User:RelentlessRecusant/Ghost

'''Special Episode II is still under construction! However, RR is taking requests to be portrayed in thie episode. All requests will be granted, and your persona will be embodied as a Delta Assault Reconnaisance trooper. Want to chat about waz' goin' on so far? See the dedicated forum!'''

Introduction
Ghost is a series of fanfiction works written by RelentlessRecusant. They star Halopedians in a variety of combat scenarios.

The main characters are those of Lima Company, a company of Marines that star in Ryanngreenday's own fan fiction works. These stories are set in the 21st century, with modern-day technology.

So far, there are three episodes, two of which are under production:
 * Episode 0 - Ghost Forerunner
 * Episode I - Ghost Precedent
 * Episode II - Ghosts Inside the Machine

NATO Air Force
The NATO Air Force is the branch of the NATO military that is primarily concerned with flight operations. They field most of the UH-60 Black Hawk helicopters utilized by the Marines and Special Forces, and also with their overwhelming air superiority use F-27 fighter jets to provide tactical air support for advancing ground troops and also destruction of enemy installations by air with impunity.

NATO Marine Corps
The NATO Marine Corps are the branch of the NATO military that executes ground operations. The Marines are seen as the defenders of freedom for NATO against external and internal threats. Its soldiers are also competent in combat, and to achieve their objectives, standard Marine armament includes assault rifles and flash-bang grenades.

NATO Marine Special Forces
The NATO Marine Special Forces is the branch of the NATO military that encompasses the special operations soldiers employed by the Marine Corps in special warfare situations. They include the infamous Delta Assault Reconnaisance, Special Paranormal Encounter Assault Reconnaisance, and Special Warfare Research Department elements.

Delta Assault Reconnaisance Troopers (DART)
D.A.R.T. is the standard Special Forces element of the NATO Marine Corps. Their objectives are multifarious, but include counterterrorism, hostage negotiation, urban warfare, high-risk penetrations, and other missions. They are highly regarded by the military, and are often soldiers called in the most dire of situation. DARTs are the most elite of the elite, and are exemplified by their high success rate and low casualty counts.

Special Paranormal Encounter Assault Reconnaisance (SPEAR)
S.P.E.A.R. is a small Special Forces element of the NATO Marine Corps. Their objective is the neutralizing of paranormal threats, although they haven't been activated once prior to the Gemini situation. Most of their members are incredulous about the existance of any paranormal threats, and attribute any distrubances as just freak occurances. This attitude is shared by most members of the military, and SPEAR is a joke station - their members just lounge around without work. However, SPEAR's constituent members are all DART veterans, and are extremely proficient in combat.

Special Warfare Research Department
The Special Warfare Research Department is the research and development branch of the NATO Special Forces. It conducts infamous black room research projects involving suspicious research topics, all for the name of NATO and humanity. However, to achieve those objectives, it often utilizes controvertible and surrepitous paths...

NATO Air Force

 * Viktor One - UH-60 Black Hawk helicopter pilot and copilot

NATO Marine Corps

 * Captain Brandon Nelson (father of Ryan James Nelson)

Delta Assault Reconnaisance Troopers (DART)

 * Bravo Team
 * Major "Relentless" - Bravo One (Relentless), technologial specialist
 * Lieutenant "Imperator" - Bravo Two (Donut THX 1138), medical specialist
 * Lieutenant Ikinator - Bravo Three (Inkinator), demolitions and CQB specialist
 * Lieutenant "Pie" - Bravo Four (Thepie), sniper specialist

Special Paranormal Encounter Assault Reconnaisance (SPEAR)

 * Aleph Team

''Special Warfare Research Department

 * Colonel Esemono - Biochemical Technology Command (Esemono)

NATO Intelligence Agency

 * Commander "Black Mercy" - Director of the Pacific Area Counterterrorism Element (PACE) (Black Mercy)
 * Lieutenant George "G007" (Spartan-G007)
 * Lieutenant "G23" (Spartan G-23)

Episode 0 Exclusive Teaser
A matte-black SUV with the NATO crest affixed to its license plate strolled forward, negotiating the rain-slick and trash-strewn back roads of the Social Quarter of Pacific City. It delved through the gentle rains, the towering brick walls and windows that arose on either sides of the inconveniently narrow alley, the tin trash cans and spilled litter that barred easy negotiation of the alley. Everything regarding the SUV was black. A black armored shell encased it, glazed with bulletproof glaze against machine-gun fire. Plexiglas windows tinted darkly for nearly zero-percent optical transmission of the interior. Black tires, thickened to deter against popping of the tires and derailing of the SUV. The interior sang with black as well, almost Gothic. Dark leather. Recessed lights shaded darkly to prevent the one-way windows from being overwhelmed. Dark seats.

Check the license plate number. There’s nothing that even says GOVERNMENT on the placard. Just a simple QQ-718Q. If you cross-reference it into the NATO Public Information Network, you’ll find that such a vehicle doesn’t exist. Like a quantum paradox: there, but simultaneously, not there.

In the interior, Commander Ryan James Nelson Sr. was sandwiched in the central row of three dark leather seats. Sandwiched by four sides: two darkly-suited Intelligence Agency agents bearing handguns to either seat straddling his own. A third agent on the steering wheel, just before him. Directly to his back was the “spec” - the sole agent of the quartet that bore a heavy weapon: a .30-caliber machine gun. He was the only helmeted one, as well. The other three wore inconspicuous tuxedoes tightly cut to maximize movement in combat situations. Professional darkly-tinted eyeglasses. (Aren’t you sick of black and dark yet?) The spec had the same professional tuxedo, professional complexion, carried himself with professional air, but had a gray helmet with a prominent jaw plate. The visor was tinted cyan, and had microfibers of gallium arsenide semiconductor running on the face that the spec’s eyes were on: for projections onto the HUD. The spec’s helmet and machine-gun contrasted to his unarmored chest and legs, but nothing deterred from the graveness of the four Intelligence Agency agents.

Commander Nelson, to be truthful, was one of the shadier characters of the NATO armed forces. Although formally a senior-level administrator in the Intelligence Agency, he was also a senior administrator in the PHOENIX Joint Operations Counterterrorism Element, a highly-classified organization nestled in the interference zone of the van Hoff graph of the Intelligence Agency and Special Forces. Basically, Intelligence fed data regarding terrorist cells in either the United States or Canada to Special Forces, specifically the 5th Special Forces Operational Detachment-Delta, a Delta Reconnaissance branch that dogmatically didn’t exist. Except it did pragmatically. The 5th SFOD-D, after attaining the intelligence, would proceed to eliminate the terrorist cells with extraordinarily prejudice…methods so extreme that Special Forces even wanted to wash their hands clean from. Even further perplexingly, that was PHOENIX’s external goal. That’s right. The governmental bureaucrats that even knew of PHOENIX just saw it as a brute force counterterrorism element, condoned it, but demanded that no one knew of the theoretically not-existing 5th SFOD-D. However, PHOENIX was much more complicated. Its primary goal was assassination of prominent non-NATO figures. Oil cartel barons, foreign dignitaries, etc…Everything was shaded in differing shades of gray. Enshrouded in veils of secrecy so dark that a full Internal Affairs investigation would never unravel.

R.J. Nelson Jr. was just entering the Marine Corps, after completing preliminary training. His mind was full of glamour and valor: marching men in fine uniforms defending not only Canada, but also NATO. His father shook his head wearily as the apartment walls rimming the street grew progressively taller as the government SUV sped forth, like the walls of a canyon, stretching inexorably to the sky. R.J. Nelson Sr. knew with definitive clarity that his son would never know of his father’s work. The torture of the captives, the sodium pentothal, the ECG tortures. All to reveal the location of some important foreign individual. After the interrogations, R.J. would merely dispose of the corpse, relay the coordinates to the 5th SFOD-D for termination…Yet, he had determined that his time at PHOENIX would come to an end. He could bear it any further…his fine young son entering the Marines, the dress uniforms, swagger, glory…and his decrepit corruption. R.J. had assured himself. After this operation, his resignation would be at the local PHOENIX field office’s commander’s desk. He would not continue the charade, instead resume his normal post at Intelligence, the clean, bloodless RECONSAT work, none of the grueling screams as he extracted information from unyielding captives…

Nelson remembered the distinct words of the controller from his office in the PHOENIX field office in Pacific Central. Each field office not only had a superior administrator that ran the office’s day-to-day operations, but also…a “controller”, a particular field office’s liaison to the other field offices and also PHOENIX Command in Washington, D.C. The hallow words, the clearly synthesized voice that had been strained through an audio filter.

“Controller, here.” “Echo Three reporting. Confirming secure SATCOM transmission.”

A slight pause.

“Echo Three, you have a new assignment.”

R.J. was beset with pain. The assassination of the Saudi Arabian Public Health Minister, he’d set, would be the last operation.

“Yes sir. What about KEYHOLE?” “Your target has been revised. We’ve uncovered signs of…fault within The Bird.”

It went without saying that KEYHOLE, the Saudi Arabian minister, would be handled by another interrogator and that The Bird was PHOENIX. Corruption? It was R.J.’s path out of the blasted organization, and merely fueled his vindictiveness to escape from the trappings of interrogation, the inhumane pain he was compelled to inflict…for the sake of PHOENIX and NATO. There were other talented agents, even in Pacific Central, that could take his post.

“Yes sir.” “You’re to meet another PHOENIX agent. The coordinates are three-nine-five-one by oh-six-four-eight at 0935 hours. The agent will have information.” “Yes sir.” “Controller over and out.”

*  *   *

“Delta-One receiving, transmission secure.” “Excellent. Delta-One, what is your op status?” “I am holding at Waypoint Aqua.” “Good. This is your first objective. Listen closely. I will only tell you once.”

The figure suited in black body armor stood at rigid attention as the voice detailed the auspices of Delta-One’s first assignment. As the raspy voice ended, Delta-One felt a rill of saliva run down his throat, now suddenly parched.

“Will there be exfiltration?” “There will be no need. I have arranged it.”

*  *   *

The Mk. II Mod 0 M277 is the standard-issue grenade launcher for NATO troopers. It is too bulky to clip onto the M19 assault rifle, but its high-yield fragmentation grenades, fired in a direct trajectory by means of rocket propulsion, definitely makes up for its clumsiness to yield.

Delta-One examined the weapon of war that laid in his gauntlets, all chrome and finery meant for one purpose: death. He had been assured by his superior that there would be no need for exfiltration, but the wildly running exhilaration in his substrata assured him otherwise. However, he was Delta Recon. The Deltas always found solutions...Or make them, thought Delta-One as he looked over the M277 rocket-propelled grenade launcher, and then moved off.

*  *   *

The driver of the black SUV raised his fist, pumped it once: they’d arrived at the rendezvous.

R.J. Nelson Senior observed the stylish chronometer strapped to his right wrist with a flick of his eyes. “It’s only 0930. There’s no need to flaunt our presence here to the public by securing the perimeter. Stand by.”

The spec in the back seat nodded, and the three other agents slightly released their tense postures. Each checked the clip of his handgun with solemn autonomity, as if preparing for a funeral, and then looked up, their complexions all implacable.

R.J. twisted in the confines of his seat belts, checked the rain-slick cobalt concrete walls running to either side of the SUV, running towards the sky like the runners of a plant. Soft sodium lights drifted from windows. In his peripheral vision, R.J. saw the spec, expression stony. Attempting to bring even a mote of joyfulness into his displeased disposition for the change of plans regarding his retirement, he observed with a dogged smile the heavy .50-caliber machine gun the spec held in his hands.

“No gun’s too big for you?”

The spec didn’t even respond, gaunt face blankly staring forward like a mental retardate while his M3 machine gun rested in his hands. R.J. briefly thought something about agents and antisocial, and then saw the spec’s head outlined in a corona of fire. Most intriguing. An aura of warm yellows and red expanding forth from the cranium, but drawn such as if there was a central point of heat within the corona that was being obstructed by the spec’s gaunt head. Then it brutally rammed into R.J.’s mind: a rocket.

A moment later, he felt heat that rose exponentially in intensity, and a chorus of light nestled his bloodied body.

*  *   *

Mechanically, Delta-One reloaded the one-rocket Mk. II Mod 0 M277 RPG, slapping the next conical warhead into its girth. As he squinted at the flaming wreck of the Agency SUV beneath his rooftop perch, fires bursting forth from its twisted and exploded metal skeleton, the mesh of titanium and armor plating that had formerly given shape and vitality to the SUV destroyed, his HUD automatically projected statistics. First, a rotating wireframe of the SUV appeared. All crimsons: beyond the maximum tolerance threshold for Delta-One’s infrared lenses. Next, scrolling next unveiled itself just below the equator of his HUD. Most displeasing ones as well to Delta-One:

ESTIMATED PROBABILITY OF PERSONNEL ELIMINATION: 33.80%

Delta-One was trained never to feel even the slightest droplet of shock ease its away into his nerves, but this was alarming. An car adapted for civilian use withstood an M227’s explosive wrath? There was a two-thirds chance that the occupants had not been killed by a rocket-propelled grenade launcher? The threat statistic of the agents within and also of the Intelligence Agency as a whole increased by a healthy amount in Delta-One’s computer-arrayed mind as he sorted out threat assessments.

The eerie optics of his visor reflecting aurora-cyan light into his HUD, he raised the controller on his secure, encrypted transmissions frequency. “Delta-One here. Hostile vehicle has been fired upon, but two-thirds probability of survival of passengers.”

The controller bit off a brief profanity, and then chill beset Delta-One’s bones as his knees slightly bent, and his muscles went rigid as if in rigor mortis as he awaited the controller’s commands. “A second rocket would attract too much attention. Investigate the wreckage. There can be no survivors.”

Delta-One, a raven hawk perched on a rooftop and the rain softly thudding against his armor, each droplet bringing woe to his nauseous body for his lack of success with the first shot, nodded. “Delta-One moving in.”

“It will take some time for you to climb down and investigate. I can not guarantee wet feet. I’m setting up an exfiltration package.”

There was no need to say what task was left for Delta-One to complete as he stiffly set aside the grenade launcher and hefted his M3 .50-caliber machine gun, and began his descent down the stairs as civilians broke into a zealous, transmissible panic. Sirens blared in the distance, reciprocating their screams.

*  *   *

The Central Emergency Telephone Node for Pacific Central received over ten 9-1-1 emergency calls reporting a massive explosion in the Social Quarter of Pacific City. The automatic mechanical operators used voice recognition to faithfully record the words being spewed by the crazed callers, used voiceprint analysis to confirm that they were neither lying or high on drugs, and then sent this information to P.A.C.E., the Pacific Area Counterterrorism Element.

P.A.C.E. is the resident counterterrorism unit of Pacific City. While PHOENIX handles more of the dirtier ways to counteract terrorism, P.A.C.E. is responsible for general terror threats. However, it also handles hostage situations, larger shootouts, etc...things that the lightly-equipped Pacific Central Police (PCP) can not handle. It boasts fully-armored P.A.C.E. counterterrorism shock troopers that can deploy to any location in Pacific within five minutes by means of UH-60 Black Hawk military helicopters. Furthermore, it has a fleet of machine-gun Jeeps and Humvees, as well as direct communication lines to local NATO Central Command to call in Marine reinforcements and/or an air strike. P.A.C.E. is no light organization.

The C.E.T.N. passed a high-priority flagged message to P.C.P., which instead of dispatching officers through the automated router, relayed it to P.A.C.E., where it was received by Brigadier General Raul, Commander of P.A.C.E., who handed it off to one of the dispatch lieutenants. A moment later, counterterrorism Blue Squad lifted off from a Black Hawk on one of P.A.C.E. HQ’s myriad helipads, and it dipped, and then commenced its path to the Social Quarter.

*  *   *

As the last civilians, aroused from fitful sleep, streamed past him, regarding Delta-One as the war machine that he was, the Delta Recon soldier advanced steadfastly down the last flight of stairs, machine-gun in hand. He automatically lifted his right leg with the pulleys that were the sarcomeres of his muscles, slammed its brunt into the iron door before him. The door gave away, and as it banged from the kick, Delta-One saw that its rusted surface shimmered with light: the reflections of the SUV’s flames.

At last, Delta-One stepped upon the street, facing the SUV’s wreck. Nothing had changed during his descent down the stairs. Although its armor plating had been contorted from the force of the blast and all was alit with the same fiery halo, the interior was still relatively free of the fires. A most unusual situation, but not even an obstacle for Delta-One as he continued forward, undaunted.

*  *   *

The soft crinkle of flaring flesh, of alit metal against the asphalt, and the aroma of charred skin wafted into R.J.’s nose, from where it was transferred to the olfactory bulbs, olfactory nerves, and then thalamus of the interrogator.

Then, another sound pounded against the tympanic membranes of his ears. Someone. Approaching.

His eyes angled open as he returned to consciousness, and every muscle’s woes were compiled within his mind. Pain. Resounding pain, skewering its bloodied path into him, driving him with a continual rhythm of surges of agony, compelling him to move, yet dictating him simultaneously to rest and recover.

There would be no recovering for R.J. as he felt coarse gauntlets snaked towards him, twin serpents of black, and reach for him through the fires. For a moment, his battered brain, that hazy connection of now-mostly disjointed neurons, reeled. Fireproof arms? Who? A rescuer? That thought lit his brain, and lips drifted into a comforted, dreamy smile as he deviated again from the translucent barrier of consciousness.

*  *   *

Delta-One deposited the limp, bloodied body onto the asphalt before him. Directly before the pair was the flaming wreck of the SUV. By some odd play of chance, the four other agents had been killed. There would be no witnesses. By some odd idiosyncrasy, Delta-One checked his wrist chronometer. 0933 hours. P.A.C.E. would be arriving in under two minutes.

Without even a strain of remorse, Delta-One raised his head, eyed the body again, the scarlet patches of hemoglobin that streaked across the tattered, partially singed clothes, the frayed polyester fibers. However, training and torture had cemented him, made firm within his narrow mind the sole imperative of life: Obey the commands of your superior. No hesitation. Hundreds of times, he’d murdered before. Yes, each execution was riveted into his mind with clairvoyant clarity. The blood, enemy bullets, their marks were impressed upon his mind and flesh.

For a moment, Delta-One closed his eyes, relieving the harsh heat of the fire as a comforting, soothing song that swept away the brutality of the moment. Yet, within him, there was no relent, for his name was Relentless. Upon that thought, Delta-One lifted an armored boot, opened his eyes. In that moment, R.J. groaned, spewed some partially coagulated blood from his mouth, gnashed his broken teeth, turned, looked up at the figure hovering before him, the spiked jet-black combat boot.

And then, the boot rammed home into R.J.’s face.

Mission accomplished.

Act I - Directive
May 1, 1998

Act II - Insertion
June 23, 1998 Mexico

''The camera begins dark, but the sound is awash with the powerful downbeat thrumming of helicopter blades. Then, the light streams through - Black Hawk helicopter VICTOR ONE. Then, the scene swivels, revealing the Black Hawk in all its glory - the polished sheen of its glossy black surface, almost like the mane of a horse. Within the cargo bay on the corrugated metal floor is DART BRAVO TEAM. There is little talking. PIE, Bravo Four, is absently mindedly repeatedly chambering his elongated, bulky sniper rifle, occasionally taking a rag and some oil and cleansing the optical lenses. IKINATOR is fingering his assault rifle, which has a long metal, acuminous razor bayonet running along its bottom and extending beyond the stock. IMPERATOR is reviewing the mission files - intelligence, callsigns, frequencies, mission-specific alarm codes, insertion and extraction vectors, diagonal lines of fire, etc...RELENTLESS is mumbling to himself.'' ''RELENTLESS shakes for a moment, startled. His immersion in his concentration has been finished.'' IMPERATOR and IKINATOR look up from their tasks. IMPERATOR shifts uneasily. RELENTLESS looks approvingly at IMPERATOR. IKINATOR blushes. ''IMPERATOR grins, the smile not concealed by his undonned jet-black helmet. IKINATOR is hamrod-stiff, all his gear donned, even his helmet sealed. IMPERATOR notes his formality.'' IKINATOR turns, uncertain. ''RELENTLESS and IMPERATOR both stare blankly at PIE. IKINATOR rocks back, his ill and rigid demeanor changed. A slight smile's on his lips.'' ''There is silence as apprehension once again settles on BRAVO TEAM. RELENTLESS assesses his team. IMPERATOR is the medical specialist, and a good all-round cross-trained fighter. IKINATOR is the 'newbie' sent to take the place of Bravo Three, who had died on an op two weeks ago. In the simulators, he has shown his proficiency, but this is his first combat mission. His knowledge in explosives is also not extremely impressive, as he was forced to rapidly learn it to take Bravo Three's place. PIE is the resident sniper, and well-suited for tactical support as well as holding his own in the rare cases that he's charged from close range.'' RELENTLESS boldly slaps IKINATOR on the back, who is abruptly startled - a clear sign of his nervousness and lack of combat experience. PIE notices his faux pas. IKINATOR slightly grins.
 * PIE: "Sir?"
 * RELENTLESS, snappy: "What?"
 * PIE: "You okay, man?"
 * IMPERATOR: "Four, advise you leave the Major alone. He's just recalling the mission specifics. Hell, do you have the layout of the base and everything memorized?"
 * PIE: "Yessir. My apologies, Major."
 * RELENTLESS: "Accepted. Pilot, what's the time to touchdown?"
 * VICTOR ONE: "Just about ten minutes out, sir. I'll inform you when we're nearing SAM range."
 * IKINATOR: "Whoa...what the fuck? Surface-to-air missiles? They weren't mentioned in the..."
 * RELENTLESS, semijokingly: "Lieutenant, I understand this is your first day on Bravo Team. This is Rule Numbero Uno: Intelligence is always wrong. What ever they say, you assume the opposite and go into the fighting with that mind. Therefore, when Intel is wrong, you're prepared and not caught off your guard. Understand?"
 * IKINATOR: "Yes, sir."
 * IMPERATOR: "Hey, Four, you know what Principle Two is?"
 * IKINATOR: "Negative, sir."
 * IMPERATOR: "It's 'blow shit up.' Whenever you can blow up a tango instead of stabbing or shooting him, you explosively oxidate him."
 * IKINATOR: "Sir, with all due respect, I'm the demolitions spec. My duty is to-"
 * PIE: "Eat pie."
 * IKINATOR: "What?"
 * PIE: "To eat pie. Pie is of excessive goodness, therefore you shall eat pie and grow fat while us three blow shit up. Then, you can claim the credit."
 * IKINATOR: "Ah. Credit's good. Therefore, pie's good."
 * VICTOR ONE: "Bravo Team, ETA is three minutes. No fire-control radars. RECONSAT also says no air nor ground traffic from the base - Ramirez could not have escaped yet. You boys ready?"
 * RELENTLESS: "ARE YOU READY DELTAS?"
 * PIE: "Shit yeah!"
 * PIE: "That is, sir."

Act III - Point Man
''VICTOR ONE sharply banks towards the desert floor, the chapped dirt running swiftly beneath the Black Hawk as before BRAVO TEAM, a gigantic plateau seems to ascend from the ground. It is the home to the base of RAMIREZ, an infamous black market lynchpin that is responsible for about a third of the Mexican drug flow into the United States. The plateau, known by the locals as tabla sangrienta - bloodied table, appears to be a nondescript supply base - rows upon rows of multicolored cargo modules in an arrayed matrix around a small military complex. RECONSAT, however, identified the machine gun-mounted Jeeps and armed guards via infrared scanning. The informant that gave away the location of RAMIREZ is GEORGE, the Intelligence Agency plant that Intel was finally able to smuggle into tabla sangrienta. VICTOR ONE is to drop off BRAVO TEAM at the very edge of the plateau into a secluded sector of cargo modules, and pick of GEORGE. As the towering, jagged edge of the plateau rises and VICTOR ONE goes stealth protocols, cutting speed by eighty percent and gently ascending, hugging the side of the near-perpendicular edge of the pleateau precipitiously, IKINATOR whistles.'' ''There is no comment as VICTOR ONE drops its speed and aural profile of its rotary wings even further. It is a dark, mechanical beast encrouching on the very edge of the mesa. The Black Hawk rises, just enough for BRAVO TEAM to clear the lip of the rocks and safely make their way up onto the platform of rock. There is no sign of GEORGE. RELENTLESS curses.'' RELENTLESS fiddles with his COM pack, adjusting the frequency. ''There is nothing on the NATO Special Operations distress band, only hisses of static. RELENTLESS adds a line.'' A raspy voice, GEORGE, answers RELENTLESS as IMPERATOR and IKINATOR slow to combat-stealth velocity before him. RELENTLESS grins, gives the thumbs-up to IKINATOR. ''A figure clad in a jet-black flak jacket emerges from behind a cluster of towering modules - GEORGE. He has his hands up and an RCS-17 rifle at his feet. IMPERATOR and IKINATOR stiffen as he slowly advances, weaponless. IKINATOR, still rather inexperienced, is unsure whether to conduct a field strip-search to ensure GEORGE's identity. IMPERATOR boldly just proceeds with it. GEORGE understands. IMPERATOR pats him down, running through every pocket and feeling him for bombs or firearms. Then, he steps back.'' RELENTLESS curtly nods. GEORGE retrieves his rifle, but as he steps towards the hovering leviathan of VICTOR ONE, he pauses. Still, GEORGE stands there. GEORGE grimly smiles. ''The words 'chances of survival' also sound unheard. RELENTLESS fidgets. He does not want to endanger GEORGE's life, but the stakes are too high - the success of the assassination and BRAVO TEAM's lives.'' IKINATOR wantonly grins. PIE glares.
 * IKINATOR, hushed: "Dammit, imagine if we had to climb this thing."
 * RELENTLESS, whispering: "Shit. Bravos Two and Three, go forward to establish a close-to-home waypoint. Bravo Four, stay with me here."
 * RELENTLESS: "G007, this is Bravo One, NATO Special Operations. We are here to extract you, I repeat, we are here to exfiltrate you."
 * RELENTLESS: "Dammit...wait. Identification code is 'Rabbit Hole'. Bravo One to G007, do you copy?"
 * GEORGE: "G007 here. Yeah, thanks for gettin' me outta this shit hole, men. These guys are all fucked up. I'm at...nine 'o clock of one of you guys. You guys DARTs? Gonna blow the shit outta this place?"
 * RELENTLESS: "Hell yeah, G007. The Black Hawk's just behind us."
 * GEORGE: "As I noticed. I was able to neutralize the guard pair closest to this position, and have policed their weapons. You DARTs are probably looking at RCS-17s and assorted black-market handguns here. A few have vests, but the rest are unarmored. I was able to use my contact lenses's optical recorder and scan out a little map of the main complex and some of the cargo modules that you'll have to transverse to get there. Alright, I'm coming towards you. I'm in a dark combat vest."
 * RELENTLESS: "Copy that. Bravo Team, stand down. Friendly approaching at nine 'o clock position."
 * IMPERATOR: "10-4, sir. Hold the fire, Three."
 * IKINATOR, with forced easiness: "Yessir."
 * IMPERATOR: "He's clean, Bravo One."
 * RELENTLESS: "G007, we'll be executing a search-and-destroy for Ramirez. You'd best get on the Black Hawk and wait it out until we're done.''
 * RELENTLESS: "It's not going to be pretty, G007. Just go. A Delta team can handle everything that a druglord has."
 * GEORGE, haltingly: "I am an...Intelligence Agency field agent. I have reconnaisance and firearms cross-training. What if-"
 * RELENTLESS, a with a touch of irritation to proceed: "With all due respect, agent, one lightly armored field agent is not going to be extremely augumentative to a DART unit. Just get on the helicopter and calm down. All will be fine."
 * GEORGE: "You don't understand. I have an obligation."
 * RELENTLESS: "G007, how long have you been stationed to spy on Ramirez?"
 * GEORGE: "Seven months to develop my cover."
 * RELENTLESS: "You suffered seven months at the hands of one of the largest druglords of Mexico? Dammit, then why are you insisting to aid in a high-risk infiltration op? You had to have suffered through bloody hell! Why the fuck are you willing to get yourself killed?"
 * GEORGE: "They did...unspeakable things...I had to resist. To ensure my cover. They need to-"
 * IMPERATOR: "When we poison Ramirez, trust me, he'll suffer in agony for a fucking long time. You need to get your ass outta this place, man."
 * GEORGE: "Negative. Come on. My Intel packet doesn't have all the details I know about the compound. Just let me be an intel liason. I'll guide you through the place. Bravo One, you know that a live intelligence asset can greatly increase chances of success."
 * RELENTLESS: "Dammit. Fine. We have a full spare DART armor set in the Black Hawk. Are you familiarized with the armor?"
 * PIE: "I can help him out, sir."
 * IKINATOR: "Oh yeah? To feel him while you get his armor on?"

Dramatis Personae
3rd Battalion


 * General Esemono (mentioned only)

Air Force


 * Admiral Ares (mentioned only)
 * Angel One - F-27 interceptor pilot
 * Angel Two - F-27 interceptor pilot
 * Victor One - helicopter pilot
 * Victor Two - helicopter pilot

Lima Company Marines
 * Colonel RelentlessRecusant/Callsign "Relentless"
 * Colonel Ryan James Nelson/Ryanngreenday
 * Captain Jacob Snook/Climax Viod
 * Captain Donut THX 1138/Callsign "Imperator"
 * Lieutenant Josh Averill/JMRA
 * Sergeant Caboose/Callsign "Caboose"
 * Sergeant Bryan/Digipatd

Alpha Special Forces Detachment

Delta Assault Reconnaisance Teams (DART)
 * Lieutenant Colonel Adam Graves, Alpha Team
 * Lieutenant Guesty-Persony-Thingy/Callsign "IDAHO", Bravo Team
 * Lieutenant Rot/Callsign "WATCHTOWER", Charlie Team
 * Lieutenant Darth tader/Callsign "GEAR", Delta Team
 * Lieutenant J!MMY8806/Callsign "MANTICORE", Echo Team

Act I: Reville
February 20, 2000 ''Nondescript room lined with computer processors and several screens with COM headsets nearby. Camera pans to two officers huddling over a table with a topographical map affixed on it. A soldier in full combat gear enters, straightens, salutes.'' Lt. Col GRAVES: "Sir! Lieutenant Colonel Graves, Alpha Special Forces Detachment, reporting!" Col. NELSON: "At ease. Colonel Castle, if you would?" Col. RELENTLESS: "Right. As of 1300 hours, Fleet Intelligence utilized SATRECON to identify the terrorist cell in our vicinity at this building in the Southeast Quadrant. HIGHCOM has ordered Lima Company, out of Fort Helencia, to neutralize the insurgents. Colonel Graves?" GRAVES: "The General just told us to work with Lima to blow shit up. Sir." NELSON: "Right. Sounds like Esemono, that wily bastard. Well, Colonel, it will be a pleasure collaborating with Special Forces. Captain Snook, see to the logistical matters. Lieutenant Averill, rally the troops. We're going in."

Act II: Plans Within Plans
''Camera settles on a troop of vehicles: Jeeps or armored personnel carriers with machine-guns mounted. Troopers are deploying off of the vehicles and are assembling into tactical units. Far overhead, there is a metallic whine as two attack helicopters make a flyby. NELSON and RELENTLESS are standing side-by-side, donning tactical headsets, while the soldiers of Lima Company mill around them, loading weapons and shouting military-type affirmatives. A soldier approaches RELENTLESS.'' FOXTROT 3: "Sir, Colonel Graves says that Delta Recon is deployed around the building in a silent perimeter. We're turning back traffic and getting people in the surrounding buildings out. We've also seized electricity supply to the target. We don't believe that the tangos have spotted us." RELENTLESS: "Very-" NELSON: "Damn good, sonnie. Now, Lima Company, y'all hear that? The perimeter is secure and our Spec Forces friends have set the table for the dinner. First Platoon, get ready for tactical infiltration and execution. Second Platoon, stay back and reinforce the perimeters. If those bastards get out in those parked jeeps over there, we're all screwed over, so stay vigilant." FOXTROT 3 taps the COM transciever in his headset, turns to the Colonels. FOXTROT 3: "Sirs, Colonel Graves on the line for you." NELSON nods. NELSON: "Colonel Graves?" GRAVES: "Reporting, sir. I believe my man informed you of our status. Everything is in place, and I have snipers lining the roofs. Victors One and Two also radioed in - in case of a Charlie Foxtrot, we have air support with missiles in place. Big bang numero dos." NELSON: "Very well, Colonel. Standby." COM line shuts off NELSON: "So, Relentless, you have the COM and TACVID wired into Control at HQ?" RELENTLESS: "Negative. That was actually Lieutenant Averill's duty." NELSON: "Shit. What the hell, Josh?" AVERILL: "Dammit. Uh..." NELSON: "You'll have the pleasure of leading the point team, then, Lieutenant. See if that gets into your head to do the wiring. Sergeant Caboose, get a hand on that. All of you are dismissed. Lock 'n load." Soldiers disperse away behind the monolithic building that is adjacent to their target, moving into squads and straying out slightly, preparing to move into final assault positions. RELENTLESS: "A little harsh there, Ryan. Averill normally doesn't screw up like that." NELSON: "Yeah? Well he did this time." RELENTLESS: "Understood. Where will you be, Ryan?" NELSON: "I'll be the Second Platoon, enforcing the cordon along with Imperator. You wanna lead First Platoon?" RELENTLESS smiles slightly. RELENTLESS: "Well, thanks, Ryan, for letting me take the field ops post. I swear, for the next five missions, you are freaking getting off your ass and doing some honest work." RELENTLESS and NELSON grin. NELSON: "Oh, yeah? I still remember that you owe me twenty bucks, Relentless, so get out there." RELENTLESS makes an insouciant, carefree mock salute. RELENTLESS: "Yes sir. Let's keep in touch over TACCOM."

