In the Line of Fire

03:42 Commander_Ronald_Craig: I entered the small briefing room, provided for the use of Section 21 by the staff here at Ayios Nikolaos Station in Cyprus. It was a hot summer day. I nodded in brief acknowledgement as Corporal Mason and Sgt. Rock saluted, seated across a small table. I placed a folder on the table and shoved it towards the two soldiers.

03:42 Commander_Ronald_Craig: They had not been briefed in the slightest until now, literally being told only yesterday that they were traveling to Cyprus. I looked at them both intensely, boring into them, with that look that could make a piece of dead wood squirm. I found it to be very effective. Then poker faced, I greeted them, “Corporal.”, nodding at Mason, “Sgt.” nodding at Rock. Suddenly, my poker face morphed into a particularly evil grin. “I hope your quarters are satisfactory. When I had been told about the mixup, I spoke firmly to the quartermaster of course, but it doesn’t matter since you are shipping out this afternoon at any rate.” It had taken quite a bit of behind the scenes string pulling to arrange for the ‘mixup’ that had resulted in both the Corporal and the Sgt. being assigned the same very small room, containing only one cot. It was, however, just wide enough to accommodate both of them, as neither was a particularly large man. I admitted to a certain curiosity as to whether or not they had tested if that was indeed the case. My eyes glinted, they were both extremely handsome men, and had they not been under my command, I would have been extremely interested in fucking their asses raw. However, the fact that they had seemed inclined towards each other suited me and Section 21 perfectly. In my experience, the more reasons you gave men to watch each other’s back and keep each other alive, the higher the chance of succeeding at their mission.

03:42 Commander_Ronald_Craig: Moving right along, as though I hadn’t said anything, I provided the summary of the mission. “To cut to the chase, we have managed to locate a shipment of illegal weapons that originated from Libya, apparently bound to the port of Poti in Georgia. It would be easy to ship the weapons from Poti overland to Chechnya, explaining why there is such a serious shitstorm in the region, fueling the rise to power of many a pissant little warlord. Whomever is organizing this has used a duly registered commercial freighter, making our job bloody difficult. However, MI6 managed to identify one of the freighters by slipping a tracking device on a crate of weapons on the port in Tripoli. This ship is just now approaching the Aegean Sea. Your mission is to get onboard that ship, and discover who is in control. Any questions?”

01:23 Mat_Rock: I knew it. An empty room right across the hall? I still can't tell if he's approving or fucking with us. Probably both. I keep the grin out of my voice as I say, "Well, Mason snores, sir," and REFUSE to react when Sam knuckles my IT band viciously under the table. Craig ignores me, moves on…

01:23 Mat_Rock: FINALLY, some action. I mean, it seemed impending when they deployed the unit here, but finally getting into the field! I listen to the briefing closely…

01:23 Mat_Rock: "Any chance we've caught something useful in satellite recon, sir? Crew complement, personal arms, etc?"

02:34 Corporal_Sam_Mason: I KNOW Commander Ronald Craig is totally fucking with us. I’m feeling slightly mortified enough, when Sgt. Redneck has to go and make his comment about snoring! I knuckle his IT band savagely, but of course he just ignores it. He asks some pertinent questions. I add one of my own, “And how are we going to get on board the ship?”

03:42 Commander_Ronald_Craig: I turn to Sgt. Rock, tapping the folder. “In here, you’ll find blueprints of the Star of Tripoli, the freighter in question. In addition, you’ll find crew complements and the … “listed” personal arms. However, it is entirely possible that information is not accurate. In other words, be ready for the shit to hit the fan, it’s safer. Satellite imagery hasn’t revealed anything unusual about the ship, or any crew members unaccounted for, but that doesn’t mean they aren’t onboard.” I turn to the Corporal, “The how is by knocking on the front door. The ship is scheduled to stop off here at Cyprus this afternoon to take on cargo. You’ll be posing as Stevedores helping to load the cargo. I trust that will get you close enough to make use of all that fancy training the taxpayers have shelled out for?” Then, I get that particular evil glint in my eye as I continue, “I’m sure, Sgt. Rock, you’ll have no problem posing as a Stevedore, since it can’t be that different than shoveling horse shit or whatever it is you yankee rednecks in the back of beyond do to pay the bills, but it might be a bit more challenging for you, Corporal Mason. I’m afraid an upbringing filled with privilege hasn’t prepared you well for an honest day’s work. Are there ….” I look from Sgt. Rock to Corporal Mason “... any more questions?”

01:23 Mat_Rock: "Just one, sir: you do know the UK has poor dumb country folk too, right? And they're still like that, y'know… AFTER they've been to university."

