CodeName: Tannim (ch2)

Church woke up several hours later, at first he thought that he was in his room but when he saw the cracked walls and dust covered windows he knew that the nightmare was real, he threw the sheets off his bed and took a look around the room, it wasn’t decorated but there was a change of cloths in the closet which doors had been taken down long ago, the floor was a linoleum material in a diamond pattern from one end of the room to the other, he placed his feet on the floor, it was warm like everything else here.
After throwing on the clothes, which were engraved with his name and a number the number must be like Gordons he had been drafted into a war that he didn’t want to be involved in, church exited the building from what he had seen it pointed to being the hospital, when he turned around he noticed that everyone in the street was focused on him, he heard a few low words “Newcomer”, “coward”, even a few along the lines of “Traitor”, he started to defend himself when one of them charged a steel pipe raised in his hand, church ducked the swing and punched the man in the chest he fell to the floor in mess, two more attacked, church couldn’t believe this he had been here for what seamed like a day at least and he was already the bad guy, one of the attackers was carrying another pipe church bent down and picked up the first one, the pipe wielder swung, church easily blocked it and smashed the mans right knee.
“I DON’T WANT TO FIGHT.” Church yelled out as the other opponent tried to knock him out with a left hook he dodged it and nailed the man in the chest with his own fist, before the next wave could begin church noticed something in the background a group of people were walking by, they flickered out and appeared on the other side of the street, he clued in on what was happening then picked the pipe back up and readied for the next wave.
In a window a few meters above church Gordon and a General observed him as he was confronted with the test, once they saw that church had noticed the flaw they kicked the simulator up a few notches, the general looked over at Gordon.
“You sure he can take this level of punishment.”
Gordon looked back at him. “With my word as a Tannim this kid can handle it.”
The Attacks continued until all the virtual opponents had had a thorough beating by church, the only injuries sustained were to church’s face which had a couple of cuts from knives, and his arm which was dislocated, Gordon and the General entered the room the walls and bodies flickered and faded away, they approached church they were about to talk to him when he held up his finger signaling them to wait a moment, he grabbed his arm and pushed it back into it’s socket, he waved his hand, they could talk to him now.
“That was pretty impressive for a noob.” Church’s head snapped up at the word it was strange that five hundred years later they were still using a gaming term. “Tell me what keyed you into the simulator.”
“Well I noticed after the second wave that a person in the back ground had jumped from one side of the street to the other and then back again.”
Gordon looked at church. “That’s it…? That’s how you figured out it was a simulation.”
“That, and after a couple of waves the crowd never really died down.”
The general looked at Gordon who didn’t return the look, he sighed returned to church.
“Alright that was melee sim at lvl four.” Church wasn’t surprised, to deal with what has happened they probably need a lot of training. “Next will be a fire arms test then you meet the rest of your team.”
Church walked with the General and Gordon out of the simulator, for the next couple of hours he replayed the melee and firearms training sessions it was different every time around new scenery, enemies, it was like playing a virtual video game, after the training Church finally got introduced to the rest of his team.
The doors slid apart as church entered the room he looked around, the room looked to be used as storage there were crates pilled up they were all uniform in size, they looked to be three quarters of a meter tall and wide, four of them were sitting beside each other in the middle of the room, and other six were stored along the wall four along the right wall and two adjacent to himself, the middle three had crates stacked on top of them, there were four other people in the room one was standing in the corner to his right he looked around the same age as church but a little more built his name was stitched into his shirt followed by his number, Sean 534, another was sitting atop the boxes she was one that looked familiar he has seen her when he had arrived with Gordon he didn’t need to look at her shirt to know her name it rang through his head like a bell, Melissa her number was 535, the next was laying on the floor asleep church didn’t even need to look at his face it was John , a friend of his from school, church walked over and stepped on his stomach lightly John flinched, his eyes opened slowly then snapped wide when he saw church standing over him.
