A/N
Yes, I know that it's Monday. Unfortunately life gets in the way of things - mine especially.
I already mentioned this in the author's note for this week's chapter of Team MARS, but I'll be taking a short hiatus (about one week off) to focus on my personal life. I'm very burned out from my hectic work schedule, not to mention a developing family situation.
Anyways, blah, blah TLDR and all that... there won't be a chapter for either of my stories next week. I will, however, try to find some time to write a few chapters in advance - but that's just me being optimistic.
I've also decided that this week's chapters will end on cliffhangers... because I am a real piece of shit...
Anyways...
Chapter 51…
Ashley once again found herself in a mud puddle…
Well, sort of…
It wasn't a puddle, per say, rather a shallow ditch. The ditch formed a large crease in the ground; and navigated in a snake-like motion down the large hill Ashley was traversing. Only a few hundred meters away were the two-story walls of the bandit encampment.
While the mud seeping into her already ruined clothes wasn't sanitary, it at least came with the added benefit of cooling down the woman's body. Sweat clung to every single one of her pores; but the sticky sensation of heat was slowly being cleared away by the cool, slick mud.
'Never thought that I would be happy about mud,' Ashley thought to herself. 'Wallowing around like a pig…'
Other than the comforting sensation of moisture, the mud served the additional benefit of camouflaging Ashley. The once pristine white colour of her new pilot armor was slowly being stained brown by the filth of her surroundings.
It would give her an edge… a small edge; but at this point the dark haired woman was willing to appreciate even the tiniest of advantages…
Reaching the end of the muddy ditch, Ashley pushed herself back upwards into a standing position. The walls of the outpost were ringed with thick patches of tall grass; so Ashley crouched low as she moved.
During her reconnaissance, the woman had not spotted any guards manning the tops of the walls - there were no observable cameras, either. Perhaps the bandits were being sloppy; that, or they were very, very confident in their security.
Even if there were watchmen on the walls, Ashley doubted that they would be able to see her. Her newly soiled armor made her harder to spot; and the woman's helmeted head only just barely disturbed the tips of the tall grass.
After a few careful moments, Ashley reached the end of the grass patch. There was a ten foot gap between her and the wall - which she wasted no time in darting across. Ashley turned around and pressed her back to the wall, the bulky form of her new jumpkit forcing her to jut out her hips.
Perhaps the painkillers hadn't kicked in yet… but Ashley still felt like complete shit.
The hours of sudden, unceasing exertion had left her body bruised and battered; and that wasn't even mentioning the several violent scuffles she had run into. Big Ivan's arm clamps had only worsened the situation; every single one of Ashley's joints was throbbing with pain.
But none of that was going to stop her… Ashley had a plan, after all. Even if it was an incredibly poor one…
'When did I get like this?' Ashley's thoughts chimed in again. The woman shook her head and kept moving, inching along the wall in order to reach her destination. 'Risking my life for someone else…'
When had she last risked her life for someone else? She couldn't really remember. Sure, she had just saved her bosses' life… but Anatoly had merely been in the wrong place at the wrong time; Ashley's entire reason for going to the mill was to secure Big Ivan…
This wasn't like Anatoly… Ashley was going out her way to save Doctor Fedorov…
Perhaps Ashley's real motivator was altruism… the simple desire to save someone who she knew to be a good man. Or perhaps Ashley's motivator was debt? The simple desire to return the favour… saving the life of the man who had saved hers…
A gloved hand reached up to withdraw a SMART pistol from it's vest mounted holster…
… Ashley didn't know why she was doing what she was doing; and frankly, the reason didn't matter…
There were bigger things to worry about - like the compound full of hostiles… and the lone guard sitting at the entrance.
Ashley had reached her destination, the large fissure in the outer defensive wall. The edges of the fissure were cracked and long-worn out from erosion; and Ashley could only assume that the hole had been made by a titan.
Parked in a loose semi-circle around the fissure were three parked trucks. Two of the trucks had been turned into technicals - with messily grafted on Spitfire light machine guns bolted onto their cabins. The third truck in the middle of the defensive semi-circle had been left stock.
Pacing around the trucks was one lone guard. The man was dressed in the same patchwork armor of his cohorts, a large, bulky rifle clenched in his gloved hands.
