The Gate to Hell
Summary: The roughnecks are preparing for the final showdown, but first they must retake HQ and City Hall in Oahu. Will they all make it through in one piece?
Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters etc. They all belong to Columbia Tristar and Sony etc. I only borrowed them to write this story.
We were lucky; none of us would deny that. We have survived the onslaught in Hawaii when many other squads had not. Nobody would admit it, but we appreciated Zim joining us. Rico needed someone to lead him lead us. Despite it all, we were still together, even without Razak. When Carl told Dizzy and Rico that the worst was yet to come, we found it difficult to believe. We struggled to comprehend that state of the war now. Two years ago we were winning and now, earth was in serious danger of being destroyed. Nothing could be worse than watching Earth fall apart and being unable to defend the growing tide of death and destruction. Rico had proved himself a leader in Hawaii and the Roughnecks had total faith in him. It was a pity he did not have the same faith in himself.
Private R. Higgins: Fednet Reporter
The Valley Forge was awash with activity. Squads were still being retrieved from Earth and arriving is various states from relatively unharmed and others were virtually annihilated. SICON was counting the cost of yet another failure. The military casualty list was off the charts, there was no exact number. Troopers fought and died for seemingly nothing, SICON and Intel were getting nowhere.
Just one day into the return to the Valley Forge. The roughnecks were back in their old squad room, which was crowded to say the least. Neither Rico nor Zim had been seen since shortly after their arrival. Dizzy reported Rico as going somewhere with Carl but she had not seen Zim. She too had soon vanished without much of an explanation. The others were in and out at irregular intervals Higgins walked into the room from the Fednet servers as they were reacquainting themselves with their bunks.
"That ones mine, Brutto. Touch it and regret it."
Doc threw his rucksack across the room onto a bunk before Max could land his stuff on it. Max threw him a disgruntled look before shrugging and claiming a top bunk above T'phai's extended one. Higgins watched quietly. He had not missed the ship or its bunks. As he looked around he found himself thinking Razak would stride in and start barking orders at them. He shook his head and moved to his own bunk below Carl.
Rico and Carl were wondering aimlessly around the ships decks. They really had no idea where they were going but went anyway. They passed the hospital, which they swiftly avoided. The injuries were many as Carl has reported.
"You can't be serious buddy. It can't get worse than this. Look at them. Don't tell me there is gonna be more" Rico prodded his friend, hoping for the straight answer he had been denied for the last hour and a half.
Carl turned to look out the window. Earth was below them, it didn't look different from orbit, but they knew it was. "SICON is going to retake everything they have lost in the last 24 hours. Everything, including HQ in Hawaii. This has not been announced Rico but trust me, it will happen and the casualties will climb.'
Carl turned to look at him. It was the first time they had actually been alone for a 'heart to heart' since the start of the war.
"I'm not sure if we can get through this. This is the first time SICON has really needed the offensive to work. They aren't going to count the cost until it's over. I believe the cost will be too high and we won't be able to capitalise on our gains".
Rico nodded in silent agreement. The military had nothing to lose by increasing the offensive size. The problems would come when they could not support their troops.
"What can I do Carl? I'm not Razak, never was and most certainly never will be. I can't lead them to victory like he could."
Rico looked stressed for the first time since becoming a Lieutenant. Carl smiled at him for a moment and shrugged.
"You have to have faith Rico. The Roughnecks trust you and believe in you. Don't let that go to waste."
The door slid open with a hiss and the roughnecks looked around. Whatever they had been expecting was certainly not what they saw. They were surprised to see Dizzy standing there in floods of tears. They all simply stared for a moment before Gossard jumped up and wrapped an arm around her and lead her to his bunk. He sat her down and started whispering to her and was quickly joined by Doc.
Max muttered under his breath "Probably been fighting with the LT."
Nobody paid him the slightest attention and he went back to reading his book. Doc and Gossard were listening intently and Goss still had his arm wrapped tightly around her shoulders. Something she was saying was concerning because they gave each other a look over the top of her head. Higgins and T'Phai watched as they attempted to coax the truth out of her. After several minutes her tears subsided.
"Come on Diz, let's go to the Mess Hall. We can get something to eat and talk some more". Gossard was standing and offering her his hand. She smiled up and him and took it and they left together.
"What was that all about?" Higgins watched their retreating backs before the door slid shut. Max snorted and snapped his book shut before jumping down from his bunk.
"She has been either fighting with the LT or its women's problems, neither of which any of us can solve." He lent up against the wall with a satisfied smirk.
"Actually it's neither, and its something you Brutto, will most certainly not be hearing about." Doc glared at the young trooper with uncharacteristic malice
Within a minute the door was sliding open again and Rico entered followed by Carl. They both looked tired but so did any trooper. Rico looked around, confused. "Where's Dizzy? She was supposed to be back ages ago." He looked annoyed too.
"Gossard has just taken her to mess hall, they should be back soon." Doc looked at him and prayed he asked for no explanation but Max offered him one anyway.
"She was sobbing her heart out, should have been here five minutes ago." He gave Rico a superior look before retreating to his bunk. Rico gave a start before glaring at him. Carl did not look surprised however.
"I'll tell you about it later" Doc stepped forward and whispered to Rico and Carl before allowing them to enter the room. Suddenly the door slid open yet again to reveal Zim, who immediately strode forward to Rico.
"I just met with other Lieutenants to receive our new orders. The memo was sent here. Where were you? I had to tell them you were getting patched up" Rico looked at him blankly.
"I haven't been back here since we arrived. I didn't know we were having a meeting." He shrugged indifferently. Zim glared at him again before saying
"Where are Flores and the other one?" They all stared at him. This was unusual. He would usually wait for anyone missing to return.
"Gossard? Mess Hall, they should be back soon" Doc said simply.
As soon as he said it, the door slid open to reveal them. Dizzy looked happier, she was smiling anyway. Gossard must have been telling her a joke but as soon as he noticed both Zim and Rico, he stopped. Zim raised an eyebrow but said nothing, Rico and Carl looked surprised but also said nothing. Zim strode to the middle of the room and turned around to survey them.
"New orders people. SICON is going to retake Oahu. HQ and City Hall need to be retaken before the bugs gain access to the files on the computers. We have two options, retake the locations or destroy the systems before the bugs can access and download the information on them. The techno heads are installing viruses but they may not erase all the information in time. Checks your gear and ammo drop in 10, Lieutenant, a word outside?"
They all stared at his retreating back and that of Rico as well. This information was a lot to digest at once. Once outside Zim turned to Rico.
"I'm going to say this once. Razak trusted you enough to put Flores and Jenkins with you. Don't let him down by being a sub par leader when they need you the most. Give them leadership and they will get the job done."
That said, Zim turned and strode inside, leaving Rico in the hall. Suddenly sirens started going off on the walls. Rico re-entered the room and looked around. Still in his powersuit, he was glad Carl handed him new ammo.
"This is it, lets move out roughnecks"
We didn't know it, but we were heading for trouble. We wanted to stem the tide of the war so badly that none of us considered the consequences of the POA. We were soon to do what we always promised ourselves we wouldn't, follow orders blindly instead of making our own plans, just like Razak.
Private R.Higgins: Fednet Reporter