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#4
MAR 08 |
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“Submerged”
“Let’s see what bunch of freaks I have to deal with this time,” Agent Nathan thought as he flipped through a small stack of dossiers prepared for him.
Even though it was only his second time as a liaison for Task Force Delta, he already hated the scum of humanity that comprised the special metahuman commando squad.
If it weren’t for the fact that the Squad’s members had a very high mortality rate, he’d probably request a transfer that limited his involvement with metahumans. Nathan hated metahumans, but prospect of sending several to their deaths on a regular basis eased the frustration of employing them.
The newest assignment dealt with a small terrorist base off the coast of Alaska. The state’s sparse population insured no one was likely to visit the uninhabited landmass, which was little more than the peak of an underwater mountain.
The five Deltas were being transported by Blackhawk after being picked up from a metahuman prison transport in Juneau, Alaska. Two were from the Slab, and three were fresh out o Blackgate Prison in Gotham City.
Orca was a former marine biologist who found a way to turn herself into some kind of whale humanoid and serving a 30-year sentence for multiple counts of assault, battery, and robbery. The transformation seemed to be a result of her attempts to cure the paralysis in her legs, while her crimes were an attempt to raise money for altruistic purposes. According to the file, she used to be able to control the change between human and whale-human, but now she appeared to be permanently stuck in her whale form.
Thankfully, she was more stable than other aquatic-human hybrids, which made her a better choice over Delta’s other options. Unlike criminals like Killer Croc and King Shark, she still kept most of her human sensibilities, including her conscience. She didn’t hurt people easily, only when necessary. All that power in one body and she was still so weak.
Another advantage was the full dexterity she maintained in her hands, allowing her to manipulate some of the mechanical components necessary for this mission.
The second member was a telepath named the Shadower. His real name was Vartan Kevork, the same name as his grandfather, the previous Shadower. His grandfather had been a Nazi collaborator during the 40s and clashed with the mystery man Doctor Mid-Nite before finally being apprehended and locked away in Belle Reve. Somehow, the original was able to telepathically communicate with his grandson and force him to carry out a reign of murder and violence similar to his heyday before finally dying of cancer.
By then, the grandson had already been captured and was serving a 50-year sentence when he was drafted for Task Force Delta. His only options now were either to die in prison like his grandfather or die in service to his country
Even though his powers weren’t as developed as his grandfather’s, the current Shadower’s telepathy had a range of several hundred yards, more than enough to sense all of the personnel on the island base, acting as an early warning system for troops movements. His selection as the mission telepath was due to other incarcerated telepaths being a little too unstable to follow orders, such as the villain Psimon who was next to impossible to control.
Steeljacket, the third member, was another monster of science. He had hollow bones, which allowed him to fly with a special metal harness. Little was known about him except for his criminal record in Gotham City. He was a former Delta recruit, making this his second suicide mission for the U.S. government.
The creature kept to himself mostly. Having no known family, he wasn’t someone that anybody would miss, and he flew through the air like it was second nature. Delta had access to plenty of talented fliers, but Steeljacket was chosen because he was the most expendable, unlike other Delta fliers like Airstryke (a dinosaur humanoid who was currently the subject of STAR Labs research to look into his Nth metal implants) or Charaxes (the former Killer Moth, an insect humanoid that was very difficult to control, a byproduct of his mysterious transformation).
The fourth member was another normal looking human, a sometimes mercenary, sometimes break-in artist known as Slyfox. He was recently incarcerated at Blackgate after a run-in with one of Gotham’s local vigilantes. He had a penchant for break-in jobs and armed robbery. He was the muscle for this operation, a trained dog capable of finding the target and getting out with it successfully.
The fifth member would remain on the helicopter, keeping him safe from the bloodbath that the other members would have to go through. He was a demolitions expert named the Dynamiteer who would be responsible for feeding instructions to Orca.
