ISSUE #1 (August 2021)
Written by John Cheese Featuring: |
Temple of Conflict…
Qurac… Dressed in the tan fatigues of the Quraqi National Guard, the ten-man squad crested the top of the dune to look out at the sprawling beach front covered with trailing barbed wire and rusting ‘hedgehog’ tank barriers. In the center of the beach, half-buried in the sand sat an ancient temple carved from sandstone, the pillars of the entrance supported by twin statues of barely human figures carved from volcanic glass. “Captain, this is a cursed place, we should leave here before…” One of the Quraqi soldiers began to state only for the captain to raise his hand, a small gesture that silenced his subordinates. “The Israeli’s were shot down a mile away, we know they fled here hoping to rendezvous with their Navy out in the gulf.” The Captain whispered as he turned to face his men. “Those jackals dared to enter our airspace, to bomb our coastline but now they flee like the mange-ridden dogs they are. We promised to keep our nation safe from those who would exploit our people, and I plan to do so!” “Sir in all due respect this place, the stories of the ancient powers, they have not diminished.” The first soldier gulped. “Colonial superstition enforced by the British usurpers.” Another man, this one armed with a massive anti-material rifle snorted. “If you believe those superstitions then you are still just a puppet of the decadent West.” “Private Kalam is right, and even if he wasn’t Quraqi men do not fear demons and ghosts.” The Captain announced as Kalam placed his anti-material rifle down on the summit of the dune and looked through the scope. “If possible, we want these men alive, what they know can be used as retaliation by our allies in Hassad, as they take the fight beyond our borders.” Turning back to the temple, the Captain could see small shapes milling around the front of the temple. He didn’t even have to gesture for Kalam to tell him what he was witnessing. “Looters, probably looking for plunder to take to the West.” Kalam spat as the Captain removed a pair of binoculars from a case on his belt and brought them to his eyes. He had been expecting to see either shabbily dressed militiamen or the dark green fatigues of the Israeli Air Force, instead, he saw men dressed in grey power armor carrying unmarked boxes out the front of the temple. “Captain I’ve found the Israelis,” Kalam whispered as he pointed to the right of the temple. Following his gesture, the Captain saw what remained of the twelve men crew of the Israeli helicopter bound upside down to one of the tank obstacles by barbed wires, blood dripping from their wounds. As disturbing as this scene was it wasn’t the state of the bodies that caused the Captain to flinch, he had after all done worse himself. Rather it was the eagle clutching the swastika that had been branded onto the forehead of the executed prisoners that caused him to flinch. “Your orders sir?” One of the soldiers asked. “Retreat, the targets are dead, but what we have found has power too.” The Captain stated as he slotted the binoculars back in their case. Belle Reve Penitently… Louisiana… Amanda Waller placed the receiver of the desk phone back onto its base. The news she had received was bad, but regardless she planned to make the best of what she had been given. Despite the world moving ever onwards, Amanda had stood like a stone in a river, ever the patriot willing to do whatever it took no matter the cost. Such a life hadn’t come without pain; the death of her husband, daughter and son had led to a decade of stress eating and an ever-diminishing social life. But now things were looking like they were coming to a head, still, until she was ordered to stop, things would continue the way she wanted. “Jensen, can you get me Colonel Rick Flag and military attaché Tatsu Yamashiro. I have need of their services.” Amanda announced, pressing the intercom button that led to the attached office of her secretary. “But Ma’am you heard what Congress stated until they amend the Ostra…” Jensen spluttered. “Did I stammer Jensen, I asked you to get hold of two people,” Amanda replied in an even voice, one that caused shivers to run down the spines of anyone surrounding her. “Yes Ma’am, right away.” Jensen gulped as Amanda looked at the four manilla files on her desk. “Will there be anything else Ma’am.” “Get me a black coffee and then clear out your desk,” Amanda told him as she flipped open a folder labeled Operation Chrysaor, aerial photographs of a desert pot-marked with bomb craters surrounding a small stone structure. “We can find somewhere better suited for your skills at Belle Reve.” Dressed in a blue dress uniform, the slim figure of Tatsu Yamashiro was dwarfed by the well-muscled body of her compatriot clad in the beige military uniform of the US Marine Corps. The helicopter ride over from Fort Polk had been quiet, while neither of them was overly talkative, they both knew what it meant to be summoned to Belle Reve. Both of them had hoped that this part of their lives was over, but then there was a saying within the prison, ‘once you were behind the Wall, you never came