Temple Stuart was eating his lunch. Ham sand wedges. He’d had a pretty boring day. Someone apparently got mowed down by a HGV, but no one really cared and they were more worried about the diverted traffic and more jams. Stuart decided to walk to the gym, seeing as the Traffic was not moving. He walked to the elevator and pressed the G button. The lift jolted into action and the lights flickered as it descended. He reached the ground floor. The doors opened with a ping and he stepped out and crossed the lobby to the main doors. As he did so the security guards glared at him, making him feel uneasy.
They generally disliked him; even the first day he joined they didn’t trust him because of his past and mental instability. He thought back to his past; six years back he was attacked by a man with a knife and had killed the man in self defence. He was given 5 years for it, and all he had done was defend himself, which reminded him. He had to talk to his councillor next week He’d missed the meeting twice now, and really couldn’t be bothered but he’d received an email informing him that he would be charged if he didn’t attend this time. He reached the gym “Hi, Stuart”, said his personal trainer.
He was about 6 ft tall, very built up, and was wearing shorts and a vest. He had a towel draped over him, “You weren’t here yesterday. ” “Yeah too much work. I had to skip it,” replied Stuart. “You hear about that crash? ” “You mean the bloke being run over? ” “Yeah, the HGV swerved to avoid a van and crushed someone walking near it. Everything around the areas sectioned off. Apparently it’s pretty gory” About two hours later, when Stuart had returned to the office and finished his shift, he decided it was time to leave for home. He shut down his pc, and grabbed his rucksack, heading for the elevator again.
It had been a long and boring day, Stuart felt bored and fatigued. He was in the underground parking lot, but decided that he might as well walk to the underground station and catch the tube instead of going by car, which would take ages. Another little annoyance to delay him further. Thought Stuart, this was not his day. He had a long walk to the nearest station and was walking down a road quite close to the accident. It was completely abandoned and had an eerie feeling as the buildings on the side cast darkness over the entire street and blocked the sun out.
He was startled as he heard a loud burst of static, and looked for the source. He saw a dropped walkie-talkie. Thinking for a minute curiously, he picked it up and listened. “Well, you could be more secure. Anyone could get in there” said one voice. There was a second burst of static, and it sounded like some one was speaking but their voice was too distorted. “What was that? I didn’t copy. Repeat” “Change to another frequency. Delta 4 now” The voices stopped and there was a loud burst of static. Stuart twiddled with the frequency knob on the top and tried to find a signal. He couldn’t find much.
He walked down the street, his boredom temporarily pushed away as he played with the walkie-talkie. The static was broken by a voice “Ok, so that’s 79 Edward Street, right? ” “Yes, that’s right” Stuarts mind raced, where is Edward Street? “Ok, double pepperoni with sausage isn’t it? ” “Yes, that’s right” replied another voice Stuart tried again, looking for the other conversation, while walking down the street somewhat fascinated by this radio. Finally he got something. “HE’S MOVING DOWN 45TH BANKERS AVENUE, TAKE HIM OUT QUICK” Stuart was startled, realising that it was the street he was in.
Not paying attention to where he was walking, he buckled and tripped over the curb “I see him” “Shoot to kill. This is unacceptable he’s too dangerous” Stuart picked himself up. A gunshot sounded and the wall in front of him chipped and dust blasted out of it. He glanced behind seeing two men with guns. Leaping to his feet, Stuart ran round the corner and heard two more shots which hit the wall again, and caused a brick to shatter. He ran around a corner and past two more buildings, looking for somewhere to hide, terrified by the unprovoked attack. He spotted a restaurant.
The door was open but had police tape across the gap, Stuart ran for it, and ripped through tape. His leg caught on a piece of the adhesive tape causing him to fall. His head slammed in to the floor. Grasping for something to lift him up he grabbed a table and pulled himself up. His face was bleeding, dripping from his chin to the floor. Adrenaline shot through Stuart’s veins as he rolled over in shock and pain. Another bullet passed through a window, shattering it and hit the table, blasting a hole through it. Stuart jumped into action and ran to the kitchen area. Looking for a weapon he saw a large butcher’s knife, and grabbed it.
The knife glinted in the sunlight that shone through one of the windows, illuminating the dust particles and giving the room an abandoned look, although the fat fryer was still Bubbling and a fridge was open and food spilled on the floor. The fridge had not defrosted yet. This room must have been cleared out quickly. “Come out with your hands up and we will not hurt you” yelled a police man as four gunshots sounded and impacted on the wall. Stuart hesitated at the thought of surrendering. Another bullet passed through the wall near his head, he jumped back in shock and confusion.
The first police officer ran through the doorway. Stuart swung the knife madly at him with the long edge of the blade facing his chest. The knife stuck in about 3 inches and the police man was knocked to the floor, he gargled as blood flowed out of his mouth and spilled out of the wound caused by the knife now embedded in his chest, Stuart stepped back in horror as the blood flowed over the floor the adrenaline pulsing through his veins again, as he stumbled back in shock. Suddenly coming back out of the daze he went for the knife, but a gunshot hit the floor near him and he jumped back, running in to the kitchen for cover.
He grabbed another knife and ducked behind some cupboards. Two more police men ran in and took cover behind a large metal fat fryer. Stuart glanced over the cupboard; there was a knife rack above them. He prepared to throw his knife at the rack hoping to knock them down, but was forced to duck back down as more shots were aimed at him. There was a brief stop. Stuart looked over and threw the knife as hard as he could. SMACK! It hit the knife board and stuck in solid, not falling on the police men as he’d originally planned. So did all the other knives on it. Stuart ducked down again and swore to himself.
