Chapter 8 - The Choice

Still peering around the edges of the doorway I knew I had no choice but to get Rick back. It was only one man but we needed everybody we could get...last thing I needed was to have that thought hang on my head for a long time. Taking my survival blade I sliced off a thin sheet of metal from the blastdoor of the complex. Using it as a sort of shield, I ran half ducked behind the metal to Rick. Sure enough, as soon as I reached him I was under attack from two flanks to my right. Thankfully between Hans, Chris and me firing when I wasn't tending to Rick, we took out one while the other fled. With that done, we went back to the building to regroup. While we did I saw the other team dragging their man down so they could heal him. I let it go since I figured it would be best not to get their attention while we were still busy.
"Red leader, the base is under attack!" The radio squawked. Great, just lovely. Our base was under attack by their force and we still didn't know where the heck the other base was. "Ideas?!" I yelled, shaking off the bad thought and resuming my command stance.
"We split up and cover ground. When we find the base, we radio it in to the others."
"I hate to split up and possibly be picked off, but I see no other option. Hans, your with me, you two go north. Should you find it, don't be a hero and take it on yourself."
As we split up the clouds above us opened up and it started to pour down rain. Normally I would have cursed at the luck of things but it actually felt a bit good. Plus it might provide some good cover if we need it. Meanwhile I was hearing the firefight from the radio from the base. Man, what I wouldn't do to switch with them...I would go back to help but we needed to get their case first.
To get out of the rain we entered another apartment complex and entered the lobby area. As soon as we were walking to the lounge area a shot literally burned my nose hairs, thus we fell back. Hans took out the radar and turned it on. "Please be blue" I whispered under my breath. Indeed, a dot with a bright blue color showed up at the top of the screen. A break finally: we found the base! Now the only trouble was to get passed the five people in front of it...
We called for backup, and then Chris and Rick came back to our position. We knocked over a long table then hid behind under a hail of gunfire. I sat until the fire stopped for a second then pulling the D-1 over my head I let lose a few rounds and got back under. The others did the same. "Man, there's no end to these guys!" Hans said after reloading. I wasn't doing great on ammo myself, as I looked in my vest pocket and found only 2 mags left.
Then it hit me: duh! How could I forget? Every lounge has an access tunnel behind the bar. (It was something I learned in tactics training). I told the others to sit tight and not shoot. Then I crawled out of the lounge and into the basement area where the tunnel system was. I could still hear the fighting in the lounge, but then the radio came to life once more. "Sir, they have retreated from the base! What are our orders?" Retreated? Why? Then I heard the sound of glass shattering and bullets flying through the air. My little contraption was doing it's job as a distraction. As I lifted the grill on the tunnel behind the bar I looked over my shoulder and found the case lying between some beverage mugs. As soon as I grabbed it a sharp beep alerted the others to my presence and that the case was no longer secure. I quickly ducked back into the tunnel, then heard Hans and the others firing on the now confused opponents, who had completely forgotten about them and were running back to see where the case went. Their mistake! I chuckled in a sort of victory as I emerged from the basement. But then the radio came back, with some not pleasant news: "Were pinned down from both sides! We need backup!" Dam, either go back and help and risk losing the case or leave them to fend for themselves and win. I ordered the people at the base to help them out while I made my way to the base myself. Only problem, I was by myself for the next 10 blocks of open space. I ran as fast as my little legs in stiff armor could muster, just stopping to see around building corners for opposition.
As soon as I arrived back at base I saw what I feared: with the base unguarded an opponent stayed behind and was running out of the entrance with MY case. Taking one of my extra mags I took out a few bullets from the chamber and put them in a empty tube that was on the street. Wadding some napkins I picked up from the lounge as a sort of fuel I added a bit of heat from my lighter. Then I ran behind the building to the other side. As soon as the flames hit the bullets they fired off as though I was there. The enemy thought he was under fire from that direction so he hid behind a concrete wall, which was right in front of the building. Too easy. Hit him with my Mann 10 times and he was out cold. Grabbing the case from his hands I ran back into my base and put both cases on table. Then opening each case I activated the beacon inside them to signal the end of the game. Exhausted, mentally and physically, I put my head on the table. As I rested a ship flew overhead and landed on the ground outside the base. Thunder with a few other personnel stepped out of the ship and made their way to the other players. Thunder came to me first.
"Well son, I don't know what to think. You made it back to base with both cases and won the game, but your entire squad ended up dead in battle. Everyone but you that is. Should you had made a better choice, you might've kept alive a bit more. Needs work." Then he left. NEEDS WORK?! I did it, I won the game for the team! And all I got was 'needs work'? I hit my head on the table again. Dang, there is no winning.

