Chapter 15: Rising Tensions

Fabruary 2140, Serbia

There are five of us in a bunker; nothing will get us out of here. The cold outside is unbearable, you can only stay there for a few minutes before it becomes too dangerous. Even if we could somehow survive the cold, we would still have to deal with artillery and enemy snipers from the hills ahead of us. There’s nothing we can do, nowhere to escape.

We have been stuck here for several weeks, trying to slow down the enemy advance into Serbia so that everyone else can be evacuated. It hasn’t been enough, most of the Balkans has already fallen and it’s only a matter of time before the enemy breaks through our lines and reach Belgrade. Every soldiers knows this, yet we continue to resist in hopes of a miracle, that somehow we might be able to change the tide, or at the very least get everyone out safely.

For now, we remain inside this concrete coffin. We take turns watching the outside for enemy movement, while a few others take care of our communications and supplies. There’s only one working radio, and its signal only covers a few miles, just enough to reach the HQ. Not that it helps anyway, the only calls we get are to inform us that they can’t get any reinforcements or supplies to our location, it’s been three days since our last supply delivery and we're already rationing our food.

Being the more experienced soldiers, Elliot and I do what we can to keep everything working, but the constant shelling and prolonged confinement are taking their toll, especially on the three recruits that are with us. Those boys only received the most basic training before being sent here, they are just too young and inexperienced, and are almost as much trouble as they are worth. We do our best to keep them in control, but they still shake in fear whenever a shell lands too close, their eyes carrying a primal fear. The claustrophobia also affects us to some extent, but we’re used to it.

“Hey, you had any luck out there?” I saw Elliot coming inside, his body covered in snow. He had gone outside to see if he could find more food for us, which was obviously dangerous, but we didn’t have a choice.

He shook his head. “I managed to reach a few bunkers down the line, but they're just as fucked as we are…” After the heavy steel door was closed, he went towards me while shaking off all the snow that had accumulated on his helmet and shoulders. “There were some casualties yesterday, they said.”

I gestured him to the seat next to me, by the radio. “How bad?”

“A machinegun crew suffered a direct hit, no survivors.”

I looked away for a moment and nodded. “Could be worse I guess…”

“Yes,” He looked around in silence, noting the two recruits chatting next to the window, as they watched the outside, and the lonely figure on top of a bed hugging his knees.

I saw how he frowned at the sight. “They’ll get used to it, eventually.”

“I hope so.”

A shell landed too close, and the entire structure shook with the blast. The two guys chatting froze in place, while the third on the bed stared at the ceiling in fear, eyes wide and body shaking.

Elliot and I quietly watched them, just in case they tried to do something stupid. The fear of being buried alive can easily drive people mad, and there were many stories of soldiers charging outside to get away, acting on instinct. As expected, the one on the bed stood up shaking and began to pace back and forth while rubbing his head. Both of us stood up and went talk to him, trying to calm him down, to which eventually he nodded and went back to bed.

It was hard to keep ourselves distracted as the day passed. I tried to get in touch with the captain and see what was happening throughout the line, while occasionally chatting or playing some cards with the rest of the guys. We ate half meals as the sun went down, and eventually we all went to sleep.

Elliot and I only pretended to do so; we had to keep watching the recruits to make sure they wouldn’t seize the opportunity to do something. The guy who had already spend most of the day on his bed couldn’t sleep either, he tossed and turned beneath his sheets. I was ready to stop him if he tried to run away.

It turned out to be an even better idea to stay awake, because at some point during the night we suffered a new bombardment, much more intense than before. Shells began to land at a much higher rate, to the point where individual explosions joined into a single, constant thunder. I could also hear a faint sound of gunships and fighter jets flying outside.

All five of us jumped out of bed by instinct. This wasn’t a normal barrage, this was a prelude to an assault.

Elliot and I were quick to grab our stuff, while the three recruits stood still. “Get ready lads, come on!” Elliot shouted, breaking their shock. They began to act, although much slower than we had.

Within a minute, I was fully dressed and had my rifle in hands. “You three!” I shouted at the recruits, “Watch for movement outside, fire at will!” I turned to Elliot as the recruits scrambled, “Elliot, stay on the radio and try to get in contact with the rest of the regiment, we need to know exactly what’s going on!” I could barely hear my own voice over the sounds of battle.

