Prologue: Rise of the Terror Guard
Chapter 9: Sienna Olsen
22:00 Hours, Day 6
"When we get to the facility, do we know what to expect?" Logan inquired as the helicopter flew the F.E.A.R. team to their destination. "The size of the enemy forces there, their defenses, anything? I don't remember from the shoddy briefing we were given."
Jin nodded slowly, "We know what to expect. Armacham is going to try as hard as they can to push us back. They know if we get our hands on that facility, we will grow exponentially. Our rules of engagement are simple. We don't fire unless fired upon. We're saboteurs today, Wasp is going to land us a fair distance from the sight and we're going to infiltrate the facility on foot. We're working our way to the control room and deactivating the automated defenses so that the Replicas can move in and help us secure the place. Luckily for us, we have the schematics for the place. There's an underground passageway that leads to a church in the nearby sector. Chances are Armacham already knows of this way, so we're going to be landing a few klicks out from its location."
"We can never get a break, can we? They're always one step ahead of us." Michelle huffed.
Logan bit his lip, his reply swift. "I don't think I'd call it being one step ahead of us. For all we know, they might not be there, but if they are, I'm sure the Point Man already has formulated a strategy."
"Approaching LZ in five, get ready, F.E.A.R." Wasp informed them over their headsets.
"So we're landing in an urban environment and legging it to the church, where there's an underground passage. What the fuck's up with Armacham and underground facilities and passageways?" Logan asked, though Michelle only chuckled.
"If you wanted to hide something, you'd choose to do it underground too. It's not like anyone is going to be digging that deep into the earth." She spoke up, "There's only one flaw with it, and that's that they made it rather easy for us to find out about this passageway. My only concern is what if it's booby-trapped."
Jin shook her head, "I doubt it's rigged. It wouldn't make sense, though if there aren't any guards I'd be suspicious. Plus, it's not our only option. It's just the best and easiest option. If it's impassable, we can always redirect to the good ol' Plan B."
"What's Plan B?" Logan asked, though he saw the Point Man's response, which was tapping a grenade on his chest. "Forget I asked..."
Those five minutes went by in a flash. The helicopter stabilized and they fast-roped onto the ground one by one, with the Point Man being the first out of the helicopter. The street was abandoned, though littered with debris and corpses. The war in Fairport had taken its toll on everything. Cars were destroyed, houses were beaten up and leveled to the ground, civilians lay dead on the streets beside Mercs and Replicas alike. It was a sad sight, really, as the war had taken the lives of innocents that didn't deserve death. The statistics were bad, really, as obviously there were more than just adults inhabiting Fairport. But at least they would have died quickly. At least, that is what the Point Man had hoped. Just because he was raised under harsh conditions and was meant to be a super soldier didn't mean he didn't have feelings and thoughts like any other human. In fact, it were those very thoughts and emotions that reminded him that he was still human when everything else pointed towards him being otherwise.
The last one down was Logan, and after that the rope they had slid down was pulled back up and Wasp took off. "Good luck out there, guys! See you at extraction!"
"Right back at you, Waspy pal." Logan said before falling in as the Point Man took the lead down the street.
"Alright, everyone form up on the Point Man. Keep it professional." Jin ordered before setting an example for them by falling silent and hurrying to follow the man in lead.
These streets were a mess, and the bodies lying everywhere only made things worse as they had to navigate through them. Not to mention it was actually painful to see so many innocent lives taken from the world for nothing more than multiple large mistakes made by a company in it for the money. But they had to push such things aside. They had to stay focused on the mission at hand. Once they took the Replica production facility for themselves, they'd be able to move on to the Airport and kick Armacham out of Fairport for good. Once Armacham was out of the picture, they could create a nice and safe place for whatever citizens remained.
