Road Rovers: Shifting Alliance By Mike Hossler Road Rovers and all original names, characters and situations are copyright Warner Bros. 1996. All rights reserved to Warner Bros. Dawn, Austen, and Hope Copyright. Dawn. Dervish Copyright. Dervish. Rune and Dylan Copy. Dylan. DJ Copy. DJ. Alec Copy. Tanith. There, nobody can sick their lawyers on me now! Prologue: "Griffin 2-7, this is 2-6, good flying out there. Looks like the Commanche is battle ready, we'll be transferred to Fort Rucker in a few days." Captain John Delecroix spoke into the Commanche attack helicopter's radio, addressing his wingman, Lt. Robert Spotts as the Commanches started on their flight back to the Aberdeen proving ground helicopter testing range. "Okay cap'n, adjusting course to one-eight-zero degrees. Damn, sir these things handle great! I wouldn't mind flyin' one of these in combat." "Don't worry, Lieutenant. Someday older guys like me'll have to retire and youngin's like you'll have to take over command of Griffin squadron." Both men knew that at 38, the captain and commander of the new squadron of Commanche helicopters was in no way close to retirement, but everyone in the squadron liked to joke about the age difference of their commander and their 26 year old 2nd in command. "Yeah right, sir, by the time you retire my kids'll be through college, my wife will have gotten fed up with army life and I'll have no use for the captain's pay." The Alabama native eased the helicopter into its new course for home. "Don't be so sarcastic Bob, contrary to popular belief I will someday get out of this business. Maybe retire and move to Florida." Bob was about to reply when his helicopter was rocked by a sudden explosion. "Holy sh*t! John! I'm taking fire!" His voice was filled with a sudden-all consuming panic. "I'm losing steering! The fantail is failing!" John saw another explosion rock his friend's helicopter and debris flying off of its damaged hull. "Mayday! Mayday! This is Griffin 2-6! griffin 2-7 is taking fire! Can you confirm?! Da***tt! stop any weapons testing you're doing!" The air controller's voice came clear over the radio. "Negative, 2-6, no weapons reported in the area, we cannot confirm fire." "John!" Bob's voice now held John's full attention. "John! I'm taking small arms fire now! I can't shake them!" A second of eternity later, the second Commanche exploded into an inferno of flying twisted metal, making the radio go silent. "Bob?! Bob!!" The experienced captain knew there was no way that his friend could've survived. "Base command, this is Griffin 2-6! 2-7 is down! Repeat! 2-7 is down! I think Lt. Spotts is dead! I can't see anyone firing.... What!? i-it can't be!" John looked to a woodland clearing just in time to see two figures carrying what looked to be a rocket launcher and machine guns jump into a van with an insignia he had seen many times before. The insignia of the Road Rovers... Chapter 1: Looking out on the main briefing room of Road Rover Mission control, Professor William Shepard could not find a spot on the floor lacking some sort of activity. Everywhere, agents were bustling about, comparing duty rosters, receiving communication messages, discussing other team members, and an almost endless list of other tasks. "Hey master! You called?" Hunters voice was cheery and optimistic, as usual. "Hunter, good to see you! It's getting so busy around here we've hardly met in the past four days!" Professor Shepard was the creator of this international force of cano-sapien (Half human, half canine) agents. Since it's beginning, it had grown from a mere six agents to nearly an army. "I'd like you to try and find some agents who aren't currently assigned to a duty. Hubert and Exile have completed their repairs on the jet rover and it needs a flight test." "Sure thing Master, I'll go see if I can round some recruits up." "Good luck finding free agents, Hunter, you'll need to do some searching! We've gotten so busy lately..." the Master's voice trailed off into thought as it did on occasion, and Hunter thought it best to leave well enough alone. Alec was a relatively new agent, recruited for his skill with building and using firearms. He was currently working in the research and development wing of RR labs. "Alright! it's finally repaired!" he was referring to his custom made laser rifle, the HI-80. Capable of firing 8000 kilowatts into a single burst, it packed a serious wallop for anyone foolish enough to stand in its path. After a few seconds of admiring his creation, he was alerted to a presence in the doorway. He almost fainted when he realized who it was. Hunter, the overall commander of the rovers! Some agents hadn't met him personally for months, and here he was meeting him after only a few weeks. "You're Alec, one of the new agents right?" His tone was uncertain, even their leader didn't know all of his agents personally yet. "Yep, that would be me, what's up?" Alec's voice had the slightest hint of impatience to it, as if he truly had better things to do. Hunter was slightly taken aback by the gruffness of the black lab's voice, he didn't give quite the answer Hunter was expecting. "Alec, I need you to report to the avionics bay right away, I'm assembling a team to test out the upgrades we've made to the jet rover, and you're the only qualified weapons operative available. Gather any gear you may need and report to the jet rover by 10 o'clock. Hey! Neat gizmo ya got there! What's it do?" "It's quite simple, actually, once the weapon is armed, a charge begins to build in the particle accelerator chamber. After about a three second delay, it's fully charged. From then on in it..." "That's all very interesting, Alec, but what does it do?" "Do? Well why didn't you just ask?" After pushing a small red button on the left side of the trigger, Alec aimed the weapon directly at a mannequin placed in front of a target on the far side of the room. Detecting this, mission control's computer had begun to seal the room and proceeded to light the "Caution: Weapons test in progress..." Warning lights. Once the computer flashed the green light to fire, Alec squeezed the trigger, sending a pulsewave into the target, vaporizing the mannequin and nearly destroying the wall. "Wow!" Were the only words that could seem to escape Hunter's spellbound mouth. "Incredible. I'll have to submit that to research and development. In the meantime, get your gear together, you've still got a mission." Hunter left almost as suddenly as he had come in. He was obviously too busy to stay and chat anymore. The next crew member needed was an engineer. In Hunter's mind, there was only one rover for this job, Exile. Hunter activated his comlink equipped Rover Watch. (Another of Alec's "less destructive" inventions.) Soon, the image of a stocky, blue and white Siberian husky appeared on the small screen. "Exile here, what is wrongski, comerade Hunter?" Exile's steep Russian accent was made even harder to understand by Exile's