Arcadia: Eight Eyes Closed
 

"Just another day at the office" the thought entered his mind soon after he regained consciousness. His slumber having been interrupted by a warning siren, accompanied by a red flashing light. The compartment was cramped and crouded with various communications and monitoring equipment. He sat alone in a grav couch with a magazine in his lap.

"Two minutes until drop, Two minutes until drop." the automated warning blazed in concert witht the siren. This morning he had been relaxing by the beach with a cold martini and an attractive young woman who's name now escaped him. Now he was back earning the pay check which allowed him such luxuries. He thought back to a few hours earlier, the expression on the comanders face whenhe saw the signature non reg haircut. He laughed to himself in the drop pod compartment.

"one minute until drop, one minute until drop" the female voice continued to intone. The mission this time seemd easier than usual. He was to drop off the coast of Genoka and rendezvous at an unguarded location, where he would receive further instructions. It was most likely another training exercise, he knew how his superiors loved to foist such unneccesary activities on him. The red light and siren ceased and were replaced by a green light and one long buzzer. The acceleration was tremendous, and he sunk deeply into the grav couch. He always enjoyed these moments of free fall, they helped clear his mind.

With all these training missions they keep giving me, I must really be getting to them, maybe it was the formal request to be known as Agent Phiuck Joo. Hell I even printed 3 copies. He chuckled remembering the formal business agreement he had signed and had the company lawyer look over. "Note to self post contract on the wall next to the stack of green hair dye, and spiking gel." He stopped reminiscing and took in a breath preparing for the sudden jolt that accompanied these drops. I guess this is my latest reward.

The drop pod plummeted toward the surface at incredible speeds. It was a few minutes before it started to decelerate. And then the jolt which signified landing. He released the restraints of his grav couch and entered the one man submersible vehicle. He launched the submarine and started towards the shore.

It would be about 15 minutes before he reached the beach, or rather the cliffs. He would be climbing those cliffs and making his way to the rendezvous point on foot. A 10 mile trek through hilly terrain, supposedly no enemy activity was expected. He trusted this assumption, as he had been issued live ammunition, which suggested that this training mission would not involve training "dummies", instructor who played war games on training missions. During those fun filled outings he was always issued shocker bullets, non lethal ammunition.

His com display illuminated, and a young woman in camoflage fatigues could be seen. "I've got an update from HQ sir, it appears there might be some resistance after all" it was his field coordinator, lieutenant Powers.

"Great, a 10 mile trek while looking over my shoulder. How much resistance?" he said shifting into a crouching position. He was going to have to move slowly now, which meant he would probably have to put off his schemes for the night until tommorow, damn. He scanned the area around him as far as he could see and counted before moving slowly keeping himself hidden in the high grass. Maybe I'll have some fun here.

"Sir, intelligence reports a small group of sharks traveling into the hill region." sharks being the military slang for any type of enemy nexgen unit, the deadliest type of resistance. Norms were referred to as guppies, and armour had many colorful names ranging from crustacean to firefly. In any case, this report was bad news indeed, at least to any sane man. " The unit seems to be 4 strong, deployed to intercept someone, we're still not sure who. The spooks tell me its probably not you, so HQ is reccomending that you try and avoid detection."

*Great running from other sharks, this is just great* he thought to himself. "Do we have any ideal what types of sharks these are?" he asked into his com. He continued to move foward to the raundevous point still staying catious and moving slower than normal "And any word from my contact?"

"Intelligence says big sharks, definitely an assault team, most likely Harcat collective." The words grabbed his attention like a baseball bat to the face. He had dealt with the Harcat collective but once, his second mission.

Eight days he'd spent on his belly or in a tree. The lowly position rankled in his stomach, he was not accustomed to crawling. He was still a newby though, a cadet actually, this was his final exam. To quote his overly dramatic instructor, "Passing means living."

"Get your gad damned head down kid!" the harsh whisper of his unit captain chastised. He scurried back behind the bush he'd spent the last half hour hiding in.

"He's right down there sir! All we have to do is take the shot and jet, what the hell are we waiting for!" he half yelled and pleade, or as much as one could in a whisper.

