Title: Hostile Territory
Subtitle: Manticore Mission #X5002-541 : Balkans
This story is a part of the Manticore Mission Files created by Infie.
Author: Era
Contact: [email protected]
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Introduction: The outline for this story came from spikeswench's reponse to my request for mission profiles. The concept of the infantry unit in the Balkan War was hers. Thank you spikeswench!
Then I was thinking about my favourite authors, and I could think of no one better to write a mission than Era. Once you start this, you will see why. Thank you, Era! Now on with the story!
- Infie
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Disclaimer: Cameron/Eglee own the concept and the characters of Dark Angel. The show belongs to Fox (may they burn in the flames of hell for eternal time). All original characters are my own creations.
Rating: PG-13 / Light R.
A/N: Co-production between Infie and myself. The idea for the mission came from her. The writing is done by me and all beta work (and trust me, this is probably more work than the writing itself) by Infie.
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Mission X5002-541 : Hostile Territory
Chapter One.
Manticore, outside Seattle, Wa.
February 10th 2011 - 0700 hours.
494 ignored the guard posted outside the door and opened it quickly, stepping inside. The small briefing room was occupied by three other X5s, sitting in chairs, waiting for whatever was going to happen. He didn't know any of them but that was no surprise to him. After almost two years in Psy-Ops and re-indoctrination he barely recognised his own unit anymore. The X5s eyed him carefully as he entered. 494 ignored them and took a seat on the other side of the table, positioning himself so he could study the others and at the same time watch the door without being obvious. He had been ordered to report here right after the morning roll call. It had worried him a bit, but seeing the other X5s here as well made him relax slightly. He couldn't recall himself doing anything wrong, and it was not likely the other soldiers had all done something they were to be punished for. That meant something else was going to happen.
The other three X5s sat silently, waiting patiently for their superior officers to arrive, and 494 surveyed them surreptitiously. A dark haired, tall boy was sitting beside him. He looked slightly familiar but 494 couldn't quite place him. The two others were a short, skinny boy and a blond girl, neither of which he recognised at all. They were all wearing the same blank Manticore expressions on their faces, and he couldn't tell anything more about them from the way they looked. Out of the corner of his eye he saw the doorknob turn and quickly stood at attention, facing the door. He noticed with satisfaction that the other soldiers were a little too slow to get up before Colonel Lydecker entered the room.
"At ease, soldiers," Lydecker ordered.
The X5s relaxed slightly but remained standing, waiting for further orders.
Lydecker walked up behind the desk and opened his dispatch-case, taking out several papers. "Sit down."
He waited a few seconds while the soldiers took their seats, and then turned on the overhead projector. "Manticore has been asked to demonstrate the capabilities of the X5 soldiers in a combat situation. You are about to be sent on your first mission as soldiers for the United States of America."
494 carefully studied the large map of the Balkans that the colonel placed on the overhead projector. The city of Split was marked in red. He concentrated on holding back the excitement from his face. They were going on their first mission.
"You have been selected for this mission because you meet the requirements and have the skills necessary to complete the objective." Lydecker fastened his eyes on the soldiers, one at a time. "I expect this mission to be carried out without any complications," he said with a harsh voice, leaving no doubt what would happen to anyone who failed. 494 met his stare with a blank look. He was used to it by now and the colonel no longer scared him like he had before. The doctors on the other hand... He shivered slightly at the memory.
Lydecker handed out the blue mission brief folders. The soldiers waited for his nod before they opened them. 494 quickly read through the information, his mind already going through the different phases of the mission.
"This," the colonel started, placing a new overhead picture on the projector, "is the city of Split, in what used to be Croatia. The Serbian nationalists currently hold it, but the control of the city has changed hands several times the past few years. We don't know exactly where their headquarters are, but we believe it's somewhere in the eastern parts of the city."
494 hid his surprise. The colonel had just admitted there was something he didn't know. That was something he'd never done before, as far as 494 knew.
"The objective is to locate the HQ and eliminate it. Obtain all intel you can find and evacuate to the extraction point once the objective is completed." Lydecker leaned forward, looking coldly at the young soldiers. "Do not let anyone see you. If you're compromised you make sure to eliminate the threat. Understood?"
"Sir, yes sir!"
"Any questions?"
494 stood immediately. "Sir, the standard unit for a mission like this is five soldiers. Why are there only four being sent?"
