-Advance Wars 2
--Death Array
---Chapter 1: Opening Infiltration
I had thought... I had though Black Hole was over with. We had beaten Sturm, totaled his forces, scattered what was left of his followers. There was no way they could have possibly present any further of a threat to us. Especially when I thought Eagle was breathing down their necks after what they did to Green Earth. But I couldn't have been more wrong.
After the second Black Hole War, people had begun to forget my real name, James Heckler, and began to call me by an insignia codename. "Crazy Wolf". Mainly because I ran off so reckless going after Lash and Flak. I was out to kill them, or on a hunt as many soldiers have joked with me. However, my COs told me I should consider it an honor since a title usually reserved for COs was so unanimously given to me.
Now I'm some... legend or some crap like that. I have to admit though, I don't really look the part. The effects of Lash's mutations weren't completely reversed. My blond hair was slowly getting darker over the years, and my green eyes were looking reddish nowadays. At least my skin hadn't turned blue or anything like that. But most of all, it hurt to smile anymore since my skin was put through so much trauma.
And here I was again, sitting in the briefing room of a cruiser on it's way to an island just off the coast of Orange Star. It turns out... Black Hole had built two Death Rays before Sturm kicked the bucket... and the second one is mobile. Or so Hawke says, there's still a lot we don't know about it.
Nell was there in the briefing room, sitting cross from me with an expectant face, after asking me the question of a solo mission.
"Why me?" I asked. "Why are you picking me? I'm a vehicle specialist... Not a... renaissance man."
"You know them better than anyone else in our forces. Heckler, you WERE one of them. Besides, you're the only operative of ours to go on a solo mission, even if it wasn't an assigned one."
"For a week... maybe a month... it wasn't long enough to turn me into some super soldier." I argued. "What you're asking is a voluntary motion to throw myself back into the hellhole that is Black Hole."
"Why is that any different than your little vendetta against Lash and Flak?" Nell reminded me.
"Cause I thought... I thought I had nothing to lose..."
"That's not true."
I looked up to Nell almost enraged. How could she have known? She didn't know what it was like to be turned into an alien... just so some twisted little girl could have some fun in-between wiping out millions of people.
"You had your humanity didn't you? What would have you admitted if you didn't go after them?"
"Alright," I gave in. "What's the situation?"
-------------------------
Nell had handed me over to Sami once I had given her the answer "yes". The situation was like this see. Black Hole had taken over an island that was once thought as simply just driftwood. Crappy security, little forces on base, and a lot of ground to cover since the base weaved it's way throughout the entire island. North Sunders they called it. But when Black Hole moved in and took over, we found out it was a secret weapons facility, not just something we inherited from the second war.
Now they had it all to themselves. And with a blizzard surrounding the island and a 24 hour deadline, the only way to get in was with one man. Lucky me.
I had two mission objectives: one, rescue the two hostages Black Hole got when they took over. They had Andy who was on the base for a training exercise in countering invasions. Jess's forces was the opposing side, and she was captured too. My second objective, was to find their Death Ray and either take it out or mark it for a bombing run.
Method of insertion? Parachuting, which was never my strong point. Now I had to do it in a blizzard, limited line of sight and all. I was given some binoculars, and able to take my handgun of choice, a USP. They said if I was given anything else, I wouldn't make it down being so heavy. Anything else was to be OSP (on-site procurement). Which means I'd be raiding the armory once I got there.
The jump down wasn't exactly fun. I'd rather not describe it, cause then I would look like some floundering rookie. Only Olaf's boys could take a jump in a blizzard like it was first nature. But the landing was much better than the jump, and I hit my insertion spot dead on. It was a little dock directly below the facility. Oh yeah, that was another thing. The whole base was propped up on a cliff, it was a wonder how they built the damn thing in the first place.
When I touched down on the roof of the submarine bay, I cut my chute to let it fly harmlessly out to sea. That way no one could find it. So far, so good. I pressed my ear, to activate my earpiece and radio to the cruiser where Sami was commanding the operation.
"This is Heckler, I've made it onto the submarine base. What's the situation back there?"
"Not much better afraid." Sami answered. "Hawke still insists if we don't give him 100 million credits in the next 18 hours, he'll fry a major city with his Death Ray."
"Great... Looks like I'm on huh?"
"Exactly... But one more thing. I'd rather not call you Heckler, you're on a mission you know."
