l...l
Chapter Forty Six
September 1st, 2077
Night City, Northern California
Hideout, Charter Hill
A cold sweat and a rapid heartbeat were the first sensations Acadia recognized as a new emotion overtook her.
Fear.
The emotion was brought about by a lifelike simulation designed by Cyrus's vexing AI. The scenario came to a sudden halt when an energy sword pierced her sternum, and a creature snarled in her face.
Her killer was a Sangheili warrior designated as a Zealot, and for the tenth time that night, a flashing red font mocked her inadequacies.
Mission failed. Try again, loser.
Acadia snarled at the troublesome message with open contempt and threw herself into another training scenario.
Of all the ways Cyrus would train her, Acadia wholeheartedly believed that her training would be solely directed by him and not this….lifelike simulation dictated by an annoying AI.
She supposed things could have been worse somehow, but the last few days had been a whirlwind of activity.
After Isabel's execution, the Siren Order fell into a silent melancholy, and many were unsure of what to do now that the firstborn's treachery no longer hung over their heads.
The council intended to keep their isolationist policies in place, but many high-ranking Banshees wanted to return to the surface and reclaim what they had lost, particularly by conducting a crusade against those who funded Isabel's treachery.
Acadia wasn't sure if the Sirens deserved to return to the glory days, but advocating isolation when she was actively returning to the surface would be hypocritical.
Regardless of her opinions, the council would inevitably be forced to vote on the continued necessity of keeping Solaria isolated from the surface.
The gatekeepers would be a critical asset in the final decision because they spent more time on the surface than the rest of the Sirens put together. Their perspectives would be crucial in persuading the council to abandon the isolationist policy.
However, whether the policy was dismantled or not, a motion of such magnitude would take time to implement. Siren protocols would have to be reimagined, and a great many of their Banshees would be forced into undertaking more vigorous training that wasn't tailored for exclusively CQC environments.
Acadia was not concerned about the direction of her people and left the delegation of logistics and policy to those more willing to deal with Siren politics. She wasn't incapable of handling the bureaucracy, but she would much rather spend her time emulating the women her mother used to be.
A Spartan.
And Acadia was more than willing to endure every challenge thrown at her and exceed her Uncle's expectations.
She was not left wanting.
Cyrus is a brutal taskmaster, and his first direction after she walked through the darkened corridors of his Sanctuary was to sick his Bloodhounds on her.
Acadia's first impression of Iwasaki and his Bloodhounds was not particularly good, and she regarded them as loyal bodyguards for a man who seemingly tolerated their existence.
The Secundus crossed swords with Bloodhounds from every walk of life and found them to be little more than drugged-out and overzealous amateurs who easily lost themselves to their own bloodlust.
Iwasaki and his Bloodhounds were nothing like the stereotype.
They attacked in pairs, specifically designed to divide her attention and keep her off balance. Still, Acadia successfully conquered three Bloodhounds teams, but the difficulty only grew into a gauntlet designed to whittle her down.
Cyrus observed from the shadows, keeping his own counsel and only using the simplest gestures to direct his subordinates. In some instances, a pair of Bloodhounds would seamlessly switch with another, confusing Acadia when her opponent's armament and skills would change on a dime.
By the time Acadia approached her final test, she was exhausted and bleeding from a dozen different cuts to her body.
Eagle and a Bloodhound called Panther were the final test, and they would prove to be the toughest challenge for Acadia amongst all the Bloodhounds she faced.
The pair operated seamlessly around one another with no wasted movements and easily covering one another when one overextended their attacks. With each clinical strike, Acadia swore she was exchanging blows with machines bred for war and humans made of flesh and blood.
It didn't take long for the Bloodhounds to bring the Siren to her knees, energy spent, and lungs seeking more oxygen for her wounded form. Panther slid her katana beneath Acadia's chin, allowing the threat of pain to keep the Siren from hunching.
Cyrus stepped from the shadows, and his impervious black visor bore into her azure orbs.
"She is capable, Sensei." Eagle had taken a shining to the Siren even if most of his companions only regarded her with silent contempt.
"Everyone is capable." Cyrus waved Panther's blade away and gently took Acadia's chin. "What do you seek girl?"
"I…." Acadia felt her composure momentarily whittle underneath his impervious gaze. "…I seek to obtain the mantle that my mother has abandoned. I seek the means to destroy corruption and hunt those who would uphold it."
Cyrus tilted his head in silent contemplation and allowed Acadia to hunch over in pain. She couldn't place the emotion behind his gaze, for it may have been anywhere from disappointment to amusement at her declaration.
"You aren't ready." The Bloodhounds barring Eagle silently agreed with their Sensei's words, and it stung at Acadia's pride to be disregarded so easily. She glared into Cyrus's visor with the last of her energy, her eyes brimming with determination.
"I. Am. Ready." Her words weren't yelled or screamed but were spoken with such defiance that it silently drew Cyrus's interest.
Acadia would never know, but in that moment, she reminded Cyrus of the woman her mother used to be. Her visions turned into a haze, and a cloud of darkness slowly began to overtake her. The constant blood loss had finally taken its toll, and her body crawled into a coma.
Before slumber took her, Cyrus's words momentarily pierced the veil of shadows.
"…We'll see Siren."
By the time she regained consciousness, Cyrus was gone, and she was left in the care of an irritating Mercenary. Her Uncle had requested that the Merc keep an eye on his charge while he departed for lands unknown.
V was the woman's name, and Acadia vaguely recalled hearing it spoken by Liana during her visits to her mother's estate.
