Chapter Two: As a Squad, As a Team
Introductions Arc
"Alright here's what we're going to do!"
The squad gathered around DeviantOne. Point Echo would be secured… for now.
"Our main objective is to aid our team at Bravo. But to do that… we need to cross point Charlie."
He pointed at the red diamond that indicated Charlie. It was right between their location at point Echo and their destination at Bravo. Charlie consisted of dense trees and had so many rocks that they formed their own small hills. In other words, a perfect place to ambush attackers.
Judging by the distance shown on the minimap, it would take a good full sprint to reach Charlie.
But Photonous couldn't sprint.
"Niners, you're providing us with overwatch. Charile would at least have one enemy squad defending it. So Photonous…"
"Yeah?"
"Since you're the only person carrying a machine gun, we'll find a secure location and you'll draw their fire."
It took Ensign Photonous a few seconds to comprehend what DeviantOne had ordered him to do.
"Wait WHAT. You want ME to become a bullet magnet?!"
"Yes."
"I just got here!"
"So?"
"I didn't even get my first kill yet!"
Higgins lightly patted him on the back, "don't fret newbie. This may be a chance for you to get one."
"You should be fine Ensign. All you have to do is draw their fire and make damn sure you don't die."
"…"
"Any questions?"
"No sir," Photonous responded in a degraded tone.
"Alright let's move out! Niners, we'll leave the Growler here to make it easier for you to rendezvous with us."
It was a short sprint to point Charlie though Photonous lagged behind. He still didn't understand why he was the only person who couldn't sprint. He knew that by simply moving his legs more quickly, he could sprint. But some unknown force was preventing him from doing just that…
"PHOTONOUS! DOUBLE-TIME IT!" DeviantOne called in the distance.
The Ensign felt fatigued though still he carried on. He couldn't afford to burden his teammates. Not after what he said to Higgins.
By the time they arrived near point Charlie, Photonous was covered in sweat while his squad members surveyed the area. They hid behind thick vegetation; unless the enemy had a MAV overhead or a TUGS deployed, their presence should remain unnoticed.
"The flag looks undefended…" Higgins remarked. That was true, surrounding the flag were small cliffs formed by boulders and rocks. The flagpole itself had a single empty container adjacent to it.
What really pissed DeviantOne off however, was due to the fact that the enemy's flag stood proudly at its peak.
"How the hell did they just take all these points anyway?" Photonous questioned, "did our commander just ordered most of our squads to take Bravo?"
"No," DeviantOne responded, "I was there in the briefing. At least one squad was sent to take each point and defend it after the former objective as been met. Point Bravo just had more squads sent to it than the others."
"Why?"
"Well it's on a hill overseeing all other points. Geographically, it's an important tactical asset."
"Oh…"
"Anyway here's the plan. There might still be campers waiting for us. Shit, there WILL BE campers waiting for us. So Ensign, you stay here and provide suppressive fire. Higgins and I will move to the left and flank that cliff; it's likely they'll be camping there. As soon as you draw their fire, Ensign, don-"
"Uh… Dev…" Higgins interrupted as he called DeviantOne by his nickname.
"I told you not to call me that!" DeviantOne struck back.
"No… sorry but you have to take a look at this."
Corporal Higgins pointed at a spot near the flagpole, just beyond where the green container was.
DeviantOne, squinting his eyes to see what Higgins was pointing at, lowered his jaw and tightened his grip on his assault rifle.
Intrigued, Photonous leaned over the rock face to observe as well.
And what he saw he will never forget.
"God damn it…" he whispered.
He saw four corpses all splayed about.
Four friendly corpses.
"Shit! I can still save them!"
In a single leap, DeviantOne pulled out his defibrillators and began to sprint towards the four bodies. Higgins emerged from the vegetation and grabbed DeviantOne by the collar to pull him back.
That was when the shooting started.
It was total chaos.
Bullets flew by as DeviantOne hid behind a sturdy tree. Higgins took cover behind a large rock while Photonous primed his M27 IAR.
"Deploy your bipod Ensign! We need suppressive fire!" DeviantOne ordered.
"Oh so that's what these two stick things are for?"
Using the bipod, Photonous found it much easier to shoot without having to compensate for recoil. He took aim at the elevated rock face opposite to them. Bright muzzle flashes erupted from its edges and bullets grazed the cover he was in.
"NOW! SUPPRESSIVE FIRE!"
"TATATATAAAAA TATATAAAAAAA TATATAAAAAA TATATAAAAAAAAAAAA!"
In a blaze of glory, Ensign Photonous pulled and held the trigger of his weapon. The bipod stabilized the recoil though he still felt the hammering from the stock. It felt like someone was piston punching his shoulder.
"Higgins, with me!"