"Oh no." I muttered. "You're not gonna call me by that stupid codename are you?"
"Come on, Wolf will be fine. I'll leave the other part out."
"But you might as well. I'm 'crazy' to be out here in the middle of the hornet's nest."
"Heh," She laughed. "You sound like Grit."
"Grit huh? Anyway, I'll contact you when I reach the front of the base."
I ended the call and drew my pistol. It was time to get dirty. I began to crawl to the edge of the roof to look out toward the cliff. I had heard there was some kind of elevator I was going to take to get up top. You couldn't imagine my surprise when I saw humans walking the grounds, but it made sense. When I was one of Sturm's aliens... my skin was almost dissolving when I exposed it to cold.
I guess Hawke needed some troops who wouldn't be bothered by the extreme weather out here. The alien troops are probably stationed inside.
I leapt down from the half sunken hangar and ducked behind a trio of oil drums. Now I know why they gave me those binoculars. When I took them out, I got a better look at the soldiers patrolling the dock. Their uniforms were black, but they were carrying AKs... Blue Moon's assault rifle of choice. They had to be from Olaf's ranks, mercenaries or something.
Anyway, I didn't feel like saying hi, and moved on up to the cliff side. Yeah, there was a cargo elevator after all... except I had to wait for it. The elevator was currently up, forcing me to take cover behind some boxes in the freezing storm. It was then two of the guys outside decided to have a talk mere feet away from my hiding spot.
"Hey, did you hear? Winchester wants you to report to the cell block. Says he's got some work for you."
"Hell no." The other exclaimed defiantly. "That would mean walking by those freaky aliens."
"Well, if you don't report to the motor pool, Winchester will hand your ass off to Cyanide."
"What!? Well... uh... err... I gotta go to the bathroom first."
"Sure. Whatever. Just don't be late."
The elevator began to return to the bottom as I thought about the two names I hadn't recognized. From the sound of things, Cyanide and Winchester were some new faces in the Black Hole ranks. I went into the elevator and punched the button to go up while thinking about it. Maybe Sami could find something out...
"Sami? This is Heck... I mean Wolf. Have you heard about anyone named Cyanide or Winchester in Black Hole?"
I swore I heard an angry sigh on her end.
"No... But I know who to ask. I'll get back to you when I get any details."
Well... I don't know what that was all about, but I was sure I would find out later. I readied my handgun as the elevator began to reach the top of the cliff. The front of the base was pretty small... but then again, I bet most of the base is underground. I hurried to move out of plain sight and looked about the area. There was some more of the human soldiers I had seen down at the docks, armed with the same weapons too.
From those two talkative soldiers earlier... it sounded like getting to the motor pool was a good idea. They didn't specifically say they had anyone locked up in the cell blocks... but really, where else are you gonna keep someone you've captured?
I used the parked trucks as cover to crawl my way to the front entrance. With any luck, there had to be some vent covers somewhere. Then bingo, I found one, right next to the huge hangar door-like entrance. But I had to move quickly, and I used bits of my heavy clothing to muffle the shots I took to the clasps holding the vent cover on. If this mission wasn't so time sensitive, I probably could have brought along a silencer.
I'll spare you the nasty details of the ventilation shafts, let's just say they haven't cleaned them in years. But when I reached the end of the vent, I got a call from someone.
"Hello?" I whispered.
"You are the Orange Star operative Wolf right?" A voice asked.
"Actually, the name is... uh... yeah. Wolf. Who are you?"
"This is Sonja of Yellow Comet. I was told you had some questions I could answer."
That's why Sami was so worked up, because she had to turn to Sonja. They had some bad blood, or at least that's what I got out of their meetings. I knew I should have recognized the voice sooner.
"Yeah, you know anyone named Cyanide or Winchester in Black Hole?"
"Of course." She nearly laughed, as if that was the simplest question in the world. "We have intelligence second to none in our country. They are new recruits to Hawke's ranks. Winchester is an expert in all types of environmental combat. He can shrug off snow and rain as if it was child's play, even extreme heat barely phases him."
"That's just great, more specialists for the psychos. Who's Cyanide?"
"Cyanide? She is like a student of Lash. The only other notable quality is that she seems to have a bit of bad luck surrounding her. I've heard stories of guns jamming, soldiers slipping up, and all kinds of freak accidents occurring whenever she is around."
