Back to GatefoldIssue #3 by John Cheese
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“GENESIS OF EVIL – Part Three: RAIDed”
The two RAID agents walked through the smoke that filled the woods around their base. All around them the light of the crackling flames and hissing smoke cast shadows and distorted the sounds of the fire-fighting helicopters that thundered overhead.
“This is where the signal was lost,” one of the agents announced, removing a scanner from his belt. His comrade scanned the area with his pulse rifle. “If that missing patrol is anywhere nearby then we will find them.”
“They probably are just out of range of the scanners,” his friend answered, “This fire is making everything useless.”
“Maybe, but Sneed ordered us to be on the look-out for Crossfire,” the first relayed, “Apparently the yank has a habit of never quitting a job until he gets what he wants.”
The scanner suddenly beeped and the pair of agents pushed through a carpet of burnt bracken into a grove of ancient oak trees. “Jesus Christ,” one swore as they gazed upon the bodies of the missing squad pinned to the trees by large bronze spears. Nervously the two of them moved into the centre gazing up at the charred canopy and what remained of their comrades.
“Hold up, Joey,” the agent with the rifle yelled. “Something just fell on my shoulder.”
“We have bigger problems then…” Joey begun to say as he turned to face his friend, only to see his body crumble into sand, his remains trickling into his boots before overflowing onto the blackened soil.
He grabbed Joey’s rifle and fired shots around the clearing. As he panicked he failed to notice the shadowy figure leap from the tree behind him and slam a blade into his back.
“RAID isn’t so bloody tough,” the shadow announced, removing the blade and whipping it on his trench coat. “Area 12 is clear.”
He slipped the knife back into a pocket. Seconds later a disc descended out of the smoke, the five passengers onboard scanning the area as two more figures emerged from the woods.
Stepping off the disc Crossfire surveyed the clearing before twisting his optical implant, peering through the fog and watching as the few remaining RAID agents stationed outside the base continued to load up a pair of transport trucks, seemingly oblivious to the attack that had just occurred only two hundred meters away from where they worked. “Are their communications still being relayed through us?” he asked.
“They are boss,” a massively armoured figure replied, his voice grating with a Glaswegian accent. “RAID only gets to hear what you want them to hear.”
“Good, let’s keep it that way,” Crossfire announced. “Chemistro, are the mines ready for deployment?”
“Just need to set them up and get the right frequency,” Chemistro replied. “Then its open access without their perimeter sensors firing.”
“And you remember where I asked you to place them?”
“West wall only,” Chemistro replied. “Second floor, adjacent to RAID’s maintenance and power control systems. Preferably away from their generators so they are not affected by the transmutation. We’ve gone through this a hundred times on the flight over here; we know the score.”
“If you knew the score,” Crossfire hissed, “then you would know that I don’t tolerate failure. You forget that I deal in information. You cross me and you will be lucky to have enough mass for the coroner to autopsy.
“Lodestone!” he snapped. “I’m expecting you and the Mauler to get us through the sensor field without tripping the alarm. Can you two do that?”
“Sure thing, boss. Lodestone drives and I give directions,” the Mauler answered. “We can do it if we take things slow and steady.”
“You’d better,” Crossfire snapped. “Gillette I want you and Spear ready to move as soon as possible.”
The Headhunter leapt off the disc and went to stand next to Spear as he toggled his visor settings, RAID’s sensor net flaring as he found the right setting. Crossfire glared at the building before re-mounting the disc, followed by Chemistro and Cockroach Hamilton.
“Get it right for your own sakes,” he snarled as the disc ascended above the fog level and disappeared, leaving the two criminals in the glade alone.
Toggling his visor again Daniels crossed the images and overlaid the sensor grid with the last two agent’s footprints and smiled. “Okay, babe, follow me,” he said as he slipped through the undergrowth.
Up above Lodestone subtly edged the disc forward towards the perimeter. Cross was a demanding SOB, she had decided, but she was eager to test her new abilities and learn her limits. The life of her son depended on it. Standing next to her the Mauler scanned the area and occasionally mumbled something as she moved their transport to avoid the invisible lines of lasers that painted the building. Slowly they edged to the marked point until the disc rested a few inches from the outside wall of the maintenance control room.
“Gillette, are you in position?” Crossfire asked, scanning the area by the main control entrance quickly. Gillette was ascending up the concrete ramp to take up flanking positions around the door.
“We are ready,” the Headhunter replied as she opened up the door’s keypad and slotted a fibre optic cable into the mechanism. “Okay the ‘cuckoo’ is inserted. As soon as the alarms trip we should be able to take control of RAID’s systems.”
Crossfire smiled. The ‘cuckoo’ was a nano computer that would turn the host’s operating system over to its controller. Once RAID’s sensors were tripped, instead of sounding an alarm the system would map out the locations of all personnel in range of both external and internal systems.
“Gillette, move to the ascension point, when the mines detonate head up to the roof and work your way to the marked point.” Crossfire replied before nodding to Chemistro, the villain holding a plate sized device in his hands. Chemistro nodded and placed the mine on the wall before signalling for Lodestone to move the disc back away from the wall.
“Pressure sensors probably fired,” Chemistro announced. “You getting a visual Boss?”
“Yes. Enemy personnel does seem to be spread thin and I see no sign of any units, save standard security drones and technicians. Hopefully they will remain oblivious to our presence. You may fire when ready.”
# # # # #
Deep in the heart of the RAID base a technician watched the images that the exterior cameras and sensors reported. It was at times a boring job. Even the forest fire was dull and as such a position was considered the lowest of the low. So when one of the exterior pressure sensors recorded a slight increase the surveillance chamber suddenly became a hub of excitement.
“It’s defiantly something,” the technican told the figure standing behind him. “It registered for twenty nano seconds before dissipating.”
“And what is your analysis of this event?” his superior asked.
“Could be anything but I’d wager that it was either a moth landing or a cinder blown in from the fire,” the technician replied.
Behind him a second figure moved next to the first and placed a gauntlet hand on his shoulder before releasing a blinding flash of electricity, removing it off the charred corpse.
“You know some of your men are bloody twats,” Shockwave told the Scientist Supreme as a pair of agents ran forward and doused the smoking corpse with a fire extinguisher.
“You think that Cross has been foolish enough to return?” the Scientist Supreme asked.
