Hello and welcome to the next chapter of Callsign: Phoenix!
Sorry for such a long time between chapters. I've had a lot of stuff going on.
So, this chapter took some time to write mainly because there were so many ways that I could take the story after the end of the Prologue. I ended up coming down to two options. 1. I could make this chapter about the voice heard by Phoenix at the end of the last chapter. 2. Go with my other idea and make you wait to find out about the voice.
I'm obviously not going to spoil the chapter by telling you which option I chose.
Notes like this ***words*** in the middle indicate a time skip.
Notes like this ***words*** of to the side indicate a change in location.
I'd like to make a note of one thing. Phoenix wasn't always who he is. Before he got that callsign, he was just a now soldier. Remember that because it will help some things make sense.
AND ONTO THE STORY!
***2 Years Earlier***
The planet Hoyt appears to be a dead planet due to the horrible weather conditions and poisonous atmosphere. The planet's surface is dried up. The people who use to live there now long gone. There are abandoned structures everywhere. There is one structure that isn't abandoned however. It is a V-shaped military base that is black and red. This base is the staging ground for the mission the people inside were sent on. In the command center of the base, we find Commander Matthew Dunn with two other people. These people are Captain Gabe Butchers and Sergeant Taylor Summers.
Commander Dunn is a tall, young man with a muscular build. His hair is jet black, standing out against his light skin. His eyes are a hazy brown and always seem to be filled with determination. He has a couple of scars on his face. One scar runs across his left eye, while the other goes from underneath his right eye all the way down to his jaw. He is wearing black combat pants and a crimson long sleeve combat shirt. On top of his shirt, he is wearing a heavy black ballistic vest. Around his waist he has a tactical belt, which has several compartments for carrying equipment.
Captain Butchers is a middle-aged man with a tall and somewhat muscular build. He has snow white hair and dark blue eyes, which stand out against his dark skin. He is wearing an outfit like Commander Dunn's except he has a white short sleeve combat shirt and gray combat pants on.
Sergeant Summers is a tall, young woman with a slight muscular build. Her light skin makes her raven hair and dark green eyes stand out. She is wearing a crimson combat shirt and crimson combat pants. On top of that, she has a black tactical vest and pads on her knees and elbows. Her outfit is built more for speed and agility rather than protection.
"Alright, let's go over the mission one last time." Matthew says as he looks around the holographic projection. "We're here to locate and extract a supposed weapon that could turn the tide of the war in our favor." "Do we know what the supposed weapon looks like?" Taylor asks, curious as to what kind of weapon would be here. "Unfortunately, no." Matthew says as he looks at Taylor. "All we know is that it's located in this area." Matthew says as he points to a location on the holographic projection. The location looks to be an ancient temple surrounded by mountains. "Gabe, you'll be in command of Gray Team and will oversee the explosives," Matthew says as he looks at Gabe. Matthew turns to Taylor and says, "You'll be in command of Red Team and will be in charge of transportation." "I will be taking my team. We'll be in charge of the weapons extraction." Matthew says. "We move out in one hour, so gather your men and gear."
***One Hour Later***
"Alright, are we ready to move out?" Commander Dunn asks the troops. "Yes sir!" the men shout in unison. "Sgt Summers, where's our ride?" Dunn asks. "Right over there." Summers says as she points to three black aircraft across the hanger.
The aircraft Summers pointed to where B478 transports. The base of the aircraft was big and bulky, with three extended legs holding it up. It had a wing on either side that started next to the cockpit and went to the middle of the aircraft. On each wing, there was a huge engine. At the back of the aircraft, there were tail fins on either side. Underneath the body of the aircraft, a ramp extended to the ground. The entire body of the B478 had reflective panels on it, making it so that the aircraft could camouflage itself. Around the B478s, workers were loading the equipment onto the aircraft.
Commander Dunn looks around one last time, checking to make sure everyone and everything is ready. "Alright men, let's move out" Dunn says as he starts walking towards the B478s. Everyone moves to follow Dunn to the B478s and load up.
