This one could be my last time
Some people call it war crime
I may be staring down a lethal site... To die.
The Union Aerospace corporation was a multi-planetary military industrial conglomerate founded in 2015. It operated on the planet mars in a labyrinth of labs and sectors, each dedicated to their own field of research . The facilities were used for conducting classified projects,mostly geonomic research. Scientific research included, Teleportation, biological research and advanced weapons design. In trying to replicate the DNA of a strange creature that was found on the excavation of the site(where the main research facility was now located) the UAC populations were either killed or possessed by a disease gone rogue that was unleashed into the entire facility. Weeks prior to the incident the employees on the base were unsettled due to a large number of incidents involving hearing voices, unexplained sightings and increasing cases of paranoia and insanity, often leading to fatal accidents with the facility's machinery.The virus didn't just wipe out the scientists, it created a hybrid army of demons that were faster, more intelligent hunters. By shutting down the lower levels of the Alpha labs, The source of the outbreak, the UAC thought they had contained the virus. But they were wrong...True evil never dies...
Three years ago.
Kholm, Afghanistan. 0800 hours, Friday the thirteenth September 2043.
"Sin, move out, now!" Brian's voice called over the sound of the swirling sand tornado that collected then fell again into arid dust. The comm's crackled from the poor reception.
"Almost done" I whispered into my mic while I finished transferring the files containing vital information about the human trafficking trade onto the hard drive of my PDA. A sandstorm was gathering In the east and approaching fast. In an hour or so visibility would be at it's lowest. That was when we had to strike fast.
RRTS unit one we were classed as, we were the brains and brawn behind high threat operation. Some called us assassins some called us spies but we called ourselves the Rapid Response Tactical Team: Unit one. Whenever the military needed info or if an operation failed we were sent in to finish the job. With only four of us we could sneak in and out easily.
We were on a mission in Afghanistan collecting vital Intel for a private organisation that associated themselves with our elite task force. This mission was strange, something about it didn't click together. Perhaps it was because we'd never taken orders from someone outside the military. All of us were trained in hand to hand combat and specialized in firearms. We were the best there was…but nothing could prepare us for the events to come.
The orders on this mission were to split up and search the four main villages know for Taliban activity individually, we didn't question it. But god I wish we had.
"Give me three minutes" My eyes widened at the horrific details and images that these files contained as I scrolled through them. Then a title caught my eye and I clicked on the file.
Elite Special Taskforce: RRTS Unit.1
Mission: Blackbird
Members: Commander:
Valkery Syn (Sinister) -
Sergeant: Brian Falcon (Hurricane)
Staff Sergeant: Eric Fantom (Ghost)
Known Weaponry:
Valkery: Military issue M40 sniper rifle, Desert Eagle, Arx-160 assault rifle, Glock 34 ,Brass knuckles, various hunting knives.
Brian: Ak-12 Assault rifle, Mg4 light machine gun, Glock 34, Xm29 grenade launcher, various hunting knives.
Eric: M249 Light machine gun, Barretta 90two pistol, Ruger Blackhawk revolver, M61 Vulcan canon, various hunting knives.
Location: Afghanistan, Kholm
Time of arrival: 0500 hours, Friday the thirteenth.
"Son of a bitch" I looked through the file once more and saw no mention of Athena, our secondary sniper and hacker.
"Son of a bitch! She's killed us all" I whispered and pocketed the thin rectangular object . I placed it securely into the breast pocket in my vest. Brian was less than a kilometre away, Ghost was about ten and Athena was close to twelve.
My hands shakily pressed the numbers on my satellite phone and I placed it to my ear while swinging my rifle around my shoulder.
"Pick up…pick up" My heart raced at the sound of the dial tone and I observed the unsettling dust that arose from a small window with no glass. The sound of a roaring engine caused me to breathe out heavily and sink into a crouch.
"Commander?"
"Brian, locate Ghost and fall back to base... We have an ambush situation…You have five minutes. Go" I said firmly and pressed the end call button quickly as footsteps approached from outside.
"Shit" My hand reached for the barrel of my rifle and I raised the loaded gun before peeking out the window of the mud brick hut. 12 Taliban men stood outside the hut clad in camo with scarfs across their faces and holding Ak-47's.
