Having been dropped well beyond the rendezvous point, Erich now found himself deep behind enemy lines. Where until now he had fought and struggled to avoid detection. Or silence those who witnessed his presence. Tia had thankfully calculated what she believed to be the safest route to the extraction point, but it was nearly twenty-five kilometers away. And Erich now needed to make his way there.
However, while Erich was trudging through the war-torn world of the Oni Capital, which had suffered a planetary bombardment of epic proportions, his team had successfully landed at the drop site, and now found themselves in a predicament over their lost comrade.
It was only just recently that Ghost and his team rendezvoused at the correct location, where they found that a critical member of their team was missing. Causing Ghost to interrogate his comrades about Erich's disappearance.
"Where the fuck is Silber? Didn't he drop with the rest of us?"
Echo simply shrugged his shoulders while remaining completely silent, while JT immediately activated his comms in an attempt to reach out to Erich. But all he received was static.
"No luck. Something is jamming our communications. I can't even get in contact with the fleet, let alone Erich. He might have gotten hit by a shell and thrown off course. Of course, he also could have been turned into scrap as well, depending just what kind of weapon got him."
Heavy appeared to be the one least concerned about Erich's safety, as he quickly spoke about his thoughts on the matter.
"We don't have time to wait around and find out. Our mission is critical. We need to infiltrate the Oni Royal Palace, capture the Emperor, and use his status as a hostage to order the loyalists to stand down. If Erich is alive, he will meet us at the extraction point. If not, that is nothing new. I don't know what high command was thinking, sending a fucking W-2 into an orbital drop."
JT immediately got defensive about Heavy's callousness towards one of their comrades and quick to voice his outrage at Heavy's remarks.
"You cold-hearted vindictive fuck! You don't even give a shit that one of our own might be dead? Erich might be a W-2, but he's still a fucking WRAITH. Which is more than most men can claim! This is about Erika, isn't it? You have always had a hard-on for that bitch, and you are pissed that Erich isn't treating like a goddess!"
This remark immediately caused Heavy to become outraged, as he punched JT in the face without the slightest warning, who simply reacted to the man's immense power by shrugging it off, before shooting for a takedown.
As heavy sprawled to the ground, and the two men fought for a dominant position, Ghost and Echo pulled them apart. Where the commanding officer of the unit was quick to reprimand his subordinates for their juvenile behavior.
"Enough JT! Heavy is right, the mission comes first. We can only hope that Erich survived the fall, and is making his way to the extraction point as we speak. We've got a way to go before we reach the Palace, and there is an army of loyalists that stand between us and our objective. The last thing we need is to be fighting one another! So check your weapons, and let's move out! If either of you even think about saying another word of this matter, I'll have you both court martialled!"
As much as JT wanted to tell Ghost to go suck it, he simply scoffed instead, and did as he was commanded. He had already received a life sentence for insubordination. What would he care if he was court martialled again?
Heavy, on the other hand, knew just how stern the punishment would be for fighting with a comrade while within the field, and shut his mouth immediately. He made sure that his light machine gun was fully loaded with a fresh plasma cell, and that his grenade launcher was also ready to see combat.
Once the unit was ready for battle, they began to covertly make their way through the ruined city and towards the Royal Palace. Though their stealth skills were supreme, that did not necessarily mean that the journey to their target was perilless, and thus they kept their heads on a swivel.
---
Meanwhile, in another part of the Oni Capital, Erich's matte black power armor was stained red with the blood of Oni loyalists. He had encountered a patrol while trying to make his way to the extraction point and had ruthlessly gunned them down in a hailstorm of bullets.
The sound of combat naturally drew the attention of other nearby troops, and because of this, he was currently running through the ruins in an attempt to find a safe location to hide. Using his NeuroLink, Erich had successfully sliced into the Loyalist communication network, and was now listening to the voices of his pursuers.
He had earned himself the nickname of the "Black Devil" after killing so many Oni troops, partially because his power armor was matte black, and partially because they had no idea who he was, or where he had come from.
It had been a long time since the Oni served alongside their Germanic allies on the battlefield, and because of this, few knew what their genetically enhanced super soldiers were capable of. Because of this, they had no idea what species Erich belonged to, or why he was on their capital in the first place.
After all, officially the Germanic Star-Empire was backing the Loyalists, albeit only by providing support on their borders to prevent the Lutharian Ascendancy from invading the war torn Oni Empire.
As Erich ran further through the ruins, at speeds which the Oni simply couldn't match, he eventually lost them, only to find himself confronted by another group of hostiles. This time it was not a loyalist Patrol, or a Quick Reaction Force.
Instead, it was a defensive battery, whose entire purpose was to fire projectiles into orbit, in a desperate attempt to destroy those Rebel battlecruisers who were currently bombarding the planet.
Seeing this as a chance to aid the rebels, Erich scouted out the enemy position, who had no idea he was within engagement distance, as he hid behind some cover, which came in the form of a ruined wall.
There were roughly eighteen guns in total, and 200 men within this battery. Which was protected from orbital bombardment by lying in a reinforced bunker complex. Practically speaking, there was no reason for Erich to actually engage these hostiles, and he should instead flee from the area in pursuit of the extraction point.
But if he could take down this battery, it would leave this sector of the planet open to the landing of troops, which could take some of the heat off of his ass. Then again, single-handedly killing 200 soldiers and disabling 18 guns was not the easiest of tasks.
Erich checked his body and noticed he had several 120 round magazines for his light machine gun strapped to his body. Which was a weapon he had scavenged from one of his more recent kills. He also had several thermobaric grenades, and the five med pens which were attached to his armor from his initial load out.
Theoretically, he had the firepower, and the skills to destroy this artillery battery, even if it wasn't the wisest of ideas. Thus, he was quick to ask his little assistant for her opinion on the matter.
"Tia, what are the odds that I can take out this battery, and still make it to the extraction point in time, and unharmed?"
Tia looked at her Master as if he were an idiot, before expressing her opinion on the matter.
"While Master has the capability to make quick work of the hostile forces who operate this battery, it would take an excessive amount of time to render the guns inoperable. Not only would this deplete your current resources, but it would waste precious time. Tia highly advises against such a foolish action!"
Erich aimed down his holographic sight towards the officer who appeared in charge of the battery and rested his finger on the trigger. Debating whether or not he should pull it. In the end, he took his finger off the trigger and sighed heavily, before hiding completely behind the rubble that acted as his cover.
Evidently, Tia was incredibly anxious, as was apparent on her face, and only relaxed once Erich had made the right choice. However, Erich's next words made her blush in embarassment.
"Alright, I will follow your advice, Tia. After all, you haven't let me down yet!"
After saying this, Erich gathered his wits, before skulking off into the ruins, ignoring the battery which was currently firing its payload into space. How many rebel lives he could have saved in this moment is unclear. Perhaps zero, or perhaps thousands. But it would have come at a great cost, and by the time he had dismantled the guns, Erich would have been swarmed by reinforcements with no way out.
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