No one spoke while we were loading into the dropship. No one spoke on the way to the objective. The ride was eerie. It had never been that quiet before. Apparently the Faction was after Chancellor Sopot once again. I shifted in my armor. It was heavy. . . always was, but that would go away when the bullets started to fly. All six of us checked our weapons, oddly I took a CSMG-19 with the rest of the squad this time. Wanted to try it out, I suppose. I checked it, loaded a fresh magazine into it. I looked over at my executive officer, he was checking his two CMP-32s. I looked over the other four guys, all in dark armor, I remember when I had that color. It was a long 5 years ago. Suddenly the pilot's voice sounded over my headset. "Commander, 30 seconds out from the objective."
"Affirmative." I broke the silence to my team. "Alright gentlemen, lock and load. Time to get those terrorists." Their responses were but a chorus of weapons being chambered. I nodded and looked out over Sopot City, it was raining, which was nice though I hated fighting in it. When we finally came over the building I just noticed the AHC-36 gunships circling the building's sides. . . some windows were broken.
"Alright Commander," the pilot spoke, "Helipad's clear. Good luck, boys!" I said nothing back but hopped out of the passenger's cage on the back of the dropship. My team followed. A trio of Security Service captains walking up to me. They saluted, we reciprocated quickly.
"What's the situation? How many? What kind of weapons? Casualties?" My voice must have startled him because he flinched when I spoke. "What's wrong?"
He composed himself quickly. "Nothing Commander, it's just those voice amplifiers. They make you Elite Guards' voices really creepy. But that's besides the point. They broke in through the bottom floor, and headed up through the offices before we could rally a defense. They are using small arms mostly, biggest thing we've encountered is a grenade launcher or HMG. We've killed a few, we've taken several. they caught us with our hands down our pants."
"Alright, is the Chancellor secure still?"
"Last we heard." He turned to lead us inside. "I'll take you to him. Follow me."
I nodded and followed him, finger on the trigger. "An HMG?" I thought, "They're getting bigger guns all the time…" We moved down three flights of stairs before we got to the media studio. A camera crew waiting to record the Chancellor while he made his latest anti-Red Faction speech. Truth be told, I was tired of them, I got the point after the first few, but I didn't dare say that. . . ever. Chancellor Sopot didn't really look kindly on thoughts like that from his personal Guard.
We were the first Guard to get there, or at least the only ones in the room. A television reporter approached me with his cameraman, she was a fairly popular reporter too. I certainly liked her. "Excuse me sir," she said with a big friendly smile, "what do you think of the Red Faction." The standard question, I suppose.
"The Red Faction are terrorists. They threaten our Chancellor with death, we are hear to keep them from accomplishing that, ma'am." The standard answer, but she smiled wider because of it. The voive amplifier didn't scare her, I had to give her credit for that though.
"Is it wrong of me to assume that you boys aren't afraid of these terrorists?" She asked with a mockingly sly smirk.
"It's a correct assumption, ma'am." She smiled really wide this time.
"Thank you sir." She said, happily. She saluted me and turned toward the cameraman and signed off. I led my team into the room. The Chancellor watching us. He motioned me over. I walked to the Chancellor saluting the most glorifying way I could.
"Commander," Sopot saluted me back, "I see your team is in order."
"Yes Chancellor Sopot. But where is your personal bodyguard team?" I asked with concern.
"They are downstairs deterring the Red Faction. I believe you should go and aid them in achieving a swift victory over the terrorists." I nodded and saluted once more.
"Yes Chancellor Sopot. I'll will leave two of my men here to protect you though." He didn't seem to care, but nodded. I saluted again and turned and walked away. When I reached my team, "Leo," my executive officer, "you and Taurus stay here and protect the Chancellor." We codenamed each astronomical and scientific terms and constellations, rather than using our real names. I was called Nebula, I was taking Andromeda, Neutron, and Orion. All three guys in the matte black armor.
"Yes sir!" the retorted and I led the three to the stair well.
