Personal Evac

A/N: I've revised this chapter. (5/18/2021). Because this being the first chapter, and there is some constructive criticism about the early chapters of this story, I've to rewrite it. Actually, it's kind of hard to rewrite these chapters as I don't know what the heck I wrote here in the early chapters. Anyways, please enjoy reading the rest of the story after I've rewritten the beginning.

__________________________________________

Tick. Tock. Tick. Tock.

There's nothing to do here. All I have is the audible sound of the clock. It's the only thing that's different every time.

Staring at the clock, it feels like it's warning me of something, that time is running out. After checking the time on my phone and the clock, I fixed the clock back in symmetry with the wall. I've had enough of waiting a long time in this area. I scrounged around the room to find a mirror to see how I look.

Found one, looking at myself in the mirror, "Not bad."

I straightened up my ACU, grabbed the Advanced Combat Helmet on the table and then, wear it. Looking at it, it features MultiCam patterns. It looks damn cool to me. Oh well, time to go. I opened the door to the outside. A gush of hot air moves into the room and, stepped outside. I closed the door behind me and walked down the concrete stairs. After stepping down, I peered around the area I'm in. Even though I've always been here for a while, there's something unique about this vast desert wasteland. For the final cherry on top, god has dropped sprinkles of sand rocks on the desert. As I walked away from the door, I went on a rocky stretch of path, making the distinct rock sound that I hear. I'd assume this is enough distance between me and the building, so I stopped walking and looked at my phone. It took some time for my phone to turn on as it's an old phone. Like, old, old. The phone brightens to life, and it's barely readable. I can scarcely see 3:00 PM. Alright, these guys should be here at any moment now.

After waiting for a while, I looked at my phone again and saw that 15 minutes has passed. I wonder where the heck they are. It's getting hot in this uniform. Then, my eyes caught a dot in the distance. It soon grows larger and larger, and I could finally see that it's a helicopter. It's a UH-60 Black Hawk. Pretty famous, I would say. My ears recognize its whirring sounds as it approaches the ground in front of me. Gusts of wind pick up the sand and blow it from every direction as it proceeds to land right in front of me. I can now identify the door gunners on the M240 machine gun, ready to fire at a moment's notice.

As it descends, the gusts from the helicopter are getting more intense. I try to cover my eyes. Gosh dangit. I should've bought some goggles or something! Once it touched down, the doors open. I see two soldiers, and I instantly identified that they're in OCP uniform equipped with M4 carbines, and the Interceptor Body Armor dropped down and watched the area. They appear to be doing some communication that the place is secured. Another person steps out of the helicopter, walking towards me with his eyes squinted. He's wearing some combat gear like the other soldiers. But not as much. In his hand, I see a briefcase. As I waited for some time, I soon perceive that this equipment is American tech, but there are no signs of what country they originate from on Earth, as their flag patch is missing. Well, I'm the one who gave them the equipment. It should be easy to identify for me.

"Tsutomu, it's quite rough being out here, yeah?" He shouted over the sound of the helicopter. The bird is ready to leave at a moment's notice.

"It's certainly rough, Charles,"

"I see. I see. How's the shipment going? Especially after that big incident back then." He looks concerned about the shipment.

"It's going very well. The shipment will arrive on time." This time, I wouldn't let Charles down.

"Hmm. Great to hear! That's why we always chose you, Tsutomu." He quickly formed a smile. "Well, we bargained exclusively with you anyways." Laughing.

He looked at me, "Assuming that you're gonna uphold the deal," Charles presented the briefcase in front of you and opened it in my very eyes. I see hundreds of thousands of dollars appear right in front of me, a reward for accomplishing such arms deals in this modern-day and age. I even provided his organization the helicopter for the means to give me this money. God knows what lengths I've gone to obtain the UH-60 Black Hawk.

"Are you sure? I can pretty much earn this much in a day. Don't mind about that destruction back then." I questioned Charles.

Charles sighs as he closed the briefcase and gives it to me. Seeing that he's determined to hand me that darn briefcase, I grabbed it out of his hands.

"You gotta accept these rewards, Tsutomu. You can't be up working tirelessly for these groups and not get a moment to relax. I saw you in great disbelief when you saw your things being destroyed." I see him getting his units to prepare for departure.

"It's fine. I can provide myself that." I gripped the handle like a hard stock. Why am I making false promises?

Charles patted me on the shoulder and looked back at me while walking towards the helicopter.

"Tsutomu, I have to say, you know that you could be hunted and killed by the international community for these types of things, right? You barely escaped death there." Showing a slight hint of concern.

"Don't worry. I always have my back covered." I lied. I just can't put up with it.

"Alright then, safe dealing!" Charles stepped back onto the helicopter.

