Shogou watched as the two choppers departed from the ship. "I hope those guys will be alright," he said to himself as he walked back to the bridge. He met up with the Commander Mark in the control room. He was standing by one of the windows watching as the choppers disappeared into the distance. The Commander heard Shogou approach so he turned around to face him.
"What do you think are the odds of them coming back?" he asked.
"They've been through a lot together. I think they'll be alright." responded Shogou.
"And what about that thing that killed the Captain?"
"They will track him down and kill him. I can't stand traitors. If I were with them I would put the final blow on him myself. Damned demon." said Shogou darkly.
"I understand your sentiments. But that aside, what are you plans now?" asked the Commander.
"We need to form an alliance. If that group fails to stop the portal and Nightbane, we are going to need to formulate another plan of action. These zombies and other such creatures which have been released pose a major threat to the entire world. Most of the world's major powers have been crippled by this virus or whatever it is. The governments are in disarray or infected themselves. Their militarizes are not functioning. And yet I know of one force besides ours that may be able to combat this threat. They are the Specters." answered Shogou.
"Those mercenary bastards? They're ruthless. All they do is fight for money. They're a bunch of cold blooded..." the Commander trailed off.
"We don't need heroes right now. Our heroes are about to fly into the fight of their lives. If they complete their mission the flow of these creatures will stop. And yet the world will still be filled with those things. Some survivors may still be out there fighting, but if they are they are fighting defensively. We need to go on the offense and bring the fight to them. And that's what the Specters do best."
"I see your point. Very well then, I approve of your mission. Seek out the Specters and bring them to our side. I will supply you with six of my men and one of our choppers. Do what you have to, but be careful when dealing with cutthroats." said the Captain. Shogou nodded his assent.
"Will do, Commander," replied Shogou.
"I'll monitor our boys going to war. Go, but be safe," said the Commander turning from Shogou and going over to one of his Lieutenants to begin planning. From below a chopper could be heard spinning up.
Shogou left the bridge and went down to the flight deck where he met the six soldiers in front of the awaiting chopper. They were all dressed in full battle gear with helmets that had optical eye pieces attached to them. They wore black flak jackets that were covered with full magazine pouches, grenades, and combat knives. They all carried M-4 Carbines. One of them stepped forward, removed his helmet, and extended his hand. Shogou shook it firmly.
"The name's Sebastian. I'm the team leader of this group. We're yours to command. We've fought these things before and we've heard of your exploits. It's an honor to serve under you," said the solider.
"Doesn't mean anything till I see you guys in battle, so let's skip the formalities. Load up." The group nodded and boarded the chopper. Shogou got clearance from the tower and they took off.
The group flew for what seemed hours when a voice from the com system spoke up. "Unidentified aircraft, you have entered restricted air space. Identify yourself or you will be shot down." The chopper was hovering over a large military base that was currently under attack. Zombies and other creatures were attempting to scale the walls, but Specters on top of the walls fended them off. Bright flashes of gunfire and explosions surrounded the base.
"Don't you have other problems to handle at the moment?" asked Shogou observing the carnage below him.
"Not recognized," replied the speaker from the com system. Alarms began to blare in the cockpit. "Missile lock!" yelled Shogou. He wanked on the control stick while at the same time deploying chaff. A missile streaked past the windshield and exploded in the distance. A near miss. Sweat began to stream down Shogou's face as he attempted to dodge the incoming anti-air fire. The sweat was beginning to blur his vision so Shogou reached up with one hand and wiped the sweat from his eye, but as he did so his hand left the control stick for a brief moment and in that moment the chopper was hit by anti-air fire. "We're hit! Bail out, bail out!" he screamed. The chopper began to spin out of control. Seeing that any attempt to regain control of the helicopter was futile, he unstrapped himself from his seat and clamored back to the passenger bay. The hatches were already open and explosions and strange creatures could be seen through them. The soldiers had already unbuckled, strapped on their flight gear, and exited the chopper. Shogou got on his and with a loud shout of "Banzai!" jumped out of the chopper.
The air was filled with explosions and those flying creatures that were assailing the Specters defending the walls. The helicopter exploded in the air after being hit by another missile. Shogou barely dodged the falling debris. He keyed his comlink. "Black Knights, report in!"
"BK Two reporting in," replied Sebastian.
"BK Four here," replied another.
"BK Three's chute didn't deploy. He didn't make it." replied BK Five.
"Six is here." said another voice.
"This is Seven! My suit's been damaged! I can't control my dececnt, I'm falling too quickly! He-" his voice cut out in a burst of static.
"Gundam it! All remaining Knights, form up on me. They need our help down there. Let's go. Watch out for anti-air fire and those flying things." said Shogou.
