Conundrum
Author's Note/Disclaimer: I own none of the X-men Evolution characters in this fanfic. This is part of an idea I've had in my head for a while, the tale of the Infinity Force.I was partially inspired by Universal Studio's Hanna Barbera attraction. Thanks to toddfan for clearing up the matter of Taryn's last name. I also based the Fleet Special Forces Teams off of our modern US Navy SEAL teams.
~ ~ ~ ~
Background information:
The Cartoon Universe is a varied place, as anyone can see. The Guardians, the top of the heap, based at Castle Infinity, a land located in the zone between the realities. The Null Zone, the void between the realities, is contested by two sides. The Evil One, one whose name is so horrible that only those among the Guardians know of it, hopes to take over the Null Zone and all the realities that exist. He draws all dark things to his influence.
This war between the forces of good and evil extends into all realities. Most characters in most cartoons do not know of the existence of the Null Zone or that the vigilance of Infinity Force is what keeps the Evil One from wreaking havoc through all of the realities.
~ ~ ~ ~
The UH-60 Black Hawk circled around Bayville, Task Force Romeo consisting of Infinity Force Rangers, Unit Gamma Operators, a four man detachment of FSF (Fleet Special Forces) Team Six and members of the 127th Special Flight Operations Unit (Unit Seven), the Nightstalkers, daredevil aviators that specialized in flying almost any craft in the known realities, had begun operating in the area, keeping watch over a suspected movement by the Evil One's forces in that sector.
The Unit Gamma Operators and FSF Team Six were ready for their mission, infiltrate Bayville at every level they could, link up with Intelligence Agents and stay alert for any suspicious activity. They ranged in age from seventeen to forty. The youngest that one could become an Operator was seventeen, after four years of service in Infinity Force, about four years older than the minimum enlistment age.
The Black Hawk put down silently in a field far from Bayville. A solitary youth, about nineteen years of age, Gunner's Mate 2nd Class Ted McDougal disembarked from the Black Hawk in civilian clothes carrying a green Jansport backpack and rolling a bicycle along the road.
A black Ford pickup truck parked behind a billboard stopped to meet the youth. He tossed his bicycle into the back and jumped into the cab. With swift efficiency the operators were in place. The Rangers flew routine surveillance missions over Bayville, low key profile flights and conducting training in the surrounding woods. Their job was to be the quick reaction force if things got hairy in Bayville.
~ ~ ~ ~
Ted stepped inside a small, yet comfortable suburban home that had been rented by the Intelligence spooks for a month. He could see his other three team mates, Engineman Chief Butch "Butcher" Brown, a big stocky African American, Hull Maintenance Technician 2nd Class "Big Un" Cash, and Hospital Corpsman Nathan "Nate" Wenzl.
He could see a U-Haul truck that Chief had driven over with furniture to make the house appear to be the suburban house it was as a cover for their mission. The agents were pointing out secret compartments for where to hide weapons and equipment. To the outside observer this would look like any normal family moving into a house. On the inside, the large cases of military equipment, ammunition, and technology made this house anything but.
Butcher Brown was assigned to watch the Bayville Aquarium sector in case of any strange. Big Un, Ted and Wenzl were to be sent to Bayville High School as seniors and a freshman respectively.
Standing at least six feet tall, muscled like a Greek statue, Big Un towered over most of the men on FSF Team Six. He was a serious body builder and a major gun enthusiast. Everyone in the Fleet Special Forces Teams worked out but Big Un made most of them look like pencil necks with his massive frame.
"Well kiddies," Chief Brown joked, "Tomorrow's your first day of school. And for this mission's duration, call me dad."
"Right 'dad'." Wenzl joked.
"Very funny, if I didn't need your wiry little ass to fix up my guys when they get hurt I'd boot you out the nearest hatch leading off the ship. Which I will do to you clowns if you call me dad or pops or anything remotely similar when we get back to the ship." Chief replied, "Just a couple quick things, remember our rules of engagement, blend in as much as possible with the locals but don't get involved, especially not emotionally or romantically. Also avoid any contact, if possible, with Xavier Institute or Brotherhood kids, especially telepaths. Remember your training if you encounter a telepath, think of a long piece of poetry or especially long song with all the concentration you have. If you see anything suspicious remember that Sergeant First Class Horvath and Captain Miller are posing as teachers at Bayville High, let them know what you find."
