Nigeria, Africa.

[Mamono Assault Force]

Re: Nigeria, Africa.

Roger got out of cover once he heard the sounds of battle die down, and silently looked at all the dead men about the cave. "We didn't receive a single casualty... Did these men even know they were up against monsters?" Roger wondered. "Whoever sent them... Are they so daft, that they'd send a dozen men, just to be slaughtered by inhuman creatures..? Or were they just sent so that we'd think the danger was over, with hopes of capturing us in the real ambush?"

Roger gave thought into the possibility of an ambush. Although he'd be more than happy to leave 'Super Man' Chris, and 'Dr. Jeckal' Sarah behind to fend for themselves, given how... Roger can't even think of Sarah being a woman anymore, rather a monster wearing a human's flesh, he remembers he can't fly his only ticket out of here, the Night Stalker. That, and what of Dex? She claimed to be able to sneak away... "Fuck it, she's probably a freaky ass monster to. She said she'd want one of their uniforms, so I'm guessing she's a mother fuckin' shape shifter..."

The only thing Roger did during his thinking, and his walk towards the exit of the cave, even going past Chris with no care in the world, was sigh, and rub his palm across his head. Roger felt an odd sensation in his chest, one that made him feel like he was a man among beasts. What made little sense before, when he first arrived at the warehouse, truly didn't make any sense now. Roger couldn't help but feel highly suspicious of everyone around him, given the circumstances. Roger wasn't infected with a virus that could enhance his physical ability, or give him super speed. He couldn't transform into a powerful, ethereal beast...

The frustration of his obvious ignorance made him want to shout his anger out at the top of his lungs. However, Roger decided he'd hold his questions until he managed to find the woman who found him in the first place. "No matter if these fucks are really ignorant, or if they're just fakin' it to keep some little secret from me, once I find her, I'm gettin' my answers." he decided with conviction.

 

[lurker]

Re: Nigeria, Africa.

Sarah watched as RJ watched past, a look of concern on her face at how moody he was. Sure, she couldn't read minds, but with the look on his face was all she needed. She was worried, not only for how he would react with both her and Chris's antics, but how much his distrust in every squad member may lead to HIM turning victim.

Sighing, she gently beckoned her stuff, allowing it to float off the ground behind her, as she glided silently behind them.

 

[Rule 34]

Re: Nigeria, Africa.

Dex was on edge during the entire firefight, looking for an opening and finding none. All she could do was watch, quietly, nervously. This is way too close for comfort in her own opinion.

Still, she's not going to pass this chance on updating her set of costumes a little bit. Without pretense or shame Dex starts to disrobe the fallen, taking the pieces of clothing that are most intact. A pair of boots here, a shirt there. Pretty soon the blonde wears an entire set of their clothing over her own.

 

[SiphonTalvesh]

Re: Nigeria, Africa.

Chris shook his head about RJ, but for another reason. He was beginning to suspect that RJ might become a liability to them, or get himself killed with his mistrust.


Fuck it, I'll talk to her about having him re-evaluated by the regents later. Even I get creeped out by those guys.


He breezed past the others, leading them out of base. He had an uneasy feeling regarding the door way, which was open again. It seemed their uninvited guests had used the same entry point as they had.

After a quick re-check at the terminals to ensure no virus was present within the facility, Chris began removing several blocks of C-4 charges. If the others hadn't already noticed him by now, they would when he spoke.

"RJ, Sarah, Dex. Get to the chopper I'll be along in a moment. I'm not taking any chances anyone can get in here again and unearth more bio-weapons. I'm going to permanently seal this chamber."

He continued spacing his charges, stopping every few moments to remeasure the blast radius.

 

[lurker]

Re: Nigeria, Africa.

Sarah simply nodded, taking her stuff and soon leading, keeping an eye out for opposition.

 

[Mamono Assault Force]

Re: Nigeria, Africa.

