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Post by Silverback on Feb 16, 2005 14:15:08 GMT
Leo helped the injured clamber out of the basement corridor and into the cold, frigid night where the wind whipped up the snow into white dust devils. He hadn't planned on this being a rescue mission and he was damn well surprised that they hadn't suffered as many casualties as he'd expected. He shook his head in disbelief.
Returning his thoughts to the current situation he quickly checked whether Janson was still able to talk and he clicked open the secure channel to the mobile unit. No response. "Dammit." He exclaimed loudly to the surprise and consternation of his unwitting companions.
"Eagle Owl. Come in please we need an immediate evac. I repeat. We need an immediate evac." As an afterthought he added, "ensure medics are on standby, we have injured down here. Over."
"Roger that. Understood. Immediate evac and medics. Out." Came the response from the agencies helicopter. Shrike hoped that they had enough room for everyone. 'Hell, the priority had to be given to the seriously injured first!'
Grinding his teeth in frustration he tried to contact Janson again. "This is Shrike. Do you copy?" Pausing all he could hear was the empty hiss and crackle of static. "Janson, this is Shrike. Do you hear me?" Still no response.
"Eagle Owl. Can you give a fix on the mobile unit please? Over." He had to find out what had happened to Janson. The mission was definitely messed up. 'What did the Americans say again? Ah, yes. foo-bar.' The grin hidden behind Leos mask was definitely not that of a man who found the situation funny.
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Post by Tomahawk on Feb 17, 2005 14:16:56 GMT
“Roger. Shrike, move from your present location one-point-five clicks north by northwest, repeat: move from your present location one-point-five clicks north by northwest. The clearing there is the closest place where we could safely touch down. There is a road twenty yards from that position; Earthbound’s last transmitted location is approximately two-hundred and thirty yards along that road, following it east, towards the bluff. We are receiving no transmissions from Earthbound at this time. ETA at the extraction point two minutes 45 seconds. Over.”
“Roger that.” Shrike replied. Turning to the amassed group of former prisoners, he said, “Everyone follow me, and you will be taken to safety and be given medical attention.” Without waiting for any replies, he began leading the people to the coordinates he had been given.
The wind began blowing even harder, billowing large fluffs of snow everywhere. If Leo had to rely on “normal” vision, he would most likely be unable to see more than a few feet in front of him. Fortunately, inclement weather such as this had no effect on his sonar capabilities. It was, however, very cold. His trained ears picked up on two distinctly different sounds, hardly audible over the roar of the wind. One was the tell-tale sound of a double-rotor transport helicopter- a CH 46 Seaknight, to be precise- the same as what had brought him to this location in the first place. The second was much fainter- he guessed, already a few miles away- but nonetheless unsettling.
BAAAAHHHH-ROOOOOOOOOOGH[/I][/color]
He recognized it immediately as the same sound from the sub-basement, and was not pleased with the fact that the coordinates he’d been given were actually taking him in the same direction as the sound.
The small group’s progress was slowed considerably by the weather, as well as the fact that the former prisoners were stumbling along more than they were walking. Shrike realized suddenly that none of these people were properly attired for a trek through alpine woods in the winter, and he hoped that the helicopter had something along to help counter frostbite. His communications link suddenly crackled to life.
“Shrike, this is Eagle Owl, do you copy, over.”<br>
“Go ahead, Eagle Owl.” He replied.
“The weather is making it difficult for us to get a decent approach to land. Our ETA is going to be delayed until we can maneuver through this wind. Wait at the coordinates; we’ll be there as soon as we can. Over.”<br>
Shrike could already see the clearing and hear the helicopter circling overhead. The wind was blowing fiercely, and he could understand how it was causing difficulties for his allies in the air.