Chapter 7 - The Heist

I made sure I was up early the next morning. It was game day for the infantry. Hans was somehow up before I was, so I decided to return the favor on Sean and Jared. Gleefully bouncing to their bunks I sang with a hint of humor in my voice "Rise and shine girls!" I threw up the blinds and flooded the room with the sunlight. They resisted by putting the sheets over their heads, so I took a bottle of water and dumping it where their mid-section was under the sheets. "Damn guys, use the bathroom!" By this time the entire barrack was up and laughing at them. Paybacks a beotch, I thought to myself. Needless to say I knew I hadn't seen the end of it.

As we made our way by shuttle to the first actual town we would see on Calypso, I kept thinking about the action I was going to miss the next day for the search and rescue mission. But I had others things to worry about before that.
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"Ok grunts, get your equipment!"
On a table in front of us were a bunch of items that we would be 'playing' with for today. A small Man MPH, a Jester D-1, a survival blade and some modified armor. As we were messing around and trying to get our gear to fit on Thunder told us the situation.
"You are now in hadeshelm. This is a team capture the flag procedures, so teamwork is imperative for winning. The guns and the ammo have been modified so they shoot blanks, and if you are hit your vest will count it. 10 hits and you're wounded..."
"Sir, how will we know if it's 10?" A tall thin cadet said in the back of the group.
"Heh, you'll know." Thunder said with a bit of a chuckle. "Anyway, before I was interrupted, like I said, 10 and your down. Your team medic must come to your aid within 1 minute to revive you or you're toast.
Your objective, is to capture your opponent’s storage box that has vital information, and take it back to your base. First team to successfully take their opponent's box, WHILE still having their own, wins."
Whether it was accidental or curiosity Hans shot me with his rifle. I felt a sharp pinch of where it hit and the vest registered a small 'beep'. As usual Thunder took advantage of the situation.
"You want to know what happens after 10 hits? Try it out on Bunny Mr. Hans." Gah, how come I was always the target? After the 10th hit the vest let out a sort of low moaning sound then suddenly felt like 500 lbs was stacked to the vest. So as predicted I fell like a rock to the ground. Needless to say the others weren’t sure if I was actually on the ground by force or just trying to fake it. I tried shooting my sidearm but to no avail. It wouldn't shoot.
"Now, the medic on each team" Thunder continued, as though nothing happened at all "Must use the fast aid pack, or FAP as we call them, and hold it close to the target. Just press the button, and they're good as new. Now any questions or are you ready to win?" When he activated the FAP the vest returned to normal weight, so I could finally stand up. The whole group yelled and raised their arms in readiness for the upcoming battle.
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"Red leader, we are a go!" I was captain of the red team, so we made our base on the wall around the city. Eight players on each side, so This was going to be fun...if not intense. Three to hold back the fort, and five to charge the enemy's base...wherever that was. I ordered to do flying formation across the buildings so everyone had somebody's back. I was in front, Hans behind me and two other people from the Alpha squad Rick and Chris. Brian from the Beta squad was the last in line. Damn, this stuff's way better than the stuff back on earth. As we turned a corner I caught a glimpse of a person running around another building. I put my fist up in the air to single to other guys to halt and wait.
"Foe two o'clock. Cover my back." I radioed to the others. I did a quick look then ran to a sidewalk barrier where I took position. I signaled Hans to come over to me while the other two covered him. Again I looked in the corner of my eye just in time to see the target run into one of the apartment complexes. "Target in building. Follow my lead."

