by Keegan Long
We continued down the streets of Scotland and I could notice things had become a lot quieter than before but I knew that it would not last for long.
“How far is your base from here?” Joe asked as he made his way up towards the front where Susan, McKenna, and I were at.
“Not far,” she told him. “And don’t you worry about it. It’s safe from Cerberus.”
“How did you manage to escape from the Cerberus Command Center?” Jill asked as she reconnected with Susan.
“Jumped out the window,” she answered with her thick accent. “My men and I stormed the center and were able to control it for a short period of time. During that time, I sent out the message word wide in hoping at least someone would get it that would be able to come and help me and my people. Cerberus reinforcements came shortly after with a huge battalion and forced us to bail and cut the transmission shortly after.”
“It looks like you’ve been causing quite the disturbance here,” Joe commented. “We overheard the soldiers saying more reinforcements are coming in.”
“That could partially be because of us though,” Jill added.
Susan looked at all of us and smiled. “Now what kind of trouble are all you getting into?”
“We may have shot down some Cerberus drones on our way to come help you,” Jill answered.
“Not bad,” Susan replied with a big smirk. “Very impressive.”
“Delaney and Joe are the ones who shot them down,” Mitch added to give credit to where it was deserved.
Susan looked over at me and gave me a nod of approval. “You must be a pretty good shot.”
“The best,” Joe quickly added in. “I will vouch for her any day.”
These waves of compliments really made a girl feel appreciated but I was ready to get back to the main topic on hand that was quickly forgotten.
“You said you knew our mother,” I interrupted to get the answer I was so anxious to hear. “How?”
“Well, it’s a long story,” she told me.
“I think it’s one we would all like to hear,” I responded.
“You owe it to us,” McKenna argued. “She was our mother.”
“Alright,” Susan agreed. “Where to even begin?”
“When did you meet my mother?” I asked her.
“I met your mother a couple months after the One Year War had ended,” Susan began to explain as we continued walking down the torn-up road towards her base. “After the United States had been officially wiped from existence many of us outsiders had lost hope. We had hoped that the great and all-powerful United States would come and save us once they had defeated Cerberus who was trying to establish a new world order. When news of this reached us many of us were in shock and disbelief. More Cerberus forces would soon arrive in Europe as their forces no longer had to be focused in your country. I was one of those people who had lost hope when I heard the news for the first time. But then along came your mother.”
“How did she get all the way over here?” McKenna asked. “I remember Cerberus coming to take her away from our house in Nebraska.”
“Cerberus had brought her over here,” Susan continued to explain. “I was on my way to turn myself into the Cerberus Command Center, which was the one we were just at, and that’s when I saw your mother. She had escaped Cerberus imprisonment and was running away from the command center and in the process of being chased by Cerberus guards. I was surprised they didn’t just shoot her, but for some reason, they wanted her alive. As I saw her fleeing and fighting for her life she triggered some part of me to come back to the fight. In result, I shot the guards chasing her and we took shelter in a nearby abandoned house until the guards stopped looking for her.”
“Wow,” Sarah gasped. “That’s truly a great and inspiring story.”
“Then what happened?” I asked as I was still anxious to hear more about my mother.
“We became best friends,” Susan continued. “She helped me build up the Scotland Resistance. She inspired me and so many others to take up arms and to always fight back. She always reminded me to keep fighting because as long as we kept fighting Cerberus would never truly win.”
“Sounds like someone I would like very much,” Jill commented.
“You two would get along famously,” Susan agreed. “Unfortunately, we had to part our ways.”
“What do you mean by that?” Kevin asked as now everyone was deeply interested and drawn into the story.
“Tension began to rise in the region,” Susan explained. “Cerberus began to send more reinforcements to deal with us. Your mom decided it was in her best interest to leave and return to the states. So, we helped her steal a small Cerberus ship and she flew back to what used to be the United States.”
“Why would she leave and go back?” I asked in confusion. “That’s where the Cerberus presence is heaviest.”
“For you guys,” Susan answered with a loving smile. “She would go to the end of the world for you guys.”
This made an unexpected wave of emotion go through me as I heard this. I soon felt a little tear run down the side of my face as I remembered and heard about my amazing and strong mother.
“That is true,” I said in agreement. “She would do anything for us.”
“After she left I never heard from her again,” Susan informed us. “She could be dead but she could be alive. There is still hope.”
“We have to find her,” McKenna said. “She still alive. I know it.”
“I’m sure she is,” Susan agreed. “But first we must return back to my base. She left me a message for you guys to hear but I think everyone will find it in their best interest to listen in.”
“What does it say?” I asked quickly as I noticed I caught her off guard.
Susan smiled as she noticed my excitement. “There’s so much you’ll have to see it for yourself. And I can’t remember it all anyway. It’s been a while since I last saw it.”
