Chapter Six: Bullying the Bullies
Aria of Caspian Border Arc
"IMPOSSIBLE!"
The man slammed his palm on the rusty steel table as an empty coffee mug flew off and shattered on the concrete ground. He was tall, yet he wasn't skinny. His white face and blue eyes complemented his golden hair that was pressed under his dusty helmet. The man had his black mask down and his visor strapped on top of the helmet. Holstered was his AUG A3, though the men around him had an intuitive feeling that he would draw it out and shoot anyone who had an opinion.
"HOW IS THIS HAPPENING?!"
He hoarsely yelled as he saw on his minimap entire friendly blips disappearing and turning into skull icons near the United States Spawn Point. They had three tanks, two jets, two helicopters, two squads of Javelin users, one squad of crack snipers, and four SOFLAMs directed at the Spawn Point. In less than one minute all that remained were the ground infantry hastily retreating to point Bravo. Their tanks? Gone. Their airborne assets? Reports told him that they were shot down with SMAWs.
"SMAWS! THEY WERE SHOT DOWN WITH SMAWS! HOW?!"
He was surrounded by six nervous men with the exception of one who released a calm yet uncaring aurora supplemented by having his face covered. He also happened to be part of the Captain's squad, along with another man who was quite tall for his age. His pistol was strapped tightly on his left leg whereas his AK-74M, with no attachments whatsoever, was slung over his shoulder. The black mask he wore he did not have on, and a single bead of sweat began to trickle down his hard face. And what of the fourth man to complete the squad count? He was shunned and booted.
"Sir!" One man sudden replied. A lowly Sergeant who wasn't part of their squad: he bore an M240 and the mask he had on gave him a very bugler-like look.
"Reports state that a squad of Colonel One Hun-"
"WHAT?!"
The Captain violently threw his medkit at the Support soldier as the force of it staggered him with a loud audible thud.
"I didn't know you could do that…" the man with the AK-74M whispered.
"Well you could destroy weak cover with them…" another man quietly commented.
With effort, the unlucky Support soldier resumed his response.
"Sir, reports state that a squad of Colonel One Hundreds are leading the assault."
Everyone silently gasps. The Captain's eyes widened.
"All our forces are routing to point Bravo, our armor and air supports are all gone."
Someone was fiddling with the pin of his grenade while another was subtly trembling.
"Sir…" his voice was now nervous and waning, "what do we do?"
All eyes turned towards the Captain. An entire squad of Colonel One Hundreds. One was scary enough, but a whole squad? The Captain stroked his chin and straightened his back in deep thought. No one will listen to an order that involves fighting a Colonel One Hundred. No one will listen to an order that has anything to do with a hostile Colonel One Hundred. For once the Captain considered an option that he never imagined he would have to undertake. This order would bring shame upon him, but it was the most reasonable.
Retreat.
Captain MrSprinkes felt resentment when he gave the order. Even Sergeant 13524678123, nicknamed 'Numbers,' was visually surprised. Lieutenant UberJay2 walked near his Captain while the evacuation went underway.
"Sir?" he began, "we lost a lot of men taking this hill."
"We'll lose more if we stay."
"What will the Commander say?"
The Captain glared at his subordinate. It wasn't like him to talk back, though he understood his disappointment in the retreat.
"The Commander will think of something."
"That's it?"
"Jay, do you have something you want to say?" the Captain blurted.
Silence between them followed as the only sound were frantic orders and the engines of VDVs coming to life.
"No sir. Its just Nova."
"What about Nova? That incompetent can't follow a simple order."
A VDV pulled over, as the driver was none other than Numbers. He beckoned them to enter as he heard his name being called in the distance.
"Captain! Captain! Sir!"
It was a Recon class soldier. A Second Lieutenant.
"What is it Lieutenant?"
"New orders from the Commander, sir! He's got a solution to our problem!"
"KEEP FIRING! DO NOT STOP!" the man yelled.
They were defending point Echo while half of their forces were retreating. Two squads of Support classes, all carrying machine guns, unleashed their bullets in the general direction of their enemy. The man in command was sure that he would at least hit one of them. Leveling his own MG36c, the Major began firing with his squad.
"KEEP AT IT, THEY'RE NOT SO TOUGH!" he encouraged.
Stopping to reload, he saw a bright flash in the distance followed by a loud gurgle as one of his men hysterically gripped his neck while blood seeped through his fingers. The Major rushed towards the panicking man as he fell backwards squirming as if in a seizure.
"Hold still soldier, let me see the wound, let me see the wound!" he vainly said as soothingly as possible.
But the Corporal was choking in his own blood; he couldn't make any audible response other than a phlegmatic cough. There were no medics as all Assault classes fled to point Bravo.
"Stay with me Corporal! Stay with me!" he gripped the man's neck while trying to stop the bleeding. Then in a display of a sanguinary end, he vomited scarlet blood and the light in his eyes dimmed… and died.
The Major slowly released his grip on the Corporals body while turning his attention back at the matter; he knew the Corporal was dead from the start. But he wasn't the type of leader that would allow his men to die alone.
"Sergeant! Report on our defense!"
"Sir the Sergeant is dead!" a man responded
"What!"
"He's dea-"
A hole erupted from his chest as the sniper bullet penetrated the concrete cover he was in. The man's eyes widened as if in confusion and stared at the Major for an answer before falling and tumbling down the elevated ground he was on. Then in an instant, they were all under suppression. All of them. The Major's vision blurred as he laid in a prone position. Everyone else ducked under their cover while some attempted to return fire.
