liamc2

[size=1]?Natasha, I?I?m sorry.? Liam said flatly. ?I should never have brought you into this.? Natasha?s eyes sparked as she glared at the open door that Rae had stormed out of so suddenly. ?Liam,? she said softly, almost pleadingly as she tugged lightly at his shirt and looked up at him. ?She can do what she wants with my business course. Honestly, I don?t care. My extra-curricular courses are more important to me. Just don?t go.? She sighed. ?You only just got here, but you?re leaving already.? Liam?s expression didn?t change. Natasha looked away and stepped back. ?Just?just go. It?s important to you.? The roommate wasn?t so happy to be left out of the conversation. ?We folded out the stupid couch and for nothing!? She muttered in a heavy German accent, with her arms folded across her chest. [center]~~~[/center] 'You're so bloody special, aren't you?' Rae's voice was a harsh whisper, but it threatened to trill into a scream. 'Honestly, everyone else just stands up and praises, they protect you, Liam who can do no wrong!' Rae looked away, flicking her hair wildly. 'Damn it! You've been coddled so much you don't even consider that others have been hurt too!' Liam said nothing and just glared back at her. He could tell when she hadn?t finished a rant. Wisely, or perhaps unwisely, he had followed her out of the flat to finish the conversation. He scratched the back of his head and folded his arms, looking down at the angry agent. 'I lost my parents too, I lost a sibling too, I lost my childhood too! So has everyone else in the SYF! Just grow up and take some counselling! Get a freaking life already instead of putting a lovey-dovey band-aid on this one.' Rae accentuated her point by waving a hand at Natasha's door. 'Rae, I was there when you lost your brother, I was there Rae, I was there.' Liam's voice was quiet, paced. He was trying desperately to hold his anger, but he couldn't hold it all. He muttered, just at an audible level, 'where were you for me?' Rae blinked, shocked by his statement, his sheer arrogance in her eyes. 'You shut me out! You blocked me at every turn! Don't blame me, blame yourself!' 'Rae, not every turn. Just once. Just once, I blocked you once and all you did was call me a whiny little bitch.' Liam forced a little smile. 'And you gave up. You should know by now that people need their own time. You should know me Rae, but you never asked, you never even cared.' Rae laughed, high and loud. 'There we go! There it is! It's all about you, you bastard! Suddenly it's my fault that you're too arrogant to let me help, Mr 'I was the first in SYF.' We've all got scars!' Liam raised his hand, the hand. 'Some are deeper than others, Rae.' 'You bastard!' Rae screamed. 'How dare you bring that back!' Liam caught her fist with his other hand, and snatched her chop with his original. 'If I was one of Pizaro's guards,' he yelled, 'you'd be dead!' Rae laughed bitterly, ?oh I see. So now you care.? She shrugged him off and reset her windswept appearance. Rae?s voice rose again to a fever pitch as she screamed, ?you never care, Liam, ever! You don?t know anything. You might have been there in my life, but did you ever care enough to go any deeper?? Liam was surprised at her attack, and Rae took bitter comfort from his expression. ?I thought so.? She said with a heart-breaking triumph. Her voice quavered as she spoke now, soft and low. ?Did you even know about my parents? Did you know they were agents? Did you even think about me and my situation long enough to wonder why my brother was my guardian?? Liam took the higher ground, not daring to speak his defence lest the first statement from his lips became, ?well duh.? Rae shoved Liam, ignoring the fact that he didn?t lose his ground. ?Of course not!? She screeched, throwing her hands up in the air. ?You?re too busy being ?The Mighty Liam? to care about [I]me[/I]!? Liam was stunned, he had been challenged to a duel of wits and had found himself mercilessly disarmed and feeling as though he had none to begin with. ?I do care, okay?? He barked back, his voice hoarse. Rae smirked. ?Sure you do,? she spat nastily, ?you care right up there at face value.? She raised her hand up to be level with his face, whacking her palm against his face to truly get her point across. ?So now it?s about you?? Liam said, looking away slightly, hiding his hurt. ?I?ll keep that in mind,? he muttered. ?So you should you, you selfish prick!? Rae sneered, jabbing Liam?s chest. ?It?s about bloody time you got off your perch and realised we all have scars!? She raised her arms, shoving her wrists in his face, showing the rows of white scars that stood out starkly. ?We all have our own scars to bare, Liam.? She said mockingly.? Liam didn?t dare to mention that she had hammered that point before; instead his mind procured an old ace. He slowly began to roll up his sleeve, deliberately taking his time, savouring the look of horror on Rae?s face. ?Yes Rae.? He said. ?Scars. We both have them, and oddly enough we can call them [I]family[/I] scars.? He finished rolling the sleeve, showing to her the jagged white scar there. ?Now isn?t that nice?? He said, smiling. ?I can say I know your family, I know you family quite well, quite well [I]indeed[/I].? Rae growled her contempt, looking fierce. She moved quickly, too quickly for an angry Liam to notice. In a split second she had her gun drawn and levelled at his stomach, held sideways in a typical 'gangster' style. If she pulled the trigger she could catch the casing easily and leave. Liam didn't look down. 'Rae.' He said. 'I wouldn't do it to you, but somehow I knew you'd do it to me.' Rae didn't move. Liam deftly took the gun to the side and bodily charged her to the elevator. He easily lifted her up and held her high while she struggled pathetically. The doors opened and he threw her inside, along with her gun. Rae?s backside hit the floor so hard that she bounced painfully before her back hit the wall. She gasped as the air shuddered out from her lungs. Liam towered over her in the elevator door, deliberately not showing the courtesy of kneeling at her level. Rae quickly regained her fury and glared contemptuously at him, hiding her surprise at how easily he had moved her. 'I'm coming Rae, I'm bloody well coming so be happy.' Liam shouted, holding the doors open and leaning down into her face. 'This vendetta of yours has opened my eyes, Rae. I lost my social life when I turned twelve, it's sobering to know I'll never have one when I'm twenty.' The doors closed and Liam waited until the elevator was four floors down before he screamed his frustration and punched a hole into the plasterboard wall, and proceeded to kick out the rest. Down in the elevator, Rae screamed and slid down to the floor, yelling obscenities at the ceiling as she descended. Liam finished and walked slowly back to Natasha's apartment. The door was slightly ajar from when he and Rae prematurely stormed out. Natasha was inside with her roommate, both of whom looked as though they hadn't heard a thing. 'I'm leaving. I've got to go back. Rae said my uncle needs me back, he wants me to move in and finish my course...I'm sorry.' He sighed and picked up his stuff. 'I'll see you, okay?' Natasha smiled weakly and gave him a hug. 'Back into the lioness's den?' She asked. Liam gave a small smile. 'Probably. I'll give you a call.' He turned and left the room, closing the door quietly behind him. Natasha looked at her roommate, who raised her eyebrows. They both sat on the foldout bed and she let her roommate give her a hug and smiled slightly. The roommate muttered various assurances before remarking in German, 'where the hell did all the while powder on him come from?' [/size]

[size="1"]To put it mildly, Liam was pleasantly surprised at the recent turn of events and would have been quite happy to spend the rest of the day in quiet contemplation. That was putting it mildly. The real Liam was currently charged and thriving on a natural high that had been catalysed by being accepted by a normal human being. He was still happy to spend the rest of the day in solitary contemplation, but to only avoid Rae. She always knew when Liam was happy and managed to weasel it out of him when she could. In her current mood she'd only be too happy to quash his bliss. He walked through the facade of the youth hostel, brushing through the cue of real backpackers by waving his 'Freedom!' hostel room card and making his way to the door at the back. He slid the card through the electronic lock and opened the door, stepping into the secret headquarters of the SYF. None of the backpackers in the room batted an eyelid. It was obvious to them that there were several doors, all leading to different dormitories. What they didn't know was that one was constantly full, suspiciously full. But, after all, Singapore was a bustling metropolis and backpackers were filing through so often that the rest of the dormitories were full. All of this aside, Liam had entered the SYF section and had managed to weave his way to his dorm room. He leapt gracefully onto his bed, but was surprised to find Zharra already comfortably lying on it. There was a bizarre aerial ballet as Liam attempted to stop his mid-air flight. He managed to kick the ground with his foot and succeeded in head-butting the end of the mattress. It hurt, but it hurt a lot less than what Zharra would have done to him otherwise. 'I'm staying here,' Zharra said simply, not even looking up from her magazine. 'After what you did to Bradley, I have to keep a closer eye on my patient, and it's only logical that I take your place.' Liam didn't question her. The last thing he wanted on his mind was a mental image of 'closer...' Liam mentally cursed and picked up his meagre belongings, packing them quickly into his overnight bag. He snatched up his laptop and sidearm case and quickly left the room. It was only when the door had slammed behind him that Liam had the presence of mind to yell, 'where the hell am I supposed to stay?' Zharra didn't reply, but Liam was sure she'd be muttering, 'lalalala...not listening.....' He scouted out the rest of the rooms to find that they had all been locked, which had most probably been Zharra's doing. He didn't have the technology or the inclination to bother picking the locks, so he simply dumped his stuff back in the breakroom. 'Okay. Locked out here, no-one is on duty that has the security clearance to open a can of beans, let alone a door. I can't shoot the door down, unless I don't want to be able to close it...' Liam massaged his eyes. 'Rae is going to have a field day with this. Probably my come-uppance or something.' To add yet another surprise to his list, Liam's phone began to ring. He was about to yell at someone to 'shut their stupid phone off,' when he realised his pocket was vibrating. He pulled out the phone and saw 'Natasha' displayed on his screen. Suddenly his opportunities became all the more clear.[/size]

