Defiance.



They stand against a blackened skyline, somewhat mystified by what is taking place before them, the human female is smaller in size and stature by comparison to them, but she has done the unthinkable. She has broken free of her constraints and attacked them with one of their own weapons, with a fury and unbridled anger of the like which they have rarely seen, even in the pits of Hell. She has struck down two of them quickly, and they can sense that there is no fear in her. They have something that she wants and the Wrath Riders fierce though they are, know, that she will slice her way through each and every one of them until she gets it. A small red dot of light appears on the chest of the Rider holding the stone necklace, and for the first time in ten days and nights Samantha Bliss realizes that she is not alone. The red Dot slowly travels up the chest and comes to rest at the third eye on the forehead of the rider, it cocks its head curiously just before the weapon discharges and removes its head, she smiles.. Someone has figured out the secret. Claim the head, and the body of the beast will fall, she slowly bends down and with a weary hand and rips the stone necklace from the fallen body of the Rider. The remaining four, slowly move towards her.

Pulse.



Wednesday January 1st 2070.
It is 1:00 am as the new members of team Alpha begin to board the transport that will drop them off three miles into the Malti, where Samantha Bliss is believed to be. Lifeguard has stated to Klinger, that he has off and on in the last ten days picked up three heat signatures that fade in and out, he does not believe that it is the Wraths, but they need to reach the survivors quickly because it is an almost certainty that they do not have enough rations left to survive much longer if the Wraths haven’t indeed killed them yet.
“Why haven’t we been sending transports over the area where the signatures were sighted?”
“We have Klinger, but we never found anything, by the time they reach where we think they are they’re gone.”
It is then that Ethan John Klinger realizes with absolute certainty that his three friends are still very much alive.
“You can’t find them because Sam is still tracking those Wraths, probably still fighting too. She must have lost her communication link during the attack, that’s why we haven’t heard from her. Gets this turd moving pilot! Lets go!!.”
It is almost 3:30 am when they deploy into the floor of the Malti Desert, Klinger and Priss have made certain that each member of the team is carrying an edged weapon, as it seems to be the only defense against the Wraths. He assembles the team and waits for the connection with Lifeguard, the Moon will provide them with enough light to navigate their way to the first point where the signatures were picked up. They march northeast for twenty five minutes when a startled Lifeguard informs them that he has located two of the heat signatures and they are a half of a mile out over the hill in front of them and headed right towards them. Klinger squats the team and waits anxiously, and when he sees the first figure rise up over the hillside he knows that it didn’t take long at all for Milo Tripper to find them.

Eyes Of The Desert.



He sits in their circle relating to them the events that he has witnessed in the past few days. He and Thed are given food and fresh water. He tells Klinger about Samantha and each member new and old alike listen to Milo Tripper with growing concern.
“They took her again last night, she got away, and cut down two of them with their own weapons, I figured out how to take out a couple to help her some, you can’t shoot them in the chest Kling, its gotta be a head shot, for whatever reason, dead center of where their forehead should be. Anyhow I was one hundred and fifty yards out when they charged her, she was out but still very much alive when they took her. She had the stone necklace but they got it back, we tracked them to those hills over there, there s some underground caves with pools of water, that’s where we were headed when we spotted your transport.”
He assembles the team, and tells them the objective, after asking Milo Tripper if he and Thed are well enough to join them. They agree and the new Team Alpha begin the march to the hills where their leader waits for help. He tells lifeguard where to do the active scan for Samantha’s heat signature.
“We’re probably fifteen minutes away from the first Hill stay on them Lifeguard she’s in there somewhere, tell Threshold that Milo Tripper and Thed Found us and told us where the Wraths have Samantha Bliss as prisoner.”
He watches through the night vision glasses patiently scanning the hills for anything that’s moving, the rest of the team is scattered out along the hillside doing the same thing when Sil appears at Klinger’s side.
“Mr. Klinger… Sir?”
“Sil?”
“I know what they are if you want to hear it. They work for a male red named Forge, he was a general in Ambala’s army, he brought them here, to find the stones for him, he wants to over throw Ambala’s rule and take control over the red army.”
“And you know this how exactly Sil?”
“Because Forge was visiting Krotas at Morde’s Keep two days before you came for the stone and helped me get out. The Wraths are just like the reds only a bit tougher, they will have guards posted. But I have an Idea, if you would allow me?”
He looks at her and then Priss, who is now listening to Sil’s every word.
“Proceed please.”
“You have tracking devices with you yes?”
“He silently nods listening more closely than ever.
“Give me one, I will go locate the Wraths and Samantha, and when I have them I will simply turn off the tracking device, if the man in your ear is following my heat signature he will know my exact location when I turn it off. Then he tells you where I am. But .. I have only one small request. ”
“And That would be?”
“When we find Forge, I kill him myself.”

