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You are a Mercenary
Highly skilled with any weapon
Resourceful of your surroundings
Intelligent on the battlefield
And command respect

As you proceed down the dimly lit hallway, each step you take causes an echo that is heard for a number of seconds, before fading and then replaced by another step. You received a letter, from a new employer to come here for an assignment. It's slightly suspicious; due to the amount they seem to be offering you. Apparently, the employers are people that work for Third Echelon, a place you have heard of, or not. After continuing down the hall and find the correct office, you knock on the door.

A deep voice responded to the knocking sound with, "Come in."

Pushing the door open, you enter and glance around the room. It looks like any normal office, a few pictures of some things that you don't recognize. Looking to the seat in front of the desk, you sit down. Looking up, you take a good look at this man. He is dark skinned, and you are sure he is the guy listed in the letter as Colonel Irving Lambert.

Lambert takes a sip of his coffee, and then sets it down on a coaster on top of his desk. Sighing, he reaches into a drawer and pulls out a folder. "My name is Irving Lambert, as you've probably guessed. But, you probably want me to get to the point, so here." He says, as he extends the folder to you.

Taking the folder from him, you open it and glance at the information that is right in front of you. You take in what information you can, as well as a picture of what a Splinter Cell is equipped with.

"Most of the information you need to know is in there, but I will have to point some things out to you. Jeff Alki was a Splinter Cell. He was one of the best. Later in the time that he has been with us, we started believe him of being Mentally Ill. We were on the verge of putting him in a Mental Institute. Unfortunately...He found out. The second he discovered, he was gone within a day, with a bunch of Third Echelon equipment with him. Soon after this, VIPs, Generals, and even a president have been assassinated. We believe this to be his work due to the time it had occurred." There was a brief pause between them as Irving took a sip of his coffee. "Now, you probably want to know why we have hired you to do this instead of using our own means. Well, Third Echelon is not supposed to exist. Our attempts to take this guy out would make our presence public, and that we cannot have." He said.

"I take it that this guy is someone that is not going to go down easily?" You ask, curious.

Lambert shook his head, looking down slightly, then looked back up at you. "No. He will not. You must use the utmost, caution when going after this guy. He is a covert, stealth unit, the best of the best. To top it off, he stole a stealth suit, which makes darkness his greatest ally. He is an expert when it comes to not being seen. We have tried with one of our Splinter Cells to take him down...but." He cut off and pulled out a photo handing it to you. The picture had a guy wearing only pants, and he seemed to have his legs tied to the ceiling, and his hands bound. Cuts outlined the words on his body that said, 'You should have tried better'. This photo made it clear that as a result of his mental illness, he has become sadistic and cruel.

You give him a raised eyebrow, and then speak once again. "You expect me to take this guy alone."

Lambert set down his coffee. "No. That's the other thing I wanted to tell you about." He said calmly. "Other mercenaries besides you have been hired for this assignment. You will need to learn to work together with them. Otherwise, you will fail." He said.

You think about this and then decide to bring about the part of your payment. "My services do not come cheap, you realize?" You ask.

"I do. And you will be paid, as well as provided any equipment that you need. Now, head to the elevator and to the basement floor. You will be armed, and briefed there of the target's movements." He said and took a sip of his coffee, then looked away, finished the with this mercenary.

Standing up, you exit the room, and then walk to the elevator. You enter and push the basement button and watch as the doors closed. You go to prepare for another assignment. You proceed with the question in your mind, 'Will I get out of this alive?'.

1. NO chatspeak. I cannot stress this enough. I can tolerate it in OOC(To a certain degree), but rp with it. And I will ban you without a second though.

2. No forms of godmoding, mary/garysueing, etc, etc.

3. No Fantasy things. I can tolerate any character that uses drugs to enhance themselves physically, but I am yet to hear of a drug that makes you more intelligent.

