strategiser24
Mewtwo is awesome!
Jared Darnell
Freelancer/Black Market
Abandoned Rail Tunnel Near Mt. Silver, Kanto
Thank God... Jared thought, relieved that the voice was a friendly. He would've never guessed a base would've been built under the mountain, and they must'vee been good if not even Jared's contacts knew about them. Finally, now they had some trustworthy allies. "Alex Morgan, my name is Jared Darnell: I'm part of an underground group that's been...Well, lets just say we're friends," Jared said into the radio, "You need information on anyone or anything, I'm the one to ask; trust me, there's people I know in high places...I appreciate the hospitality, but there's more important things we need to finish at the moment: I'm heading to Violet city through an old railway tunnel. It should be a safe way under the mountain...Either way, I'm not in the mood for talking for now...I...lost a friend, today...Give me your number or something, and I'll call you..."
Jared paused for a moment, realizing that Alex was bound to be confused at his refusal. "...Look, I can't explain much right now, and I don't know how much time we have left before...something bad happens...But I can promise I'll explain everything once I make to the En-...Uh, I mean, the entrance of Violet city...Jared out,"
Jared threw down the radio, worried about how Alex would react if he found out he was transporting EnDoG executives...even if they were on their side. "...Tell me we're almost there," Jared asked the pilot.
"We're here," the pilot reassured, "Its just down there,"
The chopper descended to the ground, sending sheets of snow into the air, blinding their friends on the ground. As they reached the ground, Jared couldsee on his friend's faces the shock they were in from the nuclear bomb, and Wagner being in the middle of it; hopping out of the chopper, Jaredand his four allies approachedthe men holding AK-47's. "Boss!" someone yelled, "You're not going to believe-"
"I know," Jared replied, grave, "...I just hope I didn't get Wagner angry before he diedwhen he found out I went with another plan..."
The whole group stayed quiet for several moments, some saying prayers, and others contemplating whether they should go on with Jared or not. "...Have you figured out the details," Jared asked, changing the subject.
"Yeah, and we've looked ahead: there doesn't seem to be any cave-ins along the way. We should be able to drive through," a Lieutenant said, looking up.
Looking around, everyone was still unchanged. "...Are we gonna wait for another bomb, or are we going to get to safety?!...Get in the vans!" Jared ordered, almost shouting at the group.
Slowly, everyone hurried to the vans and climbed in. Getting in the passenger seat, Jared started the engine and waited for the driver to get in. In the back, the executives and the soldier climbed in as well, and sat on the benches on the sides of the van. Outside, everyone did the same, grabbing their weapons and Pokemon, and getting ready for the drive under the mountain. Eventually, the convoy started to move, and Jared's van slowly followed. Almost immediately, the van became dark, and the auto-lights turned on as they entered. AT this point, Jared could only hope everything would go as planned...but with his luck, he knew it won't.
**********
The drive through the tunnel was harrowing; darkness, fear, and anxiety encircled everyone as they continued to rumble through the old tunnel to the other side. It was difficult to see with just headlights, so another light hadto be mounted on the roof of one of the vans inr order for them to see ahead. The drive was only half an hour, but the first 15 minutes seemed like an eternity: Jared and his group had heard ghost stories of the tunnel, and even though they'd been in it a few times before, it never became easier to do it, and with the rumbling from the war raging above them, it was even more difficult to continue without fear clinging to your mind.
Just as the rumbling seemed to stop, Jared saw something up ahead; what seemed to be just dust turned out to be worse. "CAVE IN!" he yelled.
The driver slammed the brakes, throwing everyone in the van out of their seats. The rest of the convoy followed as they realized what was happening. The driver shoved the gear into reverse as he hit the gas and nearly tipped the van over. Struggling to hold on, the passengers in the back grabbed onto something attached to the floor and held onto it until the bolts began to get loose. Much of the convoy did the same, but one van didn't notice in time, and was quickly crushed underneath the rubble.
After what seemed like an eternity, the shaking stopped, and silence filled the tunnel again. Getting out of the van, Jared motioned for everyone to get out and gather around the light one of the vans was still casting. "Everyone alright? Anyone injured?" Jared asked, trying to get things back in order.
"I think we're ok...except for those guys under the cave in," someone responded, looking at the traumatized faces of his friends, "...I don't think we're going this way...And that was the only way under the mountain,"
Jared thought for a moment as chatter broke out. "...Its not technically true that the tunnel is the only way under Mt. Silver," Jared said.
The chatter suddenly stopped as Jared spoke. "...Well, yeah...but..." someone answered, breaking the silence.