On our way down we never saw the other team, we passed through a corridor a half hour and 10 floors down that was blown up and had the dismembered corpses or the security personnel in it. Andromeda quietly said, "Grenade launcher?" I nodded slowly. Suddenly we heard small arms fire up ahead so we cautiously proceeded to the room it was coming from. The sign above the door read "Work Floor - Cubicles 1000-1049". I ordered the door kicked open, Neutron did so without contemplation and Orion rushed through the door before I gave the order.
I ran after him only to be thrown back by the blast from some explosive. I hit the wall opposite the door I entered. I looked for him as I stood up and moved out of the line of fire, a bloody mess, two legs left nothing else. "Dammit! Man down. . ." A 40mm grenade flew through the door and exploded on the floor. "You two okay?"
"Yes sir, both of us are okay but I suggest we move around to avoid another casualty." Andromeda sounded off. I nodded and pointed down the hall that circle the room, the remaining Red Faction and Security Services personnel never stopped exchanging fire. Another grenade flew in the door as I ran past as I ran by the open door, it threw me some distance. "Sir? Are you okay?" Andromeda asked. I stood up and pointed down the hall again. The two turned and ran down the hall, I followed behind a short distance.
After a brisk run around the hallway we found a set of stairs that led up to a balcony around a corner, two terrorists at the top with an HMG on a tripod mount. I ordered Andromeda to aid me in going around the corner to neutralize them. He nodded. He kneeled and my feet as I readied with my back to the wall, I checked my weapon. . . "Semiautomatic." Andromeda checked his weapon as well, Neutron watched our six o'clock. "Ready?" Andromeda nodded. "I'll eliminate the left one." Another nod. "Go."
As we swung around the corner they had seen us but too late, each one of us, Andromeda and I, achieved our mark. "Contact eliminated, sir." was all Andromeda said. Two 9mm brass shell casings lay on the ground, two bodies lay dead at the top of the stairs.
"Clear. Neutron, you okay back there?"
"Yes sir."
"Alright, let's head up there." I said as I led the remainder of my men up the stair well, watching the corners or the upstairs, "Clear."
After a short pause Neutron spoke up, as I watched the rest of the room, "Sir, this thing has a lot of ammo here. Should we take it with us?" I thought about it for a few moments. "We might need it and I can use it."
"It would ruin our surprise tactics." Andromeda interjected, "Although. . . it would keep that grenade launcher down, maybe punch through the cover. It is a large round after all." A good point, I still thought it over, we worked in surprise, not shock and awe.
"Okay, are you sure you know how to use that thing?" Neutron dismounted it from the tripod and lifted the weapon fairly easily and chambered it. He nodded. "Well, that solves that. Take all of the ammo you can. We'll need it, probably." Andromeda picked up some ammunition as well. "Quite a team." I thought as I moved to a large wooden door to the balcony. They joined me a few seconds later, small arms fire sounding in the next room.
The two took up positions next to the door. Andromeda on the right side, Neutron on the left. I stacked up behind Andromeda and tapped the back of his shoulder to open the door. He quickly opened the door and a voice rang out, "Hey watch the stairs, they'll flank us. . . oh shit! Elite Guard!"
"Neutron go!" I yelled. He nodded and stepped out around the doorway and opened fire without hesitation. It was then that I realized how loud a fifty caliber, nonetheless a twin barreled, machine gun was. The deafening roar of the gun rocked the soldiers body and drowned out the screams of the terrorist that were cut down. He stopped firing. I walked around Andromeda and into the doorway to see half a dozen people lying dead in a pool of crimson, their bodies mangled. I noticed a good thirty to forty shell casings on the ground at my feet. I picked up the grenade launcher, "A CGR-17. . . how did they get this?" I said as I checked the chamber, which has a spent round in it. Tossing the thing aside I leaned over the balcony and called out, "You still down there?"
A security team of a dozen, some wounded, stepped out, "Yeah, thanks for you're help. You lasted long than the Chancellor's Guards. . ."
"What?" Neutron hastily interjected.
"They were all killed by a rocket. . .poor souls." Andromeda and I looked at one another. We said nothing and moved on down.
I clicked on my radio, "Leo, do you copy?"