The world was smaller than Acadia thought, but she wasn't focused on the Merc. Her gaze was firmly set on the shit-eating grin plastered on the ethereal woman's face.
Her Uncle's artificial intelligence took pleasure in watching Acadia squirm as she dictated each and every training scenario presented to her. They varied from assassination missions, infrastructure sabotage, and reconnaissance sorties.
All of them were missions Cyrus undertook while operating as an ONI Headhunter, and now they were modified into potent training simulations Acadia was directed to run through.
There had to be nearly a hundred different scenarios for Chamber to choose from, and she exclusively chose the most difficult operations Cyrus had completed.
Acadia failed many, and each failure brought with them lessons to be learned, but she couldn't see past the blinking red font mocking her inadequacies.
Anytime she raised an issue with these near-impossible scenarios, Chamber's ever-present grin would grow a tinge wider.
Cyrus did it. Why can't you?
The answer was plainly obvious to both Siren and AI, but Acadia's pride kept her from acquiescing to Chamber's unspoken mockery.
Her Siren blood refused to be deemed inadequate, and she stubbornly charged head headfirst into the meat grinder.
And the meat grinder was winning.
"Arghhh!" Acadia was violently ejected from the simulation after being ambushed by a pair of Elite Zealots. Chamber's snickering could be heard in the background, and the Siren ripped the interface cable from her cyberware while silently cursing out the AI.
"What got you this time?" V set the dismantled components of her Unity on the gun table and arched an eyebrow at Acadia.
"A Zealot. The disgusting creature got the drop on me." Acadia ghosted a hand over her torso. Phantom pain was a normal sensation during a simulated combat scenario, but Acadia didn't exactly enjoy the way her nerves reacted to the stimuli.
"Camouflage again?"
"Yes, but it gave off no auditory signatures," Acadia flung her legs over the side of her chair, hoping to re-establish blood circulation to her stiff muscles. "I didn't even hear a footstep before the damned sword was piercing my skin."
The stories about the Covenant that Eliza regaled to her children were accurate, but Acadia couldn't quite appreciate their lethality and zealous nature from her mother's bedtime tales.
The grunts, jackals, and drones were annoying at best, but they became a potent force to contend with in large numbers.
Acadia's first training scenario involved securing the rooftop of a smoldering elementary school and preparing to assassinate a Covenant General. Along the way, she discovered a pack of grunts feasting on the flesh of children in an isolated section of the school.
Rage took control of Acadia's senses, and she immediately butchered the grunts and managed to save three of the children from a grisly grave. However, she failed to maintain anonymity and was discovered by a passing Covenant patrol that called for reinforcements.
Acadia and the children died minutes later, atomized by a pair of Covenant Heavy Crusiers.
The mission was marked up as a complete failure.
When Acadia asked how Cyrus completed the main objective while saving the children, Chamber's words stuck with her.
"Cyrus completed the mission. Saving hundreds if not thousands of lives in the process."
"And the kids?" The ever-present smile plastered on Chamber's face withered away until there was nothing but sorrow.
"They died screaming."There was no amusement or trickery in her voice, just a pure sorrow that caught Acadia off guard.
How does anyone face down an enemy that offered no mercy and gave no quarter? The corruption and decadence instituted by two-faced governments and Megacorporations could not be quantified, but they did come close to the Covenant.
There was a difference between a war of genocide on a galactic scale and a war fought against the corrupt foundations plaguing a single world.
"How did he beat them?" Acadia wasn't expecting a response from the Merc of all people.
"He wasn't alone." The Siren blinked in confusion and turned her gaze towards the amber-eyed Mercenary.
"What?" V snorted in amusement, leaning into the back of her chair and crossing her left leg over the other.
"Cyrus rarely goes into the field without backup of some sort," V informed without hesitation. "He always has a plan, always has a contingency he can fall back on, but having someone watch your back is the best thing anyone can have."
The Merc wasn't wrong. Having another gun at your side could make all the difference in the world, but the casual way she referred to her Uncle caught Acadia's attention above all else.
"How would you know that?" Acadia challenged with a shrewd expression. "I doubt he's told you every skeleton in his closet.'
She had an inkling of a feeling that V and Cyrus had a relationship that was more than a simple friendship. Acadia didn't have the opportunity to get to know her Uncle, and her mother refused to talk about him after Isabel's death.
Eliza was still coming to terms with her eldest daughter's death, but the fact Cyrus was the one to carry out the sentence stuck with the Matriarch.
"He doesn't speak about his past with just anyone," V explained with a tiny grin on her face. "But certain…..circumstances have allowed me a great amount of insight into his character. In some ways, I know Cyrus better than most, but I'm not the best in that category."
"That's because the monkey was my partner first." Chamber made her presence known, and her ghostly form manifested a scant foot away from the conversing pair. "If I didn't like you already, V, you would have made my shit list."
"Sharing is caring, Chamber." The Merc shot her a shit-eating grin that earned her a disgusted look from the AI.
"Ugh, you're going to make me hurl." Chamber dismissed the beaming Merc and turned towards the Spartan Hybrid. "Are we going for round number twenty, or are we taking a break?"
"I-" V interrupted Acadia just as she was about to respond.
"She'll go again." Two pairs of eyes stared at V with mixed expressions as she reached for a second interface plug. "But she's not going alone this time."
"V, what are you doing?" The UNSC AI asked in bewilderment.
"Acadia needs backup, and I already know you won't give it to her." This circumstance was outside Chamber's parameters, and she wasn't sure if Cyrus would be upset with the Merc for interfering with Acadia's training.
