-Advance Wars 2
--Death Array
---Chapter 4: Underground Access
That landing was a painful one, let me tell you. Not to mention it was pitch black when the manhole cover slammed down into place. I took out my handgun and switched on the light so I could tell where I was. I saw a wide running stream full of... you know... nasty sewer stuff, and tons of pipes. Yeah, Sonja was right about the drainage system.
"Wolf? Are you there? Did you escape?" I could hear Sami ask me.
"Yeah, I'm good. It's really dark down here though, and the flashlight on my gun doesn't really do a very good job of lighting the way."
"Don't worry, you should be able to follow it to other parts of the base." Sonja assured me.
"Keep moving, there's no telling what Hawke will do after Green Earth's failed rescue attempt. Oh yes, and we picked up Jess from the docks. She's safe and sound."
"Good to hear, I'll let you know when I reach the barracks."
Another thing that I didn't feel like mentioning to Sami was my fear that Flak would get pissed that I didn't dance with him and his tank and send troops down into this stink hole. If they sent alien troops, I'd be in trouble since they had night vision and thermal sensors built into the suits. I had a lousy flashlight and stuck out like a sore thumb.
I moved at a good pace, making sure I didn't fall into the nasty water that ran along side me. For awhile, I thought that the sewer tunnel would never end. But I came across a section of the wall that had either collapsed or been blown up and it led into a cave like area, away from the sewer. Hopefully, this would take me to the Barracks. Hell, it's not like I could get a good idea of my bearings anyway.
There were some lights hung from the wall, but they were all busted or burned out. That told me this little passageway hadn't been used since the base had been built. It was probably an addition to the sewer system that never got past the planning stages. All the boxes and empty crates lining the wall made me nervous. Anyone of them could have been hiding an enemy soldier.
Then up ahead, I swore I heard a voice. It was more like a whisper. My muscles tensed up and I tightened my grip on the pistol. I must have stood there for at least ten minutes before moving again. It was dead silent.
Damn, I had never been anywhere so dark before. I was pointing the flashlight in all directions to make sure I wouldn't go walking into a wall. I swear I heard someone down here. Mumbling about something. Then I saw some used casings. It was like a trail, and I followed it until my light illuminated a leg in the darkness.
I could see a green trench coat. Must have belonged to a guy in Eagle's rescue team. He was slumped up against the wall with his head down. I assumed he crawled his way from the battlefield to rest and never woke up. I had intended to keep moving, leave the dead undisturbed you know? But suddenly a hand reached up and grabbed my leg!
"Freeze!" The man ordered.
I slowly glanced down to see an MP 40 loosely cradled in his other arm. If he pulled the trigger, he wouldn't have too much control over it, but the first couple shots would be enough to take me down. It kind of made me mad to just brush him off like that. I should have checked to see if he was really dead.
"Set your pistol on the floor... slowly."
He drifted off into silence and then looked up at me. That big green helmet shielded most of his face, so I all I saw was the guy's nose and mouth. Not much to describe someone when you really think about it.
"Hey, you're not Black Hole." He seemed to realize.
I made my move and stepped back so his hand couldn't hold onto my leg anymore. I shined the light right in his face. When he shot up his hands to cover his eyes, I took my other foot and kicked away his gun.
"Now you freeze!" I told him.
"Hey, hey. I'm sorry, I thought you were one of them." The soldier apologized.
He then took off his helmet to reveal a head full of black hair. Not to mention the guy had a bad five-o-clock shadow. His eyes showed how tired he was. The guy was probably using every ounce of strength to stay awake incase suckers like me came along.
"No, I'm not Black Hole. The name is Wolf. I'm Orange Star." I explained to him.
"Orange Star huh? Well, good to see someone who isn't wearing black. The name is Groling."
"Were you part of Eagle's rescue team?"
"Yeah... I guess I was part of the lucky group. I actually got on the ground." Groling paused to laugh. "It may not seem like it, but we had some planning put into this."
