Operation Black Dawn, 1995
Mission 20 - Rising Sun
October 1995/December 1096
Climax of the Reunion Uprising
"The Brotherhood of Nod's duty against oppressors to do anything in their capability to strike their oppressor down - in defense of those who cannot defend themselves."
- Brotherhood of Nod Codex
Captain Emir Yılmaz [Islamic Revolutionary Treaty Pact - Turkish Armed Forces] - Streets of Lungmen - Dated December, 1096
I threw myself down onto the floor as the grenade launched from the... kid's grenade launcher hit a building behind me. I got up almost immediately, grabbing my MP7 and unsheathing the Captain's Sword. Normally unsheathing the Captain's Sword is not meant to be in conjunction with using the submachine gun of Nod, but given this case - I don't think I have much room to hear from the Priests about my 'misuse' of the Captain's Sword. I fought and bled as a Kurd just so I could live in Turkey, I won't let some stupid stigma get in my way of survival.
The kid who got off a shot at me looked exactly like a female. With the stockings of one. Though the hood and the vests massively threw me off. It was like I was staring at the eyes of a fucking wannabe anarchist. Only this time, they had grenade launchers. It was not the time to laugh. And I knew that. But by the grace of Kane, I wanted to rip that stupid kid's head off. Since I don't know their gender I'll just go with calling the guy them.
"Misha... Why join those who oppress you?! You're going to die at their hands!"
"SHUT UP!" I heard the young Russian girl say. Guess these two know each other then. "ALEX, I DON'T KNOW WHAT YOU'VE FALLEN TO... BUT THIS ISN'T THE WAY TO GO!"
"Damn you!" They raise their grenade launcher, pointing it straight at me. Fuck.
"You're infected, yet you join the oppressors?! Misha - why?!"
"You're not leading us to a brighter day! You're going to lead us to mass death!"
"SILENCE! You're just like them!"
One of the kids that accompanied me - the dragon one- earlier interjected. "SO IS THIS WHAT WE GET IF WE DON'T JOIN REUNION, HUH?! NOT EVEN THE CHANCE TO SPEAK UP?!"
The other one - the other bear one - responded. "We'll only die faster if we join them!"
I could only understand these people because of Nod's standard language lessons. The asshole with a grenade launcher and his... her... their significant other - I'm implying that because I have no other words - and the bear kid I saved spoke Russian. Broken Russian. The dragon kid spoke Cantonese. Albeit my Cantonese is dogshit, so I only knew the words 'die faster' when I heard them.
I knew what they were talking about earlier, so I pushed myself back to shield them and yelled back at the asshole with a grenade launcher.
"You think you're a goddamn liberator here?!" I interjected in Russian, backing away to shield the children and waving the Captain's Sword at him. "I'VE SEEN FUCKING CULTISTS HAVE A GREATER INTELLECT THAN YOU!"
"And who is at fault here?!" They responded, raising the grenade launcher. "We're getting back at those who have oppressed us!" He raised one of his launchers up, and his lackeys behind him were cheering and raising their own weapons like it was a Stalinist Rally. "Rhodes Island, Lungmen, Yan..." He stops for a brief second, and I'm over there awaiting his next move.
"...Ursus." He says with such venom that it'd be practically impossible to hear his words without choking. Still, I didn't buy any of that. I've been through hell as a Kurd - and I've at best resorted to armed resistance.
But this just isn't the way to go, buddy.
"All will fall before the vengeance of those who they have wronged!" They raised their grenade launcher, preparing to shoot.
"You're insane!" I answer. "Millions will die!" I repeat. I've seen this pattern before. This rhetoric. Stalin, Ayatollah, the Contras... This rhetoric about 'striking down those who have wronged us' whether it be the Capitalists, Heretics, or Reds, is too noticeable to go unnoticed. And if I remember, Stalin's rampage across Eurasia in 1946 caused millions of casualties across Eurasia.
I knew the rhetoric and knew what would befall this world - Terra, was it? - if these people were given their way. This had to end now, else we all suffer.
Even if I can't relate to the Terrans.
"Then so be it! These oppressors brought it upon themselves! They shall be subjected to the same thing we have suffered -" This idiot slashes their grenade launcher through the air, the gesture made to prove a point rather than to strike me down. "Death!"
I felt my anger surge through me as I heard that. Alright. If this motherfucker wants to play, I'll give him something to play with.
"Deti!" I shouted in Russian, then repeated it one last time in Cantonese. "Get out of here! I'll hold him off!"
