Somewhere In SD, 23:40 , 19th March 2037, Bear's POV


So, there we were. Two of us. Each in a crate. On a midnight train, filled with bad guys. Armed to the teeth. Add to that drones and automated sentries along the armored train, and anyone would see this as a suicide mission. The box bumped around against the others as the train click-clacked along the track. I heard no steps outside of my crate. No patrols came through. It had been at least five minutes since we got on. Waiting for the signal.

A light whistle from inside the room. That was it. Slowly, I lifted the crate lid with one hand, handgun in the other. Across from me Wolf did the same, scanning around with his one good eye. No sign of patrols, and the last one we had heard go by was half a minute ago. For now, we were clear.

We both stepped out slowly. Our handguns weighed a little more than usual due to the suppressors fixed onto the end. The same with my MP5. We silently touched our feet down onto the floor of the train. No squeaks to ruin our day.

"So, Big Man, what's the plan?" His one-eyed glare was enough to tell me to never call him that again. "Sorry." His glare softened. I swear I even saw him grin.

"We move up the train, slowly. No shots, unless you are sure it's a killshot. And no bodies left behind. We dump them off the train, if we can. If you can't get the shot, don't take it. We can't let them know we are on here." We crept up through the crate-packed car. It was somewhere in the middle. We needed to be at the front. "The distraction team at the back will be drawing them back there, so stay hidden. Can you do that?" I nodded confidently.

"Course I can. I know when to keep my big mouth shut."

"Don't get overconfident." If I was any more childish, I would have stuck my tongue out. But this was no time for childish acts (even if I really wanted to), but a time to be serious. I put my warface on, serious all over. We remained crouched, trying our best to stick to the side. The boxes weren't tied down so they moved about here and there. Some blocked off the side.

Wolf gave a hand signal for 'hold' when we reached the door. A single door, shaking from the train's movement. He peered through the one window, then pushed a button above him, and it slid open to another crate filled car. We had no idea how many cars had crates in them. Sure, they gave good cover. But not much maneuverability. And if someone threw a grenade in here...well, who knew what was in these crates. Explosives, ammunition. Something that could make this whole car go boom with us in it.

I got curious at the first crate, and took a peek inside. Inside were cases. I opened the top one to find a T3AK rifle with ammunition. I took it out, with ammo clips, then closed the case up and the crate. Just in case.

Then I went on after shouldering my new rifle. It would surely come in handy later, if we have to go loud and I run out of ammunition on my MP5.

The train rocked as something exploded. I steadied myself on a crate, still holding my MP5 ready. I looked over at Wolf.

"Distraction?"

"Distraction." That meant we had to go quietly, yet faster. We passed all the crates, crouched low and feet moving. I heard thudding as soon as we reached the door. Wolf didn't have to say a word, as I was already down behind crates. The door slid open, and a squad of soldiers came running through in single file. I counted at least five, or more like guessed since I could not see them. The door closed behind them and soon their footsteps faded. I counted to five.

One, two, three, four...I peeked over, putting the MP5 over the top. No one in sight, except an already standing Wolf. He nodded then moved to open the door. It slid open. And just to say, never have I seen someone as old as him move so fast. One second the door was opening, and then the next he's firing he's suppressed pistol...Okay, so maybe not that fast.

I knew it must have been a flat car, since I could hear the rushing wind. I didn't know it was three of them. Wolf went outside, I followed to have wind pushing against me. And in Wolf's arms, a dead guard. Most likely left behind to take a piss or something. No matter, he was dead and being chucked over the side.

I looked to the back of the train from around the car we just came from. Some smoke billowed out of the side of one of the rear ones. Some distraction.

"What did they do?" I muttered aloud.

"Made a distraction." I glanced over, and I couldn't tell if he admired their plan, or was dumbfounded. He was that hard to read sometimes. I shrugged it off, and moved across the flat car.

It had several strapped down large crates, large enough to fit a small vehicle. The wind and constant tipping side to side a little made them wobble, you could definitely imagine those ropes snapping and just crushing everyone on the car, or simply falling off. A couple of fuel tanks toward the front. Surely would be of use for vehicles of our own. It really did explain how they could keep their own frontlines sturdy with this steady income of supplies. Made us more eager to control this track. And not only would it cut off supplies for them, but it would give us direct access to behind their lines...Hopefully.

"Would they be all right?" I thought to myself for a moment. I shook my head. "Of course they would. They had a secret weapon. And Hawk had great aim, and Lion was tough and hard-headed."

As we walked across the car stealthily, I looked over at the mountains. It was no surprise it was so hidden, especially at night. Besides the lights along the sides of the flat cars so that anyone walking on them could see their way and the front lights, it would have been very hard to see from above with the mountains around.

