Krieger Platoon

by Jay Ivanovich

  Hawk crinkled his brow and stared at Bag like he’d just heard an obvious tall tale. “So just saying, that sounds really far-fetched and not very well thought out.”

  Bag grunted a laughed and nodded in agreement. “It’s just the way it worked out. I suppose…Desperate times call for desperate measures and all that jazz…”

  Hawk thought about it for a moment, shrugged with dismissal, and turned back toward the prisoner who was now drooling on himself. Bag scratched passed the whiskers of his chin. “Hmm… What about you, Hawk? Do you have any family or anything?”

  Hawkins shook his head, but answered straight away. “I’m actually an orphan, Sir. I grew up in old Boise but I ran away from the orphanage when I was 16. I just didn’t like being tied down to one place I guess.”

  “Well, that must have been rough. How did you get by?”

  Hawk shrugged with an expression that said he neither knew nor cared to really think about it. “Well, I got involved with a lot of people I shouldn’t have and ended up owing a lot of money to one of them… I paid most of it back, but they came after me still. I ended up stowing away on a freighter as a last resort and that ended up here…”

  “Well, I’m sorry to hear that you had to run…but I suppose it saved your life in more than one way. How did you end up in the Army?”

  Hawk laughed and shrugged again. “Yeah, I guess so. I don’t know how I got drafted, but one day an Army recruiter came knocking on my door and handed me a set of orders. I was working some lame fast food job…so I figured what the hell? I was bored anyways…”

  Bag and Hawkins exchanged a set of laughs. “Well, I would have never guessed. What about those guys that came after you? Did you ever see them again?”

  Hawk thought about it for a moment, his tone became a little more serious. “Well…no. I figured all of them had died on Earth…but the day before I went off to boot camp, I thought I saw one of them walking around the streets near my apartment… I mean I HAD just moved out so it could have been a potential renter but still… I usually remember a face…especially from someone that tried to kill me.” Hawk turned back to the prisoner and watched him quietly.

  Bag glanced over to the prisoner, and then back to Hawk. “We’ll, if they ever come around again, just let us know. The team has your back.” He wanted it to sound actually sincere, but just the fact that an Officer said it made it sound like something right out of the manual.

  Hawk snorted a laugh and didn’t think much of it. “Yeah…thanks Sir. I appreciate that.”

  Bag grinned and turned back to the prisoner. “I’m actually serious, and just call me Bag. No need for the Sir or Ma’am stuff when we’re in the field… Has our prisoner said anything lately?”

  “Nothing pleasant, no. Matt...I uh mean Lieutenant Durant, was here earlier and was trying to interrogate him but ended up just giving him a sedative…which finally worked, thank God. I can deal with a long sentry watch, but I can’t deal with some whiny kid that likes to curse every other word.” Hawkins shook his head with distasteful frustration.

  Bag agreed with him there. Silence was golden in the field. “Alright then. There’s some people coming to take over custody of him, so have him ready to move in the next few minutes…and why are you still on watch? Who was supposed to relieve you?”

  “Roger that…and that was supposed to be Ramirez. I wasn’t tired so I told him to go back to sleep. I’ll be fine, Sir.”

  There was a level of generosity behind his words. A soldier that didn’t mind standing extra watch so a team member didn’t have? There was probably more to the decision behind it all, but the actions were there. Bag would remember he did that. “Very well. Good job looking out for your team mate. Anyways, I’ll talk to you later.” He stood up and departed the tank.

  Hawk snorted a laugh. “Alright, Sir. Take it easy.”

  The distinct wind gusting sound of the twin rotors of a Stealth Hawk began to echo out overhead almost as soon as Bag left Armor-Three’s troop bay. An all-black stealth hawk immediately landed a few yards from the building in the center of the street, and a group of obvious mercenaries and two CIA agents in worn black suites exited the cabin.

  Bag sighed to himself with irritation, and he hadn’t even spoken to the Agents yet. He already knew it was going to be a pain in the ass though… He rushed over and shook James, who was fast asleep on a cot near Armor Two. James blinked sleepily at him, and spoke the same way. “Hey Bag…What’s up man?”

