Dmitri pulled the Housepet up to a series of dark green tents. They were greeted with the sight of several men and women hustling from place to place, lugging weapons, medical equipment, and explosives. Dmitri and his crew hopped out and brushed pass the rushing crowd, reaching a tent that bore a large black flag which showed a giant "R" in white. Dmitri pushed the flap to the tent open, walking in to see a group of men gathered around a table in the center of the room. He went directly to who he presumed was in charge, a tall man Wearing home-made camouflage with war paint smeared on his face. Dmitri help up a salute a second before speaking.
"Sergeant Dmitri. You must be the demolition men." Dmitri said as he let his hand down, stepping into the circle of men and looking at their layout on a map that lay on the center table.
The man nodded. "Name's Xavier. Pleasure to meet you sir."
"Well Xavier, what's your plan of attack?"
"We hit the town at first light, coming in on foot from the left and right, then all of the bombs we've been able to make will be used punching a hole big enough to take us straight to the prison." He answered, pointing out locations on the map as he spoke.
"Town?" Dmitri asked. "What happened to only the prison?"
"Well, after you left, they managed to make a lot of recruitment. Lots of people need lots of space, so they took over the town that surrounded the prison."
"Just how many where they able to recruit in a few years?" Dmitri asked in concern.
"They outnumber us three to one." Xavier answered grimly.
Dmitri nodded at the truth, his thoughts about success shifting from positive to negative to positive. "Is there any group of yours that needs help?" Xavier nodded, raising a hand and indicating to a black haired woman who stood in the corner of the tent, leaning against some crates. Her hair was pulled into a messy ponytail and her clothes resembled some winter fatigues, a beret resting on her head. She was sharpening a machete and a large almost gone knife scar led from her cheek to her forehead. She pushed off the wall and walked over to Dmitri in a professional and trained manner. Something about her was familiar, but he just couldn't place it…
"I am in need of more marksmen for my unit." She stated, grinding the blade against her stone again.
"I have two soldiers that have experience with long range rifle miss. I'll assign them to your command." Dmitri answered, calling Daisy and Fox into the room. The pair entered, their rifles strung over their shoulders and their vests packed with all the necessary munitions. "You two will now be under the command of miss…. Err... sorry, I didn't catch your name." He said.
She placed her blade into her hip sheath, and extended her hand. "Name's Brooke." She answered. Dmitri raised an eyebrow as he took her hand. "You wouldn't happen to be Brooke Trace would you?"
She turned her head a bit, withdrawing her hand from his. "Yes… How'd you know?" Dmitri Smiled warmly. "It's been a long time hun." Her estranged look lasted only a moment longer, before her hand went to her mouth, covering a gasp. "Oh my god… Dmitri? Dmitri Vladov?" She asked in disbelief. He chuckled and nodded. She hugged him.
"Never would have thought that I'd live to see you again." She said, smiling. "Same here." He replied putting an arm around her. Xavier cleared his throat, catching their attention. "There's plenty of time for reunion later you two." He said, his patience wearing down a bit. Dmitri nodded and Brooke let go of him. Fox and daisy walked over to Brooke, accepting their new commander. Dmitri looked back to Xavier. "Any other people needed?"
"Yes, I need two more men for my own team." Dmitri called Grape and King in, telling them of their new commander. "These two have a habit for destruction. They should fit with you well." Dmitri said as he pat the two on the back.
"That should cover everything." Xavier said. "You and your tank can lead the charge." Dmitri nodded in agreement. "You can drive that thing through the center gate, pushing through the middle of the town, so when we come in from the sides, their backs will be turned to us." Xavier said as in to remind Dmitri of the plan. Dmitri memorized the routs for a minute before leaving the tent, Meeting up with Peanut and Fido. "Looks like you two are gonna be my gunners." He told them. They hopped into the side turrets, loading the machine guns and readying ammo for quick use. Dmitri hopped into the front seat started up the Housepet. "Well… the day has come."
A light fog had settled over the town that was soon to become a battlefield. Dmitri eyed the front gate through a pair of binoculars, watching the guards pace back and forth in a messy fashion. He looked to the hills that overlooked the streets, watching Daisy, Fox, and Brooke move into place with a group of about 5 other men, all of them readying their rifles. Dmitri gave a light grin. Fido gave him a pat on the shoulder. "We got three minutes until it's time to roll in Dem." He said while Peanut loaded the guns. Dmitri nodded. He slipped back into the tank, sitting in the driver's seat. He turned the keys and heard the hum of the engine. He looked to Fido and Peanut, who both gave thumb-up from their places at the turrets. Dmitri exhaled, calming himself. "You two ready for war?" He asked. "Sir yes sir." Peanut answered. Dmitri shoved his foot down onto the gas pedal, lurching the vehicle forward and gaining large amounts of speed as he rushed for the front gate.
