《Operation Iron Shield》


 The Answer Was Always, "Yes"

    The radio cracked, ¡°five minutes until we reach the LZ. It¡¯s hot so check your gear before we land. You won¡¯t have time later.¡±


    It was hard enough to hear with an improvised headset but the helicopter¡¯s blades chopping the air a few feet above made it nearly impossible.


    In the distance was the glow of explosions in the night sky, each shockwave buffeting against the battered fuselage. It had only been six months since the Sol Republic Space Command had lost contact with the outpost on Pluto and only two weeks since Noah had joined the Army to defend Earth.


    It was thought to be an equipment malfunction that stopped Pluto¡¯s research center from responding to Earth¡¯s calls. Nothing too serious. At least, nothing as serious as the reality of the situation. It wasn¡¯t until a small colony on Triton sent a distress signal to all SRSC military installations that reality set in.


    A month after Triton fell, it was Europa. Then Ganymede, then Titan, and so on until humanity lost contact with every colony in Sol.


    Until the fall of Mars, Earth was blind to its imminent subjugation. Footage streamed in from the intrasolar comm system. They were bipedal creatures standing at least a foot above an average human with large crowned heads, a dark gray carapace that covered most of their body, and long slender limbs.


    Noah sat deep in thought, wondering why he would sign up to fight monsters. He vaguely recalled thoughts of protecting his family against the invaders. Of being able to sacrifice himself to prolong the life of the ones he loved. It had only been 16 days since he signed up to fight, yet the terror of war made it seem so long ago.


    An explosion 100 meters away rocked the aircraft. He watched in consternation as the helicopter carrying Fireteams Charlie and Delta burst into flames and plummeted towards the ground. Another explosion beyond his vision shook Noah in his seat.


    The pilot shouted into the intercom, ¡°30 seconds until we land, get ready to bail. I can¡¯t stay down for long!¡±


    Noah gave Bravo Team Leader, Amber, a thumbs up. She replied with a slight nod. To his right, a young kid fumbled with his body armor, two sizes too large for a 16 year old. His name was Ariel Cook and grew up in a small, rural hunting town. Sitting directly across from Noah was Gabriel. A 22 year old from the same city as Noah. They had enlisted at the same time and flew in for training together.


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    A sudden drop caused a pit in Noah¡¯s stomach. They were landing.


    ¡°Move! Move! Move!¡± Amber yelled. It was hard to hear her over the rattle of gunfire but she was experienced and knew how to direct the new recruits with her body language. She had left the service before the invasion on Pluto but decided to reenlist when Mars fell.


    The team took cover behind an outcrop of rocks while they awaited their platoon leader¡¯s orders. Their mission was to secure a bunker at the top of the hill. Flint radioed in, only Fireteams Alpha, Bravo, Echo, and Foxtrot remained. The others were shot down before they could land. It was time to move.


    Bravo team raced to the top of the hill with no enemy contact. Once they reached the southern wall of the bunker they regrouped with the platoon.


    Flint scrambled over rocks to give Bravo team their orders, ¡°Bravo team, you¡¯ll be clearing this wing of the bunker. Alpha team will follow you in. Prepare to breach on my signal!¡± He rushed to Fireteams Echo and Foxtrot for their orders.


    Flint gave the signal and Amber directed the team to breach the bunker. A charge exploded and sent the door flying inward. Two grenades were thrown into the first room. A flash of light filled the room and shrapnel pinged against the walls. Noah and Gabriel moved in, Noah checking the right and Gabriel the left. Amber and Ariel followed behind while Fireteam Alpha waited just beyond the door.


    Flashes of light strobed across the room from the explosions and flares outside. The muffled sound of gunfire and light footsteps echoed through the bunker. There were several windows just below shoulder height that lined the room. One darkened hallway lay across from the door.


    A ghastly wail seized the attention of Bravo team and an invader sprung from the hallway, sending a shockwave of terror through Bravo Team.


    Amber was the first to fire, followed by Ariel. Gabriel was nearest the opening and was the first to make contact with the charging demon. He was thrown against the wall and sat slumped over, blood gushing from his chest where the invader impaled him with its armored limb.


    ¡°Fire! Fire! Fire!¡± Amber screamed, her voice cracking as it strained.


    The projectiles from the weapons penetrated the thick carapace of the bipedal monster and it fell against Gabriel¡¯s dead body as it let out an ear-piercing shriek.


