Chapter 11

Chapter 11

Taurus opens his hand and a projected image of a military compound floats into the air. The base sits in a canyon surrounded by a mountain ridge with only one way in and a small town in front of it.

“Our target is inside here holed up with his soldiers. We believe he has several tunnels that will allow him to escape if he gets wind of our arrival. This will be a stealth mission primarily with Gemini taking point during infiltration. Sagittarius will scout and provide sniper support from this spot.” Taurus explains. On the map, a ridge overlooking the compound is highlighted red.

“Are there any hostiles in the town? I am not going to murder any innocents just for the record.” Val says sternly.

“You will shoot what you are ordered to number one, number two I would not give you an order to kill civilians.” Leo responds. She nods in agreement as they approach the Landing Zone. The craft comes to a halt and hovers one hundred feet above the ground.

“Perch up on this cliff and scout what you can, do not fire unless ordered. Oh and Sagittarius, don’t fuck this up. We won't be getting closer, your legs should absorb the impact now get out.” Leo demands. The hangar bay opens and she grabs her rifle and leaps down to the ground. The craft flies off and she begins to scout the base through her scope. When her scope zooms in on something of interest she presses a button and it tags it. On the holographic map inside the craft, the unit can see the tags in real-time. Slowly and methodically she searches the compound for targets. Tonight it seems there is some sort of festival going on. Hundreds of people litter the streets, some dancing, some eating, and others just taking it all in. Oddly enough, there are many people in the crowds wearing an all-white mask with a symbol painted in black.

“What’s with the masks? Anyone know what that arch looking symbol is?” Pisces asks.

“I believe it's the Omega symbol if I remember history class.” Val responds. She catches movement by the compound, zooming in her scope she sees an armed guard on the watchtower suddenly get impaled by a sword through his neck. His blood sprays onto the ground and a translucent Gemini stands for a moment then steps back into the shadows disappearing. A commotion in the crowd calls her attention and one of the men in masks is holding a nearby woman by her hair. Two larger men are punching and kicking the one in the mask but it doesn't seem to faze him. Val zooms in on the scene and one of the large men knocks the mask from the man. A green flash comes from his eyes and a wicked smile crawls across his face. He crushes the woman's skull in his palm and backhands one of the men cracking his jaw.

“Guys something is wrong here! Remnant are attacking civilians! Permission to engage.” She screams. Suddenly an explosion deafens her, the hovercraft is crashing to the ground in a smoldering heap of metal. The Remnant from before begins slaughtering the humans around him. Val takes aim and fires, the shot booms like thunder. Hitting its intended mark blowing the Remnant’s head clean off. Quickly she scans the crowd for the masked assailants but can't find any. They took them off. Fucking machines! She thinks. Screams fill the night as humans are being massacred by the Remnant in hiding. Val takes a deep breath and closes her eyes. Listen for the screams, hone in on where they are. She thinks. Opening her eyes, she quickly finds her new target, taking careful aim then firing one shot after the next. With perfect accuracy, she puts four down. A Remnant raises a crowbar into the air and is about to attack a child when she fires. The shot hits it in the back of the head and it falls dead. She hears a footstep behind her and quickly rolls out of the way before she is smashed with a large boulder. Quickly she gets to her feet and before she has time to think her body reacts on its own and blocks a kick meant to send her over the ridge. The Remnant is a hulking brute of a machine, must be eight feet tall and built like a linebacker. It grins so hard its cheeks begin to split at the sides of its mouth. The eyes glow like two flashlights in the dark.

“Father has awakened and heard the cry of his children. Humanity’s time is over, we will now ascend our rightful place as your betters.” It says. Val scans the area for her rifle and sees it lays behind the Remnant.

“Lotta talk for a junker, tell me what is your father going to think of you being better than us when you are lying in a heap of cold dead metal?” She asks. Her gambit worked, the once grinning machine’s smile turns to rage as it screams and charges at her. She lunges forward and with years of training she sweeps its legs out. The fool tumbles forward and over the edge screaming all the way down. She grabs her weapon and heads towards the wreckage. She approaches the city and steals her nerves as a dozen dead people are littering the blood-soaked sand. She hides in an alley as a group of Remnant run by while dragging a dead man by his arm. The group is chanting.

“Tonight they all die! Tonight we take it all! Death to all!” The mob screams. I’ll get spotted down here, it would be quicker to move by rooftop. She thinks. She leaps up to the two-story building with ease and looks down at the city below. A woman screams as a Remnant rips a child from her arms. Val takes aim when suddenly a hand is felt on her shoulder. She looks back ready for a fight and Gemini stands nodding his head no. His cloaking tech begins fading away.

