"Please come inside, gentlemen…" the man leading us said.
I have known for the beginning that the armory will be bigger than the one in Chicago, but I do not expect it to also be sectioned among the firearms type. The division of the weapons and equipment sections are based on what the additional task of each of the unit. The personnel of the Bronze Falcon unit will receive light weapons and equipment such as submachine guns and machine pistols since they will be the closest ones to the base and will be the least likely to see serious field combat.
The Dark Bison and Crimson Vulture units will get medium weapons and equipment like carbines since they will go pretty far from the base and will be the one who will arrive to help the extermination task unit first should they need assistance. Both my and Polar Bear units will get heavy weapons and equipment like light machine guns and automatic rifles since we are tasked to exterminate any extraterrestrial threats. The room for the heavy armaments is also the furthest from the door, and so I, Colonel Pavlov, and all of our men followed another soldier who is leading us to the smaller room.
The first thing that I see upon entering the small room is rows of bullet of a similar caliber – 7.62mm, and I can quickly identify them to be 7.62x39mm, 7.62x51mm NATO, and also 7.62x54mmR cartridges. Indeed those are cartridges with a considerable penetrating ability, however I am still looking for a specific cartridge on the same caliber – 7.62x63mm, also known as .30-06 Springfield. As if it is already prepared specifically for me, my eyes catch the sight of the very same firearm that I used back in Chicago – the M1918 Browning Automatic Rifle (BAR). It is kept inside a metal cabinet, together with 4 spare 20-rounds-magazines. I have been fascinated by both the rifle and the cartridge's ability to penetrate extraterrestrial threats back in Chicago, and since then it feels like I still do not completely have all of the vital equipment with me whenever there is another similar crisis without them.
It seems that I am not the only one who has a personal attachment to a specific firearm. Colonel Pavlov shortly approaches another cabinet right next to me, and begins to carefully inspect the rifle inside it as soon as he arrived right in front of the cabinet. The rifle is Fedorov Avtomat, an automatic rifle that was used in World War 1 and chambered in 6.5x50mmSR Arisaka cartridge. I have yet to see how the rifle performs on the field of combat, but seeing how Colonel Pavlov inspects it very thoroughly I have the feeling that he has some good experience in using it, especially if he was also involved in a similar incident 5 years ago.
"Khorosho, ochen' khorosho…" he praised the rifle softly.
Right at that moment, I know for sure that he indeed must have some memorable experiences in using the firearm.
"That rifle saved your life before, Colonel?" I tried to make sure while I am also inspecting my rifle.
"Da, countless times…" he nodded quickly and still has his eyes unswayed from the sight of the rifle held on his hands. "Not only my life, but also the lives of my men…"
"Let me guess, that was five years ago?" I finally turned to him, still holding the BAR.
"Da, Murmansk…" he fell quiet as he has answered me with his heavy hoarse voice.
Similar to Chicago's great lake, Murmansk is a river port city which means that ships also come and go in that area before they will then go back or continue their journey to a wider water area. In the town's case, it is Kola bay, which is a little to the northeast direction of the town. I imagine the aliens that invaded the town back then must have landed somewhere on the bay area, unless they used a completely different method and vehicles. Since Virgil Clint from 5 years ago broadcasted an emergency worldwide Morse code transmission, I am also sure that he obtained the automatic rifle from a war museum inside the city.
"Sometimes, the venerable and the obsolete technology may indeed be the only way out of a life-or-death situation, huh Colonel?" I tried to get him tell me where he obtained the rifle.
"Oh, you sound like you speak from your own experience, my boy…" he raised both of his eyebrows, leaving an impressed expression while slowly turning to face me.
"Five chaotic nights of survival, Colonel…" I nodded firmly.
"So you are the young military officer that Mister Clint mentioned in his broadcast five years ago, who had saved him and the whole town before assisting us to counter those space monsters for the next three days…" his eyes widened in an instant. "And the young officer is now standing right in front of me. You have my utmost respect, Mayor…"
"Thank you, Colonel… I am also glad that all of the countries that had experienced the same incident were all able to counter the threat as well…" I tapped on his hand that was shaking mine very firmly. I can also now feel like all of his men see me with a completely different view.
I do not feel like asking anything further about the similar incident that he had experienced 5 years ago, but after hearing his reactions, I know for sure that the strategy that they used to defeat the aliens back then was the very same that we had used to lure and ambush the aliens inside the ruins of the buildings of Chicago. The introduction for the both of us finally melts the invisible ice between our units that has been formed the moment we stepped inside this small room, and now it is time for us to get back on equipping ourselves with the issued firearms.
Both I and Colonel Pavlov already have the automatic rifles as our primary firearms since the soldier who has guided us to the small room confirms that the rifles are indeed designated specifically for us. However for the rest of our men, they are all issued with a different firearm – RPD machine gun. It is a machine gun chambered in 7.62x39mm cartridge, and always comes with 100 rounds of bullets which are stored in a drum magazine.