“I do. The bugger has a head thicker then bloody concrete. That’s why I set up a trap for him. When Cross find’s his prize he’s going to get the shock of what’s left of his short lifetime.”
“Very good,” the Scientist Supreme announced. “You may proceed, but save me his head. The implant’s he wears are of interest to RAID.”
“Sorry, mate, but I can’t promise you anything,” Shockwave replied, taking off his helmet to reveal a set of second degree burns across his face. “The little prick will pay for what he did to me the last time we met.”
Crossfire stepped through the hole where the wall had been, his feet kicking in some of the trans-mutated structure, surveying the room. There was no sign of any personnel save a pile of stripped off clothes and a dust imprint of two bodies caught in the blast radius. Behind him the others stepped off the disc and glanced around as Lodestone flipped the disc and sealed the hole with their former transport.
“So you want me to ricochet a few projectiles around the room and cut RAID’s power?” Lodestone asked Crossfire. She knew that in every siege she had been in that depriving the defenders of basic amenities was a good move. Crossfire turned to face her as the last word left her lips, his optical implant focusing on her face.
“I’d prefer that we kept to the plan,” he growled. “For that I need the power online and functioning. Hamilton.” He turned to face the shabbily dressed hitman, “Take Makro and access the security hub, and do it quietly.”
“Sure thing,” Hamilton replied as Makro scuttled up to one of the wall mounted vents and ripped the cover off. “We will have you in charge of door-controls, security turrets; you name it and we’ll hand it over to you, in five minutes.”
After two minutes of vent crawling the pair of villains reached an opening overlooking a series of terminals mounted on a podium with an electric blue floor light surrounding them like a moat. All around the room RAID security worked, either watching the screens or directing additional security in their patrols in and around the main building.
Toggling the vision settings of his goggles to the X-Ray mode Hamilton quickly accessed the room. “Six RAID goons,” he whispered to Makro. “Two on the security terminals and a third on that command chair.”
He stated pointing to a RAID Sub-Commander sitting on a chair that enveloped him like a massive flower petal. “The real problems are the two units on the ground level doing a rotating patrol and the sniper on the balcony at the back of the room.”
He looked over at Makro, who raised one of her eyebrows before extending her tentacles and scything through the supports, retracting the grate and setting it down gently on the floor. Hamilton removed his knife. While he was itching to use his shotgun, Daniels had once said it would be more subtle to use an RPG.
Dropping down to the floor he landed behind one of the patrolling operatives and slit his throat before throwing the knife, the blade entering the other patrolman’s neck causing him to collapse. Squatting behind a boxy console Hamilton looked up to see Makro scaling the ceiling before dropping two tentacles into the two agents, the tips drilling through their helmets and skulls, dropping them.
What little sound produced caught the attention of the sub-commander who spun his chair around and fired a succession of shots from the chair’s arm mounted plasma cannon. Up on the ceiling, Makro sprung onto the balcony away from the blasts, her body slamming the sniper as he nervously looked around for the enemy.
Hamilton slipped from behind the console and fired his shotgun, the blast chewing through the chair’s power cells and causing it and the RAID Commander seated on it to collapse to the floor, blood leaking over the white tiles. Something impacted behind him and Hamilton turned to see the Sniper’s body hanging off one of Makro’s tentacles, the tip extruding from his mouth.
Anxiously he checked the battered Timex he wore and breathed a sigh of relief; they had one minute left to crack the system. Placing his shotgun on it’s stand by the main door way he motioned for Makro to upload the virus, seconds later the computers chimed a confirmation that the facility’s computerized defences were now under new management.
# # # # #
Crossfire counted down the seconds before being interrupted by the whoosh of the maintenance room’s doors opening. While it was a surprise, it was a pleasant one. Hamilton and Makro had worked much faster then he had calculated. Unholstering his Glock he motioned for his forces to move forward to their final prize.
If the scans were accurate then the Quantum Destabilizer Canon would be right where he had left it, sitting in the field testing chamber ready for transport. As the group rounded the corner a RAID patrol returning from perimeter journey crossed their path. Almost instantly the agents started yelling and opening fire before ducking behind a security door, their leader jabbing a key-pad as the door refused to shut. Crossfire smiled and took a shot, the bullet sending the drone flying as the others continued their retreat to another set of doors.
“Looks like we need a key,” Crossfire stated nonchalantly. “Lodestone, rip open their defences.”
Lodestone stepped forward clenching her fists before forcing the doors open, the heavy metal crushing the majority of the agents as the remainder dropped their weapons and surrendered.
Crossfire cocked his head. It was strange for RAID drones to surrender, but at least it removed a problem. From around the corner up ahead more gunfire could be heard and more RAID bodies collapsed in-front of them as Makro and Hamilton emerged, the latter grinning ear form ear.
“What do we do with these?” the Mauler asked Crossfire as he and Chemistro secured the prisoners into a kneeling position.
“Take them with us; they will make excellent human shields,” Crossfire announced, tagging the agents with a neural control disc. “Now walk.”
Their process continued unhindered with the invaders breaching barricade after barricade until they reached a large chamber, the Quantum Destabilizer Canon lying unguarded before them.
“That’s it?” Hamilton snorted. “Not that impressive looking.”
“You should know that appearance isn’t everything,” Chemistro replied. “From what I heard this thing can open portals and atomize up to 12 inches of titanium. With this we could blow Iron Man out of the sky, crack Captain America’s shield, and liquidize Wolverine.”
“So why the hell are we giving it away?” Lodestone asked. “With a few of these we could be an unstoppable force.”
“Because we are professionals,” Crossfire stated, a hint of malice on his voice. “I was never really interested in hardware anyway,” he added despite thinking very similar thoughts to what Lodestone had just voiced.
Walking over he put his hand on the weapon’s butt only to have it ripple and evaporate into foam. All across the walls images rippled and Shockwave’s armoured form appeared glaring down at the intruders as the room filled with over thirty RAID agents, the doors locking behind them.
“Did you really think it was so easy?” Shockwave asked as the captured RAID agents backed away into the crowd of their peers now free of the mental control discs.
“With the sloppy security RAID provides I kind of think it was.” Crossfire replied. Shockwave chuckled, he had to hand it to the old wanker: they certainly thought alike.
“I’m sorry it had to end like this, Cross,” Shockwave announced. “But it has to. At least you’ll go out on a bang.”