The two soldiers on guard followed Charles, the doors of the helicopter closed, and I can hear its blades moving faster and faster. The black Hawk lifts off into the distance where it came from until its presence vanishes. With the helicopter gone, it just feels empty again. This thing fascinates me a lot. Human engineering has come a long way since the dawn of civilization, especially in military technology. Suddenly, I see a trail of desert clouds appearing in the background, small scattered dots of objects moving at such speeds on the desert. At this point, something is wrong. Very wrong. I don't think lying to these guys in the desert cloud will make circumstances worse both for you and the group you've bargained for in the first place. I must expect the worst.

I hurriedly walked back into the building, looking around the room for the secret hatch. Heard others say that it's essential to remember if they tracked you in this area. Aha! I found it right away! It's at the corner of the room. I opened the hatch and stared right down the deep hole and, see the darkness. With my quick thinking, I used the flashlight feature on my phone. What great technology there is. My body doesn't want to be carrying this briefcase, so I drop it down into the unknown. I heard a solid clonk at the bottom. It's kind of like dropping a big rock. As I stepped down onto the ladder bars, I hear the vehicles pulling up in front of the building. Oh no. I hastened my pace and climbed down, slamming the hatch beforehand.

While climbing down within the abyss, some needle hits my brain thousands of times. It's like a headache. I continue climbing down with unbearable pain. Safe to say that it will probably get worse. At this depth, the vehicles on the surface and the people above are barely audible. Back up, I can't decipher their language, but it's probably insurgents. The pain in my head gets more vehement and, I'm barely holding onto the bars. I'm shaking hard! Walking down steps of ladders, I could see the ground, at last! I bear a sigh of relief, but it's not over yet as I hear the latch opens. I looked up and saw one insurgent aiming their AK-47 at me. I immediately picked up the briefcase and ran away from that rain of bullets. Wait, why did I pick it up? It's just money. Eh, whatever. I just ran until I reached a solid dirt wall. On the right side of the dead-end, I found that adequate lighting and wires are hanging up from the ceiling. As I breathe in this hell, the air somehow feels cleaner here too. Am I reaching heaven?

As I looked over the wall on my right, there is a motorcycle and some tracks. I briefly inspected the makeshift job, and the vehicle can definitely run on rails. That's nuts. Time is getting a bit cranky here. My ears pick up the faint footsteps emanating from the tunnels behind me. Well, now I got no time. I speedily mounted the motorcycle, and I spontaneously figured out how it actually works. It has been a long time since I've driven a motorcycle. Most of the time is just looking at it, but I've managed to start it. Finally! Now I can ride this unique contraption across the tunnel!

__________________________________________

It has been a few minutes. I don't know how long it has been. The continuous sound of the motorcycle permeates my ears. Now, that sustained sound is starting to ring my ears.

__________________________________________

"FLAG PLOT, this is FIREBIRD. We have eyes on the building, Over."

"Copy that FIREBIRD. What's the situation? FLAG PLOT, Over."

"FLAG PLOT, Multiple tangos affiliated with an insurgency group present around the building, FIREBIRD, Out."

__________________________________________

"Bravo Fife, this is FLAG PLOT, fire at will, Over."

"Wilco FLAG PLOT, Bravo Fife, Over."

"Roger that Bravo Fife, FLAG PLOT, Out."

__________________________________________

As I continue driving in this hell tunnel, I felt the tremors throughout my body and the motorcycle. Some violent shaking is happening across the shaft. I hear faint screams coming from behind, even though I'm far away on my nifty train motorcycle. I can finally say that I'm approaching the end. The dirt wall is slowly getting closer and closer. Oh. I immediately shut off the engines of the motorcycle and hoped for the best. It stopped just in the nick of time.

I stepped off the motorcycle and quickly looked around for any exits. On the left is a wooden door, that when I open, another pair of darn ladders that I see. I groaned. I climbed up the treacherous horde of ladders while holding the briefcase that's starting to feel like weighted regret every second. On the top, a trapdoor. Lord, I found it! I pushed open the door like it was a victory day!

I tossed the briefcase over the edge and climbed myself up to the surface. It's all desert. I'm contemplating what the heck I've just done in these past couple of minutes. Heck, it's probably been hours down there. I believed that I went to another country... As it is, I just go with it. If I were to die in this vast desert, well, my fault. I don't care what happens to me next. I could probably rain in these wooden green American papers before I die. I don't care what happens about the money, even though I saved it from getting pierced by hellfire of bullets. I still have a hint of headache from the beginning. Now, it's like someone stabbed my brain and twisted it like a maniac. I dropped down in pain, lying on the sand, trying to overcome this pain. Ack. I can't think. I.. I'm having spasms. It's like nightmares that are present in my head as it attains away from my cerebellum. Knowing that I was exhausted, I could use this opportunity to sleep as I know that I don't feel any pain, but it's hard. After long minutes of the pain of what feels like hours, I finally manage to feel drowsy...

