Captured
Disclaimer: Same as before. Now for the Titan AE crossover.
~ ~ ~ ~
Cover Girl drove the jeep out to the campsite with the Misfit girls. The Triplets, Wanda, and Althea were with them. "That sure was nice of Hawk to approve this little camping trip of ours."
"He does need time to drain all the water out of the kitchen after Althea and Lance had their little confrontation." Wanda replied.
There was the other jeep with Shipwreck, Low Light, Roadblock and the Misfit boys in it. They stopped at the campsite with Pietro and Lance setting up the tents, Shipwreck and Toad taking care of Claudius and Barney, and Roadblock getting lunch set up.
Althea was chasing the Triplets around and Wanda was going with Cover Girl to go collect firewood. Low Light tagged along with them. "The camp site is ground zero for insanity, I'm going with you two, the only sane people at the camp."
"I'm flattered Low Light." Cover Girl replied.
As they proceeded deeper into the mesquite grove a distinctive sound could be heard. "Hey Low Light? Cover Girl? That sounds like - "
"Gunfire!" Low Light and Cover Girl both snapped, "Cover Girl, take Wanda back to the camp site, I'll go see what all this shooting is about."
"Low Light, it's probably some redneck hunters drunk on beer, nothing really to worry about." Cover Girl replied.
"With full automatic weapons?" Low Light replied after a burst of machinegun fire could be heard.
"I'll get Wanda back to the camp site. Be careful Low Light." Cover Girl said.
"You know me." Low Light replied.
"That's why I said be careful." Cover Girl replied, with a slightly playful tone.
~ ~ ~ ~
Bilby fired another round down range, this one shot down a Heartless in a grim reaper get up. The L1A1 magazine was out and he reached into his pouches for another. He had only two more plus his three pistol mags left. There was a big group of Heartless after him. He reloaded another magazine. The rifle and his gear felt heavier and heavier and the groaning stabs of hunger in his midsection were getting worse. He had already eaten his last MRE at least twelve hours ago. Water he got by licking dew off of leaves. As if that wasn't bad enough, he had to have walked right into a Heartless patrol. Trying to sneak around it, he was spotted and they pursued.
He had already used up an entire magazine, killing or injuring about fifteen of them. He had only two magazines left. He had been shooting with more precision than the rest of the unit, thanks to his 4x telescopic sight. His Heartless pursuers regretted showing any part of their bodies over the rocks because any exposure for even a second meant catching a bullet.
Two more Heartless, short all black humanoids with antennae save for glowing yellow eyes, cradling AK-47s charged him, firing wildly. Both fell, clutching at their throats after being drilled by two 7.62 rounds. Bilby took advantage of the lull to run behind another rock. Between the rocks and him was a hill and over that a mesquite grove, perfect cover.
Another Heartless, wearing a blue uniform with the mark of its evil race and a silver helmet carrying an RPK machinegun fired off a burst in his direction. Bullets kicked up at his heels, but the full auto panic shooting missed him. He fired another shot, drilling the machine gunner through the head.
The superiority of numbers was starting to tell though. For every one Bilby seemed to kill three more would take its place. He shot another Heartless through its eye and he watched with grim satisfaction as his he knew his pursuers were leaving a trail of dead bodies while chasing him.
Bilby took a position behind several boulders at the top of the hill after a bullet hit him in the thigh. "That's it you sons of bitches! You wanna play hard, let's play hard."
Bilby wasn't going to try to reach the GI Joe camp. He was going to take as many of those bastards to hell with him as possible before they took him out. "Never figured it'd end like this." He groaned.
His L1A1 SLR spoke again and yet another Heartless spun to the ground with a bullet in its head. Ping! The SLR's moving parts cocked back, indicating that he had fired off his last round in the clip. Bilby pulled his pistol as another group of Heartless came up the hill. He put two pistol rounds through the skull of one of them, hit the second through the chest, and shot the third in the stomach as he slammed in another magazine for his rifle.
He raised his deadly telescopic rifle again as the mob closed on him, at least fifty of them came at him, charging up the hill. They knew Bilby was alone, and running out of ammunition in a hurry, so they realized they could swarm and kill him if they charged in a swarm.
"Fuck you!" Bilby shouted and fired more shots. Each bullet killed or badly injured a Heartless, he noted with grim satisfaction. Here it was, they failed to kill him on the Titan mission. They only killed the soul of the man, but the man's body was still alive. Now here he was, making his last stand in yet another dimension, killing the creatures that had taken away everything from him.
