A loud click sounds as the Iron Hounds leave mission briefing, and the electronic door locks behind them, with grim faces they jog together, their steps syncing on the cold pavement.
As they jog past several buildings each has their own thoughts on the matter, they are being deployed on Mission Skyline, to rescue a Council member named Jacob Andersen, trapped in a board meeting room on the 34th floor of a 40 floor high rise, although command was tight lipped from the hints they gathered their previous discussion seems to be related to this mission, some kind of infection is causing people to lose their sanity attacking and eating other human beings. The board members were last reported to be discussing this infection when it broke out in their building, creating chaos and trapping Jacob along with several other in a meeting room waiting for extraction.
Finally reaching a small building they hurriedly enter and split up, due to their specialized squad being highly regarded elites, the only one to serve high priority rescue missions, they claim a small accommodation as their own each with their own room while other squads sharing similar missions and names all share larger spaces with bunk rooms for each squad such as the Eagles specialized in information and scouting or the Wolf Squads specialized in elimination and assination.
There are other squads like their own with private spaces and unique codenames such as the Night Breach similar in operations to theirs but specialized in retrieving non living targets such as data, or high priority hazards from terrorist groups,
but those are few and far between and in their base there is only them, Night Breach and a third even more mysterious squad rarely not out on deployment secretive to the point even Markus has not been able to dig up their Squad name or purpose.
Each of the Iron Hounds gathers what they need, gearing up, some are still wearing training outfits utilized during routine morning exercises, one such is Mick.
As he hastily pulls off his tank top revealing sculpted abs, his chest and shoulders rippling with every move, and the glint of sweat, he laments that none of them had the time to even shower, as normally after exercising the squad eats together, then they complete a simulated practice of operations, before enjoying free time in the afternoon.
Despite his regret, this is simply a common occurrence in their line of work, and withiut hesitation he puts on a jet black close fitting T shirt, and a light military jacket of the same colour. Finally he puts on a tactical vest, and a thin metal mask entirely jet black with a small white symbol of a mouse on the right cheekbone.
These masks serve to protect their faces, identities and as their dog tags losing it means they are considered MIA, they contain advanced technology, capable of sticking to their faces through almost every situation, from the outside the mask looks smooth and angular almost robotic, even in place of the eyes there are no visible holes, making them look practically faceless.
The masks are capable of preventing electronic voice recognition despite not changing their voices perceptibly to other humans, and provide clear vision to the wearer through small screens connected to cameras on the outside of the masks, replicating normal vision. They can even see through their team members cameras provided they are not separated by more than a few hundred meters or interfering structures.
Fully kitted, each member of the squad carries standard issue silenced pistols, a combat knife and quiet tactical rifles, each with their own mask carrying the symbol of their code name.
And further each carries a few extra gadgets related to their role in the squad such as David with emergency medical supplies in his vest, Robert carries a large rod similar to a crowbar meant for breaking fortified entrances tightly secured to his right hip, and some explosive devices, Leonard carries a device that emits loud noise meant for him to distract attention, and so on.
As the squad gathers together on a helicopter pad, their outfits reminiscent of dark wraiths, Roman hops into the pilot seat, and the rest gather into the helicopter Katarina addresses them
"Mission start, from now we address each other by our code names, the plan is to land on the roof, Eagle will stay with the chopper, ready to take off at anytime, Vulture you stay on the roof too, find cover and protect the exit, nobody goes through but us, warning shots first, command has given permission to kill should they not retreat, questions?"
"None" Eagle and Vulture echo
Iron Snake continues "Good, Mouse, Bear, Lion, Leech and Eel, you 5 are with me Bear you take the front, this mission will likely not be quiet, Lion you cover Bear, Mouse you take charge of any changes to plan, Eel you cover Leech, questions?"
"None" they all echo as the chopper takes off its blades spinning faster.
-----[2 hours later]-----
August 25th, 13:07
A black military helicopter adorned with a single white icon of a hound on its tail cuts through the air at high speeds, passing high rises and residential buildings alike, below there is chaos.
