A/N:
Glad to have gotten this one out there a lot faster than the previous chapter. As things stand, this is by far the longest continuous action scene yet, reaching the same length as the HQ raid in a single chapter. So with that being said, I hope that you all enjoy!
Thanks to Orthros for proof reading this chapter before publication, and pointing out better ways to word a lot of stuff.
I have not gained spontaneous ownership of Pokémon.
Reviews are greatly appreciated!
"…" - Spoken dialogue
Italics - Michael's thoughts
'Italics' - Telepathic dialogue
/\/\/\ - Lemon Scene
"Being defeated is often a temporary condition. Giving up is what makes it permanent."
-Marilyn vos Savant
Ch. 26 - The Battle for Pewter
"It's coming from the building!" Alex shouted. "Tenth floor, give or take!"
"Yeah, I see 'em!" Thomas shouted from the top of the vehicle. "I can't get up for a clear shot! I need cover fire!"
"You are the cover fire!" Alex shouted as the bullets impacted the line of vehicles.
"They're shooting down on me, dumbass! If I even move I'm fucked!" The bulletproof windows were cracking as a result of the fire, but they could not move - deserted cars lined the streets, blocking them in a dangerous position.
"John! Roll the windows down a tad!" Samuel yelled.
"Are you fucking kidding?!"
"They're gonna break anyways if we don't do something! Now gimme something to work with!" Reluctantly, John hit the lever, causing for the nearly-shattered right windows to open up about two inches.
"Michael - shoot at the ones on the right! On my mark!" Michael tilted his rifle to the side, allowing him to faintly point the red dot sight level with the enemies. "Now!" They both began to empty their clips in the vicinity of the insurgents, finally managing to return fire of their own. Once their magazines had run out, the enemies had finally taken cover. Only Samuel managed to even hit anyone, but that wasn't their intention.
"There we fucking go!" Thomas said. The enemies prepared to launch another attack, but they received a storm of .50 caliber instead. Not letting the opportunity do to waste, the other remaining gunners throughout the convoy joined suit. The powerful bullets tore through the building and the enemies within their paths. Several began falling to the ground, and soon there was nothing left to kill. "Good, roll out now!" Wesley said. "Get around those cars and head towards the center of town!
The convoy began to carefully navigate through all the wreckage, slowly finding the most efficient path towards their destination. A tremendous explosion could be heard overhead, and fortunately, they had looked up in time to see a flaming helicopter spinning out of control towards the convoy.
"Move!" Kevin yelled. John swiftly spun the wheel, turning the vehicle to the side and mashing the gas as the aircraft slammed into two of the first vehicles in the line. One of the gunners had not been able to jump off in time, and was cut in half by the powerful blades. The surviving passengers of the two RG-31s climbed out of the toppled vehicles.
"Keep going! There's nothing more you can do here!" Wesley said. John put it in drive and they were off once again, dodging the stationary cars on the freeway. A chain mall off to the right was in the process of being demolished by the two sides fighting within. "There! There are civilians inside!" Thomas took aim as John ran through small, wired fence on the side of the road.
"There!" Samuel said, pointing towards a still-standing restaurant. Enemies were retreating towards the back of the building, where they were likely to exit out the back.
"Is the coast clear in there?!" Thomas asked.
"You're good - no innocents in the line of fire!" said Samuel.
"That's all I need to hear. John, stop this fucking thing for a sec!" The vehicle came to a screeching halt, and Thomas began sawing through the building, cutting through several insurgents before hitting a large propane tank. The remaining enemies caught the blunt of the explosion, sending them flying in every direction through the crumbling structure.
"There you go!" Wesley said. "Now you boys help clear out the rest of the mall! They need help on the northeast corner!" A basic map was uploaded to the top right segment of their visors, showing a red region where the Commander had specified.
"Roger that. Heading there now," said John. He sped up, driving straight through the central plaza. A small trio of insurgents was laying down fire towards their own infantrymen, causing them to resort to prone positions within a general pokémart. "Don't waste the bullets!" John said over the comm. He headed straight towards the enemies, who only realized too late that a seven-ton vehicle was coming their way. Their bodies were crushed by the sheer weight of the truck, and they lay crumpled and broken in the trail of the Reapers.
Up ahead they could see the situation that Wesley had spoken of. One soldier was carrying a wounded friend as he fled from the enemy, only to catch a bullet straight to the back of the head. The remaining members of the army were in a similar state of retreat, with things not looking well for them at all. "Thomas, get ready! I'm not stopping!"
