10:47 The National Institute for Technological Advancement – Level 13 Secret Lab
John stared down at Dr. Norman’s body. He had thought that he’d feel something. Instead, he just felt nothing. No anger, no hatred, no happiness. Nothing at all.
Eve interrupted his thoughts and confirmed that there were no life signs from Dr. Norman. John snapped back into focus and pulled out his lone incendiary explosive from his pouch. He armed it and tossed it onto the body before turning and walking away.
A loud explosion was made and a napalm-like substance covered the body, parts of the wall, and the floor around the remains of Dr. Norman. Eve recorded the explosion, but John continued to walk forward. When he exited the lab, he called out to his platoon.
“Dagger actual, mission accomplished. ETA is ten minutes to rendezvous,” John said.
“Copy Lieutenant,” Erica said, “We’re holding up well here. You called it sir; the coordination of the defense appears much more random and fragmented.”
“Any casualties?”
“No more deaths, some more minor damage was taken though. Nothing that will prevent us from getting out of here expeditiously though,” Erica said confidently, “We are however running dangerously low on ammunition.”
“Copy. Any word on where SpecFor forces are around the base?”
“Negative, haven’t heard anything from them.”
“Keep your eyes open,” John said before closing the coms.
He continued to walk down the flights of stairs. John was grinning when he opened up the next com line. It was to operation command; he was making them aware that the primary mission was effectively over.
“Central Command, this is Dagger Leader, how copy?”
“Dagger Leader, we see you separated from your platoon. Explain,” the unidentified voice came back.
“My platoon had linked up with Lager and Falchion platoons. I had to run and do something.”
“What was that something?” Admiral Karlsson then spoke up.
“Dr. Norman has been disposed of. Fighting was more intense than expected. He survived without suffering any wounds but died in an explosion caused by a hostile firing at a containment vessel that was holding a preserved human. Their finger must have twitched in death. The preservation liquid exploded in a fireball that engulfed the doctor.”
“You were given specific instructions to take him, alive Lieutenant.”
“I tried. His forces ended his miserable existence for me. I wasn’t given an opportunity to really punish the asshole.”
“Order all troops in the central building to fall back to the outer perimeter. This operation has moved into its final stages,” Admiral Karlsson angrily said, “Lieutenant, we’ll be reviewing your suit’s sensor and video recordings when you get back to the ship.”
“No can do, sir. Took some damage, my VI is hemorrhaging at the moment.”
The comms link was cut unexpectedly. John shrugged and continued moving toward his platoon. Ten minutes later John had linked up with his platoon. They began a methodical exit from the building. The first part was probably the easiest as the explosion that created their entry to the central portion of the building closed most of the potential areas where they could be attacked on their flanks.
Almost on cue, they ran into some dazed and confused defenders on their flank. All of them had sidearms or rifles, but none were wearing body armor. All it took for the Marines to react to them was one of the defenders raising a gun at the armored Marines.
The attackers were quickly cut down. The kinetic shields did their job and prevented all damage from the small arms. John knew that the guns they were shooting at him and his Marines would only do damage if a stray shot struck an eye lens at just the right angle.
But enemies were enemies. Getting shot in the back, irrespective of whether they could harm them or not, wasn’t something anyone appreciated. And anyone that attacked them on this battleground was going to be attacked back, usually with more anger than was given to them.
“Sir, we’re monitoring comms. The others around the base have been fighting some seriously fucked…” Paul was interrupted before finishing his thought.
John rose a fist and all three platoons stopped immediately and finished Paul’s sentence, “Up shit. Heavies. Fuck up whatever those things are.”
Down the corridor, there were several ten-foot-tall, furry, and very muscular things. Obviously, an experiment of some kind, but he didn’t know whether or not these were animals that had human genes spliced into them or humans that had animal genes of some sort.
They looked feral and were feasting on dead soldiers. John didn’t know what was worse. That these were once humans or that they were actively eating dead bodies. In either case, he didn’t want them to live anymore.
The two Marines equipped with micro-lances fired first. The plasma cannon marines stepped forward next and fired. The micro-lances struck the closest monster's left shoulder and lower back. Both shots exploded on contact. The massive left arm was hanging on by hope and prayer but was effectively useless. The lower back shot appeared to paralyze the monster as it fell over and cried out in pain.
The other monsters were solely focused on eating until one of them began crying. They had been so engrossed in their feast that they ignored the noise the marines had been making. When they looked back, they were struck by the first wave of plasma attacks.
Whatever gene craft that had gone into creating these monsters made them incredibly resilient. Their fur was burned away, but their hides protected them somewhat from the plasma. But blood was drawn, which meant the weapons weren’t entirely ineffective either.
The plasma cannon-equipped Marines rapidly fired through their plasma stores. The micro-lances stepped forward once again, this time all four of them were ready and fired off another volley. The front three monsters absorbed most of the additional volleys, saving the others. Two of them took one more step each toward the Marines but both fell to the ground gasping for breath and slowly dying. Another took two plasma attacks to the face and effectively had its brain flash-fried. It fell backward and onto another one of the monsters.