The man was at the top of his field, rivaling such arsonists as Garfield Lyons a.k.a. the Firefly, and knew the right position to set an explosive for maximum effect. He was serving a sentence in Blackgate that dated back to before Gotham had been declared a No Man’s Land. He was still in Blackgate after the city was reclaimed and seemed anxious to test his skills as a Delta consultant for this mission.
Nathan almost found himself respecting the bomber’s skills. If only he didn’t wear a gimp mask that made him look ridiculous.
All five members were gathered around the stationary pair of Blackhawk helicopters for Nathan’s briefing. All of them were wearing matching explosive collars in the event they went AWOL or violated mission parameters.
Nathan had a small duffel bag of equipment lying next to him.
“Listen up! You only get to hear this once. The target is an alien artifact known as the Serpent’s Egg. We don’t know how Kobra got their hands on it, but we can’t risk them figuring out how it works. It supposedly contains some kind of mystical power, but the specifics aren’t important for your mission.”
Nathan then pulled out a checklist, which contained the individual briefings for each Delta.
“Orca,” he said, “You’ll be responsible for disabling their underwater submarine dock. There are only two entrances to the base, and the underwater dock is their most likely means of escape in the event someone attacks them.” He then pulled out a minicam and headset just large enough for her to wear, along with a small backpack of technical components. “You’ll wear that and be fed orders over the radio. We didn’t have time for a full course in underwater demolitions, so follow the instructions to the letter.”
“I don’t think I’m the right person for this,” she said hesitantly.
“You’re the perfect person. In addition to freezing water temperatures, the waters around the island are swimming with multiple species of sharks. Your strength should be enough to fight them off if they try to make you a snack. Also, we have reports of Kobra Moccasin Troops patrolling the shore. You’ll have to deal with them as well.”
Nathan gave Orca her headset and checked to make sure it was secure. He ordered Shadower to help her with the backpack.
“Shadower,” he continued, “You’ll be the telepathic spotter for Slyfox. I want you keeping a bead on every Kobra soldier in the base. You’ll need to eliminate them quickly to keep any alarms from being raised. We can’t afford for Kobra to know you’re there until the submarine entrance has been destroyed. You and Slyfox will have to work together on taking care of the sentries between you and the lab.”
Next, Nathan pulled out a small datapad and a holographic blueprint of a military base appeared. It was made up of five levels, with the bottom level showing a submarine.
“This base is smaller than most Kobra facilities. It’s just a small research lab where Kobra keeps some of its projects. The top level is an airplane hangar. Kobra keeps a couple transports there for patrols and emergency evacuations. Level two is Control, where the base’s command center is set up. Level three is the bread and butter, the Lab. That’s where the Serpent’s Egg is held. Level four is the barracks, and level five is the Submarine Bay.”
“Is there anything else in the lab area you need us to secure, or is the Egg the only goal?” Slyfox asked.
“Good initiative, Fox,” Nathan replied, a little pleased at the man’s enthusiasm, “Kobra keeps back-ups of their research in a time-locked safe near the lab. If you can get it open, retrieve whatever data disks they have. If they have any other artifacts or dangerous-looking tech being examined, try to acquire it, but don’t risk losing the Egg. Anything else you acquire during this mission will be taken into consideration during any future parole hearings.”
Nathan was lying.
There was no chance in hell of these convicts getting a shot at freedom, except the freedom of the grave.
“Slyfox, you and Shadower need to memorize the layout. After disabling any aerial vehicles in the air hangar, get down to the lab area quickly and quietly. Once you’ve located the Serpent’s Egg, store it in this,” Nathan said while pulling out a mesh sack. “Don’t let your skin come into contact with it or…well…just don’t. Once you have the egg, rendezvous with Steeljacket at the entrance and evacuate the base. The majority of the Kobra troops are off-base right now so resistance before you reach the lab should be minimal.” Nathan prepared to move on, before pulling out a small handheld device and adding, “By the way, after securing the egg, overload the computer terminals with this. It’ll activate a localized EMP that’ll fry the circuits. A security breach of their computer core will trigger a self-destruct protocol. You and Shadower will have approximately 30 minutes to make it out of there. Orca and Steeljacket will be responsible for getting you out.”
