Cali crouched invisible in the thick, overgrown bushes at the edge of the forest's clearing, taking care to stay as still as he could. Hawaii was but a motionless shadow beside him, her camouflage unit activated.
Around the edges of the field they faced, the periodic sharp click of Mini's rifle reverberated back to him, alongside what he thought might be the softer click of Braska's sniper rifle.
He tensed, waiting for the signal of the started distraction as - one by one - the military-grade security cameras surrounding compact concrete and metal base fell limp.
Michigan had been right, the base was small. No space in the surrounding forests for any sort of landing pad, nonetheless the Insurrectionists' tank that they had somehow fit against the side of the base. Cali wondered how the structure even managed to fit the estimated twenty soldiers that Useless' team had counted.
Suddenly, a loud boom shook the bushes around them, and several of the massive trees on the other side of the base toppled down, their trunks splitting. Gunshots and even more explosions followed, and Cali jumped up as his radio crackled to life.
"Have fun, you two!" Mini's voice echoed cheerfully through the radio, their symbol to get moving. Cali leapt out of his hiding spot, aware of Hawaii on his heels as he sprinted across the small gap in the clearing. He stopped just a few feet short of the metal doorway that was the back entrance of the Insurrectionist base, prepared to throw a grenade to blow it open, when Hawaii sprinted past him, energy sword in hand. She carved through the door in one fluid swing, shouldering it down easily, and took the lead as it crashed to the ground.
They moved more slowly this time, swiftly checking every side room for any sign of the main control room, and setting bombs along the way. More than once, small squads of soldiers came to meet them, and Cali almost laughed each time he and Hawaii mowed them down almost too easily, blades in hand. Until he counted over ten soldiers coming to greet him at one time, and his glee was cut short. Something didn't add up. And judging by Hawaii's recoiled reaction, she knew it too.
"Mini, how many soldiers do you have out there." Cali picked up the radio as he searched another side room, this time growling with frustration as he was met with yet another empty room.
"My guess is way more than fucking twenty." Mini said. Cali heard the rapid fire of her rifles through the radio, followed by even more gunshots.
"Did you track where they came from?" Hawaii's voice met their ears as Cali ducked out of the side room, heading back towards the main corridor. He met up with Hawaii, and shook his head, huffing with frustration as she imitated him. Yet another fruitless search.
"No." Mini replied, sounding worried, "It looked like they all came from the base, but-" She cut off suddenly, and Cali's spine chilled as a guttural scream echoed through the radio. Followed by even more screaming.
"What's going on out there!" Hawaii said harshly, more an order than a question. He looked towards her, and saw the same fear echoed in the way she tensed up, poised as if ready to race out there and help them at any moment.
"We've lost two men!" Mini yelped, her voice trembling. "Oklahoma was shot. And Alabama… his scream… his head was crushed by the tank! " Her voice started trembling even more, and Cali winced. He couldn't help but imagine the spatter of blood and brains and bone underneath the crushed helmet. Things were getting out of hand.
"Stay out of the firing line." Hawaii spoke up, her voice firm yet sympathetic and gentle, "We're coming to join you." She turned towards Cali, and he nodded grimly. Puzzle pieces clicked together gently in his mind, but now wasn't the time to speculate about anything. The others needed their help.
"Our search turned up nothing." Cali added, before Mini could ask, "This place is almost completely empty."
There was no reply as he and Hawaii raced through the last portion of the base, shoving open doors quickly just to confirm what he said. A task that proved useless in the end. As they sprinted out into the shadowed light of the clearing, Cali paused to assess the situation, stunned.
There were Insurrectionist soldiers everywhere. Grey and Red armour filling his vision. Hawaii ran past him without hesitating, throwing herself into the fray. Cali drew out his katanas, and followed, slicing into the closest soldiers from behind. They didn't even seem to notice, too focused on the four freelancers still alive in front of them.
Hawaii grabbed the gun out of the hands of a corpse and fired, mowing down a dozen soldiers easily. Cali switched one of his katanas out for his throwing knives, and targeted the snipers above them, perched on the roof of the base. One by one, they toppled off the edge, and Cali ran to retrieve his throwing knives, reassured that Hawaii had his back as he turned away from the battle. When he turned around, he stopped short, the breath escaping from his lungs as his chest tightened almost suffocatingly.
Hawaii stood in front of him, battling gracefully against the Insurrectionists that had turned around to meet her. In her hand, she held a well-sized baton, a handle, for the thin wire that fell out the other end, snaking through the air with small blades jutting out in intervals.
He took a stumbling step back as a long-forgotten fear seized him, stilling his limbs in fright. He watched wide-eyed as the sword whip slashed flawlessly through the neck of one of the soldiers, cutting off his wind-pipe so all that met his ears was a deep gurgle as the soldier drowned in his own blood.
"Cali? You okay?" Came a voice from over the radio. Cali couldn't distinguish whose it was as he mentally shouted at his body to move, for his long-forgotten fear to go away. What the fuck was happening to him?
