Alchemy Pt 3

Chapter 10
Headquarters

         We follow the tracks of the heavy soldier- the one that got away. Tracking the footprints and a strange blood trail along the floor, I actually don’t remember who or when we shot the giant man; but it seems that was the main reason to his running. We rushed on convinced that he could ambush us at any second…

We strode our way back along the empty highway and make our way toward the giant snowy mountains to the north of the village. The trail of tracks hinted in the direction of a large city and the temperature was falling quickly as we paced closer to the base. The environment was changing along with it- which is always a bad thing.

“Can you believe it?” says Tassa. “That all this time- they were behind the warcarrier.”

“Why not…” Merowe replies. “Who would suspect a war that has been dead for years, to just come back to life once more?”

“Not me…”

We remain silent examining the idea, just as we have time and time again. The men all avoided contact with each other- before it didn’t bother me, but the longer we fought together the more we stood for a purpose. It felt as if everyone wanted to avoid information; and I wanted to know- somebody should know- in case we didn’t make it…

The blood on the floor stops at the base of the soldier- stretched on the floor. We lower to a kneeled position and continue toward the fallen man. His heavy weapon and extra padding all discarded a few meters behind; he continues crawling without a goal in mind- dying. He coughs trying to stop the blood from blocking his airway- but he has no choice.

The look of the man- not the soldier, made me sad- he was trying to live. He fought for his intention; but the price of death now, just didn’t seem worth it. He continues to crawl trying to make the impossible crawl home…

Tassa pulls the locking pin on his rifle, making a loud chime come from the barrel as it springs back against the other metals. He aims the weapon at the soldier- the defenseless man.

The soldier turns over and looks back at the four of us- ignoring Tassa’s deadly demeanor. He turns over on his back and crosses his arms around his chest looking up into the air- ignoring everything- mumbling a short phrase over and over…

He slowly starts losing himself and starts losing his grip of reality. The words under his breath now seemed so faded and slow- that’s when his eyes closed.

Tassa lowers the weapon and looks down to the floor, Merowe’s eyes remained oblivious as he tried to keep calm- he was still so angered by the look of the tattoos for some reason. His tears were of anger- not pain.
Sergei looks back at me and grabs Merowe by the shoulders trying to move him on. But Merowe refuses; he pushes the trying man away and removes his helmet.

“Did you know that my family was Jewish?” with a cold look at the dead man…

Silence overtook the team as Merowe wipes away the tears from his eyes.

“On my great grandfather’s side, my great grandmother loved him- and she didn’t care. She thought the world…”

Merowe falls back into tears- his eyes dowsed; he falls to his knee and doesn’t stop crying…

“I’m sorry Merowe.” I tell him- trying to find a matching sympathy. I grab his shoulder and move to his neck collar and pull him in our direction… he slowly lets on and slides his helmet back on.

We continue on our way trying to find a trace of the enemy- and the presumed base. Merowe suddenly stiffens- his eyes widen as he thought of something.

“How many soldiers did we kill?” asks Merowe.

“Four, with this one five; Why…” asks Sergei.

I understand why he was asking.

“I counted six in total…” I reply.

One’s missing!

The men all come to attention and invert their rifles to their shoulders- back to back, ready for a surprise. The buildings around this area were huge- large and full of glaring reflections… mirages that wouldn’t help our situation.

Suddenly a loud shot goes off- and Sergei goes down. He yells a loud grunt and grasps his injured shoulder.

“There’s a Sniper!” Sergei yells.

The team tries to back out of the city limits but the rifle goes off again, grazing my shoulder padding. The team turns around and dart for protection. We race for a small booth- in the middle of the city, carrying the injured Sergei.

“Where is he!” screams Tassa.

The sniper is in the buildings, the streets and the reflections were working to his advantage. We stand no chance in finding the wolf in it's territory. We were in a death trap in this security booth, but we didn’t hear any gunfire- a good thing; he didn't have a shot.

It was only a matter of time before the sniper would call in reinforcements- the deadly fighter just waits.

“Are you okay?”
Merowe asks the injured Sergei

“I’ll be fine- the bullet went through clean.” He replies, breathing heavily- he wraps a bandage over the red camouflage armor that now has a gaping hole in it. I look at my ripped shoulder padding and become angered.

The puzzling city was awakening with noise; the lone sniper had reinforcements edging toward the city.

“I don’t like the sound of that…” yells Tassa.

Merowe fumbles for his pockets and tears open his bag- he pulls out his radio and flicks it to life. The radio is interrupted by a man repeating a paragraph of instructions. The agent’s recording was still active- until midday.

“How much longer until they turn on the system;” I ask Merowe.

