A/N: To say it has been too long, just doesn't quite cover it. I hate to admit it, but I've neglected this story for a long time. And even worse, I let my co-author down with lack of action in getting the update out there far sooner. I could say a million and one excuses...but I will just give you all a simple I am sorry to my readers, reviewers, and my partner in crime Macjack662. And to make up for it, after almost a year of waiting, the update for the Rogue series is finally here!
(I own nothing)
Two more Replica soldiers fell under the barrage of shotgun fire, their blood splattering across the unfinished walls of the wing of the hospital that was still under construction.
Wraith injected several fresh shells into the weapon until it was full, Wraith followed the corridors until he entered the stairwell of the main building. Going to the top level and kicking open a set of double doors open and doing a quick sweep of the hallway beyond before moving forward.
Going past the empty offices and conference rooms on either side while keeping his eyes and ears open, rounding the corner at the end just in time to see someone walking through the open door ahead of him.
Wraith raised the shotgun, preparing to fire. "Hurry..." a male's voice whispered in his ears just as the man vanished in a burst of ashes and a flickering of lights. The FEAR operator alone once again.
Pushing past the increasing number of paranormal events around him, Wraith shoved the next set of doors open and found himself back out on another upper balcony above the lobby floor.
"There he is! Open fire!" he quickly activated his reflexes and moved left. Gunfire raining down from above that he quickly avoided while switching to his assault rifle and shooting back. The three Replica's that were attempting to take him out themselves were taken down before they had a chance.
Leaping the gap between the wings, Wraith kicked open another door. Pumping a handful of rounds into the Replica that was on the other side before reloading.
A flash filled his vision, the world around him becoming distorted as Paxton's voice filled the void. "Soon, you will have a choice to make. You will soon near the time when you will have to stop running."
In the dark corners of the lavish corridor he could make out the twitching and shuttering forms of apparitions. Running past them, he entered an open doorway that held a blue vortex of light that sucked him in and spat him back out at the end of another corridor...
In time to see Jin running past the opposite end.
Pushing himself to move faster, Wraith skidded to a stop when the air distorted in a series of openings made themselves known and more apparitions came spilling out into existence.
Rifle chattering loudly in his hands, the rounds tore through the phantoms making them vanish in bursts of smoke before they could reach him. Once the air was clear he started moving again, trying to cover as much ground as he could to catch up with the only other surviving member of his team.
Going into the hall Jin had disappeared into, Wraith found himself being pulled into another vortex that spat him out in an office elsewhere.
A loud scream had him double timing it, kicking the door to the office off its hinges as he tore off down the hallways beyond as the screaming got louder and more agonizing. Anxiety filling his veins when he found a fresh, bloody smear in the carpet ahead of him.
Boots echoing loudly while he followed the crimson trail. Finding more on the stairway and walls at the end of the corridor, reaching the top landing and entering another lobby where the lights were flickering wildly. The strobe effect of the flashes revealing blood staining the walls, ceiling, furniture and floor that dripped wetly.
And in the center of the lobby, surrounded by a group of malevolent spirits, was the bloody form of Jin Sun-Kwon.
Wraith raised his weapon and opened fire on the ghosts, their forms vanishing into the shadows as he ran into the room and dropped down beside the technical officer. Dropping his rifle to the side and ignoring the warm blood soaking into his kneepads while looking down at her broken body.
He'd been too late. Alma and Paxton's madness had claimed the last member of his team, her screams of pain and terror still echoing in his head as the flashing lights around him revealed the carnage and plunged him into darkness again and again.
Jankowski, Betters, Holiday, the countless Atlas Spec-Ops that had joined them, and now Jin...none of them deserved this.
Shaking his head, the remaining FEAR operator picked up his weapon before continuing his path to the extraction point. Now feeling more alone than he had for the last 48 hours.
X
Adrian's mind was in overdrive, keeping his weapon trained on the woman before him and refusing to back down.
It couldn't be her. There was just no way. He'd seen her body himself back at Auburn Memorial Hospital in a pool of her own blood. There was no way that she could still be alive.
Jin shook her head and kept her hands raised, "I know this has to be a serious mind-fuck, but it's really me. No illusions."
Paxton looked between the two of them, unseen by the woman before turning his attention to his brother. "She speaks the truth, brother. This is no illusion. She is amongst the living."
Slowly, Adrian lowered his sidearm and holstered it in place before bringing up his hands. [I saw you dead back in Auburn. How are you alive?] he signed.
