1 vs 100

"Berg? Agent Berg, do you read me?” Ethan Walker lifted the communicator to his ear. Only a crackling, sputtering noise sounded. He tried again to contact Berg, but received no answer. He lowered the communicator and murmured, “Nothing.” He visually scanned the area around him. No living thing was in sight. At one point, there had been foliage here, but now only reddish dust and rocks composed the once-beautiful landscape of northwestern Australia. In the distance, a large concrete and steel building rose up, towering above the bleak horizon. “What has come to our world?” Ethan whispered to himself. “Berg, where are you?”

“No answer?” Kirra Taylor, his co-pilot asked, her eyes full of concern.

Ethan looked at her and shook his head. “None. I don’t know what we’re going to do now.”

“Did you contact Commander Rush?”

“Yes.” Ethan answered. “He hasn’t heard from Agent Berg in several hours. Maybe-” He stopped and looked at her, worry on his face.

Kirra’s eyes widened. “You don’t think...The ISR...” She stopped, fear choking her voice.

“I wouldn’t be surprised...” Ethan said. “I’ve heard rumors of a special service called The Guard, very good at intelligence and captures. They never talk, and they’re never seen in public. ”

Kirra looked away. “Now what?” she wondered.

Ethan didn’t know.

It had been years since the Federation took control over the last remaining free countries of the world. They then “united” the world, forming the Industrialized Socialist Republic, the ISR. Their main religion was government; they hated Christians, Jews and Muslims, or any one who believed in a God beside themselves. They pressed down hard, trying to exterminate all of these people. But some still remained. The Freedom Fighters Faction was a collection of people ready to fight to the death for what they believed. They called the ISR soldiers “spiders.”

Ethan’s thoughts were interrupted by the bleeping sound coming from his belt. He looked down and saw that his communicator’s red light was blinking rapidly, an urgent signal. He and Kirra spun around and sprinted toward their vehicle. When they reached the J-316, Ethan quickly jumped into the front of the small cockpit, Kirra in the seat right behind him. Ethan closed the hatch and started the ignition sequence. The craft hummed to life. Kirra activated the computer system. The screens and computers lit up. Ethan pulled back on the throttle, and the ship lifted into the air. He looked at his main monitor screen. The blinking light was directly south of his position. He and Kirra pulled their helmets over their heads. A voice broke through the intercom.

“All units of Squad 6 will report to base 17 in the Cobalt Forest immediately. Lt. Walker, are you there?” It was Commander Adam Rush’s voice, and he sounded grim.

Ethan lowered his mic and spoke into it. “Yes sir, Commander. Requesting exact target location.” “380, 225.” Commander Adam answered. “Reported sighting of ISR elite troops in the forest, converging on the Dampier base. Defend at all costs.”

Ethan was confused – the Dampier base was controlled by the ISR, why did he need to defend it from them? But his job was to follow orders, not ask questions. “We’re on it, sir.” He said as he maneuvered the ship around, toward the coordinates Adam had given him.

“Very good, Lieutenant. Is Agent Taylor with you?”

“Yes, sir,” Kirra answered, “I’m here.”

“Excellent. Now, I’ve got a difficult assignment for you. You are to fly back, behind the enemy forces, and send me the number of troops they are attacking with. Then turn and strafe them on your way back. Destroy as many as you can. Head for the Dampier base, circle around and join the rest of the FFF on the front lines and give them battle.”

Ethan took in a slow breath. This was no easy mission. But it would help the rest of the FFF a lot in the battle. “Mission accepted, sir. We’re heading there now.”

*    *    *

Ethan took off his helmet and let it fall to the ground, exhaustion taking hold of him. It was several hours since the battle had been fought. The Cobalt Forest was not really a forest at all, but a huge field of broken-down archaic tanks, destroyed in some ancient war.  The tanks made maneuvers difficult, and when Squad 6 won the battle, aided by the small Team 12, they rejoiced. But just as they achieved victory, huge rumblings shook the ground, they watched the SS Freedom leapfrog into the sky, and their victorious attitude turned to sadness. Now Ethan stared out over the bleak horizon. Kirra walked up next to him. For a long time, neither spoke. Finally Ethan broke the silence. “The FFF is no more.” He looked over at her. “Kirra, we are all that’s left on this earth that is free.”