***With The Pilots***
"Control, this is B478-59, B478-73, and B478-44 requesting clearance for take-off" the pilot of B478-59 says. "This is Control, you are clear for take-off B478-59, B478-73, and B478-44" the Control Tower says. "Roger that Control" the pilot replies. The pilot clicks a button and announces that they are taking off.
***With Commander Dunn***
"Alright men, we should be at the location in about two hours. Get some rest because I've got a feeling that this is going to be a long day."
***Two Hours Later***
***With The Pilots***
They had been flying for two hours. Two long hours. As they piloted the B478s through the foggy mountains, the proximity alerts started going off. As the pilots looked around to see what was causing these alerts, they started noticing structures.
Suddenly, the doorway that led to where the rest of the troops were opened. Standing in the doorway was Commander Dunn. "What the hell is going on?" he asked the pilot of his B478. "Looks like we're here sir" the pilot replied. "Circle the area twice before landing so that we can get a good look of the area." Commander Dunn told the pilot. "Roger that sir." the pilot replied as he reached for the communicator to let the other pilots know the plan. As he was doing that, Commander Dunn went back to let his men know that they would be landing soon.
***Outside After Landing***
Everyone looked in awe upon the massive temple in front of them. It was fiery red and gold, with a large entrance at the base of it. At each of the six corners of the temple, there was a large statue of what appeared to be some type of bird. On each statue there was an elemental symbol. At the very top sat a large multi colored orb.
"Alright, let's head inside to find the weapon." Matthew said as he looked at the men. "You three need to stay inside the B478s," Matthew said as he at the pilots, "and be on guard because we have no idea what's out here."
As the pilots headed back onto their B478s, Matthew and the rest headed into the temple. As they got further in, it got darker. They eventually had to turn on their flashlights. After walking for about ten minutes, they came to a fork that split off it three directions. After deciding which squad would take which tunnel, they split up. After entering the tunnels, doors closed blocking their path back. Once they realized they couldn't open the doors, they reluctantly continued down their separate paths.
***With Sgt Summers' Team***
They had been walking for about thirty minutes when they started hearing noises. These noises didn't sound like they were being made by people though. Suddenly, their flashlights started flickering, and all of a sudden, they hear one of the men in the squad start screaming. It was a deathly scream. Everyone turn around just in time to see the man fall forwards onto his stomach before flying off back down the tunnel, all the while screaming. Summers and the rest took off after him. They continued running down the tunnel until they came across a site that made them want to hurl. The man, or at least what was left of him. Laying on the floor of the tunnel is a bloody arm, a bloody helmet, and what appeared to be the man's guts. The whole floor around the scene was covered in blood. One man took off around the corner to go throw up.
"Shit" Summers said as she looked at the gruesome site. "Matthew, this is Taylor. Do you copy?" she spoke into her comms. For a minute, there was only static. Finally, she heard Matthew's voice on the comms. "Yeah, I copy. What's up?" Matthew replied casually. 'Good' thought Taylor, 'looks like he hasn't encountered anything.' "Listen, something is down here with us. It killed one of my men." Taylor said. "That's not good. I'll try and get in contact with Gabe." Matthew replied. "And Taylor, you stay safe. You hear me?" Matthew said. "Heh. Yeah I here you." Taylor replied.
Taylor looked around before noticing that another one of her men was gone. After questioning the rest of her troops, she found out that the man had gone to throw up. Taylor sighed in relief. After saying some words for the dead squad member, her and the rest moved out to go find the guy that took off to throw up. After walking about five minutes, what they found wasn't pretty. The man that had gone to throw up was dead. He was laying again the wall in a pool of blood. His throat had been ripped out. After seeing that, Taylor and the rest of her team took off down the tunnel, hoping that they could find an exit before they were all killed.
***With Captain Butchers' Team***
Gabe and his team all walking down the tunnel when he hears his communicator go off. "Gabe, are you there?" It was Matthew's voice. "Yeah I'm here," Gabe replied. "Listen Gabe, be careful. Apparently, there's something down here with us." Matthew said. "It already got one of Taylor's men." "Are you serious?" Gabe asked in shock. "Yeah I am." Matthew replied. "Stay alert Gabe. We have no idea what we're up against." Matthew said.
