The Battlegrounds

So this is something a little different for me. There is quite a bit of world building in this part. If you guys and gals demand more chapters, they will have more action and adventure.

I hope you like it.

*******

I am having the time of my life partying and traveling through the Balkans. I consider this my retirement party. I hung up my boots after twenty years as a Marine, fifteen of those in Force Recon. My buddy Patrick and I are letting loose after a lifetime of service. We love the book series 'Paladin of Shadows' by John Ringo and we decided to walk in Mike Harmon's footsteps sampling the best looking women through the Balkans and possibly into Eastern Russia. I am pretty sure we are not planning to start our own militia in the mountains, but I like to keep my options open. If you have no idea what I am talking about, check the books out.

Anyway, here we are in some dark, loud club in Albania, I think. Tall thin blonds are everywhere, barely wearing clothes. Patrick is on the dance floor surrounded by three or four of them. I am holding the bar up, sipping on some horrendous tasting beer. A tall, svelte blond struts across the dance floor looking directly at me. I am captured by her icy blue eye and I have tunnel vision for this goddess. I study her as she moves towards me. She has got to be 5' 8" plus three inch heel boots. Her long legs are covered in black silk thigh high stockings. I can see the lace tops dance below the hem of her short black dress. The top of her dress is struggling to hold her breasts in captivity. Her long blond hair shrouds half of her face and drops to her thin waist. Her lips are full and red and her eye that I can see clearly is hypnotic.

The crowd parts as she struts across the dance floor and men and women both stop to stare appreciatively as she passes. This beautiful woman walks up to me, takes my beer out of my hand and takes a sip. Her face wrinkles in disgust and she drops the bottle into a nearby trash can. She speaks quickly to the bartender in a dialect I don't understand. I understand Russian and some French and German. My southern accent is so thick that any language coming out of my mouth sounds wrong, so rarely am I understood when I try to converse with the locals. The language they speak is familiar, but not one I know so I am thinking my earlier guess about Albania may be right.

The bartender moves off quickly and then brings a bottle of vodka and two glasses. He pours a shot into each, sets the bottle on the bar and walks away. My new friend takes both glasses and hands me one. "Drink. This much better." She says to me in a thick Russian accent.

I'm not really a fan of vodka, but when a gorgeous woman hands you a shot, you take it. We each toss back our drink. I feel the familiar vodka burn, but not too bad. It must be a really good vodka as it is very smooth. She grabs the bottle and says to me "Come. We go someplace private." I quickly follow her around the bar to the back of the club. There are semi private booths along the back wall. She leads me to the one in the darkest corner. She slides into the booth and sets the bottle and her glass onto the small table. I slide in beside her. She takes my glass and sets it next to hers. She turns to me and kisses me deeply. Her hands go to my polo shirt and pulls it up. She slides her hands under my shirt along my bare stomach and chest. My hands go to her silk covered thighs and slide up her legs. When I reach bare skin she moves again. She rises up on her knees and pulls the top of her dress down and uncovers large, enhanced breasts. My hands and face race to cover her bare flesh with gropes and kisses.

Her hands reach down and opens my belt and khakis. She pulls my rock hard cock out and pushes my face back away from her tasty breasts. She smiles at me as she pulls her skirt up, revealing no panties covering her bare mound. She pushes me back against the booth and straddles me. My cock resting on her bare flesh. She pulls a condom out of her boot and quickly rips it open and slides it on my quaking member. She kisses me one more time and lifts then lowers. My cock is engulfed in her hot wet pussy in one stroke. We both moan in pleasure and I pull her in for a long kiss as I pump my hips up into her and she quickly matches my pattern and is meeting me with her down stroke. I move from her lips down her long neck and onto her massive mounds. My lips and teeth tugging her nipples. She moans again and speeds her movements. I match her speed as best I can. Despite the condom I can feel my climax arriving quickly.

"I'm gonna cum!" I moan into her breasts. She pushes my head back and kisses me again, slamming her hot box down on my cock. I can feel her pussy clench down on me as she cums. This is too much for me and I groan as I fill up the condom. She recovers quickly and kisses me, strangely her face looks sad. She leans back and says "I'm sorry." I look at her with a question on my tongue just as the bar starts spinning.