"Are you out of your mind?!?" someone else objected, "We've been through that place once, and that's how we found out why it was sealed!"
"...Look, I don't like it anymore than you do," Jared explained, listening to the rumbling above them, "But the mine is the only way at this point,"
Everyone continued to stay quiet: There was an old mine that connected to the tunnel, but it had been sealed over a decade ago after ghost stories circulated about missing workers. It eventually was forgotten once the government decided that maintaining the condemning was too expensive. Jared's group had smuggled goods through the mine before, but the Pokemon that lived in the mine had taken a hatred for everything else once the government condemned and sealed the mine. "Alright," the Lieutenant said at last, "We'll do it, but YOU'RE leading the group Boss, got it? I've been there once, and I almost destroyed the vault code once I made it through...That goes for everyone too: We're going with plan-"
"Enough!" Caroline shouted, startling everyone, "We're not going anywhere until someone answers my questions!...Just who the hell are you guys? How do you know about this tunnel and now this 'mine?' And WHY are you helping us?!"
The tunnel fell dead as Caroline's shouting almost shook the tunnel again. "...I guess there's no point in hiding things at this point," Jared said, stepping forward.
"Boss! Are you ou-" someone interrupted.
"Don't worry about it," Jared said, trying calm everyone down, even though he was just as nervous, "My name is Jared Darnell, and I'm one of the three bosses who run a black market organization: We don't really have a name for us, and we tend to be pretty quiet as far as criminals go, but that all changed recently...We're the ones who masterminded the terrorist attacks on Hoenn, and now one of our best friends is dead: The guy who I talked to on the phone that was still in Saffron city...We're not proud of what we did, and everything that followed was never supposed to happen, and now we know that was a mistake. That should answer your question about how we know so much about this tunnel; we've used this place to smuggle merchandise across the border. It didn't mean much to us at first, especially since we've been around long before the Kanto military was blockading the border...Its probably too late to say this, now that you know, but we're NOT your enemies. We saved you from the nuclear bomb; if we wanted EnDoG gone, like we did before, then we would've just left you and went someplace else: Trust us, Hoenn didn't destroy our only safe house,"
Above, the rumbling continued, only heightening everyone's fear. While they were here fighting with each other, something worse could be happening somewhere on the surface.
Freelancer/Black Market
Abandoned Rail Tunnel Near Mt. Silver, Kanto
Thank God... Jared thought, relieved that the voice was a friendly. He would've never guessed a base would've been built under the mountain, and they must'vee been good if not even Jared's contacts knew about them. Finally, now they had some trustworthy allies. "Alex Morgan, my name is Jared Darnell: I'm part of an underground group that's been...Well, lets just say we're friends," Jared said into the radio, "You need information on anyone or anything, I'm the one to ask; trust me, there's people I know in high places...I appreciate the hospitality, but there's more important things we need to finish at the moment: I'm heading to Violet city through an old railway tunnel. It should be a safe way under the mountain...Either way, I'm not in the mood for talking for now...I...lost a friend, today...Give me your number or something, and I'll call you..."
Jared paused for a moment, realizing that Alex was bound to be confused at his refusal. "...Look, I can't explain much right now, and I don't know how much time we have left before...something bad happens...But I can promise I'll explain everything once I make to the En-...Uh, I mean, the entrance of Violet city...Jared out,"
Jared threw down the radio, worried about how Alex would react if he found out he was transporting EnDoG executives...even if they were on their side. "...Tell me we're almost there," Jared asked the pilot.
"We're here," the pilot reassured, "Its just down there,"
The chopper descended to the ground, sending sheets of snow into the air, blinding their friends on the ground. As they reached the ground, Jared couldsee on his friend's faces the shock they were in from the nuclear bomb, and Wagner being in the middle of it; hopping out of the chopper, Jaredand his four allies approachedthe men holding AK-47's. "Boss!" someone yelled, "You're not going to believe-"
"I know," Jared replied, grave, "...I just hope I didn't get Wagner angry before he diedwhen he found out I went with another plan..."
The whole group stayed quiet for several moments, some saying prayers, and others contemplating whether they should go on with Jared or not. "...Have you figured out the details," Jared asked, changing the subject.
"Yeah, and we've looked ahead: there doesn't seem to be any cave-ins along the way. We should be able to drive through," a Lieutenant said, looking up.
Looking around, everyone was still unchanged. "...Are we gonna wait for another bomb, or are we going to get to safety?!...Get in the vans!" Jared ordered, almost shouting at the group.
