Matt thought he had died; but then he slowly reopened his eyes and saw that, by pure miracle, the missile had missed its target. He couldn't believe it, he was alive. Looking around him, he saw his companions recomposing from the strike, slowly getting back on their feet.
The boy was about to stand up, but the noise of the rotors made him realize that the helicopter hadn't gone anywhere...
BOOOMM! – The attack helicopter launched another salvo of rockets, devastating the entire rooftop. Matt dropped himself to the ground, barely avoiding getting shred to pieces by the detonations.
2FUCK, THAT THING'S GONNA KILL US ALL!" Yelled Will. "GET BACK INSIDE!"
Everyone quickly stood up and ran back towards the stairs. However, the moment one of them set foot on the upper step they were met by the sound of yelling coming from downstairs.
"Не дайте им сбежать! (Don't let them escape!)"
"Crap!" Cursed Mostima. "Going back inside is no longer an option!"
At that moment Texas turned around and pointed to the nearby buildings.
"Then we'll go through the rooftops."
The rest remained silent. It was a suicide move, and everyone knew that, but... they didn't really have a choice. Letting out a deep sigh, Will spoke.
"Let's hope this works out." He did the countdown. "Three, two, one... GO GO GO!"
They began racing to the other side of thee rooftop. The helicopter turned to the fugitives, and then its machine guns roared to life. Thousands upon thousands of rounds were fired at them, yet they somehow managed to barely outrun them. More rounds were fired, more missiles were launched... yet even with all the explosions going off around them, Matt, Will and the rest kept running for their dear lives.
Soon they began nearing the edge of the building. From there to the next rooftop was a lengthy void. The sight of this made Matt and Will shiver, but then an explosion went of right to their side. It was motivation enough for them to run towards the edge.
They were approaching there very fast, and then...
"HERE WE GOOOOO!" Everyone reached the edge and jumped.
For Matt and Will, time slowed down. They could see the rooftop in front, yet it seemed so distant... At one point they thought they weren't going to make it, but then...
BUMP! – Their bodies hit the concrete floor of the other side.
"Ugh..." the two stood up with a grunt. They had actually made it, they were on the other side. It would have been something to celebrate, but at that moment the helicopter began raining lead upon them. Exusiai waved at them and exclaimed.
"C'mon, don't stop!"
Like that, they resumed their escape all while under heavy fire.
/ /
The team made their way through the buildings, jumping from rooftop to rooftop. Closely following them was the Russian helicopter, launching all it had at them.
"Keep moving!" Cried out Mostima as another explosion went off.
They were about to make the next jump, but at that moment everyone came to a halt. Ahead of them weren't any buildings for them to jump to. This was the end of the road.
"Shit." Cursed Will under his breath. "We can't escape, we'll have to fight..."
"We're fucked" Said Matt. "There's no way we can take down a freaking helicop..."
"There's still hope." Texas suddenly said. She turned to her Penguin Logistic colleagues. "If I'm pulling this, then I'll need some cover."
"Count on us!" Exclaimed Exusiai.
They turned to face the Russian behemoth... and then the fight begun.
Exusiai took her Kriss Victors and fired, catching his attention.
"Take this, you asshole!" She yelled at the helicopter.
The machine gun roared to life and began to spray the place with lead. The sankta skillfully evaded the burst by jumping to the side, all while sustaining her fire. The helicopter suddenly launched a salvo of missiles straight in her direction, and it was likely that they would hit their mark... but then Mostima and Texas made act of presence.
Taking out her artifacts, the blue-haired sankta started casting her Arts. She concentrated all of her power on the missiles, and for her relief it succeeded. Time began to slow down around the missiles, until they were practically frozen. It was then that Texas charged directly at the helicopter.
With a kick of her legs, the lupo propelled herself into the air, and using her momentum she flew towards the frozen missiles. Like stepstones, Texas jumped from one rocket to another, until she got close enough. Gathering all of her strength, Texas herself against the helicopter... and there, in mid-air, she delivered a devastating slash that sliced the cockpit in two. The Russian helicopter went out of control, plunging into the streets below.
Texas performed a final maneuver and returned to the rooftop, landing graciously in front of them. Matt and Will were left speechless.
"Wow..." Matt muttered.
Before anyone could realize, the missiles went back to normal and flew towards them. The team immediately got out of the way, barely escaping their deaths. The subsequent explosions made the floor shake violently, but nothing else. Once the dust had settled, the team was finally able to catch their breaths.
"Hah... It's over?" Will panted.
"So it seems..." replied Mostima.
There were no more enemies in sight, and calm reigned over the place... but when they least expected, cracks began to form all across the floor. Everyone looked at them with wide eyes.
"The floor, is cracking..." Whispered Matt. "OH SHI...!"
BRRROOOM! – The floor under them finally gave away, plugging them into the abyss.
X-X
Not far away from there, two people walked among the city's ruins. They had mask on, hiding their faces from the outside. Their uniforms, although dirty and stained, still retained their white color, and most important of all, the symbol printed on them; Reunion's emblem.
"Man, this place is giving me shivers." Said one of them.
"I know, Kevin." Replied the other. "The ruins, the silence... It's creepy as hell, but we need to continue patrolling. The last thing we want is the Russians attacking the base."
"You're right..." Said Kevin with resignation.
The two fell silent and continued their path.
Making their way amidst the destroyed streets and the rubble, the Reunion soldiers soon reached an abandoned school. They stood there, watching the ruined façade and the holes left by the artillery. It was a depressing sight.
"Another victim of this war..." Muttered Kevin.
"Yeah, just like us..." His friend's tone denoted a tint of sadness. "Let's get moving."
They were about to resume their path, but suddenly they heard noise from around the corner of the edification. The Reunion soldiers exchanged glares.
"Don't tell me..."
