Disclaimer: I don't have any dibs on anything but original characters and the story itself. Kim Possible and all characters of it belong to Disney. They didn't say squat about chicken, though…
Prelude:
2500 (Human) Common Era
The Archive
Dorothy Lipski blinked as she staggered back as she stopped using the tome, ejecting herself from Kim Possible's preserved memories. A beating headache was wearing down on her as the Archivist was smiling thinly at her in the cyan lit room. "You feel the kickback of consistent use, don't you?"
"Yeah," she said with a low mutter as she put a hand on her head, "It hurts, but it's not too bad."
"Good," he answered as he gestured to a small bench that wasn't there before, "Rest a moment and think about what you've seen. Give yourself time to recover."
She nodded and walked to a convenient bench nearby. Some of the facts she had learned were troubling, such as seeing the actual casualness and even hubris Kim and Ron had acted with five centuries ago towards their 'hobby'. She frowned as she sat down. Something did not add up. Kim and Ron were only two people. Who actually handled day-to-day superpowered incidents across the globe that did not call for those two? Global Justice, she recalled quickly, frowning even deeper as she realized few of the actual records of the soldiers who stood on the line were looked at as more than trivia. Even she did that common mistake. Although Kim's memories included frequent interaction with them, they did not tell her the actual daily lives of them. The daily lives of the minor players, the contemporaries who were not the major figures. The ones who would be seen as red shirts by movie audiences but were much more even as they were batted aside in the heat of combat by higher caliber combatants. She looked up at the Archivist as he was checking the various books in the vaults. "Archivist, do you have anything on some of the everyday soldiers Kim met? Like GJ agents, cops, Resistance guerillas, any of them. Heck, even their families would do."
The Archivist smiled with his sharp teeth, "History's truest accounts. The memories of major figures are one thing, but the smaller fish who actually make up the school are an even better idea of how things were, of how events happened. Their stories are least touched by cultural engineers and so are often forgotten by those who are not interested in that particular area." He walked towards a shelf and pulled out a smaller Liber Memoriarum from the shelf. "Let us take a look at a common soldier of the era then. You have seen him in Kim's memories," he placed the book on the pedestal and opened it, "Agent Will Du of Global Justice. We will focus on his first interaction with Specters. You know them well of course, your cousin is one."
She nodded despite being freaked that he knew that detail of her life, "Elite human soldiers who specialize in busting superpowered individuals, and ended up being a generalized elite commando. One man or woman armies who are rated to take on lorwardian warriors four-to-one in favor of the lorwardians, albeit with difficulty. The idea was that they would duplicate the effectiveness of Team Possible and be heroes for the common soldier. Not quite the same caliber, but they're close enough to class the same threat wise."
"Indeed. Will Du was not to their class, but he was no less a hero than these elite soldiers. The events that I will focus your search on is when he realizes this, in the early June of 2007, Terran Common Era.
She nodded and stepped back up to the pedestal, once again putting herself into memories as she activated the tome.
XXXX
XXXX
"Global Justice was founded in the immediate aftermath of the Cold War to serve as a unified defense against superpowered incursion, in light of several at the time unheard of incidents. It was meant to be a secret shield which answered to the United Nations and operated across borders from underground headquarters with the rare surface base. Their duties were to seek out paranormal activity, particularly that retaining to supers, and either put a stop to it or prevent it from running unchecked. And what happened? They were proven to be less effective than they were thought to be by a pubescent cheerleader and her slacker boyfriend against the Scottish mercenary Duff Killigan. Realization that they were underequipped to engage villains of that caliber resulted in what they referred to as the Specter program, which was designed to emulate Kim Possible's effective tactics against villains, but a military spin. These operatives were meant to be the ideal of a Global Justice field operative: capable of handling any villain through a combination of tactics and technology. Specters were trained by a variety of elite Special Forces, and their earliest deployments were in late 2006, though most of these files are still classified. The first publically known deployment of a Specter operative was in Operation Waterloo, an intervention by Global Justice in the miniature European nation Rodegan mere weeks after the passing of the Global Defense Initiative Act which transformed Global Justice's role. The mold left behind by these agents are a strong and sturdy check on the potential destructive powers of the superpowered and magical members of humanity, but few are able to cast their mettle in that mold."
- Excerpt from "The History of Global Justice" by Armand Blade, published in 2043
XXXX
Chapter 1: Agent
June 6th, 2007 Common Era
5:19 PM
Global Justice Headquarters
Somewhere under the Tri-City Area
"Play it again, Com."