"All set!" He had geared the M2 towards the west by the time they left the cover of the buildings. The dozens of enemies immediately ducked for cover when they started catching fire. Thomas kept the weapon body-level to them as he held the trigger, blowing sizable holes within each and every individual he shot. They quickly reciprocated, and the back window on the left side broke, sending glass inside the vehicle. John swerved, causing those inside to be flung to the right while Thomas had to hold on for dear life. Nevertheless, he continued delivering fire to the enemies a mere moment later, going until he ran out of ammunition. At that point, Kevin leaned out the window and pitched in, giving Thomas the cover he needed to jump down and climb inside the vehicle.
"Good work. By the looks of things, this location should be secure. Now start working your way towards the center - you should join in with some CICs coming from the east!"
"On it!" John said. He got them back on the road, where the heart of the city came into sight once again. Smoke was rising from within, and half of the aircraft that had been present from the start had already been shot down. From the deadly aerial display came an F-22, heading south towards them.
"Is that one of ours?" asked Samuel. Their answer came when a missile was projected towards their direction. "Shit, no it's not!" John steered them as far to the right as possible, taking them towards the field, but was unable to completely avoid the incoming explosive. The RG-31 was hurled into the air, slamming the Reapers into the doors and each other, then crashing violently into the ground. It finally came to a rolling stop with the vehicle resting upside down.
"F…fuck," Kevin groaned. "That fucking hurt…"
"Is everyone okay?!" the Commander asked in concern.
"Yeah… I think so," John answered. "This thing's fucked if you couldn't tell… Everyone get your shit and get out. We're gonna need to make a run for it." Smoke was already starting to come from within the hood.
Michael's head throbbed as he made an effort to search for his rifle, which he eventually found underneath Alex. After grabbing it, he worked his way towards the rear door and shoved it open, scanning the terrain for any enemies. "We're… clear," he groaned, before crawling outside. The others made their way out of the destroyed truck and got to their feet as quickly as they could.
"Y'all aren't far from the others," Wesley said, before a marker showed up on the top of their screen, pointing northeast and showing the objective to be about seven-hundred meters due north. "Get there and help them with whatever they need."
As they ran towards the specified location, the Reapers found themselves keeping as close as possible to the small traces of woodlands in order to stay out of sight of the several aircraft. Nobody seemed to know what belonged to who, and it was far better to avoid taking a risk when they could just as easily be wiped out as a unit. Throughout the small forest, a couple of wild pokémon could be seen nesting down, wanting nothing more than to shut out the war that was raging around them.
When they had just about stepped out into the clearing, which revealed the eastern highway system, they spotted a group of enemies positioned behind a collapsed bridge nearly a hundred meters north of their location, shooting towards the slowly advancing CIC. One guy immediately spotted them, and they quickly began laying down fire in the Reapers' direction.
"Well shit!" Alex said as they retreated back into cover. "That could have gone a lot better!"
"No way you're gonna make it through that," Wesley said. "Split up and pick them apart! Thomas, lay down cover fire for the others!" Michael ran towards the west with Samuel while the others split off into two other groups. Thomas aimed his Negev towards the enemy and began to fire in rapid, successive bursts, causing them to take cover behind the wreckage. "Good! Now's your chance!" Michael aimed his rifle high, intending to make use of the M203, the mask calculating the curvature of the projectile for him. Samuel simply flipped to semi-auto. Thomas stopped firing, and pretty soon, the enemies quickly looked up. The distinguishable thud sounded as Michael pulled the trigger. In the distance, several had dropped as a result of the group's tactic, and a split second after they had taken cover, the grenade reached their location, taking out several in one hit. None of them showed any signs of movement.
That being dealt with, they were able to make their way towards the incoming CIC. "You joining us?" a lieutenant asked them.
"Yeah," answered Alex. "What's the plan?"
"We'll be hitting the fourth district. There's a blockade a kilometer and a half away. We'll need to get through that before we're going anywhere."
"Alright then," Alex said.
"I'll try to get one of our fighters to pave the way for you, and tanks are making their way there now," Wesley said, "but proceed with caution - I'm seeing a lot of enemy personnel stationed there."
"Spread out!" the commanding officer of the nearby CIC said. "Wedge formation - and make way for the vehicles!"
The journey to the blockade provided them with next to no cover, as they had to traverse over the highway to get there. But before long, the aforementioned blockade came into view - the enemies had constructed a barrier out of the abandoned vehicles to stop the CIC's progression into the rest of the city. Further behind was the makeshift fortification, created out of stacked sandbags and mounted LMGs. They immediately ducked behind whatever cover they could in order to avoid being mowed down by the barrage headed their way. The Reapers were positioned against a pickup truck, low to the ground in order to avoid the lethal storm overhead.
"Wait it out!" Wesley said. "They'll be there any second now!" And soon enough, the unmistakable sound of the M1 Abrams rushing at full speed could be heard approaching. Two of them sped onto the battlefield, neither one of them wasting time before blasting the road block with their powerful 120mm cannons. The insurgents immediately took cover behind their fortifications, but it wouldn't do much good - sand bags couldn't stop that kind of weaponry. The Reapers stood up, taking aim at various locations throughout the enemy's territory as the CIC quickly began to advance across the highway.