[size="1"]Liam sighed and sat up again. It had occurred to him that his behaviour, while appropriate for his condition, it was not normal for a busy Noodle Hut. He looked up and sat back in his chair, slightly surprised to find Natasha still holding him, with her hands placed delicately on his stomach. Not quite sure what to do, he took another drink and half-heartedly attacked his noodles again. ?You?ve been through a lot.? She said, placing her hands on his back. ?You know, the surprising thing is, you?re so much more normal than I expected. I mean, you look at those people in the photos, and you can never believe that the ?just did what they thought was right.? For some reason, I can believe that coming from you.? Liam said nothing. The agent inside was comforted with the thought that she believed him to be normal; but he was still perturbed by her forwardness. ?Liam, are you okay?? Natasha sounded worried. ?You just haven?t said anything, that?s all?? Liam blinked and sat up slightly again. ?Sorry, I just got lost in thought. How about I shut up for a change and let you do the talking?? Natasha laughed. ?I never know what to say when it comes to myself. I?m doing business at the international university here, and that?s about it. I live just up the street in that new apartment building, along with a room mate, who always seems to be going out at all hours with different guys every other week.? Natasha smiled. ?Honestly, I don?t think she?ll ever find the right guy.? Liam chuckled. ?I honestly couldn?t be bothered with that nonsense right now. Y?see there was this one girl that I was really interested in, we were close friends, which is always a good start, but I think we were too close. Now we?re fighting and I actually came down here to clear my head.? ?Oh? What were you fighting about?? ?She thinks I?m too selfish. She?s angry with me because of my family and what they?ve given me. I came here just under three years ago to study business information technology, a three-year course that would have me earning six figures, but I haven?t made any progress at all. I just don?t apply myself. She does the same course and has now got herself a guaranteed placement, which I?m really proud of her for?but she just used it to slap me in the face.? Liam sighed. ?Honestly, just because I?m not as certain with my life as she is?? ?What have you been doing if you?re not applying yourself?? Liam grinned mirthlessly. ?Nothing. Just frittering away my life, not to mention my uncle?s time and money. He keeps asking me to do this and that, and I barely scrape through. I graduate in less than two weeks, and I?ll barely get the degree to do anything.? Liam cleared his throat, coughing slightly before continuing, ?-and she?s got a whole future ahead of her. I?ll be lucky if anything I?ve done in my life is recognised, let alone what I?ve done in my course.? Natasha nodded mutely, it was something she?d heard a lot from other students before they graduated. Early-life crises, the works. ?No wonder you feel rejected. Was she in the van too?? ?Yeah. She took it harder than I did. I tend to keep things inside, wake up the next morning and everything is all right, y?know?? Natasha frowned. ?That?s not good, you shouldn?t do that. You need to talk about things.? Liam chuckled again. ?Hell, I used to, but she?s too busy now. Honestly, I reckon she?s the only friend I?ve got. I lost my mother, my father and my sister, all I have left is a rather stuffy uncle. She used to be close, but she?s beyond my reach now. I feel as though I?ve got nothing left to live for when I graduate..? Natasha was shocked, and her short sharp breath indicated it to Liam. ?You lost your parents and your sister? And you where there when those buildings collapsed? And you don?t know what to do? What the hell is so important for her that she can?t accommodate for you?? Liam laughed bitterly. ?She wouldn?t compensate for me even if I became a paraplegic.? ?That?s awful.? 'I'm just sick of being hard and sarcastic right back at her. I can't keep it up any more, it just hurts too much. I can't keep on brushing my feelings aside. But she just doesn't give a damn right now, and I guess I just don't care.' Natasha, finding nothing else appropriate to say, began to slowly rub up and down his back. She took her hands away when she felt the mess of scar tissue. ?Mein Lord! Was die Hölle!? Natasha touched his back again, slowly feeling the unnatural crenulations and hard tissue. ?What happened here?? She exclaimed. Liam didn?t look up. ?Just lift the shirt.? Natasha did so and swore loudly in German, causing a few inquisitive heads to turn. ?But?but?how did this happen?? ?Most of it was when I was about fourteen, it was a car accident. I lost both my parents. The rest of it was when I lost my sister. You could say that my family isn?t lucky when it comes to vehicular transport.? ?You poor thing!? Natasha muttered, lowering his shirt. ?What kind of cold hearted bitch would treat you like this?? Liam laughed. ?I?m sure she wouldn?t appreciate you saying that. I?m sure it?s all my fault. It always is. I mean this time it?s obvious it is.? Liam shook his head. ?Hell, it?s always obvious it?s my fault.? Natasha sat down, gazing in awe at Liam, who still had not looked up from his noodles. Liam just seemed to be in another world, so Natasha did nothing but put a gentle hand on his arm and attempt to finish her meal while waiting for him to come around again. Liam snapped out of it a couple minutes later and checked his watch. ?I?d better be going.? He said. ?Thanks for, well, everything. I know I?m not much of a conversationalist, but you get that with me. Socially inept and all that.? Natasha smiled up at him. ?It was a pleasure. I don?t suppose you?d like to do this again sometime??? Liam was confused. ?Sure, I guess. It seems I end up doing all the talking though?? ?No, it?s okay. You need to vent, and I enjoy listening to your voice.? ?Oh okay then.? Liam smiled weakly, not quite sure what to do next. Natasha grinned. ?You don?t get asked out much, do you?? ?No, not really.? ?Okay then, where?s your phone? I?ll give you my number.? Liam handed it to her after selecting ?add new entry.? ?-excellent. There you go. I?ll just call my phone and save your number to save you typing it out for me?? Natasha did so and pulled her own phone out to make the changes. ?There we go! You can have this back and I?ll see you around.? She smiled again. ?Don?t forget to give me a call sometime, okay?? Liam put his phone away, ?of course, I?d love to.? Natasha smiled and stood up, grabbing her purse and remainder of her meal. She smiled and him and gave him a peck on the cheek before saying goodbye and walking out of the restaurant. ?Well?? Liam said to himself. ?That was?interesting.? Dark realisation kicked in. ?Rae is going to have a cow if she ever finds out about this, I just know it. Damnit. It?s fine for her to have gratuitous sex, but it?s not okay for me to have a girl as an acquaintance...? He sighed and picked up his drink, exiting through the other door of the restaurant. ?Yessiree, she is going to kill me?? [/size]

[size="1"]Liam waved his hand at something on the menu that seemed to be edible. At least it didn’t have baby squid in it. He was sitting comfortably on a futuristic bar stool at the stainless steel counter. The room was practically packed, which was surprising for Liam, he never thought noodles could be that popular. His order came in a small cardboard box, bright red and with a smiling toothless old man on the front in traditional costume. This lurid display did nothing for the contents, but it was a nice touch and a welcome change to the golden arches. He snapped the chopsticks and expertly fed them into his mouth. For the year or so he had lived in Singapore, he had mastered the microwave and the egg noodles. ‘Ich kannte es! Sie sind das von der Fotographie!’ An excited girl grinned at him as Liam turned slowly around on his stool. I knew it! You are the one from the photograph! ‘Nein sprechen die deutsche, uh…uhm..du sprechen English?’ Liam lied expertly. The girl looked confused and sat in the empty stool next to him, saying, ‘what? But the photo blurb said you were a student from Austria…’ Liam was honestly puzzled. ‘Photograph…?’ The girl grinned, bouncing up and down in her chair, somehow glad in his ignorance. She reached over the counter and rifled through the newspapers and magazines that the Noodle Hut had provided for their customers. Liam couldn’t help but notice that the vast majority depicted photos of him and his team. ‘Here we go!’ She said excitedly. ‘It’s an old issue, but it’s the only one in English. See here?’ She pointed at the blurb underneath the photograph. ‘It says you’re students from Austria. But it’s obvious to me now that it’s a typo. Australia, right? I thought ’ Liam was puzzled, if anything his accent hinted Spanish, but he ignored it. She may have just been very clever and drawn the conclusion herself, very quickly. ‘Yeah…’ He said slowly. ‘We just drove past and everything went nuts..’ ‘I know!’ She bubbled again. ‘I read it in the paper. I’m a student myself, I’m half German and half English. My parents sent me here to complete my business degree.’ She smiled again and put out her hand. ‘I’m Natasha, by the way.’ Liam smiled back, ‘pleasure to meet you Natasha.’ Inside his head, the SYF agent calculated while scrutinising her appearance. She wore a tight fitting V-neck shirt, complete with bikini top, typical of the other European students that wandered the streets of Singapore. To complete the look she had a sarong tied around her waist and a pair of leather sandals. The agent inside was suspicious, but then again, he always was. ‘So tell me,’ Natasha continued, shifting herself forward on her seat, ‘what was running through your head when you got out of that van?’ Liam took a drink of water and looked her up and down, ‘do you really want to know?’ Natasha grinned and folded her hands in her lap. ‘Of course!’ Liam sighed. ‘I was honestly terrified. I could smell the smoke and thought the van was going to explode, I thought we had run someone over, I thought the van had exploded. I didn’t know what was going on.’ Natasha just watched him, nodding silently, indicating for him to go on. ‘I looked around and saw…well…saw the carnage. I thought of the people that had been in there…I could see some of the people that had been in there…’ Honest pain and frustration broke his voice and caused him to put his head in his hands. He remained silent with his eyes closed, ignoring the feelings that seemed to just spill out from between the gaps. Natasha leant forward and placed a hand on his back, looking worried. ‘Liam? Liam, are you going to be okay?’ Liam didn’t reply, he just sat still, quietly quashing his fear. Natasha stood and embraced him from behind, whispering hush into his ears while he leant on the counter. ‘It’s going to be okay. It’s over now…’ She hugged him tighter and smiled to herself, resting her head on him. Liam was another world away by then, but gratitude flooded through him, so comforted was he by this show of love and support. He breathed deeply, exhaling through his nose, slowly regaining his control. [/size]

