FSE

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"Listen up, we're leaving our weapons here. Part of the mission. The Albatross can't move in either for aerial support because of some sort of technology on the ground. Sere, Miss Star, Jean, you're staying back."

"What? Why?! I never go on the fun missions!" Miss Star was irritated.

Dante sighed, "A lot of close quarter fighting against irrational enemies that dwarf our allies five to one. You can't be stealthy when your enemy flails and hurts themselves." Dante checked his belt, "We're to meet up with a decimated unit to try and take back a tank depot. They're to equip us with whatever we need, but be warned-"

Ratchet nodded, "Decimated units have low morale and tend to abandon their posts. If they haven't been given new soldiers then the main army must be running low on bodies."

"There is also a possibility that they will fight harder, like a frightened animal backed against a wall." Victoria added.

"Both are possibilities. We aren't being told a lot of what is happening down there, so expect the worst. Sere, keep the Albatross ready and Angel, set up a private radio contact frequency for us and us alone."

"Of course Dante."

Chey smiled, "The last few people that hired us haven't exactly been friendly, have they?"

Titus seemed quite uncomfortable, "What is it?"

"I really hate having to start a mission without a gun."

"From what I can read," Jill tapped on her computer as most of Zero Unit prepared to be dropped at the meeting zone, "They don't want their enemies to have any advanced tech. They already have a huge advantage, no need to give them a bigger one."

The airlock opened and Dante led his unit onto the gray landscape. The star supplying light and heat was faulty in some way or another and thus it cast a dull light onto everything, "Damn colonists. Can't pick a planet to save their lives."

A gray transport vehicle was in the distance and several soldiers stood around weapons at the ready. They wore full metal armor rather than opting for shields. It was multi-purposed for both exploration and combat, making it ideal, "Fallen Sky?" One of them shouted.

"Yeah." Dante and his unit jogged over to the truck, "Commander Dante, these are my people. You're supposed to equip us, so let's do this."

The man nodded, "Alright. I'm Captain of what you see here. I wasn't a week ago, but things change. Hey! Get the armor and guns out!" Two of the seven men worked on shifting heavy crates from behind the truck, "Easy to put on. Get ready and we'll arm you"

Zero Unit snapped on the metal armor, "Check, check. Can everyone hear me?" They all chimed in, "If you hear an order from me, you follow it." He raised his voice so it could escape the helmet, "What sort of weaponry do you have?"

He waved Dante over, "Two types of rifles, a shotgun, rocket launcher, and of course the standard pistol." The Captain handed over a metal pistol with a yellow cartridge on the side of the handle, "Don't ask 'cause I can't explain, but it's cheaper to make these than fill each bullet with explosives." Dante checked his weapon thoroughly and found it acceptable. The Captain gave him and the rest of Zero Unit three extra magazines.

"I'll take that fancy rifle. Jill, Cratis, Wendy, take the carbines." Dante's rifle had three barrels and a large magazine while the carbines were pretty typical weapons. Titus picked up a shotgun while Chey grabbed a rocket launcher, "Victoria, hurry up."

"I prefer a blade." She grabbed a carbine, "What do you have?"

The Captain opened the last crate, "You all need something, usually a combat knife, but we have a sword or two for the discerning suicidal nut." It was heavy and wide, but fit into the back of the armor. Victoria was satisfied, "Miss? You haven't chosen anything."

"You have no sniper rifles."

One of the soldiers jumped into the back of the truck and pulled out a cumbersome dull red "rifle" before handing it to Ratchet, "We're not really in the business of long range, but that should suit your needs. Two rounds per load." A 'C' shaped protrusion wrapped around the shoulder and the barrel was as thick as a small cannon, "You'll get more out of your pistol I bet."

Dante shouted out, "Everyone check your weapons! Safety off! Eyes open!"

The Captain tapped on the back of his helmet, and almost looked embarassed, "Hey, Dante right? You're that guy that's legend. I'm no captain. I was just a grunt who knew enough to retreat. If you want, you can give the orders. Here." He held out his pistol, a large revolver stained with gunpowder and dried blood, "A Captain's pistol, like a badge out here."

"I'll make suggestions, but you order your men, and I'll order my people. Now tell me what we're doing on this lifeless planet." The Captain waved his finger in the air and two of his men entered the cab of the truck while one hopped on top and held onto the mounted machine gun. Zero unit and the other four jumped in the back, "All I know is something about tanks."

"They don't have high hopes, but this mission could turn the tide of the war. An old lot to the east was formerly a place to build vehicles, primarily tanks, but it had to be abandoned when war broke out. Our enemies swarmed and took it for themselves, but..."

Dante shook his head, "This is war, kid. No time to hesitate. Spit it out."

He cleared his throat, "Sorry, uh, the tanks aren't operational. No engines were ever installed. Or they were, but they were removed by our guys. Sorry, I'm about as informed as you. I do know that our enemies keep just an auxiliary guard there now and if we can take the lot and move in our engineers we can have ten operational tanks in a few days. That's what we're doing in a nutshell."

One of the Captain's soldiers spoke up, "They're savages. I watched them claw a man to death and eat him."

"We weren't told about this Dante."

"Why not Captain?"

