Sam let out a heavy and equally tense breath with the pull of her right index trigger finger. The soft “thunk” sound could be felt as the charge left the tube, sailing just beyond the building before it exploded into a burst of light intense as the sun, causing the pilots to all squint momentarily before the light sensors quickly acted to adjust the visor monitor brightness. The NOx source-tagged markings scattered in reaction, showing now a total of twelve possible Kappa frames in an updated count. She quickly toggled her launcher setting to rocket once more, waiting for the next command.

“Wings, take the first shot once they cross that line,” Kerry continued, continuing to suppress her anxiousness.

“We’re still aiming for the lower frame, right?” Sam asked as she had been wanting to, hoping to squeeze it in before things got hairy.

Only a second passed after that when Sebastian fired off two three-round bursts at the first pair of targets rounding the corner of the complex. The rapid streams of ionized air in each round’s wake ripped by like thunder had just struck multiple times in one place amidst the storm, raising tensions even further as there was no going back after the amount of noise they were going to continue to escalate.

“They’re going airborne! Barrels up!” Andre shouted in reaction to the enemy’s response.

.

The man with the viewfinder from earlier was crouched behind a row of conference desks, radio in hand, trembling in fear as well as the cold from the wind and rain blowing in, soaking him and the glass shard-covered tile flooring around him. “Repeat! Enemy is moving i—TAH-TAH-TAH-” he hollered desperately at the top of his lungs over the noise of the Infinity model rifle bursts. “Calling Reaper! The -TAH-TAH-TAH- is c-TAH-TAH-TAH before we-TAH-TAH-TAH- numbers! I Repe-TAH-TAH-TAH-” He ran out of breath, coughing as he tried to stay hidden from view, praying for his life.

“Sam, heads up!” Kerry barked, having watched the NOx markings’ movement closely from behind the wall she put up. Two more heavily equipped Kappa frames launched up in an attempt to strike them from directly above, quickly taking aim for the front of their pack. Damn it! What am I doing?!”

Sam had felt the strangest sensation the absolute instant the lock-acquisition alarm started to ring out, feeling as if something urged her to tilt back and squeeze each handle’s secondary fire buttons. It was almost as if the OS had done some reacting for her. And so without a chance to even judge the best course of action to take, a flurry of rockets streamed out from her shoulder mounted launchers, each slamming into the airborne enemy LTACs.

The man inside the tower still clutching his radio and viewfinder reacted to the sounds of explosions, buckling over in terror once again before something else much larger than a bullet came crashing through the front window, taking out the entire panel with it and the desks nearest to it. Amongst another ear drum rupturing barrage of burst fire sounds, he awkwardly stood up just enough to make a run for the hallway door in the dark, tripping over a large piece of metal that slid in front of him. He slipped on the wet floor as he tried to right himself, finding a solid grip on the piece of hot LTAC framework just behind him. He thought to hide behind its seemingly safe, bulky cover, quickly crouching next to it without a second thought. He then smelled what seemed like blood amongst the smoke and dust, quickly brewing a new, stronger concoction of fear and panic in his gut. He peered over through the darkness to confirm his fears, only to see much worse when the flashing of rifle fire showed the upper torso of a pilot’s severed body still strapped to his seat and cockpit backing.

.

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▽　▽　▽

.

“Hey Reap’? Um, you are hearing this, right?” Revenant spoke as they sat idle inside their LTACs, waiting on someone or some command. He sat as he continued listening in on the radio calls for help from the old Tejgaon airbase complex that was under attack, fidgeting impatiently. Revenant normally was fine following orders as he had a lot of trust established with his superiors over the years, but this was an exception. He knew the level of firepower being employed, and could hear every shot ring out unreturned, unanswered, uncontested. “I can’t believe we are going to sit this one out after all,” he continued grumbling after realizing Isaiah would not reply.

Requiem wasn’t any more content, either, even though the situation was contrary to the norm. It was typically Revenant’s job to help instill patience in his partner. “Dude, you and I both and you know that, but we need this to work. Like we keep saying, man, just trust our boy Sharif. He’ll get us the signal soon.” He too had no reason to object in most cases, but more than anything he was ready to leave town and that was exactly what was promised them after their last move was made.

▽　▽　▽

“Last three targets! Switch to phalanx and wait for them to move!” Kerry continued ordering firmly, still keeping track of each movement tracker.

[No, no, time is what they always buy before finding ways to get behind us or some shit,] Sebastian started thinking to himself as memories of countless ambushes from back home flashed across his mind. He had been silent much of this time ever since hitting Singapore, but his days of leading started to itch for a return, be it inopportune timing or not. “We need place the drop marker now! Not later!”

Shit, he’s right! Sam thought but was quickly interrupted.

“We aren’t walking into any traps today!” she snapped back. “Switch to phalanx!”

“Tanks!” Andre yelled as he turned to his exposed left to see a pair of them approaching the street running alongside the airfield. They were likely older war models, but they would have long enough range to hit them just by simply turning that one corner, meaning they had about two seconds to react.

