Disclaimer: I am not Jay Naylor. Better Days, Original Life, and all respective characters are the intellectual property of Jay Naylor. I make no profit from this writing.
Chronicles of Jason: Siege of Chechnya
()()()()
Russian officials today, in Moscow, responded to questions over the deployment of 1,000 Russian Ground Forces, along with approximately 300 contracted soldiers from military contractor AkameTech. Official statements paint the action as a government act to stem the growing levels of crime in the city of Grozny. No word has come from local officials, has the city undergoes a partial evacuation. More news as the situation develops…
()()()()
Jason resisted the urge to adjust his balaclava as he moved along with the other soldiers. The black wool itched something fierce, but it was necessary if he wanted to stay unidentified by the group of AkameTech mercenaries working in the area. The Russian soldiers themselves though, he wasn't too worried about. It was a large army, after all.
At a signaled command from the squad commander, Jason switched the fire selection on his AN-94 assault rifle to two-round burst and began scanning the broken and mostly abandoned apartment buildings that surrounded them for any sign of trouble. It brought back memories from when he had served in the Marine Corps, making him smile.
A harsh Fall wind blew, sending shivers into Jason even through his combat gear. He thought over why exactly he was masquerading as a Russian soldier in the middle of a "war on crime", and what exactly he was really there for…
"In Russia," Hinata croaked out, her voice thick with blood. Her face was bruised from the "questioning", her split lip dripping blood onto her lap. "In Russia is a soldier who is a State secret. To the military he is nothing but a WMD on two legs, just point him in the right direction and release. Seems he got tired of that though, so now instead of killing foreign soldiers he's killing Russian soldiers. The Russians are obviously upset about this…"
Jason looked his sister up and down, watched her squirm weakly in the ropes binding her to the chair, and felt sick to his stomach. A far cry from the first time he had interrogated her, so many months ago.
"That's interesting, but why should I be interested in some super soldier running amok?"
Hinata looked up at her brother, their mutual red eyes locking. "Because, Jason, he's just like you and Green."
Jason frowned at the memory and kept advancing and scanning the area with his fellow troops. Just after that Hinata had collapsed from exhaustion and her injuries. Jason had ordered Angela and Nikki to tend to her while he thought what he had learned through. Three weeks later and here he was, searching the half-ruined sections of a city for another of Dr. Amedeo's experiment projects; another one like him, only this time trained for combat since he was old enough to carry a gun. The thought made Jason sick.
A few feet to Jason's side, two Russian soldiers conversed in low tones, while shooting quick glances back behind them at the AkameTech mercenaries that had joined up with the squad. Jason couldn't make out the exact words they spoke, but from the tone could tell they were not happy about the company. Jason didn't blame them. With a balaclava the face might be covered, but at least some vague hints of facial movements could be identified, discerned. The armored masks those mercenaries used though; well, Jason just thought that they were creepy. And Jason had plenty of experience with creepy masks.
Somewhere in the distance gunfire erupted, catching the group's attention. The squad leader grabbed his radio right as it crackled to life. 10 seconds of hurried commands and then the group was moving in the direction of the gunfire. The target had opened up with sniper fire from an abandoned apartment complex, and had already taken down five men. Orders were for all units to converge on the site and take the target down. Except for Jason; he had other plans…
100 yards from the combat area, the squad's pointman stepped on a mine and lost both his legs. Everyone dove for cover as at the same time heavy machinegun fire began blanketing the area. Jason flinched as the Russian soldier beside him was turned into red mist, and then watched as a mercenary was sawed in half at the waist.
Jason ducked into an empty storefront, ignoring the screams from the injured and panicked commands from the squad leader. He looked up in the general direction of the gunfire and saw several automated gun turrets along the rooftops. Jason guessed that the sound of the mine triggering had been programmed to start them up. He couldn't hear much over the roar of the gunfire, both from the turrets and from the surviving soldiers trying to kill an attacker who wasn't actually there, but Jason guessed that similar events were occurring along all the major roads to the target.
Jason went deeper into the building and smashed through a dilapidated wall into a side street. There he quickly stripped off the insignias that showed him as a Russian soldier, took off the face covering, and then slid a unique harness onto his head, two folded ceramic plates placed under his ears.
