Broken Worlds: Age of Ruin

"Today is the big day," Drayke said proudly in the mission briefing room. "Tonight, we leave to attack the BlackTech labor factory and destroy it. With this factory gone, BlackTech will have one less location they can collect supplies and resources from. The place is more than likely heavily guarded, so bring your best with you; there's no telling how many of us are going to make it back."

A awkward hush fell over the group. "You might wanna end this speech on a more positive note, Drayke!" Rainbow Dash called from the back of the room.

Drayke gave her a helpless look. "You know I've never been great at giving speeches!" he pointed out, and Dash marched up to the front of the room.

"Sit down, bud, and I'll show you how it's done," she said smugly. Drayke sat down in one of the chairs as the cyan pegasus took a deep breath.

"This is our biggest mission yet," she said clearly. "If we make it through this, then this will be the biggest blow we've ever dealt to BlackTech. Is there a lot of risk involved? Sure. Are there going to be a lot more soldiers than we're used to taking on at one time? Definitely. Are we hilariously outgunned? You've got it. But, there's one thing we have that those soldiers will never have in a million years," she said, her voice brightening, "and that's friendship. I'm not only standing before some of the best fighters that the Resistance has to offer, but I'm also standing before some of the best friends I could ask for. We will win tonight, and when we do, we're gonna come back here and celebrate like there's no tomorrow!" she cried triumphantly, and an excited cheer shook the whole room.

I clapped my hands and cracked a grin behind my mask as I rose to my feet. "Fireteam Cyan, suit up!" Rainbow Dash called as she rushed off to the armory, and Joseph, Tess, Gentle Blade, and I followed suit. When we reached the armory, I put a bulletproof vest on underneath my jacket, and strapped a pair of sheathed machetes to my waist. I watched as the others got into their own combat gear; Joseph and Tess wore black, leather jumpsuits, and Dash wore the armored horseshoes and wing-guards she spoke of the previous evening. Gentle Blade had a sword fastened to each of her forelegs, where she could quickly pull one out whenever she needed a weapon.

"Well, are you guys ready to go?" Rainbow Dash asked expectantly as she waited by the door.

Joseph toted his sniper rifle over his shoulder. "You know it, Dash," he said confidently.

Tess whirled her submachine guns around her fingers like a western action star and placed them into a pair of holsters on her back. "Ready as we'll ever be!" she cried cheerfully.

Gentle Blade nodded bravely. "Let's go," she said dutifully.

The group turned to face me as I stood nonchalantly at the back of the group. "Let's kill some people," I said darkly, and the others gave me an awkward look. "What? Too much?" I inquired. "Oh, fine... Let's kick some ass?" I suggested.

The group found this acceptable, and they all cheered as we rushed out into the hallway. On our way out of the base, we came across Drayke and Cadence, who were talking rather quietly.

"Just promise me you'll be safe, okay?" she asked worriedly. "I wish you'd let me come with on this mission..."

Drayke gave her a tight hug. "Cadey, you need to stay here and keep things running, just in case something goes wrong. You know nothing is going to happen to me, but it's always better to be safe than sorry," he explained.

Cadence nodded. "Be safe out there," she said lovingly. "You wouldn't want to leave the love of your life here all alone, would you?"

Drayke smirked. "Cadence, you're more than the love of my life," he said kindly, giving her a kiss on her forehead as he stood up and walked over to join us, "you're my best friend. Alright, you five, are you ready to go?" he asked confidently, and we all nodded vigorously in unison. "Alright then; let's blow up a building!" he said, and rushed out of the base, a shotgun and a sword strapped to his back as he led us and the other fireteams toward the labor factory.

~-~-~-~-~

We all stood at the edge of the treeline, crouched low and peering through bushes and branches as moonlight filtered through the foliage above us. I scanned the wide-open plain that lay ahead of us for possible threats; I didn’t like this at all.

“This isn’t good,” I murmured to my team, “there’s too much space. I can tell they’ve set up some kind of ambush or something.”

Joseph nodded. “I get that feeling, too,” he replied, “but I don’t think Drayke is feeling like turning back now.”

I heard rustling beside me. “You’re damn right,” Drayke said confidently, and began to march into the clearing. The other assault members all looked amongst themselves uncertainly, and quickly followed behind their leader. I stayed with them, keeping to the edge of the group so I could maintain a good view of our surroundings. It looked like BlackTech had cleared away a section of the woods in order to build this factory; there was subtle differences in the shade and texture of the grass beneath our feet, which told me some of it had been artificially planted to cover the loose soil brought up from uprooted trees.

I kept my gaze shifting, never focusing on anything for longer than a few seconds. The grass, the treeline, the factory, the sky above us; nothing was safe. An threat could come from anywhere, even from…

“STOP!” I hissed loudly, and the whole group froze. “They’ve got bombs and tripwires all over this damn field; we’ve walked right into a minefield,” I growled.