"Let the rockets fly!" He commanded. Fido hit a kill switch, releasing the missile pod's payload onto the front gate. "Hold onto something!" As the metal wall was torn to shreds, Dmitri burst through the fire, the House pet's Crew being rattled inside. Peanut and king barely able to cling to their seats as they were jarred. Dmitri felt his head bump against the ceiling of the tank, bashing his teeth together. He kept his eyes glued to the main road as he barreled down the street, honking the horn to attract attention. "Open fire!"
Peanut and Fido squeezed the triggers on the Saws, sending lead into the slavers that were walking the sidewalks. They drove for another three seconds before the enemy decided to return fire. Tenfold. Dmitri listened to the "Ping-pang" of bullets bouncing off of the armored hull of the Housepet. Peanut felt a wave of heat come over his face as a large explosion brought down a building nearby. "What the hell was that?!" He shouted as he reloaded his machine gun. "Their mortars!" Dmitri replied, trying to maintain control of the vehicle. "Are they fucking insane? Their Firing into their own town for Christ sake!" Fido yelled, barely audible over the sounds of ricocheting bullets and gunfire. Dmitri saw a man flop onto the hood of the Housepet, Clinging fiercely with a pistol drawn. "Shit!" Dmitri fumbled for his side-arm as the man took aim. As Dmitri was looking down, He heard a sickening thud, the sound of flesh against metal. He looked back up to the man, noticing that he had a hole the size of a quarter through both sides of his skull. The man went limp and slid off of the hood, falling under the tires and becoming a small speed bump.
Fox let a round fly, watching it hit home through his scope. "Yes! Got one!" He said to himself in celebration. He touched his earpiece, coming over the radio. "Heh, don't worry Dmitri, I'll be your windshield wiper." He joked. "Thanks for the assist Fox." Dmitri replied through the radio. Fox retook aim, firing two more times, taking out some rooftop sentries. Daisy pouted and nudged him from her position beside him. "Hey! Leave some for me!" She whined as she tried to beat Fox to a target, failing by fractions of a second and putting another hole in a dead man. She had become a little mad, deciding to take matters into her own hands. She rolled over, flipping Fox over and laying on him, resting her chest over his face as she held up her rifle and made two connecting shots. Fox blushed, feeling Daisy's light frame on top of his. "H-hey! Not fair!" He said, too embarrassed to move her off of him. Daisy rolled off of him once she was satisfied with her kill count, giggling at Fox's reaction. "Boys." She muttered under her breath. Fox shook his head before retaking aim.
Grape and king charged alongside Xavier, firing into the backs of the slaver bastards as the rushed into the city. The two stopped as they reached some vacant buildings to form a front inside of. They positioned themselves at two windows that where side by side. Grape sprayed short bursts of fire into the streets, the 9mm rounds hitting confused runners. King lifted the Pancor to his shoulder, taking aim at the gunners that where holed up in the building across from them. He had loaded his gun with heavy slugs. As he pulled the trigger, He sent 10 12 gauge slugs into the building in rapid succession, shredding the windows of the building, brick and mortar falling away from the structure. He ducked down under the window as the gunners returned fire. He looked to grape who was also ducked down. "You still got those grenades that Dem made?" He asked. "Why, but of course." Grape said with an evil smile as she pulled a satchel off of her shoulder, opening it and handing King some of the homemade explosives. King picked up one of the bombs, wrenched the pin from it and tossed it across the street, waiting for an explosion. But, instead of hearing a boom, he heard screaming, and lots of it. He peered out of the window, watching flames reach out of the building, smoke billowing out of every door and window. He looked back at Grape. "What the hell was that?" He asked with a shocked look on his face. Grape shrugged, clueless. She studied the bombs. "Oh hey! He labeled them! Let's see… we got high explosive, EMP, white phosphorous, and I believe the one you just threw was one of these." She held up a gas canister. "Jet fuel." King looked back across the street as he traded out his spent magazine. "Harsh." Xavier waved to all of his men. "Cease fire! Cease fire!" They all looked down and watched Dmitri roar by at high speed, firing rounds into any enemy stupid enough to be in the street. "Wow, they're hauling ass." King said in slight amazement. Grape nodded, watching the tank wiz by. She glanced up from the street, a glint of something catching her eye. She looked up into the sky, noticing a heavily armed helicopter hovering slowly towards them. She nudged Xavier, pointing at the chopper. "What's Leo doing?" Xavier picked up some binoculars and studied the chopper for a second before lowering the binoculars and ordering everyone to get down. They all obeyed, squatting out of sight, staying quiet. "What's wrong?" King asked. "That's not Leo." He said quietly. The Heli hovered past the building, ignoring them. Grape looked up. "Wait a minute… It's not after us… It's after Dmitri!" She shouted, running to the radio man.