He was gently whistling… which meant that he hadn't heard Ashley yet…
Good…
After waiting a few moments to make sure that there were no witnesses, the helmeted woman crept away from her hiding spot. The morning sun was now halfway above the horizon, casting long shadows and illuminating the landscape in a soft glow. In a few minutes, there would not be anymore shadows for Ashley to hide in.
As she crept towards her lone adversary, Ashley tentatively slipped her SMART pistol back into storage. The pistol boasted an integral silencer - but required specialized rounds in order to be used. Ashley had ripped a few spare magazines off of Jameson's corpse, but not enough to be considered substantial.
Pressing herself up against a truck door, Ashley listened in for the whistling. She ducked her head underneath the truck and spotted the guard's boots; the angle of his feet telling Ashley that he was facing away from her.
Good…
Peeking over the truck one last time, Ashley made her move. The woman drew her combat knife and stood up, reaching her arms across the hood of the truck.
The guard yelped when the woman's strong arms slammed him back first onto the hood. His yelp turned into a pained gurgle as Ashley swiftly ended his life, the morning sun glinting off the shiny surface of her combat knife.
After a few moments, he stopped twitching. Ashley tugged his body overtop the hood of the truck with a huff of exertion. She continued to pull him until his body landed with a thump at her feet - she kicked the corpse into a nearby ditch moments later.
Leaping up onto the truck, Ashley grabbed the ammunition belt of the Spitfire. After smacking the release switch on the gun, Ashley swiftly tore the belt free and tossed it into the nearby bushes; she racked the firing pin as she did so, ejecting the round still inside of the gun.
The dark haired woman repeated this process on the second truck - disarming the mounted gun and discarding the ammunition.
There was just one last thing Ashley had to take care of…
Lying on the ground next to the first truck was the guard's rifle - which had been dropped when Ashley tugged the man over the hood of the truck. Gingerly, the dark haired woman knelt down to retrieve the weapon.
Despite its large, blocky proportions, the gun was lighter than Ashley had expected. A glowing ammunition counter sat just underneath the gun's sights, the glowing indicator telling Ashley that the weapon had a maximum capacity of four rounds inside of it. There was a side-mounted shell-rack; and a simple patting motion around the trigger area led to the discovery of a shell loading bay. Ashley was clearly holding some form of shotgun.
Four rounds in the weapon… plus another eight sitting on the side-mounted rack.
"Better than nothing…" Ashley sighed to herself. The woman pushed her arm back and slid the weapon against the metallic plates on the back of her armor; despite the mud and grime, the weapon stuck itself to Ashley's body.
The shadows cast by the Sun had moved an inch… Ashley needed to continue...
Unsurprisingly, the fissure in the wall was wide enough to fit the width of a truck; so Ashley dashed through the crack without issue. She immediately broke right, the building she had seen from the top of the hill being her destination. The woman almost immediately crouched low, sliding behind a container so that she could hide and get her bearings.
Now that she was closer, Ashley could observe the building in detail. It was three stories tall; and judging from the sheared remains of a communication dish on its roof, had probably once served as a command center.
A frontal assault was totally out of the question… Ashley was badly outnumbered and outgunned. So the dark haired woman's only real option was to boost herself up high and enter from the roof.
On the side of the building closest to the interior wall were a series of windows - potential entrances…
But Ashley would have to get there first. Because between the ex-pilot and her destination was…
Nothing… the thirty-or-so feet sitting between her and the building was devoid of any obstacles or cover. This was going to be tough, because only fifty feet away to Ashley's left were a massive throng of enemies; the bandits, who were busy unloading their new loot from their small fleet of trucks.
A mad dash across the gap simply wasn't an option. It would take only one bandit spotting her for this mission to come to a premature end...
'A diversion?' Ashley wondered to herself as she crouched low to the ground. The dark haired woman was more than capable of making a diversion… perhaps setting one of the trucks outside the fissure on fire would do the trick?
But that wouldn't work either. Ashley was in deep with no backup, the last thing she wanted to do was kick a hornet's nest.
There was one last option…
Ashley looked to her right, craning her head to observe the top of the defensive wall.
