We are the GLA
(A/N) Sorry it took so long, but I have just moved continent so try to understand, provided you care in the first place. Anyway, enjoy the latest chapter.
The teens followed the GLA members through the damp, cold streets of Lower Stratnigrad to the abandoned warehouse.
The sliding doors were old and rusted, the lead GLA member opened a fuse box on the left of the doors, hidden behind a dumpster. She opened it revealing a key pad, she punched in a series of numbers and the door began grinding into place. The metal squeaked as it rubbed against the concrete wall of the warehouse. Inside was a small, empty room with a second door, with a second key pad. They all entered the room and the female GLA member punched in another series of numbers, the first set of doors closed behind them, then after a brief delay, the second pair opened.
The warehouse was wide and open, in the centre of the room was a generator, it sat still and quiet, it's dull green paint peeling off in patches. Windows high on the wall were covered in moss and let in little light. In the corner was an office, elevated above the rest of the floor, other than that, the room was pretty barren. They were led to the office, which had a door that was unlocked by one of the male GLA members, behind the old door was a stair case spiralling down to another large room, but this one was much more populated. There were several doorways into smaller rooms and hallways.
A stage occupied the top wall of the rectangle shaped room, on the stage was a podium with a speaker attached. The wall behind the stage was covered by a large banner of the GLA symbol. A shield with a globe on it with two spanners crossing behind it and the letters G.L.A burnt into the shield, under the globe. On the other end of the room were several old wooden tables and chairs. The wall near them was lined with counters, stained and old. Two men were playing cards on one of the tables, a woman was cleaning a gun at another. But other than that, no one was around. "Is it me, or does this hole town seem like a ghost town" Marie whispered to Eddy, "It's only 7:34, people won't be out on the street for at least half an hour. Work hours are different down here, you wouldn't want to be caught in a crowd down here anyway, people try to keep to themselves." Eddy whispered back.
The group was guided to a room near the stage. The room was small, it had a small GLA banner on the wall and a desk in the centre, a computer hummed on top of the desk. "Sir, The Wartech students have arrived" said the female GLA member, the man sitting behind the desk looked up, the man looked worn, not old, but old beyond his years. He had a short beard that was greying half way down. His short, crew-cut hair was greying too.
He stood up, "Thank you Lieutenant Jakobe." the man saluted the female, she saluted back then turned and left with her two male followers.
"I'm glad to see you finally arrived, we were starting to think you wouldn't show" The man said, smiling as he stood up to greet his guests. I am Commander Isaac Davidson, leader of the Markarth (The northern continent) branch of the GLA"
"Yeah, well your invitation really got our attention, what with the guys shooting at us and all" Eddy responded, crossing his arms, "If you wanted to meet us so badly why did your guys try and kill us?". Eddy eyed the Commander suspiciously.
"Yes, I must apologize for that. My men got a little over enthusiastic. They mistook you for security and thought you a threat. But their intention was never to hurt you. Besides, you shot back, several of my men were badly injured and we lost two of them. So consider that a warning, some of my men might be a little hostile to you" The Davidson spoke with a serious tone to his voice.
"In your broadcast you said Wartech lied to us. About what?" Edd asked, trying to draw the topic away from Eddy who would probably just add to the hostilities, given his past record of grudge holding.
"A lot. Trust me." The man replied plainly, this annoyed Edd thoroughly, but he didn't show it.
"Details?" Nazz spoke, asking the question that Edd was about to, "It's a fairly bold statement to make without having proper evidence".
"Why do you think Wartech invests billions of Kredits in it's bio-modification department? Why did they implant you with all that fancy tech?" The Commander asked, he sat back down and reclined slightly in his chair.
"To make us better, smarter, faster, stronger" Eddy answered, "We go on to become the heads of things, like the police or army!"
"And why should Wartech offer you so much and ask so little in return?" The man asked calmly. Eddy didn't have an answer, neither did any of the other kids. "The truth is; They train you to become tomorrows warrior, when the shit hits the fan anywhere in the world, who do they send in? Sure, the average soldier is sent in to deal with a small uprising in Gondwana or put down a riot here in Markarth. But, when Wartech's assets are in danger, specifically the one's they don't want people to know about, they send in their little slaves" The man spoke coolly.
"We aren't slaves!" Eddy said angrily, "We can do whatever we want, if we were slaves we wouldn't be here right now, would we?!"
"You're all slaves, you just don't know it, nor would you ever know it. You all have had neural surgery right?" the man touched the back of his head, where his head met his neck.
"Yeah, so? It's just a mod control system" Eddy said, confused at the sudden change of subject.
