Chapter 1 - Veni Vidi Vici
"Lancer, you are green. Engage and eliminate all hostiles." the voice called over Corporal Mathison's comm. Mathison was busy surveying his surroundings, but still let an almost dronelike response escape his lips. "Roger Command."
Mathison let out a sigh as he looked out over the crest of the mountains towards the Iranian compound that was about to be washed off of the planets surface. He couldn't help but think that something was very wrong with what he was about to do. "Omni, can you get a reading on whether or not there are, in fact, nuclear materials inside that compound?"
"Stand by sir." Omni responded. Mathison continued to look out over the Iranian Desert. The sun was going to be rising soon, and would give away their position, not that it really mattered. Nothing short of a full battalion of tanks would be able to take down the MT's, should they be discovered prematurely. His thoughts drifted to the recent missions he'd been on. These MT's had been responsible for the `unification` of Canada, the United States, and Mexico, as well as some of the northern countries in South America being unified into the American Empire. Great Britain had struck a deal with the American Empire, and the MT's had been deployed in Europe to help England resolidify it's former Imperial past. China had paid the United States a great source of money to integrate North and South Korea, Japan, Nepal, and India into a singular territory as well.
This isn't what I signed up for. I'm not going to subvert the world for the powermongers. Mathison was shaken from his thoughts by the sound of his com clicking on. "Lancer, Omni. I'm reading zero nuclear technology from the compound. Additionally, I'm reading no defenses that amount to anything better than armed guards. Repeat, threat factor is zero." Mathison punched the dash of his MT. "Copy threat factor zero. Stand by for further orders, Lancer out."
This is bullshit and they know it. Who the fuck is buying their empire this time? Turkey? Libya? No... Israel is more likely the answer. Mathison decided to call it in, just for good measure. "Command, Lancer. Omni is reading zero nuclear assets in the base. Threat factor is zero. Please advise."
Static rode the com momentarily before the response came. "Lancer, Command. Intelligence has given us solid data. Omni's sensors may not be able to pick it up given that it's underground. Continue with the mission, as soon as area superiority has been established, vacate the area. The third Ranger division is standing by for cleanup." Mathison cut off the com without responding. It doesn't even matter anymore. Nothing matters anymore. We're unifying the world through force for ourselves, our allies, and whoever is willing to pay us. Working for the highest bidder isn't necessarily a bad thing, but having ties with people prevents neutrality.
"All units, move in, level the compound." Mathison spoke out. He brought his systems from passive to active and prepared to move in. Halfway through the activation, he looked out to his left, and saw the unmistakable shilloutte of Psycho's MT speeding towards the compound. He silently counted to himself. 3...2...1... "BURN BABY BURN" Psycho's voice bellowed over the com. She always got twitchy while waiting for the green light on any engagement.
To his right, he saw Thrillers MT taking up a firing position and adjusting his favorite weapon into place. After it was, the unmistakeable sound of the 275mm Howitzer unloading shell after shell into the air. Lancer looked back towards the compound, grimacing and hoping for a miracle that would allow those people to survive. The compound lit up as the Howitzer shells found their mark, shattering entire wings upon impact. Psycho was busy taking out the more isolated sections of the compound with a hail of machinegun fire.
Lancer and Omni didn't move. Omni had limited fighting capability, and Lancer couldn't bring himself to commit wonton acts of murder. More than half of the compound had been leveled, and Psycho hadn't met any resistance at all, not even small arms fire from armed guards. "Lancer, Omni." the comm called out.
"Lancer here, go ahead." He knew what was about to be said, and he completely agreed with it. Wallace shared his disdain for rampant destruction, and the two had talked privately about what the MT's were being used for. "There's a wide signal radio transmission going out from the compound. They're asking to speak with the leader of the `Four Horsemen`. What should I do, commander?"
