"White Friday"

Day 1 - 7:21:32

Alpha 0-1

Alpha Team

The Knee, Boiling Isles

—-

The cold that the residents of Bonesborough dealt with early in the morning was nothing compared to the cold one would find deep in the frozen forest of The Knee. A frozen tundra covered in snow and ice, not a hint of brown or green found as everything was covered in white. Not many ventured into these woods, as if it wasn't the cold that scared them off, it was the creatures which lurked deep inside that did. Five individuals, however, were more than willing to brace the cold, and found themselves on a cliff overlooking a clearing, the remains of a campfire closeby. These five were clones created by Kevin, given the name Alpha Team.

"It's fucking freezing out here," one clone, Alpha 0-5, otherwise known as Alpha 5 or just A5, groaned loudly as he blew on his hands and rubbed them, trying to warm them in the ever so steadily dropping temperature.

"I told you to bring proper equipment, but nooooo, you were too busy with target practice," Alpha 0-3 chastised matter-of-factly as he huddled in-on himself, wearing the proper gear and thus not as affected by the cold compared to his teammate. Don't get him wrong, A3 was still freezing, but not as bad as his counterpart.

The team of clones were wearing snow camouflage in order to better blend in with their surroundings. From their jackets to their shoes and even to their weapons, everything was a snowy white. Alpha 0-3 was decked out in several layers of warmth, considerably more thanhis teammate..

"Yo 1, what the hell is taking so long?" Alpha 0-4 asked their leader, Alpha 0-1, as he knelt near the edge, watching the valley.

"Cut the chatter, complaining isn't doing anything other than giving me a headache. I'll phone in to base," Alpha 0-1 barked at the others before grabbing his SAT phone and calling base. "Command, this is Alpha 0-1, we're in position and are waiting for the greenlight. Do you read me? Over."

"Coming in loud and clear Alpha 0-1, this is Command speaking. Still waiting on that greenlight. Just a recap on your mission first. One of the witches we captured and interrogated had some good intel for once. Four klicks from your position is a compound created by Hunter, apparently he's using it to experiment on the local flora and fauna and on ice magic. In the compound there's a room with a crystal ball, I'll mark the room on the compound map I'm about to send to you. You and your team are to infiltrate the compound, get to the crystal ball, hack it and get all the data off of it, and head to extraction without raising any alarms or killing any witches. Your weapons have been heavily modified, instead of bullets they now use sleep darts and are powered by compressed air instead of combustion. Snipers won't be effective at long range due to this, that's why you'll have to use a bit of bending to make make up for it. Any other questions? Over."

"Roger. Get in, find the room, get the data, get to extraction, sounds simple enough. Do we have any support in case things go south? Over."

"We have air support ready in case of an emergency, but we've only got one shot so it's best to try and do this quietly. I'm uploading the map now and then I'll see about that greenlight. Over."

"Roger. Over," Alpha 0-1 said before fiddling with his watch on his left wrist and turning to the others. "Listen up, here's the mission," he said before tapping a button, causing a holographic map to appear from his watch. "This is our target, a compound Hunter has constructed four klicks from our position. We're to infiltrate this compound without killing any witches, get to this room marked on the map-" he zoomed in and pointed to a room marked with a red light. "-hack the crystal ball, get all the data off of it, and then head to exfil. Any questions?"

"What's the data we're going after?" Alpha 0-2 asked, taking notes.

"Currently unknown, but Prime wants it so that means we're gonna get it. Any intel we can get on Hunter and his plans is better than no intel at all," Alpha 0-1 said before his SAT phone crackled to life. "Alpha 0-1 here, over."

"Alpha Team, come in Alpha Team. Overlord has given the greenlight. Your mission is a go, I repeat your mission is a go. Good luck and happy hunting. Over."

"Roger that Command. Over and out." Alpha 0-1 hung up after that and turned to address the team. "We've been given the greenlight, A2 and A3 are with me, grab your gear and hook-up to your ropes. A4 and A5, you'll provide us with sniper support from the ridge. Our weapons are modified with compressed air, so you'll have to use bending to make them effective. Make every shot count," Alpha 0-1 ordered as he too grabbed his gear before hooking up to his rope. A2 and A3 followed, grabbing their respective gear before hooking up to their own ropes; the three clones started rappelling down the side of the cliff. A4 stomped out their fire and covered it with snow, hiding their traces as A5 grabbed his gear; once the others made it to the bottom, the two followed close behind on the ridge.

"Alpha 0-4 and Alpha 0-5 come in. Do you read me? Do you have eyes on us? Over."