"Yes sir, Nebula. Over."
"What is your situation? Over."
"Well, sir. They got on the roof some how and we're fighting them off but they keep coming. Over."
"Well, Chancellor Sopot's Guard is dead, all of them. We're on our way up. Over." There was a silence for a half minute. "Leo? Taurus?"
"Ah, sorry sir. Another wave. Copy. See you when you arrive. Over." By the time we received the transmission we were on an elevator upward and were five floors below them, a few minutes after than we opened the door that we exited out of an hour earlier. Several Security personnel lay dead or wounded in the corner. The Chancellor nowhere to be found.
"Where is Sopot?" I demanded.
"Back room, Commander." Leo answered. "His speech is done. We're waiting on his Extraction gunship."
"Good to hear. Terrorists?"
"Haven't fired a shot since I spoke to you last, sir."
"Great. Let's Get topside. Leo, Taurus, stay here and escort the Chancellor when we give the 'All Clear.'" Leo only nodded, but that's all I needed to see. "Andromeda, Nebula, let's go." I led them up the stairs, all of those flights upward and out into the pouring rain. No contacts and I could see was darkness. "Nightvision on." I said as I turned mine on. I saw a group huddled in the corned with something. "You! In the corner! Hands up!"
The figures stood up and took aim. Fired. CMP-32 rounds flew at us, but bounced off our mighty armor. Like rain. "Open fire!" More thunder. More death, they didn't have a chance, one was thrown off of the building, to the streets below. I was the slowest six seconds ever, 4 more dead terrorists. "Lets get to the helipad." And we walked on. No one else dared to challenge us on that roof top while the Chancellor was there.
"Leo, all clear. But be careful."
"Yes sir."
Five minutes late the Chancellor was gone. All that was left was to get the civilians out then ourselves. The reporter walked up to me again, with out her cameraman this time. Her smile gone, blood was washing from her face. Something was wrong now. . .but I didn't know what. "Thank you very much, Commander, we would all be dead if you and your men weren't there to save us." She was terrified. The camera in a bad on her back.
"Where's you camera man?" I inquired, expecting the answer.
"He was shot and killed as we were being moved to the back room." she seems to be reliving the moment. I put my hand on her shoulder, she was surprised. As was I. . .the Elite Guard were not supposed to have feelings and were definitely not supposed to show them either. I quickly removed my hand as I realized it.
"I'm sorry for the loss of your partner." I looked away, there were several other civilians behind me. That's when it happened. An explosion ripped apart the crowd, she woman screamed. I looked up and turned around, a fragmentation grenade had gone off, and a cell of terrorists ascended the stairs. "Open fire, now!" as I yelled this I realized I had dropped by weapon. these had bigger weapons, assault rifles. I heard the thunder from Nebula's direction and Andromeda's CSMG-19's bolt firing. I saw Leo hadn't stood up and I didn't see Taurus anywhere.
I had no time to think, I drew my pistol and fired, it was over as fast as it started. I turned to see if the reported had lived as I saw Leo begin to stand up. She was gone, I didn't see her until I heard her scream towards the helipad. 50 yards away from where I last saw her.
When we reached the helipad I only saw her and the Red faction member with a machine pistol to her head. "Let me go and she'll live. You don't want the Elite Guard to let an innocent get killed if you can stop it, do you?"
Leo whispered over the radio that we could just kill them both. "Not acceptable. Distract him. . .he isn't wearing any nightvision equipment."
"Yes sir." there was a short pause as Leo prepared himself, "You know if you kill her we kill you too. . ." I stepped back into the shadows and found my weapon. "If you really want to live let her go now." I aimed and fired hitting him in the head, the woman falling to the ground. "Sir?" Leo shouted out in surprise.
"Nice shot sir!" Andromeda said approvingly. I strode over to the body, he was dead I suppose, he was still convulsing. I turned my attention to her.
"Are you okay ma'am?" she nodded and I helped her up. Over the radio I ordered Neutron and Leo to search for Taurus. After a few minutes of searching they found him unconscious from the concussion of the grenade. The six of us go into the dropship when it came and went home.