HEROES Chapter 3

Sean finally made it to a national forest and hoped the instructions Zoe had written down were accurate. Staying in the shadows he made his way into the dense forest to look for the cabin they would be staying in. As he reached the ranger station he saw Frank getting into the red Audi and cursed silently. This was starting to turn into a bad day already.

As Frank Shepherd left the ranger station and pulled away in stolen car, a tall African-American man in a grey suit walked round a black SUV and watched the red Audi as it disappeared down the road. Twenty years on the job had sent up a signal flare when the guy had exited the ranger station, so he had remained behind the tinted glass of the SUV that was parked in amongst a few other vehicles close to the same year and model type, so it hardly stood out.

Agent Birkshire had memorized the license plate, an old habit. He strolled over to the SUV and rapped on one of the back windows. It slid down and the surveillance officer poked his head out. The supervising agent then recited the license plate of the car to the man then described the vehicle's make, model and colour. "Keep an eye on it." he ordered not bothering to explain why, but his men were used to his hunches. Birkshire had built his entire career on intuition, he was rarely wrong and his men knew it.

"Yes sir." replied the surveillance officer and he immediately zoomed a satellite camera on the road and located the red audi. He scanned the car then ran a program that would automatically follow it's movements then he resumed scanning over the National Forest. He had restored the sat-comm links last night and had then been rewarded with a whole four hours of sleep, it could have been worse though, at least he didn't have to drive around all day aimlessly like the other agents.

Birkshire entered the ranger station. Before he had noticed the man in the red Audi he stopping by to distribute some pictures of the 'Wrangler'. He spotted a ranger who just finished pouring himself a cup of coffee and strolling over to him introduced himself. "Hello, I'm Supervising Agent Birkshire of R.A.I.D." he then handed the man a few copies of his renderings of the Wrangler. The ranger with coffee in hand, reached with his free hand that already had a small stack of photocopies. The agent couldn't help but notice the picture on them and recognized it right away as Morgan Shepherd. "Where did you get those!" he pressed.

The ranger looked down at his hand and for the life of him couldn't remember. "I'm sorry sir, I... I can't recall."

"Well that had to have come from somewhere. Did that man drop them off?"

The ranger smiled in a humoring sort of way, "Uh... I'm sorry, sir. You're the first person we've seen this morning. Ask Julie." he said, gesturing to a cute bubbly blonde haired conservation officer at the counter.

Birkshire took the copies along with his photo renderings and dropped them in front of the girl. "Who left these? There was a man in here not five minutes ago. He was driving a red Audi, I just saw him."

The young girl smiled weakly not sure what to say to the man. "I'm sorry sir, but I think you're mistaken."

The ranger sipped his coffee nodding in agreement with the girl, thinking that the RAID agent was a little off his nut.

"Hey wait a minute!" said the girl as she noticed the picture of the Wrangler. "I know this guy!"

Birkshire eye's widened. "This man is a wanted felon, if you know where he is you should inform me immediately."

"I'm sorry." Julie apologized, "I don't know where he is, I just really feel like I know him.... some how... I don't know... my head hurts." The girl began to rub her temples, "Excuse me." She went into a back room to look for some tylenol.

'Something was definitely awry', Birkshire told himself, but he had seen this before and when the girl suffered a sudden headache he was sure what had happened. He went back over to the ranger and handed him the photos of the Wrangler. "This man is extremely dangerous. If you see him do not approach him, you just call me as soon as you can." He handed the ranger his card and left.

Birkshire was just exiting the ranger station when his blackberry went off. "Birkshire."

"It's Agent Henkel. Just thought I'd let you know that Frank Shepherd escaped last night." he said sheepishly. "It's the damnest thing too. The two guards and the psychiatrist that were with him reported that they heard a strange noise then he was gone, and the shrink said that his clothes had just disappeared off of his body. What do you make of that?"

It all made sense to Birkshire now. Frank Shepherd was in the area and he'd stake his career on the fact that he possessed the power of 'mental domination'. "Agent Henkel," he responded optimistically, "I think I've already found him."

Sean had followed after the Audi as quickly as he could. Unfortunately he lost the car just after passing the ranger station. Rising up into a solid form he checked the slip Zoe gave him and continued on his way to the cabin. As he got closer however the tree cover opened up and more sunlight was coming through. He could now see the cabin but was stopped by the one thing he feared most. After a moment Sean pulled the hood down and fixed his sunglasses before sprinting across the clearing that lead to the front door, smoking the whole way.

