artifacts plus the DNA of autopsied paranormal beings, the cleverly named "Skeleton Key" was to be put to use. Center, observing the progress, decided that now would be the best time to assault the paranormal base!
"Attention operatives! We have a new and urgent mission! This one's now or never, so stay frosty and load for bear!" Xavier and William took head, sprinting for the briefing before the mission. Gath stomped his way in while the other operatives, mainly the squaddies such as the Cash siblings, followed suit. This can be a bundle of promotions for the non-officers. Center would count the operative amount to be lucky number seven, including the now even more massive Goliath Gath. Center then announced to the operatives, “We have only one chance to do this right, so make every move count! Thanks to Dr. Semyonov and Dr. Quincy, we have tracked the paranormal base on Earth. The kicker: It's in Cuba. Now let's turn the tables on them."
The whole squadron was equipped with railgun technology and electronic armor. This should give them an edge compared to conventional weapons and armor. Prototypes of the previous decades showed promise. But thanks to the paranormal invasion, all shortcomings were averted. Going full throttle, the drop ship flew to the landing zone of operations nine times the speed of sound. The squadron got there just as fast as a Google search.
Once the squad entered the base, they spotted human being captured. Chained and caged, Xavier murmured, "God knows what the paranormals are doing to them. All the more reason to blow them to Hell. Literally!" Donald Colbeck and the Cash siblings readied their weaponry. Tiffany Cash was equipped with a med kit, so if anyone does get injured, she knows what to do. Milo would provide sniping to assist Xavier. One question was best to be left unanswered: What's the worst that could happen?
When they heard the sound of feet scuttling on metal, the squad ran to cover and hid. Their footsteps must have been heard, as yelling in a strange language was heard and suddenly everything became quiet. Perhaps the paranormal forces didn't see the humans coming and rushed to cover. Now it became from panic to eerie silence. The enemies were backing off, so room to advance was provided for the squadron. The WREC trooper of the group advanced forward and ascended a flight of stairs. "New contact identified!"
A group of stereotypically evil looking, pale and sharp toothed people stood at the stairs. Their eyes were blood shot red. A billowing red scarf adorned each and every one of their backs and they wore old, Victorian style clothing. It just screamed vampire.
"When did the paranormal host a costume party?" Then as Will cracked his joke, Xavier shot one of them straight through the eyeball, before getting back into cover. "...Remind me to never piss Xavvy boo boo off."
"You're doing a fairly good job of it by calling me XAVVY BOO BOO!"
"Well, if you two are done with your bantering, there are some more pressing matters at hand-Wait...Where did they go?" Kiril said, looking around as he held up his minigun. "This...This is strang-"
Before he could finish that sentence, a pale hand grappled onto Kiril's neck, and then one on his mouth. Muffled screams were heard as the vampire bit into his neck. "HEY COUNT DRACULA, GO SHOVE A BULLET UP YO-"
Will's quip was interrupted by him being grabbed. And bitten.
Goliath Gath raised his gun and shot the vampire holding Will, killing it in a few shots. "YEAH, TAKE THAT YOU SPARKLY PIECE OF SHIT!" Will spun around, pistol in hand. He aimed. And fired. And of course, he missed.
Not one to be a damsel in distress, Kiril decided to take matters into his own hands and proceeded to elbow the vampire holding him in the stomach. His training combined with his heavily muscled form made sure the ersatz Dracula was in pain. Lots and lots of pain.
Xavier raises his sniper rifle after Kiril ducks down to pick up his machine gun and a bullet was sent flying over Kiril, into the vampire's chest. It was dead. Will walks up to the corpse and stabs it in the heart. "We can't use a stake, so, next best thing." Xavier nods. "Let's move on."
Tiffany then takes out her med kit, intending to heal if the bites were severe enough to penetrate the armor. It took tough enamel and a heavy bite force to penetrate the exoskeleton armor.
And they were. If it weren't for the adrenaline pumping through the soldiers, they'd be screaming like children at how much pain they were in. After some med-spray and bandages, they were good to go.
Gath led the way and scanned the area for more hostiles. He was for all purposes a walking tank. Stopping to listen, Goliath was attempting to trace the source of a sound that resembled one of a feminine giggle. "Did anyone hear that?" Then the source appeared. "It just got hot in here..." The creature appeared to be female, winged, and youthful. It was also armed with what appeared to be a light rifle. However, the creature was different from the rest as it had a spiky looking collar adorned around the neck.
"Damn, that's unfortunate..." Will said staring at the enslaved fairy. "OI, DO YOU WANT TO KILL US?! IF YOU DON'T, DON'T SHOOT. IF YOU DO, TRY TO HIT ME!" Will waves his hand and is pulled back down into cover by Xavier. "Oi, what happened to being stealthy?" "We're assaulting the paranormal base with LMG's and laser guns, this is anything but, Xavvy boo boo." "Call me that again and the next bullet goes up your ass."
