Cisco, and Redd made their way slowly down the hall. A figure darted ahead of them making his way for cover. All Cisco had to do was depress the trigger for a single second and he fell to the ground limp."Most these damn kids don't even have armor." He looked down at the body face down in the middle of the hallway. "The hell were they thinking?"
Redd Made a cross over his own chest looking down at the body his AK-112 resting up against his shoulder. "Ones that do it's just some sheet metal" He stepped over the body. "I don't think they were ready to hold this place."
"Bunch of kids playing soldier if you ask me." The two stacked up on one of the doors lining the hall. Cisco held up his hand running through the countdown and a moment later they burst in throwing a flash grenade before sweeping through the locker room.
Uniforms hung from open locker doors, construction helmets left on top of lockers and towels on benches. The shower spilled water out onto the ground washing away a bit of blood that had been left behind. Several wall tiles had been knocked loose when someone was thrown into it.
Cisco reached his hand into the shower to turn the water off but Redd grabbed his arm firm, and pulled it back from the water.
"The hell are you doing?" Cisco spoke quietly eyes locking on his brother.
"Saving your life dumb ass." Redd let go of his arm, and pointed back to the shower. Wrapped round the handle was a thin bit of fishing wire. He followed the path to a small energy cell which had been strapped to the ceiling. "You turn that shit off and zapp, I gotta explain to mom why your dumb ass isn't coming to Halloween dinner."
Cisco looked at the box for a long moment before turning back to Redd. "What kind of sick fuck set this up?" He turned away from the shower walking further into the room.
"It looks like at least one of the Mamba's knows his stuff." Redd's voice was low as he shook his head. "Where there's one there's bound to be more" Redd took his time making his way back to the door of the locker-room "We should be more careful from here on out." A firm nod given back to Cisco.
The two made their way back into the hallway. They could already hear the power armor division cleaning up in the main room. Their shock and awe tactics seemed to have worked a charm and all that was left to do was clean up the rabble.
As Red passed through the doorway at the end of the hall the razor wire dug into his leg wrapping round as it unhooked from the small metal pin shoved into the door frame. As it retracted it caused him to stumble falling onto his back.
"REDD!" Cisco screamed out diving forward to try and help up his brother. He grabbed him by the shoulders and tried to pull him back. The wire cut its way deeper into his leg causing the young soldier to let out a scream of pain his face contorting.
"God dammit" Redd spoke opening his eyes in time to spot the grenade, the pin pulling out from Cisco's own efforts to pull him free.
A moment later a small explosion rocked the area taking out a chunk of the wall and littering the air with dust and debris. Cisco was thrown back from the blast, and across the hall sliding on his back.
"Cap, we just lost Redd, they've got the whole downstairs trapped." He was pissed, at himself, at the Mamba's. He cursed under his breath looking down towards the ground. In his hand he still held Redds helmet. Looking at it in silence he ran his hand down the surface.
Heavy metal footsteps echoed out from behind. Around the corner came a man dressed in Olive Drab T-45d power armor. He footsteps boomed out like a freight train running down the hall each step impacting hard into the linoleum flooring.
"You alright?" His voice crackled over the suits speakers, the armor clad figure reaching out a hand.
"Yeah." Ciscos words were cold and distant as he was helped up to a stand. He looked over to the spot where his brother had been in silence his eyes looking through the ground and burrowing deep into the core of the earth.
Upstairs Ed and Jethro had managed to untie the workers who were now gathering around to discuss their situation.
"It all happened so fast." The foreman spoke holding a bit of cloth to the side of his head. He was bleeding but it wasn't terrible he leaned down against the side of a control panel for stability shaking his head. "Shortly after the attack they just rode up in their hot rods and started shooting the place up."
A second voice spoke up. "We didn't have time to react they just started pushing us all up here and tied us up, said we'd be untied when we learned our place."
"Cap, if Redd's gone that means we're down a medic" Ed looked over towards Jethro for a moment. "And some of these people are looking bad" His words were covered in that thick Cajun German accent even as he looked back over to the injured.
Jethro nodded his head. "Any idea how many of them there were?"
"There must have been at least a dozen of them" The foreman explained. "Like I said they just poured out of these cars, well trucks." He pressed the towel firm against his head closing his eyes for a moment. "They wanted to take over the plant, were talking about how they were going to shut down water to town and start charging folks an arm and a leg."
He chuckled nervously. "I gotta say when this business went down I was expecting the SWAT teams to show, not the army." He paused. "But I think I speak for the whole team when I say we're damn glad you stepped in."
