Dawn of Deception (part 1)

The helicopter roared over the Alps as Mercy Braun scanned the early morning land below. Just a few hours ago, Doctor Blitzkrieg's scanners picked up something large enter the atmosphere and crash down in the mountains. Mercy decided to investigate. She scanned the snowy slopes until she spotted a crater ahead.

“Put me down here.” Mercy said to the pilot. The helicopter descended and Mercy climbed out and began the walk. After a few minutes of trudging through the snow she saw it, a massive crater with what looked like a smouldering meteorite inside it. She stepped closer, but suddenly something didn't feel right. She turned; nothing. Then she thought she heard a whisper, but by the time she looked in that direction, nothing was there. Her instincts screamed at her to leave as she walked closer. Then she stopped. Something was creeping up behind her; she could feel it. She spun around and punched at it. She hit a face, a soft wet face with six red eyes and a maw full of teeth. The creature it belonged to reeled back on its twisted legs, then raised its clawed hands. It hissed as Mercy raised her gun. Suddenly two more lunged from behind. She ducked and rolled causing them to collide with each other.

“What are you?” she yelled, getting up.

“Minorides-s-s-s” the lead one hissed, raising its claws. “S-s-such a fine s-s-specimen this-s-s one.” another hissed.

“Sorry, but I'm not on the menu. Or available for any experimentation.” She snapped back.

Suddenly a sharp pain tore through the right side of her face as another Minoride lunged from her flank and struck her. She hit the snow and rolled down a bank, holding her gun tight. The creatures gave chase. She hit a tree and immediately opened fire, paying no attention to the warmth running down her face. One of the creatures shrieked as a shot hit it. They began retreating. Fighting the pain, she pointed her gun towards them but then stopped when she saw one of them changing into a copy of her.

“Not bad.” it said in her voice.

Mercy couldn’t believe her eyes as she fired at them. She missed and hit a snow cliff which broke, sending a turret of snow towards them all. The Minorides quickly retreated and Mercy ran for cover. Luckily the minor avalanche stopped before reaching her. Shaken, she breathed a sigh of relief and then touched her face. Pain shot through it and she quickly moved her now blood covered hand. The cut on her cheek was deep, but she'd survive. She stood and heard a helicopter fly overhead. She looked up to see it leaving; the very one she had landed in.

“Great! Just great!” she yelled.

5 hours later

“I don't get it. Extraterrestrial objects hit the Earth all the time. Why investigate now?” Wess Haber said as Nachtvogel swooped over the Alps.

“While you are correct, nothing this size has hit in a very long time. For safety reasons, we are to intercept.” Erika Schlödder said. Nachtvogel settled down in the snow and Wess, Erika and Emma Jaye climbed out.

“I can see why no-one else wanted to join.” Emma said, zipping her jacket all the way up. The group began walking, but soon something shifted in the air; like they were being watched.

“Something doesn't feel right.” Erika said.

“I feel it too. Like something is being an absolute creep and watching us.” Emma added.

“Keep sharp. We don't quite know...” before Wess could finish, a Minoride lunged out at him and tackled him. Erika and Emma each raised their weapons but were tackled from either side.

“These things are ugly!” Emma yelled kicking the one on her away.

“You could say that again.” Erika said, punching the other. Both women got up and readied their guns. The Minorides lunged and Emma and Erika opened fire, to little effect. Seeing this, they quickly moved out of the way.

“Desperate times call for desperate measures.” Erika said.

“I read you.” Emma replied, reaching for two charges from her quiver. “That's one!” She threw the first charge, and it struck the first Minoride, blowing it to pieces. “And two!” She threw the second but the Minoride caught it, then snarled. “And... Boom!” Emma detonated the charge, blowing the second one to pieces.

“Great. Now where's Wess?” Erika said.

Wess and the Minoride tumbled down a slope. It snapped and clawed at him, and he punched back. Finally, they rammed into a tree.

“You're a fine fighter, another great s-s-specimen.” It hissed.

“Thanks for the compliment, now get lost.” He punched it as hard as he could, yet it shrugged it off. It slashed at him, ripping his jacket. Wess pushed it back then dodged another strike. However, as he did, he stepped on a weak point in the snow, causing it to start sliding. He fell onto the now moving snow and was dragged with it into a deep ditch.

“How unfortunate.” The Minoride said, its body copying his. It looked over the edge but couldn't see him. Wess was just out of sight, but he could see it; and he couldn't believe his eyes. Finally, it turned and headed up the slope. As it reached the top, Erika and Emma arrived. “There you are. We took care of the other two, we need to report this to headquarters.” Erika said.

“Alright. Let's not waste any time.” the imposter said perfectly in Wess's voice.

As the real Wess climbed out of the ditch he heard Nachtvogel take off. He looked up and saw it rise above the trees before flying off. “No, oh great! This is bad.” he uttered. He began up the slope and then tried to find his way back. He walked for what felt like hours and soon a minor snowstorm rolled in. It wasn't long after that that he spotted something in the snow. As he got closer, he could make it out, a person. He rushed over to them, a woman, partly shivering, lying face down. He knelt beside her and spotted blood on the side of her face. The blood surrounded an awfully deep cut. He rolled her over and was taken aback when he saw her face.

“Mercy?”

An Hour Later

Mercy awoke, her body still cold from being out in the storm. She was in a cave and not far from her was a small fire that was slowly dying. She couldn't remember how she had gotten there or who had made the fire. She felt her face, it still hurt, but something covered the cut now; a bandage of sorts. Just then, someone approached the cave. Mercy stood up and grabbed a nearby rock.