~ ~ ~ ~
Ted pedaled his bicycle into the parking lot of Bayville High and locked it to a rack. He checked his watch and realized it was time for orientation. He adjusted the Oakleys over his head and walked into the gym. He held his camera bag slung over one shoulder and his backpack on his back.
He sat down at the nearest seat he could find. "Sorry, this seat's saved." A slender, dark haired girl said.
"Sorry about that." Ted replied, and slid over. Just then he saw another youth, this one with red tinted shades walk up to where he and the girl were sitting. He knew from the Bayville briefing him and the others infiltrators had received that this was Scott Summers and the girl was Taryn Nagioka, Summers' current girlfriend.
He could see Big Un talking to the football coach. He was assigned to go and infiltrate the jocks of the school to see what he could learn from that angle. He was certainly the right man for the job.
Right now it just felt great to wear civilian clothes again and pretend to be an ordinary high school student with nothing on his mind. That's what was great about these infiltration missions, as the Gamma operators said, living a brief snatch of a life that was fairly peaceful, almost carefree. To a certain extent you could even pretend to be a civilian again.
Right about now that's all that Ted was enjoying. Presently, Principal Kelly finished his boring prattle and sent the students on their way.
'Let's see, first period, art class.' Ted thought as he walked in. He saw Big Un off in the corner, he was already asleep before class had even started. During BUD/S training, Big Un was his swim buddy and Big Un got both of them a load of extra PT (physical training) from their instructors because he fell asleep during every single briefing.
He also saw Taryn was sitting at the same table where Big Un was fast asleep. It was the only open seat in the class, so he took it.
"Hey." Taryn said, "I remember you from orientation this morning? Are you new here?"
"Yeah." Ted replied.
"Where are you from?" Taryn asked.
"Orlando, Florida." Ted replied.
"Why did you move up here?" Taryn asked.
Remembering his cover story, Ted replied, "My foster dad got a new job up here."
He put his camera bag beside his backpack, "Are you into photography?" Taryn asked.
"As a matter of fact, I am." Ted replied. This wasn't really a lie, by no means; Ted was FSF Six's unofficial photographer. He and Photographer's Mate 2nd Class Blythe took several pictures on the team and their snapshots were highly in demand. He also had a photo album in his belongings that had photos of guys that had asked for snapshots and then failed to return from their missions.
"Are you coming to the cross country tryouts this afternoon?" Taryn asked.
"I don't know, probably not." Ted replied.
"Why not?" Taryn asked.
"I've got stuff to do." Ted replied. Which he did, sort of, he had to go find Chief and give him an update, but that wasn't until 1800 military time (or 6 PM, time to start thinking like a civilian).
The bell for the next class rang, and throughout the day Ted found himself contending with some thoughts. Taryn was just being nice, asking him if he wanted to come to cross country tryouts just so he'd have something to do. Sure, she was cute, and nice in the girl next door kind of way, but he remembered Chief's words to blend in but also to try and avoid contact with either the Xavier Institute or Brotherhood members.
He mulled this as he sat in the shade of a tree overlooking the cafeteria, staring at a folded photograph in his bag that was about six years old. It was a picture of the nineteen guys that he had finished BUD/S with. Big Un was in it, of course, as was he, but he noticed, with sadness, that five of those faces were crossed out. Those five guys were all killed in action, five guys of Class 163 who were closer to him than brothers. This was one of the downsides of blending in among civilians in any dimension they crossed into. Especially for younger operators, such as Ted, this was a difficult burden to bear. None of these boys and girls, even the self proclaimed macho men, the jocks at Bayville High School had experienced the fear, the anger, and the adrenaline surge that accompanied combat. None of them had felt the cold menace of orcs hunting them through the darkness of the mountains. None of them had hidden, cold, wet, tired, hungry, and frightened with only their weapons and their teammates as anything even approximating comfort. They were so care free, so naïve, so vulnerable.
"You alright, dude?" Big Un's familiar voice echoed.
"Yeah, I was just thinking of those five guys from our class, including Lieutenant Bartlett." Ted replied.
Big Un understood almost completely. Their class leader, the most senior officer in Class 163, had helped Ted through the most demanding training Infinity Force offered it's troops. "Stay focused man, I got a football meeting to go to." Big Un replied.
~ ~ ~ ~ "McDougal! Get your ass out of that pool, on the double!" a BUD/S instructor shouted.
Ted McDougal's eyes, red and splotchy from the chlorine of the pool, regarded the instructor who shouted for him to get out. Lieutenant Junior Grade Bartlett followed.
"Bartlett, get your ass back in!"
