-Advance Wars 2
--Death Array
---Chapter 5: Sidewinder
When I reached the roof, I could feel the cold winds coming in through the cracks in the frame of the door. I had been inside too long. This reintroduction to the cold temperature outside was going to suck... The knob hardly moved, then I realized it was probably frozen or something and I kicked it open. Of course, after all that, I didn't feel too intelligent upon seeing an elevator next to the stairs. I must have missed that...
The area with the "H" in a circle was clear. But the rest of the roof contained some crates for reloading purposes. You know, fuel, ammo, or to drop rations for troops and so on. Lights flashed on each corner of the pad... and I realized how dark it had gotten. I guess the storm had strengthened while I was underground. Snow was coming down everywhere.
Olaf's guys would have loved to hold the place down.
If I looked really hard, I could see the ocean on the horizon to my left. To the right, was the barracks. I moved over to the edge of the roof and looked down to see the shadowy outline of the walkway. Shoot, that was a big drop. We'd definitely need some kind of rope. I guess the floors on the heliport were spaced out differently from what I was used to.
Then my vision drifted away from the walkway to see a smoldering pile of scrap far below. The only reason why I saw it was because of some small fires that were on the verge of burning out. It was the Green Earth copters. I hoped they dropped into the ocean or something, just cause... well, I really wasn't looking forward to Groling seeing this. I think he was shaken up enough over the botched rescue mission.
I don't know why I thought that, maybe it was the last time we talked.
I was about to call him up, you know, tell him about what kind of material we'd need to get down to the walkway. But a click-clack of some distinct boot caught my attention. It was a slow click-clack, almost like a saunter. It didn't seem like the kind of noise you'd hear from one of those alien grunts or the human soldiers stationed on this base. No... this was someone different.
I readied my rifle and pointed it in the direction of the noise. A couple of cargo containers were blocking my view. There was a metallic groan as the doors to the elevator slid shut and told me they had taken the lift. The wind picked up and my eyes began to sting as I was fully concentrated on who ever was approaching. My finger was well rested on the trigger, I could pull it at a moments notice.
Then Adder appeared out from behind the containers. He was wearing some heavy black trench coat over his usual uniform. There was all kinds of pockets on it, and I had a feeling they were full of ammunition. When he looked toward me, I could see all those features that made my skin crawl. The eyes with the dark circles around them, the purple hair, that long face. And his skin... his skin was as white as the snow that fell around us.
Ugh... and that smile, enough to make your stomach turn. I could barely stand it even when I was turned into one of those aliens. It was a wonder how he lived with himself day after day. Looking like that. It must come with being one of the most notorious COs ever to walk the earth.
"Adder..." I muttered.
"Well well... it seems Flak was right. Lash's little pet has returned yet again. You might as well join us Heckler... Since you can't seem to stay away."
Adder still had that smile, I was beginning to wonder what it would take to wipe it off his face. Probably a good bullet between the eyes ought to do it. I wasn't going to give him the satisfaction of a response.
"You hate me." Adder stated almost giddily. "You've heard about my exploits in Yellow Comet. I'm not surprised you know. My talents... are second to none!"
"Shut up!" I spat out suddenly, I had a good friend from Yellow Comet.
I don't know what it was... but just looking at him was sickening. Frankly, I thought I hated Flak and Lash more. But there was just something about him, it just oozed arrogance and indifference to other people's lives. You just couldn't help but hate him.
"No... no... I see now... It's not hate you have... it's fear. Oh yes... I was mistaken before. You don't hate me. You fear me. You fear me like the four armies feared Sturm."
"Yeah right! You're just some sick, albino freak who's in love with himself. The only person you could scare is a six year old!"
"What did you say?" Adder lashed out, while pointing one of his skinny fingers at me
His arm moved up and his finger shot out so fast, I thought I had blinked, or lost my concentration on him. But no... one moment, his hands were at his side, and then the next he was pointing at me. Well, I had pushed the right button. I should have known insulting his complexion was the quickest way to piss him off.
"You're just sickened at your own miserable appearance." Adder began darkly. "You're so... disgusted with your own skin and your hair that when you look at me, the only way to save face, is to insult me. To somehow elevate your pathetic appearance higher than mine! You do it, to make yourself feel better."