The two sprinted to the left. Ideally, the enemy squad was too preoccupied with Photonous to notice them attempting to execute a flanking maneuver.
"TATATATAAAAA TATATATAAAAAAA TATATAAAAAAAA TATATAAAAAAAAA!"
"PEW!"
"AGH FUCK!" Photonous yelped in pain.
He was hit in the shoulder by a sniper bullet. His vision blurred and grayed. He could only hear the muffled sound of gunfire.
Withdrawing himself, Photonous soothed his bleeding shoulder and thought about the medkit DeviantOne always carried. Either the sergeant forgot to deploy it for him, or he didn't think he needed it.
Yeah, he didn't think I needed it.
He cursed and spat at the ground. Emerging again from the same position would surely mean a death warrant. He had to take care of the sniper himself…
Through the eyes of his powered scope, Niners scanned the firefight that was occurring. DeviantOne and Higgins were already about to flank the enemy squad, while Photonous began to crawl away from his original position while nursing his left shoulder.
Damn what's the new guy up to now? Niners thought.
He turned his attention away and observed point Bravo. They were holding up quite decently considering the fact that hostile jets were periodically strafing them with rocket barrages.
But he knew it won't be long until they were all killed.
Then he noticed something strange coming from point Alpha. It was big, it gave off smoke, and he heard the low rumble it created.
It was a T-90 tank.
"Shit, is it heading to Bravo?" Niners muttered. If so, it would greatly decrease the lifespan of the defenders. However thankfully, it didn't approach the path that lead to the point.
Instead.
It was going where DeviantOne, Higgins, and Photonous were.
"TATATATATA"
DeviantOne shot a volley of rounds into the machine gunner's back who was proned near the edge of the rock. Photonous halted his suppressive fire; he'd have to question him for that.
The other machine gunner saw DeviantOne and swung his weapon over to meet him until his head exploded and blood squirted into the air. Another perfect headshot by Higgins.
Two Support classes dead.
Two left.
Reloading his assault rifle, DeviantOne heard a low rumble in the distance and raised an eyebrow towards Higgins in curiosity.
"Beep… beep… beep… beep… beep…"
"What's this beeping noise…" Photonous whispered to himself. It started when he began to climb the rock face.
He thought about it further until he saw a strange thing placed on the ground.
"Beep… beep… beep…"
"Oh so that's where the beeping noise came from?"
He gave the tube-shaped thing a kick. It exploded.
"What the hell!"
And then…
"HUWAAAAAAAH!"
A loud pitched battle cry followed by the slashing of a combat knife aimed at Photonous' neck.
"BANG!"
"Tzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzch GUYS!"
"BANG!"
"GUYS! I spotted an enemy tank heading your way!"
"BANG!"
"Guys…?"
"A BIT TOO LATE ON THE FUCKING INTEL NINERS!" DeviantOne shouted in the radio feed. The T-90 tank was positioned outside of Charlie and unleashed its high explosive ordnance shells at them. They were both hiding behind the rock face as the shells exploded just meters away from them. Each shot hammered their ear drums and muffled their hearing.
"Higgins! HIGGINS!" DeviantOne shouted over the firing of the tank, "SEE IF YOU CAN GET A COUPLE OF SHOTS AT ITS BACK! I'LL DISTRACT HIM!"
"WHOA WHAT THE FUUU-"
Photonous ducked as the knife swung overhead. He jumped back and pulled out his own tactical combat knife.
The assailant wore light Kevlar armor and had a sniper rifle strapped behind him. He wore a dark green wool sweater underneath, and his fingerless gloves looked dirty and muddy. His face was wrapped and covered by fabric with only his eyes showing.
In other words…
"You look like a fucking ninja from the Anime shows I watch."
"HUUUUWAAAAAAH!"
The fucking ninja struck towards Photonous with a lunge of his knife. Photonous side stepped and struck low, trying to stab his kidney. However, the Recon soldier saw through him and leaped just as his opponent executed the stab.
"BANG!"
"What?"
"HWAH!"
"SHIT!"
Caught off guard by the sudden loud explosion, Photonous used his knife to block the slash meant for his face. Sparks flew as the two steel blades met, though Photonous realized that his opponent's knife had an orange handle to it and the blade was much more rectangular. He'll think about it later. For now…
"HWAH! HUAH! HWAAAAAAH!"
A slash to the left, to the right, an uppercut, a stab, the Recon soldier executed all those moves and Photonous managed to dodge them all.
"HAHA! ALL THOSE ANIME SHOWS I WATCHED WERE WORTH IT AFTER ALL!"
"HWAAAAAAAAAAH!"
"UHOOF"
Instead of using the knife, the ninja gave Photonous a violent kick to the stomach. Photonous flew back and slammed into a tree. His vision blurred and grayed again, however this time he could see blood.
