The Commandant comes to consciousness to the feeling of a warm breeze at his back followed by the sound of a large heavy metal door closing loudly behind him. At first, there are only quiet sounds around him – people speaking, glasses clinking, billiard bars cracking together. Those slowly fill his ears as if they are off in the distance. As the sounds get closer, the darkness of his vision lifts and a dimly lit barroom comes sharply into focus. Pool tables across from the entrance, barrel tables in the middle of the room, a couple arcade machines and a bar at the far end. There are enough people in here for the place to feel cozy, but not overly crowded. A tall ceiling and a balcony make for an open space, and a glimpse of tables overlooking the main area indicate this isn’t just a simple country bar.
Commandant looks around the room, looking for "Big Lou", but due to his mental state, neither any person, nor any particular feature stands out to him. He makes his way over to the bar ready to order just about anything, but he can't get a word in edgewise as the bartender is engrossed in talking to an attractive woman. As he stands there, the red haired woman in the top hat walks up to him as tells him "Don't worry, I'll bring you two your usual." He thanks her "Thank you miss... " and stammers over her name, which she fills in as if it's almost a question "Stacey? Are you alright Robby? I assume you're looking for Lou - he’s right over there. Looks like he’s anxious to talk to ya." as she points to the man in the alcove in the blue shirt
Upon walking over, Lou looked relieved. “You’re earlier than I was expecting. I was expecting your other id, but either way, I’m glad you’re here.” Lou gestures to the booth next to where he’d been pacing and pulls you into the booth to sit down and immediately starts talking in hushed tones.
"Let me give you the latest, first things first - I think they’re on to us – I saw someone creeping around outside my hotel last night, but when I checked, I couldn’t find anybody. That’s when I called you. Since we’ve already spotted two known members of Cadre: Red during these recon missions, the last thing I wanted was a possible encounter with them. Our sources may be getting close to finding the location of The Lodge. We’ve narrowed it down to an underground location in the region. We’re currently investigating under Cincinnati, Toledo, and Millennium City. We haven’t gotten anything concrete just yet, but that’s more than we had last time we spoke."
Somewhere in the back of his brain, the Commandant's inner voice tells him to tell Lou to tell him more. The Commandant decides to listen to his inner voice and uses his presence to persuade Lou to tell him everything he knows about the situation. Due to his persuasiveness, Lou goes on to detail everything he knows about the operation.
"Cadre: Red is group of individuals within Level 37 whose members all specialize in infiltration and assassination. Membership supersedes the Level 37 numbered rank system and grants them a high status within the organization. We believe one of their top members is able to send people to an inter-dimensional plane so they’re no longer found. I think that's who was snooping around my hotel last night."
"Listen, I need you to walk me through why they might be after you."
"Well, we've been running an operation to find the Lodge, we've been checking out Millennium City, Cincinnati, Toledo. The Lodge is location used by Level 37 for high level meetings and organization. It's believed to be used by Elders and special operatives. We know it's underground; however we aren't sure yet." He pauses, and thinks for a moment, but continues "We even think it might be their main HQ, that it's their hub, and they use inter-dimensional access to travel between Level 37 locations worldwide but you can only get there via teleportation."
"Level 37 is ramping up their activity – they’ve got resources and people everywhere and they’re getting bolder in their actions. The kidnapping of Roland Drake from IERA custody last month was confirmed to be their work. Our agents have spotted two individuals believed to be members of Cadre: Red during these recon missions: Countess Dulcena was in Cincinnati and Jack Van Brunt was by Toledo. Always a worry when they're around."
About then, Stacey interrupts the conversation by bringing drinks as promised. “Hey boys, how are ya tonight? I brought the usual. Diet Coke for Lou,” as she sets the dark glass down in front of Lou, “and Gin & Tonic with extra lime for you” as she sets the tumbler down in front of Commandant. “Looking good today Robby – Love the stubble look on ya.” She gives Commandant a nice smile and caresses his cheek gently. After a bit of flirty banter, she takes her tray of drinks over to the men playing pool.
Commandant and Lou continue talking, however Lou has already given him all the information he has. He is beginning to question why Commandant is asking questions that he should know the answers to when the loud sound of the large metal door closing is followed by a chill that permeates the air, which gives them pause. A sing-song female voice calls out “Loooou” quietly. A moment later, the same voice repeats “Loooouuu” a little louder and a little closer. A gaunt, pale skinned woman appears from around the corner of the alcove, she has dark hair up in a bun and has bloodshot eye coloring. She gives a broad, wicked grin as she looks in Lou's direction. “Hi Lou, there you are my boy.”
Commandant notices that Lou has stopped moving, his face has gone white, and he looks terrified, and based on what he knows, and some glimmer of a memory of some report, he realizes that this is Countess Dulcena approaching, and she is dangerous. The Countess is able to make the first action, and she doesn't even hesitate to go after her target, a red mist-like smoke surrounds Lou and connects him to Countess Dulcena. Lou drops his drink as the strength fades from his body.
