MISSION: LOZANO PART TWO
The team let out a collective sigh of relief, weapons dropping. Suddenly a message popped up, and it was obvious everyone could see it;
OBJECTIVE UPDATE
Secure Trainee Lozano. This is a team objective. The team that completes this objective will receive 100 XP and +1 Skill Point.
PERIMETER UPDATE: Trainee Lozano has been found, however he has not been secured yet; a vehicle patrol is on its way to the outpost, arriving in approximately five minutes. You must defeat this patrol and get Trainee Lozano to safety.
TSGT CANTOR TO TEAM STONE/PRESCOTT: Trainees, we have intel on your mission update. This patrol consists of two Humvees containing two Recon patrol teams, four members strong. The Humvees are armed with .50 Caliber Browning machine guns; so do not engage the enemy in the open! You have your orders; kill the enemy, secure Lozano. Failure is not an option here.
Stone and Prescott looked to one another, then to the team. A timer appeared at the top of everyone's HUD’s, counting down quickly from five minutes.
“I knew this seemed too easy,” Stovall muttered.
As the timer ticked down to its remaining thirty seconds, the teams scattered; it was obvious this was the plan all along. This was either a scenario cooked up by the AI, or something the MTI’s used to bait the trainees. Was Lozano privy to it or a pawn in this, like the rest of them? Stovall wasn’t sure, but it didn’t matter now; he had his part to play in their own plan.
His heart was hammering. He was never brave, never one to step up and take a side. He was smart, probably smarter than the rest of these guys if his stats were any measure. But he always did as he was told, and did it well. For once he had to take a side, and he had to step up; everyone here was counting on him. When they had found the RPG, he was the strongest one of the team, so he automatically received it as he was the only one that could use it. So this entire thing hinged on him.
Stovall made his way quickly around the back side of the dining area. Where the generator or whatever was powering the outpost had been, there was a small ladder leading to the roof. While he would be exposed up there when he stood, his mission was simple; take out a humvee, start a distraction, and try not to die.
While he didn’t like this plan… at all, if he was being honest, he also couldn't disagree with it. This weapon was meant for this type of engagement, and he highly doubted they could take them out any other way. Even if they killed every other member of the recon teams, their team would be pinned into the compound by those deadly machine guns. It sucked there was only one way in or out of this place, but it made it easier to guard for the people who once inhabited it.
As Stovall made his way to the top of the ladder, fifteen seconds remaining, he could see the two humvees not too far in the distance. Their sandy yellow hulls, dirt kicking up in large clouds behind them. His heart was hammering… what the fuck was he doing?
He took a deep breath, dropping onto the roof; luckily it was slightly sunk in, leaving a bit of a rim around the edge. This would make it impossible to spot him until he stood. He was thankful, maybe he could actually make it out of this. He slipped onto his belly and began crawling to the edge of the roof.
The timer hit zero, and he could hear the slamming of doors as the NPC’s exited the Humvees. He laid there, his heart pounding. Stone had asked him to wait a few minutes before firing; this would give everyone more time to position, but also hopefully catch the teams off guard. He began counting; one, two…
As he quietly repeated his mantra, he could hear the recon teams below talking for a moment. He could hear one of them say, ‘Teams have arrived at Fuel Depot Bravo. Commencing sweep.’ That must be a sign they were going to enter the compound. One hundred twenty, one hundred twenty one…
He concluded one hundred and eighty would be plenty of time. Three minutes. His heart continued to pound, he felt like he might pass out. He could hear the blood in his ears. What was he doing here?!
“No, John, stop.” He said to himself, “You got this. You are not going to die here. We will kick their ass, get to safety, and get rewarded.”
His breathing steadied at that. One hundred seventy nine…
In one smooth motion, he stood and took out the RPG. Special weapons were slightly different; while you couldn’t physically ‘see’ it on someone, they had them equipped in a special storage. One just had to simply swap weapons, and it would come to their hands, replacing their normal equipment. Like magic; poof, you had a new gun, and no one was the wiser.
Stovall was surprised how light this thing was. Why did it require such a high strength characteristic?
