Squad X Chapter 1: Denizen
The year is 2059 and the streets of Chicago, Illinois were flooded with cars as usual. The crescent moon in the sky lit up the rooftops while the city lights illuminated the busy streets. Artificial light doesn't kill them; only natural sunlight and pure silver can even break their skin. Garlic has proven to be a myth. While silver is effective, it doesn't kill them automatically. Silver bullets and silver blades damage them, but it takes repeated strikes to bring them down; chopping their heads off, piercing their heart or dismembering their bodies are a sure way to kill a vampire. Wooden stakes do in fact work, but to get close enough to one and pierce a wooden stake into the heart of a vampire is considered suicide by many. One bite and you turn into one of them…
A Blackhawk-64 helicopter came steadily across the sky. Its upgraded rotor systems make it next to impossible to hear. In the chopper was a squad of 8 individuals. Each was armed with their own weapon of choice. Once the chopper was near the Dive Zone, the area for a sky diving entry for a mission, the side doors of the Blackhawk slide open. The squad leader, Gunner, was ready to take the dive from the left door while Reload was ready to dive at the right door.
Gunner is fair skinned and has black spiky hair with bangs that frame his face and stop just below his chin along with a pair of bright, white eyes with a black pupil. He wears a long black, leather coat which he keeps his small weapons. The coat goes down to about mid-calf and he keeps his rifle on his back, mounted to the right via black strap. He wears the standard black, lightweight, bite proof vest that consists of several straps and buckles and wears a long-sleeved, very dark leather shirt underneath. He wears matching leather pants and boots complete with black, leather gloves. He uses the SX-24 Full Automatic Assault Rifle, S-4 Riot Shotgun and a broad machete.
Reload is fair-skinned and has thick, spiky, black hair that is kept in an upright position to the left via eyepiece. He wears a black metal and hard plastic band around his head with it lowered over his eyes. He can see through the band because of a thin slide that he can click a button to open and close at will. The slide is thick enough for his eyes and gives him a perfect field off vision when it's in use. He too wears a long black coat that he uses to conceal his smaller weapons, i.e. grenades and throwing knives. His black coat is little more "blowy" than Gunner's, however. He also wears a pair of black, leather gloves and the standard black, bite proof vest and dark, long-sleeved leather shirt. He's got a sheath for his Katana built into the back of the jacket. His weapons are the SX-8 Tech (Three Round Burst Assault Rifle), Akimbo X-7 Semi-Automatic Pistols and of course his Black-Bladed Katana.
Blackhawk Pilot 1: Dive time countdown initiated. Twelve seconds.
Gunner: Alright, Squad X. Get ready to dive.
Diver: How many Suckheads we lookin' for?
Infinity: Well jackass, if you weren't sleeping during the briefing Luther gave us, you'd know.
Diver: Can someone that's not a lesbian give me an answer?
Infinity (to herself): *******…
Jack: There's two of them. They're disguised as humans. We'll need BT's this time.
"BT's" are Body Temperature Goggles that detect one's body heat from a great distance.
Blackhawk Pilot 2: Dive!
Reload: It's go time.
On the left of the chopper, Gunner dove head first, straight down to the city and Infinity, Leon and Diver dove down behind him. On the right side, Reload dove first and Pistolera, Jack and Saber dove down behind him. Everyone straightened their bodies and were diving head first down to Chicago's rooftops from 3000 feet.
Diver: Woo! It's been a while since we took a dive, guys!
Saber: We need to do this more often!
Pistolera: You can say that shit again!
Leon is fair-skinned and has a blue and green eye, a birth defect, and a specific haircut. His hair is lower on both sides than in the middle as he has dirty blonde hair and bangs that cover the center of his forehead. He wears the black, buckle covered, standard bite proof vest with a long-sleeved, leather shirt underneath. He keeps his 12 Inch Bladed Machete on a sheath on his left shoulder blade. He wears matching blade pants with match combat boots. His weapons of choice are the SX-1600 Cloud (Lightweight Minigun), X-2 High-Caliber Revolver and Pure Silver, 12 Inch Bladed Machete.
Infinity is pale skinned, has green eyes and has a shaved head completed with a black Mohawk down the center. She wears no undershirt, just a bra and the bite proof vest which reveals her bellybutton. She's a lesbian and Diver sometimes playfully teases her about her sexuality, which pisses her off. She wears fingerless gloves that extended up to mid forearm and a pair of tight, black elbow pads. She also wears tight, black, glossy pants and combat boots to match. She usually carries her sniper in hand, but also carries it via black strap on her back. She uses an SX-5 Falcon (Sniper Rifle), S-13 Slick (Submachine Gun) and Pure Silver Kris Blade (hip-mounted).
