Chapter One

Attack on EAGLE Base

Joshua Cage stepped up to the soccer ball, which lay softly in the green grass. He looked over the field, planning out his first maneuver. He stood tall, nearly six feet, with well-defined muscles and a short, military haircut. He was currently wearing his plain green civvies, just like the rest of his squad. He looked over the field, dotted with soldiers wearing the same, each one getting ready for the match at hand. He sized up his opposing team, playing out the kickoff in his mind, thinking through the opposing team's strengths and weaknesses and how to use them to his advantage.

He and the opposing team's captain stepped up to the ball, waiting for the whistle. Joshua locked eyes with his opponent, keeping his face still and emotionless. The whistle blew, and Joshua sprang into action. He worked the ball with his feet, getting it away from his opponent, and rushed across the field. His team rushed after him, intercepting the other team.

One crafty opponent tried to get in his way, but Joshua quickly kicked the ball out to his nearest teammate. It passed around a couple times before finally getting back to him. Almost there. Another opponent cut him off, but Joshua outsmarted and avoided her. He circled around, dodged the next one, and made a beeline across the field toward the goal.

The goalie squared up, waiting for Joshua's kick. Thanks to his teammates, no one was around to oppose him. Joshua eyed the goalie, watching his every move. This goalie was good, but Joshua found his opening. He kicked. The ball flew. The goalie ran, dived, and missed. The ball flew into the net, making the goal.

Joshua's team cheered. Joshua flashed the goalie a cocky grin. The goalie rolled his eyes, retrieving the ball and tossing it out to the nearest player on his team. The player took the ball and started bouncing it between his feet and heading the other way. Back to it, Joshua thought to himself. He chased the player across the field, playing defense now. His second-in-command, Katie Young, intercepted the opposing captain, but he managed to get past her. He made a mad dash for the goal, where Corporal Dayton Owens waited with a cocky grin on his face.

"You think you're getting past me, do you?" the bulky goalie asked.

The captain ignored him, making his shot, but Dayton deflected it easily.

"Come on, man, you've got to try harder than that," Dayton said, tossing the ball to Doug Cummins. Cummins took it, quickly passing it to Harriet Nixon.

Nixon caught it and ran with it down the field until she reached centerfield. Joshua ran alongside her, and she passed it to him when she got the chance. Joshua took it, running another long stretch of field, but got himself blocked in by the opposition. Katie appeared behind them, open and unchallenged, and Joshua passed it to her between them. Katie took it, nodding to Joshua and speeding off. Joshua grinned. There was a reason she was his second.

Katie crossed the field, the opposing team now in hot pursuit. Joshua ran after her too, staying within range in case it became necessary. An opponent stepped in to block her. Joshua ran to the side, making himself an obvious opening to the other team. Katie caught on quickly, feinting towards Joshua, faking out the opponent and instead going around the opposite side. She lined up her shot. The goalie hunched in preparation.

She kicked.

It flew.

The ball fell to the ground, deflated.

Joshua stared, uncertain what he was seeing at first. The ball lay flat on the ground, a large black object sticking out of it. He got closer, investigating the object. Katie joined, crouching down beside him.

"What is it?" one of the opposing team asked.

"Commander," Katie said, pointing out the shape of the object.

"I know," Joshua said. He bit his lip and carefully pulled the object loose. Just ass he feared, it was a long black knife shaped like a cross. Several troops gasped behind him.

"Commander," Katie said, gripping his shoulder.

Joshua looked up from the knife to see a black-clad soldier standing on top of the ridge lining the field. Another joined him, then another. Joshua squinted, praying his eyes were deceiving him, but there was no mistaking their distinctive garb.

"Black Cross," he said.

More and more appeared, at least a dozen, maybe more. His breathing became short and shallow.

"Everyone, get back," he ordered.

In the middle of the crowd, a tall figure appeared. Not a black-clad soldier like the others, but a man wearing an ornate golden mask, like one you might see in the theatre. In one hand, he held a scythe made of gold. Joshua recognized him from news reports on multipleBlack Cross terrorist attacks.

"Katie," Joshua whispered. "Start getting everyone back inside."

Katie nodded wordlessly.

The man in the golden mask stared down at them, his mask wearing a wide, permanent smile. Anger built in Joshua, memories surfacing in his mind. Memories of death and pain and destruction. He wanted nothing more than to run up there and strangle the man himself, but he had a squad to take care of. A squad of unprepared, unarmed soldiers.