"Instructor Falyn, I request permission to aid Seaman McDougal?" Bartlett shouted.
"Alright, if you insist, he's yours, but if he doesn't pass the next pool evaluation, he's out."
"Hooyah Instructor Falyn!" Bartlett replied, the traditional motivational yell of the BUD/S trainee.
Bartlett had been like a big brother to the 97 young men that had classed up at the Fleet Special Forces Center. He always took care of his men, especially McDougal, one of the weaker swimmers in the class. Having been a lifeguard himself, the broad shouldered Englishman took it upon himself to work with the slender, dark haired sailor named McDougal who worked hard but struggled with swimming.
Ted's memory flashed forward two years later, when he was with FSF Four in the jungles near the mines of Coranthia. They had been discovered by an orc patrol as they attempted to demolish a bridge.
"Cortes, cover us!" Bartlett yelled to the squat machine gunner.
"Leapfrog pattern, now!" Bartlett shouted.
Signalman Cortes lay down suppressive fire with his SAW (Squad Automatic Weapon) with short accurate bursts. As soon as Ted, who was behind Bartlett and in front of Cortes passed him, he tapped him on the back. Ted dropped to one knee, firing short, controlled bursts from his M-16 rifle. They leapfrogged to a clearing where Bartlett was radioing a helicopter to retrieve the seven man team.
Ted took up a position to Bartlett's right, beside Cortes who was squeezing off bursts down range. Bartlett was on the radio when a single round from an orc weapon tore through his throat. Ted looked down and saw his former class leader, now his platoon officer, gasping and dying, his body shaking.
Ted figured his situational awareness had come to hell and gone because Taryn walked up to him and he didn't even know she was there until she said, "Hey."
Ted just about jumped out of his skin. "Hello." He replied, weakly.
"Are you okay?" Taryn asked.
"I'm okay, I was just doing some deep thinking." Ted replied.
"About what?" Taryn asked.
"Just some personal stuff." Ted replied.
Taryn knew better than to ask, "Hey, if you wanna talk about it, just find me."
"Thanks." Ted replied. Part of him wanted to tell Taryn what exactly was bothering him, but he knew his work well enough not to share with the people of any reality that they were not alone in this world.
The offer to reveal who he really was, and what exactly he did was fairly tempting though.
Author's Note/Disclaimer: I own none of the X-men Evolution characters in this fanfic. This is part of an idea I've had in my head for a while, the tale of the Infinity Force.I was partially inspired by Universal Studio's Hanna Barbera attraction. Thanks to toddfan for clearing up the matter of Taryn's last name. I also based the Fleet Special Forces Teams off of our modern US Navy SEAL teams.
~ ~ ~ ~
Background information:
The Cartoon Universe is a varied place, as anyone can see. The Guardians, the top of the heap, based at Castle Infinity, a land located in the zone between the realities. The Null Zone, the void between the realities, is contested by two sides. The Evil One, one whose name is so horrible that only those among the Guardians know of it, hopes to take over the Null Zone and all the realities that exist. He draws all dark things to his influence.
This war between the forces of good and evil extends into all realities. Most characters in most cartoons do not know of the existence of the Null Zone or that the vigilance of Infinity Force is what keeps the Evil One from wreaking havoc through all of the realities.
~ ~ ~ ~
The UH-60 Black Hawk circled around Bayville, Task Force Romeo consisting of Infinity Force Rangers, Unit Gamma Operators, a four man detachment of FSF (Fleet Special Forces) Team Six and members of the 127th Special Flight Operations Unit (Unit Seven), the Nightstalkers, daredevil aviators that specialized in flying almost any craft in the known realities, had begun operating in the area, keeping watch over a suspected movement by the Evil One's forces in that sector.
The Unit Gamma Operators and FSF Team Six were ready for their mission, infiltrate Bayville at every level they could, link up with Intelligence Agents and stay alert for any suspicious activity. They ranged in age from seventeen to forty. The youngest that one could become an Operator was seventeen, after four years of service in Infinity Force, about four years older than the minimum enlistment age.
The Black Hawk put down silently in a field far from Bayville. A solitary youth, about nineteen years of age, Gunner's Mate 2nd Class Ted McDougal disembarked from the Black Hawk in civilian clothes carrying a green Jansport backpack and rolling a bicycle along the road.
A black Ford pickup truck parked behind a billboard stopped to meet the youth. He tossed his bicycle into the back and jumped into the cab. With swift efficiency the operators were in place. The Rangers flew routine surveillance missions over Bayville, low key profile flights and conducting training in the surrounding woods. Their job was to be the quick reaction force if things got hairy in Bayville.
