**Author:** AZNCracka --- ### Chapter 1 $\quad$The air and water of the North Atlantic felt freezing as it brushed up onto the deck of the Exodus. Ray and Charise attempted to adjust to the weather that they were experiencing; waves of saltwater grew in height as the current rocked the boat up and down on its voyage. What a total difference to Panama and the Philippines, they thought. They’ve traveled greater distances, and had more of a chance to travel around the world as a No-Pat than they did as Filipinos. It was one of the perks of the job. Their families seemed to have enjoyed seeing the interesting destinations, if only for the fact the ship had a job to do at each place, it wasn’t a vacationing cruise ship, but the accommodations were more than enough to keep everyone content. The stemming tide of the ocean waves might have been a sign to them things were going to get a lot harder first, before they would finally get easier. $\quad$Training wasn’t able to be done properly because of the existing conditions, and everyone on board was regulated to just fulfilling their main roles onboard the ship, intel collection and medical care for Ray and Charise, maintenance for Alara, power infrastructure for Marcus, and Takashi with inventory. After a few more minutes of taking in the dark blue waters and gray skies, the couple finally grew weary of the cold air and water, and decided to head back to their family, and to get their mind off of the unsteady water conditions. $\quad$On the bridge of the Exodus, Rao and Crawford stood with Irish over his planning computer, debriefing him on everything they found at the Panama Canal. Crawford was willing to answer everything concerning Oz’s plan, who the Wolf was, and why they now had to go all the way to the northlands in Sweden as part of their next step to stop Oz. Irish inserted a flash drive containing the data that was claimed from previous excursions in Songdo, South Korea. $\quad$“While we were making runs in Korea, we found this code within the files of the server system that governed the main battlenet infrastructure.” Irish booted up the file, and the table started to project intricate coding onto a screen. Lines of coding embedded into the software started filling the screen from top to bottom, and Falck began to explain further. “We don’t really give a fuck about all of these files, it’s really this one right here that matters to us.” Irish pointed to a notepad which was labeled “Æsir”, written in Base-64¹. While complex to some, Rao, the computer professional that he was, chimed in. “Pardon me sir, but I converted the Base-64 written code into alphanumeric phrases. The results were a message regarding geographical coordinates: 68°09'29.0"N 21°09'47.2"E, the Norrland region of Sweden. There was also a message referring to something called, Steadfast Refuge.” $\quad$“Right Rao, thanks for the information. Would you happen to know anything about this, Crawford?” Irish said. Crawford looked from the table up towards Falck and Rao, and took his glasses off. He spoke up: “Mate, this I found out while dealing weapons to Oz in the Dark Market while being undercover. Oz frequented the sight plenty of times, always talking about amassing his influence to help change the world. So, yea, in other words, I do know some things.” $\quad$“Care to share? We got some time before we reach Luleå²." $\quad$“Right mate. Here’s what I’ve been given about the project.” Crawford, unlike Irish and his advanced ship, had a notebook, and some pictures laid out on the table. The papers and notes contained several bullet points of his time as an MI6 agent within the Dark Market, and the pictures contained imagery of downed satellites, drive caches, and weapons deposits. Crawford put his hand on a picture of a satellite seen in geosynchronous orbit, above a typhoon over the Pacific Ocean approaching California. $\quad$“Surely, you’ve heard of the Shearwater satellites? How they were designed to disrupt the extreme weather patterns, and also to help establish connections to ground levels conduits, both for communication and energy exchange?” Rao and Irish nodded. They knew what the satellites were meant to do, that was until what Crawford mentioned next. “Well, some of these model satellites have other capabilities. This satellite in this picture, was one of those. This model of the satellite contained technology owned by the United States Military, to change and manipulate the weather to their liking. In other words, the United States developed a way to destabilize the natural patterns of the weather system. This picture was taken back in 2040, a couple months before they began their tests of their technologies. Project Silver Spear was the forefront of this technology, in fact you’ll see what I mean when we arrive.” Irish stared at the intel Crawford laid out on the table as he continued to explain. $\quad$“This typhoon was meant to be a test target of the Steadfast Refuge’s capability. When they positioned the satellite above the storm, and fired the satellite, at first, it wiped out the supercell. To the United States credit, it worked, but there was a side effect.” Crawford placed a bundle next to the picture. The bundle contained hundreds of news articles in many different languages, exclaiming their country was suffering from power loss. “It was an unintentional result of the project, but yes, the United States has denied all blame in the mess, saying that they lost communication with their satellites due to the storm. In reality, the project caused a chain reaction to the other satellites, launching their project within them as well, disrupting the power source of every country using Shearwater as their main form of satellite communication.” $\quad$Irish and Rao looked at each other in realization of the facts laid before them. Crawford was very thorough with his intel, and the details he was providing were unknown to the Exodus until now, but things were starting to make sense. Crawford continued. “No one else knew about this capability, except for US Defense personnel. The hardware wasn’t the problem; the problem was in the coding to distribute the effects of Steadfast Refuge to the other satellites. Since the blackout, and while everyone was busy repairing their countries, The United States has since come closer to perfecting the technology behind the project. THAT’s what Oz is after…it’s one of the projects being developed in Sweden. Oz wants to use this technology to reverse the effect of the global warming we’ve done to the planet.” $\quad$“So, he really wasn’t our enemy after all.” Irish said, after Crawford finished explaining what the project was about. “The Russian forces know about this facility?” $\quad$“More than you think, Irish.” Crawford exclaimed. “You have your contact with US command, we’ll need to ask if they know about Russian forces heading to the Nordvik facility. We likely have time to get there before they arrive. That said, even I don’t know about this project myself.” $\quad$“But why would the Russians try to breach the facility?” Rao asked. $\quad$“Possibly to suppress the technology.” Crawford replied. “The resource wars are the only thing Russia has left to deem itself viable as a superpower. Perpetuating their war economy will be their main reason to make an appearance. The US will continue the resource war in their own way, only selling the technology to the highest bidder…which there are none.” Crawford explained. “So, their reasons to continue the resource ware would be completely justified to them.” $\quad$Irish switched off the briefing table, and walked around the table to Crawford. “Alright, welcome to the Exodus again, Crawford. We got a job to do. We’ll be reaching the port in another couple days, so get your supplies ready. Look for crew members Angel and Lis, they will provide you a uniform and bunk.” $\quad$“Cheers mate. This fight is ours.” Crawford shook hand with Irish and Rao before setting off, and Rao went back to his seat at the bridge to help the ship reach its destination. --- ¹ Base-64 - group of binary-to-text encoding schemes that represent binary data in sequences of 24 bits that can be represented by four 6-bit Base64 digits ² Luleå – major port city in the Norrland region of Sweden. Possible location for the Exodus to dock before heading to the Nordvik facility in the heart of Norrland <br> ### Chapter 2 $\quad$The destroyer reached the port city of Luleå at about 1312 hours, and with permission from the Swedish government, the Exodus was moored off the coastline within the boat harbor. Ray, Charise, Marcus, Takashi, and Alara were making their way to the vehicle depot in time for a proper briefing of their mission, and prepping Alara’s Recon for the mission ahead. There was a crowd of pilots and soldiers getting their aircraft and vehicles ready, when Ray pointed out two people in front of Alara’s SUV. A tall, burly man was using a flashlight on her Recon near her turret area, and noticed that there was extra armored plating on the doors and the engine bay. Standing next to him was Sundance, Charise recognized. She was handing the tall bearded man some tools, as well as laughing and chatting with him. They seemed like best friends. $\quad$“Alara, who’s that working on your car?” Charise asked, pointing out the tall man. $\quad$“Him? Oh, that’s just Pyotr, everyone calls him ‘Boris’ though, since it might be easier for people to remember.” $\quad$“I met Sundance at my archival interview. But Boris…Di ko alam, I don’t know.” $\quad$“Well hell, we need to go over there anyway, I’ll introduce you all to him.” Alara, now leading the way to the Recon, approached Boris and Sundance. Careful not to startle him directly, Alara instead kicked the reinforced armored plating and teasingly said to him, “It’s about time you got the plating attached, Russian ihtiyar³.