March 22, 2050 - 10:45
West of Da Nang, Vietnam - Black Angels Division Training Facility
It was eerily dark and quiet, both outside and inside the compound.
There was no activity outside the building, and windows to the interior were boarded up or covered by blinds.
If a normal person were to walk past the compound, they would assume that it was a relatively normal abandoned building, nothing more, nothing less. However, in the eyes of the military, this was a textbook example of a possible criminal and terrorist's hideout.
Approaching under the cover of darkness, a shadowy group of ten people was heading toward the building in a straight line, sticking to the outside brick wall that separated the compound from the street. Each of them moved in silence, inches away from each other, guns pointed in all directions, covering the unprotected 180 degrees of their exposed right side.
Once they approached the metal gate leading to the compound, the leader signaled the group to freeze, prompting the rest of the squad behind to also cease movement. A brief look at the door told him that it was locked from the inside.
"1-2, gate's locked from the inside, cut it open." He commanded, keeping his voice down.
"1-2, Copy that 1-1!" replied the female squadmate behind him.
The female breacher broke away from the ranks and headed for the gate. Once she was at the gate, 1-2 quickly identified where the bolt on the gate was, slung her shotgun, A Belloni 1301 Tactical mod. 4, at her front, and pulled out a portable plasma cutter from her gear. She pointed the plasma cutter at where the gate's bolt was, then activated the cutter.
*Ksssssssssh*
The plasma cutter melted through the metal gate with ease, making just a light buzz sound and severing the bolt holding the gate within just a second. The scent of burnt steel wafted through the air.
*Thud Thud*
Pieces of the lock and bolt dropped to the ground on the other side.
1-2 stowed the plasma cutter away, brought up her shotgun, then pushed the door inward, holding the door for the squad. Without wasting any time, the squad headed through the gate one by one, with 1-2 entering last.
They quickly scanned the inner yard of the compound before stacking on both sides of the front double doors.
"1-5, drone the building for targets and traps." The leader commanded.
"Roger!"
1-5, another female operator wearing a backpack, got onto her knee and grabbed the tablet that was magnetically attached to her chest rig. She tapped the tablet rapidly but with precision, sending commands to her drones.
Suddenly, the backpack she was wearing let out soft buzzing noises before four tiny drones launched out from the top and sides of the backpack, two airborne drones from the top, and two wheeled drones from each side.
The airborne drones, Bumblebee model, a smaller, quieter upgrade to the Black Hornet, hovered in front of 1-5 before they flew up to the roof and out of sight, relying on AI to guide themselves into the building for better visual. The wheeled drone, slightly larger than the Bumblebees and just as quiet, zoomed away from the squad and slipped through the gap of the front door.
"There goes the government drones!" 1-2 voiced.
"Focus, 1-2, on the book!" 1-1 reprimanded.
That elicited a few quick chuckles on the comms, then they got back to business.
"Drones' out, visual in 5… 4… 3… 2… 1… and we're online," 1-5 announced.
As soon as the countdown ended, 1-1 received visual feeds of the drones on the side of his HUD, just out of the way so he could still see the full-color vision provided by the new gen NODs.
…
Fifty seconds had passed since the drones were released.
"One five Tango, marked and mapped. Drones will be on standby to track Tango." 1-5 reported, putting her tablet back on her chest rig.
"Copy!" 1-1 acknowledged, then conveyed orders to his squad with hand signatures, "Fire team two, head to the back of the compound, breach on my signal."
The four men of fire team two then split off, heading to the back of the building.
"Alright, four tango behind this door. We'll go in fast and hard, just like training. 1-3, 1-4, you two on me. 1-5, 1-6, stack up on 1-2."
Following his order,1-5 and 1-6 moved across the door, linking up behind 1-2 and tapping her shoulder.
"1-2, 1-9, Breach and flash."
As soon as they received the order, 1-2 reached back and grabbed the CF-2 breaching device, a rectangular-shaped charge with a cylindrical poking out the back, ripped off the protective film from the adhesive, stuck the smooth rectangular side to the middle of the double doors, then took out a detonator.
"Ready to breach, 1-1!" 1-9's voice came through the headset.
"Same here. On your signal." It was 1-2.
"On now."
"5."
"4."
"3."
"2."
"1."
"Now!"
*klick klick*
*Thumped*
The cylindrical part of the breaching device punched through the wooden door, sending a series of blinding flashes and a few concussive blasts into the room. The flashes were bright enough to leak through the barricaded windows, blinding anyone inside who had sight of the door. A split second after the flashes and concussives were delivered, the breaching device detonated.
*BOOM*
*BOOM*
Two consecutive explosions echoed in the area, blasting the door open and sending fragments and debris everywhere.
1-1 was the first one to enter through the doorway, looking at the right immediate corner of the room. There was a hostile in the corner, one of his hands holding a rifle while the other was covering his eyes.
*Bang Bang*
Two clean shots, one to the chest, one to the head. The hostile slumped to the corner.
1-2 entered right after 1-1, heading to the left, immediate corner. A quick check of the corner told her that no one was there and nowhere to hide, so she panned right toward the far left corner of the room. There was a couch near that far left corner, a potential hiding spot. She keeps her eyes in that direction. The others entering after her would clear the middle area where she did not have her vision.
Sure enough, from behind the sofa, a hostile got up and tried to aim his rifles at the doorway, showing his upper body to 1-2. With her sharp reflex and quick aim, she aimed her shotgun at the hostile's head and pulled the trigger.
