The smoke within the open window where the sniper had formerly resided had long since cleared. The sniper was no longer anywhere to be seen. He had vacated his once advantageous position in search of prey that he had failed to slaughter. Objectives he had failed to complete. But while he was attempting to find his way down to the first floor, the Platooners were steadily advancing through the long corridors within the school. Hanging precariously by a staple or two on either side of the hallways were small pictures thrown together by the students; they ranged from scribbles that hosted a myriad of different colors to portraits of themselves and their heroes. A sentimental person would have stopped to look at the pictures, stopped to think about what was going on. About the horror that was taking place. But Dark was no sentimental person, and so he continued on, his rifle shouldered. He came to the end of the hallway he and his comrades were currently traversing and placed his back against the wall, listening intently for any sign of life around the corner. And there it was -- a sneeze. Stifled.
The panther whipped around the corner and brought his aim upwards. A staccato of gunfire rang out, echoing throughout the entire school. Bullets slammed into the stone wall just to the right of the feline's head, causing cement to chip off and dig into his flesh. Ignoring the pain and surprise, he dove to the ground, causing the enemy soldier to have to change the trajectory of his weapon. As he went to shift his aim, however, three bullets slammed violently into his chest. He staggered back, still attempting to raise his aim, attempting to end the life of the man who had just mortally wounded him. But he never had the chance. He only got one more shot off as yet another bullet exited the barrel of Dark's rifle, covering the distance between the two soldiers in milliseconds. The projectile happily embedded itself deep within the cranium of the grey squirrel, effectively causing the back of his head to explode. Brain matter spattered about the wall and hallway behind him, in which he collapsed.
But the uniform was not one of the 97th Platoon. The Squirrel had been wearing a regular pair of bland military fatigues with no insignia. Odd. But the relevance such had to the current situation of the Platooners could be pondered later. Now they had a mission to complete. The rogue 97th Platoon had undoubtedly heard the firefight that had just taken place, and they would not be very pleased about it. The 99th Platoon would have to get to the auditorium and rescue the children before their treasonous, racist counterparts could even think to execute one or all of them.
"Let's move. No need to play it quiet; no need to play it any way but our way."
Pyst had point as the team moved into the school. They moved quickly but cautiously, ready for a 97th ambush should they get bold. And to Pyst's excitement, they did. Two of the 97ers emerged from two different classrooms, assault rifles blaring. Pyst opened up his mini-gun, spraying hot death at the 97ers. One managed to duck back in the classroom, the other wasn't so lucky as a couple dozen bullets tore up his legs and lower body. Pyst purposely aimed low, making sure those bastards would suffer before they finally bled out. The thought of executing him had crossed Pyst's mind, but he held off as the image of what they did to that kid outside flashed in his mind. No, that piece of shit deserved worse, and Pyst was going to make sure he got it as soon as he took out his buddy.
The other 97er was panicking, apparently not expecting the 99th Platoon to have that much fire power. Pyst sprayed the walls, bullets rapidly chipped the 97er's cover away. The 97er tossed an HE grenade out the door. Carrie was all over it, she dashed ahead, scooping up the grenade and tossed it back in the classroom. The 97er expressed his surprise with a "HOLY ----!!!" The soldier dove for cover behind an overturned desk as the grenade went off. He didn't even have time to let his hearing recover from the blast as Carrie had bolted into the class room, combat knife in hand, and eviscerated him before he got a chance to scream in pain.
"That's my girl!" Pyst cheered. "No prisoners! Kill 'em all!!!" he cackled as he charged down the halls.
---------
Group B eventually made it to the school's backyard.
"Those were some nice moves, CG...you're living up to your name" said Mon
"It was luck guys. Maybe I'm watching too much anime or something... that made me do that." said CG while smiling
They entered the little playground for the younger kids, while paying strong attention to the windows. They were extremely cautious after the incidents with two rocket launchers already that day.
"This is way too...too...I forgot the proper word" said a worried CG
"What? Quiet?"
