Chapter Five
Five hours before the attack on the factory, infantry soldiers train for the attack. Each of the soldiers are firing at targets from stable stances. The sergeant in charge of these men is talking to General Taylor.
"You know what I want, Sergeant Holden."
"I'll select the best of my soldiers."
"Good."
General Taylor leaves the sergeant to his own, the sergeant inspects his soldiers.
"Fire your weapon from a stable stance!" he yells
"Yessir." responds one of the soldiers
He continues to inspect his soldiers until he comes across a soldier in a proper stance landing his shots.
"Nice shot."
"Thank you, sir."
"What's your name?"
"Private Derek Porter."
"Ok Porter, come follow me."
Porter is an average height male with an average build. He has black hair and hazel eyes. Unlike other soldiers, he wears sunglasses instead of the black goggles that Viper and other soldiers use. He wears an OD green military jacket and a tan molle tactical vest as opposed to the black design.
They walk around the base, soldiers walking around, training and two soldiers are even playing basketball. They continue to walk around the base, they walk past a couple of soldiers talking and are able to hear their conversation.
"So General Taylor is here?"
"Yeah, I heard he's looking for a new member for his task force."
"Yeah, I heard. That would explain why the cyber psycho girl was with him."
"And the dude with the freaky mask."
They both laugh and Porter and Holden continue walking till they come across a trench pit structure with an armoury and a training course. The trench sits about eight feet deep and six wide. At the entrance sits Carter, organizing the weapons for the next person to run the course.
"Go in, Private."
"Yessir."
Porter enters the pit and is introduced to Carter.
"So do you know why you're here, Private?" Carter asks
"No."
"General Taylor is looking for someone for some kind of special mission."
"Any details?" asks Porter
"No."
"Ok, let's start your briefing. Pick up the M4 and the 1911."
Porter walks to the armoury and grabs the M4 and 1911 and gets in a proper idle stance.
"Now you're going to run the course as fast as you can while General Taylor spectates you through a live feed."
"Understood."
"On my mark... MARK!"
"Sync."
Porter runs in and peaks around a corner, a target pops and Porter fires. Two more targets pop up to his left, Porter peaks left and shoots each target twice. He runs forward and slides behind cover and ducks behind a pile of sandbags. Three more targets pop up on the other side of the sandbags. Porter peaks over the sandbag and shoots each target twice. The bullets clang against the metal targets. The clang echoes throughout the training pit. Porter runs to the right and another target pops and Porter aims and pulls the trigger but nothing happens. Porter ducks to cover to reload his weapon. He moves his right index finger twenty degrees to release the magazine. He grabs the magazine and pulls it out of the magweld. He drops the empty magazine and inserts it into the gun. He then pulls the charging handle back. Carter shouts on the microphone.
"You don't have time to reload on the battlefield, switch to your sidearm when you're out of ammo."
Porter peaks around the corner and shoots the target twice. He pulls a flashbang out and throws it into a room in the pit. He quickly peeks around the door to see three targets popped up behind a table. He shoots each target once the shots echo in the room. Porter rushes into the room. Dust flies into the air, making it harder to see. Porter notices a wooden staircase in the back of the room. Porter runs up those stairs and another target pops up, inches from his face. He hits the target with the buttstock of his rifle and the target falls down. Behind the target is a rope. Carter yells on the microphone
"Climb down the rope and run to the finish line!"
Porter grabs on to the rope and tries to climb down it, he swings in and hits the wall on accident. He let's go of the rope and falls onto the ground, hitting his right side first. He quickly gets up and runs to finish the course.
"I'm not gonna lie, that wasn't half bad." says Carter "You scored fifth place out of all the soldiers in the resistance."
"What was my time?" asks Porter
"23.57 seconds." responds Carter
"What are the top scores?"
"The cyborg has 11.80 seconds, the mercenary has 13.43 seconds, Mara has 17.61 seconds, the scout has 21.50 second, you hold fifth and the doctor has 25.89 seconds."
"I'll have to send the results to Taylor and he'll decide who the lucky bastard is."
