The Hawaiian Special Forces

Chapter 11

Hokulani cut the wire going north, while Mele cut the one going south. As the alarms began going off, the berserkers slammed through the doors to the Iraqi compound, it was on, and going smoothly, defenses falling rapidly before the coordinated assault.

Aoloa was charging across the grounds of the compound to start sweeping one of the buildings, when he heard a roar from behind him. Kawikani's frame veered into him, an arm swiping at him, causing him to slam into the side of the barracks.

"Stand down! Stand down! I'm on your side, damn it!" The HUD for Kawikani switched from green to blinking red. Berserk. "Oh shit."

The enraged giant slammed into him, carrying both of them through the wall to the interior. Hokulani hopped onto the beast's back, attempting to do something to prevent a fatal blow coming down on her leader. Instead, Kawikani's arm reached back and snatched her, slamming her onto the ground.

As they both lay, stunned and trapped, the berserker stopped. The next thing he knew, all data from external systems was cut off, and Aoloa's helmet's feed went dark. He was in blackness. ::Comms, activate!::

::Unable to comply. Updates in process.::

Updates? What the hell? Updates never run during a mission! In desperation, he ripped his helmet off, only to see Hokulani doing the same as Kawikani stood motionless before them. When they had reoriented, he held out his fists to each of them.

"I'm sorry about this, but it's all I could come up with. Lopaka and I have cut you off the network. You're officially dead. Hokulani, you too, since you tried to help. Hide out in here, don't try to leave until the heat gets too high. You'll have to ditch your suits on the way out. They can be used to track you. Remember you're dead now. Only Lopaka knows otherwise, and he did the hacking to make this possible."

Aoloa's comms unit rebooted and connected to Hokulani's. Are you isolated too?

Yes, boss, she replied over comms.

"Thanks. We'll use this to our advantage. But, why?"

"They were worried you were a liability. I have to rage out and finish trashing the place. Don't be seen. Good luck." With that, he stormed out, leaving rubble in his wake.

They huddled in the corner of the wrecked room, slipping out of their suits. This is crazy! Why would he have been ordered to kill me? I don't get it? I just wanted to understand humans better, why we have to fight them.

With their suits off, they huddled. He had on boxers, she had panties and a thin tank top. It was the sound of thermite exploding at the other end of the building, setting the building on fire, that forced them out of hiding.

They crawled on the ground, sand working between their fingers and toes, getting between their fingers and nails. Working as fast as they could, while maintaining their stealth, they managed to get to the walls of the compound in time to see the retrieval choppers pick up their squad in the distance.

"Well, I guess that does it. We're alone in the Iraqi desert."

Hokulani looked at him, eyes wide. "Now what?"

Aoloa pulled up maps of the region in his comms system. The nearest town was twenty miles away. The military GPS unit was working properly, precisely indicating their location. "Now, we hike. If we pace ourselves, we should hit civilization shortly before dawn. Then we hope for the best."

"Is it safe?" she asked, once he'd transmitted his idea for their course to shelter.

"No, I don't think so. But the desert isn't safe, either. We'll need water and shelter. There's not much of either away from communities."

She frowned slightly, her upper fangs peeking out adorably, then nodded reluctantly. For the first time in their lives, they were homeless and on their own. Aoloa couldn't imagine how a couple of the pups would have handled that.