The phone rang. Jason and James watched it with baited breath, James being quiet for once. Madeline stood quietly in the corner, not saying anything, a furrowed, somewhat concerned expression on her weathered features.
Finally, a voice came on the line. It was a voice that sounded electronically modified. "This is GHOST One. Who is this?"
Jason breathed a sigh of relief. They had reached GHOST! He was about to speak, when James let out a whoop of joy. "Yes!" His cry made Jason jump and Madeline yelped a bit. James look at them both and blushed.
"Er...excuse sorry got excited yes rude ahem sorry sorry sorry..."
"...Lord have mercy," Madeline muttered, rubbing her hair.
"What's that?" The voice asked. "Speak clearly. There's too many voices at once."
Jason looked at James. He motioned for James to be quiet. James grinned sheepishly and shut his mouth. Jason then spoke up, trying to speak loudly and clearly.
"Hello there," He said. "This is the Urban Spider AKA Jason MacQuil. I know this isn't a secure channel but it's the best we got at the moment. Midnight AKA James Fisher Jr is with me."
"...Jason?" The voice sounded surprised. He heard some movement and some yelling. There was then a loud click and Axel's voice came through the phone. "Goddamn, you almost made me shit myself! Sorry about that, had to be careful cause you were calling from an unknown number." He started yelling. "What happened?! We lost communications with the facility twelve hours ago! Satellite imagery shows mass amounts of activity around the base! Government forces were deployed but we haven't heard anything yet!"
Jason waited for him to finish and then said, with a sigh, "...Its...not going to be easy to hear."
"Not gonna be easy?" Axel barked. "Did you tell me it ain't going to be easy?! Spider, you tell me what the hell went down last night and don't mince words! I've seen shit in my day that would turn a kid like you inside out! Now talk!"
Jason swallowed. And then he spoke. He told it all, same as he had told Madeline. As soon as he started with the words 'invasion' and 'attack', Axel's yelling had stopped. The phone was dead silent during the whole explanation, so much so Jason might have suspected they had lost the signal if not for the occasional noise. Finally, he finished and sat back in the chair. He waited.
A long moment passed. Then Axel spoke. His voice was almost somber, unusually subdued and quiet.
"...My god."
"Yeah," Jason muttered. He looked at James, who was now leaning hunched on the table. James looked up at him and sighed but didn't speak, continuing to be silent. He was tracing circles on the table counter with one finger. "We don't know where the rest of the team is now...Robertson is dead and..." He swallowed. "We have to assume the Director is too..."
Another long stretch of silence passed. Then Axel's voice returned. His voice was cracking a bit, as if he was trying to hold back tears or another strong emotion. "...How in the hell did this happen? How in the hell was the facility invaded?! Were all our measures for nothing?! All our security?!" He was screaming now.
Madeline walked over and mouthed 'Too loud. Leave you in private' before departing the kitchen. She shut the door behind her. Jason waited as Axel vented, the man screaming about security, defenses, and everything else that should have stopped a breach in the base. Finally, he stopped screaming and took a breath. Jason cut back in.
"The enemy attacked us in overwhelming force," Jason reported. "Pure brute strength, not to mention surprise on their side, made us lose out. It a mercenary unit, they called themselves the Skeleton Crew-"
Axel sucked in his breath. "Ah...ah..." There was a tapping noise over the line. "Them."
"Yes. Led by the Director's sister, apparently," Jason said. "I guess we weren't kept in the loop about them for whatever reason but yeah it was them." The words came out harsher than he intended."
"They came in a horde there were too many of them for the base's personnel too many indeed they had access to all kinds of equipment professionally trained not just average thugs," James sputtered as he spoke up. "They even had hired metahumans with them including Akihiro they proved a decisive factor in overwhelming us."
"Akihiro...?" Axel hissed. "That slimy son of a bitch. No wonder we couldn't find him, the Skeleton Crew took him in!" A loud noise crackled over the phone. Jason jumped back.
"...Sorry," Axel grunted. "Just slammed my fist against the table here. Knocked over my coffee." He sighed visibly and moaned, "...God. In my line of work, boys, there's been a lot of shit piled on me. But this..." Another moment of silence then he finally muttered out, "...This is something else...but the Skeleton Crew. Yeah...yeah, we knew of them. But only a select few did. The Director, Robertson, me, few of the boys in GHOST, and the higher ups in government intelligence. They were a festering rot across the world, growing from a small cabal into a shadowy, dangerous PMC group. And worse yet, they were led by the Director's sister. Jacqueline."
