Chapter Twelve
The jet black Mark Two slithered at high speed across the wind driven snow plains of Alaska carrying the renegade assassin to his next port of call. His eyes fixed on the view screen; Frost was focused on the task he was so eagerly waiting to accomplish. His next undertaking had two main functions, revenge and supplies for the final onslaught. The image on the view screen was enhanced as he worked the control panel slowly and methodically without looking at it. The image was of SIA Central Command and he glared at it with evil eyes. All his anger, all of his focus was bent on his old masters. They had no control over him now, he was their worst nightmare. The Mark Two skulked around the snow-hidden base at high altitude and Frost emerged from her side with his armour activated. As he fell to the ground he thought of his old commanders and former friends, they had no idea of the oncoming onslaught.
As ground level got closer he activated the magnetic repulsion system that was part of his armour, armour that was rapidly becoming a part of his body. He slowed down gradually until he landed softly on his metallic feet. The Mark Two turned slowly and moved away from view, the SIA could not detect it but if it were seen it would spoil the surprise. Frost stood for a moment and accessed the SIA’s schematics on his internal implant, he wanted the stealthiest entrance to his old home from home. Frost was no longer a creature of nature he was a cold calculating mix of man and machine. How fitting that the technology man had blindly manipulated was now a threat to all life on Earth. He motioned to an emergency exit at the rear and placed his blue hand on a terminal panel, he accessed the base computer system. He worked his magic. Virus after ingenious virus flooded the SIA’s ‘impenetrable’ computer system, terminals shut down, doors opened and closed and lights flickered inside the high-tech control rooms. The door in front of Frost that was usually alarmed and magnetically locked was now putty in his hands. With a powerful kick the four inch door ripped from the frame and smashed against the wall opposite. Frost entered and wound his way invisibly into the dark recesses of the secret facility.
The central control room of the SIA was its very nerve centre, advanced computers with cunning operators worked away keeping abreast of current affairs and anything of interest globally. The inhabitants had become accustomed to safety and knew, or thought they knew it was completely safe. Suddenly all systems were down and the whole facility panicked as the lights fluctuated.
‘Control room this is General Thorn, what the hell is going on?’
‘We think it’s some kind of computer virus it originated from just outside the base, could just be nothing but I wouldn’t bet on it’ Dr Janner replied, he was already down there.
General Thorn entered the control room and immediately accessed the mainframe.
‘Yes we seem to have a nice little collection of super viruses that have wiped out just about every system we have. I would think we have an intruder Janner, take a few men and have a look around, protect the classified hanger at all costs’
Suddenly the base shook ferociously as the Mark Two laid down its first barrage of high power Taser beams. Thorn brought up the perimeter surveillance systems after much deliberation and searched for the attacker.
‘It’s the Mark Two. It’s Frost! Get me agent Sadek immediately’ Thorn was now aware of the inevitable assault and wanted backup. Ground zero of the base was now in roaring flames, deep underground the corridors of the main SIA stronghold were being rocked ferociously as the Mark Two kept up its solitary assault. The Mark Class Helicopters were capable of automated assault on any decided target, they were smart enough to invent strategies and tactics independently.
Thorn accessed the defence system after some time. A great beam of green light filled the black of the Alaskan winter night and struck the Mark Two violently, sending it plummeting to the ground. The Mark Two slammed into the snow and was rendered out of action temporarily, the power of the blast had knocked out some major systems.
‘Sadek get your team back to base Frost is here and he’s attac…’ the general managed to reach Sadek and his task force but was suddenly cut off.
‘Too late Thorn my old friend I’m already here and you are a dead man. It was you who created me and now I have become the physical manifestation of all your darkest nightmares’ Frost entered the room and cut off all communications. He spoke in the robotic tone of his armour which was becoming darker by the day.
‘Just give me one decent reason for all this Arrin you owe me at least that’ Thorn said with a tremble to his voice.
