The Carrendar Chronicles

iShatteredSanity

We are built for war

The time at the coffee shop was passing by really nice with the company of Dixie, Maggie and Nikolas. Both couples were cuddling and kissing, something that Alexandros found amusing since Demetrios was teasing him every now and then. Yes, it was really nice. Despite what had happened a few days ago and just minutes earlier, it all looked like a dream from a long time ago.
But sadly good things always need to come to an end.
Two phones began ringing; one with a call, one with a message.
Demetrios received a call from Dietrich and Alexandros a message from his computers.

After the attack Demetrios had asked Dietrich to run a routine check on the military bases nearby and check the status, but he was secretly running a check to see which team from which base had recently made a move.
And Dietrich gave the answer to Demetrios.
Only an hour outside Prague a military base that was influenced by the Russians and that was blacklisted yet still observed, it appeared that was active.

On the other hand, Alexandros had left the equipment from the dead soldier back at his apartment, performing scans on the communication equipment to double check the coordinates of the base that was sending commands. Yes, double checking with the signal that was received from the tracking and intercepting equipment that was installed throughout the club. And there was a result that was sent to Alexandros’ phone in the form of a map.

Demetrios and Alexandros looked at each other for a moment.
“You got what I got?”, Demetrios asked and pointed his phone to Alexandros, showing an image on Google Maps that was sent by Dietrich.
“Yeah, same here.”, Alexandros said and showed his own phone’s screen.
The duo nodded to each other again. Alexandros was the first to stand and headed straight for the door, looking back at Demetrios and shrugging his shoulders.
“Hey, you said that you were going to pay for everything. Plus I need to go by my place and get ready. I will meet you at the garage.”, Alexandros said and walked outside, getting the first taxi he found on his way.
“Asshole, I will get you soon.”, Demetrios said while laughing softly and putting his phone back in his pocket.
Demetrios then looked at Dixie and smiled brightly as he planted a soft kiss on her lips.
“Babygirl, stay here with Maggie and Nikolas, I will have to do something first and I will be back at home at night. Do not worry, we will have pizza for dinner.”, Demetrios said again and planted another kiss on Dixie’s lips.
Then he slowly sat her comfortably on her seat and headed towards the counter where he paid for everyone at the shop. Walking towards the exit he smiled at Dixie and winked playfully as he mouthed the words “My angel.” before he exited the coffee shop and got inside a taxi. His destination, the garage.

Ever since leaving the coffee shop, two hours had passed.
Demetrios was ready. Black suit with Kevlar enhancement. Black military boots, custom made to allow flexibility. Black gloves. Black full face mask that could filter the air that Demetrios was inhaling and a pair of goggles that resembled the diaphragm of a camera. They could automatically open and close with the amount of light in an area, a gift by Alexandros himself. Around his waist a belt that held two black 9 mm handguns, a 9 inches military type knife, a set of 5 grenades and a small pouch where he had stored 6 small balls of semtex. On his left and right boot he had two more knives. Around his left wrist, a watch. Around his right wrist another watch with 4 different indicators and 6 buttons in total, the detonator for the explosives he had with him. And that was not all. In the black backpack he carried 10 kilograms of semtex and 10 more detonators. He also had 15 grenades, 10 flash-bang grenades, 10 smoke grenades, and 5 grenades filled with high doses of sedative to disperse it in the air in the form of a cloud.
That was pretty much Demetrios’ gear who had been waiting for Alexandros to arrive.
And speaking of the devil, Alexandros arrived at the scene.
Dressed in exactly the same suit like Demetrios with the same mask, gloves and goggles. The only exception was the shoes. They were custom made shoes that were actually quite hard on the foot, yet the rest was not. That allowed Alexandros more flexibility to move around given that he was a close range fighter and he needed as much mobility as he could. Plus Alexandros always used parkour in his moves and he was also a swordsman. But other than that, the dresscode was the same. As for equipment, Alexandros carried a pair of 9 mm handguns and a pouch with 15 kunai and 15 shuriken on his waist and the two custom made black katanas on his back.
Demetrios looked at Alexandros and nodded at him as they both removed their masks.
“Not a single one will survive. Got that?”, Demetrios said.
“I did not intend to let anyone alive whether you liked it or not.”, Alexandros replied.
They both nodded once again and tested their communication gear.

