Dead or Alive:
Chapter1
Isolation SIGMA
Part 1
Stranded
Tisha's eyes burned with the salt of the ocean, and the misty winds cooled her sweat burdened forehead. The sand felt cool against the palms of her hands, and the energizing water running over her legs awoke here from her state. She slowly lifted her head, weighted down by the water absorbed into each strand of hair. The sand was wet and clung to her tanned skin. Where am I? She thought, What a happened to the Nebuchanezzer?
"Hey, Tisha!" A deep male voice caught her attention, and she whipped her head around to see the many familiar faces, "We thought you were a goner!"
The speaker was Jake Vance, that military man she'd seen onboard ship. He was a tall man, bony, with medium length curly brown hair. The man had a aura about him, that. well, seemed, dangerous. Not like martial artist danger, but more like he'd kill you in a second if you tried to kill him. He was followed closely by Tina Armstrong and Jann Lee. Tisha frowned. She'd expected Christie to at least show her face.
Tina and Jake kneeled down next to her, and Jake pulled a white and red box from his back. Jann snapped his head from left to right, "We must not dawdle, you two!" Jann said, scornfully, "Kasumi and the others are waiting."
Jake looked up in annoyance at the Jeet Kune Do master. Turning back to Tisha, he tensed, feeling a pair of eyes burrowing their gaze into his head. Jann Lee was still looking around the beach, Tina was looking at Tisha, and Tisha wasn't really focusing on anything at the moment. The ex- DELTA shrugged it off, grudgingly, yet somehow he didn't want to forget about that gaze. He felt like he was in a goldfish bowl. He never liked open expanses. It was too easy to pick your target.
Tisha's head was swimming just as much as she had, probably, in the water, "Where are we?"
Tina's head turned toward Jake, who was unraveling a small bandage, "We might be at Elijah Isle, but I can't be sure at all. I was never good with oceanography."
"Yeah, I think you're right, Jake. Seems like a remote enough place for the fight."
Tisha recognized that name, Elijah Isle; it was the location of the Dead or Alive 4 tournament. Tisha smiled, wincing at the sudden pain she experienced, "Don't move, Tisha, or your skin'll tear more than it already has!"
Applying the bandage to Tisha's cheek, Jake furrowed his brow, making sure to get it right.
Tina got up from her squat, and started to help Tisha up. Tisha accepted the friendly assistance warmly, and was quickly rushed, by Jann Lee, down the beach. What're they afraid of?
Jake stopped a few feet behind the small group and glanced over his shoulder into the trees, and then followed at a rapid pace, How do I know this place? He thought, And who is watching us?
* * * *
Kasumi smiled as she saw the team of rescuers and Tisha jog back down the beach, "She made it!"
Ayane shrugged, and her voice was filled with sarcasm and, maybe regret, "So?"
Kasumi gave her sister a derisive grin, and then rushed to greet the on comers.
"Heeeeeeeey!!!" She yelled, waving her arms in the air.
Ryu scolded her, and told her to put her arms down, and the respectful kunoichi complied.
Tisha grinned, seeing Christie in one corner of the outcropping of rocks that made up the group's hide-out. Perfect! Everyone was there; Hayate, Ayane, Kasumi, Leon, Bass, Bayman, Lei-Fang, Helena, Christie, Ryu, Hitomi, Brad, Zack, a few men and women she didn't know, and the group who had met Tisha on the beach.
"Who are we missing?" Leon asked.
Jake did a quick body count, but Hayate answered first, "With Tisha here, that makes two; Sanchez and Apone."
"Fitting," Christie replied from her corner, receiving looks from the whole group, "We just participated in the worst possible thing that could happen. With the Nebuchanezzer out of commission, we're stranded!"
Ayane cracked her knuckles and beamed, "All the better!"
Jake quickly through in his comment before Kasumi or Ryu could throw theirs, "Not really. I'd've rather not even come to Elijah Island in the first place."
This got questioning glances from all, even the more blunt Bayman.
Gripping one arm, Jake quickly succeeded at looking conceded and inward, as if he was reliving some event. Tina was the first to break long silence following, "Well, do we even know where we are?"
Another long silence. Even the birds stopped. Helena put a hand over her face, shielding the look of pure worry.
".Okay. We should scout around, see if we can find a landmark," Kasumi suggested.
"Great idea, Kasumi! You come with me, just the two of us!" The scheming assassin took in her chance to complete her mission, jumping on the chance to get Kasumi alone, but got skeptical glances from all, even Hayate. "Worth a shot."
Jake made a rude noise, but quickly covered it up with a cough.
"Kasumi is correct, however. If we can find out where we are, there is a higher probability of getting out of here," Ryu said, as methodically as if he had fallen out of Greek Mythology.
"Alright, that was just plain creepy, Ryu!" Zack stated, "Talk normal, man!"
Another long silence.
"Okay, it's decided. We move out, looking for any landmarks," Jake spoke as he had hundreds of times before, "Kasumi, Ryu, Tina in front, Hayate, Bass, and Helena in back. No tricks! If chances are what they think they are, we'll need each other, and our wits if any of us wanna get out of here alive."
"What?" A Half a dozen voices cried.
"Now move out!" Jake Vance, lieutenant of the American DELTA Elite force, and a hero in his own right had finally remembered what was out there, and he was scared of it. For it was far deadlier than Genra or the Tengu of years before, Dynavein were fools. You know this, creature, and so do I. Now we match each other's steel yet again. SIGMA, come at me if you will!
Part 2
A Fearful Discovery
The trudging through the forest lands was both tedious, and beautiful. Mushrooms growing straight out in plates as tall as Bayman from the tallest trees Lei-Fang had ever seen, and the animals in the area were plentiful. Zack chased a gopher for a half a mile off the track, before Ryu and Hayate dragged him back. Jake did not approve of Zack's antics, as he still thought he wasn't on Elijah Isle, but on some other island in the Aegean Sea.
"How much further?" Helena asked, from behind.
Jake and Bass answered the same in perfect harmony, much to Jake's dismay, "Guess!"
Ryu, during this conversation, lifted some earphones from Zack's head, and heard something coming from them, "Picture this! I get a phone call from Regis! He says, 'do wanna be a millionaire?', and I win it all, with only TWO LIFELINES TO SPARE!"
Ryu dropped the noise-making thing to the ground and quickly rushed on, unaware of his stepping on the expensive travel Walkman's earphones.
Jake abruptly stopped, at the head of the rag-tag group, some of them bumping into his stiff back, ".Whoa!"
All the others crowded around him, looking at the ten story building, or at the three foot tall egg, "And we missed that structure how?" Kasumi asked, "It's huge!"
Jake wasn't looking at the building, but at the mottled brown egg, "Dear god, no!" He whispered, "SIGMA's breeding!"
Ryu's head snapped around, hearing the Greek code letter used often in society to date, "What?"
"You'll find out soon enough!"
One of the unknown newcomers to the tournament started to have a breakdown, "OH GOD! WE'RE GONNA DIE! DON'T YOU ALL SEE?! WE'RE GONNA-"
Everyone dropped to their knees, as Jake pulled a high caliber pistol from his jeans, and shot into thee air, "Shut up!" He said quietly, but sharply.
The man obediently complied with Jake's 'forceful' order. Most of the champion caliber fighters there wondered how he'd gotten the gun through the security, let alone get it safely to the island after their ship crashed.
"Okay," Jake was suddenly very quiet, and Tisha cocked her head, trying to hear what he was saying, and wondering why he was being quiet, "we go in the building, all of us. Keep your eyes on the walls, and roof. Watch for any movement. If you find any, don't bother to tell me, because by the time you do, you'll be dead. Just run.
"Alright, we're safe as long as we stay quiet, and don't make sudden moves," he said, and Tisha easily realized that he was also trying to convince himself, as well as the group.
The ninjas in the group knew little if any fear. But one thing was certain; both Ayane and Kasumi, as skilled and as deadly as they were, were afraid of what was to come. We march into the very maw of death. Cool! Let's kick some A**, Ayane added gleefully to herself.
(Song lyrics © Steven Curtis Chapman's Live Out Loud)
Part 3
The Leftovers
Tisha skimmed cat-like into the room, sliding noiselessly to the opposite wall. Giving a quick scope of the room, she signaled Kasumi and Ayane. The kunoichi pair drew their blades and surveyed the room. Ryu and Hayate followed afterwards, being the slower of the four ninjas.
Jake drew his Colt, and seemed to point it at every irregular object in the room. Tisha thought he'd been driven mad by what he'd seen in front of the building, and kept one eye on him at all times.
"What're we looking for?" Ayane asked of Jake.
"Movement, discoloration of the walls, and roof, that sort of thing. Anything that's out of place," he explained, thinking back to that terrible day on the Dynavein atoll.
The group was moving all over the room, doing exactly as Jake, Ayane and Kasumi were. Bass nearly through his fist through the wall when he found the double-helix emblem of the cloning company, Dynavein. It was bulging clear from the wall, the two strands of DNA wrapping around a human head, probably the President of the company.
Posters were all over the place. One was a poster of DOATEC's symbol with several darts still sticking out. Some were pictures of family, and others were just plain weird through Tisha's eyes.