Scratch. ABT Copyright © 2007

Visions Of Bliss.



He can see her clearly standing defiantly with blade in hand, surrounded by Wrath Riders, the first steps forward and she cuts it down with all of the fury that she can muster. The second hesitates.. And is met by the same brutal fate.. He might have seen her simply give in to the numbers and surrender, but he knows that that just wouldn’t be her. In all of the four years that he’d known her, no one could ever question her courage, or her strength, not as a leader, not as a warrior, so much to so many. Sister, brother, teammate. The first to step forward, the first to deliver, her heart is still beating, her will has not left her. This he can simply feel.

The First.



Monday December 30th. 2069.
They have gathered in Threshold conference room three, where Roxanne Johns, Klinger and Priss have all been going over the training schedules of new recruits to see if any names will jump out at them. They are apprehensive at taking rookies into such an endeavor into the field, so they begin to explore the possibilities of taking agents with field experience from other units that are no longer intact. So far the only recruit that they have is the female red that Alpha rescued from Krotas called Sil. She shows Klinger a lot of promise, and it took some doing but he has persuaded Threshold command to leave her in Alphas capable hands, the question has been raised about being able to control her since the incident that Sil had with the foul mouthed red detainee called Ghree. He taunted her while she was in a detention cell of her own, the guards all knew what was going on but much like with Priss’s experience, few people would offer assistance to a female red. So she took matters into her own hands, they couldn’t figure out how exactly she’d gotten out of her own cell and into Ghree’s, or even where she’d gotten the two daggers from that she’d used to slice Ghree up into little tiny pieces. All that anyone saw was a little female red, covered with Ghree’s blood, her long jet black hair barely black at all, still she offered no resistance when they came to disarm her, she calmly sat down both blades and stepped back while her guards entered into the cell to take her back to her own. The entire ordeal spoke volumes to Klinger of Sil’s ruthlessness and resourceful nature.
“Klinger… The girl is in our estimation highly unstable on a emotional level.”
“Yeah.. She’s perfect.”
He took her to the side in a separate room where Priss sat watching their every move. He handed her the two Sai’s.
“Okay Little Sil.. Show me.”
They watched her go through a series of movements with the Sai’s until finally Roxanne Johns entered the room. Priss and Klinger are both impressed. Until Roxx asks the question.
“That’s great Sil, who taught you that?
She stopped and placed both blades at Klinger’s feet, and slowly stepped back.
“My Mother.”

Begin Again.



They slowly walk into the room all of the while studying Klinger, Roxx and Priss. The first is a large young man with black hair and broad shoulders, he sits across from Roxx and offers her a seductive smile, to which she rolls her eyes, unimpressed. The second is a blonde fellow who seems rather slight to Klinger, he is thin with gaunt features and wears little round eyeglasses. The third is the most physically imposing of the three, he stands well above six foot six, and has a build that is composed of solid muscle, he long auburn colored hair. And he tosses Klinger his dossier.
“ And just where did they grow you big man?”
He looks at the three of them left to right his eyes stopping at Klinger.
“Texas.”
“You got a Name?”
“Ajax. They call me Ajax.”
Roxx stands to face the three of them.
“Gentlemen. We know who all three of you are, and we know all about your field experiences.”
She looks at the thin young man with the spectacles.
“Winston Churchill Downey.. Two years in the field, last surviving member of Baker company, spent four days alone in a hole, in the middle of the Mojave fighting off a plethora of reds until Threshold came to bail you out, twenty six kills those four days alone to your credit, highly trained sniper graduated first in your class three years ago at Langley.”
She turns to the flirtatious black haired man that first entered the room.
“James Aaron McNamara. Also known as ‘J Mac’ spent three years on Mandara Island,trained with explosives, and ummm, I understand that you are very good with your hands.”
She lays down the folder as Sil enters the room and seats herself next to Roxx.
“Gentlemen you have volunteered for this, and I trust that everyone knows the particulars of this situation?.”
Ajax stands.
“Ma’am?”
Roxx studies him and after a brief silence nods.
“I think we have all heard of team Alpha, and we all know what you’ve been through, and I think it’s safe to say that everyone in Threshold knows who Samantha Bliss is, and whatever it takes to bring her safely back to Threshold you can count on me to do whatever is necessary.”
The others both nod in agreement, and J’Mac is no longer smiling as Klinger stands.
“We have a lot of work to do guys and we only have 48 hours until we leave for the Malti desert to find Sammy and Milo and Thed.”
They all stand.
“Gentlemen.. Welcome to Alpha.”