‘I have a problem with the human race, it’s had its chance and I ‘m the next phase of our evolution, I have seen it in dreams and I feel it inside. It’s like a presence but a benign one that has shown me so much more than I have ever imagined. I’ve seen the future Thorn and it’s a great one, no more petty war or the division of nations just the exploration of space and a greater understanding of the universe’
‘You sound like you’ve been smoking crack Arrin seriously, that is the ramblings of a mad man’
‘I really don’t expect you to understand Thorn you’re generation old school, the ones who fucked this planet well before I did. Mankind must progress before we stagnate in this fishbowl we call Earth’ Thorn looked at Frost in a different light for a second before reverting back to his usual pre-programmed thoughts and announcing his own theory.
‘You’re angry Arrin, you’re angry at us for trying to control you and overusing the armour has polluted your mind, perhaps a power that humans aren’t yet ready for but that doesn’t mean that everyone should die. Help to usher in a new era and change the world’ Thorn was old school and humanity was by far his greatest attribute but it was futile. A flash of red flickered in Frost’s eye and even through the armour Thorn could tell he was raging.
‘I’m afraid General there is a time bomb ticking away at the foundations of every culture on this planet and your next in line’
‘Fuck you Frost’ Thorn shouted and ran at the menacing figure with sheer courage and aggression. Thorn was not a small man but he resembled a dwarf in Frosts towering shadow. He feebly began to punch at Frost's invulnerable body suit. Two curved blades appeared slowly from Frost's right arm. The petrified computer technicians behind their terminals gasped synonymously as if it were rehearsed as his silver scimitars appeared from the back of their General’s head. Blood ran down Thorns back, he went limp and fell to the ground as Frost retracted the ominous blades from his old master. He smiled intensely inside his headpiece.
Of all the people he hated in the world that he had in recent days eliminated, Thorn was his finest kill. He took no heed of the other in the room who were quaking visibly with fear and walked toward the main computer terminal. One of the technicians started to whimper uncontrollably, Frost’s arm lifted faster than light and a green beam shot from his wrist penetrating the terrified woman’s head and she was silenced. The act did not bother him at all but the room fell deadly silent. He was looking for something he had always wanted to find, he had tried before but Thorn was the only person who had access to such files. This time however the security had been eliminated and all the files were at his mercy. He downloaded the file he was looking for into his armour’s memory bank and left the room.
His movements were swift and cleverly placed as he walked through the corridors of the facility he had practically grown up in. As he motioned towards a door at the end of the hallway his eye caught something. There were eight framed pictures of young men; they were of course himself and his old comrades. For a split second the old Frost resurfaced and he felt a little sad that it had all gone so wrong, if only the SIA had not sought to control them in such totalitarian ways maybe things could have been different.
A piercing shrill scream inside his head shut out the old Frost again and he didn’t recognise the people in the pictures, they were nothing to him now. He dismissed the past few moments as a figment of his imagination. He carried on his way to the door and entered the SI
A’s weapons storage facility and got to work. Blissfully unaware of the situation that was unfolding thousands of miles away in Alaska, Troy was in a lucid daydream of the past few days he had spent with Nikita. This daydream was shattered however by Sadek’s frantic voice.
‘Daryl, Frost’s attacking SIA HQ, Thorn’s transmission was cut short and I fear we may be too late. We should arrive there in fifteen, get yourself there’ Sadek said frenetically to a shocked Daryl Troy.
He thought for a moment and a small voice in his head wanted them to die, but he overcame it he was not Arrin Frost and he was no cold-blooded killer.
‘Computer SIA Headquarters, maximum speed’ Troy barked to the computer system. The Mark One retracted rotors and engaged the stability cons at either side, it looked slightly triangular as it pushed out thirty six thousand Kph and rocketed toward the besieged base.
‘No computer I said TOP speed!’ he demanded and pushed for more thrust from the already stressed fusion drive. The darkness of the super chopper started to shake mildly as warning lights and alarms filled the air. Troy took no heed, he needed to get there as quick as possible.
Frost emerged from the remnants of the base and ordered the Mark Two to his co-ordinates she was finally back in operation after the blast from the base. He dropped a metallic ball identical to the one he unleashed on Hungary and ran for the Mark Two. The side door opened and Frost grasped the side as it sped off at high speed, the dark blue menace held on tightly. In hot pursuit the Mark Three had arrived and Frost's vessel was in sight. Just as Sadek and his team were in firing range the Nucleonic pulse their prey had unleashed suddenly engulfed them. The area lit up brighter than the sun and the blast destroyed everything in the area. The Mark Three was directly above as it erupted and was thrown violently to the ground a few miles away. The helpless vessel rolled and rolled with the force of the shockwave and finally came to rest. Markov, Kym and Sadek struggled back to their seats and carried on the pursuit. The Mark Three rose back into the air amidst the debris and destruction, which had only a few moments ago been their headquarters.
