Hey, I'm back! Despite being so busy most of the time, I often try to sneak away from my everyday tasks to focus on "priorities", XD. Anyways, here's to a new chapter!
Mordecai went to the Aletheia complex following Mia. They used their elevator keycards to access the secret military floor in the underground portion of the building. It was there that they went to the Commander's desk.
"Good morning, Commander." Said Mia.
The Commander looked up from his laptop, "Ah, Agent Mia." He said, "Good to see you again."
"Yes," said Mia, "Agent Mordecai's here to be issued his weapons and given an office."
The Commander nodded, "Alright, let's see where to put you…" he muttered while looking at something on his laptop, "…well, if you're interested, we have a place on the Alpha Team open. There's also some spots in the Foxtrot, Kilo, November, Tango, or Victor Teams as well."
"I'll take the spot in the Alpha Team." Said Mordecai, knowing he would be able to work alongside Mia, whom he was most acquainted with in the department.
"Alright," said the Commander, "I'll set everything up and inform the Alpha Team's Captain. Just head over to their wing, and Captain Perkins will take it from there."
Mordecai and Mia proceeded to a different section of the military floor with doors widely spaced apart and with the letters of the alphabet above each one. They went into the first door marked with the letter "A", went down a corridor, and entered some sort of rec room. Two humans were playing air-hockey, an anthropomorphic fox was sitting on the couch with a laptop, next to him was a human girl reading a book, on an armchair was another male human sharpening a large bowie knife, and sitting in a corner with a pump-action shotgun was another human, making adjustments to the firearm.
Mia immediately went straight to a man with dark brown hair sitting in a chair behind a small chrome desk, looking at a screen on the surface of the desk. "Excuse me, Captain. I've come with the recruit the Commander should have informed you of." She said.
Captain Perkins looked up, "Oh, yes…" he said, "…pleasure to welcome you to the A.T.L.A.S. Alpha Team. I'm Chris Perkins, Captain of the squad. Allow me to escort you to your designated office, and and I'll have Steve and Marty pull some guns 'n rounds outta the arsenal for you; you're gonna need 'em for something we're working on."
"Alright," said Mordecai, "will do."
Captain Perkins stood up, "Hey, Steve! Marty!" he said.
The two playing air-hockey immediately rushed over to the Captain, "Yes, sir!" the both said simultaneously.
"I need you two to head into the armory and get the new agent here a pistol, shotgun, and assault rifle." Said Captain Perkins, "And make sure you get them from the 'approved' section this time! We can't have another agent with defective weapons!"
"Yes, sir!" the two repeated, before immediately taking the door Mordecai and Mia entered in.
"Please," said Captain Perkins, "right this way." And he took a different door beside the area his desk was in. Behind it was a short hall with many doors. He led Mordecai into a door about halfway down the hall, and inside was a large office. I had a chrome desk, bookcase, couch, visitors' chairs, virtually all the furniture was chrome, which seemed to be a theme of Aletheia's, as well as glowing white floors, walls, and ceilings.
"You seem surprised." Said Captain Perkins.
In truth, Mordecai was, even 3 days later, still surprised. "Well, yeah, I really like this sci-fi look to the place. It's like 'Hey, beam me up!'."
Captain Perkins and Mordecai both laughed, "Yeah, well, just wait here and those two knuckleheads should come back with your firearms."
"Alright." Said Mordecai, before Captain Perkins left the room.
Mordecai examined everything in the room; no doubt this was far better than working at the park. He finally gets to utilize up-to-the-minute technology, with less annoyance and physical effort, and the people here seemed more compatible for his standards. He picked up a pamphlet sitting on his desk which had basic information about the Aletheia Military department. He knew that the firearms they used had to be customized and modified to a certain degree, but he never knew it would be so strict; he found the requirements each agent's sidearm had to retain:
All Aletheia Military issue sidearms must:
-Be chambered in 9x19 Parabellum, or .40 Smith & Wesson.
-Have a magazine capacity of at least 13 rounds.
-Have fixed sights and dotted posts.
-Be capable of producing at least a 2 inch grouping within 25 yards, with no variation after 3,000 rounds.
-Be capable of double-action firing.
-Be completely ambidextrous.
-When magazine is removed, not exceed 35 ounces in weight.