Sean dives through the door, rolling on the ground and landing on his back. He looks up at Morgan, breathing heavily. "Nothing. Just..need to....catch my....breath. Saw....Frank. He's close."

After Colonel Vacily Petrovsky had sent out his order to prevent any personal from leaving the base without being personally notified, he stormed out of his office without so much as a glance toward Sara-Lynn. She remained in his office leaning against the desk, her concern for Toril once more surfacing within her eyes. As she rose to leave the office and return to her duties, she noticed that Surge had been so distracted by the situation that he had left his computer logged in under his username. She could see that it had an automatic lock out and the final seconds were counting down, ten seconds to decide whether or not to risk helping a man who had chosen the enemy over her. Seven seconds to choose whether her loyalty to Beacon was more important than the life of an old friend. Five seconds. Sara-Lynn jumped behind the computer and canceled the log-out.

She had no idea when Surge would return, nor did she have any idea where Toril and his the 'resistant fighters' he had teamed up with were. Could they be considering going after the boy they had classified as 'Demon'? No, such a rescue attempt would be suicide. They had to be trying to get off the base.

Quickly Sara-Lynn typed up an order and addressed it using the name, Chris Arbon. It was a name that Toril would recognize, as it was the alias he used when they had first met. The message as it was written said:

To: Chris Arbon

Please inform this soldier that he will be observed by Captain Shinigami once he reports to his new station.

Colonel Petrovsky

Sara-Lynn knew that Toril was aware of the deadly assassin and that the message should alert him of his presence. She sent the message and logged off, only realizing after she had hit send of the consequences that would befall her action.

At all the perimeter gates, the soldiers received the message on their systems and all had the same reaction when first reading it; wondering why a rank was not given for the recipient. They figured, however, that the Colonel had his reasons and prepared to inquire of any personal that stopped at their gates for a Chris Arbon (so that they could give him his print out of the message). Even still, this person would have to detained in accordance with the previous order which they found confusing as well, but orders were orders.

Yelena, in the guise of the Marine Officer, moved the Humvee through the bas keeping a normal pace with the vehicle. If they went too slow or too fast they would fall under suspicion and that was something they couldn’t take a chance with. Cassius hunkered down low in the back seat while Toril sat up very straight and looked the part of a fellow officer with her.

Yelena wasn’t sure which way to go. Totally unfamiliar with the area, she more or less let instincts guide her to where she needed to go. The only thing she knew was that she needed to follow any route that would take them all closer to the perimeter of the base so they could slip out the fence that surrounded the place. Much easier said than done.

Little did she know Vacily had taken measures to prevent them from escaping. But little did Vacily know how desperate she was to get herself and her companions off the base and out of Beacon’s grimy hands. Even though she struggled with herself to turn around and try to talk some sense into the man. He had a compassionate side to him. She had SEEN it for her own self. And it had nothing to do with being deep under cover. There were just some thing you couldn’t fake and what she had seen from him she knew to be genuine.

Perhaps another time. Right now she HAD To get them the hell away from here and see if they could establish contact with Zoe and Tim once more. That wasn’t going to be easy. Any of it. But still they had to try.

Yelena made one last turn and could see the fence line about 100 yards off. Trees darkened the area beyond the fence line and she knew if they could get into those woods, they would be home free. But getting there was going to be the challenge. Especially when another vehicle pulled up behind them and put on the red and blue flashing lights. Looking in the rearview mirror Yelena muttered something under her breath in her native tongue then glanced over at Toril.

“I don’t think they escort us to fence. Best be ready.”

Looking at the vehicle behind them then at the fence line, Yelena decided to pull over instead of gunning the Humvee and going for it. She figured it was easier to disable the closest threat then alert the entire base to their get away. It was better to be sneaky than announce to the whole world what you planned on doing.

As the Marine in the passenger seat got out and started walking up towards the passenger side of the vehicle and the Marine behind the drivers wheel got out and started walking up to Yelena, she spoke quietly to her companions.

“Gentlemen..…get ready.”

When the Marines reached the vehicle, they both took up a defensive stance with their hand on their side arm. Yelena rolled the window down and the Marine on her side of the Humvee took the lead.

