Do They Have Change For a Twenty Part Four: They Don't

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Setting: Vacuo desert
Team: Sage Thompson, Marcus “Tesla” Desmond, Hal Byrd, and Debbie “Crystal” Desmond.
Objective: Assault the base, plant the experimental explosives, and escape.

      From the desert there came a helicopter. A single rotor transport helicopter, designed simply for getting a small group of people from A to B. The trip to Marcus’s complex was mostly silent. When they arrived at the massive facility in the middle of the storming desert, Marcus was personally outside to greet them. His white lab coat dirtied by his work. He was a very dedicated man. The three talked for a time, listening to each other's stories before getting down to business. Sage and Hal explained what happened. The fighting, the experiments, the complex, and their deceased friends. Then, they took a moment of silence to honor the fallen comrades. Soon after, they came up with a plan. Marcus had been working on various explosives, ranging from simple non-lethal riot control grenades to the kind of things you could only detonate in the desert. One such explosive was in it's late development stages, and was in need of some field tests. The bombs in question were really just canisters containing highly corrosive gas that could chew through a 3x3x3 concrete block in under half an hour. Marcus already had several five pound containers of the gas, which Sage estimated to be more than enough. Their plan was to turn the base into a sinkhole. After much discussion over how effective the corrosive gas might be against the steel rebar, and whatever metal it might have to chew through, they decided they would need more help than the three of them. Hal reminded Sage and Marcus that he helps organize a three hundred person militia, containing quite a few hunters and huntresses. As they discussed how many people they might need, Marcus’s sister, Debbie stepped in. She was visiting from Atlas apparently. The three told them of the predicament, and she let them know she would be willing to help. She, like Sage, was more effective at a distance, but her rifle wasn't nearly as strong. It did, however, transform between a rifle and a broadsword. The sun was rising as the discussion came to a close, and the plans were laid out. They would wait until tomorrow to execute the mission.
       When the fateful morning came, Sage and Hal went out and gathered up fifty of the militia members. They were made perfectly aware of the risks, and there were still forty there by the time Hal and Sage lead the soldiers out to the village. There were five trucks and two civilian grade VTOLs. Marcus and Debbie met up with them in their own military grade VTOL gunship, Marcus’s logo sprayed on the side. It was a vibrant green, and very out of place in the desert, but deadlier than the VTOL Sage and Hal had to face before. It had a 40mm cannon attached to the front, two rocket pods on the wings, each with ten dust primed missiles. It even had some special attachments for crowd control.
      It was a fearsome force that crossed the desert that afternoon. Then, they all gathered up a little less than a kilometer away, getting ready for the assault. They trekked through the desert, armed and ready to take on the enemy. Sage peaked over the eastern dune that he'd first came upon just the day before last. There was construction being done on the base, the wall still visibly caved in. The cracked VTOL was out in the courtyard of the base. Through the scope of the rifle he could see many of the black clad soldiers standing about, looking around. All of them had gathered outside the base.

Hal: Ready?
Sage: Just about. How many snipers do we have?
Hal: Including “Crystal”? I think ten.
Sage: Okay, I need you to give them some orders. I want five on the north dune over there, and the other half with me. I want ten of our guys to go with each of them as well, for support.
Hal: That'll leave only ten for assault though?
Sage: If we do this right, then hopefully we'll only need those ten.
Hal: Alright, I'll get word out.
Sage: Good man.
Marcus: Hey, Sage. I've got a quick update to give you on the gas.
Sage: Shoot.
Marcus: I'm having the last two flown in. Might be about an hour. That'll make ten barrels. I'm also having some timed explosives moved here too.
Sage: Why the explosives?
Marcus: Because radio waves won't breach the base from up here. The timed explosions will have to breach the barrels.
Sage: Alright. How much are we talking about?
Marcus: It might sound overkill, but four one pound charges of C4 per barrel.
Sage: That actually is overkill. We could level two of those floors alone with that much. Why not just use the C4?
Marcus: I told you, I need field tests. What better way than annihilating an underground compound?
Sage: I guess so, but still.
Marcus: And, just a quick question. When will the assault begin?
Sage: First I'll order an sniper barrage, then I'll determine when the assault should commence.
Marcus: Sounds good. I'm just waiting for my things to arrive. If it comes to it, you can just start without me.
Sage: If you say so.

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