Slyfox looked a little uneasy at relying on a whale woman and a hollow-boned freak to save him from an exploding base. “Better hope 30 minutes is enough time to get out,” he whispered under his breath.
“Steeljacket, you’ll be flying Shadower to the island while Orca takes Slyfox. After dropping him at the hangar, stay outside. You’ll need to down any transports that Kobra troops might try to escape in. If Slyfox does his job right, you won’t need worry, but keep an eye out anyway. After they secure the Egg, you’ll need to take Shadower back to the mainland with the Egg.”
“Why can’t I fly back with Steeljacket?” Slyfox asked, “I don’t like the idea of two trips through the water. This Fox doesn’t like getting wet.”
“Stuff it,” Nathan replied, “If you were a little more lean and pumped less iron, then Steeljacket could take you, but he can only carry a certain amount of weight. He’ll barely be able to carry Shadower, let alone the Serpent’s Egg. Orca doesn’t have that problem.”
Slyfox remained silent at his chastisement. He’d have to grin and bare it on the off chance he’d survive this mission and get a reduced sentence.
Finished with the briefing, Nathan checked his watch. “A new contingent of Kobra personnel is arriving at the base in four hours to replace the majority of troops that left for a base in Hasaragua. This is our only window to assault the base before they arrive. You need to be gone in three hours or none of us are leaving.”
Nathan stepped into one of the Blackhawks as both prepared to take off.
“Your inhibitor collars turn off in 15 minutes, enough time for us to be out of range of Shadower’s telepathy. Orca, use your radio to call us once you’re at the sub entrance. Your collars will remain active until three hours from now when they kick back on. Be at the rendezvous point before then, or you’ll be left behind.”
The helicopters containing Nathan and the Dynamiteer took off into and flew away.
The remaining Squad members headed for the Alaskan shore 100 yards away as quickly as they could. They didn’t have any time to waste.
Once there, the four teammates broke up into pairs, with Steeljacket lifting Shadower and Orca taking Slyfox.
“Grab on big guy,” the whale woman joked, “I won’t bite.”
Slyfox looked over the massive woman, a little impressed by her size and strength. She was something to behold. “It’s not you I’m worried about getting bit by. Just keep us away from the sharks, and we’ll be fine.”
The Shadower only weighed about 160 pounds, so Steeljacket could just barely carry him while gliding towards the island base. Slyfox was little more than a minor annoyance for the strength of Orca. She glided through the water with ease, while he struggled to hang on to her massive neck.
Steeljacket dropped the Shadower off at the concealed hangar entrance. Kobra used some kind of holographic projector to hide it from the few people that ventured nearby.
Once on a small metal platform at the edge of the holographic camouflage, Shadower crept off to the side with the mesh sack of supplies, threw a rope down the slope after securing it to a metal handhold, and waited for his partner to arrive.
Slyfox was not so lucky.
Orca barely stopped long enough for him to get off and swim a few yards to the beach before going off to her own mission. Once on dry land, he did his best to shake off the water, but his clothing was still soaked. The only thing worse than infiltrating a Kobra base was infiltrating a Kobra Base in a soaking-wet costume.
He looked up to the metal platform where Shadower was standing and started to climb the hanging rope, slowing ascending the steep slope of the small mountain.
Orca swam through the cold waters of the Alaskan shore looking for the underwater entrance.
Even though she had the senses of an Orca whale, she still had trouble seeing underwater sometimes.
Also, the speed of sharks in the area worried her. They could swoop in from anywhere if she wasn’t observant.
She hadn’t taken on a shark in its own environment. Also, trying to fight something underwater wasn’t as easy as people might think. During her crime-spree in the waters around Gotham City, she avoided underwater confrontation and hoped to continue that strategy.
