Underground Secrets

This story takes place in November '09.

I know it's long, sorry

Some time ago.....
“We have to get out of here now!” I yelled to Mason as we ran down the corridor. Captain Mason was a tall man about thirty years old, and he was the only person who seemed to care about me. We were in a set of complex caverns concealed in a secret underground base in the middle of the desert. We had been sent in to get data about a new weapon that the enemy had been creating.
“They’re over there!” an enemy yelled.

“Go, go, go!”

I pulled the pin out of a grenade and tossed it behind us. It exploded, causing the obstruction of the path behind us. We stopped, breathing hard.

“Okay, that should give us some time to get out of here,” I said. “You still have the data?”
“Yeah, right here,” Mason said.

He pulled out a flash drive the size of my pinkie, light blue with the words “weapon info” written on it in red.

“Good,” I said. “We have to get this to Command.”
“That’s not going to happen,” an unfamiliar voice behind us said.

We turned around, and saw General Yuri Raslov standing behind us. He was about 50, was very aggressive, and had a small pistol in his hand.

“So, who is going to die first? The young guy, or the tough guy?”

He looked at Mason. That was his mistake. It gave me enough time to tackle Raslov and take his weapon.

“Let’s get out of here!” I yelled, and we ran. We took the corridor to the left and ran up some stairs. Smashing open a door like an attic door, we ran out into the hot sandy desert. Running to where the helicopter had dropped us off, we waited.
Up on a cliff high above, an enemy sniper watched us. He raised a sniper rifle and scoped us in.
“This is too easy,” he said. He put his finger on the trigger.
Just to be sure that there were no enemies near us, I looked around. On the cliff above us, I saw a flash of light, and I knew there was someone getting ready to kill us.
“Get down!” I yelled and tackled Mason.

There was a gunshot, and a bullet hole appeared where I had been standing not two seconds before. I got up and fired two shots from my weapon. The man fell off the cliff and hit the ground. He was dead. Our extraction was getting close. The whirr of the blades of a helicopter echoed in the distance. A few minutes later, I saw it in the sky. It began to descend toward us. As it did, it kicked up dust and sand. It landed, and the pilot looked at us.

“Captain Mason and Sergeant Brown?” he asked.
“Yeah,” Mason replied.
“You have the data?”
“It’s right here,” Mason said. He gave him the flash drive. The pilot took it.
“It’s not safe here!” he yelled over the noise of the blades. “We have to get away from here!”
“Let’s go!” I yelled to Mason. I boarded the chopper. It began to ascend.
“Hey! Wait for me!” Mason yelled.
“Grab my hand!” I told him.

He jumped and grabbed my hand. Right then, the underground door burst open and at least twenty soldiers came running out. Gunfire and angry shouting broke out below us. There was lots of banging as the helicopter was pelted with bullets. Then Mason screamed, his grip relaxed, and he fell onto a net being held by enemy soldiers. I noticed that before he fell, there was a small white object sticking out of his arm.

They shot him with a stun dart, I thought.

I got onto the machine gun to my left and opened fire, making sure not to hit Mason. But it was too late, and they were already inside. The enemy had captured Mason. Right then, I felt like hitting myself. I had gone through countless fears and challenges in this mission, and then I lost Mason! I wasn’t mad anymore, I was sad. The pilot must have seen the look on my face, because he tried to cheer me up.

“Don’t worry,” he said. “We’ll get him back.”
“I know,” I lied. I was doubtful, though. I knew that we were never going to find him. I just sat back and thought about my past and Mason.

I’d been there in the desert for four years. All that time I did top-secret missions and fought in battles against the enemy. But sometimes, I wonder why I even joined the Marines in the first place, because all of this fighting didn’t seem to help anyone. My name is Marcus Brown. I began fighting in 2006, and one year later, I met Mason, and my life changed forever. I didn’t take part in the battles in the blistering desert anymore. I did missions with Mason. That went on for three years, until he was captured. I was alone, and I didn’t know what I was going to do. All I had to do was stay alive.

