and another chapter. one more and i'll be done with Anya's past. enjoy!
Don't dwell on what went wrong. instead, focus on what to do next. Spend your energies on moving forward, toward finding the answer. –Denis Waitley
Lone Sniper, Pittsburg, October, 2031
Anya took a deep breath, hoping to steady herself. It had only been a few days since the ambush, just long enough for them to have gone to ground, discover that Wyatt was still alive, find his location, and plan to break him out. Molina and herself were set up in a building with an M110 from storage in his hands, Anya still using her rifle, simply resting on sand bags rather than a bipod, using a table in the room as a shooting bench, so that they weren't sticking their rifle barrels out the window. She glanced nervously at the soldier beside her, barely noticing his comforting smile.
"We'll get him back Anya. Don't you worry about that." She groaned, focusing on her scope again.
"I can't help it! I caused this mess!" she heard Molina sigh as she focused on the building the KPA was using as 'police station' it was a two story office building, lots of windows to see into, with cells built into the basement. There was an abandoned three story building beside it that Liz, Brandon, and Cameron were currently working their way through. Anya and Molina were several blocks away, in a multistory apartment building with a very clear view on both buildings, able to see the soldiers patrolling on the roof.
"No. you didn't. no use worrying about the past. We have one goal. Clear the roof, cover the team. You spot, I shoot. Hold your fire until the party starts." She nodded, trying to focus herself on the task at hand. there were shockingly few guards on the roof. And even so, they were spread out, clustered in ones and twos. "Ready?" she closed her eyes and took a deep breath before she responded.
"Yeah. lets do this." He didn't respond to her, her eyes focusing on the roof. "What are we going to do about those two guards. They are right where the others need to go." He was silent for a few seconds before he spoke.
"I can handle that. Tell me if the others are looking, this is going to tricky." She nodded, putting as much of the roof into her scope as she could. All of the guards were looking elsewhere.
"Your-" she didn't get to finish, a pair of loud clacks hitting her ears as the weapon beside her cycled. She barely saw the two soldiers dropped, so quick that they barely were able to respond.
"Next?" she thought quickly looking at the four others on the roof. Two were watching the opposite side, one the far, one the close. The far was closer to the two dropped soldiers, and must have heard something as he was beginning to turn that way.
"Far. Now!" he reacted faster than she ever could, another loud clack, followed by the soldier clutching his leg. She heard him curse, but it was already to late, the second clack silencing a scream they couldn't hear.
"Go loud! Ten minutes, in and out!" she was already reacting, firing on the pair that was turning. The unfamiliar crack of her rifle bit at her ears, followed by one of the soldiers dropping. She quickly worked the bolt, barely managing to do so in a decent amount of time. The second soldier was running for a vent fan for cover. She fired her second round, not breathing the way she Wyatt and Molina had taught her. the round hit the gravel of the roof, powderizing some of it and blasting it into the air. She cursed, working the bolt again, only to see a burst of red on the other side of his head, synced up with a clack beside her. her attention dropped to the lower floors, panicking. Her next shot missed as well, shattering one of the windows and nothing more. She worked the bolt again, trying to fire again. When she did, one of the soldiers dropped his weapon, clutching at his arm. Her fifth round yielded better results, seeing the white clad soldier drop. Movement on the roof drew her attention, seeing her friends up on the roof. Two more soldiers were on the roof, a pair of bursts from Brandon and Cameron dropping them. She quickly started reloading her weapon, freezing as Molina spoke. "Everyone, get the hell out of there! Enemy drone's inbound!" She panicked, dropping a pair of the rounds she was trying to load. The drones were small quad rotor craft, not much bigger than a large dog. A pair of five five six caliber miniguns, small enough to actually be hand carried, were mounted on each of them. They didn't have enough ammo for an extended fight, but their mobility made a long firefight highly unlikely. Two of them instantly opened fire. It only took a couple of seconds for them to stop firing, emptying their two hundred and forty round belts in a couple of seconds. It was enough devastation to shred four furrows in the roof top. She screamed as Brandon was caught in two of the tracer filled streams, at least four tracers lancing into his body. She knew that tracers were generally spaced five rounds apart. He wasn't moving after he hit the ground. She panicked, barely managing to focus on one of the unspent drones. Her heave round tor into it's light chassis, but likely didn't hit anything vital. She worked the bolt as it moved to flank Camron and Liz, seeing a black lance leap away from her bow. It embedded itself in one of the rotor stabs, going through and disrupting the rotor. It spun out of the air, but while they had been distracted, a whole squad had moved onto the roof, several different rifles firing into the now exposed Liz.
