They had an opening. A few chilus tried to climb across the ceiling, but they were shot down by accurate fire from Gavin and Xavier. The rest of them drew back, afraid of the flames.
“Loading!” Zach said. He loaded up his flamethrower with a new tank.
“They're still coming from this direction,” Selene said.
“How many?” Zach asked as he finished reloading.
“We've killed about a half-dozen. There's a few more of them, at least.”
They had run into a perfect ambush. And while they might be holding their own for a moment, that might not last. They needed to jump-start their advance.
“Danny, reload,” Zach ordered. “Gavin, Xavier, once he's done do it as well. We'll go in with full ammo and make a push up the tunnel. I'm going to try to get all the cars with the flamethrower, but I'll need cover.”
“You sure the flames are going to last long enough?” Gavin asked, indicating the conflagration in front of them.
“We'd better hope,” Zach said. “It's that or we sit here until we run out of ammo.”
“Reloading,” Danny said calmly, expertly opening up his gun and feeding another belt in. It took him less than thirty seconds to complete the job.
Gavin and Xavier quickly changed magazines. By then the flames had died down a bit. Zach could hear the sounds of chilus scurrying around over the crackle of the flames. It sounded like they were regrouping for another attack. But they weren't going to get a chance to do it.
“Let's go!” he ordered, hefting his weapon and charging forward. The others were right beside him.
Zach sprinted forward, closing the distance between their former position and the rearmost subway car. A chilus just on the other side of the flames shrieked as it was cut down by a quick burst. The fire was almost out, and soon enough they would be swarmed again. But it had bought them enough time.
He stopped about ten feet from the last car and squeezed the trigger. More chilus shrieked as they were cooked by the stream of flame. Zach used his weapon like a hose, dowsing the tunnel and the train cars with burning fuel. The shrieks became louder and more numerous.
Something started to charge out of the flames. Zach felt his heart stop for a moment. It was the giant chilus, aflame, hurt, but still able to fight, and it was headed straight for him. He raised his flamethrower to fire again...
The weapon coughed a gout of flame and then died. He was out of fuel.
Desperately, Zach dropped the flamethrower and pulled out his pistol. He pulled the trigger as fast as he could, sending bullet after bullet into the creature, but they didn't even slow it down. The others added to the volume of fire, but still the creature came on.
His gun clicked empty. Zach didn't even have time to scream before the mandibles closed in around him.
You are KIA.
CHAPTER 6
Tesla Did it First
Ghost Company's officers met the next day in Redd Foxx HQ to go over the intelligence they had gathered. They included Zach, Selene, Danny and Nora from Black Wolf, Anna, Liz and Gray from Redd Foxx, Robbie and Blake from Raven and Neil from Spectre.
“So, how the heck does the company commander become the only casualty in a recon expedition deep into enemy held territory?” Anna asked with a laugh. “That has to take something special.”
Nora laughed herself. “Well, that happens when your company commander is the one with the flamethrower and gets rushed by a huge chilus.”
“He was a pretty good distraction, though,” Danny said.
“Yeah, yeah,” Zach muttered.
“How did the actual expedition go?” Liz asked.
Selene spoke up. “Fairly well, actually, despite our fearless leader getting himself killed. We managed to explore the main tunnel, and we found the station for the Zionville district.”
Nora opened up her notes. “That station is going to be our biggest obstacle. I think that might be where the attack originated from. It's fortified, it's heavily garrisoned and it's the only way out of the tunnels from that end,” she summarized. “We're going to have to organize a proper assault.”
“How much recon work did you manage to do in the station proper?” Gray asked them.
“Not as much as we would have liked, but we still know the basic layout. It looks like the area his held by a company sized force,” Nora detailed. “We did notice that they have heavy weapons dug into the choke points of the station. Mostly heavy machine guns, though Miko spotted something that she thought was a tripod mounted autocannon.”
“Just how close did you guys get?” Neil asked. His company had learned stealth work in their own way, though they weren't quite the equals of the other companies.
“We had to stick to the shadows,” Selene said. “That's going to be another issue. The entire station is lit, though we don't know what's powering the lights.”
“Could be a generator,” Blake suggested.
Danny shook his head. “We don't think so. We think it's being fed from somewhere else in the tunnels, because we discovered a whole mess of wires and a circuit box in one of the side tunnels near the station.”
“Do you know for sure that it's a power conduit?” Robbie asked.
“It's our best guess,” Danny shrugged.
“Would have helped if our engineer didn't get chopped in half by a chilus,” Selene snarked.
“OK fine, I'll let you fight the giant chilus with a pistol next time, thank you very much,” Zach retorted.
“Wow, someone's bitter,” Gray said with a grin.
“In his defense, that chilus was pretty unfair,” Danny said. “I mean, we set in on fire and pumped about fifty rounds into the thing and it still managed to cut him in half.”
“How did that feel, by the way?” Liz asked. “I can't imagine that it was pleasant.”
