Chapter 3: First Impressions
Admittedly, the team were still a bit anxious about their offer, even after accepting it.
The Freedom Fighters needed a team ruthless and skilled enough to kill Robotnik, but instead of asking G.U.N for some Spec Ops soldiers, they had gone to acquire the assistance of five criminals.
This seemed just like a cheap attempt to make room on Prison Island.
It was on the tour of the team's new base that Pluto brought up an interesting point to Princess Sally.
"You have five hardened criminals locked in a high tech bunker with each other. What are you and your friends going to do if things happen to get a bit out of hand with us?"
"Don't worry. We've already thought about that" Sally had replied. "We've got several large SWAT teams on standby".
Whilst the five saw this as a necessary step to take, this didn't sit 100% well with them.
However, they soon forgot about this as the tour continued, with Sally showing the five their sleeping quarters.
Lined up next to each other were several small rooms, each consisting of a small lamp, bedside cabinet and bed at the far end.
"Well, it certainly beats prison" Cyrus remarked, testing the bed.
The tour then moved onto the storage unit, which contained stacks upon stacks of tinned food.
Wilhelm immediately went in an opened up a tin of spam, clawing out a large chunk of meat and shoveling it into his mouth.
"My god this is delicious!" He moaned happily, drooling as he clawed out more spam. "I never thought I'd miss this taste so much!"
Finally, the tour made it to the showers, consisting of several small cubicles, each one closed off from the others, asides from small gaps at the bottom.
"Finally! Somewhere where I can clean myself without people attempting to shiv me...I hope" Pluto said to himself, giving Jasmine a suspicious look.
"Alright then, that's everything important for now" Sally said to them. "I'll let you five get settled in. One of my colleagues will contact you in the morning with your first assignment. Remember, they'll be contacting you through the computer, which is voice activated".
"Wow. You aren't wasting time".
"We don't intend to. Guard?"
One of the guards who had traveled with the five on their journey then produced a key for their handcuffs, opening each one.
As they fell off, the five stretched their arms.
"Ahh" Sighed Cyrus. "It feels so good to have those things off"
"Contact me tomorrow morning if you need anything" Sally said to them.
"Will do"
"Alright then. Bye" Sally said before she, the guards and the SWAT officers headed out of the door
"Yeah. See ya. And thanks, by the way"
"No problem".
With that, Sally shut the door behind her, locking it after her.
The five prisoners stood there for a moment, thinking about what to do accompanied by the sound of Wilhelm eating his spam.
Pluto then spoke up.
"Actually, you know what? Fuck the showers. I need some sleep"
"Yeah same".
"See you guys in the morning".
"Yeah. See ya"
With that, Pluto, Cyrus, Khaine and Jasmine trudged off to their beds, leaving Wilhelm all by himself, stuffing spam into his face.
As Wilhelm awoke the next morning, he was greeted by a sound he hadn't been woken up by in a year
Silence.
No buzzers, no alarms bells, nothing.
For the first time in a year, he had woken up all by himself.
He sighed.
"Man this feels good" he said to himself, climbing out of bed and going in search of some food, opting for some tinned peaches.
As he wandered around, shovelling peaches down his throat, he soon came across Khaine, doing push-ups in the middle of the computer room.
"Hey, do you know what's great about being out of prison?"
"What?" Khaine replied, grunting in between push-ups. "The decent food? The comfortable beds? The clean showers? The fact that people aren't trying to shiv you as often?"
"All of the above!" Wilhelm replied happily, giving Khaine a fist bump.
Just then, Pluto poked his head round the door.
"Ah, I thought I heard you two in here" he said, stepping into the room.
"So how are you finding things?" Khaine asked, picking himself up.
"Not bad, although I really wish I had something to change into. My prison suit is starting to stink".
"Heh. Aren't they all?"
"Good point. So who exactly are you two, anyway?" He asked. "I mean, I know your names, I know the prison guards make a big deal about you two and I know that you, Khaine, were the first one picked, but just who exactly are you asides from that?"
"Wilhelm and I? We're a two-man assassin team. I'm the man on the ground, whilst he's the eyes on the sky".
"Ah I see, you you're the muscle and he's the mind".
