Atonement: Lincoln Clay
Episode 5: Break on through
[Review dude: He does have one or two, you'll find out who pretty soon. Not immediately, and you'll find out why now. Now pairing him with Sienna is certainly an interesting idea. She did appeal to me as quite ambitious and perhaps Lincoln could have her see the light or at least that not all humans are bad. As for steering the white fang away from the path of madness, well I'm not entirely sure on that.]
[Ronmr: Which part?]
[Guest 1: Good ol' Vito could appear later, as for cassandra though, not so much. Who's Tomas?]
[Guest 2: Not a bad idea, Her and Lincoln having a little cub together is certainly thought provoking.]
[Guest 3: Hopefully this is where you get some of the answers you're looking for, not all but perhaps some.]
[Disabled-doctor: Great, I must be doing a good job!]
[Ice: Thank you, and about that challenge, not right now. I have several stories to work on at the moment, so maybe way later.]
After they had safely reached Donovan's safe house, the now former CIA agent paid the mercenary who'd airlifted them to safety. The mercenary promptly flew away and the group proceeded inside of the compound that resembled an abandoned warehouse in the middle of the jungle. After that, he informed Lincoln of his arrival in this strange new world while tending to his wounds. The man had exposed a huge conspiracy behind the assassination of JFK including the senator at the hearing whom he shot. The whole incident was buried, and Donovan returned to the CIA to hunt down the traitors with the agency's blessing. After that whole ordeal was finished and so many bodies were buried, Donovan had impressed the right people and was sent to visit the ranch, AKA the legendary facility known as area 51. He'd been sent to remnant by a mysterious alien device they'd found in the jungle during their time in Vietnam and had been stranded here for months. He then brought Lincoln up to speed on the world of Remnant as he knew it so far, leaving the former soldier with so much new information to digest. He could swear it was just like they ended up in a comic book to which Donovan had to agree. The kids were eating what Donovan could provide, which happened to be a few boxes of cereal.
"So that's the long and short of it all. That glowing relic or whatever it is lights up and boom, I'm stuck here." Donovan said as he leaned against a wall with his arms crossed lazily.
"Alien tech, superpowers, kids who train to be legal superheroes…" Lincoln shook his head at the whole concept. "That does explain why my guns had barely any effect on that asshole with the tail. Not only am I using inferior ammo, he basically has a fucking forcefield." Lincoln was more than displeased to know that his trusted arsenal was useless without an upgrade.
"And bad guys who want to kill everybody including us. But as I explained, at least we know that aura stuff is vulnerable to dust ammo, and it can run out under repeated punishment. The regular rounds from back home won't do shit as you've already seen. But then again, the properties of a person's aura might vary, so there's no telling exactly how effective standard ammo will be on someone else. After all, I did use a standard round to punch through that psycho's aura after you put him through hell, not mention that grenade." Donovan then sat down backwards on a chair with hands across the backboard.
"That's still too unpredictable, someone can shrug off standard ammo from our world, but a grenade with regular powder and shrapnel in it works?" The war veteran said skeptically.
"Doesn't make too much sense to me either, besides I have been mainly fighting that guy you squared off with, so my experience on that little subject isn't exactly rock solid." Donovan admitted his lack of knowledge in the strangeness of the prospects of aura.
"So how long was I gone? Because there's no way all that shit happened in the past few days I've been here." Lincoln asked inquisitively.
The agent lazily shrugged in ignorance. "Best I figure, a few years give or take. you only popped up on my radar a few days ago when some settler passed on word of the guy who faced down Raven Branwen's bandits, and that word traveled fast. You are so fucking lucky, that crazy bitch is one of the fiercest bandit leaders on this side of the planet from what intel I've gathered on her. When I heard about it obviously our new friends did too. I bet time probably passes at the same rate in both worlds, so whatever dropped you here obviously sent you forward in time too. But as to how you got here, I have no fucking clue."
