Titan

Carrizo walked through the dingy streets. Looking about, he noticed the multitudes of soldiers. All of them were Valor men; he must be in the right place. He looked again at the name on his HUD, “The White Horse bar” He looked about again, he finally saw the place. He walked over to the rundown little shack and stepped inside. Right after he walked in, a man shouted, “He’s Raven!” Immediately every man and woman in the room had a gun pointed at him, Carrizo chuckled softly. He looked around, “I could kill every one of you, and not a single of those bullets would do a damn thing.” The Valor soldiers looked a bit uneasy, the Raven soldier looked different. Strange logos were painted on his armor, and the armor itself was massive, a fearsome look to it. Someone in the back said, “Gentlemen, ladies, I would advise you put your weapons down. Carrizo here isn’t lying. If he wanted you dead, you would all be in hell by now.” Carrizo permitted himself a small smile as he watched Hoi walk up. “Glad to see your actually here.” Carrizo extended a hand, “Same to you.” Hoi looked back at the men, “Put your guns down, it would be highly advisable,” He turned back to Carrizo and whispered, “Why in hell are you here.” Carrizo put a hand on Hoi’s shoulder, “Come with me.” The pair walked out the doors. Carrizo looked Hoi in the face, “I’m here to recruit you.” Hoi stepped back a little, “Look if you think I’m joining Raven just on a whim-“Carrizo held up his hand, “No, I’m recruiting you to Titan, my PMC. We’re gonna stop all of this excessive fighting, and I need you to help me.” Hoi shook his head, looking at the ground. He sat down on the curb, “A new PMC? Carrizo, Raven, Valor, and SVER alike, they’re just going to stomp you! We all know what happened to Aegis Corporation.” Carrizo smiled, “That’s exactly why I need you, you’re one of the best, and I’m going to need the best to survive. It’s not going to be easy, it’s not going to pay well, but it’s going to stop this,” Carrizo waved his hand at the burn scars on Hoi’s body, “It’s going to stop young men from being scarred, killed, slaughtered.” Hoi stood again, nodding, “Alright, I’m in.” Carrizo grinned, “I knew you would be.”

The Hercules Armored Car speeded down the road, a white flag attached to its radio antenna. As they approached the SVER operational HQ the radio crackled to life. “That white flag will not do you much good if you don’t slow down.” Carrizo brought the car to a halt, and then slowly crept forward, “Good, now, come into the main gate and we’ll proceed from there.” Carrizo brought the car into the gate, parking it. “Hoi, grab a rifle.” Hoi looked in the back seat; two gleaming SIG 550s lay in metal cases, attached were an optical sight, suppressor, and a fore grip. Hoi grinned and grabbed the rifle.

Dimitrov walked out of his command room, heading towards the main courtyard. His aid was scampering behind him. “Sir! It’s not safe, they haven’t been checked out yet.” Dimitrov pushed the thin man away, and burst out into the courtyard. He marched quickly across to the car, where the two men stood, rifles in hand. Dimitrov had immediate recognition of the Raven soldier, it was Grobel’s bodyguard. This was obviously not an attack, there was no way Raven and Valor had joined forces. His informants could confirm. He knew that he could trust these men. It was more than likely that if they wanted his soldiers dead, there would already be blood on the walls. He looked about; his men had noticed too, many of them were aiming RPG’s at the man. The Valor soldier was a man out of the newspapers. The boy had won Valor’s highest award for bravery and courage on the battlefield. Here he had his competitor’s prized fighters. But why they were here, and together, was a question lost on him. He extended his hand, “It’s a pleasure to meet two great men, what is it I might do for you?”  Carrizo’s gruff voice emanated from his helmet, “Let’s do this somewhere private Commander.” Dimitrov nodded, “Follow me, my command room is down the hall.”

Once inside the command center, Carrizo put his gun down. “Commander, I’m here with a simple proposition. I am tired of the fighting that this cursed, Shadow War, has caused.” The words ‘Shadow War’ came out like a curse. “I am forming Titan, not a true PMC; we won’t be fighting for money. Instead, we will fight to end this war; to stop young men like Hoi here from being killed. I ask you to join us.” Dimitrov nodded, “I understand all of this, but you can’t expect me to simply walk away from my men, they are like family.” Carrizo nodded, “I hardly expect that, bring them with you. Everyone can be used, those who don’t want to join, don’t have to. But I warn you, I will go through these men if they get in my way.” Dimitrov sighed, “I wish it were just that simple. However it is not! These men, while loyal to me, are more loyal to pay. I will join you, but getting my men too will be the real problem.” Carrizo nodded, “There’s a reason I brought this rifle.”

Hoi stood in the center of the courtyard, shouting. “Titan is not about money, it’s not about fame. It’s about family, about stopping this war, saving lives.” He continued his speech; the passion was strong in his words. “I will not force you to come, but just try to stop me.” Carrizo meanwhile had placed himself in a watch tower nearby. He wasn’t planning on losing Hoi today. He looked through the scope, making sure no one tried to shoot his comrade. In the square, Hoi continued, “Those of you who want to join me, come down here with me. Those of you who would stay and fight with SVER, very well, I have no qualms with you.” At first, no one moved, then one man walked over to Hoi, the man extended his arm, Hoi grasped his hand and the two shook. “I will join your fight.” Soon a large group of men had joined Hoi. “Anyone else? Remember, this is about saving lives!” Hoi nodded slowly, “Very well, I hope that our paths do not cross again.” He turned, and began leading the group of men towards the gate. A squad of SVER soldiers appeared out of thin air, they quickly spread out and blocked the new Titan soldiers way. A few of the men with Hoi shouted, “Move your asses!” The squadron leader of the SVER men stepped forward, “You all are traitors and cowards.” Then he spat. The thin stream of fluids hit one of the Titan soldiers in the face. “That’s it!” The man lowered his RTK-74. The weapon spat yellow flame, bullets ripped into the squad leader. A firefight broke out like lightning.

Off in his watchtower, Carrizo began sniping the men who were firing at his recruits. He lined a man up in his sights and snapped off three shots. The bullets tore through the man’s skull, blood splattered on the man next to him, who then fell dead as three more bullets smacked into his chest cavity. Carrizo smoothly moved the rifle to target another man at the gate; a three shot burst caught him in the neck, sending the man to the ground. The high walls around the courtyard gave the defending SVER soldiers a brief advantage, but the Titan men had both numbers and experience. As the ex-SVER soldiers spread out and began snapping off bursts of fire into the still-SVER soldiers, I heard a rumble from within the base. I looked off to the other side of the courtyard and watched in awe.

Dimitrov ran through the base, heading towards the motor pool. His aide ran behind him, “Sir, their appears to be mutiny going on in the courtyard.” Dimitrov sighed, “I noticed comrade.” He ran around the building, and there they were. SVER’s brand new recon vehicles, they had been shipped in two days ago. These were prototypes, and his base had been tasked with defending them, now he could use them. Dimitrov opened the door and hopped in, his aide still following shouting about the mutinous soldiers. He turned the APC on and revved the engine, pulling out of the shipping container and onto the road.

Hoi watched as the APC crashed through a barrier that had been erected on the far side of the courtyard. A turret snapped into action and quickly began taking down Hoi’s enemies. Soldiers all around fell dead as the turret continued to spin about taking down almost all of the enemies. After a few more seconds of firing there was no more of the men who had decided to stay, they would be staying forever. Hoi looked over at Carrizo, who had just come down to the courtyard. Dimitrov hopped out of the APC and walked over. Hoi turned to look at Carrizo, “Its not gonna get any easier.” Carrizo grinned, “I never said this would be easy.”