less than adequate language skills. "Yo! Exile, feel like getting out of mission control on a Jet Rover test flight for awhile?" "Negative, comrade Hunter, Transdogmifier has gone kaputski again and nobody else can fix it." "C'mon, Exile! Every new test flight needs an engineer in case something goes wrong! It's in the manual!" Hunter was visibly agitated from events not going according to plan. "Without an engineering officer on board, this flight is toast." "How big of toaster does one need for Jet?" Exile clearly had misunderstood the point Hunter was trying to make. "It does not matter, I have a new recruit who could probably handle anything that comes down. I think you know him, here he is now." The image of a multicolored mix of a cano-sapien came on to the screen. "Howdy, Hunter, how's it goin!" Hunter recognized the slight country accent of the voice immediately. "DJ! You work in engineering, now! Cool! How was your trip with Keith?" "Just like old times, Hunter! I loved every second of it. So, word is, you need an engineer. I'd be glad to help out." "Great! get your equipment and personal gear and head to the avionics bay by 10:30." Hunter was much calmer, now. Things were finally starting to look up. It was 8:30 by the time Hunter got to the Mission Control mess hall. He was about to descend the stairs to the cafeteria when he noticed two recruits, Dylan and Rune walking toward him. "Hey, what's up, Hunter" Dylan called as he came up to the retriever. "Rune and I were just on our way to get some breakfast." "Cool! what were you planning to do after that?" Hunter's voice was rushed. He needed crew members, and fast! "I don't think we were scheduled for anything too big, we were planning to take the day off, why?" Rune had noticed the tone in Hunter's voice. "Is there an emergency?" "You could say that, I hate to ruin your plans for the day, but I'm short on crew members for the new jet rover test flight today, can you guys help at all?" The two recruits agreed to help reluctantly, and were told to report to the avionics bay the same as the others. "Now, the last crew member I need is a mission commander." The retriever was scrolling down the Duty roster. "Jackpot, now, where is he." Hunter quickly made a few turns down the corridors, descended a flight of steps and came to a halt in RRMC kitchen. There he found Dervish busily helping Shag prepare a dish in a large pot. "Derv! I need your help!" Hunter noticed a tired look in Dervish's green eyes "Can you take the jet rover on a test flight today?" "Awwwww... Hunter I just finished spending half the night fixing our computer security and all I want is a little breakfast. But Nooooooooo... I have to fly the jet rover today." Hunter had a feeling this proposal wouldn't go over too well. "Relax, man! get some breakfast, gather your gear and just be there by ten, okay?" The only response was a grumbled "fine." and a slow walk over to the table by Dervish. "Well, that's it for the crew. Better get over to the avionics bay to go over the checklist." just as Hunter said this, he noticed he had just passed Dawn's crew quarters. The doors slid apart as he approached them. "Oh, hey Hunter." Dawn rose from a chair in the far corner of the room. "What's going on?" the retriever's voice was less cheery than usual. "Hi, Dawn, I heard you were under a lot of stress lately..." Hunter's voice trailed off. "with Grosse's trial and all. So I decided you could use some time off, how does Cancun sound?" "Cancun?! Really?! Cool!" Her voice regained some of its pep. "I'll arrange for the jet rover to drop you off there after it's test flight. Get whatever you need together and get to the hangar as soon as you can. I'm running late as it is, so I'll see you down there." Hunter quickly exited the room, leaving Dawn to pack. It was ten o'clock sharp by the time Hunter the last to arrive in the avionics bay walked in toward the sleek , black jet centered in the Hangar. "Glad to see you all here." were the first words he uttered. "This is a pretty straightforward mission, so pay attention." He sauntered toward the aircraft and motioned for the others to come toward him. "As you can see, there've been many modifications made to the jet rover. I guess we'll start with the basics." he said as he moved to the rear of the jet. "We've replaced the engines with a set of turbines specifically designed by Lackheed Morton. They can provide more than 5000lbs. of thrust. Next up is the outer skin of the aircraft itself. It's very absorbent to radar and is well armored enough to stop anything below a 50 caliber shell." Next, Hunter motioned the group to follow him to the front ofthe aircraft. Pointing toward the nose, he explained, "The sensors installed in the jet rover are top-of the line. If a picture is worth a thousand words, these babies'll give you War and Peace, a set of encyclopedias and Romeo and Juliet in one small package." Then the group moved towards the wings. "We've also installed brand-new weapons and defensive systems courtesy of our own Professor Hubert. If you'll look this way, I have one more thing to show you." The group walked to the underside of the plane and watched as Hunter pushed a small button. Two doors swung downward, revealing a massive cargo bay, stocked with two cycle rovers and a humvee sporting the Road Rover logo. "We tried to design the jet rover to be ready for anything. About the only thing we don't have aboard yet are the crew weapons and small arms, but you're only going on a test flight, so that shouldn't matter." Hunter pushed the switch to close the cargo bay and turned to the crew. "Now then, any questions?" "Hey Hunter, is there anything this plane can't do?" came the remark from Rune. "I mean, it's only a test flight, right?" "True, but we're planning to put it into service as soon as you get back." Hunter replied. "Any other questions?" "Who's leading F-troop here?" Alec questioned. "Glad you asked, Alec. I'd like you all to meet your leader, Dervish Vagabond. I believe you may have met him before. Derv, will you come on up here please? I'll hand the rest of the briefing over to him. Right now I've got to greet the newest set of cadets! Good luck!" As Hunter hurried out of the room, Dervish stepped forward. "Okay, then, I guess I'm the commander of this mission, no thanks to the bet I lost with Blitz...." Before he could go on, DJ remarked, "Great, fearless leader here is only on the job because of a lost bet." "Hey! I thought I could win! When I didn't, I had to enlist in the Road Rovers for three months, geez! Is everyone a critic!? Now, if there are no more puns to be dispersed, Let's all get aboard the jet rover and get this flight over with." The team boarded their plane, little knowing that while taking off out of the hangar they were embarking upon an odyssey in which their futures would hang in the balance... Chapter Two "So, Alec, I hear you're the new golden boy when it comes to weapons. Not too many