“My god.” Church stepped off of him and held out his hand john took it “What the hell are you doing here.” John said as he gave church a hug it was like they hadn’t seen each other in years when it had only been a day or so, but both of them knew that it was shear luck that they were both there, church let john go and finished his look over the last person in the room was sitting exact opposite of Justin she looked at church there eyes met she looked away he could tell she wasn’t used to newcomers her shirt read, Karly 536, Church looked at Johns shirt like every one else including him self there was his name and number stitched into it, John 533, after a moment he realized that he didn’t even know his own number he pulled his shirt forward, Church 537.
Every one in the room seamed to be a little out of it Karly kept looking everyone over, Sean stood in the corner acting like the cool guy you see in most Anime shows, Melissa had introduced her self to church and John so the three of them were still in the same spot talking it seamed that the three of them had all been subjected to the same testing even though the general and Gordon told Church that each training session was different, Church knew that John was another “unknown” meaning that he knew that he had John had been taken through time to the present year of 2507 he didn’t know anything about Melissa, Karly, or Justin so he decided that it would be in all of there best interest to learn if the Slip was the reason they were all their but before he could bother asking Melissa the door slid open Gordon and four other soldiers walked in with him.
“Kelly” john nodded to the women beside Gordon
“Justin” Sean Had left the corner and walked over beside Church, he motioned towards the person in the far left
“D?” Karly said in a questioning voice
“Frank” Melissa said dropping down from the crates
“Gordon” Church nodded.
The five soldiers entered the room and stood beside each other single file and stiff they looked across at the new trainees who were standing in opposite to the person who had found them.
“Ten Hut” Gordon Yelled every one of the soldiers snapped to john, Melissa, Sean, Karly, and Church stood straighter but they were along way from military standards, the General and a couple of other Officers walked into the room the soldiers gave a crisp salute, stood even straighter, they didn’t move a muscle they were like statues, the general looked over the ragtag group assembled as five civilians found wandering the desert, he stopped in front of church looked him straight in the eye.
“Do you know why you have been selected soldier, hmmmm do you?.” He asked as he pulled a steel pole from his back pocket, Church knew that the wrong answer would mean pain.
“We are here because you selected us” that was the best he could come up with, it was crap by his standards he knew he was going to get struck by the pole.
“Wrong answer.” The general raised the pole and swung at church, his instincts kicked in again he jumped back grabbed hold of the pole, lunged forward and smashed the general with a mighty left hook to the jaw, he noticed that Gordon flinched that was the wrong thing to do it seamed. “You son of a…” the General had fallen to the floor he was picking himself back up he wobbled a little as he stood straight “ THAT was the worst possible thing you could have done soldier” he jabbed the pole in between Church’s ribs, church notice a little red button he knew it wasn’t just a pole it was a shock stick, before he could move he had fallen to the ground from the pain, Melissa and John knelt down to help him they both got shocked along the spine they lay beside church. “Any one else wanna try”
Sean and Karly stood still “Now the reason we are here is to let you know that you five are the new Blue Vega squad your team training started now so UP” he yelled as he kicked Church in the stomach.
Once the General and his fellow officers had left Justin and D filed out but Gordon, Frank, and Kelly remind behind they walked over to the three injured trainees they helped them to there feet Gordon stood church up.
“What were you thinking attacking him like that.” Gordon said supporting church with his shoulder
“I wasn’t it just… happened like back in the desert when I shot down the fighter and dodged your round.”
The training commenced it started with simple drills then got a little more complex boosting each other over a wall, roll over, quick ammo swap while running, touch and go tactics, and so on and so forth by the time they were done every thing that had separated the five of them seamed to fall from there minds they didn’t care anymore Sean and Karly, introduced themselves properly mid training, with the five of them teamed up they preformed better then they had in the beginning, the instructors repeated the previous exercises the team completed the training in half the time. The day was filled with training, from basic team coordination to complex singular movement, at the end Church had realized that all five of them were almost identical in their fitness levels Melissa was a little faster, john stronger, Sean smarter, Karly smoother, and church… he held the leadership skills.