Wolf suddenly ducked, which I saw in my peripherals, so I did the same. Just in time too as the door opened and another squad came through. I tried to get a glimpse of Wolf, and that's when I saw it. A radio, no doubt from the last KPA soldier he got out of our way. Smart. The troops kept going and we remained silent until the all passed. And this time, they all did. We moved through the door, conveniently left open, and back into a closed off car. This one was more like a passenger car. And it was empty...Or so we thought.

Halfway through, some movement got my attention on a seat ahead. A tired looking soldier sat up. We couldn't get a shot off as he juggled around his own rifle in his own hands to fire back. We fired first. But that never stopped them from firing off a shot. Right into the window, causing a loud shatter of glass. We waited. Waited, for someone to come through that door. No one did.

Too close. Much too close. Wolf lowered his weapon and went to the body. Then dumped it out the window.

"Well, that was pretty close, huh?" Wolf made no answer, and just went through the door. I followed closely behind, my trying-to-bright-the-mood smile failing.

That's when we both saw it. A bright red light near the ceiling, attached to a 9.6 mm automated turret. The bright light was from a motion sensor, capable of reaching several meters ahead. Rounds were capable of being fired quickly, at around 600 rpm. The power behind the rounds could put holes in us with ease. It was attached to a rotary emplacement, capable of 360 degree rotation. It demonstrated this power when it detected us. Apparently this one had a very loud, shrill alarm that went off. I dove to the side and behind a chair, holding my hands to my ears. My MP5 dropped to my chest from the strap it was on.

I could hear someone shouting, so I put one hand off. It was Wolf.

"Cover me, or take that thing out!" I glanced over to see two KPA had come to beneath the turret. The turret kept on shooting, aimed at Wolf. I took my T3AK off my back and readied to fire over the chair. Wolf blind fired some rounds, and I took that as my chance by emptying the loaded clip into the emplacement. It exploded as I hit the ammo box, sparks falling over the soldiers as well as burning pieces of metal. They let out shouts of pain as searing hot metal fell over their faces. We finished them off, but it was too late. Even though the alarm had stopped, it was only a matter of time. But Wolf, he was a quick thinker. He shot out the window on his side, and climbed out.

"Follow! Now!" I followed along with his crazy plan to climb out. The wind would have knocked my head off if it had been loosely attached. It buffeted against me at the speed the train was going. I continued to pull out from the window, and just in time. My feet were barely missed by enemy bullets. Way too close.

I looked up to see Wolf already on top, extending a hand down. I grabbed it and he pulled me up. And it was great weren't in a tunnel, or we would have to be scraped off the ceiling of the tunnel.

"Stay low!" I kept low, crawling across the roof. Branches brushed by, almost hitting us. One scratched my forehead, and I could feel a trickle of blood. We kept going, until a ping and a spark beside me caught my attention. Glancing back I saw them trying to follow. I rolled onto my back and fired, taking a few shots before hitting them in the chest. They vanished after they fell.

"Live through that, why don't you?!" My face went from mocking to surprise as another popped up and fired. I did the same, and the same result. Besides the fact one bullet hit my shoulder, just grazing it. "Dammit!" I rolled back over to see Wolf way ahead. I followed after, ignoring the flaring pain. I had to catch up. He glanced up, then dropped down. In the dark, I couldn't see it. Until it was two cars ahead. A very low branch. I pushed myself up and tried to crawl forward quickly on my hands and quickly turned myself to fall feet first just as the branch went over. I even heard a quiet thwack as it hit someone behind us.

So far, this had been just a bunch of close calls. Wolf opened the door to the next car and went in. At the other end, the door opened and two soldiers came in. One carrying a tricopter drone armed with a single 5.8 mm round weapon. One soldier went to start shooting while the other activated their drone. A terribly bad idea, as this area had a roof. Not much room for it to move. But then I saw how it was good, as it went straight to firing to keep us down. Peeking around I could see the two soldiers advancing slowly. I made a hand signal to Wolf who was pinned down. He nodded and readied a flashbang. Using three fingers, I counted to three.

One...

Two...

And the flashbang was out on three, blinding and deafening the soldiers. I sprang up, firing as quickly as I could at the drone and taking it out. It exploded in a shower of sparks and debris, falling to the floor. We adjusted on to the soldiers who had no time to react. They fell.

"Move up, now!" Moving up with weapon up, we moved ahead up the train.

Almost every car had something, till the fourth. The next car we moved into had a small group of drones flying by the windows. We ducked our heads down and kept moving. They continued to follow us into the third passenger car where some KPA were moving through. They pinned us down upon entry. Luckily Wolf had good aim and managed to hit one of the propellers off one of the drones, that flew right through the window and hit the three KPA soldiers.

The fourth was clear. A good thing, allowing us to take a breather. Wolf coughed up a bit, but I just assumed at the time that his age was catching up on him.

