Sherbet Mayhem: Hello, and welcome back to yet another instalment of WAR!!! It's been fun, hasn't it? Hasn't it? Hello? o.0
Anyways, yeah, welcome back. Hope you all enjoyed chapter six – your reviews were positive so I take it you did. Actually I've only been able to read two of my reviews as I've been off school (my school is currently a building site and I don't go back till the 15th – and even that date is really pushing whether school will be 'suitable' to work in. Personally I could work in a sandwich box. Like I care. It's not like I'm gonna actually work . . . ) and I haven't been able to get onto the net. The last time I checked War I had a review off somebody with a name similar to . . . oh man, I can't remember, and I looked at it loads; it was someone who hated their computer because it didn't tell them when I uploaded chapters five and six. Oh, I'm really sorry, whoever you are . . . lol! My memory is equal to that of a fish's memory (a whole seven seconds, if you didn't already know). I also read the review from bey-girl-nicky – see, I always remember bey-girl-nicky 'cause we constantly email each other! Thanks, y'all, for the booootiful reviews! Arigato! If I read anyone else's reviews and forgot you then I'm sorry!
Bey-Girl-Nicky – you actually updated! Yeah! And this story, well, I don't know how many pages it is on Word. I keep it in Web page format because if I see page numbers I start setting myself goals that I never reach, like "Oh, this chapter simply has to be fifteen pages long" and then hate myself when I fail. That's what's been going on with the sequel to Hidden Adversary. I just despise the whole thing now – despite the fact that it is an impressive 72 pages long! I'm sure I'll get to it eventually, but now WAR has me hooked! Apologies ;p Hold on, I'll see the pages thing now, hold on a sec . . . erm, divide by six, carry the two, plus delta, erm . . . it all comes to . . . okay, so it's NINETY-TWO PAGES LONG ALREADY! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! Even I'm impressed? I doubted it had hit fifty! Well, there you go, Nicky. Ninety-two. I feel a little faint! Lol.
Er, I should get down to business now, eh? Okay then, so what do I own? Any volunteers? Okay, I'll do it. I own a dovetail saw, a piece of cheese, a plastic purple protractor, a tube of toothpaste, a yoghurt pot, a shoehorn, a toasty maker (delicious!) and, er . . . AN ASTHMA INHALOR! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! Yes! I now consider myself truly rich! I am one lucky person! Now . . . how do you use this thing . . . OW, sprayed myself in the eye! IT BURNS!!!
Okaaayy, er, on with the show. The time is . . . a surprisingly healthy 14:48 pm – that's ten to three in the afternoon! Amazing! I'm no longer nocturnal!
Enjoy chapter seven!
Oh, and a quick apology to make. I've been referring to the lake where Kai nearly popped his clogs as 'Lake Bikau', merely going on Judy's pronunciation in one of the later Beyblade episodes. However, after researching it a bit in my Atlas (why didn't I do that earlier?) it turns out it's called Lake Baikal. I'm not about to upload the chapter again just 'cause of that silly little mistake, so I'm just gonna keep calling it Lake Bikau for consistency, even though it's wrong. I'd rather have the mistake run all the way through than change it half way and confuse people. Sorry about that.
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Chapter Seven: Taking the Plunge
************************************Flashback******************************************************************************
It was the evening before Sui Generis began. The seven who had been chosen had been given a tent to themselves – a huge tent with complete privacy. They had a lot to think about. The operation was so huge and dangerous that a few of them had begun to worry too much and Hing, despite the fact that he was an old goat, had decided they needed to spend the night relaxing with each other.
That day had also been mail day, and at about seven o clock the zipper to the tent was undone and they were handed their mail. Tyson beamed as he received a bunch of letters, as did Max. Tyson sat down in a corner of the tent, eager to open his mail. He tore open the first letter and found it was from his father, encouraging him to do his best and assuring him that the family were proud. The second letter was from his grandfather, offering a few words of advice and telling him how things were back home. BIOVOLT hadn't gotten to Tyson's hometown yet. The third and final letter to Tyson was from Tyson's mother, who had been away on an intense archaeological dig and had not seen Tyson for three years.
Tyson looked up after reading and then re-reading his letters. Nearby, he saw Dave, scouring over a single letter. Interested (and feeling that the silence of the tent was a little uncomfortable) Tyson walked over and sat on the floor next to Dave.
"Who's it from, Dave?"
Dave blinked, obviously disturbed from his thoughts, and focused on Tyson. His eyes seemed to be a little distant.
"Oh, hey Tyson. It's from Yuri, my girlfriend back home. It's the first time she's written to me."
"Cool," answered Tyson, nodding. He smiled. "How long have you been going out with her?"
Dave winced. "None of your business, Tyson."
A little taken aback by Dave's curt, sharp answer, Tyson moved away towards Max. "So, Maxy, any good news?"
Max smiled. "A bundle. I got two letters from mom, a letter from dad, and one from the All-Stars. Pretty cool, huh? Everyone's okay back home. Mom says she's been working on an improvement in Bit-Release so we can actually release the Bit-Beasts more than twice. Dad's been helping her, and they're about to try it with the All-Stars' blades."