'Bilby's Last Stand' he thought, 'That's what the guys back at the FOB are gonna call this once they hear about this story. Next thing I know, is they'll be teaching Gamma sniper recruits about Martin Bilby's last stand against the Heartless. That's rich.'
The thought amused Bilby, despite himself, and he chuckled, firing as he did so. The last bullet in his SLR had been fired and he dropped his rifle. Before the rifle hit the ground Bilby's Colt 1911A1 was up and firing.
He had only two more clips left and at least thirty of them still remaining. 'And here he stood with fourteen bullets left.' Bilby thought. He shot down two more Heartless with smoking holes in their chests.
He took down a third with a hole blown through its stomach and shouted, "That's for Whitehurst you prick!"
He kept dragging his left leg towards the thicket. He could at least die far away from the Heartless, and maybe they wouldn't find his body if he got lucky.
He reloaded his last magazine and fired it, making his last stand good with double tap firing, shooting each Heartless through the head, twice with .45 caliber slugs. The last bullet fired as a Heartless fell with a bullet through its throat, less than one yard away. Enraged the creatures tore at Bilby's uniform, kicking and hitting him with rifle butts. He gave himself over to them, letting them commence their beating, knowing full well they had won and he had lost.
The last thing Martin Bilby expected to hear was gunfire that wasn't directed at him. He could hear highly accurate single rifle shots which told him his rescuer was a sniper of some kind. The final thing he saw before he passed out was a man wearing a black hat with red goggles carrying a telescopic rifle.
He could hear the man saying, "Cover Girl, this is Low Light, I need the first aid kit, ASAP! We've got a guy unconscious in the clearing."
The Heartless had fled, the sniper's unexpected arrival forced them to run like the rats they were. "They'll be back." Bilby managed to croak out before he passed out.
Cover Girl raced to the edge of the clearing, finding the unconscious man with his telescopic rifle at his feet and his .45 handgun on his lap. She bandaged his leg as best she could and saw Roadblock running over with a crude stretcher. "Let's get him out of here."
~ ~ ~ ~
"RPG!" Sarge yelled as a rocket flew past the Buick.
Stoney immediately flattened the shooter with a dozen rounds from his SAW. He and Link were standing back to back, standing in the Buick's sun roof with their SAWs aimed to the vehicle's front and back. Another checkpoint awaited them and Sarge floored the gas pedal.
Rumpler was one hell of a marksman. His M-16 was balanced on the rim of the window and without moving his other hand from the steering wheel he took down three Heartless drones with bursts of gunfire. He didn't even need to stop the car as he crashed through the barricade. Morgan was handing Fetterman and Rumpler magazines from his pouches.
Two COBRA vipers emptied their weapons at the Buick as they rounded a corner. Suddenly a tire blew out in the car. "Hang on!" Fetterman yelled.
"RPG!" Sarge replied as another rocket propelled grenade flew through the windshield and out the back window without exploding.
"Shit that was close!" Stoney shouted.
"Watch out!" Rumpler shouted as the car skidded and fishtailed off the road.
"Split up! Sarge take Morgan, we stand a better chance of making it three miles to the Slaughterhouse that way." Fetterman replied.
"Yes sir!" Sarge shouted back.
The three COBRAs, including the RPG shooter came forward to try and kill the car's occupants. Link flattened them with his SAW. "Gotcha captain!" Link said.
The group split in all directions just in time to see Stoney take a round through the hip. They couldn't do anything for him now as a group of Heartless descended on him, took his weapon, and carted him away. Link tried to gun them down, and was halfway through the ammo drum when the SAW jammed. Link drew his pistol and tried to shoot up the two Heartless drones bundling Stoney into a jeep. He hit one of them, missed the other and wound up having to run pell mell away.
Captain Fetterman could see Link, Sarge, and Morgan making their getaways as he ducked inside a drainage ditch. As long as he could fight off the cold water, he could stay here undetected and once night fell he could creep out across the way towards the GI Joe base. It looked like Sarge slipped away with Morgan in the confusion of the firefight.
Link had apparently unjammed his gun, because he could hear more bursts from a SAW as he fought off a swarm of Heartless chasing him. He could hear the impact of a rifle with human bone and heard Link cry out in pain. Risking a look, he could see the Heartless swarm Link. One kicked his weapon away and two of them pinioned his arms while the third kicked him in the groin. Link doubled over in agony as they handcuffed him, and led him away.
