Chapter 21

 TWENTY-ONE

“This is Gargoyle One, leaving operation airspace with Golem Two” the veteran Tomcat pilot reported.

Trigger gave a weak smile at the report before turning his attention back to his situational awareness display, there was still dozens of Erusean drones, and one Arsenal Bird in the airspace over the Chopinburg rainforest that he and Clown would have to handle as members of the rear guard, buying Gargoyle and Golem Squadrons time to escape.

Damn Squids, they get to run with their tail between their legs, and we have to do the hard work Trigger admonished to himself.

The AWACS Sky Keeper rapidly chimed in “Retreating aircraft, prepare for combat, it’s a Bogey. Gargoyle One, Golem two, engage now! Attack!” he ordered.

So much for proper radio calls Trigger thought to himself.

Trigger slewed his radar onto one drone, he locked onto it and fired one of his remaining AIM-120 missiles. “Fox Three” he said quickly over the radio. The jet shuddered as the missile left the pylon.

“One jet, it’s an SU-30” Gargoyle one reported. Flankers, Erusea’s sending in the big boys now, I should probably save my last ARMAAM for him then Trigger made a mental note, and clicked over to the stores page on the multi-function display of the F-16. A Drone streaked past his canopy, Gotcha.

“Gargoyle one – Caution Missile!” Trigger could hear a voice shout. The voice was female, but not of any Hornet pilots he knew.

That’s not right.

Trigger returned his attention to the Drone, it was right in front of him, a perfect shot. He flipped the switch to outboard and lined the pipper on the tail of the drone. Squeezing the trigger, he could hear a belch and watched as the sleek lines of the drone erupted into a fireball.

He turned his attention back to Golem and Gargoyle.

“Sky Keeper, Gargoyle One lost.” The Female hornet pilot reported.

That’s not Brownie. The thought crystalized within Triggers mind.

“What the Hell?!” Trigger wasn’t sure if he or the AWACS said it first. He got onto the radio “Cossette is that you?” Trigger shouted, confused, and embarrassed.

None of this makes any sense.

“Golem Two, status report!”  Sky Keeper demanded.

There was the sound of grunted and straining. In response. Trigger switched back to his situational awareness display and looked frantically for the now alone F/A-18. He banked his Viper in a hard turn and firewalled the throttle, he felt a slight jolt as it went into afterburner. The speed tapes on his HUD screamed by.

“Just talk to me!” Sky Keeper said forcefully.

“I’m against, an SU-30!” Golem Two replied.

“Cosette, I’m inbound!” Trigger shouted.

“Negative Mage Two, you need to support the other members of Golem and Gargoyle, Cossette can handle this herself.” Sky Keeper admonished

“Judy, Judy!” Trigger hissed. He saw an 18 pop up on his RWR receiver, almost obscured by the 30 of the hostile Flanker. Trigger engaged his Air-to-air radar and slewed around.

“I can’t shake it off, its matching me move for move!” Cossette replied.

“Golem Two, stop dogfighting and run!” Knocker ordered.

Trigger furrowed his brow, the two radar targets were almost overlapping, he didn’t want to risk locking onto the wrong jet.

“Cossette, listen! I need you to get some separation on this guy, I can’t lock him up until you do.” Trigger replied. He watched the distance to target tick down.

“The longer it takes, the worse our odds of getting out of here are. Machines don’t get tired.” Knocker said. “No Shit” replied Clown, the annoyance rising in his voice.

“I’m dead meat!” Cossette cried. Not good. Trigger thought.

“Keep your head in the game dammit! Jink and get away from that bastard!” Trigger shouted.

“I don’t get it, why isn’t it opening fire?” Cossette said hesitantly. Trigger could recognize what was happening. Whoever she was up against had successfully gotten inside her head. She no longer was able to think about the fight before her.

“Focus Cossette!” Trigger shouted in vain. Fuck it. He selected a target and fired off his last AIM-120. He watched as the missile lost radar lock and sailed harmlessly though a cloud layer and into the jungle below.

“I’m scared!” Cossette cried. Trigger’s F-16 punched through a Cloud and was visual to the situation. Cossette’s Hornet rolled and weaved sloppily, the Flanker sitting right on her tail.

Trigger switched over to his remaining AIM-9 Sidewinder, the low growl filled his helmet.

“I’m scared!” Cossette cried again.

“This is not good.” Clown noted. “Cossette, break off!” Knocker ordered.

“Mage, help us!” Shouted one of the remaining Gargoyle pilots.

“We need to get those UAV’s off our friends!” Clown barked.

Trigger maneuvered his F-16, he was still out of the Sidewinder’s engagement range.

“Golem Two, what’s your status?” Knocker asked. Hearing nothing, he shouted again “Status report!”

“I can’t do this” Cossette replied weakly.

“Golem two get ahold of yourself!” Knocker yelled.

Trigger could hear a high-pitched squeal in his helmet “Mage two engaging!”