“Five minutes…”

“This is gonna be a traditional standoff gentlemen.” Adds Sergei

The men all line up and struggle to their feet- completely fatigued. We pull out our rifles and loaded our last round of bullets. Already, we've exhausted our weaponry and were baring at the bone of our energy.

One minute later

The four walls of our protection have windows large enough to place us all at each side. So formed ourselves up at the windows- back to back.

The rumbling returns, much stronger than before- no doubt they were bringing a horde of soldiers; this must be their last line of defense, at least before we enter their encampment and they were going to throw everything they had at us.

I could hear my heart beating in my head as it pounded faster, while we awaited the wave of enemies and ignored everything around- the first time I woke, I didn’t know who I was and now that I do- I feel less like myself than I did before.

         The flashes of gunfire start from all around in an instant- and I couldn’t make out any of the noises. I was deafened but I didn’t stop firing- one by one I tore down enemy fighters as they made a dash for the team; I stop, reload and fire another round of bullets that disappear in the body of a soldier and continue preventing the onslaught.

Two minutes down

Tassa cooks a grenade for three seconds and throws as far as possible. A second later the fragmentation spews from the corridor and collapses leaving the men stuck behind the wall. It didn’t matter- it would only take seconds before they found their way around to the other sides. Quick thinking- damn good thinking on his half…

“I’m out!” Yells Merowe as he pulls out a ten round .50 caliber magnum from his holster. He unfolds a bar on the gun and coils out a grip- completely necessary. The bullets explode, louder than any of our weapons.

Tassa immediately pairs with Merowe who was now depending on his handgun alone.

Sergei falls off his feet as a soldier makes his way through the window on his side- the two men fall on the ground and wrestle over the gun; the team tries to react as quickly as possible and are all beaten to the punch by Merowe who turns around, fires his handgun into the head of the invader and quickly runs toward the vulnerable window. Merowe digs down into his shoulders and rams two men- preventing them from entering the room.

Three minutes down

The hoard flushes through a dozen other men carrying giant metal shields- they come forward in a line and hold their position. The shielded soldiers step in front of the incoming troops and stand their ground. We fire to no avail; the bullets thrash on the flat surfaces and repel- nothing was going through the heavy metal slabs.

From behind them stomps forward a heavy padded soldier, like the ones we fought before. The heavy soldier positions himself in front of the building, pulls up the heavy machine-gun and fires.

The concrete explodes- we drop to the floor and flatten ourselves avoiding the deadly shrapnel.

Merowe brings out a green device; the metal plated equipment etched with small holes along the sphere, along with an engraved button edged along the front, he pushes the button and tosses it overhead toward the goliath. A silent grenade- might keep them disoriented long enough to retaliate.

The silent grenade goes off- it rips off a strong blaze of high pitched yells that scream in repetition for minutes on end, as long as the energy holds out.

Within seconds the goliath drops the weapon and drops to his knees. He drops down even further going into a fetal position. The others quickly seize the advantage and pull their weapons up toward the bumbling, hopeless man.

The men fire trying for a rip on the giant…

Four minutes down- one more to go

The bullets riddle the body of the man until finally the armor gives way. He falls down and spews blood. We turn around and focus again on the shielded men. The men stand strong not giving an inch behind the shields, I look around to see the others stopped firing and were looking down at Merowe’s watch. Merowe hands me his weapon and points me back toward the enemy attackers. I turn back to the horde who was no longer firing- they were ceasing fire. I reload the heavy handgun and aim in their location, the silent grenade suddenly pops and sparks up electricity- already out of juice. Great

The line of shields starts to back up- and disappear into the darkness of the corridor- a few words are shouted and then silence. I aim the weapon waiting for whatever they were about to dish out. The silence is interrupted by a mechanical chime- a screech of metal, could it be? A warcarrier was on its way… Great

The static breaks and a voice comes through on the radio.
“This is echo six nine, we are now live-”

Merowe quickly interrupts the man. “This is Merowe- we need help.”

“Merowe- where are you, we haven’t heard from you in days!”

“We left in a hurry- I know and I can explain later; but right now we are stuck in a firefight inside a security box.”

“Is that a joke?” replies the agent.

“NO, listen- we need air support.”

“Oh by the way, do you happen to know what happened to the AH we had in the depot. It went missing.”

The man continues his angry rant adding in sarcasm into his disappointment.

“We took it.” Replies Merowe

The man pauses for a minute and breathes heavily- then continues.

“There’s no chance I’m getting that bird back in one piece- is there?” he adds again- sarcastically.