“ Boris, feeling slighted by the statement, then turned off his torch, lifted his helmet, and looked up to had just made that remark. He then realized who it was, but before smiling, he decided to play along. $\quad$“This armor is special reactive armor; it strengthens as it takes damage. Needless to say, I thought I was giving it to someone special.” Boris sternly stated. There was a pause, the noise of the outside crowd filled the vehicle hangar airspace. Then before it got even more awkward, Boris cracked a smirk towards Alara, to which she smiled back. Boris stood up, and embraced Alara. $\quad$“Good to see you again, мой студент⁴! Are you ready to see the northern part of the world?” $\quad$“дa!” Alara replied. “But before we set off, I want to introduce you two to the company I’m part of!” Alara turned and gestured to each squadmate and called out their names. “This is Marcus, our assault strategist.” $\quad$“Ciao, Seňor e Seňora⁵.” Marcus replied. $\quad$“Taki! He helps gather information from computers and locations, same with Ray, here.” $\quad$“よろしく⁶ !” Takashi replied. $\quad$“Masaya akong makilala kayo⁷!” Ray said. $\quad$“And, this is Charise, great medic in the squad, even greater person!” Alara remarked. $\quad$“Thank you po, Alara…Nice to meet you two!” Charise said. $\quad$“Приятно познакомиться⁸!” Boris said to all of them with a slight nod. He trusted Alara’s judgement, and kept her alive up until now. However, he felt as though something was in the air, and hoped they can continue that way. $\quad$“Enchanté⁹!” Sundance responded. “However, I don’t go around using “she,” or “madame,” “mademoiselle” or anything like that, non.” $\quad$“Erm, I’ll get back to the armor job…you kids talk.” Boris interrupted. Sundance turned to smile at him and shooed him away to get back to what she was saying quickly. $\quad$“Anyway, just wanted to let you know, to use “they” or “them” when it comes to me, comprendre¹⁰?” Everyone nodded their head to this clarification, to not ever forget it when it comes to them. Sundance had a calm, yet intimidating demeanor to them, as though they would try to lure their prey close enough to strike at the right moment. $\quad$“Capisco, we understand.” Marcus confirmed. “So, what’s your background? What class and gear do you roll with?” At this point, Sundance was just as ready to move from the pronoun clarification as Marcus was, as she was more than willing to explain her side of the story, and smiled when she turned to her gear and spoke up. $\quad$“Oui, Glad you asked! I run assaults for the exodus, mon ami¹¹.” Sundance started. Everyone gathered around, as though a big story was about to be told. If they were going to work with her, the least they could do was listen to her after the designation ordeal. “It all started when I was 3…tragedy had already struck my home in Paris, a large explosion, I know now was a nuclear blast, destroyed the part of the city my parents were in. Ever since I lost them, I was lost…wandered aimlessly throughout France for purpose. Growing up, in the back of my mind, I always wondered what it would be like to fly high above the streets, escape from it all. But it wouldn’t happen. As a teenager, I had joined Le Milieu, the underworld crime ring within my country. I was a runner of stolen and smuggled goods and documents. I liked it…and I was good at it. However, I got into trouble many times with the law as a result.” $\quad$Reflecting on the dark times, Sundance’s slight smile disappeared as they told the details of their life to the crew surrounding them. “My time with the mob would end once I realized they moved more than just stolen resources. I saw a container of people on a damaged ship.” The whole squad’s set of eyes widened, piecing together the realization that a former gang member was in their midst, and got involved with human trafficking. “I opened the container, setting those people free. I ran to join the military not too long after that moment, since I knew I’d be safeguarded from the long reach of the mob, and the law. I joined the Airborne Division, where I could finally realize my vision of flying, and dropping into the action.” $\quad$Everyone looked at each other. Perhaps their troubled past was meant to lead them to help people in a more ethical way, and not for monetary gain? They continued listening to Sundance. $\quad$“I joined the No-Pats not too long ago, a couple years ago in fact. I feel with my skills and abilities I learned from everyone I worked for, this was where my true purpose finally was…and yea, that’s my background, Marcus. I hope it answers your question.” Marcus, taken aback by their story, was still curious. $\quad$“Well, mostly, but what about the gear you have? Every specialist we’ve met has their own ‘thing’, it seems.” $\quad$“Oui¹²! Here it is,” Sundance began to demonstrate. They pressed their arms and legs together, and when they clenched their hands into a fist, they quickly pulled their arms and legs out, and their suit stretched across the gaps from head to toe. $\quad$“Ohhh! A wingsuit!” Takashi noted. $\quad$“That’s right! While you guys drop down with parachutes, I’ll be flying through the air, taking on enemies from above! I challenge ALL of you to keep up!” $\quad$Boris then got up from the Recon and started approaching the group. “Ey, everyone!” Boris said as he walked up to them. “Car finished! We must ready ourselves, too, Sundance!” $\quad$“Oui Boris!” Sundance turned to everyone, “Salut, Let’s go! Now is the time, as the captain would say! Au revoir¹³, see you guys soon.” Sundance said with a brighter smile than when they talked to everyone, and walked away with Boris. $\quad$Alara ran to her Recon, which was more amazing than ever before. “GUYS! LOOK!” The Recon was taking on a whole other form from the armor Boris installed. The car had upgraded armor plates in the more critical parts of the car to keep everything as intact as possible. Marcus looked under the hood, and saw the work that Angel did about a couple weeks ago on their way to Panama. Boris must’ve noticed too; the added weight will be no problem for this engine. The Recon was practically a nimble mini tank at this point. $\quad$“Will this work on the ground?” Ray questioned. $\quad$“We will see soon enough!” Charise responded. “I hope our training that we took on the way with our new equipment will be helpful. The AM40 I got thanks to Crawford’s procuration was definitely a boost in our efforts to complete this mission we’re doing.” $\quad$“Totally, This AVANSYS is going to kick some fucking ass!” Alara exclaimed. “Oh, and I got a repair kit to fix my car if it breaks down in a fight!” $\quad$“Nice, Alara! I got this BSV-M rifle. Can’t wait to use it! What’s more, Rao upgraded my hacker OS, so I’m more capable of messing with equipment quicker, and further away.” Ray mentioned. $\quad$“Ci. I got this auto-pistol, better than what I used before, that Glock that can only burst fire.” Marcus laughed. “Also got some concussion grenades, and a smoke launcher from the weapons haul!” Marcus felt confident with the defensive equipment he decided to roll with for this mission. He noticed from Panama that the open fields, and close combat in places will be a challenge to overcome if he didn’t have the right tools, so he hoped these new tools will help. “How about you Taki?” $\quad$“はい, I’ve been training with Paik since we left Panama, she felt that with how we were caught off guard, despite the equipment we used, she thought I could use a sixth sense for our quad as well.” Takashi then strapped on a pair of google that flipped down at the touch of a pad on the side of the frame. “It’s called the EMG-X Scanner system. It uses a combination of X-Ray and infrared waves to detect body signatures in a 25-meter radius. This will help with figuring out where the enemy might be for us next time! She also handed me this SOFLAM