Prologue: Rise of the Terror Guard

Chapter 2: A New Home and a Mysterious Girl

Two hours after the events at the hospital:

The Point Man had been laying down on his bed for a nice and relaxing minute or two. He had to admit, for a hidden base that served the true military as a place of preparation and solace, it felt and looked pretty damned good. Usually, he'd be given literally nothing to sleep on. Nice, cold, hard dirt as a bed. Oh how he hated missions like those, even sand felt better to sleep on, or snow. That was saying quite a lot considering both are uncomfortable. Alas, his life was not supposed to be comfortable or calm. It was meant to be the life of a machine with blood flowing through it. A walking meat-machine whose sole purpose in life was to be a soldier. He knew a million ways to kill a man. Slowly, quickly, painfully, peacefully... But he only knew a few things to be able to hold conversation.

That was… if he wanted to talk. Many people had the misconception he couldn't speak. In fact, that misconception was brought on by himself. He just doesn't speak. He wasn't meant to speak. He was meant to receive orders, carry them through, and move on to the next mission. Not to mention the poor man had a disturbing life, never met his mother, father, if he even had one. He didn't think he did, Alma never mentioned a father. Ever. He had spoken with his mother countless times in the past, in secret, never once had she spoke to him of a father, one who had allowed her to be pregnant with he and his brother. But, that's where it unsettled the Point Man. If he wasn't the lab experiment through and through like he and his brother thought they were… who the hell was their father?

'No point...' Point Man thought to himself quietly, and with that statement the thoughts faded from his mind.

He went back to marveling about how damned comfortable the bed was. Seriously. It was like heaven to him. That, and the rather sizable room. Sure, he shared it with one other person whom he assumed never got assigned to his room yet, but it was still sizable compared to the hellhole he was sleeping in day in and day out.

'Oh…' He thought again, he realized he hadn't slept in a busy 48 hours.

The Point Man didn't complain, but it's pretty reasonable to him now why he was so tired. The last 48 hours had been nothing but a small scale war. He had friends killed, he had killed countless of things, and he had been running nearly constantly. The only times he had to rest were in a helicopter, and were always brief and never lasting. For instance, when the mission should have ended and the remaining forces of the first F.E.A.R. team could rest… their damned helicopter got shot out of the sky. With those thoughts fresh in his mind, and the now-sluggish limbs of his body, the tired man closed his eyes. The man hated to admit it, but even the most perfected soldier had limits. Sleep being one of them. Maybe that's why he was seeing so much crazy stuff, sleep deprivation.

'Right…' He thought again quite sarcastically as his entire mind seemingly began to turn off.

That was until he heard the door open. Normally he would have quickly moved and put his mask on, however, he was a bit too tired and careless at the moment to give a damn if someone saw his face. So, he simply went to analyzing the footsteps of the person who remained quiet. The steps the person took were actually quite soft, and anyone with normal hearing would have some difficulty hearing them. Judging by the sounds as well, it was a casual yet still formal walk. Those sounds… that sweet smell…

When the door closed, a voice was heard. It was by all definitions a rough voice. It was obvious the speaker had been through a lot of stress, and his vocal cords were rarely used so there was no way they were used to speaking. Thus, the low pitched, and rough voice was also somewhat quiet.

"Jin…"

The woman that was on her way to put her items away in her small dresser nearly jumped a foot in the air, and the Point Man heard her breath hitch as if scared. He opened his eyes and looked at the woman who was staring at him, frozen like a deer in the headlights. She couldn't believe he had just spoken to her, sure she had heard his voice before but… he rarely ever said anything.

"Sorry for spooking you." He apologized, he really hadn't meant to scare her.

"N-No… it's not that it's just… Why didn't you respond back there? I-I mean I know you don't-" Jin asked nervously, making the Point Man smile. He knew she changed the topic from the now to the then.

"I don't speak out on the field, and I rarely ever speak at all." The Point Man informed her. "Tired?"

Jin nodded, "Yeah. I asked Betters if I could stay with you, and he said he didn't see the harm in it as long as I don't bother you. So I figured I'd put my stuff away and pass out."

The man nodded with a small smile before closing his eyes again. "Then by all means, make yourself comfortable. I'd keep you company, but I need rest."

The door was locked, Jin was going to turn off the lights soon and he'd be in total peace, for a few hours. He was curious why Jin would request to be roommates with him, but he figured she had her reasons and would leave it at that. Right now, one thing was on his mind. Sleep. Oh, that beautiful word.


Griffon sat down at the round table he and his squad had picked for themselves. There were quite a few soldiers in the cafeteria as well, and the base was not as abandoned as anyone had thought it would be. When Betters brought it up, Griffon himself thought it was going to be a small, and cramped space. This was not the cause, the 'small' base was actually pretty much a full sized facility. The Mess Hall was actually pretty comfortable, the chairs were nice, the food was outstanding...