03:42 Commander_Ronald_Craig: My expression stays totally deadpan as the Sgt. tests the boundaries. Of course he does, he is one of the reasons I agreed to take on the command of Section 21. I turn to look at the Sgt. “Is that so? Well, I never went to University, so I’m not prepared to comment.” I turn and look at Sam. He blushes suddenly, knowing very well he did go to University. “I went to the school of hard knocks. And no one has ever accused me of being dumb.” I smile in a half-crooked smirk, then, “Gentlemen, you have preparations to make. I have every faith in your abilities. Please, do not disappoint me. You are dismissed.” I nod, turn, and leave, still chuckling inside. I liked these two. I just had to be very careful not to let them realize it.

02:34 Corporal_Sam_Mason: I finally manage to get myself under control, and I look over at Mat, shaking my head. I should be nervous about the impending mission, but instead, I keep finding myself wondering exactly what made Ronald Craig tick. “You like to sail close to the wind, don’t you Sgt? I nearly pissed myself there for a moment.” I shake my head, more important things to focus on now. “I considered a career in the Navy, but this isn’t how I envisioned it getting started.”

01:23 Mat_Rock: The docks were busy, loud, a bit rough, and smelled like salt, rotting fish, and diesel fuel… so, pretty much like docks everywhere. They were actually vaguely familiar… I half felt like there might be an underground sex fight club where I'd fought before somewhere around here… then again, they were pretty much like docks everywhere, so…

01:23 Mat_Rock: Our "shift" had started an hour ago, long enough we helped with load outs for a couple other vessels and wouldn't seem like sudden new arrivals to anyone at the berth or on the Star of Tripoli. But now, the ship was mooring, the ramp about to come down… we were up.

01:23 Mat_Rock: We had ten crates to load, on two palettes… nine creates of the ship's original legit cargo, and one which contained a magnetically shielded box with our gear. Should keep us safe from wand checks, maybe even if anyone actually visually inspected the crate, it just looked like a box within a box. If they opened that, though…

01:23 Mat_Rock: The stevedores all had badges they scanned in at a reader at the bottom of the cargo ramp, to account for who was on or off a ship during a load in our load out… kept track of work time, for pay, and also stopped stowaways, which is apparently a thing.

01:23 Mat_Rock: In theory, infiltration should be easy; our cyberwarfare specialist would spoof our scan off the ship, and we'd be free to move about. The full cargo transfer was scheduled to take 45 minutes… that's how long we had to get our intel and get out.

01:23 Mat_Rock: "Zero," I said quietly, just barely loud enough for the tiny comms unit in my ear to pick up, "this is Alpha 1. We're go."

02:34 Corporal_Sam_Mason: I’d never gotten the chance to experience docks from this perspective before. I found that, although it stank, I quite liked it. The men were rough and ready, and there was a directness to their mannerisms, a manliness in the way they moved that really grabbed my nuts. Lifting the heavy loads, the strain and heft of the weight, using my muscle, working alongside Mat, getting sweaty and getting physical felt zen like, calming me, keeping me in the moment, instead of focusing on my first Section 21 mission.

02:34 Corporal_Sam_Mason: Finally, we finished loading the ten crates of cargo, including the one containing our gear. We scanned our badges on the ship. Mat was walking just ahead of me, and I heard him inform the base that we were go. I followed him up the ramp, switching fully into combat mode, every sense tuned to my environment, keeping myself relaxed even as I focused with laser sharp intensity.

01:23 Mat_Rock: "Alpha 1, this is Zero. Confirmed." Blake's voice was crisp and precise. CPT Reginald Blake was Craig's 2IC, and where Craig seemed to run hot… teasing, needling, swaggering, always ready to dominate his surroundings, Blake seemed cool to the point of barely having a personality, sometimes. "Be advised you have 42 minutes until the ship is due to pull the cargo ramp. Your badges will be flagged as departed in 8 minutes, mark."

01:23 Mat_Rock: "Copy, Zero," I muttered. Nobody took notice of us as we pushed our pallet jacks up the ramp, or while the two crewmen, hard looking dudes, passed over the crates with a magnetic wand. I tensed a little as they randomly opened a couple crates, but they never touched our gear box and after the pretty cursory inspection waved us on.

01:23 Mat_Rock: The hatch we planned to use to egress into the ship was at the aft end of the bay… we maneuvered back behind some huge container stacks, already strapped in.

01:23 Mat_Rock: "I didn't clock any cameras or eyes on us," I say quietly to Sam. "You? Think we're good to proceed?"

02:34 Corporal_Sam_Mason: Once we received the update from Zero, and our pallets passed the inspection without discovering our concealed kit, we entered the bay, dropped off our pallets. The entire journey through the vast bay I focused on staying casual, while my eyes darted everywhere, assessing the environment, seeking out any tells, a flashing led, a reflective surface that was out of place, anything that might indicate a security camera. The few crew members we passed didn’t give us a second look. We slipped back behind some crates as I checked to make sure there were no eyes on us. This was where the aft access hatch was at. I reply to Matt, “I think we are good. I didn’t spot anything. Shall we get kitted out?”

