28. Bishop: Tubular assault

Pushing through the compound Flux held his Mossberg 500 compact shotgun close clearing corners throughout the maze of shipping containers with lethal focus. Following behind with a G36C we breached each fatal funnel maintaining a heightened pace in perfect cohesion. The metal walls rose high enough denying any deviation from our claustrophobic path choking out any hope of escape or evading fire. A close quarters hell. We were in our element.

Pushing without fear slipping by most of the outlaws responding to the firefight out the front they ran carelessly down the paths laid out by the rusting containers. Halting only to let outlaws charge on by unaware to our presence we continued on to the warehouse towards the center. With flawless movement we entered a compound filled with wooden crates, some only knee heigh and others stacked towering over the shipping containers.

Shortly after entering the compound an outlaw ran in front of Flux. Unloading a shell without hesitation the outlaw fell patting at the gaping wound Flux left in his chest. Voices began to yell all around closing in on the sudden gunfire. Maintaining our pace weaving in and out of the crates another appeared in front with rifle ready. He fell like the last as Flux ejected another shell, two left in the tube. Seconds later clearing a corner my sights ran up an outlaws body over the muzzle flash leading to his head as Flux whispered after firing in the opposite direction dropping another target.

“Reloading…”

His shotgun clicked as the shells were jammed in barely audible over the disarray the outlaws were in trying to track us down. Moving forward cries of pain could be heard over calls of friendly fire. Pushed over the edge the outlaws fought amongst themselves terrified any hesitation would leave them like the bodies of their comrades they found throughout the complex.

Coming up to the warehouse back in the maze of shipping containers rounding another corner two outlaws waitied in ambush in deep cover. Panicked they fired immediately at the sight of movement. The first shot missing me entirely I pushed the momentum as the other outlaws head was peppered by buckshot from Flux. Clipping the outlaw in the shoulder he turned back in immediately. Firing short bursts kept his head down while slowly walking forward. Regaining the courage to turn out again saw him staring down the barrel of Flux’s shotgun.

With the next contingent down the outlaws ahead in the warehouse would surely know we were coming. Leaning round the final corner one stood behind a metal barricade out the front and another peeking past the door. Firing as soon as my rifle came round the corner taking a barricade position Flux pushed the position as I focussed fire towards the door. In seconds the man at the barricade was dead and the other behind the door heavily wounded as I fired through the wall.

Rounding the door a single shot put him out of his misery. Looking up an office door saw another outlaw lining us up. Firing the first shot he narrowly missed me as Flux opened up. Forcing him down with the last shell I took over suppressing him as Flux slapped a shell into the ejection port rushing the door. Getting an angle Flux’s shotgun produced a brilliant flash as another body fell.

Setting up behind him taking out my pistol as he loaded his shotgun my hand on his shoulder signalling I was ready to go. Flux went left through the door, myself right. The last outlaw held a man hostage. Leaning right against the wall his shot cracked past earning a grunt of pain from Flux as I fired. The first shot ripped through coming out the back of his neck just below his skull. The second shot made sure he was dead. The outlaw fell to the ground lifeless. Turning round to Flux he was already moving to the hostage.

“You right?”

“Hit the plate. Hold the door.” The hostages face was wiped clean of relief as Flux shouted him down.

“(Name! Now!)” Peaking out the door two outlaws rushed in to be cut down by a burst of fire as Flux continued unfazed slapping the shocked hostage over the head.

“(What’s your name?!)” Looking up in shock the hostage put together a rushed response.

“(Vasily Gregor. We don’t have time for this the Arbitrator knows of the operation he is coming.)” Intrigued Flux decided to dig for information quickly before terminating the man.

“(How does he know?)”

“(How should I know? It doesn’t matter right now he knows about Shadowfall operations that alone should tell you we need to go now! Where is the extraction-)” Cutting himself off the hostage looked up wide eyed.

