Fractured Desert: (A LitFPS book) (Call of Reality Book 2)

by Aidan Colyer

  He woke up as light hit his eyes. He tried to blink but someone was holding his eyes open. In a panic he tried to lift his hand to push them away, but the pain forced him to let them do what they needed to do.

  “You are awake then,” came an indistinct voice as the light moved from his eyes. They adjusted, and he started to make out his surroundings. He was in a tent. The medical tent. No, the barracks tent. Why were they in their own tent? He opened his mouth to speak feeling a pinch in his cheek as the flesh tightened.

  “What happened?” he whispered.

  “You have all been in a coma for two weeks. You are the first to wake up,” the voice replied.

  “Why?” Roland said his voice cracking.

  “That is something we don’t know. You need to rest some more.”

  Roland thought of asking more questions but stopped himself. They were right he really did need the rest.

  He woke up again as someone jostled him. Opening his eyes to see what was going on he looked down and saw an orderly changing his bandages. They caught his movement and looked up.

  “Sorry I didn’t mean to wake you,” they said. “I’ll come back later.”

  “No, it’s fine,” Roland croaked. His throat cracked. Dry from lack of use. Surely that shouldn’t be happening here. The AI took care of those things.

  “Can you answer a question?” Roland forced out.

  “That depends on the question,” the orderly replied as he packed up his kit.

  “How long until I can get up?”

  “I’m not sure. I’ll send the doctor in again if you like.”

  “Yes, please,” Roland replied and then let his head sink back down onto his pillow. A burst of light flooded in as the orderly left before returning to the dull lighting that pervaded the camp. Roland didn’t have to wait long though. The doctor returned and pulled up a chair.

  “What can I do for you, soldier?”

  “When can I get up?” Roland asked moving himself so he could look at the doctor.

  He pulled a small hard light screen from his pocket and scrolled through it for a few moments.

  “You have made progress. If you want, I can get someone to help you get up now. The lieutenant wants to speak to you as soon as possible as well. If you are feeling up to it that is.”

  Roland nodded his head. More to see if his neck worked than as a reply. There was a slight ache but the searing pain in his arm was more manageable now.

  “I’ll send the orderly back to get you. I’ll let the lieutenant know as well.”

  The doctor got up and put the chair back before leaving.

  Roland squeezed his eyes shut and opened them again trying to clear his vision. He tried to access his menus to find any information about what was going on, but the menu loaded into a spider’s web of fragments. Portions of the menu could be made out between the pieces but it was like someone had smashed it. He tried the equipment button to test his access on the menu system. The menu grew in brightness and then disappeared. That wasn’t good at all Roland thought. The orderly returned while he played with the menu. He helped Roland to sit up. The pain in his chest wasn’t as bad as it had been but there was still an ache. He leant on the orderly as they swung his legs out of the bed. The hospital gown he had been dressed in caught on the edge of the bed and Roland regretted not asking for a uniform sooner. His uniform had been torn up pretty bad but still, he didn’t want to see the lieutenant like this. The orderly leant in to pull him upright but he waved him back.

  “Are you okay?”

  “I need a uniform,” Roland replied trying not to sway on the bed.

  “I’ll see what I can do,” the orderly replied before leaving the tent. Roland looked around. Their squad, at least those that had been with him, were all there. They were laid on their beds motionless apart from the rise and fall of their chests. None of them looked injured they looked asleep to Roland’s eyes. The orderly returned before Roland could get a better look. He carried a uniform and a pair of boots. Roland tried to put them on himself but the pain almost blinded him. The orderly helped him without having to be asked. At least something good happened in this world still Roland thought as the orderly helped him to his feet. They stayed standing in place for a minute while Roland got his bearings. When he was ready, he nodded to the orderly who held him by the arm and walked him out of the tent. The sun beat down hard, the brightness outside made Roland squint. The camp was quiet. A lot quieter compared to any other time he had been there. They walked to the main tent, and the orderly pulled back the flap directing him inside. A cool blue light illuminated the inside which was just what Roland had hoped for.

  The lieutenant sat in his chair on the far side of the desk. He wore a dress uniform rather than his combat suit. That meant this was a serious conversation as he usual dressed down into fatigues in the barracks there was also another man there. Roland looked him up and down. He had a stern face and short-cropped hair. That seemed perfectly normal. His uniform did not though. Instead of the standard grey they usually wore this soldier was wearing a pure black uniform. He had no rank markings but did have a unit marking. Roland tried to make it out as they approached. It was a blue eye. A bright blue like the hard light screens. The piping on the man’s uniform matched the colour too. Roland wished he still had access to his menu so he could find out the unit the uniform came from. The orderly helped him into a chair on the other side of the desk to the lieutenant before leaving them to their meeting.

  The lieutenant waved the orderly out and turned to Roland. He waited until the tent flap settled back into place before speaking.

  “Lance corporal Mellors, how are you feeling?”

  “To be honest, sir. Like utter crap.”

  The lieutenant smiled but the standing soldier only raised an eyebrow and glanced at the lieutenant.