back". Belle Reve itself squatted, surrounded by six hundred acres of marshland, the only way in was by air, by water, or by a road that flooded for twelve hours a day when the tide rolled in. Even entering as a free man free of the threat of incarceration was enough to quell even the happiest thoughts, and knowing what lurked inside cause even the brave and the bold to ponder their choices. “Last stop, the Beautiful Dream herself.” The helicopter pilot stated as the rotors died down and the crew door opened to reveal thick fog half obscuring the prison walls, searchlights in the towers burning through the fog. Getting up Tatsu and the other passenger walked out, the helicopter engulfed by the swirling mist within ten paces. “Beautiful Dream.” The military man mumbled, “More like a recurring nightmare Briscoe.” “You think of me as a nightmare Colonel Flag?” Tatsu asked as violet emergency lighting flared to life illuminating the path into the administration block. “Not you Tatsu, this place. Unfortunately, we only ever cross path when Waller summons us.” Flag replied as he removed his helmet to reveal cropped blonde hair and brown eyes, complete with a healed scar through the left lid and cheek. Reaching the door, they saw a large figure backlit by the emergency light clad in a grey suit, her hair tied up in a bun. “And yet you always come when I call you,” Waller replied as she stepped aside to let the pair of them enter the building. “You two are bound by a sense of duty just like me. And until Congress shuts us down, we will continue to do that duty.” She added as the three of them headed down a set of stairs to what appeared to be a suite of medical labs where figures dressed in hazmat suits were working on an anesthetized prisoner. “That’s a little invasive for implanting a bomb in someone’s neck Waller?” Flag mused as a massive clamp was moved over the prisoner’s chest. “We’re upgrading our inmate security measures,” Amanda explained as a screen with heartbeat rates appeared on a tablet held by one of the hazmat-suited doctors. “We’re keeping the neck bombs as a safeguard but we’ll be relying on a new cardiac arrestor designed and manufactured here. That machine synchronizes the host’s heartbeat to a nanite chip in the base of the spine, if activated it causes the subject to enter cardiac arrest. This way we retain a more covert profile when on the mission.” “What is the mission, Amanda?” Tatsu asked as the clamp was lifted off the prisoner’s chest, four burning sucker marks left behind on his bare skin. “Qurac maintains shadow embassies in Europe and America which allows them to share information. Last week we got word that an ultra-right-wing cult known as the Heralds of the Fourth Reich plundered a temple and absconded with two artifacts.” Amanda stated as the prisoner, a bald-headed man with the letters F.O.K tattooed on his chest, began to come too. “The Heralds are perusing superhuman assets to further their cause, if they are robbing that temple then there is a reason.” “And this man is meant to help us?” Flag asked as the man got to his feet and was handed the orange jumpsuit with the word ‘Inmate’ stenciled on the back. “Mr Fry Oven Killach A.K.A the mercenary F.O.K was part of a crew known as the Tranz-It-Authority, a specialized crew of train robbers.” Amanda explained as F.O.K was led out of the room by a pair of security guards. “A shell company Eagle Couriers is owned by members of the Heralds and has commissioned a cargo train to transport the stolen artifacts from Rome to Strasbourg. “As such, we’re tapping F.O.K’s experience.” She added as the group started walking, heading back outside across a fog-shrouded gantry to a building marked as ‘Panopticon’, an amber-lit sign stating the structure was ‘locked down. “New procedure, when we’re recruiting, we lock down the structure to prevent draftees from escaping,” Amanda told the others as she placed her hand on the door, optical lasers scanning her hand, face and body before the sign lit up green. “I was expecting more security.” Tatsu mused as the door slid open to reveal a metal corridor with a second security door blocking their path. “The system takes retinal and hand scans; it then carries out a deep tissue scan and takes DNA samples before scanning the prison complex for matches,” Amanda told them as the outside door shut and the internal security shutter was raised. “If it finds duplicates it locks down, it’s not shape shifter proof, but it raises security against such individuals.” She continued as the trio walked past an internal exercise yard where two men; one a bare-chested man with a magnificent mane of blonde hair and a steel mask complete with a horn and a metal skinned figure with iron bracers and a black bodysuit, were brawling. “Guard what are these two men fighting over?” Flag asked as he spotted a pair of guards betting on the outcome of the fight. As soon as the men spotted Amanda they straightened up and slid the money they’d been holding back in their pockets. “Sir, Garth Asley AKA Diesel called Skitch Benson AKA the Unicorn ‘Fabio’ and insulted his hair which prompted Mr Benson to attack