"Not much point in subtlety now," Jason said to himself as he switched his assault rifle to full auto. A press of a pressure switch and the plates folded out over his face, locking together and covering the bottom half of his face but leaving the eyes and above uncovered.
Jason brought the rifle butt up to his shoulder and darted from the side street onto a street parallel to the street he had started on. He sprinted through burning buildings and over broken corpses, dodging occasional gunfire that sprayed out around him. Rounding a corner he heard a click and immediately dived away as a mine exploded, taking out a store front. Gunfire peppered the ground around him, forcing Jason to dive behind a rusted out husk of a car.
Over the gunfire Jason made out several shouting voices. Chancing a peak over his cover he saw half a dozen AkameTech mercenaries converging on him. "Well, took them long enough."
Jason leaped over the car and flipped in mid-air, swinging his rifle out and pulling the trigger. Three mercenaries were dropped as the rest began firing up at him. He instantly dropped from the air into a crouch and threw a grenade into their midst, blowing them to pieces.
More mercenaries poured around corners, along with regular soldiers, and Jason began running and firing. Bullets whizzed past him, and explosions rang out as bodies dropped. A round slammed into his gut but his armor stopped it. Jason smashed his rifle butt into one soldier's face and grabbed him, spinning around to use his body as a shield. He could feel the body's blood splattering against him from the bullets as he ran, always running to reach the target building.
Jason dropped the body when his rifle ran out of ammo. Slipping the spent magazine out he slammed the rifle down onto one of the fresh mags secured to his thighs and began firing again as he rounded another corner. More mercenaries dropped, until a lucky burst blasted the rifle from his hands. Without missing a beat Jason drew the auto pistol from his side and jumped up, over another burst of gunfire. Jason fired in midair, emptying his whole clip into a mercenary's chest. Dropping to the ground Jason ducked into a roll under a soldier's swing, extending the blade from his right arm with a flick of the wrist and slashing through the man's legs.
Jason rolled to his feet and buried his blade into a soldier's gut. He then tore the AK-74 from the man's slackening grip and spun, gunning down two more soldiers as they charged through a broken storefront. The third managed to level his gun at Jason before his head exploded.
Jason looked in the direction the shot had come from. Through the smoke of burning vehicles he could make out someone waving at him from the top floor of a 14-story shell of a building. Without hesitation Jason dashed for the entrance, while the sniper dropped the nearest of the approaching troops. The second Jason jumped the wreckage into the building the sniper grabbed a detonator from a hip pouch and pressed the button.
Jason staggered against a wall as hundreds of explosions rocked the surrounding area. Glass shattered and buildings shook for nearly a mile as the shockwave crashed through, the roar like the world was ending. Jason recovered and continued his flight up the stairs. By the time he reached the top floor he was beginning to breathe hard.
"What did you just do?"
"Detonated every mine within 20 city blocks of this building. It will take time for them to regroup, we have some breathing space."
The figure stood somewhat concealed behind a support pillar, reloading a Dragunov sniper rifle. Jason released his face plate and walked closer, wanting a better look at the other man. The figure sat hunched in cobalt blue combat armor, the chest and shoulder pieces adorned with numerous pouches and spare magazines. An almost sword-like knife was sheathed horizontally just below the small of his back, within easy reach of his right hand. His face was obscured by a bulky full-face helmet, compounded by a high collar to protect the neck.
Now that he was actually there, Jason wasn't sure how to start. The man regarded him with professional interest, though anything else was hard to tell through that helmet.
"Um…hello. My name is Jason Black, I'm-"
"Another of Amedeo's experiments, I know." The man stood from his perch and propped his rifle against the pillar. Now that he was standing Jason could see he was very slimly built. "I could tell in how you moved, how you fought. Plus, you don't bother with hiding your eyes."
"No…no I don't." Jason looked around the area, at all the crates of ammunition and rations, and lifted an eyebrow. "Planning to hold them off for a while?"
The figure snorted and released several release switches along the bottom of his helmet. "That was the plan. Take as many of them with me before I fall. But..." He lifted the helmet off and set it next to his gun, before brushing a few strands of blond hair away from tanned skin. "With you suddenly here, now I think I'd prefer getting out of this in one piece. The name's Garen, by the way. Just Garen."