Jason leaned forward, now very curious. "Okay. So you obviously know who she is. I imagine GHOST has files on such a person. Lots of files. Who is she, beyond being the Director's long lost, psychotic sister who's out for our blood?"
"You saw her then?" Axel questioned.
"Yes...and no. We encountered her during our escape. She was wearing some kind of crazy armored suit. I didn't see her face but I could tell it was her. She's...definitely nuts and she nearly killed us. But what's the deal with her? Can you tell us?"
Axel exhaled hard. Jason and James both leaned over the phone, waiting patiently, although James's started tapping his fingers on the table again, possibly betraying an inner impatience. Jason just watched the phone, knowing how hard this must be for a man who was just learning about this madness.
Finally, Axel spoke up. "Yeah, okay...one second." The sound of typing followed. Then Axel said, "Pulling up the files now. You ready?"
Jason nodded. Then he remembered Axel couldn't see him. He flicked himself for that lapse of stupidity and said, "We're ready."
"Ready as I'll be and Jason is too you heard him yes so I guess me repeating this is a bit of a well you know anyway proceed not need to grab a notepad to take notes," James tapped his head. "I'll store it all in here many benefits to photographic memory little downsides a few but that's not important right now proceed Mr. Axel."
"Right," Axel grunted. More typing followed. "So. Jacqueline Prescott. We'll start with the early days. The Director is the eldest daughter of a well known CIA agent, Jack Prescott. Jacqueline was her little sister."
The Director was the daughter of a CIA dude? Jason thought. Huh. Suppose it makes sense, considering where she ended up.
"Jacqueline experienced multiple psychological issues from an early age," Axel continued. "She was examined by multiple psychologists and found to have and I quote: 'a complete lack of empathy', 'manipulative tendencies', 'superficial charm', 'constant need for stimulation', 'impulsiveness', and several others. She underwent treatment but prove less than receptive. Apparently she constantly fought with her doctors and often refused to take her medication or even attend her appointments at points. She became..." Axel paused. "...the black sheep of the family."
Jason snorted. "No wonder, she was such a well adjusted person."
"I know, right?" Axel sighed, more typing noises sounding. "Anyway, years went by and eventually Jacqueline seemed to settle into a neutral state. She wasn't perfect, by any means, but she was better. She attended San Fransisco University, where she majored in engineering. Didn't complete college, however. No official degree. Apparently she had a real knack for building things. During her college career, 'something' happened?"
That sounds ominous, Jason thought. James raised his head and stroked his chin. "An incident which led her down the path toward evil obvious but what was it what what what?"
Axel growled angrily. James covered his mouth and muttered, "Oops sorry sorry sorry go on."
"Thank you," Axel hissed sarcastically. "Anyway. Soon after Jacqueline graduated college, the family had a vicious argument. The Director didn't go into details but she said that Jacqueline felt underappreciated in comparison to the Director's achievements. This was exasperated with her mental issues and one night, a simple dinner turned into a screaming match. It eventually culminated with Jacqueline grabbing a knife and stabbing her father."
A hush fell over the room. Jason covered his mouth. "Jesus." James paled, swallowing. "Did she...?"
"No it wasn't fatal," Axel grunted. "But after she attacked her father, she stormed from the house, leaving the Director to call the police. Jack was stabilized. But the police never found Jacqueline. She stole a wad of cash, somehow piggbacked herself to the airport, and bought a one way ticket to Europe. She disappeared overnight. A dark memory from the Director's childhood but it remained that way for sometime...until many years later, where the Director had become an intelligence officer, following in her father's footsteps."
"She received a series of encrypted emails," Axel continued. "Once decrypted, they were videos by Jacqueline. Imagine the Director's shock of seeing her sister for the first time since that terrible night. Imagine further shock when the videos depicted Jacqueline directing assaults on villages, showing off soldiers, and videotaping executions. She had somehow formed her own mercenary group in her absence, a PMC group you know as the Skeleton Crew. They started off small but grew in scope, operating anywhere they could. They did whatever jobs Jacqueline directed them to, joining up with terrorists organizations, militia, and government military forces at various points. The Director saw her sister now, for lack of a better word, as a terrorist. She was quite right. She voiced her concerns about this group but was ignored, naturally. But eventually she climbed higher in the ranks and assigned several individuals to keep an eye on them. My unit was among them."
