Ch.4: The New Lead

AN:

Thanks to everyone who took the time to review and/or read my story. To the majority of those of you who have reviewed, I am very flattered by the things you wrote. I even got my first flamer even though I clearly specified that I would ignore you. However, we can all thank that person for bringing something to my attention that I would like to address.

I am sorry if I have been misleading but this is not post-F.3.A.R. As much as I hate that game, I have to respect that Becket is dead in the canon timeline. This is post F.E.A.R. 2 because, according to Monolith, he was still alive. I am trying to stay as canon as I can so I am not completely typing out non-canon fantasy for people to read.

However, please keep in mind that this takes place in an AU (alternate universe) and in this universe, F.3.A.R. never happened. Think of this as something like Extraction Point. It is fun and worth a few yucks but in the end, no matter how much you might like it, the mean people from the forums make fun of you because it is "non-canon" since it was not made by Monolith. Oh, and I apologize if the bonding parts between Alma and Becket are what people are waiting for. This is not a bonding chapter. Please be patient, I am getting there.

After nearly two days of searching, I had only managed to locate enough Replicas to form a six-man squad including Morales and myself. The majority of the Replicas were engaged in combat with ATC clean up teams so I had to find stragglers or recon units. For the time being, I would leave the rest of the Replicas to keep ATC's attention occupied while I worked from the shadows. I suspected Alma had more influence over the Replicas than she claimed but I had more pressing concerns to worry about.

Thanks to the efforts of Foxtrot 813, Fettel was alive again. That meant that I would eventually have to deal with him and possibly his brother. However, for the time being, my target was Aristide. When I got her to talk, I would at least have a starting point for taking down the company. For that, perhaps fortune was on my side for only having a six-man team. A small group of highly trained soldiers is infinitely more efficient than a large force of grunts for hunting a single individual.

"Michael?" I left my thoughts at the sound of Alma's voice. I looked up at her from where I was lying down on my back inside the APC. The row of seats on the left side was as uncomfortable as a sheet of plywood but it was the only place that I could have some privacy. However, my coveter seemed hell bent to remind me that she could get to me anywhere I went.

She was in her healthy adult form but I noticed that she had finally grasped the concept of decency because she was wearing an adult sized version of the red dress her child form wore. She seemed agitated by the cloth rubbing against skin, because it was one or two sizes too small and it was very revealing as it accentuated her feminine features.

In a tired voice, I commented, "You look nice."

She smiled before she replied, "Thank you."

She seemed more excited than usual and, curious, I asked, "What are you so happy about?"

Her eyes lit up as she eagerly explained, "Morales thinks he knows where to start looking for Aristide."

Immediately alert, I bolted upright and stood. After grabbing my assault rifle and gas mask, I exited the APC. The service garage had been transformed into a passable command post. Ammunition and weapon crates were stacked in the corners and an array of electronic devices had replaced the tools on the workstation. One of the devices was a stolen Armacham laptop that had a file containing the communication frequencies used by the ATC mercenaries. Morales had used that information to listen in on their radio chatter.

As I exited the APC, Morales called out to me from where he sat at the workstation listening to various ATC teams talking, "Becket, ATC is diverting a team to eliminate a target hiding out in an auxiliary facility for Project Paragon." I muttered a curse in absolute disgust and hatred as I heard that name. It was one thing to experiment on adults because that just made the perpetrator a scientist with a questionable agenda. Experimenting on innocent and trusting children was something completely different. Experiments involving children made the perpetrator a sociopath that should be chained up against a wall and gunned down like an animal by a firing squad.

Morales continued, "I am guessing it is Aristide because when word got out that you escaped the amplifier, this individual activated the security lockdown at the facility. The lockdown tripped a silent alarm which alerted ATC." After contemplating whether it was worth the risk to investigate, I decided that even if it was not Aristide, the information the person had could benefit our search.

Looking at Morales, I stated, "Close enough, it is a good starting point. Where?"