"Wha..." I manage as she slides off of my lap. I notice in her hand a small syringe when the floor slams into my face.

******

My senses come back to me slowly. I can feel that I am sitting uncomfortably. I feel pressure over my shoulders and around my waist. My legs and arms don't want to move. I hear and feel a steady roar and vibration. A very familiar sensation. I know I am on a large turboprop aircraft. I finally get my eyes open and I am greeted by a dimly lit area. I can see people seated all around me. I notice I am looking through clear lens glasses. I look down at myself and see that I am wearing the same khakis and green polo I was wearing last. I also see I am wearing a parachute harness. "What the hell is going on!" I say aloud.

"Welcome to Battleground. I am your host, The Gryphon." I jump as the voice speaks in my ear. I look around and I don't see anyone talking to me. I do notice the guy next to me is wearing glasses as well and attached to them is an ear piece. I guess that is where the voice is coming from. I quickly tune back in. "...some of you have been here before. For the noobs, thanks for volunteering." Volunteer!? My ass!! "You are embarking on a new type of adventure, and your chance of making millions of dollars. All you have to do is win the chicken dinner!" What the fuck is this guy talking about. His voice is just short of being a childlike high pitched and he has a slight Russian accent. "This will be a duos match and will be in the Svengal area." What the fuck?!?! "For those of you without teammates your partner has been selected. As always when we reach the approach to the map, team communications will be activated. HUD and map access will be activated now. Have fun and may the best team be the winner winner chicken dinner!"

"What the ever loving fuck is going on!!!" I say again! "What does he mean HUD and map access?" As soon as the words pass my lips a small display pops up on my glasses. "Oh shit! These are like that Google glass thing!" Across the top of the display is a compass, and when I turn my head the compass moves as well. Seems we are headed WNW right now. Top right of the lens has the number 99. I look around and see a small dot in the center of my sight, not distracting, just there. I look around some more and I see people looking at their wrists. I look down at myself again. My right wrist has a thin silver wristband. My left has the same and also a small screen strapped to my arm. The screen is about the size of a smart phone. I lift my arm and when the screen is facing my glasses it lights up with a map.

The map seems to be a large area. There are numerous small homesteads and a couple big neighborhoods. There is also a lot of large open areas and roads and trails crisscrossing the area. There looks to be one major ridge line cutting through the map from north to south. I see a couple rivers and many streams throughout. There is a white line crossing the map from north to south, actually from ESE to WNW. "OK, that seems to be the flight path. But what does that mean to me?" I ask aloud. No answer comes forth. I turn my attention back to the map. I don't see a scale anywhere so I really can't figure out any distances. I do figure out that it is a touch screen and I can move the map around slightly and zoom in and out. My glasses flash and a countdown starts right in the middle. 2 minutes and counting. "Well, Shit!"

"Hello teammate." A female voice came over the earpiece.

"Hello? What is going on?" I ask.

"Oh Hell!!! A Noob! I get a fucking Noob again!" She replies angrily.

"You seem pissed. I was drugged and woke up on this fucking plane. I get some asshole telling me I have the chance to win a chicken dinner and no other explanation and YOU are pissed?" I reply hotly.

During our rants the timer continues.

"Alright, we will discuss this more later. We are running out of time. Look at your map. Do you see the waypoint I just set?" She asks, sounding extremely professional. It's good to hear unaccented English again.

I look at my map. I see there is a representation of a plane on the flight path, and it is approaching the bottom edge of the area. I see a yellow pin on the map, it is about a quarter of the way from the end of the flight line and to the west a little way. I zoom in and a small homestead is near the way point. "I see it." I reply and describe where it is. "I'm glad you speak English, or this would be a real pain in the ass."

"I'm not speaking English. I'm Norwegian. I do speak English, but the HUD system auto translates for teammates." She replies automatically. "Oh, please tell me you aren't an American!!" She says. "A noob and an American?! They are trying to get me killed. Don't bail out until we get closer to the way point. You are going to have to free fall to the area. Do you know how to parachute?"

The timer hits zero and the plane icon crosses the border of the play area. A button on the map pops up saying 'Eject'. I see people around the cabin dropping down out of sight. "I do know how to free fall and HALO. I am Marine Corps Force Recon. So quit with the doom and gloom and let me know when to drop."