"Yes, that's it! I just can't associate those two words...junior high and quiet"
"What are you going to do when you have kids?" asked Deja
"Dunno...Meribeth has a major in child psychology, maybe she can screw with their minds when they get all wacko"
"Oh...nice"
They continued in their entry. Just as CG passed through the door, he felt as if someone was following them. He turned around, but saw nothing. A flashy memory passed through his head:
"...the 97th platoon composes of 15 members, each with the same training, skills, and intelligence you and your men have..."
"If we have ninjas...why shouldn't they have one...I sure hope not"
They continued on through the silent corridors.
Oreos heard the gunfire upstairs. His group made their way into the cafeteria, and unlike the rest of their team, they're half had gone in unnoticed.
"Chael, Serena, Deja, Red Storm, I need you to take out security. We'll get around easier when they have no eyes. Make sure no one gets in our way when we evacuate the hostages"
The school was, ironically, monitored by security cameras which were now under enemy control. It was a private school for reds after all.
All of them advanced further in the school. They came to a set of stairs, on going up, the other leading down. They were on ground level already; thus, down led to the basement, security quarters, and up led to the main part of the school. Cheal, Serena, Red Storm and Deja nodded, knowing their responsibility, and headed down.
Oreos, CG, DYM, and Sabine went up one flight. The second story was where the auditorium was located.
"Sabine, I'm trusting you here. Are you a hawk?"
" No, I have never used a Sniper Rifle before." Sabine answered clearly enough but there was a slight tinge of nervousness in her voice.
"Well you're going to learn how today."
Before they separated, Oreos asked Reddy for his Sniper Rifle, then handed it to Sabine.
"I need you to get to the rooftops. Take out all the Snipers. There shouldn't be a whole lot of them now that they know we're Inside. And try to to relax, your first shot must always hit."
Sabine took the Sniper Rifle with shaking paws, and looked once again into Oreos' eyes.
"Don't worry, I have a knack for spotting talent. Go now. We're going to evac soon and I need them taken out."
Sabine nodded and ran up the stairs. Again, a bullet storm echoed through the halls.
Oreos swore, "Fucking hell. This was suppose to be a stealth operation, who started shooting?!"
CG answered calmly "Them."
"We have move fast. Every minute we waste another child will lose their life. The hostages are in the auditorium."
Mon looked up the set of stairs Sabine had taken. " You really think the newbie will make it?"
"Yes."
There was no other option. The Snipers needed to be taken out, as well as Security. It was down to Oreos and two of the finest soldiers. The Medic was needed obviously since they will now reach the hostages, and CG was required because he was more experienced.
The three soldiers headed to the auditorium.
-------
The team in charge of destroying security reached the basement floor and began making their way through the labyrinthine hallways. After dead ending at numerous supply and janitorial areas, they reached a set of double doors marked Security. Serena went for the door first but it refused to budge. Deja readied her grenade launcher when Chael put his free hand on her shoulder.
"Allow a gentleman to open the door for the ladies. Every one stay behind me." Once the other three got behind him he targeted the door. He fired his laser cannon, releasing a softball sized energy ball that quickly flew dead center into the door. On impact it exploded violently, sending two scorched, misshapen doors flying a few feet into the now open hallway. Just fifteen more feet until the security room and whoever waited inside. The four readied themselves and began down the hallway.
---
Sabine rushed up the stairs as fast as she could with the sniper rifle strapped over her shoulder. Even with the drumming of bullets coming from below all Sabine could think about was the rooftops.
I must get up there and do this...I must get up there and do this...I must...
She tried her best to no let the weight of her situation hit too hard. But the fact that Oreos had laid down the job for her was enough to make Sabine feel jumpy. Does he really have a skill at seeing talent in people? Or was he expecting too much from the new girl? Sabine quietly prayed for the former as she searched for a small door, some way used to reach the roofs of the school. Turning a corner, Sabine saw the door she was looking for. It was the kind of door maintenance people used for quick access whenever repair was needed. Unfortunately for Sabine a security camera was trained right on the door. She had no way of knowing when the others would take care of security down in the basement and waiting surely wasn't a good idea. She would have to find another way.