"Oh not always, I mean he can handle himself pretty well in a fight. Hell, you should see him with a bow and arrow".
"Bow and arrow?"
"Yeah. You got a problem with that?" Wilhelm asked him.
"No, none at all. It's just that most people nowadays prefer to use guns".
However, before they could continue, the computer/table started emitting a ringing sound.
As the trio looked over, they spotted a small text box floating above the table.
Incoming Transmission: Freedom Fighter HQ.
The three headed over to the table.
"Might as well" Wilhelm said. "Computer, answer transmission".
The computer obliged, replacing the text box with a small holographic figure.
The figure in question was a female lynx, draped in a purple outfit.
"Ah, good. Everything works fine. Anyway, yes. Good morning, you two".
"Uh, yeah. Hi" Khaine replied. "I take it you're the one Sally said would contact us".
"I am indeed" The Lynx replied. "I am NICOLE and I will act as the liaison between you and the Freedom Fighters during your time out of prison".
"Okay, cool". Pluto replied. "I guess you've got an assignment for us, then".
"I have indeed. Admittedly, there was much debate about what to assign you as your first mission, but the others were eventually able to reach an agreement".
"I'd better get the others. Hold on a sec" Wilhelm said to the AI before yelling off to the other two "OI! CYRUS! JASMINE! WE'VE GOT OUR ASSIGNMENT!"
The other two soon arrived at the table.
"I'd better be able to kill some bastards. Otherwise, it's a waste of time" Jasmine muttered.
"Well in that case, you're in luck" NICOLE replied.
Several holographic images appeared next to her on the table, including those of some kind of base, several legionnaires on hover vehicles and a gruff-looking bear riding a hover bike.
"The Freedom Fighters have opted to set you up with an easy task. The Efrika Plains chapter of Legionnaires, whilst small, have been vital in keeping control of the area. what's more, we recently discovered that with the assistance of the Nerb Kingdom chapter, they have been vital in securing raw materials for the legion. That's where you five come in. Your task is simple: bring operations in the region to a halt and destroy the Efrika Plains legion chapter by any means necessary. That includes assassinating Diesel: the chapter's Grandmaster".
"Well, that's good and all, but where do we get our weapons?" Asked Cyrus.
"Simple. In this base, there should be a door with the initials "M.A.D" etched into it. Whilst it is usually locked, the Freedom fighters have the ability to remotely unlock it for assignments. There should be a weapons cache behind it".
"Ah okay"
"Remember: leave no survivors."
"Sounds easy enough" remarked Pluto.
"Good. NICOLE out".
The transmission came to an end, with NICOLE disappearing from the table.
"Shall we?"
"Gladly"
The five headed off to find the cache.
Soon finding the door described by NICOLE, the five pulled it open, the lights flickering on as they entered.
They couldn't believe what they were seeing.
The room was lined on all sides with weapon racks, each one packed full of weapons, ranging from combat knives and machetes to full blown rocket launchers.
Along with that, there were also several dozen crates, containing designated weapon ammo and explosives.
This was no mere weapons cache. This was a full blown armory.
But there, right at the back, was something the five had been hoping to see.
At the very back, propped up against the wall, were five black airboards. In front of the boards was a small table with five boxes on it, each with one of their names written on it.
Their stuff.
The five instantly dashed up to the boxes, rummaging through to check that everything was there.
"YES! THEY REMEMBERED MY WEAPONS!" Pluto yelled out happily, pulling a black staff out of his box, along with two green daggers.
Jasmine just looked at his as if he was stupid.
"A black glowstick"
"Hey, don't knock my staff" he replied proudly "It's designed to shoot energy beams at distant targets. It also doubles up as a sturdy club if the need arises".
As Wilhelm rummaged, he soon discovered his bow and, much to his surprise, his quiver, now fully topped up with arrows.
However, as he discovered his PDA, he found a small sticky note stuck to it.
All necessary co-ordinates have already been inputted
-Sally
The weasel just shrugged and decided to go with it.
However, as the five reached the bottom of their boxes, they discovered something odd.
They each pulled out what appeared to be some kind of headgear, which seemed to contain communication paraphernalia and a small infrared screen to cover one eye.