"Force Recon? Good, we may have a chance. I picked a site out of the way, but someone may have the same idea. Keep an eye out for other 'chutes on the way down and as soon as you get down get to a building. Weapons and equipment are pretty much only in buildings. So grab anything that throws lead and be ready. Just don't shoot me. Your HUD will show my icon and your targeting reticle will flash green when you target a teammate." She says. "OK in 3... 2.... 1... Drop Now now now!"

I hit the eject button. Suddenly I am in free fall. I get into the frogman position to steady myself. New icons flash on the glasses. The yellow waypoint is to the left, so I shift slightly to turn and center it. I see a fast moving green icon to the front and lower. I see altitude and airspeed on the left and the right of the lenses. I switch body positions to start moving towards the waypoint. I follow the green icon as best I can. Free fall is always the best. There is nothing like the wind rushing past your face and body watching the ground rushing up to you.

"You are going to come up short. When you land you need to get moving quickly. You never want to be caught weaponless here. I'll try to help but I am going to be looking for something to use too. Keep your head on a swivel and watch your six." My teammate tells me over the headset.

"Got it." I reply. I look at the map on my arm and see that she is correct. It looks like I will land quite a few meters short of the homestead. I check the altimeter and see I need to pull the 'chute soon. I notice the number in the right corner is now at 96. Then changes to 95. I see one parachute bloom open right where the green icon is. I also see two more parachutes open to the right, between the two of us. "There are two 'chutes behind you and to the north of our landing spot." I tell my teammate and I pop my chute. I use my risers to steer further away from the other two while angling in to the target zone.

"Thank you, I see them. I should make the houses first. You need to be careful when you get close. They might not see you and think I am alone and easy pickings. We should be able to roll these two up. I am landing now." I hear her grunt and then "I pretty much landed on the doorstep. I lucked out and picked up a UMP right away. I will keep an eye out for you and our new friends. I am in the house with the red roof. Time for quiet. Let me know if you try to enter the house or need help."

"Got it. Landing now. I caught a tailwind. I am right outside the perimeter wall. See you in a bit." I land softly, pop the quick release on the harness and jog to the wall. The wall is crumbling and at waist height. There is a small shed with no door to my left. I step over the wall and slip into the shed. On the floor is a S12 semiautomatic shotgun and three loaded magazines. That is a pretty accurate looking AirSoft weapon, I think to myself. I pick up the shotgun and load it. The satisfying clunk of a bolt driving home always brings a smile to my face. I notice the dot in the center of my sight has turned to a small circle. I see a backpack on the floor and toss the other two mags inside and slip my arms in the straps. "I've got a shotgun and I am headed your way. I don't see our friends yet."

"Copy. I think they are camping outside my building." She whispers into the radio.

"I'll check." I step out and back over the wall. I squat and duck walk along the wall looking towards the house I think she is in. Yep, there is the red roof. I keep scanning and as I reach the corner of the perimeter wall I pause. I spot movement at the corner of the house. I drop and crawl closer. I can hear the two talking to each other in Russian. I lay at the edge of the wall and point the shotgun at them. The circle reticle turns red when I aim at them. I listen to the men. I see the number is at 88.

"I know she is in there. I only saw one parachute. Her partner must have gone his own way." The bald one said to his buddy with a tattoo on his face.

"Well, lets go get her. Maybe if we can get her alive we can have some fun first." Tattoo says.

"She is probably barricaded in there. She must have seen us come down. Otherwise she would have been out looting." Baldy says. "I don't want to catch some rounds."

"I've got a smoke and a stun grenade. I'll toss those, you toss the frag. We follow and put her down. Then have fun with what's left."

"Da! Let us go."

The two move to each side of the door. OK, time to put an end to this. I sight in on Tattoo's ridiculous face and squeeze the trigger twice. I sweep right and double tap Baldy. I sweep back left and see nothing but a splash of red on the wall. Tattoo's body is on the ground, foot twitching. Back right and Baldy is against the wall, mouth open in surprise and chest open all the way. Two loads of double aught buckshot at close range does leave a mess. "Two targets down. This is totally not AirSoft." I tell my teammate and stand and drop the empty mag. I put a full one in and advance on my kills. Tattoo no longer has tattoos on his face, mainly because he has no face. I feel no remorse. These guys were planning on raping and killing my partner and more than likely me if they could. I notice the number in the top right is now at 86. There is a new number beside it, a 2.

