Authors Note: My first attempt at a Road Rovers fanfiction, be warned this is more a 'adult version' (not in a sexual way), it includes death, blood, real guns and swearing, but I will not use these to excess in the story as I hope to keep the charm of the original cartoon. Hope you all enjoy it and please leave a review so I can try to improve my style.
16th May 2008, 13:41
Cannes, France
The sound of the sea was all around him, the constant washing of the waves across the beach easily picked up by his enhanced senses, the stink of salt-water filling his nostrils, bombarding his senses constantly. The noises and the smells were making it harder for Hunter to concentrate, continuously pulling his attention away from the busy groups of reporters that shouted and screamed below him. He had hardly slept for the entire week, leaving him exhausted which made it even harder to focus, the constant string of missions he had been assigned too starting to really take their toll.
"Blitz, do you see anything?" Hunter asked loudly into his head piece, lowering the binoculars from his face so he could more clearly look over the entire gathering of humans.
"Nein, all clear here Hunter." Replied Blitz over the radio, his rich German accent obvious across the radio link, Hunter unable to even tell anymore if the Doberman was bored or not when he was talking slowly. Hunter didn't mind though, he was just as bored as Blitz probably was, perched atop the roof of the 'Palais des Festivals' looking over the famous red carpet of the Cannes film festival as numerous celebrities arrived and proceeded inside. His squad of three had been posted to guard the festival after numerous threats had been made on the lives of several of the actors by environmental extremists for their disregard for the environment when they cleared well over a hundred acres of woodland to build their new mansions.
"Shag, anything on your end?" He asked, letting the binoculars drop down to dangle around his neck by the strap, using a free hand to quickly pick up his mug of coffee. The coffee was cold after the two hours of surveillance but he sipped at it anyway, ignoring the sour taste and just hoping for a caffeine boost to kick in quickly. The radio signal opened and a series of muffled barks and grunts filled his ear piece as Shag replied in his own unique style. "Alright buddy, just keep an eye out on your end." He said loudly in return before he reached up to turn off the radio, switching through frequencies quickly before reactivating the radio when he'd found his frequency. "Big Bear to Mama Wolf, how's it doing on your end?"
The line remained silent, not even a burst of static for nearly two minutes before finally a reply came. "Mama Wolf 'ere, it's getting a bit sticky over 'ere 'untie." The voice was that of a female, thick with a cockney English accent, barely more than a whisper along the line. "Going silent." She said bluntly before the line closed abruptly, leaving Hunter to his thoughts once more.
"Ouch, Colleen's in a mood today." He said to himself loudly as he returned the radio to its original frequency so he could keep in touch with the rest of his team. He set the coffee down again, only a dribble of the dark liquid left in the mug.
The reporters were in an uproar again as a new set of limos began to arrive at the far end of the ceremonial carpet, the doors opening before it even stopped. Two men appeared from within first, both dressed in a dark tuxedo with a plain white shirt on underneath, but neither looked like celebrities to Hunter. They were both at least six feet in height, built large like body builders and the two of them had very obvious bulges under their jackets.
"Bodyguards, this must be our girl. Move in closer now and keep your eyes open for anyone acting suspiciously." He said over the radio again, the mutt leaning further over the edge as he looked out across the humans, looking for any weapon. Each reporter carried at least one camera; others carried tape recorders and microphones, far too many pieces of technology to spot a single gun from where he was. "Wish I had Exile here now." He growled to himself, the husky's enhanced vision would have been perfect for this assignment but Colleen had already snatched him up for the other mission.
The two bodyguards took positions at either side of the door as a young actress began to appear, dressed in a full length designer dress that wouldn't have looked out of place on a catwalk. She stepped out of the limo and rose up to stand between the two men, barely shoulder height to either of them and like a twig compared to their width. She moved forwards first, shortly followed by the two armed men, both staying just a little behind her, keeping their eyes fixed intently on her as they moved.
