Duck and Cover

PROMETHEUS
By Wifi


The Mark One APA Sung Shei Rifle was the last weapon produced in the era before the nuclear destruction. Facing a bitter defeat on all fronts thanks to enemy Power Armor units, the Chinese military government redirected all their efforts in producing a weapon capable of efficiently dispatching an enemy foe wearing Power Armor. The solution came from the Japanese army development agency in form of the Mark One APA Sung Shei Rifle. This weapon was capable of firing uranium coated explosive bullets at high speeds and still maintaining high accuracy.

The APA (Anti Power Armor) system works in three stages. The first stage is penetration, where the bullet, thanks to the rich uranium coating, penetrates the Power Armor at high velocity. The second stage is impact, where the bullet hits the inside of the armor opposite of its entry point. The third and final stage is detonation, where the explosive charge detonates, delivering 100% damage to the interior of the Power Armor. The weapons only drawback was the high radiation emitted by the weapon itself, which caused high residual damage to the user and his immediate surroundings, and also the fallout produced by the passing of uranium bullets.

This weapon would have changed the odds in favor of the Chinese war machine for sure, but it came too late. Only a hundred units were constructed before the nuclear end. But in that short period the Allied forces where able to acquire one of these units thanks to operation "Hostile Takeover", which was paid with the lives of several hundred thousand West Alliance infantry soldiers and five entire Power Armor units in the assault on the Tet construction facility in Hong Kong.

This is the story about the soldier who single-handedly stole it, known only as Prometheus.




Welcome to the Mongolian frontline, where we are so close to Big Kong you could smell the clonefish lakes of Shangai. On any other day this place would be you’re typical frontline, with twenty-four hour enemy fire and two major assaults a day. But for a week now this place was a nutcracker for the West Alliance nut. We had the Chinese right in front of us, and we already heard stories of some ultimate weapon they built. But even worse we had the shifty Russians right behind us, who also heard stories about this weapon, and were now seriously thinking of an alliance with the East Empire. All the Russians had to do was point their rocket launchers a few degrees down and we were history. As you see, this was the wrong place at the wrong time.

I was a third class machine gunner stationed in the bunker complex near Gordok. The fancy title of third class meant I knew how to operate light and heavy machineguns plus rocket launchers. My rank was still of an infantry soldier, but on the frontline a third class machine gunner is worth more than two Lieutenants, and during heavy combat I could easily outrank a General. I guess it was worth bribing the drill Sergeant to sign me up for the heavy weapons training course. I also had a hobby of supplying my “brothers in arms� with items both of luxury and necessity that were not on the regular army supply lists. An acquisitionist, you could say.

The day started with an all-out assault by those ricepickers. Their artillery stopped, announcing an attack is imminent. First ones to arrive are the Blowdogs, then the Mongo snipers, and finally the armored units and a whole bunch of infantry. My biggest problems were the snipers who had the job of neutralizing the officers, cannon crews and, you guessed it, machine gunners. I had the luck of having a counter-sniper in the bunker with me to keep me company. Well, you can call it luck, or three Booze crates for the local HQ staff, plus a hooker for my CO. We called the snipers Mongo, because most of them around these parts where Mongolian, real experts in sharpshooting. I was just finishing reloading when the first shot missed me and killed the coffee machine. My Mongo located their Mongo in a house two o’clock. I opened up a crate of RPGs I was saving for the occasion and gave him one. The fucker saw it coming and he managed to jump out of the house in time, but only to be greeted by a bullet between the eyes, compliments of my Mongo. I congratulated my partner for a good shoot, but he didn’t answer. I looked at him and called out his name, but he kept staring right behind me. I turned around and saw a Siberian husky with a backpack sitting on the doorway. I gave my partner the “you left the armored door open, again� look, and he replied with an “I’m sorry, it won’t happen again� look. I was pissed, he was sorry and the dog was ticking.

