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Post by Sam Alexander on Feb 10, 2014 11:09:13 GMT -5
“You think they would have. It’s very old fashion down here.” Sam agreed as he watched the candles as they seemed to be in some sort of dance as they lit up the hallways. This hallway seemed to last forever. There was no end in sight. Just how on earth were they going to get around like this? Well there was one idea that he had, was if they did see electrical wires and the changeover to more modern appliances, there was probably a higher chance of reaching the bottom once they came across the modern machines. It was a sign that’d help them see where they were going in the tunnels. So far there was nothing but candles left to right. Surely they would have run out of candles lining the walls at some point.
“And to be honest I’d rather face machines than humans. Some of them are pretty easy to dismantle once you know what you’re looking for. But you’ve got a point. They have to run out of soldiers at some point down here.” Sam added as she brought up the part about machines. It was true; they were probably going to encounter several down here. They were after all rescuing scientists. If they were as smart as Tony Stark and he was the man behind the famous Ironman suits, who knew what these other scientists were creating. There was no doubt a reason on why they were wanted by SHIELD otherwise they wouldn’t have asked the two agents to go and rescue them. The scientists would have been ignored.
Sam could feel the heat, why was it getting so hot down there? He doubted that the walls with the candles were the cause of it. If this heat kept up, they’d have to get out fast. Too much heat for any human was nothing good health related and it’d result in a severe heat stroke. There were probably several other bad health influences, along with the heat stroke. But if they were forced out that did mean that they’d fail the mission. “Ok did someone turn up the heat down here?” Sam asked as he looked back at Dalton wondering if she had an idea on what to do about the heat. He didn’t touch the walls afraid that they were just as hot as the surrounding area. He did have gloves on but they could only protect so much of his hands. “And on another note I don’t want to burn to death today.” He added.
With that, it seemed like it was right on cue as another group of noises could be heard in the tunnel. It was a variety of sounds, like footsteps, shouting, name calling and directions were given to the foot soldiers that were guarding this place. It looked like round two was coming for the two SHIELD agents as they were making their way forward. “Looks like we’re not alone, Dalton. Here comes wave two of our wonderful soldier friends.” Sam said as he lit up again after his powers had been deactivated since the first round of attacks on the soldiers. There seemed to be many of them as they started to and attempted to block off their exits out of there.
Sam had one hand pointed forward towards a group of soldiers that were charging at them as he created a photon beam straight at them. It would have been a pretty sight with the bright blue, but it was more towards the death of the soldiers who were knocked back against the nearby walls from the concussions they probably received from such force that they were given by the photon blasts. They were surrounded, not down, nor out just yet. SHIELD taught them a ton of information on how to fight and get out of the worst situations that depended on staying alive. Here was a chance to put that to the test once more.
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Post by Elizabeth Dalton on Apr 29, 2014 14:47:31 GMT -5
"Let's not count on that, just in case." Dalton suggested. She had been forced to visit many museums and old churches with her ex and they all had that creepy blend of high tech and several hundred years old architecture. Of course, none of the touristic spots they had visited had attacked them. She was as sure as Nova that the more sophisticated equipment they saw the closest they would be to their target, but, for now, it seemed they'd have to fight their way through a few more levels to get there.
"Ditto that." She agreed with a pleased half-smile. Sometimes she loved her job and spending so much time at the hellicarrier made Dalton miss that kind of camaraderie that happened in combat and the thrill of a mission. For an adrenaline junkie, a quiet life was torture and even if they threw burning walls and armed men at them, she was happier there than working out to kill the time at the base. Besides, someone was being held prisoner and she loved freedom too much not to enjoy the idea of helping someone escape. Hostage situations had always been her favorites.
Dalton had been sweating before from the action and the adrenaline rush but it had been nothing compared to being in that underground furnace. "There has to be a way to turn off the oven." Dalton thought out loud while looking around, at the walls. If someone who had clearance to roam those corridors wanted to go down that path, they probably had a way to identify themselves and if there was a device involved, they could find it and break it. However, if that wasn't the case and it was all operated from below, then maybe the mastermind behind all that didn't mind to torch a few of their own soldiers to protect what they thought precious and made sure the only way to turn that off was by pushing a button in his personal console or whatever.