rookies go through the ranks as quick as you do, buddy." DJ was trying to make conversation above the noise of the Jet Rover's improved engines. "Yep, apparently I'm a popular guy. I don't know what I did really. All I know is that I design some weapons, and boom, I'm made head of the department." He paused, and turned back to the console. "Speaking of weapons, DJ, you did a pretty good job yourself on this puppy. Maybe now we'll be able to last more than five minutes against Parvo." Across the plane, in the cockpit, Dervish was going over some boring flight calculations while trying to avoid falling asleep. Being a Road Rover could be exciting, but it could also be downright monotonous, too. "Hey Derv, don't conk out on me now, I don't particularly like the idea of you falling asleep at the controls. Not on my shift, pal" This came from Dylan, who at the moment was at the controls of the sophisticated aircraft. "Thank you captain obvious" Dervish thought to himself as he shook himself awake. "Where are we now?" "About 90 miles off the East coast of Mexico, we're on our way to drop Dawn off at Cancun. After that it's another four hours to Road Rover Mission control." Dervish sighed to himself. It was going to be a long day... The sun was hot in the sky over Langley Virginia, but inside the climate-controlled CIA headquarters building, it was perfectly normal temperature. It was Deep in the bowels of this building that Douglas Hawthorne, a former MI-5 operative, was sitting along with his new second in command - Timothy Byrons, a former CIA case officer, opposite a panel of international world leaders and security council members. The mood of the room was not exactly what one would call "cheerful". "Major Hawthorne, I wish we didn't have to meet under such urgent circumstances. I've been reviewing your records along with those of Captain Byrons. I think you two are the right people to get this job done." This came from the President of the United States, William McNeal. An ex - army Colonel himself, he knew especially well the rigors of combat operations. "Now gentlemen, on to business, as you well know, one of two of the Americans' "Super Commanche" helicopters were shot down on their maiden flight, killing the pilot," Britain's Prime Minister Edward Stuart said in his thick English accent as he turned on a computer screen on the left wall. It clearly showed surveillance photos of the attack of the helicopters; more specifically, the Road Rover van and equipment used during it. Then turning back to the Intelligence officers, he continued, "Apparently, the Road Rovers have changed horses in midstream. Someone must have finally named the right price, unfortunately, it's on the wrong side." "Sir, if I may please speak freely?" asked Byrons. "Go ahead, Captain." "Where exactly do Major Hawthorne and I fit into this equation?" The next reply came from Ivan Andreyovich Khukov, head of The Russian Republic. "You my friends, are heading up the team to stop them. If they truly have betrayed us, then there is no telling how large a threat they pose to national soveirgnty..." The jet Rover had just passed over the Eastern shores of Mexico, they would be in Cancun airport in a matter of about 20 minutes, and from there it would be a relatively uneventful ride home. "Land Ho!" Rune yelled from the sensor station. The view from the window was that of a pristine "Shangri La", Nothing but white sands and crystal blue water beneath them. "Land?! Lemme see!!" Dawn rushed to the window from the vacant seat at the rear of the plane she had just occupied. "Cooooolll! I can't wait! Cancun, here I come!!" "Down, girl. It's only about a twenty minute flight from here on in. And for some more good news," Rune switched on a meteorological display. "Looks like nothing but sun for the next six days. Happy vacationing!" The tranquillity didn't last long, however, as DJ burst out of the engine room. "Everyone!! Listen up!" There was an urgent tone to his voice. "Turn your vidscreens to CNN now!! You've got to see this!!" After turning the small screens at each station to the news network, the Rovers were horrified by what they saw. "The concept of Archangel is simple, gentlemen." President McNeal was now addressing Hawthorne and Byrons. "It is composed of some of the best, hand-picked special operatives from around the world. America, France, Britain, Russia, Germany, and Israel have all "donated" personnel. They were formed almost as soon as we found out about the Rovers' deceit. They've been drilling for the past few days a few miles outside Road Rover Mission control. They've been divided into two teams of eight men, Alpha and Beta. there are also twelve other members each from the following agencies: GSG-9, CIA, KGB, The French Attaché and MI-5. It's currently under the command of Commander Roberto DeGama of Team One until you two arrive to take command." Suddenly, an aide rushed into the room, "Sorry to interrupt, sir! I believe you should turn on CNN at your earliest possible convenience!" The Russian president flipped on the television at the left wall. A young, female reporter appeared to be standing outside the charred rubble of what appeared once to be a building. "This is Sandra Berndhart reporting live from outside what's left of the Russian embassy in Washington, D.C. after a violent explosion rocked through the building leaving 25 people dead and over one-hundred people injured. What is even more shocking about this blast is the fact that the apparently the bomb was planted by the crimefighting unit commonly known as the Road Rovers. While no motives or explanations have been made for the blast, the U.S. and other countries have assured CNN that they will use any force nesscesary to bring the Road Rovers to justice. From Washington, this is Sandra Berndhart, CNN news." The face of the Russian president was pale. "We must bring these... these maniacs to justice!!! This is an outrage!! You will apprehend these murderers or I will do it myself!!" He stormed from the room, knocking the shocked aide aside. President McNeal turned to Hawthorne and Byrons. "This has complicated things, gentlemen. Our original plan was to fly you to Nevada and have you train with the unit in secret for two weeks, but Archangel will get it's baptism of fire much sooner than expected, andbefore you two can get there." Then, turning to a small phone next to him, he picked it up. "This is McNeal, get DeGama in Utah on a secure line." After a few seconds, the switchboard had made the connection. "De Gama, I trust you've seen the news? Good. This changes our schedule, we're making the raid now. I repeat, the operation is a go. Take the Rovers Down!" The phone landed with a soft click on the receiver, breaking the connection. At the same moment, Dervish was switching off his vidscreen in the cockpit. Even through the fur, one could tell he was pale. Dawn burst through the doors. "What's happening!! Why are we being blamed!? What