Looking closely, light from the surface appeared to reflect off something in the underwater mountain.
As Orca swam closer, she could see a large metal blast door, obviously the entrance to the underwater submarine bay.
“No reason they’d have two of these,” she thought.
“Dynamite Dan,” she said in her comlink, “I’m ready when you are.
In the safety of the Blackhawk, the Dynamiteer angrily replied, “It’s the Dynamiteer, you krill-eater,” obviously proud of his ridiculous name.
“Whatever,” she replied, “What am I supposed to do?”
Nathan adjusted the monitor on the Blackhawk which showed the video from Orca’s headset while the Dynamiteer thought out the situation.
“50 by 20 feet it looks like,” he said, thinking out loud, “The blast doors should have gyros that open and close them. They’d be placed a quarter of the way in from the left and to the right. Swim about twelve feet to your right from the left edge. We’ll start there for the first device.”
The two men watched the camera change position before arrived somewhere between 10 and 15 feet from the edge of the blast door.
“Pull out the first casing and place the front towards the black door’s edge.”
Orca followed the command, pulling out the first device. She floated in the water as she positioned the side with ‘Face Towards the Enemy’ written on the surface. She secured it with two railroad nails pushed into the rock. They just barely held the explosive in place.
The improved Claymore mine, specially prepared earlier by the Dynamiteer, would theoretically pack just enough punch to disable one of the four mechanisms operating the blast door.
“Connect one of the red wires to the metal legs, and then tie it to the remote detonator.”
Orca removed one of four red wires from the backpack and connected it to a remote transceiver that would receive the detonation signal. The activation light was off right now.
“Activate the receiver by holding the remote detonator within two inches of it. Holding the activator button until the transceiver light blinks twice.”
Every part of the Super-Claymore was specially designed by the Dynamiteer for maximum yield and improved efficiency. It was one of several reasons why he’d been selected as the consultant for this mission.
Orca finished the installation and activated the transceiver, signaling that the device was armed and ready to go.
“Okay, one down, three to go,” Orca said nervously over the radio.
“Let me know if anyone comes near while I get to work, emo,” Slyfox said as he stepped over to the first of two transports in the Kobra hangar.
“I’m not emo,” Shadower replied, “I just have very pale skin.”
He stood silent for a few seconds as he focused in on the people on this level, including Slyfox, his teammate. He read their surface thoughts, filled with destruction and carnage.
These were not good people.
Thankfully, there were only three on this level, all occupied with maintenance of weapons in the Kobra armory.
“I am sorry. I should have realized you suffered an inferiority complex requiring you to insult anyone you considered better than yourself.”
Slyfox, whose head was covered by the engine he was working to disable with a monkey wrench and pliers, looked up. “What was that?” he asked, not paying attention.
“Nothing,” Shadower replied.
After a few clicks from the engine compartment, Slyfox turned his attention to the second.
“Too bad we can’t just fly these out of here,” he mentioned in an offhand way. “Kobra freaks keep these things voice-locked, fingerprint-verified, and DNA-sealed so only their trained pilots can use them.”
“How do you know that?” Shadower asked, not wanting to pry anymore into Slyfox’s violent mind.
“Once did some research on them for a score I pulled. Thought I could steal a batch of their equipment and sell it on the black market. Didn’t find out until a day before the job just how crazy their security measures are for their vehicles.”
“Thankfully, that doesn’t appear to apply to their bases, as our current safety suggests.”
“That’s Kobra for you. Groups like them live under the assumption that no one would be able to infiltrate one of their bases.”
A second set of clicks signaled the scuttling of the second transport.
“These birds are down,” Slyfox said triumphantly. “Now, let’s find some hardware and crash the geek party.”
“I sensed some soldiers working in an armory about 30 yards from here.”
“That’ll do.”
Orca was finishing with the third claymore when a small hatch near the underwater blast door appeared.
