March 16, 2007, 01:46 AM
"Took you long enough."
That voice, it was Ethan. He was already positioned ahead of Rafa and Bruce, with Arnold standing by his side.
Rafa and Bruce, who had been sprinting, finally slowed to a halt. Their lungs burning as they finally closed the gap without any interference.
Both of them were breathless, hands resting on their knees. "Why the hell did you guys just go off on your own..." Rafa muttered, his head hanging low.
"To make progress on the mission, someone's gotta do it," Arnold replied.
Bruce straightened up, his hand gripping Arnold's shoulder, partly for support, partly to steady the tension. "Fine. What's the play?"
"We're breaching this building. I have the basecamp map," Ethan said.
Without hesitation, Ethan kicked the door open. Inside, about five Soviet soldiers were moving through the hall.
"Враг уже здесь! (Enemy is here!)" one of them barked, his voice echoing loudly.
The soldiers immediately dove for cover. Bruce surged forward, providing cover with his ballistic shield right in the middle of the doorway.
Two of the soldiers hid behind a large desk, another ducked behind a nearby wall, while the remaining two didn't even make it to cover. Ethan and Arnold's rifles barked from the hallway, stitching a line of lead across their chests before they could raise their weapons.
He pushed into the room, shifting the momentum for Squadron No. 6 to take advantage. Rafa moved in quickly behind him, taking cover behind a sofa and waiting for the enemy to show themselves.
The air became thick with the smell of blood and tension.
One soldier tried to aim from behind the desk, leaning out just enough for Ethan to land a shot on his rifle, knocking it out of his hands. Bruce seized the opening and fired a shot to the soldier's head, killing him instantly.
His comrade screamed. A raw, panicked sound. He turned to flee, but Rafa was already there, ghosting through the flank. The muzzle of Rafa's rifle pressed against the man's temple.
"Н-не убивай м-меня... П-прошу... (D-don't kill m-me... I beg you...)"
Click.
Rafa didn't look back.
"Подкрепление на правый фланг! Немедленно! (Backup to the right flank! Now!)" a voice hissed into a walkie-talkie from behind a far wall.
He tried to peek around the corner to get a fraction of visuals of the squad, but...
Psshwt...
A suppressed round tore through the skin and skull.
"Move! We're burned!" Rafa shouted. The silence of the base had been replaced by the frantic shuffling of boots. Fortunately, Fox already cut the alarm, leaving only the human ones to scream.
They pushed deeper, searching for the heart of the facility, the ICBM silo. As Rafa reached for a heavy door at the end of a hall...
Ckring!
It missed.
The sparks flew off the metal frame, inches from his face.
Reacting instantly, Rafa ducked down and threw the door open, returning the fire.
The door led to a square spiral staircase heading down. There it was, a shadow that flickered down below. A sniper, already retreating down the steps. The man who had almost taken Rafa's head.
Rafa's shots missed the sniper that disappeared into the stairwell. "Damn it!" he shouted.
They hurried down the stairs. Their boots clattered on the metal stairs, but Ethan stayed high, his sniper rifle tracking the gaps in the railings, providing a deadly umbrella of overwatch.
He was right. As the squad descended the stairs, with no preparation, A soldier stepped out, weapon raised, but Ethan was faster. A single round caught the man in the throat, sending him tumbling back into the room.
Rafa hit the next landing and immediately hugged the wall. Through the open door, he could see at least six soldiers behind those heavy crates. Downward, more footsteps were echoing up. They were being squeezed.
"Bruce, hold the bottom. Arnold, help Rafa!" Ethan commanded from the railing.
Bruce slammed his shield onto the steps, creating a temporary barricade against the forces rising from below. Arnold moved in beside Rafa, suppressing the enemies inside the room.
From the high ground, Ethan's rifle was the finger of god.
One enemy fell. Rafa pulled a grenade, cooked it for a heartbeat, and tossed it. It skipped across the floor, disappearing behind the enemy's crates. The soldiers scrambled, forced out into the open.
Rafa and Arnold didn't miss. Three men fell. Then the world turned gray as the grenade exploded.
