A Ghost in the Mist Chapter 4: Homecoming
(A/N: Ok, so no excuses this time. I really messed up my schedule and on top of that I came down with a really bad case of writer's block. Yeah, I guess those were excuses. But I'm back on track now, more or less. Don't worry, I haven't given up on this story, we are not on hiatus! I repeat the hiatus is not real. Anyway, I know this chapter is a bit busy, but it's kind of necessary so I can start writing the alternate story. I hope you guys enjoy!)
It was his favorite time of the day, the sun was nearing the tip of the horizon as a refreshing breeze wafted through the deserted streets of San Diego. He ran a hand through his hair, now covered in dust and the occasional blood spatter. The trail of bodies ran cold a little while back, but Ren continued his trek toward downtown, now following tractor tracks instead. They all seemed to convene near the bay, towards the baseball stadium. He could make out smoke in the distance around the area, a good sign that he wasn't far off the mark. The city itself was what he would come to expect: burnt, smashed, and deserted. Ok, maybe not deserted. He had come with the expectation of being by a large fed force. He shrugged off his minor disappointment as he continued toward the stadium. What he couldn't shake was the feeling of dread that continued to snowball as he moved toward the stadium. His mother had taught him that feelings could be dangerous and distracting for a spy. Soldiers had to leave their emotions off the battlefield and then pick them back up in the barracks, but spies had to carry them around in a blast-proof safe.
"Screw keeping my feelings in a safe, this city is just flat out depressing." Ren climbed over another burnt out car as he continued down the main boulevard. It was the same nearly everywhere in California, hit harder than anywhere from ODIN, but this was Ren's first time seeing the devastation firsthand. It was certainly sobering, but affirmed to Ren the importance of his mission. His steps quickened as he approached the stadium, the closer he got the more smoke and fire there was. He turned the corner of the street toward the entrance of the stadium and saw quite the fiery mess. Burnt bodies and blown trucks littered the road up to the gate, the gate itself was blocked by rubble from the upper arch of the stadium and looked impassable.
"They certainly did a good clean up job, except they still left quite a big mess. Nothing I can't maneuver around." Ren thought with a smirk as he took his hook shot. He spotted a landing above the cracked face of the Tsunami's logo and fired, the grapple whizzing through the air before hitting the concrete ceiling. He felt the gun begin to retract the line and he leapt into the air, he curled his body, bringing his knees close to his head, as the grapple detached from the ceiling, and landed without making a sound. He slipped his hook shot back into holster and padded his legs from the dust that stuck to him as he landed before taking a good look around the balcony. The balcony was a mess, papers left scattered about, tables and chairs were flipped and taken apart, the wood missing from the table tops and the chair handles. Probably for scrap, Ren concluded, the Federation never really got a proper foot hold until after a year or two post ODIN, during that time resources became scarce as the US prepped for an all-out assault, there wasn't even time for rebuilding, only evacuation. He switched his focus to center field, as he walked slowly across the other side of the room. Down on center field was a federation camp, or what remained of it. The field was littered with dead soldiers and blown cars, but there were some left over soldiers. Ren took out a pair of binoculars from his tactical bag to get a better look. There was no effort to recover the dead, it looked like the soldiers were in a hurry, quickly bagging supplies and piling them in the few trucks that were unscathed.