Jason nodded, looking Garen over with an odd look. "Don't take this the wrong way, but uh…I wasn't expecting you to be a-"
"Human," Garen interrupted, before shrugging and striding over to a window to scan the area. "No offense taken. My kind aren't exactly well-known for this kind of work. But tragic life stories can wait for later. It looks like those mercenaries are preparing something…"
Jason joined Garen by the ledge and looked out where he was looking. "AkameTech. There's more to them than you might know. They're just one branch of a terrorist organization, legitimate muscle. The red eye on their uniforms is the organization's symbol."
Garen picked his rifle back up from the ground and looked through the scope towards the enemy group. "Hmm, looks like a drop zone. They must be expecting a delivery. And you seem well informed about them. Explain."
A very odd chuckle left Jason. He leaned against a pillar and folded his arms over his chest. "Let's see…I'm the illegitimate son of the brilliant, powerful, and deadly leader of the organization, who my cousin and I killed about half a decade ago but was brought back by the guy who experimented on us to lead the organization, which was started by my half-brother and half-sister when their mother was killed on 9/11. My half-sister defected from the organization to get back at another experiment like us for killing her best friend, so now I'm searching out people like us to form a group and kick my dad's evil, manipulative ass."
Garen…continued looking through the scope. "Hm, nice life. You should write a book or something. I'll join your cause, but under one condition: when the time comes, I put the bullet through Amedeo's brain."
"You got it," Jason said. "So how are things looking out there?"
"Helicopter's coming, carrying a big container by towline. They're dropping it off on the drop zone…now."
Jason took a G36 assault rifle from a prepared stash and loaded a magazine. "I got a bad feeling about this…" He walked over to stand beside Garen as the doors on the crate slowly slid open. "I have a really bad feeling about this. You didn't happen to have a prepared escape route, did you?" Garen nodded and Jason's faceplate slid back into place. "Then now is the time."
()()()()
They had just finished climbing down into the sewer system when Jason heard and felt explosions rock the building above. He and Garen shared a look, and then both were sprinting through the tunnels.
The tunnels, Garen explained to Jason as they ran, had once been used by freedom fighters against the Soviet regime. Jason laughed. "I love how history can be ironic in how it repeats, eh?" Garen gave no response beyond a grunt and kept running.
They had just caught sight of the tunnel's end when an unearthly howl echoed from behind them. Jason and Garen turned and readied their weapons, aiming the rifles down the darkened tunnel. They didn't have to wait long as a pair of glowing red eyes shone from the darkness. A towering Wolf in Organization combat armor stepped from the shadows, her armored boots clanking against the stone floor. On each hip was a pack containing Jason didn't know what, and on her back could be seen a SAR 21 Assault rifle with a drum magazine, as well as a thick metal staff.
"Oh Christ," Jason spoke as the Wolf just stood there and looked at them. "She's as big as my dad!"
"I'll assume that's pretty big." Garen switched his G36 to full auto and eyed the being. "There's print on her breastplate. Huntress..."
The Huntress stirred at the name and Jason took a half-step back. "That's the designation of another experiment I was told about. And I don't think she likes to hear it." Beneath his faceplate Jason was grinning. "Come on though, it's two against one. What were they thinking?"
Before the words were finished leaving Jason's mouth, the Huntress reared her head back and howled. The whole tunnel shook and she charged, covering the distance between herself and the pair unbelievably fast. Jason was tackled off his feet by the full body charge and together he and the Huntress fell from the tunnel into the room beyond. Jason growled and twisted in the air, getting behind her and driving his feet into her back between the shoulder blades. Like this she was crashed into the floor, a cloud of dust kicking up as the stone cracked.
Before Jason could move from the prone form she planted both gloved hands against the ground and pushed, throwing Jason off. She grabbed her rifle and took aim at Jason, before Garen fell down from above and kicked it from her hands.
"It's both of us you're facing, Huntress. Don't forget that."