From below, four more soldiers rushed at Bruce's position. Ethan's rifle cracked. One fell down. Three left.
They quickly ducked behind the railings, but Ethan had the angle of a high ground. One soldier tried to blind-fire from cover, but Ethan shot the rifle straight out of his hands. As the man recoiled, Bruce's fire tore through the soldier's arm, severing it at the elbow and it falls down the stairs.
"Блядь!! (Fuck!!)" the man screamed, a guttural sound of pure agony. He reached for his stump, but Ethan's second shot silenced the pain forever.
Meanwhile, four were down.
Rafa and Arnold moved out to clear the remaining soldiers in the room. They shouldered the wall, waiting for the right moment. The enemy fired a burst that forced Rafa to back up, but Arnold used that distraction to fire from the other side. But, the enemy managed to take cover.
Rafa lunged forward, closing the gap. They startled. The enemy tried to stand up and fire, but Rafa and Arnold dropped them easily.
Seven more were dead. Only the enemies down below who remained.
Rafa and Arnold immediately left the room, "We have no time!" the sound ringing in their ears. "Move!"
The situation has become very urgent. The enemy backup will come at any time.
"Fuck this!" Bruce grabbed his shield and charged down. Rafa and Arnold followed close behind, covering him. The enemies below were caught off guard as they stood and fire their shotguns, but one of their head was pierced by Ethan's shot.
Arnold took out the last man, clearing the final resistance on the stairs. Ethan scrambled down to join the rest of the team.
They descended the stairs quickly, looking up, just in case there was any enemy support. They reached the bottom floor. The subliminal level of hell.
The air was colder here, smelling of damp earth, petrichor, and oil. Arnold nudged the heavy silo door open slowly. Rafa covered the opposite angle.
Safe. Or so it seemed.
Bruce stepped in first, the vanguard that led the way behind his shield.
Immediately—
Krgdooarr!!
That sound. It wasn't normal. It felt heavy.
It was almost like an anti-material bullet.
The round impaled through the ballistic shield, shattering the glass like it was made out of a piece of paper and sin, before finally being caught by Bruce in the chest.
"BRUCE!!!" Rafa's scream ripped through the silo.
Ethan immediately aimed his sniper at the source of the sound which was above this large room, a missile silo to be precise.
Cring!
He missed.
He fucking missed.
"Fuck! Fuck! Fuck!" Arnold grabbed Bruce by his vest, dragging him back into the hallway as Rafa provided a wall of cover fire.
Ethan stepped back, his eyes never leaving the top of the silo, a reminder of his failure. He had let his guard down. He had let the shield fall. Staring at the sniper that hides behind a door on the upper platform felt wrong.
They laid Bruce on the cold floor. Rafa's hands were shaking as he ripped open the med-kit, spraying a numbing agent onto the jagged wound and began to wrap it with a bandage, tight.
"You okay..., son?" Rafa's voice was cracked, a rare fracture within his composure.
"I'm... I'm good..." Bruce replied, his face ashen beneath the green glow of the NVGs
"Fucking hell..." Arnold breathed, leaning against the wall, his hands trying to hold his own head, his eyes wide.
Ethan stood apart in silence. The guilt was too much, a weight in his chest. He stared into the dark oblivion of the silo. A silent vow formed. He knew he would find that sniper and end them
Rafa stood up, his mind collapsing. They couldn't call for reinforcements because the missile hasn't been identified and neutralized.
"It's alright. We will finish this," Arnold said, checking his mag on his gun.
"You're right..." Rafa replied, though his eyes still lingered on Bruce.
Ethan tapped his ECD. "Sebastian, Fox, status?"
"Just broke through the reinforcement team. We're on our way," Sebastian said in a hurry, the subtle rain can be heard, even though the red mist still lingered in the air.
"Copy that," Ethan said.
"Do we wait or what?" Arnold turned to Rafa, looking for words.
"What's your command, Rafa?" Ethan asked. His voice was low and steady.
Rafa looked at his team, then at the dark silo ahead. "We wait for them. Bruce is vulnerable. If we push now, we're at a disadvantage."
"Copy that," Arnold answered.
#3 End.