As soon as he ended the conversation, Gabe heard one of his men cry out. Gabe and the rest of his men took off to see what had happened. They came across the man throwing up. When asked what happened, the man just pointed to the bloody remains of something lying in the middle of the tunnel. Gabe noticed something shiny in the remains. Slowly, he reached down and picked it up. I.D. tags. Gabe instantly recognized the name on the tags. It was one of Taylor's men.
"Well I guess we know what happened to the guy in Taylor's squad that got taken." Gabe said. "Sir, I thought this place was supposed to be abandoned," one of his men said. "It is." Gabe said. "Then what the hell did this?" another squad member asked. "I don't know but stay alert." Gabe said.
As soon as Gabe said that, they all heard a terrifying sound. It sounded like two rusty pieces of metal being scrubbed together. They all took out their weapons, which were W-237s. Each W-237 was black. They had a bulky frame with a stock and a long barrel. On top of each weapon was a scope with night vision capabilities.
After a while of walking down the tunnel, the team entered a large chamber. It was obvious that time had taken a toll on the chamber. Ceiling supports had fallen to the floor. Columns had collapsed. There were plants growing out of the floor and walls. At the other end of the chamber, there was some sort of alter.
After looking around, the team started making its way to the other end of the chamber. Once they were about half way across, something grabbed one of the men and took off. They took defensive positions at the fallen ceiling supports and columns. All the while, they could hear the screams of the man coming from the tunnel. They were frantically looking around using the scopes on the W-237s, trying to see what it was that was attacking them. A minute later, another man went flying across the room and hit the wall, instantly killing him. Then another man screamed and started firing. The flashes from his weapon firing allowed them to see some strange animal right before it sliced the man's head off with its razor-sharp claws. Soon the creature, whatever it was, had picked them off one by one until Gabe and two others were the only ones left. In a desperate attempt to escape, Gabe set off one of the charges they had brought along. The explosion threw the creature away and blew a hole in the wall of the chamber, revealing an entrance to another tunnel. Gabe and the last two members of his squad set off another charge, successfully sealing the hole.
***With Commander Dunn's Team***
Commander Dunn and his team were calmly walking down their tunnel when the temple started to shake, and they began hearing explosions. Worried about Gabe and his squad, Matthew got in touch with Gabe to find out what happened. After hearing the news about Gabe's squad, Matthew decided that it would be best for everyone if they met up. After he finished talking to Gabe, Matthew got in touch with Taylor to inform her of the news and let her know about meeting back up. After he finished talking to Taylor, Matthew and his squad moved out to the set rally point, which was a large chamber-like room ahead of them. They all had their W-237s out in case they ran into the creature that attacked Gabe's squad.
***Half A Hour Later***
After half an hour, all three squads made it to the large chamber. Taylor's squad had lost three men on the way there. As the three squads made their way to the middle of the room, the floor gave way and collapsed. Everyone fell into a chamber like the one they were just in. After regaining their bearing, they were distraught to find five more men were killed in the fall. That left Matthew, Gabe, Taylor, and seven men. After paying their respects and scavenging any supplies they could, the ten of them headed off to the only tunnel leading out of the chamber.
As they made their way down the tunnel, the device they had originally brought to detect the weapon started going off. As they continued down the tunnel, they noticed a light coming from up ahead. The light was coming from a room at the end of the tunnel. They entered the room and found a box sitting in the middle of it. The box was fascinating looking. It was a fiery gold with the symbols of the elements that had been on the statues outside. Each elemental symbol glowed with the color that matched the element. The symbols were fire, ice, light, shadow, lightning, and water.
Commander Dunn told the last seven of their troops to head find their way back out and get the pilots to bring reinforcements. As they left, Matthew, Taylor, and Gabe set up defenses at the entrance to the room. Matthew was extremely curious about the box. 'This can't be the so-called weapon we're supposed to be retrieving,' Matthew thought. "Well Matthew, you were right" Taylor said. "Oh? About what?" Matthew asked, confused as to what he was right about. "This is turning out to be a long day." Taylor said as she looked over at him. They continued setting up defenses, knowing that those creatures were still out there.