He saw Lydecker's jaw clench and knew that whatever the reason was, it wasn't something the Colonel liked.
"You will be accompanied by Lieutenant Andrews from Special Forces. He will carry out the mission with you and evaluate your capabilities in battle." 494 saw the slight twitch at the corner of the colonel's mouth. "Lt. Andrews has been informed that he will evaluate the capabilities of specially trained infantry soldiers that have been in training for ten to twelve years. He has not been informed about the specifics of the Manticore project."
So they were going be monitored even now. By someone who had no idea what they were or what they were capable of. This might turn out to be even more fun than he'd thought.
"Any further questions?" Lydecker asked, and got nothing but silence in reply. "Good, gather your equipment and be prepared to leave in four hours. Dismissed!"
*****
494 followed the others to the armoury. There had been a short description of each of the X5s in the mission brief folder. He wasn't sure how he liked that. It was good to know what the other soldiers were capable of, but the glances they kept giving him told him the time he spent in Psy-Ops and reindoctrination could be a burden for him on this mission. The commanding Officer on the mission was the dark haired boy, X5-909. His record was good, not great but good. X5-241, the blonde girl, was the unit's sniper. She was about as good with the rifle as he had been before the whole '09 mess. The shorter of the boys, X5-962, was the one with the most impressive records, if you could call equalling his own scores from 3 years ago impressive. He was sure they would be good enough to complete the mission; the colonel would never have chosen them otherwise.
The equipment they were issued for this operation was first class, as was everything they used. 494 liked that they would be armed for stealth more than raw power. Their presence in the targeted area was supposed to be kept secret, so stealth was more important than firepower. Besides, he liked the silenced MP10 better than the clumsy M16, which was still the standard weapon in the US military. The MP10 was lighter and easier to handle, the shorter stock made it faster and deadlier in close range combat - like when entering buildings - and the silencer was first class. He smiled to himself as he received the Glock21C pistol. He would never trade his Glock for any other sidearm, no matter how silenced and discreet the alternative was.
*****
Exactly four hours after the briefing ended, the four young X5s stood ready and waiting for the army truck that would drive them the short way to the airfield. They were all clad identically, in urban warfare camouflage in various shades of grey, heavy army boots - specially manufactured in their sizes - and the usual military backpacks. The truck arrived on time and the soldiers embarked it. 494 sat a little distance apart from the others. They had been talking among themselves, shooting quick glances in his direction when they thought he wouldn't notice. He knew they didn't fully trust him. A part of him understood why, and another part wondered how they could distrust someone chosen by the colonel. If he was a liability he wouldn't have been sent on the mission.
When they reached the airstrip he still hadn't figured out a way to make them trust him. Truth be told, there probably wasn't anything he could say to make them trust him. He would have to prove his loyalty and capability with his actions, on the battlefield. Going into battle with soldiers that didn't really trust him wasn't something he looked forward to, but he couldn't see how he had any choice. He held back a smile as he took his seat in the huge C-5A Galaxy cargo plane. It was packed full with various equipment and supplies. From the labels he'd seen while passing through the cargo area he decided that the supplies probably were for the last of the old US military bases in Europe - the armoured division placed in Berlin, once to meet the threat from the Soviet Union and later to act as training partner for the NATO allies. 494 knew that the US military once had been a lot more active in Europe, but after the Pulse, the crippled economy had forced the United States to withdraw most of their forces from the global playing field.
This was of course nothing they had been taught in any of their numerous classes. History was one of his favourite subjects though, and no one had bothered to censor the history books. Most of them were from pre-pulse time of course, but so were many of the military strategies they were taught. It hadn't taken him long to figure out that the military strategies and theories he learned made a lot more sense if he had a better understanding of how the world looked when the books were written. 494 doubted that the one who ordered the 1st armoured division to Berlin had even considered the fact that it would be the last considerable force the US had outside its boundaries. Or, for that matter, that the main purpose of that force would be to be on parade and scream for more funding to be able to train efficiently instead of be on guard, prepared to meet the Russian T80's in the First Guards Tank and Third Shock armies. The world had changed and the purpose of the armed forces had changed with it, but many of the theories were still based on the old world. And that was something he tried to remember and see through. One could learn a lot from mistakes made in the past.
