Mountain Highway
73 kilometers South, South West of Command
Time—22:13:05
Two operatives in white armor drove at high speeds down the dirt road. No one ever drove down these kinds of roads anymore. They had been abandoned a long time ago, along with the soldiers that had once used this road. Most soldiers were still there, forgotten when the Project had been shut down. In the eyes of the superiors, they weren't needed or wanted.
The two operatives in white armor completely agreed. But they only agreed because they were told to agree.
They were driving a brand new Warthog that had just gotten shipped off of the line. It was sleek compared to the rugged, fractured rocks that the Simulation Soldiers had called Mountains. To anyone else who was riding the Warthog, it would have been called the sweetest joy ride in the history of joy rides. But to the operatives, it was just a transportation unit to get from point A to point B.
The operatives didn't even talk to each other. It was an awkward silence, but neither of the operatives had noticed it. Their whole attention was on their given order from Command. It was a simple mission that they had run before.
Just observe, collect and transmit data to Command and then apprehend the rogue or invalid agent. Killing was optional in this case, but the Director had specified that he wanted this rogue agent brought in alive for interrogation.
This was a priority mission. One of their first priority missions since the last period of activity. And only the best of Command's operatives were granted permission for the assignment.
This meant that Operative 12-4b would naturally be on the case, as he had been in the program for as long as it had been running. He had the most knowledge with the new technology and weaponry out of all the other Operatives. Operative 12-4b had been the most prepared because of that, mentally and physically.
Operative 12-4b's partner in this assignment was the fairly experienced Operative 31-6c, who had been in the battle field longer than most other Operatives at Command. She was, however not used to working with Standard Issue Soldiers like Operative 12-4b was. This experience was for her to also learn how Standard Issue Soldiers and Simulation Soldiers worked and fought together.
They've worked before, so the Director knew that this assignment would go as well planned as he thought it would be.
They approached their destination in minutes. Or, what was left of their destination. The remains of Simulation Blue Base of the Southern Mountain Range were charred completely black. The second floor had caved into the first, leaving the remains without a ceiling. One of the walls had collapsed, leaving a pile of rubble in its wake. The windows had blown out; their glass thrown across the road and surrounding mountain paths.
It looked like the perfect textbook picture for Hiroshima's atomic bombing.
"Arrived at targeted destination." Operative 31-6c spoke into her radio. Command was recording their progress via audio link, so both Operatives were forced to say their observations. If they didn't have to repeat every observation out loud, both Operatives would have chosen to remain silent during their work. "Coordinates match the sight of seismic triangulation."
"First glance suggests an explosion had decimated Simulation Blue Base. Scanning for life now . . . no visible signs of survivors." Operative 12-4b stated into the helmet's radio.
Operative 12-4b jumped out of the Warthog and headed into Simulation Blue Base. Operative 31-6c also exited the vehicle, but had followed her directive to observe the after effect of the explosion. From what her databanks showed, nothing was out of the ordinary inside the perimeter of destruction.
"Residue and remains of Simulation Blue Base indicate that a bomb consisting of C-4 had been detonated in large quantities." Operative 31-6c stated. "No signs of wild life in the vicinity of the explosion. Plant life has also been eradicated."
While Operative 31-6c was observing outside of the remains, Operative 12-4b had been searching inside. The charred residue inside the base was made it too dark to see for him. Operative 12-4b turned on his built in flashlight and searched for something in particular. But even with the light on, it was difficult to make out objects inside the remnants of Blue Base. It seemed impossible for Operative 12-4b to find what his directive told him to.
Operative 12-4b found it when he accidentally stepped on a scalded hand. Operative 12-4b didn't jump from surprise as anyone else would have if they stepped on a dead person's burnt hand. Rather, Operative 12-4b just picked up his foot and scrapped the flaking skin off of his boot. To him, it was just like noticing that you stepped into a smelly pile of dog crap.
Of course, for Operative 12-4b and the rest of the Operatives, other soldiers were equal to piles of dog crap.
"One corpse found in the collapsed Simulation Blue Base. Specifically, location is where the storage room was. From first glance, the victim is a male of six feet in height. Running scan on the body as of now." Operative 12-4b said as he bent down to get a closer look at the body's details and flaws.