The hallway, possibly the whole floor was empty, thanks to the brilliant gunfire show taking place down on the lower floor. Quickly, and in a slightly more relaxed state of mind, she thought about other possibilities.
"The vents usually lead to the roof…" Sabine went for a class room door and found it unlocked. The room was empty so Sabine just walked inside. By the looks of things this class had been in the middle of a lesson. Pencils were still on the desks along with half written notes. The teacher of this class was in the middle of writing about having an essay over the Art of War completed by next Thursday. Sabine's attention turned to the vent up in the ceiling of the room. With some effort she got the grating off and crawled inside. She replaced the grating and made her way down the shaft. The further in she went the more dust tickled up against her nose. The chipmunk lifted her shirt up over her nose and continued. Brushing cautiously by the occasional spider-web and thankful that all of the rooms she came across during her trip were empty.
Sabine knew she was close to her destination when the climb became steeper and fresh air reached her face. Soon she saw another grating and light coming from it. Not too much, because of the cloudy weather, but enough for her to know she had finally come to the end of her short journey.
---
A male squirrel sat quietly amidst a sea of scared children. He stood and approached a blue-eyed girl, stroking her red furred head gently.
"Don't worry kiddo."
The child shook like a leaf. He squat on his haunches, a peculiar look in his eyes.
"I'm not afraid..." the girl whispered, "I'm not afraid of you."
At this, he took personal insult. His voice grew hard, and raspy.
"You should be afraid child - because you, and all of your friends are going to die. You are going to die, and that is it. There's no afterlife - there's no bright light or pearly gates, Heaven or Hell. You have nothing to look forward to, and everything to lose. I will tear out your heart - you..." He struggled to find an appropriate word, and settled for, 'Filth.'
To his friends, Barnes, an honorary Major, was sadistic. To his enemies, he brought vengeful death; cold and drawn out, due to the fact that he had, at least for a moment, been one of them. He stood up straight.
Barnes' unit was almost eerily similar, at least in technical skills if not race, to the soldiers of the 99th. After the botched 98th debacle in Raccoon City, the 97 had been given second ranking in matters of national security - and Barnes couldn't stand not being in the limelight. Known for his erratically violent behavior during the Tediz Wars, his all-Grey foot soldiers were handpicked for their ability to follow orders. Specifically his.
'Sure', he thought gazing at his radio, a few dumb rookies had just been sacrificed in honor of the higher cause but... He stopped there, and laughed.
'Higher cause'. Sometimes he cracked himself up.
"Cannon-fodder," he said aloud, and his second in command stared, perplexed.
To the men in his unit he was known only by the code-name MI5 had given him in their renown 'Baker's Dozen' - twelve specially trained covert operatives that were to be forever known only by names of popular biscuits and sweets.
This Squirrel was...'Malteasers'. Over the next ten years, he went rogue, playing both sides of the field, helping eliminate some of the most prolific 00-Baker agents: MnM, Smarties, Dunkin, Mars, Twix, Sour Worms...the list of the twelve operatives, minus himself, was almost complete, till his contractors tried to put a bullet through his head, leaving the task unfinished, and forcing Malteasers to return to 'standard' duty under the then Lt. Barnes. Most of the Baker's Dozen were eliminated...if not all...but one, for sure, was live and kicking.
Oreos, not knowing that he would be meeting up with such an old acquaintance, moved cautiously through the courtyard, hoping against hope that this crazy scheme would work...
- - -
Another barrage of gunfire, screams of pain, and the loud bang of a grenade echoed through the halls, easily penetrating every classroom door nearby. The 'stealth' idea had just gone down the toilet.
"Heh, guess they're comin' this way..." an anxious squirrel whispered to the desk he was using as cover. He glanced for a second back at an easel, which was lying on its side in a corner of the classroom. It was covered with blood and a couple of bullet holes. A trail of blood led from it to a small closet on the side, where he had dragged a corpse to get it out of the way...