I ran towards the front of the bunker and pointed my rifle through the narrow opening. The constant flashes of explosions blinded me for a second, as I tried to see what was going on. It was total chaos, there were flares floating above the fields, anti-aircraft fire shooting upwards and clouds of dirt and snow rising from the explosions. I couldn’t see any aircrafts, but I could hear the sound as they passed by, accompanied by the whistle of bombs falling.

The men beside me were visibly shaking with adrenaline and couldn’t aim straight. Ahead of us, I could see dark shapes moving downhill towards us, followed by much larger things. It was a mechanized unit, enemy infantry supported by APCs and god knows what else. They quickly reached the area illuminated by flares, less than half a kilometer from us.

“Focus on the infantry!” I ordered to them. I turned around and looked at Elliot, “Call the captain and tell him we got enemy APCs on our sector!”

Soon, the whole area was filled with traces as both sides exchanged fire. Our previous surprise and adrenaline gave way to pure anger, an opportunity to make the enemy pay for the hardships we’ve been put through.

The APCs tried to suppress our line, providing covering fire to the advancing infantry. The three recruits and I were forced to duck as shells impacted on our bunker, one of them crawled towards our supplies and grabbed a crate of ammunition. Pieces of concrete and dust fell on top of us.

As the enemy approached, I ordered Elliot to abandon the radio and join us; we needed everyone available to keep them at bay. The fighting turned vicious; we continued to fire and throw grenades at them as they neared our position, trying to prevent them from doing the same. A single enemy grenade would easily kill us all.

We fought for what felt like hours, as bombs rained from the skies and APCs blew up into fiery wreckages. Soon, bodies began to accumulate on the fields ahead of us, especially on the craters of artillery shells. Four of us kept firing while a single recruit passed ammunition and grenades. The entire line was in chaos, as our entire regiment fought to survive and hold on.

-x-

I shifted on the bed, trying to get more comfortable. This is much better than sleeping on the ground, but still not ideal. At least I don't have to wear my boots. Man, what I would give for a good mattress. Well, I suppose there isn't much point in complaining. The temperature in the room didn't help, it was hotter than I enjoyed. At the very least, it's quiet, no sound to disturb me.

KNOCK KNOCK

Oh, for fucks sakes! Can't I even get a few hours off!? "What is it?" I shouted. Please let it be something simple.

The door opened slightly and a soldier's head popped in. "Sir, we got a situation going," What now? Could it be more raiders or something? No, after we took this base there shouldn't be any of them left.

"Is it a priority?" I asked in a tired tone.

The guy seemed to notice my state. "Sorry, but I think it is."

Fucking great, just what I needed. What time is it, anyway? Probably very early. "Alright then, just give me a few minutes."

"Okay, sir," And with that he left, leaving me alone in this dark room.

Grumbling a little, I got off the bed and stood up. Rubbing my eyes while yawning, I started my everyday routine of getting dressed and cleaned. Putting my boots and uniform came first, after that there was my body armor and pouches. Washing my face and picking my backpack and rifle came last. God, how I hate waking up early.

Making sure everything was in place, I opened the door and exited to a small corridor. Right now, I'm inside the main building of what used to be a slaver base, the ones we took down. This place has been refitted to be used as a foward base of operations. In a few days we've managed to take down the old perimeter and build new and more effective defenses, as well as make a few changes in the interior of this house and the other two warehouses. I've got to admit, we did one hell of a job in a short period of time. A few trenches, well placed foxholes and shelters made this place a lot safer.

Looking outside through a window confirmed my suspicions, it's not even dawn yet. I moved towards the living room, where we had set up a command room. Didn't see a lot of people on the way, which is expected at this time, just a lonely soldier drinking some water. Most of our men have been relocated here, in order to lower any tensions with the PAC. Not a problem, given the size of this place, and I suppose it's better this way. Our previous frustration of being in a hostile land so far from home seemed to have faded... for the moment. Moral isn't exactly full, but the men are more or less calm.

Entering the small room, I saw the same guy who woke me up. “Alright, tell me what’s going on,” I said, hoping to deal with this as fast as possible. Perhaps I’ll be able to get some more sleep after this.

