Mixtape Ghost N
A Striking Revelation
Maya "Cipher" Hammond
Eagle Eye
Mr. Smith
Valkyrie
Hounds of Humanity Terrorists
(Full Cast of AbandonedIntel's Characters)
Warehouse District - Lost Haven, United States
"HELO-73" by Powerglove (Blood Dragon Soundtrack)
Cipher ran through the various corridors that the shipping containers and outdoor material shelves made. FAL to her shoulder, cybernetic arms gripped tight, legs that could run for days, and Eagle Eye by her side in the form of a powerful murderbot armed with a powerful belt-fed shotgun, it was clear that they were here for one thing and one thing only, which was to purge a warehouse of corrupted souls filled with blind hatred and evil. And to gather some intel on the satellite, if possible. Make that two things.
Cipher continued to run ahead, passing by a few maintenance cabins, paying no mind to the bored workers who were too busy realizing that they needed a better union. Running faster than most people, even in a slightly crouched posture with her gun ready, she sped through the industrial complex without much of an issue. Cipher then spotted a warehouse up ahead, a dark and dingy-looking building that appeared to be a nest for crime in the area. "Bingo." Cipher smirked.
Remember. There are four tangos out on patrol, carrying concealed submachine guns. You'll notice them as they are the only men and women in the area who don't wear any safety neon.
"Seriously?" Cipher asked. "They are the only people in the area who aren't wearing safety neon, and they are all combatants?"
Probably helps that they are all wearing jackets, hoodies, and gas masks. And some tactical vests. Eagle Eye added. Practically a popular description of your average Western Terrorist, really.
"How convenient." Cipher sighed, raising her gun and slowing down on her approach, getting down lower. She spoke into the comms. "Galm Team, this is Cipher. I'm approaching the target area, and staying low. What's your status?"
"Cipher, this is Valkyrie. We read ya. We're on approach ourselves, and taking the high route towards the front entrance." Valkyrie spoke over the encrypted comms. "While you're at it, can both of you guys do me a favor and leave the cute chicks alive? You do know about how I feel on feeding from men. God, the neck hair though... ugh."
Cipher rolled her eyes. "Don't worry, I know the drill. Besides, the less blood you drink from me, the better."
"Ah, awesome. We're on target, by the way. Give us a boop once you're in position."
Cipher smiled a little. "Copy that." She then turned her head in a slight gesture towards the combat robot that Eagle Eye was remotely piloting. "Hey Eagle Eye, what does background look like?"
There are currently no civilians in the area. You're cleared to engage the hostiles as you see fit. Eagle Eye said through Cipher's mind, despite controlling a robot right beside her.
"Good thing that we're armed with 7.62s." Cipher thought aloud. "Try to make sure no civilians get caught in the crossfire."
I'd doubt that they would try to anyway, as Sherman Square is currently under attack. Eagle Eye said casually.
Cipher stopped dead in her tracks. "Wait... what?" Cipher looked at the combat bot that stood opposite of her. "The Hounds are currently attacking the city?"
The combat bot nodded, despite Eagle Eye speaking into Cipher's mind ear. Affirmative. Crow Team and our Surveillance Drone is picking up a huge battle going on in the square right now. They brought in armored vehicles, technicals, troop carriers, large mechs, and combat helicopters. The latter two are unidentified tech that no known military or civilian force has deployed before, and they are all engaged with various local metahumans. That area is currently in the process of being locked down, and the US National Guard is struggling to form a response. Multiple civilian casualties already.
Cipher gulped. "Damn... didn't think they'd show their hand this soon..." Cipher then spoke into the comms. "Hey, did you guys hear about this?"
-
Valkyrie brought her blacked-out G3 rifle to shoulder as she crouched upon the top of a shipping container. She looked through the short red-dot scope mounted on the receiver and took aim at what looked like a distant female Hounds foot soldier. The Hound was a woman in a tactical vest, jacket, and gas mask, who was casually carrying an AR-15 variant of some sort. Valkyrie kept her aim upon the woman's leg, planning to spare her life, if only to devour her blood later. Her smirk revealed her vampiric fangs, but the fact that her irises had a fiery glow to them didn't help her case either. She licked her lips in anticipation. "I hope she's a cutie under that mask..."