"I thought I was dead too," replied Jin. "I remember running through the hospital trying to reach the extraction point when a bunch of those weird ghouls came out of nowhere. I must have blacked out for a while because the next thing I know I'm waking up on the floor covered in blood. By the time I reached where the bullhead was supposed to get us and found it in flames and a bunch of dead replicas all over the place."
The female operative sighed and ran a hand through her long hair, "I managed to get out of Fairport when Armacham was moving in to clean the place up from all their bullshit, only to find out FEAR was shutdown. Everyone was either dead or had been captured by those corporate bastards. As far as I'm aware, you and I are the only ones left."
Adrian nodded grimly, he'd already come to that conclusion a long time ago. [It's good to see you're still alive, Jin. But why are you here in Vale?] he asked.
Jin motioned for him to follow her, taking them both to the lone bedroom of the rundown apartment where a couple laptops and servers were set up on a large desk against a far wall. "Since the mission, I gathered all the intel we found on Armacham, Paxton Fettle and Alma. I know that you are her oldest son, Fettle's brother, and your ties to both the company and Harlan Wade." she started to explain while taking a seat at the desk, "I've been keeping tabs on Armacham since FEAR fell apart, that's what led me to you. I have to say, going to Beacon Academy was the last place I expected to find you."
She brought up several windows on one of the computers and motioned for him to take a look, "When I found out you were alive and had escaped capture I did everything I could to try and find you. Armacham's coming after you and hard. They've been secretly moving troops and supplies into Vale right under everyone's noses, but given what I've seen and pieced together, it's way more than what could be considered a simple retrieval mission."
Looking over the files on display, Adrian saw that Jin was right. The sheer amount of manpower and resources that were being routed into the kingdom was for something big.
"I doubt the ATC is crazy enough to attempt an attack on Beacon to get to you," said Jin, "But that doesn't mean that they're not a big threat, to you and anyone that you associate with."
The oldest child of Alma narrowed his eyes. If Armacham was planning on making a move soon, then the others needed to be warned before anything came about...even if that meant finally revealing his past to them.
[I need to warn my team.] he signed. [One of their lackies attacked us at the docks a couple weeks ago wearing a suit of power armor that allowed him to teleport through walls.]
Jin looked through her files and brough another one up, "They're called 'Phase Commanders', ATC's elite guards and squad leaders. I'll send you everything I've gotten so far, it might give you an edge if you run into any of their squads."
[You could come to Beacon. Make a cover story and get you out of the line of fire as well.] Adrian offered.
"I can't. Not yet anyway." Jin replied as she went back to her monitors. "I'll be more useful out in the field keeping track of Armacham's movements. I'll be sure to drop regular updates from time to time to let you know I'm still breathing."
"Which may not be for much longer." Paxton said from the window as he looked down to the street below. Adrian came over and looked out as well and found three black armored trucks had pulled up on the other side of the road, the backs opening as a couple dozen men in body armor baring the Armacham logo jumped out with automatic weapons in hand.
"Seems our little 'informant' hasn't been as careful as she believed." continued the appartition as Jin came up next and cursed.
"Shit! I had a feeling that they would catch onto me eventually." she went back into the room and started typing furiously on one of her computers. "I'm backing up everything to one of my other safehouses in the city. I need a few minutes to make sure that all the data is transfered, can you buy me some time?"
Looking back at her former team mate, she found him with both pistols drawn and already making for the door as she continued to work.
X
The ATC units that arrived outside the rundown apartment complex stormed inside, weapons drawn as they fanned out on the ground floor.
"Control, this is Ballista 6-3, we're on sight." the squad leader said into his comm as he took a small group up the stairs.
"Copy Ballista 6-3. You are to capture and secure the target before transporting them back to base for interrogation." came the reply.
The fireteam reached the top level of the apartment building and made their way down the hall to the location of their target. Stacking up outside the doorway, the squad leader motioned for two of his men to kick the door while the rest of them prepared to breach.
Closing in on the door, the two men in the lead barely had a moment to brace themselves when the thick wooden surface was suddenly ripped from the hinges and flew in their direction. Bullets tearing through and punching into the soldiers before they had a chance.
Adrian stood on the fallen door, the dead soldiers beneath it with Straders in both hands that he started firing in separate directions. Rounds punching through their intended targets and dropping bodies to the floor.
The sudden commotion had the rest of the men on the floor converging, the former FEAR operative holstered his pistols before kneeling down and picking up one of the soldiers' weapons, a Briggs SMG, along with several ammo clips before ducking into one of the empty apartments beside the one he had come out of.