"Coming in loud and clear boss, and yes we have eyes on you. Trees are making it a pain but we're managing. Over."

"Roger. Keep up with us and try scanning the area ahead for any witches. Over."

"This intel better be worth it. Fucking hate the cold," Alpha 0-5 grumbled over the radio.

"Cut the chatter and keep the comms clear. You can bitch and moan once the mission is finished," Alpha 0-1 snapped at Alpha 0-5, causing some of the others to snicker.

"Boss I have eyes on two tangos north of your position, they seem to be patrolling. They're next to a fallen tree, do you have eyes on them? Over," Alpha 0-4's voice whispered into the ears of the others. The three below slowed their movements, opting to hide behind separate trees before peeking around them, indeed seeing two cloaked witches walking near a fallen tree.

"Roger, we see 'em. Moving in to engage, keep your eyes peeled for any more," Alpha 0-1 said into his comm. He gestured for Alpha 0-2 to move up with him, with Alpha 0-3 staying in the rear just in case. A1 and A2 moved up, slow but just fast enough to get closer to the witches. They hid behind more trees, the witches roughly 30 feet away from them. "I'll get the one on the left, you get the right one. On three. One…two…three."

With their timing synched they fired, the needles ripping through the witches clothing and piercing their necks. The two witches fell to the snowy ground, unconscious. Alpha 0-1 gestured for Alpha 0-2 to move in with him, the two slowly moving towards the bodies before grabbing them by their cowls and dragging the unconscious witches away, dumping them right next to the fallen tree and covering their bodies with snow. Alpha 0-3 followed behind, covering their tracks with the snow as they moved through the forest.

"What do you think we'll find when we get to the objective?" Alpha 0-5 asked over the comms.

"Witches, witches, annnd more witches, if I had to guess," A2 said matter-of-factly, trying to make it sound more like a joke to try and lighten the mood.

"Bloody fucking smartass," A5 growled.

"Speaking of witches, there's a group heading your way as we speak. I'm counting five; no wait, six. Six witches are heading your way," Alpha 0-4 informed over the comms. "You may be able to hide from them. What are we doing A1? Are we taking them out or letting them pass?"

Alpha 0-1 gestured for the other two to stop and hide behind trees, then peeked around the bark and with his scope surveyed the area in front of them. Indeed there were six witches heading their way, four in the front with two trailing close behind them. It was a large group heading straight towards them, they were close and could easily spot them if they tried switching cover or retreating to distance themselves. Not to mention that the ground of The Knee was tricky and magical, meaning they couldn't bend their way down and away. No, they'd have to take them out.

"We're stuck between a rock and hard place, we're on a deadline and they'd be able to spot any movements we make. We have to take them out. A4 you get the back left, A5 you get the back right, A2 you get the one furthest to the left in the front, A3 you get the one next to them, and I'll get the two on the right. On three. One…two…three."

Like clockwork the team struck as one, their snipers shooting and with the aid of some air bending, took out the two in the back. The four witches turned in surprise as their friends fell to the ground, but were unable to do much as they would join them soon enough. The rest took their targets out as ordered, with Alpha 0-1 taking down his two with ease; they watched as the remaining four fell to the ground like the others had before. Once they were sure the witches were unconscious, and there were none others in sight, they moved forward as a unit. They expected to grab the witches and hide them like the two before, but instead A1 continued walking over them.

"Sir? What about the witches?"

"Leave them, we only have so much time to get this done and head to the exfil point. We keep pushing forward, understand?"

"Ah so we're at the 'fuck it, we ball' part of the mission. Got here a lot faster than I expected," A2 joked as he and the others jumped down a small incline, landing in a snowbank before proceeding on foot.

"Sir, we have eyes on the compound, currently setting up overwatch. Over," A4 informed his comrades from the cliff top. It was a rather large building hidden beneath the tall snow covered trees, two stories tall and made of metal with limited windows, probably designed that way to decrease the chances of being attacked and the number of ways an enemy could get in and out. The surprising thing was, when looked at from a certain angle, the metallic walls turned from silver to white, which made it blend in well with the snow. It's possible that was the reason this facility was never spotted from their flight patrols, the thing had literal camouflage.

"Roger that A4, we have eyes on as well." A1 looked through the scope of his rifle, getting a better view of the building, namely the entrance they'd be entering through. A pink mass of flesh was stretched out of a hole above the door, a singular giant eyeball was scanning the area for intruders; it reminded A1 of Hooty. "Some type of living security camera is flopping around above the door. We gotta take it out. A2 create a distraction, bend some snow into the air and create a miniature blizzard and I'll knock it out."