Act III: Class Trip to the Sewers
In a dank, rancid tunnel with murky fluid swishing on the floor. RELENTLESS: Dammit, I shouldn't have let Ryan talk me into doing- SNOOK: "Hey, sir, hold up! You're not the one carrying the entrance package!" RELENTLESS: "Stop your whining, man. What? You need your gal to do if you you?" General laughter, SNOOK blushes. SNOOK: "Negative, sir. I'm a hundred percent." AVERILL: "Oh, yeah? Then why does it look like you're constipated? Too heavy?" SNOOK turns to AVERILL, lays down explosive charges. SNOOK: "You better watch your goddamn language, Lieutenant, or you're gonna-" CABOOSE: "Sir, he's just whining because instead of coordinating the assault on COM, he has to do the heavy lifting this time with us." SNOOK glares at AVERILL, continues speaking not looking at CABOOSE. SNOOK: "Very well, Sergeant." ''Several minutes pass in silence as the fifty Marines continue trudging through the sewer conduit with few remarks, a testament to their training. Several Marines uneasily shift on their feet as they near a large obstruction to their path: a massive metal gate. It has fresh welding marks and appears to have been bolted on in the last few days.'' RELENTLESS: "That's an acetylene torch right there. This is definately new. Loot, set those charges." SNOOK: "Wilco." The platoon shifts back on their feet, slightly relieving themselves of the stress as their helmet-mounted headlights shine across the sewer, the light reflecting eerie arcs of prismatic light back onto the fungi-impregnated walls. SNOOK: "Set, sir. Shall I blow it?" RELENTLESS pauses, as if informed by his intuition. RELENTLESS: "...negative. Hold it. Review unit organizations again. No screwups on this op." Marines wince also unnoticably. SNOOK: "10-4. Sir, you'll be leading Red Squad. I will command Blue Squad. Averill, on point, will take Green Squad directly into the fray. Digipatd has Black, and Caboose is on Gold." RELENTLESS: "Very well. Remember, the tangos have set sonic jammers to block our sonic cartrographic efforts, so we've been forced to rely on infrared scans from SATRECON and the spooks at FLEETINTEL. Just because there are no heat signatures on the other side of this dish just could mean they're wearing foil suits that insulate heat. You ready, Marines?" CABOOSE: "SIR! DROP FEET FIRST INTO HELL!" Foxhole grins and thumbs-ups. RELENTLESS: "Not the motto, but the general spirit is there, Sergeant." Motions to SNOOK. RELENTLESS: "Press the button." SNOOK: "What button?" RELENTLESS: "Stop playing dumb. Oh, no, you don't have to play. Push the goddamn button, Lieutenant!" SNOOK: "You mean the third control of the integrated HUD/radio-wired electronic communications handset?" RELENTLESS: "Yes, the...What the hell? Just do it." SNOOK depresses a control, the metal completely detonations, fragments of metal warped by heat and pressure flinging outwards, bathing First Platoon in spikes of superheated metal, masonry from the crumbling tunnel walls, and superheated trash-laced water. RELENTLESS: "Go! Go! GO! MARINES, GET A MOVE ON IT! AVERILL?" The syncopated stacatto beat of automatic weapons fire sounds down the sewer.

Act IV: Derailing of a Train
In a dank, rancid tunnel with murky fluid swishing on the floor. RELENTLESS: "Status report?" RELENTLESS begins indiscriminately spraying with his assault rifle, even though he is unaware of the situation. AVERILL: "Negative, negative! Hold your fire, dammit! There were dummies in combat armor with foil oversuits. We instinctively opened fire, but killed no one. Those tangos know we're here." GREEN 7: "Hey, Lieutenant! I heard something! There, there! Omigod, me gonna die!" RELENTLESS: "SHUT UP AND KEEP SQUADCOM CLEAR, YOU WIMP! GET YOURSELF TOGETHER! Averill, dammit, get him! Caboose, take your squad as well down that side passage. Terminate him and make sure he can't alert his buddies that we're here. There's a chance that our guests upstairs haven't heard the gunfire. Meanwhile, Red, Blue, Black Squads, we'll take the original plan and continue down this sewer passage a,d get to the basement of the target." NELSON, scratchy transmission: "First Platoon? What's your status? We-port-RECON-therm-" Unknown Voice #1: "Hey, Magwe, they're after me! It's Lewis, in the sewers!" Static blots out TACCOM and SQUADCOM. RELENTLESS: "Nelson? Come in. 10-1." An ominous pause, foreboding. RELENTLESS: "Dammit! Green and Gold Squads, report!" Automatic gunfire sounds sonorously, and there is a scream. CABOOSE: "We-tar-lized-oming-COM-can-hear?" RELENTLESS: "Snook, can you scrub that transmission?" SNOOK: "No can do, sir. Transmission lines are just...garbled." RELENTLESS: "Hell. Averill, Caboose? You guys there? If you can hear me, regroup with the rest of the platoon. We're still advancing." Automatic gunfire stars up again, grenade explosions are heard with plumes of water arcing into the air. RELENTLESS: "What the hell? It takes twenty soldiers grenades to kill a single terrorist?" ''AVERILL and eighteen other Marines round the corner, breathless. Their fatigues are stained with the rank water, and blood is smeared over the body armor of most of the Marines. They are all panting, wheezing.'' AVERILL, wheezing: "Sir!  Sir..." RELENTLESS: "He's going into cardiac arrest! Defib!" DIGIPATD: "Yessir." DIGIPATD takes the field emergency defibrillator unit, applies anion conductive paste to its discharge surfaces, places it over AVERILL's blood-stained chest as Marines hurry to unstrap the blood-lodged body armor, revealing a bloodied abdomen puncuated with rounds. RELENTLESS: "What. The. Fuck." DIGIPATD: "Marcus, two hundred volts!" BLACK 2: "Charging..." DIGIPATD: "Clear!" BLACK 5: "No self-sustaining QRS wave yet, sir." RELENTLESS: "Fuck this. Averill, dammit, get him back alive! We don't fucking ask you to be in this outfit if you can't fucking operate a goddamn AED!" DIGIPATD: "Set it to three hundred, Marcus." BLACK 2: "10-4, sir. Charging..." DIGIPATD: "Clear, clear!" BLACK 5: "Still nothing. Colonel, we need FMSU here now1" DIGIPATD fumbles in his field kit, fingures twitching. DIGIPATD: "Dammit, I forgot the epi. Shit, shit, shit." BLACK 8: "Here, sir." DIGIPATD takes the hypodermic syringe, plunges it into the blueing flesh over AVERILL's heart. BLACK 5: "Negative. Colonel, we need-" RELENTLESS: "Fuck you, I heard you the first time! Nelson? NELSON? DAMMIT, DO YOU COPY?" ''Static rustles, and RELENTLESS furiously slams the COM unit into the wall. It sparks, and voices are head.'' NELSON: "First Platoon? First Platoon? We're picking up gunfire from all across your location? What's your status?" RELENTLESS: "DAMN IT, OUR STATUS IS ALPHA-FOXTROT-UNIFORM! AVERILL HAS BEEN HIT! He's going into cardiac arrest! Where is Medical? We need FMSU!" NELSON: "Copy that. Just get outta there, and we'll have a replacement for Averill while he...recovers. How about Caboose?" Pause, RELENTLESS turns around, expecting CABOOSE standing besides him and finding no one. RELENTLESS: "Aww...shit. Marcus, where the fuck is Caboose?" BLACK 2: "She's right...oh. Hell. Good Lord..."

Rooftop of gargantuan building adjacent to target NELSON's cell phone rings, the tones of We are the Champions'' floods the air and the snipers look at him quizzically. NELSON swallows, taps the recive button of the phone.'' NELSON: "Colonel R.J. Nelson, Lima Company here. We're currently on deployment, so could I-" Unknown Voice #2: "Silence, Colonel. We have a Marine in our possession. Her dog tags say her name is Caboose, Sergeant. If you do not withdraw all your soldiers, snipers, APCs, attack Jeeps, and helicopters, we will execute her on a public video channel by beheading her. You have...three minutes. On the clock. Don't try to call Intelligence to trace the call. It's a scrambled SATCOM number." NELSON: "Oh. Hell. Relentless, get First Platoon outta there! Out! OUT! OUT!"

Act V: Avengeance
RELENTLESS: "Come again, Ryan?" NELSON: "I. Fucking. Said. R-e-t-r-e-a-t." RELENTLESS: "Come again?" NELSON: "Withdraw! They've taken Sergeant Caboose hostage, dammit, and have just told us to get out or they're gonna behead Caboose on public TV. Dammit, OUT!" RELENTLESS: "10-4, Ryan. First Platoon, withdraw. Marcus, Jones, get a hand on Lieutenant Averill and get him to Medical." BLACKS 2, 3: "Wilco." ''First Platoon evacuates the sewer tunnel, sprinting at high speed. Several soldiers of Second Platoon and the FMSU (Field Medical Surgical Unit) helicopter are awaiting at the top of the stairwell that leads to the sewer. Privates BLACK 2 and BLACK 3 are clutching the bleeding body of AVERILL on their shoulders. The Second Platoon marines help the medics load AVERILL onto the helicopter VICTOR TWO. The helicopter lifts, ascends to the sky. Captain IMPERATOR leans close to discuss matters with RELENTLESS.'' IMPERATOR: "Sir? Are you wounded? We have another medical team that's standing-" RELENTLESS: "Negative, Captain. How's the perimeter holding while we were on our little trip?" IMPERATOR: "Well, sir. The public's cooperating, and we still maintain full fields of fire on the building." RELENTLESS: "What of the terrorist leader? He ordered us to withdraw." IMPERATOR stiffens as the First Platoon men are approached by medics and rushed on stretchers to awaiting medical jeeps and ambulances. IMPERATOR: "Sir. Second Platoon doesn't take orders from rebels. We've been ordered by Colonel Nelson to maintain our positions, but the Colonel's going to call off the DART units." GRAVES: "Colonels Relentless and Nelson, all Delta Recon teams are in position for immediate assault. Do we still have sniper cover?" NELSON: "The attack has been called off, Colonel. Get your Delta troops outta the prep zones." GRAVES: "Sir?" IDAHO: "Bravo Team reporting." WATCHTOWER: "Charlie Team report-" GRAVES: "Hold the COM checks, men. Colonel Nelson's on the line and has just ordered us to withdraw. Let's move! Foxtrot-Open formation!" MANTICORE: "What the bloody hell, mate?" GRAVES: "This is a direct order, DARTs. Let's withdraw first, ask questions later." GEAR: "Standard procedure's to shoot first, ask questions later, not this shit." GRAVES: "Dammit, Deltas! Just get out of assault positions!" WATCHTOWER: "Affirmative. This is Charlie Team at fallback position, awaiting further orders." GRAVES: "Standby." COM channel with DARTs closes GRAVES: "Now, sirs, mind to tell me why we just called off a counterterrorist attack?" NELSON: "Well, Colonel, I know your Special Forces chaps ain't gonna kill nothing, so they're rather disenchanted at the moment, but the problem is that one of our Marine squad commanders, a certain Sergeant Caboose of First Platoon, was captured by the terrorists. They're holding her hostage and their first demand is for us to completely withdraw. I'm still keeping the perimeter in place, though, so get back on the line with your DARTs and tell 'em to reinforce Second Platoon. Relentless, maybe your First Platoon, or those unwounded in your platoon, can also rendezvous with Imperator's men." GRAVES: "This is...unexpected. Who's the on-site hostage negotiator, sir?" NELSON: "I am, and for now, I am not risking Caboose's life. I'll wait for the situation to settle, and then perhaps we could work something out." RELENTLESS: "Be advised, sir, there's going to be no negotiation. He's going to force you to return to base, then he's gonna run and execute Caboose on the way." GRAVES: "An accurate assessment, Colonel. Colonel Nelson, I advise a preemptive strike while they are reconfiguring their formations and defensive concentrations to retrieve the Sergeant. Then, we can call in air support and bomb 'em out. They've proven themselves to be too dangerous." A distasteful mood permeates the air and there is a pause. NELSON: "Fine."

Act VI: Gear of War
Terrorist building Unknown Voice #2: "Well...Sergeant Caboose. It appears you are in an intractable tactical situation. Perhaps you'd fare better by informing us about the protocols being used by your friends outside." CABOOSE: "Caboose, Sergeant, Lima Company. That's all I-" ''A masked commando unsheaths a broad-girthed knife, "sheaths" it into CABOOSE's back. Screams permeate the still air as CABOOSE writhes in pain, not realizing that every contortion drives the knife further in.'' Commando #1: "Should I continue, sir?" Commando #2: "Little bitch deserves to die for killing Lewis. A cerebral hemmorage would be a fitting way to end her life." Unknown Voice #2: "She'll live a little while longer as we string the troops outside along. Now, come to defensive positions, men. They will be coming." Rooftop of a low-level adjacent building IDAHO: "Let's move it, Bravo Team. Bravo Three, get a hand on that grappler, extend the cord. Bravo Two, keep the sniper close by. They might have autoturrets mounted at the window." BRAVO 2: "10-4, sir." BRAVO 2 fires a high-adhesive dart to the wall of the far building while IDAHO and BRAVOS 3 and 4 ready their weapons for terrorists that might appear on the far rooftop. BRAVO 2: "Line integrity is green, sir. Make secure, and I will go first." ''BRAVO 2 hands the rope, begins sliding across. Without warning nor announcement, a fireteam of jet black-armored commandoes roll out from behind a heat exchanger on the terrorist rooftop bearing machine guns. BRAVO 2 is peppered with bullets and his bloodied corpse falls into the streets below. BRAVO 4 is wounded, and staggers as bullets razor his sternum and lungs, his armor scathed. BRAVO 2 fires with the sniper, and the rat-a-tat meter of enemy machine guns is punctuated by the reports of the sniper rifle. Two of the terrorists have plumes of blood showering from their bodies, and the third retreats behind the heat exchanger.'' IDAHO: "Command, this is Bravo Team. 10-47: gunfire reported. One man down and another severely wounded. Orders?" NELSON: "Go! All Delta Recon teams, go, go!" GRAVES: "Copy that. Men, move! Alpha Strike!" ''Black-suited Delta Recon commandoes appear from behind scattered cars, street lamps, and tin garbage cans from the streets lining the central building. Lima Company Marines open fire from their perimeter position at the looming terrorist building, and machine gun and rifle fire is reciprocated. A sniper rings out.'' GEAR: "Echo Team is down. Repeat, Echo Team and Manticore have been terminated by the enemy sniper." ''A pause as the fire aggregates to thundering intensity, but the remaining dozen DARTs on the streets manage to sprint across the treacherous bloodied road, pausing at the windows of the bottom floor atrium of the terrorist building. As DARTs set charges, defenders from the inside fire .50-caliber machine guns. DARTs crumple, bullets scattered in their bodies like a farmer threshing wheat.'' RELENTLESS: "Ryan, stay here. Captain Snook, Sergeant Digipatd, form your squads up on me! We're going in! Those Delta teams aren't going to make it!" GRAVES: "We're in! Alpha Team, fan out, get those machine gunners STA-" A raspy, treacherous breath from GRAVES. NELSON: "Dammit, Colonel! What's your status?" ALPHA 3: "Sir, the Colonel is down. I repeat, Colonel Graves is badly wounded, and he's bleeding out like hell. I have my defib in hand, but am pinned down under this fountain thin-" ''Machine gun bullets pepper the metal, incise through it and riddle ALPHA 3. He falls, body blown apart. RELENTLESS dives down from the Command Post, the twenty men of SNOOK's and DIGIPATD's squads on his flank. He makes a mad rush to the darkly-tinted windows of the bottom floor lobby right across the street, but an enemy sniper fires, and a bullet impacts his arm. He stumbles in his sprint, ramming against a window and breaking it from his force as he crumples.'' SNOOK: "Control, Relentless is down. TACBIO reports that his situation is erratic." NELSON: "Fuck this. Relentless was supposed to stay back at the C.P., and now he's wounded. Get him outta the goddamn fire zone. Delta troopers, what's your status?" IDAHO: "Idaho here. Bravo Team is on the enemy rooftop, three tangos down. We have one KIA, but are already setting the breaching charges to enter the enemy building." GEAR: "Fuck, fuck! Delta Two, get 'em offa me!" Stabbing and gagging sounds. GEAR: "Sorry 'bout that, sir. Just cleaning up some rubbish. Yeah, well, there's..." Bullets whine through the channel: the enemy is executing suppressive fire on the marble statue that GEAR is taking cover behind. GEAR: "Ahh, shit! I'm hit! Loosing blood...MEDBIO reports that I'm...ah...DARTs, clear the area! Dammit, out! I'm setting off the bomb!" NELSON: "No, you fucking won't! You're gonna kill yourself and the..." GEAR: "Negative, sir, but this is the way it has to work. The Deltas are not going to make any progress: they have over twenty men in the lobby with machine guns, and if we don't get Caboose out of here soon, they're going to execute her and finish us off. My Will is stored in my locker back at Helencia. Over and out." NELSON: "THIS IS A DIRECT ORDER! TERMINATE OPERATION! NO, GODDAMN IT, I'LL HAVE YOU COURT-MARTIALED, DISGRACED!" GEAR, raspy voice, pained: "Always wanted to be a lawyer, sir. Gears...out." WATCHTOWER: "DELTAS, MARINES, CLEAR, CLEAR!" A conflagaration of titanic proportions roils, fire cleanses the lobby and the building shudders, structurally unbalanced.

Act VII: Heroes in the Dust
RELENTLESS: "Whatsa happening?" WATCHTOWER: "DAMMIT! GEAR JUST SET OFF THE BOMB! We just lost all of the DARTs in there save me, and most of the Marines!" SNOOK: "I'm...pinned down by this jag of concerete. Ah! It's pressing, and I'm..." NELSON: "Fuck Gear. We're gonna lose everyone else. Watchtower, are you fine?" WATCHTOWER: "Yessir. I was able to escape, but Alpha, Charlie, and Delta Teams are all dead except for me." IDAHO: "We've broken in from the rooftop and are encountering light resistance, Relentless. Wait...readings are all fluctuating! The lights are cutting out! What the fuck?" NELSON: "Don't concern yourself with it. Do your men have infrared? Can you still fight through the dark?" IDAHO: "Yes, sir. Wait...picking up a frequency...it's Caboose! She somehow managed to activate her personal COM...picking up words...I can triangulate her position...working...there! Third floor, central apartment. Relentless, you there? Try Channel E183 and pinpoint her. If Bravo Team doesn't make it, call in a surgical air strike." NELSON: "Relentless isn't here, Idaho. I've taken full command of Lima Comany." IDAHO: "What? What? Did you FUCKING kill him or something to get FUCKING command, or..." NELSON: "Negative. He was shot by the terrorists." RELENTLESS: "I'mmmm... ...still...here." IDAHO: "Good Lord, man! What's going on?" RELENTLESS: "No time to explain. I'm in combat status, though. I can still fight. Ryan, where's Idaho and his men?" NELSON: "What the hell? Don't get up, Colonel! You're just going to-" WATCHTOWER: "With all due respect, sir, you're not fit for combat. If you don't get a blood transfusion soon, you'll be blacking out. Come on, Bravo Team can retrieve Caboose. RELENTLESS: "Ah, go to hell, Ryan. I took this wound, I can decide for my fucking self what to do about it. Watchtower, on my six. Let's go into the lobby and..." NELSON: "Negative, Relentless! Besides, the lobby's all bombed out! You won't be able to find a way through, and we have soldiers trapped in there. If by chance someone sees you and chucks a grenade at you, it'll blow those trapped Marines to hell, and one of 'em's Snook." RELENTLESS: "That's a direct order, Watchtower. We're going in. Besides, who just bombed the lobby?" NELSON: "Relentless, I'm telling you as a friend. I'm not gonna see you again if-" RELENTLESS terminates the COM line, and the two soldiers venture towards the lobby. It is a cascade of mountains of rubbles, carbon-scored corpses. There is no visible path to the doorway on the far side. WATCHTOWER: "Long story, sir." RELENTLESS: "Hey, hold. Do you see that-" Machine gun fires from the far doorway, rounds pepper the air as RELENTLESS and WATCHTOWER dive, take defensive positions behind mountains of rubble. RELENTLESS groans in the excruciating agony, his jaw muscles bunch. RELENTLESS: "No grenades, Watchtower, remember that." The two soldiers peer around their rubble, fire. Several terrorists fall in succession before one of them brandishes a sniper, nearly shaving off WATCHTOWER's face as the two recess back. RELENTLESS: What I was saying is that you see that hole in the ceiling, with those wires trailing down? WATCHTOWER: "You mean the one at six 'o clock? Yessir." WATCHTOWER spies the discarded grappeling gun besides a dead DART's mound of rubble. WATCHTOWER: "I'll carefully chuck a grenade at the far side, keep 'em pinned down, and you, sir, can get up. I'll hold 'em off here until Nelson calls in the calvary to assist me-" A bullet grazes WATCHTOWER's side, and he grunts briefly. WATCHTOWER: "They have four men, now, one with a minigun...I can't do suppression fire...and without peeking around 'round my rubble, I can't risk a grenade - if it lands inappropriately, it'll just flatten those trapped troops. I'll do a kamakaze run. It should distract them for enough seconds for you to rappel up and support Bravo Team, sir." RELENTLESS: "I'm not asking you to do this, Watchtower." WATCHTOWER grins with the valorousness that comes before an honorable death. WATCHTOWER: "No shit you are, sir. Let's go on five, four, three..." RELENTLESS: "You shouldn't throw away your life like this." WATCHTOWER: "Two, one, go!" RELENTLESS pauses, trepidatious as he sees WATCHTOWER screaming for the blood of his enemies. WATCHTOWER makes a suicidal run at the quartet of terrorists as RELENTLESS is paralyzed in place by the macabre scene. A shotgun blows off WATCHTOWER's head as the DART lieutenant, as if final action, chucks a grenade. It detonates, shredding the four and spraying limbs and blood into the air. As the dust settles, fires kindering on the bodies and the surround pulverized granite chips, RELENTLESS ascends the rope to the second floor.

Act IIX: Buckshot Reunion
Lima Company Second Platoon command post, atop a low-lying nearby building

NELSON: "Relentless, Relentless? DAMN IT! HE CUT OFF THE LINE!" IMPERATOR: "Sir, nothing you can do. If he wants to be the knight that saves the maiden, just goddamn let 'em. Not worth a damn grieving over his eventual death, sir." NELSON: "Go to hell, Captain. Relentless saved my life a buncha times before he became co-commander of Lima with me, man. We went through hell, and came out unburnt. He-" MARINE: "Colonel, Captain! Something just went off inside! A grenade!" NELSON: "DAMMIT, THAT DE FACTO HEROINE! RELENTLESS JUST SET OFF A 'NADE AND KILLED SNOOK!" IMPERATOR: "You can't court-martial a corpse, sir." NELSON: "Yeah? I can spit on corpses too...except it's vaporized." IMPERATOR: "Sir, with all due respect, Relentless was a hero, going out like that. A glorious exit." NELSON violently cuffs IMPERATOR, sends him sprawling and groaning. NELSON: "No, he was an insipid, apathetic man who couldn't listen to impeccable logic." SECOND MARINE: "Umm, sir, we're getting a transmission that you might want to hear." Besides NELSON, MARINE, and SECOND MARINE, IMPERATOR stirs and groans, to have NELSON kick him. NELSON: "Let's hear it, Private." Unknown Voice #2: "Citizens of Pacific Central, I address you as a humble citizen of great regard. You may not be aware, but your own military is staging an attack on honest, godfearing men like myself at 1100 Baltic. I understand my words are foreign, concepts unreal, for what government would oppress its denizens so? My cause is to-" NELSON: "Get Intelligence and tell them to cut that radio channel now."

IDAHO, in a shushed whisper: "Halt. Caboose's radio signal is getting closer..." BRAVO 4: "Contact!" A bullet catches BRAVO 4 in the faceplate, lifts him up into the air, kills him. IDAHO: "So much for stealth. Bravo 3, catch that bastard!" ''IDAHO and BRAVO 3 open fire with rifles, pepper the terrorist with rounds and down him. They are not secure, however. A trio of shotgun-wielding soldiers round the corner, open fire. Buckshot peppers BRAVO 3, blow off his limbs. IDAHO takes cover behind a metal barrier that was placed by the terrorist defenders, places his rifle in its notch. A shotgun round comes near his face, draws a sliver of blood, and IDAHO's sixth sense indicates that he is soon to be flung into the House of Death when the elevator that the terrorists just dismounted from dings and opens, revealing RELENTLESS (who had rapelled to the second floor and taken the elevator to the third floor), who totes a shotgun. Two liftings of the shotgun's chambers gnaw off the chests off of two terrorists, and RELENTLESS takes a knife, plunges it into the last terrorist's neck, and then violently swings his knife to the right, sending the body against the wall, the blood it is spraying juxtaposing the formerly pristine bullet-riddled snow white wall. A grenade drops from the tensed hand of one of the downed terrorists, the hand' frozen in rigor mortis. Both soldiers similarly tense, dive. The explosion nearly envelopes them, filling the surrounding air with wisps of fire.'' RELENTLESS: "That was for the Halopedia Award, farmboy." IDAHO widely grins, unshoulders his rifle, indents the skull of a dead terrorist. IDAHO: "Hey, what up? However, we have to cut this reunion short 'cuz..." ''Bullets rattle from the corridor that intersects RELENTLESS's and IDAHO's positions. RELENTLESS is bleeding most severely, but manages to brace against the wall, and then abruptly spin around, catching a terrorist machine-gunner with a fortuinous headshot. IDAHO, emboldened, does the same, downing a second terrorist. IDAHO and RELENTLESS wordlessly advance, and see just in time a heavy pressure door seal and hear the words of the terrorist leader's address floating through the crack before the hydraulics sealed it shut.''

Lima Company C.P. NELSON: "Intel can't fucking jam the area?" IMPERATOR: "Negative...sir. If they jam that channel, they'll jam our military communications because of the proximity of the megahertz values of the channels." NELSON: "Fuck. Or...do we need TACCOM? Where is Bravo Team?" NELSON turns to the SECOND MARINE. NELSON: "Get me Idaho, soldier." SECOND MARINE: "Yessir. Wait...I can't find his frequency...it's static...either his COM pack is damaged or he's dead." NELSON and IMPERATOR turn to each other, eyeing each other, and forming impetuous thoughts. NELSON: "No way that Idaho and Bravo Team aren't dead, or else we would've heard from 'em." IMPERATOR: "You're writing off Watchtower and Relentless? Should we at least check his channel?" NELSON: "Relentless died in the grenade blast, I'd think. Let's keep the gloves clean, cut our losses. Captain Imperator, get Victors One and Two on the line. Missile bombardment is the cleanest way to end all things." A tremendous explosion sounds - a second one, and the windows are blown out and trailers of flame jet out. IMPERATOR: "That was Bravo Team! Some of them had to have survived, gone COM silent, and set an explosive surprise. Some of them might still be alive..." NELSON: "Fuck yeah, Idaho! I knew ya wouldn't die on me! Second Platoon, get in there fast and hard! Eliminate all tangos and then begin search and retrieval of Bravo Team!" IMPERATOR: "Yessir. All squads, up on me."

Act IX: Treason High
RELENTLESS: "Lieutenant, you familiar with this terrorist shotgun? A fine piece of work. M700 pump-action Chazz shotgun. 12-gauge, titanium buckshot. Shit, how much do these terrorists make?" IDAHO: "With all due respect, sir, what's your plan?" RELENTLESS: "What General Esemono set you DARTs for, except all of you guys save one got killed. To blow shit up." RELENTLESS nears the pressure door, leans to the side as he hears guns cocking on the far side. IDAHO: "No matter how powerful, a 12-gauge can't penetrate a titanium-A pressure door. RELENTLESS: "Affirmative. I'm not shooting the door, but the wall next to the door. Make ready, Lieutenant." IDAHO: "Yessir. On your mark..." RELENTLESS: "MARK!" The wall is gouged by the shotgun's heavy blasts, and the climacity drains away as it takes several shots to bore through, but after several, the wall completely collapses. RELENTLESS carelessly discards his shotgun, reaches for his assault rifle, realizes that in its place he has its grapple gun, and goes for his pistol. As the wall chunks fall, the soot within them unfurling and providing a smoke grenade's yield of cover for the two advancing rescuers, RELENTLESS sees a shape on the far side, fires the handgun. A spurt of blood, a target down. Unknown Voice #2: "MARINES! SURRENDER! WE HAVE THE HOSTAGE!" IDAHO and RELENTLESS continue advancing, randomly shooting. The terrorists hold their fire, unwilling to waste ammunition firing into a haze. IDAHO continues pumping his shotgun, blowing apart three bewildered, unattentative terrorists. RELENTLESS, however, is shot by the terrorist leader, staggers, bleeding critically from two places. The cloud clears, and IDAHO swivels to meet the terrorist leader and his two remaining shotgun-toting guards. There is no taunting exchange of words as tbe terrorist leader grabs RELENTLESS's limp body, and produces a knife over RELENTLESS's throat. RELENTLESS snakes a hand into the terrorist leader's thigh holster as he's lifted, fires off shots into his thigh, which gruseomely dissapates into blood. RELENTLESS hoarsely gasps for air, fingers groping as he seizes. The two remaining terrorists pause, still trying to evaluate if their leader is still alive, and unwilling to fire shots in the immediate vicinity of their leader. RELENTLESS: "Idaho, IDAHO! The pain is seizing me now...take Caboose..." COMMANDO #1: "Fuck no you're not, man." ''COMMANDO #1 fires at IDAHO, catching him across the chest. IDAHO stumbles, bleeding horrendously, but CABOOSE, nearby and strapped to a metal chair, reaches out a leg, snaps out COMMANDO #1's legs out from behind, making him fall. IDAHO, although wounded and lapsing into unconsciousness, fires at COMMANDO #1, who is on the floor nearby. COMMANDO #1's head blows off into a jetting plume of oxygenated blood. COMMANDO #2 retreats this without alarm, merely watching IDAHO writhe, planting a sturdy boot on IDAHO's head, and then reaching for something at his belt.'' COMMANDO #2: "Your friends...your Lima Company, is coming in. When the motion sensor planted on the hostage's chair detects an incoming figure, it will automatically trigger the bomb, that, or after 3 minutes. Die without honor." A high-pitched whining fills the air as COMMANDO #2 triggers the detonation control at his belt. COMMANDO #2: "They will all die, greenie, not just you. Now, do you know how it feels to have your skull crushed in on itself? Or...no. It'd be better for me to choke you, that'd be good." ''COMMANDO #2 graps IDAHO's throat, noting his rather placcid body, lifting him up by his vulnerable larynx, bringing IDAHO's nose next to his as IDAHO's eyes flare in impotent anger. IDAHO, however, lunges for COMMANDO #2's neck, bites down, teeth incising flesh and rupturing the jugular. COMMANDO #2 shrilly screams, blood again fountains across his battle armor. After several seconds of hemoglobin rills coming down his throat, IDAHO releases his teeths' grasp, shaken. He steps back, directs his shotgun at COMAMNDO #2's seizing body, fires. He lunges for the detonator at the man's belt, but the button is permamently depressed at reads 2:03. There is very little time left. He cumples to his knees, the sight of CABOOSE frantically screaming underneath the duct tape and flailing at her bonds, her rescuer at her knees but unable to do anything. However, IDAHO sights the medkit at COMMANDO #1's corpse, grasps for it as his vision becomes restricted, tunneling. His blood-stained fingers, slick with asphalt black, find the epipen, depress it into his chest. Chemical energy fueling his fight or flight response reinvigorates him, gives him a momentarily superpromethean burst of strength. He finds the keycard on the terrorist leader's body, swipes it at a control on CABOOSE's chair. The magnabonds relax, allowing her to escape free. She screams to have the asphyxiating duct tape removed, but IDAHO knows that without a knife, he can not relieve her of the tape, and knows that he must escape first with CABOOSE, or else the relieving of the tape is of no consequence. He grasps her body, storms out of the room, trying to maintain the last strains of energy to burst out of the room. IMPERATOR, stalking down the hallway with three of his men, sees IDAHO and CABOOSE, locked in fearful embrace. Both collapse before his knees, as if prostrating.'' IMPERATOR: "Colonel Nelson! I repeat, op is green! Op is green! Idaho and Caboose are secure! Let's go!" ''IDAHO tries to mouth words that RELENTLESS is still there, but is unable to. He is falling into cardiac arrest. Second Platoon Marines storm around the two, scurrying them to an awaiting helicopter. CABOOSE screams, also trying to inform them of RELENTLESS, but is unable to because of the duct tape. The Marines never set a toe into the room, therefore not triggering the proximity sensor. It takes them a minute to reach VICTOR ONE. IDAHO is in asystole, and is being defibbed.''

On helicopter Victor One NELSON: "Angel Flight, this is Colonel R.J. Nelson, Lima Company. Nice to see you again, chaps." ANGEL ONE: "Reciprocating the sentiment here, sir. Admiral Ares mentioned that Lima Company needed an aerial bombardment?" NELSON: "Yes. 1100 Baltic Avenue: a 4-story apartment complex. All friendlies have been evacuated. Sorry to bother you boys, but both of my helicopters are being used to ferry personnel out of the to-be-crater." ANGEL ONE: "Affirmative. We are approaching on vector november-tango. Angel Two, sight the target." ANGEL TWO: "Located it on RECONSAT. The sattelite has extended its laser guidance." A medic manages to pry off CABOOSE's tape, who is hysterically tearing and shaking. CABOOSE: "Sir, sir! Call of the air strike! Relentless is still in there, and I believe he's alive! We need medics on him or else he's going to bleed out." NELSON glares at CABOOSE unkindly. NELSON: "What the fuck, girl? Relentless died a long time ago on the first floor, the lobby. A grenade explosion." CABOOSE: "Negative! He came in with Idaho into the room where I was being kept, killed off most of the terrorists! Relentless is in there and is hemmoraging! Where's FMSU?" NELSON: "Angel Flight, disregard the Sergeant. I believe they used sodium pentothal on her to extract information on her, and she has become momentarily psychotic because of it, doesn't want to lose her precious boytoy. The air strike is still on. ETA?" CABOOSE: "No...no...NOO! RELENTLESS. IS. STILL." NELSON: "Even if he is, we're not risking any of our asses to go in and save him. Each helicopter is carrying about thirty men, and we found out from analyzing Idaho's helmet recorder about the bomb. Relentless is not alive. We're not going to get his corpse, if you want to kiss it or something. I understand you've been through hell, but..." CABOOSE: "No! He's alive! Pilot, stop this chopper, we're going-" NELSON: "Imperator, we've had enough. Put her under a soporific anesthetic." CABOOSE writhes in torment and is wailing, and IMPERATOR injects her, and she falls as limp as a dead body as she goes unconscious. IMPERATOR: "Done."

Terrorist building ''RELENTLESS lays there, his lifeblood seeping out. He has heard the footsteps of Captain IMPERATOR and his men, but is unable to response. He was awaited for over two minutes for them to close, but his despair grows to agony, pain eviscerating him as his false hopes, hopes led astray, end.''

''Two F-27 interceptor aircraft close on 1100 Baltic Avenue, afterburners heralding their presence. Smoke jets out from missile tubes, and with impeccable precision, they barrel roll away, towards their air base.''

On helicopter Victor One ''IDAHO's eyes flicker open, and he finds IMPERATOR and NELSON leaning over him, eyeing the building behind them. He sputters, finding CABOOSE laying besides him...but not RELENTLESS.'' IDAHO: "Colonel, sir. Captain, sir. Lieutenant Idaho here." IMPERATOR: "Not 'ready for duty', eh?" IDAHO playfully grins as the pain eases its tenuous grip slightly. IDAHO: "No, sir. And...where's Relentless? He needs to get a Halopedia Award from me for saving my sorry ass. He take the other chopper or something?" NELSON turns, observes the blood-stained figure. NELSON: "He's dead, Lieutenant. I thought you of all people knew." IDAHO's eyes jerk open with ferocious alacitry. IDAHO: "WHAT? No, he's not...and if you think he's dead and you didn't evac him, then he's still there and the bomb is going to blow-"

Terrorist building ''The light of the setting Sun, its rays of photons diffracted from the aerated photochemical smog and oxygen and prismatically drifracting into a starburst of mournful colors, alights RELENTLESS's eyes as he spastically lurches for his last, blood-impregnated breath. The light, doleful and expressing its condolences, is held in suspenseful abeyance in the browness of his retinas. At last, he releases his spirit from his torment, and his eyes settle shut, and his life seeps away with treacherous hesitation, each moment bringing unbearable agony...''