  “As expected then. Do you think you can manage some questions and a debrief?”

  “Yes, sir,” Roland replied.

  “Well, let’s start then. This is Major Kosker. He is with the intelligence task force for this mission. Don’t worry about him he is here to observe and may ask you some questions. Can you start by describing the actions of your unit from the time it left the village objective until the end of the battle?”

  Roland thought back over what had occurred. He trawled through his memories for a few moments to get it straight in his mind and then launched into an explanation. He told them about the battle in the desert and the rebel attack that destroyed their column. He explained about their plan on the retreat and how they stumbled on the enemy‘s HQ tent. He described the attack and the rebel squad that had advanced on the HQ at the end of the battle. When he finally finished, his mouth felt raw and dry. The emotions of the fight had come back to him and the sight of Watts being shot flashed through his mind again. He squeezed his eyes shut trying to banish the unwanted image.

  “Very good. Now I am sure there are a few other things we need to elaborate on. Did you experience any issues during the fade out?”

  Roland wracked his brain to remember the moment. It suddenly came flooding back.

  “Yes sir, I started to fade out and then there was a glitch. It then restarted, and we faded out again. At least I think we did as I remember waking up on the platform and seeing the rest of the squad.”

  “A logical assumption,” the major said. “How close were the rebels to you when you faded out?”

  “I don’t know, sir. Bywaters threw a satchel charge at them as we had run out of ammunition. I was in close quarters with the enemy and didn’t see them after the explosion.”

  The major looked at the lieutenant. The lieutenant had a smile on his face not unlike a proud father.

  “While your dedication to your orders is admirable would you be able to estimate where they would have been if they survived the blast?”

  “Probably a good twenty metres from my position sir,” Roland replied.

  “From what the lieutenant tells me you captured
two of the rebels and worked out some of their device‘s effects. Is that correct?”

  “Yes sir,” Roland replied as he tracked the major. The major was pacing and was almost behind Roland now. Roland started to get worried. This was sounding more like an interrogation than a few simple questions.

  “Since you have woken up have you noticed any of those effects?”

  “Yes, sir,” Roland replied. He would give short answers and to hell with it.

  “Can you describe them?”

  “Yes sir,” Roland replied.

  “Stop being smart with me, soldier. Describe the effects.”

  “Well, I’m physically messed up and they seem to be using traditional medicine which means the healing devices aren’t working. When I access my menu, the main page is shattered and barely readable. The sub menus cause the whole thing to crash out. Apart from that nothing else comes to mind. Sir.”

  The Major walked back round to the side of the table and perched on the edge.

  “There is a problem. Those prisoners you took gave up no information. Not only that we have evidence the rebels are still causing issues in several places. Currently, the second battle is taking place, and we recorded several discrepancies. Because we weren’t able to pull those rebels out to question them, there is very little intelligence for us to go on. We need to capture more prisoners and interrogate them in theatre if we are to get the information we want.”

  Roland carried on staring at the Major. He didn’t like where this was going. Surely, they couldn’t be suggesting he went into combat in this condition. The rest of the unit were still in comas as well.

  “I am sure the connection is obvious to you by now.”

  “I might be on the right path sir but I wouldn’t presume to second guess an officer.”

  The lieutenant stifled a chuckle. The Major rolled his eyes.

  “As you know we need to keep this as quiet as possible that means using as few people as we can. We need to send in a team to find and capture the rebels. We want to use your squad.”

  “They are in comas and I am, well.” Roland gestured to the multitude of bandages.

  “I know that. We have a way of fixing that which we are going to use on your unit. It comes with one drawback.”

  “What is that, sir?”

  “We have to kill you.”

  Chapter 22.

  “What? Please repeat the last, sir?”

  “We have to kill you.”

  Roland turned to the look at the lieutenant. His face was impassive. The major had already told him this would happen. If he hadn’t, and he was impassive because he didn‘t care then the lieutenant had gone down in his estimation a lot.

  “What exactly will that achieve? Sir,” Roland replied looking back to the major.

  “I won’t presume to explain the details. I am not a coder. Essentially, we need to reset you all by doing a clean respawn. To do that, you need to respawn somewhere else. The only way to clean the code is to kill you which means you need to die. The reset will get you all back up and running.”

  “What about the stats though, sir?”

  “Stats are far less important than this mission lance corporal.”

  “If you are going to do it why didn’t you just kill us as we were in comas? All you needed after that was to explain why you needed to do it.”

  “This mission requires a volunteer force. We don’t draft people into special operations we offer them a chance to join.”

  “What if I refuse?”

  “We wipe your memories of anything we don’t want you to remember and reassign you. The others get left as they are.”

  “Isn’t much of a choice.”

  “I agree but it is still a choice.”

  “Fine. I’ll do it. On one condition.”

  “What is that?”

  “I get stat based compensation. You give me the points I will lose by having a death notched up.”

  “Easily done. Welcome aboard.”

  The major stood and pulled out a pistol.

