"Did I mention how much I hate this car?" Bryan complained again, pulling the Chevy Impala to a stop at the red light. "Yes! For the hundredth time! I don't believe this, you nearly get blown up and her you are, complaining about your unit!"
Fox smirked as he looked out the passenger window. He could feel Krystal's eyes on him as Mei yelled at Bryan from the back seat.
"So, what really brings you here?" Mei asked after a moment.
"Well… you remember the boss from The Darkness?"
"The bastard who shot Kasey? Yah." Mei said after a moment.
"Well… he didn't die in the blast." Fox stated. Bryan slammed on the breaks in the middle of the street. Causing the car behind them to hit him.
"Everyone ok?" Bryan asked, flipping a few switches to turn on the flashers.
"Yah, we're fine."
Bryan popped the trunk to find that it was slightly jammed. He put on the emergency brake before attaching a radio to his hip and microphone to his shoulder.
He got out of the car and began walking back towards the other one.
"Five-Five David to Dispatch. Twenty-Seven-Eight. Officer involved."
"I copy. Medics in route."
Bryan opened the driver side door of the other car. Seeing a man, women, and two small kids in the back.
"Hay, you guys okay?"
"Yes, sir. Just fine. I can't believe I hit a cop."
"It's alright. I hit my breaks faster than I meant to. You had no warning."
"Daddy my back hurts." One of the kids in back said. Bryan walked to the back of his car. Putting a foot on the bumper he pried the trunk open with his fingers. Mei got out when she saw him take out the medical kit.
"Hay, who's injured?"
"Little girl in the back seat is complaining of back pain. She's buckled in."
"Alright, here, give me that. You start taking pictures." She said, tossing over the digital camera.
"Medic Thirty-Six to Five-Five David. We're forty seconds out. Report."
"I copy. No major visible injuries. Got a small child saying her back hurts, back that's it."
"I copy. En-route. Hold tight."
Bryan ducked back into the driver side door again, crouching down.
"Alright here. I want you to write down some information for me. Just your name and a contact number so my department can contact you."
"Ok."
"Are you sure everyone is okay? Mei here is the team medic. She can provide first aid until the EMTs arrive."
"We're fine. Really."
Now Fox was out of the car. He stretched a little, before looking at the back bumper.
"Daddy, look! A fox!"
The driver looked at Bryan.
"Is that man wearing a fox suit?"
"You uh… could say that."
"Wait… that isn't the one from the news a few months back is it?"
"Yah, that's Fox McCloud."
Now Fox was standing next to Bryan. "Hay, everyone ok?"
"Daddy, look! Fluffy!"
The medics siren died out as the pulled to a stop.
"Yes, dear. Fluffy."
"Yah, Fox. They're all fine. Is Krystal doing ok?"
"Yah, she says her leg is still sore. But, what do you expect?"
A few minutes later and DCTU had delivered a new unit and had taken the old one back to the garage.
"God, three cars in one shift. New record." Mei said, sitting back in the seat again.
"And they still bought me a damn Impala!" Bryan cursed, pulling the vehicle into the hotel parking lot.
"Alright, everyone else except for Bill and Jackie should be here by now. Bill and Jackie will be here after they are released from the hospital." Mei said, shutting the door.
Bryan nodded, walking into the main lobby and grabbing the room key.
"So, he's back, huh? How many lives does he have?" Bryan mused aloud, looking out the glass elevator. The other three ignored him, each off in their own thoughts.
"Well, lets get to work. No doubt we'll be leaving for DC again and back into space."
"I can't wait to see Corneria again." Mei said, stepping out.
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
"Hey. Chatter over the radio says you got into a car accident on your way here? Everyone ok?"
Bryan nearly jumped out of his skin. He hadn't turned the lights on yet and figured that everyone else was down getting some dinner. Looks like Jackie had stayed behind.
"Jesus! You scared me. Yah, just a small one though. So if you're here, did they release Bill?"
Jackie tilted her head to the side, setting the drink down.
"The dog right? Kind of looks like a husky?"
"Yah, that's him." Mei said, popping in behind Bryan.
"Uh yah… he's sleeping in the next room over. We've got about four rooms rented. All next to each other. Ivan did a good job booking from the hospital."
"Good to hear. Where did he take off to? Dinner as well?" Bryan asked, setting his bag down, removing his hip holster.
"Yup. We already figured out room arrangements. So, any complaints should have been filed with Dean ten minutes ago." Jackie said with a smile, picking the drink back up, only to have it snatched out of her hands by Bryan.
"Give me that. You just got out of the hospital. You'll have plenty of time for alcohol later."
