Chapter 1: The Kid

Chapter 1
The Kid
Year 3012
Southern Europe

He raised his hand towards me and closed it into the fist. My insides started boiling, my skin started peeling from my fluids evaporating. It was worse where my armour covered the hard metal alloy seared my skin. A moment later I burst into flames and after all that heat I finally let go then it was cold… so cold.



“Hey kid.”
He whacked me on the head.
“Get up; you’ve got people to meet.”

I got up I looked at the man in front of me. He had short blonde hair slicked back and he wore a friendly grin. He showed me the inside of the base and led me to a small dining room. Four other men sat at the table I took my seat next to the blonde man his name was Anthony. The room was well lit and blankly decorated.

“So you’re the new transfer it’s good to meet you, allow me to welcome you to the A-team.” Anthony said

“The A-team?” I asked.

“Yes this is the A-team. All the elite units get squad names based off television shows from the 20th century. Apparently you are a very talented boy the A-team is a particularly exclusive squad every other member is a hardened veteran with years under their belts. Anyways let me introduce you. Over there our smallest member Teneisha we all call her ‘little girl.’”

She looked over and gave a small wave.

“Next to her is our resident 300 pound wonder Mr. Gerald.” Anthony said.

He looked at Anthony and raised his middle finger

“Don’t worry about him he’s a good guy a bit of a temper but you can trust him. We all call him ‘big man.’ Over there is Drazon the squad marksmen we all call him ‘the shot.’”

Drazon looked at me and nodded

“Beside Drazon is Jose he’s cool. Damned luckiest man I’ve met. You see that tattoo on his arm?”

Anthony pointed to Jose. On his arm there was a tattoo of a tally it counted 37.

“Every time he’s almost been killed he adds one to the tally. It’s pretty crazy from being non-fatally shot to, dud grenades he survives it all. We all call him “clover head,’ for being so lucky. Then you have the Sarge no one knows anything about him so we all call him Sarge. You’ll meet him later, and of course you have you and me for some reason they call me ‘the mouth.’ Of course you my friend have the honourable nick name of ‘the kid.’ Anthony explained he chuckled on the last part.

Jose looked towards me and said “Hey kid did you eat before they shipped you out?”

“Yeah," I said.

“Good you should get some sack time we get mission briefing tomorrow morning.” He said.

“Thanks,” I replied.

Anthony showed me to the cots.

It was a large room, the metal frames of the bunk beds stood out against the dull white paint of the walls.

Anthony left.

I took off my gear and crawled into bed. I slept.

“Wake up sunshine.” He said.

I opened my eyes and looked to the side, he was bald, and he had a well aged face that bore a blank expression. I assumed he was Sarge.

“Get up kid; you were the first to sleep and last wake up. Get dressed you have breakfast in five and after that you have briefing.” He growled.

I nodded.

He left the room.

I got out of bed and got dressed. I left the room walked down the hall to the dining room. Five other men sat at the table. I walked to the counter picked up the last tray then sat at the table next to Anthony. I started eating what I thought was a very yellow and runny oatmeal.

“Good morning kid.” Teneisha said.

I nodded. Teneisha was averaged sized, but was dwarfed by the tall men of the squad. She had long wavy brown hair held in a pony tail, and she had blue eyes framed by a light skinned face. After that small greeting from Teneisha the room fell silent. Only sounds of silver wear hitting trays and quiet chewing. After about ten minutes everyone finished and put their trays on the counter. We all left the room I was at the back of the pack. We walked for awhile down a number of halls and up several flights of stairs. We eventually reached the briefing room. Inside there was Sarge next to him was an old man with short white hair and a uniform that said general.

“Good morning A-team.” The general said.

The squad and I saluted.

“At ease,” The general said.

We relaxed. He had an unusual voice it was very calm but unusually commanding.

“A-team you have been given a new mission. Yesterday the UHA has declared war on the Magikais faction. In twelve hours a large portion of our army will be advancing into Magikais territory. You leave in two hours. This is your mission,” He explained.

He gestured to the table in the center if the room. The hologram flickered on. It showed a large building surrounded by forest. The image zoomed out and showed a highlighted trail that started at the border of the forest led through to a small out post, then into the forest again then to the large building originally shown.

