Too Loose.



Friday. June 6th 2070.
It is in the early morning hours that the inhabitants of mobile unit one find themselves perusing the deserted warehouse district in search of the street contact that will give them the lowdown on what has been happening here in the past week or so. Long standing Team Alpha member Ethan John Klinger, knows the street contact all too well and he trusts his information to be accurate. Samantha bliss however is waiting to be convinced, Lifeguards voice crackles to life in her earpiece. Through the dark, damp cold night he has picked up a human heat signature one half of a mile ahead.
“Tell your driver to slow down Sam, the signature is moving side to side and back and forth. It kind of tells me that your boy is a little nervous. You might want to approach him on foot.”
She quickly relates the message to Klinger and he instructs the driver to pull over mobile unit one. Ajax and J’Mac stay in the van to offer protection to the driver and the rest of the team deploy to rendezvous with their street contact. They find him, one half of a mile up in a darkened abandoned warehouse. He is a thin frail looking young man who appears to be in his mid to late twenties. He has jet black hair and deep voice and carries a nervous twitch with him. Klinger approaches him alone at first to reassure him that he could trust the members of Team Alpha. Klinger approaches Samantha Bliss.
“Too Loose.”
“What?”
“They call him Too Loose. Its his street name Sammy. He’s a might nervous but he’ll talk to us. Just take it slow with him ok?”
She smiles and puts her hand on Klinger’s shoulder.
Don’t worry Kling, We’ll be gentle.”
He sits in front of them on a plastic paint bucket smoking a cigarette. His eyes nervously scanning the members of Team Alpha that are present, stopping to take in the forms of Priss and Sil, before moving on to Samantha Bliss and the other members of the team. His nervous glances finally stopping on the form of the only person present that he knows, which would be Klinger.
He is a street urchin named Too Loose, and he has been an information source of Klinger’s for number of years, nothing happens here in the warehouse district without him knowing about it. He tells them that there has been a significant amount of Reds activity down near the waterfront and the word is that they have been courting some mercenaries trying to buy a large quantity of military grade explosives, he also tells them that there is another small group that have been waiting for the attempted transaction to be made, another group of Mercs led by a man he knows only as “Tombstone.”
He draws in another deep cold breath through the cigarette and casts a shaky glance in the direction of Sil.
“What’s with them?” he asks, nodding in the direction of Sil and Priss. “I ain’t never seen no female Red before.”
Samantha Bliss steps forward.
“They are members of this team.” she tells him. “Look. Too Loose is it?”
He nods.
“We just need to know that we aren’t walking into something like this unprepared, now can you tell us exactly where this is going to go down?”
“Pier 36.” he nods again “Four miles. That way, tomorrow night is what I hear.”
He draws the cigarette to his lips eying Samantha Bliss.
“But there is one more thing, that you may need to be aware of.” He tells her.

Target Revealed.