The soldier's deductions were cut short when the noise of people approaching became identifiable as such. She hadn't seen any ID device they could break but the place was dim lit and impossibly hot to make a detailed search. Dalton decided to focus on the inbound instead. "I hear you, mate." She replied readying her gun. Her fire started as soon as the targets appeared. She aimed for the goon on her side of the corridor, assuming Nova would do the same with his. The guys seemed too easy a target and that rang a bell in her head. "These guys have barely passed the basic training." Dalton yelled over the noise of the fire.
As if karma were paying attention, one of the bullets hit her chest. SHIELD had state of the art technology at its disposal, so her Kevlar vest made it impossible for the projectile to hit her actual flesh. Despite that, the impact was powerful enough to make her recoil and feel pain. It will leave a bruise, she thought. "I'm OK. I'm OK." Dalton informed quickly, right before she started shooting again. Soon, all the goons were down, but they still had the fire problem at their backs and the heat was starting to become unbearable, at least in her book.
"Should we take that detour left?" Dalton asked panting and doubtfully looking at the side path. It seemed too obvious and she knew it was likely to be a trap but what other options did they have really? The oxygen level had started to go down with all that fire consuming it. It was as if the ventilation system for that section had been turned off. "It's probably a trap but I'd rather burn to death than suffocate."
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Post by Sam Alexander on Apr 29, 2014 18:35:52 GMT -5
“I hope not.” Nova said as he shook his head. The church and medevil look didn’t really interest Sam while he had to admit that part. He knew whenever his school went on field trips he’d rather goof off than learn about things like old things that didn’t really matter much. On more than one field trip he had gotten in trouble too, so he wasn’t exactly a fan of those anymore as he’d rather do other things instead. But this place wasn’t exactly a vacation or a field trip either, it was a mission and he began to understand why SHIELD wanted them for this. Though he couldn’t help but smile when she agreed to what he had said earlier. It had been a long time since he smiled like that. He wondered if his job had just been too busy and he missed home like he had been homesick. Well that was something to worry about later.
It was hot and Sam could tell that the temperature was starting to rise. His skin underneath his suit was starting to sweat and losing too much water in your system usually meant dehydration was along the way, passing out and possibly a heat stroke was in order for the two if they didn’t suffer from suffocation first. Either way it was far much more heat than he was normally able to handle as Sam was from the Western side of the United States where it was often very hot and dry year around. Sometimes the temperatures got up to 105 degrees on real bad days. And today was one of those days from the looks of things. As he was up in the air it was clear that he need to descend if there were bouts of smoke rising from the flames, he would have already failed in being a fire fighter since just about each one of them knew that inhaling flames and staying up high was a bad idea for that part.
“I’d rather not die today, it’s too soon for that and we have so much to do. The last thing SHIELD needs to know is that they lost two agents.” Sam said as he looked back at Dalton as they were headed down to the next area of mazes and traps that were in it. Of course SHIELD was the one who had said that this was going to be an easy job, so far it was far from being easy. They were lucky if they got out of here without breaking or wounded…in speaking of that…
A bullet buzzed through the air as Sam barely had any time to react some grunts appeared and fired a gun towards Elizabeth’s direction his adrenaline rush seemed to be higher than ever now that he realized what was happening. The bullet hit her and as he held his breath he realized that no blood fell from her wound and she did not collapse. Instead she stood up straight and assured him that she was alright. “I’ll admit that scared the living day lights out of me. Let’s just hope we don’t get close to coming into fire like that again.” Sam said as he saw that there were some remaining guards that had yet to be taken out. With a charge of his Nova Force his hands started to glow a deep blue again as he sent several concussive blasts towards the remaining guards, this time not showing any mercy for them even if they were grunts. The grunts managed to dodge the first round but the next two hit their mark and that was all that mattered.
