The Horn

Delta makes it back to base: Tony reveals a bit of his past; Connor deals with Nick's situation and Jake snores

The flight back was too quick. For the first time in a while, I had a chance to catch some sleep. So for the three hour ride back to base, my sleep was restless and short. The pilot boomed over the loud speaker,

“Hey folks, we’re about to land back at base so buckle up”

His voice seemed to vibrate my entire body from my slumber, so naturally I awoke to find myself already holding a blade up to one of the rescues. The look of helplessness on his face immobilized me, so after a minute of stillness, I retracted my arm and slowly sat back down,

“Sorry man. I…I’m just a little shaken up from everything,”

“No problem,” says the dirty man, faking his calm with eyes that betray him.

I look around to see the other rescues also giving me stray glances, but my team knows what goes on inside my head, they aren’t even looking. The heliship stops its forward motion and hovers for a second over the landing pad, turning about so as to be positioned correctly. The rough shake of the landing shoves out the rest of my weariness and we begin to funnel out either side. After helping the more badly injured rescues and Nick onto stretchers, I step out onto the base. This base is the farthest west of all EAO territories, technically we’re in cowboy land right now but, the Horn is as fortified as a mountain fortress could get. Back when the old republic broke up, anarchy spread among the people with the rich and influential trying to make their own territories by promising folk security and food. Some of these territories actually worked for awhile until they joined or were invaded by one of the big two at the time. A small rarity of the rich decided to not seek power but protection, and invested in building giant fortifications, like castles but made of steel. One particularly wealthy business man, Albert Kay, had enough money to be able to build right into the side of a mountain and raise a massive steel wall encircling one side of the mountain. Although Mr. Kay was a Pacific Corp sympathizer, he left his fort to his daughter, Gabriella, in his will. Luckily, Gabriella fell in love with and married a young EAO soldier named James Wolfe, who happens to be the current Director of Military Affairs for the Eastern American Organization. The helipad is located towards the top of the base, giving me a perfect view of the Horn. The giant barricade still stands strong with canon portholes lining the rim and a healthy amount of troops patrolling the top. At the bottom of the wall towards the middle is the only road in or out via truck, currently covered by a lowered piece of steel and electro-fence on three sides. Past that a courtyard that was converted into training grounds. What seems like little brown insects scurry over, under, around or through a variety of obstacles, all under the roar of their instructors which could be heard from the where I stand, on top a mountain. The courtyard is enclosed by the base of the fort like a arc that makes rounded angles with the wall. The base rises up the side of the mountain in layers, slowly morphing from the arc to a rectangle when the structure reaches the peak of the mountain. With the morning sun beating down on us, the steel base shines like glass and in spots reflects the light so as to blind any lookers. Once I snap to my sense I find Tony entranced by the view to our left, the mountain range. The land is like a tumbling sea with rises and falls of autumn colors with a steady valley cutting between the tress. 

“Come Tony, its time we get some food,” I call. With a blink of his eye, the rookie comes to and smirks at me,

“I’ve never been here before. The colors are astonishing,”

“Where are you from lad?” I ask while raising an inviting arm towards the door,

“I’m from Queens sir. There are trees but nowhere near the amount here. My mom used to tell me that the city used to have a nice park towards the center where there were plenty of trees but it was set ablaze by secret Pacific sects working in the area,”

“So you came here straight from home? Hard to believe that you’d come right to Delta,”

“No I was stationed on the Canadian border for awhile and made my way south through small bases and forts, trying to repel whatever came our way,” 

We make our way across the platform to a door that quickly scans our faces, ensuring that we are EAO military. As the doors slide open, I ask,

“Just being on guard isn’t enough to land on Delta. What’s your story?”

“Well I got my recommendation at Fort Rox after the cowboy siege,” admits Tony as we make our way down a hallway that has one-side made of glass to see all the aircrafts in the hangar.

“ You were there at the siege? Heard that the fort would’ve been overrun if it weren’t for that stray missile,” I reply, surprised that this “rookie” was able to survive one of the worse nights of our campaign,

“Well sir, that wasn’t a stray missile,” he replies, “ Have you ever heard of the Stork Project?”