On his last word the assorted RAID drones armor begun to flash as they advanced on the invaders, pining them down under the shear weight of numbers before detonating, the explosion rocking the entire complex and sending a wave of foul black smoke across the room. As the smoke cleared a steel wart emerged from the fog, its outer skin blackened but intact.
“Iota Team,” Shockwave bellowed. “Get to Field Testing Chamber B now. Cut open that shell and then sterilize whatever is inside.”
Spear stuck his tongue out as he concentrated on hooking up a canister of knock-out gas to RAID’s air-conditioning supply. With a final twist the hose aligned and the diagnostic screen that was monitoring air flow showed that the two systems were synchronized. As he slid out of the maintenance shaft the building shook and alarms begun to burst into life. Stabilizing himself Daniels slunk over to where the Headhunter was cutting through an access panel that led to the lower level.
“What did you touch?” Gillette asked as she switched off the pen sized laser cutter and used a magnetic clamp to remove the panel.
“Nothing I wasn’t meant to,” Daniels answered. “But something tells me that Boss Cross and the others have run into some trouble.”
Gillette nodded before swinging down into the pipe and skidding down before landing into an auxiliary security control hub. Her noiseless landing was answered by the cocking of several rifles as RAID security agents popped up from behind the consoles. Raising her hands and bowing her head Gillette heard the footsteps of one of her captors approaching, his breath wheezing as he lugged a massive plasma Gattling gun.
With a slight flick of her head the glasses she wore clattered to the floor as she looked defiantly into the RAID officers eyes. “Kill your men,” she hissed as he recoiled from the sight of her blood red eyes. Turning round the RAID officer spun round and fired his rounds scything through his former men. With a thud Spear landed next to her and flicked his trident out as the officer turned back to face Gillette, the barbed tip stabbing through his abdomen and sending him sprawling onto the floor.
“I had full control of him,” Gillette stated as Spear retracted his trident from the body.
“Better safe then sorry,” Daniels replied as they walked onto the gantry overlooking a group of RAID operatives armed with chemical sprayers and laser cutters attempting to cut through a metal bubble clamped onto the floor.
From the look of it Lodestone and Chemistro were inside because the metal seemed to be regenerating just as fast as RAID was destroying it. Daniels loaded his weapon and took aim at a thickset drone armed with a cutter before Gillette pushed his weapon aside and shook her head. “Use the airburst rounds; we may need to question them.”
“Right,” Daniels replied, removing the Spear and loading a thick headed projectile.
Squeezing the trigger he fired, the spear flying over the RAID agent’s heads before showering them with tiny flachette like projectiles. Most immediately collapsed to the floor convulsing in pain as the neural control discs buried into their bodies, the remainder simply fell to the floor, killed by the projectiles initial impact.
Loading a second spear, Daniels fired, a thick cable dragged behind the barbed projectile creating a line down to the ground with the two villains clipping on and zipping down to the metal blister. Tapping on the bubble Daniels watched as the steel melted away and his team mates emerged, bruised but otherwise unhurt.
Chemistro sat and smoked the foul smelling cigar under the no smoking sign, not that RAID was in any shape to respond to his rule breaking, from what Crossfire had discovered the majority of the drones were either dead or had been routed. In the time since Gillette and Daniels had rescued them they had learnt nothing from the hostages, all of whom were now bound to various chairs and discharge veins as Crossfire stalked up and down while the Mauler kept his Plasma Gattling Guns trained on the crowd.
“For the last time where is the Quantum Destabilizer Canon?” Crossfire asked. “I will not ask again, whoever tells me will be given the chance to leave.” The RAID drones looked among themselves until one; a honey blonde haired woman raised her hand not daring to look at Crossfire or any of her comrades.
“Yes you,” Crossfire announced. “What is the answer to what I need?”
“There is a service terminal in the field test chamber,” the RAID drone announced. “If you tell the floor to descend you will reach the storage racks. It should be there. Only Sneed will be there, the Scientist Supreme has ordered that no one else is to go down there.”
“What’s your name?” Cross asked.
“Michaela,” the Drone answered.
“Well, Michaela, you just earned yourself a future,” Cross replied before walking over and cutting her bonds. “Doyle, kill the rest.”
“My pleasure,” the Mauler responded. “Seems a shame to waste the plasma cells.”
Michaela gasped and ran out the door as Crossfire pulled out a single shot pistol, firing a round that jammed into her spine, crippling her and causing her to collapse in the door frame.
“I said you had a chance, I didn’t guarantee your survival,” Crossfire croaked as he walked past the paralyzed RAID drone.
The others followed with Doyle bringing up the rear, as he passed Michaela she stirred, still trying to escape. Gently Doyle pressed his foot down on her spine until the bones cracked before huffing and joining the others, the terminal’s cover already removed and Crossfire emerged in wires and microchips as he reconfigured the lift’s working. With a heave and a groan the floor retracted and the racks ascended.
“There it is,” Crossfire whispered as he moved forward to pick up the weapon. Before he could get his hands on it he stopped and turned to see Shockwave emerge from behind one of the racks his body sparking, ambient energy discharging along the floor.
“Well, I’ll give you props, Cross,” Shockwave announced as he strode forward. “You and your men are tough coots but the buck stops here.”
With three massive strides he had cleared the space between him and Cross and delivered a powered punch to the gut, the blow throwing the mercenary across the room. A follow up attack arrived seconds later as Spear slashed at him with his trident, the tips scratching Shockwave’s armor. With a swift chop Sneed snapped the pike in half and grabbed one end flipping Daniels over his head into the wall behind him. Spinning the remains of the trident Shockwave deflected the projectiles thrown at him by Lodestone as the Headhunter came rushing in with a pair of knives, the lithe woman dodging Sneed’s strike before stabbing a knife into the chest only for the blade to melt.
“I’m running hot,” Shockwave sneered before grabbing Gillette by the neck and throwing her towards the Mauler as he activated his wrist mounted flamethrowers, the burning fire surrounding Sneed in a burning halo.