That left Sarge, Morgan and himself as the only three who could possibly warn the Joes about the Heartless. That was unless Bilby, Tallman, and Whitehurst were still alive. It was hard to imagine any other three men surviving being separated from their unit and fighting a massive COBRA/Heartless manhunt for them, but Whitehurst, Tall and Bilby, like all Gamma unit soldiers were experts and killing and more importantly staying alive.
The water was starting to really get cold, and his shivering sent ripples through the calm water of the ditch. The hot desert wind still felt like an arctic breeze when it hit him. It was still two hours till sunset and the best time to flee. Suddenly a single Heartless spotted him. The creature yammered its alien tongue as Fetterman put two rounds into it.
"Damn!" Fetterman shouted, running along through the ditch. Several more Heartless joined their recently deceased comrade, shooting at the running Gamma soldier for all they were worth.
Fetterman was ducking behind drain pipes and assorted detritus in the ditch as he ran, firing shots and the occasional 203 round at the Heartless. Suddenly a club struck him across the back, making him drop his M-16. Fetterman drew his pistol only to have it clubbed out of his hand. Suddenly Copperhead knocked down the Gamma soldier and summoned four COBRA vipers.
Fetterman's hands were secured and he was forced into the back seat of another Crimson Guard Cadillac and two Vipers sat on top of him. He could only hope Sarge and Morgan made it clear of the three mile radius into the GI Joe territory. It was better to play defeated this time, and then make his move to escape. If the interrogation got too brutal he had a cover story, they all did. The cover story was they were an Air Rescue unit sent to rescue a downed surveillance aircraft and that they were medics. He went over the story in his head, making sure he knew it by heart as he was driven further south into Heartless controlled territory.
~ ~ ~ ~
"Who was that guy Low Light and Cover Girl found in the desert?" Lance asked.
"I don't know, he didn't look like any of the soldiers I've seen at the Pit." Althea said.
"All I know is he looked like hell when we saw him." Toad replied.
They were standing outside General Hawk's office where the adults were in a meeting with the General. "Wait, I hear something else." Pietro whispered.
"And all of his ammunition was gone. Whatever those things were there must be quite a lot of them." Low Light replied, "He was also about to be captured by them."
"Lifeline how's our patient?" Hawk asked.
"His vitals are stable and Bree's monitoring him right now, he's still out though." Lifeline replied.
"The kids, are they alright?" Hawk asked.
"As right as they'll be after seeing a bleeding guy in a state of shock that looked like a mile of bad road." Low Light replied.
"Airtight, how's the specimen analysis coming?" Hawk asked.
"Well, the good thing is their not invulnerable to our weapons." Airtight said, "But the weirdest thing is when I dissected it, I found no heart."
"You mean the chest shot blew it out." Hawk replied.
"No sir, literally this thing had no heart. It was also shot in the head, so there's no possibility the heart was blown out of its body." Airtight replied, "It also had this thick, tar like substance instead of blood."
"How could something not have a heart?" Cover Girl asked.
"I don't know." Airtight replied, "All I know is when I dissected it I didn't find a heart and I only found this weird tar substance instead of blood. There was only a vacuum like void inside a bony chamber where the heart should have been."
"Well at least I know why he keeps muttering the words Heartless every so often in his sleep." Lifeline replied.
"What about his equipment?" Hawk asked.
"Nothing unusual about it, at least from an army standpoint. He was carrying a British L1A1 rifle with a Raptor 4x scope, and his Colt 1911A1 used to be standard Army issue." Air Tight replied, "He's not a COBRA that's for sure, because he doesn't have any of their marks."
"He was also grunting something about Major Bludd when we were driving him back." Low Light said.
"We can rule out COBRA, and no one in the Army database is named Martin Bilby. Aside from his dog tags we don't have any other sources of information until he regains full consciousness." Roadblock replied, "And his serial number doesn't match anyone living in the US right now."
"Alright, that's all we know, for now, dismissed." Hawk said.
The group filed out of Hawk's office and the Misfits quickly fled someplace else. Toad called Xi on his wrist. "How's our guy?"
"He's still barely conscious, still keeps muttering in his sleep." Xi replied.
"Yeah, we know that Xi." Toad replied, "Thanks to Pietro's snooping."
"Well add some other words to the list. I believe they are names. Whitehurst, Tallman, Akima." Xi said.
"None of those sound familiar, but Akima seems like a girl's name." Toad replied.