The New Blue Vega squad sat in their room it wasn’t to small or to large but church felt like he couldn’t move the feeling of having four other people a meter from him, he just wasn’t used to it, each one of them had been given a rifle an SH42 Mk I the standard for most UEA marines they had been trained how to take it apart and clean it, they spent at least two hours cleaning the rifles church was sitting on the floor his parts spread in front of him he just sat there and stared at them, John and Karly noticed him.
“What’s he doing” she asked
John had seen church do this before during shop classes
“He’s done this before multiple times, I don’t know exactly but any moment now he’ll slap the rifle back together the parts will be in a different order but the rifle will be at least twice as good” he whispered back just as he finished church started to grab parts at random his movements were to fast for Karly to follow him but john had been watching him do this for a while he could replicate the effect but he had to work fast the mental recording would only last so long, so he grabbed his rifle and told Karly to watch him do the assembly so she could replicate and teach Melissa and Sean how to complete the mods, by the end of the night all five had there weapons modified now all they needed was to wait till tomorrow to test them on the range.
Church was the last one left awake he was standing by the window every thing he had been though was going to happen again, his future had been torn to the ground, his only ties to the past were john, Melissa, Sean, and Karly if he lost them he would probably loss his mind and start believing that this future is his present. As church thought over all the difficulties he and the others would have to face a shimmer appeared in the distance church spotted it he thought it was a Dimension drop ship or a pilot returning from a patrol but it was moving to fast and it wasn’t slowing he finally realized what it was he spin round.
“EVERY ONE UP!.” He yelled at the top of his lungs, every one woke up.
“What the hell are you yelling about church?” asked Sean
“Grab your gear and leave the barracks…” he paused and waited for them to move “NOW!!!” they realized that he wasn’t joking, they grabbed there rifles and what gear they could throw over there backs.
“Alright split up we’ve got two minutes to wake the others MOVE” they team split up each taking a section of the barracks john took the up stairs, Melissa the south, Karly north, Sean east and church west, they beat in doors fired there rifles anything to wake the rest of the barracks up. Church had finished first he ran outside and took a look at the sky the light was almost there at least twenty seconds away, the court yard started to get flooded with soldiers all of whom saw the light and ran from the structure, the rest of Blue-Vega arrived they reported the barracks clear church ordered them out of the area, it would do little good the missile was seconds away, they dove to the ground as the barracks’s walls split, bent, and flew apart the air was filled with debris, a large section of the building fell on Sean’s leg before it was blown away it must have broken, the rest of the team escaped with minor injuries a couple of scratches and a broken finger it seamed Sean’s injuries were a little worse he had a broken rib, and leg and a large gash across his back.
When it became light out church and Melissa returned to the barracks while Karly and john reviewed sensor data with the technical staff, it appeared to Church and Melissa that the missile had been targeted right at there room the explosion rounded off from that location, church realized something he might have left his Mp3 player in the room, Melissa asked why it was so important Church told her that it was all he had left from the past it had been a birthday present from his parents just before this all happened he searched his pockets quickly, letting out a sigh of relief church pulled it out but it didn’t look the same church attempted to start it up but it didn’t work the display was screwed it displayed three letters J A Y it must be a virus or something church tucked it back in his pocket, Melissa reminded him that they had training today on the horizon and if they were to make it in time they would have to leave now.
Church and Melissa arrived two minutes late for the training John and Karly were already getting suited up, none of them had seen or gotten information on the horizon but when church saw it he immediately realized that the training they were doing just the day before was Childs play everything would be getting a lot harder in the next couple of days.
“537, 539 where have you been your fellow trainees have already been debriefed.” Gordon walked up from behind them, church turned and saluted not a proper salute more of a half assed excuse for a salute.
“Sir” he said “We were examining the remains of the barracks incase there was a miss count on personnel.”
Gordon stood in front of them “Were you ordered to do so 537”
“Yes sir, Captain Danchuk gave us the order.”