Slowly, everyone hurried to the vans and climbed in. Getting in the passenger seat, Jared started the engine and waited for the driver to get in. In the back, the executives and the soldier climbed in as well, and sat on the benches on the sides of the van. Outside, everyone did the same, grabbing their weapons and Pokemon, and getting ready for the drive under the mountain. Eventually, the convoy started to move, and Jared's van slowly followed. Almost immediately, the van became dark, and the auto-lights turned on as they entered. AT this point, Jared could only hope everything would go as planned...but with his luck, he knew it won't.
**********
The drive through the tunnel was harrowing; darkness, fear, and anxiety encircled everyone as they continued to rumble through the old tunnel to the other side. It was difficult to see with just headlights, so another light hadto be mounted on the roof of one of the vans inr order for them to see ahead. The drive was only half an hour, but the first 15 minutes seemed like an eternity: Jared and his group had heard ghost stories of the tunnel, and even though they'd been in it a few times before, it never became easier to do it, and with the rumbling from the war raging above them, it was even more difficult to continue without fear clinging to your mind.
Just as the rumbling seemed to stop, Jared saw something up ahead; what seemed to be just dust turned out to be worse. "CAVE IN!" he yelled.
The driver slammed the brakes, throwing everyone in the van out of their seats. The rest of the convoy followed as they realized what was happening. The driver shoved the gear into reverse as he hit the gas and nearly tipped the van over. Struggling to hold on, the passengers in the back grabbed onto something attached to the floor and held onto it until the bolts began to get loose. Much of the convoy did the same, but one van didn't notice in time, and was quickly crushed underneath the rubble.
After what seemed like an eternity, the shaking stopped, and silence filled the tunnel again. Getting out of the van, Jared motioned for everyone to get out and gather around the light one of the vans was still casting. "Everyone alright? Anyone injured?" Jared asked, trying to get things back in order.
"I think we're ok...except for those guys under the cave in," someone responded, looking at the traumatized faces of his friends, "...I don't think we're going this way...And that was the only way under the mountain,"
Jared thought for a moment as chatter broke out. "...Its not technically true that the tunnel is the only way under Mt. Silver," Jared said.
The chatter suddenly stopped as Jared spoke. "...Well, yeah...but..." someone answered, breaking the silence.
"Are you out of your mind?!?" someone else objected, "We've been through that place once, and that's how we found out why it was sealed!"
"...Look, I don't like it anymore than you do," Jared explained, listening to the rumbling above them, "But the mine is the only way at this point,"
Everyone continued to stay quiet: There was an old mine that connected to the tunnel, but it had been sealed over a decade ago after ghost stories circulated about missing workers. It eventually was forgotten once the government decided that maintaining the condemning was too expensive. Jared's group had smuggled goods through the mine before, but the Pokemon that lived in the mine had taken a hatred for everything else once the government condemned and sealed the mine. "Alright," the Lieutenant said at last, "We'll do it, but YOU'RE leading the group Boss, got it? I've been there once, and I almost destroyed the vault code once I made it through...That goes for everyone too: We're going with plan-"
"Enough!" Caroline shouted, startling everyone, "We're not going anywhere until someone answers my questions!...Just who the hell are you guys? How do you know about this tunnel and now this 'mine?' And WHY are you helping us?!"
The tunnel fell dead as Caroline's shouting almost shook the tunnel again. "...I guess there's no point in hiding things at this point," Jared said, stepping forward.
"Boss! Are you ou-" someone interrupted.
"Don't worry about it," Jared said, trying calm everyone down, even though he was just as nervous, "My name is Jared Darnell, and I'm one of the three bosses who run a black market organization: We don't really have a name for us, and we tend to be pretty quiet as far as criminals go, but that all changed recently...We're the ones who masterminded the terrorist attacks on Hoenn, and now one of our best friends is dead: The guy who I talked to on the phone that was still in Saffron city...We're not proud of what we did, and everything that followed was never supposed to happen, and now we know that was a mistake. That should answer your question about how we know so much about this tunnel; we've used this place to smuggle merchandise across the border. It didn't mean much to us at first, especially since we've been around long before the Kanto military was blockading the border...Its probably too late to say this, now that you know, but we're NOT your enemies. We saved you from the nuclear bomb; if we wanted EnDoG gone, like we did before, then we would've just left you and went someplace else: Trust us, Hoenn didn't destroy our only safe house,"
Above, the rumbling continued, only heightening everyone's fear. While they were here fighting with each other, something worse could be happening somewhere on the surface.