There wasn't any gunfire. Then yelling was heard and Will saw a fairy mouth the words, “I'm sorry.” Then the world exploded into gunfire.
William instantly ducked back as the gigantic Gath took the brunt force of the bullets. The hulking thing of steel was a tank. Xavier tried to find the source of yelling and saw a ghoul. But it was...Different.
It was wrapped in a ragged cloak and its lifeless eyes...Glowed. It felt magical, awe inspiring, and it made Xavier want to shoot it even more. "Glowy eyed ghoul nearby, stay sharp!"
Donald Colbeck attempted to keep the new Ghoul down with suppression. Firing long bursts of light machinegun slugs, he used the magnetic projectiles to keep it down. However, the new being had some tricks up its sleeve. Just as it was being suppressed, one of them was revealed! The Ghoul was the commander of the base and it fired a bolt of what seemed to be magic right on Donald's forehead. The attack caused him to suffer a minor concussion, reducing his aim and mobility. This also bought the enemy commander time to call for reinforcements. Several ghouls and skeletons arrived to provide support to the base commander. "Engaging in thermal combat!" Gath readied his flamethrower to incinerate half the reinforcements in one sweep! The rest flew into panic and ducked for cover.
"...Where can I get one of those?" Will asked as he stared at the fire. Then he cocked his shotgun and stared at a lone ghoul in cover, aiming at Donald. "Oh hell no!" He charges forward with a yell and jumps through the fire, landing next to the ghoul with a roll. "Hello, there." Blam!
The Ghoul Commander attempted to further flaunt its magic abilities by performing a difficult yet powerful spell: Possession. It first stroked its chest area and threw a ball of magic right at the weakened Colbeck. "HE'S IN MY HEAD!" Colbeck's eyes became just as glowing as the Ghoul Commander's and even similar in appearance!
Xavier took aim at the commander. "And fuck you." Then its head exploded. Poor, frail undead commander. Poor thing. The commander was now considered for all intents and purposes inert. All that was left was five remaining ghouls and skeletons combined. Milo scored a hit on one of the skeletons, shattering it. After Tiffany shot down a ghoul, she ran to Donald and attempted healing. "You'll make this out alive, don't worry." Kiril readied explosives to kill off a clustered group of enemies that would have flanked William. One throw of a grenade and not just enemy cover was compromised, but so was the enemies themselves!
The "sole survivor" of the fight was the collared fairy itself. Center radioed to the squadron. "Now that the being seems to be less hostile, disarm her carefully." Just as the Ghoul Commander was killed, its control over the enslaved fairy was nearly gone.
William rushed up to the fairy. Though it was scared and gripped the weapon, William showed good will by switching from shotgun to knife and cutting the collar off. "I'm free now. Thank you!" It now seemed friendlier towards the humans. Center radioed to the group, “Mission accomplished. Everyone head home."
William walks up to Donald and ruffles his hair, grinning. "Next time, don't get so magicked, aight? Aight, rookie, let's go home." He grabs Donald’s arm forcibly and drags him back to the ship. "AND THAT, MY FRIENDS, IS HOW YOU ATTACK A BASE FULL OF SPOOKY THINGS!"
The whole squadron sprinted towards the dropship. However, Xavier noticed the fairy following the group into the dropship. "Will, just so you know, we have picked up a hitchhiker." The fairy also was unarmed, with the rifle holstered. Its intentions may not be known, but the reasons were. The drop ship flew back to the base very quickly and notably another paranormal live specimen was brought back and hopefully, more friendly at base than the others.
"Another live specimen? I'm certainly impressed by how the team brought back another paranormal being. The labs will be prepared for study." Dr. Semyonov was ready, until Center gave a glare to the Head Scientist. "This one in particular has been through too much. We're going to stick to autopsies for now." "Oh no, I plan to study what weapons it had on it so we can advance our own ability to fight back." "Very good." Center left to debrief the group. "We didn't leave everything to chance and it all paid off. Impressive work, especially for our rookies who made it out alive!" He would promote both Cash Siblings, Donald Colbeck, and Kiril Laretzkiy to Corporal for surviving. All injured volunteers were sent to the medical bay for examinations and further healing as needed. Base security searched the visitor for weaponry, confiscating the light rifle. The fairy seemed frightened until Center calmed it down. "We're harmless. Don't worry."
Corpses and artifacts were loaded to the laboratories. In particular, the vampire autopsies were to be performed. How they could penetrate tough armor ParaCom produced was rather mind boggling. Dr. Semyonov also saw to it to analyze what can be done to make the possible new friend at home. The fairy may have a stranger psychology than humans do, considering how otherworldly they are. Who knows how will it interact with the environment?