"Oh? The oppressor has a heart?" The retard stopped to ask, before chuckling about it. "Or maybe you're just getting them out of my way so you can kill them later."
The scowl on my face grew as I heard that. Me - a Kurd, who has faced loads of shit - being told that my moving kids away was just so I can kill them later? To say that I was pissed was an understatement before, but now it really is just underplaying how much I want to rip this fucker's skull in half after hearing the shit he's saying. As soon as the kids got away by running behind me, I raised the Captain's Sword. It was time for me to defend the defenseless, as the Codex says. Doesn't stop people from abusing their power, but maybe I can follow the book and find redemption.
"As a sworn defender of the faith," I mumble, raising the sword hilt similar to how the Americans did it when I observed their military on TV. "I say to thee;" I raise the sword and point it at this retard. "Have at thee, heathen!" I waited for that ratfucker to respond to my stupidity. But given that this was bringing a grenade launcher to a fight against some Noddie in the middle of nowhere - I expect his response to being something cheesy.
"The Oppressor shows his attempts at having a heart! Cute, but inefficient!" He shouts. "Men - take down this monster!" They shouted, staying back - even slipping behind the lines - as their soldiers marched on to swarm me. Oh, this fucker's trying to send their stupid-ass soldiers against me. Fine. If they want to have it their way, then I'll have mine when dealing with these para-Stalinists.
"En garde!" I shout. I'm not too familiar with sword-fighting terms, however, so bear with me. That being said - I moved to slash one soldier diagonally to the right, then used the MP7 in my other hand to gun down someone about to strike me down with the sword. I was... okay at fighting with a sword, but compared to these guys I'm practically a God.
Or maybe that's because I have a tungsten blade.
"AAAAAARHG-" One muttered as their arm fell off at the hand of the Brotherhood's dark blade. Another strike to this man's face - cleaving it in half - silenced him. The sight of this brutality shocked their comrades as they vainly tried to feel their face after the slash, but the Captain's Sword did its job. I'm frankly surprised it's sharp enough to do that.
"OH FUCK!"
"HE KILLED HIM! HE FUCKING SLICED HIS FACE OFF!"
"WHAT THE HELL IS THAT SWORD MADE OF?!" One of them asked.
"WHAT KIND OF SWORDSMAN IS HE?!"
A sword attempting to hit me in the face was answered by me moving to block it using my own blade. Struggling to get it off, I elected to shoot the guy's torso twice, then spun around in a circle fashion firing the MP7 with one hand and slashing with the other. I really wished how I knew I could do this, but Kane be damned if I wasn't awesome doing it.
"Lesson Number One," I yell to interrupt another batch of screaming. "Heathens are to be exterminated!" I open up by plunging the sword through someone's head, then using the parts of the blade sticking out to shishkebab more of these heathens. Praise be to Kane, for he has tested my faith in the Codex by placing me in this situation.
"I will make Kane proud," I shout, shooting three people in the face. "As an esteemed officer of the Sword of Nod; may you heathens perish in hellfire!"
"HOLY FUCK! THIS GUY'S A FANATIC!"
"LATERANO! LATERANO! LATERA-" That one was cut off as I stabbed his heart, with the tungsten nullifying all protection that his vest may have had before this. "GHHHK!-"
"What's going on there?!" I hear from one of the corpses. Apparently the ratfucker with stockings and grenades was cowardly enough to not worry about his forces, who I had been cutting through for the past few seconds. Sure - they had the numbers... but they were all filed in a straight line through an alleyway while their boss retreated.
Bad idea.
"We've got a fucking guard here!" I heard from the crowd. "He's cutting through everyone else! Get W-" A well-placed stab to the groin ended his statements. "AAAAR-"
My face scowled as I realized that this ratfucker was probably hiding beneath his army. I didn't have the time to deal with this.
"Out of the way!" I shouted, slashing through them. "These Heathens will taste the sword and the word of Kane!" I shouted, "Kane bless me, for I am his sword and shield! The Aegis of the Faithful!" I shouted, continuing to cut through Reunion as they had basically made my day a hell of a lot worse. From two people with close relations trying to kill each other to this entire fucking shitshow? I was pissed, and I wouldn't have it.
I'll cut that stupid ratfucker's face off.
"Skullshatterer!" I hear one of them say. "He's not stopping! And every time we get a shot on him, he won't stop!"
True to that, I actually stopped to look at myself. And only now did I realize that my morphine band - an autoinjector containing morphine wrapped like a band - was keeping the pain away. Why? Because there were a shitload of arrows poking out of my stomach. Bleeding and all, I looked like someone who just came out of a game of Happy Wheels. It's been a while since I've played that game, actually.
