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Rise To Honor - Part 14: Hitting Where It Hurts
Posted By: Shadow<Shadowolf16@aol.com>
Date: 9 August 2002, 1:39 am


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He slowly walked over to where the voice was calling out for help.

"Can anyone hear me? I need help here!"
(I was spinning free, whoooooaaaaa!)

He listened carefully. The sound was coming from the left. He saw a crumbled wall, and an enormous pile of concrete and granite leaning against the half blown wall. He guessed that the soldier was trapped under there. He unstrapped his rifle, his back panging in the extreme pain of the glass lodged in his back. He'd take it out now, but he didn't have the time. If he wanted to save this resistance fighter before he ran out of air, he'd have to act now. He aimed with his rifle right at the center of the pile. Then he remembered. The rifle round would go right through the soldier if he shot using the rifle. Well, he guessed he'd have to do it the old fashioned way. He dropped his sniper rifle and it landed in a loud clank on the metallic floor beneath him. He slowly kneeled down, trying to take the pain of the glass as he descended. The job was too big, he'd need a cutter.

"EVA, where is the nearest cutter utility around here?"
"Scanning...there's one near the resistance med center. But at the rate you're moving, you'll never get there and back before the guy runs out of air."
"Fine."

He pressed a few buttons, his fingers moving at a rapid rate. Some of the buttons were behind EVA's hologram. He didn't bother to go around, he just shoved his finger through the image and onto the buttons that were needed. EVA didn't seem to like it, but that was her problem.

Connecting to Channel 144345663:
Connected.

***Jan, or someone, I need anyone that can move. There's a beam cutter right outside the resistance med office. I need it to cut out a trapped soldier.***

He waited a few seconds, and a response came after a while. From the sound of the voice, it was Az.

***Be right there Shadow, moving as quick as possible.***

He continued to kneel down, but said nothing to comfort the trapped soldier. He didn't want to the poor guy to give up his hopes that he was going to be saved. Already, his chances were too slim for any real chance at getting out of there. Shadow didn't bother to give him the chance to know that he was so close, but have his heart drop a thousand miles down after realizing that they won't get to him in time. His mind raced on about that type of thing until he heard the barely audible clanging on the ground. It was Az all right. She was a silent walker, being an assassin and all, and she had trained herself to be as quiet as possible. He was getting impatient, and the cries of the trapped soldier were getting more and more frantic. She sprinted around the corner and dove cutter first into the rock. She landed on her knees, digging into the granite immediately. A yellow beam blew out of the nose at the front, and began slicing right through the rocks. The rocks split in half, their insides melting in a molten orange.

"I think I'm breaking through."
"Lower the power level, we don't want to burn right through the soldier."
"Right."

She turned a switch and the beam became less intense, but nonetheless, still cutting at a fast rate. Finally, the last rocks gave away, and the hole was broken open. Shadow immediately pulled up his sniper rifle, snatching it from the ground. He expected a resistance member, but he saw a government agent, sitting in the cavern of rocks. He held the rifle right at the soldier's nose, Az holding her pistol at an arm's length.

"Get up."

The soldier silently stepped out of the hole and stood up. He stood tall and respectful. Shadow nodded to Az. She dropped her pistol and patted the guy down. No weapons. He must have lost his rifle when the avalanche of rock hit him. Man, it was all just a big waste of time.

"Well, you're no threat to us, but we could use you for information on your commander's base."
"Alright."

He was cooperating quite easily. There must be something up. Was he planning on running? No, this soldier didn't look that stupid. Was he going to give them false information that would send them to a trap? Possibly. But the Spartans could probably tell if the fool was lying or not. They'd have to be wary of the information that this soldier gives.

"Shadow, I need to get back tot he med center, we have a lot that need medical attention. Can you handle him?"
"Don't insult me Az."

She didn't acknowledge his last comment, but instead, merely dashed off back to the med center. He pulled off his earphone, the blasting music ceasing to ram sounds into his mind. Shadow looked to the soldier. He saw and insignia on his left shoulder. It was a small eagle with a bomb clutched in its beak. That could mean only one thing: this soldier was a mercenary, not a government regular. It meant that the mercenary only held loyalty to the government where there was money. And if it meant his life or the loyalty to a government that was merely paying him to do his job, he would most likely choose life.

