Chapter 7
A chill had begun to cast its cold spell over the woods. The dark sky became overcast and a slight drizzle had started to saturate the ground. The base which was simply known as Base 327 had started to dim its lights in order to stay out of sight from the ground and air. Guards began taking their posts for the evening shift. 6 guards were positioned at the front gate. A single lane road led from the front entrance deep into the forest. Slightly under a mile away out of site from anyone at the base Kanta and Morien made their approach on foot towards the gate sneaking up on the side of the road. Morien began to think about when he was brought there a few months ago never thinking he would return. Wearing a black fedora, aviator goggles, a black Israeli counter-terrorist vest, and German camo-cargo pants he had never felt such a rush of adrenaline before as he did in this moment. Kanta in his iconic desert outfit but lacking the air-cooled helmet had his eyes focused on what was ahead scanning for movement in case someone decided to walk out from the base for whatever reason. Morien's weapons of choice were a SCAR 7.62mm round fully automatic rifle as his primary with an AA-12 shotgun and two Desert Eagles as his side arms. Kanta carried the shotgun his father gave him and a Barrett .50 caliber sniper rifle on his back. Of course he was also equipped with many traps and tricks to help him evade or pursue his enemy. Morien carried on his belt a few canisters of smoke bombs and knock-out gas that were made from his aerosol can collection.
Kanta: "Aren't you cold in that sleeveless dress of yours?"
Morien: "You know I could kill you right now but that would exacerbate the outcome of what we have to do here."
Kanta: "You're too serious man. Lighten up. Focus on what's about to happen. It's going be one hell of a night." he said with eagerness. "By the way one other thing I forgot to say. Try not to kill anyone if you don't have to. If you leave a large trail of dead men the government will start to get involved and you'll be wanted and there's no escaping it. Keep deaths to a minimum and use as many knock-out techniques as possible. Stealth is key here."
Morien: "I'm surprised that your ruthlessness has a soft side."
At the front entrance the guards moved in sequence covering different locations keeping an eye out for anything coming to the base. The drizzle slowly shifted to rain. The sound of the raining hitting the ground, the trees, the walls, covered most sounds. Morien and Kanta used this to their advantage as they picked up the pace until they could see the base. Kanta studied the movement of the guards in his sniper scope. After a few minutes he laid out a plan with Morien. Morien agreed. They moved closer now using the cover of the woods to shield themselves from the vision of multiple eyes at the front gate. Once they were in range Kanta pulled from one of his many pouches a gray cylinder with two speakers one at each end. Morien tried to hold in his laughter as he was curious as to how this plan was going to turn out. Kanta just rolled his eyes as usual and pressed a button on the cylinder. He then threw it towards the opposite side of the road but closer to the base and where the guards could here it land. Upon landing the tune of Rick Astley's "Never Gonna Give You Up" began to play. Two of the guards heard the music and with guns drawn they walked towards the sound. The other 4 stayed back at the gate which is just want Kanta wanted. As the guards got further from the base Kanta moved forward and threw a knock-out grenade at the feet of the other 4 guards. They looked down but before they could react they were already sleeping. Out cold. The other two studied the singing can and as one of them picked it up he turned around to show it to the other guards but he discovered that they were all down. Before they could radio an alert Morien jumped from the behind them like a lion on its prey and smashed their heads together knocking them out. He then tied them together and relieved them of their weapons and radio. Up ahead Kanta was finishing gathering up the guards he put down when Morien caught up with him.
Morien: "What do we do when they wake up?"
Kanta: "If they wake up they have no way to call for help."
Morien: "Well I don't know if…."
A searchlight suddenly turned on and started to revolve at the front gate. When the guard operating it saw that the guards were not at their positions in the front he searched a few seconds more before realizing a problem was unfolding. The base alarm went off.
Kanta: "SHIT! Alarm or no alarm we're going in!"
Morien: "You do realize that its going to be hard to keep deaths to a minimum!"
Kanta: (Thinking about the money that was at stake). Screw everything I told you! Shoot to kill! When we get into that courtyard split up. You know where to find everything!"
With that Kanta and Morien ran into Base 327. With the alarm only a few seconds old there were only a few guards in the courtyard inside the front entrance. Morien tossed a few smoke grenades in front of him taking him out of site as he ran into the same garage the ambulance brought him into months earlier. Before he could reach the door to the endless hallway a swarm of guards appeared from it. Morien hid behind a pillar letting them run by. He ran into the hallway trying to remember which room the information he needed was. Two guards appeared and opened fire. Morien jumped down on his abdomen and retaliated, duel wielding his Desert Eagles. The guards fell over lifeless. The thought of taking his first human life came over him. He thought to himself he had no time to have emotions as more innocent people could perish should the outcome of the mission be failure. He ran all the way to the other end of the hallway which he thought was endless. A door led him to a computer room with a map of the world on it. The light from the large computer was the only luminescent source in the brick room. On the tables he saw blueprints of mining machines and on the map he saw a huge pinpoint on a certain African country: Libya. (This must be where they mined the minerals for the gas they used on me) he thought.
