Audio log
Date: 2014/July/21
Recording officer: Dutch Kotozaki
"I thought I left action all behind. But then it comes back, in a roundabout way. I decided to rent part of the house as a way to get some quick cash and meet interesting people. First takers were a pair of university student on a, get this, treasure hunt for some kind of stone that apparently has superpowers. I decided to going along to see if it was true."
Deep breath.
"But when we got there, a group of guys attacked us. They were in gille suits so it was very hard to see them but I should have felt some kind of clue. I'm getting rusty. Got knocked out, woke up on some kind of cell in a vehicle trailer and met some guy that wore a mask and called himself Mask. Explained that they were after the same stone and revealing that my two tenants had magical abilities."
"As if life wasnt weird enough. At least my life."
"After that we got out of trailer and we had a little trek across the base camp. Whoever this guys are, they got some serious funding. I saw stuff I remember only seeing in war zones. They had military-grade scout helicopters and a level 4 biohazard trailer. I haven't saw one of those since the raid of the bio-weapon facility in Chad. Got to a trailer where my two tenants were to be housed and where I was issued my death warrant. Got pulled to the forest."
Another breath.
"Knocked out my executioner. Guy was definitely amateur. My guess is almost all of the people here are the same, hired off the street. Training will likely be minimal to low. The uniform that this guys wear hides their identity. They use voice synthesizers on their radio. It is likely whoever doing this operation don't want to be identified."
"And all this activity is stirring up the nanites. I can almost feel them throughout my body again. Its like they are screaming for me to reactivate them again. Ever since I went back to the camp, they been busy. For the last day or so, the caretakers been sending me system readings. I got to get out of here as fast as possible before anymore activity wakes them."
"One problem at a time now, I guess. Still have to get my two tenants to safety first. They're getting people to go down the hole to go check it out. From what I heard, those two will be there as well. It will be the most unexpected time to rescue them. And I fully intend to."
/End report/
The Hole
12:30
"Team 1 will rappel down first. Once they give the all clear, Team 2 will rappel down with the two packages." The Mask briefed."As of this moment, all unauthorized radio signals are to be turned off. The people allowed are only Team 1, Team 2 and Command. Team 1 at the current moment is down by one man. Any volunteers?"
Dutch immediately stood up."Good. That bring it back up to a nice even number. The rest of you will be set to perimeter duty and other various support activities. Team 1 and Team 2, head to the armory trailers. Dismissed!" The Mask barked.
As the trailer is emptied, Dutch follows Team 1 to another trailer. Inside the trailer, there were gun lockers full of weapons. There were racks of equipment such as helmets and other equipment.
The Team 1 Leader heads to a wall mounted glass locker that had keys inside. He pressed his fore finger on a blue button on the glass locker. The locker beeped, let out a "identify confirmed" and swung open. The Leader grabbed the keys.
He opened the gun lockers using the keys and passed out the weapons stored inside. When Dutch looked at the weapon, a wave of information burst into his mind.
/Classifying...Stand by/
/Identified/
M4A1 (short barreled valiant)
Action:Gas-operated, rotating blot
5.56x45mm
30 round mag
Muzzle velocity:884m/s
Effective range:500m
/Attachment detected/
Holographic red dot reticle sight
/Modification detected/
Left-side charging handle
/Classification complete. Request further info?(Y/N)/
Dutch scans the information quickly and then mentally pushes no. As he processes the implications, he quickly revises the the time table for system activation to a day earlier.
Acting as if nothing happened, he grabs the magazines passed around by the Team Leader and slots them into holding bands in his body armor.
"Alright, just for the rookie, regarding call signs, my call sign is Tier 1 Lagos. Your call sign is Tier 1 delta. Check with your fellow team mates for their call signs. No names." The Team 1 Leader instructed as he passed out helmets to each of the members.(For easy writing, Team 1 Leader will be called Lagos.)
After checking with his fellow team members for their call signs and picking up a backpack of equipment, Dutch and the other members left the trailer for the entrance hole.