Diver is fair-skinned with dark yellowish eyes and brown hair that lies down yet isn't long enough to reach his neck. He wears the standard bite proof vest and the black leather shirt underneath. He wears matching leather pants and black combat boots. His weapons are the SX-19 Dasher (Fully Automatic Assault Rifle), C-4 Explosives and Standard Pure Silver, Jagged Edged Butcher (Combat Knife).
Pistolera is fair-skinned and has light grey eyes and black hair that she keeps in a high ponytail and her bangs come down to frame her face. Even in a high ponytail, her hair is long enough to reach the middle of back. She wears the bite proof vest and a small scarf around her neck. Under the vest, she wears the standard black, leather long-sleeved shirt but she had the entire right sleeve cut off, revealing her tattoo of her past lover on her bicep/shoulder. She wore tight, black leather pants and combat boots to match. She always carries her tonfa in a sheath around her waist, resting on her tailbone with her pistols in a holster on her left and right hip (her pistols can switch between single, TRB, multi-shot and fully automatic). She uses Akimbo X-21 Changeable Fire Rate Pistols and a Tonfa that she's modified into a Pure Silver blade with incredible piercing attributes.
Jack is brown-skinned, has dark brown eyes and black hair that is slicked back in a non-douchebag fashion; he ends of his hair slightly curve upward. He wears the bite proof vest and black and leather undershirt with no coat. He wears a pair of midnight black shades, seemingly all the time and has a noticeable "X" shape scar on his right cheek. Aside from the scar, he's got a thin moustache and patch of hair directly on the peak of his chin. His weapons of choice are Akimbo S-15 Lever-Action Shotguns (back-mounted), S-500 Grenade Launcher and a Pure Silver, 12 Inch Bladed Machete.
Saber is nearly pale-skinned, has black eyes and has long black hair that nearly reaches the middle of his back. This man prefers hand to hand combat over projectile weapons. He carries a sword on his waist, letting it rest on his tailbone. Being trained by a Japanese swordsman and being left handed, he has the sword facing to the left to grasp it easier and faster. He's got a sidearm in a holster on his right hip just in case he actually needs it. For an unknown reason, he wears bandages around his face in an unorthodox fashion; not completely covering his face. Parts of his mouth, nose and cheeks are still visible, as well as both eyes can be clearly seen. The bandages go like mummy gauze down his neck and stop just before his collarbone. His weapons are his personal, Pure Silver, Straight-Bladed Katana, X-2 Civil Pistol and Pure Silver Kunai and Shuriken.
Author's Note: Every bullet and blade that Squad X uses is made of pure silver.
After a long dive from the chopper, everyone went into a front flip and landed feet first. Upon landing, everyone landed knelt down on one knee to break the fall. Everyone slowly stood, glaring out into the city as they did so. No ordinary human can skydive out of a helicopter at 3000 feet with no parachute and survive.
Diver: Damn, I love diving.
Pistolera: Who doesn't like diving?
Reload: Listen up, everyone.
Gunner nodded to him, thanking him for getting them quiet.
Gunner: Alright, we're looking for a couple of Suckheads. Since they're blended into the human population, we have to be careful. Watch out for civilians and stay covert. Last thing we want is attention. Fan out into groups of two and post up on the roofs. I need everyone vigilant for this mission, got it?
Saber: Roger that.
Jack: You got it, Captain.
Gunner: Leon-
Leon: Sir?
Gunner: How's your arm?
Leon: It's good, sir.
Gunner: Good. Let's get to it.
From just below the elbow down, Leon's right arm has been replaced by a metal prosthetic arm because he's recently suffered a bite. During the mission, Reload amputated his arm and saved his life.
Everyone dispersed and went off into groups of two: Gunner and Reload, Leon and Jack, Pistolera and Saber and Infinity and Diver. They used their Parkour skills to jump and maneuver around the buildings and set up a perimeter. Reload has BT lenses built into his eye gear and he was scanning the streets. Gunner put his finger to his left ear.
Gunner (talking into earpiece microphone): Does anyone see anything aberrant?
Infinity: No, but you might want to use a smaller vocab. I think "aberrant" is too advanced for Diver.
Diver: Go to hell.
Jack, Leon and Pistolera laughed into their earpiece's microphone. Reload has his foot placed on the railing of the building as if he were stretching. He leaned forward as he saw some abnormal.
Reload: I got something.
Gunner: Body temp?
