Back to GatefoldIssue #13 by John Cheese
October 2017 |
“The Cold Hard Truth”
Delphinus Pocket Dimension, Contained somewhere on Earth
The pocket dimension that the grand ring shaped table carved from crystal sat in contained just one room and seven entry points. Those who sat here were considered equals with all powers and technology negated, save for those that allowed to be an exception to the magic and science that allowed such a place to exist. Centred within the table was a holographic-projector, the only way in for those who had no right to sit at the seven chairs in the room. Usually this neutral space was unused, but something important in regards to the conspirators who owned the dimension had forced six of their number to gather here, there bodyguards standing behind each chair, purposefully kept out of the light the table gave off.
Sitting at the grandest chair was the Chairman, a mysterious figure whose face was covered by an operatic mask, to his right was Cenuturius the armoured genius and the scientific counterpart to the man to his left, both of whom had formed the Conspiracy decades ago to further their goals. The others seated here were newer members; the elderly frame of Baron von Blitzschlag, the coifed and elegant form of Sunset Bain, the bright tones and sinister mechanisation of Zebadiah Kilgrave AKA the Purple Man and the hooded man of mystery the Hooded Haunt, a demonic exile locked out of his kingdom by the isolation of Earth from both heaven and hell. The seventh chair was empty, not because the one who sat there had ignored his summons, but rather because he was standing in the centre giving his report.
“Firefight, I assume you have acted on the evidence that Façade gathered.” Centurius stated as he waved his hands over the crystal, an image of Crossfire appearing on the surface in-front of each of the ‘board members’. “This man is looking to destroy us and take what we built for his own. And while we have faced threats to our anonymity before, none have gathered resources as fast as this one and aimed them all at us.”
“I have assembled a team based on his security’s strengths and weaknesses.” The armoured mercenary standing in the middle of the holographic projector replied. “And I see that Miss Bain has started fermenting discord through their ranks using one Gillette Wilkinson AKA the Headhunter.”
“Does this woman knowingly work for us?” The Hooded Haunt asked, his voice sounding like the screams of a man being tortured.
“No, although I suspect she and the others would be open to recruitment as part of our senior level security package once Crossfire has been terminated.” Sunset Bain replied as she ran her hand over her own crystal, the table gleaming with blue light as a weapon was teleported from her office at Baintronics and into the pocket dimension. “As promised the additional firepower you requested, this is the first of the new Quantum Destabilizer Cannons that Baintronics is synthesising from the prototype stolen from RAID.”
(As seen throughout Issues #1 to 3 of Villains for Hire. It’s also the thing that catalysed this problem in the first place.)
“Hardware is all well and good.” Kilgrave sighed in a bored voice as he stifled a yawn and a bored looking half smile on his face. “What do we have in manpower?”
“As I said, I have a team. We learnt a lot from our first assassination attempt in Siberia, as well as our observations in Niganda thanks to the Baron’s successful manipulation of Iron Hand Hauptman and his followers.” Firefight replied as multiple holographic figures appeared on the desk. “This team is designed to operate in cold climates and counter the security Crossfire has hired. I also took the liberty of requesting something off of our biological weapons line.”
“You’re reasoning for using an untested agent against the gravest threat to our security in years?” Blitzschlag asked as Firefight’s hologram blinked out and was replaced by a glowing green man sized canister labelled with warning stickers and loading instructions.
“Because it hates them.” Firefight stated as a three four taloned hand was slammed against the glass, a slight glimpse of the creature insides bulk offered to those watching the feed. “And because it’s personal.”
# # # # #
Mc Murdo Station, Ross Island, Antarctica
The RAID Gunship came screaming out of the low cloud as it dived towards the airstrip blasted from the snow without as much as a whisper coming over the radio. Holding onto one of the roof mounted straps Headhunter snuck a peak through one of the gunports and saw that a C17 cargo plane was sitting just off the runway, signifying that there was crew in the station below. Silently she confirmed in her head that Crossfire had lost it, the plan was to attract as little attention as possible, and buzzing the largest base on the continent was not the way to keep operations clandestine.
“Is this a combat landing?” Lodestone asked as she eyed the armoured gauntlet sitting over her skeletal stone hand.
