Hey, guys! Sorry about the long update; school caught up with me and I haven't been able to even write a single word for days at a time. I finally managed to get to my computer on a weekend and type up most of it, and only managed to write a couple hundred words to finish it off today. I will definitely try to get more frequent updates, thought it will be hard to juggle school and other activities with it.
And guys, I know my story isn't perfect, but that's what reviews are for! Please read and review! This chapter will be a lot different than the previous ones, featuring a new POV, and an old character that I decided to have a more important role in this story than I originally planned.
P.S. If you Story Alert Sifting Through Chaos, then you might as well as favorite me or my story.
Chapter 4: The Enemy is of my Enemy is my _
"Damn it, where are the new ones?"
"They should be on their way here already, sir."
"Done," I said, walking in, at the same time feeling like a badass. Marco quickly diminished that thought.
"Where the hell have you been? I called you in about twenty minutes ago!"
"Busy taking our time," said Emilia, and I mentally winced.
Something glinted in Marco's eye, and disappeared just as quickly as it had appeared. "We've managed to pinpoint a major munitions dump for the Blue Suns. It's about a mile behind enemy lines on our western front. I'm sending a team there to destroy that factory, and you're on the demolition squad. This will be a good test of your abilities."
"What exactly do we have to do?" I said.
"The demolition team is being dropped off right at their front door. You all will break in and destroy the factory. Simple as that."
"That's it?" Emilia demanded. "Not exactly a complex battle plan."
Marco scowled. "If you don't like it, you can leave now if you like. Most likely with the Blue Suns."
"We'll do it." I said, nodding.
Marco smirked. "You don't have a choice."
A few minutes later, we were armed and ready to go. Marco had a shuttle waiting for us outside; a military-grade armored Kodiak shuttle with a gunner seat on the roof. The shuttle ride was uneventful, to say the least. I looked around the inside of the shuttle, noting the harrowed, haunted expressions on each of the men in there. Marco gives people shelter in return for their services, which isn't bad, but it's more of the lack of options he gives that's the problem. He doesn't seem like the type to take no for an answer, which I doubt too many people have done anyway. I looked at Emilia, who was absentmindedly cleaning her gun. "I don't trust Marco," I whispered into her ear, leaning next to her. "Do you?"
"Hell, no," she muttered, now calibrating her rifle.
"Eventually, he'll turn on us. And we'll be ready."
"Damn straight."
The shuttle slowed to a stop, and I took my first real look at the devastation. The buildings were crumbling, some reduced to rubble and others on the verge of collapsing. Debris and metal covered the normal asphalt street and charred houses slowly smoldered, gradually flying away with the wind as ash. The leader of the demolition team, Jack, held out his hand in a fist. "The ammunitions dump is just up ahead. Find some cover; we're bringing the heavies in first."
I ducked behind an overturned car, drawing my assault rifle. I zoomed in with my custom visor and counted five guards. One of the team members ran forward into my field of vision suddenly, bringing to bear the end of a long tube. He dove onto a pile of trash, and pulled up the tube. A second one came up and shoved something inside the tube. He fired the launcher.
The huge shell exploded against the door of the factory, liquefying four of the guards with it. A crack from my left and the last guard fell onto the burning rubble. Smoke flooded the entrance of the ammunitions dump, spilling outside. Jack ran forward, firing his assault rifle into the smoke. "Let's go!" he yelled, waving us inside. "Grant and Rachet, keep hitting the factory! But don't hit any explosives; I don't want to die today! Come on, let's go!"
I charged inside behind the rest, with Emilia taking up the back. Inside, the factory was filled with black smoke, obscuring everything. Jack was at the front, firing randomly in front of himself. "Sabotage the dump anyway you can!" he shouted.
"Shit," I muttered to myself, slipping on my visor. Even with the enhanced thermal vision, I still could barely see through the hot smoke and fire. Then my audio sensors picked up something that stood out. "Delta Team 2, go loud!" Delta Team 2? I don't think a merc squad would pick a name like that. And that voice is familiar… I looked ahead, squinting through the glass. The orange glow of an omni-shield penetrated the thick smoke, with five figures moving and shooting behind it. Sword-and-Shield Formation. It's the Alliance!
