Prologue: The Chateau
1998
It was a typical autumn day. The sun was shining, lighting up the orange and red leaves that lay on the ground in a beautiful glow. The wind was slowly whispering through the trees, and picking up the fallen leaves and spreading them through the crisp, cool air, and piloting them to a new resting place. This was a beautiful forest during this time of the year, and it was impossible not to appreciate. But the M-Team didn't have time to appreciate such beauty. Maybe later. But not now.
You see, the team was on a mission. A very important mission, according to headquarters. And their final mission as M-Team, before they were finally released from service. It was simple on paper. Go through the forest, assault the mansion, kill everyone inside, take the computer files from the high-tech cyber room, and blow the place to the ground. Easy enough, right? If only. The place was crawling with guards. When General Guy had 'retired' from the Shyster military, many of his soldiers had 'retired' with him. These soldiers were no slouches either when it came to fighting smarts.
And so, the team made their way forward, their boots crunching the leaves beneath them with a satisfying sound. The group of four knew that this mission might as well have been labeled 'Mission Impossible', but they soldiered on, ready for whatever would come to them. They were more than ready for retirement.
The leader of the group spit on the ground, holding up his hand to pause his team for a moment. He was a medium-height man, with his fall camouflage uniform containing a red 'M' across the tactical vest to signify his identity. He was carrying a heavy assault rifle, and had ammunition and grenades slung across his chest. His brown sideburns and mustache were his trademark, and he was well known around the Mushroom Intelligence Agency (MIA for short) as the most effective agent in their organization.
"Alright, team, we're within twenty minutes of our target. Are we all clear on our objectives?" he asked, adjusting his ammo belt, and pulling his helmet's visor down across his eyes. The closest member of the team nodded. He was slightly taller than the other man, but was dressed identically, other than a large green 'L' rather than an 'M' on his vest. He was carrying a combat shotgun, and had explosives strung all across his chest. He was for once clean-shaven, and his piercing blue eyes showed his worries and fears about the final mission that M-Team was to go through.
"I'm ready, Mario. Let's blow some shit up," he responded, his words not consistent with his thoughts; he nervously was kicking some leaves up into the air, and watched as the soft wind carried them across the forest they were walking in, as they came down in new homes.
"All clear, captain," the by far heftiest member of the group responded, as he tossed a small revolver from hand to hand, finally pocketing it inside a small pouch on his hip. He was carrying a large machine gun across his back, two small pistols, and a few grenades strapped to his chest, obscuring the yellow 'W' that was upon his vest. His muscles bulged as he practiced taking his heavy weapon off his back and putting it back on. His face was more rounded than the others' faces, and a fat brown mustache lay below a large nose.
"Ready to go to hell, sir!" The final member of the team was tall and lanky. His nose was pointed, and a pencil thin mustache adorned his lip below his nose. He was carrying a sniper rifle, and had goggles attached to his helmet, and a backwards purple 'L' across his vest. He was leaning lazily against a strong old maple tree, lighting himself a cigarette, and then blowing smoke out of his mouth.
"We aren't going to hell, Waluigi. We're going in, completing our objectives, and coming out. I'll treat you all to a steak dinner after this is over," Mario replied, checking his weapon carefully, making sure it was loaded and ready.
"We need to test the radio equipment," Wario suggested. "Luigi, go stand behind that tree. Alright, do you read me?" Luigi, from behind the tree, responded with "Loud and clear, Wario, loud and clear." Wario turned off his radio, and clipped it back to his side, next to his ammunition.
"Waluigi, systems check! Copy?" Mario said into his radio, adjusting his station slightly.
"Loud and clear, homie. Wanna buy me a hotdog? I'm hungry," Waluigi replied through his radio, before turning it off and snapping it shut.
"All systems go, team. Chateau is a mile away. Expect heavy defenses throughout this last mile. Once we get there, initiate alpha. Clear?" The other three team members nodded at this, preparing their weapons.
"All right. Let's get a break. M-Team on three."
"ONE, TWO, THREE, M-TEAM!" the group chanted in a huddle, breaking it off as they looked ahead towards their destination.
