Grizzly walked out of the house, it being the seventh one he cleared so far. Like the last six, everyone in it was dead. It made it harder to open every door. By now it seemed fair to assume that they're were no survivors anywhere near the village, but he needed to make sure. So he walked up to the eighth house and found the rest of his squad already inside. He entered slowly, looking at everyone there.
"Find anything, rookie?" Eagle asked him, the man polishing his gun.
"Nothing I'm afraid. Only bodies." Grizzly replied, closing the door behind him.
"Damn," Eagle muttered quietly, the others looking solemn. It seemed Grizzly wasn't the only one in his discoveries.
"Well, our job's done then," Ape began, "all of you, head back to the LATVs. We're going back to base."
They left quietly, walking out back to their vehicles. It was disappointing that they didn't find anyone alive, but they expected as much. This close to the blast would have made it a miracle if anyone did. The LATVs soon came into view, only a few more feet away. And in an instant, they were gone. A loud bang echoed around them as the two vehicles were engulfed in flames.
"Incoming!" Eagle shouted, leaping behind an abandoned house. Just as he did so machine gun fire flooded where he previously stood. The other members of the squad followed suit, ducking behind whatever cover they could find. Quickly peeking behind cover, he called out "Anyone see what's shooting at us?!"
"Enemy tank, twelve o'clock!" Mammoth shouted back before a tank shell collided with the building he was hiding behind. The wall was crumbled, with Mammoth falling over dead, the shrapnel tearing him apart. Looking back over Grizzly found the tank he was talking about. An old T-72 if he was correct. It wasn't the only thing though. A swarm of infantry stood around it, slowly advancing into the village proper. It had to be a full platoon, possibly even a company.
"We have any anti-tank equipment!?" Eagle asked, firing his M4 into the approaching crowd of militants. He struck one in the chest, killing the man quickly.
"It was with the LATVs!" Ape replied, as he quickly joined Eagle. The two picked off those too out in the open. Ape would use his quirk when they got too close, predicting the enemy's next move, but it did nothing against the tank. Grizzly found it changing its focus over to the other two.
Acting quickly, he held up his arm as the air around it got colder. An almost beam of light shot out covering the tank and a few soldiers. When it dispersed, the tank had been covered in ice. Everything around it was frozen solid, with the soldiers next to it spreading out rapidly. It had an unintended consequence, however, as now the militants knew where he was. Grizzly ducked back into cover in the nick of time, right as 7.62 rounds started pelting the area around him.
"Everyone pack it up! We're falling back!" Ape ordered, putting a radio away. The squad moved quickly, sticking to what cover they could find. Behind them, the militants pushed their new advantage. Grizzly didn't know where they were running to, but it didn't seem to matter. Every turn had an enemy hiding in an abandoned house.
"Where the hell are we even going!?" Eagle called out over the radio. Gunfire was heard seconds later, before Ape soon replied.
"We're getting as far from the village as possible! Artillery is getting ready to bomb our position!"
Grizzly at that point, rolled behind another building, just as a militant opened fire. After that he raised his arm again and froze the way behind him, a large wall of ice forming where the militant last stood. It provided a brief few seconds before he had to continue running. Already his arm felt more and more like it wasn't there. Not wanting to lose its function, Grizzly switched to his M4.
He fired it as a militant turned a corner. The enemy collapsed dead, not expecting Grizzly to be there. He could see the town's exterior, it had to be a few feet farther. His legs felt like they were on fire as he ran. All the while he pushed himself to go just a bit faster, as a faint whistling was heard above. Barely reaching the outskirts he felt a shockwave knock him off his feet. Unseen by Grizzly, a mass of artillery guns fired away.
Every few seconds another shell would be loaded and fired. A repeated, almost machine-like efficiency as the guns would shift every time new coordinates were given. The drones assigned to them provided it effortlessly, watching over the village. It was a horrifyingly efficient killing, and it made Grizzly nauseous. But he couldn't linger on that, not now.
"Everyone make it?" Ape asked over the radio.
"Grizzly here, I'm fine."
"Eagle here, could be better but I'm intact. Iguana's dead sadly, he didn't make it out in time."
"Owl here, my HAZMAT's been punctured, and I have a bullet in my leg."
"Affirmative Owl, what's your location?"
"Not sure, but I'm near an open road."
"I think I see it," Grizzly commented.
"Good, you go check on Owl. We'll join you shortly."
The guards at the outpost stood unaware as they relaxed around a TV. For them, they had nothing to worry about. They were miles from the frontline, with AA systems watching the skies all around them. And besides, who would be this far into enemy territory, in the middle of the night? So they sat back, watching the TV and its slew of programming.
"Come on! The answer is Lafayette!" one militant exclaimed, as the game show revealed the final answer. The question had been the name of a French general in the American Revolution.
"Who the fuck is Lafayette?" a different militant asked, looking at his ally incredulously.