"Jesus woman... you plan on eating her or fucking her?" Mr. Smith asked, exasperated, as he remained crouched right behind her, booting up his military grade computer tablet.
Valkyrie smirked. "I'm sure a Hound of Humanity would jump at the chance of sleeping with a vampire." Valkyrie said, her smile making her sentence reek with sarcasm. "I'd probably feed from her regardless if we fuck or not, though."
Mr. Smith chuckled a little. "I doubt she'd like to have sex with you if you blow her damn leg off with a G3."
Valkyrie shrugged. "Hey, you may never know, she could be into that sort of thing." She said in jest. "Besides, I could barely see through her mask. I'd probably need a pillow for all I know."
"That's assuming if she was into women to begin with." Mr. Smith said. "I, however, am a charming man with impeccable influence... literally. Mostly for blood and candy, of course. Especially candy. I don't step beyond that."
Valkyrie nodded. "Don't worry, you don't need to explain yourself." Valkyrie said reassuringly. "I know you better than you think... you're practically my cool weird uncle at this point." Valkyrie smirked. "The cool weird white vampire uncle I never had."
Mr. Smith chuckled before looking back to the tablet. "Wait a fucking second." Mr. Smith searched through the tablet, opening up a live video feed of Sherman Square. "What the hell..."
"What's going on?" Valkyrie asked, concerned.
Looking through a tablet through the eyes of one of Eagle Eye's many Avenger UAVs, Mr. Smith watched the battle unfold. "Woah... holy shit." He blinked underneath his opaque black goggles. "God, this is worse than I thought..."
Cipher then raised them up on the comms. "Hey, did you guys hear about this?"
"What? Sherman Square? I'm looking at it right now!" Mr. Smith said, looking at the battle closely. "I can't even identify these helicopters or mechs, none of it is US, European, Russian or Chinese tech!"
"It appears that the Hounds in Sherman Square are fighting a large contingent of metahumans who have gathered in the area. It could either be a trap, or a challenge." Eagle Eye filled in.
"Yeah..." Mr. Smith said softly. "But shit... this is who we were going up against all along? I thought these guys were just like... Al Qaeda who got really lucky with a satellite... this tech is way beyond me. Shit."
"What about the mission?" Valkyrie asked.
"Hmm... this looks like the Hounds are showing their hand here... and most of their forces are dealing with the metahumans in the square." Mr. Smith turned to an area behind him, where Sherman Square was at, hearing the sounds of distant explosions, choppers, and chaos in general. "Jesus, you can hear the battle and the explosions from here. Either way..." He turned back to the tablet. "... the mission remains unchanged. Thanks to their attack on the metas in the square, their forces will be stretched too thin to send reinforcements our way. Recommence operations."
-
Cipher got all of that in the radio, and nodded. "Wilco." She continued to run forward, but tried ot piece it all together in her head. What exactly were the Hounds doing in Sherman Square? Why were they showing their hand like this? Where did they get all of this tech, and why blow it here? There was something much larger going on than just the satellite, and Cipher hoped she could get to the bottom of this. Not by going prone, but once she approached the warehouse, she took cover behind a large crate and crouched, resting her rifle on the crate and taking aim at one of the guards that stood by the warehouse side entry door. Her murderbot pal simply just hid behind another container.
Cipher then spoke into the comms. "Boop, in position. Just give the orders, boss."
"Copy. Engage at first shot." Mr. Smith replied over the comms.
Cipher remained almost as still as a statue, aiming her FAL at one of the gas-masked goons that patrolled the warehouse. Taking aim with her normal eye, Eagle Eye made sure that her aim was on point with her cyber-eye, which laid out a HUD of sorts for her, making sure that she was on target. Eagle Eye curtiously marked out the targets Cipher needed to engage in red, with her friend and allies marked as blue. It was easy for her to remain still with her cybernetic arms, as she had no blood to pump in them, or any involuntary muscle movement to worry about. Her rifle shined a little in the moonlight, and as the crickets chirped, Cipher waited for the moment to strike.