Merowe grabs the bridge of his nose and squeezes it as hard as he could- furious. He pulls from his pocket a small device he switches a small slit up on the device and places it on the floor. He then turns around and tosses Sergei a GPS marking tube.

“You know how long it took to get that plane up and running- two months Merowe!”

“SHUT UP!” Yells Merowe into the radio

“Listen- we need you to send an airstrike. Think you can get that done!”

“Ok, did you-“

“Yes I have the beacon up and running already, all we need is for you to confirm.”

I turn back toward the corridor that was lighting with mechanical scrapes- the steps get stronger and rumble louder as the presumed warcarrier makes its way toward us.

“It’s getting closer…”
Says Tassa; his voice getting sharper as he tries to keep calm.

The man on the other end starts clicking buttons on a computer- flipping the other end of the radio into a mystery.

“Hmm- Oh there you are… you’re in Buliga? How’d you get all the way out there?”

“I need estimates kid! How fast can you get the jets out here?”

The man on the other end pauses again and strikes more buttons.

“Hundred twenty seconds boss… But you gotta keep that GPS hot- or else it’s a no go. Oh and you might want to be as far away from the area as you possibly can.”

“Fine;” Says Merowe into the radio; he switches it back off and throws it into his depleted
Backpack- despite the basic weaponry, we’re all out of ammunition, we didn’t realize that. But we’re still fighting and nothing will get between the ones who refuse to die.

Everyone looks over at the GPS cylinder as it blinked a dim blue light- one by one the team dropped their bags to the ground and prepared for a one sided firefight. The only one holding two clips- Tassa was already aiming his weapon toward the corridor full of sound. Merowe picks up the weapon off of the soldier he shot. Sergei swipes a clip into his rifle and throws the empty one to the floor with rage. I take a breather and close my eyes for an instant. Then they open to another sight- a shaded world, colorless. My face turns into rage; I could feel the change in my body as I start to cringe and dig into my primal instincts.

Everybody waits with a prayer- I can’t wait; I grip the rifle nearly cracking the grip off the weapon. Then it comes through…

A different Warcarrier came through wielding a double edged sword in both hands- a giant weapon. The Warcarrier comes shaped for movement- armored with scales along its body from head to toe. It drags the blade along the floor cracking a line in its path.

The team begins the ensemble of gunfire and start to make a quick escape out the door. The heavy monster scampers its way toward the falling structure ignoring the gunfire and edges the blade over its body. The weapon comes down thundering a wisp of air as it comes crashing into the building. The swipe takes out the side of the building, with a barrage of attacks the whole building comes crashing down. It crushes the building to rubble and looks through the wreckage for a sign of our bodies.

We were dashing through the city- making our way from its grasp; gunfire went off from somewhere along the buildings as the sniper still held its position. Three poorly timed shots left us home open for the long stretch- one after another we edged toward the exit of the city; all of us.

All of a sudden Tassa rises from the floor; I turn around and see the warcarrier was holding the incomparable Tassa by his abdomen. Tassa punched at the mechanical hands of the machine- his eyes close as he begins to cringe over the increasing hold of the Warcarrier. I turn back toward the helpless man- Tassa looks over at me and slides the Cutter to his hand. He tosses it over… my mind goes over the loose thought- what if I miss. I hold my breath and fire.

The burst from the weapon makes contact with the warcarrier as the sniper takes another shot. I fall to the floor pulled to the side by my shoulder, I hit the floor and see Sergei his eyes; still…

Tassa falls from the grip of the Warcarrier as the headless machine topples to the ground; the bullet hits the building in the back and punches a hole right through.

Overhead the buzz of the fighter jet becomes noticeable- the sonic boom cries over scorching something fierce. Merowe rushes over to Tassa and picks him up tugging him along back out the city. They help me stand up, I still looked on at the lifeless Sergei. His eyes were glass- unresponsive to anything. His pale face leaked down a small trickle of blood from his mouth as he lay still.

“Get up, we got ten seconds…” screams Merowe and continues for the outskirts.

I close the eyes of the fallen comrade and pull myself to a knee. I stand up and rush out after the limping pair.

The jet passes above us and races on into the unknown- a second later the buildings behind explode…

We drop from the impact, the sound so violent it screeches over- leaving only a small beep in my ears. Merowe stands back up with Tassa in tow; I look back at the buildings, well over a hundred feet tall plummet and crash in over the others. the dust flies over our heads and clouds the air all around; brown dust covered every step along the way, silhouetting even the sight of everything along the way. But the farther we made it away from the city, the clearer it got.

After a few hundred meters we stop, I drop to the floor and cough trying to clear my throat. Merowe lets go of Tassa as he looks on at the destroyed sky. He looks at the streak of smoke rising into the air. He nods his head silent- a look of shock streaked across his face.

