MERK: Home War

The Calm Before the Storm

September 7th, 2064
Los Angeles International Airport, California
08:00 hours

Alex lied in a hospital bed in a terminal of an airport as the operating room was being prepped
The first surgery was a success but due to more complications with shrapnel and the broken rib Alex needs to be sent into surgery again
"There's no way I can thank you for what you did Alex, you saved my life" said Merk
"Anything for my squad leader sir, you'd do the same for any of us" said Alex
"I know, but I couldn't Alex. You better not fucking die in there" said Merk
"Don't worry I'll be fine. I survived two gunshot wounds I can survive a little surgery" said Alex
"It doesn't work like that dumbass" said Merk
"No shit kid" said Alex as he started laughing
"You shouldn't be in this mess man. You got kids back home and a wife. How about after your surgery I sign your papers, you're going home" said Merk
"I'm good sir. My contract says ten straight years I've served four, I still got six years left with you sir" said Alex
"But you have a family man. You're in your late forties you could've been retired by now" said Merk
"I know, but I never turned down a good opportunity. When I was shown what I was being recommended for I knew I wanted it. Besides, it's my life, my wife knows me and I know myself. You got your life and your priorities sir, when you find yourself a girl you might decide someone else should run this squad and take an administrative approach to this, but for now, live it" said Alex
"You know just what to say man. I'll let you go for now, we'll talk after the surgery" said Merk
"Will do Merk" said Alex

Five hours later
13:00 hours
Military Training Kill House inside LAIA, California

"BREACHING!" yelled Triston
Explosive charges blew open a door and Merk's team entered and cleared out the room
"Room cleared" said Merk
"Stack up on the door let's move" said Triston
The team stacked up on the door
Merk checked the doorknob and felt it click open
He nodded his head to Triston
Triston kicked the door open and they entered, eliminating all of the targets
They heard a buzzer ring so they knew the training was over
"Good job men. Looks like you have another job Triston" said Merk
"Yeah, I don't give a shit though. I get to use explosives and a hammer to break shit and I get a rocket launcher. Feels like I'm in heaven" said Triston
"We should probably give one of those jobs to Danny" said Adam
"You should go to hell Adam, I love my job" said Triston
"Hey all power to him. No more talking let's move to debrief" said Merk
They exited the Kill House and were met with Hesh, Sergeant Falls, and their man on the inside Jacob
"Sergeant Falls" said Merk as he saluted him
"Order arms Merk" said Sergeant Falls
Merk put down the right arm and stood at an at ease position
"We have confirmation from command that we will be assaulting Morro Bay in three days. You'll be sent out with a small assault team to Santa Barbra so you'll get a hang of urban combat that isn't in a city. Does anyone have any questions?" asked Sergeant Falls
No one spoke
"Alright good, you're all dismissed apart from you Merk" said Sergeant Falls
They all left and Merk stood there awaiting to be spoken to by Sergeant Falls
"What's the situation sir?" asked Merk
"Well we have bad news for you. At precisely twelve forty-five today Alex Trey was pronounced dead due to a major artery being cut while extracting shrapnel. The piece of shrapnel needed to be extracted if he wanted a chance at survival. If you want I'll give you some time to grieve before you go out to Santa Barbra" said Sergeant Falls
"All I'm requesting is that we see him before we go" said Merk
"Alright. Next order of business Jacob is here with intel about the insides of Morro Bay. He has maps, diagrams of strongpoints, everything we'd need to have a successful raid on Morro Bay" said Sergeant Falls
"And then there's one more thing my friend. We need to do your annual diagnosis again" said Hesh
"Wait why? What's the point of these fucking diagnostics?" asked Merk
"It's only to help better your Merk" said Sergeant Falls
"Fucking fine, do another damn diagnosis on me" said Merk
"Okay Merk, we'll be in Hesh's room. Be there in ten minutes" said Sergeant Falls

An hour later

"How will we be sure that this fully worked? We haven't tried waking him up yet or even testing him" said Sergeant Falls
"I have a plan. I took out merely what the president wanted him to know. Everything from what happened to his family, how he was hunted for years by his own government, and up to now where another one of his operators has fallen. He doesn't only have limited emotions anymore, he has the emotions of a normal human being now if we did this correctly. If we did do it correctly then he will be able to control that anger for when it's needed. He's still the super soldier he was before, just not the bloody zombie he was before. When I take him out he shouldn't attempt to kill himself like he did before. It's going to be like nothing changed, but in case he does that's why we have the restraints" said Hesh
"This better work" said Sergeant Falls
"It's going to work lad, I'll show you" said Hesh
Hesh woke up Merk and everything seemed how he normally was
"Hello man, do you remember your name?" asked Hesh
"My name is Merk, is everything okay Hesh?" asked Merk
"Yep just checking. Are you ready to go see Alex?" asked Hesh
"Yes I am" said Merk
Merk was unrestrained and was brought to where Alex's body was
The rest of his team was waiting there for him
As Merk approached his whole team was shocked as they saw the man they knew as to never even shed a tear for anything start tearing up
"Holy shit, it fucking worked" whispered Sergeant Falls
"Told you asshole, should've bet money on it" said Hesh
"Yeah, I gotta learn to not question your intelligence" said Sergeant Falls
Merk put one hand on Alex's chest for a moment and then took it off
He gave him one last salute and then turned towards his team
"Who wants fucking vengeance here?" asked Merk
"Sir I speak on behalf of all of us when I say that we do. We're going to fucking kill every last one of them" said Triston
"Fuck yeah we are. Wheels up in ten minutes, Santa Barbra is our training grounds for the next few days. After that we take the fucking fight right to these bastards" said Merk
Everyone started cheering and rooting for Merk
Hesh and Falls were dumbstruck and stood there with their eyes wide open
"Hesh buddy, did you account for him doing that?" asked Sergeant Falls
"Nope but I fucking liked it. Adrenaline, anger, and sadness is one hell of a combination" said Hesh
Merk and his team exited the room as energetic and ready to get revenge for their fallen brothers
Hesh's plan worked better than expected, Messenger has a new menace to worry about