The man raised his scythe, his masked face staring at Joshua. He couldn't see his eyes, but he felt as if he were staring right at him. He knew what was about to happen.

"Everyone, get ready to run," he warned.

He and his squad carefully started moving back, slowly, so as not to trigger the insurgents. The Golden Mask watched them for a second, seeming to enjoy drawing it out. He let his scythe dip forward. "Open fire!"

"Run, now!" Joshua shouted.

He and his squad turned and ran. The sound of gunfire filled their ears as bullets flew all around them. Several troops fell, among them the rival team's captain who was caught in the back and died instantly. Joshua's leadership instincts kicked in. He couldn't let his troops die.

He charged through the crowd, reaching the door to D Building and pulling it open.

"Come on, everyone inside!" he shouted.

The remaining troops filed inside, taken from sixteen down to nine. Katie joined him beside the door, as did Dayton. They helped get the troops through the door and into safety. As the last soldier got through the door, Joshua noticed something was off. The bullets had stopped. He looked back out to see that the Black Cross were marching across the field, ignoring Joshua and his squad.

"Make sure everyone stays inside," Joshua told Katie. "Raise the alarm."

Katie eyed him, studying his face. She nodded, deciding not to question him. "Will do, Captain."

Joshua ducked back outside, shutting the door behind him. The Black Cross soldiers had stopped halfway across the field. The man in the golden mask raised his scythe again. Joshua pressed himself against the wall, watching them. The Golden Mask raised his scythe. A few soldiers dropped, opening up large cases they'd been carrying. From inside, they pulled about four fully armed rocket launchers.

Alarms blared throughout the compound, Katie having completed her assignment and alerted the rest of EAGLE to the Black Cross's presence. Soon, their forces would be deployed and the Black Cross would be pushed back. Despite this, the insurgents seemed unperturbed. The Golden Mask pointed with his scythe and shouted, "Fire!"

Rockets blasted toward a nearby building, striking one after another, blowing one whole corner to smithereens. Joshua watched as a section of the building collapsed in on itself. His mind raced, remembering which building it was. C Building. The science building. Where his brother James worked.

More of the build caved in. Images flashed through Joshua's mind, the memory of his parents' mangled bodies, James's lying right beside them. Joshua forgot everything, throwing caution to the wind and launching himself from his hiding spot. Bullets flew after him.

Heart pounding, he reached the door, pulled it open and dived inside, slamming it closed behind him. Bullets pounded the door and wall around it, but nothing got through. Joshua currently stood inside a small lobby area of the science building, alarms blaring overhead and officials running back and forth.

Realizing he didn't actually know which part of the building James worked in, Joshua took a chance and ran in the direction of the damage, looking for clues that might point him in the right way. He stopped at a building map. The area that had been bombed was designated as some kind of storage area.

That didn't sound like the place where James would work, but he had to know for sure.. He followed the map's directions, and arrived at a heavy, secured door that had been blown open by the blast and nearly bent in two. Joshua jumped over the door and found himself in a maze of corridors that was definitely not storage.

"James!" he called out.

Another blast rocked the building. Joshua took off down one hall, checking each room. Most of them were small labs or personal offices, with unusual diagnostics and diagrams everywhere.

"James!"

He checked room after room, finally turning one last corner, wear a large, heavy door had been blasted open and was hanging at a tilt. Joshua ran to the door, pulling it open as best he could. He worked his way past it and into the room beyond.

He found himself in an enormous science lab unlike any he had ever seen. One whole side of the room had been blown apart. But what hadn't been hit was covered in all manner of monitors and consoles, and the whole room seemed to be situated around a table where some kind of strange suit had been in the process of being assembled. A number of scientists lay scattered around the room. He checked a few of them but couldn't find any who were still alive.

He stepped up to the half-finished suit, feeling a strange pull toward it. He shook his head, turning away. James was more important right now. "James!" he shouted.

In one corner of the room, he heard a faint cough.

"James!" he shouted, rushing toward the sound.

A body lay buried under a pile of rubble in one corner. Joshua brushed away the dirt and dust to find his brother lying underneath. His glasses were askew, and he was covered in bruises and scrapes, but he looked to be still alive. Joshua breathed a sigh of relief. He started pushing the rubble off of his brother, moving off the large pieces, unburying him and checking him over for any signs of fatal or serious wounds. Everything seemed fine.

Joshua breathed another sigh of relief. James would be okay, for now. They still had to get out of here.

He jostled his brother. "James, wake up!"

Nothing.

"James," he tried again.