Fire was exchanged from both sides as the tanks quickly closed the distance between themselves and the insurgents. Michael kept his sights towards the top of the wall, laying down fire every time an enemy dared to reveal any part of his body whatsoever.
"What the hell is that dumbass doing?" Samuel said, referring to one particular enemy. He was continuously looking over the edge for a split second, as if constantly evaluating the situation.
"Hell if I know, but he's about to catch a bullet!" Michael responded, squeezing the trigger in a short, three-round burst. Being nearly a thousand meters away, though, he was unable to land a hit, and the enemy scrambled behind cover once again. "Fucking prick! Try it again!" The tanks had covered nearly half the distance, and that's when they noticed it. But it was far too late to intervene.
In hindsight, they should have noticed something off about the positioning of the 18-wheeler towards the middle of the highway. It dawned on them that the one odd enemy from before had been checking the locations of the tanks. And now, they were right in the danger zone. Almost instantly, the trap had been activated. Somewhere in the flash, both Abrams had disappeared, along with everything else in the vicinity. "Perfect," Kevin said. "Really, that's just fucking perfect."
A giant crater had formed in the middle of the road, and somewhere on the other side of the still-raging inferno, vehicles could be heard speeding towards them. "Brace yourselves!" the lieutenant ordered. As if they would be dumb enough to try to advance.
"New plan!" John said. "Find cover towards the sides! We'll flank 'em when they come!"
"Alright. Hey!" Thomas yelled to the commanding officer, "Tell your men to keep 'em busy!" The Reapers split up, three to each side of the road. They sprinted forward, using the smokescreen from the explosion to cover their presence. Michael positioned himself behind an overturned SUV as he waited for the enemy, loading another 40mm grenade into the M203. With three different angles on the incoming enemies, they were at a great vantage point to pick them off.
"ATVs incoming," the Commander said. "I'm seeing four of them!" The armored vehicles sped towards the CIC, mounted with either M240s or Mk 19 grenade launchers. Those had to be put down quick. Michael waited for a closer shot - his grenades could only reach so far. But someone on the other side - likely Samuel - started firing as soon as they could. One of the gunners on top of the vehicles fell over the side of the ATV, coming to a violent rolling stop on the asphalt. The others quickly shifted their aim towards the Reaper, only to catch fire from the Negev on the other side.
"Great!" Wesley said. "Keep that up!" One of the two remaining gunners began firing the Mk 19 towards Samuel's general direction, only for a grenade to hit the side of his own vehicle. The ATV shook harshly as a result, causing for the enemy to fall off of it. The enemies began to turn around, realizing that they needed the last remaining gunner to cover their retreat back to their own lines. That is, if they even managed to survive the onslaught they were receiving from the CIC. One of the vehicles came to a gradual stop; the driver had been shot.
The sound of a jet permeated the air, and everyone looked up. Fuck… not now… They were all stationed behind visible cover - not physical. They were sitting ducks for an aircraft, especially one such as this one: an F-15.
"Hawk… is that one ours?" asked Alex. His answer came in the form of the missiles being dropped straight through the road - consuming the enemy vehicles and cutting straight through their front lines. The jet kept dropping its payload off into the distance.
"That answer your question?" Wesley replied.
With the threat having been reduced to nearly nothing, the Reapers and the CIC were able to progress towards the center of the city. As they passed over the remains of the insurgents' fortification, the smell of burnt flesh was unmistakable.
"What's the plan now?" Kevin asked as they ran.
"Marines from Sinnoh will be joining you from the south," the Commander Hawkins replied. "Help them clear the buildings, starting with the nearest pokémon center. There are a lot of hostages in there - be careful."
"Roger that," Michael said. A pokémon center was usually bustling with activity, and on a Saturday of all days. Surely there would have been a lot of people inside when the terrorists started roaming the streets. But unlike the armed forces, they did not care if a bunch of civilians were wiped out. The difficulty for the Reapers would lie in attacking the terrorists from enough angles to take them out without harming innocents. And that was probably an unlikely scenario.
The highway led to a four way intersection, where they faced some minor resistance from the few surviving enemies of the recent bombing. "You're just about there!" Wesley said as Michael shot an insurgent, crawling with both of his legs broken. "The marines are fighting their way north, about half a kilometer away from your current location. Help them break through if they need it."
As they ran towards the next objective, they found themselves bordering the suburbs near the southwestern part of the city. In the distance marines could be seen exchanging fire with the enemy all around. Backyards had become visual cover for members of both sides alike. "Fuck, it'll take forever to break all this shit up," Kevin said.
