Over the years, if there's one thing I've learnt, it's that home is never in one place...
Minneapolis, 00:14, 19th March 2037, Bear's POV
At first I felt numb and cold all over. Wet dirt under my hands that I clenched to get the feeling back. That was my first movement. The next was my eyes flickering a bit. The last to wake myself up was turning over on my side coughing up dirty water, emptying my lungs from the not-so-clear- liquid. What a stupid plan we had, doing that. If the water had been anymore shallower our legs would have been snapped in two. Everything that happened was based on luck. Pure luck. By now I could tell this team was utter crazy or just used to doing stuff like this. I could feel the water churning up my throat, the fibers in the water itching every part upwards. By the time I felt most of the water was gone, I spit out the last bits in my mouth after pushing myself up with my arms. Steady as they were, I still shook. Then took a deep, deep breath to fill my lungs with air once more. Too close of a call. I shuddered at the thought of almost drowning. Still my lungs felt strained by having been filled.
The weapon I used, the rifle, hung from its strap across my chest, dangling down. My sidearm, however, was nowhere to be seen. My black wool ski mask had been folded just above my eyes and over my forehead. The tactical kevlar vest weighed down my body, so I did what I had to do to even stand and clipped it off, letting the vest fall to the ground.
Once I was able to lift myself up to my knees, I glanced over at the others to spot two other men geared up just like me with their unconscious bodies illuminated by a nearby fire. Near my feet was the river of rushing sewer and rain water. One already sitting up, the other still on the ground. The other sitting up lifted his head in the direction he saw movement and beckoned me over with a head gesture. I steadied myself onto my two feet before stumbling over, using whatever my hands could reach to steady myself.
"That was quite the gamble, huh?" I called over weakly, stumbling forth to fall against the van he was against. The other nodded curtly while resting their head against the side of the on. I guessed the reason he took his head off it in the first place was most likely because of the jolt from my hand hitting the vehicle metal hard. His two brown eyes watched the other two, holding barely any emotion. His light brown face didn't even twitch. His skin tone was certainly lighter than mine, with me being African-American. Seriously, these guys were really hard-boiled. Tough as nails. I noticed his large muscles under the outfit bulging out. My muscles were like hills compared to mountains when compared to his. His head was larger than most, his nose upturned a little. His eyes squinting to see me under those bushy brows. This guy was tense.
The other squad member shifted, rolling their fingers. Coughing followed soon after, rougher than the rest of us. They leaned up and pulled off the mask, still coughing. This dude was old. And when I say old, I mean he looked more like a Vietnam Veteran than a soldier of this era. I was surprised this guy still had muscle. He had a medium build, a stout figure. Easily shorter than myself, with me being at 6"4. His chest heaving slowed soon to a steady breathing.
"Lion. You get that beacon up?" the old man asked hoarsely without giving even a single gaze. The other man nodded. "Good. You are on first watch." The other man, Lion stood himself up with his M16 rifle.
"Wow, you guys sure are hardcore. I mean, I have never seen anyone so seriousness." No response. Of course, no response. These guys weren't as humorous as my last team. "Seriously? Nothing? Damn, you guys are the toughest I've seen." That got the old guy's attention. He gave a single side-look, his white-iris eye piercing right through me. This guy really was the creepiest soldier I'd seen, and I had seen some crazy dudes around.
"Quiet." I sighed, turning my eyes down to my loaded weapon. I really did miss my guys. Started with five. And all it took was one fateful mission to leave only me. The captain's orders still ran through my head, urging me to get out of there.
I sat there, drifting around in my own thoughts, weighing the rifle around. The old guy was inspecting some of the files we had taken, which were dry thanks to that waterproof sleeve with him. That last fight I was in really gave me a spur in my adrenaline, and it still had yet to go all the way down. My wet attire dripped in the burning fire nearby. The fire's warmth enveloped my rear side where the fire was at, a few feet away. My nose wrinkled at the disgusting smell of the dirtied water on still on my outfit. To pass the time I repeatedly checked over my weapon and releasing some water here and there. Looking up to the sky I could see no sign of the firefight continuing, meaning things must have cooled down. The only question that remained was who won the fight and who lost. Just not knowing put me on edge.
Geez, it must have been hours waiting there. At least, felt that long. Lifting my watch up I realised it wasn't that long at all, but in fact only twenty long minutes. "Damn, how long does it take to fly through the air? I mean, seriously? We aren't even-"
"Shut up, will you?!" a voice shouted from nearby. Seeing the old man hadn't moved, I guessed that Lion was the one calling out.