The pursuing agents had recovered and were now directly behind the Mark Two. Sadek and his team closed in on the runaway assassin they had been pursuing for days and whom had outwitted them at every turn. Sadek was determined that was not going to happen today as he brought the Mark Thee into firing range. A barrage of Taser beams from its pursuer suddenly pummelled the Mark Two. Frost manoeuvred his helicopter with great guile, evading the attacks from Sadek’s team. Sadek took his vessel above the Mark Two and fired a low yield Nucleonic pulse directly at it. Just in time Frost evaded the powerful weapon and it impacted on the ground devastating the area. Frost decided it was time to finish his final task for the day and dropped the super chopper to the snowy ground below.
‘He’s landed directly below us Sadek, do you think it’s a trap of some kind?’ Kym said to his team leader.
‘I don’t think he can be trusted at all but let’s go down and see what he wants, he can’t harm us with the armour activated’ Sadek responded and dropped the Mark Three one hundred metres from Frost.
He stood motionless, glaring at the Mark Three with contempt as its operators got out the side, their armour activated. They stood staring back at their old friend and fellow agent with equal hatred. Kym stood to the right of Sadek and Markov was to his left, Sadek activated his Wrist scimitars, Markov and Kym charged their powerful handguns. Markov and Kym stood slightly behind the fearsome looking Sadek with their weapons aimed for Frost's head as they approached their dangerous adversary. None of them felt fear; their intense training of years ago was in full swing. How could Frost possibly escape now with three armoured SIA agents in his wake, surely he was a dead man. Frost walked briskly toward them with not a care in the world as he did so he activated his scimitars slowly to induce fear in his attackers.
As Frost got closer Markov and Kym motioned sideways with their sights directed on the approaching assassin. Like cautious armed police they flanked Sadek who was clearly ready to spill blood, if Frost even had blood now. Perhaps alien fluids now filled his veins Sadek thought. Frost was now within twenty metres of them, he stopped and tapped his left wrist. Sadek and Kym began firing frantically but the weapons did not even knock Frost back a millimetre, the blasts just deflected off his dark armour. Suddenly Markov and Kym’s armour began to deactivate, they jumped back shocked at what was happening. They would be exposed to Frost now, how did he do it they wondered. Both agents fell to the ground as their legs scrambled to push them further away from the huge dark menace. Sadek looked down at them and dropped his guard in sheer horror.
‘How did you do that’ Sadek shouted to Frost in his robotic voice.
‘I am capable of a great many things that you have never even dreamed about. I’ve developed a device that can deactivate the TCA leaving you like sitting duck’s’ Frost answered in a deeper robotic tone.
‘Oh that’s just fucking brilliant!’ Sadek answered as two weapons similar to Kym and Markov’s emerged from Frost's dark blue thighs. With one in each hand he aimed them at the defenceless agents who were now running as fast as they could. They headed for the Mark Three but as they did the Mark Two jetted over and fired a powerful Taser into their only sanctuary. The blast entered the door and erupted the fusion drive, the super chopper was destroyed in a mighty blast which threw the helpless agents clear into the air. Only the shell of the Mark four remained. Markov and Kym landed painfully back on the snow covered ground. They got up again and tried to run although both were now hobbling; there was no-where to run and certainly nowhere to hide. Two bolts of thick green light fired from Frost's guns and virtually dissolved the fleeing agent’s heads.
Their lifeless inanimate bodies dropped to the ground and looked weak and pitiful. Now there were only three of the original eight agents of the SIA. Their leader dead, their Headquarters destroyed. What hope did mankind have now, everyone on Earth a mere distraction to the now unstoppable Frost. The planet as it had been for billions of years was about to change beyond all recognition. Thousands of new beings genetically enhanced and physically connected to alien material, dominating every corner of the planet. Frost's incredulous plan was now coming to fruition and there was nothing in his way, he had the material to kill every last living thing stolen from his old home. Sadek regained his guard, his attack was probably useless but he had no choice.