"I wonder if they got their man? Well as long as I'm here it couldn't hurt to take a look around." Ren took out his PDA, flipping it open. He texted his coordinates and sent a request for extraction. Once that was done he closed his PDA and pulled out his newly acquired AK-12 from its sling. He spun around and walked to the door, which was located diagonally from where he first landed. He took a second to listen for any footsteps or chatter from any soldiers before he opened the door. He was on the second floor proper, the actual solid, landing instead of a walkway that was between the first and second floors. The first floor, he made out, was the concession area. There were dead feds along the kiosks and hot dog stands, some look like they were killed with a clean gun shot, while others look like they've were butchered. Ren descended to the first floor, each step marked with caution and hesitation. He took a closer look at some of the more gruesome corpses. He could make out bite marks along their neck and near their faces. A dog? It's possible, the US definitely has K9's at their disposal to assist their troops. But investigating cause of death for fed soldiers wasn't his priority. He stood up and scanned the area, there were signs of a battle everywhere he looked but he had to start somewhere. He traced his steps back to where he started, his instincts directing his steps back in front of the door of the balcony. He kept on walking, finding himself ascending the stairs to the third floor, near the VIP box. The door was ajar, the air smelled of gun powder. Ren ducked near the door, AK-12 at the ready, before he busted through the door. He scanned the room, not failing to notice the dead feds all around him. He scoffed, very much impressed with the handy work done. There was a large, gaping hole with a view of the entire field. Ren crept to the edge, trying to make out any significant change in pattern. Most of the soldiers had left, Ren seeing a truck speed off through a make shift gate on the other side of the stadium, but there were still a number of feds left. There was smoke nearby to his left, an area of the stands looked like it was blown apart by a couple large explosions. On the upper deck he could make out some dead feds carrying RPG's.
"They went down huh? That looks like a fun drop, but I think I have something better in mind." He took out his hook shot and fired right below the upper deck and glided slowly to the loading area below.
-A Ghost in the Mist-
"Dad! Where are you?! Give us a sign!" Logan and Hesh had landed in the middle of the chaos, in the middle of the battle between an enormous Federation force with their guns pointed right at Fort Santa Monica. They had fought hard through the streets, to one of their command posts, where they held out taking out wave after wave of soldiers on the beach. Both of them never letting the enemy gain any ground, both of them always having each other's back. When it seemed that they had won a small victory they were blown out by a strike from the Fed's carriers off shore. The missile tossing both brothers into the trenches on the beach.
Logan shook his head trying to clear the ringing in his ears, had he blacked out for a moment? Hesh was right there by his side already on his feet, urging him to move forward. Logan was quick to get back on his feet. He quickly found a free SA-805 assault rifle from a nearby supply drop and took the lead pushing back the feds. The feds had their sights set on taking the command, but they first had to deal with the drone towers. The drones had taken out their major invasion force, including their tanks and hover crafts. Logan knew that their best chance of winning this fight is for those drone towers to stay standing.
"Drone Control's defensive teams are reporting massive causalities and need assistance." Logan heart dropped a little when they heard the
"Roger that! Patch me through!" Hesh said.
"We're surrounded on all sides! What's your ETA?" Hesh could make out the tower from their position. They were close, so close, but they still had a huge wave of feds closing in around their location and some heavy weaponry they had to deal with first.
"We're moving through the trenches! Hang tight, we'll get there!" Hesh yelled, quickly shooting two more feds hiding around the corner. Logan followed up by tossing a concussion grenade their way to distract any nearby feds. A loud hum to their left stopped the pair dead in their tracks, Logan swiftly motioned for Hesh to duck, the noise encroaching all around them soon evolving into a roar. It was a hover craft and it was about to pass right above them. It's chaos for a moment, the propeller merely feet above them, but they were safe. After the craft passes without incident, and they pick up their pace. They can make out a huge confrontation at the front of the tower, a mob of feds quickly closing in on the tower's main entrance.
"Logan! Use the drones to give us some cover!" Logan begins picking his targets, he saw a tank about to bear down on their position. He signaled the drones to focus their fire on the tank before quickly grabbing his brother's shoulder, drawing his attention to what he was seeing.
"We gotta move! Hurry we need to breach the tower!" Logan could see the drones overhead as he and Hesh ran for the tower. The explosion he saw signaled their freedom of being run over by a tank. Hesh and Logan drew their guns and took down every fed soldier that was trying to breach the tower. Just then, they heard an explosion above that made Logan's heart sink to his stomach. Both of their drones had been hit, Hesh and Logan both seeing the planes fall out of the sky and crash into the trenches near the shore, their hopes of winning the battle consumed within its flames.
"Command! Drones are down! We're moving to evac the injured." The comm units were buzzing with static, the last thing they needed was a communication blackout.
