Soong took a drag from his cigarette, savouring the taste as he looked out across the plains. It was a quiet night, but they always were. To be sent to this outpost was a vacation. Sentry duty was easy, and nothing ever happened.
He noticed a wind picking up, as dust clouds formed on the horizon, but thought nothing of it. He took a final breath of his cigarette, before stubbing it out on the floor below him.
Soong heard nothing as the dark shape emerged from the ground below. He didn’t have time to raise an alarm, or even to fight back. One second he was enjoying a cigarette, the next he was dead on the ground, his neck snapped.
“Cai to Uncle Sam. The roof is secure.” Cai whispered into his communicator.
“Good to hear. Desert Storm is building our cover now, that dust storm should be here in a few minutes.” Uncle Sam’s voice buzzed back.
“Understood.” Cai whispered, shifting his attention to the only door leading to the roof.
A choking, stinging dust filled the air, but Cai didn’t notice. His power allowed him to become incorporeal at will, and as a result, the dust simply passed through his body.
“Ok, I’m coming down.” Uncle Sam’s voice buzzed.
Cai scanned the skies for a sign of his team-mates. A momentary glimmer of light shining from metal was the only trace he saw.
The grandson of the original Uncle Sam landed next to him in a crouching position, cushioning his landing. Rather than his signature red, white and blue uniform, Uncle Sam was clad in black, from a balaclava over his face, right down to his shoes. At his hip was his famous retractable staff, on his shoulder, a pistol.
Moments later, the second legacy hero on Liberty Force landed next to them, somewhat more gracefully than their leader. The Third American Eagle was dressed identically to Uncle Sam, except for the thin bands of fabric stretching from his wrists to his hips, a failsafe if his power of flight ever gave up on him in midair, a tribute to his grandfather’s fear of flying.
“Patriot, monitor their security feed, I want to know everything they do.” Uncle Sam ordered through the communicator.
“You got it Sam. Are you sure you don’t want me down there?” Patriot buzzed.
“The SecDef wants this to be untraceable. Three guys in black could be anyone. The moment the Patriot armour steps inside, we’re Liberty Force.” Uncle Sam explained.
“Ok, I’ll keep monitoring those frequencies then.” Patriot buzzed.
“Good work soldier.” Uncle Sam said, before turning to his team.
“Ok, as far as we know from the schematics, we need to get to the elevator. From there, we take it down to the basement level. We’ve got the keycard to get in and out, but once we hit that basement, we’re flying blind. I want use of powers kept to the minimum, because like I said, we can’t be traced. I’ll be taking point, if I go down, it’s more important that we get out without leaving evidence than it is to get that intel.” Uncle Sam explained.
“They weren’t exactly specific Sam, what are we looking for?” American Eagle asked.
“The main computer system. Hopefully it’ll be pretty obvious.” Uncle Sam said. “Alright, Black Ops codenames from here on. Splinter, Ghost and Owl.” Sam pointed at himself, Cai and American Eagle respectively.
Uncle Sam approached the door, pushing it open slowly. He peered down into the stairwell, before signalling that the coast was clear. The trio crept down the stairs, maintaining silence as best they could. Ahead, the third floor entrance opened, and the group froze. Four soldiers stepped through the door, closing it behind them before heading downward.
Uncle Sam began signalling his orders. He would take the middle two, the Eagle would take the left, and Cai the right. They were to be silent. As one, the heroes rushed down the stairs in complete silence, catching up to their quarry. Uncle Sam tackled the middle two, grabbing them both around the head and cracking their skulls on the steps below. Cai grabbed his target and snapped his neck, exactly as he had the man on the roof. The Eagle stabbed his own target with his knife, piercing his heart in one thrust, leaving the guard spasming on the ground.
The heroes dragged their victims down the stairs as quietly as possible, encountering no more surprises before reaching the bottom. They hid the bodies as best they could under the stairs, removing the ammunition from their guns and taking their combat knives. Better to not leave extra weapons where their enemies could find them.
