//------------------------------// // Chapter 92: Hagen (Bonus) // Story: Trash of the Royal Castle // by Netap //------------------------------// Three years passed in the blink of an eye. From wiping out an international weapons smuggling group operating out of Brunei to Hunting down enemies of the state hiding undercover in Ghana. Your time with the Major, With "Avian", took you all over the world. And your last few missions were no exception. "Dammit! We were so close to getting him this time! I almost fucking had him!" Barging into the Safe House you were currently using while in Chile, A Broad Shouldered man stomped up to the table in the middle of the kitchen and started emptying the bag in his hands. "Albatross, Calm down," A black-haired man with greying hair told the loud man as he walked up to stand on the other side of the kitchen table. His eyes roamed over the piles of photos and evidence thrown on the table depicting a bald man of South American descent. "Now that we know Enrico is in the country, we'll be able to track him down much easier." The man turned to look at a younger man with a pair of glasses over his eyes, "Heron, Your job was to research the Australian Flagged Oil Tanker Billabong, How goes your side of things there?" Heron walked up to the table and placed down a document showing the path the Oil Tanker would be going. "The Billabong will be docking in San Antonio between the Eighth and the Twelfth of next month for a scheduled rotation of crew, At 10:30 it is scheduled to leave the docks and head north, keeping a steady distance of 35 miles from the shore until it leaves the Chilean EEZ and enters Peruvian Territory, where it will then turn west and starts the voyage to its destination of French Polynesia," Heron explained, his fingers moving the map of the Pacific Ocean as he went. "According to the information we collected during our raid in Temuco, Enrico Dominguez and his men are planning on Hijacking the ship 200 Miles before it leaves Chilean territory," "Wait, Let me guess," Albatross piped up, still angry that Enrico managed to escape him, "He's planning on using the ship and crew as a bargaining chip from the Australian Government, get some sort of immunity or someshit," Heron shook his head at his hot-headed teammate's words, "Not at all If the Documents are to be believed, He's planning on blaming the hijacking on Argentina in order to fan tensions between Argentina and Chile," "The Son of a Bitch wants to start a war," Albatross chewed his cheeks as Heron nodded. "He did write in his Manifesto his dream of taking back the 'Kingdom of Chile'," A new voice piped up into the conversation, causing Albatross to turn and look at the Dark Skinned man leaning near the entrance to the hallway, "He can't do that without annexing half of Argentina," "Oh, Macaw, You're back already," Albatross nodded his head to the man, "What did you two get?" "You're asking me? Just check the fridge and cupboards, Kingfisher and I brought enough food for another week," Macaw told the group before he moved to join them around the table. "So, what's the plan, Boss?" The group turned to the oldest member of the group, Looking at him as he stared intently at the papers in front of him. "I'll pass this info back to Top Brass, If we get the go-ahead, we might just finally get rid of this Son of a Bitch," Pelican said as he gathered up the relevant papers. "Make sure to rest up, Once we get the go-to we'll be leaving Immediately, We need to reach Antofagasta before that Ship leaves San Antonio. Macaw, Pass this on to Kingfisher, Dismissed" "Sir Yes Sir!" You joined the Navy at 18, Got recruited to "Avian" at 22, And now at 25, You're on your way to stop a Terrorist from attempting to start a war between Chile and Argentina. I must say, Dear Nephew, You have lived a very boring yet interesting life, A Mundane Past but an Exotic Present. And Seeing where you'll end up in the Future, Oh Dearest Nephew, You truly are a treat~ "We got the green light, Our equipment will be waiting for us in the Antofagasta Safe House, Pack your little things and meet me outside in thirty minutes, We're leaving!" Pelican clapped his hands multiple times in order to get everyone's attention before he left to ready the Car. It was an unassuming black seven-seater, with enough room for all five men to fit in, and just enough extra for the bags. Pelican grabbed the Driver's seat while Albatross took the Passenger's, Macaw took the back left while Heron took the back right, leaving you to sit at the very back, smooshed against the bags. "Did you all follow Safe House clearance procedures?" Pelican asked as he started the engine. "We've been doing this for years now, You know the answer," Macaw rolled his eyes as he leaned an elbow on the window of the car. "I know, But I need audible confirmation," Pelican said, receiving another 'Sir Yes Sir' from the group. And so started the long drive to reach Antofagasta. Stepping out of the Motel room he had for the night, A red-shirted man of Surinamese descent took