Hunter kept an eye on the bodyguards for a few moments before he started to scan the crowds again, but there were so many flashes off light from down there his eyes started to lose focus. The people were all moving, surging forwards to the barriers in hopes of getting interviews about the death threats, many trying to get pictures of the beautiful actress being escorted by her bodyguards. There was too much movement and action for Hunter to even keep up with it, the extremists would get a shot off before anybody even knew they were there. He lifted a paw to rub at his eyes, looking away from the reporters towards the actress again, letting his vision clear after the repeated camera flashes.
Something was wrong though; both of the bodyguards were reaching under their jackets towards their weapon holsters. Hunter quickly scanned across the crowd, the bodyguards had obviously seen a threat if they were drawing there weapons, but he couldn't see anything. He spotted Blitz and Shag down by the rear of the crowd on either side but neither of them looked like they had noticed anything. He looked across to the bodyguards again, hoping to be able to track their gaze to the target, but they weren't looking out to the reporters. They were still staring towards her.
"It's the guards! Move in!" Shouted Hunter down the headset, already beginning to move forwards as he stooped down to grab up the launcher that lay by his feet. He pulled the hefty piece of equipment up into his grip, planting the butt of the gun firmly into his right shoulder as he stepped up onto the ledge of the building's roof. The guards already had their weapons drawn, aiming towards the celebrity from behind, several of the reporters noticing and beginning to let out cries of terror.
Hunter lined up the sights of the launcher on the first of the two men, holding his breath to steady himself off but it was still hard for him to focus. The reporters were still taking pictures of the scene, some were already running but most still stood there, waiting for the first shot if anything happened. He tried to block it all out, but it was hard to focus on the men, only thirty metres from him but they seemed so much further. He aligned himself as best he could, and squeezed the trigger. A tennis ball exploded from the barrel of the launcher, tearing through the air at speed, racing down towards the bodyguards. His aim was off though, the ball going short of its target, but the round still proved extremely useful as it smashed straight into the actress' forehead, the force of it knocking her clean off her feet just as the two men fired. The rounds tore right past the girl as she fell, smashing into the front wall of building below Hunter.
Blitz was in first, the Doberman leaping clear of the crowd of reporters and landing between the two men with practiced ease. He slashed out with his claws as he rose, his razor sharp claws cutting clean through the barrels of the two guns, severing them in an instant. The barrels clattered to the ground in front of the two men, leaving the guns utterly useless to them. Shag was next out, the massive sheepdog pushing his way out of the crowd and pushing the heavy metal barrier out of the way as if it was nothing. He stepped out behind the two men before they could even react, grabbing them both by the collar of their shirts and lifting them clean off the ground in one smooth motion. They both started to struggle, kicking and squirming against the large canine but it was useless, his vice-like grip easily keeping a hold onto them, their feet and hands just hitting off him seemingly harmlessly.
Hunter allowed himself to grin as he watched Shag get a hold of the two men, letting the launcher rest against his chest, easing the weight off his arms. He stepped up entirely on the ledge, looking down to the red carpet below, readying himself for a moment before simply jumping off. He landed heavily on the ground, knees bending as he landed, the force of the fall easily absorbed by his powerful legs. He straightened himself up slowly, feeling a sharp pain in his calf muscle, the fall affecting him even more then usual in his fatigued stat, but he simply shrugged it off.
"Turn them around Shag, now its time for the biting off the tushies!" Blitz said with a hungry grin on his long muzzle, displaying his two rows of pearly white teeth, each visible tooth razor sharp. Shag cocked his head to the side, letting out a curious woof as he stared across at the Doberman.
"Not today Blitz, the police probably want these two for questioning." Hunter said as he approached, hefting the heavy launcher up against his shoulder, letting it rest there so he could free up his left hand. "Shag, take 'em away. Blitz, attend to her, make sure she's okay." He said pointing over his shoulder towards the actress, still on the ground, totally surrounded by reporters now. "Then we're moving, heading back to HQ for R&R before the next mission."