"Better question, how the fuck do you know who that is?" another one asked, not noticing the guard behind him get dragged into the shadows. None of them noticed it happened.
"What, I like to dabble in history." the first one stated, returning his gaze to the TV. Sure enough, he was correct. The militant held a brief celebration, as another guard was dragged away into the night. It didn't go unnoticed, however.
"Hey… Anyone know where the sergeant went?" a militant asked.
"I think he went to the bathroom." another replied, too focused on the TV.
"That was half an hour ago."
"Well, I mean he's got a weak stomach man."
"Ok then." the militant replied, not fully believing what was said. The TV had gone over to commercials then, causing them to groan in annoyance.
"You seriously couldn't get streaming?"
"You willing to fork over the cash? Because it's either the free channels, expensive cable, or expensive streaming."
"On second thought, never mind."
His annoyance only peaked when a hero came onto the screen. The others shared his annoyance, so they changed the channel. Only to find another hero, this one advertising some dietary product. So they changed it again, finding a third channel with a hero. It was on the love life of someone over in Canada.
"Damn it. Anyone got a CD player or something?" the militant with the remote asked.
"A CD player? You kidding?"
"I've got one. The only question is what CDs do you have?"
Another militant watched them bicker off to the side, not caring about what was happening. So long as they put on something to watch, then he'd be fine. Oddly enough though, he felt like someone was watching him. Every time he turned over his shoulder nothing was there, but he couldn't help but feel like something was behind him. He was about to look over again when something grabbed him.
He tried to scream but it wrapped around his throat, choking out his attempts. Every few seconds he was farther and farther from the outpost, the others inside didn't notice he was gone.
"I've got Bugs Life 7, Toy Story 40, Finding Nemo 30-"
"Anything, not Pixar?"
"Does Oceans 67 work?"
"Not really, the plot was terrible and the story was over-saturated with characters."
"What about Fast and the Furious 95?"
"Eh, why not."
Carefully the militant hooked up the CD player, before turning back around. Where once he saw a room full of people, he now stood alone. He looked around, attempting to figure out what was going on.
"Uh… guys?"
Walking forward he found no sign of anyone nearby. It was worrying, but people don't just disappear in thin air… unless it was their quirk. But no one at the outpost had a quirk like that.
"Seriously guys, what are you doing?"
His nerves were on edge. Everywhere he turned he found no one. It was just him, a few walls, and the surrounding plains. Now beyond worried, he grabbed his nearby rifle. It was an outdated FAL but it served its purpose. On the other end of the rifle was a flashlight, one the militant quickly turned on. He shined the light on the surrounding area and found nothing.
The surrounding area was empty. Slowly the militant moved to grab his radio, only to stop. Something sharp hovered over his neck, lightly pressing into his throat. It gave a small shallow gut, letting drops of blood begin to form. The militant's breath hitched as he remained unmoving. As quickly as it had arrived, it disappeared, instead replaced by some force wrapping around him.
He thought it to be a snake, as it constricted around him. And then it went dark, leaving Snake to secure the surrounding area. The silo was still a few miles away, meaning time was of the essence. Now he had thirty hours left. Looking around, Snake began to search the outpost. He rummaged through its compartments before finding a pair of keys. Just what he needed. As quickly as he had arrived he left, using an old jeep the outpost kept nearby. It was a rusted M151 from Cameroon if Snake remembered the language written on the vehicle. But it worked, and with what little time Snake had, that was good enough.
The President looked over every report with high scrutiny. They weren't going fast enough. By the time the Tyrant's deadline was up, over a thousand HPSC personnel would still be on the continent. Those nukes were going to be sent regardless of what the President did, so she was preparing a backup plan.
"I want Radon being sent to North America. I don't care how much you have to pay him just do it! Techno how are we doing in Greece?" she asked. The man himself was busy scouring every computer in the room telepathically. Over the past few hours, he had created a false narrative. One where the villain Meltdown attacked a small island off the coast of Greece. That would hopefully cover up why children on the Greek coast were dying of cancer.
"The public has bought the story so far, however…"
The President looked over at him, a hint of anger and displeasure clear.
"However news is still being leaked. I'm removing as much information as possible but it's reaching the more… conspiratorial sectors of the web."
"Then it's of no concern." the President replied. She couldn't have her people wasting time at this moment. And censoring the crazies was a massive waste of time.
"What's the status of the other villains?" she demanded.
"Awaiting transport."
"Good. Now someone tell me, where the hell is Ocelot?" the President demanded.
"Right here, mam." Ocelot chimed in, his revolvers spinning as always. It was going to give her a migraine if he kept spinning those guns anymore. Might the guns have something to do with his quirk? Maybe. But she didn't care at this point.
"I want you to start rounding up vital personnel and sending them to the emergency bunkers," she ordered. She could only hope the bunkers worked. They were designed with the idea of villains attacking them head-on. Not a nuke being dropped on top of it. But like many things, it would have to do. Especially as she began making her way to one.