~ ~ ~ ~
Ted stepped inside a small, yet comfortable suburban home that had been rented by the Intelligence spooks for a month. He could see his other three team mates, Engineman Chief Butch "Butcher" Brown, a big stocky African American, Hull Maintenance Technician 2nd Class "Big Un" Cash, and Hospital Corpsman Nathan "Nate" Wenzl.
He could see a U-Haul truck that Chief had driven over with furniture to make the house appear to be the suburban house it was as a cover for their mission. The agents were pointing out secret compartments for where to hide weapons and equipment. To the outside observer this would look like any normal family moving into a house. On the inside, the large cases of military equipment, ammunition, and technology made this house anything but.
Butcher Brown was assigned to watch the Bayville Aquarium sector in case of any strange. Big Un, Ted and Wenzl were to be sent to Bayville High School as seniors and a freshman respectively.
Standing at least six feet tall, muscled like a Greek statue, Big Un towered over most of the men on FSF Team Six. He was a serious body builder and a major gun enthusiast. Everyone in the Fleet Special Forces Teams worked out but Big Un made most of them look like pencil necks with his massive frame.
"Well kiddies," Chief Brown joked, "Tomorrow's your first day of school. And for this mission's duration, call me dad."
"Right 'dad'." Wenzl joked.
"Very funny, if I didn't need your wiry little ass to fix up my guys when they get hurt I'd boot you out the nearest hatch leading off the ship. Which I will do to you clowns if you call me dad or pops or anything remotely similar when we get back to the ship." Chief replied, "Just a couple quick things, remember our rules of engagement, blend in as much as possible with the locals but don't get involved, especially not emotionally or romantically. Also avoid any contact, if possible, with Xavier Institute or Brotherhood kids, especially telepaths. Remember your training if you encounter a telepath, think of a long piece of poetry or especially long song with all the concentration you have. If you see anything suspicious remember that Sergeant First Class Horvath and Captain Miller are posing as teachers at Bayville High, let them know what you find."
~ ~ ~ ~
Ted pedaled his bicycle into the parking lot of Bayville High and locked it to a rack. He checked his watch and realized it was time for orientation. He adjusted the Oakleys over his head and walked into the gym. He held his camera bag slung over one shoulder and his backpack on his back.
He sat down at the nearest seat he could find. "Sorry, this seat's saved." A slender, dark haired girl said.
"Sorry about that." Ted replied, and slid over. Just then he saw another youth, this one with red tinted shades walk up to where he and the girl were sitting. He knew from the Bayville briefing him and the others infiltrators had received that this was Scott Summers and the girl was Taryn Nagioka, Summers' current girlfriend.
He could see Big Un talking to the football coach. He was assigned to go and infiltrate the jocks of the school to see what he could learn from that angle. He was certainly the right man for the job.
Right now it just felt great to wear civilian clothes again and pretend to be an ordinary high school student with nothing on his mind. That's what was great about these infiltration missions, as the Gamma operators said, living a brief snatch of a life that was fairly peaceful, almost carefree. To a certain extent you could even pretend to be a civilian again.
Right about now that's all that Ted was enjoying. Presently, Principal Kelly finished his boring prattle and sent the students on their way.
'Let's see, first period, art class.' Ted thought as he walked in. He saw Big Un off in the corner, he was already asleep before class had even started. During BUD/S training, Big Un was his swim buddy and Big Un got both of them a load of extra PT (physical training) from their instructors because he fell asleep during every single briefing.
He also saw Taryn was sitting at the same table where Big Un was fast asleep. It was the only open seat in the class, so he took it.
"Hey." Taryn said, "I remember you from orientation this morning? Are you new here?"
"Yeah." Ted replied.
"Where are you from?" Taryn asked.
"Orlando, Florida." Ted replied.
"Why did you move up here?" Taryn asked.
Remembering his cover story, Ted replied, "My foster dad got a new job up here."
He put his camera bag beside his backpack, "Are you into photography?" Taryn asked.
"As a matter of fact, I am." Ted replied. This wasn't really a lie, by no means; Ted was FSF Six's unofficial photographer. He and Photographer's Mate 2nd Class Blythe took several pictures on the team and their snapshots were highly in demand. He also had a photo album in his belongings that had photos of guys that had asked for snapshots and then failed to return from their missions.
"Are you coming to the cross country tryouts this afternoon?" Taryn asked.
