djtenku | [writing] Project Chaos

Title: Owls
Word Count: 1648
Summary: Landing. Recon. Setup.

Roya still pondered, gazing up to the sky, focusing on the night sky again. She blinked as she saw three objects slowly descending; her judgment of two miles away. Impossible. The branch swayed and bended as she stood up. Her eyes grew narrow. How did they find out?

She stared at the objects a few moments more; she descended from the tree as delicately as she climbed it and ran back to the steel cluster of buildings she hated, bypassing the tall guard posts and the dog cages. The wolf-dogs perked up and whined as she passed, causing some of guards to question her. “Don’t just stand there; prepare for a possible intrusion!” she scolded before entering the double story building.

Roya traveled up the stairs, pushing her scarf up to her nose and mouth upon smelling the petroleum stench. She glanced at the partially melted wall before reaching the second floor. There was a terrible silence; no voices, or even a wail. Had they killed him?

She approached the room, glancing into the glass window before entering the room, and gazed at Xander who was still bounded to the chair, not moving. Cautiously, she came towards him, curiosity sparking in her eyes. She knelled and lifted up his chin, seeing tiny burn marks dotted his pale, bruised face. He was breathing, but it was faint and shallow. How can anyone live through this? Roya thought, letting his head gently back down. She knew it was only the exterior damage; there was no telling what other things they might have done.

“You look distressed, Roya,” a voice said in the darkness. She turned towards the door to see a nebulous outline of the figure leaning against the door, arms crossed.

“Intruders are on the way, Taka,” she said. “This is not supposed to happen.”

“Hmm. It was only a matter of time before it would happen, child,” Taka said smoothly, “do not worry. How many are there?”

“I saw three fall from the sky,” Roya replied, “and do not call me a child.”

Taka chuckled, a light sound. “They aren’t going to survive beyond the forest, not with you here at least. You know it like the back of your hand, and we’ve only been here two days.”

“I suppose I’ll have to kill them myself?”

Taka waved a hand. “Do as you wish, but do not go out there by yourself. At least humor me and bring the assault team with you. They’re being a bit...trigger happy.”

“Fine,” Roya muttered. She gestured to Xander. “What of him?”

“I take him to the underground, where he cannot see, hear...deprive his senses until he is no more than a empty shell of a man,” he whispered. The tone made Roya wished that she never heard the words. They spilled like blood. “But,” he continued, “he has the will of ten men. It will be quite...challenging to say the least.”

Roya felt a cold wind as she walked towards Taka. She stopped though as he was at her side. “You’re not wearing your blindfold,” she said. “Is something the matter?”

“There is nothing wrong, child,” he said with a smile. “Though I am sightless, I can still see the difference between light and darkness. Don’t assume that I see just the latter all the time.”

Roya sighed audibly as she walked out of the door.

-

The forest was silent when it took them in, like shelter, however betraying the entrance. The branches rattled and shook in terror, and some snapped at the sudden arrival. The blanket of snow gave way when they landed, and then covered by the green and black parachutes. Nearby, a pair of brown owls watched in reverence, questioning “Who?” in which the answer was only a scuffling noise; the sound of gear removal.

“Cover it up; we might have to use it later.”

“Well, that was fun,” Shin said as she removed her helmet. She glanced on it to see small patches of ice on the corners. “Though I’d rather do it somewhere warm. If I didn’t know better, any more and we’d be ice sticks.”

“This place is a little too quiet,” Kento said, looking around. He spotted the owls and frowned slightly. “Except those birds. For all we know, they could be the security system.” Before he even considered pulling an Glock 17, Rowan held up his hand.

“Those owls are rare and not native to Greenland,” he said. “Someone brought them here, perhaps for spying.”

“So...?”

“I’m gonna follow them as soon as they take off.” Rowan unstrapped his Dragunov from his back, and fished out a magazine. “Maybe if I’m lucky, I’ll find civilization within a mile or so. They don’t wander away from their keeper.”

“How much ammo you have?” Shin questioned.