“You will land here. Make your way through the forest. Then you will encounter a small out post this is your secondary objective. Take out any hostiles in the out post then destroy the anti-aircraft gun emplacements. Then you head back into the forest. You will eventually come up to an enemy communication station; this is your primary objective.” He explained. He pointed to the large building. Three points on the inside of the building glowed red. He continued and explained “You will set charges in these areas of the building. You will leave, then destroy the building, then call in your drop ship and you will be picked up at the outpost you passed on the way there. If you do this you will greatly damage the communication capabilities of the enemy in the area.”

The hologram flickered off.

“We will also have mech suits operating in the area so they’ll be able to provide assistance if need be.” He added.

The Sarge looked over at us and said “Alright men the drop ship is refuelling. Go to the armoury gear up then be in the hangar bay in an hour and a half.”

We saluted then marched out of the room. We walked down a number of stairs then we walked outside of the base to the armoury. Inside there were gun racks and containers with labels varying from, grenades to ammunition. We walked over to the racks with armour. There was a rack with a sign that read “A-team.”

Anthony walked up to the rack and picked up the first suit it read ‘Tony’ on the chest plate.

Drazon followed suit. Drazon had a short cut afro he had a middle aged face with a very dark skin tone.

I picked up my suit it read ‘the kid.’

Anthony laughed and chuckled “Wow I’m sorry man that’s one hell of a typo.”

I put on the upper body armour then the greaves then the lower body armour. I reached to the top shelf and picked up my helmet and boots. I clipped on the boots then finally put on my helmet. I pressed the chin button on the helmet. The heads up display came on. There was a map of the area in the bottom right corner and a number of HUD options came up on the left side.

“Hey kid, join the squad.” Anthony said.

I pressed ‘join squad’ from the option buttons on the left side of the HUD. Five yellow dots appeared on the map, they indicated the location of the squad mates. Their status appeared on the bottom left hand corner.

Tony status- Stable
Drazon status- Stable
Sarge status- Stable
Teneisha status- Stable
Gerald status- Stable
Jose status- Stable
Kid status- Stable

I looked at the rest the options they read. “Radar vision, Night vision, Thermal vision and full map.”

“I’ll carry the charges.” Jose said with a grin. Jose had a deep Mediterranean tan with a bit of a round face and a Mohawk a top his head.

I grabbed my gear this included, a pair of fragmentation grenades, a pair of flash bang grenades, a twelve inch asamantium combat knife (the same semi metallic alloy as the armour) an 11mm pistol, 5 magazines with 9 rounds each, a silencer for the pistol, a 25mm particle rifle with detachable targeter, a silencer for the rifle, 8 magazines with 81 rounds each, a medical pack, a standard issue back pack, and a 1 meter diameter asamantium shield with a indent in the top for a rifle to be nested in. Everyone carried the same gear with the exception of Drazon, Gerald and Jose. Jose carried the explosive charges for the mission, Drazon didn’t carry a shield or a rifle, he carried the 60 calibre sniper, with armour piercing, and anti tank rounds. Gerald didn’t carry a rifle or a shield instead he had a portable missile launcher, and a semi automatic tactical shotgun with a 3 round burst.

“Alright so we’re all packed up let’s head to the hangar.” Anthony said.

A green dot appeared on my map that indicated the location of the hangar. The squad walked out of the armoury and we headed towards to a large platform about 400 meters away. We walked by squadrons of fighters, and battalions of mechs, until we came up to the drop ships. I looked up and saw the A-team’s personal drop ship. It was green and there was a large raven painted on the side.

“Damn I love this bird.” Gerald said. Gerald was a large man, the most built member of the squad. He had a jagged face with a scar down his cheek, he had a black crew cut and a light beard.

The rear ramp of the raven opened. A short man in aviator sunglasses and a baseball cap walked down the ramp. “Hey boys get on board we leave in about three minutes.” the pilot yelled. The engines started firing up. We walked up the ramp Sarge was already inside strapped in. We all took our seats and strapped in.