''The F-27 missiles connect. A gargantuan explosion rumbles, and the sky is filled with light of such propensity that a miniature sun is birthed.''

Act X: Post-Mortem
After Action Report February 31, 2000 Lima Company, OPERATION: Crimson Razor

To: General Esemono, 3rd Battalion Operational Command From: Colonel Nelson, R.J., Company Commander Encryption Key: Axiom-8 Subject: After-Action Report, Colonel Relentless

On 0800 hours on February 22, 2000, Lima Company forces engaged terrorist insurgents at 1100 Baltic Avenue of Pacific Central - a 4-story apartment complex.

On 0917 hours, against the tactical suggestions of numerous Marine officers and regulars, Colonel Relentless led Lieutenant Watchtower, a DART commando, into a bombed-out lobby in the first floor (see attached pryotechnics report) in an effort to retrieve a terrorist-held hostage, Caboose, Sergeant, of Lima Company. Relentless and the DART commando were both killed in a grenade detonation.

CURRENT STATUS: Killed In Action - February 20, 2007

ATTACHMENT: Pyrotechnics Report (RE: First Bombing of 1100 Baltic Avenue, 280 MB)

-Nelson, R.J., Colonel

List of Killed Characters

Delta Assault Reconnaisance Corps


 * DART Alpha Team
 * Graves, Adam, Lieutenant Colonel - Terrorist machine-gun wounds
 * Alpha Two - Bomb blast
 * Alpha Three - Terrorist machine-gun wounds
 * Alpha Four - Bomb blast
 * DART Bravo Team
 * Bravo Two - Terrorist machine-gun wounds
 * Bravo Three - Action with terrorists (not explicitly covered)
 * Bravo Four - Terrorist shotgun wounds
 * DART Charlie Team
 * Watchtower, Lieutenant - Terrorist shotgun blast, beheaded
 * Charlie Two - Bomb blast
 * Charlie Three - Bomb blast
 * Charlie Four - Bomb blast
 * DART Delta Team
 * Gear, Lieutenant - Bomb blast
 * Delta Two - Bomb blast
 * Delta Three - Bomb blast
 * Delta Four - Bomb blast
 * DART Echo Team
 * Manticore, Lieutenant - Terrorist sniper wounds
 * Echo Two - Terrorist sniper wounds
 * Echo Three - Terrorist sniper wounds
 * Echo Four - Terrorist sniper wounds

Lima Company, First Platoon
 * Relentless, Colonel - F-27 missile explosions
 * Red Squad
 * 9 anonymous marines
 * Black Squad
 * 9 anonymous marines

Other characters
 * Terrorist leader - died from blood loss from pistol wounds, killed by Relentless
 * Snook, Captain - successfully recovered from rubble badly wounded, undertook extensive surgery and survived
 * Averill, Lieutenant - successfully revived from cardiac arrest, had a heart flash-cloned and transplanted as a precaution against heart problems from damaged heart
 * Idaho, Lieutenant - successfully revived from cardiac arrest, had a heart flsah-cloned and transplanted as a precaution against heart problems from damaged heart

NATO Air Force

 * Fleet One
 * Admiral Ares - passenger, Commander of NATO Northern American Strategic Air Command (Ares.117)
 * Captain Manticore - pilot (Manticore)
 * Angel Flight
 * Angel One - F-27 interceptor pilot
 * Angel Two - F-27 interceptor pilot
 * Eclipse Flight
 * Eclipse One - F-27 interceptor pilot
 * Eclipse Two - F-27 interceptor pilot
 * Yankee Flight
 * Yankee One - F-27 interceptor pilot
 * Yankee Two - F-27 interceptor pilot
 * Yankee Control - E-3 Sentry crew

NATO Marine Corps
The NATO Marine Corps are the branch of the NATO military that executes ground operations. The Marines are seen as the defenders of freedom for NATO against external and internal threats. Its soldiers are also competent in combat, and to achieve their object, standard Marine armament includes assault rifles and flash-bang grenades.
 * General Kwarsh - Commander of NATO Northern American Armed Forces (KillerCRS)
 * Captain John - Apache One (JohnSpartan117)
 * Captain Jared (Spartan-091)

NATO Marine Special Forces
The NATO Marine Special Forces is the branch of the NATO military that encompasses the special operations soldiers employed by the Marine Corps in special warfare situations. They include the infamous Delta Assault Reconnaisance, Special Paranormal Encounter Assault Reconnaisance, and Special Warfare Research Department elements.

Delta Assault Reconnaisance Troopers (DART)
D.A.R.T. is the standard Special Forces element of the NATO Marine Corps. Their objectives are multifarious, but include counterterrorism, hostage negotiation, urban warfare, high-risk penetrations, and other missions. They are highly regarded by the military, and are often soldiers called in the most dire of situation. DARTs are the most elite of the elite, and are exemplified by their high success rate and low casualty counts.
 * Alpha Team
 * Lieutenant Colonel "Idaho" - Alpha One (Guesty-Persony-Thingy)
 * Captain Vamis Vinam - Alpha Two (Vamis Vinam)
 * Lieutenant "Terror" - Alpha Three (T3rr0r)
 * Lieutenant Nicholas Sanchez - Alpha Four (Dude984)
 * Bravo Team
 * Colonel Ryan James Nelson - Bravo One (Ryanngreenday)
 * Captain "Imperator" - Bravo Two (Donut THX 1138)
 * Lieutenant Ed - Bravo Three (Ed)
 * Lieutenant "Dragonclaws" - Bravo Four (Dragonclaws)
 * Major Helen - Bravo Control (offsite)
 * Calypso Team
 * Lieutenant Colonel Dojorkan - Calypso One (Dojorkan)
 * Captain "Mogwai" - Calypso Two
 * Lieutenant "Pie" - Calypso Three (Thepie)
 * Lieutenant "Mouse" - Calypso Four (Mouseamongmen)
 * Delta Unit
 * Foxtrot Team
 * Colonel Caboose - Foxtrot One
 * Bearcat Platoon
 * Commander "RimFire" - Bearcat One (RimFire)
 * Captain "77" - Bearcat Three-Four (SPARTAN-077)
 * Tango Platoon
 * Commander Porple - Tango One (Porplemontage)
 * Sierra One - UH-60 Black Hawk helicopter pilot, Alpha Team
 * Sierra Two - UH-60 Black Hawk helicopter pilot, Bravo and Calypso Teams
 * Lancer One-Six - UH-60 Black Hawk helicopter pilot, Tango Platoon, Second Squad

Special Paranormal Encounter Assault Reconnaisance (SPEAR)
S.P.E.A.R. is a small Special Forces element of the NATO Marine Corps. Their objective is the neutralizing of paranormal threats, although they haven't been activated once prior to the Gemini situation. Most of their members are incredulous about the existance of any paranormal threats, and attribute any distrubances as just freak occurances. This attitude is shared by most members of the military, and SPEAR is a joke station - their members just lounge around without work. However, SPEAR's constituent members are all DART veterans, and are extremely proficient in combat.
 * Zulu Team
 * Colonel James - Zulu One (James-001)
 * Captain Chazz - Zulu Two (The Chazz025/Irving)
 * Lieutenant Nick - Zulu Three (Spartan-118)
 * Lieutenant Christopher "Nobody" Yeung - Zulu Four (Nobody)

''Special Warfare Research Department

 * General Esemono - Electromagnetic Technology Command, director of Gemini Installation (Esemono)

Introduction
The Gemini Special Warfare Installation is the HQ of General Esemono, commander of the 3rd Marine Battalion, brainchild of the AJAX Project - an ingenous R&D project to develop nonlethal electromagnetic pulse weapons for the general Marine Corps. When Admiral Ares of the Air Force flies over the desert to meet the general in the secluded facility, his aircraft, Fleet One, is destroyed, and the meeting never takes place. Then, a Marine radioes from Gemini Installation, reporting that the garrison is under attack and Esemono has been murdered.

It is this vein that Delta Assault Reconnaisance, an elite commando branch of the Marines, is dispatched to Gemini to assist the defenders. Leading the operation is Colonel R.J. Nelson, a soldier of great renown after the shootout and hostage crisis at 1100 Baltic Avenue in Pacific Central five years ago. Three 4-man Delta Recon teams are dispatched in the helicopters Sierras One and Two over the Trendell Desert...

Act I: Treachery
August 1, 2005 - 0800 hours

Gemini Installation

''Camera settles on a bound and gagged woman in combat gear - CABOOSE. It is a tight, angular room, with floodlights mounted, perfusing the room with excessive light. In each corner, there is one Marine in combat gear. Facing CABOOSE, who is bound to an interrogation table and whimpering hysterically, is a Marine officer - Captain JARED.''


 * JARED - "For. The. Last. Time! WHAT DID YOU SEE, DAMMIT?"

''CABOOSE screams something unintelligible underneath the gag. One of the Marines looks at JARED, who nods. Then, the Marine loosens the gag.''


 * CABOOSE - "Nothing, sir! Nothing at all!"
 * JARED - "Fuck you. We've been playing this game for six hours, Colonel, and my patience is running thinner than what your head is gonna be when we compress it in the trash compactor. Do we need the sodium pentothal again, or will you pass?"
 * CABOOSE - "Watch your mouth. You're a Captain, and report to-"

''JARED takes a delicate syringe with vile liquid, brutually stabs CABOOSE with it. She screams, pleading as tears run profusely from her eyes. Her face is caked with grim, with the trails of tears cutting away at the embedded dirt. On a hand signal from JARED, a Marine unstraps his bandana, places it over CABOOSE's mouth, depriving her of air as her eyes buldge as she screams silently, unable to summon the air to plead nor cry.''


 * JARED - "That'll be enough, Corporal. Now, Colonel, don't fuck with me, fucker. You saw something."
 * CABOOSE - "Umm...no."

A Marine unlatches a steel case in the corner of the room, his hands moving over the interior of the case.


 * CABOOSE - "Stop the torture, Captain. What the hell's in that-"

JARED slaps her across the face, and blood is shaken from her nose, running in profuse amounts down her face and chest, staining it with inky black.


 * JARED - "It'd be unfortunate if we shipped your body back to your parents with your pretty little face sawed off, ma'am."

''The MARINE hands JARED a shrouded obbject. CABOOSE tenses, but that motion sets forth more blood, which is refusing to coagulate because thombocytin levels are depleted.''


 * JARED - "Hey, look. I have a toy in my hand and we're gonna play one last fucking game."

''CABOOSE demurrs, turning away. JARED produces an electrical screwdriver with an acuminous tip fitted at the apex.''


 * JARED - "It's called the three-point rule, Caboose. We drill in the left eye, then the right, then the back of the mouth into the dorsal plate of the brain. You die after the third. Shall we start?"

JARED doesn't even have to rev the screwdriver before CABOOSE's resolve sags.


 * CABOOSE - "Foxtrot Team and I...saw...a bomb. There were waveform scanners across the sides, and two coated men. One of them was bald and taller, the other overweight. They were discussing something regarding a phase amplitude constant or whatever technical gizmo, and-"

A voice sounds from a COM unit mounted on the lapel of JARED.


 * ESEMONO - "We've heard enough, Captain. Kill her."
 * JARED - "Very good, sir. We get to execute that motherfucker. You hear that, slut?"
 * CABOOSE - "Let's get this straight. I'm a Delta Recon commando, and of higher rank than you. We're on the same side, and when some spooky voice comes from the speaker, you're just gonna-"
 * JARED - "You know what's spooky, ma'am?"

''Suddenly, a vibrant crimson slash is scored over JARED's pharynx. Cartilidge explosively is flung outwards. Blood profusely begins to disperse from the captain's throat, running into his lungs and causing pulmonary edema. JARED gags, unable to take in air.''


 * CABOOSE - "Holy..."

The four Marines raise their rifles at CABOOSE.


 * CABOOSE - "I didn't do it! No! NO! Hell, no, not me! He just fell down and..."

''Two more Marines crumple to their feet, and turn upsides down, revealing the back of their heads to CABOOSE. They're bloodstained, with impact holes in the back of their heads - spidery cracks propogating outwards, blood running freely from the discontinuties in the cranium. JARED, meanwhile, begins twitching epileptically on the floor in his blood,and then ceases all movement. The last two remaining Marines make a dash for the exit, but similarly fall. Blood and gore run rampant. CABOOSE, meanwhile, is alit with utter horror at the macabre scene - five Marines laying in their own blood at her feet. She seals her eyes, with perfect knowing that she would be the next to fall as her shrill screams echo to no abandon in the interrogation room.''

Act II: Over the Desert
August 1, 2005 - 0830 hours

Trendell Desert, en route to Gemini Installation

''Camera pans across a cloud-laced sunset, the brilliant jewel of the Sun descending, encrouching upon the Earth. There is a metallic crackle, and the camera settles on a 747 jet - FLEET ONE. Four F-27 interceptors - ANGELS ONE and TWO and ECLIPSES ONE and TWO, are in a diamond escort formation around the 747.''


 * ANGEL ONE - "Two, cut the chatter. This is the admiral."
 * ANGEL TWO - "And? You think he taps into the transmissions of his escort fight-"
 * ARES - "Shit yeah, Angel Two."

Humilated pause


 * ECLIPSE ONE - "So..."
 * ANGEL TWO - "What the fuck was that for, the Old Man doin' that do me?"
 * ANGEL ONE - "Cut the chatter, boys! If Fleet One is shot down from under us, we're fucked. Get that straight."
 * ECLIPSE TWO - "Aye, aye, sir. Wait...I have...something on scopes. It's wavering in and out...can't get a lock on it...it's inbound at the velocity of approximately a low-power fighter jet."
 * ANGEL TWO - "Picking up a low-level radar signature as well, Commander. It is definitively fluctuating, and X-band fire control radars can not acquire it...that's stealth tech, Commander."

Incredulous silence


 * ANGEL ONE - "You mean to say that there's a stealth fighter inbound, Two?"
 * ANGEL TWO - "Not sure, but only stealth materials are nonreflective to fire control radars. The cross-section is minimal, just like a strike profile. Should we alert Captain Manticore of Fleet One?"
 * ECLIPSE ONE - "Negative. Intel has a location on each of the twenty F-166 stealth bombers. I just checked. It's a hoax of some sort, Two. Clear your computer cache and rekey your codes."
 * ANGEL TWO - "Wilco...COM-amming-opy-an-you-"
 * MANTICORE - "This is Fleet One to Angel and Eclipse Flights. What's your status? Angel Two just called in a security alert for the Admiral. Confirm inbound tango."
 * ANGEL ONE - "Negative, sir. It's nothing, just a technical problem."

''ANGEL TWO's COM line is scrubbed, and suddenly cries of torment percolate through SQUADCOM. ECLIPSE ONE peers through ANGEL TWO's cockpit, sees his back arched in a primordial reflex, fingers clawed and forearms contracted. His eyes are hemmoraging, with rills of blood running down. He is indiscriminately screaming, blood freely flowing from his mouth and running down his stubble.''


 * MANTICORE - "Fuck you! What the fuck's going on out there, over!"
 * ARES - "This is the Admiral. What is the tactical situation?"

''ANGEL TWO veers spastically off, out of formation, and then does a series of clumsy barrel rolls. ANGEL TWO gags over the COM, and ECLIPSE ONE sees his eyes roll over in his head as he bashes his head against the controls.''


 * ECLIPSE ONE - "Something's wrote with Angel Two. He's bleeding out and seizing in his cockpit. Fuck. It's a desert, with no medical standing by. Fuck, fuck! Someone, get him!"
 * ARES - "CUT THE CROSS CHATTER! Manticore, bring Fleet One to an immediate crash landing. Eclipse One, come in. What's going on to Angel Two? Is he seizing?"
 * ECLIPSE ONE - "Yessir. He's-"
 * ARES - "Eclipse One? Come again? Seizing? That's indicative of organophosphate chemical weapons...confirm seizures. Your transmission is-"

''ECLIPSE ONE lurches towards the ground with an uncommon fury, and the F-27 noses into the ground. The missiles on its wing racks are supercompressed against the desert sand, explode in a tremendous conflagaration. A billow of fire envelopes the desert as metal struts of the fighter are propelled into parabolic arcs into the air.''


 * MANTICORE - "Escort pilots, did you just see what I..ahh...AHH! IT'S ALL OVER ME! IT'S GOT ME TOO-"

ANGEL ONE and ECLIPSE TWO converge on each other, flying wing-tip to wingtip as they box in Fleet One''. Abruptly, ANGEL TWO recovers from its uncontrolled, erratic tumble into the sand, pulls up. A high-pitched tone whines in ECLIPSE TWO's headset - the threat transciever array.''


 * ECLIPSE TWO - "Oh, shit, I have two missiles on-"

''The two missiles close with the sleek, graceful form of the F-27, transform it into a spiralling detonation with a core of an inferno and orbiting rings of wreckage. ANGEL ONE instinctively triggers off all his missiles at the inbound profile at ANGEL TWO, without thought. The salvo utterly annihilates ANGEL TWO.''


 * ANGEL ONE - "Admiral? Admiral? What's your-"

''A superheated wing fragment of ANGEL TWO intersects a turbofan on the portside wing of FLEET ONE. The milling razor blades attempt to digest the titanium-A, and are unable. Spheres of fire are birthed within the turbofan, and in an infinitessimal moment, FLEET ONE is enveloped in fire. The superstructure explodes outwards, and ANGEL ONE can briefly see the titanium-A girders of the 747 outlined in fire before FLEET ONE catastrophically explodes.''


 * ANGEL ONE - "Admiral? ADMIRAL? FLEET ONE, RESPOND ASAP!"

''The image of ANGEL TWO in his pressure suit superimposes itself over ANGEL ONE's HUD - blood is spattered all over, and his cheekbones are pronounced. Black-lined blood vessels under the epithelia are clearly outlined and visible. A moment later, madness claims ANGEL ONE.''

Act III: Commando Sambo
August 2, 2005 - 1330 hours

Trendell Desert, en route to Gemini Installation


 * DRAGONCLAWS, singing - "Commando sambo...another one bites da dust! Commando sambo...another bust comes to rust! Commando sambo-"
 * ED - "Shaddup, noob!"
 * DRAGONCLAWS - "Uh, yessir. Commando sambo...another lust dives to-"
 * NELSON - "SHUT UP! THAT'S A DIRECT ORDER!"
 * DRAGONCLAWS - "Uh, yokay, bossman. Hehe."

Awkward silence


 * ED - "Note the awkward lack of laughter, Bravo Three."
 * HELEN - "Lighten up, Four."
 * ED - "Ma'am."
 * IDAHO - "Ah, you shut up, Ed. You're just playin' nice wit dat hottie."
 * ED - "Fuck yourself, sir."
 * NELSON - "Notice how you're tryin' to give an order to a commanding officer, Four."
 * DRAGONCLAWS, singing - "Command sambo...another lust dives to rust! Lust drives to rust, rust drives to-"
 * ED, emboldened - "SHUT UP! YOU GODDAMN DON'T EVEN KNOW WHAT SAMBO IS!"
 * DRAGONCLAWS - "Uh, yes I do. According to Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia, Sambo is a modern martial art that-"
 * DOJORKAN - "What is utterly perplexing and rather horrifying is that Lieutenant Pie's 'Pie Song' is of better quality than 'Commando Sambo'."
 * MOGWAI - "Sadly true, sir."

MOGWAI notes that PIE is about to cantillate.

Without premonition, a thin line of smoke and fire erupts from an occluded doorway, and as the threat tone sounds deafeningly in SIERRA TWO's headset, the chopper is hit, and smashes down brutally, unbalanced and spilling men and gear onto the installation's open grounds. ''A dozen heavily armored troopers clad in full-body powered armor emerge from a series of fire escapes and doorways in the R&D building and residential units before SIERRA ONE as it sets down. Assault rifle fire thunders. The DARTs instinctively duck as SIERRA ONE touches down, none daring to tread outside and wade into the fire. SANCHEZ, however, summons his valor, peeking out with his helmet-mounted flexible fiber optics, sighting targets, and firing with a sniper. One hostile dies, crumpled, while two others as wounded and are clutching the ground. The rest of the hostiles withdraw into the buildings as SIERRA ONE opens up with the nose-mounted chainguns.'' VINAM slams a rifle clip into its reciever. ''Enemies emerged from rooftops, laying down rudimentary suppressive fire. Alpha and Bravo Teams dash to any likely-looking cover, only to find SIERRA ONE their only bastion. The enemy hail intensifies as further hostiles spill onto the roofs. The armor of SIERRA ONE pings discordantly from the shots. As the DARTs hole up again, occasionally blindfiring bursts from the sides of the helicopter, an enemy, unseen, crouches next to the garbage truck that is adjacent to SIERRA ONE. When convinced that the DARTs are unaware of his presence, he surrepitously closes with the helicopter, pulling an explosive from his vest and adhering it to SIERRA ONE. At first, the DARTs continue their skirmishing, when a high-pitched whine percolates the air.'' ''SIERRA ONE detonates. The pilot is entombed within the cockpit, and the detonation shockwave vaporizes his body inside the remains of the Black Hawk. VINAM leaps out with considerable speed, yet is unable to outrace the perilous flames, his body permeated with third-degree burns and further - he is dead. TERROR does not have the grace of a near-success of escaping - he is brutually killed because he reacted too sluggishly to the bomb alert.''
 * MOGWAI - "No, that's not an invitation to sing, Pie."
 * PIE - "But, but, pie is good! Yes! O, pie is good! Good is pie! Not good is not pie, not pie is not good! No pie is not good, pie of no is good of not!"
 * SIERRA ONE - "Clear TACCOM, Deltas. We're two minutes out."
 * NELSON - "Affirmative, Lieutenant. DARTs, stow those iPods and ready the weapons in case of a warm reception. Idaho, is Alpha Team ready?"
 * IDAHO - "Yessir. One hundred percent."
 * NELSON - "Very good. Colonel Dojorkan, how's that other bird riding for you?"
 * DOJORKAN - "Sierra Two actually is ferrying us rather well. Unlike last time, when that surface-to-air missile hit us and-"
 * IMPERATOR - "Clear the chatter, troopers. Gemini is now in range...snipers, you have anything on it?"
 * SANCHEZ - "Using the 8x scope...negative, negative. No external signs of detonations. No corpses, or at least what I can see from this range."
 * NELSON - "Great. Another fucking detective game again, DARTs. Yeah, Sierra One, bring Alpha Team and us down on...that rooftop over there. Sierra Two, cover us, and when we're deployed, send in the Calypsos."
 * SIERRA TWO - "Can do, Colonel. Moving off to-"
 * NELSON - "SIERRA TWO AND CALYPSO TEAM IS DOWN! PILOT, GET US DOWN THERE ASAP!"
 * SIERRA ONE - "L.Z. secure, DARTs! Let's..."
 * VINAM - "Fuck yeah! Let's go, Alpha Team!"
 * NELSON - "Out! OUT!"

Act IV: Karma's Displeasure
Sierra Two wreckage

The revving of a chainsaw sounds, and then an inhumane wheezing scream as the carbide-tipped blade rips through DOJORKAN (Calypso One). ''MOGWAI spies three figures on a nearby rooftop. Because of their angle, they do not spot MOGWAI, but they are continually turning and sweeping the area. MOGWAI sees one of the hostiles has a chainsaw in his hands, and can see part of DOJORKAN's gore-strewn body from his position - hidden within a sidepassage between two apartments.'' ''MOUSE voices an affirmative, but begins insidiously fumbling on his words, never finishing the phrase. It progresseses to silent gagging.'' ''MOGWAI gains a foothold on a nearby trash bin, fires grapple gun onto the brick wall to hoist himself onto the rooftop of the 2-story apartment. The three hostiles turn. MOGWAI lifts himself up, and winces from a stray bullet's clawing grasp. Then, as the chainsaw-bearer surges towards him, MOGWAI produces a shotgun, unsheathing it from an unusually-mounted long holster mounted diagonally on his back. He blows through the first soldier, and then advances past the riddled corpse to the second hostile. Fortinuously, the three combatants can not engage - SIERRA ONE explodes nearby, unleashing an unfurling parachute of fire into the sky as the diminuitive DARTs scatter from the flames. The shockwave unkindly and impartially throws down all three of the soldier. While on the ground, MOGWAI triggers his shotgun, blowing off the legs off of one soldier. As the other stands, leveling his assault rifle at MOGWAI's face, MOGWAI is petrified, fear insidiously permeating every cell.'' MOGWAI tries to rise, but ENEMY #1 plants his foot on his chest. ''MOGWAI primes a grenade on his bandolier. In that moment of mutual trepidation, MOGWAI seizes the moment, expounding on it. He primes a second control on the grenade: the adhesive control, sticking it to the enemy's foot. Then, in a promethean exaggeration of strength, MOGWAI rises, shoves ENEMY #1 and the affixed grenade off the rooftop. His backbone splinters a moment before the frag goes off, kills him.'' ''With deliberate caution, MOGWAI dismounts the apartment, bracing his knees as he jumps off onto the tarnished asphalt road and the remnants of SIERRA TWO there. An armored leg is upraised from admist the carnage - it is MOUSE.'' ''MOUSE's eyes widen with utter horror as an enemy descends on MOGWAI, a chainsaw in hand. He inserts it into MOGWAI's back, and the blade begins its lethal rounds. The abdomen of MOGWAI is incised, and blood and ruptured organs run rampant through the constantly unevenly expanding hole in his body. The enemy continues sawing Calypso Two, clearing out the lower abdominal organs before moving the blade upwards to the heart. Blood of such concentration jets from his broken sternum that it falls upon MOUSE. After the nova of obsidian fluid ruptures upon the body, the horrid chainsaw, and the enemy soldier, the soldier stalks towards MOUSE, comically motions to remove the chopper wing from his body that is suppressing his breath. Instead, the soldier reels out duct tape from a dispenser in his hand, places a grenade from MOGWAI's corpse onto it, primes it, and sticks it over MOUSE's mouth. There is a climatic pause as the camera focuses on MOUSE's moving mouth, words unheard as he seeps into unconsciousness. A prayer to God? A cry to his parents? None will know, as the grenade splinters into metal and fire, transforming MOUSE's head into blood splatter. CALYPSO TEAM has been neutralized.''
 * MOGWAI - "Calypso Team? Calypsos? Check in!"
 * MOUSE - "Here, sir. I'm pinned down underneath some razor from the chopper, and have wounds all across my chest, and I..."
 * DOJORKAN - "Please, no. No. No! I'll give you money, I'll give you-"
 * MOGWAI - "Dojorkan? Colonel?"
 * MOUSE, hissing - "Shut up! They can use the transmissions to triangulate us! Now, can you get over that stretch of ground and get me?"
 * MOGWAI - "Negative. Three tangos on higher elevation. By the way, where's Pie?"
 * MOUSE - "I'm not sure...but if I recall the explosion, he was blown all the way out there. Probably KIA. However, we still have Alpha and Bravo Teams nearby. They'll come."
 * MOGWAI - "10-4. How bad are you hurt, soldier?"
 * MOUSE - "I...internal bleeding, I think. Lacerations. I'll hold."
 * MOGWAI - "No bullfucking, Loot. Just wait a moment, and I'll be over there in a sec."
 * MOUSE - "Sir, if you get killed, then I'll be-
 * MOGWAI - "I'm always in a state of unkilledness, Mouse. Just shut up and lemme earn my paycheck."
 * MOGWAI - "Shit, son, just hang on, there. You have the strength, you bitch. Just stay there, stay there..."
 * ENEMY #1 - "Cease fire, Delta."
 * ENEMY #1 - "Don't try, Delta."
 * MOGWAI - "Fuck you, man.''
 * MOGWAI - "Hell yeah, bichano. Mouse, you still hanging in there? Tangos have been cleared, I'm making y way over to you."
 * MOUSE - "Aff-aff-ma-"
 * MOGWAI - "Dammit! Don't go out on me!"
 * MOUSE - "Beh-you-"
 * MOGWAI - "Right. Bless me."

Act V: In and In
ED tackles DRAGONCLAWS into the ground, a sniper round transverses the air where DRAGONCLAWS was just standing. ''The fusillade of bullets heightens - the curtain of lead storms VINAM and TERROR, instantly tossing their corpses aside. Blood streaks from their bodies, scarlet reminders of the heavy casualties sustained by the remaining DARTs and their lack of progress.'' A sniper round retaliates against the favor nearly done to DRAGONCLAWS - the enemy sniper falls down before he can draw a bead on DRAGONCLAWS once again. ''SANCHEZ braces against the deadened hull of SIERRA ONE, continues firing his sniper. A file of enemies fall, leaving just three equipped with machine-guns. DRAGONCLAWS edges out from behind an upraised jag of the chopper, opens fire with his rifle, catching an enemy in the chest - his first kill.'' ''The DARTs take cover once again as the last one opens up frantically, spraying each piece of cover, unsure where the killing blow will come from. NELSON arms a grenade, lobs it. The last hostile cries out as the explosive ricochets off a cooling stack on the processing building's roof, impacts him directly as the grenade explodes, blunting its teeth with his body.'' ''The six remaining DARTs duck low, making their way towards the building. Only IMPERATOR, his sense of hearing acute, notices the menacing drone in the proximity. Not of insects but of-'' ''The helicopter, its fuselage painted a jet-black and soldiers indiscriminately spraying fire from its troop hold, makes a flyby. Its fore cannons stutter, sending plumes of dust racing along the cobblestone path to the R&D building. It is a killing ground. The plumes weave back and forth, attempting to catch a racing DART before one can scurry to the haven of the building. The plumes then focus around a focal point - SANCHEZ. His body slumps explosively onto the floor, and his body is exenterated with machine-gun rounds as the other commandoes, by some work of Fate's smiling disposition, slam against the glass door of the abandoned building, rush in as they are pursued by the chopper's machine-gun rounds.''
 * NELSON - "DOWN! Alpha Team, target those bitches on the roof, Bravo Team, make ready to sprint for the R&D building."
 * HELEN - "Colonel...we have two major thermal blooms on RECONSAT! What's your status?"
 * NELSON - "Status? Ahh...fucked. What are your sats telling you?"
 * DRAGONCLAWS - "What the Halo? I'm wounded...the bleeding's getting pretty bad. I won't be able to-"
 * ED - "Stop the whining and get them, Three!"
 * DRAGONCLAWS - "Yes sir. On 'em."
 * IDAHO - "Dammit! Four, Sanchez, you still back there?"
 * SANCHEZ - "10-4, but I'm taking fire from those bitches. Control, a remedy?"
 * HELEN - "Advise Alpha and Bravo Teams enter the R&D building ASAP."
 * ED - "No offense, but what about those rooftop gunners, ma'am?"
 * DRAGONCLAWS - "W00T! 133t here! Who's da man?"
 * ED - "I am, and get down, Lieutenant!"
 * IMPERATOR - "Very good, sir."
 * NELSON - "Fuck yeah, ya bitches. Let's move it double time to the building, Deltas."
 * ED - "10-4. Come on, Dragonclaws. Walk it off."
 * IMPERATOR - "Sir! Chopper inbound!"
 * SANCHEZ - "One of ours?"
 * DRAGONCLAWS, breathless - "I believe the answer to that question would be...negative."
 * ED - "Watch your fucking mouth, man. A comrade just died."
 * DRAGONCLAWS - "My...apologies. I have overstepped my bounds."
 * NELSON - "Fine. Let's fan out, perhaps bunker up in this center until Helen can call in further support, but that'll be several hours away..."
 * IMPERATOR - "Understood, sir. I'll take Dragonclaws and Ed and scout out the rooftop. Sir, can you and Idaho secure the windows?"
 * IDAHO - "Sounds good. We're in..."

