Were Inc Uncaged

by Marcus Breathnach

Back in the control room Lieutenant Storm and Captain Quis Podex were in a fight for their lives, not with creatures like the one Corporal Knightley encountered, but with a new enemy, an enemy that attacked in a large group of seemingly endless numbers! They both struggled to fight off Goblins that had somehow entered the facility and bypassed the security measures, according to known folklore goblins are ill tempered looters, they may have been sitting in wait somewhere in the facility until the power was restored in order to gain full access to the entire facility or they may have found another way in and out that both Alpha and Bravo teams didn’t know of, the only thing they knew was the fight for survival had yet again gotten underway. Corporal Knightley heard over her visualizer’s commlink a great deal of gun fire and Captain Quis Podex shouting

  “Marie, get your ass here now!”

  Corporal Knightley hastily replied

  “Captain I’m on my way, eta three minutes”

  she looked to the screens of two monitors to see the data complete its transfer, she looked to her pda to insure HQ received the data, once the message showed the ‘delivered’ sign she thought she had enough time to gather as much information from the computers terminals as she could utilizing the facilities Wi-Fi to download as much as her visualizer could hold in its memory card while she went to her team’s aid.

  “Some would call that stealing”

  a voice announced to Corporal Knightly, she spun around on her heels, tracking her weapon across the room, her keen eyes looking for a target, but she saw no one, she lowered her rifle and looked around the room once more; but still saw no one, yet the voice still spoke to her

  “of course, it’s none of my business what you do but, they are my secrets your taking”

  the voice was that of a man, but Marie could hear the kindness in his voice and thought he must be watching her on the facilities security cameras, it was the only rational explanation she could think of. The only other person(s) she knew to be in the facility were her Captain and the Lieutenant

  “you should go to the control room, your companions are in need of your help, don’t worry, you’ll be safe until you get there”

  there was something in the voice that made her feel compelled to trust it, and so she did as she was instructed. She raced to the control room and just as the voice said, she was safe as she raced through the corridors, once she got to the control room hallway; she found a horde of goblins struggling to get through the scatter of dead bodies piled up in the doorway, the dead bodies where that of their own comrades!

  “Captain!”

  Corporal Knightley yelled firing her weapon on three goblins killing them before throwing a flash bang grenade into centre of the goblin horde, the slight bang was followed by a great flash that frenzied the horde; but the deafening crack was enough to send the remaining goblins scampering from the control room doorway but for how long was anyone’s guess.

  “Lieutenant seal that door, Corporal get on to HQ I want an extraction ASAP”

  Captain Quis Podex ordered loading the last magazine into his rifle

  “maybe now we have some time to breath”,

  the sound of the emergency blast door closing over the control room entrance was sweet music to the Captain’s ears

  “right these poor souls won’t need their weapons anymore, salvage what you can and hunker down”

  he ordered pointing to the bodies of the goblins and Were Inc soldiers before resting himself on a set of steps with a great sigh of relief.

  Where he sat he could see laying about his feet all the empty rifle magazines and bullet casings, he looked at them in disappointment, he knew in his heart he would soon be forced to use his trusty sidearm a ‘colt python’ a large calibre revolver, with six shots and slow reload time but he favoured this weapon more than another he had ever used; now he may be forced to use it on himself and his team in a worst case scenario. Lieutenant Storm found a 9mm Beretta pistol once issued to Were Inc Delta teams on reconnaissance missions, Corporal Knightly found an ST-15161654 assault rifle, strangely; these rifles were issued recently yet the body she found it next to was beginning to decompose? When they were once again armed and dangerous, Corporal Knightley wanted answers from her Captain who she believed knew much more than he was letting on.

  “Captain, I think it’s time you started telling us what you know, we’ve narrowly escaped hell so far, we just got attacked by freaking Goblins! We lost one of our team, a good woman, who I would have giving my right arm for, she died like no one ever should; eating by whatever that thing was”

  the Corporal demanded answers while struggling to maintain a respectful tone towards her commanding officer.

  Captain Quis Podex sharply turned his stare away from the sealed door looking to Corporal Knightley

  “Corporal, I am your commanding officer and you will follow whatever orders I give you”

  he exclaimed his eyes wide with anger,

  he couldn’t believe she dared to question him or assume that he could be with holding important information

  “are you pulling rank on me Captain?”

  she asked,

  her respectful tone was now a thing of the past

  “you can forget that crap”

  Lieutenant Storm nervously chuckled

  “need I remind you, as the acting medical officer for this team, should I deem you unfit to command this team, I have the right to relieve you of that command!”

  Corporal Knightley snarled.

  She wanted answers and was so scared so anxious, she didn't care what she had to do to get those answers. Captain Quis Podex could no longer deny that he knew more than he was telling his acting team, he went over the predictions in his head, he could see a number of outcomes where he lied to them yet again and even more outcomes regarding what could happen if he was honest with them, either outcome wasn’t very appealing to him; each outcome ended similarly, he wouldn’t get out of Eiru alive! He needed Aisling and Marie if he was to survive this living nightmare.