Tanks?! We aren’t equipped to- …

Sam remembered that instant how Commander Burnley bit the dust that one day in Bogota after being done in by a tank using the weaker riot shields. No! Not this time! “Reverse phalanx direction!” she shouted, running her Axiom as fast as it would go just past Kerry’s Ap50 before digging her feet into the turf, slamming her shield down.

“Sam!” Sebastian tried to object, already taking aim for the frontmost tank, forgetting the piercing specs to his ammunition.

She wasn’t focused on anything but the alignment of her shield her left arm swung around; so focused to the point she didn’t feel the shockwave sent her way. That next instant, she instead felt the thud of a discharged tank round impacting on her shield and subsequently throughout the rest of her entire frame, pushing her restraints and padding to the limit. The fragmented shards from the round flung every which direction as an engulfing ball of fire joined it, complete with a rapidly expanding cloud of incinerated mud and mist from the point of detonation.

“What are you waiting for?!” Sebastian roared in anger at the other two, unsure if he could even be afforded the second to ask if Sam was alright. He immediately laid down fire in hopes he could penetrate their armor. “THUNK” went the heavy launcher just next to him, causing him to jump back in reaction to the unexpected event.

Sam watched the bunker buster charge hit the tank dead center, setting off a column of smoke and a display of shrapnel from the shattered armor. She wasted no time reloading and firing the next shot into the second tank that was attempting to back up and away from the wreckage. All during the while, she didn’t realize Kerry and Andre wiped the last LTACs remaining behind them as the detection monitors all fell silent.

“Last clear!” Kerry called out. “That was a trap after all, you see?!”

All four remained silent after that moment, only hearing the steady fall of rain beating down on them before one realized they weren’t done yet.

“Placing marker and retreating!” Kerry shouted, setting their current location as the drop point before the four quickly ran back for the building line running along the same street as they had originally planned.

Sebastian noticed a twisted and warped plate of metal lying over twenty meters from them as they charged their destination. “Sam!” he shouted half elated, half terrified. “How did you survive that!?”

“We all need to get us one of these!” she replied, halfway out of breath herself, amazed at the fact the shield actually held up enough to deflect most of the carried energy away from her, but of course at the expense of the shield itself. “What’s the ETA to rendezvous?”

Kerry found different respite in the updated signal from the drop carrier above them. “Drop initiated! Landing ETA two minutes! Let’s hang tight and watch the perimeters!”

“That also means all radios are live!” Sam added, noticing an additional channel opened up on her communications tab.

And now would be a great time for our booster reserves to finish recharging!

.

.

Marian wore an expression of thorough discontent and disagreement that had not faded since the moment she left the warehouse. Quarrels were not uncommon between she and the rest of the squad, but this was the first time that she had felt the need to side with Rex, which she knew deep down might be one reason Isaiah continued to avoid the topic. It wasn’t that she wanted to, but somewhere she felt there was more and more being withheld from her, but for why she just couldn’t quite put a finger on it. Exhausted mentally, she fell onto the sofa, taking a moment to exhale and rest her eyes, letting the sound of the rain against the windows soothe some of the frustration away. Moments later, an impulse caused her to tilt her head to the side, looking for the remote to the TV. She reached over to the end table next to her, flipping on the TV and searched for the local news outlet. I’m sure the worst is over by now. That thunder I heard earlier may not have even been thunder after all.

“-it seems, fortunately,” the sound cut in as the live news feed started up, showing local reporters streaming aerial footage from above Old Tejgaon Air Field. Several small fires could be made out amidst the downpour and the smoke.

Of bloody course.

One of the reporters continued: “But this is why Hexa had originally limited their use of land to that which is within the Ibrahimpur TBD (a newer term coined as ‘To Be Demolished’) precinct. The reinforced wall material would prevent any damage to nearby precincts in the case of such disasters that have now happened twice.”

“That was in fact one of the agreements made by CEO Vincent Vrey upon the purchase of that land in January,” the co-host added. “Again, for those just tuning in, we are streaming live the incident unfolding at Old Tejgaon Air Field, location of the former Hexa International Operations Center for Infinity: Dhaka City as Infinity forces seem to be on the verge of reclaiming their property by force. This property was taken by Underground forces weeks ago, prompting a slow but steady decline in protest activity.”

“So far there have been no confirmed presence of residents in the area at the time of the attack, patrols by police having just ended moments before it started.”

Well, that was fast. Looks like it’s already over, she thought as the seeds of doubt that had long been planted started to bud. What are your true intentions with your next upcoming move, Isaiah? She let out a long sigh, closing her eyes, shaking her head in stubborn disbelief. A sudden vibrating of her watch shook her upright. Did he change his mind?! she thought before realizing the call was coming from Rex with a quick glance. Her eyes closed, head dropping back to the headrest of the sofa as she uttered a sigh of disappointment. The watch continued vibrating despite her desire to ignore it, hoping he would hang up. Bloody hell… “Yes,” she answered with a straightened posture and voice, fixing her earpiece in place.

“Why aren’t you all in place?” the digitally distorted voice interrogated. “This is completely against orders.”