One of the more ballsy soldiers that stood next to me looked around. “I don’t see anything,” he said dismissively, and lifted his foot into the air to take a step.

I grabbed him by the neck and aimed my rifle at his face. “Put your foot down, and we all die,” I said in a deadly voice. “Fucking do it; I dare you.”

The soldier quickly returned his foot to its former position. “Alright, then. Drayke?” I called as quietly as I could manage, “What do we do?”

Drayke scanned the field. “Are you sure this place is full of mines?” he asked uncertainly.

I nodded. “There’s one about a foot in front of you,” I said, pointing my rifle at a patch of grass in front of him; it was just barely noticable, but the grass was slightly longer in that exact spot than the rest of the field. “Just watch the grass carefully, and you can guide us through,” I explained.

Drayke nodded and took a cautious step around the patch, avoiding it like… well, like it was a high-powered explosive device that would vaporize him if he stepped on it. The rest of the group followed single-file, making sure to step exactly where their leader did.

Everything was going so well, until somebody had to go and ruin it.

I heard a loud noise from somewhere in the middle of the line; some idiot had sneezed. They stumbled and fell over, a look of horror on their face as the patch of grass they landed on glowed a bright red.

“Oh, no,” he said simply, and the energy mine he landed on detonated, vaporizing his bodily form in an instant. Just then, there was a loud blaring noise, and a pair of spotlights on top of the factory turned and shined right on our group.

“SCATTER!” Somebody screamed, and half of the group ran in different directions, many of them meeting their fate by stepping on the hidden mines. Drayke stayed still and looked around, clearly aware that running wouldn’t help anyone. Joseph, Tess, Dash, Gentle Blade, and a handful of others followed his example, their legs staying completely still as our foolhardy companions were disintegrated.

Finally, after the blaring and the explosions stopped, we heard a battle cry from the factory, and a group of BlackTech soldiers rushed to meet us. I smiled under my mask and grabbed my rifle from my back, taking aim at one soldier’s head. Gentle blade unsheathed one of her swords, and Tess and Joseph held their own guns at the ready.

“Tess, now would be a good time for that grenade,” I heard Joseph say in a low voice, and Tess wasted no time in throwing the grenade her brother had given her back at the base like an expert pitcher. The resulting explosion took out four or five of the soldiers, leaving just enough for each of us to fight one-on-one. I charged at one of them, firing off a few rounds that bounced off his armored exoskeleton, and quickly rolled past as he swung a fist at my face. I flipped my rifle around and slammed the butt into the back of his head, but his helmet reduced my attack to a mere annoyance.

“Alright, screw this,” I growled, pulling a machete from my belt. “Come and get some,” I said daringly.

The soldier stared at me through his visor for a moment, then whipped his forearm, causing a long blade to fold out of his armor.

“Of course,” I sighed, and swung as the armored grunt held his blade horizontally to block. I quickly parried a strike of his own, before retaliating with a slash for his stomach. He leaped back, avoiding my blade by inches, and thrust his forearm outward. I screamed as the blade stabbed into my abdomen, thankfully missing any vital organs, and slid back out with a nauseating shliiiiiick. I saw the soldier’s blade in the spotlight, painted a dark red.

I looked up at him, a sudden overload of angry adrenaline making me forget my pain. “Now you’re dead,” I growled as I took of my bandana and sunglasses and threw them to the ground. I flipped my machete around so the handle was pointed upwards and threw it, the blade whirling through the air until it struck the soldier’s chestplate tip-first. It didn’t cause any wounds, but the piece sparked violently as the soldier suddenly fell, his suit no longer supporting its own weight. I stalked over to my fallen enemy, aimed my rifle at his head, and fired.

“Wayne! Are you alright?” I heard Gentle Blade cry. I turned to see the others had successfully subdued their attackers, and were now running to check on me. I quickly retrieved my discarded disguise and put it on.

“I’m fine,” I said calmly, trying to direct their attention away from the hole in my gut. “I think this rodeo has just started, though.”

The others looked around, suddenly realizing that we were completely surrounded. “Ah, shit,” Drayke said aloud, dropping his gun and placing his hands behind his head. The rest of us followed suit, but a confident voice spoke from the crowd of soldiers.

“Drayke, there will be no need for that,” a british accent said kindly. I looked to see a tall man striding towards us, a long, black jacket stretching down to his ankles. His hair was cut flat, military-style, and his chin was covered in a light stubble. He had a pleasant look in his eyes, as if he were greeting an old friend. “My name is Victor Lars; I’ve been hired by BlackTech to eliminate you,” he explained.