“Nah, the Antarctic Treaty prohibits bringing firearms onto the continent.” Chemistro replied as he looked over at the handgun holstered on Crossfire’s belt. “Although I think we may have just broken that rule.” He added, as the Gunship landed next to the C17, the yellow armoured plating sticking out like a sore thumb in the field of white and grey it found itself in. “Uh so what’s the plan?” He asked as Crossfire opened the back ramp to reveal a fire-team of four individuals dressed in cold weather gear armed with shotguns.
“Capybara, Piranha and Mara!” One of the fireteam yelled as Crossfire gestured for his team to lower their weapons.
“Jaguar, Caiman and Caracara.” Crossfire replied, his words causing one of the men to lower their weapons. “Caracal, Leopard and Hyena.” He stated, as the rest of the villains looked around with confused looks on their face, and more than one of them grabbed a thermal lined coat to combat the cold air creeping through the open hatch.
“Springhare, Impala and Oryx.” The fireteam leader answered. “Welcome back Boss.” He added as the rest of his men lowered their weapons. “As promised the defence systems are in place ready to shoot down any hostile aircraft, all we need is your access key.”
“Wait who are these people!” Headhunter spat, as Crossfire stalked out into the snow, the rest of his men following him out into the cold.
“The research team meant to be here.” Crossfire replied as the guards gestured towards one of the buildings, an army of snow-suited workers descending on the gunship and removing the cargo stored there and moving it into the C17. “I’ve spent the last few months reaching out to them and making them mine. They will be our shield when we head inland that will shoot our enemies out of the sky.”
“So you amassed an army without telling us…” Spear said, his eyes fixed on the nearest of the workers as they carried a portable hyper communications station over to the C17.
“Of course, I needed complete control to prevent compromise infecting our defences.” Crossfire replied. “Gillette and I will activate the defences, Chemistro if you and Spear make sure the stations communication is locked down, the rest of you can supervise…”
“I’ll handle communications with Spear.” Headhunter interrupted. “No offence Chemistro but I have more experience with these kind of systems.”
“No problem with me.” Chemistro grunted. “Looks like I’m with you boss.” He added, as Crossfire shot Headhunter a baleful stare, before stalking away towards the main base. Not taking her eyes off him, Gillette waited for him to be out of her eye line before heading to the communications tower, Spear traipsing through the snow in her wake. Climbing the three flights in silence, as soon as Gillette entered the room with a heavy bang, her eyes were already blazing with a scarlet glow.
“Leave!” She hissed in a voice that was colder than the ice outside. Robotically the crew inside walked out leaving the room empty save for the two villains. Checking the systems, Gillette turned to look Spear in the eyes, his body trembling as his brain registered what was happening in the two seconds he had free will. “Who do you work for!?” Gillette hissed.
“Cross.” Spear grunted.
“Tell me the truth!” Gillette ordered, anger replacing the coldness in her voice.
“Cross.” Spear cried, as blood seeped through the ventilation of his helmet.
“Tell me!”
“Cross.” Spear sobbed as he held his head in pain. The sight of him shuddering scared and hurt caused Gillette to release her hold on him, she had her answer set in stone and there was no need for further cruelty.
“I’m sorry Daniels.” She sighed as she removed his helmet and looked at her teammates bleeding nose and gums, his eyes popping from the full force mental assault she had unleashed on him. “I had to be sure.”
“Sure of what?” Daniels groaned, as Gillette awkwardly went to wipe the blood from his face, only to see a pistol sized dart gun pointed at her throat.
“There’s a mole on the team.” She answered, her hand retracting. “Someone is working for someone else, someone who is an enemy.”
“Bullshit!” Daniels spat, as he struggled to his feet. “Why would any of the guys work against Cross?”
“Because Cross is lying about what the mission is.” Gillette told him, “He confided in me when I brought the cerebral transmitter I had removed from my brain to him. Chances are that you have one as well.”
“I’m meant to believe this, you just psychically attacked me.” Daniels replied as he ran his free hand along his hairline. “For all I know you’re the mole.”
“Then I’m a crap mole for putting myself at your mercy, and for not using my powers to defuse this.” Gillette stated as she dared to get to her feet. “Tell me you haven’t noticed any weird behaviour from the others, no weird pairings suddenly forming in the last few days.”
“Sneed and Makro.” Daniels sighed as he holstered his pistol.
“Calvin and Lodestone too.” Gillette added as Daniels looked at her with equal parts horror and disbelief. “They were being quite friendly before we left, I don’t think it was anything serious but the timing is suspicious.”