I tried to yell back but he was so quick with his tongue that he cut me off easily.
"Heh heh heh! This is true perfection of appearance you see here! Sturm knew, he knew that the world was full of sick people. But I was the exception! I was the one who stood out, that I was... perfect!"
Adder cracked his knuckles and titled his head back like a snob. I watched as he slowly drew a weapon from his trench coat. It looked pretty small from my position, and he spun it around on his hands over and over again before suddenly tightning his grip and readying it to fire. It was clear to me, that he was well acquainted with this weapon.
"This is the greatest submachine gun in the world. The Steyr TMP. It can empty it's 30 round clip in just a couple of seconds. It will take half the time to kill you with it."
I don't know why the hell he picked such a time to gloss over a gun. I guess it's been awhile since he's fired it off. COs really don't see much action you know, at least not directly. I've heard stories, a lot of great COs hate to sit back and watch. If they could, they'd probably do just as much fighting as the guys on the front line. I guess Adder was one of those guys, but not becuase he cared for his troops. Because he wanted to show off his skills, a braggart basically.
"That's great. Will there be a quiz later?" I fired back, unimpressed. "Can I earn any bonus points?"
"Heh heh heh." He cackled. "You can laugh all you want, but it won't change the fact that you're luck has run out, and your little mission ends here. Our discussion... is over!"
I fired even before he raised his weapon to shoot, and somehow he still dodged it. He took off to take cover as I fired back in his general direction. When I went to reload, he sprung out from behind his position and fired back. Well, he certainly wasn't kidding about his gun's fire rate. It sounded like a couple of guys were firing at me, when the bullets made little plink sounds up against the crates and stuff.
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!?
"Heh heh heh!" He laughed cruelly, obviously enjoying my bewildered look due to his speed.
When Adder opened fire, his gun made me duck and cover. He sprayed lead everywhere, and it took him no time at all to reload. When he ducked behind a large rusty crate, I thought that if I closed the distance between us, I could have an easier time nailing him. He was just so fast, I needed to eliminate the time it took for my bullets to reach him.
The way he popped out from behind the crate caught me off guard, and by the time I aimed and emptied my clip, he was gone. This was completely nuts. There's no way he can move like that. It's not fair. He's some skinny assed freak with white skin. Then I tried to calm down and get my head in the right place. Sure he looked like a freak show, but he was still dangerous.
He must have been using his CO Power, it was the only way. I spun around, and let the empty clip drop to the ground. I looked up to see that Adder had darted back toward the other side of the helipad, and was now heading right for me in a mad dash.
I remember letting the empty clip drop to the ground. I was reaching for a new one while Adder was dashing right for me. When I found the new clip, he was now halfway across the heliport. My mind was racing, it was frustrating to move one step behind your head. If things could have been done by thought, I would have already been shooting right now.
I slapped the new clip in, reached to cock it. And that's when Adder did a jumping kick and nailed me in the stomach with his pointed heel. Damn, it knocked the wind right out of me and I seriously thought he had speared me on his boot or something. We both went tumbling to the ground while my gun flew from my hands. I've never seen someone so nimble before, cause Adder jumped back up onto his feet without using his hands.
"Soon as I get my gun, I'm gonna put holes in you." I growled reaching for my rifle.
"Your words are like your skills Heckler. They are absolutely nothing. Heh heh heh!"
Adder fired on my rifle, knocking it further and further away from me. It was getting closer to the edge, and I knew what the snake was trying to do. My last all out attempt to get it back involved me getting on my knees and then diving for it. But Adder was too fast, and kicked my rifle off the roof before I could grab it.
"No! No!" I couldn't help but cry out.
"Oh, it only hurts for a moment." He hissed while pointing his gun in my face.
Then I remembered my pistol. I was still armed. And I whipped it out, pulling the trigger as fast as I could. He was so close that even though he narrowly avoided my shots, the muzzle fire was more than enough to burn sections of his coat. But when I went for a reload, he slammed his boot down on my arm and pinned me.
Damn... That was it...Time to go hand-to-hand.
I gave him a sweep kick and sent him tumbling onto his back. We both jumped up at the same time, and tried to blast me with his gun. But I grabbed his arm and forced him to shoot up into the air harmlessly. On full auto, it was empty in a flash, and he was forced to drop it in order to free up his other hand. We struggled for awhile, and then somehow got pushed away from each other.
