Previously:
Prisoner of Conflict – Part 0: Prologue Writer: Tholozor Editor: Greenslime Smoke flooded through the hallways of the [CRE] field command center at “Sir!” one of the soldiers shouted, “The TacOps room is secure.” The “Alright, Charlie One and Two secure the corridor, Three “Goin’ for a big bang, eh Sir?” Charlie Four asked. “I While the three men searched the room, scorching Meanwhile, Charlie Three and Four stood at opposite ends of the “Oi, One? I’m gettin’ some readins’ ovah ‘ere, they look like [BOS], all Recon,” Charlie Two said over his radio. “Probably As Charlie Three and Four, still in the office noticed Two’s vitals After about fifteen minutes, the officer at this point was As he checked the remaining magazines, a V5 EMP grenade flew into the “Contact HQ. Tell them we’ve captured Lieutenant General Tholozor.” Writer: Tholozor Editor: Greenslime A fist slammed into Tholozor’s gut, spewing crimson liquid over the The [BOS] couldn’t risk torture; their prisoner was too valuable a “That’s “Aw “That’s an order soldier,” the voice came again. “Yes Sir,” Damon replied dejectedly before exiting the room. “I Tholozor’s smirk “General Lonestar, I guess I “Yes, well, I guess the same can be “As Lonestar looked at the battered soldier with a “First of all, don’t call me ‘mate,’ second: What do you have in mind?” Lonestar just continued smiling at Tholozor.
the south end of Camp Gibraltar. Bodies were strewn around, [CRE] and
[BOS] alike. Five [CRE] soldiers emerged from the outside of the rear
wall, through the raised gate. Four of the five men took point while
the last lingered behind. The squad of five secured their way through
the shattered remains of the [CRE]’s base.
soldier in back walked forwards and surveyed the room. Some papers had
been toppled onto the floor and debris from the ceiling littered the
room from the residual shockwaves that had occurred not less than an
hour ago.
and Four, help me salvage anything we might need, plant RDX for
everything we don’t need.”
don’t want anything in this room to survive; we can’t have our next
operations compromised due to forgotten memos,” the commanding officer
replied.
important documents, a [BOS] Special Forces team infiltrated the
compound past the APMs and Enforcer defenses, making their way to the
[CRE] soldiers’ location.
corridor, watching both ends for any signs of movement. Suddenly,
Charlie Two’s IDS-1 began picking up enemy Recon signatures.
just some leftover Ghosts from the battle. I wouldn’t be surprised if
their signatures were masked by the radiation,” Charlie One replied.
Charlie One cut off his broadcast, Charlie Two suddenly fell over,
blood spurting from his head. Charlie One noticed Two’s vitals
flat-line, and ran down the corridor to where his dead teammate lay. As
he rounded the corner, ready to fire on whoever killed his friend, he
met an unfortunate fate to a covertly placed APM.
flat-line as well and saw Charlie One sprint down the hall, resulting
in a muffled explosion followed by the sound of a second flat-line. At
the sound of the explosion, the table in the room had already been
flipped over onto its side, both soldiers’ rifles drawn to the
entrance, the officer drawing his modified hi-capacity S.I. Krieg
pistol. Within seconds, two SMK-1 grenades flew into the room, flooding
the cramped space with blinding smoke. The two soldiers’ helmets could
not filter through the thick particulate, and thus began blindly firing
at the entrance. Both men were then gunned down. The officer’s helmet
was a full-face Recon helmet, and thus could see through the smoke.
[BOS] soldiers began entering the room, only to meet a timely end with
a resounding double-bang from the S.I. Krieg. After about thirty more
rounds fired, the smoke had cleared, leaving a pile of [BOS] troops in
the room.
dual-wielding his pistol, along with a Voss L-AR, hunched over the
table. Another [BOS] rounded the corner, to meet a maelstrom of
bullets. The soldiers had been getting less experienced and more
numerous as time went by, meaning the main bulk of the [BOS] were
reaching the compound. This told the officer that the [CRE] standby
evacuation troops had already left. This officer was now operating solo.
room and detonated, shorting out everything in the room. As the officer
quickly removed his helmet, rendered useless by the grenade, a [BOS]
with a Clark 15 rushed forward, attempting to smash his head in. The
officer caught the barrel of the shotgun, inches from his head, and
flipped the weapon around, resulting in a satisfying crunch as the
soldier’s hand broke. The shotgun, now in the hands of the officer, was
put to use as two [BOS] meet their fate to a concentrated burst of
pellets. As the officer turned to the last soldier in the room, another
[BOS] rounded the corner and fired. The officer felt two stings in his
chest, and looked down to see two metallic prongs sticking out of his
breastplate, connected by wires back to the soldier. A high-voltage
charge coursed through his body, overloading his nervous system and
shutting his body down. The last thing he heard was:
already blood-stained floor. Another fist, a third rib cracked. Add
backhand to the face, and a sidekick in a kidney. Not to mention the
previous thirty minutes of similar abuse. By this point, any normal man
would’ve broken in, or died, and the [BOS] interrogation team knew
this. What they did not consider, however, was that Tholozor was no
normal man. Abuse was one thing, torture was another, but to the beaten
and bloodied Aurora pilot, right-hand man of the [CRE]’s infamous
former General Snipe himself, this was merely a roughing up.
member of the [CRE] Command to risk his health, so they resorted to a
simple tactic: beat him and until he talks. The [BOS] were never
exceptionally cruel to their prisoners, as very few were ever captured,
most of the time released for other prisoners the [CRE] had captured.