"Coming out." She says.

I step to the side as the doorknob turns. The door opens out and a short stocky blond woman walks out. She is probably 5' 4", she is wearing a tight black t-shirt tucked into black tactical pants. Her muscular form is very evident in her outfit. Her blond hair is cut very short, just brushing along her chin. She is wearing the same glasses as I am. She is carrying a UMP .45 caliber sub-machine gun at the ready. She looks at the two unfortunates then up at me. I can see her steely blue eyes give me a once over. "Follow me over to that house. We will loot that and then we will discuss what is going on and plan out our actions." She says and walks to the two story building across the path.

She opens the door and enters quickly stepping to the left of the door, sweeping her subgun left to right. I enter and slide right, my S12 up and ready. We quickly clear the room and I see a number of items on the floor. "Go ahead and grab either the AK or the SKS, are you a good sniper? A lot of our engagements will be from a bit of distance. There is some armor for both of us, looks like." She tells me as she picks up a light kevlar vest and straps it on.

"I'm an OK shot with the long rifle, if you are good, go ahead and take the SKS. I am a fan of the AK." I see an ACOG scope and pick it up, tossing it to her for her rifle. A red dot sight clicks onto my new AK's picatinny rails and the three extra mags go in the pockets on the front of the armor. I sling the AK leaving the S12 in my hands. A shotgun is better in a house like this, I think. I see a couple packs of bandages and a can of Red Bull? No, not Red Bull, but a cheap knock off. We split up and finish searching the house. It's weird I didn't notice before but whenever I look directly at something, a small description pops up on my glasses. I shrug and toss it in my back pack. She calls me upstairs and I find her sitting on a couch in the corner facing the stairwell. She waves me over and pats the seat next to her. She is now wearing a kevlar helmet and thicker armor. She has her subgun in her hands, down but ready to bring to bear.

"Take a seat. I'll give you the basics. If we survive this round, I'll cover the deeper story as I know it." She starts. "First, my name is Inge Wilhelmsen. I was a Lieutenant in the Jegertroppen."

I excitedly interrupt her with, "Wow! Really? I never worked with the Jegertroppen, but of course I've heard of the only all female spec ops team! I heard some stories from a couple of my tier one friends. You ladies are pretty badass."

She glares at me when I interrupt then continues. "You can call me Inge. What is your name?"

"Hello Inge, I'm Sean Williamson. And yes, I know, we have the same last name. I am a former Force Recon Gunnery Sergeant."

She nods and smiles. "First things first. Look at your map." She raises her arm and I do the same. "Do you see the smaller circle around the area?" I nod "That is the safe zone. It shrinks at random times. Do you see the larger blue circle?" Another affirmative. "That is the danger zone. If you are in the blue, you will be shocked by your wrist and ankle tasers, until you pass out. There is a countdown at the bottom of the map." I nod again, seeing 1:30 counting down. "When that hits zero the barrier starts shrinking to the next safe zone. In the early rounds the shocks are manageable, but round four and up, you will get shocked into submission quickly. Energy drinks offset the shocks slightly for a short time. If you pass out you are considered dead for this game. The medics will pick you up and when you are ready you will be launched into another game." She looks at me. "Questions about the safe zone?"

"OK. I understand that, but before you go on, let's talk about death here." I ask

"Death will happen. Those two are dead." She points towards the other house. "If you are incapacitated to where you can not carry on, you will be considered dead. And your enemy should move on, leaving you for the medics to pick up. So as a courtesy to other players, we usually aim for limbs or armor." I nod and open my mouth to retort. Inge cuts me off with "I heard those two through your mic, those weren't real players. They would have killed and raped me, probably in that order. We will discuss more about that later." I shut my mouth. "So the point is to be the last team standing. This is a battle royale. You technically could win without firing a shot, unlikely but true. So survival is the key. There are 99 of us out here. That is what that number on your HUD represents. The other is your kill counter."