Fugitives
"Quite a view, isn't it?"
I wasn't expecting company but I knew who it was. What surprised me was how quickly he found me. His apology another surprise.
"What?"
"I'm sorry, Jammer. If I'd have kept Visari alive then maybe the Higs would've backed down."
"They wouldn't give him up without a fight and he might have been killed either way. At least you could blame it on the Helghast."
He lowered his eyes. "I know, but it doesn't change the fact the Higs are out for blood."
"Guess we're fugitives, huh? Makes me want to find Captain Narville that much more."
"Narville..." I could've sworn he said the name with contempt.
"I take it you don't like the captain?"
"Asshole is what he is. Wouldn't listen to a damn word I said."
"Maybe if you listened to him when dealing with Visari we wouldn't be in this mess."
"If I did listen to him then your sorry ass wouldn't be standing here." He had a point.
"Where should we go then, sarge?" My question ended the silence growing between us. "It's not like we can stay here unless you wanna live like a rat."
He shook his head. "If we had an Intruder, we'd have a better chance of gettin' off this rock."
"I still say we try and find Narville. Our chances of leaving this planet alive would be a lot higher." I tried smiling to get him to come around. He started heading back to the stairs. To say I was getting a little pissed was the understatement of the year. "Why won't you just go to Narville," I snapped. "It's not like he's gonna convene a court martial when he's got so little men left! You might just have a chance to change his mind."
"I can't and I won't. I don't care what he thinks; the man's a coward. There's only two ways to get off this rock: his way and my way." He looked me in the eye. "We tried his way. Do you see stars around you? No, and I'll tell you why: because you listened to Narville and look where it ended up."
"There's always a third option."
He shook his head in disbelief. "You wouldn't last five minutes out there. The Higs would gut you and I won't let that happen."
I spread my arms out. "I made it an hour or two so far, haven't I? If that proves anything, it's this: I don't need you or your bullshit to make it out of here." Fact is I would need Velasquez if I had any hope of getting out in one piece. For the moment, I still had every right to bitch.
"Fuck you then. I don't even know why I bothered saving your bitch ass." He flipped me the bird but stayed on the rooftop. I wouldn't budge either, so we ended up spending what felt like an hour in complete silence.
I started shivering like a pathetic little dog while the sergeant took the weather in stride. I would definetly need that toughness, but I started wondering why so far I was the one who had to make all the damn sacrifices. I slid against the wall next to him, not forgetting we were still at odds. We sat there twiddling our thumbs until I remembered the rest of the men.
"The others downstairs?"
"They're back at the truck."
"What?! What happened to 'I don't leave people behind'?"
"They're there for their own safety. I can't afford to lose anyone."
"So you left them there to come get me? Am I worth the lives of three guys?"
"Now that you mention it," he said looking at the sky, "one man over three ain't worth it." He grabbed his LMG and turned into the stairwell.
Why I stayed on the roof for as long as I did I have no idea, but it gave me more time to think. Here I had another warm body looking out for me even through the crap I gave him. Truth is: I wanted someone or something to keep the fire going in between killing Higs. Velasquez was an easy target because he knew he did wrong. Maybe time would allow me to forgive, but for now I grit my teeth and met up with him in what was once the cafeteria.
He was in the kitchen looking for provisions. He picked up and dropped cans while I placed my rifle on the counter.
"You find anything good," I asked after a minute.
He tossed me the can.
"Can you read Hig?"
"Of course I can." I ran a finger across the words. "Hmm... 'Noodles with meat sauce, just add water.' Sounds yummy." I placed the can back on the counter. "I wouldn't drink the water here."
He nodded in agreement and went back to browsing. "All of these cans say the same thing. This one looks promising." He tossed me another can.
"'Powdered Chicken Breast.' Would you eat this stuff, honestly?" I placed the can on the counter where a small pile was beginning to build.
"I know this isn't fine dining like you're used to, but we got no time to be picky."