Commandant leaps to his feet out of the booth, weapon drawn and aimed at the Countess, and using the power of words commands her to "STOP!" While forceful, his words barely affect the countess, who responds to his presence attack by simply acknowledging his presence and telling him "maybe I need to take you out too." Her nonchalant reaction spurs Commandant to fire his weapon at her, missing.
Meanwhile, at the bar, Stacey joins the fight, pulling her firearm from its hidden location and taking aim at Countess, however she misses. The Countess counters by attempting to drain the strength of Commandant, missing narrowly, freaking out the patrons at the table behind him. Commandant yells some inspiring words, buffing the strength of Lou and the two ladies at the table behind him, giving them enough strength to run or fight. Stacey shoots at Countess Dulcena again, missing wildly. Lou, having regained enough strength, pulls his service revolver and puts a round right in her chest as she stands there and takes it, quipping "Lou, you're being naughty, why don't you come with me."
At that moment the loud sound of the heavy door slamming into the wall causes everyone present to stop and take notice. Standing in the doorway, ready for a fight is none other than Captain IERA. He scans the room looking for threats and immediately calls out Countess Dulcena “Hey vamp-tramp, you shouldn’t have come out tonight.”
Captain IERA is a well-known super-agent for the IERA and is characterized by his patriotic demeanor, his honesty, his charisma and the good deeds he’s done in the service to his country and the IERA. He’s a role model for young boys and girls and posters with his likeness sell by the thousands and are hung in rooms around the country.
Captain IERA joins in the fight and throws his shield at the Countess, missing her, however his shield ricochets right back to him in the process. The Countess taunts Captain IERA and turns and drains him, however he remains standing. Commandant shouts out to him "How you holding up Cap?" which is met with a really confused, puzzled, and shocked look on his face.
Commandant gives a Rally cry "Show her the stars Cap!" and the Captain's eyes narrow focus on his target, running at Countess Dulcena and slamming his shield into her. Stacey shoots the Countess, hitting her, however the Countess looks unphased. Lou shoots and misses.
Feeling slightly surrounded, Countess Dulcena decides to disappear, literally going invisible to both sight and sound, moving over to Lou brandishing her knife and stabbing him, connecting squarely with his bulletproof vest, which prevents the blade from skewering him, but it still stuns him.
Captain IERA is able to connect with another shield slam, hitting the invisible Countess and slamming her into the wall with a thud and a clanging of the knife against his shield. Realizing there are way too many threats here, Countess Dulcena speaks in her eerie sing-song voice again "Lou.... you've got too many friends here tonight." and phases through the wall, leaving the bar to fight again another day.
Now, with the fight seemingly over, Stacey, Lou and Captain IERA all turn to the Commandant and begin intensively interrogating him "Who are you and why are you here?" they ask over and over again. After a bit of back and forth, the Captain is convinced enough to take Commandant with him.
Outside the bar, an IERA team is waiting with cars, and Lou and Stacey head off in one car. The Captain and the Commandant are in another car and they head to an IERA facility. The Captain takes the Commandants weapons and escorts him to an interrogation room where he sits alone. After about thirty minutes, Captain IERA comes back in the room and resumes the same line of questioning at the bar "Who are you? Why were you there? Who are you working for? What aren't you telling me?". Commandant lays out all the details of who he is and what he knew about what happened tonight. This grilling goes on for a bit until a tech opens the door, handles Captain IERA a file and some photos, and whispers a few things to him before leaving.
Captain IERA shows the photos to Commandant, which are four photos of individuals that he does not recognize. He tells the Captain "I don't recognize them, should I?". The Captain tells him "I believe you, if you were lying I'd see it in your face. So, after we left, the rest of my team intercepted, and apprehended known Level 37 operatives parked nearby with a suitcase device and listening gear. The thugs playing pool in the tavern had mics that were transmitting your conversation out to the car where they were recording it. Our techs have been able to analyze the suitcase device and determined it is a control device for a neurological implant. We think we have a good picture of what’s really happened here, and if you’ll agree, our techs want to look at that arm of yours to see if it contains the receiver and remove the receiver so Level 37 can’t do this again."
Commandant is hesitant, not sure who to trust, but likes the idea of blacking out less than trusting the techs to look at his arm, so he agrees.
Captain IERA nods and says "They can get to that shortly, but now though, I’ve got orders to bring you to my boss. He has an offer for you – It’s nothing bad, I promise. You can trust me; I have an honest face.” As he says this, he is removing his cowl, and when it’s off, Commandant can see that he has his face. It’s slightly more youthful and cleaner cut, but it’s definitely his face. “I'm Robby Black, Number Seven in the Captain IERA clone program. We’ve confirmed, you’re the original Robert Black – it’s an honor to meet you sir.”
Notes about the future
Commandant is the original hero the IERA began their cloning work with, however he has been missing for some time – there hasn’t been a report or sighting of him in at least five years, and it was spotty before them. The IERA would like him to join their ranks and help them with their Captain IERA program – the DNA they have been using has been breaking down, and the clones have been degrading with each generation. Given the status of Captain IERA, they would like to continue the program and would like his help and support.
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