Chapter 3 The Betrayal

"No, please someone help me, help me! Please don't hurt me, no nooooooooo…!"

BEEP, BEEP, BEEP, BEEP.

My eyes jerked open by my alarm quickly bringing me out from my dream. I groaned, closing my tired eyes, letting go of the 1911 I held under my pillow and reached over with my right hand in search of the blasted snooze button. When the alarm died, I cracked open one of my eyes to see the time, 5:30, exactly the time I set it to.

"Get the hell out of my head, hearing those screams once was enough." I thought as I sat up, putting my hand to my head groaning softly. "I thought I got rid of that one years ago." I said softly to myself, giving a few shakes of my head. The memory of those screams soon faded from my mind and back into the past. As I rubbed the sleep from my eye I looked about my room. The room barely had anything in it. There was a dresser in front of me against the far wall. Some generic pictures hung from the walls. All in all the room looked much like a hotel or condo you would rent out. Mostly the room was made to look like it was lived in. Though it was, this place has never been home. Just a place to sleep and eat. At least that is how it felt without the rest of the family.

As I got out of bed I caught a glimpse of myself in the mirror next to the closet. A six foot five lightly tanned and well fit 25 year old male looking back. Two inches of straight light brown hair covered his skull that had a slight bed head look, but a swipe of his hand smoothed it out. A small hint of freckles dust his nose and cheeks but faded in with the tan. More noticeable ones covered his white shoulders and upper arms ending at the farmers tan line half way down. Blue eyes looked back into mine, they seemed warm and friendly but can turn ice cold when the man's mind was set on something. The man in the mirror looked like he could be a model in a magazine. A man that women would fall head over heels for. Though the soft tan skin was ruined by the multiple scars across the man's body. Bullet wounds and stab marks are scattered over the man's tone chest and abs, other marks of fighting cover his back and legs. Giving him a warrior or maybe a roman spartan look. I shake my head after rolling my eyes remembering a magazine spokesman saying something similar once. I banished that memory as well, pulling open the closet and started getting dressed. Reaching in I grabbed a dark green t-shirt and digital forest camo cargo pants. Tossing them onto the bed I strolled across the room to the dresser pulling out a pair of black socks. After putting everything on I reached under the edge of the bed and pulled out a pair of tan combat boots.

After tying them up I stood, reaching over and grabbed my scared dog tags resting on the nightstand next to the alarm clock. I looked down at the tags, both made from titanium. Made the same as a standard tag but these are for the special unit we served in. My mind raced as I thought about how each little mark was made and where it took place. I shook my head once more, pulling them over my head.

I sighed. “Looks like today is the day of fucking memories.” I said to myself. The memories I was thinking of were ones that very rarely ever come back. Shortly after my sixth birthday my mother vanished. Disappeared off the face of the earth. Leaving me and my father. It wasn’t ideal but it could have worked. Though sadly my father did the same thing as my mother. Leaving me all alone.Well not completely alone, I do have to remember I wasn’t the only one. My cousin and I both lost our parents. All four vanished never to be seen or heard from again. My mother and aunt were sisters. Both of them left at the same time starting this whole mess. It was maybe a day or two after all four left. Leaving the two of us on our own before the Academy swooped in. They took the two of us along with 50 other boys and girls around the same age and forced us to train. Learning how to fight and kill from day one. They barely gave us any time to think about what was happening to us, and when we did have time we were exhausted. That is probably why their little project worked so well. By the age of 12 everyone in our unit looked like an 18 year old olympic athlete. Could use and tear apart any weapon we got our hands on, and overcome any challenge thrown our way. We became the ultimate team. Loyal, strong, and unstoppable. Then they decided to push it farther. They added genetic augmentation to the mix. We went from teenagers to full grown adults in under a month. We were faster, and stronger than any human before. We also had the tactical and mental mindset to solve any problem we came across. Once we were done they sent us out to do their dirty work.

Years of taking out countries' leadership, ending wars before they even started, and making problems disappear. We lost so many siblings along the way. Now there were only 14 left. That is what we did for the next 8 years. Though four years ago we were forced to stop major operations due to the new presidency. So they put us on probation/standby status. Start normal lives as it were. Go out and get our own homes and jobs. With limitations of course. We had to be able to be called in within 48 hours, have to stay at the same address or with written consent, move to a new location. It's not complete freedom but it is a close second. The team spread out across the globe, keeping minimal contact with each other. My cousin and I stayed together. We may have had a new family of trust and loyalty but we stuck with our blood bond. We have had a quiet life since then, we were only called out maybe 5 times. Small jobs with minimal danger. It was fucking boring. So we ended up working on personal projects to stay busy and just waiting for any moment when they might call us back to take care of something bigger. With those last few memories finally done my brain was free to go about the day.