In the end we settled for the insta-noodles, the powdered breast and "Diced Beef in meat sauce," names so inspiring you couldn't help but dig in. Velasquez emptied one of his satchels to fit the cans.
"How good are you with grenades," he asked.
"You pull the pin and throw it."
"Alright, wiseass; here," he handed me the remaining grenades from his satchel. In addition to our MREs the food would be enough to hold us over for a month if we conserved. When the bag was filled we retrieved our weapons.
"Now what?" My question echoed through the mess hall.
"Isn't it obvious? Head back to the men."
"Hope there are men to get back to. How'd you know where I was anyway?"
He slung the satchel over his shoulder and motioned me to follow. "We all have to stick together," he said after a bit.
"It wouldn't have anything to do with the fact that I'm a girl, would it?"
"What you got between your legs doesn't interest me; it's what you got in your arms."
I looked at my rifle. "Look at you, trying to be a gentleman."
We were forced to grope around for a way out. There was still no radio chatter.
Through the darkness echoed the creak of a door. Light from Helghan's moon came streaming in as Velasquez stepped through the threshold.
We were back in the cold with nothing but the wind whistling through the abandoned avenue.
"We're gonna have to take the back alleys if we want to make it back to the others in one piece," Velasquez suggested. He pointed over to a dark side street.
We wound through it and more endless alleyways and backstreets before hitting a dead end. He gave me a boost and I almost lost my arms trying to pull him up. On the other side of the wall was another alley leading to a boulevard. Once we reached the road, we were hit with more silence. Why weren't they trying harder to look for us?
"Weird, isn't it?"
The question caught me off guard. "What? That it's quiet?"
"Yeah... too quiet." He tried listening from another angle. After a while I heard it too: treads. We slipped back into the alley as an armored patrol marched past. The searchlight lit up the alleyway but missed us. Maybe it was part of the same patrol I spotted earlier? The troops sure looked the same; then again nearly every Hig looked the same to me.
One trooper broke off from the group to take a leak. After the last trickle he picked up his rifle and dashed out of the alley, leaving us with smell of piss. Once the patrol passed us by we snuck a quick look and, with the sergeant taking the lead, made our way into another alley across the street. Helghan rats the size of a puppy bolted in front of me, squeaking all the way. I hate rats and it took everything I had to follow them down the backstreet and over a chain link fence. It was my turn to scope out the scene.
The overpass was within view. I motioned Velasquez over and pointed it out to him.
"That's it, alright."
"How'd you manage to get down from there?" I followed his finger over to a section of the highway collapsed into another building a block away. The street looked clear enough. I stepped into the light but felt a strong hand jerk me back.
"What the-?"
Velasquez covered my mouth and ordered me to shut it. It took me a while to hear the sniffing. War dogs. Judging from the excited shouts coming from their handlers, the dogs managed to catch my scent. Or that of piss. Either way the path led right to us. The sergeant pushed me to the other side of the alley and prepped his LMG. We had no other choice; a dog was hard to trick and even harder to avoid.
The dog rounded the corner, ears up and bright orange goggles focused on the ground. Horrible memories of the Invasion of Vekta came flooding back. If the dogs then were the same dogs used now, then they'd still have the titanium teeth attachment capable of slicing through a femur. I didn't have much of a chance then, but I sure as hell did now.
The yelps more than the gunshots alerted the handlers to our position. They came at us with S-FOX machine pistols but didn't have a chance to fire them; they plopped right next to their dogs. We cleared the street and two more alleys before reaching the building leading up to the highway.
Where a squad of Helghast were standing around a Troop Carrier.
"Damn it," Velasquez whispered. "They weren't there earlier."
"Any ideas," I asked as I loaded a fresh clip. I was ready to fight; the sergeant wasn't which was a big deal. He looked for a way around but the 'Ghast would catch us before we made it halfway.
"We wait, I guess." He lowered his weapon but never took his eyes off the enemy. One of them exited the building, communicated something through the radio and ordered his men onto the carrier. It carried them off and away from the building. We waited a bit, hearing nothing.
