Into the obscure: Ambiguity (01)

Into the obscure: Ambiguity

Chapter 01: Aftermath

17th June 2022
No current objective
Agent Aurora location: Unknown residence, Washington DC, USA
A bright full moon, as it was almost midnight. Time flies. Mostly with those friends of you... She thought, looking around her at her three other companions.
I'd give everything for them, I'd kill for them... That's my way to show affection I guess. Not that I ever told them that, what weird looks would I receive in return. Oh Dawn, just enjoy the moment.
"Yoo, Dawn! Y'a know there's still some beer in the fridge in the kitchen, right? Y'a haven't taken more than one! You're just sipping from that, ugh, water," Her friend, Cole, said from the beach chair across the terrace.
"I'm aware, well, aware," she replied. Cole drank from his bottle again.
"Hey Dawn, you haven't told us anything about your Erasmus yet. How was Paris?" Alex, another friend of the group, asked, leaning forward to listen.
"Yeah, right! We haven't asked you yet. All busy with the finals and such," Jane, Dawn's only other female friend, added.
"Y'a forgetting about me, J! I ain't studying, all just lame shit!" Cole replied.
"To work in your father's garage..."
Dawn looked at the two and put her glass of water down. "Without mechanics, who would repair our cars? Like having no cops, who would keep order in the country?"
"We ain't needing the pigs! We can defend ourselves, my father and I!" Cole continued after sipping from his beer.
Oh, if you'd know... That M1911 in your nightstand won't save you... Dawn thought with a smirk.
"But tell us a bit now..." Alex told her, changing subjects back.
Dawn laid back in her chair. "Sure was beautiful there. Besides the studying and going to the classes, I sometimes had some free time to view the city. Eiffel Tower, Arc de Triomphe, the Louvres..."
Dawn continued to explain what she 'did' for the past semester. It's working. Of course, it's working. Lying, is part of my profession...
She was done speaking.
"I'd love to go there sometime in my life," Jane said with a sigh. Dawn grinned.
Everyone was silent for a moment, and the four friends looked up at the sky. It was clear and lots of stars were visible.
But suddenly, Dawn's phone started to vibrate, but in an unusual pattern. She quickly took it from her pocket and looked. Jane and Alex looked subtly at it.
"Someone calling you?" Alex asked. Dawn nodded while staring at the screen.
"Unknown number, weird..." She replied.
"And what app is that? Never seen that interface. Looks cool though!" Jane replied.
Dawn put her phone on silent, but stood up nonetheless while putting her dark jacket back on.
"You're already going?" Cole asked.
"Yeah, getting kinda late. And, tired..."
Alex was thinking. "Did it had something to do with that call? Is everything alright?"
Dawn turned to him and smirked. She tapped Alex's shoulder. "Worry about yourself, before you worry about me. Everything under control..."
Dawn waved at her other friends and left Cole's property. She left for the streets and walked one way. She took her phone.
"Aurora reporting," she whispered while looking around her.
"There you are! You forget our briefing is starting in three hours, and you have to attend it! Operation Dis might be over, but the NWO hasn't been defeated!"
"I'm on my way Sergeant..."
"We'll send you a heli to pick you up. I'm transferring the rendezvous point. It'll be there in 15 minutes. Don't be fucking late! Sergeant Flynn, out."
And the signal was gone. Dawn turned on her map and saw a red dot near her. She started walking towards it.
I already see myself as a valuable member, despite being an operator for just three months... That girl has great abilities, they said in the beginning. Girl... I think I proved myself with operation Dis.
Dawn entered the little park where the rendezvous would take place. It was dark, and so she searched for her sunglasses in her backpack. When putting them on, a blue light appeared on its side for a moment, and it connected with her phone. Night-vision mode, activated. And she continued walking.
They had several candidates in their sight, and observed them thoroughly. Kinda creepy to think about. But in the end, they chose me... Probably because I got suspicious. I know when I'm being watched. Capturing me at night, heard noises downstairs, hit one in the face, then got my lights hit out.
Dawn continued to walk towards the extraction point. She entered an open area. There was a bench next to some trees, and she decided to sit down and wait.
I handled all this secret stuff quite well when first introduced to it. Secret organisation, advanced technology, amazing gadgets... I'm hard to impress. They were kind enough to leave me with the choice of returning home, but then a part of my memory would be erased. I didn't hesitate long, as I was stunned by all of this.
Far-away, a helicopter could be heard. Dawn stood ready.
