"Operation Cerberus"
November 12th, 1983
Requiem HQ, West Berlin, West Germany
1983. The Arms Race of two superpowers in full swing. Two giants representing the world, with two different ideologies, each one trying to outdo the other. This was the Cold War, surprisingly sounding like some sort of spy movie to an average joe.
While people can simply point out the tense rivalries between the Capitalistic United States and the Communistic Soviet Union's differences, way of life and other crazy shenanigans they both end up winding themselves in, there was one aspect, never mentioned by the public, rather an ancient unspoken entity of power that the world hasn't noticed yet.
The Dark Aether. The Place Below Creation. Zombieland. Whatever the name is, it spiked controversy amongst well-known scientific individuals. The power it harnessed clearly outweighed Earth in all its might. It was only a matter of time before the government gets an earful of the strange dimension full of purple Aetherium crystals, funny looking floating jellyfish beings, and lunatic "Elder Gods" who still remain a mystery of the covert scientist's eyes.
Word from NATO intelligence suggests that the Omega Group, created by the Soviet Premier, was restructured and revived by Colonel Lev Kravchenko, and began investigating the hidden power of the Dark Aether.
To counter the threat of Soviet domination in the Aether Arms Race, Requiem was born from a CIA-NATO Initiative. Led by one mysterious man only known as "The Director," he plans to destroy the Dark Aether once and for all. To prevent the world from discovering and using it for war purposes.
Fast-forward to a debriefing of an obscure, abandoned Nazi Research Bunker in Morasko, Poland, the first deployment of the Reqiuem Strike Team hit greenlight, consisting of;
Yirina Portnova, hailing from the Soviet Union and under the KGB Directorate V. A well known prodigy amongst Soviet officials as a graduate of Moscow Institute of Electronic Machine Building at just the tender age of sixteen. Her loyalty to the state remains unchallenged, though she secretly goes against some practices of the Soviet Union that often clash against her childhood experiences.
John Baker from the United States, a maverick USMC Scout Sniper, highest performance of his squad, greatly praised by his seniors followed by a criticism of his "rogue-like" tendencies. He happens to simmer down when listening to Led Zeppelin, and doesn't seem to care about politics, preferring to lay low with a decent paying job and a good life.
A British MI6 operator Helen Park, a genius of her own right, entering Oxford from a young age of sixteen, pursuing international relations but dropped out after her younger brother died from an Irish carbombing. That single event forced her to drop international relations and opted to offer her services of her cryptology and forensic science to the MI6 as their operator. Football fan, favorite team happens to be Chelsea FC.
And last but not the least, Ingo Beck hailing from East Germany. HVA and Diensteinheit IX's top candidate in bomb defusal, demolitions, and a natural-born genius when it comes to HUMINT, able to get whatever answer he wants. Also formidable in counter-terrorism operations. Known to be a huge Judge Dredd fan, smuggling copies of the latest edition in exchange of Berlin sweets and chocolates to his West German informant.
It was basically a bunch of miscreants, handpicked by the Director of Requiem on their little crusade to find out what the Dark Aether is. No one of the strike team knows the other teammate that much, other than the dossier they were handed out to "get to know the crew."
Weaver sighed, staring at the dossiers that were to be handed out to the operators. Mackenzie Carver, Oskar Strauss, Elizabeth Grey, and Weaver himself will have to hand these out to all four of them before they meet; at this point Weaver can assume the entire Requiem project is a playdate.
Yirina was never the one to slouch. She thought it didn't resemble how a proper woman would sit; plus coming from being basically trained by the entire KGB, slouching would've caused her enough reprimands; even eating the strawberry that was in front of her while studying caused a stir.
According to Carver, they had managed to intercept the KGB Vympel's network, rewriting Portnova's status in their list of agents on a mission; copies printed thanks to one of Requiem's moles within the Lubyanka. Changing Portnova's status was easy; convincing her was harder.
She prided herself in being loyal to the bone towards the Soviet Union. However, ever since the Perseus fiasco back in 1981, she can never overlook the looming threat that Perseus may be amongst Soviet officials in Omega, and decided it was hers and the State's best interests if she joined Requiem, using them to locate hidden traitors.
Shaking her thoughts off, Yirina looked at her surroundings. A flag of the Soviet Union and the United States, displayed in one row side by side. The board had texts in English, German and Russian, maybe to spike up familiarity of three of her other comrades.