Tyson laughed. "All right! That's great news, Max! Your mom and dad rule!"
Over in a hard backed chair at the other end of the tent, Rei shook his head in embarrassment. He hated it when Tyson said stuff like that. It was really annoying! He looked down at the letter in his hands, and then lifted it to his nose. It would seem strange to anyone watching, but Rei knew that she always scented his letters with perfume, just to remind him of how it would be when they were back together again. Yes, the letter was from Mariah, whom he missed very sorely. He longed to simply hear her talk again, as, when he read her letters, the pretty sound of her voice was beginning to ebb away and he couldn't remember it so well anymore. After smelling the already open letter, Rei re-read it, attempting to take his thoughts off tomorrow's mission. Surprisingly enough, Rei had been one of the people who had been panicking about sui generis. All of his careful planning and intense strategising would finally be coming to the test, and he was very nervous. What if he had missed something? Had he made a mistake that was likely to get his friends killed? Was he going to die himself?
Rei was left to ponder his thoughts, while in a chair nearby, Kai sat silently, his eyes closed, mediating on tomorrow. Even though he had not yet begun to panic about it, he was beginning to imagine the things that could go wrong – which he often did just before a vital occurrence in his life. He had received no mail – for whom had he to receive mail from? His parents? Died when he was very young. Siblings? Kai was an only child. Friends? Well, Kai's only friends – real friends – had been the Blade-Breakers and a few soldiers – including Dango and Dave. Two of them were already gone. Kai was attempting to make it his main priority that his friends should survive this, and they were causing him the most worry.
He opened his eyes and looked about the tent, the coffee irises flitting back and forth as he took in every detail. Mark was grinning at an amusing letter from one of his friends, and Jenny was sitting at a table not far away, opening – a package? A large brown package, tied with string. It looked heavy, and, intrigued, Kai got up and walked over to where she was sitting.
He had been walking for about four days now. The pains in his legs had completely ceased, and Kai felt as though his legs had never taken any damage in their lives. His waist gave him a little trouble now and then, but only if he moved it into a position that was very far from its resting place or an unusual one – for example, Kai probably would never be able to do exercise that involved complex movement of the legs, like gymnastics or kickboxing. Otherwise, Kai felt fine, and certainly felt fit enough to take part in sui generis. In fact, ever since he had been able to walk again, Kai had felt his doubts wash away too. He knew he was good enough to lead his men through this – he had to believe that. What else could he believe? He knew – and he had made sure the others knew it too – that it was essential to go into this operation with the confidence that they would succeed. Hopefully, this confidence would be enough to bring them all through it.
Jenny looked up from her package as Kai's shadow fell over her. She was sitting at a small table against one of the walls of the tent. She smiled a little awkwardly at Kai.
"'Iya."
Kai nodded, didn't smile, in greeting, and glanced at the package. "What's with the bundle?"
Jenny's smile widened as she thought of who had sent her the package. "It's from me mate, Ruth. She's such a chum. 'Can't believe she's done this."
Kai pulled out another chair and took a seat. "Done what?"
Jenny took a breath and then pulled out what had been hidden by the brown paper packaging. It looked like a large purple book, hard backed, with splashes of burgundy and pink occasionally marking the cover. She flipped the thing over in her hands and Kai read the title with raised eyebrows.
"A Bible?"
Jenny laughed. "Don't sound so surprised. Ruth knew I'd fergot me Bible, an' so what's she do? She's gone an' sen' me it in th' bloomin' mail!"
Kai half smiled, still looking at the big Bible in her scarred hands. "Do you read that thing?"
Jenny placed the Bible on the table gently and then rolled her eyes at Kai.
"'Course I do. D'ye' fink I'd jus' keep it on th' flippin' shelf?"
Kai smiled fully now, amused. He had never been the religious type. In his opinion, life was life, death was death, and that was it. He lived by his own rules, and preferred not to place his life in the hands of others at any cost.
He watched, however, as Jenny flipped open the mini library of books – which was very worn down and dog-eared on the inside. There were little scribbles of ink all over the text where she had annotated it to help her study. She was obviously very devoted.
"I had no idea," mused Kai as he watched her face. She looked genuinely pleased. She smiled and nodded at his words and continued to flip through the collection of books, right through to the New Testament. Then she ran her finger down some of the text until she found the quote she was looking for.
"I know ye' don't believe Kai. But read this quote. It'll help."
A little wary, Kai leaned forward. He didn't want this obviously crazy girl to draw him in to a world of rules and religion. Still, he knew it would keep her happy and off his back, and so he read it. It was a quotation from the gospel of Mark, Chapter Nine. Verse twenty-three. "All things are possible for the one who believes."
Kai read it through and his face sobered. He suddenly felt a lot warmer towards Jenny. She had rooted out a passage that would make all of them feel comforted, even if they didn't believe what she believed. He smiled and looked up at her. She was reading the verse herself.
"Thanks."
Jenny nodded. "If ye' take anyfin' from th' Bible, take tha'. 'Cause it's true."
Kai, feeling a lot less nervous, stood up and stretched, tired. Glancing around at the other six soldiers in the tent, he suddenly knew that they could do it. He believed that somehow they would complete this operation. They'd come out of it alive. Japan, Britain and China would come through. BIOVOLT were going down.
