Location: Hill Top Headquarters
"Move it about two inches to the left..." Said the Commander to the Troopers moving a large statue. They pushed it as he said causing him to smile at the piece. "Yes perfect. Alright, you two may go now."
The two Troopers turned and walked out of the dining hall and passed another man in the hall. He was on his way into the dining hall and walked straight for the Commander. He was dressed in a light brown leather coat, a brown cowboy style hat and brown pants along with a pair of tinted black sunglasses. The man was a Brazilian with very light brown eyes and was the Deputy to his Commander.
His Commander was a Caucasian man with light brown hair that could have even been called dirty blond and nearly solid blue eyes. His uniform consisted of a sage green SS M1938 style jacket over a light grey turtle neck. One would expect him to have a dress shirt instead to match his black slacks and shoes, but no. He was aged about thirty nine a little young for his position.
"Commander, we have been disclosed some new information regarding the location of drive V1. Some captured files confirm that it's somewhere in Northern Nevada. I would suggest we assign another team to start scanning for the IED. Perhaps even have satellites start scanning for the lowest amounts of improbable energy."
"What do you think?"
"The Flag Core is tr-"
"Not that. This." He said pointing to the statue. The Deputy looked up and the six foot tall statue of iron.
"What the hell is..." His leader stopped him.
"It's art." The Commander folded his arms and stared at the statue. It was of a fox with a body shaped similar to a human woman. It was crouched on a small pillar with a severed human hand and wrist clenched in its jaws with its tail curled around its feet.
"That's a little weird looking, Commander." The Deputy pointed out.
"Uhh... You were saying something?" The Commander asked, changing the subject immediately.
"Yes, Commander. We have word back from the town of Balkit about the planned oil rig."
"Well what's the word?"
"They said they won't let our investors build one."
"Oh like we haven't heard that one before. Do you know how much this statue cost me?" The Commander asked walking to the doors out of the hall. He pushed them forward and exited the room with his second in command following him while the doors shut themselves behind the two. "Over ten thousand. How's that for a custom piece, Deputy?"
"I think that puts us just over budget for this month." The second in command stated. "You need to stop your constant spending on art pieces. You've already covered your private study with them. You don't need any more."
"But without this art, the place will be dull like the Agency Against Human Warfare's HQ was. Which reminds me," The commander stopped in his tracks in the middle of the corridors he was walking through. "Back to that town."
"Some of the officers suggested we motivate them by force."
"No," the Commander said raising his hand just to lower it the next second. "at least not directly. Send a transmission to our camp in the town saying that a new base of ours is being built instead. And make sure the cult can intercept it easily."
The Second in Command nodded and the Commander turned again, proceeding to walk down the hall, passing by a few Hill Top troopers on guard.
The troopers stood in their regular uniforms and not in the sweaters that the troopers in SO train wore. These troopers were dressed in grey fatigues with black boots and black chest rigs. Black balaclavas that did good to give them some sort of privacy masked their faces so only a slit for their eyes were seen. After all, this was a very dangerous job to work at and they needed all the security they could get. The chest rigs, however, would provide little protection if stabbed or shot. They only held a few ammunition and grenade pouches but we're otherwise bare.
The troopers clicked their heels as the two boss men walked by and waved to them. The wave was automatic and really didn't mean anything. Just an action to acknowledge the troopers and what they were doing... Just standing around. The two continued through the base passing by miscellaneous rooms on the way to their destination, the Commander's' office. It would only be a dozen more rooms before reaching it, but it seemed to feel closer than that.
"Now , Bendson, why don't you go take a break." The Commander suggested as he neared the door of his room. "Go to the pool, hang around in club M, maybe watch a movie in the theater. I have to make some calls." He stopped in front of his room waiting for the doors to shot up for him, which only took a moment longer. The steel made a sharp swipe through the air, retracting into the wall to allow entry.
"Yes, Commander. I'll make sure to make it last." The Deputy said beginning to turn away and walk down the hall. But the Commander stopped in the doorway of his room.
"Bendson," he began. The Deputy stopped himself and did an about face to his commanders direction. "I want that drive as soon as possible. Keep the troops on overtime. And make sure when they find it that it stays in one piece that works."
