Chapter 1 - Imminent Procedure
21 Days before the Beginning of the Uprising
The APC drove along the old dirt road, bouncing upon hitting the small bumps. Upon receiving the rank of Sergeant, or MtC-01, Shadow was driving with his squad to the location of a suspected Resistance base. Along with him were a few rookies who he'd yet to learn the names of aside from one of them.
The plan for the operation was simple. Two rookies head in and investigate the claims, arresting any possible Resistance members and bringing them to Nova Prospekt. It seemed too easy for anything to go wrong. Hopefully, the rookies he was going to order to breach were competent.
This area, from what he had heard, always had reports of Resistance sightings. Advantageous the building locations might be, at this point it was too dangerous to have a base around there. Civil Protect was ordered every once and a while to patrol, search, and clear the area. Every time, without fail, a few rebels were arrested.
It seemed the Resistance would just never learn. No matter how evident it should be to them that they should move their bases of operation, they always went back there. Good for Shadow, though. The more rebels he took in, the more points he got towards a promotion. As ruthless as the Combine were, they did offer quite the advancement policy for Civil Protection.
Shadow looked around the empty road, spotting the small house behind some trees up ahead. Stopping the APC just a few yards away, he shut it off, opening it up. "Code 6, go on to investigate," he ordered over the radio to his squad.
"Understood. 04MT moving in," one of the rookies stated.
"04GL moving in," another one of the rookies stated. They both drew their pistols, walking towards the small house. Shadow stuck by the APC, taking out his XM29 OICW, waiting for if they called for backup. He leaned against the APC, looking at the trees.
O4MT, nicknamed Matt, walked behind 04GL, keeping his pistol pointed at the ground. As 04GL approached the door, he gave a hand signal to Matt, telling him to take cover. Following his comrade's orders, he took cover on the left side of the door while 04GL took the breaching position.
He knocked on the door three times, waiting for a response. After ten seconds of no response, he swiftly kicked the door, forcing it open. Rushing in, Matt followed 04GL step by step, looking around the old house. On the left were two citizens, one wearing the typical blue denim outfit, the other wearing a long sleeve white shirt. The one wearing the white shirt was holding a 9mm pistol in his hand. Pointing a pistol of his own at the anti citizens, 04GL gave a firm order. "Hands up, drop the weapon!" he demanded.
Both of them raised their hands, one keeping a firm grip on their pistol. Either through ignorance or resistance, the man held his gun, unaware of what was about to take place. While the men were being held at gunpoint, the door to the house was shut. Slowly behind O4GL, Matt crept up, his radio off. "3, 2, 1.." Matt counted down to himself, pulling the slide of his pistol back, chambering the first round.
This had caught the metrocop's attention as he began to turn his head back, but he wasn't fast enough. Matt squeezed the trigger as soon as the man had turned to face him, the bullet landing directly between his eyes. O4GL's body went limp, falling backward, thudding against the wooden floor. An alert was immediately sent through radio, alerting Shadow and the other rookie.
Planning to play the part of the newly made one-man team, he activated his radio. "10-99, Officer down!" Matt yelled, acting distraught in an attempt to fool his remaining squadmates. Picking up the expelled 9mm casing, he tossed it over in front of the man who held a pistol in his hand. Still blissfully unaware of the situation and confused, the two rebels kept their hands up, looking around the room.
Shadow kept his hand on the XM29's grip, looking around at the trees. Suddenly, over the radio, he heard a warning from Overwatch. "Unit down at 7, response code 3," the synthetic voice blared over their communications system.
He broke into a sprint after pushing himself off of the APC. He signaled for the other squad member, who he knew as Corporal, or MtC-03, Hedge. He heard the footsteps behind him, so he could assume that Hedge saw the gesture. Over the radio, another voice broke the silence. "10-99, Officer down!" one of the squadmates shouted.
Unsure of which one it was, he continued on his way to the house, finally reaching the door. Things must have gone awry because the door had shut behind them. Given the situation at a brief look from outside, they could possibly be dealing with a sneaky bastard.
Shadow kicked the door in, stepping in with his XM29 raised forward. Scanning the room, immediately to the left he saw 04MT with his pistol raised, pointing it at two suspicious citizens. Blocking his view from seeing the corpse of 04GL, a half wall sat between what was most likely the kitchen and the living room. Hedge walked in behind Shadow, raising a pistol at the rebels.
Stepping around the half wall and pointing his XM29 at the two rebels in collaboration with his squadmates, he settled his finger on the trigger. "Dammit, he shot him!" 04MT called out, directing it at the citizen holding a pistol.
"What? No, I didn-" the man tried to defend himself from the accusation, but out of frustration, Shadow pulled the trigger. A single round expelled from his rifle, grazing the man's shoulder close to the bone. He fell over, screaming in pain, his pistol falling on the ground.
"Subdue them and bring them in," Shadow ordered the two officers by his side. 04MT and Hedge took out their stun sticks, knocking both of the rebels out. He returned his XM29 to its sling, inspecting the body of 04GL as the unconscious lawbreakers were taken outside to wait for transport. It seemed like a shot straight between the eyes.
The blood splatters, however, looked off. Maybe the rebel could have moved after shooting him, but the wound was on the front with the blood splatter being behind him. It looked as if he was facing 04MT's direction when he had fallen. The shell casing by the corner didn't match up with where he could've been shot.
Nothing added up, but the only other solution couldn't make sense. Would a rookie officer really turn his gun on his fellow officer on his first dispatch? Only the rebel's firearm could answer his question. So he moved to look, stepping over to the dropped pistol, picking it up. Holding his hand under the magazine holder and pressing the magazine release, he caught the clip after it slid out.
One by one, he removed the bullets from the clip. He counted a total of seventeen bullets. He racked the slide, a bullet expelling from the ejection port. Unless the rebel chambered the round and loaded an extra bullet into the magazine beforehand, it seemed the gun was not fired recently. He heavily doubted that the man who held the gun before him would even know about chambering an extra bullet, let alone doing it.
Foul play was definitely involved. Shadow felt this was unfortunate, as he personally trained 04MT, as well as 04GL, the victim. He was going to watch him closely for the next few days. If any kind of slip was made, it could potentially expose more of the Resistance's operations for him.
Humanity was doomed against the Combine for sure, but there wasn't anything Shadow could do about it except run alongside them as they conquered. The sheer confidentiality expected from a group of untrained civilians was the Resistance's downfall. Even if they had one exemplary insurgent, a single slip from someone who isn't as qualified takes them several steps back.
Whatever their goal was from the depths of darkness could never prove to solve the ever present Combine domination. A depressing take for sure, but there truly was not much they could do.
The lawbreakers were sent straight to Nova Prospekt. Whatever happened to them from there, they probably deserved it. Whether or not they were guilty of killing a recruit, they were still rebelling against the Combine. What a hopeless task.