******************************End flashback!*******************************************************************************
Kai couldn't say he felt the same way right now. Rei's news had just almost knocked the breath out of him. The group of seven were crouching in a small clearing outside BIOVOLT Main HQ. The wind was a cold one, digging into their painted faces. Every member of the squad was kitted out to avoid detection at all costs. Each had been given more advanced weapons. Tyson now held a Commando AK with a folding butt, a slim, long grey and black gun with sniping abilities and a quick fire rate – plus a regular pistol at his hip. Rei held a Minimi light machine gun, ideal for soldiers with a slim frame but a high accuracy rate. His clips were slung over his shoulder – and he too carried a regular hand held pistol. Jenny and Mark had been given handguns but were not intended to get involved in the fighting. Their handguns were in the case of an emergency. Max held a Desert Eagle and his hand-pistol was in its holster at his hip. The Desert Eagle was out and ready to fire for now, but usually stayed away in Max's backpack. Dave carried the same weapon as Rei, the Minimi light, which had a renowned accuracy rate and was light and accessible in any situation, as well as a hand gun and three anti-personnel mines, unarmed for the moment, in his pocket. Kai carried an M16 rifle, fitted with the M203, 40millimetre grenade launcher, with the clips slung across his shoulder as usual. His Uzi's hung at his hips, and in his backpack he carried a gun identical to Tyson's, just in case he ran out of clips. All of them carried heavy backpacks containing separate pieces to be used in fitting together the 66 shoulder-launched rocket; a powerful, devastating machine that could easily take out a room packed with soldiers if needed. It was one of their last resorts. The other two last resorts hung at the hips of Kai and Max, in small, tightly attached pouches, flashing occasionally as the squad crept through the moonlight.
Yes, the operation had begun quite a while ago, and night had fallen quickly on the team. There had been little sun that day anyway, as it had been snowing and the sky had been clouded over with heavy grey clouds. The team – consisting of seven people in all – had been dropped off at Lake Bikau about two hours ago in a Chinook copter – a quiet, stealthy aircraft, similar to Black Hawks but slightly more powerful. They had followed Jenny's directions very carefully and finally arrived at the black steel gate, which they had quickly hopped, and the team had taken a brief rest in the cornfield. The stalks had provided sufficient cover and, as the night sky was falling, the group had been almost inconspicuous. About half an hour ago they had moved to the back of the building in a huge semi-circle like path. Finally, they had arrived at an area of good cover, and were able to watch the two guards at the back of the HQ from a safe haven.
Rei held his TACBE (tactical beacon) radio close to his ear, and listened again. The message was repeated. He and Kai were listening in closely now.
Frowning, Rei switched his radio off in a moment of anger. "I don't believe this. It's impossible."
Kai was about to respond when he heard a cry from ahead. He whipped out his binoculars – as did about five other members of the squad – and looked to the HQ. His sight focused and he saw one of the guards loading up a machine gun, positioning it on a fence that surrounded the building and preparing to shoot at them.
"Take cover!" he yelled quickly, diving down as he spoke. Rei hit the deck besides him, and all around there was the sound of bodies slamming into the dirt. Tyson, on the other hand, slipped behind a nearby, thick tree, and held his breath. He hated this part. The sneaking, the infiltrating – yeah, fine, Tyson was down with it. It didn't bother him in the slightest. But when combat was introduced and shooting could not be avoided, his gut always churned at the feeling that he might have to take down another human being. Gulping, he fumbled at the AK desperately, wrapping his shaking fingers about the handle and pressing his index finger against the trigger.
He pressed too hard and a round of bullets spattered out into the trees around them.
"TYSON!" yelled Rei in anger, "What the hell? We've already got enemy fire, you moron! We don't need you firing on us as well! Get a hold of yourse-"
Rei was cut off as a bullet scraped the length of his arm and then whizzed past. He cried out softly and grasped at his arm. Fortunately he had just avoided being shot. Unfortunately, he had already taken a painful injury. Kai growled.
"Stay down, everyone!" he yelled, his voice taking command of the situation, which was virtually uncontrollable. Watching through narrowed eyes, Dave pressed himself into the ground, knowing what was coming. Max peered over his section of bush, and watched.
Kai wormed forwards on his belly a little, finding himself a comfortable place between two small shrubs. The majority of his body was still covered by wildlife. He pulled his M16 out and peered through the laser-sight attached to the top of the impressive firearm. The M203 was in a perfect position. He was going to blow a hole in the side of the building with his grenade launcher.
"Stuff 'em all," he thought darkly as he took aim.
"Wait!" hissed Jenny, crawling through the brush and grabbing Kai's leg. Kai growled.
"I told you to stay down."
Jenny shook her head wildly. "No, no, ye' can't! We'll lose all elemen' o' surprise! Don' be stupid!"
Kai paused, and then growled again. Seeing Rei get hit had filled him with a blind rage – a very rare occurrence - and he had been intent on taking the guards out using whatever means possible. Still, what Jenny was saying made sense. He wriggled back so he was more on level with her.