Scratch. ABT Copyright © 2007.

I found some really at Doobix.com

Chains from the past.



Through his bedroom wall he can hear her muffled whimpers, the stern male voice he can faintly hear yelling over the blare of the country music playing in the next room. The sounds of shattering glass, a lamp thrown up against the wall, a hollow thumping noise shakes the room, more whimpers.. More yelling.. He crawls into the corner and curls his little body up into a protective ball, and begins to claw at his ears to silence the noise. He is six years old. And for his entire life Ethan john Klinger has known the nature of violence in all of its forms.. His father would kick in the door and turn loose his rage on him. “Boy!! Don’t you ever cower from nothing! I ain’t raisin no coward! Don’t you ever let the likes of fear or love take hold of your soul boy! Love is for the weak!.. Through all of it, he made his choices early, never strike a woman, hold his child near his heart and learn the ways of such things as fear and love. You became a man early. With your own wife, your own child, both taken from you.. In an instant life changed for you. Threshold called soon after, and you quickly became their favorite trigger, one shot. One life taken then another, after that it becomes easy doesn’t it?, and then a few short weeks ago, it changed yet again, you met her and slowly you began to care more about life than the ways of fear and death. Now here you are at the very edge, you close your eyes, and through the big black empty you can faintly hear a soft beautiful voice as it whispers to you, as soft and slight as a heartbeat, it pulls at you, taking you through the black, something stirs.. Ashes to ashes?.. No... not ready for that yet are you? Then slowly you begin to see a faint light coming from above you, your eyes slowly open, and you are in the Threshold infirmary, you are in a bed, you remember slowly the attack, your fingers begin to move and you can for the first time feel your entire body, you turn you eyes to the chair by the bed and there curled up and sleeping quietly is the female you know as Priss. Something is different about her now though, she has a bandage or a bandana around her forehead, you cannot clearly determine which, and her eyes open she sees you, and rises from the chair and comes to the side of the bed, your hand touches her Face and her skin seems as though it were made of silk. You feel the tear from her eyes roll over you fingers and for the first time in what seems a lifetime it feels good to be alive.
“Welcome back handsome.”
“H.. How long Priss?”
“You’ve been out for ten days Baby.”
“Tell me.. Please.. How many?”
“Twitch.. Thump.. Both…”
Her eyes begin to water.
“Both dead?”
“Yes.”
“Samantha?”
“Milo Tripper.. Samantha and the little one known as Thed.. all missing.. Since the attack.”

Begin Again.



Cowboy hangs on by a thread, mortally wounded, Threshold meanwhile has launched a round the clock search for the two missing agents and the little red man known as Thed. Klinger slowly becomes more aware of his surroundings and Priss hasn’t left his side since he woke up. It is Christmas morning at 2:00 am. Someone set up a tree, But Klinger’s mind is in the desert. The doctor enters the room and tells him that someone has been waiting to see him, and when Roxanne Johns walks into the room he feels his own tears forming. The two embrace and share a bit of a moment, before Roxx pulls away, to give the doctor one of those “Give us a minute” looks.
“Kling, we’re working on putting a new team together to go get Sam and Milo, so Far its gonna be Priss and me, and we got a wild card with this Sil chick that Alpha brought back from Mordes Keep with them.”
He slowly sits up and looks Roxanne Johns square in the eye.
“I’m comin too Roxx.”
“Yeah, I know better than try to argue with that, but we still got work to do, we need at least three more bodies before they’ll let us back in the field, and you have to show them that you’re ready.”
He rises up out of the bed.
“I was ready the second that I opened my eyes Roxx. You get us some bodies, I‘ll be ready.”
She kisses him on the forehead, and smiles that cute Roxx smile.
“You get some rest tough guy.. You leave the bodies to me. Those things that you tangled with haven’t seen the last of Team Alpha. You watch over him Priss, don‘t let him con you.”
It is when Roxx leaves the room that he notices that there something missing from Priss’s forehead.
“What happened to them Honey?”
She lowers her head.
“When I was fighting with the Wrath’s, the were cut off, Threshold doctors removed what was left.”
He grabs her by the hand, and looks at her.
“Priss.. Don’t you worry about Samantha now, remember she has that kook Milo Tripper with her, I wouldn’t want to tangle with those two at the same time..”
She lays down beside him and he puts his arm around her.
“Don’t worry sweets.. We’ll bring Sammy home.. Where she belongs.