"It's important these guys get through!" Wesley said. "More important than hitting the pokémon center right away - put that on hold for the moment. No civilians aside from the senator have been killed. But if this shit keeps up, half the people in these neighborhoods will be killed from collateral damage." Samuel propped his rifle on top of a wooden fence, aiming off into the distance.
"Shit, it's looking pretty rough back there…"
"How many?" asked Thomas.
"Can't tell. Maybe forty?"
"Something like that," Commander Hawkins answered. "I'm uploading their locations to you right now!" The blue outlines appeared almost immediately, some of them being only two houses over. Samuel pointed his rifle towards a group of three and fired through the fence on the other side. The silhouettes dropped one after another in quick succession.
"These things aren't gonna stop bullets. They're relying on visual cover, so we've got the upper hand. It'd be best for us to spread out and take them out while they're focused on the marines!" All six of them headed in their own direction, with Michael sprinting down the street towards a significantly-damaged house. A single enemy was within, shooting out the back window towards Sinnoh's forces. Facing the other way, Michael thought to himself. He silently slung his rifle over his shoulder - not that a little noise would have mattered anyways when the enemy was rapidly unloading the magazine of his AK-47. But he didn't want to arouse any suspicion in his efforts to conserve a few bullets.
Michael crept through the blown-open front entrance, his dagger in hand as he stepped over the mounds of sheetrock among the dusty atmosphere. A man, woman, and a small child were huddled up in the living room. He raised a single finger to where his mouth was, continuing forth until the kitchen came into view. Water was spraying in every direction, clearly the result of busted pipes from gunfire. The moment he stepped around the corner, the firing ceased. The empty magazine was ejected; the second the insurgent reached over for another one, he must have seen the Reaper in his peripheral.
"Fuck!" he yelled, trying to thrust the bayonet-mounted barrel towards Michael. He dodged it and grabbed the rifle with his left hand, slicing his own weapon through the chest of his opponent. He dropped the AK in response to the painful slash, then quickly reached for the USP-45 at Michael's side. Not on your fucking life! Michael head-butted the enemy, following through by hauling back and thrusting his dagger through the his stomach. Michael pushed further in as he gasped, the breath being forced out of his lungs. The enemy's grip lightened on the still-holstered pistol, which Michael grabbed and put to his head.
"One down over here," Michael announced after the noise had subsided. "What're things looking like out there?"
"East side is looking a lot better," Samuel said. "Most of them are over there by you and Thomas. We're heading over there now!"
"Good," Michael said as he holstered the pistol. He then pulled the dagger out of the gut of the dead enemy, before wiping the blood off on the camouflage outfit. It was a fucking ugly color anyways… "He's dead now!" Michael said aloud. "If you have a basement or cellar, get in it - stay clear of the attic though. Things are pretty bad outside if you couldn't already tell." Without looking at them again, he opened the back door and went outside. Thomas was nearly fifty meters left of his location, engaged in combat with four enemies in a nearby house.
"Keep up with the cover fire. I'll try to flank them," Michael said.
"Better sooner than later!" Thomas answered. "Gettin' low on ammo!" Michael ran in the southwest direction, making sure to move quickly and staying low to avoid raising alarm. He squatted beside a hedge, taking note of the movements of the guys firing towards Thomas' direction. That's it… get just a little bit closer… The outlined figures were progressing towards the fence as Thomas retreated behind a house. He would take as many as he could, then pull back and find somewhere else to hide before attempting to pick them off again.
"He went that way!" one of them said. "You two - go around that way. I want that giant motherfucker dead!" Shit, change of plans… He quickly ran across the yard, then took position beside the front porch. He raised the Tavor as the insurgents came closer.
"I've got these guys. Get ready to hit the others after I fire," Michael said.
"Gotcha. Be careful," the large Reaper replied.
"No promises." He could hear their rapidly-approaching footsteps on the charred earth, and his finger rested on the trigger. The two of them ran out into the open in an effort to help overwhelm Thomas, but they were too late to notice Michael's weapon pointed head-level towards them. Neither one knew what had hit them when the shots had been fired.
"The fuck was that?!" yelled the apparent leader of the enemy squad. He and the other guy quickly raised their weapons and started making their way towards Michael.
"Thomas, now's a good time - all eyes are on me."
"Perfect." A split second later, both of the two remaining enemies dropped in response to the quick burst of fire from the Negev, each filled with bullet holes.
"That takes care of them. What's the status now?" Michael asked. There were clearly a lot less enemies out and about - that much he could see from his display system.
"The marines are working their way north again. Good job!" Wesley said. "Things should be back on course. Now wait for them to join you so you can begin raiding the buildings!" Once the remaining enemies had been dealt with, three small squads of marines had established a perimeter within an abandoned house.
"Are y'all the guys we're supposed to meet?" asked one of the privates.
"Yep, that'd be us," John said. "I'm guessing you know the current objective?"
