The Entrance
Sgt. Wolfe walked through the crowds of scientists and soldiers towards the command tent. Ever since the Doors has been found this place was a god-damned zoo. Wolfe's massive 6'6 form pushed through the crowd easily. Unlike most of the people in this age he was one of the few with a "warrior" build as it were. It was discovered that as humans moved through time and became more intelligent the need for large bodies had become useless. Many were now born with small, frail forms yet they were highly intelligent. Those born of 6'0 and over were considered warrior and were placed in the "Imperial Fist". Wolfe had been within the military for well over two-hundred years. Advances in biochemical engineering and medical tools had shoved the human life span well over the five hundred mark. Thus, the Doors had opened. Wolfe scanned his eyes in and the command bunker's doors slid open with a hiss. Removing his helmet the air inside was so much fresher than that of his suit of the red soiled planet. As he saluted the guards and walked down the hall he was furious. Steel gray eyes glared at anything that moved, short brown hair gleamed with a fine sweat. Minutes ago he was alone in his room with three beautiful warrior females and they were about to become very friendly when his communicator went off. Looking up he starred at the door. Here it was, he'd probably have to sit through the entire meeting this time, due to the fact the only excuse he could come up with was that he needed to urgently go back to his room for some extra PT. Taking a deep breath and a count to five, the doors slid open.
The dark room was barely decorated except for a table surrounded by chairs, a screen, and a small dead plant in the corner. Yet the room seemed tiny with all the faces starring at him. Sliding into the seat closest to the door Wolfe fought the urge to draw his Z-88 Crow and flail the bitch around. While thinking of this he also wondered if he'd get court marshaled if he pistol whipped one of these goons. Yet his homey thoughts were bound to be interrupted. An older man stood from the chair and cleared his throat. Doctor Zelsa was the oldest known human in the universe and also the greatest scientist to ever exist. Yet Wolfe still couldn't stop from wondering how hard it would be to crush the 3'5 man with his boot. As the meeting drug on they discussed the atomic pressure of the Doors and the oxygen readings from the other side along with many other things that Wolf couldn't give a damn less about. These meetings were always the same damn thing. Old men blabbering about statistic, the younger ones speaking of war within the doors and of course Wolf sleeping. Speaking of. Wolf's eyes slid shut and he found himself back in his room with the three females. Maybe this wouldn't be such a bad meeting after all.
Just as the dream was starting to get very good he suddenly jerked awake. Dr. Zelsa was glaring at him with a ruler in his hand. Oh. The doctor had hit him. Wolfe smirked as he straightened. The Doctor glared as he spoke again.
"As I was saying Sergeant. This part affects all of us."
The Doctor spoke as he walked back to the front of the table.
"The orders have arrived this morning."
Suddenly the room seemed to be vivid with life. Wolfe leaned forward, excitement humming through his being, his hand gripping the weapon at his thigh.
"The emperor has given the order. Sergeant Wolfe. You will take your team and be assisted by Sergeant Bound. You will all be granted full use of the armory, armor hall, and yes, even the Gifts. The two Arrows teams shall step through The Doors tomorrow at first light."
Wolfe's eyes widened. The use of bio enhancements had been outlawed fifty odd years ago. Injections, gloves or oral capsules capable of granting the user powers over elements, abilities and many other things. They were banned after the Great War when hundreds of millions were butchered by the Bio- animations. A computer program that went hay-wire and instead of producing normal bots pumped out battle ready war androids. The war shredded through the universe and left many galaxies incapable of ever supporting life again. Yet humankind had done the same to the other species. Befriend them, steal their technology and secrets, then the next thing they knew, battle cruisers were bombarding their planet. Genocide is a hell of a thing.
Wolfe yawned as he stepped out of the room six hours later. Why did it take so long? Because the old and wise loved to prattle on about pointless topics and argue over things long before his time. As the first sun was setting and the second rising Wolfe made his way towards the barracks where his squad sat ready to be prepped. A squad was five men including the sergeant. Compared to the normal hundreds of years ago this was tiny. Yet with the advancements made by the human evolution one of these men could destroy a battalion. Pushing through the thick air towards the barracks suddenly he was side tracked. A cruiser and two battle flights zoomed over head making the entire ground quake. Looking up he cursed as his eyes fell upon the emblem embedded upon the ships. SHIELD corporation was here for some damned reason. A company founded for the enhancements of human and technology of all kinds. The shit was existing back during the home-land days when motor vehicles still were used for normal transport on Earth. The strange thing is the founder was never pronounced dead. Of course he was never seen or heard either, chances are he was long since dead but making him seem to be still breathing was a hell of a morale boost.
Before he knew it his boots were hitting steel stairs. Looking up Wolfe realized he was heading for the landing pad. Breaking into a jog he made his way towards the ships to see what the fuss was all about. It seemed as if they brought candy to an elementary school with all the scientists rushing to meet them. Wolfe hit the docks and walked towards a group of men in shiny black, pretty armor. The one in the center was a large man, of the not muscular proportion. The one on the right was a tiny man with an overly large head with bug eyes, but the one on the left and slightly behind the center man was the one giving Wolfe the creeps. The man stood at a tall 6'2 but with a build that wasn't impressive. He was average, more like athletic with sleeked back blond hair and an angular facial structure. Executive was what Wolfe was going to call him, executive was left and slightly behind showing himself as the subordinate of the other two. As Wolfe came to them he stopped as the center man saluted.
Wolfe nodded and spoke. "What the fuck is SHIELD doing here? This is imperial business and I'm in charge of this installation. You got orders or some shit?"
The fat man nodded.
"Yes sergeant. I am Zackary Fuse, head executive of the scientific research and development branch of the corporation. These are orders from the imperial over-viewer."