The pilot walked to the front and took a seat to the co-pilot. The PA came on “Alright boys and girl we are about to lift off.”

We all shook as the engines fired and we took off.

Jose looked at Anthony and said “Hey Tony what the hell is this new war about?”

Anthony answered “I don’t know much apparently relations with the Magikais have got really bad something to do with those conjurers.”

“Conjurers? I’ve heard about those guys freaking mutants,” Jose commented.

Anthony added “Yeah those conjurers, space mutants it started about one hundred fifty years ago when a Magikais space craft returned to earth with some altered people, ever since they’ve been popping up in Magikais territory . An estimated 1 out of every 100 000 of their population has the mutation.”

Teneisha tuned in “Yeah they’re crazy powerful each one is able to manipulate a particular force like heat, magnetism or gravity with their mind.”

“Cut the chatter.” Sarge butted in.

The flight took about two hours we sat in silence.

“Five minutes until touch down.” The pilot said over the PA.

“Weapons check people.” said Sarge.

I took my pistol out of the holster loaded a magazine chambered the first round then put it back in the holster. I grabbed the rifle and took out a magazine. I checked the side of the clip the digital ammo counter read ‘81’ I loaded it in and stuck it beside me. I checked my grenades.

“Two minutes to touch down.” The pilot said over the PA.

The squad and I unclipped the safety straps. I slung my rifle on my shoulder. I secured my shield to my arm.

“Thirty seconds to touch down.” The pilot said over the PA.

“Get ready people.” Sarge said.

There was a metallic clank. The ramp dropped down. “Ramp down, kick some ass for me. Remember I can’t pick you up if you don’t destroy the anti-aircraft emplacements at that out post. Now GO GO GO!” The pilot yelled over the PA.

We ran down the ramp. I was temporarily blinded by the natural lighting outside. My visor compensated to ideal lighting. The drop ship ramp closed and the ship lifted off. I looked around we stood in a meadow with a steady incline, in front of me there were fields of wild flowers, to my left there was a large crater. I looked up and saw the drop ship fly out of sight. I looked behind me there was the border of the forest.

A detonation knocked me to the ground. My ears started to ring.

Sarge yelled at me, I couldn’t hear what he was saying. I stumbled trying to get up. My hearing returned to me.

“Get to the crater!” Sarge ordered.

I picked myself up and jumped into the crater. Shots rang out all around me.

“Shit they got armour in that forest.” Jose yelled.

We all took cover in the crater. They continued firing; another tank shell detonated just a head of us. Dirt rained into the crater

“Command we’re going to need support here we have a tank and an unknown number of hostiles in the forest north of our position we’re pinned down.” Sarge radioed in.

“Roger that support inbound.” The radio received.

Thirty seconds passed. Shots continued to fly by another tank shell detonated and kicked dirt on me. I saw three figures flying on the horizon. Before we could fully identify what they were three missiles sailed over our heads. There was a loud crashing sound. Then the firing stopped. The three figures landed beside the crater with a loud series of thumps. They were mechs with armour twice as thick as a tank, agile as a cat and fifteen feet tall. The suits were slate grey, and on the chest plate of each suit read ‘Iron Clad’ and after that was the pilot’s service number.

“Hostiles eliminated good luck A- team.” radioed the mech pilot.

“Thanks for the assist Iron Clads see you back at base.” Sarge replied. “Alright ladies let’s do our jobs.”

The mechs started running south, they broke out into a sprint, they leaped into the air and then they engaged their thrusters and took off. They soared into the air and disappeared out of sight.

I climbed out of the crater. I saw the border of the forest a dozen trees had disappeared and a number of the other surrounding trees were set a blaze. There was a smouldering ruin with twisted metal sticking out. The ruins of the tank let billows of smoke into the air.

“I’ve marked the location of the out post on your HUDs.” Anthony radioed. A green dot appeared on the map, it was north of our location.

“Alright into the forest single file, make sure to spread out. Now follow me.” Sarge ordered.

We started walking; I was at the back of the line. We entered the shade of the forest my visor adjusted accordingly.

“Those mechs are awesome, why didn’t they just send them to do this mission?” Jose asked.