"Liz!" Anya couldn't believe her eyes as she watched her friend fall. she almost didn't notice as the last drone flanked Cameron. It emptied it's entire load of munitions into him. The amount of blood on the roof from the burst of fire was all she could see. Everything else seemed to simply drop out of her mind. She stared, unbelieving of the scene before her.
"Anya! We have to go!" she barely registered his voice, or his grip as he tried to drag her from the table. She didn't even know she was crying until a crack ripped through the room, Molina gasping as he fell to the floor. It seemed to snap her out of her trance, slinging her rifle before she grabbed the handle on his armor, dragging him from the room.
Wanderer, Denver, December, 2031
I smiled as I watched Anya sleep , her head resting on my lap, both of us stripped of our armor and gear. She had been a little fitful in her sleep earlier, but now, that seemed to have passed. It had been several hours since the running fight with the Oni, and to be perfectly honest, I was starving. But, not only did I still hurt from being hit with an impromptu stun baton, I didn't want to wake Anya, who had quickly fallen asleep. Running like we had on an injured leg was not an easy feat, and whether she admitted it or not, was more than likely excruciating. I sighed, glancing over at the little girl, curled completely under my jacket. She had been sobbing quietly earlier, but Anya had managed to calm her enough to get her to go to sleep, which seemed to be what everyone wanted to do right now, the dog included. Roxy was pressed firmly up against Anya's back, resting her chin on Anya's shoulder as she snored happily away. I rolled my eyes at the dog, wishing I could sleep like she could, like there wasn't a single bad thing in the world. And, given the fact that we were still in enemy territory, one of us had to stay awake. As much as the KPA would love to, we couldn't afford to be discovered while asleep. Hell, we couldn't afford to be discovered at all. I almost jumped when Anya suddenly spoke, myself so lost in my own mind that I hadn't noticed her shift.
"Well hi Roxy. Does she do this to you?" her voice was very soft, more half asleep still than anything else.
"Yeah. the big scary war dog just loves to cuddle." She chuckled softly, accidently waking the dog and earning herself several licks of the face before she could sit up, Roxy happily plopping herself between us.
"Well, I guess she's just like her owner than. Big and scary on the outside, all soft and fuzzy on the inside." I grunted at her, the barest trace of a smile fighting it's way onto my face.
"Not even close Anya." She sighed, her voice darkening a bit.
"It's barely been two months since I wasn't single." I barely glanced at her, speaking before I could really stop myself.
"Gee, I half expected you to not be single." She glared at me, myself not noticing the slight smirk on her face.
"What, do I strike you as someone who would cheat on the person she's with?" I froze, my brain struggling to find a suitable answer. The cold room suddenly seemed quite warm, and not quite comfortably so.
"No! I…. um, i…. I just….. I mean you really seem like someone who wouldn't be single! i… fuck that sounds just as bad, I….. you're too beautiful to be single!" I suddenly froze, not even realizing what I had said until after I said it. she chuckled softly, gently patting my shoulder.
"Smooth, tough guy." I glared at her, realizing that she had been teasing me.
"You are just fucking with me aren't you?" she laughed, reaching over the dog to half hug me.
"A little bit, yeah. i….. want to talk to you about something though. Serious." I nodded, simply watching her. "My brother….. I'm…. I was the reason he was captured." I sighed, gently squeezing her shoulder.
"Anya, what the KPA does is on them. Not you." She shook her head, several tears leaking out of her eyes.
"You don't get it though! We were targeted because I decided to shoot a fucking general! I didn't ask anyone else, I didn't think about it, I just did! everyone is dead because of me! Liz, her dad, Brandon, Molina… Cameron….. they are all dead because I didn't think about what I was doing! We didn't have the people to deal with the shit storm killing one of their leaders causes!" she was sobbing into her hands, shuddering slightly.
