The Patriot Project

12/01/2000

Camp Mitchell

Canadian-US border

The main hall was a buzz of activity, voices raised in a crescendo of fear and outrage. Young children, many no older than ten or eleven, ran around in a panic. Their faces streaked with tears. Amid this chaos stood fifteen men and women in plain green fatigues with the thousand yard stare of true combat veterans. The two doors at the side of the hall burst open and two men walked in. The first wore a stiff formal uniform and a chest full of decorations. He carried himself well but was beginning to show the signs of age; grey around his temples, a stiffness in his movements with belayed the onset of arthritis. The second man was tall and broad, each muscle in his perfect body honed to perfection. He wore a long brown coat and carried a revolver at his hip, every fibre of his being seemed to radiate confidence. The two of them stopped before the crowd, which fell back to a respectful distance before their obvious authority.

“My name, is Colonel Graham Knight and I want silence.”

The children shut their mouths almost instantly. Some kept sniffing as they fought back tears but a quick glance from the Colonel kept them from making any serious disturbance.

“Good. Now I have a few things to say before I hand you over to my colleague. Firstly, you are all extremely talented individuals and the government of the united states of America has decided that your abilities are needed for the protection of our country. You should all be very proud that you were selected. Secondly I want you to consider me as your surrogate father. Due to a number of factors you will be unable to remain in contact with your families, therefore I want you to consider me as your surrogate father. Anything you need to talk about, anything. Just come to my office.”

He folded his hands behind his back and stepped to the side, allowing the second man to introduce himself.

“Ok kids, I’m Malcolm. Think of me as your big brother. It’s my job, along with the fifteen men and women dotted through the hall, to make you into the next Captain America.”

At this there was a rumbling of excitement through the children. Every one of them had seen the Captain at some point, either in person or on the TV.

“We’ll start tomorrow, 6 am sharp so be ready. Now were going to organise you into ten person training groups so listen for your name.”

One by one the green uniformed adults led away their charges until the whole group of one hundred and fifty had left. Malcolm sighed and followed Colonel Knight out into the dark again.

The story takes place seen years later. You are now reaching maturity at around the age of seventeen. For the past seven years you have undertook physical and mental training both of a military nature and specific to your abilities. The groups are now greatly reduced as the failure rate has been relatively high. The time is rapidly approaching where each group will be assigned their first mission. Do whatever you like, when not undertaking training or a mission the Camp is a fairly relaxed place, try to escape and regain your life or train to become the best you can be. I leave the choice to you.

Follow the comicvine RPG rules and keep it fun people. Knowing my track record this wont get off the ground so I’m not bothering to write anything more.

I ran for seventeen miles straight out today, My body hurts but I block it out, Each little movment is a strain , But I hit the gym The punch bag becomes my tool, every bad memory , Every weak thought I push into it and it listens, Taking each punch and swining back to take more, It is the closet thing I have to a friend.

Four hours later I stop, I take a slow drink of water and watch as they enter the room, My class mates we all look like clones, Shaven hair, Built to perfection, Only diffrance is our eyes, Mine are blue but as normal everyone is mixed, I try to keep my head down, but the want to mix and I do what I always do I ignore them, I have two days until I am sent to my new station.

My shadows have allowed me to advance where other may not and have lead me down a dark and dangerous plan, I wish I could allow myself the weakness of frineds, but that is not what I was made for, I watchs as they move past me, Giving me those looks and I return to my old friend and punch him until my knucles bleed and then I am done with for they day, I just need three hours sleep and I get to do it all again Ho-Ra.

My body is a fortress, crafted of the finest materials. I don't remember what I look like any more. My face has been obscured by veneers of platinum, manganese, and various other metals. I especially loved the porcelain I used for the "prom" which was pretty much us, surrounded by guards with a bowl of punch. But my face isn't the biggest of my concerns. I have to be better than Captain America.

I know it's impossible, but I have to surpass the greatest soldier of all time. He was a legend; I'm a trainee getting ready for my first mission. I have no choice but to show the world what I'm made of- literally. I move my body out of bed, and open my cabinet filled with tons of spheres, 2 feet in diameter. I grab the one labeled "COPPER" and it slides on like a glove. I put on fatigues, a headband, and I look like a shiny Rambo. Time for the closest thing to school I have.