He had no more options. Then a grenade landed next to him, he dived back behind the next row of cupboards and took cover as it exploded and shrapnel reverberated around the room. Another landed next to him. This time he scooped it up and threw it at the two police men. It landed in the deep fat fryer and exploded, showering them in boiling fat. They screamed as it seared their skin, and metal shrapnel was stuck in their bodies. He heard them screaming and looked up. The knife rack fell on them, and one let out a loud scream which was followed by a quiet gurgling noise and a hissing as the blood was fried by the boiling fat.
Stuart walked up to the two men whom he had just killed. They where blistered all over and cut in multiple places. Stuart was in shock. He was certainly in trouble now. He had killed three police officers, no matter where he ran, would be certainly killed. Stuart looked up as he heard the thumping of helicopters blades, getting closer and closer. The foreboding sound of death approaching, Stuart knew that there was no escape, but did not want to believe it. He grabbed one of the now dead police officer’s guns, but dropped it immediately because it was so hot from the boiling fat it had been soaking in.
The helicopter was now on the ground. Stuart could see it through the window six men got out. They were not police, one held up what looked like a grenade launcher and fired it through the window Stuart dived behind more cupboards, but instead of an explosion he heard a hissing of gas. Stuart realised it was some sort of knock out gas and looked around the room trying to find an escape. He made a dash for the door he came in. Another gas grenade impacted near the door. Stuart skidded to a halt and backed off as he choked on the gas.
Stumbling about he grabbed a towel and put it over his mouth breathing through it, trying desperately to hang on, but now feeling dizzy. Stuart dropped to the floor and could not hold the towel any longer. Letting it drop away, he tried to move but could not muster the strength. His vision began to blur and darken around the edges. Eventually Stuart fell in to unconsciousness. He awoke on a medical examination bed, felt a tingling in his arm and saw a nurse walking away with a syringe. “Are you ok? ” questioned a tall man in a dark blue suit. “Where am I? What huh’said Stuart his speech slurred and his vision out of focus, recalling what had happened, fuzzy and blurred in his minds eye. “You’re back at the institute now. Are you ok? ” said the man again Stuart sat up, putting his arms out for stability and still feeling groggy “What the hell am I doing here? Where is here? Am I in prison or something? ” He sat up and managed to focus. He was on a white medical table of some sort. There was a computer near him with some devices which were attached to his chest and his head, and the man standing over him, with two guards at the door.
The man was about his height, had brown skin and was wearing a dark blue suit with a moave tie. His hair was cut short, and he had brown eyes. “You’re agent Fright. Your last assignment was 5 years ago, recovering the weapons remember? ” “Fright? ” said Stuart, getting of the table and looking around anxiously, “that’s not my name. I want to get out of here” Stuart took his hand off the table and made a step for the door. He was still feeling bad, and stumbled, reaching back to the table for support. “Do you remember your prison sentence? ” “Oh shit I’m going back now, and I’m not getting out” Stuart stumbled again “I killed three cops! “Don’t worry M. R. Fright, you’re not going back, do you remember what happened before your sentence? ”
“I killed some one in a fight when I was attacked, and I was sent to jail” “And before that? ” Stuart hesitated “Well I” he looked towards the door, and then back to the man “I worked on a construction sight. I’m sure of it” “You where hypnotised and had another memory implanted in to your brain and deemed mentally unstable so if anything went wrong with their fail safes you would just be ignored like a madman” Shocked and not believing a word of it Stuart angered.
His mind was still not clear but he would not believe their lies. “What a load of crap let me go, NOW! ” “You served our agency and your name was Terry Fright,” said the man, raising his tone. “I don’t know what you’re on about, but I don’t believe you! You have no proof” “You have two choices. You can go free and will be hunted down by the police and locked away for ever, or you can open your eyes to the truth”. Stuart paused, and thought for a moment “What is the point? Why am I so important? Why are you messing with my head? Let me go! Stuart started for the door, but the guards stepped in front of it, blocking any way out.
The man replied in a calm and quiet tone “you can go free if you wish, but remember you have just killed three police officers, and I don’t believe you will survive very long. However we will not harm you or imprison you. So what’s your answer? ” “Why do you want me? I can;quot;t remember anything! This is pointless” “You accept? ” “Well, looks like you leave me no choice now do you? ” replied Stuart finally submitting. “We will begin de programming once the drugs are out of your system.
For now, let me show you around” Two Hours later Stuart was in his quarters, re-arranging furniture, and trying to comprehend all the things that were happening to him. Still in disbelief although now his mind was clear. These people did not seem to mind that he had just killed three men; this would be his only option. An alarm sounded, and Stuart got up. No peace at all, just one thing after another it was beginning to annoy Stuart, he felt like his life had been turned inside out. He was being dragged along unwillingly not in control of his life now, but just holding on to sanity.
The man Stuart had seen in the medical room entered. He said his name was Michael Demland. He told Stuart to come to an emergency conference and time was urgent. A man in a white suit was sitting at the end of a large table; about twenty people were seated around it. “OK people. Stuart, sit down. Right, this is a code red. The government are onto us. Must have been our rescue attempt of agent Fright, but now we must move. Rick, John, you will accompany Stuart. Let’s move” The meeting broke up, and the two agents, Rick and John led Stuart out, and told him to follow. Stuart heard a helicopter landing on the roof. Is that for us? ” “No those are the governments.
Helicopters are too easily traced. We are not going to be using them”, replied John “What? We are against the government,” said Stuart, shocked, as they moved in to an elevator and Rick hit the G4 key. “Well, sort of, they don’t really know what’s going on” “But…” said Stuart, feeling very worried and confused, as the doors opened “Not now, we need to move. Later”. They hurried through an underground tunnel and came to a wall. John pulled out a mobile phone pressed a few buttons, the wall slid open. They ran through and the wall closed behind them.
