Slovak's Wrath

Chapter 28: "Checkmate."

12:00 May 30th, 2023

Berlin, Germany

I walked down the ramp of the specter, which had landed at the US army base near Berlin. I was met by a US army soldier wearing a beret. "Colonel Slovak?" The soldier asked if I was the man he was looking for. "Yes sir. You the tank commander?" I replied, shaking his hand. "Yes sir, except we just don't have the usual three crusaders. We got six. We're also bringing a few delta force operators to cover the tanks. This is gonna be loud, but we're prepared for everything." He explained.
"Well either way I got a plan. We won't engage immediately, I'll infiltrate the facility, and give the signal. Trust me, if I don't go in first, the battle is gonna be hell. Anyway, lets get goin'." I said, we then walked to the crusaders, I hopped on top of one of them. There were two delta force operators for each tank. They were there to cover the tanks from infantry. Since laser crusaders didn't have a machine gun. This is due to the tank's laser cannon taking up most of the topside part of the chassis. The laser crusader was fast, reaching fifty miles per hour. It was electrically powered for the most part. Relying on a small portion solar power during the day. The laser crusader was also powerful, it's laser cannon could blow holes in tanks easily. Since it's blast is so focused and heated. All in all, it's a deadly tank.
The tank division rolled out as the tank commander and I reached the tanks. It was a short fifteen to twenty minute drive to Berlin. Berlin was a sprawling place, but was inactive today. With only a few people roaming the streets.
It took us a good fifteen minutes to get out of Berlin. Once we got out of Berlin we kept driving until we saw a dirt road. "Hold." I said. The division held short. "This is the place. It's a good ways down. I need you guys to split into two groups of three, keep to the brush and head towards the main entrance. Wait for my signal." I then hopped off, and walked down the road. Luckily for me, there were no checkpoints. The entire thing was restricted to the massive compounds within the wall. I kept a good pace, keeping my ARX ready. I stopped, and activated my camo when I heard voices. It was a two man patrol. I put my ARX up, and pulled out my carbon knife and Kabar. I snuck behind the two soldiers. I then stabbed one in the head with my carbon knife, and put my kabar to the other's throat. "Where's the choppers? And what's an easy way into the compound?" I asked. "The- the choppers are in a separate field, and each person has a key card to get into the compound. There's doors on the sides that allow easy access, the ones on the front have retinal and DNA scanners. Please don't kill me." He quickly explained. "Thanks." I then hit him in the back of the head, knocking him out. I then stole his key card. My suspicions about the choppers were confirmed, they were in a separate area.
I made my way to that area. Which was a lil' ways from the compound. It was surrounded by chain link fences. I pulled out a can of liquid nitrogen, and sprayed it on the fence. It froze the area I sprayed, I then kicked it, and it shattered silently. I crawled through the opening, and made my way towards the choppers, which were all lined up. "Camo activated." I whispered, and my camo activated. I snuck around multiple tanks and patrols, and finally made my way to the choppers. I placed a thermite charge on every other one, avoiding detection along the way. I then placed a beacon near the center of the field. I then made my way back to the opening, and crawled out. "Close call." I said, as a truck flew by where I was. "Now the next part..." I made my way back to the compound, and found one of the doors the soldier was talking about. I slid the card into the scanner, and it came up green. I activated my camo, and opened it. I walked in, and shut the door back. I then placed a charge on the door. I then walked around, trying to find ammo dumps and placing charges on them. While narrowly avoiding detection. There was a giant concrete building in the middle of the compound. Which was probably the office. Once I was done placing charges, I went to the door I came in at and walked out. I then made my way away from the compound. "Jackhammer, this is predator." I said into my comms "Go ahead predator." "Alright, when you see a big ass explosion, converge. Watch yourselves, they may have mercs that are Russian Spec ops. If you see a distortion in a tree or anything, tell me."
"Roger, will do."