and some proximity sensors for use in the field. I’ll have eyes everywhere!” $\quad$The team felt a big morale boost talking about their new and upgraded equipment when the paging system in the hangar began to ring out: “Five minutes to dispatch, all callsigns report to your stations, stat.” $\quad$Everyone in the company got their gear packed and got in the vehicle condor. Loaded with Alara’s Recon, along with the other soldiers and its pilots, the condor was fired up, and ready for takeoff. --- ³ ihtiyar - Turkish slang for old timer ⁴ “мой студент” – (moi student) Russian for “My Student” ⁵ “Ciao, seňor e seňora.” Italian for “Hello, sir and ma’am.” ⁶ “よろしく” – Japanese for “Nice to meet you!” ⁷ “Masaya akong makilala kayo” – Nice to meet you guys in Tagalog ⁸ “Приятно познакомиться” – (priyatno poznakomitsya ) Russian for "Nice to meet you!" ⁹ “Enchanté” – Nice to meet you in French ¹⁰ Comprendre – Understand in French ¹¹ Mon ami – French for "my friend" ¹² Oui – French for "yes" ¹³ Au revoir – Goodbye in French <br> ### Chapter 3 $\quad$The squad was seated in the passenger hold of the condor, heading northwest from the port. In the condor, the commander gave a briefing of the mission was that about to unfold. The captain began to speak on their comms. $\quad$“Everyone, we’re heading to a location in the heart of the Norrland region in Sweden. Nordvik, as it is officially called, is a major technology conglomerate stationed in that remote location. According to the US forces, they’re a major supporter in this part of the continent. Here’s where we come in people! A potential hack has leaked the location of this facility to the Russians. Chances are likely that they’re going to direct their forces to the facility, in an effort to perpetuate the resource race against the US. Our mission is relatively simple: we get to the facility first, and help fortify the positions leading up to those facilities. Enemy will likely approach from the North and the Wast, so we’ll take up defensive measures along those areas. Other major objective will be to link up with the superintendent and overseer at the site, they’ll likely be in the westernmost building. We need to keep a leg up on our enemies if we intend to survive and accomplish the mission. Any questions on what needs to be done?” Everyone in the condor looked around, and didn’t see any hands get raised, until Falck spoke up. $\quad$“What’s the word on the ETA of the Russians' arrival?” Dozer asked. $\quad$“Command said the fleet was last seen over the Red Sea. However, that info’s a little over a day old, now, so they might be closer to the location. However, we still have a chance to set up defenses and rendezvous with our contact before they reach the Swedish airspace. Anything else?” This time, nobody made an attempt to ask a question. They felt all the information was poured out as beset as possible. “Alright, we’re 1.5 klicks¹⁴ out from our LZ¹⁵. We’ve got a Recon equipped with fortification equipment meant to be set on the western wall of the eastern building. When we come to a stop above the ground, that’s when we take the vehicle to that building, and start to set up blocking positions.” $\quad$Charise checked her syrette pistol to make sure it was properly loaded, then placed it in its holster. Alara, knowing that it was her Recon he was talking about, she got her keys ready for driving as soon as they touched down, and readied her AVANCYS LMG. $\quad$Ray & Takashi switched on their PACs. Ray readied his BVS-M, and Takashi stowed his proximity sensors, and switched on his EMG-X he received after passing his training with Paik. Marcus, having taken an P51, made sure he had extra magazines, and loaded a grenade into his smoke launcher. The specialists in the Condor, Paik, Falck, Rao, Crawford, and Mackay, all nodded to each other, seeing the recruits properly preparing for anything, and everything. $\quad$Suddenly, the deployment light turned green, and the Condor’s landing gear was heard being extended to land on the ground. The side doors and rear bay door of the Condor. The soldiers got up as the Condor slowed down. The commander waved for the soldiers to file out, and as they did, the condor disengaged the hooks and cables that held the Recon as it was being transported. Catalyst Company was officially beginning their mission in Norrland. --- ¹⁴ Klick – military speak for kilometer ¹⁵ LZ – Landing Zone <br> ### Chapter 4 $\quad$When the fireteams landed on the ground, they took a look around and saw a field of flowing grass interspaced with hills and flowing rivers. What used to be a frigid tundra before the harsh global warming, has now become a lush grassland from the melted ice and snow. Over to the northeast, they saw what could only be described as two white hulking cubes flanking two sides of a river. Ray and Charise were in shock, moreso that they were in a country they never thought they’d ever go to, and even then, it was still not like how they remembered learning about it growing up. $\quad$Crawford may have flown in with their Condor, but as he touched down on the ground, he yelled over engines of the VTOL¹⁶, “I’m linking up with Casper in the mountains for overwatch! Let us know your status once you get inside, and we’ll alert you and the ground forces if we see anything coming our way!” Just like then, Crawford ran towards the west Casper’s position, and Mackay and Paik turned towards the rest of the crew. As the condor flew over to its nearby landing spot, Mackay yelled over the engines to direct everyone involved. $\quad$“Okay everyone! Get to the easternmost cube, ASAP! We don’t know how much time we have to setup defenses and meet our point of contact! We’re Oscar Mike¹⁷, out! Paik nodded and yelled to the specialist to get into their Wildcat that was deployed. “가자¹⁸! ”Paik exclaimed. $\quad$“Yea! Let’s go, people!” Alara insisted as she remote started her newly modified Recon. Without hesitation, Ray, Charise, Marcus, and Takashi nodded and hopped into the vehicle right as Alara hit the gas. As the Recon’s engine kicked into first gear, the take-off was much more satisfying as the tires and the acceleration of the car was much quicker and had more grip than when it was in Canada. It could’ve been the makeup of the terrain underneath, but Alara saw her truck had definitely become a serious monster to wield. The suspension as the Recon went over rocky and uneven surfaces rebounded without any struggle, and the turning from the steering wheel had definitely benefitted from the work put into it. Alara was definitely going to have to thank Angel and Boris after this! $\quad$Marcus, who has come to be otherwise known as the gunner in Alara’s Recon, checked out the new turret system.  The HUD then came up for the information of the turret: its heat gauge and status panel were totally revamped, and the ammo counter has been updated to show the remaining ammo in real time, rather than count after the trigger has been let go. There was also a button that allowed for gyroscopic aiming, it steadied the gun on a specific point after being turned on, much to the benefit of concentrating fire on a target over uneven terrain. Together with the added armored plating that Boris tacked onto the sides and inside the cabin, this Recon was becoming a very kick-ass ride. $\quad$The squad raced over to the eastern cube, and as they reached the outer perimeter of the building, they filed out and began to unload fortifiable equipment. As they did, they saw other parts of the fleet and pockets of US forces setting up positions around the river and the hills leading up to the facility. Defenses were quickly set up to prepare for the upcoming invasion. $\quad$Sundance, Paik, Dozer, and Mackay arrived in their own vehicle, and promptly exited on foot with weapons drawn. Paik saw Charise and her squad, and motioned to everyone to lower their weapons. “Glad to see you’re all part of this operation. The other squads are setting up a patrolled perimeter. I suggest you guys go with Paik and do the same, and set up defenses with this equipment. Mackay, Dozer, and I will go inside to search for our contact. Stay in comms with the captain, we’re getting more information about this place.” While Alara and everyone else didn’t quite know who their point of contact was, they ultimately chose not to hesitate by asking questions, and nodded their heads instead. Paik, picking up a couple sand bags, motioned to Takashi to get the other tools, while Marcus got some barbed wire, and Ray and Charise got some ammo crates and T-UGS to detect personnel around the building. As they walked away to establish the perimeter, Falck motioned to Dozer and Mackay to enter the cube. $\quad$As they approached the door to the facility, it opened automatically, to the soldiers’ surprise. They looked at each other in confusion, as they thought it’d be