"You Orange Star are all the same. You don't know when to give up! Your CO is the exact same way!"
In a blazing flash, he had whipped out a switchblade and held it out so it pointed directly toward me. Aw damn... I didn't have any sort of combat knife of my own, and I figured trying to disarm him would get my hand sliced up.
"Oh hell!" I exclaimed,. and leapt back to avoid getting jabbed in the chest.
Adder was a blur with that thing. He swung it left and right and up and down and everywhere. I could feel some parts where he had gotten close and slashed a section of my suit. I was so concentrated dodging his knife that I didn't realize I was running out of room to jump back. The metal grating signaled the end of the roof and I soon fell backwards on it's slant.
I thought that Adder was just going to keep swinging. But instead he paused and flipped the knife so he was holding it like a dagger. Man, he looked pissed. I bet he was angry the fight went on as long as it did.
"Hiiiiissssssssss... You've gotten too many benefits from Lash's experimentation." Adder seemed to realize. "You're better off than before her operation. But no matter, I'll clean up her mistakes like I always do."
I held my hands up defensively as he brought his knife up. But the sound of a door getting kicked in made us both turn to see Groling burst onto the scene. He rushed out from the stairwell with his gun ready. He was fully alert and ready to kick some ass.
"Wolf! Take cover!" He cried out.
Well, with that, I rolled away from Adder as he opened fire. He nailed that snake in the arm and caused him to lose hold of his knife. It sailed over the edge as Adder jumped back to avoid getting hit by any other bullets. When Groling ran out, he looked to get a better look of his attacker and made a really pitiful face.
"Green Earth? That's impossible! We took our your entire unit!" Then he turned to me making a disgusted face. "You're lucky Heckler... that's all. If we were to continue this fight, you'd be finished."
Groling was reloading as Adder began to make a break for the elevator. Groling had just cocked his gun when Adder darted into the lift and got away. I sat up and we both just paused as if to let ourselves clam down from the whole ordeal.
"Hey, Wolf. You ok?" He asked after a time.
I stood up and looked over my body to make sure I hadn't gotten knifed and didn't feel it in all that panic. Luckily, I was just fine.
"Yeah, I'm good. The only real problem is that Adder disposed of my assault rifle."
Groling paused and reached to get something that was strapped to his back. I was surprised to be handed an AK, but took it gladly. The best part was... it was silenced.
"Where'd you get this?" I asked, looking it over.
"Some dude was puking his guts out in the bathroom when I went to clean some blood off my boots. I didn't want to leave a trail. But when I went in, I saw it leaning up against the stall and snagged it."
He paused and began to fish around his pockets. I wasn't really paying attention, but he took something out and tried to give it to me.
"I don't need a cigarette."
"It's not a cigarette man. It's a keycard. Eagle managed to scrounge up some cards that were involved in Jess's exercise. Technically, I could walk into any area I wanted, if it wasn't swarming with Black Hole soldiers. I think you'll get better use out of it, I don't plan on being a hero or anything."
Man, this was really cool. Now I didn't have to worry about getting stuck at some door that wouldn't open up. I flipped it over and read the little number printed on it. Level 5, it said. When I looked back up toward Groling, he was taking out some rope.
"Hey... How'd you know..."
"I knew man." He interrupted me, then his voice got quiet. "I just hadn't got over the bloodbath downstairs. Shook me up a bit. But I'm fine now. I swear."
He moved about securing the rope to one of the heavier crates and throwing the rope over the side. I decided not to press the issue anymore, the last thing I needed was my partner here to start breaking down into tears.
"Ladies first." He joked.
"Go to hell." I laughed back.
We slid down the rope past some windows. When we hit the walkway, I realized how far the barracks were from us. We still had some walking to do, I had thought that the walkway connected right to the building. I turned to see Groling looking over the side of the walkway at the downed Green Earth copter.
"Don't worry guys... I'll get them back for this." He whispered to himself.
I didn't say a word as we began to move across the walkway, it'd be quite awhile before arriving at the barracks.
"Hey Groling, how far do we have to go?"
"Not much further. Just across this walkway and through a courtyard and the side entrance will be right there."