happened to all the times we saved the world and now they don't even give us a shred of a doubt?!" "People are fickle by nature." Dylan had switched off his screen and was now looking at Dervish and Dawn. "One minute, you're a king, the next a petty criminal. One question remains; what now fearless leader?" Dervish slowly turned toward Dylan. In a quiet voice, he said, "Cancun will have to wait. We need to get back to mission control, now." Chapter 3: The mood was a stark contrast to what it had been just that morning at Road Rover mission control. Cadets were scrambling around as if Armageddon itself was upon them; and in a way, it indeed was. Colleen and Exile themselves were trying to contact any agency that would hear their story. Unfortunately, the State Department was in no mood to hear anything from the Rovers, much less a defense. "Master! We have to get out of here! We're all in danger!" Hunter was frantic as he climbed to the Master's balcony. "Are you even listening to me!?" The Master shot him an angry stare. "Yes, Hunter, I'm not deaf, but if we run, they'll still hunt us all down and only be more assured that we are indeed guilty! Can't you even see that!?" Hunter recoiled from this, and the Master softened. "Hunter, even if we could get away, they've been watching us from the hills to the west with assault teams. They're probably ordered to shoot first and ask questions later. Our best hope is to continue negotiating for now and hope they can come to their senses." He gazed out onto mission control's floor. "Are all of the personnel accounted for?" "That's another thing I was about to tell you, Master, the crew of the Jet Rover test flight isn't back yet. They last checked in two hours ago. We've gone to radio silence since then because of the crisis..." He was interrupted when Colleen climbed onto the balcony to join them. Her usual good cheer was dampened, as if by an invisible weight she couldn't lift from her shoulders. "I just got off the phone from the pentagon; they've delivered an ultimatum. If we don't surrender, they'll come in and take mission control by force." "Peled! Stanley, Dietrich! Over here now!" Three men in urban assault gear jogged to where Roberto de Gama was standing under the Nevada sun. There were about eighty troops in this paramilitary camp altogether, counting the support staff, and while Hawthorne and Byrons were in Washington taking orders from bureaucrats, he was running the show, and loving every minute of it. "Sir, you wanted to see us?" Peled was the commander of Archangel team Two, a veteran of the Israeli special forces through the wars with Palestinian terrorists, making him especially suited for Archangel's purpose. To his left was the 2nd in command of team One, the British SAS veteran Howard Stanley. To his right was team Two's 2nd, Fred Gatwick, another SAS veteran. Both were veterans of the conflicts of North Ireland and both were equally deadly with the 9mm Barretta pistol. Irwin Dietrich was a GSG-9 commander, now employed as the 2nd officer of team two. "Orders just came down from Hawthorne in Washington. Get the teams ready. We make the raid today in three hours, I'll finalize things with the intel support and our other field ops. It's 3:00 P.M. now, assemble at the rendezvous points at 6:00 o'clock, we'll move in fifteen minutes later, with Delta Force, SAS and French special forces backup will move in after us and round up the prisoners. Remember, take as many of them alive as possible, a killing spree isn't what we're after, now move out." Over the Mexican border, DJ was frantically trying to squeeze every bit of power that the jet rovers engines could give out of them, but even with five-thousand pounds of thrust, a fully loaded twenty ton jet could only move so fast... "DJ, how's it coming?" Dervish's voice blared through the headsets all had donned. What had only been a simple test flight twenty minutes before had become a top-priority mission. "The ultimatum is set to run out at six, it's five-fifteen now, we need to get to Mission control, maybe we can airlift the everyone out." There was a slight hint of panic to the Sheltie's voice. In the engine compartment, DJ struggled with another bottle of coolant. "Stay calm up, there buddy. I'm working as fast as I can, but I can't give you what I don't have. You can't run it on overdrive forever. I'm having trouble keeping her from overheating the way it is." The plane jerked as the temperature gauge suddenly jumped into the red. "Ding-Dang it!!" "DJ, what was that, are you okay." this time, it was Dylan on the headset. "I'm fine, but you have to slow it down! These babies are overheating and they won't wait to blow us to kingdom come if they overheat!" "Copy, DJ." Dervish sighed. "I'm taking her back down to cruising speed. Keep doing what you can down there." Meanwhile, De Gama was busy holding a conference with several field officers assigned to Archangel. Kevin Marshall, the team's main pilot and driver, Rebecca Thurgood, a specialist in both field medicine and psychiatry, and Frantz Kholer, a German Technical specialist. Kholer was the first to speak. "I've already taken the liberty of planting several tracking devices and cameras around the headquarters. They seem to be in a state of panic right now. The main Rover team is gathered in and around the main control room, the circular room on the intelligence map here. There are a many staff members in other rooms, but they do not appear to be heavily armed." "That seems to be about what I expected." This comment was made by Thurgood. "The only teams that the Road Rovers keep armed at all times are the main team and teams in the field. They're panicking because a raid by their own government is a complete surprise to them. Although you may encounter some resistance, Shepard would probably rather surrender than let his creations be killed." DeGama grinned at this. "Those are all good things to hear, people. Kevin, how does the assault look from your perspective?" "Frankly sir, like a cakewalk. While you and team One go through the main entry doors into mission control, I can airlift team two onto these air-vents here via helicopter to overwhelm the main control center. Then all that remains is to send in Delta Force and the rest to pick up any stragglers." "My point exactly." DeGama turned to the trio. "Get ready, this mission is good to go." Hunter fumbled with a Road Rover issue laser pistol. He'd used it so many times to protect the same people he may have to use it against. It all seemed terribly ironic, didn't it? "Hunter, we weren't ready for this. All the time we were saving the world we couldn't even spot the enemy within." Colleen moved closer to him on the balcony. "Well, It's about 6:15. I wonder when they'll come in." A tear started to form in her left eye. "Hunty, after all we've worked for, we can't let it end like this, even those recruits in the jet rover are going to die the second they land and they