"Yes, Doctor Director," answered the technician as he hit the play button. Gemini appeared on the screen as the recording of his most recent threat to freedom was expressed. Doctor Director scowled at the sight as her fraternal evil twin made such uncouth demands.
"Rodegan's bold move towards democracy was an amusing thing to watch, but it forgets the iron hand of its former kings, a lesson that needs to be retaught should this…" Gemini's lips pursed as he paused for effect, "… unwise course of action continue. Should the elections proceed as has been planned, misfortune will befall your puny kingdom. Your precious 'candidates' weak-link Wally and Adam Campan will disappear and shall never be seen again. I hope that you see reason and come around, but do not expect unwise action to be permitted without consequence." The message ended.
Sighing, Doctor Director nodded to the technician who pulled up a map of the region on the northern side of the Alps. She noted that while there was military presence there, it was extremely small and would be insufficient to ward off any attacks by WEE, if the attack was supported by their regular mercenary contracts or networks of low-life thugs. No wonder they stayed out of both of the World Wars and the Cold War; they'd be swept away as quickly as a town would, she mused as she noted that the forces lined up in Rodegan's army were more like an American militia made up of people who just read books on how to use their weapons rather than a group of veterans or experienced personnel. She frowned as she considered her options. Convincing any of the nearby nations to send help would not work, most overlooked the miniature and neutral nation as an old feudal relic and would not even bother sending a single advisor over as they had their own issues in rebuilding from the alien attack and maintaining internal order. A relief effort would not help as their small size allowed them to avoid damage during the alien attack, much to the chagrin of nearby nations. That left her one option: Global Justice agents had to go in, put their boots on the ground, and intervene if they were going to keep the peace. It is part of our new responsibilities, she finally decided, wishing Global Justice had more time to arm itself for the new role.
"Get me Agent Du," she ordered as she concluded who was available and suited for the mission. "I want him and a team ready to be deployed in Rodegan in order to protect them from this scheme."
"Yes ma'am!" the technician said as he set to work. She looked over the list of available agents and nodded. The agents she chose would be sufficient for the task and would be capable of helping Rodegan improve its ability to defend itself while they were present. Gemini wants to dam a flow of freedom, let's see how he handles liberty's wrath, she thought in faint amusement as Will Du walked up to her and saluted.
"Agent Du. At ease." She said as she turned, "I take it you've seen the latest message and reports?"
"Yes ma'am," he answered succinctly and professionally, hands held at his sides as he stood stiff as a board.
"Good, this cuts the briefing time down considerably. Your assignment and that of the agents who will be under your command is to protect Rodegan and its people from the Worldwide Evil Empire and its efforts to see the kidnapping of Rodegan's candidates for a democratic election. We cannot allow the ideals of liberty to be squashed by this renegade man and his mercenaries. You will liaison with the soon to be ex King Wallace, who is returning to his former position as a military officer until he properly retires in order to smooth over the transition. Unfortunately, we do not have a section leader or firebase in the area yet, so you will be in command of the mission and will report to me directly." She eyed the agent directly, "Am I understood?"
"Yes ma'am," Will Du answered with stiff upper lip.
"Good. The hovercraft taking you there and supporting you during this operation will be awaiting your arrival at 2000 hours."
"Yes ma'am."
"Good luck, Agent Du. Global Justice is counting on you."
"Yes ma'am." With that, he turned and left. She wondered if he would be enough to stop WEE briefly as she considered things. Will Du had not taken being outpaced by Kim Possible very well, but had managed to recover his dignity and trained harder, doing better than before. Still, he was a worry to her as the psychologist reports on him indicated something of a growing inferiority complex. While he had seen action over the last few years, those actions had always been under a local Global Justice officer, not his own independent command. She anticipated potential problems if his reported inferiority complex got in the way.
"Com, can you arrange for Kim Possible to be brought in? She has familiarity with Rodegan since she protected Wally four years ago."
"Negative, ma'am, she is in the Nepalese region of the Himalaya Mountains right now going after Drakken and Shego."
"What are they up to? I thought they had stopped being a threat to the free world after the alien invasion." Hell, they might as well be defending it now...
"Scans indicate that it is actually very minor, they have been keeping to the very low end of the threat scale. In analysis, it can be concluded that they are doing things for old times' sake."
She sighed, grossly irritated by the timing: this was just what she needed. She was told to put Global Justice into a much larger scale of operation, and one of its best assets was not even under her authority. "Try and get a hold of them if you can, I am not letting Gemini gain a victory in Rodegan."
"Yes ma'am!"
She frowned, "Could you bring up any strategic resources that Rodegan is in possession of? It makes little sense tactically for Gemini to bother with Rodegan beyond trying to show he can fight a practically nonexistent military defense."