Leon and Bayman walked through the main room with a relative ease. The room was rather like a large rounded square, terraced, much like America's NASA center, with a large monitor at one end, and many other monitors and computers at the terraces. The monitor was smashed and many other monitors were damaged in some way.
"Jake! Come take a look at this!" Zack said.
The DELTA commando marched to the spot indicated by Zack. Seeming very tense, Jake looked at what Zack asked him to. and nearly fell flat on his back, if Zack hadn't steadied him.
There stood in front of them a blue accented dome of a room, centered entirely on a tube running through the center of the room. Frosted over with blue, an alien shape was visible inside. Almost like a grayish-silver gargoyle, with claw hands and human feet and a very human almond-shaped face. Jake remembered that creature.
"Jake, the number two barrier's fluctuating." "Post security teams and gates B and O!" "Jake, what do we do?!" "HELP ME!!!!" "Lieutenant Vance, you are relieved of command!" "JAKE!!!"
Jake inhaled sharply, "Marisa."
Tina laid one hand on his shoulder, and Jake took in a sharp breath of surprise. The wrestler passed him and walked right up to the tube. She peered into the iced over glass at the creature. She brought one hand up, and brushed the glass clear of the ice, water condensing on her hand.
"What is that?" She asked.
"You sure you wanna know?" Jake replied to the woman. She turned her head, and Zack also gave him a look.
".It's death," and after that one simple answer he walked back into the main room, leaving the pair to follow.
"Okay, the building clean, for now!" Jake called, "but, keep an eye on that tube."
The group got together, taking seats in front of consoles and leaning on walls. All were expecting one thing; a story.
"How did you know that this place may be dangerous?" Hayate inquired.
Jake sighed to himself, and Tisha leaned forward in her swivel seat. She was rather expecting the story to be quick, concise and to the point, but he remembered every detail. because it was Hell.
Part 4
The Crisis
'It was five years ago, before I quit DELTA. The US had sent me in undercover to investigate what Dynavein had. Dynavein Corporation, run by President Robert Tomlinson, had uncovered a meteor. One that had DNA on it; Alien DNA. Never told NASA, or any space agency. Instead, using Human DNA extracted from a scientist, they filled in holes in the frozen DNA strands, and built two aliens, from two strands of DNA found on that rock. One had more holes than the other, and more human DNA required. I couldn't believe what I'd found; It was real life Jurassic Park, but this was for science, not for entertainment. Which made it all the worse. They created Hell.'
////////\\\\\\\\\\\
"Hey, Jake!"
"What, Mike?" The DELTA asked.
The younger security officer glanced up at his taller companion, "Well, I
was wondering, what you thought of this?"
Jake grunted, "Aliens? Clones? I personally think it's a comic book."
The young one lowered his gaze back down to the group of programmers, technicians and scientists below them, all monitoring the status of the SIGMA; the Alien. The room Jake was in was a cleaner, better working machine that what it would be in five years. All monitors functioning, hustle and bustle in every corner, it was a major program run here, and only a select few knew about it.
"Hey, Jake! I got a code blue on number 1, check it out!"
The security chief nodded and trotted off to the master console, glaring at it's flashing lights, "Well, we have. F**K!! CODE RED! CODE RED!"
"Jake, the number 2 barrier's fluctuating!"
The DELTA switched on the camera and watched as the SIGMA slammed into the barriers, going through, one, then another, "They all are, damn it! Bruce, Marisa, get out of there!"
An ear piercing, shrill scream of terror, pain and instinct gripped the room, as the final barrier collapsed, sending all scattering, and the SIGMA free to move.
"Oh, my god!" Jake whispered, "Emergency EVAC! Get to the Choppers!"
Turning around, the DELTA operative kicked open a wall container and tore free an M4 5.56 mm assault rifle with under slung M203 grenade launcher, and a few clips of 5.56. As he loaded the rifle, he glared into the nearest security cam, "BAIL NOW!!"
////////////\\\\\\\\\\
"Jake," Kasumi laid one hand on his shoulder, trying to comfort the man.
Tisha laid back in her seat reflecting on part of the told story. It was a scary thought, yes, of such a thing getting loose, but an entire security team armed to the teeth should have easily taken such a creature, as they'd seen in the tube, down.
"I-" Jake started, and the whole group locked eyes with him again, "I can. still hear the screams. I couldn't. I couldn't save them. It just walked through them, like a wave of blood and blades, camouflaging in the walls, and striking from the dark. It was horror film. Tight passages.," the images of the passages flashed in his mind, "the claustrophobia," another flash of memory, "and the dim illumination from the EVAC alarms lights. You never knew, who it would get, or when. It wasn't 'if', but 'when'."
The images flashed in his mind, the crimson, almost luminescent blood, the creature's fluorescent green eyes, the slight tint of yellow of human intestine and gore. 'Cursed for eternity to remember the depths of Hell itself,' that was what Mr. Tomlinson had said to him.
"Jake?" Ryu asked, trying to get some sign of acknowledgment from the horror-wracked man.
///////////\\\\\\\\\\\\\
'Running down the passage way, with Marisa, Bruce, Mike, an up-and-coming biochemist named Garrett, and several others, we encountered it on several occasions on our way to the escape chopper. It took one of us each time. First Bruce, then Mike, and Garrett. Soon, it was just me and Marisa.'
"Jake, what do we do? We can't leave without him!"
Garrett had just been dragged into darkness by it, and Jake was running down the passage, dragging Marisa behind him, "We can and we will, Marisa! We're running out of time."
Ripping her hand from his grasp she began going backwards, "Garrett's not DEAD!"
"WHAT MAKE'S YOU THINK HE ISN'T, MARISA?!" Jake's outburst came with the cocking of his rifle, "I'd hate to do it, but if you slow me down, we're both as good as dead, and I might as well cook us both off!"
Marisa began crying, a crystalline tear, rolling down her face, "He- he- he's not dead!" She croaked out, desperately.
"He is, Marisa! And we'll be too, if we don't leave, now!"
A thick liquid, almost syrupy, hit the barrel of Jake's rifle just then, and a low hissing sound was audible, looking right at Marisa, never looking up, he said, "RUN!"
~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Part 5
The Hunt Begins.
"Creeeepy!" Tina said, commenting on Jake's tale.
Tisha had to agree. How could mankind build such a creature? Why? For the sake of money? Is it a weapon? It is strange to think such thoughts, of course a weapon! But to be used on who?
"Well, I think the first order of business is getting of this rock of an island!" Tisha said, stating the complete obvious, more of to get off that depressing subject, than to take action.
Jake nodded, "There's a com tower at the top of complex. Helena! See if you could get DOATEC to lend us a ride. You are in charge of the company if I'm correct?"
"Yes," Helena paused, "But wouldn't it be easier to call the mainland?"
Tisha smiled and answered for him, "This is a no fly zone, probably. It's like a Bermuda Triangle. Things just. disappear."
Jake nodded, "That's the word. Anything that sails, or flies near, vanishes."
"Well, there ain't no whirlpool or hurricane here!" Bass added.
"Then, the pilots will be skeptical!" Helena added.
Jake grinned, mischievously, "but to retrieve the leader of DOATEC? I don't think so!"
"Helena, get to the roof, and patch into that com tower. Get us a way out o' here! Hayate, Ryu, Ayane! You stay here, and keep an eye on that tube. I want to know the instant that thing moves!" Jake dished out the orders like a pro, "I'll take Tisha and Kasumi and head for the power reactor. Blow this place sky high! Whatever's on this rock is toast. And if Helena gets her job done, we're outta here!
"Everyone else. is hunting!"
Several cheers came from the DOA fighters, but only a few from the newbies.
Tisha and Jake walked over to one wall, looked at each other, and kicked the wall, a small door opening, "You paid attention to the story!"
Tisha glanced at what was inside, and took a blade from inside, flipped it open into a double-bladed sword, and distastefully placed in back in the cabinet, "I always do."
Several weapons were inside, besides the interesting double-blade. There were some combat knives, many M4s, some MP5K sub-machine guns, a couple of M1911A1 Colt .45ACP pistols, and a MM1 revolver action grenade launcher.
Jake took a pair of H&K MP5K 9mm sub-machine guns, some ammo clips and an M4. Slinging the M4 on his shoulder and backing away from the cabinet as Leon and Bayman rushed forward to pick a weapon of choice, he pulled the two H&Ks and sighed, "And this is my retirement!", he said, jerking the guns forward, chambering the first round of the clip.
Leon took the pair of Colt .45s and smiled to himself, "Great men think alike, Vance."
Jake smirked, seeing Leon's use of his last name.
Bayman, being the blunt and direct man, took the grenade launcher, and began cackling almost manically.
Tisha took the honor of passing out headsets to one person in each squad, Jake taking one for himself, followed by Hayate, Helena, Leon, and Lei- Fang. Leon and Lei-Fang took their teams and left the room immediately, heading for the stair well, Hayate, taking the pair of others into the nearby room.
Jake tested his frequency, "Everyone there?"
Hayate replied, "Loud and clear, Jake."
"I hear you and respond," Helena said in her gentle voice.
"I gotcha!" Leon's voice came booming across the frequency.
"Good, and go!" Lei-Fang's typical personality almost flowing through the
headpiece.