“Trigger” Cossette said slowly. Time seemed to stop.

 

“Goodbye” she said.

 

Trigger watched in horror as the Hornet in front of him exploded in a ball of fragments and flames. He looked around frantically, not noticing that the Missile had lost its lock.

Come on, Parachute, where is the chute! He thought as he frantically searched the sky below. The Hornet’s burning corpse plunged into one of the snaking rivers below.

His blood was boiling now.

“BASTARDS!” he screamed, spittle flying from his mouth as he maneuvered the jet to reengage the Flanker head on. Voices over the radio sounded distant, almost underwater. He put the F-16 into Dogfight mode.

He could see tracer’s from the Flankers 30mm canon streak past his cockpit. He hardly noticed the glass of his canopy shatter away.

He could hardly feel any outside sensations as the AIM-9’s targeting reticle fell on the cockpit of the Flanker.

He squeezed the trigger and fired his final missile.

***

Trigger woke up startled. Just a dream he reminded himself. He looked around and saw he was still at Farbanti Air Base. Standing up he stretched out and checked his watch. Just past 9:30. Sunrise was at 6, No wonder why I hurt like hell He thought.

He made his way back to the makeshift command post the Oseans had set up in the bases courtyard. Trigger found Major Walker, sitting on the back of a Humvee and stirring a brown liquid Trigger guessed was coffee in a Styrofoam cup. “Morning sunshine.” Walker said as Trigger walked up. “morning” Trigger replied sluggishly.

“Coffee?” Walker asked offering the cup of mystery liquid. “Is that what this is called?” Trigger shot back. “Damn air force prima donnas” Walker grumbled, taking back the cup.  

“Any idea when we’re heading back?” Trigger asked, looking around at the Osean forces milling around the field. Walked shrugged “Whenever Padbury and Woods stop arguing, I guess. If you want back into town, you’re better off asking one of the Eruseans for a ride probably. I can’t spare the men or vehicles.” Walker said apologetically.

“eh, don’t worry about it. I’ll see what I can do.” Trigger replied.

Returning to the Eruseans operations building, Trigger was still having issues shaking the dream he had had. It had felt real to him. At least we only dealt with the one Trigger thought to himself.

 

Trigger knocked on Colonel Andre’s door. “What do you need?” The Colonel said laconically, keeping his attention on a computer monitor Infront of him.

“Preferably to see if I can get a ride back to the Palace.” Trigger said.

Andre raised an eyebrow and looked up from the screen. “I am to be reporting to Her Royal Highness in two hours. I will be leaving in fifteen minutes if you so wish.”

“That’ll be fine.” Trigger said unargumentative Weird how he’s being so talkative.

“You do not say a word the entire trip. Got it?” Andre ordered.

“Understood.”

 

The ride was uneventful. Trigger couldn’t help himself but think about the dream the night before. The feelings of pure hate and loss were still fresh in his mind.

 

Upon arrival to the Royal palace, Trigger stumbled his way to his room to quickly shower off and change.

Donning a fresh pair of ABUs and feeling slightly better, Trigger walked his way to the royal office wing of the palace. There, awaiting him, was Cossette’s head assistant, Gretchen.

“Ah, Major. Her Royal Highness was expecting you.”

“is she in a Good or bad mood?” Trigger asked.

“Inconclusive. I’m sure your report will have much to do with her mood.” Gretchen replied tersely. “If you will wait right here. She is still in talks with Colonel Andre.” Gretchen ordered, motioning to a chair in the waiting room.

Trigger once again dozed off until he heard the door to Cossette’s office open and close. He blinked a few times to see Colonel Andre glaring at him. The Colonel straightened out his coat and without saying a word, walked away.

Whatever. Trigger thought.

“Major, come in!” Cossette bellowed from her office.

Trigger quickly made his way in and shut the door behind him.

“Where were you last night?” Cossette opened with.

Without replying, Trigger ran over and embraced her. He could feel tears welling up in his eyes. He thought about the nightmare.

“Trigger!” She admonished before relenting and returning his hug.

“Is everything alright?” she asked concerned, looking into his eyes. Trigger stepped back and rubbed his eyes clear and composed himself. “Yeah, just a bad night. I’ll be fine. As for your question, I went to go see the local Osean garrison.”

“Yeah, but then I hear you ended up at the Air Base?”

“Oh yeah that. The local commanders thought it was another attack from Erusea. They wanted to secure the airbase to make sure it wasn’t.” Trigger explained.

“And why did they assume it was us?”

“Mostly because no one could get a hold of them or the Colonel.”

“wait, what do you mean ‘no one could get a hold of the Colonel’. Was he not with you?” Cossette asked.

“Eventually. Was he not with you?” Trigger replied.

“He was, but well into the ‘attack’. I understand while there were casualties. Most were friendly fire.” Cossette said, putting her fist under her chin.

“That sounds about right. Andre said he was with you though; did he tell you something different?”

