I awaken to the sound of sirens and tremors, one could hear the sounds of explosions throughout Site 397 without even trying... the sounds of a battlefield that I am about to step into and experience firsthand.
Quickly getting dressed and armed into my MTF uniform, two pistols on each side of my waist with ammo strapped around me, I clench the Foundation-commissioned assault rifle in my hand tightly and proceed to my chamber's door, listening closely to the sounds beyond my room.
'Clear... for now', I press the button beside the door and it slides open with a sound much too quiet in this disastrous noisy atmosphere; I check my surroundings before stepping out and, with my back to the wall, walking towards Sector 7 where the noise was currently booming the most.
The scent of gunpowder wafting through the air was the least of my attention, the debris from explosions... The corpses of fellow MTF members and guards littered the ground; my attention shifted to the other multiple bodies on the ground who had no insignias, 'These people look familiar and yet they are not of the Foundation it seems...'
Stepping over the corpses and passing a couple doorways that were blasted open, I was about to round the corner bend leading from Sector 6 to Sector 7 when bullets whizz pass my face, merely inches away.
Looking to my right towards the yelp of pain that sounded as the bullets flew by, I realize that the shooter should be an ally, considering it was an invader who was felled.
Not yet rounding the corner, I first say, "Do not shoot, you are an ally of mine! Let me show you my face first." I drop my gun into the middle of the hallway and raise my hands above my head, walking into view of the previous shooter.
"IDIOT!" a male voice yells, "Who drops their weapon in this situation! Get down!"
I quickly drop onto my stomach, grabbing my gun and aiming at the man as he also aims at me, and then we both fire simultaneously.
The bullets are fired.. and they don't land on either of us, instead they both land directly into the foreheads of our actual targets, we were both flanked at that moment; we saved each other.
Getting back up from the ground, still clenching my AR, I make my way towards the man... A man with wild white hair and thick glasses, his hair making him look like a fossil, but his face looked younger than my own.
The man wiped some sweat from his eyes with his labcoat sleeve, while urging me towards a room on the side of the hallway: a laboratory. We both enter quietly and he locks the door behind him.
Taking in the room, well- it was a mess, very much so... papers and study materials laid across the floor and you could see the hastily created fortifications: tables flipped over and used as defense with bullet-holes riddling its entirety, 'Large-scale shooting here...'
"Damn traitors, those were once our own people that we just gunned down, they call themselves The Chaos Insurgency, they're trying to strip the site of anomalies and into society, we're in deep this time." He continues aggravatedly, "They burst into here and tried to recruit me.. when I refused, well-"
He gestures around the room, I nod in confirmation, "I've got the gist of it. You should find yourself to a safe location, I will move onwards."
Turning towards the door, I was going to open it when a very familiar voice came through my shoulder radio: Elias... My sworn brother-in-arms.
"I'm afraid it's not safe anywhere in Site 397 currently, you two need to stick together and protect one another: only trust each other, some of the Insurgency are disguised as Foundation personnel. Make your way to Sector 8 and reach SCP-249's containment room..."
My fingers gripping more tightly on my AR; Elias, the one man I would trust with my life even during this hell-hole of a scenario, the only one who could come up with schematics, the contingency, and the escape route even during these disastrous times.
"Elias, where the hell are you?!" I bark into my shoulder mic, ignoring the wild-haired man beside me, "We need extraction! What's the status of command staff?"
"Command is... compromised." Elias spoke with exertion, "Listen closely, we only have time for one more conversation. It's an internal breach, the traitors know the codes and we don't have time for extraction. You have to save the site yourselves!"
I look at the scientist who was already running a frantic diagnostic on his Foundation-issued tablet.
"He's right, the structural integrity is failing. The air filtration has already switched to emergency reserves. We need to go and stabilize the core containment structures before the entire Site caves in on us." the scientist confirms Elias' words are true in mere moments.
Speaking back into my radio, "Sector 8 though, that's too close to the Euclid's, why there Elias?"
"It's the only way to reach the secondary maintenance grid, the scientist with you-" his voice taking on a tone of sharp command, "-Dr. Aris Thorne, he is the only one with the clearance and understanding to reroute power to the main containment fail-safes. The Insurgents are attacking the core power conduits now. Make your way to the containment unit, I'll guide you from there."
"Affirmative." I reply, getting mentally prepared to get back into the action, "If Elias says so, then Sector 8 it is."
"Hmm.. just... one second.." the scientist, Aris, grabs the thick tablet he was using, slipping it into a pocket of his coat, he grabs the pistol he had laid down momentarily and hurries to the door, peering through the small reinforced window. "Okay, it's clear, lets go."