"Basically, it was an act of god." Lincoln summarized.
"That's one convenient way of putting something that can't be explained, on both counts. Don't you just love divine intervention? It was definitely more than coincidence that I found your ass when I did, because our friends back there are balls deep in some pretty nasty stuff." The sly CIA agent said in a snarky manner.
"So, do you have a plan?" Lincoln asked while checking his pistol and the moving on to his rifle.
Donovan stood up from the chair and pointed to a map of remnant. "I figure from here we torch this place, then head to Vale and do what we did in new Bordeaux. You the know the routine, recruit some like minded scumbags and push out the the ones who won't play ball. Obviously if we own the city it'll be harder for Salem and her crew to operate there. Or we can meet up with the other group who's been fighting these pricks."
"You forgot to cover those two people who tried to kill us by the way. Can't just go into this blind and I don't feel like getting my ass killed over something I didn't know when I needed to know it." Lincoln looked up from his weapons on the desk with a raised eyebrow.
"Got ya covered there pal." Donovan then handed Lincoln a dossier on his dance partner from the fight earlier. "Right, so this asshole who tried to turn you into a kabob is Tyrian Callows. A highly skilled killer, he worships that bitch like he's a member of a one-man cult and a huge sadist by nature. He's tough enough to murder skilled and fully trained huntsmen and huntresses by himself. So by all accounts, you put him through a kind of hell most opponents wouldn't." Donovan then pulled out a cigarette and took a puff. He handed Lincoln another dossier this time on the one who made him an offer, Salem. "Now this is his disturbing as fuck boss, miss voodoo herself, Salem. I have next to nothing on her so far other than that she is up to something big that involves destroying the academies and global extinction. These fuckers are a cancer we need to rip out, plain and simple. I have managed to uncover some intel that points to her flipping one of headmasters of the academies. It's either the one here in mistral or over in vacuo."
"So, Beacon and Atlas are uncompromised?" Lincoln asked as Donovan started packing up his gear in preparation to move out of the facility.
The sly agent set down a box of files and removed some intel from the board on the wall. "Pretty much, so that narrows it down to two academies and headmasters. When it comes to Beacon and Atlas, those two schools have gotten close recently despite the idiotic fact that their cultures are at odds. One is based in a borderline military dictatorship, the other one is in a country that sort of resembles back home when it comes to liberty and equality. Including, the problems that come before getting it for everyone, namely the rights of faunus. I know you know this, but I have to cover all the bases."
"You mentioned someone else taking these guys on, right? It'd be nice to know if it's just us or not. Because this is too much for even the two of us to handle alone."
"Yeah, just like back in nam, the enemy of my enemy. I remember when we trained the Hmong and turned them loose on the NVA. But anyway, get a load of this!" Donovan reminisced and then pointed to a high-tech communication set up across the room. Lincoln whistled at the setup and Donovan smugly grinned. "I've managed to pick up some chatter over the CCT network about a group fighting her in the shadows just like us. They've been trying to pin us down too since you popped up a few days ago. So far, I have no intel on whoever these cats are, but it looks like we have a common enemy. We'll know more once we get the fuck out of dodge. Because odds are ol' Salem will be sending some more of her goons or pet critters after us and I'm partial to living. No need to worry about real estate by the way, already have that covered with some more safehouses I've set up." The agent pointed to several dots on the map across remnant that marked multiple safehouses throughout the four kingdoms. "Business aside, you got some sweet kids there, where'd you dig 'em up?" Donovan asked his partner as the kids started tussling on the ground and doing some rough housing, with Nora ending up on top in victory. The little ginger started the she was the king of the castle while Emerald and Ren were groaning in defeat.
"Eh, nowhere special. They're orphans, just like I was when Sammy took me in." Lincoln said simply.
"So, what's it like being a single dad and having little headaches? I Bet girls are just screaming to get their hands all over you, lady killer." The sly agent teased his buddy.