“Hold it right there!” she yelled as Wess entered, carrying more firewood. He froze for a moment.

“Mercy, you're awake. That's...”

“Shut it! Give me a reason not to finish you off!” she snarled.

“Mercy, it's me Wess. The real Wess. I'm not going to hurt you.” he said, slowly placing the firewood down.

“Prove it! Prove that you're not one of them!” She snarled.

“Remember when you taught me how to pick a lock back in the army days, or that time you accidentally broke my hand in that sparring match. How about...”

“Alright, alright. Don't get carried away.” she said setting the rock down. “Why are you here?”

Wess put more wood on the fire and sat down.

“We were ambushed by strange creatures. They looked like aliens. One of them took my place. Blitz is surely compromised by now. I'm guessing from that wound you came off second best with one as well.”

“They call themselves Minorides. The one that got me was lucky to get away, but it took my place as well. Did you do this?” She asked, gently touching her face.

“I wasn't going to leave an open cut on your face, well open. It's pretty deep but it will eventually heal. It will leave an epic scar though.” he said.

“Like the one you got in that bicycle accident?”

“Mine's barely visible. Unfortunately, yours will be very visible.”

“That's no problem. We need to stop this, and fast.”

Blitz Militärbasis B

Dutch Tudyk walked into the hanger to see Erika fiddling with something on Nachtvogel, grumbling to herself.

“Hey, um Erika. Is everything fine?” he stammered. She turned to look at him. “Sure, just ensuring nothing, umm, damaged.” she said, looking him up and down.

“Good because I thought... Well maybe, you know. If you wanted to do something not quite training but also not quite dinner but still eating later; I mean if you're free?” he stammered. Erika just looked at him as if not sure what he just said.

“I guess I'll see.” She finally replied.

“Great. Maybe let me know later?” he said before walking off feeling a bit embarrassed. Emma was standing near the hanger and saw the whole thing. She spotted Hans Hilton approaching.

“Hans, does something feel off to you?” she asked. He stopped and looked at her.

“No. Why?” he asked.

“Wess seemed off on the way back, as if he was not himself. Dutch also just asked Erika something and I could barely understand him, which is normal. But she didn't try to joke with him or even smile.”

Hans shrugged. “I don't know. Maybe keep your voice down.” Hans said.

“Hans, you know me, I do not get weirded out easily, but this is weirding me out.” Emma said. Hans placed his hand on her back.

“Just try to relax, alright.” He said before walking off. Emma sighed and left, not noticing that Erika was looking directly at her.

Blitz briefing room

“Wess, you're not making sense.” Andreus Schmidt said, sitting opposite to the Wess imposter. “You're saying whatever was there was so important that you need to see the President about it. But you won't even tell me what it was.” Andreus said. The fake Wess sat forwards.

“I can't risk the details getting lost up the chain of command.” Wess said.

“I understand your concern, but we cannot just bypass the rules like that. Just tell me what's going on, we'll take it straight to Richter and then to the President, alright.” Andreus said.

The fake smiled slightly. “Yes, I like the sound of that.” It thought for a moment. “There was a sort of craft that landed. The three of us were attacked but managed to fight the creatures off. They were berserk, hostile at first sight. If they found their way into a populated area... It will be devastating.” It said. Andreus was taken aback by all this. He wasn't sure what he was expecting, but this wasn't it.

“I'll get Richter in immediately.” Andreus said, leaving the room.

“Yes-s-s. Pleas-s-se do.” It whispered.

Alpine Cave

Mercy was fiddling with her gun when Wess re-entered the cave. It had been damaged by the snow, and she was trying to get it working. “Mercy, I'm sure you should be resting, I mean, you did almost freeze to death.” Wess said.

“Resting? Resting at a time like this! The one thing I feared would happen has just happened, I'm not going to rest until it's finished!” she half growled.

“Alright, ease up. I'm just worried about you.” Wess said.

“Well do less of it, we need a plan.” She said, scratching at the bandage on her face.

“I've got one. Once the storm clears, we'll head to Blitz Militärbasis B. I know they've been compromised, but we can get weapons there and hopefully people we can still trust. Next, we find everyone they've replaced and hope they're alive, with a bigger force we can take them out.” Wess explained.

“Alright, and if they're not alive, then what?” Mercy said.

“We'll cross that bridge when we get there.”

“Still doing most of your planning on the fly I see. Just one probable, we can't just walk into Blitz. Even if not everyone is compromised they've probably seen fake you already. When they see you, they'll think you're the fake, and they won't take kindly to seeing me either.” Mercy said.

“What are you proposing?” Wess asked.

“We sneak in. And before you object, it is the only way safely in and I just so happen to be someone great at infiltration.”

The Bundespräsidialamt

Franz Richter burst into Frank-Walter Steinmeier's office. He almost looked out of breath.

“Franz, you said it was urgent. What is the matter?” Steinmeier asked.

“I don't know how to explain it Sir, but you must see this, follow me, quick.” Richter said. Something didn't feel right, but Steinmeier followed him out of the office and into the hallway. He stopped dead in his tracks upon seeing what stood before him. Richter subtly blocked the doorway back into the office. In the hallway stood Protothulos, a Minoride whose head almost touched the ceiling. He had 6 eyes instead of 4 and much sharper teeth and claws. Behind him stood the fakes of Wess and Mercy.

“Greetings-s-s Mis-s-ster Pres-s-sident.” Protothulos hissed.

***Download NovelToon to enjoy a better reading experience!***