Act VI: Lone Star
August 1, 2005 - 1400 hours

Gemini Installation

''The stacatto reports of gunfire perk from around Gemini Installation - it has been 6 hours since Caboose's guards were murdered. In the time spanning from then to now, hundreds of hostile soldiers armed with machine-guns, shotguns, and chainsaws have infiltrated the facility and are slaughtering the scientists and Marine garrison. APACHE SQUAD is one of the last remaining Marine squads. It has been hounded by hostiles for hours, and only seven remain. APACHE 5 fires his sidearm, downs a nearby hostile, and the combat comes to a momentary lull.'' ''APACHE SQUAD is within an abandoned warehouse made of stained, rusted tin. They are navigating its innards - a complex of emptied gasoline barrels, making their way to the far doorway. There are catwalks that interlink in a fibrous network over the trenches over barrels. There is a resonating banging sound from above - a door has been opened, and hostiles have taken the catwalks.'' ''Machine gun fire pelts from the catwalks - a demonstration of the superior firepower of the hostiles. There are six jet black-armored commandoes that are continually raining down suppressive fire on the seven Marines. The Apaches are slow to retaliate, taking potshots from behind their barrels. APACHE 2 screams a war cry, makes a wide lunge out from behind his barricade. Immediately, he is riddled with machine gun rounds and falls dead.'' ''APACHE 7 bolts in an audacious sprint out from his position, machine gun rounds whining around him sa they impact the barrels that his squadmates are taking judicious cover behind. As APACHE 7 nears APACHE 2's limp figure, one of the hostiles nonchalantly lobs a frag grenade at them. It detonates in a wild furl of sparks and fire, its shrapnel peppering APACHE 7 and killing him as well.'' ''Innumerable rounds puncture the barrel that APACHE 9 (Ming) is taking cover behind. They perforate both metal layers, incising themselves into APACHE 9's body, penetrating the armor with the ease of a matador stringing along a bull.'' The air grows sullen, and false aspirations soar within the hearts of the Marines of APACHE SQUAD, devoutly prostrating for reinforcements, even though there were no reports for the last six hours. ''APACHE 5 maniacially grins, leans from his cover, fires off a couple of rifle bursts. The fire scatters all around him as the enemies reorient to shoot him, but APACHE 5 manages to get back into cover again. The discordant sounds of rifle rounds striking metal reachs the apex of its amplitude around him.'' ''A high-pitched whining heightens in volume. It is a commando Composition-4 plastic explosive unit. A sphere of smoky fire glows to life on the far side of the warehouse, jarring the catwalks. A lone figure in Delta Recon commando body armor enters from the doorway, the climacity and drama of her entrance accentuated by her blazing machine gun and the doorway alit with flames behind her. APACHE SQUAD seizes the opportunity - the enemy fire has stopped. Immediately, the catwalk soldiers, who are clambering to their feet still, are peppered with rounds. Three never are able to straighten themselves, two further were killed while on their knees. The last scrambles for a doorway that leads to a catwalk that leads to another building, but JOHN snaps off a shot with his rifle. The figure stumbles as his helmet is hit, and that moment of uneveness allows CABOOSE to mow down the figure with her machine-gun - exemplary accuracy, especially with a machine-gun over such a yonder range. Silence descends over Red Three as CABOOSE straightens herself from her bracing position behind a cargo crate, and the Marines of APACHE SQUAD belatedly recognize the eagle insignia on her lapel - Colonel. The three regulars stiffen and salute, forgetting the standing orders of 'No saluting in combat zones'. JOHN merely smiles amiably and magnamiously.'' ''APACHE 5 makes a wolf-whistle, and APACHES 4 and 9 smile appreciably. CABOOSE blushes beneath the helmet.'' ''The three Marines trudge towards their position, camoflague armor stained in blood. Their appearances are disheveled, eyes hazy from lack of rest nor comfort. CABOOSE realises her reprimand may have taken the last bits of joviality from them. She, however, refuses to allow herself to become the artifact of their attention, and turns towards JOHN.'' JOHN looks around, scouring the warehouse for comic effect. JOHN relaxes from his tense posture, sags on a barrel behind him as he speaks. ''CABOOSE and JOHN exchange heartfelt looks. They are clambering upwards towards the light in the Well of Despair, yet their wretchedness rings like a gong, reminding them of their haphazard situation. Hope is none.'' Melancholy pause ''APACHES 4, 5, and 9 clamber down the catwalks and position themselves on the far side of the warehouse from the area that the APC has just parked from. JOHN readies a grenade while the rest brace themselves, fitting rifles into convenient niches in the interlocking barrel walls.'' ''The air brews with strife. Armored boots are heard clanging against the asphalt - troopers deploying from the APC, most probably. JOHN turns, momentarily lowers the grenade, looks upon CABOOSE affectionately.'' Awkward moment as both JOHN and CABOOSE stare upon each other - adrenaline-induced passion, when one saves another in combat. CABOOSE blushes again. JOHN is humilated, understanding he's gone a bit too far. ''Without time for CABOOSE to respond, metal boots are heard jogging around the far door, sand puffs up from their boots. The door is lifted from its hinges from an explosion. Dislodged asphalt pebbles spray into the air, the Marines all open a deafening hail of fire. In a moment, JOHN's screams percolate through TEAMCOM. With utter horror for a second time, CABOOSE sees a cleaver unseen butcher off both of his arms, one at a time. They fall, bloodied, to the ground. JOHN hollars, and suddenly his forehead is impaled against a rusty, stray steel strut on the side of the warehouse. His head is smeared across the beam. CABOOSE's heart rages in fierce, wild horror at the monstrocity and checks for a target - to see none.'' ''Her dread is momentarily halted as another scream comes on. CABOOSE notes the lack of rifle fire, turns towards the sound. It is APACHE 4, back arched out, eyes wide. He is quivering in fear as some immense force grasps him. His hands are held in place, affixed there. Suddenly, his body is slammed backwards as his paroxysms grow, and his screams proportionately increase. Never before has CABOOSE heard such a materialization of perpetual agony. APACHE 4's body is slammed backwards, while his wrists and hands are still extended. After several slams from that unseen power, his joints break from the force. His forearm and hand are still levitating in the air, the rest of his body writhing on the ground. APACHES 5 and 9 glance at each other, sweep the room with their rifles...and both fall on the floor, eyes hemmoraging. Their fingernails claw for their own throats.'' ''APACHE 4's forehead breaks into festid blisters, and he screams, waving with disconnected hands, trying to stratch at them. Abruptly, blood surges from the blisters as they break, and he looses blood pressure, falling into unconsciousness and bleeding out, the hemoglobin and oxygen leaving his body with treacherous intent. Meanwhile, APACHES 5 and 9 crumple, the blood running copiously from underneath their eyes. They gag to no avail.'' ''APACHES 5 and 9 fall dead, eyes rolled back in their sockets. This is the second time that CABOOSE is left alone in a room, with bodies atrociously butchered beside her.''
 * JOHN - "Apaches, get into those barrels. Apache Two, how far are we from the thermonuclear self-destruct?"
 * APACHE 2 - "Extrapolating...about another hour, based on past enemy concentrations and our rate of progress."
 * JOHN - "Any news on COM? Are there nearby Marines? Where's Fleet One? When it arrives, its escort fighters should be able to bomb out Gemini Installation and destroy the EMP technology and bomb plans."
 * APACHE 2 - "No word, sir."
 * APACHE 7 - "Ah, shit! We're stuck here and unable to do fuck!"
 * APACHE 4 - "Tangos spotted, Captain."
 * APACHE 7 - "Two's hit! I'm gonna go get him - I have the defib!"
 * JOHN - "Negative, Seven! He's dead! They're just gonna-"
 * JOHN - "Dammit! Jose just kicked the bucket, men. We need to stay back! We'll play it stealth for a couple of minutes. Eventually, they'll have to lighten the suppressive fire - they have finite ammo."
 * APACHE 4 "10-4. Bradley, Ming, hold your positions."
 * APACHE 9 - "Understood. We're-"
 * APACHE 5 - "Sir, Ming's down."
 * APACHE 4 - "Hellfire! Bradley, just hold there and hunker down. Captain, we need to execute countermeasures to keep 'em off of us, or we'll keep on loosing men as they hose us from above and destroy our cover."
 * JOHN - "Copy...that. The situation is FUBAR. Four, can you raise anyone on TACCOM? If we can't, we'll begin counterattacking."
 * APACHE 4 - "Tuning in...acquiring local Marine COM freqs..."
 * APACHE 4 - "Holy shit! Yes! Patching it through now!"
 * CABOOSE - "This is Delta Assault Reconnaisance commando Foxtrot One. Are there any Marine forces in the immediate vicinity, over?"
 * JOHN - "Fuck yeah, man! We could use you on our postition now."
 * CABOOSE - "10-4. Where is your location?"
 * JOHN - "Uhh...Warehouse Red Three. We have contacts on the catwalks, so be advised - possible snipers on the rooftops. Where's the rest of your rescue force? Why didn't you check for emergency transmissions?"
 * CABOOSE - "I am the rescue force, Apache One. Hell, I'm not a rescuer, I was a...it's better not to talk about it. I'm making my way over there. ETA one minute. Foxtrot One over and out."
 * APACHE 5 - "Fuck you, bitches!"
 * JOHN - "You're the best fucking thing I've seen this entire fucked-up day, ma'am."
 * CABOOSE - "Reciprocating the sentiment here, Captain. Now, what's the plan?"
 * CABOOSE - "Stop that, Marines. Instead, make yourselves marginally useful by posting yourselves on the perimeter of this warehouse while we discuss strategy."
 * APACHE 4 - "Yes ma'am. Larrouse, get the far door. Bradley, come with me onto the catwalks."
 * APACHE 5 - "Wilco."
 * CABOOSE - "What's the status of this facility, Captain?"
 * JOHN - "There are hostiles spread all across the grounds and in the primary R&D facility..."
 * CABOOSE - "Very well. Who's in command?"
 * JOHN - "You, ma'am."
 * CABOOSE - "I mean, who's the facility commander?"
 * JOHN - "General Esemono, a military genius...he runs the whole shop, but since the R&D center is the site to the Command and Situation Rooms."
 * CABOOSE - "I catch your drift, Captain. Now, are there any nearby reinforcements?"
 * JOHN - "Negative. Just you, I, and Apache Squad. We haven't heard from any other Marine unit."
 * CABOOSE - "Damn it."
 * JOHN - "Yeah, we're pretty fucked. We're supposed to recieve reinforcements, however, in an hour. An Air Force Admiral is coming to see the General...was coming, I suppose. If we can secure the airstrips, we can tell them about the situation, that General Esemono is probably KIA thataway, and they'll give us a lift outta here. Furthermore, there is sensitive stuff in this facility - you know. Hey, wait. Why the hell don't you know about Esemono if you're stationed here?"
 * CABOOSE - "Uhh...just was assigned here yesterday, making my way around, Captain. Now, what is this 'sensitive' material?"
 * JOHN - "Plans for electromagnetic pulse weapons."
 * CABOOSE - "Oh...hell...and if the hostiles pick them up, then they could-"
 * JOHN - "The General and his technical staff were working on greatly increasing the yield of these EMP bombs. One of the medium-sized ones can take down electronics in a greater amount of a major city, such as Ontario or New York. There were three prototype bombs, and the plans. Because of our compromised resources, we won't be able to destroy the bombs or the plans. We'll leave that to the Admiral. He's being escorted by fighter jets. When that sonuvabitch 747 picks us up, the fighters should be able to destroy the facility - plans, bombs, enemies, everything."
 * CABOOSE - "Excellent. And this landing is supposed to take place in..."
 * JOHN - "One hour. Lemme upload the GPS coordinates of the VIP airstrip into my HUD, and then we can-"
 * APACHE 4 - "Ah, shit, ma'am! APC inbound, one of 'em big mothers that carries a dozen soldiers. We're withdrawing from rooftop positions. Apaches 5 and 9, rendezvous with me at the Colonel's position. Orders, ma'am?"
 * JOHN - "You wouldn't happen to have another C4 pack, right?"
 * CABOOSE - "Negative..."
 * APACHE 5 - "Hail Mary, Mother of Grace..."
 * JOHN - "Not sure if I'm gonna see you in this world, but the next, but..."
 * CABOOSE - "Yeah."
 * JOHN - "I know this isn't the best time, ma'am."
 * CABOOSE - "Right. Actually, if perhaps you could-"
 * JOHN - "Shut up, I know."
 * CABOOSE - "Oh, God, what is-"
 * CABOOSE - "Stop it! STOP IT! Dammit! Apaches, report in, report in! Dammit, REPORT IN!"
 * APACHE 4 - "Arghh...it's..."
 * CABOOSE - "Lord, have mercy on thee, for-"

Act VII: Helen Beautific
August 2, 2005 - 1410 hours Gemini Installation

''IDAHO is in a crouched position within a formerly luxurious office inlaid with rich, dark oaks. He fliches, sprawls on the floor as the last of the (not really) bulletproof glass shatters as hostiles on the exterior continue their fusillade. Bullets whine past him, violently impaling the walls.'' ''Camera cuts to NELSON, who is on the rooftop. There is a railing lining the roof, and a fixed .70-caliber machine gun turret. NELSON is savagely firing them at the abroad soldiers, with DRAGONCLAWS and ED behind him, spraying suppressive fire to add to NELSON's barrages. A sniper round cuts through the air. Fortunately, the guardrail intersects its trajectory, modifying its incilation so that is hits NELSON's helmet. The colonel is thrown from the turret, and DRAGONCLAWS and ED immediately scramble for cover on the numerous protrusions on the roof - heat exchangers and solar panels. The enemies, embolded, press their long-range volleys. NELSON hugs the roof, subsequently avoiding a string of sniper rounds.'' DRAGONCLAWS giggles, to be silenced by ED.
 * IDAHO - "Idaho here. Control, I'm taking fire at the third floor. Dammit, they have us circumvented."
 * HELEN - "Copy that. A-ait-urther-"
 * IDAHO - "Ma'am? Ma'am? Shit. Fucking COM line. Colonel, I'm at the cornerstone office, but am unable to fire at the tangos, which are spread out all across the surrounding buildings and the lawn. Over."
 * NELSON - "Shaddup, Idaho! You're not the only one pinned down. Imperator, where the hell are you, man? Get a spine and don't just hole up in the building, get us outta our predicament!"
 * IDAHO - "That is, predicaments."
 * ED - "Such youthfulness. Sir, I can go for the long-range headshot with my rifle - take out the sniper."
 * NELSON - "Negative, there are at least two snipers, and I'm not risking a veteran commando on such a chance. Even if you could get one, the other one would bag you."
 * ED - "Not if the rest of Bravo Team gives me suppressive fire."
 * IDAHO - "That is, also, Alpha Team."
 * ED - "Irrelevant, sir, to the conversation, especially because Alpha Team is a one-man outfit right now. Colonel, still no go?"
 * NELSON - "Damn right. And Imperator, where the hell are you?"
 * IMPERATOR - "A sec, sir. I've...found something interesting within the building. A locked vault, and marked as a weapons cache. Can you hold?"
 * NELSON - "Negative! Get us out of the rooftop, then retrieve Idaho."
 * IMPERATOR - "Sir. I am only armed with an assault rifle. I can't just singlehandedly-"
 * NELSON - "JUST DO IT, DAMMIT!"
 * IMPERATOR - "10-4."

North American Regional Defense Center

''The camera sights upon a seated woman with a headset over her luxurious ebony hair, and, adjacent to her, a massive circular conference table. A general is seated at the far side, with a retinue of captains and colonels - bureaucratic lackeys - also seated. The woman, HELEN, turns from her COM node.'' Tension-laced pause KWARSH eyes HELEN. ''General KWARSH motions to his lackeys, which straighten and leave the room. The door shuts on balanced hydraulics with a whisper-quiet rustle, and HELEN remains in the swivel chair, overwhelmed by the events. Then, she turns around, and attempts to raise Bravo Team once again.''
 * HELEN - "Sirs, I can't raise Bravo Team. The COM interference is too much even for COMSAT to scrub."
 * KWARSH - "Fuck this! You just don't lose contact with a full Delta Recon detachment, Major!"
 * HELEN - "Sir. This is a technological limitation, not a personnel one."
 * KWARSH - "You think I care? Fuck you! You were in charge of troubleshooting this op, and then you report that two helicopters explode. Acceptable tactical losses. Then, Calypso Team is murdered. Then, Alpha Team is mostly killed. Now, we have...what? Three soldiers?"
 * HELEN - "I believe five, sir. Bravo Team was untouched, and I believe that the commander of Alpha Team survived."
 * KWARSH - "Doesn't make a difference. Furthermore, Fleet One is shot down, we lose Admiral Ares. General Esemono is probably KIA, if RECONSAT reads all the gunfire and explosions correctly from the installation. Command is going to behead us. Each and every one of us, Helen! That's all that fucking matters in this shitty-"
 * HELEN - "With all due respect, sir, profanity will not improve the situation. The best course of action would be to reinforce Bravo Team."
 * KWARSH - "Oh, yeah? And have a dozen more choppers blow up from under my ass and singe my trousers? Command will not take kindly to throwing away even more Delta teams."
 * HELEN - "Sir, if I may?"
 * KWARSH - "Yeah? You have some magic plan that's gonna bail us all out or something?"
 * HELEN - "Possibly...I was considering the EMPs..."
 * KWARSH - "Us loosing them and failing to retrieve them is the primary factor why we're gonna get guillotined, Major."
 * HELEN - "Sir. According to the last uploaded logs by Gemini C&C, there are three prototype EMPs in the facility. Because no air traffic was seen in the hours preceding and during the taking of Gemini Installation, it reasons that the EMPs are still there."
 * KWARSH - "Which brings about another point. How did Gemini get invaded? The attackers just teleported there or something?"
 * HELEN - "Sir, please."
 * KWARSH - "What da fuck, girl? I've had enough of your incompetence and derisive attitude, and the only reason that-"
 * HELEN - "There's a chance to reconcile all of this, General. EMP bombs even have electronics within them - arming controls, capacitators. They can all be disrupted by an electromagnetic pulse. If we could get Delta teams into the installation, and set off even one of the bombs, it'll wipe clean the other two bombs, and also clear out all the data that General Esemono and his men had on the manufacturing of the EMPs. Even if the attackers copied the info onto removable storage disks, the EMP would clean those cleaner than clocks, so to speak, sir."
 * KWARSH - "Ah. Your execution has turned from beheadment to merely lethal injection for actually thinking something up that's marginally useful. Colonel Kapasi, inform all DART elements in the vicinity and immediate bases to load into choppers. We're following the Major's plan."
 * KAPASI - "Sir! Yessir!"
 * KWARSH - "Keep me informed on the strike group's progress."
 * HELEN - "Yes, sir!"

Act VIII: Omens
August 2, 2005 - 1428 hours Gemini Installation, Central R&D Building

''Camera settles upon the crouching figures of the five remaining Delta Recon commandoes in the lobby of the R&D building. The glass has been all blown in, and black-armored hostiles are circling outside. The commandoes are shielded behind material cover - the receptionist desks, Internet kiosks, miniature fern and fountain plots.'' Camera focuses on the weapons carried by the Delta Recon commandoes - they do not wield their previous assault rifles, but rather, rocket-propelled grenade launchers, miniguns, and sniper rifles. A sustained tremor rolls through the floor, the building trembles as if in fright, masonry breaking off from the ceiling and electrical wires being severed and sparking with bouquets of electricity. Sparks dance upon DRAGONCLAW's helmet. IDAHO scoffs from the rear position. ''The Delta Recon commandoes swivel, place the elevator within their sights. The elevator, a heavy-lifting supply elevator, has room for approximately 20 soldiers. The disparities in troop strengths are negated by the fact that two of the Deltas are armed with RPGs. Upon the insouciant ding of the bell, its carelessness starkly juxtaposing against the graveness of the action it precedes. As the enemy soldiers storm outwards, unaware of the explosive surprises awaiting them, two fragmentation grenades arc in parabolic arches, impacting at the foot of the car as the elevator doors slickly retract, giving their occupants the full brunt of the twin detonations. Bodies lift into the air, screams are heard. Limbs and blood are plastered across the elevator car - heads, legs, forearms. Upon the utter ravaging of twenty of their commandoes, the hostiles outside the R&D center surge from their perimeter, heavy machine guns chattering, static snarls of automatic weapons fire sounding as they rush forward like the propogating crest of a wave.'' ''Bullets ricochet off of metal as the hostiles storm in, and are greeted with a hail of automatic weapons fire from the Delta Recon defenders. They crumple to their knees, immersed in their own blood in their headlong charges.'' ''A flurry of machine-gun bullets catches IMPERATOR in the side, who sags. His face is ashen as he sluggishly moves behind the receptionist's desk as the fire crackles around him.'' ''The fire intensifies: the APCs are mounted with gatling cannons that are completely obliterating the automatically revolving doors that bar the way of the hostiles into the foyer. Light lashes out as electronics are annihilated. Further salvos drive bullets into ED's helmet, who breaks off a brief epithet, but is unwounded by the uncruel desires of Chance, that glorious maiden. He merely has a severe bruise there from the pressure of the helmet jamming against his skin.'' ''ED charges with ferocious velocity from behind his 4-computer Internet kiosk towards the receptionist desk where IMPERATOR is laying. A small blood of blood has aggregated on the floor, and IMPERATOR is seething, rebelling against the torment. Yet, even with his speed, gatling rounds catch ED in the side, lift him towards the ceiling, tossing him into the back of the room facedown. Blood begins to copiously spill from his body.'' ''NELSON leans out from his cover, fires a burst. However, he is caught in the stream of fire of yet another machine-gun. A round impacts his chest armor, increases the pressure against his sternum. NELSON reflexively ducks back behind the sanctuary of the kiosk, his diagraphm struggling for breath, as his sternum has been compacted down.'' ''IDAHO and DRAGONCLAWS in synchrony emerge slightly from cover, firing. Even wounded, IMPERATOR manages to lazily chuck a smoke grenade, providing a screen of uncertain haze to cover their assaults. Bullets impact their marks, hostiles fall.'' ''The Delta Recon commandoes are so immersed in their art of war that they do not register the second brief announcement of yet another elevator car. Their senses are frayed from the thundering of machine-guns.'' ''A figure dressed in a sort of bulky combat armor strides from the elevator. DRAGONCLAWS levels his rifle at her, and the rest of Bravo Team follows suit. The figure pauses, and the fire grinds to a halt, planting into Bravo Team's minds that the person is an enemy agent, and is in their midst for a sole purpose - to kill them. IDAHO, with a roar, takes off from his defensive position, tackling the figure into the ground.'' ''IDAHO has her in his tenuous grip, her helmet planted face down into the ground, her wrists behind her back. He is straddling her back. As this occurs, the enemy cordon outside leans closer momentarily, and the lull is puncuated by the rattling of DRAGONCLAW's machine gun outside - random bursts. As if impacted by something of great monumentousness, the enemy force comically disperses and flees, as if DRAGONCLAW had held them to duress by means of a bomb. Camera cuts back to IDAHO.'' ''An ominous, thick silence descends upon Bravo Team as IDAHO and NELSON recognize the voice. Yet, they ponder, considering why the capturing of CABOOSE would have led to the fleeing of the enemy force.'' ''The camera zooms back out, capturing IDAHO's shillouette over CABOOSE, the machine gun raised at her neck. There is a moment of suspense, and IDAHO's eyelids twitch ferverently as Bravo Team's attention is affixed upon the Lieutenant Colonel. IDAHO licks his desiccated lips, bringing moisture to them. Another pause, and his gauntled hands shift uneasily on the machine-gun's girth. Time flows, and IDAHO shifts his hands around, securing his aim, blinking irregularily faster and finding his trembling difficult to overcome, for he does not understand the ramifications, or rather, doesn't wish to understand the ramifications if he has shot the true CABOOSE.'' ''CABOOSE winces, hysterically trembling in silence as her doom encroaches upon her mind. Her eyebrows are knit together as she shakes.'' ''An inexorable force presses against IDAHO, and his resolve is broken. The insidious source of pressure does not relent, forcing its will upon him, and IDAHO's cheeks grow bare and chilled, the blood vessels vasoconstricting as their walls are immediately perfused with an inner darkness. His vision is tinged with bloodred crimson, and IDAHO's rationale mind is immediately terminated as the force wriggles its saw towards the core of his mind, resetting his brainwaves. A moment later, a profound shock washes through IDAHO's mind, and the pressure recedes, his temperature warms again.'' NELSON stands admist the fragments of glass and blood that is draped across the floor and walls, feeling the pain roil in his chest as he stands. ''NELSON levels his shotgun at CABOOSE's figure, motions irritably for IDAHO to get off of her. CABOOSE continues to sob, mind lost in cascading sorrow as she recalls the darkness that awaits beyond the world of the living, and that she may take the schooner past the barrier of life and death towards a realm without light.'' ''A materialization of unending torment shrilly resonates through the air - it is NELSON. He collapses to his knees, and his back arches, the back muscles uncontrollably spasming. His sustained scream becomes raspy, and abruptly, his arms are pinned in place - extending straight forwards from NELSON's chest. Blood flows freely from NELSON's eyes - an ocular hemmorage. The blood vessels lacing his eyes rupture, and the blood wells, looking as if NELSON had been dabbed with Indian war paint.'' ''CABOOSE is hysterically sobbing vocally, now, writhing as if in phantom pain, her nerves tingling sympathetically for NELSON as he goes into convulsions. His ligaments are strained and are broken as the spasms grow in their maddening pain. Snapping sounds are heard.'' ''IDAHO brutally kicks CABOOSE to the ground, and DRAGONCLAWS rushes to NELSON's prone figure on the ground, the limbs weaving back and forth like those of a spider. Abruptly, the moment before IDAHO's synapses connect to active the neuron pathway that will contract IDAHO's trigger finger, NELSON is thrown from his convulsions and hemmorages. His legs, under considerable tension from the seizure, convulse a final, powerful stroke, sending NELSON against the wall, limp. The seizures halt and the blood begins rudimentary coagulation.'' ''Even wounded, IMPERATOR stands, the rills of blood running down his combat armor not imparing his fury. He then places a gauntlet around CABOOSE's windpipe, squeezes.'' ''Besides them, DRAGONCLAWS is interfacing with NELSON's TEAMBIO port - the ECG reveals highly irregular waveforms, and EKG is indicative of epilepsy and severe trauma. Yet, NELSON remains perfectly conscious. His eyes are merely glazed over.'' ''IDAHO kicks CABOOSE again in the helmet, discards his machine gun, instead taking one of the shotguns from the corpses of one of the hostiles. IMPERATOR still has CABOOSE's larynx within his grip.'' ''For a moment, her eyes are shaded, and appear outlined in rouge. Her voice becomes raspy for a moment.'' With that, the wall explodes in, and armored commandoes surge in, rifles chattering.
 * IMPERATOR: "Reading three APCs and three Jeeps outside. Lucky us."
 * ED: "Confirming that, Colonel.''
 * NELSON: "Shit. Idaho, move back to the fallback position in the rear. Their strength up front is too light - they'll be going for an infiltration from the rooftop, especially because they know we've withdrawn from there. Captain, any further cheerful news?"
 * IMPERATOR: "Nega-"
 * DRAGONCLAWS: "That was our welcome package upstairs?"
 * ED: "Do yourself a favor and just shaddup, Three."
 * DRAGONCLAWS: "Ah, ah! Even the building hates me! Yeah sure, shutting up in progress."
 * IDAHO: "And you say I'm juvenile?"
 * IMPERATOR: "Clear TEAMCOM, boys. If they've already secured the fifth floor, they'll reach the first in minutes. And still no advances from up front, but the vehicles have been arranged in an interdicting, loose semicircle around the entrances."
 * NELSON: "Hemming us in. Idaho, any readings?"
 * IDAHO: "Affirmative...the elevator is..."
 * NELSON: "Contacts! CONTACTS! Defensive formations, men!"
 * IMPERATOR: "Keep up the fire, Dragonclaws. Ed, move to flank behind that-shit! I'm wounded!"
 * IDAHO: "Captain? What's your status?"
 * IMPERATOR: "The bullet is lodged in my-fuck it!"
 * NELSON: "Bravo Four, are you hit?"
 * ED: "Negative. I'll get Imperator. I have the medkit. Covering fire?"
 * IDAHO: "Sexy."
 * IMPERATOR: "Bravo Four. BRAVO FOUR!"
 * NELSON: "I'm slightly wounded. Idaho. If I go down, you're taking-taking command."
 * IDAHO: "That's bullshit sir, and don't try those blues on me. You're getting-"
 * Female Voice: "Outta here alive, Bravo One. All Delta elements, report in!"
 * DRAGONCLAWS: "Hands up! Dammit, hands up!"
 * IDAHO: "SLIDE THE WEAPON AWAY, CAREFULLY! DO NOT RESIST!"
 * Female Voice: "That should be 'Do not resist, ma'am."
 * IDAHO: "Oh yeah? Fuck you, bitch! Who do you think you are?"
 * Female Voice: "Colonel Caboose, Delta Recon, Foxtrot One."
 * DRAGONCLAWS: "What the Halo?"
 * CABOOSE: "My name's Caboose. Hell, Idaho, you should remember me. 1100 Baltic? Relentless? Does that get into your thick skull?"
 * IDAHO: "Oh. Shit. Ma'am."
 * NELSON: "I don't believe it. The real Caboose would still be attached to Lima Company as a high-ranking officer. She wasn't transferred to Delta Recon."
 * CABOOSE: "My armor plating begs to differ."
 * NELSON: "Go to hell. Idaho, shoot her. A clever impostor, indeed."
 * NELSON: "Idaho, just pull the trigger! One motion, and -BHAM!- she's dead."
 * CABOOSE: "Oh God, God. Idaho, it's me, Caboose, and..."
 * IDAHO: "Negative, sir. It's Caboose."
 * NELSON: "What the fuck?"
 * NELSON: "You're a phony, girl. You're a spy. Your buddy buds outside didn't fucking just pull out because we arrested a friendly commando. That's right. We know about-"
 * IDAHO: "GET DOWN!"
 * IDAHO: "FUCK YOU!"
 * DRAGONCLAWS: "Oh hell, oh hell. Shit, man! What the hell happened to him?"
 * IMPERATOR: "That bloody bitch..."
 * IMPERATOR: "WHAT DID YOU DO TO NELSON?"
 * CABOOSE: "Not-noth-nothing. Lemme go!"
 * DRAGONCLAWS, reedily: "Colonel Nelson? Colonel? Oh shit, shit, shit-"
 * IMPERATOR: "TELL ME WHAT I WANT TO KNOW! WHAT DID YOU DO TO NELSON, DAMMIT!"
 * CABOOSE: "Nothing...nothing at all, Captain."

Act IIX: Revealations
''The Delta Recon soldiers scatter, yet IMPERATOR does not relieve his hold on CABOOSE's throat. She is gagging wildly. Fire laces the air. NELSON clambers to his feet, temporarily reinvigorated. He fires with his machine-gun as the masonry of the wall continue to settle, as does the dust.'' ''Discordant weapons bursts percolate the air, and DRAGONCLAWS, still collecting the leads of the ECG from the ground, takes a shotgun round to the chest. The buckshot penetrates the armor, sends the commando limply flying backwards. NELSON, in a surge of violence, unsheaths a carbide throwing knife, but as the lead hostile approaches, does not throat it, instead impaling the man's forehead with it. The edge sinks through the helmet without resistance, neutralizes him. The five others turn towards NELSON, but IDAHO is swift to strike, picking up CABOOSE from the ground with the support of IMPERATOR. They have rifles braced and aimed at CABOOSE's helmet. Meanwhile, DRAGONCLAWS is sluggishly clambering to his feet, blood stains adorning his armor.'' ''There is a lack of COM chatter amongst the five advancing commandoes. They are suited in full body armor, wielding a mix of machine-guns and shotguns. None says a word, and the air grows still. CABOOSE writhes from the grasp of her two captors, to be brutally cuffed by DRAGONCLAWS, who has stood.'' CABOOSE groans, but IDAHO merely nonchalantly shifts the barrel of his shotgun slightly - a facade of feigned confidence. ''The ubiquitous stacatto beats return - machine-guns. The soldiers of Bravo Team tense in that infinitessimal moment, the pearlescent light of Death yawning great in their eyes. Yet, they are not on the recieving end of the fire. Dozens of commandoes advance behind the hostiles, and spheres of light are birthed: machine-guns raining down fire. The hostiles paroxysmally twitch, and then their bloodied limbs and bodies come apart under the fusillade.'' ''NELSON jerks a thumb at the back of the lobby, the walls shot out and bombed. ED's corpse lays there solemnly, partially obscured by a jag of concrete.'' ''PORPLE motions to CABOOSE, who is now forced onto the floor by IDAHO and IMPERATOR. IMPERATOR staggers - he has suffered extensive blood loss. Two medics brace him, load him into a stretcher. He irritably waves them off, ordering them to take DRAGONCLAWS, who has inch-sized perforations in his body armor and blood all across the camoflague body armor.'' PORPLE's COM lights up ''High pitched beeping in the background, but there is no titanic detonation, only the insidious sound of smoke hazing the air. Gunfire rattles.'' ''The last transmission hangs in the air as PORPLE and the other DARTs await the conclusion. After over fifteen seconds, it never comes...PORPLE quirks his eyebrows in concern, and suddenly a knife of trembling fear inserts itself into his heart.'' The hiss of static grows in intensity, and muffled voices in the background become smeared and dopplered to other octaves. PORPLE makes brief hand signals to his DARTs to secure the R&D facility, and then turns to NELSON. NELSON peers at him as if seeing him for the first time. PORPLE magnamiously grins. ''NELSON shies away from the question, unwilling to tell PORPLE that it's CABOOSE, which would lead to an intensive investigation by Judicial. Someone, however, speaks up.'' ''Immediately, the DARTs of Tango Platoon level their weapons at CABOOSE, who is on her knees, hugging the wall. Her hands are cuffed, and IDAHO continues speaking, watching CABOOSE, for the nth time, begin loosing it again. Her soft cries fill the dusty air.'' The nearby Delta Recon commandoes shift uneasily, awaiting permission to stop escorting PORPLE, but are unwilling to ask that question to a commanding officer. ''CABOOSE realizes that she has slighted Death once too many times - this will be her killing day. Yet, she has one imperative in her mind - survive! Her rational mind commands her to speak up, defend herself.'' PORPLE faintly smiles. ''PORPLE motions to a DART, who unclips the memory chip of CABOOSE's mission recorder from an aperture on the side of her infrared lenses. Then, TANGOS 2 through 9 take her into custody, forcing her to her feet, dragging her to Black Hawk LANCER ONE-SIX. The first DART hands PORPLE the chip and a field e-reader: a device that plays all types of electronic media. The image is scratchy, terrible quality because of the infrared. However, they see CABOOSE sprinting to the side of a warehouse, tangos behind her, firing. She trades fire, elegantly rolling under several sandbags, dodging the fire and snagging the lead hostile. The rest pause for a moment as she sprints to another position outside the warehouse - where the entrance is. Ignoring the plumes of sand from the machine-gun bullet impacts around her, she sets the charge, slams against the side of a nearby Marine Jeep. The tangos approach, prowling for her, but inadvertently stray too close to the C4 charge as CABOOSE detonates it. The Jeep is thrown astray, but CABOOSE extricates herself from the ruined behicle, making her way around the hostile corpses and the metal blown outwards from the door she'd blown out, and then surges in, firing. The clip continues - her conferencing with JOHN, the approach of the APCs...and then...the killings of APACHE SQUAD. IDAHO's mind makes the connection sluggishly, only because of that sheer disbelief of what has occured...the DARTs are sickened, repulsed, nauseated. Yet, IDAHO is not distrubed from the gore...but how the killings of APACHES 5 and 9 were so similar, also identical, to what NELSON was being afflicted by...only that NELSON's torment was more prolonged, and did not end in death. The blood smeared across the warehouse floor, the limbs bloodied, flesh torn and strewn across the floor...the scene is reminiscent of a horror drama. None can comprehend the brutality necessary to kill JOHN and APACHES 4, 5, and 9.'' IDAHO turns to face PORPLE, and finds his skin is tingling with sheer horridness, his heart faint and complexion pallid. NELSON turns to PORPLE. A chorus of inhuman screams so high-pitched and corybantic that they are beyond the human range arise from Black Hawk LANCER ONE-SIX.
 * NELSON: "Keep up the fire, men!"
 * IDAHO: "HOLD YOUR FIRE! We have the female spy! Do not fire, or she dies."
 * DRAGONCLAWS: "My patience has expired, Caboose."
 * IDAHO: "Take it nice and easy, gentlemen. Lay down your weapons. No sudden-"
 * PORPLE: "Bravo Team, at ease! I'm Commander Porple, Delta Recon. We were dispatched to retrieve you."
 * NELSON: "Took you guys fucking long enough, chap. Be advised, there are hostiles all across the grounds, and they are-"
 * PORPLE: "Heavily armed, aye. However, we have hundreds of DARTs dispersed, and are cleansing them out. You hurt, Colonel?"
 * NELSON: "A minor wound. Bravos Two and Three are badly wounded, but both are in bare fighting shape."
 * PORPLE: "And Bravo Four?"
 * NELSON: "KIA back there, sir."
 * PORPLE: "Who's this? A tango that you took hostage?"
 * NELSON: "Affirmative. She claims to be a Delta Recon soldier, but it's a clever sham, sir. She also-"
 * TANGO 30: "Third Squad, up on me! Where's the smokes?"
 * TANGO 33: "Laying down smoke grenades! Clear, clear!"
 * TANGO 39: "Turret's down. Left flank secured. Providing crossfire."
 * TANGO 30: "Copy that. Right and center comin-"
 * PORPLE: "Bearcat One, do you have a reading on Tango 30's squad? Over."
 * PORPLE: "Dammit. COM's not working. This place is full of blind spots, or enemy jammers."
 * NELSON: "Yessir. Should I deploy?"
 * PORPLE: "Stay thy hand, Colonel."
 * NELSON: "What?"
 * PORPLE: "Sorry. Victorian syntax. Now, wait. Why the hell is this 'spy' in Delta Recon combat armor?"
 * IDAHO: "Sir. She claims to be a certain Colonel Caboose, Foxtrot One, Delta Recon. It's patented bullshit, sir, and she's donning that armor to infiltrate us. We have evidence that she's a tango."
 * IDAHO: "We were in a combat scenario, surrounded by enemies. When she approached, the enemy withdrew. Sir, I strongly advise that we evacuate this building. We believe that she is a suicide bomber, and all evidence points to the probable fact that she was an enemy spy, used a falsified identity to approach us, and was going to bomb us, making the enemies flee."
 * PORPLE: "Shit! Why don't you fucking shoot her?"
 * TANGO 5, over TACCOM: "Tango Platoon, evacuate the central R&D facility. Repeat, evacuate the building. Bomb Squad, Bomb Squad, 10-89: bomb threat."
 * NELSON: "We were, when you came. I suppose you can have the honors?"
 * CABOOSE: "Sir! If you want to verify the identity of an allied commando before killing her, check my helmet recorder. 1400 hours yesterday."
 * PORPLE: "To ensure that a Judicial Review never comes upon me, that I will do to have my ass covered. However, these fine men will escort you to a Black Hawk."
 * IDAHO, disbelievingly: "Oh...my God! My God! FUCK! FUCK!"
 * NELSON: "Shit."
 * PORPLE: "What? Dammit, WHAT?"
 * IDAHO: "The way that Apaches 5 and 9 died...the Colonel here underwent the same thing, although he did not die."
 * PORPLE: "WHAT THE FUCK, COLONEL? No fucking way...fuck it! SHIT! DID THAT ACTUALLY FUCKING HAPPEN TO YOU?"
 * IMPERATOR: "Yes, sir. Idaho and I saw it...and so did Dragonclaws, except he's in Med right now. Check the recorders."
 * PORPLE: "WHY DID YOU FUCKING NOT TELL ME? HOW THE FUCK ARE YOU STILL FUCKING WALKING? SHIT, SHIT, SHIT! WE NEED MEDICAL DOWN HERE NOW!"
 * NELSON: "It's all the girl, sir."