One thing we didn’t know about Blowdogs, except that they blow up, was what sets them off since we never managed to get one intact. I heard stories of heat detectors and satellite tracking, but the mercury switch theory made the most sense. Get this: what’s the first thing you do when you see a dog packing explosives running towards you to attack? You instinctively shoot him. What happens? He falls over, the mercury shifts and boom; you’re in a rain of shrapnel. I now had my first and last chance to prove this theory. So we don’t shoot, we leave him alone. But what if he gets tired and decides to lie down for a nap? I should get near him and scratch him on the head or something to keep him occupied. But what if he likes me and lies down so I can scratch his tummy? This is fucked. But I figured out a way. First we throw him something to eat, then while he’s distracted eating we flank him, grab him simultaneously on both sides, detach the bomb and put it somewhere safe, being careful not to tilt it on any side. After barely convincing my forgetful partner that this is his entire fault and so he must help me, we gave it a try. Apart from the dog sneezing and scaring the shit out of us, the whole plan worked perfectly, and we finished just in time to se the ricepickers retreat. We called the Brain department, they came and picked up the dog and bomb, and that was it.

Why is all this important? Because this little incident caught the attention of the military spooks. I was hoping for a few days of R&R as a reward for solving the Blowdog mystery, but I was a little disappointed when instead I got a one way ticket for a romantic cruise on the USS Theory, home of military intelligence. The ride arrived the very next day. A black vertibird landed in the middle of the base, breaking every rule of landing procedures, typical for spooks. Two black armored tanks jumped out, grabbed me and dragged me into the bird which took of the second we were in. I don’t know what it was, but the thing they put on my head gave me the feeling of a really bad opium trip, I didn’t know where I was and what I was.

I regained my senses on the floor of a small dark room, with only a desk and a filing cabinet. I sat down on the nearest chair, listening to the walls vibrate. I must have already been on the Theory, judging by the vibrations and the USS Theory miniature model on the desk. The ship looked like a normal vertibird carrier, but it was much bigger and had a few changes here and there. A part of a wall started opening, a door you might say, and who do you think walked in? The same damn dog that got me here in the first place! He walked right towards me, sat in front of me and lowered his big snout on my lap. I was about to use the F word phrase when a suit walked in, closed the door and sat down at the desk. He started his show with flipping pages of my personal records with one hand and lighting a cigarette with the other, and then he took a puff and raised his eyes to meet my dull face. Very original.

“Looking at you’re records you seem to be a man of many talents. On the bright side we have a third class machine gunner, two hundred and thirteen confirmed kills, no convictions, a true brother in arms… On the darker side we have black market, booze smuggling, theft, organized prostitution and many more… But that’s not why you’re here. We were very impressed how you managed to figure out and disarm the K9 explosive device. You wouldn’t believe how many scientists were working on that problem, and came up with nothing worth to piss on. You demonstrated the ability of calm logic deduction in a hostile situation. We need a man just like you for this little operation called “Hostile Takeover� which will secure our victory over the East Empire. Tell me, are you the man we are looking for?�

I wanted to say no thanks, but that would be my death sentence now that I heard the name of the operation and its goal. The bastard gave me no other choice but to accept, and he knew it. So I said yes, I would be thrilled to be a part of a operation that will end the cursed East Empire and bring victory to the people of the Western alliance, and…

“Cut the crap, I know you know you don’t have a choice, so leave the speeches for later. Sign this here paper and surrender all you’re documents and personal objects to me. You’re name from now on will be Prometheus, you are to kill anyone who approaches you using any other name, even you’re own. You will be issued a White Card, which gives you full access to anyone and anything. You no longer answer to military personnel; you don’t even exist for the outside world. You’re mission link will be Agent Five, he will update you on you’re mission objectives and all other information you need. Understood? Good. Now head down to the Gap, gears and preparation, you will meet agent Five there. Now fuck of, I got work to do. And take that fleabag with you, you will need him.�

Charming man, I bet his co-workers organize birthday parties for him. I was kind of glad to see the dog was alive and not chopped to pieces by those scientists, and since he’s coming along I might as well give him a name. I think Tick suits him perfectly. Flashing the White Card everywhere and to everyone I found my way to the Gap where Agent Five was waiting for me. My imagination started going wild about who Agent Five could be. The horny chip kicked in and I started thinking about this really hot chic, all dressed up in leather, with knowledge of kung fu moves and shit. But with my luck it will be a baldheaded troll who lives for paperwork. The Gap looked like a pawn shop, a guy behind a counter with iron bars and tons of gear scattered around the place. I approached the guy and asked to see Agent Five. He said he knew I was coming, and that Agent Five is waiting on the table behind me. The second horny chip kicked in to help the first one process all the dirty fantasies. I turned around slowly, keeping the dream alive for as long as possible. Well, it wasn’t a hot chic on the table, and thank God it wasn’t a nude troll as well, but a weird looking PipBoy. I picked it up, and a small guy in a business suit walked onto the screen and saluted me. He asked me what do I need and gave me a couple of options. I picked mission status, and he listed out all the objectives, from some kind of infiltration to escape. I sat down and studied the whole thing for a couple of hours.