Morales replied, "Unless they are using some weird code, beneath Happy Memories Daycare Center over on South and Racetrack."

At the mention of that name, the Replica Sniper designated Ghost 4 looked up from servicing his dismantled rifle and said, "Permission to speak freely, sir."

Looking at him, I replied, "Permission granted."

He said, "Sir, I was running recon in that area and it is nearly impossible to transverse by foot because of the debris. If someone is in the facility, there must be a secondary access point for ATC personnel." He returned to cleaning his weapon and I turned back to Morales.

I asked him, "Got anything on that?"

He shook his head but then said, "No, but maybe there is another tram system like the one to Still Island. I know that there is a subway tunnel located nearby. That might be worth a look."

I replied, "Right. Subway tunnels. Again."

Looking away, I turned to the band of misfits I had to work with for the time being. First, there was the damaged Heavy Trooper Alpha 1 who was the sole survivor of his squad after an attack by Alma's twisted version of her father. Next, there was the sniper Ghost 4 who was betrayed by and forced to kill his own squad because apparently they were as Alpha 1 commented: "impaired." Then, there was the Elite Gamma 3 that had managed to eliminate four ATC squads after his squad was ambushed and presumed dead by his superiors. Finally, there was the mostly silent walking tank Heavy Armor that I had nicknamed Juggernaut because he had single handedly destroyed an entire ATC clean up team including their APC and Phase Commander. The victory had come at a cost however. His armor was scorched, dented, bullet riddled, and even compromised in some spots. They were perhaps the most haggard soldiers I had ever seen.

After placing the gas mask back over my face, I addressed the group of men, "Alpha 1 and Gamma 3, grab your gear and form up on me."

In unison, they replied, "Order confirmed. Forming up sir." They retrieved their weapons of choice and followed me as I walked to the door.

When I reached the door, Morales called out, "Becket, there is an entrance to the subway system at the next intersection down the street."

Without looking back, I replied, "Thanks." After we exited the garage, I led the way to the next intersection. We moved with our weapons raised and constantly sweeping our surroundings for possible threats. Luck was on our side and we made it to the street level entrance of the subway station. It was a standard staircase entrance so we moved in a line as we descended into the darkness. Night had shrouded the city in its concealing blackness, which turned the subway system into a man-made cavern where an individual could simply vanish and no one would ever know.

The flashlight mounted onto the underside of my assault rifle's barrel barely penetrated the darkness and after we had proceeded maybe twenty yards into the station, a thought occurred to me. I nearly face palmed as I realized how foolish I was being by using my flashlight. Anyone that was competent and saw my flashlight approaching them could drop me where I stood before I even knew what was happening.

Through our telepathic link, I ordered the two Replicas, "Turn off your flashlight." After we all turned off our flashlights, I waited for my eyes to adjust to the low light before I proceeded. As we reached the platform, I saw that the station was empty and that the subway car scheduled to travel along this particular set of tracks must have never reached this station. Personal belongings and briefcases were still where their owners had set them down while they waited for a train that would never arrive.

Behind me, I heard a familiar whisper ask, "Why are you sad?"

Not bothering to look back at her, I said, "It's nothing. Just strange seeing this place like this. I mean, this used to be a bustling city, but now it is literally a ghost town."

She replied in confusion, "I don't understand."

I nodded before I said, "Yeah, I did not expect you to."

I lowered myself down to the tracks before walking towards the tunnel. The two Replicas followed close behind me. The subway system was a maze of dead end service tunnels, main lines, collapsed tunnels, and rolling death traps in the form of subway cars that seemed to be on an automated running program. As we barely managed to dodge yet another runaway car, I caught a glimpse of a figure at the controls of the car. In the few seconds I had to observe the man, I noticed that he was similar to the specters that had plagued the hallways of the Elementary School.

After the car had passed within inches of where we had taken refuge up against the brick wall, I turned and glared at Alma. Angry, I whispered in a harsh tone, "Damn it Alma that was another one of those specters. Are they the ones operating the cars down here?"