After checking everything they both walked outside the garage where Demetrios closed and locked the door. They headed towards the small alley where Dietrich was waiting for them.
“I swear. I always need to do all the dirty job for you two. Now, get inside and get some rest. You will need all the energy you have for that. I will give you a brief inside.”, Dietrich said.
The duo nodded their heads and entered the van where they sat comfortably on the back seat.
Inside the van Dietrich began explaining the situation. About how that base was blacklisted. Something that had happened a few years ago when several high ranging officers were found guilty of smuggling drugs and women, yet still were under constant monitoring. But the base paid the price and only those who were close to the officers were sent there.
Dietrich also revealed that it was Viktor who supplied them with equipment but in exchange he wanted them to act like his personal army; something that Demetrios already knew.
Dietrich went on and on and on, talking about the basic layout of the base. In the briefing he also mentioned that there were 3 tanks, 2 helicopters and about 80 soldiers armed to the teeth and ready to kill all the intruders or those that they were ordered to.
The briefing stopped after all the necessary information had been passed down and the duo decided to get a small nap.

Several kilometers and about an hour outside Prague, Dietrich woke the duo up.
“There it is. I will leave you here and wait till you two are done. I can not get any closer since they will see me. Given the fact that you don’t have anyone else, it would be foolish of me to move closer.”, Dietrich said.
“I know my friend. We will take some time, I hope that you brought some food.”, Demetrios replied.
“I have enough food here, do not worry.”, Dietrich said.
“Good, we will be really hungry when we are done. And I don’t see any takeaway stand here. Make sure to leave something for us.”, Alexandros said.
“I will. May the grace of God be with you two. You will need His assistance today.”, Dietrich said. Unknown to many, he was a religious person.
“God better close his eyes. The grim reaper will go on a rampage this day.”, Demetrios said and took off.
“There will be a genocide today.”, Alexandros added and took off as well.
“Then I will pray for you both.”, Dietrich said and sighed deeply as he looked at the silver cross that was hanging from the board. “I know that those two lost faith in You, but they are good people. May Your grace bring them home safely. Amen…”, Dietrich said his prayer and kissed the cross before he moved the seat backwards and closed his eyes to get some sleep.

In the small forest, the duo was being silent, knowing that words were not needed at the moment. They had both promised that nobody was going to survive, but they also knew that it was suicide to go against such numbers with only two people. It did not matter if they were the grim reaper and the impersonation of genocide themselves, they would need a miracle to come back alive.
“Did you smile at her before you left?”, Alexandros asked through the radio as they kept running towards the base that was about 1 kilometer away from their current position.
“Yeah… But I don’t plan on dying here today. I will be a father soon. And I want you to be the godfather.”, Demetrios replied.
“WHAT?! You deliberately failed to mention that thing asshole.”, Alexandros shouted through the radio.
“Keep your voice down asshole, I don’t want my eardrums to rip from your voice. I would prefer to lose my hearing after I see my baby coming into this world. And yeah, so, what do you say? Is that a god reason for you to come back alive?”, Demetrios said.
“Brother… Lets get back home safely. Your child will need someone like me since you will be a terrible father.”, Alexandros said and laughed.
“I love you too.”, Demetrios said and laughed as well.
Though soon their laughter came to and end since they suddenly stopped moving. They found themselves in an open area, yet something did not feel right.
“Landmines. Lets watch our steps.”, Demetrios said and saw Alexandros nodding his head.
Luckily for them the rain that kept pouring was helping them get a general idea about the location of the mines, so they carefully avoided them.
After 15 minutes of nervousness, they managed to escape the minefield. Both of them took a 5 minutes break to calm down a bit and revise a strategy since the camp was only 300 meters away.
“Lets enter from the hangar. Then we can slip through their security from the petrol tanks. If anything happens, go back there. They will not dare to open fire near the pumps.”, Demetrios said.
“Okay, and what about the guards? Those places will be heavily guarded.”, Alexandros replied.
“I am fully aware. But we have the element of surprise. Plus I brought some fireworks with me.”, Demetrios said and opened his backpack, giving 6 small balls of semtex in the size of 4 zippo lighters together, and then a watch that was the detonator.
“Santa? Are those fireworks for me?”, Alexandros said and chuckled as he put the semtex in his pouch and strapped the watch on his left wrist.
“Yes my child. You have been a bad boy this year, so you can blow some fucking bastards up.”, Demetrios said.
“You have no idea man.”, Alexandros said and cracked his neck. “Shall we?”
“Yeah, lets go. By the way… Thank you for doing this with me. You are a real brother and I appreciate this. Thank you.”, Demetrios said.
“Brother… Don’t thank me. We have been through a lot together. We will come through this shit as well.”, Alexandros said and they both bumped their fists together, nodding and then dashing forward.