"Hey, I didn't say anything."
"Oh, you don't have to. I can read people really well. You're probably thinking Eagle rushed us in as fast he could manage. But we had a plan. Black Hole just had more men than we anticipated. I'd blame it on bad Intel."
I looked over Groling when he paused to search his pockets for something. His trench coat was in reasonable condition, but when I looked at his other leg, it had been hit pretty bad. You could almost wonder why he didn't bleed out or something.
"Hey, your leg is pretty messed up. Why didn't you give it medical attention?" I asked while leaning down to apply first aid.
"Oh, that's cause I've been running for the past half an hour. Black Hole was sweeping the whole heliport. Cleanup, makin' sure they whacked everyone."
He finally pulled out a pack of cigarettes and removed one when I finished up doctoring his leg. You didn't have to be Sonja to figure out what he was looking for next, as his hands went back to searching his pockets.
"Hey, I thought it was against Green Earth regulation to have cigarettes on a mission."
Groling looked at me as if to make sure I was serious. Well, I suppose it doesn't matter if you're sitting in enemy territory with a busted leg and just escaped from your unit being wiped out.
"You can find ways around it." He fished out some matches. "That reminds me, get my gun. You knocked it out of my hands in the first place."
I walked over to his submachine gun and picked it off the floor. When I handed it back to him, it seemed to relax him a bit. From my perspective, it also completed the picture I was accustomed to seeing when I thought of Green Earth infantry.
"How'd you get down here?"
"Well, after we descended from the first chopper, the second one was lining up to unload the second team. Unfortunately, that's when Hawke found us. Blew the whole second chopper to hell. Those alien weirdoes began to storm the heliport and we tried to get into a position we could defend."
Groling paused to take out a match and struck it against his gun. The cigarette cast an eerie glow around his face and would illuminate his hand when he took it out of his mouth.
"Well, we began to move down. Three floors later, we hit the bottom. Except there's even more Black Hole scum waiting for us down there than there was on the helipad. We got backed into a moldy looking storage area. My leg got blasted, and I fell down here through a hole in the floor."
"So you're saying this passage leads to the heliport?"
He looked up at me and raised an eyebrow. I had just realized I groaned on my last sentence.
"You sound disappointed. Did you think my sad story would be a bit more dramatic?" Groling asked angrily, and rightfully so.
"No... It's not that. It's just I'm trying to head toward the barracks..."
"Oh. On the second floor of the heliport, there's a walkway that will take you to the first floor of the barracks. You see, the helipad is built on a cliff, so it's lower than the rest of the facility." He paused. "You basically went under your target area."
It made sense, and I was a little bit more optimistic about my chances of mission success. I just hoped Black Hole didn't get clever and moved Andy back to the motor pool. Then I noticed Groling seemed to be nodding off.
"Hey, you gonna be ok?" I asked him.
"I'm tired man. I just want... a couple winks... three... forty-two...zzzzzzzzzz."
And he was gone, just like that. His snoring almost kicked in immediately. It was like something out of a cartoon. I was hesitant to just leave him there, but it didn't seem like anyone was after me, and I really didn't have the time to sit around and wait. Personally, I'd think he'd be dead all ready if Black Hole was looking for him. I tried to walk off and he called out to me in a sleepy voice.
"Hey... I'll... catch up... I got a radio... keep in touch... zzzzzzzzzz."
-------------------------
Before Groling went back to sleep, we exchanged frequencies and I took off toward the Helipad. His story checked out when I came across an area that was littered with all kinds of garbage. There was so much busted stuff that I could easily climb up into the first floor of the helipad. I holstered my pistol when I lifted myself up out of the underground passage and readied my M4.
But that's as far as I got before stumbling upon a really nasty scene.
The Green Earth guys must have put up one hell of a fight, because the storage area I was in was littered with bullet holes, casings, and plenty of blood from both sides. That's all I'll say about that. But it was bad, really bad. The smell alone was more than enough to get my feet moving in a hurry. I burst into the hallway gasping for fresh air, and I might as well yelled out "I'm right here!" at the top of my lungs.