Center then contacted the local authorities surrounding the paranormal base. Once all objects of value were recovered, the napalm was broken out. Traces of paranormal need to be eliminated as not to cause panic. It also had a good chance of crippling enemy logistics. "We won. Let us not waste the victory."
END OF CHAPTER FIVE AND ACT 1
9: Act2, Chapter 1Act 2, Chapter 1: Operation Primordial Ooze
April 7th, 2022
Thanks to a mission in Tibet and its results, ParaCom redoubled its efforts to fight the paranormal menace. The UN was generally extremely impressed with the fighting force and pledged new members and additional funding. One day, an unknown substance was discovered and reported in Marrakesh, Morocco. A UN official contacted Main Officer Arnold “Center” Bradley over the incident. Paranormal sightings have been reported in the area. The UN official, with a slight Arabic accent told the commander, “We have reports of an unknown substance left by the paranormal entities. It would be much appreciated if you can send some of your forces to investigate and study for analysis. Once you have finished with retrieval, please report any findings to the United Nations. Thank you for your consideration and attention. We look forward to seeing your progress.”
Center then called up volunteers. “We have a new mission from the UN. We’ll be putting down in Morocco for this one. There have been reports of the paranormal in Marrakesh and an unknown substance across the area. We are to eliminate any paranormal entities as well as recover the substance for analysis.” The armory opened up. Kinetic weapons and armor were in heavy abundance. Both conventional weapons and electronic weapons, with both normal guns and blades as well as from railguns to vibroblades, were lined up and organized for each specialty. Both powered exoskeleton armor and Kevlar were widely available. The mission was a Search and Destroy mission against the paranormal.
The drop ships opened for volunteering operatives to board. "Large Cloud ready for deployment! Everyone get all aboard!" Once the volunteers boarded, the drop ship would take the troops to the area of operations as fast as a search on the internet during full throttle, just like the attack on the paranormal base.
The first to board the nearest dropship was a fully-geared female soldier with a spring to her step and an assault rifle in her hands. Anya always made a point of being prompt, it at least earned some appreciation from her superiours both here and in Belgium. She opted for conventional equipment all around, partly because she wasn't familiar with those railguns and power armours, and partly because most of the other stuff on offer would weigh her down too much. Being in the right position was far more important against these things than slowing down for the sake of taking - what - one extra shot? If these things caught you, you were dead. She learned that on behalf of others. For this engagement, Anya took her sidearm, rifle, Kevlar, knife, smoke grenade, and med kit, all as provided by the ParaCom armoury. Their tools seemed reliable enough.
As she strapped herself in, any enthusiasm Anya held in her face was dissipated by the reminder that her brother was clomping up the ramp after her. He carried a heavier compliment; powered armour, a light machine gun, a grenade and a rocket launcher. His disproportionately bulky armoured form gave its usual infuriating smile as he saw Anya and secured himself on the seat opposite her. "Nice opening mission, I've always wanted to visit Marrakech." Luc commented in French as he clipped on his seatbelt. Anya simply glared back. "Quoi? What did I do this time?" Luc said defensively in response to Anya's look.
"Do you ever take this seriously? This is a mission, not a holiday." Anya said sharply.
Luc furrowed his brow, and faced both his gloved palms up, "Of course I do! Come on, sis, it's not as if everything has to stick-up-arse serious."
Anya threw up her own arm as she shot back in rapid-fire French. "Argh! It's bad enough you have to be on the same team as me, let alone this program, but do you have to be so big headed as to toss around your big over-compensating weapons like beach umbrellas!?"
"Hey! They're delicate instruments, they have a role-"
"Yeah, like making up for your tiny prick!"
The arguing continued for anyone to witness after stepping inside, if they could understand it, that is. In any case, they could probably understand that it wasn't a civil conversation. Both siblings had agreed to speak English when talking to most others in the program, as it was the common language used, but they tended to keep their arguments in their first language to preserve the potency of their vocabularies.
For this mission, the siblings' friend, Angus, was sitting out and observing from the control room. As there was a limit on how many people they were going to take on a sweep and clear, he would have to wait for next time. In the control room, he chuckled cross armed at the siblings’ argument coming through the radio. "Some things never change," he said with his distinct Londoner accent.
Lee Oletho, Otto McManus and Packston Davis were one of the last groups to board the drop ship. Lee noticed that others had already got on before then, punctual as they were, they were held back by Packston's pickyness when it can to his loadout. The group wasted no time finding a seat for themselves, Lee and Otto sat next to each other while Packston sat across from them. While they were waiting for the mission to begin, Lee began to fiddle with his weapons, he had chosen to go with a standard Paracom assault rifle, pistol, and grenades and of course ammunition. Otto decided to go with his favorite, sub machinegun with a shotgun, and to top it all off, some Flash grenades. As for Packston, he preferred the bigger guns in life, he had a Railgun and a simple rocket launcher, nothing else.