They were in an underground train station, no one else was there. A train came into the station and they boarded a deserted car. Stuart sat down, expecting to get some well needed rest. If these people were telling the truth he was being hunted by the government and would probably come off worse than a life sentence now. The lights flickered and the train’s engines sounded as it began to accelerate. They sat down, and introduced themselves to Stuart. One was called Rick Shepard and the other john Dawson. Stuart asked where they were going, Rick was about to say something, but was cut off by a large explosion.
The tunnel light up and the train began to screech as it scraped against the sides of the tunnel wall, sparks flying from the sides of the train and windows shattering. The metal bent out of shape from the explosion and the lights died. John pulled out three guns handing them to Rick and Stuart. “I’ve never used a gun before,” said Stuart. The car behind them burst in to light and windows shattered. “Point at enemy, press trigger. Simple enough? ” After a pause of about ten seconds, three men came in from the car behind them through the door, guns blazing, and glass shattering from the windows in the car.
Stuart, john and Rick dived for cover, Rick rolled out and shot one. As he was hit electricity pulsed through him and jumped to the other men next to him. “What the hell was that? ” shouted Stuart above the screeching, astounded and shocked. Two more came through form the other door and Rick picked them off. “Electric charged bullets. When they impact they discharge a high powered electric charge” Another explosion shook the train and the car behind them was blown off. They were knocked to the ground and heard metal scraping against metal and more glass shattering.
A piece of metal flew past Stuart’s head just missing him and smashed another window. Sparks where being thrown up from the severed section behind them and there was a gaping hole at the end of their car with twisted metal scraping the ground, the metal was screaming against the wall, and the train was shaking, a long fluorescent strip light fell off the ceiling just inches from Stuart. About Two meters in from the break in the car, the floor split open, and more glass shattered, showering Stuart in broken glass, he ducked and shielded his face from the glass.
A hydraulic pump under the train ruptured, spraying out boiling liquid. “Aaagh, my arm! ” screamed John, as the boiling liquid sprayed his arm, “We’ve got to get out of here now” “Stuart, get that bag and open It,” called Rick. Stuart dragged himself to the bag. A light over his head exploded and sparks were thrown on a seat near him. He opened the bag. Inside were two laptops, some strange sort of gun, and a gun with a grappling hook in the barrel. “Get the grappling gun,” shouted Rick Stuart grabbed it, and threw it to him.
Rick tied the gun to a metal chair with some excess rope, and aimed it at the tunnel ceiling which was speeding by in a blur. “Brace yourselves” Yelled Rick. He fired the gun; the rope went through the ceiling and caught. All Three of them where thrown to a wall, and the car was ripped from the rest of the train, all the remaining windows shattered, seats were ripped from their bearings, and the section of tunnel ceiling was wrenched out of the tunnel and smashed through the roof of the train and through the floor. Stuart rolled over to avoid being crushed by a part of the car caving in. he noise was deafening. The entire car was dislodged so it was wedged diagonally in the tunnel, eventually grinding to a halt.
They heard shouts, and gunfire. John’s shin imploded and blood sprayed all over the floor of the car, he fell down screaming, and was shot in the back of the head finishing him off. Stuart and Rick dived for cover behind the twisted and bent metal, and grabbed their guns off of the floor. “He’s dead, shit, he’s dead” shouted Rick in astonishment and anger. “We’re dead now, they’ve found us. We needed the info in your brain.
You must…” Another explosion rocked the car, and knocked it over. Stuart caught hold of a metal bar, and the train tilted, and Rick slid to the other end, dropping his gun. He slid over a piece of jagged metal and sliced his leg open, screaming in agony. Stuart was dazed, and looked down at Rick. He was badly hurt. He looked back up and saw a hole in the roof of the tunnel, and rays of light shone through right in his eyes, dazzling him. He almost let go of the bar. He could hear quiet burning and the gushing of a broken water main. Rick peered back up, and saw Stuart hanging on.
He tried to move but was trapped under fallen metal. Then he heard something like a small metallic object hitting the floor, and a click followed by hissing, his leg was gushing, and he saw the gas filling the car, he called out to Stuart, warning him, but was to late. Stuart lost consciousness and slid down the train, past Rick into a wall. Rick tried to reach for his gun, but his vision became blurred and he could no longer feel his limbs. The last thing he heard was the gushing of water and a quiet burning before he lost consciousness. Stuart could hear the sound of footsteps on a metal floor.
He strained to open his eyes, but the light hurt, and his head was pounding. “Rick, Rick, you there? ” he called out He heard a muffle response from Rick. Stuart sat up, and looked around. He went and pulled on all the bars in front of him trying to find an escape, but not really expecting to find anything, knowing that it was over now. “Do you see the bag, Stuart? ” asked Rick “No, I take it that you don’t either”, he replied Stuart heard footsteps again. “Shhh, someone’s coming”, whispered Rick. They both lay down on their beds and closed their eyes.
The footsteps got closer, and then stopped “I know you’re both awake. Get up” Stuart peeked through one eye at the source of the sound. The Guard was quite short, wearing a bullet-proof vest. His helmet had a headset with a microphone and he had a strange looking gun. His face was thin with a small trimmed moustache and a scar on his cheek. He aimed the gun at Stuart and shot him. A bolt of electricity jolted through Stuart, and he jumped up “Aaagh, I’m awake, don’t shoot,” shouted Rick worriedly, as he leapt up. The guard fired the tazer type gun at him; he fell back, and moaned. Stand up or I shoot you again,” Said the Guard in a threatening evil tone. “Don’t Shoot” said Rick, clambering up. The guard then walked up to the bars and looked them over. He looked at a terminal behind him and pressed a button. A glass wall slid down in front of the bars, the floor then opened up and they fell through in to another room. Both disorientated from the fall, and unready for the six guards that entered the room. The guards roughly tied them to chairs making sure that they were uncomfortable, and hitting them maliciously, Stuart’s chair was knocked over, his head hitting against the floor.