Then came the gunfire. M82s. From the highway.
I didn't need to hear the order; I followed Velasquez as he darted across the street and through the building. We helped each other onto the rooftop and raced up the incline, making sure not to trip over the iron bars hidden between cracks in the asphalt. Once on the highway, the gunfire blew up our ears. We headed in the direction of the eighteen-wheeler, dodging burned out cars and mangled street lamps.
The truck was pelted by automatic fire and roasted by the Troop Carrier's mounted flamethrower. The sergeant urged me to pick up the pace.
We both heard the whoosh of the ATAC cutting the air above us. We rolled over and behind cars, the mech following us every step of the way. It launched a few rockets at us, alerting the others to our position. Lucky for us they stayed focus on our guys. It wasn't much to go on seeing as the ATAC kept trying to whittle us down with lead and maneuvers. Without rockets we had to rely on attrition to bring it down.
Velasquez started off with a few well-placed shots at the ATAC's missile bays. The wasp swung away and got a bead on me. I followed the sarge's example and aimed for the missile bays. The ATAC fired from the other bay. The rocket slammed into the asphalt a few feet away and sent me into a car. Glass shattered from the force of the impact and for a split second my back felt funny. The mech swooped in for the kill but another barrage from the LMG got its attention.
The feeling returned to my body. I picked up the rifle and dashed under and away from the machine. It caught sight of me and adjusted its strategy. The LMG fired continued, this time pelting the exhaust ports on the back of the ATAC. Smoke and flame trailed from it as it spun around, launching a salvo at the sergeant. Running and gunning kept him out of the path of the incoming missiles. The ATAC spun until it had an optimal view of the field. Unlike the Heavy this baby wasn't gonna go down easy.
We laid down the payback on the missile bays. It swung around us, leaving a solid trail of red light in a ring above our heads. The ATAC's armor shimmered in the moonlight as it sent stream of bullets at either of us. I whipped out one of the grenades and chucked it at the machine while it was distracted by LMG fire. For a brief moment the ATAC jerked uneasily but caught its footing and swerved around to try and shred me.
The LMG laid into the rear of the ATAC. Unstable but still capable of handing out death, the ATAC chewed up the asphalt with its guns. The sergeant paused to reload and in that time the ATAC got a bead on him.
My turn. I sent the drum of A.R. rounds into the beast, strafing until I had to reload. It took my rounds and spun around to fire off a rocket. I was caught in the middle of reloading; I dropped my rifle and rolled away. The rocket destroyed my rifle, leaving me with nothing but grenades and a jammed pistol. I pulled out a grenade and tossed it at the ATAC. It missed. Deciding not to risk anymore grenades, I crawled behind a car and waited for Velasquez's withering barrage. When it came I pulled out the M4 and tried unjamming it. It fought back the first few times but smoothed itself out. I aimed at the ATAC and fired.
The familiar thunderclap of the pistol echoed off the guardrails as the bullets got the ATAC's attention. I rolled out of cover but was cut off by the chain gun pointed at my chest. That's when Velasquez got behind it and unloaded everything he had. The mech slammed into a wrecked car. The force of the explosion knocked me and the sergeant into each other.
We came to a second later. The eighteen-wheeler was melting.
"Those animals," the sarge growled. He started running to the rescue but I held him back.
"Don't try it or you'll die too."
"What're you talking about? I just took down a fucking ATAC."
"We took it down and barely! Come on; we have to get out before the Higs remember we're here."
"I'm not going to run-"
The M4 went straight to his lips.
"You will this time."
We leapt off the overpass and into the building before the Helghast could reach us. It took all night but we managed to leave Pyrrhus. We were on the lam now, fugitives in a world we knew nothing about.
I came to Helghan with an invasion force 250,000 strong and armed to the teeth, a debt to repay, an Intruder to call my own, and my best friend.
All I had now was Sergeant Velasquez.