“Sir. I need you to step out of the vehicle please.”

“What appears to be the issue, Marine?”

“Just step out of the vehicle, sir.”

“And I asked you a question, Marine. Are you going to disobey an officers inquiry?”

“Yes sir. Especially when I receive orders from another officer that out ranks you.”

Yelena glared at the Marine for a moment then her face slowly broke into a smile.

“Well, that’s what I like to see. A Marine standing his ground and sticking to his orders. Too bad it will be your last.”

Before the Marine could react, Cassius leaned up from behind Yelena and shot the Marine dead. That left the Marine on the passenger side to deal with now.

They and the other humvee stopped at the side of the road way in what appeared to be a warehouse area. As the marine approached their vehicle, Toril's eyes were more focused on his side view mirror, watching the driver to make sure he was not sending out any communiqué about them. While he kept his eyes on the vehicle behind them, he listened to Yelena's conversation with the other marine, she was playing the role well then she asked a question that would have been viewed as insubordinate by military standards. His stomach tightened as the marine's tone became more serious and thought quickly of something he could do to diffuse the situation. Toril looked into the mirror and could see that the driver was stepping out of the vehicle, and though he remained behind the door he could see that his arm hung at his side in the manner of someone carrying a gun. Yelena then responded with a hostile comment and before Toril turned his head there was the sound of a gunshot!

Toril instinctively threw his arms up in defense and ducked down into the seat as a red spray splattered the interior of the vehicle and coated the side of his face. "Shit!" He screamed, then saw the marine reel and drop and the kid in the back seat with a smoking gun. "Cassius! What the hell! That man was a friendly! You can't —"

Toril's rant was cut short when the remaining marine opened fire. His side mirror exploded, and bullets ricocheted all over the vehicle. One passed right through Toril's seat but hit nothing but air. Wraith was gone and Yelena felt a gust of wind rush past her.

The marine had laid down a suppressing fire from behind the safety of his open door. He ducked down, still randomly shooting toward the stolen humvee and grabbed the speaker on his radio to call for help. As he reached for the device the wind picked up around him, then all went black as he was struck heavily in the head. Toril had appeared behind the mirror and without the sound of a foot fall to alert the man he was prone to the big man's devastating strike to the back of his head, instantly rendering the marine unconscious. Tossing the man into the back of vehicle he quickly found some rope to secure his hands and feet.

Toril strode back to the other humvee, his jaw clenched in anger. He leaned over the side of the door and stared at Yelena but said nothing then he looked to the back seat at Cassius his eyes fuming. "We'll discuss this later!" He growled. Toril looked down at the dead marine, "I'll take care of this one and ditch the humvee over there behind that warehouse. You just get your asses to the fence. I'll be right behind you." Wraith didn't wait to hear their side of the story. He bent down and grabbed the body of the innocent marine and walked back to other vehicle.

As he drove the humvee round the warehouse, Toril considered that maybe he was too soft for what being a super-hero meant these days. Back in the time of masks and capes they always found a way to preserve life, taking it only when they had no other choice. Maybe, those choices were gone now. Maybe it was just kill or be killed. Maybe... he over-reacted.

He just didn't know anymore.

Sean is sitting in the other room tending to his burns when he hears Morgan ranting. He decides that Tim would be best suited to handle it and stays where he is. Then the animals start up outside. He peeks out the window then steps back wide-eyed. It is this wide-eyed look that greets Tim and Morgan in the kitchen. "Um....do either of you know what is going on outside right now?"

While driving back to the rendezvous point, Birkshire was alerted by the surveillance officer of something very peculiar occurring around a cabin in sector 35 of his grid search. "Sir! You have to see this!"

Birkshire flipped open the lap top on the console, and the image was instantly relayed to the monitor. Zooming in he could see what looked like a variety of forest animals attacking a cabin like a rioting crowd after the Stanley Cup. "What the hell!" he exclaimed, then he remembered what Morgan Shepherd's ability was. "Shit! I want that area locked down, now!" He ordered, "Alert all units to close in and cut off all possible exits!"

The five other units were all within, ten to twenty minutes away and they coordinated their actions as they arrived. Satellite imagery had revealed two roads, and they could see two other possible routes that a vehicle could possibly use. They zeroed in on the cabin and each SUV closed in on each of the four possible escape routes to set up a road block while Birkshire himself would head up the main road toward the cabin.

