Mechanical by Bruno Flexer

all the soldiers back.  But if this continues, pretty soon there won't be any free United States to fall back to."
    The general breathed in deeply.
    "But now, with the Serpents, we have a new weapon. I have to be frank with you men. Right now, we don't have a contingency plan. You're the one and only plan and hope we have."
     
     

Chapter 8
    Day Two, Fort Belvoir, Virginia
     
    "They always let us out only at night, did you notice that?" Tom whispered to Ramirez. Tom waited a moment, but the Marine Corps lieutenant just stood his ground. The four Serpents were assembled in the training grounds outside the hangar, waiting.
                "Why do they keep security so tight? After the mission, the Serpents will probably appear on every site and Internet newscast," Tom whispered to Ramirez. Since Ramirez still kept quiet, Tom went on. "Security inside the hangar is even tighter. Did you notice the security cards? They are probably equipped with electronic proximity chips, and I've seen the sensors in the corridors. No one who didn’t have the correct security card would be able to walk these corridors without raising the alarm."
                Ramirez actually turned his head to look at the hangar. Tom continued talking, encouraged. It was the longest conversation he and the Marine Corps lieutenant had had since they met, about twenty-four hours ago. It's true, Tom was doing all the talking, but he didn't allow that to stop him. They must learn to work as a team, Tom thought. They must learn to talk to each other. Tom tried really hard to forget the words "Keyboard Warrior." Besides, those questions he raised were really important. I'll give him one last chance.
                "There are soldiers everywhere, most of them armed with anti-tank missiles, as if they were expecting an attack at any moment. Interesting, isn’t it?" Tom waited a moment for some type of response, but, unsurprisingly, there was none. "And have you seen any name tags? On anyone? He is a tech person or a soldier? Nothing! Not even the general. He still hadn't told us what his name is, and we don't even know what the name of the military unit that operates this hangar and the project is. We don't even know what branch of the military forces is responsible for the mission. The only name we actually know is Serpent."
                "Told you Riley, you ask too many questions," Ramirez said slowly, as if his heart wasn't really in his words.
                "And they don't let us talk with anyone outside the base, not even our old units. How weird is that? We aren't allowed to talk with anyone! We're all veteran soldiers, they trust us to perform a mission that may determine the future of the war, but they don't trust us to talk with anyone." Tom stopped talking.
                Ramirez, uncharacteristically, walked slowly away. Did I make him think? Tom asked himself.
                Three vehicles came out of the base. Two were regular army utility trucks, one of which stopped near the waiting Serpents and killed its engine, the other of which just waited some distance behind. However, Tom's sensors were on the third vehicle, an M2 Bradley armored personnel carrier, which came to a stop a few hundred yards in front of the Serpents. It revved up its engine twice, raising up a cloud of smoke.
                "I don't like the look of this," Tom murmured, looking from vehicle to vehicle impatiently. There was a little clock ticking in his mind, counting the time to the mission and how much time they had to find and destroy the enemy.
                Come on, move faster, Tom thought.
                Captain Emerson took something from the back of the utility truck that had parked near them, and he now turned to face the other three Serpents, holding something in his hands. Tom rechecked the image his sensors gave him and then zoomed in. The captain was holding an M82 Barrett