“(You aren’t SF. The world is at stake we can offer you compensation and safety there isn’t time-)”

Flux fired the shotgun into his chest convinced he wasn’t getting anymore information. Cartilage, blood and bone erupted from his back leaving him on the ground almost instantly losing consciousness quickly followed by death. With a nod we left the room and began clearing our way back to our entry point. Leaving the warehouse it seemed like the outlaws had shifted their attention to the river side of the compound and were fighting another front.

Taking advantage of the confusion we pressed on uncontested through the shipping containers approaching the courtyard of crates again. Walking quickly with weapons ready a metallic clanking was heard in the open shipping container beside us. Quickly breaching round looking past the door saw a man wearing a gasmask with blue lens and chest rig covered in specialist equipment.

Firing at the man he darted back returning dangerously accurate fire. Stepping back myself the fire continued through the fatal funnel to prevent us catching them out in the open as they fell back into the courtyard of crates. Moving around finding a new entry to avoid walking into overwatch fire I briefed Flux in a hushed tone along the way.

“Two men. Specialist gear. Well trained. First contacts who’ve made a smart move, be careful.”

Finding another entry we breached into the courtyard once more. Scanning every point we searched for the intruders throughout the mess of corridors and intersections the crates made. Splitting up to establish more effective crossfire the courtyard was silent apart from the raging battle outside. Neither us nor them made a sound as we took deathly caution in every movement. Any sound emitted could be the last in this arena of rust, dust, guts and blood.

The corridors of crates were filled with numerous outcropping objects. Each one initially looked to be our adversary. They screamed out to be shot purely to instil a sense of security that it wasn’t a threat but any misfire would see us compromised. Even though each potential target had to be analysed any hesitation would see us killed. Coming up to another corner rounding it quickly I saw a shotgun pointed my way. Lowering my rifle slightly shaking my head at Flux indicated no contact had been made yet. Nodding he returned to his own hunt.

Crouching under low crates to maintain concealment we slowly made our way towards our entry point while maintaining our vigil for the enemy. The search could last minutes, hours even but the fight would be over in seconds. Hearing the firefight die down around our entry point we doubled our efforts towards escape. Moving forward I caught the brief outline of a leg just barely jutting out from behind a crate only for half a second.

Sighting the target saw a burst of fire launched in it’s direction. The leg quickly retracted suffering a flesh wound. Standing almost running forward clearing corners rapidly gun up we tightened the noose. Flux could be heard running as well ahead towards my target. Turning another corner the other operative brought down a hail of fire. With a stroke of luck ducking into cover feeling a round graze against me Flux provided cover fire standing over a crate scoring some light hits. The fire stopped and I continued pushing forward.

Charging forwards to our escape the first operative wounded caught me in his sights. Reacting immedately firing with absolute precision the rounds slammed into his chest and through the top of his shoulder as he dived back into cover suppressed by the absolute violence of action. Flux immediately went to suppressing the other operative who desperately covered his friend earning a decent wound sending him down as quickly as he rose from a crate.

Convinced an appropriate amount of damage had been inflicted to allow escape we dashed for our entry point as the firefight continued to die down. We were running out of time. The teams outside were losing the weight of fire slowly but surely. Dashing through the complex of shipping containers we found the gate once more as outlaws made leaps and bounds through the rubble towards our fireteams.

Running around the side of the compound we fought our way through an outlaw squad. Our fire blended in with theirs leaving them all completely unaware their comrades fell one by one as Strider and Hazard linked up with us. Reaching the last man in the section he turned inspecting the lack of fire only to find myself and Flux already firing on him.

As the final outlaws blood caked the concrete rubble we made our final push through the buildings to link up with the mercenaries. Reaching one of the occupied buildings Marcus brought Sandworm limping down the stairs.

“How many casualties?”

“He’s the only one. Robinc went off to find a better position. He’ll regroup when he figures out we’ve pulled back.”

Assisting Sandworm putting my arm around him we began to retreat. Pulling out from the building running into the distance saw no further pursuit. In the clear stopping only to find our payment stashed in another section of rubble away from the fighting we took both suitcases checking them for the promised payout. Seeing them stashed to the brim with rubles we continued onward to plan our next move.