As they advanced further into the sewers, Matt, Will and the rest became increasingly uneasy. The tunnel frequently shook as a result of the bombs outside, and with the cracks that were beginning to form in the walls... well, everyone felt like it could collapse at any moment.
Fortunately for them, after another five-teen minutes of walk they found the tunnel blocked by debris, so they went to the nearest stairs and finally surfaced on a small alley.
No need to say that the boys were more than glad of leaving the sewers behind.
"Fuck, fresh air at last!" Exclaimed Matt. "I won't be going down there ever again, it smelled like shit."
"Definitely" Let out Talulah as she scooped the sewer's water out of her boots. "For once, I totally agree with you."
"Yeah..."
At that moment they saw a group of passing KA-52 helicopters overflying the area. Matt lowered his gaze, and looking at his companions and he said.
"Ok, so how much do we have till the docks?"
"If I'm not wrong, it should be a few blocks away from here." Answered Nine.
"In that case, let's get going then." Sentenced Will.
The rest nodded. Using the ruined buildings as cover, they silently advanced through the outskirts, doing their best to not get detected by Russian patrol units. Like that, they kept going until the tall and massive cranes of the docks came into sight.
"Follow me." Nine lead the group inside one of the adjacent towers. There they climbed up to the upper floors and stood by the windows, from where they could observe the docks below.
Nine took a pair of binoculars from her dress and scanned the area.
"Let's see... There are around twenty-five soldiers guarding the Loading Bay, but not too big of a deal... Wait, I see something." She frowned. "Oh, crap... they've got a T-90 with them."
"Let me take a look." Nine passed over the binoculars to Talulah. She ltook a closer look at the Russian forces. "Yeah, that's definitely a T-90, and there are some BPMs too..." She put the binoculars away and let out a curse. "Tch, this will be a very hard battle."
"Not so quick." Intervened Matt. "We can win this, but we'll need a plan. Any ideas?"
As they were debating the best course of action, Will saw out of the corner of his eye a silhouette sitting on the corner of the room. It was just a poor dog searching for food. He had black crystals sticking out from his back, it was more than enough to know that the animal had Oripathy.
He stared at the dog for a while, and there he got an idea.
"I saw this type of dog being used in Arknights..." He muttered to himself. He then turned to the Reunion dudes and asked. "Hey, by any chance you used dogs back in Chernobog?"
"Yeah." – Answered one of the casters. "Some of us can control the actions of animals, so we used them as ground units."
It was all he needed.
"Alright." He turned to Nine and the rest. "Guys, hear me this out. Those dogs are the key. We can make them run under the Russian vehicles and plant a bomb underneath. We would only have to activate it and... KAPOM! The T-90 and BMPs are gone."
"Will, you're a goddam genius." Said Matt.
"There's no time to lose then." Nine then ordered her men. "Go bring the Originium explosives, lots of them."
"AYE MADAM!" A handful of them left in search of the bombs. Meanwhile, Talulah shoot Will a quick look and said.
"I hope this works."
"I'm sure it will." He assured.
X-X
At the Loading Bay, the Russians remained still on their positions. They knew that Reunion would try to escape Trotskygrad through this area, and they were more than ready to receive them. Now, the thing is nobody was sure when they would arrive, and by what they knew, it could take hours...
"Черт возьми, я чувствую что вот-вот засну. (Damn it, I'm feeling like I'm about to fall asleep.)"
"Серьезно, Иван? (Seriously, Ivan?)" Said his comrade. "Почему ты сказал это? (Why you say that?)"
"Почему? Потому что мы ждали здесь несколько часов! Почему мы все равно должны быть начеку? Reunion это всего лишь кучка террористов, вооруженных палками и камнями. (Why? Because we've been waiting here for hours! Why do we have to be alert anyways? Reunion is only a bunch of terrorists armed with sticks and stones.)" Answered the soldier.
"Не шутите, они могут удивить вас своими схемами. (Don't joke, they may surprise you with their schemes.)"
"Вы думаете? Ну, оставим это пока. (You think? Well, let's leave this for now.)" Making a small pause, the soldier took out a cigar from a small box and out it on his moth. "У тебя есть огонь? (You have fire?)"
"Конечно. (Sure)" The friend took his lighter and lit it. He then took a puff on his cigar and blew out smoke, but before he could take another something happened.
The two heard the barking of dogs in the distance. However, as the minutes passed... they were coming closer and closer. The two held their AK-74 tightly.
"Что это такое? (What is that?)" Asked the soldier.
"Я не знаю, но я уверен что это они (I don't know, but I'm sure it's them.)" Around them, their comrades immediately ran to their posts and prepared for the assault. It was then that his friend raised his arm and shouted. "Приготовьтесь убить этих отбросов Реюньона! (Get ready to kill those Reunion scum!)"