Then again, who was she to deny the Mercenary the opportunity of learning how a Headhunter operates.
Chamber shrugged her shoulders in indifference and vanished into thin air, leaving Acadia and V alone for some time as she set up the training scenario.
"Why are you helping me?" Acadia inquired with a contemplative expression.
An apt question for some, and one that V was internally asking herself. She didn't have to help the Siren; in fact, it was incredibly amusing watching Acadia squirm in her seat after getting her ass beat by a computer time and time again.
But there were certain things that Acadia was capable of that V could not hope to emulate. The Merc caught a glimpse of the Hybrid facing down Cyrus's Bloodhounds, and she acquitted herself well against them.
V was momentarily jealous of everything Acadia was, from the enhanced genetics imparted from her mother's side to the pure defiance she exhumed when Cyrus was close to dismissing her. Few people could stand to meet the frightening stare his visor gave off and not whither away in instinct.
Acadia had the passion and talent to one day contend with Cyrus, and the path he was on was destined to take was dangerous. And there was no better way to assist him than to ensure that someone who could perform the same impossible feats was by his side.
"Because Cyrus wants to go to war with the entire world, and he needs more than a simple Nomad or Merc by his side. And honestly, I'd feel more comfortable knowing he has someone as good as him in his corner." Acadia's expression turned sour at the compliment.
"I'm nowhere near his level." V leaned in close and gently caught Acadia's chin, ensuring that the Siren could not look away from her reassuring gaze.
"Not yet, you're not." V was not one to let others doubt themselves, and she wouldn't start now. "Now wipe off that sorry look. We have an AI to beat."
Acadia's spirits were lifted, and the glances of annoyance she shot the Merc were no more.
They were exclusively sent towards Chamber from now on.
Calamity - Jose Pavli
San Lucas, Sinaloa Confederation
Task Force 41, Five Miles from San Lucas coastline
In hindsight, stealing an F-44 Manta from a Militech airbase all those wasn't a particularly good idea. The cockpit was not designed to hold a seven-foot-tall Spartan cased in MJOLNIR, and his knees were practically digging into the instrument panel.
Thankfully, the fighter's design didn't include a joystick, or Cyrus would have issues navigating this godforsaken plane. A cerebral uplink was used to operate most, if not all, military jets, allowing for faster response times when committing to a dogfight or CAS mission.
Cyrus would have preferred Chamber to drive this bucket of bolts, but she was needed back in Night City to keep an eye on her AI companion and their….guest.
Acadia seemed to embody everything her mother used to be, but that didn't mean she had earned his favor. There was a certain belligerence to her, and the Bloodhounds begrudgingly respected her for it. Cyrus wouldn't have any problems bringing her into the fold from them, but Chamber was another story
Leaving Acadia supervised by only his trusty AI was a recipe for disaster. Chamber and Eliza didn't have the best relationship, so Cyrus needed someone to mediate between the two stubborn women while he left for Baja to observe his…Custodians.
And V was more than willing to volunteer.
"Settling in well?" The Merc inquired while enjoying the luxuries his hideout had to offer.
"Flying was more Casey's forte," Cyrus replied. "I'm…adequate in comparison to her."
His Spartan sister was a cerebral pilot, and her skills drew the interest of ONI's Sabre Program in 2551. It was one of the few times Casey was detached from Reaper team before Ackerson sunk his teeth into her.
Cyrus shook off the idle doubts about his team's absent leader. He found himself pondering what Casey might do in his situation. There was the undeniable fact that she might have charged Eliza with treason and dereliction of duty, but Casey also may have been as heartbroken as he was.
Neither solution brought Cyrus any comfort.
"….How is Chamber?" V's expression shifted into blatant amusement.
"Your girl is not a fan of Acadia. She's making the poor woman's life a living hell in your simulations, and the Siren is constantly giving her the middle finger."
That didn't surprise Cyrus in the slightest.
"You don't need to stay there every waking moment," Cyrus informed. "I'm sure Panam could use some company while Mitch and Cassidy are putting the Basilisk together."
V smirked at the casual remark, leaning towards the console and casting a sharp eye on the Spartan.
"You haven't seen her since after that night, have you?"
It didn't take a rocket scientist to know what the ruby-haired vixen was talking about. The emotions and sensations he experienced that night were as pleasurable as they were foreign.
Cyrus didn't quite know what comes after such an encounter, but he imagined departing V's apartment without saying goodbye was in poor taste.
At least that's what he assumed after receiving a visceral condemnation from Panam and V, respectively.
However, his sudden departure was attributed to Acadia's abrupt appearance within a mile of his Bloodhound sanctuary. The Siren had evidently decided to begin her search for Cyrus mere days after Isabel's death.
Acadia's initiative was admirable, but it also ended becoming the catalyst to why Panam and V were cross with Cyrus for a few days. After a thorough explanation, the pair forgave him, but they demanded a more…personal touch to the apology.
It already sounded like an exhausting night.
"I haven't…." The Merc's eyes danced with amusement at his hesitation. "…Exactly had the time to see either of you."
The last week was a whirlwind of mixed emotions between training Acadia, the Bloodhounds, and dealing with the aftermath of Isabel's execution. These events were coupled with another situation developing in Santo Domingo, but this circumstance was a welcome one in his mind.
Alex Decker was finally ready to take Wil Gunner our, and Cyrus was happy to oblige. After he was done observing the Custodian's operation in San Lucas, then he'd return home to coordinate Gunner's downfall.
