Chapter 29: Catching a ride

Schmidt

“Schmidt, two contacts in front of the blue house!” Langley shouted.

Daniel quickly turned to the position Langley reported and fired off the last of the bullets in his magazine at the two soldiers firing at them from further down the road they were fighting at. He managed to down one, but the other one jumped behind one of the numerous abandoned cars just in time. Daniel switched to his handgun but before he could fire it the soldier suddenly flew away from the car after something hit him. As he turned to the right, he saw Langley ducking down next to him and placing her last mag into her rifle.

As far as Daniel knew Patterson and North were completely out of ammo as well. He took a quick look around to see if the civilian volunteer soldiers were alright, and then he grabbed his radio. “Cole, North, you found anything?”

“We just took out a technical that was about to ruin everyone’s day,” North shouted into the radio. “We’re coming to your position with a box of ammo that survived the truck’s explosion!”

“About fricking time! Get moving!”

Walters, one of the volunteers, suddenly ran out from behind the metal bench he was using as cover and slid behind the T-Croc. “Sergeant, Agent Simmons is on the radio!”

Daniel groaned and grabbed the radio once again. He was still getting used to the idea of accepting Simmons. “Daniel here!”

“Sergeant, I’ve got some news. How far are you from the airport?”

“It’s still a way off but we’re getting there!”

“Get moving then because Kingsley is heading to the airport. Apparently, the cargo plane that landed there was for him!”

Daniel was still furious about his old friend’s betrayal, but him being the owner of that plane was a complete surprise on the other hand. “That prick has his own plane?!” he yelled.

“I wouldn’t be surprised if it was a forward payment for his job here. But yes, he has one, and he’s getting ready to board it, so hurry the hell up!”

Daniel almost dropped his radio when a grenade exploded on the other side of their vehicle. He, Walters, and Langley quickly jumped out of their cover to take out the grenadier, then continued the conversation. “We need to catch him before he leaves. That plane is our only escape!”

“We’re on their tail but they’ve got quite the head-start…” Simmons explained.

Daniel shook his head, then saw Patterson, North, and Nichols run-up to his position with an ammo box. “That’ll be thirty bucks Sergeant!” said North jokingly.

“Yeah just add it to my bill! Kingsley is on his way to take the last plane out of the airport.”

Nichols looked around the battlefield, then after thinking for a few seconds she shook her head and sighed. “Ah screw it, let’s go and take an abandoned car,” she suggested and then turned to Daniel. “…where’s Cipher and Zenovich?”

“Doing precisely what you just recommended,” he replied. “But someone needs to stay behind to cover these people.”

Langley pulled the charging handle back on her rifle. “Leave that to me! Karla can pilot just as well as I can but she’s a much better fighter.”

“Are you sure you’ll be alright on your own?” Patterson asked as he grabbed a few clips from the ammo box.

Langley chuckled “Once again, I got shot out of the sky once and I survived that. This is a piece of cake compared to that!”

Patterson saluted Langley, and after he tossed a few clips to Daniel, North, and Nichols, they ran to the front of their group, looking for Cipher and Zenovich.

“Simmons,” Patterson said into Daniel’s radio “We’re on our way to the airport.”

“Roger that Lieutenant. Send Kingsley a bullet in my name!”

“Actually I have an idea on how we can do that while getting on the plane as well, but I need Kingsley to think he’s in the clear.”

“Right-o. We’ll stay out of sight. Simmons out.”

As the four of them ran away from the sounds of the firefight, Daniel could hear the sound of a few cars from closer and closer. Eventually, an SUV and a sports-car drifted into their smoke and rubble-filled street, each of them being driven by a GIS agent.

Daniel waved at them to stop and then chuckled. “Dibs on the SUV!”

North stared at him in confusion. “Why would you take that over the sports car?”

“Because it drives like a lighter T-Croc! Trust me, you’ll love it!”

As soon as the cars stopped, both Cipher and Zenovich got out. “Two cars, as ordered” announced Zenovich.

“Right, pick one, and then follow us,” Patterson said hastily. “We’re heading to the airport to kill the local NAF commander.”

Cipher turned to Patterson. “You have a confirmation on him?”

“Captain Leonard Kingsley. And he might just have the codes to our nuke too so let’s not waste any time.”

Without a word, the two agents jumped into the sports car while Daniel and the rest of Rhino, along with Nichols, got into the SUV. Daniel floored the gas pedal as soon as everyone was in. The airport was only a few kilometers away but they still had to hurry. And if that plane took off before they arrived, it would be over for all of them.

“Do we know anything about Nick and the others?” asked North after a while to break the silence.