Up until now, the mission was going smoothly, with the local sharks giving her a wide berth. The marine biologist in Orca assumed they didn’t know what to make of her and figured it was safer to stay away.
Swimming a few yards above the hatch, he whale woman watched two Kobra soldiers swim out, wearing snake-themed diving suits and carrying modified harpoon guns. She thought she smelled something around them, possibly some kind of anti-shark pheromone.
She’d love to study it if she could get a hold of a sample.
The Kobra moccasin troopers didn’t notice the large black and white woman hovering above them in the water, so they were surprised when she dove down at one of them and ripped his helmet off.
The second soldier aimed his harpoon gun at orca, but the fast-thinking aquawoman used his drowning partner as a shield, with the harpoon piercing his armor just above his left lung.
Ignoring the drowning and now bleeding snake, Orca focused on the second one.
He fired another harpoon in her direction which barely connected with her right shoulder. The blood loss was minimal as she wrapped her arms around the man and squeezed tightly.
The armor seemed to buckle as the Kobra soldier’s chest cavity collapsed, his face clenched in pain until he died after about 15 seconds.
Orca didn’t expect her first victim to still have any fight left in him as a harpoon landed in her back, just to the left of her spine.
She turned away from the dead Kobra, cursing herself for not finishing the second one.
The drowning man didn’t get off a second shot before Orca pounced on him.
She wrapped him up in another bear hug and bit down into his head.
Orca didn’t like indulging in her primitive desires, but she was bleeding and in pain, so she ignored any human sensibilities.
With the two men dead, she turned her attention back to the final explosive.
“Do you have the code yet?” Slyfox asked Shadower as continued holding the third Kobra trooper in a rear choke hold. His two companions were already dead on the group, one stabbed through the eye with a screwdriver and the other beaten senseless with a heavy monkey wrench. Perhaps if they’d both been wearing their helmets, they wouldn’t have gone down so easily.
“Strange,” the telepath stated, “They appear to have some anti-psionic training, something to keep me from reading all but their surface thoughts. Fortunately, his loss of air is relaxing his defenses. I should have it in…now.”
Slyfox snapped the final cultist’s neck as Shadower entered the weapon’s locker code, unlocking heavier fire power than the simple automatic weapons which the cultists were cleaning.
“Nice gun,” Slyfox said pulling out a large laser weapon of some kind. He removed a small pistol, asking, “Want one?”
“No thank you,” Shadower replied.
“Your loss,” Slyfox replied, moving towards the stairs that went directly to the lab area.
Shadower looked at recently dead corpses and thought about how another three deaths were added to his record. He felt guilty even though the dead men were fanatical terrorists.
A few seconds later, he moved on to follow Slyfox.
“Keep going, Vartan,” the Shadower thought to himself. “You’re doing fine. It’ll only be a little while longer and then you’ll be back in your cell.”
Vartan liked his cell in the Slab. Its walls were specially designed to resist telepathy, not to mention the power-dampening collar.
There, the Shadower could escape the evil thoughts of the other inmates, evil thoughts that kept him awake at night. It had only been a few years ago that his telepathy was activated after a horrific nightmare about his grandfather.
It was only later that he realized his grandfather was actually speaking to him in his dreams. For weeks, his grandfather flooded his mind with images of gruesome deaths and endless suffering.
His grandfather was a psychopath that demanded his work continue. Vartan’s latent telepathy allowed him to carry out his will from the safety of his Belle Reve cell.
Whenever Vartan tried to resist his grandfather, the images only became worse. Vartan had to kill or he’d be driven mad and likely end up killing himself to escape his grandfather. Instead of sparing others his pain, he took the easy way out and carried out his grandfather’s wishes, senselessly harming innocents who he had no quarrel with.
He’d killed a dozen people before finally being caught, though law enforcement only knew about 5 of the deaths. He’d earned 10 years of confinement for every murder they knew about, though Vartan knew he deserved so much worse.