  He rested his elbows on his knees, with his colt python still firmly grasped in his right hand while he spoke

  “I was posted here some time ago under the command of Admiral Blackery, we were stationed to protect a research team lead by Doctor Oscar Burton, the company had heard stories of living water, real magic, stories of raiders and blood rituals and more; but it was the research into a manmade symbiotic life form that the Doctor had begun and named Project mortal, that was the main focus of our been here”

  the gun the Captain held had begun to look very friendly to him as he stroked it like you would when comforting a frightened puppy.

  “After two years there was no real progress with the symbiote research and the company wanted to end the research and all evidence was to be destroyed”

  he spun the gun in his hand grasping it firmly like a party trick

  “we were about to be shipped back to HQ when, the Eiru council approached us, they offered us access to equipment far beyond our own”

  he suddenly became excited as he carried on with his tale

  “I mean way beyond anything we knew possible, centuries ahead of our own, space age kind of stuff; but, as with all things there was a price to be paid, they wanted the first successful Project-M symbiote was to be tested on one of their own people, specifically, Prince Michéal”

  Lieutenant Storm stumbled backwards mumbling leaning against the computers chair that was fixed to the floor

  “oh god, I'm going to be sick”

  Corporal Knightly shook her head in disbelief

  “you bastards, those things, that thing that killed Rose, that’s project mortal isn’t it?”

  she asked in shock.

  Captain Quis Podex holstered his weapon and looked the Corporal in the eye, his dead soulless eyes unnerved her

  “yes, one of them, you think you have seen the worst of what’s out there because you've seen one or two types of symbiotes? Marie, all that we've been through together,
the wars we've fought the battles we won, we stood back to back and walked away in one piece but those creatures out there; are not the real danger, you haven't seen a goddamn thing!”

  he seemed to be crazed as he replied, Corporal Knightly could not help herself she snickered at his suggestion that there could be worse then what they’ve already encountered

  “you mean to tell me that there are worse things than what Were Inc. has created?”

  the Corporal snorted in disbelief

  “I’ll have no part in this, I don’t do this kind of work, we were meant to be a search and rescue team, we are not disposable mercenary’s”

  the Corporal affirmed while ripping off her Were Inc. Insignia and throwing it at Captain Quis Podex along with her helmet and tags.

  The Captain looked to Lieutenant Storm and asked

  “what about you?”

  in a monotone voice. She lifted her head looking between Marie and the Captain with her eyes watering

  “like it matters, I mean, am I the only one that has any sense here?"

  she whimpered looking at them in turn

  “I’ve spent too long running from vampires, trying to out think Minotaur’s for food, I was captured by Orc’s and sold as, as a slave to a witches’ coven; I’ve done unspeakable things before I was shackled in that tunnel for days on end! Now I’m fighting symbiotic monsters and goblins, I can’t be the only one here who thinks this isn’t possible and now, now your Captain tells us there's worse out there?”

  Lieutenant Storm broke down hysterically,

  Marie tried to console her unsure what she could say to help so she just hugged her while they sat on the floor

  “it’s not possible, it’s not, they aren’t real they’re only in stories”

  the Lieutenant repeated clutching her weapon for dear life

  “all the creatures you’ve heard of in stories or seen movies they all came from reality, reality of a time long since forgotten”

  explained Captain Quis Podex,

  “here in Eiru humans are the rarity”

  he finished.

  “Karama, come in Karama, this is Nightshade”

  The radio spoke and the tea, finally heard from HQ, Captain Quis Podex jumped up to the radio panel and answered

  “Nightshade this is Karama, power has been restored, multiple hostiles encountered, requesting immediate extraction, over”

  the silence that followed left the team with a sinking feeling.

  Finally the silence was broken

  “extraction is a no go, repeat, extraction is a negative, your mission is complete, make your way back to the bay, avoid contact with locals at all cost, you will be contacted at sixteen hundred hours Nightshade out”

  the radio link was immediately disconnected

  “what the hell was that?”

  shouted the Lieutenant

  “we’ve been deemed expendable Lieutenant”

  replied Marie

  “we have our orders, move out”

  ordered the Captain “shut up fool”

  Marie announced

  “I no longer take orders from you or Were Inc. I’ll make my own way back”

  she barked with anger surging through her

  “Corporal Knightly, you will fall in line”

  bellowed Captain Quis Podex

  “Piss off”

  she shouted as she approached the camera controls checking the facility for a safe route out of the facility while the Lieutenant asked a lingering question

  “Captain, why was Project mortal created?”

  he replied with a soft timber in his voice

  “if we can get to Dr. Oscar's personal quarters I can show you”

  Captain Quis Podex tried to reassure the Lieutenant and regain Marie’s trust and loyalty

  “It seems quiet, if we can get to the end of the corridor and to the junction, we can take a left turn, it should lead us to the personal quarters area”

  Marie explained

  “right let’s move”

  ordered Captain Quis Podex once again.