won't even know why..." Now she was crying in earnest. "Hunty, if... if we don't see each other again, I... I..." Colleen wasn't able to finish the sentence. The door was blown from it's hinges with a deafening roar. Seconds later, a flashbang grenade was tossed through, turning Hunter's world into a muffled, blurred version of reality. The next few minutes blurred together to form a surreal side show. Several urban camouflage wearing commandos came through the main entrance and the air vent. He could vaguely make out himself, Colleen, and then the rest of the Rovers and Professor Shepard being pushed to the ground and handcuffed. He could barely hear himself screaming at two new recruits trying to remove sidearms from their holsters to stop, but in vain. They were taken down by one bullet each to the throat, never knowing what hit them. The jet rover slowly passed over the majestic Nevada desert in stealth mode in time to see a column of prisoners being marched out of the once-proud Road Rover headquarters. Dylan was sitting, head hung low in the pilot's seat, Dervish sitting behind him. Alec was somber in the weapons console, his face emotionless. DJ was in the copilot's chair, staring straight ahead. Dawn could barely be heard trying to hold back tears. "This is DeGama. Get Hawthorne and Byrons in Washington and tell them the raid was a succsess. Two Rovers down, One team of six unaccounted for, but expected soon, and the rest captured. De Gama out." The voice echoed in the jet rover cockpit, where the transmission was being intercepted. "No... It, it can't be happening. We were too late." DJ was just beginning to come out of the daze. "That's not the only problem we've got. The other one is... now what?" Dylan looked slowly over at Dervish, still staring straight ahead. Chapter Four "Excellent... They’re falling into my hands like moths flying into a floodlamp." A lone figure stood in the darkness of a room filled with the most sophisticated electronics known to man. His face was illuminated only by the pulsating electric glow of a telivision monitor. He was watching the CNN report of the unfolding situation outside of Road Rover Mission Control. A young female reporter was apparently standing outside of a military-style encampment, her dark brown hair blowing in a slight breeze created by helicopters coming to and from the site. Her voice had a sound of quick urgency to it, most likely caused by having her first chance at covering a breaking story like this. "This is Tanya Andrews reporting live from outside the famed Road Rover Mission Control, as you can see, there’s plenty of excitement going on all around me. I am pleased to report that the ‘Road Rovers’, once thought to be the world’s ultimate do-gooders, have indeed been apprehended by the newest counter-terrorism force, ‘Archangel’. As many of you know alredy, the Road Rovers have turned to one of the worst sets of traitors known to the annals of history. After sabotaging a test flight of Commanche helicopters, taking the life of a crewmen, they then placed a bomb in the Russian embassy in Washington, killing more than twenty diplomats and workers. This incident has seriously hurt the joint nuclear and biological disarmament talks taking place this month in Moscow between U.S. President MacNeal and Russian President Ivan Khukov. According to the most recent reports from the U.S. military, Most of the Road Rovers were indeed captured with no casualties taken in the effort with the exception of two Road Rover Security officers who reportedly tried to open fire on Archangel team members. There were also reports of numerous agents who were not in the compound. The most notable of these was a team of six agents taking vehicles and weapons on test runs, these weapons were no doubt planned to be used in more attacks against U.S. citizens. However the Pentagon is stating that these Rogues should be arrested within the next few hours. This is Tanya Andrews, CNN news." The figure laughed quietly to himself, overjoyed at this newscast. A pair of sliding steel doors clicked, then slid open to reveal a female figure, slighter in build than the man already in the room. They turned to face each other. "Doesn’t it surprise you, Groomer, that after all of our failed plans at destroying the Rovers," he commented in his gruff voice, "that we have managed to get the World to do it for us?" "Aye sir," her Scottish accent had a touch of Russian. "and soon the fools will be all ours, along with their world." Alec stared at the video monitor screen in silent disbelief. How could the same people who the Road Rovers had just protected from evil days earlier suddenly think them public enemy number one? "Public opinion is a delicate balance to maintain. In the right hands, it can be used as a more powerful weapon than any nuclear device known to man." Rune was sauntering up the main aisle of the aircraft, there was nothing to do at the sensors console save to look at clouds, sky and the Atlantic ocean. Dylan was also taking a break from the co-pilot position and was sitting at the intelligence console. Dawn, occupying what would be a communications link with mission control under normal circumstances was the only other figure in the rear cabin. "Yeah, but who would want to use such a weapon against us?" Dylan chimed in, then seeing the comical looks directed at him by everyone else in the room, added, "I guess it was a stupid question." Dawn decided to add her two cents to the conversation that was brewing. "There’s many-a-maniac that would want to do this, but only one with the money, manpower and resources to pull it off..." "And that would be General Parvo of GenPar, Inc." Alec finished. "I guess anyone here could tell that much. The question now is, how do we react?" "That’s a simple answer, we have to prove that Parvo was really behind all this," Dylan stated, "that way, the Rovers will be released and we’ll be able to hit Parvo back." "Exactly the plan I think we should recommend to ‘fearless leader’" Alec replied. This drew a glare from Dawn.. "Cut him some slack, Alec. He didn’t exactly volunteer for this mission!" "None of us did, Dawn," Rune cut in, putting her hand on Dawn’s shoulder. "but we’ve got what we’ve got. Now we can either gripe about it to each other, or we can work together to right the wrongs..." The sun was low over the rolling, green hills of Ft. Indiantown Gap, Pennsylvania. The aging military base had been chosen by Archangel command for it’s location near several major Interstate highways and the fully functional on-site airbase as the new headquarters of the Archangel assault force. From this point on forward, Archangel commander Douglas Hawthorne would base his operations from here. "So, how do you like the new home? I think they did a fine enough job of getting this antique up to speed." Rebecca Thurgood sauntered over to where Hawthorne was standing, near the intelligence buildings (formerly known as a run-down