The team are ordered to infiltrate a KORPS base. It's their most ambitious mission so far. Can they succeed where other MI9 agents have failed ?
I do not own MI High. I have borrowed the characters for my own story. From the previews shown on the MI High website, they're changing some of the characters, but I can't do anything about that.
Dan crawled through the undergrowth, trying to keep out of sight. It was slow and uncomfortable. He was wearing camouflage overalls and a black hat to cover his light coloured hair. Frank had also insisted on camouflage makeup so he had a couple of black smears on his face as well. He shook his head in frustration as he once again got scratched in the face by a piece of bracken. He had lost count of the number of times he had had to disentangle himself from the sharp hooks of the trailing brambles.
"Dan !" came a whispered voice over his earpiece.
"What ?" muttered Dan.
"You're going round in a circle," warned Tom's voice.
"Oh what !" muttered Dan angrily. "Couldn't you have told me before ?" he hissed.
"Well, I'm telling you now aren't I ?" said Tom, sounding hurt. "You need to travel north by north-west for about two hundred yards. You're really close to the perimeter," he added.
"Good," said Dan, taking out his spy-pod to get a direction. Tom was right. He should have checked before, but he'd been making such slow progress it had hardly seemed to matter. "Right, am I on it now ?" he asked.
There was a pause as he crawled another few yards. "Yep, you're OK now," said Tom.
"Thank God for that. This undergrowth is a killer," grunted Dan, pulling himself around a particularly nasty patch of stinging nettles. It was really tempting to stand up and make some real progress, but they'd been warned about the regular patrols in these woods. It wasn't worth the risk. At last he heard a whispery, high pitched singing noise. That had to be the perimeter defences.
"A couple of metres in front of you," whispered Tom's voice. "Wait ! You've got company !" he warned. Dan heard the snap of a twig and pressed himself flat to the ground. He could have found himself some better cover but if he tried to move now he would just attract attention to himself. He peered upwards as much as he dared, trying to see whoever was approaching. After a few seconds he saw the helmeted head of a man walking past, looking around him in all directions. He looked pretty tough to Dan. Dan held his breath until the man passed out of sight, apparently not having spotted Dan hiding close by.
"He's gone. You should be OK to approach the perimeter now," advised Tom. Dan crawled forwards cautiously and slipped one of Frank's gadgets. They were supposed to show electromagnetic activity of all kinds. They resembled a particularly geeky pair of spectacles. In front of him he could now see a faint hazy buzzing electrical field.
"OK, I'm looking at it," said Dan. "Are you guys ready ?" he asked.
"Assault team Go !" ordered Stella's voice.
Down in the valley, a series of black vans roared up to an entrance gate guarded by a couple of KORPS guards in military uniform. The guards pulled out weapons and started firing at the vans. One of the vans spun around to create a shield of sorts for the others. Bullets bounced off its protected bodywork. MI9 SWAT team agents jumped out of the other vans and started firing on the two KORPS guards. The KORPS guards were soon taken out, but the main metal gates started to close automatically. The shielding van drove between the closing gates and forced them open, knocking one gate off its hinges. Two agents ran towards a small metal cabinet near the main gates, and placed charges around it. They ran quickly away and the explosives blew with a loud bang. The box disintegrated.
The electrical field in front of Dan's face buzzed and then disappeared. "You're OK to go Dan !" hissed Tom excitedly. Dan jumped up and darted across the area of open ground in front of him. There was no cover so no point in crawling. It was better to get out of there as soon as possible. He felt a temptation to look around him in case of patrols, but that risked him losing his footing and he couldn't afford any injuries now. Tom would tell him if anyone was nearby. He threw himself into the bushes on the far side of the cleared area with huge relief.
"I'm OK," reported Dan. "I'm back under cover. Shall I carry on down ?" he asked panting.
"Carry on down. I'll tell you when to stop," replied Tom. "The cover attack is still under way."
The cover attack was indeed still under way. The three black vans continued down the narrow track towards the KORPS base. Soon there was an answering roar of engines and the MI9 drivers saw a number of armoured vehicles approaching in the opposite direction. They came out into an open space, just as the other vehicles reached them. There was a skirmish of gunfire from both sides. The MI9 vans and KORPS vehicles roared and swerved around one another. Gradually, the KORPS vehicles forced back the government agents. Finally, cut off from their objective, two of the MI9 vans turned and one reversed rapidly back up the slope to the entrance. They drove off through the forested area surrounding the KORPS base.
The KORPS agents secured their entrance. Work commenced on repairing the gates and people swarmed over the electrical installations, trying to get their defences back on line.
"Dan, everyone is out. You can probably make your way down to the base now," said Tom. He licked his lips nervously. "Good luck Dan," he said quietly, glancing across at the two other agents sitting across the room. Zoe and Aneisha smiled tensely back at him.
"Well done everyone," said Stella into her microphone. "Game on people !"