"What do you suggest we do?" he spat, still angry. Jenny looked back at Mark, who was hiding his head with his arms and still typing furiously at his tiny computer.
"The Desert Eagle has the perfect firing range to take out the two guards but not damage the building," Mark whispered, his dark eyes scanning the screen in front of him, "Max?"
Max's eyes lit up. Here was the part of this job he enjoyed. He stood up bravely, as it was impossible to fire the Desert Eagle from the ground, and took aim, the wind blowing through his blond hair. Tyson watched sadly.
"There he goes,"
Max fired the first round successfully, the silencer on the Eagle allowing them to avoid informing nearby authorities of their presence. Ironically, the two guards had been using a silencer on their machine gun and so nobody but those two knew the team had arrived.
Max grinned as he hit his target, knowing the attention was on him and revelling in it.
"One down, ladies and gents,"
He swerved his gun to the left, and pulled the trigger, his tongue sticking out as he aimed carefully. The back-force of the shot made his body jerk as he fired, and he smiled broadly as he watched the other guard go down through his laser-sight.
"And that's two for Max! Yeah, I am the man!"
Max lowered his gun and opened both eyes again – as one had been squinted shut when he had been taking his aim. He looked down and saw Dave and Kai tending to Rei's arm. It had been scratched but it was nothing too serious, and Rei, though his face was a little pale, seemed to be fine.
"Glad that wasn't a dead on shot," he said, his teeth chattering, "It would have taken my arm off."
Dave nodded. "I'll just wrap this Rei, and then you'll be good to go again."
Rei nodded, his arm sore, and watched as Dave finished the bandage. He laughed when it was neatly tied. "Thanks!"
He stood up, well aware that the threat from the two guards was over, and listened as Kai spoke.
"Okay, listen. If just two guards gave us that much trouble, then imagine what it's gonna be like inside. We need to get things together."
"But Kai," piped in Tyson a little warily, "You almost made a mistake that could have gotten us killed! How can you just blame us?"
Kai was silent for a second, and looked at the ground. Then he glanced back up, conscious that the whole squad was watching him with scrutinising eyes. He felt terrible, and he hadn't meant to just blame everyone else. That sudden self-confidence inspired in him the previous night had disappeared in a quick thinking move that had left him embarrassed and feeling ridiculous. He spoke quietly.
"Yeah, well, the whole thing was pretty sloppy. Let's just forget it and get inside. That's what we're here to do, right?"
He sighed, knowing that they were all still watching him.
"It'll take us a few minutes to get there. Keep your guard up," Rei interrupted the silence as cheerfully as he could, his arm not hurting too much now. "And remember, we can do this!"
Dave smiled in unison with Tyson. "Yeah, we took those guys out! We can do the rest too!"
They set off, marching in pairs towards the ominous looking building. It was a very dark grey, and looked similar to an old, haunted house, if one will excuse the cliché. It was very tall and slim for a building, and it was difficult to believe that such a deserted, desolate place could be a major HQ for one of the most infamous operations around.
"But," thought Rei as he traipsed along next to Max, who was humming cheerfully, pleased with his previous performance, "they used an Abbey in Moscow to hide one of the most cruel schemes imaginable. This place is perfect for them!"
Rei watched with interest as he noticed a stream picking its way through the field, avoiding the stalks of grain and flowing with a gentle ripple towards the building.
"Even in such a horrible place," he mused, "there's still a little bit left of beauty. It's such a refreshing change to this dull landscape."As Rei watched the river, his amber eyes flashing along the ripples and undulations of the stream, Max continued to hum, walking along with a bounce in his step. He knew he had performed well – outclassing even his Captain back there – and felt delighted with himself. Ahead of him walked Tyson and Mark, Tyson peering at Mark's little computer screen as Mark chatted away happily, trying to keep himself steady before the operation truly began. He seemed a nice enough chap – always smiling, always bubbly. He never seemed to get down or depressed – despite the fact that Jenny yelled at him for the good portion of the day. Tyson watched as Mark jabbered on – in Liverpudlian, (which Tyson had decided was a completely different language from his own) - about a load of computer files and figures (that Tyson, incidentally, did not understand whatsoever) and tapped his keys to achieve impressive statistics on the screen. Behind Max and Rei walked Dave and Jenny, and even further behind, as if in a world of his own, was Kai.
Jenny and Dave were talking in that strange sort of nervous, happy fashion, almost as though they were trying to keep each other's spirits up before they went into the HQ. Dave had revealed that in his letter from home, his girlfriend had sent bad news – she had grown bored of waiting for him to return and had found somebody else – which was a common occurrence amongst women of war. Though his heart felt a little sore and rejected, Dave knew he had to concentrate on what was right ahead of him.
"So, was ye' dead upset, or jus' like 'yeah, well, anuvver day, anuvver bird'?" asked Jenny as she hurried along, her short legs having to move twice as fast as Dave's long ones to keep up. Dave shrugged.
"It didn't really bother me. I couldn't see that relationship lasting anyway."
He paused. "I don't believe it!" he said, suddenly smiling, the nervous happiness in his voice quickly becoming genuine, "I just completely understood what you said!"
Jenny laughed. "Yeah, well, ye' used te' me now, aren' ye'?"