"Roger Hunter." Blitz said before turning, Shag echoing the Doberman in his own unique way before he turned away and moved off as he had been instructed. Hunter stood there quietly as the other two moved off, Blitz getting bombarded by questions from the press the second he approached the actress, while Shag was met at the bottom of the carpet by two of the festival's security guards.
Hunter allowed himself a second to smile as he stood there, another mission completed, another life saved. He wanted to look forwards to the rest of the day off hopefully, but things never seemed to turn out like that anymore, especially now. He stood in Cannes, while only a few hundred miles away Colleen was working in the Alps on her mission; she'd drawn the short straw, taking the more dangerous of the two missions. "I wonder how she's doing…?" He asked himself loudly, looking off to the North-East, in the general direction of the Alps, a deep frown upon his short muzzle.
16th May 2008, 13:35
Mont Blanc, Mountain Research Station
"Easy goes it, Exile. Nice and slow now…" Colleen muttered into the microphone of her headset, the collie keeping her arms and legs tucked in tightly to her body as she was lowered further down the narrow ventilation shaft. She could feel the warm air from below, blowing up through the bare fur of her arms as the station's air was gradually recycled through the ventilation system. She was ten metres up the shaft still but her progress down was quickly slowing, the rope cutting into her waist even more as she dangled above the T-junction in the shaft.
"Out of rope Colleen, you'll have to drop." The Russian Husky's voice was deep and powerful as always, an unwelcome noise that broke through the silence that had been Colleen's world for the past minute. She jumped as the sound blasted into her ear, her head colliding painful against the wall of the vent, the dull booming noise echoing off along through the ventilation system. She held in a yelp of pain, biting her lower lip as she tried to regain herself, still swinging a little at the bottom of the rope. "3….2...1!"
"Exile! No!" She whispered in to the microphone, her voice low and harsh but it was already too late, by the time she had finished speaking she was already dropping. She stuck her arms out immediately, placing her palms flat against the sides of the duct, slowing her descent as she turned to be vertical. She landed heavily at the bottom of the duct, the thin metal floor of the duct denting outwards under her weight, the dull thud echoing off once more, this time much louder then the first. "Exile, what in the blazes did ya do that for!?"
"What? I said you needed to drop." He appeared at the top of the shaft, about fifty metres above the Collie, his hulking figure blocking out of the sunlight from above. "See you at the target, comrade." The Husky said, waving a paw down towards the Collie before he replaced the grating across the top of the duct before disappearing out of sight again.
Colleen's ears flicked slightly in annoyance but she said nothing, she was at the end of her line like the rest of the Rovers, Exile would never have been so blunt if he hadn't been as exhausted as they all were. She just let it go, Exile was one of her closest friends and she knew he'd apologise for it after the mission was complete. "Roger, watch out for sentries and I'll see ya in five."
She slipped down off her feet, pressing her back against the wall of the duct as she slid down into a seated position in the vent, making sure to spread her weight as much as she could so the vent didn't dent outwards too much. She slipped a paw down to the right thigh pocket of her lightweight, linen cargo trousers, undoing the button before slipping her paw inside. She gripped lightly at the three items inside, quickly tugging them out and dumping them into her lap, a small computer, a compact pistol with a silencer attached and a spare magazine for the pistol all falling into her lap. The computer was tiny, only ten inches across with an eight inch screen that dominated the majority of the front; a small keyboard that ran along below the screen taking up the rest of the front. She tapped a finger gently against the power button before letting it drop into her lap once more. She grabbed a hold of the pistol as the computer powered up, tapping the magazine release and holding out a paw to catch the magazine as it dropped out. She lifted the magazine to her face, quickly counting up the rounds in it, eight darts, the tiny darts each loaded with a potent cocktail designed to knock a target out instantly; no matter the risk the Rovers usually lived by a policy of non-lethal force.
"At entrance point B, Colleen." Exile's voice sounded into her ear again, this time his voice was a mere whisper compared to its usual volume. Colleen slapped the magazine back into the pistol before quickly tucking it and the spare magazine into her thigh pocket. The computer was activated by then, the screen displaying a schematical readout of the entire facility, the entry points displayed as bright red spots on the schematics.