He nodded. “Well, a few hours ago one of those PAC drones spotted some movement west of here, not very far,” That doesn’t sound very bad, please let it be something simple. “Naturally, I sent a call to a patrol nearby, and they decided to investigate it…” Oh boy, I don’t like where this is going. “After a while I thought they might be into something but… well…”

I narrowed my eyes. “What happened, soldier?”

“I haven’t been able to contact them, no matter how hard I tried.”

“You sure about that? Have you tried all squad members?”

The soldier nodded, raising my fears. “Yes, I also considered they might have slipped outside our reach, but they wouldn’t be out this long, there’s definitely something up.”

I looked away and scratched my head in deep thought. He’s right, something happened out there. Shit, this is pretty serious, there might be lives at risk here. However, I need to be careful, we have zero clues of what might be out there (assuming there was a fight of some sort). Maybe another gang of natives? It’s unlikely they would have the discipline or the weaponry to take a few of our soldiers head on and neutralize them before they could call for help. A swarm of mutants or something might have attacked them; those things are pretty deadly…

Ah, no point on wondering, the only way I’ll find out for sure is going out there and discovering myself. I faced the soldier once more. “Alright, I’ll go find my unit and find out what happened, you stay here and keep listening in case something comes up.”

I left and went wake up my companions. I quickly explained to them what the situation is. They dressed themselves and picked their weapons, all of them aware that time was a priority. Each second wasted could mean the death of one of those soldiers. We need to find that patrol as soon as possible. I hope that they’re just out of reach or lost.

Once everyone was ready to go, we set out from the base, into the open plains. The sun was beginning to rise as we did so. A beautiful sight, if only we were in different circumstances. We walked in a fast pace, eager to get to their last location. My mind was rushing with thoughts of just what we might find. So much for an easy morning...

Out here, everything is quiet. The silence makes it easy to look around and appreciate the weird beauty of this land. There isn’t a single soul in sight, not even animals. It’s unlikely we’ll find anyone here, except perhaps for a trading caravan, like one we had spotted about two days ago. They seemed spooked when they spotted us, but otherwise remained passive. After some quick questioning, they said the news about our presence had already reached outside this region.

Is it possible someone from the outside attacked the patrol? Maybe a small group decided we might be an easy gamble for weapons and supplies, depending on how detailed the information on us is. However, this could also be from one of the villages nearby.

There were two of them, one by the coast and another further away, closer to the mountains. The first, being the home of most of the former slaves, didn’t have a problem with us and didn’t mind our presence. The other, on the contrary, didn’t allow us to even approach the settlement, often by shooting in our general direction. I suppose they could be responsible, but it’s unlikely, for they don’t seem like the offensive type, rarely leaving their homes. The few soldiers we sent out always carry maps and notes with all the information they need, so those guys wouldn’t stumble upon that place by mistake.

The more that I think about it, more questions pop up. The lack of news also creates a bad feeling in my gut; there must be something terrible going wrong. Most of our men are veteran soldiers; they wouldn’t turn their radios off for no reason. The only things that could stop them from calling us would be an EMP strike, some sort of interference or death… I really hope it isn’t the later.

However, I doubt these creatures have access to EMP equipment or radio jammers. I also doubt these men would go inside somewhere too deep without leaving at least one person outside to keep radio contact, unless they were forced to. This only leaves one dark option, which I don’t like one bit.

Shit, there’s probably either dead or trapped soldiers out there and I have to figure it out. Wouldn’t be surprised if there was a small army besieging them while mutants crawl around to add a little more adrenaline. Fucking great, as if we didn’t have enough in our hands, can this day get any worse? Better not ask, my luck hasn’t been going well ever since this fucking war started. Oh well, I’m already going through hell anyway, no point on keep complaining. Just take a deep breath, count to five and move forward, I can wonder about this place later on, I’ve got a little mystery to solve.

-x-

“Okay, so how are we supposed to find these guys?” Dias asked, while we walked. “They could’ve gone anywhere by now and we only got five people actively searching,” He made a good point, but it would be unwise to compromise the whole company into this before we get a better idea of what’s going on. “Do we even know what to look for?”

I shrugged. “Well, the best thing we can do right now is head to their last known location and see if we can find any clues,” Not really a master plan, but it’s the only we have. “If we’re lucky, we might even detect their helmets with our sensors, if their NetBat systems are still active.”