Stella took off her headset and turned to Zoe and Aneisha. "You might as well get some rest. If KORPS behave according to plan, they will now evacuate their base and start a new one. Dan just has to insert himself into their relocated base and then he will be in place to let you in," she said.
"That's all ?" said Aneisha with raised eyebrows.
"Well, I realise it's risky," said Stella with a shrug. "We've tried everything else to get into the main KORPS facility," she paused and sighed. "We're clean out of better ideas."
"Zoe, Aneisha you should go home. I'll call immediately we're ready for you. Tom, Stella and I will be supporting Dan over the next couple of days. We'll do everything we can to help him," said Frank, standing up from his chair. "Come on. Please try to get some rest. You won't be any help to Dan if you're tired," he added finally.
Zoe and Aneisha looked at one another, breathed out heavily and stood up. Tom glanced up from his computer screen and gave them a slight smile, before turning back to his screen. Aneisha thought it was funny how much older he looked now. It wasn't that long ago that he would have been playing a computer game at the same time as coordinating a mission. She felt much better knowing that Dan had Tom's full attention while he was trying to infiltrate a KORPS facility on his own. She didn't need to ask Zoe how she was feeling. It was written all over her worried face. "Come on Zo. We're not helping," said Aneisha. The two girls entered the lift and disappeared from sight.
"You're coming up to some activity Dan," said Tom. "I'm picking up heat signatures. Why don't you try the long distance whisper device," he suggested.
Underneath some bushes outside a large mansion house, Dan crawled another few yards and pulled off his backpack. He glanced around him to make sure he was completely out of sight. After searching his backpack he pulled out an earpiece and strange horn shaped device which he pointed ahead towards the sounds of activity. He winced at the sound of an engine roaring past. Then he heard a babble of voices. It was difficult to pick out what anyone was saying.
"Move it around and see if you can pick out one voice," suggested Tom.
Dan did as Tom said and moved his distance microphone slowly around his position. Finally he managed to home in on one pair of voices. He turned up the volume slightly to get a better signal.
"Do we have to move everything ?" moaned one man.
"You should know the system by now," said another man. "Once the base is compromised we move. There's always a standby base held in readiness. We just have to shift the stuff. You'll have to get off your backside for a couple of days, that's all. Don't let the bosses hear you moaning or you may get a permanent resting place around here mate !" said the second man with an evil chuckle.
Dan wondered what the recruitment policy was for KORPS; 'Evil nutters only need apply' probably. He carried on listening, hoping he would pick up some more details of where they were going or how he was going to get himself a ride along with them.
"Yeah, I know about it. I've just never done one before," said the first man. "How do we shift all the stuff ?" he asked.
"Vans and lorries. The usual," said the second man. "The Mastermind will get his own transport of course. The rest of us will be travelling with the gear. Come on, we need to get this lot loaded up," he ordered.
"This could be my ride," whispered Dan. "I need to get a look," he added. He crawled slowly forward, trying not to disturb the vegetation overhanging his hideout. Finally he managed to get a view out from under the shrubbery. The light was starting to fade. He pulled out a pair of binoculars and searched ahead. Two men in KORPS uniform were loading boxes into the back of a medium-sized lorry. He checked it out. It was raised quite high off the ground. This could be his best chance. "I think this is it," he whispered. "I'm going to try for it."
Dan looked all around him. He couldn't see anyone walking around. The two men loading the lorry had disappeared inside the building. Taking a deep breath he stuffed his gear into his backpack and keeping low, sprinted for the lorry. He had just reached the lorry when he heard returning voices. Dan ducked low and crawled under the lorry, trying to catch his breath as quietly as possible. Two pairs of legs stood at the back of the lorry. The two men were still grumbling to one another and he could hear the thumps and scrapes of stuff being loaded into the back of the lorry. He waited for them to move away before pulling a large bundle of black material from his backpack. He unfolded it as best he could in the gathering dark. A row of metallic fixings ran down either side. Taking one side he pushed it up against the metal underside of the lorry. It clicked as it fastened automatically. He stretched one side taut and did the same with the second side of what was now clearly a long black bag, open at one end.
"I've attached the magna-bag," whispered Dan. "I'm getting in now," he reported, before clambering into the black bag, feet first. He pulled his backpack in with him and then lifted up a flap at the open end, sealing himself inside. It felt quite claustrophobic inside the bag. He took a few deep breaths and concentrated on relaxing. This was going to be the toughest part of the whole exercise as far as Dan was concerned. "I'm in. They haven't seen me," he whispered.
"Good luck Dan," came Tom's tiny voice. Then the engine roared into life and Dan had to put ear plugs in to save himself from being deafened. Exhaust fumes started making him cough so he scrabbled around in his bag and pulled out a breathing mask which he pulled on. The lorry started moving and Dan felt a moment of pure panic.
"Come on ! Come on! You can do this !" he muttered to himself. He had to.
I don't have much time for writing this quickly, so sorry you won't be getting an update very soon. Early Christmas present.