looking set of barracks). She had just finished inspecting the four rectangular buildings (just like all the other rectangular, regulation buildings at the base.) that would be the headquarters for Archangel’s medical services. "Marshall is over at the aeronautics hangar putting the finishing touches on our air transport, and one of his staff is getting our vehicles into the motorpool." "Sounds like Archangel is becoming a functioning force," Hawthorne replied with a smile. "Our communications are complete. I was just over in the main command building. We have direct lines to Washington, Paris, Tel Aviv, London, and Moscow. Not too shabby, eh?" Thurgood, normally serious, found herself laughing at this as Hawthorne’s cell phone chirped. After a few minutes of conversation, he replaced the phone in his pocket. "Well, it’s official. That was Byrons, he says we’re set up and ready for anything. Both teams begin regular training tomorrow morning. Whatever those ‘Rogue Rovers’ are planning next, let them bring it on. We’re ready for them." ******************************************************************************** "Okay, rover. We both know you switched alliances in midstream! You’ve got a choice! You can either fess up or leave it to us to get the information out of your ‘friends’ the hard way." Seated within one of the darkly lit, double mirrored interrogation rooms inside the Archangel intelligence complex was a downtrodden Colleen, who had about one hour of sleep in the two days since the capture of Road Rover mission control. Standing across a plain, wooden table in the dimly lit room was one of Archangel’s two intelligence liaisons with the CIA, Johnathan Thorn. He looked like one of the 'Men In Black' minus the sunglasses, made so popular by a post-Roswell pop culture. "I’m telling you, we don’t know anything about the blasted attack! Don’t you think we would have a slight bit more of a problem joining Parvo’s side after he just got done trying to kill us!?" She sighed in desperation. "You yanks just don’t get any of this do you?" The door suddenly swung open and Elizabeth Stevens, the other intelligence liaison stepped into the room. "We don’t have time to mess with this now. We found the rogues and we think we know where they’re headed. We’re getting ready to move the team." She exited just as soon as she had entered. On her way down the stone-floored hallway, she added, "It’s ‘changed horses’ in midstream, you dolt..." She siged as Thorn turned back to the Collie. "I’ll deal with you later," he added an edge of sarcasm, "now be a good girl and stay... goood dog!" He slammed the door on his way out. ******************************************************************************** Things had relaxed somewhat in the cockpit of the jet rover as it cruised over the New Mexico desert. Dylan had resumed his post as copilot and DJ was casually monitoring some engine readouts. "So, Derv, what’s next?" Dylan asked the Sheltie, who was trying to act busy flying the plane. "Well, we’re going to a Rover base in Utah that was meant to supply strike teams on their way to top secret missions. It was only through an accident while debugging some computer files that I found out about it." "And exactly what strategic advantage will visiting this ‘for your eyes only’ base give us, sir?" DJ asked, looking up from the boringly nominal engine readouts at his own bit of playful sarcasm. Dervish, picking up on this, added a touch of a gruff military general’s accent to his reply. "Well recruit, by taking objective A, here on this imaginary map," the sheltie put the plane on autopilot and waved his hand in an exaggerated motion on a map made of thin air, "we will aquire working databases of road rover information and computer files and also replenish our weapon supply. A new form of ammunition is being stored here for road rover use that our comerade Alec helped develop. It is known as ‘VVP’ or ‘Variable Velocity Projectile.’ After giving everyone within earshot a laugh at this, Dervish switched to a more serious tone. "An M-16 is specially modified to shoot this ammunition. the barrel grips slide forward or back to lessen or add to the gasses from the recoil propelling the bullet from the barrel. The more gasses, the faster the bullet travels. At slower speeds, the bullet is encased in a rubber coating, similar to rubber bullets for crowd control, however at higher speeds, this casing is ripped off, forming a lethal shot. Everyone’s getting these so we only use lethal force when we have to." Dylan was clearly impressed by this technical speech. "Well, I guess it’s on to Utah for us." The afternoon sun had just settled in the sky as the last of the new equipment was issued to the rogues. They had all had basic training on the M-16, so testing was not a problem. Dervish, Dylan and Dawn were still in the complex searching for anything of use to the team. The rest of the group was milling around the jet rover waiting to take off. "The sunset’s pretty awesome around here," commented Alec. "I almost don’t wanna’ leave." He fiddled with the M-16 now strapped to his shoulder. "Not the usual weapon of choice, but it’s still pretty cool." "Yeah, it’s great now that we don’t have to kill, but still have a good amount of firepo..." Before DJ could finish this sentence, a laser shot glanced centimeters from Alec’s head. No more than a second later, a rain of fire poured down on the rogues from a group of canomutants atop a nearby bluff. "It’s an ambush! Everyone down!! Set your weps to non-lethal and return fire!" DJ was frantically screaming these orders as the rogues ducked behind any cover they could find. He fired a ten round burst from his own M-16, sending the canos scrambling for cover of their own. An instant later, Alec and Rune did the same. "This is DeGama and team one! We’re already at the insertion point and I don’t believe what I’m seeing. There appear to be several of General Parvo's cano-mutants attacking the rogues! We need backup, can you assist?" DeGama and the other eleven troops in team one of Archangel had just done a fly-by to get an Arial view of the chaos below. Kevin Marshall, the pilot of their Blackhawk helicopter was taking them around for another pass. "Team one, this is Hawthorne," replied their leader in his typically British accent over the radio. "We and team two are too far back to assist. Engage the Cano-mutants, and then move on to the rogues from the high ground!!" "Copy, Angel lead, team one is on the move!" Turning to Marshall, he barked, "Kevin, put us down! We’re going in behind those walking monstrosities on the bluffs!" Dylan emerged from the entrance of the compound with Dawn and Dervish at his heels just in time to see Alec fire one last burst from his rifle as Archangel Descended from their chopper. The next scenes were not pretty ones. Cano after cano fell as the whistle of 9mm bullets cut the air around the canyon. The canos had been truly caught off guard