Just to snipe at them as a joke, I decided to comment on it. Guess the morphine really gave me the ability to not suffer under it anymore. Guess addiction and withdrawal were scams, huh?
Actually no, don't say that.
"Oh, wow. You guys were so shit that I didn't even notice until you shot at me." I commented, before readying the sword for another slash. "Thank you for reminding me that Kane's Will keeps me from dying! En garde!" I continued slashing, holding the sword with one hand. I'm pretty sure I didn't bother with the MP7 since I was basically tearing them to shreds.
The Black Blade cuts through the Oppression of the Masses, I suppose.
That makes for a great tagline actually. I should steal that for a line of swords.
"Casters, attack!"
As that line's said, I nearly flinch and widen my eyes as an energy bolt narrowly misses me. But now I don't want to give up. If anything - just makes me more determined to kick these guys' asses.
Wait, no, this isn't an action movie.
Kill 'em all instead.
I eyed a nearby crate and used that as a launchpad by taking a hard left, running over a stack of crates with my left hand grazing across the wall holding the MP7 and the right hand holding the sword, and then running across the wall. I didn't actually try to run across the wall like those old movies I watched would have suggested, that being said, I did something close to that.
I nearly got hit in the face by a wizard bolt, and several more that followed it. I frowned, and really couldn't deal with this shit. After I finished running across the wall, I launched myself right, letting go of my sword for a moment. Time seemed to slow down as I grabbed a fragmentation grenade from my vest and pulled the pin, then pressed the pin.
As soon as I tossed it over towards the Wizards behind the masses who comprised the Swordsmen, I grabbed my sword again and landed between the wizards and the regular foot infantry. My first response was to turn right bash through the Reunion soldiers. Though they responded pretty quickly by attacking me. I felt a sharp pain at my side as one of the Reunion soldiers too close for comfort managed to take a stab at me. He let go of his sword as I continued ramming through them.
"I GOT HIM!"
In response, I got the MP7 and shot him thrice in the head. All of this while I was still high on adrenaline, and my sword was cutting through Reunion. I'm... pretty sure that Kane himself came and blessed me, for there could be no other valid explanation for these miracles that only a true warrior of Nod could perform.
"He's still moving!"
"Holy shit, who the hell did we piss off?!"
I turned around after punching a hole through Reunion, just in time to hear a fragmentation grenade literally explode behind their lines. They confusedly stared back at their wizard lines before turning back to me, the result apparent.
"He just fucking killed our Casters!"
"So?! He's only human!"
"ONLY HUMAN?! ARE YOU INSANE?!"
I placed my sword to deflect attacks diagonally as I prepared to recite an incantation. I may not have showed it when I was fighting and high on adrenaline, but I was... deeply in massive fucking stress. I swear a part of me wanted to scream at me for putting it through massive amounts of bullshit that amounted to basically setting my body to explode.
And with stress comes destressing.
I could suppress the thoughts that come with stress, which is why I won't be screaming about hell anytime soon. But the bodily effects of stress, on the other hand...
Yeah, there's a reason I recite incantations.
"By the Chamber of Advisors and the holy will of Kane," I recited, putting my sword back into one-handed slashing stance. "I challenge ye - Reunion, terrorizer of the defenseless - and swear to protect all peoples under Kane's guidance!" I raised my sword. "GLORY TO THE SWORD OF NOD!"
"He's charging! Shit!"
"BREAK! BREAK!"
The lines of Reunion scrambled as I lined up another charge.
"Snipers! Fire!"
I swear I felt a part of me die inside as soon as I heard the words 'snipers' and 'fire' in the same sentence. I was charging, so I couldn't exactly change my direction. And in response to this poor choice, I felt at least six stabbing pains in me as I felt my advance pelted with... arrows. That's right. Arrows. I braced myself for pain that would be expected from facing against Allied Nations snipers, especially with their FR-F2 rifles.
But Reunion doesn't have that advantage, I realized. They don't have guns that can reliably penetrate armor, unlike the Allied Snipers. I felt an evil smile as I began to recite words that would have profound impact as Reunion saw a crazed religious officer fighting for his life in the most brutal ways possible, while I saw it as fighting to defend basic human life.
