Mission Alpha: AEGIS Character Stories

By Nathan Roten

What do you do when you encounter the impossible?

It is 2003 during the first stages of Operation Iraqi Freedom. The mission is to infiltrate a key Al-Qaeda compound to secure intel on the whereabouts of Saddam Hussein, underground terrorist cells, and WMDs. Eric Branson is a seasoned Green Beret with one more tour standing in-between him and the sweet soil of the USA, but not even his extensive experience will prepare him for the supernatural events waiting for him inside the walls of the compound. Meet the Eric Branson before he became AEGIS and walk along side him in real time as he unknowingly crosses a threshold from which he will never return.

• Language: English
• Publisher: 12stone Press
• Release date: Feb 25, 2017
• ISBN: 9780990637837

Book preview

Copyright © 2017 12stone Press

All rights reserved. Duplication of this material and its associated logos is strictly prohibited. All contents are protected under US copyright law and may not be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or means- electronic, mechanical, photocopy- unless express authorization by the author for the purposes of reviews and blurbs.

Published by: 12stone Press

Edited by: John Hudspith

Cover Design by: 12stone Press

Interior Layout by: 12stone Press

ISBN: 0-9906378-3-2

ISBN-13: 978-0-9906378-3-7

Find out more at www.AegisSeries.com

Keep in touch with Nathan at:

www.NathanRoten.com

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Join Graham as a young boy as he experiences his first encounter with the power he has yet to discover and the nightmare that started it all.

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Consider character stories as the extra seasoning to the novels that makes it takes so much better. Each one is a stand-alone story that enhances the main storyline and gives you unique insight into the event that made then who they are.

To get your copy, simply click here to get started: NathanRoten.com/free

1

TWO BOGIES ON the rooftop, east corner! says Eric Branson, peering through the battle-worn scope of his M4 MWS Carbine Rifle.

He ducks behind a fragmented wall as enemy fire sprays the cracked stucco. He clinches the grip of his M4, counting the number of gunshots, waiting for the right time to retaliate. Sweat burns his eyes. Ninety-eight degrees in the arid desert lands of Iraq amplifies two-fold underneath his tactical gear. The air reeks of sweat and gun oil.

The Al-Qaeda compound is in a small valley, and Eric has the advantage of high ground. With the first break in gunfire, Branson hinges around the corner and fires a series of three-round bursts, then falls back behind the structure and squeezes the COM unit mounted on his shoulder. Bogies down. Clear to advance. Move!

On his signal, a swarm of Green Beret soldiers in desert camouflage descend the terraced embankment on the two-level building. Branson continues surveillance on the north side, watching for movement in any of the two rows of windows stretching across the width of the brick structure. One room on the second floor lights up. The light pulses and pops like lightning then fades back to darkness.

Chris, upper east corner. Third room. Looks like they’ve got…

Bullets pelt the brick again, causing chips of mortar to dance across Branson’s sunglasses. He drops to his knees and reloads.

You’ve got company. A third bogie on the north. I don’t have a visual.

Copy that. Hold tight, says Chris.

Branson turns and sits with his back against the wall. He pulls out a hand-sized mirror from his side pouch and fogs the surface with his breath. Pulling a rag from the same pouch, he cleans the dusty surface and inches it around the corner, twisting it until he finds the bottom most corner of the building. Staring intently, the sound of gunfire fades as the mirror absorbs his focus.

Ground level, first window. Nothing.

He tilts the mirror up, over and down, snaking his view throughout the series of windows until something odd catches his eye. The rectangular shape of the window is skewed. The sill-plate is not perfectly flat, but has a round contour at the bottom edge. Before he can retract, the flash from the barrel fills the mirror. Dirt erupts inches from his hand. Branson pulls his hand back to his chest and stuffs the mirror back in his pocket.

Five-One. Five-One.

Branson positions himself, kneeling just below a missing section of brick. He takes a breath and holds.

Five-One. Five-One…now.

He raises his barrel and sets it in the rut of the wall. He focuses on the fifth window of the first row and fires. The protruding barrel and scope fall into the dark void of the room.

Bogie down. I’m proceeding to checkpoint BRAVO.

Had him in my sights, says Chris.