"Can't believe the fuck actually had us thinkin' this place was a closet." Griffon said with a chuckle before biting into his ham sandwich.

Rodney, or Roddy the Demo-man chuckled, "Yeah. I don't trust secret facilities after we almost got our asses cooked in that Origin facility."

Roddy as his nickname hinted at, was S.E.A.R.'s Demolition Expert. He was a thirty five year old man and literally looked like a tank on two legs. To back this up, Griffon had seen the man take a shotgun blast to the chest and still stand long enough to crush the Replica's neck. His hair was shaved down, but he had a full-grown red beard. Bluish-Grey eyes as well.

Unlike F.E.A.R., the S.E.A.R. was a team, a lone team. Ten men strong, split into two groups but all coordinating from the same Commander, and that was Griffon. Griffon himself was commanded by Betters. They were much smaller than F.E.A.R., but well trained. Their name was simple, Second Encounter Assess and Recover. More or less, it meant they came in right after the First Encounter Assault Recon and finished up their job, picking valuable data, clearing up any remaining baddies of any origin, and then making sure there was nothing dangerous left behind. They also unofficially were there to help F.E.A.R. should they have ever needed it, as the two groups were always on the field at the same time. Something to compare them to would be a shadow. Whilst F.E.A.R. was the body, they were a shadow connected to the body. This proved true even for the Origin Facility, and they were lucky to get out of it alive. Well, luck had nothing to do with anything. Betters issued a fall-back command when readings in the area hinted at an explosion.

"You know, F.E.A.R.'s Point Man really gives me the creeps. Guy is about as silent as death. And that mask..." One of the team members asked.

Griffon nodded, washing down the bite he was currently chewing with some beer. "Aye. Always wears that thing, not even taking it off for a breather. Some say he isn't human under that suit and mask, but with the intel we gathered we know exactly what he is. Guy isn't even mute like he plays himself to be. Just doesn't talk, or make any sounds with his vocal cords really. Don't ask me how, lad took a gunshot to the thigh and didn't even acknowledge it 'til Miss Kwon patched him up after he got thrown out twenty feet from that building we hit first."

"You mean the Wastewater Treatment Plant?" Roddy asked.

"Aye, that's the place. Apparently the cover-up was somethin' like a 'gas-line rupture...'"

"I thought it was?" Rodney said, he was confused as he had thought that was what had happened.

Griffon scoffed, "Yeah and my arse smells like rosebuds. It was that creepy little girl that stalks that Point Man like he's her father." Griffon replied as he took another happy bite from his sandwich.

"How do you know that?" A female team member asked, sounding just as confused as Roddy did.

"It's fuckin' obvious Megan, the little girl evaporated an entire squad of Delta and attacked us. Not to mention, why the hell would a gas line on the second floor of a Water Treatment Plant cause a fiery explosion? Nothing set it off, it's just a cover story for all those little lads and lassies at home to be able to sleep at night after their mum's and da's tuck 'em in." Griffon chuckled, looking at his entire team. "Lookie 'ere S.E.A.R. ... Shit is goin' to be going down and we have to be ready for it. Your orders now are as follows; finish your food, get rest, do whatever tomorrow... and then three course PT starts the next day at 0400 hours. Understood? I've gotta be goin' to a meeting with Betters." With that, Griffon finished his sandwich and pounded on the table with both palms before standing up and leaving the cafeteria, letting his team socialize together whilst he got down to business. Of course, the man didn't leave his beer behind.


Griffon stepped into the command room and walked over to Betters who was engaged in conversation with two operators. He simply stood there and took a drink of his beer, not really caring what was being exchanged between the three. They had power, heated water, it was a good life in a fucked up world. And that applied to the base as a whole. But this room, why was it so small? That was what Griffon wanted to know. It was the smallest room in this base he had seen yet, and that's saying something considering that means his quarters and restroom as a total had more space than this room. It resembled the F.E.A.R. Team's own little Briefing Room. The one Point Man, Miss Kwon, and Jankowski all were in before they were deployed to some apartments. Now that his mind roamed to those damn apartments... he couldn't help but think of all the things that happened in them. Armacham. Twisted fucks, a bunch of twisted fucks out there for nothing more than power and money. Pathetic. The things they did to that girl many years ago and still to this day made Griffon want to cheer her on... but how could he want that when the little devil nearly killed S.E.A.R. and F.E.A.R. and God knew what else.

"Ah!" Betters exclaimed as he turned around. "Griffon! It's good to see you here, thought you'd take a nap before coming. Shall we get started?"