“They’re alive but shaken,” Patterson replied, turning back from the shotgun seat. “Hopkins had her right shoulder shattered by a gauss round, while Riley got a bullet into his left arm, and from what the Major told me it seems like that he’s not too well either. Jones, Jason, Winters, Tibor, Hauet, and Captain Brown though…”

Patterson didn’t finish his sentence, but his soldiers understood what happened anyway. Daniel mouthed a curse, while Norton was shaking his head in disbelief.

“All the people we’ve lost, and in the end, it was for nothing…”

Patterson looked at Norton. “It wasn’t for nothing. It’s horrifying that we lost so many of our brothers and sisters in arms, but we managed to rescue dozens of locals from certain death or slavery and uncovered a global conspiracy and multiple traitors in the process. And who knows, we might even find that deactivation code…”

“And that’s worth the lives of how many of our soldiers?” Daniel asked.

Patterson turned towards Daniel to answer but didn't end up saying anything. Eventually, he just sighed and stared out the windshield. “…not one.”

“At least they didn’t die for nothing,” Nichols remarked, though Daniel wasn't sure if she actually believed that.

They drove in silence for a while longer before North spoke up again. “If we do find that deactivation code, somebody has to be at the power plant to enter it.”

Patterson immediately turned around in his seat. “Not a chance Corporal. You don’t get to blow yourself up until you’re a Lieutenant, got it?”

“LT, Hopkins isn’t exactly fit for duty, which leaves me as the only one who knows how that missile works, or at least how to work the controls on it,” he argued. “I can handle any remaining enemies, and if you don’t find the code in the end, then I’ll die happy, knowing that I fought for something good until my last breath.”

“He’s right Cole,” agreed Nichols. “…that code isn’t going to be much good if there’s no one there who can enter it.”

“As I said, it’s not happening.” Patterson retorted, much more sternly this time. “I’m not about to leave behind someone else.”

Daniel suddenly stepped on the breaks, causing the car's tires to screech as their SUV stopped in a matter of seconds.

“Dan?” asked Cole in his surprise.

“Sir, I know it better than anyone why you are so hell-bent on not losing soldiers for any reason, but North has a point.”

He could practically see Patterson’s inner rage take over as his entire body tensed up. “He does, but he’s not going, and neither does Cipher nor anyone else! I won’t have more people die on me today!”

“Cole, if he wants to stay then let him!” Nichols said sternly. “it’s his choice!”

Patterson turned around and looked Nichols straight in the eye. “You can shut the hell up after you got Hodson killed in Klosaap!”

“You know as well as I do that that wasn’t my fault! How about you––”

Nichols was about to get into a fight with Cole but North quickly got in between the two. “With all due respect sir, this is my decision to make, not yours,” said North.

Cole turned to Norton. “It is when I’m your commanding officer!”

“Then consider me a fugitive and a deserter!”

With that, North moved to the edge of his seat and jumped out of the vehicle, slamming the door behind him. Patterson reached for the door on his side to follow after him, only for Daniel to slam the lock button on the dashboard just in time.

“God damn it, Sergeant, let me out this instant!” yelled Patterson.

Daniel stepping on the gas pedal was his answer.

*

When they finally arrived at the airport Simmons and the others were waiting for them. Blackfort Airport, located at the edge of the city center, looked more like a military airport than a commercial one between all the watchtowers, walls, and barbed wire on the perimeter walls, which fit in nicely with the rest of the city. It was hard to see the whole thing now that it was nighttime again, but Daniel wagered that the whole place was about twice as big as Blegodon city's airport.

Kingsley arrived just a few minutes before them, and according to Simmons, he and his escort had entered Hangar 12. There was only about an hour left before the reactor would wipe the slate clean, so they had to hurry.

While Simmons was discussing something with Jefferson, Cipher and Zenovich moved up to them. The remaining soldiers of Alpha were sitting on the ground, and Daniel immediately noticed Hopkins’s rather grave state. Her shoulder and her left leg had dried up blood on it, and her armor was full of dents and holes. “She doesn’t look good at all…” Daniel remarked.

Hopkins stood up from the ground, and limped over to Patterson, despite being barely able to stand. “Lieutenant…” she said without looking into his eyes.

Patterson walked over to her and put his hand onto her working shoulder. “It’s fine. You did what you thought was best, and I doubt anybody can blame you for wanting to save Brown.”

Hopkins smiled, but she was still looking away. Daniel wasn’t sure how long it would take her to forgive herself. Or if she ever would.

As he was wondering about that, Major Jefferson and Captain Stanley walked over to them. “Where’s Corporal Norton?”

Patterson pointed behind his back. “He decided to dessert and he ran back to the City Hall. He can probably get there on his own, but I would have preferred if he had stayed, or if someone went to cover his ass.”

Dresden quickly jumped up from the ground. “Consider it done Lieutenant. I can smell North from miles away anyway…”

Daniel looked at Patterson with crossed arms, who just rolled his eyes. “Wasn't exactly a request, but fine."