"I don't know, probably not." Ted replied.
"Why not?" Taryn asked.
"I've got stuff to do." Ted replied. Which he did, sort of, he had to go find Chief and give him an update, but that wasn't until 1800 military time (or 6 PM, time to start thinking like a civilian).
The bell for the next class rang, and throughout the day Ted found himself contending with some thoughts. Taryn was just being nice, asking him if he wanted to come to cross country tryouts just so he'd have something to do. Sure, she was cute, and nice in the girl next door kind of way, but he remembered Chief's words to blend in but also to try and avoid contact with either the Xavier Institute or Brotherhood members.
He mulled this as he sat in the shade of a tree overlooking the cafeteria, staring at a folded photograph in his bag that was about six years old. It was a picture of the nineteen guys that he had finished BUD/S with. Big Un was in it, of course, as was he, but he noticed, with sadness, that five of those faces were crossed out. Those five guys were all killed in action, five guys of Class 163 who were closer to him than brothers. This was one of the downsides of blending in among civilians in any dimension they crossed into. Especially for younger operators, such as Ted, this was a difficult burden to bear. None of these boys and girls, even the self proclaimed macho men, the jocks at Bayville High School had experienced the fear, the anger, and the adrenaline surge that accompanied combat. None of them had felt the cold menace of orcs hunting them through the darkness of the mountains. None of them had hidden, cold, wet, tired, hungry, and frightened with only their weapons and their teammates as anything even approximating comfort. They were so care free, so naïve, so vulnerable.
"You alright, dude?" Big Un's familiar voice echoed.
"Yeah, I was just thinking of those five guys from our class, including Lieutenant Bartlett." Ted replied.
Big Un understood almost completely. Their class leader, the most senior officer in Class 163, had helped Ted through the most demanding training Infinity Force offered it's troops. "Stay focused man, I got a football meeting to go to." Big Un replied.
~ ~ ~ ~ "McDougal! Get your ass out of that pool, on the double!" a BUD/S instructor shouted.
Ted McDougal's eyes, red and splotchy from the chlorine of the pool, regarded the instructor who shouted for him to get out. Lieutenant Junior Grade Bartlett followed.
"Bartlett, get your ass back in!"
"Instructor Falyn, I request permission to aid Seaman McDougal?" Bartlett shouted.
"Alright, if you insist, he's yours, but if he doesn't pass the next pool evaluation, he's out."
"Hooyah Instructor Falyn!" Bartlett replied, the traditional motivational yell of the BUD/S trainee.
Bartlett had been like a big brother to the 97 young men that had classed up at the Fleet Special Forces Center. He always took care of his men, especially McDougal, one of the weaker swimmers in the class. Having been a lifeguard himself, the broad shouldered Englishman took it upon himself to work with the slender, dark haired sailor named McDougal who worked hard but struggled with swimming.
Ted's memory flashed forward two years later, when he was with FSF Four in the jungles near the mines of Coranthia. They had been discovered by an orc patrol as they attempted to demolish a bridge.
"Cortes, cover us!" Bartlett yelled to the squat machine gunner.
"Leapfrog pattern, now!" Bartlett shouted.
Signalman Cortes lay down suppressive fire with his SAW (Squad Automatic Weapon) with short accurate bursts. As soon as Ted, who was behind Bartlett and in front of Cortes passed him, he tapped him on the back. Ted dropped to one knee, firing short, controlled bursts from his M-16 rifle. They leapfrogged to a clearing where Bartlett was radioing a helicopter to retrieve the seven man team.
Ted took up a position to Bartlett's right, beside Cortes who was squeezing off bursts down range. Bartlett was on the radio when a single round from an orc weapon tore through his throat. Ted looked down and saw his former class leader, now his platoon officer, gasping and dying, his body shaking.
Ted figured his situational awareness had come to hell and gone because Taryn walked up to him and he didn't even know she was there until she said, "Hey."
Ted just about jumped out of his skin. "Hello." He replied, weakly.
"Are you okay?" Taryn asked.
"I'm okay, I was just doing some deep thinking." Ted replied.
"About what?" Taryn asked.
"Just some personal stuff." Ted replied.
Taryn knew better than to ask, "Hey, if you wanna talk about it, just find me."
"Thanks." Ted replied. Part of him wanted to tell Taryn what exactly was bothering him, but he knew his work well enough not to share with the people of any reality that they were not alone in this world.
The offer to reveal who he really was, and what exactly he did was fairly tempting though.