Dave smiled pleasantly, his spirits lifting lightly off his shoulders. Then, he looked ahead, and caught a glimpse of the destination, and his heart felt like a brick again. Jenny watched his face fall.
"Don' worry," she said, watching the building through her thick glasses, "We'll be fine."
Walking along behind them and staring at the floor, Kai listened in for a moment before sighing to himself. He had known this wasn't right for him.
How can I lead a squad when I can't make a straight decision myself?" he thought, furrowing his brow as he walked along, his head down, "I'm not sure I can trust myself with their lives. And with what Rei just told me. . ."
He sighed again, not noticing the gentle fall of snow that had begun again as it settled into his hair and eyes. He only looked up again when Rei called his name.
"Huh?"
Rei watched him for a moment, looking a little concerned, before continuing. "I suggest we try and take the basement route. You mentioned that there was a basement, right Jen?"
"Yer, unguarded an' everyfin. Last time I looked it was, anyway."
Rei smiled determinedly. "Okay, we'll enter through the basement. But . . . do we know where it is?"
Mark piped up, pleased to be involved. Usually he was just obeying Jenny's brash orders, but now he had a chance to prove himself.
"From lookin' at me computer map, I'd say it's just te' th' righ' o' th' buildin'," he said rather proudly, and began to lead the way ahead. The others followed a little further behind, the weight of the mission beginning to take hold of all of them as they glanced at the building to their left and wondered what it had in store for them.
Mark began to slow down.
"Me map says it isn't far from 'ere," he said absentmindedly, his eyes following the computer screen instead of the floor and the path in front of him. He finally came to a halt and turned to look at the squad, who followed tamely, silently, not really having anything to say.
"This is it," said Mark, grinning. "I can't believe I finally 'elped yez out. Feel a bi' privileged."
The majority of the group smiled, pleased that the lad felt useful. Nodding, Mark turned around and walked toward the building.
"Righ', it should be in fron' o' me."
For some strange reason, the team didn't follow him. They didn't know why. None of them could explain it. It was lucky that they didn't.
Mark walked straight into the path of a claymore mine. There was a strangled yell as it set off, and then the air was filled with a vibrant white light, almost like a thousand tiny shooting stars flooding through the darkening sky, along with tiny flecks of red and beige. They shot everywhere and the squad dropped to their knees and hit the deck. The sparks flew through the air in a sick, beautiful fashion, both ugly and wonderful. There was a blue hue of smoke as the sparks began to die down. The eruption had passed.
Tyson was the first to his feet. He could hardly believe what he had just seen. A member of the squad was gone, just like that. It was hardly comprehendible. With a 'clink', Mark's personal computer flew into the soil and lay still. Tyson didn't want to imagine that there were pieces of the boy lying in the area around him. He simply swallowed and turned back to the rest of the squad, who were standing again. Their faces were pale, and their eyes were wide in horror and shock.
"Unbelievable," muttered Dave, shaking his head. "We were just talking to him. Gone, just like that."
The rest of the squad seemed to be thinking along the same lines. It was so hard to accept that such a young, promising boy had just been blown away in a flash of cruel butchery. It didn't seem right or fair.
"We've got to keep moving," said Rei, steadying his voice appropriately, "We need to make this quick."
"That mine will have set off some sort of alarm," commented Max, "It wasn't there for nothing."
"Then we should hurry," finished Tyson, "before it's too late."
Rei turned to Jenny, who's face was paler than he had ever seen.
"You okay?" he asked gently, knowing that she and Mark had been tight friends for years. Jenny nodded sharply, although her eyes were glistening with angry, shocked tears.
"I'll live. 'Ere, I'll use me own computer. Scan fer more mines."
With the click of a few buttons, Jenny had pulled up a two dimensional scan of the area. She then typed in the command for a metal scan – and the computer found another three mines, all surrounding the basement. However, there was a certain path the squad could walk, and they could avoid the mines if they were wary of their step.
She led the way, treading very lightly and carefully, watching the ground as well as her screen. Dave followed directly, then Tyson, Max, Rei and Kai. Seeing Mark being blown up so sharply had merely lowered Kai's spirits even more, and it was all he could do to resist stopping and turning back there and then.
Jenny finally led them through the safe path, zigzagging through numerous shrubs and bushes until they all gathered around a small, wooden door in the building. It was painted grey for camouflage but it had worn away in parts and looked rather pitiful. It was bolted, and Dave, after checking with Jenny to make sure that the basement was unguarded, slid the bolt open and pulled the door ajar.
All six soldiers entered into a dark, dingy room, which smelled strange and felt unnervingly chilled. Obviously the outside air was cold, but there was something very different about this.
They couldn't see much, especially when the door was closed behind them. They walked down a ramp of sorts, not very steep, listening to their footsteps echoing and their laboured breaths ragging through the air.
Max decided to light a flare, even though he was conscious that doing so might make it easier for BIOVOLT guards – who were surely aware of their unauthorised presence at that moment – to find them. The light was welcomed by the squad – and then shunned completely as they saw what room they were in.
It was an interrogation cell.