Listening as the running boots of several armed men drew closer, Adrian gripped the weapon in his hands and waited for the last moment before spinning around the door frame and opening fire.
The soldiers leading didn't have enough time to scatter, several of them dropping dead before they even had a chance while the others managed to duck into the cover of surrounding doorways before returning fire.
Ejecting the spent clip of the SMG, Adrian slapped a fresh one home before looking over his opposition. A plan quickly forming in his head as he slipped the strap of the weapon over his shoulder and pulling a grenade from his belt.
Pulling the pin, he dropped the explosive into an empty paint can that had been at his feet. Gently moving the can to the doorway before giving it a swift kick, sending it sailing through the air and into another room down the hall where it tipped over and dumped its payload at the feet of two surprised ATC soldiers.
The explosion shook the building as the dying screams of the men caught in the blast reverberated through the air. The former FEAR operative sprang from cover, activating his semblance as the world around him slowed to a crawl, the SMG in his hands rattled slowly while the bullets piercing through the air like water toward their targets while he skillfully weaved around the ones fired back at him.
Blood sprayed through the air, some splattering the walls as Adrian's enhanced reflexes showed every hit with gruesome detail.
When his semblance wore off, he went to reload only to have the gun knocked from his hands by an ATC soldier wielding a EL-10 CAS shotgun that came sprinting out of a doorway.
Grabbing the man's weapon, Adrian punched the soldier in the throat before pointing it downward and pulling the trigger. The shotgun discharged, blowing half the man's foot off and making him cry out in agony as the teen wrenched the weapon from him and fired point blank into his chest sending him flying back into the apartment he came out of.
Hearing more running footsteps, the teen dropped low, avoiding the stock of a weapon aimed at the back of his head. Aiming the shotgun over his shoulder and firing into the attacking soldier's stomach before spinning around and shooting him again in the chest.
More footsteps on the stairs had Adrian aiming in that direction in time to see more ATC soldiers coming up. His new weapon fired again and again, red mist exploded through the air and bodies flew back, colliding with those that were still living. The former FEAR operative pulled out another grenade and primed it before tossing it down the stairs.
Various cries of alarm were silenced when the explosive detonated. The teen hit the steps fast, stepping over the corpses he had put down as he reached the bottom level.
Two soldiers laid scattered, one of them without his legs, another a charred mess laying against a wall groaning weakly in pain.
Adrian fired a shotgun blast into the one still breathing, dropping the spent weapon to the floor and drawing his Straders as he continued to make his way down. More ATC thugs were waiting and opened fire when he appeared, but the teen vanished in a blur of reflexive-speed before opening fire with both pistols into his enemies.
Within seconds, another hallway was cleared as the former FEAR soldier dumped the clips from his pistols and reloaded before holsering them and drawing Shade. The comfortable grip of the AR-Assault/Sword fitting him like a glove as he brought the scope to his eye and went down to the bottom level of the condemned building.
The moment his feet hit the bottom step, bullets tore into the rotting wood of the stairs forcing him to dive over the broken railing to avoid them. Rolling to his feet, Adrian fired several times into a soldier who was standing outside the main entrance before taking cover beside it.
Pulling out his knife, Adrian used the reflective blade to peer outside. Night had started to set in, but he could make out six soldiers hunkered down behind the vehicles they all arrived in with weapons all trained on the door.
Slipping the weapon back into his boot, the former FEAR operative drew Shade. Cocking the bolt-handle, his reflex semblance kicked back on before he shot out from behind the door, raising the rifle scope to his eye before squeezing the trigger.
One of the soldiers' heads exploded in slow-motion, the one standing beside him falling to the same fate as the teen continued to fire into their ranks. By the time his semblance cancelled out he was crouched down behind a black SUV with bullets peppering the side closest to him.
Blind-firing around the edge of the vehicle, Adrian heard heavy boots coming from the other side behind him. Swinging back, he slammed the butt of this rifle into a soldier's face, stunning him long enough to convert his weapon into its sword form and drive it right through the man's chest.
Drawing one of his Straders, he fired half a clip into another ATC soldier that came in behind the one he impailed. Dropping him to the ground before kicking the one still on the end of his sword.
With two enemies remaining, Adrian ran out from behind the SUV and charged the remaining soldiers. Their rounds either missing or being absorbed by his aura as he closed the distance fast, bringing his sword down and cleaving one of the men almost completely in half from shoulder to hip. The last one scrambled back, desperately trying to reload his weapon and ended up dropping the clip as the super-soldier turned huntsman mechashifted his weapon back into rifle-form and fired the last few rounds into the scared soldier's center of mass and causing him to slam into the side of one of the armored trucks and slide to the ground dead.