“You forgot one.” Daniels sighed as he whipped the blood off his face with the sleeve of his uniform. “Spear and Headhunter. I don’t trust you’re not the mole, but if we stick together you can watch the others, and I can watch you.”
“Fair enough, we can eliminate them as suspects the same way I eliminated you, but we need to do it as a group, it will give the mole less of a chance to slip the net.” Gillette told him as she picked up Daniels helmet and handed it to him. “We can’t afford a slip up this close to the end of the mission, we need to figure out what Cross’s game is.”
“Not to mention how to get out ahead.” Daniels added as the pair of them looked down at the two aircraft parked on the snow below them, Crossfire directing his men in their final preparations, their team-mates standing steadfast at his side, seemingly loyal but all capable of treachery.
# # # # #
The stay at McMurdo didn’t last long, barely two hours with just enough time for Crossfire and his crew to check their gear, grab a hot drink and get forty winks. The base personnel were accommodating enough, but they also quashed any plan to determine who the mole was, simply because they could be anyone, and they were everywhere. The original plan had been for Lodestone to transport the surplus gear to the site that Crossfire had designated Jotun’s Gate, but her reduction in power had changed the plan, with said surplus gear now loaded onto the C17 and the crew split across the two vehicles. With Headhunter riding up front with Crossfire, there was again no chance to determine which of the villains on the modified aircraft, now slaved to the navigation module of the stolen gunship, was the mole. Upon departure the atmosphere in the cargo plane had been toxic, two hours later when it landed at the thermos-blasted runway, it was absolutely fetid.
“Welcome to the start of a new age!” Crossfire announced as the villains departed off of their aircraft, a massive mountain of ice standing before them, its summit clouded by swirling snow.
“Great a lump of snow in a sea of…snow!” Spear spat as he shot a look at Headhunter, only for her to shake her head, it obviously wasn’t time yet.
“Perhaps.” Crossfire replied coyly. “Mauler, Chemistro, Makro use your thermal weapons to melt the cover, if my predictions are correct then the entrance is right in front of us.” He ordered as the three villains stepped forward, weapons drawn and light with a dull orange glow. Seconds later the Mauler’s flamethrowers sparked to life, followed by the bright white beam of Chemistro’s alchemy pistol and twin red beams from Makro’s tentacles, the villainess choosing to wear a set of thermal lined trousers and jacket rather than her usual skimpy outfit. After a minute of continuous output the snow slid off the front of the mound to reveal a massive entrance, one so big that had it been open they could have flown the C17 through it, carved from jet black stone.
“What kind of Indiana Jones crap is this Cross?” Shockwave asked as he silently began assessing the structure for any sign of defences. “This continent is meant to be barren!”
“Just as the re-discovery of the Savage Land a few years back showed life had once flourished here, so does this temple.” Crossfire explained. “It has been uncovered before in 1944 when the OSS and a small strike team of costumed crime-fighters prevented the Thule Society, the most ancient and conniving of HYDRA’s sects from activating the device inside left by those who built it.”
“And they are?” Spear asked.
“Banished back to their realm of frost and tundra.” Crossfire answered before smiling slightly. “Take it all in because you’ll be the last people to see it. Shockwave, Chemistro I want the temple wired to blow as soon as we leave. I want scorched earth and a heat blossom so fierce that the snow doesn’t settle for days. I, we can’t stay here indefinitely and I don’t want this falling into the hands of our enemies.”
“Got it.” Chemistro replied as he walked back to the C17 to grab a set of alchemy mines from one of the crates inside.
“Doyle with me, I need your suit to boost the activation signal that we’ll be sending out. Grab one of the hyper-communications pack and meet me inside.” Cross ordered as the others looked at Doyle with looks ranging from envy to distrust. “The rest of you are security, let no one in or out unless they are one of our own.” He added as the Mauler grabbed one of the packs and trudged towards the temple, Crossfire following in his wake. After a few seconds the others followed, their arms filled with charges, detonators and mines, their minds turned to the demolition of the impressive structure and its ice columned interior.
As Chemistro and Shockwave went to place the charges, Spear looked over at Headhunter as she sidled up next to Makro and saw her give a slight nod, a micro-syringe hidden up her sleeve. Wandering over to Lodestone, his hand resting on the handle of his trident, Spear returned the nod, only for his intended victim to catch sight of the over gesture.
“Why are you bobbing your head like an idiot?” Lodestone asked, her query causing Spear to freeze for a second.