01:23 Mat_Rock: I nod, quietly opening the crate, and the box within it, containing our gear: for me, an M1911 9 mil sidearm, a 5" dihedral bladed combat knife, a wire garrote, a 4oz block of C4 with a radio detonator, a sniffer USB, a tiny high-res camera, and a Star of Tripoli crew uniform. The uniform was really well done… they'd even made the fabric and patches look worn and distressed.

02:34 Corporal_Sam_Mason: I pick out my own gear, my Fairbairn-Sykes double-bladed 7” SAS Commando knife, a Browning High Power Pistol, some wire cutters, and a small field kit useful for picking locks or doing fine work with electronics. I slipped into my crew uniform, impressed at the attention to detail, with appropriate weathering. I strapped on my tactical belt, slipping on an overcoat to hide the unorthodox kit I had strapped to my waist. I looked over at the Sgt. I was calm, cool, and focused as a laser. This was go time. I wanted badly to be the first man down that hatch, but I knew that decision would be the Sarges. I look into his eyes, “Sarge,” I ask, “Who gets the honor?” nodding at the hatch.

01:23 Mat_Rock: The Corporal was visibly eager… maybe he was bucking to prove something… we still had much to prove to each other. Maybe he likes it at the knifepoint, being that sharp edge, first in. I get that. I feel it myself. I have the responsibility, between us, of command… it's my nature to take the risk myself, if I can. But it's not like our jobs are safe. I grin at him, and make an "after you" gesture at the hatch. "Zero, this is Alpha 1. Proceeding with phase 2."

02:34 Corporal_Sam_Mason: I nod, inwardly grateful at the opportunity to go first, as well as the trust shown. I move forward, and carefully unclamp the hatch, heaving up on the mechanism, my biceps flaring out, rippling with power as I heave on the heavy hatch, metering out my strength precisely so as to minimize the noise made from any creaks or groans from the hinges. I finish pulling open the hatch, and peer into the corridor. I strain my ears, listening for any sound that might indicate the corridor was not occupied. We could talk ourselves out of any situation, I was confident, but I didn’t want to have to explain why we were using this particular hatch instead of the main gangway. Satisfied, I quickly pop over the threshold. I look left and right, seeing the passage running the width of the ship, just as the blueprints had indicated. I can see two other intersections in the distance, on each end of the corridor, with doors leading into other compartments spaced along the length, facing aft. There is no one in sight at the moment, and I make a report, speaking softly, “Zero, this is Alpha 2, I have reached corridor 3B. No activity.”

05:67 Sgt_Geoffrey_McMichaels: "Copy that, Alpha 2. We've bound the security cams on your route to dummy loop feeds."

01:23 Mat_Rock: "Thanks, Mickey. Proceeding." I follow Sam down the corridor, heading for the intersection which will take us forward a stairwell, up four decks to our target compartment.

01:23 Mat_Rock: The man ahead of me is absolute professionalism, never looking back to check in with me, just moving along like he belongs here, body language giving away nothing. The hatches along the corridor are all closed, so with no vectors to check I'm free to watch that muscled ass work in his uniform trousers. After a few seconds, we reach the intersection and turn forward.

01:23 Mat_Rock: I feel Sam tense ahead of me, as I clear the corner after him… between us and the stairwell, halfway down the corridor, two men are having a pretty heavy makeout session, one with his back pressed against the bulkhead, his shirt pulled open… the muscled stud currently pressing him into the bulkhead with his crotch is shirtless entirely. They're both armed, pistols on their hips, not exactly standard for a cargo ship crew… and we're going to have to walk right by them.

02:34 Corporal_Sam_Mason: As I turn the corridor, I’m greeted by an unexpected sight. Two men, both well built, making out while clearly armed. Between us and the stairwell. I tense slightly, but then my mind analyzes a dozen options, discarding them all just as rapidly before my gut informs me I’ve found the right one. I’m on point, so the initiative is mine. The sarge is one of the fucking smartest, not to mention studliest, men I’ve ever worked with. He’ll know what I’m up to. Suddenly, my voice cracks out, in a casual tone, adopting the accent of a Greek-Speaking Cypriot speaking English to a Turkish-Speaking Cypriot, as is common between greek and turkish speakers in Cyprus. “Omonia is not to take the league cup from Τhrylos. Don’t be such a fool. Their last league cup win was a freak accident. You know this.” I’m gesturing with my hands, and my face has that perfect expression of die-hard fanatic seriousness when discussing that most vital of topics: football. I slow my pace to walk beside Mat, not even sparing a glance for the hot and heavy guards, as if I were too focused on my conversation to care.

01:23 Mat_Rock: My brain kicks into overdrive… Sam's plan is self-evident, but I'm not really a soccer… sorry, FOOTBALL… fan, and my memory is scouring itself for anything useful I've noticed in passing during our brief time here… overheard newscasts, glimpses of newspaper and magazine covers… right. I put on my best Turkish accent… not hard, my grandparents were Turkish immigrants, after all…

01:23 Mat_Rock: "An accident?! Their LOSS, perhaps, two of their best players taken out by injuries that year, and both are now back… you will eat your foolish words, my friend!" The men glance up, noticing us, noticing us notice them…

01:23 Mat_Rock: "You, what do you think?!" I say, looking at the man pressed against the bulkhead, his throbbing hard cock in his buddy's meaty hand.

