PROJECT MESO

by DoubleBladedPublishers

The year is 2028. Three years ago, the U.N. created Project MESO, a scientific/military operation to fight the sinister NERO. In this story, Winston, a young British veteran, is drawn into this world of dinosaurs and terrorists, and he and his team must defeat NERO and discover their plan to conquer the world.

3. Chapter 2: War Games

Unknown Island, Pacific Ocean, 2028

The pilot pressed a button on the inside of the ramp opening of the jet. The floor opened up and an armory tower, bristling with weapons, rose out of the floor. "Pick the weapons that best suit you. Pick anything," said the pilot. Ryujina was the first to step up. She chose a MRAD sniper rifle with a strange scope. She loaded it with a clip of grey bullets. The pilot looked at her and said, "Those are EXACTO bullets. DARPA made. You mark a target with the scope, then you fire, and the bullet follows the target, with no wind resistance." "Interesting," said Winston, "I don't remember that DARPA project, and I know them all." "It was made a while ago," said the pilot. Next up was Winston. He chose two Magpul FMG-9s. He folded them up into their compact stealth mode and put them in his back pockets. The next to choose was Nicolas, who chose an M32 grenade launcher and an Armatix iP1 smart pistol. After Nicolas, Wilhelm chose an XM-25 smart grenade launcher and a Beretta LTLX7000 shotgun. Then, Tré chose an ADS amphibious rifle. "Why choose that one," the pilot asked Tré. "I work better submerged," said Tré. "I see you are ready for this game. All right. There are two teams, those with and those without." "Those with what," asked Winston. "You'll see. Anyway, your team's base is this jet. Your goal is to get past your enemy's defenses, get to their base, and capture their Beacon. Whoever activates the other team's Beacon and successfully gets it back to their base wins. Team leader is Winston. You have 10 minutes to strategize and prepare. Then the game begins. Now, go! Your time is already ticking down," says the pilot. The team creates a strategy by looking at a holomap of the enemy base. Winston went over the strategy one last time, saying, "Ryujina, you take the high ground, provide cover fire for Wilhelm and I as we go to get the Beacon. Nicolas, get a stealth-surveillance drone in the air and keep us on comms if you find the enemy team. Tré, there's a deep pond next to the base. Hide in there and fire at the enemies if they show up. Are we ready?" "Yeah," said the team. "Then let's move out!"

Winston and Wilhelm run through the jungle towards the clearing the base is in. Ryujina is in a tree near the base, watching the two preparing to storm the enemy base. Tré is holding his breath below the surface of the pond, prepared to fire. Nicolas is back at the jet, controlling a cloaked VTOL surveillance drone, watching for enemy movement. "Okay," said Nic, "you are clear to move in." Winston and Wilhelm charge toward the base. As they did this, the team heard Nic mutter, "Putain, qu'est-ce que c'est..." "What is it," asked Winston. "Fucking dinosaurs," shouted Nic. "The hell is he talking about," says Wilhelm. Hearing crashing through the trees, Winston says, "I have a feeling we're about to find out." The trees split open as an armored T-Rex burst through the trees. Its scales are dark greenish-brown, with mossy green tiger stripes along the top of its snout and along its spine. Its snout is filled with long, serrated teeth, and its small, pale yellow eyes stare at the two with what seems like cold anger. Two soldiers in armor sit in two turret posts, armed with heavy, mounted machine guns. "Holy shit. Stay still. Its vision is based on movement," whispers Wilhelm. The T-Rex roars and begins to run towards them, and the soldiers on the T-Rex begin to fire. "What the fuck do you think this is, Jurassic Park? Wilhelm, run and get the Beacon. I'll distract the T-Rex," says Winston. Winston runs and yells, getting the T-Rex's attention. It chases him into the forest. Wilhelm runs toward the base, goes in, and takes the Beacon, which looks like a cylindrical thermos with a blue laser lens in the top. As he turns around, a Utahraptor tackles him to the ground. The Raptor is 6 feet tall, covered in dark grey scales, with dark red streaks down its spine and red and dark blue feathers adorn its head. He pushes the Raptor off, grabs the Beacon, and runs. A soldier with armor stands behind the door, aiming a silenced Armatix iP1 pistol. "Take the shot," Wilhelm whispers into his communicator. A bullet hits the soldier in the heart, and he falls. Wilhelm breaks into a run towards his team's base, activating the Beacon, alerting the other team to his position. He looks behind him and he sees the T-Rex and its riders, the Raptor and the soldier, and a soldier riding an armored Triceratops. Wilhelm gets into the jet just in time. He finds a cylindrical hole in the top of the armory tower and inserts the Beacon. The Beacon activates, and the team hears a voice say, "The Red team has retrieved the Beacon. War Game complete." The rest of the team returns to the jet and the jet takes off. The pilot set the jet on autopilot and appears from the dark cockpit and says, "Congrats. You've won the War Game. This means that you are now officially members of Project MESO." "What does MESO stand for," asks Nicolas. "It's actually a shortening," says the pilot, "short for Mesozoic." The plane touches down. "Time to see the new workplace and meet the boss," says the pilot as he opens the jet ramp.