a cigarette pack out of his pocket and a match stick box from another as he the cigarette in his mouth and took a smoke. "Are you still going to play that damn Gameboy all day, or are you going to sleep?" He asked as he turned to look at a younger man in his mid-twenties, leaning forward against the small metal fence between the pavement and the parking lot of the small out-of-the-way motel you stayed at. He was looking at you. "You know smoking is bad for you," You said, eyes still on the handheld gaming console in your hands, fingers rapidly tapping and moving as you watched the golden star move to your whims, "Also this isn't a Gameboy," "I don't care if it's a Gameboy or a PlayStation or whatever you use," Macaw rolled his eyes as he chewed at the cigarette in his mouth for a bit before exhaling another puff of smoke, "Also don't talk to me about smoking being bad, You also smoke this shit," "I only smoke after doing a good job or after sex, And at least I don't smoke those horrible cigars like Albatross, That shit has more than ten times the nicotine," You subtly shook your head as you saved the game on your Nintendo DS and turned the console off. "Seeing as Enrico keeps slipping away, we hadn't had a good job in almost two months," Macaw said, eyes staring ahead of him as he too leaned on the fence, "And also, I doubt the nicotine content is the reason you don't smoke Cigars," "Luckily for us, I had sex with your sister last night, so everything's fine," You smirk and stretch your neck, "And Cigars take longer to smoke, I don't have the time to hold a tobacco stick in my hand all day, With Cigarettes I can finish them quickly and move on to something better," "...Sure," Macaw said as he took the cigarette out of his mouth and dropped it to the ground, stepping on it to make sure it was put out. "..." The two of you stand there in an awkward silence, your mind wanting to bring up the elephant in the room that's been bothering you since Temuco, but you don't know what to say. Luckily for you, Macaw spoke first, "Hey Kingfisher," "Yeah?" "Do you think we're bad guys?" That question stumped you, enough to cause you turn to look at your teammate, to see him staring at you with a tired look in his eyes. "Is this because of what happened to that ki-" He cut you off. "She was a child, Kingfisher, She couldn't have been older than my niece," He scowls at the memory, turning away from staring at you as he looked to the street, watching the few cars still out at night passing by down the road. "It wasn't your fault, You didn't know she was going to be there," You tried to explain calmly, not really knowing how to handle the situation. You were never good at dealing with emotions, Nice to see some things stayed the same, Isn't that right Dear Nephew? "It doesn't change the fact that she was there, And now her blood is on my hands," He scoffed as he took out another cigarette, "If we caught Enrico sooner, she wouldn't be-" "Don't start with that bullshit," You scowl at Macaw, "It's always 'If only we were faster' or 'If only we had better info' Why don't you just go ahead and say 'if only we were G.I- fucking -.Joe' and be done with it. We can only work with what we have, and what we have is the best we can get," "So what would you have done?" He raised his voice as he turned to look at you, "You always stand there to the side acting as if you don't care about these things! Like this is all just some job to you-" "It is a Job! Of course it's a job. What? Do you want me to start crying every time a civilian gets caught in the crossfire? You know how many people died in Brunei before we got rid of those fucks?! You want me to start bawling my eyes out for every little kid that's starving to death in Africa while I'm at it?!" You raise your voice to match his, His words starting to annoy you. "You suck at this, you know that?" Macaw spits out his second cigarette, "Three years and this is still just a job for you? Just Business as usual?" "Of course it's business, Pelican specifically told us all that we are in this shit because we're the fucking best people available for this, We're the fucking aces of this league! Heron is the Computer guy, Albatross is the Bomb guy, You're the knife guy and I'm the Gun guy, That's how this shit works! Do you think we were picked for this because we want to do good in the world? Because the government gives a shit about the well-being of some Bruneian children? Of course not! We're picked for this because they wanted a team to get the job done, and we got the job done." Macaw stares at you for a while before scowling and entering his room, Leaving you outside with the smell of used cigarettes on the side of a cheap Chilean motel. The Raid in Temuco was an operation where the American Black Ops team Avian attempted to capture Chilean Ultranationalist and international terrorist Enrico Dominguez. The Raid was conducted on the outskirts of the City of Temuco, At a compound where the team had credible information that Enrico had been staying and conducting his work