"Oh yeah." I remembered another question of mine. "Where can I find the motor pool?"
"In order to find the cell block? It should be the first building you come across after taking the cargo elevator from the docks."
"Oh... So I'm already in it then..."
It was then I picked up on what she said.
"Hey. How'd you know about the cell block?"
Sonja gave me a sweet laugh as if she was trying to explain calculus to a third grade math student. Like they shouldn't even bother.
"I have my ways. Just contact me if you need to know anything about the base or Cyanide and Winchester."
After I finished up the call, I was just about to punch the vent out when a large black boot came down right in front of the cover. It had to belong to those alien grunts, it just had to. Not to mention I could smell them, it seemed like they hadn't washed them in months. I guess since Sturm died, no one knows who to duplicate the technology, so they have to keep wearing the same suit over and over again.
It's just nasty when you think about it.
I had to wait for the alien guard to walk away before I could go to work on the vent. Somehow I got it undone and quickly crawled out into the motor pool. I was on the other side of the hangar door and it was a big two level parking garage. There was an OS Medium Tank and a GE Recon vehicle parked on my floor. They must have been rounded up from the exercise.
There wasn't too much of the second level that I could get a good view since I was trying to take cover. I only knew that there was some sort of walkway that looked down on the lower level. It figured I would get a call in such an awkward moment. I kept looking for a place to hide as I answered the call.
"Wolf, I forgot to tell you. You might want to try the elevator since the cell blocks are on the lower levels." Sonja began. "Just thought you should know."
"Thanks, anything else you think I should know?"
"Of course, you might have a good opportunity to move around more easily soon. Green Earth is attempting to rescue Jess."
"What? That's crazy. In this storm? Do they even know what kind of position the base is in?"
"That's Eagle for you." Sonja ended the call with.
Almost immediately I could hear alarms going off as the area was showered in red light. My heart nearly stopped, I had thought it was some full alert that there was someone in the base. But the sound of some human over an intercom began to quell my fears.
"Alert! Alert! Radar has sighted enemy copters. All available units report to the heliport immediately! I repeat, all available units to the heliport!"
I slid under the recon truck as fast as I could. It sounded like some stampeded as alien troops began to rush down from the second level and scrambling all over the place. There was a heavy mechanical whine as I strained to watch a second hangar door open up and let the soldiers move out the motor pool. It closed shortly afterward, must be some heavy blast door. I bet even if I had the keys to the Medium Tank, I couldn't get it open with a main turret shot.
The droning alarm stopped, but the red light kept flashing as I got out from under the jeep. It seemed like Sonja was right, it sounded like I had the motor pool all to myself now. Then, another call.
"Wolf? Do you read?" It was Sami. "We've recently received reports that Green Earth is sending some of their troops in for a rescue attempt."
"Old news to me." I responded truthfully.
She knew instantly why too.
"Sonja huh? Well, don't forget. I'm your CO for this mission. Sonja is simply a..." She paused for an awkward moment. "consultant for Orange Star."
"Don't worry ma'am. I know who I get my paycheck from at the end of the day."
She might have smiled if I could have seen her, I wasn't sure. All I knew is that I had a big window of opportunity due to some reckless actions. It would be great if Green Earth could pull it off... but I doubted it from the way the briefing made it sound. The sight of the elevator snapped me out of my daze as I ran over and punched the button.
"I'm going to check the cell blocks ma'am... Maybe they've got Andy or Jess locked up there."
"Proceed, and stay sharp. I'm sure they still have plenty of patrols moving around, and remember, it only takes one."
"Right."
I couldn't help but remember as I got onto the lift, that the guards said Winchester wanted one of them for something. Hopefully... I wouldn't run into any Black Hole VIPs so soon. Just hopefully...
-To be Continued...
--Next Chapter: The Deep Freeze
------------------------------------------
"Hey, hey, hey. You're the Crazy Wolf aren't you?" Winchester sneered.
"What? How do you know..."
He raised his grenade launcher and laughed this high pitched squeal. I swear the look of madness was written all over his face. The green hair, the short stature, he was a nutcase- easy.
"You've made quite a name for yourself 'Wolf'. Lash never did forget about you."
"Where's Jess? I know she's down here!" I yelled at him.
"Oh... her..." He seemed to struggle to remember, then I could tell something clicked as the maniacal grin returned to his face. "I put her on ice."