"Aye Otto, Packston, ya ready for some fun, can't wait for this to start." Lee said excitedly.
Naturally, Otto did not respond, he was still busy fixing his personal appearance for the occasion.
"Look Lee, this is serious, we could die here, and there is no fun in war.” Packston replied with a deep gruff voice.
After that all conversation between them stopped. This is how it was with them, exchange some words out of the battle field and then forget about each other, then when the battle starts and things get serious, talking is something the cannot avoid. They would yell and scream at each other, but they do work very well together. The group sat there in silence, and waited for the mission to begun.
Sergeant William Burkley gripped his shotgun railgun in his hands tightly as the veteran soldier boarded the drop ship, a blank expression on his face, knowing what was to come in the next battle. He didn't need to know the briefing, because Search and Destroy missions were all the same. Get in. Kill. Get back to base unharmed.
Will sat in the drop ship and strapped himself in, his black powered armour glistening in the light inside of the plane. He stared at the two vocal and bickering siblings. "If you two would stop yapping on, we have paras to kill and lives to save. Speaking of saving, save this argument for later."
He brought up his radio, setting it to HQ. "Assassin here. Helping out the rookies in the mission."
Sergeant Xavier Otieno Northway also joined up. "Hunter reporting in. Helping rookies out as well!" Equipped with a railgun sniper rifle, railgun pistol, and his Hacker vibro-machete, he was covered. The best part was that both sergeants worked very well together. They may be two, but they fought as one! Xavier turned to William. "Hey Will, you think this mission's gonna be just like old times?" He would have broken up the bickering between the siblings, but he saw that William did the job for him. Nonetheless, history should repeat itself.
Ezri was never on time. Her family often joked with her that she was late for her own birthing. Constantly in trouble for her own tardiness, she did try, but something always happened. She misplaced a vital piece of her med kit or there was an explosion or....
"Heeeeeellllo!", she waved to everyone as she dashed and darted around trying to make her way onto the drop ship as fast as humanly possible, hulking around a large duffel bag full of medical equipment, an M16 hooked around her back, and her favorite Beretta, fashioned with red flames, strapped to her right thigh. A hand clamped onto the medic hat she wore, to ensure it wouldn't fly away as she desperately ran to catch the ship before it disembarked.
She greeted everyone with a disarming, bright smile as she looked around for an empty seat. There was a pleasant demeanor about this girl, despite her punkish black eye liner, and the light shade of pink that glossed over her lips. Tossing the bag on the floor by nearest empty spot, she finally strapped herself in next to Anya. Ezri waited a moment, looking for break in the argument between siblings so she can introduce herself. "Hi, I'm Ezri", she sort of blurted out, not knowing when there would actually be a break.
The other squadmates embarking onto the dropship was noticed by the siblings, but not with any body language. They were too busy ripping into each other with words and likely none of the others understood. The argument was finally cut off as their commanding officer for the mission talked them down. Anya was quick to jerk her head to the officer and slowly shut her mouth, before her lips outright pursed in frustration and she responded in English. "Yes sir." Luc was still a little sore from not resolving the, frankly pointless, argument, so his own "Yes sir," was a bit higher in volume.
Now that they weren't too focused, they could inspect the rest of the squad properly. It was an eclectic bunch from the looks of things, people of all different shapes, sizes and weapon choices. Though shotguns seemed to be a trending fashion.
Scanning across the faces, Anya only then noticed the dark haired woman next to her looking at her expectantly. An awkward pause confirmed that maybe Anya had missed something. Anya's cross expression turned into a curious frown at this realisation. "Oh, I am sorry, yes, my name is Anya." Anya extended a hand, "It is nice to meet you." Anya wasn't quite ready to crack a smile after such a heated discussion, but this Ezri woman didn't deserve any flak. "You are...American?" Anya hazarded. It was only a guess by the accent Ezri had, but there was the occasional weird inflection in it. Anya figured if she knew English half as well as she knew French and German that she would probably be better at judging such things.
Center would then announce, "Get ready for deployment. For all those who want in on the action, this is your last chance. We can hold up to eight operatives in the drop ship without claustrophobia. The mission should be as easy as pie."
Large Cloud, the pilot responded and acknowledged. "All aboard! Any claustrophobes must exit immeditately. This is going to be a rocky and, no pun intended, airtight flight. We will leave in approximately ten minutes after the Little Lady is filled up!" The primary dropship's nick name was the Little Lady. It was named in affectionate jest as despite its humble size and appearance, it had very good performance. Deriving from the conceptual SR-72 UAV, it was improved and designed as a "quick in, quick out" Vertical Take-Off and Landing vehicle. It was capable of Mach 6 at normal speed while Mach 9 at full throttle. Unsurprisingly, it was high maintenance and was comparatively quite the energy guzzler compared to conventional aircraft.