'Not perfect… but hopefully a little less noticeable…'
Ashley backed up a few feet and began to warm up her jumpkit. The device was rather cold from the amount of mud coating it's metallic surface; so it sounded a tad bit guttural as it warmed up.
Kicking off on her right foot, Ashley leapt upwards and boosted her kit. The sudden impulse of movement defied gravity and pushed the woman upwards, allowing her hands and feet to make contact with the top of the wall.
The dark haired woman sucked in a few breaths of air as she ran along the wall, her jumpkit propelling her forwards.
How long had it been since she had worn a kit? A month? Months? A few weeks? The dark haired woman had quickly lost track of time; perhaps it was for the best that she didn't remember, as her attempt to make a quiet life for herself had been genuine…
But… Ashley had to quietly admit to herself that she had missed this…
Somewhat…
The gentle drone of the kit, the wind rushing past her neck, her clothing fluttering and flapping in the air. Her clothes were still very damp with mud, and the sudden rush of air brought a refreshing feeling to Ashley's battered body.
Down below, the mass of bandits were oblivious to Ashley's presence. The morning sun was making the surrounding area brighter by the second - which masked the glow of Ashley's new jumpkit.
The SMART pistol and newly acquired shotgun jingled and rustled against Ashley's armor. But the noises were not loud enough to draw attention.
Getting close enough to her destination, Ashley leapt off of the wall. Her new jumpkit adjusted its power output to slow her descent.
With a pained huff, Ashley managed to stick the landing. The dark haired woman latched herself onto one of the windows she had spotted. She used one hand to hold herself up and the other to slide the window open. With the window wide open, Ashley threw her body weight forwards and rolled through the opening - landing in a neat crouch.
Her right hand immediately flew upwards to snatch her SMART pistol from it's holster.
Ashley kept the tracking pistol high as she walked quietly through the small room. The interior of the building was just as barren as the exterior; with long faded walls and decrypt looking machinery.
In the farthest corner from the window Ashley had entered from was a door. Laid out in the center of the room, however, was something that truly caught Ashley's interest.
It was a table, and folded across it's rickety surface was a hand-drawn map. The icons and topographic lines were sloppily drawn - most likely due to a lack of proper measuring tools; but Ashley could recognize the layout of Okraina and it's nearby sawmill.
The dark haired woman traced her gloved finger upwards as her eyes scanned the map. For a moment, Ashley's finger hovered over the mill; just before it swept left to scan a small written list.
'Priority one… sustenance…' Ashley read off the small list, realizing in an instant that it was a list of targets. 'Priority two… titan…'
Ashley frowned. The dark haired woman slipped her finger underneath the map of Okraina and lifted the large sheet of paper upwards.
There was a stack of papers underneath… each one showing a different town with a different list of targets. Ashley noted the dates at the top of each map; all of the dates being far ahead in the future.
Bandits were bad enough… but bandits that knew how to plan were a whole different mess. Without a moment's hesitation, Ashley set down her SMART pistol and ripped all of the maps to pieces. She scattered the strips of paper on the floor, having damaged them so badly that they were in no way legible.
Even if she died today, even if she failed in her mission to save Doctor Fedorov… Ashley would at least slow the bandits down...
Ashley's attention was torn away from the table when she heard the sound of footsteps. They sounded like they were getting louder… and they sounded like they were in the corridor adjacent to the room Ashley was in.
Clenching her SMART pistol tightly, Ashley crept towards the door of the room. She pressed the side of her helmet against the metal panel and carefully craned her ears.
"-seen Jameson at all?" A male voice muttered over the sound of footsteps. "He's usually not this late…"
"He went for the titan, remember?" Another voice responded to the first. This one was lighter, airier… perhaps female. "That thing moves slow as shit…"
"Does he really think that the titan is going to be useful?" The male complained.
"The plan is to mod the shit out of it!"
"Strapping a bunch of cannons onto it isn't going to make it any faster… if anything all that extra weight is just going to destroy it..."
Ashley narrowed her eyes and clenched her pistol tighter.
"Look…" The female voice sighed, this was accompanied by a lull in the sound of footsteps. "Just… don't say anything bad to Jameson about the titan. We've had it bad lately and we could use an edge… why do you think we had to snatch that doctor?"
