Chapter 7 White Death

the airplane that took the KNSF operatives back home was flown away after Air Canada Flight 874 took off, as Deacon turned on the mini-television in front of him, a piece of terrible news came in: Novergrad Airline 467 was bombed down before it took off from Incheon International Airport, that got the Lieutenant at the heart while Zane felt bad for the fellow KNSF operatives. the phone started to buzz in his pocket while he stood up and went to the bathroom. Deacon could help himself with a glass of wine to drown his sorrows but he asked him to drink two glasses of it and switched to bottled water

"what is it?" Zane answered the phone

"missed me, Master Sergeant?" Keira chuckled

"Keira? how did you get my number?!" the soldier exclaimed quietly

"oh, you know... Deacy send me the number"

"I'm gonna strangle him after I leave the cubicle, so, what's going on the guild back in Novergrad?" the assassin asked

"It went well, the city is fine right now, I heard about the news lately, the Ghost Army is trying to cripple your defenses, aight? " Keira said,

"yeah... he's down lately, I hope he didn't get shit faced in flight or-"

"I have something that could be interesting" Keira added"

"what do you have? a little gossip?"

"I have some intel about what happened earlier"

"what about him? did you found something and make it quick, someone's gonna use this cubicle"

"Okay, there's a mole inside in your ranks, one of them is your bunkmate. call him up and I'll send you a number after you land, okay? I'll tell the rest later"

Zane left the cubicle after Keira hang up, the airplane that they took landed in Alberta, Canada. he answered Keira's call, she said that General Styles is the mole for the Ghosts while one of the elite soldiers of the Ghost Elite Army just deserted before the Battle of Basswood had started. Marvin has a reason to leave the GEA because he was fighting for the sake of his family, eventually, he heard the plans to invade his hometown, he wanted to leave the regiment but his superiors warned him: if he left, he will be tracked down and executed on point, to avoid summary execution, he used the name Marvin Lambert to cover up his real identity: Lieutenant Alonzo Hidelio Robinson, a well-known Lieutenant with mixed Italian and English heritage originated in Ruby Hill, his combat skills could excel Zane's yet he could beat him up if they meet each other again.

the Lieutenant helped himself a pint of beer while the assassin took a bottle of Budweiser, he noticed a group of men with a familiar logo, it's an eagle with a lightning shield on the bottom, a knuckle crack from one of the soldiers is desperate to punch a Novergrad Military in the face

and that is once Private turned Staff Sergeant McBride, but the real puncher isn't from the Ghost Army until one of them cracked a Canadian accent that Zane pointed him with a shattered bottle

"what's wrong with ya, eh? we're just playing with ya" the Canadian smirked,

"never, ever tried to deceive me like that again!" Zane exclaimed

"very funny, assholes. are you the JTF-2 or the Ghost in disguise?" Deacon asked,

" we're are, I'm Lieutenant Victoria Kimball and Staff Sergeant Felix Louver, sorry if I scared you, Staff Sergeant McBride," Victoria said while shaking hands with Zane

"I would kick your ass with that, but nice meeting with you," he said bitterly

"so, are we doing it or what? I want some action already!" the Canadian exclaimed

"Hush down, let's go somewhere private"

"I agree"

"We would, but there's something more than just action,"

"what do you mean by that?

"The Ghosts had set up a cloning factory in Alberta, all thanks to the scientist from South Korea, right now he's seeking asylum in the Netherlands. we could send him to Novergrad but it's risky for him to stay there" the assassin said

"at least he's having fun there with the Dutch isn't he?"

"So to speak, does General Fleetwood know our mission?" Deacon asked

"yes, the location was secured by Nielson, he's our con man for the operation, feel free to check your equipment before the mission starts. Also, sorry for scaring you. I'm just getting you ready for the op"

The soldiers prepped up and drive them on the ledge to observe the warehouse, they also have radars that also detect unmanned drones upon the horizon, Felix peeked through the thermal scope of the Macmillan, he saw the assassin with winter camouflage and a Tomahawk while parkour through the branches, the Black Eagle flow up to the skies to observe it's surroundings, no soldiers were guarding the facility, only a snow-dusted building in the middle of the woods, Zane entered the building and flipped the switch:

Laboratory equipment that was recently used while puddles of unknown liquid that looked like what Sci-fi movies depicted, it's indeed a cloning facility. He checked his corners to make sure he's secured. A picture with a red sharpie encircled on a map of Basswood, it's his bunkmate but his real name was written and then labeled him a traitor due to his defection before the Battle of Basswood, the Assassin installed a blank USB stick to the laptop whilst downloading the contents

"I don't think, Alonzo nor Marvin is our mole, he used to be the Ghosts but later defected," Zane said

"Wait, so Keira said he's the mole but you said he's isn't the mole?" Deacon replied

"Presumably, they already sent a mole which wasn't part of our ranks, Keira also said there's a high ranking officer of the Ghosts defected along with two battalions, they call themselves " The Grim Reaper Battalion"

"I suggest hitting up with these guys as we head back to Novergrad."

"Or report this to General Styles, or another in case he went rogue," Kimball said

"Seem like it, I'm taking the Intel with me, send me a nearest LZ!"

"There's a cabin right next to the lake, go south and take west" Felix replied

Zane took the USB filled with Intel and stored it on his backpack while he searched the armory for weapons, all he got was a factory standard Glock pistol with multiple magazines. His superior found his rifle with multiple accessories in the car but he knew what the assassin's doing.

