Intelligence

The Storm

Operator Velox

As we enter the woods, Evo begins directing us.
"I'm on point. Vel, watch my six. Reach, you bring up the rear."
"Damn right I do," he replies. Evo suddenly bursts into laughter, and Reach gives me a smirk before putting his helmet on.
"I feel like I missed something," I comment as Evo tries to regain his composure.
"Don't worry about it," he replies as he wipes off his facemask. "Let's get going."

After walking half a kilometer from the FOB, Evo suddenly crouches.
"Hold position, I hear movement."
We hide behind rocks and trees, and the sound of crunching boots becomes more and more audible as the soldiers get closer. I peek out from behind a tree. More mercenaries. The leader begins speaking.
"Another six-man team went dark a few days ago. They were set up in an abandoned village up ahead. We're going to investigate. Could be technical difficulties, or they could be dead. We're not sure. The Saclarians claim to have shot down an IAF ship just north of the village, and say the recon team they sent out didn't come back. Lethal force has been authorized."
"Force breeds force," Evo whispers through the comms.
He steps out from behind a tree and wraps his arm around the rear mercenary's neck, quietly taking him to the ground. The soldier struggles, then slowly becomes calm. Evo places him ever so lightly on the ground, and pats him on the head. The Omni-Rifle becomes a hand-cannon, and he holds it on the nearest mercenary as he moves in from behind. He kicks the back of the mercenary's knee, and the man drops backward into Evo's free arm. Four mercenaries are in front of him. Evo presses the hand cannon into the small of the man's back, and rounds begin exploding through his stomach. After 10 shots, all of the mercenaries are down, and the merc Evo used as a shield has a giant hole where his stomach used to be. The empty soldier thuds to the floor. Evo walks over to the unconscious soldier and throws him up on his shoulder.
"Let's have a chat with this guy when he wakes up. RTB."

The mercenary sits in an armchair in the middle of the house. Riot guards the only door, and Evo is overseeing the interrogation from the corner. I approach the mercenary and crack my knuckles.
"You're gonna talk, and you're not gonna fight back. If you choose to fight or be uncooperative, I will beat you until you stop. It's up to you."
"Alright, alright, I'll be reasonable."
"Smart man."
"So, first off, our company is called Tiger's Pride Security, and we were paid by the Saclarians to help their army win this war. As you can see, we're not off to a great start."
"Damn right."
"Anyway..." The mercenary continues explaining his mission, when I see Evo start pacing in the back of the room. He's got his hand to his helmet, talking to someone over the comm channel. Suddenly, he drops his hand and goes silent. He looks at me.
"Echo team's got contact. More mercs. Let's go."
As we leave, he points at the prisoner and turns to Riot.
"Don't let him fucking move! Seriously, if he leaves that chair, beat him into the ground!"
He opens the door, and takes my hand.
"Let's go get 'em, babe," he says as he leads me into the fray.

As we sprint to the wall, Reach runs up next to us, and slides his helmet on.
"What's going on?"
"Mercenaries," Evo replies. "Probably a rescue team coming for the prisoner."
"Shit! What are we going to do?"
"Defend the FOB. Wake up your girlfriend, Bravo team is assigned to prisoner containment."
He turns back toward the house, sprinting at top speed.
"Come back when you're done!"

I stand with my fireteam atop the wall. Echo team had spotted a scout, and the full enemy force has not arrived yet.
Time to make small talk.
"So, Reach, how's Shockwave?"
"She's doing great, actually. She's become a much stronger person overall. I'm helping her to stand up for herself."
"I noticed. I apologized to her today for snapping during training and she stood tall and looked me in the eye. She seemed strong. Well, as strong as one can seem while covering one's naked body with a blanket, anyway. She's like a whole new person."
"Oh, that's great!"
Evo interrupts us. Thank God.
"Eyes up, team! I see movement!"
We all raise our weapons, scanning the treeline. There's an eerie silence.
The crack of a sniper rifle breaks it.
Reach falls backward, off of the wall.
"Where did that come from?" I yell to Evo.
"I don't know, I missed it!"
"I've got it!" Boost chimes in. "The tree at the top of the hill, left of the road!"
"Got it!" Evo yells, firing his rifle.
I peek over the edge of the wall.
"You okay, Reach?"
"Yeah, the plate took the damage. The force of the shot just knocked me back, is all."
"Alright, good. Can you get back up here?"
"I don't think it's a good idea. I'll be in the open. I'm gonna fall back and check on the prisoner containment team."
He turns and runs to the house, to Shockwave. Goddammit. I turn to Evo.
"Reach pussied out to be with his girlfriend."
"It's alright, we've got this. I'm gonna let them advance, and once they get close enough, you'll rush in for the flank."
"Understood. Be at the ready, Boost."
"You've got it, love!"