Samantha Bliss and Klinger are both leaning forward now.
“There’s a bounty hunter, she’s been snooping around here too, there’s a price been put on the head of one of the Reds, she’s a real nasty bitch too.
Got some serious hardware that she carries with her, you might want to keep an eye out for her.”
Samantha Bliss studies him.
“Well.. We do need to know everything. So what’s the story there?” she asks.
He stubs the cigarette butt into the dirt at his feet.
“Well see. Them Reds. They ain’t got no money, or they didn’t anyway. Least not until they came across a drug deal going down up in the central district, they took out both parties and ended up with the money and the drugs both. Sold the drugs to get even more money to finance the deal with the mercs. A pretty major drug deal to say the least. Well the word got out that it was the Reds that was hitting the drug dealers, so the dealers in turn got together and hired Scorpion-”
Samantha Bliss holds up her palm stopping him in mid sentence.
“Scorpion? There’s a bounty hunter named Scorpion after them?”
Too Loose nods.
“Yeah. Tito and his mates hired her to find out who has been organizing the attacks on the street dealers, and to take them out . Turns out it was a Red named Gordo or something like that.”
“Do you mean Guido Garfoni?” Sil asks slowly standing.
“Yeah that’s it .”
Sil looks at Samantha.
“ He was one of General Krotas’s body guards at the palace in Mordes Keep. He got the name from a gangster movie that he used to watch on human television. He even tries to dress like a gangster. He is very strange, Strange but smart. He would be capable of organizing something like this Samantha.”
Samantha Bliss returns her attention to Too Loose.
“So do you have any ideas as to what this Guido character plans on doing with the explosives once he gets them?”
The young man they know as Too loose, thinks about the question asked by Samantha Bliss.
“See that’s where it gets fuzzy, some people on the street are hearing that they’ve been snooping around a couple of places, checking out security. There’s talk that they plan to blow something up. Some talk has them targeting the old Empire state building. Myself, I think they are after something bigger.”
Samantha rises.
“Bigger?.. Bigger like what?”
He lights another cigarette.
“The Statue Of Liberty.”
Now it is Klinger’s turn to stand.
“Oh this we gotta stop for sure boss lady.”
She nods her head in agreement, all while addressing Lifeguard in her earpiece. They will need him to scan any comings and goings at the isle of Lady Liberty.
“Oh, and Lifeguard?”
“Yes Samantha?”
“See what you can dig up on this Scorpion character. The last thing we need is some loose cannon running around shooting up our leads.”
They are walking back to mobile unit one with Too Loose in tow. Klinger talks to Samantha Bliss as they walk.
“Ok Sammy. Its not like I don’t believe my ol buddy Too loose or anything, but what do they hope to accomplish by blowin up Lady Liberty?”
She stops to face Klinger and the rest of the team.
“Because Kling, Too Loose is right, but they’re not going to blow her up. They are going to try to take over the island to use her as a bargaining chip, we give them the stones or they blow up The Statue Of Liberty. But there is one small thing that they haven’t figured into the equation.”
“And that would Beeee?”
She turns to face Too Loose.
“Team Alpha.”

~Scratch A.B.T. Copyright © 2008.~

Back From The Dead.



She finds her self in much the same posture as she has on many occasions before, her legs crossed at the knee’s patiently waiting in the corridor outside of William Strong’s office. When she hears the voice softly speak her name she slowly rises and moves towards the glass paned door pausing slightly she runs her fingers across the name plate and fights back a slight smile. When she enters William Strong rises from his chair and offers Samantha Bliss a smile of his own and the two share a brief hug. He motions to the vacant seat in front of his desk.
“So.” the smile returns to her lips. “ its official then?”
William Strong nods to the affirmative.
“So you are the new director of field operations?”
“It’s a small step up for me Samantha, Arnold Winthrop has taken his leave from Threshold, effective immediately, I have been put in his place by the administration to pick right up where his work left off.”
She studies him.
“So why do I get the feeling that there is a catch to all of this William?”
He sighs softly.
“Because.. There are always conditions to be met. This promotion is contingent upon my finding a suitable replacement to fill the position of Deputy Director of field operations in a reasonable amount of time. And well my first choice I would think would be an obvious one.”
She pauses.. Slowly folding her arms under her chest. He removes his glasses slowly wiping away small beads of sweat that had been forming across his eyebrows.
“Samantha.. I was going to wait until after you and Alpha return from your next deployment. The last thing that I wanted was this to be a distraction for you. But if anyone could handle this I know it would be you.”
She stands.
“Mr. Director I am extremely Flattered that you would bestow such an offer on me. But sir-.. No.. William.. There are flaws to this idea. The most blaring would be that I am no politician. I am a field operative, I belong in the field, it is where I thrive, where I am at my best I-”
He touches her hand.
“Samantha.. You have instincts that I have seen in no other.. Not man.. Not woman.. No Samantha.. No other. Please Sammy.. Let Klinger lead them-”
She looks him in the eye and stands abruptly.
“You don’t want me to go back in the field.. Why?”
He motions again towards the chair and she obliges him by sitting back down. He tosses a folder onto the table in front of her and gives her a slight nod. To which she opens it to see the picture of the long silver haired older gentleman with the scar that travels along the length of his face. William Strong leans back in his chair.
“Recognize him Sammy?”
She slowly shakes her head no. he pauses.
“Does the name Dylan Rand mean anything to you?”
“You know it does.”
“Sam . The man in the picture.”
“No. that’s impossible.”
“Sam he calls himself Tombstone now.”
“Dylan Rand died when I was six.”
“He isn’t dead Samantha. He’s in New York City.”
She reflects on the picture in front of her. The eyes staring back at her.. The eyes of a stranger.. The man she’d never met.. Dylan Poe Rand.