“Eagle Owl, this is Shrike. I am at the coordinates now- awaiting your arrival. I am going to proceed to Earthbound’s last known location. There are people here on the ground in need of medical attention. Will be in contact when I’ve found Earthbound. Shrike Out.”<br>
“Roger that. We’ll try and position ourselves so that you can drive the van right onto the loading ramp from the road. Good Luck. Eagle Owl out.”<br>
He turned to the woman who’d helped him before, and started to say, “I’m going…”
“You are going to find your friend, Ja, ja. Ich habe es gehört. Go ahead, we are waiting here.“<br>
Shrike started off at a sprint along the road, exactly where Eagle Owl had said it would be. Covering the distance was fairly easily- much easier along the road than it had been through the forest.
“Odd,” he thought to himself, “This road has some rather large pot-holes- almost like small craters…”
As he got closer to Janson’s last reported location, he noticed that oddly enough, along a swath of the forest, it seemed that all the trees had been felled, almost as though they had been bull-dozed aside. He came around the bend and had the van in sight- but was unprepared for what he found.
There was Janson’s van, precisely where it should be. But it appeared as though something had practically bent it in half- crushed it in the center like an empty soda-can. He would have been inclined to think that a large- no, huge tree had landed in the middle of it, however there was no evidence of any trees having fallen here.
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Post by Silverback on Feb 18, 2005 10:33:14 GMT
Leo immediately became alert as he sensed the crumpled shape of the mobile unit known as Earthbound. Somewhere inside this metal wreckage was the body of Janson. Whether living or not was an entirely different matter. Creeping into the cover of the forest that flanked both sides of the snow covered sliver of tarmac that wove its way under the protective canopy of the surrounding woodland Shrike became concious of detecting the 'beast' before it discovered him.
Leo felt incredibly exposed even with the columns of trunks partially blocking his view of the road. He'd feel safer if . . . 'yes, that's it!' The yellow and red suited figure quickly began to scale one of the coniferous towers, dislodging snow, which fell with a muffled crump to the ground below. Perching high up in the tree he carefully made his way along a sturdy branch before launching himself into open space.
A startled owl flapped noiselessly as it called out a hoot of complaint at the figure who'd disturbed its rest. Shrike could only just make out the soft rush of wind that sped under the creatures oustretched wings. Gliding out of the clearing Leo turned his concentration to the wreckage below him and the surrounding winterland.
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Post by Tomahawk on Feb 21, 2005 8:30:13 GMT
From his vantage point, Shrike gets a general overview...  |
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Post by Tomahawk on Feb 21, 2005 8:54:43 GMT
The rushing winds caught under Shrike's wings, giving him enough thrust that he was able to ascend over the clearning and the surrounding conifers.
Extending his sonar-sense to their limits, he was surprised to see that the building below-or at least, what was left of it- was still being 'painted'- evidently, whatever device Janson had been using to ping the location was still active, and still somewhat intact, despite the devasted status of the van itself. The building itself only had a few segments of walls still standing, and even from this distance, Shrike could hear the tell-tale crackles and roars of a blazing fire, punctuated by smaller explosions still going on within the amorphous remains of what had been the Genopharmtech research center.
From above, Leo could clearly make out that the van had been crushed in the middle- as if some huge weight or forceful object had landed directly in the center of it. The van, more designed to handle head-on collisions than something falling from above, had simply crumpled- and as far as he knew, his partner was still inside when it happened.
From this height, Shrike could also make out a few other 'abberations' in the immediate surroundings. First of these was a relatively large impact crater, a few meters from where the road had stopped and parked. From this height, it was impossible to make out if it was explosive in any way, but it didnt appear so, seeming much more like a solid object had met the earth there with a large degree of force.
Immediately behind the van's crumpled form there was another impact crater, albeit much smaller than the other. He could also make out that the 'potholes' he had seen before had a surprising pattern to them, and corresponded exactly with the felled trees he had noticed before...
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Post by Silverback on Feb 22, 2005 12:00:23 GMT
Descending in a quickening spiral, Shrike glided into land next to the crumpled truck, his feet slid on the icy surface as his arms windmilled in an effort to keep his balance. His impetous caused him to collide with the aluminium roof of the vehicle and the impact dimpled it momentarily before it popped back into shape. Well what remained of the roof did anyway.