    As Amber and Ariel reloaded their weapons, another invader leapt from the abyss. It slammed its skull against Ariel, instantly knocking him unconscious or perhaps killing him.


    Noah, still stunned with fear, watched as Amber was mercilessly mauled, unable to reload her weapon. Time moved in slow motion as he watched his impending death. He was only able to gather a single thought, ¡°Why did I choose to fight?¡± He thought of his family, his 6 year-old daughter and raised his weapon.


    It was too late. He was crushed against the wall behind him. His ears rang and head throbbed. The sound of gunfire and the smell of gunpowder and iron filled the air.


    ¡°2nd Platoon, Alpha Team. Two invaders neutralized. We have four casualties in Bravo Team. We need medics ASAP.¡±


    Noah fell to the ground, fighting off unconsciousness. He lay there on his side, staring at his necklace locket broken against the concrete floor. ¡°Would I make the same decision?¡± he asked himself.


    Admiring his daughter¡¯s picture as the last of his vision faded, he answered, ¡°yes.¡±

 Augmented Special Operations Group

    ¡°Thirty minutes from the LZ, start your gear check.¡±


    Joker was straight to the point. It didn¡¯t matter if the team was mid conversation, he¡¯d interrupt. He didn¡¯t even have the courtesy to tell a joke. No sarcastic quip, no insult, no profanity. Just a straight shooter as always. Sometimes it seemed he was the only one taking his job seriously; though, that¡¯s why he was chosen to be the pilot for ASOG 3. And that¡¯s why they called him joker.


    Marshall called out to his team, ¡°you heard him, start the check.¡±


    Conway was first to break the silence. ¡°You think they¡¯d let us rest a bit between missions. This is the fifth op this week and it¡¯s only Tuesday. How many more before we can eat something other than stale crackers and peanut butter?¡± She sat straight in her seat. Wisps of bright red hair poked out from beneath her helmet. She always finished before the rest of the team. Though, it did help that she had the least gear. She was built for recon. Her light frame combined with her cyber prosthetics meant she was much faster than the others.


    McDonnel belted out a laugh, ¡°You¡¯re just upset because I won our bet. Thirteen more kills than you.¡± McDonnel was their heavy weapons expert and was the embodiment of a Synth. If he could replace a limb, organ, or any other body part with cyber prosthetics, he did and he wasn¡¯t subtle about it. He chose the largest and most powerful prosthetic available. He was large man before but now he stood far over most men.


    ¡°Because you cheated! You know your optical implants give you better vision in the dark than mine do,¡± Conway replied.


    ¡°A bet¡¯s a bet and that¡¯s why you lost the dehydrated meatballs." McDonnel gave her a playful shrug and smiled.


    ¡°That¡¯s enough playing around¡­ let¡¯s go over the mission before we land. There¡¯ve been reports that a new type of invader was spotted at the fusion plant. This is more dangerous than ambushing some sleeping drones.¡± Hirschbaum looked to Marshall to stop the banter and get serious.


    Marshall started, ¡°We¡¯re tasked with extracting staff from the Los Angeles Fusion Plant. Invader pods dropped outside the plant¡¯s perimeter and security forces were overwhelmed. Most of the staff were able to escape but the engineers stayed behind to shut down the reactors and prevent permanent damage. The fusion plant is locked down and all remaining staff are holding their position in the control room.¡±


    ¡°Our mission is to escort the remaining staff to the rendezvous point. These are critical personnel and they can¡¯t be replaced. We need them alive to resume operations once A Company secures the power plant and surrounding areas.¡±


    ¡°We¡¯ll do a hand off with A Company, 1st Platoon and then we¡¯re on to our next mission,¡± Marshall let out a long sigh and leaned back, placing his hands behind his head. ¡°According to rumors, the attacks are slowing down, there doesn¡¯t seem to be many reinforcements for the invaders, and they have no cohesion. Every attack seems completely random and uncoordinated.¡±


    Cobb joined in, ¡°I¡¯ve heard that we¡¯ve regained contact with Mars Command. Maybe they¡¯ve found a way to push them back for good.¡±


    ¡°I hope so, we¡¯ve...¡± Gonzalez was cut off as the intercom crackled.


    ¡°Five minutes from LZ.¡±


    A blanket of silence fell over the team. Only the air from the blades of the stealth helicopter could be heard buffeting against the cabin of the aircraft. The team of six watched as Company A, 2nd platoon moved towards a bunker on the hill overlooking the fusion power plant. Explosions bloomed throughout the bunker below and the shockwaves shook the aircraft¡¯s hull. A fireteam dragged out four bodies from the bunker and medics began treating wounds on two of them.