Drayke smirked. “Didn’t they tell you what happened to the last guy they sent to kill me?” he inquired smugly, “I’m pretty sure they’re still cleaning his ass out of the train tracks outside New Phoenix.”

Victor grinned. “I’m a bit of a specialist,” he said slowly, “and you won’t find any train tracks around here. I’ll tell you what,” he said, sounding as if he had an idea, “I’ve been looking forward to meeting you, and it would be a shame if I were to just kill you here and now. So, I’ll make you a deal: beat me in a fair fight, and I will let you and your friends go. Lose, and you die, and we take your friends as prisoners.”

Drayke glanced at the rest of us. “Not like I have much choice,” he said slowly. “What’s the weapon of choice?”

Victor grinned and held his fists like boxing gloves. “Melee,” he said simply.

Drayke nodded, taking a defensive stance. “Alright,” he said, rolling his shoulders and neck, “Let’s do this.” He ran at the mercenary, his fist pulled back for a punch. The blow was met with a raised palm, and Drayke widened his eyes as Victor yawned mockingly.

“You’ll have to try harder if you want to defeat me,” he said teasingly, and threw Drayke to the ground. Drayke leaped to his feet and jumped back, getting some distance between him and his opponent. He ran in again, this time faking a right blow and swinging with his left. Victor simply ducked under his arm and knocked out his legs with a swift kick. “Keep trying,” he said smugly, “You’ll get it eventually.”

Drayke rolled his eyes as he stood up and unsheathed a sword from his back. “You did say melee, right?” he asked cleverly as he held the blade in front of him.

The soldiers steadied their guns, but Victor held up a cautionary hand. “Everything is fine, boys,” he said reassuringly, and reached into his coat. “I can handle this punk.” With that, he pulled a pair of combat knives from his thigh and charged, swinging at Drayke with the blades held downward. Drayke quickly dodged these strikes and swung with his sword, but Victor was ready; he dropped one knife, spinned to dodge the swing, pressed it down with his remaining blade, and threw a powerful punch at Drayke’s chest that knocked him backwards.

“Drayke!” Joseph yelled, rushing to aid his leader, but a pair of armored soldiers rushed from the crowd to restrain him. The rest of us tried to help, but we met similar fates as more of the soldiers broke off to hold us back.

Drayke struggled to get to his feet, but Victor kicked him in the side, knocking him down once again. “I never lose, Drayke,” he said confidently. “I’m a supersoldier! I have the strength to match at least five of you. I’m stronger, faster, and more skilled than you ever will be.”

As Drayke rolled over onto his back, Victor planted a boot on his chest and pulled a revolver from a vest he wore under his coat. “Any last words?” he said with false kindness as he aimed the revolver at Drayke's face and pulled back the hammer.

Drayke widened his eyes for a moment, before relaxing his gaze. He turned his head to look at me and the others. “Sorry, guys,” he said in a pained voice. “Tell Cadence I love her.”

Joseph struggled to break from his captors. “Drayke, NO!” he screamed, but one of the grunts holding him jabbed him just below his chest, knocking the wind out of him.

Drayke looked back to Victor, a smug smirk on his face. “As for you,” he said slowly, “all I can think of is a saying an old friend of mine was fond of: something along the lines of ‘fuck you’ comes to mind.”

Victor’s eye twitched angrily, and he pulled the trigger.

~-~-~-~-~

“Alright, let’s move out,” Victor said after a few moments. Tess, Rainbow Dash, Gentle Blade, and the handful of others that were still with us had gone ballistic and tried to break free, but the soldiers quickly subdued them. I was too weak to fight, though; my adrenaline was gone now, and I was starting to feel the effects of my wound. I suddenly fell to my knees as my vision blurred.

“Mr. Lars, this kid is wounded; what should we do?” one of my captors asked as they dragged me to the man who had murdered Drayke.

Victor shrugged. “He isn’t my problem,” he said uncaringly. “I’d say fix him up, though; he looks strong, and you could probably use him in the factory. Take them inside,” he called, waving a hand toward the factory. “Get them suited up for work, and call me a helicopter; I need to have a word with my employer now that my job is done.”

As they dragged us away, I saw Joseph suddenly break away from his captors and grab Victor by the collar of his jacket. “I’m going to fucking kill you,” he growled as the armored men tackled him, “Mark my words! My face is going to be the last thing you see!”

Victor chuckled. “Cute,” he said, patting Joseph on the head. “Move out,” he barked, and the soldiers began to march us toward the factory.

I couldn’t believe it; even with Drayke’s leadership and all of our training, we were still beaten. Drayke was barely able to put up a fight against Victor, and the rest of us were taken down with ease.

“This is why I go it alone,” I mumbled, before passing out from blood loss.

TO BE CONTINUED...