from. Like many of the group's past missions, it was an Extermination. Nobody was to know they were there, and no witnesses were allowed to remain. The first ten minutes of the raid were quiet, Consisting of Heron neutralizing the compound's security devices so the rest of the group could get in position. Albatross entered through the Garage of the compound, placing explosives on the underside of the vehicles so that should Enrico somehow manage to escape by car, he'd get blown up. Pelican was keeping in contact with Heron the whole time, receiving constant updates from the hacked security cameras, making sure Macaw and Kingfisher could get into position. Kingfisher took the roof of a shed near the back fence, High enough to get a good shot should anybody pass by the windows on the east side of the Compound. Macaw was preparing with Albatross in the Garage, where the two would have proceeded to split south and west once the bombs had been planted. And then someone entered the Garage, and things went to shit. "Hey, You're not supposed to-" Before the man could finish, A Bullet entered his head. Macaw rushed forward to try and stop the body from crashing onto the ground, but it was useless, as another man came from around the corner at the end of the hallway, seeing the open door to the garage and at the dead terrorist on the floor, He quickly shot two shots into the air, waking everybody up, before getting shot in the head himself. As they say, No plan survives first contact with the enemy. "Get in there and Kill these fucks!" Pelican yelled over the radio, "Remember, We are here to Kill, Not Capture," Same as always. If everything goes well, Enrico Dominguez wouldn't live to see tomorrow, let alone his dream of a new Kingdom of Chile. With the new change of plans, Albatross and Macaw split and went down their separate hallways. With a Combat Shotgun in hand, Albatross made his way down the south corridor, Shooting at anything that wasn't wearing Avian's uniform, Fragmentation grenades were thrown into rooms before he burst in and shot everyone still standing after the explosion. You looked through the scope of your rifle, trained at the windows on the east side of the Compound, lying prone on your stomach so nobody would see you before you gave the trigger a single click and shot a man who was standing near a window on the second floor. You don't miss. Macaw ran down west the corridor, knife in his left hand and pistol in his right, Each time someone tried to exit one of the doors to shoot at him, they would find themselves with a slash across a vital artery or a bullet in a vital organ. Twenty Minutes, Twenty minutes of adrenaline, gunfire, knives and grenades. And you were stuck on a roof a distance away from all the action. Another tap of the trigger, another body hits the floor. Unfortunately, Terrorists aren't known to be the smartest people in the world, especially not ones following a Monarchist. Perhaps one of them thought it was a bring your daughter to work day, Perhaps Enrico had his family staying in the compound with him, Perhaps this or perhaps that. But whatever the case was, After you got confirmation that everybody was dead, you entered the Compound yourself, joined by Heron, as the two of you started looking for Enrico's body, Or in this case, Documents Detailing where the son of a bitch was going to be. While Heron found the documents, and a still functional computer that Enrico left behind, You instead found Macaw sitting on the floor, gloves stained a deep red as he tried in vain to stop a child from bleeding out in his arms. She was a small thing, Maybe eight or nine years old, with dark brown hair that would have probably reached the middle of her back and a face whose smile would have lit up the room with cheer. But it was too late. Macaw was trying to save a corpse. You knew what you would see when you joined Avian, This wasn't the first time children were caught in the crossfire. But they were always outside, A Terrorist running one over in Kenya, A Bullet flying out of a window during a chase and hitting a passerby. Never before was the child in the middle of the fighting. Perhaps that's why it hurt Macaw so much. There was nothing you could have said that would have helped him. And even if you did, You didn't know the words to say. But it was time to move on, You both had a job to do. After cleaning the Safe House in Antofagasta, Your group sat around the kitchen table for another debriefing. "The Billabong, as we already learned, will be passing by 35 miles offshore from here in three days time, If Enrico wishes to hijack the Oil Tanker, he'll either leave from here in Antofagasta or wait for the ship to pass Tocopilla. What we'll be doing instead is trail the ship from afar, Our good friends in the Top Brass finally listened to my request and brought us what I asked for, Down in the docks here we have ourselves an SH-60 Seahawk my name on it. Tomorrow one of our contacts here will bring the supplies I ordered to a secure drop point, where Albatross and I will