"Rogue Warriors" by John-Wesley Slaughter

In the 28^th century, crime and terrorism have grown into an international pastime. The threat of nuclear holocaust has never been more real. In this time of need the United Alliances, formerly known as the United States of America, counts on it’s trained men and women known as the ‘Rogue Warriors’. These Special Forces are trained in every state of warfare known to man. Thousands of soldiers test their limits in a one-year training course that endeavors to test the body and mind in ways no one else can. So long and arduous is this course that only 10% pass through the entire training. This training, considered by many to be the most rigorous in the world, is based on three core pillars: Honor, Courage and Commitment. The Rogue Warriors, formally known as ATLAS (Anti-Terrorism Land Attack Squad), is known to take its soldiers into any part of the world at any given time. A Rogue Warrior works during extreme hostile situations as well as peace times on various sorts of missions.

These Special Forces responsibility is to protect the millions of innocent civilians that live within the United Alliances. One such soldier of ATLAS is Blake Ryan, a young man of 24 with shabby blonde hair but light, piercing, blue eyes. Just being a member of the coveted Rogue Warriors was saying enough about ones skills.  

It was a bright afternoon, warmer than usual for an autumn day. The continuous receding of the ozone layer had made sure that only in the pit of winter did it ever get cold. As usual on such a day, and not on duty, Blake was outside living life as best he could with his girlfriend, Jade. They were at a park near Fort Kinney Military Base, where Blake was stationed. The two always spent their valuable time in each other’s arms, under the shade of a huge oak tree. Blake, with his broad back against the old oak, and Jade, with hers’ against Blake’s chest, sat quietly together watching the clouds sail peacefully in the dull blue sky. The semi-grey, blue sky had been dulled by the pollution that had gone on for centuries with no remorse.

Suddenly, Jade turned in her lover’s arms and looked at him with her crooked smile that he loved so much; her emerald eyes sparkling in the shaded sunlight. I'm glad we at least get to spend this time together,” she said in her soft voice.

Blake softly brushed back several red strands of dark red hair that had fallen out of place, back behind Jade’s ear and smiled. “I wouldn’t have it any other way, my angel.”

With a smile playing across her lips, Jade kissed her lover. She didn’t get to see him very much anymore. He was always off ‘saving the day’ in some unknown country while doing so many unknown things. She wondered, as she always did, how he could live with such secrecy surrounding his life. He was alone, even now with her in his arms; he was alone to deal with the things that he had to do for the safety of millions.

Jolting Jade out of her thoughts, and out of her kiss with Blake, was a loud ‘beeping’ sound coming from somewhere near. Blake, smiling at his betrothed for jumping, took off his electric beeper that he kept attached to his belt and looked at the flat digital screen. Jade saw his face go from what she knew, the carefree loving man, to someone she didn’t want to know. A man that was cold, cold and unfeeling. She knew why his faced had changed and she looked at him with defeated eyes, knowing that he would have to go.

“I’m sorry--,” Blake began but stopped as Jade put a finger to his lips.

“I know, my dear. Please be careful and come back to me,” she said knowing full well that not even he knew where he was going or when he would be back. Fighting tears so he would not see her cry, Jade slowly stood with Blake and kissed him one more time. Both knew that this might be the last kiss they would ever share.

Blake, knowing that if he didn’t leave now he never would, separated from his love and dashed off to his military jeep parked on the edge of the park. They always took separate cars just in case a thing such as this might happened. He knew Jade would be safe, but that never eased Blake’s mind when he had to leave her side.

Reaching his jeep, Blake quickly jumped in, punched in the security code that would start the jeep, and immediately drove to the military base that was a five-minute drive away.

“That’s the mission ladies and gentlemen. Good luck,” said a slim man with the insignia of a Major on his shoulder and collar. Blake, along with nine other Rogue Warriors, was seated in a small circular room around a giant holographic screen. On the screen were many pictures and blueprints of structure that the ATLAS members might have to operate in or around. As the holographic screen continued to play, Captain Will Rork, call sign: Zeus, and leader of Blake’s Fire Team, stood and addressed his troops. He, like the rest of his team, was wearing plain camouflaged combat fatigues without any rank insignia or embroidered logos.

“As you know,” Zeus started in his low, bass voice that easily reverberated around the small room. “We are assigned to infiltrate and extract an informant that wants to give himself up for immunity. Stealth is the key here, folks. I’ll be satisfied if we can get in and out with our informant without a single bullet being fired. Does everyone understand?”

