Part 1 – The Attack
New York, the Office of Free Market Exchange…
The Office of Free Market Exchange is the kind of place that you'd read in those political thrillers where the hero is a former FBI Agent turned Accountant, or a spy trying to save a bunch of rich guys from some crazy villain with an eyepatch and a scar that runs the length of his face over his eye.
You know the typical kind of men that people like us dream of being: men that have apartments in Uptown Manhattan, and wonder if they should take their Ferrari or their Porsche to work, and if they should have their assistant bring them their lunch or should they go get it themselves, but then decide to send their assistants out.
They could marry any woman in the world, and still have the courage to divorce them next week and remarry the following week because they can afford to be those kind of assholes, and not care because they have that kind of money.
Today would be different…
A man walked into the lobby of the building wearing a pair of jeans, sneakers, and a very baggy hoody.
After placing his bag on the scanner, he passed through the metal-detector which instantly went off.
The guard signaled the man to step off to the side, "You got any jewelry, a belt, or…"
The man pulled his back his hood to reveal himself to be Baraka, his trademark bald head, yellow demon eyes, pointed ears, and sharp teeth that stuck out like daggers on his face standing out proudly on his face.
"Holy sh…" the guard said before Baraka's blades came shooting out of his arms, and with one swift slash he cut an 'X' deep into the man's neck, splattering blood all over the floor.
As the people turned to run, the second guard managed to get his Glock 17L before Baraka's blade too his head clean off.
Before leaving his post, one of the guards hit the alarm.
As he emerged from the checkpoint, he had his own Glock ready, but as he raised the pistol, Baraka ran up to him, he launched himself off a support-pillar, and decked him across the jaw.
As the guard spun around, stunned, Baraka extended his blade, and stabbed the man through the back.
As he withdrew his blade, he picked up his bag, and placed it against a set of stairs before walking over to the elevator.
He took the elevator to the top floor, and stepped off as the bomb inside the bag went off.
The bomb destroyed the elevator doors, and the stairs that led up to the second floor which were in the lobby.
Baraka pushed open the doors to the CEO of the Free Market Exchange, John Kaushik to see his personal body guards standing at the door carrying Kel-Tec KSG shotguns.
The men were highly trained former Navy SEALs with ten years in the service, and Baraka cut through them like paper.
The first guard raised his KSG, and as he let of his first shot, Baraka jumped over the shot, and charged.
The second guard fired, Baraka dove over the shot, and between the men.
He simply held his arms behind his back, and extended his blades, skewering them.
After withdrawing his blades, he entered Kaushik's office to find him cowering behind his desk, "Please," he said as he backed against the wall, "Don't hurt me, don't hurt me," he them pulled out an HK P30, and fired at Baraka, most of the shots missed, but a few did hit Baraka, and it didn't even seem to faze him.
Baraka extended his blade fully, and as Kaushik closed his eyes, expecting to die, he instead felt the blade press against the bottom of his chin.
He opened his eyes to see Baraka looking at him like he was about to start laughing, Baraka simply spoke one word, "Advocator," before withdrawing his blade, and knocking him unconscious with one blow to the bridge of Kaushik's nose.
SF Headquarters, United Nations Building: New York…
"Advocator," General Sonya Blade asked as she slapped the file down on the table.
"That's what he said," Colonel Jackson 'Jax' Briggs said as he took a long drag on his cigar, "That can only mean one thing General."
It was then that Sonya's daughter, Cassie Cage entered, and stood at attention, "Colonel, General," She said, "You called me?"
"Yes," Sonya said as she motioned toward the chair across from her, "We have a job for you."
"What's the job?" Cassie asked.
"It's a two-parter," Jax said, "Part one is a recruitment assignment."
"And the second part?" Cassie asked.
"To be revealed later," Sonya said, "Classified until you bring in the soldier."
"Must be a good soldier." Cassie said.
"He was the best," Jax said, "Served under us before your mother became a General."
"Was?" Cassie asked.
"I'm afraid the details are classified at the moment," Sonya said as she slid a file across the table toward her, "Everything you do need to know is in that."