“Enough for thirty people,” he replied, gaze averting to the owls.

“Rowan, just make sure you contact us as soon as you survey, or anything unusual; nothing more and nothing less. Don’t engage, we only have seven clips between us three,” Kento instructed, “not unless it’s an extreme measure.”

However, Rowan didn’t hear the append; he dashed for the crying owls that took flight, letting known that predators fell from the sky.

-

The twin owls flew through the marked paths of the trees, calling and hooting as loud as they could. They soared high over the base in a wide circle, like vultures ready to descend.

“East,” Roya said. She turned to six black clad guards and inspected them; all were of same height and stature – tall but well endowed- , but she could not see their faces for they were obscured by black biker-styled helmets and even darker visors. Each had a M-16 at their side, ready for spilling blood, a row of pouches that lined their taut torsos, and a irregular pod attached to their right forearm. Their uniform insignia located on their left deltoid was that of a white skull with piercing red eyes and a mouth that twisted into a scream.

“There are three in all. Separate them as soon as possible and keep them fighting. It’ll be matter of time before they wear out themselves. Then...” She paused. How would they – Lang especially – would ‘interrogate’ these intruders? It would be quite interesting... “...then capture them alive. Bring them into the building Xander was and keep them under maximum security. Is that clear?”

All of the men saluted simultaneously, and in unison touched a small white disc almost minute to the eye just below their clavical and within a second, phased out.

Roya watched as the footprints engrave the snow, heading up the steep cliff. She then pulled out a small metal pole – the width about a bamboo stick and the height of her own hand – and pressed a tiny groove in the center of it; the pole extended into her full height and a fine metal wire connected the end of the two ends to make it curve and it became flexible. She then wrapped her scarf around her slender jaw and pulled her shawl over her head, revealing a two thin white quivers, with the feather fletchings displaying themsleves.

Still though, something irked her deeply, until she followed the footprints made by the guards.

-
Rowan dropped down from the rolling slope and onto a shelf of flat ground bearing not as much snow as its own surroundings; the trees were sparsely distributed, which made the view easier to see. He gazed away from the owls and down to the base itself; the buildings were large and blocky, almost resembling playing blocks, and were scattered about in the deep valley. He detached the scope off of the Dragunov and saw miniature towers – stations – surrounding the buildings in near-clusters, but only half were occupied. Dog pens also dotted the base. If it isn’t the guards, it’s dogs, he thought wryly.

Closer to his location stood another set of posts; tall, twisted, and metal, lining the jagged slope in front of him. Searchlights glared lights, peeking through the forest in total paranoia. Clear on the other side stood towers – no more than five stories in height, but he could not tell their total size and position.

The strange thing was that there were no guards around the front edge; he assumed they were motion activated.

Something’s not –

Before Rowan finished his thought, there was a lone crunch that echoed terribly. He froze, straining his hearing to hear that sound again.

Cruncch...

It happened again. But where was it coming from? He reattached the scope to the sniper rifle and knelt. The sound multiplied.

One, two, three, four, five, six, all coming from his left. They couldn’t be too far... He looked into the scope, training back and forth until he found a barely visible shape moving. Bits of light reflected it off of it. They have stealth...

Rowan reached to the back of his ear and pressed it lightly. “Guys, we have trouble,” he whispered. “Six coming your way.”

+...again. Say again; you’re break...ing up.+

“You have six coming your way!” he said a little louder.

The shape stopped and so did the others, momentarily. Rowan flattened himself to the cold ground, barely touching the snow, and stared at the invincible group until the moved again a moment later, crunches starting up again. He exhaled slowly as he got up and looked upon his camoflauge; it had turned pure white. It assimilates the surrounding...clever. He tried the comms link again but there was silence coupled with white noise.

Only in extreme situations, Rowan thought in distain as he picked up his rifle. He cursed silently as he watched the six blurs move away. He hoped that they didn’t detect any footprints or anything else. He had a choice: go back and warn his fellow squadmates or trudge on.

He cursed inwardly.