A few months earlier
MIND GAMES
Year: 878 TE
System: Sol
Planet: Neptune
Location: Kona base - Proteus
“Welcome Captain Andrews...”
“Hello Amanda”
A streamlined woman in a grey flight suit approached Terrier casually. They had met six months earlier, when he was first contacted by Earthfront command regarding their suspicions of Iron Five. She was the representative assigned to him when docked here, but that was bullshit…she was more like his handler than a rep and even though he knew it, the circumstantial intimacy between them made it easier to live with.
She kissed him when she was sure that none of the few guards stationed throughout the facility were near and led the way to a briefing room two levels below the moon’s surface.
“Welcome Mr. Andrews…sit…” A heavyset man in a black flight suit gestured him to a seat on the opposite end of a large triangular table.
As Terrier sat, the man continued. “Let me get straight to the point. Iron Five has become a hindrance to our operation and must be discredited and destroyed...”
Terri took a moment to comprehend what the man was saying and when it registered, he jumped from his seat but was shoved firmly back into place as the pain of a thick, white hot syringe burrowed stomach cramping fingers into his neck and shoulders, between which the needle had been inserted.
“...this must be done quietly however and to keep it below radar, we will need your team to start the ball rolling. We will break Iron Five apart, from the inside...”
Terrier coughed as the massive soldier holding him down released his grip “Why are you doing this?” His head swam and he knew without a doubt that he would be dead, or worse, unconscious in a few seconds.
The man continued as though nothing had happened “Our cause is paramount and you, my friend, will be the man to lead our charge...”
“I will die before I betray my brothers...” Terri’s voice did not sound as his own. He slurred the words and felt his tongue roll around in his mouth.
“Don’t you worry, my friend...everything will come in its own time. I will see to it that you are handled with care. You will be wiped and reprogrammed to carry out the necessary orders and when you have run your course, you will be rewarded accordingly. In the mean time, Gemini, see to it that his processing goes as planned.”
Terri lolled his head toward his recent lover and felt the chill of horror flood through his bones. Even now, in the haze of her betrayal she had the gall to smile at him.
“By your orders sir...”
And then the world around him faded to black.