Elliot, who was walking by my side, decided to give his two cents. “I don’t like this shit, bet we’re going to end up in some fucked up situation sooner or later…”

I rolled my eyes and felt some anger rising up. “Look, you can go back to base if you want, but someone has to go out here and bring those soldiers back,” Perhaps I let way too much frustration into those words.

He raised both hands in placate, while taking a step away. “Calm down, Edward, I’m just saying I have a bad feeling about this,” Shit, he’s right, bet not get too worried over this. “Dammit, just wish we had more help, like drones or some air cover, that would really make this easier, why aren’t we getting any of that from those PAC fuckers?”

“Because they only got two drones in operational capability and limited fuel for their aircraft,” Or so they say. The PAC have a lot of firepower on their hands, from APCs to Battlewalkers on the ground, and a fucking Titan carrier fully active, more than enough to lay waste to any sort of threat we might encounter. However, they don’t have the supplies to keep them going for a long period of time and given the unknown time we might spend on this place, it makes sense they refused to use any kind of precious hardware unless absolutely necessary. “Not only that, we don’t want to draw unnecessary attention to ourselves.”

That got a small laugh from Dias. “Well, that kind of went out of the window when we took down that gang.”

Like it or not, the guy had a point, we have basically shot a big flare in the sky to everyone see. However, I suppose we couldn’t really stand idly by, those people were a clear threat to us. “I suppose that’s true, and we might be dealing with the consequences of that right now.”

The four of us continued to move forward. We quickly got across the plains separating us from our goal. Less than two hours ahead, we made it to the last location of the missing patrol. The place had a small hill at the center, and I could see some ruined houses far away, probably some old gas station, if there’s even something like that around here. What kind of fuel do these ponies used anyway? I think it has something to do with coal and gems.

I held my right fist up, signaling everyone to halt. “All of you spread out a little, see if there’s any signs of them.”

Some dirt, grass and rocks, this is what I saw as I exanimated the area. I moved around, scanning the ground for footprints, spent bullet cases or any other detail that might point out where they went or what happened. A few minutes of careful searching were fruitless, so I began to look further away. Going on top of the small hill, I thought about where those soldiers might’ve went. Assuming they were indeed attacked by something, where would they run? They would certainly not stay out here in the open, perhaps they went to those old houses far away? It makes sense, it’s the nearest shelter.

Elliot interrupted my line of thought. “Hey guys, I found some footprints!” Great, at least we aren’t clueless about what’s going on. I walked towards him in a quick pace, eager to see what he found. The rest of my companions did the same, gathering in a small circle around a patch of land. When I got close, I could see the footprint clearly, which was somewhat recent and matched our boots. “Guess they did pass through here.”

“Well, these steps seem to be a little far from each other, so I guess whoever did this was in a hurry,” I commented, analyzing the marks on the ground. There were three sets of footprints here, all of them indicating the soldiers were running for some reason. Strange, there aren’t any signs of fighting, so why would they be on the run? Maybe they heard gunshots and ran to it? The soldier back at the base did say they went to investigate something, so I’m assuming their change of pace is probably related to this. “Not only that, these footprints are pointing towards those ruins up ahead, so that’s where we are headed next.”

Without any arguments, we did just that, setting out towards those houses up ahead, about a mile or so away. “I don’t like this, hope we don’t stumble upon an ambush or something,” Elliot said. I guess we all shared his sentiment. While day had already arrived, the light from the sun was blocked by a sea of clouds in the sky, it gave a somewhat bleak look to our surroundings. At least the temperature was more comfortable. As we came closer to the houses, I began to notice a few details, like a billboard in on the ground next to the biggest house. I could also see a fairly large road with a lot of old vehicles on the left, it went down into a small passage besides a rocky cliff.

Perhaps this was a post of some sort, for people on the road who wanted to stop and rest. Funny, this place is both vastly different and at the same time strangely similar to our homeland. "This place just gets weirder and weirder, doesn't it?" Said Meddici, as if voicing my thoughts.

Elliot, who was besides me, shrugged. "I suppose, remenber when we discovered bottlecaps are used as money?" Now that was quite a surprise. It made sense to have some sort of currency, but none of us expected it to be that. In addition, if what we discovered is true, how come there aren't other types of currency floating around? How and why are bottlecaps standard currency everywhere? This shouldn't be possible, each community should've came up with different ways of trading, unless somehow they were able to keep in touch with everyone else. "Hell, I can't even believe we have a pile of those back at the base, like some strange hooby."