Switch hefted his paintball rifle and slid into cover behind a pile of breeze blocks. The aircraft hanger was silent other than the occasional echo from the half dozen people moving around in the simulated combat zone. Switch risked a glance to his front before making a dash for a section of ruined wall. Nothing shot at him so he kept moving until he reached a small rise in the floor. The enemy base lay before him, a series of revetments and fire points designed to challenge both the attacker and the defender. He surveyed the sprawling mass in an instant and keyed his radio.

"This is Patriot one to team Solidus. Enemy base is clear, they're playing crazy flag. Meet at rally point charlie."

He jogged down into the courtyard formed by three barricades and made a surprising discovery. A four by four was parked poorly behind a chain link fence. It was the work of a moment to scale the fence and check the vehicle for booby traps. It was clean. Switch swung into the drivers seat and wired the engine. He allowed himself a small smile as it roared to life.

"Patriot one to Solidus, weve got a set of wheels."

The sound of gun fire rang out loudly,over and over again.There was also the sound of bullets richocheting of metal,the tv crew form station 2 news had arrived to catch a glimpse of the man in action.The legend had somehow returned from death,and was now preventing an evil terrorist organization from stealing hi-tech hardware from Cyber Corp.

The shield was thrown from 20 feet in the air as an explosive charge was set off at the same time,his name wasnt Captain America,but he had took the mantle.The sheild was his,as well as the threads of the american hero.His name was Akira,the media called him Captain.

The terrorist were almost done with the robbery,the leader was close to getting away.Captain had fought his way past the many,and was looking for the leader.The training he had gone through for so many years allowed him to apprehedn hs target and hand them over to the F.B.I.The job was done and the news crew ran to the Captain flashing cameras and many questions.He answered a few then quickly preformed a series of agile moves to escape the News crew.Then landing on his motorcycle,taking off.

In his ear the radio transmission turned on."Great job Akira." the voice had spoked.

Yeah...I know

The video transmission ended,and The Captain sped up faster weaving between traffic.

"Patriot one to Solidus, we've got a set of wheels."

Jonathan scanned the terrain in front of him, looking for the slightest hint of movement. He was uneasy about being put on the same team as Switch. He hadn't been the same person since his surgery to correct the augmentations that he had been given. He seemed weaker, more prone to making foolish decisions.

"Patriot one this is Patriot three, moving to point charlie."

Jonathan moved quietly in the shadows, stopping every few meters to check for contacts. For a while team Solidus had been the best team on the camp but after the death of its leader on an all terrain hike and the defection of Louisa, the erstwhile mascot. It was sorely under strength. Jonathan pushed the rebellious thoughts to the back of his mind and checked his equipment again. He fumbled with a strap and he had to look down in order to open it. Cursing his glanced back up and looked into the barrel of a paint ball rifle.

"Don't try it Jonathan, your fancy energy redistribution wont stop a solid round."

It was Mike, a member of team Orchiba. Before Jonathan could answer the sheet of corrugated iron that they were standing beside crumpled inwards and a jeep smashed through. He dived backwards in surprise as Mike turned and caught the vehicle in mid air. With a grunt he tossed it bodily into a concrete block, leaving the jeep on its roof and Switch stunned in the cab. Jonathan shot Mike three times and dashed to Switch. He'd kicked the door off and was scrambling out into the open, trailing his rifle behind him.

"Contact!"

Jonathan span around to see the other four members of team Orchiba opening fire while trying to shuttle their flag across the road and into cover. Switch squeezed off a few rounds and Jonathan joined him. Pumping paint balls towards their opponents.

"Well we know where the flag is now!" Switch shouted. Jonathan gritted his teeth and kept shooting.

Its been 3 years since the government has taken me in and force me to trained. My parents were upset and help started groups to keep us children from the government. But so far no luck. I have trained everyday since they brought me. My strenght and speed in my human form had increase drastically. But I had so much anger being forced here. I kept punching the punching bag over and over until I actual hit it so hard it fell off its chain. Then for some reason I blew up and transformed into my werewolf form and jump on the bag and started tearing it apart. I bite it, and clawed it until all that was left was the stuff inside of it. I went back into human form before I completely lose control. One of the teachers here came and told me it was time for paint ball. So I got dressed and I was part of team blue. They said Go and we took off. Team red was on the other side of the forest and powers were allowed. Copy was in werewolf form jumping from tree to tree. Until his team meet up with the other team. The guy on team red said

"FIRE!"

