Chapter 4: Isolation

Lightning Daggers HQ, October 29, 1980

"Clear!" cried one of the soldiers, as a depth charge went off, blowing parts of an iceberg to pieces. Men with chains and hooks were being lowered into boats to go after the pieces. A helicopter, jet black, flew across the base, before hovering above the newly constructed landing zone. The rotors began to slow as the aircraft thudded onto the base. The door slid open and Wolf stood out. He looked down at the dog tags in his hand before putting him into a pouch in his rig. "See you later, Echo!" Wolf called out to the pilot.

The pilot waved back. Echo was an experienced flyer, but a little bit on the odd side. Though having a code name like the other soldiers, he earned his nickname from having a tendency to repeat himself. Say what you want about his behaviour, he was good, being able to fly into warzone as smooth as ice. As Wolf walked away, Soldiers marched into the helicopter, ready for their next mission. Without a second thought, the copter picked up in the air and went off.

"Enjoy your flight?" a voice called from behind him. Wolf turned around and saw a petit woman, leaning against the wall with a smug grin on her face "Not really fair that you take the only whirly bird here for a joy ride."

"Vigilant Widow. No, it was no joy ride, that chopper is for contracts only."

"Relax… don't blow like that iceberg. Don't see why we need to waste charges."

"I decide what resources we 'waste, not you. Beside, the icebergs are a little easier to move, plus we can use the pieces for refrigeration." Wolf began walking down to his quarters, widow chasing after him.

"Hey! I wanted to talk to you about my first mission" Widow called, her boots squeaking against the wet ground.

"You demand to be transferred from Intel to the combat team, and now you want deployment?"

"C'mon, I want to see some action! I can't just sit at a boring desk, while the guys out there on the battlefield…"

"Listen, the battlefield isn't as glamorous as you think. It isn't some Hollywood concoction of good guys and clean blows. It's destructive, it feeds on rage and spreads fear…"

"What about us?"

"We're nothing but rage. If we've lost anything, its fear. Besides, you haven't done you 'initiation'."

"You don't mean…"

"CQC is just as important as any other part of combat, that's what I was taught."

"It's just a cheap boxing match for the men to watch. I've seen those guys bet with cigarettes for Christ's sake!"

"Look, I've done this with every new group. You're the first woman on this team. Training has got to start somewhere and I have to show this team you're a fighter. Besides, are you afraid of being beaten by me?"

Widow face turned sour instantly. She swivelled around and pointed at Wolf. "I'll see you at the initiation." She sternly said. "Hold on." Wolf stepped forward towards her stomping. "Have you seen Raven lately?"

"The Cyclops? He comes out every once in a while for food and water, but he hasn't left that room you gave him."

"I just wanted to talk to him… about his actions."

"You better, it's been more than a month since he was here. It'd be great if he got off his ass." Widow continued her stomping down the path. "Yeah, it would" wolf glumly thought to himself and looked up at Raven's quarters across the way. He stood there, thinking before he decided to go back to his room. "I'll tackle it another day…"

December 21, 1980.

Wolf was doing pull ups. Light flooded into the room from the bulkhead, as well as the cold. Breaking out of his trance, he dropped down and dug into a drawer in his dresser. In the drawer, there were dozens of cartons of cigarettes, sitting beside bottles of liquor. He pulled out a bottle of whiskey and set it on the table. He grabbed his jacket and wrapped it around himself. He clutched the whisky in hand and stood out into the brisk air, getting a good view of the frozen sea, its shine reflecting from the Sun. Wolf's breath hung in the air, his cheeks red. He walked over to the railing, his feet crunching against the frost. He rested his arms over the edge and stared at the infinite whiteness fading as the sun sank below the horizon.

"Bottle of blackjack?" a soldier passed by him. "What's the occasion?"

"Just a nightcap… beetle?"

"Um… it's Bear, Wolf."

"Oh, sorry." Wolf chuckled, his eyes turning back to the sea "I, sometimes forget these kind of things"

"It's alright Wolf, you probably have more important things on your mind. I guess you trying to wash them away."

"Well, it takes more than whiskey to wash what I've seen… Hey, have you seen Raven?"

"Raven? Oh yeah, last time anyone saw him he was moping by the brig. Wolf, you're not worried about him are you?"

"What? No, it's not like I'm losing sleep over him. He just might need to wash something away as well."

Bear rolled his eyes, turning back to the stairs to the bottom floor of the rig. "Whatever. Have fun."

Wolf sighed heavily and turned towards the brig, bottle in hand. He glances upward to see Raven, staring out to the sea, his legs hanging off the rail. Wolf stumbled up the stairs and stood behind him. "Hey…" Wolf said. Raven glanced behind him and swung his legs over back onto the walkway. Wolf shook the bottle in front of him "Up for a drink? You'll freeze out here." Raven looked at the bottle, scratching his beard. Wolf turned to the door of the interrogation room "Come inside." He beckoned a smirk on his face. After a moment, Raven followed.