It was odd he would call her, but this had to be because Isaiah was blocking or ignoring his calls as he must have been anticipating his anger. “I understand that, but this is all out of my hand. With all due respect, that is, sir, I am just following orders just issued to me.”

“I am not ordering you to take any action. I am asking for an answer to my question,” he firmly persisted.

“I am at my hotel, sir,” she bluntly responded, matching with her own persistence while keeping it tactful. “I was ordered to return without proper explanation and it puts me in no position to be asked for further details.”

“I have record of you, Cable, last speaking to our plant before this happened. This means you know of the reasons why if you were told well in advance that Infinity was coming this fast.”

Shit. “I don’t know what else you expect me to say, sir. Our plant had double crossed us. We had no time to really put together plan C because both A and B were thrown off by that unexpected betrayal. I can only trust Reaper has made up for the lack of resources made available to more adequately respond to such conditions.” She then took a second to look at the TV screen, noticing that there had been about two dozen Ai20 units landing near the air base by paradrop. “I now see twenty-four reasons in addition to why we were correct to hold off, if I am allowed to say so, sir.”

“Relay to Reaper that the next time he cuts communications from central link without permission, your entire team will be reclaimed, processed, and replaced.” With that, the call abruptly ended.

“Fucking wanker,” she spat as she tossed herself over to her side, head on the armrest. Your plan had better bloody work, Isaiah.

.

.

▽　▽　▽

.

Even after a half hour had past, Sam and the rest of the team were still stranded out in the rain, although now they were with plenty of company. The Infinity drop team, which consisted of the two dozen Ai20 units and several support vehicles, all stood together with them just outside the man hangar doors at the backside of the secured main complex. The area was littered with debris and carcasses that remained of the Kappa units that had met their fateful end, not knowing the degree of counterfire they were to face.

Sam continued to tug at her t-shirt and shoulder harnesses as the still-damp materials had irritated her skin, and her back was the worst as she couldn’t do a thing about it but squirm uncomfortably on occasion. This came after deciding not to utilize the vented seating, afraid to catch a cold. Her shorter length shorts resulted in her bare legs’ skin sticking to the seat material as well, furthering the discomfort that wasn’t an issue until being told to sit in it for as long as they had.

“Alright, sorry about the wait,” Danielle’s voice came over the radio. “You all did about as perfect of a sweep as you could, and that was all without the eye in the sky.”

I can’t even believe it myself. The seeds of doubt were still planted from well before their journey, however, and that one side of Sam could never fully stay hidden away regardless the relief and joy that came from victory. “Director, what will be the ETA for when we can get an assessment on property damage?”

“We’re in a demolition block, Sam,” Kerry chimed in. “This was the one place to not worry about all that.”

“Now hold on,” she heard Gabriel joining in. “I remember that question you asked me about missed shot accountability. Remember that? Well, now I can better answer the question. I know you are aware of the ROE for that rifle, and I am, too. Everyone,” he said in a different tone, almost as if to start lecturing. “While we are still on hold, answer me this. Did you feel anything different when engaging each target?”

Come to think of it, I can’t even remember how we all shot as well as we did. She continued in thought, not paying attention to the thinking aloud by the others. I don’t remember pulling any triggers. This is weird. She tried hard to recollect that moment she first fired the rockets at the airborne targets all the way to the moment she fired her launcher at the tanks. It was all a blur. Even the impact on her shield was not coming back clearly. She remembered getting back up, half dazed but in condition enough to fight back. She remembered Sebastian opening cover fire from behind her, but no matter what those specific memories would not materialize. Is it that system again? “Excuse me, Mr. Silva,” she finally spoke up in the midst of a break in conversation.

“Ms. Knight, what do you have?”

“Does the system utilize your subconscious?”

“Damn, you caught on,” he said with a chuckle. “Hey, Rook, you hear that?” she heard him say off mic but just audible enough to make out before coming back clearly: “That’s what I held back because you have to feel it and do well with it to understand it. If I had explained it first, it might have ruined everyone’s approach.”

“Our subconscious?!” Kerry fussed out in befuddlement. “How?”

“What is subconscious?” Sebastian added in the fuss.

“Alright, stop,” Danielle finally intervened. “We will address that when we arrive in the morning. Until then, yes, understand that unlike the Mk. 1 system, this one does not force your subconscious rather it can enter a passive mode, influencing your reactions and decisions discreetly and unnoticeably but only if you are in the right mental state to allow for it. Your shot placement seems to have been about 90% to system spec, meaning collateral damage was not only minimal but contained within the walls. In other words, you did about as perfect of a sweep as you possibly could.”

“Attention all surrounding. Power coming on and doors opening. Stand by,” an officer’s voice added in as many breathed an enormous sigh of relief. This also came as the rains started to let up, adding to the collectively eased tensions.

“About damn time!” she heard Andre in response as a light turned on just over the man bay doors. Subsequently, a string of lights appeared just above it along with every floor’s main window lighting up on the inside. Then, the clanking sound of the activated bay doors felt to them as if it were a cool breeze.

“Get your rest, and make sure to eat if you haven’t this evening,” Danielle concluded. “I will resume debriefing in the morning.”