She seemed offended and replied defensively, "I do not control them. I am not to blame for what they do."

I said, "Yes you are. Control your anger before you get us all killed!"

Before she could respond, Alpha 1 interrupted us by stating, "Sir, movement down the tunnel. Possible enemy contact."

Raising my rifle, I crouched down and slowly made my way towards the sound of booted footsteps. As I closed in, I heard a com link activate and a distorted robotic voice stated, "Bravo squad, we are closing in on the security bulkhead. What is your status?" I cursed as I recognized the voice of a phase commander. If ATC had sent a phase commander, the individual was either Aristide or someone who was definitely worth the risk to keep ATC from capturing him or her.

I heard a man respond, "We have finished our sweep of the southern tunnel. Nothing to report."

The phase commander responded, "Link up with the main force at the next station. Do not make me wait."

The same man replied sheepishly, "Yes sir."

The phase commanders seemed to want to bully their own troops as much as they wanted to kill in general. I moved closer to the sound of movement and as I neared the unsuspecting ATC mercenaries, I heard Alma say in my mind, "Wait Michael. I will help you see."

My vision remained the same except I could see a red outline around each of the ATC soldiers ahead of me. There were four men lightly armed with sub-machine guns and they only had lightweight Kevlar armor. Since they were only sweeping the area, all four were on the ground level of the station. They walked in a line facing away from my small group. They were spread apart around six feet between each other. I smirked at their lack of discipline. Since they would not challenge me, I decided to challenge myself. I bet myself that we would kill them before they made a single sound. After silently relocating my rifle onto my back, I climbed onto the platform and then crouched as I stalked the two center men.

Through our link, I sent Alpha 1 after the man to my left and Gamma 3 after the one on my right. In unison, we approached our oblivious victims who were carelessly chatting with each other as if they were drinking together at a bar. My mind relaxed as I forgot myself and focused on eliminating the men in front of me. Without consciously thinking about it, I activated my heightened reflexes and pounced on my targets. I grasped the first man firmly around his chin with my right hand while simultaneously placing my left hand in the back of his head.

With a single smooth motion, I twisted his head to the right until I heard the wet crunching sound of the vertebrae in his neck snapping under the pressure. After quietly lowering his limp body to the ground, I repeated the process to the second man who had not noticed the sudden silence of his teammate.

I deactivated my reflexes and knew without visually confirming it that the two Replicas had killed their targets as well. I smiled beneath my mask as I mentally praised myself for winning my bet.

As I was retrieving my rifle, I heard Alma whisper in a disappointed tone, "That was no fun."

I sighed and replied with my mind, "Not every kill has to be dramatic and brutal. Sometimes, it is better to think tactically with your kills. Now, we have the advantage of surprise when we attack the main force at the next station." I moved as fast as I could without giving away my presence towards the next station. If the ATC mercenaries were following protocol, I would not have long before the squads would check in to report their status.

After a few minutes, we were nearing the station. I paused and assessed the situation from the shadows. Unlike the parts of the subway that we had been traveling in, this station was well lit by an armored cargo train that was stationary at the unloading platform. The large and shiny phase commander was ordering around a dozen men in the trademark dark armor.

They were not expecting any resistance until they penetrated the large metal bulkhead that sealed off a sidetrack or they would have had a tighter defense. Only five men had their weapons raised but they were facing the bulkhead. The rest were unloading explosives from the train and stockpiling them at the center of the platform. I had to hand it Armacham: what their minions lacked in competence, they made up for in equipment.

I knew I could defeat the egotistical tin can of a leader and his cronies, but I only had a few clips of ammunition and I still had no clue what was beyond that bulkhead. With my mind, I requested my bored little companion, "Alma, do your thing. No need to be silent or quick here." Her child form smirked with homicidal excitement as she dissolved in a cloud of ash. Turning back to look at the platform, I leaned against the brick wall of the tunnel to watch the show. The unsuspecting men on the platform continued to unload the explosives blissfully unaware of the approaching goddess of anger and death.