“Just take one of the cars with you,” Nichols suggested. “...you’ll never catch up on foot.”

Dresden nodded, and after saluting Patterson, the second in command of Rhino platoon ran towards a car to cover one of the platoon’s members. It seemed quite fitting.

Hopkins did not seem to agree, however, and as Dresden drove off she looked at Patterson with visible anger on her face. “I thought you would know better than to throw away your people’s lives like that––”

“You don’t know anything about me Corporal, so I suggest you stow it,” he retorted “Now if there’s nothing else, I suggest we head to the hangar before––”

As soon as Patterson said that out loud, Kingsley’s private plane rolled out of Hangar 12. It was one of the old Sapphirian planes that had four rotors instead of the turbines the newer ones had. It didn’t have any weapons on it luckily, but there were hull attachments on its side that indicated it had either extra armor plating or some other subsystems.

“Well, shit...” sighed Major Jefferson.

“Okay, listen up, because we only get one shot at this,” Patterson explained hastily.

* * *

Leonard Kingsley was furious. Losing Blackfortress was one thing but losing the Danuvee’s black box was a whole other class of defeat.

Sergeant Schmidt had it on him, and he had absolutely no idea where he was. He wanted to find him and take the Hard Drive either by force or reason, but with the detonation being so close he didn’t want to risk ending up the same way Lola’s father did. He was hoping that Sergeant Schmidt would survive this ordeal as well, just like he did with everything in the past, and that they would be able to retrieve it on another day. But as he was staring at the countdown timer of their missile, he concluded that it was foolish to think that. He'd get burned to a crisp either by the explosion or radiation, along with everyone else who remained behind.

He knew quite well that he had the power to stop that from happening. He was the one that command had trusted with the deactivation codes after all. But if he did, then the whole fight would have been nothing. Nails, George, and all the other operatives under his command would have died for nothing.

No, Blackfortress had to burn. Even if it meant sacrificing the black box and the operatives still in the city. If the New Azuno Federation was ever hoping to gain a foothold in international politics, they had to take down the major players, or at least shake their foundation. The loss of the black box would make it harder to find that damned ship, but they'd find it eventually.

As he was standing in his plane's cockpit with a mug of Gredrurgian Beer in his hand, his pilot, Sparre, suddenly raised his head.

“Commander Swordfish, sir! There’s something rolling onto the runway!”

Kingsley leaned forward to have a look through the window. It took some time for him to notice a stolen NAF truck that parked in front of their plane. He had hoped that Richard Schmidt would give him a plane that had armor and weapons on it, but it seemed like he didn’t trust Kingsley enough. “Can’t we just roll over them?” he asked with a shrug.

“We probably can, but they might ram one of our landing gears. I'd rather not risk it, Commander.”

“Great… tell Hernandez to grab a hammerhead then and take care of it.”

The pilot quickly called Hernandez on the internal comm system, when suddenly the plane’s external radio started beeping. The truck was calling them. The pilot looked at Kingsley, who in turn just shrugged and pressed a button, accepting the call.

Major Jefferson’s harsh voice came through it. “Captain.”

Kingsley was very curious about how they managed to get here, but chances were that they simply fought their way to the airport. It also meant that Farid, Brett, and everyone who was guarding them were most likely dead. A shame, but at least they wouldn't be fried by the nuclear explosion.

He took a sip from his mug then spoke up. “Ah, Major! Nice to hear from you again!”

“Same to you, Captain,” he replied with the exact same false modesty. “Now, I’m sorry for sounding blunt, but in the name of the Global Intelligence Service, the Aftonian Military corps, the Sapphirian Navy, and pretty much every other goddamned military organization on the planet, I’m asking you to get the hell out of that plane and surrender!”

Kingsley had a good laugh at that. “Of course, sir Major! I’ll get right on that! Anything else?”

“Somebody wants to speak with you.”

A familiar female voice came through the radio. “Hello, Captain,” said Hopkins.

Now Kingsley really regretted not having a missile pod on the plane. “Ah, Lola! It’s nice to––”

“Cut the bullshit “Captain”. You’re a disgusting merciless traitor, who will die a painful death if it’s up to me,” scowled Hopkins in a tone that might have physically hurt somebody else. “With the jammer offline, everyone will know what you did. You’re finished!”

“Well, I am truly sorry, Corporal. Not because of what I did mind you, but because unlike me, you will die without accomplishing anything significant in your life.”

With that, he turned off the comms and a moment later Hernandez fired his rocket. It flew across the runway and hit the truck, blowing it to pieces. Kingsley felt strange for a moment, then took a sip from his drink and patted his pilot on the back. “Right, take us home Sparre!”

* * *

“Good luck guys!” said Hopkins into her radio as she and the rest of the squad watched the plane take off with Patterson, Riley, and Nichols on the landing gears.

“Thanks, but we won’t need it!” Nichols replied from the radio.