They were gliding two thousand feet above the air. With their flight suits they formed up beside Shogou and flew though the air, avoiding the enemy fire and the flying creatures. When they reached the one thousand feet mark one of the Knights were hit by anti-air fire and his suit burst into flame. At that moment one of the creatures picked up that somebody was wounded and moved in for the kill. The creature impacted him and began biting at him. The two wrestled in the air, but the solider had lost control and him and the creature fell from the sky.
"BK Four, come in! BK Four!" yelled Sebastian into his com-link, but there was no response.
Shogou glanced at his altimeter. 400ft it read. "Let 'em rip!" ordered Shogou and in unison four parachutes opened up and the soldiers drifted to the ground. They were floating directly into the horde that was trying to breach the base perimeter walls. "This isn't good." thought Shogou to himself. "Drop frags onto our LZ!" he yelled. The soldiers ripped frag grenades from their vests, pulled the pins, and let them drop. The grenades blew a hole in the swarming zombies and the soldiers landed in the center of them all. They immediately disengaged their parachutes and opened fire on the surrounding zombies.
"We've got to get to the main gate! Push forward!" yelled Shogou over the roar of their guns.
"We're trying, but there are a lot of these things!" responded Sebastian.
The group ran for the main gate, fire at the same time, trying to keep the zombies and flying creatures at bay. They made it to the gate, but they were shut closed. They started to bang on them, all the while keeping up fire at the approaching creatures. They fired and fired and fired, but there seemed to be no end to them. Eventually they ran out of ammo and were forced to pull out their melee weapons. "Might as well go out in a blaze of glory." thought Shogou to himself. "Banzai!" he yelled as he prepared to run into the horde, but as soon as he took off, he was stopped dead in his tracks by a wall of gunfire in front of him. The gunfire was raining down from above as the Specters on the walls covered him by spraying massive amounts of lead. Suddenly the gates opened and out streamed the Specters. They formed a line and opened fire. They were led by a giant of a man. He wielded a massive metal shield and he carried an M-240 medium machine gun. On his back there was a huge sword. As Shogou was watching the spectacle in amazement, he was tackled to the ground. A infected dog was on top of his chest and was attempting to tear out his throat when a blur flashed over his head and kicked the dog. A woman in a green and white dress with flowing red hair was standing over him. She assumed a stance and leapt into the crowd of zombies. The other three Black Knight soldiers ran by his side and dragged him backwards into the base. Shogou, not one to be left out of the fight drew his pistol and fired back into the zombies as the rest of the Specters retreated back into the base along with the giant and the red haired woman. Even though the gates had shut the firing from the walls did not let up as the zombies continued their assault. Shogou got up and brushed himself off. He looked up and saw that the sky was swarming with those creatures.
"To the walls!" yelled the giant.
On his command, the Specters that had came out to save the Black Knights rushed back up the stairs and began firing on the flying creatures. The Black Knights joined them. There were two machine guns set up on pillars gunning down the flying creatures. One of them was hit but continued on it's path straight into a Specter who had his back turned on the wall. The creature collided with the Specter and sent him plummeting over the wall where he was quickly torn to pieces. One of the machine gunners sighted in on an incoming flying creature and fired, but the creature evaded. The creature flew down and with it's mouth open wide, took off the head of the Specter who fell off his post and landed in the compound. Another Specter immediately ran up and took his spot. The soldiers picked up rifles from the fallen Specters and assisted in the fight, meanwhile Shogou ran along the wall looking for the giant who he believed who was the leader. He found the giant pouring fire into the creatures attempting to scale the wall.
"Are you the leader of this group?" asked Shogou.
"Yeah, but I should be asking you the questions." said the giant. "Why are you at my base?"
"We came to enlist your help. But it looks like you all are in quite the situation." responded Shogou.
"We can handle our own." said the giant as he continued to fire at the enemy.
The sounds of something large could be heard pounding on the wall. One of the Specters ran up to the giant covered in blood and bleeding from multiple gashes.
"Brick, the gate's not going to hold them back much longer, we've got to get out of here. The base is lost!" said the Specter breathlessly.
Brick looked around and saw the Specters nearest him looking at him also. They were tired and they were running low on ammunition. They knew that they would not be able to hold on much longer. Brick looked back at Shogou.
"Looks like we're both in a perdiciment here. You have no way to leave, and we have no where to go. I think we can work out a deal. Take us to where you came from and I'll give you a ride out of here. We can discuss negotiations later. Right now, I need to get my men out of here."
Shogou nodded when suddenly the entire ground shook. The Specters were thrown to the bottom wall. The main gate was breached by a huge monstrosity. It was a Tank. A huge mutated zombie and there were others behind it. The horde began to swarm into the base.
"Damn! Fall back to the Ospreys! The base is lost!" he yelled and alarms began to blare. The Specters that were remaining on the wall began to run for the lower decks but were being picked off by the flying creatures now that they had stopped firing at them.
"You and your men are coming with me. They're not going to take my base... Intact." He ran off and Shogou along with his men followed him. The flowing red haired woman followed them along with another one of his Specters.