The T-90 rolled into position, while the BPMs followed closely the infantry. Instants later everyone had their weapons aimed forward.
They waited for a bit, but then it appeared. An enormous horde of black dogs was running straight towards them, and all were carrying bags in their mouths. The commander gave the signal.
"Огонь!"
The cannons and machine guns roared to life and began mercilessly killing dogs. Many fell on the way, but their sheer number made impossible for the Russians to stop them, and before they knew it the hounds had were right in front of them.
They embraced for impact, but to their shock the dogs didn't attack tehm and instead went for the T-90 and the IFVs.
"Не позволяйте им приблизиться к нашим танкам! (Don't let them anywhere close to our tanks!)" The Russians fired at them with everything they had, in a desperate attempt to save their vehicles... yet some hounds managed to survive the onslaught and got under the Russian armor.
"KAPOOOOMM!" The Russians saw in horror as massive explosions engulfed the BPMs, tearing their hulls apart. The originium bobs were so powerful that the T-90's turret was sent flying into the air.
The soldiers remained frozen in place. They had one single thing on their minds right now. "Blyat".
X-X
From their hiding spot, Matt, Will and the rest heard the sound of the bombs going off.
"That's our signal!" Exclaimed Will. "ATTACK!"
The Reunion fighters let out a battle cry and sprung into action. Everyone who had firearms took positions and started shooting relentlessly at their enemies, whilst the rest engaged them in close combat.
The battle was fierce, but short. Without fire support from their IFVs, the Russians were in a tricky situation. In the end they didn't struggle much and retreated shortly after.
There was no need to say that Nine was happy with this victory.
"With the Russians gone, we are now in control of the docks."
"Yeah, but they will return." Talulah reminded her. "And they'll bring reinforcements with them."
"What weapons do we have?" Asked Will.
"We've captured three or four crates full of AKs and ammo, along with a couple of RPGs, but nothing more." Said Nine.
"At least is something." He turned to the Reunion fighters and exclaimed. "Ok, listen! Grab everything you can! The ones with RPGs will hide themselves on the buildings and shoot enemy aircraft down! The rest comes with us!"
That said Will and Talulah went with their troops to mount a defensive line. The rest, meanwhile, weren't going to sit idly by.
"Matt." Said Nine. "I need you to go to the control room and activate the main lift. Else we aren't going anywhere."
"Got it." The boy was about to leave, but at that moment he got intercepted by Exusiai.
"I'll come with you." She offered.
"Ok, but let's be quick."
The two immediately left the area and ran towards the control tower, arriving just a few minutes later. They quickly climbed up the stairs and, in good old American fashion, blew the door wide open. The two Russians sitting inside were caught by surprise, they didn't even have time to react before Exusiai shot them dead.
"Good shot." Praised Matt.
She didn't reply. Matt went over to the control board and fiddled with the levers a bit, until a green bulb on the board turned on.
"Ok, that should be it." He said as he turned around "Now we can retu... Wait, what are you doing?"
He saw that Exusiai was introducing something on a comms device. Once she finished the sankta turned to him and answered.
"I sent a message to a friend, he will pick us up."
"Ok, now let's go." With that, they went to the exit and left.
/ /
Back with Will and Talulah, they were in a dire situation.
Explosions went off and artillery shells landed all around them, all while their Reunion pals were struggling to hold back the Russians as they pressed on their counter-attack.
In front of them stood the most powerful force they had ever seen. From BPMs and BTRs to tanks like the T-14 Armata... they had brought everything with them. It was clear that Reunion's forces wouldn't last for long.
"Don't stop, keep fighting!" Talulah yelled as she burned another group of enemies.
The Reunion's leader was fighting ferociously against the Russians, releasing a rain of fire upon the Russians. Alongside her was Will, who supported by shooting down anyone trying to sneak on them with the assault rifle. The two were holding their ground well, but no matter what they did, there were too many enemies.
"For how much longer are we supposed to stay here?!" Exclaimed Will. "We're being overrun!"
"I don't know!" Replied Talulah whilst she slashed a dude with her sword. "Nine needs more time to activate the lift...!"
Suddenly, a KA-52 descended from the sky fired all of its missiles. The couple immediately got down to the floor and barely avoided the chain of explosions that rocked the place.
The helicopter was about to go for another round, but suddenly someone fired an RPG from the buildings and hit the tail. The KA-52 lost control almost immediately, and soon ended plunging onto the ground below.
"HECK YEAH!" Some of Reunion's foot soldiers cried out. "WE CAN STILL WIN THIS!"
Unfortunately for them, almost as soon as the helicopter came crashing down to the floor, a T-14 aimed its main gun towards the building where they fired from and opened fire. The impact decimated the entire floor, leaving no survivors.
Will cursed under his breath.