Alina Ivanova privately radioed the two sergeants, “Sergeant Burkely and Northway, make sure the new recruits do not disappoint. Especially Erzi." Farhad Mehrzad was also watching on. The captain, unlike lieutenant Alina, was quite confident in the performance of the recruits. Both acted as reserves in case more officers were needed.
As the ship flew on to the mission zone, William replied to Alina on the intercoms. "Yes, ma'am." It landed in a manner of minutes, the rocky travel that William was long accustomed to has startled some of the rookies, but as ever, Xavier and Will kept stone cold gazes.
Will turns his head to Xav. "...So, Xavvy boo boo-" "I TOLD YOU NOT TO CALL ME THAT!" "...How's life back at home?" Xavier snorts. "You and I both know that none of us has seen home in months." Will shrugs. "Maybe it's been years..."
"...It hasn't been that long, Will." William chuckled. "It sure feels like it." Xavier nods wisely.
"We're ready to rock and roll, sir, don't worry." Erzi boasted as she polished her handgun, and checked her ammo. Her demeanor never diminished, but her confidence showed a different side of her. Erzi's bright blue eyes gleamed as she readied herself for combat, and of course, readied her medical equipment as well.
Lee and his team was not really listening to the pilot talk at all, they were all too busy doing unimportant things with their time. Otto was fixing his beard, making sure it was looking good for the ladies when the battle started. Lee was praying, as he always did before a fight. But Packston was doing something a bit more productive, he liked to be the logical one in the group. He was reading over the mission briefing. "A search and destroy mission in Morocco. Won't that be fun?" Packston mumbled to himself and he continued to read on, trying to get as much information as he could.
"Search and destroy mission, Basic. If anyone gets wounded, you lose all bragging rights until you climb a giant murderous bird and stab him to death." William says, recalling the Roc. "Or a Yeti. Tough bastards to climb."
"On both occasions the team helped you with rockets!" Xavier calls out in a sing-song voice. "Oh shut up, I'm trying to make a first impression here!" Will proceeds to bend over and slap Xavier on the cheek. "Pffffffft. Impressions."
Xavier also told the newer operatives and quickly recovering from the slap, "Remember that it takes a pair to go toe to toe with the paranormals. Even if you have done wars before, we're fighting an enemy nobody has seen before. Undead or Demon, you can only take two or three hits from the weapons they yield. Good news is that some of them are piss poor shots!"
The squad was ready to commence the mission in Marrakesh. Marrakesh, normally renowned for its beauty and exotic appeal, seemed like a damaged wasteland as the citizens were evacuated until the ParaCom cleans up the mess. The operatives can spot a lone ghoul in the distance. It was armed with a magic crossbow and was possibly scouting. Whether the operatives can attack head on or sneak around the scout was up to the individuals. Caution was advised by Center before. Whether that advice falls on deaf ears would be all up to the collective.
Lee, Otto, and Packston were silent during the journey, preparing for themselves for the fight that would soon begin. It was like this every time, they would sit down like this and think about life, although that was not always the case, that is what the thought they were doing and they went with it any way. Lee and Otto took this time to load and cock their guns, Packston had done long before they took off so he was ready and prepared for battle.
It was not so long after that when they finally landed and we're given the green light to begun. The Trio were the first to exit the ship, Lee and Otto took a knee at the entrance and swerved their guns around taking in all the information they could before they set out. Lee signaled for Packston to exit the ship and get behind cover. Packston jogged as fast as he could in his heavy armor and faced his back to the wall, stealing little glances at the paranormal scout not too far from their location. Signaling the three were clear, Packston motioned for Lee and Otto join him. They sprinted for the wall, hiding behind it just as Packston did. "Flank em." Packston whispered to Lee.
Lee needed no more than that to realize what Packston's plan was. Lee sprinted around the scout, keeping to the shadows of destroyed buildings. He hid behind a destroyed truck, and used it for cover. He was now behind the beast, waiting for Packston to make the call; the plan was simple: draw the monster's attention in order to get a clear shot without getting spotted in his vulnerable position. But before the plan could go into effect, he needed to let the rest of the team know, he did not want to go in guns blazing when the team did not know what was going on. He motioned for the rest of the Squadies to join him and find cover so he could tell them his plan.
Will got out of the ship quickly, his armoured feet pounding on the floor. Over intercoms he said, "Kill any and all paranormals you see. Update every time you attempt extermination. Over." William went behind a pillar, obscuring him and providing cover. Peeking around the corner, he saw Lee hiding behind a truck near a Ghoul. Will decided to help him out, as the heavy was in a vulnerable position and could be killed if he made a wrong move, because even though Ghouls are weak, they could still kill you.