"Yeah - we're clearing out the pokémon center and surrounding buildings. Got a plan for how we're supposed to do it?"
"Not yet, no," admitted John. "Commander, can you send us a building layout?"
"Sure thing." While they were heading towards the pokémon center, the map appeared on the lower left hand corner of their displays.
"Thanks," John said, before speaking to the marines. "So there are three total entrances, and the front one would be kinda stupid to try and infiltrate." Even though the two sliding glass doors would make it a relatively easy task, the enemies would be able to see them coming from a pretty long ways away. "I think it would be best to split into two main groups and hit them from the back and side entrances. A couple others could distract them from up front while we slip in from behind."
"Sounds good to me," replied one of the marines.
"I'll scope things out and get their attention," Samuel said as the building of interest came into view. "Odds are they'll be too busy focused on me at first to notice you all sneaking in." The Reapers decided to go through the back, while the marines crept near the other door. Thomas carefully looked through the glass surface, and, seeing that it was clear, tried to gently open the door.
"Well, they're not here for the moment, but it's locked. Don't think they'd care if we busted it out if they're too busy dodging bullets."
"Got it," Samuel said, taking that as his cue. "Get ready." In the distance they heard him firing, and among the sounds of shattering glass were those of swearing and civilians screaming. Thomas smashed the glass door open with his Negev and opened it from the outside. They stuck to the walls, checking all of the doctors' offices as they passed them. A few tied up people here and there, and a lone guard - which John had taken care of with the butt of his rifle - but it seemed like the insurgents were mainly up front.
"Focus on the enemy. Others will be there shortly to evacuate the hostages." John straightened up before turning the corner, pointing his rifle towards the direction of the light footstep among the sounds of gunfire. The tip of a rifle barrel peaked from around the corner, and John immediately thrust his left hand out and pushed it to the side, shoving the end of his own weapon to the neck of the other.
"What the fuck man!" gasped the lead marine as John pulled back. "You could have killed me!"
"My mistake," John said quietly. "Looks like they're mostly in the front half of the building."
"Somewhere between eight to ten of 'em," Samuel said. "And they are pissed. They've got me pinned down."
"Not for long," Thomas said as he approached the door to the front desk. Michael and Kevin moved towards the patient door to the left, ready whenever the others were. Thomas started the assault, kicking the door open with a massive thud. He quickly mowed several enemies down before they had fully turned around alongside his comrades. The three or so insurgents that had survived the initial onslaught dove to the side, taking cover within the cafe behind the overturned tables. Michael quickly analyzed the situation, and seeing no civilians within his line of fire, began to shoot through the tables in hopes of hitting them, dotting their aluminum surfaces with bullet holes. The sound of his emptied magazine hitting the ground was the last within the building.
"You think they're all dead?" Michael asked over the comm.
"Only one way to find out," Thomas replied. He set his LMG on top of the counter as the marines began to create a defensive perimeter throughout the rest of the building. Withdrawing his pistol, he edged his way closer to the tables before looking over. "Yeah, they're pretty damn dead," he said indifferently as he holstered his pistol. As he walked back towards them, that's when the others saw the quick flash of movement from the edge of the counter.
"Look out!" Michael yelled. Thomas swiftly turned around and caught the enemy's arm, stopping the dagger nearly a foot away from his chest. The look on the terrorist's face was one of horror as he realized how badly he had fucked this up. Thomas thrusted his right hand into the throat of his would-be killer and lifted him into the air, only to slam him down onto the corner of the counter, snapping his neck in the process. "Stupid bitch," he muttered as he grabbed his primary weapon again. John took the moment to comfort the civilians, who had been tied up and secured along the walls. Not a single pokémon was out and about; the likely case was that the terrorists had demanded that everyone return them to their balls, lest the innocents get shot. But it hardly mattered now.
"Be ready for the evacuation teams," John said. "Listen to what they say and you'll all get outta this damn place."
"Ask one of the marine squads to remain at the location, just to be safe. Not taking any chances," Wesley said.
"Any of you all mind sticking around?" asked Alex.
"Already got that taken care of," said the leader of the small group of marines. "Our orders are to raid the Silph Lab next. Y'all tagging along, or are ya gonna do your own thing?"
"We're with you guys," John replied.
"Alright then. Let's roll out." Once Samuel had rejoined the group, the Twenty-Fifth squad and the team of marines ran out into the main street, where the CIC had already begun pushing further into the heart of the city. Fortunately what remained of the aerial battle was being waged at a much more comfortable distance than before.
"What's the situation lookin' like?" Thomas asked.
"They seem to have concentrated most of their forces up north and west," Wesley answered. "They're putting up a hell of a fight, too - we've been unable to break through so far."
"Do we need to head over there?" asked Alex.
"No - you all are needed right there. They can have the city for all we care. The biggest concern is getting all these civilians to safety."