“FIRE!” First Lieutenant Chester Pierce shouted.
All of the marines, irrespective of their platoon, began firing their assault rifles. The volume of fire was overwhelming. While the armor-piercing rounds weren’t terribly effective at piercing their hides, there was a certain quality to the quantity of fire that was being discharged.
One by one the monsters succumbed to deaths by a thousand cuts. The alpha monster was quickly the only one that remained. It was shrugging off the assault rifle attacks like nothing as John suddenly and unexpectedly charged forward at it.
When John got within in range of the monster it swiped its arm at it. John fired his thrusters to send him to the right, missing the attack. Then he jumped down to a knee and slid by the monster. As he slid by, he punched the monster’s ankle with the powered fist. As strong and durable as the hide was, they couldn’t protect the monsters’ bones from Jon’s ferocious attack. It took one more step forward before falling to the ground, crying out in pain.
If you spot this narrative on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.
The Marines stopped firing at the monster and watched as the real apex predator circled his prey. The monster was rolling around on the floor as it latched onto its destroyed ankle. It froze in terror as it looked up and saw John looking at it. One more punch, this time to the forehead, was all it took to put the miserable creature out of its misery.
“Put down the first one we dropped. Then let’s book it the fuck out of here. I’ve had my fill of this house of horrors,” John growled.
“Not talking about the furry giant animal beasts,” Vanessa said, “I can’t disagree with that.”
Paul got a closer look at one, “What in the fuck?”
The platoons began moving once more. They were retracing their steps. The goal was to leave the warehouse and loading dock where they had entered the base from. The map and route there were displayed on their HUDs. But as they began getting closer and closer to their exit point John began to have a sense of dread creep up within him.
11:55 The National Institute for Technological Advancement – Secondary Loading Dock
The platoons were creeping forward slowly in the lower levels. They trusted nothing and were ensuring they weren’t caught unawares. Complicating matters were their sensors were jammed. This was the first time that had happened in this operation.
“This is sketchy as fuck,” Vanessa said.
Chester stepped forward, “I want eyes on that warehouse and ramp. Any ideas?”
Arianna stepped over to a terminal and connected to it. She worked for a little bit before a picture was shared with everyone. John groaned as he saw what was going on.
“Fucking hell, one more item of bullshit before freedom,” John said, “This corridor connects to the main door, right? What about the sides?”
“We took one of those after entry here. There was one on the other side of the room,” Darryl said.
Danielle nodded, “I hear you cluckin’, I’ll take one of them. Lieutenant Pierce, you want the other and we flank those SpecFor fucks.”
“Are we sure they’ve received the orders?” Chester asked, “Like absolutely sure of that?”
“Yes, all Alpha, Bravo, and Charlie teams had kill orders unless our intel was incorrect,” John said.
“Positive?” Chester asked again.
“They are guilty until proven innocent,” Danielle said.
“I was given intel from a trusted, but personally very unliked, NI source. Then the squad commander we took out confirmed the same thing,” John said as he looked at the warehouse, “If you want to hold back your squad I’ll understand.”
Chester thought for a moment but then shook his head, “No, we’re in. Are you comfortable drawing the majority of fire from them?”
“The trap can’t be shut if we aren’t the bait,” John said as he looked back at his Marines, “For what it’s worth, I’m sorry but it needs to be done.”
“If they shoot then we kill ‘em, easy peasy,” Derrick said.
“I’d prefer not getting shot at, but this is our way out,” Darryl said.
“We’re on board,” Erica said succinctly.
“Move out, radio us when you are in position. Dagger platoon heavies out front, I’ll lead the way. Divert all additional power to kinetic shielding.”
Moments later the squad was walking down the corridor. John was uneasy but compartmentalizing that away for the oncoming fratricide. Now wasn’t the time for a curveball, yet here they were.
“Heavy weapons teams. Target their heavy weapons. When you see my order kill their heavy weapons,” John said.
Confirmations appeared on his screen.
“Everyone else just fire at the nearest target,” John said, “Do not pull the trigger until you get the order from me.”
They waited, impatiently, at the door until Lager and Falchion platoons were in position. Five minutes later John pressed the door open button and strode through it. Waiting for them was Commander Cunningham and his SpecFor platoon. They were all in defensive positions.
John stepped forward and spoke, “Commander Fuckface. For the record, I’m aware of your orders. We’ve eliminated four platoons of your peers for murdering us lowly regular forces. Surely you know how this is going to go if you follow your unlawful orders?”
“Hand the doctor over, then I’ll consider it.”
John laughed, “I killed him and eliminated all of his work. I fulfilled the mission as it should have been ordered.”
“Detecting their heavy weapons teams charging their weapons. Thirty seconds remain,” Eve said, “They were not prepared for your arrival.”
John set a timer to eight seconds before speaking, “Tik tok Commander, stand down and we can go home together. You haven’t done anything yet.”
