[color=#FFFFFF]Ling heard nothing but static from the surface, the communications array must have been hit. He was having great difficulty keeping the SoCred airborne and on the path back to New HangZhou. He muttered a curse under his breath.
[color=#FFFF00]"Sorry recruits, it's all on you guys now."
[color=#FFFFFF]He knew they probably couldn't hear him. He held the joystick with both hands as the crippled gunboat limped back to the city.
[font=Georgia]Lachina looked at Drsnovska as she was about to be dropped. She knew she will be in her place sooner or later. When Olga's scream faded, she sighed a little. Did she start to like her? A little grin followed. Weird.
After that she started paying attention to Pasha Byk and caught the gas mask and reserve ammo. "Killer bunnies and dog bowls, da" she said while putting the ammo on her waist belt and the gas mask on her face. She double checked everything held where it should and readied her hook. Lachina noticed the missile contrail. [color=#FF6600]"Oh f-" was what she said as she attached the hook on the line. She thought that there will be a problem with her jumping from the Storm, but the missile was convincing enough. Problem solved.
Her jump ended up with a few rolls on the ground and a little bit of pain. Thank the Mother Gaia everything was in one piece. The lovely embrace of the planet JingXi. Her grave if she isn't good enough to get from it.
Jacob stopped at a small shack in the woods. After clearing it, Jacob grabbed his link.
"Social Credit, this is Forge. Those sons-of-bitches who ambushed to gunship have been diagnosed with bullet-in-the-head syndrome."
Jacob put the comm down. He took a swig of water. Second of the day. No more. Jacob picked up his knife and searched the shack.
"hey..." Jacob found an ancient roll of twine. "No metal...no PVC...hm..." Jacob went outside and looked,around until he found it. "Bamboo."
Cutting three equal shafts, Jacob returned to his stuff. Grabbing everything, Jacob moved towards New,Hangzhou.
The second town he entered sent a feeling of dread into him. Bringing his rifle up, Jacob moved in. As he began his journey through the town, he spotted a hardware store.
"Maybe..."
Jacob went in, gun raised in the gloom. He clicked the front-mounted red light. He moved quickly until he found the first item.
"Charcoal...check." Jacob grabbed a small bag.
Exiting the department store, Jacob made for the town library.
Kicking the door down, Jacob entered, Vindicator raised. Glad it was empty, Jacob searched for minerals.
"Here."
Pulling a decomposing book from the shelf, Jacob flipped through the volume until he found the last two ingrediants.
"Great...sulfur is common, but the saltpeter is hard to find..."
Putting the book back, Jacob unslung his rifle.
Something hit the ground. Jacob whirled around, gun raised. He moves towards the exit slowly. He paced his breathing. He turned the light off. One step. Two. Three.
"They fall in line, one at a time, ready to play..."
Something burst from the right. One burst to the head felled it.
"I can't see them anyway."
More drew from the gloom, cloaked in shadows.
"No time to lose, we got to move, steady your hand."
Another burst. 78 rounds left.
"I am losing sight again."
Single shot. Two bullets to the brain.
"Fire your guns, its time to run, blow me away."
He was almost there. He could see the door. He ran.
"I will stay unless I may."
Another single shot. 75 rounds left.
"After the fall, we'll shake it off, show me the way."
Jacob burst out of the library, and swung around.
"Only the strongest will survive, lead me to heaven when we die."
His shadow was on the wall; the sun set.
"I have a shadow on the wall."
The creature, probably the alpha, erupted from the door. Jacob fired two bursts.
69 rounds left.
The creature hit the ground and died.
"I'll be the one to save us all."
Jacob lowered the rifle, slit it's throat, and made tracks away toward where the book had said sulfur and saltpeter could be found on the way to New Hangzhou.
"I'm screwed up...singing during every fight? I should request a music player if I survive; I'm creeping myself out now. Not to mention it will probably annoy people."
Pasha groaned, he was wet, cold, and hurt in places he wasn't sure he had. Nothing new, he was in the Coalition after all, and that usually meant he woke up in varying states similar to the one he felt now.
He wasn't, however, where he was supposed to be.
Opening an eye he was greeted by a frog.
It was a large bullfrog, the kind that had been a popular delicacy amongst the former Chinese population of JiangXi, back before the bombardment had rendered them radioactively toxic.
"Great," Pasha intoned, trying to sit up, shaking his head against the fog. He remembered the explosion, and trying to find cover in the Jeep...