He picked up a Falcon 87 rifle, a certified copy of the original Mosin Nagant, and a bag of ammunition needed for the gun. He took an exit via window while using Invisible camouflage, the enemy soldiers alerted that the Intel was stolen then replaced with a video of Mario having a stroke which was intentional to annoy the enemy further, which the Ghost Elite Army Lieutenant slammed the table as the audio kept going while the laptop crashed, which his underlings cringed of how annoying it was

"Find that fucker who took the Intel!" The Lieutenant demanded

"Sir! We found footprints from the outside" the Private said

"Then, find that little shit and don't let him take the Intel with him alive" he growled back

The elusive Ghost Elite Army cocked their rifles in a search of Zane McBride, the search was on as the assassin climbed up on the tree and leaped from tree to tree with his retractable grappling gun snowstorm came in unexpectedly and thankfully Zane found the cabin on time, the search and destroy of the assassin was called off due to bad weather as the Elites were close to being human popsicles

Zane felt like he hit the goldmine, the cabin itself has a flat-screen tv with a snazzy fur rug, a black and white comfortable sofa with matching cushions, a fireplace with a roaring fire. He checked the kitchen with full amenities and the fridge was filled with food as well as the pantry too.

"Glad you made it Zane, good thing the snowstorm buy yourself some time," Felix said while clapping

"At least I made it on time, and where's Deacon and Victoria? What the hell is going on?" Zane replied agitated

"You took something that's ours, hand it over or say goodbye to your friends, don't do anything stupid or I'll do the same as earlier"

Felix had a pistol pointed to the Assassin's head, Zane gave up the USB Drive to the rogue soldier, he squinted as he swipes kick Felix as he turned around, and then he pointed his hidden dagger to his neck

"You think you could fool me with that? Those threats are as tasteless as your plans Staff Sergeant Felix Louver"

"Is that what you got?"

a group of winter camo soldiers with high caliber rifles and advanced accessories were pointed to Zane, the GEA Lieutenant had a dark maroon mask that covered his face, which revealed to be a burnt mark with a shape of an iron bar and scratches that he got from the previous tours that he endured, his name was Lieutenant Noah Johnson or Jason Voorhees, he pistol-whipped the assassin

"Don't do anything stupid or blow your fucking brains out, thanks for the help, Felix," Noah said while tossing him a bag of diamonds

"Don't mention it, Deacon and Victoria are in the basement. After the storm cleared out, kill them and dispose of their bodies else-"

A barrage of bullets fired at all sides killed every soldier in the cabin while some are wounded including the masked Lieutenant, Zane stood up while concussed and swiped the bag of diamonds and the USB Drive from Noah's pocket. He wanted to know who did it?

a group of soldiers surrounded him while their superior walked in, he looks like a project Lars Alexandersson from Tekken except the lion symbol was replaced by a skull. their uniforms are matte black and dark blue with crimson red shoulder pads.

"are you Zane McBride?" the one Soldier asked

"yes, that's me. I'm going to be Dead, isn't it?" Zane replied pessimistically

"close but no, you probably know us from before"

"The Grim Reaper Battalion? the resistance militia from Basswood?"

"Correct, I'm Captain Alonzo Hidelio Robinson. the leader of the Grim Reaper Battalion." Alonzo said

"But, you're Marvin Lambert in our records...

"I used that name to cover up mine to warn you all, but you guys think I'm going to be a mole of Ghosts."

"fine, I'm listening, but first, we need to get outta here"

The Grim Reapers drenched the cabin with gasoline while Zane snatched some snacks and drinks on the way before igniting the entire place. his superior and the Canadian Soldier looked at him with a garbage bag filled with food and drinks

"do you have to bring it all?" Jacob asked

"I haven't eaten after we left the bar, also we got the Intel back with a price" Zane replied while holding a small pouch

"I can't believe Felix would ditch on us for the Intel, I shouldn't have known it earlier," Victoria said

"so do we, you're not the only one who had a bummed deal. want a bite?" he said while giving a roll of chips to Victoria

"thanks but I'm good, I guess a little bite won't hurt," Victoria said meekly

Victoria took three potato chips from the tube while leaving salty yet oily fingers after chowing down. two resistance soldiers asked for one chip which they took five or more chips while leaving Zane some crumbled chips

"assholes" he muttered

the journey came to an end as the convoy reached the airfield. the driver gave the assassin a satellite phone as the caller identified as General Styles. he went inside of the plane as he can't hear the noises from the plane engines

"did you get the Intel, Zane?"

"yes sir, we ran into some problems earlier and luckily the Grim Reaper Battalion came into our aid, Felix worked with the enemy, that son of a bitch played us like a damn fiddle"

"Great, it looks like you need a well-deserved break as soon you head back to Basswood, everything was back to normal now"

"really? I hope the Ghosts didn't bring the fireworks along the way"

"they better don't, have a safe trip"

the General hung up while the soldier retrieved the satellite phone back to him, Jacob asked him about what he said on the phone, they said they've deserved a break as soon as we head back to Basswood.

the C-5 Galaxy was fueled up and ready to fly back home while Victoria said goodbye to Zane and Jacob while being escorted back to the Jeep as the back hatch closed.

the Assassin pulled out his bulletproof cased cellphone and white headphones as he played music throughout the trip while playing mobile games, he also brought a power bank that was also bulletproof.