"These are probably so that we can keep in contact with each other". Khaine said to the others, picking up his box. "Anyway, I just need to get out of this prison suit, get a shower and get my suit on. Be back in a few minutes".
With that, he eagerly bolted out of the room.
The others decided to follow suit, grabbing their stuff and heading to their rooms to get changed.
A few minutes later, the team reconvened in the armory, now out of their prison overalls and in their own attire.
"Wow. even after a year, this suit still fits like a glove" Khaine remarked as he adjusted his combat suit.
"I'll admit this: It feels good to finally have this thing back on" Pluto said to the others, pulling on his trenchcoat.
"Same. I thought I'd never were this again" Wilhelm replied, pulling up the hood on his cloak.
As they finished suiting up, Cyrus immediately went for the weapon racks, picking a pair of Skorpion submachine guns and a spare M9 pistol.
Jasmine loaded up with two M9s of her own.
Khaine raised an eyebrow at this.
"That's all?"
"Hey, it's not the gun that makes the difference. It's the person holding the gun that does. The gun does help, though".
As for Khaine, he immediately went for a machete and an M16 assault rifle, equipping it with an under-slung grenade launcher and red dot sight.
"We'd better take some C4 with us. If we're on a sabotage mission, it'll come in handy" Wilhelm said to the others. "Anyone want to carry some?"
Pluto's eyes lit up.
"Yes!" he replied eagerly, snatching up some of the explosives.
Loading their ammo into custom made ammo belts left in one of the crates, the team each grabbed an air board before heading out into the forest.
Cyrus sighed.
"Why couldn't they give me back my Harley?" he said to himself. "I miss my Harley"
"You can worry about your Harley later" Wilhelm said to him, setting the co-ordinates on his PDA. "Right now, we've got a mission to focus on. On your gear, everyone".
The five activated their air boards, placing them down before standing on them.
Cyrus produced his sunglasses, placing them on his face.
"Alright, let's do this!"
Finally, the five took off into the forest.
The Efrika Plains
"Willy, are you sure you know where we're going? It feels like we've been travelling for hours". Pluto said to the weasel as the team flew across the dusty plains on their air boards.
Wilhelm shot him a glare.
"Of course I know where we're going" he replied crossly. "I've got the co-ordinates. It's just a few clicks away".
"Okay, jeez. I just wanted to know"
"By the way, don't call me "Willy". If you know what's good for you".
Pluto decided to heed his warning.
After travelling on for a little further, the team came across what appeared to be a large canyon.
"Alright, it should be here" Wilhelm said to the others as they dismounted and deactivated their boards.
As they tentatively peered over the edge, they spotted what they had been looking for.
At the very bottom of the canyon was a large compound, consisting of several small, seemingly rundown depots surrounding a much larger, seemingly more advanced main building.
There were guard positions scattered all around the perimeter, along with several hundred legionnaires wandering around and several auto-turrets placed around the main building.
"Intel says that the rest of the base is underground" Wilhelm explained.
"So what's our game plan?" Whispered Pluto
"Simple: charge in there and annihilate them!" Cyrus said to the others.
"That's the dumbest idea I've ever heard" Jasmine muttered
"Oh yeah? Why's that, then?" Cyrus demanded.
"Dude, there's several thousand of them and only five of us". Wilhelm informed him.
"What?! Why the hell would the Freedom Fighters send us on a mission like this if they knew we'd be heavily outnumbered?"
"Do you not know the meaning of the words "Expendable assets?"" Khaine said to him.
"Ah. Good point".
Just then, Pluto had a brainwave.
"How about we try and create a diversion, first? We could plant some C4 here and set if off once we're in a safe location. When we set it off, it'll draw the Legion's attention. Once some of them head up here to check it out, we use this moment to sneak into the base."
The others thought about this for a moment.
"I've heard of worse ideas, so that's something" Jasmine muttered.
"I think that might just work".
"Same"
"Alright. We'll do that, then".
Once Pluto had placed down several packs of C4, the five retreated to a safe distance, finding an easy way into the canyon before digging in to a small cave in the canyon wall, not to far from the base.