The lights flickered and a resident family of rats vacated the station. If one of the men had a feeling that something was coming, it was already too late to help him. With a creepy giggle, she manifested herself in the middle of them. The flickering lights added to the psychological impact of her sudden appearance as it prevented anyone from properly seeing her face except for the evil grin and glowing eyes. Just as quickly as she appeared, she dissolved into ash.

The men's reaction was immediate. Five of them lost their footing and fell backwards onto their rear. Gasps and cursing filled the air. Weapons were raised and aimed in different directions as the men tried desperately to locate their attacker. Alma's unnerving soft giggling seemed to be emanating from all directions. I knew she was finding pleasure in their panic and fear. The phase commander audibly said, "Command, Alma Wade has been encountered at the entrance to the Paragon auxiliary facility. Requesting instructions, over."

As one of the men screamed as he was dragged along his back by an unseen force into the darkness of a side tunnel, the commander's com link activated and a disguised male voice said, "Is she alone?" Child sized, bloody, barefoot footprints appeared between the men as if there was an invisible young girl that was walking in a line. In their panic, the five nearest men fired their sub-machine guns into the vacant space.

The commander replied, "Yes. Command, what do we do?" The five men that were firing their sub-machine guns suddenly screeched in agony as they dropped their guns. As their teammates watched in horror, the men collapsed onto the ground as their bodies began to smoke as if they were dissolving. Before their eyes, the men's flesh was literally dissolved off their bodies and their bare skeletons were left lying in pools of blood.

The remaining six men and the phase commander began firing in all directions. Alma manifested behind one and tapped him on his right shoulder. In his fear, when the man turned around, he was still firing his weapon. Alma, of course, had already disappeared and the man instead gunned down his own teammate. In the confusion, two of the men killed the man who had just mistakenly killed his own teammate. Those two men screamed as they were dragged in opposite directions into the darkness surrounding the station. The last two men tried to flee but the phase commander grabbed both of them and started barking formation orders.

The two men were terrified beyond the ability to function as Alma's playful antics had taken a severe toll on their sanity. One of them simply collapsed onto his rear and hugged himself as he began to rock back and forth while singing to himself in a broken voice. The other cried out in defeat and I could have sworn he was crying. He placed the end of his sub-machine gun's barrel underneath his chin and discharged his weapon into his own skull.

As his weapon clattered when it hit the ground, the phase commander's com link stated in a frantic voice, "Come in! What the fuck is happening? Report in damn it!"

As he swiveled around trying to locate his imminent killer, the armored man responded, "She fucking wiped out my whole team. Fuck me where is this bitch?" Not responding to his superiors after his last rant, the man yelled out, "You little fucking bitch! Show yourself! Come out of the shadows and face me!"

Alma appeared behind him and whispered, "Hi." The man turned around and fired his penetrator at a now empty space. He searched intently for her in the same direction and failed to see her beside him as she was mockingly mimicking his actions. Finally, she asked, "Who are we looking for?"

He tried to kick her but he again found himself attacking something that was not there. Effectively unnerved, the large man said, "To Hell with this." He tried to escape by passing through a nearby wall but just as his left hand entered the glowing blue hole, the gateway suddenly closed. The man howled in pain as he withdrew his left arm from the wall only to find that the section that had made it through the hole was now gone. He dropped his penetrator and grasped at the now bleeding wound.

Alma said with a sad tone, "No don't go. I want to play some more." She manifested in the center of the platform and slowly walked towards her victim. She stopped as she reached him and asked, "Don't you like playing with me?"

He roared back, "Fuck you bitch! Fuck you, your bastard sons, and that little shit Becket!"