Dmitri clutched the steering wheel with a white-knuckle grip as he made a sharp turn, barely able to stay on the road, hitting several roadside shooters before pulling back into the center of the road. Fido heard the clicking of his machinegun, looking around for more ammo. "Shit! We're out of shells!" He informed his allies. He went to pry his M4 from the wall rack, but as he reached for his rifle, a round flew through the hull. "Gah fuck!" He muttered through clenched teeth as he fell on his ass holding his left leg. Dmitri looked over his shoulder for a split second before making an order. "Peanut! Plug that wound now!" He commanded as he slammed through a small barricade of cars and men, flinging Peanut at the hull wall opposite to him. Dmitri was already straining to stay in his seat, the tank rattling him around. Peanut managed to crawl over to Fido, pulling off his belt and wrapping it around Fido's leg. Fido grunted as he stood, hobbling over to his M4 and picking it up. The radio blared a message. "Dmitri! There's a Helo after you! It's onto yo-" The radio was cut off from static. Dmitri heard a low rumble over the sound of bullets flying off of his vehicle. Fido bashed the roof hatch open with the butt of his rifle and the sound became more apparent. Fido peered outside and saw the helicopter, flying low and tailing them. He quickly ducked back into the vehicle. "We got a chopper on our ass!" He shouted. Dmitri drove on, trying to think of an idea to either loose it or take it down. "Do we have any explosives?" He asked as another man thumped underneath the vehicle. Peanut pried open one of his vest pouches, pulling out one of the GI grenades that they had gotten from Leo's men. He held it up to Dmitri "This is all I got." Dmitri thought for a moment, then took the grenade. "Fido! Take the wheel and keep us steady!" He shouted as Fido took his place. "What are you doing?" Peanut asked loudly. "I'm going out there." Dmitri answered as he strapped on a helmet and another vest. Peanut just watched in shock as Dmitri pulled himself out of the vehicle and onto the roof. Dmitri turned and saw the Helo was already trying to steady itself out to fire, the chain-guns at the ready. Dmitri knew that the Housepet wouldn't last long against heavy firepower like that. As Dmitri went to pull the pin, the chopper opened fire, shredding the street to rubble as the stream of bullets trailed them by only a few feet, and was gaining rapidly. Dmitri yanked the pin from the grenade, holding it in his hand for a second. 'Please hit this damn thing' He thought as he wound up. He threw the gren as hard as he could at the chopper. The grenade made contact with the blades, exploding on contact and ripping the blade from the body of the chopper with heavy force and leaving it flightless and smoldering. Dmitri felt the blast's heat and force, knocking him to his knees. As he went down, bullets started to rip through his clothes, grazing him or being stopped by his vest. The chopper was coming down fast, and worse, at them. Dmitri rolled back into the tank, making a thud against the floor. He pulled Fido out of his seat and Peanut down, covering them and bracing for impact. The chopper hit them with large force, knocking them over as metal scraped against metal in an ear bleeding screech. Dmitri held onto the two as they all fell hard onto the ceiling of the Housepet. Peanut managed to fly loose from Dmitri's grip, hitting his head against the ground as they rolled, knocking him out cold and allowing his limp body to bash around. Fido clutched onto Dmitri for life as he was crunched against metal. They were pushed a few more meters before coming to a stop. Dmitri coughed, his vision blurred and his body aching. He released Fido from his grip, then flipped over, trying to get on his knees. Fido groaned in pain, but pushed himself up to his feet. Dmitri crawled over to Peanut, checking for a pulse. "H-…He's…alive." Dmitri managed. Dmitri kicked the rear hatch open from the ground, attempting to drag Peanut out. Fido hobbled out of the vehicle first, but didn't make it too far. Dmitri watched as a fist knocked Fido to the ground and Fido went motionless. Dmitri struggled to reach for his sidearm, but was cut off. As he drew the gun, he felt it kicked from his hand. He looked up. Right there, stood the son of a bitch himself. Damion. Dmitri scowled. "Dmitri! It's been too long, hehe." Dmitri felt Damion's boot slam into his face. His vision faded to black. The last thing he felt, was being dragged.