Pluto primed the detonator.
"Do it!"
Click.
BOOM!
The relative peacefulness was instantly shattered by the ensuing explosion from where the team had been.
Almost instantly, a siren sounded from within the base.
This was closely followed by several hover vehicles heading to check out the explosion, whizzing right past their hiding spot.
The five then inspected their situation.
"We'd better take out those two guard towers next. That would ease our access".
"I got the one on the left. Pluto, you get the one on the right".
As Wilhelm notched an arrow, Pluto readied his staff, setting into the most silent mode possible.
The duo then took at their specific targets.
"And...now!" Wilhelm whispered.
Instantly, Wilhelm took out one of the guards with a quick arrow to the face.
"Ah, sir, you've got bogey hanging down there. Let me get that for you" Pluto muttered to himself before taking out the first guy on his tower before moving across to the other guard and muttering "You need a haircut" before taking the guard out as Wilhelm notched another arrow and took out the second guard on his tower.
"Alright, they're down. Now, we need to find a way in".
"I'm seeing a ventilation system we could use" Jasmine said to the others.
They took a minute to survey the area ahead of them.
"I hate to break it to you guys, but I don't see a way in without going loud".
They thought about their options for a moment.
Most of them, however, seemed to end with them going gung-ho on the legion, which they didn't wish to do just yet.
But then, Wilhelm had an idea.
"Hey, how about this. I know that all five of us won't be able to get in there at the same time without setting off an alarm of two, but what we could do is send two of us in beforehand".
"How do you suppose we do that?"
"Simple. Myself and another one of you four could grapple up to the top of one of these guard towers and change into the uniforms of the legionnaires. Once disguised, we can then sneak inside and locate a computer. From there, I can disable any security systems it may have, allowing the remaining three to begin raising hell."
"No offence, but that doesn't sound like a 100% airtight plan solid plan"
"Well I don't hear anyone else coming up with anything better, so we'd better stick with that". Khaine said to the others.
"And since when were you team leader?" Countered Jasmine.
Khaine glared at her.
She huffed.
"Alright, fine. I'll go with him". She said to them, spinning round and heading off with Wilhelm.
As they walked off, Khaine whispered to the others "What the fuck is with that girl?"
"Tell me about it. It's like she has a stick constantly stuck up her ass".
Once Wilhelm and Jasmine arrived at the foot of the guard tower, the weasel quickly latched onto the side with his grappling hook, allowing the duo to scale the side (with Jasmine holding onto Wilhelm).
Upon arriving, the two wasted no time in removing the uniforms from the two dead legionnaires and pulling it them onto themselves, pulling up the hood before heading down the steps of the tower.
Thankfully the hoods were big enough to disguise their faces.
"Urgh. This thing smells funny" Wilhelm muttered to himself.
Not wishing to be discovered, the two quickly crossed the compound before heading into the main building.
"We're in" Jasmine whispered into her communicator.
"I've got to search for an access point to hack into the systems. Give me a moment" he said before diving off down a corridor that wasn't completely swarming with legionnaires before pulling out his PDA and beginning the search.
A couple of nerve-racking moments later, the search ended.
"Alright, we're in luck. We've identified seven access points".
"Which one would be our best chance of success?"
"By the looks of it, that would be...oh, the main security room. Two floors down".
"You two had better hurry up" Cyrus said through their communicator. "The group that went out when we set the C4 off are coming back".
"Roger that".
The two then continued through the base, eager not to attract any attention.
Upon arriving at the door to the security room, the two readied their weapons.
"Ready?"
"Ready"
The two then quietly slipped into the room.
Before them was a large computer system, consisting of several computer screens showing of different areas of the base, with two Legionnaires keeping an eye on them.
They were easily taken down by two arrows to the back of the head.
The two then headed over to the computer before pulling the two bodies out of the seats and taking their place.
Wilhelm then began to work his magic, rapidly typing away on the keyboard.
"How's it going, you two?" Asked Pluto.
"We're almost there. Wilhelm just needs to work his magic and then you three can raise hell".
"Admittedly, this could take slightly longer than I thought it would" The weasel admitted. "There are about as many firewalls here as there are on the G.U.N system".