“It looks like we don’t have much of a choice at this point. Let’s go and hope that we can figure out how to turn this heat down before the burning happens. To add to bad news I can’t even fly that easily without suffering from the heat, it’s the problem where heat rises.” Sam said knowing that it was a race of time at this point and they still had to think logically in order to get through this place. They hadn’t even made it to the half way point as things were getting bad to worse in a matter of seconds. Sam’s Nova Force energy was still flowing through him in case any other grunts came towards their way as he was ready to help Dalton with this. He was just about sick of all this constant fighting as they were getting nowhere fast.
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Post by Elizabeth Dalton on Apr 29, 2014 20:01:04 GMT -5
Dalton too, had little interest in history, as well as most of the other high school courses that weren't PE, but there's a certain degree of compromise you have to be willing to agree to when you're married and, to her, that meant site seeing and visiting old buildings. The first time around had been more interesting because her father made everything seem like a fun game. Dave was many things and had several amazing qualities, but being fun wasn't one of them. However, being back in England made her think of him. She had no clue her ex had been in the states for quite a while now. All those memories kept Dalton busy enough to remain silent for a little while.
Before her mother's death forced her father to move back to England, Dalton had been living in California for over a decade with the exception of the vacations to her parents homeland in the old continent, so she too was used to high temperatures, as her body never got quite used to the British weather. Still that heat was too much even for people like them and that was the whole point of the flames. However, Dalton's eyes looked for a possible ID reader out of sheer stubbornness until the decision to move forward in a different direction was made.
"Whoa, someone's really wearing the company T-shirt." She teased. Dalton was as willing to die as her partner, but her reasons for that were personal rather than thinking of how disappointed her bosses would be, and she was quite the workaholic, so it was saying something! Nothing motivated the soldier like the possibility of going on an important and dangerous mission, but even when she knew she could die and was willing to give her all for the cause she had devoted to at the time (be it the US army or SHIELD), her reasons to want to stay alive were always her own.
Dalton laughed came out ragged because the bullet impact had combined with the lack of the proper oxygen level in the air to give her trouble breathing. "You've never been to Sierra Leona, right?" The heavy hitter teased. "Relax! I know how to stay alive." Dalton said in a carefree, friendly manner, resting a hand on her partner's forearm for a moment. Not having powers didn't mean she was powerless. The gear she was wearing was great and her training did the rest... still a part of her resented life for not giving her any special "gifts". By that time she was a master at hiding that emotion when it overcame her, which was rather often considering what organization she was currently working for. Of course that the hit took Liz by surprise and scared the hell out of her too, but she was too proud to admit it, especially in front of a male mutant. Were she talking to a bunch of old human ladies, then perhaps things might have been different... perhaps.
After they made that decision, Dalton started walking through the side corridor with determination. The noise of the flamethrowers grew quieter soon, indicating that the stone walls were still thick. So was the air, despite the fact that the floor and walls seemed to cool down the further they got from the fire. Dalton wondered if the ventilation system was off for the entire floor, but she didn't dare think about that possibility. Instead, the soldier found comfort in the fact that no more goons had come after them. There was still a possibility that it might mean they were going in a completely wrong direction, but then she heard something she wasn't expecting. Their footsteps echoed differently. They went from the kind of sound one makes when walking through an enclosed space, to that of stepping over a hollow ground. "Wait. Listen!" She said with a hint of excitement in her voice.
Dalton knelt. The floor still looked like stone but it sounded like wood when she knocked on it. The painting job was amazing and so was the carving. "Very clever..." she muttered, feeling around with the hand that didn't hold her gun, trying to find purchase to lift the lid... if it was a lid, but then a better idea crossed her mind and she stood back up. "Do you think you could blast it open?" Dalton asked hopeful.