---"All right, class, today we're going to learn about mixing colors together!" an enthusiastic young woman exclaims from in front of a blank easel. It's her first year teaching, and she's a little nervous, but things have gone very well so far this year. "Does everyone have their paintbrush and paints?" From inside their desks, the children all get a brush and a couple of bottles of paint, which they happily hold up above their heads. "All right, then, let's get..." she notices a figure walking through the classroom door. More importantly, she notices the figure is carrying a shotgun and is pointing it straight at her. "Wh-who are you!?" She backs away, knocking over the easel. Some of the children look behind them and see the intruder, but, being kindergartens, have no idea what exactly is going on.
"Hey!" one of the boys calls to him, "You can't be in school!"
"And why the hell not!?" the stranger turns on the boy, his voice growing angrier. "Are you little red bastards special? Better than us greys somehow? Is that it!?"
"No, 'cause you're a grown-up, silly!" a little girl pipes up.
The teacher can't help but break down and cry. They really do have no idea what's going on... "P-please... " she stammers through tears and collapses to her hands and knees, "just don't hurt them. Th... they don't know any better. Please, d-do... do whatever you want to me, but let them go!"
"Heh! Now there's an interesting offer..." the grey squirrel begins to walk over to the teacher until he is standing just two feet in front of her. "But sorry. Orders are orders."
"Please! PLEASE!!" The teacher begs and begs. "We haven't done anything to you--" She shrieks as he kicks her over, into the easel.
"Huh. Bitch." he aims the barrel down at her chest and blows a hole through it. The deafening blast of the shotgun startles the children, and almost all of them begin to cry uncontrollably. They still don't understand that their teacher has just been killed.
"Shut UP!!" the murderer shouts and fires again at the ground. "All of you, out of the classroom NOW!! Move it!" ---
"Man, it was a pain in the ass gettin those stupid bastards outta here. Little morons wouldn't stop crying.", the squirrel muttered to himself, then looked back to the door. Grenade in hand, he was ready to blow the next sorry idiot who walked in to bits.
click
"I take it that lady back there is your handiwork." Zeta growled into the grey squirrel's ear, pressing his gun lightly on his temple and desperately fighting the urge to pull the trigger. "I thought you guys were supposed to be just as 'well trained' as us."
"WHAT THE-- YOU SON OF A --" the squirrel tried to scream, but a red paw quickly covered his mouth and restrained his arms.
"Just shut up." Zeta ordered him coldly. "Looks like you're a racist and an idiot. Did you even realize there are air vents going into each classroom?" Zeta led him out the door and into the hallway to where the others were keeping watch and checking the other rooms. They noticed Zeta had a hostage.
CG, Oreos and Mon were on course to the auditorium. They left various classrooms in the way, five to be exact. In two of them they found dead teachers lying. They were executed exactly the same way, bullet between the eyes.
"These guys are insane." pointed out CG
"Indeed..." answered Oreos flatly.
"You're starting to talk like Dark you know?"
"Heh heh heh, you're right. It's all this dead innocents that put me that way."
Just as they were going to enter the auditorium, the three of them suddenly felt an urge to turn right to a hallway just before the auditorium doors. They walked through the hallway and discovered that it lead to the nurse's office.
"There's something inside there...right?" said Mon after the stood a while in front of it
"Yes..." answered Oreos
"I'll check it out...you guys go get the hostages" said CG
"...Ok. It's your call" said Oreos
The medic and the 00-agent left, trusting that the Venezuelan would join them in a short while.
"There has to be something in here, all the three of us felt something strange..."
---
"Wake up! Someone's here to save you..." hissed the terrorist to the nurse's ear.
"...mmph" was the only thing heard through the duct tape covering the nurse's mouth
The office was a bit big for a nurse's office, since it was a small classroom before the older kids were changed to a bigger school. There was enough space for three little beds. Since there were a lot of little kids they needed room to keep all them in there. The nurse actually had 2 jobs in 1. She was like the school's therapist in some cases.
"Let's see if this one is skilled" said the black dressed terrorist as he disappeared in the shadows behind a dresser.
CG entered the room and was shocked when he saw the tied down nurse.
"I'm here to get you out." muttered while undoing the rope and looking around for someone hiding with his gun in hand.
The nurse ripped off the duct tape herself and tried to warn him of the ninja that was hiding, but he had already jumped at CG, trying to decapitate him. CG managed to block with his gun (again, a lucky shot).