Leo looked back over his shoulder at the crater-like imprints dotting the path of the creature that'd espaced the institute. Plumes of black smoke smothered the sky as the stench of charred furnshings assaulted his nostrils. His hearing could detect no sound of the beast in the vicinity and, feeling it was fairly safe to do so, he ducked into the mobile unit through the tear in the roof.
Lying in a pool of blood, Jansons barely concious form was pinned from the waist down under an array of mangled equipment, his eyes flickered open as he sensed the approach of the russian operative.
"Shrike... Secondary Protocol... Shaped charges... remote... left breast pocket... leave no traces... Unnngh..."
The young agent, his hair matted with sweat and his forehead beaded with perspiration, finally lapsed into a state of unconciousness. He quickly thumbed open the channel to the support chopper. "Eagle Owl, we have a man down. I repeat, we have a man down. Janson is in need of immediate medical attention. Dust-off and make your way to Earthbounds co-ordinates. Please confirm. Out."
Hooking the comlink onto his belt Leo exited the crippled vehicle and sprinted to the reverse of the agencies van. Releasing the under-floor wheel he quickly grabbed the jack and ducked back into the tangled innards of Eathbound. The jack slid easily into place as the pooled blood acted as lubricant and, taking care not to injure him any further, Shrike began to slowly squeeze open the gap between flesh and metal.
Crouching on his hands and knees Shrikes sonar detected that, although badly macerated, his colleagues shattered legs were now free of the metallic tomb. Taking great pains to ensure the comfort of his charge he slowly extracted the still unconcious form of the man until his prone form lay clear of the wrecked equipment. In the diatance he could hear the whup-whup-whup of the approaching helicopter.
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Post by Tomahawk on Feb 22, 2005 14:16:30 GMT
“Copy that, Shrike- last transmission received. We are three-quarters of the way finished with the evacuation. ETA on arrival at your location less than one minute. We will not be able to land at your location; repeat- we will not be able to land. We will be lowering a backboard and cable for evac. Please respond. Over.”<br>
There was not much more Shrike could do at this point than to wait. He quickly scanned the inside of the van for anything portable he might be able to scavenge from the wreckage- after all, the Agency was always appreciative when its Agents returned with unused equipment. He could see that there was an M-16 which appeared in good condition, as well as two spare clips and about five grenades. A back-pack style field radio, a flare gun, and that was about it- pretty much everything else was larger communications consoles, either damaged beyond repair or hardly portable, in any case.
Satisfied that he'd recovered everything possible Shrike carefully placed the shaped charges that would destroy all trace of the vehicle and any telltale evidence that could link it to the agency.
The tell-tale whup-whup-whup of the Seaknight approaching signaled that it was already over top of him; they obviously had never heard of “whisper mode”, and to Shrike’s hyper-sensitive ears the sound was practically unbearable. Glancing out and upwards, he could see the backboard being lowered down on it’s cable, complete with a foot-hold underneath, where he could hold on and also be lifted out.
He quickly got the backboard under his control, and carefully laid his charge on it, strapping him down firmly, yet gently, to ensure nothing could happen during the evac. Placing his foot in position, he gave the radio signal, and began ascending.
The wind was fierce, but fortunately the weight of two persons as well as the backboard and cable itself maintained everything relatively steady. In a few short moments, two pair of hands were helping bring Janson on board the aloft Helicopter, and Shrike followed suit immediately thereafter. With a whiiir- ca-clank![/b] the winch pushed itself back into position even as the rear ramp-door closed and sealed itself. Shrike quickly did a head count and saw that all of the former prisoners were on-board, each in a seat with their seat belts firmly fastened. It was only then that he noticed something odd- The hatch to the pilot’s compartment was secured, and the two techs currently administering medical attention to Janson were wearing Rad-suits.