------------------------------------------
--Death Array
---Chapter 1: Opening Infiltration
I had thought... I had though Black Hole was over with. We had beaten Sturm, totaled his forces, scattered what was left of his followers. There was no way they could have possibly present any further of a threat to us. Especially when I thought Eagle was breathing down their necks after what they did to Green Earth. But I couldn't have been more wrong.
After the second Black Hole War, people had begun to forget my real name, James Heckler, and began to call me by an insignia codename. "Crazy Wolf". Mainly because I ran off so reckless going after Lash and Flak. I was out to kill them, or on a hunt as many soldiers have joked with me. However, my COs told me I should consider it an honor since a title usually reserved for COs was so unanimously given to me.
Now I'm some... legend or some crap like that. I have to admit though, I don't really look the part. The effects of Lash's mutations weren't completely reversed. My blond hair was slowly getting darker over the years, and my green eyes were looking reddish nowadays. At least my skin hadn't turned blue or anything like that. But most of all, it hurt to smile anymore since my skin was put through so much trauma.
And here I was again, sitting in the briefing room of a cruiser on it's way to an island just off the coast of Orange Star. It turns out... Black Hole had built two Death Rays before Sturm kicked the bucket... and the second one is mobile. Or so Hawke says, there's still a lot we don't know about it.
Nell was there in the briefing room, sitting cross from me with an expectant face, after asking me the question of a solo mission.
"Why me?" I asked. "Why are you picking me? I'm a vehicle specialist... Not a... renaissance man."
"You know them better than anyone else in our forces. Heckler, you WERE one of them. Besides, you're the only operative of ours to go on a solo mission, even if it wasn't an assigned one."
"For a week... maybe a month... it wasn't long enough to turn me into some super soldier." I argued. "What you're asking is a voluntary motion to throw myself back into the hellhole that is Black Hole."
"Why is that any different than your little vendetta against Lash and Flak?" Nell reminded me.
"Cause I thought... I thought I had nothing to lose..."
"That's not true."
I looked up to Nell almost enraged. How could she have known? She didn't know what it was like to be turned into an alien... just so some twisted little girl could have some fun in-between wiping out millions of people.
"You had your humanity didn't you? What would have you admitted if you didn't go after them?"
"Alright," I gave in. "What's the situation?"
-------------------------
Nell had handed me over to Sami once I had given her the answer "yes". The situation was like this see. Black Hole had taken over an island that was once thought as simply just driftwood. Crappy security, little forces on base, and a lot of ground to cover since the base weaved it's way throughout the entire island. North Sunders they called it. But when Black Hole moved in and took over, we found out it was a secret weapons facility, not just something we inherited from the second war.
Now they had it all to themselves. And with a blizzard surrounding the island and a 24 hour deadline, the only way to get in was with one man. Lucky me.
I had two mission objectives: one, rescue the two hostages Black Hole got when they took over. They had Andy who was on the base for a training exercise in countering invasions. Jess's forces was the opposing side, and she was captured too. My second objective, was to find their Death Ray and either take it out or mark it for a bombing run.
Method of insertion? Parachuting, which was never my strong point. Now I had to do it in a blizzard, limited line of sight and all. I was given some binoculars, and able to take my handgun of choice, a USP. They said if I was given anything else, I wouldn't make it down being so heavy. Anything else was to be OSP (on-site procurement). Which means I'd be raiding the armory once I got there.
The jump down wasn't exactly fun. I'd rather not describe it, cause then I would look like some floundering rookie. Only Olaf's boys could take a jump in a blizzard like it was first nature. But the landing was much better than the jump, and I hit my insertion spot dead on. It was a little dock directly below the facility. Oh yeah, that was another thing. The whole base was propped up on a cliff, it was a wonder how they built the damn thing in the first place.
When I touched down on the roof of the submarine bay, I cut my chute to let it fly harmlessly out to sea. That way no one could find it. So far, so good. I pressed my ear, to activate my earpiece and radio to the cruiser where Sami was commanding the operation.
"This is Heckler, I've made it onto the submarine base. What's the situation back there?"
"Not much better afraid." Sami answered. "Hawke still insists if we don't give him 100 million credits in the next 18 hours, he'll fry a major city with his Death Ray."
"Great... Looks like I'm on huh?"
"Exactly... But one more thing. I'd rather not call you Heckler, you're on a mission you know."