The Jeep in question was in the lake, surrounded by burning cargo pods, scattered around the area. The gun turret was mangled, but the jeep's formidable suspension, and the fact that it had landed in water had saved it from being smashed into pieces.
More than Pasha could say.
He struggled to his feet, stretching his back and feeling bones popping. Trying to search the horizon for where the Social Credit would have crashed. No column of smoke... that had to be a good sign, maybe Major Ling had managed to get clear...
The Raiders...
Pasha swore a long string of Russian curse words, loosely associated with his situation, a pineapple, and someone's sphincter... He was unarmed, alone, unprotected, in the middle of a JiangXi field... with a bunch of canniblistic, blood thirsty Chinamen heading his way. It was definitely not a good day to be Polish.
He sprinted for the jeep, cursing at the fact that it was nearly submerged... getting it started could prove a problem, but it really was his only chance, he could take stock of the rest of the situation later...
Clambering into the seat, he powered the ignition, relieved when he heard it roar to life, the on board computer quickly spitting out a hundred and one complaints about the vehicles condition, all of which Pasha ignored, as he gunned the Engine and drove the durable vehicle off of it's parachute sled, and up onto the shore of the lake.
Nodding to himself in satisfaction, he slowly began to swear. On the horizon of the treeline, groups of eyes and a cluster of motorcyles were watching him.
"Oh... hell... no!" he murmured, noting that the lead motorcyclist was wearing a dirty chef's hat and wielding what looked like a meat cleaver.
it was a very... very... very bad day to be a pole!
[font=Georgia]Lachina kept walking and the sky was getting darker. The wood she noticed about two hours ago was actually much farther than she have thought before. Probably it was because of the terrain that increased. From time to time she checked her compass if she follows the general direction. General was the right word because otherwise, she had no clue whether she went right or left. The idea of overnight in the woods was much more comforting than on the open plain. After a while a large drops started falling from the sky. Great, she thought while taking her waterproof poncho from her bag. The small drops changed into a heavy rain faster than she expected and the gas mask she was wearing was now even more uncomfortable, not mentioning the disgusting smell that was making her feel sick at the beginning. Few minutes later while Lachina was enclosing to the wood she spotted a red dot in front of it. She fell into a mud under her as fast as she could. Quietly shivering she took her rifle and used the scope to see what is in front of her.
She revealed a small patrol of Volkhan's forces there. Three men and a small off-road jeep with a turret mounted on it's back. One of them was sitting behind it and the second two were sitting next to the fire eating. She started quietly crawling to them, being stained with mud in a matter of seconds. After 5 minutes she finally got close enough to hear their rough russian language. They looked scattered and tired. The two sitting next to the fire weren't paying attention but the one behind the turret looked cautious. He was her first target.
Lachina switched her AK-74 to a single-bullet mod. She aimed carefully at the turret man. "For the Katz" she whispered and hit a trigger.
Miss. Bullet hit a hood next to the turret man. Damnit. The sound of fire alarmed all three men almost immediately. The man behind the turret grabbed the gun but a second bullet hit him in his throat next second. Lachina sighed relieved because the main threat was down. One of the Volkhan's probably terrified from the unknown threat, got up from his cover and started running towards the wood. He did not get far before another bullet hit him. The last soldier was more cautious. He did not know her exact position but he knew the direction. They both kept lying for a couple of minutes, none of them moving. Stalemate.
[color=#FF0000]"Mir!" shouted the soldier out of nowhere.
Mir ... Lachina's russian was far from good. She knew only a few key phrases and words. But she knew this word. Peace.
She grinned a little and shouted back "Mir tovarishch!".
Soldier raised a little and so did Lachina both aiming at each other.
When they both stood up, he said: "Kto ty?"
She didn't know how to say anything useful in this situation but she noticed that one of her bullets hit the tank and fuel was dropping out. She quickly jumped back to the grass and fired towards the jeep. Volkhan's soldier had also quick reaction and lied down but he definitely did not expect what happened in the next second. Whole jeep exploded and threw his burned body away. No peace for the Volkhan's dogs.
She searched the bodies and the jeep. Except one can of food and one dose of anti-rads nothing useful. She put both into her backpack and entered the wood, leaving the burning jeep behind her.
The atmosphere of the whole planet has changed, it was cold and terrible quiet now…
She looked at the compass, when she still could see something, it was time to get to the destination…
As she has tried to avoid roads and cities, she ended up on a road leading directly to a city. It wasn’t the best time to cross the city in the dark, but she desperately needed to find a shelter, because the heavy rain and cold.