"Yes ma'am. According to Agent Talleyrand's recent infiltration of assorted militaries, Rodegan is in possession of some artifacts from the days of old. They lie unused, but it is possible they have value; if the stories about them are to be believed. Unreliable verification due to the stories about them dating at about 600 CE."
"Add that to Agent Du's in-transit briefing, he should keep an eye on this."
XX
June 7th, 2007
The Next Morning
Rodegan Castle
Rodegan
Will Du stepped off the transport with his GJA-13 'Diamond Back' energy rifle strapped to his back, glancing around from the quaint landing pad out into the charming countryside. Smallest country in Europe short of the Vatican. Not a bad place at all. He hoped to see professionalism from the militia like soldiers this country had. He got his answer as one wearing the traditional uniform of Rodegan's nineteenth century days marched up, a more modern firearm slung over his shoulder. "Private Vargas Mitchell, First Musketeers. Agent Du, His Majesty awaits you and your squad in the main room."
Musketeers? Will thought with a frown. The soldier was using a Belgian FN FAL battle rifle, not a centuries ago outdated musket. "A pleasure, private. Men, fall in."
Mitchell lead them inside the palace, leading them through the well maintained stonework (Will could make out a few more modern steel support beams in some places), to which some of the agents whistled. As they entered the main hall, Will saw the soon-to-be-ex King Wallace discussing matters with his son, Wally.
"Look, father, I know you're concerned about these 'WEE' rabble, but we've worked too hard for this. Rodegan is one of the best off countries after those aliens. Please, let this continue. Let the elections happen and Rodegan push itself back to some of its old glory!" Wally pleaded.
"It shall continue my son, but I cannot in good faith expose our people to preventable violence. The elections will happen, but a short delay to reinforce our defenses against WEE to prevent them from succeeding in their mad scheme is not an unwise course of action."
"Ahem; your highness?" Will Du said to gain their attention, "Agent Will Du of Global Justice. My squad is here to support you against the Worldwide Evil Empire."
"Ah, I'm glad to know that we have help. I shall be honest, I was expecting Kim Possible's aid, but in these times any honest aid is welcomed." Wallace said, not acknowledging a breach of etiquette that Will realized too late, though Wally turned is nose. This is why I hate royalty; always want their bows. Least their to-be-ex King is reasonable about it. "I take it you are to act as a support squad during the events?"
"If that is how you think we can protect your people and the candidates best, then yes. We are here strictly to support your defense efforts and ensure nothing ill-advised happens as well as offer some combat courses in fighting WEE agents." Will explained simply and straightforwardly. "Our squad is half made up of indoor combat specialists, half of more general combatants."
"Ah, good. Our soldiers are capable, but we lack proper experience as we have not seen a war in over a century. Wally, would you show these soldiers to the barracks room they'll be in?"
Wally gave his father an exasperated look, as if such was beneath him before sighing, "Fine, fine. Right this way, Agent Do."
"It's Du, not Do…" Will muttered darkly under his breath, much to the amusement of Agent Blake behind him.
XX
One Hour Later
Rodegan War Room
"Permission to speak freely?" Will asked.
"Granted of course, agent." Wallace answered warmly as they looked over the blueprints of the castle on the opposite end of the table, the blueprints spread across.
"Why are your soldiers called musketeers? It sounds old-fashioned and outdated, yet they use modern weapons."
"A ceremonial leftover. It is, what is the appropriate word to use..." he moved his hand as he tried to find the right word, "tradition. Our nation was once larger, Agent Du, but it steadily was hacked away as time went on until the age of Napoleon, to which it remained this way. At the time, our musketeer corps was our mainline force."
"Napoleon?" Will asked, surprised. The briefing and database never said anything about Napoleon even setting foot in Rodegan.
"He came after Rodegan seeking the royal heirloom, but it was sealed away and he never found it after a rather difficult siege, though he did briefly displace our monarch. The Congress of Vienna fixed that, as you probably surmised. Since that age, we have remained as unnoticed as possible, we are not suitable for modern warfare and the heirloom's aid is insufficient in this day and age. The fact that we avoided becoming involved in the First World War may be the only reason this country still exists and is not an overgrown crater."
"Heirloom's aid? As in an ancient artifact?" Will asked. He had never put much stock into magic, but after seeing the data feeds of the events during the alien attack, he had few doubts left of magic of some sorts existing if the geek that had somehow been able to date Kim fricken Possible could use powers to such a scale as he did during the alien attack.
