A MG filled the air and we glanced down at the enemy below us. We got into a line and fired down on them while they where suppressed by a M41 on the opposite side. They soon all dropped dead. We entered the building through a blown out wall by the platform. We hopped down to the floor inside. It was a spiral walkway that lead to different sections of the building. We made our way down though it continued up for quite some ways. There where also stairs that feed in along the inside-side of the building.
We made our way to the bottom, following the soldier we had been talking to. The fighting had come to an end except down by the walkway, our flank on the enemy destroyed the entire foot hold in the area that the enemy had. We now had regained territory back down to where we had entered section B at. We walked along the dirt ground. I looked up, to my upper right was a catwalk that feed into another building that had a long window seal on it too, allies where using it for cover. Ahead of me on a ledge about five stories up sat a M41 Stationary, it kept enemies from entering the building from the lower sections in the back.
We circled the building and climbed a metal side that lead to a higher section of ground. We walked around the building and up some stairs onto a walking platform. We dashed down to the lower section on the other side as bullets landed near by us, we took cover behind a bus that lay flipped over in front of the gate. The enemy was stuck back at the entrance into this section of the city, unable to enter under the fire of the allies on the walkway. The bullets couldn't hit us do to a small slope ahead, we where below their line of sight. The bullets hit randomly above us.
The soldier
banged on the metal or iron gate.
"Open up!" He yelled.
A few seconds later the gates slid open up. The first thing that
came into view was the command bunker that sat in the middle of the
street. Well, it wasn't really a command bunker, it was a medical hut
and pretty much showed that this was the command post. Stores ran
along the right side of us down the street and the street cut off
down to the right after awhile. Platforms where above the small
stores, and ramps intersected in between some stores that lead to the
uppers levels and further back behind them into other sections of the
city.
"Welcome to
camp Turf." The soldier said.
Guards saluted us as we
entered.
"Where's the commanding general?" Ryan asked.
"We have information on enemy troop movement."
"Follow
me." The soldier told Ryan and lead us up the nearest ramp and
though some tight back alleys. We soon came out into a open area
where crates where staked high and everywhere. A few small tables and
a large table sat in the middle and a man stood there.
Guards stopped
us as we came up.
"State your business." The marines
said at the same time.
"We've got information on enemy
movement for the commanding general here." Now please move.
The
guard stepped in front of the our guide as he tried to step though.
"Please wait." Said the marine as the other walked off
to the general and talked to him.
After a few seconds the marine
waved us forward as he walked back.
"Wait here you guys."
Ryan ordered as he walked up to the general.
They talked for
a bit and Ryan handed him the paper. The general looked over it and
pulled out a hand held radio and said something into it. Ryan talked
to him for a bit longer and walked back to us.
"Alright,
where staying here for awhile." Ryan said. "That is General
James Owenson. He is our new troop commander, we have been... annexed
if you will, into his command." Ryan finished.
A marine walked
up to us, he was missing his right arm and had a few stitches around
his face.
"Gentlemen, if you will follow me I will show you
to your quarters." He said.
He lead us down another tight
alley walkway and we entered a fairly decent sized room that was
filled with cots.
"This is where everyone in the inner
command camp sleeps." He said. I glacned around, there where
only thirty or so cots, that wasn't to many.
"Obviously
with the overflow of reinforcements coming in to use the camp now,
thirty cots isn't much for about the one-thousand men that remain out
of the 23rd." The marine stated.
Eight-hundred men left,
the 23rd had taken an extreme amount of losses from
four-hundred-thousand I thought to myself.
"If case you
didn't know." The marine continued. "The Germans have come
in on our side even though they're a EWCU nation.
"Probably a
trick." A soldier said.
"Well, they have helped defend
the position a lot since they arrived." The marine stated. "Now
for some basic things about the camp. You can do about whatever you
please if your not assigned to a task. If your sleeping, you must
give up your bed when the next group comes into sleep. The toilets
are inside some of the stores, you may use them when you please and
their are no showers around here so don't count on showering while
your here."