    Company A, 1st platoon was just beyond the bunker clearing a path to the fusion plant. There were sporadic muzzle flashes from the leading fireteams but 1st platoon seemed to be advancing steadily. Marshall took a deep breath as he thought about the mission ahead of them. His team was ordered to leave as soon as they hand off the power plant staff to 1st platoon. If A Company was overrun, this mission would be for nothing. Then there were the reports of a new type of invader. It was worrying at best.


    ¡°Thirty seconds from LZ¡­ ten seconds from LZ¡­ touch down, move out.¡± Joker may not have been one for jokes but he was reliable, his landings were always smooth, and their equipment crates were never damaged after being dropped.


    Their seats spun to face the open air and their safety restrains unlatched from their EXO armor, dropping them to the ground. ASOG 3 rushed from the helicopter and spread across the roof of the power plant. They practiced this thousands of times. Every movement the team made was pure muscle memory.


    McDonnel sprinted towards the only entry door to the rooftop and cleared the hall leading to the floor below. Conway, Hirschbaum, and Cobb scanned for rogue invaders around the perimeter of the power plant.


    Gonzalez deployed five sentries along the rooftop perimeter equipped with 20mm auto cannons, each equipped with ultraviolet and infrared spectrum remote cameras. She was the tech wizard of the team. She hooked into the long-range communications systems of the power plant and linked all internal traffic to the team¡¯s neural comm implants.


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    ¡°This is Marshall with ASOG 3, can any personnel still inside the power plant hear me?¡±


    A voice cracked through comms after a moment. ¡°This is section 5¡¯s security superintendent, I hear you. We¡¯re in the control room waiting for your escort. We have thirteen people here, five of them have minor injuries but they can still move. We¡¯ll open the door to Security Zone 2 on your command.¡±


    ¡°Copy that, hang tight. We¡¯re on our way.¡±


    Marshall walked to Conway, leaning over the parapet and looking into the courtyard below. There were hundreds of pods littered across the courtyard and beyond the walls of the power plant. Concrete crumbled beneath impact of some pods, steel bars erupting from the small craters. Corpses were strewn across the courtyard, invader and human alike. Some pods, the ones that hit hard enough to leave deep impact craters, were still home to their dead travelers.


    It was incredible that any of the staff survived at all. Where did they all go? There¡¯s no way the security team was able to kill them all. In the center of the courtyard a few pods were different. The rest were tall and pill shaped but these were stout and much wider.


    Conway was staring at the same pods, ¡°Those must be pods from the new invaders. I don¡¯t see any corpses that size. They¡¯re probably still alive.¡±


    ¡°I was thinking the same. Let¡¯s move... There¡¯s no use in gawking.¡± Marshall turned away from the bloodbath below. ¡°Section 5 Security, open the roof access door to Zone 2, we¡¯re coming through. No contacts yet.¡±


    ASOG 3 crept through the dark hallways, guns ready. Only the soft red glow of emergency lights illuminated their path. Comms cracked, ¡°ASOG 3, there¡¯s a problem. Our security systems are malfunctioning, the main door to the courtyard opened when we opened the roof access door. We can¡¯t shut it.¡±


    ¡°Copy that, we¡¯ll deal with it.¡± Marshall brought up a map of the complex on his helmet¡¯s visor. The map transferred to his team with a path traced out towards the courtyard access door. ¡°Porter, Gonzales, Cobb, head to the door and secure the hallway until we can reach you. McDonnel, go with them. If invaders make a move, we¡¯ll need some extra firepower there.¡±


    The four nodded and rushed the opposite direction. This was a problem, Marshall thought. Based on the pods outside, there were already two hundred more invaders here than command estimated. Now we¡¯re split into two groups. The remaining three moved through each hallway, clearing the rooms one-by-one, the soft taps of their boots against the epoxy coated floor ringing down the passageways.


    Finally, the three reached the Zone 1 access door. ¡°Security, open the access door to Zone 1 and standby for evac.¡± Marshall watched as the thick metal door lurched from its position and slid open.


    Cobb entered comms, ¡°We¡¯ve got contact. Over fifty invaders entering the courtyard.¡± Gunfire interspersed with the rumble of 20mm cannons filled comms. ¡°Start the evac now!¡±


    Shit, now we¡¯ll need to secure the courtyard before we can leave. Something always went wrong for Marshall. Their missions could never be simple.