Reload: Forty-seven degrees. I'd guess a Suckhead.
Gunner (talking into earpiece microphone): We spotted one. East, 200 meters.
Saber: Let's kick some ass.
Gunner and Reload began jumping rooftops, advancing towards the vampire on the ground.
Reload: There!
The vampire and another person were heading into an alley on the right side of the street while they were on the left. Gunner looked at Reload.
Gunner: Jump.
Reload nodded. Gunner jumped from the rooftop, clear over the road that was overloaded with cars, and dove towards the alleyway. The vampire was disguised as a human that was also a drug dealer. He and the human were about to make an "exchange". The human was in his late 20s and looked like he's been on drugs for a while.
Vampire: So… what did you want laced?
Human: Just the usual. You brought it, didn't you?
Vampire: Of course I did. Here.
He reached into his pocket. The human looked around nervously, careful to watch out for the cops. He turned around to check the rear and the vampire surprise attacked him. He grabbed him by the back of the neck and slammed his face against the alleyway's brick wall. Once he let out a cry of pain and fell to the ground, the vampire picked him up by his throat and held him up; his feet not reaching the ground. The vampires opened its mouth and its lower jaw dislocated from the upper.
Human: Ah!
Seemingly out of nowhere, a straight-bladed sword appeared, severing the vampire's arm that was holding the human. The blade severed its arm at the forearm and the lifeless hand plopped to the ground. It let out shrieks of pain as black blood spurted from its severed arm, both on the ground and from the point of dissection on its arm. It turned around to see Gunner and Reload. Reload had thrown his sword like a throwing knife and successfully saved the drug addict. The addict scrambled to his feet and ran towards his saviors.
Human: Thank you! Oh God, thank you!
Gunner: We should've let it kill you. Go home and stay outta trouble.
The drug addict nodded to him and quickly ran off.
Gunner (calling out): And no more drugs!
Reload opened his hand and aimed his palm at his sword, which was stuck in the ground a few yards behind the Suckhead. It wiggled for a second and the sword was drawn back to its respective owner (he has a strong magnet built into his gloves so that he can draw back his sword). While his sword's blade is made of pure silver, its black; stained in the black blood of every vampire that has been unfortunate enough to be killed by his blade.
With one arm, the vampire wailed in to the sky. Its ear-piercing screech forced Gunner and Reload to cover their ears. Gunner pulled out his S-4 Riot Shotgun and fired at the creature, hoping to quiet it. The shell spread out into several pure silver buck shots and clipped the right side of its body, sending it spinning backwards into the trashcans. From above, Pistolera and Saber landed in front of them.
Gunner: Glad you could make it.
Pistolera: Always happy to help, Captain.
Saber: You only found one Suckhead?
Reload: Yeah. The other is still lurking somewhere.
Pistolera: Let us rid the world of this one first. Hopefully the others have found the other.
The vampire emerged from the piles of garbage it was just sent pinning into. It had morphed! It grew in height, a staggering 8 feet tall, and grew elongated arms with blade-like hands out of its shoulder blades and grew smaller blade-like arms from its sides like an extra pair of arms. Its lower jaw also detached again and hung near its chest area. It shrieked once again.
Gunner: Bring it down.
Pistolera had her X-21 automatic pistols drawn and began firing at the morphed vampire. She began running along the side of the brick building while unloading both magazines at the creature. While Saber rushed in and began showing the creature his swordsmanship prowess, Gunner and Reload pulled out their assault rifles and began firing at the monstrous being, being careful to not injure their own teammate. A perfectly timed bullet fired by Gunner severed the creature's right thigh from its right knee. At the same time as the dismembered knee, one of Pistolera's bullets found an opening and lodged itself into the creatures skull, putting it down. Saber quickly jammed the tip of his katana into the vampire's heart, just to be safe; pure silver to the head and to the heart, an overkill. Above, bullets were flying across the rooftops. The sides of the buildings had fire escapes, so the four members again used their Parkour skills to freehand climb the building using only the fire escape.
Once on the rooftops, Infinity, Diver, Leon and Jack were engaging the second vampire that Luther said would be there. This one was fast, and it morphed differently than the last. It was down on all fours and had two extra pairs of arms on its side, giving it the appearance of an eight-legged spider, including the vampire's legs. Its shirt was ripped off, revealing its anorexic torso that had several cuts all over it. It was pale and bold and screeched like the one in the alleyway.