"Human beings have a bad habit of reaching the unreachable." Roger said to Chris as he walked by him, not even glancing back at the man as he planted the C-4, following some distance away from Dex and Sarah, but close enough so that help could be given if needed. He knew the safety of sticking close, however, the thought of being near a woman, who Roger knew was not a woman at all, made his skin crawl.

"How could I be such an idiot? I took what Chris said to heart, and was ready to give it my all to make sure everyone got out of here safe. But... I had no fucking clue what kind of creatures these people really were. They didn't even need my help. Hell, they did fine by themselves against superior odds." he squeezed the grip of his gun tightly. "God damn it, the thought of one of these freakish monsters turning around, and outright killing me keeps invading my head. I can't stop thinking about it. I just can't stop thinking about any of the questions in my mind... I feel like it's going to drive me insane if I don't find the answers..."

 

[SiphonTalvesh]

Re: Nigeria, Africa.

After the group was far enough away, Chris set the final charges, then backed out.

Good Riddance Umbrella Facility number eight thousand four hundred sixty two. And a big FUCK YOU.



RJ's thoughts were cut off by the rumble of the explosives going off, as the Umbrella Facility ceased to exist.

A few moments later, Chris came out of what remained of the caves, something of a relieved look on his face.

"Let's get out of here and back to the Warehouse. The sooner this goddamn artifact is safely there the better. Too many lives have been lost over this thing, over this whole bio-weapons shit. I look forward to the day when all that mess is finally cleared up and I don't have a job anymore."


He loaded everything into the chopper, then waited for the others to climb in.

 

[Rule 34]

Re: Nigeria, Africa.

Dex simply snorts at Chris' words as she enters the chopper. Certainly got a knack for the melodramatic. Eh. Once she's done she's gonna go back to the agency, and to missions that fit her way of working more.

 

[Mamono Assault Force]

Re: Nigeria, Africa.

Even with the explosion, hardly any of the thoughts bothering Roger's mind stopped faltered to torture him. Silent, deep in thought, he quietly walked over to the chopper, and climbed inside. Once he sat down inside, he let out a sigh in an attempt to soothe his mind, and closed his eyes. Roger felt ostracized, believing himself to be the only human among everyone around him.

"I don't get it... From what I've seen, everyone else was brought into this group at a very similar time. And it seems like all they recruited were monsters..." Roger squeezed his eyelids in frustration, "Then what the fuck would they want with me? I'm as human as they come, so why wouldn't they go looking for a real veteran, who has a lot more combat experience than me? I can't trust any of them... Not until I know why..."

"And the worst part is... I still have to do whatever they order me to... I wish I stayed in prison..." Roger thought of a good majority of his life going by in that cursed prison. He figured he'd just find some way to end his own life rather than stay in prison for the rest of his life there, right about when that woman contacted him. "She didn't lie... Not about having to do crazy shit like this... But she didn't tell me about who I'd be working with... I really wish I knew that at the time..."

Roger reached into his pack, and pulled out a bottle of water, and drank the remaining drop of water, putting it back, and licking his lips once it was all gone.

 

[lurker]

Re: Nigeria, Africa.

Sarah drifted into the chopper, making sure to find a seat as far away from RJ as she could find, not because she didn't want to give the man a wide berth, but because she wasn't quite sure what either of them would do if he started complaining bout her tactics. Quietly, she half-floated, half-sat, as her palor started returning to solid flesh. Odviously, she seemed to have mistaken the dose, shortening the time transformed. Shrugging to herself, she draped her trenchcoat over her shoulders, covering herself with it as she waited on the chopper to start.

 

[SiphonTalvesh]

Re: Nigeria, Africa.

Chris climbed in to the chopper, starting it up. After making sure everyone was seated safely, he lifted the Chopper off.

RJ had been right assuming that their attackers should have known what they were up against. So why then had they easily gotten past them?

Chris had a feeling that things weren't as they seemed. He finally turned to RJ.