[size=1]Liam left the office with a keen impression that there was some serious double speak happening, but was unable to interpret it. He didn?t want to entrench himself back into all of the intrigue and plotting that the SYF thrived on. It was like high school popularity, except that people lost lives, instead of friends. Liam felt a pang of embarrassment as the cliché ate away as his internal monologue?s integrity. To amuse himself, he flicked out the telescopic baton that the Commander had supplied him. There was a cost, however. He had to hand over all of his fire-arms, bar one Eagle. If he had refused, they would have stripped him of all his weapons anyway, and left him with nothing. The baton was Sipo?s latest in the Steel Whip range, and was a marvel of compact technology. It was an easily concealable twelve centimetres, and with a flick of a wrist, extended to 40cm. Plenty of blunt metal to break some bones. Liam collapsed the whip and put it back in his sleeve. Despite himself, he was really enjoying the new gadget. Inside his head, the little voice was gleefully crying, ?whip goes in, whip goes out.? Had Liam been paying attention, he would have noticed two men walking past him very quickly, one carrying a Samsonite case of the same dimensions that his MS1 originally came in. He might have also noticed the ?Metal Storm? insignias on both the men?s VIP passes. Liam wasn?t one for detail when he had a new toy. Owing to the rabbit warren of corridors, Liam had succeeded in losing himself for a full fifteen minutes before the sounds of an active spar attracted his attention. He wandered into the room to find Zharra and Bradley locked together in intimate conflict, causing Liam to cough politely. Bradley released Zharra from a headlock, and she stopped elbowing him in the stomach. They both turned to face him, and smiled widely. Bradley gave a slight nod, and leapt towards Liam like a nimble gorilla. Liam sidestepped and the Sipo appeared in his hand. Bradley was moving to quickly to react, and Liam brought the whip around, cracking him right in his side. Bradley swore loudly as one of his ribs broke and he tumbled to the ground. Liam grinned. ?Nice huh?? Bradley muttered a string of profanities and rolled around on the floor, clutching his side. It felt as though someone had hit him with an iron bar, and had then shot the bruise with a rubber bullet up close. Zharra tackled Liam and sat on his back, pressing his face to the floor. ?Say goodnight?? she said angrily, lifting his head by his hair. Just as she was about to smash his face and break his nose, Rae came bounding into the room, shouting excitedly. ?Guys! You won?t believe this! I was just commissioned a- what are you doing?? Zharra grinned at her. ?Breaking his nose. He did break Bradley?s ribs, after all.? She nodded at the still moaning Bradley. ?I wouldn?t.? Rae stated simply. Zharra noticed the tone and stood up, pausing to kick Liam in the side, before helping Bradley up. Liam gasped and stood up shakily. ?What?? He muttered. ?I was just giving him a?detailed explanation of my new toy..' Liam then realised what Rae had in her hot little hands. 'What the hell are you doing with my MS1?? Rae feigned innocence and looked at the weapon she held. There were hints of barely contained delight as she took in the steel insignia and the matt steel barrel finish. Her thumb [I]just[/I] reached the thumbprint scanner. ?Yours?? She said with mock surprise. ?I?m sorry, but I do believe it?s mine now. And I?ll prove it.? Rae activated the scanner and squeezed hard on the trigger, five holes appeared in the wall before the first shot was heard. Rae went on to empty both clips into the wall within five seconds. The gun whined as it cooled down, and Rae whistled as the eyed the massive hole in the concrete wall. ?Damn!? She said in surprise. ?No wonder you?re so high when you use this, the rush is huge!? Liam could have been knocked over with a feather. He was lost for words. The MS1 was no longer his, it had become communal, a [I]girl[/I] had used it. Rae must have deliberately done this to get back at him. Of all the things to do? Suddenly the Sipo lost its lustre. Rae grinned and said, ?what? Oh by the way, Matt said the wedding is planned for next month, isn?t that exciting?? Liam flicked out the whip and whirled on the spot, jumping slightly as he put his full weight behind the force of the blow, and brought it down on the metal press bench. It collapsed, screeching magnificently. Rae raised an eyebrow at Liam, ?what?s the matter with you?? ?You are such a cow Rae.? [/size]

[Size=1]Liam wandered aimlessly through the complex, amusing himself with the empty thoughts of shattered recollection. No one had seemed to have given him any orders as yet. He had changed clothes, but that was about it. He had been home almost a week before he had realised that he was still in uniform. It was the first time that he had been left looking stupid because he was so used to accepting such simple orders. He was practically programmed to accept everything, and now he was being given nothing, he had to function by himself. It was all very good and well during a mission, when he had a cause, but when he was unstable, he would most probably starve to death unless he noticed others eating. His own hunger was non-existent, it had gone unheeded so many times, that it simply did not return. He was just an automaton with optional extras. The leaders were avoiding him, Bradley was in an older woman?s pants, Bailey was near death, the Russians were off doing Russian things presumably, and Rae was basically ticking him off. Also he had wandered in a complete circle. He could hear someone coming down the tunnel at a speed, and Rae burst past him without even stopping. Liam stopped, watched her continue to run, sized up the shot, and tossed a can at the back of her head. It would have worked nicely if the corridors were just a bit longer. She was going somewhere in a hurry, but he honestly didn?t care. He was in such a state that he had removed his side arms and put them away, to avoid doing something stupid. The significance of the situation would have phenomenal, if he just gave a damn. ?Liam!? He turned at the shout, surprised that Eve was directly speaking to him, with a raised voice. He still didn?t believe that the girl was hard enough to raise her voice above a whisper, and this new evidence wouldn?t convince him otherwise. Something about her body language just screamed ?fragile,? and her lack of social interaction around him was niggling at his pride. ?Yes?? He replied, deferring from his usual casual cry of ?What!? Eve looked directly in his eyes, a steeled expression with her jaw slightly clenched. She obviously wasn?t speaking with him on her own behalf. From the looks of things, she didn?t want to be in a mile radius of him. ?You are required to be debriefed. The Commander has mentioned that there are extenuating circumstances that require your attention.? She calmly delivered her statement, magnificently forcing her voice to not betray any signs of faltering. ?It?s about bloody time.? Liam replied. ?Thankyou.? He added, as an after thought. As he passed, he casually placed a friendly hand on her shoulder, and continued walking. At his touch, he could feel her skin move, as though desperately trying to avoid his poison touch. He continued walking until out of her sight, and then rubbed his hand, thumbing the shallow cut where a knife blade had been quickly drawn and retracted at the same time. If Eve hadn?t controlled herself, he would be missing the bottom half of his hand. The blood oozed slowly out of the shallow cut, and Liam dabbed gingerly at it while the Commander eyed him beadily. He said nothing and merely leant forward on his seat, placing his hands carefully on the table. ?Liam.? He said strongly, ?I have ordered you here for your account of Bailey?s condition.? Liam finished playing with his wound and carefully and deliberately enunciated each word that came out of his mouth. He had been in situations enough like this to know when there was a microphone listening. He finished his tale and sucked the back of his hand. Why was it that the smallest cuts always hurt the most? ?Intriguing,? muttered the Commander. ?Almost as intriguing as the apparent disappearance of Katarina and Malania. The appeared to have simply vanished, and Russia has simply denied any knowledge of this and has refused to give any explanation for their actions. We can only assume that they have deserted and are happily residing elsewhere.? Liam stopped sucking. ?As happy as you can be with elite Skorpian soldiers tracking every move?? The Commander cleared his throat. ?Enough of that.? He stated simply. Liam clued enough to realise that it was quite possible that the so-called ?Russians? were quite happily listening to their conversation in the other room. ?We have a simple side assignment for you.? The Commander continued. ?We are requesting that you keep a closer eye on Agent Rae. In light of her recent?insubordination? it is of upmost importance that you monitor her behaviour.? ?Ah-huh.? The Commander raised an eyebrow, but did not let on any indication that the order was a façade to allow Rae easier access to him. Liam finished sucking his hand. ?Well sorry for the insubordination, but Rae is being a hormonal bitch right now, and I?d rather be as far away as possible. She only broke away because she did not appreciate my position in command.? The Commander?s expression did not alter. ?What is it you request then?? He asked. ?Simply that Rae and I be separated.? ?Denied.? ?Damn you?re a mean old bastard.? The Commander showed a grim smile. ?How else did you expect me to get this job?? [/Size]

[SIZE=1] There was a change in the atmosphere of the room as Liam slowly and carefully rose in his seat. It seemed as though Rae had finally grown up in a way that he hadn?t anticipated. She was one of the most mature individuals and friends he had come across, but she had never been seen in his eyes as one of those types. Obviously the blood of her enemies couldn?t feed her internal coping mechanisms any more. More than anything Liam felt as though he was losing another friend. Rae may feel as though nothing had changed in their relationship, but it had. A creature of habit, Liam relied heavily on the steady routine of his inner circle. It was the one way that he remained sane. Twice before it had been knocked. When he lost his parents and the SYF adopted him, and when he had to murder his sister. Rae had taken Jess?s place in his sanity gyroscope, and now she was no longer there. It wasn?t a pleasant feeling to know that this time he had lost a battle that he could not possibly retrieve. No book mentioned how to ethically retrieve a reluctant hostage without causing them emotional harm It was how he thought. His life had become entwined with a rigid set of rules that had become his own personal code of conduct; it was how he reacted to moments in his life. The SYF had given him everything, his personality, his ethics and his ability to live. And Lord how he hated it. He could continue reflecting on his own sorry mess, or he could talk to Rae, but she was due for a debriefing soon, and Matt had stalked into the room looking for her. He glared at Liam, causing a derisive snort in response, before he huffed out of the room. He could always talk to Bailey; she seemed to have kept to herself since the got back. In fact, he hadn?t seen her at all. It was probably time for a visit or something. Liam wandered into the dormitory, easily slipping back into his comfortable swagger, as he got closer to her door. He stopped and knocked heavily on the door, only to find it swinging open at the first thump of his heavy hand. ?Bailey?? He called, stepping carefully into the room with his eyes closed, he could hear running water. ?Bailey?? He called out again, this time louder. ?Hello? I?m wandering through your room. Bailey!? The water was louder, and Liam could feel the heat washing over his face. He shouted this time, worry cracking his voice. The bathroom door was ajar as he pushed it open. She lay on the floor, still fully dressed, with her clothes soaked and clinging to her body. Liam muttered something unintelligible under his breath as he knelt and checked her pulse. It was shallow, as was her breathing. From the amount of water in her bathroom and room, she?d been here for a while. Bailey had her eyes firmly closed as he rolled her over onto her back, lifting her up gently to face him. Her head lolled back sickeningly. ?Come on..? He muttered, checking her pulse again. ?Don?t tell me you?ve done something stupid?? Bailey was alive, if anything it seemed she was sleeping. Liam checked for any external injuries and found none, apart from the bruises on her knees and arms as she hit the floor. It seemed as though her head must have just switched itself off. The base doctor gave her a full physical and noted nothing out of the ordinary externally, except for the small bite at the base of her neck. A blood test revealed that there was a high neuro-toxin level in her blood, but her body was coping in dealing with it. It seemed the bite was several weeks old, and owing to the sedative effect of the saliva of the offending insect, Bailey wouldn?t have noticed a thing. He looked at Liam and shrugged, ?she should wake up when she?s ready. We?ll put her up in the hospital room on base, we?ve got enough anti-venoms there that there should be something that can help speed up the process.? ?When will she wake up?? ?When she?s ready.? ?God damn it.?[/SIZE]