Uncle Sam pulled the door ajar, peering through the small opening. He signalled that there were two guards further down the corridor, but they were facing the other way. The team rushed through the door and into the first room off the corridor.
“Ok, we need to get past those guys.” Uncle Sam whispered.
“Too bad they’re standing at an intersection.” The American Eagle replied.
“We can’t guarantee there’s no-one else that has a visual on them, but I doubt it.” Uncle Sam said.
“So what’s the plan?” The Eagle asked.
“You’re heavier than Ghost, right?”
“By at least twenty pounds, why?”
“Running, leaping tackles. We take them out hard and fast, force them out of the line of sight of anyone in that other corridor. If we hit them both high, we should take them out in one move, and they’ll fall forward.”
“You’re insane.”
“Damn right I am.” Uncle Sam grinned, before peering back down the corridor.
He signalled for the Eagle to follow him, and the two tiptoed into the middle of the corridor. Uncle Sam signalled that he would take the one on the left.
Years of training and fighting together left the pair in perfect sync, they ran at identical pace, feet falling at the exact same time, steps the same length, all in near-silence. As they reached the intersection, they both leaped into the air as one, grabbing their targets around the heads and bringing them crashing down to the ground below, rendering both men unconscious, and out of view.
Within moments, Cai was ahead of them, opening the nearest doorway and checking inside, before signalling that the coast was clear. They stashed the bodies and continued on their way.
They reached the elevator without further incident and Uncle Sam swiped his keycard. The door opened and the team bundled in, Cai pressing the ‘Basement’ button.
“Is it just me, or was that way too easy?” The Eagle asked, as the elevator began its descent.
“If the security was this bad, they would have sent someone else.” Cai agreed.
“Maybe you’re just paranoid after all the guys we’ve had to fight lately.” Sam argued, as the elevator door opened.
The team stepped out of the elevator and found themselves staring down the barrels of a dozen guns.
“Or it could be a trap.” Uncle Sam added.
“Drop your weapons.” One of the gunmen said in broken English, waving his rifle at Uncle Sam.
“Or we could go to Plan B.” Uncle Sam said.
“Plan B?” Patriot’s voice buzzed over the intercom.
“You heard me.” Uncle Sam said.
“You don’t try anything American pigdog!” The gunman said.
“We have a Plan B?” The Eagle asked.
“He picked you as Americans.” Cai added.
“What’s Plan B?” The Eagle asked.
“This.” Uncle Sam said, as the building shook, loud explosions coming from above.
The explosions caused the gunmen to stumble, Uncle Sam and Cai springing into action, as The Eagle stumbled too.
Cai became intangible, and tossed shuriken at his enemies, as their bullets whizzed through his body. Once his shuriken lost contact with his body, they became tangible again, finding themselves embedded in the enemy gunmen.
Uncle Sam roundhouse kicked the nearest gunman, extending his staff at the same time, in one fluid motion. He began dropping enemies left and right, cracking skulls and busting kneecaps.
“Splinter, what happened to no powers?” The Eagle asked.
“They know we’re American. No need for cover.” Sam replied, dropping another gunman.
“Oh.” The American Eagle said, before swiping his arm through the air in a backhand motion. Three balls of energy flew from his hand and exploded on impact, taking down the remaining guards.
“Ok, we need to find that computer before backup gets here.” Uncle Sam said.
“They shouldn’t be far off.” The Eagle replied, flying down the corridor ahead, Uncle Sam and Cai running close behind.
“You would think that the corridor would lead to the centre of this whole operation, right?” The Eagle asked.
“I certainly hope so.” Uncle Sam said. “Blow the door!”
The Eagle didn’t have to be told twice, bombarding the door with his explosive power, blowing it back off its hinges.
Even the seasoned veterans stopped dead in their tracks when they saw what was inside.
Huge glass tubes stood in lines all through the huge room. Within each was a human body, all in various stages of development, from all races, male and female. They floated in the middle, various tubes and wires protruding from their bodies.