"YOUR SNIPERS MEAN NOTHING TO THE WILL OF KANE'S SWORD!" I added, following it up with a cackle not unlike you'd hear from old horror movies. "I FIGHT AND DIE FOR KANE!" I continued, with a second cackle as I decapitated several Reunion soldiers vainly trying to retreat or run away at the sight of me. "YOU WILL ALL BE STRUNG UP FROM THE GALLOWS LIKE THE HEATHENS YOU ARE!"
I felt the blood of decapitations and gore splash across my face, with the fight descending into a cacophony of cackling, incantations, and the terrified screams of Reunion as they realized they unleashed a terrifying war god on themselves.
I mean hey, I'm just a captain - but the fearsome reputation I'll get might help with that.
It'll be hilarious.
The Crossbow snipers who made my life pain for a split-second or two were close enough to me that I could bisect them with a single slash.
A cackle exited a third time as I moved to dice apart one Crossbowman in particular who managed to get a shot on me after bisection. He cleaved in two halves, one right and one left.
Reunion's reactions were... so to speak, fearful. But to any GDI soldier this is just Officer bullshit. Guess they haven't been used to fighting GDI or Nod yet if a single Captain is the worst thing for them.
"HE'S UNSTOPPABLE!"
"THIS FUCKER'S INVINCIBLE! RETREAT! RETREAT!"
"SKULLSHATTERER SENT US TO DIE!"
"What the hell is he high on?!" One of them asked.
"Religion or some shit!" One of the Reunion soldiers commented. "Run!"
"What about Skullshatterer?!"
"That brat can go FUCK HIMSELF!"
"But-"
"JUST KEEP RUNNING!'
It seemed to me like Skullshatterer's men were not as loyal as the ratfucker wished they were. Maybe if I killed him first they would have folded in properly. Maybe they'd fucking cower and give up. But eh, I went after the grunts first so; What can I do, what can I say? It's past that point.
As they scattered everywhere and cleared the alleyway after sustaining mass casualties, I saw the ratfucker. Skullshatterer, they were named. What a fucking obnoxious. The moment they turned around after watching their entire contingent run away, they only turned to see the bloodied, still-high-on-adrenaline captain.
Me.
"What are you?!" They raised their grenade launchers. "A-and why are you helping them oppress us?!" He turned back for a split-second. "Men! Come back here! Come back!"
It was only then he realized that practically everyone left had fled.
"Heathen! Turn back, now! Lest ye suffer a fate not even Kane has deemed acceptable!" I angled myself for a second sword attack.
He turned back and stomped his foot down. "Oppressor! Murderer! You will suffer for your kind's actions against the people of Ursus!" He shouts.
"No! This ends now!" I shout. "Turn back, or die!"
"I REFUSE TO SUBMIT TO MURDERERS!"
A sigh escaped my lips as I prepared for another fight.
"So be it."
They fired off a shot with their grenade launcher, just as I attempted to roll away and duck. The blast didn't get me, but...
I felt a stabbing pain behind my armor. Reaching my hand around it, I flinched as I grabbed onto something latched onto my back and pulled it out painfully. My eyes widened in horror as I realized that it was an Originium shard. And the stabbing pain I felt was most likely from Originium stabbing into my vest. Guess that's what I get for choosing an old-fashioned Kevlar vest.
I really should have gone with a Dragonskin vest.
"And look at you now," Skullshatterer shouts, laughing like an asshole along the way. "Now you feel how we in Reunion feel! So why fight for those who see you as disposable because of your infection?" Skullshatterer points around the city. "Just look around us! All of this - made to oppress us because of our existence! And yet they never bother to see why movements like Reunion exist!" They fire a grenade launcher into a building to prove a point. Further leading credence that this person was little more than a manchild.
"So, why continue to fight? They'll kill you like the rest," He points it towards the direction the Kids hid in. Also known as 'behind me'. "And those people you risked your life for? They'll treat you like dirt! Why continue?!"
I held tight onto my sword and submachine gun as I stared Skullshatterer dead in the eyes to answer their question. I would enjoy punting their stupid face to the ground several times.
"Because..." I holster my gun. This time, It's personal. I was briefed on Oripathy and warned that we might catch an infection of it. I wished and prayed that I'd never catch it. But Kane tests fate, and it is my sworn duty as a member of the Brotherhood of Nod to withstand that trial. If Kane wanted me to fight this fucker with a sword... so be it.
"The Faithful never abandon their own!" A slash to show that I've fucking had it. "AND IF IT MEANS I DIE FIGHTING YOU, THEN GOOD! BECAUSE," I charge at him with a sword. "THIS CHARADE ENDS!"