go and pick them up. Heron, You will be busy keeping an eye on the Billabong, If Enrico decides to take the ship before we expect, I want to know in advance. Kingfisher and Macaw, the two of you will be going over our guns, I want you two to triple-check, quadruple-check, make sure everything's working like a charm, I don't want our guns to jam in the middle of a firefight," Pelican told you all before he tapped the map on the table between you all. "The Moment Enrico boards the ship Is when we leave. Macaw, Kingfisher, the two of you are on cleaning duty, The moment we pass above the ship the two of you will be dropped on it, Your job is to find Enrico and make sure he and his men are all dead. The Moment you start your work, Heron and Albatross will start placing the bombs. The two of you will be dropped into the water on either side of the ship, where you'll be placing remote-controlled plastic explosives at these locations across the hull of the tanker," Pelican pointed at several points on the Blueprint of the ship. "After ten minutes I'll drop the line to drag the two of you out of the water and back to the chopper, where we'll then land on the Tanker and pick up the other two before leaving, Once we're on our way out, We'll detonate the explosives and sink the ship. By the time the Chilean government drags the boat up and finds Enrico and his men, We'll be long gone. Any questions?" "What about the Crew?" Macaw asked as he crossed his arms. "You know the answer to that already, We can't have witnesses." Pelican looked Macaw in the eyes, "This is an Extermination, We're killing everyone on board and then sinking the ship, No Survivors." Macaw sighed and looked down. "It's a Tragedy, I know, But that's what we do," Pelican said before he looked his team in the eye, "As far as the world is concerned, America had nothing to do with the sinking of the Billabong. We were never in Chile, You all know that already," "Sir yes sir..." Macaw said halfheartedly with a roll of his eyes. Pelican gave his team another look before he shook his head, "Get some rest, all of you, the next few days will be busy. By next week, we'll be back out of here, and Dominguez will be a forgotten memory. Dismissed." You gave your gun another check as you and the rest of Avian waited for the confirmation from Heron, Leaning against a shipping container in a quiet corner of the Antofagasta docks, the Seahawk ready to fly at a moment's notice. "We have a Green-light, Enrico and his men have boarded the ship, I have visual on the Transport Heli, Twelve men, Enrico among them, He's there," Heron spoke up from in front of the portable computer he used to control the drones that have been keeping watch on the Ship for the past day and a half. And it seems that confirmation came. "All of you get in the chopper, We're moving!" Time to take down Enrico Dominguez once and for all. You aimed down the scope of the rifle in your hand, Eyes trained on the lone man standing at the helm of the ship. The Vibrations of the Helicopter made your hands shake as you struggled to aim, but nonetheless, you pulled the trigger. One man down. Eleven more to go. The coast was now clear, The Helicopter quickly lowered close enough to the deck of the ship to drop you and Macaw off, and then it went on to drop Heron and Albatross in their respective positions before Pelican took back to the skies in order to keep in touch from afar. As soon as your feet touched the metal deck of the ship you burst into movement, Rifle in your arms, and quickly made your way to the doors leading into the ship itself, Macaw already entering the ship thanks to his lighter carry weight. As you entered you immediately spotted two more men on the ground, One was a crew member of the ship, and the other was one of Enrico's Men. Two men down. Ten more to go. You held you rifle at the ready, your blood pumping as you moved down the corridor on your way to the staircase leading up to the bridge. You hear footsteps coming from the right as you get on your knees and aim, Soon opening fire as one of the doors in front of you opens up to reveal one of Enrico's men, hand on his neck as he tries to stop his bleeding. Seems like Macaw missed one. Three men down. Nine more to go. You step over the body and make your way to the staircase, steadily making your way towards the bridge of the ship. On the second floor, you open the first door you come across, and seeing that it was just an empty bedroom you move on. Second door, Dead Crew mate on the floor. Third door, "Hey! I'm not with them! You gotta help me! I don't want to-!" BANG Fourth door, A Terrorist looks up at you to be met with a bullet between the eyes. Four men down. Eight more to go. Fifth door, Another Dead Crewmate and Terrorist. Five men down. Seven more to go. You turn back to the staircase, heading up another floor. You quickly raise your gun as you see someone running out of the first door, Only to relax once a bullet knocks them to the ground and another one kills them, Macaw walks out of the door the Crew