"But..." Axel growled and let out a frustrated, almost agonized moan. "Guess it was all for nothing, huh? We had warning, all our eyes on that psychotic bitch...but the arrival of the metahumans made her...a lower priority. Now she's exploited that and returned to take vengeance on her sister."
Jason folded his arm. He cocked his head. "Revenge? For what?"
Axel exhaled. "Who knows? Like I said, Jacqueline is mentally unstable. She puts on a façade of normality but beneath likes a bubbling egomaniac with dangerous impulses. The Director told me Jacqueline was always jealous of her, that she hated her older sister. I believe her and after what has transpired, I guess she's grown from a young adult with rage issues to a full blown terrorist."
Jason sighed. "...Yeah. Great. Well, thanks for the info. So we've got a psychopath in a suit of powered armor leading an army of mercs with at least four metahumans on their side. And I bet they're not gonna give up just cause our base went up in smoke. Jacqueline seemed to want us dead specifically, along with the Director."
"You said metahumans," Axel growled. "Along with that monster Akihiro, which others did you see?"
"Well, I saw this monstrous half-elephant, half-human guy. Called himself Incisor, I think," Jason said, remembering what the mercs had called the elephant man. "Then there was this woman who screamed so loud she nearly blew out my eardrums. And finally, a woman with spider-like powers. She called herself Web."
"Hmm, I see," Axel muttered. "Not good. Well, I've got my unit trying to hack into the base's feed right now. We've got a lot of footage to go through, I imagine, but maybe we can higlight each individual metahuman present and cross reference them with any appearances they may have had globally. They're the wild cards currently in play, so getting a reading on their abilities would be a step in the right direction."
Jason nodded. "Sounds good to me. We're a bit, uh, cut off from resources at the moment though. Sending us info might be tricky."
"Where are you both at right now?"
"Oh we're at a lovely home on the outskirts of the forest its occupied a single amiable woman called Madeline she's been housing us since early this morning after we staggered and stumbled our way out of the forest," James said quickly. "We've lost access to most of our devices my phone is busted as is my homing device for The Panther anyway yes like Jason said we're cut off."
Axel sighed. "...I think I understood that," He grumbled. "Alright. I'll send someone to pick you two up-"
"No!" Jason shouted, making James jump. He rose, pushing his chair back. "No. Don't send anyone."
"What?!" Axel barked. "Why not?!"
"Because..." Jason gritted his teeth. His reasoning sounded stupid now that he was thinking about it bu t he stuck to his guns. "Because most people in the government don't trust us. The Vice President flat out hates us, multiple military officials despise us, and that's not even getting into the issues with law enforcement. I know, my fault, but still. I don't want us getting involved with them until our team is resembled and we're strong again."
Axel growled, sounding deeply annoyed. He slowly said, "...I get you, Jason, but you're on the run. With no resources, being hunted down by these mercenaries! You're divided and you know regular people can't stand up to metahumans. Not to mention this isn't just your problem anymore! It's a government issue, like it or not. The Skeleton Crew has just destroyed a government base on national soil! They've killed American citizens. This isn't just your problem anymore!"
Jason swallowed. That stung. But he was partially right. This was a situation bigger than anything they had faced before. This had the potential to blow into a complete snowball of chaos. Sure, the metahuman groups from before were destructive but they seemed...smaller now. Even the attack on Washington felt like an incident that wasn't as delicate or huge as this. But...still. He felt like staying off the radar was better.
"Look. We need to approach this delicately. And without the Director back us, the government could use this as an opportunity to come down on us hard. Our base is gone. Our resources in tatters. They could use this as an excuse to shut us down or worse. I've never trusted the government and for a damn good reason! They'll want to handle this themselves but they won't. They can't. It's going to be a mess if we get them involved now. So, please, Axel. Don't call anyone."
Axel sighed. He sounded tired. Jason didn't blame him. It was a lot to deal with. He at points felt like just crumbling under the weight and falling into unconsciousness. But he had to ignore the crushing weight of stress coming down on them.
"...Alright Spider," Axel said. "You've proven yourself at least decently competent. Maybe you do have a point, as well. Then why call me? Just to tell me what happened? Not that I don't appreciate it but the resources of GHOST aren't just a sounding board."
"Could use another favor too!" James said, shoving his head over the phone. "We need Beckett can I call you Beckett no I suppose not that's rude ah got to focus excuse me Beckett I mean no no no not Beckett Axel Mr. Axel sorry apologies as I said earlier you caught that right earlier yes anyway my homing device for The Panther is offline-"
"Put Jason back on!" Axel barked. "Jesus Christ, I've got a damn headache already! Don't make it worse!"