Tim walked over and took Morgan by the shoulders, looking her straight in the eyes then spoke sternly; "Morgan, ya gota calm yur ass down. An' ya gotta do it now, ifin' ya don't things are gonna get real loco. Ya hear me, ya are gettin all the critters in a shit fit. Now calm yur ass down. I tol' ya I ain't gonna let the sum bitch hurt ya. And Shadow har ain't gonna let that happen eather." Tim then took her in his arms and held her tight until she regained he composure and the animals calmed down.

Tim then turned to The Shadow and said "We gots ta get outa har and do it now. All that camotion bound ta show up on sumbody's radar. Lets get this stuff ta the Hummer an get tha hell out har." Tim grabbed some of the gear and started throwing it in the back of the Hummer. "Morgan send yur critters out ta have a look see, tell em ta try an slow anybody they see down a might." Tim continued to load the Hummer.

It wasn’t an easy decision to make. Taking a life should never happen but circumstances change and if Yelena had not ordered Cassius to do what he did, they would be fighting their way out of a hornets nest so bad right now it wasn’t even funny. Vacily would not let them just….go. Ultimately, the respo9nsibility for what happened rested solely on her shoulders for Cassius was doing only what she told him to do.

But that still didn’t make it any easier to swallow.

When Toril came back to the Humvee and vented some of his anger on Yelena and Cassius, she didn’t blink an eye. He had the right to be angry. Perhaps she would be able to explain later. If not, she wouldn’t try. If Toril wasn’t receptive to listening to her side of things, then it would only be a one sided conversation with her talking at a brick wall.

As Toril hid the body of the dead Marine and drove the second Humvee around to conceal its presence, Yelena put the vehicle in drive and made a bee line straight for the fence. It was a tense few moments and she continually checked in her mirrors to make sure there were no reinforcements coming. When they finally reached the fence, she pulled the Humvee to a stop and got out helping Cassius as much as she could as well.

Approaching the fence Yelena could hear the familiar hum of electricity. It was just too easy to think the fence would not be protected in some way, especially with it being at a remote location on the base. There were only so many Marines they could spare to patrol the perimeter. Looking all around, she didn’t see any way around or under the fence.

“Dammit….”

Looking over at Cassius, she frowned as she saw how swollen his one eye was now. If they didn’t get him treated for that soon, he could lose the sight in that eye. They would have to lance the area around the eye to relieve the pressure to make sure the optical nerve and retina were not damaged by the amount of pressure the swelling put on them.

“I’m so sorry, Cassius….I not mean for you to get dragged into this. Is not your fight.”

Cassius grinned, but the wattage was obviously tempered by the pain he was in. "Dude, anytime metas are bein' rounded up, it's like totally my fight."

After ditching the patrol vehicle, Toril dematerialized and glided invisibly in the direction that Yelena had driven. Instinct lead him to the darkest point along the fence and that is where he found the two, debating on how to bypass their last obstacle.

Yelena could feel a cold wind rush past her, then a chilled breeze ruffled Cassius' hair. Wraith appeared before them then, already studying the electrical fence. "Even as the wind, I cannot pass through electrical fields." He revealed with a somber tone to his voice. Turning his blood spattered face to them, his expression was sober, his brief time away cooling his temper and providing him some insight. Toril winced empathetically when he noticed, Cassius' eye. "I'm sorry kid, I never really considered how much pain you must be in, still it's hard for me to see an innocent man fall." His eyes slowly made their way to Yelena as he continued speaking, "I know it's them or us, but we still have to try to be better them. They can take away everything we have but, we cannot let them take away our, 'humanity', not matter how much pain we have suffered." Toril's finger then ran along his wedding band as a painful memory surfaced in his mind. "We've all suffered."

Toril then approached Cassius and looked down at the boy in a fatherly manner. "Cassius, with your skills you're better than a simple killing shot. Any fool can shoot a gun and kill a man, but you... you can take out their hand, shoot their weapon, cripple them. Don't, just be a killer." He then looked back at the fence, sizing it up. "So are you two ready to get out of here? I can use my ability to propel us over the fence, but you'll have to hang tight."

