caged and broken (first draft)

I sat in the control room with baited breath, eyes focused on the monitors that showed every inch of the training ground below. This was the moment of truth. Lancaster and Keith had been working hard to integrate themselves as part of my newly formed team. This was the first training exercise they have been in as a team and should show how they can work together without direct guidance or orders. The objective was simple I had enlisted Osaki and Danielle to be the hostiles and all Lancaster and Kieth had to do was track them and take them down with a taser shot. The first mistake the made was splitting up intent on securing a hostile each instead of working together watching their progress I rested the urge to to get on the comms system and give them orders. They had begun to converge on the same area of the train ground. Kites voice sounded over the comms system excitement evident in his voice

“Control I have contact and am on approach to capture” the purpose of his communication was obvious he wasn’t trying to notify me as to what was happening he was showing off to Lancaster.

“Controll hostile confirmed I have eyes on Danielle

She’s currently in sector 5B, I am In pursuit” the communication cut off, I used the monitoring equipment to locate Keith and I could see he was chasing a blurred figure .

“He isn’t waiting for back up”said Gudmundur from the open door way.

“Doesn’t look like it” I replied the strain of the exercise evident in my voice. “I think they are trying to prove that they are good enough to be on the team, so instead of working together they are trying to take out the target’s solo” I replied keeping my focus on the monitors.

That’s when I noticed lancaster laying in wait down one of the intersecting corridors. At least he’s paying attention to the comms and is trying to ambush his target. i was about to air my thoughts to Gudmundur when he spoke

“Just what I thought” he said as he took the seat next to mine and started fiddling with the controls.

I turned to him my eyebrow raised. He answered with out me needing to voice my question. “Osaki is up to some fairly impressive trickery!” I was still confused by what he was saying and the look on my face must have conveyed as much. so he carried on with his explanation. “She’s a kitsune rember. She is a master of illusion.”

I took a moment to think about what he was saying. The full impact of what he was saying hit me as the blurred figure turned the corner and stated to make it’s way down the corridor where lancaster was laying in wait. Keith was close on it’s heels and didn’t stop to asses the area. He just kept running after his target. High on the adrenalin rush that was pushing him to takedown his target.

As Keith drew close to where lancaster was waiting the figure vanished and lancaster jumped from his hiding spot firing as he did so. The sudden movement caught Keith by surprise, startled he fired blindly not paying attention to what or who he was firing at. By the time they released that they had been tricked it was to late both men where on the ground convulsing and obviously in a little discomfort

just a few feet away behind where lancaster had been out walk osaki laughing uncontrollably. With shocked looks they released what it meant the connected and tased each other being taken down instantly and began convulsions beside each other getting tangled in each other’s flailing arm’s and leg’s. Idiot’s I thought. looking round seeing Gudmundur trying to suppress his smile. “Don’t laugh this is not funny. They both have experience working in teams they both have more experience than me so how can their team work be this bad? am I doing something wrong?” I asked trying my best not to sound like a child about to throw a tantrum.

“Jess” he said looking at me and speaking in a calming if not still slightly amused tone. “it is going to take time for Lancaster to get to grip’s with everything he has gone from knowing his place in the world and knowing how the world around him operates to having his whole world view pulled out from under him, until a few weeks ago he didn’t know about the paranormal. He thought that vampires where those sparkly thing in the movies and that dragons only existed in book’s. He was raised to believe that magic is nothing but nonsense. the fact that he hasn’t been committed to a mental facility is amazing in it’s self. He has been working hard trying to get up to speed and you have said it yourself his intuition is impressive we need people like him working with us.” He let his statement sink in for a second. I could understand what he was saying but I was frustrated “ fine I understand why lancaster behaved the way he did but Kieth should know better he has experience on how the agency operates and he is used to dealing with the paranormal community. Add to that that he knows Danielle and Osaki he should have expected something like this” I said. Happy that he shouldn’t be able to justify Keiths behaviour .

He threw back his head and began to laugh “jess I would have thought you would understand how he acted better than any one.” Shocked by his outburst I just shock my head “ fine enlighten me because I dont understand it”

“Kieth is trying to prove his worth. they both feel like they are out of their depth.but Keith has gone from a lab tech that occasionally gets to be a liaison with the human police force to being a point of contact to various high profile individuals, you put him in charge of his own strike team for the raids on the facilities conducting those experiments and now he’s on a a task force that is getting a lot of attention. He’s trying to prove that you weren’t wrong to put your trust in him.”