"Why don't you, Mr. Big Bone!" I chuckled at my own jeer then rested my head against the side of the van with a grin plastered on my face. Grumbles came from over the other side of the vehicle. I moved my gaze down an angle, only to catch the old guy staring me down.
"Shut up" he spoke scoldingly while watching the water. Just like he had been doing since he woke up. Gave me chills how calm one could be in such a situation. No one I knew was ever like that. "If you want us to be caught, then be as loud as you can. Otherwise, shut up...Same goes for you, Lion." More grumbling came over. I let out another small chuckle of amusement. Slowly, I closed my eyes, letting the darkness of sleep take me from this forsaken land.
2 Hours Later...
Consciousness returned to me upon the sound of something approaching as well as someone nudging my shoulder roughly. I blinked my eyes open, hand reaching for my rifle, only to instead knock it over. My gaze moved up to the face of the nudger to see a US soldier armed with an M4. They shouted something upon temporarily-deaf ears before running off. I followed them with my gaze to find where they headed: two Humvees armed with an old fashioned M2 Browning each. Even from here I could see some rust forming on the vehicles and guns.
Tinted windows blocked my view into the vehicle so the only other person I could see was that US soldier plus two others. One of them on the turret. I pushed up the van, having found myself instead sitting against the van. By the time I was up I began walking over to the Humvee with my weapon across my back. One of the soldiers pulled open a rear side door. I hopped inside, not even looking at the others and started leaning to the side. Completely missing the chick beside me giving me a glare.
"Uh, no thank you." The sudden voice startled me, forcing my glance up at the chick next to me. She had a black kevlar vest with a pair of binoculars on the front and an M21 sniper rifle across her lap. On her head was a military cap with her hair in a short brown ponytail going through the hole at the back. Her body was a skinny body with plenty of muscle under the tactical outfit. Her height must have been medium at best, roughly a bit shorter than me. "Personal bubble. Ugh, guys" she groaned. I shaot her a glance of my own, giving her an innocent look.
"Come on, I ain't that kind of guy. You want space, I'll give you space then." She rolled her eyes with another groan when I moved away to the very end of the seat. Since I had been the last to be extracted, the last of the doors closed and we were off in a rumble. All the occupants shuddered wobbled inside from the vehicle's movements. I looked over to the driver of the Humvee. A soldier like all the others, though with a bit less gear.
"How far out are we?" I asked loudly enough for him to hear past the rumbling of the tires and the engine. They turned their head a little with their eyes still on the road ahead.
"Sixty mikes out. Better rest up." I huffed at that.
"Already did." But, with that approximate length given, I might as well have had another rest. Of course, that meant most likely letting my head hang to the side. And a simple sleep wasn't worth a punch in the face. So instead, I did what I normally did when I was bored. Made conversation. "So, I'd like to thank you for that shot you made, Ms. Hawk." She glanced out of the corner of her eye. "That was you, right?"
"Yes. Who else could make a shot from that distance." The answer came to mind right away. Which was 'plenty of people could'. I opened my mouth to give my answer, yet she must have guessed the answer already. "Actually, don't answer that."
I shrugged, slinking back further down in my chair till my boots touched the seat in front of me. Thinking up the next part of the conversation. What else do chicks like here like to talk about? Well, there were plenty of things. Which none of them I could bring myself to talk to, or could even guess she would like that. Not wanting to make anything awkward with any small talk, I finally decided to keep my mouth shut, giving an exasperated sigh.
"Let me guess. Hard time being the 'new kid on the block', eh?" I rolled my shoulders as if pretending not to know what she meant. But I did. It felt just like my first day of school. All nervous. Same way on the first day of training to be a Marine. And first day of training to be a SEAL. I hoped this would be the last time I was going to experience such feelings. And the look she gave me went right through my guise.
"Fine. So I'm more of a cuddly bear than a tough bear. So what?" I turned my eye to the window, staring out to the destroyed landscape outside.
Entire houses having been crumbled or half crumbled. Furniture splayed around. Fires still burning in the dark of the very early day. Wreckages of different vehicles. Tanks, cars, choppers, trucks. When I joined the Marines way back, I expected to see devastation and corpses. But this, this was a new level I never expected. I could picture the explosions and gunfire that once raged across this battlefield. Although the bodies I could not see from the distance we were at.
By then, we must have been at least fifty mikes out. When I thought about that, I realised that the distance between the place we escaped and HQ would have been at least a forty mike ride. Which gave me an answer to the thought I had before about the fight we had seen from a distance. They had been pushed back after all. I saw more of an explanation further out. A large building that was in the area of the HQ. Smoldering with holes in multiple floors.
"Fuck. What made that place such a dump?"
