The shopping center was quiet, and Igneous and I's footsteps couldn't be kept from echoing across the linoleum floors. We'd exited the starbucks, and were making our way across a clothing store. The sounds of the city had died in here, and the eerie silence made my heart race.

"I've got a bad feeling about this." Igneous whispered, and practically on cue we heard a door open.

"Hide!" I said, and he dived down an isle of clothes. I did the same, and pushed my way into a circle of clothes. I held my breath, and heard my heartbeat in my ears. Then I spotted the flashlights. There were half a dozen blue lights coming down the main aisle way. I looked across from myself, and tried to spot Igneous, but he had vanished. I turned my attention back to the men who were approaching, and saw the russian soldiers round the corner onto my aisle. I raised my weapon slightly, and took a slow deep breath.

They started to pass me, and, just before I could fire, I saw a mannequin among a group of mannequins across the aisle move. Igneous had hidden in plain sight, and he opened fire on the men from the side, just as I did the same from the rear. They dropped in a few moments, and Igneous and I stepped out of our hiding spots.

"Great job." I said, and he patted me on the shoulder.

"Same to you."

"Now come on, we're getting close." He nodded, and we set off through the doorway that the soldiers had come from. We stepped out into a large open atrium area. We were on a second level, and below us was a food court, I paid it no mind, and instead looked across at the stores opposite us.

"The Space Needle should be across this court, and out the shops on the other side."

"Does it smell like diesel to you?" Igneous sniffed the air, and looked around.

"Yea… yea, it does." I replied, and sniffed the air, "It smells like… like tank exhaust… oh crap." I leaned over the railing, and looked down into the food court. There below us was a Russian T-90 main battle tank.

"Son of a bitch!" Igneous exclaimed, and the small gun on top of the turret started to turn towards us.

"Get down." I grabbed him, and dragged him to the floor. We watched as the gun swept past, and searched for us, "We're going to have to get past that tank if we want to get to the needle." Suddenly the main gun of the tank started to crank in our direction, "Uh… I think the IR spotted us."

"Should we run?" Igneous asked as the cannon started ticking it's last few degrees.

"Yes, now!" I shouted, and we started to move just as a tank round tore apart the floor we'd been on. It must've hit a support because suddenly I was sliding backwards. I turned, and slid my way down the quickly sloping floor. I hit the lower floor, and tucked and rolled past some rubble, and landed against the tank. I shook my head, and tossed off my helmet.

The tank was still trying to hit Igneous, who was moving his way across the balcony to avoid more fire. I took the opportunity, and climbed the tank. I knocked on the top hatch, and the turret opened. The Russian soldier was trying to fire a pistol out the hatch at me, and I smashed my gun butt into his face. He fell back in, and I heard the others muttering, but before any could get near the hatch, I pulled a pin out of a flashbang, and tossed it into the tank. I slammed the hatch down, and held it as I heard the metallic bang and suddenly the tank stopped any motion.

"Did you kill 'em?" Igneous shouted, and I opened the hatch.

"No, just turned them deaf and blind." I said, and grabbed one of the soldiers out of the tank, "Come help me with this, I have an idea!"

Ridge was pressed against a wall, and he watched one of the SPEC soldiers drop, the other, Private Faria, was fighting as well as she could considering she'd been shot in the side. He could see the Space Needle just across a stretch of open ground. Faria, tossed a grenade out, and he watched a Russian be blown to pieces, but was immediately replaced by another.

"We're outnumbered and outgunned!" She shouted.

"We just need to hope someone else makes it to the jammer!" Ridge knew Gneiss, he was clever, he'd find a way.

"Watch out, tank!" Faria shouted, and Ridge looked out, and saw a T-90 smash out of a storefront nearby. He watched as it turned, and he took a deep breath and closed his eyes as he waited for the round to blow him apart, but it never came. He opened his eyes, and saw the Russians scrambling as the tank fired round after round into their ranks. It rolled forward, and the coaxial machinegun tore down the last few men. Ridge remained on edge as the tank turned parallel to his cover, and the hatch opened.

"Hey, we stole a tank!" Igneous shouted as he opened the hatch wide and stepped out. I peeked out behind him, and saw Ridge and an injured SPEC soldier.

"I thought we could use a bigger gun." I said as I leaned out the hatch next to Igneous, "So come on, we've got a jammer to burn." Just as I spoke a trio of bullets pinged off the tank, and I dropped back inside. Igneous and Ridge, carrying the wounded soldier, were right behind me. I turned back on the optics, and saw two dozens soldiers and a military van firing at us from down the road.

"Hang on, we've got trouble." I said, and turned the turret.

"Nothing a 120 millimeter slug can't handle!" Igneous said as he loaded the mentioned round, and I took aim.