Act IX: The Invisible Man
Black Hawk Lancer One-Six ''FIRST SQUAD approaches LANCER ONE-SIX. TANGOS 2 and 3 are dragging CABOOSE, and the rest of the DARTs make a light perimeter around the Black Hawk as CABOOSE is roughly tossed into the hold.'' The troopers of FIRST SQUAD chuckle at her pleas as she is shackled onto the floor of the Black Hawk, and even the pilot and copilot exit the cockpit, standing over her. TANGO 5 spits on her, and then inclines his head slightly, speaking into the COM unit on his shoulder pauldron. ''Static drizzles through. There is a percolating whine, but the static buildings, each strain growing in intensity...TANGO 5 frowns.'' ''Meanwhile, the DARTs are standing around CABOOSE. TANGO 7 makes a wolf-whistle.'' ''The now-accustomed wail of pain - sustained, flagging, trailing in pitch, sounds. Multiple times. TANGO 9 is salvitating almost insanely, frothing. He is on the ground, eyes bleeding out, that lifeblood seeping, running down his face, painting two cones of that eerie crimson underneath his eyes. Then, his muscles emit a cracking sound as he lurches spastically, going into spasms. His hands contract, fingers stabbing at the skin with a feral intensity. TANGO 9 continues writhing, his legs randomly jetting out as his life slickly abandons its owner, running to Hell. TANGO 5 is horridly affixing his gaze to his hand...it is liquefying. Into blood. The fingers quaver, as if ice scream under a sunbeam, congealing into blood, running down his arm as his hand continues melting...these scenes are repeated over and over throughout the squad - either the occular hemmoraging and seizing or arm liquification. Even the pilots are caught in this malady. One of them is hysterically bawling, his chest contorting, feet randomly dancing on the metal floor. Then, he begins laughing manically, and begins bashing his skull against the cargo bay. Blood runs rampant, coating the laying-down form of CABOOSE in it. As the victims of liquidification thrash, their arms, and now their upper chests insidiously, with a cold, slow deliberation, transforming into blood, the blood is scattered everywhere. It accumulates on the cargo bay floor, on the gasoline-draped landing pad beneath. The oil and blood interact, giving a glossy appearance as the two congeal. TANGO 2 pleads to anyone, yet his COM is a roil of static as his eyes continue allowing blood to seep out and his body jerks like a marionette under a puppeteer. Tears stream down CABOOSE's eyes, yet she is no longer pleading. The Delta Recon soldiers, lost in agony, do not even notice her change in emotional status. She is filled with a sudden vengeance, for the tortures exacted upon her by Esemono and Delta Recon are no longer pardoned.'' ''Her cuffs that bind her to the floor unravel themselves, and she straightens. The camoflague armor is now charcoal-colored - she is a maiden of blood and dismay.''
 * TANGO 5: "One-Six, this is First Squad. We're bringing in a prisoner."
 * LANCER ONE-SIX: "Copy that, First Squad. Should we make ready to lift?"
 * TANGO 5: "Negative, negative. We'll just be detaining her into the cargo hold."
 * LANCER ONE-SIX: "10-4."
 * CABOOSE: "Oh God, please! I'm a Delta Recon commando! Hell, Esemono's staffers tortured me! It's a conspiracy! IT'S A CONSPIRACY! Oh God, have mercy!"
 * CABOOSE: "Oh God, oh God!"
 * TANGO 5: "This is Tango Five to Tango One. Should we execute her yet?"
 * TANGO 5: "Tango Five to Tango One. Orders, Commander?"
 * TANGO 9: "Yeah, she's a fine piece of work, man. Look at-"
 * CABOOSE: "They...deserved it."

Central R&D Building ''Pause, doubt seeps into PORPLE's heart and the possibility of the deaths of FIRST SQUAD is affirmed, yet his mind rejects that. He glares at the COM unit with such avengeance, as if enraged beyond thought that it does not relay the nonexistant replies of FIRST SQUAD.'' Static rustles like the leaves swaying in the hyperborean wind, and PORPLE turns to BRAVO TEAM and SECOND SQUAD, who are still in the ruins of the lobby. ''TANGO 10 and NELSON both wave hand signals at their respective elements as the fifteen DARTs form into their teams: phalanxes of armored commandoes sweeping outwards towards the door. LANCER ONE-SIX is on a landing pad on the far side of the adjacent residential building. The DARTs break out in an exhausting sprint, compelled by bloodlust to re-secure FIRST SQUAD's position.'' ''BRAVO TEAM and SECOND SQUAD rush to the building, and the troops ready their weapons - a line of heavily-armed commandoes in professional jet-black combat armor. Soldiers slam clips into recievers, pull back slides with reassuring metal sounds, emphasizing their professionalism and authenticy.'' There is not even a single foxhole smile as TANGO 10 waves frantically for his squad to deploy, his typically concise motions exaggerated by fear. ''The DARTs manuever around the building, and LANCER ONE-SIX is in plain sight - on a greased platform. Bodies are strewn all around the Black Hawk's pad and the trooper gay. Blood is smeared over the pad, and the darkly-painted helicopter is even adorned with irregular patches of red...and limbs. Fingers, feet, toes, arms, thighs are all strewn across the location, with sawed-off pieces of armor overturned in the complex of blood and oil that are on the landing pad. Terror besets BRAVO TEAM and SECOND SQUAD.'' ''A DART gags, and does not release his visor before vomit is compelled by reverse peristalis out of his mouth, splattering the innards of his faceplate. The commandoes turn to TANGO 13, and for a moment believe he has been afflicted as well. However, they realize his mishap, but do not chuckle at the youthful soldier, for their situation is dire. BRAVO TEAM is in the lead, approaching the Black Hawk nose-on in half-crouch stances, machine-guns and shotguns armed. SECOND SQUAD is arrayed behind them, but are faced in other directions, scanning the grounds. The atrociousness of the scene is utterly sickening, yet the perpetrator is not in sight.'' ''BRAVO TEAM, which has been edging along the sides of the front section of LANCER ONE-SIX, bursts into the trooper bay...prepared to meet CABOOSE, that murderess of men, rifles and shotguns readied...to find themselves stepping on corpses and parts of corpses. There is a sagging body that IDAHO steps on - TANGO 9. He hisses in the morbidness, and realizes he has violated the sancicity of the corpses...feels the greatly pronounced blood vessels running in the exposed forearm of TANGO 9. It is a scene from Dante's Inferno. ''NELSON vengefully stalks the cargo bay, toeing the corpses, confirming their death...his boot even moves over severed, bloody limbs that look like they've been dipped in blood. His anger resonates in the locale, and is affirmed by the other DARTs.'' He vengefully storms around the landing pad. The chance that CABOOSE is in the immediate vicinity seems to pacify PORPLE. ''PORPLE curses again - he's just spit out a stream of profanity before a C.O. and the Commander of the North American Defense Corps. His life and station are on the firing line.'' HELEN coughs, speaks up. Before KWARSH can resume his diatribe. KWARSH is taken aback a step, but regains his stereotypical mantle of harshness. PORPLE's COM beeps irritably PORPLE and NELSON access the network on their HUDs...to find hauntingly familiar scenes...corpses strewn...limbs severed...blood adorning entire rooms... ''The images form in IDAHO's HUD, with text denoting where it was taken. IDAHO makes the connection - this malady has been ubiquitous around Gemini, not just around BRAVO TEAM - it was how the facility staff were murdered. The images hauntingly remain in abeyance in his eyes, ominous, forebodeing.''
 * PORPLE: "Tango Five! Tango Five! First Squad? Lancer One-Six? Acknowledge transmission!"
 * PORPLE: "FIRST SQUAD! DO-YOU-COPY?"
 * PORPLE: "Shit! First Squad's been taken as well! Fan out! Fan out!"
 * TANGO 10: "Sir, yessir!"
 * PORPLE: "Control! This is Tango One! I need to speak to the General NOW!"
 * HELEN: "Please hold for the General."
 * PORPLE: "Bravo Team, move to the left side, and Second Squad, go right, flank her."
 * IDAHO: "Shit yeah. Erm, sir."
 * TANGO 10: "Go! Go!"
 * TANGO 17: "Oh my God...First Squad..."
 * IMPERATOR, whispering: "Go!"
 * IDAHO: "FUCK IT! I risked my fucking life to save her five years ago...and now...now..."
 * NELSON, hissing with terrible anger: "That dirty slumbitch."
 * TANGO 10: "Sir?"
 * NELSON: "Disregard last transmission. Lancer One-Six is secured. No hostiles in sight, twelve friendly KIAs."
 * PORPLE: "Good LORD! FUCK IT! WE JUST LOST A SQUAD OF COMMANDOES AND CAN'T FIND THE KILLER? Where the fuck is Caboose?"
 * PORPLE: "Dammit! Hot shitsky, find her!"
 * IMPERATOR: "Stay alert, peoples! She could still be nearby.''"
 * PORPLE: "She fucking better be fucking near us, you fuckers! Execute her on sight!"
 * HELEN: "Tango One, Control here. General Kwarsh is on the line."
 * PORPLE, still distraught and furious: "General, sir!"
 * KWARSH: "Commander. I assume you have some burning need to speak to me."
 * PORPLE: "Yessir. We have a...situation on-hand, sir. We'll need further reinforcements."
 * KWARSH: "A hundred Delta Recon commandoes and a dozen Black Hawks can't clear out one R&D installation? Dammit! I ALREADY FUCKING TOLD YOU AND RIMFIRE - NO FURTHER REINFORCEMENTS! You are the reinforcements, and it turns out those reinforcements are rather shitty, too!"
 * PORPLE: "Sir. With all due respect...this is a first-encounter scenario, sir. I'm calling Code Oracle into effect, sir."
 * KWARSH: "What the fucking hell is 'Code Oracle', Commander?"
 * HELEN: "Sir. Code Oracle is the first-encounter notification code and request for assistance."
 * KWARSH: "Ah, lovely, except I don't give shit about this 'Oracle', and am not fucking giving you any fucking reinforcements! What're you encountering, Commander? UFOs with laser beams? Aliens that are abducting people? Just kill the hostiles and fucking find and detonate that fucking EMP!"
 * NELSON: "With all due respect, sir...there's a situation."
 * KWARSH: "Oh yeah? Fuck you, Bravo One! Have you recovered Esemono yet, or are you too fucking chicken-shit scared to attack those UFOs? Get a spine, man!"
 * PORPLE: "Sir, we have not recovered the General or any of his staff yet, but have cleared out all the hostiles. We're sweeping for the General now, sir. However, we've just lost ten commandoes in a single action."
 * KWARSH: "Excellent work, losing ten to secure a facility. You might actually have some talent, Commander. Carry on."
 * PORPLE: "Erhm...negative, sir. Although we have lost approximately seventeen in clearing out Gemini Installation's grounds due to hostile action, we have just lost a squad of commandos and a pair of pilots to other activity."
 * PORPLE: "Sir, we have evidence to indicate some sort of biological weapons activity."
 * KWARSH: "Esemono was merely researching EMP tech."
 * PORPLE: "Yessir, but...there is some sort of biochemical warfare going on. We have recovered mutilated Marine corpses across the facility, and we have just lost contact with a Delta Recon squad. When we investigated, we found the bodies similarly mutilated: limbs demembered, widespread hemmoraging. There is extensive bloodshed."
 * KWARSH: "Well, that's the fucking definition of 'hemmorage', Commander. Furthermore-"
 * PORPLE: "Sir, please hold."
 * KWARSH: "You just don't ask a fucking General to-"
 * RIMFIRE: "Foxtrot One, this is Bearcat One. We've found evidence that a fourth Delta Recon team was in Gemini an undetermined time before. We have three corpses in DART combat armor here in the cryogenic freezer room, and DART exclusive armaments in the armory with serial numbers. We logged into INTELNET and cross-referenced the serial numbers. Definately Delta Recon, and just assigned to a DART unit named 'Foxtrot Team'."
 * PORPLE: "What the fuck, Commander? That makes no fucking...sense..."
 * RIMFIRE: "Foxtrot One, did you find anything to the contrary? Over."
 * PORPLE: "Never...mind, Bearcat One. Wait...issue an advisory to all your troopers. Have you cleared out all tangos in your sector?"
 * RIMFIRE: "Yessir. RECONSAT confirmed it through infrared. Is there a threat?"
 * PORPLE: "Yes. Bearcat One, alert your platoon to don gas masks, and to report in immediately any signs of hemmoraging or other damage."
 * RIMFIRE: "What the hell?"
 * PORPLE: "It's...complicated, Commander. Furthermore, regarding the mutilated bodies, could you use TACVID to upload the pics into the local DART sattelite network so that all DART personnel can access it?"
 * RIMFIRE: "Password accepted, logging in...uploading...done."
 * NELSON: "Oh GOD! SHIT!"
 * IDAHO: "Sir?"
 * IDAHO: "Shit. Second Squad, there's something you might want to see on the local network."
 * TANGO 10: "Yeah? What?"
 * IDAHO: "Check Etudes Two."
 * TANGO 10: "Fuck."
 * IMPERATOR: "'Fuck' just doesn't do justice. Our status is doubly fucked...there're murderers that just fucking slaughtered the garrison...and they are after us too."

Act X: The Invisible Hand
Silence...deathly in its length and the lack of any COM transmissions whatsoever. A lengthy pause as KWARSH analyzes the situation. ''KWARSH shifts uncomfortably in his chair at NATO HQ, and a shimmer of perspiration is seen forming on his head. His voice grows quickened, and his heart beat is elevated, the surrealness of the tactical situation blatantly registering in him.'' White noise crackles ominously, timed such that fear binds all the present commanders in one soul - a trembling, naked one. The static spikes, smothers the transmission. It enfolds, this grinding static, the transmission entirely, until not a sound is heard.
 * KWARSH: "Goddammit! Porple? PORPLE!"
 * PORPLE: "My apologies, sir."
 * KWARSH: "That doesn't cut it. Ya know, your ass is on the line."
 * PORPLE: "Sir...Bearcat One was transmitting something to me. Appearantly, hemmorage and physical mutilation was the mode of death for the facility.''
 * KWARSH: "What the fuck? A widespread biological weapon? Shit! We need to call up Epidemiology and have them issue a nationwide alert about this! Do you have Forensics on-site? How long ago did they die?"
 * PORPLE: "Sir...there is...a possibility that this is not an instance of biochemical warfare."
 * KWARSH: "An explaination would be of most enlightenment, Commander."
 * PORPLE: "Sir...if there was an aersolized bioweapon, why didn't it kill the rest of us? Besides, what weaponized strain could kill so quickly? Bearcat and Tango Platoons arrived on site just over an hour ago, and now twelve personnel are about DOA? What strain, even weaponized, could kill so quickly? Besides, no virus, bacteria, nor fungus could cleave off limbs, sir. Also, why would it selectively kill the personnel at Lancer One-Six, and not the rest?"
 * KWARSH: "Oh good Lord..."
 * NELSON: "Sir?"
 * KWARSH: "It's almost..."
 * IDAHO: "Fucking ridiculous?"
 * IMPERATOR: "Mind your language before the General, Alpha One."
 * KWARSH: "It's difficult to put my finger on, as if there's something beyond...I'm not sure how to describe it...almost as if..."
 * IDAHO: "Oh, shit. SHIT!...I catch your fucking drift."
 * PORPLE: "Perhaps it would be more clearer if you articulated, General."
 * KWARSH: "It's the horrid realities, except the connections between all these events are not realistic, yet they manifest themselves realistically. I trust that this visual intelligence about the garrison's bodies is correct, Bearcat One."
 * PORPLE: "Yessir. A hundred percent."
 * KWARSH: "Then, there is only one conclusion, and it leads to a place where we should not venture."
 * PORPLE: "Sir?"
 * KWARSH: "This shit you're in...it's...not realistic."
 * IMPERATOR: "With all due respect, sir, it is. We've seen the bodies of First Squad, and a recon team is checking on where Apache Squad would be, or rather, their bodies. There's no evidence to suggest that Caboose's mission logs were falsified, though."
 * KWARSH: "No, that's not the fucking point. It's real, yet it is not. It deviates from normality, it is unnormal...unnatural..."
 * IDAHO: "Oh, fuck. Fucking hell. God, no, God..."
 * NELSON: "Unnormal...unnatural...it's..."
 * IMPERATOR: "Supernatural. Oh God."
 * KWARSH: "Paranormal...oh, SHIT! withdraw your men! Get them outta there! NOW! NOW!"
 * PORPLE: "Oh yeah? What the fuck does 'paranormal' mean?"
 * HELEN: "The formal definition is: 'of or pertaining to the claimed occurrence of an event or perception without scientific explanation, as psychokinesis, extrasensory perception, or other purportedly supernatural phenomena.'."
 * PORPLE: "That fucking means what? Psychokinesis? Extrasensory perception?"
 * IDAHO: "Oh SHIT! That pressure...the mental pressure when I couldn't kill Caboose...oh God...extrasensory..."
 * IMPERATOR: "The murders...psychokinesis. Invisible killings."
 * PORPLE: "What the fuck? You guys are loonies. Probably some top-secret Intelligence Agency virus that's..."
 * PORPLE: "This is some crazy-ass shit. Ghosts? Spirits? Ooh...you want a teddy bear, a night light? You guys are SO fucking-"
 * PORPLE: "Oh God...OH SHIT...it's...FUCK! Ge-ta-here-un-fucking-"
 * IDAHO: "GOD! FUCKING SHIT! THAT'S NO FUCKING FUCKING COINCIDENCE, FUCKERS! SHIT! SHIT! FUCK!"
 * KWARSH: "DARTs, get outta there! FUCK! Omega Signal! Omega Signal! Tactical retreat! Helen, gemme the Air Force. We're fucking nuking that place! Where the fuck are your Black Hawks, Foxtrot One?"
 * PORPLE: "They are ready to take off, sir. ALL DARTs, OMEGA SIGNAL! CUT 'N RUN!"

Black Hawk Lancer Zero-Three ''There are two DARTs clad in complete combat armor crouching over eight stretchers with still bodies. Blood is plastered across every one, the armor of the combat medics, and the wounded DARTs. The nurse (MEDIC #1) and the field doctor (MEDIC #2), are hovering over DRAGONCLAWS, Bravo Three." DRAGONCLAWS's eyelids slightly flicker, and his brown retinas show in the thin slits that his eyelids have retracted to create. DRAGONCLAWS spews darkened, partially coagulated blood at the white sheet that enfolds his chest. DRAGONCLAWS sputters again, feels the blood and sweat caked on his face. DRAGONCLAWS shifts, twists his legs to stand up. MEDICS #1 and #2 grin, give him the thumb's up. MEDIC #2 looks uneasily at MEDIC #1 DRAGONCLAWS quirks his eyebrows, peers intently at MEDICS #1 and #2. Further smiles. ''MEDIC #2 is abruptly slashed aross the throat - the blood perfuses out of the slit trachea onto the skin, and he gags, intaking air...but with blood within it. His aveoli flux, the blood running down the trachea, primary bronchi, and into the lungs, blood aggregating within the paperthin lung sacs and destroying them - pulmonary edema. MEDIC #2 falls over dead on DRAGONCLAWS, while MEDIC #1 shrilly screams - blood uncontrollably explodes outwards from his eyes, and he frantically manages to release his visor release and scramble for a med...except his eyes are now blood-perfused. His world is crimson. The twitches begin, and then are accentuated as he surges for his sidearm, a pistol, and then brings it to his temple. He giggles hysterically, and then fires multiple time. The rounds blow through the helmet, cranium, brain, and perforate the far side of the helmet...yet his arm continues twitching his trigger finger, firing a dozen rounds before slumping to the floor, relieved of its yoke of being enjoined to MEDIC #1's peripheral nervous system.'' ''With sudden violence, DRAGONCLAW's bare chest underneath the pristine white sheets is incised - a titanic cut, from left side to right side. Organs and blood begin to ooze out like worms on a wet day.'' ''There is the insistent, flat tone of asystole from the linked monitor. The ECG reports that his heart rate has declined so that the electrical waves have an amplitude of zero volts. DRAGONCLAWS is dead. Then, the same event occurs seven other times, until fresh blood is spilt on the floor of LANCER ZERO-THREE.''
 * MEDIC #1: "Bravo Three's heartrate's stabilized, Doc. The epinephrine did it."
 * MEDIC #2: "Yeah, shit yeah."
 * MEDIC #1: "Yeah, didn't think that dude would've made it...two wounds...a sniper to the arm, shotgun to the chest. When we get back to HQ, this guy's getting exploratory surgery. Shit, this guy pulled through. You ever been wounded, Doc?"
 * MEDIC #2: "Hell no. Got some frag 'nade shrapnel in my armor once, though, drew some minor blood. However, this Bravo man that was in the advance team, he should get a Purple Heart. GOtta be in a helluva amount of pain."
 * DRAGONCLAWS, croaking: "Angela...Angela..."
 * MEDIC #2: "Bravo Three, I'm a medic, Delta Recon. You're gonna pull through."
 * DRAGONCLAWS: "Wha? Medic? Delta Recon? Bravo Four is the squad medic, and you sure as hell aren't-"
 * DRAGONCLAWS: "-him, bro. You got some "Commando Sambo" on this baby, man? The artist's name is..."
 * MEDIC #1: "Sir, please remain still. Your bones need the time to heal, and you might rupture further organs if you continue strenuous physical activity."
 * DRAGONCLAWS: "Strenuous physical activity. Huh. You think getting fucking shot by a shottie is 'strenuous physical activity'?"
 * MEDIC #2: "Huh. Fuck yeah, bro. Come on, you'll pull through. By the way, who's this Angela?"
 * DRAGONCLAWS: "Halo 3. You wouldn't know."
 * MEDIC #1: "What the fuck, bro? You play Halo 3?"
 * DRAGONCLAWS: "No shit, man. Yeah, Angela's some hot SPARTAN. Ya know what SPARTANs are?"
 * MEDIC #2: "Wait...you have fantasies about video game characters?"
 * MEDIC #2, whispering: "You think this is permanent neurological damage, just traumatic aftershock, or kidding around."
 * MEDIC #1, reassuringly: "We were just discussing another patient, Bravo Three. Just rest. That's the best medicine you can prescribe."
 * DRAGONCLAWS: "The Marines pay me medical insurance, and you docs give me rest as a treatment? How fucked up is MEDCOM?"
 * MEDIC #2: "A fine sense of humor, Bravo Three. Everything'll be fi-"
 * DRAGONCLAWS, blearily: "Yo, what the Halo, man? Get offa my chest."
 * DRAGONCLAWS, semiconsciously: "Whoa...err...whatsa going on, man? That hurts? Shoot me up with the morphine, m-AN! AHH, DAMMIT, IT'S-"

Act XI: Yankee Doodle Came to Town
Warehouse Red Three The camera settles on three DART commandoes approaching the warehouse with caution - combat half-crouch stances, assault rifles leveled at the locked door before them. 77 (BEARCAT THREE-FOUR), makes urgent hand motions, signalling BEARCAT THREE-FIVE to sprint to the door, place himself adjacent to the door, and BEARCAT THREE-SIX to secure the other side of the door: standard operating procedure. BEARCAT 30 chuckles. Static rustles - PORPLE is MIA. 77 makes a circling motion with his index finger, and BEARCAT 36 reaches over, plants a miniature explosive device on the door that bars their entrance to Red Three. With a surge of heightened agility, the three DARTs under the command of 77 sprint into the room, and upon finding the first cover, drop to defensive crouches, clearing the rest of the room and the catwalks included. ''BEARCAT 36 incautiously sprints to the stacked cluster of eight cargo crates marked E M P ORDINANCE at the far side of the room. He eases his way past some gasoline barrels, edges behind the cluster of crates...sees the label emblazed on the crates. He is about to report that there is a possibility that he has found one of the three prototype EMP bombs when a lithe female figure from one of the barrels he has just passed leaps into motion, plunges a carbide knife into the back of his neck - the caudal vertebrae. BEARCAT 36 abruptly stiffens in rigor mortis, falls behind the EMP crates, behind the sight of 77 and BEARCAT 35, who are still prowling the center and far sides of the room. Meanwhile, BEARCAT 35 is at the far side, checking out some barrels, edging around.'' ''The murderess peaks up from her hiding spot next to BEARCAT 36's corpse and the EMP storage crates - she has overheard command. She eases out her machine-gun, waiting for her heart to skip a beat, indicating the crucial moment...'' BEARCAT 35 seems to sniff his nose like a dog on the hunt, deviating from his path to the stairs that lead to the catwalks, edging near the assassin's hiding place. ''The assassin opens fire...a withering burst impacts BEARCAT 35 in the helmet, literally explodes it into flesh and blood. BEARCAT 35 topples, blood jetting in the air, smearing the nearby barrels and the floor.'' ''77 turns around from his inspection of the barrels at the far side. The camera swings around to CABOOSE's back: the DART armor, the machine-gun she holds. 77 has his rifle in hand, but his hands are not in a position to open fire...his grip needs a split-second adjustment to align the barrel to attack. Meanwhile, CABOOSE circles around from the back of the crates, reticule perfectly aligned with 77's helmet.'' 77 motions to realign his assault rifle, but CABOOSE roars at him. Impetuously, 77's instictive directorate to survive forces him to spastically drop the rifle. CABOOSE continues to move closer, now circling around 77. 77 then realizes where the line of questioning will go, and what it would result in. 77's COM on his pauldron squawks. ''77 looks inquiringly at CABOOSE, who is still circling. CABOOSE merely shifts the aim on her machine-gun.'' 77 glances again pleadingly at CABOOSE, who is passionateless. Unease seeps into his voice, and he lets his voice slightly trail off. ''CABOOSE stares blankly at him, taps the magazine of her gun. 77 considers going for his rifle at this critical moment, but CABOOSE's actions clearly emphasize that saying the panic code for 'person with gun' would be inevitably fatal. For a suspended moment, 77 analyzes the dangers of notifying the squad commander...he will most probably die anyways, regardless or not if he alerts BEARCAT THIRTY. Alerting him would compell THIRD SQUAD to converge on the warehouse and take out the sole hostile, yet...adrenaline seized him, commanding him to prolong his life as long as possible.'' ''77 flicks the COM off, looks expectantly at CABOOSE for his release, and is rewarded. Yet, his release manifests itself as a release from the grip of life - bullets in the head. CABOOSE nonchalantly reloads, but her demeanor turns for the more sullen as he walks near 77's body, toes it.''
 * BEARCAT 30: "Status check."
 * 77: "Yeah, Three-Four here. Advancing on target now."
 * BEARCAT 30: "Does it match with the mission recording?"
 * 77: "Yessir. Standby.''
 * BEARCAT 36, whispering: "10-4, 77."
 * BEARCAT 35: "Yo, bossman, who gave you the name '77'? Pretty shitty to me. Erhm, sir."
 * 77: "77 kills. Now, cut the chatter unless you want three-zero to rape your sorry ass."
 * BEARCAT 30: "Yeah, you can put your pants back on, man. Now, COM silence."
 * 77: "Affirmative. Going dark. We'll update you as soon as we find the bodies."
 * BEARCAT 35: "Sir, that's assuming that the recording's real."
 * BEARCAT 30: "Just report ASAP. Bearcat One's anxious to hear from you...Commander?"
 * BEARCAT 30: "Fucking static. Three-Four, commence the attack."
 * BEARCAT 36: "Three, two, one...clear!"
 * 77: "Room is secure, team. Fan out, and recover the bodies fast!"
 * BEARCAT 36: "HOORAH! Let's move, Three-Five!"
 * BEARCAT 35: "Yeah, this is really phony shit. Can't see any bodies, 77, unless it's up on the catwalks."
 * 77: "10-4. You and Three-Six get the catwalks, I'll keep on searching down here."
 * BEARCAT 35: "Wilco, man."
 * BEARCAT 35: "Yo, sir. Check it out. Bronze 12.7 × 99 mm casings...50 cal shit. Machine guns."
 * 77: "What the fuck?"
 * CABOOSE, steadily: "Drop the weapon, Bearcat Three-Four. I'm a friendly."
 * 77: "That's blatantly obvious after you just murdered one of my men."
 * CABOOSE: "I'm Foxtrot One, Delta Recon."
 * 77: "Oh, yeah? No shit."
 * CABOOSE: "You want to fucking die, bitch? Drop the gun!"
 * 77: "Fuck you!"
 * CABOOSE: "YOU WANT TO DIE? YOU WANNA DIE? FUCKING DROP THE GUN!"
 * CABOOSE: "Very good, Three-Four. Now, what is your objective?"
 * 77, stuttering slightly but trying to regain his honor: "Just a recon."
 * CABOOSE: "You think I'm some no-brainer? Stop lying or I begin shooting."
 * 77, lying: "We were trying to find a perpetrator."
 * CABOOSE: "Me?"
 * 77: "No shit."
 * CABOOSE: "What did your commanders tell you about me?"
 * 77: "Noth-"
 * BEARCAT 30: "Three-Four, have you found the bodies yet?"
 * 77: "No, sir, but we can smell them. They're nearby..."
 * 77: "The bodies, that is. We'll find 'em within five. Over and-"
 * BEARCAT 30: "I can detect bullshit when I hear it, Three-Four. 5 minutes? It's already been five! It's a goddamn warehouse, for God's sake, and you can't find like five bodies?"
 * 77: "Working on it."
 * BEARCAT 30: "Just spit it out, Three-Four."
 * 77: "Ten-thirty tw-"
 * 77: "Scratch that. 10-50."
 * BEARCAT 30: "What the fuck's that mean? 'No messages'?"
 * 77: "Affirmative. Standby.''
 * CABOOSE: "Damn you! You and your team LEFT. ME. NO. CHOICE!"

Black Hawk Lancer Zero-Nine A tidal wave of DART operatives are rushing to embark the Black Hawks that are arrayed on the landing pad - it is utter pandemonium, but will take at least two more minutes until the farthestmost DARTs can reach the Black Hawks. An uneasy pause as NELSON considers the EMPs falling into paranormal hands.
 * PORPLE: "In! In!"
 * KWARSH: "How is it going, Commander?"
 * PORPLE: "Omega Signal has been sent and confirmed by all units. All DARTs are boarding helicopters."
 * KWARSH: "Affirmative. I have a pair of F-27 jets inbound, callsign Yankee Flight."
 * NELSON: "Sir, what about the EMPs?"
 * KWARSH: "The blast is gonna fucking short out Yankee Flight and the Black Hawks, so unless you wanna be the next victim of this paranormal thing that's flitting around, you'd better just keep your ass tight on that Black Hawk, Colonel."
 * NELSON: "Yessir."
 * IDAHO: What's the ETA of Yankee Flight?"
 * KWARSH: "Major?"
 * HELEN: "Tracking...they're six minutes out."
 * PORPLE: "Dammit, my men will be on the extraction 'copters in five. If they're a minute late..."
 * KWARSH: "Just get the job done, Commander. HQ over and out."

Warehouse Red Three CABOOSE has stripped 77 and BEARCATS THREE-FIVE and THREE-SIX of their combat armor and weapons, and has donned 77's tactical COM transciever.
 * YANKEE ONE, rawlingly (COM): "This is Yankee One, position check. Holding at eight thousand feet, time to target is...90 seconds."
 * YANKEE TWO (COM): "Target is in sight. Interfacing with ODIN orbital sattelites...laser guidance system engaged. ODIN is uplinking data to X-band firing control computers."
 * YANKEE ONE (COM): "Copy that, Two. Huh. The great Norse God of Thunder himself is assisting our cause, eh?"
 * YANKEE CONTROL (COM): "Cut the chatter, Yankee Flight. All Lancer elements, recommend you take off now."
 * LANCER ZERO-THREE: "10-4, Yankee Control. The last of 'em's in place...lifting off now."

Yankee Control ''Scene switches to a serene cloud vista, with the Sun beautifully shining down upon an airborne craft - am E-3 Sentry Airborne Warning and Control System (AWACS) aircraft. Yankee Control is responsible for coordinating the two F-27 interceptors and also supervising the extraction of all the DARTs.'' YANKEE CONTROL RADARMAN's screen freezes for a moment, and the two winged blips that are YANKEES ONE and TWO are crystallized for a moment, and then resume motion...
 * YANKEE CONTROL RADARMAN: "Yankees One and Two are accelerating to terminus attack velocity, skipper."
 * YANKEE CONTROL COMMANDER: "Copy that, Jacobs. Yankees One and Two, you are clear to descend to attack altitude...the Black Hawks are lifting off in ten."
 * YANKEE TWO: "Copy that, Control. One, are your missiles armed?"
 * YANKEE ONE: "AGM-91 (air-to-ground tactical missile) Auroras good to go. ODIN's giving us the final countdown..."
 * YANKEE TWO: "Wait, there's a-"
 * YANKEE ONE: "Davis, you there?"