However, Cyrus had soon come to realize that he was struggling to balance the responsibilities of his duty as a Spartan and a yearning to spend his days amongst either Panam or V. There was a craving within him that called out to be satisfied, and it grew in size with every interaction with the pair of Nomads.
Maybe this was what Eliza felt when she met Morgan.
V recognized the internal struggle breaking out within his eyes and sought to remedy his concerns.
"Look, CY." She leaned forward, her expressive amber eyes and magnificent smile encompassing most of his screen. "We understand that you will be….precoccupied from time to time, and we're not selfish or stupid enough to think we deserve a majority of your attention. But Jesus Christ, don't blow our minds with the night of our lives and then leave us hanging."
"I'll-." A transmission on the Custodian comm channel cut into their conversation, and V sent him an expression of understanding.
"Duty calls?" Cyrus reluctantly nodded in affirmation. "Be careful out there, CY. I'll keep an eye on the kiddies and see you when you're back home."
The connection cut out but not before V kissed her fingers and pressed them to the screen. Cyrus imitated the move while seeing the Merc's lovely smile wink away.
"Oxide, this is Hitman One. You hearing us?" Cyrus switched on his transmitter and connected to the Chimera Squadrons uplink.
"Loud and clear, Hitman." He shook his wings, testing his Manta's flaps and elevators in the process. "What's our orders."
"Well, Skyeye is reading two Squadrons of Confederation MIGs making a beeline for Omega." The WSO informed. "It's our job to knock them out of the sky, stick to Monarch's tail and try not to knick us in the process."
"Wilco." Cyrus was not an amateur by any means, but Hitman Squadron appeared to think so.
The squadron of Custodian ASF's rolled to the right and screamed towards their intended prey. The MIG-38 interceptors split into four flights, seeking to separate Hitman's attention and bloody Omega Squadron before they could unleash their payloads.
Off in the distance, Cyrus could see illumination flares, tracers, and explosions devouring the beachhead in dense clouds of black smoke. Republican landing craft were being shelled by Confederate artillery, but those batteries were not his main concern.
He broke off from Hitman's formation, rolling the Manta to the left and diving towards a MIG-38 two thousand feet below him. He ignored the calls of concern from Hitman Squadron and stuck to the interceptor's tail. A burst of 30mm autocannon separated the plane's tail from its chassis, forcing the pilot to bail out.
"Good kill, Oxide." Skyeye commended the Spartan. "Keep an eye out for bandits, and remember you don't have a wingman."
"Wilco." As missiles, tracers, and shredded aircraft filled the skies in a wild frenzy, opposing pilots played cat and mouse with one other.
"This is Omega Nine. I got a bandit on my six! Need back up now!" Amid the chaos, a Confederation MIG screamed from Cyrus's two o'clock, attempting to line up an Omega squadron Wipeout separated from his companions.
"Oxide engaging." The Spartan pushed the Manta's afterburners and dove towards the MIG-38, nipping at Omega Nine's tail. The Sinaloa pilot fired a heat-seeking missile forcing the Chimera Pilot to fire his chaff.
Cyrus managed to lineup his Manta to the MIGs tail and unleashed one of his six Falcon-37 AA missiles. The Confederation pilot failed to notice the trailing Manta until it was too late, and his MIG exploded into oblivion after the missile slammed just above his rights engine's intake.
Omega Nine's pilot breathed a sigh of relief. "Thanks for the assist, Oxide."
"Head back to your Squadron, Nine," Cyrus replied. "I got you covered."
"Roger." The Wipeout dropped altitude and rejoined his comrades as they dived towards their designated targets.
"Not bad, Oxide." Monarch's Wyvern zoomed past Cyrus's Manta, followed by the rest of Hitman Squadron. "But this isn't a contest. Stay on our six; we're breaking from the main fight towards the government district. Mage Company will be landing shortly."
"Roger." The Squadron Leaders' rebuttal did not bother Cyrus. He was just a guest in the skies, while Hitman were the venerable kings.
This was their domain, not his.
And he was more than willing to abide.
Just five miles away from their landing ship, Mage One-One sat in the confines of a VF-29 Viper gunship, and Corporal James 'Grim' Morrison silently spoke a hail mary at liftoff.
He sat on a bench just behind the gunships cockpit, leaning on his knees while toying with a lighter. Arrayed on both sides of the robust VF-29 Gunship was his squad, twelve men dressed in drab-colored fatigues and kitted out with state-of-the-art combat rigs.
Streams of vital intelligence regarding Confederation troop placements consumed most of their HUDs, and more than a few of his troopers stared blankly at their situation reports.
Their minds were solely fixed on the day's mission, and with nothing left to say or do, they became lost in thought within the claustrophobic cargo space.
The squad had grown accustomed to the cramped conditions, and much like the rest of Mage Company, the last ten days had been a whirlwind of activity.
The attention on Sicario grew broader and more complicated after their successful campaign in Venezuela, and soon even the world's most prominent corporations were familiar with the name 'Sicario.'
Arasaka and Militech were keenly aware of the fledging mercenary corps growing influence outside continental United States. Petrochem losing control of the resource-rich lands of Venezuela made waves in the corporate world.
The AgriCorps lost millions in profits and were forced to sell off numerous assets in neighboring countries to stem the loss in revenue. Most didn't realize that the shell companies that purchased these assets, such as Globeworks and Typhoon Security, were affiliated with the Custodians.
By late August, the Custodians reaped the benefits from the Venezuelan Civil War and slowly expanded their influence into several neighboring countries. Kaiser used his connections from his time as an Arasaka operative to secure political ties to up-and-coming senators and representatives in the Democratic Republic of Colombia and the Federation of Guyana.