"Ghost, do you copy?" My hand shakily held the button down of my mic and released it with fear. I slowly crawled to the doorway and peaked around the corner where the Taliban where fanned out and searching for me. "What is your location?" He asked calmly. Ghost had the chopper, he could fly to Brian's location and both could return to base. I would deal with Athena.
"I've been spotted, Ghost abandon mission and fall back" I whispered into the mic without fault. Setting up one of the six special ops teams was not something the Taliban would risk, because we would fight back hard. They would not risk warfare with the alliances we held in Russia, Australia, Germany, France, China, Japan and Italy. This was an inside hit.
"Ghost, we need an evac at Sin's location" Brian's voice rang in my ear as I took a deep breath and placed my finger on the trigger of my assault rifle.
"Brian fall back to base, that's an order, soldier! Eric, you're in charge now" I said firmly and stepped out from behind the doorway. My heart raced with anticipation with each footfall that landed outside the building and blood pulsed in my ears as I lifted my rifle to my shoulder.
"No! Syn!...Valkery!" Brian's voice echoed in my ear as I pressed onto my trigger and rained bullets onto the Taliban. I struck down at least three of the Afghan extremists before they started firing back. I was fast but out running bullets was a skill not even I had. My feet hit the ground running and I slid behind a barrel for a shield while I reloaded another magazine into my rifle. Bullets whizzed past the tin barrel some even going through but I remained still. My heart raced with pure adrenaline and fear, it was what kept me focused and sharp.
"Come out, Soldier" A man with a heavy accent said from about twenty metres back. Sweat beads dripped into my eyes and I hurriedly wiped them with my sleeve.
It had to be at least 10 to one at the moment but I knew more would come there was always more of these criminals hidden somewhere. My hand reached for the glasses I had in my left pocket. I distractedly hummed a hard rock tune while pulling my glasses on and pressed the heat seeking button. It was like looking through the eyes of an alien as red and green blobs appeared in my vision. Four stood a few feet away armed with automatic rifles and another five stood fanned out behind them. Most of these soldiers were no older than seventeen, you could see the pure fear in their eyes.
I lifted the glasses from my eyes and placed them upon my head before tapping my finger next to the trigger of my rifle.
"They may take me but never take us all" I murmured distractedly while taking a deep breath and crouched to take aim at the four closest targets. My eyes squinted into the scope as I moved the barrel of my rifle around the side of the rusting barrel. The black cross-hair was lined up with a head shot and I took it. My trigger finger swiftly squeezed the mechanism and I re-aimed within a fraction of a second before shooting down another with a chest shot. It was enough to encourage me to leap to my feet and sprint through the raining bullets. I unsteadily fired my weapon as cover fire while my boots thudded on the dry earthy dirt and I surprisingly managed to hit two men. How I had not been hit was a mystery to even me.
I dove behind a retaining war and dropped to the ground. I had nowhere to go I was surrounded, my assault rifle started to look real friendly when I thought of what they would do to a soldier who was caught stealing sensitive information. The gauge on my rifle read 20 and I reached for my last magazine strapped to my leg, after my rifle ran out I would only have my desert eagle and glock that were strapped to both sides my hips. Both only semi-automatic and holding only nine rounds each, I didn't carry spare ammo for them. The mags for my rifle usually did the job. I had sixty eight more shots and I needed to make them count.
"Syn, come in! Syn! What is your location?" Athena's voice awoke me from my dreading thoughts.
"RRTS 6 we need reinforcements" Ghost's voice echoed in my head. It was too late to wait for reinforcements, the enemy was here and they were pissed. Keep moving soldier! I mentally cursed myself and pushed my racing thoughts to the back of my mind.
My legs struggled as I army crawled to the edge of the wooden retaining wall and peaked around the corner. About a hundred yards away was the armoured Humvee I had arrived in. If I could just get to it I might have a chance. Fuck it. I sighed deeply and pushed my body off the dirt. The ground in front of me seemed to stretch as I ran swiftly toward the humvee. Men suddenly appeared from behind one of the cottages. Shit. My hand reached down for a grenade and I swiftly pulled the pin before throwing it in an overarm action. The sound caused me to wince slightly as I looked over my shoulder to see the two bodies on the dirt. That would surely draw attention. I crept quietly past the busted ass cottages and ducked under a wire fence by rolling to the ground. Instantaneously my eye caught a glinting object on top of a roof as I stood and my eyes widened in realization.