Wraith had Yelena park the humvee as close to the fence as possible, turning the twelve foot leap into a roughly seven. Standing on the roof of the vehicle, he took the lighter Cassius first, making the kid climb onto his back and grip as tightly as he could. Wraith concentrated and generated enough force around him to assist in the leap, then after several controlled breaths he coiled his powerful legs and hurled both he and Cassius into the air. With the extra burden, Wraith could hardly fly, he was instead jumping with an added telekinetic boost and as he sailed over the fence he just managed to arc his belly and legs over the razor wire. Unfortunately, the extra weight did not allow a graceful landing and Toril made sure that he took the brunt of the fall when they hit the ground. Toril spat out some dirt, and Cassius didn't seem none the worse, although he knew the kid wouldn't let on if he was hurting anyway.

Toril then appeared on top of the humvee next to the awaiting, Yelena. There were noises behind them and unalarmed, as if it was expected, the two meta-humans turned and saw flashlights in the distance coming their way. Wraith looked back to Yelena, his expression calm. "I don't think I can make the leap again." He told her, then the big man put his back to the fence, cupped his hands low and squatted down. "A little 'Cirque de Soleil'?" He said with a slight grin.

Her body was sore, but Wraith knew she didn't have much a choice, there was no other way. She, however, made things a little more difficult as she backed up as far as she could to the edge of the roof then jumped toward Toril, ramming both of her feet into his hands. Wraith, fought to maintain his balance and when he felt her all of her strength push into his grasp he pulled up with all of his strength, hurling her high into the air. She flew expertly, clearing the fence with enough room to complete her maneuver with an impressive acrobatic display. She landed silently beside Cassius, and as she rose, Wraith was materializing behind them, peering into the woods. "I think this is north." He stated, but he couldn't be sure.

The soldiers were closing in, but before they could fire a shot the three escapees melted into the forest. They flashed their lights about the area, shaking their heads and wondering how 'normal' people could have made it over the fence, while the commanding officer called in the murderous event to Colonel Petrovsky.



During the morning of the next day, while Tim hurriedly packed his humvee, one of the black RAID SUV's were already moving into position, but it's sounds as it crunched through the forest were still out of hearing range. As that unit, slowly approached the cabin, Supervising Agent Birkshire's vehicle turned up the main road. Weapon's ready, they slowly drove ahead, ready to block off the road and spring out of the SUV the moment they saw the 'Cowboy'.

Yelena knew Toril was right and perhaps she SHOULD have found an alternative way to handle the situation but she didn’t have time to think of anything better. It was a result of the moment they were in. She felt very guilty about having to take the young Marine’s life and she knew somewhere down the road she would pay for what she had done but right now, they HAD to get the hell out of here and quickly.

As Toril lifted Cassius up over the fence and landed with a less than graceful move, Yelena knew he was about taxed out with his abilities and the last thing he needed was to worry about getting her up and over the fence. She was just about to tell him don’t worry about her and to make sure he and Cassius got out of there when he had the idea of helping her over the fence. Did he know about her gymnast background? Did she really care right now?

Not just no but hell no.

Toril hadn’t even finished saying the word Soliel when Yelena started backing up as far as she could on the roof of the Humvee. Just before she took the few steps that would aid in propelling her over the fence with Toril’s help, she transformed into her natural self so it was nothing but her blue, bare feet that touched Toril’s hands. He didn’t need the extra burden of boots, real or not, added to the problem



When Yelena felt Toril’s hands act as a spring board for her, she used her enhanced strength to aid in her soaring over the fence and razor wire at the top. Just as she began to clear the razor wire she tucked her chin and gracefully drew her legs over the sharp wire as she did a front flip over the top. Her landing was just as quiet and precise as it had been when she was a gymnast all those years ago.

As she rose from her crouched landing, she transformed into her usual illusion and turned just in time to see Wraith behind her. She held his gaze for a moment exchanging a silent message that she knew he was right and she did regret what she had done. Breaking the contact with Toril’s gaze, she then looked to Cassius, took him gently by the arm knowing he would need her help in keeping up with her and Toril then headed out following Toril’s lead.

Morgan began to calm as Tim pulled her against him in a tight embrace. Taking deep breaths, she calmed even more, the animals outside calming as well. Morgan's eyes glowed as she instructed the animals to check and see if anyone was approaching the cabin and slow them down.