Cassie opened the file to reveal a man dressed in a black Army Officer's Dress Uniform, the Epaulets on the jacket's shoulder bore the rank of a Captain, a golden aiguillette ran underneath the Epaulet, and under his arm, on his head was an ASU Field Officer's Cap with a Male Service Office cap device (crest), a gold nylon cap strap, a Dark Green Special Forces Cap Braid, the right side of his uniform was a block of ribbons about three ribbons wide, and six ribbons tall, and hanging around his neck was the Congressional Medal of Honor.
The file read:
NAME: BRUCE RICHARDS SILVERSTONE
NATIONALITY: AMERICAN
HAIR COLOR: BROWN
EYE COLOR: BLUE
PLACE OF BIRTH: LOUISIANA
STATUS: DISCHARGED
"Bruce Silverstone?" Cassie asked.
"One of the best," Sonya said, "He was the best black ops asset the Army ever had for about six years. Took down the worst kind of scum, terrorists, arms dealers, drug lords… hell, he toppled entire governments."
"He's listed as discharged," Cassie said, "Classified?"
"Yes," Sonya said, "Right now he's in Naypyidaw."
"Seems like he can get any job in the world," Cassie said as she closed the file, "What's a guy like this doing there anyway?"
"After he left he decided to use his abilities to help his family," Jax said, "He's been taking high-paying hired-gun jobs in high-risk warzones to send money back to his family."
"I can see why he took the job," Cassie said, "The place has been hell for over ten years, half a dozen political parties fighting for control of the country."
"Not anymore," Sonya said, "It's now down to two, government loyalists, and former Chechen Separatists looking for some piece of land to call their own."
"When do I leave," Cassie asked, "And how will I find him?"
"You won't," Jax said, "He'll find you."
Naypyidaw, Burma…
Cassie was traveling through the destroyed streets in a Oshkosh M-ATV with her team, Jacqui Briggs, Kung Jin, and Takeda Takahashi.
Cassie was manning the MK19 Grenade Launcher Machine Gun on top while Jacqui navigated, Kung drove, and Takeda kept a lookout.
You could hear gunfire and explosions in the distance, rebel forces had spread out across the entire city to keep the government loyalists from systemically wiping them out completely, which seems like a good idea, but it's only delaying the inevitable.
"Alright," Jacqui said, "Turn right here."
"You said that last time," Kung said as he turned right.
As he turned onto the street, rebel forces saw them coming, thought they were government troops, and raised their Fabrique Nationale FAL rifles to fire.
As they opened fire, Cassie pounded on the roof, "GO, GO, GO!" She yelled.
As Kung floored the M-ATV, Cassie opened fire with the MK19, sending 40mm grenades flying out the barrel of the grenade launcher.
The rebels went flying as Cassie kept firing right before Kung took a left turn down a narrow alley, and took a very aggressive left onto another road, unfortunately the tire hit a pothole made from a grenade explosion, and sent the vehicle flying with the four soldiers inside.
Cassie was momentarily stunned but came to as Jacqui ran over, and helped her stand up, "COME ON SEARGENT," She yelled as she dragged Cassie away.
The four ran for seven blocks before stopping to take a breather.
"Alright," Cassie said, breathing heavily, "Who's… hit… sound off."
"I'm Green." Jacqui said.
"Green." Kung said.
"Green." Takeda said.
Kung and Takeda placed four weapon crates on the ground, and flipped them open, "Think it's time to bring out the hardware," Kung said as he opened his case to reveal a Benelli M4, and loaded it.
"Agreed," Takeda said as he opened his case to pull out his FN SCAR.
Jacqui opened her own case and pulled out her HK MP7.
Cassie's case contained a Mac-10 with a foot-long suppressor that had a scope mounted to it along with a flashlight and laser-sight.
After loading their weapons they proceeded.
It was late evening, they were in the middle of a warzone on an unlit street with only four magazines, and one in the gun against a city potentially full of men and women with shoot-to-kill orders, even seasoned Special Forces soldiers would sweat a little in those situations.
They had walked for five minutes before rebel forces ambushed them, a rebel with an RPG-29 got a lucky shot, and struck the ground in front of the team, launching Takeda flying backwards.
As Cassie ran over to Takeda, a small platoon of soldiers came walking toward them with FAL rifles.