He had just opened his mouth to answer when bullets were suddenly rained down around Hawaii and Cali, the Insurrectionist soldiers falling into messy piles of corpses. Hawaii barely leapt out of the way as a tank came rolling towards them, crushing bodies with its treaded tires.
The lid of the tank popped open for a split second, and a sage and khaki hand poked out, waving at them.
"I got the tank! Watch this!" Mini blasted excitedly through their radio. Suddenly, the tank was on the move again. Cali watched numbly as the turret swung around more quickly than it should have been able to, nearly hitting Hawaii in the chest.
"Careful." The black-armoured freelancer growled, her sword whip flying in patterns around her. Cali winced as it struck the back of the nearest Insurrectionist, who let out a pain-filled scream as it tore through his armour effortlessly.
"Hey, you okay?" Asked the same voice. Cali spun around to see Braska perched on the roof of the base, extending his rifle to poke at Cali's helmet. The assassin glared at him, and moved another pace away. Braska tried to reach further, and promptly fell off the base, stumbling ungracefully to his feet.
"You asked if I was okay?" Cali snarked, ducking as Braska fired a bullet over his head. He spun around to watch it land, and was met with the sight of a rampaging tank following Hawaii around, blasting shells in miscellaneous directions.
"Dee dee dee, I have a tank! Dee de- Oops! Sorry Hawaii!" Mini sang as she swung the turret around again, this time catching the unaware Italian in the back of the head. Mini's frantic apologies were met with silence as Hawaii fell forward, somehow managing to avoid gunfire as she fell into a roll, leaping back onto her feet as she shook her head dazedly. Cali realized with relief that Hawaii's whip was gone, and she was snapping her energy sword into life as she ducked to yet again avoid the turret, jogging several feet away from the tank.
"Friendly fire much?" Cali drawled as he sprinted forward to help them.
"We've already lost two shoulders! Try not to kill any yourself." Braska added.
"Shoulders?" Cali repeated monotonously.
"Soldiers! Fuck!" Braska spluttered. Cali rolled his eyes as he swung his Katana in a wide arc, lopping off the head of the nearest Insurrectionist. He leapt over the body, targeting the next enemy, before seven more soldiers came to meet him, guns blazing. He sheathed his katanas and pulled out several throwing knives, throwing four with one hand and three with the other.
"Either way, they just don't stop coming, do they!" Mini said, "There are just as many bodies littering the ground as there are opponents still alive- mostly thanks to my awesome tank skills. We should call a retreat before we lose anyone else."
"I'm afraid you might be right." Michigan's voice crackled over the channel, "I've already lost half of my squad."
"Then it's settled." Hawaii spoke up commandingly, "Everyone! Retreat! Back to base immediately."
A chorus of compliance met his ears, and Cali skimmed the edge of the battle as he fought his way towards the forest, aware of the other freelancers peeling off around him. He sprinted for the last stretch, slowing his pace only as he glanced back, stopping once he passed the treeline. Michigan and Braska ran past him, and he followed, trusting that the others were behind him, judging by their footsteps.
Mini and Hawaii caught up shortly, the latter with her arms in front of her face to block the thicker branches from slowing her pace. Cali pulled out his katanas, slicing through the branches in front of him. The thick brush scraped at his armour, scratching the paint and getting caught in the joints.
Suddenly, a howl of wind sent a myriad of long, snake-like branches whipping at them. Cali twisted his head to the side just in time to see Mini get hit in the throat, falling backwards as she stopped abruptly. Hawaii was instantly there to catch her, tugging her back up as she glanced behind them. Cali did the same, his brow furrowed in confusion.
"Thanks Hawaii. I think we can slow down now. We're not being followed." Mini said.
"Yeah, we're not being followed. So where the fuck is Utah!" Cali snapped. He checked his motion tracker, bracing himself to race back down the path. A hand on his shoulder stopped him.
"He's not up ahead?" Hawaii asked.
"Fuck! We left him behind!" Cali growled frustratedly.
"His tracker indicates he's still alive." Mini added. "He could be back at the battle still."
"I'll go after him. You guys get back to the M.O.I." Hawaii said, gesturing for them to continue running.
"I'm coming with you." Cali spoke up, brushing Hawaii's hand off of him.
The Italian shook her head, "The others need you."
"Besides, there's no point in both of our best freelancers going to retrieve a maybe-dead Utah. Hawaii can handle this!" Braska piped up. Cali sighed irritably, but subsided.
"I'll be back." Hawaii said, spinning around. Suddenly, Mini lunged forward, grabbing her hand and pulling her into a hug. Hawaii's head jerked back, startled, before she bent down to wrap her arms awkwardly around Mini's small form. They stood there in silence for what felt like an eternity, and yet only a heartbeat at the same time.
"Just be careful, okay?" Mini asked quietly.
"Anything for you." Hawaii said, drawing away, "Now go." She spun around and sprinted away in the direction they had just come from, disappearing almost instantly through the thick brush.
As Cali beckoned for Mini to follow, he swore he heard Mini say under her breath, "You better."