Facing Ghosts.



She’d heard stories about how he’d met his end as a police detective on the streets of the Canns Landing Corridor, shot down during a armored car heist. She’d lived her entire life trying to earn the approval of a ghost.. And now she was being told that he was no ghost at all. She rise’s from her chair.
“ Mr. director- William.. Are you telling me that my biological father is alive?”
He returns the glasses to the bridge of his nose and adjusts his posture. He reaches over to the dispatch phone and instructs the desk officer that he isn’t to be disturbed. He rises from his own chair and walks over to lock the door.
“I’ve been piecing together his story Sammy. I owed this to you.. No.. Threshold owes this to you.. Much of what happened to your father has been deemed classified so as you could probably guess we couldn’t dig too deep without raising suspicions as to why we were initiating formal inquiries into Dylan Rand’s dossier. So we had to piece together parts of it.”
She doesn’t answer. When he hands her another folder.
“We don’t have much information on what happened to him immediately following his disappearance from the Harrisburg police department, but we have managed to piece together a paper trail of sorts that places him in New York 19 years ago where he was recruited by the government into something called ‘Project Genesis’ we believe that it was a small group of men who were trained as anti terrorist hit squads. Though we can’t be absolutely certain that that was their purpose. Project Genesis lasted for 8 years before the lack of funding forced the government to pull the plug. After that we have no trace of him until three years ago. He turned up again in the Jericho straits calling himself Tombstone. We believe he is working as an independent now.”
She stares at the folder silently.
“So what’s he doing in back in New York?”
“ The word we’re getting is that the reds are trying to get their hands on some military grade explosives to launch a new attack. Tombstone has picked up their trail, after they attempted to contact and purchase the explosives from a group of independent contractors that he was tailing.”
“Mercs?”
He nods.
“ And you didn’t want me to go to New York because why exactly? Did you think that I would jeopardize the mission or the safety of my team because I might have discovered that Tombstone was really my father?”
“Samantha I-”
“William.. We are the very best field team that you have.. No one is more qualified to go than us. If the reds are up to something. Well then you have to let us go in there and find out what it is BEFORE they can do whatever it is they’re trying to do.”
“And Tombstone?”
“Regardless of Tombstone.. Sir.. You have to let us go in and do our job, Lifeguard can feed us intel as he sees fit. And we’ll do the rest. But regardless of the possibilities that we may cross paths with Tombstone and his crew, you have to let us go in and do our job.”
He ponders the thought for a moment trying to clarify the possibilities all at once in his mind. And then he stands almost hesitantly to face Samantha Bliss.
“Of course you are right.. I was trying to protect you of all people. I shouldn’t have. You will brief the team?”
“Completely Mr. Director.”
“Alright then. You will board a transport at 0300. Prepare your team Agent Bliss. You’re going to New York.”

~Scratch A.B.T. copyright ©2008.~

Tribal Dealings.



They cautiously eye the empty snow covered sidewalk behind them as they turn down Blunt street towards the dilapidated building known as the Allen Hotel. Rom slowly pulls the army green coat up around his shoulders to fight off the brisk early morning chill. He eyes his partner Grenzel and then looks back for the seconds. The detachment that was sent to be their safeguard. His fellow reds have been getting their asses handed to them on a daily basis for the last seven years they could never seem to get the upper hand in their war with Threshold. This was to be their one good shot and they didn’t want to take chances with it. The three Humans that had been following them through the city for the past twenty four hours did not appear to be Threshold agents. This made Rom nervous, Not knowing who they were or what their interests were, didn’t make them any less dangerous as any ten Threshold agents. Grenzel pulls on Rom’s shoulder and takes him into the alley just below the Allen Hotel. He pauses to light a cigarette and looks around nervously. He watches as his warm breath carries through the cold morning air.
“Tell me again Rom.. Who are these people that we are buying the explosives from?”
Rom gives pause to light his own.
“Mercenaries.” he tells him.
Grenzel rolls his eyes skyward.
“Human mercenaries? You would have us do business with human mercenaries?’
“Do you know of any other kind Grenzel? Do YOU know how to obtain enough of the C-4 explosives that we require for our mission? We need them, their trust can be bought with this money we carry.. They will get us what we require.. Yes Grenzel.. This is necessary.”
As they make their way deeper into the alley a pair of headlights softly blink off and on in the distance. Rom nods to Grenzel who is nervously looking around behind them.
“I don’t like this Rom! We have nothing but solid brick walls on either side of us with no way to escape.. And where is our back up?”
The car in front of them turns its lights off and slowly begins to roll forward. Rom checks his partner.
“This is it here we go.”
Two men emerge from the vehicle and begins to approach the two suspicious reds.
“Did you bring the first payment?”
The two reds nod.
“Half of the money now, and the other half when the merchandise is delivered.”
They think it is almost funny as the first human stumbles and then falls into the snow, but the humor begins to fade as he lay motionless six feet from them. And when the second bullet strikes the second human in the forehead. The reds know.. They are not alone.

