Krieger Platoon

by Jay Ivanovich

  21 seconds…

  Bag passed him a curious glance, did he have that on him the whole time? Besides that, he wasn’t in a position to grab the controls quickly if something bad went down. “You gonna help pilot this thing at all?”

  Jon took a quick puff, and shook his calmly. “Nah, you got this.”

  Bag raised an eyebrow. He didn’t have a problem with flying, but this was sort of an important moment...Life and death and all that. Whatever. “Did you bring me a cigar?”

  “Nope.”

  Of course not. Bag shook his head and laughed. “Thanks, jackass…”

  Jon smiled and chuckled quietly, as the clock beeped the final seconds away.

  Five…

  Four…

  Three…

  Two…

  One…

  Bag banked hard to the left… Down and away from the freighters exhaust, and just narrowly between the high city wall and an old derelict apartment building. The ship began to pick up speed as its nose pointed nearly straight down; Bag furiously tapped away on the control monitor and brought the hovering systems up to full power. The ship continued to fall, the engines whined heavily as they fought back against the forces of gravity, and then slowly leveled out at a safe 50 foot hover.

  Bag let out a long, relieved sigh. “I forgot how much of a pain in the ass that is to do without the autopilot…”

  Jon took another puff of his cigar, then stood up and walked out of the cockpit. “Get your gear.”

  Bag immediately brought the drop ship’s instruments back online, did a quick systems check to make sure nothing was damaged by the radiation, and then began navigating low and slow down the streets of the old dilapidated and decaying streets of the industrial sector.

  The whole area had once fueled the fires of scientific progress, exploration, and discovery for the betterment of all mankind, but had long since been abandoned for more ‘practical’ and ‘affordable’ pursuits. Ironic that the research done here was the reason Mars became even remotely habitable, and after the fall of Earth all that was shut down because the government just couldn’t ‘afford’ it. Funny how that works out…

  Bag rounded a long street corner and approached what looked like an old government building of some kind. It had a large and very open warehouse right next door, and seemed just big enough for their ship to fit under. He carefully maneuvered the ship into the vacant structure, set it down with a final soft thud into the ruined asphalt below, then leaned back heavily in his chair and gently rubbed his eyes for a moment. He could hear Jon briefing the squad leaders in the cargo bay, and knew that he should be in there even if just for appearances… but he just really didn’t want to deal with planning right now... His mind was racing as it is...

  A minute or so ticked past on Bag’s watch, and the ever growing feeling of being a poor and lazy leader finally forced him into the cargo bay, where the teams were already geared out and patiently awaiting whatever their next move was going to be. Sarah was off in a corner near the back ramp, and in a very serious conversation with Valor and the Armor Crew, who had volunteered to stand in as replacements for her squad during this mission.

  Funny that the Armor teams were offered replacement tanks, but Valor and Alighten both declined on account of not being able to customize it in time. Yet as Bag watched them attempt to converse and joke with an unusually blank faced Sarah, he knew they really just did it to support her, and to support each other. Bag grinned subtly to himself. They’re good people.

  Joe and Shake were playing a round of poker with Ramirez and some of the others soldiers, all of whom had smiles from the quiet dialogue they were having. Jon however was no more than a foot away and was finishing his straight to the point brief with the squad leaders, when he turned to Bag and spoke in a very dry, sarcastic tone. “Got anything to add, fearless leader?”

  Bag straightened his posture and shook his head to Jon. “Nothing needed. You covered it all.”

  Jon took another puff off his cigar, with an skeptical expression on his face. “Mmhmm…” Then turned to the squad leaders and waved them off. “That’s all I got. No bullshit, understood?”

  They acknowledged quietly and returned their squads, as Jon took another long puff off his cigar and curved his head toward Bag. “You ready for this cluster fuck?”

  Bag thought about it for a second. “Totally… I’m always ready.”

  Jon shook his head. He wasn’t at all convinced at that bullshit, and he let Bag know it. “Yeah, whatever… I’d better not see that dazing off shit you pulled in Crystal City…because if you get anyone killed, I will fucking end you…Sir.”

