Just the one

Sadie made her way down the corridor from her temporary quarters to the Cafeteria accompanied as always by the rebounding echo of her boots on the hard floor. It had gone midnight and the corridor was quiet. With nothing to do until Anna and the armoury had found something to kill the hybrid, she found herself wandering the base aimlessly or attempting to persuade the guard on the armoury door to let her shoot a few targets. It was futile really, Antonia had dug her claws in deep and she did not yet have full access to the base.

Pushing open the common room doors, she was happy to find it virtually empty, save for a pair of soldiers in the corner of the room playing cards. Smiling in greeting at them, she made her way to the bar. “What can I get you Miss Smith?” Sadie raised an eyebrow, “Fuck you.” She said coldly “Glass of medium red.” She slipped onto a barstool and glanced round the room while waiting for her drink. It had been in this very room her career shattered around her.

She pushed the memory from her mind as the barman gave her the wine. She sipped it, relishing in the rich fruity taste, and the warmth that spread through her as she swallowed the dark liquid. With the NWO out of the way she could help turn the Commander’s attention to the threat from the Red Fangs in Russia. They needed to act, but without a weapon to use against the hybrids, any attempt to take the base would be suicidal.

She let out a long sigh; everything had to be a constant struggle. She still hadn’t spoken to Jacob properly, though part of her had given up on him now. It was probably for the best anyway, as far as she was concerned men were nothing but a complication in an already complicated life and she didn’t need one. Her eyes flicked to the common room doors in the hope that someone worth talking to would join her.

Malfice walked slowly from the lift towalds the large double doors of the Cafeteria after a refit session in one of the armoury's workshops. He had been refitting it so he could work an a prototype visor that tracks heat signitures and biosignitures, thus distingushing between friend and foe through solid walls. It would be slow work but when it was done it would cut down on friendly fire inceidents by seventy percent.

Pushing open the left door for the cafe, Malfice quickly scaned the room to make sure it wasnt busy before heading to the bar. On his way over Malfice noticed a familier figure sat drinking a glass of red wine. Smiling Malfice remebered Sadie fondly from when she was base commander. Walking over Malfice signeled that he wanted his usual drink, Cider with a shot of lime juice, before suluting Sadie and siting down.

"Welcome back Commander. What you been up to?" Malfice asked before taking a deep draw from his ice cold glass and sighing.

Sadie grinned as Malfice made his way into the room, glancing round briefly before making his way over to her. Ever the loyal soldier he saluted her, and she couldn’t help but chuckle.

"Welcome back Commander. What you been up to?"

Sadie raised an eyebrow. “Malfice,” she said, resting her elbow on the bar and her head in her hand, “as much as I admire your loyalty, I was dishonourably dismissed and haven’t yet been reinstated, nor to I intend to be reinstated as Commander. So,” she said sitting up and taking a sip of her wine “call me Sadie, or Smith at the very least.”

Sadie had never known a more loyal soldier than Malfice, his only problem was his occasional inability to get ahead of himself and forget his orders. The lycan in him made him somewhat arrogant at times.

“I’m surprised you haven’t heard what I’ve been up to.” She said thinking to the corpse that lay in the morgue dissected and analysed with little results. “I went to Russia to grab some mercenary work and found myself in the middle of a band of people who were trying to get rid of some Red Fangs. They have a base there which they have been conducting genetic experiments for the past couple of years. We did some surveillance and one of their ‘experiments’ escaped. We managed to kill it but only with sheer numbers, so I brought it home as a present for Anna.” She smiled.

“What about you? Any new prototypes?”

Malfice smiled at Sadie as she started to repremand him for calling her 'Commander'. He couldnt help it she had been discharged due to factors out of her control, but to him she was still the commander. Taking a sip of his drink, Malfice shook his head slightly as Sadie recounted what she had been up to.

"So what are they up to then? anything I can help with?" Malfice asked keeping an eye around the room for trouble.

“What about you? Any new prototypes?” Sadie asked.

"Well im working on a new visor for hostage situations and brake and enter shock missions. a few new ammo types and trying to get the railgun operational... again." Malfice said reaching into a trouser pocket pulling out a very worn folded A4 peice of paper and spreading it out.
"If you look here, there are some componants that went missing a few months back and its happened again. But these parts are rare and these were the last we had."

"So what are they up to then? Anything I can help with?"

Sadie took a sip of her wine. “Unless you have a hidden qualification in genetics then no, unfortunately you can’t help...yet.” She hesitated about telling Malfice what they were, being a werewolf himself, she was unsure how he would react. “They’re hybrids. “She said carefully. “A mixture of Lycan and vampire genes, with neither of their weaknesses.” She gave him a sad smile “As soon as we work out a weakness, we’ll be sending the details your way to make a weapon for us.”

Sadie ran her eyes over the paper depicting the rail gun. “Any idea who stole the parts?” she asked frowning. “You should check the security cameras; the armoury is rigged with them.”

Malfice took the news that the Red Fangs were developing hybrids with his usual stotic expression but a small growl did escape his throat. It went against everything that was held dear to him. Mixing Vampire and lycan DNA was the most depraved and disgusting thing that any vampire or werewolf could do, it went against the first rule of both species. No cross breeding or experimentation.

"Sadie, what they have done goes against the deepest and oldest lycan and vampire law. It was the only thing they have ever agreed on and have never anulled because it would require both partys to meet and sign an agreement. But we hate each other to much for that. If its true and the red fangs are experimenting then there would be a war like no other." Malfice said quietly so that only Sadie could hear him.

“Any idea who stole the parts? You should check the security cameras; the armoury is rigged with them.”

Taking a chug from his cider and lime, Malfice sighed and shook his head in abject denial.

"That was the first thing I tried Sadie but the camera's show nothing from that time. In fact the camera's were down for maintanince that week. I've checked the maintainence crew that were working on them and they cleared. Not one of them saw anything out of the ordanary." Malfice replyed to Sadie's questions. "Do you think you could help?"