I decided I had to get myself together and not to get too overwhelmed. I was probably annoying Susan with my quick rapid-fire questions that I gave her nonstop. I just was in complete shock that my mother used to be here and that she left a message for us. I had lost hope of ever hearing my mother’s voice again.
“Hopefully there is some intel on there,” Joe spoke. “Maybe she knows something about Cerberus that we don’t.”
“That could change the tide of the war,” Jill said in excitement at Joe’s words. “This war keeps dragging on and we are nowhere close to the numbers we need to win it.”
“Don’t worry,” Susan assured us. “It won’t be much longer. The base is just a couple more minutes up ahead.”
As we got closer and closer to the base I could feel my stomach beginning to feel upset again like it did on the plane. I think though this time it was more due to how nervous I was instead of being sick from the plane ride.
The group had all become silent as we approached our destination but then what we fear every day became a reality.
The ground began to shake violently as the noise of a loud jet engine became louder and louder as it came closer to our location. It was incredibly loud and fast like the sound of a rocket soaring through the sky. We all looked at each other in fear as we had been in this situation before.
“Drone!” Mitch yelled as it continued to get closer and louder and within seconds it was soaring over us.
We all rushed to nearby cover but I was sure we were all dead. I quickly sprawled myself on the ground and knew I had run out of time.
The drone flew over our heads with incredible speed and launched a missile to find its target but today we were not the target. The Cerberus missile was launched just above our heads and made contact with land not too far away. The explosion gave off a huge rumble as nearby glass shattered and cars rumbled in result. Then the drone was gone.
“What the hell was that all about?” Nicole asked as everyone got back up from the ground.
Everyone looked over towards Susan as th
ey feared what words might come out of her mouth.
“That was the base,” she said as she confirmed everyone’s thoughts.
The drone was now gone but the mass of a thick black smoke was building up in the distance at where the base was located.
“What do we do now?” I asked as I looked over towards Susan and Jill.
Susan stood there in silence as she ignored my question or did not have an answer for me. When I looked at Jill she was even unsure as she looked at Susan and waited for an answer like I did.
“What should we do, Susan?” Jill asked as we all stood there in dead silence.
Susan closed her eyes for a brief moment and then made up her mind. “We continue on to the base.”
“But Susan,” Jill began. “There’s probably nothing left.”
“You’re probably right, Jill,” she responded with a tone of anger in her voice. “But I must go and see it for myself. There could also be survivors and I have to make sure the message was completely destroyed in the destruction. If Cerberus gets a hand on the message left by the Nordbrock’s mother it will not end well for us.”
“We best get going then,” Joe said with a smile. “We’re already so close we might as well.”
“Let’s get going then,” I said as I was still anxious to see what was on the message my mother left for my sister and me.
“I’ sorry to burst your bubble kid,” Susan began to explain. “It isn’t going to be that easy. I’m sure the place will be flooding with Cerberus soldiers soon if they aren’t already there and hope to god that they don’t bring any Centaurs with them.”
“So, we going in quietly,” Kevin suggested. “Just like we did coming here.”
“And if I remember right I still got the jump on all you,” Susan joked.
“Don’t worry,” I assured her. “It won’t happen again. Trust me.”
With our final plans and decisions now in place, we continued on down the road towards Susan’s base or what was left of it. It only took us a couple of minutes to be in view of the base but the sight was not a pleasant one.
“My god,” McKenna gasped as the base now came into everyone’s eye view.
Like we expected the base was completely destroyed and in pieces spread all across the field. Susan told us that their base was in an old abandoned church but you would have never guessed there used to be a church here.
The field was littered with stone debris and the once green fresh grass was now nothing but ash. The base foundation was the only thing that was left standing with no roof and walls missing. No physical bodies could be seen but were probably incinerated from the blast.
“Quick, get down!” Mitch yelled at us as a Cerberus patrol came into our view as they began searching the wreckage of the site.
This was one of the biggest Cerberus patrols I had ever seen. Heavily armored with their black helmets and apparel with the big red Cerberus logo of a three-headed dog painted on their chests. There had to be at least 40 soldiers with more not too far behind. Soon later I heard that familiar sound of moving parts of a machine and a patrol of Centaur robots, also heavily armed, came into view and joined the Cerberus soldiers.
“Damn it,” I heard Susan curse under her breath. “Things just got a whole lot harder.”
“We are heavily outnumbered and outgunned,” Joe reminded us as he whispered to all of us. “We should get back to the ship while we still have a chance.”
“No,” I quickly responded. “Not without my mother’s message.”
“What do we do then?” Sarah asked as she reminded us that the odds were not in our favor.
“We wait,” Jill answered with a stern look on her face. “We have to make sure that message does not get into Cerberus’ hand like Susan said earlier. We’ll wait until they leave and go from there.”
“While we wait we should try and listen to the soldiers,” Susan suggested to the group. “The more intel we gather the better off we’ll be.”
