Sergeant Mathew Ryder ducked behind cover as AK rounds impacted the surrounding area. Turning to his squad, he directed half of them to provide cover fire while the rest blitzed. The American soldiers engaged the Cartels while the others rushed on the hot concrete.
He rushed past a wounded soldier who was caught in the ambush. Two others stopped to assist the wounded while other soldiers took cover with two old pickup trucks. The soldiers opened fire against the Cartels, catching some off guard. However, heavy machine gun fire coming from the warehouses opened fire against the Americans, tearing apart their cover. A Chinese robotic soldier broke through the thin metal walls and started spraying the American platoon, stopping their assault.
Ryder ducked down. Seeing his radio man, he grabbed the handle from the pack and contacted air support. Quickly enough, MQ-8 Chickasaw II attacked the helicopter hovering overhead, firing its chain gun, which made quick work of the Cartel defenders and their robotic soldier defenders.
Hearing the Platoon lieutenant give the order to assault, Ryder and his squad dismounted from their position and headed toward the warehouse. He left the pickup and rushed toward the large old building, stopping as this strange yellow-green glow passed him, causing him to stop for a moment. That was when he saw a Cartel member emerging from his protection, which he was able to neutralize before being gunned down.
Making his way inside, his team blew through the door and stormed inside. Gunfire could be heard instantly. Ryder followed quickly behind, engaging with the retreating Cartels. Once the door opened, it instantly turned into tight quarters with short firefights. As he marched through the hallway, the forward soldiers fired shots down the hall.
At the end of the hallway, the American squad entered the main warehouse. The room was mostly empty with only four open crates; however, a large square cage held dozens of people.
A firefight began as the Cartels opened fire. The American squad pushed forward. They went back to the hostiles, and Ryder saw children and a few young adults—all dirty, bruised, with numbers on their arms or foreheads for some unknown destination.
"To your right!"
Hearing a voice, Ryder turned right, saw a young man emerge from one of the crates, and fired his QBZ292. A bullet impacted the side of his battle plating, scraping it. He returned fire, hitting the target.
Sergeant Ryder rushed toward the young man, seeing that the man was dead. The Cartel sympathizer was wearing upper-class clothing, now stained in blood. This was not an unusual sight in the war, seeing many young far-left anti-border idealistic NGOs siding with human traffickers. Not for money but some utopian fantasy.
The warehouse was won, and Ryder walked to the cage. The sight didn't affect him, as this was not the first time he had witnessed such barbarism. However, he suddenly stopped and stared at one of the children. A girl who looked like Assiaya. As he leaned in to investigate, the girl glowed as a new face emerged, leaning toward him. She had a youthful, feminine face with long, curly hair framing her features. Thin but long ears pointed past the two small rose-like flowers on her hair.
A bright glow suddenly blinded him, and the world crashed.
April 8th, 2069 (military calendar)
Salva, the former Confederacy of Daru'uie
YOU ARE READING
Ad Astra - The Alagore War
Fantasy"Verification note: I, Tyler Sharpe, confirm the copyright complaint 1-5952000041664 submitted to Google LLC regarding an unauthorized edition of Ad Astra - The Alagore War Collection 1 - 7/22/2026." In 2069, the United States was moving toward a se...
