Shell

Chapter 24: Seeing the Future has it's Costs

I moved silently through the white hallways of the complex that reminded me of the Shell base where all this began. I managed to avoid all the few guard patrols that came by me, no had noticed that they their base had been infiltrated yet so it was fairly easy with their seemingly lax behavior.

This is too easy...

I thought to myself a little unnerved. If this base was supposedly key to winning the war we should be having a hell of a harder time than we were.

I continued my through clearing rooms along the way but finding nothing particularly useful just a bunch of office cubicles and closets full of junk. Out of no where a loud screech followed by a electric short-out came from my ear piece and radio. Re-actively I yanked my ear piece out and threw it to the ground before leaning on the wall clutching my ear for a few seconds, the brights lights switched to a deep red as the door behind me slammed shut.

"Shit just had to run my mouth didn't I?" I scolded myself aloud.

"Hello intruders! I vish to velcome you to our test facility, ve have known you would arrive and let you in to our little trap we setup prior. Now I vill only ask zis one time before I'll kill each of you for trespassing. Surrender." A very thick German accented voice came on over the intercom.

I couldn't talk to my team since my radio was down but I had a feeling they would do something similar. I walked down the hall until I found a camera and when it focused on me I flipped it the bird giving an obvious answer.

"So be it..."

I started to run down the hallways looking for an exit. I had to make it back to the others some how. I began to hear muffled gunfire along with big crashes through the metal as the plating shook from the massive vibrations. Two guards came running towards me opening fire and I returned fire dropping one of them while throwing myself into a stairwell, I ran up to the roof looking for a way back into the hangar. Running over to the edge of the roof I saw that the entire complex was now lit up as it began to rain, I looked over to the hangar doors and saw massive dents being put into them from the other side.

"What the hell?..." I asked dumbfounded.

The door to the roof opened up as another pair of guards came up.

"There she is, get her!" One of them said while raising his rifle.

I raised mine in turn and put two rounds in his skull before taking one myself center mass, luckily I put in a plate in my vest this time and I only got knocked down a little winded. I popped back up putting three rounds in the second's chest killing him. I got back up and searched for a way down before the hangar door was shot from its hinges and crushed the little trailer in front of it and lodged itself into a building. And after it the three mechs we saw in the hangar came running out into the center of the complex followed by Ray and Marcus opening fire into the hangar. Seeing no way down I did the next best thing.

"HEY OVER HERE!!! MARCUS, RAY I'M OVER HERE!!!" I shouted at the top of my lungs before being launched into the air.

I felt an intense heat along with shards of metal and rock pelting me from behind me. As I flipped through the air my sling to my rifle came undone and I saw it fall into the flames of an explosion. Still dazed and confused at what just happened I fell back down to earth watching the lightning arc through the clouds as my helmet left my head in the fall. It was then I realized I was falling and turned over to see the ground rushing towards the ground at an alarming rate, I braced myself for the impact but was caught before I met the pavement by a metallic hand. I looked to the cockpit which had closed but through the orb like visor I could see Duncan grinning wildly before setting me down.