Cassie helped Takeda to his feet, and raised her Mac-10 to take out two hostiles with two bursts.
The team took cover behind a pile of bricks, Jacqui dropped two rebels with her MP7.
Kung took down one with a single shell.
Cassie checked Takeda's wound, "You're ok soldier," Cassie said, "Just a bruise."
"Good," Takeda said as he picked up his SCAR, aimed it over the bricks to fire at the hostiles.
The four soldiers ran dry in one minute, and as they were reloading one of the hostiles ran toward them with a machete, Cassie simply drew her P226, and shot him through the throat.
As they popped up to continue firing, the same man that got Takeda hit their cover with the same RPG which sent them all flying.
The four soldiers were stunned, their ears were ringing, heads spinning, and in a lot of pain.
The last of the rebels walked up to the four, "Americans," one said, "I knew America was supplying the government."
"Shut up and shoot them." One said as he cocked his FAL.
Before he could shoot there was a scream, and the man holding the RPG fell to the street.
"Who did that?" Another asked.
Before the first could answer, a single man dressed in all black about six foot five came running out of nowhere, sprinting as fast as he could toward the group of rebels who raised their rifles to fire.
They didn't get the chance, the man reached them first, leaping over a single destroyed car, and came down on top of the first rebel with a flying-knee which launched him ten feet head-long into the side of a destroyed car.
The second rebel raised his rifle only to have the man kick him against the third rebel, and knocked them both out with a single blow to the second rebel's face which transferred to the third rebel's head.
The fourth came at him with the buttstock of the rifle, the man blocked the strike, decked the rebel across the face, back-handed him across the face, kicked the man's knee out from underneath him, breaking it, and then snapped his neck.
The fifth came in with his knife, the man grabbed the rebel's arm, twisted his wrist two where he had to hold it out fully extended, the first blow came from the man's boot and got the rebel between the eyes, the second took his legs out from under him, and the final strike knocked him out cold.
The sixth raised his pistol not four inches from the man's head to shoot only to get an upper-cut to his junk, a kick to the stomach, and a final blow to the face.
The final had his rifle zeroed on the man, but his target fired first, a .45 bullet right between the eyes.
"Holy shit," Jacqui said as she looked up at the man who walked down the rubble after holstering his pistol which Cassie identified as a 1911.
"Cassie Cage?" The man asked as he held out his hand.
"Yes," Cassie said as she took the man's hand, and was pulled to her feet.
Kung stood up, and helped Jacqui to her feet as the man pulled Takeda to his feet, "Thanks," he said as he held his bruised stomach, "Who are you?"
The man undid the scarf around his face to reveal twenty seven year old Bruce Silverstone.
"Bruce Silverstone?" Cassie asked.
"I understand you're looking for me," Bruce said as he handed Takeda back his SCAR.
"Yes," Cassie said, "We have a job for you."
"Yes," Jacqui said, "We need to…"
Bruce held up a finger, "Listen," he said, everyone listened, and heard the sound of a large treaded machine heading their way, "Not good. Follow me!"
The team ran after Bruce who led them down a single alley to find an open manhole cover.
"You've got to be kidding." Jacqui said.
"There's an old saying," Bruce said, "You avoid bullshit in a warzone! Get in the fucking sewer!"
The team jumped into the sewer, and Bruce followed them after sealing the cover.
"Where does this lead?" Takeda asked.
"Home," Bruce said as he walked past the soldiers, "This way."
The four followed Bruce for what felt like several hours before arriving at a ladder.
"This it?" Cassie asked.
"Almost," Bruce said, "This is the only way in."
Bruce went up first, and arrived at a small key-pad, after typing in a few digits, he opened a hatch above his head which he climbed through.
The four others climbed in behind him into a dark room where he shut the door behind them and sealed it shout before tripping a breaker and turning on the lights.
There was another ladder that led up five stories, "How far up are we?" Jacqui asked.
"Far enough," Bruce said as he started up the ladder.
Once Bruce reached the top, he typed a few digits into another keypad, and opened the hatch above him.
Once the team followed Bruce through the hatch, he sealed that hatch, ignited a match, and lit a small oil-lamp.