Leaping through the fire Makro caught the Headhunter as Doyle fired up his arm mounted saw. Jetting forward he slammed his weapon into Shockwave, the British mercenary managing to activate a hard light shield just in time before he lost his arm, the energy released by the blade meeting the shield sparking out Doyle’s armor. With a swift flurry of blows Doyle was down and Sneed used his armoured form as a spring board launching himself over Lodestone as she got ready to fling another wave of splinters before being grabbed by Shockwave, energy coursing across their bodies until he dropped her on the floor, her stone armor cracked. Makro attempted a follow up attack, her tentacle tips glowing orange, but as soon as they touched Sneed’s armor the energy blasted her across the room.
Off to the left Hamilton pumped his Shotgun and emptied two rounds into the armor before being disarmed his body slammed into a wall, his hands releasing the trigger he had concealed in his palm.
“Cross shared some interesting Intel,” Hamilton sneered as the rounds in Shockwave’s armor detonated causing his suit to stall. “Okay, he’s stunned, do it now.”
Eyes flaring purple Angela concentrated on the floor, the metal coating ripped up and rolling towards Shockwave before impacting with him and knocking him onto the floor. Getting to his feet Shockwave sent a pulse across the floor stunning his attackers as Crossfire removed an elongated tube from his belt, purple lightning arching up and down the shaft. With a well aimed throw the tube impacted between Sneed’s neck bracers causing the electric glow that surrounded his hands to short out.
“Look’s like somebody didn’t pay their electric bills,” Chemistro grunted. “You should surrender, I once melted Iron Man’s armor into slag, yours should be a piece of cake now it’s no longer ionized.”
(As seen in Iron Man Issue #125)
“Just try it,” Sneed snarled as he ran at Chemistro. Carr dodged and fired, the blast from his alchemy pistol caking Sneed’s boots and melting away the armor. Turning Shockwave delivered a kick into Carr’s groin sending him reeling as Lodestone levitated into the air and balled her fists causing Sneed’s armor to stall as the Mauler grabbed his hands and held him still.
“What the fuck are you doing?” Sneed yelled as he attempted to free himself as Daniels removed a spear from his quiver and loaded it into his gun.
Flashing a one fingered salute he fired, the spear slamming into Shockwave’s left arm. With a throw Doyle tossed Shockwave cleared, the spear and a piece of the armor falling off as he fell. Angrily Shockwave turned and fired up his generators, electricity sparking along his arms before shuddering, collapsing to his knees and falling onto the floor.
“Must have hit a surge protector,” Daniels stated as the villains crowded around the fallen guard. “Nobody is going to believe this back home.”
“Wait there is only seven of us,” Gillette announced. “Where is the cockroach?” Turning they saw Hamilton remove the Quantum Destabilizer Canon, a cruel grimace spread across his face.
“That’s right, I have had enough of everybody’s shit,” Hamilton growled, powering the weapon up. “Now should I send you somewhere nasty or just disintegrate the lot of you.”
“Come on, Donterell, don’t do this man,” Daniels pleaded.
“I think I want to,” Hamilton announced. “I’m no longer the low man on the totem anymore, not while I have this.” he reasoned as he stepped forward. With a swift motion Shockwave grabbed his leg with his right arm and sent a pulse through the hitman’s leg and flooring him as he pushed himself up onto his feet. All around him the villains cocked their weapons ready to commence the battle they had just finished.
“Cool your jets, Cross,” Sneed stated. “You just lost a man and I’m not feeling my best but I’m still ready for a few rounds. Listen I know this seems strange but I’m willing to buy into the situation, I think I have something that you may want.”
“What?” Crossfire asked.
“While I was rebooting my suit I downloaded everything RAID had in their database. In exchange for clemency I’ll give you that and the cannon. I figure that Bain sent you for it and you will have a hard enough time with her without me pursuing you.” Sneed announced, “I must say you run a good organization, it makes a fellow want to reconsider allegiances.”
“If that data is any good then consider that your entry fee paid.” Crossfire announced. Shockwave strode forward and handed Crossfire the Quantum Destabilizer Canon butt first before removing a module for his suit’s helmet and handing it over.”
“So how are we getting out of here?” Makro asked as she moved next to where Daniels was standing.
“You can talk?” Daniels stated in surprise.
“Oh I have an idea.” Crossfire snarled powering up the Quantum Destabilizer Canon and pulling the trigger.
Sunset Bain sat in her office going over business reports as well as mission briefings from her agents in the film. It was getting late and it was almost time for her assistant to bring up the champagne she ordered every night, every day was a good day when you had Baintronics profit margin. As she fiddled with her corkscrew, she swore she saw a shooting star dash through the sky before her office filled with a blinding light. As she blinked a figure emerged followed by others, focusing she saw Crossfire clutching her prize.
“This is yours.” Cross announced chucking the canon on her desk. “Wire my money, my expenses claim has been sent in an e-mail which covers my associates costs, I expect you’ll pay them.”
“I will.” Bain replied as her assistant arrived and was quickly disarmed of her Champagne bottle by the Mauler. On her desk a phone beeped and Bain smiled a big fake smile before announcing, “I will call on your services again Cross.” With a nod Crossfire retreated, his forces following as Bain picked up the receiver.
“Yes this is Bain…yes it just arrived… I know I saw that Sneed has turned on us…a new asset…put him through our biological weapons development programme, make him a real cockroach…okay we’ll discuss it later. Thank you Scientist Supreme RAID’s contribution will be noted for the council.” Bain put own the receiver satisfied that her plan had gone off without a hitch. Walking to the door she turned out the lights and headed for the roof, the sound of her helicopter arriving drowning out all other sounds. As she flew off her computer rebooted and displayed a logo styled like a crosshair before selecting all Baintronics files for transfer to an unknown hard drive. Down on the street Crossfire opened the laptop and watched as the information flooded in.
“Ladies and Gentleman I give you the future.” he told the others, “Stick with me and we’ll be the ruling class of the entire world. Your rewards will be greater then a life time of work and all you need do is follow me into the modern age. Money is powerful but raw data is even more valuable, valuable enough to hand us the entire planet.”
“This seems profitable; I will continue to follow you.” The Headhunter hissed.
“I’m in.” Shockwave stated.
“Me too, I’ve had it with this mercenary shit.” Spear added.
“And our agendas will be supported?” Lodestone asked a frown on her face.
“You will have your revenge my dear, you all will.” Crossfire replied.
“Then I’m in as well.” she answered. Makro and Chemistro nodded but didn’t say anything, it was a good deal and it would be stupid to not take up Cross’s offer.