"At you about to blow it?" she asked.
"Yeah," replied Brick as they ran past the Ospreys that were on the landing strip waiting for the retreating Specters.
They ran into a long corridor into a control room. "Cover me," said Brick as he typed commands into a computer. The group did as such. The red haired woman watched his back while Shogou, the other Specter, and his men went to the doorway. The zombies had breached the facility and were running down the hallway. The recently fallen Specters were along with them, their wounds still bleeding.
"Open fire!" yelled Shogou and they did as such, tripping up the first wave. The second wave ran through the falling second wave and closed in. It was lead by a Nemesis.
"Damn it, Dugger told me about those things. We don't have the weapons to take that thing out, we have to go now!" yelled Shogou. The red haired woman appeared in the door way and walked out. "What is she doing?" asked Sebastien, lowering his weapon since he didn't want to shoot the woman.
"That's Meiling. She can handle it." said the Specter beside them.
"Let's see what she got."
The second wave halted when they saw the woman, it was as if they were stunned. But it was only temporarily, they swarmed around the woman as she assumed a martial arts stance. The horde attacked, reaching out with undead arms towards her. She reacted. She grabbed one zombie by the arm, spun it around and tossed it down the hallway, taking out a long line of zombies. The Nemesis swung at her with one huge clawed arm. Meiling jumped up and ran down the creatures arm. She sat on it's head, reached down with her arms grabbing the creature around it's waist, and flipped it over, crushing many zombies that were near it. She jumped up in the air and brought her heels down directly on the Nemesis head, crushing it completely. She dodged another swipe from a zombie and ducked low, grabbing it's leg and tearing it off. The zombie fell to the ground. With decaying leg in hand, Meiling wielded it as if were a baseball bat. She swung hard at the skull of one zombie shattering it along with the leg. She broke the leg in half and used them both as clubs. She swung every which way taking out many zombies in the process. The group looked at her in awe, all except the Specter. By that time, the computer system spoke up and announced that there was 10 minutes remaining until the facility self destructed.
"Time to go," said Brick. And with that the group took off down the hallway racing towards the landing strip. It was a scene of chaos. There were zombies everywhere. The bodies of the fallen Specters littered the ground. Some of them were still stirring. Crashed and burning Ospreys littered the landing area. There was a lone one sitting on the tarmac. They ran towards it. The blades of it were already whirling. There were a group of Specters around it firing at anything that approached. The group ran up into the back of it and the Specters who were defending it did the same. The hatch closed up.
"Get us out of here!" ordered Brick to the pilot.
The Osprey began it's assent into the sky.
"Get on the guns, those Slythers are still around." said Brick.
"Slythers?" asked Shogou.
"The flying creatures," answered Meiling.
Shogou and Brick went up front into the cockpit as the Specters manned the mini-guns and began firing at the Slythers who were beginning to attack the craft.
"How many made it?" asked Brick to the pilot.
"About six, sir. The others were either taken out on the ground or they were brought down. It was pretty bad."
"Damn, there were twenty Ospreys too... Get us to the rally point, from there we'll regroup." said Brick.
The pilot nodded, switched the propellers to airplane mode and flew off as the base detonated in a ball on nuclear flame.
They soon reached the rally point. There were six other Ospreys hovering in the air. They were all scarred in someway from escaping from the base.
"All craft, report in." ordered Brick.
The com-link crackled to life.
"Uniform Six Six, standing by."
"Uniform Four Eight, standing by."
"Uniform One Three, all systems are green."
"Uniform Five Nine, reporting in."
"Uniform Victor Three, we have wounded aboard."
"Uniform Two Eight, standing by."
"Alright then, follow our lead. We'll take you to our new home." said Shogou.
The Ospreys got into position behind Shogou's Osprey and flew out to sea. They saw the carrier in the distance. Shogou got on the comlink and asked for clearance to land. It was granted. They touched down on the aircraft carrier and opened the hatches. Medical crews had stretchers waiting for the wounded on Uniform Victor. When the hatches opened on that one, it was a sight to see. There was blood everywhere. The wounded Specters lay unconscious on the deck. The non wounded ones helped them onto the stretchers and took them down to medical. The Specters went down below to an open berthing bay while Shogou, Brick, Meiling, Sebastien, and the other Specter who was with them went to the bridge. Commander Mark was hunched over a communication system. He turned to Shogou, ignoring the others.
"We've lost contact with Black Knight One and Two." said the Commander.
"What? What was the last transmission you received from them?" asked Shogou.
The comm operator pressed a button and the speakers activated.
"We're hit! BK Two is hit! I repeat BK Two is going down!" screamed the pilot. "Brace for impact!" yelled Kanade.
"The transmission ends there," said the comm operator.
"That's all I need to hear. We're going to get them." said Shogou.
"And we're going with you." said Brick. "We owe you, and it's time to pay you back."
Shogou nodded.