  Bag was surprised by the harshness of Jon’s words, and struggled to respond…but he knew Jon was right. “I told you I’m fine.” He countered.

  Jon waved his hand in dismissal and replied in a low grumble. “The whole fucking platoon has noticed! You’re acting fucking weird! I’m serious, Bag. Enough is enough…get your shit together! Fuck…” Jon scoffed and tossed his cigar onto the deck, stamped it out, and then briskly walked over next to One Alpha. A second later the back ramp began to lower, then hit the deck with a soft thud. The teams automatically stormed out the back and instantly setup security positions around the ship, while Bag still hesitated to move.

  Alpha and Bravo teams stacked up on either side of the huge warehouse doors, and slowly began to ‘pie’ the corner outward, around the doors, and onto the street. Jon took a look back toward to Bag with one of his ‘you’d better be fucking kidding’ stares. Bag sighed and gave a subtle nod toward him, then grabbed hold of his rifle, hit the button to secure the ramp, and then rushed down to rejoin the rest of the team. Yeah…enough is enough.

  Alpha and Bravo took cover behind several overturned dumpsters opposite each other, as Cholius and James passed each other the thumbs up. Alpha bound across the street and took cover behind an old shipping container, then began to move parallel down the street with Bravo in a hurried, sweeping manner. The asphalt in the street was torn up and ruined from years of neglect, along with the derelict and rotting buildings flanking it. Though that meant there was enough large pieces of trash and debris along the road that the team could quickly dive behind in case of trouble. The place had the foul aroma of sewage seeping up through the manhole covers in the road, and an uncomfortable warmness filled the area around them, broken only when the cold Martian wind would blow through. This part of town screamed crime grand central.

  The first glowing hints of daybreak began to radiate on the distant horizon, and slowly engulfed the star lit sky in a cloudless dawn. Normally the beautiful sunrise was something to admire, but in this case it simply meant the team was running short on the time they already didn’t have much of. Cholius set a swift pace, for the platoon, but put himself up several yards ahead of everyone else to get a better view of things. Good thing he did too.

  They were two blocks away when an armored police vehicle rolled straight across the road in front of them. Cholius had heard its engine a few moments before it came into sight, and quickly signaled the platoon to dive down to the deck and remain motionless. The amphibious wheeled tank, painted black with POLICE across the side in white lettering, monitored all within its view as it moved along its set patrol route. Thankfully it didn’t seem to notice the platoon, and kept on its way until the rumbling of its engines could no longer be heard.

  Cholius counted down about a minute to ensure the vehicle didn’t plan on doubling back, then sprang up, closed the distance to the road, and carefully peeked around the side of the corner building. Their target, the Hotel Catalina, was exactly where it should be…just across the street. At one point, the multistory Victorian style hotel was surely the pride of the area, but now its only residents were vagabonds and criminal types needing somewhere to hide.

  A quick glance down either side of the road was good enough for Cholius, who immediately passed the knife hand move signal to James. No more than a second later, both teams sprinte
d full speed across the street and straight into the open alley on the left side of the hotel.

  Matt’s team immediately began clearing the rest of the alley, as Cholius’ team hung back to ensure no one had spotted them. No movement in sight…good. Both teams gradually made their way around to the rear of the building, and into a small back lot surrounded by multi-story buildings on all sides. A single drunkard was sitting on the hotels back steps and drinking alcohol next to a foul smelling dumpster, apparently oblivious to Krieger’s presence at all.

  The teams spread out and secured the area, as Kazowski and Hawkins grabbed hold of the vagabond and lead him into the back door. The man stumbled about and began to grumble, until Hawkins placed an MRE in his hand. “Here old timer, have a meal on me.”

  The man stared curiously at the MRE, but then grabbed it aggressively and waddled off down the ruined hotel interior. Kazowski passed Hawkins a questioning glance. “Think that’ll keep him occupied?”