My eyes were hurting from all that reading, and my brain felt like exploding from all the information. The plan was simple, go to Hong Kong and steal a gun. There was this small problem of a couple of million well armed soldiers on the way there, but that can be solved thanks to Tick, go figure. I had five days for preparations, I spent them all in the ships bar drinking, celebrating together with Tick our future departure from this man-made hell. I woke up the sixth day thanks to Ticks licking my face and Agent Fives annoying beeping, telling me I got twelve hours until departure. I washed up, barfed, dressed for the occasion, geared up, barfed some more, and got to the landing pad just in time. Showtime!

A group of ten vertibirds, including mine, took of from the Theory towards the Mongolian frontline. We were in low flight under the clouds to avoid satellite detection, and even if they did see us we looked like the regular troop supply convoy. While approaching the frontline I saw something that Agent Five didn’t mention. There were large convoys made up by armored vehicles and infantry transporters going towards the frontline. I was told they all served as a distraction for the Chinese. This fact cut through me like a lightning. Thousands of my comrades were about to die just so I could do my job. That son of a bitch knew I would have refused the mission if he had told me, so he kept his mouth shut. Now that I know it’s already too late, the bloodshed was about to start. I had no choice but to actually pull this insane idea off or they will all die in vain. We landed on a nearby mountain to refuel and wait for the attack to begin. I stood there watching all those soldiers getting ready for the fight, probably believing they are the ones the West Alliance leadership is counting on, not one man with a dog. But I didn’t have time to worry about that, I had to prepare for infiltration.

The next step was for me to go undercover behind enemy lines dressed up as a Blowdog trainer, that’s why I needed Tick with me. This trick had many advantages. Many of the dog trainers where Russian mercenaries, so skin color and language was not a problem. There was this little problem of having the mercenary tattoo on my cheek, but they took care of that while I was dead drunk. Another thing is that these trainers worked alone, so no one will find me suspicious walking around alone during an enemy invasion. And for last, the Chinese don’t really like Russians, so no one will stop me to chat, except another trainer, but I can simply shoot him, no one wants to be involved in a mercenary dispute. I almost forgot; people tend to feel uncomfortable near a dog that could explode.

At sundown the attack began, and we were airborne again. The plan was to simulate a crashing vertibird because we knew they had orders not to shoot enemy aircrafts falling into their territory; they wanted the crew alive for interrogation and the gear onboard intact for research. While we flew through the rain of bullets and flaks the other vertibirds were flying around us as a shield. After crossing the no mans land, we activated the smoke device mounted on one of the rotor engines and began our fast descent deep into the dragon’s mouth. When we were close enough to the ground the pilot slowed us down and quickly landed so I could jump out safely with Tick, and then he took off again and changed course to get the pursuing ground forces away from our touchdown position. Shortly afterwards there was an explosion, I hoped not theirs.

The sky was full of flares and explosion flashes that turned night into day for brief moments. I took Agent Five from Ticks backpack to find out the latest information on my next objective. I was to contact an agent who was working as a doctor in a nearby military field hospital. My identification line was “Someone stole my lighter� and his reply was “Maybe Prometheus stole it�, both in Russian. Guided by Agent Fives GPS map, I found the road that will take me straight to the field hospital. Half way there I froze from fear when an armored tank showed his ugly face while coming around the bend. He was accompanied by fifty Chinese soldiers, all shouting and screaming in my direction. This was it, I’m done for. I reached for Ticks backpack to pull out my gun and take one or two ricepickers with me, when suddenly one of them pushed me aside so they could pass. I just stood there watching all these enemy faces pass by, and all I could think of was my hundred and thirteen confirmed kills, and yet these are the first Chinese faces I ever saw in my life. Some were laughing, some were scared, some gave me dirty looks, and some were wounded, just like us. Until now they were all just little blurs on my machinegun iron sight. They disappeared over a hill, and I continued my journey.

