Splinter Cell: Darkness Lurks

Splinter Cell

Darkness Lurks

By RockDownCA

Author’s Note:

The following story is based on the multiplayer component of the UBISoft videogame Splinter Cell: Pandora Tomorrow. I hope you enjoy…

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          Alan Harper ran a diagnostic on his internal systems as he approached the gun rack. Read outs that were fed through his visor seemed to confirm that both his EMF (Electromagnetic Field) and motion visions were fully functional. Alan reached for his primary weapon, a heavily modified sub-machine gun provided by his employers… ARGUS. The weapon included a flashlight, an LCD screen that displayed the bullet count, and many other extras. Alan examined the weapon for a few seconds before he fed the weapon its clip of thirty rounds. Alan exited the room. “Hey Harper…” a voice with a thick Russian accent spoke through Alan’s COM system. Alan stood face to face with a man wearing a uniform identical to his. An ARGUS issued uniform complete with knee and arm pads. The uniform also included a large flack jacket that proudly displayed ‘ARGUS’. The final feature was the helmet that included an orange visor and flashing lights. “You ready for your first night on the job?” asked the Russian voice. Alan tapped his COM unit “I’m ready Victor, lets do this thing.” Victor nodded his head and pointed down the hall. Victor took the lead as Alan quickly became accustom too moving around in a uniform that weighed unusually heavy. Alan watched Victor, the heavily built Russian seemed to move around in that bulky suit with great ease. Victor activated his flashlight on his similar sub-machine gun, illuminating the dark hallways ahead. “By the way…” said Victor. “Welcome to ARGUS.”

          Chris pumped every muscle in his leg as he propelled his body forward, as much as human limitations would allow. He raced across the rooftop, which was barely visible as a result of the ungodly hour. Chris mentally calculated when he would reach the end of the building’s roof, preparing for the jump that lied ahead. At the last possible second, Chris used every bodily muscle and leaped from the structure. His body flew across night sky, catching a draft between the two buildings. Chris brought his two legs up, executing a perfect landing on yet another identical rooftop. Chris stood up, and slowly walked toward a near by vent. “Your late…” spoke a voice through Chris’ sub dermal implants. “I know…” replied Chris. A dark figure emerged from the darkness. The silhouette was hardly visible, wearing a full black body suit that hugged itself tightly to the skin. The suit had a few pouches to hold equipment, as well as an optical display on the right arm. There was a large set of optical goggles that hugged to the head where the face would normally had been. The goggles included five cylinders like objects with dark green lights for surfaces. The cylinder like objects closely resembled the number five pattern on pair of dice, the middle cylinder being much larger then the rest. Attached to the right leg was a specialized weapon that looked similar to the RCP-90. The weapon more commonly known as ‘the sticky shocker’ emits non-lethal electrical discharges that put the attended victim in shock. The weapon is also capable of firing of several other gadgets, using a laser pointer for superior accuracy. Chris knew all this, due that him and the figure were identical in every nature. From the suit they wore, to the gear they processed, it was all the same. Chris breathed softly, and spoke. “Method of infiltration?” A voice inside his head replied. “The ventilation system is large enough for both of us to enter and allows for good mobility. From there, we should find numerous exits into the interior of the building itself. We shall split up and recon the area. Intelligence from our superiors tells us that there are two operatives of the private security firm ARGUS inside the structure, protecting the objective. We shall dispatch them first, then proceed to the objective.” Chris nodded. “Let us proceed then… Vincent”