A brown velvet sofa was also on the other side, a coffee table sitting in front of it accompanied by a radio playing a gentle hum of Vera Lynn's songs, Portnova guesses, in instrumental.
In front of her were strawberries; looks handpicked, not poisoned, even accompanied with a chocolate dip right beside it. She knew it must be a Western ploy to make her reveal information or lower her guard.
The door creaked open, and Yirina's head turned like a deer on headlights towards the noise. In front of her was none other than Grigori Weaver, the well-known Soviet defector from Kravchenko's iron grasp. Of course he still wears an eyepatch.
"Привет, Yirina Portnova. I'm glad I got to pick you for this special разбор." Weaver's now reserved, deeper tone greeted. Portnova had heard of how high pitched Weaver's accent was; maybe defecting the Soviet Union was a good thing to control his damn English pronounciation.
"You too Weaver. Now, get to your point." Portnova replied, her gaze still averting to the strawberries. Weaver caught her short glance and frowned. Looks like the their intel about her was right.
"You want them? You know, you can take some. Not poisoned, I promise." Weaver said, earning an eyebrow raise from Portnova. "Besides, you're more of use to us alive than dead, no point killing an important asset."
For one second, Weaver saw Portnova's shoulders sag down, yet he couldn't tell why she did that for. Relief? Assurance? Or maybe a low-key shrug that was a common display of affection within the KGB?
"Это не нужно," Portnova replied sternly.
"Anyways, I have something for you." The Officer said, firmly placing the files on the table to the left of the berries. They were stacked neatly, names revealed with the big, red 'classified' tagged on the file. "You've been debriefed by some of our boys here, yeah?"
"I get it. Omega wants to secure the Dark Aether, and you want me, a Soviet agent, to work against them." Portnova fired back.
"Look, I know you don't trust us... But Omega will either turn this Earth into a pile of zombie ash, or it'll blow back on them. Maybe on you." Weaver replies.
"... And That's where Requiem comes to play. We go in, get our hands dirty, bring down Omega's latest ruckus, and the world stays clean."
"You mean you also want whatever Omega's trying to get? Don't lie to me, Григорий Уивер. You don't just expect to recruit an enemy and expect you're doing the good thing."
"Yeah, but our purpose is to destroy the Dark Aether, not use it to our advantage. Omega's trying to harness it and use the power to break us all." Weaver ran a hand through his head. Who knew convincing a literal prodigy and an operative would be easy?
"She's right, you know." A voice came right from the door. Both Yirina and Weaver turn to see Baker, leaning against the doorway.
"East, West... Who the hell gives two shits about that? We all know when Omega gets intercepted, your 'strike team' comes in, salvages what Omega wants, and then you give it to the SDI." He walks forward, plucking a single strawberry out from the bowl.
"Exactly... Wait, did you just agree with me?" Portnova coils back.
"Hey, it all makes sense. Whatever ma-"
"John Baker!" A deep voice exclaimed just outside the hallway. Baker had to peek through the door, seeing if the man's still there.
"Shit. But it still makes sense, see?"
"Alright, I get it!" Weaver exclaims. "I guess you all have some 'questions' we have to answer."
"Indeed we do." Came from the southern door. The entire crew's head flicked to Park and Beck entering the door, followed by Strauss and Grey. The two head researchers seem... enthusiased about the two operators.
"Sorry Weaver, they're a fun bunch, those two." Grey rubbed the back of her neck cheerily.
"Plus, we all connected with each other. Beck is German and so am I, Park is British and so was Grey." Strauss added. By now Weaver looks dazed from seeing all of them in the same room.
"Helen Park, MI6." Park went forward to shake Portnova's hand, which she took with fascination. "I've read alot about you, Portnova. Brilliant stuff, I must say."
"Not much I've read from you." She replied in her thick accent. "But you, Beck, I've read alot about you."
"What can I say? I know what I'm doing... Most of the time." Beck replies with a triumphant smile. "I've read alot about you though Park. You and your funny group of terrorists dispatching Kraus saved me a bunch of time."
Park's eyes widened at that. Beck basically opened a memory that she never wanted to think of in the first place, or better yet never wanted to do it in the first place.
"Yeah... Yeah sure." Park dismissed him off. While Beck was laughing, unaware of the trauma he caused, Park's eyes remained widened at the sight of the very man that she tried to save.
"Hey, you good?" Baker placed a gentle hand on Park's shoulder.
"Yeah. Fine and dandy." the Brit replied.
"I'm serious though! Kraus and Volkov were two pain in the asses that managed to snake off of German hands."