"That isn't your fault Anya. You all agreed to fight, didn't you?" she nodded and I continued. "That means they all knew what they were getting into. If anything, those who are dead now, are better off. Because they don't have to be here in this suffering anymore." She just continued to sob, another sigh slipping out of my mouth. My voice caught in my throat as I decided on what to say, closing my eyes for a second before I spoke. "Anya, I watched my entire family get butchered. My sister, my parents….. not long after, I watched as my girlfriend of the time was executed. And when I finally found a place to call home again, even to the point of finding someone I loved, the KPA destroyed all of it." I wasn't looking at her anymore. I couldn't. I couldn't let her see how many tears were rolling down my cheeks.
"Damien?" I shuddered, still unwilling to look at her.
"and to make it all worse, the first person I killed, wasn't even a KPA soldier! It was….." I choked, completely unable to say her name. I swallowed several times before I managed to continue. "I loved her. And I killed her." Anya was suddenly in front of me, falling across my chest as she wrapped her arms around my shoulders, my own arms wrapping around her. she was sobbing into my uniform top as my own tears slipped off my cheek and into her hair, oddly finding myself comforted by holding her like this.
"Damien….. what happened that you….. killed her?" she had pushed herself up, just enough to look me in the face. I looked away, unable to look her in the eye. I found myself fearing how she might react, hesitating telling her. "Damien?"
"I….we… I had been out on a patrol. She decided to try to sneak up on me, as a joke. So we were away from the base when they attacked. When I was with that special forces group. She was with me while I was trying to save the dogs. When the roof gave way….." I froze again, unable to stop the memories from surfacing. "She was trapped under an I-beam. I tried and tried to get her out, and that's how I burned my hands. In the end, she was doused by some sort of fuel line or something and well….. I shot her. she was screaming in utter agony, her pelvic region was crushed…. And I killed her…." Anya used one hand to gently force me to look her in the eye, just before she kissed me yet again, much shorter than the first time, and yet, somehow sweeter.
"I'm sorry. I wish I had something better to say, or do, but, I'm sorry." I nodded, simply pulling her closer.
"You do enough Anya. Do me a favor?" she didn't try to pull away, just angling her head away from my chest so I would hear her.
"Sure, what's up?"
"Don't blame yourself anymore. I know that's a tall order, but it's time to move on. For both of us." she nodded, myself feeling more than seeing the motion. I wasn't really sure how long we had been sitting there when my stomach grumbled. I was about to speak when I realized that Anya had fallen asleep again, a small smile on her face. She seemed so peaceful now, as if there wasn't a single stress in the entire world. I sighed, not really wanting to wake her, but knowing I had to. "Anya?" she didn't stir at my whispered voice, so I gently shook her, earning a small groan from the woman as she glared at me.
"Something up?" I shook my head, her glare quickly becoming a smile.
"I hate to say this but we should get a move on. It's still a few hours movement to get to the homestead, and we need to get out of this search area. We've been lucky so far, but that could change at any moment." She sighed and nodded, rolling over so she could sit up. As soon as she was standing, I was up and strapping my gear back on, while she woke the girl up, not needing as much time as I did. she nodded to me and I returned it before slipping my helmet on and plugging the HUD system in, hoping the enemy was using their IFF.
Lone sniper
Anya smiled as she walked through the tunnel leading into the homestead. Tunnels were the only way in or out of the homestead. Most were total mazes, the actual route toward the base being extremely well hidden. The KPA had even tried to explore the tunnels, the maze of passages, misleading markers, and near impossible to find real routes, caused them to be unable to find their way. This, and similar tunnels constructed by resistance cells across the country, had caused the KPA to develop the tunnel bots. She had seen several tunnels collapsed, and noticed that certain tunnels seemed different than the others. All were marked with symbols and colors, Damien seemed to be following a blue triangle shape, with a small dent in the center. She had seen several variants, the dent shifting places on some of the symbols. Similar symbols were all across the tunnel system, but none had the dent. To a casual observer, they may not notice the dents, or think they were just marks made during the digging, but no other blue triangles had the dents.
