Night had just fallen on Base-7, stars adorned the sky of that desert. The guards lit some cigarettes, to lessen the cold that was present and to have fun with the figures that the smoke of the cigarettes made. The peaceful silence of the night was interrupted by the loud sound of a helicopter descending; it had some impacts of shots, and scratches in its matte black paint.
From the helicopter descended some men with military equipment, some with bandages stained with blood, all with discouraged and tired faces, a medical team approached them, at that moment a young man with dark skin descended from the helicopter, with a Corvus uniform, somewhat modified, and next to him a kind of wolf-dog. A subject with an impeccable military uniform came out of the interior of the base and headed towards the helicopter; while he walked the men who had descended, stopped to salute the subject in military uniform. When he reached the young man with dark skin, he shook his hand.
"Agent Rivera, it's a pleasure that you came back alive, I would have felt bad if you had died, oh how are you Fritz?"
The wolf-dog responded with a friendly bark.
"And you, Rivera, won't you say hello to me?"
At that moment, the medical team that had previously attended to Rivera's men, approached the helicopter again, this time to unload 4 black bags the size of a man.
"I see, well, I suggest you go take a shower and rest a little, you and your men did very well, but as you know there is always a price."
Before leaving, the man in the impeccable uniform gave Agent Rivera a pat on the back, and a dog biscuit to Fritz.
Silence reigned again at Base-7.
The drops of water slid down Rivera's wet body as he stepped out of the shower. As he dried himself with a towel, he went to his closet and pulled out a loose shirt and a pair of sleep pants. As he lay in bed, he looked up at the ceiling, the white, empty ceiling. He thought, "A calendar girl would look good there." His eyes began to close slowly.
As he was in Morpheus' arms, Rivera found himself in a dimly lit and somewhat "old" hallway. With every step he took, a sharp moan was heard. Unreasonably, Rivera felt the need to escape from something. Every time he turned back, he saw a flame chasing him. Suddenly, the hallway "ended" and in its place was an abyss. The flame continued to chase Rivera, so he unconsciously jumped into the abyss…
Everything turned dark.
As he slowly opened his eyes, a dark silhouette formed before him.
"Hat? What are you doing here? What time is?"
Hat, to see how Rivera would react, brought him a glass of water that was on his shelf.
"I thought you were dying in your dreams, and I wasn't going to miss the opportunity to see it."
"So you were the darkness of my dream at the end?"
"Indeed my dear friend."
A voice interrupted the light conversation, to announce a message.
AGENT RIVERA AND THE MEMBERS OF HIS TEAM, WHO ARE IN COMBAT CONDITION, ARE REQUESTED TO REPORT TO SECTION B IMMEDIATELY
Hat, seeing that his friend had to leave, disappeared. Rivera hurried to change, thinking What's wrong with these idiots? We barely survived the last mission and now they want to direct us to another. Rivera left his room in a hurry…
On a new day.
The huge virtual world map was noticeable in that section, a lot of investigators and operators moved from one side to the other, some with bundles of papers and others with weapons, nothing out of the ordinary. In the middle of everything was standing an older man (maybe between 36 and 45), he was quietly reviewing some papers while humming a song, the huge main door opened and behind it appeared a group of armed men, all formed a circle around the older man.
"Five minutes late, Agent Rivera and company," said the older man.
Rivera approached the man.
"We are sorry Zaragoza, but we barely returned from the previous mission, we were barely able to return, and they are already sending us to another one." replied Rivera.
Zaragoza looked at him with a certain indifference.
"Life isn't fair, boy. I thought you'd already learned that, but well. Do you want to know about your next mission?"
Rivera and his men exchanged a couple of glances with each other, before nodding almost simultaneously.
"Okay, please look at the map."
At that moment, on the large virtual map, a location was shown, in which there was a small hut near Serbia.
"That small construction there, is a cover for a large underground construction, belonging to the "Family", it is believed that the facility operates for drug trafficking in the Balkans, consequently it interferes with our movements and those of our allies in the area, your mission is simple, eliminate this obstacle and if possible recover samples of the drugs being manufactured and information that you believe to be relevant, understood?"
There was no response from Rivera and his men.
"Well, your transport leaves in 10 minutes, get ready… and good luck."
The crow flew
Rivera had tried to sleep during the flight, but every time he closed his eyes, he saw that flame that followed him. Suddenly he felt a sudden movement, the helicopter began to move abruptly.
"What the hell is going on?" Rivera shouted as he approached the pilot.
"I don't know sir, it's a strange turbulence," the pilot responded with a certain tone of concern. "I once felt something similar, when I was flying near a tornado, in Texas, sir."
"Tornado?"
At that moment, a light appeared, which momentarily blinded Rivera and the pilot.
"Was that a flare?" the co-pilot asked
"Yes, I think I know who it is. Come down, but don't turn off the engines, just in case," Rivera answered.