At the entrance hole, he saw Maribel and Renko. They were surrounded by the men of Team 2. Their faces were haggard but there was an ember in their eyes. Also in the group was the Mask.
"Are the packages ready?" Lagos asked the the Leader of Team 2.
"As ready as they will ever be."
"Alright, First two, rappel down followed by the next two followed by the next. Once you are all down, clear the area of any problems and give the all-clear then we will send the next team in with the packages. They will handle the rest." The Mask instructed."I'll be in the command trailer to supervise from there."
The ropes were thrown over the dark hole and Lagos and the second member of Team 1 grabbed the rope and started their descend.
"1 meters...3 meters...5 meters...10 meters." Lagos counted before hitting the floor of the chamber. He and the other team member let go of the ropes and turned on the twin flashlights inbuilt into both sides of their helmets before holding position in a defensive circle.
As they scanned the area around them, the next two members feet touched the floor. They quickly released the cables and moved to join in creating the next part of the defensive perimeter.
Dutch and the last member grabbed the rappel cables and went over the edge. As they slowly lowered themselves, Dutch saw a dark green blur that flashed across the darkness. When he focused in on it, only blackness was to be seen.
Finally when the last two members touched the ground, Lagos ordered,"Flares out." One of the team members dug into his own backpack and brought out a flare gun.
He slotted into a magnesium flare and fired high into the darkness. The timed explosive exploded at it's highest point and bought a wave of artificial sunlight onto the room. What they saw was shocking.
They were in a really massive chamber. It was easily 15 meters across from one end of the room to the other. The team was standing a stone platform raised above the ground that took up around half of the room and lead to a stone door. But that was not the shocking part.
On the dark walls of the room were skeletons, some in long rusted armor.
The skeletons were lifted by roots that went through their chests. Big thick roots that went through the ribcage and disappeared back into the soil.
And on the ground around the platform were sharpened bamboo stakes with even more skeletons. The some of the skeletons had broken bones as if someone had bashed them with a sledgehammer into the bamboo.
"My god..." One of the team member whispered.
As the team took in the gruesome sight, a crumble bought the attention of the whole team to a hole in the wall. A couple of rocks fell from the hole but no other movement could be seen.
Lagos turned to his radio and spoke,"Area clear but something could be done about the sight."
"Understood, beginning the descend."
As the members of Team 2 begun their descent, Dutch and another member examined the large door.
It was simple, a dark blue hue encased the whole back ground. What was intriguing about it was that it had a picture of two moons. One was covering the other so only a small silver could be seen.
As the two examine the door, Dutch reaches out to touch the door.
The door reacts to his touch, sending light blue energy ripples from where he touched across its face. Then it glowed brightly.
The door sends out a deep pulse that knocks back Dutch and the other guy onto the floor. The pulse travels the perimeter of the room along the walls, dislodging centuries-old soil from the walls.
When the two waves of the pulse meet at the opposite end of the room, they combine together and releases a wave of faint light that rushes from the impact point, spreading along the walls. It returns back to the door, leaving small rows of lighted crystals in it wake.
The crystals provided faint blue light that allowed the team to see the whole chamber but did not blind them.
"Now thats some cool shit."Lagos noted.
The guardian waited.
The intrusion this time was far larger than the day before. Large enough that it could sense that there were multiple sources of them this time.
It gave a happy wiggle. It has not had proper sustenance dangled in front of it for centuries. The sunlight above only barely gave it enough energy.
Around it, it's fellow compariots were also waking, sensing the feast in their domain.
As they move to their positions, Team 2 begins their descent.
Detecting the entry of more auras, the guardians freeze and reassess.
If there were more coming, the better.
They settle in.
Having waited for centuries for such an occasion, they can wait for a few minutes more...
Team 2 and it's packages were now on the ground floor.
As the majority of the teams moved to examine the skeletons on the bamboo spikes or just wait on the platform, Renko and Maribel were checking the door under guard.
The two initially were disgusted when they saw the skeletons but like the rest quickly learned to ignore them.
"I see several magical boundaries. They appear to be part of some kind of locking ward." Maribel noted as she concentrated at the wall with her eyes. Lagos nodded,"Okay, that's good. Now can you open it?"