"Got the map open now, Exile. Take point D, it's a quicker run through to the target and you'll come up from beneath 'em." She said, rotating the view of the schematics slowly, zooming in on the target area, "Two pronged attack, hard and fast."
"Okie dokie, Colleen. I'll radio when I'm in position." Colleen was already tracking her route through the ventilation system as Exile killed the radio connection, the narrow ducts leading all across the entire research station, one such duct leading her directly to her target. Leading her straight to the cafeteria where the station's workforce were being held hostage by nearly a dozen terrorists, it was her and Exile's mission to infiltrate the base and take out the terrorists before the deadline had passed. A countdown in the bottom of the computer's screen showed the time remaining, only fifty minutes left until deadline. She tucked the computer into her thigh pocket again before sealing it; it was time to start moving.
She slipped up onto all fours with a low grunt, the dog positioning herself to face off along the duct towards her target. She started at a crawl, making sure to place her hands and knees are the very edges of the duct where the walls meet the floor so the bottom wouldn't dent under her weight. She kept it at a slow pace, not even lifting her hands or legs, just sliding them forwards to minimise the noise she produced. She knew she could take her time, her job was the easiest, the ducts led her directly to her target while Exile had to move through the station itself, dodging sentries the whole way. She was lucky enough to get this position, even though she was better at sneaking than Exile was, the bulky husky couldn't fit into the duct without it falling through.
She was already glad she had chosen to avoid the Rover armour, though it certainly offered more protection than her lightweight cargos and black T-shirt, it restricted her movement too much. Her combat boots and fingerless gloves gave her good grip on the smooth metal, helping her to pull herself along effortlessly.
She was getting close now, passing by well over a dozen junctions in the vent but she had the route carefully planned out in her head. She slipped around one of the bends as she reached it, the moment she was around it she could hear voices coming from the end of the duct. She could see her target grating a few metres ahead, the grating which sat directly over the station's cafeteria where the hostages were believed to be held due to thermal scans. She slid up to the grating and leaned in slowly to have a look beneath her, from her angle she could already see that the hostages were indeed held below. The eleven hostages were bundled into three groups, all on their knees with their wrists and ankles bound by ropes; they must have had gags on because of the lack of noise they were making but she couldn't tell as each had a bag over their head. She didn't have a clear view of the entire surrounding area though so she reached down into her left thigh pocket and pulled out a long fibre-wire cable with a small handheld device at the end of it. She slipped the end slowly down through the grating and lifted the device up in front of her face as she began to get a reading from it.
"Big Bear to Mama Wolf, how's it doing on your end?" Hunter's voice cut into her ear suddenly and she jumped once more, dropping the fibre optics cable and it slipped further down through the grate. The bulky screen at the end of the cable caught in the grate, leaving the cable dangling out below the vent, over a metre of wire dangling in the middle of the cafeteria. She snatched it up quickly and yanked the cable back up with a loud clatter. She took a deep breath as she rolled back out of the way so she wasn't in direct view from below the grating. She stayed as still as possible, holding her breath as she waited to make sure it was clear. She waited for about two minutes, giving herself plenty of time before she slipped forwards again and looked down through the grating once more.
She slipped the fibre optics cable back through the grating and held the screen up in front of her face as she keyed her radio in. "Mama Wolf 'ere, it's getting a bit sticky over 'ere 'untie." She whispered down the microphone, peering down into the screen of the fibre optics, "Going silent." She tapped her radio once, deactivating it suddenly, she knew she was being rude but she couldn't have anymore distractions.
The cafeteria was one of the largest rooms in the entire station, large enough to fit the entire staff at one time, a staff that sometimes could reach up to fifty members at certain times of the year. It was only lucky that at this time the station was only running on a skeleton crew of eleven men and women, all of whom were now gathered together in the three little groups in the very centre of the room where the tables should have stood, but at the moment all of the tables were piled up along one side of the room as a barricade. The terrorists stood around the room, nine of them in total, positioned around the room to try and cover as many exits as possible.