and had to flee for their lives to avoid being slaughtered. "DJ! Get the engines online! We’re leaving this party, too many gate crashers!" Dervish ordered upon surveying the situation. DJ gave a nod and raced into the plane. The sound of jet engines powering up soon filled the valley as the rest of the team filed into the jet rover. Dervish was about to be the last one up the boarding dock when a laser bolt caught him square in his body armor. Dervish’s vision blurred into a tunnel of sorts, the trauma of the blast knocking him to his back. He was aware of his instincts taking over, aware of lifting his rifle, even if it did seem like someone else doing it. He was even aware of the rifle kicking as he emptied six rounds at the non-lethal setting into the cano-mutant standing at the base of the jet, and then DJ and Alec standing over him as Dylan, Rune, and Dawn ran to the downed, but alive cano mutant. Then, suddenly, his vision collapsed on itself, and the sheltie ceased to be aware of anything at all... "Coffe?" John Thorn asked as he sat down in the officers louge next to Elizabeth Stevens. "I’ve got to go back to the salt mines and try to interrogate those darn mutts in the stockade, but I’ve got a minute or two." Stevens took a sip from the generic white cup. "Thanks." her tone indicated she was deep in thought. She paused before saying, "I can’t help but feel that the ‘Rogues’ aren’t really responsible for all this, that was a third party attacking them, the questions we should be answering are ‘who, what and why’." "That’s excatly what I’ve been trying to do in the interrogation room. The rovers did it, and I’m going to see them burn for it." He wasn’t doing anything to hide his anger, letting his tone rise slightly. Stevens flared and started to leave the table, she stopped, however, and turned to Thorn. "You’re doing this job out of anger. You would do well to remember the CIA motto. ‘...And ye shall know the truth and the truth shall make you free.’" "And where are you going, to recite it in front of your mirror?" Thorn questioned as she left the room. Without turning around and with just as much sarcasm, she replied, "I’m going to do something I should have done a long time ago." Chapter Five "Things are not going at all as planned, Groomer; I almost had them, now they almost have us..." Parvo leaned over his mettallic desk. "Our weapon is turning against us; I guess that’s the trouble with using propoganda, it works equally well for your enemy." The Groomer was focused intently on the television monitor which had just broadcast the debacle of GenPar, Inc. ‘employees/troops being arrested by a security force supposedly meant to protect the populous from the ‘Rogue Rovers,’ as they had come to be called. "Sir, what excactly are we going to do? We didn’t plan for this contingency..." Her voice trailed off, deeply confused. "Correction, Groomer." Parvo replied matter-of factly, "YOU did not plan for this, but I did. There is always more than one awnser to a problem for one who is willing to look..." The drone of the engines was the first thing Dervish was aware of as he slowly awakened from his unconsciousness. Gradually, his vision focused from a cloud of light above him to its normal acuity. There were waves of dull, lingering pain eminating from his lower-right abdomen, and upon examining it, he found a bandage placed around his waist under his uniform. He soon realized that he wasn’t alone in the room. DJ, clad in jeans and a gray T-shirt was sitting in a chair to the right of the makeshift cot on which he was laying. DJ had nodded off into a peaceful sleep, and the Sheltie decided not to inturrupt it. He never had to worry about this, though, since DJ was also waking up. "Derv! You’re awake!" DJ was ecstatic, just short of the ‘jumping for joy’ level. "We had a little chat with the Cano-mutant we picked up. He’s agreed to testify against Parvo in exchange for immunity! He just signed a confession that GenPar is behind all of this. We’re on our way to Washington to deliver this evidence to the justice department." He paused, then smiled, "We did it! We’re going to get the rest of the Road Rovers cleared!" This information was just sinking in as Dawn Rushed in the door to the rear cabin. "DJ, we’re getting a message on the comm..." before she could finish, she saw Dervish, now back to his senses and smiling at the thought of freeing his comerades, "Dervy!! You’re awake!! You’d both better get out here, we’re getting a prioroty one message, at least that’s what Dylan says it is..." A few moments later, Dylan, DJ, Dervish and Dawn were looking at a video link of a well dressed, blonde woman in her thirties and and equally well dressed, somewhat older looking man. "It’s ironic that I’m talking to you now as friends when just a few days ago I wanted you behind the strongest bars I could find... I’m Timothy Byrons, Archangel Excecutive officer, and this is Elizabeth Stevens, our operative from MI-5." Dylan spoke first, "Charmed, but would you mind explaining the prioroty one message on the Road Rover frequency?" He purposely didn’t hide the annoyance in his voice. "Simple, it was the only way we could get your attention to let you know that you have secretly been cleared of all charges. We found a laptop that your ‘friends’ left behind with files incriminating GenPar, Inc. Of course, we will deny all knowledge of this until Parvo is captured." Stevens replied. "We did you one better, Ms. Stevens, we have one of our ‘friends’ in the flesh who has singned a confession. Okay, next question, what is this all about; and what do you mean ‘secretly’ cleared?" Dervish stepped up to the screen. "That is also a good question. It is angency policy not to release suspects of this high of a degree unless it is known that we have captured the real criminal. Public relations, you understand. As soon as we can find Parvo, you and your comerades will be formally cleared." Byrons turned to awnser a secure phone as Stevens started to answer the remaining questions the now joyful Rovers had. This was inturrupted as Byrons hung up the phone and turned back to the viewscreen, his face pale. "I’ve just recieved word that Parvo’s forces have taken over and sealed off the Philadelphia International airport with over four-hundred hostages. I’ve just deployed archangel, but they have very little experience dealing with Parvo." Byrons siged, then continued, "You are the only group of Road Rovers that are ready to deploy.... I’m afraid I have to ask for your help to deal with this." "Bring down Parvo to get even for all the trouble he’s caused us, I’m going to lay in our new course now!" DJ said to nobody in particular as he jogged to the cockpit. The shadow of the blackhawk helicopter skimmed along what appeared to be a world gone mad. From inside the craft, the rogues were given a bird’s eye view of the chaos that had befallen Philadelphia international airport. Everywhere there were camoflauge-clad