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Post by Sam Alexander on Apr 29, 2014 21:22:14 GMT -5
Sam shook his head when she mentioned that name it did not ring a bell. “If you want to get more of an idea on where I live try Arizona on the west coast of the United States. We had hot days that canceled school a lot but this is too much for me.” Sam said saying he’d probably rather go to Hawaii at the rate that he was going with the heat. He just wanted it cold as soon as possible at the rate that he was going. Also he was missing his chance to fly; it was one of his favorite powers being Nova next to the concussive blasts that he was able to form from his hands. All the power that he had he now could understand why his father had been needed so much and Sam had to do the same with his own path that he had taken as a hero. He looked back seeing that the older agent had put a hand on his shoulder; she comforted him a bit when she mentioned those words. But still getting that close to death was not fun and Sam didn’t want to have to explain how his partner suddenly died in battle after being shot. Well he at least didn’t have to worry about that anymore to when it came to hurting her with bullets. His breathing seemed to become less rough since the initial fear that had been there for his partner. Now it was mostly caused by the stress of the heat levels starting to rise now. He didn’t understand how the guards managed to put up with this heat either. “Ok that made me feel a bit better I’ll admit. Just try to give me a warning or something next time. I know it’s kind of weird, but it means not giving me a heart attack later.” Sam said as his eyes fell back down to where Dalton had a hand on his shoulder and removed it a short time later. A single question came to the hero’s mind as he thought things through when there was a bit of silence between the two. When the heck where they going to get out of here?
As they made their decision to move on Sam did notice the sudden change in the walk of their own footsteps. He didn’t say anything as Dalton spoke up first about noticing it as he nodded agreeing with her. Sam noticed the excitement in her voice as it was clear that she was up to something, he fully hadn’t gotten over the earlier moment as his heart pounded in his chest from the near panic attack he had earlier. Although his breathing was back to normal he doubted that his heart rate would go down so easily. He did nod back to Dalton when she mentionto listen. “I heard it. There was a change in our footsteps. That means that there is a change with the flooring underneath us. Or something else is down there.” Sam said as he looked down at the floor as if trying to carefully inspect it. But out of the obvious it looked like there was nothing out of the ordinary here. So what were they missing from it?
As Elizabeth spoke up she asked if he could use a concussive blast on the rocks to see if that’d do anything. Well what was bound to happen if it didn’t work? They just were proven wrong that there was nothing down there. But he honestly hoped this would be worth something, “Yes I can do that. Here it goes.” He said as he took his hand back like he was ready to swing it but as he paused his hand glowed a deep blue once more as his nova force began to come forward as he sent his fist down in the floor with a large amount of strength. He heard something crack underneath the strength that he put in it as he realized the floor had a large crack below them. It was clear that it was starting to work. “Here comes another one.” Sam said in a bit of a warning for Dalton in case something else happened as he slammed his fist down on to the ground as he felt the release of the strength one more into the concussive blast.
That’s when he heard a noise that he wasn’t so sure to welcome or hate. There was a loud CRACK that went with it as the floor gave way to expose what had been hidden down below for the agents to see.
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Post by Elizabeth Dalton on Apr 30, 2014 0:48:47 GMT -5
Dalton couldn't help to chuckle at her partner's comment. She wasn't from Africa either, but had been deployed there once to deal with some issues with the child-soldiers and the illegal diamond business. "You don't get out of the states too often, do you?" She asked slightly amused. She found it cute that he was so clueless about geography. She didn't like those subjects at school, but was forced to learn them later, in a much more serious and deadly environment... almost always first hand and head on whatever trouble her team was sent to solve. "I was born in California, but Arizona sounds a lot tougher." Dalton observed. Her life had been hectic even as a kid, spending her younger years in USA and her vacations in England and then living the other way around after her mother died. It could be said that she belonged to both countries, but her heart was American. There had been too much pain for her in England to feel a connection to that place.
The soldier smiled reassuringly as she drew back her hand and nodded. "I'll try." She promised. Not that letting someone know you're OK with the air knocked out of your lungs by a gunshot was an easy task, but she liked challenges. "Am I too naïve for hoping I don't get shot again?" Dalton tried to make it sound like it wasn't a big deal so her partner would relax a bit.
