Next to Slater was Private 2nd Class Sharp.   Carl Sharp stood at 177cm and weighed in at 75kg.  He was of American descent with blonde hair and brown eyes.  At first glance, nothing stood out about Sharp, but as you dig deeper you would learn that he joined Bairon-Midley with Sergeant Norman.  Unlike Norman, Sharp was only average physically and academically; however, Sharp got to where he was on sheer determination.  He was always trying to be more like his childhood friend, the now Sergeant Norman.  His specialization was infantry and maintenance.  Sadly, this specialization was given to people who did not qualify for any other job specialization.  It also meant that despite all his efforts, Sharp would never progress to private first class unless he was able to qualify for a different job specialization and pass the comms training required to be promoted.  Private Sharp never let this curb his enthusiasm.  He was determined to become one of the best.

Next in the order was Private 1st Class Kono.  Dai Kono is of Asian descent with black hair and brown eyes.   Dai Kono was from the former Korean Republic before it joined the Geo-Asian Combine.  He stood at 154cm in height and weighed 52kg.  He is crude, often vulgar, and comes from a rather shady past.  It is believed he joined Bairon-Midley to get away from his past life, though some of his traits still obviously followed him.  He has tattoos visible on his hands, neck and his right cheek, though it is obvious he has more covered by his uniform.  Private Kono is the team’s sniper.   He could hit an aspirin sitting on a person’s head in a windstorm and two kilometers.   He was just that good at what he did, which is most likely why Bairon-Midley was willing to overlook his shady past.  

Then came Private 2nd Class Smith.  Caiden Smith was recently promoted to Private 2nd Class.  As such, he began his training to become a vehicle technician, but has not achieved his certification yet.  He enlisted as general infantry, but wants to become a commanding officer one day.  He stands at 175cm and weighs in at 86kg.  He has blonde hair and blue eyes.  Last in the row is Corporal Haroldson, sitting across from Sara.  

Across from the Sergeant was Private 1st Class Rodriguez…  Sara didn’t have enough time to scan the rest of the troopers, before the warning light, a red light that dimly lit the inside of the transport came on.   Simultaneously the warning bell sounded.  “BBBRRRRRR~IIIIIIIINNNNNNGGGGG!” The alarm blared loud enough to be heard with helmets on, though the transport was sound proofed so nothing outside could hear the racket.  Just as the alarm blared, a slight rocking forward then back indicated that the transport had come to a full stop.  Once the transport was fully stopped, there was a pause of a few seconds that felt like an eternity.  Shortly, thereafter, with a loud hiss, the seal on the door broke free from the jambs.  Slowly, the door of the transport lowered outward from the top.  “WHOMP!” With a thud, the door hit the ground, creating a bridge from the back of the transport to the ground.  

Sara could see out the back of the transport.  Though smoke filled the air in every direction, Sara could see as though it were a perfectly clear day thanks to her visor.  Sergeant Norman began waving his arm to flag the troopers out of the transport, in the previously determined order.  Left then right, left then right, from the front to the back, the troopers filed out of the transport and took up their positions outside of the transport. Sara was the second to last trooper to exit the transport.  She was followed by Corporal Haroldson who, along with Sara, was placed on rear guard.  

The troopers fanned out in a semi-circle formation with the transport at their back, they then began scanning all directions, including the sky.  “No sign here,” Kono came across the comm line.  “No heat signatures,” Smith added.  Commander Voss came across the comm line, “Our target was last sighted to the southeast from here.  Unit 37 has engaged.  Move to reinforce.  South by southeast.  Eight hundred sixty-three meters.  Keep comm lines open.”

Commander Voss switched the comm channel to the command channel.  “Commander Reyhen, come in.”  Silence came across the command channel.  “Commander Reyhen, come in.  This is Commander Voss, unit thirty-eight,” Voss repeated with a slightly louder than usual tone.  “Central Command,” Voss called out.  “Has there been any contact with unit thirty-seven?”  A voice across the comm line replied, “no recent contact has been made.  Their transponders show their troopers south southeast of your position.”  “Roger that,” Voss responded.  Voss waved his hand in the air, switching back to the troopers comm line.  “Norman, proceed with caution.  No communication can be established with Commander Reyhen.  I will attempt communication with unit thirty-seven,” Voss said with his monotone voice having returned to its normal volume.     

