In The BLAC CH 8

Chapter 8: The Case's Purpose

Johnny slammed his bat against the bars of the brig, "Alright Red, start talking! What were you doing in our base?"

Jamie stuttered a bit, "Well I-I-"

"Shut up! I don't wanna hear a word from you! Were you after the briefcase?"

"No, I was-"

"I told you to shut up! Now, why were you distracting my team with a game of cards?"

Jamie let out a sigh and tried to answer, "I was just having some-"

Johnny silenced him, "Did I say you could talk? Very well, since you won't cooperate, I'll just have to let you rot in your cell. Hope you like it in there, pip-squeak!" Johnny left the room in a matter of seconds.

The RED soldier sat down on the cell floor,"Alright Jamie, think. There's got to be some way out of here. Who am I kidding? I'm screwed." Jamie angrily and hopelessly kicked the cot next to him. Suddenly, the cot began to rattle. The bed lifted itself as the floor collapsed slowly, revealing a hidden staircase. "What have we here? Maybe I'm not so screwed after all." Jamie then slowly crept down the stairwell to find where the passage might lead.

Back inside the RED base's med-bay, Marcus watched Geo and Jared combine their vast intellects to treat Steff's wound. With him were the rest of both RED and BLAC team, all hoping to see their teammate make a full recovery. "Little man?" KI-11 asked Marcus softly, "Will she live?"

Now Marcus was unsure on what the outcome would be. For he earlier had seen the wound start to change color, like an infection almost. However, he responded with an optimistic nod, "She'll be just fine, big guy. She's got two of the best medics working on her."

KI-11 let out what appeared to be a greasy tear from his robotic eye, "In that case, will little man give her this?" He handed Marcus a card, a card labeled 'Get Well Soon'.

Marcus let out a bit of a nervous chuckle, "I will. And I'll let her know it was you, okay?"

KI smiled and patted Marcus' head, "Little man is all right."

"I'm not little, you're just very very big. Got it? I'm not small." Marcus grumbled under his breath.

KI started laughing hysterically as he left the room, "Oh, that slaps me on the knee!" He said as his voice faded.

Marcus' anger slowly subsided, until Angie walked up to him, "So I hear your girlfriend took a bullet for you."

Marcus whirled around to face her, "WHAT? No no no no, she and I are teammates, nothing more and nothing less!"

Angie nodded at him sarcastically, "That's what they all say."

Marcus' face flooded a deep red with blush, "I swear, all you Reds are good at is asking personal questions!"

Angie giggled as she watched the scout's blush intensify, "Speaking of red, you might wanna take a look in the mirror."

Marcus tried rubbing the blush off of his cheeks, but it was no use. He had turned as red as a berry. "Ugh, let me know they're done treating her! I've gotta be somewhere. If they ask for me, leave a message."

"A love message?" Angie raised both of her eyebrows, followed by a grin. Marcus only responded with a frustrated growl, and then he went upstairs to the battlements.

"Hello?" Jamie called softly as he proceeded down the stairs. "Blaze? Kia? Anyone down here?" As he reached the foot of the stairs, the resulting path led to a room filled with large computers. "Whoa, I don't remember this being here." Jamie marveled at the many wonders inside the room, only for his attention to be directed towards a small table. On that table was a shiny blue-colored case. "No way." Jamie laughed with excitement. He then grabbed the case, and darted down the hallway in search of an exit.

Meanwhile, Marcus was fuming as he marched up towards the roof of RED base. "A love message?" He mocked, trying to talk in Angie's voice, "How dare her to think I would be so-ugh-unprofessional! She- she- dang it, she's right. But it's not that simple. If she hasn't noticed, there's a bit of a war going on. There will be a time for that sorta thing, but right now I'm interested in the brief-" Marcus' monologue was cut off by the sound of gunfire in the distance. Hearing this, he rushed towards the roof to see what was happening.

"Marcus, get up here, quick!" Danny called with Blaze close to his side, "You know lass, you don't have to hang on every-" He tried to jerk free, "Will you- STOP! Just let go of me, right now. I do a lot better when you're out of my way!"

Blaze was about to say something, but instead hung her head and went downstairs as Marcus came up. Marcus heard her weeping as they crossed each other. "What's wrong with her, Danny?"

Danny let out an angered sigh, "Nothing, just- nothing. Did you hear the shot?"

