Free Syberian Sunrise by S. A. Lusher

stepped through the only door and found PFC Ramirez waiting for him. He was a young man, still in his early to mid twenties, his skin tan. His features and accent put him somewhere among the South American colonies, or perhaps from the homeland itself. Enzo thought Brazil was the likeliest candidate. They had a number of mining investments and colonies throughout the galaxy.
    “Hello,” Ramirez said.
    Everything about him seemed clipped and formal, like an average Marine. Tall, lean, muscled. A sharp gaze and a high-and-tight hair cut. He had on bloodied and battle-scarred black and green camouflage armor and an assault rifle in hand.
    “So you're Enzo Rains?” he asked.
    “Yeah,” Enzo replied, studying the observation deck. It was packed with all manner of scanning equipment and tracking gear, all of it set into place behind huge, nearly floor-to-ceiling windows that overlooked the cavern.
    “We've been in contact with Eve, she sent me down here to do the tasks that you ended up doing, so we just decided it'd be best for you and me to meet up and head back upstairs,” Ramirez explained, seeming eager to go.
    “She just sent you? No one else?” Enzo asked.
    “Well...” he sighed, “it's not quite that simple. Eve...is kind of in a position of power. She's holed up in the Control Room. But she's...I think she's a technician. And all that's left really are us Marines and the Dark Ops jerkoffs, and those things, of course. What Eve wants to do and what my Staff Sergeant Stern wants to do don't really match up. But we felt that keeping everyone alive was something we could both agree on, so they sent me down.”
    “Fantastic. Just wonderful. The last people that are left alive in this whole godforsaken facility are split up into a three-way fucking contest for control,” Enzo muttered.
    “Yeah. Hey, do you have a radio on you, by chance? I lost mine in all the fighting,” Ramirez replied, heading for the elevator at the back.
    “Yeah, I do. Hold on.”
    Enzo reactivated the radio and tried to get in touch with Eve. After several unsuccessful tries, he heaved a sigh and gave up.
    “I wonder what's wrong...” Ramirez murmured.
    “She's been doing this since we first started talking. She had long periods of radio silence. If it's these Dark Ops guys giving her trouble, I guess that'd explain it. Where are we going, exactly? What's the plan?” Enzo asked.
    “Get back up to my Staff Sergeant and figure this shit out, I guess. Avoid the killer monsters and the guys in black armor,” Ramirez replied as he led Enzo to another elevator at the back of the observation deck.
    Enzo didn't like that plan, but he didn't really have much choice.
    So he just shut up and followed.
    For the moment.

    Chapter 07
    – Research Fringe –
     
     
    “So what's your story?” Enzo asked.
    They were climbing up an elevator shaft that would take them to the next level. The lift hadn't worked. Enzo fully intended to see what was on Level Six. Ramirez was above him, making his way up the ladder. So far, there was nothing in the shaft with them.
    “My story?” Ramirez replied.
    “Yeah. Why are you here? You working with the scientists? I understand this facility is run by Dark Operations,” Enzo said.
    “It is. How'd you know that?”
    “I've been doing some digging since I woke up.”
    “I see. Well, no, I'm not. This is actually a joint operation. Dark Ops and the Marines. We're here to offer extra security...though it was pretty obvious from the get go that were weren't really offering security,” Ramirez explained.
    “What were you doing?”
    “I imagine keeping an eye on Dark Ops. I don't really know too much about all this, to be honest. Four months ago, I was enjoying some R and R. After it was up, instead of heading back to where I was supposed to go, me and my unit got rotated out, picked up by some Special Ops types. They took command of us and three other units, told us all we were going on 'special assignment'.