Vanguard: Chapter 1 - The Flashback

Part 2 - "Swift"

"Quickness is the essence of the war."

- Sun Tzu -

The Peacekeeper Program kicked off with me being sent to the Middle East. Although my primary task was to link-up with Alpha Team and eliminate the terrorist threat in Qatar, General Collison specifically instructed me to look at a soldier within Alpha which he wanted as a part of the program.

-/Captain Gabrielle Grimm – WMUEC, Europe Detachment/-

-/Doha, Qatar – March 2049/-

-/Link-Up with USEC's Alpha Team/-

The sun had settled long before she arrived in Qatar, though Doha itself continued to be a lively city. Representatives of the Allied Nations greeted her arrival at the airport. Although Doha itself had plead allegiance to the Allies, they refused to participate in anything regarding the military and politics.

Gabrielle shook the hands of the representatives, dressed in local formal attire. There were only two of them and both of them were lightly, if not armed at all. However, as they made their way to the lobby, an SUV showed up with another similar car behind it. Two people got off the other SUV and approached her.

One was a no-nonsense looking male soldier, wearing tan fatigues with boots. Webbing was put across his chest and he also had a cap, worn backwards. He had a handgun holstered in the webbing and the next thing Gabrielle noticed was his name tag and patch, Captain G. Dreyfus. Alpha Team, she thought.

The other person was the one who got her attention, however. A female soldier smiling brightly at her, with short black hair, fringes draping down and covering her left eye. She also sported tan fatigues and boots except she had a knife instead of a gun inside her webbing. Her name tag read W. Scharner.

"Captain Grimm?" Captain Drefyus extended his hand out. "Gerald Drefyus, USEC, Alpha Team."

Gabrielle accepted his hand and shook it, replying with a smile as well. "Gabrielle Grimm, EEC, Gamma Team."

"Guardians, eh? We've heard all about ya," Drefyus then pointed at the other soldier. "Sergeant Whit-"

"1st Sergeant Whitney Scharner, USEC Alpha Team, ma'am." The soldier said, as she saluted Gabrielle.

This is her? Gabrielle thought. "At ease soldier."

Whitney lowered her salute. "We were told you were coming, so we were sent as escorts." She said.

Gabrielle raised her finger, but Whitney interrupted her by taking her bags into her car, along with opening the passenger door. She simply shrugged and got onboard the car.

The first thing in the car she noticed was a relatively thick metal sheet resting against the back of the driver's seat, along with a rifle next to it. Whitney slammed the trunk hard after putting her bags in, before riding shotgun with Drefyus on the wheel. Their car immediately moved before the representative's car moved, being in the forefront of the convoy.

There was silence for the first five minutes or so of the ride. Gabrielle peered out the window to admire, then the two Alpha members broke the silence.

"That was weird." Whitney said, while she fiddled with the radio.

"What was?" asked Drefyus.

"We weren't notified of any reps to join in on picking Captain Grimm up."

Gabrielle's interest was piqued. "Funny you should mention that, since I wasn't either."

Without saying another word, Whitney opened the glove compartment, revealing some handguns tucked away in it. Dreyfus looked at the rearview mirror once, and then again every few seconds without losing control of the car. The sergeant handed Gabrielle a handgun.

"I hope your aim is just as good as they told me." Whitney smirked.

Gabrielle took the gun and primed in, looking back at the convoy right behind them. Two cars, three in each, total of six.

"Safe to assume there could be more. I'm going to try to lose them in the traffic." Dreyfus took a turn.

The volume of cars rose to an alarming number. They practically flooded the streets, horns honking and such, yet Gabrielle could slightly see the pursuing cars still amidst the packed street.

"They're not letting up." Gabrielle said.

"Cap, should we--"

"No. Patience." Drefyus cut Whitney off.

Whitney looked upset, mouthing something under her breath as she cocked her dual machine pistols.

"We're not even sure if they're pursuing us..." said Drefyus.

"Let me relay in with base," Whitney pressed her hand against her ear. "HQ, were we expecting representatives?"

Gabrielle caught Whitney's expression on the rearview mirror. Her eyes squinted and her shoulders tensed.

"Guess that answers that. Grimm, I'm going to pop the hatch when we get to a secluded place, take out the first car." Ordered Dreyfus.

Before Gabrielle could get ready, however, Drefyus interrupted her.

"The rifle behind my seat, that's for you."

Smiling, Gabrielle took the rifle and pulled the chamber back. It was semi-automatic, but it had a scope and a large magazine. This'll do.

However, before they could there, the car closest to them opened fire. The bullets shattered the glass, and Gabrielle promptly took cover behind the seats and aimed down the scope to fire two shots in return. The gunner of the first car immediately fell, his body sliding completely out of the car window and skidding onto the street.

"Great hit!" Whitney exclaimed with a fist pump.

The car took a few more shots from the side. A third and fourth car revealed themselves from behind a rig in the road. Dreyfus' window was shattered but none of the shots hit him.

"Can we do it now?" Whitney asked, enthusiastically.

Drefyus sighed and smiled. "Kill 'em, Whit." he said, casually.

Whitney, without replying, kicked off her door and jumped out of the car. Gabrielle panicked for a moment and gazed down her scope, only to see the sergeant safe and grappling onto a car with her arm.

What the?

-/Sergeant Whitney Scharner – WMUEC, US Detachment/-

-/Doha, Qatar – March 2049/-

"Unit Alpha-1, ready for deployment." Whitney said via the intercom.

The first vehicle just passed her, before she ignited her thrusters and caught up with it. With her machine guns drawn, she opened fire into the car, eliminating both targets inside. The car smashed into another car and stopped. Whitney then used the crashed car as a cushion to bounce back to the second car.

The gunner opened fire, scratching her armor and her arm yet she didn't flinch. She launched her right knee with the thruster up, stopping the car with the sheer power generated from it and hammering down on it with her right hand. She emptied her guns onto the trapped drivers. However, the impact tore the skin off her knee and arm, exposing mechanical parts.

"Two more to go. Get back here." said Dreyfus.

Whitney drew a blade from her now-exposed right hand.

"Won't take long." She replied, with a smirk. Her eye under her ear glared red past the strands as her boosters powered up once more, zooming in the direction of where Dreyfus and Gabrielle were heading.

-/End/-

Written by Wyrm/Strobe (@WyrmVG on Twitter)