It turned out that the former owners of our base were doing quite well, financially speaking. If the prices those merchants gave to us were normal, we probably had enough caps stored to last for a little while. Even if they’re not enough, we discovered those gems we took from the research facility were actually… “Talismans”. Basically, they were the local equivalent of electronic components, being used for a variety of devices. Overall, that means we won’t have to worry about having spare cash, in case we need to buy something from the locals.

“Okay, I think it’s better if we split in groups of two, Elliot will come with me inside while you two take a look around and keep an eye out for trouble,” The place was deadly quiet. The old vehicles piled in the road besides these houses and the low whisper of the wind made a creepy picture of our surroundings. I turned to face Elliot and said “Come on, let’s head inside.”

The windows were boarded up, so the interior was badly illuminated. The front door was broken, so we had no problem going in. As we stepped in the old, dust-covered floor, I began to look for signs of recent activity. “Come on; see if you can find something,” At first glance, it didn’t seem like there was anything worth noticing, just a bunch of furniture scattered around. It looks like this was a convenience store of some sort, if the shelfs and vitrines were to go by. “Shit, this place is a mess.”

Elliot took a closer look on the floor. “Interesting, looks like some of this stuff was moved recently,” My heart sped up when I heard that. I walked towards him and looked at what he was pointing, a spot besides a lonely chair. “See how this part of the floor has much less dust accumulated? I bet this chair was here before someone moved it.”

I was a little skeptical. “It could’ve been days ago…”

“True, but what are the chances of a coincidence like this?” Elliot replied. He's right.

As we searched the room, we quickly found more evidence of recent activity. It seemed whoever had passed was in a hurry, not caring about bumping in the furniture and other objects on the floor. “I don’t like the look of this…” I commented. Could this be from the missing soldiers? What were they running from? On the other hand, perhaps they were chasing something, I don’t know.

We continued to investigate, and I decided to head upstairs. When I approached the stairway, however, something that I stepped over let out a small cloud of dust which rose in front of me, causing me to halt. “Shit!” I cursed, waving a hand in front of me to clear the dust, “Fucking dust…”

I heard a single chuckle from Elliot as I continued to walk. However, before I could take a single step, he shouted, “Edward stop!”

I stood still, not daring to move a muscle.

“Holy shit, look at the floor, right below your foot!” He said, pointing towards it. I looked down, and my heart almost stopped. Right bellow me, almost unnoticeable, was a thin wire. I took a deep breath and followed the little thing to see where it went. The answer was right above my head, in a bouquet of metal balls… grenades.

“God dammit, those grenades would have killed me!” I said, carefully stepping away. “Well, these change things; we need to be extra careful with these buggy traps.”

Elliot approached and took a closer look. “Interesting, this is a very clever trap, whomever did this clearly didn’t want anyone going inside.”

“Or wanted to make sure his target was dead…” I added. “Well, let’s get the hell out of here, there’s probably more surprised around.”

Before we take our leave, Dias spoke through the radio. “Guys! You got to come out here, we found something!”

Without hesitating, we both rushed outside. We saw Dias and Medici standing near another house, looking at a wall. At first, I was confused by that, but as I got close, I spotted several bullet holes on the wall. The two also showed me a few bullet cases they found on the ground, clear evidence of a recent fight. This made all of us agitated; for all we know the missing patrol could be dead.

“Guess our guys are in deep trouble, after all, we better pick up the pace!”

“But where? They could’ve gone anywhere.”

“I don’t think so, there’s only one clear path, the road besides that ridge over there. We should go there and see what we can find.”

“What if we also end up in a fight? That road heads away from the HQ, likely outside radio contact.”

“We’ll send them a call explaining what we found and where we’re going, so they know where to find us in case we take too long, now come on, let’s go!”

-x-

The wind picked up speed as we advanced, creating occasional dust clouds around us. We walked in a long line, in case there were any other IEDs around. Our weapons were raised and I could almost feel the tension in the air. Something’s going to happen, I just know it. This road was filled with wrecked trucks, buses and all kinds of vehicles. They looked quite distinct from what I’m familiar with, which I suppose would be expected. The sheer number of them blocked our sight and freedom of movement, it would be no surprise if this is where the enemy is waiting, it’s perfect for an ambush.