His actions started a domino effect, and slowly but surely, Arasaka and Militech found themselves blocked from South American resources. Several diplomatic inquires were made, but only a full military response would reduce their losses in the continent.
There was no attempt by the MegaCorps to escalate the situation in South America due largely to the tensions brought about by the Comet War.
The NUSA and thereby Militech were solely focused on limiting Arasaka's influence in North America and felt no need to respond to the loss of market shares in their sister continent to the south.
With parts of South America slowly falling into their hands, the time came for the Custodians to sow the seeds of rebellion to the North.
The former lands belonging to the fractured country of Mexico would play a founding role in the Custodian's arrangements for continental United States. Kaiser didn't know much about the Republic of Azonea, but most of their initial dealings with the peninsula country were done exclusively by Cypher.
Kaiser's first meeting with the Republic was finalizing the construction of Fort Olympus, and since then, he's maintained a cordial relationship with Azonea's Prime Minister.
Prime Minister Alejandro Saenz was a good man considering a politicians' predilection to being a self-serving prick who paid lip service to their citizens. Saenz was one of the deciding factors to Kaiser ordering Warlock Battalion to conduct their operations against the Sinaloa Confederation.
Barely a week after the battle of Maracay, Mage Company found itself involved in multiple rapid action incursions up and down the Mexican coastline.
Kaiser rolled out mission after mission for Warlock Battalion since it was the only ground detachment with a somewhat stable command structure.
Colonel Reyes took personal command of the Battalion, and Captain Hayes was eager to fulfill their Colonel's wishes and fervently threw his soldiers into the meat grinder.
Warlock Battalion and the majority of Mage Company welcomed the barrage of incursions imparted upon them. It kept the troops sharp and put the name Sicario at the forefront of the mercenary world.
Their objectives ranged from capturing Confederation officers to sabotaging key infrastructures such as communication relays and supply lines to support the inevitable Republican landing at San Lucas.
The port city used to belong to the Republic of Azonea, but a surprise attack by the Confederation during the onset of the Peninsular War wrestled control from the Republic. Mage Company's initial role was to continue disrupting the San Lucas supply lines and maintain their distance from the landing operation.
However, missions change.
They always do.
Warlock Battalion was en route to the town of Las Casitas to cutoff any Confederation reinforcements when their orders were changed. Actionable intel provided by Cypher required an immediate response from his assets in country.
Colonel Reyes detached Mage Company and a squadron of VF-29 'Viper' Gunships to partake in the landing operation.
Mage Company's main objective was to secure the Governor's Palace, hosting a Sinaloa General with ties to Militech. The briefing given out by Kaiser himself marked Confederation Officer Gabriel Jimenez, codenamed Kingpin, as their primary target for the operation.
All Mage Company had to do was secure the Palace and capture Kingpin while other Republican units handled the surrounding districts.
An easy mission on paper, but this was as pure of a meat grinder as any soldier could be a part of.
And Morrison loved it.
The gunships chassis rocked back and forth from missile salvos courtesy of three Heavy Crusiers.
The massive surface vessels flying the Republican flag pounded the port city's fortifications as dozens of aircraft and gunships flew overhead. Hundreds of landing craft crashed through choppy waves and small arms fire as they made their way towards the fortified beach.
It was practically a scene out of a movie, but that's where the similarities ended.
"Forty seconds, ladies." Grim's ears perked at the gunships intercom. "Hold onto your seats because we have heavy flak up ahead."
"Fuckers better get us there in one piece." Granite muttered to himself while gripping his chest rig a little tighter.
"They will, Hanney." First Sergeant Graves assured his RTO before turning his attention towards the rest of his squad. "Keep your arms tight and eyes focused. We'll be on the ground soon."
Mage One-One was operating on minimal sleep, but the sounds of war were a helluva wake-up call.
While Republican Squadrons collided with their Confederate counterparts 20,000 feet above, Morrison adjusted his Copperheads stock to keep the stress sinking into his fingers. There was no better shot of adrenaline than the moments before a combat deployment, and Morrison cherished every moment while it lasted.
"Sam lock! Hang on!" The Gunship suddenly banked to the left, narrowly avoiding a streaking heat seeker as it crashed into the ocean below. "Damn, that was close!"
"Shoreline coming into view!" Grim leaned forward, spotting specs of land through the haze of smoke and gunfire.
"Copy Romeo Six-Four." A second pilot responded as the formation of gunships flew above the smoldering wrecks of Confederation bunkers.
The city of San Lucas spread out beneath them in fresh smoldering wrecks of once-proud structures that reached towards the heavens. Five hours of constant bombardment turned shoreline structures and the downtown district into a post-apocalyptic nightmare.
The paved avenues were littered with overturned vehicles and barricades erected by Confederation soldiers. Those few structures that remained standing were turned into bastions filled to the brim with sandbags and static defenses designed to make the Republican troops fight for every inch of land.
A stream of small arms fire and anti-air missiles erupted from the structures and streets below, aiming to bring down the gunships before they reached their destination.
"Taking fire here!" A Viper pilot called out. "Jimmy! Light em up with the autocannon!"
Romeo squadron unleashed a volley of 20mm projectiles on the mass of Confederation soldiers below. Morrison and his squad struggled to remain in place as their pilot strafed an anti-air emplacement killing its crew and turning the roof in sat atop into rubble.
The communication channel lit up with activity as Romeo Squadron coordinated their gun runs and hellfire attacks targeting Confederation AA defenses. At least six Avenger mobile AA platforms were demolished in a vertical ambush by a single gunship choking up the street they had been traversing not moments earlier with fire and smoke.