"Well---" Porter was cut off by a loud blaring alarm coming from the speakers.
"That's the signal."
Carter and Porter run to the armoury in the pit. Porter proceeds to exit the pit but is stopped by Carter.
"You're going to need this." Carter says as he tosses Porter an M4.
"Thank you." says Porter as he pulls back the charging handle of his rifle.
Upon exiting the pit, Porter sees resistance soldiers running to the trucks and military vehicles. The winds blow dust and sand in the air and the grey sky hovers over the barren landscape that is the ruined cities surrounding the base. In the distance is a silhouette of a man standing on top of a resistance truck holding a small handgun that resembles a 1911 and a megaphone.
"This is General Taylor, today marks the first step to liberating the Northern English Commonwealth and starting a revolution. Today is not a day for bystanders, this not a day to run. Today day is a day for heroes, a day for legends. History is written by the victors, I want to be the one with the pen. Today my brothers and sisters, is a good day to die."
The crowd cheers for Taylor, their cries echo throughout the base. Soldiers climb into the trucks and load up weapons for the attack. Porter runs around and finds Holden in a resistance truck.
"Get in, Private."
"Yessir." responds Porter
Porter enters the truck with his rifle on his lap.
"Alright, let's move out!" shouts the sergeant
The resistance trucks quickly exit the base one at a time, the tires fly dust into the air and the roar of the engines throughout the base. Taylor starts to walk towards his office tent and is met by Carter.
"I need you to help me analyse the data on this tablet." says Taylor
"Understood." responds Carter
General Taylor and Carter head to the engineering sector, the base is almost completely empty, with only a few citizens and other resistance personnel remaining. They enter the engineering sector and see Anna working on the SED.
"Hey Carter." says Anna
"Hello Anna. General Taylor and I need your help with something." says Carter
"What is that something?"
"That something is retrieving all data from this tablet." responds Taylor as he hands the tablet to Anna.
"Uh, of course sir." stutters Anna
"Good."
Anna takes the tablet and plugs it into a computer. A blue progress bar appears on the computer screen. The bar quickly fills up to eighty five percent then slowly creeps up to one hundred percent. The computer flashes and the applications of the tablet appear on the computer. Anna then connects the computer to a projector, Anna browses through the applications and data of the tablet. One video log simply labeled as "Day one" catches Anna's attention.
"What's this?" mumbles Anna to herself. She clicks on the title and the man known as Tadeo appears on the projector.
"Come on guys, we need to do some sort of group video log." says Tadeo
"No, we don't!" yells a woman
"Please." begs Tadeo
"Fine." says the woman with a bad attitude
The woman walks into view and asks
"Why do you want this?"
"Because someone might come here and watch this. C'mon, you need to come over too, Cap."
"Sure." responds the elderly man
"So the girl over there is Abi Everett and that man is Captain Archer
"G'day." says the Captain
"Give me that." says Abi and the recording stops.
"What else is on that thing?" asks Carter
"Hours and hours of video logs just like this one." responds Anna
"Do you know these people, Taylor?" asks Carter
"Yes I do." says the general "They were part of Task Force Alpha codenamed "Full Circle." They were the predecessors to Task Force Bravo or "Bad Company." They were good soldiers, and Tadeo was seventeen when he joined."
"What happened to them?" asks Anna
"SEDs got to them." responds Taylor "There was nothing we or they could do."
Taylor walks up to the computer and unplugs the connection between the tablet and computer and says
"I'm going to take this and look through the data."
"Yessir." responds Carter and Anna
General Taylor then exits the room and proceeds to walk off. Meanwhile faraway from the base, the soldiers ride to site Hotel Alpha. Sergeant Holden smiles while holding a shotgun in his lap.
"Why're you smiling sir?" asks Porter
"Because today… is a good day to die." says the sergeant as he racks his shotgun. The trucks rumble and shake as they drive through the empty streets. The radio on the truck begins to static before coming online.
"Voodoo 1, this is Avesta the factory is down and we need back up."
"Avesta, this is Voodoo 1, we read you. We'll send any troops in the area to your location."