The pilot landed the chopper, full of bullet holes and smoking, at the base at 12:00 hours. I got off, and the helicopter was blasted with fire extinguisher. The pilot handed me the data, and I went to meet Major Haves at his office. When I got there, he stood up, and took the flash drive from my hand.
“Well, well, well,” Haves said, “looks to me like you and Mason have successfully completed 283 missions in a row. You and Mason are the two best men we have. Where is he, by the way?”
I looked at the ground.
“Oh..... well, then let’s look at the uh, data, shall we?” He put the drive into his computer and we entered the files.
“Come on,” I groaned. “Why do these always have to be in another language?”
“I don’t know,” Haves said. “It’s a good thing I have a translator. Hey, Michael!”
“I’m coming,” an unfamiliar voice answered.
“You got a translator?” I asked.
“Yeah,” Haves said. Another man who I didn’t recognize walked into the room. “Read this, please.”
“Okay,” he said. “It says ‘this revolutionary new weapon is being created. Test results indicate that one shot will potentially stun any enemies and render them helpless. We will use this to execute our ultimate plan.’ “
“I wonder what their “ultimate plan” is,” I said.
“World domination is the most likely possibility,” Michael commented. He walked away, leaving Haves and I in stunned silence.
“Okay..... that was awkward,” Haves said. “Your mission is to go to where they are creating the weapon, take any complete copies of it, then get out of there and level the place.”
“Sir, what about Mason?” I asked.
“He’ll be fine. Just do what I said, and then you can find Mason if you want to.”
“No. I’m going to find him first.”
“If you disobey my orders, then I will talk to the commanding General and then he’ll decide what to do. Here is the map with directions to get there.”

He clicked on a couple of things and pulled up a map with the coordinates of the facility on it. Then Haves left the room, leaving me with the decision of whether or not to do what Haves said.

Two hours later, I was introduced to Private Derek Ruiz, a new addition to the Marines. He was a rookie, so they wanted me to take him with me on his first mission. So he and I packed some weapons, some explosive charges and a detonator into a Jeep, and we set out for the weapons facility. But instead of going towards the facility, I took a detour to get to where Mason had been captured. I got out and grabbed a shotgun from the back and put some shotgun shells into it.
“Let’s go,” I said.
“But sir, this isn’t the facility,” Ruiz said. “Let’s get out of here.”
“I said come on. I am not asking you.”
“Yes, sir.” He grabbed a high caliber pistol out of the back of the Jeep and cocked it.
“I’d suggest another weapon,” I commented. I dug around in the back of the Jeep and handed him a grenade launcher. “Don’t use this unless there is a huge group of enemies in front of us. But let’s go.”

I went and opened the door that led underground and went inside. We walked in silence and kept our weapons up throughout several corridors until I heard some noise coming from a door off to my left. I opened it and found someone tied to a chair, gagged and blindfolded. Whoever it was must have heard the door open, because he became dead silent.

“Captain James Mason?” I asked hopefully. He made some very excited mumbling. I took the blindfold off and saw Mason’s face. “Ruiz! I found Mason!” Ruiz came running in. He took the gag away from his mouth while I got out a knife and cut the ropes that held him to the chair.
“They left me for dead,” he said as he stood up. “We need to get out of here.”
“Why?” Ruiz asked him.
“Look under the chair and then you’ll know why.” I flipped it over, and the timer on the explosive said 00:49 seconds.
“Um.... should we run now?”

I asked. We shot out of the room and ran down several corridors and then opened the door to go above ground. We got to the Jeep and started to leave as the whole area became engulfed in a whirlwind of sand and dust. I stopped the vehicle and let the dust settle. I heard lots of banging, and when visibility returned, I saw that the Jeep’s whole front end was covered with boulders the size of the car’s tires. I looked to where the cliff was, and the entire face was halfway gone, so that was where the rocks had come from.

“Well, at least we weren’t crushed,” Ruiz said.

We hopped out the back because the doors wouldn’t open and grabbed everything we could salvage, which was almost everything we brought. I grabbed the radio.

“Haves, we need you out here,” I said.
“Hello?” a voice on the other end answered. I realized Michael had answered.
“Michael? I need Major Haves on the line.”
“Okay, I’ll get him for you.”

The radio was silent for a little while. A few minutes later, Haves answered the radio.

