The general just sat there behind his desk as the room was quiet after the large fight. John and Barkhorn just stood there with tense expressions on their faces and stared at him. the general was a tall thin man with gray short hair. his years in the military showed from the wrinkles in his face and the many awards on his uniform. clearly he was no longer a part of the military in this place though. soon a smile creaked across the generals face as he sat up and clapped his hands into a praying like form on his desk.
"its good to see you again John or would you prefer your old name Jack Frost" the general said in a mocking way.
"i dont know what your doing here but i know what you are going to do. your going to tell me why the hounds are returning!" John said pointing his Thompson to the generals forehead in a demanding manner.
the general let out a short chuckle as he stood up from the desk and walked over to a fire place at the other end of the office.
"ahhh Jack frost it has been so long since we had these heartwarming talks together. how long has it been since that day. two years?"
"stop changing the subject or I will kill you! and stop calling me that name!"
"you don't miss your old code name from the unit Jack. tell me what does your friend their call you. it seems that it hasn't taken you long to make new friends and forget about your old life."
"i told you to answer the question!"
"John. Jack. Jack. John. do you think it was all a coincidence." the general started
"what are you two going on about i can't keep up" barkhorn butted in.
"allow me to explain young lady" the general continued " this war that we are in is just the beginning. once it is over their will be an arms race and magic will be the greatest threat and protector around the world. the army with the most powerful witches will be the ones who rule this world. but i have a different idea for shaping my future. witches have to be born with their power. i wanted a world that i could create my own magic army with living humans. that's where john came into the picture. all he needed was a little push to make him create the link between magic and man."
"the R&D lab explosion" barkhorn shouted
"you tried to kill me in hopes of me building the generator to save my life" John said in a blind rage
"it was not in a hope john" the general started again "it was clear that it was going to happen because of your fathers bloodline. your father would not play ball and make the generator for us and thats why he died. but we knew that his son would be more easily manipulated. it is in your blood to create this weapon and now that we have it their will be no stopping us when the true plan comes together. why do you think we named it the hound unit in the first place. the people we trained in this unit were like dogs. with this power we have breed our fighters to be faster, stronger, and have magical abilities like how dogs are breed to look the way they do or hunt better than others. we have breed a new species of humans."
"so you not only killed my father and tried to kill me but have brought the dead back to life for your magical experiments. this all ends now" john said as him and barkhorn raised their guns and prepared to fire.
"no john i still have a long way to go and you still have more fighting to do. their are still more hounds about" the general said as he made a waving signal with his hands. soon the butt of a gun wacked into the back of Johns neck knocking him unconscious as he fell to the ground with a hard thump.
"John!" Barkhorn shouted as she turned to fire at the attacker but that only caused her to be struck in the face by the gun also knocking her out as she fell on top of John. the general stepped over the two bodies and gave john a small kick to make sure he wouldn't wake up.
"well done boys" remarked the general as he sat back at his desk "do what you want with them but make sure it looks like an accident"
...
1941 hound unit
John sat in the back of the truck with the other members of the team as they road into new york city for their mission. john looked about the truck to see the other members doing their own before this huge mission. to his right he saw Vlad ,his good friend , sharpening his knives as he looks at john with a smile.
"so are you ready for this Frost" Vlad said reminding john that he had to stick to code names for the safety of the mission.
"i have been waiting a long time for this Wolf" John said as he loaded bullets into his rifles magazine.
"lets hope so. how you doing mirage" Vlad said to a blond girl sitting on the other side of the truck.
"I'm on radio support. I'm not freaking out or anything." she said as she continues to work with the radio
"i would be freaking out if i were you. this is a very high value target were going after." remarked Vlad
"yup" agreed a boy fooling around with a lighter" were going after Bastion Hernandez the private army leader who killed all those soldiers on that beach" this boy was Richard May the explosive support of the team. code name Torch.
"you were their when that happened weren't you Frost" Vlad asked
"yeah even when were at war with the Neuroi he chooses to cause trouble and kill soldiers that could be fighting the good fight against the Neuroi. it makes me sick"
"time to get even right Frost" remarked Richard as he strikes the lighter then puts the flame out by flipping the lid back up.
the truck came to a stop and a hatch opened in the front so the driver could talk to the soldiers in the back. "Frost this is your stop. stick to the plan and don't attract attention to yourself."
John threw his rucksack over his shoulder and picked up his equipment bag and jumped out of the truck and moved into the alley. John grew up in Britannia in the country side and being in new york for the first time. but now was no time for sight seeing as he opened the door to the tall building. John ran up the stairs to the floor he was instructed to be on look out on. the room was empty as john locked the door behind him and started to set up his equipment. John switched on the radio to test it.
"this is Jack Frost to Mirage. come in Mirage" John said into the radio
"i read you Frost. are you ready"
"my equipment is set up and loaded. waiting for the signal to start."