"Good guns, Romeo Six-One." Captain Hayes's voice cut into the comms channel. "Interrogative, what's our ETA to insert?"
"Feet dry in ten seconds. Get your squads prepped." The Vipers returned to the formation, using their autocannon to dispense with any Confederation forces in their path.
"Solid copy, Six-One." Captain Hayes switched over to the ground-to-ground radio channel. "Mage Company prepare for insertion!"
"About damn time." One of Mage One-One's newest members, Nitro, muttered under his breath, earning Graves's attention. The new kid was one of the most enthusiastic people Morrison had ever met and had quickly made his nickname amongst the squad.
"Nitro and Grimm, you two are first out." Graves ordered and turned towards his RTO. "Granite, deploy our ziplines!"
"Standby for green light!" The Gunship's interior became basked in a low red light that sent another spike of adrenaline down Morrison's spine.
Grim clenched his fingers to keep his nerves from overflowing as his squad's apprehension hung in the air.
Hanney dispatched the gunships zipline launcher on either side of the chassis for Nitro and Grim to deploy. Both men were stiff as they anxiously peered at the flashing red light staring back at them.
Red!
Red!
Red!
GREEN!
An emerald hue replaced the crimson flashes, and Graves was quick to get his squad moving. "Deploy!"
With his zipline pointing directly at the empty street below, Morrison unleashed a steel-tipped tether that fractured concrete.
Grim immediately attached his combat rig to the tether and rappeled towards the battered streets of San Lucas. The Governor's Palace remained completely undamaged, but the surrounding structures suffered the full extent of a tomahawk missile attack from a Republican cruiser.
Soon Mage One-One was joined by the rest of their Company deployed en masse into the government district. Sporadic fighting broke out between elements of Second Platoon and a few Confederation squads attempting to fall back to the Palace.
Each of Mage Company's three platoons was given its own set of objectives. Third Platoon would set up a cordon north of the Palace, while Second Platoon maintained a perimeter to the south.
Morrison's First Platoon was given the honor of spearheading the assault on the palace grounds, and Colonel Reyes would be joining them.
Ronin deployed with Second Squad, landing their chalk just a hundred meters north of Grim's squad.
The sights and smells of war-torn streets were familiar to the soldiers of Mage Company. Many of them cut their teeth working for the military arms of Militech or Arasaka, and the odor of decaying flesh and burnt fuel was as normal to them as fresh air.
"First Platoon on me to the target building move!" Ronin took control of the deployed squads and directed them towards their assigned orders. The landing zones of 1st Platoon encircled the Governor's Palace, with Graves' team adjacent to the Mage One-Two squad to the North and on the right flank of One-Three to the west. Lieutenant Gigs was leading Mage One-Four on the northwest corner, thereby completing the encirclement.
"Grim," Domino called out to his alpha team leader. "Lead us out of here!"
"Yes, Sergeant!"
Morrison forged his way through overturned cars and crashed aerodynes. His squad diligently followed, peeling off by fire team as they pressed against blood-stained walls on either side of the street.
Grim and his men spent the next half an hour engaging scattered and disorganized Confederation soldiers en route to their main objective. The other squads ran into similar resistance, and slowly the noose around the Governor's Palace began to tighten.
Romeo Squadron and Omega Squadron were called in to eliminate Confederation armored vehicles and emplacements, and Mage Company carved their way through the government district's defenses.
However, it was only a matter of time before the Confederation soldiers found their spine, and Mage One-One was the first to run into stiff resistance.
Passing bullets made a snapping sound that sent instinctual shivers of fear down a human's spine. Grim led Chipper and Grey through a shower of gunfire, pressing themselves against a smoking Quadra while bullets smashed into its charred chassis.
"HMG up front!" While the sheltering trio attempted to suppress the static emplacement and the dense concentration of Confederation soldiers, Graves motioned for Gator to take his fire team and breach a three-story complex for a better angle on the machine gun.
Mage Company and its supporting elements were issued strict rules of engagement. Barring visual confirmation on static emplacements, they were to do their utmost in avoiding civilian casualties. Gator and his fire team ran into the first vestiges of noncombatants when they breached a second-story room filled to the brim with frightened men and women.
One of the fire team's newest members, Basher, managed to allay their fears and convince most of them to find refuge in another part of the structure. However, his largest opponent was an old woman with a thick American accent berating him and his team members for barging into their home.
Basher was appealing to her sense of self-preservation when Graves's rough voice raised them on the intercom.
"Gator, where the fuck are you?" The fire team leader set his rifleman a meaningful glance, and Basher nodded in acceptance.
"We're getting into position standby." Gator motioned T-Bone and Jackal forward, and the pair burst into the room, ignoring the indignant shouts as they kicked down the apartment's balcony door.
T-Bone mounted his Defender LMGs bipod on the concrete ledge and fired a stream of 7.62 bullets at the Confederation emplacement. Jackal added his Copperhead into the mix, intensifying the suppressing fire and disorienting the militia soldier manning the HMG.
"Grim!" Graves called out to his alpha team leader. "Move up!"
"Roger that!" Morrison turned towards his two companions and the two remaining troopers taking cover with Graves and Granite. "Angel and Crow stay glued to my ass! Nitro and Chipper stay here and watch our backs. Move out!"
Grim and his impromptu three-man team proceeded down the road, diving in between cover along the way. When they were halfway down the avenue, a squad of Confederation soldiers supported by a T-85 heavy tank burst onto the roadway, forcing him and his subordinates to retreat into a bombed-out grocery shop.
