The 11 of Diamonds
You are running. Running as fast as you can.
There's a bang, a flash of light in the darkness followed by a sting on your back.
No!
You stumble and fall to the ground.
You can't breathe.
So close...
You turn your head. The half-destroyed car is unloading its passenger in front of a house. Three storeys. Attic. Wooden. Old. It looks out of place among the concrete buildings around it. Abandoned probably.
You try to raise your hand, but you can't. You can't concentrate. Your strength is leaving you.
Red and blue lights are reflected on the walls of the house. Sirens. Screeching tires.
At least it wasn't all for nothing.
You try to call for help, but the sound of gunshots overshadows the sound of your voice.
"Return fire! Return fire!"More gunshots. Hope they got them.
"Go to the other side! Cut them off!""Hey!" the standing man shouts and you instinctively turn your head to look at him.
"Over here." he adds as he cocks his revolver and touches it on your forehead in one swift motion.
"I want you to see this."
Everyone"Hey!" the standing man shouts and you instinctively turn your head to look at him.
"Over here." he adds as he taps the projection behind him and points at every one of you in one swift motion.
"I want you to see this."
The sight behind him is not that pleasant. Part of the reason you turned your head away in the first place. A man is lying with his back on the asphalt. The still fresh blood around him is gleaming from the flash of the photographer. There's a hole in his head big enough to see what's left of his brain, surrounded by a burn pattern. Beyond the fact that he looks fit (and the hole in his head) he looks fairly normal. Just a man that could had been taking a morning walk. Black jeans, a black shirt with with a slogan written in orange letters, short curly black hair, facial hair unshaven for a few days. His green eyes are still open. He looks surprised.
"This is Ardent. Vigilante. Real name unknown. Still looking into it. Shot to the head from point blank range a few hours ago during the events that followed the kidnapping."
You're in a tiny dark room made out of metal that has been painted white. A single light-bulb is attached to the low ceiling, illuminating the others around you with a pale orange light. They are men in grey uniforms matching yours (most of them displaying sweaty stains), squeezed together, uncomfortably close, most of you leaning forwards or backwards so you can get a good view of the screen. The seats you are sitting on are also made of metal, making the experience even more uncomfortable. The only plus is that the metal provides a tiny bit of coolness to this room full of the warmth and humidity, of tightly packed human bodies and mixed breaths. You have the feeling of moving slightly, as if you're in the sea.
Establishing host control. Standby...He presses a button and the image behind him changes, accompanied by the sound of something mechanical inside the wall on the other side of the room. There is the blurry photo of a girl, surrounded by the pink-ish paper of a driver's licence. You can't tell much more than that she has long black hair and the general characteristics of her face.
"The details are unclear, but from what few witnesses we've interrogated, we've gathered that the girl, Joanna Hearth, was taken from her apartment. Possibly drugged or otherwise impaired, as she wasn't seen struggling."
He presses the button and the image changes again, this time showing a car. There's a bullet hole in a window. Part of its front has been melted, including the hood and tires. The holes in the hood reveal an engine with too many moving parts.
"Ardent must have stumbled upon the kidnappers somewhere along their path, fought them for some time and then gave pursuit once they started running. Witnesses say he severely injured at least one of the kidnappers, but we were unable to confirm their identity. He was shot once in the back from some distance and then executed moments later. Moments before our men could get to him.The shooter was nowhere to be found."
The standing man takes a few seconds to simply stare at each of you before continuing. He pushes the button and the image changes to show a house. It's hard to make out the details in the dark, but it looks wooden. Old. The few windows boarded up.
"Now, officially, our government and hence our department condemns vigilante action. But that man is a hero in my book. His actions stalled the kidnappers long enough for our men to get to the scene and trap the kidnappers in this building. They've been holed up in there for the past..."
He looks at his watch.
"A bit more than an hour. Abandoned building in Oakridge. An officer attempted to enter the building but was immediately fired upon the moment he opened the door. So we've been waiting for the Emergency response teams to get there to help you make a push."
"While we have no concrete evidence... The M.O. and the timing... We believe this might be the work of the 11 of Diamonds."
Everyone around you stirs. That's not good.
"They might be using her in a ritual. Maybe related with what happened with Brawn last month."
"Now, I know you're all rookies, but you're the only ones we could gather in such short notice. The Prime Minister has called all the big boys down at Kingdom Bay, trying to clean up that mess. God knows the Americans need all the help they can get these days. We need you to go in before they have a chance to escape or cause more damage or god forbid kill that girl."