These things ran through everyone's minds. What would the United States' response be? Would they have to fight more than just Armacham to secure their place in Fairport? They knew the city was blockaded ever since the whole situation with Fettel developed, so it wasn't necessarily hard to believe that risks to the city would remain even with Armacham out of the picture. It was troubling, and when one thought about it, it really brought scale to the situation at hand. Ultimately, though, such thoughts didn't really pose anything to them at the current time. They just had to worry about Armacham. No one would make a move until Armacham was out of the city, and so they had some time to think about how to respond if anyone did get uppity about them taking over the city.
After a decent amount of time walking at a brisk pace, they had the church in their sights. They could see the sentries posted there, and how they more or less had a 360 view of the entire place. It was going to be difficult to sneak into it, but with their weaponry suppressed it wouldn't be too hard. They could take them out one by one and just hope that their buddies didn't see or hear them fall to the ground. And even if it went to hell, there was always the loud way of doing things. The Point Man didn't really have a preference. He'd be able to get through either one if he really had to.
"We have two in the bell tower." Logan pointed out, "Two in front of the doors, two on the bottom of the steps leading up to the doors."
Jin nodded, "Alright. Logan, Michelle, do you two think you can take the guys out in the bell tower?" She inquired softly.
"Yeah." Michelle stated, "I know I can. But we're going to have to use one of the houses for elevation. I don't like taking a shot at this angle. Too much room for mistakes."
Logan nodded, "She's right. We're going to sneak into one of the houses, maybe get on the rooftops and take it from there."
"Alright. Good. Whilst you two take out the ones in the tower, the Point Man and I are going to work on neutralizing those in front of the doorways." Jin informed the two, "If we're quick enough, they'll hit the ground before they knew what hit them. There's no telling how many are inside of the church, and we don't want to shake the hive too much, if you catch my drift."
"We won't be shaking anything, ma'am." Logan said softly, "We got this."
Jin sighed softly as she walked up to the Point Man after the two had moved to a building they found to be suitable to their needs, "If this goes wrong... Are you sure we can salvage this?"
"I took out the greater portion of a Replica army on my own, Jin, and that's not even talking about what my mother has thrown at me." Jackson said with a huff as his eyes never left the guards, "These Armacham grunts won't be standing in my way for long, no matter which way this goes."
"Do you really think we can trust Alma after everything she's put us through?" The woman asked as she bit her lip, looking up at the man.
"I don't think it matters what I think. I'm a soldier. You're a soldier. We're all soldiers. We follow orders, we don't give them." He replied, "It's about time you stop worrying about what we're doing and just focus on the tasks we're given. In the end, it won't make a difference who is in charge, it'll all be the same. Innocents get hurt whilst agendas flare. Just look at me. I didn't ask for this life. It was chosen for me at the very start."
And with that he started to move, not giving the two enough time to get into position, but they would have to make due. All they were doing in the end was killing time. It didn't matter if they had brought Armacham's attention to the church or not. What mattered in the end was that they were pushed out of the factory so that the Replicas could take it over again. Jackson wondered about a lot of things as he moved about the streets, getting closer to the church. He wondered if he was being too harsh for Jin. If what he said was even the right words he wanted to speak to her. He didn't really know, but ultimately there wasn't anything he could do about it. He just had to hope she understood. After all, one of the things he told her was that he would have to learn how to be like any other human. He couldn't just change over night. He wasn't even meant to be in relationships of any kind. All he was meant to do was to be the best soldier that there ever was. A weapon. Not a person, but a damned tool for the government, or Armacham to use.
He also thought about Jin's words, though, about if they could trust Alma or not. He didn't really know his mother well enough to answer that question honestly. He wanted to say that they could, and it was very likely that was true. After all, Armacham was the real bad guys in the whole situation. They had wider influence than any independent organization should ever be allowed. But again, that wasn't something he could really decide. That was beyond his capabilities. All he really knew was that because Armacham existed, so too did his mother, and so too did he. In his book, that made them the bad guys, worse than even his mother who had went on a genocidal rampage not that long ago. And so?