"That's what they told you. It is in fact two things, a mod controller as they said. But it is also a total systems override. When activated, you lose control of yourself, your brains higher functions go into a chemical coma, while they rest of your body is left to accept what ever prompt it is given by that little chip. They've probably done it to your several times and you couldn't have known." As the man spoke, the children felt the scars on their necks as the man continued, "Ever woken up one morning felling tired, muscles aching, really bad headache, probably remember some vague dream? That's the after effects of the override".
"You're lying! How the hell do you know all that?" Eddy demanded, his arms fell to his sides and his hands rolled into fists.
"Because it's happened so many times before. Wartech has been using this technique ever since the first bio-mods were developed." The Commander pulled out a folder from beneath his desk and opened for the children to see. On the front it said "System Override Module VII" "Inside you'll everything you need to know about what that chip does. And also the beginning of a mystery that I've been on for a few years now".
"Mystery? Like what? Why Wartech would do this?" Edd inquired as he picked up the folder.
"Just look at the dates, if you know your history, I'm sure your curiosity will be tempted" Commander Davidson spoke, grinning as he did so. "Now, please, I have a lot of work to do and little time to do it in. You'll find my Lieutenant waiting outside, I'm sure she'll be more than happy to show you around".
The children left the office and were back in the large room. Lieutenant Jakobe was talking to another woman, not far away. She noticed them and joined them, "How did your meeting with the commander go?" she asked.
"He gave us homework" Eddy said annoyed, Edd frowned at Eddy then turned to the Lieutenant.
"I have some stuff to read, is there a place I do so in peace?" he asked. Jakobe nodded and led them to a hallway, that had several doors to bedrooms.
"You'll be staying here until you decide to leave. Try to keep the noise down, the other bedrooms aren't too far away and the walls aren't sound proof. You can choose which rooms you want. If you need anything else just ask me, I'll mostly be in the conference room or my room, it's the third on the left in the hallway right of this one." The lieutenant explained.
"I wan to read this as soon as possible, so I'm going to stay here awhile" Edd said, holding up his folder.
"We're exhausted, so we're just gonna stay here too" Nazz spoke for Marie and herself.
"Well screw guys, Me and Ed are going out, huh Ed? Eddy said, "I want to get my gun back Eddy, let's go get that please, please please" Ed begged.
"Sure sure lumpy, I just have to do a few things first" Eddy replied, silencing Ed's cries. With that the group separated. Eddy and Ed returned to the cold streets of Lower Stratnigrad while Edd, and the girls stayed in the fairly warm bunker that was the GLA Headquarters.
Edd was sitting at the his desk, reading the file. He had spread out some of the sheets and photographs across the desk and was reading each one thoroughly. To anyone not in the know, the lines of words would have little sense, but Edd was able to make out a basic understanding what they were talking about. One sheet was a time-line of the development of the chip, from proto-type to the current model. This is where Edd's interest peaked.
"Eh? The first proto-type was put into use in 2210? But the first modified human was only revealed in 2249." Edd thought, he reached for a report on that model. "Model R has serious flaws and is prone to malfunction, patients often regained conciousness or fell into permanent comas. A more stable chip MUST be developed before the "Dead Men" project can begin."
"What the hell is the "Dead Men" project" Edd said under his breath, as he read on, he found numerous mentions of the "Dead Men" project but no explanation as to what it actually was, only that it was cancelled in 2240.
"Dead Men Project is now officially cancelled, all data on the project must be destroyed and the patients put into deep stasis. Storage of the patients must be carefully done, if one of them comes out of stasis the damaged chips will not work and the fail-safe is useless."
After that no more mention of the project comes up in any of the documents. "The hell is the "Dead Men" project, I have to ask the Commander" Edd thought. Edd briskly made his way to the Commander's office.
"Commander Davidson, I read the file and you were right. The dates don't make much sense but, what I really wanted to know was what the "Dead Men" project is" Edd said quickly.
The Commander smiled and reclined in his chair, "Please, take a seat" the commander motioned towards and old chair in the corner, Edd dragged it into place and sat down facing the commander.
"The Dead Men Project" he began, "Is a project by Wartech that I have been investigating very closely for the past several years. My investigation has led me onto several, very interesting, paths. All of which have led to dead ends. I found out a lot, but nothing that can get my very far."
"What did you find?" Edd asked, his curiosity was palpable.
"Wartech were developing a super soldier, I don't know the details but it was a forerunner to the biomods you have, but far more arcane. Unlike your mods, fitted around the body parts and fuelled by nanites, their limbs or organs were torn out and replaced by cybernetics. Skin twisted over their new metallic bodies, a truly hideous sight. We found this in the dune desert of Gondwana" Davidson said, he typed a few words into his computer.