*Bang!*
The cluster of metal pellets burst forth and hit the hostile's head at incredible speed. The hostiles' brain matter was painted on the back of the wall as the corpse recoiled backward.
*Bang bang bang bang*
The rest of the team also entered, following the path 1-1 and 1-2 took respectively, and neutralized the remaining two tango in the middle of the room.
Five seconds!
It took the squad just five seconds to clear that room.
"Two doors! 1-2, take the left one." 1-1 directed.
"Copy!"
1-2 headed to the door, 1-5 and 1-6 followed. No command this time, they would have to clear the room on their own judgment. Stacking to the left of the door, 1-2 reached out to test the doorknob.
It was locked.
1-2 looked back at 1-5 and gave a quick sign. 1-5 understood and grabbed a flash bang from one of her pouches. She pulled the safety pin out and held onto the striker lever.
1-2 stood with her back against the wall and the door hinge on her left. Since the door opened inward, she could kick it in. She brought her left leg up, got as much distance as possible, then slammed her foot to the side where the door hinge opened inward.
That one good kick knocked the lock, set off the door, and swung the door inward. 1-5 immediately threw the flash bang inside the room.
*Bang!*
1-2 then rounded the corner quickly, scanning the room for tango as she entered the room as fast as possible.
One of the hostile, while flashing, managed to bring his gun up toward 1-2. He pulled the trigger, letting off a series of uncontrolled automatic fire, sending lead at 1-2.
Fortunately, since he was flashed, those shots were not aimed and narrowly missed 1-2. 1-2 did not flinch. She did not hesitate to pull the trigger, blasting the hostile's chest wide open with her twelve-gauge buckshot.
*Bang Bang Bang*
1-6 let out a burst of three shots, two shots center mass, one follow-up to the head. 1-5 was the last to enter, as she had to take time to ready up after throwing that flash bang.
"Room's cleared." 1-2 talked to her comm.
"Clear here!" 1-7 responded
"Same here." 1-9 replied
"Clear!" 1-1 reported loud and clear, "Eagle Eye Actual, this is Whiskey 1-1. All Tango neutralized. The building's cleared!"
"Affirmative, good job, Whiskey 1-1, weapons on safety and stand down for debrief.
As soon as Eagle Eye confirmed the situation, suddenly, the entire area, inside and out, was lit up with lights.
The lights from the ceiling revealed that the entire area was a realistic set of a neighborhood, with various buildings and streets to simulate a real town.
As the operators winced and recovered from the sudden bright lights, they noticed that the bodies of the previous 'dead' hostiles were disappearing, leaving a remnant of lights to show that these 'hostiles' were nothing more than some realistic holograms.
The operators regrouped and stepped outside into the now-lit street.
*Shkrrrrrrrrrr… Shkrrrrrrrrrr*
The sound of heavy metal grinding filled the area, prompting the team to look in the direction of the sound, only to be blinded again by the bright, natural light shining through a pair of metal gates. Once the gates opened wide enough, a convoy of vehicles streamed into the facility.
One of them, an open-top Humvee, veered off the convoy and headed to where the group of operators was. Unlike the slow giant metal gates that filled the facility with horrible shrieks, the Humvee, an export model of the all-electric M1123EV, lovingly referred to as "Squeaker", was quick and quiet, approaching the squad within seconds of the gates' opening.
The squeaker stopped right next to the squad, and stepping out of the vehicle was a familiar captain. The squad immediately stood at attention and saluted the captain. The captain returned a quick salute and commanded the squad to be at ease.
"First of all, good show, Whiskey team. Keep it up, and you might get some good team name assigned to you." Captain Harrison praised. "Everyone performed well, great team cohesion and synergy. Tactically sound strategy, you went in fast and hard, and ended it fast, almost record time." He emphasized the word almost.
"Went in fast and hard, and ended it fast. Title of your sex tape, ayyyy!" My, or 1-2, jabbed at the phrasing.
She got a stern look from Harrison, to which she replied by striking a peace pose and sticking her tongue out. Harrison sighed before continuing.
"Peter, good job with the commands and tactics. Clearly showed me your Marine Corps experience."
"Thank you, sir." Peter, or 1-1, replied.
"Katya, nifty drones, better than I expected. Wasn't sure how your homemade drones would pan out, but now I have no more doubts. Might even see if I could recommend you to R&D."
"Does that mean I can use my own drones instead, sir?" Katya, or 1-5, asked.
"That depends on the higher up, but I think there's a high possibility."
Katya simply nodded.
Harrison went through each member of the squad, giving them praise or advice based on what they did during the simulation.
Eventually, Harrison got to My to give her his assessment.
"My, you did well with the breach and clear, good aim, hit fast, hit hard." Harrison paused for a moment before continuing. "Though you were uncautious when you entered the last room. That blinded hostile might have been flashed, but that didn't mean he was neutralized. Some of the shots could have hit you. Next time, be more cautious."
Harrison half praised, half reprimanded her. There was a tinge of anger in his voice, though it was more akin to a father worrying about his daughter being in danger.
My, being herself, as she usually was, offered a smile back. She knew what she did was highly uncautious of her, which could have resulted in serious injuries or even death in a real fight. However, a part of herself told her not to care for the consequences, to risk it all. After all, she had nothing left to lose. Not ever since that day.
All she could do now was to continue the facade and keep moving forward until she could no longer.