He began firing upon the guards of the church whilst Logan and Michelle rushed to take those in the tower out. They couldn't give them any time to get organized, and they certainly couldn't allow them to alert the people inside. The suppressed weapons that the F.E.A.R. team were carrying would allow them to take the mercenaries out without any issue, and indeed that is what happened. The two operatives stationed upon the rooftop of a nearby house had taken their shots, ultimately killing the Armacham soldiers in the tower, and the Point Man singlehandedly slaughtered the four guarding the entrance. It was an effective effort, one that paid off in the end.
"Everyone regroup on the Point Man's location. We need to get inside the church before their patrols arrive." Jin ordered as she moved to Jackson's position, quickly looking around as she started to cross the street to the church.
Soon enough the entire F.E.A.R. team had regrouped, and prepared to make their entrance into the church. There they'd be able to get access to the facility through the secret underground tunnel. They were making steady progress, and such a thing was good for their records. They weren't that far from winning the battle of Fairport. They just had a few more pushes and they'd secure the Replica facility and be able to move to more important objectives like the Airport.
"Breaking news! In the bustling American metropolis of Fairport, warfare has broken out! Currently, the American government has issued a lockdown of the city, preventing anyone from entering or leaving. It is unknown at this time who the belligerents are in the fighting, but it is known that United States military personnel have entered the city in hopes to quell the fighting. Recently, there has been reports of a nuclear explosion of some type within the city's limits, originating in the Auburn District of the city. The situation has garnered international attention, as many countries are fearful that such an event may not be isolated. Everyone knows that Fairport is home to the Armacham Technology Corporation's headquarters. The international business giant has denied all accusations of being a part of the issue, stating that whilst they are sending their own forces into the city to assist the U.S. government in containing the mess, they have had no part in the starting of the 'firestorm.' Whether this is true or not, is being debated by multiple theorists worldwide, as it seems unlikely..."
"Unlikely is an understatement." A woman huffed in her native tongue, which was Norwegian, as she tossed her emptied beer bottle to the floor and stood up, stretching her body out as she did so.
She was a tall woman, standing at about 6 feet, and she had a rather strong build to her. She was by no means 'muscular,' but that didn't mean she couldn't hold her own in a fight. She had long blonde hair that had been pulled back lazily into a ponytail, and it complimented her blue eyes rather nicely. She had various tattoos on her body, including one on her right arm in the shape of a hammer. Mjölnir to be exact.
It didn't take her long to finish stretching, sighing as she lazily made her way to the kitchen where she could get another beer. That was her plan, at least, until she heard her cellphone ring. She cursed audibly, making her way to it as it sat charging on the countertop.
She picked it up and answered it, already knowing who was calling. "Yes?" She inquired bluntly as she opened her fridge and cracked open another beer, this one in a can.
"Sienna. We have to talk." The woman on the other end stated bluntly, "It's about the situation on Fairport, I'm sure you have heard of it."
"Of course I've heard of it. The entire city is a warzone. What do you want, Aristide?" The woman asked as she took a drink, "I told you never to contact me again. Not after the job in Brazil. Ever since I lost Aarne because of your fuck up, I want nothing to do with you or your damned company."
"It's a simple extraction mission, Sienna. You don't have to worry about anything else, but I need you to get me out of here. The Board of Directors has sent Richard Vanek after me. I need to get out of here so that I can persuade them to spare my life... I'm offering two million." Aristide stated rather hastily, "I don't have long, are you coming or not?"
"I'm not really interested in cash, Genevieve. You lot got Aarne killed. I don't want to ever work for you again." The woman stated rather sternly, her patience starting to wear thin.
Aristide sighed, "Look, what happened in Brazil had nothing to do with me. You know I wouldn't have allowed it to happen, but the operation there wasn't under my jurisdiction. The Board of Directors were in charge of that. They made the choices. I'm sorry that Prince Hansen had to die, but there was nothing I could do about it. I can give you whatever you wish, but I need to get out of here. You don't understand how bad the situation is."