  “James, there’s a bunch of CIA guys here and I need you to keep them busy. Can you get everyone up?” Bag had an urgency to his voice that prompted James to action. James yawned loudly and swung his legs off the foldable cot. “Yeah…sure…I got it…”

  “Thanks man.” Bag rushed around the Police station first floor in a bid to find Sarah and the little girl Kelley, who ended up being in the back mail room making paper airplanes and tossing them all about in a laughter filled frenzy. It was a night and day improvement for the girl over the gloomy tears she’d been crying earlier. She seemed to have finally gotten her mind off it all.

  Bag paused momentarily and smiled at the scene from the doorway. He didn’t want to interrupt them, he actually felt bad about it, but it was urgent. “Hey Sarah, I need you to stay here with… Kelley, right? Anyways, there are some CIA people here to take custody of our prisoner…and I’d prefer they didn’t know you two are here.”

  Bag gave Sarah a serious sort of look with his last statement, who just passed him a puzzled glance right back. “Uh…ok.”

  Bag gave her the thumbs up and rushed back outside. The whole platoon had formed up in a semi-circle just outside the police station to block the unexpected visitors. James was doing a good job of annoying and stalling by being a smartass and describing a typical day in the gym and how much he could lift over any of the arrogant mercenaries. They didn’t seem too pleased with it and gave him the death glare, which only encouraged James to keep on doing it. The taller and skinner of the CIA Agent’s walked straight up to Bag as soon as he laid eyes on him. “Where is the prisoner?” He spoke coldly.

  Bag extended his hand toward him in an effort to be civil. “I’m Colonel Kir-”

  “Do not avoid the question. Where is the prisoner?” The Agent snapped back and his expression became more of a frown than it was before.

  Bag crossed his arms on his chest. No way he was gonna let this guy just walk in like he owned the place. He challenged him politely. “First I’ll need to confirm you are actually who you say you are.”

  The spook’s eyes were completely obscured by his blackened sunglasses, but from the way he held his mouth it was safe to say he was getting frustrated. “I don’t have time for your games. Move out of my way, or I’ll have you early retired.”

  Bag raised an eyebrow at the Agent, and spoke as if he were quoting the manual directly. “Until I confirm who you are, you are not getting the prisoner. That is not negotiable.”

  A loud and pain filled scream rang out from inside the troop bay of Armor Three. The Agent glanced over at the tank, then back to Bag. His attitude suddenly changed after hearing that… Curious. “Fine, I’ll play your games.” He said calmly, then took his ID holder out of his pocket and tossed it down to the dirty ground right in front of him.

  Bag leaned down, picked it up, and flipped it open, ensuring the label and Agency stamp had the tell-tale holographic glimmer of an authentic card. Agent Tanner Pierce, CIA. “We’ll Mr. Pierce, how is it that you knew about our prisoner so quickly?”

  “That’s above your clearance and well above my ability to give a shit. Now, if you don’t mind I’d prefer not wasting any more time. Move out of our way.” Now he was just being condescending. Bag took another look at the ID, then handed it back to Pierce and smiled. “Not a problem… Joe, can you escort Mr. Piece to Armor-Three?”

  “Sir.” Joe nodded and walked over to the troop bay door; motioning the Agent in. Pierce walked inside, then rushed back out to call his othe
r Agent over and some of the mercenaries over. The group exited the tank a moment later, dragging the totally gagged, blindfolded, and restrained prisoner to the idling helicopter.

  Pierce stopped about halfway, then turned around and walked back up to Bag with a sneering tone. “I know who you are, Kirovich. In fact I just may know more about you, than you do. If you ever try to interfere with our operations again, I will have you and your little band of grunts all court martialed and serving out the rest of your lives in the brig. You’re lucky my Agency is busy with much more important issues…”

  Pierce quickly spun about and jumped into the helicopter with the rest of his team, which immediately closed its doors, and took off in the direction of Fort Gregg. As the dust cloud from the rotor wash had settled, the platoon glanced over to Bag with apprehensive expressions, James especially. “What the hell was that all about?”