Wallace frowned, "Correct, the heirloom is said to give the King of Rodegan the wisdom needed and offer his men valiancy in battle against foes beyond mortal means. It was given to us after our first King was dethroned and his more temperate son to help maintain a sense of justice within the Kingdom. The former I can attest to, but the latter I have extreme doubts about."
Will nodded slowly, not wholly believing the story but willing to give it a chance and wondered aloud, "Your nation suffered little damage from the alien attack. Do you have a theory as to why?"
"We are too small, most likely. We were just missed." Wallace answered, shaking his head, "Even if we are better off in that sense, we are still hardly strong enough to help outside of our own borders. Regardless, we must plan the defense against WEE's incoming efforts."
Will nodded as they returned to the main topic, "This is unlikely to break out into a proper military engagement due to WEE's mode of operation favoring stealth in acknowledgement of their inferior frontline capabilities due to reliance on hired guns for numbers in that regard. They will likely target your son, Wally, and Adam Campan in an effort to destroy the democratic elections and force Rodegan to remain a monarchy though subversion and shadow attacks. We will not allow this travesty against liberty to occur."
Wallace's face hardened into a scowl, "You are not insinuating that I or most of my ancestors are tyrants, are you?"
Will pursed his lips as he realized what he said, "Oh. Erm... Sorry, your majesty," he wracked his brains to find a way to save his slip up, "I... uh, I was referring to the fact that the Worldwide Evil Empire is attempting to force you to remain in a direction that Rodegan has chosen to leave."
Wallace's mouth curved into an amused yet steep slope, "I have seen better saves than that, but given you're a soldier, that was quite proficient."
"Uh, thank you. Sir." Will awkwardly answered. "Could we, uh... could we get back to discussing the mission?"
"Certainly," Wallace said as he pointed to what looked like a back door on the map, "This sally port was to be used for flanking maneuvers to slip around and knock out siege engines. It leads down a difficult mountain path that's ill suited for heavy armor." He paused; "As in knights on horseback. It was used effectively several times, but in daylight it's impossible to use without being spotted."
Will nodded, "I'll station Agent Astrid there. She has familiarity with back trails."
"She's the Norwegian, correct?"
"Yes sir, skilled in using the GJA-14 Katana. She can hold the path alone until we can get help to her. She is probably the most physical of my assigned squad, so if she can hold the path we should be able to keep alert everywhere else."
Wallace nodded, "Yes, she should be able to keep the path checked alone, but I would raise a concern about snipers. There's little cover on the path, as I've said."
"WEE's snipers are horrid, sir." Will answered with a suppressed snort, "They are typically inaccurate and agents have been able to move across open fields to get into range to take them out without being hit. A typical WEE sniper's effective range is barely five hundred meters, and our main rifles have an average range of about three hundred meters but can edge up to four hundred, though accuracy is extremely variable at that range."
Wallace frowned, but nodded. "I suppose then that we can't do any further overt preparations in regards to the rest of your men. If they do, WEE will know that we are aware and take measures to counter. It would be best that the rest of your agents hang on a rapid response role with maybe one or two others walking around as extra patrol help."
Will nodded, "That should make it just look like general reinforcement, but I do not believe that even WEE will be ignorant to why we are here, sir."
"I do not anticipate being able to mask such either, but the less obvious it is the better. Given Gemini made his threat public he can hardly expect you to be ignorant of it, Agent Du. He will be anticipating some sort of Global Justice response."
Will nodded, "Very well. We will make the preparations suggested. What does Rodegan have for mechanized support in the event we have to begin a vehicular engagement during combat actions?"
"A single airliner jet and a few old jeeps bought when reduced to surplus status in the aftermath of the Second World War. We have been discussing the purchase of an M60 Patton tank from Austria, though mostly as a support vehicle."
Will nodded. So we really just have Corporal Thomson's GJV-38 hover jet we came on for any support. That should not be a problem. "Very well. You know where both candidates will be at night?"
"Oh, both sleep here as they're going to be up early tomorrow to make ready for the election."
Will smiled, "Excellent, that will make protecting them much easier. WEE knows that random terrorization will not succeed, they will have to go for the source. I'll speak to you again later, sir, once assignments have been set for my men."
"Very well, Agent Du."
XX
WEE Headquarters
Somewhere under the Atlantic Ocean
Gemini frowned as he observed the video of the GJ hovercraft landing in Rodegan. He glanced to the left at the image of the associate who was spearheading the effort, who was within one of his helicopters at the listening post the operation was to be launched from. "I hope that you have a contingency, Ghost," he said with a frown, "The deployment of Global Justice-"
Pepe immediately began barking rapidly and loudly, causing Gemini to wince upon realization of saying that hated phrase. He was adopting a baby voice as he consoled the dog, "Sorry Pepe... there there, it's alright," he began to scratch the back of Pepe's neck as he continued, "It's okay, it'll be alright. There will be a quarter in the GJ jar..."