Tassa reaches for the radio and switches it back on. Static filled it once more; no doubt it had to be because of the bombing. Radio towers were becoming a thing of the past.

This old world is a thing of the past- it was a dark shaded world now.

Chapter 11
CLOSER

“Why did it seem like they weren't trying to kill us;” I ask.

“They were running at us, almost strategically unfit.”

“No;” replies Merowe, still looking out toward his partner’s demise. “Sometimes to defeat your enemy, you need to know everything about them.”

Tassa grabs at his ribs, without doubt that it had to do with the warcarrier crushing him. But he was still standing and that was good. His armored uniform was torn and beaten, like so many times before. Since the moment I met the man, all we’ve known is combat. I wonder if it had a toll on him…

“Tassa, do you think you can keep up?” I ask with concern.

He keeps a serious face and kneels down as he grasps for the broken armor in his abdomen.

“I… can, continue…”

I look at Merowe as he moves his focus from one comrade to another.

“Are you sure?” asks Merowe again.

Tassa looks at the floor and clenches his mouth straining his jaw muscles; he slowly calms his breathing and nods, ignoring the pain.

“Do you wanna know why I followed you Thomas?” Tassa sits on the floor and lays the rifle on the floor. The first time he’s referred to me by my living name…

“My family was in California watching me as I took off from the airport to come over here, they were proud of me, given they always thought I was a better person to just limit myself to a mechanic. They thought this was the first step in the right direction. I don’t know why but- they always believed in me…”

He pauses again from the pain.

“Then I found out they were attacked in the coast, I called the first chance I got and I caught them as the basterds entered our neighborhood. My mom was frantic- wife, kids, cousins…”

“The last thing they told me- to keep up the good work and to never stop trying…”

“I made a promise to myself to see this whole war through- I took it upon myself to see the ones responsible die; I want to see their leader take the last bullet of the war, to enter his head…”

He has a look of disbelief as he continues.

“Then Thomas fell from the sky and a few days later I’m on the brink of the enemy base- I’m not a big believer in things, but it was almost like this was meant to happen.”

“My mom never got to see me off the drugs… She always knew I could do it… she would be proud.”

A minute goes by as nobody tries to respond to the grieving man…

Merowe reaches his arm over toward him; Tassa looks on and grasps the Agent’s hand.

He gets back to his feet and struggles with the weight of his weapon; Merowe grabs the rifle and hands it to him. Without a second thought we all continue toward the mountain, I bring the handgun to my holster and tag along.

         The temperature of the environment lowers and I feel it, but it doesn’t cause me to shake or ask for cover…

Small flakes start to drop as we climb the giant mountain, the floor fills with light snow barely covering the floor. The sun was going down and was now creeping behind the mountains.

Tassa and Merowe have their arms around their bodies trying to keep warm, I continue knowing I should be trembling, especially with a torn up uniform full of holes- but it just wasn’t cold.

Merowe give out a sigh of frustration- and runs over to a small cabin- built for these times and jiggles the locked door. Tassa and I both look on- watching the desperate man look for a way in. He stomps around on the porch and finally gets the wind to kick the door open.

With a heavy planted boot, the door slams open.

“Fire…” he says and points at me.

I quickly rush behind the cabin and find a stack of firewood. I bring a dozen of the small frost covered stocks and drop them in the fireplace; Tassa rips open a bullet and sprinkles the gunpowder over the wood. A spark from an old lamp bursts the fireplace and ignites the wood. The two freezing men reach into the fire and warm their hands.

I reach for a chair and take a seat, watching the mist come from my breath- something to assure me of the temperature.

Why was there a lack of emotion? I know the feelings and I know what should be there. I know the pains and aches- all not present at this point.

         After a few minutes the men step away from the flame and gather- they take a seat on the freezing floor and quickly stand back up, I point at the chairs around the wooden table in the far end of the cabin.

Merowe grabs the seat and sets it directly in front of me.

“So what do we do?” he asks.

“You know if there are any polar bears around here?” I reply.

“Seriously, we can’t exactly go up into the mountains without proper equipment.”

“I have no idea…” I look up to the ceiling and see an attic- maybe something could be up there, but not now…

I look on and return to the tired men- both running tired from another long day.

Merowe looks at my feet and notices my ripped and frayed clothing.

“Why is it that you’re not cold?” he asks.

“It’s almost as if though you can’t feel these changes, can you?”

I look at the man and then at Tassa who was about ready to fall from his seat from exhaustion.

“The truth is that the stages of my being- are all experimental, maybe the crash of the ship has something to do with me being this way.”