Luckily for me, there wasn't anyone around. Just me and a rectangular hallway with various windows on one side, overlooking the other shore of the island. Groling wasn't kidding when he said this part of the base was perched on a cliff, it was practically dangling over the ocean. After checking for cameras and any sentries, I could take the time to realize that heliport was different that the other parts of the base I had been in.
Instead of cold gray hallways, the walls in this building were painted a bright copper color. Reminded me of orange road cones. All the doors I came across had little windows that I looked in. When I moved to look into one of the windows, the door opened up and I nearly went head first into a pair of alien soldiers. I ducked back into an open room that looked like and office and watched them as they walked away from me. The two aliens could barely get around the corner when a human soldier sprinted up to them and waved his hands around. He looked pretty anxious.
"Guys what's going on? The door to the Barracks is jammed!"
"Jammed?" One alien repeated. "Ha, it is not jammed. It is locked."
You should have seen the guy's color drain out of his face.
"Locked? What the hell for?" He exclaimed.
"There is an intruder on the base. Commanders Flak and Winchester have fought him already. We must keep this area locked down and secure. No one gets in or out, until the intruder is dealt with."
"Aw come on... Can't you guys open it up and let me through? I gotta get back into my position..."
"Don't whine to us worm, take it up with Commander Adder."
I guess the mere thought of him having to go up and face Mr. Pillsbury Doughboy himself was more than enough to make his stomach wrench in agony. The two aliens shoved him to the side as he began to breathe rapidly. He stood there for about five seconds, and then ran off to the bathroom to go puke his guts out. There was a part of me that got angry at the guy. Looking at the alien soldiers like freaks... Acting the way he did toward them. Then I shook my head and realized what I was saying. They were freaks though... why did that piss me off so much?
I had to get a hold of myself. Lash's little treatment was beginning to resurface. I didn't know why. I had gone months, probably a year in Orange Star with no problems. Maybe it was seeing all these alien troops again. Or simply being so close to Black Hole forces. I refused to think about it anymore and almost missed a call that was coming in.
"Hey, Wolf. You there?" It was Groling. "You find the walkway yet?"
I paused remembering how it had been locked.
"I just heard it was locked. To prevent me from moving around."
"Damn, tough luck huh? What are you going to do now?"
"Make another call." I answered with a low tone.
Before I called up Sonja, I made sure I had a good spot to hide out. Just incase it was complicated. And knowing Sonja, I had a pretty good idea what I was in for. A locker room full of flight suits was good enough for me, since I figured there wasn't any copter type unit on the pad and therefore no pilots to use the suits.
"You called?" Sonja answered in her usual tone.
"Yeah, I have a problem. Adder has locked down the walkway connecting the heliport to the barracks. I have to get to the barracks if I want to save Andy."
"Locked you say? Well, it's typical of Adder to try and narrow the battlefield. He likes traps you know. I'm pretty sure that anything you do will most likely result in running into him."
"Sonja, are you here to help me? Or try and discourage me?"
I could hear Sami open up her line and join in on the conversation.
"Look Sonja, if you're going to keep doing this, I'll dismiss you right now. A soldier in these conditions have to keep their morale up. They lose at least the tiniest bit of hope, and it can be all over."
Sonja took a long pause and muttered something to herself. Looking back on it, I'm pretty sure I made a bigger deal out of it than it should have been. But it was just that tone of voice. She almost sounded condescending at times. I guess that's what you have to deal with when you're a certified tactical genius.
"Fine... I was just trying to warn your operative of the dangers involved in trying to get around the door." Sonja explained to Sami. "There is the technical way... Hacking. And if I read your file right. You don't have much expertise in computer sciences."
"Yeah... I'm more of a run and gun type of guy. I usually leave the computer stuff to my unit, or Palmer to be more specific."