"You have a breaker below, and all you have to light this place is this little light?" Cassie asked.
"It's subtle," Bruce said as he turned up the light in the lamp, "And I kind of like it. Reminds me of home."
As their eyes adjusted, the team noticed several things they didn't expect to see, a computer, a rack of weapons, a small kitchen, a couch with a TV, a small fridge, and several cabinets.
"Nice place," Jacquie said as she walked over to the weapons rack, and picked up a full-sized Uzi to check the sights, "Very clean."
"Thanks," Bruce said as he took a set at his computer, unsheathed his boot knife, unscrewed the pommel, and let a flash drive fall into his hand, "Try to keep all my weapons clean."
"Mind if I ask what you're doing?" Kung asked.
"It's called Intelligence Gathering," Bruce said as he typed several things into the computer, "I was hired by the Burmese Government to conduct surveillance on the rebels," he then hit enter, "And it's away."
He unplugged his flash-drive, slid it back into his knife, screwed the pommel back on, and slid into a holster mounted to the wall.
"You live here?" Takeda asked.
"Yes," Bruce said as he walked over to his fridge, "Can I get you anything? Water, milk, coke, beer?"
"I'll take a pint." Jacqui said.
"Water for me" Kung said.
"I'm good." Takeda said.
"Some coffee would be nice." Cassie said.
Bruce pulled out a beer for and a bottled water for Kung, after handing them to the two soldiers, he walked over to his kitchen, poured some water into a kettle, and after heating it, he went underneath his sink, and pulled out a coffee press and a thing of ground-up coffee beans.
He poured the powder into the press, poured the water over the powder, and pressed as hard as he could.
After finishing, he strained the coffee into a pot, taking out the bits of ground-up beans, pulled out two cups, and distributed the beverage evenly.
"How do you like yours?" Bruce asked.
"Black please." Cassie said.
Bruce walked over, and handed Cassie her cup before walking back to attend to his own cup.
Before attending to his cup, he pulled his side-arm out of his holster, and placed it on the counter.
Cassie was right, it was a 1911, and a highly customized one at that.
"Prepared for everything eh?" Jacqui asked.
"Yes," Bruce said as he pulled out another cup, and poured the coffee back and forth between the two cups.
"May I," Cassie asked as she pointed at the 1911.
"Please," Bruce said as he pointed his cup at the 1911.
Cassie picked up the pistol, ejected the magazine, pulled back on the slide, ejecting the spent bullet, and then gave the pistol a look-over.
"Nice," Cassie said, "Punisher-style muzzle break compensator, rockote-finish, tactical accessory rail, custom grips, Crimson-Trace Rail Master laser-sight, beveled mag-well, solid-steel skeleton trigger. Five pound trigger pull?"
"Six and a half," Bruce said as he finished pouring his coffee between his two glasses, and finished with a little half and half.
"What were you doing?" Cassie asked.
"It's called pulling coffee," Bruce said, "It's done in places in Singapore, makes the coffee frothy, and more drinkable for me."
"Nice," Cassie said as she slid the bullet back into the mag, slid the mag into Bruce's 1911, and held it out to him.
"Just put it down," Bruce said, "Deserves a rest."
Bruce walked over to a small curtain he had set up, and pulled it down to reveal a large window that overviewed the entire city.
"Now I know why you only use an oil-lamp," Cassie said, "You like this view, but you have to maintain light discipline."
"Yep," Bruce said, "And I don't have to worry about noise discipline because we're so high up."
"Must be tranquil." Takeda said.
"Only when there's a cease-fire," Bruce said, "I have to take a sleeping-pill each night to try and get to sleep."
"Anyway," Cassie said, "We're here on behalf of my mother and my uncle."
"How are Sonya and Jax anyway?" Bruce asked.
"Great," Cassie said, "We have a job for you. You'll be working with my mom, Uncle Jax, and the four of us. The pay's good, and all travel expenses will be paid in full."
"What does the job entail?" Bruce asked.
"We don't know yet," Cassie said, "I was directly informed of who we were getting, I.E. you. They were informed who we were getting right before landing."
"Serious," Bruce said, "Dangerous?"
"Most likely." Cassie said.