"Fine." Sienna growled, "I'll fly over and get your ass out of there, but after that? You can forget I ever existed. I'm done dealing with you people. What happened in Brazil? What happened in Brazil should have never happened. You know King Frederick has a good idea of who was behind his death too. Why do you think there are so many restrictions on Armacham here? I'll get you out of there, Aristide. After I get my pay, I'm done. If you ever find yourself in another situation like this, you find your own way out. I'll be there in a week's time. If Vanek gets involved, or anything regarding your shitty organization? My price doubles with each obstacle."
"Good. Thank you." Aristide said with a sigh, "And I am truly sorry for Aar-"
"Goodbye, Genevieve. And never mention his name around me again if you want to keep breathing." The woman concluded before hanging up and chugging the remainder of her beer.
She sifted through her phone after she was done with her beer, pulling up her right-hand's phone number. She was the leader of a Security Business, who was known world-wide as one of the best private security businesses one could possible have working for them. Some of their people were ex-special forces. All were veterans of something, be it police agencies, counter-terrorism units, and even plenty of armies. They were for sale to any who could afford them and were decent in morality. Sienna despised companies like Armacham, and thus they had a strict rule-set on who could and couldn't hire them.
"Harald." She said after the man picked up the phone, "Prepare our men and get a plane ready. We leave in one week for Fairport."
"Fairport? Sienna, are you sure that's a good idea?" The man inquired, "You know what's going on there, don't you?"
She sighed, "Of course I do. Aristide is there, she just reached out to me. She wants us to extract her from the situation."
"What?! And you took the job? You know that's against-"
"I'm doing it so I can go into their headquarters there if it is still standing and retrieve information, Harald. I need to know why they did what they did. That bitch isn't going to be leaving Fairport. I refuse. She can rot in the mess she created. I just need to be put at ease, man... What happened in Brazil...what happened to Aarne... It was messed up." She said with a sigh, "I need to bring the information to light. The reason ATC isn't shut down right now is because I didn't have enough evidence to point everything towards them. The King had his hands tied."
"Right." Harald replied, "I'll let everyone know that we're shipping out. A week is plenty of time to get everything ready."
"Thank you." She said softly.
"No problem, boss." The man stated before ending the call.
"Cut the power." Jin said softly, and Logan nodded as he placed the device on the power generator located underneath the facility, where they were now.
Soon enough the generator stopped, and all power to the facility was lost. This included that of the surrounding two blocks. "NVGs on." She said softly, slowly lowering her own to her eyes. "Let's do this."
"The mission's simple, really. We sneak our way into the Replica Cloning facility, neutralize the Armacham forces and activate the Replicas in the name of Alma." Jin said softly, "There shouldn't be any complications during this mission. It's routine. We've been in worse situations than this one."
"Not to mention they shouldn't be alerted to our presence yet." Logan stated, "I haven't heard anything over their communications, ma'am."
"Good. Then as far as I'm concerned, we are in the clear for the time being." Jin stated, "Open the hatch."
Michelle nodded before doing just that, being sure she was careful so she didn't alarm anyone who might be in the room above. Luckily for her, there wasn't even anyone in there. A good start. But good things didn't last forever. Nothing lasted forever.
"Room's clear." Michelle stated as they funneled in, the Point Man taking the lead now that they were inside the facility. They were working as a team. They weren't splitting up. Not in this building. Not with Armacham surrounding it. Once they activated the Replica forces within and neutralized the automated defenses, they'd be golden. They had already taken out a good portion of them with cutting the power. Now it was just clean-up. Hopefully simple clean-up, too.
The Point Man led them down the dark halls. Some emergency lighting had kicked in, but not enough to make wearing night-vision goggles a hassle. Really, it was still a hassle to see with the unaided eye. Which, luckily for them, meant a decent portion of Armacham's forces within the building.
There weren't too many guards inside. Sure, there was the occasional one or three they'd run into, but it wasn't nothing a little stealth-kill wouldn't fix. Suffocation, knife to the throat or the back of the neck...easy peasy.
To a pessimistic bunch, they would see something wrong with the lack of defense. But it was understandable. Their thoughts wouldn't be on the inside right now. Not with a large force of Replicas arriving outside and waging war with them. They had no real choice but to turn their focus outward, whilst inside the F.E.A.R. team took them out one-by-one like assassins in the night.