"Then let's go take that building," said John.
It wasn't long before they found themselves cautiously scoping out the facility of interest, which was only a block and a half away from the pokémon center. Fortunately they had faced no resistance on the way there, but it would still be foolish to let their guard down. The entrance had already been blown open when they got there.
"Looks like they forced their way in pretty violently," Alex said as he stepped over the fragments of the large, metal gate.
"Stay alert. They must've used some pretty powerful weaponry to pull a stunt like that." They went inside of the front building, seeing it spread out into three large, adjacent rooms from there. Brass casings lined the floor, and among them was the body of a single scientist with a large, gaping hole through his skull.
"This is already looking great," Kevin said.
"Probably a scare tactic," John murmured. "Way too many bullets. I'm guessing they did it to make a point."
"I say we split into three groups and spread out. There's how many of you all?" John said, referring to the marines.
"Fourteen now," answered one of the squad leaders.
"Alright, that'll work. Three groups, each one taking a different route." The Reapers decided to take the left section, which was the storage room according to the sign above. Opening the door revealed the room to be both dark and long, lined with several tall shelves that were used to store equipment of every sort. The Reapers quickly turned on their thermal vision, which would easily reveal any living thing within the darkness. But so far, nothing. Two doors were positioned on the opposite side of the room, with one leading back towards the right and the other continuing into another area. They decided to pick the latter of the two, as the door to their right would end up putting them on course with one of the marine groups.
Alex experimentally twisted the knob, opening the door slowly. An empty computer lab was stretched out before them, with all of the systems still on. Lab reports littered the ground among the overturned chairs. By the looks of things, work here had ended rather abruptly. "They gotta be here somewhere…" Thomas said.
"We'll just have to keep looking. Doubt that they took all those people somewhere else." As they headed for the next door, Samuel stopped in his tracks, causing the others to look at him in confusion. He simply motioned to the desk near the corner of the room - one that they had overlooked as they walked in. Through the small gap of space between the floor and the workstation was a glowing red figure. Or at least, that's how it showed up to them. Silently they approached the desk and circled it, with Kevin pointing his rifle towards the figure as he slowly edged his way closer.
A wicked jolt of electricity narrowly missed his head, blasting a bulletin board off the back wall. "Holy fuck!" Kevin said over the comm, fortunately for them. Everyone's gun was immediately pointed towards the source of the attack. "Get out here - slowly," he ordered quietly, this time so the individual could hear it. A light shuffle, and the pokémon crawled out on its hands and knees, trembling under the gazes of the soldiers.
"The hell is an ampharos doing here?" asked Michael.
"Probably hiding from the thugs," John stated. As if to answer his question, they noticed a bullet wound in the creature's left thigh, with a slight yet steady stream of blood trailing down his short leg. He tried in vain to stop the bleeding with one of his paws. The Reapers lowered their weapons at the sight of the weak creature.
"Do you know where they went?" asked Alex. He feebly nodded, pointing towards the back of the building.
"That's a good lead," John said over the comm so that the ampharos couldn't hear him, "but what are we gonna do about him?"
"I don't know, tell him to go back under there I guess," Wesley said.
"Alright," John said, before speaking to the electric-type. "You just get back to hiding. Well have 'em cleared in just a few." The ampharos nodded, then crawled back under the desk.
"Well now we know were the enemies are," said Kevin.
"Yep. Makes sense, too - they set up shop in the back. Easier to guard; only the front and rear entrances to watch," the Commander said. "Proceed with caution - no doubt they're ready for action."
It was when they were in the chemical storage room when they heard the explosion, followed by gunshots. Well shit, there goes any chance of a surprise attack. The six of them rushed over towards the source of the fight, finding the marines taking cover on either side of the mostly destroyed wall. The dismembered bodies of several of their comrades were scattered about.
"The hell was that?!" Michael yelled over the sound of all the fire.
"I don't know!" yelled one of the marine privates. "Looked like a SMAW to me!"
"What direction?!"
"Two o'clock from the doorway!" he yelled back. Michael put his finger on the trigger of the M203, then readied himself for when the fire died down some. Alex already caught onto what he was planning to do.
"Michael, you can't be serious!" he exclaimed.
"I'm completely serious!"
"You're gonna get shot, dumbass! Wait it out!" Glad to see you've got faith in me… The second the enemies let up, Michael sprinted towards the other side of the room, then dove as he crossed the opening, launching the projectile in the general direction of the presumed threat. All he could see over the split second was a small group of the insurgents behind an overturned steel table. His own explosion sounded as he fell within safe territory, quickly scrambling to his feet.
"Fuck!" yelled one of the insurgents. "Go fucking pick it up!" Must've hit something of importance, Michael thought.
"Where the hell is your grenadier?!" John asked the marine team leader.