"Alright, commander. By the way, You'll be sharing a room with Me, Fox, and Krystal. Mei, you're with Bill, Tommy, and… Slippy, was it?"
"Yah."
"Alright. I've got to say, I have never seen anything like this… ever!"
"It's gets stranger. Ever been to outer space?"
"What does that have to do with anything."
"Because, we'll be going soon."
Jackie's trademark smirk appeared. "Since when did DCTU's jurisdiction cover other planets?"
"Ever since they asked for our help. You know, last time they asked was when Kasey went with us… she never did get to come home."
"Well, let us all hope that this time goes better…. commander."
"Agreed. Did you eat yet?"
"Not really, was waiting for you to get here."
"Alright, lets head down then. You able to walk ok, or do you need help?"
"I'll be fine. My chest is a little sore, but that's it."
"Alright, lets go eat."
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
A couple yells of joyous cheers were heard when the everyone entered the room.
"So, where have you guys been?" Dean asked, putting a newly bought pitcher of beer on the table, minding Bryan's promise, he had also put another drink on the side.
"Just dealing with every day stuff. Hay guys, before we turn in for the night, we need to talk. But for now - why don't we celebrate an overwhelming victory."
"Yah!" Tommy called out putting his mug in the air. The others did the same. Bryan felt at ease for the first time all day. Of course, feelings never did last long.
"Dispatch to Five-Five David. Bryan, I've got a caller on the line. He's speaking some weird language that I've never heard before, only word that even sounds remotely in English is your name. What's weirder is that the number he's calling from doesn't exist according to my search of the phone company. Patching it through."
"Damn it." Bryan sighed, pulling the radio off his belt. "I swear, I'm going to shoot this thing."
The caller was allowed into the channel and for the first sentence or so no one spoke.
"That is not Russian." Ivan said after a moment, picking up his drink.
"It isn't Japanese either." Mei said, staring wide eyed at the raido.
Bryan took note of Krystal's stunned silence.
"Nxuk aj edo ke te nxod edo xuj de houjed ke ro? A mijk ju0, a'lo ujbot m0jocv kxuk giojkaed mud0 kamoj roveho. Nakx u muko-ke-ro tout udt mud0 ev m0 mod nakx xoh, A vadt m0jocv nakxeik houjed. Rik kxo meho A kxadb ureik ak, A rocaolo kxuk a'lo veidt m0 udjnoh. A te xulo u fihfejo. Ke tojkhe0 0ei, Semmudtoh Bryan. 0oj, kxuk aj nxuk A nacc te."
There was a slight pause in the message. Almost like whoever was speaking was trying to draw this out.
"A neict nuksx m0 jkof Semmudtoh. M0 mod xulo kubod kxo uffouhodso ev 0eih foefco. Kxo0 nacc jkhabo nxod kxo kamo aj hawxk. Udt ak nacc ro jeed... ted'k vouh, 0eih toukx nacc ro jcen udt fuadvic. A bden 0ei sud idtohjkudt mo Krystal. Nx0 ted'k 0ei hocu0 m0 mojjuwo. Kocc kxom kxuk a'lo uchout0 baccot Kasey, udt A nacc kubo kxom ucc eik edo r0 edo. Udt jkacc ted'k nehh0, Koum Star Fox. A nacc wok 0ei ke veh xocfadw kxo ximud jcamo."
The caller had hung up. Bryan stared at the radio for a moment. "What the hell…"
"Dispatch, trace that call!"
"I'm on it commander. I'll give you what I can in a moment."
Then Bryan turned to the blue vixen. "I heard you name… I heard Kasey's name… I heard my name… That look on your face tells me that you understood that."
"I did…" Krystal whispered.
"Commander, I've got all I could from the number. It looks like a shipment number, not a phone number. But…"
"Just give it to me."
"Alright here we go… 398-3824820873-72783-93726. All I've got, sorry Commander."
"Copy."
"It's a ship ID number… we use them to send radio signals from one ship to another…" Fox said after a moment.
"Whoa, whoa, whoa. You're telling me that that came from space? Not earth?" Mei spoke more loudly then she had wanted to, attracting some glances from other restaurant patrons.
"Yes." Krystal answered, keeping her voice down. "That message was a message of declaration. It said that he would kill us all. All his men are here and waiting for a chance to strike. I…" Krystal trailed off, looking down to her hands in her lap.
Fox looked up from his PDA.
"I've got the ship name… you guys… it's called "The Darkness II"."
A collective silence came over the entire group.