And so, the two Operatives in white armor continued in their work, ignoring each other until the other was needed. However, that would not be the case during this assignment.
"Scans indicate that the body belonged to a Private First Class Patrick O'Donnell of the Blue Team. The Simulation Soldier had kidney and liver problems, but not resulting in his death. Subject was repeatedly shot in the head with a standard issue Battle Rifle." Operative 12-4b said. "Time of death was roughly eighteen hours from now. Death was instantaneous."
Operative 12-4b left the body of Patrick O'Donnell in search of any other corpses. And there were more. Though, this time they were all roughly in the same spot.
"Three more deceased Simulation Blue Soldiers found in the remains of the observation deck. That of which has been collapsed into the first floor shower stalls." He said. "All as badly burnt as the first corpse. Though scan shows that that was not the cause of death."
Operative 12-4b examined the first body. He didn't try being careful with the remains of the soldier. The idea of respecting the dead never popped into his mind. In fact, Operative 12-4b never had respect for the living. It wasn't in his training to value the lives others, not even his fellow Operatives.
In the Archytas Program, it's every man for himself.
"Second corpse belongs to a Private Grant Brown. Medical files indicate that the Private suffered from severe post traumatic trauma during his military training years. Cause of death is multiple shots around his torso from Battle Rifles. Rounds specify that it was friendly fire. Death is around the same time as the other. Death was not instantaneous."
Operative 12-4b moved to the next body. Nothing out of the ordinary. "Victim was Private George Rodgers. Suffered from similar wounds to the chest. Fatal shots were fired into his forehead. Shots were of standard assassination techniques often used by experienced soldiers or executioners."
Finally, Operative 31-6c finished her scope of the surroundings. She headed inside to check on the remnants of Blue Base's computer. "Vehicle tracks were found outside the perimeter of the explosion. Files show that the tracks belong to a standard issue Mongoose that belonged to this base. Checking to see if files were accessed before time of explosion."
And so, Operative 31-6c miraculously turned on the base's computer. It hummed to life, and then started to choke on its own power. The computer was in bad shape, and it didn't seem like Operative 31-6c would get any viable information. However, as Operative 31-6c was a computer engineer, she could receive more information than others could acquire. If others had tried to do the same job that Operative 31-6c was doing, they would have failed horribly.
"At first glance, files on this computer had been hacked by an AI unit. Remains of the AI's trail indicate that it was a fragmented piece of a smart AI. From the AI's trail, the AI did not hack into the Simulation Blue Base's files. It seems that the AI intentionally hacked into Command's public files. Searching for what it had been looking for as I speak." Operative 31-6c said as she dug herself into the computer.
And so, the two Archytas Operatives slaved away at their different directives. Operative 12-4b continued to observe the bodies while Operative 31-6c searched for the leaked files. However, they stopped when they heard the sound of an approaching vehicle. The two operatives looked at each other for the first time this assignment. They nodded their heads, and Operative 31-6c stepped away from the computer to inspect what was happening outside.
She stepped out of the remains of Simulation Blue Base to see that a Warthog had arrived. It was in a horrific shape, and if Operative 31-6c wasn't in the Archytas Program, she would have questioned why it was still in use. However, her attention was focused on the new arrivals.
There were three soldiers that were exiting the Warthog. All were dressed in Simulation Red Armor. Two of them carried Magnums while the supposed leader was equipped with a Sniper Rifle. They were obviously surprised to see what had happened to their enemy's base.
"Simulation Red Soldiers had arrived unscheduled thirteen minutes after our appearance. Unknown if they have already been to the remains. Approaching Simulation Red Soldiers to see if they will withhold or provide any unknown information." Operative 31-6c said into her built in radio.
Operative 31-6c exited the security of Simulation Blue Base's remains and walked towards the Simulation Red Soldiers. It took the Simulation Red Soldiers a couple seconds for them to recognize her existence.
"Hey! Are you from Command?" The leader of the Red Team said.
"Correct. Are you Sergeant John Brown of Mountain Outpost 8A?" Operative 31-6c stated like a robot. She didn't move from where she stood, as if rooted into the ground like a tree.