"Well! This'll be my lucky charm from now on..." said CG. He then turned to face the nurse "Were you going to warn me of him?"
"...yes..."
"Don't turn your back to me!" said the ninja, dashing towards CG again.
He unsheathed his katana with his left hand and blocked, as he turned, and used the momentum to kick his opponent in the side. The opponent managed to block, so his ribs didn't receive too much damage.
"I guess I underestimated you..." said the ninja
"Yeah...I guess you did"
"Don't move!" said the ninja "Stay here and witness your savior's death"
The nurse stopped in her tracks
"Go sit over there and wait for a second" said CG pointing towards one of the beds
"...accurate. This will take about a second..." said the ninja
Sabine crawled out into air much fresher than that of the vents. She had slipped out the side of one of the big metal vents that stood up on the roof. She looked around her immediate area. There was no one around. Quickly she took the rifle off her shoulder and held it in her hands. She took a deep breath to try and fight down the pressure. Sabine looked around again and noticed how the roof of the school leveled up higher in some areas than others. She was on a middle level. In front of her was a higher level of the roof and behind her was a lower level. From wear she sat behind the vent, Sabine noticed a form standing up on the higher level, facing away from her. He had a rifle in his hand also.
"Well…" Sabine whispered. "This is it." The chipmunk held the rifle up and aimed at her target. The aiming part was simple enough, it was the psychological part that had Sabine stuck. She had never done this before.
"I have to get him the first time." she thought over and over again. Sabine's hands started to get unsteady and it took every ounce of will power to steady them. "Just relax." She swallowed hard and tried relaxing; she knew what she had to do. Finally her hands stopped shaking, her target had moved but only just a little. She aimed again with steady movements and fired.
All Sabine saw was a large spray of blood and other parts of the head flying everywhere as the bullet tore the grey squirrel's brain to pieces.
Sabine took a moment to breath again. She had done it. The body no longer stood but lay crumpled and defeated on the rise above her. For a second Sabine had the urge to climb up there and get a closer look at the body but the thought disgusted her a second later. She figured she would get used to seeing the dead up close. But she did not want to get acquainted any sooner than she needed to. Another thought plagued Sabine's mind. What if the one she had killed had not been the only one? The only way to find out, was to go find out.
Sabine found a fixed ladder leading up to the higher parts of the school roof, thankfully a distance away from the soldier she had recently killed. She climbed it but stayed low. After seeing her own work, standing up straight was something she would be sure to avoid until she knew the coast was clear.
After scanning the area with her eyes, she saw nothing. But there were vents on the roofs. How easy would it be to just hide behind those and take a shot without anyone noticing? It was easy for her.
"Just stay calm Sabine, You can do this." She remembered Oreos' words. "I just have to make sure there are no more--Ack!"
Sabine saw nothing , the attack came from behind. Quick and Soundless at that. She hit the hard cement of the roof top with an immense pain radiating from her shoulder, before the Chipmunk could turn or even draw her firearm, she saw the shadow. The newbie had a problem.
---
The body that they came across as they turned a corner was of a large beefy panther. His build and outfit had the makings of a PE teachers. Well, all that muscle didn´t save him from getting his brains shot.
Still, it was the psychological tactic used against the two that shocked them more.
Written in blood on the walls, not too large, were the words
If you come any closer, we will kill them all
No more than a few moments were spent on the morbid regard of this new measure against the 99th platoon.
´They can see us.´Mon commented. He pointed his finger at a black build that protruded from the ceiling. ´Camera.´
Oreos jerked his steady rifle at the black observer and, pausing to say "Smile for the camera, Mon", shot it off.
Oreos risked radio silence and called a member of the other team in code.
´Mordecai Mordecai´
´Ester Ester´ replied WWW
´Any Fading Round Bound Eye Spy Spot?´ any friendlies making their way over to the camera control?
´Round Bound´ Confirming
´Stride Wide. Witch-Doctor Cookie-kook round bound hear-all.´ Hurry Up. Medic and Oreos making their way to the Auditorium
´Ester´
´Mordecai´
" Let´s move, Mon" .