"Guys, lets-" Weaver tried to control the crowd, but failed when Carver burst through a door, and stood there, letting all the chaos unfold right on his eyes. He looked like he was about to bring hell on Earth with the cold stare he has on everyone. Not just on the Strike Team, but Weaver, Strauss and Grey.
"Hold on... Is that Judge Dredd?" Baker pointed out at Beck's bag, barely closed and a copy of the comic book sticking out inside Beck's slingbag.
"Erm... Ja?"
"Dude... No way! I thought I was the only one that read it!" Baker exclaims. "...I'm Baker by the way. Never took you to be a big fan of it...?"
"Uhh... Wunderbar. I'm Beck. Ingo Beck, Diensteinheit IX, HVA." He takes Baker's hand, shaking it firmly. "To be honest, you're one of the first Americans not trying to hunt me down."
"Hey man, I'm in this for the money either way." Baker replied cooly.
"Maybe explains why Carver's on your ass." Park smirked. By this point, the whole strike team weren't even listening to their superiors. Clearly shows their 'devotion' to Requiem.
"Soldiers! Sit your asses down!" Carver's voice boomed in the room and forced everyone to quiet down. "Were here for a debrief, not for some crazy playdate."
"Technically we are operatives-" Beck perked up.
"Did I ask?!"
That made everyone sit down.
Baker, Beck and Park awkwardly shuffled their way to the brown couch with Strauss and Grey sitting on the opposite corners. Portnova remained at her seat and Weaver went to stand beside Carver.
"Now, I'm sure you all have questions as to why Requiem is requesting individuals from all across the world on some crazy witch hunt for Omega properties." Weaver said with a sigh. "One, Omega's affiliated to Perseus, a rogue Soviet agent that's been terrorizing both the East and West."
"I've heard of him before. He's aligned with Volkov, that one Russian crime lord I was trying to dispatch and Franz Kraus, a dispatched Stasi agent trying to undermine the Soviet Union and Germany." Beck explained.
"My team and I made short work of it. Volkov is under custody of the MI6, and Kraus was killed by Russell Adler." Park added.
"Alright, now we can make some connections. Two, I've intercepted comms in the Soviet Union about this one person in particular - Stitch." Carver said, and the projector brought to life showing a mugshot of the man.
"Stitch, or Vikhor Kuzmin, is sort of the second-in-command. Disloyal to the Soviet Union yet still wants to destroy the Americans, he's ordered to supply Omega without Kravchenko's notice."
"Вихор Кузьмин... Yes, I heard of this person. Nova-6 Chemical weapons observer. Went missing after Kravchenko took his eye." Portnova says.
"He's slowly supplying key Omega outposts that revolve around the Outbreak zones. Weapons, supplies, rations, everything. There's one in Poland, Soviet Union, Algeria, Germany... We gotta find a way to stop them or else we're all toasted by Omega." Weaver explains, now pointing at a global map with red dots depicting the outbreak zones.
"Wait... What do you mean by supplying them? Maybe they're trying to contain it themselves." Baker pointed out.
"There's videotapes of Perseus cargo handing out stolen Omega Aetherium canisters to rogue Soviet soldiers purposely asigning themselves in the Outbreak zones. Could be that they're trying to harvest Aetherium samples and study them without the KGB's consent." said Grey.
"Huh, never thought of that myself." Portnova added.
"Would it shock you to think I didn't think of that either?" Beck smirked.
"Fokus, bitte?" Strauss reprimanded. Beck snorted a laugh.
"... And three, this is the biggest secret only held between our President and the Soviet Premier." Carver says. "Due to supernatural circumstances, the Soviet Union and the United States are to be connected in a joint operation together to bring this down." That shut everyone up.
The entire room was silent. No one, and everyone thought, no one would be able to force the two superpowers to work together. There was clearly no reason for both teams to work together, unless the Third Reich came back.
"... You're kidding right?" Baker raised an eyebrow.
"No. Who do you think let us rewrite Portnova's status in the KGB archive?" Carver asked.
"Well... Scheiße. The government basically knows everything about this." Beck says, way too calmly. "Do others know other than the president and the Premier?"
"No one, thankfully. The red telephone was dialed, and fortunately no one managed to intercept the teletype message." Weaver says. "... According to the Director atleast."
"Speaking of that, who are we even going against? I know we have Omega on our heels, but how do we know the site is 'contained?'" Park asked.