I thought I’ll have to use stealth around the field hospital, but the place was in such a chaos that nobody will notice you except if you are screaming and squirting blood. I was looking for a Russian doctor, but there were three, all busy with the wounded. I went over the passwords again, just in case. I needed to say something like “Netkov mi ukraden upalijac�, and the doc should reply “Mozdeo ge jev Prometheus ukreo�. Fuck it, if he says Prometheus that’s fine with me. I tried with the first doctor.

• Ahem, Netkov mi ukraden upalijac!

• Zaboli me kurac za tvoj upaljac, ovaj covjek umire!

Wrong one. Let’s go with doc number two.

• Netkov mi ukraden upalijac!

• Evo ti moj, sad pusti me na miru!

This one actually gave me a lighter. So it must be doc number three.

• Umm, Netkov mi ukraden upalijac!

• Mozda ga je Prometheus ukrao. My God, I hope you’re other skills are nowhere near your Russian! Meet me behind this tent near the thrash in five minutes.

Bingo.

He showed up five minutes later and explained me the plan to get into Hong Kong. He took some bloody bandages from the trashcans and wrapped them around my neck and forehead. He said this was necessary because I will be traveling with an emergency cases ambulance convoy to Hong Kong. He pinned on me a medical chart with diagnose of head and neck injury, so I had an excuse not to talk and look confused. He sprayed some white paint on my left shoulder, a method they used to quickly identify emergency patients. He also rubbed some blood over Tick as well and told me to remove his backpack because Blowdogs aren’t allowed into personnel transport vehicles; he can act like a normal dog from now on. He wished us good luck, warned me not to ever speak Russian again and escorted us to the truck for Hong Kong. At the same time a squadron of Allied vertibirds flew over us towards our destination, probably to bomb my route creating as much chaos as possible. I could only fear what will happen in Big Kong when I get there…

I was wrong, it was already happening. The area I was traveling through was bombed earlier, they were now bombing around my movement zone. We passed a couple of road blocks and security tunnels, but they were more worried about staying in their bunkers shooting blindly into the dark sky. It seemed like millions of refugees were flooding the streets, running with all they could carry. They would never have guessed that the reason for their suffering is right here under their noses. The last checkpoint was the entrance into the Mai District, the most heavily guarded area of all Hong Kong. This place was considered a safe zone, that’s why it was home to the biggest East Empire army hospital, my destination. It was almost incredible that my target is in the building right next to the hospital, the Tet construction facility. I left the truck and dragged myself into the crowded hospital, ducked into a corner and consulted Agent Five. In this place everybody was seeking attention, so no one was wasting it around to look at suspicious soldiers with dogs. I had to wait for the Power Armor units to arrive and meet them in the lobby of the hospital. It was imperative that I have Tick with me at all times, that was my sign to the Allies I was on their side. I wandered around looking for a nice quiet spot to wait, finding one in the lobby where they dumped their dead. There I saw an empty chair near a dead security guard who had a gunshot wound on his head and his cut off thumb stuck in his mouth. I knew what that meant, we had the same tradition, it was a sign to others he was a coward and deserved to be thrown away with the rest of the thrash, the thumb symbolizing how a baby sucks its own thumb. Who knows what the poor bastard did to deserve this. I sat on the chair and rolled up a smoke. Tick decided to take a nap, the poor beast was exhausted.

The sounds of explosions were becoming louder and louder. Everybody started panicking about the imminent arrival of the bombers. I should have been panicking with them, but I knew those weren’t randomly dropped bombs, but tactical guided missiles from the attack planes flying above the bombers. They weren’t even bombers but transport vertibirds who were preparing to drop landing capsules filled with armored men. This whole act was necessary to convince the enemy this is just another blind attack by the West Alliance, and not a well organized operation. The moment they would suspect something else, they would realize we are here for the super weapon and they would easily take steps to secure it. The first capsules have crashed and the fight man to man began. While I was waiting for them in the hospital lobby, a team of Tet security guards crashed into the room, barricading the doors. They weren’t Chinese, but Russian mercenaries. One of them saw me and shouted something in Russian. I just mumbled something back, like I’m in great pain when trying to speak. I was quite surprised when he threw a rifle to me, pointing me to go behind a pillar. I was now a part in an ambush to attack my own team. A burst off bullets chopped the main door barricade in two and two armored guys busted it down. The guards started shooting, but they were no match against miniguns. I stupidly jumped out to join my troops, but I remembered I was still the enemy as soon as they pointed their guns at me. I tried to shout Prometheus, but the miniguns barrels were already rotating. I ducked back behind the pillar that was now being decomposed by hundreds of bullets.