Stryker Team 2: Wolf, Hawk, Burrow, Shell, and Bear.
Sabotage mission.
Primary Objective: Plant C4 on the gas pipeline in the Blue Suns ammunition dump.
Secondary Objective: Eliminate any mercenary that is encountered.
One hour before Marco's demolition team arrives.
Mission Briefing: The Blue Suns are advancing on the eastern front towards a communications relay. Delta Team 2 is being inserted one mile behind enemy lines via stealth transport aerial vehicle to sabotage the ammunitions dump fueling the Blue Suns advance. Explosives technician codenamed Burrow has been dispatched for assistance.
"Wolf: Hawk, move into position."
The infiltrator quickly ran to the top of the hill, settling behind an outcropping of rocks. "Hawk: In position. Calling in reconnaissance place."
"Wolf: Hostile on our right. Looks like a patrol. Just two. Take them out quietly."
Bear took two pistols from their holsters and fired simultaneously, dropping both guards. Two seconds, and not a sound. "Bear: Tangos down," said Bear, holstering his pistols.
"Wolf: Good. Shell, there's a door on our right. Hack into it."
The engineer class soldier moved in on the door, quickly opening a shunt program and unlocking the door in less than fifteen seconds. "Wolf: Stryker Team move in."
The special operations team smoothly glided into the building, securing the room as quickly as they had entered. "Wolf: There's a terminal in the corner. Shell, see if you can get into the system and give us a layout of the building. Bear, provide cover at that door. Hawk, is that plane up yet?"
"Hawk: Negative…wait. I have a visual on a convoy coming into the courtyard. Looks like they're unloading something."
"I'm in the system," said Shell, his omni-tool glowing. "What do you need?"
"A layout of this place," said Wolf, checking his gun. "We need to find that gas pipeline."
"Wait…I have something. It's in the courtyard, next to the loading bay."
Wolf could hear the close quarters combat specialist swear on the radio. "Bear, maintain radio silence unless necessary." Secretly, he agreed with Bear; the loading bay would be filled with Blue Suns, and it would be hard to plant the C4 on the pipeline with all the mercenaries in there.
"Wolf: Shell, that's all we need. Take out your omni-shield. I think we're going to need it. Burrow, have you got those explosives ready yet?"
"Burrow: I've got them all right, but you have to make sure I get there safely. General Morgan said that all I had to do was plant some explosives and set them off. He wants me to die in a firefight, the general's got to pay me extra."
"Hawk: You can sort it out with him later. We've got bigger problems."
"Bear: What's that?"
"A group of armed humans just arrived in a gunship outside the factory. They're armed with—"
The entire factory shook, throwing Delta Team 2 onto the ground. The door to the loading bay blew off its hinges, throwing a screaming merc out open doorway. The Blue Suns mercenary was covered in burns, still screaming and smoking. "…Bear: Shit," he growled, taking the silencers off his guns.
"Wolf: Our priority is the pipeline," he ordered, switching to his assault rifle. "Shell, cover us with that shield." He looked at the explosives expert. "We're going to get you there, no matter what."
Wolf entered the loading bay, spraying rounds sporadically into the dense smoke. "Delta Team 2, go loud!"
Shell moved forward, absorbing gunfire with the omni-shield in front. Delta Team 2 followed closely behind, dropping mercenaries as they went. The smoke and fire nearly blinded Wolf, who quickly sealed his helmet. "Bear: It's not just the Blue Suns that are here! There's another group!"
"Wolf: Who?"
"Bear: Can't tell. But it looks like they've got some fire support hitting the place! If we don't destroy the dump, they will!"
"Are they friendly?"
"Bear:…As far as I can tell, they're shooting at the mercs. But right now, I wouldn't trust them as far I could throw 'em!"
"Wolf: Finish the mission! We can have a chat later. Hawk, any idea who they are?"
"Hawk: I have my sights on their aircraft. Looks like a gunship, but with no markings of any kind. Can't tell what group they're a part of."