"All units this is Command. A10 Drone Support is now offline. Fall back to secondary defensive positions. I repeat all units retreat from the beach."
"Come on! Move!" Hesh took the lead again as they ran through the beach, now in full retreat. The federation knew they had won the fight, but they were hell bent in leaving no survivors, their increased barrage of mortars seemed to prove that point. Hesh dodged a couple of explosions, his brother doing the same as more mortars landed around them. The sand soon became pavement as they made it to the streets of Fort Santa Monica. The feds were already dropping off soldiers to secure the city, but Logan and Hesh had no intention of letting them find their father first.
"Dad's place is down the next street! Hurry! There's Riley! Riley, c'mon boy! Enemies! End of the street!" Logan tagged his brother as they ran down the street. A pair of fed choppers were flying overhead, loaded with fed troops and prepped for a drop. Logan took a couple of long shots, none hitting their targets. Logan steadied his breathing, mentally cursing for his impulse, they had to focus on finding their father. He reloaded his gun, he was running low on ammo so the next couple of rounds had to count. All around them the brothers heard the shouts of their fellow soldiers, some were victorious and others were agony-filled as they pushed back the federation. A familiar bark caught Logan's attention as he saw Riley running to meet them. Hesh chucked briefly as he gave Riley a well-earned pat on the head, the dog seemed as desperate as they were to find their father. They ran for what seemed an eternity until they reached the burning building that was once the HQ. Without hesitation Logan followed Hesh into the inferno, their dad just couldn't be dead, they had survived the fires of ODIN, this was nothing.
They pushed through the rubble, the fire inside raged, the beams of the walls now visible in the flickering flame were beginning to melt under the intense heat.
"Elias?! Dad?! Up the stairs!" Logan's right behind his brother as run up the stairs plowing through the collapsing building right into what was the command center. It was only yesterday that they were welcomed by relieved Elias, right here when that relief changed to urgency as he briefed them about No Man's Land, and now right here where they last knew their father stood, alive.
"We need to make sure Dad got out!" Hesh turned swiftly his eyes circling the room, looking for a possible escape route their dad may have used. He spotted some collapsed beams and beyond a door that led to the kitchen and balcony.
"Here see if you can crawl under this!" He grabs a hold of one of the beams and with some effort creates a small opening. Logan ducks and manages to make it across before Hesh's grip fails causing more rubble to pile on from the ceiling.
"Shit! I can't get through! Just go upstairs and look for dad! I'll see if I can find another way around!" Hesh's and Riley's silhouettes disappear in the smoke leaving Logan and an open door. He took it, quickly climbing up the stairs. He sees another door slightly ajar, if his memory serves him this was the door that led to the small kitchen area and the small briefing table. As he slowly opened the door, the door was forced back rapidly hitting Logan in the face. He recovered in seconds, only to come face to face with a fed soldier. Logan doesn't even have time to register the shock or ready his gun, he's picked up and flung like a rag doll to the wall and lands with a resounding thud. Panic begins to set in, the fed looming above him draws out his combat knife but before he moves in for the kill Logan hears a bark that raises his hopes but at the same time drives his fear. Riley bursts through the door and immediately lunges for the fed soldier, but his reflexes were better and knocks Riley out of the air. Logan hears Riley's whimper, summoning all of his anger to try to fight the soldier on top of him but is stopped by a knife. It wasn't for his own reflexes the fed's blade would have already carved him inside out, but he's gripping the knife and fed's hand with all of his might. He could feel a sting and searing burn as the blade nears his chest and finally manages to cut skin. He could feel his strength begin to leave him-
"Logan!" Hesh fires his rifle and hits the fed point blank before he could finish off Logan. Hesh pushes the dead fed aside and immediately checks Logan.
"Shit! You're bleeding! It looks worse than it is. You're going to be ok." Hesh checks over the wound, he rips off a piece of a piece of Logan's shirt and turns it to makeshift gauze trying to clean it. The building quivers, threatening to give way, Hesh needed to move Logan and move him now. Riley barks a warning as the roof above their heads caves, but instead of debris it's two soldiers swooping down from a helicopter, Logan immediately recognizes Keegan but it's an unknown ghost who reaches him first.
