The Russians were frozen in place, stunned by Talulah's unexpected entrance. The sergeant stared with wide eyes, yet he then shook off his stupor, turned to his men and yelled urgently.
"Что вы делаете?! стрелять! (WTF are you doing?! Shoot!)"
The soldiers immediately opened fire, and with that the fight began.
Dozens of Reunion's men charged against the Russian lines, all while their comrades on the windows unleashed a rain of lead upon the enemy with their AKs.
"DESTROY THE INVADERS!"
"Не позволяйте им пройти! (Don't let them through) AGGHHH!"
Will, Matt and the rest, not wanting to sit idly by, joined in and began fighting the Russians amidst the chaos.
Matt irrupted right in the middle of the fray; with his rifle he fired and took down several enemies. As he did this, he could see that his allies were doing a great job dealing with the Russians. Swinging her dual swords, Lappland delivered terrible slashes among the unfortunates who dared to stand in her way. Texas fought in a similar fashion, her orange blades slicing through her foes. Near him, Matt spotted a group of soldiers frozen in place. This had been Mostima's work for sure.
He was about to fire again, but suddenly he heard a voice.
"за родину!" Coming from his side, a Russian soldier charged straight at him with his bayonet at the ready.
"Oh shi...!" By pure reflex he blocked the attack with his rifle, barely avoiding the bayonet from stabbing his head. The momentum of his charge was so intense that the two tripped to the floor, and there they began to wrestle.
"Ugh!" The soldier tried to stab Matt in the head with all of his strength, but the boy somehow managed to push the blade away from his face. Matt then kicked him in the stomach and, before he could even react, got up and finished him with a shot to his head.
He though that would be it, but then another group of soldiers fired at him. Matt let out a sigh, this would be a long fight...
X-X
RATATATA!
BOOMMM! – The sound of shooting and explosions was heard all across the battlefield as the Russian Army and Reunion clashed with each other. White-robbed men would charge against the Russian lines and engage in brutal close-quarter combat, while their opponents tried to gun them down. The Terran's Arts were creating havoc among the Russians, dozens were scorched by the raining fireballs; and even some were immobilized and killed by poisonous plants coming from God knows where. The battle was fierce and chaotic... but amidst all the chaos was Will, ferociously fighting his opponents.
He was in berserk mode; firing at every Russian he came across, and even going as far as using his weapon as a mace whenever he engaged in close combat. In the heat of battle, Will saw Exusiai suppressing the Russians with her Kriss Vectors... but then he also spotted a guy sneaking up her from behind.
"Behind you!" Before he could even pull the trigger, Will fired and killed him instantly. The sankta turned around, and upon seeing the soldier's body she threw him a meaningful look.
"Thanks for that, I owe you one...!" Suddenly, her eyes widened. "WILL, BE CAERFUL!"
"Uh...?" The boy turned around, and there he saw it.
Just a couple of meters from them, the Russian sergeant was aiming at them with an RPG launcher. He was about to pull the trigger, but then...
"I WON'T LET YOU HURT HIM!" Before the sergeant knew it, Talulah's sword went all the way through his stomach. The sergeant stared at her burning eyes for a brief moment, and then he died.
After this, Talulah went to help her Reunion comrades, but not before shooting a quick glare at Will. He wanted to follow her, but at that moment he noticed a new horde of incoming soldiers. Letting out a sigh, he said to himself.
"Well, seems it'll have to wait then..."
And with that said, he and Exusiai engaged in combat with them.
/ /
Time passed, and yet the battle still raged on. Both sides had taken casualties, but the Russians were slowly getting outnumbered. It was only a matter of time before they lost, so in the end the order was given
"отступление! (Retreat!)"
Slowly, the soldiers retreated as well as they could, and eventually left the inner yard. All of Reunion's fighters let out a sigh of relief. It had been a hard battle, but they had won.
Will and Exusiai walked over to Matt and the rest. They were exhausted by the recent combat.
"Ah... They're finally gone." Panted Will.
"Yeah, but we didn't do it alone." With that said, Matt went over to where Nine and her men were. He bowed slightly to her.
"Thanks for saving our asses back there." He said. "If it wasn't for you we would be dead by now."
Nine gave a slight nod.
"I'm glad that we made it in time. Now..." She shot a look at Will and the rest. "Your friend over there is wearing the Reunion ensign, yet I haven't met you before. Who are you guys?"
"Well, we..." He was about to answer, but at that moment Talulah appeared in scene. Nine turned to her and said.
"Oh, you're here Talulah. I was wondering if you... Wait, where you're going?"
Ignoring Nine, Talulah walked past Nine... and then, to the absolute surprise of everyone, she ran over to Will and pulled him into a hug.
"Will!" She exclaimed. "Oh Will, I had missed you so much..."
The by had been thrown aback by her sudden action, but nonetheless he embraced her back.