Black Hawk Lancer Zero-Nine ''The propellors of the aggregated Black Hawks are accelerating in their whirring as the Black Hawks begin to lift, all save LANCERS ZERO-THREE and ONE-SIX, whose crews and troops were massacred by the paranormal force. The camera cuts to IMPERATOR, who is observing the R&D building almost comatosely...for his body is weary and his wound is draining the life from like a leech. His face is splattered in blood and grime, and he tiredly handles his machine-gun, sluggishly.'' ''A general laugh is aroused from the DARTs accumulated in the bowels of LANCER ZERO-NINE. Yet, IDAHO, his armored leggings dangling over the edge as the pilot and copilot accelerate further the rotary propellers, has a gentle pressure blowing against his cheeks...a slight gust...or perhaps...his mind deadens as his heartbeat is amplified, and his blood runs cold, and something rushes upon him. His eyes grow wide with utter horror, and muscles seem to melt in an impulsive, almost irrational fear.'' ''IDAHO turns to face NELSON, and his face appears petrified, frozen there. His eyes are with a haunting light within, and his voice turns...raspy.'' The idea that IDAHO has been seized compells IMPERATOR to level his shotgun at IDAHO's unhelmeted face. ''The chill passes from IDAHO, and he is kindled,then, with hysteria. This premonitive sixth sense worms his way to his rational mind, binding it with an injunction to flee. His eyes frantically dart from place to place on the Black Hawk, searching for the paranormal force. IDAHO shoulders his weapon, and appears freezing in time.'' ''The sky roils, its clouds fumbling and consuming in their darkness. The soft light of the Sun against the noses of the Black Hawks is crudely blotted out. It is almost unreal, the suddenness of the encrouching storm. This triggers something in IDAHO, who does not even register the wavering shotgun barrel vagrantly poised before him.'' Upon this, all the DARTs raise their weapons at IDAHO. ''IDAHO is struck by premonition, and turns at the sky, everything flinging past him in slow motion, as if his world is being blurred by ten-gale maelstrom winds...and sees the two F-27s approaching...visages of flame...Death Heads enshrouded by wicked fire...Yankee Flight is on fire and a minute early, beads of hellfire streaking towards them. A madness seizes him, and his face contorts as IDAHO maniacally tears out of the Black Hawk. The DARTs are struck with two prevalent impulses: to reclaim IDAHO, or to gun him down, as it appears he's been possessed...'' ''IMPERATOR sees the Yankees bearing down on time with maniacal speed. He belatedly gazes that them, knowing that they are the key to the eradication of the base and this supernatural threat, and then realizes how far away they are, or rather, they are supposed to be. This belated realization clenches him. He frantically waves with his hands.'' Yankee Control The YANKEE CONTROL RADARMAN squints at his monitor, which now appears diminutive as he confirms that there are two outwards racing blips originating from nowhere...he bolts up from his chair with his heart racing in sheer terror. The YANKEE CONTROL COMMANDER finds the display that reads 1:00 minutes until the fighters are to bomb the installation into quarks, and the time that the Black Hawks should be lifting off.
 * NELSON: "That's some crazy-ass shit, Bravos.''
 * IDAHO: "Fuck yeah, man. You see Bravo Three? What happened to him?"
 * IMPERATOR: "That's called Charlie-Foxtrot, men."
 * NELSON: "Relax, Alpha One. That's an order. We're outta here."
 * IDAHO: "No, we're not,"
 * IMPERATOR: "What the fuck, dude?"
 * IDAHO, looking away: "Deltas, it's here."
 * IMPERATOR: "Don't go crazy on me, man. Just hang on for a moment. We're almost outta this place."
 * IDAHO: "It's here...it's here..."
 * NELSON: "Don't make a fucking move, Idaho."
 * NELSON: "FUCK! IDAHO! FUCKING GET BACK! WE'RE ABOUT TO TAKE OFF, FUCK IT!"
 * IMPERATOR: "Pilot! Stand down! Pause the helicopter and-"
 * IMPERATOR: "OUT! OUT!"
 * YANKEE CONTROL RADARMAN: "Shit, skipper, I just lost Yankees One and Two offa the radar."
 * YANKEE CONTROL COMMANDER: "Yeah, ODIN does that sometimes when it sweeps over the airspace and engages the laser guidance for those Aurora missiles."
 * YANKEE CONTROL INTELLIGENCE OFFICER: "A rare occurence, and we haven't rewritten the ODIN software to accomodate for that."
 * YANKEE CONTROL RADARMAN: "That makes sense, but..."
 * YANKEE CONTROL RADARMAN: "They've fucking launched their missiles! SHIT!"
 * YANKEE CONTROL COMMANDER: "What's the problem?"
 * YANKEE CONTROL RADARMAN: "Oh God...picking up targeting radars...two missiles at high speeds!"
 * YANKEE CONTROL COMMANDER: "WHAT THE FUCK?"
 * YANKEE CONTROL INTELLIGENCE OFFICER: "Oh Mother of Christ..."

Black Hawk Lancer Zero-Nine ''The scene is muted light and fire...the two tactical missiles impact the row of dozen Black Hawks, all readying for launch. A titanic conflagaration without sound ensues - fire rips outwards, and Death sings its macabre chorus as DARTs pathetically leap out from the Black Hawks as the inferno tears at them. IDAHO does a somersault against the pavement, his unhelmeted head bearing the brunt of the agony. As he sees the carnage, his eyes blot with tears, and he convulses in sorrow...tears ubiqutious as they gently slide down from his eyes across his nose, a gentle compliment to the soundless scene...''

Act XII: Lull Before the Storm
NATO North American Regional Defense Center

''HELEN is engrossed in a computer monitor while KWARSH and his staff stalk the rrom, infested with apprehensiousness. Their logic is impeccable - two F-27s could entirely eradicate the facility, and in turn, deny the paranormal force any further things to consume and destroy it as well. They walk with such confidence, yet, a slight thing nags at them...for the supernatural can not always be predicted with such certainty. It is far from an exact science.'' ''The staffers are distrubed from their anxiety-riddled pacing, for they were expecting such a comment a minute later. The enormity of the bombings do not connect momentarily. KWARSH is interrupted from his stalking, and, incredulously, leans over HELEN's shoulder to observe the console.'' HELEN contracts her shoulder muscles, eyes silently close as she bows her head towards the console, its cyan light illuminating her silently sobbing form - the day's events, and this final blow, have dealt the penultimate damage. KWARSH whips to the M.P. in the corner of the room. ''The M.P. leans outside, mutters something. A soldier clad in combat armor - Colonel JAMES of Special Paranormal Encounter Assault Recon (SPEAR), enters. SPEAR is a NATO Marine Special Forces element that specializes in countering paranormal crises. The SPEAR unit is greatly deficited in experience, as this is the first time that it has ever been called to action...it has not encountered a single paranormal threat until now.'' JAMES fidgets, pauses. KWARSH turns to HELEN. KWARSH jabs a finger at JAMES.
 * HELEN: "Whoa. Huge thermals blossoming."
 * KWARSH: "Yankee Flight pulled off the bombing earlier? We should inform Colonel James of SPEAR."
 * HELEN: "Yessir, but...there's something wrong with the timing of the bombing."
 * KWARSH: "What? We just eliminated the primary tango and the Black Hawks are away and-"
 * KWARSH: "Oh. God."
 * KWARSH: "GET ME JAMES, ASAP!"
 * M.P.: "Yessir."
 * JAMES: "Sir!"
 * KWARSH: "This situation is so fucked that formality and niceties are unnecessary now, Colonel. Tell me about your unit."
 * JAMES: "Sir, SPEAR solely consists of three four-man Special Warfare elements. Each of the dozen commandoes has Delta Recon experience and also is cross-trained on multiple weapons and explosives systems."
 * KWARSH: "Ah. Now, let's cut through the bullshit. How many of such...encounters have you combated? How many successfully?"
 * JAMES: "None, sir. But with all due respect, these events are-"
 * KWARSH: "GODDAMIT! You fuckers haven't even...ah, SHIT!"
 * KWARSH: "I want every fucking Marine I have down at Gemini ASAP! Are there any survivors from the DARTs?"
 * HELEN: "Unknown, sir. COM lines are all down and infrared has very low contrast because of the bombings."
 * KWARSH: "Fuck it. What about Yankees One and Two?"
 * HELEN: "Destroyed, sir. No transponder automated subroutine carrier wave."
 * KWARSH: "Well, at least the paranormal doesn't have fucking air support."
 * KWARSH: "As of 1540 hours of February 2nd, you have executive authority and Level 1 Intelligence clearance. Assemble one of your teams. We're dispatching regiments of Marines to Gemini, and you're gonna go in with them. I don't fucking care what you gotta do to neutralize this threat. Your Alpha-class priority objective is to take out the paranormal, and the Beta priority objective is to search for DART survivors, and if there are any, get their asses outta there, and not in body bags either. We on the same page?"
 * JAMES: "Yessir."

Black Hawk Lancer Zero-Nine

''Static snarles, garbles background transmissions. The world is all a slur - pearlescent sound blending with sight, a psychosomatic smear. IDAHO croaks, and feels someone insistently shaking him. He mumbles inarticulately, and then the someone slaps his face.'' IMPERATOR is hunched over IDAHO, his .50-caliber machine gun in hand. Forcibly, IMPERATOR drags IDAHO up by his shoulders. ''IDAHO's eyes are flicking quickly, darting from side-to-side erratically like in REM sleep. IMPERATOR, holding him up from the asphalt, arouses him again with a slap in the face, and he stands to weary attention.'' ''Another croak is nearby them...emanating from NELSON's shattered body. Blood is cascading on the ground besides NELSON, and the armor is charred from the explosion. IDAHO has snapped to his standard predatory-type awareness, and acutely turns, noting NELSON.'' ''IMPERATOR's eyes are frantic, darting. He is engrossed in the tale of childhood fear of paranormal activity.'' ''IMPERATOR, still not reassured, spins and takes a step towards NELSON. He is planted face-down, yet there is something about him...NELSON gives out a long, clumsy gargle, spitting blood, yet his body is still. However, any movement is indicative of life. IDAHO rushes towards the prone figure.'' ''NELSON gargles inarticulately, and IMPERATOR interfaces with MEDBIO. He's going into cardiac arrest.'' ''IMPERATOR and IDAHO both swivel, observing the charred hulks of the dozen Black Hawks: flames are jetting upwards, wrapping around the metal superstructures and enveloping them with flame. Most of the DARTs have been vaporized, yet there are a couple of commando corpses scattered out of the helicopters: those that managed to at least partially jump. The letters D A R T are emblazoned on their backs. Although TEAMBIO doesn't read any lifesigns from them, IDAHO is emboldened by an idea...IDAHO waves to IMPERATOR.''
 * IMPERATOR, hushed, insistently: "Idaho, it's me, Bravo Two. Get up!"
 * IDAHO: "Whatthefuckisgoingon?"
 * IMPERATOR: "The explosion, Idaho, the explosion! How did you know that the F-27s were...possessed?"
 * IDAHO: "Whothehellareyou?"
 * IMPERATOR: "Bravo Two, Imperator!"
 * IMPERATOR: "We gotta go before the Paranormal finds us, man!"
 * IDAHO: "Imperator?"
 * IMPERATOR: "Hell yeah. Come on. Let's go!"
 * IDAHO: "You hear something, Bravo Two?"
 * IMPERATOR: "Oh God...is that the Paranormal, man? Charlie Foxtrot!"
 * IDAHO, fervently: "Trust me, man, if the force was here, we'd be fucking corpses. Come'n. I think Bravo One's alive, even if just barely."
 * IDAHO: "Colonel? Hey, it's Alpha One. Geddup from bed, man."
 * IMPERATOR, still hushed: "Fuck, man! He's flatlining!"
 * IDAHO: "Shit, shit!"
 * IDAHO: "Over here, Captain. Help me with this body."

NATO North American Regional Defense Center

''It is the ready room for SPEAR Zulu Team. JAMES (Zulu One), CHAZZ (Zulu Two), NICK (Zulu Three), and NOBODY (Zulu Four), are in the tight, rectangular room - a double-line of seats bisects the room, where the soldiers can sit and pull on armor. The room is lined with racks of all types of projectile weapons and grenades.'' NOBODY looks at him incredulously. NOBODY expansively gestures with his rifle. ''JAMES is wearily sitting in the corner seat, hunched over and sullen even in his fully-equipped SPEAR combat armor. His helmet is set on his neck seal, and he tiredly and opaquely stares at the corner, his machine-gun resting in his dropping hands.'' CHAZZ barks a short laugh. ''There is general laughter as ZULUS TWO through FOUR continue donning armor - leggings, assisting each other in strapping on chest armor, sealing helmets and testing the neck seals. Yet, JAMES remains seated...staring away from his Special Forces team.''
 * CHAZZ: "Shit, dudes. I thought this SPEAR outfit was gonna be a fucking piece of cake, just sit 'round and no shit."
 * NICK: "Yeah. Anyone believe in supernaturalists?"
 * NOBODY: "You kidding?"
 * NOBODY: "All this 'paranormal' crap is complete crap, men."
 * JAMES, without looking: "Then why are you here, Four?"
 * CHAZZ: "Like I said, 'cuz we just fucking get paid with that tax money shit and watch MTV."
 * JAMES, hoarsely: "I just have...a feeling...something's out there. And waiting for us."

Black Hawk Lancer Zero-Nine

''IDAHO scurries from the DART medic's corpse with several needles in hand - epinephrine concentrate. IMPERATOR is warily lagging behind him, straying near the luminous wrecks of the helicopter, uneasily shifting the machine-gun in his hand. As NELSON's ECG waves tangle in intangible nothingness, with exaggerated determination, IDAHO roughly uncovers one of NELSON's arms, stripping back the armor. Then, in succession, he crudely jams the syringes in. They hiss as they give their chemical yields to the Colonel.'' ''A very faint beep sounds from the ECG, almost indistinguishable from the rustling of the flames. It is a QRS sequence, a minute spike. As the epinephrine is fully accepted in force by the neurons, the suceeding T wave becomes a noticable bump, and the next the P wave grows in amplitude...until in five seconds, a full-fledged, even overlycharged, regular ECG sequence beats across the TEAMBIO sector of IDAHO's HUD. IDAHO cluches NELSON in reverence - he has saved his life.'' IMPERATOR wearily turns to IDAHO.'' He rushed to NELSON, his apprehension cast aside. This sets a gloomy disposition upon IMPERATOR again as he surveills the roiling, dark storm clouds building their ferocity up above, and the buildings, the darkening sky casting them all as morgues. IMPERATOR shrugs, but his joviality is not injected into it as he shifts without peace, machine-gun barrel constantly being tilted and pointed indiscriminately. IDAHO senses IMPERATOR's next words, has dismay knife into him and a terrible fear seize him. ''He halts, uncertain of his next words, but his life, he knows, can be laid bare. Nostalgia seizes him, and a slight welling of tears is underneath the cornea of his life...soft jazz music drifts by him, notes he heard at his mother's feet at home as she elegantly played that grand piano...'' ''The COM crackles, fizzles slightly. IMPERATOR alertly snaps to attention, knowing time has come. He sprints with IDAHO to the nearest apartment, each pounding foot on the asphalt like a prolonged eon upon which their lives were being sifted through by God. They leave NELSON in the street, shut the door swiftly, lock it, although it is clear that none of those notions would prevent the Paranormal. It is only rehearsed habit that serves to cement their nonexistent confidence.''
 * IDAHO: "Shit, shit, shit...come on..."
 * IDAHO, whispering: "Yes. Yes. SHIT YEAH!"
 * IMPERATOR, gratingly: "Yeah, kid? Oh...jin-zo! Fucking sweet.''
 * IMPERATOR: "Is Bravo One gonna make it?"
 * IDAHO, quickly: "Yeah. It's gonna take him a couple of minutes to wake up from unconsciousness and get full awareness and thinking back, however. Orders?"
 * IMPERATOR, haltingly: "We...we...came to Gemini with an objective. That was to retrieve the General, but it is clear that he can not or does not wish to be found."
 * IDAHO: "Why the fuck wouldn't Esemono want to be found? He'd rather be in the same room with the Paranormal?"
 * IMPERATOR: "Who knows. However, Bearcat and Tango Platoons came here to find one of the three EMPs and detonate it, wiping clean all of the research and technology here."
 * IDAHO: "Oh, fuck no! We're not-"
 * IMPERATOR: "We still haven't found that EMP, and we're going to move out and detonate it. Eventually, HQ will use sattelite infrareds, find us. They might send a relief force to pick us up and finish the job...and we're going to help them do it by starting that pronto."
 * IDAHO: "I'm one fucking pay grade above you, Bravo Two, so you'd better watch it, man. I'm not fucking searching for some bomb."
 * IMPERATOR: "What? You'd rather stay put and let this invisible force gut your head off?"
 * IDAHO: "It doesn't matter what we are going to do. We are all at its mercy...seeing how it killed off the garrison."
 * IMPERATOR: "That's my point. Sir. It doesn't matter what the hell we do...so we might as well spend the rest of our lives searching for those bombs."
 * IDAHO: "But-"
 * IMPERATOR: "Oh shit, man. I didn't mean to be callous about your lives, it's just that-"
 * IMPERATOR: "Oh God above..."

Act XIII: Misguided Science
''IDAHO and IMPERATOR wait in silence. Their initial rebellious fire has been extinguished, and they merely recline against the wallpaper, resting on the balls of their feet, machine-guns unraised. The static continues to ebb...but louder, now. Time like water rushes around their feet, freezes, prolonging every second, making it torturous.'' The static softly amplifies, each increasing centidecible wracking pain upon the nerves of the two DARTs as they contritely await their deaths. The white noise breaks, becoming seething, its fury tangible. ''A whine sounds through the air, high and shrill, declaring demise, and both IDAHO and IMPERATOR cringe in this. IDAHO uneasily shifts, each movement casting shadows across the room. Doubt clouded his mind...of where was the Paranormal surging from? Each shadow became an eclipse, harboring vehement threat.'' ''The whine is sustained, holding both IDAHO and IMPERATOR in abeyance of stress...their minds imagined blisters of blood breaking on their foreheads, the blood running from the eyes...and the door is abruptly slammed open. Fear swells in both of them, and IDAHO and IMPERATOR do not resist its commandments, the rifles dropping from their hands, eyes sealed.'' ''They open their eyes with sudden terror. Are they already dead? The answer: probably not. They are unharmed, unpained, in their positions, NELSON, bloodied, standing before them.'' ''NELSON laughs with such intensity that both IDAHO and IMPERATOR reclaim their weapons, level them at NELSON. Perhaps he's been possessed?'' ''IMPERATOR and IDAHO turn, eyes find nothing but the staircase...but find that in their adrenaline-induced panic, that they had not taken the time to sweep the staircase, and at its top...a discarded laptop with the NATO Special Warfare Research Department logo upon it. The two stare blankly at each other and NELSON, then their tension is released in a fuliminating laugh, expelling all of the negative emotions that had harbored within them.
 * IMPERATOR, softly: "'I am going to my Father's and though with difficulty I am got hither, yet now I do not repent me of all the trouble I have been at, to arrive where I am."
 * IMPERATOR, softly: "My sword I give to him that shall succeed me in my pilgrimage, and my courage and skill to him that can get it. My marks and scars I carry with me, to be witness for me, that I have fought his battle, who will now be my rewarder."
 * IMPERATOR, with righteous anger: "When the day that he must go hence was come, many accompanied him to the riverside."
 * IMPERATOR, shouting: "'Death where is they sting? Grave, where is thy victory?"
 * NELSON: "What the fuck are you guys doin'?"
 * IDAHO, swiftly: "Sir! Get down! Get down! The Paranormal is..."
 * NELSON: "Men, the sound's behind you...and I don't see nothing but a laptop."
 * IDAHO, grinning comically: "Hell we're stupid, eh?"

NATO North American Regional Defense Center

HELEN leans closer to the monitor HELEN turns to KWARSH KWARSH releases some air, at least partially relieved of his indirect implication in the bombings of the exfiltration Black Hawks Nervous smiles break out on the Marines loaded onto the UH-60 Black Hawks and C-130 transport aircraft.
 * HELEN: "Standby, strike team...RECONSAT system acquiring coordinates...locking on...infrared scan..."
 * HELEN: "Four thermal signatures - three clustered together, one standing off over a kilometer away. Identities unknown.''
 * KWARSH: "Sir, there're contacts, and judging by the distances from the three to the Black Hawks, I'd reckon DART survivors."
 * KWARSH: "Dammit, just do it. Code Vietnam is in effect, men."
 * HELEN: "Sir?"
 * KWARSH: "Major, you know, Code Vietnam? We're turning Gemini into a goddamn parking lot."
 * HELEN: "Yessir. Clearing takeoff permission with Air Traffic Control. Standby."

Gemini Installation ''NELSON is sitting by the side, on a dark leather couch of the opulent apartment, grunting slightly from the residual pain. Stylish, soft highlights have been turned on, constrasting sharply with the slight assailment of rain outside. In his HUD, he is reviewing CABOOSE's helmet recording. IMPERATOR is off to the side at the top of the staircase, machine-gun in hand, although he perfectly well knows it will be of no use versus the supernatural force. IDAHO is poring over the laptop, fingers dancing like those of a virtuoso pianist's on the keys.'' IMPERATOR continues pacing, his vigilance undulled by the macabre situation surrounding them. ''Foxhole laughter from BRAVO TEAM. Meanwhile, IDAHO reclines as he finishes compiling code.'' IDAHO smiles again, still caught in the buoy of enthusiasm he recieved when NELSON made his epiphany. NELSON's blood chills, and he is abruptly inflammed with anger. NELSON is wearily aroused to attention, lifts his machine-gun up from the Arabian carpeted floor. ''There is an awkward silence as NELSON silently fingers the catch of the .50-caliber weapon, hefts it. IMPERATOR continues his stalking, leaving IDAHO to watch the bits of coding refile themselves from his program, rewritten.'' ''IDAHO maximizes the media file browser, revealing an aural waveform tracker. There is a hissing in the background...ominous. IMPERATOR is alit with unease as he shifts around, and NELSON arises, peers at the screen as a hollow voice sounds from the speakers of the laptop. It is heavily masculine, and laced with pain.'' The UNKNOWN MALE VOICE grunts in an exertion, pauses, croaks as there is the silent sound of a blade spilling blood, gentle, just a rasp of metal against skin. A shrill scream. The air deadens.
 * IDAHO: "Most of the files are heavily encrypted. Without the proprietary decrypters that Intel and/or Counterintel have, it'll be impossible. Hell, where's the boyfriend of Helen when you need him for this technical crap?"
 * NELSON, wearily: "Who the hell's Helen, Alpha One?"
 * IDAHO: "Sorry, sir. Bad joke, obscure reference."
 * IMPERATOR: "Well, perhaps you'd fucking shut up and let us know what that goddamn fucking sound was. I thought I was gonna-"
 * NELSON: "Watch the fucking language, Two."
 * IDAHO: "The rustling was a low-quality sound clip that I sliced open."
 * IMPERATOR: "What the hell? You can't even make your own sig on Halopedia without copying it from RR."
 * IDAHO: "Well, I didn't copy it from RR, persay. I merely...took it from the sig he made for Unggoy, and under the GFDL Free Documentation lisence, RR can't reserve the coding as his own, so therefore it's mine."
 * IMPERATOR: "Just shut up and get to the point, Idaho...erm, sir. How did you break the encryption?"
 * IDAHO: "The code was taped on the side on the laptop. The password was GHOSTINSIDETHEMACHINE. 21-character alphanumeric. I just wrote a program to compensate for the terrible quality and to play the file. Nothing much else to do anyways."
 * NELSON: "How much longer, Idaho?"
 * IDAHO: "Estimate about a minute. Anything else to do?"
 * IMPERATOR: "We could play The Weakest Link with machine-guns."
 * IDAHO: "Or Man Hunt outside."
 * NELSON: "Shut the fuck up, Idaho. Firstly, you can't shoot Caboose. Secondly, you get some unnatural sensation to jump outta the helicopter, and now, you're suggesting that we-"
 * IMPERATOR: "Sir, I believe he was just joking."
 * NELSON: "Whatever you say, Two."
 * IDAHO: "Done. Gather 'round."
 * Unknown Male Voice: "Stop...stop."
 * Unknown Male Voice: "No...please...I implore you...what do you wa-NT?"
 * Unknown Male Voice: "I'm the director of this facility...I...exist...to serve your will. Special Research...will...please, PLEASE! The...next project...yes, yes...the next project...paranormal weapons research...yes. I can...send my staff onto researching supernatural warfare...offensive measures...it will be done."
 * NELSON: "Oh God."
 * IDAHO: "Esemono...oh, shit. No wonder we can't FUCKING FIND HIM! This entire crazy-ass SHIT is his doing..."
 * IMPERATOR: "A paranormal weapons test, and we're the testers...I wonder what the public will think about their tax money."

Act XIV: I ♥ Pie
A second awkward moment in the course of two minutes. NELSON incredulously throws up his hands. ''Another rustle sounds from around the apartment, and BRAVO TEAM snaps to attention. IDAHO slickly slides the laptop under a nearby couch, raises his machine-gun. IMPERATOR sprints, takes cover behind a sofa while NELSON stands in a combat half-crouch. None dare to whisper a breath. The air aggregates with pins and needles that jab the soft flesh of the three solely remaining DART commandoes. They all wait for a black-armored female soldier to round the corner and barge into the corridor before them, but find nothing while the hissing continues. A distractive light winks at NELSON's eyes, and, his epinephrine dropping from the sheer terror of the moment, he makes a hand signal for IMPERATOR and IDAHO to continue covering the corridor, while he ducks behind the couch he was previously sitting on, checks the source of the light - it is the acknowledgement light of CALYPSO THREE - Lieutenant Pie. NELSON makes a light retraction of his fingers several times - the hand signal for the team to stand down but to remain alert and withdraw slightly closer to him. NELSON squints, examines further the light. It is blue - he is transmitting a signal...a soft, staticky one, a rustling.'' IDAHO consults his KIA/MIA logs. ''IMPERATOR whirls, and in his eyes is a cyan afterimage of CABOOSE, yet there is empty air. His face grows pallid...is this an effect of the Paranormal approaching? That thought is dispelled with the speed of a hunting hawk as voices sound.'' The realization depresses on BRAVO TEAM's minds. ''NELSON is empassioned with purpose again. He mutes the mike, waves to IDAHO.'' IDAHO nods, calls up the wireframe map of Gemini. BRAVO TEAM forms up, exits the apartment.
 * NELSON: "GODDAMMIT! Do you know how many fucking people died? Over eighty commandoes! Including pilots and combat medics, over a hundred NATO military personnel! FUCK! AND TO SAVE THAT BITCH!"
 * IDAHO, complacantly: "Sir, if this is a NATO weapons test, will there be a way to recall the weapon?"
 * NELSON: "What? A goddamn fucking invisible killing machine that can't be seen nor shot at? Shit yeah. It'll be recalled when it finds us and kills us."
 * IMPERATOR: "Oh Jesus..."
 * NELSON: "I'll sum that up better for you. FUCK THIS!"
 * IDAHO: "I concur. Alpha-Mother-Foxtrot."
 * NELSON: "Dammit! Image if NATO North American HQ sends a full-fledged Marine force to retrieve us and level Gemini...no...the weapon won't just stop with killing us. It will continue killing all of those poor bitches too."
 * IMPERATOR: "Why don't you guys think that we can't just...disable it?"
 * NELSON: "ARE YOU FUCKING POSSESSED, BRAVO TWO? IT JUST MURDERED THE ENTIRE FUCKING GARRISON SAVE ESEMONO AND ALSO TWO RESCUE FORCES! NO FUCKING WAY!"
 * IMPERATOR, hotly: "I understand the point, but don't like the way it 'twas presented. Sir."
 * IDAHO: "Then how does Caboose play into this scenario, sir?"
 * IMPERATOR: "I reckon she's the weapon...she claimed she was brought there, tortured by Esemono. That asshole probably did something to her...murdered her DART team, transformed her into the Paranormal. He then probably gave her instructions - kill everyone she sees, with a single exception - to not kill him."
 * NELSON: "Yeah, no shit? Then we're fucked! First Squad tried to take her, and see what fucking happened? They were FUCKING BUTCHERED! What the fuck do we use against her? Machine-guns and hope she doesn't light us on fire? Grenades and pray that she doesn't deflect them and stick us with 'em?"
 * IMPERATOR: "Good LORD."
 * IDAHO: "Shit."
 * NELSON: "Yeah, stand down. I'm recieving a transmission from Calypso Three...the sound that we were just hearing."
 * IDAHO: "Strange. Lieutenant Colonel Dojorkan marked him as KIA after Sierra Two went down. He was flung outta the Black Hawk from an impossible height and distance."
 * NELSON: "You think that anything today makes sense?"
 * IDAHO: "No, sir. What are you suggesting?"
 * NELSON: "That he's alive...or something...or perhaps the static is..."
 * Unknown Male Voice #2: "General. We've found the commando you wanted. Shit, he's heavy to drag."
 * Unknown Male Voice #3: "Yeah, no shit, Sarge. Where do you want him, sir?"
 * ESEMONO: "Drive him to the first car. We will have uses for him, Romeo Two."
 * Unknown Male Voice #4: "Yessir. Romeo Squad, let's move out."
 * Unknown Male Voice #2: "10-4. Come on, someone take the flank. Let's go!"
 * NELSON: "Can you take the source of the signal?"
 * IDAHO: "It's at a distance of...hold on...got it. Below Subbasement Three of the Central R&D facility...probably a hidden floor not enclosed on the maps."
 * NELSON: "Bravo Team, let's go, let's GO! We're not letting Calypso Three fall into Esemono's hands! Let's move out!"
 * IMPERATOR, yelling with bravado: "SIR, YES SIR!"

1710 hours Central R&D Facility

''BRAVO TEAM has scurried in half-crouch stances to the blasted foyer of the R&D facility. ED's broken body still lays in its grave of collapsed concrete and masonry at the far end. NELSON dispatches hand signals.''
 * NELSON, whispering intensely: "Idaho, get next to that elevator. Bravo Two, hit the call button. I'll stay back, watch for hostiles."
 * IMPERATOR: "10-4!"

NATO North American HQ
 * HELEN: "General, half an hour until the strike force...whoa..."
 * KWARSH: "You were saying something?"
 * HELEN: "Yessir. We have thermal contacts moving and appearing all over the place."
 * KWARSH, quietly: "Shit. Are they moving to defensive formations to counter an aerial deployment?"
 * HELEN: "Negative. They're just scattering."
 * KWARSH: "Understood. Lieutenant, did you raise the Joint Chiefs of Staff?"
 * LIEUTENANT: "Yessir. The Presidents of the United States and Canada and also the Prime Minister of Mexico are also on the line."
 * KWARSH: "Shit...we'd better get started then, eh?"

Apartment, near first extraction point

''A lithe female figure in DART armor prowls near the apartment, taking advantage of the torched Black Hawk skeletons. The fires have been blunted by the soft rains, yet are not completely neutralized. There are muffled male voices from inside the apartment, with two fully-armored DARTs standing guard by the doorway. However, to make a full Delta Recon Team, CABOOSE surmises that there must be two further ones inside. She raises her sniper rifle, engages the electronic scope, ignoring the tongues of flames nearby...'' ''CABOOSE sights the two DART operatives outside the door - the body armor, helmet, raised machine-guns. Then, without remorse, she fires. The graphite suppressor sheaths muffle the acute sound, and an APFSDS round holes the helmet of what, by process of logical elimination, is DELTA-12. The commando crumples, and as DELTA-11 fumbles with his weapon, as inattention has not brought it to bear, CABOOSE kills the second guard. The blood from their bodily perforations diffuses into the rain accumulating on the tar of the asphalt. She sights the area with the snipersight once again, and then sprints towards the building unseen. With utmost stealth and caution, she arms her shotgun, chambering the rounds, and then proceeds in. There are two DART operatives in the team sent to search for the laptop - DELTA-9 and DELTA-10. DELTA-10 has the laptop in his lap, while DELTA-9 is standing as a guard behind him, yet appears to be more interested in the LCD display than the staircase behind him.'' ''CABOOSE has already crouched-walked up the wooden steps of the staircase, and before DELTA-10 can delete the incriminating audio clip, she opens fire. She blows off DELTA-9's legs, allowing his body to fall to the floor, and then sprints closer in the critical millisecond is takes for DELTA-10 to whirl and face his attacker. She fires again, higher now, lacing bullets through his neck. There is sufficient range that DELTA-10 is not killed, but is "merely" wounded. He fumbles with his weapon, and then falls, gagging. CABOOSE powerfully kicks both in the head - killing DELTA-9 yet leaving DELTA-10 simply in a coma - a fine line from death, yet not death. Or at least, yet. Then, she leans down to inspect the laptop and the audio file, ESEMONO's haunting voice filling her ears.''
 * DELTA-11: "Delta-9, the perimeter's secured."
 * ESEMONO (COM): "Delta-9, have you found the site of the electronic security breach?"
 * DELTA-9: "Yes, sir. Delta-10 is working on the laptop now."
 * ESEMONO (COM): "Keep me informed. Any sign of the threat?"
 * DELTA-9: "Negative, sir."
 * ESEMONO (COM): "Out."
 * DELTA-10: "Hey, man, looks like this was Armandi's laptop."
 * DELTA-9: "I think that Armandi was one of the ones killed. Yeah, shit, we gotta erase the file. How long will it take?"
 * DELTA-10: "Just a moment until-"

Central R&D Facility Subbasement Three

''BRAVO TEAM was able to infiltrate the elevator and take it to Subbasement Three without incidence. Subbasement Three is revealed to be a tangle of bronze pipes, pressure gauges, and occassional spurts of steam - a surreal factory-like setting imported from the early 1900s. Their footsteps are washed over by the regular hissings of the pipelines as fluid cascades through the labyrinth. There are occassional minor breaches where some liquid accumulates on the concrete floor, but that is few. BRAVO TEAM is dispersed across this matrix of pipelines.'' IMPERATOR's voice is cautious, wary. The transmissions begin to waver in and out...staticky. ''The scream, a materialization of human sorrow and torment, resonates. There is a billowing sound - fire bursts upon IMPERATOR's combat armor.'' ''IMPERATOR has been torched, immolated. The fires dance on him, the (supposedly) bulletproof armor yielding to them as they voraciously continue their campaign to destroy IMPERATOR.'' ''With a whirr, the electrical lights overhead flare to light, and IDAHO and NELSON ignore IMPERATOR's screens, forcibly ejecting it from their minds. A door built onto the side of the subbasement swings open, and two darkly-armored DARTs emerge.'' DELTA-4 grasps his teammate by the wrist. ''IMPERATOR's withered corpse falls to the ground - a contorted skeleton of desiccated bone inside slagged and recooled body armor. It is still alit...''
 * NELSON: "Bravo One here. No hostiles. Alpha One, are we closing in on Calypso Three's still-engaged COM unit?"
 * IDAHO: "Yeah. Just beneath us, but I haven't found any door yet."
 * IMPERATOR: "Same here."
 * IMPERATOR: "Yeah, but this place gives me the spooks, bossman."
 * IDAHO: "Huh. Come on, be a man. We're Deltas. We don't get spooks, man! Pull yourself toget-"
 * NELSON: "Cut it out, you derogates! We're on a fucking op here. Ah shit, this is all fucked up. Any of you have infrared lenses?"
 * IMPERATOR: "Negative, sir, for the third time. Mine shattered in the explosion, and so did Alpha One's...goddamit, this is-"
 * IMPERATOR: "AH SHIT! AH SH-"
 * IDAHO: "Bravo Two, standby, standby...shit...I'm coming over!"
 * NELSON: "NEGATIVE, NEGATIVE! Caboose has found Imperator, and do you want her to fucking find you too?"
 * DELTA-3: "Sir! Sir! We have a Delta on fire! Shit! HOLY FUCKING HELL! WHERE'S THE EXTINGUISHER?"
 * DELTA-4: "Negative, General, negative. It's a tango...pretty fucking stupid way to reveal himself."
 * ESEMONO (COM): "What the goddamn hell? Are you fucking outta your mind, Delta-4? He didn't light himself on fire. It's...the Paranormal."
 * DELTA-4: "What the fuck? I thought that-"
 * DELTA-3, whispering: "Shut up! There are probably other hostile survivors nearby."
 * DELTA-4: "Copy that, Delta-3. Going dark, General."