"Dad?"
His vision blurs a bit, he couldn't have been losing that much blood, maybe the fatigue of the last two days has finally caught up with his injuries. He feels his body being lifted off the ground and soon airborne, they must be boarding the helicopter. He hears someone barking orders, he barely registers someone asking Hesh if he was okay. Hesh shouting is what brings him back to reality. He's sits up taking in his surroundings, sensing the commotion not too far from where he's siting.
"Hey, we're not going anywhere!" Hesh yells punching one of the helicopter doors.
"Hey calm down kid!" At this point Logan could see that the older captain has had enough and shoves Hesh against the wall next to him.
"Hey! We just save your asses!" Merrick shouts, Hesh pushes Merrick back. Oh this is gonna turn into a brawl isn't it? Logan huffed in annoyance and braced himself for a fist fight, where was there dad in all of this? He hoped that he'd just give up the ghost and take off his mask already.
"We didn't need your help!" Hesh retaliates, or tries to anyway before Merrick shoves him down firmly taking a seat next to me. He meets Hesh at eye level before taking off his mask, trying to make his point clear.
"The hell you didn't!" He yells back, Logan spots the only masked ghost swiftly make his way between the two fired up men, placing a hand on each of them creating space.
"Stow it all of you!" he shouts, establishing some peace in the helicopter. Logan lets out a sigh of relief, their dad had impeccable timing when it came to stopping two soldiers from giving each a black eye. Now that he's has some more space, Hesh stands freely and faces the ghost.
"We have to go back! Our dad's back there and we're not leaving without him!" Hesh's voice is full of concern, echoing their earlier frenzy on the battlefield.
"That's very admirable of you. But your father's not there anymore." It was a direct statement and stoic, Hesh's head sunk in defeat. That's when the ghost brought his hand to his face and removed his mask.
"Dad! This whole time you were one of them. You're a Ghost?!" Hesh said in a volatile mixture of surprise, relief, and a bit of hurt.
Oh come on Hesh, you didn't see it in his eyes? That was definitely Dad who saved our butts back there. As snarky as he sounded Logan was just as relieved as Hesh that their dad was alright, though he wished his brother was a tad more observant.
"Try the Ghost! That's your commanding officer!" With that Merrick felt it was best to give the family a bit of space and he rejoined Keegan near the cockpit. Elia's eyes were reminiscent of yesterday, once again quickly getting a quick scan over his boys. Logan got up and stood side by side Hesh ready for whatever explanation their father was about to give them.
"You boys had no idea how hard this was for me. But once I make a choice, there's no turning back. You and your brother still have a lot to learn but you passed all of your tests." A small smile forms on his lips as he lays a hand on Hesh's and Logan's shoulder.
"Welcome to the Ghosts." Hesh breaks out in a full grin, one that Logan reflects eagerly. They had done it, they had fulfilled their childhood dream and became Ghosts.
"We're ready. We won't let you down." He shoots their dad a smile before sending Logan a grin as well. Logan mirrored Hesh's smile and returned their father's smile.
"There's no way you ever could. I'm proud of you. Both of you." Elias chuckles a bit and releases their shoulders. Merrick, at some point, joins the trio, and Logan could sense that he was ready to rain on their parade.
"That's all good, but what the hell are we gonna do about Rorke?" Yep, he called it, party's over.
"Rorke? That's the guy hunting the Ghosts right?" Hesh asks as Elias moves to one of the helicopter's port holes, swinging an arm above as he glances over the moving landscape.
"Yeah. He's good, very good. And he know's how we operate." He sighs, his gaze seemed to glaze over for a second as if he was fighting back a memory.
"How's that possible?" Hesh asks.