"RJ, I want a second opinion here. Is it me or does this almost seem too easy? As in, that group knew we were here, obviously set us up and knew we were capable of extraordinary feats, yet we still steamrolled them. It almost seems like whoever set us up WANTED us to get out alive. Hell, maybe it's just me, never mind, sorry to interrupt your thinking and rest."


He turned around, piloting the Chopper in silence all the way back to the airfield they'd dropped the C-130 off at, unless one of the others engaged him in conversation before then.

 

[lurker]

Re: Nigeria, Africa.

A thought just crossed her mind at that moment. "Wait.... what if they're diverting resources to a difering group... like the group in Colorado!!!" She says, face suddenly growing pale at the thought.

 

[SiphonTalvesh]

Re: Nigeria, Africa.

Chris shot her a look.

"Why the hell would they do that? The other group doesn't even have the artifact they want."



Still, her words bothered him. When they landed at the airfield, he'd call Sean and have him check in with Claudia.

"I'll call Sean as soon as we land at the airfield and have him check in with Claudia, we'll find out if they're alright. Just in case."

 

[Mamono Assault Force]

Re: Nigeria, Africa.

"RJ, I want a second opinion here. Is it me or does this almost seem too easy? As in, that group knew we were here, obviously set us up and knew we were capable of extraordinary feats, yet we still steamrolled them. It almost seems like whoever set us up WANTED us to get out alive. Hell, maybe it's just me, never mind, sorry to interrupt your thinking and rest."

Roger adjusted himself in his seat, uncomfortable with the thought. He put a hand to his chin, thinking of what the real reason could possibly be. "Keep your friends close..." he said under his breath, "And your enemies, closer..." he phrased a quote from Sun-Tzu, before looking up to Chris, "The grunts that you killed were idiots. And, giving whoever sent them the benefit of the doubt, I'm assuming they're not idiots. So, the only reasons I can think of for why they'd send a squad of men just to die... Is to disguise the real attack, or to observe just what they're up against..."

Roger reached back behind his neck, and started rubbing it, a little stressed out. "I don't fuckin' know..." he finally said, going back to his silent state. If no one said anything to Roger, he'd much prefer to keep silent. The last thing he'd want is to be the attention of monsters... And he knew, having powerful allies like them, could very easily be a double edged sword, sent back at him, if he dared let them get too close...

 

[Rule 34]

Re: Nigeria, Africa.

Dex suddenly buries her head in her hands. "Chris, please tell me you checked if this thing hasn't been rigged to explode in mid-air. . ." That'd be one hell of a back-up plan. She herself would've done it that way if she'd have failed to succeed with the initial blow.

 

[SiphonTalvesh]

Re: Nigeria, Africa.

Chris nodded.

"First thing I did before turning on the rotors. Second thing I did was make sure the gas tank was secure and that we wouldn't be leaking fuel and crash. Then I made sure they hadn't rewired the fucker too. The Chopper was untouched, though I intend to repeat the same checklist with the C-130. Just in case."



Chris gave RJ's words some thought. Maybe Sarah had been right, though HOW could anyone have known about the second team? That would mean a mole of some kind already established within the higher ups of the agency.

He found it unlikely that whoever had sent these people was simply gauging their abilities. Someone who was trying to test them would have sent far more trained men, or at the very least a much more powerful B.O.W. Which left the possibility that it was to distract them from the real attack.

He nodded slowly.

"I think you may be on to something about masking the real attack RJ. I'm starting to have a bad feeling we weren't the original intended target, that had we been taken out it would have been a bonus. Fuck."

How could he have been that blind to not anticipate that possibility? It bothered him more than he was willing to admit right now.



Five minutes later, he'd landed the chopper at the airfield. Once the others were out, he reloaded the chopper into the C-130, after checking to be sure their ride home was in fact safe. This done, he pulled out the Farnsworth to call Claudia.

He got nothing. Either her Farnsworth was active or had been destroyed. "Fuck fuck fuck, not good at all."