"Oh no." I muttered. "You're not gonna call me by that stupid codename are you?"
"Come on, Wolf will be fine. I'll leave the other part out."
"But you might as well. I'm 'crazy' to be out here in the middle of the hornet's nest."
"Heh," She laughed. "You sound like Grit."
"Grit huh? Anyway, I'll contact you when I reach the front of the base."
I ended the call and drew my pistol. It was time to get dirty. I began to crawl to the edge of the roof to look out toward the cliff. I had heard there was some kind of elevator I was going to take to get up top. You couldn't imagine my surprise when I saw humans walking the grounds, but it made sense. When I was one of Sturm's aliens... my skin was almost dissolving when I exposed it to cold.
I guess Hawke needed some troops who wouldn't be bothered by the extreme weather out here. The alien troops are probably stationed inside.
I leapt down from the half sunken hangar and ducked behind a trio of oil drums. Now I know why they gave me those binoculars. When I took them out, I got a better look at the soldiers patrolling the dock. Their uniforms were black, but they were carrying AKs... Blue Moon's assault rifle of choice. They had to be from Olaf's ranks, mercenaries or something.
Anyway, I didn't feel like saying hi, and moved on up to the cliff side. Yeah, there was a cargo elevator after all... except I had to wait for it. The elevator was currently up, forcing me to take cover behind some boxes in the freezing storm. It was then two of the guys outside decided to have a talk mere feet away from my hiding spot.
"Hey, did you hear? Winchester wants you to report to the cell block. Says he's got some work for you."
"Hell no." The other exclaimed defiantly. "That would mean walking by those freaky aliens."
"Well, if you don't report to the motor pool, Winchester will hand your ass off to Cyanide."
"What!? Well... uh... err... I gotta go to the bathroom first."
"Sure. Whatever. Just don't be late."
The elevator began to return to the bottom as I thought about the two names I hadn't recognized. From the sound of things, Cyanide and Winchester were some new faces in the Black Hole ranks. I went into the elevator and punched the button to go up while thinking about it. Maybe Sami could find something out...
"Sami? This is Heck... I mean Wolf. Have you heard about anyone named Cyanide or Winchester in Black Hole?"
I swore I heard an angry sigh on her end.
"No... But I know who to ask. I'll get back to you when I get any details."
Well... I don't know what that was all about, but I was sure I would find out later. I readied my handgun as the elevator began to reach the top of the cliff. The front of the base was pretty small... but then again, I bet most of the base is underground. I hurried to move out of plain sight and looked about the area. There was some more of the human soldiers I had seen down at the docks, armed with the same weapons too.
From those two talkative soldiers earlier... it sounded like getting to the motor pool was a good idea. They didn't specifically say they had anyone locked up in the cell blocks... but really, where else are you gonna keep someone you've captured?
I used the parked trucks as cover to crawl my way to the front entrance. With any luck, there had to be some vent covers somewhere. Then bingo, I found one, right next to the huge hangar door-like entrance. But I had to move quickly, and I used bits of my heavy clothing to muffle the shots I took to the clasps holding the vent cover on. If this mission wasn't so time sensitive, I probably could have brought along a silencer.
I'll spare you the nasty details of the ventilation shafts, let's just say they haven't cleaned them in years. But when I reached the end of the vent, I got a call from someone.
"Hello?" I whispered.
"You are the Orange Star operative Wolf right?" A voice asked.
"Actually, the name is... uh... yeah. Wolf. Who are you?"
"This is Sonja of Yellow Comet. I was told you had some questions I could answer."
That's why Sami was so worked up, because she had to turn to Sonja. They had some bad blood, or at least that's what I got out of their meetings. I knew I should have recognized the voice sooner.
"Yeah, you know anyone named Cyanide or Winchester in Black Hole?"
"Of course." She nearly laughed, as if that was the simplest question in the world. "We have intelligence second to none in our country. They are new recruits to Hawke's ranks. Winchester is an expert in all types of environmental combat. He can shrug off snow and rain as if it was child's play, even extreme heat barely phases him."
"That's just great, more specialists for the psychos. Who's Cyanide?"
"Cyanide? She is like a student of Lash. The only other notable quality is that she seems to have a bit of bad luck surrounding her. I've heard stories of guns jamming, soldiers slipping up, and all kinds of freak accidents occurring whenever she is around."