My only chance was Tick, but he was nowhere to be seen. I looked across the room and there he was, all cuddled up in a corner. I had to get to him, but it will be hard to avoid the lead rain. The miniguns stopped, giving me a chance to do something really stupid. I jumped up and ran towards Tick as fast as I could, but the miniguns were already starting to rotate again, so I took a dive and grabbed the dog during my slide on the marble floor. I closed my eyes, not wanting to see death coming, but instead of a loud burst I heard the specific sound of a minigun slowing down. I sat down still hugging the dog and opened my eyes. They were standing there silently, still aiming at me. But the guns were lowered after I shouted Prometheus, several times. One of them approached and helped me stand up.

“Sorry about that Sir, but you didn’t have the dog with you. But there is no time for that; we have only a few minutes before enemy backup arrives from the local fort. We will hold them off here as long as we can, and you need to meet up with the demolition team south of this building. Here, take this transmitter, it will mark you as a friendly on our helmet displays. When you get the package use the green flare so we can get out of here. Go now!�

They should have given me a transmitter from the start, but there was a risk of the enemy detecting my signal, turning me into a sitting duck. I arrived at the demolition point just in time as they were finishing up. They will blow up the security wall and storm in to secure as much area as possible, while I wait for a few moments and go after them in search for the weapon. This was the most crucial point of the entire operation. I had to do the impossible if necessary to get that gun. This was going to be tough. Well it should have been, but someone really likes me up there. As soon as the smoke cleared I heard weird sounds and saw red beams of light pouring out of the hole. The armored soldiers began dropping like flies, some even exploded partially. This was the weapon I was looking for. A Tet guard jumped out of the hole, finishing off the remaining soldiers. He would have won the match, if one of them didn’t manage to get him with his sniper rifle before he died. The guard fell on his knees and raised his head towards me. He stood up and dragged himself towards me and fell into my arms giving me his weapon. He said something, took a deep breath and dropped dead. I think he wanted me to continue the fight to avenge his death or something. Impossible as it may seem, I did it. Now I had to get out of there, fast.

First things first, launch a green flare to signal the troops. The remaining vertibirds landed to pick up the few survivors. I wasn’t leaving with them, they were all more decoys. I arrived alone, and I’m leaving alone. The vertibirds took off back towards the front, but they were all shot down one by one from the now fully deployed anti-aircraft defense. I had five minutes before my ride arrives, and I needed to figure out how to hide the super gun. To my fortune the weapon was designed to be light and with the ability to fold into itself, kinda like one of those spy cameras that look like lighters. Folded it was twice as small, plus the extracted clip. I couldn’t help but notice the radiation warning signs on both the gun and clip, so I swallowed down some Radx to be sure. I returned back to Tick in the lobby and attached his backpack back on and stuffed the gun in. Tick got his Radx too, stuck inside a Fieldbarr chocolate snack. The ride arrived in form of a military motorcycle with sidecar driven by a Chinese messenger. Doko was our most valuable spy, working as an East Empire messenger between Hong Kong and the frontline. He saw the dog and pulled up next to us, told me to jump into the sidecar and leave the dog behind. I told him that was not an option, the dog was carrying the package, and nobody would ever think of searching him. The dog is going into the sidecar, and I was going to be the bitch from behind, no discussion with the White Card. We smoked off towards the extraction route, the Moscow-Beijing old pipeline.

