Post by Frank Paul Bigoski, IV on Mar 27, 2009 20:16:42 GMT -5
X-Unlimited: Featuring: Soldier-X, Written by: Frank Paul Bigoski, IV,
“How long has it been now?” The man asked his reflection in the mirror. Drawing the straight razor across his face slowly, careful not to pitch the angle too much, he took a long patch of 5 O’clock shadow from his face. Ice blue eyes traced his sharp angular features slowly and he realized just how much he’d changed. Lance Wilkins had once been an everyday sort, a bit of a class clown actually, always ready with a quip.
Now, he was a Soldier. A Soldier in a war that the world at large was not aware of, because through some circumstance or another, his commanders in the powers that be thought it better if they didn’t know. Lance didn’t always agree with his commanders, but of course where they were concerned obedience was better then understanding. That was why he had changed so much, going from that jokester kid with the “who cares” attitude, to the man he looked at in the mirror. Hard, outside and in, and that was what bothered Lance now.
His cellular phone rang on the counter, drawing his attention, as he extended his hand to grab the device. Switching the screen open he raised the phone to his ear, where once would have been a “Mr. Feel Good Entertainment,” simply came a: “S.H.I.E.L.D. Ops, Wilkins.”
“Lance its Mari,” The young woman on the other line said, bringing a smile to the spies face, though it wasn’t everyday that it happened he loved to hear her voice. “I think they’ve finally found Kevin, something about mysterious Sandstorms in Chile, with bank robberies reported in their wake.”
Lance swallowed hard at the sound of that name. About a year back Kevin Malik, one of their former teammates in the Soldier-X field team had gone rogue. Apparently he had at one time been working as a double agent for the Illuminati. When they internally restructured, removing the Living Monolith from his seat on the council, Kevin was left alone. “Catch me if you can,” had been the last words the super speedster had said, after having pummeled their former Soldier-X N.S.A. chaperone Daniel Papavich to within an inch of his life.
“Tenku and Harris are going after him, and they asked for our help,” Maria said on the other end of the line. Lance’s brow furrowed as he considered that possibility.
S.H.I.E.L.D. didn’t exactly smile upon those who worked with other agencies without approval. “I don’t know Mari, do you think the powers that be would allow two of their super-powered agents to get involved with an N.S.A. operation? I mean they won’t even let us visit Will and Kelly anymore, you think they’re going to let us go gather up one of our own to try to keep him alive?”
The deep breath and sigh following his response told him just how much Maria Villanueva approved of his pessimism. A pang of old emotional hurt dug deep in to Lance’s chest as he thought about his two friends who had refused to serve under S.H.I.E.L.D. after the Soldier-X program was disbanded. Erin O’Hare, whom they had known as Vector up that point had been assigned to S.H.I.E.L.D.’s black ops division, while he and Maria had been placed within the X.S.E. along with Kevin. However the Eurasian American heir to a multi-billion dollar technologies empire, and the modern day French Aristocrat princess, William Bourne, and Kelly LeStraude refused. For the first two years Maria and Lance had continually visited the two at the Vault, but eventually they were released to a lower security “house arrest” facility, and their location was kept from the new S.H.I.E.L.D. ops.
“I don’t know what to do Mari,” Lance finally responded after the long drawn out pause. Brushing a few loose hanging hairs back from his eyes the mutant once called Whisper frowned, not able to voice just how conflicted he truly was.
“I’ve talked to Harris already, and he had some good news.” Maria said, smiling on her side of the line. The good news she had just might change Lance’s mind regarding the situation with Kevin Malik, and their old friends Will and Kelly. “Harris said he’s already been given approval by our direct superiors in S.H.I.E.L.D. for the co-op. As well as receiving clearance to have William and Kelly released, we’re doing this as a full team Lance, just like the old days.”