“But I’m doubtful; I feel that it is part of my design- I have an almost positive feeling that my body isn’t functioning; but the computer part is…” “Although I really don’t understand it well- I cannot just easily team together both MY thoughts and the system memory.”

“Then how do you remember people- like your wife?” Asks Tassa who was now intent on hearing what I said.

“Dreams I suppose, when the computer part rests my memory kicks in and I have these memories pop into view- like I’m only witnessing the good; and when I wake up- I come back to a nightmare. I feel like it’s a transfer of memory from one to the other- a dream that’s a memory records to the computer and sticks.”

“Sounds like Hell;” replies Merowe.

“Yeah; it really is…” I let out, depressed by the encaging feeling of a never ending rewind effect.

Tassa looks back out the frosted window as the heat begins to fill in the cabin, warming up the two freezing soldiers.

“Who was Sergei?” I ask.

Merowe rubs his tired eyes and looks down to the floor.

“He…” He pauses for a moment and clears his throat.

“He was a good man- I found him in the KGB, he had been a good agent, but he was misguided.” “Good kid, but without any real vision- I knew he wasn’t gonna last.”

“So I started secretly taking tasks by his side.”

“By the time I knew it he was the great marksman I once was.”

Merowe reaches into his vest and pulls out a bullet from one of his many pockets.

“The greatest bullet he fired- the one I couldn’t take… He took the rifle from my hands and aimed the sniper up and fired…”

“Killed the sniper from a mile and a half away; after that I removed him from record and enlisted him in the CIA, gave him a black suit and made him an ally.”

“I said I’d always protect him…”

He stops and puts the bullet back into his vest…

If I ever come to finishing this war- I will; for these men, the ones who are trying to end it.

Merowe takes his helmet and places it on the floor; he looks over at Tassa- and nods. Tassa passes the gesture to me and takes off his helmet, I go to remove mine- scared of their reaction to my mechanical difference.

But the two stay unchanged- they lie down and say nothing hovering closer to the fire.

I lay down with them, and start to feel my heart start racing, my heart that is still beating.

Isn’t it? Is this not a feeling of an expected sense…?

         After a few hours I wake up, never really asleep to the sight of the ceiling- I think of the possibilities and get curious.


         With the men still asleep I quietly reach up to the door in the ceiling and pull myself up. The dark room still had enough light creeping in through the cracks to see the hidden room. The small room was just wide and high enough to creep through.

More posters of WWI plastered throughout the room. But at the opposite end of the room was a box- modern built. With green metallic fibers covering the outer part and rounded edges the box stood in a room full of mementos where it just didn’t belong.

Someone placed this box here…

I reach for the opened locks and pull it open- four uniforms and a countless amount of weaponry waited inside.

Winter Camo and heavy sniper rifles along with silencers all imprinted with winter designs. I grab the rifle at the top and examine the sleek design- much different design from other builds. The light weapon was easily no more than ten pounds along with automatic stocks and clips ready to fire.

I grab the box and lower it as lightly as possible. I jump down trying to keep the floor from creaking.

With my accomplished task I turn around and see the two men were awake again…

“What is that?” Merowe asks.

“Stuff I found up top.” I reply.

Tassa grabs the box and flips it open- the two men jump back at the sight.

“How in the hell did you find this;” Lets out Merowe.

“Hunch;” the two reach for the heavy coats and weapons.

This equipment would surely help with the trek- although it wouldn't guarantee us success.

The odds of us getting to the base are low- it would be higher if the original plan hadn’t been ruined. But that is no longer relevant…

The fire quietly sizzled as the men fitted the weatherproof vests and grabbed equipment to slap into the pockets. I waited- and proceeded to fit the new clothing on as well, maybe I didn’t need the extra clothing but as far as I knew I could die in the mountains from the ice.

After a moment the men looked at the embroidered patches of the enemy and ripped them off. Tassa grabbed his and immediately tossed it into the flame. Merowe crumpled it and took mine in the process- he flung them in with force, giving a small grunt in the process.


After a few moments next to the fire, the men were sweating up something fierce- good to see they were no longer complaining about the cold.

They refocused their attention on the box and removed the weapons from their strapping, Tassa grabbed a heavy rifle- something in the sense of an M16, and he slammed a clip into the weapon then aimed down the barrel making out the new gun for all its new differences.

Merowe grabbed the biggest weapon- parted in two he quickly nudged the pieces together and they immediately formed a sniper rifle. The weapon was sleek and thin, looked very light and had a long barrel that almost seemed like it didn’t belong there. Merowe screws in a silencer into the rifle and increases the length of the weapon only further. With a clip at hand he slowly nudges it in and loses his sight in the weapon- no doubt imagining that this weapon was used to kill his friend a few hours ago.