"This courtyard... it's surrounded by a fence right?" I asked.
He looked over at me strangely.
"No, it's more like a stone wall. Why do you ask?"
"No reason."
Groling shrugged and turned to look ahead. I really didn't feel like telling him my fears about running into gung-ho Flak again. I hoped that wall was tough enough to prevent a Neotank from crashing through. I'm sure Adder is letting the whole base know about us after Groling saved my ass back there. Heh, I couldn't help but smile thinking about Groling hitting super fast Adder in the arm. It would have been better if it was his face.
The walkway led directly to the door to the courtyard, like Groling had said. It was some old metal gated fence, and we pushed it open to enter. There was some trees and bushes, but they were all covered by a layer of snow. What'd I give to be under Olaf's command right now. I was about to check in with Sami, tell her about the situation, except a grenade landed right at our feet. We both saw it, but Groling acted faster than I did.
"Watch out!" He yelled while pushing me out of the way.
It exploded and sent him flying into the wall, knocking him out cold. I leapt up to my feet and pulled out my new AK, pointing it in all directions. Damn, Groling saved me again. I starting to think maybe he should be on this mission instead of me.
"Heh heh Heckler!" I heard a familiar voice yell out. "Always getting others into trouble."
"Winchester?" I realized. "Where the hell are you?"
He stepped out from behind a tree with a big grin.
"Time for round two, Wolf! Hah hah hah!"
-To be continued...
--Next Chapter: Grenades and Blades
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Thump. Thump. Thump. The ground shook each time Winchester was able to fire off one of his grenades. Good for me that this time I was armed a whole lot better. Bad for me that Groling was unconscious, and I had to cover him against explosives. My only chance was that I could make Winchester angry enough to only concentrate on me. I was never really good at talking smack.
"Hey! How's your leg feeling?" I asked.
"Go to hell!" He yelled back while blowing a shrub next to me into oblivion.
Dirt and snow rained down around me. Reminded me of Flak's Neotank rounds, except Winchester's grenades were a whole lot tamer. I took a deep breath and readied my gun. I heard a twig snap to my right and jumped out to fire. Oh hell...
-----------------------------------------------
--Death Array
---Chapter 5: Sidewinder
When I reached the roof, I could feel the cold winds coming in through the cracks in the frame of the door. I had been inside too long. This reintroduction to the cold temperature outside was going to suck... The knob hardly moved, then I realized it was probably frozen or something and I kicked it open. Of course, after all that, I didn't feel too intelligent upon seeing an elevator next to the stairs. I must have missed that...
The area with the "H" in a circle was clear. But the rest of the roof contained some crates for reloading purposes. You know, fuel, ammo, or to drop rations for troops and so on. Lights flashed on each corner of the pad... and I realized how dark it had gotten. I guess the storm had strengthened while I was underground. Snow was coming down everywhere.
Olaf's guys would have loved to hold the place down.
If I looked really hard, I could see the ocean on the horizon to my left. To the right, was the barracks. I moved over to the edge of the roof and looked down to see the shadowy outline of the walkway. Shoot, that was a big drop. We'd definitely need some kind of rope. I guess the floors on the heliport were spaced out differently from what I was used to.
Then my vision drifted away from the walkway to see a smoldering pile of scrap far below. The only reason why I saw it was because of some small fires that were on the verge of burning out. It was the Green Earth copters. I hoped they dropped into the ocean or something, just cause... well, I really wasn't looking forward to Groling seeing this. I think he was shaken up enough over the botched rescue mission.
I don't know why I thought that, maybe it was the last time we talked.
I was about to call him up, you know, tell him about what kind of material we'd need to get down to the walkway. But a click-clack of some distinct boot caught my attention. It was a slow click-clack, almost like a saunter. It didn't seem like the kind of noise you'd hear from one of those alien grunts or the human soldiers stationed on this base. No... this was someone different.
I readied my rifle and pointed it in the direction of the noise. A couple of cargo containers were blocking my view. There was a metallic groan as the doors to the elevator slid shut and told me they had taken the lift. The wind picked up and my eyes began to sting as I was fully concentrated on who ever was approaching. My finger was well rested on the trigger, I could pull it at a moments notice.