"Ok, begin the operation!" Jake commanded.
Tisha frowned and glared at him, "Don't be so formal! We're not all military."
* * *
"This certainly is a big round room!" Kasumi put in, looking up at the immense dome of the reactor core. The RR, filled with pylons and the column of the reactor towered over the three companions. The core shone brightly upon the woman's face, lighting up her beautiful, unscarred face.
"This is the main power source for the facility. I'm surprised it's still going!
A conduit must have blown somewhere, making the main facility lack power," Jake said, as he climbed a ladder on the side of a pylon.
"Is that dangerous?" Tisha asked, scanning the room.
"No," Jake replied, "This isn't a nuclear reactor. It uses revolutionary techniques. It fuses hydrogen molecules. The molecules need to be restocked every seven years or so. They did it once while I was here."
"They've got a SUN in here?!" Kasumi and Tisha blared, at the same time.
Jake popped open a panel, and turned toward the pair of women, "You know you're science!" Jake said, proudly, as if he was involved.
The ex-DELTA placed one hand on his headpiece, "Helena, this is Jake! I'm in position. What's up?"
There was a moment of static in the headpiece, "Three choppers inbound, ETA 20 minutes!"
"Great! I'll set the overload for thirty minutes. That'll give us time to get clear. This explosion will light up your life."
"No S**T!" Tisha called up.
Jake cut the communiqué, and glanced back down at the girls, "The Fusion Reactor is barely the size of a quarter! Just enough to envelope the island and anything near in a small Nova."
"NOVA?!" The girls shrieked again.
Jake planted one hand on his head, showing he was getting a headache.
"Uh. Jake.Jake! JAKE!!!"
The DELTA gripped his head, "Calm down, Hayate, what's going on?"
"It's the- NOOOOOO! AYANE!"
Jake pulled his legs from the ladder and slid down. Hitting the metal flooring with a resounding sound, he darted past the women, calling for them to follow, and to be ready for combat. Part 6
The Revelation
Jake rounded the corner ready to spray the console room with gunfire, his MP5Ks pointing every direction, mostly up and to the sides, followed closely by the speedy Kasumi and agile Tisha ready for battle. They made their way, speedily, into the Cryo-room where Hayate, Ryu and Ayane were watching the tube.
There it was, Ayane in its claws, it's enormous maw a fraction of a foot from her head. Hayate lay a few feet to the left, holding his gut, where'd he'd been slashed by the SIGMA's claws, and Ryu was in a battle pose facing the creature.
It was amazing. The SIGMA must have been eight feet tall, when standing erect on it's reverse jointed legs. Two claws, laden with bladed fingers, gripped Ayane's torso, pinning her to the creature's side. An enormous tail, held the creature up on the wall, the razor blades biting deep into the steel. Its head was tall, keeping it's almost half a foot wide closed jaw in place. Its crystal clear teeth were visible with its opened mouth. Its skin was the most mesmerizing. Tisha could stand glaring at it for hours. It's skin 'shifted', the tint changing constantly to match the colors behind it, and nearby, in an attempt to make itself invisible to its opponents. But with a section of Ayane's body 'hidden' it was easy to spot.
The creature desisted its attempts at hiding, revealing it's true silvery skin color, and hissed at the newcomers. Jake stood in the doorway, with barely enough room for the two girls to get in the room and circle their opponent.
"DROP HER, YOU SON OF B***H!" Jake sprayed the creature's head with bullets. Three rounds; one, two, three, burrowed into the creature's skull. Ayane was dropped, the claws coming clean, leaving bright red marks on her forearms. Crimson blood dripped from her injuries, as she scampered away from the creature.
The creature turned its head back to Jake, cocked and, unscathed. Jake frowned, and jerked back. Not a split second later, the creature discharged from the wall, pushed off the ground, and leaped at him. Falling onto his back, the creature passed over him, running head first into a console in the next room.
Turning on all fours, the SIGMA snapped its tail forward, scorpion like, coming short of Jake's head by a fraction of an inch. Quickly standing, and sliding forward, Jake tried to avoid further attacks. That maneuver saved his life. The SIGMA came head on again, this time leaving Jake no margin for escape, no time to dodge. But, Kasumi and Tisha were ready. Timing their attacks ever so perfectly they both delivered flying kicks, sending the SIGMA spinning on it's axis. The creature landed flat on top of Jake. Ryu rushed forward, grabbed the creature and tossed it up.
Aborting his usual continuation of the move, Ryu helped Jake up, and grabbed Hayate. Together the group left the room, all before the thing hit ground again.
Lei-Fang's team and Leon's team met at the entrance. "GO, GO, GO, GO!" Jake yelled, motioning for them to get away from the entrance.
Bayman stepped forward and raised the MM1. The SIGMA hit ground gracefully, and spun to face the door. Bayman squinted, taking careful aim. Missing would end it all, "Shoot it!" Tina cried.
The creature leapt for Bayman, and, Bayman fired. The round sped fast, and hit the creature square in the forehead. Before the explosion, it was knocked back into the Cryo-room, exploding seconds afterwards. The explosion sent Bayman reeling, trying to recover from the wave of heat and force coming from the room.
"Let's GO! Helena's waiting!" Jake commanded lifting a few people off the floor, and pushing them to the stairs. He unloaded a clip of 9mm into the Cryo-room before leaving, just to be sure. In this business, it pays to be sure.
Tisha lead the team, up and up the stairwell. Looking up, and then down to check her footing. Thirty floors, she thought. Let's start!
What they weren't aware of, was that the SIGMA was far from dead.
Part 7
The Great Escape
Tisha kicked the roof door open. The door slammed into the concrete roof wall, and the first thing in sight was the enormous COM tower dish. As big as everyone present lined up one on top of the other, it was enormous and Helena was crouched with Zack at one side of it, wires running from her headset to the dish.
Helena pulled the cords free and rushed to a big expanse on the roof and began waving her arms. Wind whipped her hair back., and three choppers circled in. Helena waved them down and motioned for everyone to come over. Landing softly on the rock surface, they waited patiently for their passengers, if nervously.
"They're early!" Helena yelled over the rotors.
HREEEEEE!!!!!!
"WHO CARES!" Tisha yelled and began to board a helicopter, her head bowed to avoid the lowering blades.
The group hastened their steps except for Bayman and Jake, who suddenly starting shooting down the tunnel behind them. The sound of empty cartridges hitting the ground resounded even in the open air, and the booming of the grenade explosions was easily heard.
"Go, Bayman, go!" Jake cried, as he quickly dropped the empty clips of his guns, slammed the sub-machine guns into his hips, lining up another clip into the slots, and jerked them forward, cocking them again.
Bayman, turned reloading the MM1 as he jogged to the choppers.
Jake cut lose when the SIGMA was almost on him. The sheer force of the blows sent the creature backwards. Jake then turned and ran like the dogs of Hell were behind him.
He had a twenty five meter head start when SIGMA burst out of the tunnel, bruised and pissed.
"Come on!" Tisha cried, throwing her arms out.
Jake pushed harder, sending himself into an overdrive, going as fast as his body could take him. and that was fast. The SIGMA watched him, analyzed him, and sped after him. The helicopters began to lift off, with their already heavy loads. They were going leave Jake behind.
Jake stopped at the edge of the building, watching his hope leave him in the abyss of despair, ".no!"
Dropping to his knees, Jake gave up. So many times he had evaded death. Was this the time it came for his blood, seeking everlasting revenge? They had left without him, and with good reason. The hero has fallen, and there is no getting up again, Jake, he told himself.
The creature skidded to a stop behind him and stood ominously over him. He turned his head half-way round to see it, then, he said, "You'll have to catch me, you son of bitch!" And with that, fell over the side, into the dense treetops.
"NOOOO!" Tisha cried out. She surprised herself, hearing herself say it. She didn't care if he lived or died, but he was willing to give it all for them, to help them live. Why? Why did they leave him? He deserved to live. Maybe it was honor. or maybe she'd gotten used to him being there.
"Tisha," Kasumi said, "we have to get clear of the island."
The pilot leaned back to look at her, "Why?"
Kasumi explained the events that led up to their escape. The reactor, being the most prominent.
Tisha brightened up suddenly, "Land at that cliff! I'll be back in five minutes. If I'm not, leave without me, too."
"WHAT?!" Was the response throughout the people on the helicopter, including Helena, Kasumi, Leon and the pilot.
"I'm going back for his body! I'm not leaving without him!" Tisha said, her mind already made up.
Helena came forward in the tight compartment of the Helicopter, "Tisha, there's no time!"
Tisha checked her watch, which was amazingly, still functioning, "We still have ten minutes! Five minutes is all I'm asking!"
Kasumi looked at the pilot, and shrugged, giving up on trying to convince
Tisha otherwise, "Alright, but five minutes is all I'm givin' ya!" The pilot
replied and moved to land on the eastern cliff of the island.
Jake, miraculously, opened his eyes... at horror.
Part 8
The Imagination
It was all splayed out before him. The scene of the original violence. Jake was in the passages, the Cryo-room, and Control room. He could see it all, and was any of it real. The inevitable incident would come, and he couldn't stop it. People bustling about, then running, screaming, and all the bodies fell over with deep wounds, the crimson blood staining the floor. The smell of steaming gore and fear was dense in the room. It was salty, almost, and humid. The taste of copper in his mouth, he taste of fear. It was there, somewhere. As it had, five years ago.