"So we'll do it the other way. You'll have to climb down from the roof onto the walkway. I don't exactly know what kind of materials are in the helipad. But a rope or ladder should probably suffice."
"... I think we can manage."
"We, Wolf?" Sami asked confused.
Internally, I cussed for leaving that little detail out for so long. I should have told them about Groling earlier. When I went to explain, I told them about our meeting in the underground, and his story about what went down on the roof of the heliport.
"Hm... is that so? Well... I think you two should work together. It might be difficult, but you could be in two places at once." Sami decided after a time.
Well, I didn't want to waste anymore time and called Groling up. I asked him if he'd seen any rope or ladder anywhere in the Heliport when he was running around. He sounded a bit confused until I explained to him what we were going to do.
"That depends on how big the drop is. You're going to have to go check it out. I have a feeling a ladder isn't going to do the job. If it's rope... I have to think some more about that."
There was something wrong with his voice... It sounded... hesitant.
"What's wrong Groling?"
"My leg is still busted. It's gonna take some more time before I can move. Look, just go check out the distance from the roof to the walkway. I'll catch up, and I'll bring what we need."
His answer didn't sound very reasonable. But the last thing I wanted to do was piss off my only possible help for this mission. I moved to the stairwell and slowly opened the door to head upwards...
-To be continued...
--Next Chapter: Sidewinder
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The way he moved made you feel like you were going in slow motion. His fingers, his legs, his arms... They all seemed like they were ten times faster than your heartbeat. I blinked, and he was already on the other side of the helipad. I could hardly keep track of him, and the snow that was coming down made it even worse.
"Don't just stand there Heckler. You should feel lucky... I've never devoted so much time to killing just one person."
I raised my M4 and sprayed the area with gunfire. Hell, I might as well been throwing the bullets at him. Because his body snaked and bent and weaved so that I was wasting ammunition. Soon, I'd probably run out. How the hell was Adder so damn fast!?
------------------------------------
--Death Array
---Chapter 4: Underground Access
That landing was a painful one, let me tell you. Not to mention it was pitch black when the manhole cover slammed down into place. I took out my handgun and switched on the light so I could tell where I was. I saw a wide running stream full of... you know... nasty sewer stuff, and tons of pipes. Yeah, Sonja was right about the drainage system.
"Wolf? Are you there? Did you escape?" I could hear Sami ask me.
"Yeah, I'm good. It's really dark down here though, and the flashlight on my gun doesn't really do a very good job of lighting the way."
"Don't worry, you should be able to follow it to other parts of the base." Sonja assured me.
"Keep moving, there's no telling what Hawke will do after Green Earth's failed rescue attempt. Oh yes, and we picked up Jess from the docks. She's safe and sound."
"Good to hear, I'll let you know when I reach the barracks."
Another thing that I didn't feel like mentioning to Sami was my fear that Flak would get pissed that I didn't dance with him and his tank and send troops down into this stink hole. If they sent alien troops, I'd be in trouble since they had night vision and thermal sensors built into the suits. I had a lousy flashlight and stuck out like a sore thumb.
I moved at a good pace, making sure I didn't fall into the nasty water that ran along side me. For awhile, I thought that the sewer tunnel would never end. But I came across a section of the wall that had either collapsed or been blown up and it led into a cave like area, away from the sewer. Hopefully, this would take me to the Barracks. Hell, it's not like I could get a good idea of my bearings anyway.
There were some lights hung from the wall, but they were all busted or burned out. That told me this little passageway hadn't been used since the base had been built. It was probably an addition to the sewer system that never got past the planning stages. All the boxes and empty crates lining the wall made me nervous. Anyone of them could have been hiding an enemy soldier.
Then up ahead, I swore I heard a voice. It was more like a whisper. My muscles tensed up and I tightened my grip on the pistol. I must have stood there for at least ten minutes before moving again. It was dead silent.