Lance couldn’t help but smile, that news was reassuring, but still, could he and the others manage to stop Kevin Malik, quite possibly the fastest being on Earth. His top speed had been measured at the same level as Quicksilver’s even when they were still with the X.S.E. all that time ago. Times had changed though, and now the mutant formerly called Velocity could in fact be the fastest man alive. Kevin wasn’t the only one who had grown up though, Lance and Maria had been working for S.H.I.E.L.D. for a long while now, and they’d both grown under the tutelage of some of the other mutants in the agency. As a matter of fact Lance had been told on more then one occasion that his gravity control gifts had reached a point almost equal to that of the Illuminati’s Graviton. “In that case, I like our odds,” Lance Wilkins said with a smile.
“I’ll get back to you when I’m done here in Barcelona Mari,” Lance said before he paused temporarily to emphasize the end of his statement. “And it’s good to hear your voice.”
“Yours too,” Maria said, before hitting the end button on her cell phone, terminating the call. Lance closed the flip on his own phone and went back to the monotonous chore of shaving, noticing the hints of a smile on his face. The fearsome foursome, Lance, Maria, Kelly, and William were finally going to be back together again, and he couldn’t help the smile that slowly crept over his face.
Stepping away from the vanity and picking up his two way radio, Lance strapped himself in to his Kevlar plate vest. Putting the blue tooth earpiece for the radio in to his ear Lance activated the communicator, switching it to the appropriate hi band frequency used by S.H.I.E.L.D. agents in this sector. “Agent Burns, this is Special Op. code name Whiskey, Hotel, India, Sierra, Papa, Romeo, do you copy?” Lance said, speaking his code name in the military alphabet as was the procedure for such communication.
“10, 4, Whisper, this is Agent Burns, awaiting your move sir,” the S.H.I.E.L.D. field agent said, waiting some five miles from Lance’s current position, and some two hundred meters from their target.
“We’re moving in on this Illuminati location now, no time left for pleasantries boys, I got reservations state side,” Lance said, before levitating himself off the ground and out the sliding glass window to his hotel room’s balcony.
“We heard you had business with the N.S.A. sir, good luck bringing in the rogue..."
Well, hope you guys are ready for more after that. It's gonna be a two parter, soooo. n-e-ways, 'til Layla Miller is revealed to be possessed by Xavier's spirit, make mine M2K.
“How long has it been now?” The man asked his reflection in the mirror. Drawing the straight razor across his face slowly, careful not to pitch the angle too much, he took a long patch of 5 O’clock shadow from his face. Ice blue eyes traced his sharp angular features slowly and he realized just how much he’d changed. Lance Wilkins had once been an everyday sort, a bit of a class clown actually, always ready with a quip.
Now, he was a Soldier. A Soldier in a war that the world at large was not aware of, because through some circumstance or another, his commanders in the powers that be thought it better if they didn’t know. Lance didn’t always agree with his commanders, but of course where they were concerned obedience was better then understanding. That was why he had changed so much, going from that jokester kid with the “who cares” attitude, to the man he looked at in the mirror. Hard, outside and in, and that was what bothered Lance now.
His cellular phone rang on the counter, drawing his attention, as he extended his hand to grab the device. Switching the screen open he raised the phone to his ear, where once would have been a “Mr. Feel Good Entertainment,” simply came a: “S.H.I.E.L.D. Ops, Wilkins.”
“Lance its Mari,” The young woman on the other line said, bringing a smile to the spies face, though it wasn’t everyday that it happened he loved to hear her voice. “I think they’ve finally found Kevin, something about mysterious Sandstorms in Chile, with bank robberies reported in their wake.”
Lance swallowed hard at the sound of that name. About a year back Kevin Malik, one of their former teammates in the Soldier-X field team had gone rogue. Apparently he had at one time been working as a double agent for the Illuminati. When they internally restructured, removing the Living Monolith from his seat on the council, Kevin was left alone. “Catch me if you can,” had been the last words the super speedster had said, after having pummeled their former Soldier-X N.S.A. chaperone Daniel Papavich to within an inch of his life.
“Tenku and Harris are going after him, and they asked for our help,” Maria said on the other end of the line. Lance’s brow furrowed as he considered that possibility.