  Bag looked over at James and the platoon, then back to the now distant helicopter. “I’m not entirely sure…just pack up and be ready to leave in the next fifteen minutes.”

  Chapter 13 - Workman’s Comp

  Navus’ head throbbed in relentless pain, along with pretty much every other part of his body. He struggled to move, only to realize in shock that his hands were bound. The ground was cold and dry across his cheek…and the last thing he remembered was being hit in the face by… Oh shit…it must be those militant assholes! The intense hissing sound of several plasma cutters drew his attention away, as a pungent and dizzying metallic aroma hung through the hall. He slowly opened his eyes to see his own salvage crew in the now very brightly lit hallway, cutting along the seam of the still tightly shut airlock. Oh thank God, they had found him…but why was he tied up?

  He tried unsuccessfully to pull his hands out of the plastic hand cuffs he was retrained in, but only managed to painfully aggravate his swollen hand and wrist. The shadow of someone walked up and over him. Navus rolled his head over to see… Ricky? The new guy? He was wearing some kind of black military armor though… The same kind that shadowy figure had worn. Navus grimaced in excruciating pain as Ricky stepped with his full weight onto his hands, sending the rigid plastic of the cuffs digging deeply into his skin.

  Ricky laughed and released the pressure as blood began to seep from the wounds he had caused. “You really should treat your workers better. They didn’t take any convincing at all to leave your ass down here.” He spoke with confidence…and cockiness, completely opposite of his prior manner.

  Navus growled furiously at him. He was the one that knocked him out! But where did he get that armor? He hadn’t even been carrying a backpack. If he someone found that suit down here without telling Navus… “YOU BACK STABBING PIECE OF SHIT! When I get out of here, I will hang you by your fucking balls!”

  Ricky smiled, completely unmoved by the idle threats. “It’s all about you, isn’t it? Since I know you are never going to ask; Jean is dead. She died from her wounds which could have easily been prevented if you had brought back any of the medical kits that were right outside the elevator doors of each floor. Too bad for her, she seemed like a decent person.” Ricky tossed a medical kit at Navus’ face.

  Navus screamed out in anger and then from the pain of his broken ribs. “I’m going to fire your dumb ass as soon as I am out of here! You’re nothing but a whiny little bitch! You’re good for nothing!”

  An intensive but very familiar voice sounded out behind the both of them. “Oh, but ‘Ricky’ here doesn’t work for you. In fact, he never did...along with most of your crew now.”

  Navus strained his neck to see who and where the voice came from…it was that fucking mercenary from Fire Rock Station! Sempra or whatever his name was; and he wearing an identical armored suit as Ricky! Navus spit towards Sempra’s boots. “You…I remember you! You’re that arrogant fucking simpleton I ran into!”

  Sempra smirked back. “My name is Sempra, actually. Thomas Sempra at your service! I know an illiterate wretch like you may have difficulty understanding what happens next…so just bear with me for a few minutes.”

  “I know what your fucking name is! I never forget bastard, asshole, sons of bitches!”

  Sempra propped himself up on Navus’ ribs; the combined weight of both Sempra and the deceptively heavy armor he was wearing resulted in Navus screaming out in pain and losing his breath all at the same time. Sempra jumped down and kicked Navus over onto his back. “So, back to why we are here and why you are still even remotely alive…” Sempra pointed over to the airlock, where the workers had just cut through the final brace…and knocked it free. The workers backed up, and began to hit both sides of the door frame with sledge hammers, inching the door forward slowly past where they had cut.

  Ricky sighed. “To be totally honest, this was way too easy. I’m surprised and disappointed that those idiotic militants disabled all of the security systems. That would have made this more of a challenge.”

  Sempra slightly raised an eyebrow, his voice almost scolding. “They are pawns in the game, but even a pawn can kill a king. Don’t underestimate them, or anyone.”

  After about a minute more of sledge hammering, the door fell forward freely and slammed into a downward sloped ramp on the other side. The room beyond was fully illuminated by a very strong purple light or something of that nature, floating in the dead center of the room. The sound of automatic gun fire echoed down from the elevator shaft behind them. Navus glanced back towards it, very concerned.