“Shit!” He swore as he spun the trident round and caught Lodestone on the temple, the blow staggering her before she could quite realise what was happening. “Gillette they know!” He yelled, his words causing Makro to leap to one side, her sudden move causing Headhunter’s attack to go wide. Seconds later Makro retaliated and grabbed Headhunter with her mechanical arms and slam her face first into the stone floor of the temple. Forgetting his target, Spear grabbed his launcher and fired a spear at the former Hand assassin, only for her to catch the projectile mid-flight and snap it with one of her free tentacles.
“Guys they’ve gone rouge!” Lodestone yelled, her words causing Chemistro and Shockwave to cease their mine-laying duties and come charging in. Angrily Spear went to elbow her in the face only for an invisible force to knock him off balance and send him spinning into one of the pillars.
“Hold her still Makro!” Chemistro ordered, as he advanced on where the Headhunter was thrashing in her captors grasp. Aiming down the sight of his pistol he opened fire, just as Headhunter put her hand on Makro’s head and flipped over her shoulders, the burst of energy hitting the woman, her clothes burning and bubbling as they were turned into industrial grade acid. Taking her chance Gillette broke free as Chemistro attempted to reverse his mistake by applying a neutralizing agent to his team-mates skin, her flesh burnt by the transmutation of her clothes.
“You screwing us over Daniels!” Shockwave yelled, as he slammed a fist down at where Spear was lying, only for the assassin to roll out the way. “Are you such an idiot that you couldn’t wait until we became kings of the world?” He asked as Spear got to his feet and twirled his spear in a defensive arc.
“I’m the only one I know who ain’t the mole!” Spear spat as he backed towards one of the mined columns. “You’re the one who’s probably the traitor, jumping ship from RAID at the first chance you got.” With a hissing snarl, Shockwave threw a punch at his opponent’s head, electricity sparking on his fist, only for his target to duck, the blow striking one of the charges attached to the column. “Crap.” He whispered as the charge exploded before starting a chain reaction, the timers counting down. “Run you idiots!” He swore, as he saw the other villains standing around looking on in shock, before heading to the exit. The others didn’t need any other invitation and followed as quickly as they could as the temple’s atrium collapsed around them, before just as the last member escaped, the entrance caved in, blocking further access to the other chambers inside.
“Cross…” Headhunter wheezed, “…he….he was inside.”
“Why do you care?” Lodestone spat as she levitated one of Spear’s projectiles out of his quiver and held it to Headhunter’s throat. “You two are traitors!”
“So is the Mole!” Spear spat, as he got to his feet again only to be knocked down by Sneed, his armoured boot placed on the marksman’s chest.
“This again.” Shockwave sighed as Spear squirmed underfoot. “What mole?”
“The one who put the listening devices in our brain.” Headhunter told him as she looked down the shaft of the spear pointed at her. “I had mine removed when I began to feel feedback when I was using my powers.”
“This is bull!” Chemistro swore, as Makro cocked her head to one side.
“It’s not.” Makro stated. “Or at least they both believe it to be so.”
“Uh how can you figure that out?” Lodestone asked.
“In the Hand we were taught to discern lies from the truth via up to twenty vocal, physiological and behaviour traits.” Makro explained. “Headhunter had eighteen of the traits that suggest she’s telling the truth, Spear has sixteen, but the result is skewed because I can’t see his eyes and mouth.”
“Okay say it’s true, who is the mole? Which one of us would be stupid enough to screw Cross this late in the game?” Shockwave asked as he gestured for Lodestone to drop the spear, as he released Daniels and hoisted him to his feet.
“It may even be Cross himself who’s the mole, although it looks more and more unlikely.” Headhunter replied as Spear let out a long gasp now that he could breathe without an electrified boot on his ribs. “I know it’s not me, and I interrogated Spear at McMurdo so I know he’s not the spy either.”
“I knew you two didn’t have sex in the tower!” Chemistro spat as Spear shrugged slightly. “You’re full of bull.”
“Not about this though.” Spear told him as five hundred meters away the sun glinted off a sniper scope and under-barrel parabolic microphone sticking out of a fake snow drift. Adjusting the feed Firefight lined up a shot on the Headhunter before locking the Arctic Warfare Sniper Rifle into position.
“They’ve stopped fighting.” He stated as the four figures sitting round the glowing green canister got to their feet. “Façade can handle Cross,” He added as he pulled the trigger, “these idiots are ours!”