I stood up from my bed and headed for the door. Along the way banging my fist on the wall that split my room from my cousins. I stepped through the door to the hallway. Across the hall was a spare bedroom almost mirrored to my own. To the right of it was the same for my cousin's room.

I turned to the left heading for the front of the house. From the hallway I could see the large fireplace in the corner, on the mantel was a stuffed bull moose head. The thought of a broken left arm came to mind as I looked upon it. Turning right at the corner I came to find a snarling mountain lion looking at me. I ran my hand over its head and down its back as I walked past. The four parallel scars on my right forearm gave a small itch in satisfaction of returning a favor. I headed past the stuffed cat walking towards the kitchen. As I walked in the lights turned on automatically followed by a soft female voice.

"Good morning Stones."

"Good morning Sarah." I replied as I opened the fridge, getting out the gallon of milk. Sarah is an artificial intelligence I built some years ago. Her systems are wired throughout the whole 16 bed and 8 bath house giving her more than enough processing power to complete almost any task given to her.

"It is currently 53 degrees with a high of 70 along with a gentle 3 mph wind from south by southwest." Sarah informed me as I set the milk on the island. "There are no reminders set for today and no messages."

"Thank you Sarah, can you tell me if Tyrock is up yet?" I asked, grabbing two bowls out of one of the cupboards.

"Tyrock has yet to move. Would you like me to turn the lights on?"

"If you would please." I say as I grab two boxes of cereal from the pantry. I took them over to the table and started to pour one of them into my bowl then adding the milk..

“Tyrock is now up and moving.” She says, causing me to give a few nods as I dive into the bowl. After a few minutes my cousin entered the room. He is pretty much the same as me. He is just an inch shorter than me and he has a slightly stronger chin but we have the same hair, eyes, and body structure.

I watched him pour his own food. After a few minutes of eating in silence I spoke up.

"So I was thinking we should head up north towards the mountains. Using the trees to test if anything will come off without permission. Then with some mountain climbing to test if the equipment will shift on the climb up and on the repel down. That work for you?" I asked before scooping up some more food.

"That sounds good enough. I think we should also get a hold of Robert. He still owes us a favor and we could do with a water drop off. Test the water proofing and if a splash down can jar anything loose." Tyrock answered.

Before we could discuss more testing situations there was a ringing from across the house. We both stopped mid thought and turned. In an instant we dropped whatever was in our hands and booked it for the sound. I heard Sarah saying something about the call over the sound of our bowls clattering but it was not needed. That ring was for when we were being called to action.

We burst through a door into a large office area. Two large wooden desks sat against the walls on opposite sides of the room. The one on the left was mine and the one on the right was Tyrocks. The two desks were bare, much like the bedrooms. They had three monitors on each with a camera mounted on the middle monitor. Two large leather office chairs sat before the desk. Besides these items there was nothing else. No pictures or knick knacks to be seen. Not even some paper or writing tools. On the middle monitor of my desks was flashing the words ``incoming transmission. Access code required." I quickly typed in a long 14 character code into the computer. While I was doing this Tyrock was grabbing his own chair and wheeling it over. A few seconds after I finished the code the screen lit up and the video transmission started.

"Team leader, Stones, code 4256 reporting."

"Second in command, Tyrock, code 6419 reporting." We answered before anything happened.

"At ease boys." A gruff aged voice responded. On screen a 60 year old man filled the monitor cutting off just below his knees. He had silver hair on his head and a thick matching mustache over his upper lip. Wrinkles and age showed heavily on his face but he had the spirit of a man less than half that. Anyone could see it in his eyes, which were still bright and full of fire. I could see the man looking back and forth at us on his screen. The man before us was Admiral Martin. The leader of the academy that trained us to be what we were today. Along with being our commanding officer.

"What is the mission sir? The team is ready and willing." I said fighting to keep the excitement out of my voice. The lack of missions has been making everyone restless.