[SIZE=1]There was a key moment of the piece where the strings generated a sort of celestial high, an ethereal climax that astounded the senses and generated a sort of platonic sensual pleasure that appealed to the greater man inside. After this moment, the record finished. A hand gently moved the needle aside, lifting the record from the player. The room remained unnervingly quiet while the record was slid gently into its pocket. Slowly in the other side of the room, wreathed in blue smoke from a cigarette, a gentle applause began. ?Beautiful, just beautiful.? The voice muttered. ?The only existing copy in the world and beautiful opus?? The man who had removed the record bowed formally and exited the room quietly. The smoke cloud increased as the man exhaled. There was a click as someone turned the air conditioning and the light on. The vent in the ceiling rumbled, sucking the smoke away. Michael Prikrie stepped away from the switch panel and closer to the man sitting so comfortably in his cream leather chair. ?The explosion failed, as did my other attempt. The SYF are still able to actively pursue us.? Michael said. ?Why was I not informed of this earlier?? ?My informant on the inside was only recently persuaded to divulge the information.? ?I see. What was your other attempt?? ?The SYF survived and were sent on a mission to Colombia, to recover Karen. I organised a kidnapping of a certain General?s wife, and he was only too happy to use the entire US forces present in Colombia to organise an ?accident? under the premise of destroying a dangerous drug-lord.? More smoke was sucked into the vent. ?Why did it fail?? ?Because they were stupid and easily susceptible to death.? ?Has the General been eliminated?? Michael Prikrie shifted his stance, trying not to wrinkle his nose at the smoke. He was perfectly comfortable in the room, but the smoke irked him. He cleared his throat before replying. ?There was an accident in the tunnels, a rather unfortunate one. Out of a combined force of fifty men, SEALs included, only ten managed to survive. We know for certain that one swapped sides to join the SYF, owing to his old ties with the organisation.? There was a sigh from the chair and the man occupying it placed his cigarette into the ashtray. He stood slowly, raising himself to his full height of about five foot two. The diminutive oriental man shuffled over to a low table, pouring himself an iced drink and one for Michael. ?This is a shame.? He muttered in his clear cut standard English Oxford accent. ?What of the other organisations?? ?Key members that knew of us, or had a chance of finding out about us, have been killed and their family murdered.? Michael sipped his drink, calmly retelling his tale. ?All of their deaths were tactful and inconspicuous, none are the same and men have already been marked for committing the murders. Some complied for amounts of money, others were innocent.? ?Amounts of money? Michael, I am hoping that you haven?t been careless?? Michael smiled, his devious intelligence showing through his eyes. ?Certain killers for hire were promised cash to be wired to their account if they took the blame for the deaths. They complied and the houses of the marked men were robbed. The owners were killed in the struggle.? Michael chuckled. ?We wired half the amount first, and promised the other half in ten years.? The oriental finished the last of his drink. ?What is so amusing?? ?Unfortunately one or two accidents happened in the prisons. Half of the men are already dead, the other half have been marked to be put on death row. The last half are under the impression that it was part of the plan, and that it is a strong sedative in the needle, that we?ll help them escape.? The other man smiled. ?And what of the money?? ?All of the men had wills, but not to their knowledge. Upon their death, all of their money and assets are to be given to certain obscure relatives.? Michael set his glass down, pleased with himself. ?If anything, we have profited from this venture.? ?Excellent,? said the other, applauding quietly. ?This is why I hired you away. I want every one of the missions for the SYF, and other organisations interested in us, to be as messy as possible. Get as many Special Forces of other nations involved as you can, and make sure they all act independently. Then send in our assassins to make it as difficult as possible. Friendly fire will be our ally, and there will be such a large international incident that no-one will care about our actions.? ?Brilliant.? Michael said, smiling. ?I?ll start that right away sir.? ?Please don?t Michael, its just Shakespeare.? ?Yes Shakespeare.? ?Please place another of those records on, will you?? ?As you wish.? [/SIZE]

It's good to be back. ~~ [SIZE=1]Two weeks, that?s all he had. Fourteen little days until he was out of the sodded SYF and well and truly out of the jurisdiction of a gormless handler. As he was growing older, Liam found the hypocritical nature of the SYF protocol glaringly painful. As soon as Rae and the others returned, documents pertaining to her ?resignation? were shredded. Liam had already been assigned to be the team sniper. Bloody stupid. It was unethical to have him kill his own rogue sister, but to put him on the spot again to have his closest-only friend murdered at his hand?it was disgusting. Everything was so much easier behind a scope. You were told whom you weren?t supposed to shoot, and the rest fell under the category of ?flesh pot.? Sniper, the origins of the term still amused him; an eighteenth century British word. It applied to the disciplined mindset needed to take on the difficult task of shooting a bird called a ?Snipe.? Bloody Rae! It seemed he had to always pick up after her, and she didn?t give a damn. When ever he had to mother her, the rest of the team always seemed to follow her lead. He felt like a chicken with a particularly homicidal brood. Not for much longer. He?d be free soon. He?d done solo work before, but that was a minority of what was required of him. He used to hope for a desk job, where he could get his own back and berate useless recruits. That?s if there?d be any useless recruits. Word had it that the governments that be were shutting the program down. It was too expensive and, while highly effective, the SYF agents were alarming. Their psychosis was either horribly scarred from in field work, or having to live their lives as a secret, explaining scars and broken bones away as ?accidents on the farm.? The psychologists and psychiatrists pulled the plug, solely on the cases of the original two guinea pigs. One deceased, one assassin showing trends of disloyalty. Of course, this was all up in the air, anything could happen? Liam rubbed his face. Rae had split the skin of his eyelid; she actually threw a real punch at him! A little to the left and she would have driven the cartilage of his nose right into his morass of a brain. He wandered away, touching the blood seeping from his eye. The sooner she stopped being such a moody little girl, the better. [/SIZE]

[quote name='Dragon Warrior][size=1']What about me, Liam? [/size][/quote] [size=1]I can't believe I forgot you! You're right, they were the most incredibly sexy/awesome adventures, ever! You and Britty really got me interested in the whole RPG thing. Not to mention the MSN house we had running for a while. Man, that was crazy... *hi-five* ^_^[/size]

[size=1]It's been a while since I've been here, let alone posted, and I can't believe how much the OB has changed. [I'm still frustrated that even though I have 256k, the site is still slow]. I feel so old and un-hip. I remember a time when I believed myself to still be here, typing and posting away, when I was forty and married. It's funny to see my opinions and thoughts change so quickly over time. Before you believe this to be nothing more than an attention grabbing myO styled post, I have a few questions to ask you lot. Why are you here? I mean, what makes you stay? The RPG section sucked me in, [Warlock's skills are still up there on the acheivement ladder], and then the community events came to my attention. I couldn't believe that the idea of posting about current events with your peers hadn't crossed my mind before. Soon enough I was posting images and photos of school events and special occaisions. The whole site was a massive family, comments, criticism's, support, gushing. Everything, it was insane. Oh wait, I lie. The Digimon and Pokemon sections sucked me in first. [Are those even still around?] Sara was my Digimon homegirl, along with Renee and a few others. These boards helped me grow up. Oh sure, school, home, they help you to grow in one way or another, but what you said and did on these boards could affect so many people, you could crush or create dreams here. It was a release for me. I went from a literature n00b to what I am today. I wouldn't say the Arena made me bloodthirsty, but it did help me find my muse. War and action themed narrative pieces became my forte [SYF is a clear example], and I never would have toyed with the idea of a novel if it weren't for this place. If Loaded ever reaches the shelves, it will be because of a good kick in the pants from this place. Okay, I lied. Not only am I asking what OB has done for you [sorry to the new members, I guess this is tended towards the older ones], I'm thanking James and Adam for their zany and wacky ideas. It would have been a very different Liam sitting in his chair now if it weren't for the contribrution and support inadvertently given to me all those years ago when I first started out here. I'm not saying you'll see more of me here, my domain tends to be myO now, but I'm working on catching up. Hopefully I'll start another RPG, it won't be one in the SYF series, but I'm thinking of some serious action...[/size]

[size=1]Heh. I just got my learners, and trust me, computer games do not help. Especially Need For Speed Underground. x.x; While holding the trigger all the way in the NFSU gives you a perfect gradual acceleration, putting your foot flat to the floor in real life doesn't. Mmm...rubber tyres on wet grass. I myself want to get a manual licence, but I can't with our car, seeing as it's an automatic. Meaning I'm going to have to go for lessons, which isn't cool, seeing as it costs about $35 an hour. Ah well. Another six months and I can go for my P's. If it means I'll have to make my parents fork out the dosh for lessons, then I'll have to make them fork out the dosh.. What about your friends? If you have one that lives close by, you can always leave your car there, claiming to your sister that it's in the shop or something. Or, you could just hide the keys. Hmm..$1300...if she keeps this up, it [i]will[/i] be cheaper to pay for her to have proper lessons...[/size]

[SIZE=1]I'm going to have to agree with Asphy on this one. The whole political correctness thing is killing the idea of just being polite. One girl I know from church throws a 'I don't need a man to help me' tanty if you offer her your coat when she's turning blue from the cold. I've known her since grade three, and has basically been the same since the beginning. x.X;[/SIZE]

[size=1]Inside, Liam was thinking, [I]??well?that was unexpected??[/I], while the rest of him was infuriated. He stood up next to the open door and tuned in his radio, bellowing, ?task, team, individual, you sodded cow!? He slammed the door shut and pulled off his headset, glowering. So, now the only other people left in the chopper were the crew, Bradley, Ryan, Katarina, Malania, Matt and Karen. One of the loadmasters eyed Liam and pointed to the pilot. Liam spun round and the pilot bellowed over the dull thrum; ?turn around and land?? Liam shook his head. ?Too dangerous. They can find their own way back if they?re so keen.? ?We?re turning around.? Matt grunted. ?That?s an order.? Liam cracked his knuckles. ?Hell no.? ?I?ve given you free- -don?t blame me because you?ve done jack sh- Liam was suddenly aware of something coming very fast towards him. If he hadn?t let his instincts slip into ?standby? he might?ve done something about it. It was so unexpected?and the brick instant all over again?ten times worse. Karen was standing, over Liam, looking furious, and shifted her grip on Matt?s MP-7 that she?d used to clout Liam in the crotch. Bradley and the Russians burst out laughing, while the two loadmasters just winced and whistled. Liam raised his head slowly, grimacing, and opened his mouth, but Karen cut him short. ?Just shut the hell up, I can?t believe you?re leaving Rae behind, and blaming Matt for your misdirected testosterone!? The frown grew more pronounced on Liam?s face, but he still wasn?t ready to stand up yet. Everything just fell to pieces. It seemed to do it more and more often. He got the job done, completed his task, and then someone threw a spanner in the works. No-where in the books of Counter-Terrorism was it written what to do when a hostage [I]wanted[/I] to put themselves in danger. He grunted and stood slowly. ?There?s no way in hell that I am going to turn this around and rescue miss mood swing- ugh!? ?Don?t say it again.? Karen said darkly, feeling the weight of the MP-7 that she just clouted him across the face with. ?I refuse to sit by and be classed as an useless hostage. If you?re not going to let it happen, believe me, I?ll make it happen.? ?I am not going to be you human shield- ugh!? Karen raised the MP-7 again, letting Liam suck back the air into his lungs. ?I don?t want you to be my human shield. I can do fine for myself, thank you very much.? ?Fine,? Liam coughed. ?Just fine. I don?t care. This chopper has been given higher orders anyway, the Commander has put it down for this to take you, yes, this is all for you, to safety.? He pulled his Kevlar helmet off to brush the hair out of his eyes. ?So don?t start touting crap about me not caring about what happens to Rae and about your preppie girl power, quite honestly, I [I]really[/I] don?t care.? Liam caught the MP-7 and twisted it out of her hands, giving it to the quiet Matt. ?Lets get out of here. I?d rather spend my last three weeks in the SYF, knowing that my hostage was intact.? [/size]