"Like Hawk said, we're gonna have to wait until he wakes up." Althea replied.
~ ~ ~ ~
"Name?" Major Bludd asked.
"Fetterman, George Canby."
"Rank?" Major Bludd asked.
"Captain."
"Serial number?" Major Bludd asked.
"352-76-1982."
"Birth Date?" Major Bludd asked.
"4 October 1978." Fetterman replied.
"So Captain Fetterman, what were you doing in our territory?" Major Bludd asked.
"I cannot answer that question." Fetterman replied.
Bludd touched him with a taser. A scream rose as electricity coursed through his body, "Of course you can Fetterman, answer that."
"All I am required to give by the Geneva convention is name, rank, serial number, and birth date." Fetterman replied.
"Were the individuals named Palmer and Whitehurst with you?" Major Bludd asked.
"I cannot answer that question." Fetterman replied.
Copperhead, who was standing nearby, sneered and said, "I bet they were."
He pulled a pair of dog tags from his pocket, he read the first one off, "Palmer, Tallman. 297-29-0788. O Negative. USA. Christian."
"Sound familiar captain?" Major Bludd said.
"Or what about this one." Copperhead replied, "Whitehurst, Andrew N. 136- 45-7144. O Positive. USA. Jewish."
"I cannot answer that question." Fetterman replied.
After another electrical shock, where Fetterman felt spreading warmth in his trousers. He'd pissed himself, and it embarrassed the hell out of him. "Come now, Captain, what kind of officer are you? You don't know the names of your own men. Their blood types? What religions they practice?" Copperhead replied.
"I cannot answer that question." Fetterman said.
"Are you a team leader?" Copperhead asked.
"I cannot answer that question." Fetterman replied.
"Strange, Sergeant Rumpler said that you are." Copperhead replied.
Fetterman realized this could be a trick. Even without interrogating Rumpler, they could figure out he was team leader by his rank or at least infer it. Though in Gamma, sometimes senior sergeants commanded missions, but COBRA didn't know that.
"Yeah you heard me." Copperhead replied, pulling another set of dog tags from his pocket. "Rumpler, Charles K. 443-32-1442. Type A. USA. No Religion."
"We've got him and your hypothermic friend." Copperhead added, "Morgan, David. 144-22-7880. O Neg. USA. Roman Catholic."
"I cannot answer that question." Fetterman replied.
"Well maybe we can change your mind." Copperhead replied, "Bring him in."
Sitting in a wheelchair, limbs still weak from exhaustion but handcuffed anyway was Dave Morgan. His face had a few bad cuts across it from being thrown around the Buick when it crashed. Copperhead pointed his pistol at Morgan's head.
"Now Captain, are you this man's team leader?" Copperhead asked.
"I cannot answer that question!" Fetterman shouted back.
Copperhead started to squeeze the trigger and David Morgan started chanting, weakly, "Our Father who art in heaven.."
"Wait!" Fetterman shouted, "Yes I'm his team leader."
"Finally, we're getting somewhere." Copperhead replied.
"Now to guarantee your man proper medical treatment. What was your mission?" Major Bludd replied.
"I cannot answer that question." Fetterman replied.
"Wrong answer!" Copperhead shouted.
"Air rescue!" Fetterman shouted frantically, "We're a medical evacuation unit."
"If you're medics, why on earth were you carrying these?" Major Bludd asked, hefting a 66mm rocket launcher.
"It's the Standard Operating Procedure to do so." Fetterman replied.
"Really. Medical Evacuation eh?" Copperhead replied, "For what?"
"I don't know!" Fetterman shouted, "We were told a surveillance aircraft crashed here and were inserted to rescue the aircrew when the aircraft took heavy fire and the pilot made several insertions instead of one."
"Hmm. That's why we found two of your men about thirty miles east of where you were." Copperhead replied, "You've been most helpful captain."
"Take him back to his cell." Major Bludd ordered two Heartless drones.
They had already read off names of people that had been captured. He noticed that they didn't read off Bilby's dog tags. Did that possibly mean that Bilby survived? If he had, he was their only hope to warn GI Joe about the Heartless. Or did that mean that Bilby was dead and they hadn't found his body? Fervently George Fetterman hoped it was the former rather than the latter. The last thing he wanted to see was another dimension consumed by the all encompassing greed and darkness of the Heartless. ~ ~ ~ ~
What happens when Bilby wakes up? Up next, the mysterious Titan mission that they keep talking about. Bilby meets the Misfits.