The pocket dimension that the grand ring shaped table carved from crystal sat in contained just one room and seven entry points. Those who sat here were considered equals with all powers and technology negated, save for those that allowed to be an exception to the magic and science that allowed such a place to exist. Centred within the table was a holographic-projector, the only way in for those who had no right to sit at the seven chairs in the room. Usually this neutral space was unused, but something important in regards to the conspirators who owned the dimension had forced six of their number to gather here, there bodyguards standing behind each chair, purposefully kept out of the light the table gave off.
Sitting at the grandest chair was the Chairman, a mysterious figure whose face was covered by an operatic mask, to his right was Cenuturius the armoured genius and the scientific counterpart to the man to his left, both of whom had formed the Conspiracy decades ago to further their goals. The others seated here were newer members; the elderly frame of Baron von Blitzschlag, the coifed and elegant form of Sunset Bain, the bright tones and sinister mechanisation of Zebadiah Kilgrave AKA the Purple Man and the hooded man of mystery the Hooded Haunt, a demonic exile locked out of his kingdom by the isolation of Earth from both heaven and hell. The seventh chair was empty, not because the one who sat there had ignored his summons, but rather because he was standing in the centre giving his report.
“Firefight, I assume you have acted on the evidence that Façade gathered.” Centurius stated as he waved his hands over the crystal, an image of Crossfire appearing on the surface in-front of each of the ‘board members’. “This man is looking to destroy us and take what we built for his own. And while we have faced threats to our anonymity before, none have gathered resources as fast as this one and aimed them all at us.”
“I have assembled a team based on his security’s strengths and weaknesses.” The armoured mercenary standing in the middle of the holographic projector replied. “And I see that Miss Bain has started fermenting discord through their ranks using one Gillette Wilkinson AKA the Headhunter.”
“Does this woman knowingly work for us?” The Hooded Haunt asked, his voice sounding like the screams of a man being tortured.
“No, although I suspect she and the others would be open to recruitment as part of our senior level security package once Crossfire has been terminated.” Sunset Bain replied as she ran her hand over her own crystal, the table gleaming with blue light as a weapon was teleported from her office at Baintronics and into the pocket dimension. “As promised the additional firepower you requested, this is the first of the new Quantum Destabilizer Cannons that Baintronics is synthesising from the prototype stolen from RAID.”
(As seen throughout Issues #1 to 3 of Villains for Hire. It’s also the thing that catalysed this problem in the first place.)
“Hardware is all well and good.” Kilgrave sighed in a bored voice as he stifled a yawn and a bored looking half smile on his face. “What do we have in manpower?”
“As I said, I have a team. We learnt a lot from our first assassination attempt in Siberia, as well as our observations in Niganda thanks to the Baron’s successful manipulation of Iron Hand Hauptman and his followers.” Firefight replied as multiple holographic figures appeared on the desk. “This team is designed to operate in cold climates and counter the security Crossfire has hired. I also took the liberty of requesting something off of our biological weapons line.”
“You’re reasoning for using an untested agent against the gravest threat to our security in years?” Blitzschlag asked as Firefight’s hologram blinked out and was replaced by a glowing green man sized canister labelled with warning stickers and loading instructions.
“Because it hates them.” Firefight stated as a three four taloned hand was slammed against the glass, a slight glimpse of the creature insides bulk offered to those watching the feed. “And because it’s personal.”
# # # # #
Mc Murdo Station, Ross Island, Antarctica
The RAID Gunship came screaming out of the low cloud as it dived towards the airstrip blasted from the snow without as much as a whisper coming over the radio. Holding onto one of the roof mounted straps Headhunter snuck a peak through one of the gunports and saw that a C17 cargo plane was sitting just off the runway, signifying that there was crew in the station below. Silently she confirmed in her head that Crossfire had lost it, the plan was to attract as little attention as possible, and buzzing the largest base on the continent was not the way to keep operations clandestine.
“Is this a combat landing?” Lodestone asked as she eyed the armoured gauntlet sitting over her skeletal stone hand.
“Nah, the Antarctic Treaty prohibits bringing firearms onto the continent.” Chemistro replied as he looked over at the handgun holstered on Crossfire’s belt. “Although I think we may have just broken that rule.” He added, as the Gunship landed next to the C17, the yellow armoured plating sticking out like a sore thumb in the field of white and grey it found itself in. “Uh so what’s the plan?” He asked as Crossfire opened the back ramp to reveal a fire-team of four individuals dressed in cold weather gear armed with shotguns.