__________________________________________

"FLAG PLOT, objective spotted. This is FIREBIRD, Over."

"Copy that FIREBIRD. What are the coordinates? Over."

"Roger that FLAG PLOT, Delta Seven Echo Niner Fife. Over."

"Received, FIREBIRD. FLAG PLOT gives thanks, Over."

"No problem, FLAG PLOT. FIREBIRD, Out."

__________________________________________

"This is FLAG PLOT, Bravo Fife, start extraction at Delta Seven Echo Niner Fife, Over."

"Wilco FLAG PLOT, Bravo Fife, heading to Delta Seven Echo Niner Fife, Over."

"Roger that Bravo Fife, FLAG PLOT, Out."

__________________________________________

"FLAG PLOT, Too-Wun vehicles of unknown nationality with a mix of light vehicles and APCs at Delta Seven Wun-Zero are heading towards the target position. FIREBIRD, Over."

"Copy that FIREBIRD, FLAG PLOT, Over."

"Roger that FLAG PLOT. FIREBIRD, Out."

__________________________________________

Bravo five consists of three UH-60 Black Hawk's, three M1126 APC Stryker's, one M1128 Mobile Gun System Striker, and 8 Interim Fast Attack Vehicles started to move for immediate personnel evac. The teams' direction, Tsutomu Fukumoto.

__________________________________________

I wake up in a weird place. After looking at what I'm resting on, it's a comfy blue bed. It has while since I've felt comfortable. I stood up from the bed on the right and realize that I'm not in any room that's familiar. It's Just a white void of space. I probably can't see what's beyond the white mist. After thinking about it, as I walked away and looked back at the bed, it stands out like a sore thumb in this environment. I'm very bewildered and perplexed as I try to grasp the situation. Is this a dream, I wonder? A mind that gives you the ease of perception and consciousness? I try to walk as far as possible from the bed without losing sight of it. Even though I've walked a far distance, I still can't see anything beyond the white mist within the area. When I looked back to the bed once again, it's gone! I feel shivers down my spine as I realize that the only furniture is missing. With foreknowledge, I try to walk back to the bed but to no avail.

"Young one," a feminine voice delivers.

I jumped as I wasn't expecting to hear voices in this weird world. Am I gonna die here?

"Don't worry. I won't harm you." As the voice fills the area with some distinguished reverberation.

I realized that she read my mind. Who are you? I say it in my mind. I don't know how how to say it, but I would just imagine it in my head to try to communicate.

"I'm The One who rules all systems within this dimension. Capable of destroying, creating, and modifying such systems." The voice says with confidence.

Hmm, what are these systems? And also, where's the bed?

"The bed is removed from the dimension you are in. And the universe you live in is a system." This has sent many questions exceeding my contemporary perception of science.

It could be a weird voice that doesn't do anything, or it could be the almighty god. You try to think about a question until something stops your mind.

The land engulfs my eyes with green, blue, and forests. As I looked in the distance, there is astonishing daybreak that is happening. The colors of the sky and the clouds match that and, it does look gorgeous. The sounds of nature and the ocean fill my hearing. As I move in the world that I'm seeing, I can physically feel every piece of pasture, timber, and leaves that my hand can touch. It's like Earth. But for some reason, it doesn't seem like Earth.

"It seems that you've pondered my capabilities. Do you believe me now? Tsutomu Fu-Fukumoto?" I'm already starting to believe her, but I already know that. Since The One introduced itself. But I don't think it's not the god above all gods. If there were any sub-gods at the origin.

"Very well. There's only me. We shall meet again." Again? Am I gonna have to be in this weird dimension or system again?

__________________________________________

I start to feel uneasy as the thunderous headache is now gone. I'm restless, more like I can't stand at all. Another problem that I notice is that sounds of a gunfight are literally over my head. I got up, look around the weird situation I'm in, and see three Black Hawk's unloading infantry, providing fire support, and Stryker's within your vicinity. Behind me, I see some Toyota pickup trucks roaming around, men firing DShK machine guns from the technical. These were definitely the insurgents who were knocking on the building earlier. I watched closely as one technical has a ZPU-4 Anti-Air ordinance mounted on the back, and it aims at one of the Black Hawks before being mowed down by the door gunners on the helicopters. Hoho! I like this! The Interim Fast Attack Vehicles rushed in front of me. Probably to form some distance between me and those retards.

I hear one of the MGS Stryker firing at one of the enemy APCs. It blew up spectacularly. The flames erupt from the APC. Spectacular! As the soldiers disembark from the ICV Stryker's, they are shooting from the protection of their APCs and nearby vehicles. I see my soldiers fire ATGMs at the enemy APCs. Stray bullets from the insurgents hit their vehicle's armor. Damn. The bullets fly through the air above me like literal rain.