OOC: I'm not even game to ask what in the hell you three just did, but I'm going to tip my hat to Arcadia for stepping in. *tips hat* Thank'ee [size=1] [center]~~~~~[/center] The marines eyed the team balefully, as they climbed into the vehicle. Liam had secured the driver?s seat and was busily becoming acquainted with the gears, dropping the clutch and revving it appreciatively. Shots were fired from the way they came. Before that instant, he turned instinctively, looking back at the sullen marines. In turn, each of them dropped sideways, spraying their fellow with their own life force. Like sacks of wheat, they dropped to the ground, bouncing slightly. He grimaced and muttered, ?bloody Zharra.? Zharra stepped out into the light, followed shortly by Bradley, who ignored Liam?s pointed look entirely. Liam slowly turned his head back to the windscreen and revved the engine impatiently while he waited for them to climb on. Due to the lack of room, Karen, Matt, Rae and Eve were seated inside, while the others stood on the skirting and held on. They only had to get to their Blackhawk. The time clicked down, and a dull roar rushed up the tunnels, blowing the loose dust into the room. Liam put his foot down. The explosion became an implosion, thanks to the ?bunker buster? bombs that the F-11?s were carrying. The air in the tunnels was sucked out, suffocating several small mammals that had lost their way. Liam coughed as the air became thinner, before ebbing back to its normal flow. The jeep bounced slightly in the ruts, listing slightly as it gathered speed in the tunnels. He shifted up a gear and turned the headlights onto high beam. The lights jittered, illuminating the dark walls like a disco strobe light. There was a steady ?whoosh? with every passing obstacle, a herald to the immobile dangers. Liam was aware of a dull conversation happening in the background, but with the rushing wind, they might as well been a whisper. Rae was sitting beside him, crouching on top of her seat, P-90 ready. In the event of an attack, she?d be able to stand up slightly and fire over the top of the windscreen. She checked the GPS in her palm, and adjusted the Humvee?s accordingly. Liam looked down at the beacon that was now flashing prominently on the LCD display. It was getting closer now, from the looks of it; it was through the next fork and around the next bend. He took his foot off and the speed rapidly declined until the Humvee finally coasted to a halt. ?Up the ladder? He grunted, pointing with his gun. ?Which one?? Eve said, looking up at the manhole directly above the jeep. It was obvious there had once been a ladder there before, but it seemed that over the years it had just rotted away in the wet and humid conditions. Liam eyed Bradley, eyes glinting with his own malicious sense of humour, and said, ?that one.? Several sweaty minutes later, Bradley had managed to pass everyone in the team, up and out of the manhole, using the jeep as a raised platform. Finally, he was lifted up and out himself. Liam looked around, and spied a laidback pilot and co-pilot, decked in fatigues and flight gear. One of the pilots lifted up his hat, and eyed Liam beadily, saying; ?Well it?s about time you got here. It costs a lot of dosh to keep these things running you know.? ?Just get us out.? ?Right, I?ll just wake up Joe and the other one.? The pilot turned to his co-pilot and muttered, ?what it the other bastard?s name?? ?Pete.? ?Right, Pete. I can?t tell one loadmaster from another, but you need the bastards if you want to fly a sixty foot hunk of metal through the sky.? He looked over his shoulder and barked, ?Pete! Joe! C?orn, we?re dusting off.? A rather sleepy reply came back from inside the Blackhawk?s bowels, ?y?sure mate?? ?Wake up you lazy bastard.? Liam cringed. Over the years of international missions, his accent had blurred to an indistinct mixture of nationalities. Someone had once asked him if he was a Spaniard that had studies at Oxford. At certain times he had mourned the loss of his native voice, but at times like these he was grateful that he was a shadow. The side door slammed shut and the steady thrum of the blades increased to a fever pitch. ?Hang orn, we?re going up.? Liam raised an eyebrow and tightened his lap sash, receiving no small satisfaction as he watched everyone in the team lurch sideways as the ?hawk went on a seventy-five degree angle. ?There?re some perks.? Liam said, smiling to himself. [/size]

[size=1] [b][u]General Awards[/b][/u] [b]Overall Member of the Year:[/b] Charles [b]Male Otaku of the Year:[/b] Semjaza Azazel [b]Female Otaku of the Year:[/b] Babygirl [b]Staff Member of the Year:[/b] James [b]Funniest Member of the Year:[/b] Dragon Warrior [b]Most Opinionated Otaku of the Year:[/b] Cloricus [b]Most Likely to Be Here in Two Years:[/b] Adam [b]Best Newbie:[/b] Arcadia [b]Best Oldie:[/b] Shy [b]Most Likely to Become a Staff Member:[/b] Dagger IX1 [b]Most Improved Member of the Year:[/b] Baron Samedi [b]Favorite Banned Member:[/b] Taylor Hewitt [b]Thread of the Year:[/b] N/A [b]Silliest Thread of the Year:[/b] How the James Stole Christmas [b][u]Random Awards[/b][/u] [b]Avatar Award (Best Avatars Overall):[/b] Charles [b]Signature Award (Best Signatures Overall):[/b] Sara [b]Best Location (Best Specific Location):[/b] N/A [b]Best Otaku Couple:[/b] The Harlequin/Ravenstorture [b]Best Looking Otaku:[/b] [size=1] James [The army fatigues were just so him, lol] [b]Otaku Clique of the Year:[/b] OtakuBoards? League of Not-So-Extraordinary Gentlemen [b]Best MyOtaku:[/b] James [b][u]Otaku Writers[/b][/u] [b]Poet Laureate:[/b] Charles [b]Writer of the Year:[/b] Charles [b]Orginal Story of the Year:[/b] OB: Enter the Net [b]Role-Player of the Year:[/b] Arcadia [b]Brawler of the Year:[/b] Harlequin [b]RPG of the Year:[/b] SYF: Águila [kills the misspelling] [b][u]Social Otakus[/b][/u] [b]Otaku Social Member:[/b] James [b]Entertainment Otaku:[/b] Dragon Warrior [b][u]Otaku Gamers[/b][/u] [b]X-Box Award:[/b] Cloricus [b]PC Gamer of the Year:[/b] DeathKnight [b][u]Series Otaku[/b][/u] [b]The Triforce Award:[/b] Desbreko [/size]

[size=1] ?Right. I suggest that we fan out and stick to the walls, that way we?ll be less of a target.? Liam muttered in a hoarse whisper, pointing to Ryan. ?Ryan and I will stick to the middle. When we start hearing them, we crouch and slowly make our way forward.? Katarina and Malania coughed politely. ?Yes, Malania and Katarina will keep to the rear, using their scopes as cover for us. And at the very end will be Matt and Karen. We can?t risk them being too close.? He paused and waited for Bailey and the others to line either side of the tunnel. They took their positions, staggered on either side of the tracks. Not a word was uttered, nor barely a sound grated from the concrete floor. ?Where?re Bradley and Zharra?? The penny had dropped in Liam?s mind, and he could feel the vein in his temple moving unpleasantly. Even in the half-light, he could see them avoiding his gaze, or shrugging in their own way. ?Why do I bother?? He shrugged. ?I didn?t sign anything that said I had to prevent my team from getting blown up out of their own stupidity.? He continued rambling until his voice decided it was best if it cut out. He wandered forward along the tracks, pulling the rifle into his shoulder. [I] ?You?will be?the death of me; yeah, you will be the death of me?? [/I] There was the sound of an engine turning over. The grating echo of a flat battery grinded through the air, proclaiming its plight. Liam sped up to a brisk walk, at a crouched height. It was hell on his muscles, but at least he was quiet. They?d only been moving for a little while. They couldn?t have gotten that far. He checked his watch, and was surprised to see that there was only five minutes until the F1-11?s reached their mark. The starter motor grated once more, before finally starting the engine. Various shouts of excitement carried down the tunnels. Liam and the rest of the team picked up the pace, finally crouching behind the twisted wreck of a Humvee. ?They?re setting out through the escape tunnel.? Ryan whispered. ?The General must value his troops more than I expected.? He gave a small smile and rubbed his thumb against the safety on the side of his Beretta. Liam then saw the previously unnoticed tunnel, complete with bulky twenty-year-old rusty roller-door. A couple of marines finished setting something up before rushing to their Humvee. ?That?s the tail end of the unit.? Ryan muttered. ?They must have done something? Liam rose slowly, P-90 ready. Ryan tried to pull him down into cover, but Liam slapped him off with a swift backhand to the face. He took the safety off and pulled the slide back slowly, letting the ominous clicks shatter the surreal hush. The marines paused, already half in the doors. ?I wouldn?t get inside if I were you.? Liam muttered. He could see them trying to find the source of his voice. ?I have a very big gun, and I am [I]certainly[/I] not afraid to use it. Don?t make me waste ammunition on America?s finest.? Even in such a dire situation, he could see that some sort of pride was instilled in the marines. ?They do such a good job at killing themselves to not need my help.? The Recon marines bristled at the offhanded remark, one tried to slyly pull out his Beretta, but he made the mistake of believing that the voice was coming from their exit point, just beyond the open roller door. ?I wouldn?t do that.? Liam said slowly. He indicated that the other members in the team should make as many arming noises as possible. ?I have a suggestion. Last person to drop their armaments is shot. Understood?? The rest of the team pulled the safeties off their weapons. ?You, driver,? Liam continued, ?out of the jeep.? Now all three marines were lined up, and facing all different directions. ?Weapons please, gentlemen.? Grudgingly the three soldiers dropped their weapons onto the concrete, down to the last pistol. ?A tie between the man on the left and the man on the right.? Liam said in the same monotonic voice. Ryan blinked. He wasn?t serious, was he? Liam shot both men square in the middle of their backs. The staggered forward with the force of the shot and fell on the concrete, face first. Liam kicked the spent casings aside and shifted his hands on the P-90?s ergonomic grip. ?You psychotic bastard!? Ryan seethed. ?What the hell was that?? Liam didn?t look at him. ?It was a means to an end. Besides, they have body armour, and it was only one bullet.? As he spoke, the two felled marines rolled onto their sides, groaning and spitting out various expletives. Their armour had secured their skin from a paralytic incision, just. ?Let?s get moving then, shall we?? Liam kept his gun pointed at the three soldiers and moved out of the shadows. ?Bradley, secure their guns will you?? He paused and realised Bradley?s absence. ?Damnit. Fine then, Eve, Rae, take their stuff already.? [/size]