Damn, I had never been anywhere so dark before. I was pointing the flashlight in all directions to make sure I wouldn't go walking into a wall. I swear I heard someone down here. Mumbling about something. Then I saw some used casings. It was like a trail, and I followed it until my light illuminated a leg in the darkness.
I could see a green trench coat. Must have belonged to a guy in Eagle's rescue team. He was slumped up against the wall with his head down. I assumed he crawled his way from the battlefield to rest and never woke up. I had intended to keep moving, leave the dead undisturbed you know? But suddenly a hand reached up and grabbed my leg!
"Freeze!" The man ordered.
I slowly glanced down to see an MP 40 loosely cradled in his other arm. If he pulled the trigger, he wouldn't have too much control over it, but the first couple shots would be enough to take me down. It kind of made me mad to just brush him off like that. I should have checked to see if he was really dead.
"Set your pistol on the floor... slowly."
He drifted off into silence and then looked up at me. That big green helmet shielded most of his face, so I all I saw was the guy's nose and mouth. Not much to describe someone when you really think about it.
"Hey, you're not Black Hole." He seemed to realize.
I made my move and stepped back so his hand couldn't hold onto my leg anymore. I shined the light right in his face. When he shot up his hands to cover his eyes, I took my other foot and kicked away his gun.
"Now you freeze!" I told him.
"Hey, hey. I'm sorry, I thought you were one of them." The soldier apologized.
He then took off his helmet to reveal a head full of black hair. Not to mention the guy had a bad five-o-clock shadow. His eyes showed how tired he was. The guy was probably using every ounce of strength to stay awake incase suckers like me came along.
"No, I'm not Black Hole. The name is Wolf. I'm Orange Star." I explained to him.
"Orange Star huh? Well, good to see someone who isn't wearing black. The name is Groling."
"Were you part of Eagle's rescue team?"
"Yeah... I guess I was part of the lucky group. I actually got on the ground." Groling paused to laugh. "It may not seem like it, but we had some planning put into this."
"Hey, I didn't say anything."
"Oh, you don't have to. I can read people really well. You're probably thinking Eagle rushed us in as fast he could manage. But we had a plan. Black Hole just had more men than we anticipated. I'd blame it on bad Intel."
I looked over Groling when he paused to search his pockets for something. His trench coat was in reasonable condition, but when I looked at his other leg, it had been hit pretty bad. You could almost wonder why he didn't bleed out or something.
"Hey, your leg is pretty messed up. Why didn't you give it medical attention?" I asked while leaning down to apply first aid.
"Oh, that's cause I've been running for the past half an hour. Black Hole was sweeping the whole heliport. Cleanup, makin' sure they whacked everyone."
He finally pulled out a pack of cigarettes and removed one when I finished up doctoring his leg. You didn't have to be Sonja to figure out what he was looking for next, as his hands went back to searching his pockets.
"Hey, I thought it was against Green Earth regulation to have cigarettes on a mission."
Groling looked at me as if to make sure I was serious. Well, I suppose it doesn't matter if you're sitting in enemy territory with a busted leg and just escaped from your unit being wiped out.
"You can find ways around it." He fished out some matches. "That reminds me, get my gun. You knocked it out of my hands in the first place."
I walked over to his submachine gun and picked it off the floor. When I handed it back to him, it seemed to relax him a bit. From my perspective, it also completed the picture I was accustomed to seeing when I thought of Green Earth infantry.
"How'd you get down here?"
"Well, after we descended from the first chopper, the second one was lining up to unload the second team. Unfortunately, that's when Hawke found us. Blew the whole second chopper to hell. Those alien weirdoes began to storm the heliport and we tried to get into a position we could defend."
Groling paused to take out a match and struck it against his gun. The cigarette cast an eerie glow around his face and would illuminate his hand when he took it out of his mouth.
"Well, we began to move down. Three floors later, we hit the bottom. Except there's even more Black Hole scum waiting for us down there than there was on the helipad. We got backed into a moldy looking storage area. My leg got blasted, and I fell down here through a hole in the floor."