  Sempra laughed at him. “That’s the sound of employees being fired. You know, those that didn’t make the cut.” He nodded over to Ricky, who grabbed Navus by the hand cuffs and pulled him aggressively up to a standing position. The workers began to pack up their gear and depart, as Ricky pushed Navus ever farther into the newly accessible room.

  The place was an enormous metal dome with a diameter of at least 100 yards and a height of about the same. The walls were covered in catwalks with ancient flat screen monitors and computers, various other research equipment, laser devices, and samples of what looked like meteorites or some kind of space rock. In the dead center of the facility were a series of conduits connected to an octagonal shaped base, which housed the purple glowing orb.

  Navus stared at the orb in amazement; it seemed to shift in an out of…reality would be the best way to describe it. The orb would collapse in on itself…and then expand back out; it made his mind hurt just looking at it. It continued to shift through every shade of purple, violet, and sometimes pinkish white. The surrounding air was ice cold…and all sound seemed to be dampened by the orb, though it made no noise itself. It almost felt like it was drawing all light and sound in near it.

  Ricky kicked Navus in the back of his right leg, dropping him to the deck a few feet from the orb’s base. Navus began to curse up a storm again, until Ricky placed the cold blade of a knife against his throat. “I strongly suggest you stay quiet.”

  Sempra slowly walked up to the base and stood a few inches away from the orb; running his hand around it and making some of the purple matter trail away before it was pulled back into the center. Sempra smiled wickedly and turned to Navus. “Do you know what this is, Navus? Of course you don’t. This is refined dark matter…it is the single greatest discovery in the history of mankind. Just imagine, the very makeup of universe in a usable and stable form. This right here makes all other forms of power and energy…obsolete…to say the least. Though of course it comes at a cost…”

  Sempra held his hand out toward Navus, which was now slightly glowing with the same color patterns as the orb. “The UN was working on refining ‘dark matter’ as they called it, long before humanity discovered the quantum drive…long before New Prim was even built here.”

  Navus grunted at him. He didn’t want a fucking science lesson. He only saw a thief stealing his rightful prize! “So…you followed me here so you could cash out on my fucking discovery! Well fuck you!”

  Sempra turned to stare into the orb, completely ignoring the outburst. “Th
ey planned to use this technology for ‘the betterment of all mankind’ but they never used it… Except to power this facility, which let’s be honest, is a mediocre task for such a valuable material. They feared that this would be used to make the next weapon of mass destruction…” Sempra smiled and turned back to Navus. “Rightly so it seems. Luckily for us…this entire facility was buried when New Prim fell, and the skull headed drones upstairs never realized what they were sitting on top of…but managed to keep everyone else out for that time.”

  Navus winced in pain as Ricky kicked him square in the back, dropping him flat on his chest. He weakly protested, “The administrators are going to hear about this, you bet your ass they will! Whatever this dark matter shit is, it’s mine!” His words had become pathetic at this point. They weren’t even listening to him.

  Sempra crossed his arms across the small of his back, in a very military trained pose. “You frustrate me, and that takes some effort; I work for the same company that hired you. The administrators hired you to do one simple job…find the clues that would lead us here. The dig sites at Monaco II, the salvage of the HMS Darwin, even that hard drive you recovered from Earth… Every piece of technology and trash you picked up were all pieces of the puzzle that, once combined together, led us directly to this location. You should be congratulating yourself, because without you we wouldn’t have found it…as soon.”

  Navus coughed up blood. “Well…that’s it? Fucking used me for some scientific scavenger hunt?”

  Sempra grinned and narrowed his eyes. “You are not the first and you will not be the last. There were dozens of others before you, and all played their part.” Sempra took in a deep breath then exhaled slowly. “For all your obvious faults, you were actually a descent salvage operator. Unfortunately for you though, we are no longer in need of your services.”

  Ricky kicked Navus in the ribs, rolled him over on his back, and aimed his pistol down at his face. Navus sneered at him in anger, but that quickly turned to distress as he closed his eyes tightly and braced for the inevitable; a single pistol shot echoed through the vacant metal halls.