All was silent. Adrian ejected the spent clip in Shade and replaced it with a new one bfore slipping it onto his back. "You certainly haven't lost your touch, brother." said Paxton as he strolled through the carnage his sibling had made as though he were going through a park on a warm day. "And it seems our informant was correct. Armacham is making their move."
The older brother nodded just as his scroll started going off. Fishing it out, he saw an blocked number trying to get through.
Figuring who it was, Adrian accepted the call and put it on speaker. "Well, your skills haven't dulled since we last saw each other." Jin's voice came through, "Thanks for covering my back, I'm heading to my safehouse in the northern part of the city. I can't risk giving out the coordinates, not since Armacham was able to figure out this place. I'll contact you if I find out anything new, until then keep your head down and try not to be caught alone. They're definitely watching you now."
"They will merely be sending more of their sheep to the slaughter." commented Paxton as the call ended. "I wonder if the others in your team have had such an eventful day."
As if to answer the psionic, Adrian's scroll went off again, this time it was Blake initiating a conference call with everyone in their team;
"Everyone! If you can hear me we need-"
"HEEEEELLLLLPPPPP! They got a robot! And it's BIG! REALLY BIG!" Sun's voice bellowed over Blakes, "The Torchwick guy's in it! But not like, it didn't eat him! He's controlling it, or something!"
"Where are you guys?!" asked Yang
"HURRY!"
The call ended after that with Paxton sighing, "You'll want to save them, I suppose." the psionic held out his hand and a set of keys levitated from one of the dead bodies which where quickly tossed to Adrian who caught them and headed toward the vehicle they went to.
X
Escaping the White Fang rally with the Paladin-class mech hot on their heels, Blake and Sun leapt onto a busy freeway. Jumping from car to car, ignoring honking horns as the large robot smashed its way though traffic after them.
From behind, Yang with Neptune riding on her motocycle pulled up to the rampaging machine. "We gotta slow it down!" the blonde called out to her passenger as they got in closer.
Torchwick, who was in the cockpit of the Paladin, saw them coming and started throwing cars all over the place to keep them off his back. Yang narrowly avoiding the vehicles while Neptune drew his weapon and started firing electric bolts at the robot.
Mechashifting the rifle into a trident, the blue-haired huntsman jumped high and came down with the sharp ends stabbing into the Paladin's dense metal. Hanging on for dear life as it tried to shake him off.
"Neptune, hang on!" Sun shouted, looking back and seeing his friend and partner in trouble. The monkey-faunus slammed his hands together, his aura flaring to life as two solid energy copies appeared on either side of him. The clones running at the mech and slamming into it, distracting the pilot and allowing him to charge at it as well.
But at the same time Neptune's weapon came loose, the blue haired teen being flung at his blonde partner and both of them were sent flying from the freeway and out of sight.
Blake watched them go, but didn't have time to worry for them when Weiss' voice came over her scroll; "Blake! I'm in position!"
Farther ahead, the heiress dropped down onto the freeway, Cars zooming past her as she held her rapier at the ready. When the Paladin drew in closer, she spun her weapon and slammed the blade into the road. A thick sheet of ice spread out and covered the asphalt, the mech quickly lost traction and slid off to the side, going through the energy barrier meant to keep vehicles from falling over and crashed onto the ground below where Ruby was waiting.
The other three girls of RWBY dropped down around her, weapons ready as the mech started to advance on them.
"Where's Adrian?" Blake questioned as they prepared to fight.
Just as the Paladin took another step, a black SUV riddled with bullet holes came flying off the freeway. The driver's side door opened and Adrian lept out, activating his semblence and drawing Shade while in the air as he took aim at the under-carriage of the car he had been driving.
A single shot rang out, the bullet hitting the gas tank of the SUV just before it hit the mech and causing an explosion that sent the large machine careening to the side and slamming into the concrete support of the freeway above.
The former FEAR operative landed with a combat roll and came up beside Ruby and the rest of his team. "Way to make an entrance." Yang commented as the Paladin got back to its feet. The now fully assembled team prepared themselves to take it down.
A/N: Bit of a short comeback, but plenty of action to make up for it. Anyone who can guess the movie reference I put in here will get major brownie points on my part. And I will say now, that I'll do my best to keep from letting a story go so long without an update. Writer's block sucks, even worse when it takes months to make an update. But thankfully, I'm back in the ring once again!
Review and let me know you guys are still out there, I'm already hard at work putting the next chapter together so stay tuned!