"Wait, you hacked into G.U.N?!" Cyrus asked, shocked.
"It's a long story. I'll tell you when we wrap this up."
As time ticked by, Wilhelm continued to rapidly type in commands.
"Almost done..." he muttered to himself "...and..."
He smashed in one final key.
Instantly, three lines of text appeared on the screen.
Security cameras deactivated
Warning sirens deactivated
Auto-turret defenses deactivated
"Alright, the defense systems are down" he said into his communicator. "Weapons free".
"Roger that" Khaine replied. "Will meet you down there"
"Roger. Be advised, though, that there are several more legionnaires within the base".
"Copy that"
Back up on the surface, Khaine, Cyrus and Pluto readied their weapons, shuffling closer to launch their attack.
"Ready?"
"Ready" The others replied.
Then, finally...
"NOW! OPEN FIRE! SLAUGHTER THEM!"
With that, the three males then leaped up and began running into the compound, unleashing a furious storm of bullets and energy blasts.
"ALRIGHT, WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON?! I GO TO SLEEP FOR A FEW HOURS AND WAKE UP TO FIND EVERYONE GOING CRAZY!"
"Apologies, grandmaster, but we've come under attack".
"Who from? G.U.N? Freedom Fighters?"
"Well, as far as we can tell, the attackers belong to neither faction".
"How many of them are there?"
"As far as we can tell, there's three of them".
"Just three? well then, why is there all this fuss? Surely the other legionnaires would be able to sort them out by now and if not them, then the auto-turrets."
"Well, that's the thing, sir. The auto-turret systems have been...deactivated. And the rest of the defense systems as well".
"WHAT?!"
"We believe there's someone on the inside helping them"
"LOOK, I DON'T CARE HOW MANY TROOPS IT TAKES, I WANT THIS THREAT ANNIHILATE! GOT IT?"
"Yes sir".
Despite the garrison's best attempts, they were unable to prevent the three from entering the base, mowing down legionnaires left and right.
Once they were in, Khaine, Cyrus and Pluto proceeded to head down two levels to find their teammates. Once they were on their level, they proceeded to go on a room-to-room search for them, with the base echoing with rapid gunfire.
Khaine was even able to pick off a small group with his grenade launcher as they appeared round a corner.
"Guys, c'mon, are we getting close?" he asked into his communicator.
"I can hear gunfire and it's getting closer to us, so I assume so" Wilhelm replied.
Eventually, as Khaine kicked down another door, they entered the security room.
Wilhelm and Jasmine pulled down their hoods to show who they were.
"Glad to see you could make it"
"Alright, we're doing well so far. Have you located Diesel?"
"I have indeed. He is currently in the Grandmaster's quarters in sector Epsilon-7. But that's not the only thing I've found. Take a look at this".
As the other four gathered around the computer, they noticed something on the screens.
It appeared to be some kind of fancy power generator.
it eventually hit them what it was.
"Is that an atomic generator?"
"It is indeed. Located about four miles underground and supplied by Robotnik himself"
Cyrus could read the look on Wilhelm's face.
"Are you thinking what I'm thinking?"
"If that involves setting the generator to self destruct, then yes".
"Alright, if we're going to pull this off, we're going to need to split into two teams again. Whilst three of us go after Diesel, the remaining two will stay here and try to set the reactor off.
"I'll be staying here, then"
"I call Diesel's head" Jasmine replied, leaping up and pulling off her disguise.
"So do I" added Khaine and Pluto.
"I guess that leaves me with you" Cyrus said to the weasel.
"It appears so"
The others reloaded their weapons.
"Oh and two more thing!" Wilhelm said to the three before they headed off.
He handed Khaine his PDA.
"I've downloaded a schematic of the entire facility. Use this to find Diesel."
"Alright. Thanks"
"And if you so much as scratch the screen, even slightly, you're paying for a new one".
"Heh. Don't I always?"
"Also, if I manage to start the countdown whilst we're split up, don't bother regrouping here. Just run. We can regroup back at where we parked our boards".
"Alright then. Let's move!"
As Wilhelm set to work on the computer, the team of three headed to the door.
However, they soon found a whole bunch of legionnaires waiting for them.