Silently she made her way to the city entrance…
“ Good, no guards, lets hope this city won’t have any inhabitants” She tried to convince herself. The city actually looked abandoned. By a closer look most of the houses were just ruins.
No sights of a soul…
Finding a house what is not in the center would be the best choice for a shelter.
“Looks like a school” She thought because a playground in front of it. But from the look of the building it didn’t look like a school anymore.
She stepped in…
Dust, glass and parts of collapsed walls were all over the place. At least the restroom didn’t collapse and was in tact, so the choice of a shelter was very good. She washed herself there, also the stinking armor aswell.
Next to the restroom was a class, not as dirty as the entrance. She chose to rest there and fell quick asleep.
Steps are heared…
She woke up with a chain around her neck, someone wanted to suffocate her. The person lowered the chain and tried to get its hand on Olga’s breast…
“ Woman…..Woman….” was shouting the man who was behind Olga.
He managed to open Olga’s armor and grabbed inside it and the chain was lowering and lowering.
“ Woman….Woman….Woman….” He repeated all the time.
Olga used the situation, grabbed in her boots again and hit the man with a knife into his liver. The man was shocked. Olga managed to get distance from him.
“ WOMAN…grrrrr…..” He shouted.
He tried to fetch her, but Olga was quicklier, she passed him and hit him with the knife into his Kidney. Still he didn’t fall on the ground, but Olga was near her bag and could take out her gun and shoot him while he tried for another move.
She fired three times…
“ Womaaaaaaan……Woo…..” he whispered and fell on the ground.
Olga was totally shocked.
“ What in the God’s name is this? “ She asked herself as she was looking at the person who she just killed.
He looked like a man, but his whole body was kind of burned and tumorous.
She realised this is not the best place to stay, at least not anymore.
It hadn't been the best of days so far. Not only had he already had a lovely dangerous plummet from the back end of a gunboat, but now he'd accidentally snuggled up to a bear. An angry bear.
Lukas scrambled backwards, kicking up dust in panic. He bounced onto his fear, fumbling for his gun. At least, he thought to comfort himself, something that big couldn't be very fa-
The bear shot forwards like a furious black thunderbolt, its muscular clawed foreleg shearing straight through the wood where Lukas' head had been mere moments before. He completed his roll to the side, transitioning smoothly into a well-braced crouch to help his aim.
He managed one shot before the enraged animal barreled into him, throwing him across the shack. He impacted with the far wall, grunting as he slammed into the unforgiving wood. Something cracked; probably not the wood. Third or fourth rib, he guessed. So much for that armour then; not very resistant to concussive force. Luckily, he hadn't smashed his mask by landing on his face. Lying on his back, he pivoted round with his Luger raised high, only to see the bear beginning to rear up.
"Better safe than sorry," he thought, panicking, and emptied the rest of the clip into the bear's upper body and throat.
The bear kept on rearing up, and Lukas thought he'd failed; but as the hairy terror went vertical, it kept right on going, crashing to earth with a huge thud.
Lukas picked himself up gently, wary of his injured chest and examining the huge carcass that lay in front of him. He considered his meager rations, his water, his antirads and his knife.
He smiled. Using the whole clip didn't seem like such a waste now.
It began to rain, heavy drops beating a constant tattoo on the roof.
"Oh goodie, maybe that'll revitalise the plant life on this godforsaken rock!" he muttered sarcastically to nobody in particular, already irritated by the ridiculously loud noise.
The Jeep slammed up and over the broken embankment, and crashed to the old pavement of the highway, the back end sliding around as the wheels fought for traction, Pasha spinning the steering wheel in his hands as he fought to keep the vehicle from flipping over.
Behind him, the biker-raiders bounced and screamed up onto the highway after him.
A life and death chase, Pasha gritting his teeth as he hit the accelerator and whipped the jeep down the highway passing rusted out semi-trucks that partially obstructed the road ahead of him. He needed distance, he needed... prayer... hell he needed Mad-Max at that precise moment.
The Jeep accelerated with a sharp whine of the electric motor, the needles redlining, as he shifted through the gears, trying to out power the motorcycles, but each time he spared a glance behind him, they were just that little closer.
The Jeep whipped through one of the small abandoned towns, roaring around a dilapidated building that had strewn debris across the road, behind him, one of the bikes screamed into a jump, crashing down beside the jeep, keeping pace.