After several “yes, sir’s!” Zeus continued, “The Argentine government has asked for our aid. A rebellious fraction calling itself the ‘Argentine Fighting Force’ has been wreaking havoc and is a serious threat to their authority figures. Our president can’t send forces into the country without making the Argentine president look weak; his answer is us ladies and gentlemen.”

As Zeus finished speaking to his troops the major, which had previously talked about their current mission, strode in front of the concentrated warriors and spoke up, “That is the exact reason we have stressed stealth for this operation. We cannot let it be known that any United Alliances forces were in the country. This is a black-op and as such the U.A. will deny any actions in Argentina should members of your team be captured or killed.”

As the major walked back to his standing place the small room seemed, at least to Blake, to get even smaller. The air, just a little thinner then it had been when they had entered. As the members soaked in what the major had said the holographic display changed. Replacing numerous building schematics was a single enlarged photo of a man. Zeus, sensing the change in the atmosphere and wanting to keep his men focused, quickly interjected. “This photo that you are seeing now is our informant, a Mr. Fernando Vasquela. His code name for the op is Andes…"

As Captain Rork continued speaking, Blake studied the picture on the holographic screen. ‘Andes’ was in his mid-thirties, with black hair and brown eyes. He had a long, sharp looking nose, which was quite distinguishing. Another distinguishing trait was a jagged scar that covered the length of the poor man’s forehead. The informants’ dark skin brought out the pinkish color of his fresh scar drastically. 

As the holographic image changed again, Blake returned his attention to his commander.  He was finishing up his briefing by giving specific instructions to the individual sub-groups in the team. The ten-man team was broken up into two different groups, Alpha and Omega. Even these groups were broken down to smaller sub-groups known as ‘colors’. Each sub-group, consisting of two ATLAS members, was designated a color in which they were coded. Zeus was also known as Alpha Blue One. Alpha being his four-man team, Blue his color-coded two-man team, and One signifying he was the leader of his sub-group. In the ten-man team there were five different sub-groups, Blue, Grey, Green, White, and Orange. Groups Blue and Grey represented team Alpha while groups Green, White, and Orange represented team Omega.  

Blake was the leader of the Grey sub-group. He was known as Alpha Grey One or Blade, which was his call sign. His partner, Sergeant Trey Michel, was known as Alpha Grey Two or out in the field, by his call sign: Fox. Blake had known Trey since he had joined the military. If there were any man he would want to trust his life with, it would be him. Hearing his call sign, Blake immediately acknowledged by saying ‘yes, sir!’

“Blade, I’m not expecting any separation of teams in this mission but I want Grey team to stick to Blue no matter what, you got me?” Zeus said in his always-serious tone of voice.

“Yes, sir, like glue, sir,” Blake responded with a little hint of a smile.

After speaking to each sub-groups leader, Zeus stood in front of his team and nodded, “That’s it ladies and gentlemen. Meet in Bay 18 in twenty minutes with all necessary equipment. Move out!!”

“Ten minutes people!! Get your lazy Asses in gear!!” shouted Lt. Commander Bethany Maser, second-in-command to Captain Rork and leader of the Green sub-group. Lt. Commander Maser’s call sign was Storm, for what her teammates thought was an adequate betrayal of her in out in the field. 

Blake quickly began dressing into his battle armor; a head-to-toe exoskeleton suit covered with hardened plastic. The plastic was interlaced with strands of titanium and other metals packed tightly together to make a nearly impregnable surface. The battle armor, or ACE (Artifice Combat Enhancement) suits as they were called, were the finest combat armor to ever be produced and housed sensors and other systems that would never be given to any mere soldier. Only members of ATLAS and other specialized units used such high-tech equipment out in the field. The entire ACE suit was capable of being sealed off from any hostile environment. Blake had heard of missions were entire teams had walked among the stars in space just to complete their objective. The helmet, which was sealed to the body of the suit, had so many sensors installed into it that Blake had to attend a specific training course just for the damn thing. The entire outer surface of each ACE suit was treated with a coat of ‘mimicking camouflage wax’, that would literally absorb a warriors surrounding and help hide his presence. Whenever this feature of the suit was turned off, the ACE suit had a dull grey hue to it. Another special feature that made the ACE suit one of the finest technologically enhanced weapons ever made was the enhanced strength that it would give. An ordinary man in an ACE suit could lift half-a-ton with little strain.