  Hawkins shrugged his shoulders in response. How the hell would he know? The two turned to rejoin the group, right when a single fully combat geared and facially shrouded figured walked into the small back lot with her hands held up defensively. Krieger spun about almost instantly, weapons aimed, and quickly concealed themselves behind whatever cover they could find. The figure walked forward a few more steps and then spoke in an unexpectedly feminine voice. “The stars at night…are big and bright…”

  Jon responded coldly, and maintained a solid grip on his rifle. “Deep in the heart of Texas…”

  The figure slowly began to lower her arms, and then removed the shroud on her face. She was an auburn haired, serious faced women in her late thirties, and everything about her said military academy brat. “Unit SERE-103...” She replied robotically.

  Cholius gave a quick glance around the roof tops and the many windows overlooking the back lot, no doubt the rest of her team had them surrounded. He didn’t like that thought very much… “There is no such unit as SERE 103…” He replied with the proper coded response, but kept her firmly in his rifle’s sights.

  The figure leisurely dropped her hands to her sides, and spoke much more relaxed. “I’m glad you said that… I’m Captain Beverly Lorain, United States Air Force Para Rescue Team India 51… You must be Krieger.”

  Bag took a step out from cover, as the platoon cautiously lowered their weapons. “We are indeed. I’m Colonel Kirovich-”

  Jon cut him off and stared at Lorain suspiciously, and snapped back, “What’s your mission?”

  Lorain didn’t hesitate to quickly rattle off the answer. “We were sent here by General Barsha to help aid in the capture of the Hydra station and Emergency Broadcast bunker, with the ultimate goal of capturing or killing the high ranking traitors in the US Government. Plus, were here to make sure you don’t fuck this up.” She added with a snide glare at Jon.

  Jon’s expression suddenly became much angrier with that, and Bag cut back in just in time to stop an argument. “I hate to disregard the pleasantries, but we have a job to do and no time to spare. Let’s get moving.”

  Loraine nodded at him and then made a whirling signal above her head. “Agreed, since my team has been waiting for you for the past hour…”

  Wow, she was a bitch. Jon waved at her dismissively. “We’re here now, so cut the bitching.”

  Lorain passed him a dirty look, as twelve other Air Force commandos descended from the rooftops, and from practically every man-sized crack and crevice in the back lot. Loraine verbalized a few quick commands to her team, whom immediately walked over to the basement door of the hotel and fried out the lock with a small thermite charge. Loraine nodded over to Bag and the rest of the team. “We do this together, all the way there and all the way back. No exceptions.”

  Cholius passed her an agreeing, but suspicious response. “Yes, that IS the plan.” The air of distrust was already laying heavy across both teams. They’d have to be very careful that this didn’t turn into a free for all.

  The commandos locked the door in place, and quickly disappeared into the musty darkness below. Krieger looked to their squad leaders with hesitation, all of whom cautiously motioned their teams forward. They didn’t have a choice anymore, even if they were walking into a trap.

  Ramirez began to walk with his squad, when he caught a shadowy glimpse of the triangular formation of roughly two dozen US Navy ships, just barely visible in the morning light, hovering in low orbit over the city. “Well damn, that’s like half the fleet… Can’t believe they’re the bad guys now…” He exclaimed softly.

  Cholius stopped mid-stride, and gave a quick glance up into the sky. It was a lot of ships for one city, but not so many in the grand scheme. “The fleet use to be ten times that size, and made up of actual warships...not just repurposed freighters and colony ships… We used to be great. But here we are literally fighting ourselves on a planet that barely supports life.”

  Kabir and Gaillard passed each other a look of uneasiness at the comment, but they continued into the cellar regardless. Cholius watched the last few members of the platoon enter the cellar. “…And just because there are some traitors in the Navy doesn’t mean the entire fleet is corrupt.” He added on a more positive note.

  Ramirez thought about the answer, then shrugged with uncertainty. “I hope you’re right…”

  Cholius passed him a reassuring smile. “Move out, Private. We have a job to do.”