////////////////\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\
The passage was cold, dark, feeling airless, and compressed. The room smelled of grease and salt. The air was heavy, and the pentagonal route was all ahead of him. And around any corner, on any wall, it could be.
Jake ran, Garrett and Marisa close behind.
"Come on, you two! Keep up!"
Garrett was lagging, afraid, and temper mental. His white coat was torn, showing his almost see through white under shirt. His shoulder-length brown hair was ruffled, and his normally twinkling eyes, now bristled with the frost of fear and horror.
Marisa wasn't much better, her scientist outfit also half-destroyed, her black hair, initially pulled up in a pony-tail, disheveled and her almond- shaped face was smeared with the dried blood of others.
"We're at least a few hours from the boats, Jake! We'll never make it!" Garrett complained.
"Well, why don't you be moral officer, now hustle!" Jake commanded, barely cocking his head to speak.
Marisa began to slow, "Jake, we're tired, can't we stop."
"Then start building a long, thin box!" Jake said, as he began to leave the behind, "I have my own life to live!"
"JAKE!"
The DELTA operative stopped, and glared back at the scientist pair. Their faces red with exhaustion, and their breathing sporadic from fatigue, they
were a sight. And so was the object behind them.
A dangling tail, lined with razor blades, "GET DOWN!" Jake shouted, as he began shooting just above the tail.
HREEEE!!
The tail whipped, missing Marisa by a fraction of a millimeter, the very breeze, slashing her arm. The tail pierced right through Garrett's chest, and lifted him up out of sight.
Marisa was paralyzed by panic. The only friend she ever knew died an unclean, unmerciful death. What was he? Dinner.
"Dammit, run!" Jake rushed forward, grabbed her good arm, and yanked her down he path of redemption.
////////////\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\
The memories were clear now. It all came back to him. He had abandoned Garrett. All because of SIGMA. It wasn't just trying to kill him, and everyone else. He remembered, all in an instant. it was aware, thoughtful, and heartless. This event took a whole new turn. Now, It was personal.
Part 9
With A Vengeance
Tisha dashed through the woods, her eyes tracking any movement. The creature could be anywhere, and so could Jake. The man had fallen in front of the Dynavein building. He should be near there. One more minute, Tisha! No more!
And then, there he was lying in a tree mushroom. Those wide, soft fungi had saved his life. And right at eye level for him, was the mottled brown egg they had seen. It began rocking, violently, from side to side. The dirt was shoved from it's fortification around the egg's base. The shell cracked.
Jake brought his MP5K up, and leveled it at the egg. One claw bit forth, and Jake shot up the egg. A shrill squeal was heard, and the egg fell over, whatever was inside dead.
HREEEEEE! It came.
"You basta-! AAAAAAGGGHHH!" Jake began to cuss, and was summarily dragged into the trees by an invisible form. It was magnificent, the very air seemed to 'push out' toward her vision, but now wasn't the time for subtly. Follow the SIGMA.
She ran, around in a circle up a tree's plate mushrooms until she was at the right level, and angle. She jumped, clear into the air, onto the SIGMA's flying back. Her two legs slammed precisely into the creature's spine.
Its skin may be tough, but a blunt blow doesn't need to penetrate skin to do damage. The SIGMA fell limply to the ground, Jake still in it's arms. The creature's hide fell back on it's default, and the creature stopped moving.
Wrenching Jake free, Tisha pulled him to his feet. He then shoved her away, "It's not dead!"
"It will be in three minutes! The reactor!" Tisha reminded him.
Jake's eyes bulged, "Oh my God! RUN!"
Jake and Tisha dashed away into the woods, and the SIGMA let out a
roar, as it cricked it's spinal column back into place, "They shall cry for their resistance, before they die!" It snapped and chased after them.
Jake staggered to the helicopter, "Come on, move, MOVE! We ain't got all day!" The pilot was yelling.
Tisha waved the pilot to lift off as she boarded the helicopter, "Thirty seconds to spare, Tisha! Too close!" Helena said as they lifted off.
Jake was watching the island begin to disappear below him, "Don't you ever die!?" He cried over the rotors. Cocking his gun, he began shooting
out the side of the helicopter.
Kasumi, and Helena were violently thrown to one side of the helicopter, Kasumi holding onto the door as her legs flew out side, "KASUMI! Hang on!"
The helicopter righted itself and Kasumi pulled herself in, when Tisha was suddenly dragged out the other side, by SIGMA. A tail blade wrenched into the flooring, pushing out underneath Helena's feet.
"F**K!" Jake tied a make-shift rope to one chair, and then to his waist, and slid down the floor, out the door.
Tisha was being held underneath the helicopter canopy. The SIGMA's jaws open wide. perfect. Jake only need one shot, "Eat this!" Jake pulled out his MP5K gas-operated sub-machine gun, smirked, and unleashed only three rounds. right into the open maw.
The SIGMA's head curled back in pain, the steel bullets punching deep into it's skull, in it's one weakness. A green fluid flew out the back of it's cranium, caught in the wind, blown away. Then it fell, Tisha still it's arms.
Releasing the tension on the cord, Jake slid down to the very end of it's reach; 40 feet, grabbing Tisha's left hand.
Back, on the helicopter, Kasumi took one look at the cord that Jake was hanging on, forty feet below. It was beginning to snap, "It always works in the movies!" Helena yelled, as she dove for the cord. She caught it, and pulled, trying desperately to pull him up while Jake held onto Tisha.
Kasumi came over to Helena and began to help pull.
The cord snapped, and Kasumi was strained. She was a ninja, not a weight- lifter. Still, the human drug Adrenaline was in their systems, and managed to help them pull Jake up. Tisha looked at Jake, with a new respect, "Eye for an eye," Jake said.
Tisha paused, comprehending those words, "yes."
A blinding flash, and all sound was empty, not even the constant rotor blades. Tisha blinked and shielded her face from the glare. Kasumi looked at the island, and at the pattern of light playing off the water far below. Not a sound, but a wave of force. The reactor had blown it's top. The miniature sun expanded, giving off a bright light, the imploded.
The resulting blast sent the helicopter spinning.
The air in Kasumi's lungs was forced out, and Jake was thrown clear cross the small cabin, hitting Helena. Jake latched onto the wall Kasumi had not a few moments before, Helena grasping his hands, trying to keep herself in as well.
"HANG ON!" the pilot said as the helicopter began a slow, circling
Part 10
A Tearful Farewell
"No." Tisha whispered, quietly.
"Tisha. he gave it his all. There was nothing else you could have done, nothing."
They were all there, dressed in their finest to give one last farewell to the one man who got them through it all, at the cost of his life. Lieutenant Jake Andrews Vance, Ex-DELTA force, and proud commander that saved their lives. He died when their helicopter came in on the landing pad at Elijah Island, out of control.
"Ashes to ashes, dust to dust, amen," The priest closed the book he'd read from, and stepped back into the line of people.
"Atteeenshun! Preseeent Arms!" Seven men stood in formation a few feet away, "FIRE!" Bang! "FIRE!" Bang! "FIRE!" Bang!
A sad memoir music began, which lowered the spirits of all. The American flag flew at half-mast and all in attendance felt sorrow at his loss.
The military send-off complete, and an American flag presented to his sister, Lorraine, the funeral was over.
It had all become clear to Tisha after the event; Jake hadn't quit DELTA, retired or anything. He was under orders the entire time; orders to guard her. She was an American citizen and the United States of America wanted her alive, at any cost.
"I just don't get it!" Bass said, "Why this whole shebang?"
Tina elbowed him and gave him a look that said 'shut up'.
"He was good fighter," Bayman said, and Leon nodded.
Tisha went over to her car without a word to anyone. She didn't want them to see her tears. One way or another, she would miss him.
Tisha wouldn't be the only one to cry for his loss, but now it was time for the tournament. DOA4 had been relocated to Los Angeles, much safer than Elijah Isle. The entire area quarantined, patrolled regularly. The Dynavein island, itself, had been carpet bombed by America and it's allies. No one was allowed near.
Time to cry later. Be strong, and win.
* * *
"Before we begin, I have an announcement," the host of the DOA 4 tournament, a Mr. Tomlinson, was speaking from his pedestal above the competitors and spectators of the event.
"A story must be told. Everyone here knows of what I speak," there was an awkward silence, "Lieutenant Jake Vance lived only a few blocks from here. And now, I wish a moment of silence. Jake Vance was a hero, awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor for the sacrifice he made."
Tisha smiled from her position in the line-up. She side-glanced at Ayane, and noticed a faint spark; A tear. Was Ayane crying?
"This is their story." Tomlinson said, as he glared right down at the DOA fighters, "And one man who risked it all."
Many questions haunted Tisha after that event; Why did the US want her alive?, was the most prominent in her mind. She was unimportant, a professor of Music and Dance, as well as a martial artist. What was so important about her? Why does the name Tomlinson sound so ominous, now? And why was Jake assigned as defense? From what?
But several things, she didn't know. How did Jake really die? How could she be certain he died in the crash, mutilated as he was? But one thing was certain...