During the late stages of the cold war, while the major powers of the world were focusing on the dangers of each other, Bairon-Midley, as if given insight ahead of time, began researching the ghost phenomena.  It wasn’t long after the research began that the G.E.T. team was formed.  G.E.T. was then dispatched to all possible ghost related events, at the behest of one of the co-owners of the company, Yvimeer Bairon.  Mr. Bairon seemed to have a keen interest in the ghost phenomena, and invested large sums of money into the research and study on them.

~Excerpt from The History of Bairon-Midley, Better Business Inquirer Magazine

Chatter started coming across the comm line, “Zone 1 … clear! Zone 2 … clear!  Zone 3… clear!”  Each trooper sounded off as they exited the transport and scanned their assigned area. Sara’s turn to exit finally came.  She could feel her heart begin to race.  She stepped out of the transport and looked directly to the left and reported, “Zone 2 clear!”  Each trooper was assigned to visually check a zone for danger as they exited the transport.  Zone 1 was straight ahead, and was checked by the first person out of the transport.  Zone 2 was directly to the left, and zone 3 directly to the right.  Zone 4 was overhead.  Troopers would then repeat zone checks as they exited the transport.  Every trooper knew their assigned area to scan after exiting the transport.  Finally, after about thirty seconds, which felt like hours, all troopers had exited the transport in battle formation.  

With weapons drawn, facing the direction of the zone assigned, the troopers waited for the sergeant to exit the transport.  After exiting the transport, Sergeant Norman came across the comm line, “drop off complete!”  Commander Voss acknowledged, “confirmed Sergeant.  Proceed on a four, three, eleven formation.”  “Copy that, four, three, eleven,” Norman replied.  “Frost, Roderigues, Slater, Merrin, on point!  Ibara, Kono you are with me!  Everyone else rear formation.  Snow, Haroldson, you are on rear watch!”  Norman barked.  Without a verbal acknowledgement, all of the troopers fell into their positions. 

The atmosphere had become completely silent.  “Something was definitely wrong. There are no sounds of people.  No sounds of birds.  Nothing but total silence,” Sara thought to herself.  It was as if the very earth and heavens were afraid to be found.  There was no breeze, and the sun was completely obscured by the thick smoke.  The only sound Sara could hear was her own heartbeat, interrupted only momentarily by the sound of her breath.  “Ba-dump, Ba-dump, Ba-dump, haaaahhhh, Ba-dump, Ba-dump, Ba-dump.”  Looking at the biometric readouts on her visor, she could see that she was but one of many whose breathing was heavy and heart was racing.  She noticed that even the normally cool tempered Norman and Haroldson were just as nervous as she was.  

The comm line opened, “Troopers forward,” Norman ordered.  With a slight yet very uncharacteristic pause, the troopers began moving forward.  “Check the surroundings,” Norman ordered.  The troopers continued onward.  Every few minutes Norman would order again, “Check the surroundings.”  “As if anyone would forget to keep their eyes open," Sara thought to herself.  With each passing step, the troopers got more and more nervous.  “Why was this one so different from any other ghost hunt?” Sara thought.  “You would think that the other troopers would be used to calls like this; yet, everyone is so on edge.  Could it be because there was no authorization to kill it?  Or was it because they knew that the weapons they were carrying were of no use against this ghost?” Sara wondered.  “No time to think about it now!” Sara refocused herself.  

Each passing step drew the troopers closer to the unknown.  Each minute felt like hours.  About ten long minutes and about three hundred meters of travel on foot, after the troopers had unloaded from the transport the comm line opened.  “This is Sergeant Lewis, unit 37.  Does anyone copy?”  Sergeant Norman replied, “we copy Sergeant Lewis.  What is your location and situation? Over.”  “We are about a kilometer from the rendezvous point.  We lost sight of the flame dancer.  It is as if the damn thing vanished into thin air.”  Sergeant Lewis said, gasping for breath.  “We couldn’t find it when we dropped.  Then out of nowhere we were surrounded by flames.  We never saw it, but it got the transport.  Lane and Carter are dead.  The transport was completely incinerated.” Sergeant Lewis continued on.  