Trying to hurry but still making sure no mistakes were made, Blake quickly stripped his combat fatigues and slipped into a thick, wool-like grey body suit. The body suit, with a tight-fitting hood, gloves, and boots, packed thousands of tiny tubes that held a variant of coolant that the ATLAS members would need when their ACE suits started to heat up. The thick cloth also carried a sophisticated sensor mesh, which would transmit movement and combat commands to the suit’s onboard computer. The mesh also analyzed the operator’s physical condition. The computer could then respond by adjusting the amount and rate at which coolant flowed through the suit. Contained within the suit’s exoskeleton was a small medical pack that, controlled by the mesh, would administer painkillers, stimulants, or antibiotics to the warrior inside.

Making sure that the skin-tight garment was properly in place, Blake walked a short distance across the room to his custom made ACE suit. Just looking at the boxy suit made Blake stand a little straighter, made him hold his head a little higher. Blake knew that it was just a machine and had no personality what so ever but to him, the operator; his ACE unit was like an extension of himself.

Thomas Gressman, Blake’s personal tech assistant, helped the limber warrior as he climbed into the battle armor’s lower half. Gressman quickly locked Blake’s feet into the heavy boots before moving on the thick breastplate. Blake wormed his way into the bulky breastplate making sure not to bunch the thick wool bodysuit that he wore underneath. He knew from experience how uncomfortable it was to have a knot digging into the side of his hip for twenty-four hours straight. As each piece of armor was set into place, Gressman checked each joint to make sure that all seals, circuits, and interlocks had been properly connected. No warrior, no matter how impatient, rushed this procedure. Warriors that went out into the field with faulty equipment rarely came home to tell about it.

As the last piece of armor was locked into place, Gressman conducted tests and diagnostics on the suit, checking the calibrations of every system built into the suit. As the tech gave the suit a nod of approval, Blake used the suits fully manipulative hands to grasp his high-sensor helmet and snap the bottom into the neck of his suit. Immediately the sensors began scanning for the suits on-board computer and, once found and confirmed, let Blake see through the anti-shine black visor. Such a protective measure was used in case an enemy decided to strip down a fallen warrior and use his suit against his brethren. The suit would not function if the operator was not wearing the wool-like bodysuit and/or the operators’ DNA did not match with the person currently in the suit.

Having his techs approval, and seeing that most of his team was already fully armored and ready, Blake quickly started to collect his equipment. Blake was a fully trained sniper but Sergeant Alicia Witt, code name: Inferno was already fulfilling that role when he joined the team. Captain Rork, knowing how to use such talent, hadn’t hesitated when the prospect of having a second sniper/observer group in his team emerged, but this mission was different and there was no need for an extra sniper out in the field. Sergeant Witt still carried her MSR-4A1 Sniper Rifle with silencer attacked to the end of the muzzle. The large scope atop of her rifle could act as a normal scope or be used to see both heat signatures and x-ray outlines of her surroundings. Blake loved that rifle, but soon erased that from his mind.

Tech Gressman handed Blake his silenced MAR-99 automatic assault rifle, or Mars rifle as some had come to say, which, when used with the suit, gave Blake’s visor a small reticule that would help his accuracy.  Gone were the days that a soldier actually had to look down the barrel if his rifle. Though, that method of holding your weapon was still in use today. Blake could only imagine the number of times his many instructors had yelled such methods to him. Taking his rifle in one hand Blake slung a nylon bag of equipment onto his back that consisted of grenades, extra ammo, and a laser pistol that he would latter attach to his exoskeleton leg, plus any other items he thought might be crucial. Blade, being a key weapons expert on his team always carried extra ammunition. A single magazine held 250 rounds, which was more then its predecessors could even imagine of holding, but Blade was paranoid of running out of ammunition. He knew some day his paranoia would pay off, though he secretly hoped it never would.

Blake, falling in line with the rest of his team, quickly marched down to Bay 18 where a small aerocopter was awaiting them. Standing in rank in front of Zeus, which looked like death himself in his grey ACE suit, his eyes hidden by the black-panned plastic, made Blake’s face change again. Gone was the carefree person that most people in his life knew. It was not Blake Ryan who boarded the aerocopter. It was Blade, Alpha Grey One, which was going to war.