In The Mix.



Rom is out in front of him on a dead run through the snow Grenzel eyes the small red dot on the back of his coat as it slowly moves up towards his head. Grenzel blinks and Rom’s head all but disappears. Stunned, he stumbles and falls into the snow bank behind him at his feet, the large shadow that towers above him is now almost twenty feet to his right. Now it moves closer and Grenzel can see the massive figure of a human being staring down at him, but it is mostly shadow. All but the eyes and the faint outline of silver hair catches his attention and then the deep throaty voice that talks to him,
as the large human kneels down to look at the red closer.
“A bit far from the roost aren’t we redman?”
Grenzel doesn’t however appear to be fearful. He rolls on his back and looks up at the stranger, but says nothing.
“Relax boy.” He tells Grenzel. “It’s barely past midnight, save your strength, your morning is just beginning.”
He feels a sharp pain in his lower thigh, and it begins to burn into him as hot as hellfire. And then he blacks out. The large silver haired man stands to meet the first of his two allies.
“Where’s Cavanaugh?”
He nods to the mouth of the alley.
“Were there any others?”
“We took care of their back up, there isn’t anyone else except this one here. Cav should be along in a minute.”
He looks slowly in the direction of the two human bodies.
“Pretty sloppy for Merc’s wouldn’t you think?”
The other man leans forward.
“You think they were working a con on the Reds?”
He studies the dead bodies silently.
“Hmmmph.. It just doesn’t seem likely that these dipshits could get their hands on firecrackers, let alone military grade explosives.”
“Hey Tomb?”
His eyes roll up to meet the voice.
“What do you think the red’s are gonna do with them explosives anyway?”
He lights a cigarette and motions towards the unconscious red.
“That my friend, is what HE’S going to tell us.
The large man slowly stands while looking into the dark early morning sky.
“Load him into the van and get rid of the other three bodies.. And Loki?”
He looks over his shoulder at him.
“Don’t forget the satchel of money.”
A black van slowly rolls to a stop and Loki and Cavanaugh open the doors to load the red.
“Anything else?” Cavanaugh asks.
Loki grins raising the satchel of money.
“Nope.. This about covers it.”

Outside of The Bay.