“What the hell?” The Eagle asked.
“… Are they growing people inside these tubes?” Uncle Sam asked.
“They’re building soldiers.” Cai said.
“What?” The Eagle asked.
“The ultimate weapons. Super-powered soldiers. Clones, altered humans, whatever they’re doing here.” Cai said, a look of disgust on his face.
“Persons of Mass Destruction.” Uncle Sam muttered.
“Your grandfathers found me in a lab in Vietnam. Nothing on this scale, and the technology has advanced, but I was born the same way.” Cai said.
“What should we do?” The Eagle asked.
“Shut it down.” Uncle Sam ordered.
“And kill hundreds of innocents?” A voice asked from a catwalk above.
The team looked up and saw a small man, wearing a labcoat. “I wouldn’t think that would be your style Uncle Sam.”
“What right do you have to play god?” Uncle Sam asked, spitting the words.
“I believe you would call this the pot calling the kettle black in America.” The scientist laughed. “Two of you are the descendants of men who were altered in the 1940’s. The original Uncle Sam was created to be the perfect human, the first of hundreds. Project Spartan, I believe it was called, no? And the first American Eagle was also the product of that program, after the foolish Americans lost the secret the first time. And then there’s you Cai…”
“Shut your mouth.” Uncle Sam ordered, as he leapt into the air, kicking off one of the glass tubes and landing on the catwalk.
The Eagle was with him in moments, flying up to block the exit on the opposite side of the scientist.
Cai climbed through the bottom of the catwalk, taking his place right beside the scientist. “You will die for what you have done here.” Cai pulled out a knife.
“Murder in cold blood? My my, you certainly aren’t the heroes they say you are.” The scientist taunted.
“Cai, don’t even think about it. We need him as a prisoner.” Uncle Sam ordered.
“We need the intel. We’ll find their computer, and send that.” Cai said.
“I don’t have time for this.” Uncle Sam pointed his gun at Cai. “I’m sick of your insubordination, sometimes I wonder if you’re even a part of this team.”
“What do you think you can do with that? I’m intangible.” Cai sneered.
“I’m not doing anything.” Sam said, as The Eagle’s energy attack hit Cai, knocking him to the ground, unconscious. The scientist fell to the ground clutching his face and screaming, a puff of smoke rising from beneath his hands.
Uncle Sam grabbed the scientist and pulled him to his feet. The man’s face was a mess of blisters and scars, as he began swearing in Korean.
The lights began flashing, and a siren began sounding, as an announcement blared through the complex.
“My Korean’s a little rusty, but I’m pretty sure that this place is going to blow in like, two minutes.” The Eagle said.
“Patriot, we need a skylight.” Uncle Sam ordered.
“You got it.” Patriot buzzed back. Moments later, there was a series of explosions as the ceiling opened up above them, and The Patriot floated down to meet them.
“Told you you’d need me.” Patriot said, as he scooped up Uncle Sam and the scientist.
“Quiet.” Uncle Sam said, as Patriot rocketed into the air, The American Eagle following from behind as best he could carrying Cai.
They flew until they heard the explosions that sent the facility toppling to the ground. “That’s going to be hard to explain.” The Eagle commented drily.
<><><>
The two men appeared out of thin air, standing atop the still-smouldering ruins of the genetic facility.
“Sir, the SecDef’s men debriefed Uncle Sam and The American Eagle, this place had hundreds of supers growing. It’s worse than we feared.” One of them said.
“They must have had outside help. There is no way that the Koreans have advanced further than I have.” The other said.
“Sir, they have complete government sanction to do whatever they want. We need to be careful with what we do. It’s entirely possible they got ahead of us alone.”
“And with the DNA pool at our fingertips, we should already have an army of our own. I should be unstoppable.”
“Sir, they may have other facilities, it would be foolish of them to put all their eggs in one basket.”
“Their leader is an insane fool. This will be the only facility. I want a team to salvage what they can of this facility. Anything we can use. I want that scientist too. He will do nicely on my new research team.”