Scratch. ABT Copyright © 2007.

Blood Of the Desert.



Sunday December 15th 2069.
It is 3:00 pm, and the members of team Alpha have followed the trail of the Wrath Riders all of the way to the very end of the Canns Landing Corridor. They now stand at the edge of the Malti Desert, a virtual Wasteland that extends itself for endless miles away from the fringes of civilization. In places, the ground is black, and there are rocky hills, and precious few trees, it is for the most part barren. Samantha Bliss knows that they cannot continue to follow the trail without first returning to Threshold to replenish their supplies, there is special equipment to consider to cross such a place, without first properly outfitting her team with the right gear, such a field excursion would be unthinkable, she calls Lifeguard to arrange for a transport to come and pick them up. As the call is finishing, the unthinkable happens, the Wrath Riders appear from seemingly out of nowhere, only there isn’t five, now Samantha counts a force of ten riders, that cut down three members of team alpha almost immediately, she begins to open fire on the riders with no results. From his vantage point Klinger can see Priss with the first riders sword she is swinging it wildly and takes down two of them, but they are everywhere at once and Klinger himself sustains a vicious attack, he knows that he has been seriously cut open by one of the Wraths, and he falls backwards but is still conscious, there is no sound only blurred visions of the Riders brutal attack, it seems to go on forever there in the dust kicked up by their animals. He can no longer see Samantha Bliss or any of the others, And then as suddenly as they appear the Wrath Riders disappear back into the dust clouds. He slowly turns his head to the left and the vision there is not a pleasant one as he sees his team mate Twitch lying dead a mere ten feet away, it is his own bloody hand that he sees trying to reach out to him, his eyes roll skyward, and Ethan John Klinger sees the Threshold Medical Transport hovering above him, it lands and dispenses a medical team who scan out to search for surviving members of team Alpha, but Klinger only sees the four meds that load him into the transport, his body goes numb and it feels for a time as though he’s floating. He struggles to keep his eyes open, and then he sees nothing.

Inverted Reflection.



Hear what I say, It is a time when even the best men must face what life they have chosen for themselves, all deeds, good and bad are now looked upon with equal and impartial prejudices, why are you here? What did you pray tell do to deserve such a fate?
He can hear the voice, but his body still cannot move, it all seems too familiar to Klinger surreal and familiar, he knows that voice but he cannot outwardly place it, as it is safely locked away inside of that brilliant white light that is all around him.
“Did you tempt fate Klinger?.. The question has changed a bit, but it still stands.. Why are you here?”
“Because I let my guard down, I didn’t move fast enough.. I… don’t know.”
“But you drew your weapon Kling.. I saw you man.. You never hesitated like that before. Why then?”
“She was in my line of fire.. I couldn’t risk hitting her.”
“Ah.. there it is then.. Sweet Priss.. Tell me Klinger, what about Sammy? What do you suppose happened to her?”
Then it comes to him, he knows that voice, it is the voice of his dead comrade Maxwell Creed.
“Max? .. man is that really you?”
“Ever since the beginning Kling, I always thought that you were the toughest s.o.b. that I ever laid eyes on, not an ounce of quit in you.”
“Max.. man I can’t fix this shit, Not with Sam.. Not with Priss, I don’t know what to do.”
“So quitting on Sam is the answer? Leaving Priss behind to face that ugly world all by her pretty self?.. that’s the Answer?”
He does not answer , he tries to close his eyes but the beautiful white light will not allow it.
“Max.. tell me. Please.”
“How many men have you killed brother?.. How many Reds?”
“Max.. I- ”
“Say it Klinger.”
“Say it?”
“Just say it Kling.. Then go make it so.”
“I want to live.”
“You want to live?”
“Yes.”
“Then open you’re eyes you ornery ol bastard! Grab that woman of yours and go make them bastards pay the ferryman!”
“ For Sammy.. For Priss. For Alpha.”
“Yeah Bro.. For Alpha.. Wake up man.. Its payback time.”

Scratch ABT Copyright © 2007

Dark Corridor.