[size=1] First Zharra attempts to rip his throat out for not thinking of anything to do, and then Eve comes up with the notion that she has to take everyone?s burdens. An attack on the General would be suicide; he could see it in everyone else?s eyes that they had the same thoughts running through their heads. Liam bolstered himself, he had to jump in now, or he?d never be able to regret it. If he didn?t endorse this, he might as well continue removing his head from his shoulders. ?Right.? He grunted harshly. ?We need to start moving. If this General hasn?t started moving out, he will have posted sentries on the surface, and in the tunnels.? ?We?re going underground.? Eve said bluntly. ?There are less places for a sniper to hide down there.? ?Unless he has a heat sensitive scope attached to his sniper rifle while he sits comfortably in his hole at the other end of the tunnel.? Liam countered, with a wry smile on his face. Eve grimaced at him, using the same expression that Zharra had used so pointedly before. Liam raised his hands. ?Logic, that?s all it is. What I just said is exactly what I?d do in that situation. Any sane man would follow the same idea.? ?Unless you?re pompous and believe that close combat is what it?s all about.? Rae said with a delicious curve in her lips. No doubt she was referring to their altercation with the Triad boss. ?Eve?s got the right idea.? Ryan muttered, looking up from his pistol. ?Our best bet is underground. Rae?s got a point, too, the General does not ?believe? in snipers.? ?We go into the tunnels.? Zharra said defiantly. Liam just shook his head. ?You?re all insane. This is- -suicide.? Katarina finished the sentence for him. Malania toasted with a flask she had seemingly plucked from the air. ?I?ll drink to that.? She smirked. Liam appreciated the Russki endorsement. But he still knew it was the only option. They had to go somewhere safe, and the only safe place was with the Marines. They?d have to order the Blackhawk to land somewhere and wait for them. ?There?s a problem.? Liam said, ?the only entry point into the tunnel we want, is locked. I saw one of the Marines whirl the wheel.? He pointed to the door. Bradley stood up, obviously thinking that this was his moment. He strode briskly to the door and looked it up and down, rubbing his chin thoughtfully. ?You see,? he said, ?the problem with this doors is that they look impenetrable, but a good shoulder to the right spot, will knock those bolts right out of its concrete housing.? Liam watched with a deadpan interest as Bradley took a run up and charged, hitting the door full on with his shoulder. It wobbled slightly, and Bradley listed sideways. He wasn?t to be discouraged that easily. ?Right, right. There must be two bolts.? He stepped back, ignoring the twinge in his shoulder, and gave it a heavy kick. Miraculously the door swung inward, bolts grating the masonry from their concrete housing. Bradley gave a mock bow. ?And there we have it.? He said, grinning. Liam sighed. ?Fine. I?m going first though.? [/size]

[size=1] The inflection on her words was enough for Liam to think of reasons why he shouldn?t burst out laughing. Katarina obviously didn?t like the idea of having a ?Recon Jock? on her team. ?Just a question, Ryan.? He asked. ?What weapons did your team have?? Ryan shrugged. ?Mostly Russian guns. If we were to be compromised, we had to make it look as though the Russians were behind it.? ?That?d only work if you were dead.? Malania noted. Ryan smiled slightly, ?that was what I was hinting at.? Liam coughed, keen to find out more. ?So, were any rocket-type weapons included in your itinerary?? ?One, an anti-tank. Just in case we had the SEALs backed into a corner.? Liam frowned. Technically any rocket can be used to take down aircraft, and guided rockets can be easily confused. But anti-tanks are more like giant bullets. The Blackhawk could probably survive a shot?but it would most probably never fly again. ?Damn!? He grunted. ?We?re going to have to risk it.? ??mind you, the man carrying the rocket was in my team, and I just happened to have knocked him out before.? Ryan unslung something from his shoulder that Liam hadn?t noticed before. ?I also happened to pick it up, by chance.? He said, grinning. Liam sagged in relief. Now all they had to worry about was sniper shots, and thanks to the Blackhawks armour, they wouldn?t be a problem. ?Matt, how close is the chopper?? ?What chopper?? [I]Oh truck berries?[/I] ?You mean you haven?t ordered an evac yet?? ?No, I did it for him.? Katarina muttered darkly. ?As if I would trust him to do it, he is too busy being doe-eyed to even noticed that you?ve taken over his team.? Liam didn?t skip a beat. ?Right, so how long?? ?I was told two hours. It?s been one so far.? ?You mean all that crap in the tunnels only took an hour?? ?Yes.? ?This day is just too long.? He sighed and rubbed his face for what seemed the hundredth time. ?Once again it looks like we?ve just got to hold out for ourselves.? Ryan cussed, loudly. ?What is it now?? Liam said exasperatedly. ?I forgot some of the other resources the General has. He was privileged two F1-11?s as air support. If he gives the order, my guess is that it?ll take them only an hour to get here after being prepped on the aircraft carrier.? Liam was lost for words. They had gone beyond failing him, they had simply vanished and were making excuses about their absence. He mouthed garbled sentences before finally trotting to the wall and began banging his head repeatedly against its hard concrete surface. [/size]

[size=1] Liam laughed at him and adjusted his helmet slightly. The sweat ran down his brow before being effectively brushed off by the back of his hand. Ryan?s question still hung in the air. Liam frowned. ?Damn.? He said, ?you?re serious, aren?t you?? He gave a little laugh, and then eyed out of the corner of his eye. ?Or are you?? ?I am.? Liam rubbed his face, effectively smearing his face paint over his cheeks. He sighed and looked at Eve for some support. None came. ?Right, it?s fine by me then. You can drop the ?sir? act though. I?m under someone?s jurisdiction for this mission.? He righted his helmet. ?The thing I don?t get though is, why do you want to come back to this joke of a team?? Ryan grinned. ?You?re just as thick as always, aren?t you?? ?Shut it.? Eve quashed a giggle and put her hands to her mouth, hiccoughing effectively enough to avoid Liam?s suspicion. ?Do you believe that your former squad will keep away?? He continued. ?Possibly. The remaining Delta troops will, but the Marines?well?let?s just say that they?ve been reading too much Matthew Reilly.? Liam groaned. It was a good read, but the ?fictional? government conspiracies played too much on impressionable minds. ?Well, I suggest we go barricade ourselves back inside that fort and keep our heads down. I?m assuming Matt will brief you and sort out your transfer details.? ?I see the SYF is still on first-name terms.? ?What?s that supposed to mean?? Ryan pointed to the insignia on his uniform. ?I mean, you don?t refer to each other by rank. Like the General, for instance.? Liam peered at the insignia. ?Yeah well, we dealt away with that rot, I mean, who?s going to know?? ?You have a point there.? Eve tapped her foot, irritated. ?While you two have been chatting, we could have easily made our way back to base.? Liam raised an eyebrow, surprised at her little outburst. He supposed though, they had been ignoring her? ?Let?s move.? She muttered and turned about face, back to the fort. A few minutes of forced running left them breathless, outside the main entrance. Liam strode up and knocked twice on the door. In the run he had radioed ahead for Bradley to make some space for him to get through, and they had both agreed on two knocks. The door didn?t move. Liam knocked again, twice. Then, losing his temper, bellowed out, ?Bradley! Open this door, you spaced out pothead!? Ryan snorted. ?I see no love has been lost in your relationship with team mates.? ?Shut it.? The door opened slightly and Bradley poked his head out, beckoning them to hurry in. Sensing some sort of danger, they all rushed in as Bradley slammed the door behind them. ?How did you managed to get in without being shot?? He asked breathlessly. ?Shot? What?re you talking about?? Liam grunted as he helped Ryan fix the barricade. ?Someone took a pot shot at me when I opened the door before. Nearly took my head off.? He pointed at a pockmark in a desk, which was part of the barricade. ?The bullet bounced off the door, hit the concrete and ricocheted into the desk. I?m lucky that I still have my block.? Liam shook his head. ?No, don?t know what you?re talking about. No one has fired at us, at all.? ?Must?ve moved on then.? Liam shrugged. ?The only injury I got, was a cramp in my leg from running all that way.? ?Liam, that was what, six hundred metres?? Ryan scolded, jokingly. ?How unfit are you? I mean, I thought being in peak physical condition was a standard in most armed forces...? Liam shook his leg. ?Screw you.? He grunted. [/size]