03:01 Squad_Leader_Franco_Portini: It had taken me nearly two fucking weeks to find an opportunity to corner this hot piece of meat for a little private time. He’d been on the first watch, and I’d been on the third watch, with almost no fucking overlap at all. Now, I have this one chance to get my hands on Max’s hot meat, and what the fuck happens but some stupid Cypriot crew members choose this exact moment to spoil the moment. I turn and look at the two fucking little pipsqueaks, both about as welcome as a pig at a party. I sneer, “I think that the two of you should move the fuck along. You didn’t see anything and you weren’t here. NOW. You really don’t want to get on my bad side, now do you?” I can’t recall ever seeing these two before. And… what were the crew doing here and now while we were taking on cargo? But… I felt Max’s cock throb in my hands. Ah fuck, there was a good reason for them to be here I’m sure. And, we are always taking on new crew. It was nothing… not while Max was waiting. I turned back, ignoring the two crew members, my pistol driving into Max’s hips as I locked my lips with his again, and gave his cock a squeeze. Fuck, Max was hot.

02:34 Corporal_Sam_Mason: I took careful note of every word he said, his accent, Italian, and his manner, as if he were someone you didn’t fuck with around here. I’m sure Mat caught the undercurrent just as well as I did. I headed right on up the stairwell, my eyes and ears carefully tuned to any further signs of movement ahead of us.

01:23 Mat_Rock: As the big dude dresses us down I put on my best sheepish, intimidated face… not a look which comes naturally to me… and hurry along. A few seconds later, we're headed up the stairwell, the groaning sounds of urgent men behind us. "Nicely done, bro," I murmur.

04:56 Captain_Reginald_Blake: "Alpha 1, this is Zero. Didn't catch that," I said, which of course I had. All of it. A fair piece of improvisation, but I'm not about to let my operatives cultivate the habit of needless comms chatter.

01:23 Mat_Rock: "Zero, Alpha 1. Nothing… we're entering the target deck."

02:34 Corporal_Sam_Mason: I let myself turn my head and flash Sarge a quick smile. I caught Reginald’s barely concealed reprimand about chatter, otherwise, I would have let Sarge know that likewise, carrying his half of a conversation about Cypriot football was damn impressive for an American. We enter the top of the stairwell, and turn a corner, entering a main hallway. Here we wanted to keep our eyes sharp. Already had a pretty heavy clue that something unusual was going on when we ran into the two armed lover boys down below. We needed more though.

02:34 Corporal_Sam_Mason: The plan we’d agreed to was to start our search in the officers' area. That was the most likely spot to find the evidence we were looking for. According to the blueprints, there was an admin office on the other side of the officers' mess hall. It was unlikely to be occupied while in port and between meals, but there was still a certain amount of risk involved. We might be able to talk our way out of an encounter here in this corridor, but it would be much harder in the officers' mess, where the crewman didn’t have any business being.

01:23 Mat_Rock: As we'd hoped, we didn't run into anyone, either in the corridor or in the mess hall. Smooth sailing… and of course the instant I let myself think that…

01:23 Mat_Rock: The admin office door was locked. Electronic, with a badge scan pad. "Zero, this is Alpha 1. The target compartment is secured, looks like a DMP card scanner."

05:67 Sgt_Geoffrey_McMichaels: "Copy that, Alpha 1, no worries. It would've been nice if they'd used the same platform as your stevedore badges, would've been much easier to spoof their IDs into the access table in the DB… hang on, lemme see if this scanner is networked…"

01:23 Mat_Rock: "Hanging on," I say, not mentioning that we'd left our stevedore badges behind, having no further need for them. The seconds ticked by like hours… "Take your time, Mickey, no rush…" I knew McMichaels from a previous assignment. A fellow US Marine, and a good one. Cyberwarfare was his specialty.

05:67 Sgt_Geoffrey_McMichaels: "Aren't you supposed to be a badass, Gunney? Why so nervous?"

01:23 Mat_Rock: The grin in his voice is evident, but a moment later the lock clicks quietly and the small LED goes from red to green.

05:67 Sgt_Geoffrey_McMichaels: "See? Easy peasy."

04:56 Captain_Reginald_Blake: "Cut the chatter!" Christ's sake, it's as if they've no discipline at all…

01:23 Mat_Rock: "Zero, Alpha 1. Thanks. Proceeding."

02:34 Corporal_Sam_Mason: I stood by, my back to the Sarge as he and Sgt. McMichaels carried on their entertaining little exchange. I was … nervous, but the nervousness was on the surface, easy to ignore, while I stayed focused on that ice calm centre that carried me through smoothly when shit got real. I stayed tuned into all my senses, watching to make sure we weren’t interrupted. Finally, I hear a small click and feel a sense of relief as the door slides open. Sgt. McMichaels was definitely good at what he did.