"Patch it through." The com clicked off and Mathison sat back. Guess he'll chew me out about it later when we're away from prying ears. The comm clicked on and the sounds of explosions and screaming could be heard coming through in the transmission, as well as a very panicked Persian. His English was hard to understand, given the fear in his voice, but it wasn't impossible to make out. "...nder of the Horsemen, please disengage. We are a peaceful settlement of refugees that fled from the tyranny of the Iranian government. We have no weapons, we have seven thousand people here, women and children alike. Again, please disengage, we are no threat to anyone!" The man sounded almost as if he were in tears. That's it, I can't fucking take this anymore. Leveling military targets is one thing, but I'm not going to wipe out civilians on this murderous crusade.
Mathison gave the recall order. "7th Armor, target is neutralized, disengage and rendezvous at the fallback coordinates." He looked over and saw Thriller disengage and lower his weapons. Back towards the compound however, Psycho was simply standing still. "Lancer this is Psycho. Target has not been leveled to mission spec. I am continuing my mission."
"Psycho, move to the extraction point IMMEDIATELY. Disengage." He was fuming now. Psycho was getting harder and harder to control. Her bloodlust on the battlefield couldn't be matched by anyone he'd ever known in his life, and suspected that people like Hitler and Stalin would be proud of her for the absolute carnage she wrought. Lancer reactivated his com on a broadcast to the entire squad, just to make sure she heard it. "Omni, standby to take control of Psycho's MT in case of noncompliance."
That seemed to get her attention. She disengaged and moved towards the extraction point. Lancer knew he was going to get his ass chewed into hamburger meat for not completely devastating the compound, but the Rangers wouldn't exactly have a problem doing that anyway, given the nature of the people inside. The four moved to the extraction airfield where the four heavily modified C-130 cargo planes were waiting, and a fifth, smaller troop transport was waiting. Mathison mentally prepared himself for the firestorm that he was about to catch from both Psycho and General Haris.
***
"Lancer, your mission was to completely devastate the enemy compound, not just 75% of it. Why did you retreat early?" Mathison shifted in his chair and thought about it momentarily. His squad wasn't present for this debriefing, as it seems the General wanted to guage his response before chewing him out in front of his team. The easiest way to appease any commanding officer was to talk about cost. "Sir, during the course of the mission, there was zero retailiation from the base. Not even small arms fire. My thought on the matter is that it seemed foolish to waste high cost resources and ammunition when the base was nearly devastated and there was a battallion of rangers on standby. I merely analyzed the situation and found it would save money and ammo if we pulled out then, instead of wasting rounds needlessly."
The General nodded as if he accepted the statement. "You'll make a good General one day, Mathison. Saving money where we can will aid us in the future, especially when it comes to advancing the plans we're currently putting together." Mathison nodded solemnly. Yeah... just what we need. "Did the Rangers come under any fire upon siezing the compound?"
The General waved his hand. "There were no casualties, the Rangers did their job." He paused momentarily. "We are adding MT's to your command. Given the state of the world, we're stepping up operations. We have decided that we are going to promote from within your squad. Do you have any suggestions as to who it will be?"
Mathison feigned deep thought, but he already knew the answer. He wanted the General to get the impression that he was considering each member's strengths and weaknesses before giving his answer. After sitting there for five minutes or so, he gave his response. "Psycho is out of the question. She has a very hard time following orders, and if she is left to her own devices, she will deviate from mission parameters. Thriller is a highly competent soldier. Follows orders to the letter, however, I don't see him being able to think on his feet if the situation calls for it. Omni seems the only logical choice. He is capable, competent, and has proven in the past that he can take initiative to prevent losses."
Haris nodded an affirmation. "So, Omni and Thriller would be the two you would consider for command positions then, given the choice then, correct?" Mathison stopped dead in his tracks. Two? How many MT's did they actually build? "Sir, with due respect, I wouldn't put Thriller in command of the second. I believe Omni is the only choice."
On hearing this, Haris chuckled quietly. "Let me fill you in on the changes about to happen around here."
******
Smith, Ruthers, and Wallace were all waiting outside in the ready room waiting to be called in for the debriefing. The three were all fairly quiet. But Psycho was apparently restless. "I hate waiting around! I want to get this shit over with so I can go get some sleep. God this is so boring."