"Ahem," said the associate, a female clad in a ninja-like outfit with a full mask. The outfit meant that only her short black hair kept in a ponytail and her green eyes visible. "You were saying, Gemini?"
"Ah, yes," Gemini said as his deep baritone returned, his dog consoled well enough for the moment, "The deployment of enemy agents will be a problem. I take it that you have considered that in your plans."
"The agents of Global Justice are insignificant," Ghost answered, causing Pepe to begin to yelp again and bark. Gemini consoled him again with a sigh. "If they pose a problem, they shall be eliminated."
"Good. Now show some respect around the dog and this mutual alliance will remain fruitful to both of us."
The transmission simply cut in response. Gemini made a mental note never to work with Ghost or her 'Magocracy' masters again. He did not know much, but he knew that they were a threat to his plans. Still, I will get more out of this then they will. Who needs a weak-link like Wally when you could get the King? Whatever, I get the key component to my next plan.
XX
11:30 PM Local Time
Rodegan Castle
Rodegan
Agent Astrid sighed as she radioed in, "No sir, nothing in sight. Back end is clear, over." She checked her GJA-14 Katana energy shotgun for the nth time that night, checking it for any problems even though she had already wiped it down so clean she could see her own reflection in the darkest midnight. I hate guard duty, I'd rather be out there taking WEE down and introducing them to the floor with some good old in-your-face, not babysitting some pompous royal pain in the a...
She frowned, distracted from her thoughts as she heard a rock bouncing and flipped the safety off on the energy shotgun. She stepped outside, raising an eyebrow as she saw a rock bouncing away. "Where are you going?" she quietly muttered to herself as the followed it, looking around and holding her shotgun ready as she checked for the anomaly.
She heard something and whirled around, getting a single shotgun burst off that was absorbed by some rune engraved, shielding orb as a ninja assaulted her with twin wrist mounted blades. Her shotgun was slashed away and before she could react she felt something stab her in the gut and pull out. She grunted, gasping for air as she collapsed like a rag doll and landed on the cobbled trail, trying to hold herself together as she curled on her back into a fetal position, hands trying to keep pressure on her now-open sides. She saw WEE agents heading towards the sally port, and tried to key her radio.
"Ah ah ah," said the ninja, who was standing over her and with two swift slices and dull thuds, she realized what had just been severed from her helmet. Astrid could barely make out the ninja, but she could see that she wore a skintight all black outfit with dark brown straps along her body and torso, for what purpose she couldn't determine. The woman's muscles were thin but taut, indicating use. At that point, Astrid couldn't see any more as she felt paint shooting from her impaled gut as dinner tried to go out a way it wasn't supposed to.
XX
11:35 PM Local Time
"Agent Astrid, come in," Will Du said over his stun watch's secondary radio function, "Agent Astrid!" He sighed as she still did not answer. "Damn it. Henderson, Blake, get down there and report. Make sure she did not doze off on watch."
"Yes sir!" Henderson said before saluting, taking his GJA-13 off of his back and readying it for combat. As he did so, Will changed channels and reported the incident to the local chief of security, Captain Alenko. Sighing as he signed off, he walked to the side of the barracks and grabbed his energy rifle, checking it and making sure the safety was on and it was set to stun in the event of a mishap. It was the new main equalizer between GJ's agents and villains thanks to its stun setting, a feature shared with its shotgun counterpart. He walked out the barracks door and walked towards where Wally and Mister Campan were sleeping, two different rooms in the same suite of the castle.
"Agent," one of the Rodegan guards outside saluted. Will frowned a moment, thinking he saw something, then shrugged, returning the salute and entering.
What he saw when he entered, however, caught him off guard and he immediately hit his radio and shouted a warning.
XX
"PLEASE!" Wally begged as the female ninja grabbed him by the scruff of his neck, "I'll give you anything! Gold, jewels, ANYTHING! Just don't hurt me!"
"Shut up," the ninja said in a raspy voice as shadow seemed to cling to her, dragging him along casually. Wally struggled, trying to break her grip. Alas for him, his weak body was not enough as he was dragged through the hallway. He looked at her with pleading eyes, his long face trembling, but it did not help him whatsoever. She snarled to a WEE agent, "Keep Global Justice busy."