“Come on, keep your eyes open for any movement!” I whispered. “There could be anything out here.”

There were also skeletons all over this place, inside the vehicles and along the road. How did they die? Were they trying to escape the apocalypse? God, just thinking about this gives me the creeps. Well, better not think about this too much.

“Just how the fuck are we going to find them in this place? It’s a fucking maze!” Elliot said as we passed a particular narrow path. Should we split up? We could potentially cover more ground, but that would also make us easier targets. At the same time, it will take ages to search every corner of this place. The best solution would be to bring more men and some air recon, but that’s out of question. “If shit hits the fan we’ll be in some serious trouble…”

We continued to move forward, through the narrow gaps, twists and turns. While we had been walking for around half an hour, we hadn’t made that much progress, since we couldn’t move in a straight line. However, we all stopped when we heard voices ahead of us. “Shit, there’s someone up ahead, did any of you picked any words?” Our vision was blocked, we couldn’t know if it was one of us or a native.

Dias spoke up. “I didn’t understand shit; we will have to take a closer look,” True, but we need to be careful.

There was a number of different paths could take towards the source of this voice, and I began to form a basic plan. “Alright, here’s what we’re going to do,” I pointed towards Dias, “I want you to see if you can get around and check if there’s anything else we need to be aware of, climb on top of a truck you have to,” He nodded and so I looked at the rest of my companions. “The rest of you will come with me straight towards the contact; we should try to keep a low profile but if something attacks don’t hesitate to fight back.”

We split up and went on, toward this voice. We began to hear more as we approached, and the words became easier to distinguish. I held a fist up and everyone halted. “Shit, that isn’t English…”

“I think it’s one of the natives, I can understand some of the words.”

I looked towards Elliot. “You sure?” He nodded. “Fuck, that can’t be good, let’s keep moving.”

A few moments later, we were right next to the source. A large rusty metal container was the only thing separating us. To make matters worse, I could now hear other voices, probably one or two more people. The wind was becoming intense and I prayed it wouldn’t create a sandstorm or something, that’s the last thing we need. How do we proceed? Are these people hostile? It’s possible they could be involved with the missing patrol but maybe they’re just in the wrong place at wrong time. What options do I have?

Dias voice cracked from the radio. “Hey Edward, you hear me?”

“What is it?” I replied.

“I got a visual on the locals, I can see three of them, they are well armed and equipped,” Well, that only make the situation worse.

“Alright, keep an eye on them, I’ll see what we can do from our end.”

I had a short mental debate on how to approach the situation. On one hand, these people could possibly turn hostile on us, and if they are well equipped that would really suck. On the other, I have absolute no idea of who they are, and I can’t simply judge them without any evidence. That only leaves one choice, trying to talk.

“Elliot, you come with me so we can try to speak with these people, Medici will stay here and be ready to provide support in case things turn ugly.”

None of them questioned and so we got into action. The ponies were chatting in an open area surrounded by destroyed buses, two of them on the ground and one on top of a truck. I intended to speak first, take them by surprise, but the moment we stepped in the open, they saw us. I heard shouts of surprise and they pointed their weapons at us. I raised a hand in a placate gesture (they probably didn’t understood).

Elliot, the only one of us who understood the language, spoke up, probably telling them not to shoot. In my spared time, I had tried to study some of it, but a few days are hardly enough to learn an entire language. I could only pick some random words as the ponies replied. They were tense and using a somewhat angry tone, not good. Whatever attempt at talking Elliot tried would be cut short by the ponies, who looked more and more agitated.

“Elliot, what’s going on?” I asked, keeping a calm tone.

“I’m… I’m trying to tell them we aren’t looking for a fight but…” One of them pointed his weapon towards us and we took a step back by instinct. “They don’t believe me and I think they’re calling us freaks and… murderers.”

I stared at him confused. “What?” What the fuck is going on?

There was a crack in the distance, a gunshot. Everyone froze and I saw their ears standing in attention. As in a sick domino effect, one of them decided to open fire. We both moved behind the nearest cover as the rest of the ponies also opened up on us. The situation had officially gone to shit.

“God dammit! Return fire!” I sent a few blind shots towards the enemy, while Elliot tried to do the same. The rest of us, Dias and Medici, soon joined the fray by attacking from their respective positions.