There was an audible click from somewhere in the room, but Edd couldn't place it. The commander stood up and moved the GLA banner out of the way, revealing a safe. He removed from this safe a human skull. He placed it on his desk, facing Edd. The teen was amazed by what he saw, the skull was defiantly human, but the jaw bone was replaced by a metallic one. A portion of the right eye socket was missing and several wires were hanging from it. Upon closer inspection Edd could see dozens of scars on the face bones and more on the brain case.
"This looks like it could be from a Genetoo" Edd thought out loud, "This doesn't seem to out of place among them, but the Genetoo presence in Gondwana is still small and they don't hang around the desert much, not enough business".
"It could be Genetoo, only problem is that it's too old. The Genetoo only really came into existence 20 something years ago. This dates back to the Wars of Formation, in case you didn't pay any attention in history that was in 2235." The commander said, contradicting Edd's statement.
"I loved history lessons" Edd said, annoyed at the commander insulting his intelligence. "But anyway, maybe this was an early prototype, they Genetoo didn't just appear the way they are now" Edd offered.
"No, they only started bone replacement a few years ago. And the Genetoo didn't have a prototype, they just advanced with the technology, a bunch of guys who couldn't stop modding, getting whatever biomod they could get, legally or otherwise. You see the question that has been bothering me for years now." the commander returned. "However, it has come to our attention that more data on these "Dead Men" may have survived. A week ago we learnt where all this research had taken place, in Research Bunker G13. High in the hills of Gondwana. It was sealed and abandoned during the Wars of Formation when the a group of rebels tried to over take it. If anything can answer the question of this skull, it's in that bunker".
"How are you going to get it?" Edd asked, getting an idea of where the commander was leading.
The commander chuckled to himself, "That is why I brought you here, my young friend" The commander looked at Edd.
"Yeah, somehow I knew you wanted us free of Wartech for a reason other than just because you're such great guys" Edd said, sarcasm in his voice. "So how do we get to Gondwana, Wartech are looking for us and I doubt they'll just let us visit Gondwana after we've been missing for several days."
"We have a jet that'll take you there, right to where you want to be. I'd like you to head out as soon as possible, but I know you've been through a lot and if you wanted to stay a while to recover that's perfectly acceptable." The commander explained.
Edd realised how hungry he was, tired too. But he was a mood for learning, he wanted to gain more knowledge or at least pass on some of his own. "Thanks, I think I'm going to find some food then retire to my room for most of the day" Edd said, standing up and leaving. It had a few hours since Ed and Eddy had wondered off and Edd was beginning to worry, his worry was quickly removed when his phone went off in his pocket. It was Eddy calling.
"Hey Eddy, where are you?" Edd spoke into his phone.
"Hey, Dou.... D. Me and .... his minigu... and some do... .... back in a few..." Came Eddy's fractured response. Edd could only make out a few words over the static.
"I can't hear you Eddy, something's wrong with the signal" Edd spoke loudly to make sure it got through.
"The sig... always crappy......here Don't wor.....back soo" Eddy assured. Edd got the basic idea. Eddy and Ed had got Ed's gun and something else and would be back soon.
Edd arrived at his room and sat down, his quest for food had turned up nothing. It wasn't long until Eddy showed up, barging into Edd's room holding a box of food, junk food mostly, crisps (potato chips), soft drinks, sweets and chocolate.
"Where did you get all this stuff Eddy?" Edd asked looking over the food that he thought impossible to get in the Slums.
"Don't you pay any attention to what I say?" Eddy asked annoyed.
"I try to only catch the important bits, the rest usually is total trash" Edd mocked.
"Yeah, whatever sock-head. As I have said on many occasions: I have friends down here that can get you anything" Eddy replied, shaking a packet of crisps at Edd, "So try not to be so ignorant of my friends other than Ed and yourself or I might leave you out of future supplies" Eddy opened a can of drink and gulped it, "Damn that's good".
"You going to share any of this with the girls?" Edd asked, "I'm sure they'd be grateful".
Eddy rubbed his chin for a second, "The ladies do love a man with stuff and the ability to get more stuff. But they'd better be grateful, this stuff doesn't come cheaply down here".
So they group moved into the girls room to share their bounty of junk foods. Edd explained what the commander wanted of them, the girls were hesitant and took a little convincing from Eddy, who jumped on the chance to see the world. Ed was happy to follow his two best mates where ever they led him. The day past by quickly and before they it, it was night.