Actually, it was four cells, each filled with one inhabitant. The cells were about two metres wide and three metres deep. They were bare and empty with no decoration. There were no beds, no lavatories, just a bare, empty, bloody space.
Tyson stared at each of the cells, his eyes wide with nausea. He could hardly see the people in the cells but he felt he didn't want to. It disturbed him too much to even think about what had been going on in those cells.
Max, however, felt inclined to move over to the cells. He peeped into the first and glanced about inquisitively, his blue eyes shining in the light of the flare and giving him an odd, hungry look. He peered through the metal bars and gasped.
The person inside was in an almost indescribable state. His trousers were black with excretion and dried blood. He was skinny and covered in cuts, bruises and worse. His whole body was masked with a layer of brown dirt, and Max could barely see the whites of the person's eyes as he looked up at the flare.
"I've already told you, I know nothing."
The whole squad gasped that time, and even Tyson ran over to peer in through the bars. For the voice was that of Robert Jurgen, an English aristocratic boy, about eighteen years old, whom they had battled not too long ago in the world of Beyblading.
"Robert, is that you?" asked Rei, pressing his face against the bars and trying not to flinch at the smell. Max tossed the flare in and the boy picked it up weakly, his fingers barely able to grasp the thin flare. The hooked nose, sharp eyes and stiff lip could be made out, and they all knew they had come across an old friend. He didn't seem to be able to speak very well. His lips were swollen with ebony scabs, and it looked like even moving his mouth would hurt.
Kai broke his stare and felt about the cell. It was barred – with about six bars, it seemed. He ran his hands over the metal until he found a bolt with a padlock locked about it. That was what was keeping Robert shut in.
"Hold on . . . " he muttered as he reached for his Uzi. He made sure the silencer was clipped on and then stepped back a little. He lit a flare of his own and jammed it quickly through the 'U' shaped hook of the padlock, and then took aim, firing very quickly and blowing the padlock open. Slipping his Uzi back into its holster, he fiddled with the padlock until it fell off and slid open the bolt. The door swung open and Rei, Tyson and Max hurried into the tiny cell, barely fitting in. They lifted Robert onto their shoulders, as his legs were far too weak for him to support himself. They moved him out of the cell and sat him down gently.
"What happened, Robert?" asked Max, looking the ailing boy up and down. Robert looked up at him, his brown eyes dull and lacking enthusiasm. All of his stateliness and majesty had disappeared. Robert was barely alive.
"We're part of a Special Forces Squad from Britain," came a rasping voice, and the team turned to face another cell. Kai grabbed his flare and tossed it over in the direction of the voice. It landed square beneath the feet of another prisoner. Rei spoke up.
"What's your name?"
"My name?" answered the man. He was about thirty, with an unshaven beard and a grizzly appearance. He didn't look in nearly as bad a state as Robert. Well, he was missing an eye, but that may have come from previous experience. He didn't look to be in much pain, anyway.
"Depends who's askin', lad."
He was Irish, and his voice was tinted. However, it was clear and pleasant, and the boys felt obliged, despite the lack of surprise they now held, to answer.
"I'm Rei Kon, Second Lieutenant of Squad Seventeen of the Chinese army. With me are members of the Japanese army, and one member of the British forces. We're here to help."
"Don't give too much away," warned Kai quietly, "Walls talk."
The man chuckled. "All right, lad. Don't you worry yourself about me. I'm not gonna talk."
"Definitely not," answered Kai nonchalantly, "because we're getting you out."
He repeated the same procedure as before and blew open the man's cell. The man staggered out, smelling awful and limping.
"Aye, feels good to be out. I'm Doug Charlton. Call me Dougie."
As Max lit another flare, they could see the man had a wide, broad build, and looked experienced. Kai blew open the other two cells in the hideous room, not even asking who was in the cells. One occupant was dead and had been for days. The other was talking quiet gibberish to himself, his head matted with dark red blood, obviously recently inflicted, and he seemed completely out of it.
"That's Reedy, of the Thirteenth Squad of the Regiment." Dougie continued as he moved over to the group, "He's been here for weeks. Me, I've been in a couple of days. Robert there's been here a while, too. Pity. Young lad, eh?"
Max nodded. "Yeah."
Dave spoke up, knowing that it was essential to move. Time was running out.
"Um, guys, we can't lug Robert and Co. around with us. We need to get them out."
"Wait a second," interrupted Kai, "Charlton? Why are you here?"
Dougie paused for a moment and then answered, "We four were part of Intelligence. We were attemptin' to find out exactly who was in charge, as well as sever ties between BIOVOLT and their supplies. They caught us so easily, and I still don't know how they did it."
Kai nodded, his eyes glinting in the unnatural light of the flare, which glowed magenta in the black room.
"You guys need to get out of here. We can't escort you and you can't come with us."
"Well," chuckled Dougie, "I can't exactly carry two people, can I? We'll wait in our 'locked' cells, and hope that you get done what you're here to do. We've waited so long to escape. We can wait a little longer."
Rei smiled. That was courage if he ever recognised it, and he saluted the man in the darkness. "Good luck."
Dougie grinned, a gold tooth flashing in his burly face. "Aye, and to you."