"Uh... yes." he answered before adding as an afterthought, "Ma'am." With that, he charged in with a WEE shock staff to attack Will Du, who had managed to disable the disguised WEE agent who had impersonated a Rodegan soldier. Wally struggled as Will was slammed into the wall by the WEE agent before he broke free, the ninja pulling him along and just ignoring everything.
"FREEZE!" shouted a pair of GJ agents with rifles. He found himself pulled in front and blades at his neck. Wally screamed as he realized that if they opened fire he would be shot apart. "Don't shoot!" he shouted, "I'm too pretty to die!"
The agents did not get a chance to decide as they were ambushed from behind by a pair of WEE thugs, who knocked them in the back of the head. The four began to struggle, hurling punches at each other and brutally trying to rip each other apart. Wally was pulled along by the ninja as a third thug asked, "What about the other guy?"
"Forget him! We have what we came here for! Everyone pull out, we're leaving!"
XX
Will Du groaned as he pushed himself up, not sure where the WEE agents had gone, but he quickly hit his radio, "This is Agent Du to anyone still combat able, enemy forces have captured Wally and are moving to escape! Henderson, come in!"
"This is Henderson, got a sight on Wally by the back end... FREEZE!" What followed was several thuds and shouts and radio static. Will swore under his breath as he grabbed his GJA-13 and ran down the halls, Private Mitchell and another Rodegan musketeer sprinting down only to be hit by one of Gemini's ninjas. Will skidded to a halt and opened fire on the ninja, but the two Rodegan soldiers were knocked out before they could do anything. The ninja turned towards Will and he took three shots, each one missing as the ninja leapt to the side. Letting go of the rifle with his left hand, he aimed his stun watch at the ninja and hit the button with the bottom of his right hand. The stun charge shot forward and hit the ninja, causing him to shout in pain before slapping down a smoke screen and disappearing. Don't care where he went, find Wally!
He grabbed his rifle and sprinted down towards the sally port, it all made sense to him now. Why Astrid did not call back: she was taken out. He found Henderson and Blake wrestling with two WEE agents and sprinted past, realizing the ninja who had gotten Wally would be using the agents as a smoke screen and extra interference. He leapt over and saw a third agent turning with his shock staff towards him and firing the clumsy weapon. Will barely had time to get out of the way as the bolt of electric energy sped by, blasting a fancy vase as he responded with a few shots of the GJA-13, which caught the agent and stunned him. As the WEE agent collapsed, he sprinted to the sally port and collided with the door and forced it open with the force of his charge.
He sprinted down the path as he saw the ninja walking by a wounded Astrid, Wally held in her grasp. The ninja turned and scoffed, shoving Wally down the path as she charged him. Will barely had time to react as he fired his stun watch at her, but the wires were caught by some sort of shield. The stun watch useless, Will pulled its wires back in as the ninja leapt at him, swinging punches. He blocked the ninja's first and second hits and responded with a sturdy kick that missed as she leapt over behind him, slashing him across the back with a hidden wrist blade. The cut was not deep thanks to his under armor, but he hit the ground, turning as he tripped her and knocked her down the path.
She leapt back up quickly and hit him in the face, blinding him with color exploding in his eyes as he stumbled back while she was hurled down a smoke bomb. He grabbed his GJA-13 and made sure it was set to stun before shooting into the smoke screen with automatic fire. As he fired the last of its forty shot charge, he sighed and moved up close while reloading, swearing when he saw Astrid's condition. He keyed his radio as he dropped the rifle, "This is Agent Du, a female ninja has escaped with Wally and Agent Astrid is wounded. We need the hovercraft in the air now maintaining a CAP and a medic at the sally port, over!"
"Copy that, Combat Air Patrol initiated!" Corporal Thomson said over the radio, the sound of GJ hovercraft engines roaring as Will checked Astrid's condition with his crash course in first aid telling him there was nothing that he could do for a stab wound to that degree.
"Hang in there, agent," he said, looking for the painkiller as he checked his pockets before smacking his forehead as he realized they stopped issuing it out to agents after they realized it actually dulled effectiveness considerably, making the point of keeping an agent in the fight moot.
He saw a WEE helicopter taking off, Corporal Thomson behind him firing a flare rocket after it, hitting the WEE craft and causing it to glow as it was hit by the specialized compound that made it a beacon in the night. Now if only he can keep it from escaping, Will thought as he watched.