With Susan’s suggestion, I closed my eyes and tried to hear what the soldiers were saying to each other and focused on the closest one to me. With some patience, I hit the jackpot.
“Did the crew find what we were looking for?” the soldier asked his partner.
“I think so,” the other soldier answered. “I don’t know what it is but I only know it’s highly classified. They told me they had a search party raid the base before the drone came and destroyed the place.”
When I heard the guards’ conversation I got a disgusting feeling throughout my body. They had the message and we were already too late.
“They have the message,” I told everyone as I finished listening to the conversation. “I know it.”
“It must be long gone by now,” Susan said. “Probably at their headquarters right now.”
“What do we do?” I asked as a rush of fear started running through me.
“They have left us no other choice,” Susan said with a bright smirk on her face. “It’s time we raid their base.”
6
The Message of Hope
I could not believe we were about to raid a heavily guarded Cerberus base with Centaurs, soldiers, and what else lied within its walls. It was a suicide mission and we all knew it but you could see it in everybody’s eyes that they wanted to do this. This could lead us to vital information that could change the course of the war.
We had decided to go back to the coffee shop across from the Cerberus Command Centre to plan our attack.
To our luck we learned that my mom’s message had been taken back to that same command centre across from the coffee shop but I knew it would only be temporary until they shipped it off to the capital back in the states. We had to make sure that did not happen. We needed to act now.
“Everybody gear up!” Susan yelled trough the room. “We’re heading out in ten!”
I quickly made my way towards McKenna as we both geared ourselves up with the cheap armour and the few bullets we had.
“What do you think of this plan?” I silently asked her as we continued to get ready.
“I have my doubts,” she answered. “But I also have hope. I know this will work. It has to.”
Earlier when we had regrouped at the coffee shop Susan suggested we raid the base through the secret tunnels underneath the base like she had earlier when she sent us the message. We all had our doubts about her plan due to the fact that Cerberus might have discovered them after her incident.
We could easily be walking into a trap but it was the best and only plan we had. Maybe this will be the one time we get lucky and that Cerberus still has yet to discover the secret channel of tunnels under the base.
Susan informed us these tunnels were built when the war first started in Europe and Cerberus built their command centre right on top of them. Their mistake will cost them greatly today.
“I just can’t believe that mom was so involved in the war,” I expressed to my sister.
“I know,” she agreed. “But she was always a fighter. We all knew that. Especially Dad.”
“I wonder if Dad is still out there too,” I wondered out loud. “Maybe there still is a chance.”
McKenna came closer to me and put her hand on my shoulder reassuringly. “There is always hope. But today we must focus on getting that message because we can’t afford to be distracted during the mission.”
“You’re right,” I told her as I began to focus more. “Today we either win or this is the end of the line.”
Jill must have overheard our conversation and walked over to us with a bright smile. “I assure you guys that your journey will not end here today. The world has bigger plans for you.”
Susan then interrupted the room as she made her way to the middle to gather everyone’s attention. “Alright you Americans. It’s time we move out and get that message. It’s time we start to take back your country. One step at a time.”
The room erupted with the cheers from all my friends and my sister. I could not help but
find myself smiling as an overwhelmingly wave of emotion came over me. We were finally getting back into the game.
Susan lead us through the back door of the coffee shop where she had surprised us from during our first encounter. It only took us a couple of minutes to get to the entrance of the tunnels, which was being hidden by an enormous green bush. It was impossible for anyone to come across this entrance my accident. You had to know exactly what you were looking for to find it.
The tunnels were very narrow and we had to travel in a single line with Susan leading and Frank at the end.
“I got in touch with Lee and told him to have the ship ready,” Jill informed us all. “The moment we get that message we’re out of here.”
“Agreed,” Joe replied. “No more detours.”
“Do we have any idea where the message is being held?” I asked the group. “It’s a huge base and we don’t have the time to look in every room and corner.”
“I have no doubt it’s in the communications room,” Susan answered. “That’s the room where I transmitted my message but is also the location where they keep all their files and documents. It’s the main room in the command centre so there will be no sneaking in.”
“Then we’ll just fight our way in,” Nicole suggested. “I’m sure that will surprise them.”
“There may be a better way,” Susan said as the group continued walking through the dark tunnel. “We could use a distraction to get the people out of the communications room and then make our way in without being noticed.”
“Obviously you have a plan,” I stated as I confronted her. “So, what is it?”
“Give them a cause to be somewhere else,” she replied with a grin. “Start a fire in the armoury and they will sure enough cause most of the base to go there, which is on the other side of the base.”
“It’s risky,” Jill commented. “But it’s our best chance.”
“I’m glad you agree,” Susan smiled. “We’re here.”
We all stopped walking and looked around but saw nothing but darkness. We had all thought Susan had forgotten her way or wasn’t thinking straight but she proved us wrong.