Will ran to the Paranormal, feet pounding and shotgun in hand. He took cover by a broken crate very close to the Ghoul. Bringing his shotgun up, he aimed at the ghoul and...
Blam. He pulled the trigger.
"One G down."
Conversations apparently died down one the dropship began lifting. There were a few words, but it seemed as though most people's way to get psyched for the mission was to remain silent. This was even uncharacteristic for Luc, but he didn't want to piss off his commanding officers on his first operation by falling into another exchange with Anya while sitting across from her.
The trip took hardly as much time as most of them were expecting. Testament to the supersonic flight at the project's disposal. Anya and Luc shuffled out behind everyone else with their guns raised, scanning the area. The paranormals had ripped the place to shreds before they arrived. It was already like a warzone with all the rubble, just a little too quiet.
Anya was the first of the two to spot the ghoul a short distance away, and was quick to report in. "Contact, 12 o'clock, one of them." Anya's report was acted upon before she could even finished speaking as their squad leader, Sergeant Burkley, opted to run to a firing position for a swift kill. He seemed to skip his own advice of calling his shots before taking them, but this particular case didn't have much ambiguity to it.
Luc's movements brought him to deploy the bipod of this machine gun and get prone onto a pile of rubble, overseeing the area they landed in. Anya ran for a wall to put her shoulder to and watched over her sight lines similarly.
Before everyone so eagerly runs off the ship, Ezri hands them each their own special med kit, just in case. Each kit held reinforced bandages, lined with a goopy paste of crushed herbs. It oddly had virtually no smell except for that extra clean hospital scent.
Leaving the dropship herself, cautiously, she pulls her rifle from her back. She hid behind a wall as shots were fired in Lee's direction, but quickly followed through the gun smoke and rubble to join him at his position. She scanned the area as he explained the plan to her, looking for a cover spot of her own. She finds a spot nearby, seemingly gone through already, the wall was ripped in half, shot gun casings and torn up bodies littered the ground. But Ezri was small enough to fit just behind the wall, also hidden by the barricade already set up in front of her. This was a great vantage point. She was equipped for mid ranged, not for long distance sniping, but she could very well cover her comrades safely.
She crouched down between the wall and the barricade and loaded up for her first shot. She waited patiently till one was in sight. A nasty ghoul making its way towards her. "Lock and load, 3 o’clock, about 5 seconds till it's in range. I'm taking it out", she reported quietly. She smoothed a deep breath over those five seconds, leaning over the edge of the barricade with anticipation, then pulled the trigger.
William had quickly turned the ghoul into worm food. Erzi on the other hand missed as the ghoul already was in process of hitting the ground. Packston's ploy did work to a degree. Otto and Lee discovered a trio of ghouls. The ghouls suddenly hissed at the sound of gunfire, hiding behind crates and walls of a wrecked building. Anya and Luc both witnessed the ghouls scrambling for cover. Once the ghouls scrambled for cover, the closest one, behind a pillar a medium distance away from Lee and Otto, was on overwatch.
Xavier was ready to line up a shot. Aiming at the furthest ghoul, he held his breath to steady. After he made certain of leading the targets, he pulled the trigger! The furthest ghoul was taken care of! "One meat bag down!"
William took a deep breath as he saw the three ghouls. He pumped his shotgun, prepared to dash for the one on 'overwatch' as ParaCom called it, and said over intercoms, "Hauling ass. Going up against the overwatched Ghoul." William relied on his training, zig zagging to dodge the upcoming shot that was going to happen then tucked and rolled beside the pillar, to the side, peering over and looking at the Ghoul. "Killing the bastard." He aimed and pulled the trigger.
Shut hit the fan quick, one of the agents killed the one near Lee, but a few more popped up when the random gun fire started. Lee was stuck behind cover, although the agent with the shotgun was planning to take out the over watch, the other paranormals were still firing. Otto had not moved from his spot, still awaiting orders from Packston. "Otto, move up and assist shotgun! Lee, move up and flank the paranormal from behind!" Packston yelled, trying to get the situation under control.
Packston came out of cover and sprinted to where Bukely and Otto were. "Listen I got Lee flanking the enemy from behind. I and Otto will draw the enemy fire and if you want, you could join Lee and engage the enemy from behind." With that Packston and Otto sprung into battle, Otto taking cover behind a crate and firing at the paranormal, and Packston aimed and shot at the crates in which the Paranormals were hiding behind in an effort to push them back into the rest of the team, he hoped the others would catch on.
She frowned as her shot missed. She'd hit the next one, she was sure.
Ezri watched closely as Packston and Otto started shooting. She was supposed to be support and that is exactly what she would do. She took aim at one coming out from behind the shattered crates that Packston shot at. "Do svidánija", she whispers, her finger pulling on the trigger.
