Sheriff ducked down behind the stone wall in time, the warhound's shower of lead yanking out a few unlucky strands of her hair. Wasting no time, she set the remote mortar right on top of her cover, giving the smartwatch several anxious taps to bring the targeting software online. A smile came to her lips as a pulse designated dozens of targets - Shepard's work, no doubt. Another tap on the watch sent a mortar shell arcing over the gravel road, plunging through the walls of a metal shack dozens of meters away. Fields could almost feel the volume of fire lessen as the explosive sent several mercenaries flying.
Ming slid behind the gargantuan silhouette of the Bradley fighting vehicle, a small piece of his mind noting surprise at the fact that their ambushers hadn't decided to take it out first. It was their mistake to make. A slight grin materialized as the IFV's autocannon let out another salvo. His eyes scanned the area as he caught his breath - the trees were only closer to the convoy on this section of road, but a surge of relief came over him when he saw that the slope flattened out further down, meaning no chance for ambushers on that side. A quick glance at the corner of his view told him just how far he had left to go - a benefit of digitized contact lenses.
Eighty meters left
Arthur's heart began pounding harder. He was ever so close to the Secretary's vehicle. The agent slid to the other side of the Bradley, poking his head out for a moment. It took only long enough for him to see a White Tusk heavy rev up their minigun. A hail of bullets splattered off edge the armor panels, fractions of a second after the would-be target threw himself back into relative safety.
It's no use, Ming judged. The JTF survivors had collected in a perimeter around the Secretary. Now dozens of meters, tons of wrecked steel, and an indeterminate number of the most dangerous mercenaries on the planet between them and desperately needed help.
"Good pulse," Fields assured as she slid next to Shepard. "Now give me another!"
Arthur set to work, his momentary pause ended by his compatriot's directive. Regardless of how many White Tusk there were, Diana's mastery of explosives would be key to getting through them.
Sheriff wasted no time running ahead as the outline of the pulse raced down the road, printing through the charred vehicles. Taking a risk, she tossed the mortar turret on top of a ruined HMMWV and continued darting down the road, marking targets as she fought to make up ground. A quick glance back seconds later brought a measure of relief. As shells pummeled her targets, Shepard was breaking after her, taking advantage of the chaos customary with battlefield explosives.
Static crackled in her headset, the jammed frequency only letting out the few desperate words, "Enemy … secured Ledger! Repeat, ….. Ledger! Enemy has Ledger!"
Chills ran down Diana's spine at hearing the Secretary's callsign. Fields looked out over the hood of the wreck she had dived behind, her eyes only confirming the dire report.
The HMMVW's doors were open, the bodies of defenders slumped against it. Though the attackers paid dearly with corpses of their own littered around it, there was no denying the two assaulters dragging the would-be President along the road towards their positions. Sheriff could only look on in horror - as much as she wanted to fire on the kidnappers, the risk to the secretary was too great. Both sides knew as much - not a single bullet whizzed at the trio. Fields ducked back into cover, mind racing to come up with a plan as she caught sight of Ming's blur in motion. Her headset came to life once more, the SHD frequency clean and crisp.
"Start suppressing that group they're dragging Ledger to! I'm gonna charge those two!" Ming huffed out.
Diana was taken aback.
"That's suicide!"
"The Defender will keep me impervious for thirty seconds! I'll close in, pop caps in those two, and rush her into cover! Come on, we're running out of time!"
As much as she wanted to argue - and she would have, if this were some Hyena patrol and not a fight for continuity of government - the agent knew their options were limited. Secretary Walken's resistance had bought seconds, but only few. Shepard had a plan and they were running out of time. Fields primed a seeker mine.
"Give my seeker time to blow them to hell! Go on my mark!" she barked into her mic. Eye contact with the other agent, a dozen meters away behind an idling cargo truck, revealed him nodding in agreement. It was now or never.
Come on, Diana. This is it.
Sheriff tossed the mine over her shoulder, only exposing her right hand for a split second, long enough to feel the heat off tracers missing it by centimeters. For a second of eternity, Fields' heart stood still as the seeker picked its target. The Defender drones had been a welcome addition the the Division's arsenal, but they remained fraught and power hungry. Every second Ming wouldn't need a defender, or the fewer bullets it had to deflect, the better.
Eternity passed by - the seeker had sped on the gravel, around the burning wrecks and towards the enemy position up the hill and across the road. Sheriff let out a sigh of relief before screaming, "MARK!"
Ming slammed a fist into his smartwatch, taking the deepest breath of his life. As the drone ejected itself off his go-bag, the agent yanked out his sidearm and jumped up from his position. He dashed around the corner of his cover kicking up clouds of gravel in his desperate sprint. Out of the corner of his eye, a flash of orange indicated that Sheriff found her mark. His fellow agent's gunfire added to the fray as the seeker went off. Shepard would have heard the billowing reports if his heartbeat wasn't pounding in his ears.