“No, not directly. Trigger, I don’t want to sound paranoid, but its all to convenient; the timing that is. Right as everything is collapsing, they go for one final blow against the Capitol? It just seems too convenient.”

“So, what are you thinking?”

“I want you to do me a favor Trigger. Someone set this up, and I need you to find out who.” Cossette ordered.

“That honestly seems easier said than done.”

“You’ve made acquaintances with those on the base already, plus you have an idea what to look for anyways. And on top of all that, you’re the only person I can actually trust.” Cossette replied.

Trigger walked behind her desk and embraced her in a hug. “Of course, I’ll get it done. I mean, you buttered me up with all those sweet words.”

“Well you do owe me anyways. I was alone without you here. And now I hear you decided to sleep outside at some random airport instead of with your own girlfriend?” Cossette said slyly.

“Well, I feel bad about it, you know those metal benches hurt?” Trigger said in an exaggerated stretching motion causing Cossette to giggle.

“How do you propose I go about finding these answers? You do know I am not a member of your Air Force. I can’t imagine I will have immediate access to their documents.”

“Easy. I’m the Princess and I will tell Andre to give you access. He won’t like it, but he will have to listen.” Cossette said flatly.

“Isn’t that one way to just piss him off more? I know he wasn’t in a good mood leaving.”

“He will get over himself. He’s in a mood because of our absence yesterday.”

That caught Trigger’s attention “What did he find out?”

“Oh nothing. Just that I wasn’t here when the ‘attack’ began.” Cossette replied.

“Seems to be a lot of that going around today.” Trigger mused.  

***
Captain Norris read the briefing handed to him. Nodding he pinned it to the board.

“Listen up!” He bellowed to the Marines milling around in the hangar. “Our Source came through for us once again. Looks like the transaction is on! Get your asses in gear!” he yelled.

“What’s the insertion going to be?” one of the Squad leaders asked.

“Night Stalkers will be dropping in our main assault elements and Third for perimeter watch. Fourth has the Chinook ride.” Norris replied.

There was a handful of groans from the operators assigned to the Fourth element, Norris grinned at their dismay. “Get over it you cry babies. Not everything we do is out of an action movie.” He reminded them.

“I miss Saber, at least they brought pizza.” Groaned another member of the crowed.

***

It was nearing Afternoon by the time Trigger had returned to Farbanti Air Base. Despite the excitement of the previous twenty-four hours, and the Osean unit still parked in their front yard, life on base seemed to have returned to normal. As Trigger entered the Operations building, he could hear the roar of F-5 fighter jets taking off.

Now where the hell will I even begin to look? Trigger thought to himself frustrated.

“Trigger!” he heard a familiar voice call out. It was Asher. “What brings you back so soon?” Asher asked

Trigger shrugged, “Yeah, just wanting to see if there was any information on the incident last night on behalf of the Princess.”

Asher scowled. “That whole shit-show. We’re reasonably positive both Professor and Chief were actually shot down, but the bandits had fucked off before we ever responded. Everyone else was blue-on-blue fire.”

“So, the Colonel was right in his assessment?” Trigger asked.

“Spot-fucking-on. Would ‘a been nice if he had fucking been here from the beginning to stop that shit.” Asher said gritting his teeth.

“You friends with either of them?” Trigger asked. “Yeah, I knew Professor since he was also a flight lead. Good pilot.” Asher replied.

“You ever lose anyone you knew?” Asher asked.

“Plenty. Unfortunately.” Trigger replied solemnly. Brownie, Champ, Clown, Full Band, High Roller, Twister, Wiseman.

“So, anything else you can tell me?” Trigger asked, changing the subject.

Asher looked around before responding “Nothing I can say out in the open. Follow me.” He said, leading Trigger to an empty Squadron briefing room.

“why the secrecy?” Trigger asked.

“Rumor is someone set them up. There were no indications that it was just a pop-up assault, those bandits knew when and where those guys would be.” Asher said

“Seems like a pretty big assumption for an incident not even a day old.” Trigger said folding his arms.

“Intelligence Services intercepted a transmission a few hours before direct to Lambert facility, had their flight plan and everything.” Asher replied.

“Who would have access to those plans anyways?” Trigger asked.

“Functionally? Just Professor and Pepe.” Asher replied.

“Yeah but don’t you have a sortie schedule? Anyone could have figured it out.”

“Not exactly. Unlike a regular patrol, Pepe wanted us to mix it up. The odds of someone just looking at it and getting those details are slim to none.” Asher quickly replied.

“And Professor probably didn’t leak his own plans.” Trigger said slowly before shaking his head. “What would Andre have for motivation?”

Asher shrugged. “Supposedly he was one of those officers sympathetic to the Free Erusean movement during the last war. Makes sense he would want to see the Federation rise again.”

“Seems like a bit of a stretch considering his recent history though.” Trigger replied skeptically.

“Occom’s Razor. The simplest solution is almost always the best” Asher stated.