    Conway looked up as the last of the access door disappeared into the wall. Four invaders rose just beyond the entryway, their bodies glowing in the red light. Each of them roared as another four appeared from behind a faraway corner. ¡°Fire!¡± She shouted as she raised her rifle.


    Their training kicked in and each member fell into formation, firing their rifles into the monsters in front of them. One down. Two. Three. The invaders frenzied, charging Hirschbaum, who was in the lead. Four down. The group continue to shuffle backwards into the hall behind them.


    Bullets ricocheted off walls, creating splashes of sparks that rained down upon the charging invaders. Five down. Each round pierced the carapace of the invaders. Each wound exploded, painting the concrete walls with neon yellow blood. The group worked in synchrony, moving in unison, each member rotating point as they reloaded. Six down.


    They were closing in quickly. Faster than they could be taken down. Seven down. Conway and Marshall dropped an empty magazine and reached for a full one but it was too late. The last invader had reached them. It grabbed Hirschbaum and shoved him against a wall.


    Hirschbaum braced for impact as his body smashed into reinforced concrete. His EXO armor distributed the force across his body but the collision was enough to force the air from his lungs. Adrenaline coursed through his veins.


    His suit¡¯s medical interface injected him with Novextamine ¨C a drug specifically designed to enhance a Synth¡¯s physical abilities ¨C pushing him far past the limits of an unaugmented human. Hirschbaum gasped as the needle stabbed into his spine between his shoulder blades.


    A Novextamine injection was like waking up from deep sleep. It sharpens one¡¯s mind, numbs pain, increases strength, and boosts reflexes. A Synth moves with inhuman strength and agility but it has a cost. It puts an enormous amount of strain on the body and once its effects fully wear off, the user is left crippled until they can rest. As such, it¡¯s only used if it¡¯ll be the difference between life and death.


    There were few in all of ASOG who were considered better grapplers than Hirschbaum. Fourteen years of Jiu Jitsu and seven years of special forces training kicked in. It didn¡¯t matter that his opponent was alien. It was humanoid ¨C though two feet taller than himself ¨C a perfect challenge.


    He caught the arms of the invader in each hand and squeezed. The strength of his prosthetic right arm shattered the invaders carapace. The crunch of its armor reverberated through Hirschbaum¡¯s body as the creature squealed in pain. It tried to pull away but Hirschbaum¡¯s grip was firm and the extra weight from his EXO armor gave him leverage.


    He hooked his other arm around the creature¡¯s shoulder and pivoted away. Hirschbaum swung the beast to the ground, spinning to the ground and landing with his back against its chest. He still held its crumpled arm tight. Hirschbaum rolled towards its legs as it raised its head and bared its massive teeth. He coiled his body and used the wall as leverage to pull the creature¡¯s arm free from its body. He pushed. It wailed. He rolled away as Marshall and Conway poured rounds into the invader¡¯s crowned skull. Yellow blood splattered on the floor.


    Eight down.


    Hirschbaum laid still on his back, his chest rising and falling sharply as he regained his composure. The drugs kept him from calming down even though the fight was over. Marshall offered a hand and Hirschbaum accepted. His right hand was still locked onto the invaders detached, mangled arm. They watched as the neon yellow blood oozed out and smacked the ground as a glob of thick slime.


    He tossed it onto the deceased creature and cursed. His sense of smell was beginning to return and the pungent smell of rotted flesh filled his nostrils. Even with no signs of rotting ¨C at least the kind humanity is familiar with ¨C the smell was enough to make the unexpecting heave.


    ¡°Let¡¯s go. We need to evac the staff immediately. There may be more.¡± Marshall was already heading through the open access door, rifle readied. Conway and Hirschbaum followed close behind, the effects of Hirschbaum¡¯s injection still apparent as his hands shook. ¡°Security, we¡¯ve made contact with invaders within Zone 1. Be ready for extraction in five minutes.¡±


    The control room was located down the hallway. The same hallway the invaders attacked them. How did they get in? There were three zones in the power plant. Zone 3, everything within the outer walls of the plant. Zone 2, the zone they entered from the roof. Zone 1, which included the control room, reactors, and other critical infrastructure. Zone 1 only had one entrance and it was the one they came through.


    ¡°Section 5 Security, we¡¯ve reached the control room,¡± Marshall said.


    ¡°Opening the control room door now. We¡¯re ready.¡±