  “Wait what the hell.” Roland managed to get out before he was shot between the eyes.

  The next thing he knew he was standing on a concrete spawning platform in a warehouse. The rest of the squad weren’t anywhere to be seen. A door opened and several figures entered. One of them was the major.

  “Mellors I’m sorry about that but it seems to have worked.”

  “Where are the others?”

  “Buffering. They are having some issues with the respawn which meant their coding needed to be scrubbed clean. There is a team on it right now.”

  “You could have at least just injected me while I slept.”

  “We couldn’t do that for several reasons. Reasons way above your paygrade I might add. These gentlemen will take you to your new barracks where you will change your uniform.”

  The major stepped aside and two soldiers in uniforms much like the major’s walked forwards to flank him. He walked with them to a long barrack room with the inside laid out almost exactly the same as the one in their main barracks. The soldiers left him alone in the room. The silence was eerie and his footsteps echoed as he walked down the link of bunks until he found one with his name stencilled on. He looked at the locker and his name was stencilled on that too. They must have set this up fast. Either that or he really didn’t have a choice in the matter after all. He opened the locker and saw his new uniform. It was the same uniform that the escort had been wearing. Roland sat on the bed and got changed. The injuries were definitely gone, but the scars didn’t go. He touched the two round scars on his chest before putting his new uniform on. As he finished up, he dumped his old one in the bottom of his locker. Not knowing what to do next, he decided to search through his menus. They came up crisply this time much to Roland’s relief. He searched for unit designation and found the files that showed unit markings. He scrolled through them until he found the one he had been looking for. The light blue eye. He opened the file.

  [This unit is military intelligence. No further information is accessible.]

  The menu exited back to the main unit’s page. He dismissed the notification and then closed down all of the windows.

  Roland stared around the room. He was fully rested and the month of bed rest had made him bored. He walked over to the door and tried the handle. They had locked it. Great, he was now a prisoner.

  Roland stalked back to his bed and sat down. Just as he began contemplating trying to reset his equipment packages the door opened. He turned to see who it was. It was the major and behind him the rest of the squad. They all filed in with confused looks on their faces. The guards who had brought him in entered last closing the door behind them. They stood by the door their faces impassive. The major ordered them all to change into their new uniforms. As soon as they were done, he called them to the end they usually used for briefings in their normal barracks.

  “I am sure you all have some questions. I will try to answer them in due course first thing is first though. A briefing.” He gestured towards stacks of chairs and then stood by the wall. They grabbed chairs and sat.

  “I am major Kosker. I am in command of this task force. You have been seconded to me for a single purpose. After this mission, you may be folded back into your original battalion but that is something for later. For the time being you are now simply squad 3 Ochre. You will recognise the name. We chose it for precisely that reason.”

  Roland turned to Watts who was sat next to him.

  “How do you feel?” he whispered.

  “Confused as hell. You?” she whispered back.

  “Probably a little less confused. I’ll explain later.”

  Roland cut himself off as he saw the major stare daggers at him.

  “You have been chosen because of your prior dealings with the rebels. In addition, you also captured a pair of the rebels. Your mission is to do the same thing again. This time though you are to deliver them to my men in the field rather than your old unit.”
He placed a hard light projector on the wall and turned it on. A series of screens popped up and blinked to life.

  “Now the next place you will be fighting is the city we attacked in the second part of the conflict. You all missed the whole battle due to your condition but now we have fixed it you can be deployed again.”

  He turned to the screens and tapped on several of them. Information started to scroll through the screens. Two smaller ones showed the rebels they had captured on their last mission. A third slightly larger one showed a full body shot of one of the rebel troopers. The biggest screen contained a map of the city they were going to be deployed in. The major left the last two smaller screens blank and turned back to the squad.

  “If you remember the two rebels here are the ones you captured. They are now labelled rebel A and rebel B. Imaginative I know.” He paused expecting a reaction and got none. He shrugged and continued. “They are now at large again. They are possible targets but your main target is this rebel.” The major pointed at the screen showing the full body shot of the rebel.

  “He or she can be identified by the markings on the chest plate here.” He zoomed in on the point he had pointed out. “As you can see the markings you are looking for are the same as ours but with three red lines through the eye. We believe this rebel on the screen is their leader. We have information that places him in the city you will be deployed to. Your core mission is to take this person of interest prisoner. They are target L. Questions?”

  The squad looked at each other nobody wanting to be the first to speak. Watts piped up first.

  “How will we identify the markings when we can’t see the rebels until the last minute? That pattern really won’t show up in our infrared scopes.”

  “I am glad you asked,” the major replied and pulled one of the unused screens closer to him. He tapped a few buttons and then turned it back around so they could all get a good look.

  “You will all be equipped with these devices. We were able to find out quite a lot about their inhibitors before the end of the battle. That is part of the reason we were able to recover you. These devices will negate their stealth tech so you can see the rebels as well as you could any other enemies. All of those with scopes will have a patch installed so you will be able to use the same tech when sniping. Any more questions?”