Cole’s idea to use the agents' stolen NAF truck and a few voice recorders as bait seemed stupid at first, but Daniel had to admit that it worked magnificently. As the cargo plane slowly ascended, Daniel felt something move in his heart. Cole and the others really didn’t know what to expect in that thing, and while he and Nichols were a deadly pair when they were not busy killing each other, even they had their limits.

Still, they had Riley with them, who despite being a simple journalist, proved to be one of the most useful members of the squad. If anyone could keep those two alive it was him.

He watched the plane for a while longer, then turned to the others. “So what now?”

“I assume we take this whole place over?” Nick guessed.

“Precisely,” Jefferson replied. “We can’t leave a single one of these bastards standing if we plan to get the civilians out of here, so we need to clean up thoroughly.”

“Major,” Simmons said suddenly. “I found a Warbird type dropship while I was scouting the place, and I wouldn’t mind recovering that thing.”

“We could use that for EVAC in a ditch.” Stanley agreed. “It’s a good idea.”

“It also probably has a few weapons on it,” added Zenovich.

“Alright, alright,” Jefferson said as he raised his hand. “can you handle that on your own, Katey?”

This was probably the first time Daniel had heard Simmons’s first name, and he immediately noticed that it was off. He hadn’t met an Esmosian with an English name since… ever.

“Certainly!” she replied. “Cipher and Zenovich can give you a hand with the cleanup.

“Simmons,” said Agent Cipher. “Thank you, but I think it’s time I came clean with everyone.”

Daniel and Nick looked at each other, and then at the agent. “What’s going on agent?”

Cipher reached into his inner pocket and took out another GIS badge, but this one had a lot more details on him, along with his name.

“My full name is Agent Ian Rockfield. Formerly an AMC soldier.”

Daniel felt something inside him shatter. If it wasn’t for Nick he would have collapsed on the ground, but instead, he managed to hold his footing with Nick’s help. Ira and Hopkins were both staring at him weirdly.

“…are we supposed to know that name?” Ira asked.

Daniel shook his head. “No, not you, but…” he muttered, as he slowly regained his composure. He looked his long-dead friend in the eyes, or at least the center of his helmet. “Ian… what the fuck happened with you?”

Major Jefferson looked at the two of them, and then at the others. “Let’s give them some space. We’ll wait for you two at the side of the terminal building, but hurry.”

Daniel nodded, without looking at the Major. Most of the squad, except for Simmons, followed Major Jefferson.

“I apologize for not telling you sooner Sergeant,” said Rockfield as he reached for his helmet. “…but in a moment, you’ll see that my situation is even more complicated.

As the droid took its helmet off, Daniel felt something else shatter inside him, though since the previous shock hadn’t exactly worn off yet, he remained standing. As the Mark III IR Droid was staring at him in the eyes, he wondered if he should even be surprised at this point. “Ah, right. Droid. Should have known,” he said rather nonchalantly.

Simmons and the droid both stared at him. “…really? That doesn’t make you go nuts?” Simmons asked.

“Simmons, I spent the entire day fighting for my life! I’m far too tired for this shit. Besides, Robofield wasn’t exactly too subtle with his constant use of the enhanced servo motors.”

The droid, who had Platoon written on its head, turned to Daniel. “You do understand the situation, right?”

“Well, let’s see. You’re a Mark III IR Droid with the name Platoon, and I happen to know enough about project IR to remember that you were supposedly destroyed, just like how Rockfield died but was supposedly alive. In a way, both of you were like Schrödinger’s… soldier, so you two being the same person sort of… makes sense. In a way.”

Simmons stared at Daniel for a bit before she started clapping. “You are the first person so far who didn’t freak out. Good job!”

He rolled his eyes as an answer. “Yeah, thanks. But I would like to know what happened with the original Rockfield.”

Platoon nodded. “He got caught up in an NAF plot similarly to your squad, and with Agent Simmons and her team, he started investigating them. Sadly, he perished during our assault at one of their main facilities in an attempt to rescue me. Before he died however, he gave me permission to use his armor and identity to protect myself.”

Daniel sighed. So that’s what happened. He wasn’t sure what to think or feel after everything that happened today, but there was one very important part of this entire story that he needed to mention.

“Rockfield was willing to work with you?” he asked Simmons.

The woman sighed as well and took her helmet off. “He was a lot more hostile to me than you were. But he was willing to put our differences aside. Eventually.”

Daniel nodded. “Well,” he said as he looked at Platoon. “if that’s true then I can accept this. I knew Rockfield for as long as Cole did, and if even the slightest part of him lives in you then I owe it to him to help.”

He held his hand out to Platoon, and after they shook hands he turned to Simmons. He hesitated for a while and then extended his hand once again.

“Truce?” Daniel asked.

Simmons smiled and shook his hand. “Truce.”