He didn’t have time to think, he aimed the shoulder mounted weapon down toward the two humvees, and pulled the trigger. In the blink of an eye one of the Humvees exploded, ceasing to exist. The flames, and concussion of the blast took Johns breath away, as he was thrown from his feet. He hadn’t planted his feet, just aiming his torso and pulling the trigger, the force of the blast and the rocket itself throwing him.
He crashed to his back, his breath knocked from him. His ears rang so loudly. What the fuck just happened? Rocks began raining around him, and he vaguely heard shouting. He had to get his ass up.
YOU HAVE GAINED 500 EXPERIENCE
LEVEL UP! You are now a level 3 Trainee. Congratulations!
He willed the message away, as he tried to roll over and get to safety.
The explosion was so much louder than she could have imagined. Maher was hiding in the barracks with Lozano and Riggs. Both of them only had knives, while she was still unarmed. At the sound, she peeked out of the sole window in the barracks overlooking the courtyard, and could see the recon teams all moving to engage the enemy they saw on the rooftop.
MAHER TO LOZANO/RIGGS: Weird… these NPC’s seem to react in a very predictable manner. I don’t image we would all have went after a single enemy like that?
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RIGGS: Maybe… we’ll find out, won’t we?
Good point, she thought. As she watched, though, a couple of the recon team members turned and began heading toward the door of the barracks. Shit.
MAHER TO LOZANO/RIGGS: Two inbound, I’m going to take my place.
She wiggled her way underneath a nearby mattress. The plan was simple; Lozano was hiding in the lockers near the door. Riggs had crawled underneath some of the toppled lockers. Once the enemies had walked inside the barracks a good distance, they would move to engage them, and Maher would help where she could. She had picked up a broken pole from one of the beds, it wasn’t considered a weapon by the system, so the AI assigned it as an IMPROVISED WEAPON. The 3 Damage Per Second was at least a substantial boost from the 1 she had with her fists.
She could hear the door open gently, the sounds of gunfire from the outside pouring in. The soft ‘pat, pat, pat’ of footsteps as someone walked in. If she didn’t know someone was here, would she even have noticed the sound? They were so light.
Her hand shot up to cover her mouth. While she hoped that the gunfire outside would muffle any small sounds in here, she was so nervous she couldn’t be sure she wasn’t breathing heavily. Just focus, breath in, breath out… you have this Mary.
The silence seemed to stretch forever, when suddenly she heard a shout. That was her cue; she wormed her way from under the mattress, standing to her full height ready to pounce.
She saw Lozano and Riggs, both had stabbed into the furthest soldier near the doorway. The NPC had dropped its gun, grasping at a long gash in its neck. The soldier closest to Maher had turned, and she hear a ‘Pop, pop, pop’ as he pulled the trigger. She couldn’t see if it had hit anyone, the window didn’t give enough light to fully illuminate the barracks.
She rushed head long into the back of the other Soldier, taking him off guard. She heard a loud ‘oomph’, as she collided with his back, sending him flying forward. She received a message, but waved it away, as she pushed herself up onto her knees. The soldier she was on top of was quick, pushing himself over, grabbing at his rifle to bring it to bear on her. But she was ready, bringing her pole down onto his fingers. CRUNCH!
The soldier let out a loud cry, and she brought the pole down, and down, and down. Smash, smash, smash. After about the tenth swing, she was out of breath, and the soldier had stopped moving. Riggs walked over, and sunk a knife into his neck, ending whatever suffering she may have inflicted. She received another message, again pushing it away. The fight was so… brutal, so intimate. She felt entirely numb.
‘Ugh,’ Stratton thought to himself. ‘Why did I get stuck with these two… they’re always so… bossy.’
He was slinking behind Stone and Prescott. They were posted behind the fuel depot building, and their job was probably the second most risky; they needed to ambush the enemies immediately after Stovall fired his RPG. By the leaders reckoning, the NPC’s would react to the most immediate threat, giving them a good chance at slimming the enemies numbers quickly.
He sighed to himself. He’ll just do what hes told, and get back to safety. All this was stupid, he just wanted to do something that wasn’t hard, or risk his life. I guess this was definitely less risky than Stovall’s job, that poor sap. Stratton was glad his strength was just shy of the requirement.