“Well we need more than a gut feeling.” Trigger replied.

“Fine. Professor was a friend, and I’ll be dammed if I let the Colonel get away with his death.” Asher said determined.

***
Cossette took her seat in the darkened room. She was in the Erusean High Command’s war room, Located two stories underground below the High Command complex in Farbanti.

The entire complex was a brick-for-brick recreation of the original facility, dating back to the early 1940’s, It was one of the many aspects of Farbanti that had been erased with the Ulysses disaster.

Along the wall opposite to her, was positioned three giant monitors, all with different information. On the furthest to her left she recognized the map of the Lambert region of Erusea, a mountainous region and the last refuge of the Radical forces, occupying the command-and-control bunkers built within the granite mountain range. One the furthest right was a constant stream of data scrolling past, it seemed to be of great interest to the Generals she had gathered but it was mostly foreign to Cossette. Occupying the middle screen was an overhead view of the snowcapped mountain range, Cossette thought she was staring at a picture until she noticed the faint explosions from artillery peppering the sreen.

An Erusean Army colonel took his position behind a podium in front of the monitors.

“Your Highness, Ladies and Gentlemen. It is with great pleasure that I report that Operation Ragnarök is set to commence. We will be seeing the end of the Radicals today.” The colonel started.

“Care to explain the Operation?” Cossette asked.

The colonel laughed nervously and continued “Ragnarök will be a joint Erusean and Osean operation. We have outfitted our remaining Tu-95 bombers with left over Helios warheads, and the Oseans will be deploying their B-52’s with GBU-57 ‘bunker busters’ precision bombs. The plan, in short, will be to drop the Lambert facility on the remaining Radicals heads.”

Cossette pursed her lips at the thought. “Have we given them any options to surrender?”

This time, a much older general spoke up. “Of course your highness but, they have shown no indication of stopping. Believe us when I say that this is our last resort.”

Cossette nodded. “What is this footage we’re seeing now from?” She asked, motioning towards the center screen.

“The FCU graciously is lending us a data feed from a U-2 spy plane they deployed as an overwatch. This is just one of the few sensors it has onboard.” He reported.

Another officer stood up and shouted, “Five minutes!”

***
Adams watched as a black suburban drove leisurely towards the warehouse. It hadn’t been more than half an hour and already he had counted five separate vehicles had made their way to the warehouse.

“Berserker Actual, Rider One-Four. Looks like we have another party guest. How copy?” He whispered into his throat microphone.

“Berserker copies all. We have Vipers overhead and got good handshake. Plenty of tangos on the inside too. Stay out of sight until we arrive.” Captain Norris ordered.

Adams could see the occupants of the vehicle disembark as it parked. One man in the back, their leader he presumed, was dressed in a flashy teal suit with a bright pink dress shirt, He almost looked like an albino to Adams with a nearly translucent skin and pale blond hair. His entire look was in sharp contrast to the rest of the men who were either dressed in combat gear or were in fine suits.

“A lot of guys just for a simple arms deal.” Zhao mused over the radio. Hiding with a small assault team across the street from the warehouse.

“Our Source seems to think that something might have soured with the buyer. They are probably just trying to protect their investment.” Fick replied.

Adams watched the warehouse for what felt to him like an eternity. “All Servants be advised, large Semi-truck inbound. Must be the buyer.” One of the Berserker command post marines reported.

Adams watched the semi-truck and trailer park Infront of the warehouse, He watched one of the men run out of the truck cab and open the door to the trailer, he watched as half a dozen men hopped out and took up a defensive position around the trailer. To his surprise, instead of the rag-tag rebel or terrorist group he was expecting, they were well groomed and uniformed professional soldiers.

“Well this is strange.” Zhao whispered.

“Berserker is three minutes out” Norris reported.

Adams racked a round into the barrel of his M200 and clicked off the safety. Then he settled in to wait.

 

Over the ambient noise of the harbor, he could start to pick up the distinctive sound of rotor blades beating against the air.

 

Wish we could have cleared the civilians out of here he thought to himself.

 

“All Servants, Berserker is one minute out. Grail is filled” Norris reported.

The sound of gunfire filled the air.

***
Trigger studied the documents before him on the desk. Him and Asher had been spending the previous hours poring through the information they had on the shot down aircrafts mission, along with personnel records of everyone involved.

He rubbed his temples, “The only thing I am not getting is the why of it all.” He said defeated.

Asher kicked his feet up on the desk and took a sip of coffee, reading through the Air Traffic Controllers personnel record “For which one?”

“Andres. The Controller checks out, As do both of the pilots. But Andre’s record is also perfect in this regard.” Trigger said confused.

“I wonder if that’s just his official record we’re seeing then.” Asher proposed.

“What the hell do you mean?”

“Well you see, after the last War, plenty of officers went and joined the ‘Free Erusea’ movement, however not all of them defected, some provided material aid, others intel, and some, helped existing defectors get back into the fold.”