With renewed vigor they trudged to the "hear-all"
- - -
The "security" squad made their way toward the room. They were cautious because whoever was inside knew they were coming. They hugged the walls waiting for their enemy to come out. As if on cue, two greys jumped from the side of the door frame and opened fire. Chael planted the barrel of his cannon onto the ground, using it as cover. Serena and Deja took refuge in a small alcove to the right while Red Storm went to one on the left. After the firing stopped they went into action.
Deja grabbed a fire extinguisher from the wall next to her and lobbed it at the doorway. She shot it and created a cover of foam. Then Serena grabbed one of Deja's sidearm and joined her in firing upon the enemy. As the foam finished settling they saw one squirrel was down. Red Storm burst down the hallway and made a low lunge into the room. He took the knife off his belt and threw it at the firing hand of the other squirrel, disabling him before firing a few rounds into his chest. He removed the knife cleaning it off on the enemy's uniform.
The three joined him shortly after, taking note that they wore regular military uniforms not Platoon. They seemed to still have some kind of ties that they used for extra muscle. The others discussed destroying the equipment before Chael stepped up and began accessing the security cameras. Screens flashed different areas of the school and showed their comrades before Chael got the one he was looking for. He found the auditorium and began to slowly scan the area to gather information. It only went for a few seconds before the feed was lost. He presumed they knew security control was lost because the camera activated.
"Move out." The other three left the room and he took care of the equipment. He pointed his open mechanical palm toward the control console and an object fired out. It was sphere shaped with a cone coming from the bottom. The cone portion embedded itself into the console and Chael left. When he reached his cannon, where the others had waited, he quickly closed his mechanical hand into a fist and the object exploded. He picked up his cannon and they returned to the ground floor to catch up with the others.
Dark dropped to one knee at the end of the corridor, sweeping a room just adjacent to his current position with the barrel of his rifle. Nothing. Well, nothing alive, anyhow. Blood, fused with the brain and skull fragments of an innocent young squirrel who had just begun his teaching job, covered both a large portion of the floor and the wall. Luck had definitely not been on his side. The day he chose to begin his profession happened to be the same day the 97th Platoon decided to go berserk, to go haywire. To kill any races that did not live up to their expectations. In the current case, it was just the Red squirrels. But what next? Panthers? Surely not. Very few people had even the courage to speak to such a race, let alone go to war with them. In any case, the racism, the needless slaughter, was sickening - even to a man who had seen so much of it in his time. Even to a man who had killed other people in the most ridiculously vicious ways possible. He was sickened. He was angered. In ley-man's terms, he was mighty pissed off.
The panther turned away from the room and grit his teeth, about to swallow his rage when Zeta vacated one of the side rooms with a hostage. The look of unfettered malignancy upon the face of the feline slowly - ever so slowly - twisted into a grin unmatchable by the most sadistic beings. Dark traversed the area between he and the hostage in a brisk walk, his hands shaking uncontrollably. Up they came, and they balled into a fist with the lapels of the quivering Grey squirrel in their grasp. He slammed the racist bastard up against the wall and brought him in nice and close. The vicious 99er wanted to look into the eyes of the one type of person he truly despised - the one type of person he could not understand. A racist. A man, or what passed off as a man, who believed that the color of one's fur truly meant something. The thought alone was ludicrous. The man's existence was meaningless, and he was naught but a liability to the lives of others.
"Your superiority is a fallacy; let me demonstrate.."
Dark drew back his right hand and launched it forward, his knuckles making solid contact with the jaw of the quivering, despicable squirrel before him, who promptly collapsed to the floor. But he was still conscious, still afraid. Death was upon him, nipping at his heels, and he knew it. Oh, he knew it. As he looked upwards, blood running down his chin, he saw the face of something he could never truly understand - a man with nothing, a man who was unaccepted within society, who fought for that very same society. Those very same people.
"Now, I know you're not of the 97th Platoon. Do you know how I know that?"
"I--Y--Sir--"
Dark brought an open hand across the face of the man he was interrogating, showing his disrespect.
