"They know we are here…"
Several black armoured vans with the same logo painted on the sides parked outside the airport. They completely closed off that portion of the parking area. This militia had volunteered and promised "extra security" in response to the growing tensions with certain countries. They made normal airport security guards stay home that day. Who are these soldiers? According to further research by ITEM they are the military branch of the largest research group in Russia, who is the primary sponsor behind the government supporting Academy City. In other words, they are their primary enemy, Nikolai's opponent. A fun fact, the research group was once a hidden branch of the KGB, and during Soviet times their aim is to silence scientists like Nikolai, who was also once a hidden branch of the KGB. They secretly benefitted from a list of historical events. Right now, this research group has members in politics, and worked closely with SPETSNAZ. They are zealots, their radical ideologies fueling their conquest. They favor extremist views of Academy City, as their source of benefit. Their militants are volunteers. They do not care about stability, nor the Russian government. Instead, they want to become the government.
"Are we doing this?" John asked?
"Hell yeah we are. Better get ready."
"We going on stealth?"
"Well, we cant be sneaky forever. Do NOT use your powers. At least don't make it obvious." Blending in with the crowd, they got closer and closer to the soldiers. They stared at people coldly, not like security guards at all. They got so close their weapons were visible, modern variants of the AK-74, along with equipments such as vests, helmets, reminding John of his tour in Ukraine. Some wore heavy armor that can protect from them from bombs, along with special helmet that resembles a welding headwear. Degtyaryov machine guns were mounted on the vehicles with heavy shielding.
"We have to get all these civilians out, hopefully they only open fire on us."
"If we engage them, the police will not be on our side." They walked back into the airport. A separated soldier was talking on his radio, when Accelerator came up to him.
"Hi, I am lost. Пожалуйста, show me where I can get boarding pass."
"Иди на хуй! Fucking tourists…" In three moves he struck the soldier unconscious and they held him on their shoulder. They switched positions to cover him up and to not be noticed by anyone when they reached the bathroom, locked the door, and took off his vest, helmet, and insignia. Accelerator put it on just as several angry voices shouted while banging on the doors. Accelerator opened the door. The angry dude stopped being angry as soon as he saw the uniform and the AK.
Accelerator talked into the radio to deceive the other soldiers outside.
"They are outside the airport! What are you doing, дебил?!" Soon, the other side of the radio went to static.
That was because John was already outside, back in the parking lot where the soldiers stood. He had grabbed the handgun of that soldier. Give him a single ranged weapon, and he can wreak havoc. He was nimble, being able to switch cover, and take on several maneuvers at the same time. This is what his brain was initially designed for. Several soldiers were dead already. He rolled into close quarter combat as he grabbed a vintage shotgun, spraying slugs as blood exploded into mists. He then engaged three soldiers with a knife, stabbing one in the neck, throwing it with deadly precision, as for the third soldier, he was heavily armed. John was out of bullets. He struck off his heavy helmet, ducked his kicks and machete blows, and dodged into a metal garage. The same soldier stormed into the small garage only to get disarmed by lightning fast moves and stabbed to death using a windshield wiper blade. John took his rifle, his armor, and a couple of grenades. Outside, the rest of the fighting force reacted fast. Machine guns and AKs punched holes of different sizes through the metal walls, sunlight leaked in and sparks flew as John ducked behind the vehicle in the garage. If he had used his powers, he would be all set. No, he can't. The vehicle was still usable, John hotwired it and placed a brick on the pedal. The vehicle was built for illegal street racing, John turned on the engine and readied the nitro. Through a bullet hole a soldier was ready to fire a round of RPG. The race car burst through the locked garage doors ran over the soldier with the RPG with a thump as John drove it further into the parking lot. Behind him, the rocket rammed to the ground and exploded just as he was in a safe distance. He drove back full speed to see that area turning into a war zone. One of those armored vans was on fire with its sides dented and sheared off by the blast. John bailed out of the vehicle, firing the AK. Every shot was at 100 percent accuracy until they retreated behind the other vans. John eventually hunted them down one by one.
The plan had worked perfectly, with Accelerator turning their attention on John as he himself secured that area inside the airport and neutralized the threat inside. No civilian casualties. John got on one of the vans that weren't destroyed, and drove it back to the airport along with fresh supplies.
