Invasion

Carrizo stood outside of the Raven base, Hoi, Dimitrov, and a small group of Titan soldiers behind him. Carrizo pulled out his ID card, sliding the thin piece of plastic through a reader. The massive steel doors slowly opened; straight to a wall of Raven soldiers pointing weapons at the group. Carrizo smiled, “Grobel, glad to see you still have the same old love.” The Raven Captain walked out from behind the men, “Why are you here Sergeant, I should kill you now for desertion.” Carrizo walked forward and stepped close to Grobel, he whispered “Captain, do you really want your men dead? You know that stopping this Shadow War at all costs is of the upmost priority. I need you, and your men.” Grobel looked at Carrizo, “You know what Raven Industries would do to us?” Carrizo chuckled “There isn’t a thing they can do to us. The Russian government has agreed to give us a base there, on government ground. If any PMC attacks us there, the Russians have every right to mobilize an army against them, and I have been assured that they will. We will be safe.” Grobel shook his head, “I’m sorry, I won’t come.” Then he looked at his men, and sighed, “If any of you soldiers want to join Carrizo, go. I won’t stop you.” Carrizo’s old squad immediately joined the large man, a few more soldiers filtered over across the expanse between the two groups. Carrizo nodded to each of them, “Welcome.” He said, and then looked back to Grobel, “I wish you would have joined me. If we ever meet on the battlefield, let the best man win.” Grobel nodded, and then walked off towards his office coughing.

Carrizo showed every man to his bunk. The quarters were cold, and ice hung about the base. The heating system was old, and did little to help matters. Carrizo made sure that every man knew where he would be sleeping then headed back to the command center. The large concrete tower was placed in the center of the base. The base itself was so rounded by thick concrete walls, guard towers at each corner. One soldier was posted in each tower, Carrizo thought it unnecessary, but Dimitrov had insisted, “They need things to do until we get to training them.” Carrizo had finally given in and let Dimitrov place men on walls. Hoi had busied himself by writing up schedules and manuals. Dimitrov had begun finding contractors and manufacturers to help build new bases, and provide arms and vehicles. Carrizo walked to the table in the center of the room. The table was state of the art, a touchscreen built in, as well as the ability to project images in 3D. Carrizo pulled up a map of the world, and began labeling areas as SVER, Valor or Raven. Finally the world was covered by the three colors, blue red and green. The entire world, except for the small area he stood in. Carrizo stared at the map, then began filling in the Raven bases he knew. After a few hours of work he had every Raven base filled in on the map. His access codes had yet to be denied so he was still able to access Raven’s secure network. He grinned; there was already a file about Titan in there. Hoi walked over to Carrizo and sat across the table from him. “Intimidating,” Hoi said while indicating the map. Carrizo nodded, “It’ll be a tough job, but we’ll get it done.” Hoi nodded, “Carrizo, I’ve been thinking we need a logo, something we can slap onto everything, from uniforms to buildings.” Carrizo smiled, “Maybe, I’ll think about it. How are the schedules coming.” Hoi held up a packet of papers, “Right here, ready for you to review.” Carrizo reached across the table and took the packet. “I’ll read them tonight, you get some rest.” Hoi nodded, wiping some dirt off of his face, “Yes sir.” The young man headed out of the room and off to his quarters. Carrizo opened the packet and began to read.

Bullets whizzed everywhere, screams sounded throughout the field. The man swung his head and watched as an APC burst out of the trees. The monstrous machine crashed through the once tranquil field and ran over a soldier. It’s main cannon began firing on a nearby car, blowing the piece of plastic to shreds. The man watched as soldiers began loading out of the truck, they were wearing black uniforms, strange rifles in their hands. From his position he could barely make out the logo on their arms, it was a shield of sorts, a raven on one side and shiny metal on the other. The man began sliding off the top of the ridge. He stood and turned, straight into a gun barrel.

“Today, Raven Industries began an all-out assault on the Philippine Islands. Casualties have been reported in the hundreds. NBC 17’s own Al Roker is on the scene investigating, Al?”
“Thanks, the situation here has gone critical. Raven soldiers are killing civilians and military personal alike. There is no discretion as to what they destroy or who they kill. You can see here behind me, this house has been hit by a mortar strike, and much of the western half of these islands look like this, destroyed. Back to you.”
“Thanks Al, Raven Industries released this statement earlier from the CEOs office.”
“The invasion of the Philippines is a preemptive strike. Terrorists in the country were threatening to start a war against the countries of the world, and Raven Industries invaded to stop that from happening. A force of Raven soldiers will be kept in the country to maintain peace during these hard times, no further comment.”

Carrizo stared blankly at the TV as the reporter continued to talk about the invasion. From behind him he heard Dimitrov, “And so it begins.”