Frost left Sadek’s armour activated, he wanted to finish him fair and square.
‘A fight to the death then, you never liked me did you? Now is your chance to kill me, if you can that is you monster’ Sadek said.
‘Adya Sadek Designation 113, Ambassador for the Specialist Intelligence Agency, Designed Leader of men. All your honourable titles are about to become nothing but history’
Sadek lifted his scimitars and charged for Frost. With a swiping action Frost knocked Sadek to the ground violently. He rolled and then threw himself back onto his feet regaining his stance.
‘I didn’t even see him move how the hell can I defeat him!’ Sadek said to himself inside his headpiece. He again ran at Frost, stopped short and jabbed with his right scimitar, Frost motioned to block the attack but it was merely a distraction as Sadek quickly jabbed his left scimitar deep into Frost's abdomen. Frost did not flinch he intended to show Sadek that he was invincible even to the wrist scimitars. He unleashed a magnetic pulse sending Sadek flying into the shell of the once mighty Mark Three. He did not even wish to regain his fighting stance, what use was it? Frost was truly unstoppable.
Eventually he got up, his previous move was cunning but it was a feeble attempt against this adversary. Frost ran at Sadek and began slashing at him as the scared young agent defended himself with his scimitars. Their hands moved rapidly, gradually getting faster. Sadek could not take the pace and eventually Frost sank the blades on his right hand deep into his stomach. He dropped to the floor in pure agony. Blood suddenly spurted out of the grille
d air vents on each side of his headpiece. The TCA was designed to expel any liquid that came from its user to prevent drowning. Sadek again lifted himself up proudly, his left arm clutching his stomach. Blood was trickling down his armour, his life flashed before his weary eyes and Frost walked slowly towards him. Sadek was surely minutes from death and Frost was ready to make his kill. He curled in a ball, ordered his armour to use the last of its energy in a large magnetic purge and waited for Frost. As he approached Frost could make out tiny electrostatic ripples over his victims armour, he suddenly realised what they were from but it was too late. The blast of super-charged particles from Sadek’s armour erupted and sent the assassin flying at great speed finally slamming to rest inside the wreckage of the Mark Three. Sadek returned to his feet, still clutching the wounds underneath his armour and with only minutes before his armour de-activated he knew he must finish Frost once and for all.
He walked to the outside shell of the Mark Three where Frost lay awkwardly and motionless, he peered inside and looked for the weapons compartment. It had been opened by the violent blast and just inside the lay two small nucleonic pulse spheres, he took one and started to tap onto a small digital display that appeared when he held it. Sadek set the devastating weapon for thirty seconds, threw it into his old helicopter with Frost. He had only limped fifty metres away from the wreckage when a magnificent blast erupted and sent him high up into the air for what felt like an eternity. Landing with a devastating thump his armour was barely still active but without the help of a particle field to cushion his landing he would certainly die from the fall.
When he came round he could feel practically every bone in his body was shattered and the armour de-activated moving his body a tiny amount but enough to cause searing pain in every corner of his dying body. The helpless agent looked and felt pitiful as he lay dying in the Alaskan snow surrounded by a crimson halo of his own blood and breathing as if through a straw. He looked at the sky for one last time and admired its beauty when a dark shadowy figured blocked his view of the heavens. It was Frost, he had proven his own invincibility to Sadek who prepared himself for the final blow. Only seconds away the Mark One was thundering to their position. Troy zoomed in on Frost and his heavily injured captive, as he did so he saw him sideswipe Sadek’s head with his scimitars. It rolled lifeless across the snowy ground spraying a fine mist of blood as it went.
Troy let out a mighty roar as he watched his last team-mate die horrifically from the display screen of his helicopter, he was fired up and ready to rip Frost apart. He fired two high powered Taser beams at Frost taking him by surprise and sent him rolling along the ground violently. Frost slashed his scimitars outwards and flung himself back to his feet majestically, he turned and ran towards the Mark Two while Troy was turning round for another hit. Rapid blasts of light and energy pummelled the snow behind Frost as he ran at high speed towards his helicopter which was beginning to take off to pick him up. The barrage struck Frost and sent him smashing into the Mark Two interior with a thump, he was safe now but he needed to get airborne quickly. Troy hovered over the Mark Two waiting for Frost’s next move, he could bombard the vessel but it would have no effect on its armoured hull plated with exotic alien materials. A blast of blue flame shot from the rear of the Mark Two turning masses of snow into running water as it shot off at high speed into the dark Alaskan sky.