...Project SIGMA was far from over.
Part 1
Stranded
Tisha's eyes burned with the salt of the ocean, and the misty winds cooled her sweat burdened forehead. The sand felt cool against the palms of her hands, and the energizing water running over her legs awoke here from her state. She slowly lifted her head, weighted down by the water absorbed into each strand of hair. The sand was wet and clung to her tanned skin. Where am I? She thought, What a happened to the Nebuchanezzer?
"Hey, Tisha!" A deep male voice caught her attention, and she whipped her head around to see the many familiar faces, "We thought you were a goner!"
The speaker was Jake Vance, that military man she'd seen onboard ship. He was a tall man, bony, with medium length curly brown hair. The man had a aura about him, that. well, seemed, dangerous. Not like martial artist danger, but more like he'd kill you in a second if you tried to kill him. He was followed closely by Tina Armstrong and Jann Lee. Tisha frowned. She'd expected Christie to at least show her face.
Tina and Jake kneeled down next to her, and Jake pulled a white and red box from his back. Jann snapped his head from left to right, "We must not dawdle, you two!" Jann said, scornfully, "Kasumi and the others are waiting."
Jake looked up in annoyance at the Jeet Kune Do master. Turning back to Tisha, he tensed, feeling a pair of eyes burrowing their gaze into his head. Jann Lee was still looking around the beach, Tina was looking at Tisha, and Tisha wasn't really focusing on anything at the moment. The ex- DELTA shrugged it off, grudgingly, yet somehow he didn't want to forget about that gaze. He felt like he was in a goldfish bowl. He never liked open expanses. It was too easy to pick your target.
Tisha's head was swimming just as much as she had, probably, in the water, "Where are we?"
Tina's head turned toward Jake, who was unraveling a small bandage, "We might be at Elijah Isle, but I can't be sure at all. I was never good with oceanography."
"Yeah, I think you're right, Jake. Seems like a remote enough place for the fight."
Tisha recognized that name, Elijah Isle; it was the location of the Dead or Alive 4 tournament. Tisha smiled, wincing at the sudden pain she experienced, "Don't move, Tisha, or your skin'll tear more than it already has!"
Applying the bandage to Tisha's cheek, Jake furrowed his brow, making sure to get it right.
Tina got up from her squat, and started to help Tisha up. Tisha accepted the friendly assistance warmly, and was quickly rushed, by Jann Lee, down the beach. What're they afraid of?
Jake stopped a few feet behind the small group and glanced over his shoulder into the trees, and then followed at a rapid pace, How do I know this place? He thought, And who is watching us?
* * * *
Kasumi smiled as she saw the team of rescuers and Tisha jog back down the beach, "She made it!"
Ayane shrugged, and her voice was filled with sarcasm and, maybe regret, "So?"
Kasumi gave her sister a derisive grin, and then rushed to greet the on comers.
"Heeeeeeeey!!!" She yelled, waving her arms in the air.
Ryu scolded her, and told her to put her arms down, and the respectful kunoichi complied.
Tisha grinned, seeing Christie in one corner of the outcropping of rocks that made up the group's hide-out. Perfect! Everyone was there; Hayate, Ayane, Kasumi, Leon, Bass, Bayman, Lei-Fang, Helena, Christie, Ryu, Hitomi, Brad, Zack, a few men and women she didn't know, and the group who had met Tisha on the beach.
"Who are we missing?" Leon asked.
Jake did a quick body count, but Hayate answered first, "With Tisha here, that makes two; Sanchez and Apone."
"Fitting," Christie replied from her corner, receiving looks from the whole group, "We just participated in the worst possible thing that could happen. With the Nebuchanezzer out of commission, we're stranded!"
Ayane cracked her knuckles and beamed, "All the better!"
Jake quickly through in his comment before Kasumi or Ryu could throw theirs, "Not really. I'd've rather not even come to Elijah Island in the first place."
This got questioning glances from all, even the more blunt Bayman.
Gripping one arm, Jake quickly succeeded at looking conceded and inward, as if he was reliving some event. Tina was the first to break long silence following, "Well, do we even know where we are?"
Another long silence. Even the birds stopped. Helena put a hand over her face, shielding the look of pure worry.
".Okay. We should scout around, see if we can find a landmark," Kasumi suggested.
"Great idea, Kasumi! You come with me, just the two of us!" The scheming assassin took in her chance to complete her mission, jumping on the chance to get Kasumi alone, but got skeptical glances from all, even Hayate. "Worth a shot."
Jake made a rude noise, but quickly covered it up with a cough.
"Kasumi is correct, however. If we can find out where we are, there is a higher probability of getting out of here," Ryu said, as methodically as if he had fallen out of Greek Mythology.
"Alright, that was just plain creepy, Ryu!" Zack stated, "Talk normal, man!"
Another long silence.
"Okay, it's decided. We move out, looking for any landmarks," Jake spoke as he had hundreds of times before, "Kasumi, Ryu, Tina in front, Hayate, Bass, and Helena in back. No tricks! If chances are what they think they are, we'll need each other, and our wits if any of us wanna get out of here alive."
"What?" A Half a dozen voices cried.
"Now move out!" Jake Vance, lieutenant of the American DELTA Elite force, and a hero in his own right had finally remembered what was out there, and he was scared of it. For it was far deadlier than Genra or the Tengu of years before, Dynavein were fools. You know this, creature, and so do I. Now we match each other's steel yet again. SIGMA, come at me if you will!
Part 2
A Fearful Discovery
The trudging through the forest lands was both tedious, and beautiful. Mushrooms growing straight out in plates as tall as Bayman from the tallest trees Lei-Fang had ever seen, and the animals in the area were plentiful. Zack chased a gopher for a half a mile off the track, before Ryu and Hayate dragged him back. Jake did not approve of Zack's antics, as he still thought he wasn't on Elijah Isle, but on some other island in the Aegean Sea.
"How much further?" Helena asked, from behind.
Jake and Bass answered the same in perfect harmony, much to Jake's dismay, "Guess!"
Ryu, during this conversation, lifted some earphones from Zack's head, and heard something coming from them, "Picture this! I get a phone call from Regis! He says, 'do wanna be a millionaire?', and I win it all, with only TWO LIFELINES TO SPARE!"
Ryu dropped the noise-making thing to the ground and quickly rushed on, unaware of his stepping on the expensive travel Walkman's earphones.
Jake abruptly stopped, at the head of the rag-tag group, some of them bumping into his stiff back, ".Whoa!"
All the others crowded around him, looking at the ten story building, or at the three foot tall egg, "And we missed that structure how?" Kasumi asked, "It's huge!"
Jake wasn't looking at the building, but at the mottled brown egg, "Dear god, no!" He whispered, "SIGMA's breeding!"
Ryu's head snapped around, hearing the Greek code letter used often in society to date, "What?"
"You'll find out soon enough!"
One of the unknown newcomers to the tournament started to have a breakdown, "OH GOD! WE'RE GONNA DIE! DON'T YOU ALL SEE?! WE'RE GONNA-"
Everyone dropped to their knees, as Jake pulled a high caliber pistol from his jeans, and shot into thee air, "Shut up!" He said quietly, but sharply.
The man obediently complied with Jake's 'forceful' order. Most of the champion caliber fighters there wondered how he'd gotten the gun through the security, let alone get it safely to the island after their ship crashed.
"Okay," Jake was suddenly very quiet, and Tisha cocked her head, trying to hear what he was saying, and wondering why he was being quiet, "we go in the building, all of us. Keep your eyes on the walls, and roof. Watch for any movement. If you find any, don't bother to tell me, because by the time you do, you'll be dead. Just run.
"Alright, we're safe as long as we stay quiet, and don't make sudden moves," he said, and Tisha easily realized that he was also trying to convince himself, as well as the group.
The ninjas in the group knew little if any fear. But one thing was certain; both Ayane and Kasumi, as skilled and as deadly as they were, were afraid of what was to come. We march into the very maw of death. Cool! Let's kick some A**, Ayane added gleefully to herself.
(Song lyrics © Steven Curtis Chapman's Live Out Loud)
Part 3
The Leftovers
Tisha skimmed cat-like into the room, sliding noiselessly to the opposite wall. Giving a quick scope of the room, she signaled Kasumi and Ayane. The kunoichi pair drew their blades and surveyed the room. Ryu and Hayate followed afterwards, being the slower of the four ninjas.
Jake drew his Colt, and seemed to point it at every irregular object in the room. Tisha thought he'd been driven mad by what he'd seen in front of the building, and kept one eye on him at all times.
"What're we looking for?" Ayane asked of Jake.
"Movement, discoloration of the walls, and roof, that sort of thing. Anything that's out of place," he explained, thinking back to that terrible day on the Dynavein atoll.
The group was moving all over the room, doing exactly as Jake, Ayane and Kasumi were. Bass nearly through his fist through the wall when he found the double-helix emblem of the cloning company, Dynavein. It was bulging clear from the wall, the two strands of DNA wrapping around a human head, probably the President of the company.
Posters were all over the place. One was a poster of DOATEC's symbol with several darts still sticking out. Some were pictures of family, and others were just plain weird through Tisha's eyes.