Operation Sui Generis left the area quickly and kept moving further into the basement, wishing they'd had time to ask Dougie about the security in this place. The rotting smell soon left them and they found themselves moving downhill.
They stopped after about ten minutes to have short break. It seemed they were in a widened out area, with no doors (they had come across no doors or openings whilst they had been walking. It had been like a long slope) and a level floor. To their right was a relaxing, swishing sound, which they all recognised but could not place. They grouped together and planned what to do next.
Rei and Kai stood apart from the others. Tyson moved over to listen in to their conversation but got little of it at first.
"Play the tape back again Rei,"
A small, squiggling sound, followed by the click of a button being pressed. A hazy recording, including crackles and incoherence.
There was a hiss of anguish from the two boys as they listened, and then they re-wound the tape and listened again. Rei had a highly advanced radio that consisted of a radio and a tape recorder so he could record briefings and so on.
Tyson heard Kai's voice. He seemed to speaking to the radio more than he was speaking to Rei.
"What do you mean they haven't arrived?" asked Kai, rubbing his waist, which was beginning to get more than a little sore, "That's impossible!"
"It's no joke," muttered Rei, his face looking suddenly tired, "The Chinese are going to have to stand alone."
Tyson, listening in to the boys' not so private conversation, gasped and leaned against the nearby wall, overwhelmed by the magnitude of Rei's last statement. Rei and Kai noticed but didn't mind that he had listened in – everybody would have to know sooner or later anyway. Rei glanced back at Kai with worry written across his deep amber irises, glowing in the dark.
"We're done for."
With his heart sinking deeper into his chest and thudding rapidly, Kai could only agree.
"This mission's been wrong from the start!" he thought despairingly, his strong will crumbling inexplicably about him. He closed his eyes and shook his head. "Did they give a reason?"
Rei nodded, though it was practically invisible in the low lighting. "You know how the RAF were going to airlift the men into Tokyo today?"
"Yeah?"
"BIOVOLT found out – don't ask me how! They seem to have ears everywhere, and when the RAF dropped the first batch of one hundred, they were mown down by BIOVOLT troops. Every wave of men they tried to land was simply taken out. At the moment they're pulling back. From what I understand, China is shipping her forces over to Japan in two days time, and will try to simply plough through BIOVOLT forces."
Kai shook his head harder, finding that his head was suddenly aching. "That's impossible. It's like a suicide mission."
"The British say they'll be able to ship their own forces over as back up, but it'll take at least a week . . . "
Rei trailed off, his voice cracking. He knew they were now up against impossible odds. They had been hit with crisis after crisis after crisis and their wills were wearing thin now. Kai ran a hand through his hair, having already confessed to never wearing a helmet.
"So what are our orders?"
"We haven't been given any."
It was then that the two noticed that the whole group was listening in on the conversation. Kai and Rei looked at each other blankly, before Rei spoke up.
"It's up to you guys. What do you want to do? Do you wanna turn back – or do we carry on with the operation and try and help out the major Chinese forces?"
There was a short silence. Then Dave scoffed.
"Sui Generis means 'Never Again'. This is our only chance. We can't come back to this."
Tyson reiterated. "Yeah, and besides, we're not about to leave a job half done. We're in now, aren't we?"
Rei smiled, encouraged, as Max took over.
"We're here to save people," he glanced over at Kai, who was still looking at the floor, "and that's our job. Let's finish this. We can't leave everybody hanging like that."
Now Kai smiled, his heavy heart lifting a little. The immense load of pressure had been too much for him to bear, and now, with the help of his friends, he was surviving. He nodded.
"Jenny?"
There was a bleeping sound, and then Jenny looked up, her face lit in the light of the pale red flare. "Wha'? Oh, righ'. I was jus' analysin' this basement, an' it turns out we've nearly reached th' end. We can eiver go straigh' ahead, and reach th' door which leads te' th' first floor – or, we can use th' water supply next ter us."
Kai was interested. "What? How can we use it?"
Jenny smiled. "Ah, there ye' go then. Now we're gettin' into it! Th' water supply next ter us is actually th' stream from outside. It leads upwards – frew a succession of wide, round pipes – into a small reservoir on the second floor. Th' water's used te' generate lecky up there, te' power th' 'eavy machinery an' so on."
"What's 'lecky'?" asked Max curiously. Jenny sighed. They really would have to keep up with her.
"Electricity."
"How big are the pipes?" asked Rei, fascinated already. This seemed like his sort of plan. It was cunning and devious, yet clever and direct, and would get them to exactly where they needed to go.
"Ther abou' a metre in diameter. There's also a point abou' 'alfway up where th' pipes create a kind of delta and widen out into like a mini reservoir. It's abou' a twenny-five metre trip in all – abou' th' lenf of a swimmin' pool."
Rei looked about at the squad, their faces lit in the suddenly pleasant glow of the flare. "If we each light a flare and follow each other carefully, we should be able to do it."
Every face nodded in determination. That was it. They were set.
"Erm, just before we go," said Jenny, "Th' room we exit into is guarded by a single guard. Actually, I know 'im quite well. Name's Jeremy – Jezza fer short . Fat geezer – we used te' sing 'oo ett all th' pies?' and 'e got really miffed. Whoever gets up there first'll 'av te' pop 'im off."