"Ack…"
The ninja slowly approached Photonous… ready to claim his dog tags.
As Higgins sprinted away, DeviantOne emerged from cover and threw a grenade at the tank. It wouldn't do much, however it was enough to get its attention.
"BANG!"
Shrapnel flew into him as the round impacted the space near him, leaving behind a shallow crater. He deployed his medkit while bracing for another shot.
"BANG!"
"Ah shit come on Higgins!" he spat.
Peeking over the cover, he saw Higgins positioning himself near a small rock behind the tank. He pulled out his distinctive green cylindrical tube… and fired.
"PPHHHHEEEEEEWWWWWW BANG!"
The anti-tank round screamed as it propelled itself into the tank's rear and exploded into orange and red flames. The blast caused smoke to seethe out.
But it wasn't enough.
As Higgins reloaded his next round, the tank began to slowly turn its turret.
"Shit Higgins! Run! RUN!" DeviantOne screamed into the radio.
But run he wouldn't. Corporal Higgins was adamant and determined to destroy the tank using his own SMAW.
"Come on you bastard! I'M RIGHT HERE!" He fired another round into its rear. This time orange flames emerged from its engines.
"HAHA!"
Before the tank had another chance to fire, Higgins leaped from his own cover and began to hop…
Into the direction of the tank.
"WHAT THE FUCK HIGGINS?!" DeviantOne saw what was occurring and couldn't believe what kind of stupid act his subordinate was doing.
"BANG!"
The round missed Higgins by a small fraction as he kept frantically hopping towards the tank.
"BANG!"
Miss.
"BANG!"
Miss.
"BANG!"
Almost.
"TATATATATATATATATATATATATATA"
The coaxial machine gun mounted on the tank blazed to life as the driver had enough of Higgins and his bunny hopping tactics.
Higgins, expecting that to happen, pulled out his repair toolkit while simultaneously lunging into a power slide. He slid past the tank's skirt while jamming his repair toolkit on its side and pulling the trigger.
"SSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSCHHHHHHH"
The blowtorch left an orange streak as Higgins ended his slide in a tumble away from the tank.
"…"
The coaxial machine gun pointed itself at Higgins but didn't fire… instead it had an aurora of confusion surrounding itself.
"KABOOOM!"
The death cry of the tank resounded in an explosion as Higgins walked away towards DeviantOne, blowtorch still in hand.
Standing up but cringing, the enemy Recon solider was just meters away and he was closing in upon him holding a knife.
Just meters away…
Meters.
Away.
"Are you shitting me?"
Photonous wondered why he didn't do this in the beginning and drew his M9 pistol and aimed it at his opponent's head.
For a moment… an awkward silence.
"TA"
The enemy soldier tumbled as the bullet pierced his skull.
"KABOOOM!"
The explosion startled Photonous. Looking over his shoulder, he saw what appeared to be a tank engulfed in flames in the distance.
"HIGGINS. WHAT. THE. HELL. WAS. THAT."
"Badassery."
"tzzzzzzzchhh Hey that was pretty badass, Higgins! I saw that stunt you pulled all the way from here!"
"See?"
DeviantOne turned away and approached the flagpole. His presence enticed the enemy flag to begin descending. Photonous slid down from the rocks to join him. The flag descended faster.
"Hey what happened?" Photonous asked.
"You don't have to know…"
Accepting the answer, Photonous glanced at the flag that was descending into the ground. As it reached the base, the flag immediately changed and began to rise.
"You know what's causing this to happen… Dev?"
"I don't know. Some weird unexplainable shit happens in this world," he responded with an annoyed but tolerating sneer.
Nodding, Photonous mused for a moment before asking another question.
"I was fighting this sniper just now."
"Oh?"
"His knife had a different appearance than ours."
"Did it have an orange handle?"
"Yeah!"
"Those are suppose to be the privileged people… so I heard."
"Privileged…?"
"I don't know, some form of title denoting themselves to be better than others. I think that's bullshit."
"How do they get that title?"
"They bought it at a ridiculous price."
The flag reached its zenith as they ended their conversation. DeviantOne walked towards the bodies of the four friendly soldiers whom he could've saved by applying his defibrillators…
"Rest in peace…" he muttered.
"Dev!"
It was Higgins who called out to him, "we gotta move to Bravo! Those guys won't last long!"
"Alright. Let's move! Bravo is just up that hill! Niners, I want you to arm yourself with a close quarter weapon and use the Growler to move here."
"tzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzch"
"Niners?"
No response.
"Damn it. Okay we're moving without him!"
The three began to make their way to Bravo… and the only response they received from Niners was plain static.
[END CHAPTER]