When he awakens there is straw everywhere as though he were in a barn or shed of some kind. He is bound at the wrist and is hanging from chains extending from the ceiling. “This is not looking good” he thinks to himself.
He can see the large human male more clearly now. He is huge, larger than any red soldier Grenzel has ever seen, close to 6 ft 8 he guesses. Long silverfish colored hair falls to his shoulder s and his face seems weathered and scarred. With one scar in particular that gives him a frightening appearance. It starts at his right eyebrow and travels downward across his eye and down his cheek stopping at the side of his lips.
“Well, I see that you are awake. Sleep well did you?”
Grenzel does not answer.
“You see boy.. I’m not going to waste a lot of time on you. I’m not going to try to scare you into telling me what I want to know. No posturing. No threats. No games. I’m just going to tell you who we are and what we know. And if you can add anything to the conversation so be it, if not, I won’t waste any more time on you, I’ll just kill you and move on until we figure out this little scheme of yours.”
Grenzel doesn’t answer.
“My name is Tombstone. Because I am quite good at sending people to their graves. That fellow there is ‘Loki’ and that is ‘Cavanaugh’. see we’re just three average American guys who do some very bad things to people that we don’t like, and sometimes we even get paid for it. Now.. Let me tell you what we know. We know that you came into Camaroon Bay to buy explosives from those so called mercenaries. And we know that you only brought half of the payment with you and they were going to get the other half after they delivered the explosives. And we know that they were supposedly going to deliver them to NYC to a detachment of you reds sometime next week.”
He stops to light another cigarette.
“See boy I don’t know how smart you dumb red bastards really are, but I have a theory. I think that you were being conned. But see, that’s just a theory. See, we’re being realistic here, and we know that there’s a chance that you weren’t being conned. and those jackasses that you hired to steal military grade explosives really are Merc‘s, and if the explosive are indeed real, well then, this suddenly become a viable threat.. well that thought concerns me a little.. Lets recap.. We know that you only brought half of the money with you.. We know that the two guys that were going to meet with you are dead.. Your partner is dead.. Your back up is dead.. And all because WE killed them. Pay attention boy here is where you come in.”
Grenzel draws a deep breath and silently listens to the man called Tombstone.
“ Here’s what we don’t know.. We don’t know what you reds are going to do with all of those explosives.. Hmmm. So what is it about redman?.. Going to kill a couple thousand innocent civilians because you couldn’t kick Thresholds ass? Pissed off are you? See? we need to know what it is that you intend to blow up.. And more importantly who’s helping you and why your doing it. And if you don’t tell us anything useful, this will end for you quicker than it began.”
The red does not answer. Tombstone stands.
“Well this is a complete waste of time, you obviously aren’t in a talkative mood.”
He removes the weapon from underneath his coat and fires it from point blank range into the skull of the red without so much as a afterthought.
He turns to Loki.
“We’re going to have to do this the hard way. Load the van and get it ready for the drive east.”
“Where we goin Tomb?”
“New York City.”

Scratch.. A.B.T Copyright © 2007

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

Past Tense.



Father Jacob Muldowney used to watch her play here at one time. As a child she had always had a thing for rainy days. She would sneak away from her afternoon studies and slip into the brick paved alley, and take off her shoes to walk in the rain barefoot. That is until Father Muldowney would come and catch her. And always there was a good stern lecture to be had.
“Samantha Ann Bliss!! Get your tuckus in here out of that rain young lady before you take a chill!” she would almost defiantly always stop just short of the doorway though mind you. And there would pause to look at the rain fall straight up the sides of the Eighth Avenue Cathedral on the corner of Eighth Avenue and March St, in the Broad Hurst district in the Cann’s Landing corridor. She would smile that beautiful innocent little girl smile at him and she knew that no matter what, all would be forgiven. As the first drops of moisture seep into her pores, the cold sensation of raindrops on bare flesh quickly brings her mind back to the here and now.

As she looks up the sides of the building that once housed her precious Eighth Avenue cathedral , she realizes that the adage “You can’t get there from here” rings true. You can’t return to your past. Its over.. Done with.. She feels the hand on her shoulder and turns to see the familiar face of Ethan John Klinger.
“Sammy?.. You okay?”
She turns to face him.
“Yeah Kling.. Just thinking.. I used to live here once.” She points up towards the rain.
“I used to study as a child.. In a classroom.. Right up there on the second floor.”
A look of sadness slowly crosses her face as she as a more recent memory surfaces.
“Well.. That was along time ago.. Before.. They came.”
He puts his hand on her shoulder.
“C’mon Sammy.. The U.S. Army is locking the place down, the corridor has officially been taken back. We’ve re-occupied it.”
Klinger stops just shy of the opening of the alley to look back at Samantha Bliss who is once again staring up at the rain.
“Sam?”
She looks at Klinger with that innocent little girl smile.
“Sammy… Where are your shoes?”

The Huxley.