          “So what is it exactly are we protecting again?” asked Alan. Victor planted a spy trap on to the wall. Victor stood up and faced Alan. “To be perfectly honest, I am not sure myself. ARGUS officials did stress to me that no one was to touch that equipment up stairs.” Alan was a little surprised; normally ARGUS superiors would spend countless hours briefing their subordinates on every tiny aspect of the mission. “How do you know its up stairs?” asked Alan. Victor pointed toward a near by pair of stairs, only visible due that Victor had his rifle pointed toward the darkened area. “Because Alan, look on your visor, there should be a tiny icon that looks like a square and a diamond overlapping one another. That icon represents the main objective in which we have to defend.” Alan nodded. “I see it… so where to now?” Victor diverted his weapon and pointed toward a near by doorway. “Over there, that room contains a few dozen mainframes. Were going to set some spy traps in there, and move on.” Victor took the lead, entering the dark room first. Alan activated his flashlight entering slowly as well. Large towering mainframes populated the darken chamber, each spaced out by only two meters or so. “Alan, you cover the left side of the room, I shall cover the right.” Alan nodded toward Victor, and proceeded to do what he was order to do. Alan swept the left area, scanning the room with his weapon. As Alan approached the first near by monitor, he kneeled down, and placed a spy trap. An interesting little device that creates an invisible laser that tags anything that cuts through it. Anything that does have the misfortune of running through this little item will be tagged, and as a result, show up as a blip on Alan’s and Victor’s radar. Alan stood up and proceeded to the next mainframe, continuing to sweep the room with his rifle. Suddenly, a quick circulation of air shot by Alan’s head, setting off all sorts of mental alarms. Alan swung his rifle to aim on the top portion of the mainframes, only to find nothing. Alan slowly rotated inspecting each mainframe, illuminating the large towering shapes with his flashlight. “Victor, are there any vents in this room?” asked Alan over the COM. “Negative Alan, the closest vent is in an adjacent room. Is there a problem?” Before Alan could reply, two arms swung around his head, firmly gripping his neck. Alan stumbled back, smashing his assailment into a near by mainframe. The grip’s strength was lost, and Alan broke free. Alan brought his gun to bare, but was met with a sharp pain as an elbow made contact with his gut. A canister was dropped to the floor, and the whole area erupted with smoke. Alan stumbled to find air in which to breath, but found it increasingly difficult to navigate through the mainframes. Alan switched his vision to EMF. Everything was now covered in various shades of blue. Objects that produced electromagnetic fields generated a degree of light depending on the intensity of the field. The smoke was now invisible, due that the gas was not picked up by EMF vision. Alan navigated his way through the mainframes that glowed a bright white, nearing the exit of the room. A figure stood at the door, electrical current running through its body, mostly centralized at the head area. ‘That’s the fucker…’ Alan thought to himself. ‘They must have some sort of headset that generates electricity. Alan brought his weapon to bare and fired a few rounds. The figure vanished, leaving a cool gust of air in its wake. “Alan, what the hell is going on?” Alan switched his visor back to normal while he caught his breath. Victor stood to his right, sweeping the room with his rifle. Alan stood up and spoke. “This guy… this shadow… real fast… I did not get a good look at him. His suit… its all black… I was able to see them through the EMF. They must have some electrical equipment on them.” Victor continued to examine Alan. The tall Russian reached out with one arm and pulled a metallic object from Alan’s shoulder. The object appeared to be metallic, as it closely resembled a bullet. Alan examined the object using his binocular vision that allowed his vision to increase up to six zoom. Upon closer examination of the object, Alan let out an expression of disbelief. “Is that a mic?” Victor placed the bullet on the ground and crushed it with his boot. “Chances are they heard our little conversation.” Victor replied. ‘Jesus Christ’ thought Alan. ‘These guys are the real McCoy .’