A door opened and a man in a grey suit followed by the Guard with the gun. One of the guards grabbed the back of Stuart’s chair and lifted it back up. The man with the grey suit approached Rick. “The Access codes M. R. Shepard” “No” The guard with the tazer fired at Rick “Aaagh! Nooo” “We’re going to get nowhere if you keep this up and we will just have to kill you” “If I give you the codes, you will kill me anyway” “So? ” said the man, as he punched Rick in the face. Rick spat out blood, and struggled in his chair “Now, this is your last chance,” said the man, pulling out a knife. It needs my finger print identification” said Rick angrily The man grabbed his hand and put it against a table. Getting the knife and putting it against his finger he lifted his other arm and slammed it down on the knife. Rick screamed in agony as his finger was sliced off, holding his hand, and swearing under his breath. “Now be quiet,” said the man in the grey suit, as he pressed the finger against the print identification tab. A red light flashed and a buzz sounded. “It’s not working” said the man “That’s because it detects the blood flow,” said Rick in a hoarse tone, as he boiled over with anger swearing under his breath.
The man pulled out the knife and cut the ropes at the back of Rick"s chair, and pushed him to the ground forcibly. He then placed the laptop in front of him. “Access it now, or I will cut your eyes out! ” Rick pressed his remaining finger on the pad, and pressed another button on the side of the laptop. He winced as a needle entered his finger, and a gas canister inside the laptop released its payload and vented the gas out through the ventilation holes at the back of the laptop. Everyone in the room passed out.
Rick awoke, removed a syringe from a side section of the laptop and injected Stuart with it he then ripped part of his shirt off and wrapped it around his finger as a make shift bandage. He picked up the knife and cut Stuarts rope. “What, happened? The last thing I remember was the laptop spraying out a gas and then it all went blank” said Stuart startled. “Sorry, but we must act quickly”, said Rick, in a hurry as he pulled out 2 guns out of the bag, and passed one to Stuart. “What is this? ” asked Stuart “Press this” Said Rick, as he motioned to a button on the side of the gun.
Stuart pressed it and a high-pitched wining noise was emitted as the gun energised. Rick powered his Weapon up too, and fired it at the camera in the corner of the room. At the instant of the shot Stuart saw what looked like a heat wave emitted from the line of fire, which dissipated as it rose up. He then shot all the guards in the head and the man in the grey suit too. The impact area of the shot exploded and the men were killed instantly. Two guards came through the door. Stuart shot one square in the chest and he was thrown back. The other fired his gun and Stuart ducked for cover.
Stuart again felt the adrenaline rush through his veins as again he was in danger. Another guard rushed in, Rick leapt from behind a table and shot the man in the back, he fell to the ground, dead. One more guard came in to the room with his gun blazing. A window shattered and a table fell apart as bullets impacted all around the room. Stuart came up from behind and slammed the gun in to his head. He dropped to the floor. “Good work, lets move,” said Rick Rick grabbed the bag and put the laptop back in. Another guard came in. Rick shot him in the stomach and he was thrown back to the wall, unconscious.
They rushed out, Rick in front, but not knowing where they were going. Another guard came round the corner and Rick shot him down. The eventually reached and elevator, and went in. Five guards came round a corner and fired their guns at them. Stuart and Rick hid behind the side of the doors and Stuart pressed the G button. As the doors slid closed, Rick threw a grenade out as the doors slid closed and bullets hit the door, denting it. They reached the bottom floor, and the door opened showing 2 more guards. They hid behind the sides of the doors, but the gunfire ripped the door behind them off.
Two more guards were on the side of that door. They both ran through the original exit, running to the side to avoid fire, and firing at them. Rick killed one guard but Stuart missed and the guards spray of bullets caught him in the leg, knocking him to the floor and he rolled over, hitting the wall. Stuart looked up at the guard, and rolled round the corner, backing away, terrified as again he knew that he was about to die. The guard kicked him against the wall, smiling as he looked down at him. His head turned sideways, and cracked, his eyes rising to the top of his head, and his body went limp.
The guard dropped to the floor, showing Rick behind him. “Come on, get up. That was too close. ” said Rick Stuart stumbled up and grabbed his gun. Two guards ran round the corner and Rick’s gunfire knocked them back. They ran towards the elevator, to see a grenade in it, and ducked back as it exploded, and the elevator ruptured and fell down the shaft to lower floors. They ran through a corridor, gunning down two more guards Rick pulled out a mobile phone “Lock onto my position and send transport; we need to get out of here now! I expect that this place will soon be swarming with police” Stuart looked back at the elevator.
A guard jumped over the gaping hole, Stuart held out his gun, but the floor underneath the guard crumpled and he fell back down, one of the walls next to the elevator shuddered, and some of the plaster on the wall fell off. Rick threw some sort of explosive down the shaft and shouted to Stuart “Come on, lets move! ” They ran round a corner and came to a balcony. The entrance lobby a floor below them. There were a large decorational marble pillars at the edge leading to the end of the balcony overlooking the entrance lobby and the main doors. Stuart moved slowly and stealthily towards the edge keeping low and looking over.