I hear an audible gasp and Skullshatterer attempts to sidestep to avoid the stab, but my real target was something else. As they sidestep, I lean my right leg over and cause him to trip over while sidestepping, hitting their head on the wall, and disorienting themselves. As soon as I seized the opportunity, I disarmed them by literally grabbing them by the arm and turning Skullshatterer over with the fucker lying on the ground.
I stomped on Skullshatterer's left arm and twisted the right arm using my free hand. The cries of pain only pissed me off even further. I let go of the twisted arm, but used my left leg to stomp the left one. I grabbed his head and slammed it into the concrete. Once. Twice. Thrice. Four times...
"HOW DOES IT FEEL, HUH?!" I shout, turning his face over and punching it twice, shattering their mask and revealing his face. So turns out the guy with fucking stockings was a little boy, huh?
A sadistic zealous little fucker, then.
"HOW DOES IT FEEL TO BE ON THE OTHER SIDE OF THE BOOT?!" Another slam, this time onto some crates, and then back to concrete. "MAYBE NOT BEING AN ASSHOLE WOULD HAVE BEEN BETTER-" I lift him up and fucking toss him to the wall, with blood splattering all over it. "BUT NO!" I aim my boots down at his legs. "YOU JUST HAD TO JOIN UP WITH THE FUCKING GREY WOLVES!"
I stopped throwing his face onto the concrete, and instead flipped him over to deliver some messages. His back was lying on the floor and walls, staring at me with a broken expression.
"GO AHEAD!" I throw my arms in frustration, still holding my sword. "TRY ME, MOTHERFUCKER! SEE WHAT IT GETS YOU!"
I awaited him to try something. He turned and stared at me with his pained crocodile tear-filled eyes. I could see through his charade. I wasn't fooled about it. I've had my fair share of sadists being children.
Well, with nothing happening, it seems that I'm poised to turn around and forget this ever happened. Back to the kids I go-
"N-not s-so-" A cough and hack get my attention. "-f-fast, oppressor!"
"What're you going to do?" I ask rhetorically. "Cry about it?"
He manages to stand up, wobbling up and pointing at me.
"You-" He coughs. "Will-" Another one.
"Go on." I sheath my sword and cross my arms. "Go ahead, terrorist. Try something."
He looks me dead in the eyes and begins sprinting at me. I could probably punt him. I guess that he's still fanatically loyal to Reunion.
As he sprints and I'm over there, I simply step to the side and watch as he trips and falls. Though that revealed his one singular trick. Next to him was a dropped blade. Probably meant to fight people like me in close quarters. Too bad he's a little fucking kid and his... Arts are complete dogshit. And not even Originium frag grenades are going to hurt me.
I grab the blade and look at it. It's... surprisingly sharp. I throw it aside and stare at him mockingly.
"You know, a kid like you shouldn't have a blade like this," I cross my arms a second time. "You could hurt yourself." I scoff for a second. "Oh wait. You're going to hurt more than others."
He actually manages to get his arms moving, and I would normally punt them as I do...
If not for a stabbing pain in my shin.
I look down and see that he wasn't stupid and brought a second blade... that was stabbing into my shins, and being dragged further down, as if that'll magically kill me. I've survived far worse, but even then, that caught me slightly by surprise.
I simply unsheath my sword and slash the arm that's holding the blade. The blood spills intersected, and only became worse the moment I pulled out the blade to look at what I cut out.
A scoff escaped my lips, and I threw it aside to Skullshatterer.
"You think that's going to simply kill me?" I kneel over to his face. A smile spreads across my lips as I shake my head just across his face.
"You need to think twice about killing the disciples of the Messiah."
I grab my sword and point the blade downwards, aiming for his heart.
"KANE LIVES!"
He tries to scurry away as he realizes what's going to happen, but it's far too late. The blade is thrust down into his stomach, the blood splattering all over me. Some even got into my eye.
I stand up and back away from what I've done. Stumbling backward, I fall to the wall just behind me, sitting down. This would normally be painless, but as I stumble back down and into the walls, I feel an extremely sharp stabbing pain, jolting me to check behind me. My eyes wince and then widen in horror as I realized that I just pushed all the Originium fragments into my skin.
"Fuck," I wheezed. "Godfucking damnit..." Now I've just killed a kid. A goddamn kid. That's not going to be a good impact on my resume.
A shrill scream drives my attention away from what I've done to myself and focuses my eyes on the kid earlier I told to stay behind... Misha, was it?
Wait...
Oh shit.