As he was lost in his musing, ignoring the two team leads next to him as they talked amongst one another, a resounding ‘BOOM’ echoed out. His thoughts immediately snapped to the present, as Prescott and Stone rounded the side of the building and began firing. He took his cue, moving to the edge of the building. He had the Baretta, so he had to be sure his shots counted more than the other two. It seemed like hand gun ammo wasn’t nearly as common as rifle ammo, from what everyone had seen so far.
He peered around the edge of the building to see two soldiers were on the ground, seemingly dead. There was smoke billowing on the other side of the wall, and a loud ‘bang, bang, bang’. That must be the .50 caliber machinegun they were told about; the sound was so horrifying, and he found himself feeling sorry for Stovall once again. He couldn’t see any living enemies from his position, so he began creeping up the side of the building. Stone and Prescott had done a strafing maneuver, firing as they moved from behind the fuel storage to behind the barracks.
As Stratton made his way closer, he could finally see the Humvee outside. There was someone standing in what looked like an open topped turret. He had the machine gun aimed at the top of the building Stovall was positioned, unloading what felt like an infinite volley of bullets at it. The shells punched holes in the side of the wall and building at a ridiculous speed, and Stratton knew if Stovall was alive it was only a matter of minutes before he was toast.
Breaking his eyes from the humvee, he spotted a nearby enemy. He was close enough to inspect him, and he was one of the RECON SERGEANTS. He had taken up cover behind one of the old fuel pumps, but his side was exposed to where Stratton stood. He was firing toward the Barracks. He took a deep breath, and aimed his pistol gripping it with both hands. One, two, three…. pop. It struck true, going right through his neck. The sergeant topped over, as Stratton got an XP and level notification.
His first kill. He felt pretty elated… wow. The power he felt when he pulled that trigger, and one shot that guy? FUCK YEAH! Lets gooooooo.
He shot a look the way Stone and Prescott had ran, and didn’t see anyone from where he stood. He could only hear the banging of the machine gun now, and he wondered if they had killed all the recon troops at this point.
Peeking from behind where he hid, he didn’t see the last soldier. Well, may as well go grab a better weapon.
Darting from behind the building, he pushed his back against the fuel pumps, and looted the Sergeant. He was welcomed by an M-4 rifle, some ammo, a BASIC MEDICAL KIT, and something new… a HAND GRENADE. He knew just what to do with this!
Stone and Prescott rounded the back of the barracks. Taking a second to catch their breath, they worked their way forward, coming behind the small gatehouse. The Humvee was maybe 100 feet away, but it was unloading a halestorm of bullets at Stovalls position. As they surveyed the battlefield, they could see three dead soldiers.
STONE TO PRESCOTT: Hey, do you want to go check on the Barracks and see if they need you? I’ll try and sus out the last soldier. Not sure how to handle this Humvee situation, maybe we can rush it?
PRESCOTT: Yeah, give me a few minutes, I’ll message you.
Prescott ducked away, running right through the open barracks door. Stealth was out of the question anymore.
Stone took a second, peeking out from behind the small gatehouse, and over the lip of it. There was no sign of the last soldier. Maybe he had ran back to the Humvee? Or perhaps he was on the roof with Stovall?
As she thought through all these, she eyed Stratton running from the fuel depot behind the barracks.
STONE TO STRATTON: What the hell are you doing?
STRATTON: Where are you at?
STONE: Behind the gatehouse.
STRATTON: Be right there.
Stratton came around the back of the barracks seconds later, slinking up to where Stone hid. In his hand he held a small, green ball. As Stone inspected what was in his hands, her eyes grew wide.
“Where did you…” She muttered.
He shook his head, and handed it to her. “It was on the Sergeant I killed. Either I’m lucky, or this was part of the plan, but I think this is our out.”
Stone looked at the grenade in her hand, and a look of determination came over her face. Without a seconds thought, or hesitation, she hurled herself from behind the gatehouse - running full tilt at the last humvee. She closed the distance quickly, her speed boost helping. She pulled the small pin, and hurled it with all her might at the remaining vehicle.
The banging was incessant, so loud. It was like a hammer in her soul.
She opened her eyes, blinking. What had happened? She pulled the head gear off, and moved her hand to her nose. Blood? And what the hell… she had a splitting headache.