"Well, we can't stay here." Jackie said after a moment, causing the entire group's gaze to shift to her. "If they guys says his men are here and waiting to strike, we need to get away from the large population of civilians. I saw we head for base. We've got the lock down bunker there, so we should be fine until we can get that flight out to DC."
"What about that flight? What if they choose that time to strike?" Mei asked, looking for an answer in her team mates.
"Then we give them a reason not to attack us there. Instead of all of us going, only me and Fox will. That way we still have enough of people to cover the base just incase." Bryan said, putting his head back and closing his eyes.
"You sure, Bryan? What if they attack on the plane?" Katt asked, speaking for the first time in the past two days.
"Then the worst case scenario is that we only lose two people. Not the entire team. Look, going on past experience I think I can safely assume that he has learned little about us. Which means that his tactical thinking will not be able to keep up with ours. For right now, I'd say that if he did hit the plane, he would probably sneak four or five of his men on board. Airport security isn't what it used to be, so it wouldn't be too hard for him to do that. And since DCTU is allowed to carry weapons on planes I'd say they wouldn't stand a chance."
"Ok… but a nine millimeter round from a colt 1911 would go through the plane's shell."
"So, we don't use the nine millimeter full jacket rounds. We do have the hollow point rounds. We'll load those up."
"You seem way too cocky, even for you. Listen you got out of that place today as a team effort. Don't go thinking your invincible." Mei stated, looking him square in the eye. Bryan sighed, she was right, she always was the first to bring him back to earth when his head got a little over inflated.
"I know, I know." Then it struck him. "Hey, uh, guys… where's James?"
"I drop him with Jason." Ivan said, putting his now empty mug back down.
"Alright well…" Bryan sighed, he was for the first time out of ideas.
"Well normally, I would say we remove the children from the equation, making one less valuable life to worry about… but guys, we're fucked in that sense. Lets face it, we have no clue as to where these guys are. Which means we have no were safe enough to keep James. Not only that, but we can't send him off to Corneria on his own because for all we know, there could be a strike team waiting there. They're looking to hurt us, all bets are off."
"So," Tommy begin, a grin plastered on his face. "we build. We know their ammo of choice. We need something to deflect it. Arm HQ with it, we can stow James there."
It was Mei's turn to grin. "That's what we pay him for."
"You pay me?"
"Alright, you and Slippy get to it. We'll pack up, grab Jason and James, and make way to HQ. Lights and Siren all the way. We'll toss the Army an alert so we have extra guards around the base until we can get this shielding device up and running." Bryan planned aloud.
"We've got some PSDs on the Great Fox. Actually, we've got a lot of them. We can have them charged within the hour, hand them out to security, and possibly use the technology from one and amplify it to cover the base." Krystal offered, looking for Fox to Bryan.
"Sounds like a plan." Fox had spoken for the first time that entire session.
"Alright, lets go get packed up. We'll load every into one unit. When we stop at Jason's to pick them up, we'll do it under full TAC. Alright? That means four guards, M4s, sidearms, body armor, the works. Night vision is a must. If it moves, call it out, no response, shoot it. Understand?"
He got collective nods. "We don't know who they are, what they look like. Hell, for all we know they could be 'abducted' humans. We just know they're after us. From here on out we operate on marshal law. If it moves, it gets one warning before we shoot it dead. No more preservation of life. If it doesn't obey and it's a threat, shoot it."
"Sounds good chief." Slippy agreed.
"Alright, lets go."
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
30 Minutes Later
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
It hadn't taken long for the men and women dressed in black clothing along with the flashing lights and large weapons to draw the attention of several new neighbors. Each of which were told the same thing. "National Security Business, return to your homes now, or be shot."
Each of them had promptly gone back into their houses. Bryan knocked on Jason's door, knowing that the 'on-call' agent had probably seen him coming.
"To what do I own this pleasure?" Jason asked as Bryan flipped his goggles up.
"Hey, we've got some major issues. We need you to come with us. Grab a few bags, Amy has to come too."
"What? What's going on?"
"I'll explain later, for now, just get moving."
Bryan and Mei stood in the house while the bags were packed.
"We're coming out. Cover?"
"Corner One, all clear. Not a sound."
"Corner Two, Clear!"
"Corner Three, All Clear!"
"Corner Four, I've got nothing."
"Copy, moving."
Jason, Amy, and James were guarded all the way into the waiting unit, at which time two guards were placed in the seats behind them, and the unit followed two of the DCTU units, with another few units behind it. They maintained this for all the way to the base.
But it would only be a matter of time before the true storm begins, the darkness before the dawn.