"We're almost at the front. Just two more cars." I nodded, sighing in relief. Just two more cars. Then we would be done. So feeling a bit rushed, I headed on to the door of the next one. And looked through the window on the door. What I saw, it made me hold my breath. To say the least, it was not what we expected.

"Uh, Wolf? You might want to come and see this." He muttered something under his breath and came to the door. Only to be caught silent by what we both saw. At least a dozen crates, with a 'Biohazard' sign on each side. "What the hell is this? I don't remember anything like this in the briefing." Wolf shook his head.

"Neither do I. Watch my back." I nodded, lifting the T3AK up to watch behind and in front.

This car had no doors. It was colder than the rest, no doubt to preserve whatever was in those boxes. However I found it odd there was no double door, and the fact that the soldiers would have had to come through here without any protective gear. With his gloved hands, Wolf carefully opened the closest crate. Even from where I was standing I could feel the sudden chill from the refrigerated crate. I couldn't help but to peek over Wolf's shoulder as he took what was inside. A small vial. Each in it's own little socket in stacked metal pans. The frozen liquid inside was a sickly green-yellow. It almost made me sick, looking like liquefied vomit almost.

"That don't look right" I muttered, staring in awe. Wolf made no answer. Instead his full attention was on the vial. He put it into one of his breast pockets, as we had no other place to put it.

"Let's keep moving." We moved through the last car. Opening the door, it was one last covered car, about twice the size in length and a half taller then the passenger cars. And oddly enough, absolutely clear besides a couple of small tables and folded chairs. A deck of cards on one of the tables sat there, a few hands around the table. This must have been where some of the soldiers hanged out near the front.

"Move up" Wolf ordered. I followed the order and went across the car to the other end, walking cautiously. I reached the door. And reached for the handle...

Only to pull my hand back and turn, weapon at the ready as something crashed. There stood a tall humanoid machine. A thickly armored drone, covered in black paint and it's head shaped like a samurai from ancient times for visual effect, no doubt. In both hands it held assault rifles, and on its back which was facing us was a long, black steel katana. It stood at eight and a half feet, definitely taller than myself. A red light glowed across the floor from it's front. They had been upgraded a lot over time, becoming larger and heavier built. Designed as a prototype several years by Japan before the KPA took them over.

"Oh fuck!"

"Oni!" As soon as Wolf shouted that I was ready and firing my first round. It pinged off it's back, but I didn't stop firing. Each shot pinged off without any damage. I could hear Wolf's weapon doing the same. The Oni rotated it's torso to its right till an arm faced either end, then it lifted both arms up and let loose bullets. I ran and flipped one of the tables. Wolf made a run for the door and held out outside the car. I peeked around when it stopped firing. Only about 40 rounds in the clip, I guessed by the speed the ammo ran out. But the large machine was far from finished. It paused, then dropped the rifles. I ran out of ammo as on of it's hands went for the katana. As it did, it slowly turned it full body toward me. My gaze went up to it's face, and there I saw the central eye. A large red orb. Staring right back at me, glowing against my face. Once the blade was drawn, it charged faster than anyone would think it was capable, judging by its size.

It swung down, cutting the table I rolled from clean in half. Mind you, this was the first time I ever faced an Oni. And they were absolutely terrifying! Enough to give me nightmares for about three days, tops. It swinged again in a horizontal curve, almost taking my head.

"Bear! Get back!" I looked up to see him holding a frag. I dived to the side as the frag got tossed. But the Oni was smarter than it looked. It turned it's torso with amazing speed and knocked it away, exploding a hole in the wall of the train car.

"Holy crap!" I shouted, rolling and covering my head from any debris. The sounds of metal feet moved away from me. I glanced up and saw the Oni moving away to deal with a new threat: Wolf. "It's coming for you!"

"You think?!" Wolf backed up into the other car, the Oni following and shrugging off all bullets. I started looking around to find my weapon, and found it. Apparently it had been stepped on and was bent around the middle. No using that. So all I had was my MP5 and pistol. Or so I thought. I reached to my chest to find it not there, and saw it by the table, the strap cut. So I all really I had was my pistol. Pulling my USP.45, I fired, using my spare hand to support my firing hand while moving back to distance myself. It continued to shrug off bullets, though did not ignore them. Raising an arm, I saw it had a small attachment to it's arm. A large pin-looking harpoon flew out, a long length of rope attached.

I moved to roll, but I couldn't avoid it in time. Luckily it barely missed my shoulder. Unluckily, it caught my uniform and pinned me there against the wall I backed into.

I cursed under my breath, now holstering my weapon and attempting to remove the harpoon. Another addition other time. And while pinned, all I could do was watch as Wolf fought helplessly. And when I heard the scratching of claws on the roof, I knew things could only get worse.