"Right there!" he yelled, pointing to one of the dead bodies. "Other one stayed back at the center!" John motioned for the marine to come closer, to which he obliged. "We need to see if we can grab those frags on his belt," John said in a much quieter tone.
"Good luck with that," Michael said as he loaded his last 40mm grenade into the M203.
"I can lay down some cover fire, but I'm just about out," Thomas offered.
"How many rounds?"
"About fifty," replied Thomas.
"That'll be enough time," John said. "It'll have to be." Thomas placed his finger on the trigger, crouching near the opening.
"Ready when you are!"
"Now!" Thomas pointed his Negev through the doorway, spraying the LMG waist-level within the room. John barely entered inside, grabbing the leg of the dead grenadier and yanking him back towards the others. Both his arms and his head had been blown off messily, but what they needed still remained - the three frag grenades on his belt. Thomas pulled his spent weapon back a split second before a series of bullets took its place.
"Fuck that was close!" he said, tossing the emptied ammo-belts to the side, then slinging his weapon over his back. "You're welcome, by the way!" John rolled his eyes as he went about collecting the explosives from the grenadier's body.
"What did it look like in there?!" asked one of the marines.
"No more than ten of 'em - and they all flipped tables for cover. No civilians in sight." Well then where did they take them? No matter; as long as innocents weren't in the line of fire, then they could do as they saw fit… like toss several hand grenades in each direction.
"Now what?" asked another soldier.
"Now," said John as he pulled the pins, "they can watch each other get blown apart." He quickly threw all three of them in rapid succession into the large room, causing them to yell as they dove for cover. Glass shattered as shrapnel was sent everywhere as a result of the stream of explosions, and immediately, the Reapers ran inside. All of the enemies were in various locations on the ground, either severely wounded or trying to balance themselves throughout the ringing of their ears. One of the better-off guys was crawling towards an M4, which Thomas picked up.
"Where are the civilians?" he asked. But it was all in vain; the terrorist likely couldn't hear a thing now. A few shots sounded as the other Reapers ensured that there weren't any prisoners to take.
"Ah, here we are," Michael said as he bent over to pick up the SMAW. "Seems like this was what they used to knock on the door." There was a duffel bag near it with two remaining rockets inside. "Too bad the thing's a total pain in the ass to carry around though…"
"Over here," Samuel said from the corner of the room. A table had been placed in front of a lone door in a manner that prevented the handle from being moved. He set his rifle down and began to pull it backwards, clearing a path for the door. Opening it revealed a server room, with nearly thirty scientists and engineers lined up against the walls with their hands over their ears. "There we are."
"Great work," Wesley said. "All of them except for the one up front seem to be fine. Let the marines take over from there - I've already gotten in contact with Commander Wagner, and he's told them to guard the place. Other civilians are going to be escorted here temporarily."
"As per orders from Wagner, it looks like you guys are staying here," John said. "This place is about to get a hell of a lot more people."
"Will do," answered one of the marines. "Alright boys, let's get these people untied!"
With their objective here completed, the Reapers left the way they came, sending the wounded ampharos towards the back with the others while they made their way out. The CIC had advanced into the heart of the city, but they had been stopped in their tracks by a new wave of enemies from the west. They were firing back at the halted convoys with everything they had, and it had forced everything to a standstill.
"What's the game plan now?" asked Kevin. "Just sit here and get hammered like that?"
"As if - we're getting air support there as fast as we can. In the meantime, Thomas - you go back inside and get that SMAW. Use it to take out their barricades!" Wesley said.
"Alright!" While he ran back inside, the others became a part of the firefight, with Michael working his way closer to the front of the line for a better shot with the M203. He eventually stopped behind a wrecked ATV. The smoke had settled; everyone inside was already dead. Michael quickly peeked over the hood, then launched a grenade towards a concentrated group of enemies. In his peripheral, he could see their bodies being tossed in each direction as he unloaded the rest of his clip towards others, before being forced to get back behind cover as he took out his USP-45. Fuck, I shouldn't have come up this far, he thought. He had far too little ammo to pull off a successful stunt like that. But if he had to make a run for it, he could always retreat the way he had come, or go between the buildings.
For what seemed like hours, but in reality was only a few minutes, more enemies continued to come, and there was a significant enough number of them to put to rest any hopes of further advancement. Even when Thomas had blown through the incoming foes with the SMAW, they were only replaced by more. "Fuck's sake, how many of these guys are there?" asked Kevin. Despite their conditioning, the Reapers were starting to show signs of exhaustion. This fight had been significantly longer and more intense than any other they had previously experienced.
"Boys, you're gonna have to retreat for now!" Wesley said.
"Bullshit!" yelled Thomas. "We're not backing down from these fuckers!"