Disclaimer: Same as before. Now for the Titan AE crossover.
~ ~ ~ ~
Cover Girl drove the jeep out to the campsite with the Misfit girls. The Triplets, Wanda, and Althea were with them. "That sure was nice of Hawk to approve this little camping trip of ours."
"He does need time to drain all the water out of the kitchen after Althea and Lance had their little confrontation." Wanda replied.
There was the other jeep with Shipwreck, Low Light, Roadblock and the Misfit boys in it. They stopped at the campsite with Pietro and Lance setting up the tents, Shipwreck and Toad taking care of Claudius and Barney, and Roadblock getting lunch set up.
Althea was chasing the Triplets around and Wanda was going with Cover Girl to go collect firewood. Low Light tagged along with them. "The camp site is ground zero for insanity, I'm going with you two, the only sane people at the camp."
"I'm flattered Low Light." Cover Girl replied.
As they proceeded deeper into the mesquite grove a distinctive sound could be heard. "Hey Low Light? Cover Girl? That sounds like - "
"Gunfire!" Low Light and Cover Girl both snapped, "Cover Girl, take Wanda back to the camp site, I'll go see what all this shooting is about."
"Low Light, it's probably some redneck hunters drunk on beer, nothing really to worry about." Cover Girl replied.
"With full automatic weapons?" Low Light replied after a burst of machinegun fire could be heard.
"I'll get Wanda back to the camp site. Be careful Low Light." Cover Girl said.
"You know me." Low Light replied.
"That's why I said be careful." Cover Girl replied, with a slightly playful tone.
~ ~ ~ ~
Bilby fired another round down range, this one shot down a Heartless in a grim reaper get up. The L1A1 magazine was out and he reached into his pouches for another. He had only two more plus his three pistol mags left. There was a big group of Heartless after him. He reloaded another magazine. The rifle and his gear felt heavier and heavier and the groaning stabs of hunger in his midsection were getting worse. He had already eaten his last MRE at least twelve hours ago. Water he got by licking dew off of leaves. As if that wasn't bad enough, he had to have walked right into a Heartless patrol. Trying to sneak around it, he was spotted and they pursued.
He had already used up an entire magazine, killing or injuring about fifteen of them. He had only two magazines left. He had been shooting with more precision than the rest of the unit, thanks to his 4x telescopic sight. His Heartless pursuers regretted showing any part of their bodies over the rocks because any exposure for even a second meant catching a bullet.
Two more Heartless, short all black humanoids with antennae save for glowing yellow eyes, cradling AK-47s charged him, firing wildly. Both fell, clutching at their throats after being drilled by two 7.62 rounds. Bilby took advantage of the lull to run behind another rock. Between the rocks and him was a hill and over that a mesquite grove, perfect cover.
Another Heartless, wearing a blue uniform with the mark of its evil race and a silver helmet carrying an RPK machinegun fired off a burst in his direction. Bullets kicked up at his heels, but the full auto panic shooting missed him. He fired another shot, drilling the machine gunner through the head.
The superiority of numbers was starting to tell though. For every one Bilby seemed to kill three more would take its place. He shot another Heartless through its eye and he watched with grim satisfaction as his he knew his pursuers were leaving a trail of dead bodies while chasing him.
Bilby took a position behind several boulders at the top of the hill after a bullet hit him in the thigh. "That's it you sons of bitches! You wanna play hard, let's play hard."
Bilby wasn't going to try to reach the GI Joe camp. He was going to take as many of those bastards to hell with him as possible before they took him out. "Never figured it'd end like this." He groaned.
His L1A1 SLR spoke again and yet another Heartless spun to the ground with a bullet in its head. Ping! The SLR's moving parts cocked back, indicating that he had fired off his last round in the clip. Bilby pulled his pistol as another group of Heartless came up the hill. He put two pistol rounds through the skull of one of them, hit the second through the chest, and shot the third in the stomach as he slammed in another magazine for his rifle.
He raised his deadly telescopic rifle again as the mob closed on him, at least fifty of them came at him, charging up the hill. They knew Bilby was alone, and running out of ammunition in a hurry, so they realized they could swarm and kill him if they charged in a swarm.
"Fuck you!" Bilby shouted and fired more shots. Each bullet killed or badly injured a Heartless, he noted with grim satisfaction. Here it was, they failed to kill him on the Titan mission. They only killed the soul of the man, but the man's body was still alive. Now here he was, making his last stand in yet another dimension, killing the creatures that had taken away everything from him.
