Darksun - Volume 1: Neco'ma

Chapter 20: The Secret of Mr. Dubois

6 years ago... 

 Perched atop a building across from the grand towering structure known as Halo Tower, the headquarters of Halo Technologies, was none other than Phantom himself. While trying to keep a cool head, he was slowly becoming agitated as he noticed how tight the security was from a personal laptop he was using to hack into the Halo Tech security feed.

 His communicator activated and he heard his three squad members radioing their locations to him.

 'Alpha grunt to Eagle-eye Omega in position--'

 'Bravo grunt to Eagle-eye Omega in position--'

 'Delta grunt to Eagle-eye Omega in position--'

 'This is Eagle-eye Omega reporting a clear quiet night and all three blind spots are clear for interception. Also remember why we're here, if you find any Neco'ma within your vicinity make sure you retrieve them and escort them back to headquarters, understand?' Phantom responded to all three squad members.

 They all responded at the same time to Phantom, 'affirmative--'

 They infiltrated their respective blind spots, while Phantom continued to nervously watch the security feeds to keep his squad one step ahead of the company's own security personnel. That was until something unexpected happened.

 The security feeds showed that all three blind spots were suddenly immersed in strong spotlights. Phantom was frantically recalibrating the feeds when he was suddenly alerted on the communicator.

 'Code red Eagle-eye Omega, we've been compromised, how are we gonna get out of this one--' 

 Phantom was unsure about what to do since this exposure wasn't planned. He replied with the only thing he could say to his team in the heat of the moment, 'screw this, abort the mission and return to base I repeat, abort the mission!'

 However, things went from bad to worse when each and every attempt to escape was squashed by a horde of security guards waiting to pounce and ambush the squad members.

 With Delta pinned to the floor and Bravo cornered to the wall, Phantom tried to reach out to Alpha through the communicator still plugged into his ear.

 'Alpha can you hear me, come in Alpha!'

 The security feeds showed Alpha lying on the floor unconscious. A blind man – or at least, what appeared to be a blind man through the footage source – in a white suit approached Alpha and took his communicator. He spoke through the device to Phantom.

 'This is Albert Dubois, CEO of Halo Technologies speakin'. Whoever is on the other end of this device ah want you ta know that ah've got three of your comrades in my custody. Now their safety depends on what you or your group does next. If ya continue this little espionage of yours, they will die slow and painful deaths. But if you stop right now they might live a little longer, so what's it gonna be?'

 Phantom didn't know what to do. He was still reeling from the shock of what he had seen unfold in front of his eyes. On one hand, he didn't want his teammates to die because of him, but on the other, if they survived then he was fearful of them being used for experiments. For Phantom, this was his hardest choice he would have to make.

 But unfortunately, the choice was already made for him. Phantom's laptop opened up a messenger app, and a voice message from a Gravekeeper Elder played, 'Phantom, this is the council, we've been observing this mission of yours, and we're ordering you to abort. We know you're going to tell us you want to retrieve your squad, but we can't risk anymore compromising exposure. Your squad knew the risks the day they put on the uniforms to become Gravekeepers, I suggest you remember those lessons as well.'