The boys were left stunned. Mostima's words were burned into their memories. Russia... they didn't know how to react, but one thing was clear. If this was true, then it would have many implications... and very profound ones.
Shaking off his stupor, Matt looked astonished at the Penguin Logistics girls. He spoke.
"Fr*cking God... You're telling me that...?"
"Yes, unfortunately yes." Replied Mostima.
"Ok, but... How the f*ck did Russia get a portal gate?" Inquired Will.
At that moment Exusiai intervened.
"We currently don't have an answer for that... Now, what we do know is that the 24th of October a black portal appeared in the middle of Novaya Volga. Before its inhabitants could realize what was happening, they came under fierce attack. It took only a few hours for the Russians to take the entire city." She made a pause. "With Novaya Volga under control, Russia began to conquer everything in its path, nothing was spared. Ursus tried to retake the lost land, but their armies were completely wiped out. And like that, three months after the beginning of the invasion, half of Ursus has already fallen to the invaders."
"Damn..." Muttered Matt. "And no one can do something about it?"
"Well, Rhodes Island is trying to slow down the Russians... but we've never fought a foe this strong. We can barely fight them in equal odds... That's why we need your help."
"Now, the question is..." said Texas. "Will you come with us or not?"
"What do you say, boys?" Asked Lappland.
Will and Matt exchanged looks. They remained silent for very long minutes... but then they turned to the girls and, almost in unison, exclaimed.
"Ladies, we're coming with you."
The two didn't waste a single second. They roamed around the house, collecting their supplies. Food, ammo, weapons... everything.
Will opened his drawer and began searching among the things, until he found what he was looking for. Holding it in his hands, he took out what had been Talulah's goodbye gift, her Reunion Armband. After staring at it for a bit, Will made his decision and put it on his arm. He was determined to go to Terra.
After ten minutes, Matt and Wil were finally prepared, armed and clad in bulletproof vests. When they walked into the room, Matt looked over to Mostima and the rest and said.
"Ok, we're ready. When do we leave?"
"Closure told us that she would open the portal soon." Responded Exusiai.
"Absolutely." Said Mostima, looking at her clock. "And that should happen... now."
Suddenly the house began to shake a bit, and it was then that the black hole appeared. It took a little while for it to expand, but soon the portal was totally formed, floating in the middle of the room.
Once it had stabilized, Mostima addressed her colleagues.
"The portal won't be open for long. We need to do this quick."
Nodding to that, Texas made her way towards the portal and prepared to enter, but before that she turned to her companions and said.
"Wish me luck." And with that said she crossed it, a bright light enveloping her, and then vanished. At that moment Lappland looked over to the boys and said.
"Well, see you on the other side!"
Exusiai and Mostima were the next ones after the lupo, together they took a step forward and entered the black hole. The only ones left were Matt and Will.
"Ok..." Will took a deep breath. "Here I go!" He waked over to the black sphere, and then crossed it.
"Let's to this." Matt extended his arm towards the black hole. He made contact, and a bright light engulfed him completely. Suddenly, a blinding flash surrounded the sphere, and... then it vanished, leaving nothing behind.
X-X
BUMP! – Matt's body hit the hard concrete almost at the moment he arrived at the other side.
"Ughh..." With a grunt, he stood up. Taking a look around him, he saw that the rest had landed without too many problems. Will, once he got back on his feet, walked over him and said.
"Bro, are youokay?"
"Yeah, I'm fine." He replied, massaging his bruises. He then looked to their surroundings and asked. "Where are we exactly?"
The team noticed that they had been dropped inside a building in ruins. The place had seen better days, but now it was only a charcoaled husk. The battle scar riddled walls crumbled, and the floors were littered with debris and dust. Furthermore, the windows were all but completely shattered. Looking closely, they saw that there were some pieces of furniture discarded around the room, although most of them were half burnt.
"Looks like fighting took place here... " Muttered Mostima to herself as she wandered around the room.
Among the rubble, the Fallen Angel found a paper lying in the floor. She picked it up and read its content.
"VGA Investment Fund... Trotskygrad, Ursus..." She dropped the paper. "Fuck, the Russians must be here."
"Wait, wasn't Trotskygrad supposed to be safe?" Asked Exusiai, in disbelief. "Last time I checked the Russian lines were far from here..."
"Yeah, but that was three days ago." Replied Lappland. "It's more than enough time for those bastards to arrive and start beating the shit out of everyone."
