At 0600 a King Raven carrying Delta and two attachments were circling the nearby rooftops of the abandoned radio death trap. Hoffman was elaborating on his grand scheme. They would be split into three teams. Two snipers (on either side of the building) would watch the two man team as they went in. The snipers would also have another Gear with them to watch them while they sniped. Hoffman prayed Liz was a good a sniper as her father. Bernie found her an older model Longshot. It was hard to tell, but it seemed like someone crudely etched "pad" on the metal plate of the rifle butt.
Marcus and Dom would be the "ground" team; Anya would navigate them through Jack. Bernie and Cole would be on the east face of the building; Liz and Baird on the west. Hoffman and the Raven would be waiting for Dom and Marcus to hook up the useless shit Prescott wanted them to get.
"D'ya know how to use the harness? We're not gonna land and take off again. Y'all are gonna have to jump," the gunner drawled.
Lizzy studied the harness for a few minutes. Baird smirked; he was about to make one of his smart-ass remarks about female Gears. Lizzy unhooked most of the safety straps, fastened the strongest hook to her armor, grabbed her Longshot and sawed-off and swan dove from the King Raven. The cord tightened; she dangled a good 10 feet from the top of the roof. Lizzy unhooked herself and dropped easily to the concrete.
She looked up at the KR and put a hand to her ear, "You next, Pretty Boy. I wanna see you one-up me now, bitch."
"Fuck you. Fuck her!" Baird snarled as he fumbled with the straps.
Dom and Bernie were laughing. Cole tried to reassure Baird that Lizzy was joking. Marcus and Hoffman just stood there, stone-faced. The pilot harassed Baird to "get the fuck of my bird." He lowered himself down; the bird soared off to the other side. Lizzy was perched by the edge. There was a chunk of rock behind her. Perfect cover. Just in case, you know? Baird did a quick sweep of the rooftop. His ear fizzled and crackled.
"Fucking piece of junk," Baird hissed. He fished the Tac-Com out of his ear to fiddle with the wires. He jammed it back in, "Sorry. What was that?"
"I asked if you saw anything," Lizzy repeated.
"No. Be right there."
"Alright. Fenix and Santiago are being dropped on the roof now," Hoffman's voice rang in their ears.
"I've got tremors right below you," Anya was there too.
"When are they gonna surface?" Bernie asked.
Baird got back to Lizzy. She was focused on Marcus and Dom. He looked around the base of the building for signs of emergence holes. Lizzy had a finger on her Tac-Com; she was talking quietly with Bernie. Baird switched his frequency to hear what was going on.
"So when we see both, who's covering whom?" Lizzy asked.
"Huh?"
"It'd be easier to just cover one of them if they're both in our sights."
"True, true," Bernie mused. Baird guessed she was nodding.
"Any preference?"
"Not as long as neither one gets shot. You?"
"Not really. I'll take Fenix I guess," Lizzy shrugged.
Baird scowled and changed frequencies in disgust. Jealousy and rage boiled inside him. Marcus, Dom and Hoffman loaded the junk on the KR. The bird was leaving; the duo were headed to the ground. No sign of grubs. Yet.
"Of course it's Fenix. He's so fucking fantastic," he thought bitterly, "He gets all the damn women! Fuck!..."
Rumble
Rumble
Rumble
Baird looked at his feet. Lizzy swiveled her scope to the bottom of the radio tower. If Marcus and Dom weren't near any windows, they couldn't get cover fire. Shots rang out from Bernie and Cole's side. Grubs started crawling from the ground on the west side. They snarled as they stormed into the radio tower. Waves of drones and wretches seeped their way inside.
Baird's mind was running a mile a minute. He drew up the tunnel maps in his head; calculations ticked off in his brain. Lizzy cocked her rifle, took a deep breath and held it. Wordless, and barely motionless, she fired the first shot.
Thhhhnk. Too low; the round buried itself in her target's flesh. Or armor. She wasn't sure which. Lizzy didn't move from where she was. The rifle stayed still. Click. Reload and re-aim all in one go. Bang. Splat. Thud. A boomer dropped. The other locust paid no mind; they trampled it on their way in.
"It's like a fucking ambush in here!" Marcus roared in their ears.
"I've got them on my side," Bernie said.
"Baird, Cole. Get those holes outside closed. Liz, take as many as you can. Bernie, stay on us," Marcus ordered.
Something wasn't right to Baird. There were more tremors than E-Holes and grubs. His body went through the motions of tossing frags and occasionally popping off a shot. Lizzy was sucked into her rifle. Nothing was breaking her concentration. Every now and then, over the sounds of battle, Baird could hear her taking deep breaths.
It hit him. Like a proverbial ton of bricks. He stopped firing, prayed it wasn't too late and jammed his finger in his ear.
"COLE! Watch your back!" he shouted.
Baird spun around in time to see grubs storming the stairs. He ducked behind the rock and fired. Bullets whizzed by his head; he hoped they didn't hit Lizzy. Frustrated, Baird pushed that thought out of his head. His survival was more important. The seconds ticked by. They felt like hours. Baird looked out. Just one trying to crawl away. He hopped over the rock. Drone. Flipped it.
"We're clear. Everyone alright?" his ear said.
He smashed the drone's face in with his boot. Lizzy stood as she cracked her neck. They faced each other. Cole and Bernie hadn't replied to Marcus either.
"Hey! Delta! Still alive up there?" Marcus snapped.
"Yeah, Baby! We're just clearing up some grubs. Good thing Damon warned us when he did. See you in a bit," Cole replied hastily.
"Baird. Lizzy. Still alive?" Dom asked.
Baird put his hand to his ear to reply. Lizzy's facial expression changed from amused to "oh, shit." She raised her Lancer, but it was too late. Baird dropped to the floor instinctively at the sound of gun shots. She dropped too, but it wasn't intentional.
"Shit, shit, shit!" he hissed.
Hands on the Lancer, he spun to fire. Prone. Empty clip. Lizzy was still by the edge. Bleeding.
"FUCK, FUCK, FUCK!"
"Reload", his brain told him, "For the love of me, reload! I'm not gonna end up splatters on the fucking wall! RELOAD, RELOAD... RELOAD."
"Fuck you," Lizzy said.
She had dragged herself up and from the edge to Baird. Now she stood as a shield. The drone swung at her. Lizzy dropped to her knees. Longshot discarded well behind her. Her eyes gleamed; Baird swore he heard something snap. She shoved the sawed-off in the grub's face.
"For the Queen!" it garbled.
She didn't look, didn't blink, didn't think. Just pulled the trigger. Bits and blood went everywhere. Baird got to his feet and tried to keep her conscious. His ear was blowing up.
Calmly as he could, he put a free hand to his ear. "Control, I need a med evac. Stat," he reiterated his location to Anya. He was shaking. For the first time in a long time, Baird felt terrified. The worst part was that he didn't know why.
"Roger that, Delta."
"Shit," Marcus said from the ground.
Chapter 7 should be up tomorrow hopefully! Along with some revisions I've made to previous chapters! If/when I make them, I'll give you a heads up with an update to this story!