Renko gave him a burning glare."She's trying her best." She hissed.
Lagos shrugged and walked away."Not my problem."
As he walks away, the other masked guard walks close."What do you want?" Renko spit, venom in her voice.
"It's me."
Renko and Maribel eyes widen in shock."But your supposed to be dead." Maribel whispered out.
Dutch responded with a smile in his voice,"Let's just say that the guard was not as competent as thought. Now can you just act normal, I don't want to alert the others."
Renko and Maribel nodded and turn back to the door.
Around them, the guardians shift...
Back on the surface, the Mask stand in the command trailer, watching the monitors show the progress of the teams.
"Sir, the identity papers you requested came through." A assistant reported as he bought in a stack of papers. He was one of the few that actually followed him wherever he went with absolute loyalty, an irreplaceable person by any of his standards.
"Leave them on the table." The Mask said before sipping a cup of coffee. Wearing a opera mask that left the mouth open had several advantages over a balaclava, namely the ability to drink with the mask still on. One advantage that he used to the full extent.
As he watched the progress of the people he sent down, he wonders if any of the people he hired had any extent of knowledge of what they were searching for.
Probably they knew, they all would try to get it for themselves. Or run.
But ignorance is bliss. Bliss for them since all they care about is only the pay they get and bliss for him as money is the cheapest thing for him. And if they tell anyone, well dead men are pretty good demotivaters.
As his mind roams, he reaches for the papers. The small stack surprises him. This is a lot of information for a random person.
As he flips open the first page and starts to read it, a frown appears under his mask. It deepens as he reads on.
And when he flips the next page and reads the first sentence, his eyes widen in shock.
Crash! The cup announced as it meet the floor. It is followed by the soft flutter of paper as it too follows its ceramic companion onto the floor.
"Sir, is everything alright?" The assistant asked. He was answered with a cold but fearful voice.
"The operative that was sent to kill the extra yesterday, did he return?"
The assistant racked his memory,"He did, fact he was the one that volunteered for the man that one of the packages took out."
"NO!" The Mask yelled before exploding out of his chair and dashing for the communications section of the command trailer.
"Get me Team 1 Leader NOW!" The Mask Roared.
Back in the chamber, unaware of the drama above, Dutch watch as Maribel slowly crack the puzzle of the door.
According to her, the door opens when the other moon is fully revealed. It sounded simple enough. The process to do it, on the other hand, was so confusing that Dutch retreated after 10 seconds worth of explaination.
Now Maribel was manipulating some kind of puzzle that only she could see. And it was working. After 2 minutes, already half the the second moon could be seen.
"How long more?" Lagos demanded.
Renko simply gave him a burning glare of supernova power.
Lagos shrugged and turned away. He gets paid even if he acted like an ass all day so he really didn't care to be polite.
Just then, he reached up to his radio."Come in command. I can barely hear you." He moves away to get a better reception.
As Dutch watched Lagos, he could not help but feel as if they were in a trap.
His senses were screaming for him to get out but as he scans the walls again, there pretty much nothing that could hurt anyone unless they decided to jump into the spikes.
As he turn around to get a full view, a flash of moving green catches his eye.
Snapping his rifle up, he only sees rocks falling around a root.
Mentally cursing himself for overreacting, he lowers his rifle, still uneasy.
"Hey rook! Command wants you back up topside." Lagos ordered.
"Now?" Dutch asked as he turned to face Lagos. He found himself facing down the barrel of Lagos's gun.
"Yes now."
Then all hell broke loose.
Suddenly from a hole in the wall, a blur shoots out and stabs Lagos through the back.
"Wha..." He breathes before he is lifted into the air. As his blood ran down the guardian , it got absorbed by the skin of it, now shown to be a root. He was pulled by the root into a hole.
Renko screamed. As if it was a signal, roots started shooting out of the holes in the walls to attack the team members. As the men fought back with their guns, several were speared by the roots and pulled into holes.
Dutch cursed. Homicidal roots was something that he never expected to get. As he pulled back to the door, firing his gun in the three round burst setting, he spies Maribel and Renko crouching against the door in blind panic.
