Advance Wars: Endgame
Chapter 4
By RocketDarkness
The forest was dark and eerie. Somewhere in the deep forest, the hoots of owls were heard. They seemed to echo, giving the area a spookily peaceful atmosphere. A lone soldier sat on the ground, on the outskirts of his current base, staring up at the stars. His blue eyes squinted, concentrating. Some of them bright, some of them barely visible. However, they were all beautiful out in the forest, away from the cities. One was particularly bright, and he stared at it with an intense gaze. He blinked his eyes. Did it…move? Continuing to watch, he realized it did move…and it was getting larger.
Suddenly, a speaker from behind him crackled on. The familiar voice of Sami, their commanding officer, came on. "Troops! Move out, and get to the airports! Transport choppers will be waiting for you! C'mon, double time!" In the background, the word "damn" was also heard. The base immediately came alive, lights turning on in all the buildings with alarms sounding, and he could make out silhouettes of his fellow soldiers scurrying about their barracks, quickly grabbing their gear. Having been on guard, he quickly ran to the airport up the dirt path. His feet threw up small clouds of dust. He knew the transport choppers were already there; he had seen the "star" lowering as it was roughly above the airport.
"Damn what?" Sami questioned to Max, glaring.
"Nothing, my gun just needed to be reloaded."
"You get frustrated over the weirdest things…" Sami said, sighing. Some of Max's troops laughed heartily, poking fun at him. Their fun came to an abrupt halt when they heard footsteps in the hallways. More Blue Moon troops, most likely. Preparing her M249, she put it down on its stand on the dusty file cabinet barricade and aimed it towards the entryway. The other troops followed suit, preparing their weapons to fire. Suddenly, the footsteps stopped. The sound of bazookas firing came from outside, and the footsteps receded quickly. Sami was the first to jump back into the hallway to watch the spectacle. Her troops, being dropped behind the enemy lines, had launched a surprise attack on the rockets and tanks! Smiling, she jumped out and let the bullets fly, sending a spray of deep red film over the walls. The screams echoed down the hallways, causing Sami to shudder involuntarily. Despite her training, seeing death was still not pleasant. She shouted to Max and Andy to help her troops, and dashed outside.
The cold night air hit her face sharply, and she gasped quietly at the briskly cold night. Surveying the scene, she began to open fire on the enemy troops again. It seemed her superior mechanized infantry were able to crush the majority of Blue Moon's forces, and were simply cleaning up the scattered infantry and tank divisions one by one.
"Odd…" she said to herself. There were no medium tanks to be seen. She squinted into the forest. Nothing. All she could see was the inky black darkness encompassing all. "Damn fog…" she muttered.
Something moved, and she heard a branch snap. A raccoon, perhaps? Lifting her weapon to her hands, she slowly advanced towards the encompassing darkness. Squinting, she suddenly realized the immense threat of the dark forest. She dived just in time to avoid a barrage of artillery fire. They had a backup platoon hidden in the forests! Headlights poured out from their hiding places, and the sickening sound of medium tank treads rolling across the dense foliage of the forest seemed like it came from all around.
"Troops! We're not done yet!" Her troops, having already gotten on their bellies, were crawling across the ground. She ran back into the devastated headquarters, her M249 being near useless against medium-class armor. Running to a concealed cabinet in the main office, she quickly grabber a modified bazooka, able to fire a deadly rocket instead of the standard bazooka ammo. These rockets were even stronger than standard rocket truck ammunition, because of the sole fact that these were launched at much higher velocity, and did not have to travel upwards first. She threw her M249 onto the reception desk, and it clattered noisily to the ground. Grabbing an ammo belt and strapping it across her shoulder, she dashed back outside with the deadly weapon in her hands. The medium tanks were to the left of the entrance, paused, looking for a target. However, her superiorly trained infantry and mechs were nearly invisible, even to herself. Hefting the rocket launcher onto her shoulder, she took aim at the lead medium tank. Getting to one knee, she launched the deadly rocket straight into the cannon of the tank. With a huge explosion, the cannon blasted apart from the main chassis, sending debris flying into the sky. The tank, however, suddenly imploded into itself, crumbling into a pile of scrap metal. Enemy tank commanders were forced to close their hatches to avoid being slaughtered by falling debris. This was when they were most vulnerable. "Attack!"
With a war cry, her platoon rose from the ground and fired their first rounds. Bazooka fire flew towards enemy tanks with a loud whistling sound, causing the armor to be blown apart in spots. Tank debris was flying everywhere, raining down as a deadly hail to keep the unfortunate drivers sealed inside their metal coffins. Suddenly, one of her infantry on the far right let out a gasp, and crumpled to the ground, blood gushing out of a head wound and onto the wet grass. "What the hell?"
