Message #30069

[Sir Modemkill, Cyborg!]

Chapter Two

   After several hours of traversing the dark streets of Fairview, the party of three made it to the famed Headquarters of Dusk. The HQ itself was not just one building, it was several large buildings enclosed by a courtyard wall. The main building was a large six story, there were four other one story buildings inside the compound. Salvaged generators ran day and night, fueled by bio-fuel that that the Engine class Agent farmers grew alongside their crops on the flat rooftops. The rooftops were perfect for farming once they had dragged up enough sacks of soil to make small fields out of them.

   The grounds inside the courtyard were patrolled by four man teams, these teams were comprised of Settler class Agents. Settler class Agents were the lowest ranked Agent in Dusk, it’s what you become once you pass your trials. The main entrance, a large electronic steel gate, was guarded by two machinegun nests. Each nest was manned by two Settlers, had an M60 heavy machinegun and was surrounded by a sandbag ring. Snipers patrolled the rooftop of the main building. The place was second only to Nastya’s itself, a veritable Fortress.

   “Open Up!” Shouted Igor in his thick Russian accent once they had reached the gate, a settler from the MG nest jumped the sandbags and rushed to the gate control switch.  As the gate slid back into the hollow in the wall, the three Fenrir’s walked in and the heavy gate shut behind them. “So what do you make of the whole thing James?” Igor was referring to the conversation he and Jarki had been having about the appearance of the large hole in central the entire journey here, James had not contributed to it. “I don’t know, but I’m sure we will find out soon enough.” He answered simply.

   They entered the large doors of the main building and were met with a familiar face. “Hiya Meldong!” Jarki almost sang the words and waved, even though he was only a few feet away from them. Nathan Donahue, another Fenrir Agent and long time friend of James. A lot of people called him Meldon, a nickname than came from his middle name “Mel”, the man was probably the only person in Dusk who held onto a shred of his former humanity, constantly plagued by his conscience. It wasn’t a question of good or evil with Nathan, it was a question of Honor or Dishonor. He was well respected and liked by almost everyone; he even had friends in clan’s with opposing ethics, such as the Dallbow Police Department, a section of the Outpost Guard, or the remnants of Ascending Dawn, a long time enemy of Dusk.

   Nathan smiled and answered “Anal Beads Jarki, Igor, James, I was waiting for you guys to come back, you’re almost late for the meeting you know.” Jarki looked indignant, she crossed her arms and said “Hey, don’t blame us, we had to take the long way around!” Igor and Nathan laughed and James smiled slightly. “Alright.” Said Nathan after a few seconds “We need to get going or we really will be late” The three of them nodded and they made their way toward the staircase.

   James light a cigarette from his seemingly never ending supply as they ascended the stairs. “So, any idea what this is about Nathan?” Igor asked as they climbed, Nathan frowned as he replied. “I wish I knew, but it must be something important or there wouldn’t be a meeting for it.” Igor, still with the same wide grin that never left his facial expression replied “I bet it has something to do with that huge hole in Central!”

   Nathan and Igor chatted like that the whole way to the top, James remained silent, puffing contently on his cigarette and Jarki seemed to be transfixed on the peeling yellow paint on the walls. When they finally arrived, Nathan knocked on a large oak door in the hallway, a voice on the other side told them to enter, and they did so. Inside the room, several people awaited them, there was Ryan Scott Parker, yet another Fenrir Agent and friend of James. There was Ashley, the newest addition to the Fenrir team, though her main responsibility was the leadership of the Reaper class Dusk Agents, the true fighting force behind Dusk, chosen for their fighting prowess and skill, they are the shock troopers of Dusk.

   The third person who awaited them was known as Tratpan, this man was a Draconis class Dusk agent, the highest echelon in Dusk. Most Draconis class Agents were once a part of the Black Dragon Head Order before the Black Dragons and Fenrir’s Fangs merged to form Dusk. Tratpan commanded the utmost respect from everyone he met almost instantly, the combination of the man’s intellect, class and position almost demanded it.

   “I’m glad you could join us” Tratpan said, as he motioned for them to take a seat at the meeting table. “I’m sure you’re all wondering why I have called you here, so I will get straight to the point.” Tratpan paused for a moment before continuing. “As I am sure you all know the central zone of Fairview has….disappeared, for lack of a better word” Everyone at the table nodded but said nothing. “What I’m sure you don’t know is something that the Outpost Guard survey teams recently discovered” Everyone there knew that Dusk had operatives within the Outpost Guard, information gathering was one of Dusk’s specialties.

   He continued “The survey teams have discovered something very interesting about the hole, Apparently, it’s possible to descend into the hole by following a narrow pathway that exists along the edges of the crevice.” He paused for a moment to let that sink in. Igor, grinning wider than usual, if that were even possible, piped up “Does that mean!?” Tratpan interrupted him “Yes, we’re going into the hole.”