"But..., Commander... That's not in the agreement with the HPs."
The Commander held up his hand again and walked in the office. Saying: "I'll handle it personally." Before the steel door slammed shut. Sealing the room.
The room was menacing with its plated steel walls and single wooden desk on the far end of the room. There was a good amount between the Commander and his desk, encouraging him not to slow down in pace to the the phone on the desk. His feet clunked duly across the cold, hard floor, nearing the other end of the room. When he got to the desk, he immediately picked up the phone, pressed '9' then dialed in a number.
He held the receiver up to his ear and listened. the phone rang for a little while before going to voicemail. The Commander tapped down on the base severing the line then repeated the process. The same thing happened, however this time as he was about to press the base, someone picked up.
"Hello?" it was Cathy, the Commanders cousin.
"Hello, Cathy." The man said into the plastic. The voice on the other end seemed surprised.
"Sam? Oh my god, Sam! How've you been?"
"I've been doing my job. Getting real progress down this week. Listen," He began. "I wanted to know if you and Hank wanted to come to the base and have dinner with me." Cathy was quiet and began whisper out of the phone. She came back on and answered:
"Sorry, but we don't have anyone to watch our son." Cathy sounded disappointed but, as always, her cousin had a solution.
"Oh that's okay." The Commander started. "You can take him with you. I'll have one of my men watch him. A real trooper who knows how to work with the kids." He went on while bracing his hand up against the side of the furniture. "His names Bundy, grate guy."
Cathy sounded a little confused.
"Bundy?" She asked a little worried.
"Not the one you're thinking of. This guy's name Enrico. He's been with me for a while, great leader." The Commander searched for other things to persuade his cousin into agreeing to come. "Come on," He continued. "We have shellfish and Hawaiian loafs. It'll be fun." Only one question remained.
"What time?"
"How about nine?"
"Alright..." Cathy was hesitant, and that showed in her voice, but still she agreed. "We'll get in the car right now and be on our way. Should I bring anything?"
"Just yourselves. I'll see you soon. Bye."
"Bye." With that, the Commander hung up the phone. He smiled devilishly and chuckled to himself before proclaiming:
"Oh Cathy, you're open to suggestions." He now stopped his giggling and grew serious political face. "I just hope that he is too."
Location: Cultist base in Nevada
The explosion in the control room seemed to rock the very earth itself with it blast. Icebox only had one room left now, the relic room. Icebox stood there in the hallway covering his ears this time when the blast went off. It was louder to him than the last two and seemed to cause a ringing in his ears this time. He slowly looked to his left as smoke poured out of the entrance to the room. Another successful step in his mission. The Marauder took his hands down and stepped back as the fumes came out thicker.
"You!" Came voice from behind him. Iceboxes hand shot for his gun and spun around, immediately opening fire at the speaker. The bullets ricoshayed in a flash of red and white. It was a shield that his rounds were hitting and took half the mag for the operative to stop shooting. The shells clinging on the floor became the only sound heard while the Marauder stood, gun raised, waiting for the shield to be lowered.
It was a Cultist Captain, standing tall in his white robes and brown cowl covering his head. His hands and feet were covered by leather gloves and boots, very high quality leather at that. On his chest was the symbol of the cult itself in all it's red and blue glory. The face of this soldier of chaos was young, only about 19. He must have been bred for this is he was that youthful in such a position. Captains were trained to be deadly fighters wielding ungodly powers, but not so that they could rival their Bishop.
"So you're the intruder who has been damaging our defenses." Said the Cultist with his arm and shield still up in front of him. "We don't talk kindly to such acts. Who do you think you are?" Icebox was silent. Why should he speak to this person he was about to kill? If his life was about to end then this conversation would mean nothing. So Icebox changed out his mag and loaded a fresh one.
"Put your shield down." He said firmly "Right now." The Cultist Captain didn't budge and stood with his hand up. That's when Icebox saw it. "You can't hold it for long. Save me some time and drop it." The Cultists hand was starting to quiver. The process of holding a shield was stressful and took a lot of energy to hold up. Few could do it. Even the Savior had difficulty holding up a shield for even a few minutes.