She slipped the fibre-optics cable back up from the grating, grunting out quietly as she shifted onto her side to slip the cable back into her left thigh pocket. She slipped it in beside the camera before sealing the button and lying down flat again, peering down through the grating once more. The terrorists were spread out well in the room; they were probably professionals from the way they allocated men to guard the hostages while others defended all of the main entrances to the room. They definitely weren't top class though, they'd already left two major weaknesses in their defence, both of which Colleen and Exile were exploiting. She looked across the room towards the food counter where all of the staff were served their meals, no one guarded behind the counter where a grating led down into the lower levels for water drainage. That was Exile's point of entry, giving him total access to the entire room, not a single of the terrorists out of his line of fire if he rose up there.
"Exile, we have quite a spread of them inside, one by the main door, one by the counter, one by the barricade, two commanders against the far wall and four scattered amongst the hostages. We need to prioritise, the four by the hostages are the priority. Exile, take them and I'll take the rest."
"Roger, in position Colleen. Ready to move on your order." Exile's voice was barely audible except to her enhanced canine ears, he was right underneath them now. She was close but she still had to move extremely slowly, continuing to crawl slowly along the duct, keeping her hands and knees pressed in against the walls of the duct. She held her breath as much as possible; even though the terrorists were chatting away to each other below she didn't want to make any excess noise that could reveal her position. She could see the grating up ahead of her, the one that lead directly into the cafeteria's store room.
The grating slid away easily revealing the narrow exit to the duct that led into the small store room. She gripped the edges of the duct and slipped her legs down into it before letting go, letting herself fall down into the room. She landed without a sound, immediately pulling the silenced pistol from her thigh pocket and scanning around the room. The room was clear, only a few dozen piles of cans, bags and crates occupying the room along with her. The door to the cafeteria was closed, a thin wooden door that seemed out of place in the high tech facility but she didn't think about the subject for long. She crossed to the door in an instant and knelt behind it, pulling the fibre wire from her left thigh pocket and slipping it under the door immediately.
The terrorists still held the same positions as they had a moment ago, but from this perspective she could see them all easier. They were all armed with AK-47 Assault Rifles but generally they appeared ill-equipped for a mission of this scale, no grenades or side arms on their bandoliers, not even any booby traps on the doors. They stood around casually, even those that were assigned to guard the hostages stood with their weapons slung under their arms as they smoked. Only one of the men stood ready, the single man that stood by the main door, his Rifle held against his chest as he leant against the wall. She looked from the display screen to the door, trying to track his place through the door; he was the major threat and had eyes on her location from where he stood. She made a quick check on the rest of the men before pulling the camera back out from under the door and slipping it into her pocket again.
"Ready to move Exile." She said, holding her pistol a little tighter and rising up to her feet again, her free hand moving to grab the handle of the door. "Catch them while they're sleepin'. In 3….2….1!" She pulled the handle downwards and pulled it open.
The eyes of ever terrorist fell on her immediately as she pulled the door open, several dropping their cigarettes as they scrambled to grab their weapons. The one alert man was bringing the AK to his shoulder immediately but Colleen's positioning had been perfect and with a single shot he fell, the dart sticking out off his neck. She immediately changed target towards the two terrorists that stood apart, firing off two rounds in quick succession; each dart hitting the target in the chest. She heard the noise of several more silenced shots as she began to turn, watching three of the guards tumbling down off their feet as she lined up her weapon on the guard by the food counter. He had his AK raised and aimed back towards her; she only had enough time to duck back through the doorway before rounds tore through the air around her. She stayed back in the doorway taking aim across to the terrorist by the barricade, only now raising his weapon, but he didn't get a chance to fire it as Colleen fired a single shot that stuck him solidly in the chest, sending him stumbling into the hastily erected barricade.
The firing from the AK halted abruptly and all went quiet once more, so she risked sticking her head out around the corner. The guard was down, a dart sticking out of the side of his neck and the final guard was lying face first on the ground, a dart protruding from his back.
