Chapter Four: Close Encounter
Abandoned Steel Mill, Southern Delmarva.
As night began to fall, a convoy of trucks pulled up the road towards the long-abandoned building. Located at the edge of a forest far from any town, it was a wonder anyone had seen the corrupted Gem here at all.
The black vehicles came to a stop, and numerous armed soldiers spilled out. Aside from the sound of boots trudging and weapons loading, the area was completely silent. The soldiers stood guard in front of the gate, their weapons leveled in the event that the threat should make itself known.
Two of the figures stood beyond the others, one of them scanning the building with a device like a geiger counter. Only a few quiet clicks emanated from the device, to the apparent confusion of the other figure.
"Nothing?" he said. Daniel Bridge, BAINE Captain.
"Not nothing, but not exactly something, either," said Hester, who was holding the device. "It could just be background radiation for all we know. You're sure there's a Gem here?"
"Positive," said Bridge. "Civilian accounts say something big lives in these woods. Our satellite scans pinpointed this place as it's nightly haunt. It's in there, readings or no readings."
"If you're sure," Hester said, putting the device away, and grabbing her sniper rifle from her back. "Ready to move in when you are, Captain."
"Not you, I need you here on overwatch," Bridge said. He stepped forward in front of the rest. "Listen up!" All the other soldiers stood at attention. "Intel says the Gem we're after is somewhere inside this mill. Fireteam Victor will go in through the front entrance, and Fireteam Tango will go in through the back, hopefully preventing its escape. Fireteam Romeo will set up a defensive perimeter, We don't know exactly what it is we're up against, so proceed with caution. Roger?"
"Roger!" the agents responded.
"No!" said Daniel. "Agent Farroway, you'll be taking point in the back, understood?"
"Oh. Understood, Captain," said Roger Farroway.
"And Rook, you're taking point in front."
"Roger that," said James Rook. The rest of Fireteam Victor, consisting of Ichigo, Vargas, and his close friend Lucas Svartign, took position behind him. Fireteam Tango, led by Farroway, headed around back, while Fireteam Romeo, plus Hester, filed back towards the trucks. Daniel approached James.
"Stay alert in there," he told him. "We've got no idea what this thing's capable of, but can supposedly do some pretty freaky stuff."
"Freaky? Freaky how?" asked Rook.
"I'll fill you in with the others once you're all in position," said Bridge, walking back to the trucks. "Good luck in there."
"Ah, it'll be a piece of cake!" said Luke. He and the others followed Rook through the rusted gate towards the front entrance. "It's just one Gem, how bad can it be?"
"Don't jinx it," said Ichigo. "We might get one of the nasty ones. What if it's a Nephrite, or something?"
"Nephrites bleed like all the rest," said Vargas. Unlike the other three, who wielded standard-issue assault rifles, Vargas held a massive LMG. "Well, not literally. They don't have blood-you get my meaning."
"Don't worry, big boy, I'm fluent in Vargas-ese," said Ichigo, fixing a small detonator to the heavy metal door.
Soon, everyone was in position, ready to advance. Daniel's voice crackled in over the radio. "Now, like I said, we don't have a lot of information on this particular Gem. Intel says it's pretty sizable, and may be able to fly-really fast. As in, absurdly fast. Something a modern aircraft could only dream about."
"Maybe a Lazuli, then?" Luke wondered aloud.
"Tango, Victor, on my mark," Bridge continued. "Three...two...one...breach!"
Ichigo pressed the detonator, and there was a small hiss. Rook gently slid the door open, a hole seared through the lock. Fireteam Victor switched on their lights, filing into the darkened building. They scanned through their surroundings: untouched for years, everything in the mill was covered with dust. Plantlife had begun to sprout through cracks in the floor and walls. Dark spots of mold littered the corners as well.
"Did I mention I hate old, abandoned places like this?" whispered Luke. "It's like walking into a horror movie, just waiting for a slasher to jump out at you. Or a crazy hobo with a machete..."
"This place is definitely a bit more...cavernous that I was expecting," said Rook. "I'm starting to think two fireteams won't be enough to-I'm sorry, 'crazy hobo with a machete?'"
"...Look, let's just say I have a history with places like these," Luke said. He shuddered, and the issue was dropped.
After a few more minutes of searching to no avail, Rook suddenly held up an arm, stopping the team in their tracks. "Hold on. I've got something here." He stepped over to a wall, where there were a number of black splotches at around head-height. "Ichigo, I need your light."
Ichigo stepped forward, focusing his flashlight into the marks as Rook set down his gun. "What're we dealing with here, guy?" he asked.
Rook reached out a hand, tracing along the lowest mark. "Some sort of mold, maybe?" A small bit of black dust crumbled away from his touch. Not mold-ash. "Burn marks," he said.
"So it flies, and it's got...what, fire breath or something?" said Luke.
"Fire doesn't drill holes into concrete," said Rook. "Lightning might be closer, and even then, it would have to be super direct." He picked his rifle back up. "Stay on your toes, I don't know how our armor will fare against this thing."
Suddenly, a loud clatter in the distance split the silence. All four troopers whirled around, their guns pointed in the direction of the noise. After the last quiet echoes of the sound had vanished, the mill seemed even more quiet than it had previously.
"Now I really don't like places like this," Luke said.
The radio crackled to life, as if in response to the noise. "Victor, was that one of yours?" asked the voice.
"Negative, not on our end," Ichigo responded. "Not one of yours then, I take it?"
"Definitely not," replied the voice.
"In that case, converge on the location of the sound," said Rook. "I think we just found our Gem."
"Unlikely, Agent," said the voice. "Meet in the center room, we'll explain."