03:45 Commando_Ivan_Usov: I stood next to the porthole, looking out at the port of Nicosia, in my private office. I was wearing an officer’s uniform standard for the Star of Tripoli. Of course, the pistol I carried was not standard, but then neither was my commission. The uniform had a hard time concealing my massive bulk, I had spent a lifetime training for combat, and the powerful, hard, hairy physique was the result of years of dedication and training.

03:45 Commando_Ivan_Usov: I listened intently to the phone held against my ear. My respect and loyalty was not easily bestowed or earned. My years as a Spetsnaz had taught me a natural distrust of those men inclined to command, their double standards, their corruption, had sickened me. But Derek Steel had earned my respect, he had earned it both on the mats, and on the battlefield. He was not … a ‘good’ man, he was ruthless, sadistic, brutal, and had very few scruples. But he was loyal to a fault to the men who followed him, he was savagely honest, and he had a sense of honor and integrity unusual for a mercenary leader. It was a rare man who, for all my training, was able to match me in hand to hand combat, and rarer still the man who could earn my loyalty. When Derek spoke, I listened, not out of duty or obligation, but out of loyalty. And the tale he was telling me now… of a single man, a single American soldier who had torn through 20 of our troops by himself while guarding that pathetic little Chechynan warlord. I found it hard to believe. Derek had captured him, and requested my presence back at our base. I nodded, speaking in perfectly cultured English, a legacy of my Spetsnaz training, “Of course. I will make the preparations to leave port at once.”

03:45 Commando_Ivan_Usov: Providing an armed guard for the Syndicate arms shipments to Chechyna was an important source of income, Derek Steel’s reputation commanded premium prices and perks, including operational command handed to his officers. And I exercised that command now. I called up the chief engineer and the bridge crew, instructing them to begin preparations to leave at once. I would personally inform the mercenaries under my command about the change of plans. I made a cryptic announcement over the ships intercom system, the quickest way to summon everyone. “Now hear this. All relief crew are to report at once to the Officer’s mess for an announcement to commence at 15:45”. “Relief Crew” was a code word meaning the mercenaries guarding the shipment. I leave my office.

02:34 Corporal_Sam_Mason: As I’m watching the surrounding area, my senses strung as tightly as a violin, I can swear.. I feel a slight vibration. Then it stops. Then suddenly it starts again… then it stops. I speak into my comms unit, suddenly wondering if… “Zero, this is Alpha 2. Fact check… is it standard procedure for the ship’s engines to be started this much in advance of departure time? Because I am pretty damn certain I just felt something that seemed like an engine starting, then stopping, then starting again, as if in preparation for...” then, unmistakable now, the vibration started, and did not stop. I poke my head into the admin office, telling Mat as he busied himself searching the place, “trouble.” Then, over the loudspeakers, an announcement blared out, “Now hear this. All relief crew are to report at once to the Officer’s mess for an announcement to commence at 15:45” A quick check of my time piece confirmed that was only two minutes from now. Fuck. I strained my ears, and heard, faintly, in the distance, the distinct sound of boots on the corridor floor.

01:23 Mat_Rock: It would've gone much faster if Sam could've helped me search, but that would've been reckless. Had to keep a lookout.

01:23 Mat_Rock: The admin office was small; a desk and a set of filing cabinets, attached in place, and a phone and laptop computer attached to the desk. First things first, I brushed the touchpad on the computer and when the screen came up, plugged the USB into a port. I'm not exactly baby boomer illiterate when it comes to computers, but I'm no kind of hacker… if Mickey's hunt and gather software couldn't do its thing, I couldn't help, so giving it the maximum amount of time to work seemed like the best choice. I turned my attention to more analog intel.

01:23 Mat_Rock: The filing cabinets were full of what you'd expect; freight logs. Wherever actual manifests were kept, this wasn't it. These looked like whole batch records, showing a client, a cargo number presumably referencing the relevant manifest, pickup and delivery locations and billing codes.

01:23 Mat_Rock: Commercial cargo vessels don't have all that many stops… they tend to run routes between a handful of ports. So it didn't take many pages to see a pattern emerge of the Star of Tripoli's common ports of call and longstanding customers… and it took even fewer pages to see who didn't fit that pattern.

01:23 Mat_Rock: "TSYN," whoever they were, were having items onloaded from ports of call along the Star's routes, if my geography was serving me well, but they were the only client with activity in those locations… considering the Star's other clients showed from five to ten to a port, TSYN must be shelling out huge cash to get the ship making stops just for them. And, their shipments went to a far more limited number of destinations… one of which was Poti. Bingo. I pulled out the camera and started snapping images of the pages.

01:23 Mat_Rock: That's when the deck vibrated. The engines… way too soon. Just as I was about to comm Zero, Sam did, and asked my question. A second later he poked his head in.