He then flipped open the device again, speaking quickly. "Sean."

 

[Mamono Assault Force]

Re: Nigeria, Africa.

Roger folded his arms. "But that still doesn't make any sense." he said aloud. "If they were just going to ambush the other group sent to Colorado, then why did they bother to send anything at all at us? They could just as easily let us walk out of the artifact, and wasted fewer men, while still attacking the other group." Roger looks to the C-130. "We managed to get out... And bring the artifact with us. From the looks of it, those men were just thrown away, like trash. Do you really think that was their purpose? I don't believe they were a distraction, they wouldn't have needed it. We're half a world apart from the other group. Whatever ambush they had planned for them, wouldn't have anything to do with us."

Roger shrugged, and shook his head. "If you want to call anything a distraction, I'd take a look at that artifact we found. If anything, they just wanted our group to be cut in half." he said, before looking to Chris, who was talking to Sean at the moment, and would hear Roger if he listened. "And if I had to make a guess, they just wanted Chris somewhere else. Us not going to Colorado was a freebie, I suppose."

Roger sighed, and licked his lips, "In any case, there's nothing we can do about it now, except hope the others you sent manage to pull through... Although, I'll be honest, I'm worried about that Claudia girl... She doesn't seem suited for bloodshed..." he said, with the sound of genuine worry in his voice.

"Even though she's probably a monster to, she's a little too sweet actin' for me not to worry." Roger thought, "Man... It's probably gonna be just like before... Every single one of my friends died in that fucking gang... 'Cept for me and Eddy..." Roger, making sure his back was turned to everyone else, accidentally shed a tear at the memory of his dear friends dieing, some right in front of him, but quickly wiped it off, pretending it was a scratch. "No point being a soft ass about it anymore. People who fight, die. That's a fact. And I'll be damned if I end up sheding a tear again, especially over these... Monsters, who I don't even belong with..."

Roger took out his water, and took a sip, looking around at the landscape about him, "Friends are great... But not if they die... And I really need to get out of this fucking desert. I think it's what's causing me to be a little bitchy." he assumed.

 

[SiphonTalvesh]

Re: Nigeria, Africa.

Chris closed his Farnsworth, genuine worry in his own eyes.

"She's not RJ, not by the least. She's not like Sean or Sarah or myself. She's completely human, granted, one smart ass hacker, but still human. I chose her to lead that team because of her ability to remain cool under pressure and her intelligence, not for some mutant power like what I have."


There was a brief moment and he decided he could tell them.

"Though she's flippant about death. Three years ago she came to me asking for help. Her brother had tried using the power of an artifact and got caught outside our own reality. She tried on her own to fix it, and ended up tying part of her own life force to his diminishing one. Every time he came close enough to be visible in our own reality it took a bit of her life away. She damn near died before I finally figured out how to bring him back and undo it all. She's been here at the Warehouse ever since, working with us, largely because she wants to, but also because she knows far too much about it to be allowed to permanently vanish off our radar."

Another pause.

"Let's get going, we can't do anything just yet as you pointed out. Though I wonder if it's possible that the team that attacked us ... I wonder if someone else sent them as compared to whoever is behind the attack on Colorado Springs. Or you may be right RJ. I don't know right now."

 

[lurker]

Re: Nigeria, Africa.

Sarah simply stayed quiet, reclothing herself before going to the C-130 and sitting down, before she slides back into her seat. "And if you're that worried bout people that have been screwed over themselves, there's the door, don't let it hit your ass," she muttered softly to herself, probably loud enough for Chris to hear, but hopefully not the others.

 

[SiphonTalvesh]

Re: Nigeria, Africa.

Chris just shook his head and started the plane.

"Ok, and here we go again."



After a few moments, the plane taxied off and took flight, gaining altitude quickly. Once Chris had set the auto-pilot, he leaned back some and started thinking things over again.


((Feel free to have some talking for a bit amongst the chars, I'll post again when I can to move this back to the warehouse.))