I didn’t know what to say was I really putting that much pressure on the team I thought but be fore I could voice my thoughts he continued on

“Factor in to all that, you put them up against those two, they are strike team leader’s for a reason. Kieth and lancaster wouldn’t have stood a chance agains one of them even if their team work was on point. kitsune are notorious for their difficulty to apprehend I would have a difficult time if I was up against Osaki so don’t be to hard on them”

I knew he was right and I was expecting to much but every time I closed my eye’s I was transported to the basement with the wendigo. I could smell the blood and the sweat. I couldn’t let something like that happen again. I needed to make sure the team would be strong enough. To over come situations like that”

The door to the control room swung open. “Why did you have to have all the fun we could have done so much more” Danielles voice held a little frustration.

“You can’t say it wasn’t fun to watch play out” came osaki voice as they both walked through the door. They both wore grins reminiscent of the cheesier cat from Alice in wonder land.

“Did you have to be so brutal” I asked trying not to smile

Osaki answered before anyone else could. “Come on jess we know they’ve been working hard so isn’t it best to give it our all and not pull any punches”

“True but you could have dragged it out a little longer to see if their team work would improve through the drill”

Danielle spoke. “I think your wrong jess, if we had dragged out the training they would have carried on working alone. Although I agreed that osaki’s methods are unorthodox we have already seen they have one major area that they need to improve on”

They took a seat at the other terminals and looked at me as though they where testing me and if I answered wrong they would see me as weakened devour me.

Your right I think that they are going to need to work o team work for the foreseeable future. Are you still free to do a few more drills with them today. I asked really hoping that their experience would come in handy in giving my team a little more direction.

Both women looked at each other then shrugged. “Not a problem I dont have any active assignments at the moment so I was planning on running drill’s with my own team working with others might bring something else to the training, said Daniele. “What do you think osaki we can show this new team how it’s really done “

The spark mischief that sparked in osaki’s eye’s was I little scary what the hell had I just gotten myself into. Gudmundur interrupted my train of thought if we are going to be training with 3 full team’s we are going to need to move to a bigger location.”

“What have you got in mind” I asked

“I’m thinking capture the flag battle Royale team agains team, last one standing with all flags wins!”

It was then that Keith and lancaster stumbled in to the control Room each man needing to hold the other for support. I couldn’t help but poke at the loss they had just experienced. “What do you think guys are you going to be able to work as a team so we can actually show these two just how good we really are.” I asked

I could see the determination in Lancaster’s face as he straightens up “I won’t let these to humiliate me again I made a bone head mistake. I won’t make the same mistake again”

It seemed as though the loss had lit a firer up inside him and I was impressed. Kieth just nodded to Lancaster’s mini declaration of war but the determination etched in to his face and posture was truly impressive. “Okay lets split up assemble are respective team’s and ill have Gudmundur message you all with the location and we will meet there in an hour”

They all rushed from the control room like their hair was on fire, you couldn’t help getting excited just watching them, “I hope you know what your doing dragon boy because I think you have just started an all out war” I couldn’t help but giggle as I finished speaking.

“I assure you Jessica they aren’t going to know what hit them. Now if you dont mind I have arrangement’s to make. I will meet you in the lobby in 30 minutes I will also get the rest of the team there to.”

Gudmundur seemed to have everything in hand so I just shrugged and let him to get on with it. Seeing as I had half an hour to kill I headed to my dorm to change in to something more appropriate and to get an extremely strong coffee. I had a feeling I was going to need it.

*

I was the first to make it to the lobby, I had decided to wear light weight jeans and a black tee not knowing what I would be facing I opted for tactical boots, as I stood there waiting for the rest of my team I nursed a travel mug of piping hot coffee. What ever the dragon had in mind I was sure that by the end of the day I would be thankful for all the caffeine I could get, it was as this thought crossed my mind that the rest of my team began to enter the lobby. I could feel the excited energy building around them as they thought about the training exercise we would be taking part in as they got closer I could hear lancaster and Kieth explain how they had failed against osaki and Danielle earlier, and how they wouldn’t fall for the same trick twice.

