Chapter 3: The Resistance
A/N- The APC's in this chapter are actually just small trucks with covered rear trays and accessibility from the rear tray to the driver cab. Just thought I'd clarify that.
1450 HOURS CANALS OF CITY-17
The Resistance APC's sped down the canal system surrounding City-17, with a large amount of Combine APC's giving them pursuit.
"What the fuck is going on, what the fuck are those things!" yelled Adrian hysterically, as 4 three-legged behemoths strode into view.
"Well, lets see," explained Tanya, with the air of a seriously pissed off teacher, she pointed to the Striders. "Those are Striders, their cannons can….," and as she said this, everything around the cannon of the strider seemed to bend and a beam of blue light flew out and hit the lead rebel APC and it crumpled inward then exploded outward.
"Well…….. I guess I don't have to explain that." She finished, smirking at the look of horror on Adrian's face.
"Tanya," Leon yelled and he threw a RPG Launcher to her.
"Adrian, get on that turret!" Adrian struggled to pull himself up and strapped himself to harness of the turret
It was a 7.62 mm GAU-17 Gatling Gun, a machine gun that was commonly used by the US Navy, it was hanging from the ceiling in a convenient way. He readied the gun and started firing. He kept aiming at the windscreens of them, but the bullets were just being absorbed by the glass, "That's not glass! It's a force field." He realized in shock.
The front of the lead combine APC suddenly exploded and the rest of it flipped over ass over end.
"Adrian!" yelled Leon, who was reloading his RPG "start fucking shooting at something or I will throw you the fuck out."
A Combine solider made the mistake of leaning out of a Combine APC and was dead as soon as Ada unslung her sniper rifle and loosed 1 sizzling round.
About 150 metres away, the Combine soldier was thrown of the APC, his head a mess of ragged flesh.
"Nice shot!"yelled Adrian, still firing at the APC's. A stream of bullets hit one of the front tires of the Combine APC and the tyre flew off, flipping the chassis into the path of two others APC's!
Adrian winced as the APC's collided. One hit the other and exploded on impact and the other flew over the top of the others and slammed straight into the legs of a strider, amputating two of the three legs.
The strider stood upright for a second before giving off something like a cry of pain and it collapsed onto the road in front of Boris's APC.
"This could be problematic," whispered Boris and he slammed his foot on the accelerator.
"Boris… what are you doi-," started Barney and his eyes widened in realization, "oh you crazy sonofa-."
The APC slammed into the carcass of the strider.
The air was filled with sounds of rent metal and the screech of tyres as the APC smashed through the head of the strider and came out the other side. But the Combine APC's weren't intimidated by this and followed them.
The number of rebel APC's were whittled down to half there original number by the strider's cannons and the Combine superior firepower.
"APC 1, what being fucking massacred, have you even got a plan!" yelled a British voice through the radio
Boris jacked his headphones in the CB radio "Guess" and before the person on the other could reply, pulled out his headphones, killing the signal. He looked at Barney, shook his head and said, "Fucking Brits, I think we know the answer to that question."
He was interrupted by the Mouse, she was a small female teenager, who handled the technicals of the APC, in the passenger seat moved her hands in complex patterns. Barney, who was watching was confused by this until he realised that it was sign language. "Oh shit!" exclaimed Boris as a dull throbbing noise became apparent.
Then, an Attack-Transport Chopper roared overheard, disgorging troops onto the canal walls, lines of fire from all enemy forces stitched across the road.
Then, the Chopper flew into an overhead position over the APC's and ropes trailed from the chopper's body.
"Oh, they are not that fucking crazy, are they?" yelled Ada.
Obviously, they were. Troops jumped out of the chopper onto the rebel APC's.
A couple of Combine troops from the APC's ahead slipped and fell off, their APC ran over them with a satisfying thump.
But one they missed latched onto the end of the APC with a piton from his armour and managed to stand up.
It made a peculiar sight, a Combine troop surfing on the road, his boot smoking, behind a Rebel APC!
In a couple of the APC's ahead, suppressed weapons were being shot, point blank, into the people in the APC's, starbursts of blood appearing on the windows and windscreens of the resistance APC's. Boris had to swear to avoid the Combine-controlled Rebel APC's.
The sucidal,road-surfing troop drew his sidearm, "Take that crazy fucker out!" yelled Barney, from the front of the APC, as a bullet from the troop ricocheted off the wall of the APC.