01:23 Mat_Rock: Yeah, no shit, trouble. Then that announcement… the deck plans flashed up in my mind… if an entire shift were being called here we would never get out of here without passing numerous people, any of whom might realize we don't belong here. And the ship was huge… if they're already running up the engines, we might not make it back in ti-… just then, I felt the deck lurch. The ship was moving… the ramp was up. "Sam, get in here!" I whispered harshly.

02:34 Corporal_Sam_Mason: Mat looks up at me and snaps an order as the deck lurched beneath me. It was in fact, considering our position, an incredibly sensible order. I darted into the admin office, closing the door behind me.

04:56 Captain_Reginald_Blake: No, no, that was not normal procedure. In fact it was totally unexpected. I tap into the transponder feeds from the Star of Tripoli. Well. This was going to be an interesting day. "Alpha Team, this is Zero. Ship is underway. I repeat, the ship is underway. Get out of there now." The last thing we needed was to have our infiltration team take a trip to Georgia.

02:34 Corporal_Sam_Mason: I look incredulously at Mat... talk about stating the fucking obvious. “Zero, this is Alpha 2. Escape is not an option at present. Stand by.” If we could just stay undetected until this meeting was complete, we could find some way to get off this ship. I looked around the office. If someone came into the office, odds of staying undetected were small. One of us might fit under the desk, but two of us would be tight. And if they found us there... I’d rather take my chances flanking the door. I looked at Mat, speaking softly, “I think this becomes a waiting game.”

01:23 Mat_Rock: When Blake tells us the ship is moving I almost say, "no shit Sherlock," but it wouldn't change anything and as nice as it would feel to needle Blake's uptight ass right now, it won't help. I nod at Sam as he speaks, without having to discuss it, we move to flank the door. I can hear boots, feel them through the deck, now. Lots of boots. I say as quietly as I can and still have the comms mic pick me up "Zero, this is Alpha 1. Exfil not possible, we'll wait for the earliest opportunity to egress. Do us a favor and start working up ocean extraction scenarios. Be advised we're going radio silent."

05:67 Sgt_Geoffrey_McMichaels: "Alpha 1, be advised; the ship has disconnected from shore wifi and is not currently running a satellite internet uplink. We have comms, but I'm out of the system… no more opening doors or spoofing cameras, sorry."

03:45 Commando_Ivan_Usov: I stride into the room at exactly 15:45, and scan the crowd of guards, about 25 armed men, standard complement for an arms run. I look hard, however, at Franco and Max. The tops of their uniforms are sloppily tucked in, as if they were in a hurry. I catch Franco’s eye, and he looks nervous. As he should be. I look at Max. They can fuck around on their own time. But now is not the time to reprimand them. I speak up, “We are cutting this mission short, we are being diverted to Athens where the special cargo will be placed in a warehouse and picked up on a later run. We are needed back at base to assist Steel with a special project. I have invoked the special clause, per our Syndicate contract, cutting this guard mission short. We will leave five men in Athens to ensure the special cargo is not disturbed, however. Keep the crew in line on the trip to Athens, they are likely to become jumpy at the change in plans. Rumours will spread, that is inevitable. Deal with them in the usual way. Dismissed.”

01:23 Mat_Rock: A fucking hulk of a man enters as the crew files in, commanding the room, literally and figuratively… a roomful of tough looking men, and they're eyes front and wearing that look of respect and intimidation. His booming voice carries easily into the office.

01:23 Mat_Rock: So, Russian. And, so much more intel dropped in our laps… great, I wonder, but dare not make noise to ask…

03:42 Commander_Ronald_Craig: "Alpha Team, this is Zero." I don't tend to micromanage my teams, Blake is an excellent ops management man, but I knew I needed to step into this rapidly enfuckening situation. "We copied all that, researching now. We're getting an exfil helo on standby, and will reprep as needed as the ship's course progresses… but until we know the location and circumstances of your departure from the vessel, ETAs are nearly impossible. Our best, very rough guess is that we're at least thirty minutes from you, at best."

01:23 Mat_Rock: My mind was racing… running through all our prep intel, ship schematics, what we'd seen on the way up… commandeering the ship was obviously out. We had to get off it. If we simply jumped ship we'd just be taken out or recaptured… nothing about how armed I've already seen these guys to be, nothing about that Russian, suggested they're so incompetent we could swim away. At best, we'd be captured and interrogated.

01:23 Mat_Rock: And, the helo obviously couldn't collect us here, so… on the water, or under it. Nothing in our intel or anything I'd seen since boarding confirmed for certain they had any SCUBA gear aboard, but inspection of the subsurface hull, and maybe having to make minor repairs, seemed to necessitate it. As for on the water, the ship carried a complement of three speed boats.

01:23 Mat_Rock: The men were filing out of the room… thankfully, nobody seemed to be heading for this office. But, the room wasn't empty yet. I caught Sam's attention, and did my best to mime while silently mouthing, "steal boat, or find SCUBA?"