At last I grab another rifle, rounded yet rough- it no doubt had an assault rifle look to it, but it wasn’t automatic. A three shot stock- could be more useful for staying hidden, but this weapon won’t stand a chance against a warcarrier. The design was strange as to that it already had a second barrel overlapping over the first barrel; it was a permanently silenced gun… intriguing. I grip the clean weapon by the barrel and slip the straps over my shoulder.

The three of us slowly make a walk toward the door and make an exit- I pause and look at the fire, a sense fills me… an ideal thing, it makes me walk back, grab a small bucket of icy water and toss it into the fire, turning the blaze off…

Chapter 12
THE CLIMB

         
         The crunching ice, still only forming outside the door was solid- no more sun from here on out. The sun was hidden behind the clouds with no end to their long extending reach. We head for a trail, no doubt manmade; with the wind roaring in our face it made it hard to see but that was a good thing- they wouldn’t bother being out here in such conditions.

The two men looked comfortable in their heavy coats, but nothing could keep them from covering their face- we all turned our mics on for communication and shut our helmets completely.

The angle of the climb wasn’t steep but swept the entire mountain from one end and around. It made me wonder if this was the only way up the mountain, if not we might be running into warcarriers.

“Does this look promising?” I ask the two men following quickly behind.

“Does anything seem promising anymore;” replies Tassa.

“It will have to do;” finishes off Merowe.

We nod and continue up the path.

The road cracked below our feet as we edge along a less than stellar look of the curbing mountain. The road looked so worn, too much had happened here that it had taken its toll on the weakening path.

“I don’t like the looks of this Thomas;” says Merowe- the sound of my own name still didn’t fit into my knowledge that they were talking to me.

Tassa grabs my hand and stops me from going any further, ahead of my feet the road was broken- a huge slide took the look of the mountain back down to the very bottom.

At the other end was an outpost set in place, most likely to remind the others that the road stopped here.

Tassa looks toward the far corner where the crater finished- maybe enough space to walk through, but if it doesn’t hold we are dead.

Tassa marches over and tests the sturdiness of the ledge, Merowe follows behind followed by me at the back. The icicles crack, but no immediate danger; that doesn’t mean we weren’t terrified- just the fact had me grasping Merowe’s vest.

Stepping along the rickety ledge we start to feel the uneasiness and Tassa’s body begins to lower as the floor gives in; he quickly leaps at the last step and the ledge collapses. Merowe jumps back and collides with me. I grasp him and drag him toward the wall. Tassa hits the floor and keeps on crawling to stay alive even though he was already safe. The icy terrain roars down the mountain and crashes into the bottom making a hundred different level thumps as they went down; we all look at each other and sigh.

The task only got harder- before us was a gap at least a meter long, and with a limited amount of space- we are in danger. Merowe claws the frozen wall and backs toward me thinking of the best way around.

He then looks at his gun and throws it over to Tassa- Tassa makes a grab for the gun and immediately points the gun up to the air avoiding the barrel all around. Merowe then gets into a running position and motions for some space; I immediately drop back and allow him his room.

“You’re not actually thinking about this are you?” Tassa asks over the crisp mic.

“No choice;” he responds and rushes off the ledge.

With a quick lunge he makes the jump and lands in the hands of Tassa- he drops to his knee and forces himself off the larger Tassa.

“Not that hard;” says Merowe.

I walk up the side and toss my weapon over- look down at the fall and take a breath. I step where Merowe had just stepped and feel the uneasiness of the floor, my boot sinks in and another two feet of terrain falls into the ground.

“This isn’t good…” Tassa exclaims.

I look at the harsh situation and think of the possibilities- with a wind gushing down the mountain and the weight on my back; I seem unlikely to make the jump- but at the same time this is possible.

I step back just as Merowe did and dart for the edging- I leap and glide through the air; reaching out to grasp the arm of one of the men. My helmet slams against the side of the mountain and shakes me to my bones- it only makes me grab the man’s arm more tightly. The view from inside the helmet was no joke- I could only make out white flashes of snow and dark shadows but nothing else. I drag myself up to the top and see Merowe red as a tomato, holding onto me with both hands, I quickly climb over him and Tassa finishes the job.

“Heavy doesn’t describe you;” says Merowe. He kicks his shaky movement and come up to a knee.

“I suppose alchemy isn’t perfect in all cases.” I reply.

We slowly look around at the environment and continually try to catch our breath. Tassa passes our weapons back and hands over the clips.

The look from this side of the mountain was more open- part of this mountain face was gone; somebody had gone through the trouble of removing a slab of rock from where it should be- thousands of pounds of mountain- gone.