Through the hole in the ceiling, a mechanical beast fell. A Stalker, equipped with mounted LMG. But it did not target me. Not even look at me. It was looking at the Oni. Once I saw the unordinary tail, my hope was restored.

"Stripes!" The Stalker's head reared and the mech turned to see me. I swear, if that thing could smile it would have. Cause it sure made me smile. It analysed my situation and came bounding over. Using the added lower jaw, it grabbed the harpoon and yanked the spike out of the wall, freeing me. I patted the robot on the head, earning a mechanical purr. Or something like that. Whoever had sent him in also had a surprise. A rifle on its side, clipped on. I unclipped it to see it was an M16 assault rifle. I smirked and looked at Stripes' metal face. "Go get him, boy." Stripes ran off, facing its target.

I checked the ammo clip as the Stalker charged. Armor-piercing rounds. The others must not have been far behind. Or, Wolf was much more prepared for these types of situations than I thought. I moved my gaze from my weapon to see a sight I never thought I would see. Two machines, both made by the KPA, in a brawl.

Stripes leapt at the wall to its right before leaping off, letting out a mechanical growl. The Oni however had speed and quick-thinking on its side. They were designed to be superior, while Stalkers were meant for more frontline use. Stalkers were much more expendable. And that was something Orca could not fix as much as he would have liked.

The Oni grabbed the neck of the Stalker in one swift movement. In the other hand it readied it's blade to stab. There was one advantage Stripes had. The tail was sharp on the end, and with a flick it cut through some wiring in the grabbing hand. The Oni dropped Stripes. I took my chance at the stunned Oni and began to fire while Stripes was in the clear, hitting at the vulnerable joint area at its legs. The Oni fell into a kneel, giving Stripes a go at its head. Stripes clawed at its armored head and over it's back, ripping and tearing wherever it's claws could. The Oni punched up, forcing the Stalker back. From one leg was a small SMG hidden in a compartment that came out, for when it comes to long range combat and it runs out of ammunition on the big guns. Without facing me it fired a burst. I rolled out of the way into a crouched position, then went back to firing.

Stripes did the same, keeping back and firing its mounted LMG, also with armor-piercing rounds. The Oni could shrug off no more. It charged at Stripes, or more-so limped. With a powerful strike it severed the LMG. Being underneath the katana Stripes leapt forward, knocking the Oni down. This was the finishing job as it pounded down like some savage gorilla, claws leaving marks down the Oni's face and chest. I remained in my crouched position, staring in awe and fear, just picturing any Stalker doing this. Oil splattered the ground around the Oni like blood, sparks coming out as wiring was cut and metal slashed against metal.

The fight was soon all over. Metal scraps spread around the metal shell. A dull red slowly dimming down in the Oni's eye. I stood up, holding myself my knees. Now that the fight was over I could start to feel the effect from all the moving around.

The Stalker came over like it was nothing. Except for the slight limp. As it turned out, the punch had moved one of its forelegs slightly out of the socket.

"We'll get you looked at" I promised, sweeping a hand over its head. I thought it weird before why they treated this thing like an actual pet. Now I could see why.

"Bear!" Glancing up I could see Wolf coming, with Hawk and Lion behind. Lion went past into the engine room. "We need to stop this train." I stood there, listening. "That Oni took too much time off our schedule. A few minutes ahead is the rigged bridge." My eyes widened. That bridge was rigged to blow when the train went over. "There's more!" Lion shouted. We all turned to see him at the door to the engine room. "They've sabotaged it. They must have known we were trying to stop this train. What they probably didn't know, was that the bridge ahead was rigged to blow."

"Well, that's a great way to brighten our day! What else could go wrong?!" I sarcastically said. They all glared at me. "Sorry." Wolf turned away, hand on his chin as he paced. I wanted to shout 'What are you doing?! This is no time for pacing!', but he was a thinker. He could think a way out of this. And that he did as his head moved up from the floor.

"In that car back there, there's something important. Now, I know our objective was to capture this train. But we can all see that the objective has gone to shit." We all nodded. "But, whatever is in there is big." He took the vial out of his pocket. "We need to get this back. So everyone, grabbed as many vials as you can!" I sighed.

"So we going for plan B?"

"Yes, Bear. We're going for plan B." I groaned. I hated Plan B.

We each got a few vials in our pockets, then met up at the hole in the side of the car. Then, we each grabbed a chute from Stripes' back. What can I say? They always prepare for the worst.

"Everyone ready?!" We nodded once more. "Good! Then jump!" Everyone but me jumped, as I was a bit hesitant. Everyone but Stripes, who gave me a well-needed nudge. I fell out, Stripes following, to the river below. Halfway down, I felt the air ripple around me as something exploded above. I pulled my chute to try and slow me down as we all descended into the rushing dark water below.

A long way up river, we washed up on a river bank. I laid on my back, panting.

"So...who's got drinks?"