It was the first time in almost eleven years that she had roamed the sidewalks of Eighth Avenue without a weapon drawn. They meet up with Priss and make their way east towards the Huxley Hotel. Once inside they enter the freight elevator which takes them eleven stories below the surface where William Strong and other members of a special ops committee will convene to discuss future operations of Threshold. Samantha Bliss and the others enter into the chamber and take their seat as all members of the committee rise.
“Agent Bliss.. Klinger and Priss.. Thank you for joining us.”
The three agents nod.
“In the last week we have seen significant changes in our field operations here at Threshold.. Since the sudden departure of the red army our government-as you may have guessed on your own, has expressed serious concerns involving the reasoning behind this. Considering your field experience, We would welcome your input on this situation .”
Samantha Bliss rises from her seat at the end of the table to address the members of the committee.
“Deputy Director Strong.. I thank you for inviting us here. As I told you when I spoke with you earlier on the phone, the members of team Alpha have been discussing this for the last week and well sir we simply don’t trust the reports.”
William Strong stands.
“Could you elaborate further please Agent Bliss?”
“Well sir we believe that it is nothing more than a well orchestrated ruse.”
He doesn’t answer.
“We believe they have done little more than cut their losses in those areas they have retreated from only to fall back and regroup for attacks later in other areas.”
Another man that she recognizes as the head of Threshold’s internal security, Jason Resnick stands to address her.
“And just how did you come to this conclusion agent?”
She turns to face him fully.
“Have you ever been in the field Mr. Resnick?’
“No of course not.” he answers in a sarcastic tone.
“Team Alpha has been involved in field operations ranging easily into the hundreds. Our experience with the reds over past few years has been that when they know that they have no clear cut advantage they like to fall back and hide until they can regroup and formulate a new plan of attack. We do not believe that this was a total withdraw of troops. They are still some reds here somewhere. Probably underground, waiting to see if we can locate the final piece of the stone.”
He smiles at her.
“And this makes sense.. How exactly?.”
Priss gently prods Samantha’s arm. William Strong nods approvingly as she stands.
“I can answer that..”
“Please do Agent Priss.”
“Because its what Morganna has been trying to tell us all along. It doesn’t matter where the pieces of the stone are or in whose possession they are in when they are reunited. It only matters that the pieces are together. The gate will open no matter where the stone is. We have the three pieces, if we find the forth we will be doing the dirty work for them. Let them come out in the open and find it for themselves.”
William Strong stands and adjourns the meeting.
“We have a lot on the table here people, a lot to consider. Samantha you and the others have a transport waiting for you at the south end of the Broad street bridge. A car is waiting to take you there. We will keep you posted about any decisions that we may reach.. Thank you for coming.. See you back at Langley.”

Same Song.. Different Dance.



They enter the dorm where the other members of team Alpha have assembled. Samantha Bliss can feel something is different about the
Energy in the group than when she, Klinger and Priss left for the Cann’s Landing Corridor. Every member of the squad seems to be wearing the same exact smile, even Sil and especially Thed seem somewhat giddy.
Klinger notices it too.
“Alright who’s hiding the puppy?” he asks.
Sil casts him a confused look.
“Puppy?”
“Well.. You ’re all smiling about SOMETHING.. Figured there was something cute hiding around here somewhere.”
“We’ve just been waiting here for you for the last two hours.” Sil tells him.
“We have a little surprise for you.”
Samantha and Priss both begin to scan the room with their eyes. And when Roxx appears pushing a wheel chair carrying a very awake and alert Cowboy, Samantha can feel the tears well up in her eyes. Klinger shares her reaction as does Priss. The room falls silent until Cowboy himself speaks up.
“Y’all look like yer goin to a funeral, so am I in the right room?.. Is this still the best damn field unit in Threshold or what??!”
The room erupts into laughter and cheers as the whole team gathers around him to welcome him back. William Strong enters the room and motions to Samantha Bliss. She escorts him into the hallway. Still inside the room Klinger can hear part of the exchange. Samantha re-enters the room with William Strong in tow.
“Well gang, it would appear as though our buddies the reds weren’t finished after all.” she tells them shaking her head in a disgusted manner. “Guys.. You ain’t gonna believe THIS shit.”
Klinger puts his arm around Priss’s shoulder and lights another cigar.
It was going to be a short rest.

~Scratch ABT. Copyright © 2007

Frailty.