A small encampment relay the bottom of the missing piece, but still it was empty- we slowly shove along into the encampment.

The dim light silhouetting through the thick clouds gave enough light for a vantage, but the underside of the mountain remains pitch black. A dozen canisters about six feet tall riddle the way into the side, full of something and written in a foreign language. We work around the heavy metal canisters and one by one disappear under the shadow of the mountain range.

The view from behind my helmet was darkness, the wind whistled through the range creating clanks and mirages of nothing. The steps we took got shorter as the space between us and the clutter got closer. So much mess made us have to split up and take alternate routes around the debris.

I scurry up the side and separate from the others, Tassa continues on the path jumping a canister along his path and Merowe takes to the side closest to the edge of the mountain. We continue and start to make out the view at the end, a path opened up again much more secure than the last one.

We start to regroup again until Merowe waves his hands at us to get down- Tassa drops down and I follow immediately. With a humming from ahead at the exit of the underside, a light scans the darkness once over. I try to hide myself as well as possible, although I couldn’t see- I could hear. With a creak and a slam- a door from a vehicle opens and closes. Somebody was coming…

Five separate figures exit the compact heavy artillery humvee and start to make their way toward us.

Did they find us? How?

Tassa starts to creep slowly toward my end where the soldiers seemed to be avoiding. But Merowe was trapped between the men, a pile of debris and cans. The men start taking out flashlights and start examining the canisters. Wiping the surfaces and examining the writing- they look around and scan the environment as one of the men scans a barcode on the side. He looks down at the screen and shakes his head. He looks over at the canisters near Merowe and says a few words in their language.

The five men start making their way toward Merowe who was no longer visible from our point. I start to aim my weapon and so does Tassa- expecting a fully fledged attack. But it never happens for some reason they didn’t see Tassa behind- did he move around when we weren’t looking- I was glad, although he wasn’t in view I knew he was safe.

The men start to move the container altogether- rolling it around to scan a barcode. They move it away and reveal where Merowe was initially at- where did he go?

I look at the ledge and spot Merowe- his fingers stretched over the ledge, grasping the corner. He was hidden but could he hold out long enough…

The man that was scanning the giant barrel nods and taps it in approval; I sigh thinking they were almost gone.

The slowly nudge the canister over and roll it toward the truck. Merowe appears again from under the ledge and pushes himself back behind the metal cover of the barrels.

He looks over at us and waves for our attention.

“Should we take them out?” he asks over the com.

“No;” replies Tassa, they are leaving and we can’t have any chance for compromise.

We look back and see the men corralling the barrel up the ramp of the truck. They lock it shut and head on their way. A second later the darkness preceded once more, silent again only accompanied by the whisper of the wind.

We edge to the exit and look out the side making sure nobody else was around. Then we continue on our way- the steep slope was made in such a strange fashion, almost to resemble a street. The lines on the middle were lined in yellow and white repeating lines split one side from the other. We make our way to the top in moments and find a new sight…

A range of mountains were now an enormous base for the Warcarrier, the mountains were hollowed out and artificially homing an army of mechanical and human soldiers hell bent on one main task.

Merowe lowers himself as we look from the top of a mountainside- the secure facility scurries with activity of all kind. Trucks go and come in all directions around a giant building in the middle of the whole encampment. Lights flood the whole city, and move from one end to the other making sure the city was secure. Warcarriers were not present- not yet…

“They say it was impossible to find the location of their base;” says Merowe.

“And they also said it would be impossible to get in;” replies Tassa.

“What now?” Ask the two men.

“You see that tower;” I reply and aim my finger at the giant tower in the middle of the fortress.

"The one in the middle..."
 
We all look over and examine every inch of the guarded encampment and stay silent.

“How in the hell do we do this?” sighs Tassa.

“I don’t know…”


Chapter 13
Compromise

         With weapons at the ready and full armor in camouflage we tread around the perimeter and look for a way into the fortress- we needed a plan to get in but right now all we have is a problem with a thousand different possibilities and the same outcome- death.

Merowe aims through his scope and looks over toward another end of the mountain range, he focuses on something trying to make out snow from enemy snipers.
“You see anything;” asks Tassa, the static buzzing quickly as he shuts off the mic.

“I think there is a sniper on that end;” he replies- not moving his sight off the scope.

“We avoid movement down the hill;” he finishes. “There’s no real way down- if we plan to get down and out without compromise, we’ll need to know the perfect way in and out.”

We travel down and over a piece of the mountain that seems almost ignored and kneels for a better vantage for a plan. The two look through their weapons and examine every aspect of the bottom without interruption. I look around the top awaiting anything that might happen.