“Capybara, Piranha and Mara!” One of the fireteam yelled as Crossfire gestured for his team to lower their weapons.
“Jaguar, Caiman and Caracara.” Crossfire replied, his words causing one of the men to lower their weapons. “Caracal, Leopard and Hyena.” He stated, as the rest of the villains looked around with confused looks on their face, and more than one of them grabbed a thermal lined coat to combat the cold air creeping through the open hatch.
“Springhare, Impala and Oryx.” The fireteam leader answered. “Welcome back Boss.” He added as the rest of his men lowered their weapons. “As promised the defence systems are in place ready to shoot down any hostile aircraft, all we need is your access key.”
“Wait who are these people!” Headhunter spat, as Crossfire stalked out into the snow, the rest of his men following him out into the cold.
“The research team meant to be here.” Crossfire replied as the guards gestured towards one of the buildings, an army of snow-suited workers descending on the gunship and removing the cargo stored there and moving it into the C17. “I’ve spent the last few months reaching out to them and making them mine. They will be our shield when we head inland that will shoot our enemies out of the sky.”
“So you amassed an army without telling us…” Spear said, his eyes fixed on the nearest of the workers as they carried a portable hyper communications station over to the C17.
“Of course, I needed complete control to prevent compromise infecting our defences.” Crossfire replied. “Gillette and I will activate the defences, Chemistro if you and Spear make sure the stations communication is locked down, the rest of you can supervise…”
“I’ll handle communications with Spear.” Headhunter interrupted. “No offence Chemistro but I have more experience with these kind of systems.”
“No problem with me.” Chemistro grunted. “Looks like I’m with you boss.” He added, as Crossfire shot Headhunter a baleful stare, before stalking away towards the main base. Not taking her eyes off him, Gillette waited for him to be out of her eye line before heading to the communications tower, Spear traipsing through the snow in her wake. Climbing the three flights in silence, as soon as Gillette entered the room with a heavy bang, her eyes were already blazing with a scarlet glow.
“Leave!” She hissed in a voice that was colder than the ice outside. Robotically the crew inside walked out leaving the room empty save for the two villains. Checking the systems, Gillette turned to look Spear in the eyes, his body trembling as his brain registered what was happening in the two seconds he had free will. “Who do you work for!?” Gillette hissed.
“Cross.” Spear grunted.
“Tell me the truth!” Gillette ordered, anger replacing the coldness in her voice.
“Cross.” Spear cried, as blood seeped through the ventilation of his helmet.
“Tell me!”
“Cross.” Spear sobbed as he held his head in pain. The sight of him shuddering scared and hurt caused Gillette to release her hold on him, she had her answer set in stone and there was no need for further cruelty.
“I’m sorry Daniels.” She sighed as she removed his helmet and looked at her teammates bleeding nose and gums, his eyes popping from the full force mental assault she had unleashed on him. “I had to be sure.”
“Sure of what?” Daniels groaned, as Gillette awkwardly went to wipe the blood from his face, only to see a pistol sized dart gun pointed at her throat.
“There’s a mole on the team.” She answered, her hand retracting. “Someone is working for someone else, someone who is an enemy.”
“Bullshit!” Daniels spat, as he struggled to his feet. “Why would any of the guys work against Cross?”
“Because Cross is lying about what the mission is.” Gillette told him, “He confided in me when I brought the cerebral transmitter I had removed from my brain to him. Chances are that you have one as well.”
“I’m meant to believe this, you just psychically attacked me.” Daniels replied as he ran his free hand along his hairline. “For all I know you’re the mole.”
“Then I’m a crap mole for putting myself at your mercy, and for not using my powers to defuse this.” Gillette stated as she dared to get to her feet. “Tell me you haven’t noticed any weird behaviour from the others, no weird pairings suddenly forming in the last few days.”
“Sneed and Makro.” Daniels sighed as he holstered his pistol.
“Calvin and Lodestone too.” Gillette added as Daniels looked at her with equal parts horror and disbelief. “They were being quite friendly before we left, I don’t think it was anything serious but the timing is suspicious.”