“Please identify,” Haves said.
“Marcus Brown,” I answered.
“Brown, identify anyone with you.”
“Derek Ruiz and James Mason.”
“I told you not get Mason beforehand. But I guess since you have him, continue with your mission. I’ll let it go this time.”
“We need a new vehicle as soon as possible,” I said.
“Okay, I’ll get one to you. What is your position?”
“Right now, we’re 65 miles northeast of your position. Bring extra gas and two vehicles.”
“Why should I bring two vehicles?”
“One for us and one to get you back.”
“Okay, we’re on our way. E.T.A is about 45 minutes. Signing off.” The radio went silent.
“So, we just wait now?” Ruiz asked.
“Yeah,” I said. “Oh yeah, Ruiz, this is Captain James Mason. Mason, this is Private Derek Ruiz.”
“Nice to meet you,” Ruiz and Mason said at the same time as they shook hands.
About an hour later, we were on our way to the weapons facility.
“So, what did I miss while I was tied to a chair and left to die?” Mason asked.
“Oh, not much,” I said. “I met Ruiz, and we went to find you.” We drove in silence for a while.
“Do you think we’ll see General Raslov?” Ruiz asked suddenly. I slammed on the brakes and we slid for about another 150 feet before we stopped. “Whoa, man, take it easy on the brakes!” I turned around.
“Don’t say that name ever again,” I said. Then I hit the gas, and we sped through the desert. Ruiz didn’t say anything for the rest of the way, and neither did I.
Before we got to where the weapons facility was supposed to be, we cut the engine and rolled for about another 50 yards before coming to a complete stop. Then we got out. I grabbed the shotgun, which was already loaded, Ruiz grabbed a sub machine gun and Mason grabbed an assault rifle. We walked the rest of the way to the weapons facility(which wasn’t too far away anyway), but couldn’t find an entrance.
“Where’s the entrance?” Ruiz asked.
“It’s probably hidden,” Mason answered.
“That’s the whole idea of the enemy,” I said. “It always has to be secret.”
“Hey!” Ruiz said. “That might be something.” He pointed towards the cliff we were facing and there was a small metal vent.
“Well, let’s see what it is,” I said. We walked over to where the vent was and we saw it was a vent to get air into underground tunnels.
“More underground, huh?” Mason said.
“I guess,” I answered. I pulled a blowtorch out of my belt and melted the barring that held it to the cliff. We took it off and crawled through it.
“Did anyone bring a flashlight?” I asked.

Mason pulled one out, turned it on, and handed it to me. We kept going. As we went, I saw a large drop up ahead. We scaled down it carefully, then continued on. Eventually, I saw another vent, and I kicked it out of place. We exited the air shaft, and we dropped onto the floor.

“Well, we made it inside,” I said. “So here’s the plan. Ruiz will find an enemy uniform, change into it, and he’ll sneak into the room where the weapon is being created. Mason will find a place near me to hide, and I’ll create a distraction while Ruiz is going inside.”
“But you could get killed, Marcus,” Mason said. I’d never heard him use my first name before. I looked at him. There was a sadness in his eyes.
“That’s a risk I’m going to have to take. I can’t lose you again.” I looked away, fear creeping over me. “Let’s go.”
We went through with the plan the way it was supposed to go. We found a room full of enemy clothing, and we gave Ruiz a uniform that was his size. Mason hid in a weapons closet in the corridor I was in, and I stayed in the corridor and set off an explosion. Luckily, the ceiling was metal, so no rocks fell. Just as I knew would happen, tons of guards came running down toward the sound of the explosion, and stopped dead in their tracks when they saw me.
“It’s one of the American guys that the General wants!” one of them said. “Set the alarm off!” Another reached for an alarm, but I shot off a shot from my gun and little holes appeared all around the alarm.
“If you try it again, I’ll destroy the alarm,” I said.
“Charge him!” one said.
“No,” another one said. “He’s too tricky. He got away from the General, remember?”
“Of course I remember! But there’s sixteen of us and only one of him.”
“I think I can fix that,” I said. I took one of the charges out of my belt and set the timer for 45 seconds. I prepared to throw it at them. One of them ran, and the others ran after him. I turned the timer off and put it back in my supplies bag. Mason came out of the door next to me.
“Well, that was fast,” he said. “Let’s go and find Ruiz, shall we?”
“I just hope that General Raslov isn’t here,” I said. “Let’s go.”