"So you're saying this passage leads to the heliport?"
He looked up at me and raised an eyebrow. I had just realized I groaned on my last sentence.
"You sound disappointed. Did you think my sad story would be a bit more dramatic?" Groling asked angrily, and rightfully so.
"No... It's not that. It's just I'm trying to head toward the barracks..."
"Oh. On the second floor of the heliport, there's a walkway that will take you to the first floor of the barracks. You see, the helipad is built on a cliff, so it's lower than the rest of the facility." He paused. "You basically went under your target area."
It made sense, and I was a little bit more optimistic about my chances of mission success. I just hoped Black Hole didn't get clever and moved Andy back to the motor pool. Then I noticed Groling seemed to be nodding off.
"Hey, you gonna be ok?" I asked him.
"I'm tired man. I just want... a couple winks... three... forty-two...zzzzzzzzzz."
And he was gone, just like that. His snoring almost kicked in immediately. It was like something out of a cartoon. I was hesitant to just leave him there, but it didn't seem like anyone was after me, and I really didn't have the time to sit around and wait. Personally, I'd think he'd be dead all ready if Black Hole was looking for him. I tried to walk off and he called out to me in a sleepy voice.
"Hey... I'll... catch up... I got a radio... keep in touch... zzzzzzzzzz."
-------------------------
Before Groling went back to sleep, we exchanged frequencies and I took off toward the Helipad. His story checked out when I came across an area that was littered with all kinds of garbage. There was so much busted stuff that I could easily climb up into the first floor of the helipad. I holstered my pistol when I lifted myself up out of the underground passage and readied my M4.
But that's as far as I got before stumbling upon a really nasty scene.
The Green Earth guys must have put up one hell of a fight, because the storage area I was in was littered with bullet holes, casings, and plenty of blood from both sides. That's all I'll say about that. But it was bad, really bad. The smell alone was more than enough to get my feet moving in a hurry. I burst into the hallway gasping for fresh air, and I might as well yelled out "I'm right here!" at the top of my lungs.
Luckily for me, there wasn't anyone around. Just me and a rectangular hallway with various windows on one side, overlooking the other shore of the island. Groling wasn't kidding when he said this part of the base was perched on a cliff, it was practically dangling over the ocean. After checking for cameras and any sentries, I could take the time to realize that heliport was different that the other parts of the base I had been in.
Instead of cold gray hallways, the walls in this building were painted a bright copper color. Reminded me of orange road cones. All the doors I came across had little windows that I looked in. When I moved to look into one of the windows, the door opened up and I nearly went head first into a pair of alien soldiers. I ducked back into an open room that looked like and office and watched them as they walked away from me. The two aliens could barely get around the corner when a human soldier sprinted up to them and waved his hands around. He looked pretty anxious.
"Guys what's going on? The door to the Barracks is jammed!"
"Jammed?" One alien repeated. "Ha, it is not jammed. It is locked."
You should have seen the guy's color drain out of his face.
"Locked? What the hell for?" He exclaimed.
"There is an intruder on the base. Commanders Flak and Winchester have fought him already. We must keep this area locked down and secure. No one gets in or out, until the intruder is dealt with."
"Aw come on... Can't you guys open it up and let me through? I gotta get back into my position..."
"Don't whine to us worm, take it up with Commander Adder."
I guess the mere thought of him having to go up and face Mr. Pillsbury Doughboy himself was more than enough to make his stomach wrench in agony. The two aliens shoved him to the side as he began to breathe rapidly. He stood there for about five seconds, and then ran off to the bathroom to go puke his guts out. There was a part of me that got angry at the guy. Looking at the alien soldiers like freaks... Acting the way he did toward them. Then I shook my head and realized what I was saying. They were freaks though... why did that piss me off so much?