"I'm in." Bruce said.
"Great," Cassie said, "We can be at the airport in…"
"Not an option," Bruce said as he kept drinking his coffee.
"What?" Jacqui asked.
"Leaving tonight is out of the question," Bruce said, "The leader of the resistance was assassinated this morning. By the sounds of the gunfire the rebels are screaming mad, and out for blood. We leave tonight, we're dead."
"How do you know the resistance leader was killed," Kung said as he finished his water, and threw the bottle away.
Bruce finished his cup, and placed it on a table next to the window, "Because I did it." he said.
"Of course you did," Jacqui said as she tossed her beer aside, "Someone like you."
"I'll take that as a compliment." Bruce said.
"How are we going to leave?" Takeda asked.
"Very simple," Bruce said as he walked over to a small tube-shaped box in the corner, and pulled out several rolled up pieces of paper, "That's Cambodia, Kathmandu, Mexico City, Rio, Venice," he then picked up one, "Here it is, Naypyidaw," Bruce unrolled the paper to reveal a map of the city, "Alright," he said as he laid out the paper on the floor in front of the team, and weighed it down with his coffee cup, he pointed at a red 'X' located in the lower-right section of the map, "We're here. Right now it's about," he checked his watch, "Six to eight. The trouble is…" he pointed toward a small road leading outside the city, "This is the only official way out of town."
"Great," Jacqui said, "How do we get out that way then?"
"We can't," Bruce said, "That might be the official way out but it's the most dangerous. Last week a government transport was ambushed by rebels using hit-and-run guerilla tactics. No one survived. Getting out of the city tonight is impossible."
"I take it you have a plan?" Kung asked.
"I do," Bruce said as he pointed to a set of tracks, "This is our way out."
"Tracks?" Kung asked.
"Yes," Bruce said as he rolled out another map, "This is a map of the Asian trans-continental railway," he pointed toward Indonesia, "The railway begins here in Indonesia," he then drew a line around Singapore, through several countries, "And snakes throughout these countries until it ends here," he pointed at Beijing, "However one place it stops," he lifted the map of the railway to show the map of Naypyidaw, "Is here," he pointed at the railway, "The train will make one stop here every six months to refuel and resupply. And, coincidentally, that day every six months is tomorrow: that's our exit ticket."
"What time will they be there," Takeda asked, "And how long will we have to get on board?"
"It arrives early in the morning," Bruce said, "We leave an hour before the train arrives."
"An hour?" Cassie asked.
"It'll give us time should the train be late or early," Bruce said, "In the meantime, it's getting late, and I assumed you haven't eaten?"
"Not since lunch." Kung said.
"I just restocked for my last meal," Bruce said as he walked over to his fridge, and pulled out several beef steaks.
"Now you're speaking my language." Jacqui said.
"Indeed," Bruce said as he also pulled out several potatoes, two eggs, milk, flower, butter, salt, pepper, rosemary, and a small spice box.
Bruce boiled some water to place the potatoes in, cracked the eggs into a bowl, and whipped them.
"What's he doing?" Takeda asked.
"Just wait," Cassie said as Bruce grabbed a sauté skillet, filled it a quarter of the way full of safflower oil, and mixed the dry ingredients in a bowl.
He gave the steaks a quick tenderize, dipped them in the eggs, and gave them a quick dredge in the flower before placing them in the oil.
It took several minutes, Bruce had to fry the steaks, cook the potatoes, mash them, and season it.
Bruce placed one chicken-fried steak on each plate, and placed a dollop of mash-potatoes on each plate.
Bruce carried the five plates over to the table, "Order up," he said as he placed the plates down along with several knives and forks.
Jacqui was the first to taste, "Well?" Cassie asked.
"Holy shit," Jacqui said before pointing at her plate, "That's fucking amazing."
Cassie took a bite, and she couldn't believe what she was eating, "That is good," she said as she put her hand to her mouth, "How the hell did you learn to cook this?"
"Long story," Bruce said as he continued eating.
"I tell you what," Kung said as he took a bite of the potatoes, "It's a hell of a lot better than those MREs we were eating last month in Uzbekistan."
"Yep." Cassie said.
Guess what happens…