"You won't get past me." The teen claimed clutching his other hand into a fist. "No more killing!" He yelled as the shield crumpled up and turned into an orb of red fire. The Cultist thrust his hand forward and the orb straightened out into a stream of burning flames that licked over to Icebox. He ducked out of the path, fire shooting over his head and back then proceeded to defend in an attempt to burn him.
He rolled on his shoulder out of the way and got down on his chest, firing his gun at his opponent. The bullets blasted out of the barrel in a flash at the target but were stopped by a quickly raised shield the man managed to raise at the last second. The Marauder saw a chance to strike and stood up and charged at the Captain. The enemy didn't have time to react and kept his shield raised.
Icebox bashed into the man, knocking him to the floor. The Cultist yelled and swore, his shield was down. The Marauder flipped his gun and smashed the butt of his rifle into the face of the cultist. It wasn't long before his face was a black and red mess. Blood escaped out of his mouth and his arms became limp, slowly moving up to his mouth and covering it while breathing heavily.
Icebox felt something for the kid. Pitty. The blows must have been too harsh for him to slow down that fast. That's when he noticed the boy's nose was also blowing out crimson liquid, bubbling a disgusting cringing noise. The Marauder closed his eyes and shuddered. He didn't mean to do it so hard. He just wanted the guy to submit.
"Looks like you lose." Icebox said in a half taunting half gloomy tone. He flipped his gun back around and fire the remaining rounds through the chest of the teen. The blood spit out with each bullet. Breaking his ribs, ripping through his lungs, shredding his heart and finally killing him. The red was splattered over the Marauders pants and boots in small portions. It wouldn't stain but it would remain until he could clean it.
Icebox looked away, down the hallway and turned. His steps clicked through the small pool of blood on the floor. The last room was at the end of this building and then he could go home. He knew there would be someone waiting for him at this point in his mission, so he decided to aim his gun in front of him and speed up his movement. Not to say he got louder though.
The Marauder motioned his boots so carefully and quickly that their sound became muted down the corridor. There was only the artifact room to destroy now. As he silently continued, that's when out of one of the doors on the side came something he dreaded. The sight of two armored cultist knights showed their faces out into the hallway. Smoke was still pouring out of the burning communication room which was now right next to Icebox. The smoke was so much in his face he had to step even closer to the Knights, shortening the distance between them.
Icebox stood and lowered his gun, bent over and placed the firearm on the floor. He then stood up and pulled out two hand grenades and began to calculate how far he needed to throw them. The two Knights were armed with shotguns instead of the standard sword that they were usually seen armed with. This would make it more difficult for the marauder to do this. He had to take a chance.
He took eight steps and pulled the pins of the explosives, chucked them both at the attackers then ducked as the bombs went off. The explosions sent shrapnel ripping through the air, puncturing the armor of the two Knights. One of the armored most stirs fired his shotgun in the air as he flew backwards due to the blast. The slug tore a large hole in the ceiling upon entry and acted as a sign that the Marauder should finish this quickly.
He jumped up ran back to grab his gun then turned back down the hall, charging for the door at the end. He slipped around the bodies of the men he just downed and kicked the door out of the frame when getting close enough. The oak door flew open and a feeling of shock washed over the soldier.
The room was completely empty.
Icebox stepped in and slung his gun onto his back looking around. The room was completely plain. All grey walls and only one long overhanging light to illuminate the room. He heard the door slowly swing back into place, shutting him in the room.
"So... you've finally come." Came the hollow words that encouraged the Marauder to flip around and spot the cultist leader of the base. Standing in front of the broken door. He must have snuck in behind the agent and planned this trap.
"Where the dive!?" Icebox demanded to know. The man only raised his hand.
"Your eyes are opening for the first time." He said in a mellow tone.
This cultist was dressed from head to toe in crimson red robes, with a mix of a black cross going down the center of the cloth. His face was masked by a steel face slapte but his black, greasy hair was visible still. Icebox took his gun off and could hear the sound of shoe running across the floor at a distance.
"I will shoot you." He threatened the man, who simply shook his head.
"No you won't." Then there was the only sound in the room that seemed to be the firing of Icebox's gun.