  Cholius was the last one to enter and quickly secured the basement door behind them, blanketing the room in total darkness. As he switched his combat goggles over to night vision, it became apparent that Krieger had taken a defensive position in the far right corner, behind several large boxes and some various hotel equipment. While the commandos had taken the opposite side with the same effect.

  The teams stared at each other in tense silence, as one of the Air Force technicians was typing away furiously on his wrist coms and staring at a plain concrete wall. Matt nudged James on the arm and whispered. “So, why don’t you use some of your chair force skills and strike up a conversation?”

  James passed Matt an ‘are you serious?’ kind of look, and was about to reply when Joe spoke out instead. “Hey…what’s that guy doing over there?”

  One of the masked commandos glanced toward the technician in the far side and then back over to Joe. “Ralph’s opening the doors up. Just stand by, it’ll just be a little longer.”

  James cleared his throat quietly. Might as well try this… “Well that’s good… So, where are you all from?”

  The commando tilted his head back slightly, obviously hesitant to answer. “Well, I’m from New Mexico…”

  Willits perked up at the comment. “I had family in New Mexico, what city were you from?”

  The commando responded indifferently. “Santa Fe.”

  “That’s cool…” James nodded as he tried to be sociable, then motioned over to the commando with a pack of cigarettes on the side of his helmet. “Where are you from?”

  This commando was a little friendlier about his answer. “Massachusetts.”

  Valor hooted in genuine excitement. “Yo Mass is where it’s at! What part you from?”

  The Commando grinned and nodded subtly, his accent was clear as day now. “Boston, but North side… I’m not a Southie.”

  Valor let-go a sincere laugh. “Hah, it’s ok! I forgive you as long as you’re a Celtics fan!”

  The commando chuckled. “You know it!”

  Valor beamed brightly. “Hah! Yo, I’m John but my boys call me Valor… and this joker over here Alighten! He aint from Mass but he’s a good kid.”

  Alighten passed a not-too-excited wave, as the commando replied. “Yeah, I’m Ryan but they call me-”

  “NANCY!” Another commando blurted out, prompting some quiet laughing from the rest of the Air Force team.

  Ryan passed the man a dirty look, and shot back, “No… My real nick name is actually-”

  Another commando interrupted him mid-s
entence. “We call him Nancy because he’s a little Nance for getting sick on an air jump and tripping on the doorframe on the way out! Hah, the look on his face was priceless!”

  Both units exchanged a few quiet laughs, as Ryan dropped his head in embarrassment. “That shit was weeks ago, man…”

  There was a sudden thud noise as a section of concrete wall parted directly in front of Ralph the technician, revealing a small ladder-well leading down to who knows where. Ralph let out a long sigh of relief and quickly secured his wrist coms. “It’s open, Captain…and I have full control of the door switch.”

  Lorain nodded respectfully to him and then turned to speak to her men, but one of the commandos cut in like a smartass. “Down the shitty ladder then?”

  Ralph shook his head, and began to correct him very seriously. “It’s a sewer access point, actually. All the cities have them for maintenance purposes. It just so happens that this one in particular is connected to where we need to go.”

  The commando smirked and replied in a more humored tone. “So it really is a ‘shitty’ ladder then?”

  Lorain reluctantly grinned but shook her head with sternly. “No more jokes, Mitchel... Let’s move out, India.” The commandos stood and were about to begin climbing down, until Bag called out firmly to her. “Hold on one minute, Captain. I think it’s time you share all the details of YOUR side of the plan... Like you said, we do this together.”

  Lorain clearly didn’t want to have to answer that, but it was what it was. “Hmm, fair enough. This tunnel runs all the way to the government metro. From there the plan remains the same as you already know, half head to station 21 Whiskey for the broadcasting room, and half to station 97 Lima for what we believe is the hydra complex. There’s not much more to it than that, but I hope we can get past this distrust.” The way she ended it sounded more like a question than a statement.

  Jon crossed his arms and glared. The answer was much too vague for his liking. “You ‘believe’ that’s the hydra complex? You don’t know for sure?”