harder to access the building. They didn’t have clearance, but maybe the US Forces gave them access? Or did the Nordvik faculty know they were coming? Either way, they decided to walk through, they had their weapons drawn as they checked the interior, in case they were being led into an ambush. $\quad$Inside the facility was not a line of workers at a conveyor line, but rather, a very pristine looking facility, solid colors lined the inner walls and substations, while automated machines roamed around and carried out their task with uncompromised precision. The conveyor line consisted of parts of advanced weaponry, something that hasn’t really been seen beyond the standard issued firearms provided by the remaining superpowers. Beyond the conveyor lines lied the nodes that powered the machinery surrounding the infantry, with the servers lining the wall opposite to the door they entered. The only evidence of any human interaction was the presence of powered lifts and offices in the upper floor. Mackay saw the upper floor, and pointed out the location to Dozer. “Hombre, over there.” Mackay pointed out. Dozer saw and acknowledged the location. “Alright. Let’s head upstairs.” $\quad$Outside the cube, Ray and Charise’s squad were busy setting up the equipment. Paik was helping Takashi getting used to his EMG-X system so he can be better prepared to face any threats that come their way. $\quad$“To turn on, you touch the pad on the left strap.” Paik reminded Takashi. Takashi tried touching different parts of the strap she mentioned, but it was hard to tell with his gloves. “It’s closer to the side of your head, left temple.” Takashi then motioned his hand closer to the side of his head, when all of a sudden, the goggles flipped down. “Nice, Takashi! Now, be aware that it will only scan for 10 seconds. So be sure to start looking around before the scan time finishes.” $\quad$“What will the signatures look like though, Paik?” Takashi asked. $\quad$“Look for outline of enemy soldiers.” Paik answered. “They appear not even for a second, why I say to be aware! But the scans will come in waves, furthest out the scanned signatures will flash last on the visor.” $\quad$By the time she finished, the goggles flipped back up, and his PAC indicated the goggles were recharging for the next use. “How long until I can use it again when that happens?” $\quad$“About 30 seconds, not too long, but you need to be ready for anything when you can’t use them.” Paik said. Marcus and Charise walked over to Takashi and Paik at that moment to let them know the perimeter has been setup with T-UGS. That was when Ray decided to ask a question to Paik. $\quad$“Hey Paik, I have a question.” $\quad$“What’s up, Ray?” Paik said, with a calm tone to her voice. $\quad$“It’s been a few months since we all enlisted. We’ve gotten to know Boris and Sundance before we took off, as well as some others. I met and trained with Casper and Rao, and Charise has met and worked with Falck and Mackay. I don’t know if we really got to know your background…would it be ok if we learned of yours?” $\quad$“Well…we did finish our part for this building…it won’t hurt. I was born in Gwangju, South Korea. I was never close to my parents, they always work. Instead, my grandparents raised me. I was taught a strategy game he adored at a very young age, and I managed to master it before they died. I suppose because of that, I developed a very competitive spirit. I got inspired after watching 2026 Olympics to become an Olympic Speed Skater, which I won a medal for.” $\quad$Everyone reacted in various degrees of amazement and awe, it seems like all the specialists we’re really making a name for themselves in some way before they joined the No-Pat cause. They still listened to her story. “I suppose thanks to my speed and skill, I decided to join the ROK-SOF¹⁹ convert division, and use my skills to help my government. It went really well for a while. The blackout happened in 2040, and my country’s economy destabilized.” $\quad$Ray and Charise remember that day, the chaos that ensued, where they had to take cover in their house with the rest of their family…they realized that it reached beyond their country, and the effects of the blackout never truly went away completely… $\quad$“It worked for a while, until I screwed an operation with Daesong server - I couldn’t recover from that. So, I decided to leave ROK-SOF before disavowment, and I join the No-Pats when they reached Songdo. And from there, as they say, rest is history.” $\quad$They may not have known all the details, but the squad knew that No-typically had tragedy or bad luck strike that led them to leaving their governments when they couldn’t help them much longer. Paik’s backstory was just another tragic example of someone that led to seeking hope and another chance with a group that wanted more of the same. $\quad$After a moment of completing her story, since Ray was the one who asked for her story, he simply said, “I see…Thank you po, Paik…surely it hasn’t been easy for any of us…but we’re all in this together. Hopefully we really are making the effort for things to get better.” Ray said, with everyone motioning agreement to what he said. Paik looked at all of them, and said back,” Yes, proud to be in squad like this…you know how things are…things will work out one day.” Ray made a small smile, and then walked back around to patrol the perimeter, while Paik went back to helping create a defense measure, while also helping Takashi get used to his new equipment. $\quad$Meanwhile, inside the facility, Dozer lead Falck, Rao, and Mackay with his shield deployed, and went up the stairs to the offices overseeing the factory below. When they got to the top, they saw two personnel, one wearing a laboratory coat, and the other wearing a hazmat suit. The man in the lab coat turned down, and saw the squad approaching them with their guns drawn. $\quad$“At ease, gentlemen.” Mackay said to Falck and Dozer, and lowered their weapons. The scientist looked at them, and then turned to the man in the hazmat suit, and said, “Rasheed.” The hazmat personnel looked up and turned around to look at them. He was wearing a gas mask, presumably to prevent air contaminants from hitting whatever he was working on. It obscured his reaction, but he acknowledged the presence of everyone in the room. $\quad$“Thank you, Dr. Voros.” Rasheed replied. He looked at the group, then set his eye on the man with the grey beard. Rasheed then put on a small smile, and said, “Welcome to Nordvik, everyone. We have a lot to talk about.” --- ¹⁶ VTOL – Vertical Take Off and Landing vehicle, a type of vehicle that can take off and land, as well as fly, with both the capabilities of an airplane and a helicopter. ¹⁷ Oscar Mike – Military speak for “On the Move” ¹⁸ 가자 – KA CHA! – Korean for Come on! ¹⁹ ROK-SOF – Republic of Korea Special Operations Forces, South Korean military <br> ### Chapter 5 $\quad$“Is this the contact? Who are you, how do you know about us?” Falck demanded. Rasheed chuckled, and responded politely, “Like Dr. Voros said, I’m Rasheed, but you three, you can call me Zain. As for your other question, I know more than you think. All questions will be answered in time. However, I’ll just put this out there: I’m a worker for the man you seek the most - Oz.” It was at that moment that Dozer and Mackay raised their guns, with their fingers on the trigger guard, ready to shoot him at a moment’s notice. $\quad$“Relax everyone! You really are going to want to hear what I have to say.” Zain remained calm, but had his hand raised slightly to show he wouldn’t dare try to shoot back. “There is a lot more at stake than you guys trying to shoot one man. Oz is trying to find a solution to the world we’ve created!” Falck, Dozer, and Mackay still had their guns raised, clearly not getting convinced otherwise Oz is planning some new world order scheme. Still, they allowed Zain to continue. If they made this much effort to get to Sweden and wound up finding who just said was Oz’s right-hand man, the least they could do is hear this man out for what he has to say. “What he has planned and being developed here in this facility is something that would undo all the effects of climate and social change that’s happened in the past 20 years! This is technology that succeeds even past what the United States made, especially after the blackout they caused to the world 3 years ago!” He walked to another computer to begin transferring files to a drive. “I know why you’re here. You believe Project Silver Spear is a weapon. That’s a lie. Wolff cannot be trusted. He’s using you, and will stop at nothing to kill Oz. I’ll prove it to you. I’ll activate the transmitters. Oz planted a special signal beacon at this facility. When activated, a GPS tied to his personal codes will falsify his location tag. Wolff will think you’ve found Oz and bomb what he believes