him.” One of the guards gulped as the Unicorn tossed Diesel over his head. “Report it to Incident Control,” Amanda announced as Diesel swung at Unicorn’s legs knocking him to the floor. “All of it including our wager.” She added as Unicorn bucked Diesel off his back, the pair of them panting and wheezing. “Gentlemen if you would kindly get ready and head to the auditorium.” After a moment of glowering at each other, Unicorn and Diesel edged past Waller and the others. “Let me guess super strength, enhanced durability, and not a lot else.” Flag stated as he watched the pair of super-criminals get into the elevator at the end of the hallway. “Diesel has petroleum for blood, but otherwise your correct. Both men will be suitable wall breakers and bullet sponges for the more specialized members of your team.” Waller answered him as the lift doors closed. “Looks like we’re taking the stairs down to the gun range.” She sighed as the trio of officials headed down the corridor to the emergency stairwell. “I’m sure these men and the others you have gathered are suitable, but there were people who we knew were reliable,” Tatsu stated as the sounds of gunfire could be heard echoing from the level below. “Bronze Tiger, Nightshade, Captain Boomerang even Deadshot, they were all people we knew how to handle.” “Tiger and Nightshade are making a go of being heroes outside Belle Reve and Captain Boomerang is currently in the infirmary after stepping up to another criminal,” Waller announced as they headed through a door and into a corridor filled with booths. Halfway down a pale-skinned woman with snake skin trousers and leotard holding a submachine gun was firing at targets, a man dressed in an orange jumpsuit supervising her, while a middle eastern woman dressed in a yellow bustier and red skirt waited to take her turn. “As for Floyd Lawton…” “Jaculi, Sidewinder the sessions over.” The inmate dressed in orange announced as the woman removed the clip from her submachine gun and placed it down on the counter. Looking Flag up and down, the woman flicked out a forked tongue before slinking away from the group, the woman in yellow and red following her. “Are you here to refresh your gun arm Flag, last mission we were on together you went on you missed 12% of your shots.” “What are you doing here Floyd?” Flag grumbled; his eyes locked on the bloody stumps where Floyd’s hands had been “Waller needs someone with aim to teach her guards and her Taskforce X stooges,” Floyd replied as he placed his hands behind his back. “And I expect you felt sorry for me after you ordered me to finish the mission.” “I don’t feel sorry for you Floyd, it’s simply would be criminal to waste a talent such as yours.” Amanda snorted as she removed a pen-sized trigger from her pocket. “That doesn’t mean I won’t separate your head from your shoulders if you do as much as look at me cockeyed!” She snapped before turning to head the way Sidewinder had slithered down. “Floyd, we didn’t…” Tatsu began to say only for Deadshot to clear his throat. “Don’t feel sorry for me, if I could I’d have already shot you,” Floyd replied as he shot the pair of them a hateful look. “We were never friends but after you left, things got bad, we weren’t even a squad we were bodies for the grinder.” He snarled as Flag and Tatsu moved away from him. “That’s right turn and walk away, it's all people like you are good for!” As he caught up with Waller, Flag grabbed her by the shoulder, causing her to spin around and look him in the eye. “What happened to him?!” Flag snapped. “What did you make Deadshot do to become so twisted and bitter?” “It’s classified, and regardless of the result I would do all the same things!” Amanda snarled as she turned and walked into the prison library where a white hair woman dressed in a long-sleeved leotard sat on the table a bookmarked with a pentagram on the cover hovering next to her. “This is Fauna Faust, we believe her skills in regards to all things mystical will be helpful,” Amanda announced, glad to be changing the subject. At the sound of her name, Fauna looked up and smiled, before slipping off the table and walked over to Tatsu. Placing her hands on Tatsu’s arm, Fauna cocked her head before crying out in pain, a blast causing her to collapse to the floor. “What the…” Flag yelled as Tatsu looked at her arm to check for any damage. “You are sorrow Tatsu Yamashiro, death is your lover, as she is mine.” Fauna cried before revealing her hand, burns running up and down her skin, ones that faded as she got back to her feet. “I’m so sorry, I shouldn’t have done that, I’m sorry, I’m sorry.” “There was no harm done.” Tatsu gulped as Fauna grabbed her book and darted out of the library. “Is she going to be, okay?” She asked before checking her arm once again. “Her girlfriend Syonide was killed in a previous mission. When we told Fauna something inside broke, still, her knowledge of magic and powers should make her useful, especially with our concerns on this mission.” Amanda explained as she led Flag and Tatsu through the library and into a laboratory where a man-shaped figure with small pinpricks of light shining from his