Then Adder appeared out from behind the containers. He was wearing some heavy black trench coat over his usual uniform. There was all kinds of pockets on it, and I had a feeling they were full of ammunition. When he looked toward me, I could see all those features that made my skin crawl. The eyes with the dark circles around them, the purple hair, that long face. And his skin... his skin was as white as the snow that fell around us.
Ugh... and that smile, enough to make your stomach turn. I could barely stand it even when I was turned into one of those aliens. It was a wonder how he lived with himself day after day. Looking like that. It must come with being one of the most notorious COs ever to walk the earth.
"Adder..." I muttered.
"Well well... it seems Flak was right. Lash's little pet has returned yet again. You might as well join us Heckler... Since you can't seem to stay away."
Adder still had that smile, I was beginning to wonder what it would take to wipe it off his face. Probably a good bullet between the eyes ought to do it. I wasn't going to give him the satisfaction of a response.
"You hate me." Adder stated almost giddily. "You've heard about my exploits in Yellow Comet. I'm not surprised you know. My talents... are second to none!"
"Shut up!" I spat out suddenly, I had a good friend from Yellow Comet.
I don't know what it was... but just looking at him was sickening. Frankly, I thought I hated Flak and Lash more. But there was just something about him, it just oozed arrogance and indifference to other people's lives. You just couldn't help but hate him.
"No... no... I see now... It's not hate you have... it's fear. Oh yes... I was mistaken before. You don't hate me. You fear me. You fear me like the four armies feared Sturm."
"Yeah right! You're just some sick, albino freak who's in love with himself. The only person you could scare is a six year old!"
"What did you say?" Adder lashed out, while pointing one of his skinny fingers at me
His arm moved up and his finger shot out so fast, I thought I had blinked, or lost my concentration on him. But no... one moment, his hands were at his side, and then the next he was pointing at me. Well, I had pushed the right button. I should have known insulting his complexion was the quickest way to piss him off.
"You're just sickened at your own miserable appearance." Adder began darkly. "You're so... disgusted with your own skin and your hair that when you look at me, the only way to save face, is to insult me. To somehow elevate your pathetic appearance higher than mine! You do it, to make yourself feel better."
I tried to yell back but he was so quick with his tongue that he cut me off easily.
"Heh heh heh! This is true perfection of appearance you see here! Sturm knew, he knew that the world was full of sick people. But I was the exception! I was the one who stood out, that I was... perfect!"
Adder cracked his knuckles and titled his head back like a snob. I watched as he slowly drew a weapon from his trench coat. It looked pretty small from my position, and he spun it around on his hands over and over again before suddenly tightning his grip and readying it to fire. It was clear to me, that he was well acquainted with this weapon.
"This is the greatest submachine gun in the world. The Steyr TMP. It can empty it's 30 round clip in just a couple of seconds. It will take half the time to kill you with it."
I don't know why the hell he picked such a time to gloss over a gun. I guess it's been awhile since he's fired it off. COs really don't see much action you know, at least not directly. I've heard stories, a lot of great COs hate to sit back and watch. If they could, they'd probably do just as much fighting as the guys on the front line. I guess Adder was one of those guys, but not becuase he cared for his troops. Because he wanted to show off his skills, a braggart basically.
"That's great. Will there be a quiz later?" I fired back, unimpressed. "Can I earn any bonus points?"
"Heh heh heh." He cackled. "You can laugh all you want, but it won't change the fact that you're luck has run out, and your little mission ends here. Our discussion... is over!"
I fired even before he raised his weapon to shoot, and somehow he still dodged it. He took off to take cover as I fired back in his general direction. When I went to reload, he sprung out from behind his position and fired back. Well, he certainly wasn't kidding about his gun's fire rate. It sounded like a couple of guys were firing at me, when the bullets made little plink sounds up against the crates and stuff.
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!?
"Heh heh heh!" He laughed cruelly, obviously enjoying my bewildered look due to his speed.
When Adder opened fire, his gun made me duck and cover. He sprayed lead everywhere, and it took him no time at all to reload. When he ducked behind a large rusty crate, I thought that if I closed the distance between us, I could have an easier time nailing him. He was just so fast, I needed to eliminate the time it took for my bullets to reach him.