“Yea, some failed program at your Fort Rox that was supposed to stick a perfectly healthy soldier in a missile and land them safely behind enemy lines. What of it?”

“Well it wasn’t a complete failure. The night of the siege I had guard duty for one of the more calm areas of the wall, a back corner of sorts. I was about to doze off when I hear this faint beeping. After following the noise I find a red light blinking in the darkness and when I turned on a light, I found a fully operational bomb. At that moment is when the fighting started. Then mortars started hitting the base. Fire was everywhere, one half of the fort was completely ablaze. So here I was with a ticking time bomb in a fort that was getting blasted to hell,”

“Sounds like it sucked”

“Hell yea it did. So anyways, I’m running through the camps and the buildings until I spot the science lab, then I sprouted an idea. So I sprint inside and I see all these gadgets and gizmos, scanning for the….,”

“Stork missile,” I interrupt, “How’d you hear about it? I thought it was top secret at the time?”

Tony gives a chuckle as we walk into a huge hall with glass stairs going in every direction,

“Well get this, the team who actually put the whole thing together put up poster all over the place advertising the damn thing!” We both start to laugh as we descend down to the base level.

“So much for secret huh?” I reply,

“Yea you couldn’t piss with out seeing a poster when you look up. So anyways I find the damn thing and shove the bomb in it. Then I went to the nearest computer, hoping it was the right one, and got on. Turns out the missile was already set to go since as soon as I got online the system was already connected to a satellite looking at the fort. With a bit of adjusting I see the entire force of cowboys coming at us,”

“How big was it?”

“Big enough to blast a hole in our defenses up to the coastline,”

“Oh crap,” 

“Yes, oh crap. So naturally, I aimed right for the middle of the army and fired. The missile took off fine and the thing landed right where I wanted it to, but it didn’t explode,”

“So what’d you do?” We reached the bottom and stepped out into the courtyard and had the sun shine directly on our faces. 

“Well what could I do besides hold down the fort? Literally, since at that point the cowboys had started coming into the lab. So eight clips later I was getting desperate so I took a look at the screen and BOOM! The bomb had gone off and boy was it a big one. I could feel the shaking as if it was between my legs. After finishing off what cowboys were left in the lab I sat down at a desk and passed out.”

“You just, fell asleep?”

“Yea I was tired as hell. And when I woke up I find my commanding officer looking at the bodies on the floor. When I woke up he told me “Son, you’ve done a monstrous thing. Good work,” and he gave me a pat on the back,”

“I heard you took down one hundred men that day,” I say, nudging Tony on the shoulder.

“More like sixty but I’m not complaining. So I was promoted, Capt heard about me and so I rode my way down south in time for the rescue mission,”

“Well if what your telling me is true, you got brains and skill which we could all use right now,”. We walk side by side through another pair of sliding doors into the living quarters. What seems to be a waiting area has been converted into space for cots. Rows upon rows of cots are lined up from wall to wall, corner to corner, the titled floor almost covered. At this time of day, most of the cots are empty, save for a few troops soundly slumbering from night patrol or maybe even a long mission like us.

“Where are our cots sir?” asks Tony, his eyes jealously gazing at the sleeping folk.

“We don’t have any,” 

“And why not? We’ve been through hell and back!” The tension in his voice is rising, and humorous.

“Command has orders to give us a suite, where we get BEDS,” I slap him on the back of the head and chuckle away. After letting out a heavy breath he begins to smile as well. 

After navigating through the cot lines, we make it to a elevator, made of the same tough glass and metal as the rest of the building. We step in, press six, and go up.

“How does a military base have suites sarg?” asks Tony.

“This wasn’t always a base, son. A man built this place for his family and right now we are going to what must have been one of his daughter’s rooms. If its fitting all of us it has to be,” 

“You think it was the Director’s wife’s?” ask Tony. I laugh a bit at his question, reminding me of a child’s,

“I don’t know boy. Just be glad your alive and to enjoy the night, we are only here till this time tomorrow.” 