body was standing as people in hazmat suits threw small items at his shadow. As they made contact with the shadow, the items disappeared and appeared on a table next to a woman in a lab coat who was taking down notes on a computer tablet. “Is this our final member?” Rick asked as a monkey was brought out and pushed into the shadow of the figure, the small simian being dragged into the darkness before being reconstituted in a cage along the back wall. “That would be Moa Marston AKA the Abyss, he’ll be the one that will take you to your mission point,” Amanda stated as the dark shadow of a man-made a few deep rumbling sounds. “He’s a teleporter whose mass shadow can send living things wherever we tell him to. Doctor, can you please send Abyss to the Auditorium.” Nodding the doctor tapped a few things into her tablet before… Unwilling to look away, Flag and Tatsu watched as Abyss collapsed in on himself, the pinpoints of light blinking out until he was gone. “What have you been doing while we’ve been absent Waller?” Flag asked as he turned away from where Abyss had been standing. “What I had to Colonel Flag; I suggest you remember that on the mission.” Waller replied coldly. “You assume you know what you’re up against. I can assure you that you have no idea.” Auditorium… Belle Reve Penitently… Waller looked over the rag-tag crew assembled in the cinema-style auditorium, none of them daring to look each other in the eye. Bringing up a map of Qurac, Amanda Waller activated a pointer, zooming the map in on the temple on the beach. “Last week a terror group known as the Heralds of the Fourth Reich overran a temple that was established Achaemenid Empire. They stole a pair of artifacts that our occult experts have identified as the Dybbuk’s Box and the Djinn’s Bottle, two mystical prisons for ancient and powerful beings who have been at war with each other since the beginning of time.” Amanda explained as she saw Fauna stir slightly. “Question Miss Faust?” “If they are genuine.” Fauna gulped as she wrung her hands. “Then they must not be opened. These entities have the power to play chess with whole nations when contained, if they were to be freed death and destruction would be meaningless compared to the chaos their battles would cause.” “That is why you are being sent to Italy to recover these items,” Amanda stated as a train schedule overlaid the images of the temple. “The crew are likely compromised by the Heralds and will defend their cargo to the death. The train will be running non-stop between Rome and Strasbourg but will be diverting to a slower line at Legnano for ten miles to allow a high-speed commuter train to pass, that will be your entry point.” She continued as she saw F.O.K raise his hand. “Yes?” “I’m all for socking the Hitter heads in the jaw but what happens if one of Fauna’s magical monsters escapes. I’ll fight a lot of things but not whatever the hell a Dybbuk is.” F.O.K snorted as he rolled up the sleeves of the thick blue jacket he was wearing. “They are not my monsters!” Fauna snapped as she turned to look up at F.O.K, “the Dybbuk is an undead spirit that latches onto a target, twisting them into vile reflections of themselves. These hosts can’t even die, the Dybbuk can raise armies of the undead within seconds of being released.” “And the Djinn is no better,” Jaculi added as she straightened the quiver of javelins on her back. “Djinn are demons of smoke and fire; they revel in chaos and corrupt the wishes of those who fall under its power.” “If the Heralds are stupid enough to release the Djinn or Dybbuk, or heaven help us both of them escape how do we stop them?” Flag asked as an image of a stained-glass bottle and a wooden case appeared on the screen. “From what research we’ve done it suggests that the spirits live in the containers and that when closed their earthly powers are limited,” Waller stated as she crossed her arms and looked up at Abyss. “Wait these things that are so powerful can be stopped by closing a box?!” Unicorn snorted in amusement. “Are you kidding me, even a moron can do that?” He added as Abyss got to his feet and walked down the steps to the stage. “As per the contracts you all signed you know the reward, time off your sentences, and you were saw the orientation video that explained what happens when you fail.” Waller stated as Abyss stood next to her, “Katana, Flag your equipment will be sent through to you to Checkmate’s safehouse.” She added as two large military packs were brought in by technicians and placed in Abyss’s shadow, the two bundles sinking into the darkness. “Wait how are we getting to Italy?!” Diesel grunted as Abyss’s shadow stretched out to engulf the seated Suicide Squad members, those in the lower rows of seats swallowed up immediately while those further up panicked and tried to back out of the room before they too were swallowed up. “Like that.” Amanda answered as she switched off the screen behind her as Abyss began to fold in on himself. “Flag has your team made it to the Legnano safehouse?” Waller called as she clipped her ear piece on. “We arrived, at least most of us did.” Flag’s voice replied. To Be Continued… |