“Nice theory but how does Andre come into all of this?” Trigger asked.

Asher took his feet off the desk and leaned forward. “Look at all the black ink before 2009? How much do you want to bet Pepe was apart of the Free Erusea movement?”

“And your saying he might have leaked this to the Radicals now?”

“I mean, Pepe was one of the first officers trained after the original Royal Family was ousted. Makes sense to me.”

“I don’t know. I think we’d need more evidence if you wanted to convince anyone.” Trigger said defeated.

“Well, just look at his daughter then.” Asher said pointed

“What daughter?” Trigger asked.

“Do you mean you never saw the pictures in his office?” Asher asked

“No? His office was empty every time I’ve been there.”

Asher shook his head.

“You see Trigger. Colonel Andre has been somewhat of a legend around here, but for more than his flying abilities. Like I said, he was one of the first officers trained out of the Academy when the Federation took over, but after that he was commissioned in the Air Force as a Tomcat pilot with the 41^st Fighter Squadron. He made a name for himself during the coup d’état, becoming an ace a few times over.” Asher explained.

“Ok, go on? Im still not seeing motive to kill F-5’s here.”

“Well, in his private life, he also had a family. I guess he got married right after commissioning, and in 1996 they had their only daughter Sophie. For those few years I guess It was idyllic until 1999 with Ulysses. He was living in Farbanti when it all went down. He was able to save his daughter, but his wife was one of the thousands killed in the old town. He was probably one of the first men to volunteer in the missions against the FCU after that. I think he blamed them for his wife’s death.”

Trigger nodded.

“After that,” Asher shrugged before continuing “His daughter was enrolled in a Military school for most of the Continental War, and I guess he didn’t come back into her life until the Royal family returned to power. From there he traded the life of a fighter jock to that of a single father. It was no real surprise she was accepted into the military academy, and of course ENN made a big deal out of her joining the 41^st like her old man.”

“Ok? Where is this going?”

“Then comes this war. Sophie and her Squadron were assigned as a forward assault element, supported by the Arsenal Birds we seized. Last July, her unit was stationed in Roca Roja, just behind the main front line and guarding a munitions depot or some shit. Osea came out of nowhere and obliterated the base, Killed Sophie and her squadron too. I guess Pepe was gutted after hearing those words.”

Trigger furrowed his brow. Was that the one where High Roller got shot down? He struggled to remember. Trigger nodded for Asher to conclude.

“So, since Pepe doesn’t know, or can’t kill the sum bitch that killed his daughter. Who are you thinking he is pinning the blame on for killing the last of his family?”

Trigger felt his face drop as he came to the same conclusion. “Do you honestly think he’d blame the Princess?”

Asher shrugged “Maybe. I guess his daughter was a hard-liner for the Royal families push for war. Princess Rosa inflamed many people of our generation towards the cause. And Andre has the precedent. ‘Burn Osea to the Ground’ was their battle cry, I think he might have taken at least the sentiment to heart when it comes to the Princess.”

 Trigger nodded.

***
“Shots fired! Shots Fired!” Zhao hissed into the radio. Adams watched the gunfight play out below as the Soldiers and sicario gunned each other down in a confusing cacophony of gunfire and bloodshed.

One of the MH-6 Helicopters flew past Adams vantage point, He could see flashes of small arms fire from the helicopters as the operators dispatched the gunmen outside the building.

Adams, taking the cue, lined up a shot. There was an unidentified soldier taking cover behind one of the vehicles, fumbling with his HK-33 assault rifle that appeared to have jammed.

Adams lined the crosshairs just above the soldiers neck, taking into account the bullet drop to place the shot into the mans chest.

He let out a breath and squeezed the trigger.

CRACK

Adams waited for half a second to see the man crumple in place, then he repositioned the rifle to another target.

CRACK

***
Cossette watched the icons crawl across the screen. Fighting war like this felt too sterile, being disconnected from the battle unfolding before her from the remote vantage point.

“We had music last time. Can’t we get something to play now? I think Flight of the Valkyries by Wagner would be a good fit.” Complained one of the generals.

Cossette glared at him “I don’t see how you’d want to celebrate this occasion. We’re sentencing our own countrymen to die today.” She scolded.

“Well your highness, if your family had shown more leadership during our war with the Oseans, maybe we would be in this mess or would have to resort to this” the general retorted.

“General Marquis, will you kindly shut the fuck up?” Colonel Andre growled from behind Cossette, startling her.

When the hell did he get here? She thought to herself.

“Colonel, I’d remind you to take heed of your tone.” Marquis hissed.

“Or what? I frankly agree with the Colonel” Cossette said defiantly.

She could see General Marquis starting to form a response, but then leaned back and conceded the point.

Wise choice, asshole. She thought, smirking to herself.

 

“Thirty seconds to weapons deployment” shouted an officer from the rear of the room. A Timer appeared above the live footage of the battlefield.