Even after his grandfather’s death, Vartan could still hear the thoughts of the criminals he was incarcerated with, stray random thoughts of evil and vice that the inhibitor collar didn’t drown out. Vartan had just enough of his telepathy to still take in the horrible void of humanity that comprised many of the inmates of the Slab.
Thankfully, his cell was a safe domain, free of the stray imaginings of criminals and murderers. Vartan may have killed people at the behest of his grandfather, but he himself was not a murderer.
Vartan Kevork the younger was a good man, and hopefully he would have a chance to prove it in service to this Squad of sinners and saints.
“We’re good,” Orca said after finishing with fourth explosive.
The water around her was starting to fill with blood, her blood.
She was already starting to feel tired, the pain being the only thing keeping her awake.
“Get a safe distance and detonate. You need to be at leas 50 yards away,” Dynamiteer said over the comlink.
Orca followed the instructions as she swam for cover.
She strained to remain conscious as she triggered the detonator. Four small underwater explosions occurred around the metal blast doors, permanently sealing them for the foreseeable future.
Orca was pleased with herself. She’d done her job and two Kobra cultists were lying dead in the water.
Soon, she’d be back at the Slab in her nice big tank and get to rest from this ordeal.
She was about to swim to the island shore to wait for the rest of the team when a large shark bit into her shoulder.
The Kobra scientists went down easily, and Slyfox started rifling through their lab coats.
“Gotta have a card key somewhere," he said. “One of these has to be the chief brainiac.”
The containment field around the Serpent’s Egg required a security override keycard to shut down. Since Shadower said there was no one else on the lab level except the eight dead researcher, Slyfox figured one of them would have it.
Eventually, he found a small red card and swiped it over the laser reader, deactivating the containment field.
“Sack,” he ordered to his teammate.
Shadower tossed hi the mesh sack, and Slyfox carefully wrapped the Egg with it.
“What’s the time?” he asked out loud, checking his watch, “An hour and a half left. We’re doing great here.” He turned his attention to a large metal container which was probably the safe where the datadisks were stored. The red keycard also worked on the safe.
Slyfox gave Shadower the disks and sack with the Egg inside. Vartan tucked the mesh bag tight to his body and started walking for the stairs.
“Now for the payload,” Slyfox said, hooking up the small EMP device.
The box hissed and flashed, activating a wave of energy around the lab. A humorless automated message reported the computer breach. “Self-Destruct Activated. Hail Kali Yuga. 10 minutes until core detonation.”
“10 minutes!!!” Slyfox yelled before dashing after the Shadower. He had to move fast.
5 minutes later, Shadower and Slyfox arrived at the metal platform. Steeljacket was waiting to carry the telepath and the Egg back to the shore.
Slyfox tried to hitch a ride with them, but was rebuked, leaving him to dash down the mountain slope for the shore.
Not seeing Orca anywhere, he decided to take his chances with the 500 yard swim to the Alaskan shore.
He didn’t make it.
An hour and a half later, Dynamiteer, Steeljacket, and Shadower were all unconscious in the Blackhawk, sent to sleep by an injection of tranquilizers in their collars.
Nathan looked at the mesh sack containing the Egg and made a call.
“How’d the mission go?” the voice on the other end asked.
“Better than expected. We got the Egg and some of Kobra R&D files. Dynamiteer proved valuable with his explosives expertise, and Shadower’s telepathic spotting kept the team safe to the objective. Unfortunately, the whale and the fox didn’t make it. Too bad, because I saw some potential with Slyfox as an operative.”
“There will be others. Task Force Delta has access to a wide range of skilled individuals. I’m sure you’ll find someone better.”
“Well, regardless,” Nathan replied, “The mission was successful. I’ll have the Egg back at base within 24 hours.”
Nathan then hung up the phone. He watched the Alaskan sunset as the Blackhawk headed back to Juneau.
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The End...
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