Bairon-Midley had been able to establish such a strong presence during the entirety of the Pan-Geo conflict; thanks, in part, to their location in the neutral zone, an area encompassing parts of Europe, Africa, and all of the Antarctic, between the two superpowers.  Focusing on the ghosts would push Bairon-Midley into the position of wealthiest entity ever known, but this feat came many years after the company’s inception.  Selling wares in the form of foods, beverages, vehicles, computer technology, and even weapons to both sides of the then Pan-Geo conflict would lead to their rise in both power and wealth.  Bairon-Midley would remain completely neutral during the entirety of the Pan-Geo conflict, which allowed them to remain in good graces with both sides during the war.  Furthermore, the company’s technology was completely proprietary, so no secrets were shared with either faction, and assured both factions were reliant on Bairon-Midley technology.

~Excerpt from The History of Bairon-Midley, Better Business Inquirer Magazine

Sergeant Norman came across the comm line, “did you copy that Commander ?” “Yes, I did,” Voss replied.  Voss turned to Huskins, “return to the drop off point.  We are picking up whatever remains of unit thirty seven.”  Huskins nodded in confirmation and began maneuvering the transport back towards the drop off point.  Commander Voss came back over the comm line, “Sergeant Lewis, home in on our transport and retreat to our location.  We will lift your unit out of here.” “Yessir!” replied Sergeant Lewis.  Commander Voss continued on, “Unit thirty-seven, This is Commander Voss.  I am taking over the operation.  You are to rendezvous with us for immediate evacuation.  Sergeant Lewis has been given the location for the pick up.  Unit thirty-eight you are to proceed on mission.  We will rendezvous with you at the pick up destination and time.  Until then, Sergeant Norman will be in charge.”

“You heard the man, proceed on mission,” Norman replied..  

Sara, struck by a moment of clarity thought, “that is why everyone is so nervous.  The other transport was missing.  Even though no one said anything, they all knew.  It was something so obvious.”  “Movement!! We have movement!!” Kano shouted across the comm line.  All troopers immediately faced forward, weapons drawn.  The movement off in the distance began to take shape through the smoke and dust.  First it was little more than a shadow with no definitive shape, an amorphous blob.  It slowly began to divide into smaller pieces that resembled small pawns on a chessboard.  Finally, the pawn-shaped shadows began to sharpen in detail.  It was the remains of unit 37.  They were at a full run towards unit 38.  

As unit 37 passed by unit 38 on their way to the transport.  A private comm channel opened to all the unit 38 members, and Sergeant Norman appeared.  “This makes no sense, they are running like they just had the fight of their lives, yet none of their suits have taken any damage and their ammunition readouts are all in the green.  It is as if they never fired a single shot”, Norman said.  Commander Voss replied, “Duly noted Sergeant.  Do you suspect that this is some kind of trap?”  Norman replied, “It is impossible to know sir.  We don’t even know the ghosts true capabilities.” Voss replied, “Then I will get their story as soon as they are on the transport.  I will relay a live feed directly to unit 38 in this channel.  Meanwhile, I will have Huskins E.C.O. shield the back of the transport just to be safe.  At least then, if it is some kind of trap, we know the weapons unit 37 is carrying can’t penetrate the shield.”  Norman stated, “roger that.”  Voss continued on, “I don’t want unit 37 or the ghost knowing we suspect anything.  Keep everything going as protocol dictates. “ “Yessir!” replied Norman.  

Just then Sara heard a woman’s voice that she didn’t recognize; yet it sounded very familiar.  The voice whispered, “It’s a trap….”  Sara’s heart began to race.  “How do you know that?” She replied across the unit 38 comm line.  At first silence came across the comm line, followed by Sergeant Norman asking, “How would I know what?  Private?”  Sara gasped and thought to herself, oh crap I blurted that out loud.  Why did I even respond to that?  It was none of my business!”  Sara swallowed hard and replied, “Nothing! Sir!  I had a momentary lapse in judgement and spoke out of turn.”  “I understand.  We are all nervous, private.  Get your nerves under control.” Sergeant Norman said.  

“Why did I respond to that?  I am the only woman in the unit; so, I should have known that had to be someone important.  And, now I have gone and made myself look hysterical in front of the other troopers.  Good grief!  They are never going to take me seriously!”  Sara thought to herself.  Sara slapped herself on the helmet and said to herself, “Get your head in the game girlie.  Just don’t respond to anything unless required!”