Ichigo gave Vargas a quizzical glance, who shrugged. Rook directed the team forward. There were a few more isolated sounds on the way, none as piercing as the first, but each one made the troopers jump. Finally, they rendezvoused with Fireteam Tango, both teams substantially more on-edge then they had been before going in.
"Spooky in here, yeah?" said Farroway.
Rook wasted no time in getting to the point. "What did you mean by 'not likely?'" he asked.
Farroway wordlessly nodded to one of the troopers on his team. The trooper stepped forward, holding out his hand to reveal a glinting blue object-a gemstone.
Vargas leaned in to examine in. "You're kidding me," he said.
"'Fraid not," said Farroway. "Found this baby just lying on the floor, next to a bunch of burn marks."
Rook looked up from the gem. "You found marks too?"
"Yeah, all over the wall," said one of the troopers. "Some on the floor, too. No idea what made them, but it couldn't have been her." She pointed to the stone.
Upon seeing the gem, Ichigo's eyes had wandered in the direction of the sounds. He said what everyone was thinking: "So, if our Gem here didn't make those sounds...who, or what, did?"
"No idea, but I'm calling this in," said Rook, turning on his radio. "Captain, we've secured the Gem. What are your orders?"
"Already?" Bridge replied, baffled. "I didn't hear any gunfire, was there even a struggle?"
"None, we just found it lying out in the open," said Farroway. "Some weird stuff's goin' on in here, Cap."
"Did the intel mention anything about multiple Gems?" asked Vargas.
"Not specifically," said Bridge. "Why?"
"Captain, we're not alone in here," said Rook. "Permission to continue our investigation."
"What!?" said Luke. "I'm sorry, why?"
Bridge was quiet for a moment as he deliberated. "Granted," he said. "Send someone out with the Gem. We have the perimeter locked down, so whoever's in there isn't getting away. Flush them out for us."
"Will do," said Rook. Farroway directed a pair of troopers to take the Gem outside. With that, only seven of them were left.
"James, we already got what we came here for," said Luke. "Why stay here any longer than we need to? It's probably just a cat anyways."
"A cat with laser eyes?" said Rook. "Those burns came from somewhere, and I think it's safe to say we ruled out our only suspect. This could be the Children of Homeworld's doing, and if they're here, we need to know about it."
"I'm with Rook," said Vargas, leveling his weapon. "Let's go hunting."
The two teams, now one, set off in the direction of the noises. Ever since they had found the gemstone, the area had gone silent again. "Hey, maybe they left already," said Ichigo.
"Better safe than sorry," said Rook.
Before long, the troops arrived at the entrance to a large room on the mill's eastern side. Rook and Farroway both took a place beside the double doors, and carefully opened them. The creak of metal-on-concrete was only moderately loud, but it felt deafening given their situation.
Firearms at the ready, the soldiers entered. The large, open space was unsurprisingly devoid of movement, with nothing out of the ordinary found as they shone their flashlights across it. A sheet of metal was lying on the ground, explaining the first noise. But there was nothing nearby that could have tipped it over.
"Spread out," said Rook. "If whoever's in here left, Romeo would have seen them. They're still in here."
"I dunno, I feel like you're giving these guys way too much credit," said Ichigo.
"You know what the Children are capable of," Rook said. "We can't let them get past us. Sweep the area, and don't-Vargas? What is it?"
Vargas had stepped forward, gun up. He stared forward as though transfixed on one specific spot. "Something's in here," he said.
"What sort of something?" asked Farroway.
"Don't know," he said. "Hey!" Everyone jumped at his sudden shout. "Come out! We know you're in here, don't make this harder than-"
A flash of light came from the other side of the room. Something struck Vargas, who staggered to the floor.
"Contact!" Rook wasn't sure who yelled it. It might've been him. What he did know what that right then, all hell broke loose. More flashes of light from the other side as the troopers dove for cover. He could just make out a large dark shape do the same. The soldiers returned fire, unaware of what they were even firing at. Vargas crawled into cover beside Rook.
"Vargas! Are you injured?" he asked. "What did they hit you with?"
"No idea, but my armor stopped it," Vargas said. He indicated his shoulder, which now bore a burn mark identical to the ones on the wall.
Rook leaned out of cover to fire a burst at the unidentified enemies. It was hard to make them out when the only light came from the muzzle flashes, but they seemed to be big-too big to be human. He could make out a voice barking what he imagined were orders in a language he couldn't recognize. The voice was far too deep and guttural to belong to a human.
Once again, the radio came on. "Fireteams, what's going on in there!?" shouted Bridge. "Who are you engaging?"
"Backup, we need backup!" Ichigo said frantically. "We're under attack by Martians! It's War of the Worlds all over again!"
The unknown being said something else in its guttural language, and the firing seemed to lessen. Aside from a few shots of covering fire, the barrage wasn't as intense as it had been. Rook leaned out of cover just in time to see a scaly green tail escaping out an open door.
"What's going on? Who are you engaging!?" said Bridge. "Fireteams, respond! Rook!? Farroway!?"
Hester picked up her sniper rifle. "Just give the word, and we'll run in," she said.
"We have to, they're pinned down in there," said Bridge. "Fireteam Romeo, engage hostiles!"
Before the troopers had any time to gear up, a loud hum rang through the night. Everyone's attention was drawn to the roof of the building, where the sound was coming from: It was a ship. The air rippled as it materialized seemingly from nowhere, as it rose into the air. Those that didn't immediately begin to panic stared at it in awe. The craft, about the size of a helicopter, sprouted a pair of narrow wings behind it as it rose into the sky. The soldiers inside ran out just in time to see it disappear.
For a good long while, nobody spoke. It was Ichigo who ultimately broke the silence: "Hey, James?"
"What?"
"Something tells me that wasn't the Children of Homeworld…"