I then contacted an aurora bomber squadron, "Kilo squadron?" I said. "We're inbound, Arc-light strike in ten seconds and counting." The squadron responded "Alright." I replied. The beacon I put down was a rare rapid-response beacon. The beacon contacted the nearest aurora bomber squadron, and gave a scramble order. Once it was activated of course. Once I was given the ten-second warning, I pulled out the detonator and pulled the lever-like trigger. The choppers at the field blew up in a massive explosion, then the compound blew up in a brilliant explosion. With some tank and BTR parts going flying over the walls. There were still soldiers alive of course unfortunately. "GO GO GO!!" Is what I heard on comms. "Colonel we're engaging." The tank commander said over comms, "Roger, moving there now." I replied. Then suddenly, the aurora bombers squadron arrived. "Beginning arc-light run." The five bombers then dropped fuel-air bombs over the field. I was luckily far away enough to not be affected. The bombs blew up mid-air, and blew anything beneath them to hell. Buildings, tanks, you name it went flying from the air field. The aurora squadron then turned around. "Bombing run successful, returning to base." They then caused a sonic boom as they flew away. I made my way back to the tanks, which were engaging a small group of BTRs. "FIRE!!" One of the crusaders fired it's laser, moving back as it did. The laser crusader had a safety function for the extra power from a laser blast; to cause recoil. The extra power went into the recoil system, to prevent the power from overloading. The laser blasted one of the BTRs away, leaving a charred chassis. The crusaders then finished off the remaining BTRs. "Good kills! Move on." The crusaders moved towards the compound. "Blow a hole in those walls!" The tanks then focused one, massive laser blast at the gates, which were simply blown open. "Move on!" The crusaders moved on as the delta operators shot any infantry that was within range. "Nice shot!" One of the operators said to the other. I moved along beside the lead crusader, which blasted a MG position in a tower away. "Intel says that my target is located on the third floor, other side of the building. Blow a hole in the second floor right here, and I'll climb up." I said on comms to the tank commander. "Roger, firing." The crusader aimed it's laser cannon at the second floor, and fired. It charred a massive hole into the wall, which I could climb into. The crusader then moved up to it to allow me to climb on it. "Your turn." The commander said. I hopped onto the tank, then ran up the barrel of the cannon and jumped into the hole, I tucked and rolled as I landed. "Alright, I'm in." I said, "Roger that, we'll secure the area while you do your business." "Copy.."
I then pulled out one of my 1887s, and moved through the second floor. I was in a room, probably a closet, so I kicked the door open once I found it. I checked my corners, and saw it was clear.
There was gunfire outside, probably the deltas engaging the soldiers. I moved down the corridor, heading towards the boss-man's office. Which was in the middle of the building. A short walk. I didn't encounter any resistance until I walked into the room that lead to the office. It was filled with cubicles, and was filled with my second worst fear. Bodarks. "FUCK!" I said as I opened the door slowly. I dove for cover as a flurry of gunfire hit my previous position. "Alright you fuckers... You wanna play? I'll play." I said as I pulled out my second shotgun. I threw a sensor, and it picked up at least thirty Bodarks, probably supported by ten mercs. I threw a flash, and once it blew, I popped up, and fired at two Bodarks. They went flying back, flipping. "HOLY SHIT THAT'S THE FUCKING PUNISHER!! WE'RE ALL GONNA DIE!!!" A merc yelled. I cocked the two shotguns, aimed at a Bodark and a merc, and blew them away. I cocked, aimed, fired. I did this until I ran out of ammo. There were still Bodarks remaining. I quickly put away the shotguns, and pulled out my revolvers. I then squatted back behind cover. Once the fire died down, I popped back up, and fired at two Bodarks again. I fired and fired until I ran out of ammo. I then put my revolvers up, and pulled out my knives. There were only a few Bodarks left. All the mercs were dead. I ran from cover to cover, getting closer and closer to the remaining Bodarks. I eventually ran at them, I caught one while he was reloading, I jumped, propelled off a cubicle towards him, and slammed my kabar into his face. I quickly moved to the next target, propel-jumped off a wall and stabbed him too. I then moved down the line, killing the remaining Bodarks one by one.
Once I had killed off the force, I moved towards the boss-man's office. I activated my magnetics, and saw him panicking. He was on the phone with someone too. "This just got easier." I said to myself.
