Bloody Crucible- Lone Wolf Read online

  Special Thanks

  First and foremost, I would like to thank my wife, and daughter. Without the inspiration I would have never had the courage to attempt this. Additionally, I would like to thank the many authors that preceded me in this new genre as pioneers in the literature world.

  Foreword

  Over the past year, I have devoured countless books in this genre. This is my first attempt in writing fiction, I hope it will be as enjoyable to you as some of the more established author’s books. I am open to any criticism and suggestions, I will ask that it be cordial and professional. Please enjoy.

  Chapter 1 – Those who stand watch

  Chapter 2 – Donkey Punch’em

  Chapter 3 – Murphy the final frontier

  Chapter 4 – Fuck, Fuck, FUCK!

  Chapter 5 – Let’s go for broke

  Chapter 6 – Path of survival

  Chapter 7 – Soldiers, Slaves, Imperials, Oh my!

  Chapter 8 – Forest of Death

  Chapter 9 – Rebirth and Vengeance

  Chapter 10 – Oaths and asshats

  Chapter 11 – Angle o dat dangle

  Chapter 12 – Foreigner from Earth

  Chapter 13 – A Wolf in the Past

  Chapter 14 – Lady and the Tramp

  Chapter 15 – Safety dance

  Chapter 16 – Planning for a fight

  Chapter 17 – Some Assembly Required

  Chapter 18 – Ring of Pain

  Chapter 19 – Bag of crazy

  Chapter 20 – Dog and Pony show

  Chapter 21 – Road Trippin

  Chapter 22 – Running Man

  Chapter 23 – Tea and Cake or Death

  Chapter 24 – Birth of a Tactician

  Chapter 25 – Wolf’s Pack

  Chapter 26 – Oversight and Mistakes

  Chapter 27 – Basic Training and Graduation

  Chapter 28 – Nightmares of the Past

  Chapter 29 – Sienna’s Lament

  Chapter 30 – Quoth the Raven

  Epilogue – The Pantheon Divided

  799th GSG Characters

  Algonan Natives

  Deities

  Shout outs to the groups and helpers

  Chapter 1 – Those who stand watch

  Richard Mikall always preferred to be called by his call sign ‘Wolf’, only his mother currently called him Richard. The US was a very different place after the failed Chinese invasions, and the mindset and culture of the American people had changed to reflect it. This mindset of a besieged people influenced the many changes that had occurred in the last few years. Wolf knew his fate was to become a Soldier, following his family’s legacy and fighting for both his homeland and liberate his grandmother’s. When he was only three years old the second Chinese invasion was repulsed, in no small part to the newest member of the Special Forces Community; the Tactical Reaction Force Specialists. The bad blood between the New Chinese Government began when they used thermonuclear missiles to turn the Hawaiian Islands into a radioactive wasteland. Hawaii was not the only state to bear the brunt of the hammer falling. Los Angeles, San Francisco, and even Seattle were all but raised to the ground. The Soldiers who defended the west coast cities became national heroes.

  Along with idolizing these soldiers, heritage played a major part in Wolf’s upbringing. Wolf was a mix of two extremely aggressive cultures and it showed throughout his military career. The Chiricahua Apache some of histories fiercest warriors; and a branch family of the Satsu Samurai clan that was known for being as strong as they were insane. He studied knife fighting, raiding tactics, and survival from the Apache side. From his Japanese side he studied Jujutsu, Aikido, and Iaijutsu to help him temper his insatiable rage with focus, patience and discipline. Growing up in the Black Hills of Arizona, the ruins of Los Angeles were a constant reminder of the looming war with Chinese.

  When he was younger his father was believed to have been killed in the Siege of Guam, years later they rescued him from a Prisoner of War camp. The man that returned was so broken and lifeless he was an unrecognizable. His mother said that the body had been returned but the mind never did. She spoke of something similar back when her father had not returned from one of the missions. When asked about what happened, his father would just give a ghostly smile and say that his grandfather finally came home while patting a small leather pouch that he kept close to his chest.