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Post by Silverback on Feb 23, 2005 11:27:53 GMT
Shrike shrugged off the attention of the medics and used the intercom and instructed the pilot to open a channel to the agencies headquarters. While he waited for confirmation he slid down the cool, vibrating outer skin and allowed the medics to continue their work. His head felt hot and the visor rubbed against his temples yet, as these refugees were also present, he couldn't relieve the pressure and heat without revealing his identity. As he felt the sharp needle pinprick his arm the intercom crackled into life. The co-pilots voice sounded over the speaker, "Shrike you have a secure channel, out."
The medic immediately withdrew to give the operative privacy as Leo slipped on the throat mic that would allow him to communicate without being overheard. "Mission report, agent Shrike reporting. The data has been secured but something tells me that we could be looking at playback as the institute may have been window dressing. The security responded too quickly and I believe we may have been compromised." Pausing briefly to clear his throat he continued. "There was some wet-work and Earthbound is down, but not out. There was some unplanned exfiltriation and we have them onboard Eagle Owl now. There was also some kind of beast down there that escaped during the confusion, I suggest executive action on the target as a priority mission as soon as possible. Shrike out."
Tearing the mic from his throat Leo made his way to the unconcious figure of Janson, his hand pressed against the roof as the wind buffeted the chopper making standing difficult. Tapping the medic on his shoulder, the man snapped his head round as if to curse but nodded in acknowledgement instead. "How's he doing?"
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Post by Tomahawk on Feb 23, 2005 13:59:24 GMT
“Blood pressure is critically low, all other vital signs good. I had to give him a mild sedative him to try and make sure this trip is as comfortable for him as possible. Initial analysis, he’s lost a lot of blood, and most likely has a lot of internal bleeding as well. Most of his bones in the lower half of his body seem to be crushed. We’ll have to rush him into surgery as soon as we land. In layman’s terms, chances are good he’s going to live, but he’s having one helluva lousy day. Just from the way it looks here, he’ll be lucky if he ever walks again.” Came the muffled response from the medic, rattling off the information while busying himself with changing bandages and applying pressure on some of Janson’s obvious external wounds.
tik tik tik tik tiktikatikatikaikatika tik tik tik[/b]
Shrike easily heard a peculiar sound coming from behind him, and turned his head to see the other technician running some sort of scanning device over his back. A bit annoyed, Shrike asked,
“Just what on earth are you doing?”<br>
“Just a routine check, nothing to be concerned about, Agent Shrike. Everything’s going to be just fine…” With that, he turned and quickly made his way over to the refugees, and used the same scanning device on them. Shrike was sure he recognized the sound the scanner was making, but at the moment it was eluding him- most likely because his thoughts were elsewhere.
Glancing back over the refugees, Shrike could make out that the majority of them seemed to be somewhat misshapen- it was difficult to tell distinct features using his sonar, and he was also getting quite a bit of interference from all of the other noise inside the helicopter. He tried to figure out which one was the woman he’d rescued, but even as he looked, the other technician pulled some sort of curtain across the walkway, sealing off the refugees from Shrike, Janson, and the other Med Tech.
Shrike could just barely overhear what was being said beyond the curtain- no doubt some small conversation amongst the refugees.
“…And where we are going now?”<br>
“… idea. Most likely ‘Mother Russia’- the man was KGB, you know..”<br>
“Then why they are speaking English?”<br>
The med tech at Janson’s side breathed a heavy sigh and sat back, placing his hands on his knees.
“Not much more I can do for him now. He’s stable at the moment- unless something changes drastically, he’ll do just fine until we can make it to the carrier. Hey, that was some zoo you brought back from down there. The woman you had helping you- she’s a fox!”<br>
Annoyed, Shrike automatically responded with, “I didn’t have time down there to check how attractive anyone was…”
“No, that’s not what I meant,” the med tech interrupted, a rather confused sound to his muffled voice. “I mean quite literally- she’s a fox.”<br>
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Post by Silverback on Feb 25, 2005 15:08:49 GMT
Grabbing a set of ear defenders off the choppers equipment rack Shrike removed his visor and slipped the headgear over his ears in an effort to, at least partially, subdue the noise of the helicopters blades and engines. Fastening himself into one of the flip down seats that lined one wall of the 'bird' he was grateful for the partial relief offered by the ear cups.