Leon and Bayman walked through the main room with a relative ease. The room was rather like a large rounded square, terraced, much like America's NASA center, with a large monitor at one end, and many other monitors and computers at the terraces. The monitor was smashed and many other monitors were damaged in some way.
"Jake! Come take a look at this!" Zack said.
The DELTA commando marched to the spot indicated by Zack. Seeming very tense, Jake looked at what Zack asked him to. and nearly fell flat on his back, if Zack hadn't steadied him.
There stood in front of them a blue accented dome of a room, centered entirely on a tube running through the center of the room. Frosted over with blue, an alien shape was visible inside. Almost like a grayish-silver gargoyle, with claw hands and human feet and a very human almond-shaped face. Jake remembered that creature.
"Jake, the number two barrier's fluctuating." "Post security teams and gates B and O!" "Jake, what do we do?!" "HELP ME!!!!" "Lieutenant Vance, you are relieved of command!" "JAKE!!!"
Jake inhaled sharply, "Marisa."
Tina laid one hand on his shoulder, and Jake took in a sharp breath of surprise. The wrestler passed him and walked right up to the tube. She peered into the iced over glass at the creature. She brought one hand up, and brushed the glass clear of the ice, water condensing on her hand.
"What is that?" She asked.
"You sure you wanna know?" Jake replied to the woman. She turned her head, and Zack also gave him a look.
".It's death," and after that one simple answer he walked back into the main room, leaving the pair to follow.
"Okay, the building clean, for now!" Jake called, "but, keep an eye on that tube."
The group got together, taking seats in front of consoles and leaning on walls. All were expecting one thing; a story.
"How did you know that this place may be dangerous?" Hayate inquired.
Jake sighed to himself, and Tisha leaned forward in her swivel seat. She was rather expecting the story to be quick, concise and to the point, but he remembered every detail. because it was Hell.
Part 4
The Crisis
'It was five years ago, before I quit DELTA. The US had sent me in undercover to investigate what Dynavein had. Dynavein Corporation, run by President Robert Tomlinson, had uncovered a meteor. One that had DNA on it; Alien DNA. Never told NASA, or any space agency. Instead, using Human DNA extracted from a scientist, they filled in holes in the frozen DNA strands, and built two aliens, from two strands of DNA found on that rock. One had more holes than the other, and more human DNA required. I couldn't believe what I'd found; It was real life Jurassic Park, but this was for science, not for entertainment. Which made it all the worse. They created Hell.'
////////\\\\\\\\\\\
"Hey, Jake!"
"What, Mike?" The DELTA asked.
The younger security officer glanced up at his taller companion, "Well, I
was wondering, what you thought of this?"
Jake grunted, "Aliens? Clones? I personally think it's a comic book."
The young one lowered his gaze back down to the group of programmers, technicians and scientists below them, all monitoring the status of the SIGMA; the Alien. The room Jake was in was a cleaner, better working machine that what it would be in five years. All monitors functioning, hustle and bustle in every corner, it was a major program run here, and only a select few knew about it.
"Hey, Jake! I got a code blue on number 1, check it out!"
The security chief nodded and trotted off to the master console, glaring at it's flashing lights, "Well, we have. F**K!! CODE RED! CODE RED!"
"Jake, the number 2 barrier's fluctuating!"
The DELTA switched on the camera and watched as the SIGMA slammed into the barriers, going through, one, then another, "They all are, damn it! Bruce, Marisa, get out of there!"
An ear piercing, shrill scream of terror, pain and instinct gripped the room, as the final barrier collapsed, sending all scattering, and the SIGMA free to move.
"Oh, my god!" Jake whispered, "Emergency EVAC! Get to the Choppers!"
Turning around, the DELTA operative kicked open a wall container and tore free an M4 5.56 mm assault rifle with under slung M203 grenade launcher, and a few clips of 5.56. As he loaded the rifle, he glared into the nearest security cam, "BAIL NOW!!"
////////////\\\\\\\\\\
"Jake," Kasumi laid one hand on his shoulder, trying to comfort the man.
Tisha laid back in her seat reflecting on part of the told story. It was a scary thought, yes, of such a thing getting loose, but an entire security team armed to the teeth should have easily taken such a creature, as they'd seen in the tube, down.
"I-" Jake started, and the whole group locked eyes with him again, "I can. still hear the screams. I couldn't. I couldn't save them. It just walked through them, like a wave of blood and blades, camouflaging in the walls, and striking from the dark. It was horror film. Tight passages.," the images of the passages flashed in his mind, "the claustrophobia," another flash of memory, "and the dim illumination from the EVAC alarms lights. You never knew, who it would get, or when. It wasn't 'if', but 'when'."
The images flashed in his mind, the crimson, almost luminescent blood, the creature's fluorescent green eyes, the slight tint of yellow of human intestine and gore. 'Cursed for eternity to remember the depths of Hell itself,' that was what Mr. Tomlinson had said to him.
"Jake?" Ryu asked, trying to get some sign of acknowledgment from the horror-wracked man.
///////////\\\\\\\\\\\\\
'Running down the passage way, with Marisa, Bruce, Mike, an up-and-coming biochemist named Garrett, and several others, we encountered it on several occasions on our way to the escape chopper. It took one of us each time. First Bruce, then Mike, and Garrett. Soon, it was just me and Marisa.'
"Jake, what do we do? We can't leave without him!"
Garrett had just been dragged into darkness by it, and Jake was running down the passage, dragging Marisa behind him, "We can and we will, Marisa! We're running out of time."
Ripping her hand from his grasp she began going backwards, "Garrett's not DEAD!"
"WHAT MAKE'S YOU THINK HE ISN'T, MARISA?!" Jake's outburst came with the cocking of his rifle, "I'd hate to do it, but if you slow me down, we're both as good as dead, and I might as well cook us both off!"
Marisa began crying, a crystalline tear, rolling down her face, "He- he- he's not dead!" She croaked out, desperately.
"He is, Marisa! And we'll be too, if we don't leave, now!"
A thick liquid, almost syrupy, hit the barrel of Jake's rifle just then, and a low hissing sound was audible, looking right at Marisa, never looking up, he said, "RUN!"
~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Part 5
The Hunt Begins.
"Creeeepy!" Tina said, commenting on Jake's tale.
Tisha had to agree. How could mankind build such a creature? Why? For the sake of money? Is it a weapon? It is strange to think such thoughts, of course a weapon! But to be used on who?
"Well, I think the first order of business is getting of this rock of an island!" Tisha said, stating the complete obvious, more of to get off that depressing subject, than to take action.
Jake nodded, "There's a com tower at the top of complex. Helena! See if you could get DOATEC to lend us a ride. You are in charge of the company if I'm correct?"
"Yes," Helena paused, "But wouldn't it be easier to call the mainland?"
Tisha smiled and answered for him, "This is a no fly zone, probably. It's like a Bermuda Triangle. Things just. disappear."
Jake nodded, "That's the word. Anything that sails, or flies near, vanishes."
"Well, there ain't no whirlpool or hurricane here!" Bass added.
"Then, the pilots will be skeptical!" Helena added.
Jake grinned, mischievously, "but to retrieve the leader of DOATEC? I don't think so!"
"Helena, get to the roof, and patch into that com tower. Get us a way out o' here! Hayate, Ryu, Ayane! You stay here, and keep an eye on that tube. I want to know the instant that thing moves!" Jake dished out the orders like a pro, "I'll take Tisha and Kasumi and head for the power reactor. Blow this place sky high! Whatever's on this rock is toast. And if Helena gets her job done, we're outta here!
"Everyone else. is hunting!"
Several cheers came from the DOA fighters, but only a few from the newbies.
Tisha and Jake walked over to one wall, looked at each other, and kicked the wall, a small door opening, "You paid attention to the story!"
Tisha glanced at what was inside, and took a blade from inside, flipped it open into a double-bladed sword, and distastefully placed in back in the cabinet, "I always do."
Several weapons were inside, besides the interesting double-blade. There were some combat knives, many M4s, some MP5K sub-machine guns, a couple of M1911A1 Colt .45ACP pistols, and a MM1 revolver action grenade launcher.
Jake took a pair of H&K MP5K 9mm sub-machine guns, some ammo clips and an M4. Slinging the M4 on his shoulder and backing away from the cabinet as Leon and Bayman rushed forward to pick a weapon of choice, he pulled the two H&Ks and sighed, "And this is my retirement!", he said, jerking the guns forward, chambering the first round of the clip.
Leon took the pair of Colt .45s and smiled to himself, "Great men think alike, Vance."
Jake smirked, seeing Leon's use of his last name.
Bayman, being the blunt and direct man, took the grenade launcher, and began cackling almost manically.
Tisha took the honor of passing out headsets to one person in each squad, Jake taking one for himself, followed by Hayate, Helena, Leon, and Lei- Fang. Leon and Lei-Fang took their teams and left the room immediately, heading for the stair well, Hayate, taking the pair of others into the nearby room.
Jake tested his frequency, "Everyone there?"
Hayate replied, "Loud and clear, Jake."
"I hear you and respond," Helena said in her gentle voice.
"I gotcha!" Leon's voice came booming across the frequency.
"Good, and go!" Lei-Fang's typical personality almost flowing through the
headpiece.
"Ok, begin the operation!" Jake commanded.