"This sector is clear, civilians evacuated. Now we have their attention. I don't know how long we can last here." Accelerator stated.
"Well, this sector is pretty much in ruins. Get familiar with all the cover and best points for ambush. Hope you remember your training."
"I miss my sensei." Accelerator said sarcastically.
"We are gonna meet him soon." They counted their supplies of ammo, weapons, rockets. Glass bottles were filled with gasoline from the vehicle, and exothermic charges from the breaching devices. Low key using powers, they cracked open grenades dumped out the explosives. They had put together all the explosives they could scavenge.
Reinforcements came, with heavier weaponry.
"Oh yeah this is gon' be entertaining." John turned on the radio from the van as upbeat rock music started playing, which can only be described as inappropriately cheerful. Imagine the fighting scene as John returned fire from the heavy machine guns, swiftly navigating from their planned covers.
"And floating around in ecstasy… So don't stop me now,
don't stop me,
'Cause I'm having a good time having a good time
I'm a shooting star leaping through the sky
Like a tiger defying the laws of gravity
I'm a racing car passing by like Lady Godiva
I'm gonna go go go
There's no stopping me
I'm burnin' through the sky yeah
Two hundred degrees
That's why they call me Mister Fahrenheit
I'm trav'ling at the speed of light!"
Grenades exploded as from the outside, the sector can be seen to lit up at random moments. Firing ensued, rifles, machine guns, shotguns. Rapid firing, bursts, or semi-automatic. For John, deadly accuracy is the easiest thing possible. Try shooting every target while moving like a whiplash. A soldier tried to sneak up on him when John noticed easily. His neck was twisted and he died in seconds. Something tingeld in John's brain as a sniper tried to pick them off with a dragunov. He dodged behind cover and his trusted his instincts that indicated the sniper's position. He fired a single shot of AK-his last shot-with only iron sights, at that position. The sniper never returned fire. He used his AK as a club until the modernized polymer stock started to crack. Then he threw a grenade, then another. He engaged another separated soldier who tried to sneak up on him, he struck him, exposing his neck as a weak spot. He disassembled the magazine from his rifle, heavy as it was a full 40 round extended, then struck him dead. John put the magazine back on, reloaded, and carried the rifle sideways across his back.
Three vans crashed through the walls, the doors opening and the soldiers taking cover behind it. John usually hated energy drinks, but he downed a whole can, then injected his legs with adrenaline. He went back to cover with Accelerator, who was able to do the same feat as John did-combat without abilities. An RPG just soared above them and exploded. Using a broken armored door he blocked a volley of grenades. "I used to play a game as a child!"John yelled for everyone to hear. "The floor is fucking LAVA!" He threw a few bottles filled with the pyrotechnic mixtures. Bright flames bursted out.
"They started taking cover!"
"They don't know there's only two of us. They think we are a decent sized platoon or something. We managed to deceive them." They decided to rush them one more time, armed with more explosives, molotovs, and assault rifles.
John's senses heightened as the music seemed to get louder.
"Don't stop me now I'm having such a good time
I'm having a ball
Don't stop me now
If you wanna have a good time just give me a call
Don't stop me now ('Cause I'm having a good time)
Don't stop me now (Yes I'm havin' a good time)
I don't want to stop at all!"
A tank rammed through the walls. Remember the explosives they took out? A portion of it was filled into a crudely made cartridge. John wanted to try something new, using a breaching torch he has melted down the remaining tungsten machine gun bullets and layered it onto the cartridge, creating a shaped charge with an impact sensitive detonator. Metal jackets from regular rounds were forged into a solid column, fitted on to the end with a dense tungsten end, with the whole thing enclosed in the head of an rpg. It was attached to the rocket part, and fitted into the rpg launcher. If they had done everything correct, it should function as a panzerfaust shell.
The tank charged them. They managed to duck as John got behind the tank, Accelerator doing some parkour and sneaking on the top platforms in the sector. John launched it towards the rear of the tank. Upon impact, the explosive detonated. The blast was compressed to an extreme level, focused on almost a single vector which compresses the metal cone and the tungsten head into a deadly stream of metal in superplastic state. It shot through the tank. Right through the weaker rear armor and destroying the engine. The energy was so focused it ripped through everything in its path until the force started to spread apart. The tank burnt down as the crew tried to escape, firing their submachine guns desperately, only to get mowed down at point blank range.