A harsh training followed, and then I was ready for my first mission. Just simple recruit tasks really. Comparable with the dirty jobs they leave for interns. It went well, so they send me to France for operation Dis, with other operators.
Meeting new people isn't my best skill, probably my worst, but in this 'professional' context, it went okay. I could say I even, tolerate, some of my, 'colleagues'. Mostly my partner, Abby... Unfortunate--
Dawn zoned out a bit and just noticed the loud helicopter landing in front of her. She shook her head and ran towards it.
"Agent Aurora?" The pilot asked after Dawn entered the heli and attached herself to one of the seats.
"Only one around..."
"Perfect, I guess Sergeant Flynn told you everything you had to know, so let's not lose any more time," and the vehicle went up again. The side doors got closed.
Sergeant Flynn, the stereotype of a drill-sergeant. Harsh, cruel, without mercy... He is quite a terrible person. Dawn chuckled. Can relate... He learnt me one thing. Wanting to give up is an order coming from an incompetent General, your, emotions...
The flying continued, and the helicopter was now above the Appalachians. It was a dark void. But some lights next to a mountain in the distance were visible. Dawn looked outside.
The WSC, World Security Coalition. Secret for everyone, except for its hundreds of loyal employees, a hand-full of world leaders, and of course, our main target, the NWO, New World Order. Highly organised terrorist group, doing everything to gain power, and in the end, control earth...
"Falcon four approaching. Requesting landing..." The pilot said through the radio.
"Affirmative, opening hangar 2 for you, Falcon four, HQ over."
The helicopter started going down at high-speed and started to aim for the hangar. They would enter the mountain horizontally. Dawn put on her seatbelt.
My name is Dawn Archambault, agent Aurora, operator for the WSC.
Appalachian region, USA
Dawn got out of the helicopter. She rubbed her eyes after the contact with the bright lights in the hangar. She looked back from where they came, the hangar doors closed.
Welp, time for the briefing... Dawn thought. She looked at her watch. 1:24 am. Record timing, isn't it? Still have some time left...
Dawn went to the hangar's exit and entered the main underground facility. She passed through several halls and by different rooms. Suddenly, she passed by the infirmary of the HQ. Dawn stopped for a moment, and rushed inside.
Upon entering it, a nurse was busy at a desk against the wall. She heard Dawn and turned around.
"Hello-- oh, you're in civilian."
"Agent Aurora," Dawn replied.
"Ah I see, from operation Dis?" The nurse put her notepad down and took a little flashlight and shined it in Dawn's eyes. Dawn looked confused. "Are you having sleep troubles, nausea? What can I do for you?"
"Eh, nothing for me, really," Dawn explained while slowly pushing the flashlight out of her sight, "I'd like to know how Abby, eh, agent Furvus is doing..."
The nurse nodded. "Follow me eh, what's your real name? I'm not too comfortable with those code things for the operators..."
"They call me Dawn..." She followed the nurse into the beds area.
The nurse was taking notes on her notepad while listening. "Dawn, Dawn. Ah, see, as a nurse I like to be close with my patients, so calling them by their real name feels better than by their agent surname..."
"Only thing I have to do with infirmaries is sending people to it..." Dawn mumbled. The nurse didn't hear it clearly and just moved on.
The two stopped in front of a bed. Dawn recognized her colleague, Abby. Filled with tubes and respiratory aid. Abby...
"She has been critically wounded in her last operation. Weren't you, together?" The nurse asked.
Dawn nodded. "Yes. It's my fault... I didn't watch her back... We were cornered... In that field, they shot her head... We had to be extracted..."
The nurse was listening carefully. "Don't feel guilty about it. You couldn't do anything. It, is the risks of the job."
"I had to spot those enemies behind us! It was completely my fault!"
The nurse put her hand on Dawn's shoulder to calm her. "Dawn, I heard the operation was a success. You have nothing to feel guilty about."
Dawn sighed and looked at the bed. She approached it. "You're a fighter Abby, you can make it out..."
The nurse smiled at the mumbling. Dawn got back up and turned to her.
"I'll come back later," Dawn looked on her watch, "I have a briefing soon..."
"Good luck, Dawn."
The girl went straight to the briefing room now. She reached the central hall, main hall called by the employees. From there it was going straight forward and Dawn would end up at the briefing room.
She passed the sliding door and went up the small stair that followed. Dawn saw the round, dark-metallic table with all the chairs around it. Everyone present looked at her.
I should work on being more on time, quite awkward this situation...
"Agent Aurora, take a seat, please," an older man with a dark turtleneck pullover said. He stretched his arm to an empty seat.