A soldier
sniffed at one of the caught.
"That explains the bad smells
around here." He said.
The marine laughed and I began to
remove my armor and slide parts of it under a cot.
"Your
sniffing the bunk I use." He said. "A mechanized soldier
puked all over me once and I haven't showered since then." I
stopped what I was doing and looked at the marine, I suddenly made
out the face, it was the marine I had fought with in Antarctica.
"I'll see
you guys later." He said and exited though two big doors that
exited into the street.
I stood there in disbelief that I had
seen the marine again, I thought he had been killed in Antarctica. I
exited the building in search for him, he wasn't in sight any more. I
went back in and finished removing my armor and crawled into a cot. I
pulled the blanket up over my body and slid the pillow in under my
head that I found under the bed.
I looked up and noticed that some of the roof had been blown out. I looked though the hole into the night sky. I stared deep into the sky at the stars. The smoke didn't hide them way out here. I looked at them shining and my mind began to play with me, one flashed a tad purple and looked like it was moving slowly across the sky, though you cold hardly tell.
I closed my eyes and shook my head and glanced back out at the stars. Everything seemed normal again. I soon began to fall asleep as I laid there and tried to drown out the sounds of gunfire. The thought of the marine being the only thing keeping me awake.
June 20th, 2552, 7:00 AM
"Alright
buddy, it's mine now." Someone said shaking me.
I opened my
eyes to find a marine shaking me, he looked as though he was about to
fall asleep standing over me. I was still tired and I rolled over in
the cot and started to go back to sleep.
"Look buddy, this
is my cot now, now get out." He said with a tad bit of anger in
his voice.
"Fine." I replied and rolled out of the bed
and onto the street like floor.
"Thank you." He replied and dropped straight into the cot, landing and bounced up a bit and then was still. He was already asleep, which kind of scared me, I never seen someone fall asleep so quickly in such a manner. I got up and pulled the rest of his body that was hanging half off the bed onto it. I straightened him out on the bed and put his head more on the pillow and covered him with the blanket. I felt like his mother somewhat.
I bent down and pulled out sections of my armor and took it outside with me. I walked out and found myself standing in my boxers in front of a group of female marines. They looked at me and all leaned in among each other and started laughing a bit, one even whistled at me. I started to put on my armor as fast as I could, embarrassed about not realizing I was in my boxers.
I stared to make my way down the street and walked by the female marines as they sat up against the side of a wall. One of them reached out and slapped me across my armor that covered my butt. I looked back as I walked away, they sat there laughing and whispering to each other. I ended up getting them stuck in my mind all day.
I made my way
down the street and around the corner to find a line of steaming pots
and pans and a line of troops with trays.
"Their giving out
food Steve." Steve said behind me, causing me to jump a small
bit.
I turned around to find him already with a tray of food.
"Go get some, Dave and I will be over at where the street
turns." He said.
I nodded and made my way in line.
Someone handed
me a tray, the next person put a water bottle on it. Down the line
people laid out Roast, bread, peas, and corn. I exited the line with
my tray of food and headed back for Steve and the others back off by
a fence that was in a wall that they sat up against off the side of
the road. I found Ryan in the group as well. I stepped up to them.
"You two not mad at each other?" I asked.
Steve
looked up at me puzzled.
"What?" He asked back as
though I was some nut.
I looked at Ryan, he started making a
rubbing motion on his neck and turned it into a cutting look with his
finger and back to rubbing it. I got the hint to keep quiet.
"Never
mind." I said. "I had a dream you two where mad at each
other, it seemed pretty real."
Steve laughed at
me.
"Why would I ever be mad at Ryan. I wouldn't do anything
to him." I glanced at him, Ryan and Dave did too.
I couldn't
believe he didn't remember. That smack to his head must of done more
than I thought... Well, I take that back, I thought it killed him at
first.