"All clear, comrade." Exile's voice was louder now that the threat was passed, the large husky visible behind the food counter, his pistol still in hand. "Good jobski." He said out loud, not down the radio anymore, the Russian dog moving out from behind the food counter already, slipping his pistol back into his thigh pocket.
Colleen slipped out from the doorway once more, scanning across the room before she dropped her own weapon into her thigh pocket. She grinned across to the Husky, placing her paws on her hips as she strolled out towards the groups of hostages, "Not too shabby yourself. Now let's get this lot untied before we call it a day." She reached up to change the frequency of her radio quickly before speaking once more, "General, mission accomplished. Hostages are secure."
"Good work Rovers, hold until relieved then you're report back to HQ for your next assignment." Colleen cringed visibly before shutting off the radio and looking over towards Exile with a deep frown on her long muzzle.
"Next assignment? Better be to sleep for at least twenty hours." She grumbled as she moved to the hostages, slipping a flick knife out of a pocket on the seat of her cargoes. She pulled the blade out and moved to the nearest hostages quickly reaching in to cut the rope that bound their wrists together. "Seriously, don't think I can handle too many more of these assignments this week."
16th May 2008, 17:46
Road Rovers HQ
"Congratulations on another successful mission, Rovers." The Master said loudly as the two Rovers walked into the room, heads and tail low as they headed immediately to their seats at the briefing room's table where the rest of the team were already sleeping. Neither answered the Master, both simply slipped down into their seats and were asleep before they had even gotten comfortable.
The Master frowned silently from his podium as he looked over his gathered team, shaking his head slowly as he folded his arms across his chest. "This will not do…" He turned from his podium and started to walk through the door behind him, bringing a radio up from his pocket and holding it in front of his face. "General, we need to talk..."
16th May 2008, 18:30
Road Rovers HQ
"Rovers! To attention!" The Master's voice cut through all of them and before they even knew what they were doing or where they were, the five man team were up on their feet in a line, heads still lowered and tails still tucked between their legs. The Master gave them a few moments to waken up before he continued to talk, "As you well know we've had a massive influx of missions recently and now I'm seeing the results of these missions on you five. Unfortunately taking fewer missions in the long-run is an option that is not available to us, so as of today the Road Rovers are off duty for two weeks."
This new news was enough to pull even the most tired Rover's attention onto the Master again, ears perking up and tails beginning to wag. Smiles began to appear on the muzzles of the mixed group of canines but as Hunter opened his mouth to speak the Master lifted his hand to silence him. "But it's not what you think, Rovers. From today I am launching Operation Gemini, the creation of your sister team. From tomorrow you will be training the secondary team; the recruits are already being flown in from around the world and will be ready for you in the morning."
The room was gripped by silence as the five canines slowly exchanged glances before they all looked up to the Master as one. Hunter naturally took the lead, clearing his throat once before he spoke, "Uh, Master? Are you sure that's necessary?"
"Very necessary Hunter. You're team's performance has already begun to slip drastically this week alone because of the number of missions you've been on. The number of missions is only going to increase when our team is pushed more into the limelight, so a second team is the only option we have."
"And we're going to train them?"
"Can you think of anyone better suited for the job?" He asked loudly, folding his arms over his chest slowly, looking out across the team, "I have full faith in you Rovers, if you are able to train this new team to half the standard of your own team this mission would be a great success."
"Then we'll do it Master. How many do we have to train?"
"Twenty-two, but only seven of them will be made into Rovers at the end of the process. It is your job to train them all, but also to narrow down their numbers until you have the final team. But I warn you, the transdogmafier has been enhanced since you were selected and this means that some of the powers unlocked by it may be even more powerful than yours. Teach them to use these powers effectively and properly and they will perform well for you. Now Rovers, move to the launch bay, you can sleep on the plane on route to the boot camp. I'll see you when you have selected your team, now, dismissed!"
"Yes, sir!" The Rovers shouted as one before immediately breaking out of line, turning and moving off towards their rooms, moving to gather what they needed for the upcoming mission.