Below them on the ground floor there were a dozen swat officers and Guards swarming around the area. “Damn, we must get out of here in two minutes or we’re screwed” whispered Rick as he skidded to a halt at the escalator leading down. One of the Guards shouted, and a volley of gunfire impacted around them. They both immediately hit the ground, as the pillars fell away under the gunfire. Rick was caught in the arm by a line of bullets and fell to the ground, screaming in agony. He shouted above the gunfire to Stuart “Stuart, throw this grenade down the elevator shaft and destroy that explosive prematurely or we’re all dead. Stuart, grabbed his gun, but it was damaged. He picked up one of the Guards guns and ran round the corner. He reached the elevator and hastily threw a grenade at the elevator. It bounced on the edge and landed on the other side, exploding. Stuart panicked, shock filled his mind and he tried to find something else to destroy the bomb before it armed. His eyes searched the room for something. Forty seconds left. He took the gun and aimed it down the hole, pressing the trigger. Click click. The gun cartridge was empty. Thirty five seconds. Stuart looked around the room.
He saw an ammo clip, and grabbed it, sticking it in the gun. Thirty seconds. Bang! He was hit in the stomach, and knocked back by the blast. A wounded guard had managed to fire one last shot before he lost consciousness. Stuart clambered up supporting himself with the wall. He looked down to his stomach, the bullet had hit him in the centre, not going in but it was bleeding badly. Twenty seconds. He dragged himself to the elevator, and clicked the gun in to rapid fire, aiming down the hole. Fifteen seconds He fired the gun, and emptied the entire clip.
Seven Stuart rolled away from the hole, and dragged himself to his feet Three Two One Zero Nothing happened. It had worked. He pulled himself to his feet, and stabilised himself on the wall BOOM! A thunderous explosion rocked the building. Windows shattered, walls fell in, and the elevator shaft erupted in flames. Stuart was knocked down by the explosion and the floor behind him fell away. He clambered up and limped to the balcony where Rick was lying on the floor firing at the escalator as guards came up it. Stuart dived for cover behind a fallen column next to Rick.
A large decorative statue fell of the wall and smashed to the floor, throwing up dust, stone, and detritus. “It went off”, shouted Stuart over the noise. “That was not the proper detonation, you must have damaged the bomb” Rick shouted back. Part of the balcony collapsed, and Rick slid to the edge. He grabbed the edge of the balcony, hanging on with his good arm, the other damaged from gunfire. A gunshot ricocheted off of a decorational metal shield above them, hitting the floor near Rick’s hand. Stuart dived to the edge, and pulled him up. Rick rolled over, and pulled out a canister, throwing it over the edge.
It exploded, and the explosion flowed throughout the lower lobby, incinerating everything on that floor. The cloud of fire flowed around the lobby, destroying and killing everything on the level and rocking the balcony. Rick opened up the bag and pulled out a rope. He tied it to one of the remaining columns, and slid down it. Stuart followed him with the bag slung over his back. Two black limos smashed through the front glass walls. Another section of wall behind them fell in, and the building rumbled menacingly. A door opened on the limo, and a man called them over. They managed to drag themselves in. Where’s john? ” “We lost him,” replied Rick, as the car turned around, bumping as it drove over the rubble of the destroyed balcony. “Terry, is that you? ” said the man, addressing Stuart. “What!? ” replied Stuart, confused, and then realising, “just call me Stuart for now”.
The building rumbled again, and a lighting fixture fell off of the high ceiling, and smashed beside them. The car pulled out and through the glass. Guards poured through one of the doors, and all fired machine guns at the car. The back window cracked in multiple places from bullets but did not break. Hang on” said the driver. The car sped forward over a large lump of rock, and bumped up, hitting a sidewall, and skidding out of the door. The man pressed a button and guards slid up and covered the windows. Stuart heard bullets ricocheting off of the cars body. They could hear gunshots, as their car sped away to safety. Stuart was safe for now, the day had been a rush, finally he had some well deserved rest, not knowing what to expect ahead of him. “So Stuart, I suppose you are a bit confused,” said Michael, the man who showed Stuart around their institute the first time. “It will be clear soon.
We need to inject you with a drug which will help you recover the memories” “So, this will bring back my previous memories? ” said Stuart “Yes, it should work” “Has it worked before? ” Michael hesitated “It will work, but the memories might not come back all at once” “OK, go ahead,” said Stuart wearily. Faced with no other options, he lay down on the bed, and a nurse injected a syringe in to his arm. Images flashed through his mind. All knowledge was suddenly unlocked. Stuart could hear voices and see pictures. He felt disorientated, nauseas and began to sweat. His body began to twitch, and his eyes moved rapidly.
Stuart was being overwhelmed by information and it was too much for him. He passed out. Terry Fright awoke. The last thing he remembered was he had uncovered enemy blueprints, and killed their researchers. He was leaving in a car and then a tyre burst. Pulling out a gun he shot through the back window destroying an enemy van with an explosive shell, and then he was hit in the neck with a dart. The next thing he remembered was being in an interrogation room. He eventually passed out, after being beaten by a guard. Where was he now’something was wrong. What happened after that?
He looked in his memory but saw nothing, then he saw it; he shuddered as the information flowed in to his mind. Terry passed out. Stuart Reilly awoke. He was wondering what had happened. He was confused and most of his memory was blank. He was at work when… He couldn’t remember. Stuart sat straight up as the next days memories came back. Then he looked to the past. His head hurt, and he didn’t feel right. He was not him, he was someone else. What the hell was happening? He concentrated on his past, he had two pasts, but they were wrong. He didn’t believe them. Stuart lay down, and relaxed.