“I’m for hire.” the Mauler added uncorking the Champagne and raising the bottle, “To the new kings of the world.”
THE BEGINNING...
“This is where the signal was lost,” one of the agents announced, removing a scanner from his belt. His comrade scanned the area with his pulse rifle. “If that missing patrol is anywhere nearby then we will find them.”
“They probably are just out of range of the scanners,” his friend answered, “This fire is making everything useless.”
“Maybe, but Sneed ordered us to be on the look-out for Crossfire,” the first relayed, “Apparently the yank has a habit of never quitting a job until he gets what he wants.”
The scanner suddenly beeped and the pair of agents pushed through a carpet of burnt bracken into a grove of ancient oak trees. “Jesus Christ,” one swore as they gazed upon the bodies of the missing squad pinned to the trees by large bronze spears. Nervously the two of them moved into the centre gazing up at the charred canopy and what remained of their comrades.
“Hold up, Joey,” the agent with the rifle yelled. “Something just fell on my shoulder.”
“We have bigger problems then…” Joey begun to say as he turned to face his friend, only to see his body crumble into sand, his remains trickling into his boots before overflowing onto the blackened soil.
He grabbed Joey’s rifle and fired shots around the clearing. As he panicked he failed to notice the shadowy figure leap from the tree behind him and slam a blade into his back.
“RAID isn’t so bloody tough,” the shadow announced, removing the blade and whipping it on his trench coat. “Area 12 is clear.”
He slipped the knife back into a pocket. Seconds later a disc descended out of the smoke, the five passengers onboard scanning the area as two more figures emerged from the woods.
Stepping off the disc Crossfire surveyed the clearing before twisting his optical implant, peering through the fog and watching as the few remaining RAID agents stationed outside the base continued to load up a pair of transport trucks, seemingly oblivious to the attack that had just occurred only two hundred meters away from where they worked. “Are their communications still being relayed through us?” he asked.
“They are boss,” a massively armoured figure replied, his voice grating with a Glaswegian accent. “RAID only gets to hear what you want them to hear.”
“Good, let’s keep it that way,” Crossfire announced. “Chemistro, are the mines ready for deployment?”
“Just need to set them up and get the right frequency,” Chemistro replied. “Then its open access without their perimeter sensors firing.”
“And you remember where I asked you to place them?”
“West wall only,” Chemistro replied. “Second floor, adjacent to RAID’s maintenance and power control systems. Preferably away from their generators so they are not affected by the transmutation. We’ve gone through this a hundred times on the flight over here; we know the score.”
“If you knew the score,” Crossfire hissed, “then you would know that I don’t tolerate failure. You forget that I deal in information. You cross me and you will be lucky to have enough mass for the coroner to autopsy.
“Lodestone!” he snapped. “I’m expecting you and the Mauler to get us through the sensor field without tripping the alarm. Can you two do that?”
“Sure thing, boss. Lodestone drives and I give directions,” the Mauler answered. “We can do it if we take things slow and steady.”
“You’d better,” Crossfire snapped. “Gillette I want you and Spear ready to move as soon as possible.”
The Headhunter leapt off the disc and went to stand next to Spear as he toggled his visor settings, RAID’s sensor net flaring as he found the right setting. Crossfire glared at the building before re-mounting the disc, followed by Chemistro and Cockroach Hamilton.
“Get it right for your own sakes,” he snarled as the disc ascended above the fog level and disappeared, leaving the two criminals in the glade alone.
Toggling his visor again Daniels crossed the images and overlaid the sensor grid with the last two agent’s footprints and smiled. “Okay, babe, follow me,” he said as he slipped through the undergrowth.
Up above Lodestone subtly edged the disc forward towards the perimeter. Cross was a demanding SOB, she had decided, but she was eager to test her new abilities and learn her limits. The life of her son depended on it. Standing next to her the Mauler scanned the area and occasionally mumbled something as she moved their transport to avoid the invisible lines of lasers that painted the building. Slowly they edged to the marked point until the disc rested a few inches from the outside wall of the maintenance control room.
“Gillette, are you in position?” Crossfire asked, scanning the area by the main control entrance quickly. Gillette was ascending up the concrete ramp to take up flanking positions around the door.
“We are ready,” the Headhunter replied as she opened up the door’s keypad and slotted a fibre optic cable into the mechanism. “Okay the ‘cuckoo’ is inserted. As soon as the alarms trip we should be able to take control of RAID’s systems.”
Crossfire smiled. The ‘cuckoo’ was a nano computer that would turn the host’s operating system over to its controller. Once RAID’s sensors were tripped, instead of sounding an alarm the system would map out the locations of all personnel in range of both external and internal systems.
“Gillette, move to the ascension point, when the mines detonate head up to the roof and work your way to the marked point.” Crossfire replied before nodding to Chemistro, the villain holding a plate sized device in his hands. Chemistro nodded and placed the mine on the wall before signalling for Lodestone to move the disc back away from the wall.
“Pressure sensors probably fired,” Chemistro announced. “You getting a visual Boss?”
“Yes. Enemy personnel does seem to be spread thin and I see no sign of any units, save standard security drones and technicians. Hopefully they will remain oblivious to our presence. You may fire when ready.”
# # # # #
Deep in the heart of the RAID base a technician watched the images that the exterior cameras and sensors reported. It was at times a boring job. Even the forest fire was dull and as such a position was considered the lowest of the low. So when one of the exterior pressure sensors recorded a slight increase the surveillance chamber suddenly became a hub of excitement.
“It’s defiantly something,” the technican told the figure standing behind him. “It registered for twenty nano seconds before dissipating.”
“And what is your analysis of this event?” his superior asked.
“Could be anything but I’d wager that it was either a moth landing or a cinder blown in from the fire,” the technician replied.
Behind him a second figure moved next to the first and placed a gauntlet hand on his shoulder before releasing a blinding flash of electricity, removing it off the charred corpse.
“You know some of your men are bloody twats,” Shockwave told the Scientist Supreme as a pair of agents ran forward and doused the smoking corpse with a fire extinguisher.
“You think that Cross has been foolish enough to return?” the Scientist Supreme asked.
“I do. The bugger has a head thicker then bloody concrete. That’s why I set up a trap for him. When Cross find’s his prize he’s going to get the shock of what’s left of his short lifetime.”