"Wolf: Damn. Team, get Burrow to the target!"
"What the hell is the Alliance doing here?" I shouted, dropping another merc.
"Don't ask me!" Emilia shouted back. "I didn't bring them!"
"Shit. We have to tell Jack!"
"Go right ahead then!"
I looked the figure ahead of me. "Jack! The Alliance is here!"
He looked back, his face almost obscured completely by the smoke. "Doesn't matter! We're taking this dump down, whether the Alliance is with us or not! Shoot them like the rest!"
I looked back to Emilia. "That would be a really bad idea."
"I say we do it," said Emilia.
I stared at her. "I'm kidding!" she shouted, waving her arms in the air.
"Sure," I said, turning my attention back to the firefight. "Let's get closer to them!"
Another mortar strike landed in the factory, barely ten feet away from our position. My shields started dropping and I immediately dove into cover, rolling behind a pile of crates. Bullets harmlessly bounced off the reinforced steel. A mercenary stumbled past them, coughing and swinging his gun around. I cracked my pistol against his head. I turned my head around the crates and my head was almost taken off as the omni-shield crashed against the side of the crate. I pushed against the shield, locked in with the soldier behind it. I grabbed the right side of the shield with one hand and twisted it, flipping the shield to the side while I tackled him, sending both of us to the floor. I reached back with my knife and rammed it at the soldier…
And I stopped, the tip of the knife an inch away from his helmet. His Alliance helmet. "Shit…" I said, putting my knife away.
The Alliance soldier pushed up suddenly, throwing me on my back. The gun barrel looked unrealistically large from behind my visor. But my knife was already out again, the tip resting on his neck. "What's the Alliance doing here?" I said.
"That's classified. Not that it'll help you."
"I'd put the gun down," said Emilia, putting her pistol to his head.
"Kill me, and I kill your friend."
"We're not the enemy," I said. Explains why my knife's against your neck.
The other Alliance soldiers suddenly appeared, guns raised and aimed at us. Jack and a couple of the others also appeared from behind us. "What the hell is going on?" Jack shouted.
One of the Alliance soldiers stepped forward. "Alliance business. Release him immediately."
"Like hell we will." Jack raised his gun to head level.
"Put the gun down," said the Alliance soldier.
"Give me a reason," said Jack smirking. He inserted a heat sink, popping it in with a click.
The bullet passed straight through his shields, helmet, and head, actually deflecting off of my shields after going through Jack. His gun clattered to the ground before his body collapsed. All within seconds. The remaining men looked around wildly, looking for the source of the shot. The Alliance soldiers opened fire, mowing down the distracted men quickly. I hadn't moved the entire time.
The soldier above me whipped the pistol across my helmet, smashing my visor and dropping my knife. One of them grabbed Emilia from behind, locking her arms behind her. Guess that's it then. I winced, waiting for the bullet to come. Silence.
"Shit. Captain James, is that you?"
I looked up, trying to see past his visor. He lifted it. "Private Kevin?" I said, not believing it. Relief flooded through my body.
"It's Captain Daniels now. I was promoted to heading a Special Forces team after we made it back to the base. I thought you were dead."
He grabbed my hand, lifting me to my feet. "I guess the husks couldn't take you down."
He nodded. "Backup arrived as soon as we were separated. Any longer and we wouldn't have been able to hold our position anymore. We were going to search for you, but the Alliance wanted us back at base ASAP."
Daniels looked at Emilia. "Who are you?"
"Ex-military," she spat, still trying to get free.
"Bear, let her go."
The close quarters combat specialist released her. Emilia rubbed her arms. "What happened?" asked Daniels, turning to me.
I looked at him. "It's a long story."
"It's a long ride back to base."
"…all right, I guess I'll start from when we were separated.
Phew, glad that's over! Captain Daniels is Private Kevin from the first chapter, in case you didn't know or figure out. He won't be a major character, but he will be somewhat important to the storyline. In the coming chapters, though, he will be positively vital to the plot. So, see you next time! Read and Review!