Large fires are spreading, with occasional explosions followed by the start of further fires, and the sounds of gunfire occur intermittently.
Although the ground below is barely visible, the squad members can see cars crashing, and people frantically running through busy streets. Some buildings have already collapsed under the spread of fire or cars having crashed through their walls.
As the chopper slows down and approaches their destination a shiver runs through the squads spines, despite being battle hardened veterans these scenes are reminiscent of heavy warzones.
Their world is mainly controlled by three major powers with their Northern Snow being controlled by publicly elected council members, Southern Imperium is a dictatorship ruled by a singular family, and the Free Coalition is an alliance of several powers banded together to match Snow and Imperium, a strict balance has been mostly maintained for decades with no large scale wars breaking out.
As a result although they have dealt with terrorist organizations and gone through 4 succesful missions outside the soil of Northern Snow, this scene was unlike any they had personally witnessed.
Thankfully their target building is heavily reinforced as an important government location, and is still standing stable as their chopper lands on the roof. They all file out as Eagle turns off the rotor blades but retains some systems to keep the chopper running and ready to take off.
Vulture grabs a suitcase from inside the chopper and begins to set up a deployable barricade on the helicopter pad, providing her cover and vision of bothe the main staircase and the locked fire exit.
The other 6 quietly march towards the main staircase its door covered by a small locked metal security gate, and as they approach Iron Snake taps her mask and speaks "Comms functional? Get in positions, Bear break the lock"
"Copy, comms functional"
Bear walks up, unlatching his crowbar and slides it into just above the lock and handle, as he presses a small button the edge of the crowbar expands slightly then he yanks it and with a crack the whole gate swings open and a few screws clatter to the ground.
"Move in, Bear listen for any movement if its clear open the door"
"Copy"
Bear moves up close and listens for a few seconds then signals to the rest to move in.
He swiftly but quietly opens the door as the rest take aim, but after a few seconds it remains eerily quiet.
Iron Snake signals for them to move in, they carefully move down the staircase is double L shaped and quite fancy leading all the way downnto the first floor but segregated every 10 floors with heavy glass and a lounge area. Above the lounge area is a thick safety net meant to prevent accidents and provide visual appeal with some lights hanging from the net.
They carefully move down each flight watching for any movement, yet everything remains strangely quiet as they reach the doors to the 37th floor they notice heavy bloodstains and small cracks on the stained glass doors, with some trailing down the stairs.
"Bear block the door"
"Copy"
Bear pulls out a small rectangular device and places it between the two U shaped door handles, and it clicks into place and emits a small burst of foam that quickly hardens locking it in place. Although the door is cracked, it should still prevent quick entry.
Iron Snake signals for them to keep moving, and as they approach the 36th floor the trail of blood continues down past the door.
As bear moves up close to the door to listen for noise a sudden loud scream from below jolts the team.
"Get in positions, Bear just open the door we should move fast, Lion cover him"
"Copy" they echo as they move together and swing the doors open, the scene that reveals itself to the squad is reminiscent of a hallway from hell, blood all over the place unidentified pieces of flesh lying around and the smell of fresh blood lingers in the air. Their masks provide toxic filtration but do nothing about the horrifying smell so as to not compromise the squads own senses.
Snake signals for them to move in, her eyes cold as ice beneath her mask.
As they proceed the scene gets no better, with the occasional larger pieces of body parts visible among the carnage Bear and Lion move in front, as Snake directs them through the hallway to the board room once they reach a corner Lion nearly trips over half of a foot and hurriedly kicks it away in disgust.
This this provokes a series of guttural growls to their right coming from a large reception area with an elevator, mostly intended to receive important guests and entertain them while they wait for their meetings.
"Bear, Lion, clear the corner, move in, permission to kill on sight"
"Copy" they echo, Bear swings the right corner with Lion to his left, their lack of caution leads to Bear coming practically face to face with a tall man covered in blood, wearing an expensive looking but torn up suit and tie, and before they can react the man lunges at Bear, although the man is just barely able to reach Bears chin it doesnt stop him from jumping up and chomping down through Bears turtleneck tearing off a large chunk of flesh from his collarbone before Bear throws him away with so much force that he crashes to the ground nearly two meters away. Lion follows up shooting the man right between his eyes before he can get up.