  As it always does, life continues to progress, so too does technology. The US Government funded many projects for both commercial and military use. This intensive research and development spurred a dramatic increase in technological progress. One such invention was the SYNCJACK; the US Military used this as a means of training its soldiers in full combat with complete safety and many other purposes. Many programs and games spawned from this technology, fantasy role playing games, tactical shooters, fighter simulations, hazardous training, and high-risk experiments could be conducted within complete safety of virtual reality. Before enlisting in the US Army Wolf was an avid player of the Fantasy RPG “Kingdoms at War”. At first, he considered it a method to refine his martial arts training, stealth and raiding in a realistic situation, but soon after he joined it, he came to love the world that was created. Seeing the game as a way and mean of relaxing and getting his frustration out of his system.

  After enlistment and basic training Wolf volunteered to join the Tactical Reaction Force, the training was tough and grueling, only those who had truly desired it were present. A full year of testing, training, and finally a full-fledged mission to fight the Chinese in Manila were the requirements to be accepted into the TRFs. For Wolf and many of the other graduates they would be haunted by the memories of that mission for the rest of their lives. Upon returning, he was assigned to the 799th Guerrilla Strike Group based at San Francisco, California. Being a relatively new organization, they had few traditions, but they were forming slowly.

  During his time with the 799th GSG he would see atrocities not committed since the Nazi and Imperial Japanese of World War two. The people of the US watched in impotent rage wishing to do something more substantial, but were all but helpless to stop them. During this time the US was not inactive, the Special Forces groups were used to buy time, liberate slave camps, entice rebellions, and destroy them piecemeal through their guerrilla tactics. Often Wolf’s unit was paired up with various SEAL teams, Marine Force Recon, Green Berets, or more often the US Army Rangers to accomplish their missions.

  Wolf had brownish red skin with short cropped dark brown hair, standing just over 1.5 meters tall and a medium muscular build, his team had just returned from a deployment from the Kalimantan Mountains in Indonesia. He sat at a table sharpening various knives, swords, tomahawks, and cleaning pistols. His brown eyes were glossed over as his hands moved mechanically through practiced motion. He was in deep thought, lamenting over the loss of his comrades during the last mission, and recriminating himself for every mistake that was made. One hand was covered in layers of callus with a crisscross of scars networked all over his arm, the other was smooth with an almost unnaturally even tone.

  Just past the elbow the smooth skin met a mass of freshly healed pink scar tissue. A long-jagged scar traced down from his left ear to collar bone having long since been healed, a fresh cut held together by stitches ran through his right upper lip past the right nostril. He wore dark urban camouflage pants tucked into black combat boots. A bluish grey t-shirt was pulled over his muscled body. On the upper left-hand side of his chest over his heart was the embroidered sigil of the 799th GSG. On the back, it showed a large picture of a stylized Cerberus with sinister glowing red eyes inscribed with ‘799th GSG Hell Hounds’. Below that was the stylized inscription ‘Staff Sergeant Richard �
�Wolf’ Mikall’. Wolf was fully accepted into the unit on his first mission with the team by tracking and killing several high ranked Chinese Officers in the jungles of Papua New Guinea single handedly. It was also the day they confirmed his call sign as ‘Wolf’.

  The room was stark white encasing seven eggshell colored cabinets displaying the names of three people and were filled with their gear and personal items, the other four were blank and empty. To his right were seven form fitting plasti-steel reclining chairs with various cables and visors easily recognizable as a SYNCJACK. Two bodies one African American recognizable as Captain Robert “Raven” Hill, and the other a Caucasian named Sergeant First Class Joseph ‘Pierce’ Jenkins both dressed the same as Wolf. These two men had visors over their faces laying supine unmoving with a few cables attached to the backs of their necks.

  “Wolf!” Peirce said when he sat up.