“You intend to go through with the relocation then sir?”
“Of course I do. We can push the limits further in Iraq, and experimental subjects will be so much easier to come across.” The man laughed.
“Of course sir.”
“Now take me back to Los Angeles, I have a meeting to attend.” The man’s face began to twist, his nose growing, and his eyebrows becoming bushy, his skin becoming olive and his hair turning black.
“Yes sir.”
“Oh, and Daytripper, I have another mission for you.”
“For Senator Carmichael, or for Giovanni Bianchi?”
“Carmichael. I want the Assembly to stage a breakout.”
“Who? We’ve got no-one in Alcatraz.”
“Not Alcatraz. Guantanamo Bay.”
“We don’t have anyone there either.”
“No we don’t. But there are a lot of powerful people there. Powerful people with a grudge against America.”
“Sir?”
“I need the United States to appear weak. I need that poor excuse for a President to look like an incompetent fool. You’re going to make that happen, understand?” Carmichael/Bianchi asked.
“I think we can arrange something.” Daytripper smiled, as the two disappeared back to the United States.
Thursday, 9:27 PM
Watts, South Central LA
I was beginning to grow uncomfortable. I had been lying on the roof for over an hour, watching that street corner. I knew the bastard would show eventually. I just didn’t know when.
It’s bad enough these scum were still in my streets, still in my city. But selling drugs near a high school? That’s unforgiveable.
Then I saw him. He parked his car across the street and stepped out. He walked to his corner, and leaned against the fence, acting nonchalant. As nonchalant as a white guy in a $500 leather jacket can look in South Central in the middle of the night.
Within minutes, there were two teenagers talking to him. They couldn’t have been any older than me. Disgusting. They handed him some money, he handed them a bag of what looked to be pills. A quick look through my binoculars confirmed it.
I’d seen enough, it was time to strike.
In moments I was on my feet. I leapt to the nearby tree, touching down on a branch, only to springboard back into the air. I could feel my tendons break as I jumped as far as I could, but I felt them healing instantaneously, whole before I even hit the ground in front of the dealer.
“Shadow!” The dealer and his clients both shouted, as they scrambled. I let the kids go. They weren’t my target.
I sprinted after the dealer, as he tried to get into his car. It was a nice car, which made the next part a little bit harder.
I let the fool reach his car. He even got it started, before I landed on the hood and put both fists through the windshield, grabbing him by the collar and pulling his head through the shattered remnants of the glass.
“Dude! What do you want!?! I’ll stop dealing! Anything!” He sobbed.
“You’re damn right you will. Your sorry ass won’t even live in my city by the end of the week. Understand?” I say softly, as the glass being forced from the healing wounds on my hands fell to the ground, tinkling as they did so.
“Yes Shadow sir.” He looked like he was about to burst into real tears.
“Now you’re going to tell me who your supplier is.” I said.
“No way man. You can’t do any worse to me than he will when he finds out I told you!” The fool, honestly thinks there’s something scarier in this city than me?
“You’d be surprised at what I’m capable of.” I said, tossing him back into the driver’s seat.
Stupid move. He slammed on the gas and the car took off, I tumbled over the roof, hit the trunk and landed on the road hard. Cuts, bruises, maybe even a broken bone or two. I groaned. It wasn’t a good night. I heard the screeching of tyres, as the dealer turned his car around and began speeding towards me. Just what I needed, another stupid dealer who wants to make a name for himself.
My injuries had healed by the time he reached me. My reflexes were quick enough for me to jump as he tried to mow me down. I dove through the windshield, grabbing him around the face and blinding him long enough to drive the car straight into a pole, sending the two of us flying through what was left of the windshield, before landing in someone’s front yard.
Luckily for both of us, I broke the idiot’s fall. I felt bones cracking back into place. Always an unpleasant feeling. Of course, my friend didn’t have that luxury, and the bones he had broken remained that way.
I reached over and grabbed him by the collar again.
“You were saying?” I asked.