It was not long before he got the Mark One into the firing range of its sister helicopter, he was now a lone soldier in the last battle humans would ever know. Both choppers were at full speed and both pilots pushed the vessels as fast as they would go. They were now travelling too fast for conventional weapons at thirty eight thousand Kph. Frost decided to take out his brother as he had done before with an energy surge, it was successful before and it surely would be now. Troy was expecting such a strike and tried to push the Mark One even faster to bring himself up alongside Frost. It was no use, a ball of white light burst out from the exhaust of the Mark Two. Troy tried to swerve frantically but it was too late, a greater part of the blast had hit his helicopter side-on. The Mark One plummeted uncontrollably to the ground. As it did, Troy worked away on his command console; his fingers moved quicker than his eyes could register. He diverted power cell after power cell, conduit after conduit.
He finally managed to divert auxiliary power to the fusion drive to give a kick-start. It worked. The ingenuity of the young agent paid off and his vessel was again functional. He regained speed and height and it was not long before he had again reached the Mark Two which was now low on power and had lost a great deal of speed. Troy fired a pulse of high-powered tachyons underneath Frost's vessel; the blast absorbed into the hull and devastated the Mark Two’s sensors. Troy had an idea, with its sensors down the Mark Two was now blind. Troy guided the Mark One directly underneath and activated the Umbilicus System that linked Mark Class helicopters together.
Frost was startled as the floor of his mighty chopper began to open and Troy climbed in with his armour activated. Frost had obviously not thought of all possibilities, he may have evolved but he was certainly not perfect Troy thought to himself smugly. Frost was defenceless without his armour while Troy held his gun inches from his brother’s face.
‘It’s all over Arrin there is not going to be a new race, humans are a lot more resourceful than you think’ Troy barked robotically at Frost.
‘Daryl, Daryl, Daryl, my dear brother. You are greatly mistaken’ Frost said calmly.
Troy’s eyes were fixed on Frost's head and he missed Frost tapping away on his communicator. Suddenly Troy's armour deactivated and his gun melted back into his blue hand. He took a few steps back in fear and began to tap on his own communicator.
‘TCA Unit has lost all power via an external energy drain’ the communicator announced its horrifying news.
‘How the fuck did you do that?’ Troy said sheepishly to his brother. Frost stood up, pulled out a weapon from his black combat trousers and pointed it at Troy.
‘I told you Daryl but you didn’t listen. Now I’m afraid it‘s too late, for you that is. My plan is in its final stages and you‘re all that is left of the SIA. I think you’ll find your Inhibitor Chip is no longer functional now the mainframe has been destroyed. But why would you care about that just moments from death?’ Frost said with an evil smile perched smugly upon his face.
‘What will you do when I’m gone Arrin? What is this big plan for mankind?’ Troy asked anxiously.
I’ve been working on a new type of weapon, a weapon that annihilates all organic material within a certain radius. I have enough to kill every living thing on this globe and I’ll guide the planet towards its future’ Frost seemed to be thinking clearly which was a frightening thought to Troy’s mind. Troy managed to tap his communicator and suddenly the Mark One detached from its sister chopper and dropped a great distance. The Mark Two was shaken violently and Frost fell back to his chair, a green blast shot from his gun hitting the side of his beloved vessel and knocking out its guidance systems in the process. Troy jumped from the opening where his helicopter had been attached and fell toward it. He ordered the Mark One to move itself into position to catch him and instantly it turned on its side and began making minor adjustments trying to catch its master.
Frost managed to climb back up to his tactical post at his choppers main control panel. He regained stability and activated the weapon systems. As Troy fell towards the Mark One a flash of white light streamed past him. He shuddered in fear as the Nucleonic pulse entered the side of his helicopter and erupted violently, destroying the SIA’s masterpiece. Troy was knocked unconscious by the blast and fell helplessly toward the ground far below. With no armour he was sure to die. The Mark Two had done its job and bolted off into the deep red sunset of the far off horizon. Frost had won again.