"Yeah, that's me. Look, we don't want any trouble from no Freelancer." Sergeant John Brown asked as he tensed his arms around his Sniper Rifle. Sergeant John Brown had had some trouble with Freelancers before. The main Freelancer to give their asses kicked was a Mississippi. And they had agreed that Missy was not a suitable nickname for the man. "Are you one of those Freelancers that had passed by here before?"
"I will be the one to ask questions, Sergeant John Brown." Operative 31-6c said, ignoring the Freelancer comment.
"Shit." One of the Red Team privates muttered under his breath. "Sounds like one to me. I hate these guys."
"Well, fire away." Sergeant John Brown said, trying his best to ignore Operative 31-6c's inhuman like tone and movements.
"According to Command's files, both your team and Blue team had been stationed here in the mountains for several years. Is that correct?" Operative 31-6c stated it as a question.
"Yeah, the fuck it is." The other Red Private answered before his Sergeant could speak. He wasn't really paying attention to Operative 31-6c. He was more interested in the debris of Blue Base and the surrounding charred ground. His mouth lay open inside his helmet as he took in his surroundings.
"How do you state your relationship with the Blue Army?" Operative 31-6c asked, monotony.
"You got to be kidding me? Our relationship was that we wanted to kill each other. I'd say that's bad." Sergeant John Brown said, exasperated. He turned to look at his privates to see if they had also heard that question. Both of the privates just shook their shoulders. "What kind of question was that?"
"I will be the one to ask questions, Sergeant John Brown." Operative 31-6c said again. It was like her responses were just run straight off of a tape recorder.
The Simulation Red Soldiers noticed this and their stress levels raised up. It was all in Operative 31-6c's scans of them. They seemed to notice that she wasn't acting quite human like. Operative 31-6c observed this and muttered this in her radio, but other than that, didn't respond to the Simulation Red Soldiers.
"Do you have any recollection or knowledge of what had happened to Blue Base?" Operative 31-6c asked.
"Not really. We did feel a tremor of some sort last night when we were running our training operations." Sergeant John Brown said. "We had an injury, so all of our soldiers were in the base trying to fix our rookie instead of spying on the Blues."
"It felt really weak, like it was fifty miles away, not a mile." The first private who spoke said. "We also saw a pillar of smoke a couple minutes afterwards. But we only thought that Blue Team was having a bomb fire. You know, to make s'mores. They've always taunted us about that. We never get to make s'mores . . ."
The second private subtly hit the other private to make him shut up. Was it so he could stop ranting about delicious snacks, or to keep information away from Operative 31-6c? Operative 31-6c went with the latter option and delved into the subject more.
"What color was the smoke?" Operative 31-6c asked, more firmly than before with her other questions.
"Well," Sergeant John Brown started, as if he didn't want to tell the Operative. "It was a very thick looking cloud of smoke. Kind of a grayish white."
"Description matches the assumed explosion of C-4." Operative 31-6c stated into her radio for Command to hear.
"Who are you talking to?" Sergeant John Brown suspiciously asked her.
"That information is highly classified." Operative 31-6c stated faster than a person should be able to.
"If it's both of our Command, then we have the right to know!" One of the Simulation Red Privates shouted at the Operative like a little kid.
"That information is highly classified." Operative 31-6c stated fast again, but then she tacked on, "Sorry for the inconvenience."
Sergeant John Brown hesitated for a second before he could ask the question everyone there was thinking. He felt like a complete idiot for asking this, too.
"Are you some kind of robot or something?" Sergeant John Brown asked, dumbstruck.
"That information is highly classified. Sorry for the inconvenience."
The three Simulation Red Soldiers just looked at each other. What was going on? Why had someone attacked Blue Base other than themselves or Red Command? And why was this weird lady acting like a robot and asking them stupid questions?
Just then, Operative 12-4b appeared at the remains of Blue Base's doorway. He signaled Operative 31-6c via radio to bring the Simulation Red Soldiers inside to identify the remains. He had already done it, but better be safe and sorry and use the eyes of someone who recognized the corpses.
"Please, come inside and identify the bodies of Blue Team." Operative 31-6c stated before turning around and walking inside.
The three Simulation Red Soldiers hesitated before following the Operative. They readied their weapons, unsure if this was some kind of trick to murder them. For all that they knew, these could be rougue Freelancers that wanted to kill them all. They've heard rumors of some of that kind, and they had been lucky enough that Missy was killed off before he could bring the danger towards them.