Dietrich had told them about a small hole in the fence on the northern side where the hangar was, a small hole that everyone knew yet they did not bother to fix since the security was very high. But since the duo did not care about the security, they were going to use that.
After finally reaching their destination and after almost getting found by the guards on watch, they took a few deep breaths. Then Demetrios pulled out one of his guns and released the safety as Alexandros unsheathed one of his swords. Looking at each other, they nodded and got inside the camp.

Once inside the fence they stayed close to each other. Demetrios began molding small balls of the semtex he had with him and placed it on the back of the trucks. He set the detonator in the same frequency and looked at Alexandros who was constantly checking for guards.
Once the trucks were trapped, they moved to the tanks. Again Demetrios began setting semtex on the tanks, yet made sure that the explosives would not be found by anyone. Setting the detonators in a different frequency, he looked at Alexandros and then they both took a peek at the camp.
Shit, things were not looking so good. The place was very heavily guarded and it was impossible for them to attack.
“Lets split. We will stay in touch on the radio. Demetrios… Don’t die. For your unborn child and my unborn godchild.”, Alexandros said and saw Demetrios nodding at him.
“Lets do this. Kill them all.”, Demetrios replied and they both went separate ways.
Since Alexandros was more agile than Demetrios, he decided to take on the guards on the towers. Using parkour he could easily get on top and kill them all. While Demetrios was not as agile as Alexandros, he decided to take the ground troops and set more explosives on his path.

So far everything looked good.
Alexandros had already managed to secure the north tower after spending 10 minutes hanging from the roof and waiting to see if they were reporting to the command center. But after realizing that everyone was only smoking and drinking vodka, he killed them swiftly, clean and with no sound. If he was proud of one thing that he had learned in Japan, that was the way of the ninja and samurai that allowed him to move as quiet as a cat and not being noticed by anyone. Once the 5 people inside were down, he placed one of the explosives inside the tower and climbed down.
Meanwhile Demetrios had managed to slip through the guards and get near the ammunition warehouse, safely placing explosives in every door in places that it could not be found.

But… Sadly not anything goes as one wants.
As Demetrios was leaving the ammunition warehouses, he was spotted by one of the guards who immediately called for backup and alerted everyone.
Soon the whole area was filled wit the sounds of the sirens, shots and soldiers shouting.
“We have been found out!”, Demetrios said through the communicator.
“Yeah, no shit Sherlock. What now? Should I come to back you up”, Alexandros asked.
“No, don’t come. Try to flank them from behind. There are about 20 of them coming at me but I don’t see anyone else. Perhaps they are preparing to bring the big guns. Get them from behind while I will keep them focused on me.”, Demetrios said.
“Alright, got it. Don’t do anything stupid before I get to you.”, Alexandros replied.
“You know me. Now, lets go.”, Demetrios said and the radio turned silent.

At the same time 2 kilometers away, Dietrich heard the sirens and immediately jumped from his seat. Sighing and shaking his head he moved the van to another location where he tried to hide it with twigs and tree branches so that it would not be easily found from air and ground.