Omni was apparently not pleased with how his colluege was acting. "Would you shut the fuck up for 10 minutes? Jesus christ, you're intolerable."
Thriller just sat in silence, deep in thought.
Ruthers snorted. "You can't take over my MT when we're not inside it you shithead." She scoffed at the actions of the recent mission. "Would you have stopped me? I mean, I was just following the command briefing. I wasn't doing anything wrong. Would you have prevented me from completing my mission?"
Omni let out a very long, very tired sigh. "Mission Intel was wrong. There were no weapons. There were no nukes. We were just contract killers, nothing more. I'm going to follow the Corporals orders above all others. I know the man at least has a sense of moral obligation."
Samantha laughed. "Moral Obligation? War is fucking war. People live, people die. Empires rise, empires wane. That's the human cycle. You think these MT's are going to be top dog forever? All it's going to take is someone else building a bigger MT before we're all screwed and this whole thing means nothing."
Thriller apparently decided this was the time to interject. "So when did you lose your soul you fucking slant? Was it when daddy sold you to one of his buddies for a night of personal gratification to pay off a gambling debt? Normal people are supposed to feel like shit when the blood of innocents gets spilled. Just because people are on the wrong end of the gun doesn't mean they don't have familes and friends that are going to mourn their loss."
Psycho simply shrugged. "Better them then me, that's why it's called the `wrong end`."
Omni changed the subject abruptly. "I overheard one of the deck techs talking a few minutes ago. Apparently they're moving some large cargo into the holding area. What do you think? Upgrades?"
Psycho was apparently excited now. "Oh shit! Really?! Fuck yes that's awesome! Maybe I get some more guns... or maybe I get another fusion booster... or or or... "
Omni stopped her mid-sentance. "Don't get your hopes up. They're not bringing in upgrades, I just wanted to fuck with you. They wouldn't waste money making the MT's better when they're already unstoppable, at least for now. It's more likely some sort of support unit. Maybe a second unit of MT's, who really knows."
Just then, they got the signal to move into the briefing room. Samantha quickly rushed into the room, eager to find out what the new cargo was. Michael and Willam stood slowly, and as they were walking in, Michael whispered. "I'm not sure how much longer I can do this. I can't sleep at night, too many nightmares." William nodded slowly, and put his hand on the shoulder of his companion. "I know."
*******
Omni, Psycho, and Thriller all walked into the office and took their seats at the large ovular table. Haris gave them all a once over before going through with the debriefing. "The Iranian Weapons compound was successfully neutralized with yet another zero loss factor. The Ranger Battalion that went in recovered weapons and technology that was aiding the current leader of Iran. Intelligence suggests that the Iranians were preparing for a nuclear launch that would have subverted the entire Middle East. It is likely that we will be making preperations to invade Iran, as well as Iranian loyalist countries, in the near future and turn over control of them to our allies in Israel to keep them in line."
Mathison guaged the responses of his team. Psycho looked completely uninterested, she was flipping a pencil around not paying attention to what he was saying. Omni looked more and more dismayed by the mention of the preparations to invade the Middle East in full force. To Mathisons surprise, Thriller looked like he was as tense as he'd even been. He silently wondered what was on the man's mind. I really need to talk to him as soon as this briefing is over with.
The General continued, unabated. "With this mission completed, we have been allocated additional funds from the defense department. Not only that, we're going through a massive change in command structure."
The Horsemen were all focused on the General now, as this probably affected them all in a pretty severe way. "The President recognizes that MT's are the new way of war, and has commissioned the creation of a new branch of the military that will stress the usage of MT's. The new branch is going to be called HAWC, or Heavy Armor and Weapons Contingant. A new ranking structure has also been created, specifically for HAWC. Given that I've been overseeing the project for the last 10 years, I am being promoted from Brigadier General to HAWC Admiral, the highest rank inside the new branch."