"Fuck. We aren't surviving this one..."
The boy was about to give up, but at that moment he spotted a familiar face running straight towards them. It was Texas.
"Will, Talulah! The lift is operative, we can go now!"
"Seriously?!2 Exclaimed the draco. She then turned to her men. "EVERYONE, TO THE LIFT!"
Following that, Talulah, Will and the rest abandoned positions and dashed towards the lift, but it was then that the Russians went all out.
They fired with everything they had to prevent their escape, but no matter the amount of tank shells, bullets and missiles they threw at them, they kept going, until they spotted the lift in the distance.
"There, keep going!" Exclaimed a Reunion guy.
They saw Nine and the rest waiting for them there, but at that moment the platform began descending. Making a last effort, they ran even faster. For a moment it seemed like they wouldn't make it, but then...
"JUMP!" Everyone jumped forward and came crashing onto the platform. The platform continued descending along the mobile city's border, slowly moving away from the docks and into safety...
"Ugh..." Will sat upright while caressing his head. "Damn, for a moment I thought we wouldn't make it alive..."
"Yeah." Talulah gave him a slight smile. "But what matters now is that we escaped."
Will adopted a smirk.
"You're right."
And like that, everyone began celebrating their successful escape... but, unbeknownst to them, someone had been watching...
X-X
(15 minutes before)
The Docks were completely engulfed in fire. There was smoke and burning wreckage everywhere, and amidst all the chaos the Russian Army clashed against Reunion in a desperate attempt to stop them from fleeing. Oddly enough, not far away from there was a building that somehow remained intact despite all the violence and fighting around it.
It was pretty much deserted, there wasn't a single soul inside... but at the very top of it stood a man, observing the battle that was raging below.
He was young, tall and of robust complexion, along with a well-built body. His neck-length blond hair was straight in most part, there were some small curls around the back of his head, but very few. Hie eyes were icy blue, and the sensation that they gave was one of seriousness. The man also was very good-looking, but his visage was spoiled by a nasty scar running down his left eye.
The man was wearing what was unmistakably a Russian uniform, with all of its insignias. What stood the most, though, was the badge sown on the arm. It had represented a black snake coiled around a sword, and under it was written: 13th Airbone Division. He also had a pair of binoculars on his pocket.
The man watched the battle unfold, but at that moment a Russian soldier, clad in the same uniform as him, climbed up to the rooftop and immediately went over to him.
"Mr. Alexei! I need to talk to you!"
Hearing that he was calling for him, the man turned around and looked over to the soldier. He remained silent for a bit, but he eventually spoke.
"What the hell do you want, Captain Livchenko?"
"Well..." The captain cleared his throat. "We've received notice that our forces have failed to cut Reunion's retreat. In fact, they're abandoning the city as we speak."
"I see..." Letting out a deep sigh, Alexei turned back to the battle. "That son of a b*tch of Coronel Ortoff can't even handle a bunch of peasants. Damn it."
After calming himself a bit, he grabbed his binoculars and took a close look at the ongoing battle. He saw the Russian forces charge against the Reunion positions, and yet, even having more firepower than their rivals, his comrades couldn't break their lines.
This greatly infuriated Alexei, but before he could say anything, something caught his eye. Right in the middle of the fray, he spotted enormous beams of fire that were throw at the Russians and incinerated them on the spot. With his eyes, Alexei traced back the origin of the flames and eventually laid his gaze on a certain woman. She had neck-length gray hair, and even from his position he could sense the menacing aura that emanated from her. It was then that he recognized her.
"Oh, it's you, Talulah... The Queen of Fire in person." He muttered to himself. "I've heard the stories about the firery Draco who burned down an entire city, and you can't imagine how excited I am to cross swords with you, hehehe..." Alexei was about to turn his attention elsewhere, but at that moment another person came into view. He noticed that it was a young guy, with the same blond hair as him. "Huh? And who's this guy?"
He looked more closely at him. He couldn't see his face clearly, but he could sense something... odd about the boy. "I can't pinpoint exactly what, but there's something in him that seems... familiar. That guy..." He shook his head and pushed these intrusive thoughts away. "Nonsense, I'm overthinking this"
"Sir?" Livchenko reached out to him. "Are we going to chase after Reunion?"
"Nah, there's no use in doing that." Replied Alexei as he put down his binoculars. He then turned to his subordinate and said. "Tell the rest to remain on standby, High Command might require us to clean up remnants of Ursus troops in the city."
"Understood." He gave a light nod and took his leave. Alexei, meanwhile, returned his attention to the warn-torn city.
"Well, it will be only a matter of time before we face each other, Talulah. You may have escaped now, but next time you won't be so lucky. Rest assured that I'll be prepared... And the boy, well. I don't know who are you, but I shall soon find out."