  “Hey brother. What’s up?” Wolf asked looking over

  “Raven wants to meet up at the lounge.” Peirce said while somberly looking down

  Wolf’s gazed drifted over to the reclined chair Raven was in. “Alright I’ll jack-in. You happen to know why? I’m not feeling like gaming too much today.” Wolf said trying to weasel out of it

  Peirce said while patted on his right leg eliciting a metallic sound, that indicated it was prosthetic. “Nope. Just something of a tradition in the team. How’s your arm?”

  Rubbing his now prosthetic left arm Wolf harrumphed, “Itchy as hell. Kinda surprising I managed to go three years without losing anything. You know besides pride. The ghost sensations are pain in the ass.”

  “Tell me about it. It will go away eventually. So far you have the record of going the longest without losing something. Your luck was bound to run out eventually. Anyways let’s not keep Raven waiting, shall we?” Peirce said laying back.

  Wolf put away all the weapons, as he walked over to the SYNCJACK. The hairs on the back of his neck stood. ‘shit! not this feeling again’ he thought. Feeling like someone invisible was watching him put him on edge, when it went away he relaxed. Sighing he reclined back in his SYNCJACK. Once the visor slid down a cable connected with a familiar pressure and click. His vision dimmed until he was swallowed by a sea of blackness, his mind being transported into the character loading screen of Kingdoms at War. A Worgen named ‘Storm_Blade’ greeted him. Looking at his now level 48 Rogue Skirmisher made him smile. It had taken him 10 years to build up his character to this point, though things really kicked off when he joined the 799th. With that thought his smile fell away bringing a sour mood, a bright flash occurred as he entered the game.

  Welcome to Kingdoms at War

  Appearing in the Guildhall, Wolf saw Peirce was on his heavily armored level 47 Orcish Knight Charger with his two-handed claymore leaning against the sofa, reading a book. Raven was on the level 49 Elven Soldier Scout wearing studded leather armor fletching arrows for his bow.

  “Sup Raven? You needed me?” Wolf asked

  Raven finished the fletching of his latest arrow and said, “Yep, we are off to raid the Citadel. Teaming up with the guys from Blue Tide.”

  Wolf replied sullenly, “I’ll pass, want to be alone for a while. This last time out was a bit rough for me and I need to work it out.”

  Looking up from his book Peirce said, “We know, but it’s sort of a tradition.”

  “Regardless, you are coming, and it isn’t optional, you need this as much as we do, so pack up.” Raven interrupted

  Knowing the futility of arguing they left a few minutes later. Upon arriving to the Citadel’s main gates, they linked up with members of the Blue Tide belonging to the 808th Guerrilla Strike Group out of Seattle. Wolf had done several missions with them in the past and they were like extended family.

  The leader of the Blue Tide walked up and said, “Just like before. You guys just go do your thing. We will keep you up.”

  Nodding they grouped up as they entered the gates. When the Citadel’s alarms started blaring waves of enemies charged the group. Raven stood next to Wolf and said, “Ok, this is your first time with the team when we lost one of our own. When that happens, we team up with one of our sister teams here at the Citadel to let our emotions free. All your frustration, anger, sadness and hate should be let out and left here. The Blue Tide’s sole purpose in life is to let us fight until our hearts content.”

  Nodding, Wolf drew his blades as he walked forward followed by Peirce and Raven. Guilt, rage, fear, and hate boiled out of Wolf’s very soul. His vision tinted red and deepened the more he lost control.

  The next six hours was a blur of screaming, crying, shouting, cussing, grieving, and an excessive amount of violence. When the three were far past their limits of mental exhaustion and covered in gore, they called it a night logging out. Emotionally they were all rubbed raw, silently walking to their quarters to sleep. Wolf had trouble remembering much of that night, but one thing stood out clearly. When he asked one of the Blue Tide members why they were there, the reply was simply, “We are those who stand watch”

  The next day, Wolf rose still raw with emotions. Inside the locker room Peirce and Raven were already there looking just as raw as he was, going over four dress uniforms that were hanging on the lockers. Meticulously they measured and re-measured each medal, ribbon, and other decorations earned by their fallen brothers. Hours passed as they mechanically shined boots, polished medals, and clipped loose strings to ensure that each uniform was perfect since even the smallest flaw would tarnish their comrades’ memory. They were lucky to have recovered the bodies during the mission. At least they would be buried on American soil where they belonged. Once finished the remnants of 799th GSG repeated the same routine on their own uniforms. Midway through the day, a white man wearing the standard military uniform walked into the locker room.