"The question was rhetorical; allow me to provide your simple mind with the answer. You are weak, untrained, and a stain on the world. Those in the 97th Platoon are weak, trained, and a stain on the world. See the difference?"
"Ye--"
Closed-fisted, to the temple.
"If you speak again before I tell you to, I'll rip your god damn tongue out! Do you hear me?"
Silence.
"Good. Now, I need to know how many of your militia-men are on this floor, how many are in the auditorium, and how many of the 97th are nearby. Now, you may speak."
"U-Uhh.. T-there are five more men from my unit in the militia on this floor.. A--and.. T-three of those m-men are in the auditorium watching the scu-- I mean, the Reds. I don't know about the 97th.. I'm n-not.. privileged to that information..."
Dark cocked his head to the side, a grin cracking his visage.
"And with good reason. Thanks."
There was a flash of silver, and then a spray of crimson. The fleshy throat of the Grey tore so easily under the serrated edge of the combat knife so firmly gripped in the hand of the panther.
"No prisoners. Every last one of them dies. Now, let's move."
CLING
The swords clashed as both of the fighters dashed aiming at the left shoulder. The 97er kicked at the 99er's gut, but he managed to stop the blow with his knee. He countered with his own kick to the ninja's side, muay Thai-like.
"You're a bit faster than I thought..." said the ninja
"Thanks...but stop fighting like that, get serious" said CG
"...first time someone says that to-"
The ninja practically vanished and appeared behind CG. He attacked at CG's neck, trying to do a fast kill but he only found air instead.
"You?" said CG while slicing a huge gash on the 97er's back.
"What was that? You can't be faster than me!" yelled the enemy squirrel.
"I'm not faster than you" said CG "Only smarter" he completed while tapping on his temple.
the ninja lunged. "DIE!"
He lunged at CG stabbing at his chest. He was planning for it to get blocked, so that he could surprise him with the extendable claw in his left glove.
"ugh..."
Blood dripped onto the floor.
"how..."
The ninja jumped back, grabbing his left hand. It had a huge cut between the fingers.
"As I said before...I'm smarter than you" said CG while throwing the ninja's sheathed sword at his feet.
When he slashed at the ninja's back, he managed to make the sheath fall off his back. He then picked it up and predicted the trajectory of the attack, sheathing the sword. With the claw, he used his sword while grabbing it downwards, so that he wouldn't get injured.
"I can't believe that someone like you could have done this to me!" growled the ninja.
"Grab the sword and stop whining" said CG, this time with a sterner look
The ninja reluctantly did what he was told to and unsheathed it as he could with his injured hand.
"Try again...maybe this time you can actually hit me"
The ninja dashed towards CG. He waited. Just as the ninja entered CG's range, he moved a bit to the side and dropped a smoke bomb. He planned to surprise CG with his last trick available at the moment, but again, he failed. CG moved forward as the ninja's sword came down to his previous position. He cut the 97er's right arm off with ease.
"How humiliating..." gasped the ninja "Me, beaten by a scum lover!" The pain radiated throughout his body and he screamed.
"You know...I'll give you a honorable death, just because I'm a good guy..."
He stood in front of the kneeling ninja, and opened his gut up. As soon as he fell down, trying to stand the pain, CG stuck his sword in his neck. When he was sure his enemy was dead, CG pulled the sword out and wiped it clean on his fallen adversaries clothes. Then he looked over at the nurse who had seen the whole thing, looking at him in starc terror.
"I'm sorry you had to see this." said CG to the trembling nurse
"It's ok...I'll try to drink it off" She could have fainted right then.
"No...don't do that, because when you drink after that, you'll remember this..."
"You're right"
An awkward pause.
"Here" He handed her the ninja's sidearm "Just in case"
"T-thank you..."
"You're wel-" He grabbed his assault rifle and fired at the cabinet. The doors opened and made a grey corpse fall.
"What's this?" asked the nurse with a jump.
"Your fellow spy" said CG
He threw a near by bottle at the nurse's hand and made her drop the gun. He then approached her and lifted his fist as if he was going to hit her. She closed her eyes and put up her hands, trembling more than ever now.
