In a different side of town, Talulah and her men had gone to another of the area's resorts and, right now, the were waiting outside the building for Will to return. When he finally walked out the door, she went out to him and immediately asked.
"And well, did you find anything?"
"Nothing." He replied. "They said no woman with that description has come to the resort ever."
The draco sighed a bit.
"I see. In that case, let's keep looking, they might know something on the other resorts..."
Will and the rest nodded and got into motion.
The team went down the lonely alleys, each of their steps sinking into the soft snow, accompanied with the sound of crushing. At the front of the company, Talulah and Will were walking pretty close to each other, so much that they could feel their bodies' warmth. Will suddenly spoke.
"You seem to know the town well, have you been here before?"
"Yeah"- She contested. "Back when I was 21, my friend Alina suggested for us to go on a trip to these mountains, and that's what we did." Her lips curled into a faint smile as memories of those days started to flow. "It was a wonderful experience. Alina and I did so many things, from hiking to sightseeing... and I even got to try skiing!"
"Oh, seriously? How did that go?"
Her cheeks reddened slightly.
"Well, I-I tripped like a thousand times! It was impossible for me to stay up right even a minute!"
Hearing this, the boy couldn't help but giggle at the image of her girlfriend laying on the snow. Talulah blushed even more from the embarrassment.
"H-hey, don't laugh like that! It's not like I'm bad or anything...!"
"Okay..." He conceded. "I won't laugh at it ever again, I promise."
"Hphm, dummy..." Will found cute to see her put like that. After calming himself a little, he turned his gaze to the houses on the side and spoke again.
"If it helps, just know that I suck at skiing to."
The draco smirked at that.
"Heh, I'm not alone then..."
"Yes." He nodded. "But do you know who was actually good at it? My brother. He loved skiing, so much that I even could say he was the best in the family, not even our father could surpass him."
"Oh, that's hear-warming. Did you two had fun together?"
"Of course." A wave of nostalgia hit him like a truck. "We would go to an abandoned house near school and play there for hours, sometimes to the pirates, others to the explorers, we were almost inseparable. It was a happy life indeed..." Suddenly, Talulah saw how his expression turned sad. "...or at least it was while it lasted."
"..." She fell silent. Seeing the pained expression on his face, Talulah interlaced her hand with his and looked straight into Will's blue eyes.
"Hey, it's fine Valery. I know that you cared a lot about him... and I have the certainty you two will reunite someday, of that I'm sure."
Feeling a bit better, the boy sniffed lightly and said.
"Thanks, Tal. You're truly the joy of my heart."
She simply smiled back at him as answer.
With that out of the way, they kept going through the streets along their comrades in arms, but then, just a couple of meters ahead, Will came to a halt seemingly out of nowhere. Taken aback by this, Talulah glared at him and asked in a confused tone.
"Why have you stop so all of a sudden...?"
"Shhhh..." He pointed ahead.
They were just in the edge of Vyely Dvor's main plaza. The site was surrounded by old stately mansions of neo-gothic style, with wide and colorful windows. In the center stood and old stone statue, probably dedicated to an old-forgotten hero of the past. However, what stood out the most from this square was that it was completely devoid of life. There wasn't a single soul in the entire place, giving it a chilling aspect.
It was quiet, a bit too quiet.
"There's something wrong here..." Talulah signaled her men to lay back, and drawing her sword she commenced advancing into the plaza together with Will. The duo moved very slowly, taking each step with the uttermost caution, although it didn't stop the snow from being crushed under their boots.
They soon reached the sculpture in the middle of the square. Everything remained calm and silent.
"Do you see anything, Talulah?" Asked Will to his partner.
"No, nothing. Maybe it was just a..." At that very exact moment, the draco spotted something very shinny on one of the rooftops; and there she quickly realized. "BE CAREFUL!"
"Huh...?" Before he knew it, Talulah grabbed him by the shirt and threw both of them against the floor, just in time to barely dodge the shot. The bullet instead ended up hitting the statue behind.
More shots were heard from the same rifle. Without skipping a second, Talulah extended her arm and formed a wall of flames to protect both her and Will. The incoming bullets were approaching them at them at high speed, but upon making contact with the barrier they melted away.
At the same time, the men of Reunion sprung had sprung into action the moment the first shots were heard.
"SNIPER! PROVIDE COVER FOR THE BOSSES!"
Those who had firearms aimed at the rooftop and started unleashing a rain of lead upon the shooter. The shadow proved to be very slippery and most shots missed the target... but just as hope was fading, a lucky shot managed to take the sniper down, sending his body crashing down to the floor. With the threat now gone, Tal and Will were quick to get back on their feet and go inspect the body.