If you had worked as a team you probably wouldn’t have fallen for such an obvious trap came the happy little voice of Abigail’s she then flashed them a toothy grin to show that she was only joking. Keith just laughed at her comment but lancaster turned a shade paler. I couldn’t blame him it’s not everyday that you get a toothy smile from a vampier that could probably break you in half and drain you of blood before you knew what happened. After nervous shudder he looked at her and returned her smile even if it was a little nervously. I suppressed a giggle as I watched my team interact with each other, they where all so different but they also brought a host of unique experiences and points of views. As they drew near mini piped up “so jess are you going to brief us on this training exercise” she asked out of everyone on the team I had known mini the longest the empathic mage was one of the ones there on the day lyn and I where rescued from the cave and we had become close friend ever since.

All I know is that we are competing in a battle Royale contest of capture the flag against osaki’s and Danielles teams. Apart from that I’m in the dark. It was gudmundur’s idea so I’m letting him run with setting it up.

The door’s to the lobby opened and gudmundur strode in “ great your all here, we don’t have much time I’ve got transportation waiting to take us to the training grounds that I’ve secured let’s go we don’t want to be late. He lead us out and waiting for us where two Ballistic Armoured Tactical Transport’s also known as BATT’s. These two seemed to be striped down to look like your everyday survival nut’s playthings instead of something that you would drive in to a fire fight but if you knew what you where looking for you could see these where fully functioning tactical vehicles. “Where the hell did you get these” I asked

“Oh these I just borrowed from an acquaintance he also gave us drivers so we can strategies on our way to the training site.” I couldn’t argue as we had some where to be so we split up and got in the transports. I was surprised by the interior on one side there was a bench seat set up so we could sit opposite us was a wall of tactical equipment and as we sat a screen descended from above us showing a video coms set up that linked us to the other transport. I looked at Abigail who had got in the same transport as me. Be fore I could say anything. She just said “dragons and their toy’s” then just shook her head.

“Abbey why would a dragon need this sort of equipment” I asked

“Oh that’s easy to answer, dragons like to show off, if something is new or valuable they just have to have it.”

I suppressed a giggle and waited for everyone to get seated. I need to project an image that I was taking this serious. Once we where all buckled in and on our way Gudmundur started to spit dressing us from the other transport. “ the drill is fairly straight forward” he said his commanding tone getting everyones attention “ it’s a 3 team capture the flag drill, the first team to capture the other two teams flag and be the last team standing win’s” he explained keeping it simple. “I’ve managed to get us access to an old industrial complex the site is huge and there is no one around so we don’t need to worry about passers by being curious.” He actually looked proud of himself for this. Abbey was right earlier when she said dragons liked to show off gudmundur looked like a kid in a candy store being told everything is free. The plan is simple we use abbey and Jess to defend our base and with it our flag while. Mini, Lancaster, Milo and Kieth work with me on taking the opposition down.”

Once he had finished his speech. I spoke up. “Wait a second,” I nearly yelled at the dragon “ so five of you are attacking and your leaving just the two of us on defence that’s stupid at least give us one more.” I knew he wouldn’t budge but if we lost because of his plan I would make his life a living hell.

“Look you two are independently strong and abbey has experience working with others that aren’t familiar with each other so it makes sense to team you up. Also the other teams will be nervous about attacking you both as they find the pair of you intimidating”. I just looked at him unsure what to say. I had never thought of myself as intimidating before.

It was Mini’s turn to speak it seemed “ oh come on jess you can’t be that surprised you the one that took on a pack of wendigo and survived you uncovered a mole in the agency and you’ve had a dragon queen declare you as basically her adopted daughter. Even you have to admit that is pretty dame intimidating” I had never thought of it that way, but I guess she had a point even if I refused to admit it out loud.

“Fine if you think that will work what will you five be doing while we chill out at base.” I asked not even trying to hide my frustration from my tone.