is your location. You’ll see that, to him, you are nothing more than collateral damage.” $\quad$The moment Zain said that, Mackay looked up from his sights, and gestured Dozer and Rao to lower their weapons. Irish, listening over Falck’s comms, came in over her radio, “You’re the only other person that knows about a technology being developed after the Shearwater blackout…our lead from Panama was the last person that mentioned it.” Relieved, Zain lowered his arms, and let out a small exhale. He began, “Yes, Crawford, he knows of the technology being made here, but not exactly what it is. That’s where I come in.” At this point, the squad lowered their guns, and allowed him to continue to show what he was talking about. He turned around, back to his research table, and started typing in a login to switch over to a mode to display information on the glass panel above the table. “Here.” $\quad$The three walked in, and saw a loading bar on the giant screen with information filling up the screen behind it. The loading bar had a filename on it: Silver Spear. The squad couldn’t make heads or tails of what was showing up on the panel, but soon the loading bar completely filled up. Zain then turned around and said, “Essentially, Silver Spear is the tech being built here. The component parts are being manufactured here, and offshored to the Mediterranean near Egypt for testing.” Falck looked at the panel, and saw what essentially looked like a different form of the Shearwater-II satellites. “Oz is not planning a weapon! He’s planning the reverse of the environmental damage that’s happened since before the 21st century. This is how we rebuild a future!” Falck, Dozer, and Mackay still didn’t believe him, but since the facts were present on the computer, there wasn’t really a way to deny what he was saying. Still further explanation was likely needed. $\quad$Suddenly, the factory rang with alarms, lit with red sirens. Suddenly, the briefing screen starting flashing with red alerts, and a transcript came onto the display. It was a message from none other than Wolff, the US agent who was behind Steadfast Refuge. To everyone in the room, it looked as though his other mission was to cover up and remove anything and anyone that would expose the truth on what happened two years ago. The message began to play: $\quad$“No hard feelings, Exodus. As it stands, No-Pats fall under “acceptable losses” if we toe-tag Oz in the process. Know that your sacrifice has saved the free world. You can take that to your graves.” Zain turned to them and said to the squad, “Zero hesitation. This is who Wolff is. He used you, but you’re not the first. We need to get moving, but we can’t return to your ship. Not while Wolff thinks you’re dead.” High on alert to the security outlining the facility, Zain switched to the feed overlooking the mountain range, and yet saw nothing. “What the hell is going on? I don’t see anything!” That was when Crawford and Casper coming over the radio. “MACKAY! ANYONE ON THIS NET, PLEASE PICK UP!” Mackay heard his radio, and promptly picked it up, “Mackay here. I copy, what’s the situation?” $\quad$“This is Crawford, Casper is eyeing something 20km to the west with his drone. Looks like a platoon of Russian battleships and air fleets headed this way!” $\quad$“Can you give any sort of ETA until they show up?” $\quad$“Stand by, sir.” The radio went silent. Hearing this, Zain quickly walked to the hazmat locker, and he began to remove the hazmat garment to reveal his military gear in the locker. $\quad$“Listen to me, guys. You know the saying, ‘The enemy of my enemy is my friend?’ Well, this is the time that saying is more than appropriate. This facility is far too important to be taken by outside forces. The US is protecting more than just the advanced weaponry being made here. If you decide to help me here you can use the weapons being made here.” $\quad$“Falck this is Crawford, do you read?” Falck, listening to Zain, then picked his radio up and responded, “I got you, Charles. What’s going on?” $\quad$“At the rate they’re coming, they’ll be here in another 30 minutes!” He then signaled over the radio for Irish. “Captain, what are your orders, sir?” $\quad$“Our contacts, Zain, and Dr. Voros, they’re a contact of Oz, but willing to provide ordnance to repel the attack. We need to get out of here, and that includes you two as well.” $\quad$Casper interjected into the conversation, “With all due respect sir, are you insane? We don’t know his true intentions if he’s working for Oz.” $\quad$“You’re right Casper, but right now, we’re not in ANY position to fight the incoming storm.” Irish had a choice to make; knowing Zain works for Oz, does he let the US lose the facility, to further thwart Oz’s plans, or work with Zain to see what Oz is really planning? $\quad$After another minute of thought, Crawford came back over the radio, “We’re heading back to the facility to regroup, sir. WHAT ARE THE ORDERS??” $\quad$Irish then came back over the radio, tuned to all callsigns. “Everyone, regroup!” <br> ### Chapter 6 $\quad$“Move, move! Go, go, go!” A combination of US Forces and No-Pat specialists gathered around the defensive positions, and readied their guns. Tanks and Anti-air vehicles rolled out from the cubes and the base camps to fortify the major landmarks leading up to the factories. Foot soldiers boarded into light infantry vehicles to join the tanks and anti-airs, and recon setup overwatch positions to spot and take out enemies from the roofs of the cubes. Alara’s LATV²⁰, with Ray, Charise, Takashi, and Marcus raced against the crowd to head back to the eastern cube. The Recon was once again able to easily maneuver with the armored plating on the car Boris installed. The armor may have made the vehicle heavier, but the greater power and acceleration the upgraded engine Angel provided more than made up for the difference. $\quad$The car raced towards the south east from the western cube, where there was an encampment in between the second Nordvik cube, and the spherical tanks at the powerplant. $\quad$Charise, sitting next to Ray, saw him holding onto the seat as Alara navigated her mini tank over the rough terrain No-Pats. He looked at his wife, gave a smile, and began to ask, “Babe, ok lang?” $\quad$“Ok po, but…I don’t know what’s going to happen, I’m scared.” Ray, knowing this feeling in his gut, tried to comfort her. “It’ll be okay, we’re just finding out what the captain wants now!” Ray confessed. “I’m with you, Char.” Charise then rested her head on his side, almost trying to hold him close while he was mounted with his rifle on the ledge. Charise shed a tear, and said, “Our family and children are back on the ship, Ray. Promise me that we’ll see them again.” Ray knew more or less what could happen, and he wanted the same thing his wife was asking. But to make a promise before battle was something he didn’t want to risk. He looked at her, wrapped his arm around her, and quietly said, “We’ll see them again before you know it.” He smiled at her, and kissed her on the forehead. Charise smiled back, and said to him in response, “We’ll share a real kiss later! Let’s get through this first.” $\quad$As they got near the Eastern Cube, air raid sirens started blaring as they saw the garage doors swiftly open and vehicles and personnel rushing out of the door. Alara slammed on the brakes and radioed Mackay, “What the fuck is going on Mack?” Alara exclaimed. $\quad$“ALARA! WHERE ARE YOU?”  Mackay practically screamed into the radio. $\quad$“We’re heading into the facility, where are you? There are air raids starting to show up everywhere, so we’re taking cover inside the building!” $\quad$“Ah, FUCK…NO, DON’T DO THAT!” Alara was confused at that statement, however she wouldn’t be for much longer on what he said next. “There’s an airstrike on the building, Alara! Get Back! GET BACK!” Alara’s eyes widened, and she promptly shift the car into reverse. Everyone held for the sudden speed change as she back out of the potential blast radius. Marcus, with the turret camera, saw a bright spot of light in the sky.  “I SEE IT! ITS HEADING TO THE FACILITY!” He tracked the streak of light as it brighter and bigger. Alara slammed on the gas and shifted into reverse as the sirens continued to sound off. $\quad$Suddenly, there was an incredibly loud explosion, followed by the sounds of concrete and metal being thrown apart. Debris and shrapnel began raining down from where the missile struck the building. Everyone in the Recon ducked their heads as Alara continued to focus on maneuvering to get as far back as possible. She turned her head back for a second to see what happened. The building, once a perfect cube of white concrete, was now in disarray with a huge chunk of one of the corners completely obliterated. From that blown apart section was a huge fireball that threatened to engulf the entire facility. $\quad$At this point, Alara stopped the Recon, and everyone lifted their heads to see the aftermath. There were no words for what they were looking at. The building that their mentors, and their main objective and mission, was destroyed. $\quad$After a few minutes, Takashi tried his radio, “Paik! Come in, Paik! This is Bushido from Catalyst Company to Exodus! Do you read me?” $\quad$“Any callsign on this net from Exodus, this is Piercer from Catalyst Squad, what’s your status?” there was a long pause of static in the radios. “Dio Mio, answer me, Mackay! Dozer??” $\quad$“Catalyst! \*cough* This is Zain of Nordvik technologies! \*cough* \*cough* I’m looking around at the squad. They’re alive, just knocked on their asses. I’ll help them up and check for injuries!” $\quad$Charise responded to Zain, “This is Aura, I’m a Medic, Zain! We’ll be heading over to your location right now, over!” $\quad$“Make the rest of the way to the cube! Meet with me, Rao, and Paik in the main office conference room.” $\quad$“Roger that!” $\quad$“Sir, there’s an impending force of enemy soldiers coming! We have an idea, concerning those drones on the helipad!” Ray mentioned to Zain. $\quad$“Very well, we’ll be able to talk about it when you get here!” $\quad$At that, Alara took the Recon and put it into gear, and raced towards the cube, before the enemy troops showed up. --- ²⁰ LATV – Light All-Terrain Vehicle <br> ### Chapter 7 $\quad$Alara, not wanting to take chances with her car, drove it through the door, and parked it by the stairs leading to the office. Everyone filed out, and ran up to check on their fellow No-Pats. $\quad$Charise readied her medical supplies as Takashi asked, “Is everyone alright?!” they said quickly. Zain, helping Mackay and Paik up, walked over to Catalyst Company. “Catalyst! We’re all okay, the conference room was adjacent to where the missile struck, and Dozer’s shield helped protect us from some of the debris. Glad to see you’re safe too from the strike everyone. Now, you mentioned something about the drones on the helipads.” $\quad$“Yes, I have an idea that could help the battle,” Ray spoke up as he mentioned the Nordvik facility and its technology and weapons tech. “There were some automated railguns in a storage container that we saw as we went past the drone helipads. What I’m thinking, is we get those guns from that storage, and bring them to the landing pads to attach them onto the drones. Me and Bushido will mount the guns onto the tank and drive it over. Piercer and Speedy will provide support, and everyone else will be riding out in her Recon to carry the guns to the landing pads.” Zain, liking this idea, said in response, “I like it. But I know of some weapons that’ll help move things along: railguns. They’ll easily provide additional support to help you reach the landing pads. Any questions?” $\quad$Marcus, looking at the railgun in the picture, stepped forward. “Did you say railguns?? How do they work?” Zain chuckled, and replied. “Right. Its easy, really, all you’d have to do is hold the trigger down to charge it, and depending on the capacitors installed, it will be fully automatic, 5 round burst, or a deadly one shot, depending on the capacitor equipped. I’ll lead you to the storage area to get one.” $\quad$“Does anyone else want to ask something?” Marcus turned to look at everyone, and no one else stepped forward. Charise, being support, suggested one thing to Marcus and the rest of the group. “Well, I’ll use this SFAR, the smoke grenade launcher should help with cover, someone else should carry smoke grenades, so we can further cover our approaches. I have my ammo crate, so we won’t run out of grenades easily, just in case.” $\quad$Marcus agreed, and said, “I’ll take some smoke grenades, too. They’ll definitely help.” $\quad$“As will I.” Takashi replied right after. “They won’t see us coming.” $\quad$“Same, Charise is right. We need to make sure we can do our job properly.” Ray said. The three No-Pats traded their frag grenades for a pair of smoke grenades. $\quad$As Falck grabbed her rifle, Irish came over the radio to all no-pats at Nordvik, and said, “Alright No-Pats, be careful out there! We need to get the ship out of here, we will take Zain and Dr. Voros to the Exodus, we need to get the fuck out of here…and Catalyst!” Catalyst company focused on their comms to hear Irish on the radio. “You’ll have a transport condor waiting for you at the outer rim’s Helipad. Once you rig those turrets onto the drones, make your way over to the condor and get prepped to meet up with us. Dozer, you’re with them!” $\quad$“Si, Commander…Vamanos Catalyst! We don’t have much time before the Russians get here!” The two squads readied up, and headed out. ### Chapter 8 $\quad$Zain took Catalyst Company to the weapons storage, and handed everyone a railgun. He then went to demonstrate to them how to turn the gun on: by latching the capacitors into the underbarrel rail, and removing a small radio fob by the trigger, the railgun switched on, and hummed to life. On the small screen was a charge indicator, and Zain, with his finger on the trigger, quickly depressed and released it, showing how the railgun would build up charge to make a shot. $\quad$After he showed them how to make the gun shoot, he then went on to show them how to reload the gun. “Okay, pay attention, because this gun doesn’t work the same with reloading either. This tab at the bottom of the magazine will cause it to be released from the gun. These magazines are not light either, they contain bolts of tungsten surrounding an iron core, so be careful when releasing the magazine. You’re able to do this if you haven’t depleted the magazine completely. However, if the magazine is empty, before you eject it, you must press this button below the charge indicator. This disables the guns magnets within the barrel, and disengages charge to the magazine as a result. After you hit the button, then you can pull the magazine out. $\quad$Marcus hit the button on his gun, and surely enough, he heard the gun’s humming fall silent indicating the power was turned off. He pressed it again, and the gun’s humming returned. $\quad$“Once the new magazine has been inserted, press the charge button again, like how Marcus just did, to turn the gun’s magnets back on. The charge indicator for the gun is on the body of the gun itself, and outlines the sights when you’re aiming to show the charge as it builds up. Ok, 101 class is over! We’ve got to get to the tank, you still don’t know how to drive it!” The three took their guns, and ran towards the garage. The center of weight was different from how Marcus and Takashi carried their other guns, but as they all raced to the garage, it felt more and more natural to carry, and before too long, kept pace with Zain until they reached their destination in the Cube. $\quad$In the garage, Takashi and Marcus were checking out the tank and the insides of what they’d use to carry the massive railguns to the drones. Alara, Ray, and Charise made it to the garage just in time to help them figure out the interface of the gunner seat, as well as the controls to drive it around. Alara and Charise went into her Recon, while Marcus climbed into the tank with Ray and Takashi. Surprised, Marcus shouted quickly, “Ready to go!” $\quad$While inspecting the rest of the tanks interface, Marcus noticed a strange button next to the hatch, “Hey, there’s a switch on the ceiling, big red frame. What is that?” $\quad$Zain, responded. “That’s the switch for siege mode, Marcus.” $\quad$“What does siege mode do?” $\quad$“The turret normally takes 2 seconds to charge before it shoots, right? In siege mode, the tank will lower and disable the treads, allow more power to be routed to the turret. This will help the tank charge the turret quicker, and you’ll be able to shoot in half a second instead. $\quad$“I see…” Marcus said in astonishment. “This tank becomes even more of a mobile fortress.” $\quad$“Yes,” Zain replied. “But when you want to exit siege mode, it’ll take around 10 seconds for the tank to rise and reactivate the treads and move again. The turret won’t be online until the tank is ready to move again. So, you need to be sure you’re safe if you’re in that mode before you want to move again.” $\quad$“We’ll make sure of that.” Marcus concluded. Suddenly, Mackay spoke up, ”Listen everyone, we need to move out NOW! The enemy is practically at the front door, and we’re the only hope of defending the facility until more US Forces possibly arrive. We’re going to ex-fil to the Exodus now, as you carry out your mission. The captain will leave a carrier condor on standby to pick up guys up when you complete your objective. Leave the tank, but you all come back on that super modified Jeep you got there. And whatever you do, DO NOT spare an extra moment! An impending battle is happening, and this is NOT our fight to