"Send them now."
Avesta's radio cuts off and an audio broadcast begins to play for all the soldiers in the resistance trucks driving in the streets.
"They're on 75th Parker Street, about one point six clicks from site Hotel Alpha. Get there as fast as you can. Voodoo 1 out."
The sergeant quickly tells the driver to speed up. The trucks quickly drive through the streets, passing the ruins of what was once a great city. Gunfire can be heard in the distance and from a far a jet of fire spits into the air. The trucks take a hard right to be met by a gunfight. An exchange of fire between enemy soldiers and the members of Bad Company.
"Alright men, move, move, move!" shouts Sergeant Holden
Resistance soldiers from the trucks jump out in a sporadic pattern and run to the fight. Porter jumps out and sees his comrades and enemies mow each other down with gunfire. Porter divebombs to a nearby trench. Bullets fly near him but miss to hit a nearby comrade. Porter peaks over the trench and fires at a running NAC soldier. A flurry of bullets hit the soldier, the first bullet hits his leg, then abdomen and finally, upper chest. He falls and a pool of wet, sticky
blood begins to pool around the dead body. Porter shoots another enemy soldier and he falls to the ground. Sergeant Holden tries to run to the trench but gets pinned by suppressive fire.
"Porter! Grab the grenade launcher thirty feet to your left and fire it at the group of bogies, two o'clock!"
"Yessir!"
Porter runs to the launcher but a nearby truck explodes, the force pushing Porter into the trench wall. His ears rang from the explosion and coughing up blood. Porter struggles to stand up and get his balance back. Sergeant Holden shouting Porter's name and to grab the launcher. Porter stumbles in the trench and slowly makes his way to the launcher, falls on top of a comrade's dead body. Porter grabs the grenade launcher and aims it at the group of enemy soldiers. He fires and the explosion sends the parts of the NAC soldiers to fly. Porter falls onto the ground, passing out. Holden jumps into the trench and runs to Porter. He grabs his hand and shouts
"We still got a battle to fight!"
"Yes, we do…" says Porter
"Good man." says the sergeant as he tosse an M4 to Porter.
Porter pulls the charging handle of the weapon and starts to provide suppressive fire against NAC soldiers. Across the battlefield, Avesta and Bad Company make their way across the battlefield and head to the evac helicopter, the helicopter flies away.
Porter and Holden both climb out of the trench and run into a destroyed building. They run up to a closed door, enemy shouting and gunfire can be heard from the other side. Sergeant Holden places a breaching charge on the door and says to Porter
"On my mark, when I blow the charge, throw in a flashbang."
"On it." responds Porter
"Three...two...one...MARK!!"
"SYNC!"
The charge detonates, blowing shrapnel into the room. Already stunned soldiers are blinded by the flashbang Porter threw into the room. They both peak into the doorway and open fire on the soldiers, cutting them down like grass with a lawnmower. Their screams echo in the room and bullets tear through the flesh of the soldiers. The bodies drop onto the floor and reek with the stench of blood. Holden and Porter walk through the room over the dead bodies, for them, this is just war.
"Let's get to the evacuation site." says Holden
"Yeah…"
They exit the building and enter an alleyway. The alleyway is filled with empty open market stands, supplies and garbage. They start running through the alleyway, the wind blows the rubbish into the air. They exit the alleyway to reach an open street with a dozen resistance soldiers, wounded and unwounded. A CH-47 Chinook helicopter begins to descend near the soldiers, the back bay door of the helicopter and Taylor with several resistance soldiers.
"Men, secure a perimeter of the area."
"Got it." responds one of the soldiers
They each run out of the helicopter, guns ready.
"Private Porter, you take orders directly from me now."
"Yessir." responds Porter
"Alright men, round up!" Taylor shouts "Voodoo 1 this is General Albert Taylor, we're Oscar Mike."
"Taylor this is Voodoo 1, good to hear."
The soldiers run into the helicopter and the back bay door slowly closes and they start to head back to base. A duty for a soldier is not to die for their cause, but make their enemies die for it.