"I'm sorry son. There is no mission." The Admiral almost seems to age right before us. Showing the true amount of years he has been alive. "There will no longer be any missions." We looked confused at him.

"What do you mean sir?" Tyrock asked, shifting forward in his seat.

"The program has been deactivated and your team has been discharged." Tyrock and I looked at each other, he tilted his head to the screen giving me the honor. I nodded before turning back to the admiral.

"Permission to speak freely sir?" I ask no emotion on my face. Though I couldn't keep the venom from my voice. He sighs before dropping his head slightly then straightening back up.

"Granted."

"WHAT THE FUCK!" I roared at the screen. He didn't even flinch and just stared at me. That only made me more angry.

"The new presidency wants to…" He started before I interrupted.

"Wants to what? Leave the fate of the world to those ego filled showboats in New York?" I asked, waving my hand to the side. "You can't be serious. Leave those clowns unchecked and they would end the world before they save it."

"You don't think I know that son?" He roared back at me. I lean back slightly. We have been yelled and shouted at before. Loads of times during our training but this was different. Before there was never anger in his voice. Just volume. Now it was creeping at the edges of his words. I almost felt like a wolf standing before their mad alpha. I didn't show these feelings on my face. "Look I feel the same way about this as you do but orders are orders and we have to follow them."

Tyrock and I looked at each other. Thought and worries racing between us. "What of our team sir?"

"The team is disbanded. No contact, if any is made it will be seen as treason. You are also not allowed to join any military, law enforcement, or first responder type units." He said adjusting in his chair. "You have 24 hours. At 0700 tomorrow you are to turn in any and all equipment connected to the academy. Is this understood?" The Admiral asked, looking between the two of us.

Personal: Admiral Martin. Location: Washington DC. Academy building 205.

Watching these two always made me both irritated and proud. Them and their team always amazed me. They spoke to each other without even saying a word. Having a lifetime of conversations across a room within a few seconds. Not a single one of their trainers couldn't understand it. It was almost damn near telepathic, quite a few of them stated. I watched them, waiting for their response. I knew what it was going to be. They have just been told they were losing the only family they knew, after being abandoned before. After a few seconds they answered in the one way they were trained to do.

"Yes sir." They answered together, their tones flat and emotionless. Even though I could see the anger in their eyes and the want, no, need to fight this. Even though it was there they would never act on it. They were too loyal to disobey an order like this, publicly anyway. I gave a nod.

"Good luck to you both." I said before ending the call. I looked at the black screen before me for a few seconds. "You do know they will not take this lying down. Those boys and their team have done a lot of good for this country."

After hearing a scoff, I turned to look at the man standing next to me. He was older than me with white hair on his head and a thick matching mustache above his lip. He was a little over 6 foot tall, matching me in height. He was slightly on the scrawny side. Showing his lack of body strength but a mind build for plans and strategies. Probably what helped him get so high in the ranking. Though now as the secretary of defense he was in charge of all the military.

"This country doesn't need freaks protecting it. This country was founded and built on the blood of men." The man stated. I shook my head facing him fully.

"Those freaks will always be more human and better protectors then you could ever be Ross." I snapped at him before walking past him and out of the room. The mp's on the other side of the door slipped the titanium cuffs around my wrist once more and led me out of the building. My head and heart filled with worry for my team. Praying to any God that would hear me they will be alright. All I could hope was that the deal I made would work out.

Personal: Tyrock. Location: U.S.A North western wilderness.

I looked at the screen. The words, call disconnect blinking across the black screen. I slowly reached over and pressed a few keys on the keyboard. The words vanished from the screen and silence filled the room as the computer shut off. We turned our heads to look at each other. Stones took in a deep breath then nodded before he stood up, turning and heading out of the room. I quickly got up and followed him. He turned the corner and started heading for the door that led into the garage.

“Stones.” I called out to him. When he gave no response I gave a small growl and grabbed his arm. “Stones look at me.” As soon as I grab him he turns and rips it out of my grasp, glaring at me. We hold matching glares before he sighs and looks away.

“Sorry.” He grumbled out before he turned, folding his arms and leaned against the wall behind him. I could understand what he was going through. We stood there for a few seconds, letting out the anger before we heard the clacking of claws on the hardwood floors. We both turn to find our dog trotting up to us. A 75 pound male german shepherd. His tail wagging with joy behind him as he sees our eyes on him. His mouth dropping open and his tongue along with it as he looks up at us. We both smile as we watch him. Stones pats his leg in a signal to the dog. Hunter walks over and sits down on his left side. Once there a hand reaches down and softly scratches behind his ear, making his tail speed up.