Saturday December 14th, 2069.
It is 1:00 am in the Canns Landing Corridor, Samantha Bliss and the other members of team Alpha have in the past ten hours,recovered all three bodies of the missing Threshold agents, and after close inspection they had reached the conclusion that they had all three met with the same fate as Cuji and his soldiers. Just before dusk they had acquired the trail of the so called Wrath Riders from hell, that neither Priss nor Thed seemed to know anything about, Nor do either of them recognize the name “Forge.” they have been following the bloody path of the Wrath for five hours, but what disturbs Samantha Bliss even more, is the fact that for the last three hours, she has seen Threshold surveillance crafts flying for the first time in four years over the Canns Landing Corridor, suggesting to her that Threshold is presently aware of a greater problem than the reds themselves. She has asked that Lifeguard keep with an medium to long range thermo scans in front of Alpha and behind to safeguard against any sudden attacks. They are moving east along Sullivan avenue, the moon is full and clearly illuminates everything in their path, something has caught the eye of Ethan John Klinger and he slowly and cautiously moves in for a closer look. He sees in the distance what appears to be a four legged animal, closely resembling a horse, a very large Horse, it has sleek black hair with the ribs partially exposed, the hooves are shiny, almost as though metallic like steel, on its back there sits a odd shaped saddle, that has spikes on both ends and appears to be made from a material like black leather. It smells of rotting flesh, but what bothers him more than the animal itself is the fact that there is no rider sitting on it. and Klinger knows, there is a Wrath rider in his presence, and before he can move it strikes him. The first blow sends him flying twenty five feet backwards, and as he lands he feels all of the air leave his body, the rider stands in front of him, all adorned, in a hooded cloak, in what looks like black leather armor, a yellowish colored hand slowly pulls the broad sword from its sheath and begins to walk towards him.

First Encounter.



The Wrath Rider slowly walks towards a stunned Klinger with its weapon drawn, it is the most disturbing thing he has ever seen, but before it can draw near behind it, Klinger sees something moving through the darkness towards it, it is then that little Thed throws his entire body into the knees of the unsuspecting Wrath Rider knocking it off of its feet, he yells for help from the other members of team Alpha and soon Twitch, Thump and Cowboy all come running, though the rider loses its sword in the process, it quickly regains its composure and throws Thed into the brick wall hard, Cowboy fires a round into it , but it closes on him without even slowing down, Twitch and Thump draw fire on it as well with little or no effect and it closes on them quickly battering all three men into unconsciousness. It then turns once again in the direction of a still dazed Klinger, and slowly lumbers towards him, it reaches down and takes hold of his shirt, that is when a very angry Priss shows up and buries the Riders own sword into its back.
“Let go of my man you ugly Prick!!” she yells.
Soon Samantha Bliss and Milo Tripper come running as well, and they arrive just in time to see it fall to the ground, its own sword still in its back. It doesn’t move, Priss is tending to Klinger while Samantha and Milo check the condition of Twitch, Thump, Thed and Cowboy, they are all battered and bruised but without serious injury. She slowly approaches the downed Wrath Rider with her own weapon drawn. She looks at Priss quizzically .
“So.. What do you suppose happens when you take the sword out?” Samantha asks.
Priss studies the fallen Wrath Rider.
“I don’t know Samantha, lets find out, if it moves we can always put the sword back in ay?”
She walks over to the Wrath and removes the sword, startled they all jump back when it rears its head and lets out a slow hissing gurgling sound, its yellow flesh slowly sinks into its bones and it lay still on the ground. Klinger Slowly walks up behind Priss, and silently studies the fallen Rider.
“We fired six rounds into this bastard and we didn’t even slow it down, she nails it with its own sword and Poof!… dust.”
he pauses momentarily before posing a question to Samantha Bliss.
“Boss lady?”
“Yes Mr. Klinger?.”
“Do you think I could Talk to miss Priss in private for a coupla minutes?”
She Smiles.
“Well Kling.. She DID save your hide.. I think that you owe her THAT much.”
They walk together to the far end of the alley, and once he is comfortable that they are out of ear shot he turns to face her.
“Priss.. Look here. Little Miss. I know what you really are.. And I also know what other people THINK that you are. You showed me a lot lady. Lots that a lot of other people couldn’t or wouldn’t. you are more human that most people I know I shouldn’t be thinking-”
Down the alley Samantha watches them embrace, and turns away pretending not to see. There are bigger more dangerous problems to consider. Where there is one there could be many.. The Wrath Riders aren’t far from them. She can feel it.

Scratch.. ABT Copyright © 2007.