"Why did you do this?" said CG after putting his fist down
The nurse fell on her knees sobbing.
"I don't know. I was scared. They offered to let me live"
"So, you were planning to let them kill me, or anyone that came through that door, just so that you could stay alive just for a few more seconds"
"No-ye-I don't know! I don't recall exactly how it happened!"
"Give me your arm"
He rolled up the nurse's sleeve, and noticed a little scar. She had been drugged.
"I think the effects wore off already, so you can stay here for a while. After getting the kids, I'll get back here. Ok?" said CG
"Y-yes...thank you"
"No problem, just stay here, out of trouble"
CG left running towards the auditorium, planning to catch up with the guys. The nurse sat down in a small stool and started crying.
Sabine let out a pained yelp as a foot clouted her at the side of her face. She coughed and lay prone for a few seconds. The pain in her shoulder was still ripping at her nerves, but nothing like the drumming in her skull. A voice talked to her.
"I bet you feel proud about taking out one of our lackeys."
Sabine tried to open her eyes but her vision was spasming. When it cleared and stilled, she was staring into black combat boots and that was all she knew. Then she saw knees, an arm, a hand, and a bloody knife being held in the hand. The warm wet feeling in Sabine's left shoulder made sense now.
What seemed like a pleasant face looked down at Sabine, the blade pressed gently against her neck. But Sabine knew that with one false move that blade would soon be embedded there.
"Ah' could have killed you so so easily. But those 99ners are tough. Maybe a hostage from their own will set em straight." she grinned. "I've never seen you before I sure hope they've found enough value in you to care about your life." The soldier of the 97th stood and walked away a few feet, whipped out a small radio.
"Don't you move now!" she flicked the radio on.
"Yeah, you still in the auditorium? Good. I'm up on the roof now and just like I thought we have ourselves a lil sniper." There was a pause. The female squirrel was conversing as if finding a sniper on the roof was girlish, book-club pep-talk. Sabine could not hear who was on the other end.
"It's a good thing I found her, she managed to take out one of our tag-a-longs. But if she had of kept going the way she was, would have had a clear view of an auditorium window." Another pause... The female soldier turned to look at Sabine and gave her a cheerful smile. Sabine almost threw up.
"Maybe she was going to try and get you, I'm not sure...yeah this one's a newbie all right, she was too easy to catch."
Sabine dared to breath, dared to reach down for her gun...
"They ain't stupid, probably already mussed up the security and everything...you can't contact them no more? Fuh, figures. Amatures."
Sabine took the gun out, shakily with her right hand, her left arm just hurt too much to operate. The chipmunk brought it up level to the squirrels back. Still shaking.
"Yeah. I know you can handle it. Over and out." The soldier knew, she turned. But there was no longer a blade but a gun.
BANG!
Sabine recoiled her hand in shock, the gun flew and fell with a clatter several feet away. The 97th squirrel leered at her.
"Didn't Ah' tell you not to move..."
-----
Oreos and DYM reached the auditorium with little resistance. They were outside the double doors. Oreos pressed his ears on the side. He heard the "terrorists" yelling at the kids to shut up. The children themselves were still crying, but they were mostly whimpers.
Oreos took out his radio once more, and radioed Chael: "Chael, Testa verso la sala"
(Head towards the auditorium)
Then he directed to the others:
"Generi un certo rumore, noi hanno bisogno del clearence"
(Create some noise, we need clearence)
It will be easier to take the auditorium with less 97s in there.
Mon looked at Oreos expectantly. "What's the game plan?"
"Ya know I think we should've gotten blue prints of this school before we came."
Mon lightly shrugged. "Do we ever before for any mission?"
"Let's scan the perimeter. This is the turning point. Check how many exits and entrances are to this auditorium. We need to know-"
The P.A came on; a serious, impenetrable voice filled the halls.
P.A: 99th Platoon... well done. You've gotten in, you ain't gettin' out. But you're really starting to piss me off. No matter. You've taken out four of my men. I will therefore release 8 children to compensate...
Oreos muttered under his breath...
"Don't... you bastard..."