The commander had briefed them all on the mission basics and that they were free to leave whenever they chose, but did imply that sooner was better. The Ed trio had all the gear they needed in their packs they had lugging around for the last two days. The girls were fitted out with a few spare weapons the GLA had, two Socom pistols.
They sat in the conference room playing cards with some GLA guys, when a sweaty soldier ran past them and into the Commander's office. Only a second later, there was a loud boom that rocked the room. It came from the gate at the front, an alarm sounded and a red light started flashing. The GLA guys jumped up and quickly ran to get their weapons, as did the teens. The commander's voice sounded out over the speakers...
"We are being attacked by Wartech soldiers, everyone get to defensive positions ASAP. Wartech students come to my office immediately".
"That's us" Eddy said hearing the announcement. They grabbed their gear and, along with the girls arrived at the Commander's office. He was sweating a little and typing in several things on his computer, he looked up as the group arrived.
"Good, you're here. Looks like we'll have to cut your stay a little short. The soldiers are here to get you and arrest my men. You have to leave now!" The commander said franticly. "Follow me" he ordered. The teens followed him down several hallways, behind them they could hear gun shots as the Wartech and GLA soldiers met. They arrived in an underground hanger, instead of a runway there was a long tunnel that curved up slowly. A jet was waiting for them, it resembled a private jet but it's wings were folded in further.
"Lieutenant Jakobe!" The commander yelled to the pilot, "Get ready to take off now, take them to Gondwana Base H". Several more shots came down the hallway, "Dammit they're getting here fast" thought the commander. A small group of GLA soldiers came down the hallway, one came over to the the commander, breathing heavily.
"Commander" the soldier saluted, "The Wartech troops have taken most of the base. We need to get you to safety". The other GLA troops fired down the hallway, then ducked as a volley was returned on them. One bullet hit a soldier in the leg, the soldier fell down on one knee, but ignored the pain and continued to fire.
"Don't worry about me, just hold off those bastards for a few more minutes" the commander ordered, he had to yell over the loud gun fire just a few metres away. The soldier nodded then returned to his small group and began firing. A GLA soldier was shot in the head, blowing a large section of his away away, blood spattered on the floor and his body fell to the ground with a thump and splat.
Ed walked over to the down soldier and took his place, he began spinning his mini-gun then squeezed the trigger. It made a sound like no other gun, it was more like a chain-saw, the Wartech soldiers were hiding behind the corners, but Ed's mini-gun blew chunks out of the wall and hit most of the soldiers. The hallway was quickly filled with dust from the demolished walls, a puff of red dust signalled that a soldier had been hit, a section of him minced by the volume of ammunition. A stray shot was fired by one of the survivors, it ricocheted down the hall and hit Ed in his right pec. The force surprised Ed, but little else. Ed ignored the pain and released another volley, a few more puffs of red smoke. The loud chaining of Ed's gun finally stopped as he ran dry of ammo.
"There you go guys, that should make it a little easier " Ed said cheerfully walking back to join his friends. The GLA soldiers just gawked at Ed, surprised how he could just kill several people and still be blissfully happy.
The commander hurried the teens into the jet, which quickly took off. It wasn't flying, but driving down the tunnel at immense speed. The entire crafty was shaking as it rocketed down the long tunnel, finally, a light at the end. The craft blasted out of the hole at the end, into the night sky, it roared upward to cruising attitude above the clouds. Eddy was trying to hold onto his lunch, his face a sickly green. Nazz had already lost hers into a bag thoughtfully placed on her seat. Ed wasn't so lucky and had thrown up onto his lap,
"Eww, Eddy I gotta change. This is just too much" Ed complained as he felt his own sick soaking through his clothes. "Hey, I don't remember eating that!" Ed was examining his vomit and it's contents, "Hey! I wondered where this gum went" Ed picked out a small pink blob of gum from his vomit and put it back into his mouth.
"Ed! That's frikin disgusting man!" Eddy yelled as he watched Ed do this. It finally pushed Eddy's stomach contents too far and Eddy threw up into his bag. "This is the foulest flight I have ever been on. I'm walking home once this is over with, you bastards" Eddy said as he cleared puke from his mouth. "Never again, never again, never again" Eddy kept mumbling to himself.
(A/N) Well, there it is. It's been months since I updated, sorry. But I just moved to Australia and gotten my computer back, so I'll update more often now, especially now that I'm finished with school and have a lot of free time on my hands. I hope you prefer the new writing style, it should make things a bit easier to read and it helps the dialogue flow easier I find.
Let me know what you think.