“He should have ran it past me first” Gordon said to himself “Alright.” He looked over at john and Karly “You two get suited up and meet us by the dimension.” They both nodded “As for you two follow me I’ll debrief you on the horizon.”
Gordon turned and lead Church and Melissa into a small building it looked like it might have been part of a strip mall at one point in time, there were three tables set up each on had parts from the horizon lined up on them fifteen pieces in total.
“This is the horizon MK I it’s a lighter version of the power armor used in the beginning of the war, the suit can recognize the users specific brain pattern by using a neural lace.” There were two screams from out side “It sounds like 536 and 538 have already found that it’s a little painful.” Gordon walked over to the helmet “the helmet contains several key systems an interactive HUD, Ammunition counter, health monitor, and a auto reticule which means the moment you pick up a weapon it compensates so you know exactly where the gun is aiming.”
The debrief lasted a couple of minutes when Gordon was finished he lead them into another room in the back of the old store, he opened a door, there was a long ramp leading into the basement of the store, Gordon walked down, the Basement was at least 10 meters wide and long and 3 tall the walls were lined with lockers, in the middle of the room a large weapons rack there were numerous types ranging from three sniper rifles to four CML’s and a number of pistols, rifles, grenades, and melee weapons.
“This is going to be your locker room you share it with the Green – Vega team there a lot like you guys we found them one month ago wandering around just like you.”
Church walked around running his fingers along the lockers till he found his number.
“This is me that means Melissa your right here,” he pointed to a locker just right of him she walked over to it they opened the lockers at the same time, both contained a horizon mark one, before Gordon could show the correct style to equip the suit Church had pulled the chest plait out and started, he leaned his rifle against the locker beside him, Church slide piece after piece on, he had to remove his clothes in order for the suit to fit correctly, he had completely suited up in under a minute under layer, chest plate, bicep’s, forearms, gloves, belt, thighs, shins, and boots, he hesitated a moment before slipping the helmet over his head there was hiss of air as it locked in place and the suit became airtight, he looked back at Gordon.
“Three, two, one.” Gordon counted the moment he reached one the helmet started to cut at the back of church’s neck, he fell to the floor in pain but he didn’t scream he clenched his teeth and waited it out, the pain sank away and church relaxed he exhaled.
“You took that better then anyone else I’ve seen church.”
Melissa could hear his breathing from where she was, she stared at him thinking that in a couple of minutes she would go through the same experience, Melissa grabbed the chest plate out of the locker and placed it on the ground she stripped off her cloths she pulled the under layer over her body then locked each piece in place it took about five minutes for her to completely suit up while she did church scouted out he weapons rack, he looked all the weapons over he grabbed a standard issue 9mm pistol, three clips for it and an additional five for his rifle, he slid all the ammo into his belt then checked for a melee weapon, there were weapons ranging from small knives to swords there was one that stood out in particular to church is was a single edged, no hand guard, sword the back end of it was squared off so that the top and bottom section’s was thicker then the middle, he pulled it and a medium knife off the rack the sword hung from his side and the knife from his right bracer, he walked back over to Gordon he was about to ask a question when he saw the Gordon was worried about something he looked over as Melissa slide the helmet over her head, church ran to catch her as she fell to the floor grasping the helmet in pain, he caught her in mid fall, he could feel her tense up, her entire body had become solid all her muscles were tensed up. the way church would have described it from his experience was it was like your entire body cramped up for thirty or more second, she exhaled he could her hear crying inside her helmet but her spirit was strong she stood up grabbed her rifle and waited for orders.
“Alright then” said Gordon “the two of you follow me were meeting the rest of your team at the dimension.”
Church took a step forward before remembering his Mp3 player so far it had been a good luck charm and he wasn’t about to let his luck run out, he turned around opened his locker and pulled the player from his jeans pocket, as he pulled it out the main display light up with a solid blue glow the same three letters were displayed. J A Y.
“What the hell” he whispered to himself
“Church lets go” called Gordon, church tucked the player into a pouch on his belt then ran to catch up.