"He was one of us." Elias's voice was stern, solid. He stated a fact, but with many answers came a lot more questions. Hesh took a step back, perplexed that the there was a traitor among the Ghosts. Elias walked back to the cockpit to give a sitrep, leaving Hesh and Logan on a cliff-hanger. Hesh wanted the whole story, what had happened that turned Rorke against the Ghosts. But, he knew he'd those answers soon. They had one hell of a day, first they'd regroup and get some rest, after that they'd make their next move.
-A Ghost in the Mist-
Ren brought a hand up to his face, covering his nose at the strong smell of pepper spray that was super concentrated and clung to the walls on the Tsunami's locker room. Almost every step he took was splattered with blood, and almost every other step he took he saw another body. He was getting warmer. The sound of some feds up ahead sends Ren into alert mode.
"About high time they started picking up after themselves." He turned the corner and saw a small patrol in hazmat suites, they were disposing of dead feds in body bags and from what Ren could gather from their hushed tone trying to re-secure the stadium. He crept silently, hiding behind a trash bin as they moved out, body bags in toe. There were a lot of bodies, in other words they'd be back, soon. He had to hurry while the coast was clear. Further down the corridor he spotted the entrance of the main locker room, blocked by rubble. He debated about whether he had enough time to blow the rubble away, but then again this was supposed to be a stealth operation. It wasn't worth the risk, especially since he couldn't scout their numbers beforehand. A faint glimmer grabbed his attention, there was an opening to his right and on the ground was a dying flare. He ignored it and another set of double doors that were slightly ajar. His anticipation was building on a fever pitch, his objective, he could sense, was so close. He crouched near the doors, taking a minute to listen for any movement. The silence worried him a bit, he didn't know whether he'd find a room of dead US soldiers or whether it'd just be empty. He hoped for the latter, he hoped that they had rescued their hostage. He readied his gun, and burst the door, swiftly waiving his gun across the room until he was certain the area was clear. More dead feds, certainly an encouraging sign. He saw an inner room further in the back, dark and menacing, tempting all at once. He took out an ear-light from his tactical bag and wore it before turning it on. He moved slowly, scanning the outside of the room before swiftly entering, ready for an ambush of feds. His heart dropped at the sight of blood, a large puddle near a seat that itself had taken a lot of torture, how much more did the soldier sitting here take? Next to the chair was bloodied baseball bat and the car battery, yeah typical fed tactics, simple but effective. No body to be found, perhaps they had gotten out? Ren hoped that was the case. He scanned the perimeter of the room. Something caught his attention, near the back of the room, almost tucked away from view in the darkness. He walked closer, until he stopped in front of said corner. On the wall were pictures of soldiers connected by red cord, some of the soldier's faces had been crossed out by a red x, others were marked with a white question mark. He had found the Ghosts, or what remained of them. Below the board there were piles and piles of papers scattered on a desk, they were past missions and briefs that the Ghosts had done, each was stamped with a Top Secret security notice.
"Huh? Sloppy. Leaving intel scattered like this, not that I'm complaining. But how in the world did the feds get a hold of these?" Pushing aside his question and the urge to read through all of the reports at that moment, Ren searched for something to stuff everything from the wall and the desk to bring back home with him. By luck, he found a metallic brief case close to one of the lockers, probably what they used to bring those files to begin with. Quickly thanking the feds for their lack of consideration, he gathered as much as he could, organizing what he could before he closed and locked the brief case. He kept his gun close, and began retracing his steps until he caught view of the field. The feds that were there earlier were heading out, quickly packing whatever guns and ammo they could find and driving out of the field in their trucks. Ren picked a spot and hid, keeping a close eye on the field until it was clear. The extraction point was just outside of Downtown and he didn't want to be late. He took out his hookshot and fired the grapple toward the top of dome. He flew into the air, retracting the grapple as he landed. He fired the gun again as he descended down toward street level, controlling his descent as he landed with small thud. He returned his hookshot back into its holster and began the walk toward the extraction point. Ren sighed, this by far had been one of his longest surveyor missions. He was ready for a hot shower and some good food when he got back to Hong Kong. He glanced down at the brief case he was carrying. It certainly wasn't easy, but he could call this mission a success.