Mister George Samur, director of the WSC, I recognized his voice...
Dawn looked around more to see who else was present. She saw Sergeant Flynn on her left. Always present that guy... And on her right sat a person in military clothings. General Miller, huh? Wasn't he sent back to the pentagon?
Dawn sat down, and saw an empty chair next to her. This one was meant for Abby...
On her other side were two of her colleagues. Agent Opera, Lenora, and agent Lichten, Josef... They looked at Dawn observing them. They smiled and nodded. Dawn returned the nod.
"I suggest we can start the briefing, now that everyone is present..." Samur started. He stood up from his chair. "As you see, and might have anticipated, this reunion is about Operation Dis. It was, a mixed success..."
Welp, couldn't've said that better...
"The objective was to find and steal confidential information about the NWO in one of their officer's residences, at the French Riviera. As you know, agent Furvus got critically wounded. We're still waiting for the medical report.
"We did get the documents we wanted, but our operation, under circumstances, attracted too much attention. Agent Lichten?"
"Ehm, yes, sir... Agent Opera and I got separated from the rest, and while retreating down the mountain with the documents under enemy fire, we met a duo of hikers. We couldn't properly communicate, but I guess they were confused at our presence there, and they probably heard the shots too. We decided to leave them..." Josef rambled.
Samur looked at General Miller, then at Sergeant Flynn. He crossed his arms. Josef sat down. "This was highly indiscreet. We cannot afford outsiders seeing our agents in action. Act better next time, agent Lichten, and we might trust you with leader's responsibility again..."
Josef nodded slowly without looking. Lenora put her hand on his shoulder. Samur then turned his head to the General.
"We've already sent personnel to find those hikers, and if they spread anything about the operation," Miller explained. Samur nodded slowly. He turned back to the rest.
"The NWO infiltrated itself everywhere that can prosper their cause. Military industrial complexes, mining companies, pharmaceutical enterprises, scientific laboratories, but also rebel groups in unstable or at-war countries and political institutions. All plagued by those terrorists! We are facing a global threat, rapidly growing in power, coming out of the shadows..."
"Do we even know how it got created?" Sergeant Flynn asked.
"Several sources indicate they started as a small militia after the fall of the Soviet Union. And from there they got in contact with other terrorist groups. Now they're searching for hegemony," Samur closed the hologram.
"But in those documents, we got very valuable information that can topple the tide of this shadow war. The leaders, of the NWO! General?" Samur sat back down and all eyes moved to General Miller.
"We've figured out that the NWO has four important persons at its top. We've traced down any information about them. The first one being Seth Isermann, codenamed as 'der Arzt'." A picture of him got projected on the screen behind the table. It showed a pale, bold man with glasses.
"Isermann was a reputed surgeon in Leipzig for over 12 years, but when he went to Chechnya as an independent doctor to help the people hit by the war, he never came back. The official version states that he died during a Russian bombardment.
"We assume he got in contact with the NWO before his voyage to Russia. What is interesting is that just before he left, several reports and complaints came from his colleagues and patients that Isermann was secretly experimenting with the bodies he was operating. We'll spare the details as it's, quite horrible to read..."
"So the NWO is interested in him for his illegal experiments?" Flynn asked, leaning back on his chair. Miller nodded.
"Next on the hierarchy is Yua Saitoro, codenamed as 'kagaku'. PhD in chemistry and a well-known scientist in Tokyo. Working on secret government projects for the Japanese military. Unfortunately, she was caught selling scientific research to China for personal profit. Saitoro then got excluded from the scientific community.
"From there it starts to get vague. We actually have no idea what happened next. She probably got in contact with the NWO via a Chinese scientist she sold the information to..."
"So maybe she was indirectly selling the information to the NWO!" Dawn proposed. Flynn nodded while pinching his eyes.
"Possible, but for now, we only know with certainty that she is behind the technology of the NWO." Miller replied. Dawn looked at the portrait of Saitoro. A pale Asian lady, but with a birthmark around her left eye.
"Third on the list is Giovanni Cesario, codenamed 'il secondo' as he is the second in command," Miller continued and showed his portrait. A man with a little moustache and well-brushed rearward hair. But more notable was the eyepatch on his left eye.
Eyepatch fits him well... Dawn thought.
"Cesario had a successful military career in Italy and made it as far as the rank of Major-General. He went to Iraq as an advisor and proved his organizational talent. Later, he would serve at the head of the Italian secret services for several years before going to Yugoslavia with peace-keeping forces.