Another bomb rocked the building.

"James."

Finally, James coughed. His eyes flew open, and he looked around in confusion. "Josh," he asked groggily. He tried to sit up, but groaned in pain. He coughed, spraying dust into the air. The coughs turned into a full hacking fit as he tried to clear his lungs. Joshua helped him up and patted him on the back.

Clearing his throat, James blinked through the dust, trying to make sense of everything. He looked up at the massive hole in the wall, then down to the bodies of his dead coworkers lying nearby.

"Oh," he said.

His whole frame sank with the realization of what was happening.

"What's going on?" James asked.

"We're under attack," Joshua said. "The Black Cross are here. They bombed this building."

James stared at his friends for a moment, processing Joshua's words. Then his eyes narrowed. "They bombed this building specifically?" he asked.

"Yeah," Joshua replied. "It seemed pretty targeted."

James's eyes darted momentarily toward the suit on the table. "I see," he said.

Joshua followed his gaze, squinting at the suit. What was it? He wondered.

He shook his head. That wasn't a priority right now. They had to get out of here.

He gripped his brother's shoulder. "You okay?" he asked.

James looked at his brother, his eyes wet. "Yeah," he said. "Let's get out of here."

Joshua wrapped his arm underneath his brother and hefted him up. James stumbled as he tried to put weight on his leg.

"Guess not," he said, wincing through the pain.

"Come on," Joshua said, "Lean on me."

James wrapped his arm around Joshua's shoulder. The pair limped out of the lab and around the destroyed door. Joshua glanced back at the strange suit behind them, still feeling the strange pull toward it.

"This way," James said, pointing to the right.

They ran through the corridors, James guiding them to the nearest exit. Every few steps or so, James would stumble. Joshua gripped him tightly, pullinging him up each time. It took a long time, but soon they came to the last turn.

"Just around here," James said. "The exit's right up ahead."

"Let's go," Joshua said.

They took the corner at a run. The best run they could manage anyway. There was the door, straight ahead. They barreled toward it. They barely made it a few feet before a number of black-clad individuals stepped out, blocking the door and filling up the corridor. The brothers pulled to a stop. They had just fallen into a trap.

The brothers looked at each other, both realizing that they had no options. They looked back. They could make a run for it, but they'd never get anywhere on James's bad leg.

The crowd of Black Cross parted. Emerging from behind them, the man in the golden mask appeared. Up close, his mask appeared to be made of pure gold. His flowing black robes seemed to be made of velvet, making Joshua think of theater curtains.

"It's an honor," the man said, bowing dramatically, "To finally meet the brilliant Doctor James Cage and his precious baby brother."

Joshua's eyes widened. He and James looked at each other. The Black Cross knew their names.

"What do you want?" James asked.

The man in the golden mask laughed good-naturedly. "My apologies," he said. "I must have gotten ahead of myself. You see, I am the Golden Mask, emissary of the Black Cross. I have come to collect the both of you for my master. I would very much appreciate it if you would come quietly."

Joshua's mind raced. They had come to collect them?

"What is that supposed to mean?" he said through gritted teeth.

"Oh, you'll see, Joshua," the Golden Mask said. "Our glorious leader, my master, has a special request for the both of you."

A request? From the Black Cross?

"You can tell your glorious leader to shove it," James sneered. "We'd rather die than ever do anything to help people like you."

The Golden Mask was silent for a moment, simply staring at them with his permanent smile. He sighed.

"That's a real shame," he said, gripping his scythe in his hands. "I didn't want to have to do this, but I suppose I have no choice."

He raised his scythe and pointed it at the brothers. His smiling mask beamed at them, pausing for dramatic effect. "Take them."

The horde of Black Cross shouted and whooped, rushing toward the brothers. James and Joshua turned and ran, hobbling as quickly as they could in the other direction. They barely made it two steps before James stumbled, his leg giving out beneath him. Joshua gripped his brother, trying to pull him back up. Too late, Black Cross soldiers swarmed around them, grabbing them and pulling them apart.

Joshua lost his grip on his brother, and he turned to see James being dragged away in the opposite direction. Anger pulsed through Joshua. He pulled his right arm free, punching the soldier holding his left. James fought back too, despite his bad leg. The brothers broke free and stood back to back, punching and kicking at their attackers. They just might have a chance, Joshua thought.

Right at that moment, another blast rocked the building, knocking both brothers off their feet. Joshua struggled to get back on his feet, but before he could, he felt a sharp pain on the back of his head and the whole world went black.