More memories were surfacing, his alternative past. Terry’s past was still not complete and many gaps were left. The suppressed memories were finally flowing through the newly opened door in his mind. He almost passed out again from an overwhelming flow of information, but was broken out of his trance like state by a voice. It was Michael Demland and Matthew Semargo. Stuarts head hurt, he still hadn’t had the rest he needed and now his mind was on fire and flooded with new memories. “Hello, Stuart? Terry? You awake? ” “Matthew? ” “Yes, it’s me” “It"s Stuart,” replied Stuart concentrating. Well for the moment anyway” “Why you using your, err other name? ” “Don’t know, I’m still not all here” “Ok” Michel stepped forward “Well, back to business Stuart. We’ve been looking for you. You are the only person with the knowledge for the enemy’s missile. Do you remember? ” Stuart searched his past, and clarified his memories “Yes, yes, I do” “Well they’ve resumed it. You killed their scientists, but they’ve been researching and have got it back and operational.
Apart form a delay of five years, they are again a threat” “Errm, were they the black Temple organisation? “Yes, they call themselves Medicorp, and are receiving payment from the government for research. They told the government that we are terrorists, and want to disrupt trade and profits” Memories flashed through Stuart’s mind. The Black Temple organisation was some strange cult who believed in Nazi like ideals and was lead by a mysterious leader, known only as Rapak. They were disguised as a computer organisation, gaining funding from the government who believed they could gain valuable technology which could be used in conjunction with state of the art defence technology. I thought we closed down their last operation? ” questioned Stuart “Almost, but now they have started on more and began excavating a prehistoric temple” “What? Why would they do that? ” “The temple is built around a meteorite impact crater in the Amazon rain forest. It is believed that there is a huge chunk of the meteorite in the middle made of a highly powerful and rare element” “Uh huh”, said Stuart “That’s all we know, but there is much activity around the area.
We have intercepted communications saying they are planning to create some kind of warhead out of the element that is capable of destroying billions of lives and wiping out massive areas with a single missile” Michael paused, Stuart felt stunned “They are currently constructing one massive rocket that splits in to separate cruise missiles” “That’s insane! Why the hell would they do that? ” “We don’t know, but these people are obsessed with wiping out all nations who are deemed a threat. They could take control of the world. Once other nations see the power of these missiles they would not dare oppose them.
You see how important this is” “Why don’t you just bomb the temple? ” “It’s too unstable we could cause the element to explode, and destroy half of the world. It’s too dangerous. Even if we survived the explosion the earth would be knocked out of orbit, and we would shortly die of dramatic climate changes” “What’s my part in this? ” asked Stuart “You understand the warhead, and how to disable it and destroy the payload safely. ” “Do I? ” “You will soon, Stuart. Your memories are still incomplete, I take it, and need to re-surface. ” Matthew continued, “You are too important to die.
When they could not get the information out of you they gave you an alternative life, in case they needed to extract the information, when their methods had improved” “But I have no idea how the missile can be safely detonated,” protested Stuart. “You will soon. Just relax and it will come to you” “So, what happens now? ” asked Stuart “We will mobilize for an assault on their base in the Amazon around the meteor where they are constructing their rocket. You should get some rest, you will be needed soon”. Finally everything made sense to Stuart, and his long day was over.
He now understood what as happening, the puzzle fell in to place yet he did not feel like it would make anything easier. He had an idea of what was ahead of him now but it would not help. The helicopter sped through the sky, banking gently to the right, accompanied by several other helicopters. Stuart and five other special agents swayed to the side as the helicopter banked again, this time more sharply, and eventually began its descent. As they towered above the treetops Stuart looked out of the window. The forest looking like a carpet of varying greens, almost like a garden lawn.
Inside Stuart’s helicopter were five other agents. Rick, Matthew, and Three men whom Stuart did not know. They were suited up with armour, cooling systems camouflage, and advanced weapons. They began to reach the trees, and landed in a clearing along with three other helicopters carrying soldiers armed to the teeth with state of the art advanced weaponry; the most advanced body armours and built in computer communication and targeting helmets. There were also a few more agents. Once everyone was on the ground the helicopters began their ascent.
Dust was blown everywhere, and leaves on trees fluttered and shook under the gust form the helicopters, now leaving them. The commando team, consisting of the soldiers, spread out and secured the area. Two snipers set up position. Activating their guns and producing the whining noise as they powered up, they took aim to cover the task force who were now making their way along the mission rout stealthily. The group of five agents with Stuart reached the top of a ridge and peered over. They were on the edge of the impact crater, and could see the temple, which was integrated with the base.
There was a steep drop below them, and in about ten minutes they had attached mountain climbing equipment and were absailing down the cliff face on the side of the giant crater. They then reached a waypoint, and prepared. Four commandos took up sniper positions. One of the snipers gazed through his rifle, which was the same as the guns, which produced the heat wave but was more accurate. He glanced to his right at another sniper and made a brief hand signal. He then looked at his computerised targeting system. He could see tree’s foliage and vines hanging down, he tapped a button on the side of the gun and it switched to infa-red mode.
He could see three human shaped heat signatures now, he twiddled a knob, and they came in to exact focus. Two men were talking to each other, one facing him another with his back to him, the other was walking past the other two. As soon as the three aligned he pulled the trigger, and the shot passed through all three. The rest of his sniper team took out surveillance cameras, monitoring equipment, and drone guns. “Ok, people, we’re clear. Let’s move out, quickly, before they send more guards” he said in to his radio, and almost instantly everyone began to move towards the temple.
Once closer to the temple, just in the trees about a meter from the open all of the assault team were concealed, the sniper took place and turned on his infa red scope. He could not see through the wall. He switched to x ray mode, and could see three guards inside the complex. He relayed this information to the commando squad, and they moved to the door, taking cover either side of it. The three guards came through the door, and were instantly killed. The gunshots made no noise at all because they were using a hi-tech design which produced virtually no noise.