“The mechs can’t navigate through forest and if they just flew there they would have been gunned down by the anti-aircraft emplacements.” Anthony answered with a patronizing tone.

“Cut the chatter.” Sarge butted in.

We walked in an uneasy silence only disturbed by the occasional bird chirp. The bright green dot on the HUD map indicated we were 300 meters away from the out post.

A branch snapped.

Sarge raised his fist. We all stopped.

Three men appeared from the behind trees.

We all raised our rifles and took aim. We all tensed up in anticipation.

“Hold fire,” Sarge said. “Identify yourself.” he ordered.

“We’re the Brady Bunch.” One of the men said. They walked over. “Good to see you Sarge.” One of the men said.

“You to Sam,” Sarge chuckled.

I lowered my rifle, took a sigh of relief and relaxed.

“Hey join the squad on the HUD.” Anthony said.

Each of the men pressed their helmets. Three additional yellow dots appeared on the HUD map. Three names were added to the list in the bottom left corner of the heads up display.

Ricky status- Stable
Sam status- Stable
Keith status- Stable

“What happened to the rest of your squad?” Sarge asked.

“Well our drop ship was en route to our objective then I’m not quite sure what happened, either the engine malfunctioned or we were pulled out of the sky. Anyways the drop ship crashed and we were the only survivors. We’ve been out here for twenty minutes our communicators broke during the crash so we haven’t been able to reach command.”

“We’re close to our objective so join us and you can hitch a ride on our ship on the way back.” Sarge replied.

“Sounds good what’s your mission?” Sam asked.

“First we have to take out a near by out post, then a communication station then we make our way back to the out post for transport.” Sarge answered.

“Let’s get on our way then,” Anthony added.

We all nodded. We continued walking in silence. We reached the border of the forest surrounding the out post. The HUD map indicated that we were 113 meters away from the out post.

“Drazon scope out the area see what we are dealing with.” Sarge ordered.

“Aye sir,” Drazon replied. Drazon pulled out his sniper he attached the scope then calibrated it. “There are two trenches surrounding the perimeter of the out post, just east of it are the AA guns, there’s a tank outside the trench perimeters and, five men stationed a little west of the out post in the first trench, six men south of the out post in the second trench. Give me a sec let me switch to thermal vision. There are two men on the inside of the out post and one really warm guy.”

“A really warm guy?” Anthony asked.

“Yes he reads 172 degrees Fahrenheit, way above normal,” Drazon answered.

“Doesn’t matter,” Sarge added. He continued with the plan “Here’s what we are going to do, Drazon is going to take out that tank, Sam you are going to flank left with your men and work your way into the first trench. The rest of us will lay down suppressive fire. After Sam and his men make his way to the trench we will advance to the trench as well. Then we’ll eliminate the rest of the resistance.”

We all nodded.

Drazon loaded the rifle with the anti-tank rounds. “Ready Sarge,” He said.

“In three… two… one… fire.” Sarge ordered.

I looked at the tank near the out post. I heard two pops coming from my side. In the blink of an eye the turret of the tank exploded and the turret flew off.

“Sam go!” Sarge yelled.

The three men ran left through the forest.

“Fire!” Sarge ordered.

We all raised our shields and rifles then opened fire. They started firing back. They shot wildly only a stray shot that ricocheted off my shield came close to hitting us. None of us were able to score a hit except Drazon who managed to take out two guys before Sam and his men took them by the flank and killed the last three guys in the first trench.

The six other men started running through the second trench to engage Sam and his men.

We all lowered our rifles and raised our shields ran out in the open. I looked over by the trenches Sam and his men were exchanging fire with the enemy. I was the first to reach the edge of the trench. I leaped in and propped myself against the wall. After me came Teneisha, then Jose followed by the rest of the squad and we all propped ourselves against the wall of the trench. I looked to my left Sam and his Brady bunch was still exchanging fire from one trench to the other.

“Hey kid let me show something they don’t teach you in combat training,” Gerald said.

I looked to my right and nodded towards him.
“Ok I call this flash-big bang, what you do is you take a flash bang and a frag grenade and you throw them at the same time, I’m going to need your help take the flash bang,” Gerald explained. He handed me the flash bang.