          “Here’s the plan…” stated Vincent. “I am heading to the lobby of the building, were I am going to deploy some SNAREs. I am certain that will lour one of those Mercs toward me. In the event that both of them come, you head for the unprotected objective. We should have a better chance dealing with them one on one rather then them covering one another.” Chris was already sneaky down the poorly lit halls, keeping his body hidden in the shadows. “Understood Vincent, I am a few meters away from the objective.” Chris remained peeled to the wall, his body one with the darkness. “Okay, I am setting off the alarm system now…” proclaimed Vincent. Within seconds, an arc of light materialized, illuminating a section of the hallway that Chris had been mere seconds ago. A lone mercenary ran by Chris, oblivious to the proximity that the spy presented. Chris was sure to keep is night vision off, that ‘EMF’ vision the mercenaries possessed made the mission more difficult. Chris could use his goggles, at the risk of compromising stealth. However, stealth was the greatest weapon ShadowNet operatives possessed. With the mercenary out of sight, Chris continued to slowly move toward the objective. A large open door way seemed to be the only entry point into the vast chamber in which the objective laid. The objective being the ND133, a deadly biological weapon that could be circulated through the local populace. The open door way seemed too ‘easy’. Chris switched his goggles to thermal vision and now understood why the door way was left unprotected or barricaded. Three invisible lasers separated by a meter each ran the length of the open doorway, most likely hooked in to a greater security system. Chris removed his weapon from his right leg and aimed the weapon at the door. A large cylinder propelled itself from the lower barrel of the gun, landing a few inches away from the lasers. The canister exploding sending hundreds of CHAFF particles into the air, causing the laser network to overload. Chris quickly holstered his weapon and began a free sprint toward the door while the lasers malfunctioned. The lone spy dived toward the temporally disabled doorway and committed to a body roll as he made contact with the ground. Chris stood now in the room, with the lasers reactivating behind his body. Suddenly, Chris’s back erupted with pain, the cool butt of a gun making hard contact with his back sending Chris stumbling ahead. The lone spy was able to regain his balance. The merc behind him opened fire, Chris was quick to dive behind a near by computer console. “Come out and fight…!” screamed the mercenary, in an accent that seemed all too Russian. Chris peered around the console to see the merc’s location, but quickly retracted as the console was riveted with bullet rounds. Chris was quick to arm a flash bang and toss toward the mercenary. The room erupted in a bright light. Chris in a few quick motions jumped from the console and struck the merc in the neck. The heavily armed brute’s body went limp as it tumbled to the ground. Chris sighed as he approached the terminal. Their it was, the ND133. Alone, it looked like nothing more then a piece of random machinery in this lab. Chris knew better. The ND133 was more then capable of creating a disaster that would dwarf any that America has experienced before. Chris approached the ND133. Before he could place his hand on the objective, his gut exploded in pain. At first, it felt as if a cool object inserted itself into his flesh. This coolness was quickly replaced by a burning pain. Chris’ mental sate began to falter as he could feel his own bodily fluids drain from his right torso. Chris fell to his knees, his vision a blur. “Not in this lifetime.” Stated a voice behind him. Chris could no longer keep awake, he fell to the floor, a sleep and dying.

          Alan approached Victor’s body, and checked for a pulse. He was stunned to find there was none. As he felt his neck, their seemed to be a huge dent in his throat. Most likely caused a by a sudden strike. Alan stood up, and approached the body of the spy he had shot. The dark figure seemed to be alive, but not conscious. “You killed my pal you know?” stated Alan. “I would like very much to do the same to you. Except I know the people of ARGUS can do a better job of making one’s life miserable behind moral comprehension. As such, I think I will wait for dawn.” Alan feeling a little better to have had said that then approached the objective. It had seemed the spy was about to grab it before Alan had arrived. Before Alan could comprehend what had occurred, two dark arms slid across Alan’s neck, firmly locking his head in a death grip. “Sorry about your friend their…” the voice from behind said. “I would of preferred no casualties, but it seems fait had other plans.” Alan felt weak, little air was moving to his head. His grip on his weapon wavered, before it ceased and his machine gun fell to the floor. A large clank echoed through the room. “I understand your nothing more then a grunt for this firm ARGUS. Understand this though, our actions will ensure the safety of thousands, that’s all I can say.” Before Alan could make a reply, a quick pain erupted in the back of his head. The arm’s released their grips as Alan’s body grew suddenly weak. His heavy body smashed against the tile floor, his conscious quickly fading. Before he blacked out, all he could see was a tall dark figure standing over the objective. That was before his blurred into a dark and infinite limbo.

The End