"Oh, kiss my ass! let's just focus on saving the world again." Lincoln chuckled.
"Whatever you say partner." Donovan just shrugged with a sly grin on his face.
"It looks like we really have our work cut out for us this time." Lincoln stood and stretched, careful to avoid popping his stitches. He taken worse wounds than what Tyrian had inflicted on him, so it wasn't as big a deal for him as it would be for someone else.
"Fucking A right we do. Now help me set these explosives, I want to leave a little present for some party guests when they show up." The two warfighters then set to work cleaning up and prepping the building for demolition. The kids nearly caused an accident when Nora got a bit too curious about the things that go boom. Donovan patted her on the head and showed her a grenade launcher with Lincoln's permission. She had stars in her eyes when she saw it and then a sledgehammer fell right in front of her. She looked at the big hammer and then her toy, she put the toy hammer in the truck and picked up the industrial tool with a crazed smile as she went around smashing things. Donovan looked at Lincoln, and the single dad shook his head, there was no stopping the little ginger when she went on a rampage. Ren took an inquisitive look at Lincoln's 45 and the veteran introduced him to the fine workings of a firearm. The quiet boy seemed to feel comfortable holding the well-crafted piece of forged steel despite its weight. Emerald started trying to steal from the sly CIA agent, and she paid for it when he started stealing things back. Lincoln broke that up and the two adults got back to work setting up the demolitions gear.
"Before we call it for the night I should make a quick phone call." Donovan stretched after setting up the last bomb.
"To who?" Lincoln asked skeptically.
"You'll see in the morning." Donovan replied slyly.
Eventually everyone went to sleep, and Lincoln tucked the kids into the warm bed. He and Donovan had slept uncomfortably in chairs keeping watch over the door.
-THE NEXT MORNING-
The two men woke up and moved all the files into a crate, loading it into the night crawler bed alongside the gun crate. The agent pulled a sniper rifle out and loaded it with rounds as well as priming a detonator or two.
"So how long do you figure until they find this place?" Lincoln pulled the M60 from the weapons crate and loaded a belt of fire dust rounds Donovan had scrounged for a rainy day.
"That all depends on if a little theory of mine is correct." Donovan replied while lighting a cigarette. He was now perched in tree watching the are in front of the compound while Lincoln took up a defensive position with the M60. Then a loud roar sounded from the jungle as a pack of Grimm started flooding the area. "Yep, I was right!" Donovan fired a shot that tore through the neck of a beowolf and Lincoln unleashed his M60 on the beasts. The kids had hidden in the nightcrawler and were watching the two veteran warfighters take on the very beasts that plagued these lands. Lincoln side-stepped one beast that tried to take a bite out him and smacked it with but of the chain-gun. With a mighty roar, he then fired a burst into its gut, bathing himself in black blood. Donovan fired another shot killing a grim that tried to sneak up behind his partner. Lincoln turned around and fired a long burst of hellfire from the barrel of his weapon, ripping apart several Grimm.
A large ursa appeared and roared at Lincoln who just threw a bundle of C4 at it. The beast just looked at the block of clay before exploding and leaving nothing but bits that turned to ash. He turned his fire on a beowolf that ran for the truck and blew its head clean off with a burst from the massive gun. As another group of Grimm rushed into the area, Donovan set off some explosives he'd lain as a surprise. The monsters were blown sky high and body parts rained from the sky, dissolving as they fell. The children watched the retaliation with awe as the two men stood against the tide of darkness. Emerald grinned to herself as she remembered how Lincoln tore apart the Branwen tribe. Now that the experienced warfighter was well equipped the Grimm were getting their collective asses kicked. Nora cheered on the both of them as the battle continued and Grimm blood kept spattering on the paint of the truck. Lincoln threw a grenade and blew up a dust crate that had left as a trap. The grimm looked at the small explosive for a moment before hearing a small click, then boom!