Our enemy, not expecting the incoming fire from the rest of us, were taken by surprise. One was hit twice in the side, he fell and didn’t move. Another took a hit in the shoulder and went behind cover, while firing blindly with a submachinegun. We kept exchanging fire for a few more seconds. I saw something flying towards me in the corner of my vision, a quick glance revealed it to be some sort of Molotov cocktail. I hid myself behind cover as the thing exploded next to me.

I have to end this now. “Elliot, lay down suppressing fire!” With a quick nod, he did as ordered and began to spray the area with rounds. I stood up from my cover and dashed forwards, trying to flank our opponents. One of them tried to stop me, but missed. I managed to get close enough to throw a grenade, which is exactly what I did. The grenade landed near the enemy, one tried to run but was killed as soon as he stepped out of cover and the other was already wounded and was unable to get away. There was a loud snap of the explosion and them nothing. “Come on people, rally on me.”

While our brief fight had ended, we could still hear gunshots somewhat further ahead. “Shit, you think that’s the patrol out there?” One asked. Does it matter? We’re already in deep shit, might as well go ahead and figure this out.

“Probably,” I said. “Who else could be fighting around here?” Okay, no time to sit around, we have to keep going. “We need to get going, follow me.”

We followed the sounds of battle, not much further ahead. It got lauder when we came near a destroyed building (it was so devastated I couldn’t really know it might have been). There was shouts and voices all around it. Most likely four or five people, we couldn’t know for sure. This time, we didn’t split up, but went as a single unit, emerging in a somewhat open area around this place. There was a group of three ponies and one gryphon firing against something on the second floor. They didn’t spot us right away giving us precious seconds to position ourselves and pick targets. Quickly reaching the nearest cover, I pointed my rifle and pulled the trigger.

BANG

I fired a single bullet at the gryphon, figuring he was the biggest threat, given his size and ability to fly. Two of the remaining enemies shifted their attention towards us while the other continued to attack whatever was inside. The fight was quick and simple; our superior firepower combined with accuracy and experience gave us an edge against the enemy. They were cut down in a matter of minutes.

All of us approached the ruin with careful, eyes open for any more hostiles. The whole area seemed quiet, despite of the constant wind picking up speed. I looked towards friends, “Alright, we have to know what’s inside, it could be one of our guys,” Instead of just breaching the front door, I decided to take a safer approach and just shout something in English to where the ponies and gryphon were firing. “European Army here, anyone inside?”

At first, there was nothing. “H-help! Somebody help!” That was in clear English. We didn’t even bother to act carefully, as soon as we heard that we rushed inside to find him. We found him near a pile of rubble, probably for cover. It was a soldier, one of the missing patrol. He was still clenching to his rifle when we came, I could see some blood besides him.

“Shit! He’s wounded!” I shouted. “Medici, get some bandages, I can see one bullet hole and a lot of scratches!” The soldier didn’t look good, his face was slightly pale and much of his uniform and armor was covered in dirt and blood, no idea if it was his or not. I kneeled down beside him and began to search for more injures. He was breathing heavily, probably from the adrenaline. “Who are you and what happened to you soldier?”

The man took a moment to find words. “S-sir I’m Private John Abbey, w-we were making a patrol but there was a fight and we were ambushed,” Just as I had assumed.

Alright, there seems to be only one gunshot wound and it look like it hit anything vital. “What about the rest of your unit? Do you know where they are?”

He shook his head. “N-no, I was cut off from them when they attacked, I tried to fall back and call for aid but those things cornered me here…” He sounded guilty.

“Okay, don’t beat yourself soldier, just stay calm and we will try to find your teammates, understood?”

“Yes s-sir.”

I turned to Medici, who was busy taking care of John’s wounds. “Medici, you stay here and keep him stable, the rest of us will move forward and see if we can find the rest of them,” With that, the three of us stood up and walked away from the Private and Medici. “Check your weapons and keep your eyes open, there’ll be more hostiles on the way.

-x-

The path ahead brought a number of surprises. The signs of fighting became more pronounced, this had been an intense combat. Further down, we also found some blood and… glowing ash? What the hell?

Even after the little explanation I got from the private, I still had many questions. Just who exactly attacked them? He did mentioned there was a fight and then an ambush, as in two separate events. Therefore, would that mean there are two different armed groups around here? Or maybe the first was just a bait to drag them into this place?