'Bilby's Last Stand' he thought, 'That's what the guys back at the FOB are gonna call this once they hear about this story. Next thing I know, is they'll be teaching Gamma sniper recruits about Martin Bilby's last stand against the Heartless. That's rich.'
The thought amused Bilby, despite himself, and he chuckled, firing as he did so. The last bullet in his SLR had been fired and he dropped his rifle. Before the rifle hit the ground Bilby's Colt 1911A1 was up and firing.
He had only two more clips left and at least thirty of them still remaining. 'And here he stood with fourteen bullets left.' Bilby thought. He shot down two more Heartless with smoking holes in their chests.
He took down a third with a hole blown through its stomach and shouted, "That's for Whitehurst you prick!"
He kept dragging his left leg towards the thicket. He could at least die far away from the Heartless, and maybe they wouldn't find his body if he got lucky.
He reloaded his last magazine and fired it, making his last stand good with double tap firing, shooting each Heartless through the head, twice with .45 caliber slugs. The last bullet fired as a Heartless fell with a bullet through its throat, less than one yard away. Enraged the creatures tore at Bilby's uniform, kicking and hitting him with rifle butts. He gave himself over to them, letting them commence their beating, knowing full well they had won and he had lost.
The last thing Martin Bilby expected to hear was gunfire that wasn't directed at him. He could hear highly accurate single rifle shots which told him his rescuer was a sniper of some kind. The final thing he saw before he passed out was a man wearing a black hat with red goggles carrying a telescopic rifle.
He could hear the man saying, "Cover Girl, this is Low Light, I need the first aid kit, ASAP! We've got a guy unconscious in the clearing."
The Heartless had fled, the sniper's unexpected arrival forced them to run like the rats they were. "They'll be back." Bilby managed to croak out before he passed out.
Cover Girl raced to the edge of the clearing, finding the unconscious man with his telescopic rifle at his feet and his .45 handgun on his lap. She bandaged his leg as best she could and saw Roadblock running over with a crude stretcher. "Let's get him out of here."
~ ~ ~ ~
"RPG!" Sarge yelled as a rocket flew past the Buick.
Stoney immediately flattened the shooter with a dozen rounds from his SAW. He and Link were standing back to back, standing in the Buick's sun roof with their SAWs aimed to the vehicle's front and back. Another checkpoint awaited them and Sarge floored the gas pedal.
Rumpler was one hell of a marksman. His M-16 was balanced on the rim of the window and without moving his other hand from the steering wheel he took down three Heartless drones with bursts of gunfire. He didn't even need to stop the car as he crashed through the barricade. Morgan was handing Fetterman and Rumpler magazines from his pouches.
Two COBRA vipers emptied their weapons at the Buick as they rounded a corner. Suddenly a tire blew out in the car. "Hang on!" Fetterman yelled.
"RPG!" Sarge replied as another rocket propelled grenade flew through the windshield and out the back window without exploding.
"Shit that was close!" Stoney shouted.
"Watch out!" Rumpler shouted as the car skidded and fishtailed off the road.
"Split up! Sarge take Morgan, we stand a better chance of making it three miles to the Slaughterhouse that way." Fetterman replied.
"Yes sir!" Sarge shouted back.
The three COBRAs, including the RPG shooter came forward to try and kill the car's occupants. Link flattened them with his SAW. "Gotcha captain!" Link said.
The group split in all directions just in time to see Stoney take a round through the hip. They couldn't do anything for him now as a group of Heartless descended on him, took his weapon, and carted him away. Link tried to gun them down, and was halfway through the ammo drum when the SAW jammed. Link drew his pistol and tried to shoot up the two Heartless drones bundling Stoney into a jeep. He hit one of them, missed the other and wound up having to run pell mell away.
Captain Fetterman could see Link, Sarge, and Morgan making their getaways as he ducked inside a drainage ditch. As long as he could fight off the cold water, he could stay here undetected and once night fell he could creep out across the way towards the GI Joe base. It looked like Sarge slipped away with Morgan in the confusion of the firefight.
Link had apparently unjammed his gun, because he could hear more bursts from a SAW as he fought off a swarm of Heartless chasing him. He could hear the impact of a rifle with human bone and heard Link cry out in pain. Risking a look, he could see the Heartless swarm Link. One kicked his weapon away and two of them pinioned his arms while the third kicked him in the groin. Link doubled over in agony as they handcuffed him, and led him away.