Pasha smirked, as he hammered the wheel over, crashing the side of the jeep into the bold bike, sending it careening into a lamppost.
"Da, that is what you get... for trying... to make... dinner... outta me!" he said, his thick Eastern European accent making his words thick and fast.
Jacob was close to the gates. Taking a moment, he ate some of his food. Careful rationing had gotten him this far. He took a moment to take a breath. So far, gunshots, explosions, and roars of vehicles.
"Ok...almost there..."
Jacob took a swig of water. Checking his ratioms, he found he had enough for two more days. He checked his IEDs. All three.
Jacob poped the scope up. A camp had been set up. Pushing the scope down, Jacob moved in. He searched the camp, finding it devoid of life. Only bodies remained.
"Great..." Jacob found a sole working jeep filled with gasoline. "Useless..." Jacob grabbed his rifle and poped the scope.
Directing it,at the gates, Jacob spotted a raider truck and at least a platoon.
"Hmm...they will scatter from my RPG..."
Jacob eyed the jeep. He had three...
"This will be the biggest cliche ever..."
Finding a mangled rifle and a decent weighted rock, Jacob started the jeep. Directing it at the gate, he floored it. As it started to move, Jacob lighted one of his 28 remaining matches, jammed the steering wheel, dropped the rock on the pedal, lit the fuse. Throwing it into the back, Jacob dove from the jeep.
The jeep smashed into the truck, flipped it over, the smashed into a wall. The raiders crowded around it.
"As Paladin said in Wing Commander..." Jacob saluted them. "Au revoir"
A roar echoed. Jacob picked up what he could find: a sole clip of ammunition hidden by a body and two grenades under a ruined jeep.
The Coalition had a favour for the old and reliable. mechanical, wheeled vehicles instead of the skimmers that flitted through the sky scrapers of Manhattan. Bullets instead of laser weapons. And people instead of robotics. Which, given Pasha's current situation, wasn't exactly in his favour.
The BJ02 Jeep was built to be durable, Pasha ducked as one of the Raiders let loose with a hail of bullets, drumming off of the armour, and creating a line of spiderweb cracks along the rear windshield. The Jeep swerved around a massive crater in the road, careening up onto what had once been a sidewalk, flinging newspaper boxes off of the front fender, exploding into a shower of moldy paper behind him.
Wrenching the wheel back around he bounced off of the sidewalk and back onto the main street. One of the bikes, that had gone the otherside of the hole, bounded and roared up alongside of him, the driver sighting in with a magnum pistol, aiming for one of the wheels.
The Raider's were far from stupid, and they knew that as long as the Master Chief was mobile, they'd eventually loose him.
The shot went wide as Pasha shook his head, hauling the wheel over again, the Jeep bounding off of the road, crashing into what had been a pedestrian concourse, slipping on the marble pavement, as the bikes screeched after him. He had few options with which to loose the mob, and it meant using every advantage he had. Bikes were fast, more maneuverable, but the Jeep was tougher, more durable.
He lined the jeep up for the glass doors to the shopping mall and hit the accelerator, whooping a battle cry as it ploughed through the glass and steel doorway, exploding into the shopping mall, as the door frame tore the pintle mounted Kalashnikov off of the frame. The jeep spun around as the wheels struggled to find purchase on the highly polished flooring, the jeep crashing through an Estee Lauder booth, sending a fortune of make up scattering, as the bikes tried to follow him.
Four made it through the opening his Jeep had carved, while two slammed into the glass, flung headfirst at high speed through the glass. An age old lesson on wearing helmets while driving motorcycles like maniacs.
Pasha grinned, gunning the engine, as he shifted the Jeep into reverse, backing through the mall's main concourse, knocking aside booths and displays of useless fashion, a tie rack, and a rather expensive display of silver jewelry.
The Bikes were having a hard time, the floor was slick and each time they tried to accelerate, the bikes threatened to spin out beneath them. Pasha gritted his teeth, as he floored the accelerator again, ducking at the jeep crashed out of the far side exit, pulling on the wheel, bringing the front end around as he shifted into gear, bounding up the steps and out onto the street again.
Behind him, the motocycle gang limped out onto the street, watching their dinner skid around a corner, the high powered whine of the engine echoing through the town's streets.
The chef pursing his lips, and leveling his meat cleaver at a road sign that said "New HangZhou"... Though Pasha may have escaped for now, there really was only one place to go.
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