For those that did try to return fire: their heads exploded.
Confused cries and requests for orders were followed by screams of pain and the sound of throats being slit. Major Egaddnian turned over on his back before realizing the entire area was covered by gray smoke. He couldn't see anything, but he heard everything. A sudden explosion threw him off as he slammed into the concrete walls of a small empty warehouse. Coughing blood, his head spinned while his ears rang in dissonance.
Then silence.
The smoke was still there, his eyes darted left and right before removing his helmet and mask that was given to him for uniform. He had short jet-black hair complemented by brown eyes and lightly tanned skin. His nose and chin were quite sharp, and blood trickled down his mouth.
He heard footsteps.
Quickly pulling out his sidearm, a .44 Magnum, the Major aimed at an enemy he couldn't see. The footsteps grew louder and closer.
Then, a silver object flew and landed in front of him. Still aiming into the smoke, he saw what the silver object was. Only it wasn't 'a' silver object. They were dogtags, seven of them. Some had bloodstains while others were dented.
Seven dogtags.
There were eight of them defending point Echo.
"You bastards!" the Major nervously shouted, "YOU FUCKING BASTARDS!"
He involuntarily pulled the trigger of the .44 Magnum as the recoil sent dust flying. He kept firing until he had to reload, and he didn't hit anyone.
"SHOW YOURSELF YOU FUCKING CUNT!" he screamed once more. Staggering, the Major stood while his knees trembled. The smoke began to clear, and when it did he saw that point Echo was no longer had the flag of the Russian Federation flying.
His breathing quickened and his vision blurred once more. He fell to his knees, then when that gave away he fell down completely. The Major made his choice; and a figure standing right next to him pulled the trigger of his M16A3.
Ensign Photonous was leaning in the passenger seat of the Growler ITV with his helmet removed revealing his short curly brown hair. Corporal Higgins on the gunner position played with his M4A1 while Sergeant DeviantOne impatiently tapped the driving wheels. They were given orders to wait until points Echo, Charlie, and Delta were captured. Then they will go in and attack point Bravo as the Colonel One Hundreds capture Alpha. Ultimately, they will besiege the Russian Federation Spawn Point and enact revenge. Though, only one problem plagued the team.
"I'm so damn bored," Higgins dully remarked.
And bored they were. Their de facto commander told them to wait. DeviantOne argued otherwise before being silenced by other Colonels.
"Just wait," DeviantOne sneered.
Under the heat of Caspian Border, everyone loosened their armor. Photonous realized how exceeding muscular Higgins was, with his blond hair and stark blue eyes and North American southern accent. DeviantOne had a darker skin tone and short black hair.
"Higgins and I are from the States" DeviantOne once said. They were discussing personal matters to pass the time.
"Niners' from Germany. What about you Ensign?"
"Canada."
"How's Canada?" Higgins asked.
"Nice place. Mostly cold. I hear our Commander is from Japan."
"He is, the man is supposedly a genius in commanding troops. Though I question some of his motives."
"Don't speak so loudly Sarge," Higgins teased, "they may hang you for treason."
"ALRIGHT LISTEN UP!" their team radio feed spat into their ears before the voice of a Colonel Fifty-One continued, "Alpha squad has taken all three points! We are to proceed to point Bravo for the assault! All air assets are to bombard Bravo and provide air cover when needed; all armored elements will spearhead the ground assault. The rest of you will follow behind the tank."
Jets flew overhead as the Abrams tanks began to rumble forwards away from their Spawn Point.
"About damn time!" DeviantOne remarked before starting the engines of the Growler.
Photonous hastily strapped his helmet back on while tightening his vest. Higgins did the same.
"Niners!" DeviantOne said into their radio feed, "you alright on foot?"
"Well it'll be nice if-"
"He's alright," DeviantOne concluded as he abruptly severed the radio feed.
"So… who are you guys?" the Captain calmly asked.
There were four of them standing in a perfect line with their weapons holstered by their sides. One man wore entirely black fatigues, like some shadow that has come to live. The only skin he showed was his nose that protruded from above his mask and under his visors. The Captain then sifted his view from him attempting to discern them by individuals but failed; they looked like statues. They only difference they actually had, he noticed, was that they all carried different weapons. One has an AEK-971 while another had a FAMAS. The third man carried an M16A3 while the fourth carried an USAS-12. He knew they were in one squad, and felt eeriness emanating from their presence.
The one with the USAS-12 heaved his weapon and pointed it to the skies. He gave a silent point at the Captain with his left arm, then pointed at himself.
"I'm sorry?" the Captain asked in a confused tone of voice.
The USAS-12 user gave a slow shake of his head before lower his weapon and then pointed towards the general direction of the enemy's advance and gave the Captain a quizzical look.
"Yes they're advancing from that direction, if you're asking for that."
The man gave a silent nod of affirmation.
"Look," the Captain began with an irritated tone, "the Commander sent you here but we are getting our asses handed to us. We aren't up against their Colonel One Hundred squad."
Upon hearing the last five words, all four of them glanced at each other.
"Best you join us in the retreat," the Captain continued, "that squad is coming in from Echo and-"
But before the Captain could finish, the four mysterious men disappeared.
[END CHAPTER]