"Whatever you think is best, sir. It's not like I'm being deployed, am I?" Griffon asked with a shrug before taking another drink of his beer, the bottle was near empty now so he just continued until it was gone.

"Define 'deployed.'" Betters ordered quickly.

"To arrange in a position of readiness, or to move strategically or appropriately. Also known as, me getting geared up and sent upstairs to cause some hell for the world." Griffon quickly responded with a bow of his head.

Betters chuckled at the man and shook his head, "More or less, then. I was wondering if you wanted new gear, gear that would make you stronger and faster than the average human. If you do, you can even request your entire team get outfitted with it. It's highly experimental, but we're going to have to step up our game if we're wanting to keep up with Armacham and the Replicas, whatever those lab experiments are doing now."

"Sir, you and I both know that Alma Wade took over command of those toy soldiers when Fettel died." Griffon said, his face going blank.

"Right. Should you accept, your first test will be to get dropped behind enemy lines to locate and secure my second F.E.A.R. team. I'm not risking more than two men for the job. It's too dangerous out there at the mo-"

"Yet you are willing to risk a lot of men for a fuckin' SFOD-D squad that managed to get captured and experimented on by Armacham. Are you saying the lives of your men are less important than that of some grunts who got caught being naughty under Armacham's nose?" Griffon grumbled.

Betters frowned, "No, that's not it. In fact, we're not saving them. I want to see what Armacham is going to do to them first. Then we strike and secure Dark Signal. We are saving my second team."

"Great, then. What is this new gear?" The Team Leader asked, not wanting to go around in circles with Betters.

Betters then ordered one of the operators to pull up schematics and a visual representation of the gear in question. Griffon examined it and was amazed. It was a pitch black suit, and the lights were red. Including the ones that shined from the helmet's eyes. The helmet itself resembled a skull.

"Beautiful, isn't she? We call her the Terror Guard Battle Suit Mark V. If it's a bit long to pronounce for your tastes, the TGB or simply Mark Five will do." Betters said with pride in his voice.

"Who is 'we?'" Griffon asked.

"Someone who has given us all we need to make this work, that's all you need to know. So, you want to try her on? It requires special tech to put it on and take it off, just so you know. You can't do it manually, only bit you can do that to is the helmet."

"Understood, sir. Let's go." Griffon said, growing impatient and quite frustrated at the lack of knowledge Betters was giving him.

"Ah, not so fast. Remember what I said. You put it on, you are going alone behind enemy lines to rescue my team."

"Fine." Griffon growled as he led the way to the door, allowing Betters to take the lead.


They had walked the corridors, eventually making it to the experimentation chamber. There, Griffon stood in a T pose and awaited the machine to get to work. He did not have to wait long. He had the under armor designed for the suit on, which was like wearing normal clothes though they were a bit tight. It was designed to be tight around the wearer anyway. It was not a normal material, in fact, it was a new material that everyone avoided the name of. Why, Griffon didn't know, but he didn't want to question it either. That would surely have taken him five years just to get a generalized answer. The machine carried the heavy pieces of armor over to the man and clamped it down. When the metal was locked into place, the machine screwed it together tightly.

The entire process took an hour of Griffon standing still whilst armor was placed onto him. The armor didn't make him look larger, in fact, it was quite form fitting. It was like it was meant for him, and it was. To finish it off, the helmet was placed on his head and the man was in darkness until the systems turned on, then he saw everything normally save for the blood red HUD. Well, that was until he cycled through the modes. Thermal, Night, Regular, Electro... this suit's vision improved his greatly. Anything he needed for any situation was there.

"Please step away from the machine." A technician said, and Griffon followed the order.

To the man, it felt light for metal. Sure, he had added weight, but it didn't feel like that much. Once the step was done, he turned on the thermal and looked at the men inside the observation room. What he saw did not amuse him in the slightest. In fact, it made his stomach twist and his hands clench up. Who was that little girl Betters was talking to? According to the thermal vision, her body was freezing.

"Alright. It's time to set you on your way, buddy. You're being dropped off at the Armacham Secondary Facility. Prepare yourself for heavy resistance, place is crawling with ATC and their Mercs as well as Replicas last we knew. My team is somewhere in the building, they haven't left it. Their last transmission came from the fifth floor. Check it out. Send me anything you find and I'll see what we can find out from the information." Betters said.

Whilst Griffon didn't like it, he had to do it. To make a move now would be foolish, and he would probably die. So, he moved to the loading area for a flight he didn't want to make. It was him against countless of foes, just to rescue three men. He had hoped this team was worthwhile, otherwise, he'd be pissed. They'd better be alive too, or else this would be a waste of his precious time.