Kanta walked casually on the outside of the bunker scavenging through the trail of guards he incapacitated but had not killed. (If anyone dies it will be on his hands not mine) thought Kanta. A loud whir could suddenly be heard in the background. As it got closer Kanta got his shotgun in hand. An Mi-24 Hind attack helicopter set its sites on Kanta and opened fire with its machine gun. Kanta sprinted screaming like a little girl who accidentally let her balloon go into the air. He ducked behind a statute as the Hind flew over. He loaded explosive shells into his shotgun. As the helicopter flew back for another round Kanta took aim and fired. The rounds struck the gun of the chopper disabling it but it still flew. Instead it fired its rockets out at Kanta sending him into the air and back down landing in a dumpster filled with rocks.
With SCAR in hand Morien prepared to leave but the computer room was breached by two very large guards wielding chainguns. Morien ran back towards the computer as the bullets of the chainguns began to rip everything in the room into confetti. Not even concrete stood a chance against the caliber of the weapons being used. Morien by the back wall noticed that the computer was supported by one overhead beam. He ran back a bit more with everything around him turning into dust. The two guards walked right under the main computer. Morien fired his 7.62 caliber weapon into the support causing it to fail and the computer free-fell forward landing on the guards electrocuting both of them. After the smoke cleared he found the alarm override and turned it off so it couldn't be activated from anywhere on the base. He then left the main computer room with the information he needed. Now he needed to find Kanta. As he left back into the hallway he saw a thick smoke blocking his vision. He was suddenly greeted with a gunshot to the shoulder. He fell backwards and tried to crawl back in the main computer room. He held his shoulder expecting to find blood. To his surprise there was no wound. The pain had also ebbed away. (Are my abilities returning?) Down the hall he saw soldiers wearing gas masks aiming their weapons right at him. They opened fire all at once. Time began to slow down. Morien stood up as the storm of brass made its way towards him…slowly. Not wasting any time he walked by the bullets through the group of guards. He stopped in the center of their group and dropped a bomb. Then he ran out of the hallway at lightning speed.
Kanta laid beaten and bruised inside what seemed to be his metal coffin. The Hind flew around this time stopping in mid-air. The pilot seemed to take his time as he lit up a cigarette. Kanta looked up at the cockpit making eye contact with the pilot inside. (Well if this is how it ends then finish the job shithead). A few more minutes passed and finally the pilot switched his from hellfire rockets to bunker busters. Took aim and fired. Kanta tried to crawl but was in a bit of pain. The missile came within a few feet and suddenly stopped. Kanta's eyes widened like he had just been given a prostate exam with the entire fist. He was looking at the back of Morien who now stood in front of him with the bunker buster in his arms with afterburner blazing at full. Morien looked back up at the chopper; the pilot dumbfounded by what he was seeing. Morien just threw the explosive out into the distance and jumped with all his strength to the helicopter's propellers breaking them with the impact. The Hind spiraled out of control and crashed into a fuel truck which was connected to a fuel tank that sat next to the generator that powered the base….I think you get the idea. The crashed burst open the tanker truck but the fuel did not ignite. The entire courtyard was starting to flood with fuel. Morien helped Kanta out of the dumpster who was still in bad shape but his ego enabled him to stand on his own. Both ran back towards the front entrance. Kanta lit a match and set fire to the fuel. The entire base was now set ablaze. The surviving soldiers escaped in various vehicles. Kanta and Morien escaped into the night well out of the view of anyone fleeing the base. They arrived back at the van and Kanta fell down in pain.
Kanta: "Shit, I think I broke a few ribs and my leg is banged up" he said lying on his back. "By the way what the hell happened back there? You suddenly acquired super human strength like some mutant!"
Morien: "….I'll explain later. We need to leave now" he said calmly.
They headed south towards Frankfurt.
Kanta: "Did you find the information?"
Morien: "It's a mine in Libya"
Kanta: "We're going there now."
Morien: "Wait what??! Now!? You can't even fight!"
Kanta: "My health is not your concern. Drive this thing as far south as it will go. We will cross the sea or fly over it. Either way we are going to Libya right now."
Days passed. The duo made their way to the southern most point in Italy. Destination. Libya. Kanta healed up just enough to be reliable in battle. Morien was looking for a ferry to Tripoli, the Libyan capital. Ferry operations to Tripoli ceased in the 1960's when they were declared a terrorist nation by the Italians.
Morien: "Unless you have a plan, Kanta, we're not going anywhere"
Kanta: with an evil grin "You forget. I always have plan B."