“So what is the plan?” I ask, looking at my cousin. Another silence fills the air as only the dog’s panting could be heard.

“Well you saw what I did right?" He asked and I nodded in return. It was small and no one would have noticed it if we weren’t already looking for it.

"Ya the tensing of his hand. Morse code. Secdev is pulling strings. Trying to shut us down from the shadows." I answered. Stones nodded and looked away in thought.

"I don't know how that bastard did it. I thought the president was the only one that has a say about us."

"That could have changed with the new presidency." I suggested with a shrug. "So how are we going to deal with this?"

"We will pay back the bastard that is trying to take our family away but there will be a few problems." He says cupping his chin in thought.

"Like figuring out why they are doing this and stopping it while doing so without any backup or our country's permission. Sounds like a blast." The last part dripping in sarcasm. My cousin could only shrug. He then looked towards the doorway to the garage.

"Look. It might not be the best idea but like the admiral said. We have 24 hours before we have to turn in all the equipment that they know of. I say we take the armor and find a spot to bury it along with all of the spare weapons. We will do the same with the ammo, give them all the empties to make them think we shot it all." I tilted my head slightly. Almost like the dog at his side was doing. "Plus if Ross is doing the pulling then what's going to stop him from locking us up as well. Last I heard he is still working on that damn project of his, the team is as close as he is going to get."

I sighed and looked towards the garage, my mind trying to figure out the best way to combat this new threat. Taking a glance at Stones in thought. I know my cousin pretty well but no one knows what he is thinking besides himself.

"Well we better hurry, the last thing we need is a tactical team trying to bust down the door before we are ready for them."

After a few seconds Stones turned and started to head for the garage. I looked down at Hunter and sighed when he whined up at me.

"Ya I feel it too buddy." I responded as I pushed off the wall and started to follow Stones, tapping my leg for Hunter to follow. The slight feeling of dread flowing over me. I get the feeling things are going to change and not in a way we want.

Personal: Stones. Location: U.S.A North western wilderness.

I tried to chase away the growing pit of anger and sorrow growing in my stomach. Being abandoned by my parents once was a major blow. Now to have the family we built a deeper bond than blood with taken from us, it was enough to have me seeing red. The small voice in the back of my head was shouting at me to calm down but a much louder and larger voice was telling me to make someone pay.

I pulled open the garage door and headed inside. The large five car garage was quite crowded. There were only four actual vehicles in the large space. Another spot was taken up by a rusty shell of another project car. On the far wall was a large walk-in armory with a large solid steel door.

As we walked over Sarah unlocked and opened the door. Inside was rows upon rows of weapons and ammunition. Everything from knives to high caliber rifles. At the back of the armory was the armor. The armor was being held upright by what looked like two cherry pickers. One on each side. On the wall behind them were some computers that we used to upload the software into the helmets. I headed for the armor, moving behind the type 3 military style painted shell.

The design was angular in shape instead of a more natural look, almost like that of old style knights. I quickly stripped down and grabbed a black woven suit off of another rack. The suit was bigger than my body but once on, it tightened up to match my form. Fitting almost like a second skin. This part of the suit was designed to monitor my body's functions and also regulate body temperature. The black woven material was bullet proof to smaller calibers and provided a final layer of protection. The rest of the armor was where the real protection was. The armor hunched over slightly in its rack. The design would cover every inch of the wearer body without sacrificing mobility. The armor was heavy as hell till it was fully activated, even then no normal human could use it. The reason is the inner mechanical work would make the user faster and stronger then they were before. With already superhuman speed and strength, the armor made us damn near inhuman. The armor also had a built in computer system and radio that would allow communications and the ability to plan in the field without even saying a word. Why no one else could use this armor was one else could handle it. Any normal human would be killed by their own pain filled spasms after their first movement broke every bone in the limb. We knew that before the government came to take this armor we would bury it and keep it from their grasp before they forced anyone else to try and use it.

