[COLOR=GRAY][indent][COLOR=AD4500][suP][b]SIXTEEN YEARS AGO...[/b][/suP][/color]
[INDENT][i][color=white]"It's Colonel Wilson, correct?"[/color] The woman asked, barely raising her eyes to look towards Slade as he entered the large office. Behind her, a sprawling view of Washington D.C. sat just beyond the tall row of windows that made up the majority of the walls in the penthouse. 

[color=white]"Yes, Ma'am."[/color] Slade affirmed before saluting, [color=white]"Lieutenant Colonel Slade Wilson."[/color]

[color=white]"Slade, what nationality is that name anyways?"[/color] The woman mused, her expression stony. 

[color=white]"Don't answer that, Colonel,"[/color] She interjected as Slade opened his mouth.

[color=white]"I don't want to start our relationship with a lie. I know 'Slade' is the name you gave yourself when you forged your identity. Couldn't wait to escape home after your mother died and like any red-blooded American, you saw the army as the perfect escape."[/color] 

Slade kept his own facial expressions still. While it wasn't a surprise that someone with resources could determine Slade's past, he did not want to give this woman any more of an edge by displaying any sort of emotion. Resisting the urge to ball his hands into a fist, Slade could feel his blood beginning to boil, the Mirakuru pumping through his veins echoed in his ears and through his skull. It would have been easy to give in to the rage. To actually let loose and send the woman plummeting to her death from the windows she no doubt saw as a reward for years of service. 

Taking a deep breath, Slade kept himself in check. The woman had brought to mind memories that he hadn't though about for years. When Slade had left home to join the army, he had chosen to turn his back on the life he once had. Slade had been a natural fit for the U.S. army, save for one detail; he was only sixteen. Needing to get out of town and away from his step-father and idiot half-brother, Slade abandoned his birth name and forged a new identity. The army was all too eager to accept him, and soon after the forged paperwork fell through the cracks, never to be heard of again.

At least not until now.

[color=white]"With a record this prestigious, it's not hard to imagine why your identity was overlooked."[/COLOR] She continued to flip through the file open on her desk. From where he was standing Slade could see pictures of Adeline, Wintergreen and even his son, Grant.

[color=white]"You've overcome every obstacle in your way. Though, your file does note you're a bit of a lone wolf."[/COLOR] The woman paused,

[color=white]"I get it though, it's hard to work with others beneath your station isn't it Colonel? When you're the best, you demand a certain level of competency that's just hard to get."[/COLOR]

She paused, lifting a nearby glass of water to her mouth.

[color=white]"You see, Colonel, I am the [b]best[/b]."[/COLOR] The woman continued, finally standing from her chair. While Slade noted that she was far from a petite woman, she wasn't exactly gifted in stature either. She'd have been lucky to come up to his chest. That didn't stop Slade from suddenly realizing he was the smallest person in the room.

[color=white]"There's a war coming, Colonel. Your brass might not realize it yet, but you're this country's greatest asset when the tide comes in. But instead of putting their best player in, they've got you riding the bench."[/color] She stated.

[color=white]"Says in your file that the experiment was a failure, that you suffer from, and I quote, 'extreme mood swings and uncontrollable violent outbursts.'"[/color] 

Walking straight up to Slade, the woman raised her head to meet his eyes. [color=white]"Sounds to me like absolute [b]bullshit[/b], Colonel. I think you've got what it takes to overcome this the same as you have everything else thus far. Do you really want to spend the rest of your life behind that desk?"[/color]

She took a step back, proceeding across the room towards a decanter filled with an amber liquid. Pouring two glasses neat, she motioned for Slade to help himself to the second before raising the other to her own lips.

[color=white]"Did you know the U.S. Army intended to do the same thing to Captain America? The SSR gave them the greatest soldier the world had ever seen and what does the U.S. Government do with him? They parade him around like a circus animal to raise money for bonds."[/color]

Accepting the drink, Slade continued to silently listen.

[color=white]"I'm here to ensure your potential isn't wasted."[/color] The woman continued,

[color=white]"I want to turn you into the perfect counter-insurgent weapon. We're living in a brave new world, we need agents like you, Colonel."[/color] She took another sip of her drink before extending a hand.

[color=white]"My name is Director Amanda Waller, and I'm putting a team together. I want you to lead it."[/color]

Slade didn't even give it a second thought before shaking Waller's hand. He had spent nearly six months behind a desk. He was aching to see some action.

[color=white]"Welcome to A.R.G.U.S., Colonel."[/color][/i][/indent][/indent][/color]
[hr][CENTER][img]https://i.imgur.com/Rk6rkQs.png[/img][/CENTER][COLOR=AD4500][indent][sub][B]Location:[/B] [COLOR=BLACK][I]Bialya City,[/I] - [I]Bialya[/I][/COLOR][/sub][sup][right][b]A H.I.V.E. Mind #1.03:[/b] [COLOR=BLACK][I]A Sticky Situation[/I][/COLOR][/right][/sup][/indent][/color][sub][hr][/sub][INDENT][color=AD4500][sub][B]Interaction(s):[/B] [COLOR=BLACK][I]None[/I][/COLOR][/sub][SUP][RIGHT][b]Previously:[/b] [URL=https://www.roleplayerguild.com/posts/5359504][COLOR=black][I]That Stings A Little[/I][/COLOR][/URL][/right][/SUP][/color]
[INDENT][COLOR=GRAY]To state that pain was a foreign concept to Slade Wilson would be stretching the truth. The procedure that had turned Slade Wilson into Deathstroke had dulled his sense of pain, but it wasn't completely gone. What now flowed in his veins may have turned the Lieutenant Colonel into a super-soldier, but the Mirakuru had limits and Slade was still very far from being [i]Superman[/i]. 