"So I'm guessing the tunnels are easier to navigate than they look?" Wander stopped for a second, his helmet light blinding her until he flicked it off. She had the little girls hand, and had been leading her along.
"Yeah, if you know what your doing. Blue dented triangles mark the way home. Red arrows mark alternate routes to a route home, so do yellow octagons. Most others are now booby trapped. KPA stopped trying to map the tunnels after they learned that." She smirked, having seen all of those symbols. "Also, an X carved over a tunnel system is a blocked tunnel. They try to keep up with the bots, but we still gotta be careful." She nodded and he got back to leading the way. Before long, they reached one of the rock doors used to cover the final stretches of the main tunnel. They were manned positions, a set of mirrors and magnifiers painstakingly installed to allow the guard to see the people on the other side. A section of rock moved, Roxy leading the way through. The guard on the other side smirked at the dog, seeing them coming in. he stopped Wander, glancing at the girl.
"What happened?" she saw a tear slip out of Wander's eyes.
"Oni, we weren't followed, or traced. You can check." He smirked, glancing at an old tablet sitting at his station.
"We installed scanners into the approach tunnels. You put off the same signal as a drone, but it aint KPA?" he groaned before he suddenly unbuckled the camelback looking pouch on his back.
"Yeah, sorry. I-F-F and HUD. Forgot to turn the gear off. Shouldn't need to but better safe than sorry though." He opened a Velcro compartment on it, letting him switch it off. "Need to charge it anyway." He smirked, pressing a button, hydraulics moving the rock back into position.
"You and the Colonel. Same shit, different time. Sorry about what happened to them." He shrugged, and she could tell he was grinding his teeth.
"Forget it. come on Anya. Not far now." she nodded, following him. It didn't take long for them to start making their way up the ramp leading into the cul-de-sac that was the headquarters for the Denver resistance. They were instantly being intercepted by the local cell's leader.
"Thank god. Wander, the KPA figured out the tunnels. Homestead is still secure but the others are in danger. We need your help." Wander was instantly reacting, unslinging his weapon.
"Ruck, where, now." he pointed inside and Anya followed him. They were led back to the rooms, anya only stopping by her room to grab her M468. When she stepped into his room, he had his pack open, pulling out ammo and stuffing it away before he reloaded his empty pistol magas soo as he was done, he removed the electronics suite off his back again, his radio still hooked up to a pouch on it. he flicked it on before he tapped a few commands on his wrist pad.
"This is Wander. Broken Arrow imminent. I repeat, Broken Arrow imminent. Need immediate support, whatever can be scrambled to Denver, local B-net is online, targets to follow, over!" an unfamiliar voice filled the room after he spoke.
"We are barely reading you. Reconfirm, Broken Arrow, over?" Wander was almost instant in responding.
"Confirmed, Broken Arrow. Need immediate air or support assets, over." She heard a curse over the radio, just before the voice returned.
"Alright, Basilisk is scrambling now. E-T-A, fifteen mikes, how copy?" Wander smiled for the barest trace of a second before responding.
"Alright, solid copy, Basilisk en route. Target data to follow, over." he unplugged his radio from his pack, leaving it on the floor he grabbed a small device from his ruck, plugging the radio into it before securing that to his gear. "Anya, I need you to stay here, monitor this comm gear, keep it running. This will be our lifeline. Jason, get her a coax cable to your antenna, this gear will need the booster to reach the other outposts. I need you to get the laser designators up. Basilisk is gonna bring the rain, we just gotta buy time. Got it?" the cell leader nodded before rushing out. Anya stopped Wander as he stood to leave, unclipping her leg carrier with the ammo for her assault rifle.
"Wander, take my rifle. If you are going to war, take something a little more fitting for a modern fight. I'll take your rifle. Just in case. I'm…. sorry I don't have more ammo." He just shrugged, setting his rifle down before unclipping his bandolier. It didn't take him long to slip the drop down carrier of ammo on before he accepted the rifle. "Damien…. Good luck, okay?" he smirked before slipping his helmet off, just to kiss her for a second.
"Don't need it. stay safe." And with that, he left the room, leaving Anya and the girl alone in the room, Roxy having followed him out.