Back at the camp.
Demetrios had already opened fire at the soldiers that were coming at him, managing to take 3 of them down. But he only had 2 handguns, he could not do much with those. Opening his backpack he grabbed 3 grenades; smoke, flash-bang and normal.
After pulling the pin of the smoke grenade, he gave it a few moments so that the smoke would disperse in the area and he immediately rushed in while shooting at the soldiers that had stopped on their tracks since they did not have any masks to protect themselves from the smoke. A few bullets grazed his suit from the soldiers who were shooting in random directions and that was when he pulled the pin from the flash-bang grenade that went off only moments later. That disoriented the soldiers for the brief moments that Alexandros needed to slice them in half with both his katanas and Demetrios to shoot them down.
After the duo met they got away from the ammunition warehouses and headed towards the barracks. The element of surprise was lost, but the duo could still surprise them with something different; an attack directly at the barracks. As a diversion, Demetrios had set a few explosives on their way to the barracks and set them off while Alexandros detonated the explosives on the tower. The sounds of the explosions echoed all over the area while the fire began to light it; the sun had begun to set.

Inside the command center, the commandant had gone crazy.
“HOW MANY ARE THEY?! WHERE THE HELL ARE THEY?!”, he kept yelling.
“My general, we do not know how many they are. Perhaps a small platoon with at least 10 soldiers that has scattered around the area. But we got reports that one of them was seen near the ammunition warehouses. We also got reports that the watchtower on the north has been destroyed. We can assume that they will move to a safer place. What should we do?”, the lieutenant said.
“Are the soldiers ready?”, the commandant asked.
“They are at the barracks, suiting up. They will be ready to deploy in 1 minute.”, the lieutenant replied.
“Good. I want everyone to move around the command center and guard it. And I mean everyone. Understood?”, the commandant said.
“Of course General.”, the lieutenant replied and relayed the order to the soldiers in the barracks via the intercom.

Meanwhile at the barracks.
Alexandros and Demetrios had managed to infiltrate it with success and Demetrios began planting more and more explosives.
“How many are here?”, Demetrios asked.
“About 30 or 40 of them, I can’t tell for sure.”, Alexandros replied as he saw the soldiers suiting up.
“Good. Now, le—”, Demetrios stopped talking when he heard the lieutenant speak through the intercom.
“Shit… Lets just blow this place up and head straight for the command center. Then we can get the fuck out of here while we still can. We may not kill them all, but at least they will think twice before touching us again.”, Demetrios said and they both nodded.
As they tried to sneak out from the room though they were spotted by a soldier who opened fire at them and soon everyone with a gun did the same.
“Oh shit!”, Demetrios shouted and removed the pin from the grenade he was still holding. Then he tossed it to the soldiers who used the beds and the desks to cover from the explosion. “We are leaving this place.”, Demetrios said and tossed some of the explosives in the room along with smoke and flash-bang grenades to create a smokescreen.
While exiting the room he kept planting explosives on the walls and once they were 200 meters away, he detonated them.
The explosion caused the whole building to collapse and the force of the explosion as well as some of the flying debris managed to take out the soldiers that left the building. Yet Alexandros began shooting at them to finish the job.
“Demetrios, lets get the hell out of here. We won’t make it.”, Alexandros said in a worried tone.
“I know. Just the command center brother, then we are out of here.”, Demetrios replied and Alexandros nodded his head with a sigh.

At the command office.
The sound of the explosion from the barracks shocked everyone who immediately ran to the windows to see what had happened.
“THOSE SONS OF BITCHES! THEY ARE DEAD! DEAD!!!”, the commandant shouted and ordered every single person to get ready.
The personnel inside the center obeyed the orders of the commandant and armed themselves with fully automatic guns and got in positions on the balcony outside, spotting the Greek duo and opening fire at them.

