Killing Us Slowly

Chapter 2 Part 3: Gone With The Flames Of War

Scythe's POV

As much as I wanted to find the lost code, it was difficult as the truth of the matter is, it was impossible to fight off this much infantry if we are ever spotted. I sought a plan with Gamma, but he was adamant, to leave them alone.

But he doesn't understand the gravity of the situation, he doesn't know the impact this info can have. I decided to pull under and stay light to avoid any disasters. 

Meanwhile, Sierra pushed forward and entered the first house, which was directly west from the base the enemy had set up while we arrived. I still do not believe they could have set up shop so fast behind we arrived. They had to be a recon team, or possibly a hunting pack.

Whatever the case may be, they were now our main target for elimination. Texas stayed behind to help scope out the area along with Dallas while Gamma and his team pinged me on my map, which indicated them being to our immediate left, but the path was cut off by a few guards and a ground-to-air missile launcher. 

Fortunately, the new members had been in similar situations before, well, not with such crushing odds that only our line of work encounters. They had originally planned to organise a scare tactic, drawing them away from the middle of town, while Gamma placed detonation charges on the launchers. But I immediately found the problem with this plan. After the big boom, too much noise will attract the men back to the square and start a deadly firefight that we couldn't possibly handle at our current level of gear. I had hoped that Sierra would think of a better plan, but he has said multiple times that he decidedly did not want to make any plans, as he is prone to success and didn't want to jeopardise his "perfect" track record with one lost firefight. 

"Texas, Dallas, report. I need some intel now." I called into the mike. 

"Nothing that is visibly obvious, I don't think we can stealth it this time. We may have to resort to plan B." Texas responded despondently. 

"I, however, do not agree. The men are positioned and patrol routes have indicated a blind spot about three clicks northeast, that spans a river.  We could use that to avoid alerting the guards." Dallas keyed in. 

Texas sighed and rescoped, looking over the river. She then nodded, giving me an idea.

"Dallas, keep an eye on the houses near the river, in case they decide to check it out to cover their blind spot. Sierra, give me a status on Gamma's team." I ordered, Dallas giving an acknowledgement light before rescoping. 

"All clear on the west side Scythe, Gamma's team have regrouped near a tunnel entrance, with signs indicating the possible location of the data source. Not too sure on the current defence measurements yet, the enemy has placed a tracer field around the mains power source." Sierra reported in. 

I nodded and gave an all clear on the current west and south east side of the village. Gamma responded with a acknowledgement light. 

My HUD pinged seventeen different red dots just 3 clicks away. This doesn't even count the artillery that they have set up. The codes are lost, although they aren't looking for that, but in fact they are looking for us. 

Unfortunately, I don't think that they even know about the lost code. They think we are all here for a recon mission. I hope they can all forgive me. Although there is no redemption where I am going. 

I stood up and pinged my radar, giving the command to fire at will. Three silent sniper shots rang out and an equal number of men toppled over and entered the river. The rest of the group wasn't enabled, thus no one was the wiser.

Forming up in a delta formation, we took the next two houses and set up a holding pattern to cover our tracks and ensure we weren't spotted. I had to make sure that we knew where we were putting our feet before any of us got blown to smithereens. 

"You think they are even here for the right reason?" Sierra pinged my headset.

"They clearly are here for us Sierra. No reason for them to be here otherwise." I responded.

"Then what about us? We must also be here for a reason. Don't bother lying to me either Scythe, no point. I will eventually find out." As hard as he tried to hide the anger in his voice, he clicked off and disappeared on my HUD. 

"Sierra! Don't do anything stupid. You know we can't survive those odds." I ordered. 

"I know...who said I was doing it alone?" Sierra chortled. 

Sierra's POV

He thinks he's the only one who knows how to fight. He's obviously never seen my performance in the Arena. 

Donning my black carbon helm, I disappeared into the shadows and leaped across to the next building. 

Let's see, they outnumber us 3 to 1, that seems easy enough. How about we make it 2 to 1?

I drew my short blade and cut down three men in quick succession and moved on. Gamma pinged me and he was in the perfect position. I continued on and took down two more men before they finally noticed something was amiss. Dallas immediately took down the curious guard and covered my six with a mute charge. Texas moved up and drew her umbrella. 

"Blue Team, attack formation Joust is in effect. Engage all targets in vicinity." I commanded. Four acknowledgment lights pinged and moved in a square. Texas and Dallas took the southeast and northwest corners of the square, with Ace and I taking the last two corners. Firing away, taking out the artillery before they engaged us, I broke formation and pulled the square into a triangle and held the formation. 

I took point and headed north toward the cave entrance that laid near the base of the river. 

Knowing that Scythe would want the area secure, I placed a det-charge behind me set a ten minute timer and left the scene to approach the incoming assault. Incoming was filled with two minigun toting Heavy Juggernauts who slowly made their way to the formation, causing the pattern to break and lose our tactical advantage. 

"Scythe, got any ideas?" I yelled over the rattling gunfire. Texas held her ground against the battling bullets, but was blown back, only to be caught by Gamma, who still could not place a shot on the Heavys. 

"None, as of now. We need that Intel now Sierra." Scythe quipped. Dude, you are getting more impatient by the second. I sighed and pulled out the detonator.

"I understand. Expect no mercy then." I pressed the button and both Heavy's shook under the earth-shattering explosion. This gave Dallas and Gamma enough time to place their shots and knock off their helmets. I smiled, knowing that this was what I had anticipated. I slid forward and dashed quickly, leaping into the air, pulling my revolver and blasting away their heads. The two bodies slumped over and dropped their weapons. 

Cleaning up the rest of the troops, I trundled ahead and looked into the horizon. I realized that the clouds here in Russia were more picturesque than in Los Angeles, or even in Japan. I should definitely come back here someday. 

"We found what we came for, let's head back home." I saw him raise a old codex with ancient scribbles, but the pages didn't look old enough to be an ancient artefact. In fact, it didn't even look like it was buried there...

More like somebody wanted him to find it...

To be continued...