Leaning his head back he tried not to think too much about his past. The memories of which had been painfully brought home by the medics final words, “I mean quite literally- she’s a fox.”
It was happening again, the experiments, the deaths, the pain. All the loss and suffering that he thought he'd left behind sat no more than six feet away from him. If it hadn't been for his mask a lone trickle of tears escaping his ruined eyes would have glistened along his cheek. As he drifted off into an unrestful sleep the nightmares came . . . again.
END CHAPTER II
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Post by Tomahawk on Feb 28, 2005 8:42:35 GMT
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Post by Tomahawk on Mar 3, 2005 15:59:48 GMT
INTERLUDE
Two days later, in the Agency X “Ready Room”… Debriefing[/I]
The past two days had been exhausting. Shrike was generally prepared and ready for anything, but that last mission had awakened something inside of him, memories he’d much rather let sleep. All he’d wanted to do was hit his quarters, take a hot shower, and get some rest, but such was not forthcoming. After spending several hours in quarantined transit- which in itself was curious and annoying all at the same time- he had arrived back at HQ only to be ushered into yet another section of quarantine. He came to find out later the reason for all of this, something that was not explained right away, being that somehow during the course of his mission he had been exposed to a significant degree of Gamma radiation- significant enough that he himself emitted low-levels of radioactivity, and thus was a hazard to those around him. Armed with this knowledge, it made his time in the quarantine infirmary bearable. Bearable, but no more comfortable. It wasn’t the isolation that bothered him, nor was it the infirmary bed or the starkness of the room he was a “guest” in- what truly bothered him was not knowing- not knowing what had become of the prisoners he’d rescued, not knowing what Janson’s status was, not knowing what had become of the beast let loose from the facility, and not knowing what the results were from the tests they’d done on him. But after only two days and more anti-rad “milkshakes” than he ever cared to drink, he was given a clean bill of health and was released from quarantine. He’d hardly made his way back to his quarters before being summoned to debriefing, where he found himself now.
Jameson had greeted him, as did Agent Bobberts. Janson’s absence at this debriefing session could only mean that he had not yet been released from the infirmary. Wasting no time, Jameson started right in.
“Thank you for coming in so quickly, I realize this has been a very trying time for you, these past few days. Before we get too far, I wanted to make sure you got this-“ He slid a small box across the table which Shrike easily caught before it hit the floor.
“I had some guys down in the lab working on this for you. It uses the same kind of technology as that visor of yours, but it’s nowhere near as advanced and doesn’t even have half the range. Good thing is, the glasses look like normal sunglasses, and the power pack that operates them can fit easily in your back pocket. Just like wearing a wire- except this one’ll help you see. Anyhow, enough with the birthday presents…”
“The official word from the news channels in Bern is that the Genopharmtech building went up in flames and exploded due to a gas leak and a security guard who was too careless with a lit cigarette. Classic cover-up, but I wouldn’t have expected anything less. We’ve already gone over the transmissions between you and Janson, and we’re pretty close to wrapping this thing up. Now, are there any questions you might have at this point, or are there any things in particular you’d like to share about this mission for the records?”<br>
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Post by Silverback on Mar 12, 2005 14:16:29 GMT
"Yes, yes, yes. I know most the details already!" Leo gasped out in sheer frustration. "What I want to know . . . and I really want to know is what happened out there?"
"Why did they go to such lengths? The facility, the lab . . . all the minor details?" A sudden thought crossed his mind. "It wouldn't surprise me if those poor souls that we rescued were all failed experiments like myself so that their loss wouldn't have affected . . . well, affected whoever it was behind this facade." Shrike rose from his chair and paced, his anger and resentment building.
