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V2 Chapter 24: Invasion II
🕑 Added 2023-02-25 15:01:00 +0000 UTCIt didn't take long for Soshal to find things that interested her. She pulled out a small back and transferred several different objects off the bodies. Some of the things she took looked like personal items, and the rest were access cards and the like. From previous experiences, she took the commander's hand as well.
Before she could finish collecting the things, Robert called out contact. He finally got to show off his new skills as an absolute hail of bullets flew down the corridor from his oversized gun.
The frontal assault didn't last very long, and the Tarlaki fell back onto their typical tactics of ambushes. So as Sevs's team started working their way to the objective, they only had to watch their sides closely and didn't have to handle too many direct assaults. Sevs would rather have to deal with direct assaults normally. However, he noticed an odd thing. Ambushes didn't really work when they were the only things an opponent did. If they had thrown them in with normal assaults, things might have got trickier.
However, each group was wiped out, so they weren't able to learn from the ones who came before it. They were trying the same tactic over and over again. It was kinda stupid. If they had been charging ahead constantly, at least they might have been lulling Sevs's group into a false sense of confidence. But constant ambushes were only making them more alert.
Every time they passed a hall, they would check it carefully. Soshal pointed out all the vents that someone would drop out of. Sevs really needed to ask how she was doing it. The accuracy with which she was able to identify them was uncanny. Maybe he needed to take the intelligence training. He had played as an assassin and a spy several times, and he still wasn't sure how she was doing it.
Sevs checked in with the other squad. They were making progress as well, but it seemed that they had lost a couple of members of the team, and their lack of numbers was making it slow going. After talking with them for a few seconds, Sevs suggested that they go back and keep the landing clear for the next wave. There was one launcher on the base despite this being a smaller private installation, which was why only their two squads had landed.
Then taking that out would be more helpful than going after the same goal that Sev's team was. Besides, the enemies they were drawing away were helpful but not something that his team really needed. Now that they had an active respawn point, they could take a lot larger risks than when they were left stranded.
Jason seemed partially loose as that safety net allowed him to take crazy chances.
"I thought you went and spent a lot of time learning how to pick the perfect spot and stay still for hours." Carl told Jason as he somersaulted in front of the next ambush showing off his crazy agility. "I did. It was soooo boring. I can do it but why would I went I don't have to?"
"Zim would be ashamed of you." Bexy ribbed Jason. He didn't seem too bothered by that. "He already was. Could never make that man happy."
"That's because you never did what he said," Carl quipped. Sevs was just thinking of telling me to cut it out, but he was too late. Jason got wrapped up in talking shit with his team members and didn't notice that he had stepped too far and lost his cover. It was a stupid mistake that was easily avoided.
Sevs could only watch as Jason fell to the ground clutching his calf, which now had a hole as thick as his thumb all the way through it. Robot swiveled and absolutely demolished the entire hallway that the ambush had come from. Still, the damage was done. Jason was going to slow them down unless they wanted to send him for respawn.
Bexy was already moving. Apparently, the kit of a demo specialist had a bit of overlap with a medic. She had a painkiller shot in Jason in a couple of seconds and was stuffing the wound full before stealing it off. Sure, the bleeding had stopped, but Jason still wouldn't be able to move fast, even if he could put his weight on it. Handing him an expanded crutch, Bexy stood up, having done all she could.
Jason sent Sevs an apologetic look. They would talk later; Jason had messed up, and he knew it. But Sevs wasn't really mad at him. He received a private message from Carl, "Sorry, Lieutenant. It won't happen again."
He nodded. "See that it doesn't."
Carl wasn't one of the guys anymore. He couldn't be the one causing problems. Sure, Jason was getting carried away, and it was Carl's job to tell him off, but he needed to do it effectively and quickly. Instead, he had tried to be nice about it, and joking around was hurting the mission. Sevs was sure Carl knew this, but it wouldn't hurt to reinforce it a bit later. If it did happen again, they might need to have a more serious conversation, but right now, they were in the middle of something.
Jason got to his feet with a little help from Bexy, but it was clear that he would not be moving very fast at all. Luckily they were most of their way to their goal. They went up a set of stairs and out an access door on the roof. Out of the roof was the control tower they needed to take.
"Guys, can I get a little help here?" Jason asked. He had made it up the stairs but slowly. Now he was looking at the raised entrance to the stairwell they had just come out of. Robert hurried over and made a stirrup with his hands for Jason to put his good leg into. With a grunt, Jason grabbed the roof and clambered his way up.
"I got a good view up here," Jason said as he covered himself with a camouflaging cloak. As he lay down, all they could really see was the long barrel of his rifle sticking out as the cloak adapted to its environment. "I'll do my best to give cover to the other teams taking the rest of the towers. Let me know when you get close to the top, and I can switch targets up a bit to help you enter."
Sevs would rather have had Jason with them. When they did take the tower, having him up, there would have been much more useful than having him here. But Sevs had to trust that Jason knew what he was doing. There was a reason Jason had the training and knew how to position himself. If he wasn't coming with them, that was a greater admission of pain than Jason would ever say out loud, Sevs supposed.
"You need anything?" Carl called to Jason as Sevs started to consider their next move.
"No, I'm good. Y'all better get going, though. I can see reinforcements coming," Jason said as he lined up a shot on a distant speck on the horizon. As they turned to start their assault on the tower, they could already hear quiet shots coming from Jason's position.
Bexy readied some charges as Robert and Carl prepared to clear the entry as Sevs and Soshal watched their back.
The ascent went quickly, and they didn't find anyone in the tower. Right as they reached the top, they felt an explosion rock the whole facility. Sevs received a communication from the other team leader. "The launchers are down for good. Thanks for the cover fire."
Sevs grinned. It was good to see Jason being so effective already. Any minute their reinforcements would be here. There wasn't any need to take the tower before then, but if they could, that might help them position their troops when they did show up. The important thing was to get the control tower and let the command know that this was a viable extraction place. Once they got the tower, they would be able to release ships and get back.
"Jason we are about to go in." Sevs said over the team comms. "Right with ya boss."
Bexy blew his door with tiny charges right at the hinges to prevent a backlash in such a tight space. At the same time, three panes of glass exploded almost at once on the other side of the tower. As Robert entered, he was able to drop the four-man security team instantly. They were surprised and were looking over their shoulder for something coming through the window. Sevs and Carl were right on his heels, putting down the controllers. By the time Soshal was through the doors, she just went right to a console and got to work.