"What the f*cking hell?" Asked himself one of Reunion's as they looked at the dead sniper. The man in question was an Ursus from the region, who was wearing the uniform of the Empire. Besides that, lying near him was the weapon he used to perform the attack, a Russian SVD Dragunov sniper rifle. Talulah couldn't help but feel some irritation.
"Tch, there's no way this man could have gotten such weapon, he must be a Russian collaborator."
"Boss, we've got company."
Upon turning, the draco saw her worst fear come true, she spotted several columns of heavily armored Ursus soldiers coming out from the alleys and into the plaza. They were mostly armed with melee weapons, but a few were carrying Russian Ak-47.
"Damn it, they've got us surrounded..." Cursed Will under his breath as he loaded his weapon.
"I know, but it's not time to give up yet." Talulah adopted a fighting stance, and looking at her men she exclaimed. "Get into position, we can't let them come close!"
"Aye madam!" The Reunion guys quickly got into position, forming a defensive ring around the central statue... and there the battle begun.
X-X
BOOM! BOOOOMM! – The sound of explosions reverberated all across Vyely Dvor as the violence escalated in the streets.
"Stop right there! We won't allow yo... AGHHHH!" The Ursus soldier was cut short by Texas's blade, which cleanly sliced his throat.
Like angels of death, Matt, Exusiai and Texas gunned down or killed anybody who dared to stand in their way, closely followed by Amiya, Sora and the rest. As fought their way through the streets, Matt look at his teammates and cursed.
"Where the f*ck did Willy and Tal go this time?!"
"Last time they made contact it was around this area!" Answered Mostima from behind. At that moment she spotted something. "Oh, look! There they are!"
True to her words, the main plaza was just ahead of them, and in the middle of it they finally found Will, Talulah and her men. They were immersed in a fierce fight with the Imperial Army; the Ursites would throw charge after charge against their positions, and every time Reunion repelled it. Using her fire Arts, Talulah was managing to keep the Ursus men at bay, helped by her boyfriend's suppressive fire, but a good chunk of her forces had stepped in to engage them directly. Amiya and the rest could see a giant man clad in full blast-armor creating havoc among the Ursites with his menacing chainsaw.
Not letting themselves get distracted, Amiya's team rushed in to help their partners.
"Oh Gods, finally!" Exclaimed the draco upon meeting them. "Thanks for coming, we had thought you wouldn't show up!"
"You're welcome!" Responded Matt, dodging a shot. "In case you're wondering where did these dudes get firearms, they're collaborating with the Russians!"
"I can already see that!" Yelled Will. "Now, if you don't mind, bring your asses over here and help us clear this mess!"
"Alright then!" Answered the Doctor. "RHODES ISLAND, ATTACK!"
/ /
The skirmish went on for long minutes, but in the end the Ursus troops had been completely defeated. The only survivor left was a badly injured shieldguard. Without lifting her gaze off the lone man, Talulah stepped ahead a bit, and raising her sword towards him she said.
"Surrender your weapons, there's no point in fighting any longer."
"Yeah, we don't want to shed more blood." Added the Doctor. "It was very foolish from your part to attack us."
There Amiya asked.
"Why did you do it, even though you knew it would end like this?"
The man remained in complete silence, it seemed they weren't getting anything out from him after all... but then, to their surprise, he started laughing.
"AHAHHAHAA! Fools... Our objective wasn't to capture you, no... we were just buying time for the cavalry to arrive."
Everyone went pale, realizing the true meaning of those words. With a shocked expression on her face, Talulah turned to her companions, and was barely able to say.
"Guys..."
There they heard it; the sound of dozens of blades piercing the air menacingly. The team was frozen in place, completely unable to move... before they knew it, the sky was completely covered by the dark shadows of Russian KA-52 and Mi-26 helicopters. Then...
BROOOOMMM! – Hundreds of missiles rained upon the small town, engulfing it in flames and destruction. Houses were decimated, people screamed in fear... it was hell on Earth.
After the first wave of missile strikes, the attack helicopters closed in to the plaza, and from the Mi-26s Russian airborne troops began descending through ropes down to the streets below. Amiya and her partners were shivering at the sight of such massive force, but the Ursus survivor couldn't be more elated.
"YESSSS! The Black Snakes are finally here!"
Looking up at the swarm of enemy aircraft, the Doctor said the only think he could think of right now.
"EVERYONE, RUN!"