Eventually we came into a section filled with dead bodies. “Guess this is where the main event happened,” I whispered. “Spread out and look for our guys.”

I took some time to analyze our enemies. These ponies didn’t look similar to the ones we had previously encountered, they were far better equipped. These people we have engaged today here have body armor, explosives and a variety of items that seemed quite expensive and well maintained. They carried assault rifles, machineguns and even a grenade launcher. The lack of uniforms was the only thing that separated them from a professional force.

“Ah shit!” I heard Dias shouting nearby.

“What is it, man?” I asked.

He came out from where he was and looked me straight in the eyes. “I found our guys… they’re dead.”

“What?! Fuck, that can’t be!” I rushed passed him to see if it was true, even though I already knew the answer. Behind him, laying on the ground, were two bodies. It was they; the two soldiers were dead with multiple shots spread along their heads and torso. I looked away, unable to face the reality. Shit! I was supposed to bring them back alive!

I felt anger at myself for my failure and at whoever was responsible. I tried to calm myself, looking at the ground and letting out a long sigh. “Damn, guess we fucked this up…”

Dias was right besides me. “I guess we did… what do we do now?”

While part of me just wanted to get the hell out of here, I couldn’t do it before I had more answers. I need to know who did this. “I want you to keep searching these bodies, see if you can find anything useful,” This wasn’t some random fight, these people are too well armed and equipped for that, they did not just stumble here by accident.

Our efforts didn’t achieve much. There were no documents or written orders that we might use just more guns, ammo and caps. The only one who could give us any more answers was John, but only if he made out alive. He didn’t seem to be in a critical state, but I’m no medic, if he loses consciousness or suffers any other type of symptom, there’ll be little we can do out here. Even those healing potions we discovered wouldn’t be useful, they can heal cuts and broken bones pretty well, but are not as effective with deeper wounds and do nothing against blood loss. Well, Medici hasn’t called us so I guess everything is fine.

“Hey Edward, I think you might want to see this,” I heard Elliot call. “I found something really strange.”

I went towards him. Hopefully it’s better than dead comrades. When I spotted him, Elliot was staring at a lonely body, which made me confused. “What’s strange about that dead pony?” I thought to myself. However, when I got a better look at it, I understood why. This wasn’t like any of the others, vastly different from everything we had encountered. For a moment I just stood there, trying to understand just what the hell was that.

It was a dead pony, yes, but it was wearing an impressive suit armor, covering almost the entire body. In addition, it had fucking wings, making it a… Pegasus? The armor covered the entire body with an intricate set of metal plates. On the head was a full-face helmet, with two bug like visors for the eyes. The tail, weirdly, was akin of a scorpion and even had a sting at the end. Was it poisonous? I don’t want to find out…

Looking around, I also noticed a few more piles of glowing ash, were they related to this pony somehow? Could it be from sort of weapon? The armor seemed to be equipped with a long barrel gun, some sort of rifle, but with no noticeable magazine. There was also a few strange grenades and some sort of pistol with a square barrel. Shit, these weapons are just as strange as the armor.

It’s obvious this isn’t from any nearby communities, because none of them would be capable of producing something like this. This here is the work of a very advance and powerful society. Furthermore, this equipment seems to share a single logo that I almost mistook by the former European Union flag. It was a set of twelve stars arranged in a circle with a big letter (the native equivalent of “E”, I believe) on the center and a pair of wings on the corners. This pony is from a professional force, a true military organization.

“So, any guesses on what the fuck is that?”

What could this mean? More factions wondering the area, whom were involved with the death of two of our guys. This makes the situation even more complicated. One group of well armed paramilitary forces and an army with advanced combat armor, a recipe for disaster. “Not a clue, but whatever this is, we’ll get to the bottom of it…” I guess we have some new players to worry about.

Footnote: Level Up!

New Perk: Alertness- +2 Perception when crouched and still.

Guns - 70
Medicine - 40
Explosives - 22

Author's Note

(Please forgive me for this long wait, I'll try to bring the next chapter faster)

Well, this long chapter is intended to show what's happening back at the base and further develop the European protagonist. It also tries to wrap up the little details about their overall situation. I really hope I managed to give a better picture to all of you. To those wondering, yes we'll be seeing the Enclave really soon.

As always, hope you enjoyed the chapter and please pointout any mistakes.