"The strike forced us back." The driver answered. The US Marine in the passenger seat continued on.
"We lost a third of our fighting force. A large pack of Stalkers stormed HQ through the rear. Including a pair of Uber Stalkers." Just the name sent a shiver.
Uber Stalkers. Bigger, badder and stronger than normal Stalkers. Compared to an Alpha Stalker, it was like a bear to a fox. The fox being the Alpha. They were hulking beasts of metal, carrying to anti-infantry cannons on their shoulders with one anti-tank cannon on the back. Those rounds from the anti-infantry cannons could tear a man to pieces, and the anti-tank rounds could make a new door in a Humvee with one shot. Best way to fight them; from the rear. They were slow with their weapons only being able to turn at a 30 degree angle at the front. Knowing this, and being on a higher vantage point, one could be the destroyer of those things.
"Their main force came in after. Turns out what we thought to be their main force was only a distraction for the rear force. A third of what the full attack group. A hundred men, with four times amount of drones. At least a two dozen tanks with three times as much light armor and APC's. We might have held our own, if it wasn't for that artillery hammering the warehouse and that office building. And the dark gave them plenty of cover out there. Me and my squad here barely made it out of there..Lost lots of friends in that fight." A pang of guilt hit me since I felt I wasn't taking it seriously enough. Things really were worse than I first believed.
I looked back out to the ruins of the battle that raged last night while thinking of the lives lost during that big fight. My muscles tensed up at the thought of all those bodies. All the men and women killed. Their screams, the blood, the raging fires and explosions...My team, their shouts, their blank faces-
I shook my head to rid myself of those thoughts. I could never bear the thought of seeing them again, even in my dreams. Yet I believed that I would again. The nightmares. Those damned nightmares...Well, I didn't care when I tipped my head forward and went to sleep again.
Wolf's POV
For the whole trip. Silence. I was so lucky the new guy wasn't in the same transport as me, or I would have gone nuts. He would be out in a matter of seconds, and the team would need another team member to replace him. What I didn't understand is why they got him to replace my friend. My brother in arms. He was nothing like the last Bear. Our Bear was serious, powerful. Not sarcastic and dimwitted like this new guy. Why of all people did he have to be the one to die? Me and him, we were the first to join this team. Heck, the old Bear was probably more stonier than me. Not a full-time joker.
Then Lion had come along soon after the team began. Ah, the good old days. The full-on tough guy of the team. A hardened soldier that could get angry easy. Yet as the name suggests, was prideful. Mess with his pride, you get his full anger. If he wanted to, he could tear the head off a Stalker. With cuts on his hands from the metal, yes.
After, there was the smartest of our group and our vehicle expert. Orca. Real fast talker, too. Really fast. He talks at the same speed as a cheetah runs. Most of the time none of us even understood his science-jargon and all that stuff. He wasn't much of a fighter either, and his looks proved that. He was small, almost the size of a teen. One would think the little guy had lied about his age and were a mere teen. And that techy was always sticking with his toys to do stuff for him. such as fighting, except walk and talk. He did that all on his own. He designed much of our equipment and upgrading our weapons. In doing so he made us his test guinea pigs.
The last one to join the team as a permanent member was Hawk. Only woman on this team and she earned her place well. Being one of the best shots with a scope. She's also quite the sasser, taking anyone's insults and turning those remarks on the sender. She also was a good melee fighter, knowing her way around a knife and hands. Even an Oni would have trouble in a fight with her. Okay, perhaps a minor exaggeration. Though if she had the actual strength to do that, she could. What she lacked in strength she had in speed.
Together, we were the perfect team, capable of any mission...until some sniper snuffed Bear with a well-timed headshot. Not even a single last word muttered in the end. For him to be replaced by some jokester was an insult to his memory. The 'replacement' didn't look like him, didn't talk like him. Didn't even seem to have the same body strength as him. The old Bear really was a 'bear of a man'. This guy's just tall, not too much muscle. Should have called him Giraffe.
A knock brought me from my inner thoughts. I blinked at a spotlight shining at the vehicle as my door opened, illuminating my figure. Going to stretch my legs, there were a few cracks in the old bones. Just to show how close I was to my end in time. Looking to my left I saw the other humvee in front of ours unloading it's passengers, including Hawk and the new guy.
"Finally" I muttered, scanning my eyes over the new headquarters. It was made up of multiple buildings in a small area, barricaded with sandbags, wire and metal barricades surrounding the area. We came in from the south, stopping in front of a mechanic workshop. Next to it to the west was a small bookstore. At the back of both was a small alleyway, and on the other side a large warehouse. On each roof there were mounted guns, both AA and AT. Still a little more preparation was needed, but it would do for a temporary set up.