The way he popped out from behind the crate caught me off guard, and by the time I aimed and emptied my clip, he was gone. This was completely nuts. There's no way he can move like that. It's not fair. He's some skinny assed freak with white skin. Then I tried to calm down and get my head in the right place. Sure he looked like a freak show, but he was still dangerous.
He must have been using his CO Power, it was the only way. I spun around, and let the empty clip drop to the ground. I looked up to see that Adder had darted back toward the other side of the helipad, and was now heading right for me in a mad dash.
I remember letting the empty clip drop to the ground. I was reaching for a new one while Adder was dashing right for me. When I found the new clip, he was now halfway across the heliport. My mind was racing, it was frustrating to move one step behind your head. If things could have been done by thought, I would have already been shooting right now.
I slapped the new clip in, reached to cock it. And that's when Adder did a jumping kick and nailed me in the stomach with his pointed heel. Damn, it knocked the wind right out of me and I seriously thought he had speared me on his boot or something. We both went tumbling to the ground while my gun flew from my hands. I've never seen someone so nimble before, cause Adder jumped back up onto his feet without using his hands.
"Soon as I get my gun, I'm gonna put holes in you." I growled reaching for my rifle.
"Your words are like your skills Heckler. They are absolutely nothing. Heh heh heh!"
Adder fired on my rifle, knocking it further and further away from me. It was getting closer to the edge, and I knew what the snake was trying to do. My last all out attempt to get it back involved me getting on my knees and then diving for it. But Adder was too fast, and kicked my rifle off the roof before I could grab it.
"No! No!" I couldn't help but cry out.
"Oh, it only hurts for a moment." He hissed while pointing his gun in my face.
Then I remembered my pistol. I was still armed. And I whipped it out, pulling the trigger as fast as I could. He was so close that even though he narrowly avoided my shots, the muzzle fire was more than enough to burn sections of his coat. But when I went for a reload, he slammed his boot down on my arm and pinned me.
Damn... That was it...Time to go hand-to-hand.
I gave him a sweep kick and sent him tumbling onto his back. We both jumped up at the same time, and tried to blast me with his gun. But I grabbed his arm and forced him to shoot up into the air harmlessly. On full auto, it was empty in a flash, and he was forced to drop it in order to free up his other hand. We struggled for awhile, and then somehow got pushed away from each other.
"You Orange Star are all the same. You don't know when to give up! Your CO is the exact same way!"
In a blazing flash, he had whipped out a switchblade and held it out so it pointed directly toward me. Aw damn... I didn't have any sort of combat knife of my own, and I figured trying to disarm him would get my hand sliced up.
"Oh hell!" I exclaimed,. and leapt back to avoid getting jabbed in the chest.
Adder was a blur with that thing. He swung it left and right and up and down and everywhere. I could feel some parts where he had gotten close and slashed a section of my suit. I was so concentrated dodging his knife that I didn't realize I was running out of room to jump back. The metal grating signaled the end of the roof and I soon fell backwards on it's slant.
I thought that Adder was just going to keep swinging. But instead he paused and flipped the knife so he was holding it like a dagger. Man, he looked pissed. I bet he was angry the fight went on as long as it did.
"Hiiiiissssssssss... You've gotten too many benefits from Lash's experimentation." Adder seemed to realize. "You're better off than before her operation. But no matter, I'll clean up her mistakes like I always do."
I held my hands up defensively as he brought his knife up. But the sound of a door getting kicked in made us both turn to see Groling burst onto the scene. He rushed out from the stairwell with his gun ready. He was fully alert and ready to kick some ass.
"Wolf! Take cover!" He cried out.
Well, with that, I rolled away from Adder as he opened fire. He nailed that snake in the arm and caused him to lose hold of his knife. It sailed over the edge as Adder jumped back to avoid getting hit by any other bullets. When Groling ran out, he looked to get a better look of his attacker and made a really pitiful face.
"Green Earth? That's impossible! We took our your entire unit!" Then he turned to me making a disgusted face. "You're lucky Heckler... that's all. If we were to continue this fight, you'd be finished."
Groling was reloading as Adder began to make a break for the elevator. Groling had just cocked his gun when Adder darted into the lift and got away. I sat up and we both just paused as if to let ourselves clam down from the whole ordeal.
"Hey, Wolf. You ok?" He asked after a time.