I nodded and took it from his hand.

“Alright here’s what we do we activate the grenades cook them for three seconds, then throw them to the trench, you get my back then we’ll mop up what’s left.” He continued. He activated his fragmentation grenade.

I activated my flash bang.

“One…Two…Three…” He counted.

We threw our grenades simultaneously.

Two seconds later there was an explosion and a scream. The firing stopped.

“Now!” Gerald yelled.

We climbed over the side and sprinted to the trench. We got to the ledge of the second trench.

There were blown up bits people all through the trench. Two men stumbled around dazed and confused. Before I could raise my rifle Gerald lifted his shotgun.

He fired a burst of shells at the first guy. He created three orange sized craters in his chest armour. The impact knocked the guy off his feet and he fell flat on his back. Gerald looked at the second guy and did the same except one of the craters caved in the side of his helmet. The shock wave of that burst caused the guy’s head to violently kick back, and fall backwards to the ground.

He hopped into the trench I followed in.

There was a groan. I looked over a man with his leg blown off lifted his arm he had a pistol. He fired once.

Gerald status- Compromised

I raised my rifle felt the rifle butt on my shoulder, exhaled and put three in his chest.

I looked back at Gerald.

“I’m ok kid at least you got my back.” Gerald said. He gripped his shoulder it was bleeding. “All clear in second trench.” He radioed.
.
“Good work Gerald, you too kid. We’re coming to your position.” Sarge radioed.

I pulled a bandage, ointment, antiseptic wipes and disinfectant from my backpack. I walked over to Gerald and removed his shoulder pad where he was shot. I poured the disinfectant. Cleaned the shot wound with antiseptic wipes.

Gerald growled, “Easy kid!”

I pulled out the ointment from the backpack and applied it then wrapped the wound with the bandage.

Gerald nodded in approval and cracked a small smile. “Thanks kid.” He said. The smile then faded away.

The squad and the Brady bunch appeared at the ledge.

“We’re not done yet men. Sam you take you and your men to the out post and clear out those guys, Tony and the kid go with them the rest of us are going to sabotage those anti-aircraft emplacements.” Sarge ordered.

The A-team walked east. We climbed out of the trench and walked toward the out post. We stopped twenty feet from the door.

“I’m going to switch to thermal and see what we’re dealing with inside there.” Anthony said. He pressed the side of his helmet. “Something is wrong, the thermals are going crazy. I think there’s a conjurer in there, one that can control heat…” He stopped.

The door slid open. Two men ran out yelling. They fired.

Ricky Status- Deceased

The remaining four of us gunned them down. I looked over Ricky’s helmet punctured in the face plate and he lay upon the ground. We continued we were ten feet from the door I was right next to Anthony.

A tall crimson armoured figure walked into the light from outside of the door. He raised his hand towards Sam and Keith.

They screamed as they burst into flames and fell to the ground.

Sam Status- Compromised
Keith Status- Compromised

I raised my shield and rifle.

“Damn it!” Anthony cursed. He activated a grenade and went to throw it.

The conjurer looked over. Before the grenade left Anthony’s hand the conjurer gestured. Anthony was set a flame.

The grenade exploded in his hand.

Tony Status- Deceased
Keith Status- Deceased
Sam Status- Deceased
Kid Status- Compromised

The explosion shattered my shield, broke my left arm, knocked me to the ground and left me temporarily deaf.

I saw the conjurer slowly walked towards me. He lowered his arm.

I tumbled and stood up. Panting and disoriented I pulled the pistol out of my holster.

He continued walking. He gave a slight nod to me.

The pistol became too hot to hold and I dropped it. I pulled out my knife and charged towards him. The knife melted in my hand. Some of the melted alloy oozed on my hand, it seared my skin. I screamed in pain and dropped the handle. I collapsed to my knees and fell to the ground with my back against the gravel.

The conjurer came to me and looked down. He took off his crimson mask. I couldn’t tell since I was still disoriented and deafened but he was either saying something to me or laughing. He raised his hand towards me then closed it into a fist.

Then it was cold… so cold…

Kid Status- Deceased