She stayed on the porch, waiting for a reply from any of the animals as well as making a mental note of what they had packed. She turned to Tim, her eyes glowing again as she was getting pictures from a squirrel up in a tree along side one of the side roads leading to the cabin and she relayed it to Tim and Sean. "Black SUV, east side road, about 5 miles away." She then gets more pictures from a raccoon, "Another black SUV, black, thin man in passenger seat, main road, coming in slowly." And, then another from a blue jay, "Red Audi, west road, coming in fast, can't make out the driver."

She helps them finish loading the hummer and jumps in. She looks over at Tim, "I'm sorry, Tim." Her eyes glow once more as she sends squirrels, raccoons, deer, and even a black bear or two to dart back and forth in front of the 3 vehicles heading towards them, causing them to swerve to avoid hitting them and damagin their vehicles. At once point, about 4 deer stood in the middle of the road for up to 5-7 minutes, blocking the way of the vehicle Birkshire was in.

Tim, reached in the back of the Hummer and removed three claymore anti personell mines. He then ran down the drive and planted on on the north side of the drive and placed a laser beam triggering device on the otherside of the drive. He then turned and ran back to the Hummer, climbed in and pulled the hummer out from under the carport. As he passed where ie had placed the claymore, he pressed the remote and armed the beam. Pulling down the drive truninf the the path that went down to the river he pulled out into the river bed turning north west drove about one hundred yards, stopped the vehiucle and climbed out placing the second claymore on the river bank anlong with a second laser beam arming device. He ran across the shallow river bed and placed the third claymore and laser beam arming device lining them up. Tim then ran to the Hummer, climbed in and drove down the river bed arming the claymores after they had passed with the remote. He glanced at Morgan beside him and Sean aka The Shadow in the back seat "That oughta give us a purdy gud head start and anybody followin' a hard time. Thar ain't gonna be no fishermen this fur up river fur a couple months. We get ar asses ta the state line I'll give my ranger relation a call an tell him whar they are. ....... Now what ya say we git the hell outa Dodge an get ta Yelena, Cassius and Toril? Then we'll figur out how ta get Shawn outa hock."

The Suburban SUV drove steadily along the dirt road. Inside Agent Birkshire kept his eyes trained on his monitor watching the satellite imaging of the area. He zoomed right in on the man known only as Cowboy, watching him load his Hummer then procure some familiar looking devices and run down the main road to the cabin.

"Alert all units that there is an explosive on the main road." Cooly, Birkshire relayed to the surveillance officer behind him and the driver instinctively reduced speed, glancing at his supervisor tentatively. Birkshire ignored the driver for the moment and concentrated on watching Cowboy as he drove down to the river bed. "Where is Frank Shepherd now?" Asked Birkshire, out of curiousity.

The surveillance officer activated his tracer program and an image of the red audi immediately appeared. "He's approximately five minutes ahead of us at present speed, sir." He informed the supervisor.

Birkshire nodded approvingly and glancing back he began to offer the officer a compliment on his fine work when the driver brought the vehicle to a halt. The supervisor flashed his eyes at the driver, who gestured to the four deer blocking the road. "They won't move, sir." The confused man stated.

Agent Birkshire sighed. "It's Morgan Shepherd." He surmised, "She must be influencing them. Go out, and get rid of them."

"Sir?" Questioned the driver apprehensively.

Birkshire glared at the enforcer. "They're four does. The girl may be able to influence their actions, but they are still just deer and will behave as such. I've dealt with their kind before, believe me it takes a great more effort than we can possibly imagine to make an animal or person, for that matter, do what is not in their nature to do. You understand?"

The enforcer nodded and smiled gratefully at the normally stern man's understanding. He stepped out of the vehicle and began to shoo away the confused animals while Birkshire returned his eyes to his screen and watched, Cowboy plant some more explosive devices along the river bed. The surveillance officer saw it too and prompted by a slight nod from his supervisor alerted the other units of the danger and told units three and five that the meta-humans were traveling down the river bed. It was one of the potential routes that a hummer could use to escape the area and Birkshire had made sure they were all locked down. As the supervisor watched the video feed of Cowboy's hummer driving up the shallow river, he moved ahead to where his two units were moving to intercept.