“Very good,” the Scientist Supreme announced. “You may proceed, but save me his head. The implant’s he wears are of interest to RAID.”
“Sorry, mate, but I can’t promise you anything,” Shockwave replied, taking off his helmet to reveal a set of second degree burns across his face. “The little prick will pay for what he did to me the last time we met.”
Crossfire stepped through the hole where the wall had been, his feet kicking in some of the trans-mutated structure, surveying the room. There was no sign of any personnel save a pile of stripped off clothes and a dust imprint of two bodies caught in the blast radius. Behind him the others stepped off the disc and glanced around as Lodestone flipped the disc and sealed the hole with their former transport.
“So you want me to ricochet a few projectiles around the room and cut RAID’s power?” Lodestone asked Crossfire. She knew that in every siege she had been in that depriving the defenders of basic amenities was a good move. Crossfire turned to face her as the last word left her lips, his optical implant focusing on her face.
“I’d prefer that we kept to the plan,” he growled. “For that I need the power online and functioning. Hamilton.” He turned to face the shabbily dressed hitman, “Take Makro and access the security hub, and do it quietly.”
“Sure thing,” Hamilton replied as Makro scuttled up to one of the wall mounted vents and ripped the cover off. “We will have you in charge of door-controls, security turrets; you name it and we’ll hand it over to you, in five minutes.”
After two minutes of vent crawling the pair of villains reached an opening overlooking a series of terminals mounted on a podium with an electric blue floor light surrounding them like a moat. All around the room RAID security worked, either watching the screens or directing additional security in their patrols in and around the main building.
Toggling the vision settings of his goggles to the X-Ray mode Hamilton quickly accessed the room. “Six RAID goons,” he whispered to Makro. “Two on the security terminals and a third on that command chair.”
He stated pointing to a RAID Sub-Commander sitting on a chair that enveloped him like a massive flower petal. “The real problems are the two units on the ground level doing a rotating patrol and the sniper on the balcony at the back of the room.”
He looked over at Makro, who raised one of her eyebrows before extending her tentacles and scything through the supports, retracting the grate and setting it down gently on the floor. Hamilton removed his knife. While he was itching to use his shotgun, Daniels had once said it would be more subtle to use an RPG.
Dropping down to the floor he landed behind one of the patrolling operatives and slit his throat before throwing the knife, the blade entering the other patrolman’s neck causing him to collapse. Squatting behind a boxy console Hamilton looked up to see Makro scaling the ceiling before dropping two tentacles into the two agents, the tips drilling through their helmets and skulls, dropping them.
What little sound produced caught the attention of the sub-commander who spun his chair around and fired a succession of shots from the chair’s arm mounted plasma cannon. Up on the ceiling, Makro sprung onto the balcony away from the blasts, her body slamming the sniper as he nervously looked around for the enemy.
Hamilton slipped from behind the console and fired his shotgun, the blast chewing through the chair’s power cells and causing it and the RAID Commander seated on it to collapse to the floor, blood leaking over the white tiles. Something impacted behind him and Hamilton turned to see the Sniper’s body hanging off one of Makro’s tentacles, the tip extruding from his mouth.
Anxiously he checked the battered Timex he wore and breathed a sigh of relief; they had one minute left to crack the system. Placing his shotgun on it’s stand by the main door way he motioned for Makro to upload the virus, seconds later the computers chimed a confirmation that the facility’s computerized defences were now under new management.
# # # # #
Crossfire counted down the seconds before being interrupted by the whoosh of the maintenance room’s doors opening. While it was a surprise, it was a pleasant one. Hamilton and Makro had worked much faster then he had calculated. Unholstering his Glock he motioned for his forces to move forward to their final prize.
If the scans were accurate then the Quantum Destabilizer Canon would be right where he had left it, sitting in the field testing chamber ready for transport. As the group rounded the corner a RAID patrol returning from perimeter journey crossed their path. Almost instantly the agents started yelling and opening fire before ducking behind a security door, their leader jabbing a key-pad as the door refused to shut. Crossfire smiled and took a shot, the bullet sending the drone flying as the others continued their retreat to another set of doors.
“Looks like we need a key,” Crossfire stated nonchalantly. “Lodestone, rip open their defences.”
Lodestone stepped forward clenching her fists before forcing the doors open, the heavy metal crushing the majority of the agents as the remainder dropped their weapons and surrendered.
Crossfire cocked his head. It was strange for RAID drones to surrender, but at least it removed a problem. From around the corner up ahead more gunfire could be heard and more RAID bodies collapsed in-front of them as Makro and Hamilton emerged, the latter grinning ear form ear.
“What do we do with these?” the Mauler asked Crossfire as he and Chemistro secured the prisoners into a kneeling position.
“Take them with us; they will make excellent human shields,” Crossfire announced, tagging the agents with a neural control disc. “Now walk.”
Their process continued unhindered with the invaders breaching barricade after barricade until they reached a large chamber, the Quantum Destabilizer Canon lying unguarded before them.
“That’s it?” Hamilton snorted. “Not that impressive looking.”
“You should know that appearance isn’t everything,” Chemistro replied. “From what I heard this thing can open portals and atomize up to 12 inches of titanium. With this we could blow Iron Man out of the sky, crack Captain America’s shield, and liquidize Wolverine.”
“So why the hell are we giving it away?” Lodestone asked. “With a few of these we could be an unstoppable force.”
“Because we are professionals,” Crossfire stated, a hint of malice on his voice. “I was never really interested in hardware anyway,” he added despite thinking very similar thoughts to what Lodestone had just voiced.
Walking over he put his hand on the weapon’s butt only to have it ripple and evaporate into foam. All across the walls images rippled and Shockwave’s armoured form appeared glaring down at the intruders as the room filled with over thirty RAID agents, the doors locking behind them.
“Did you really think it was so easy?” Shockwave asked as the captured RAID agents backed away into the crowd of their peers now free of the mental control discs.
“With the sloppy security RAID provides I kind of think it was.” Crossfire replied. Shockwave chuckled, he had to hand it to the old wanker: they certainly thought alike.
“I’m sorry it had to end like this, Cross,” Shockwave announced. “But it has to. At least you’ll go out on a bang.”