participate in. Wolff thinks we’re dead, and Zain has a plan to help us. You guys are part of that plan now!” Everyone in the tank nodded and saluted Mackay before they hopped in and closed the hatches. Zain opened the garage doors to the facility, and the tanks drove forward, and sped on through. Everyone else got into a C-RAM and sped eastward towards their ship as the tank and Recon charged to the start of battle. ### Chapter 9 $\quad$“Ray! Comms check!” Rao shouted into his PAC to get to Ray. Rao and the rest of the exodus no-pats were on their condor flying back to their ship. Rao looked out the aft end of the Condor to see the destroyed facility in smoke, as enemy air and ground forces. As he and Casper picked up their SOFLAMS, they eventually spotted the Recon vehicle and the tank heading towards the drones. “RAY! What’s your status, over??” $\quad$The Recon raced ahead of the tank to provide support for the tank as it rolled down the road to the helipads. Ray, inside the tank, picked up Rao’s message, and responded: $\quad$“Rao! We’re doing fine, rolling out to the helipads as we speak! Alara and Charise are ahead of us to help bring us safely to the helipad, over!” $\quad$“Acknowledged! We’re on one of the condors back to the Exodus! I’m starting to see enemy air forces cross over the nearest mountain range, approximately 18 kilos from your position. They might be at the facility within the next 10 minutes, over!” $\quad$“Understood, we won’t take forever on this, so we’ll be seeing you back on deck! Catalyst over and out!” Ray lowered his hand from his earpiece, and returned to manning the turret. “Marc, step on it! We need to get this done!” Marcus, driving the tank, shouted back at Ray and Takashi. “Goddammit, hold onto something!” Marcus lifted a panel on the right handle of the tank controls, and pressed a red pulsing button. Upon hitting the button, the tank gained a significant amount of acceleration, and caused Ray and Takashi to lose their footing within the turret chamber. The tank drove down the road as fast as possible, and eventually reached the helipad, where Alara and Charise got on foot and scouted the area surrounding the helipad. $\quad$Alara, with her machine gun, and Charise’s AM40, make quick work to sweep the lower perimeter of the helipads. “Watch your corners, Charise!” Alara said into her comms. “Sige, Alara!” Just as Charise turned the corner, the tank arrived and skidded to a halt by the helipads, Charise responded to Alara by saying: “The boys are here, Alara, let’s regroup!” Alara and Charise turned around and ran back to the tank to meet up with Ray, Marcus, and Takashi. $\quad$Inside the tank, Marcus switched the tank to standby mode, and looked back into the turret room, and saw that Ray and Takashi were barely holding on to the safety bars within the tank. As ray rubbed his head from an apparent bump with the wall of the tank, Marcus shook his head and said to the both of them, “I warned you…now come on guys, Andiamo²¹! We have a mission to do!” Marcus grabbed his gun and quickly opened the hatch and climbed out of the tank. Ray and Takashi looked at each other before doing the same. $\quad$After taking the tools and the rail guns off of the sides of the tank, the squad went up the stairs to the drones. Takashi flipped down his DMG visor to scan for any enemies within the area. As they made their way to the stairs, Takashi’s visor wasn’t able to pick up anything, and as the visor lifted back up to recharge, Takashi spoke up to the group by saying “Clear on my end. Watch your corners, guys.” They turned the next corner, and found the stairs. They quickly climbed up, went in-between the two helipads, and set down their equipment. With the weight of the turrets off their shoulders, they began to work with rigging the guns to the drones. --- ²¹ Andiamo – Italian for “Let’s go!” ### Chapter 10 $\quad$Alara and Charise took the guns and handed them to Marcus and Takashi as they began to work on the mounting foundations underneath the turrets. Zain had prepared them with Nordvik manufactured laser cutters to help them with burning holes in the walls of the landing legs. Four were required to make a stable foundation for the turrets as they targeted and engaged the enemy. $\quad$Overhead, the sound of attack helicopters and fighter jets started to fill the air as raid sirens continued to blare. Marcus finished cutting the holes into one of the drones when his comms went off. It was Mackay, asking for sitrep of he and his squadmates. “10-4, sir. We reached the drone helipads and are proceeding to mount the automated turrets as we speak. What’s your status, over?” $\quad$“Mackay to Catalyst squad, Glad to hear you guys are doing good so far. We’re back on the Exodus, and we have you on sat feed.” Mackay was in the briefing room, looking at a satellite view of the Nordvik facility. He and Rao panned to the west, and saw the enemy aerial and ground forces drawing ever closer to the structured facility. “You have enemy forces closing in on the facility. We estimate given how fast they’re approaching; they’ll be overhead to start their attack in another 5 minutes.” Marcus, and everyone froze for a second at that ETA. “Obviously, no pressure, but be sure to be finished with most of the work by that time. Mackay over and out.” $\quad$“Understood, sir. Over and out.” Marcus closed his comms and got back to work. Catalyst squad immediately returned to their work, with a bit more sense of urgency. Takashi and Alara helped lift one of the turrets into place as Charise handed Marcus his tools, on being an impactor drive to secure the nuts into the bolts of the turret attachments. Running like clockwork, Alara and Takashi lined up the turret with the holes as Marcus secured it into place. Once that was done, Ray got up to rewire the drone to accommodate the turrets into its computer system. Marcus ran on over to the other drone to start working on creating the foundation for the second rail gun. $\quad$Ray switched on the drone to boot up its operating system and programming. As the drone’s motors started to calibrate, he used his PAC to access the software Rao provided for him to transfer into the drone’s interface. Ray made sure to activate the drone’s sensors and camera when it acknowledged new hardware. Afterwards, he switched apps on his PAC to begin the file transfer of the turret program to the drone’s computer. As the file transfer began, a slight look of worry fell onto Ray’s face; his PAC said the estimated time for transfer completion, which was another 3 minutes. This meant that by the time one turret was done with calibrating, the attack forces would be at the front gate of the facility! Still, he kept the transfer going as he rushed over to the other turret. $\quad$“Guys, we have a situation!” Ray said to his squadmates. Everyone kept working. “File transfer on first drone is underway, but it’ll take another 3 minutes!” Takashi and Charise looked to him, and Charise said, “But they’re almost here! Can’t you make it faster?” Ray looked to his wife, and said, “It’s a huge file, this is as fast as it’ll go! We need to work fast on this next one!” Ray stepped in to helped with Marcus on cutting the holes. “Babe! Gimme a laser!” Charise handed him another cutter, and followed the specifications the Marcus was provided by Zain. “Here, Ray, just like this.” $\quad$After a few more minutes, the holes were cut, and Takashi and Ray lifted the second turret into place. Marcus took the impactor and secured the turret into its foundation. As soon as Marcus fastened the last bolt into place, the file transfer for the first drone completed. Ray noticed this, and immediately got to work on the other drone, botting its system and rewired the drone to assimilate the turret hardware into its interface. $\quad$He began the file transfer on the second drone, and, to his dismay, was another 2 minutes. The drone of the aerial attack vehicles grew louder, now drowning out the air raid sirens. Not only that, but the faint shape of enemy ground vehicles were able to be seen in the distance. They were rushing the US attack forces from all directions, and they showed no signs of stopping. Ray’s SOFLAM scouted out the distance the ground forces were. The enemy was around 400 meters away, so there would still be some time before they’d be able to reach the helipads. Ray looked at his PAC, and the transfer was already at 65% complete. He saw the enemy approaching, and with sweat starting to bead down his face, quickly turned to Alara. $\quad$“CHAR! EVERYONE! The enemy’s here! And the transfer is almost done, but not yet! Alara, get back to your Recon, and start it up. Everyone else get into her car!” $\quad$Charise, worried about what he just said, yelled back, “Ray, what’re you doing??” He looked at her, and yelled back, “We can’t let anyone down, here…I’ll stay up