That left Sarge, Morgan and himself as the only three who could possibly warn the Joes about the Heartless. That was unless Bilby, Tallman, and Whitehurst were still alive. It was hard to imagine any other three men surviving being separated from their unit and fighting a massive COBRA/Heartless manhunt for them, but Whitehurst, Tall and Bilby, like all Gamma unit soldiers were experts and killing and more importantly staying alive.
The water was starting to really get cold, and his shivering sent ripples through the calm water of the ditch. The hot desert wind still felt like an arctic breeze when it hit him. It was still two hours till sunset and the best time to flee. Suddenly a single Heartless spotted him. The creature yammered its alien tongue as Fetterman put two rounds into it.
"Damn!" Fetterman shouted, running along through the ditch. Several more Heartless joined their recently deceased comrade, shooting at the running Gamma soldier for all they were worth.
Fetterman was ducking behind drain pipes and assorted detritus in the ditch as he ran, firing shots and the occasional 203 round at the Heartless. Suddenly a club struck him across the back, making him drop his M-16. Fetterman drew his pistol only to have it clubbed out of his hand. Suddenly Copperhead knocked down the Gamma soldier and summoned four COBRA vipers.
Fetterman's hands were secured and he was forced into the back seat of another Crimson Guard Cadillac and two Vipers sat on top of him. He could only hope Sarge and Morgan made it clear of the three mile radius into the GI Joe territory. It was better to play defeated this time, and then make his move to escape. If the interrogation got too brutal he had a cover story, they all did. The cover story was they were an Air Rescue unit sent to rescue a downed surveillance aircraft and that they were medics. He went over the story in his head, making sure he knew it by heart as he was driven further south into Heartless controlled territory.
~ ~ ~ ~
"Who was that guy Low Light and Cover Girl found in the desert?" Lance asked.
"I don't know, he didn't look like any of the soldiers I've seen at the Pit." Althea said.
"All I know is he looked like hell when we saw him." Toad replied.
They were standing outside General Hawk's office where the adults were in a meeting with the General. "Wait, I hear something else." Pietro whispered.
"And all of his ammunition was gone. Whatever those things were there must be quite a lot of them." Low Light replied, "He was also about to be captured by them."
"Lifeline how's our patient?" Hawk asked.
"His vitals are stable and Bree's monitoring him right now, he's still out though." Lifeline replied.
"The kids, are they alright?" Hawk asked.
"As right as they'll be after seeing a bleeding guy in a state of shock that looked like a mile of bad road." Low Light replied.
"Airtight, how's the specimen analysis coming?" Hawk asked.
"Well, the good thing is their not invulnerable to our weapons." Airtight said, "But the weirdest thing is when I dissected it, I found no heart."
"You mean the chest shot blew it out." Hawk replied.
"No sir, literally this thing had no heart. It was also shot in the head, so there's no possibility the heart was blown out of its body." Airtight replied, "It also had this thick, tar like substance instead of blood."
"How could something not have a heart?" Cover Girl asked.
"I don't know." Airtight replied, "All I know is when I dissected it I didn't find a heart and I only found this weird tar substance instead of blood. There was only a vacuum like void inside a bony chamber where the heart should have been."
"Well at least I know why he keeps muttering the words Heartless every so often in his sleep." Lifeline replied.
"What about his equipment?" Hawk asked.
"Nothing unusual about it, at least from an army standpoint. He was carrying a British L1A1 rifle with a Raptor 4x scope, and his Colt 1911A1 used to be standard Army issue." Air Tight replied, "He's not a COBRA that's for sure, because he doesn't have any of their marks."
"He was also grunting something about Major Bludd when we were driving him back." Low Light said.
"We can rule out COBRA, and no one in the Army database is named Martin Bilby. Aside from his dog tags we don't have any other sources of information until he regains full consciousness." Roadblock replied, "And his serial number doesn't match anyone living in the US right now."
"Alright, that's all we know, for now, dismissed." Hawk said.
The group filed out of Hawk's office and the Misfits quickly fled someplace else. Toad called Xi on his wrist. "How's our guy?"
"He's still barely conscious, still keeps muttering in his sleep." Xi replied.
"Yeah, we know that Xi." Toad replied, "Thanks to Pietro's snooping."
"Well add some other words to the list. I believe they are names. Whitehurst, Tallman, Akima." Xi said.
"None of those sound familiar, but Akima seems like a girl's name." Toad replied.