His vision narrowed on the closer White Tusk assailant. They looked no different from the dozens of others he had killed, only curiously enough there was no holster on their thigh or firearm in hand. Arthur began slowing down, having closed the forty meters in seconds. He raised the KARD-Custom, lining sights. His vision tunneled down the sights; the agent could almost feel the recoil he was about to impart. A few bullets, point blank, could secure the future. Ming grit his teeth as he looked into the eyes of the unarmed mercenaries, eager to do his part in ending the national nightmare. He began pulling the trigger
The mercenary let go of the secretary's arm as the agent approached, defiantly stepping forward. The sight of her opponent levelling his weapon was amusing. Had she not been paid for her speed, it would have been a fine opportunity to toy with the annoyance. For a moment, she let the world surrounding her go dark, mind focused on the weapon now only a few short meters from her head. She jerked her hand forward, willing into reality the action she envisioned.
"Eat lead, fo-"
Diana could only look on in astonishment as her fellow agent's sidearm flew out his hand, defender drone tossed away by the same unseen force. A split second later, as Ming made to charge forward, he too was sent flying. The mercenaries then dragged the secretary below the ravine, out of the agent's sight as if there had been no interruption.
Desperation rammed into her veins. Their plan had failed, they were out of time. Chills ran down her spine as the magnitude of their failure as made clear.. Fields ducked back behind cover, desperate to find a solution.
"All JTF fireteams regroup on me! We can't let them extract Ledger!" the agent ordered. Regardless of how they would proceed next, it would hinge on keeping the enemy forces in the area, hopefully long enough for reinforcements outside DC to arrive. Fields desperately scanned the area around her, quickly poking her head out of cover. The assessment was grim. Though there were no enemy forces moving towards her, Ming was limping back and there was no telling how many JTF soldiers were left. In fact, the gunfire had all but died. Only the drone of idling vehicles filled the air, detritus of a successful ambush.
Arthur limped up to his prior position, fighting through the pain echoing in his left shoulder. He had no what had just happened to him, but was in no condition to try and figure it out. grit his teeth as he slid into cover, desperate to give himself a moment to catch his breath.
"Enemy communications deciphered"
ISAC's advisory caught his attention. He would have groaned aloud in exasperation if it wasn't for the fact his chest was on fire, every breath bringing searing agony. As much as any of them would have preferred for the information to arrive minutes ago, there was little to be done about Black Tusk's increasingly complex encryption. The agent weakly tapped at his watch to access the channel, holding his hands aloft for Diana to see.
"- sure about a hot extraction, Ma'am?"
"We need to get our target out of here while we can. Every second we'd waste trying to meet at your landing zone is another those two agents could use against us."
"Enemy fire could chew us up!"
"Tough shit - Jayhawk out."
Sheriff watched on as Ming's pulse radiated outwards, clearly marking the White Tusk forces regrouping up road in compliance with the orders. The fighting had died out, enemy forces retreating with all haste. Heartbeat racing, the agent took deep breaths, trying to bring physical calm.
"What's - hrk! - what's the plan?" Shepard gasped.
"I - I don't ... " Diana paused, thinking on the unidentified commander's orders.
"We've got to charge them. They won't be moving far and we're still strong enough to put up a decent fight. We've gotta rush them …"
Arthur groaned, off comms. A mad rush in their state was no better than suicide. But given their circumstances, a far worse outcome was possible. There was nothing else left. The radio headset barked again.
"This is Sheriff? Who has JTF command?"
"Captain Harrison reporting. We lost Major Kane. I'm in nominal command. What's the play?" a quivering voice responded, its owner clearly in shock at the events of the past few minutes and the weight of her new duty.
"Enemy forces have the secretary and are congregating up road. We need anyone with a gun to rush them before they extract. This is going to be our last chance. Don't bother to check on Shepard and I."
"Affirmative. You heard her, everyone. Move out!"
The crisp crackle of the SHD frequency came online.
"Think you can move, Art?"
Ming pulled himself up against the car door, the pain in his chest turning into a dull ache. He gave Fields a wave as he started making his way toward her.
"Hurts like a bitch, but I'll manage."
I'd like to clear some things up going forward:
1. I'm going to be somewhat slow about publishing this. I'd like to try and refine my understanding of Arknights lore. While eventually we'll reach a point of divergence, I'd like for these two worlds to mesh together as well as possible.
2. This story will weigh more in favor in the worldbuilding and events of The Division franchise. If that's not to your liking it's perfectly fine.
3. I've never watched Gate. Anime isn't something I associate with too much. That aside, expect the actual crossover to begin soon. I'm just having a hard time figuring out the ambush story beat.
4. Please, criticize my ideas and give recommendations. I would absolutely love ideas on refining my style, especially when it comes to handling lengthy dialogue.
Thanks for following. I hope you'll enjoy what gets written in time.