Max, stepping out from the forest, smirked. "No hard feeling, Sami. Troops die all the time. See?" He fired his machine gun at another of her infantry, demonstrating his point. This time there was no sound except for the sound of dripping blood.
"What has gotten into you, Max? Have you gone crazy?"
"Hardly. You're the crazy one, Sami. Orange Star has so much untapped resources, it would be simple child's play to conquer the world. But no…we had to be the peacemakers, never the ones instigating the wars that shape the world. We were sitting on the sidelines, thwarting those who saw glorious visions of domination. During the harsh Blue Moon winters, I had—"
"You're from Blue Moon!?" Sami gasped.
" Of course. Don't you recognize my accent? Foolish child."
"Where's Andy? You didn't kill him, did you?" Her resolve hardened.
"Why would I kill such a supporting young boy?"
"You…you corrupted him into following you!"
"I showed him what the world could be like. Anyways, this talk is wasting my time. Troops attack!"
His battalion of troops came out of the forest, and his infantry fired on the surprised Orange Star infantry. Sami reached behind her to pull out her M249 , but her stomach dropped as she realized she had left it inside. Orange Star infantry collapsed, bullets lodged into their dead carcasses. Blood coated their orange uniforms, turning them a disgustingly crimson color. The majority of her troops were slain from the first clips. Sami quickly turned and ran, horrified at the grotesque scene behind her. She dove back in the building as Max's troops began to open fire on her. She crawled behind the barricade, scared and frightened. Her troops were all dead. Her friends had abandoned her. Orange Star was about to be conquered by Blue Moon. She closed her eyes, biting back the tears. Her fate would be at the hands of those monsters. The whistling of rockets was suddenly everywhere. She quickly dove under the reception desk, hoping to at least survive as long as she possibly could. Glancing up at the bottom of the mahogany desk, she waited for impact. Sami closed her eyes, and bit her lip. But instead of the sound of rockets hitting concrete and glass, she heard explosions outside. She let out the breath she had been holding in. Had the rockets malfunctioned? Shouts from outside drifted inward, and Sami missed most of it. However, she caught a single word. This one word made her grin at its utterance.
"RETREAT!"
A/N: Yep, chapter four is finally done! I don't know how good my action scenes are, seeing as how much of the focus is on Sami. How do you like the way it's developing? Bet I threw you for a loop with Max, didn't I? You can still contact me at all the same places, don't want to type that out in every author's note for each chapter.
Chapter 4
By RocketDarkness
The forest was dark and eerie. Somewhere in the deep forest, the hoots of owls were heard. They seemed to echo, giving the area a spookily peaceful atmosphere. A lone soldier sat on the ground, on the outskirts of his current base, staring up at the stars. His blue eyes squinted, concentrating. Some of them bright, some of them barely visible. However, they were all beautiful out in the forest, away from the cities. One was particularly bright, and he stared at it with an intense gaze. He blinked his eyes. Did it…move? Continuing to watch, he realized it did move…and it was getting larger.
Suddenly, a speaker from behind him crackled on. The familiar voice of Sami, their commanding officer, came on. "Troops! Move out, and get to the airports! Transport choppers will be waiting for you! C'mon, double time!" In the background, the word "damn" was also heard. The base immediately came alive, lights turning on in all the buildings with alarms sounding, and he could make out silhouettes of his fellow soldiers scurrying about their barracks, quickly grabbing their gear. Having been on guard, he quickly ran to the airport up the dirt path. His feet threw up small clouds of dust. He knew the transport choppers were already there; he had seen the "star" lowering as it was roughly above the airport.
"Damn what?" Sami questioned to Max, glaring.
"Nothing, my gun just needed to be reloaded."
"You get frustrated over the weirdest things…" Sami said, sighing. Some of Max's troops laughed heartily, poking fun at him. Their fun came to an abrupt halt when they heard footsteps in the hallways. More Blue Moon troops, most likely. Preparing her M249, she put it down on its stand on the dusty file cabinet barricade and aimed it towards the entryway. The other troops followed suit, preparing their weapons to fire. Suddenly, the footsteps stopped. The sound of bazookas firing came from outside, and the footsteps receded quickly. Sami was the first to jump back into the hallway to watch the spectacle. Her troops, being dropped behind the enemy lines, had launched a surprise attack on the rockets and tanks! Smiling, she jumped out and let the bullets fly, sending a spray of deep red film over the walls. The screams echoed down the hallways, causing Sami to shudder involuntarily. Despite her training, seeing death was still not pleasant. She shouted to Max and Andy to help her troops, and dashed outside.
The cold night air hit her face sharply, and she gasped quietly at the briskly cold night. Surveying the scene, she began to open fire on the enemy troops again. It seemed her superior mechanized infantry were able to crush the majority of Blue Moon's forces, and were simply cleaning up the scattered infantry and tank divisions one by one.