As they descended, they could see through the trail of smoke, a small group of armed men, waiting next to their vehicles.
"Are they from the Family?" asked one of Rivera's men.
"No, something more detestable, the "Teal Division"" said Rivera.
After landing, Rivera was the first to descend, while a man approached the group of armed men. As they got closer, Rivera could see that the guy had some blueish tone on his skin.
"I thought they had been dismantled," Rivera said with a certain sarcastic tone.
"It's also a pleasure to work with you again Agent Rivera," said the blue-haired guy, while he and Rivera shook hands.
"And how is life treating you Bluey?"
"Well, I guess I can't complain."
"And what is the reason for your company?" asked Rivera.
"As always, the Alphas don't think they have the level to complete the mission," said the blue-haired guy while showing a small smile.
"Look who's talking… Well, I guess you already know the details of the mission, right?" Rivera asked.
"Yes."
"Well then, let's go," Rivera said as he headed towards his helicopter.
"Well, but I guess it would be more convenient to go in this," said the blue guy, as he pointed to one of the trucks, in which his men were.
Rivera inspected with his eyes that truck, which seemed to have been taken from a junkyard and only exclaimed "Oh god."
Towards a flame
The whole road was a complete dirt road and together with the poor condition of the truck, they made the trip a real torture. While he heard his men complain, Rivera tried to focus on the mission and on working peacefully, with his counterpart from the "TD", but above all on… The truck began to stop, the time had come. Up the hill, that cabin could be seen, its light made it visible from hundreds of meters away.
"I think we need some wind, don't you, Azulito?" Rivera said, making a sign to the blue guy.
"Azulito" began to move his hands in circles and suddenly a strong gale was released. Feeling the strong wind, Rivera gave the signal to his men to activate their camouflage, and begin the raid.
"What do you think, if you stay here, Azulito, in case we need help," Rivera asked.
"Whatever you say."
Rivera and his men began to ascend through the vast pasture, the wind helping to hide their steps as well as providing a perfect distraction. As they circled the cabin, a man emerged from it, apparently wanting to see what was going on outside. Just as he was about to go back in, Rivera grabbed him by the neck and plunged his knife into his throat. While his blood was still bubbling, Rivera dropped him to the ground and dragged him into the pasture. As he left the body, he went with one of his men, each to one side of the door, making a signal to him. The two of them threw a flash grenade inside, and after the explosion, both Rivera and his men opened fire. When the ceasefire was ordered, of what appeared to be two men playing cards, only the blood-stained cards remained. Taking a breath from that scene, Rivera ordered a search of the cabin.
"Look for anything that might be useful," exclaimed one of Rivera's men.
While they were checking every inch of that dusty but "elegant" cabin, Rivera decided to take a short break, sitting on a small trunk, while he imagined where that laboratory could be.
"Sir, come here please," one of the boys shouted from a nearby room.
When Rivera arrived at where they had called him, Rivera noticed a huge hole where there had been a bed.
"Sir, what do we do?" asked another who had gone to his companion's call.
"You and Black will go down with me, the rest stay outside and meet up with Azulito, I know how this will turn out."
"Understood, Sir."
But he fell into darkness
The smell of sulfur was present in that small hole, as Rivera advanced ahead of his men. Despite their expectations, they did not encounter any resistance along the way, even if the three men remained alert. They walked for a few minutes until they found the end of the road.
"Sir, there is nothing here," Black exclaimed.
Rivera was not disturbed by his companion's, but continued advancing, until he hit the wall, but ended up going through it. Black and the other man who accompanied Rivera were impressed, and after a few seconds they followed in the footsteps of their leader. When they crossed the "Wall" Rivera and his men found a small but well-equipped laboratory.
"What kind of drug do they make here?" Black asked.
"The kind of drug that would make the GOC sentence you to death," answered the other man who accompanied Rivera.
"I suppose that if we bring some samples, the CIF will be able to decrypt them and thus be able to sell them for the benefit of the IC, don't you think, boss?" Black asked, turning to Rivera.
"Yes, of course."
While they continued investigating, in that laboratory they received a notification by radio.
"Sir, they are attacking us, we have already finished off the team of-"
"What's going on?" Rivera asked.
"The communication was cut off, sir," Black exclaimed.
"Well, let's go back," said Rivera with determination while checking his ammunition.
It was Hell itself
As they emerged from the hole, Rivera realized that the cabin was very quiet. There was no sign of the men.
"Sir, do you think that…" Black asked.
Rivera nodded as he readied his weapon, his men following suit. As they crept toward the back door, Black noticed a small pool of blood.
"Ready!" Rivera was interrupted by the entry of a smoke grenade from outside. As he tried to stay stable, he felt the blow of a gun to his temple, forcing him to fall unconscious to the ground.
Original: Caceria. Parte 1
Date: 10 Sep 2018
Author: carabina30
Translator: Yorick1