They all started firing. My team got hit but no where vital so they were able to still "play". My team fired back. But I was still in the tree and the red team didn't notice so I shot them in the vital places. Until the noticed me. They shot at me but I dodge with incredible agility. Then I shot back and ended the game. The coach came to us and look at me and said

"Good job"

I stood there said

"Yea"

"You scum bags will be going places We dont want anyone to know about, You will be doing the jobs know one wants to do", I sat at the back of the class, It had been a long two days to get to here, His words barley reached me, It was the same old speech that every deill sargent told his men, bottom line your scum and dont desreve to be alive and should thank the army for giving you this chance to shine.

I kept an intrested look on my face, So not to attracted attention, Five of us in total had made it this far, This would be my team for the rest of my life, He went on to tell us how Captain America was the shiny crust of a darker world, We would do the things he could not, We where never to be in the lime light, Always stuck to the shadows, Are names would be changed every two weeks, any money would be paid into five diffrent accounts so not to draw undue attention.

This was all things we knew, I could see it in all their eyes, They where like me wanting to get into the action, we knew what we had sigend up for and where ready to do what needed to be done for our country , we will defend it from forigen and Homeland threats, By every and all means at our disposle.

I was walking down the corridor, escorted by two guards. I don't know why, not like I would level the compound twice. They moved me in front of a group of 5 soldiers, and an imposing man adressed them.

"Listen up maggots, you have a new teammate. This is Golem. If you step out of line, this is what happens. You have no liberties. You will be escorted everywhere. Now, grunt, sit next to Arrow."

I walked over and sat next to Arrow. "Hi, my name's Golem. You must be Arrow." I extended a hand to my new teammate.

I turned my head and looked at the new comer , Then turned back to and listend to the Sargent, Are first mission would be tommorrow, Are equipment is read for us to choose, For the first time in along time I smile, We are getting to actually see some combat, Many new recurits fear what they have to face and the public are lied to , Every day are force face over whelming enemy froce at least two troops a day die fighting wars they know nothing about.

But tommorrow that changes, this team has been made to end wars before they start, To take down any threat , I have been an outcast all my life and here I am filling myself with pride of what this means, He starts to breif us, We are going into South Africa where a weapons dealer has gone into hiding, We have three days to find him and to exucute the man, We must make it look like the locals have made the kill.

My hands have become sweaty, I can feel the energy of the others, Tomorrow will be a good day, Each of us out to impress they others and show what we are made of, I just hope that no one gets to excited , That could lead to mistakes and I dont do mistakes, "Christain Arrow,Wipe that stupid smile off your face", I try but I cant, but the Sargent continues anyway, Obviously trying to flex his muscle over us, But I am no fool and understand the dangerous I go into , This is a better use of my powers!

Take the chains of him.

Sir?

You heard me, take em off and leave us

The Lt. did as he was told. Slowly and carefully he began to un-lock the prisoners arm and leg shackles, always maintaining a watchful eye on the prisoner. His name was Khan, he had been given the codename, Living Weapon. In the beginning, he could mimic the combat movements of any opponent he faced. But as he matured, so did his powers. Now merely seeing a movement was enough for him to duplicate it. Spending countless hours watching T.V. his arsenal was limitless. But as his powers grew, so did his hatred for the Unit.

The medical ward was full with Agents and Service men and woman who would never again walk, see, hear, or even breath on there own again. But still, to much time and money had been pumped into the Living Weapon to simply cut him lose or dispose of him. So instead, he was under 24 hour surveillance. When not studying or in training, he was isolated from the others, kept under lock and key.

As the shackles hit the floor, 12 guards took aim in anticipation.

Boys Boys, there’s no need for that. Mr.Khan is going to play nice. Isn’t that right Khan?

Rubbing his wrists and staring at the floor, Khan rolled his head cracking his neck, then rolled his shoulders cracking them as well. Finally as he balled his fingers up into a fist, the crackling echoing throughout the cell, he smiled,

“Whatever you say…….boss”

Africa

The sun was burning down on us, are intel had been right for once, The arms dealer was held up in Last hope hotel, It was about the nineth level of hell in there, eight floors of drugs, sex and guns and he was sitting at the top of it like a king, while we sat across the road in a one bed room flat, Five men in one room was only going to lead to hostlity, we just needed the go ahead, We had are target in sight and the waiting was killing us.