We made our way slowly through the alleyway and then to an open courtyard. We held back so Hans could check the area with this scanner.
"I'm not picking up any signals. Coast is clear" He announced. I would like to think I had more confidence in the scanner, but we had to move, time was ticking. We ran out of the alleyway into the doorway one by one so we wouldn't be picked off. We organized in the lobby until the scanner spotted a red dot near our position. Hans stood behind the door with his D-1 out, I kicked over a table and knelt behind it, having my own D-1 ready. Chris hid behind a wall and Rick slowly approached the door where the signal was coming from. We all waited. Then, the red dot disappeared.
"What? Stupid device!" I picked it up and hit it a few times, the only way to fix things in my world. Why would it do that? Rick opened the door and stepped outside. He turned to the left, then to the right and then started firing.
"We got contact! Need backup!" Before we could assist him he ran after the target. Heard a few shots, a yell, and then nothing. "Man down!" We heard. Dam, those guys work fast! We ran out the door way back into the courtyard. There was Rick, on the ground. I looked around. Couldn't find anything. It was a clear shot to him but the area was wide open for sniping. "So we leave him out there or try to rescue him?" Chris said. Indeed, quite the question...

-To be continued-

Chapter 6 - Flashback

After Bunny falls asleep from the boxing he goes deep back into a familiar scene...back on earth

It was bright out. Sun was shining across the campus as kids strolled from building to building during the open hours. And here I was stuck in a dark and rather musty room. Why, I hadn't the slightest idea...
The room was poorly lit with the exception of the windows that overlooked the campus. In front of me was a large wooden desk with papers stacked four feet high, and with pens and pencils scattered throughout the empty spaces. On the walls were countless degrees, awards, achievements and newspaper articles on the President of the college. Trophies also had a slight glimmer in the summertime sun.
There I sat in a office chair in front of the desk, while the president and a VIP of a committee were talking just out of my hearing range for a few minutes, then the president turned to me. He flipped through a folder full of papers on regarding what I had no clue. Then he glanced at me finally.
"Mr. Greenway, I must daresay you are one of the brightest students around." He flipped through the papers some more. "36 on your ACT, 1600 on your SAT, every test and quiz given you aced...and your SKILLS test I must say...is quite intimidating...
However, your quite a slacker. Not arriving to classes, not writing about what your assignment is on, and nearly causing a explosive charge to explode last week in class 'just to see what would happen.' " He frowned at this, but I couldn't hold back a smirk on my face. Come on, why just study the materials when you can get your hands dirty?
"Permission to speak freely sir" I asked.
"If you must..." The president said. Though he would have regretted saying that.
"The assignments are lame, the instructors are more lazy than I am, we aren’t learning anything practical from making the same things over and over again, and Mr. Duhon is a big...”
"Enough!" Growled the president. Now he was a bit redder in the face. "The University of INSDA takes only the top 1% of all applications in the nation. Most students are proud to be here, since millions are not accepted. Therefore if you wish to downgrade your status to a regular little schoolboy, go home." He smirked a slight smile of victory, thinking he had cut my nerves and give him the win.
"Very well then, it was pleasant to stay here." I said. "But this place isn't for me." I extended my hand.
"Mr. Greenway, I strongly urge you to reconsider...you're giving up a once in a lifetime education that only we can offer!" He circled around the desk to my side to try and comfort me or beg me to stay or something. Needless to say, he didn't make it. I made my hand to a fist and gave him my answer again since he didn't listen the first time around. While the president was knocked out on the floor, I turned to the VIP, who was still at the desk watching all this.
"Sorry mate, he was in my way. Sorry to jet, but I'm in a hurry." As I packed my things the VIP spoke up.
"Perhaps I can offer you a change of pace?" He said. He took out a pamphlet and gave it to me, as well as a business card. "Take these two things and look it over. Might be something you'll like" He added with a smile. “Give me a call if you like it.”
__________________________________
Later that night, while I was at the local gym kickboxing against dummies, a girl came into the training area with gym clothes and a duffle bag. She put her stuff down and strode over to my position.
"Is it true what I hear about what you did to Dr. Who?" She asked with a smirk and laugh.
"Only if you want it to be" I huffed through punches and kicks. Finally slowed down to get a breather.
"Yeah he wasn't too happy about it. What do you think he's going to do? Expell you?"
"I suppose, but I hate that place anyway." I looked over to see she had a pamphlet like mine.
"Some guy give you that? I got one too." I said, getting back to work.
"Yeah, some new space travel to a planet. I'm going." I stopped again. Not for air, but I hadn't read mine yet, so I had no clue what it was about. "Space travel? That sounds cool. I might go."
"Well, were both qualified if we are both here." We both worked out for a bit, then I packed my stuff to leave. She turned to me as I was about to walk through the exit. "My name is Cat, by the way."
"I'm Mike. Nice to meet you." I turned away and left. Going to another planet? Ha, yeah right...

Chapter 7 - The heist