“Too much movement;” lets out Merowe, his face full of agitation- he didn’t feel comfortable and neither did I.

“Were gonna hav’ta wait;” replies Tassa. “At least a few hours until things turn dark- then we’ll have an advantage.”

I turn my weapon down and sit down with the men- our weapons at the ready, waiting for any signs. Odds were unlikely; we were easily a mile above the men at the bottom. Only a trained sniper would spot us.

Tassa goes over and aims his weapon back again after a minute of silence and awkward stares.

“We need to take turns on duty- I’ll start;” he finishes and hunkers himself on a soft patch of snow.

Merowe looks at me then down at the ground- passing a glimpse at me every once in a while, although I wasn’t looking at him I could feel his stare.

The snowflakes blew like dandelion petals ripping though a wood shredder; they blew for a second into our helmets then floated around before the air caught them once more. And as the light faded into the night flood lights covered dark spots in the base, without any real protection besides the few crew of men- passing around in a formation. We were utterly unseen up here, maybe it was the dark grove we bunked in but it seemed too easy.

“So;” Merowe asks, now looking at me. I just keep on ignoring his eyes. “What do you plan to do when we get in there?”

I look on into the base and avoid touching my communicator on my helmet.

“You do have a plan, right?” he exclaims, with doubt in his questioning. Tassa turns around from his vantage and listens in.

“I know what to do…” I reply, flashing the plan in seconds over in my head.

“What is it?” he asks.

“I can’t… you got to understand Merowe- before you found me, I had protocol.”

“So what, you can’t tell us what you plan on doing?” his voice raises over the mic as he stands up. “We helped you get out here- both of us, and you can’t tell us what you are going to do!”

“No;” I tell the angered man and remove my finger from the mic.

Merowe walks in a pace and grabs his rifle- he grasps the grips and makes his way up the range.

“Where are you going?” asks Tassa.

“I’ll be back;” he walks up the hill in a heated anger and continues along.

Tassa starts to worry instantly but doesn’t leave his position.

“Should we be worried?” he asks.

“No; above all he is still an agent, he knows his job much better than you or I;” I reply to Tassa. He immediately lowers back and pretends to be fine with my calm response.

I do wonder over his intentions- but it doesn’t faze me, I already had the next few hours in mind…

As Tassa looks on, I get nudged from my side but pay no attention to the feeling- until I see something behind Tassa, they found us!

I stand up and turn around quickly aiming my rifle; a struggle keeps me turning any further, a strong force drops me to my knees. I see the butt of a rifle headed for me- I grasp the weapon and jab a soldier in the throat, as he reaches for his injury I get grabbed by my neck from behind. An immediate thrust sends the man flying over my head; I pull his helmet off and thrust my fist with a solid haymaker. I could feel his teeth break through my gloves, the heavy fibers stretch and ripple.

I look over at Tassa, his weapon tossed on the floor atop mine- he stands with his arms over his head and three men pointing their weapons at him.

I reach down and am immediately kicked from behind; I look from the floor up at a trio of men- aiming rifles like mine ready to fire at any reaction.

I stand up slowly, aiming my arms up to the sky- the six men aiming both at me and Tassa pull the pin on their weapons and ready to fire.

“It was nice knowing you…” says Tassa.

I close my eyes and sigh in frustration at the failure.

“I’m sorry…”

“Anhalten!” says a voice over the powerful winds of the mountain.

The men raise their weapon and run them to their sides and salute; from the bottom of a hill comes a man in a formal military suit, wearing so many badges you could only assume him a higher prestige than the other men.

He look at his men and tells them a handful of words- Not German like he did before, it dumbstruck me. This person was a person- an actual man with wrinkling and an effect of experience with these situations.

The men quickly start to pull out a pair of cloths as the domineering officer towers towards me. He pulls his weapon out and speaks to me in his language. Then he asks in another language- shockingly well…

“Tu ere espanol?” he asks then asks in yet other language.

“Che cosa sono voi?” he moves closer and sighs as he touches the weapon to my helmet.

Then he asks in one more language… “You are American?”

I take a step back at his words and the man smiles.
“You are the response, to the Kaiser’s weapon?” “A man made of metal; how precious!”

He bursts into laughter and presses his weapon to his lips in a triumphant accolade. He coughs for a second, probably from the amount of excitement then aims the weapon back to my face.

He waves at the men and points at us then continues back down the hill. The men knock me down and do the same to Tassa- they then cover my face with one of the rags and stand me to my feet…

Wherever we’re going, it’s not good- whoever this man is he is smart; he wants to know…

He will find out…