“Surprisingly it wasn't so bad,” Zach said. “Aside from being grabbed by a giant bug, I didn't really feel anything. The last thing I knew was that it had reached me, and then I got the KIA message.”
“Well, it was pretty gruesome from our perspective,” Nora said. “I mean, saying that a chilus can chop you in two isn't an exaggeration. It literally chopped you in two.”
“Sounds charming,” Liz replied.
“My thoughts exactly,” Zach said.
Anna spoke up. “It is interesting, though. It went straight for you, is that right?”
“Yeah,” Zach said. “What, are you assuming that it targeted me directly?”
“It seems like that might be the case,” Anna said. “Or I could be wrong and it was just chance.”
Nora thought for a moment. “No, I think that's a pretty spot-on observation,” she said. “Remember the giant chilus we ran into in the overdrive bunker?”
“I remember that it targeted the ones doing the highest damage first,” Selene said. She had been the second one knocked out by the creature.
“So is chilus AI programed to target the players putting out the highest amount of damage?” Liz asked. “If that's true we might be able to use that to our advantage.”
“We might,” Danny said. “That said, I'm not sure how much of a difference it will make. We can't just have our biggest damage dealers not firing, after all.”
“Honestly, I think this is a textbook example of the weakness of smaller teams in the tunnels,” Selene said. “We didn't have quite enough firepower to get the job done with the bigger creatures. Plus, not having a grenade launcher really cuts down on the amount of firepower we can dish out in a pinch.”
“So are small team missions off the table?” Liz asked.
Selene gave a twisted smile. “Heck no. They're way too much fun. But we should expect to take casualties during them. And they're less effective, so we shouldn't expect too much progress from them.”
Robbie cut in on their thoughts. “OK, so if we're prepping for an underground assault, what's our part going to be in this? We can't use our normal transports underground, and I don't think you want us f
ighting on the front lines.”
Raven Company was Ghost Battalion's transportation experts. They were excellent handlers of the river craft that Black Wolf and Redd Foxx often used, but their real forte was their flying ability. Their handling of Hydra's chopper force was masterful, and they were one of the main reasons that the rangers were such a formidable force. But as Robbie had said, neither skill had use in an underground battle.
There were other ways that they could be used, however, and Nora thought she had just the thing.
“You guys can handle Mules and ATVs, right?” she asked.
“Yeah, perfectly fine,” Blake said with a somewhat bemused look on his face.
“I still need to talk with Hephaestus about that, but I think that we might be able to get Mules into the subway line. We can use them in attacks on the other station,” she suggested.
“Actually, I had a thought similar to that last night,” Danny said. “We still have access to the three subway vehicles. The front one is an engine.”
“So you want to use it?” Gray ventured to guess.
Danny nodded. “It took the least amount of damage during the firefight, so Hephaestus might be able to reverse engineer some of the tech, at least. I'm thinking that we could make some sort of specialist vehicle for the metro. Like an armored train.”
“So we plate it with armor, fill it with guns and drive it straight into then enemy station?” Anna asked. “That sounds like a solid concept, at least.”
“It's going to take some time to get off the ground,” Blake mused.
“We can always plan an attack with it and then use it later,” Zach said. “It probably can carry more weapons than a Mule, at any rate.”
“What about the side tunnels?” Neil asked.
“We didn't explore them,” Selene explained. “Too much ground to cover for a unit our size.”
“Do you mind if we have a go with it?” he asked. “I want to get my guys familiar with the environment.”
The others looked at each other for a moment.
“I think you should be fine,” Zach said. “You have what, twenty members? Just make sure you have flamethrowers and armor-piercing ammo with you and you should be fine.”
“Says the only one who died on the last mission,” Gray said under his breath.
“Great, not you too,” Zach groaned.
“Even if it is dangerous, it's still a good idea,” Nora said. “You'll get the experience you want, and who knows? You might find something useful down there.”
Nora's second journey into the tunnels was much less eventful than the first time. Xavier and Javy assembled their squads and had gone back in to help guide Spectre Company to the side passages.
They also secured the area around the three subway cars, still black from the effects of the flamethrower. Nora and Zach followed them soon after with some of the members of Hephaestus Company.
“So, here it is,” Nora said as their group approached. The Black Wolf squads had formed a lose perimeter around the area and then illuminated the vehicles with battery powered floodlights.
“Well, you certainly did a number on it,” Paige commented. “I'm surprised that you didn't burn everything to slag.”
Zach shrugged. “Well, there's not much else you can do when a horde of chilus comes charging at you.”
Yusuf walked forward for a look at the front engine. “Anyhow, this looks like it's in pretty good shape, at least. Though I'd have to look at the interior as well.”
“I think the entry hatch is in the back,” Zach said.
Yusuf paused for a moment, hesitating. Nora saw Paige giving the entire thing a dubious look.
“Are you sure that you killed all the chilus?”
“Positive,” Zach said with some annoyance.
Nora laughed. “Oh come on, how would you know? You got killed before we cleared the area.”
“You're not helping,” he muttered to her under his breath.