The elevator arrives at the floor and it looks like the suite is big enough, since the floor is the suite. The windows cover the entire outer wall, bending in to help form the crescent moon shaped room. The steel walls have a bluish shimmer as they complement the white carpet. Women’s furniture decorate the suite which doesn’t matter since I spot six, beautiful, comfortable beds. Jake is already passed out in one, while loudly snoring. He didn’t even bother to take off his gear, the bed absorbing what ever he got on himself today. Capt sits on another, leaning his back against the wall while reading what must be the Bible. No one bothers him while he’s in this state unless its an emergency, what ever he goes through on a mission he gets it all out while reading his beloved book.

“So what’s your story sarg? How’d you get on Delta?” asks Tony, slightly nudging me on the back,

“Don’t ask me kid. It’s not some heroic tale like yours. Take the far left bed and I’ll see you when I wake up,” I reply, quickly switching subjects,

“Yes sergeant,” he says, picking up on my disapproval of the subject,”

“Oh and kid,”

“Yes sir,” 

“Don’t wake up Jake under any circumstances. He will murder you with out waking up,”

“I’ll keep that in mind”.

He begins his trudge over to his bed as I sneak pass Jake and Capt to stand next a bed. I begin to take off my gear, my boots, shoulder and arm plates, and whatever was left of my chest plate. Apparently I wasn’t as cautious as I thought, bullet holes and lazer burns decorate the metal plate and there is a huge puncture near my rip cage.

“Explains the bruises,” I say to myself. 

As I get the rest of the plating off my legs, I see Connor sitting on the floor looking through the window while working with his sniper rifle. I drag myself over to sit next to him on the ground. 

“How are you holding up,” I ask him. The sunlight is strong coming in through the window, forcing me to cover my eyes.

“The sun is annoying you huh? Here,” and Connor, without looking up from his gun, hits a button on the floor near the window. Suddenly the room goes dark as shades flow across the glass. Then the shades turn into a nighttime view of a valley, with a soothing moon glowing in the top left corner, our only source of light.

“Better?” asks Connor, using a nail to scrape dried blood off the rifle’s barrel.

“Yes, thank you,”

“I have to apologize Jack,” says Connor, looking up at me for the first time. This is the first time I realize that Connor has two different colored eyes, one blue and one brown, both glossing over,

“What for?” I respond,

“I lost my cool back there, seeing Nick like that. No one should go through something like that,”

“I know. You two are close aren’t you?”

“Yea, we were in the same battalion and we joined Delta together. He’s basically also the only thing I have left before I joined this damned team,”

“ How were you two in the same battalion if you’re from New York and he’s from Miami? Aren’t they organized by hometown?”

“Not when it’s at sniper school. You’re organized by skill level after graduation to be put on separate teams,”

“So your telling me Nick was enrolled in sniper school? How?” I let out a little chuckle and manage to get a smile from him.

“Well he failed out of course. Didn’t make a month, never had a knack for patience,”

“Explains the shotgun,”

“Yes it does. Well anyways, somehow he got himself hired as security for the grounds and after curfew I would sneak out to have a few brews on top of the headmaster’s house. We’d leave the bottles on his balcony so he’d step on them the next morning,”

“Great stuff,” I reply. There was a silence after that, one that I can only attribute to Connor remembering Nick and their memories. 

The silence gave me time to review the damage to my body today. I had wounds, bruises, burns, and a particularly bad back. I should have gone to the hospital wing, we all should have. We’re just to tired to put up with all the doctors and procedures, possibly even surgeries. Eventually, Connor looks up at me and began to speak again,

“Our school was renown for the quality of soldiers it put out into the field. Successful enough for the Pacific Corp to risk sending in a bomber to level us,”

“I guess that didn’t go well huh,”

“Not for the Corp it didn’t. If it wasn’t for Nick and I, there wouldn’t be a Reynolds Academy anymore,”

“How’d you stop a bomber? How’d it even get through?”