They all looked at her. She sighed. "Jus' coz I've got a waterproof computer which guides th' bloomin' way doesn' mean I 'av ter go first!" she snapped. There was a silence.
"Fine, if yuz ain't got th' bottle, I will go first," she said, with her nose in the air. Kai laughed – for the first time in ages – and beside him, Dave laughed also. Jenny was growing on him more and more by the second. Rei merely smiled, and Tyson and Max giggled with each other.
Jenny walked off towards the sound of running water – the sound they hadn't quite been able to place earlier. It had been so difficult because it was so unexpected in such a dark, eerie place. She drew a flare out of her pack of eighteen – each of them held one pack of eighteen flares at their belts – and lit it.
She was faced by the reflection of the pink flare in a pool of water. It was about five metres all around, which was bigger than they expected. Peering in to the dark water, one could just about see the opening to the pipe they would swim into. It looked a little scary.
"Good fing I can swim like a bloomin' fish, innit?" she muttered to herself as she tightened the band about the back of her head that her glasses were connected to, which stopped them falling off. She turned and looked at the boys, flicking on her computer.
"I 'ope yuz can all swim."
They broke out into smiles again, and Tyson laughed to himself. He'd been able to swim for a long time. He watched as Jenny took a deep breath, and then pencil jumped into the water. Dave followed her immediately, and Tyson watched as she made her way through the opening of the pipe – which was quite wide and not too daunting. Max followed Dave, and, as Dave crawled through the pipe, Tyson lit his flare (the flares were fortunately waterproof) and leaped in. Rei waited for a second, not quite knowing whether to say anything as he and Kai stood there, but then found it was his turn as Max entered the pipe awkwardly. He struck up his flare and leaped in, growling as he hated it when he had to swim. Kai waited for a second, watched as Tyson crawled into the round opening of the pipe, and then struck up his flare.
With the rather foreboding thought of "I wonder if I can still swim?" flashing through his mind, Kai took a breath and dove neatly into the water.
There can be miracles, when you believe,
Though hope is frail, it's hard to kill.
Who knows what miracles you can achieve?
When you believe, somehow you will,
You will when you believe.
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Sherbet Mayhem: Hoo, well that was a long one. It's 03:21 am, but I didn't spend all of that time on the story! Oh no! I watched the Kerrang awards (which were surprisingly crap – ooo, the spirit of Rock'n'Roll is still alive because people smash tables up and get really plastered! Yeah baby . . . sarcasm here folks) and I also discovered that my tape hadn't taped V-Force and got really mad at the TV. Oh well, I saw it anyway, (I tape every episode – I have every one on tape!) and I can tape the repeat tomorrow at five o clock. Yay. *waves flag*.
So, how d'you like 'Taking the Plunge'? Yeah, that was the cheesiest title in the world! Hee, hee! I love it! Lol! Come on, what else could I have called it? So, yeah, read and review, you know the drill!
The lyrics were 'When you believe' by Whitney Houston and Mariah Carey. Beautiful song – if not a bit cheesy for my taste. I put it in because it links to the flashback at the start. Or maybe it was because I couldn't find any lyrics on my big list of song words (yes, I write song words down if I really like a song – now that you can laugh at me for because it's really sad! I have this really huge file of them on my computer! Including such classics as ALL THE SONGS ON THE LION KING and a ton of . . . urghh . . . Abba. I love them too much to delete them, yet the music is so kitsch!) that involve swimming besides 'Going Under' by Evanescence and I was hoping to use that in a later chapter – does that give you any clues? Nah, doubt it. It's just kind of water-related. And the next chapter has plenty of water, let me tell you! There's no flashback today because frankly I can't be bothered. See how good I am to my fans? Do I even have any fans? Lol!
I know the beginning of this chapter kind of sucked, but I think the later part made up for that. What do you think? Tell me, honestly, in your reviews, please, my pretties! Oh, and good news! I GOT A JOB! ! ! It's pathetic – two pounds fifty per hour for working in a lousy newsagents! Still, money is money, but honestly, I'm worth more than that *head swells, hits ceiling and comes back down*!
Better be off now. It's half three and I have to be up at eight tomorrow. I'm meeting my friend and going to the library to upload this baby for y'all. Oh, the things I do for you. *Someone throws tomato and yells 'get off the stage!'* Okay, I'm going. Gonna wrap up in my nice warm bed because I've been majorly cold for the last two days! Brrrrr! Inexplicable, that's what it is!
I'm off to have a kip. See ya soon, everyone, and REVIEW! ! ! You know I'll hunt you down if you don't. I'll sniff you out, as it is my ambition to be a sniffer dog. (Oil pastel, are you reading this?) Or an Egyptologist. NAH I'm kidding, I'm not that sad! (apologises to anyone who would like to specialise in those career options – they're not sad, but my friends and I used to know this freaky stalker lad who wanted to be an Egyptologist so we always rip it out of that job! He also sniffed a lot and waved his hands like a crazy idiot and so we thought maybe he was training to be a sniffer dog – oh, the maturity of our humour. Now that's sarcastic!)
See ya soon, and God bless x x x
Sherbet o_0