He turned around to see the chassis of a rebel APC in front flip, shredding glass, metal (amongst other things) in a kaleidoscope of colour; Boris had to swerve to avoid it, flinging the troop from his handhold as its head exploded in a mass off red.
Ada, her shotgun smoking watched the troop's body fade into the distance, "Bring it!" she spat.
The helicopter by now was hovering near the rear off there APC, which was a bad idea, with the 4 RPG's aimed at it.
"Ready?" yelled Leon "3,2,1, FIRE!" 4 contrails of smoke lanced out of the back of the APC, 1 hit the tail of the helicopter, sending it in an uncontrollable spin as the other 3 slammed into the remainder of the helicopters' body and with a slow grace it slammed into the ground, spewing parts, the rotor of the helicopter snapping off a proceeded to slice through a Combine APC. Massive loss of blood ensured.
In the drivers' cab of the APC, Mouse turned around and mouthed "Cool!"
The rest of the Combine APC's decided, it seemed, to cut there losses and retreat, but Boris wasn't fooled by this, there just had to be a reason.
"Mouse!" yelled Boris "what now?"
Mouse quickly signed something else.
"What's she saying?" Barney asked
"We've got Kill Teams on us," Boris replied
"Shit."
Kill Teams, children that were taken by the Combine at the start of their occupation of Earth and "enhanced" by technological and biological implants. They still were humans, but had access to the most advanced Combine technology; they were also far faster, stronger and resilient than normal humans and had a perfect 100 success rate.
Boris jacked in his headphones, "APC 4, repeat APC 4."
"Yeah?," replied the same British voice from before
"You wanted a fucking plan? Well here it is………"
As Barney was doing this, 400 metres back, several low-slung (actual) APC's jumped on the road and gunned off in pursuit.
A cold, heartless, artificial voice spoke, "We have them."
The group of Rebel APC's did a curious thing, all of them, except for one, drove into an alley way and a wall dropped down to cover the entrance. The other did a perfect 180 degree turn and accelerated back towards the Combine forces.
Boris's APC flew down the road while having abuse hurled at him. For example-
"Are you fucking crazy?'- Barney
"Motherfucker!"- Ada
"Well, someone's suicidal, aren't they?"- Tanya
The Combine APC's sped up as well. The Rebel APC was doing 100 km/h's and rising, when it came within 200 metres the Combine APC's opened fire.
Plasma bolts ripped through Boris's APC, punching through walls, floors and windscreen. A shot tore through Tanya's leg and another ripped through Leon's shoulder. Unnoticed by anyone, Boris convulsed as a multitude of plasma rounds pierced his chest.
Suddenly, the Rebel APC was in the clear, but instead of speeding up it started to slow.
"Yeah! Boris," Barney said as he shook him, but withdrew his hand, it was covered in blood. "Boris!" Barney yelled. Mouse checked his chest and shook her head. Barney looked at him, his chest perforated with a multitude of rounds.
"Yeah!" yelled Adrian as he walked in, then stopped short as he saw Tanya's leg, Leon's shoulder and finally Boris. "Ohhhhhhh, oh no, I'm so sorr-," started Adrian when he was interrupted by Ada screaming, "Oh FUCK!"
Everyone noticed where they were going, just as the APC launches itself through sir and splashed, with an airborne grace, into a full, swift-moving canal.
Everyone was sucked out of the APC, Tanya screaming because of coldness of the canal in the bullet wound while Leon grimaced and groaned. Barney going for Boris's corpse, but it was swept away with the current. It looked like they were going the same way……….
"Hey! You guys!" yelled a voice and they saw a group of rebels with a ladder, "Over here," yelled the same rebel.
They spent the next 4 minutes fighting the current and they finally reached the ladder. Tanya and Leon got up first hampered by their wounds, then Barney, Ada and Adrian. Mouse just grabbed the ladder when her hands slipped and she was swept away by the current, screaming.
"NO!" yelled Adrian "not anyone else!" he yelled, and running full tilt, he dived into the water and grabbed her. They were struggling back when the (barely) floating APC started to shift and flow down the canal, gathering speed and impacted with Adrian and Mouse. They stunned by the impact and went under and didn't surface again.
A/N: Ha Ha, Cliffy! It's my longest and the best, I reckon anyway. This shows no characters are invulnerable. 'Till next time!