Once he turned around, I kicked the door open, and he dropped his phone from the loud sound of wood breaking. "SHIT!" He said as he spun around, and rifled through the top of his desk for a gun. His hand met my kabar, I stabbed my kabar into his hand, and pinned it to the desk. "So.. We finally meet... Do you know who I am?" I said, as I pushed him onto the desk, with his other arm behind his back. I pushed up, and he quickly responded. "YES! YES!! You're the punisher!!" I let the pressure off, but just a little. "I didn't force people to call me that. It just stuck. I never knew who the Punisher was until I heard people call me that. I didn't know who or what he was. So I looked him up. Turned out he was a brutal vigilante, who's family was killed by a mob. He wiped out the mob, and now fights crime ruthlessly. I don't consider myself a vigilante. Since I have the help of my government, and since I'm fighting PMCs instead of criminals." I let go of him, and walked around his desk. "You see, after DC was attacked, I wanted revenge. Revenge for my country, for DC, and for me. So immediately after the whole mess with the UN trial I was in n' shit, I started investigating. I dug and dug until I struck gold: The UN Montreal Complex. The complex was the office building for the Rainbow Six Montreal team. So, I made a fake ID, and got into it. You know the rest... Now, we're here. With me watching you in pain, struggling. You feel that pain? That's the pain that millions of Americans felt. The pain I felt. Now with that said, got anything to say?" I explained then asked. He looked at me, with a hateful look. "This whole thing was you? The whole time? We... We thought it was the whole US Army... But you? YOU?!! Well, that doesn't matter anymore... Because like you said, here we are. But... While you were doing all of this? Through the months it took you to find me... Have you suffered yourself? Have you been fighting your own personal war to fight back the memories? The bad memories? Addison?" He picked up a remote, and clicked a button. The TV on the wall behind him came on, and a picture of Addison with her personal and biological info came up. "No..." I said softly. "Yeah, I knew who you are. Addison was shot down in November of 2016. By this man." He clicked the button again, and a picture of a man with his personal and biological info came up. His name read;"Max Frank Bramwell." "No..." I said softly again. "No... No... No. NO!!" I put up my carbon fiber knife, walked over to him, grabbed the kabar, and twisted it. He screamed. "You bastard!!! YOU BASTARD!!!" I yelled. "Just as I thought... Can't escape the memories, can you?" He said while gritting his teeth. I quickly let go of the kabar, and pulled back. He wanted me to do that, that's what he was looking for. He wanted me to get pissed. "You couldn't get over her death... It even says it in your files." He said. "How do you know this? How do you know who I am?" I asked. "I knew who you were. Only me. No one else. I didn't find out it was you until you showed your face on that camera." He explained. "Why didn't you tell anyone else? That's so fucking stupid. Damn. That's so stupid. Heh, dumbass. You could've prevented this..." I said, chuckling. "Ah, yes, I could've... But I was so sure that those Russian mercenaries would get you. Guess I overestimated." He explained. I laughed, "Your dumber than you look." I said. "Please continue with your... Lecture." I said sarcastically. "So, you couldn't get over her death. So you hunted down this man, and killed him." He said. "Your point?" I asked. "You are a vigilante. You fight for justice. You fight for your own personal revenge too... Everything you do is selfish. Selfish. Selfi-" I cut him off with me pulling out a revolver and loading it. "I'm tired of your games. This is stupid. So, got any last words?" I said. He opened his mouth, I quickly cut him off and said,"Time's up." I then shot him in the neck. He squirmed, but couldn't do much with his hand pinned to the desk. I walked up to him and shot him in the chest five times. After the fifth shot I pulled the trigger again, and it clicked. I simply took the revolver and beat his skull in with the butt of the revolver's grip. I stopped after a decent time, panting. I fell back into a sitting position. Blood was all over my revolver, and my hands. I had done it... I've ended this madness once and for all... I've gotten my revenge... The people, have gotten their revenge. Everyone in DC has been avenged finally. Now they can rest peacefully.
I stood up, grabbed my kabar, and put it up. I then walked out of the office, and made my way to the exit of the building. As I walked, I thought about what the man has said. He was right about one thing: I was vengeful, and wanted justice. I was born with it. All of my life, I stood up for others, and took revenge on those who wronged me. I guess, in my own way, I was a vigilante. But that's just me... I kill for a living.
I finally made it to the first floor, and found one of the exits. I put my hand on one of the doors of the double-door. I breathed, and pushed it open. I was greeted by the cheering and claps of the tank crews and the delta operators. I sighed, it was finally over.... The check had been played, and now the mate had been added in... "May they burn in hell, forever." I said to myself, talking about the people I killed along the way.
Anyway, I had taken my scores, now it was time to finally come, "Home."