Gauntlet's Gains

[OrochiGeese]

*We fade into a room that feels almost lifeless. The walls are a clinical white and there are cold, metal tables lined up in a row. On one table lies the unconscious Agent 1. He is strapped down but there are no comforts afforded his bruised and broken body. The door opens and a man walks in who is covered almost completely by a beige raincoat and a fedora. He takes care to hang his hat carefully upon the hook. However, even now, his face is obscured by a black knit wool mask. He walks over to Agent 1's body and looks down with a deep sigh. After clicking his tongue in a dismissive fashion, he breaks one of Agent 1's arms. When no reaction occurs, the man shrugs and pulls a syringe out from his jacket. After drawing some blood, he appears ready to walk away when the door opens again.

A very large man with blonde hair walks in. The hair appears to be about one month overgrown from being a standard issue military buzz cut. He is wearing orange fatigues and an ostentatious silver necklace that, upon closer look, has the pin of a grenade dangling from it. The masked man appears excited when he sees him and gestures him over.*

[Masked Man:] "It warms my heart to be graced by Major Russ Masters on this somber occasion."

[Russ:] "Jarec - this *points to Agent 1* is not what I was expecting when you called of good news."

[Jarec:]  "Has it really been that long since we last talked? Let me refresh your memory and your faith as both appear in need right now.  I have always pitied the strong for we must suffer the weak. And Gauntlet has been injured, but from within. We have lost Joachim to integrity, Moreno to delusions of grandeur, and Agent 1 to tactical failures."

[Russ:] "But have we not gained targets for vengeance?"

[Jarec:] "Only against our recruiters and own willingness to accept mediocrity.  Major, we have always progressed through addition by subtraction. Survival of the fittest is the most efficient human resources department."

[Russ:] "Okay, so we're out a few disappointments. Hardly a reason to call me in. What did we actually gain?" 

[Jarec:] "Moreno's tools to fully sharpen. We no longer must appease her desire for incremental gains."

*Jarec looks around, and back at the unconscious body of Agent 1, then sighs.*

[Jarec:] "It's not that I doubt you-"

*Jarec moves closer to Russ, examining him, even smelling him.*

[Jarec:] "You never have before. For all your various stenches, I still do not detect a whiff of disloyalty."

[Russ:] "Everything I've done, I've done for Gauntlet and for you."

[Jarec:] "Then allow your lagging faith to catch up with your loyalty to my vision."

[Russ:] "It would be easier if you let me in on it.  We used to run these ops together on the same information.  But a decade ago, someone in Destiny charmed you and made you a believer."

[Jarec:]  "No, they showed me a common goal and allowed us the honor of being the means to achieve it."

[Russ:] "Since then, you've put most of our resources into this plan. I know you think it's important. Otherwise, you wouldn't have stopped having our kind of fun like we used to.  When the last time you even held a 'Napalm parade' just for fun? Hell, I just got back from a regional civil war, that I started, and forced a village to rename itself after its own word for shit. That's what used to get you hard. But all I'm seeing now is this cult mixed with pro wrestling."

[Jarec:] "Exactly! The perfect marriage to produce a chaotic offspring that reshapes the world."

[Russ:] "But how?"

[Jarec:] "We finally have the weapon, and the forge, that is the catalyst for the goal we've had for decades. A new dusk of our own creation will set by this time next year and they won't see us coming."

[Russ:] "I want to see the weapon."

[Jarec:] "I'll do better - I'll demonstrate it in action. And I know the perfect time to do it."

*Jarec's mask contorts as if he's smiling under it and leads Russ out of the room.*