James sighed and skulked away. Jason shrugged and said, "What he was trying to say was that Laureen and Max escaped on The Panther. You remember that from my report? Yeah, well, we need to find them but James's homing device got broken in the car crash we ended up in. He assumes you guys have someway to track it, so can you do so and give us its location? We find it, we find our friends."
Axel exhaled again. "...Alright. Yeah, we can easily track it. Shouldn't take more than a moment..." He yelled something to someone else and Jason heard the muffled movement of what sounded like footsteps. He felt himself tingle with anticipation and rubbed his arms, his heartbeat quickening.
Several minutes ticked on by, the only sound typing over the phone. Then Axel's voice came back. "Alright. I've tracked them down-"
"Where are they where are they?!" James shouted, interrupting the man. "Are they close are they in a ditch shot down somewhere oh wait you can see all those details over a tracking signal I don't know where my head goes sometimes but where are they?!"
"Let me talk!" Axel barked and James quickly shut up again. "Okay, signal just went through. We've tracked The Panther's location to Ridge Hill Reserve. It appears to be unmoving, so I estimate it landed there. With any luck, Laureen and Max are there too."
"Ridge Hill?" Jason looked to James. "You know where that is?"
"Ah no no no but ask Madeline if she has a map then we can figure it out yes." James said ponderously, stroking his chin with one hand and jerking his other at the kitchen door.
"Got it," Jason nodded. "Be right back." With that, he left the kitchen and looked for Madeline. Seeing her room door partially open, Jason strode forward and went in. He found the woman making the bed, a pile of pillows next to her.
"Well hello," Madeline fixed the covers under the mattress and began nudging out the creases. "Done with your mysterious phone call?" She smirked. "You know this whole thing is going mostly over my head but it reminds me a bit of one of those Bourne movies. Only with more Halloween outfits."
Jason chuckled. He pointed at the bed. "Sorry if I messed it up too much. I don't normally clean up after myself."
"Eh," Madeline snorted as she finished the cover and began putting pillows on. "If you were more than a temporary guest, I'd be a little more pissed off. But you aren't, so it's fine. Besides, my late husband was way worse. Every morning I'd wake up to find the bed drowned in beer bottles."
Jason felt a twing of sympathy. "Oh...sorry. Drunk, huh?"
"Drunk doesn't begin to describe it," Madeline grunted, throwing the pillows onto the bed and slapping them into place. "Not a violent one, at least most of the time, more like a lazy, fat ass leech that conned me into doing his work for a good long few years. Luckily I eventually wised up and kicked him to the curb. Haven't had a man ever since and believe me, it's a relief." She stood from the side of her bed. "But I'm rambling. You need something, Spider boy?'
"Uh..." Jason coughed awkwardly. "Yeah, sorry. Got a map of the area?"
"A map?" She snorted. "What do I look like, a tourist stop?"
"Well no but-" Jason fumbled for words before Madeline laughed heartily. She grinned and approached a dresser.
"I'm just messing with you," She opened one drawer and rummaged through it, taking out a rolled up map. "I always liked maps. Can't get used to GPSes, apps, and whatever newfangled invention is out next. Going somewhere?" Madeline handed Jason the map. He took it.
"Yeah. We might have a lead on our friends."
"Rest of your superfriends?" Madeline smirked. "That was a fun cartoon. Pretty dumb though. Anyway, better get back to your call if you aren't done. Continue with your spy stuff."
Jason smiled at her and nodded thankfully. We seriously lucked out finding this house. He gave her a thumbs up before returning to the kitchen. James snatched the map for his hands and quickly unraveled it onto the table.
"We have a map Axel now let's see..." James's finger traced along the map, his eyes scanning the map like a pair of bouncing ping pong balls. "Ridge Hill Ridge Hill Ridge Hill ah!" He cried out triumphantly and tapped his finger against a point on the map. Jason leaned over to wear his finger was pressed down. "There it is not far from Freetown State Forest see see?" Jason looked and saw, indeed, the forest was relatively close to Ridge Hill on the map. "I estimate that it is approximately ten miles from our position by car it would be a snap to arrive at."