"Get that door open!" He yells.
Maribel snaps out of her terror,nods and turn back to the door. Controlled panic increased her speed into solving the puzzle but there was at least a quarter of the moon left to reveal.
As Dutch fire at the roots, one shoots out of a hole towards him.
He quickly dodges the sharpened tip of the root but the body suddenly curves and slams into his helmet, crushing everything mounted on the Kevlar is sent flying into the door.
Sliding onto the floor, Dutch's world get enclosed by darkness.
"What the hell is happening?" The Mask yells. First the extra and now this.
"You should see for yourself, sir." One of the operators answered.
When the Mask looked at the camera feed, all he can see is green blurs. Cycling through the feeds, he finally get one that show what is attacking his men.
The helmet-mounted camera show a root, dark green and apparently alive. Unfortunately, it also showed the root through the chest of the poor soldier. Then another root flashes into the screen and the feed turns to static.
The Mask stares at the screen."Prepare the Fuel Air bomb." He orders.
The room explodes into protests."Sir, they are still alive." An operator exclaims.
The Mask point at the screens.
"They are dead men. Prepare the bomb NOW."
The room goes silent as the Mask leaves.
/Detecting ultra- high adrenaline levels/
...
/Accessing recent memory/
...
/Threat detected/
Type:Unknown
Danger level:Lethal
...
/Classifying options/
...
/Classification complete/
...
/Activating counter measures/
...
/Warning! System unable to comply/
...
/Running system scan/
...
/Scan complete/
System unable to comply due to:
(Systems wide lockdown)
(Operator current state:unconsious)
...
/Rebooting Primary Systems/
...
/Overriding Lockdown/
...
All over the body, nano bots started to come online. As they come alive, they joined the flow of blood throughout the body, using it as a highway to their designated positions. On the liver, the nano bots clump together to form a small grey tumor-like growth that moves around the organ, using the stored glycogen and fat to create more nano bots. In the lungs, the thin layer separating blood and air becomes saturated with nano bots that help to increase the oxygen intake and filter the air. In the eye, bots clump around the cornea, acting as an enhanced visual processor. In the muscles, the bots saturate the fibers, waiting for instructions.
/Primary Reboot Complete/
...
/Initiating Operator revival/
Dutch wakes up. As the past events of the chamber runs through his mind, a series of lines pop unto his still closed eyes.
/Primary systems reboot complete/
/Operator revival successful/
...
/Threat detected/
/Activating counter measures/
Target identification module
Increased oxygen intake
Low light vision module
Increased reaction response
...
/Primary systems. online/
/Secondary systems. Lockdown in effect/
/Initiating data override. Estimated time:3 Days/
...
/Activating biological HUD/
/Screen start up enabled/
...
/Youth kombat Argumentation initiative Operative:Dutch Kotozaki/
...
/Ready for action./
...
/PROJECT YOUKAI/
As Dutch opens his eyes, he was now seeing through a HUD as if he was in some kind of helmet. The scene was almost exactly the same as of it froze for him. Renko was running towards him, Maribel was at the puzzle and he could still see the members of team 1 and 2 fighting.
Renko ran up to him and kneeled down."Are you okay?" She cried. There was controlled terror in her eyes.
"I'm fine." Dutch answered. He sees a root aiming toward Renko. Quickly grabbing his pistol out of his holster, he fired, repeatedly sending 9mm rounds into the animated root until it retreats.
As he get up, he picks up his rifle. Both he and Renko move to the door. By then, Maribel had almost finished the puzzle. The second moon was almost fully revealed, showing a city and a sea on it's surface. Only a small shiver of the sea was covered by the first moon.
...
/Threats highlighted/
...
Dutch turned around. In his view, the roots now had red lines outlining them.
As he fired his rifle at the nearest root, he glances at the walls of the chamber. It was a wall of moving red.
"Shit." He curses.
FINALLY! After a couple of days of typing and many more days of cold feet, i finally got the courage to post this.
Just read and review. Don't rip me a new one.