From behind her, she heard the harsh breathing of the enemy. Within one swift move, she reached for her handgun and spun around, becoming face to face with the ugliest thing she could imagine. No hesitation ... BAM ... she fired her Beretta
Anya and Luc both took reaction shots against the nearest ghouls they saw. "Enemies spotted, they've seen us!" Anya reported over the radio as soon as she had a moment. Still, though, it appeared that the rest of the team had noticed and were charging ahead and around. A number seemed to be trying to move to flank them, so Anya and Luc decided to stay and serve as a distraction.
"We move how we like, corpse man." Luc, having spotted one trying to keep a lookout for any moving teammates, decided to put some good old shock and awe his way with a suppressive barrage of bullets. The sergeant had charged forward without informing them before it was in full effect, but it was better to be safe than sorry.
Anya rolled her eyes at her brother's somewhat cheesy callout and held overwatch if any of the other ghouls had smart ideas.
Sergeant Burkley's plan worked out. His lightning reflexes made the ghoul keep missing. The shotgun blast also killed the ghoul in one hit! Packston's group also laid down the slaughter when Anya and Luc laid down suppression and reaction shots. The “suppress and slaughter” technique worked!
Erzi's burst did some amount of damage, but her quick shot move finished off the ghoul lurking around. She got her first blood! Suddenly, a shot from afar came. Packston would have gotten hit as he was right near the cross-hairs. The good news was that the shot was a miss! Xavier now knew where the rival sniper was. He focused his scope on the source of the shot, a skeleton! Xavier repeated the procedure that downed the ghoul. "One spooky scary skeleton ain't gonna spook nobody no more."
In the distance, there was the mystery material mentioned in the briefing. It was in a large clam shell type container. Once the materials were recovered, the remaining objective would be to eliminate any and all of the paranormal forces. So far, the enemy was cleared. More could come though! They needed to recover the goal material as soon as possible.
Erzi was one of the first to see the mystery material. As the smoke cleared, there it was. She pulled out her rifle once more. She chuckled at the clicking sound as readied the weapon. "You see it guys?" there was a determination in her voice, "What's the plan?"
"The plan," William said, pointing at the mystery material. "Is to take that thing back to base for the scientists. Any volunteers?" Will changed to his shotgun, looking at the rookies. "I'll cover you when you go there." He took cover closer to the material, aiming around with his shotgun. If something surprised them, he'd be ready for it. At least, he hoped so. "Going on overwatch." He'd shoot any paranormal that moved.
Packston knew there were more pressing matters. The special material they were looking for was right in front of them, unfortunately they did not know what was going on around the material, they had no idea where the enemy was, but they could not waist time being paranoid. "Lee, find cover that’s not too far from the item so you and shotgun can provide cover for Otto. Otto I want you to go for the package, take it slow, don't rush, and watch yourself." With utter silence the men moved into position, Lee was behind a car that was to the left of the item, and Otto was slowly and warily walked towards the item. Packston climbed up onto of a large truck the over looked the whole thing, he was going to provide cover if things got bad from up there.
The sniper was no longer a threat. Now, their objective was in sight, and there was a lull in hostilities. Anya and Luc both took the time to get back into cover with the rest of the team in sight. Luc began to reload his machine gun, while Anya kept her rifle sticking out so she could watch over the team's advance. "Hurry up! If the paranormals arrive, they'd shoot you on the spot!" "Sister, they aren't that good of a shot!" "Still better than your accuracy though!"
Xavier rolled his eyes at further bickering. "Cut the bullshit you two! If we were saving civilians, you'd make us sound like used car dealers!" Even the sergeant was dead serious. Total victory was within their grasps. The job needs to be done!
Otto was able to get near the object without incident. But as he got the opportunity to snag the package, a trumpet-like roar was heard from a distance. William and Xavier did recognize what it was just by its very sound. It was evident that paranormal forces were zeroing in on the location of the squad! The sound may unnerve the squad, but its very appearance would be even more frightening!
Accompanied by a Djinn handler, it was none other than a manticore that swooped into the fray. Both were airborne and exploiting their positional advantage, primed their weaponry, going to overwatch. The Djinn in particular was armed with what appeared to be a magic equivalent to an Earth-based submachinegun. This allowed it to lay down suppressing fire so the manticore can easily maul the enemy. Though the spines on the tail do not seem to be as promising as the melee equipment of the manticore. The man-eater monster may live up to its reputation if the operatives were not careful.
"Oh God. You have got to be kidding me." Will muttered, staring at the Djinn and Manticore. "There's a manticore and a Djinn. Do not engage without heavy weaponry. Supports and snipers focus on the Djinn, Assaults and heavies focus on the manticore." He spoke through intercoms. Will stayed in cover, over watching again to catch the Manticore when it inevitably charged.