"Unfortunately for him, the high-command found out he had been committing war-crimes against the local populations. About to be arrested, Cesario deserted and vanished, using the conflict to his advantage. From there, it's unclear how he found the NWO."
"And now last but not least!" Flynn exclaimed with a little smirk. He crossed his arms and waited for Miller to continue.
A Sergeant talking like that to a General? I've said it that Flynn is, weird...
"Ehem, the head of the NWO, our primary target, Leonid Tchebov, alias 'the Vozhd'," his portrait was also projected. A solid man with grey hair and moustache, wearing sunglasses.
"Tchebov, remains a mystery for us. We found no references to him in any document. He only appeared on a list and several letters addressed to him, clearly showing him as the leader..."
Samur stood back up and looked around. "This will be an objective for the younger generation. Find and eliminate the four strong figures of the NWO."
"Oh, can't I participate? Am I too old already?" Flynn complained from his corner. Samur looked over at him.
"You know I can't refuse something to you, Adrian. I was already planning to assign you to it too, for, supervision..."
So that's how it works here... Dawn thought with a smirk at the scene.
"This will be operation Limbo. For that we will trigger presence alert 2, five days per week present in the HQ for missions to find the location of those leaders," Samur strictly said, looking at the young generation. All firmly nodded back.
"Good. That was it for this briefing. You may leave for your quarters, it's getting late..."
The three stood up and greeted the older men. Dawn and her colleagues turned around to leave.
"Agent Aurora, can you stay for a moment?" Samur asked moments later.
And shit, what do they want now? I'm kinda tired... Josef and Lenora looked at her. "It won't be long, I think..."
Her colleagues nodded and passed the sliding door. Dawn turned to face Samur who had come closer to her.
"Agent Aurora... Dawn was it, or how you wanted to be called?" Dawn nodded. Samur looked at her with a modest smile. "You did a great job on last operation. Thanks to you, agent Furvus is still alive. Without you to evacuate her, it could've ended worse."
Dawn looked down for a moment, as she silently disagreed with what the director said.
"This new operation is probably our most crucial one. That's why I give you the leader's responsibility for it."
Dawn looked up in surprise. "I-I'm not the best with, leading. I prefer to do things on my own..."
Samur smirked slightly and crossed his arms. "And that's why we chose you for our cause. But, your adaptability is excellent too."
Dawn didn't react, nor blink and subtly sighed.
"You can leave now, it's getting late. Oh, and... Tomorrow there will be a surprise for you and your teammates," Samur finished and turned around.
Dawn was thinking at what he just said. A surprise? Pfuh, nothing great probably... I don't really care... She was getting tired and didn't notice she walked past her colleagues, waiting for her.
Josef Jarid, or Joe. One age older than me, quite the normie guy, but not too though-skinned... Straight black hair, glasses. Think he is, or, was, studying computer engineering in New York...
Lenora Perez, or Lea. My age, good teammate, also kinda different from me, a bit less from Josef, oh well... Blond ponytail, glasses too. She came from Mexico to Washington to study medicines I believe.
Sigh, I don't really know much about them. It's a professional relation, we cooperate in dangerous missions. Meaning I have to trust them, and they have to trust me...
"Ehm, Dawn?" She heard. Dawn left her trance and turned around. Her teammates approached her and walked by her.
"What did he tell you?" Josef asked.
"Ah, eh. Nothing too important... Just, about Abby, trying to convince me that I shouldn't... feel, guilty..."
"But you really shouldn't..." Lea replied, putting her hand on Dawn's shoulder. "It wasn't your fault..."
Dawn looked back at her, without smiling. She slowly moved back so that Lea's hand would slide off.
"Ehh, maybe you're right. I should stop overthinking about it, we have more important stuff to think about now..."
Joe and Lea smiled. The three walked back to their quarters. It was around 3am already.
The room was rectangular with two bunk beds against the walls in the top-right corner. On the left wall was a doorway with a little bathroom. The three immediately went to bed.
"Good night everyone," Lenora said.
"Night..." Dawn replied softly. Dark, dark night...
Dawn climbed in her bed and opened her civilian phone. She saw several messages from her friend group. She sighed and looked down.
They don't know I'm so far away right now. How people just don't know shit about you, and how you can't tell anything about it... It's exhausting.
Dawn told her friends with a message that she would go to her grandparents in Canada during the weeks to go, except for the weekends. An excuse she used multiple times and had worked.
Time to sleep now. You're tired, and tomorrow, or later today, as it is past midnight, you'll have some training to do, and perhaps a mission again... But mostly boring training... And that, surprise... We'll see...{/