"Now don't worry. And you'll be going in with all the officers our department can spare, full police backup. And, as you know, their capacity has been diminished. You know what you'll be facing. They haven't broken pattern in the past, so they should all be holed up in there. Just 11 criminal scum, scared and on the run for god knows how long. They don't know what they'll be facing. You may be new, but you are still the best our department has, our best trained men and the hidden ace in our sleeve. You were chosen for a reason. Work well, work together ad they'll be no match for you."
He claps his hands once to add emphasis.
"Clock is ticking. Do not let Ardent's sacrifice go to waste. Get in there, save that girl and bring those sons of bitches to justice."
"Nobody will blame you if you have to kill them in the process." he adds meaningfully. "Your lives come first."
With that, he turns around and retracts the projector screen, revealing the back doors of the vehicle.
...
Team B: H4zardZ1, Wolfkit, IllgeoThe back doors of the vehicle open, but the outside world is even darker. The sun has just started approaching the horizon, painting the sky a dark blue-grey colour. You wait for the ones in front of you to exit the vehicle before exiting yourself. The chief moves forward, shouting as he searches for whoever is in charge there.
The house looks much like it did in the picture you were shown. An old wooden building with a small yard. The details are easier to make out now. A few broken windows. Bullet holes in the door. Rotten steps in the front porch. A basement door to the side. The lights of cars and floodlights make the building so bright compared to its surroundings it's almost painful to watch. A stark contrast to the photo you were shown.
The police line around it on the other hand is in almost complete darkness. Police officers hiding behind cars, prepared to shoot if necessary, while special forces prepare hidden behind their vans, trying to remain out of sight. Further back there are the emergency services and people not concerned with combat: ambulances, firefighters, bomb disposal, forensics, hazmat, electricians...
And further back there are the few curious onlookers that the police has not managed to get rid of yet, along with the few news reporters that have caught wind of what is going on here.
They should had evacuated all the buildings around here. Made a bigger perimeter. This is too dangerous.
You watch the chief berate the other group before he makes his way to you, muttering something about "no discipline" before giving you your orders.
"We're moving in. You three are doing the breach. We've got civilian lives at stake here and we don't want to fall prey to an ambush, so we're going in quiet. After the entrance is secured, I want you to sweep the ground floor. Check for clues, report if you find anything important and check for ways to enter the basement silently. Got it?"
You nod.
"Good. My team will take the top floor. Join us once you clear the ground floor and basement. We're counting on you, OK?"
...
You are crouched, slowly inching towards the door, being extra careful not to make the old floorboards creak and squeak.
"Checking the door now." you whisper.
You slowly turn the handle just enough to feel the bolt move, not making a noise.
You give the special forces officer opposite to you who is currently using a mirror to check under the door the all clear signal and then make a questioning gesture. He retracts his mirror and also gives you an all clear signal. You give the get ready signal to the other people surrounding the door and slowly turn the handle.
The door opens.
Nothing happens.
You let out your breath and give the signal it's clear to proceed. Team A gets in and moves up towards the stairway as planned. You turn right in the foyer and slowly make your way through a hallway with boarder up windows on your right. It's a corridor painted faded white with a few paintings that look like they've been sliced by a razor on the walls, hanging from half-rotten boards. Two doors leading out of it, one to the left in the middle of the hallway and one at the end of the hallway. Both closed. Looks clear for now. You stay put to give time to the teams behind you to move up before you inadvertently alert the enemy to your presence by exploring further.
When suddenly, there is the sound of wood banging against wood behind you. You turn around just to see a team C member turning to look at you with a horrified expression on his face.
"Shit. It's a trap! Run!" is the last thing you hear before the door leading to the room you are in closes, its bolts locking with a loud clack.
There is a noise from the other side, several loud bangs and then everything goes silent.
You are alone. There is no escape.
<Synchronization complete.>
Team C: akkudakku, FallacyOfUrist, mydjet"Are you fucking drunk?"
"Well uh I-"
The chief grabs you by the collar and shakes you in a mildly threatening, mildly comical manner.
"Well, are you?"
He stops shaking you.
"No need to answer. Your breath smells so badly I could get drunk just by being in the same room with you."
He shakes you some more.
"Listen here you maggot. Are you trying to sabotage this operation?" he growls and waits for your answer.
You just stare at him, unsure about what you should say.
He sighs. "Nope, apparently you're not smart enough to even do that."
"Sod it. Just stay close to the entrance. Make sure nobody gets out. Aid the men in breaching the basement if things start going loud inside."
You continue to stare at him.
"Did you hear me?!"
You nod.
He lets go of you and sighs once more and turns away, muttering something like "lucky if your stench does not give us away."
You're gonna hear it tomorrow.
If there is one for you.