We left the corridor we were in and went into a door that said ”AUTHORIZED PERSONNEL ONLY” on it in big red letters. We figured it was the weapons room where the complete copies of the weapon were being held, but the door led into a cold room. The door shut and locked behind us.

“Well, that’s just great,” Mason said. “If we don’t freeze then we’ll probably get shot.”
“That is a possibility,” I mumbled, my teeth chattering. “I just hope this is the.....” I trailed off as I saw a figure coming toward us, something big in his hands. As he got closer, I could make out his face.
“Hey, guys!” Ruiz said. “I found the weapon!” He walked forward and showed us something that looked like a chain gun.
“What does it do?” I asked.
“This.”

He pointed at a wall about 500 feet away and then pulled the trigger. A blast of lightning came out of the barrel and hit the wall, making the electricity course through the wall and then it stopped.

“Well, well, well,” a familiar voice said behind us. We turned around and found General Raslov right behind us, an assault rifle in his hands.
“You had to say his name in the Jeep, didn’t you?” I whispered to Ruiz as I elbowed him in the ribs.
“So, I see you have a new guy with you today,” Raslov said. “Well, it will be a pleasure to kill you. Put the weapon down and then you can be executed.”
“You got it,” I said.

I took the weapon from Ruiz’s hands and then pulled the trigger. Another blast of lightning came out and hit Raslov in the chest. He began shaking violently as the electricity coursed through his body. Then he stopped shaking and fell to the ground.

“We’d better go,” I said. “This weapon only stuns for a little while.” We ran and got out, planting charges along the walls as we went. When we got to the vent, we crawled into it and up to the ground. We ran away from the compound, then we stopped. I pulled the detonator out of my pocket.

“You want to do the honors?” I asked Ruiz as I held out the detonator toward him.
“Sure,” Ruiz said as he took the detonator from my hand.
“Let’s hope to God this works,” Mason said. Right then, at least 50 soldiers (including General Raslov, I later learned), ran out of the door close by. They had seen the charges.
Ruiz pushed the button on the detonator.
It was like someone had thrown an eighty-thousand ton truck into the cliff where the facility was concealed. The whole cliff seemed to explode, crumble, and disintegrate all at the same time, spraying chunks of rock everywhere and making a dust storm swirl up around us. Then the noise of the explosion came. It was the loudest thing I have ever heard to this day. Imagine the loudest thing you’ve heard. Now imagine something 1,000,000 times louder than that.
“We have to get to the Jeep!” I yelled, and we ran toward where the Jeep was.

We arrived at the compound of the base after dark, but everyone was still there, staring into the darkness. They all whooped when they saw us coming toward the base. We got out and grabbed the weapon from the back of the Jeep and handed it to Haves.
“We’ll have this researched to see everything it was made for,” Haves said. Then his eyes got wide, but he wasn’t looking at us. He was looking at something behind us. We all turned around and saw General Raslov holding the same assault rifle he had when I shocked him with the weapon.
“You thought you could get rid of me, did you?” he said menacingly. “Well, our scientists know how to remove the electricity from our bodies, and all you did was make me angry. I escaped, and now you all will die.”
It took me two seconds to figure out what to do next. I pulled out a pistol and shot the gas tank on the vehicle he was standing next to. It exploded causing Raslov to go flying (and screaming) into a nearby armored tank. He hit it and fell off onto the ground. He didn’t move again.
“Well, anyhow, I better get this to a research facility,” Haves said. “Good job on your mission, men. Oh, and it’s good to see you, Mason.” He patted Mason on the back as he walked past.
The war ended three weeks later, when the enemy found out that their General was dead and the weapon had been destroyed, other than the copy that we kept. I got a Medal of Honor, Mason got a Medal of Bravery and Ruiz was promoted to Corporal.
These days, I spend my time with Mason and Ruiz, my two best friends, and we still do missions together. All three of us are now well known and are the best men in the Marines.
Well, at least that’s what they say..............

To be continued..........