THE GRAVES WE DUG OURSELVES

CHAPTER ONE - SEARCH AND DESTROY

ONE WEEK EARLIER- 0600 IN THE MORNING

Captain Sterling of Alpha Squad always knows what's going on. Whether it's his innate talent for analyzing situations or his extremely developed skill for gathering information, he usually knows everything. Usually. This was one of those extremely rare times when Sterling did not know anything. Only that this would be no different from his other missions in terms of the enemy, but miles apart in terms of the objective.

Sterling approaches four soldiers, two male, and two female. They were all dressed in spec ops gear, which was full-body ballistic armor plating complete with shoulder guards, shin guards, forearm guards, helmets, and half-face gas masks. They were wearing practically the same gear, apart from a few customizations with their role in mind. They all had their goggles resting on their helmets, revealing their eyes and hair.

They all formally greet their squad leader with a respectful nod or salute, before falling into a line facing Sterling. Sterling positions his hands behind his back and speaks to his team about a new mission.

"I'm sure by now you all know the briefing," Sterling says to his team. A big and burly-looking male soldier raises his hand. Sterling looks at the big male soldier and nods, permitting him to speak.

"I missed it," the big soldier says, scratching the back of his head without a scrap of guilt. Sterling facepalms slowly and shakes his head in disapproval, some of the other squad members sigh and express disappointment.

"Vale, when we get back, you're cleaning the toilets," Sterling says, lifting his hand off his face. "But fine. I'll explain it." Sterling crosses his arms and opens his mouth to speak, but is interrupted by a female soldier with long silver hair, and bangs that cover the left side of her face. She pokes herself out of the line to speak to Sterling.

"If it's okay with you captain," the silver-haired soldier says in a sweet tone of voice, "I could explain to this incompetent fool what the mission is." She gives Vale a side-eye death glare, promising him suffering for inconveniencing the captain.

"Okay Silver, if you insist," Sterling says, backing up to his original position to allow Silver to speak. Silver clears her throat and walks up to Vale, preparing to explain to him what the situation is.

"Listen up," Silver says, frustrated with Vale's slowness. "Our main objective is to retrieve some sort of Biological weapon, however, command had not specified what it is. Our secondary objective is to capture, if not kill everyone in the stronghold. Clear?"

"Clear," Vale says, not wanting another lecture. A male soldier with black parted bangs raises his hand.

"Dennelli?" Sterling says, turning his attention to the soldier. Dennelli rests his head on his hand in a thinking pose and states his question.

"Which group are we dealing with again?" Dennelli asks, shrugging. "The report never specified." Sterling thinks for a bit and then answers.

"The Death Hammer group, or at least that's what I gathered from a few higher-ups," Sterling says, putting his hands on his hips. "Apparently from the several different insurrectionist groups and rebel factions, they're one of the biggest and most organized. They've been marked as extremely dangerous and highly trained." Dennelli pauses before replying.

"What's their motive again?" Dennelli asks, crossing his arms, now just curious about the enemy. "Are they religious cultists like the Visionaries or the Hand of God, a terror group like the Skinners, or maybe a rebel group seeking change like the Switch?

"I think they're a combination of the Switch and the Skinners," Sterling says after some contemplation. "They're 'unhappy' about the current government system and fight for change and some crap. They're still extremely dangerous and are known to kill civilians just to make a point. Don't let any of them escape." He finishes off the sentence with a little malice, holding something against the insurrectionists.