On his last word the assorted RAID drones armor begun to flash as they advanced on the invaders, pining them down under the shear weight of numbers before detonating, the explosion rocking the entire complex and sending a wave of foul black smoke across the room. As the smoke cleared a steel wart emerged from the fog, its outer skin blackened but intact.
“Iota Team,” Shockwave bellowed. “Get to Field Testing Chamber B now. Cut open that shell and then sterilize whatever is inside.”
Spear stuck his tongue out as he concentrated on hooking up a canister of knock-out gas to RAID’s air-conditioning supply. With a final twist the hose aligned and the diagnostic screen that was monitoring air flow showed that the two systems were synchronized. As he slid out of the maintenance shaft the building shook and alarms begun to burst into life. Stabilizing himself Daniels slunk over to where the Headhunter was cutting through an access panel that led to the lower level.
“What did you touch?” Gillette asked as she switched off the pen sized laser cutter and used a magnetic clamp to remove the panel.
“Nothing I wasn’t meant to,” Daniels answered. “But something tells me that Boss Cross and the others have run into some trouble.”
Gillette nodded before swinging down into the pipe and skidding down before landing into an auxiliary security control hub. Her noiseless landing was answered by the cocking of several rifles as RAID security agents popped up from behind the consoles. Raising her hands and bowing her head Gillette heard the footsteps of one of her captors approaching, his breath wheezing as he lugged a massive plasma Gattling gun.
With a slight flick of her head the glasses she wore clattered to the floor as she looked defiantly into the RAID officers eyes. “Kill your men,” she hissed as he recoiled from the sight of her blood red eyes. Turning round the RAID officer spun round and fired his rounds scything through his former men. With a thud Spear landed next to her and flicked his trident out as the officer turned back to face Gillette, the barbed tip stabbing through his abdomen and sending him sprawling onto the floor.
“I had full control of him,” Gillette stated as Spear retracted his trident from the body.
“Better safe then sorry,” Daniels replied as they walked onto the gantry overlooking a group of RAID operatives armed with chemical sprayers and laser cutters attempting to cut through a metal bubble clamped onto the floor.
From the look of it Lodestone and Chemistro were inside because the metal seemed to be regenerating just as fast as RAID was destroying it. Daniels loaded his weapon and took aim at a thickset drone armed with a cutter before Gillette pushed his weapon aside and shook her head. “Use the airburst rounds; we may need to question them.”
“Right,” Daniels replied, removing the Spear and loading a thick headed projectile.
Squeezing the trigger he fired, the spear flying over the RAID agent’s heads before showering them with tiny flachette like projectiles. Most immediately collapsed to the floor convulsing in pain as the neural control discs buried into their bodies, the remainder simply fell to the floor, killed by the projectiles initial impact.
Loading a second spear, Daniels fired, a thick cable dragged behind the barbed projectile creating a line down to the ground with the two villains clipping on and zipping down to the metal blister. Tapping on the bubble Daniels watched as the steel melted away and his team mates emerged, bruised but otherwise unhurt.
Chemistro sat and smoked the foul smelling cigar under the no smoking sign, not that RAID was in any shape to respond to his rule breaking, from what Crossfire had discovered the majority of the drones were either dead or had been routed. In the time since Gillette and Daniels had rescued them they had learnt nothing from the hostages, all of whom were now bound to various chairs and discharge veins as Crossfire stalked up and down while the Mauler kept his Plasma Gattling Guns trained on the crowd.
“For the last time where is the Quantum Destabilizer Canon?” Crossfire asked. “I will not ask again, whoever tells me will be given the chance to leave.” The RAID drones looked among themselves until one; a honey blonde haired woman raised her hand not daring to look at Crossfire or any of her comrades.
“Yes you,” Crossfire announced. “What is the answer to what I need?”
“There is a service terminal in the field test chamber,” the RAID drone announced. “If you tell the floor to descend you will reach the storage racks. It should be there. Only Sneed will be there, the Scientist Supreme has ordered that no one else is to go down there.”
“What’s your name?” Cross asked.
“Michaela,” the Drone answered.
“Well, Michaela, you just earned yourself a future,” Cross replied before walking over and cutting her bonds. “Doyle, kill the rest.”
“My pleasure,” the Mauler responded. “Seems a shame to waste the plasma cells.”
Michaela gasped and ran out the door as Crossfire pulled out a single shot pistol, firing a round that jammed into her spine, crippling her and causing her to collapse in the door frame.
“I said you had a chance, I didn’t guarantee your survival,” Crossfire croaked as he walked past the paralyzed RAID drone.
The others followed with Doyle bringing up the rear, as he passed Michaela she stirred, still trying to escape. Gently Doyle pressed his foot down on her spine until the bones cracked before huffing and joining the others, the terminal’s cover already removed and Crossfire emerged in wires and microchips as he reconfigured the lift’s working. With a heave and a groan the floor retracted and the racks ascended.
“There it is,” Crossfire whispered as he moved forward to pick up the weapon. Before he could get his hands on it he stopped and turned to see Shockwave emerge from behind one of the racks his body sparking, ambient energy discharging along the floor.
“Well, I’ll give you props, Cross,” Shockwave announced as he strode forward. “You and your men are tough coots but the buck stops here.”
With three massive strides he had cleared the space between him and Cross and delivered a powered punch to the gut, the blow throwing the mercenary across the room. A follow up attack arrived seconds later as Spear slashed at him with his trident, the tips scratching Shockwave’s armor. With a swift chop Sneed snapped the pike in half and grabbed one end flipping Daniels over his head into the wall behind him. Spinning the remains of the trident Shockwave deflected the projectiles thrown at him by Lodestone as the Headhunter came rushing in with a pair of knives, the lithe woman dodging Sneed’s strike before stabbing a knife into the chest only for the blade to melt.
“I’m running hot,” Shockwave sneered before grabbing Gillette by the neck and throwing her towards the Mauler as he activated his wrist mounted flamethrowers, the burning fire surrounding Sneed in a burning halo.
Leaping through the fire Makro caught the Headhunter as Doyle fired up his arm mounted saw. Jetting forward he slammed his weapon into Shockwave, the British mercenary managing to activate a hard light shield just in time before he lost his arm, the energy released by the blade meeting the shield sparking out Doyle’s armor. With a swift flurry of blows Doyle was down and Sneed used his armoured form as a spring board launching himself over Lodestone as she got ready to fling another wave of splinters before being grabbed by Shockwave, energy coursing across their bodies until he dropped her on the floor, her stone armor cracked. Makro attempted a follow up attack, her tentacle tips glowing orange, but as soon as they touched Sneed’s armor the energy blasted her across the room.
