The End of the Beginning (Part 1b)

Connors was a highly decorated soldier. Too bad the army he serviced for did not hand out medals and ribbons. There was no honor or integrity in his line. He was a pure mercenary. Death loomed in his dark brown eyes. He worked his way up the ranks with his employer. He did everything from extorting small businesses all the way up to political assassinations. If he was paid to do it, he will. Greed and the taste of blood were the only ribbons he needed. Connors was sitting in his office going over some secret documents involving the arrival of two new prisoners. He was confused as to why the prisoners were locked down in his building. All prisoners were sent directly into Building A where they would be executed or tortured through experiments. No matter, he never questioned the grand scheme of the organization.

There was a firm knock at his open door. A tall Nigerian man stood in the doorway brandishing a tray of food. He entered the office and set the tray on the corner of Connors’ desk. “The men are fed and are awaiting the game plan for tonight’s patrol,” the Nigerian stated as he sat down on the opposite side of the desk.

Connors continued reading his papers without acknowledging his visitor’s arrival. He didn’t look up until he signed his name at the bottom of the document. “Please take this to drop box and return back here. I need you to suit up for tonight’s patrol. We are going to be one person short tonight.” The Nigerian nodded. “Let the men aware of the shortage. Hopefully it will send a reminder to them not to go snooping in restricted areas. Including you Shiv.”

“Couldn’t we have someone sent down here from the next shift?” Shiv asked.

“Unfortunately, the next two buses in are all new recruits. They might send Mason down but it is highly unlikely. He might have the pleasure of training these assclowns,” Connors stated as he reached for his dinner. He immediately brushed the vegetables off the plate and back on to the tray. “And take this god awful rabbit food with you”

Shiv nodded and walked out with the document and tray of unwanted nutrition. Connors was always the last one to eat, and that’s how he prefers it. There was no rhyme or reason behind it, except he wants them to wait around for him. Tonight’s meal was pork chops and instant mashed potatoes. Only the edges of the pork were cooked thoroughly, the rest of the chops were too pink for his taste. He saved the undone meat for the guard dogs back at his personal quarters. Connors stood up from his desk towering over the now miniscule oak furniture. He walked over to his personal fridge and pulled out a frosted mug and a can of Guinness. The cold concoction flowed into the mug cascading with carbonation bubbles that made his taste buds tingle. When the can was empty he crumpled it into a ball and tossed it towards the metal garbage can. The can met its target and landed against the metal in a thunderous bang. Connors’ eyes widened.

Shortly after, two more thunderous sounds rang through the underground fortress. Connors knew there was trouble. He grabbed his AK47 and slung it over his shoulder and grabbed his beverage next. The dark liquid disappeared down his gullet in seconds. He was never able to work efficiently without his daily allowance of beer. He ran out of the office into the conference room where his confused crew was gearing up for the unexpected. Shiv was also there despite not having ample time to dress up in his combat gear.

“What is going on, sir,” questioned a short Latino guard named Morales.

“How the fuck should I know, Morales! It just happened. Someone radio Control and find out. Until they can get their head out of their asses, we are heading to the outer entrance. We are short one so I don’t want anyone falling back to guard the necessities. Whatever it was it’s right at our doorstep. I want a staggered ladder formation when we get there,” Connors was barking orders like a football coach during the last two minutes of a game. “Let Control aware that we need backup to head directly to 2-C and 2-D.”

Everyone was ready to roll out. Clips were loaded and extras were picked up off the tables. Nervousness stank up the stale air. It’s been awhile since a breach of the facility occurred, especially one with explosives. Most intruders ended up being hikers who just took the wrong path, and paid dearly for it. The only guard not holding a firearm was a sandy blonde Canadian communications expert that was on a secure landline. He was talking with Control trying to find information and deploying backups. He gave a finger signal to Connors telling him to roll out with force.

“Alright team, shoot first then ask questions,” Connors screamed. “Patrick take the rear when you get off the phone.” Patrick saluted as the team rolled out.

Connors and his men lined themselves up in the hallway staring at the entrance bay where the explosions were heard. They lined up on both sides of the hallway taking cover behind doors and overturned furniture. Everyone was staring at the door with rifles drawn. Connors placed three claymore minds at the entrance and sternly walked back to his cover. The place was silent and time moved slowly.

Patrick came down the steps and headed towards the hallway. He walked silently without alerting anyone he was coming up from behind. His firearm was not drawn. He appeared to be in no rush to assist. However, his hands were full. In each hand was a flash bang. He stood in the middle of the hallway behind everyone. He stood tall and cracked his neck from side to side. His lips were moving as if he were counting down. At once both flash bangs were tossed down the hallway. The one on the right side was thrown towards the front of the team while the left one was going halfway between all of them. Patrick turned around with his back facing the projectiles. They didn’t even have a chance to hit the ground. They both exploded at waist level. When Patrick turned forward he was carrying two semi automatic 9mms. The stunned guards were shielding their eyes and bumping into each other. The 9mms unloaded their full clip of ammunitions into the bewildered. Some guards returned fire, but the didn’t know where to fire. Some shot at the door’s direction while one soldier shot in any direction he spun. Within seconds, everyone but Patrick was laying on the floor.

He walked up to a motionless Connors who was covered in blood and magnesium. One of the flash bangs discharged right in his face. Patrick picked up the detonating devices and pulled a radio earpiece from his pants pocket. “Clear the door,” he said. The door blew open with great force from the claymores. He started walking towards the front door.

A dark skinned soldier greeted him with even darker face paint under his eyes. Behind him followed a troop of a dozen heavily armed soldiers. “Good work Patrick,” stated the apparent leader. “Now lets fan out and complete our objective. Is this all the tangos in this sector?”

“No Sgt. Frost. Control stated there should have been another one on our shift tonight. A late entry, but he never reported in. Other than that, a bunch of noobs should be here within minutes,” Patrick relayed the known information to his superior.

Frost reported into his radio, “We may have one unknown floating in the building. Be extremely careful. Let’s not wander anywhere that is not needed. Once we have our prize, we are literally blowing this joint via unauthorized air strike.”