“THEY ARE SHOOTING US!”, Alexandros shouted as he tried to use the dumpsters as cover.
“I FUCKING KNOW!”, Demetrios replied and took a peek, only to hide again. “FUCK! They got pinned us down.”
“Get me some more explosives. I have an idea.”, Alexandros said.
“Alright.”, Demetrios said and gave Alexandros some molded semtex.
Alexandros took the semtex and coated his kunai with it while Demetrios was watching.
“Lets just do this and go home man. We don’t stand a chance against an army of those.”, Alexandros said and Demetrios nodded.
“Yeah, lets do this and leave with a bang.”, Demetrios replied and grabbed the detonator.

Alexandros checked all of his 15 kunai that were coated with semtex and took a few deep breaths.
“I need some cover.”, Alexandros said.
“I am on it.”, Demetrios replied and grabbed the rest of the smoke and flash-bang grenades from his backpack, removing the pins and throwing them towards the command center to create a smokescreen again. But that did not stop the hail of bullets that kept coming at them, yet they managed to leave that area and move away on the left while Alexandros began throwing those kunai on the wall. It did not really matter if someone was to be hit by those, he just wanted the semtex as close as he could on the wall.
“NOW! FIRE THEM!”, Alexandros shouted and Demetrios hit the detonator.

In a matter of moments the explosives went off and the wall at the command center collapsed, taking all the officers and soldiers that were on the balcony. Men shouting and crying out could be heard while Demetrios threw almost all of his grenades on their path so that they could use the dust from the explosion as a cover to move safely towards the oil tanks that were only 500 meters ahead of them. But before leaving the command center, Demetrios set all the semtex he had left in another wall at the command center.
The current distance was only 100 meters away from the tanks when all of a sudden a bullet hit Alexandros on the back who shouted and fell on the ground. Demetrios stopped running and tended to Alexandros who was bleeding on his right ribcage.
“MOTHERFUCKERS! THEY SHOT ME! THEY SHOT ME! IT FUCKING HURTS!”, Alexandros shouted as Demetrios helped him stand.
“Don’t cry crybaby. You can still walk. Come on, only a few meters left.”, Demetrios said and looked behind to see 5 cars coming at them in high speed.
“Shit, I forgot about those.”, Demetrios said and got punched by Alexandros.
“ASSHOLE! Hit the switch!”, Alexandros shouted and started running towards the tanks.
“Yeah, yeah, you don’t have to yell.”, Demetrios said and hit the detonator, setting the explosives off and destroying the other wall and most of the command center.
“There, fireworks.”, Demetrios said and bean running towards the oil tanks, knowing fully well that nobody would fire a single shot at them.

Finally, the duo reached the tanks but Alexandros was already breathing hard and fast.
“Dude, I need to rest. I… I won’t make it.”, Alexandros said and got slapped by Demetrios.
“We are almost done. We are going home. HOME!”, Demetrios shouted and took Alexandros on his back, carrying him between the tanks and noticing the soldiers that did not know how to react.
“So long fuckers.”, Demetrios said and slipped through the hole in the fence and then immediately began running as fast as he could for about 200 meters before he put Alexandros down.
“Man… Do it…”, Alexandros said between pants and with a weak voice.
“Fire in the hole.”, Demetrios said and set the last explosives off.
The trucks, the hangar and the tanks all blew up in an instant and the shockwave reached the duo as they watched the soldiers that were coming after them getting killed by the blast.
“Phew, finally…”, Alexandros said, again in a weak tone.
“Yeah… That could have gone better, but at least this will suffice.”, Demetrios replied and immediately checked Alexandros’ wound. “Hey, don’t you die on me. I will kick your ass if you do asshole.”
“Who is going to die man? Don’t go making stories. I am just tired. And sleepy. And a bit cold.”, Alexandros replied.
“I need to tend to your wound as fast as possible.”, Demetrios said and looked at the wound.
Alexandros was loosing a lot of blood and fast. With no other choice, he carried Alexandros on his shoulder, as if he was Santa and he was carrying the bag of games for the kids, and ran as fast as he could towards the direction that the van was.
“Damn you are heavy assshole.”, Demetrios said and Alexandros chuckled.
“Yeah… Now, the princess needs to be carried home. Move peasant.”, Alexandros said.
“I will remember this asshole.”, Demetrios replied with a chuckle.
Of course Demetrios made sure not to go through the minefield but around it, something that made him lose some time.
Yet after about 15 minutes, he managed to reach the area where the van was earlier. But… where was the van? Looking left and right, Demetrios could not find the van.
“Shit… FUCK!”, Demetrios shouted.
“What?”, Alexandros asked.
“Dietrich is not here.”, Demetrios replied.
“And where is he?”, Alexandros asked again.
“I don’t know. He is not here.”, Demetrios replied.
Suddenly the roar of an engine was heard in the distance while a set of lights fell on them both. At first Demetrios thought that it was backup for the base, but then he saw Dietrich who ran towards them and hugged them tight.
“YOU ARE BOTH ALIVE! I CAN NOT BELIEVE IT! YOU MADE IT!”, he said and began laughing with joy.
“Dude, I don’t go that way. And I am barely alive, do something about it asshole.”, Alexandros replied and got free of Dietrich’s embrace.
“Asshole, don’t talk. Here, let me help you lie down on the seat.”, Demetrios said and placed Alexandros on the seat, moving the back so that Alexandros could lie down.
“Let me see what I can do.”, Dietrich said and pulled out the first aid kit. “Demetrios, keep an eye on things here while I tend to your friend.
“Alright.”, Demetrios said and looked around to see if anyone was approaching.