I stood up and looked over my body to make sure I hadn't gotten knifed and didn't feel it in all that panic. Luckily, I was just fine.
"Yeah, I'm good. The only real problem is that Adder disposed of my assault rifle."
Groling paused and reached to get something that was strapped to his back. I was surprised to be handed an AK, but took it gladly. The best part was... it was silenced.
"Where'd you get this?" I asked, looking it over.
"Some dude was puking his guts out in the bathroom when I went to clean some blood off my boots. I didn't want to leave a trail. But when I went in, I saw it leaning up against the stall and snagged it."
He paused and began to fish around his pockets. I wasn't really paying attention, but he took something out and tried to give it to me.
"I don't need a cigarette."
"It's not a cigarette man. It's a keycard. Eagle managed to scrounge up some cards that were involved in Jess's exercise. Technically, I could walk into any area I wanted, if it wasn't swarming with Black Hole soldiers. I think you'll get better use out of it, I don't plan on being a hero or anything."
Man, this was really cool. Now I didn't have to worry about getting stuck at some door that wouldn't open up. I flipped it over and read the little number printed on it. Level 5, it said. When I looked back up toward Groling, he was taking out some rope.
"Hey... How'd you know..."
"I knew man." He interrupted me, then his voice got quiet. "I just hadn't got over the bloodbath downstairs. Shook me up a bit. But I'm fine now. I swear."
He moved about securing the rope to one of the heavier crates and throwing the rope over the side. I decided not to press the issue anymore, the last thing I needed was my partner here to start breaking down into tears.
"Ladies first." He joked.
"Go to hell." I laughed back.
We slid down the rope past some windows. When we hit the walkway, I realized how far the barracks were from us. We still had some walking to do, I had thought that the walkway connected right to the building. I turned to see Groling looking over the side of the walkway at the downed Green Earth copter.
"Don't worry guys... I'll get them back for this." He whispered to himself.
I didn't say a word as we began to move across the walkway, it'd be quite awhile before arriving at the barracks.
"Hey Groling, how far do we have to go?"
"Not much further. Just across this walkway and through a courtyard and the side entrance will be right there."
"This courtyard... it's surrounded by a fence right?" I asked.
He looked over at me strangely.
"No, it's more like a stone wall. Why do you ask?"
"No reason."
Groling shrugged and turned to look ahead. I really didn't feel like telling him my fears about running into gung-ho Flak again. I hoped that wall was tough enough to prevent a Neotank from crashing through. I'm sure Adder is letting the whole base know about us after Groling saved my ass back there. Heh, I couldn't help but smile thinking about Groling hitting super fast Adder in the arm. It would have been better if it was his face.
The walkway led directly to the door to the courtyard, like Groling had said. It was some old metal gated fence, and we pushed it open to enter. There was some trees and bushes, but they were all covered by a layer of snow. What'd I give to be under Olaf's command right now. I was about to check in with Sami, tell her about the situation, except a grenade landed right at our feet. We both saw it, but Groling acted faster than I did.
"Watch out!" He yelled while pushing me out of the way.
It exploded and sent him flying into the wall, knocking him out cold. I leapt up to my feet and pulled out my new AK, pointing it in all directions. Damn, Groling saved me again. I starting to think maybe he should be on this mission instead of me.
"Heh heh Heckler!" I heard a familiar voice yell out. "Always getting others into trouble."
"Winchester?" I realized. "Where the hell are you?"
He stepped out from behind a tree with a big grin.
"Time for round two, Wolf! Hah hah hah!"
-To be continued...
--Next Chapter: Grenades and Blades
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Thump. Thump. Thump. The ground shook each time Winchester was able to fire off one of his grenades. Good for me that this time I was armed a whole lot better. Bad for me that Groling was unconscious, and I had to cover him against explosives. My only chance was that I could make Winchester angry enough to only concentrate on me. I was never really good at talking smack.
"Hey! How's your leg feeling?" I asked.
"Go to hell!" He yelled back while blowing a shrub next to me into oblivion.
Dirt and snow rained down around me. Reminded me of Flak's Neotank rounds, except Winchester's grenades were a whole lot tamer. I took a deep breath and readied my gun. I heard a twig snap to my right and jumped out to fire. Oh hell...
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