__________________________________________

A bird has landed and, I see two soldiers with a stretcher rush down in the dunes and proceeds to load me onto the stretcher before running back to the helicopter. They, too, don't wanna die in this desert wasteland. Both of them forgot about the briefcase I'm with and left it at the exit hatch down there. So, one of them went back down there and came back in the nick of time as the helicopter takes off. Pretty sure that the insurgents soon routed as they see their plan fail right in their very eyes.

"We're clear!" one of the soldiers shouted.

"Ay chap, don't forget to buy me something nice after I brought you the briefcase, eh?" the soldiers on the helicopter laughed. I joined in with the laughter. The soldiers salute you. Well, you do the same thing back as some reflex.

After sitting down on one of the shaky seats, I can see the quite vast desert up here in this helicopter. You wondered how those insurgents live so lively in this hell.

"How the hell did you manage to survive that?" One of the soldiers questioned me.

"Because of you guys." The soldiers laughed and waved it off as some worldly praise.

"Nah, Commander. We just helped you at the end of it." I do wonder how the heck I manage to survive that.

Looking back at how I got into this darn mess, I've started a small private military. I exported so many weapons to a damn ton of organizations around the world. It helped sparked the fuel for regional superpowers to intervene and fight an actual conventional war with these scattered groups. Had some great memories and experiences during that time. But is it really that worth it to remember?

"Good thing that we didn't intrude in the war." They looked at you. My body feels weird as I see their gazes at me.

"So, during the war, a lot of damn things happened. It's World War 3 as instead of a unified coalition against these groups. It grew into more like a two-sided global alliance, both containing these groups we just funded and even neutral countries. Of course, Switzerland is neutral and served as a refuge for the tired people in the war. During the war, both sides faced heavy casualties ranging in tens of millions. The two alliances settled for a peace treaty and, this ended the conflict which, is known as the Remilitarization war. And then, we have our Commander here just doing whatever he wanted to! Haha!" Some laughed, some died from his rant of history.

After that wall of history, it was just some chatter between the soldiers. I just tried to relax and look at the moving desert underneath us. After a while, we arrived at a base. I can see lots of military vehicles such as the M1A3 Abrams, stationed soldiers, and parked aircraft that consists of some F-35A's in the hangars, ready to be sorted out at a moment's notice. The fluid vibrations through the air and into my body indicate that there are Apache's flying by. Amazing. After this journey, the helicopter has finally touched down. The doors opened, soldiers stepped out, and so do I.

The base commander in front of me announced, "Welcome to Fort Ausfern! Commander Tsutomu!" The soldiers stood at attention.

__________________________________________

It has been a while, and my mouth feels dry from all the talking. I still see that man in the black suit in this brightly lit concrete room. Of course, I still have some idea who's behind that black window on your left.

"So Tsutomu, end the dealings. Or, face the vengeance of my gun." The man in the black suit demanded. Well, I don't care at all. I've come close to death in certain times. Heck, I wonder what happens if I refuse.

"Hell, no." The man in the black suit visibly got angry and pulled out his H&K SFP9-M at me in an instant. It was like the speed of light to my eyes. The only problem, he didn't shoot it. Pretty sure I was expecting something else.

"We've gone this far, Tsutomu. We cannot go back anymore." Pressing on me more than before.

"So what?" I spoke in a senseless voice. I don't care.

"You're the only one who can stop this calamity from happening again. If I were to kill you, a maniac leader has the possibility of taking over your position of this large arms dealing network, private army, and hellfire will fall on behalf of the Earth."

"Haha, no." Knowing that I have the most loyal followers within my private military. No one would dare to take my position, just like George Washington's position in the United States Armed Forces, and instead, just a substitute figurehead proposed by my generals. Also, I would never stop my hobby of weapons that flows across the trade networks on Earth.

The man looks towards the black window. I see him nods towards the window, and instead of pulling out a second pistol, he holsters his SFP9-M, pulls it out, and shoots me straight in the head before seeing the gun while looking pessimistic. Well, he did say that you can't see the bullet flash from the pistol. I guess he's wrong. Oh well, my ears are starting to ring and, I feel... Happy... That's all...

I've accomplished what I've done. Everything that I could've dreamt of as a child is all finished. With the help of Charles Englar, I owe him. After that, I don't care. I can relax whatever, whenever I want. Heck, I became a salaryman just because I'm bored. After seeing the man in the black suit stand up and walk, I feel like the world is getting darker.

__________________________________________

I looked up at the vast white mist. My body is on literal clouds. I looked down, and it's a bed. Somehow, it feels familiar. It's like I was here before. Around me, there is just a white mist of nothing. The only thing nice here is the bed, just lay on it and relax, as much as I could think. Then, my mind finally clicked.

"We converged anew, Tsutomu." A gentle voice overheard around the mist of expanse.