[size=1] Liam holstered the MS1 and cracked his knuckles. For some reason, the weapon was always better for the stealthy moments. He eyed the fallen Delta member with the remorse of a guilty six-year-old that had been caught breaking his mother?s favourite vase. ?My remorse.? He grunted. The Delta members said nothing, though one spat and flicked the safety back on to his weapon. His actions spoke louder than words ever could. Liam grinned and said, ?well just a warning. Don?t shoot me for what?s about to happen next, Ryan will understand, won?t you?? Ryan blinked, and managed a confused, ?what?? Liam slugged him across the jaw and said, ?right! That?s for the Pizaro thing.? He cracked his knuckled and grinned, giving Ryan a friendly handshake. ?It?s great to see you again, but what?s with all the attempts at killing us?? Ryan rolled his jaw. ?I suppose we can say the same thing.? He said slowly. Liam raised an eyebrow. ?Look, all I know is that we?ve been sent to retrieve an object, then we came under fire from a group that imitated the SEALs- -did you say SEALs?? ?Yes, that?s what I said.? Liam ignored Ryan?s outburst and continued. ?They were dispatched pretty easily by our backup SAS team. We then poked around and found a whole lot of drugs.? Liam decided it wouldn?t be tactful to mention that Ryan?s team had killed the SAS troops. Ryan?s brow furrowed. ?How much is a whole lot?? ?A couple slabs hidden in crates. Lots of crates.? Ryan spun to his Delta team, ?get back to the General; tell him to call back all his Marines. The SEALs have been dispatched, we have evidence why they went rogue.? Liam raised an eyebrow. ?So they were SEALs?? ?Yes, we?ve been following them for a while now. We believed that they were getting payed off in drug money by the Colombians, for favours and the like.? Ryan smirked. ?And we?ve got them.? Liam raised a finger, ?actually, [I]we[/I] got them.? Ryan?s radio buzzed before he shot off a retort. [I] ?Recon Three have sourced an intruder in one of the tunnels. They are approaching with caution, lethal force is to be used.?[/I] ?Oh damn.? Liam grunted. ?Rae. Rae?s in the tunnels. Call off your goons!? ?What? She's here too?? Ryan buzzed up his radio. ?Call off Recon Three, I repeat, call off Recon Three.? There wasn?t a response for a few seconds. [I] ?What? I assure you, my men can take care of themselves. They?ll do whatever the hell I order them to, understood??[/I] ?General! Wait, the?? Ryan blinked. ?He?s turned off his radio. This isn?t good.? ?Let me try Rae.? ?What good will that do?? Liam grinned like a shark. ?She won?t use lethal force when she defends herself.? He adjusted his headset, tuning to Rae?s frequency. ?Rae, get out of there. Turns out it was mistaken identity. Some buffed up American marines are coming your way, intent on spilling blood. Get out of there, or knock ?em out, just don?t kill them.? [I] ?Liam! What are you talking about?? [/I] ?Just do it.? [I] ?But- [/I] He shook his head as he cut Rae off. She was a smart girl; she?d be able to take care of herself. Now to deal with the clock tower sniper he?d set up on the roof? ?Katarina. Is all quiet on the western front?? [I] ?Your cynical capitalist pun does not amuse me.? [/I] Liam rolled his eyes; Katarina just had a way with words. ?I?m asking you to cease fire, those are American Special Forces that you?re firing upon, they?re not our enemy- [I] ?Not [b]your[/b] enemy, don?t you mean??[/I] ?Your communist humour slightly amuses me, comrade.? [I] ?Now you?re getting it.?[/I] Liam groaned, rubbed his face and slid down the wall to sit. It was too hot and too humid to bother with all this secret government cover up rubbish. If he were ever to be privileged with a few days off, he?d appreciate them right now. Katarina would hopefully spread the word and then they?d be up in the air and out of here. Then, and only then, would he want to sort this mess out. [/size]

[size=1] ?Everything is my fault with you, isn?t it?? Liam said the reply under his breath, without turning on his headset. He didn?t wish for a conflict right now. He was wandering around inside hostile tunnels, completely clueless to what or why it was happening. And now Rae was down here. [I]Damn![/I] Now he had to worry about them. What happened if they popped up in a skirmish? In this gloom, he wouldn?t be able to tell friend from foe. It was so simple when he was by himself? He flicked the sweat from his eyes. Even standing still, in the cool underground, the heat was still making him sweat. All these layers of toughened Kevlar were making him overheat. He turned around and eyed the jeep. Surely there?d be water in it, a canteen, a camel pack, [I]something[/I]. He was melting out here, and he?d left his water supply outside in the rush. The doors were locked, and thanks to the Lexan bulletproof glass, impenetrable. But the engine was still running, the carbon monoxide just kept on pumping out. ?Keys, keys, where?re the keys?? He said, and something caught his eye. There was mud caked along the bottom of the vehicle, just a thin splash, but there was a bump that just didn?t look right. ?No, it?s too simple?or is it?? He reached down and poked the lump. It was stuck hard, too hard for mud. He pulled out his survival knife, and the point stuck to the lump, it was magnetised. He prised the knife underneath and inspected the lump in his hand. It was a magnetic key hide-away. He could have laughed. ?This is just so stupid.? Liam shook his head and prised it open. There, inside, was a key, that fitted the lock. He ripped the door open and checked the contents. Nothing was there that served his interest, papers, maps, ammunition, guns, and a flask. Liam grinned and reached over the seat, accidentally bumping the GPS with his knee, he grunted and rubbed his knee while snatching up the flask. He sniffed the contents and, satisfied, guzzled it down. Something was wrong though, there were numbers counting down where there had been a map. [I]19:91[/I] ?Oh?for the love of a motherless goat?? In the gloom he could see the faint glow of activated frequency receivers. ?Matt, we?re going to die.? He said flatly over the COM. [I] ?What? What?s the matter?? [/I] ?I activated the Tritonal charges; there was a remote set up in the Humvee. There was twenty minutes on the clock.? He checked the display. ?There?s now nineteen and ten seconds.? [I] ?You?I?it?damnit!?[/I] ?My sentiments exactly.? Liam checked his watch. ?My guess is that it takes ten minutes to get to a safe distance, before the bomb goes off. If we all?no. There?s no way, we don?t know if we?re driving right into their base of operations?? A light switched on. ??Matt, never mind, I?ve got an idea. Tell everyone to stay in the general area of the base. I?ll be up shortly.? [I] ?What?? [/I] Matt didn?t answer; Liam had already cut him off and was sprinting to the charges. According to the display, all four charges were active. He could see three. First thing was first though, he needed to get them into the jeep. ?One?? He grunted while rushing one over to the Humvee. He cut the bonds on the second. ?Two?? The third was free just as quickly. ?Three. Where?s the fourth?? [I] 11:01[/I] He looked around, and then at the ladder. It was lying on its side; no doubt the attackers were planning on dropping it off just inside. ?Hurry, hurry?? Liam sprinted over, weapons clinking, and hefted it. He sprinted back to the Humvee and threw it inside. He shifted out of park and spun the beast around, adjusting it so that two wheels sat either side of the tracks. He grabbed a rifle from the back and whirled it around. The butt cracked across the display, but Liam didn?t notice. He kicked the door open and jammed the rifle onto the accelerator. The engine roared, and he leapt out, counting his blessings that its transmission was automatic. The Humvee accelerated along the tracks, bouncing slightly as it rebounded off the tracks. The headlights grew smaller, and more faint as it put more distance between itself and the base. Liam sighed in relief, and collapsed onto his knees, begging his heart to stop pounding. [I] 10:48: Detonation aborted.[/I] The jeep continued to pick up speed, but now it was drifting between the tunnel walls. As it got faster, the tracks could do nothing to restrict it. The Tritonal charges in the back bounced around. The tunnel got wider. The jeep grew closer, and collided with the wall at one hundred and eighty kilometres per hour. The fireball engulfed the spare tank of petrol at the back, blackening the entire wall. The soldiers in the cavern slowly stood up, faces reflecting the flicker of the merry fire. ?Holy shit?? The nearest soldier whistled, a strong southern drawl. He ducked as the flames detonated the ammunition inside. ?What in the hell happened to reconnaissance two?? Two men rushed up with extinguishers and hurriedly put out the flames. The Humvee smouldered, spitting as the metal spat out steam. The tyres bubbled as they cooled on the floor. ?All four Tritonal charges are in the back seat, sir!? One of the men with the extinguisher bellowed out. ?No bodies present, appears that a rifle held the accelerator down.? ?What the hell happened to my men?? The man with the drawl demanded. A man stepped up to the railing overviewing the disaster. He was clean-cut and decked out in jungle fatigues, he was young too, in the light of most of his peers. His very stance screamed at the top of its lungs, ?special forces.? ?Obviously they are dead, General.? The man said evenly. ?The SEALs are not known to take captives. I?d say that they guessed our plans and sent the charges back to warn us.? He leapt down to the concrete floor and made his way towards the jeep. ?Quite frankly I?m surprised they hadn?t sent them back armed.? The General muttered a string of obscenities and ran his hands through his cropped hair. ?I was told you Delta bastards, no offence, knew what you were doing!? The man?s expression didn?t change. He merely let the tirade wash over him. ?I give you [I]my[/I] Recon marines, [I]my[/I] best men, under the surmise that they were doing a simple, easy favour. And now they?re being dropped like flies!? ?General, you can?t be saying that it is my fault that your Recon marines came under fire. When, might I add, they decided to leap out like patriotic [I]idiots[/I] to take on an unseen snipe. Their deaths are down to their own misjudgement.? He sighed and rubbed his face. ?Though, these recent MIA?s, I must say, were not meant to be. Something we didn?t account for has been thrown in.? [/size]

[b][u]General Awards[/b][/u] [b]Male Otaku of the Year:[/b] DeathKnight [size=1]Honorable Mention: Drix D'Zanth[/size] [b]Female Otaku of the Year:[/b] BabyGirl [size=1]Honorable Mention: N/A [/size] [b]Staff Member of the Year:[/b] Desbreko [size=1]Honorable Mention: N/A[/size] [b]Funniest Member:[/b] Dragon Warrior, hands down. [How can Gavers lose?] [size=1]Honorable Mention: N/A [/size] [b]Most Opinionated Otaku:[/b] cloricus [Come on, you know it's true] [size=1]Honorable Mention: N/A [/size] [b]Member most likely to be here in two years:[/b] Charles [size=1]Honorable Mention: Juuthena[/size] [b]Best Newbie:[/b] Arcadia [size=1]Honorable Mention: terra[/size] [b]Best Oldie:[/b] Pyro Kitty [size=1]Honorable Mention: DeathKnight[/size] [b]Most likely to become a Staff Member:[/b] Lady Asphyxia [size=1]Honorable Mention: N/A [/size] [b]Favorite Banned Member:[/b] thimoc [size=1]Honorable Mention: N/A [That's what you see when the've [i]really[/i] been banned ~_^][/size] [b]Most improved Member of the Year:[/b] cloricus [size=1]Honorable Mention: N/A [/size] [[b]Silliest Thread of the Year:[/b] Oh, the legality (or lack thereof)! [size=1]Honorable Mention: Is your son a hacker? [most stupid would be far more appropriate][/size] [b][u]Random Awards[/u][/b] [b]Avatar Award: (Best Avatars Overall)[/b] Transtic Nerve [size=1]Honorable Mention: Fall[/size] [b]Signature Award: (Best Signatures Overall)[/b] cloricus [Hell, I don't half vote for you, do I? x.X;] [size=1]Besides, the Men In Hats stint was funny[/size] [size=1]Honorable Mention: James[/size] [b]Best Location: (Best Specific Location)[/b] The Harlequin [size=1]Honorable Mention: The Unholy Newt[/size] [b]Best Otaku Couple:[/b] The Harlequin and Ravenstorture [size=1]Honorable Mention: N/A [/size] [b]Best looking Otaku:[/b] Baby Girl [Arr..who dare say me wench is comely?] [size=1]Honorable Mention: Lady Asphyxia[/size] [b]Otaku clique of the Year:[/b] Ken-a-holics Non-Anonymous [size=1]Honorable Mention: N/A [/size] [b]Best MyOtaku:[/b] BabyGirl [size=1]Honorable Mention: The Harlequin [I must admit, I enjoy the huge rants with the cool words that I don't understand x.X;;][/size] [b][u]Otaku Writers[/u][/b] [b]Poet Laureate:[/b] Pyro Kitty [size=1]Honorable Mention:[/size] [b]Writer of the Year:[/b] Lady Asphyxia [size=1]Honorable Mention: Charles[/size] [b]Role-Player of the Year:[/b] Lady Asphyxia [size=1]Honorable Mention: The Unholy Newt[/size] [b]Role-Playing Game of the Year[/b] [Hell, I've always been an [b]SYF[/b] man.] [b]SYF:[/b][i] Aguila Del Desierto[/i] [size=1]Honorable Mention: N/A [/size] [b][u]Otaku Gamers[/u][/b] [b]Nintendo "Mario" Award:[/b] James [ShineGet was to be the coolest site, [u]ever[/u]. [size=1]Honorable Mention: N/A [/size] [b]Xbox Gamer of the Year:[/b] Pyro Kitty [fear her Halo skills] [size=1]Honorable Mention: N/A [/size] [b]PC Gamer of the Year:[/b] DeathKnight [size=1]Honorable Mention: N/A [/size] [b][u]Series Otakus[/u][/b] [b]The Triforce Award (Zelda):[/b] Desbreko [Come on, all he needs is the logo tatooed onto his forehead] [size=1]Honorable Mention: N/A [/size]