"Fuck"A lone shot ran out then came an agonising pain in my left thigh.
"Commander?!" Brian's voice echoed in my ear as my leg buckled.
"I'm down" I didn't even recognise my own devastated voice that rang through the comms.
"Syn!" Brian screeched through my ear piece. I kept running through the pain and took shelter behind a large brick well. "Arghh" I hissed and tore the bandanna off my face to wrap around my leg. "So close" My frail voice echoed in my ear as I stared toward the Humvee that was now surrounded with Taliban and a small smirk pulled at the corners of my mouth.
"Valkery, stay were you are…Brian is coming for you" Ghost's husky voice said regretfully. "Don't you dare ignore a direct order! Haul his ass back to base do you hear me!?" I half yell half whispered into my mic.
"It's too late" Brian replied with effort, I could tell he was running by the strain in his voice.
"Fucking hell soldier, for once just do what you're ordered to!" I yelled as a shadow blocked out the sun. I looked up to see a member of the Taliban standing over my body with his weapon raised.
"Take one more step and I'll blow us both to hell" I said with venom while revealing a grenade and pulling the pin.
The man backed away in fear and slightly lowered his rifle.
Fuck it.
With my good leg I kicked the rifle out of the man's hand and raised my own before he could reach down to pick it up. I released the trigger and threw the grenade into the window of the Humvee that the Taliban had surrounded. Shit, shit, shit I scrambled to my feet and sprinted back toward the way I had come.
*Boom*
The force of the blast sent me flying into the wall of a cottage and heavily smashed my head into the brick. I landed violently on my own weapon and rolled onto my back with a long groan of pain.
"Arghh" I hissed as I cradled my pounding head and winced at the sharp whistling in my ears.
I couldn't see shit, I couldn't focus until someone tried to restrain me by covering my mouth. Then my senses came back better than ever, I was ready to kick this guy's ass.
"Syn, it's me" Brian whispered and looked over my bloodied appearance.
"You look like shit" He knelt down next to me and wiped my short choppy hair out of my eyes.
I looked into his light blue eyes with fury, he knew there was a massive chance of us not getting out of this godforsaken country alive but he still came back.
"Soldier, you are an ignorant motherfucker" I spat and held onto his shoulder to try and stand. Blood poured from the split next to my eyebrow and blurred my vision.
"I thought you knew" He smirked, managing to hide the panic and fear .I half-heartedly smiled and ruffled his shiny black hair.
"Shit" Brian looked at me with concern and brushed my fringe out of my eyes to see the wound. The crimson blood had dyed the once purple ends of my hair a murky red colour that stuck like glue to my sweating face. He wiped the blood away from my eye with his thumb and took off his bandana to use as a temporary bandage. My leg burnt like hell but it was the least of my problems at the moment.
"Let's get out of here" He nudged my shoulder and wrapped a hand around my waist for support. "How?" I asked in disorientation and wiped the blood from my vision with his bandana.
"Ghost it waiting for us at the top of that hill" He pointed to the right, I could just see the top of a blade from our chopper.
"We'll need to leg it" Brian said softly and looked around the corner of the wall. He turned to me with an unreadable expression which I had learnt meant trouble.
"What?" I asked with dread. "Reinforcements" He whispered and looked back.
"Go, go, go!"
"We're almost there" Brian consoled and continued to carry most my weight.
We ran as fast as we could, he never let go of me shoulder even though he could've run ahead. My leg stung with pain as I half ran half limped. I panicked when I heard shouts behind us, they had seen us…
Brian stopped and knelt with as we fired at a group of men. I took the left and he covered the right, I knelt down in next to him and pulled the trigger of my rifle. I stood to get a better aim but Brian pulled me back down. We couldn't see shit through the veil of sand.