XX
Corporal Thomson pushed the throttle to the limit as he locked onto the WEE hovercraft's IFF. "You're mine," he said as he started a lock onto its rear rotary blade, preparing his craft's EMP burst missile. He only had one of the experimental missiles, so he had to make the shot count. He did not dare use fragmentation missiles for risk of hurting Wally, much as he did not like the young candidate for his attitude. He yawed left and right as a blindside mounted turret on the WEE helicopter opened fire, spitting lasers his direction. One of the lasers hit the hovercraft's armor and shook the hovercraft. He switched to the hovercraft's under mounted laser and took a few shots in return, aiming for the turret but missing as the helicopter pulled out of the way.
He gritted his teeth as he jinked around another burst, his radar lock on beeping an affirmative. The chopper was taking a curve, so he took the shot and the missile sped forward.
XX
Ghost growled, uncomfortable with the helicopter. Why do these muggles even try to fly with this stuff? There are better methods, like teleportation, she thought as she stumbled towards the back and glanced out the side window, "Hey, you have an enemy projectile homing in!"
"I know!" the pilot, Agent Chi, answered, "Hold tight, deploying flares!"
XX
"What the hell?" Thomson swore as he saw flares deploy. WEE helicopters did not have flares last time he had checked. "Where did Gemini get those?" he asked rhetorically, outraged as his EMP missile spun towards one and detonated in a blue sphere of electricity. The EMP field hit his own hovercraft and caused him to grunt as his craft began to lose control as the systems were disrupted. The electromagnetic shielding his hovercraft's electronics had was insufficient to stop the EMP burst entirely, but it gave him enough room to prevent a crash. He growled as every systems' warning light and alarm blazed into life at the same time as he fought to maintain control of his hovercraft. "Ca'mon baby, hold together you hear me..." he muttered as he redirected priority to the unaffected systems and connected the secondary engines, turning the craft's VTOL capability on for an emergency landing. He hit the radio on an open frequency. "Look out below, this craft's coming down!" He did not think anyone was below in the trees, but he was not taking the risk as the hovercraft came down to earth as screaming metal, thick branches snapping and going crashing down as he entered the forest.
He grunted as he crashed through the trees and landed roughly, the hovercraft bouncing around as it hit, pinning him against his safety belts as he was thrown around, hitting his head several times. As the craft came to a halt he leaned back, glad that he had a helmet on and sighed. He took time to catch his breath from the experience, thanking whatever was out there that he was alive.
XX
XX
XX
The Next Morning
June 8th, 2007
Global Justice Headquarters
Somewhere under the Tri-City Area
Doctor Director sighed. She had already saw the update, but this was the formal video debriefing, "Who did we lose?"
"Agent Astrid is currently heavily wounded and is recovering in the medical bay. She is stable, but still at risk and probably will be unavailable for months regardless of how well she recovers due to rehabilitation. Everyone else was hurt to some degree but are not combat impaired. Agent Blake was killed by the WEE Agent identified as Zeta, however. We captured several WEE agents, Zeta included."
Doctor Director nodded, well aware of what had to be done at this point. She'd already made the arrangements. "I take it you are still accepting full responsibility?"
"Yes ma'am, we should have stationed a stronger guard at the sally port, it was too obvious an entrance."
She shook her head. Will was a good soldier, but after being shown to be less than he thought he was he had become too much of a downer on himself. This is definitely that inferiority complex showing itself. "From your report, you assigned Agent Astrid to cover the flank as was justified. While you could have signaled a partner to be with her, from what she told the medics she was responsible, not you, as she was careless when exposing herself."
"Ma'am, I was in charge of protecting Wally and now he's been kidnapped. There are mutterings in the town as well that it was arranged by Adam Campan, especially by those who still favor the monarchy. This is a headshot to the mission goal because some are whispering its part of a democracy for underhanded actions, just what Gemini wanted."
"They should be glad he was not kidnapped as well, given the circumstances. Did you get a radar lock on the escape craft?"
"Negative, Corporal Thomson was in pursuit but a flare launched by the WEE hovercraft caused his EMP missile to detonate at close range. As Corporal Thomson's craft was directing radar at the time, we lost the link when his onboard scanner went down. By the time it was back online, they had left the airspace."
She frowned, surprised that Gemini had finally acquired flares for his helicopters. She knew that he had added an automatic laser turret to the rear to keep Global Justice's hovercraft away, but she never thought he would go for something as mundane as flares. Lesson learned about hubris, she decided. "Is Corporal Thomson hurt?"
"Negative, ma'am, but he is shaken up and his hovercraft will need repairs."
She nodded, "Very well. Now then, what have you gained from the captured WEE agents?"
"Agent Epsilon 'accidently' told us about a nearby listening post in the Swiss Alps, not too far away. That was to be a relay point to where an exchange would be made. Myself and what's still capable of the team can move out soon to chase WEE down."