My eyes widened as the implications hit me riiiight as the adrenaline and morphine wore off, causing me excruciating pain. "AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA-" I held on to my arm as tight as possible, trying not to immediately die of a stroke. I fell to my side and was reduced to muttering when I realized what I'd done. Feelings that I wouldn't have held onto while I was high on adrenaline and morphine hit me like a train.
Feelings of guilt and realizing what I've done, that is.
I screamed as my mind flashed for a split second and got up, trying to recover from my bout of guilt. I swear to God that I just felt the realization at what I've done a little too late for comfort. Fucking Morphine!
"Alex! Alex!"
Misha's over there shaking her brother's corpse, and I'm over here screaming my ass off. I ran my hand through my uniform and was not surprised to find that I was still kicking.
I get up, stumbling over to Misha, who looks at me with the most horrified face ever.
"M-mister..." I hear weakly to my right. It's those two kids I saved earlier. And they just witnessed what had gone down.
"I..."
I look at Misha, who's glaring at me with hate-filled eyes and most likely would kill me if I ever spoke anything to her. I moved over to grab my sword from the bleeding corpse of Skullshatterer - no, Alex. It only hit me now that they were siblings, and I just murdered the brother. I felt like groaning or sighing, but I was bleeding from every orifice.
"Murderer! Savage! Barbarian!" I hear from Misha, standing up to grab one of the launchers he dropped. Rather than let that happen, I grabbed the launcher and punted it with a kick. It flew away, never to be retrieved. I then looked at her and shook my head.
"Kid..." I said, repeatedly shaking my head. "If only you knew what warfare was like..." I sheathed my sword and stumbled to the wall where I slammed Skullshatterer's head in.
"Why do this?!" She asks. "He was my Brother! Why... why..."
I let my hands cover my face as I heard her bawling her eyes while crying for her brother. It brought back feelings from when my family was still in Turkey... Having to live with the fact that my grandfather died protesting for my rights was not a good look at my mental state.
I let out a sigh.
"Sorry, kid..." I could only let out.
I closed my eyes and let whatever was coming to just go take me already. It wasn't worth it living with the knowledge that I just killed a kid. Let alone someone's brother. Not even the knowledge that he was a terrorist would suppress that.
Damn you, morphine. You too, adrenaline.
I quickly lost myself in my thoughts, with Misha screaming and the kids I rescued trying to comfort her being blocked out by the fatigue that was getting to me.
Let it just end.
Hopefully this'll all be over soon.
Over...
Rhodes Island Operator Hibiscus [Reserve Team A1 - Rhodes Island Paramilitary] - Streets of Lungmen - Dated December, 1096
Hibiscus could only balk at the scene before her as her team stumbled across an alleyway full of dead Reunion soldiers. Behind her, Liskarm could only shake her head, and Franka just felt like purging her lunch today. They've killed Reunion, but a scene like this... Yeah. Ch'en was over taking a look at the aftermath.
"Hey, Hibiscus," Franka mentioned, just after purging her lunch. "You ever seen something like this?"
Hibiscus shook her head. "No, not once in my life."
"Then what..."
Orchid shook her head. "A complete massacre."
Hibiscus took a step forward, and her eyes widened as she did so. In the midst of the dead Reunion and the mass amounts of bodies left behind by the carnage she thankfully never had to witness - were three children. One of whom Rhodes Island was looking for following the past several hours. Hibiscus ran up to Misha and turned back to call her team.
"Madam Ch'en! Madam Ch'en!"
Ch'en stopped her crime scene investigation to stop by Hibiscus.
"We found her," Ch'en said. "Franka. Liskarm. Everyone else. Over here!"
The Rhodes Island team had found Misha cradling a corpse with a cracked gas mask and a face permanently twisted to one of fear. Hibiscus hugged Misha as she cried over the body of what appeared to be a Reunion Ringleader.
"Hey, hey," Hibiscus tried to comfort Misha. "It's... okay now. It's okay now."
Franka looked over at the corpses. Jessica picked up a bullet from the ground and inspected it closely.
"Four...point six by thirty?" She asked aloud, sliding a bullet out of her pistol to compare rounds of 9mm Laterano to this... 4.6x30mm. She was astounded upon seeing it. "This... I haven't seen this cartridge in field use!"
"How expensive is it?" Liskarm asked, checking out the bodies that were shot.
"I'm not surprised if it'd cost an arm and a leg," Franka spoke. "Laterano will do anything to keep the monopoly on firearms."
"And yet," Orchid injected. "These Reunion soldiers were killed by a gun-"
"Or a sword." Franka noted.