"Heh, I know. I yeanred to sse you too..." He then planted a kiss on her forehead and caressed her white-ash hair. "But now it doesn't matter anymore, we are finally back together.
A faint smile flourished on the draco's face. "I'm glad to have you back."
While the two's happy reencounter took place, the Penguin Logistics girls stared dumbfounded at the scene before their eyes. Exusiai looked over to Matt and whispered.
"Are those two really...?"
"Yes, they are." Answered Matt. "Don't ask me how they got together, because it's a long story."
"Ok..."
Nine, meanwhile, was equally as lost as the rest; but at that moment she made a realization.
"Will... wait, that name!" She glanced over to Matt and said. "You're from the other world, aren't you?"
"Yes, we are." He answered. "Our names are Matthews and Will, but I guess you already knew that, since it seems that we're pretty popular around here..."
"Yeah, I've heard a thing or two about you." Nine replied. "What has you brought here? We're in the middle of a war."
Hearing this, Will let go of Talulah's embrace and turned to Matt and Nine.
"Well, we came because our companions at Rhodes Island asked for help. You don't need to be a genius to understand that you're in a very dire situation..."
"Yeah, and we gladly accepted." Added Matt. "But you see, the portal left us stranded in this city, just when the Russians were in the process of invading it."
"Oh, I see." Said Nine. "You were lucky that we were around then. You wouldn't have withstood the Russian onslaught for long."
"You're right."
Suddenly, Mig jet fighters flew over the building, and this was immediately followed by a chain of explosions that rocked the entire place. Shortly after a Reunion fighter ran over to the rest and exclaimed.
"Boss! We've spotted a large column of Russian tanks making their way right towards here!"
Talulah gazed at Nine with a worried expression.
"Nine, we have to evacuate. The Russian main force will soon storm this place." She said.
"I know." Her companion replied. "They would have eventually broken through the Ursus lines, but I had hoped they would hold on for a little bit longer... Anyways." She turned to her men and exclaimed. "Everybody, listen! Get ready to move!" Nine then threw a look to Will, Matt and the rest. "Follow us. We'll escort you along the way."
"Wait!" Exclaimed Matt. "Where the hell are you planning to take us?"
Nine was about to answer, but then Talulah spoke for her.
"To a safe place." She turned to the rest. "There's no time to waste, let's go."
X-X
Using the ruins as cover, Matt, Will and their Reunion partners made their way through the city. They stumbled with many Russian patrols along the way, but luckily they weren't detected.
Hours later, they finally arrived at Reunion's main base. Their HQ was housed inside an abandoned hotel, though unlike the rest of the city, it had been mostly spared by the air bombardments.
Upon entering, Matt and the rest noticed that there was a lot of activity going on, from medics attending the wounded to foot soldiers organizing weapon crates. There was an air of stress across the site.
"Welcome to Reunion's HQ." Said Nine to them. "Please, make yourself comfortable."
Before she could finish, a detonation went off in the distance. Matt shrugged his shoulders.
"Seems like the Russians are closing in..."
"I know." She replied. "It's very likely that in a few hours this will become a battlefield... but for now we can rest here and replenish our forces."
"Yeah..."
Letting out a sigh, Matt walked over to a quiet corner and lay down. Will threw an interrogative look at him.
"Hey, what are you going to do?"
"Man, I'm gonna take a nap." His friend answered. "I would want to be rested by the time we try to get out of this forsaken city."
Seconds later he was already asleep. Will shook his head and walked away, with no concrete in mind. However, at that moment he felt a hand poking his arm. Turning around, he saw that it was Talulah. He smiled at her.
"Hi there, Tal. Is something the matter?"
"Well, I want to show you something. Could you come with me, please?" Unnoticed to him, her cheeks had adopted a faint shade of red.
Will gave a nod.
"Of course!"
With that said, he followed Talulah through the base... and before he knew, they had gotten away from everybody else. The two walked into a lone corridor of the second plant; there no one could see or hear them. They eventually stopped in front of one of the dormitories. Will looked at her with confusion.
"Talulah, why have we...? Hmmphh!" She suddenly leaned forward and hungrily kissed him, muffling him
Any protest Will might have had disappeared as he slowly melted between her soft, warm lips. They stayed like that for a while, until they pulled out to catch some air. He then said.
"Talulah, why...?"
"Shhh..." She silenced him. "I'm glad to have you back. It's been more than six months without seeing you... and that has left me a little bit pent-up." A sensual smirk appeared on her lips. "Now, I expect you to repay me all of that "lost time"... My dear."
Will's face adopted a smirk. He already knew what she meant with that.
"Oh, so you want me to repay you... Well, then I shall return you that time... all of it."
"Alright then..." She said in a teasing tone. "Make me yours."
He leaned in... and their lips met in a passionate kiss. As they made out, the two walked inside one of the suites, and then they closed the door behind them.
As for what happened next, I leave it to your imagination.