"Can't we talk about this?" Pluto asked them.
They all raised their weapons.
"Obviously not" he muttered, placing his staff on his back and readying his daggers.
The three then charged into combat, with Cyrus giving them some covering fire.
Whilst the legionnaires were significantly larger in numbers, this did nothing to stop the three from slaughtering them.
As the last legionnaire in the group fell, the three found themselves caked in blood.
"WOOOOO!" Khaine roared happily as they headed off to find Diesel. "I AM THE GOD OF HELLFIRE!"
Cyrus whispered to Wilhelm. "Is he always this murderous?"
Wilhelm chuckled.
"Not always" he replied, still madly typing away on the keyboard. "Just most of the time".
CLANGCLANGCLANGCLANGCLANGCLA-
"ALRIGHT, I'M COMING! KEEP YOUR PANTS ON!"
Diesel angrily opened the door to his quarters.
Before him stood a single legionnaires, a slightly terrified look on his face.
"What?"
"Sir, it's about the attackers"
"Have you sorted them out yet?"
"No sir. In fact, things are only getting worse".
"How are things possibly getting worse?"
"We've just discovered that there are now five of them. They're the ones who brought down the security systems and now, they're coming for you, grandmaster. We have to-"
The legionnaire was cut off by a machete spearing him through the back of the head.
As he fell to the ground, a pair of green daggers flew through the air, spearing Diesel through the shoulders.
As the grandmaster fell to the ground, yelling in pain, he looked over at the door.
Before him stood Jasmine, Khaine and Pluto.
"What the fu-"
BANGBANG!
Before Diesel could finish, Jasmine leveled her gun and shot the grandmaster twice in the head, killing him instantly.
"Light out, fucker" Jasmine muttered to herself.
The others then gathered their weapons.
However, just before they could get back to the security room, they were contacted by a screaming voice in their communicator.
"GUYS, THIS WILHELM! HAVE YOU KILLED DIESEL YET?"
"We have" Khaine replied. "What happened? Have you set off the atomic generator".
"I HAVE INDEED! IT'S GIVING US ABOUT TEN MINUTES TO GET CLEAR! CYRUS AND I ARE ALREADY ON THE WAY OUT!"
"Alright, we'll catch up to you".
Khaine turned to his teammates.
"We're done here! LET'S BOOK IT!" He yelled, taking off down the corridor.
"BOOKING!" Pluto replied as he and Jasmine took off after him.
8 Minutes
The three bolted out of the main base and across the compound, with Khaine taking a second to launch a grenade into the nearby vehicle depot, sending several vehicles up in smoke.
3 Minutes
The three finally found their boards.
As for Wilhelm and Cyrus, they had already activated their boards and were hovering there, waiting for them.
"There you are!" Cyrus said to them. "We were starting to get worried".
"JUST SHUT UP AND FLY!" Yelled Khaine as he and the others activated their boards.
Finally, the five took off and began racing back to their base as fast as possible, not wanting to slow down even slightly.
30 seconds
Khaine pulled up alongside Wilhelm.
"HOW MANY DO YOU THINK WE'VE KILLED TODAY?"
"I DON'T KNOW. BESIDES, WE AREN'T DONE YET!"
"ARE WE OUT OF THE WAY OF THE EXPLOSION?"
"WE SHOULD BE! WE'D BEST KEEP FLYING, THOUGH"
10 seconds
The waited with bated breath for the impending explosion
9
8
7
6
5
4
3
2
1
It was at that moment when the entire base erupted in a giant, nuclear fireball, bathing the surrounding area in radiation.
Despite now being a safe distance away, the team still found themselves deafened by the noise. They could even still feel the earth shaking.
"And relax" Pluto said to himself as they slowed down.
As they brought their boards to a stop, they looked behind them.
In the distance, they spotted a large explosion cloud where the base had been.
They watched for a few more moments.
Eventually, Pluto broke the silence.
"Well, that's one way of making a good first impression"
"I was just thinking that myself"
"I tell you what, if we get to regularly do that, I might just enjoy this".
"Alright then, good job everyone" Pluto said to the others. "Next time, we do it the same, only much bigger".