I pulled down a large u shaped handle on the back of the armor causing it to hiss and open up. The back of the arms and legs, the plates opening in a split design and moved to the side while the back lifted up and out of the way. I pulled myself into the armor and slipped my hands into the inner handles that controlled the hands. The armor's hands were designed to be controlled by the wearer in the arm. Allowing for greater strength and better control of the hands while providing better protection. Giving a flick of my wrist caused the suit to give another hiss and closed behind me. I used my strength to move the heavy armor over to a shelf next to it. I reached out and gently grabbed a helmet. The helmet would fully incase my head and had a holographic heads up display. There was only a pair of small eye holes but when the suit powered up it was almost like the helmet vanished. Before slipping the helmet on I gave a quick glance over at my cousin. He was stepping into his armor and grabbing his own helmet. I slipped on the helmet hearing a clicking noise as the helmet locked to the collar of the inner lining of the armor. After it locked in, the suit powered up, causing the armor to fill lighter as it did so. We did a quick full systems check and moved around, getting used to the speed and strength. Multiple green lights flashed on the heads up display. At the same time Sarah's voice came through the helmet's internal speakers.

"Communication and tracking for mark II armor Alpha and Bravo are fully functional. All systems are green" She confirmed after performing a double check of the system. I looked back at Tyrock seeing his vitals and communication info scroll in the top corner of my screen.

"Okay let's get this over with." I said walking over to the racks of weapons. I grabbed a large matte black rifle. A Barrett 50 cal or called the M107 semi automatic rifle. The weapon was mostly designed as an anti material rifle used against the soviets back in 1982. It could be used on personal units if the need arises and with a range of over 2000 meters, it could really reach out and touch a target. Knowing the government there is no way we could trust them to keep their word to give us 24 hours.

I lifted the rifle over my shoulder and held it against my back. The armor plating magnetized and locked the rifle to my back. I also grabbed a M4 assault rifle and attached it next to the Barrett. To also test the Armor's full capabilities I grabbed a desert eagle and pressed it against my right thigh. After it locked into place I looked over to check Tyrocks load out, a matching M107 and pistol but a crossbow replaced the lower caliber rifle. Though unlike normal crossbows, this one had two bows and can rapidly fire arrows without having to draw back the cords. A large magazine full of 10 bolts was slipped into the bottom.

I quickly grabbed three combat knives. 12 inch razor sharp blades with a serrated top. In my hand they looked massive but with the armor they were just the right size. I slipped one into the holster attached to my right calf. Another went blade down into a chest holster and the last one went handle down on my left shoulder. I grabbed 4 magazines for the M107, 3 for the pistol and 8 magazines for the M4. I put a mag into each weapon before replacing them on the armor. The rest were slipped into pouches that hung at my waist. I also grabbed a small first aid kit and pressed it to the base of my spine, locking it there. Once everything was in place I carefully jumped up and down making sure everything stayed in place and didn't make a sound. The armor also counted each round that I put on my person. Showing the number next to a small image of the weapon in the top right of my visor.

Whichever weapon I held I'm my hand the sensors in the armor put a crosshair in my helmet that matched the direction the weapon was pointing. Giving us better accuracy when hip firing. I turned to Tyrock and gave him a thumbs up.

"Systems are looking good. Movement is slightly limited when you lean back due to the plating but it feels good." He said as he did a few stretches. I then heard a bark next to me. Looking down I saw Hunter looking up at me. His combat vest in front of him. I smile and kneel down. "Alright boy, you can help."

I reached down and started to strap the german shepherd in. The vest covered from his shoulders to his hips. Protecting him from small calipers and knives. There was also a helmet that covered the top of his head and snout. There was a small camera and an earpiece on the helmet to let us see what he does and give commands. After making sure everything was tight I attached a small first aid kit to the side of his vest along with a few more magazines for the weapons. Just being able to do all of the straps and buckles while using the armor was just a testament of the engineering we put into it and why no one could fet their hands on them.

Once he was all strapped in I stood back up and tapped my leg telling him to stick to my side. As soon as we stepped out of the armory all the light turned red and an alarm started to blare both from the house and the helmets speakers.

"Sarah what's going on?" I demanded turning down the volume in the armor.

"Massive unknown energy signature located on the far side of the armory." Her voice sounded panic, even for an AI that had to be a massive threat.

I yanked the M4 off my back and ran to the corner of the metal bunker. As soon as I turned the corner my eyes were blinded by a bright white light. I jerked back but a feeling of weightlessness surrounded me then the world went black.

Author's Note

Sorry this took so long. I went over it so many time before I got here. I hope you all enjoy it. Also here is a picture of the armor.