"Arghh" I hissed as a bullet pierced just above my hip. Warmth spread through my abdomen followed by a throbbing pain. I didn't even hear the shot and it didn't register at first but the agonising pain soon bought me back to reality. I felt it pierce straight through the back and come out the opposite side in less than a second. It was like being skewered then someone adding salt and acid to the wound. I winced and fell back onto the grass the wet grass, bringing Brian down with me. "Leave me Brian" I said firmly. "No" He replied simply and hoisted me into his arms.
The black helicopter was so close I could almost touch it. Ghost opened the door and ran out of the chopper, Brian set me down on the hard steel floor and yelled commands at Ghost to get the helicopter in the air. "You're going to be okay" He smirked and kissed the top of my head. I could hear bullets ricocheting off the side of the helicopter but it seemed to die down when the rotors creaked to life…
"I need to talk to you about something when you are better…remind me" He added hopefully, I could feel blood building in my throat but I refused to choke on it. Suddenly Brian went quiet and his face paled, I looked at him through blurred vision with question.
Brian!" I yelled and that's when I saw it. A small bullet hole through his chest from an armour piercing round. The bullets I had made specially for this mission...the bullets Athena had. "Brian!" I grabbed him before he could fall and stared at his unfocused eyes. It must've gone through me and into Brian.
"Valkery…I…I" He tried to speak as blood formed in the sides of his mouth and began to choke him. "No don't speak" I said through sobs and pulled his body onto my lap.
"I…I love you, don't cry for me. I'm free" He said weakly and wiped the tears that fell from my eyes. "Fuck" I hissed and threw my rifle down. "I'll see you again" I whispered and leant my forehead against his. "Pray for war" I could just hear his voice above a whisper and I held my breath as his grip on my hand lessened.
"Shit…Brian!" I yelled as his eyes rolled into the back of his head.
"Ghost get this bird up in the air!" I commanded and he nodded with fear written on his face. "Damn, it Brian!" I shook his limp body and wiped the tears from my eyes. From outside the storm of dust had left visibility very low.
"Ghost, my sniper" I spat through clenched teeth and held out my hand. The cool metal brushed my hand and I swiftly set up the rifle, taking aim. I had a bullet just for her…"Keep it steady, Ghost" I hissed as her blonde hair came into the sight of my scope. She was looking at our chopper through the scope of a sniper, ready for another shot.
"Two in her knee caps, one through the head" I repeated over and over again like a broken record until I had a clean shot. The first two bullets violently left my rifle and shattered her knees, She collapsed to the ground and dropped the weapon, the look of pain on her face was something I'd never forget. The third bullet hit her clean in the skull and her body jerked back onto the dirt.
I threw my rifle to the side and flopped backward onto the steel floor. "Argh" I heard Ghost yell and I looked over to see blood pouring from right shoulder. "Fuck!".
"Hold onto something Syn!" Ghost yelled as the helicopter swayed uncontrollably from side to side. "Shit" If we crashed the Taliban would be all over us in a matter of minutes. My eyes scanned over the weapons wall of the helicopter until I spotted an RPG, I swallowed the agony that came from my bullet wounds and crawled over to the weapon.
What can I aim it at? I thought to myself in panic. The helicopter was heading toward the ground quickly, it was too unsteady to aim. I'd have to jump and hope to live.
"Ghost?!" I yelled over the pounding in my head and the sound of the engine failure alarms. He was trying to control the chopper but the rotors where shot to shit so we were dropping fast.
"We need to jump!" I yelled over the sound of the rotors.
"What!?" He asked in confusion and glanced over his shoulder.
"You heard me soldier, now!" I ordered and he quickly retreated from his battle with the controls of the chopper. I shouldered the RPG and shakily stood on the edge of the cab. "Three!" Ghost stood beside me and placed his arm around my shoulder so I wouldn't fall down from the amount of blood I'd lost. "Two!" I gave him a reassuring wink as the ground quickly approached. A forced smirk formed on my lips as he placed a familiar weight on my shoulder and shouldered my rifle. "One!" I gripped onto his hand as we kicked off the edge of the chopper and plummeted down about five metres. I felt my knee crack with the impact as we met the ground below. I rolled in pure agony and let out a scream as I tried to stand on my shattered knee.