Bear grunts in pain as Leech rushes up to him to check the wound
"How is it Leech? Fatal?" Snake asks hastily
"No, but he needs to be treated FAST or he will lose a lot of blood"
Suddenly another two men come running but are dispatched swiftly by Lion with two bullets to their heads, strangely enough all three are covered in blood and their clothes are torn but they have no visible injuries.
Merely a few seconds have passed but Bear is already panting and huffing clearly struggling to stand.
"Leech hit him with adrenaline and lets fucking move, you can patch him up at the board room once we find our VIP"
"Copy" Leech replies as he skillfully grabs a syringe from his vest and stabs it in Bears neck.
Bears breathing swiftly regulates and he says slowly "Thanks, Im good lets move"
"You heard the man, in positions lets move fast" Snake signals as they all reposition
They proceed through the next hallway and turn another corner to the left, without further incident they reach the door to the board room. Snake moves up and knocks slowly, two slow, two fast, then one slow but heavy, the signal for extraction. The sound of shuffling comes from inside, then a mans voice "Are you the extraction team?"
Snake replies
"Confirmed, Jacob Andersen?"
"YES YES YES, THATS ME" Jacob yells
"Hang on let me unblock the door"
Suddenly more growls sound, then loud footsteps and within moments a large group of... blood covered zombies clearly no longer human, several of them seeming unwounded but the majority missing large pieces of flesh, midsections or even entire limbs rushing into view from both sides of the hallway all emitting guttural growls or moans.
"FUCK, open fire" Snake yells, they all take aim and although most bullets hit their mark forever ending the movement of one creature there are simply too many of them, and its nearly impossible to hit their heads every time.
Each bullet that strays simply doesnt even slow them for a second, merely jolting their limbs back as they continue running at the squad. Suddenly Bear collapses to the ground, just as the doors behind them open.
Snake yells for them to retreat, and while they back up she presses a button on Bears mask removing it before she runs in.
Only Lion is left as he grabs Bear's shoulder strap trying to drag him inside, Snake calls for Lion "Fucking drop him he won't make it"
Lion ignores her for a second then suddenly he snaps his hands back and runs into the room. What none of them noticed was that Bear suddenly opened his eyes, and bit Lion's exposed wrist causing Lion to jump away.
As they slam the doors shut behind them, Lion pulls his sleeve down unnoticed and glares at the three board members in the room, 2 men and one female all dressed in expensive clothing. Jacob is an older blonde man looking to be in his 50s, a Navy Blue suit uncannily clean compared to his counterparts now banging on the door outside.
Lion, having seen his photo on the mission briefing, he speaks what they all think but the other 4 Hounds choose not to say, in a low growling voice he says "Jacob why the FUCK, would you yell like that, weren't you told this mission was supposed to be a quiet extraction now look, we lost a member and we're stuck."
Jacob not wanting to antagonize his rescuers and being clearly aware of the current situation takes a deep breath despite feeling angry and disrespected replies "Sorry sorry, its just very tense and I couldn't contain my relief that you guys are finally here"
Lion starts "But..." before he can continue Snake speaks "Lion, sit down we need to prioritize how we're going to get out the mission isnt over yet"
Lion although reluctantly, sits down knowing he already disobeyed a direct order by intending to keep dragging Bear in, and he would have continued had Bear not bitten him. He softly runs his finger over the sleeve covering the bite wincing in pain beneath his mask.
After a moment of silence, Jacob speaks back up "If we just stay quiet for a while they should move away, they also stayed banging on the doors for a while earlier after the rest of us left the room trying to escape, only us three chose to stay and wait for rescue"
"How long?" Snake asks
"I think they all shuffled away in about an hour last time, we knocked on the door after 90 minutes to check if they were still outside and by then there were no noises"
"Okay, so we wait. 1 hour from now we will check if they've left and if they have, we move"