The box exploded wiping out many of the despicable beasts in spectacular fashion. Lincoln took a breath and felt time slow down as he fired his weapon at the Grimm. In under a second he swung his M60's barrel in the direction of several Grimm who tried to go after Donovan. The rounds pierced the backs of their skulls and made their heads explode from the inside as the bullets bounced off their bone masks. Lincoln reloaded his weapon and thanked Donovan for his sharpshooting with a salute. More beasts streamed in for the surrounding forest and the battle raged on between man and dark beasts with neither side showing any signs of giving up. Lincoln's M60 was starting to run low on ammo so he threw it back into the truck and grabbed two AR-15s loaded with dust ammo. He dual wielded the rifles to great effect, even using them as melee weapons in CQB. when the situation called for it. He dove under an Ursa and fired both rifles on full auto mode into is belly, causing black blood to splatter all over him as the beast fell limp on the ground. A beowolf then tried to claw his back, only to get a face full bullets. More beasts began trying to rush him and die as they continued their bid to overpower him.
"Uh Lincoln we might have a problem. A huge bug problem." Donovan said as he spotted a giant scorpion creature that mowed down a large group of trees with its claws.
"Son of a bitch." Lincoln said as he eyed the massive creature of darkness while it charged forward. The beast screeched at the defenders with its natural deadly weapons raised. Lincoln stated firing on the creature and Donovan began detonating the buried bombs in rapid succession. The explosions were definitely doing some major damage to the monster's chitinous armor plating. Lincoln managed to obliterate it's eyes with sustained fire, causing it excruciating pain in the face. The almost blind giant scorpion almost managed to chop Lincoln in half with one of its pincers. Lincoln had just barely avoided the claw by the seat of his pants. But just as the monster was about to overwhelm them, air support had arrived in the form of the very same mercenary Donovan had called to help yesterday.
"Good to see you back, Sam!" Donovan shouted over his radio to the mercenary piloting the bullhead.
"I assume this is why you called me again." The mercenary said gruffly as he opened the bay of the aircraft and fired a rocket from he'd hauled out. The explosive impacted with the armor of the giant scorpion, dazing it. "Now hurry up and get on board, I'm a going to attract a lot attention and the last thing we need is a nevermore getting involved in this."
"Sam, you are a fucking hero! Now let's blow this dump!" The defenders moved their asses and boarded the aircraft with the children tow. The bullhead's hook lowered and latched on to the truck's bed bar again. The scorpion screeched in fury as the prey it had been sent to kill flew out of its reach.
"Say how would you like to see some fireworks kiddo?" Donovan asked the little ginger girl who was standing beside him and Lincoln while the other two were sitting down.
"Ooh really?!" Nora replied giddily as Donovan tossed the detonator up and down in his hands.
"Happy birthday squirt." He then handed the explosive detonator to Nora who smiled so widely from ear to ear like it actually was her birthday.
"Fire in the hole!" Nora shouted as she mashed the button. Ren and Emerald looked at each other worriedly at the sight of how scary happy Nora seemed to be with that detonator in her hands. With a click of a button, the entire base erupted into a huge ball of fire. Grimm parts scattered everywhere from the ones that weren't incinerated in the center of the blast.
"So, who's the guy flying this thing?" Lincoln asked as he sat down on one of the seats.
"That's Sam 'Samuel' Ortez, his handle as a vigilante is Locus. His past is about as bloody as our own." Donovan replied.
"We have to be in a comic book or something." Lincoln shook his head and Donovan merely shrugged.
"I'd prefer it if you didn't openly disclose my identity, agent Donovan." Samuel replied
"Locus, you can trust Lincoln." Donovan spoke coolly to the mercenary in the pilot's seat.
"All the same, please refrain from doing so in the future." The mercenary replied grouchily. The aircraft then set off through the skies, bound for the port of Vale. The pilot then radioed his contact in Vale. "Locus to Siris we are enroute to Vale."
-END CHAPTER-