I had to get a hold of myself. Lash's little treatment was beginning to resurface. I didn't know why. I had gone months, probably a year in Orange Star with no problems. Maybe it was seeing all these alien troops again. Or simply being so close to Black Hole forces. I refused to think about it anymore and almost missed a call that was coming in.
"Hey, Wolf. You there?" It was Groling. "You find the walkway yet?"
I paused remembering how it had been locked.
"I just heard it was locked. To prevent me from moving around."
"Damn, tough luck huh? What are you going to do now?"
"Make another call." I answered with a low tone.
Before I called up Sonja, I made sure I had a good spot to hide out. Just incase it was complicated. And knowing Sonja, I had a pretty good idea what I was in for. A locker room full of flight suits was good enough for me, since I figured there wasn't any copter type unit on the pad and therefore no pilots to use the suits.
"You called?" Sonja answered in her usual tone.
"Yeah, I have a problem. Adder has locked down the walkway connecting the heliport to the barracks. I have to get to the barracks if I want to save Andy."
"Locked you say? Well, it's typical of Adder to try and narrow the battlefield. He likes traps you know. I'm pretty sure that anything you do will most likely result in running into him."
"Sonja, are you here to help me? Or try and discourage me?"
I could hear Sami open up her line and join in on the conversation.
"Look Sonja, if you're going to keep doing this, I'll dismiss you right now. A soldier in these conditions have to keep their morale up. They lose at least the tiniest bit of hope, and it can be all over."
Sonja took a long pause and muttered something to herself. Looking back on it, I'm pretty sure I made a bigger deal out of it than it should have been. But it was just that tone of voice. She almost sounded condescending at times. I guess that's what you have to deal with when you're a certified tactical genius.
"Fine... I was just trying to warn your operative of the dangers involved in trying to get around the door." Sonja explained to Sami. "There is the technical way... Hacking. And if I read your file right. You don't have much expertise in computer sciences."
"Yeah... I'm more of a run and gun type of guy. I usually leave the computer stuff to my unit, or Palmer to be more specific."
"So we'll do it the other way. You'll have to climb down from the roof onto the walkway. I don't exactly know what kind of materials are in the helipad. But a rope or ladder should probably suffice."
"... I think we can manage."
"We, Wolf?" Sami asked confused.
Internally, I cussed for leaving that little detail out for so long. I should have told them about Groling earlier. When I went to explain, I told them about our meeting in the underground, and his story about what went down on the roof of the heliport.
"Hm... is that so? Well... I think you two should work together. It might be difficult, but you could be in two places at once." Sami decided after a time.
Well, I didn't want to waste anymore time and called Groling up. I asked him if he'd seen any rope or ladder anywhere in the Heliport when he was running around. He sounded a bit confused until I explained to him what we were going to do.
"That depends on how big the drop is. You're going to have to go check it out. I have a feeling a ladder isn't going to do the job. If it's rope... I have to think some more about that."
There was something wrong with his voice... It sounded... hesitant.
"What's wrong Groling?"
"My leg is still busted. It's gonna take some more time before I can move. Look, just go check out the distance from the roof to the walkway. I'll catch up, and I'll bring what we need."
His answer didn't sound very reasonable. But the last thing I wanted to do was piss off my only possible help for this mission. I moved to the stairwell and slowly opened the door to head upwards...
-To be continued...
--Next Chapter: Sidewinder
------------------------------------
The way he moved made you feel like you were going in slow motion. His fingers, his legs, his arms... They all seemed like they were ten times faster than your heartbeat. I blinked, and he was already on the other side of the helipad. I could hardly keep track of him, and the snow that was coming down made it even worse.
"Don't just stand there Heckler. You should feel lucky... I've never devoted so much time to killing just one person."
I raised my M4 and sprayed the area with gunfire. Hell, I might as well been throwing the bullets at him. Because his body snaked and bent and weaved so that I was wasting ammunition. Soon, I'd probably run out. How the hell was Adder so damn fast!?
------------------------------------