Ascention Riseing

    Presidential directive 51: In the case of any emergency on U.S Sovran soil that can not be resolved with conventional means is to be met with the activation of the Strategic Homeland Division, a division of imbedded highly trained agents ready to drop everything on a moments notice to protect those who are unwilling or are not capable to protect themselves. These agent operate outside of the rules of engagement, and have no restriction by law. They are to finish their mission by any means necessary.

    Cold, the sinking feeling that wraps around you no matter how much you do to keep it out. Sure you can delay the feeling with thick clothing and space heaters but, eventually it will find a way in, it'll get a grip around you and never let go, it will grasp at your heart taking away any hope or other feelings that surround your consciousness.

    This is the very feeling that division agent Allen Colter felt as he stared at the dead body below him. Registration number 18426-19A, former First lieutenant U.S Army task force 9-40 Heartbreakers, now he works for the S.H.D as a field agent of the second wave. Not more that Four hours ago he and his fire team had been assigned to travers the infamous Dark Zone to locate and secure a possible secondary strain of the green poison virus. Fifteen minutes into the trek across the third sector they were engaged by a group of looters who thought they could make an easy pick off of a small group of travelers, but after they had discovered their mistake, they were quickly picked off one by one. Colter was staring at the last of the looters to fall before his fire team had ceased fire. A kid not more that 17, probably just trying to get food, water and medicine to the family he had left. He was trying to surrender when a bullet struck right between his eyes, and his dead corpse hit the ground with a heavy thud.

  Colter felt a heavy hand rest on his shoulder as he turned to face the man behind him.

    "You know we had to do it sir," the man stated," he would have just tried to do it to someone else down the road".

    " In most cases Hollister I would agree with you, but he was just a kid," Colter responded with an almost angered expression on his face. "Do you honestly think he was doing this for the same reasons any of these other assholes where."

  Hollister stood there slowly running his hand down the front of his face stopping at the bas of his beard before he spoke up.

   " We don't know why he did it, but he made the decision to pick up that gun and go out to rob others," Hollister replied

   Colter knew he was right about that but that didn't make him any less irritated at an avoidable casualty. While the two agents were arguing a woman walked up slinging her MP5-Navy over her shoulder and proceeding to check all the bodies for new attachments, ammo or maybe a replacement for the SMG she had been using the past couple of weeks.

She stopped, picking up an ACOG scope, slipping it into a bight yellow bag on the bottom of here backpack. then she moved to the next body about to pick up a Military M4 before Colter stepped over and kicked it three feet across the road. She quickly turned to face Colter before starting her retort.

   " Oh come on, its not like he's gonna need anymore LT." She said as she moved up into Colter's face.

    " Dammit Ramirez I've told you we don't have time to go looting every dead tom, dick, and harry we come across," Colter scolded," If we even try to extract those items we'll be knee deep in Ryker's and rouge agents faster than you can count to three backwards going down hill after six shots of whiskey."

   Ramirez took a step back and composed herself before opening the yellow bag and dumped the contents on the street. Just as Colter suspected an arrangement of laser sights, rifle grips, and scopes of varying sizes. She wadded up the bag and stuffed it into one of the side pockets of her pack with an expression of annoyance. After a short silence they heard someone running up to them, luckily it was just the last member of their fire team. Greg Masters, he was the teams long range support always carrying around a Remington M.700 carbon, customized with a verity of fitting mods like the 15x hunting scope, suppresser, and hand stop on the front for balancing while aiming. He stopped in front of Ramirez before speaking up.

  " hey I saw you two arguing through my scope, what's going on." Masters said as he tried to catch his breath.

   "nothing, just Colter getting a little irritated," Ramirez replied Place a hand on his back, " I think he got a little pissed when you shot that looter in front of him."

  " That was you," Colter shouted in anger as Masters backed up in panic before replying," I'm sorry sir all I saw was a guy with a pistol pointed at you, I can't exactly make out what's going on all the time, I just shot."

Before Colter could respond all four of the team's ISAC or intelligence systems analytic computer, lit up and relayed a warning message.

" Warning to all agents, and users of shade tec. a MK.12 EMP devise has been detected, you are currently in the three block blast radius get to cover or any shelter."

Just as the massage had finished a massive explosion came from a building two block ahead of the fire team, the initial shock wave was enough to nock the for agents to ground, Colter was starting to black out from the shock. The last thing he saw before passing out was his team laying there motionless on the cold snow covered street.