"Or a sword, yes," Orchid waved her away. "But still..."
Hibiscus looked back at her team and back to Misha, who had finished bawling and instead looked at what appeared to be her brother's corpse.
"Was he..." Hibiscus looked down, then back to Misha. "...Your brother?" She asked. Misha, tellingly, nodded. Hibiscus hugged her even tighter as she saw that. While she didn't particularly know where Reunion came from or why the brother was a Reunion leader, but still... Fuck, this was too much.
"What..." Hibiscus stopped for it. "What happened to him?"
Misha pointed to forward, causing Hibiscus to turn to the right. Hibiscus' eyes were surprised to see a man slumped over, bleeding from everywhere.
"He..."
"I..." Misha stopped sobbing to speak. "I want him dead."
One of the two kids with her intervened. "No! He saved our lives!"
"So what? So that he could kill you later?"
The three kids bickered, all Hibiscus could do was sigh and shake her head. She didn't blame them. They probably saw the most violent and brutal show they've ever seen. The rest of the Operators, however? They were going to want this.
Ch'en walked over to Hibiscus' location to take a look at the body. And so did egveryone else.
"We've found our perpetrator," Hibiscus added, walking over to the slumped person and crouching. "He might have been the one to stab everyone in this alleyway."
"Just be careful, alright?" Franka spoke. "Don't want to get sick because you've touched some guy's ass."
"Easy to say that when you don't work on getting your health up." Hibiscus scoffed.
"Oh fuck you too."
Hibiscus ignored that and grabbed the slumped person and lifted him by the shoulder. She discovered he was still breathing when she heard him grunt after she lifted him. So that confirmed that they had someone alive. "Hey, hey! He's alive! Everyone, get over here!" She shouted, causing all operators nearby to huddle around Hibiscus to take a good look at the man she was carrying.
The man was wearing a bloodied uniform in gray and black colors, with a body vest that carried submachine gun magazines on its rig. His facial features weren't distinct. In fact he looked too 'average'. That being said, he also had zero animal features. On his uniform and hat was the symbol of a triangle with a scorpion tail poised to strike. Underneath it was a red flag with a white crescent and a star.
However, what impressed them more was his lack of features.
"No animal features...?" Franka said out loud as she crossed her arms. "If this is supposed to be a human, then why the hell don't they have any features?"
"I know, right?" Orchid blurted out. "I'd say he was a Laterano based on how he used the gun... but he doesn't have a halo or wings."
"And that rules out Sarkaz too, because I don't see any horns or demon tail." Liskarm commented, taking a look at him.
"Huh..." Franka pulled down his hat. "No feline ears."
"Well... what the hell is he then?"
"Mutant?"
"Could be a possibility, but where..."
Hibiscus looked at his back and she nearly recoiled in shock. Embedded in the man's back were several pieces of Originium shrapnel that would have given any normal man Oripathy.
Must be why he collapsed.
"Shit! He's got Oripathy!" Hibiscus added.
"Hey Liskarm, guess he'll become a Sarkaz after all!" Franka shouted.
"Can it! I'm going to give you healthy lunchboxes next time!" She shouted. Personally, had it not been for their status as Rhodes Island employees, Hibiscus would have forced Franka to a healthy diet just because of that comment, but the time for that came later as she looked to removing the Originium fragmentations embedded in his skin. She had a bandage ready, just in case.
Meanwhile, Jessica looked at the man's unconscious body, and noticed his arsenal. Specifically, the one in his hoslter. "I-Is that a submachine gun?" Jessica asked, taking it out. To her surprise, it was! She took a closer look and ran her hands through it. Tapping the gun frame while doing so. She immediately looked to putting the magazine away.
"Ah-!"
Jessica accidentally dropped the firearm, and... nothing happened. No Originium misfire, no internal explosion... nothing.
Exusiai, who hadn't said anything because she was interested moreso in the gun that was used to take out Reunion, swooped in and took the submachine gun off the ground. She immediately took notice. "I.. don't... Oh lordie, is this a PDW?" She released one of the magazines and took a good look at it, blowing into the magazine. "Seems pretty dang fine to me. What the hell is a man like him doing with such a fine gun?"
She looked at him, and then back to the SMG.
"I'm takin' it," She immediately strapped it to her side. "Rock and Roll."
Back over to Ch'en, meanwhile was her reporting back to her superiors about the situation. "Dispatch, this is Officer Ch'en. We've found the target. Requesting immediate extraction over."
Every Rhodes Island operator was surprised, however, when the radio answered with a "Negative". Ch'en, however, was furious upon hearing it.