"Odd…" she said to herself. There were no medium tanks to be seen. She squinted into the forest. Nothing. All she could see was the inky black darkness encompassing all. "Damn fog…" she muttered.
Something moved, and she heard a branch snap. A raccoon, perhaps? Lifting her weapon to her hands, she slowly advanced towards the encompassing darkness. Squinting, she suddenly realized the immense threat of the dark forest. She dived just in time to avoid a barrage of artillery fire. They had a backup platoon hidden in the forests! Headlights poured out from their hiding places, and the sickening sound of medium tank treads rolling across the dense foliage of the forest seemed like it came from all around.
"Troops! We're not done yet!" Her troops, having already gotten on their bellies, were crawling across the ground. She ran back into the devastated headquarters, her M249 being near useless against medium-class armor. Running to a concealed cabinet in the main office, she quickly grabber a modified bazooka, able to fire a deadly rocket instead of the standard bazooka ammo. These rockets were even stronger than standard rocket truck ammunition, because of the sole fact that these were launched at much higher velocity, and did not have to travel upwards first. She threw her M249 onto the reception desk, and it clattered noisily to the ground. Grabbing an ammo belt and strapping it across her shoulder, she dashed back outside with the deadly weapon in her hands. The medium tanks were to the left of the entrance, paused, looking for a target. However, her superiorly trained infantry and mechs were nearly invisible, even to herself. Hefting the rocket launcher onto her shoulder, she took aim at the lead medium tank. Getting to one knee, she launched the deadly rocket straight into the cannon of the tank. With a huge explosion, the cannon blasted apart from the main chassis, sending debris flying into the sky. The tank, however, suddenly imploded into itself, crumbling into a pile of scrap metal. Enemy tank commanders were forced to close their hatches to avoid being slaughtered by falling debris. This was when they were most vulnerable. "Attack!"
With a war cry, her platoon rose from the ground and fired their first rounds. Bazooka fire flew towards enemy tanks with a loud whistling sound, causing the armor to be blown apart in spots. Tank debris was flying everywhere, raining down as a deadly hail to keep the unfortunate drivers sealed inside their metal coffins. Suddenly, one of her infantry on the far right let out a gasp, and crumpled to the ground, blood gushing out of a head wound and onto the wet grass. "What the hell?"
Max, stepping out from the forest, smirked. "No hard feeling, Sami. Troops die all the time. See?" He fired his machine gun at another of her infantry, demonstrating his point. This time there was no sound except for the sound of dripping blood.
"What has gotten into you, Max? Have you gone crazy?"
"Hardly. You're the crazy one, Sami. Orange Star has so much untapped resources, it would be simple child's play to conquer the world. But no…we had to be the peacemakers, never the ones instigating the wars that shape the world. We were sitting on the sidelines, thwarting those who saw glorious visions of domination. During the harsh Blue Moon winters, I had—"
"You're from Blue Moon!?" Sami gasped.
" Of course. Don't you recognize my accent? Foolish child."
"Where's Andy? You didn't kill him, did you?" Her resolve hardened.
"Why would I kill such a supporting young boy?"
"You…you corrupted him into following you!"
"I showed him what the world could be like. Anyways, this talk is wasting my time. Troops attack!"
His battalion of troops came out of the forest, and his infantry fired on the surprised Orange Star infantry. Sami reached behind her to pull out her M249 , but her stomach dropped as she realized she had left it inside. Orange Star infantry collapsed, bullets lodged into their dead carcasses. Blood coated their orange uniforms, turning them a disgustingly crimson color. The majority of her troops were slain from the first clips. Sami quickly turned and ran, horrified at the grotesque scene behind her. She dove back in the building as Max's troops began to open fire on her. She crawled behind the barricade, scared and frightened. Her troops were all dead. Her friends had abandoned her. Orange Star was about to be conquered by Blue Moon. She closed her eyes, biting back the tears. Her fate would be at the hands of those monsters. The whistling of rockets was suddenly everywhere. She quickly dove under the reception desk, hoping to at least survive as long as she possibly could. Glancing up at the bottom of the mahogany desk, she waited for impact. Sami closed her eyes, and bit her lip. But instead of the sound of rockets hitting concrete and glass, she heard explosions outside. She let out the breath she had been holding in. Had the rockets malfunctioned? Shouts from outside drifted inward, and Sami missed most of it. However, she caught a single word. This one word made her grin at its utterance.
"RETREAT!"
A/N: Yep, chapter four is finally done! I don't know how good my action scenes are, seeing as how much of the focus is on Sami. How do you like the way it's developing? Bet I threw you for a loop with Max, didn't I? You can still contact me at all the same places, don't want to type that out in every author's note for each chapter.