As the driver returned to the vehicle after scaring off the deer and resumed their course, Agent Birkshire began to execute his plan. "Unit three and five, this is Birkshire." the supervising agent announced into a small communication device. "You are approaching the river. Pull off of the trail and block off any access to it and block anything from passing you." He ordered.

Ahead of Tim, Morgan and Sean, two RAID units were on route to block their escape. Birkshire had made sure he scanned over the entire area and when he saw that there were very few escape routes he knew he had Cowboy trapped. All they had to was keep them from getting by, then by the time they doubled back his other units would be in place and they'd have them cornered.

The two black Suburban's, both approaching from opposite directions down a rarely used backwoods road closed in. They met at a narrow point of the river, a shallow area that allowed safe passage for just about any type of vehicle and turned off and parked their vehicles across the area. The banks were steep on either side and even if one could drive up them, the trees were too thick for anything shy of a motor-bike to by pass.

Birkshire watched while out of the two SUV's emerged a total of six enforcers and while they quickly threw on their bullet proof vests and charged up their plasma weaponry in preparation for the meta-humans, the surveillance officer in the back monitored the hummer, kept him apprised of the Hummer's position. All seemed to be going according to plan, but Birkshire believed that well made plans were meant to be broken and so he was taking every precaution necessary to bring in this meta-human, alive if possible... dead... just as good.

As they proceeded slowly up the main road and the other units slowly converged on the river behind the hummer from various other trails that the Suburban's were able to handle, Birkshire watched the event unfold like cat playing with a mouse. He zoomed in on the Hummer as close as he could then all went black.

"What the hell!" Screamed Birkshire. "What's going on?"

"I'm sorry sir." The surveillance officer said apologetically, "It's a standard black out while the satellites re-set their instrumentation, we'll be online again seven minutes."

"Seven minutes!" Growled Birkshire, "This will be over in five!" The agent sat back and calmed himself. He knew that nothing could be done now, he just had wait for the visual to return and hope that his men could contain the meta-humans.

The pale moonlight filtered through the canopy of the evergreen trees, providing more than ample illumination for the human eye, allowing even a one eyed, Cassius to easily navigate his way through the forest. Toril's direction was noticeably deliberate and when he felt that they were far enough away from the perimeter fence of the base, he stopped and pulled a map out of his pocket. "I took this from the other vehicle." he told them between breaths that formed a mist in the cool night air. Holding it under the moonlight he revealed it to Cassius and Yelena, and pointed to a small body of water north of Marine Corps Base Oneida called Kibby Lake. "We should be heading north right now. I took a look at a compass before I ditched the hummer." he explained, then he pointed to the small borough north of the lake called, Nicholsville where Kibbie Lake Road and Nicholsville Road crossed.

"These are our choices." Toril figured, "If we head north, Kibby lake is about a twelve mile hike and then it's only three to Nicholsville. If we push ourselves we could make it in two hours, or we could head south." It was obvious that Toril didn't like that plan, but this was a group decision so he felt it necessary to list the option and looking at the map it was obvious why he didn't mention west or east since there was nothing but miles of forest in either of those directions. "If we risk going around the base," Toril continued, " it's about twenty miles to Lake Oneida and along the shoreline we may be lucky enough to find somewhere to hide or acquire a vehicle. I figure that whatever direction we choose the marines are going to be out in full force. We killed one of them, and they'll be out for blood, so we need to make a decision pronto and get our asses moving."




Shinigami's irises were once more like two mirrors, reflecting the room about him while his mind's eye watched the escaping meta-humans as they paused in the forest deciding on which direction they would travel. Their choice would be inconsequential to him and calmly he picked up his swords and stood, slipping them into his belt. He then, unfurled a long white piece of silk and wrapped it about his his head, forming a mask over his face to protect his identity.

It was time.

Shinigami eye's briefly shone then there was a flash of golden light and he was gone. The bright glow lasted only for a second, then somewhere in the forest north of the MCB Oneida, there was another golden flash and the Japanese warrior now stood where the light faded from. Looking about him, the assassin studied his surroundings, gently touching the soft needles of a young pine tree and then staring up at the beautiful moon. There was plenty of time for death, and until then he enjoyed the night, seeking not to give chase but to await them to come to him. His quarry still had other opponents to deal with in the form of Colonel Petrovsky's marines, who were even now combing the woods in search of them.