Tisha frowned and glared at him, "Don't be so formal! We're not all military."
* * *
"This certainly is a big round room!" Kasumi put in, looking up at the immense dome of the reactor core. The RR, filled with pylons and the column of the reactor towered over the three companions. The core shone brightly upon the woman's face, lighting up her beautiful, unscarred face.
"This is the main power source for the facility. I'm surprised it's still going!
A conduit must have blown somewhere, making the main facility lack power," Jake said, as he climbed a ladder on the side of a pylon.
"Is that dangerous?" Tisha asked, scanning the room.
"No," Jake replied, "This isn't a nuclear reactor. It uses revolutionary techniques. It fuses hydrogen molecules. The molecules need to be restocked every seven years or so. They did it once while I was here."
"They've got a SUN in here?!" Kasumi and Tisha blared, at the same time.
Jake popped open a panel, and turned toward the pair of women, "You know you're science!" Jake said, proudly, as if he was involved.
The ex-DELTA placed one hand on his headpiece, "Helena, this is Jake! I'm in position. What's up?"
There was a moment of static in the headpiece, "Three choppers inbound, ETA 20 minutes!"
"Great! I'll set the overload for thirty minutes. That'll give us time to get clear. This explosion will light up your life."
"No S**T!" Tisha called up.
Jake cut the communiqué, and glanced back down at the girls, "The Fusion Reactor is barely the size of a quarter! Just enough to envelope the island and anything near in a small Nova."
"NOVA?!" The girls shrieked again.
Jake planted one hand on his head, showing he was getting a headache.
"Uh. Jake.Jake! JAKE!!!"
The DELTA gripped his head, "Calm down, Hayate, what's going on?"
"It's the- NOOOOOO! AYANE!"
Jake pulled his legs from the ladder and slid down. Hitting the metal flooring with a resounding sound, he darted past the women, calling for them to follow, and to be ready for combat. Part 6
The Revelation
Jake rounded the corner ready to spray the console room with gunfire, his MP5Ks pointing every direction, mostly up and to the sides, followed closely by the speedy Kasumi and agile Tisha ready for battle. They made their way, speedily, into the Cryo-room where Hayate, Ryu and Ayane were watching the tube.
There it was, Ayane in its claws, it's enormous maw a fraction of a foot from her head. Hayate lay a few feet to the left, holding his gut, where'd he'd been slashed by the SIGMA's claws, and Ryu was in a battle pose facing the creature.
It was amazing. The SIGMA must have been eight feet tall, when standing erect on it's reverse jointed legs. Two claws, laden with bladed fingers, gripped Ayane's torso, pinning her to the creature's side. An enormous tail, held the creature up on the wall, the razor blades biting deep into the steel. Its head was tall, keeping it's almost half a foot wide closed jaw in place. Its crystal clear teeth were visible with its opened mouth. Its skin was the most mesmerizing. Tisha could stand glaring at it for hours. It's skin 'shifted', the tint changing constantly to match the colors behind it, and nearby, in an attempt to make itself invisible to its opponents. But with a section of Ayane's body 'hidden' it was easy to spot.
The creature desisted its attempts at hiding, revealing it's true silvery skin color, and hissed at the newcomers. Jake stood in the doorway, with barely enough room for the two girls to get in the room and circle their opponent.
"DROP HER, YOU SON OF B***H!" Jake sprayed the creature's head with bullets. Three rounds; one, two, three, burrowed into the creature's skull. Ayane was dropped, the claws coming clean, leaving bright red marks on her forearms. Crimson blood dripped from her injuries, as she scampered away from the creature.
The creature turned its head back to Jake, cocked and, unscathed. Jake frowned, and jerked back. Not a split second later, the creature discharged from the wall, pushed off the ground, and leaped at him. Falling onto his back, the creature passed over him, running head first into a console in the next room.
Turning on all fours, the SIGMA snapped its tail forward, scorpion like, coming short of Jake's head by a fraction of an inch. Quickly standing, and sliding forward, Jake tried to avoid further attacks. That maneuver saved his life. The SIGMA came head on again, this time leaving Jake no margin for escape, no time to dodge. But, Kasumi and Tisha were ready. Timing their attacks ever so perfectly they both delivered flying kicks, sending the SIGMA spinning on it's axis. The creature landed flat on top of Jake. Ryu rushed forward, grabbed the creature and tossed it up.
Aborting his usual continuation of the move, Ryu helped Jake up, and grabbed Hayate. Together the group left the room, all before the thing hit ground again.
Lei-Fang's team and Leon's team met at the entrance. "GO, GO, GO, GO!" Jake yelled, motioning for them to get away from the entrance.
Bayman stepped forward and raised the MM1. The SIGMA hit ground gracefully, and spun to face the door. Bayman squinted, taking careful aim. Missing would end it all, "Shoot it!" Tina cried.
The creature leapt for Bayman, and, Bayman fired. The round sped fast, and hit the creature square in the forehead. Before the explosion, it was knocked back into the Cryo-room, exploding seconds afterwards. The explosion sent Bayman reeling, trying to recover from the wave of heat and force coming from the room.
"Let's GO! Helena's waiting!" Jake commanded lifting a few people off the floor, and pushing them to the stairs. He unloaded a clip of 9mm into the Cryo-room before leaving, just to be sure. In this business, it pays to be sure.
Tisha lead the team, up and up the stairwell. Looking up, and then down to check her footing. Thirty floors, she thought. Let's start!
What they weren't aware of, was that the SIGMA was far from dead.
Part 7
The Great Escape
Tisha kicked the roof door open. The door slammed into the concrete roof wall, and the first thing in sight was the enormous COM tower dish. As big as everyone present lined up one on top of the other, it was enormous and Helena was crouched with Zack at one side of it, wires running from her headset to the dish.
Helena pulled the cords free and rushed to a big expanse on the roof and began waving her arms. Wind whipped her hair back., and three choppers circled in. Helena waved them down and motioned for everyone to come over. Landing softly on the rock surface, they waited patiently for their passengers, if nervously.
"They're early!" Helena yelled over the rotors.
HREEEEEE!!!!!!
"WHO CARES!" Tisha yelled and began to board a helicopter, her head bowed to avoid the lowering blades.
The group hastened their steps except for Bayman and Jake, who suddenly starting shooting down the tunnel behind them. The sound of empty cartridges hitting the ground resounded even in the open air, and the booming of the grenade explosions was easily heard.
"Go, Bayman, go!" Jake cried, as he quickly dropped the empty clips of his guns, slammed the sub-machine guns into his hips, lining up another clip into the slots, and jerked them forward, cocking them again.
Bayman, turned reloading the MM1 as he jogged to the choppers.
Jake cut lose when the SIGMA was almost on him. The sheer force of the blows sent the creature backwards. Jake then turned and ran like the dogs of Hell were behind him.
He had a twenty five meter head start when SIGMA burst out of the tunnel, bruised and pissed.
"Come on!" Tisha cried, throwing her arms out.
Jake pushed harder, sending himself into an overdrive, going as fast as his body could take him. and that was fast. The SIGMA watched him, analyzed him, and sped after him. The helicopters began to lift off, with their already heavy loads. They were going leave Jake behind.
Jake stopped at the edge of the building, watching his hope leave him in the abyss of despair, ".no!"
Dropping to his knees, Jake gave up. So many times he had evaded death. Was this the time it came for his blood, seeking everlasting revenge? They had left without him, and with good reason. The hero has fallen, and there is no getting up again, Jake, he told himself.
The creature skidded to a stop behind him and stood ominously over him. He turned his head half-way round to see it, then, he said, "You'll have to catch me, you son of bitch!" And with that, fell over the side, into the dense treetops.
"NOOOO!" Tisha cried out. She surprised herself, hearing herself say it. She didn't care if he lived or died, but he was willing to give it all for them, to help them live. Why? Why did they leave him? He deserved to live. Maybe it was honor. or maybe she'd gotten used to him being there.
"Tisha," Kasumi said, "we have to get clear of the island."
The pilot leaned back to look at her, "Why?"
Kasumi explained the events that led up to their escape. The reactor, being the most prominent.
Tisha brightened up suddenly, "Land at that cliff! I'll be back in five minutes. If I'm not, leave without me, too."
"WHAT?!" Was the response throughout the people on the helicopter, including Helena, Kasumi, Leon and the pilot.
"I'm going back for his body! I'm not leaving without him!" Tisha said, her mind already made up.
Helena came forward in the tight compartment of the Helicopter, "Tisha, there's no time!"
Tisha checked her watch, which was amazingly, still functioning, "We still have ten minutes! Five minutes is all I'm asking!"
Kasumi looked at the pilot, and shrugged, giving up on trying to convince
Tisha otherwise, "Alright, but five minutes is all I'm givin' ya!" The pilot
replied and moved to land on the eastern cliff of the island.
Jake, miraculously, opened his eyes... at horror.
Part 8
The Imagination
It was all splayed out before him. The scene of the original violence. Jake was in the passages, the Cryo-room, and Control room. He could see it all, and was any of it real. The inevitable incident would come, and he couldn't stop it. People bustling about, then running, screaming, and all the bodies fell over with deep wounds, the crimson blood staining the floor. The smell of steaming gore and fear was dense in the room. It was salty, almost, and humid. The taste of copper in his mouth, he taste of fear. It was there, somewhere. As it had, five years ago.