Nora turned to look at Yusuf. “Yes, we're pretty sure that we cleared out the entire area, but we'll make sure if you're nervous.” She activated her radio. “Javy, can I borrow a couple of your squad? We're going to clear out the subway engine.”
“Hasn't it already been cleared out?” Javy asked quizzically.
“Yes.”
“Oh. So they're running scared, huh?”
She smiled despite herself. “Be nice. I can't exactly blame them for being skittish about it.”
“Right. Colin, Joe, go help Nora.”
“Want to help me?” she asked Zach.
“Sure,” he shrugged, hefting his carbine.
Colin and Joe were waiting for them at the engine's rear entryway. Colin had his machine gun, and Joe was carrying a flamethrower.
“Both of you should be in front,” Zach said. “We'll pull the door open and then follow behind you.”
“Glad to know we're cannon fodder,” Colin quipped in a good-natured tone. Joe simply laughed.
“Hey, I was in front on the last mission,” Zach said. “Plus, there's nothing inside.”
“Great, tempt fate,” Colin said.
Nora took hold of one of the door handles. “OK guys, let's do this.”
She and Zach yanked open the door. In hindsight it might have been better for them to coordinate the timing more, but Nora didn't actually think there was any danger. Fang Squad had annihilated the chilus nest here.
Nevertheless, the car still had to be cleared. Joe went in first, followed by Colin. Nora started to move when Colin put a hand out to halt her.
“It's clear,” he said.
“Thanks guys,” she said to the other two as they exited the car and headed back to their positions.
“Car's clear,” Zach told Yusuf and Paige.
The pair headed over to the entrance and climbed in. Zach and Nora followed right behind them.
At the front of the engine was a control board, filled with switches and lights. Yusuf tore a side panel off, revealing a massive number of wires that made no sense to her.
That was what Hephaestus Company was here for. Many of them were engineers, architects and the like in the real world, and those skills translated well to the game. Hydra was dominant in no small part thanks to their ability.
“Looks like all the wiring is intact,” Yusuf said. “It's still on the rails, so that's good. We won't have to mess with trying to align it on the track.”
“That's the controls, though. Where's the power source it draws from?” Zach asked.
Paige signaled them to move aside. “I don't see anything in here,” she said. “That probably means the battery nests are on the outside somewhere. I'll go look.”
“Do you think you can reverse engineer this?” Nora asked after she had left.
Yusuf was still poking around. “Maybe, thought it might be hard without a schematic. We could probably do it, but it's going to take time. We're still trying to rebuild the armored company.”
“How's that going?” Zach asked.
Yusuf grunted. “Slower than we'd like. Far slower. Moving the Forge from Lerna Bastion to here certainly didn't help things.”
“On the other hand, the Forge would be rubble right now,” Nora pointed out.
“True enough. Funny how things like that seem to work themselves out. Anyhow, we're making progress, but it's still going to be a bit. We have three more Rams and another Bull in the pipeline right now. After that we have two more Rams and a Bull to go until they're back up to their pre-battle strength. But if we want to compensate for the additional members they've gained then it's going to take even longer.”
“So this is at least a week from even getting off the ground,” Nora said.
“Maybe we're better off planning without it.”
Yusuf shook his head. “Normally that would be true, but our research division isn't doing anything right now. We haven't found any schematics lately, after all, and this thing is right up our alley.”
“Still, wouldn't they
be better off helping to build vehicles?” Zach asked. “I mean, if it comes to it we can deal with the metro the old fashioned way. But the armored company really isn't going to be effective without their vehicles.”
“True. Maybe I'll take this on as my personal pet project. Fiddling around with the rail system certainly sounds like fun, at least.”
“Do you think our idea is even practical?” Nora asked him.
“For an armored train? Yeah, definitely, if we can get the engine running and everything. It's not a new concept or anything. They were used during the World Wars, and most of their weaknesses are negated underground. You have to stick to the tracks in any case.”
“That might make it easier to explore the rest of the metro as well,” Zach said.
“That's provided the track is intact,” Yusuf pointed out. “I mean, it shouldn't be terribly hard to repair in any case, but that's not going to help you if you derail the train while you're exploring.”
“Maybe we just use it as a support vehicle,” Zach shrugged. “We'll have the infantry out in front and the train will support them with firepower.”
Someone buzzed her. Nora answered the call on her link. Xavier was on the other end of the line.
“Nora, Neil just contacted us. Spectre Company found something in one of the side tunnels they were exploring and want your opinion on it. If you can bring one of the Hephaestus engineers with you that would be good as well.”
“Did they say what?” she asked.
“Nope, they just said it was of interest. I figured you would be the one to tell since you're our main organizer.”
“Roger.” Nora turned to the other two. “Spectre Company found something in one of the side tunnels. I'm headed there. Mind If I bring Paige along with me?”
“Not a problem,” Yusuf told her. “We'll take care of the stuff on this end.”
“Did they say what they found?” Zach asked.
“Details are mum,” Nora said as she leaped out of the back, almost bumping into Paige. “We're going to find Spectre Company.”
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