Now it was Strauss' turn to speak. "Your main opponents will be the creation of Projekt Endstation, a plan made by Ulrich Vogel dating back in 1944 that involves with reanimated dead Nazi soldiers."
"Nazis? Crazy schemes? Zombies? Tale as old as time." Beck remarked, only to get elbowed by Grey. "Hey, that one hurt. Besides, I have joking rights as a German."
"Wussy," replied Grey.
"I personally worked with them under the Führer's orders, but I was later transferred for atomic research. I know little of the particle accelerator that was created, that started this entire ordeal of Outbreak zones." The former Nazi scientist added.
"Okay, so basically we are handpicked operatives by the Soviet Union and the United States to clear out Omega group, who happens to be NATO's and Warsaw Pact's secret enemy because Perseus is funneling equipment to them for Omega to blow us all up?" Beck summarized, earning a few shocked looks from others around him. "... What? it's HUMINT."
"Basically, yeah." Weaver replied.
"Ja. Count me in. As long as I get something out of this however." said the East German. "Negotiating with the HVA... not my favorite pastime."
"Something that can't possibly hurt the world, I hope." Grey teased. "Seriously though, as long as it isn't something like nuclear bombs."
"Promise. All I want is basically free passage around West Germany." The East German negotiated, with a smile on his face. "No spying, I promise. I even held off information gathering."
"All right... Can't be that bad to ask the Board of Directors about this. Anyone else?" Weaver asked. "We sort of owe you all something for serving in a joint operations group and diverting you all from your main jobs."
"Yeah about that," Baker added. "You guys can give me a raise, yeah? I mean I'm working double and all..."
"Fine. We can give you a raise, but we'll talk details later about it." Carver sighed. "Any more?"
"So, how will this work? After this ordeal or debrief we go back to our respective homelands, then come back here when needed?" Portnova asks.
"No. You'll all have a room here in Requiem to stay until the mission is accomplished. After introducing to your rooms, you'll all have freedom to make changes to your equipment, take a break, then come back here." Weaver explained.
"Wow... So like a vacation?" Said Baker.
"Mostly."
After the strike team were introduced to their temporary quarters, they all headed to the armory to equip themselves with the armaments available. As time passed on, Weaver, Carver, Strauss and Grey slowly figured out how the newly christened strike team seemed to co-operate without any sort of arguments whatsoever.
Beck was the "tension defuser" out of all of them, and often offered dry jokes to assimilate himself with the group easier. Tension defuser could be arguable, as sometimes he takes on the role of an instigator. According to Grey's observation, Beck is methodical, well-organized, and calculated but not cold. However, his weakness seems to be his perfectionist mind. Beck demands everything to be perfect, neat and well-kept; something that will hinder the strike team's effectiveness.
Park happens to be the competitive one, with a Type-A personality. Her competitive sense often leads to small arguments with Portnova, who also seems to be competitive as well. Kills, number of missions completed, least amount of mission failures, anything was fair game to Park and Portnova. In addition to that, Park's sense of being the best at everything conflicts with Beck, trying to outdo him in the manner of being close to perfection.
Baker, however seems to be the 'lax' type of person. He prefers the team to get along together, instead of rifting it even more with the thought of ideologies, political stances, and pride. His first action when hearing a tinge of ideology talk is to shut it down with a distracting conversation about their interests. Baker, according to Carver, can point out one's interests. For example, he knew Portnova was close to blow off a fuse about political stances, and Baker calmed her down with strawberries.
Lastly, Portnova resembles pride amongst the strike team. She hates making the simplest of mistakes, and will often try to redeem herself if needed. She happens to be extremely keen on showing everyone of her prowess, and determined to act as the leader of the team. While her undoubted skills as a leader are reflective of her personality, Portnova exerts impossible tasks and goals, such as storming the Nazi science project with no injuries in sight, or get reprimanded as a consequence. Most likely inherited from her KGB training.
They were indeed, a merry bunch of people representing each of their respective countries. As weird as it may be to have two members from the Warsaw Pact work alongside NATO recipients, it is necessary for the greater good that an enemy would team up with an enemy to destroy one atleast.
Shaking his thoughts off, Weaver drank his lukewarm coffee, brewed about thirty minutes ago. He had forgotten he made one just due to how fast time progressed from watching the security cameras of the strike team. Slowly, they were opening up. Not that close, but getting there.
They'll need it tomorrow.
AN: Ehh, first time trying stuff like this, I kinda wanted to write this just because of the Forsaken EE that caught me tweaking.
Review or favorite, I'm here to vent lol