Into The Dark
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~



He sits quietly perched on a rooftop approximately one half a mile away from the dock, it is cold outside and still dark, a slight misty rain has been falling steadily for the past two hours. His full name is Winston Churchill Downey, affectionately known to his team mates as “Church.” he has been silently watching the movements on and around the dock for the past two hours Patiently feeding information to Samantha Bliss and the other members of Team Alpha. She has put him, Klinger and Milo Tripper on three different elevations to cover every possible angle on the docks below them. On the ground she has the rest of the team all spread out along a slope that overlooks the reds position. Now they must play the waiting game,the reds are present, but so far the rest of the party are no shows.Each member of Team Alpha waits for the word to engage the enemy, but no order will be given just yet.
“Church?”

The earpiece fills with a slight hum of static briefly before it crackles to life.
“Yeah boss lady.”
“Anyone out there yet except for the reds?”
“I don’t see anything moving from up here just yet, except for the reds.”
“Klinger?”
A slight pause.
“No. I’ve got nothing up here Sammy.”
“Nobody but the reds?”
“Nobody yet.”
She peers through the black misty morning with her field glasses. If Tombstone knew about this exchange he would more than likely be there, and as for this Scorpion person it was more of a feeling that Samantha Bliss has had, that Team Alpha wasn’t the only ones watching the reds at this moment.Sil moves up next to Samantha Bliss, who turns to face her.
“Sil?” She hands her the field glasses.
“Look down there and tell me if you see that Guido person that you spoke of.”

Sil raises the field glasses to her eyes.
“ No Samantha.. He’s probably hiding in the van right now. He doesn’t like water too much. And right now it IS raining.”
She hands the glasses back to Samantha Bliss.
“Well, obviously this Scorpion person isn’t going to tip her hand until Guido shows himself. If that is who she’s after.”
Finally, Milo Tripper’s voice floods her earpiece.
“Sammy? Heads up. We’ve got company.”
“Milo?”
“There’s three of them.. All human males, big bastards too. Probably your buddy Tombstone and his crew.”
“Any sign of Scorpion?”
“Not yet. But she’s here somewhere, I can just feel it Sammy.”
The voice of Ethan John Klinger interjects into the conversation.
“Sammy.. Three o’clock. Black Hummer is approaching. Probably the mercs.”
Suddenly the docks have come to life, as it would seem that all parties relevant have shown themselves to Team Alpha. Six men emerge from the Hummer, all armed to the teeth with standard automatic weapons. The leader motions for his men to fan out and check for snipers. One wanders around the dock with a hand held device checking for any radio transmissions. He nods to the leader giving the all clear.

Scorpion Rising.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~



They surmise that they are alone here with these reds on this cold misty morning. And nothing could be further from the truth.
They watch as Tombstone, Loki and Cavanaugh all settle into their positions. Everything suddenly appears to be moving in slow motion, the leader of the mercs moves towards the van, while two of the others begin to unload the black case from the Hummer. From out of the side of the van the form of the large male red known as “Guido Garfoni” appears and cautiously begins walking towards them. Samantha Bliss can feel her stomach tighten knowing that Scorpion is somewhere watching. But it is only when one of Guido’s guards notice’s the small red dot climbing up the body and coming to rest on the forehead of the Merc leader that Samantha knows that all hell is about to break loose.

The first shot strikes him right between the eyes, blowing out the back of his skull, everyone on the dock all at once begin to exchange panic fire. Tombstone’s crew now appear at the sight and have begun an all out engagement with the remaining mercs, while Guido’s bodyguard has dropped the satchel of money in order to usher him safely back into the protection of the van.
“Team Alpha! Cover the escape routes. This is going to get out of hand quick. Take out that van NOW! We have to take Guido alive!”
The first body guard takes a head shot and is dead before his body hit’s the pavement. Two more to the left of the van fall immediately afterwards.
“Damnit! She’s not taking any prisoners! Church? Do you see her?”
“No Sammy! I’ve got nothing!”

Another red takes a direct hit straight into the back of its skull, and panic stricken now Guido is forced to fend for himself, as he jumps into the driver’s seat of the van and slams it into gear. The tires spin against the wet pavement as he tries in vain to get out of the line of fire. From above him and to his right, Church has shot out the left front tire. Guido has once again emerged from the vehicle, this time with his weapon drawn. They all watch curiously as the distant sound of what Samantha presumes to be a motorcycle of some type, echo’s throughout the dock. They are all quite shocked when it appears, the rider swoops in and scoops up the satchel of money and begins to fire its weapon into the chest of Guido Garfoni, hitting him numerous times. He falls back against the van and slides down it’s side, dead. Both rider and cycle disappear into the rainy morning.“Lifeguard!! Track that rider! We’ll catch up with them later, we’ll clean up this mess first.”
Meanwhile, the remaining members of Team Alpha have pinned in Tombstone and his crew. Who finally disengage,the now dead mercs.

The members of Team alpha have formed a circle around Tombstone, Loki and Cavanaugh, who are walking towards the black case. Samantha Bliss arrives. They all stand in front of the case as he bends down to examine the latch for possible booby traps, he motions to Loki, who bends down to check it. He nods, flipping open the latches. Tombstone cautiously opens the case to reveal several carefully wrapped bags of sand. He stands slowly, turning to face Samantha Bliss.
“I should have figured Threshold would send in a field team to investigate. I didn’t figure it would be you though.”
She doesn’t smile, nor introduce herself, as he slowly approaches her. He looks the Threshold unit up and down.
“The famous Team Alpha, I take it. And that must make you Samantha Bliss. They call me-”
“Tombstone.” She says flatly.
“So you know me then?”
“Your Dylan Poe Rand.”
His smile slowly fades.
“My Father.”

~Scratch. A.B.T. copyright © 2008~

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