soldiers scurrying about, hunched down to avoid the possible snipers which might or might not have been watching thier every move. The helicopter jerked about as it came down on the improvised landing pad on what should have been a crowded runway. As the rogues were unloading and setting up their equipment, a man wearing a British major’s uniform strode up to them. "Good day, all. It seems we have quite a situation does it not?" He had every point of a steriotypical British accent. "My name is Major Hawthorne, commander of Archangel forces. I beleive you’ve already been in contact with Mr. Byrons, my executive officer, and our MI-5 operative, Elizabeth Stevens, they’re over at our command post waiting for you. If you would please follow me." It was more of a command than a request, so a few minutes later, the group was huddled around a blueprint of the airport along with Stevens and Byrons. "We’ve been trying to negotiate, but they’ve cut all power to the building, so we’re putting entry teams on three entrances. De Gama will be preparing for a helicopter assault on the roof, While Peled and the rest of Beta team will form a distractionary group in this side employees’ entrance. The rogues, with the exception of DJ, will be going in through the cargo area. DJ will be posted here on this adjacent rooftop for sniper duty and surveillance," Byrons was giving everyone present a tactical breifing. Pointing to a hangar, he continued, "Clalahan and Remier will take up their sniper positions on that hangar, scouting the other side where Beta team will be going in. The positions of where to form your groups are marked here and... here. Anything else?" Frantz Kholer, arcangel’s technical advisor, stood up. His voice had a thick German accent that nearly matched the thickness of his glasses. "Sir, Parvo has cut all camera systems in the building down and has installed visual jamming systems. Surveillance is impossibe, we should proceed with caution." "What about communication between teams, or between teams and support personell? We can’t very well go in blind?" Dervish was now on his feet. "I agree that we have to be cautious, Kholer,” then, turning to face Dervish, Hawthorne added, "and I’ve taken the liberty of tuning all of our equipment to your frequency. We’ll hear everyone just fine. There is a battalion of National guard here to provide logistical support and assistance. Now let’s start forming up at our destinations, I have a feeling the situation may very well be, as you say here in America ‘going down the tubes.’" ************************************************************************** Inside the security office of the airport, Parvo had a god’s eye view of the premises through security cameras, while his counterparts in the Archangel team could not have a clue in the world as to what was going on. Life was indeed good when plans fell into place. "Sir, it looks like the strike teams are moving into position, from here, it looks like two teams. One with about eight humans, and one with about six cano-sapiens." The sniper whom Parvo who had placed in the window was exactly like all of the other four he had stationed around the building. "Just as I expected, you dolt!" It was truly annoying having to work with idiots. Parvo clicked on the intercom button on the desk. "Groomer, proceed as planned." Then he turned back to the sniper. "We’re sending out the key ‘weapon’ If things get botched up, shoot to kill." Parvo giggled slightly after giving that particular order. "All units, report in." Byron’s voice echoed over the headsets of the strike teams. "This is De Gama, we’re on station, ready for arial assault." "Peled here, Beta team in position, awaiting orders." "Dervish here, we're ready." he switched off the commset and looked to his teammates. No he decided, they were more than that now, they were friends. "Guess we’re finally growing into our nickname, rogues." "Don’t be so jubilant, buddy! All units, be advised: someone’s coming out of the building, my god, he’s holding a gun to a little kid!" DJ’s tone had an edge of panic. "I see him too, but I don’t have a clear shot," called Calahan. Now the figure, a cano-mutant in body armor, began to slowly speak. "You have crossed our leader for the last time!" He pressed his small pistol into the child’s back. She was a small girl, only about nine. "Unless one billion dollars is transferred into our bank account, the rest of the hostages will suffer the same fate as this one." "My god he’s going to shoot her!" Peled exploded. "If our demands are still not met, a neurotoxin will be released from this building which will probably kill more than two thirds of the people in a fifty mile radius." "Da**it! I don’t have a clear shot! No!!" Calahan screamed. It seemed as if the world fell silent enough to hear the gun being cocked and the trigger beggining to be squeezed. Two shots rang through the air, but not from the cano-mutant’s pistol. They came, instead, from DJ’s sniper rifle, the first hitting the gun, throwing it from the cano’s hands, the second hit the cano himself, slightly below the chest, enough to disable, while still being non-lethal. The girl fell to the ground, crying, along with the now unconcious cano-mutant. "DJ! Good shooting! If it wasn’t for you, ... well, let’s not go there." Dylan cheered. However, not all was well, a ricochet struck the ground near the child, causing her to scream. "There’s another sniper out here, we can’t get to the girl!" Alec cursed silently to himself. Dawn quickly began to throw off the heavy combat armor and weapons she was wearing. "What in the world do you think you’re doing?" Rune asked, confused. "I’m not going to sit here and watch an innocent child die!" Dawn’s face was drawn into an uncharacteristically pained and serious exspression. "Do you want to get yourself killed!?" Dervish yelled as another bulled pinged closer to the little girl. "No, but do you want blood on your hands!?" With that, Dawn ran out towards the spot where the child lay. "General, one of the canosapiens is running toward the kid!" The sniper called as he reloaded his weapon. "Like I said, private, shoot to kill..." "It’s okay, I’m here now. It'll be okay" Dawn tried to comfort the child as she picked her up. A bullet pinged of the gravel, causing Dawn to cringe, but she started to run as another ping sounded behind her. The girl had ceasced crying, but they were not out of danger, by any means... "You idiot, shoot her!!" Parvo was exploding with rage, leaning over his desk toward his sniper in the window. "Shoot her before they see you Don't let them escape alive!!" "I’m trying si...." Before the sniper could finish his sentence, a rifle cracked, and he crumpled to the floor, clutching his chest, moaning in pain. Outside, on a hangar roof overlooking the terminal, DJ drew his head away from the rifle scope. "Sorry pal, not in this lifetime." "This is Byrons, negotiations are officially ended! We’re going in!"