Ashley's grip on her pistol tightened further…
"It's still a stupid plan. Jameson may have been a pilot once, but that doesn't not make him a moron…" The man on the other side of the door grumbled.
Ashley leapt back as the door handle began to turn. As the metal panel swung open, the dark haired woman brought her SMART pistol up to eye level.
Jameson, the rogue pilot, had already synced up the SMART pistol with his helmet visor. Ashley watched as a series of complicated looking displays flashed across her vision as the pistol locked on.
Two positive locks were achieved in just under a second…
'FWIP! FWIP!'
The two bandits coming through the door didn't even have time to react to Ashley's presence. They both crumpled to the floor, looks of shock permanently etched into their ruined facial features.
Ashley didn't even bother trying to hide their bodies - instead just dragging them into the room and shutting the door. She was on the third floor of the building, it would be unlikely that anyone would stumble across the corpses.
The dark haired woman kept her pistol high as she stalked down the corridor outside the room. At the end sat a stairwell, which Ashley knew would bring her down to the lower levels.
There were two other doors in the corridor… Ashley would need to check both of them…
Suddenly, the door to her left opened…
'FWIP!'
A body clattered to the floor… this one also clad in patchwork IMC armor...
Ashley poked her head into the room but found it empty. She checked the room across the hall, but it too was empty.
Approaching the stairwell, Ashley ran her free hand across the railing and looked down. The stairwell crawled upwards in a spiral fashion, with a large gap in the center that gave Ashley a limited view of the floors below.
While the dark haired woman was tempted to jump, she knew that it wasn't a particularly good idea. If there was anyone on the floors below they would most certainly hear her falling.
Instead, the woman recalled her CQC training and stuck to the walls. She descended the stairs slowly and carefully, keeping her SMART pistol at eye level.
'FWIP! FWIP! FWIP!'
Good thing too…
Ashley was glad that the pistol was integrally suppressed…
Carefully stepping over the three new bodies, Ashley checked the rooms of the second floor.
'FWIP! FWIP! FWIP! FWIP!"
Four more silenced gunshots… followed by the sounds of four bodies dropping to the floor...
SMART pistols were the envy of all pilots back before Demeter. Today was the first day Ashley had ever used one… and it was clear that the pistol was worth every penny.
With the second floor a bust, Ashley moved to the lowest floor of the building. She crept carefully along the corridor, knowing that she still had the element of surprise.
"Work faster, old man," a muffled voice called from a nearby room.
With her ears trained, Ashley approached the door to the room.
"I would be able to work faster if you did not point that at me…" A second voice called out. This one sounded older, wheezier… very familiar…
"Shut up…" The first voice drawled. "If he dies… you die. I don't think I can make it any simpler-"
"FWIP!"
The bandit never had the chance to finish his statement. Ashley removed her SMART pistol from the crack in the door and nudged the panel open with her foot.
Standing at the far end of the room, a roll of bandages clenched tightly in his trembling hands, was Doctor Fedorov.
The older man had clearly been roughed up somewhat during his kidnapping - judging from his stained nightclothes and pale skin. Lying next to the good doctor was a man whose body had been propped up on a gurney.
The small room had been reorganized into a makeshift infirmary. Tables and counters had been repurposed into beds with stained sheets. There were no visible or clearly marked sites for medicine storage; rather a large pile of supplies that had been messily stacked in a corner.
There was the scent of blood in the air. Sure, there was now a corpse in the center of the room, courtesy of Ashley. But the scent of blood smelled old and stale… and reeked of desperation...
"And you are?" Doctor Fedorov mumbled, his eyes wide with fright.
Ashley chuckled under her breath and stepped into the small room, jutting out her foot to close the door behind her. The dark haired woman stored her SMART pistol in her vest pouch and reached her hands up to slip off her helmet.
To her surprise, Fedorov just nodded.
"Oh… hello, Ashley…" Fedorov blinked. "You came?"