He sensed the huge cargo plane stop climbing as it reached its optimal altitude. It was time to get his head back in the game. Glancing over at his fellow soldiers he found them occupied with their maps, memorizing them and trying to find possible locations for the enemy HQ. He had already memorized the maps, and he had a pretty good idea about where the HQ would be situated. He had no idea how the city looked like now though. How much of it was destroyed and how bad was the situation? Missing those facts made it almost impossible to work out a plan before they got there - and it was probably also the reason why his conclusions didn't match the intel Colonel Lydecker had provided them with.
The city would probably be in pretty bad shape, he decided. The Balkan War had raged with short breaks for almost twenty years. That was bound to leave some marks on the infrastructure. The Pulse had had disastrous effects on other parts of the world as well. The self-appointed world police had suddenly stood without the means to interfere with local politics anywhere they wanted. While large parts of the world had celebrated, other parts hadn't fared as well. Many third world countries had suffered heavily from the loss of one of their most important trade partners, and had been thrown into chaos. The UN had been forced to withdraw their peacekeeping forces from the, at that time, relatively calm Balkans, and scatter them all over the world. It hadn't taken long before war was once again raging in the Balkans, and the two years that had passed since the Pulse hadn't brought any change. The old divisions were no longer as defined as they once had been. The Serbian Nationalists still held much of the country, but their determination to unite the area once again was mostly gone. The war had turned into something that was not completely, but rather close to, total chaos.
The Balkan was a full-scale, free for all war zone, and they were heading straight into it. 494 smiled a wicked smile. He liked it.
*****
Andrews Air Force Base, outside Washington, D.C.
The pilot landed smoothly on the huge runway, braking softly and taking the Galaxy to a complete stop at the end of the runway. They wouldn't taxi to any of the terminals or hangars this time. The pilot had no idea what was so secret about their cargo, but judging from the flight pattern, he guessed it was some special ops soldiers. Not that he minded the slight detour they would have to take before they headed to Berlin. Dropping a few parachutes on a small island was way more fun than flying supplies from point A to point B and back again. He could see a huge tanker truck and a HumVee waiting a short distance away. The truck immediately drove up to the plane to refuel it. The HumVee stopped behind the cargo ramp and the loadmaster lowered the ramp to let someone on board. He couldn't see who the person was and he doubted he would have recognized whoever it was anyway. Besides, it was probably better to not know.
494 rolled his eyes at the humour in the situation. Picking up Lt. Andrews on the Andrews AFB. He doubted any of the office-jerks that had planned the flight had even noticed the hilarious coincidence. He turned his head slightly to watch the last addition to their unit. Andrews was a tall, muscular man in his late twenties. He had the same kind of buzz-cut as the X5's and all other soldiers he'd ever seen and was clad in an outfit similar to theirs. The camouflage was not in the exact same shades of grey but it was close enough that it took more than a quick look to notice the differences. A large backpack was slung over one of his shoulders and he carried a bulletproof jacket in his free hand. 494 shrugged. Body armour was something he wouldn't mind having himself. Sure, it restrained your movement a little but it could save your life. And there was no body armour designed that would slow down an X5 to human speed anyway; he would still be faster than the norm without armour. Unfortunately there was no armour designed for anyone of his size either. The Lieutenant boarded the plane and his gaze swept around the interior, no doubt looking for his fellow soldiers. 494 held back a laugh when the norm's eyes found the four young X5s. The look on his face was priceless, complete shock and disbelief.
*****
Thomas Andrews saw the huge airplane come in for a perfect landing and taxi to the end of the runway where he was waiting with his equipment. He was curious to meet the new soldiers. The information had been sparse at best. He knew that they had been in training for about as long as he had, and that this was their first mission. Ten years of training was plenty, but going into a war zone with soldiers that had no real combat experience was a little worrisome. He had been to the Balkans twice with his regular unit - before the Pulse, but never close to the location for this operation. He shrugged. His superiors wanted him to evaluate the capabilities of these new soldiers, and that's what he was going to do. He just hoped they had the necessary training to make it in and out from there alive. It would be difficult to report otherwise.