"Dispatch, what do you mean by 'negative'?!"
"Madam Ch'en," the radio spoke up. "We're requesting all officers available."
"What is it that's so important?!"
"A large mass of Reunion is converging on the command sector. We encourage your, err..." The radioman takes a breath, and continues. "We encourage your Rhodes Island friends to take the target in instead."
"But-"
"Madam Ch'en," The radio firmly replied. "Lungmen is under attack. We're calling officers to reinforce. We can't take her in. Just leave her to Rhodes Island."
Ch'en grunted.
"Damnit..." She mumbled. "What about the status of the other militant group attacking the city?"
"We're seeing that they're pulling out," That one gave Ch'en some respite. "They've got transport helicopters moving their soldiers out. Sources from LGD Operators say they've regrouped and organized a complete retreat. Air assets included."
"So it's just Reunion, then?" Ch'en breathed a sigh of relief. No more rockets and cannons chewing through her men.
"Yes madam."
"Copy that. I'll be there. Out."
"We'll be waiting, madam Ch'en. Out."
Ch'en turned her radio off to tell the RI operators.
"Change of plans. We can no longer take Misha-" Her eyes moved to the other kids at the scene. "Or any other refugees," She motioned towards a burning sector of Lungmen. "I have to reinforce a sector of Lungmen under attack by Reunion. You all are..." She stopped to think of her words. "Let's say you have to leave. Quickly."
"Understood."
Hibiscus finished wrapping the bandage around the bleeding man after removing the Originium shards. But the Oripathy most likely won't go away.
"The man will live for now, but..."
"He'll be dead of Oripathy. A shame." Franka added.
Liskarm, meanwhile, called for extraction.
"This is Operator Liskarm, paging Firebrand."
"Firebrand here. Why're you calling earlier than expected? Thought the LGD would be the one to handle this."
"The LGD's busy with a situation on hand right now. Best we call you to get us out of here as soono as possible."
A moan of annoyance escaped from Firebrand's radio. "Got it. Sight tight, I'll be there in a bit."
Liskarm nodded. "Roger."
Hibiscus carried the man up, and eyed Misha and the two other kids. Who stopped their bickering just to look at the carnage around him.
She pat the head of Hibiscus.
"Alex..."
"Shh," Hibiscus crouched down. "It's alright. It's over now."
"My..."
Misha went back to sobbing as the two kids just stared blankly at the corpses of Reunion.
The stench of death permeated this alleyway, and it wasn't going away any time soon.
Hibiscus could only complain about the stench while silent.
Thankfully, this just meant the operation was short.
Still...
Just who were those terrorists who attacked both them and Reunion earlier?
Maybe, just maybe, someone will find the answer to that.
But not today.
Author's Notes:
Holy shit I need to improve my combat scenes. My timing... I can't really complain about it, but the writing here... I feel like I just rammed my head into a wall trying to find the right words, synergy, and images to improve them. For the love of me I can't actually write high-octane combat scenes. I just end up writing gruntshit or maintenance shit that involves grunts being boring as hell.
And I like it that way, but stilll... I wanted to try something new here today. Oh well.
And, so here we have it. Skullshatterer is dead. But with the LGD stretched too thin and Reunion losing the attrition war, safe to say that the LGD can't get Misha, so it de facto falls to Rhodes Island. I wanted to make a scene where the Officer surrenders to Rhodes Island after an honorable duel with Skullshatterer. But seeing as I've basically written a curb stomp in favor of a Nod officer completely high on morphine... I think that this deserved something better.
The Nod Officer, while protected by C&C Gameplay, is slowly being poisoned by Oripathy. While he was able to tank Skullshatterer's grenade launcher, wizard blasts, crossbows, slashes and stabs... The man was hit by fatigue following his Morphine high, and collapsed. It's very hard to take down a C&C human via fatigue, but when it's done it's usually through starvation, self-inflicted morphine highs, or worse. And now with Oripathy... not even regenerating HP can save him from rock cancer.
That being said, this means that Misha isn't dead, and the Reunion uprising in Lungmen is quelled rather rapidly due to Nod being sent in to secretly suppress them. And suppress them they did.
I still feel that I'm making glaring errors when writing the AK side, but I'm doing the best I can with my limited-vocabulary writing style and general lack of creativty. I can't write fighting scenes for shit, so I might as well go write shooting galleries. I'll try to keep doing this, but no quality promise.
Alright, that's a wrap. I hope you guys have a good day, and I will see you all next chapter.
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