"All threats foreign and domestic" Jethro stated firmly. "With the crisis, the army's declared martial law, for the duration we'll be stationing troops here to keep an eye on things and make sure no more of the local gangs get any funny ideas." He looked over the group once more. "We'll be doing everything we can to ensure life carries on as normal, and part of that is ensuring clean drinking water for our commonwealth."
"Does this place have a HAM radio?"
"I think we've got an old one in storage for emergencies."
"We'll give you a frequency to keep tuned in for easy contact." Jethro pulled out a pad of paper.
"Can't we just use the phones?" The foreman made his way to the wall phone picking it up off the receiver. He paused for a moment confused.
"No good, during the attack our telephone lines were severely compromised, until we can get them back online we're going to be sticking to radio communication." He spoke calmly and firmly trying to keep control over the situation.
"There was an attack?" One of the men spoke up concerned.
"Oh god what happened?" Another chimed in.
Soon there was a sea of voices from the room concerned people all talking over one another.
Ed stuck two fingers in his mouth and blew hard as he could echoing out an ear splitting whistle. He held it until the last of the voices stopped.
"Thank you corporal." Jethro cleared his throat. "Early this morning nuclear detonations occurred at many of the major metropolitan centers across the united states and in retaliation our own nuclear ordinance was launched in accordance with MAD doctrine" He paused, the faces of the workers going white as sheets with concern.
A low murmuring went through the crowd as people brought up loved ones in other parts of the country, some in other parts of the world. "At the same time aircraft proceeded to enact bombing runs on key targets throughout the region which our local air force was able to rappel, but not before sustaining severe damage."
"It's our duty as Americans to, in the face of this international crisis, remain strong and continue to do the jobs we were trained for." He stepped up onto a coffee table in the room resting his hand on his knee. "We may be down, but we are not out so long as we retain our principals of determination, ingenuity, and bravery."
Their faces said it all. These men were terrified beyond belief. Faces filled with fright and with good reason. Jethro stepped off the coffee table.
"I'm sure you all want to get home to check on your families, but just remember that it's for the good of everyone that we keep working." He paused. "It's going to save a lot of lives if we do."
"Cap I'll head down and check on Cisco, I can't imagine he's taking it well." Ed grabbed his helmet and tossed it back onto his head before walking out of the room.
Coming down the stairs Ed could see that the power armored troops had gotten everything under control. They were already gathering the bodies up together into a big pile out front. The blood trails were everywhere across the floor and on the walls.
He gave a nod towards the troopers and got himself a bit of a wave in return. He could hear something down the hallway a thumping, pounding sort of noise. He made his way through the hall and found the crater where Redd had fallen. They'd moved what was left of him off to one side clearing out the doorway.
"Pleasant travels old friend." Ed pulled off his helmet and took a long moment to look down at the body, or again what was left of him. The body was badly damaged almost beyond recognition.
Ed had a hard time looking at the sheer state of his comrade in arms. Looking away he made his way through the doorway and to that strange sound.
Inside the room two power armor figures stood each one holding onto a mans arm with a tight death grip. Blood dripped its way to the ground. Cisco stood in front of the figure delivering one punch and then another calling out. "You like that you pinko son of a bitch?"
Teeth flew from the mans mouth as the hit landed square on the jaw knocking his head back. He was barely conscious and beaten half to death but Cisco just kept going one strike after another. The man was in his early twenties. They'd ripped off his body armor and thrown it to one side, a hand stitched Mamba with mouth open embossed into the front of the armor.
His mouth hung slightly agape as he tried to struggle loose his arms held in place by the military's finest equipment.
"Cisco" Ed spoke up walking over to the soldiers. "I think he's had enough."
"Stupid son of a bitch." Cisco slammed his fist into the Mamba's stomach and then again a loud crunching sound echoing out as his fist made impact. Cisco's fists had a layer of blood on them, as did the two power armored figures.
Ed reached out and grabbed hold of Cisco's arm stopping it mid swing. It was a struggle to keep him from moving.
Cisco spun around with a look of pure fury in his eyes he about took a swing at Ed. "What?" He screamed out the fire clear as day in his eyes.
The young Mamba lowered his head finally having a moment to himself to just collect his breath. He was woozy, barely conscious. Coughing he spat out a tooth onto the ground blood running down his face from his broken nose.
The power armored figures lowered him down to the ground, the Mamba clutching at his stomach as he buckled over in pain from the beating he'd received.
"The hell do you think you're doing Cisco?" Ed was flabbergasted. He looked between Cisco and the man on the ground now loosing consciousness. "You can't just beat the tar out of an unarmed man."