After the long, hemorrhoid inducing ride on the squeaky motorcycle seat, we reached the valley of Datong, home to the abandoned Pungao oil refinery, a part of the pipeline. The Moscow-Beijing pipeline was still intact and functional; it was the very reason of our Mongolian invasion and was wanted intact by all sides. After the break up of the Hurkovski-Chang Lao contract the oil shipments between Russia and China stopped, leaving the pipeline dry, making it an excellent escape route from China. The only problem were the control valve stations every hundred miles that needed to be opened. By now the Allied forces were retreating back into Mongolia with heavy casualties, and their orders were to open the six stations and hold them to the last man until the general retreat order arrives. The Pungao refinery was held by the Five hundred and Fifth Engineers with the task to assemble the rocket sled inside the pipe and wait for me and Doko. When we arrived on top of the hill over Datong Valley the fight had already started down there. Doko told me to hold tight and he stepped on it. We were dodging burning vehicles on the road, passing by Chinese soldiers who didn’t know should they shoot us or not. Doko told me to light up a green flare and hold it so we don’t meet friendly fire down there. We looked like a green steam train rolling down the hill, telling everyone in the valley on whose side we are on. I don’t know if we were better of, we now had unfriendly fire. Doko started throwing grenades around, this guy was really ready for anything. We broke through the fight zone and crashed into the factory.

This was the final objective, to escape from the East Empire. I was going to travel at high speed through the pipeline using a deathtrap called rocket sled. The thing was nothing more than a barrel of highly explosive fuel with a propulsion engine and no controls, so once you take off there is no stopping until the fuel runs out, or a wall shows up in a bad place. Even better, the whole thing was experimental, put together with blueprints by a team of field mechanics who were in charge of fixing trucks and tanks. The rocket that destroyed a nearby tower gave me courage to get in and strap myself and Tick real tight. I was about to ask how to turn this bomb on, but the only control panel switch which read “on� and a crossed over “off� told me everything. I said goodbye to the boys and wished them luck, but they said I needed it more than they did. They ran out, I flipped the switch, and an explosion knocked me out.

When I woke up I was going maximum speed through the small black tunnel. The only things on my mind were those damn valves, but what the hell, I won’t even notice the crash at this speed. I checked Agent Five and saw I had only one valve to go, this thing was really fast. Suddenly I had this image in my head of an Allied soldier and a Russian captain fighting over the valve opening lever while this little white dot was getting nearer to a big red square on a nearby control panel. G.I. Joe punches Captain Rice in the teeth and makes a funny remark about how he will have to exchange his chop sticks with a straw. Captain Rice replied with a kick in the groin and a remark about G.I. Joe’s capitalist orientation and associates him with a four legged pink animal. In all this confusion I didn’t notice I already passed the last valve, so I guess G.I. Joe wins.

The last thing I expected was for the pipe to turn into a can of shaving cream. Whatever this white stuff was I started slowing down. All of a sudden the sunrise hit me like a flashlight. I came to a halt, unlocked myself and released Tick, who jumped out knocking me to the ground just so he can take a piss on a tree nearby. I just lied there covered with cream, enjoying the sunlight and the feeling of being alive. But it didn’t take long for a shadow to appear over me in for of a prick in a suit.

“Well done soldier, well done. Now those frozen butts in the Kremlin will have no difficulty choosing sides. All thanks to you, and the other six agents who had the same job as you did. Better make that three, the rest didn’t make it. What, you didn’t really think you were our only hope? No man is worth an operation this big. Remember, Uncle Sam never bets on one horse. But you still remain our employee of the month, the other agents brought back just blueprints, bullets and the guns suitcase, while you got the real thing. So what will it be, the frontline or the Theory? We sure do need guys like you in the field, and it would be a shame to loose such a fine soldier because of a Mongo that got lucky. What will it be, the sea or the mud? Choose quickly, I haven’t got time to waste.�

Before I wasn’t sure, I had my doubts and all, but now it was all clear to me: I want to shoot this asshole in the groin area. But his offer was tempting. I scored a lot of cash on the frontline, imagine what fortunes I could acquire with corporate sponsorship from uncle Sam. What will it be, my pride or my pocket? Fuck it, I’m going for pure stupid pride. I stood up, gathered up all my strength I had left and concentrated it all into my right leg. I gave him such a blow in the balls his feet actually left the ground. I took my White Card and jammed it right into his screaming mouth. I cleaned myself from the stopping cream, called Tick to join me and asked a nearby soldier in a jeep to give me a ride to the frontline. I know it ain’t much of a happy ending, but that kick made me feel really good I couldn’t care less. I bet those guys on the front cant wait to hear how I spent my R&R…