"Ghost!" I yelled over the pain and crawled to him. He was on his side and I rolled him over, he was still but breathing shallowly. "Ghost!" A stray tear fell from my eye as the sound of an approaching chopper neared and I gripped on to the RPG.I laid low on the spiky grass and aimed at the black chopper as it landed a few metres away. I let out a sigh of relief when I saw the RRTS 6 insignia. "RRTS 1 come in" A familiar voice echoed through my ear piece.
"RRTS 1 Sinister, I've been hit" My hoarse voice called into the mic and I dropped the RPG with relief. The soldiers filed out of the chopper and headed toward the RRTS 1 helicopter that was now in flames.
"Ghost" I whispered as he started to stir. "You're going to be okay" I said with tear filled eyes.
"We're everywhere soldier" I heard a voice echoed through my ear piece and my hands fumbled to reload my sniper from the red liquid that coated them.
"Fuck it" hissed and attempted to stand but fell back to the ground in a grunt of pain. I clutched my abdomen and felt blood gushing from my wound.
"Valkery?" A soldier knelt next to me, I glanced back to him and heard a rustling in the bushes close to me. Finally I managed to pop the empty casing out of the chamber and reload with shaky hands.
"John" I said calmly as my eyes fell upon a red dot settled on his forehead. I quickly jerked upright and pulled the trigger of my rifle toward the fuzzy black dot that lurked in the shrub. I thought I had got him until the red dot reappeared.
"Get down!" I pushed John to the ground with the butt of my gun just as a lone shot rang out. The bullet hit my Kevlar straight in the middle of my chest and the force of the bullet pushed me onto my back.
"Syn!" I looked toward the sky with blurred vision as my blood stained the once green grass.
"Sarge she's over here" John called over the comms before the world went black.
Present day: Tokyo, Japan. November the tenth, Tuesday 23:00 2046
Breathe, I thought as I wiped away the metallic blood that dripped down my split lip.
Focus.
My head snapped to my opponent who circled me like a vulture going in for the kill. I quickly picked my broken body off the hard mat and barely dodged a knockout blow. I was being decimated by the tall and muscled up man who glanced at me with hatred in his brown eyes.
In a swift movement I regained my fighting stance and circled around the hexagonal cage. The crowd was going wild, nothing like an inter gender cage fight. Christian Copeland was the man Athena sold Intel about my team to, he then carried that information to the Taliban. He was once a member of the RRTS unit 2 until they'd found out he was a traitor and a fraud.
It took me two years to track him down, by hacking into security cameras and redirecting some satellites I located him in Tokyo through facial recognition. He was a part time cage fighter when he wasn't betraying his country.
Keep your hands up and eyes forward, don't beat him beyond recognition.
In front of me was one of the biggest and most skilled cage fighters I had ever faced, he had dragon tattoos and Chinese inscription down his thick back and arms. He had to be at least 6, 6 and with me standing at just 5, 9 he was a fair bit taller but nonetheless I was up for the challenge.
In a swift movement I attempted a roundhouse kick which he narrowly avoided and grabbed my leg. A sinister grin grew on his face but I remained unfazed. Hopping on my grounded leg for momentum I swung it around and connected it with his jaw. The wind was viciously knocked from my lungs as I landed roughly on the blood stained mat.
Out of pure instinct I rolled over to his body and delivered punches left and right.
"Enough. Enough, He's out" The referee pulled me off the hulking man's unconscious form and lifted my arm in triumph.
"And your undefeated champion is Primavera 'Nightmare' Syren" I looked around the cage half expecting Brian to run in and attack me with hugs and excited squeals but reality hit. He hated me cage fighting but supported me nonetheless.
According to the military I died three years ago on Friday the thirteenth at 23:55, but I had my own agenda. I was known as "The Crow or Blackbird" to the military as a code name.
I took out all ties Athena had to the Taliban and did a few hits for the military along the way.
I was allowed to say goodbye to Eric while I was in hospital, he was the only one who knew I was still alive aside from a few higher level military personnel. I heard one of the RRTS 6 soldiers saved my life which was difficult to believe because we were rivals at the time.
I thought I remembered a man talking to me while I was in a coma but I brushed it off as a dream. The man was desperately pleading for me to stay alive, at first I thought it was Eric but I did not recognise the man's voice. I tried to access the hospital's visitor records but the military kept a tight seal on matters involving mission Blackbird. It had to have been a dream.