"This little fuck is the one who killed my brother god dammit" Cisco shouted kicking his foot into the man on the ground who let out a quiet groan of pain, and a soft cry.
Ed threw his arms to either side. "Cisco you're a soldier not a god damn mobster, we don't do this shit." He shoved Cisco's shoulder. "You practically beat the poor bastard to death.'
"Give me five more minutes and I'll finish the job." The fire burned bright in his eyes a raging hatred and burned right down to the bone. He spat down onto the ground his jacket left over the back of a nearby chair along with his helmet and rifle.
Ed could hardly believe what he was seeing. He took another step forward. "You really think this." He pointed down towards the ganger on the ground with a firm hand almost throwing his arm to that side. "That THIS is what he would have wanted?"
"I don't care what he wanted this is justice." Cisco wiped off his fists on the Mambas own armor looking back over at the whimpering husk of a man on the ground. "He deserves this much."
"It's not justice to beat the shit out of a guy while he's held against the fucking wall Carino" Ed made his way over to the mans side kneeling down beside the Mamba. He didn't know much about medicine, he was an engineer not a doctor, but he took first aid same as anyone else.
He sat the man up against the wall, looking into his eyes. Taking a bit of cloth out he wiped the guys face off. The Mamba had a far off look in his bruised eyes. "I think you gave him a concussion Cisco"
Cisco stood silent moving to collect his gear from the nearby chair. He moved slowly tossing on his uniform jacket and then the ballistics vest. "I didn't do a damn thing"
One of the power armored soldiers spoke up for the first time since Ed had entered the room. "Guy was like this when we got here." Starting to walk back towards the blown out doorway of the room.
"His buddies probably did it for fun." The second power armor clad figure followed after the first. "Commies like him aint exactly known for being trustworthy."
Ed let out a low sigh as the three men left the room. He made his way back over to Redd's body and collected his medical bag off the body. It was in rough shape but it would have to do.
He came back over to the ganger giving him a light tap on the side of the face to try and keep him awake. "Come on, stay with me."
He pulled out a stimpack from the bag and jabbed it into the mans stomach injecting the solution to try and stem some of the damage. Then he grabbed out bandages doing what he could in order to stop the rather bad bleeding from the breaks in the skin.
"Ah shit, Carino did a number on you." He sighed to himself doing the best that he could to try and stabilize the guy. He pulled out a med-X needle and injected it into the arm to dull some of the pain.
"Wh-Why are you helping me?" The Mamba spoke slow and uneven his eyes wobbling in his head as he tried to keep conscious.
"Because I don't like suffering." He looked him over applying a bandage to his forearm where the power armor had managed to break skin with their grip. "Now hold still, I already have no idea what I'm doing, and if I wind up killing you I'm the one who winds up in a holding cell."
"Arturo" The man muttered his words hard to understand for the missing teeth and the blood still in his mouth. He lowered his head against the wall.
"What?" Ed looked up holding another stimpack in his hand. He popped off the cover of the needle.
"My name... is Arturo." He winced as the needle was driven into his arm the contents flowing like a river through his veins. He took in a deep breath of air feeling the healing properties surging through him.
"Ed" Came the single reply. He was doing what he could but this whole business was confusing if nothing else. He finally closed the medical kit back shut leaning back onto his own knees. "Gonna say right now, you're probably going to wind up in a holding cell at base."
Arturo looked confused for a moment not fully processing what was being said. "Look, we just wanted the water." He closed his eyes. "We saw the news, the world's over man." He coughed up a bit of blood onto the ground in front of him. "Thought we might be able to start something special if we took the plant for ourselves, maybe set up a little community."
"Unfortunately this place is government property." Ed took the bag with him slowly rising up to a stand. "We're under martial law, and the Army's going to do everything it can to keep the piece."
"Even slaughter anyone that stands in your way." Arturo took in heavy labored breaths as he opened his eyes to look towards the window of the room.
"To be fair you were keeping hostages." Ed made his way back for the doorway.
"Yeah and if we didn't we both know my people would be starving to death in a few weeks." He spat blood onto the ground. "I've seen what happens in the slums any time there's a crisis." He tried to shove himself back to a stand but fell back down onto himself as his leg gave out. "We're left to die on our own while the rich and middle class get all the aid" He coughed closing his eyes again. "It was our only shot at finally taking back some power and keeping ourselves alive."
Ed thought on what Arturo had said. By the time soldiers came back to collect him they would find only an empty room, the window having been smashed open. Arturo had most likely broken it and clamored his way to freedom escaping the clutches of the soldiers.
Captain Jethro had managed to secure the water treatment plant with minimal loss of life, but it was the second time in one day his squad of five had lost a man.