“Orders are orders Lieutenant. By…”
“You have five seconds to stand down,” John said.
“Listen here you little shit…”
“Four…”
“Don’t you dare interrupt me!”
“Three…”
“STAND DOWN LIEUTENANT!”
Before John had a chance to continue one of the operators under Commander Cunningham’s fired his weapon. Time stood still for a split second. John and his platoon reacted first. Plasma cannons and micro-lances were amongst the first to fire. Unlike their compatriots in the hostile SpecFor platoon, their weapons were charged and raring to go.
In the first moments of the counterattack, all of Cunningham’s heavy weapons were struck down. Each and every one of them was killed by the micro lances or plasma fire. The conventional weapons were less effective, due to the operators taking cover, but that advantage was quickly ended when the two friendly Marine platoons burst forth from the flanks.
Cunningham and his operators were thrown for a loop. They were utterly confused about what was happening. They were outnumbered, outgunned, and outmaneuvered. Cunningham then began to retreat with a trio of his leaders.
“Cunningham is falling back, no joy with line of sight,” Danielle shouted over their shared coms.
John activated his jump jets and leaped over the plascrete barrier. He was running far faster than the operators had ever seen a Broadsword move. He closed the distance hellacious fast, one of the stopped and drew his weapon. John didn’t even try to land any attacks on him, he dropped his left shoulder and leveled the man.
The power armor’s kinetic shields burned out in an instant, then the man was sent backward several feet and landed on his back. Sparks were flying everywhere as he was sliding on his backside on the ground. John didn’t try to but landed a kick to the chest plate as he ran after the traitors. The boot damaged several supports and caved in the breastplate. The plate was so broken inward that it compressed the operator’s chest to a point that the man could breathe no more.
A pair of plasma blasts were fired in quick succession. Then another was fired. John had caught up to the last member that began retreating from them. This time he was ready to punch his enemy. It wasn’t a perfectly lined-up punch, but it shattered the shoulder pauldron and sent the man spinning to the ground.
“Dodge right!” Erica shouted.
John immediately fired his thruster’s mid-stride. A heartbeat later armor piercing rounds flew by John. Then what seemed like a stream flew by him. Commander Cunningham’s last loyal supporter was cut down just as they reached the ramp.
“Smooth,” John sounded impressed.
He continued to run forward and was within arm’s reach of the Commander. John fired the thrusters briefly, just enough for him to reach out with his left arm and grab hold of the power armor. John yanked back hard as he slid up the ramp.
Commander Cunningham felt like he was thrown into the next week. His forward momentum was instantaneously changed. Then he was thrown backward with an equally unexpected force. As he rolled himself over, he looked up and saw John step over him.
“You need me alive, I’m more…”
John wasted no time. There was no time to negotiate. The time for pleading was long lost. He wasn’t going to suffer traitors in his sight anymore. John reached back with his powered fist and sent a punch flying with all the anger and hatred he could muster. The suit’s servos and shock absorption systems wailed under the power of the punch.
Commander Cunningham’s torso was flattened into a meat paste. Bone, muscle, ligaments, and clothing were nearly all liquefied by the punch. The backplate and chest plate were effectively touching after that attack. The plascrete floor was severely cracked.
John’s powered fist was seriously damaged too. He decoupled it and watched it fall onto the dead Commander. Several other marines caught up to him.
“What do you want us to do with the survivors?” Paul asked.
“Execute them,” Danielle said, “They are traitors.”
Chester concurred, “I agree.”
John drew his pistol with his left hand and awkwardly passed it over to his right hand. He walked over to the three surviving members of SpecFor Platoon Alpha-Two. Only one looked up at John.
“You’re going to fry for what you did to us.”
“Not likely,” John pulled the trigger.
The hate-filled man fell over, dead. John looked at the other two, but neither looked up at him. Guilt was written on their features. They knew they had broken their oaths, John also suspected that they also accepted this as a more lenient punishment than what awaited them back home.
John dispatched the remaining two men in quick succession before looking back at the gathered Marines, “Let’s get the hell out of this house of horrors and go home.”
They jogged up the ramp and paused for a moment as the three officers looked at the map for friendly signatures. There was a staging ground for armor near where the bunker they cleared out. The three platoons made way for the clearing.
When they reached the clearing, they were welcomed by the Marines that were present. A quick chat with the commanding officer at the makeshift base let them know that the drop ships were landing about two miles due west of that location. That location was rather annoyingly a maze away from the current location.
Also annoyingly was the lack of any troop transports. They had to hoof it to the exfiltration point. John and the others shrugged and got underway. Twenty minutes later they reached the gathering point for dropships. A stream of drop ships could be seen taking off and heading upwards into the void beyond. Another stream of ships could be seen in the morning sun flying back to ferry up another platoon.
At that point, John finally relaxed and let out a deep breath. The mission was successful, his mission that was. Fleet Commands was an utter fucking disaster. While the physical battle was done the political one was about to start, but for now, John was happy that he and his platoon had their health, and they’d all fight another day.