Marcus nodded in agreement, "Yeah, sounded like it was over from the BLU base." More shots rang out. Marcus and Danny rushed to the rooftop and look towards the BLU base entrance. There was Jamie, dodging pistol fire from the BLU scout, all while carrying an object in his hands. "Danny, who's that down there?"

"Um," Danny looked through the scope of his rifle, "You're not going to believe this one mate. The little snot has the briefcase."

"What?" Marcus' eyes widened, "Danny, lay down some cover fire. I'm going in!" And in an instant, Marcus jumped off the rooftop and hit the ground in a roll. He immediately got up and ran towards Jamie's position.

"You runt, give it back!" Johnny shouted as he fired another burst of shots.

"I'll give it back, I just wanna borrow it for a bit!" Jamie yelled back as he continued to run. Jamie however fumbled the case as he was running, only for it to be caught by Marcus, who also kicked Jamie's feet out from under him.

Marcus then dragged Jamie into the nearby trench for safety. "Are you hurt?" Marcus asked the RED soldier.

"Save for the kick you gave me, no. Who are you, anyway?" Jamie remarked as he rubbed the back of his leg.

"No time for jokes and trivia, soldier." Marcus said sternly , holding up the briefcase, "How did you get this?"

"I found it." Jamie answered calmly, "Why? Is something important in there?"

"Very." Marcus responded, "We've got to find a safe way back to RED base."

Jamie hesitated, "Wait... Listen... Do you hear him?"

Marcus listened carefully, "I don't hear anything."

"Exactly." Jamie concluded, "Johnny should have still been calling me names and shooting all over the place. Something's not right."

Marcus readied his bat, "Alright, stay here and protect the briefcase." However, as Marcus started to climb to the top of the trench, a rifle was pointed right into his face. "On second thought, I'll stay here with you."

"Get up, tiny!" The holder of the rifle ordered. It was one of many masked soldiers clad in black body armor, all which had now covered the field. "I said get up!" Marcus calmly obeyed and climbed out of the trench. "You too, junior!" He called to Jamie. Once Jamie rose up though, the legionnaire spotted the case in Jamie's hand. "General, we've got it!"

"General?" Jamie raised an eyebrow.

The question was soon answered as the forces of the Legion separated, and General Little stepped forward, until he was directly in front of Marcus and Jamie. "Well done, Marcus. You actually pulled through for me this time."

Marcus was equally surprised at his superior's presence, "Sir, what are you doing here?"

"Sadly I'm here on business. After my one man failed me, I decided to handle it myself." Soon another soldier brought over a bound and beaten Manuel. "Good help is so hard to find these days."

"We had a deal, Little!" Manuel snarled, "If I got you the case, you'd get me and my brother off the team!"

"Yes, but you didn't get the case, did you?" Little replied with bitterness. "But you can relax Manuel. Now that I have the case, I can get everyone off of my team permanently. And every other team for that matter."

Marcus failed to understand, "What are you saying? How can the case-"

Little let out a sinister laugh, "I forgot to mention it, didn't I? I might as well tell you just so the suspense doesn't kill you before my men do. The case you've brought me contains an unaltered sample of the VX nerve agent. A teaspoon of this gas exploded in the air could probably kill everyone in this base."

"How much is in there?" Jamie asked with a frightened curiosity.

"Enough for me to get my way for the next ten years." The General grinned wickedly. "Boys, at the end of the day, you're gonna have a new Administrator. But I know you Marcus, so I'm afraid I'm going to have to skip to the best part." The General then pulled out his pistol, the same one that killed Rachel. "So long, Marcus." As the General pulled the trigger, Manuel jumped up in front of Marcus and took the bullet- right into his head. Marcus felt that sense of terror course through him again as Manuel dropped dead to the ground. "Oh, why do they always do that?" Little complained, "Oh well, he failed his mission anyway. Lieutenant, have the men pull out. We're done here. I'll be back for you Marcus, so you best leave while you still can." The General then signaled his men to fall back as he himself boarded the nearby helicopter that had just landed for him. Within minutes Little, the Legion, and all of Marcus' hopes were gone.

What was to become of this predicament? Manuel was dead, Steff may be dying, the case was revealed to contain a deadly gas that the General intends to wipe the slate clean with, and all three teams are in cold, painful shambles. What will they do to make things right? Will they do anything at all?