[size=1] ?You have no clue.? Liam had wandered past the Humvee and now saw the tunnel as it really was. He lifted up his scope and pointed it down the tunnel, using the range finder to get some bearings. It bounced up to 1040m, before to clicking over to ?XXXX.Xm? All the way along the tunnel, as far as he could see into the shadows, smaller tunnels branched off the sides. Some had been reinforced, while others looked as though they?d been hastily dug and filled in when they proved fruitless. ?The problem just got a whole lot bigger.? He muttered over his COM. [I] ?How so? You mean apart from the fact you?re down there by yourself?? [/I] Liam grunted. ?Can I talk to someone besides Rae? It?s kind of important. I don?t have time for her angst about being left- -[I]Liam! When you get back up here, I am so going to-[/I] [I] ?Malania here. Please hold while we restrain Rae, it?s been a long day for her. Matt will be speaking to you shortly??[/I] [I]?Matt speaking.?[/I] Liam sighed; he could still hear Rae?s complaints buzzing in the background, it sounded as though someone had clamped a hand over her mouth, maybe a sock or something? ?This place is a regular rabbit warren.? Liam reported, shining his torch around the tunnel. ?I don?t know how long work has been going on, but I think it?s easy to say that anyone working down here could have done it easily without the knowledge of the Colombians. ?The Tritonal charges hadn?t been set, but I don?t think it?s safe yet. These diggings could easily hide more explosives.? Liam spun round slowly, inspecting the piles of soil. ?This whole situation is a powder keg. Our best solution is to view the situation from a behind a keyboard, through satellite imaging. Trust me, the last place I want to be is here.? [I]?Any hostile forces?? [/I] ?Any I can see have been dealt with, but I could have sworn some vacated the tunnel through these passages. I think I interrupted their work, mind you; it?s all a bit suspect. I keep thinking I?m missing something.? He kicked the Humvee?s tyre. ?And this overgrown jeep is doing nothing for my confidence.? [I]?Overgrown jeep??[/I] ?Humvee.? [I]?There?s a Humvee in the tunnel??[/I] ?Yeah, it?s all really weird. American vehicles, Russian guns, European explosives. You could say it was a mercenary squad, and it points to that, but with the way Special Forces are today, you could just as easily say that it was an overgrown detachment of the Delta force.? [I] ?So we still don?t know who, or why these people are trying to kill us??[/I] ?Could be mistaken identity.? [I] ?Sure, that makes a whole lot of sense.? [/I] [/size]

[size=1] ?Is where you came from secure?? Liam asked, eager to get attention back to the pressing development. ?Security is as tight as a nut. No windows or anything, concrete all around.? Zharra thought for a moment, playing out the blueprint in her mind. ?As far as I can tell there aren?t any entrances beside the main one we all came in.? ?There should be a back door though.? Bradley muttered. ?If you came under siege here, how could you escape without a back door?? ?The tunnels are the back door.? Liam said simply. ?We?ve got to barricade the front door. Bradley, as you are obviously the most physically able, I want you to drag everything in this room, and I mean everything, and put it as a barricade in front of the door.? Bradley grinned and gave a mock salute. Like and eager schoolboy, he sized up the room and rushed over to the dilapidated vending machine and proceeded to push it along and out of the room. ?Zharra,? Liam gave a small smile as he spoke, ?seeing as you would fight tooth and nail for him, I?m going to suggest you put a infrared scope on your P-90 and give him some cover. Don?t shoot unless you?re in danger. It?s crucial that Bradley gives us an adequate barricade.? Zharra slotted in the scope and nodded, following closely behind Bradley. Both of them took care to stay behind the machine?s metal bulk. Liam was taking charge again, Matt looked put out, but let him do his job. ?Matt, Rae, Eve, Malania, Katarina. I want all of you upstairs and behind some serious concrete cover. Karen is the focus of this mission, if she dies, there?s no point for us to remain on the mortal coil.? Karen squinted at him. She was recovering well from her ordeal, but she still couldn?t cope with being talked about as though she wasn?t there, as though she was some priceless gem that could be broken. ?If you don?t mind me asking,? Malania said. ?What the hell are you going to be doing?? ?I will be providing cover for Bradley and Zharra. Bradley will require some help in his furniture rearranging. Now you know, I want all of you up the top, pronto. This is only a three-storey building. If it collapses, you?ll be better off at the top than at the bottom.? No one moved, questions were popping up in their eyes, begging to be asked. Liam levelled his pistol. ?Move, or I?ll kill you. Don?t take it as an empty threat.? The team vacated, but Katarina and Malania remained. ?Well?? Liam said, turning his pistol on its side, gangster style. Katarina put out her hand. ?Good luck.? Liam took it and gave a small smile. ?You?re not talking about the barricade, are you?? ?We?re not thick.? Malania shrugged. ?We know you?re going into the tunnels. You?re such a typical capitalist, arrogant, hero.? A smile appeared. ?But you?re good value, we?d offer to help, but you know- -I?d decline.? Liam?s smile vanished, his resolve becoming stony. ?I don?t want any more blood on my hands.? Katarina and Malania turned to go up the stairs. ?Wait,? Liam said. ?I know you are prepared with more than just standard issue, I mean, Katarina?s shotgun is a credit to that. Anyhow, do you happen to have a Dragon on you?? The Dragon was the Soviet?s answer to the Barrett Light 50 sniper rifle. Malania looked him up and down. ?What if we do?? ?Take out as much as you can from the roof. The P-90?s are submachine guns, they don?t exactly have the range of a sniper.? He looked into Malania?s eyes, ?if you?re to fly out of here, you need to take out all of their AA people. Then, order in the chopper. I'll leave it up to you to decide whether or not to leave people behind.? ?Fine. We will see.? Liam nodded and waved them up the stairs. ?I?ve got to get going, it?s a long walk to the entrance, but Zharra and Bradley will be turning around now. I?ve got to find that tunnel hatch, and soon.? Katarina brushed past him and opened a utility closet. ?I suggest you start here,? she winked and hurried up the stairs after Malania. Liam inspected the closet, switching on the light on his P-90. It was a squalid room, barely one and a half metres squared of floor space. He closed the door behind him, and was surprised to see that he could barricade himself in. This side of the door resembled a safe, nothing at all like a humble soiled utility door. He hurriedly rolled the wheel and three thick bolts slid into place, thirty centimetres into the reinforced concrete. Outside he could hear the muffled sounds of Bradley hurriedly moving something else. ?So far, so good.? Waiting until he heard Bradley and Zharra leave, he began stamping the floor, and heard it was hollow. He grinned and checked it, prising up the boards with a survival knife, revealing another hatch. The wheel turned of its own accord. Liam quashed an expletive and pulled back the slide on his P-90, selecting full automatic. The hatch rose very slowly, so the opening faced the barred door. Liam currently resided on the hinge side. A black shape rose up in the gloom and reached up, pressing a hidden switch. A red glow, from a light bulb in the ceiling, washed the room. The figure began turning the wheel, and another rose up, holding an AKSU submachine gun. Liam deliberated shifted his foot, creating a grating sound. The two figures twigged and spun round to face the P-90?s devastating fire. ?I hate shooting people in the back.? He dropped the half-empty P-90, so it hung around his neck, and snatched up the AKSU, pulling back the slide. There were shouts coming from beneath, excited ones. Obviously they had heard the fire and were climbing up the ladder. Liam rested the ASKU over the side and held the trigger down. The casings bounced around the tiny space, before falling down the hatch. The gun was dry, so Liam tossed it down, hopefully landing on several bodies. He snatched up one of the bodies in the room to throw it down, but he noticed a trio of pins in the belt. Shrapnel, flash, and smoke. He grinned and pulled all three, dropped the body down, slamming the hatch shut. Soon as the body hit the ground, the smoke grenade puffed at the impact. Eight seconds later the flash grenade blinded all of the occupants. Two more seconds after that, the shrapnel ripped through the space. Satisfied, Liam opened the hatch slowly, letting some of the smoke fill the room. He dropped the remaining corpse in and leapt after it, using it as cover against any wild shots. None came. He was in a room filled with rapidly vanishing smoke, four- no [I]six[/I]-bodies, and with three tunnels branching off. ?There?s nothing here?? Liam then noticed the Humvee parked in one of the tunnels. Its engine was still running, but other than that? He turned round on the spot, and noticed the two Tritonal charges fixed to the foundations. They hadn?t been activated. ?Thank God.? He muttered to himself. ?If they were on, there?d be no way in hell that I?d be able to turn them off.? He began walking slowly toward the Humvee. ?What do we have in thee?? [/size]