But these guys could be just as bad as Missy. Probably worse, due to the fact that there were two of them. But there could be more in there too. To them, this pair of soldiers in white armor just reeked of bad omens.
"Is this the body of a Patrick O'Donnell?" Operative 12-4b asked as strangely as Operative 31-6c would have asked.
One of the Red Privates nodded his head and answered. "Yeah, that's the bastard that shot me in the back. I'm glad he went down this way. My only regret is that I didn't do it myself."
"There are two more bodies that we have identified. We would like you to verify our assumptions." Operative 12-4b said as he led them down into the shower stalls.
"Those two look like Rodgers and Grant, alright." Sergeant John Brown said, nodding his head. "They look delicious too, like T-bone steaks cut from the best butchers of Manhattan. Maybe too well done for my tastes, though."
His two privates made noises of disgust from the Sergeant's comments. However, the pair of Operatives didn't respond to his disturbing remark.
"And lastly, there is this body. But I did not find his records in Command's files." Operative 12-4b said, sounding like a computer.
"Oh yeah, that's the medic that was shipped in with them. He was supposed to be useful for both sides of the war, except he spent all his time and energy over here." The Sergeant said. "I forget what his name was, thought."
"It was Marty, sir." One of the Privates informed the Sergeant.
"Oh, thanks, whatever your name is." Sergeant John Brown said.
The Private that had informed the Sergeant just let out an irritated sigh.
"Thank you for your information. Please rest in the remains of the Rec. Room while I converse our next instructions with my companion." Operative 12-4b dismissed the Simulation Red Soldiers.
They grumbled and then headed into the collapsed part of the Rec. Room. Once they were out of the room, but not out of earshot, the two Operatives discussed their gathered information. It could best be described as a boring office meeting with old men who were half asleep.
"Knife wound to the medic called "Marty" is best associated to a custom made Marine knife o inch blade." Operative 12-4b informed. "This type of knife was mostly used by soldiers of the Freelancer Project."
"Most knifes were revoked when Project Freelancer fell four months, one week, and three days ago. This may indicate that a Freelancer is still alive and functioning under surveillance." Operative 31-6c concluded. "This may impede the progress of the Archytas Program. Something that is inexcusable."
"Continue trace of AI fragment in the computer while I search for anymore signs of a rouge Freelancer." Operative 12-4b gave his first instruction to his partner."
"Yes sir." Operative 31-6c obliged. She headed to the computer and continued to follow the hacked trail. "Files corrupted were a page of friendly fire kills by a Simulation Blue Soldier of the name Michael J. Caboose. Following link to Michael J. Caboose's records."
"No other signs of a Freelancer being here other than the AI fragment and the custom knife wound." Operative 12-4b stated as he searched the room and the surrounding areas. "Bomb was most likely intended for the purpose to end its trail."
"Found location of Simulation Soldier Michael J. Caboose. He is currently stationed at Blue Team Outpost Valhalla 17." Operative 31-6c stated. "Next course of action would be to travel to the Valhalla Valley and interrogate this soldier. The trail may lead us to him, and then probably the rouge Freelancer."
"Next directive would be to leave and continue our investigation." Both of the operatives stated as they headed out towards their Warthog.
But suddenly, their radio had turned on, signaling an incoming call. Both Operatives froze as Operative 12-4b answered the call.
"This is Operative 12-4b, answering the call from Command." Operative 12-4b introduced himself.
"This is the Director, Operative 12-4b and Operative 31-6c, with a new directive." The voice in the radio said. "Eighty-six the last directive of observation and investigation. Rather, invest in a complete forensic sweep in the remains of Simulation Blue Base. We need to find out which Freelancer may be still alive."
"And of the Simulation Red Soldiers?" Operative 31-6c asked.
". . . Eliminate them by any means." The Director said before closing the transmission.
The two Operatives gave a quick glance at each other's direction before loading their weapons of choice. With their weapons ready, they entered the remains of Blue Base's Rec. Room. The Simulation Red Soldiers hadn't heard the transmission, but had suspected that they were to be killed. The Simulation Red Soldiers were ready to fight.
But they weren't ready to survive.
The firefight lasted less than a minute. And those seconds were filled with bloodcurdling screams.