POWWW! The deep, but loud sound of a G3 firing echoed through the area, and before the guard in front of Cipher could react, his head exploded into a glorious mess from the armor-piercing incendiary round that Cipher fired from her rifle, a second gunshot echoing right after. Can never be too sure. Some shouts were heard, and Cipher engaged the third guard, who stood around in an surprised and alert stance. Two shots was enough to down him, one in the chest and another in the head. Cipher moved forward. "Moving." Cipher said calmly into her comms, Eagle Eye's murderbot following close behind. As Cipher approached the side door, a hound burst through it and nearly shot her! Before the Hound ever got the chance, Cipher grabbed him by the neck and smashed his head against the wall hard, putting a nice little crack in his skull before tossing him towards her murderbot companion, who proceeded to blast him in midair before he fell to the ground, dead. "I'm going in."
Enemy strength unknown, take caution! Eagle Eye warned Cipher as she approached the door.
"Eyes up! We've got metas!" Cipher heard someone shout as she entered the warehouse. The warehouse was quite large and dingy on the inside, and while it had a pair of large vehicle doors up front (where Mr. Smith and Valkyrie were apparently on the either side of), there was several catwalks, balconies and lots of crates, strewn out all over the place, some of them larger than the others. Some of the crates were green and reinforced, which gave Cipher the impression that they had military hardware inside of them. What stood out the most was what appeared to be several medium-sized mechs of sorts standing there, deactivated. What wasn't deactivated was the several dozen Hounds that were working in the warehouse, but were ready to fight this time. Some of them were wearing armor and gas masks, others were just plainclothes men and women armed with submachine guns and handguns. And they were all pointed towards Cipher.
Cipher immediately took cover behind her murderbot partner, who took the brunt of the damage from the assault rifles, SMGs and pistols that fired at them. They had little effect on the robot, however, and as the Hounds attempted to take cover, Eagle Eye's robot raised the belt-fed shotgun and began firing.
BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM! The shotgun fired automatically, spraying hot lead everywhere. Hounds were blasted left and right, taking 12 gauge rounds hard to their heads and chests. Eagle Eye made a point to spare what was within Valkyrie's parameters as preferred sustenance, so a few of the women simply either got their arms clipped or their legs crumbled.
As a majority of the combatants were suppressed, Cipher got a transparent ball with some tech in it out from one of her pouches, and stuck it onto the wall. "Eagle Eye, go ahead and let the guests in. Be sure to turn down the noise, too." Cipher smiled. The ball then began rolling along the wall towards the far end of the warehouse, where the larger doors were located. There were still a quite a few Hounds remaining, many up in the cabin that was situated on the catwalks. Cipher raised her FAL towards one of them and blasted him in the chest before he had a chance to shoot back, and one attempted to close in on her with a large stun rod of sorts. Before he could swing, Cipher kicked him hard in the chest with her robotic leg, sending him flying backwards before she raised her rifle and finished him off with another shot. As Eagle Eye was sweeping away some of the closer targets, Cipher looked around for more. She spotted someone up in the catwalks, spotting a sniper up there about to fire. She tried to quickly aim at him/her and end the threat, but she promptly felt some pain in her forehead, and fell to the ground, unconscious.
-
"Cipher, you okay? Cipher... wake up." Mr. Smith's voice echoed into Cipher's mind. "C'mon girl... I don't want to have to turn Valkyrie into a crazy cyborg lady now to replace you, would you? Wake up."
Cipher blinked, her mind surfacing from the deep ocean of unconsciousness. Feeling a really dull pain in her forehead, she groaned, rubbing it, before feeling a fleshy and bloody hole, and the slightly dented metal plating underneath. "Ow... ow, fuck." She groaned, before she saw Mr. Smith crouched above her. "Hmm... hey Boss." Cipher groaned a little. "... is the sniper down?"
"They're all down, the whole warehouse is clear of all hostiles." Mr. Smith said. "You can thank Eagle Eye for letting us in, by the way."