Exiting the room, we move quickly, a tactical two-man unit forged after a mere five minutes of meeting. I took point, clearing blind corners and debris; Aris followed close, his mind already shuttling through calculations of the structural weaknesses and trajectories. We heard many more explosions- much closer this time, sounding to be near the central axis of the site.
Reaching the perimeter of Sector 8, the situation was horrific. Fires raging from a busted utility pipe, the air filling with the sickly sweet scent of chemical agent I didn't recognize.
Jumping over a pile of collapsed scaffolding, Aris points toward a heavy containment door bearing the triple hazard symbol, "Containment Unit 4... That's the Euclid they brought in last month- the conceptual contagion.. it's supposed to be locked, but this.."
Before he could finish, Elias' voices through the emergency public address system- not just the intercom, but the whole Site's speakers. His voice was frantic and laced with panic, but clear enough to hear through the din.
"WARNING! WARNING! THE CONCEPTUAL CONTAGION HAS BREACHED CONTAINMENT, ALL PERSONELL ARE TO EVACUATE SECTOR 8! I REPEAT, CONCEPTUAL CONTAGION HAS GONE UNSTABLE! ALL PERSONELL EVACUATE IMMEDIATELY!"
"Contagion?" I could feel an ice-cold dread clamp my heart, I turn to the scientist, "Aris, what does that mean?"
"It means if we open that door then we will be exposed," he gasps, looking not at the door but at the structural supports shuddering above us, "That thing absorbs all organic matter. It's supposed to be dormant, but if it's replicating..."
Elias through the intercom speaks, "I'm locking the main door from the server farm now!" His voice was spiked with desperation through the comms, then his voice drops, cutting from the public address, speaking only to our private frequency, "Archie, Aris.. Listen to me! They're through! The Insurgents are trying to force their way through the containment doors.. I can't hold the lock from here! I need a localized detonation to seal the breach!"
I see it then- a small, green light blinking rapidly in the containment unit door, signaling a manual override attempt- the traitors were already there.
"No time." I mutter, ripping off a breaching charge from the side of my vest, "We set the charge and seal it ourselves."
"It's too late.." Elias' voice a ragged whisper now. "They're inside the containment antechamber, they're past the first seal.. I can't let that thing get loose into the rest of the site, I can't let it reach the civilians..."
A terrible wrenching sound came over the comms, that of tearing metal and structural beams twisting violently.
Deeply sighing his voice came through the private comms again, "Archie, Aris... I want you know this isn't how I wanted things to go... If it wasn't for the 05's cowardice..." His voice, now suddenly calm was infused with a dreadful resignation, "I only wanted to make things right..."
"Elias, stop whatever it is you're thinking!" Aris screams, grabbing the emergency override pad and frantically inputting codes, "We can stabilize it, just wait for us!"
"Elias-" my voice choking with frustration.. my inability to do anything right now...
"I can't, this is the only way to save the mission... Brothers, go on! Make sure this site survives and remember, you were and will always be the best of the Foundation!"
A click, followed by the sudden, deafening shriek of air pressure. Elias has manually seal the entire corridor from his side, trapping himself with the contagion and the rebels.
"No!" I futilely throw myself against the containment unit door, trying in vain to force the emergency handle.
Then the second blast comes. Not just an explosive force, but a shockwave so severe it tore the air from my lungs and threw both Aris and I backwards into the smoking corridor. The light was blinding- a quick, painful flash of pure, unnatural white heat that seared my retinas for seconds.
Then there was just... silence, such profound silence. The comms were utterly dead, there were no more explosions, no gunshots.. no screams. Only the smell of ozone and ringing in my ears remaining.
The door to Containment Unit 4 sealed, the breach stopped.
I push myself up, my muscles screaming, my uniform in tatters. Aris was coughing roughly, his face pale and slack.
"He's contained it." Aris wept, his fist slamming uselessly on the control panel, "He detonated the emergency charge and collapsed the access corridor.. he saved the mission! He saved us!
I stagger over to him, gripping his shoulder and forcing him to his feet. "He did, but we don't have time to mourn right now, we have a mission.. a Site to save."
He saved the mission. That's what the Foundation will remember: Elias Vance, martyr.
I look one more at the door, feeling the icy grip of guilt, grief, and confusion, 'Why did you say cowardice, Elias... what did you mean by making things right?'
As I drag Aris towards the uncompromised transport lines, the metallic taste of spent ammunition and grief was all I knew... and my last memory of my sworn brother, Elias.
This day, I became Archie, MTF Squad 0's only survivor and Savior of Site 397... The Reaper of Chaos... the only man crazy enough to solo an entire Chaos Insurgency base and survive to tell about it.
-
"Can I hear that story too dad?" I ask.
"Maybe another time Em, maybe some other time..."