As if to prove that point, searing pain seemed to resonate from his eye sockets. His retinas felt like a hot poker had been jammed repeatedly into them. The detonation caused by Ish's gravity sheath overloading had created a brilliantly bright electromagnetic pulse against the night sky that had left Slade temporarily blinded before knocking him into the air. A dull ache from his less than graceful landing reverberated through the rest of the super soldier's body. The force of the impact had caught Slade by surprise, knocking the wind from his chest against the cold Bialyan sands. 

Slowly, the darkness of night returned as the flashing blotches of white, orange and pink subsided. The world stopped spinning around Slade. Beginning to stand, he felt his healing factor drive back the burning. The pain faded to little more than a minor irritation as Slade stood and studied the fight's aftermath.

Scattered around him were the stunned bodies of Team 7. It came as no surprise to Slade when Caitlin was the next to stir. Had Fairchild not been in the midst of using her powers when the shockwave struck the team, the young girl would likely have been last to stand. A collective murmur of groans rose from the other semi-conscious bodies as the rest of the team began to stir. 

On the other side of the crumbling wall, now further helped along by an extensive riddling of bullets, laid the down helicopter. The dust had yet to fully settle as it mixed with smoke caused in combination by shorted circuits and damage from the crash. The pilots sat slumped forward in their chairs while the gunner lay just outside the downed vehicle.

However, Ish was nowhere to be seen. Slade's eyes narrowed behind his mask, searching the horizon with his strained eyes. The darkness of the Bialyan desert at night threatened to engulf everything and what wasn't lost to the abyss of the starless sky, was surely swallowed by sand. 

Turning back to the team, Slade surveyed the remaining five members before handing out orders.

[COLOR=WHITE]"Crawford, Lance, Daniels. See if you can locate Ish. He's not with the helicopter and I'm not picking up a signal from his comms."[/COLOR] Turning to Fairchild and Wintergreen, Slade motioned towards the helicopter. 

[COLOR=WHITE]"Gather the pilots, and strip them of their uniforms. We'll use their boots to leave tracks out of here, make it look as though they went AWOL-"[/COLOR]

[COLOR=WHITE]"-Team 7,"[/COLOR] Slade winced as his comms device suddenly came to life. It was suddenly quite difficult to tell if the headache and ringing in his ears as a result of the Ish's EMP or the voice of his ex-wife in his ear.

[COLOR=WHITE]"Team 7, report,"[/COLOR] Adeline repeated, her tone absent of emotion. Raising a free hand to his ear, Slade opened the encrypted channel.

[color=white]"Worried about me?"[/COLOR] He asked dryly.

[color=white]"Routine check, standard procedure."[/color] Came the unamused response.

[color=white]"Your comms went down, we had to reboot to re-establish the connection. Anything to update?"[/color]

[color=white]"An ariel patrol picked us up crossing the border. It's been dealt with."[/color]

[color=white]"That was sloppy,"[/color] She replied,

[color=white]"I expected better from your team. A.R.G.U.S. values discretion in all of its operations. I hope there won't be any further setbacks. And Slade,"[/color]

Slade knew that pause too well, he knew exactly what words about to come out of Adeline's mouth.

[color=white]"-If your team is discovered operating on Bialyan soil, your government will disown you."[/color]

A smug smirk crossed Slade's face beneath his mask. His prediction confirmed. Whenever things got tough for the Team, Adeline was quick to remind them they'd be disowned or abandoned if the mission ultimately went south. Moving past her threats, the commanding officer ended her scolding and returned to talking about the mission at hand.

[color=white]"Any further information to report? Have you discovered any signs of H.I.V.E.?"[/color] Adeline had never been one for small talk, in years past it was a trait that Slade had found to be attractive. Now it was convenient.  

For the last couple of months, it had felt like the Team had been chasing ghosts. The Advanced Research Group United Support, or [i][b]A.R.G.U.S.[/b][/i], had learned of a threat in the form of H.I.V.E. Crawford had dubbed them the Hierarchy of International Villainous Evil, but the true meaning of the four letters escaped even Waller. For whatever reason, the acronym's meaning was more secret than the cell themselves. Slade had personally resigned himself to believe it was nothing more than a gimmick.

Everyone had a gimmick these days. Gotham had a man dressed as a Batman and New York had a spider. One could even argue that the United States started the gimmicks when they sent a man to fight in World War II dressed in their flag. If these 'bad guys' wanted to theme themselves after bees, then why should he care? 

His bullets didn't.

[COLOR=WHITE]"At this point-"[/COLOR] Slade was cut off as Wintergreen's voice interjected onto the comms.

[COLOR=WHITE]"Colonel, you're going to want to see this."[/COLOR][/color][/INDENT][/INDENT]
[color=AD4500][SUP][table][row][/row][row][cell][color=#2c2c2c]- -[/color][b]First Issue:[/b] [url=https://www.roleplayerguild.com/posts/5358609][COLOR=black][I]What's the Buzz?[/I][/COLOR][/url][/cell][cell][color=2c2c2c]-[/color][/cell][cell][color=2c2c2c]-[/color][/cell][cell][color=2c2c2c]-[/color][/cell][cell][center][B]Next Issue:[/B] [url=https://www.roleplayerguild.com/posts/5360952][COLOR=black][I]Beaten Black and Yellow[/I][/COLOR][/url][color=#2e2c2c]-[/color][/center][/cell][cell][color=2c2c2c]-[/color][/cell][cell][INDENT][right][b]Latest Issue:[/b] [url=https://www.roleplayerguild.com/posts/5360952][COLOR=black][I]A Sticky Situation[/I][/COLOR][/url][/right][/INDENT][/cell][/row][/table][/SUP][/color]