Haris paused, obviously waiting for words of praise. Mathison took the initiative. "Congratulations, sir." Haris smiled. "Thank you. Lancer, you will no longer be a Corporal for the United States Army. You will now be a Battalion Commander. This will be our highest field command rank." Mathis continued without waiting for anyone to say anything. "Gunnery Seargant Haris. You will be taking command of the third comissioned MT unit. Your new rank is Lance Commander. You will report to both BC Mathison, and myself. Specialist Omni, you will be taking command of the second commissioned MT unit. You will also have the rank Lance Commander and will report to Mathison and myself."
Mathison wasn't paying attention, as he was busy guaging the responses from his former teammates. Thriller had a look about him that was one of surprise. He wasn't sure if it was a good surprise or a bad one, but it was surprise nonetheless. Omni however, looked as if someone had just shot his dog. Psycho was looking very, very eager. She was probably coming to the realization that she was going to get her own squadron as well.
"Unfortunately" the Admiral continued "We don't have the funds to commission a fourth MT unit. So that's going to have to do it for the command positions." Psycho sank in her chair, obviously dissappointed. "Psycho, your rank will be changed to Senior Pilot in the new structure. There are 30 recruits downstairs that are here to fill in the 8 open spots between the three squads. You have a week's leave while we sort out the rookies. Talk to the base logistics officer to sort out where you want to go for your leave. You are dismissed."
Ruthers stood up and gathered her things. "I guess there's some white light here after all. See you suckers later, I'm off to find me a sexy cabana boy." She turned and left the room almost bouncing on her way out.
Haris turned back towards the remaining three. "We have work to do, meet down in the hanger in 30 minutes. Dismissed."
The Admiral quickly left the room, leaving the remaining to their own devices. Mathison turned to congratulate his two friends. "Congratulations on your promotions. You both deserve it."
Thriller shot a look of disgust over towards Mathison. "I don't want this. I don't want to be responsible for ordering the death of innocents." Mathison stared back. I guess that answers the question on whether it was good or bad.
Omni seemed to mirror the feelings, nodding slowly. Mathison took his time responding. "Put on a show for the brass for now. I'll take care of things." He let out a long sigh. "See you on the deck in 30 minutes." With that he stood and left the room, furious with himself.
******
Mathis, Omni, and Lancer were all standing on the deck, at ease, waiting for the rookies to be shuffled into the corridor. They could hear the elevator from the hanger being lowered, so they knew it was only a matter of time. Looking out over the deck, the three saw the eight brand new MT's, as well as the four they'd been using for the last two years that were going to make up the HAWC battalion. Omni broke the silence as they were looking over the machines. "They're identical to the ones we're using. They haven't been upgraded at all, not that there's a need to upgrade the tool that dominates the world." Mathison nodded in agreement with the statement.
The blast door to the elevator rose, and the nuggets started to shuffle in towards the three commanders, led by Admiral Haris. They could hear him giving them a very brief description of what was going on. Most of the nuggets were looking around, completely dumbstuck by what they were seeing. A bit of nostalgia flowed over Mathison, remembering the walk he and his people took their first day on the base.
Haris stopped the group short of the Commanders. "Let me introduce Battalion Commander Mathison. He will be taking over from here." The rookies all saluted in unison. Mathison let them stand there a second before saluting back. "At ease, recruits." Haris walked over towards the three and spoke quietly as not to be overheard. "They're all yours Commanders. You have one week to seperate the wheat from the chaff. Use whatever methods and means you see fit. After all, this is a brand new organization, we don't have any guidelines to follow, so you're going to be making things up as you go. Good luck."
Mathison spoke loudly. "Yessir." The Admiral turned and walked out. After he was out of sight, Mathison went over the basics of what it meant to be an MT pilot, as well as pointing out the differences between the MT's. After his introduction to the units was completed he told the recruits to disperse and give the machines a once over. Once the recruits were gone, he turned to his collegues. "We need to be absolutely certain that whoever we take with us will be loyal. We can't afford people that are going to be loose cannons." Wallace and Smith nodded in unison. "Let's go guys, we've got work to do."