Climbing up the cargo ramp and into the airplane he studied the interior. The cargo area was about half-full, mainly with supplies - for the base in Berlin he supposed. The equipment they would need was placed closest to the ramp and fitted with parachutes. Good, everything seemed to be in order so far. He climbed the stairs to the passenger area. Hesitating, he glanced over to the few chairs in the uncomfortable passenger area. The seats looked empty. His jaw dropped when the face of a young boy peered around the back of a chair. What the fuck was this? Three more faces appeared, watching him carefully. Two more young boys and... was that a girl? Blinking quickly a few times he looked around for the hidden cameras that had to be there. Finding nothing, he drew a deep breath and forced himself to calm down and proceed toward the kids.
909 stood and saluted the newly arrival. "Welcome on board sir! I'm X5-909, I'll be your commanding officer on this mission."
Andrews dropped his backpack.
They were kids for Christ's sake! Regaining his composure, he took a closer look at the figures in front of him. They looked like they were about ten to twelve years old, barely old enough to be left home alone for an evening. But there was nothing childlike in their behaviour. Meeting the eyes of the boy in front of him he felt chills running down his spine. The hardness in those eyes was not to be mistaken. He reached out to shake hands with the boy in front of him - might as well be polite, he decided. The boy looked puzzled at his outstretched hand before grabbing it awkwardly. Andrews eyes widened in surprise as he felt the strong grip. No matter what they looked like, they were surely not normal kids. Stepping back from X5-909, he quickly studied the three other kids. The boy and the girl who sat on his left eyed him with eyes equally as hard and emotionless as 909's had been. The lone boy on the right however, looked at him with an expression that could only be described as amused. Okay, he had probably shown his shock clearly when he first saw them. Trying to regain his dignity he took a seat next to the lone boy. This was not what he had expected to see, and he couldn't really decide if it made the whole thing more interesting, or made his wish to be somewhere else even stronger.
494 took a closer look at the soldier at his side. He had been surprised to see them, which was understandable, but he had been quick to accept the situation. Of course he should be, after all he was a soldier. "What's your designation?" he asked.
Andrews gave him a quizzical look. "My what?"
"Your designation, sir," 494 repeated.
"I'm Lt Andrews." Was that what the boy meant with designation?
"That is a name, not a designation."
"That is my name, Thomas Andrews. To you I'm Lt Andrews." This was getting irritating. "I don't have a designation," he added to avoid further questions. They boy studied him for a second before he spoke again.
494 eyed the man carefully. He didn't have a designation? But he was a soldier; he had to have a designation. All real soldiers did. The trainers and the guards back at Manticore didn't have any of course. But they were not real soldiers either. Andrews was a soldier in a fighting unit, a special ops unit, and yet he didn't have a designation. That was interesting to say the least. Maybe norm soldiers didn't have designations?
He decided to drop the subject for now. "I'm 494," he introduced himself instead. "We'll be working together on this mission." He hadn't been told that straight out of course. How the unit would be split up was to be decided by the commanding officer, and 909 hadn't said anything about it yet. However, judging from the glances he got from the other X5s 494 knew he would be paired off with the norm. 909 and 962 would be Team A and he and the norm would be Team B. 241 would observe and provide cover with her rifle. It was an interesting situation. Being the one to work closest with the norm, the person who would be evaluating them, he would have the best chance to have an influence on the report. Colonel Lydecker had made it perfectly clear that a bad report was not something that could be tolerated. He was pretty sure that 909 didn't realize exactly how important this was. If he did, he would have placed the norm with himself. Instead he had chosen to work with the soldier he trusted the most and leave the norm to the one he didn't trust. 494 knew enough to realize that Manticore would have to get funding from somewhere. And now, all of a sudden, someone wanted an evaluation of how the X5s acted in combat situations. Someone was concerned about the project and needed reassurance. 494 smiled to himself. Interesting indeed. The most important task the X5s had ever been assigned, and right in the middle of it, in the position that mattered the most, they had placed the single X5 that no one trusted.
494 closed his eyes and commanded his body to relax, to sleep. The training had been slow the past few days and he had been able to get lots of sleep. Now he knew why, but he also knew that the coming days would be exhausting. 'Sleep when you can' was one of the first things they were taught. He would take that advice.
*******
The huge cargo plane set course for Europe with a lightly sleeping 494 on board. Had he given it a second thought he probably would have wondered why Colonel Lydecker picked him in the first place. Lydecker knew the other X5s didn't trust him, and probably knew that he would be paired off with the observer. Still, he had been chosen for the mission, and placed in the important position where he found himself. This was something 494 would reflect on a lot in the years to come.
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