Successfully Broken

by AFWidget

The pink glove lay on the ground, almost completely covered in blood and dirt. How will our Captions react if they are too late to rescue their friends?

The pink glove lay on the ground, almost completely covered in blood and dirt. The cell in which they were standing was real and was not bigger than most broom closets. It was also so far in the ground that the Feds hadn't even put in real floors, just dirt with cement walls erected. Hanging on the walls were chains and shackles that would hold captives there with their arms elevated above their heads until released. There was blood covering the floor and parts of the walls. Some on the blood looked fresh and some looked weeks old. Upon further investigation the Captains noticed the red, lightish red, steel and yellow scratches next to the chains. Their friends were here at one point. But no more. How long were they chained in this room? What had happened here? So many questions with no answers. Just one absolute truth; they were too late.

This should not have been such a shock to them as it was. There were plenty of signs. First there was next to no Feds here. Two days ago Grif and Polomo had done a scouting mission to see just what they were up against. They reported back that they had dozens of sentries on the exterior and from what they could tell by eavesdropping, there were even more inside. They knew that this was not going to be an easy task by any means. But today there were only a handful outside on patrol. It was easy enough to take them out. Tucker decided that they should stay in teams of two and take out as many as they could from a distance. In less than 20 minutes all of the exterior patrols were down, and no more came out to join them. Clue one. The flash drive also mentioned that there were high level holographic locks that they would have to crack to enter the building, which was why Bitters had practiced his skills for two straight days. He was already good, but they needed him to be perfect as to not alert the Feds that they were there. But there were no locks on any of the doors that they encountered. Clue two. The final clue was that the farther they went in to the bowels of the enemy encampment the less Feds they actually ran in to. They only encountered one Fed once they entered the lowest level of the base. There should have been at least 15 on this level alone. But it was all too quiet. Clue three. For a moment they thought that they all might survive and get their friends back. The second they reached the cell where the intel had said they were hiding they knew they were wrong.

Simmons spotted Donuts glove almost immediately upon entering the cells in which their friends should be. His cyborg eye detecting the foreign material against the organic matter of the dirt on the ground. They all just stood there. Silently. After the initial shock wore off, the Captains snapped out of it. The Lts knew that this was not supposed to happen. Their Captains friends should have been here. But they were not. What they were not prepared for was what would happen next and how they each would have to handle the four of them.

Tucker snapped out of it first and with the had the biggest reaction. He shouted and screamed not caring who heard. He let all of the anguish out by punching the walls of the cell. He would have probably broken his hands if Polomo hadn't stepped in and stopped him. Polomo just looked at Tucker while he was attacking the wall knew that he would not stop until he broke the wall down, and Polomo knew that he would sooner break his hands. So mid swing he grabbed Tuckers arms and held them to his side while he just screamed and fell to his knees. This was so unfair. All of the work they had done, the training, the scouting, being patient. All for what, for nothing but a fucking glove.

Caboose swore that this is wrong and they have to be here somewhere. Another cell, another level, something, anything. After all of this work they were not about to go home empty handed. He knew they were here. They were just playing a game is all. Washington and Donut knew how he loved to play Hide-and-Seek all of the time. They were just playing. All they had to do was keep looking and they would find them. Smith walked up to Caboose and just hugged him and told him that everything would be alright and that they won't stop looking until they find them. Caboose knew that, but they needed to look in the other cells now. They could be there now. Just waiting to be found. Smith took Caboose out of the cell to try to explain that they were not hiding in this base anymore, but all they had to do was keep looking and they would be found one day. Caboose did not seem to understand right away. Of course they were here, why wouldn't they be? Smith sat him down and tried again and again to explain it. Eventually he told Caboose that he was such a good seeker that his friends are challenging him to the best game ever, so they moved. Smith did not like lying to him like that, but he needed to understand that they were not here anymore and that they had to move on to the next base. Once Caboose understood that, Smith led him out of the base, out to the fresh air and cool breeze that he hoped would help Caboose realize that not all is lost.

Grif just stared at the red on the wall, not moving, barely breathing. Bitters was wondering what he was feeling at all. Nothing was showing on the outside. Until he looked down at Grifs hands. They were balled into fists and they were shaking. Bitters was confused. Grifs CO Sarge did nothing but insult him all day, everyday. Grif even told Bitters about the song his Sarge wrote about his death that he would sing every night. But Grif just stood there brooding and thinking. Staring at the red scratches on the wall and the blood that was under it. This is where his Sarge was kept, and tortured by the looks of it. Bitters was able to snap Grif out of this trance by saying that it is getting late and handing him some of his favorite treats, Oreo s. Grif took them and headed out of the cell, seeing all that he had to see. Shortly he joined Smith and Caboose and waited for the other two.

Simmons picked up the lone glove on the ground and examined it. He was sure it belonged to their lightish red rookie. Even though Donut had been with them for years, he would always be the red team rookie to him. He used to cyborg parts to analyze the blood on the ground and the walls. He concluded that they belonged to three different people, but there was not enough to kill any of them. Wound and probably enough to make them pass out, but not kill. He had taken samples of everyone's blood when he noticed this ability when he could distinguish blood samples from one another. Sarge in Blood Gulch when he was shot in the head, Donut when Washington had shot him and Washington on Sidewinder when they fought the Meta. It has come in handy today. The most he noticed belong to Agent Washington. He would keep that data from Tucker. Wash was probably trying to keep the others alive by taking most of the damage himself. Either from guilt or because he had been prisoner many times before. Sarge was next. Donut was last. He could not help but think and analyze what could have done this. Jensen came up behind him suddenly and said that they are still alive, and that has to be for a reason right? Simmons knew she was right and he could not take looking and over thinking at this site anymore so he nodded to Jensen and then headed out behind Grif.

Polomo eventually got Tucker to follow Simmons, Grif, and Caboose out of the base. They had been too late, but knew that they were still alive and that was enough for right now, even if it did not feel like. They just had to keep looking. The eight of them headed back to base, with low spirits and morale. They still had to report the findings of the mission back to Kimball. So they loaded into the warthogs and headed back to Rebel base camp, with three less than they had hoped for. The only part of the mission that went to plan was the fact that they did not lose a single solider. For that they were thankful. This mission left them successfully broken. They know their friends are alive, maybe not well, but they could take care of that when they found them. They will find them. They did not lose any more comrades this time, however, their goal of getting their leaders and friends back seemed to just slip through their fingers. The plan worked halfway, no one was killed while attempting the rescue, however the rescue was not meant to be this time. One day it will be though. That is what the eight of them thought as the left the Federal base and headed back to the Rebels camp.

What none of them noticed was the small camera in the top left corner of the room with the blinking red light. It was still recording and feeding to another top level Federal base with no one other than Locus on the other end. Realizing that he had more ammunition to use against the prisoners to try to get information out of them. He noticed how much they cared for each other, and that was something that he could use. He was told he could not harm the prisoners, but Control said nothing of the other simulation troopers. He was going to kill all four of them and record each kill. He then hit record and kept the video in his video logs for when the time seemed right to show his prisoners. He would show them this first, get their hopes up for rescue then one at a time he would show the deaths of all of their friends. He would get his answers one way or another. He just had to be patient and wait for the right time to strike.