The original machine gun has a long barrel, however for these ones issued to our men, they have all been shortened, reminding me of the version used by a special operations unit during the Vietnam war. It does reduce the weight and increases the mobility of the user, but also on the expense of becoming noisier and increasing muzzle flash – an explosive shockwave that occurs whenever a bullet projectile leaves the firearm barrel. They are 2 factors which are very important to mind since we may be facing a threat that is sensitive to noise and light, and so I remind everyone of us about my concern.
For our sidearm, all of us are issued the same handgun – Tokarev TT-33. It is a handgun chambered in 7.62x25mm Tokarev cartridge with 8 rounds of bullets in each magazine. Unlike the previous E.X.T.I.R.T operation which issued the Browning Hi-power handgun as the operative agents' sidearm, the Hi-Power was deemed to be lacking in penetration ability, and has since then decided that the TT-33 will be issued for units deployed in heavy duty operations. I did notice that the 9x19mm cartridge used in Hi-Power handguns only barely scratched the beam rifles of the aliens, thus making it unable to explode the rifle and setting themselves on fire, which was also the reason why I rarely used it back in Chicago.
As for the rest of other equipment, each of us is also given a trench knife, 4 hand grenades, and 3 flares for any other emergency survival situations. Based on my up close and personal experience with the aliens, I find it to actually be important as well. At least that the aliens may feel hurt if we hit their heads with the knuckles of the trench knifes. Flare on the other hand, is more of an additional equipment but no less vital since we can use it either to lure the threat away or towards us, or to alert any nearby units about our request for assistance.
After we have finished taking our equipment, the soldier who led us to the small room earlier guides us back outside and into another larger room which turns out to be the special armory room. The second I go inside this room, I have no doubt that the type of the armor that will be issued for us will be the heavy composite type, the kind of body armor that is able to withstand bullets with large cartridges like .30-06 Springfield. Considering that both my and Colonel Pavlov's units are tasked to exterminate all threats, I do not see any reason why we would not be issued with the heavy type.
All of the body armors are in the level 4 - the maximum level of a body armor can have. It is primarily made out of Titanium Ceramic Composite material, and is therefore lightweight while providing excellent defence. It covers the whole torso, and also with a short sleeve with a total of 5 pockets on the armor. The whole appearance of the armors for all of us are exactly same, except for the color – my unit has the dark gray color while Colonel Pavlov's unit has the light gray. Both of our uniforms also has the insignia of our unit name on the right chest, with our vice commanders and field operatives have their numbers instead. Aside from body armor, we are also given a ballistic helmet with a bulletproof glass face cover as well.
'Well this is a little more assuring, at least now I do not really have to worry about having to endure any severe injuries taken later on…' I raised my eyebrows before I put the helmet on.
Once we have all worn the armor set, the guide soldier tells us to go to the other side of the 1st floor lobby in order to receive the map and the last technical field briefing before we will then continue on with our tasks by going with the transport trucks. Actually, rather than briefing I would call it more as just a step-by-step confirmation on where we have to go first, and the next after that. I am however, curious as to why we are not handed a compass since it can still at least indicate whether or not a location has a more severe magnetic field disturbance than the others.
"Excuse me, Lieutenant. Why are not we handed a compass at least one for each of our unit?" I was curious to see what the soldier will answer.
"Command says that any incapacitated tools and equipment should be omitted from the field, Mayor." he answered plain and simple. "Unless, the unit commander insists…"
"What are you planning to do with those junks later on anyway, huh?" another man suddenly butted in, he is Lieutenant Colonel Eustachy Adamowsky, the commander of the Dark Bison unit.
"I am sure that the incapacitated compasses can at least indicate if an island has more magnetic disturbance than the other, Colonel…" I squinted my eyes a little while turning to face him.
"Pfft, smartass… is that some sort of PTSD that has grown inside you after that incident five years ago? What good does any broken tool do for the user anyway?" he opened up his arms and loudening his tone in the process.
"No, please… Mayor Xenov is right. Lieutenant, I believe that my unit also need the error compass." Colonel Pavlov pleaded.
"I am with both Colonel Pavlov and Major Xenov too. Please, Lieutenant." Yeon also agrees with me.
In the end, Major Gavalas decides that he will take the compass too in case the magnetic field disturbance suddenly gone. Thus, the only one who still refuses to take the 'broken' compass is Lieutenant Colonel Adamowsky. Disappointment and dissatisfaction scoff is heard as he leaves us all in a quick pace, heading towards his transport trucks. After Takeshi pinpoints the direction towards the nearest island from Crimson Vulture's unit area of authority, we head to the designated island for communications installation together with the Crimson Vulture unit. My unit is only provided with 1 truck since there are only 5 personnel in it, but Yeon's unit is given 2. I am starting to wonder what kind of a threat that could be waiting for us later on…