"Just me…" Ashley frowned and kept a hand on the door handle. "Well… me and Big Ivan… but he's waiting nearby." Hesitating for a moment, Ashley awkwardly gestured to the pilot armor hanging off of her body. "I'm sure you have questions…"
"Yes… but perhaps this is not the time," Doctor Fedorov sighed. The older man turned towards his patient, the man on the gurney, and began unwrapping the bandages in his hand.
Ashley's eyes narrowed at the sight, but the man on the gurney did not move. His chest was moving up and down, indicating life, but he did not react to Fedorov's touch.
"Keep your gun down. He is sedated…" Fedorov gestured to the man on the gurney, while simultaneously wrapping bandages around the man's leg.
"We don't have time for this, doctor-"
"I'll be but a moment…" Fedorov interrupted. "I must ensure that he does not get an infection… I must cover his wound…"
"Doctor-"
"That is what I am, yes," Fedorov looked up, his sharp eyes scanning Ashley's armored form. "I must treat my patients… regardless of who they are or what they have done…"
Ashley felt a coiling sense of realization in the man's words.
"You…" Ashley blinked. "You knew? About me?"
"I had my suspicions…" Doctor Fedorov mumbled. "Your story was barren of detail. That, and the day that the men brought you to the clinc I found several bullets in the pockets of your clothing."
Ashley opened her mouth to say something but felt the breath in her throat waver. The dark haired woman put some distance between herself and the door of the room, leaning against a countertop to rest her aching legs.
"I-" Ashley frowned, her words still disobeying her. "Doctor…"
"You were a part of the IMC, weren't you?" Fedorov mumbled as he tightened the bandage around his patient's leg. The man groaned in his sleep but otherwise did not stir.
"Was…" Ashley nodded. "Not anymore. You're not the only person who had suspicions, you know… the secret is pretty much out at this point-"
"If this is going to end in an apology… do not bother," Fedorov shrugged.
"Oh…?"
"You have not wronged me… if anything, your presence here proves your goodwill…" Doctor Fedorov added. "But… this was still a foolish thing for you to do. You should not have risked your life for me…"
Ashley released a rattling sigh that she didn't know she was holding.
"I… well I owed you one," Ashley weakley shrugged, her helmet just barely dangling from her fingers. "You saved my life… what kind of person would I be if I didn't try and return the favour?"
"So you came to throw your life away because of a debt? You speak as if I gave you a second chance-"
"You did…" Ashley interrupted. "I made the decision to defect from the IMC… it was spur of the moment; and it cost the life of a dear... friend."
Doctor Fedorov paused his motions for a moment, perhaps considering Ashley's words.
"He died to ensure my escape," Ashley felt something in her throat - an alien feeling. "And I would have died too if you hadn't saved my life… if the town didn't provide me a second chance…"
Fedorov's eyes flicked upwards to view Ashley for a moment.
"I've…" Ashley swallowed the lump in her throat. "I've done a lot of fucked up things in my life - things that I don't want to talk about."
"Then do not," Fedorov tightened the bandages around the man's leg. "But the fact that you acknowledge your past is important…"
The older man removed his hands from his patient's leg. "Perhaps I do not know the real you…"
"I assure you, it's best that you didn't…"
"But I like who I have seen thus far," Fedorov wiped his hands on his clothes.
"I-" Ashley's voice wavered again. The woman's dark eyes scanned the dank, musty little room; and her grip on her helmet tightened. "Maybe this isn't the place or time to talk about this…"
"Yes… there will be time to talk later," Doctor Fedorov gently patted his sleeping patient. The good doctor turned, an uncomfortable look on his face as he spied the corpse on the floor before looking in Ashley's direction. "Shall we go?"
Ashley wordlessly nodded and slipped her helmet back over her head. Clenching her SMART pistol in her hand, the woman pressed herself against the door of the room. "Do you know how to use a gun?"
"Yes," Fedorov sighed. The man bent down and wrenched a gun from the hands of the man Ashley had shot; it was an R-97 submachine gun, battered but in working order. "Although I must warn you that I am not a very good shot…"
"It's fine," Ashley shrugged.
"Now, how are we going to escape?"
Ashley was glad that she was wearing a helmet. The visor hid the worried look on her face…
"Just, bear with me… alright?" Ashley sighed to herself. "I don't suppose that there are any spare rags lying around in here?"