She turned her eyes downward and sighed. “Has God forgotten about us?” A single tear fell from her eye. “Is there any hope now?”

Ethan took a deep breath. He reached over and lifted her head. He looked into her eyes and smiled. “There is always hope, Kirra. God has not forgotten.” She looked up at him and smiled slightly. “You’re right, Ethan. Thank you.”

“Lt. Walker,” Commander Rush’s voice broke through the stillness, “Are you there?”

Ethan pressed the button and said, “Yes, Commander. Kirra and I are both here.”

Rush sounded tired. “Very good. I want both of you to report back to our temporary base of operations immediately. Out.” Ethan glanced at Kirra.

She shrugged. “Let’s go.”

When they reached the base, they walked into the small room. Ethan looked around. 33 other people were there, counting Commander Rush. Team 12 and Squad 6. He and Kirra sat down. Then Rush addressed them all.

“Good, everyone’s here. Now, I’m going to get straight to the point.” His words were clipped and direct. “Everyone you see in this room, all of us, are the last remaining FFF members left on this planet. All the others are killed or in Exodus.” He glanced around at the somber faces. “But don’t lose hope. It is God’s will that we remain here, and we will do our best to keep this earth free.” “What are you suggesting, Commander?” Second-in-Command Phillip Allen asked. Adam paused. “General, I say we fight on. We still are the Freedom Fighters Faction. May God be with us.” Everyone nodded their approval. Ethan looked over at Kirra and smiled. She smiled back. Commander Rush finished by saying, “Let’s let the ISR know what we think of them.”

*    *    *

As Ethan was walking down the corridor, he was unaware of the two pairs of eyes watching his every move. He glanced furtively around and stepped up to one of the doors lining the hallway of the base, a base that had once been an important part of the FFF’s intelligence network. He tried hard to remember the password...Aha! He remembered. He reached down and started typing the correct code.

Click.

Ethan froze. Something hard and cold was pressed against his back. He slowly looked behind him. Two men in masks with guns stood behind him. They both had uniforms bearing an ISR badge with the same unidentifiable black symbol on them. The Guard! Ethan paused, unsure what to do next. Finally he said, “Hello.” He tried to smile. The men were silent. One of them motioned with his gun. Ethan moved in that direction. The other Guard walked behind him and prodded him forward. He walked ahead. The two men blindfolded him.

He had no idea where they lead him, but now they stopped in front of another door and removed the blindfold.

Ethan looked up at the door. It was large and foreboding. A red “DO NOT ENTER” was painted across the door. Oh boy, now what?

One of the guards reached forward and entered the password. The door slid open. The Guards led Ethan inside. He looked around. The biggest computer system he had ever seen lined three walls of the room. The room was dimly lit. A huge high-backed leather chair was facing away from him. Three more Guards stood by a bound figure. Kirra! Ethan swallowed. She looked at him. Her mouth was covered by a gag, and her hands were tied behind her back. Ethan wanted to speak to her, but at that moment the large chair swiveled around. A man, dwarfed by the huge chair, sat there, an angry look on his face. 

The Guards pushed the two prisoners forward. The man rose and looked down on Ethan and Kirra. He spoke, his voice cold and hard. “So... these are some of them.” He had a slight German accent. “These two belong to the pitiful FFF.” One of The Guard nodded. “Excellent.” The man looked at Ethan, his eyes full of hate. “Freedom! Bah! You two do not know true freedom. True freedom is serving your government. Not following some delusion of a myth! Who is god?” He glared down at them. “I, Kavin Koehn, second in command to The Chosen One, leader of the glorious ISR, am part of the single most powerful government in the world. We are god! Bah!” He spit out.

“No,” Ethan said quietly.

Kavin could not believe his ears. “What?” He asked menacingly.

“No.” Ethan said firmly. “You are not God. You are just a puny, selfish, arrogant man. And one day you’ll have to answer to Him for the way you’ve behaved.”