Cossette watched the center monitor as the first of the Osean bombers entered the picture, their engines leaving distinct contrails in their wake as they approached their targets.

“Someone put on the audio” barked another officer.

Soon a hissing noise came over the speakers in the room, dominating everything

“This is Buccaneer one-one. Ordinance has good handshake with forward observers” one of the bomber pilots reported.

“Buccaneer one-three, mudspike” Another pilot calmly reported

“Buccaneer two-four Bombs away” a bombardier reported over the radio. Cossette watched the first explosion rock the mountain as the timer hit 0:00. Soon the room was dominated by radio traffic as similar reports were made, the screen was filled with billowing black smoke belching from the few craters in the mountain side.

“Buccaneer, RTB” The first pilot reported a minute after the bombing began.

“Bears are one minute behind” An officer reported to the room.

Andre crouched down and whispered to Cossette “Its almost time for the finale your highness. I don’t think anyone here would blame you for looking away at this point.” He said reassuringly.

She shook her head. “No, I need to see this through. I owe them that much.” She said, steeling herself.

Cossette watched as glistening smaller dots arced their way into view. The polished metal of the Erusean Air Force’s Tu-95 ‘Bear’ bombers gliding across the snowy hellscape below.

A new voice came over the radio. “Attention all bombers. The Osean’s Fat Fuckers kicked in the bastards door and now its up to us to finish the job. Prepare your ordinance and let us finish what they started! To Erusea!” The pilot bellowed to the cheers of his fellow squadron-mates.

“Sakura two, Weapon is armed. Bombs away!” Shouted another pilot.

The room fell silent in anticipation. The image from the U-2 pixelated briefly as a bright blue flash filled the screen, before it had a chance to dissipate, more bright flashes joined it.

Gradually, the image on the screen faded and cleared, to reveal the damage.

 

The smoke had been blown away, as was the snow, and what appeared to be several layers of rock. The mountain now looked sunken and hollow to Cossette; On the far-right screen she could see geological stations reporting the shockwaves emanating throughout the mountain as the complex crumbled inside.

 

After a pregnant pause, the sound to the radio returned

“Sakura Squadron, RTB”

 

“Now what do we do?” asked another General.

“We have to wait. The Blackcat U-2 will stay on station a while longer to assess the situation. The Radical threat should be buried underneath all that granite and explosives.” Colonel Andre replied pragmatically.

 

Cossette let out a long sigh of relief and slunk back into her chair. Is it really over that easily? She thought. It bothered her how little she felt on the situation.

“Well Your Highness, I should congratulate you on your success in defeating the Radical threat.” General Marquis said hollowly straightening the papers before him. Instead of a joyous mood, the room remained somber, Cossette was not sure if it was for her sake or if the rest of her officers shared the same sentiments.

***

 Norris bounced around on the bench on the MH-6 Helicopter. He was annoyed with the way the entire mission was planning out, mostly due to the fighting having been started without his men engaging the enemy first. Nothing survives first contact he thought as he lined up his red dot sight on a target, from the quick glance he guessed it was one of the cartel’s sicarios that was running on the roof of the target warehouse. With a quick burst of his HK-416 the gangster was dropped.

Norris looked around to the outside of the building and saw largely no movement. He keyed his throat mic

“Berserker One to Rider, Is the area clear for insertion?”

“Rider to Berserker, all external hostiles taken care of. Feel free” Adams replied.

“Assassin, Berserker, get ready to kill the lights in the building. Element two, take up defensive positions at the front, Element one will breach the building from the side.” Norris ordered, motioning for the Littlebird pilot to set the helicopter down in the landing zone.

As he unclipped from the helicopter, he saw the second element taking up positions around the Semi-truck’s trailer. Waiting for the MH-6 to lift off again, he motioned for his squad to stack up on a side door to the warehouse.

“Berserker to Assassin, where we coming with those lights?” Norris whispered.

“Standby. Ok ready to go on your call Berserker” Zhao replied.

Norris waited for his squad to get into position, rigging the door with an explosive to blow the lock off and allow them inside.

“Ok, we’re doing this like standard. Anyone inside is a bad guy and you treat them as such. Got it?” Norris said firmly. He knew that they were well aware of the situation but repeating it out loud made it crystal clear the situation.

“On My Count. Three, Two One, Breach!” Norris barked into the Radio. A second after the flimsy metal door was blown from its hinges, a flash bang grenade tossed by the second element detonated inside the warehouse, the multiple cargo containers providing ample surfaces for the deafening noise and blinding light to permeate the room.  Norris flipped down a night vision monocle and lead the way into the warehouse. Moving quickly to evade the fatal funnel of the doorway, the Marines fanned out through the narrow corridors of the warehouse. Norris could hear gunfire as his squad eliminated those they found.

Norris kept his rifle at the ready as he made his way towards the center of the structure, his world bathed in a green light from the night vision, nearing a T in the path he paused, he slowly peeked his head around the corner to see an armored cartel member rubbing his eyes with his hand, likely blinded in the initial assault.  