Troy suddenly regained consciousness and shook with fear at the realisation of his new peril. The fight took place at ninety thousand feet, virtually in space, so Troy had at least
another three minutes before he slammed into the ground below.
‘Computer activate armour’ he shouted as he had trouble speaking in the thin air, he was struggling to breath to add to his worry.
‘The TCA Unit is completely drained of power and cannot function’ he barely heard the reply but he had feared that answer. Suddenly an idea came to him.
‘Computer access the Integral Grid, order it to fire a high power microwave to the following signal’ he replied to his communicator hopefully.
‘Working’ the computerised voice announced from his wrist. As the ground came nearer, the people that had looked like ants were now clearly visible. He could see many people were crowded around the burning wreckage of the SIA’s finest work of art, the Mark One. Troy felt crushed by the sight of his beloved chopper that he felt was almost like a brother to him. There was only one Mark Class Helicopter left and it was in Frost's possession.
Eventually a beam of red light hit his silver belt and after a few moments the armour was charged enough to function. The ground got ever closer as the blue organic metal alloy quickly covered his body.
‘Computer activate the particle field’ he gave his communicator one last request as his armour solidified. Troy was only metres from the ground when he was surrounded by a halo of shimmering light that sparked furiously as it hit the ground and threw Troy back to his feet. His armour again saved him from certain death but what good was it now, he had no Mark One and all his comrades were dead. A handful of onlookers surrounded Troy with mixed feelings of fear and curiosity as he brushed himself down. He deactivated his armour and stared back at them with mocking eyes.
‘Do I have a cabbage on my head or what?’ He shouted angrily pushing himself through the crowd.
As he walked a tear formed in his eye as he recalled the sight he had seen, his dead fellow agents. He felt incredibly alone. He remembered Nikita. Should he live out the rest of his days in solitary Tibet with his only friend? How could he possibly stop Frost, to even try would be futile he thought. His communicator warned him of the incoming police squads that had been alerted to his presence. He again activated his armour and fled at great speed into the streets of the small southern American town he landed in.
Fleets of police cars pursued him but they could hardly keep up with him, the armour was carrying him at nearly seventy Kph. Eventually he managed to get into a small wooded area hidden from view, he would still be found but it would take them a while he thought. He accessed the armour’s computer system and pulled up a map of the area, he found there to be a nearby airstrip for small aircraft. This was his only chance. He ran at high speed towards his last hope, he pushed aside branches and knocked over trees as he ran.
Finally he was in sight of the airstrip; he ripped the strengthened steel fence down as if it were thin air and looked for a suitable vehicle. He saw an old fighter plane, he had seen them before in history books and was rather fond of them, a stealth fighter filled his view. It was obviously reconditioned and would be no match for the fighters that would be dispatched to intercept it but he had no other option. He got in and found much to his joy that it actually worked and had a full tank. He fired up the engines and the aged but timeless aircraft began to roll towards the start of the uneven runway. Police cars steamed into the area knocking down the main gate. He had little time and he knew it, the afterburners fired and the old fighter accelerated rapidly. He got into the air after what felt like a long time compared to his old helicopter and as it rose slowly the landing gear struck a police van roof and sent the wheels and brackets smashing to the ground.
Troy flew the plane close to the fields below trying to avoid radar, it drained his energy as he guided the aircraft skilfully over the ground he was only metres above. His armour gave him directions on the head-up display showing him the way back to SIA HQ or what was left of it. He thought the lower parts of the base could have survived. His armour’s computer system alerted him that intercept fighters had been dispatched to the old airstrip. They struggled get a lock on the old jet fighter thanks to the buildings that Troy's new aircraft flew amongst hiding his tiny radar signature perfectly. After nearly two hours of weaving around obstacles Troy was finally in Alaska. His armour alerted him that in five minutes he would arrive at what used to be his base, he pulled the rip cord blowing the off canopy and violently firing him and his seat skywards. He started to lose consciousness as he drifted slowly to the snow below. The fighter that carried him home continued streaking across the sky which Troy hoped would put his pursuers off the scent and the armoured blue agent smashed to the ground with a thud.