  “What’s up, Private?” Raven asked

  Looking at Raven, the Private said, “Sir, Colonel Goodwin would like to see you regarding the ceremony.”

  Taking a deep sigh Raven replied “Ok, tell him I am on my way. Just need to finish up with their swords.”

  “Hooah, is there anything I can help with?” the Private asked.

  “Negative, it’s something we need to do. We appreciate your sentiment though. Carry on.”

  Watching the Soldier walk out the room, Peirce looked over to Raven and said, “We got this, you go on and finalize everything with the old man.”

  “Sure thing, just remember to prep their bottles like they wanted.”

  “No problem, we know what needs to be done. Also, it’s likely that the old man will be coming back with you to join us.”

  “I know, just make sure to have the glasses poured and ready when I get back. I want to start off in style, see you out back in the pit.” Raven said as he exited the locker room

  ……………………………………………………..

  Raven walked out the door heading to the Colonel’s office. Entering, he stood at the position of attention and saluted. “Sir, you requested me?”

  Returning his salute, Colonel Goodwin said, “Have a seat, I was hoping you could tell me what wasn’t said in the debrief report.”

  Sighing, Raven went on to tell the story of how four members of his team had died for the next hour. By the time Goodwin was satisfied and finished asking his questions he opened one of his bottom drawers of his desk. Fishing out a bottle of Blanton’s Gold Bourbon Whiskey and two lowball glasses, he poured two fingers in each taking one and sliding the other to Raven.

  Raising his glass, Goodwin said, “Vita Brevis, Numquam Effluas”

  “Life is short; may you never be forgotten.” Raven translated. Both men toasted to the memories of their fallen comrades and took heavy pulls from the glasses. Time passed as both men sat in the chairs contemplating the fates that would be in store for both them and their men. When the reaper would finally come to collect.

  “Your handle on Latin is as impressive as always. Do you mind if I join you
when you send off their burn boxes?”

  “Absolutely. When I get back we are heading to the pit to do just that.”

  “Alright see you there then.”

  Raven returned to the locker to find Peirce and Wolf gathering the four small wooden boxes and each holding a bottle of liquor.

  “What did they choose?” Raven asked.

  “Athena chose a bottle of Johnnie Walker Blue, Fury chose Premiere Voyage Cognac, Jonjon picked out Agostura Gran Anejo Rum, and Ski got ID Black Onyx Vodka” Peirce said sadly.

  “Of course, Ski chose vodka, the man always took that Russian shit too far.” Raven said forcing a laugh.

  Grabbing a few glasses, Raven joined the others in the pit.

  Chapter 2 – Donkey Punch’em

  Wolf woke to the sound of base sirens blasting. Stumbling he put on his boots and uniform while half stumbling and half sprinting to the locker room. In the locker room, he met Pierce and Raven who were watching the news. The news report stated that China strongly denounced the actions of American Military infringing on their sovereign territory resulting in the partial destruction of the Senkaku islands and a response to the attack would be met with military action.

  News stations were telling a story of a joint armada of the Chinese and Korean Navy heading to the US. An estimated 2.5 million troops were being loaded to invade. The US Navy was moving into a blocking position. Most knew they were merely a speed bump meant to delay or at best destroy as many troop carriers and supply ships they could before retreating. The war with the Chinese had never ended but this was the first time they were being joined by another country for the invasion. The air of uncertainty filled the locker room as each of them thought about their odds of success in pushing them back this time.