A folded piece of paper was held out in the chubby hands. Wolfe snatched it quickly as he raised an eyebrow and read.
After a few seconds he looked up, a whole lot of 'You've got to be kidding me.' on his face. "How much did this cost your boss huh? Couple mill? I don't deal with this shit, take it to Zelsa but just remember, the Isalla compound is under my jurisdiction. You fuck with it, you fuck with me. And I'm not the nicest person to dick with." Tossing the paper back at the group as he turned his eyes narrowed. Executive had a strange smirk on his face as the group passed and it was hard to tell but Wolfe could have sworn the man's eyes were on him as they passed. Shaking his head Wolfe cursed. He'd wasted time and they were to be prepped and ready to step foot in the portal at dawn and it was all ready….hell he didn't know, not with two suns. Which brought to his mind the fact that he needed to slap Dr. Zelsa up for telling him at first light, the damn planet was always light. Turning and slamming the helmet back onto his suit he broke into a jog as he connected all the tubes and wires making his visor come on line.
"Yo King."
There was a slight burst of static before a deep drawing voice came across the microphone.
"Yes Massa?"
Wolfe smirked and shook his head, that man never got tired of giving him shit.
"Get the boys all gathered up, I got the prep and am gonna be spillin the info once I hit home." Again with the static and the same drawing voice came across.
"As ya wish boss."
Wolfe stepped through the threshold into the barracks. The room smelled faintly of sweat and gunpowder even through his masks ventilation system, which meant if he were to take it off he'd probably gag. The targeting assistant inside his visor instantly hummed as four squares shot to different areas and surrounded the members of his squad as little pricks of words shot up next giving off information ranging from their weapon type to their build and probably strength and speed.
"Gather around boys, I have the new orders."
A sudden rush of noise happened as the squad all rushed around their Sergeant. On the far left was Hawk, the tallest of the group and the man who specialized in explosives. Next to him was Simmons. A man who…well…at one point would have been called an African American but during this age there was no such thing as separate races. Simmons was the best information Technician the empire had. He was called Hack, short for hacker. On Hack's right and sitting at attention was Squall, the newest member of the team and fresh out of the academy. Thing was, the kid was damn fast and vicious in the hand to hand. And way back leaning against the wall was King. The surest shot to ever have passed through the imperial training or their military. With a short range pistol he could knock a bird out of the sky at one hundred yards.
"Listen close squad. The news flash is coming in three….two…..one….We're going through The Doors"
The murmur that passed through the group was slightly amusing to Wolfe. They were usually all Gun ho for anything that involved a chance of action but it seemed that the purple fog that was known as "The Doors" even gave the Arrow the creeps. Arrow was the best of the best. The special forces of the Imperial Fist and the very might of the imperial forces. There Arrow was broken down into four teams. From these teams Wolfe's squad the most combat proficient and the most deadly.
"Wait now, you're telling me that in..seventeen hours we're going through the fog? Sarge we didn't even send a recon team through The Doors and they expect us to go in blind? What the fuck is it going to do if we head in and are ripped apart from a gravitational rift, or hell, what if the worm-hole shoots us into the vacuum of space?" Simmons spoke as Wolfe assumed for the entire team.
Though no one else would say anything there was a sense of agreement that passed through the team. Everyone jumped on board once Simmons spoke, that's the way it usually went anyway.
"Because we are Hack, I never knew you to be the kind of person to avoid a chance to maybe sink those tentacles of yours into alien technology. Think about it man, if we get over there and everything is cool, and it turns out the live stock was right and there is more intelligent life over there. Could you imagine the technology, the vast collections of information?"
Wolfe knew he has him. The glow in Hack's eyes and the way his hands shook ever lightly. Hack was an addict, of course not the addict as in drugs or alcohol, he was addicted to technology. Not in the way that he just likes it, the man was truly addicted.
"So anyway be sure to get your shit around so we can Charlie Mike with the mission. I want everyone assembled outside the armory in four hours. Say your goodbyes boys, shit just might get heavy." Wolfe smiled and clapped Hack on the shoulder.
Standing the bones down his spine cracked in an order that almost sounded like a song. As he exited the tent he started towards the Doors. The purple fog was there, swarming over itself, seeming to expand and grow yet at the same time implode back in upon its self. As he reached them his hand slid from his pocket and grazed the substance. Unlike the normal fog that felt as if it weren't truly there the Doors was almost a liquid yet not. If Wolfe would get down he could look under the purple mist to the ground, yet this waist high mist was floating for no reason and made of gases that not even Zelsa could figure out. Removing his hand he looked to see the fog weaving between his fingers, forming to the contours of his hand. Suddenly his vision dimmed as a stabbing pain shot through his temples, behind his eyes and into the core of his mind. The pain was so intense it dropped the warrior to his knees, a fine sheen of sweat coming over his body under the armor.
"Warrior"
The voice was a faint whisper through his mind, yet the whisper was the most powerful voice he'd ever heard. The very cadence of it making him want to fall to his knees in envy and worship. Wolfe had never been a religious man, he didn't believe in a god but the voice made him want t praise the one who spoke with it.
"The time is coming, you and your followers shall see thine destiny and then you will lay eyes upon the true evil that stains the empire. Many battles lay before you warrior, be strong and merciless to your enemies. I have the power to grant you one gift, you shall learn of it when the time comes."
The pain amplified to the point that Wolfe's ears rang with his own screams. It felt as though the inside of his body was melting. As if his very veins were running red with the molten heat. The lifeblood of the planet. With one last scream suddenly Wolfe felt as though he were floating, no pain, no worry, no...anything.