Oj had gotten on everyone's nerves in an hour and was now ducut tapped in the connor of the room, We had manged to get the Unifroms of the local police , It was all set and just as we where all about ready to throw OJ out the window, The call came in the atmosphere instanly changed, Everyone stopped planning and started moving.

We changed into the unifroms, We kept the mask off as we crossed the road, so everyone got a good look at the five police crossing the road and into the hotel , as soon as the doors opened, the mask where on and the two guards in the lobby where on the floor, A nood from smith told me to head for the target, I slipped into the shadows and reappeard on the seconed floor.

I stayed to the walls, moving like I was trained The others where down in the lobby making sure no one else entered or left, That was the exit, Making sure I only killed those that I needed to kill, Hiding the bodies in empty rooms, Floor number four had some hookers now knocked out and two more dead guards, The pent house was clear of guards he never thought anyone would get this close, Checking my silencer I vanished into the Shadows, he was in the middle of seeing to one of the many women under his control, His back hand knocked her over a table at my feet.

His eyes met mine and I saw fear, It filled me with something I have never felt before, He went for a gun, But my bullet hit his head, Ivory and crimson covered the back wall, I placed another in his heart, then set fire to the room, to cover up any evidance, "Job done", "exit clear Arrow head home".

"Well Arrow," I said on the ride out, "that was something fierce in there. Didn't even need to use my skills, did you? No, I guess you had it covered."

I cut the small talk, and looked sideways out the window. I saw what Arrow had done, and I will never forget it. It was a bloodbath. Is that my destiny? To be a weapon? That's no life for me...

Switch dropped down to reload his weapon as a hail of paint balls tore through the air where he'd been standing a moment ago. Next to him Jonathan stopped two rounds in the air before they could hit him by converting their kinetic energy into gravitational. While his attention was elsewhere one of Orchiba team blasted him with a concussive bolt, flinging him backwards. He landed badly and stunned himself on a rock. Switch was on his own now. He just had enough time to hear a tearing noise as Ronald went supersonic and dashed towards him. Switch aimed his rifle but was disarmed before he could fire. Ronald swung the weapn around to shoot Switch but was knocked down by a right left combo. Ronald's radio keyed.

"You got him bro?"

Switch swiped it up and spoke quietly into the receiver.

"Sure I got him, your friends suffering from a sore jaw and what looks like a broken nose and I'm coming for you next."

With an evil grin he hefted the semi conscious boy upright and kicked him out of coven into the waiting sights of his erstwhile teammates. Infantry skills 101, friendly fire isn't friendly. As Ronald took a pounding from his own team Switch went over the top the the Jeep and jumped towards the last two members of team Orchiba. As the masked leader looked up in horror Switch kicked off a concrete pillar and hit him feet first. Before the last man could turn his slotted him with his rifle and swept up the flag.

"Very impressive Switch."

Colonel Knight walked slowly towards the scene of combat, his frail limbs shaking slightly. In the ten years since the initiation of the project he had aged massively. Privately Switch suspected some kind of degenerative bone disorder.

"Although I must say the survival rate of your team was very low. Despite this events are conspiring against us. The Patriot project is to undergo its first major trial in three days. Im recalling all agents in order to brief them fully. You'll see some action then."

With that he turned and left. The Colonel had always been a man of few words so Switch didnt let it bother him. IN three days he would be out in the real world again, and ready to put his training into use. But to what purpose he had not yet decided.

Arrow ignored the man again, Feirce that was a cake walk, No one died and the enemy did not get one shot off, it was a perfect mission, They had past the test, The team had worked well, the locals would blame the police , An up roar will follow and the UN mainly american troops will be called in to settle it down, The suits knew how to play the aid card when it suits them.

The plane jounrey was a nightmare, They could not book seats for us, If five americans flew in it would raise some eyebrows, Alot of people thing fake passports are the way to go, But people are trained to see the fake ones, so we organise a cargo plane or boat, Carrying kids toys, Right now im sitting with a hundred whinne the poohs at my back, The life of a black bags man.

A few of the others caught up on sleep , but I would not get any rest till we landed, Never let down your guard first rule, The world has eyes everywhere now and it's not safe unless your covered and I got the USA goverment watching my back as long as I stay smart.