here until the transfer is complete, another minute or so. We need to be ready to leave by then! C’mon, you guys need to go!” With this, Alara, without hesitation, ran to her Recon and started it up. As the squad ran to the off-roader, the sound of explosions and gunshots became louder and louder. Ray looked off to where the frontline of opposition was, realizing the battle was starting to get much heavier with each passing second. He looked back at his PAC, and the percentage on the transfer was at 90% completed. Ray switched to the programming window of the first drone he programmed, and switched on the drone’s rotors to start up. At this point, when Ray looked at his program for the file transfer, his eyes widened, as the transfer showed it was completed! He quickly closed the program, and prompted the second drone’s rotors to begin spinning. He looked up, and started to see the engines spin up on both drones. With this, he took his gun and rushed back towards the stairs to rejoin the rest of his squad. $\quad$As Alara revved her engine, she saw Ray book it towards the Recon, the sound of aircrafts grew louder as the sky was soon swarming with fighter jets and attack helicopters of both US and Russian forces. Russian ground vehicles creeped over the hillside and smashed their way through key checkpoints. Alara was getting impatient, as she noticed the chaos on the ground was starting to get much worse. She popped some smoke from her vehicle to provide a cover screen for Ray began to honk her horn as she shouted to Ray, “Ray! Get your fucking ass over here, ya yavaş piç²²! Takashi, seeing how far he was from the car, got out, and threw some of his smoke grenades and made his way to Ray admist the chaos. Alara saw this, and started to yell at Takashi now. “TAKI! WHERE THE FUCK ARE YOU GOING?!?” $\quad$As explosions start to hit the western facility and US Tanks ran passed them, Takashi flipped down his DMG Scanner to make sure enemies weren’t close by as he ran and caught up to Ray. With a nudge to his arm, Ray looked to see that Takashi was next to him. Ray noticed his PAC strobing with the onboard LED. The drones were fully powered up, and the PAC was asking him to execute the combat program. He hit YES on his touch pad, and upon doing so, both drones took off and gained altitude quickly, and their massive railguns armed and ready to fire, started targeting multiple enemies, both on the ground, and in the air. Ray looked at the results of his squad’s hard work and mission objective, and a small smile formed as he saw the drones taking evasive maneuvers, and taking out their first targets. However, Takashi wasn’t quite in the same mood, and nudged Ray out of his trance. “RAY!” Ray looked at Takashi, snapping back to realty. “GOOD JOB, BUT WE HAVE TO GO...**NOW**!” Ray looked at the Recon, which was frantically backing up to their location, and looked bak at Takashi. He gave a short nod, and shouted, “Right...RIGHT! Let’s fucking go!” $\quad$The two men sprinted back towards the Recon. In order to meet them halfway, Alara swung around and angled her car enough so that when he opened the doors, they’d be able to jump in quickly. They both jumped in the car, and Alara sped towards the Landing Zone. Ray got next to Charise, who was happy to be reunited with her husband. She then asked, “Did it work?” With that, Ray said as he pointed to two faint sets of rotors in the sky, “Look at that! WE did that! That’ll buy the US and the facility some time to hold off the attack.” Alara, looked back at everyone, and said “Good job, everyone, we didn’t die today!” She shifted into second gear and hit the boost on the engine, racing to the eastern helipads where their condor was. Everyone shook off Alara’s remark as they knew she meant well. Charise kissed Ray, as they promised, for being able to regroup with everyone after staying behind. The Recon sped past the eastern cube, and saw the pilot by his Condor to prepare for takeoff. Extraction was so close. --- ²² Yavaş piç – Turkish for ‘Slow Bastard’ ### Chapter 11 $\quad$The pilot saw the squad’s car zooming down the road. He waved his hands that he acknowledged their arrival, and ran to the pilot seat to start up the Condor’s engines. As they approached the helipad, the attacking forces, while encountering the defenses of the facility with the drones and US forces, were closing in on the eastern cubes vicinity. The squad made it past the furthest wall of the Cube, and drifted to a stop close to the helipad. Charise, Marcus, and Takashi got out to help prepare the Recon for towing. Alara and Ray stayed by the Recon to help attach the car to the hook points to begin extraction. $\quad$As they took winches to the vehicle, Alara looked at Ray, and smiled, saying, “Sorry about what I said over the comms before when you were trying to get to the car, Ray.” Ray, confused, replied,”What did you say?” $\quad$“Well, I said ‘Yavaş piç,’ meaning ‘slow bastard’ from my country.” Alara confessed. “You did the right thing to stay behind, and make sure the drones flew! You the man.” $\quad$Ray gave a small smile back and nodded. However, the moment was short lived, as they were within the blast radius of the bombing runs from the helicopters above. They heard the whistle of the bombs dropping from the sky; Ray and Alara jumped to the ground as the bombs struck the earth. When the bombing run ended, they got up, relieved they were both okay. However, they looked back at the Recon, and Alara had the look of absolute horror as she saw her Recon, on fire and completely destroyed! $\quad$The armor plating was blown off its foundation, and the engine was ripped apart with fuel leaking from the tank, bursting into flames. The weapons were unsalvageable, and a huge crater was left behind as a result of the salvos hitting the car. The realization of the vehicle that had served them on their missions having been blown to bits had sent Alara into a horrific shock, knowing everything she built up to and modified the car with at that point was gone in an instant. $\quad$Her legs grew weak, and she fell to her knees as tears started to roll down her eyes looking at the wreckage. Ray and Charise both ran to her and tried to snap her out of it, as the Condor’s engines were speeding up for takeoff. $\quad$“Alara! No, don’t go near it! There’s nothing left!” Ray said while Charise tried to frantically snap her out of her shock. $\quad$“Alara, we need to get back to the ship, and let them know what happened. We need to go, NOW!” As Charise said that, a Russian Anti-personnel vehicle rolled over the hill. They all saw the APC, and they looked at each other as they tried to pick up the pace. Despite Alara having a tough exterior, it was a bit difficult for Charise to get Alara moving in the right direction back to the Condor. The rest of the squad was desparately motioning the three to get back to the aircraft, as Charise shouted to Alara, “Let’s go! It’ll be okay, Alara! RAY, COME ON!” Ray didn’t need to be told twice to help the two women to get back to the VTOL. Alara eventually picked up speed, and they were all able to run back to the helipad. The Russian APC started firing on the Nordvik eastern cube as Alara and Charise made it onboard the aircraft, and Marcus and Takashi rushed to Alara’s side to shake her out of her shock. $\quad$Ray was able to reach the Condor as the BMP shot the upper part of the eastern cube, and the resulting shrapnel from the side of the building started to rain down to the ground. Ray hits the button to the rear hatch, and yelled to the pilot, “I”M HERE! LET’S GET THE FUCK OUT OF HERE!” $\quad$“GOT IT, RAY! This is pilot Lukas to the Exodus!, We’re ex-filling from the Nordvik facility and on our way back to the ship! We have all callsigns on board minus one vehicle, over!” Lukas retracted the landing gear and closed the rear hatch as the Exodus came over the comm waves. It sounded like it was Rao coming over the radio. $\quad$“Exodus to Lukas, acknowledged! We’re heading south-southeast towards the Aland Islands of Sweden, 10 kliks from your position. Over!” $\quad$“Roger that, ETA about 15 minutes, over. Alright, get comfortable guys! You’re safe now, we’re heading home!” $\quad$After the VTOL completed the conversion from takeoff to flight mode, Ray walked over to the rest of his squad. Charise and Marcus were resting their hands on Alara’s shoulders, as she held her head in her hands, mourning the loss of the vehicle that helped Catalyst Company through everything they had done together. Ray couldn’t find the right words to say, so instead, he just sat by his friends, and quietly tried to comfort her in the same way everyone else had been doing. The Condor, not having suffered any major damage from the ongoing conflict back in Sweden, flew away from the rapidly forming warzone in relative safety, over the ocean, back to the Exodus.