"Dammit. Why go to all that effort? It wouldn't surprise me if that data we recovered is either false, inaccurate or out-of-date!" Stopping suddenly he turned to face Jameson. "What is that saying now? Ah yes, tell a small truth to cover a lie?"
"What do our 'experts' think? Do they agree that this whole thing was a . . . an, erm . . . a sham?"
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Post by Tomahawk on Mar 14, 2005 16:33:28 GMT
“Leo,” Jameson said, raising both hands and making a downward motion, “Try and calm yourself down a bit.” He glanced to the agent at his right, cleared his throat and continued.
“You are indeed correct in your assessment that something ‘wasn’t right’ with this last mission. After the proverbial crap had already hit the fan, we found out that the Courier we’d… aggressively interviewed was holding out on us. Considerably. He had some kind of mental block thing installed somehow that fooled our Psy-boys and girls into thinking we’d gotten all the info out of him. Truth is, he knew you’d pretty much be walking into a trap, and he was counting on it. That entire top floor was rigged with sensors fed into an independent power supply in the basement- which itself was rigged with charges to blow by remote control. The clock started ticking as soon as you hit the roof- and we were only able to find this out after you were already downstairs by the mainframe. The Courier’s last words were quote: ‘you can kiss your agent good-bye’ end quote, a few seconds after that he died- suicide tooth. Pretty sure you remember those from your days with the Reds.”<br>
“Fortunately, we have seen or heard nothing to indicate that they were actually on to who exactly went in. At this point, they’re probably guessing the CIA or KGB, as there’s nothing which would particularly point them in our direction. The data you retrieved was good; since the mainframe was toasted in the explosion, we’ll have to assume that they already had a back-up somewhere else. As for the other info you downloaded… Have you ever heard of Project GECCO?”<br>
“No? Didn’t think so. Project GECCO: Gamma-Enhanced Cybernetically Controlled Organism. An experimental Cyber-Biotech, tweaking naturally occurring PNE’s by splicing in strands of different animal DNA- sound familiar? And then exposing them to mutagenic levels of Gamma radiation and fitting them with Cyber brain-implants to control ‘em. Those folks you rescued? They were all Entry-level through Stage 3’s out of 6. The data shows one fella was already a Stage 5, just waiting for the Cybernetic implant to keep him from being an uncontrolled, raging monster. That part of the project was delayed, as it seems the good Dr. Strange reneged on his deal with them. Truth is, no one knows where he is, but if we could find him, he might be the only one on the planet who could put Janson back together again- the guy is a nutcase, but he's a brilliant nutcase when it comes to cybernetics. But anyhow, since there was no four-armed, scaly, nine-foot tall guys amongst the ones you got out, we have to assume that fellow died in the explosion…”
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Post by Silverback on Mar 16, 2005 9:34:21 GMT
Leo paused in his stride as he automatically went to switch cane hands and, grasping in mid-air, he sheepishly realised that he'd automatically donned the new visor and left his cane at the desk. 'Hmm, must congratualte the lab rats.' His thoughts momentarily distracted.
Returning his attention to the men before him he mused on Jamesons last words. 'Surely I mentioned in my report the escapee!? I'd best repeat it again just to make sure.'
"There was at least one escapee. Whatever the thing was that half-crippled Janson and destroyed Earthbound in the process. I would have attempted to pursue it but my mission priority was with the safety of my support crew and the rescuees." He paused, he hated to admit this but he needed to be professional all the same. "I'm not sure whether or not my talents would be sufficient to subdue the beast in question."
Returning to his seat he rubbed his temples as a headache began to form behind his eyes. "There may have been others who escaped the facility whilst I was engaged in the sub-level. Maybe one of the evacuees would be able to help?"
He quickly recalled one who seemed to have been in possession of her faculties at the time. "One in particular you may wish to question, she . . . hell, I don't know her name. Ah, one of the medics referred to her as the fox. I think some of those unanswered questions will come from her."
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