I'm lying in wait just outside of the walls of the FOB. Gunshots ring out in irregular intervals, both from the mercs and from Evo. One of the guns goes silent.
"Vel, move in. I'll hold the entrance."
The rush of power. It's been too long. I rush into the woods, circling around the mercenary rescue team. They are approaching the base in single file, with the sniper at the rear. I snap his neck, and seamlessly shift to the next target. I punch him in the spine to stun him, then pull back his head and snap his neck, too. The next soldier turns around, and I deliver a furious punch into his forearm. He drops his weapon, and I connect a backhand forearm strike with the side of his neck, taking him to the ground. I quickly stomp on his gut to keep him from getting up. I charge forward and tackle the next man, and begin pummeling him on the ground as Evo dispatches the last target with his rifle.
"Vel! Contact, your six," Evo's voice screams in my helmet. I look back and see five more mercenaries in the treeline. That was just half the team. Shit. One of them suddenly receives a bullet in the throat, courtesy of Evo. Another one drops dead, then the rest duck behind cover. Stimulant still surging through my veins, I charge up the hill. One of them stands upright and raises his rifle. I send it flying with a roundhouse kick, then take him to the ground by the throat. The other two jump backward, and one raises his rifle. He promptly receives a bullet to the head from Evo. The last one drops his gun and runs off, leaving his pinned comrade to his fate. A single devastating punch knocks him unconscious. Evo runs up next to me.
"Don't let him get away!" We take off sprinting after the target, chasing him through the forest. I catch him shortly, and tackle him into the dirt. I slam my helmet into his skull, and he goes limp. Evo joins me in the clearing.
"Good work, let's return to base."
Suddenly, a small object flies out of the trees and lands at our feet with a metallic thud.
"Grenade!"
It detonates before we can do anything, but there is no fire. No shrapnel hurtling through the air. There was a loud, staticky noise, but that was it. Wait a minute, my HUD is gone.
Boost! Boost! What's going on?
...
...
...
Nothing.
A small team of three mercenaries approaches from the bushes. They look different. Specialists maybe?
"Stand down. The EMP has fried your systems, you are defenseless."
I look down at my armor. Every muscle stands at attention, visible even through the Kevlar. Even without the stims, I know I am strong. I know I am fast. I am not defenseless. They get closer, and I put my hands behind my head. One approaches. I grab him by the throat, punch him in the gut, and grab his weapon, attached to his person by a sling. I empty the magazine, riddling his comrades with bullets. I drop the weapon, take the last merc's knife, and slit his throat. He thuds to the ground in front of me. Breathing hard, I walk over to Evo. He lies on the ground, still where he was when the grenade went off. I pick him up, and shake him a little bit.
"C'mon, man, we gotta get back to base, and report this."
No response.
"Evo. Talk to me, babe."
Nothing.
"Evo?"
He's not breathing.

I walk into the FOB with Evo on my shoulders. Reinforcements have arrived, and FOB Ayala has been declared a safe LZ. I leave Evo with the medics, then follow one of the combat engineers to his lab.

"My AI has been silent ever since Evo and I got caught in the blast of some kind of grenade. I think one of the mercs called it an EMP." He takes the chip out of my helmet, and plugs it in at his computer terminal. He sighs.
"Chip's dead, I'm afraid. EMP fried it. Your AI's gone."
Oh no. No, no, no, not Boost. Not Boost.
"I'd like to check your squadmate's as well, if you could get it for me."
"Okay," I answer, my voice shaky.
His body lies in the courtyard, covered with a sheet.
No.
I look at the holotag on his neck.
Callsign: Evo
Unit: I.A.F. Force Recon
Fireteam: Alpha
Blood type is scratched out, strangely enough.
Then, at the bottom, are the three letters I knew were coming but never could have prepared for.
Status:K.I.A.
Killed In Action.
Not Evo. Out of everyone, I never expected Evo. I gently lift his head up and remove his AI chip. It's different than mine, bulkier. I walk toward the field lab.

"Interesting," the engineer remarks, inspecting the chip. "Your partner's seems to be shielded. It may still have something on it."
He plugs it in, and a plain white, horizontal line appears on screen.
There's an unbearable silence.
"Hello?"
I didn't say it. The engineer didn't. The computer did. With Evo's voice.
"Hello, anyone there?" He's expecting an answer.
"Yes, hi, could you please state your name, AI?" The engineer finally replies.
The voice sighs.
"Guess it had to come out eventually. It's me, guys, Evo. I'm an AI."

Run.
Jump.
Climb.
Vault.
Rappel.
I am a finely-tuned machine.