  They gathered their belongings exchanging their helmets for the visualizers; with the power restored they wouldn’t need their night vision equipment anymore. Once they were ready to move on Marie pressed a series of buttons on a control panel and opened the sealed door; Lieutenant Storm stood into the corridor with her weapon following her eyes as she looked for goblins, luckily there was nothing there to greet them. They crept along the hall trying not to make a sound; it was scary to sense the breathless air to smell that sickly sweet smell of blood mixed with the overpowering stench of death! They had made it to the junction without any trouble, they did have to step over even more dead than before they entered? It would be difficult to remain silent when they were stepping on armour and weapons, it was unavoidable, they would be making noise at some point.

  “Follow my lead”

  Captain Quis Podex ordered with a firm and resolute voice,

  they entered the personal quarters with Captain Quis Podex taking the lead walking ahead of the two women,

  “take this”

  Marie whispered to the Lieutenant while she slipped a rather small stun gun into Lieutenant Storm’s hand, Lieutenant Storm replied only with a quick head bob

  “there’s a room hidden behind one of these walls, look for a slot or a switch”

  the Captain instructed, they looked for the switch or button or some way to open the hidden room in the hopes the Captain was telling the truth, suddenly and without warning they were attacked by both a goblin attack force and the pro-mortal symbiotes! Marie and Lieutenant Storm instinctively stood back to back and picked their targets carefully before firing their weapons, they were in luck as the goblins and the creatures were not allies, they too were attacking one another taking some aggression away from the two ladies

  “to hell with this secret room, we got to get out of this one first”

  Lieutenant Storm shouted over the raging battle

  “follow me”

  Marie replied as she raced to the laundry chute at the end of the room,

  slamming her hand onto the button over the chute, opening the chute that seemed to plunge right down into darkness

  “inside”

  she yelled

  “the Captain’s gone”

  Lieutenant Storm exclaimed

  “forget him, we gotta go”

  Marie screamed before pushing Lieutenant Storm into the chute rather forcefully then jumped in after her. The inner surface of the chute was slimy making any method of slowing down the rapid fall rather impossible, when they reached the end of the chute they both came shooting out like human cannonballs! They were launched into the huge vat of waste chemicals and who knows what else with a sizable splash, they sharply stood up looking around them realizing they were in a vat of slime and bubbling gunge, a few things were made painfully clear to them both, firstly, their clothes were never going to be clean again and secondly their weapons, now coasted in who knows what, were going to be difficult to handle.

  “That’s not the best way to avoid death but, thanks anyway”

  Lieutenant Storm joked with a nervous smile before throwing her protective vest away and picking up her weapon that floated next to her pouring the liquid from its barrel trying to clean it with no real effect

  “I do my best to please”

  replied Marie with a grin, sharply pulling off her protective vest that had been damaged in the battles with the goblins and symbiotes, she wriggled as she peeled off her tank top, the chemicals and slimy liquid now smeared against her bare stomach it was a very unpleasant feeling, she splashed her tank top into the sludge like it was an odious rag she had taking offence to; they both now stood almost waist deep in the bath of chemical waste, Lieutenant Storm held her weapon out of the grunge adjusting her tank top that now clung to her curvaceous powerful frame, her tank top was now far from its original brilliant white colouring, it was now a offal dull
green in parts and transparent in others.

  “Guess I shouldn’t complain huh, who do I have to look good for”

  she grumbled

  “well, I’m here”

  Marie replied jokingly with a false smouldering taunting look

  “don’t start something you can’t finish”

  Lieutenant Storm giggled

  “that’ll give a sniper something to aim for”

  Lieutenant Strom joked laughing and pointing to Marie’s fluorescent pink sports bra, to which Marie smirked sarcastically and tried to pour the sludge from her rifle while answering

  “the sniper can look all he wants but he ain't touching, according my visualizer there’s a room up ahead, we might be able to get out through there”

  explained Marie as she trudged through the waste to the vats edge where she helped Lieutenant Storm out of the vat onto a thinly constructed walkway; in return she was helped by the Lieutenant.

  “Wait”

  Lieutenant Storm called out to Marie who had left her side to search for the entrance into the other room, Marie turned back to face the Lieutenant, she watched as Aisling tore her tank top in order to get the Were Inc Insignia off of her, dropping it into the waste vat

  “command left us here for dead, your Captain bailed on us, to hell with the lot of’em”

  Marie looked to Aisling and smiled “when this is done, Were Inc has a lot to answer for” snarled Marie, Aisling agreed and returned her smile.

  Chapter 5: 191912914719

  T hey started to walk towards the room with purpose when unsurprisingly they both slipped on the metal surface of the walkway they slide for several moments before they fell down the metallic steps and crashed through the door and into a large room; a room that seemed to have been in constant use, it looked like it was never abandoned since the facility was constructed. They looked up from the snow white tiled floor that they now stained with their grimy clothing and stained bodies to see a sterile clean white room where everything was in perfect working order, all around them were things they couldn’t have possibly began to explain, there were multiple cylinders filled with clear gelation holding a number of what may have been failed experiments, they held small and different coloured solid substances similar to the creatures they had already encountered; just what was it that Were Inc was trying to do in this facility and what was the truth behind project mortal.