"Oh yeah." I remembered another question of mine. "Where can I find the motor pool?"
"In order to find the cell block? It should be the first building you come across after taking the cargo elevator from the docks."
"Oh... So I'm already in it then..."
It was then I picked up on what she said.
"Hey. How'd you know about the cell block?"
Sonja gave me a sweet laugh as if she was trying to explain calculus to a third grade math student. Like they shouldn't even bother.
"I have my ways. Just contact me if you need to know anything about the base or Cyanide and Winchester."
After I finished up the call, I was just about to punch the vent out when a large black boot came down right in front of the cover. It had to belong to those alien grunts, it just had to. Not to mention I could smell them, it seemed like they hadn't washed them in months. I guess since Sturm died, no one knows who to duplicate the technology, so they have to keep wearing the same suit over and over again.
It's just nasty when you think about it.
I had to wait for the alien guard to walk away before I could go to work on the vent. Somehow I got it undone and quickly crawled out into the motor pool. I was on the other side of the hangar door and it was a big two level parking garage. There was an OS Medium Tank and a GE Recon vehicle parked on my floor. They must have been rounded up from the exercise.
There wasn't too much of the second level that I could get a good view since I was trying to take cover. I only knew that there was some sort of walkway that looked down on the lower level. It figured I would get a call in such an awkward moment. I kept looking for a place to hide as I answered the call.
"Wolf, I forgot to tell you. You might want to try the elevator since the cell blocks are on the lower levels." Sonja began. "Just thought you should know."
"Thanks, anything else you think I should know?"
"Of course, you might have a good opportunity to move around more easily soon. Green Earth is attempting to rescue Jess."
"What? That's crazy. In this storm? Do they even know what kind of position the base is in?"
"That's Eagle for you." Sonja ended the call with.
Almost immediately I could hear alarms going off as the area was showered in red light. My heart nearly stopped, I had thought it was some full alert that there was someone in the base. But the sound of some human over an intercom began to quell my fears.
"Alert! Alert! Radar has sighted enemy copters. All available units report to the heliport immediately! I repeat, all available units to the heliport!"
I slid under the recon truck as fast as I could. It sounded like some stampeded as alien troops began to rush down from the second level and scrambling all over the place. There was a heavy mechanical whine as I strained to watch a second hangar door open up and let the soldiers move out the motor pool. It closed shortly afterward, must be some heavy blast door. I bet even if I had the keys to the Medium Tank, I couldn't get it open with a main turret shot.
The droning alarm stopped, but the red light kept flashing as I got out from under the jeep. It seemed like Sonja was right, it sounded like I had the motor pool all to myself now. Then, another call.
"Wolf? Do you read?" It was Sami. "We've recently received reports that Green Earth is sending some of their troops in for a rescue attempt."
"Old news to me." I responded truthfully.
She knew instantly why too.
"Sonja huh? Well, don't forget. I'm your CO for this mission. Sonja is simply a..." She paused for an awkward moment. "consultant for Orange Star."
"Don't worry ma'am. I know who I get my paycheck from at the end of the day."
She might have smiled if I could have seen her, I wasn't sure. All I knew is that I had a big window of opportunity due to some reckless actions. It would be great if Green Earth could pull it off... but I doubted it from the way the briefing made it sound. The sight of the elevator snapped me out of my daze as I ran over and punched the button.
"I'm going to check the cell blocks ma'am... Maybe they've got Andy or Jess locked up there."
"Proceed, and stay sharp. I'm sure they still have plenty of patrols moving around, and remember, it only takes one."
"Right."
I couldn't help but remember as I got onto the lift, that the guards said Winchester wanted one of them for something. Hopefully... I wouldn't run into any Black Hole VIPs so soon. Just hopefully...
-To be Continued...
--Next Chapter: The Deep Freeze
------------------------------------------
"Hey, hey, hey. You're the Crazy Wolf aren't you?" Winchester sneered.
"What? How do you know..."
He raised his grenade launcher and laughed this high pitched squeal. I swear the look of madness was written all over his face. The green hair, the short stature, he was a nutcase- easy.
"You've made quite a name for yourself 'Wolf'. Lash never did forget about you."
"Where's Jess? I know she's down here!" I yelled at him.
"Oh... her..." He seemed to struggle to remember, then I could tell something clicked as the maniacal grin returned to his face. "I put her on ice."
------------------------------------------