Kavin got out of his chair calmly, and walked over to Ethan.   Suddenly his face twisted into anger, and he struck Ethan across the face. “Bah!” He shouted, “How dare you speak to me like that! And from a man who is about to die! Bah! You little, idiotic, ignorant-”

The Guard decided that this had gone on far enough. Two of them ran over and tackled Kavin to the ground. Two fixed their guns on him and the last one started untying Kirra. “Stop!” Kavin shrieked. “Desist! I’ll have you reported! I, Kavin Koehn-”

The “Guard” cocked his gun. “Listen, Mr. Koehn, we’re taking command here, see. And we don’t want no loud noise from you.” The man’s eyes had a glint to them. “So we’re gunna to tie you up nice, see. And you’re gunna sit here and be all peaceful, and give us no trouble.”

“Rebels! Deserters! I-” Kavin would not stop. The “Guard” nodded to one of his companions. The man raised his gun, took aim, and fired. The shock cartridge hit Kavin. His eyes rolled back, and he dropped into unconsciousness.

Ethan looked over at the men. They were taking off their masks and ISR suits, revealing green suits with badges that read “The Alliance.”

“Thank you,” Ethan said. “But now I’m confused. I thought you were the Guard.” “Yeah.” Kirra said. “You guys tied me up. Who are you?”

The leader grinned. “Justin Lamp. Alliant Captain. These are my men: Micah, Chris, Dan and Caleb.”

Ethan looked puzzled. “The Alliance?”

Justin explained. “We are a group of people who oppose the ISR, see. A resistance, you might say. We heard about your FFF and always wanted to meet you, but we could never find you, see?” “Wow.” Ethan said, looking impressed. “Well, nice to meet you. I’m Lt. Ethan Walker, and this is Kirra Taylor.” Everyone shook hands all around.

“Hey, Captain! I found it!” Chris had been messing around with the computer, and now held up a disk. “It’s the information disk we were sent here to find!” “Excellent work, men.” Justin was pleased. He turned to Ethan and Kirra. “Now, you two follow me, and I’ll get us out of here.” He looked down at the unconscious Mr. Koehn. “And let’s let sleeping beauty sleep, see?”

*    *    *

Commander Adam Rush was amazed. As he and the rest of the FFF members walked into the Alliant Headquarters, they were met by many people, excited and happy to have fellow fighters. The Alliant HQ was a large, 85-acre plot of land with many buildings, vehicles and weapons, all of which floated on the water and was protected by the most advanced anti-radar, anti-sonar, and anti-visual systems in the world. About 600 people lived there and worked there. To the south side were the living quarters and a small harbor. On the west side there was the landing pad, hangars, and control tower. To the east was where the computer lab and research station were located. The north side held the AA guns, weaponry and main wharf and dock. And in the center, the command center was standing. Adam looked around. Almost everyone wore a green uniform and a beret with two gold stars on it. As he was gazing at this huge operation, Justin pulled him aside and spoke to him.

“Mr. Rush, I have a problem, see?”

Adam looked at him quizzically. “What do you need, captain?”

“Well, it’s like this, see. You and your band need a place to stay, and we need someone who can lead us. Our commander never came back from a raid, see?”

“You want us to stay and join the Alliance.”

“Yes, that’s exactly right.” Justin agreed. “And we want you to be our next leader, see. Is it a deal?” He held out his hand, smiling.

Adam thought for a moment. “All right,“ he said, extending his hand. “It’s a deal.”

Justin grinned broadly. “Thank you, sir! It’d be just perfect, see. Together we’ll put those ISR minions out of a job, see!”

Later that evening, everyone assembled together in the field behind the living quarters, the usual gathering place when someone was going to make an announcement. A low wooden platform had been erected for this purpose. Captain Lamp strode up to it, faced the people, and spoke. “Good evening, everyone. I s’pose you all are excited about the arrival of these guests. Well, we’ve not had a commander for a while, see? And so I am pleased to announce our new Commander: Adam Rush of the FFF.” Adam walked up to the stage as everyone started clapping and cheering. Justin handed the wireless microphone to Adam and stepped back, grinning.

“Thank you, everyone.” Adam seemed happy. “I just want to say one thing.” He looked out over the crowd. Ethan and Kirra waited expectantly to hear what he had to say. “I say-” He stopped. “I say, This> may be the end of the FFF, but it’s the start of the Alliance! Let’s fight some Spiders.” Everyone broke out cheering, clapping, and shouting excitedly, although some of them didn’t seem to understand the Spider reference. They would learn in time.

Ethan looked over at Kirra and smiled. She smiled back. “May God be with us.”