Incoming Transmission: Undisclosed Location

Operative: Agent X

“Agency!  Do you read?!  This is X.  We are under fire!  Repeat: We are under fire! Heavy concentration, too many for us to handle. Commence Operation Incense – activate ALL SLEEPERS.  Authorization DELTA.”

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I sent that distress message two days ago from a makeshift bunker in the middle of nowhere.  My unit was en route to an assignment deep in enemy territory, under the radar, black-ops.  I can’t tell you everything.  And all this is off the record.

We were moving through the desert, fighting the wind and sand in our faces with every step.  We had been briefed on the difficulty of this approach, but it seemed like the best way to get in undetected.  The five of us were advancing on our rendezvous point with Bravo Company and were about an hour away when we started hearing strange sounds.  Sounds that did not belong in the desert.

I stopped and spun around, thinking I heard some kind of animal tracking us.  It was dusk and the light was tricky, especially with all the sand in the air.  I couldn’t make anything out, so I signaled the team to keep moving.  Several more steps, and I heard it again.  This time, three of us spun around and drew our weapons.  Something was definitely on our tail.

“Did you hear that?”

“Yeah.  Do you see it?”

Silence.

“Locate the nearest Agency outpost and get ready to foxhole.”

We made it to the outpost without incident, thank God.  But it was an unnerving trip, knowing that we, the hunters, were being hunted.  When you’re black ops, you have a target on your back at all times, and we were being reminded of that fact very clearly.

First priority once we reached cover was to oil our equipment.  Agency oil is powerful stuff.  Protective, restorative, healing.  I always pour it over my head as we engage in battle, and it energizes me like nothing else.  Once everything was under-the-influence, we secured our location, checking out all angles of attack.  This particular outpost hadn’t been used in quite some time, apparently.  Not much fortification, so we would have to make do.  And we would have to shoot first.

Night passed by quietly.  Two on watch, three asleep.

About 0400, we heard a howl.  Then even closer, a blood-curdling screech.  Everyone leaped quickly to their stations and scanned the horizon through our 4-inch opening above the sand.  Pulses quickened, adrenaline surged.

Then we saw them.

Grotesque, ethereal and fast.  They darted all over the place and screeched the most piercing sounds you have ever heard.  If we had never seen them before, we would have been terrified.  Even so, we were sobered by the situation.

All five of us were using the Agency’s most high-powered weapon, “The Sword”.  This thing is versatile and adaptable; up close and personal, and just as accurate long-range.  We aimed and fired.  Ghoul after ghoul that entered our crosshairs was blasted to oblivion, dissipating into the sandy sunrise.  We kept firing.  We thought we were coming to the last stretch and were about to breathe a sigh of relief.  All of us had been cramped in the same positions for 90 minutes or so as we picked off the enemy; I couldn’t feel my toes.  All of a sudden, our hideout shook violently.  I felt searing heat on my face.  It knocked me on my back, and I must have blacked out for a few seconds.  The next thing I remember is Seraph shaking me, and I jumped up, scrambling for my Sword. Alpha was in a heap in the corner, bloody and lifeless.  The rest of us were dazed, but we knew what we had to do.  Keep firing.

While bullets blazed, I opened a channel to communicate our position to the Agency.  We knew we needed backup.  I wish we had called for it earlier.  I could hear the whiz of flaming projectiles and the annoying screech of enemy assailants, but I yelled my message loud and clear to the handler on the other end of my transmission: “Commence Operation Incense.  Activate ALL SLEEPERS.”

Operation Incense is the name for the “all hands on deck” play when things are critical.  Agents and handlers on mission are always burning incense, letting it rise to the Director.  But sometimes in the field, we need all agents and sleeper agents to join together and burn at the same time.  This operation creates a smoke screen to confuse the enemy, and releases more of the Director’s power into the battle.  In fact, it opens a window between our location and His, so He can step into the situation.  That’s exactly what we needed in this particular moment.  Without the Director’s stepping in, we were toast.

When I first realized the Operation was actually in progress, I saw Alpha stand up over in the corner.  I thought he was dead!  The Incense was rising.  The sleeper agents were awake and on task!  Alpha grabbed his gun and joined us again.  Our shots didn’t miss.  No matter how many more enemy forms we saw, we were able to neutralize them instantly.  There was a wall of light between us and them, and nothing they tried to throw at us was getting through.  I felt a surge of electricity up my back.  The Sentinels were behind us.  I fished in my pockets for my shades because our bunker was so full of light.

As we stood strong, the enemy waned.  Before we knew it, the battle was over.  No more screeching, no more fiery darts. We had won!  The sun was high overhead and the air was still, but there was still a heavy cloud of incense hanging over us.  The Sentinels stayed for what seemed to be several hours, and we felt the thick symphony of their voices pass through us and circle around us.  We lay on the desert sand, drawing deep breaths of the Presence and being restored.  Eventually, we got up one by one, gathered our gear and started back out for the rendezvous coordinates.  We were grateful.

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Crista Ashworth

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