////////////////\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\
The passage was cold, dark, feeling airless, and compressed. The room smelled of grease and salt. The air was heavy, and the pentagonal route was all ahead of him. And around any corner, on any wall, it could be.
Jake ran, Garrett and Marisa close behind.
"Come on, you two! Keep up!"
Garrett was lagging, afraid, and temper mental. His white coat was torn, showing his almost see through white under shirt. His shoulder-length brown hair was ruffled, and his normally twinkling eyes, now bristled with the frost of fear and horror.
Marisa wasn't much better, her scientist outfit also half-destroyed, her black hair, initially pulled up in a pony-tail, disheveled and her almond- shaped face was smeared with the dried blood of others.
"We're at least a few hours from the boats, Jake! We'll never make it!" Garrett complained.
"Well, why don't you be moral officer, now hustle!" Jake commanded, barely cocking his head to speak.
Marisa began to slow, "Jake, we're tired, can't we stop."
"Then start building a long, thin box!" Jake said, as he began to leave the behind, "I have my own life to live!"
"JAKE!"
The DELTA operative stopped, and glared back at the scientist pair. Their faces red with exhaustion, and their breathing sporadic from fatigue, they
were a sight. And so was the object behind them.
A dangling tail, lined with razor blades, "GET DOWN!" Jake shouted, as he began shooting just above the tail.
HREEEE!!
The tail whipped, missing Marisa by a fraction of a millimeter, the very breeze, slashing her arm. The tail pierced right through Garrett's chest, and lifted him up out of sight.
Marisa was paralyzed by panic. The only friend she ever knew died an unclean, unmerciful death. What was he? Dinner.
"Dammit, run!" Jake rushed forward, grabbed her good arm, and yanked her down he path of redemption.
////////////\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\
The memories were clear now. It all came back to him. He had abandoned Garrett. All because of SIGMA. It wasn't just trying to kill him, and everyone else. He remembered, all in an instant. it was aware, thoughtful, and heartless. This event took a whole new turn. Now, It was personal.
Part 9
With A Vengeance
Tisha dashed through the woods, her eyes tracking any movement. The creature could be anywhere, and so could Jake. The man had fallen in front of the Dynavein building. He should be near there. One more minute, Tisha! No more!
And then, there he was lying in a tree mushroom. Those wide, soft fungi had saved his life. And right at eye level for him, was the mottled brown egg they had seen. It began rocking, violently, from side to side. The dirt was shoved from it's fortification around the egg's base. The shell cracked.
Jake brought his MP5K up, and leveled it at the egg. One claw bit forth, and Jake shot up the egg. A shrill squeal was heard, and the egg fell over, whatever was inside dead.
HREEEEEE! It came.
"You basta-! AAAAAAGGGHHH!" Jake began to cuss, and was summarily dragged into the trees by an invisible form. It was magnificent, the very air seemed to 'push out' toward her vision, but now wasn't the time for subtly. Follow the SIGMA.
She ran, around in a circle up a tree's plate mushrooms until she was at the right level, and angle. She jumped, clear into the air, onto the SIGMA's flying back. Her two legs slammed precisely into the creature's spine.
Its skin may be tough, but a blunt blow doesn't need to penetrate skin to do damage. The SIGMA fell limply to the ground, Jake still in it's arms. The creature's hide fell back on it's default, and the creature stopped moving.
Wrenching Jake free, Tisha pulled him to his feet. He then shoved her away, "It's not dead!"
"It will be in three minutes! The reactor!" Tisha reminded him.
Jake's eyes bulged, "Oh my God! RUN!"
Jake and Tisha dashed away into the woods, and the SIGMA let out a
roar, as it cricked it's spinal column back into place, "They shall cry for their resistance, before they die!" It snapped and chased after them.
Jake staggered to the helicopter, "Come on, move, MOVE! We ain't got all day!" The pilot was yelling.
Tisha waved the pilot to lift off as she boarded the helicopter, "Thirty seconds to spare, Tisha! Too close!" Helena said as they lifted off.
Jake was watching the island begin to disappear below him, "Don't you ever die!?" He cried over the rotors. Cocking his gun, he began shooting
out the side of the helicopter.
Kasumi, and Helena were violently thrown to one side of the helicopter, Kasumi holding onto the door as her legs flew out side, "KASUMI! Hang on!"
The helicopter righted itself and Kasumi pulled herself in, when Tisha was suddenly dragged out the other side, by SIGMA. A tail blade wrenched into the flooring, pushing out underneath Helena's feet.
"F**K!" Jake tied a make-shift rope to one chair, and then to his waist, and slid down the floor, out the door.
Tisha was being held underneath the helicopter canopy. The SIGMA's jaws open wide. perfect. Jake only need one shot, "Eat this!" Jake pulled out his MP5K gas-operated sub-machine gun, smirked, and unleashed only three rounds. right into the open maw.
The SIGMA's head curled back in pain, the steel bullets punching deep into it's skull, in it's one weakness. A green fluid flew out the back of it's cranium, caught in the wind, blown away. Then it fell, Tisha still it's arms.
Releasing the tension on the cord, Jake slid down to the very end of it's reach; 40 feet, grabbing Tisha's left hand.
Back, on the helicopter, Kasumi took one look at the cord that Jake was hanging on, forty feet below. It was beginning to snap, "It always works in the movies!" Helena yelled, as she dove for the cord. She caught it, and pulled, trying desperately to pull him up while Jake held onto Tisha.
Kasumi came over to Helena and began to help pull.
The cord snapped, and Kasumi was strained. She was a ninja, not a weight- lifter. Still, the human drug Adrenaline was in their systems, and managed to help them pull Jake up. Tisha looked at Jake, with a new respect, "Eye for an eye," Jake said.
Tisha paused, comprehending those words, "yes."
A blinding flash, and all sound was empty, not even the constant rotor blades. Tisha blinked and shielded her face from the glare. Kasumi looked at the island, and at the pattern of light playing off the water far below. Not a sound, but a wave of force. The reactor had blown it's top. The miniature sun expanded, giving off a bright light, the imploded.
The resulting blast sent the helicopter spinning.
The air in Kasumi's lungs was forced out, and Jake was thrown clear cross the small cabin, hitting Helena. Jake latched onto the wall Kasumi had not a few moments before, Helena grasping his hands, trying to keep herself in as well.
"HANG ON!" the pilot said as the helicopter began a slow, circling
Part 10
A Tearful Farewell
"No." Tisha whispered, quietly.
"Tisha. he gave it his all. There was nothing else you could have done, nothing."
They were all there, dressed in their finest to give one last farewell to the one man who got them through it all, at the cost of his life. Lieutenant Jake Andrews Vance, Ex-DELTA force, and proud commander that saved their lives. He died when their helicopter came in on the landing pad at Elijah Island, out of control.
"Ashes to ashes, dust to dust, amen," The priest closed the book he'd read from, and stepped back into the line of people.
"Atteeenshun! Preseeent Arms!" Seven men stood in formation a few feet away, "FIRE!" Bang! "FIRE!" Bang! "FIRE!" Bang!
A sad memoir music began, which lowered the spirits of all. The American flag flew at half-mast and all in attendance felt sorrow at his loss.
The military send-off complete, and an American flag presented to his sister, Lorraine, the funeral was over.
It had all become clear to Tisha after the event; Jake hadn't quit DELTA, retired or anything. He was under orders the entire time; orders to guard her. She was an American citizen and the United States of America wanted her alive, at any cost.
"I just don't get it!" Bass said, "Why this whole shebang?"
Tina elbowed him and gave him a look that said 'shut up'.
"He was good fighter," Bayman said, and Leon nodded.
Tisha went over to her car without a word to anyone. She didn't want them to see her tears. One way or another, she would miss him.
Tisha wouldn't be the only one to cry for his loss, but now it was time for the tournament. DOA4 had been relocated to Los Angeles, much safer than Elijah Isle. The entire area quarantined, patrolled regularly. The Dynavein island, itself, had been carpet bombed by America and it's allies. No one was allowed near.
Time to cry later. Be strong, and win.
* * *
"Before we begin, I have an announcement," the host of the DOA 4 tournament, a Mr. Tomlinson, was speaking from his pedestal above the competitors and spectators of the event.
"A story must be told. Everyone here knows of what I speak," there was an awkward silence, "Lieutenant Jake Vance lived only a few blocks from here. And now, I wish a moment of silence. Jake Vance was a hero, awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor for the sacrifice he made."
Tisha smiled from her position in the line-up. She side-glanced at Ayane, and noticed a faint spark; A tear. Was Ayane crying?
"This is their story." Tomlinson said, as he glared right down at the DOA fighters, "And one man who risked it all."
Many questions haunted Tisha after that event; Why did the US want her alive?, was the most prominent in her mind. She was unimportant, a professor of Music and Dance, as well as a martial artist. What was so important about her? Why does the name Tomlinson sound so ominous, now? And why was Jake assigned as defense? From what?
But several things, she didn't know. How did Jake really die? How could she be certain he died in the crash, mutilated as he was? But one thing was certain...
...Project SIGMA was far from over.