I sat down
beside Dave and removed my helmet and sat it aside.
"So, has
anyone seen Jake?" Steve asked.
I was about to take a bite
of food but I stopped. I looked out the corner of my eye at Steve.
"Uh, don't you remember, Jake was attached to another unit."
I said.
Steve looked at me oddly.
"No I don't." He
said puzzled.
"Yeah." Ryan said. "I was forced to
send him to the 7th infantry, commands orders."
Steve
glanced at Ryan.
"Thats sucks." Steve said and
continued eating, I finally started.
We sat there
eating and talking in the morning light. We finished and just sat
there talking and joking among ourselves. We where sitting there when
a man in sage armor walked up in front of us. We all glanced up, it
was general Owenson. We stood up, knocking our trays and trash to the
side and we snapped to attention.
"At ease." He said
and we put our hands behind our backs.
I glanced back
behind the general and saw the three female marines, they stopped and
where watching. They probably thought we got into trouble and we
where their entertainment.
"The letter you brought in."
Owenson started. "Do you know what it said?" He asked.
"No, sir." We replied.
He looked over us and looked
at Ryan in his green armor.
"Commander...Ryan is it?"
He asked.
"Yes, sir." Ryan said back.
"Alright,
I got a task for you and your team Ryan. Would you care for a shot at
Max Long?"
"Max Long? The General?" Ryan asked
back.
"The very man."
We all looked at
each other.
"Yes, sir!" Ryan said proudly for being
assigned the task. "Thank you very much for the opportunity,
sir! I... We won't let you down!"
The general chuckled a
bit.
"I'm sure you guys won't." He said. "It will
be an assassination strike if possible. We know where he is, so the
plan is to snipe him till he quits moving. Killing him will reduce
the fighting effort of the Russian and French fractions and put a lot
of pressure off of our shoulders. The Germans also have sided with us
and gave us extra information that the message didn't provide as
well."
"Why have
the Germans sided with us sir?" Ryan asked.
"The
Germans observed the fights going on in Antarctica. They saw a team
deployed into a canyon area get attacked by the EWCU. They also saw
the counter attack. They know the propaganda going on in the EWCU
national front are lies. Max has set the EWCU to believe we started
the war. The Germans know better."
I thought back
to when we left after the counter attack in that region and the
German sniper I had seen on the high cliff side.
"The Germans
said that Max has been hiding something very secret from the rest of
the EWCU, something that may relate to the giant explosion that
happened in Antarctica... Anyway, meet back with me in a hour for
your full briefing then you'll move out." Owenson finished.
"A
hour sir? That soon?" Steve asked.
"Yes, the sooner the
better." Owenson replied.
Steve shook his
head up and down slightly.
"I'm game." He said.
I
smiled a bit about the words he used to agree with it.
"Good."
Owensons replied and started to walk off for his quarters. "Meet
me in one hours." He said across the way. "End the war."
I stood there trying to believe taking out Max Long, I now knew
his full name. He had the same last name as Andy.
I froze at the
thought of Andy being related to him for a second, could it be
possible. I clenched my fist tight. Ryan, Steve and Dave looked at
me.
"What's under your skin?" Dave asked.
I looked
at them.
"Andy... Long." I replied.
June 20th, 2552, 7:48 AM
"Andy Long
right?" Owenson asked.
"Yes, Andy Long. A WWMF soldier
in the American Division."
Ryan, Dave, Steve and I where in
the commanders quarters, we where doing a profile and extensive
background check on him. A marine was typing like a mad man on a
laptop.
"I got him." The marine said and stopped
typing. "Andy W. Long" He spined the laptop around for us
to see the picture of him. It was him.
The marine
spined it back around to him.
"Born in Ohio. Andy parents
names are Jullie and Max." The marine continued on but I didn't
need to hear any more information. The parents names confirmed that
he was the son of Max Long, the targeted enemy general.
