Mykkol's POV
When i awoke today, i was still slightly tired, but there wasn't much i could do, yesterday was long and tiresome, and today would odds are be another day like the last few, of course, that meant i would meet back up with Nicolas, Markus, and Lara, though where we would end up or even what we would be doing was up for debate last night, though odds are Markus figured something out, of course i would be more alert once i got outside in this freezing weather, so i grabbed my satchell a small tarp that was sown into a coat by a neighbor the other day and got on the move.
On the way to the base i was stopped by a few militiamen who stopped to give me head-patts also caught a frisbee some kid almost lost, they were clearly confused when i brought it over to them, since i looked like a dog then again what's normal now?
Our city, a place that has been one of the most strategically important cities since the 1900's, just rebelled against the United states, And seems to be winning, not only that but we have people from up north supposedly volunteering, and towns we have entered south of the city even have 20 guys minimum normally.
I arrive at the base and find Nicolas out front of the palisade,
"Hey what's up Nicolas?" i call out, He looks over to me "we are heading up to the airport, the need more guys up there, especially elementals though the main brief begins in about 5 in front of the command center, and hey, if you want some red bull let me know i can get you one, an abandon abrams was found and there were like 20 cases on it's bustle rack" Nickolas told me, "it's what? "i asked, "basket thing on the back of the turret" Nickolas told me, "sure get me one, i just need to find a way to drink it" i told Nicolas as i mad my way to the command center, once i was there i already saw a bunch of people forming up on it, some of which only had hand guns others had rifles some had shotguns, one dude had an SKS, there were a few elementals mixed in as well, the most orderly part of how this looked was the shortest elementals and humans were up front while the tallest were at the back, the most notable elemental out of the bunch was an Aurorus who just stood there silently, taller than literally every one here, a little bit longer passed and the crowd grew a bit.
"Okay thank you all for showing up, yesterday a squad recovered intel on a location being use to quote temporarily house people and elementals for relocation end quote, the location is about 14 miles south west in Canonsburg we also have intel on defenses as well, our current plan consists of just before nightfall hitting the outer perimeter, while using flares to light the surrounding area, that we already have covered, also given the snow tonight both getting reinforcements and requesting them will be exceedingly hard on the military's logistics with the airport under siege, we do have some support elements, a mortar team who will move in with everyone else and an apache which will be on standby, also there is a helicopter ready to medivac any wounded should it be needed, there are trucks for taking you into the Area and out, any questions yet?" the commander asked, no one said anything, "Okay the main goals of this operation are as follows, we need to find our people, civilians, there is a chance they will rise up when we get there and begin fighting, i do not expect many surrenders at this point, as from what we can gather this is no longer just a PA national guard operation, they have people finding and executing "traitors" in the ranks of the us armed forces we also have a communications relay ready for you to request your supports if need be, if there are any civilians elemental or not, they get out of there first starting with the most wounded and injured, though with the numbers stated i doubt we will need more than two trips max, any questions?" he looked at us once again, "Good go do final checks of your gear, and Mykkol come here" he called out.
I cautiously walk forward, "here you go, in this pack is a drone, Markus and Lara will help you with this" he said helping me fit a back-pack after taking off my coat, "don't go just yet" he came back with padded poncho for cold weather a bandana that had a single golden rectangle on it, he helped me put the poncho on, then tucked the bandana into a pocket on my shoulder, he then put a golden pin into the poncho and saluted me, i attempted to salute him back and somewhat succeeded, "Good luck out there second Lieutenant" he told me and then dismissed me to go meet back up with the rest of the group.
I found my way to the motorpool where a lot of trucks were just sitting around, and even a pickup getting its engine removed, of course there was a pickup truck that had Lara sitting next to it with Nickolas, Lara had a bandana around her scruff and a pack with the red cross on it she also had been covered in dirt, and Nickolas was in the process of doing the same to himself, "hey i got you that red bull Mykkol" Nicolas told me as he finished covering himself in the dirt and mud of the motor pool, "thanks though why are you covering yourself in dirt?" i asked "i mean me and Lara stick out way to well, so we need to do something about it" he told me, also it was now i noticed the pickup truck had been armored with steel plates in front of the glass and even the bed the truck was armored, every truck that wasn't military prior had been modified.
I am drawn out of my thoughts by Markus hopping onto the hood of our truck with a machine gun being held by the grip, "Today we liberate our brothers and sisters from a place that is worse than death, be they elementals or human, there is no difference, the United states may see it that way but that is a pure lie, we are all just as human as each other in every way except our bodies, and what do they do? They try to commit a genocide of unbelievable proportions and so far they are succeeding but it will not remain that way, today we liberate a camp for the first time, and though inevitably it wont be the last time, we will make our selves known, with the internet back on in miniscule fashion around the country, do you know what they call us? Jihads, Terrorists, Traitors, Those are lies, if they are looking for that the president and his cronies only need to look in the mirror, unlike them we offer mercy to those captured, we don't summarily execute them, tonight we have at least 13 people with us who will be showing the country and hopefully the world the truth, odds are it will only circulate in a minor fashion with the government arresting people who redistribute the knowledge of Pittsburgh and the Atrocities committed here, MR president we told you a year ago to denounce white nationalism after a man walked into a place of worship and shot it up and until then you weren't welcome in our city and what do you do instead? You disgrace those hallowed grounds for your own gain, and now until only 3 days ago, you had people shot in the streets people "relocated" homes razed to the ground and should you render aid to a wounded elemental you could be shot and killed, so let this be known we will someday see ourselves on the doorstep of your government and if you try to go for emergency powers WE WILL FLATTEN THAT CITY! We will not stand by while you give the orders to commit genocide against our brothers and sisters, our sons and daughters, we each fight for our own resions, but no matter what they be, we will be marching on through the dead of winter, the the blistering hot summers that have occurred in recent years, WE WILL MAKE OUR WAY TO VICTORY!" Markus yelled, his speech was met with a mix of cheers and howls from both human and elemental myself included, "everyone get in your vehicles let's move!" Markus ordered.
Everyone got into their respective vehicles, we had two other people in the back with us this time, the same guy with the SKS from earlier and some guy with a gopro connected to his vest with wires running along it into his bag, he was armed with a weird looking submachine gun.
When i went around the back of our truck i found there even was a step at just the right height for me to get in and out with ease, Markus had climbed over the windshield to get into the bed of the truck with us, and he had pulled mounted the machine gun to a pipe sticking just above the cab of the truck.
What i didn't expect was one final person to get in, Jacob, i had thought he died on the first night of all this, and here he was still armed with his gun from that night and the only thing that had changed was there was now a scare on his neck, i ran across the bed of the truck and tried to hug him, which was just me wrapping one leg around his side once he sat down.
"Good to see you to Mykkol" he told me, and then truck pulled off.