"You'll be heading out, yes," Doctor Director stated, hoping Will did not take the arriving reinforcement personally. "But stand by until your reinforcement arrives. You will need it and the hovercraft it comes in for the mission ahead."
"Yes ma'am."
"Good. Now see to your men, and my condolences on the loss of Agent Blake."
"Thank you ma'am, Agent Du signing off."
XX
Rodegan Castle
Rodegan
Will Du held a hand over his eyes as the hovercraft landed, kicking dust up. The hovercraft's engines whined down and finally shut off and the ramp opened.
Out of the ramp stepped a well-armored soldier, the Kelvar armor gunmetal grey with blue accents and Global Justice's symbol on his left breast, but it was obstructed by his harness. Under his shoulder he was carrying his helmet, a fully sealed one shaped like a gas mask. He was Caucasian with matted and partially disheveled brown hair, but he had an almost drunken look to him, like a sad English school boy with his clean shaven face. He carried two weapons on a back-mounted harness: a GJA-15 Vindicator hybrid energy rifle/shotgun and a GJA-19 Lovemaker energy sniper rifle, the harness they were mounted on looping forward where there were a few small rectangular objects that Will suspected were some form of explosive device. And to complete the set, he had a GJA-09 Falcon energy pistol holstered on his belt. The man stepped forward and nodded, "Agent Du, I'm Lieutenant Atton Williams, a Specter operative. I've been assigned to the mission in response to the WEE super."
Will blinked rapidly, his mouth working quickly as he tried to understand that a Specter was assigned to help him. "You mean Doctor Director was able to spare you from your missions? Sir, with all due respect, why is Kim Possible not being called in? This is her kind of mission."
Atton smiled coyly, "Possible's busy with a certain Pillsbury Blue Boy right now. Doctor Director isn't happy about having to pull me from my mission, but orders are orders."
"Yes, sir. What are the details of your assignment?"
"Technically, nullify the super and ensure no superpowered interference occurs during your mission, but as I outrank you, I can technically be in charge of this mission. The wording of my orders suggested I do so if required." The Specter paused as he said it, as if he was uncertain that it was the polite thing to say.
Will swallowed. He remembered what happened when Kim was called to 'assist' him: she practically took the mission over. Then he remembered on who's watch Wally was kidnapped on. Maybe... maybe it would be easier to just let him take command. He paused a moment as he weighed the decisions before answering.
"Understood, Lieutenant. Did Doctor Director give you any specific orders on a course of action?"
"Interrogate the WEE agents that were captured for information, unless that's already been done?"
"We have got the location of a relay point, but that was only a brief pass at interrogation. A further one may yield additional details, sir."
"Good. Let's see if we can get anything else out of him."
XX
End Chapter
*This is my entry to AmericanGecko's Minor Character story contest and was the winner of it. As you likely noticed, it is a four chapter story focusing on Will Du and the 'fan favorite' Wally to a lesser degree.
* This story also ties into Deconstructive Legacy as a prequel short story. Two birds, one stone. So if you have read Deconstructive Legacy then you have a better idea of the setting and the GJA weapons will make more sense. For those who have not read it, GJA weapons are basically Global Justice's line of energy weapons produced for their usage. One ups over regular guns lies in that they can be set to stun and have cross compatible ammunition power packs (except the pistol), but are worse than regular guns in that their ammo is bulkier and the stun setting can be shrugged off much more easily than a lead bullet.
* Why did I chose Will Du as my minor character to write about? Frankly, I think that guy needed a little more screen time in the main series. It is kind of sad they never gave the dude a chance to prove why he is GJ's number one agent; our impression of him was basically that he was a useless stuck up based on how easily Killigan pwned him (baring the one shot of the stun watch). I wanted to explore his side of things and get away from all our major favorites and get into a look at smaller fish. Atton is, in a sense, a surrogate for Team Possible as to not include them primarily within the plot, but I actually plan on using the character in Deconstructive Legacy. Since Specters are basically Team Possible members lite, there is also no need to wonder where Kim's skills went later.
* The concept of Global Justice having elite agents is one I toyed with for a while and have also given brief appearance to in Deconstructive Legacy. They are basically anti-supers trained in response to potential of them going rogue. They get top of the line gear, the best training GJ can get them, etc. They basically get in there, tackle the super, and go home. As mentioned before, they are basically taking a leaf out of Kim's book in a hope to duplicate that success rate in key missions while the rank and file hold down the fort in less important regions. Not that GJ can hold a match to her, let alone a candle...
* A note: All the reviews prior to the one by Reader101w on 5/20/11 are of the original writing of Number Two.