"Take Cover!" Morrison snatched Angel by the scruff of his combat rig and tossed him shoulder-first through a glass pane. The rifleman rolled to a stop as a burst of 25mm autocannon destroyed a civilian vehicle and sending plumes of smoke and debris in all directions.
He and Crow were propelled directly into the grocery store, eliciting a cry of panic from Gator, who helplessly looked on from above.
"Grim!" Morrison's ears rang with a high-pitched tone, and he was in the midst of regaining his bearings when Angel dragged him further into the store. "Goddamnit! One-Alpha, are you ok?!"
Angel dragged Crow away from the store entrance, leaning him and a disoriented Morrison against an empty shelf. The rifleman scrambled to answer Gator's pleas for a response while clearing the dust from his rifle.
"Angel here, Grim and Crow are ok, but we are combat ineffectiv- shit!" A Confederation rifle team burst into the grocery store, and Angel unleashed a burst of 7.62 directly into the face of an urban camouflaged rifleman. "Need backup now!"
Grim saw the puff of smoke and debris as the T-85 fired round after round towards his squadmates. To his left, Crow shook himself from his stupor and laid prone on the ground, adding his rifle to the mix of Angel's deadly marksmanship.
It didn't take long for Mage Company's superior skill set to show, as the two Sicario riflemen exchanged precise gunfire with a force twice their size. Three Confederation soldiers lay dead, and fourth was soon added to the mix when Grim finally pulled himself together.
"Crow toss a frag grenade!" Grim ordered and took the rifleman's place in suppressing the incoming militia.
While Morrison and his fireteam fought off teams of Confederation soldiers, Graves and his RTO were struggling to find a bird available for CAS.
"Skyeye, I need someone to take out the fucking tank!" Hanney ducked his head down as another shell from the T-85 impacted overhead.
"Working on it Mage One-One. Omega and Rome Squadron are tasked with assisting other squads with close air support. Enemy resistance is heavier than anticipated." Granite was ready to tear the AWACS controller a new one when a second voice masked by interference came over.
"Skyeye, this is Oxide. Requesting Mage One-One's location, over." Graves' brows pinched in bewilderment at the callsign, which did not come from any of the Chimera Corps squadrons.
Skyeye didn't seem to mind the foreign callsign and diligently relayed their coordinates while advising caution. "Oxide, your bird doesn't have the firepower to penetrate that T-85's hull."
The familiar shriek of an F-44 Manta's turbine roared overhead and sent a great wave of kinetic energy tearing down the avenue, creating noise and force that Graves could actually see coming.
The Manta shot high into the sky before turning on a dime and screaming nose first towards them. The following expressed by their mysterious pilot hammered home the type of man they were dealing with.
"I've got the mass." A sound not too dissimilar to a screaming eagle was Graves and his men's only auditory warning to the oncoming fighter.
Grim was in the midst of reloading his Copperhead when a panicked call from Graves echoed in his combat helmet.
"Get Down! Get the fuck down!" Morrison and his team vaulted over a countertop just as the interceptor made impact with its target.
*BOOM!*
The Manta's nose slammed into the T-85's top hatch at breakneck speed, caving in the tank's rooftop and igniting its ammo storage compartment filled to the brim with explosives. The ensuing firestorm blew out windows for hundreds of meters and rocked the foundations of nearby buildings.
Gator and his team took refuge in the hallway, dragging the bewildered family behind them and narrowly avoiding a wave of broken glass from the detonation. Graves and the remaining members of Mage One-One managed to cling behind their hardcover and avoid huge chunks of heated debris that flew over them.
The Confederation soldiers closest to the tank were vaporized on impact, and those unfortunate few not killed outright had their bodies torn asunder by shrapnel or the sheer kinetic force.
When the dust finally began to settle, an object fell from the sky and crashed into the structure adjacent to Grim's position. He didn't get a good look at first, and he initially mistook it for pieces of the plane or tank raining down from above until a humanoid shape emerged from the thick smoke.
A transmission broadcasted on Sicario's emergency channel tailored to every Sicario Operator and pilot overtook all frequencies even as some were in the midst of a gun battle or a dogfight.
"Ronin, this is Oxide." A black visor cut through the smoke, and Grim's breath caught itself as his eyes registered the armored humanoid before him. "I'm with Mage One-One and ready for tasking."
"Good to see you, Oxide." Every Sicario soldier could have easily imagined the smile on the Colonel's face. "First squad is on its way to the Governor's Palace. Make sure they get there."
"Solid Copy Ronin, Oxide out." Grim stumbled out into the street, followed by the rest of his awestruck squad members. Even Graves, the most level-headed soldier Grim had ever met, was speechless as their savior walked into the war-torn streets with a rifle in hand.
"All callsigns on this channel…."
Ronin's following words would be echoed time and again whenever the Custodians enigmatic leader graced the battlefield with his presence, and this would be the first of many occasions.
"…Cypher is on the ground."
San Lucas, Sinaloa Confederation
Government District, Governor's Palace
Cypher was nowhere near the speculations of his capabilities that circulated the Custodians and the rest of their detachments.
He was so much more than that.
Cyphers' very presence was a shot of adrenaline for every Sicario soldier on the battlefield. The myth and the legend surrounding him instilled an overwhelming sense of confidence and savagery that synthetic drugs could not replicate.
It was as natural as it was impossible, and only those who fought under the Custodian banner could understand the feeling.
Mage Company didn't lack in spirit during their assault on the Government Palace, but the very sight of Cypher walking amongst them was enough to send them into overdrive.