Norris studied the man for a split second, He was armored, but his weapon was hung by the sling on his shoulder, and at the angle he was leaning on the wall Norris had a perfect shot to his chest to bypass the plates he was wearing. Fucking amateur Norris thought to himself as he pulled the trigger, sending a three round 5.56 burst into the mans abdomen. Like with the others, he fell to the floor dead instantly.

“Berserker One, Tango down, Proceeding to main target.” Norris whispered as he continued towards the weapon.

“All Berserker servants be advised; I am still seeing one more tango around the weapon. Looks like he may be gunning to arm it.” One of Berserkers command post Marines reported over the net.

Norris reached the target area the same time as other members of his team, the final target was waiving a flashlight around in vain and yelling. Norris paused for a moment and noted the man was wielding a large handgun and was in a cheap suit. Lowering his weapon, he pulled a knife from his vest and threw it to a far-off corner of the room.

As he had expected, the cheap suit fired wildly at the direction of the noise, the quick rapport of gunfire was cut off by a dull crack crack crack of suppressed rifles cut the man down.

“Tango down” was whispered across the net.

There was a pause as the Marines approached and secured the suspect crate. As the Marines worked, they received the all clear signal, and slowly the lights returned to the warehouse.

With the benefit of light, Norris could see the blood bath, a handful of dead soldiers, along with what appeared to have been a few dead suited cartel members along with their leader. Norris crouched down and peeled the gun from the dead leaders hand, It was a massive and ugly weapon, poorly painted in a golden color, Norris read DESERT EAGLE PISTOL – MAGNUM RESEARCH was engraved along the slide.

“Gangsters do have the flair for the dramatic.” Mused a voice behind Norris, he looked back to see Berserker Teams medic, Hernandez, watching over him.

“Yeah something like that. 44 Mag from the looks of it.” Norris replied, tossing the pistol aside.

Hernandez shrugged “It looks cool but that’s about it for its tactical capabilities. Im fine with my current kit.” He replied tapping a hand on the MP7 he had slung to his chest.

“Was there something you needed?” Norris asked, standing up and wiping his hands on his pants.

“yeah, Police are showing up and Third Element needed someone to talk to the bureaucrat they brought with them.”

“Joy, Well just for that Doc, your coming with me.” Norris replied.

“Berserker Four-One, Berserker One, whats the ETA on the EOD teams?” Norris asked, walking towards the exit of the warehouse, passing even more dead cartel members.

“Five minutes boss” Replied the marine.

Norris sighed.

“Super Six-One, Berserker, two for dust off to Berserker Three’s location” Norris called raggedly into his radio.  

“Super Six-One” replied the Littlebird pilot.

“Whats up Boss?” Hernandez asked

“I just hate dealing with the public. What do you want me to say?” he replied, squinting as he exited the building and into the daylight. He could hear in the far distance over the sound of the helicopters and other noises of the Harbor, a wailing of police sirens.

 

 

After a brief ride on the Littlebird to the entrance of the Harbor, Captain Norris could see what his men were dealing with. Flying over, he saw multiple SWAT APC’s and police cruisers gathered, One APC was billowing smoke and had flipped to its side, blocking the narrow entrance to the other vehicles.

 

The Police had taken defensive positions and were barking orders at the Marines, who were dug in.

“Set us down in the middle of that!” Norris yelled to the pilot, The pilot grinned and nodded, and in a dramatic fashion, blasting the members of Selatapura’s finest in rotor wash, he set the small helicopter down long enough for the two marines to disembark, before lifting off again.

Norris could hear a police officer barking orders to him over a bullhorn, which he held up a middle finger and walked towards his team leader.

“Gunny mind telling me what the fuck you did?” Norris opened with

The Gunnery Sergeant shrugged “They wanted to come in, we told them no. They pressed the issue. If its any consolation, we didn’t kill any of them, it was just enough to knock the MRAP on its side.” He said pragmatically.

Norris rubbed his face. “Fine… I guess I’ll go sort this out. Fucking jackass” Norris said, turning an about face and approaching the police line.

 

“Hey! Who’s in charge here!” Norris bellowed

“TURN AROUND AND PUT YOUR HANDS UP!” Ordered a police officer.

“That’s not what I asked. Whose. In. Charge?” Norris repeated forcefully.

“Hey boss, I’m good but not ‘filled with bullet holes’ good.” Hernandez’ voice whispered in his earpiece.

“Just keep it cool. Don’t fire unless fired upon and all that shit.” Norris said underneath his breath coolly.

“That’s me! I’m In Charge” came a hurried voice, running forward out of the police line. The man was thin, wearing an I’ll fitting suit and his hair was an artificially dyed black.

He stormed his way forward towards Norris, stopping within a step and putting his hands on his hips. “Austin Troy, I am a City Council Member here, I demand to know what your doing in the Harbor! We called the Air Base and they said nothing of this!” He yelled, motioning to the operation behind Norris.