Wolf set two glasses down on a table and poured whiskey into both. Raven pulled out chairs for both of them and they both sat down. Wolf clutched his glass and leaned back in his chair. "How long has it been? Two months?" Wolf said, sipping his drink. Raven sat his elbows onto the table, silent. "I know it's been tough, these past few months… we haven't got any lead on him in a while, but we're still working on it, for now it's just contracts. I know it's a bit late, but I was wondering if you had any questions."

Raven finally looked up from his drink. "Yeah, I've got one…"

"Yeah?"

"What's MSF?"

"You've never heard of it? Then how'd you get that patch?"

"Same as how I got all the others." Raven dug into his pockets and put a folded up cloth, pushing it across to Wolf. Wolf opened it up to see a dozen patches from Chinese to American forces. His eyes widened as the barrage of colours from the cloth.

"Trophies? How many more have you taken?"

Raven looked down back as his drink "One is too much. It's weird, war takes every emotion but pride. I sowed this one on because I liked the design. Are they like a PF?"

"Was. To be honest, they started this business type. It started with this guy, Big Boss. He was an American soldier, probably the best. But for some reason, he abandoned his country and started this private army, called Militaires Sans Frontieres, or 'Soldiers without borders'. It was an army free of a nation, a nomadic force, working for any country for the right price."

"He sounds quite the character. What happened?"

"No one knows. They were just wiped out, disappeared off the face of the earth. Then again, they did have a lot of enemies. It wouldn't be surprising, they were quite a large army. I've even met the guy in person."

"You met Big Boss?"

"Well, I saw him in training with the -" Wolf stopped and after a moment, looked into his glass "Sorry, I… I don't like to talk about my past. I- I'd rather talk about now."

Time seemed to pass as slow as ever, the two sipping on their drink. After a while, Wolf finally mustered up something to say. "You know, the soldiers are beginning to question your 'isolation'…"

"Ha. Story of my life. All I've been doing is hiding myself from the world."

"Yes, but… do you not want to do something? You have all of this place and you do nothing? You're a damn great sniper, best I've seen. Why haven't you trained?"

Raven looked up with a stern look on his face, pushing his hair back. "You think it's that simple? Look at this… thing! My master eye is gone and what replaces it is but a hollow shell! And what can I do? Eat, drink, sleep and rot my fucking days away! I…" Raven clutched his head, sounding almost broken down to tears. "I just don't know what to do… I just feel helpless. It…"

Wolf pounded his hand on the table, the whiskey jumping. Raven looked up to see Wolf's angry face. "Listen, I'm willing to give sympathy, but now it's gone too far."

"Wolf…"

"You're going to have to accept it, move on. What's done is done, and moping around won't solve anything." Wolf pulled his long hair back to show a multitude of scars, striking the right side of his face. "I accepted this. My scars, my leg, I accepted it. Do you know why? Because I'm going to make sure I find who did this to me and put him in a shallow grave like the lowlife fucker that he is! I won't let me and the friends I let die go unavenged…"

The room filled with silence. Raven and Wolf suffered to make eye contact with each other. Wolf stood up and downed his drink, slamming it onto the table. He went to grab the bottle, but hesitated. "Keep the bottle." Wolf uttered, with a bitter tone. "I'd say you've got a lot of thinking to do." Wolf walked out the door without another word. Raven curled back up again as he put his head in his hands…

January 8, 1981. LD command room.

Plans, maps and mugs we're strewn across the table. Wolf, Viper and a few other members of LD were sitting around. "We're glad you're here for the mission briefing Wolf." Viper said "Here's the deal. We got a distress call for a rescue mission."

"Any whereabouts?" Wolf questioned.

"All the way out in Harbin, China. Apparently, he was supposedly captured in purchasing a drug delivery. The captors were a gang, specialising in drug trafficking, known as being a triad of the Wo gangs. Now, these two men, beetle and shrew will aid you in the support. We've planned the landing zone just outside the city. I'm afraid your bike's in the lab for those 'modifications' you wanted, so you'll have to walk to the west side of the city, into the gang's territory. If you're lost, you can check you radar."

"Radar?"

"Oh yes, the team developed a new radar for the missions. We're trying to intercept as much Intel on locations and blueprints to buildings. We've got hundreds of megabytes of data stored. We'll upload any anything you need before we drop you in. You'll need to enter the building undetected, so you'll have to be in disguise with minimal gear. Watch where you point a gun, or those knives!"

"C'mon Viper, you know I've got surgeons hands."

"Ha! More like slasher's hands. You should gear up. We'll give you more Intel on the field."

An hour later…

Wolf stepped out onto the helipad. The jet black helicopter lowered itself as air control gave the okay. Wolf long hair blew from the air being sliced by the rotors of the hovering beast. As he slid the door open and put the first step into the hold. The sounds of his earpiece gave out a familiar voice.

"Wolf?"

"Raven?" Wolf's voice hummed through his throat microphone. A small smirk took over his face. "Glad to see you're back on track."

"I'm done sitting on my ass. I want to help you, help us. I asked Viper and he was ok with it. For this mission, I will be your eyes."

Wolf looked back at the bustling base, men talking, walking and guarding. He turned to the helicopter and to Echo. "Alright… let's go!" Wolf jumped into the chopper and slammed the door shut, the helicopter taking him away for the next mission.