Next step would be gathering the world leading minds together to find means to end this madness that is only beginning. Recon report came in: a famous scientist named Anna Sing was pinned down on an alien-infested urban area in Brisbane, Australia. The job was not the easiest one - Dr. Sing had to be rescued and escorted back to safety. Oh well, what the hell.
Proxy was accompanied with the same fellows from the last mission. Ironbay had been promoted to squaddie and assigned to assault duty to hone even further his ability to run and gun more effectively than any other footman. Transcription from the crew cabin during the transit has been omitted due to its questionable nature.
Brisbane was silent and the evening was late. The team was dispatched by a small park between two roads and the mission target was located somewhere on the other side of the park. Sureshot took the left road and scuttled for cover behind one of the abandoned cars by the sidewalk. He was amazed that he still wasn't served any scotch on the Skyranger and felt a bit shaky, as usually before combat missions. Proxy and Ironbay proceeded towards the first low stairway and took cover behind high flower boxes made of solid concrete. Proxy felt very much unsure, if the concrete would stop the green plasma. Mad Marl took the right road and took cover behind an abandoned taxi with its front door open. That would be nothing else but a visibility blocker, but Mad Marl did not know that yet.
There was another wide and low stairway leading to a central pedestal that had a huge fountain on it, blocking any possible vision beyond and producing uncomfortable noise. Ironbay covered the angle and Proxy proceeded towards the second flower box. All of a sudden a jet of green plasma came to be from the other side of the fountain. Proxy was still in motion to take cover and the searing plasma hit the edge of the flower box, mostly splattering across it, but unfortunately Proxy also got his share of it. Smell of burning skin and flesh filled his mind, but with his soldier instincts he had managed to return fire at something, that was no sectoid. It looked like a two-dimensional projection of a tall figure, moving very fast. Even so, Proxy caught it well. An off-world scream filled the air and the movement stopped. Ironbay immediately moved to secure the fountain area and oversee that the whatever-it-was stays down. It did. Proxy was definitely hurt, but still on this side and up to the task ahead.
Mad Marl noticed a school bus with a ladder behind and climbed on top of it to have better visibility of what's going on, hoping to locate Dr. Sing before it's too late. Unfortunately, he slipped from the edge that was slippery with something he did not have time to note and fell down from the bus roof. Killing the momentum by slamming the roof on the go, he managed to fall down unscathed and startled by the noise he made, jumped inside the bus. He started slowly making way towards the front, where he would have better visibility of what's ahead, but hopefully get enough cover to not get noticed.
Sureshot was leaning at the car and saw something by the trash bin ahead, laying on the ground. It was a small bottle of scotch. He moved forward and picked it up, then continued along the line of cars, only to notice that the next cars were too tight together for him to fit to cover between them. A sectoid showed up from behind the front corner of the endless line of cars and he was completely exposed on the sidewalk. Frozen with a bottle of scotch on his other hand and his assault rifle on the other. The sectoid did not hesitate to shoot and Sureshot was hit on the shoulder. The scotch flew across the pavement, smashed on the wall and shattered. Sureshot returned the fire one-handed, instinctively, and the bullets clattered across the line of cars. The sectoid took cover behind the corner again and the whole situation for Sureshot started to look rather grim.
On top of the park stairs, Ironbay had perfect visibility to Sureshot's enemy. He moved as far as he could in the cover of the flower boxes, benches and low walls until he had a clear shot to the sectoid and let it go with his newly acquired shotgun. The sectoid shrieked briefly before it was cut to pieces across the street. To Ironbay's amazement, Proxy advanced to the pedestal, obviously pumped up by adrenaline, oblivious to the injury that looked like he was going to a Halloween party. Proxy continued even further and saw another of those "thin men" and took it down.
Inside the school bus, Mad Marl had reached the driver's seat and had a full view of the street ahead of him. In front of him, he saw an empty and badly damaged police car and had not much time to react to the blast of molten plasma that shot through the broken windows through the police car, hitting the bus' windshield and turning it into a melted mixture of safety glass. Ducking, he avoided most of the deadly mess splattering across the driver's cabin and the ceiling, but his back felt like he was dumped onto a barbeque grill his back first. Squealing like a girl he hit the floor and started recollecting himself. Turning around and rising to his knees, he saw from the edge of the windshield pane that it was a sectoid, crouching behind the police car. He took a careful shot through the broken police car windows and ended the sectoid's life. In the same instant as the sectoid died, he heard a shriek. A woman shriek. It had to be their target, somewhere ahead.
Ironside and Proxy heard the shrieks, too and took cover at the far end of the park, behind wide flower boxes. Sureshot continued past where his nemesis met its end to take cover behind a mailbox. Talk about safety. Mad Marl scuttled out of the bus, past the police car and saw a woman hiding in the middle of road construction signs. Trying to signal her to stay quiet, he approached her and told her: "We'll take you to safety, follow me." She was in no condition to exchange anything sensible, but started to follow Mad Marl back on the way he had come.
Sureshot heard a loud thump behind him, something had fallen on top of a nearby armored truck on the street. Turning around, he noticed the "thin man" and threw a few shots while trying to get back to the safety of the line of cars. He hit it and it fell down lifeless. Now it was definitely time to fall back and hope not much more enemies appear.
By the pedestal, Ironbay and Proxy started to fall back while maintaining visibility to Mad Marl and their rescue target. It looked like Mad Marl was doing a good job keeping things simple and instructing Anna promptly to duck down, when to move and so on. The journey back to the Skyranger took an unfortunate turn, when more enemies showed up near the corner. Behind exactly the same flower box as in the beginning, Proxy took another glancing hit from another sectoid's plasma rifle and he started to look really pale. He was still here, functioning and no apparent need for stabilization, although Ironbay could not be sure any more is Proxy even a human withstanding all that abuse. Ironbay shot the sectoid, while Sureshot continued behind the cars on the sidewalk and took out the two-dimensional horror down at the corner and the rest of the way looked clear.
Heavily wounded, but everyone alive and Dr. Anna Sing safe, the team climbed into the Skyranger and left Australia. Apparently everything, starting from animals of any kind is more deadly in Australia and just by sheer luck, the squad made it back. It could have equally well been a different kind of a story. Examining Proxy's, Sureshot's and Mad Marl's wounds, all three of them are out of business for more than a week, leaving assault specialist Ironbay to lead the reinforcements onto the next battlefield. Grim times ask for big steps upwards.
No comments:
Post a Comment