Ronin had no issues coordinating his Company, and before the hour was out, elements of First Platoon were breaching the Governor's Palace.
Ronin and the rest of Mage Company followed Graves's squad to the palace steps and arrived just as they were planting their breaching charges.
Cypher stood in front of the mined doorway, uncaring of the explosions backblast and ignoring Grims warnings. A sharp look cowed the team leader, and he reluctantly detonated the breaching charges.
"Fire! Fire! Fire!" T-Bone, One-One's demolition specialist, called out his warning, and those within the vicinity of the blast area ducked their heads.
*BOOM!*
Although the breaching charge weakened the steel doors, the indents were too small for a single person to pass through. Cypher rectified this issue by striding up to the door and kicking it in with a tremendous amount of force.
The steel barriers went flying off their hinges, revealing a dense concentration of Confederation soldiers defending the lower lobby. Grim lobbed a pair of flash grenades into the opening, and Cypher was the first to breach once they went off.
Without hesitation, the Spartan charged into a barrage of gunfire, snatching up one of the steel doors and using it as a shield. His sudden movements drew the attention of almost all of the Confederation soldiers, allowing Graves's squad to enter the lobby without much resistance.
A pitched gun battle broke out between the two sides, and the Sicario soldiers once again proved their superior marksmanship and training. Ten of the thirty Confederation soldiers stationed at the entrance were killed in the first few seconds, forcing the rest to seek refuge on the second level.
Mage One-Two was the second element to breach the lobby, and Ronin was quick to relay orders to the other squads while Cypher took Mage One-One ahead.
"Second squad, secure the first floor!" Reyes ordered on the Platoon wide channel. "One-Three and One-Four clear out the upper levels. One-One stick with Cypher and secure Kingpin."
The RTO's confirmed their orders, and Ronin was quick to join Graves's squad as they stormed their way to their main objective. Cypher was making their job a helluva easier, and Reyes wished he'd joined their ground assault sooner.
Then again, knicking a dozen air kills from Monarch was probably worth it in the long run. Hitman Squadron were a prideful bunch, but most Chimera Corps squadrons were impossibly arrogant.
Having Cypher knock them down a peg would benefit Reyes's sanity and keep Comic off her high horse for a while longer.
The Colonel and his men fought their way through faltering Confederation resistance. As soon as Cyrus made his presence known, several Sinaloa soldiers threw down their weapons, usually after he had butchered a fourth of their number.
It didn't take long for Cypher and his squad to reach the General's command room, and by then, the battle outside had finally reached its apex. Ronin's CIC module kept him up to date on all allied callsigns, and by now, Republican units were swarming the port city.
"Skyeye to Ronin, be advised." The Colonel's ears perked at his callsign. "Confederation soldiers in the government quarter are egressing to the North. Republican troops have secured the downtown district and the naval ports."
"Ronin copies all. What's the status of Hitman and the other Squadrons?" Kolarek would have his head if her favorite pupil and his Squadron bit the dust, and Reyes wasn't afraid to admit that his fellow detachment lead frightened him.
Comic was easily in the top of five of the scariest people he'd ever met.
"Hitman and Caliburn are reporting no casualties." Skyeye pointedly ignored his relieving sigh. "Romeo lost two Gunships, and Omega had to ditch a badly damaged Hammer in the ocean. All pilots were picked up by Republican forces and are accounted for."
"Roger. Put Romeo on standby for extraction, Ronin out." Reyes took a step towards Mage One-One and Kingpin's location when a shrieking noise echoed with the sounds of gunfire. A pensive glance towards the source directed him to the chamber where Mage Company's primary objective was hiding.
To Ronin's heightened senses, the shriek was amusingly similar to someone shitting their pants in terror.
He didn't need to guess who was responsible.
"Oxide. You have our package?"
"Target secured." Ronin spared an amused glance with Captain Hayes and his command squad.
"Then our job here is done." Reyes gave a subtle gesture toward Mage Company's commanding officer, who promptly hopped onto the command net and prepared his men for immediate evacuation. "You coming with us, sir?"
"Negative, take the package back to Fort Olympus. Tell Kaiser that your men have acquitted themselves well tonight. I'll be in touch." Cypher's IFF fell off his display, and Ronin let out a sigh of relief at his departure.
Looking good in front of the boss was a tough job, and Reyes wasn't entirely sure if they passed this test with flying colors.
Romeo Six-One's Gunship, piloted by Warrant Officer Adam Wainwright, was the first chopper to crest over the horizon. The steady beat of rotor blades and turbines was a welcome sound to the Colonel's ears.
"You called for evac, Sir?" Ronin ripped his head free of the congested combat helmet, allowing an intake of fresh air to greet his lungs.
"Damn right I did. Now get your ass down here, Six-One. Your Squadron gets to play escort to a VIP back to Fort Olympus…."
Romeo wasn't alone in that regard. Hitman, Caliburn, and even Omega would be forced into escort duty whether they liked it or not. The Warlock Battalion and the Custodian's mission in Baja had been a resounding success, and now they could finally do what many of them had yearned for.
"…It's time to go home."
A little bit late but I was late getting home for work and got caught up in school assignments. Don't have too much to say honestly except I am already looking forward to winter break.
As always I hope you enjoyed this chapter, and remember to PLEASE! review to your heart's content every little bit helps my motivation.
Next Chapter: November 8th
The next chapter is available on my Pa t re on for those who would like to see it. The Link is below.
www .(p)at (r) e o n. co (m) /Cypher1597 (remove the spaces and () to access)