S.I.C.K.L.E. : Extrication
Posted on Wed Mar 2nd, 2022 @ 6:21am by Watch Leader Frederick Hollywood
Mission:
The Factions
Location: Murmansk, Russia
Timeline: Present
Frederick took a sip of his coffee. He loved sitting under the shadow of the castle like this and watching the people walk by and seeing a finches hop around on the cobblestone pathway waiting to be fed. He reached over and moved his pawn forward two places. “So old friends we need to talk. You have some choices to make about your future.”
Sergay could hardly believe his eyes. Here he was sitting playing chess with a super criminal, and eating breakfast. Just moments before he was staring at a massive wall of water outside the bar. He moved his pawn to block Lorde’s move. He took a deep drink of his coffee and then took a bite of the pastry the madman had provided them. “I just hope there will be a future for me and my family.” Looking around it was so hard to believe that he was sitting on a bench twenty years before coming here on Grad Night.
Frederick nodded and took another sip of his sweet and creamy brew. “You have a few choices really. For one I can just take you home to your wife, and you can just hope that no one ever sorts out how I found out about project Leviathan. I wouldn’t recommend this simply because you live in one of the most unlikely countries in the world to keep that kind of thing secret.” He looked at the middle aged Russian man. Sure he could still see the guy he went to school with but so much of the joy was gone from him. Maybe he could fix that. “Second option is to take you and your family to Middletown and have you stay there protected by my people.”
Sergay suddenly got a worried look on his face. “Would we be prisoners?” Sure he liked Florida but the idea of being trapped in one city for the rest of his life worried him.
Lorde waved his hand. “No, no, I assure you that would not be the case. Now there is a third but much more strange option, but one that would both give you the most freedom and allow you to remain in your home country. You and your family could be taken to Russia in the seventies.” After moving another pawn the tall blonde man continued. “I want you to know, no matter what you choose I will support your decision, but let me make one thing clear. There will always be a place for you in my organization.”
-----
They arrived Sergay’s home. Emergency vehicles were trying to make it to the port. People were huddled up trying to make it out of the city. Some in cars but many had made a go of it on foot. Just as Sergay opened the door and called out for his wife they heard a heavy thud in the street behind them. As Lorde turned around he could see a uniformed soldier standing in a crater in the center of what was once the street. People all around the super soldier were screaming and trying to get away from him. Lorde could also see a few dead people laying next to him.
The tall dark haired soldier yelled at Lorde, “You are not leaving so soon American! Not when we have unfinished business!” Strange ribbons of energy flowed from him. His eyes had an eerie green glow to them.
Lorde opened his Zanjin Eye. Right away he could tell this guy wasn’t all there. He was likely more of a machine than a mutant. He needed to buy Sergay time to get inside and get to his wife and kids, besides there was no sense in leaving this kind of loose end. Frederick had quite often quoted Shaka Zulu about that back in the day. He put up a force field. He could tell the man was about to attack but not exactly what he had in mind to attack. “So big man what's your name? Ya know, so when I mount that fancy head of yours I can get the label right.”
“Atomnyy is my name American!” Without another word the big guy sent a massive bolt of green energy aimed over Lorde’s head. It collided with the shield but not without any ill effects. Several of the fleeing citizens of Murmansk fell to the ground with burns. Clearly the man’s name meant atomic in English. In his case the kind of power that gets unleashed from a bomb or a reactor melt down.
Lorde knew he didn’t have time to mess with this guy. Not when every shot from him could kill another passer by or even kill Sergay or his wife or kids. He used his eye to slow things down. Then he summoned his sword just before letting his shield drop. He leapt at the big Russian Machine. Atomnyy tried to make a shot at him as Lorde sailed through the air, but this time being the target Lorde knew just how to move out of the way. The bolt shot into the air like one of the fireworks from earlier. Lorde’s bone sword came into his hand just before reaching the behemoth. He swung it just below the would-be prison guard's neck.
A portal opened behind Atomnyy and Lorde shoved the dead cyber mutant super soldier through it. He would have to check later to see if that guy needed to be decontaminated and if he had some kind of self destruct device inside him. There would be time for that later. Likely the Russians already had a location. It wouldn’t be long before the area was swarming with troops itching for a fight.
Lorde ran quickly and grabbed his friend on the way into the house. As the door burst open his old friend called out to his family. “Phaedra, Miska! We have to be going!” When Sergay struggled to get loose and go look around the house Lorde let him go.
“So you brought a guest, My Seryozha.” When Frederick heard the woman’s voice he looked up. It was Phaedra’s voice for sure, but the woman he saw was by no means the girl he had gone to school with so long ago. Also strangely, the pet name she had chosen for Sergay, his old friend, could be translated as “Time Walked and A Summer to Remember.” She was in a long black dress and her hair was raven black.Her skin was really pale. Almost like she had dressed that one Halloween. Her daughter stepping out of one of the rooms up the stairs and grabbing onto her when she caught a glimpse of the armored madman didn’t help Lorde’s pained nostalgia.
Lorde could hear voices outside asking if anyone had seen what had happened. Then a few gunshots and screaming. “I am sorry Ma’am but it is time to go.” He took Sergay by the shoulder and led him up the flight of stairs quickly.
Sergay’s daughter asked her mother, “Where are we going?”
Lorde couldn’t help but wonder if he might someday have a life like that again. He answered quickly and hoped it was in a way that kids wanted to hear. “You and your family are going on vacation to Disney in Florida.” He opened a portal behind them. In between the front of the house and them Lorde put up a shield hearing the soldiers giving orders to fire on the house. Just after Sergay’s wife and child stepped through the portal to Florida bullets began to cut through the house. He shoved his old chess partner though the portal then flew through himself.
-----
Jaques wandered through the base. Now and then he tossed one of his time bombs under a stack of missiles or a crate of machine gun ammo. Dressed like an officer, most of the soldiers on duty tried to avoid his attention. The Mad Bomber was quite happy with this assignment. Sure he would have rather blown up the top secret sub but taking out a munitions depot had a charm all its own to a pyromaniac. He wrapped his coat a bit tighter. It was just that cold. A little biting on his long slim fingers.
When the old Legionnaire walked past a guard he tilted his hat. He was quite satisfied at this point that he had mined all of the explosives in the base. He wished Mi would take a picture of the explosion for him but Lorde had her off on another mission.
He walked to the main gate house and signaled the guard. “Do you have a light comrade?” Just as the soldier lit Jaques’s cigarette. The entire base erupted behind the Frenchman. The pressure hit so hard that it flung the gate guard to the ground. When he looked up the officer was gone.
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The News in Russia blamed the four attacks on military facilities on tensions that had been building up with the United States and shadow governments that existed there. It also claimed that the treasonous perpetrators of these crimes were already known about and would be brought to justice soon.
Meanwhile many people claimed to have seen things on the internet shortly before the attack citing crimes against humanity as the reason for the attacks. Although when the claims were investigated no trace was found.
The Russian government had a grave problem. It had taken massive amounts of money to complete these projects and now with nothing to show. Soon some global agency might come asking for a return on its investment.