Meanwhile Dietrich cleaned the wound and patched it as much as he could to stop the bleeding.
“You are a lucky man. This suit of yours saved you. And the bullet came out. But you need to get to a hospital.”, Dietrich said and looked at Demetrios. “Pontificus?”
“Yeah, lets go.”, Demetrios said and entered the van, sitting next to Alexandros and making sure that the later would not die.
“Alright. Lets go.”, Dietrich replied and started the car, accelerating right away and getting the hell out of that place.

As the van moved further and further away, the area was still lit from the fire and many more explosions could be heard throughout the valley.
“I told you. God was there with you today.”, Dietrich said.
“If that fucker was there, maybe he could do something about that fucking bullet that hit me!”, Alexandros shouted and Demetrios laughed.
“Chicks like scars. Shut up now and save your strength. This trip will take some time.
Alexandros did not say anything, he only flipped Demetrios off and all of them just laughed.

About 40 minutes later the van arrived in the back of the private clinic that Demetrios had standing by. They got from the back since they did not want to be seen since that would only make people ask questions about the whole thing and none of them wanted any unwanted attention.

“We will take it from here.”, Nurse Lola said as Alexandros walked out of the van.
“Hey… Lola, right?”, Alexandros asked.
“Yes, that’s me.”, Nurse Lola replied with a smile.
“Well, I have seen better days, but I guess that you will take good care of me, right?”, Alexandros asked again.
“Of course. I will personally tend to your wounds.”, she replied with a smile. “Mr. Apostolou, your friend will spend the night here. You can go back home. He is safe.”, the nurse said and smiled at Demetrios.
“You heard the woman, she will take care of me. Go now, you have a woman, let me have some fun too.”, Alexandros said and kept shooing Demetrios who could not help but laugh.
“Alright, I am off. I will come by in the morning.”, Demetrios said and walked back inside the van, looking at Dietrich and sighing softly. “Take me home my friend. My woman will be waiting for me.”
Dietrich nodded his head and took off, heading for Demetrios’ garage.
Demetrios closed his eyes for some time and by the time he opened them again, he was already home.
“We are here. Demetrios… You are crazy. But you are a good man. I will see what I can do to help you with Mia. May His grace be with you and your friends.”, Dietrich said.
Demetrios was taking all the equipment out and leaving it on the floor when he looked at Dietrich and nodded his head.
“Thank you, I appreciate it. Stay safe my friend.”, Demetrios said.
Dietrich nodded and took off while Demetrios headed for the small warehouse where he left all the weaponry and equipment inside the secret room. Then and after securing it, he locked the door behind him and opened the garage door.
The day had ended well, despite Alex getting wounded and Demetrios could not be happier that he got back home, waiting to hold Dixie back into his arms.