"Well
now, we know how the Chinese knew when to attack when we where
weakest." Owenson said.
Words spoken by
Andy ran though my head.
'The Chinese invaded Brazil and took
the capital within a few hours. The somehow figured out that the
entire Brazilian Division was here in Antarctica and their capitol
was defenceless...They can hit us from the north or make an assault
on Mexico, putting them out of the war... and onward to
America'.
"He
basically rubbed their plans our faces." I said quietly.
I
formed a fist with my right hand and slammed it into my left palm.
"Because of Andy... Jake is dead." I said to myself
quietly. "Because of him, that soldier lost his feet to the
snake wires. Because of him... Because of him!..." I said the
last part out loud and the others glanced out at me and looked away,
they could tell I was deep in thought.
"Put out a
want for him, alive it possible." Owenson said.
"Yes
sir." The marine replied and began typing away for a second.
"Done sir. Warrant for his arrest as a spy is out." He
finished.
"Nicely done." The general replied and turned
his attention to us.
"Alright, the mission still goes as
planned. I'll resupply your entire team with men, weapons, and ammo."
Owenson started.
He leaned forward over his desk at us and used
laid his head onto his right palm and rested his elbow on the desk.
"I'll
resupply your entire team. You will go in for a sniping kill. If you
don't kill him or can't get off the shot, you are to move in on foot
and take kill him at all costs."
"Sir." The marine
interrupted.
"Stealth fighters have taken photos of Max's
surrounding lands. Its located in a desert like area and is has a
fortified bunker position on the flank of Max's believed position."
"The bunker
over looks Max's position, Max's position is fortified against the
bunker in a small way. It has armor extending into the air in front
of it. The General's position is behind the armor extenders. I
believe if the bunker is taken, Max will be unable to retreat from
the grounds." The marine added.
June 20th, 2552, 1:59 AM
Steve suddenly walked off, I watched him as he went but didn't follow.
"Very good
work." Owens replied. "New plan, take the bunker and keep
him pinned if you have to move in. Keep Max from getting away and try
and take him alive. I'll have a airborne ODST troop on standby if
need. This is now classified as 'Operation End', Dismissed!"
We
all saluted, even the marine got up and saluted.
"Finish the
fight guys." The marine said. "I wouldn't mind going home
to see my daughter." He sat back down and watched us leave.
"All
personal clear the main HQ street for Pelican landings." A voice
of a speaker announced.
We started to make our way to the street,
people began to make their way up the ramps and to the upper sections
of the area. We rallied everyone up on our squad and briefed them on
the upcoming mission. Many where excited to take a crack at Max and
end the war much sooner.
I went down to
the street to find a store door open and Steve inside puking in the
nearby toilet.
"Are you alright." I asked him and he
collapsed to the ground over the toilet.
I pulled him up around my
arms and looked into the toilet. He had barfed up a greenish slime. I
took him to the nearby medical tent and told the medics what
happened. One of them took Steve and another went off to get samples
of the puke.
Ryan approached
me.
"What wrong with Steve?" He asked.
"He's
got the unknown virus." I replied.
We remained quiet. I was
forced to brush it off, I alarmed Dave of what happened to Steve. We
both became upset about what had what was happening to Steve and just
before the big mission as well. I was glad he didn't do it on the way
or during the mission and was happy he was a the camp when he passed
out. I wanted to go see Steve but knew I had to get ready. I only
hoped there was a cure for the sickness by now, I didn't know.
We acquired
additional ammo and supplies in the area where the cots where and
made our way down the street. The three female marines where on the
side of the street and waved at me, I waved back and continued making
my way. The Pelican came in and landed in front of the medical tent
in the street. We sat around the corner to make sure they had room.
The speakers came to life again.
"Operation End is a go."
We bolted out from around the corner and got on the dropship. The legs pulled back up into the dropship and the trusters kicked up. The Pelican began to ascend into the air, leaving Camp Turf behind, along with Steve.