02:34 Corporal_Sam_Mason: There was no doubt that using the SCUBA would attract less attention, but if they did manage to detect us as we tried to escape, we’d be a lot slower targets. If we were going to get off the ship, better trust to speed. My gut voted for the boat. I replied decisively, silently mouthing back, “Boat.” I put my ear to the door and waited, straining my ear for the sounds of movement to die away in the officer’s mess. Finally, a full tense minute passes without a single sound. I turn, and look at Mat, and wait a few seconds more. I spend the time examining the Sarge, taking a brief opportunity out of the tension of the moment to appreciate the silence and stillness. Taking in his loose and ready posture, his aura of confidence and competence, reflected in his every action, examining the lines of his face, hard, rough, and handsome as fuck. I’d seen him with his clothes off of course, and felt that muscle up close and personal the very first day we’d met. A smile started to split my face, and my cock began to stiffen at the memory. Then, I put the brakes on the moment, and switched back into the flow, nodding to the door with a question, do you agree the coast is clear?

01:23 Mat_Rock: I've been in stickier situations… this one hasn't actually gone noisy, yet. But still… my body was ready. Wired. But… I also felt calm. None of the desperation which comes from having your back against the wall.

01:23 Mat_Rock: Because it wasn't. It was against Sam's back. And, while this was our first time being in the shit together, I trusted him. My instincts trusted him… and I have pretty good instincts. I nodded back at him, then took the risk of peeking out through the blinds to confirm. Good. I drew my pistol, opened the door and stepped out, clearing corners to my left, trusting Sam to clear right.

02:34 Corporal_Sam_Mason: I drew my Browning, and popped out right on the Sarge’s heels. He took left, clearing the corner into the Officer’s mess, and I took right. It was, as we had believed, empty. Right at the Sarge’s side, I glided across the empty chamber, taking the right of the open portal leading to the hallway. Coordinating our efforts, we clear the portal, back into the open hallway. We make our way down the hall, and keep every sense tuned to the environment. There’s a small alcove along the hall, as we follow it, both knowing the most direct path to the closest boat. I dart into the alcove, and Mat ducks right in with me, as I whisper in his ear, “Now that we are clear of the officer’s area, should we try to bluff our way again?”

01:23 Mat_Rock: I nod, and return my sidearm to the holster strapped to my thigh, reachable through the open-bottomed pocket of my uniform trousers. I put back on my calm, "I belong here" demeanor, and step back out, moving along the corridor, Sam beside me…

01:23 Mat_Rock: …and turning the next corner, find two mercenaries emerging from a compartment, practically on top of us… one big blonde fucker, 6'2" and a solid 220lbs, the other maybe 5'11", 185lbs, dark haired and hairy.

08:01 Specialist_Yuri_Vokov: I did not mind cutting this voyage short… I'm tired of being at sea. There are not enough men, it becomes dull. I never have a problem finding a man to fuck… my youth and size and blonde fair face attract them, but I am easily bored… I don't like to refuck a conquest.

08:01 Specialist_Yuri_Vokov: Vinny here is one of the last of our team I have bedded… he was a strong, aggressive fuck. I try not to pursue my fellows, as it can become complicated… but a man must fuck, no?

08:01 Specialist_Yuri_Vokov: Luckily, there are some attractive enough men on this crew, though I've nearly run through them as well, which is why I'm happy to be going home… take these two, for example… very attractive-

08:01 Specialist_Yuri_Vokov: "Who are you?" I ask, sharply, of the blonde one closest to me. I long ago made mental note of the crew I intended to fuck… these two would not go unnoticed.

08:01 Specialist_Vincent_Luttario: Maybe now that Ivan had dropped his bomb, me and Yuri could get back to what we had planned. I’d had my eye on that big, blue-eyed blond Russian muscle beast for a while now. I liked blonds, but back in New York, most of them were too fucking fragile. Not Yuri. Fuck now. He knew how to take charge.

08:01 Specialist_Vincent_Luttario: As Yuri opens the door, I step out beside him, nearly running down two crewmen making their way down the passage. Good looking young fuckers they were. Especially that fresh-faced blond one. Damn, would you look at the muscle on him. Then, I hear the tone in Yuri’s voice, serious and sharp, and my training kicks in. Yuri focuses on the blond one, the one on the right, and I immediately turn my gaze to the man on the left. Young, in the vicinity of the blond one, age-wise, but his face was much harder, his brown hair in a short crew.

08:01 Specialist_Vincent_Luttario: There weren’t that many crew on this ship, and I knew most of them by sight, but these two, I’d remember if I’d ever seen them before. They were strikingly handsome. My eyes narrowed, and I kept my gaze on the brown-haired, slightly shorter man.