She didn't wonder about the goons running out of air. By that time, she was pretty certain that whoever had hired them, thought they were highly disposable. Why else would anyone hire poorly trained troops? If you invest a lot of money on training people, you try to take care of your investments, at least that's how she reasoned it. Another thing Dalton wasn't concerned about was getting out of there. Her mind was still set on getting to the bottom of the matter... quite literally and she was the kind of person who didn't think things through. She'd think about that when the moment came. That's probably why her squad had someone else in charge of calling the shots. Dalton was just the executing hand.
Dalton smiled like a kid in a candystore when Nova said he could blast that open and she took a few steps back just in case any debris flew out of control, then held her breath in anticipation. When the floor started to crack, Dalton took another step backwards. She couldn't float or levitate or whatever it was her partner did, so precautions were in order.
A gust of fresh air blew at them from the newly created hole in the ground. It appeared they had somehow found the ventilation system and Dalton welcomed the clean air taking deep breaths. She allowed herself a few seconds to enjoy that before going back to work and it was a very well spent few seconds. Her head was a lot clearer now that she had more oxygen in her system. "Do you think we could travel through this maze faster if we used the ventilation ducts?" Dalton asked already on her knees, trying to see below. It was a mess of well isolated electric cords but there was plenty of room for them to crawl in. "I doubt they have security there, but if they shut down the entire ventilation system, we're done." She though out loud.
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Post by Sam Alexander on Apr 30, 2014 20:13:21 GMT -5
“No not too often. Fury often deploys me for missions in the United States. I guess I saw this one trip to England as a rare opportunity for me.” Sam said seeing that Dalton had been a bit luckier than he had been with his travels. He did have a good chunk of experience from his time in the United States, in getting familiar with the villains that were there. But out of the Americas Sam would have had a lot more trouble in that area. Though he did recall that they did have some Spanish background in their ways since his mom taught him how to speak the language, no matter how much he didn’t want to hear it, but being bilingual wasn’t that bad as far as he was concerned. There were some people could speak five languages and even that was impressive.
When she assured him he tried to gather his wits together but it wasn’t easy. Seeing something like that was hard always on a team mate whether or not they were close to the next person beside them. “Possibly….” Sam said not entirely sure on how to answer the second question. But he did recognize the amusement in her voice as she was trying to make him feel a bit better. Sam normally worked alone on most missions but he seemed alright around Dalton. She wasn’t bad at all, and the last thing that he wanted was to explain to SHIELD how he lost her while his back had been turned. He wasn’t about to ruin his time with SHIELD so soon and had to hope that sudden incident won’t happen any time soon. “I’ll get over it though don’t worry about me. It was just too close for comfort.” Sam assured Dalton. As the fresh blast of air came it was already starting to calm the agent down as he wanted the heat out of here as fast as he could. He hated to admit it but it was simply too much for him as they had to turn it off sooner or later before they couldn’t take much more of it.
As Dalton mentioned the idea of trying to use the ventilation ducts it sounded wonderful but of course it came with risks. Sam would have been able to fly through there with ease without having to worry so much about the heat since the air was flowing so well down there. But there was the other problem if they suddenly figured out that the team was moving through there they had to get out fast before they lost their breath for sure. “It has its pros and cons for going through the ducts. If we wanted to go through them we need to be fast. I’m a fast flyer so I could go that way in. Plus if we do go in to the ducts we probably won’t find any guards to deal with and waste our time with.” Sam said. After thinking about it for a bit longer he finally gave in. “We can go in.” he said finally agreeing with her.
“Well as the saying goes ladies first. Unless, you want me to go in first? That’d kind of ruin it.” Sam said as he felt is nova force coming in again as his body glowed a deep blue once more from his powers as he lifted his body a bit off the ground as he hovered in place. The heat was going to bother him yes, but it was going to be worth it once they went down into the ducts. The fresh air was by far the best thing that had happened so far on this little trip of theirs. He looked back at Dalton curious if she wanted to go in first, he didn’t mind at all going in next. The worst thing that could happen was…well he didn’t want to think about that happening so soon. They only just started this mission and he wanted to come back alive and in one piece.
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