The Huntress growled and charged, pushing Garen back with a flurry of punches and jabs. Garen kept up as best he could until a surprise kick sent him skidding back. The Huntress took advantage of the distance and jumped, bringing both fists up into an overhead strike that would've driven Garen into the stone ground.
Before the blow could connect Jason tackled her from the side, sending both tumbling. He ended up on top and pulled a knife from his hip. His downward stab was caught and he was pushed off and to the ground. The behemoth climbed to her feet and pulled a pistol from its holster. She planted a boot on Jason's chest to keep him from moving as she aimed, just about to pull the trigger when Garen returned Jason's earlier tackle save with one of his own.
Garen and the Huntress traded punches for several seconds until a lucky kick sent him flying back again. His back hit the wall, and Garen barely rolled away in time to avoid the follow up punch that buried an inch into the stone. By this point Jason was back on his feet and charging in from behind with his knife. The Huntress turned and smacked the knife from his hand, followed by a head butt that left him stumbling.
She ignored Jason for a moment and looked around for her other target. Suddenly a burst of gunfire hammered at her chestplate and she staggered. The next burst she was ready for, her armor absorbing the blows as she charged forward and tackled Garen to the ground. His pistol went skidding away as she rained blows down on him. Garen struggled for a moment before working a leg up between them and pushing her off.
Jason ran over and helped Garen to his feet. "Damn, she's one tough Bitch!"
Garen nodded, not saying anything. Side by side, the pair put their backs to the wall and faced the Huntress. The Wolfess however simply smirked and held up a detonator in her fist.
Garen's eyes widened and looked down to see his hip pouch torn off. "Oh shit..." He turned to Jason. "Run."
The Huntress pressed the detonator, and all at once the surrounding walls first cracked, and then began collapsing onto the trio. Jason and Garen both charged at the Huntress at once, dodging the falling stone as they went. Jason reached her first but was kicked away, leaving a spot open for Garen as he jumped and brought his elbow down at her. She blocked the strike but was sent skidding back. Garen then drew a knife and spun, slashing at her. She leaned back out of the blade's path before having to catch more punches as Jason came back in from the side.
She growled and threw him to the side, before a massive slab of stone made her jump back out of its way. Garen leapt over the slab and smashed both boots into her face. She fell backwards and rolled away as another slab fell in-between them. This one though Garen kicked forward, forcing her to jump up into the air.
She landed awkwardly atop one end of the slab and then was propelled into the air as a thick rock fell on the other end. Beside her another slab was falling as Jason ran up the length of it firing his handgun at her, while Garen simply jumped up at her from the ground. The Huntress jumped off of the spire of stone and flipped in midair so that she faced towards them when she landed. A slab of stone fell, ready to land in-between them before she punched it, launching the massive boulder at them instead. The thing smashed into Jason and knocked him to the ground as Garen jumped over it into the air. She ran up the side of a slab and jumped, grabbing him in mid-jump by the chin. She twisted and brought him around lengthwise along her shoulders. Garen screamed in pain when they landed, his back smashed against her heavily armored upper back.
The Huntress stood and kicked him away. Garen's body rolled to a stop against some grating that led to more tunnels and lay there. She growled and turned, looking for Jason. Suddenly a roar of rage made her look as Jason launched himself over a fallen pillar at her. He smashed his right fist into her chestplate, and at this close of range she couldn't help but notice the grenade gripped in his fist. Their eyes met and Jason smirked. "Bye-bye."
The detonation sent both combatants flying in opposite directions. The Huntress crashed down into a jumble of rocks and stayed there, while Jason managed to land on his feet. Sparks flew from the mangled stump of his mechanical arm, but Jason paid it no mind as he staggered over to Garen's prone form.
"H-hey, Garen?"
Jason crouched over Garen and rolled him onto his back. The human coughed and weakly opened his eyes, before looking up at Jason. "Did you get her?"
Jason looked over to where the Huntress still lay, and then looked back at Garen. "Yeah, I got her."
"Good..." Garen got to his feet, with some help from Jason, and then began limping towards the exit. "Well, let's get a move on then. Don't want to keep whoever else you're looking for waiting."
A/N: Well, there we go. I hope that was enough action for y'all, after the mostly action-less Rise From the Ashes.