“You forgot one.” Daniels sighed as he whipped the blood off his face with the sleeve of his uniform. “Spear and Headhunter. I don’t trust you’re not the mole, but if we stick together you can watch the others, and I can watch you.”
“Fair enough, we can eliminate them as suspects the same way I eliminated you, but we need to do it as a group, it will give the mole less of a chance to slip the net.” Gillette told him as she picked up Daniels helmet and handed it to him. “We can’t afford a slip up this close to the end of the mission, we need to figure out what Cross’s game is.”
“Not to mention how to get out ahead.” Daniels added as the pair of them looked down at the two aircraft parked on the snow below them, Crossfire directing his men in their final preparations, their team-mates standing steadfast at his side, seemingly loyal but all capable of treachery.
# # # # #
The stay at McMurdo didn’t last long, barely two hours with just enough time for Crossfire and his crew to check their gear, grab a hot drink and get forty winks. The base personnel were accommodating enough, but they also quashed any plan to determine who the mole was, simply because they could be anyone, and they were everywhere. The original plan had been for Lodestone to transport the surplus gear to the site that Crossfire had designated Jotun’s Gate, but her reduction in power had changed the plan, with said surplus gear now loaded onto the C17 and the crew split across the two vehicles. With Headhunter riding up front with Crossfire, there was again no chance to determine which of the villains on the modified aircraft, now slaved to the navigation module of the stolen gunship, was the mole. Upon departure the atmosphere in the cargo plane had been toxic, two hours later when it landed at the thermos-blasted runway, it was absolutely fetid.
“Welcome to the start of a new age!” Crossfire announced as the villains departed off of their aircraft, a massive mountain of ice standing before them, its summit clouded by swirling snow.
“Great a lump of snow in a sea of…snow!” Spear spat as he shot a look at Headhunter, only for her to shake her head, it obviously wasn’t time yet.
“Perhaps.” Crossfire replied coyly. “Mauler, Chemistro, Makro use your thermal weapons to melt the cover, if my predictions are correct then the entrance is right in front of us.” He ordered as the three villains stepped forward, weapons drawn and light with a dull orange glow. Seconds later the Mauler’s flamethrowers sparked to life, followed by the bright white beam of Chemistro’s alchemy pistol and twin red beams from Makro’s tentacles, the villainess choosing to wear a set of thermal lined trousers and jacket rather than her usual skimpy outfit. After a minute of continuous output the snow slid off the front of the mound to reveal a massive entrance, one so big that had it been open they could have flown the C17 through it, carved from jet black stone.
“What kind of Indiana Jones crap is this Cross?” Shockwave asked as he silently began assessing the structure for any sign of defences. “This continent is meant to be barren!”
“Just as the re-discovery of the Savage Land a few years back showed life had once flourished here, so does this temple.” Crossfire explained. “It has been uncovered before in 1944 when the OSS and a small strike team of costumed crime-fighters prevented the Thule Society, the most ancient and conniving of HYDRA’s sects from activating the device inside left by those who built it.”
“And they are?” Spear asked.
“Banished back to their realm of frost and tundra.” Crossfire answered before smiling slightly. “Take it all in because you’ll be the last people to see it. Shockwave, Chemistro I want the temple wired to blow as soon as we leave. I want scorched earth and a heat blossom so fierce that the snow doesn’t settle for days. I, we can’t stay here indefinitely and I don’t want this falling into the hands of our enemies.”
“Got it.” Chemistro replied as he walked back to the C17 to grab a set of alchemy mines from one of the crates inside.
“Doyle with me, I need your suit to boost the activation signal that we’ll be sending out. Grab one of the hyper-communications pack and meet me inside.” Cross ordered as the others looked at Doyle with looks ranging from envy to distrust. “The rest of you are security, let no one in or out unless they are one of our own.” He added as the Mauler grabbed one of the packs and trudged towards the temple, Crossfire following in his wake. After a few seconds the others followed, their arms filled with charges, detonators and mines, their minds turned to the demolition of the impressive structure and its ice columned interior.
As Chemistro and Shockwave went to place the charges, Spear looked over at Headhunter as she sidled up next to Makro and saw her give a slight nod, a micro-syringe hidden up her sleeve. Wandering over to Lodestone, his hand resting on the handle of his trident, Spear returned the nod, only for his intended victim to catch sight of the over gesture.
“Why are you bobbing your head like an idiot?” Lodestone asked, her query causing Spear to freeze for a second.