Nothing numbed the pain of suffering like beating someone to the brink of death or vice versa. The greatest thing about being dead was that I could be whoever I wanted to be but the worst was that I couldn't be Valkery Syn at least not until I finish what I had set out to complete. It was a rough transition from sniper to grunt work but I was driven by determination and most of all anger. Shooting someone was a lot more satisfying from three feet away than a few hundred metres.
I wiped the blood from my lip on my black shorts and fixed my sports tank top before exiting the ring without even so much as a bow. I was well known around here for my acceptance of even the most dangerous stipulations. The crowd patted my arms while I made my way toward the locker rooms and closed the door behind me. Just as I entered my phone began to ring, unknown number…
"It's him" my fingers pressed the button on the side of my 'watch' before reaching around the ringing object. Main headquarters would be pleased with the find.
"Hello?" I answered flatly and picked up a wet wipe to get the blood from my knuckles and face. "Vera Syren?" A familiar voice replied.
"Yes?" I replied in my fake Russian accent.
"Valkery, its Sergeant Mahonin". The call I had been waiting for.
"...What is it you want?" I lost the accent and threw the rag to the side. I knew exactly what he wanted.
"The military has been keeping tabs on you, I wouldn't have called if it wasn't important…Let me be blunt, I have a mission that requires someone with an extensive knowledge of weaponry and a skill set in retrieving data. I need someone who can handle themselves…and unfortunately you are the only person that fits the profile."
"What a shame" I added firmly and heard a murmur of curses on the other line.
"Do you want me to beg you?" He asked in disbelief.
"Oh, it would make my day" I said distractedly while looking over the mission details on the small screen of my PDA that doubled as a flat screened watch.
"Commander, we both know that it would be a cold day in hell before I plead for your help".
"Take the mission or leave it." He added.
'Blackbird, target is in motion.I repeat, target is in motion' Shit, not now. Main headquarters had a habit of catching me at bad times.
"Priorities?" I asked quickly and searched my bag for my glock 17. It had sunk to the bottom like always, after about ten seconds I ended up just dumping the contents on the counter. A few cosmetics, spare clothes and my motorbike keys clattered to the floor before the handgun made an appearance.
"To retrieve UAC property and contain the threat. The mission is on Olduvai, You need to be on the next flight to the base and you'll be working with the RRTS 6" He added. Asher just jumped straight to the point, he was an asshole but a straight forward one.
"Will you be there or am I wasting my time?"
"You must be truly desperate to ask me for help" I grinned knowing that he was squirming just having to think about working with me.
"Yes or No soldier" He hissed. "I must warn you, you may not return" He added.
"I'll be there" I grunted and pressed the end call button on my phone. As much as I hated it, I would to run as a backup for the suspicious activity that occurred Olduvai. I had one order, don't let RRTS 6 fail. If all else failed, blow the facility to hell, let no one out alive. From the video's shown in the briefing I suspected a viral outbreak of an airborne or touch transmitted disease. A bio-hazard.
My neck satisfyingly cracked as I tilted my head to the side and let out a deep sigh. Here I go again.
I changed into my black skinny cargo pants and black biker jacket which was complimented with my combat boots and plain black tank. My blonde wig was a mess so I brushed it into a simple high ponytail and left the room with my gun in hand. At the last minute I doubled back and reached for my keys that were splayed on the tiles. I cocked my gun and placed it in the waist of my pants, pulling the hem down of my tank to cover the butt.
"The Mission is a go"
My brown eye contacts blurred my vision as they slid around my pupil but thankfully resumed their position. I scanned the area for any witnesses and clenched my jaw as I reached for the handle of the men's locker room.
Christian was in his locker room like I predicted, wiping the blood off his face over a metal sink. Closing the door behind me I crept into the room and revealed my weapon.
"What do you want?!" He hissed as I entered his line of sight. I smirked while screwing the silencer onto my glock 17.
"Your life" I said firmly and fired one bullet into his skull. His head tilted back with the force of the bullet and his blood painted the lockers crimson red as he fell onto the concrete ground. Too easy.
"It's done" I said firmly into the mic of my ear piece and removed the silencer from my glock.
"Well done, Blackbird you're free."