Infinity fired two sniper rounds at it, but it was fast enough to literally side step and dodged the oncoming bullets. Leon began spraying his SX-1600 Cloud, lightweight minigun and Diver was firing his SX-19 Dasher at the vampire. It began quickly running sideways, escaping the bullets. While they were firing, Jack pulled out his Akimbo S-15 Lever Action Shotgun from their sheaths he had on his back in the shape of an "X". He fired them simultaneously at the Suckhead, but he fired them to either side of the Suckhead so it had nowhere else to go. It was being shot at by Diver and Leon and Jack cut off its escape route, so the creature was shot down by a shower of pure silver rounds.
Gunner, Reload, Pistolera and Saber ran over to the rest of the group.
Gunner: Good job, X. Mission complete.
Reload: Nice execution.
Diver: Damn good thinking, Jack! Quick on the brain today, huh?
Jack: It was the only thing I could think of to cut off its escape routes, because it was so fast. I noticed it liked jumping to the sides. Cut off the side escapes and it's dead.
Infinity: I can't believe it dodged two rounds from the SX-5 Falcon. This thing fires a bullet at 6000 feet per second. ****in' thing had crazy reaction time.
Gunner: They're getting faster. That's not a good thing. As the last Squad, it's all up to us to end these things. We need to find out where they all keep coming from and blow that shit to pieces.
Diver: Agreed. We're all thinking it, but I'm just gonna say it. It's only a matter of time until we're wiped out, too. Every single squad in the alphabet has been decimated. We can't hold out forever, and when we're gone, the world will- Urgh!
Gunner had walked over to him and punched him in the face. Diver fell to the ground while holding his eye. Pistolera and Leon knelt down to aid him.
Gunner: You ever speak like that again and I'll kill you myself. As mercenaries of E.A.S.E., we only have one rule: win. If you ever talk of defeat and the depletion of humanity, I won't hesitate to pull the trigger with the barrel in your mouth. Am I understood?
He was holding his left eye and Pistolera was helping him sit up while Leon went to his med-kit. He gave Gunner few solemn nods. He pulled out a very thin, black device that resembled a cell phone. He pressed one button and put the device to his ear.
E.A.S.E. Dispatch Operator: E.A.S.E. Dispatch. This is Stephanie, how can I help you?
Gunner: Steph, send us a chopper.
Stephanie: Roger that, Captain Gunner. ETA, fifteen minutes. See you when you get back.
Gunner: Copy that.
With the push of a button, he hung up the extremely thin communication device. Leon was patching up Diver who now had a fresh gash on the right side of his left eye and blood was beginning to leak down his cheek. Gunner looked at him.
Gunner: Your eye okay?
Diver: Yes, sir.
Gunner nodded.
Gunner: Chopper's coming in less than fifteen minutes. Just hang tight.
Diver: Gunner.
He looked back at Diver.
Diver: Sorry… about just now.
Gunner: No worries. Sorry about your eye.
Diver nodded at him and Gunner walked away to the other side of the rooftop. Leon taped a piece of medical gauze to the gash to stop the bleeding.
Diver: Thanks, Leon.
Infinity walked over to Diver. She held out her hand and he took it. She helped him to his feet.
Infinity: I don't know what filled you with momentary insanity, but you should know better than to talk like that around Gunner. Poor guy lost his brother.
Saber: Gunner had a brother?
Reload: Yeah, Boomer. I wouldn't expect you guys to know about him; Gunner rarely talks about his past.
Jack: Boomer was in Squad T with me before they all died. I was diagnosed with the flu, so Luther wouldn't let me go on the mission with them. They were apparently overrun by Suckheads when they went to an abandoned warehouse in South America. Being the last member of the squad, Luther assigned me to this squad when you guys were being formed. Over and over again, I keep thinking that I should've been with them. Maybe things could've been different if I could've gone with them, but I'll never know.
Pistolera: Damn… That's horrible. I never knew Gunner had a brother and to find out that he was killed by Suckheads… Poor guy…
Infinity: Yeah. So how about we keep our spirits high from now on. We'll kill every Suckhead that steps in our way.
Leon: Damn right!
Saber: Hell yeah.
Pistolera: We will fight, and we're gonna win!
Diver: **** the Suckheads! We kill them on a daily basis! What the hell was I thinking?! We'll eradicate them all!
Gunner (thinking): Good job, guys.
He was staring off into the city of Chicago, watching for anything else aberrant. He had his SX-24 rifle on his back and his S-4 Riot Shotgun in hand.
Gunner (thinking): Boomer… I miss you, big guy. I won't die until every Suckhead is dead. I swear on Mom's grave.
~Ending Credits
Squad X
© 2013 Garzell Tensei, Squad X Project
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