" Now is not the time, too heavily guraded. Thes guys mean business kid, and don't think your some kind of god damned super hero! Your good, I'll give you that, but there's always somebody better." the captain said, being uncharacteristically frank.

Their target sat in the shade of a patio awning, drinking a cocktail. around him were heard the wailing of prisoners, men who's only crime was being in the wrong place this day. When the collective occupied a territory, they left no room for the indiginous population.

A small child clutched at the chest of his mother behind a makeshift fence. The enclosure was strapped together from the detritus gathered from the ruined houses strewn all about the settlement. Here someones front door, there a piece of someones hand painted fence. Bitter reminders of a past not so distant as it now seemed.

The child was crying uncontrollably at the sight of a young mans body. The poor youth had been executed earlier that day, and now his remains lay rotting in the sun within sight of his countrymen, held behind bars like animals.

A soldier yelled at the woman, telling her to control her child, she herself was on the verge of hysterics. The soldier kept yelling at her, becoming more and more agitated. Finally he reached over the fence and struck the woman with the butt of his rifle, rendering her unconscious and eliciting another shriek of terror from the child.

"If we don't go now..." he trailed off as he saw the adamant look in his captains eyes, there would be no argument. He watched the scene unfold in gruesome detail, losing rationality with every second. The soldier raised his rifle barrel level with the childs head.

He was shooting before he knew why. The first shot struck the soldier in the head, the second took out the target, the third went throught the heart of a guard near the holding pen. As he realized he was shooting, he failed to notice he was running headlong towards the camp. He reached the first guard and reacted with no thought. The soldier was accelerated towards the gate at 200 mile per hour, creating a whole big enough to jump through and a horrendous mess simultaneously.

A squad of troops was exiting a building to his left, a propellant tank near them exploded almost immediately. Now he was running even faster, towards the cage. he desstroyed the structure with a gesture, it patchwork components scattering to the winds. A soldier fired from a nearby window, turning towards the man he pointed, the soldier was transformed into a ball of fire. He screamed long after there was any need to, and stumbled out the window, setting the building alight with his death throws. The prisoners with the courage to turn away fled, the others soon followed.

As he tried to make sense of his actions, a movement caught his eyes. Instinctually he trained his rifle in the direction, a huge man stood inside the burning building, seemingly unharmed by the flames.

He opened fire on the man, who waved his hand rapidly in front of his face. Sparks flew and the sound of bullets ricocheting off of metal resounded through the air.

The giant man started sprinting towards him, and soon was close enough to land a crushing blow flush against his jaw. He was launched several feet and landed roughly on the muddy ground. He had never been hit like that, and was losing consciousness.

The last thing he saw was the captain driving a knee into the behemoths head. When he awoke he was in a medical helicopter, his the rest of his team was unacounted for.

..........

Yes, The collective certainly brought back some memories.

"Keep your goddamn head down kid" he thought to himself. This time captain's not here to save your ass. He moved foward slowly scanning the area even more than before. *How the hell did they not know about the Harcast before they sent me out?* he thought to himself quickly followed by another fault *worry about that later, stay focused now.*

The short journey ended silently, his vehicle grounded in the shallows near the cliff face. A short swim upward and he reached the surface. The ascent was quick, the face was only about 200 meters. He reached the top without incident and retrieved his supply bag with the rope he had trailed behind him.

He was in a heavily wooded area, the dense foliage would provide cover adequately. He still had a few miles before he entered the area reported to contain resistance, still he remained alert for any indications of threat.

The miles were short as well, and the foliage gave way to rough hills and scrub brush. The open arena was a very dangerous place from a tactical standpoint. Hopefully the welcome party had more important guests, though he doubted it.

He looked around the clearing several times. He scanned the area where forest meant field. Then he did it all again. He took a deep breath and checked the map again, seeing how long he had to go before meeting with the contact. He moved foward silently and crouching low. His eyes didn't stay still they scanned the area to his right, left, in front, behind him even above him. He didn't want anything to suprise him. *Damn I hate being so important some times.*