...
You watch Team B slowly open the door and give you the signal it's clear to proceed. Team A moves in after them, briefly checking the door on their right of the foyer before proceeding through the hallway in front of them along with a few officers, some of which break off to ensure the rooms in the hallway are clear. At the end there's a large living-room-like thing with a stairway that will lead them up.
Team B goes in after them, taking the door to the right of the foyer and slowly proceeding forward,
And then you enter third. Babysitting the foyer. It's just a small room that looks like it came out of an old picture, you don't get why it needs guarding. It's just an old armchair that probably has rats living in it, a cabinet and a half dead lamp inside a tacky (it has enormous fake crystals) light fixture hanging from the ceiling, illuminating everything with what little dull orange light makes it through the dust covering.
You look back into the hallway team A is taking. They've reached the large room at the end. Still no sign of trouble. Is this place deserted or-
That's when the doors start closing. First the one leading to the large room team A is in, then the ones in the hallway, trapping the officers checking them. An officer still in the hallway tries to run but a floorboard beneath his leg gives way, his leg getting stuck there. He falls down as his knee bends on an unnatural angle. The door closes, the last thing you see being his terrified expression, full of pain and fear. You turn to your right and try to yell a warning to team B, but it's too late. The door leading to them is already closing.
You turn around. At least
you can-
have to escape. But the front door is already closing. Before you can reach it, it locks shut, the wave of closing doors catching up to you. You try to open it but nothing happens. You are trapped here, one team, three people, all alone.
It's OK. The others may be gone but the ones outside will break in soon to rescue you... right?
<Synchronization complete.>
Team A: DreamerGhost, Beirus, AlarithYou slowly walk forward through the hallway. A kitchen here. A bathroom there. A dusty old storage room holding only cobwebs. Nothing remarkable. Where is everyone? Did you wait too long? Should you had gone in sooner? Have you failed? Or are they merely waiting to ambush you?
You approach the stairway, ready for anything. Looks clear, but you don't want anything to pop up while you have no cover. The floor here creaks too much. They might have heard you. Either way, you're not liking it.
This room looks different than the rest. Better lit. More clean. Vibrant red and gold tapestry on the walls. It looks like an old lady could had sat here in this overstuffed couch looking at a painting of some mountainous landscape, a hot beverage and cookies laying on the coffee table in front of her.
You are passing by a mirror in a golden frame, glancing at your deformed reflection when you spot it. Like a wave of black smoke moving through the room in the mirror. You turn around, just in time to notice the door closing behind you with a loud bang. Some of the officers with you quickly move towards it.
"No, wait, stop!" you whisper as loud as you can but it's too late. The gunshots come from below, 6 bullets, some of them aimed at the officers with you.
They stop. You remain still for a few seconds. When one of the officers acts like he saw something. He starts running towards one of his injured comrades.
"No, stay still, stay-"
A crack forms on the floor where the man's feet touch the grond. And another. And another. The entire floor breaks apart like a piece of glass, darkness rising from below, consuming everything. There is a thud.
...
You stir your head and open your eyes. It's dark in here. You can hear broken things whenever you shift your legs. There is a slight breeze coming from somewhere. And a moan. A moan of pain. You cannot see its source. You cannot see anything.
<Synchronization complete.>
EveryoneYour interface starts informing you of your objectives, beeping and blinking orange with each one it lists.
<Primary objective: Capture or Eliminate the leader of the criminal organization known as 'The 11 of Diamonds'.
Secondary objective: Capture or Eliminate all members of the criminal organization known as 'The 11 of Diamonds'.
Secondary objective: Rescue hostages.
Secondary objective: Escape.>There is a slight vibration that lasts for less than a second, like a weak earthquake. You less feel it and more hear it in the sound of vibrating objects around you.
Your interface beeps once more, this time blinking red.
<Interference detected. Communications hindered.
Requesting additional resources for creation of long range secure communication bridge... Permission denied by Administrator.
Long range communications disabled until the manual creation of secure communication bridge through physical contact.>((The different teams are unable to communicate with each other via their interfaces.))
OOCParisbre56 cancles post OOC info: Melting
Seriously though, Extreme heat + Power outages = Bad for concentration. (At least my phone has not failed me yet.)
So please excuse any mistakes. Questions for clarification of things I did a bad job describing are welcome. Or comments or other things.
I gave individual info in the form of teams. I know it might be confusing. In case it is, then think of it like that: one of you is the person that I was narrating things for. The others were just there. Who it was that was the focus of my narration is not really that important, since it was meant to do its job: convey a certain mood and some information.
Alternate title: Special Weapons And Blunders
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