They then all set out to their mission points. Stuart was assigned with Rick and another man, Paul Geddes. They had 4 Commandos escorting them. They made their route through the complex avoiding patrols and wasting no time to get to the main missile silo. They came in to a large room. The commandos went first, and killed 4 guards. Their bodies dropped to the floor, and the commandos set about securing the area. Stuart looked up and saw the missile towering above him. They boarded an open elevator. Rick hit a button and the elevator jolted in to action and began rising.
Suddenly an alarm sounded and guards rushed in to the room under them which they were now rising from. They all dropped to the floor of the elevator and the four marines crawled to the edge and began firing at the guards. Two of them were immediately killed, for a split second a mist of blood was sprayed out of their heads as bullets passed through their skulls, the other two marines rolled back. Their stealthily entrance and infiltration had only bought them a fraction of time, they had been found out. Suddenly the elevator jolted to a stop and then began descending. “Shit! ” Shouted one of the marines “get the grenades! The other marine pulled out tow gas canister grenades and passed them to him. He threw both, one to the right and one to the left side. A loud explosion shook the elevator shaft, and the 2 marines peered over the edge.
Four guards were still ready, and the both dived back, unfortunately one was not fast enough, and his body fell limp. Rick reached over to the side panel on the elevator trying to stay low and pressed the up button, nothing happened. The controls were over ridden from the bottom. They were at an angle now of which they were vulnerable, the last commando jumped out with his guns blazing.
Killing two and startling the two left who ducked for cover behind a gas canister. The commando landed, rolled and hit a wall, he looked behind him but was immediately knocked back in to the wall again as he was shot several times, and collapsed on the floor. Geddes rolled on his side to the edge of the elevator and shot at the men hiding behind the gas canisters, missing the men but rupturing the canisters. The canisters exploded under pressure, and although they caused no flame the shrapnel from the large man sized canisters shredded the guards.
They were now on the ground again, Rick ran to a terminal pressed a few buttons and the elevator began rising. He quickly jumped on and pulled himself up chocking on the gas which had been released. They crawled to the edge of the elevator taking vantage points to shoot anyone who came in to the room beneath them. 5 more guards rushed in. This time they were ready to defend their position. Stuart picked off three, the other 2 dived for cover but could not stand up and were choking on the gas and soon passed out. The elevator reached the top, and they stepped on to a control area, which was a platform level with the missile missile.
They looked around for a control panel or something; Stuart glanced back at the elevator seeing it was gone. He looked down and saw more guards with gas masks. “Rick, Geddes, disable the elevator. Hurry! ” said Stuart. Stuart looked around and found the missile control panel, and walked over to it, he knew what to do now, feeling a sense of control over his life, not having felt that for some time now. Rick and Geddes began smashing up the elevator control panel, it didn’t help. The elevator reached ground and the guards boarded it, now rising up. “You taken care of it yet’said Stuart as he glanced back. “Almost, almost” said Rick as he looked down at the shaft and began firing at the motor that was lifting up the elevator. It erupted in sparks and the elevator now half way up the shaft ground to a halt, shook for a few seconds and then plummeted to the ground. The guards on it were knocked over by the sudden jolt. They then began to rise above the elevator platform as it sped to the ground. This was short lived and after three seconds of this near weightlessness they perished as their bodies smashed in to the hard metallic floor.
Stuart heard metal smashing against metal and felt the platform he was on shudder. Stuart typed at the console quickly trying to disable the missiles systems. The feeling of control falling away, the systems had changed he did not know if he would be able to do it. On the other side of the compound it was like a bombsite, smashed metal walkways and scaffolding lay strewn across the floor and all sorts of equipment was in flames. The commandos were taking cover behind fallen rocks, and shooting at the security forces.
Behind the rocks the commandos were slowly diminishing in numbers as bullets rained down, smashing the rock apart and tearing through anyone caught out. They deployed a mortar, and the security forces were knocked back for a few seconds as the explosions from the shell’s dropping around them knocked them over and blew their cover to pieces. The commandos took this chance to charge with their guns blazing, and successfully pushed the security forces back another level to their base. Back in the missile control room the lights suddenly cut to a dim red glow.
Alarms sounded, with flashing red lights activating. On Stuarts control panel the words “warning emergency launch protocol engaged. 10:00 minutes to launch” appeared, and the timer began counting backwards. Just then the elevator on the opposite side of the shaft began descending. “Shit” shouted Rick, he looked down, and quickly rolled back as he was met with multiple gunshots, impacting around him. “Geddes, get over here. Lay down suppressive fire we need to hold them off” shouted Rick as he took up a cover position. Stuart swore, and pressed another button.
A ladder extended to the main computer system housing of the rocket. He began precariously climbing across it, trying not to look down in to the gaping silo beneath him. “What are you doing? ” Shouted Rick addressing Stuart “Just keep the guards off” Shouted back Stuart as he was almost knocked off from gunfire ricocheting off of the ladder. “WHAT? ” shouted Rick above the gunfire’stuart was hit in the leg and screamed in agony “just shoot the guards! ” He reached out opening a panel, and dragged himself in to the housing of the rocket itself. Stuart started trying to over ride the computer.
He glanced at a control panel which displayed 4:45, and was counting down. Stuart swore in desperation and panic, the computer would not allow him access. He pulled out his gun, and opened a hatch in to the missile. He had to destroy the separation system. The elevator reached the top, this one was much slower that the other designed for carrying heavy loads. Geddes threw a grenade at the elevator, but the guards ran off, and only one was knocked over by the blast. Rick dived between some cabling, and fired at the guards killing two and dispersing the rest.