Act XV: Welcome Party
''DELTA-3 and DELTA-4 are on the far side of a thick trunk of pipes from IDAHO. There is a small space between the pipes and the concrete floor, however, where IDAHO can see the boots of the hostile DARTs on the far side. With this in mind, he unsheaths a knife, descends its treacherous blade towards the ground, and then, with a sudden lurch of locomotion, slides it into DELTA-4's right foot. DELTA-4 gives off a muffled scream - unheard by anyone else than DELTA-3 because he has gone COM silent. DELTA-3 spins around, pausing his recon of the subbasement, and NELSON takes the opportunity to lob a frag grenade, which detonates in a conflagaration of thunder. DELTA-3 and DELTA-4 crumple down dead. NELSON and IDAHO swiftly sprint, navigating the pipelines to reach IMPERATOR, uncaring of the Paranormal, which much be nearby, for they know that their actions are inconsequential to their fates, and their sole objective is to pay their respects for IMPERATOR. Slight tears roll down IDAHO's chin as his mouth twists into a sad, little moue. He morbidly raises IMPERATOR's charred right hand, brings where his lips would be if he had not donned his helmet to the hand.'' NELSON shakes him. IDAHO continues his trance, bowing his head reverently over IMPERATOR. IDAHO slowly turns to NELSON, his eyes rouge from the tears that trickle within the confines of his helmet. An ominous pause hangs in the room, interrupted by shouts from the far side of the door. ''IDAHO and NELSON array themselves against the wall, right next to the door. DELTA-20's voice grows louder.''
 * IDAHO: "Oh, Imperator..."
 * NELSON: "Snap outta it. We gotta go, now!
 * NELSON: "Let's go, Alpha One! That's a goddamn order!"
 * IDAHO: "Sir..."
 * DELTA-20: "This is Delta-20 to all Delta units. I'm confirming a grenade detonation...Delta-3, do you copy?"
 * DELTA-20: "Delta-3? Delta-4? Shit. Confirming Delta-3 and Delta-4 are MIA...all units, converge, converge!"

Apartment, near first extraction point

''CABOOSE brutally kicks DELTA-10 on the side of his head. The combat helmet has been disengaged, and the machine-guns and grenades of Esemono's DARTs have been collected and placed securely behind CABOOSE. DELTA-10 arouses to wakefulness, mumbling discoherently.'' CABOOSE bitch-slaps DELTA-10. ''CABOOSE takes a knife from her combat belt, intricately weaves it around her fingers in beautiful metallic acrobatics. Meanwhile, it is clear that DELTA-10's disposition is faultering - he is coughing blood, and dried blood spatter is across his cheeks.'' CABOOSE slams the knife home into his ungloved right thumb, sawing through the bone and disjointing it until blood runs free from it. ''CABOOSE tenses, then proceeds to cut off his left thumb. DELTA-10 gasps in pain, but finds no blood to spit out, as he has bled out so much.'' ''DELTA-10 falls silent, and shadows are superimposed over the curtained window - figures are scurrying, approaching. He is firmly convinced that is comrades have spotted him and are coming to get him...he only has to obey her commands a little while longer.'' DELTA-10's eyes open in halting surprise. ''Abruptly, the door at the foot of the staircase and two other doors situated around the house bang open. The NATO Marines - the third rescue wave - stampede in.'' ''CABOOSE finds herself on the chair, bloodied knife in hand, with DELTA-10 writhing beneath her, and twenty Marines surging in, rifles aimed at her. The Marines are armored in desert camoflauge armor.'' CABOOSE staggers to her feet, and RAZOR-1 nods to RAZOR-2 and RAZOR-3, who uncertainly step forward with their rifles. RAZOR-16 scoffs. ''CABOOSE inexplicably sits, dropping the knife on the floor and interlacing her gloved fingers behind her head. There is a pronounced sense of uneasiness in the air for the twenty soldiers of Razor Unit as medics enter, attending to DELTA-10.'' RAZOR-5 turns to his shoulder-mounted COM. ''RAZOR UNIT still remains at ill ease as RAZOR-2 tentatively handcuffs her, and further Marines secure the stockpile of firearms and grenades in the corner. They are waiting for CABOOSE to play her move...yet her face is tear-streaked, and her body unwilling to fight.'' ''RAZOR-3 roughly and with deliberately excessive force shoves CABOOSE to her feet. The cordon of twenty Marines escort her out of the opulent apartment as DELTA-10 and the medics trail behind her. Before CABOOSE and RAZOR UNIT are a pair of Black Hawk helicopters - RICHTERS NINE and TEN. Their propellors are whirring - they are ready for immediate takeoff.'' ''CABOOSE says nothing, in anguished silence for the blood on her hands. RAZOR UNIT comes to an abrupt halt as several further Marines debark from the two Black Hawks, scurrying to secure the apartment. There is an ominous moment as they pass by CABOOSE, intently look her in the eye, hold her gaze, and then move on.'' RAZOR UNIT has become complacent, and although weary to accept CABOOSE's surrender, expect no resistance after she gave up herself without a fight. ''RAZOR-1 motions to CABOOSE, who is shackled, to proceed onto the awaiting Black Hawk RICHTER TEN. The Marines push her along...yet they begin to meet resistance as she steels herself. Step by step, that adamantness grows, calcifies. A step from the helicopter, the Marines of RAZOR UNIT find that she will not turn. Boldly ignoring the Marines, she turns around to face RAZOR-1.'' CABOOSE's eyes glint dangerously. Abruptly, RICHTER TEN erupts into a billow of ascending fire and smoke, and a moment later, RICHTER NINE also detonates in such a conflagaration. ''The Marines of RAZOR UNIT begin to spontaneously combust, immolating in fire - human torches. Their pleads are screamed, yet unheard. The medics begin lighting as well, burning eerily bright. Only DELTA-10 is left there, standing in equal parts reverent fear and sudden dismay.'' ''DELTA-10 begins to ignite as well, fire draping his armor. He sputters briefly, alight in the fire, mouths words that no one ever hears.''
 * DELTA-10: "What is...who is..."
 * CABOOSE: "What is your name, Delta-10?"
 * DELTA-10, hoarsely: "It's...you, the motherfucker. Heh."
 * CABOOSE: "I've...killed enough today, Delta-10. I do not want to have to kill you, Delta-10, and I assure you, I can torture you far more than with this knife. Would a demonstration be appropriate?"
 * DELTA-10: "Fuck yo-"
 * CABOOSE: "Only a fraction, I assure you, of the pain you will experience. Now, dammit, answer me. What-is-your-name?"
 * DELTA-10: "Delta-10, Delta Assault Reconnaisance, NATO Special Operations Command."
 * CABOOSE: "WHAT IS YOUR GODDAMN NAME?"
 * DELTA-10: "Enough...enough...Warner. Lieutenant Bernard Warner. I'm a-"
 * CABOOSE: "Alright...just SHADDUP!"
 * CABOOSE: "Good. You will not like me to induce further pain, and I'm not inclined to. Now, tell me about the Ghost Inside the Machine."
 * DELTA-10: "What?"
 * CABOOSE: "You heard me. The password to the audio file has significance."
 * CABOOSE: "You didn't delete it in time, Bernard Warner. You can hide nothing. Now, what. Is. The. Ghost. Inside. The. MACHINE?"
 * RAZOR-1: "Hands up! Hands up! NATO Marines!"
 * RAZOR-5: "Control, this is Razor Unit. Converging on primary target. Confirm with SPEAR - hostile located."
 * RAZOR-11: "Go, go!"
 * RAZOR-1, stentorianally: "Foxtrot One, I'm Lieutenant DeLong, Razor One. You're under arrest by the authority of the NATO Military Court. These men will relieve you of your weapons."
 * CABOOSE: "What? I have done nothing wrong, dammit!"
 * RAZOR-16: "Yeah, you fucking did nothing wrong. Just get your ass on that seat, lady."
 * DELTA-10: "Shit! That goddamn woman! Why don't you fucking kill her? She fucking fucked up two of my fucking-"
 * RAZOR-1: "Stand down, please."
 * RAZOR-5: "Control, this is Razor-5. Tango is secured, and we have one friendly nearby - Delta Recon. He has moderate medical injuries, but he will survive. Three KIAs, also DARTs...Prep one Black Hawk for prisoner transport and another for medical support."
 * HELEN (COM): "Copy that, Razor-5. Richter Nine, we need your medics at the tango's position over."
 * RICHTER NINE: "Affirmative, Control. Rerouting now."
 * CABOOSE, sobbing: "Oh, God, I didn't mean to hurt him...hurt them...oh God."
 * DELTA-10: "Yeah? Well, you were GODDAMN torturing me for my fucking name!"
 * CABOOSE: "God, oh, God..."
 * RAZOR-3: "Yeah, bitch, that's right. You're going down town after what you fucking did to our buds."
 * RICHTER TEN: "Razor-1, we're ready to take her."
 * VICTOR-93: "Control, we have something in the apartment...a laptop."
 * VICTOR-38: "Control, Victor Three-Eight on the line. We've checked the Delta Recon KIAs. They're not from either Alpha, Bravo, or Charlie Teams nor Bearcat or Foxtrot Platoons. This is a new one on us."
 * HELEN: "Victors Three-Eight and Nine-Three, standby. We're deploying investigative agents to your location. Richter Ten, is the prisoner secure?"
 * CABOOSE: "Negative. I'm not entering that Black Hawk. You haven't filed any charges."
 * RAZOR-11: "Yeah? How about 'blowing up massive amounts of shit'?"
 * CABOOSE: "You know what's shit, Private Garlick?"
 * RAZOR-11: "How do you know my-"
 * RAZOR-1: "CONTROL! THE PRISONER IS-AHH! SHIT!"
 * DELTA-10: "Oh-"
 * CABOOSE: "At least they didn't find out who your commander was, Delta-10."

Black Hawk helicopter Richter Three-Five

''A Black Hawk, RICHTER THREE-FIVE, descends from the air gracefully. Within it is SPEAR Team Zulu and a full Marine squad. Its blades decelerate in angular velocity as the Black Hawk lands upon a landing pad that is situated by three massive smoke stacks on the rooftop of one of the primary mechanical manufacturing buildings.'' ''NICK, Zulu Three, has his legs dangling over the sides of the Black Hawk. Upon touchdown, he nimbly leaps up with a jolt of enthusiasm, machine-gun in hand.'' ''RICHTER THREE-FIVE's unshapely shadow flutters off as the NATO soldiers near a locked door in an alcove on the rooftop. JAMES makes an arching movement with his hand.'' ''NOBODY curtly nods, and the soldiers disperse from the door, surveilling the immediate vicinity for threats as there is a high-pitched whining, and the door tumbles into cascading debris. CHAZZ (Zulu Two) and NICK are swift to make their entrance admist the shower of sparks, CHAZZ firmly planting his foot in the door's remains and slamming it open, NICK darting in and shifting his aim from side to side.'' ''ZULU TEAM and RED SQUAD ease their way through the claustrophobic metal passageway for several minutes, eyeing the inconspicious metal walls uneasily, as they know a single-well placed grenade could kill most or all of them. However, that is not to last for long - NICK has found a terminus in the engineering corridor: a slitted vent that can allow someone to fall down to the floor beneath them. Soft, muted sodium light wafts from below, illuminating his faceplate.'' ''NICK grunts, forcibly connects the butt of his rifle to the vent repeatedly, eventually destroying it. Then, with a wry expression, he leaps down.''
 * RICHTER THREE-FIVE: "Zulu Team, Red Squad, rooftop secure. You're good to go."
 * NICK: "Hell yeah. Thanks for the soft ride, Three-Five."
 * RICHTER THREE-FIVE: "Do I get a Halopedia Award for that?"
 * JAMES: "Keep the COM clear. Zulu Team, take point. Reds, disperse and cover the rear and the flanks."
 * RED ONE: "Affirmative. Let's go!"
 * JAMES: "Zulu Four, set the charge."
 * NICK: "We're in some sort of maintenance corridor, team. Rather tight confines here."
 * JAMES: "Affirmative. Let's move."
 * NICK: "A hatch spotted. Standby."
 * NICK: "All secure."

Central R&D Facility Subbasement Four''

''NELSON and IDAHO are crouching behind the cover of metal cargo containers on opposite sides of a broad, well-lit corridor. Right before them, the corridor continues, and also a bisecting corridor is in front of them. Farther down the corridor, four of Esemono's DARTs are behind their own corridor, utilizing suppressive fire to keep BRAVO TEAM down and unable to return fire. IDAHO briefly considers a frontal attack, but yet another hostile DART is around the corner. As IDAHO's helmet shows from above his carton, a venemous shotgun blast rebukes his, compells him to stay down. NELSON and IDAHO looks at each other.'' ''A nearby volley sends sparks upon the two crouching figures, but IDAHO does not permit them to become overly bold. He sticks his hand out, blindfires with the machine-gun, pausing the attacks even once.'' ''NELSON is swift to strike at that pause, as DELTA-20 has diverted his attention to speaking instead of firing. He darts up, finds DELTA-20 the soldier with the shotgun at the corner, whose aim is slightly off because of his slight inattention. NELSON unsheaths the inky blade of yet another combat knife, twirls it elegantly into his head, planting the blade into his forehead and the nondescript hilt rather descriptly sticking out of the black DART combat helmet. Immediately, the enemy DART team commences their attack once again, and NELSON takes cover, not fancying dying. His forehead is beaded with seat as the .50-caliber rounds glance off of the crate, gnawing at its defenses. He fears it will give out soon.'' NELSON holds his tongue, knowing better than to carry a nonessential arguement in the midst of a firefight, and the volume of the fire dips temporarily as the enemy Deltas take advantage of the reprieve to reload and switch positions. ''The far door irises open. IDAHO sights it through a small rivulet through his crate, sees four further DARTs. He tried to jam his machine-gun through the aperture and open fire, but it is too small. Yet, NELSON is taken aback for a moment as he rests his head against the crate, the machine-gun in his hands as a tango chambers a shotgun and repeatedly fires it over his head...ineffectual because the ineffecient damage ratios are terrible over such ranges even with a shotgun artist. NELSON's eyebrows quirk, and then a tailing grenade with steam trailing out of it is ejected in a parabolic arc that lands behind IDAHO and NELSON. They both brace, awaiting the thunderous detonation, but know it will do only cosmetic damage to their armor...that is, if it was a frag, as the splash wouldn't cover a sufficient damage to even wound them. Once again, if it was a frag.'' ''IDAHO's eyes jerk open in horrid understanding, and he writhes...yet already finds his arms and legs pinned by the insidious gas's action versus his nervous system. Then, all melds to soft darkness as a belated foul odor comes to his nose.''
 * IDAHO: "Patented bullshit, sir."
 * NELSON: "Under...stood, and I concur..."
 * DELTA-20: "Stand down, Bravo Team!"
 * NELSON: "Idaho...if I have ever done anything to-"
 * IDAHO: "What's up with you and these fucking blues speeches? They're not fucking heroic, you know. We fucking kill 'em, then we're heroes.''
 * DELTA-22: "You'd best surrender now, Deltas. We're on the same side."
 * NELSON: "Which is exactly why Esemono ordered the murdering of thousands of researchers and Marines, and over a hundred NATO rescue personnel by means of a supernatural weapon. Yeah, you think we're fucking retarded or something?"
 * DELTA-22: "Enough to stay still."
 * DELTA-22: "It's called nerve gas and airtight combat armor, Bravos. Nighty-night."

Primary Manufacturing Facility

''ZULU TEAM is wearily advancing through the partially-lit halls of the upper floor of the primary factory. Sections of hall are infrequently lit, so the commandos proceed with utmost caution...especially as they know as every pool of shadows may harbor the Paranormal. RED SQUAD has already bifercated, securing the lower floors by taking the elevators.'' ''ZULU TEAM is arrayed in a ragged diamond. NICK is the point man, at the front, bearing a machine-gun. CHAZZ is far behind him on the rear, with a sniper-rifle. JAMES and NOBODY are on the left and right sides of the formation.'' ''NOBODY holds his silence as CHAZZ glares at JAMES. His ego is unreined.'' ''NICK ends the conversation, boldly advancing forth from the corridor into the bisecting corridor. He expects none, merely dangling wires and sparks...but finds three armored figures in jungle camoflague armor. They notice him not, and are merely standing at guard there - NATO Marines. NICK, after prowling the corridors and haunted with phantasamal images of women shrouding his vision, dwelling in every mote of darkness, is relieved to see a friendly, but realizes that RED SQUAD must be far out of position.'' ''At this, the NATO Marines swivel, faced him. A shotgun blast sweeps into him, dropping him against the floor, bloodied. His breastplate is holed.'' The report of gunfire and the chilling voice brings horror to ZULU TEAM, where the three remaining members are just 'round the corner from the Marine fireteam. This infectious apprehension takes NOBODY as well. ''CHAZZ pauses, this fact bolting his boots against the ground. His bones are petrified into iron shafts in his skeleton. Yet, rationale boot-kicks him, arousing him to answer.'' ''NOBODY, however, is not swept with this bravado...NICK's limp corpse in on the ground...blood seeping outwards and forming a darkly pool that gathers around his combat armor. However, as if on leashes, the three Marines storm around the corner. There is no cover, but Zulu Team is already awaiting them...or at least to some degree. As the unarmored head of the first Marine rounds the corner, CHAZZ's sniper barrel smokes, a thin furl of smoke arises from the graphite suppressor. The first Marine stumbles upon the elongated 11.5mm round, crumples. The second and third advance in synchcrony, but NOBODY does not seize the chance, still timid to strike...JAMES, even as believing on the supernatural presence that is resident in Gemini, does not pause to take them down. His machine-gun storms a fully automatic salvo, blowing apart the second Marine. The third hostile opens fire, and the bullets, razor-keen, string apart his combat armor...however, JAMES snaps down with a long-legged kick, knocking down the legs of the third Marine. The tango's lungs explosively decombust...both are down...NOBODY, upon seeing just a ludricously easy kill, is snapped from his trance. He opens fire with his heavy machine-gun, riddling the Marine with bullets. Each bullet brings about blood that jets from the body. NOBODY is reinvigorated, and he firmly plants his combat boots into the side of the unhelmeted skull of the hostile he's just killed, and then caving in the cranium.'' Static rustles, but the fears that infect them slide away as HELEN comes back on the line." HELEN pauses, sensing the indecision. JAMES reigns his anger at this insubordination. This demeanor is still a frosty cold, but he manages to retain some good sense and turn to NOBODY. NOBODY holds onto the last word, as if wishing he could recall his words from the air and reconsider them, but CHAZZ's next phrase cements his will.''
 * NICK: "Corridor intersection D-3 secured, Zulus."
 * CHAZZ: "Yeah, I got yo back if some wee-ghosties come 'round."
 * JAMES: "Hold your silence, Zulu Two. You damn well know that HQ wouldn't call us unless they definitively know that something's wrong here, dammit!"
 * CHAZZ: "Heh. Whatever shit boss, 'cuz-"
 * NICK: "What the hell, guys? You're supposed to be sweeping the-"
 * MARINE #1: "Target located and neutralized."
 * JAMES, whispering: "Shit! Zulu Three, Zulu Three?"
 * NOBODY: "Oh God...Red Squad's been...been..."
 * CHAZZ: "This is all fucked up. Yeah, that's right, bitches! Come around the corner and FUCKING EAT SOME LEAD!"
 * NOBODY: "Bloody Mackenzie!"
 * CHAZZ: "Goddamn it! Control...dammit...CONTROL!"
 * HELEN: "Zulu Two, Zulu Two...I'm hearing you clear and a bit too loud. What's your status?"
 * CHAZZ: "Shit, some fucking Marine assholes just shot at us and killed Zulu Three. That fucking fuckhole that's fucking this whole place up just fucking took those Marines over, dammit! Can you read anything from Red Squad?"
 * HELEN, hesitant: "Negative. Just lost contact with them about the time that you were engaged with those Marines. Do you think that Red Squad is MIA and has been...possessed?"
 * NOBODY: "There's no 'possessed' or not possessed, ma'am."
 * JAMES: "Then how do you explain those three Marine corpses?"
 * NOBODY: "Perhaps they ain't Marines, just tangos dressed in Marine armor."
 * CHAZZ: "Yeah? No shit? So when Control mysteriously loses contact with-"
 * NOBODY: "Dammit, you're the one that thinks there's no spooky spooky stuf around here, and now you're arguing for the presence of a-"
 * JAMES: "Shut it, you two. If we just came upon an enemy fire-team, there have to be more around...Control, are you picking up even anything from Red Squad?"
 * HELEN: "Negative. They even disabled their IFF tags...be alert, Zulu Team. Do you need evac, over."
 * JAMES, quickly: "Negative, negative. We'll just do a sweep for Red Squad and then get out at the planned-"
 * CHAZZ: "You fucking outta your mind, man? I'm not gonna go up against these mind-controlled things that will fucking blow my ass up! Yo Control, six over a Black Hawk."
 * JAMES: "If Two decides that ranks aren't important, than we'll be a democracy. Zulu Four, your call. Recon or evac."
 * NOBODY: "We're...we're going in."
 * CHAZZ: "Ah shit. Zulu Team out, Control."

Act XVI: Unfriendly Friendlies
''ZULU TEAM is making its way around the top floor of the factory with utmost caution. There have been no other contacts since the incident with the three Marines. Heart rates are elevated and blood pressures high - each corner brings a bout of terror to each SPEAR.'' ''CHAZZ tosses a glance over his shoulder, ensuring the stretch of corridor behind the team is secure, and then edges towards the wall, the cross-corridor right before him. JAMES scurries to the wall on the other side of the corridor, and they both nod in syncrhony. Abruptly, they break from their cover, sprinting into the girth of the cross-corridor, and also expectedly, CHAZZ finds a machine-gun barrel in his hand. He screams an undulated high-pitched yell.'' CHAZZ threateningly crunches his right glove together. ''He nods, and ZULU TEAM settles into half-crouches, their previous semi-joking animosity erased as they near the laboratory...A bulletproof-glazed glass retracting door once barred entrance to it, but it has been retracted. Stale air drifts out from the airlock.'' ''From their positions on either side of the door, ZULU TEAM, illuminated by the eerie cyan light silting through the overhead windows, unconfidently shifts the grips of their weapons, breathings become heavier, more mucus-laced. JAMES quickly pokes his head around the corner - the external door, the two airlock doors, and the internal door on the far side of the airlock have all been opened.'' ''JAMES makes a concise hand signal, motioning for CHAZZ and NOBODY to enter. NOBODY takes point, his machine-gun in hand. CHAZZ is behind him, bearing his signature sniper rifle, and JAMES brings up the rear as they travel single-file through the confines of the airlock - essentially heavy plastic draped over beams and sealed to prevent atmospheric loss. As they emerge, the three SPEARs are still uneasy. The lights are off, wire bundles dangling from the ceiling. Smashed bulbs litter the floor...as do bronze shells and shattered glass. Krystalnacht.'' ''As ZULU TEAM inches forward, spectres in jungle camoflague armor admist the forest of angular shadows of racks and air hoods around them, a long, almost oblong shadow extends itself from the umbra of one of the cryogenic sample freezers. Then, the magnified, blocky shape of a rifle is seen in shadow on the floor. CHAZZ tersely raises his hand to NOBODY and JAMES, who are behind him - contact spotted. ZULU TEAM soundlessly drops to combat stances, and JAMES mades a flicking hand signal to NOBODY. NOBODY nods, and cautiously toes forward, flanking the unknown. However, there is the slight crinkling of glass as his boot trods against a small piece of prismatic glass. It is like the soft sound of breaking ice. However, the unknown soldier perks up, straightens, turns towards the sound. ZULU TEAM fades into the shadows.'' ''The sentry advances down a row flanked by two tall shelves of Erlenmeyer flasks. ZULU TEAM has already covertly dispersed behind objects whose shadows provide ample cover. NOBODY, however, has audaciously shuffled to behind one of the shelves, and plants himself on its back as the soldier emerges from the row, eyes the broken glass all over. A light source from where he has departed casts a ghastly white effulgence over the scene...bright helmet lamps that appear as circles of brilliant light in the distance with mists of lesser light diffusing from their cones of more concentrated light. The sentry uneasily rocks back on his heels, just waiting where NOBODY broke the glass. Abruptly, silently, NOBODY emerges from behind the soldier, snakes a hand around his mouth, securely plants a dagger through the cartilidge of his larynx and into his trachea. The soldier drops without a sound, even though spurting blood has splashed all over by the messy kill. NOBODY does not release his grip on the soldier, instead maintaining it and gently placing the corpse on the floor without a sound, hidden away so that his comrades can't find him. From the opposite side of the small pathway and the gentle, eerily soft light, JAMES gives him an affirming thumbs-up. However, the soldier's COM squawks: an androgynous, mechanically intoned voice, almost pedantic.'' NOBODY tenses in horror, like rigor mortis, as the voice sounds from the corpse's COM unit. ''JAMES and CHAZZ grimace in the shadows. CHAZZ motions with the bulky barrel of his sniper if they should take out the speaker - the voice comes from the source of the unnervingly soft light. NOBODY, however, firmly shakes his head. He is terrified at the ramifications.'' ''NOBODY has no alternative except to answer. He does not even hide the panic in his voice, but that is a result of the adrenaline in his system. Thankfully, the COM has a built-in distorter, so all voices come out the same - genderless and unusually hollow.'' A sheen of perspiration appears on NOBODY's forehead as the sweat rolls down the confines of his suddenly rigid and uncomfortable combat armor. NOBODY and the rest of ZULU TEAM rock back on their shoes, relieved.
 * CHAZZ, muttering: "Sir, there's something seriously fucked with this place."
 * NOBODY: "Boo! Haha! Scared you again! Ha-"
 * CHAZZ: "Watch it, Yeung, or next time, your throat's gonna be in my glove."
 * JAMES: "Cut the chatter, Two. Control, do we have a location on the elevator to the first floor?"
 * HELEN: "Working...yes. Take a right at the next cross-section, and walk a few meters. There should be a room...Biohazardous Materials Laboratory Zero-Three. Bash through the glass barriers, and at the far end of the lab, there should be the lift you're looking for. One of Red's fireteams was last deployed at the foot of the elevator, so be advised."
 * JAMES: "Copy that."
 * CHAZZ: "Shit, man. It's like someone died in there, from the smell."
 * NOBODY: "What's more disturbing is that the external door's open...as if someone were-"
 * CHAZZ: "Waiting for us."
 * JAMES: "From the looks of it, it's all clear, Zulus."
 * CHAZZ, whispering: "Nothing on scope. Zulu Four, get my flank. I'm moving in."
 * NOBODY, whispering: "Copy."
 * CHAZZ, muttering: "Shit."
 * Androgynous Voice: "Stryker One to Stryker Two. Position check."
 * Stryker One: "Stryker Two, what is your status, over. Report on anomalous contact."
 * Stryker One: "Stryker Two, do you need backup? Stryker Two?"
 * NOBODY: "Stryker Two here. I'm checking out the place. Looks like nothing, Stryker One."
 * STRYKER ONE: "10-4. Why did you not answer the initial COM pages, Stryker Two?"
 * NOBODY: "Just...checking out the surroundings, sir. If there were hostiles and I spoke, I would reveal my position."
 * STRYKER ONE: "10-4. Standby."

Central R&D Facility Subbasement Five ''NELSON and IDAHO find themselves in heavy manacles against a newly cemented cinderblock wall - gray and unelaborated. IDAHO's eyes are blearly, tears immersing the cornea as his damp eyelashes flicker, trying to expell the liquid. His breath is acrid and he coughts irritably repeatedly. However, a black boot connects with his sternum, and he explosively coughs a long spew of blood-riddled phelgem. It breaks IDAHO out of his semiconsciousness. A grating voice sounds at his ears.'' ''IDAHO's eyes clear, and he finds a DART standing directly before him, violating his personal space. A machine-gun is in his hands, and the polarizing visor doesn't conceal the anger rolling off of DELTA-19 like breaking storm waves. However, someone plants a firm hand on DELTA-19's machine-gun, pries it away. DELTA-19 growls animalistically at IDAHO, and then backs off a few steps - revealing General ESEMONO. ESEMONO is a dignified figure in tatters of a green General uniform with four tainted stars affixed to his shoulder pauldrons. His hair is graying at the edges, but it is mostly a uniform black. He has a strong jaw and brown eyes. NELSON snarles furiously, spits on ESEMONO, who turns nonchalantly at NELSON.'' ''ESEMONO, however, remains placating. He crouches before NELSON and IDAHO, sighs. There is still a brittle air of hardness around him, but he is still condenscending.'' ''NELSON lunges against his restrains, but there is a guard of six Delta soldiers. They merely raise their machine-guns, unyielding to his epithets and railings.'' ESEMONO looks away, a strange look broiling in his eyes. A Delta lunges for NELSON, but ESEMONO bluntly places his arm across the man's windpipe, halting him. ESEMONO slightly hardens visibly. ''One of the DARTs promptly places a gag in NELSON's mouth. He inarticulately rages, but no sound somes as he thrashes against his bonds. However, IDAHO merely laughs slightly, expelling blood from his mouth as he speaks.'' ''ESEMONO pauses, begins stalking the edges of the nondescript, insipid, gray concrete room. He walks for a minute around it, absentmindedly observing the large steel fan that silently operates at the top of the room. IDAHO begins to seethe, thinking that ESEMONO has abandoned him. However, ESEMONO returns, liver-spotted hands clasped at his back.'' NELSON continues to sputter as ESEMONO continues to pace nonmenacingly. ''ESEMONO turns to IDAHO, now steel in his eye. IDAHO's jousting abruptly comes to a halt when he sees ESEMONO considering their executions more gravely.''
 * DELTA-19: "Shut up!"
 * ESEMONO: "Ah, Colonel Nelson. I was afraid you weren't going to make it for a minute."
 * NELSON: "YOU SONUVABITCH! YOU FUCKING MURDERED ALL THE GODDAMN SOLDIERS HERE! BITCH! FUCKER!"
 * ESEMONO: "Colonel, my sincere apologies for any crimes against NATO I may have-"
 * NELSON: "YOU FUCKER! YOU MURDER THOUSANDS AND THINK IT'S SOME SORTA GODDAMN CRIME? IT'S A FUCKING BULLET IN YOUR FUCKING FOREHEAD, BITCH!"
 * IDAHO: "Sir, just let it go. Someone in the end will kill him. One of us."
 * ESEMONO: "Colonels. I understand the file that you may have found. I must say that it is-"
 * NELSON: "Fuck you!"
 * ESEMONO: "Yes, it is incriminating. However, you must understand that there is something else about the file.''
 * IDAHO: "Yeah? Like what? That is says that a NATO Special Warfare Research Department general just killed thousands of his own employees? No shit."
 * ESEMONO: "I didn't commit the murders, Colonel Idaho."
 * NELSON: "GO FUCK YOUR-"
 * IDAHO: "Let me humor you, even though all of us know it's bullshit. Who murdered them?"
 * ESEMONO: "I think I have a good idea."
 * IDAHO: "No shit? You didn't fucking kill them, technically. Caboose did. But you ordered her to. Tortured her, coerced her into becoming Special Warfare's new girl-toy."
 * ESEMONO: "I-I can't say."
 * IDAHO: "Oh, for God's sake, cut out the act. Don't fucking bullfuck us. Why are you being so condenscending and nice, dammit? You're going to kill us, dammit! Just shoot us! Bham-bham! All done! Just DON'T GIVE ME THESE HALF-NAKED LIES!"
 * ESEMONO: "Colonel. I've been ordered to kill you and Nelson. I'm disobeying orders right now by letting you live."
 * IDAHO: "Yeah? 'Cuz we fucking uncovered a conspiracy by Special Warfare to fucking fuck up thousands of its fucking troops, and it went wrong and fuckingly fucked Deltas as well. Now, you want to clean your tracks in a subbasement that no one will ever find unless we triangulated Calypso Four's transmission. Go ahead and shoot me. Don't disobey orders. Obey 'em, and kill me. Scared?"
 * ESEMONO: "No. I'm not scared."