"alright Burn and Wolf are getting into position now. good luck"
John looked through the scope of his rifle and spotted Wolf reflecting his knife through the window in the other building. soon they were in position about to raid the floor.
"why would this dictator come to Liberion" Burn asked Wolf as he set up the bomb on the locked door.
"he is probably buying weapons from the underground economy and came to make payments" Wolf responded "but this is our only chance to get him when he doesnt have his whole army behind him"
"are you ready" Burn asked as he struck the lighter
"as ready as i will ever be" Vlad responded
Burn smiled and put the flame to the fuse and they ran for cover as the door was blown off its hinges. the two ran through and started to gun down the security that was guarding the meeting room.
John could see Hernandez run behind a desk next to the window as he heard the gunshots outside the door.
"do you have the shot Frost" Mirage asked as John Trained his sights on his head
"i have the shot. takeing it now." John said into the radio as he pulled the trigger shooting across the buildings high above the streets as the bullet penetrated Hernandez head knocking him across the room sending the others into a panic as Burn and Wolf kicked in the door and sprayed the room.
"Kill confirmed. good shot Frost" Wolf broadcasted over the radio as he pulled a body bag out of his backpack.
"come in Frost do you read" John heard over the radio
"Whats wrong Mirage" John said as he started to pack his bags
"there is a large group of armed men moving towards your position. they are entering the building now. you can't take the stairs down they will be waiting for you."
"what should i do. my rifle wont be helpful in these close quarters."
"i don't know" mirage responded "be creative. that's why your part of this unit isn't it"
john started to rustle through his rucksack for anything that could help him as he pulls out a rope.
"i think i have an idea"
...
present day Britannia
"John. John wake up" John heard as his vision went from black to blurry as he lifted his head to see Barkhorn sitting next to him. John looked about his surroundings to see they were no longer in the generals office. they werent even on the ground anymore. they were aboard a military cargo plane that was flying high above the city.
"finally i have been trying to wake you for almost an hour" Barkhorn said to John
"ahhh my head is killing me" John strained to say as he tried to move his hands but soon found out they were tied to his seat. "any ideas on what were going to do"
"yeah" responded Barkhorn "im going to break that guys nose" she said gesturing with her head to a large strong man that was watching over them.
"well you are awake" said the large man with a thick Orussian accent. "i wouldn't want you to sleep through this" he remarked as he opened the door to on the plane. he than moved a large crate with two pairs of striker units in it next to the open door. "two pilots on a late night flight lose control of their units and crash. no one will ask any other questions." he said as he pulled one of the strikers out and tried to force it onto barkhorn's leg.
"Theirs only one thing wrong with that plan" Barkhorn remarks as the man comes face to face with her.
"and what would that be" he said with his breath reeking of vodka.
"this!" Barkhorn shouts as she breaks the ropes restraining her and slugs the man in the knocking him out with one punch. Barkhorn breaks Johns ropes as well.
"nice punch" John said looking down at the man whose nose is now broken.
soon one of the pilots opens the door and steps out of the cock pit to see what the noise was. when he saw what was going on he drew his gun but John grabbed him and pointed the gun at the other pilot as it went off. the bullet struck the co pilot and two other shots hit the control panel. John choked out the Pilot as he ran into the cockpit to see if he could regain control of the plane but their was too much damage to the controles.
"we need to get off of this plane now" John shouted to Barkhorn "we need to find some parachutes"
as the two searched they finally found the parachutes and started to put them on when suddenly the large man regained conciousness and grabbed John throwing him to the back of the plane as he slamed into the crates and boxes stacked behind them. Barkhorn punched the Orussian man in the stomach with tremendous force knocking him back but he stayed on his feet. she than delivered a left hook across his chin knocking him into the wall head first as he fell to the ground again. Barkhorn helped John to his feet and the two jumped from the plane.
the force of wind pushing against them as they fell felt like they were being held up by the air. they than pulled their chutes as they suddenly are yanked and slown down. as they descend into the empty streets they watch the plane go down into the ocean. they hit the ground and crumple to the ground as the parachutes pull them as it falls to the ground as well. they took off the packs as they sat on the ground and just looked at each other not believing what they had just gone through that night. John stands up and limps over to Barkhorn as he extends his hand.
"im sorry for all ive put you through tonight Barkhorn" he said helping her up
Barkhorn pulls john in and gives him a hug which surprises John as he doesnt know how to react. "its fine John. it's not your fault"
When he hears this he becomes more comfortable and returns the hug then the two realized how long they were holding each other and separated quickly.
"that was just a friendly hug" Barkhorn says blushing and looking away
"yeah just a friendly hug" John replied as he too broke eye contact and scratched the back of his head. "come on lets get back to the base" John said as the pair head off into the night to take the long walk back to the base.