He has seen many a soldier fall, tracked man and beast with his hounds across shear plates of rock. He’s seen it all, monster’s called men, as heartless cold and brutal as any red soldier acting under Ambala’s command. Still though, he has never seen the likes of the black haired demon woman with the razor sharp sai’s, cutting through his hell hounds with surgical precision. He had never in his wildest dreams expected his maker to bear her face, so when her large friend Ajax appeared out of nowhere, Tholos was caught unaware and totally unprepared for what would transpire next.
“Give me shelter from this cold life.. I cannot not breathe in so brilliant a light.”
He looks forward and finds himself in much the same dilemma as had Morganna when she stood to face off against Sil. His adversary on one side and the exit from the cave ending in a vertical 150 foot drop strait down the side of the mountain, on the other side of him.
He studies the massive form of Ajax for a moment before he addresses the situation.
“For all of time, for eternity, we have moved in and out of shadows, to avoid physical contact with your kind.. I never fully understood why until now. I have no magic in this physical body, it is weak and frail, in these we are no match for man, if I do not return with the stone.. With this necklace. . Our cause here is lost.”
Unmoved by his words, Ajax moves forward, his eyes fully focused on the necklace around Tholos’s neck. And for the first time Tholos feels fear.
“ You don’t understand.. If I am to fail.. Here and now.. I may very well be the last of my kind!!”
Further down the caves corridor, Sil is finishing off the last of the devil Dogs. And as she cuts through the last piece of flesh of the final hound, she can hear Tholos’s screams echoing through the walls of the cave. Still though, Sil worries about the well being of her comrade Ajax and hurries along the caves corridor to see what has transpired with he and the demon tracker Tholos. When she arrives, she is almost surprised by what she sees. Ajax standing at the edge of the cave, on the edge of the cliff face. In his bloody
fist he holds the necklace with the third piece of the stone. At the bottom she could see the body of Tholos. Strange she thought.. How could the angel Morganna survive such a fall and not one of Ambala’s minions?
“I punched him a couple of times and he fell.. Landed on his back I think..”
Ajax tells her.
She smiles up at him.
“We make quite the team don’t we AJ?” she asked him with a sly smile.
He looks down at his little friend.
“Did you kill all of the bad doggies Miss Sil?”
Again she smiles up at him.
“Yeah.. They’re Alpo now.”
They share a laugh and then a hug before returning to meet up with Samantha Bliss and Priss.

Arise..



The members of team Alpha reunite at the site of the mountain village where they had found several bodies of men, women and children earlier. Samantha Bliss finds that the other members of the team led by Klinger have given the mountain people proper burials. The hillside lined with crosses in the wet mountain soil. All the while though, Samantha Bliss had been mentally chewing on Ajax and Sil’s story. She sits quietly thinking while staring into the campfire made by Klinger and the others. In her mind Samantha Bliss goes over every word that Ajax told her. Morganna arrives at her side, she too seems puzzled.
“What do you think he meant by that?” she asks Morganna.
The Angel silently shakes her head.
“Why would he say that he was the last of his kind?” she pauses to study Morganna’s reaction, and it tells her that she too is as puzzled as anyone by Tholos’s last words. And when Lifeguards voice begins to crackle to life in her earpiece her confusion grows. Morganna leans forward in complete interest. It seems as though all eyes present are now on Samantha Bliss, as Lifeguard completes his transmission to her. She rises to her feet slowly with a stunned looked across her face.
“Team Alpha.. Assemble.. Threshold is sending a transport to pick us up at the bottom of the mountain. We move out in five minutes”
Everyone assembles knowing full well that something unexpected has occurred, and yet Samantha Bliss continues to keep her thoughts to herself as they make their way back down the mountain to rendezvous with the waiting transport. The Members of team Alpha, and even Morganna herself. all walk in silence and make it to the extraction point unchallenged by any hostiles. Once safely aboard the transport and on their way back to Langley she finally addresses the team.
“I received word from Lifeguard, Threshold is reporting that field operatives in Cann’s Landing.. Capers Island.. Southerland.. Mordes Keep.. And key areas all along the Jericho straits, have reported to headquarters that the red army in those areas as of four and one half hours ago went into a simultaneous retreat of those areas.”
Klinger leans forward.
“Retreat??.. As in… Elvis has left the building??”
Samantha Bliss’s eyes do not blink.
“As in retreat Klinger… they left their weapons.. Personal belongings.. Everything behind.. Just dropped everything and left.”
Even Morganna is stunned by this latest revelation.
And as the members of team Alpha silently watch as the sun begins to set
Each is left to ponder if this is the end of a terrible struggle with an enemy as old as time itself.. Or simply a new beginning.

~Scratch.. ABT.. Copyright © 2007.

I found some really at Doobix.com