"Use your head! You're all getting low on ammo, and they're about to run you down! Pull back, get more supplies, and we'll hit 'em from a different angle! But this shit is not working!" Reluctantly, Thomas quieted down, knowing that the Commander was right.
"Okay. Let's pull back," John said. Michael sprinted from behind the ATV, back towards the rest of the group. In the sky, a quiet bomber could be seen swiftly approaching their direction.
"Thank Arceus that air support came in," Michael said as he fired a couple rounds towards the advancing enemies.
"What are you talking about?" the Commander said.
"Isn't that ours?" he asked, looking towards the sleek, black aircraft.
"No, what is—holy shit, get outta there!" The dreaded B2 had unleashed its payload before swooping back into the air, leaving the CIC oblivious to its presence. Michael and the others were powerless to stop it - unable to evade the stream of Mark 82 precision-guided bombs. Nothing within their helmets could shield them from the sound that they heard.
Michael didn't know what happened, but he found himself on his back, looking up at the collapsing city through his blurry vision. His ears had been overtaken by a shrill ring, and every part of his body ached. He could count it as lucky that he wasn't consumed in the explosion, but that was where his luck had ended. The unmistakable feeling of metal throughout his body; the shredded suit and growing blood spots. He needed to get out of there. Mustering all of his strength, Michael rolled over, panting as he noticed a key detail. F…fuck… my pistol… Looking for the next best thing, he reached around his belt and gripped his 686. Seven shots to get out of this.
Craters lined the road; vehicles tossed aside as though they had been made of cardboard. In the distance, the other Reapers were similarly trying to regain their senses. The ringing started to subside, and heavy gunfire could be heard approaching his location. "Move Michael!" Wesley shouted. An insurgent entered Michael's line of sight, but it would be foolish to fire a shot at him - not when he needed to be slipping away. As quietly as he could, he edged closer to the alleyway.
"There!" one of the enemies shouted. Michael swiftly turned and shot him in the head, only for two others to follow up behind him. One in the neck, the other in the chest. But he had to move before he wasn't so lucky. Finally finding the strength to get to his feet, Michael stumbled into the alley, only to come face-to-face with an enemy with enough size to rival Thomas. He quickly pulled his revolver up, but his hand was caught by the insurgent, followed by a powerful punch to his gut. Michael sharply exhaled as the wind was knocked out of him, and the revolver fell to the ground. With his other hand, he made an effort for the dagger, but the enemy simply laughed and slugged him to the ground.
"No," he smirked, "we won't be having any of that." With the bladed still in its sheath, Michael was forced to faced an M249. Rather than shoot, though, the large enemy knelt down and slammed the butt of the weapon into Michael's mask, nearly knocking the consciousness out of the Reaper.
"Michael!" Wesley yelled as his vision began to fade. All of a sudden, things got significantly louder; Michael's mask had been ripped off. The voice of the Commander trailed away, as the true, unmasked noise of gunfire permeated the atmosphere.
"Son of a bitch," the enemy muttered. "Everyone! You're not gonna believe this!" he shouted to the other insurgents. "I just caught Grim!"
Michael tried to fight back - to move, reach for the gun - do something. But his exhaustion and injuries had made him less than a match for his captor, and the lights went out as a fist was slammed into the side of his head.
. . . . .
He opened his eyes, and through the haze of it all, he watched as the city burned. Skyscrapers had been toppled, and the terrorists swarmed the streets. In the far distance was the new battlefront; they had been pushed back and had lost every bit of ground they had gained. Michael tried to move, but found his hands and feet to be tied. Towards the front end of the transport vehicle was a medic; at his feet was the combat dagger, with no sign of the revolver anywhere. Three other insurgents were inside the vehicle; there was no way out of this one. Noticing the now-conscious Reaper, he began to approach Michael with his bag in hand, causing him to stir in discomfort as he tried to think of a way out of the situation. Nothing came to mind.
"Easy now - if we wanted you dead, we'd have let Bruce cave your skull in. You should consider yourself lucky to even be alive right now."
"What are you planning to do with me?" He tried to mask the fear in his voice.
"The boss has heard of your capture. He was pleasantly surprised - here we'd managed to snag one of his greatest enemies. No, you won't die…not yet, at least. Douglas has ordered that you be sent to him." He fumbled around in his bag for something - a small scalpel. His heart started pounding, but he was unable to struggle. Fortunately, the enemy merely sliced through the inside of his kevlar sleeve, revealing his bloodied arm. He then retrieved a small case from within the bag, and upon opening it, revealed a syringe.
"What is that?" Michael asked.
"Something for the ride." He inserted the needle into Michael's vein, then ejected the fluid inside. It wasn't long before he found himself slipping once again.
"Sleep tight asshole," one of the enemy combatants said. It was the last thing he heard before everything faded.
A/N:
And now there's that. Tell me what you think of the chapter in the review section! Until next time!