“Shit!” He swore as he spun the trident round and caught Lodestone on the temple, the blow staggering her before she could quite realise what was happening. “Gillette they know!” He yelled, his words causing Makro to leap to one side, her sudden move causing Headhunter’s attack to go wide. Seconds later Makro retaliated and grabbed Headhunter with her mechanical arms and slam her face first into the stone floor of the temple. Forgetting his target, Spear grabbed his launcher and fired a spear at the former Hand assassin, only for her to catch the projectile mid-flight and snap it with one of her free tentacles.
“Guys they’ve gone rouge!” Lodestone yelled, her words causing Chemistro and Shockwave to cease their mine-laying duties and come charging in. Angrily Spear went to elbow her in the face only for an invisible force to knock him off balance and send him spinning into one of the pillars.
“Hold her still Makro!” Chemistro ordered, as he advanced on where the Headhunter was thrashing in her captors grasp. Aiming down the sight of his pistol he opened fire, just as Headhunter put her hand on Makro’s head and flipped over her shoulders, the burst of energy hitting the woman, her clothes burning and bubbling as they were turned into industrial grade acid. Taking her chance Gillette broke free as Chemistro attempted to reverse his mistake by applying a neutralizing agent to his team-mates skin, her flesh burnt by the transmutation of her clothes.
“You screwing us over Daniels!” Shockwave yelled, as he slammed a fist down at where Spear was lying, only for the assassin to roll out the way. “Are you such an idiot that you couldn’t wait until we became kings of the world?” He asked as Spear got to his feet and twirled his spear in a defensive arc.
“I’m the only one I know who ain’t the mole!” Spear spat as he backed towards one of the mined columns. “You’re the one who’s probably the traitor, jumping ship from RAID at the first chance you got.” With a hissing snarl, Shockwave threw a punch at his opponent’s head, electricity sparking on his fist, only for his target to duck, the blow striking one of the charges attached to the column. “Crap.” He whispered as the charge exploded before starting a chain reaction, the timers counting down. “Run you idiots!” He swore, as he saw the other villains standing around looking on in shock, before heading to the exit. The others didn’t need any other invitation and followed as quickly as they could as the temple’s atrium collapsed around them, before just as the last member escaped, the entrance caved in, blocking further access to the other chambers inside.
“Cross…” Headhunter wheezed, “…he….he was inside.”
“Why do you care?” Lodestone spat as she levitated one of Spear’s projectiles out of his quiver and held it to Headhunter’s throat. “You two are traitors!”
“So is the Mole!” Spear spat, as he got to his feet again only to be knocked down by Sneed, his armoured boot placed on the marksman’s chest.
“This again.” Shockwave sighed as Spear squirmed underfoot. “What mole?”
“The one who put the listening devices in our brain.” Headhunter told him as she looked down the shaft of the spear pointed at her. “I had mine removed when I began to feel feedback when I was using my powers.”
“This is bull!” Chemistro swore, as Makro cocked her head to one side.
“It’s not.” Makro stated. “Or at least they both believe it to be so.”
“Uh how can you figure that out?” Lodestone asked.
“In the Hand we were taught to discern lies from the truth via up to twenty vocal, physiological and behaviour traits.” Makro explained. “Headhunter had eighteen of the traits that suggest she’s telling the truth, Spear has sixteen, but the result is skewed because I can’t see his eyes and mouth.”
“Okay say it’s true, who is the mole? Which one of us would be stupid enough to screw Cross this late in the game?” Shockwave asked as he gestured for Lodestone to drop the spear, as he released Daniels and hoisted him to his feet.
“It may even be Cross himself who’s the mole, although it looks more and more unlikely.” Headhunter replied as Spear let out a long gasp now that he could breathe without an electrified boot on his ribs. “I know it’s not me, and I interrogated Spear at McMurdo so I know he’s not the spy either.”
“I knew you two didn’t have sex in the tower!” Chemistro spat as Spear shrugged slightly. “You’re full of bull.”
“Not about this though.” Spear told him as five hundred meters away the sun glinted off a sniper scope and under-barrel parabolic microphone sticking out of a fake snow drift. Adjusting the feed Firefight lined up a shot on the Headhunter before locking the Arctic Warfare Sniper Rifle into position.
“They’ve stopped fighting.” He stated as the four figures sitting round the glowing green canister got to their feet. “Façade can handle Cross,” He added as he pulled the trigger, “these idiots are ours!”