UNSCDF2 Chapter 13- Hard Forgotten Pasts

Kirovskiy, Krasnoyarsk, Russia,

Zlobino District

April 13, 2001

1030 Local Time

            “So your story checks out. You are fugitives.” a tall bearded man spoke to Reid and his marines behind bars.

            “Yeah, we don’t work for the UNSC no more.” Reid nodded.

            “So what makes your life valuable.” the man pulled out a Luger.

            “I’m Lieutenant Reid. An officer of the UNSC. I know how the UNSC operates. Formations, deployments, communications, operations…you name it.” Reid stuck out his hand.

            “Oh, really? How do I know you are not bluffing?” the man questioned.

            “Look, you have no idea what the UNSC did to me. They took everything I had all because of a girl.” Reid withdrew his hand.

            “A girl?” the man laughed.

            “Sarah Parks…the girl who started this mess.” Reid replied angrily.

            “That’s true. I vouch for him.” Mendoza added.

            “You can’t vouch.” Reid stared.

            “Sergei, you will have to prove your worth Lieutenant Reid.” the man patted his chest.

            “Pleased to meet you.” Reid grinned.

            “We’re having difficulties locating a secret facility in the Middle East. On top of that, we are facing UNSC troops who may also be looking for it.” Sergei briefed.

            “What do you want us to do?” Reid raised an eyebrow.

            “Since you are UNSC, I want you to infiltrate them and recover Intel about their finds.” Sergei replied.

            “They will know.” Reid replied with a concerned look.

            “You know the frequencies for their communications. We need to know their progress.” Sergei explained.

            “Okay, what do you propose?” Reid crossed his arms.

            “Your team will aid with our team in Afghanistan and assist in completing the objective.” Sergei briefed.

            “What do we get once we’re done?” Reid looked suspiciously.

            “If you finish the task alive, you can join us. Or you can face the UNSC when we turn you in for a bounty or we can just kill you right now.” Sergei explained.

            “Join you? I would like to get back in the fight. The UNSC discharged me with no justifiable reason.” Reid pointed at Sergei.

            “I’d join.” Morgan added.

            “I’m with you LT.” Miller stood up.

            Reid looked at his marines as they stood behind him. He nodded to his men and then faced Sergei.

            “We’ll take option one.” Reid announced as he looked at his men again.

            “Sounds good. You’ll be leaving for Afghanistan the next day and briefed on the way there.” Sergei clapped his hands.

            “How do we get there?” Mendoza asked.

            “We are not the UNSC. We have helicopters to take us there.” Sergei answered.

            “It’s fine.” Reid nodded.

            “We’re not that high tech.” Sergei laughed.

Kandahar Air Base, Kandahar, Afghanistan

Fire Team Kilo’s Camp

April 13, 2001

1800 Local Time

            “Still no luck in finding that facility.” Cookson reported to Frederick after exiting his Mongoose with Christopher.

            “Yeah, it’s damn hard when we’re trying to avoid the Russians roaming around.” Christopher remarked.

            “Don’t worry marines, we’ll find a way.” Frederick yawned as she looked at her computer.

            “Still…Russians…I don’t like them.” Christopher crossed his arms.

            “We’re Aussies, so deal with it.” Robertson patted his badge proudly.

            “Russians are no different. They still fall to bullets.” Frederick commented.

            “Well, they are better than zombies. They actually put up a legit challenge.” Robertson pulled out his pistol and cocked it.

            “And they took out a lot of our wares.” Sears frowned.

            “How many?” Zyrok asked.

            “At least five vehicles.” Sears estimated.

            “At this rate, we’ll have no transportation.” Forester concluded.

            “Pretty much.” Sears nodded.

            “Well, can’t we call for more?” Green suggested.

            “We can’t. The Russians seem to have a communications jammer in place. We can only use short range.” Sears reminded the group of marines.

            “Great, no backup.” Pruett sighed.

            “Sarge, the supply plane comes in next month?” Hariprasad asked.

            “No, it would be two months…maybe three since it came early with to drop these folks off.” Sears shook his head.

            “Great, we have to survive with what we have against the Russians. Plus, most of the equipment is for zombies and research.” Hariprasad frowned.

            “Don’t worry. We’ll work something out.” Zyrok assured.

            “Exactly.” Frederick agreed.

            “Get some rest ladies and gentlemen.” Zyrok stood up and walked to the door.

            Zyrok watched his squad exited the room and then saw Frederick and Green chatting beside a computer. He was a bit bored and decided to ask them if they knew such of a girl named Sarah.

            “Hello Zyrok, what can we do for you?” Frederick looked at Zyrok as he approached them.

            “You folks come from Australia, right?” Zyrok asked.

            “That’s right. We’re the Aussies.” Frederick answered proudly.

            “I was wondering…” Zyrok spoke nervously.

            “Yeah?” Green asked.

            “Go on.” Frederick watched as Zyrok reached into his chest pocket.

            “Have you seen this girl?” Zyrok showed the picture of Sarah to the marines.

            “Wait, wait, wait. Isn’t that Sarah Parks?” Green examined the picture and looked at Frederick.

            “Sarah Parks? No way!” Frederick looked at Zyrok’s picture in his hand again.

            “You know her?” Zyrok widened his eyes.

            “Yeah! That’s Cookson’s wife.” Green exclaimed.

            “Cookson? Wife?” Zyrok was shocked.

            “Yeah, what are you doing with a picture of her? How do you know her?” Frederick asked.

            “Umm…” Zyrok replied nervously as Cookson and Christopher walked over.

            “Someone call my name?” Cookson asked.