"Look, you don't look like the type of guy that is very loyal to the government, but that means we can trust you even less. Right now, we have people in there that are fighting for their lives. Help us save some lives."
"You're right. I never wanted to be with the government in the first place. I was forced in by...certain people."
"Well, lets get going."

He dashed forwards, constantly looking back to make sure the soldier was following. After a few twists and turns in the labyrinth-like garage, they made their way to the med center. He heard the voice from one of the Spartans. It was Kelly, and she had her helmet off right now, and was working on a critically wounded soldier.

"Damnit. Good. Dark Wolf, we need you're help. I need you to get me the tools I need when I ask for them."
He nodded, and stood by the medical table where all the tools were being held.

"Scissors. The long, bendy kind."
"You mean the U-gen scissors. I'm not stupid Kelly. I know what these medical tools are."
"Alright."

They continued to work quickly, as she desperately tried to save the soldier. In the background, he could hear the yelling and screaming of other patients in other parts of the med center, being attended to by the Spartans and the other Dark Wolves.

*beep* *beep* *beep* *beep* *beep* *beep* *beep* *beep* *beep* *beep* *beeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee*

Kelly rose from the table, a look of frustration and sadness in her face. He looked to the stat system on near the soldier. The line was straight. No movements.

"We did all we could."
"Yea."

They looked to the others, and began to help with the rest of the wounded.

An hour later, the saving had been finished, and the survivors were doing various things. Geb, John and the resistance leader were talking about plans on attacking the government, and were looking down at a hologram of the building they were going to assault. A few of the resistance fighters were attending the wounded in the med area. The Dark Wolves, Spartans, and the government soldier were all sitting in the middle of the garage. Some were checking equipment, one was guarding the soldier, and Shadow was just looking out through the gaping hole in the wall, leading straight out to the dark night.

"So, what are you going to do with me?"
"Probably let you go back and do what you want once we accomplish our mission."
"Really?"
"Yea, most of you're a hired merc anyway. You hold no real loyalty to the government."
"True."

Shadow looked to the blueprint table where Geb and the others were arguing over invasion strategies.

"No, I say an aerial drop would be the best."
"But they'll be expecting that. Plus they have anti-air guns stationed at the top of the building. None of your vehicles will ever get by those."
"So what do we do?"
"I say we split up into three groups."
"Three?"
"Yes. The first group will consist of the Spartans. They will go in through a side entrance that is relatively unprotected."
"Yes, but they'll have so many security measures."
"That's where the Dark Wolf group comes in. They'll use a grappling hook to head over to the top of the building. I'm guessing the AA guns are computer automated and will not detect incoming targets as small as us. We'll gain entrance through the roof. This hologram shows that the security room is at the top floor. We'll break in there and take out all security measures. After that, the Spartans will break in at the ground floor, shoot a few, and make their way to the heart of the building where the commanders are located. Meanwhile, Dark Wolf group will make their way down from the top level to the commander's room, and make a good path for the Spartans once they've assassinated the commanders. Both groups will make their way to the roof and get extracted up there after we disable the AA guns."
"But I'm sure that external security will see them as they swing over to the roof. After that, they'll be finished."
"That's where group 3 comes in. They'll consist of Shadow and Linda. They'll take a building adjacent to the government building, and start attacking the guards. The guards will be distracted in their response to Shadow and Linda. That's when group two makes their run to the roof of the government building. Once team 3 has finished the distraction and eliminated all external security, they'll use a grappling hook to move the roof for extraction."
"Sounds like a good plan. The Spartan group will be team red, the Dark Wolf team will be team black, and the snipers will be team blue."

Shadow nodded and listened as everyone was rounded up to go.

"Dark Wolves! We're leaving!"
"Fuck."
"Shit, we're gonna die!"
"Fine."

"Spartans, prepare to mission pre-sequence."
"Yes sir!"





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