4. Now, this rule is extremely crucial(probably spelt that wrong). If Jeff is sneaking behind you and you are not aware of his presence. You CANNOT turn around the second he is about to knock you out, just because you don't want that to happen. I WILL call you on this. You have been warned.

5. I'm sorry everyone, but I am going to require that history is required in your profile. I am pretty positive that all mercenaries have a history to them.

6. I shall add more once the rule comes to me.

Night had fallen upon a large cottage that rested upon the coast of California. Along the outside of the house were many armed men that seemed to be protecting it. Over at the back door, two guards stood against the house, their weapons in hand.

One of them had a cigarette lying between his lips and occasionally the man blew smoke through his nose as he breathed. He glanced over at his new partner and pulled out the packet with one hand while his other held onto his gun. "Smoke?" He asked.

The other guard glanced to him and shook his head. "...I gotta go take a leak." He said, walking away to find a bush.

Shrugging, the guard put away the pack and took another inhale of his cigarette and exhaling out of his nose. Suddenly, he felt the weight of something on his shoulders. He glanced to his left and found the moon reflecting off something metal that looked like razor wire.

Within an instant of him seeing it, it suddenly tightened, closing around his neck. It cut deep into him and also strangled him. He tried to breath, but it was a loss now. The cigarette had fallen from his mouth onto the ground where it slowly smoldered. It took only a matter of seconds before the man fell limp and the wire loosened around his neck, which made him fall to the ground. Once it got out from around his neck, it was pulled up.

The other guard returned shortly after, yawning. Suddenly, he spotted the body on the ground. "What the...?" He walked over and gave what he thought was unconscious body a kick. "Hey..." Suddenly, something dropped down from above, masking him in darkness for a moment before he was struck in the back of the neck and knocked out. The thing that knocked them out stood in the shadows, three glowing eyes gazed down at the two men.

The bodies were soon moved to the garden where it would be difficult to spot them, and then the intruder proceeded through the back door, silence being the only thing that could be heard.

Upstairs, a man was asleep at his computer, his head resting on the keyboard. He was a fairly skinny fellow with his brown hair tied into a ponytail behind him due to the length. He also wore a pair of round glasses. Clearly, this man spent a lot of time on the computer.

The sudden nudging caused him to stir. Sitting up, he yawned and glanced around. "Huh? What's going on?" He asked. He froze instantly; he could something cold like metal pressing against the back of his neck.

"If you are as smart as I have read, you will know that yelling for help is a bad idea." Said a voice behind him.

"W-what do you want?" He asked in a nervous voice.

"I need you to hack some government files for me." He said, smiling in the darkness.

"...Alright..." He said and started to click away at the keyboard. "You'd better hurry. Or else I won't think twice about visiting your wife in the room across the hall." He said.

The man gave a little gasp and began to work faster at it. "Don't try anything funny either. I know the kind of tricks you can pull." He said, pushing the tip of his gun against his neck a little harder.

This continued for about 30 minutes before the man pulled out a CD and held it over his shoulder. "Here." He said. Tears had welled up in his eyes from the fear of death to him and his wife.

"Good...Now...Nighty night." He said and whacked the man across the head, knocking him out. He lifted him up and put his head on the keyboard like it was before and unplugged the cords to the computer. He left through the way he came and walked to the cliff. Reaching into a bush, he pulled out a backpack and strapped it on. He leaped off the cliff to proceed with his plans to create his own apocalypse.

Ryan ripped his shirt to form a makeshift band aid for his bloody hand.
There was no time to gripe about his minor loss. Angie and Ryan moved the opposite direction to where Jeff headed off to. As far as Ryan is concerned, this is a botched mission that needed to be aborted, for Jeff discovered them and now the element of surprise is compromised. Ryan knew it's a big challenge to take on Jeff who was afterall a former Splinter Cell. However, what rattled Ryan's nerve, is that Angie has gotten hurt after he swore to himself, he'd protected her like his sister, he felt like he failed Angie somehow.
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