Apparently, after many years of trials and tests, Aletheia chose a heavily modified Beretta 92FS inox pistol, which had many features and improvements not available on a standard pistol of the same model. Mordecai thought it was quite a good advantage to have only the best equipment available for them.
Mordecai had just finished reading when Steve and Marty came into the room, one of them holding a pistol case and a large rifle case, and the other holding another rifle case identical to the other one. They set them next to the door.
"These are your arms. Bear them well. Utilize their full potential." Said one of them.
"Uh, dude," said the other, "you can just say 'here's your guns, take care of them…whatever.' Anyways, glad you're with the team, man!" He said to Mordecai on the last sentence.
"Hey, thanks!" said Mordecai. And with that, the two left the office.
A few seconds later, Captain Perkins entered again, "Alright, Agent Mordecai, we need you to come to the mission briefing." He said.
Mordecai raised a brow, "Mission briefing? We already have an assignment?" he asked.
"Yes, this is the life of an agent; stuff comes up when you least expect it. Now, come on!" said Captain Perkins.
Mordecai immediately followed Captain Perkins to a briefing room in a door at the end of the hallway. About half of the team was there, and in seconds, the whole team was present.
"Alright, everyone." Said Captain Perkins, before the room dimmed and the reflective wall behind him lit up, revealing to be a screen, "As most of you know, we are currently on the trail of Paul Blaylock, who has stolen the samples of Virus-J from the Aletheia Health and Pharmaceuticals department." As he spoke, a database and picture came up pertaining to the person Mordecai least expected it to be.
Paul! Margaret's new husband! This perplex Mordecai to an outrageous level; he was the one costing Aletheia lots of money? He was the target of the A.T.L.A.S. Alpha Team? Who could've guessed?
The Captain continued to speak, "Currently, our objectives are simple; locate Blaylock, apprehend him, and retrieve the Virus-J samples. And it must be done quickly."
"What is he doing with a virus we manufactured?" asked the fox.
"Well," Captain Perkins continued, " from what our sources tell us, he's been using the genetic information of the samples to clone the pathogen, and create viral weaponry. We've only recently discovered that he is involved in a massive medical terrorist group known as Eclipse. Not only that, but we don't know yet how to locate him…"
Mordecai put his hand in the air, "Captain! I've seen Blaylock! I know where he is!"
Captain Perkins' eyes widened, "Really? If so, then where would he be?" he asked.
Mordecai walked up to the screen, and selected the "Map" tab. A satellite view of Fresco appeared on the screen. After it loaded, Mordecai choose the "Pen" option.
"Okay," said Mordecai, "I know he will probably be spending time with his wife at the park I used to work at on Fridays." He said, circling the perimeter of the Park, "Believe me; they come there every Friday."
The Alpha Team all started to speak to each other anxiously, "Tomorrow's Friday!" said one of the humans.
"Alright!" said Captain Perkins, "We will request the other squads to assist in establishing a perimeter around the park overnight. We will be using normal road vehicles loaded with weapons and ammunition. We will let Blaylock in, but once he's in, do not, I repeat, do not let him get away!"
"Yes, sir!" the Alpha Team said.
"Good! Well, time for you all to continue preparing for tomorrow; we got a busy day after today." Said Captain Perkins.
"What about the police? Can't they handle it?" Mordecai asked.
Captain Perkins laughed, "Oh, Agent Mordecai, in case you oughta know…Aletheia actually holds more authority than even the police!"
Mordecai was shocked, even skeptical, about this, "Really?" he asked.
"Yep." Said many people in the Alpha Team.
Everyone left the briefing room, and Mordecai, now feeling like he had more power than ever (power enough to rid him of his pain and suffering he had gone through back at the park), can put that love-stealer in his rightful place! This was truly, beyond any form of doubt whatsoever, the best thing Mordecai has been informed of. Yet…
Unbeknownst to the Alpha Team, or anyone for that matter, Paul Blaylock had bugged the A.T.L.A.S. briefing rooms much earlier after knowing where Mordecai had gone. He became aware of the plans made, and put together a defense with his countless friends. If Aletheia dared to try and arrest him, he would be ready, and they would pay the ultimate price for what has been done to him all his life…
Sounds like things are about to get ugly! And I really hate to leave it at a cliffhanger. But, things happen, and we just have to deal with it, and busy lives…one of which, I have. Anyways, tune in within a week for another chapter! Keep holding on…