"In that case, we have to go." Said Texas "Russian troops could appear at any minute now."
Will and Matt loaded their weapons.
"Ok, let's get going then." Matt said.
The group left the room behind and began navigating through the empty halls of the ruined building. Looking through the broken windows, they could see the exterior... it was a hellish landscape. In the distance, whole buildings were burning, engulfed in massive flames. The sounds of explosions and gunshots were going off all across the city, and from time to time Migs would fly over the city, the sound of their motors striking fear into the inhabitant's hearts.
Despite this horrific sight, the team continued ahead. Silently, they descended towards the ground floor of the building, reaching the main entrance. Popping her head from behind a pile of rubble, Texas took a small peek of the street... Much to her dismay, at the end of the street there was a sizeable group of Russian soldiers, and they were coming closer. She turned to her companions and gestured them to keep their heads down.
"Shh... They're coming straight towards our position. Don't make a sound." She whispered.
Everyone froze in place, not daring to make any sound or movement. They held their breaths, the voices of the Russians were coming closer and closer... the soldiers passed right by their hiding stop, but soon they walked away, allowing Matt and the rest to let out a sigh of relief.
"Ufff... That was close." Said Will. – C'mon, let's keep moving.
/ /
Running as quick as possible, the team ran across the street without getting noticed and entered the alleyways. This allowed them to easily traverse the neighborhood. Some time later, they made a stop inside an abandoned shop.
"Ahh, finally." Let out Matt as he sat on a box that was lying around. "My legs are killing me..."
"Yeah." Said Will. "The good thing is that there are only a couple of blocks left till the Docking Bay..."
Texas took out a Pocky stick.
"It will be hard. The Russians must have a sizeable garrison there, but as long as we aren't detected, it should be alright."
"Well, we'll see." Exusiai leaned against the wall. Nothing should happen there, right?... Well, not in this case.
BRROOOM! - Suddenly, the wall that the Sankta was leaning against collapsed without any warning. She stumbled back and hit the floor.
"Ughh..." She slowly stood up from the rubble. The sudden fall had left a nasty bump on her head... but that became irrelevant when she saw what was on the other side of the now-gone wall.
There, an entire platoon of Russian soldiers were gathered around an improvised bonfire. The collapse of the wall had taken them by surprise, and now they were staring at Exusiai with wide eyes. She was f*cked.
She let out a nervous laugh.
"Hehee...Hi there..." She started to walk backwards.
The soldiers kept staring at her, dumbfounded. She took the opportunity to flee... but her luck ran out when their commander got back into his senses.
"ЧЕГО ВЫ ЖДЕТЕ, УБЕЙТЕ ИХ! (What are you waiting for, kill them!)"
"EXU, GET DOWN!" The Sankta jumped aside and hid behind a pile of rubble, just right for the bullets to skim past her head. She immediately loaded her Kriss Vector, and coming out from behind the rubble, she fired a burst at them. Matt and Will fired as well, managing to kill three guys in the first salvo.
Exusiai ran towards her companions, all while she and the boys mainted their fire.
"There's too many of them!"
"Hang on!" Mostima swung at the soldiers two strange-looking artifacts, and as if it were magic, the Russian's movements greatly slowed; it was so powerful that even the bullets were affected, almost stopping in mid-air.
"I've bought us some time, but it won't last long." She said. "We must find an exit!"
"Here!" With a slash of her sword, Lappland blew wide open a door that lead to the stairs.
"Everyone, to the rooftops!" Exclaimed Matt.
And like that, they ran upstairs, leaving their pursuers frozen in time behind. Once they reached the top, Lappland kicked the rooftop's door and blew it wide open for them. The group didn't waste a second and went outside. The top of the building was completely deserted. From there they could see the outline of the burning city.
Seeing that the had lost their pursuers, Mostima let out a sigh of relief.
"Seems like they aren't going to follow us..."
"Wait." Said Will. He listened carefully to their surroundings. "I hear the rotation of blades..." It was there that he realized what it was. "WE NEEE TO GET OUT OF...!2
The warning came too late. The attack helicopter was already there, right in front of the group. The Peguin Logistics girls watched, with their minds frozen, the imposing flying machine. Shaking off his stupor, Matt caught a glimpse of the sparkle that was coming out from the helicopter's weapons.
"GET DOWN!"
BOOOM! - The impact knocked them out.