member came from just a moment later. "I'll head upstairs, you clear up the rest of the floor," He quickly told you before he moved passed you and went up the stairs to clear out the fourth floor. You enter the room Macaw came from and see two more terrorists on the floor. Seven men down. Five more to go. You open the next room only to immediately leap to the side as you see a gun pointing at you, Shots are fired behind you a moment later. If you were even a second slower or the gunman was half a second quicker, you would have died. You respond by quickly taking out your sidearm and pinging a shot off the side of the doorframe. "FUCK!" You hear him scream as the bullet ricochets and hits him in the arm before you slide down in front of him, two shots leaving your pistol, hitting him in the chest. He goes down. Eight men down. Four more to go. You catch your breath, feeling your heart beating like a drum as you stand back up and holster your pistol back in its place as you once more grab your rifle. You make your way to the other rooms, Two of them empty, before you approach the last one and- BANG A bullet leaves the rifle in your hands as soon as you see the man leave the door, his eyes wide in fear as his bald head seems to sparkle with the sheen of sweat over it. "EEEEK!" The man squeals as he stumbles backward, Holding the bullet wound in his shoulder as he drops the pistol that was in his hand. You recognized the man, Enrico Dominguez, The one Avian was tasked with hunting down. "DON'T SH-" BANG You don't let him get more than a single word out. Nobody would care what his last words were going to be, Be they a speech about how he was right, or the petty cries of a madman begging to live. It didn't matter. You were a hunter, Your job was to make sure people like him were dead. And you were good at your job. Nine men down. Three more to go. You take out your radio and call in Pelican, telling him about Enrico. "Great work, Macaw just called in that he finished clearing the last floor, I'm picking up Heron and Albatross, Get over here ASAP," He told you before you started hearing the rotor blades of the Seahawk as it headed closer to the ship. And so with a tired smile on your face, you made your way down to the deck of the ship, ready to finally get this mission over with and leave Chile. "Kingfisher, I'll be landing down to pick you up in a minute, But Macaw isn't answering his Radio! Go check on him!" You stop and frown as Pelican gives you a new set of orders. You fiddle with your own radio, trying to get in contact with Macaw yourself, scowling as all it picks up is the static sound of a Radio turned off. You quickly make your way back up the stairs of the ship, Reaching the fourth floor and checking through the rooms, seeing more dead crew members, and the last three terrorists, all lying in a pool of their own blood. Twelve men down. No more to go. You scowl as you start making your way to the stairs, only to take out your radio as you get another call. "Kingfisher! I don't know what he's trying to do up there, but Macaw is handling something in the bridge, I need you to put a stop to whatever he's doing and try and bring him to the Seahawk! We need to start our extraction out of here, By any means necessary!" Any means necessary. Oh Dearest Nephew, how you love that phrase. Any means necessary. "Hello! This is David Jefferson! I am on the Oil Tanker Billabong and I require immediate evac!" Macaw yelled into the microphone on the bridge of the Ship, trying to get his message out. "I repeat! My name is David Jefferson! I need an evacuation from the Oil Tanker Billabong-" BANG. Macaw took a slow step away from the microphone, no longer working thanks to the hole in the machinery beside it, and turned to look at the door leading into the bridge of the Oil Tanker Billabong. And at the gunman standing there. "What the fuck do you think you're doing?" You asked, Rifle in hand, as you scowled at Macaw. "What does it look like I'm doing?" Macaw answers with a question, "I'm getting my freedom," "The fuck are you talking about?" You glared at the man, Not understanding what he was trying to say. "Please, Don't act coy. I know that under that mask of annoying Sarcasm, you have a keen mind, You're not stupid." Macaw scowled back at you from across the floor, "We're slaves here, Forced to kill for some nameless government official that we aren't even sure exists!" It takes you barely a moment before you piece together what he's trying to get at, "This is about Temuco, isn't it?" "Of course it's about Temuco damn it!" Macaw yelled, fist-banging on the chair beside him, "A Child died in my arms! All because we had to be the ones to catch Enrico! Where the fuck is the Chilean government?! Argentina?! Why are we the ones doing this shit! Killing children in foreign countries because some secret Top Brass told us to do so!" He points a finger at you, his face scowling heavily as he yells, "We're America! The land of the free! We're not supposed to be slaves to the government! Killers with a payroll!" "Oh