“We” Gudmundur said with glee sparkling in his eyes “will be showing Danielle and osaki that we won’t lose twice”

The rest of the journey to the industrial complex was spent with gudmundur explaining the various strategies they would be using and informing us that all the equipment in the transports was for our use. The weapons carried the same type of ammo we had been using. It delivered a high voltage shock that would take down your opponent and make them convulse, to show that they where out. they also carried bladed weapon that worked in a similar way upon contact with the enemy they would deliver a shock. But depending on where the strike lands depends on if the shock will take you opponent out or if the could recover and carry on. After hearing gudmundur explain the weapons we would be using. Abby and I began to discuss our own strategy.

*

Exciting the transport we where faced with the opposing teams. “Danielle, Osaki I hope your ready for a hard battle,” I said. the excitement in the air was contagious and I couldn’t help but smile. “The exercise is simple infiltration eradication and retrieval, gudmundur arranged briefing packs for everyone my teams have the exact same information and weapons set up as everyone else, and we have all got a base of operations located on the map. We will begin the operation at the sound of the clacks-on and will end when one team is in possessed of all 3 flags and all opposition has been taken out do you have any question?”

“Me and my team are good” came osaki. She was practically bouncing on her heals like a kid on a sugar high.

Danielle answer next `“I’m ready to show you all not to underestimate my unit. We are going all out to win this exercise” she shot me a playful smile and stuck her snake like toung at me flicking it as though she was tasting the air. She began to turn but gave me a wink “dont disappoint me” she said and left.

My cheeks began to redden. Nope not going let my head go that way she’s just trying to get in my head so I lose my focus.

“I was brought back to my senses by abbey. Don’t let her get to you she’s going to target you first I think so she’s trying to make you second guess what your willing to do to protect the flag.she said while giving me her little toothy grin.”

“And how do you know that’s what she’s doing” I asked still feeling the heat flush in my cheeks”

“Because it’s what I would do, now lets gear up and get to our positions”

she made her way to the weapons rack and selected an m4 carbine and a SIG safer p226 9mm

With her weapons selected she loaded up with enough ammunition to take down a small army. Although if you think about we where facing opponents that are technically strong enough to take out army unit’s in their sleep. I approached the weapons rack and began looking for something that would suit my fighting style I was more suited to close combat weapons, firearms where not my preferred weapon it made it to easy to take life. But agency rules insist that all agents need to be armed and proficient in the use of firearms I selected a Glock 19. As a primary weapon and started looking for a secondary I wasn’t comfortable with shotguns or submachine gun’s so the MP5/10 where out of the question. That’s when I noticed a small section at the end that had more traditional weapons the had a few staffs that I could see had beeb rugged at either end with metal to be able to give a tasered attack I saw the same setup on the small array of blades and spears that’s when I noticed they had a few k-bar tactical knives they weren’t like my karambit’s that I realised I had been stroking as I perused the weapons on the wall, seeing as I couldn’t use my own knives I selected two k-bars, weapons selected I grabbed a weapons rig and followed abbey as she made her way to gudmundur and the others.

I caught up with abbey just as gudmundur started issuing final instructions “ everyone we need to keep radio silence that means my team keep focused and look out for non-verbal communication with your team mates.” Those clustered around him all nodded there understanding “jess that goes for you and abbey as well we are on zero communication. If we hear from you we will assume it’s a trap and the same goes for you. If you hear anything from use assume we have been compromised and that it’s a trap”

“Why radio silence” I asked.

“I’m not sure of the accuracy of my intel and I haven’t been able to confirm the reports personally. But a powerful kitsune can mimic sound as well as creating basic illusions. I don’t know if osaki is able to do this but if she can it mean’s radio communication isn’t secure.” At this anocnment the rest of the team looked shocked

“But what if you need back up or if eith of us has intel we need to share.”

“Jess the point of these drills are to prepare us for all eventualities. As much as we might hate it we may have more situations ahead of us when we don’t have comms and we need to trust in our team mate to do their mission while we do our own. Let’s just be happy that to day if we fail it will only be our pride on the line and not our live’s”

the dragon puffed out his chest as though he had given a pre-battle speech to that could inspire army’s. If it didn’t seem to have such an obvious affect on everyone around us I would have made a joke about how serious he was taking this training. But our team all seemed to be gazing at him with a new found respect.

Abbey placed her hand on my shoulder as though trying to reassure me that everything was going to be okay “come on jess we need to set up, Gudmundur can take it from here.