Act XVII: Old Man
Primary Manufacturing Facility

''ZULU TEAM is still situated in the darkness on the far side of the row from the enemy fire-team. They are pressed against the walls and shelves, tensions straining as CHAZZ, with utmost caution and lethal deliberation, leans out from the shadows, readying his sniper rifle. Three Marines are at the source of the eerie, faint light, the light from their helmet lamps that diffuses with such quality that it is unnerving. As residual dust sifts through the air, the slender barrel of CHAZZ's rifle protrudes from the shadows, and then swiftly retracts itself. There is not a sound of breathing from ZULU TEAM. None of the hostiles have noticed it. Armed with that confidence, CHAZZ sights each of the three idle enemy Marines in the forehead, lifting the reticule from helmet to helmet until he's confident that he can kill them all in a single magazine. JAMES and NOBODY tense, crouching, rifles readied. Abruptly, with only the wink of an acknowledgement light, the sniper rifle spills its rounds. Each hit appropriately, downing them all as skull slivers are ejected from their heads, explosively flung out. They all fall dead. JAMES presses his lips to his COM node.'' ''Although the bodies are slumped on the floor and the helmet-mounted lights staring blankly from the crumple corpses, increasing the gloom, ZULU TEAM advances cautiously, unwilling to take the risk of exposure to enemy backup elements. CHAZZ makes a terse hand motion to NOBODY, ordering him to sweep the rear flank. In stealthy half-crouches they advance to the bodies. Behind the bodies is an elevator door and a caller. However, no one else is in sight.'' ''The unvoiced devil's advocate's opinion is - "What if they're not?". The chilling thought sinks into their minds, and fueled with adrenaline, NOBODY clumsily turns over one of the flipped Marine corpses and checks the arm. However, the unit patch is not of the NATO 1st Battalion, the soldiers dispatched to Gemini along with ZULU TEAM. It's the 3rd Battalion - the original guards.'' CHAZZ relaxes his wary guard for a moment, throws his arms up in disgust. The obvious conclusion sinks into them, but its far-fetchedness makes it unable to immediately assimilate. NOBODY pauses, and then a troubling thought comes to mind. ''Suddenly, there is the crinkling of glass behind them. ZULU TEAM whirls, to have the ticking of an armed fragmentation grenade fill their ears. In the adrenaline-induced blur, the SPEARs are unable to see the explosive, and instictively sprint for the elevator shaft. There is a detonation, and NOBODY grunts. Jags of shrapnel have inserted themselves into his body armor, and they are drawing some blood. He staggers as rifles and submachine guns open up behind ZULU TEAM. Marines advance, firing all the way.'' ''There is a loud, resonating scream, like the crunching of bone and cartilidge. While NOBODY staggers in the hail of bullets, that temporary lapse allowing him to be hit by a rifle round, making him fall, CHAZZ turns horrifyingly to the source. It is JAMES. He is gagging for air, and rills of blood are running out of his visor, even though it is sealed. The snapping sound was his muscles. He is bawling on the ground, back and chest muscles flexing uncontrollably. He is writhing in sinuous contortions, his muscles becoming perforated with every extreme spasm. His arms and legs clutch invisible objects, and he randomly thrashes. Horror fills CHAZZ's throat.'' ''An RPG round arcs through the air, detonating. It scatters glass all across NOBODY's prone figure. A second one explodes and CHAZZ, trying to desperately dash for NOBODY, is forced to maniacally dodge away. His eyes are wide with terrible fright. As the second grenade merely explodes against the elevator door, blowing it wide open, CHAZZ wheels, sprinting for NOBODY. Rifle rounds whirr, spinning in the air all around him. They graze his armor, shaving off parts of the bulletproof body armor. His dash terminates with an abrupt lunge, and he lands over NOBODY's body. However, that was a terrible move - he needs to straighten himself before taking up NOBODY and rushing to the elevator. Static blots CONTROL's transmissions, but there is one thing static can't wipe out - a Black Hawk helicopter's two 7.62mm Bravo M240 machine guns. Rounds effortlessly perforate the negative-pressure-sealed ceiling. The wave of unrushing Marines stagger, and dust jets from their gear as the rounds eviscerate them. The tangle of camoflague-armored bodies stumble and fall, scattering blood and dust all over the place. CHAZZ, however, is too immersed in his terror. With his brief respite, he grasps NOBODY's prone figure, and sprints into the conveniently opened elevator car. Then, his fingers splay over the buttons in his adrenaline rush, and the car descends. However, they have just fled from a rescue party. The Black Hawk's machine-guns continue churning, spilling apart the masonry. An RPG clears a hole, scattering the ceiling's constituent chunks all across the floor. There are twisted iron beams, concrete with support beams and electrical wires, all tossed across the floor. Marines, however, begin to jump down from the Black Hawk. They assuredly land with a flexing of their knees, then duck and begin to sprint to locations all across the destroyed lab, searching for hostiles or friendlies.'' ''Above them, RICHTER TWENTY-ONE, the majestic Black Hawk with its rotors whirring, staggers. The pilot and copilot frantically drum their feet as a cold pressure increases at the back of their eyeballs, and blood explodes, reddening their visions. VICTOR-13 plummets like a stone, planting itself in the wrecks of the lab, tossing even more roof material and laboratory ceiling into the mess of sample racks, freezers, and fume foods. Then, it detonates in a titanic conflagaration, wiping out the entire Marine squad.''
 * JAMES: "Zulu One to Control. Four tangos at the lab have just been eliminated. Looks like NATO Marines, or others dressed in NATO Marine armor."
 * JAMES: "Confirming lab is secure. Control, I thought that you said that Red Squad had a fire team posted at the bottom of the elevator shaft, not at the top."
 * CONTROL: "That was what they last logged with me, Zulu One. However, you should check the corpses to be sure.''
 * CHAZZ: "Yeah? Why the hell are we checking those? They gotta be Red Squad."
 * NOBODY: "Oh, damn it. Shit!"
 * CONTROL: "Clarify your status, Zulu Four."
 * NOBODY: "The corpses are from the 3rd Battalion, ma'am. Not Red Squad. Hell, from their COM transmissions that we overheard, they were some Stryker element. Stryker One, Stryker Two. Shit."
 * CHAZZ: "What the hell? Then who are these guys? Why the hell didn't they contact us when we came to rescue-"
 * JAMES: "They didn't want to be rescued? This makes no sense?"
 * NOBODY: "Hell, they were all murd-"
 * CONTROL: "They were all killed. RECONSAT confirmed that with infrared imaging."
 * CONTROL: "Zulu Team? Zulu Team? I'm picking up infrared contacts charging into the lab. Do you need evac? I can scramble a Black Hawk to your location, and a rescue team can pick you up in-"
 * CHAZZ: "ZULU TEAM! OUT! GODDAMIT, GET OUT!"
 * VICTOR-13: "Victor-13 here. You two, secure the entrance! Dispersion pattern Alpha!"
 * VICTOR-17: "Go! Go!"
 * VICTOR-16: "Make secure."
 * CONTROL: "Zulu Team was just spotted here. They are three commandoes in heavy camoflagued armor. Confirm your targets before you shoot, Victors."
 * VICTOR-13: "10-4. Fireteams, any reports?"
 * RICHTER TWENTY-ONE: "Whoa...whoa...shi-"
 * VICTOR-13: "Sir? Oh, fu-"

Central R&D Facility Subbasement Five

''ESEMONO is blankly staring at the dull walls of the recently-dried concrete-walled room. NELSON is ferociously struggling against his bonds while IDAHO does not resist. His flesh and bones sag, and the cold weight of death presses against his stomach and his uneasiness begins to erupt to terror. Abruptly ESEMONO turns to DELTA-22.'' ''NELSON's eyes widen as his feet bang more vigorously against the wall and the shackles. However, IDAHO just cooly stares at ESEMONO.'' ''ESEMONO smiles very slightly, with grimness...and perhaps reluctance? Sorrow?'' ESEMONO's voice heaves, almost longingly. ESEMONO turns, makes concise hand signals to his DARTs.
 * ESEMONO: "Delta, tell your men to rendezvous at our location. We're moving out. Delta-19?"
 * DELTA-19: "Sir."
 * ESEMONO: "Activate the worm and delete the...relevant files."
 * IDAHO: "There will be others that come to investigate Gemini. They'll find us, you know, and eventually, the wheels of justice shall tear those that obstruct them apart."
 * ESEMONO: "A rescue force is already here..."
 * ESEMONO: "I am sorry, but I have my orders."

NATO North American HQ The CANADIAN SECRETARY OF STATE clears his throat. KWARSH pauses. The MEXICAN SECRETARY OF DEFENSE's eyes narrow. KWARSH clears his own throat. Eyebrows perk. The CANADIAN SECRETARY OF STATE stands in utter outrage. The CANADIAN SECRETARY OF STATE looks around the conference room. KWARSH pauses. KWARSH sputters, but can say nothing. The politicans look around the room. There are affirming nods, and the CANADIAN SECRETARY OF STATE curtly nods at the AMERICAN GENERAL to call the air strike.
 * KWARSH: "Sirs, after Commander Lynch's presentation and update on the status of Gemini Installation, I am stating my recommendation for the resolution of the situation. Nuclear bombardment."
 * AMERICAN PRESIDENT: "That's toeing the line, Kwarsh. China's just waiting for us to make a little misstep, and then they're gonna plant their boot three feet up NATO's asses."
 * CANADIAN SECRETARY OF STATE: "I concur, General. Any nuclear detonation would...irreversibly change the precarious climate of global affairs right now, and probably for the worst. Do you have any other solutions?"
 * KWARSH: "No, sir. Our rescue forces are attempting to retrieve any survivors and to detonate the EMP weapons, as Commander Lynch has discussed."
 * CANADIAN PRIME MINISTER: "Ah, General. Is there a reason that we do not just withdraw?"
 * KWARSH: "Sir, there still may be survivors from the two original rescue parties."
 * CANADIAN PRIME MINISTER: "Well, have you made contact with any survivors?"
 * KWARSH: "We have had no contact with the aforementioned DART Bravo Team, but we have contact."
 * CANADIAN PRIME MINISTER: "Pray do tell."
 * KWARSH: "We had just one, Mr. Prime Minister...but we lost her."
 * MEXICAN SECRETARY OF DEFENSE: "What do you mean, General, by the words lost her?"
 * KWARSH: "Sir, she escaped custody."
 * AMERICAN PRESIDENT: "What do you mean, Kwarsh, by custody? Did we stage this damn fool op to save soldiers like her?"
 * KWARSH: "My apologies for the confusion, Mr. President. To be clear, however, sir, we believe that she is the source for these extraordinary phenomena, although this is not confirmed."
 * CANADIAN SECRETARY OF STATE: "What? You allowed this...this...paranormal woman to ESCAPE YOUR GRASP?"
 * KWARSH: "Sir, we are unsure of her identity, but she is responsible for the murders of the force that was tasked with taking her into custody - twenty Marines and two Black Hawks."
 * CANADIAN SECRETARY OF STATE: "Isn't that the god damn definition of paranormal, General!"
 * KWARSH: "Sir, with all due res-"
 * MEXICAN GENERAL: "Ah, dammit. There is no normal person that could simply eliminate such an extraordinary guard. This woman is the source. General, I'm supposing that conventional weapons would not work?"
 * KWARSH: "I think that's pushing the matter a bit too far ahead right now, Vasquez. We have no definitive proof that-"
 * CANADIAN SECRETARY OF STATE: "The destruction of twenty soldiers and two helicopters definately counts as such. We need a clear vaporization of this place."
 * CANADIAN SECRETARY OF STATE: "Air strike?"
 * KWARSH: "With all due respect, sir, isn't an air strike a conventional-"
 * AMERICAN SECRETARY OF STATE: "General Kwarsh, we have no choice. It's the next step down from nuking that fragging place. If your logic is true, anyways, nothing short of another supernatural force could destroy this paranormal woman. If an air strike won't work, a nuke won't work either."
 * KWARSH: "But, sir, a nuke has a far greater yie-"
 * MEXICAN PRIME MINISTER: "You've overstepped your bounds, General. You're here to inform us of the situation and issue a recommendation, not to set policy."
 * AMERICAN GENERAL: "Sirs, the Air Force has several bombers in the vicinity. I can scramble a MOAB attack."
 * CANADIAN SECRETARY OF STATE: "So that's the consensus, then, ladies and gentlemen?"

Primary Manufacturing Facility

''The elevator with ZULU TEAM dings melodically, and CHAZZ stumbles out, NOBODY draped over his shoulder. It is a dank lobby, with blood and shells littered across the floor and faint light sifting through the ravaged lightning above. The CHAZZ is completely overwhelmed, folding at his feet as he hastily dumps NOBODY onto the floor and the elevator shuts behind him. However, the macabre scene before him's significance suddenly rams itself into his head.'' ''The corpses of one of RED SQUAD's fire teams are draped across the elevator room. The ornately-made elevator doors, inlaid with gold and the walls made from marble, are smeared with blood as when the Jews painted sheep blood on their doorways during the ancient Passover. The eyes of RED ONE, the visor released, hauntingly stare at the CHAZZ, rimmed with red, the light gone from them and the eyes each looking at a different angle. With horror, the CHAZZ steps back...to find the corpse of RED TWO...he is trembling, hysterically wailing. He has been psychologically broken. Meanwhile, NOBODY's limp limbs jerk next to him. With horror, the CHAZZ leaps up, away from the bodies. Hollow voices cry around him and ghostly figures behind to drift into his sight...bones, skulls, in ethereal light...he trembles slightly, but then finds that it was just his eyes and mind overreacting. NOBODY shakes himself, lazily slaps himself in the helmet, and then stands.'' ''The three bloodied corpses and the blood smears over the wall, the congealing darkness that paints the surfaces, comes into NOBODY's vision, and he feels the coldness of horror sink into his intenstines. NOBODY staggers backwards, horrified.'' Static gently rustles, and CHAZZ slumps back on one of the few unbloodied walls, defeated. ''NOBODY blankly stares at CHAZZ - the gruesome images, the realization of paranormal activity, all have shaves off his endurance. He is almost catatonic, for the fact that a supernatural force exists utterly shocks him. He can not comprehend such a dire power. Abruptly, one of the elevators ding. The two SPEARs look at each other, abruptly scatter for cover to either side of the elevator door. They wonder perhaps if it is the Paranormal...but they know that no matter where they are, they are within its tenacious grasp. However, it is not the supernatural force, but one of Esemono's DARTs - DELTA-14. CHAZZ stares at the armored boot as the black-armored soldier steps out from the elevator. The Delta's machine-gun barrel tilts as he observes the room, and as his eyes find CHAZZ in his woeful cover, NOBODY, fueled by that adrenaline that is seizing him with vigor and madness, lunges at DELTA-14.'' ''His face is brutally mashed into the floor, and DELTA-14 feels something go loose in his nose as a buzz of static injects itself into the transmission. He grunts slightly, and with a cliche click, CHAZZ arms his combat sidearm, levels it at his visor as NOBODY continues straddling DELTA-14. DELTA-14 understands.'' CHAZZ and NOBODY pause, look at each other while the black-armored DART worms, gnashing his teeth as he grunts out the words. ''The COM line clicks off, and DELTA-14 grunts, blood running down his face as NOBODY repeatedly bashs his face into the floor. The CHAZZ, meanwhile, stands back, surveilling the room for targets.'' ''DELTA-14 hesitates, and NOBODY releases his visor control, and forcefully slams the face again. There is an acute yell of pain, and DELTA-14 looks upwards with blood-stained cheeks.'' CHAZZ stares at him. ''Suddenly, NOBODY realizes he operated too much on instinct, and that this could be one of the Deltas from the surviving team. Ice once again settles in him. He slightly releases his grip in shock, and then DELTA-14 lunges at him, clawing at NOBODY like a brawler. The CHAZZ merely unloads his pistol's clip, sending blood and cracking bone and flesh jetting from the perforations in DELTA-14's armor with each successive blast. DELTA-14 crumples over NOBODY, his blood smeared all over NOBODY. NOBODY is furious, the blood spattered all over his crumpled camoflague armor.'' CHAZZ, with a false pretense of calmness, reloads his sidearm, tucks it away and wrests his sniper rifle out, which is diagonally placed samurai-style on his back. It slightly elevates NOBODY's spirits as he checks the unit badge for DELTA-14. ''NOBODY looks up, wringing his machine-gun in his bloodied globes, weary. He jerks his thumb.'' CHAZZ stares incredulously for a moment. CHAZZ gives a mock reprimand, but his mind is troubled... NOBODY shrugs innocently. ''CHAZZ eyes the shoulder patch: a dark circle, with a semicircle of dark crimson. Inscribed upon the line of the red/black semicircles are the words: 7th SFOD-D. Directly underneath is a small eye. CHAZZ stares blankly.'' They both pause, remembering their experiences, the blood, gore, assassinations. ''CHAZZ and NOBODY eye the elevator that DELTA-14 was walking towards. CHAZZ shoulders his sniper rifle.''
 * CHAZZ: "Oh. My. God."
 * NOBODY: "Whoa. Where are w-"
 * NOBODY: "Oh, DAMN IT! SHIT! CONTROL, COME IN!"
 * CHAZZ: "Shit. We can't get in contact with Control, there are Marine corpses at our feet, and a bunch of Marine bitches that shot up two of our men.
 * DELTA-14: "Delta-14 here. I'm-"
 * DELTA-22: "Delta-22 to Delta-14. What is your op status? We are Eclipse Status."
 * DELTA-14: "I'm en route to your position, sir."
 * DELTA-22: "Copy that. The Old Man and the rest of the Deltas will be waiting for you."
 * NOBODY: "This doesn't have to hurt. Who the hell are you, and who's your commander?"
 * DELTA-14: "Who the fuck are you? I'm a NATO Delta Recon operative, and you've just unlawfully tortured a federal agent for-"
 * CHAZZ: "A rogue operative, because-"
 * NOBODY: "Damn it! That DART's fricking crazy! Were you like this when you were a Delta, sir?"
 * CHAZZ: "Hell, no. What unit is he in? Dammit, they fight like politicians about to get arrested for insider trading."
 * NOBODY: "Some 7th SFOD-D unit."
 * NOBODY: "You know what that is?"
 * CHAZZ: "What the hell? 7th SFOD-D?"
 * NOBODY, sarcastically: "Yes, sir."
 * CHAZZ: "NATO doesn't reveal it too much anymore, but the military code-name for Delta Assault Recon is SFOD-D. Special Forces Operational Detachment-Delta. There's the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd. The 4th is still in intensive training or are the ones from the three previous branches just rotated out off of active duty because of medical injuries or whatever. However, there's no 7th."
 * NOBODY: "What it says on the shoulder patch."
 * CHAZZ: "Shit. That wasn't a friendly, but some crazy-ass black op guy...one that wasn't one of the first or second rescue parties."
 * NOBODY: "Sir, all DARTs are black ops."
 * CHAZZ: "Yeah, but a unit that even a black ops soldier wouldn't know? Doubly black ops shit. Do you remember the guy's words? Regarding the 'Old Man' and the 'other Deltas'?"
 * CHAZZ: "We're going in."

Act XVIII: Aggressive Recon
''The elevator car slows to a halt, gears and pullies rumbling. The smell of newly-applied paint permeates the noses of CHAZZ and NOBODY. As the car creeks, as dead wood does in a storm, abruptly, the elevator speeds forward swiftly, and the lights flicker. There's a screeching sound from above...the Paranormal? CHAZZ and NOBODY whirl to face the ceiling, when a bloodied corpse falls.'' ''NOBODY takes the time to eye the corpse, examine it. It is a woman in cyan work overalls and a beret cap on her closely-cropped hair. He leans over, observing the thick line of blood spatter across her lacerated throat.'' ''The elevator car, as if erratic and jittery, slows again. However, there are not the dings signifying a door opening. The elevator settles, and gears whirr outside. Then, with swift speed once again, the elevator car whips sideways. CHAZZ stumbles against the walls, braces himself from the sudden change in direction.''
 * CHAZZ, reflexively: "WHAT THE FUCK?"
 * NOBODY: "Construction Corps. Why the hell would she be tucked into the ceiling boards of an elevator?"
 * CHAZZ: "Pretty fucking good hiding spot."
 * CHAZZ: "Shit. A sideways elevator?"

Central R&D Facility Subbasement Five

''DELTA-5 and DELTA-6 stand a wary watch over the writhing forms of NELSON and IDAHO in the "Gray Room" while ESEMONO and DELTA-22 confer two rooms away in a barely furnished room with the similar fast-setting concrete walls, and several laptops and communications array scattered across the floor of the room. Two further Deltas, DELTA-26 and DELTA-27, are at the mouth of the room, guarding it while DELTA-22 collects the equipment and ESEMONO reclines against the wall, speaking.'' DELTA-22 firmly shakes his head while gathering a pair of tactical COM transcievers into a rough cardboard box that says Recycle Today! on the outside. ESEMONO gives a prolonged, heartfelt sigh, as if that breath of air could expel the toxins built within him, the tension. ''Abruptly, one of the three elevators in the room adjacent the COM room flashes a crimson light, and the door retracts...to reveal NOBODY and CHAZZ. DELTA-27 stares at the intruders for a moment, and then a shotgun torrent from NOBODY impales his chest, killing him as CHAZZ similarly downs his target with a sniper rifle. Epithets erupt from the gathered DARTs as DELTA-14 realizes the danger. He reaches for the door that could bar the intruders' assault, and realizes there is none. NOBODY and CHAZZ storm the room. DELTA-14 opens fire, and a line of bullet tears wildly at NOBODY, who groans, and crumples, blood splattering from his body. Meanwhile, CHAZZ fires his sniper with deadly autonomy, dropping DELTA-14 even as NOBODY slumps down as well. CHAZZ wheels to face ESEMONO, and recognition flares within him as his synapes whirr and click. ESEMONO reaches for his sidearm, and CHAZZ is left at an impasse - he was sent to retrieve ESEMONO, but the General was pulling a gun on him...CHAZZ snaps out with a kick, sending the unarmored NATO officer to the ground. CHAZZ, with a serious expression, kicks away ESEMONO's pistol, levels his own at ESEMONO's head as he thrashes weakly on the ground.'' ESEMONO tries to stand on the floor, but CHAZZ brutally rams the butt of his pistol into ESEMONO's back of his head, sending him sprawling. ''ESEMONO's eyes light with both passionate anger and also...redemption? His tossings about slow, and his body stiffens as he remains face-down on the floor. His voice is raspy as he gargles something inarticulate...and CHAZZ horrifyingly sees a slender shadow appear before him: a machine-gun barrel. Or more accurately, a pair.''
 * ESEMONO: "A damn shame that we lost all those DARTs, Delta-22. Are the survivors rendezvoused at our position?"
 * DELTA-22: "All but one, sir. Delta-14."
 * ESEMONO: "Start loading your men. Delta-14 can get on at the end of the-"
 * CHAZZ: "Stand down, sir."
 * ESEMONO: "What the fuck?"
 * CHAZZ: "NATO Special Forces, Special Paranormal Encounter Assault Recon. May I ask what you're doing, sir, with unauthorized Delta operatives? We just murdered about four of 'em."
 * DELTA-2: "Don't move. You let the man in front of you go, drop your weapon, and we'll let you go."
 * DELTA-1: "But first, drop the gun."

''Two rooms away, IDAHO powerlessly twists in his bonds. However, when he hears the words and crackles of gunfire...'' ''DELTA-5 roughly kicks IDAHO in his ribs. He explosively releases the air, leaning forward in his bonds, blood droplets dripping from his chapped lips. Some rolls down into his stomach, and he feels the familiar discomfort of hemoglobin digestion.''
 * IDAHO: "OVER HERE! I'M A NATO DAR-"

COM Room

''CHAZZ slowly turns, pistol in hand, facing DELTA-1 and DELTA-2. Both of the DARTs steady their stances with their machine-guns.'' ''DELTA-1 and DELTA-2 remain silent, eyes affixed on CHAZZ. However, with sudden violence, the three elevator doors explode open. Bullets whine in the confined space - NATO Marines that followed the path of ZULU TEAM. Esemono's DARTs surge from nearby room, and the rooms quickly are filled with automatic weapons fire and lethal glittering knife arcs. Bloodied bodies fall. In the havoc, DELTA-2 jabs CHAZZ in the head with his machine-gun, making him twirl as his balance goes off. Even as DELTA-1 finishes CHAZZ, his trigger finger is on his pistol's trigger, holding it down and held there by rigor mortis. The bullets hollow out his chest cavity, and a light film of blood spatters on the far wall as both DELTA-1 and CHAZZ fall dead. DELTA-2 instictively ducks as fire rattles from behind him, hurries and crouches to aid ESEMONO. ESEMONO unevenly stands, but bullets riddle DELTA-2 from behind. ESEMONO, terrified at being unarmored in the midst of a heavy gunfight, lays down again, playing dead. Abruptly, a concealed trapdoor in the COM room opens, and DELTA-7 and DELTA-8 emerge, firing all the way. Three NATO Marines stoically standing in the hallway splay out their arms as the overlapping machine-gun fields of fire annihilate them. Smoke and blood rise from their corpses as further Marines surge intothe room, rifles and shotguns firing all the way as DELTA-7 slumps, rounds entirely perforating him. DELTA-8, however, steps before DELTA-7 and ESEMONO, giving the audacious NATO general the time to bolt and lock the door behind him as DELTA-8 too falls.'' ''Bullets fire against the concealed door, but it is appearant that it is impervious as the bullets do little rather than to scathe off the paint. NOBODY, on the floor and blood expanding rapidly from a wound, groans, however.'' ''Marines scramble to operate on NOBODY as he groans on the floor. The blooding of the floor is extensive as the medics crouch over him. Further Marines level their rifles at the door, and yet another readies an explosive breaching charge.'' A NATO report crackles over COM, and VICTOR-113 pauses.
 * CHAZZ: "Who are you?"
 * VICTOR-113: "Get him!"
 * VICTOR-113: "Shit! Control, we just lost a hostile. One escaped. However, we have a friendly down. Zulu Four."
 * HELEN: "Acknowledged, Victor One One Three. Any other Zulus?"
 * VICTOR-113: "Negative, ma'am."
 * VICTOR-113: "Wait, Control. We have...two NATO Delta operatives. They were taken prisoner and under armed guard. Both are pretty beat up, but they'll definitely live."
 * HELEN: "Patch it over TACVID on Channel Omaha."

NATO North American HQ

''In silence, the Joint Chiefs of Staff and various high-ranking officers and politicians observe the writhing bodies of IDAHO and NELSON, as if they were shimmying worms. A Marine smartly bashes off their chains, and medics swarm the Gray Room, interfacing with TACBIO and already readying AEDs and medical syringes. On other plasma displays, multitudes of NATO Marines span outwards from the elevators, exploring the hitherto unknown underground complex. VICTOR-262 squints at NELSON's and IDAHO's armors.'' VICTOR-249 nods at VICTOR-262's side. The bureaucrats lean closer, observing the spectacle unfolding on the panoramic screens before them in the dimmed light of the Situation Room. ''As IDAHO and NELSON wearily arise and NOBODY is flipped over, medics frantically operating an AED on him, the volts surging through his fluid and being conducted to his myofibers, one of the Marines, VICTOR-153, sets a charge on the door that ESEMONO scurried through. There is a small puff of acrid smoke, and VICTOR-186 roughly slams open the door with a powerful kick...but as if in a catalytic reaction, there is a titanic conflagaration. A billow of fire erupts from that doorway, shaking the base and letting masonry tumble lazily. NOBODY's form is shrouded with debris as the medics lean over him further, attempting to defuse his cardiac arrest admist the gigantic blast.'' KWARSH eyes the screens, mostly tumbling masonry, dead bodies, or riplling static. VICTOR-262 dryly coughs, the sediment accumulating in his throat.
 * VICTOR-262: "This is...Bravo One."
 * VICTOR-249: "That was one of 'em."
 * VICTOR-262: "This is Alpha One."
 * VICTOR-249: "Roge on that, Sarge. Control, Control, this is Watcher. Two allied Delta operatives found and recovered of Alpha and Bravo advance Delta Recon teams."
 * HELEN: "Bravo Zulu, Watcher and all Victor elements."
 * CANADIAN SECRETARY OF DEFENSE: "What the FUCK was that, General?"
 * KWARSH: "An explosive device, sir."
 * CANADIAN SECRETARY OF DEFENSE: "Yeah, I FUCKING figured that out, General! I mean, WHAT THE FUCK JUST HAPPENED?"
 * VICTOR-262: "A bomb."

Act XIIV: One More Time
Central R&D Facility Lobby, improvised medical facility 1820 hours

''IDAHO is weakly perched on a plastic foldable multicolored chair while NELSON is still rinsing his mouth to clear it from blood. NOBODY's limp figure is draped on a stretcher to the side, but he is alive, just barely. He has been administered epinephrine to increase the heart rate, but he is barely conscious, wavering in and out. Many Marine bodies and also that of CHAZZ are enshrouded with gray blankets and stacked on stretchers to the side as Marines scurry in and out of the bombed-out room. G23, an agent of the Intelligence Agency, is wearily standing before them, his blazer dirtied and frayed.'' IDAHO weakly cackles. ''NELSON wearily turns. His armor is all bloodied, his eyes inexplicably drained of their fire, as if leeched of vitality. Each movement for him exacerbates the pain from strained muscles, microfractures in his calcified bone.'' G23 and G007 (another nearby Intelligence agent) immediately swivel their heads, observing him with utmost intensity. NELSON jerks both grime-covered thumbs. G23 and G007 stare at each other with fierce, rapid intensity. NELSON wearily observes the two Intelligence Agency spooks. IDAHO does a reedy imitation of G007. G23 stares acerbicly at IDAHO, who shuts his jaw with an audible click. G007 bites off a curse. IDAHO roars vengefully, a yell that percolates throughout the room. G007 eyes his fellow agent, IDAHO, and NELSON. ''G23 nods approvingly, a bit of unease, but he concurs. The simplest explaination is the most probable - Occam's Razor, the Law of Parsimony, methodological reductionism. The simplest explaination is the most probable. Yet, to ease that slight edge quelling within him, he radios HELEN.'' There's a pause, a slight crackling of static again. Keys tap in the background. There's a pause. HELEN dryly coughs. ''NELSON is understandably distraught. He has made significant sacrifices, just to be undercut like this.'' NELSON is immediately forced to adopt a contrite stance. The CANADIAN PRIME MINISTER hoarsely laughs. NELSON understands the gambit. IDAHO bears a wolf's grin at NELSON. The CANADIAN PRIME MINISTER leaves the channel, leaving HELEN.
 * G23: "Yo."
 * IDAHO: "Yo, whatup jay under the hood?"
 * NELSON: "Dammit, I never shoulda accepted the promotion from Lima Company to this crazy-shit outfit. What the fuck's been going on? First, we get hit my nerve gas, taken prisoner by some fucking DARTs, told by Esemono that-"
 * G007: "Esemono? Soldier, why didn't you report this to High Comm-"
 * NELSON: "'Cuz maybe I just fucking breathed in nerve gas."
 * G23: "General Esemono?"
 * NELSON: "Hmm-hmm. His rank is more like 'jackass', but 'general' figures too."
 * G007: "But where, Colonel, where?"
 * IDAHO: "Hey, man, chillax. You play Halo 2 or something? You're like 'But where, Oracle, where?' I remember that RR used to uber-pwnz me in Xbox Live when-"
 * NELSON: "The underground facility. Esemono and his Deltas had us in chains and were saying something or another that Esemono was denying any part in the weapons test."
 * G007: "DAMN IT! Marines, re-secure the underground base!"
 * NELSON: "What? Isn't Esemono dead or POW by you guys? You stormed the facility..."
 * G23: "And a mysterious figure in an officer's uniform slipped away behind a locked door. When we tried to pursue and engage, the bomb went off. Not sure if you were conscious enough to remember the-"
 * IDAHO: "SHIT! WE LOST THE-"
 * G007: "No way that a bomb of that intensity wouldn't kill him, however. He had maybe ten seconds the run, and he had to take the time to set the bomb, maybe a second or two to run."
 * G23: "Agent G23 transmitting to Control. Could you turn RECONSAT onto the underground complex?"
 * HELEN: "Done. What lenses?"
 * G23: "Infrared."
 * HELEN: "It's a little bit hot from the blast, but the ambient heat's died down a little, although there are pockets of heated air still trapped in the mess. However, if you're asking for any thermal contacts, there are none that are living. It's all quiet. Why? Is there any new intel?"
 * G007: "Yes. Bravo One just reported that General Esemono had unlawfully imprisoned them, but during the confrontation, he have concluded that he was behind the locked door before the explosion."
 * HELEN: "Ah. However, it's all clear. I'll relay this to the General. However, all elements, listen up. There are still several pockets of Marine resistance of unknown origin all across the facility. According to Zulu Team's mission recordings, they are the previous garrison of Gemini Installation. Execute searhch-and-destroy, and then you'll pack up and go before the thing goes off."
 * G23: "What about the air strike?"
 * HELEN: "We've lifted most of the Marines out of here already to reduce organizational complexity so that once the last tangos are cleared, you can run like hell."
 * HELEN: "Alpha One, the General himself have commanded that you lead a Marine squad in the final phase. As well as you, Bravo One."
 * NELSON: "WHAT THE FUCK? I AM NOT FUCKING SHOOTING A GUN ANOTHER TIME IN MY WHOLE GODDAMN LIFE! NO MORE! I'M-"
 * CANADIAN PRIME MINISTER: "Ah, Colonel Nelson."
 * NELSON: "Sir!"
 * CANADIAN PRIME MINISTER: "I have been informed about your exemplary work today, Colonel, in clearing out Gemini Installation."
 * NELSON: "Sir. I try my best, sir."
 * CANADIAN PRIME MINISTER: "Yes, that is evident. In fact, your 'best' is so exceptional, that I, Prime Minister, personally ask you to lead one of the strike forces."
 * NELSON: "Sir, I must decli-"
 * CANADIAN PRIME MINISTER: "Colonel, I assure you, after this, I will see to it that you recieve a full letter of commendation, a panel of the major awards of the NATO Marine Corps, or if you choose, honorable retirement with a full compensative package."
 * NELSON: "With all due respe-"
 * CANADIAN PRIME MINISTER: "Nonsense! Come, Colonel, your troops are already awaiting your chilvarous leadership."
 * NELSON: "Of course, sir."
 * HELEN: "Nice deal, Bravo One."
 * NELSON: "Shit."

Act XIV: Tactical Losses
''The newly formed ALPHA and BRAVO SQUADS, under the leaderships of IDAHO and NELSON respectively, are arrayed before the lobby of the primary R&D site. Several other Marine squads are nearby, but are boarding APCs and Jeeps to reach their destinations. IDAHO wearily eyes NELSON.'' G007 glares with some compassion at ALPHA-4, and then steps with G23 onto the Black Hawk helicopter RICHTER ONE, which lifts off. ''NELSON wearily shifts. He too shares the man's edginess.''
 * IDAHO: "We've come a long way, sir."
 * NELSON: "Yeah, no shit? Fucking uncovering evidence that Esemono tried to fucking murder us to test a paranormal weapon? Realizing one of our former friends and commandoes is some motherfucking supernatural serial killer? Fuck this!"
 * G007: "Where is Caboose anyways?"
 * HELEN: "Nothing on scopes - no non-NATO ground or air traffic has left Gemini Installation. She's probably..."
 * ALPHA-4: "Shit. We're not fucking versusing some fucking supernatural murdering girl, are we?"
 * ALPHA-4: "Oh shit."
 * HELEN: "There have been no reports of paranormal activity for something like over twenty minutes or half an-"
 * ALPHA-10: "Fuck it! Just 'cuz Caboose hasn't decided to kill us all in the last couple of minutes doesn't mean SHE ISN'T GONNA FUCKING FUCK US ALL OVER RIGHT NOW!"
 * RICHTER THREE: "Alpha and Beta Squads, we're 10 seconds out from you. Clear a patch of road, and we'll give you your lift."
 * IDAHO: "Affirmative, Richter Three. Standing by."

1830 hours Inorganic Chemical Storage Facility

''ALPHA SQUAD has been deployed to sweep out the vestiges of the ICSF. RICHTER THREE has just dropped them off, and is now en route to deploy BETA SQUAD at the Water Purification Facility. ALPHA SQUAD is breaking and entering through the rooftop. There is the three-second electronic whine of a charge, and a ragged hole lined with twisted ribbons of burnt metal is birthed: their ticket in. ALPHA SQUAD limberly drops through to the top floor. It is rack upon rack upon rack of stored chemicals...'' There is an awkward pause. ''There is the rustling of armored boots against metal, a slight clang as a Marine inadvertantly impacts a metal shelf. The hostiles swivel, begin indiscriminately firing. 7.62mm assault rifle rounds whine against the metal as ALPHA SQUAD and IDAHO take cover. The Marine who has lost them the element of surprise swears.''
 * IDAHO: "Keep your eyes peeled open, Alphas. There are eight tangos, ten of us. With proper tactics, we'll clear 'em all..."
 * IDAHO: "With, um, no casualties."
 * ALPHA-2: "Copy that. Let's go, men! Move out!"