Off to the left Hamilton pumped his Shotgun and emptied two rounds into the armor before being disarmed his body slammed into a wall, his hands releasing the trigger he had concealed in his palm.
“Cross shared some interesting Intel,” Hamilton sneered as the rounds in Shockwave’s armor detonated causing his suit to stall. “Okay, he’s stunned, do it now.”
Eyes flaring purple Angela concentrated on the floor, the metal coating ripped up and rolling towards Shockwave before impacting with him and knocking him onto the floor. Getting to his feet Shockwave sent a pulse across the floor stunning his attackers as Crossfire removed an elongated tube from his belt, purple lightning arching up and down the shaft. With a well aimed throw the tube impacted between Sneed’s neck bracers causing the electric glow that surrounded his hands to short out.
“Look’s like somebody didn’t pay their electric bills,” Chemistro grunted. “You should surrender, I once melted Iron Man’s armor into slag, yours should be a piece of cake now it’s no longer ionized.”
(As seen in Iron Man Issue #125)
“Just try it,” Sneed snarled as he ran at Chemistro. Carr dodged and fired, the blast from his alchemy pistol caking Sneed’s boots and melting away the armor. Turning Shockwave delivered a kick into Carr’s groin sending him reeling as Lodestone levitated into the air and balled her fists causing Sneed’s armor to stall as the Mauler grabbed his hands and held him still.
“What the fuck are you doing?” Sneed yelled as he attempted to free himself as Daniels removed a spear from his quiver and loaded it into his gun.
Flashing a one fingered salute he fired, the spear slamming into Shockwave’s left arm. With a throw Doyle tossed Shockwave cleared, the spear and a piece of the armor falling off as he fell. Angrily Shockwave turned and fired up his generators, electricity sparking along his arms before shuddering, collapsing to his knees and falling onto the floor.
“Must have hit a surge protector,” Daniels stated as the villains crowded around the fallen guard. “Nobody is going to believe this back home.”
“Wait there is only seven of us,” Gillette announced. “Where is the cockroach?” Turning they saw Hamilton remove the Quantum Destabilizer Canon, a cruel grimace spread across his face.
“That’s right, I have had enough of everybody’s shit,” Hamilton growled, powering the weapon up. “Now should I send you somewhere nasty or just disintegrate the lot of you.”
“Come on, Donterell, don’t do this man,” Daniels pleaded.
“I think I want to,” Hamilton announced. “I’m no longer the low man on the totem anymore, not while I have this.” he reasoned as he stepped forward. With a swift motion Shockwave grabbed his leg with his right arm and sent a pulse through the hitman’s leg and flooring him as he pushed himself up onto his feet. All around him the villains cocked their weapons ready to commence the battle they had just finished.
“Cool your jets, Cross,” Sneed stated. “You just lost a man and I’m not feeling my best but I’m still ready for a few rounds. Listen I know this seems strange but I’m willing to buy into the situation, I think I have something that you may want.”
“What?” Crossfire asked.
“While I was rebooting my suit I downloaded everything RAID had in their database. In exchange for clemency I’ll give you that and the cannon. I figure that Bain sent you for it and you will have a hard enough time with her without me pursuing you.” Sneed announced, “I must say you run a good organization, it makes a fellow want to reconsider allegiances.”
“If that data is any good then consider that your entry fee paid.” Crossfire announced. Shockwave strode forward and handed Crossfire the Quantum Destabilizer Canon butt first before removing a module for his suit’s helmet and handing it over.”
“So how are we getting out of here?” Makro asked as she moved next to where Daniels was standing.
“You can talk?” Daniels stated in surprise.
“Oh I have an idea.” Crossfire snarled powering up the Quantum Destabilizer Canon and pulling the trigger.
Sunset Bain sat in her office going over business reports as well as mission briefings from her agents in the film. It was getting late and it was almost time for her assistant to bring up the champagne she ordered every night, every day was a good day when you had Baintronics profit margin. As she fiddled with her corkscrew, she swore she saw a shooting star dash through the sky before her office filled with a blinding light. As she blinked a figure emerged followed by others, focusing she saw Crossfire clutching her prize.
“This is yours.” Cross announced chucking the canon on her desk. “Wire my money, my expenses claim has been sent in an e-mail which covers my associates costs, I expect you’ll pay them.”
“I will.” Bain replied as her assistant arrived and was quickly disarmed of her Champagne bottle by the Mauler. On her desk a phone beeped and Bain smiled a big fake smile before announcing, “I will call on your services again Cross.” With a nod Crossfire retreated, his forces following as Bain picked up the receiver.
“Yes this is Bain…yes it just arrived… I know I saw that Sneed has turned on us…a new asset…put him through our biological weapons development programme, make him a real cockroach…okay we’ll discuss it later. Thank you Scientist Supreme RAID’s contribution will be noted for the council.” Bain put own the receiver satisfied that her plan had gone off without a hitch. Walking to the door she turned out the lights and headed for the roof, the sound of her helicopter arriving drowning out all other sounds. As she flew off her computer rebooted and displayed a logo styled like a crosshair before selecting all Baintronics files for transfer to an unknown hard drive. Down on the street Crossfire opened the laptop and watched as the information flooded in.
“Ladies and Gentleman I give you the future.” he told the others, “Stick with me and we’ll be the ruling class of the entire world. Your rewards will be greater then a life time of work and all you need do is follow me into the modern age. Money is powerful but raw data is even more valuable, valuable enough to hand us the entire planet.”
“This seems profitable; I will continue to follow you.” The Headhunter hissed.
“I’m in.” Shockwave stated.
“Me too, I’ve had it with this mercenary shit.” Spear added.
“And our agendas will be supported?” Lodestone asked a frown on her face.
“You will have your revenge my dear, you all will.” Crossfire replied.
“Then I’m in as well.” she answered. Makro and Chemistro nodded but didn’t say anything, it was a good deal and it would be stupid to not take up Cross’s offer.
“I’m for hire.” the Mauler added uncorking the Champagne and raising the bottle, “To the new kings of the world.”
THE BEGINNING...