Morien: "Funny. If I recalled you didn't have a plan B after nearly getting killed by that helicopter"
Kanta: "…..cram it! As far as I'm concerned it never happened. Now pick out a boat from the harbor."
Morien: "Oh well I like that….wait what are you doing?" he asked with a concerned tone.
Kanta: "I like that one too" he looked at Morien and smiled with his sinister look. "Give me the wheel."
Morien: "I really don't think I want to now…"
Kanta slammed on the gas from the passenger seat. The van took off gaining speed rapidly as it entered the pier.
Morien: "ARE YOU OUT OF YOUR MIND!?!?! YOU'RE GOING TO KILL US BOTH! STOP THIS NOW!!!"
Morien tried to fight off Kanta but in vain. Kanta just laughed maniacally. When he found the boat Morien pointed at he aimed the van at it. The van jumped the railing and landed on the deck of a multimillion dollar yacht. Morien looked around expecting to see a large crowd gathered around the dock to see what happened. Not a single soul.
Morien: "I hate you so much right now! Besides we may be on the boat but how do you plan on getting this thing to move?"
Kanta: "With this." Kanta pulled out a machine that looked like a roadside flare. "While I get this thing moving find yourself a nice room somewhere."
Morien: "What is that?"
Kanta: "It enables me to turn on any machine I plug this into"
Morien: "Yachts don't just disappear. It's only a matter of time before the coast guard is called out on us. Hey wait! We're criminals now! This isn't what I agreed to be!!"
Kanta: "We're not criminals. We're mercenaries. Besides this is all for a good cause. The world gets saved and we get paid. Simple as that."
The large boat made its way out to sea leaving the Italian coast behind. The trip across the Mediterranean Sea would only take a few hours. Full speed ahead Kanta steered the vessel in the direction of the Libyan coast. Morien laid down on a couch in a lounge thinking about everything the battle he just fought and the one he was about to. (Wait! My strength came back again…I wonder…). He tried to lift the heaviest object in the room but failed. Kanta entered the lounge.
Kanta: "Do you have the map? We need to land somewhere where there are no cities nearby."
Morien: "Yeah, let me roll it out. By the way Libya does have a Navy. Have you thought about how we're going to get past them?"
Kanta: "That's why we're going at 50 knots. We're not going to have time to slow down. I'm going to beach this thing and then we're hauling ass out of there."
Morien: "Oh great. First the damn van and now you're planning on deliberately crashing this vessel on land. You don't think very far ahead do you?
Kanta: "Well I'm still alive so I'm doing just fine with my thinking. Explain to me this power of yours."
Morien: "During the evening of that train crash we were shot at with some biological weapon. The gas filled the entire train putting everyone to sleep. I was taken to the base we just leveled for testing but I used my strength to escape. Then I got back to Hamburg and it was gone. It came back again when I was almost killed fighting in the main computer room. I believe my strength only works when I am in a life or death situation."
Kanta: "So this gas that was used…the materials for it are mined in Libya?"
Morien: "That's what I read. I marked it with an 'X' on this map. And INSF is involved."
Kanta: "Well we know the mission now. It's just a matter of getting there."
In the control room a loud beep starting to go off. Kanta went up to interpret it.
Kanta: "Morien! We have a problem! A HUGE problem!!!"
Morien quickly ran to the wheelhouse. Out in the distance was the Libyan coast. However an armada of Libyan Naval ships surrounded them. The beeping was the navy trying to contact them.
Morien: "Aren't you going to pick it up?"
Kanta: "Do I look stupid?" (Morien thought for a second) "Stop that! Of course I'm not going to pick it up. Besides they won't fire at us because they have surrounded us. The fear of hitting another one of their ships will prevent them from…."
A massive wall of water slammed into the side of the boat knocking the duo to the walls.
Morien: "You were saying!?"
Kanta: "Enough already! THIS IS A LIFE OR DEATH SITUATION!! GET OUTSIDE AND USE THAT GIFT OF YOURS!!"
Morien: "But…"
Kanta: "NOOOOOWWW!!!!"
Morien stood on the deck following the sounds of the gun blasts from the ships firing upon them. He felt the yacht increase speed rapidly so he had to work to keep his balance for a second. Machine gun fire came from directly behind him. (Here we go). Morien stood still as the bullets made contact with his body. They ricocheted off him. (It worked! It does only manifest itself when I'm about to be killed!). Bullets and small projectiles were blocked as Kanta guided the boat further from the fleet of ships. Soon they were out of range and the yacht slammed into the rocky beach. Kanta was ejected from the wheelhouse landing directly in front of the hull on the rocks below. Morien landed on the hull. He quickly gathered all the weapons and supplies and went to check on Kanta who was already standing up. They put on their gear and ran before the navy swarmed in.