“Holy shit dude, you’re crazy!” He managed to speak pretty loudly for a guy who just flew twenty feet.
“And if you don’t want to do it again without the soft landing, you’ll tell me what I want to know.” I said matter-of-factly.
“Fine. He goes by the name of Finlay…” The dealer began to squeal.
<><><>
Friday, 1:35 AM
Manhattan Beach
The security guard crumpled like a cheap suit. A bad metaphor, but it fit.
I ran straight up the fence and dropped to the other side, before running clear across the yard in about ten seconds. Not bad considering I’d spent much of the last two hours hanging onto the back of a truck.
I did a quick lap of the house, finding no obvious way in. All the doors and windows were shut, the curtains all closed. The occupants were asleep.
I was considering busting a window, when I heard the phone ring. The light in the room I was standing outside of turned on, and I could hear a man with a faint Boston accent swearing as he picked up the phone.
“Johnny? Slow down. What? The Shadow? You told him where I live? You fuckin’ moron! Your ass is lucky my wife and kids are at her mother’s tonight. I’ll have your ass for this. I don’t care if you’re almost dead already.” The voice hung up.
I smiled. At least I wouldn’t be scarring any innocents tonight. I took a few steps back, before running headlong into the massive window of Finlay’s bedroom. A quick tuck and roll, and I regained my footing, standing ready.
Finlay already had the gun in his hand pointed at me.
“Sorry Shadow. Guess you were just a little too late.” Finlay said, before opening fire. I took two shots to the chest, before collapsing to the ground.
The darkness had almost taken me. I was bleeding pretty heavily, and my vision was blurred, but I could still hear his taunts.
“This is the mighty Shadow? You’re what has my dealers so worked up about working the suburbs? You’re nothing but a stupid kid. What are they so afraid of?” Finlay asked.
I smiled, before springing to my feet. The look on his face was priceless.
“Exactly what you’re afraid of now.” I said. I felt a lump in my throat, as the taste of metal entered my mouth.
“How… Why…?” Finlay spluttered.
I spat out the bullets. “You thought you were above the stories? You didn’t listen to your dealers, and your thugs, did you?”
“You’re a fuckin’ cape, aren’t you?”
“No. I’m worse. I’m the Shadow.”
The muzzle of his gun flashed four more times, as he emptied the magazine into my torso.
I stayed down a little longer this time, as the bullets forced themselves straight out of their entry wounds. I allowed myself to heal a little more, before drawing my own guns, unloading two shots from each into the man’s legs, dropping him down to the ground with me.
I took my time standing up. The wounds weren’t done healing yet. I walked over to Finlay, kicking the gun away from his reach, before standing over him.
“Where do you get the pills?” I asked, pointing the gun at his head.
“Fuck you!” He spat in my face.
“Wrong answer.” I shot him in the thigh.
“It doesn’t matter. You’ll never get to him. His security makes Alcatraz look like my mansion.” Finlay laughed.
“I got in here. I’ll get in there.” I said simply. “Now tell me where to find him.”
“Or what? You’ll shoot me again? Aren’t you above our tricks? You won’t kill me.”
“No, but do you know why it took your dealer so long to call you? I left him four hours ago. It took him that long to crawl back to his car and find his phone. He is a broken man. He crawled twenty feet in four hours. You will not have that luxury.”
I saw the true fear dawn in Finlay’s eyes, as he realized I was serious.
“Outside of Glendora… The place is guarded by dozens of guys, they’re on some kind of crazy new steroid. Makes them strong, like you capes. You’ve got no chance.”
“Give me the address.” I said.
He complied and I knocked him out cold with the butt of my pistol. I opened up his closet and found a pair of pants and a t-shirt. I changed into them, and stuffed my costume into a gym bag I found at the bottom of the closet. A quick search of the nightstand and I found his wallet and cellphone.
I was out of the complex and two blocks over within minutes, calling a cab to come pick me up. It was going to be a long night, and I was going to need some backup.
<><><>