"Well, you boys said you wanted off the radar, so you'll need to figure out something on your own," Axel grunted. "Now, I'll respect your decision not to get government officials involved yet. But that doesn't me we're gonna sit on our asses either. I'll be doing my damndest to help the government work on this and track Jacqueline's mercenary force down. Got that?"
Jason nodded slowly. "Yeah. We got it."
"Good. Try and keep me posted on what you all are doing. And..." His voice softened. "...I'm sorry this happened. Jesus Christ, I'm sorry. We're gonna get these son of bitches. We're gonna get them and make them pay."
Jason sighed. Yeah, nothing I can do there...even if I want first crack at the bastards. Jacqueline, Akihiro, and their whole damn army of mercs...I'll make them pay for what they did. "Alright. Stay safe yourself."
"Over and out." The line went dead.
Jason stood there for a moment, thinking. Then he turned to James. "You said it'd be a breeze by car, right?"
"Indeed lickety spit unfortunately we ah don't have a car my poor Bullet is reduced to scrap and out here our options are limited alas unfortunate," James sighed. He shrugged. "Well I suppose we could steal one if we got desperate huh?"
"Who's stealing what?" Madeline grunted. She stepped back into the kitchen, slapping dust off her palms. She looked between the two of them. "If you're thinking of stealing my truck, you'll find yourself getting a shotgun blast under your noses."
Jason raised his hands and shook his head. James did the same, although his movements were far more vigorous. Jason quickly said, "No, no. We're not going to steal anything...just a suggestion on his part." He elbowed James.
"Yes yes yes just a suggestion nothing more don't shoot us," James laughed nervously and swallowed. "Anyway we know where our friends are at Ridge Hill I assume you are familiar with the area not to presume but you are a Massachusetts native native to this area and its proximity suggests a conclusion that you know it being well close yes?"
"What?" Madeline narrowed her eyes. She looked at Jason. "Translation please?"
"We know where our teammates are," Jason said. "Ridge Hill. Not far from here, right? We need a way to get down there. Can you drive us?"
"Can I-?" Madeline raised an eyebrow. "When? I got work in a few hours."
"Uh..." Jason scratched his head. "We should leave soon, right?" He looked to James.
"Yes no telling what the state of Laureen and Max is at the moment we should leave ASAP," James blurted out. He grinned and put on his best angelic face, clasping his hands together. "Please can you take us you have a truck and uh it'd be greatly beneficial our friends could be hurt in danger and we need to renunite to face the evildoers who destroyed our base so-"
Madeline raised her hands. "Ugh alright! Christ you're giving me a real headache, like a human air raid siren." She rubbed her temples. "Well, my Third Eye still says you're good people and honestly, the sooner you all get out of her might be for the best. Just let me get some things together and I'll-"
There was a sudden rumble outside. A loud roar that sounded like a vehicle. Madeline twisted her head, raising an eyebrow. "The hell?"
Jason got a sinking feeling in his stomach. He crossed the room and looked through the blinds of the kitchen window. Peering out into the night, he saw a huge vehicle roaring up the road outside Madeline's house. Jason's heart skipped a beat as he looked at it. It was the same APC that had run them off the road in the forest. Its headlights cut through the night like glowing knives and it pulled into Madeline's driveway, rumbling toward her home.
Jason spun around. He spat out: "They're here!"
"Who's here?!" Madeline barked. She strode up to one window and her eyes widened. "Oh my god, what in the world-"
"Get away from the window!" Jason forcefully pulled her back and yanked the blinds shut. "It's the mercenaries that destroyed our base. They're looking for us. Must figure this house might be a spot where we could be hiding." He cursed. "And fuck, they're right!"
James's face paled. He began to jump up and down wildly. "Oh dear oh dear oh no what do we do?"
Madeline crossed her arms. She looked nervous but she said: "Well. What if they come here and don't find you? I could answer the door and assure them you aren't present."
Jason shook his head. The rumble of the APC stopped. The vehicle had likely pulled up in front of the house now. He pointed upstairs. "They're not military. They aren't going to politely knock. Now you two, get upstairs and hide! Now!" He yelled the last word. Madeline and James jumped back. But they got the message. They both turned and disappeared from the kitchen, their footsteps fading as they huried upstairs.
Jason ducked low. Beams of light cut through the blinds, illuminating the kitchen. Jason licked his lips and pulled on his mask. He cracked a knuckle. A woman was in danger and his friend. No one else was gonna die thanks to these bastards, least of all someone like Madeline.
"Alright you bastards," He hissed to himself, crouching low on the floor. "Let's dance."