Prologue

The mountain waters of the Salado River were frigid and calm as several dark figures silently glided just under the surface. Their personal propeller systems creating only a slight hum as they traveled upstream. A tactile blip on their watches indicated that they had entered the mission area and it was safe to surface. One by one the members of Strike Team Echo rose up out of the inky, black water and onto the riverbank. The night air chilled them to the bone but the thermal conditioning in their combat suits kept them from experiencing hypothermia. It was just after 3am when they had finally arrived.

"Echo Leader, this is Echo Actual. Confirm insertion at LZ Delta. Over."

"Echo Actual, this is Echo Leader. Assembled at LZ Delta. Repeat, assembly confirmed. Proceeding to point Charlie. Over."

"Roger that Echo Team. Actual, going dark. Good luck boys, see you when this is all done. Over and out.”

As the neural radio went silent, Lt. Allan Knight nodded to his sergeants. They moved into action immediately. Silent orders were given through the subtle neural connections they shared. Long gone were the days of remembering complex hand signs such as it was when the lieutenant first became a Ranger. Now every soldier was hooked up via neural networks and cranial optics. They moved at the speed of thought.

Knight took up position on a hill just south of the village where the mission objective resided. A medical specialist by the name of Dr. Arman del Sogno was their target. This was a simple bag and tag mission. Strike Team Echo was warned of security forces in the area but not a single contact alert had been fired off. It was quiet. Way too quiet.

"All units. Sit-rep. Confirm locations."

"North of town, hill 30...securing the gas station...the church is clear...house 7 has no contacts...no one in the restaurant either...the school is secured but empty...no contacts in city hall, should we move on to point Foxtrot?"

Lt. Knight looked up into the dark pre-dawn sky as if the stars would show him the answers. "All units, converge on Foxtrot. Double time."

From his vantage point, he could see several of his men moving towards the large manor at the top of a hill just west of town. He checked his rifle's ammunition and then started heading that way. What is going on here? No security. No civilians. Not a single soul? I don't like this at all.

After taking up positions around the walled compound on top of the hill, he gave orders for each squad to breach from a different entry point. The name of the game was shock and awe. They would move in quickly and with such violence that the enemy forces, which have surely holed up in the manor, will be easily overwhelmed. Textbook raid. The best kind.

The manor was once the home of a baron who owned all the silver mines in this part of the nation that was once called Argentina. Now, it served as the perfect compound for a doctor with zero bioethics and his third world test subjects. Sigma, Theta, and Epsilon squads were to breach from the North, South, and West gates respectively. Lt. Knight and his squad would breach from the East. Zeta squad was on Hill 30 just on the other side of the river to provide sniper support and secure the EZ. All was going exactly according to plan.

When the charges were in place, he took a deep breath then gave the order, "Breach!"

Several concussive blasts went off simultaneously. The Rangers stormed in and began blasting away at likely firing positions. Several smoke grenades were popped off as Strike Team Echo moved with deadly efficiency through the compound. Only 10 seconds after the breach, it became apparent that there were no enemy forces. Lt. Knight called for an immediate cease fire. A roaring silence once again filled the night air.

The compound's entire first and second level's were searched thoroughly. Again, not a soul.

Before Knight was about to reach out to his superiors, the message they were all waiting for finally came in. "Contacts! South wing! Basement level. No resistance. They...they're..." The voice trailed off and mumbled something resembling a prayer. "Sir, you need to come see this."

The route to that soldier's location was sent directly to Knight's neural-optic map and he could see a path laid out before him. He followed it to the basement and before him was a massive chamber with at least 120 beds each with a person laying in them, maybe more. In his seven years as a Ranger, he had seen nothing like it. Those in the beds were connected to unusual medical equipment. They were being pumped with a translucent liquid via intravenous line while an occasional orange colored drop fell from the ear canal into a suction cup.

"What is this, Sir?" one soldier asked forgetting that he didn't need to speak aloud.

"I'm unsure. But I'm sure Actual will have further instructions." He responded through the neural link. "Keep looking for the objective."

The bewildered soldiers spread out and began searching side rooms and offices while Lt. Knight initiated contact with HQ.

"Echo Actual, this is Lt. Allan Knight of Echo Company breaking radio silence. Security code: Sierra November Golf 247. Over."

After several moments of silence, a familiar voice responded, "Echo Leader, this is Echo Actual. Security code accepted. What's wrong lieutenant?"

“Actual, there has been no resistance. The town is deserted and all its inhabitants are in the manor's basement hooked up to medical equipment. No one seems to be conscious. Intelligence was completely wrong about this place. What are our updated orders and mission parameters? Over." Lt. Knight was doing his best to maintain composure for his men. Not letting them see a look of worry on his face was one of the duties of leadership. Yet, he felt a frown begin to slowly form.

After at least three minutes a new voice came through the neural connected radio, “Lt. Knight, this is Agent Nikola of Intelligence Command. I've isolated your link because this is for your information only. We know Dr. Sogno is there. Apprehend him. When you do, secure every ounce of his research notes. Then, torch the place. Leave no subjects alive. His work is vital to our future. I've already sent dispatch to your EZ. Those are the new parameters of your mission. Do you copy? Over."

He inhaled sharply before replying, "Yes sir! Copy that. Proceeding. Echo Leader out."

"Good work soldier. Command out."

Looking around the room, Knight wondered for a brief moment what the sleeping civilians were dreaming about. I hope they're good dreams. Just then the radio sparked to life again.

“Sir! Contact in western corridor! We've secured the objective."

"Good work everyone. We have updated parameters from Echo Actual. Theta Squad gather the research notes of Dr. Sogno. Leave no file behind. Destroy the terminal when extraction is complete. Sigma Squad maintain control of the doctor and take him to Zeta Squad at the EZ. Our ride is on the way. Epsilon join me and Knight Squad in setting the air support beacons. Move out."

Again, at the speed of thought, Strike Team Echo went to work. In less than ten minutes the last of Knight Squad were exiting the facility. On top the hill overlooking the village, Lt. Knight felt nothing despite knowing what was about to happen. He fulfilled his orders as always. The support beacons were activated by one touch on his watch. Behind him, he heard the roar of the hover craft as it landed 50 meters away. He took one last look at the manor compound and turned away as a beam of light streamed across the sky and struck the area. Immediately, metal and concrete were melted into puddles. Anything alive was immediately incinerated as the manor and surrounding grounds were reduced to a flat bubbling pool of molten material.

Aboard the craft as it flew through the pre-dawn skies, he hung his head. I really hope they were good dreams...