A gunshot then rang out, and whistled over Waluigi's head. "It's go time!" he exclaimed, throwing his cigarette onto the ground below him and stomping its flame out.
"Alright, get a read on that shooter, and get rid of him!" Mario ordered to his sniper, as the group lay low on the ground.
The said sniper, Waluigi, deftly swung his rifle into his hands, and looking through his high-powered scope, picked out the person who had just shot at them; a Shy Ranger, who was craning his neck to see if he had gotten a kill. Waluigi steadied his hands by resting his lanky body against a tree; and after zoning in on the enemy's head, squeezed the trigger. The Shy Ranger fell, a red stain spreading over his mask-like face. Waluigi spit on the ground, and grinned.
"Ain't no one gonna give me props for that shot? Damn guys, that's harsh," he complained, giving Mario a 'thumbs-up' when the captain shook his head.
"Let's see if you can do it again. We're having a slight change of plans-command just let me know the forest will be practically impossible to go through. Wario, you and Luigi will come with me. We'll take the side road as indicated by our spy's intel. They won't expect us to know about it, and hopefully it won't be as heavily guarded as the forest," Mario instructed, pointing in the direction they were to be going.
"They don't think we know 'bout it 'cause the road's underground," Wario drawled, as he looked around to make sure they weren't being watched. "I thought we already all knew what we were doing for plan B anyways."
"Just checking. Alright, and Waluigi, you'll cover us until we're about halfway to the target; then follow us in, got it?"
"Dude, we're the M-Team; of course I know what we're doing! Jeezus," he muttered, with a lazy smile. The smile covered his worry; that he would be at the receiving end of a shot like the one he had just made before the mission was over.
"Into the tunnel in three minutes, entrance ahead in two hundred yards, let's move," Mario instructed, as the team finally started moving forward, using trees as cover in the haunting forest as cover to advance. Leaves crunched underneath their feet, as they moved through the woods. Someone was taking potshots at them as they moved towards their destination.
"Getting real tired of this shit," Wario muttered to Luigi, who nodded a response as the two lay low behind a stone slab that jutted out of the ground, breaking the sea of orange and red with its dull grey pattern. As soon as they felt it was safe the group moved forward again, unable to get a look at who was shooting at them so annoyingly.
Luigi ducked as a bullet soared over his head, and pointed forward about 25 feet. "There's our tunnel, and our shooter, if you haven't realized that yet!"
The tunnel's entrance was fairly out-in-the-open, with a sloping hill running down into the mouth, which was about ninety feet wide, and trees and brush covering the area so that it would have at least minor cover from outside infiltration. A Shy Ranger, the person who had been shooting at them, was down on one knee in front of the tunnel mouth, attempting to keep them out.
Mario snapped his rifle up and shot the ranger in the chest; instantly killing him when the bullet went into his heart. Mario turned to the other members of the team.
"The tunnel is heavily guarded on the inside as we know, so proceed with caution, and keep behind any cover you can find-I suspect there will be rocks, crates, or objects like that inside. If we can highjack any sort of vehicle that may be on the inside, we'll do so. Read me?" The team nodded. Waluigi raised his hand.
"So, be careful in there guys. I'll cover any attacks from the back, but I can't hold off a seven nation army or anything, so don't take too long, 'kay?" Wario punched his shoulder, before nodding in agreement.
"Into the tunnel, boys!" The three members of the team assigned to this portion of the mission proceeded to enter the tunnel; Luigi pulling a flashlight off of his tactical belt to brighten their path. Waluigi watched their backs advance into the tunnel; and crawling into a large brush clump that was the same color as his equipment, he scanned the area with his goggles, switching them onto a thermal setting. The new way that the goggles portrayed the world in was striking to one unused to such technology, but to Waluigi it was a familiar sight. A white form was attempting to sneak through the forest about a hundred yards away, his head scanning all the areas around him before making any movements. Waluigi shook his head, let out a sigh, and swinging his rifle into position, he took a quick look down the scope of his rifle before firing. The ranger never knew what hit him.
"Damn fool."
So the mission began.
New work I plan on working on slowly; this chapter has been in the works for months. The plot is not what it seems as of now;hopefully my next chapter will move it along better. Thanks for reading.