Once they arrived at the primary control center, they stacked up on the door. Of all places in the facility that would be guarded, this was the one. And indeed there were guards posted inside and out of the control center. There was no stopping, though. They were going to break their cover now and get inside to disable the defenses before Armacham knew what hit them.
That was easier said than done, however, and as soon as they started opening fire the mercs started returning it right back at them. What made it even worse was that there were Black Ops there. Of course it could always get worse, which meant that the group was rather happy with what they had right now.
"Focus fire on those spec-ops first, the grunts are just fodder." Jin ordered the squad, who adjusted their fire accordingly.
The Point Man wasn't really someone to be commanded, though, he was already out and in the middle of the fight. With his abilities he didn't need to worry about cover too much. Of course, with how many enemies were closing in on their location he made sure that cover was right there beside him.
Black Ops soldiers were some of the best trained soldiers in Armacham's arsenal. Because of their strict selection and training processes, there weren't as many of them available to be deployed, and when you ran into them you knew that you were somewhere Armacham didn't want you to be. The reason for them being inside the Replica facility was rather obvious. There were two reasons they would have occupied the place. The first being they were trying to keep Alma from accessing more Replica production facilities, or the second being that they were trying to get Replicas produced for their own needs. Or even both!
The fight continued on for several minutes. No wounds were taken on the side of F.E.A.R., but Armacham had lost twenty-five men in the fighting outside. Inside there were eight technicians of various varieties and a small group of four guards. Standard soldiers, nothing really important that would get in their way.
"Set charges on the door." Jin ordered Logan, looking at the Point Man. "Are you hit? You were being reckless..."
"No." The man stated in a grunt.
Jin nodded slowly, making a mental note not to ask again until after the mission. They had a connection with each other. She knew that the Point Man wasn't in the mood to be doted after, and he knew that she was simply being a caring person. So whilst the Point Man watched for any other Armacham forces, Jin watched as Logan got his explosives from his satchel.
"Alright. Setting them up now. Everyone get to cover." Logan stated as he placed the bricks on the four corners of the door. "This is gonna be fun!"
He moved away and to cover before blowing the charges. Once the door was opened, they filed in. It was a slaughter. Armacham had numbers. They even had the training. Their one fatal flaw at the moment was that they weren't deploying anything worthy to stand and face Alma's wrath. They had lost all their playing cards. The United States' support for their actions was dwindling due to the loss of a multitude of personnel. And so what stood between the Point Man and securing this important facility that could breed legions of Replica soldiers under the banner of Alma Wade? Six technicians, and a small guard of four grunts. Pathetic.
Perhaps the worst part of it all was the fact that Armacham knew what they were up against. They knew that Alma wasn't something to be pushed aside. Yet here they were, doing exactly that. It was this flaw that would end up losing them the city if they weren't careful and rethinking their strategies. A sad, but honest truth.
And so the group descended upon the men in the control center. The technicians gunned down without any thought by Logan whilst the Point Man grabbed one of the grunts by the helmet after he had disarmed him, and forced him to move into the path of the oncoming bullets of his allies, killing him in a few brief seconds.
The three remaining soldiers saw this, and immediately lost their morale. They dropped their weapons, and raised their arms into the air. "We surrender!" One of them pleaded, "Please, don't hurt us!"
"Get on your knees!" Logan ordered, "Now! All three of you!"
And they followed the man's orders. They didn't have anything they could do against them. They had lost, and they were not going to receive backup in time.
Once they were on their knees, the Point Man then took aim, and in what seemed like a mere second, three bullets were shot into their skulls, knocking them dead. Logan just looked at the man, as if silently asking him why he had done that to surrendered foes. But Jin herself knew why. Alma would not have spared them, and they would have experienced much worse than a bullet to the brain.
"Get the facility online, and cancel out the security measures. Let the Replicas in." Jin ordered the two, "Hurry. I don't think any of us want to be here much longer than we have to."