Almost as if on cue, the little ball Cipher deployed to open and unlock the warehouse doors and jam their short-range radio signals (the UAV above made sure that long-range signals wouldn't get anywhere) returned to Cipher by rolling onto her body and slipping back into its pouch. Are you feeling okay, Maya? Eagle Eye asked in her mind out of politeness, as Eagle Eye knew almost everything about Cipher's conditions.
Cipher moaned, rubbing the area around her wound as she sat up. "I'm fine... thanks." She looked to the both of them. "That sniper knocked me the fuck out... what round was it?"
"It was a .338 Lapua." Mr. Smith displayed the round to Cipher, with the copper round all crunched up at the tip. "That is a fuckton of velocity there, no one would blame you for being knocked unconscious there."
Cipher groaned a little, seeing the bullet. "That would've killed me if I didn't have that brain bucket... thanks Papa Sierra." Cipher then tested her functions. "Everything's on the up and up, right Eagle Eye?"
Correct. You are free to move as you please. Eagle Eye said.
Cipher nodded. "Awesome..." Cipher groaned as she stood up. Mr. Smith offered her a towel, and Cipher took it to wrap it around her bleeding head. "Alright, how many EKIA?"
Mr. Smith led Cipher through the warehouse, where dead bodies of various Hounds members were strewn about the place. "Around 26. We captured 8 noncombatants, though, they're all upstairs. Valkyrie is feasting upon their blood as we speak." Mr. Smith said casually. "Those that survive Valkyrie's hunger will be taken to our Carver Island safehouse so Sandman can press them for information."
Cipher nodded gently. "Makes sense." Cipher walked with him. "Are you gonna feast upon some lovely virgins yourself?"
"After I made sure that you were okay, and the bullet didn't do any permanent damage." Mr. Smith said. "Well... Eagle Eye already told me that you were fine, I just wanted to get you up on your feet was all."
Cipher nodded. "Okay." She searched around the room, looking closely at the crates. "Did you find anything useful yet?"
Mr. Smith shook his head. "I didn't even look yet."
"I'd suggest you start now." Cipher said with a soft chuckle as she scanned the warehouse, looking around. Cipher took a closer look at one of the green crates she spotted earlier. She looked at the label on it. "COMAT, Raytheon ATGM-75X Rockets, recipient... STRIKE?" Cipher looked at it again. "What the fuck..." Cipher looked at the mechs behind her, seeing the STRIKE insignia on them. "Oh, I think we might have an explanation for all of that unknown hardware we've been encountering."
Mr. Smith glanced to Cipher as he was examining the M-16 one of the fallen Hounds was carrying. "What do you mean?"
"This is all captured hardware from STRIKE. After STRIKE has collapsed... the Hounds took their hardware, and has been fielding it." Cipher said, looking at the stuff. "It also explains why they have automatic weapons... do we even have STRIKE's data?"
Mr. Smith thought about it before shaking his head. "This is gonna present a huge problem for us." Mr. Smith said before turning towards one of the combat bots. "Eagle Eye? Bring your all of your tasked combat bots inside, and update the rest of the team on what's going on. We need all of the help we can get cataloguing and identifying the hardware here. It would be rather nice to know who exactly we're fighting here, and what we're up against."
"I am currently advising the team about the events here, but you must know, that the locations of target facilities have been leaked onto the internet by an unknown source." Eagle Eye informed them both from the combat robot that stood in front of them. "All across the east coast, cells all over the country. I'm currently transmitting both of that data to Crow Team, and to Papa Sierra as well."
Mr. Smith turned to Cipher before looking back to the bot. "Jesus... this is far worse than I could imagine." Mr. Smith sighed before sitting down on one of the crates. "We're practically going up against a Rogue Nation with some pretty advanced tech here... we gotta switch up our game plan, and we gotta do that fast. Eagle Eye, catalogue this as quickly as possible, and try to secure it, we're heading back to the safehouse."
"Wilco. I also regret to inform you that the Hounds are in the process of scrambling fast mover aircraft of unknown origin, and they are currently inbound to Lost Haven. I'm currently tracking their movements and relaying them to Dragonborn. Our Eagles may be their quarry."
Cipher gulped. "Dear god... the Hounds have Fighter Jets!?"