We were lead through the entrance to where our commanding officer waited, his hands behind his back. He had a military cap and camo overalls. A receding hairline underneath the cap, short sideburns of greying hair and a small stubble on his chin. His skin very flushed like he had spent too long in the sun recently. If the sun were out at that time, he would probably be more red. He stood tall and at attention with a personal guard. As I approached, the commander reached out an open hand.
"Here. Everything we need" I said while standing at attention myself. I handed out my plastic sleeve to him. He opened the sleeve then took out one of the sheets, looking it over skeptically with a brow raised. Then, he nodded. I did the same.
"I expect your team to be ready for debriefing in half an hour." I passed him by, the rest of my team already having passed me by. "In the warehouse! You'll find them there!" the commander's voice shouted back to me. I stopped and gave one more nod before going on.
I followed his instructions and headed straight for that warehouse he spoke of. Most likely point of where the rest of the team headed, being the most likely point for the rest of my team that had stayed behind. Surely Orca and he's 'toys' made it out alive and well. He always enjoyed large open areas with a roof overhead. Several troops saluted me on my way, I gave nothing back while only being focused on my destination.
Going through the mechanic there was a courtyard. With the warehouse holding most of our supplies as well as some vehicles, all the rest were left outside. I spotted a couple of M1 Abrams, some Humvees and Stryker APCs. A few bonfires had been lit around the area to keep everyone near them warm during this cold night. And it was supposed to be almost Spring. Some squads patrolled around while others drank away their miseries.
I passed every one of them by to come to the warehouse, then turned the doorknob of the blue steel door and pushed it open, earning a quiet screech from the rusted door. I walked, turning to close the door. As soon as it clicked shut, I heard another metallic click in a different way to the door click. Followed by another. I whirled around, hand reaching for my sidearm but I was only too late to stop the hulking piece of wiring and metal.
The mechanical beast leaped from a stack of pallets, smacking me down and my handgun from my hand. Red-lit eyes stared down that lit up my face with their close proximity to my face making me blink my eye continuously to keep myself from being blinded in my one good eye. There was a short stretch of silence before finally the metal tiger reared it's head back...and let out a mechanical whirr similar to a purr.
"Stripes! Get off of him, you clumsy piece of scrap!" That robot turned it's head in the direction of Hawk's voice, letting out a soft purr while backing off from me. My frail body felt sore from the contact against the hard metal.
"Pardonme butStripesisnot some'clumsypieceofscrap!" A small yet angry-sounding voice chided at the Hispanic woman. Very quickly.Every time he spoke like that, I got a headache trying to figure out what he said. That's just Orca, the fast talker. "Sheisinfact amarvelofmachinery! Sheismuchmore thanscrap! Sheisinfact-"
"Shut it, Orca." My words were however overridden by his continued rambling.
"-Aperfectdesignof animalemotionandbehavior beingcombinedwith thatofamachine!"
"I said shut up!" The little guy's mouth clamped shut. His lightly freckled face looked over at me on his short neck. A mix of brown and ginger hair grew from his head. He wore an attire of a checkered red and blue shirt with white lines with a grey jacket over it and the zipper undone. On his short legs he had a pair of denim faded grey jeans and sneakers. An unusual addition to the team, but a worth it one. The Stalker eyed me in an anxious way. Thanks to an added jaw and some modifications to the face, they could actually show some emotion. Add to that the modified behavior chips and the sweeping tail and it's like an actual big cat you'd see on a safari. Just with metal instead of skin and muscle and bones. Kind of creepy in a way. but to the stout man they were like pets.
"Stripes" Orca called in a slower fashion. Stripes the Stalker creaked it's head in his direction. "Go help unload the items we need." It leaped away from me, bounding over in a slow trot-like walk. "And be careful with those lithium batteries this time! You know what I mean! I didn't install those analysing reticles with that chip filled with all those items!" The large cat-robot gave two whirs that sounded a lot like 'OK' before disappearing around a corner. I took this chance to stand up and dust myself off.
"Where's Leo? I don't want to be jumped again." Orca came over carrying a wrench, his pale hands covered in oil. He gestured his head to what he just came from.
"Got hit by an AT round right in his right side. I'm piecing him together. Want to-"
"No thanks. I got a debrief to get to." Orca shrugged then strode over back to his workbench where I could then see the Stalker's head resting on the workbench.
So, you may have noticed a few changes in how I'm writing. Well, can't evolve skills without experimenting. So I hope you enjoy these changes, and I'll see you all in the next chapter. Which will take a while.