Immediately, Alma's playful smile disappeared and her body morphed into her hag form. My head began throbbing and I collapsed onto my knees as I dropped my rifle. My hands grasped the sides of my head as my headache threatened to cause me to blackout. Fighting through the pain, I forced myself back onto my feet. Alma held the large man above her and pinned against the wall with only her right arm. Her anger was thick in the air as she hissed at the man with her demonic voice, "Don't you dare insult my family!"

Before he could do anything, she turned and threw him across the large space. The man's head smashed into a wall on the opposite side of the station hard enough to dislodge a few bricks. Groaning, he managed to stand on shaking legs. Alma appeared in her child form above him on the platform and watched him silently. The man weakly stammered, "You will never be anything more than a sick twisted freak."

Not audibly responding, she simply waved goodbye. The man was confused until he realized that he was on the wrong set of tracks. Just as he looked to his right, a subway car collided with him as it raced through the station. Satisfied, the dark hair goddess happily skipped back towards me.

I retrieved my rifle as my headache dissipated. As she passed the still rocking ATC soldier, I saw him suddenly aim his pistol at her. She froze in confusion and fear as she saw me aim my rifle in her direction. She flinched as I sent a single round past her and into the head of the cowardly man. She turned and realized what had happened.

As she turned back to me with a smile, I stated calmly, "You missed one." She snickered before she rushed over to where I stood. She gazed up at me with childish insecurity as if she was awaiting my approval of her actions. I nodded before I said, "Nicely done. It is actually kind of fun to watch when it is not happening to your squad."

Her smile widened at my response and I could not help but to smile back. She asked me, "So, how do we get in?" I whistled and pointed at the armored train still laden with explosives. Her eyes widened in response and she asked in a worried tone, "Are you sure? Couldn't I just transport us to the other side of the bulkhead?"

I shook my head and asked in a playful tone, "Come on, where is your sense of adventure?"

She huffed before she said, "Fine. We will do it your way."

I boarded the train and found the controls on the forward car. To ensure that the train built up enough speed, I backed the train up to the station where we had killed the first four men. After rigging the explosives to detonate when I pressed the detonator, I made certain that the explosives were positioned to inflict maximum carnage. With a sadistic laugh, I thrust the throttle as far forward as it would go and then broke it for good measure.

The train thundered towards its own destruction as if it was its last great gesture. By the time that the bulkhead was in view, the cars had begun to vibrate and threatened to derail before the train reached the bulkhead. However, once again, Armacham had sown the seeds of its own destruction.

The armor on the train was heavy enough to ensure that even beyond the maximally rated speed, the train would not derail before it did what I needed it to do. At the last second, I jumped from the lead car to the spot next to a waiting Alma. The train continued on its suicidal trip and we watched as it neared the bulkhead.

With an earsplitting metallic screech, the reinforced train collided with the bulkhead, bulldozed its way through the barrier before finally reaching what was probably the end of the tracks, and derailed. The train folded like a house of cards as its cars began to collide with each other.

Smoke and electrical sparks signaled the end of the rugged train. I pressed down on the detonator and an equally earsplitting noise accompanied the detonating high explosives. Motioning for everyone to follow me, I led the way through the flaming wreckage. After I passed the flames and smoke, I found myself in the loading bay of a clean, almost hospital looking facility. I scowled as I noticed the arrow on the smooth concrete floor that read, "Specimen intake".

I muttered to myself in disgust, "Children are not specimens you sick bastards." Alma tugged on my right arm to get my attention. I looked down at her and she simply pointed up to an upper landing observation deck. I looked at where she was pointing and there was the backstabbing woman who left me to die in the amplifier like a rat in a cage. She was completely beside herself with fear when she saw Alma and the Replicas.

In her fear, she failed to deduce my identity before she asked, "Who are you?" My anger boiled over and I grabbed the sides of my gas mask. After wrenching it off, I flung it to the side and let her see my face.

I smirked at her reaction before I said with an anger-laced voice, "Hi bitch. Remember me?" As she went to run into the interior of the facility, I called after her, "Nowhere left to run Aristide. You cannot hide from me forever."