“It was Christmas night. Everyone is celebrating, even the people on watch. While the school was partying in the gymnasium, Nick and I went to our usual spot. I brought an old radio for the occasion and played some music. We were having a great old time until the music faded to static. Nick fiddled with the stations until he came to one that didn’t have music or static, just a voice. The voice was giving clearance for something, but we arrived to late in the conversation to know what. We huddled closer to the radio. I thought it was just some classic Christmas show they were playing but Nick listened on, something wasn’t right for him,” 

Connor looked away from me to gaze at the view. His eyes caught the fake night sky with a look of wonder that was almost amazement. Then he began to speak again,

“What we heard was the bomber’s pilot getting the green light to nail us. Well atleast that’s what Nick heard. You see, alcohol is a big problem for me, I drink to much. And that night, I really got out of hand, so maybe he was clear-headed enough to hear things I didn’t. Whatever it was, he just looked at me and said “We gotta shoot it down,”. So of course, I was in. I wasn’t even sure if there was a bomber but, I trusted Nick. Once I gave him the O.K, he just started running across the roof and leapt onto the next. It was the craziest thing I had ever seen! This balding, drunk Cuban, bouncing from rooftop to rooftop like some giant frog. I started cracking up!”

“I would too if I saw that,”

“Well once I figured out he was heading to the AA guns, I reckoned I should head over there as well,”

“Your…school…had Anti-Air guns?”

“Yup, one of the biggest in the south. Anyways, I make it to the building and “WHACK!” , I get smashed in the face by my survival tactics teacher, who turned out to be a Pacific spy. Actually there were dozens of Pacific spies in our class, and they let in even more Pacific troops in! 

So here I am, drunk, bloodied, and surrounded by those b******s when I see Nick come sliding down a rope with a shotgun in one hand and a hot grenade in the other. I don’t remember exactly what he did, but somehow he managed to get me to the AA controls and said “Shoot the damn bird outta the sky!”. Of course, even when I’m wasted, I was the best shot in my class. So I got on the thing, and looked for the bomber. Then entire time, Nick had my back while sending the entire Pacific team to hell. As soon as I locked on, I fired the gun and that, was how Connor and Nick saved Christmas,”

“Wow, taking down a bomber while wasted under fire. Pretty impressive,” I reply. The digital moon had crossed about half way of the window since we began talking, showing how long we had sat there. 

“It was a short ride till we made it to Delta. I just don’t know what’d I do without him, he’s the closest thing I have to brother,”

“Relax Connor,” I say as I lay a reassuring hand on his shoulder, “Right now he’s under the care of some of the best doctors the EAO has to offer and you just proved he’s one tough son of a b***h, so I wouldn’t be scared for him. He’ll pull though,”

“Thanks. Now get to bed, I have to finish with my gun,”

“What’s wrong with it?”

“It’s not perfect,”

So at that point I decided to leave Connor to his meditating. As I turned around, my right foot crashed into the nozzle of Jake’s minigun. I froze right on the spot, fearful this moment might be my last. Jake’s head popped up like some feral gopher and growled at me,

“I will rip your face of with my bare teeth and rip out your brain!” threatens Jake from his slumber. Just when I thought he was about to push himself out of bed, his head falls back down with a loud clang as he restarted his thunderous snoring. It’s then when I realized that there was a little red dot on Jake’s forehead, so I turned around to see Connor with his rifle all ready to go. I send him a thankful nod which he returns with a side ways smile. Then with a gunshot, I see the sniper’s red-dot laser fly right off, making Connor jump and turn milk white. 

I fearfully turn back around to see the nozzle of a smoking handgun coming out from beneath Capt’s covers, and nothing else.

“If you shine that laser at my head again, I will pierce your ears with my bullets,” says Capt, muffled by the comforters and drowsiness. 

Realizing what a dangerous place I was in, I take a three step leap into my bed, pull up the covers and wait for slumber’s embrace. 

Author's Note

Wanted to give some more background to the characters since they are pretty 2 dimensional. Had some fun with the interactions of the team in non-combat situations.