“Well sir, Lovely to know you have a job in this economy but, I don’t actually give a shit who you are or what you want. Take your cops and go home before you get hurt.” Norris replied smirking.

Troy’s face curled into a snarl and got red “I WILL NOT BE DISRESPECTED LIKE THIS!” He snarled, spittle flying onto Norris’ uniform.

Norris laughed briefly, before he reached behind Troy, grabbing the councilman’s shoulders and forcing his head into the crook of his arm. “Listen here fucker, do you see the plane up there?” He asked, pointing towards the sky. The Councilman’s previous brave demeanor had switched to that of terror

“No, No!” He stammered, vainly struggling against the Marines hold on his neck.

“Well, the Plane see’s you, and it would take more than a few seconds to turn you and your boys into mincemeat” Norris threatened. “You wouldn’t, you wouldn’t dare!” Troy stammered

“Try me.” Norris shot back before releasing the Councilman to fall to the ground.

“Who are you people?” Troy coughed, rubbing his throat. “Just a bad dream, now forget we ever had this talk and go home while you still can.” Norris replied with a wicked grin.

Satisfied he made his case, he walked back towards the men of Third element.

 

“Nice talk boss?” Hernandez asked

“Something like that. We came to an understanding at least.” Norris replied.

“Berserker Four to Berserker One, you may want to see this” Came a call on the radio.

***
Trigger and Asher made their way quickly towards the command center of the base.

“Are you sure this is a bright idea?” Asher asked

“Well unless you have anything better. We have to find out what he was doing yesterday evening.” Trigger replied.

“And what if he doesn’t tell us? You just going to hold the acting commander of the air wing hostage with that piece in your pocket?” Asher asked incredulously

“Well, We will have to burn that bridge when we come to it.” Trigger replied, reaching the door. He could hear a commotion from the other end. Weird he thought.

Swinging the door open, he could see an air of celebration.

 

Asher quickly grabbed the closest Erusean he could “Que ce passe-t-il?” He asked

The Erusean grabbed the pilot by his shoulders and yelled “Nous avons gagné! Nous avons gagné!”

“Won quoi?” Asher asked “La guerre, nous avons gagné la putain de guerre! Les radicaux viennent de se rendre!” The Erusean replied excitedly

“Whats going on?” Trigger shouted; Asher was grinning ear to ear “The Radicals just surrendered. The war’s over finally!”

“That’s great, but we still need to go find Andre to see what he was doing!” Trigger shouted

“Who gives a shit! Even if he was a Radical, he lost! We need to celebrate! Your coming with me Trigger!” Asher replied

“But we have a job to do!” Trigger protested

“And you’ll be able to do it tomorrow! Come on, one beer!” Asher pleaded

Trigger relented “Fine. One beer.”

 

 

Trigger was in front of the jewelry stores entrance. After Asher had dragged him to the Officers club, he had only barely escaped unnoticed by the Erusean pilots. He wasn’t sure who said it, but quickly the word had spread around the bar about Trigger’s status as the famed Three Strikes who had been a terror to them months earlier. Instead of animosity, all the Erusean pilots seemed excited to talk to Trigger, He had lost count of how many group photos he was asked to take part in or how many times he was asked if he had actually participated in certain battles over the previous year. It was getting late in the evening when Trigger was finally able to pay his tab for a half drunken draught ale that Asher had forced on him and got a cab back into Farbanti. The shopping district was starting to close by the time he arrived, and from his observation, he was one of the last customers for this particular shop. Taking a deep breath, he walked in.

***

“What are we looking at.” Norris asked.

“Well, its something I noticed when we were deactivating that Nimbus warhead over there.” The Basilisk EOD explained, pointing his thumb over his back towards a broken open crate. “We were able to confirm the teal suited guy as a Machado Cartel arms dealer, Casper ‘Koko’ Orlov. Yuktobanian citizen, been working in Sapin since the end of the Belkan War helping the Machado’s run guns, planes and shit. We knew he was in Usea so, this finally crossed him off the list.”

“Ok, but that cant be it.” Norris said annoyed

“Its not. This guy here we found dead when we arrived. He’s the problem.” The EOD said, tapping a bald-headed soldier in the head with his boot. Norris could see he was dressed in military attire, but any unit affiliation or country patches had been torn off.

“Aside from the missing bits of his chest cavity, what’s the problem?”

“I recognize him. Lieutenant Colonel Jean Durand. 145^th Mechanized Infantry Division, Formerly Erusean Army. He was one of the POW’s we captured in Cape Rainy. He was last seen with the Conservative Forces near the border of Bulgurdarest.” The EOD explained.

“And I’m willing to bet then, those other men he’s with are in the same boat?”

“We took pictures and will have to confirm OIA, but that’s looking to be right.” The EOD said grimly.

“Shit.”