02:34 Corporal_Sam_Mason: I spoke in the same, Greek-Accented english I used earlier. “I am Nickolas Alexakis, I transferred onboard from Cyprus.” I looked apprehensive, the pistol around the huge, blond muscle guard’s waist impossible to miss. Trying to project the demeanor of a crewman who didn’t want any trouble from an armed man. This was dicey. He seemed pretty suspicious. I kept myself ready, my hand could dart under my overcoat and grab my Browning in about two seconds. But that might not be enough time if either one of these guards decided to act. It might come down to hand to hand. The bearded one had his gaze locked onto the Sarge with an eagle eye, he had the look of a soldier ready for trouble. Well, neither me nor the Sarge were looking for trouble, but if it came looking for us, well, handling trouble was in our job description.

08:01 Specialist_Vincent_Luttario: As soon as I heard the blond one speak, I knew these two were impostors. It had been my duty to review the crew rotations, part of our contract to ensure that spies did not make their way onboard. I had to conduct background checks on all the new crew taken on at port. There were no new crew taken on at Cyprus. Yuri would follow my lead. I drew my pistol, and pointed it directly at the brown haired man. “Drop! To the Deck, NOW!”

01:23 Mat_Rock: I knew, I knew the moment the big Russian's posture changed that this op was about to go noisy. The only question was whether it'd involve firearms. Sam was quick and smart with the bluff, but the smaller merc instantly didn't buy it and was drawing before I could casually put my hand back in my pocket.

01:23 Mat_Rock: The man asks for a drop, I drop… into a shot launch posture, and we're standing so close it brings me beneath the cover of his gun for a split second, which is all I need.

01:23 Mat_Rock: I'm powering forward even as I see the big Russian moving on Sam out of the corner of my eye, my shoulder slamming into the bigger man and smashing his back against the bulkhead, pivoting to try to control his gun hand, grabbing it up in a kimura grip wristlock as soon as we impact.

08:01 Specialist_Yuri_Vokov: Vinny draws on the Turkish-looking one; of course, he's one of the team who vets the crew.

08:01 Specialist_Yuri_Vokov: I'm a big man, and I've found intimidation works wonders… I'm stepping forward, drawing with one hand and reaching to grip this little shit's shirt with the other, pin him against the wall, when the other intruder rushes Vinny!

02:34 Corporal_Sam_Mason: The other dude starts to draw on the Sarge, and I enter the zone. The big blonde Russian steps forward, reaching for my shirt, with an arrogance that frankly was plain stupid. I react instantly, my right hand pulls up in front of my face, then with a grunt, I drive my forearm outwards, to knock his aside. At the same time, my left fist strikes forward and down, aiming directly for the big, muscled Russian’s solar plexus. To finish things off, I drive my right knee straight up, heading for big Blondie’s crown jewels. Someone this stupid really shouldn’t be reproducing.

08:01 Specialist_Vincent_Luttario: How the hell did that short little brown haired fucker move so fast? He drops beneath my barrel and is on me before I can reposition, driving his shoulder, feels like it’s made of solid concrete, into my core. He’s not quite as heavy as me, but he’s compact, thick, and his center of gravity is lower than mine. I’m smashed hard into the wall, nearly losing the grip on my pistol as he snakes his arms around my right wrist. He’s got a fucking standing kimura locked on my arm! SHIT… I fight hard, straining to twist my arm into him and shoot the fucker in the gut, point blank!

08:01 Specialist_Yuri_Vokov: This little shit trying to fight bac- "HRRK! GGAHH!" First my chest, then my BALLS, burst into pain… I stumble back..

01:23 Mat_Rock: I feel him trying to turn the gun into me, so I YANK the wristlock stepping back… and he fires into the space I just opened between our bodies, straight into his partner's guts.

02:34 Corporal_Sam_Mason: Suddenly, the big Russian gets pierced by a bullet right through his liver as he stumbles back. I turn on a dime, catching sight of the struggle between the bearded guard and Mat. I step forward in a surge of muscle, coming up on the bearded man from his right side, where Mat has got him locked up in a standing kimura. I grab his chin and the back of his head, flex my biceps, and grunt as I twist his head violently towards me, breaking his neck. I exchange eye contact with the Sarge, there’s no way that gunshot wasn’t heard. I draw my Browning, and surge forward, eyes darting from side to side, covering the right.

01:23 Mat_Rock: I'm trying to decide between risking control loss of this piece or getting hammered by this guy's big left fist when Sam steps over and solves it. I glance at the Russian as I drop the man's wrist and draw… gut wounds are a horrible way to die. Not to mention, he could dig deep and shoot us in the back. As Sam, cool as a cucumber, starts moving at full combat speed down the corridor, I put one in the Russian's temple as we pass.

01:23 Mat_Rock: "Zero, Alpha 1. We've gone noisy." The boats deployed from hatches a meter above the waterline, pushed out and lowered to the water on a motorized gantry. We were about a hundred yards forward and five decks up from the nearest one. With twenty mercs and any number of possibly stupidly brave crew between us and it. Call it thirty minutes… by then we'd be clear, captured… or killed. "We plan to commandeer a speedboat, exfil currently estimated in 30 minutes, mark."

Published: 2021-01-22, viewed 58 times.