Alpha 0-2 did as he was ordered, holstering his weapon over his shoulder before readying himself. With a flick of his hands the snow from the ground rose in a miniature blizzard, completely obscuring the camera's view of the outside world and cutting off the view of anyone watching it. Alpha 0-1 aimed and fired, using some bending and forcing the dart through the snow and into the fleshy mass, causing it to go limp and unconscious. With the camera down they moved on the door, with A1 and A2 standing on each side of the door frame as A3 approached the center. There was just enough space underneath for him to slip through a borescope camera, a tiny camera often referred to as a 'snake camera', that could be slipped into small cracks to peer on the other side. Once the device was alive and active, A3 stared at the screen as it received the feedback from the camera. He was met with a corridor which led into a hallway and took control, peering to the left and to the right, finding no witches at either end.

"Clear, no witch in sight," he informed before taking the camera out and putting it back into his bag. His eyes drifted towards a device of sorts to the left of the door, with several different numbered buttons, ranging from zero to nine on it. He reached into his pack and pulled out a neatly folded piece of paper and opened it, revealing a sequence of numbers. He punched in the code number by number before pressing a solid green button on the bottom right. Several seconds passed as they held their breaths, before sighing in relief at a small 'ding' sound that could be heard; the door suddenly popped opened slightly, allowing them to enter freely. "We've gained access, keep an eye out and let us know if anything changes out here. Be ready to run if things go south. Over."

"Roger that sir, good luck you three. Over."

With that, the three slowly opened the door and moved into the building slowly, hugging the walls of the corridor hallway and edging closer to the hallway, before stopping near the end. A1 raised his hand and pointed towards the hallway, causing A2 to reach back into his bag and pull out the snake cam. He poked the camera around the side and watched a witch walking down the hallway towards them, as an added bonus, there was no fleshy camera watching this hallway.

"One tango, 10 seconds til contact," A2 said as he pulled the camera back.

Alpha 0-1 nodded and stood up, still hugging the wall and listening closely to the approaching footsteps as he clipped the holster to his pistol. Upon the first sight of the witch the lead clone acted, reaching out and grabbing the witch by their clothing around their chest and pulling them into the corridor. A1 grabbed his pistol and pressed right against the witches neck before firing, the needle pierced the skin and rendered them unconscious in the clone's arms. A1 tossed the witch to the side before waving his hand twice, causing A2 to move around the corner with his weapon raised and down the hall; with another wave A3 followed suit, with A1 covering the rear.

They were slow, methodical in their approach, moving silently in order to listen for hints that a witch was up ahead. They got to another corner and stopped as A2 pulled out his camera and aimed it around the corner and down the new hall. To their left was a staircase they'd have to go up, and down the hall were two witches conversing with one another, with another one of those fleshy cameras wiggling above them.

"Two witches and another 'camera' down the hall. The staircase is to our left about halfway through, no way we can sneak past without getting caught," A2 relayed back to his brothers before pulling his camera back. "What do we do?"

"We each take a target and rush to hide the bodies before that camera comes back on. It's bad outside, we can only hope whoever watches the cams will think the weather is interfering with the magic in this place," A1 said. "I'll aim for the camera, you two aim for the witches. I'll shoot first, if we aim this just right, I can knock out the camera a split second before you two knock out the witches. On my mark. Three… two… one!"

A1 fired first, with A2 and A3 shooting mere nanoseconds afterwards. As the darts flew down the hall the three clones boosted them with a bit of wind, launching them faster and further than before. The first dart struck the fleshy camera right near its base, causing it to fall and go limp. The two witches let out noises of surprise as the darts pierced their necks, dropping them to the ground. The clones rushed forward, with A2 and A3 grabbing and dragging the witches as A1 opened a nearby door, finding a broom closet. They threw the witches inside before turning and moving up the staircase slowly, watching their corners as they advanced up to make sure no witches were coming down. They stopped just short of the second floor and to allow A2 to fish out his camera just as the other times before. A2 extended the cord forward, managing to get it around the corner and watching the hallway. From the left to the right there was nothing, no witch nor camera in sight.

"Clear," A2 informed the others as A1 checked the map.

"Two doors down to the right is our objective. Command has sent us a new code for that door, let's move up and try it out. Cover me," Alpha 0-1 ordered as he took lead, with the two others following close behind. True to Alpha 0-2's word the hallway was completely empty, allowing the clones quick and easy access to the door. Their leader typed in the code before hearing a small 'ding' as the door opened, allowing them entry before Alpha 0-1 closed it behind them.

