16TH DEEP COVER OPERATIONS COMMAND CENTER

LOCATION: UNDISCLOSED (Somewhere in the MidWest at an abandoned AFB).

2205, OCTOBER, 27TH

PROJECT BLACK MIRROR

AURORA IV DET. 1

Rhodes was a quiet man, or of few words. He stood in one of the lower bunkers looking at the liquid filled canisters holding the body parts of something...alien. He made some quick notes and made sure everything was nominal: They were. It gave him the creeps. When it came to Wolfe, he quickly drew a blank, but this was something more his sort of area of work than his. It was a bit of an enigma. Wolfe seemed a career soldier, yet his placement in time seemed, frankly, off. It was as if he came from a time long before, and his knowledge of such things provided a simple backdrop of supporting such claims. How that was possible he didn't even care to know. He continued down the line, checking the bios off on an ever growing checklist of things to check.

It's almost like he has 9 nine lives. He briefly thought to himself. His character was beyond question, yet it was not one defined by a sophrosyne quality. He pushed these thoughts aways quickly and returned to his duties in the cold corridors of the bunker, the bluish hue of the concrete walls felt as chilly as they actually were down there.

There were only a handful of people who had access to these lower bunkers, but it was no secret of what they held. But the image had to be maintained, for whatever reason. At best they'd all have a gas at what was being held down in those bunkers. Security was light but strict. He made his way to the main cargo lift and returned to the surface. The air becoming heavy and humid as he rose through the levels.

There sure wasn't a lot of familiar faces from the old days. A couple sure, but it only served as a reminder of the ones who he thought about, too often, maybe 15 he thought wistfully.

The base had become a fully operational waypoint for shuttling supplies and refueling vertibirds who were going to and from the many bunkers scattered around the MidWest and a few covert locations elsewhere. Today the runways were dry, all the vertibirds were en route towards their respective locations. Just a few sat in hangars, being worked on for minor problems, ready to be back in the air in a weeks time. The chapter was busting at the seams and still hidden from the West Coast Brotherhood. They had done their job in that respect. If the other West Coast chapters caught wind of their organization they would no doubt want a piece of the cake. Yet they had made their bed about that long ago, and now must sleep in it.

He looked up to the control tower which served as Wolfes' main office now. He no doubt planning the next excursion.

Oct. 27th, 2105

16th Deep Cover Intelligence Command Station Blue

Request for immediate clearance

Elder Dekker,

I am sure you are aware of our situation here, and the illusion cannot be held much longer. I am requesting a full assault and taking of whatever is in the crater, otherwise known as Big. M.t. What follows is a manifest of what I'll be needing. Taking from past experience, this will be what is necessary. Sorry for the brevity of this, but our people are eager to be back in the fight. We'll supply the airpower, say 4 VTOL vertibirds will be sufficient. Always Loyal, Wolfe.

There was a screaming match happening in Wolfe's office when Rhodes walked in.

"…No fuck you! You can't tell me what the fuck is off limits!" …"You're fucking insane! I can't believe what I'm listening to!" …"HOW DARE YOU!"

The door burst open, the glass shattering on impact with the wall. Rhodes watched as an angry woman stormed past him; it was Burns. He looked in the office and saw Wolfe stoically sitting at his desk.

"May I come in?"

"Sure."

Rhodes walked in closing the door, the glass splintering a bit more upon it closing.

Rhodes knew better than to ask, but having known the man for decade he felt nothing about it.

"What was that about?"

"That Enclave patrol which was found…"

"What about it?"

"We believe they were clones."

"Clones?"

"Yes."

"Some of the tech they took with them must've allowed them to leap ahead in their genetic projects. Well, when our MAT teams were doing diagnostics, we found traces of Burns' DNA in them."

"No shit…"

"Yeah, so we pulled her from the Combat Assault Team going to Big. M.T. till we have things figured out." He reached over and picked a cigarette out of a pack and lit it. "We don't know what's out there."

"We never have, frankly. Do you think that's a good idea? She's one of the best."

"And I can't have her breaking down in the middle of a firefight. We can't assume she wont under the circumstances."

"They were doing some horrible things in Dulce."

"I know. I was there, remember?"

Wolfe looked up.

"Anything else Captain?"

"I came to get some orders signed over." He pushed the clipboard and pen across the table. "That's all." He stood and saluted and walked out.

He made his way across the tarmac, there were slight vibrations which were from the newly constructed bunker. Some of the equipment the MAT teams had recovered were being used. Super heated boring drills from Dunwitch Borors which deconflagrated the hard surface and glassified or vitrified the material so there was no waste or trace being left behind. They were nearly done with only a weeks work, ending up with a whole new section below ground.