"Like Hawk said, we're gonna have to wait until he wakes up." Althea replied.
~ ~ ~ ~
"Name?" Major Bludd asked.
"Fetterman, George Canby."
"Rank?" Major Bludd asked.
"Captain."
"Serial number?" Major Bludd asked.
"352-76-1982."
"Birth Date?" Major Bludd asked.
"4 October 1978." Fetterman replied.
"So Captain Fetterman, what were you doing in our territory?" Major Bludd asked.
"I cannot answer that question." Fetterman replied.
Bludd touched him with a taser. A scream rose as electricity coursed through his body, "Of course you can Fetterman, answer that."
"All I am required to give by the Geneva convention is name, rank, serial number, and birth date." Fetterman replied.
"Were the individuals named Palmer and Whitehurst with you?" Major Bludd asked.
"I cannot answer that question." Fetterman replied.
Copperhead, who was standing nearby, sneered and said, "I bet they were."
He pulled a pair of dog tags from his pocket, he read the first one off, "Palmer, Tallman. 297-29-0788. O Negative. USA. Christian."
"Sound familiar captain?" Major Bludd said.
"Or what about this one." Copperhead replied, "Whitehurst, Andrew N. 136- 45-7144. O Positive. USA. Jewish."
"I cannot answer that question." Fetterman replied.
After another electrical shock, where Fetterman felt spreading warmth in his trousers. He'd pissed himself, and it embarrassed the hell out of him. "Come now, Captain, what kind of officer are you? You don't know the names of your own men. Their blood types? What religions they practice?" Copperhead replied.
"I cannot answer that question." Fetterman said.
"Are you a team leader?" Copperhead asked.
"I cannot answer that question." Fetterman replied.
"Strange, Sergeant Rumpler said that you are." Copperhead replied.
Fetterman realized this could be a trick. Even without interrogating Rumpler, they could figure out he was team leader by his rank or at least infer it. Though in Gamma, sometimes senior sergeants commanded missions, but COBRA didn't know that.
"Yeah you heard me." Copperhead replied, pulling another set of dog tags from his pocket. "Rumpler, Charles K. 443-32-1442. Type A. USA. No Religion."
"We've got him and your hypothermic friend." Copperhead added, "Morgan, David. 144-22-7880. O Neg. USA. Roman Catholic."
"I cannot answer that question." Fetterman replied.
"Well maybe we can change your mind." Copperhead replied, "Bring him in."
Sitting in a wheelchair, limbs still weak from exhaustion but handcuffed anyway was Dave Morgan. His face had a few bad cuts across it from being thrown around the Buick when it crashed. Copperhead pointed his pistol at Morgan's head.
"Now Captain, are you this man's team leader?" Copperhead asked.
"I cannot answer that question!" Fetterman shouted back.
Copperhead started to squeeze the trigger and David Morgan started chanting, weakly, "Our Father who art in heaven.."
"Wait!" Fetterman shouted, "Yes I'm his team leader."
"Finally, we're getting somewhere." Copperhead replied.
"Now to guarantee your man proper medical treatment. What was your mission?" Major Bludd replied.
"I cannot answer that question." Fetterman replied.
"Wrong answer!" Copperhead shouted.
"Air rescue!" Fetterman shouted frantically, "We're a medical evacuation unit."
"If you're medics, why on earth were you carrying these?" Major Bludd asked, hefting a 66mm rocket launcher.
"It's the Standard Operating Procedure to do so." Fetterman replied.
"Really. Medical Evacuation eh?" Copperhead replied, "For what?"
"I don't know!" Fetterman shouted, "We were told a surveillance aircraft crashed here and were inserted to rescue the aircrew when the aircraft took heavy fire and the pilot made several insertions instead of one."
"Hmm. That's why we found two of your men about thirty miles east of where you were." Copperhead replied, "You've been most helpful captain."
"Take him back to his cell." Major Bludd ordered two Heartless drones.
They had already read off names of people that had been captured. He noticed that they didn't read off Bilby's dog tags. Did that possibly mean that Bilby survived? If he had, he was their only hope to warn GI Joe about the Heartless. Or did that mean that Bilby was dead and they hadn't found his body? Fervently George Fetterman hoped it was the former rather than the latter. The last thing he wanted to see was another dimension consumed by the all encompassing greed and darkness of the Heartless. ~ ~ ~ ~
What happens when Bilby wakes up? Up next, the mysterious Titan mission that they keep talking about. Bilby meets the Misfits.