Geddes managed to crawl behind them, and began firing at them, knocking two over the side and causing many to dive for cover. Rick and Geddes ran back along the walkway in to an inlet near the missile control section, the guards began firing at them, knocking over computer terminals and destroying the missile controls. There was a closed door behind them. Rick stayed at the corner and fired that the guards while Geddes tried to get the door open because when the Rocket took off unless they got cover they would be incinerated. Stuart had just about finished, a warning sounded “One minute and thirty seconds remaining”.
He climbed up out of the separation system which he had put out of action, and dragged himself up to the computer housing facing out to the ladder, he reached for the ladder, but it was blown out of his hands by gunfire, and he almost fell out. Geddes ran back from the door, and fired at the guards, finishing them off, Rich noticed that the elevator was not there, and more were on their way up. “One minute remaining” Stuart looked out of the missile housing contemplating jumping; it would be suicide he wouldn’t make it. Geddes rushed back to the door shot the control panel and began forcing it open. Fifty seconds” Rick shouted to Stuart “wait a minute, I’ll get something. Hold on” Rick rushed around trying to find something to use as a bridge between the Rocket and the platform. Rick grabbed some cabling, and ran back to the edge of the platform facing the opened section of the rocket. He threw the cabling across; Stuart leant forward, and caught it, but was off balance and fell off of the rocket. Rick jumped back, and took strain, the rope tightened, and he was slipping being pulled toward the edge. “Thirty seconds” Rick, rolled to the right, and managed to push feet against a smouldering remnant of a computer terminal.
It was built in to the platform and sturdy enough to hold his weight, he managed to stop himself from slipping. Stuart was hanging on to the cabling as hard as he could, swinging wildly from left to right, he tried to pull himself up but kept on slipping. “Twenty seconds” Stuart pushed his feet against the side of the wall and managed to walk up the side of the shaft, and drag himself over. Rick relaxed as Stuart got over and no longer had his body weight pulling on the rope. Stuart ran to the open door and Rick quickly got up and ran for it too. Ten seconds” All three were in the room but could not close the door because the controls were broken.
They tried to pull the door closed, but it was too hard and the inside edge was oiled so their hands kept slipping. “Five” “Get back” shouted Rick, against the noise of the automated computer voice. “Three” He pulled out his gun, and changed a setting, then aimed it at the ceiling above the door. Stuart and Geddes backed away, Rick fired, and the gun created a loud explosion causing the roof to cave in. sealing them in. Rick dived back and was almost crushed by falling rock. Missile launch in progress”. The room began to shake. They all backed away from the smashed in door frame. “Hey! It’s still launching? ” said Rick surprised and worried.
“Don’t worry, its all taken care of” said Stuart. The rock around the door glowed red, and some of the metal melted. The shaking caused them to fall over. Once the rocket had passed, Stuart pulled out his gun, and fired at the blockage in the doorframe. Eventually after six shots it was blasted away enough to walk through. They rushed up, staring at the Rocket now leaving the atmosphere “So it’s still launching’said Rick confused “I disabled the separation mechanism,” said Stuart “So what happens to it? ” asked Geddes “Well the separate missiles will activate once it has reached a certain height, but will not be released, so The Rocket will keep going in to outer space and Explode far away and at a safe distance from the earth” Four hours later, the rocket had continued in to space. It was far away from the earth by now, a trail of small pieces of metal and leaking fuel trailed behind it, occasionally bursting in to flames as the rockets engines ignited them.
Deep inside the rockets systems one of the missiles aimed at America, the first to detonate began to activate its warhead. After a brief instant the rocket burst in to flames. The detonation moved through the rocket, and ripped it apart causing the other missiles to explode in a chain reaction. A giant explosion erupted, and debris was fired out in all directions at unimaginably high speeds. The actual size of the explosion showed up in the atmosphere as a bright burst lasting for ten minutes, and three times larger than the moon. There was enough of this element in the missiles to rip the earth apart.
The now non existent black temple organisation had not even predicted the awesome explosive power of their own weapon, which would have certainly ended all life on this planet, and most probably destroyed the planet itself too. Stuart held his hand up to the bright intense light, he was in a jeep with several commandos, Rick, and Geddes. They were driving back to their airlift sight, trailed by several other vehicles; Stuart took one last look back at the black temple base. “Sir we are at safe distance, do you want us to detonate the explosive charges? ” asked one of the commandos in another of the jeeps. Positive, any time you want,” replied his commanding officer. The commando tapped a few buttons of a control device, and a huge explosion ripped the temple complex interwoven with metal framework apart, throwing debris in to the air. Stuart looked back at the fireball. Large pieces of burning rock were thrown out from the explosion and trailed fire and smoke as they tore through the air, ripping the forest apart, and devastating the landscape. The jeep was shook as a shockwave from the explosion rumbled through the land, and almost knocked the jeep over.
Stuart looked back at the explosion in the distance it was dieing away, and then the airborne shockwave hit them. It was deafening, and shook the jeep once again. Stuart looked up at the explosion in the sky, and then down at the now smouldering temple, a large bolder impacted behind them, and exploded ripping apart tree’s from the fragments of the rock thrown out. They eventually reached the extraction point, and all clambered out of the jeeps and in to the now descending helicopters ready to airlift them away. Stuart looked out the window at the forest, which shrunk beneath him.
Realising that if it wasn’t for him the entire world would be dead by now. He contemplated what would have happened if he had chosen a different route, and not the restricted road, he’d been drawn in to this unwillingly by accidental events. What if he’d had just left the walkie talkie alone? His life would have been a lot simpler, and someone else would be here now having saved the world and no one knowing anything about it at all. What if he was still leading his current life, being blinded from the truth, and living a fake life. Would it have been better? Is the price for the truth too high? It may be the truth, but was he ready for it?