"It's the Russians." He whispered. "Come with me."
The two entered the school and hid in the second floor. Their hunch proved to be right, as minutes later an armored column passed in front of the school. Kevin's friend let out a sigh of relief.
"Uff... that was close..."
At that moment, a big explosion went off in the distance. Picked by curiosity, the Reunion soldiers looked outside through the window. There, in the distance, the top floors of a nearby building had collapsed, creating a massive cloud of dust.
"There, look." Said Kevin.
"I see it, something must have hit the building pretty hard..." Before he could say anything else, he noticed something odd. The armored column had come to a halt after the explosion. Minutes passed without any movement... but then the column changed course and began making its way towards the aforementioned building. They even heard one of the Russian commanders yelling.
"Быстрый! Мы должны попасть туда как можно скорее! (Quick! We need to get there as soon as possible!)"
The Reunion soldiers silently moved away from the window. Kevin's friend then looked at him and said.
"Kevin, call the boss. She probably will be interested in this."
X-X
Slowly, Will reopened his eyes. His entire body was aching, he had fell pretty hard there. "Ugh... Where are... we?". When he looked around, he noticed that they were still inside the building, in one of the lower floors. Around him, his companions were trying to recompose themselves and stand up from the rubble.
"Damn..." Said Matt under his breath, while he caressed his head. "That almost got us killed..."
"Yeah, but what matters is that we survived the fall.2 Said Texas with a grunt as she stood up. "Now that I think of it, seems like the Russians lost us..."
Before she could finish the sentence, shouting in Russian began to echo across the empty halls of the building. Mostima let out a curse.
"Goddamit, they're still here?!"
"Yes!" Exclaimed Exusiai. "Now RUN!"
The Russian troops burst into the room and went on the attack. Matt, Exu and Will exchanged a couple of shots with the soldiers, but they soon retreated with the rest and ran.
The corridors became a hive of Russian soldiers, who tried to stop their escape. Texas and her companions fought their way through, and after some minutes of intense battle they left the interior and went out into an inner courtyard.
"Ok, keep going!" Exclaimed Mostima. "The exit's ahead of us!"
The exit of the building was mere meters away... but then an RPG round made impact and caused the entire section to collapse, blocking the doorway. They had been trapped.
Slowly, the team turned around. The courtyard was crowded with Russian soldiers, with some positioned on the windows as well, all of them having their AKs pointed at them, ready to kill at a moment's notice.
"Tch." Matt grinned his teeth as he held the weapon tightly.
After some minutes of uneasy silence, a man came out of the crowd. For his looks, he was very likely a Sergeant. He stared at them for a bit, then he spoke.
"There's nowhere to run, so drop your weapons or I'll order you death."
Reluctantly, Matt, Exusiai and the rest dropped their weapons to the ground. After that, the sergeant inspected them from head to toe... until his gaze fixed on Will
"приведи мне этого мужчину. (Bring me that man)"
Two soldiers walked over, took him by the arms and brought him before the sergeant. The man looked at him with glary eyes, and then he said.
"Ok, what were you doing here?" No response came. That made him punch Will in the face. "ANSWER ME! What the fuck where you doing here?!" He was about to punch him again, but at that moment he noticed the armband he was wearing. Upon seeing the symbol on it, his eyes lit up.
"Так Reunion... (So Reunion)."
He grabbed Will by the hair, and after punching him so hard that he broke his nose, he pushed him against his partners. Matt rushed to Will's help.
"Hey, you're okay?"
"Yeah..." Will replied as he held his broken nose.
Letting a sigh of relief, Matt returned his attention to the Russians.
"I had imagined you were some Ursus agent or something... it turns out that you're just a bunch of Reunion scum." The sergeant said in a mocking tone. "Well, it doesn't matter, because this is the end for you..." He turned to his men. "Солдаты! направьте свои винтовки!"
The soldiers armed their AKs, with the fingers prepared to pull the trigger. The sergeant gave them a last wicked smile. He raised his arm.
"And... ого...!"
"Not so fast." Said a voice.
The sergeant froze in place. Slowly, the soldiers turned their heads to the side... and there they saw. Standing there was a full army of masked men in white attires armed with blades and another weapons, with some even wielding firearms. However, the one who stood the most was the woman at their helm. She had long, red hair; elfish ears and two long horns. Looking upwards, they saw that their companions positioned in the windows had been all killed, now replaced by the Reunion snipers.
Matt and Will watched the newcomers in stupor, they couldn't believe their eyes now.
"No way..." whispered Will. "It's the freaking Reunion..."
"Yeah, and they've just saved our asses." Stated Matt.
Meanwhile, the sergeant was glaring at them with anger on his eyes.
"So you want to do it the hard way, huh?" Said the sergeant under his breath. "Well, then we'll kill you all."
"No sergeant." Replied the woman. "We won't allow you to kill our comrades."
"Haha!" He laughed on her face. "Says Mr. nobody! Who are you supposed to be, one terrorist more or...?"
"I'm Nine." She coldly replied.
"Ah, so Nine... Well, Nine. You see, we're going to massacre you all. We have firearms, tanks, aviation... and you? Only sticks and stones! Don't lie to yourself, you're alone."
"Oh, yeah?" Said Nine, suppressing a smirk. "You may not fear me, but there's some you do fear."
"And that would be...?"
-Me
The Reunion soldiers moved to the side... and from the crowd left a woman with neck-length white hair, a woman that the Russians instantly recognized. They all went pale.
"Blyat..." It's all what the sergeant could mutter.
Matt and the Penguin Logistic girls were shocked as well, they couldn't believe what they were seeing right now.
"It's that...?" Stuttered Matt.
"Yes, it's her." Will looked at the newcomer, with a faint smile on his lips.
Talulah had finally arrived.