Without hesitation Otto grabbed the item and sprinted behind cover,"Aye, I have out item." He yelled as he continued to heave. From Packston's vantage point he had a clear shot of the Manticore, and he did not hesitate. He pulled the trigger and sprayed the Manticore with a barrage of Railgun fire. From Lee's spot, he was able to fire at the Manticore from its left side, he started to fire at the paranormal, unloading a whole magazine into its body.
"Roger that!" Setting up a shot, Erzi held her ground, paced her breathing and pulled the trigger of her rifle. "Firing at the Djinn" -BANG- Aimed another shot and fired once more for good luck.
Both Anya and Luc were lining up a shot at the monstrous beast and its handler before them. They didn't exactly know how to handle the situation, so they stayed their trigger fingers until the sergeant gave them instructions. Luc heaved himself up and jogged behind a further piece of cover to give himself some distance, then turned around. He held his machine gun at the hip with the carrying handle and wasted no time unloading on the manticore. "I'll mount this thing's head on the wall!" Luc shouted over the rattle of gunfire.
Anya took her time with her shot, but was a little shaky from the urgency of the situation. She shot a burst of assault rifle rounds at the djinn's centre of mass and hoped that neither creature would pay particular attention to her.
William Burkley's instructions were followed to the tee! Packston and Luc turned the manticore into Swiss cheese with the hail of bullets. The Djinn on the other hand was heavily injured thanks to Erzi and Anya. However, the Djinn had one trick up its sleeve. It could teleport! It teleported right to Packston for two reasons. One is that Packston seemed to be more vulnerable and two Packston was the primary killer of its pet! It then moved into melee range, taking out a sword as it did so.
It would be a good opportunity to capture the Djinn, if Packston can deck or disarm the enemy quickly. Otherwise, he'd require assistance from the assaults to capture it. Both sergeants would recall how their old team first captured a ghoul. The group would realize that the Djinn was on its last legs so to say and can capture it. Capturing it would also mean that the weapon would not self-destruct as observed on the ghouls and skeletons.
Xavier decided to relay Center's order and radioed the group with, "Don't kill the Djinn outright! It's heavily injured and it would be much more valuable alive than dead!" Center had a plan for interrogating the Djinn. He had ways of making the paranormal talk.
A memory of Will's first mission with Paracom came to mind. It was surreal. The blade about to strike his teammate, the order from Center to capture it. William pulled out his pistol and ran to the Djinn, eyes narrowing with determination. But, at the same time, William 'Assassin' Burkley felt pride. The squad was alive, not a single casualty, for once. The rookies actually made it...This far, anyway.
He shot at one of the Djinn's legs, shouting at it. "IF YOU STRIKE OR TRY TO ESCAPE LETHAL FORCE WILL BE USED! SURRENDER OR DIE!" It was like what he did to the ghoul. Except the Djinn was a lot more powerful.
"Damn!" Packston yelled as the Djinn appeared next him, he smashed his Railgun into its face and jumped off of the truck and found himself cover behind a car. "Someone take it out." He yelled. Lee fired at the Djinn to cover Packston. Otto ran back to the ship to drop of the item in a safer place.
While the shots did indeed cripple the Djinn, Packston's blow decked it, but did not kill it. The Djinn was for all purposes knocked out cold. Lee's shot did miss as the Djinn was decked. However, a horde of ten ghouls came around. However, it was nothing that the group could not handle. They still had enough ammunition and firepower to fight the monsters.
"More meat bags coming in! BLOW THEM ALL TO HELL!" Xavier announced, lining up a shot to go through two of them. The cluster of ghouls were somewhat packed, allowing the shot to happen. However, one got killed and the other got heavily injured. So one and a half ghouls were taken down in one swoop. The heavies decided to obliterate the herd of ghouls by use of rocketry. Three ghouls were left now. Anya, Lee, and Erzi finished off the rest with assault rifle bursts. "Mission accomplished. Back to the base!" Center radioed the group as a signal to go home. All corpses, artifacts, and prisoners were brought back.
Once the Little Lady returned to base, promotions would be granted. "The mission was an exemplary performance! Everyone gets promotions. William and Xavier, you are now Lieutenant for you working hard to protect the new meat. As for the rest except our unconscious cargo, Corporal rank! I'll take full responsibility from here on." The Djinn's body was hauled to the lab for study and interrogation.
"Make yourselves at home. Celebrate the victory." Center has a feeling that the new artifacts and materials would help in turning the tide against ParaCom's nemesis, the Head of Death. Miraculously, the Head didn’t appear to hamper the mission. Center then focused to do research with the Head Scientist Dr. Semyonov. All weapons fragments were being recovered by the "cleanup crews" responsible for after mission duties. From here, the group can get to know each other better if they so please.
END OF ACT 2, CHAPTER 1
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