S.H.I.E.L.D. didn’t exactly smile upon those who worked with other agencies without approval. “I don’t know Mari, do you think the powers that be would allow two of their super-powered agents to get involved with an N.S.A. operation? I mean they won’t even let us visit Will and Kelly anymore, you think they’re going to let us go gather up one of our own to try to keep him alive?”
The deep breath and sigh following his response told him just how much Maria Villanueva approved of his pessimism. A pang of old emotional hurt dug deep in to Lance’s chest as he thought about his two friends who had refused to serve under S.H.I.E.L.D. after the Soldier-X program was disbanded. Erin O’Hare, whom they had known as Vector up that point had been assigned to S.H.I.E.L.D.’s black ops division, while he and Maria had been placed within the X.S.E. along with Kevin. However the Eurasian American heir to a multi-billion dollar technologies empire, and the modern day French Aristocrat princess, William Bourne, and Kelly LeStraude refused. For the first two years Maria and Lance had continually visited the two at the Vault, but eventually they were released to a lower security “house arrest” facility, and their location was kept from the new S.H.I.E.L.D. ops.
“I don’t know what to do Mari,” Lance finally responded after the long drawn out pause. Brushing a few loose hanging hairs back from his eyes the mutant once called Whisper frowned, not able to voice just how conflicted he truly was.
“I’ve talked to Harris already, and he had some good news.” Maria said, smiling on her side of the line. The good news she had just might change Lance’s mind regarding the situation with Kevin Malik, and their old friends Will and Kelly. “Harris said he’s already been given approval by our direct superiors in S.H.I.E.L.D. for the co-op. As well as receiving clearance to have William and Kelly released, we’re doing this as a full team Lance, just like the old days.”
Lance couldn’t help but smile, that news was reassuring, but still, could he and the others manage to stop Kevin Malik, quite possibly the fastest being on Earth. His top speed had been measured at the same level as Quicksilver’s even when they were still with the X.S.E. all that time ago. Times had changed though, and now the mutant formerly called Velocity could in fact be the fastest man alive. Kevin wasn’t the only one who had grown up though, Lance and Maria had been working for S.H.I.E.L.D. for a long while now, and they’d both grown under the tutelage of some of the other mutants in the agency. As a matter of fact Lance had been told on more then one occasion that his gravity control gifts had reached a point almost equal to that of the Illuminati’s Graviton. “In that case, I like our odds,” Lance Wilkins said with a smile.
“I’ll get back to you when I’m done here in Barcelona Mari,” Lance said before he paused temporarily to emphasize the end of his statement. “And it’s good to hear your voice.”
“Yours too,” Maria said, before hitting the end button on her cell phone, terminating the call. Lance closed the flip on his own phone and went back to the monotonous chore of shaving, noticing the hints of a smile on his face. The fearsome foursome, Lance, Maria, Kelly, and William were finally going to be back together again, and he couldn’t help the smile that slowly crept over his face.
Stepping away from the vanity and picking up his two way radio, Lance strapped himself in to his Kevlar plate vest. Putting the blue tooth earpiece for the radio in to his ear Lance activated the communicator, switching it to the appropriate hi band frequency used by S.H.I.E.L.D. agents in this sector. “Agent Burns, this is Special Op. code name Whiskey, Hotel, India, Sierra, Papa, Romeo, do you copy?” Lance said, speaking his code name in the military alphabet as was the procedure for such communication.
“10, 4, Whisper, this is Agent Burns, awaiting your move sir,” the S.H.I.E.L.D. field agent said, waiting some five miles from Lance’s current position, and some two hundred meters from their target.
“We’re moving in on this Illuminati location now, no time left for pleasantries boys, I got reservations state side,” Lance said, before levitating himself off the ground and out the sliding glass window to his hotel room’s balcony.
“We heard you had business with the N.S.A. sir, good luck bringing in the rogue..."
Well, hope you guys are ready for more after that. It's gonna be a two parter, soooo. n-e-ways, 'til Layla Miller is revealed to be possessed by Xavier's spirit, make mine M2K.