The room was rather standard and bland, littered with different types of magic powered devices and machines. What they did the clones had no clue, their objective was sitting in the middle of a rather large table in front of them; it was a crystal ball, which was slightly bigger than the 'standard' ones you would see in movies about witches or during halloween as props.

"A2, try getting on that thing and see what you can find. I'll call Command and inform them about our progress," A1 said, causing the 'techy' of the group to nod as he placed his weapon and bag on the table.

"Might take me a minute or two, witch tech is more… finicky, compared to human ones." A2 cracked his knuckles before swiping a thumb across the ball, turning it on and bringing it to life.

"Command, Command come in, do you copy, over?" A1 asked only to receive static on the other end. "Command! We reached our objective, do you read me, over?" again, nothing but static. "Goddammit, comms are out. Must be bad outside."

"Hmm… don't you guys think this was a bit too easy, even for us?" A3 asked, a sense of dread forming in the pit of his stomach.

"You can be paranoid later, I've gotten something." Alpha 0-2 plugged something into the crystal ball as he started transferring the data he's found.

"Any good?"

"Looks like… suppliers? Like witches who have been donating snails, witches, and more to Hunter's cause. Huh, guess Belos had some supporters in high places."

"Grab everything that you can and hurry, I wanna be out of this place within the next three minutes."

Almost as if on cue, an alarm started to ring overhead and throughout the entire facility, causing the clones to jump. The door behind them suddenly had a metal wall rising from the ground and cutting off their main means of escape. As if all that wasn't bad enough, the crystal suddenly cracked down the middle and split apart, falling to either of its sides before A2 could gather the rest of the data.

"What'd you do?"

"Nothing! I was just transferring data and this bullshit happened!"

"I told you two this was too easy! This is a trap!" A3 shouted at his team before they started hearing heavy boots running up and down throughout the facility.

"Fuck it, we're going with plan B. We can't afford to lose what we have," Alpha 0-1 growled as he and A3 reached into their bags as A2 got his stuff together. Walking towards the wall across from the door they clones placed several small devices before backing up and crouching behind the table. As Alpha 0-1 grabbed a remote, he and his counterparts nodded to one another before he pressed it. The facility was rocked by a violent explosion as the wall seemed to evaporate, leaving a giant hole for them to escape through. The three clones jumped through the hole and landed softly in the snow before they started to run away.

"Wait for us!"A voice shouted from behind, causing the three to turn and watch as A4 and A5 ran towards them; the two had grappled down the mountain the second the explosion went off. "We tried warning you but our comms were cut off! We were waiting until several squads of witches pulled up to the warehouse. There's probably at least 60 or so inside!"

A sudden bolt of lightning flew past the team and struck a tree, leaving a gaping hole in its side and causing it to tumble over. The team turned and saw a large sum of witches chasing after them, most on foot but a few were flying thanks to their staffs. A3, A4, and A5 started to fire back as A1 brought out his SAT phone.

"Command? Command! We have a situation here!"

"Coming in loud and clear Alpha 0-1. What situation? Over."

"We've been compromised and are being chased down a mountain! We need immediate extraction and airsupport!" Alpha 0-1 shouted as he and the others took cover behind several trees. As the enemy rained down their attacks on them, the clones would pop in and out of cover to fire off shots.

"Roger that Alpha 0-1, air support's ETA is three mikes. Over."

"Goddammit, we won't be able to last that long!" He shouted before the battle, only for a bolt of lightning to zip through the tree and right past his head. A growl escaped the clone as he placed his SAT away and joined his brothers in the fight, popping out of cover and managing to down two of their flyers.

One 'flyer' got past the shots and overhead of the clones before using their staff to aim down at them. Fire circled the top half like a snake before it was fired down towards the team, it was A2 who noticed it just in time. Alpha 0-2 rose from his spot and raised his hands upwards, sparks dancing across his palms as fire shot forth and met the witches attack head on. It was a stalemate of power as the fire mixed with one another midair, with neither side letting up as they put everything they had into their attacks. It was A3 who came to the rescue, the third clone raised his hands and did a swatting motion, causing snow from the ground to rise and smack the witch into a nearby tree, knocking them out.

"Running low over here," A4 warned as he counted his shots. No matter how many witches they put down, more always seemed to come.

"Same, not gonna be able to last much longer. We need to resort to more… extreme means," A5 said, his hand itching to reach for his knife.

"We'll be fine! Just keep holding out until air support arrives!" A1 tried his best to reassure his team that everything would be okay, that they'd make it out alive.