shut the fuck up!" You yell at him, "You can complain about all this shit later, We need to leave this ship!" "I'm not leaving this ship!" Macaw yelled at you in return. "Are you stupid?! Don't be stupid! Bring up all these complaints to Pelican later, This isn't the place! We are leaving this ship, Now." You turn away from him and start heading downstairs, waiting for him to follow you, to get over his childish tantrum so you could all just blow the ship up and leave. But he wasn't following you. You head back up the stairs to see him glaring at the windows overlooking the deck of the ship. "We need to go, Macaw-" "David," He interrupts you, "My name is David Jefferson, I've been with the Army for six years before Avian, I'm not going to go by the name of some stupid bird, My ancestors didn't fight for their freedom just so I would be chained once more," "..." You see his hand inch toward the gun on his side, and you start to pray he doesn't go for it. "America is supposed to be the land of the free..." He takes a long sigh before he turns to look at you, "How did you say it goes? Pelican is the leader, Heron is the computer guy, Albatross is the bomb guy, You're the gun guy, and I'm the knife guy? That's one way to describe us, If a bit childish. I guess it fits with you always on that stupid Gameboy of yours," You silently curse yourself for what you're about to do as Macaw weakly shakes his head. "As an American, I am free to choose my path in life, Because unlike you, Kingfisher, I'm no longer a Slave," Macaw, No, David, told you, a sad smile on his face. Before he took out his knife and rushed at- BANG He stumbled, the front of his uniform starting to stain red from the small hole in his stomach. BANG BANG He fell to his knees, Coughing as a trail of blood left his lips, that sad smile never leaving his lips. You breathe deeply as you feel your hands start to shake. BANG The bullet flies past his head and lodges itself in the panels of the ship behind him. You missed. BANG BANG BANG "What's the problem, Kingfisher?" David smiled, blood leaking from his mouth as he slowly raised his knife, "Did something get caught in your eye-" He coughed some blood, his arms shaking heavily as his head started to slowly droop down, "All those video games are bad for your eyesight, ya' know, Hehe," He coughed again. BANG You missed again, NO. It wasn't that you missed. You don't miss. You simply didn't aim at him. You empty your magazine into the room, none of the remaining bullets hitting David, as he simply smiles sadly at you, Three holes in his body staining his uniform a dark crimson while a line of blood pours out of his mouth, you tap the trigger but no bullets leave the pistol. "...You're a Slave, you know that?" He told you, Pity in his eyes, "And I'm free~" And before you could reload your pistol or switch back to your rifle, his knife moves across his own neck. And you watch in dumbfounded silence as he mouths the word "Slave," At you, before he collapses down to the floor, face down in a puddle of his own blood. David Jefferson, Macaw of Avian, was Dead. "Are you sure about this, BLUEBLOOD? Once you sign this paper there's no going back," Sitting inside an office in Washington DC, Major Harold McConway stared at the young man sitting in front of him. "I'm sure," You smiled sadly at the man who went by the name Pelican, the man who was your direct superior for the past three years, "There's this Nautical Science school down in Florida where I've decided I want to learn, I need some time away from the military as well, I think it'll be good for me," "...Very well," Harold smiled as he signed a few spots on a paper in front of him before standing up. You stand up as well. "Ensign BLUEBLOOD, Under the circumstances we have found ourselves in, I am honored to be the one to formally dismiss you after seven years of serving in your country's navy," He winks at you, the two of you knowing that the past three years never existed. He leans over the table and places a badge on your breast, His hand moving to salute you. "Thank you for your service, Lieutenant BLUEBLOOD," You smile widely at the man, Saluting him in return. "Thank you, Sir!" The next three years of your life are a return to the mundane. As said, you went to get your education in Florida, Your time in Avian made you more than enough money to pay for your entire education and then some, even without the government bonus of being Military. Your free time was spent playing all the new video games you could now afford to buy, the ones you couldn't do so previously with all the work you had to do. If I didn't know any better, I'd say you were on your way to having a happy and bright future, Karma finally on your side after years of hard and dirty work. How Poetic. But we all know that's not how the story went, Dearest Nephew. And perhaps that is a good thing. After all, If you never slipped through reality into the body you currently own, my time here in Limbo would have been such a bore. Oh, Dearest Nephew. You Truly are a Platinum.