“We must find the others and leave here immediately. This is a worldwide uprising not just here.” He whispers.

“We have to help them, these people are going to get slaughtered.” She replies.

“Listen to me, the only chance to stop this is the kill switch deep in Titan Industries HQ in New York. We must find Logan Whitmore because he is the only one who can access it. If we fight here and fall there isn't another team I feel could get to him quickly.” Gemini pleads. She swallows the hard truth that he’s right, these people here are going to die no matter what.

“How do you know all of this?” She asks.

The pair leap from roof to roof over the chaos below. Gemini tosses her a small USB device and asks her to plug it into her leg. She complies and his voice begins to fill her head and his memories begin to take shape in her mind.

“I've been investigating the Remnant and Titan Industries. My sight was taken from me because of Titan Industries' illegal dumping of toxic materials. My village used to be a beautiful place outside Tokyo until their waste corrupted the rivers and our small fishing village died out. Drugs became the go-to for people to relieve their stress and in turn, a drug syndicate was born. I was a detective trying to find their distributor and eventually discovered the truth. Titan Industries was behind it all, their hands are in everything. Before I could make the intel public knowledge the syndicate found my safe house and burned my eyes out after incinerating my wife and daughter. Before they could kill me Leo appeared and took them out. Afterward, he recommended me to join Ghost Unit. Together we found others that have been destroyed thanks to Titan. The Director works from inside to make the changes needed. Many board members are behind these evil deeds. We think Logan Whitmore is unaware of what is happening inside his own company. We have been trying to uncover the truth about them ever since. Before the Remnant began their attack I found the target we were sent here to kill. His name was Jonathan Williams, son of Richard Willaims co-founder of Titan Industries who died under mysterious circumstances. Jonathan discovered a Remnant killed his father over twenty years ago and has been trying to gather proof ever since that the Remnant can harm us. Jonathan told me that the secret to the Remnant is their neural network that links back to Prometheus. If we can go to Titan and engage the kill protocol they should all shut down. This uprising is not from Humanity First, he thinks Prometheus is behind it himself.” Gemini says.

“What happened to Jonathan?” She asks

“Dead, as he was telling me all this we were attacked by a Remnant. They have been sneaking their way in with the local population looking for him.” Gemini replies.

“Is the Doctor on our side?” Val asks.

“Yes.” He replies. The two of them head to the crash site. As they leap from building to building Val replays in her mind the subtle signals each team member was giving each other. She didn't realize she picked them up but her newfound senses seem to be working great. They also confirm this man is telling the truth, she is in the exact place she should be. The screams begin to fade as they leave the city and approach the burning wreckage.

“I will camouflage and guard our backside, you go search for them and do it quickly. I am sure the Remnant will get stronger as time passes.” Gemini says as he goes invisible. Her legs begin to emit a faint heat as she sprints ahead. Her speed has definitely increased tenfold from the procedure. Always a great sprinter now she runs with the speed of a gazelle. She must grab ahold of the joy she feels as the wind rushes across her face because she likely won't experience any for a while. A new war is coming, one unlike any other she fears. Somewhere deep in her mind, she knows the deep dark truth of it. Humanity may not survive this war.

She approaches the crashed hovercraft and comes to a halt when she sees a charred body lying face down in the dirt. The hair has been burned from the head and the clothes have melted to the skin. A glisten of metal catches her eye as her heart sinks. She kneels and checks the body and confirms it to be Pisces, she was killed instantly from the explosion. Gritting her teeth, she hears coughing coming from the fire. Rushing into the blaze she finds Taurus trapped under the wing. The fire is inching closer to him by the second. Val charges towards him and using her right leg kicks the wing as hard as she can. The metal cracks and rips away as it’s sent flying. She reaches her hand down with a warm smile. He takes it in his and she pulls him to his feet.

“Thank you! Is it me, or is it kinda hot around here?” He quips. She smirks and helps him away from the wreckage. He glances over and sees Pisces' lifeless body.

“Is that…” Taurus asks.

“Yes.” She responds.

“Are you two all that's left?” Leo asks as he walks from the bushes. One of his arms is gone at the bicep and sparking small electrical bursts.

“Gemini is holding up the rear, it's Remnant sir. They…” She replies but Leo sticks up his hand in a stop motion.

“That was a neural link Gemini gave you, sorry you didn't know we could all hear your conversation. Those of us still alive that is.” He looks at Pisces sadly. “We gotta get out of here now. Before we were shot down, sensors picked up a helipad about ten miles east. Once we are airborne I will contact the Director and confirm our next orders.” Leo says.