The [BOS]’s plan was to use Tholozor not as a bargaining chip or a
trade tool, but a source of information. All [CRE] officers had
firsthand knowledge of [CRE] deployment strategies, tactics, and
numerical force values, but only the high command officers had
extensive knowledge of critical army intelligence. Base shield
deactivation codes, silent retreat orders, transmission overrides, all
vital parts that kept the army running were under the possession of the
[BOS]. Unfortunately for them, all locked into the mind of a single man.
quite enough, Lieutenant Damon,” a voice came from across the room.
Damon looked up and turned around from his victim, facing his superior.
c’mon Sir, let me just have ten more minutes with him, I’ll make him
break,” he said while cracking his knuckles. Tholozor just smirked with
his head hung low.
apologize for my subordinate’s…brash behavior Lieutenant General, but I
can quite tell you are amused by his approaches, so why don’t you drop
the act and we can talk like gentlemen.”
faded as he looked up to face none other than General Lonestar, or at
least, the former General. While Lonestar had retired from his army
commanding positions, he must have been highly respected in the [BOS]
Tholozor had assumed.
should say it’s a, ah…pleasure to finally meet you face-to-face, you
dropped a lot of good pilots in my squadron with that modified Doragon
of yours.”
said for you, you’ve caused a great deal of damage yourself, switching
between an Aurora and a Talon around the clock, we’ve always been
losing track of you, and it’s Captain now,” was Lonestar’s retort.
much as I’d like to reminisce about our combat history against each
other, I assume you’re either going to try and offer me a spot in the
[BOS], or give me a final chance to spill what I know in exchange for
my life or a quick death? Well forget it, I’d rather you send
Lieutenant General Rarius back in here. He was so enthusiastic when he
saw me tied up here, I simply enjoyed the silence I gave him during his
time here, and the look of rage on his face as I gave him a quick laugh
as he left,” Tholozor replied, the lethal smirk plastered on his face
once more.
smile, “Actually mate, I’m here to offer you a chance for your
freedom.” Tholozor looked at the former [BOS] commander with a serious
yet questionable look.
“Well, let me tell you…”
Now:
Prisoner of Conflict – Part 2: Chance [1/2]
Writer: Tholozor
Editor: Greenslime“I can’t believe Lonestar is doing this. How can we give someone like him a chance at getting away?”
“I
dunno mate, but either way, he’s not going back to the [CRE] to report
anything; I’ve seen stolen [CRE] protocols, and they state that any
captured soldier is struck from the roster and their position is handed
to another.”
“Well tough nuts on his part, still can’t believe he survived what Damon put him through, even after Rarius’ work.”
“Yea; hey, where’s Lieutenant Slaw going?”
“Didn’t you hear? Slaw resigned, had something to do about General Ghost.”
As
Mac and Vercety conversed, T-Slaw loaded his belongings into a [BOS]
R-Fav, and took off out of the compound, kicking up a trail of dust
behind his car.
Meanwhile, the [BOS] began prepping an Aurora and Doragon for flight.
Lonestar looked on as his Doragon was pulled out of the hangar and
being loaded with missiles and flares. Looking to his left, the same
could be said for the Aurora. Both aircraft were fueled and ready to go.
“Hey, take it easy! I just spent a week recovering in a
cell, I don’t need you assholes breaking anything else,” came the
jovial voice of Tholozor as he was carted out of a Romanov APC.
Lonestar
smiled upon hearing the tone of the captured officer. How someone could
withstand so much pain and yet carry on without a care in the world was
beyond him. Regardless, the events that transpired that day would
definitely be a sight to remember.
Two of the conflict’s best pilots would be performing in an all-out
dogfight. The rules were simple: No weapon restrictions, no intentional
kamikaze, and no active defense. If Tholozor was victorious, he would
be allowed to leave, no questions asked. If he lost, then he would be
killed, considering he was a potential threat even if he couldn't
return to the [CRE], and couldn’t be interrogated either.
Both pilots were equipped with flight gear to prevent blackouts, but
Tholozor was without a parachute. If he was in a situation where he
would eject from his fighter, then it would’ve been considered a loss
and his life would be forfeit even if he had one.
Regardless, both pilots were confident in their ability to defeat the
other. Tholozor knew the Doragon was slower than the Aurora, but its
missiles were faster and hit harder, and his supply was greater.
Lonestar knew the Aurora was faster, but had a lower supply of
missiles, but compensated with a chaingun.
Both aircraft rocketed out into the combat zone: a five-by-five mile
area of nothing. The pilots flew to opposite ends of the area and
waited, both aircraft hovering, awaiting the signal. Back at the [BOS]
base, a lone soldier fired a high-powered flare launcher out into the
zone. When the flare detonated, the match would begin. Both pilots
watched the flare arc from the base out overhead in the middle of the
zone. Time slowed to a crawl for both pilots as the tiny projectile
inched closer to its zenith. In a bright flash, the flare erupted, and
the game was on.