With the timing only capable of the gods, help finally did arrive in the nick of time. From the sky a green and yellow rocket suddenly smashed into the clearing between the witches and the clones, but more so near the witches. The fighting stopped as the witches looked towards one another in confusion before jumping as the top of the rocket suddenly opened, revealing two little eyes that blinked at them. It was creepy but also… rather endearing, cute even, which made a handful of witches awe reflexively. What they didn't expect was for the eyes to scowl as the rocket's middle section opened…

Revealing a ticking time bomb strapped to its chest. It had but just three seconds left… two…

"You've gotta be fucking—"

BOOM!

An explosion of pure devastating destruction rocked the area to its core, sending snow, trees, and witches flying back with world shattering thuds and cracks. As the mountain shook, so did the snow above, the explosion causing a sudden avalanche that barreled down upon the two sides. Screams shouts overtook the separate groups as they were caught in the tsunami of snow, causing them to be swept further down the mountain. With the amount of snow constricting them like a deadly cobra, the clones were unable to bend it away or to stop themselves from falling, just as the witches couldn't use their magic to stop it either.

Soon after what felt like eternity the snow from the avalanche met the snow at the base, forming a new layer of fresh powder. Beneath the snow a hand burst forward, and Alpha 0-1 gasped as he dug himself through the cold prison. As he stood up several more hands rose from the ground, prompting him to help his team by lifting them up from the snow.

"Is everyone okay?" A1 asked, getting groans of confirmation from his team. "Good. Let's contact Command and-"

"Freeze!" a voice suddenly shouted, and the team soon found themselves completely surrounded by the witches who survived the blast and avalanche, each pointing a staff glowing with magic at them. "Hands up and weapons down! NOW!"

"What are we gonna do boss?" A2 whispered as the two stood back to back to back, staring down their enemies with anger and malice.

"Two shots left."

"Three."

"Zero."

"We can't give up now, we've come too far." A5 growled, reaching for his knife.

"Don't do anything rash, you know the orders. Put your weapons down," A1 ordered, setting his rifle on the ground and raising his hands. The four others wanted to protest, but orders were orders so they started putting their weapons down, hoping their leader had a trick or two up his sleeve.

"NOW!"

In a voice that didn't belong to Alpha Team, at least 15 more clones covered from head to toe in snow ghillie suits rose from the ground, this time surrounding the witches. They shouted and screamed orders, demanding the witches do as they ordered Alpha Team to do. Finding themselves now the victims of an ambush the witches complied, giving up their staffs before getting to their knees, feeling anti-magic cuffs placed around their arms before being knocked unconscious one by one.

"You're late. We've been waiting here for five minutes," the lead clone of the new group chastised in a friendly manner, causing Alpha 0-1 to scoff and shake his hand.

"Sounds like you're just jealous that Bravo and Charlie didn't get any action, again." A1 grinned before a gust of wind blasted over the clones. The sound of rotors brought them great relief as two large helicopters, Chinook's, descended down upon them.

"Get your asses on board before I shoot you," Bravo 0-1 ordered, semi-jokingly and semi-serious as he walked past Alpha Team. "Charlie Team, get these scum wrangled up and on board. I gotta contact Command."

"Sir!" they shouted before doing as ordered.

"Is the device okay?" B1 asked, causing Alpha 0-2 to shift in his bag and sigh in relief as he pulled out the device which held the data, still in perfect condition. "Command this is Bravo 0-1, Alpha Team has been secured and the device is safe. No casualties on our side, and we're bringing in some new… friends, for Prime to talk to. Over."

"Roger that Bravo 0-1, we'll get the special room ready for them and will call in Prime to look over the data. Good job team, now let's get you home. Over and out."

As Command ended the call the helicopter doors and ramps closed, and the clones could feel themselves rising into the air as they took their seats. Another successful mission in the name of Prime, they were now one step closer to stopping the enemy once for all.

.

.

.

Casualty Report:

Witches: 5

Monsters: 1

Clones: 0

I'M SORRY FOR TAKING SO LONG BUT I CAN EXPLAIN

School, depression, or hyper fixtions taking over my life

BUT WE BACK BABY!

This chapter might seem a bit 'out there' but it won't happen too often. Every other chapter/few chapters it'll be clone stuff, but the majority will be Luz, Kevin, and co doing stuff. It'll make more sense as time goes on dw.

Idk what else to say? Finale was amazing and it's making me change some stuff about the ending of this story. NO SPOILERS!

Join me ext time for some Blight family shenanigans! See ya in chapter 3!