He looked down, "We weren't told until half of us were wiped out. Shoot one or set off a loud noise too soon and they go insane. They'll charge into a hailstorm of bullets without fear."

Dante leaned back and crossed his arms, "So is that why we couldn't bring in our ship? Fear of pissing too many off to handle?"

"I can explain that. Before the war, some egghead developed a war vehicle designed to take out aircraft. The Super Rapid Artillery, or SRA, can reach speeds of 200 mph in a few seconds and has an accuracy of 99.99%. The facility that made them? Enemies have full control of that entire area. The only threat to ground troops is being run over, and since the savages aren't very smart they can't do many repairs."

The other soldier nodded, "They used to have a bunch of tanks, but after a few battles they were too busted to be of use to them anymore. Not many SRAs around, but if you hear one you get on the ground level as fast as possible. Anyone higher than twenty feet is dead with one of those around."

One of the soldiers in the cab pounded on the back window, "Well, we're here. Any suggestions?" The Captain unfolded a crude map of the area, "We know their patrols are around this entrance and pretty oblivious. We need to take position and try to not die."

Dante studied the map, "Your men should take the high ground here and here. You know what to listen for, so SRAs will be less of a threat to you. Ratchet and Wendy, take position here, near the back. Take out the biggest threat first. Jill, Chey, and Cratis, you'll take position behind this structure and tank body. If you see a grouping, take them out. Titus and Victoria, you two are with me. We're going to be the ones that kick the hornet's nest." The lot was simple, consisting of two rectangles linked by a tunnel. Decay and fighting have taken a toll on the concrete, resulting in the upper floors collapsing and the walls not being able to handle any excessive force.

"If you say so. We'll try to thin their numbers as best as we can. Careful out there, they don't use logic." The group made their way into a hidden entrance and quickly took positions. Many tank bodies were lined up, as though they were meant to be used or stored, and the second level was barely remaining. Whether age or explosives were the cause, that couldn't be determined. The sandy dirt was firmer than Dante had hoped.

He looked around and found everyone in position, "Listen, if we get overwhelmed we retreat immediately. Provide cover fire, but nothing more." He raised his voice, "Titus, Victoria, get ready."

Dante drew his pistol and cautiously walked down one of the few standing tunnels, a path to the real entrance of the facility. Three people were walking towards him, though didn't see him. Red scraps of clothing, red dye in the fur and hair, half-broken weapons, these looked like apocalypse survivors. He took aim and fired, then quickly ran while firing. Just as the new Captain said, they swarmed. Red and bloody savages poured into the tunnel and shouted nonsense. They fired their weapons, but the ones that did fire were far too inaccurate, "Dante?"

"Get ready! Titus and Victoria back up! I don't want to see any of your guns not firing!" Just as he reached the end a savage dropped from a duct onto Dante's back, "Like hell!" He flipped the savage onto the ground and put a single bullet into his head. Dante reloaded but pulled out the rifle instead, "Jill! Check those mounted machine guns in the corner behind you! If they work get those soldiers to set them up!" He fired, ignoring that his rifle fired three rounds at once in rapid succession.

The savages were dropping like flies, but for each one downed two more crawled over the bodies, "Dante, buy me some time. Soldiers! I need you to set these up!" Jill shouted over the gunfire, and from how fast the armored soldiers moved, it was clear that Zero Unit was the only hope they had left.

"We're trying, double time! Chey!" Dante dove out of the way and a rocket careened into the tunnel, destroying a large portion and collapsing the concrete on many savages, "You have a few more seconds. Everyone, fresh clips! We're not done!" Dante, Titus, and Victoria fell back a bit and took cover behind a few tanks, "Coming through the walls! Ratchet!"

"I see it!" A large mutated savage with arm muscles larger than Titus' body was smashing through the walls. When his face came though, he howled and a large bullet caused his head to explode, "Got it! The wall is too flimsy though, it won't hold!"

"We've got a few machine guns set up, but we only have a box of ammo per gun!"

Dante looked around, "Anyone low on ammo get on the guns. Captain! Get your men down, you can't get a clear shot from there any more!"

"We're moving! Shit the wall!"

"Open fire!" Dante fired his rifle at the gaping hole in the collapsed wall, "Chey, get over here and fire!" The savages kept pouring through, "I thought you said this was an auxiliary force!"

"That's what we were told!" The machine guns were active and the new gunfire helped stem the advancing tide, "HQ! We need radar immediately!"

"I'm out! Titus had to grab his pistol and fire, "Dante, we don't have the ammunition for this!"

Dante growled to himself, "Fine, take my rifle and keep shooting!" Dante pulled out his pistol, "Hey, Ratchet! See him?"

"See who- got him in my sights." A savage wearing dynamite as armor, "Firing!" A deafening explosion scattered the savages, "I'll check for any more!"

"Captain, do we have any explosives here?"

"Negative! They were hoarded during the retreat a year ago! They're slowing down!" The savages were indeed slowly down and their numbers dropped fast.

"That's not right. They may be crazy but no army runs out of troops that fast." A rumbling echoed from behind the crumbling walls, "What's that?"

"SRA! Everyone get down and take cover!" The Captain and his men ran between the rows of tanks, and Zero Unit followed suit just as a large truck with huge wheels plowed into the facility at high speeds. The driver slammed on the brakes and turned slowly before trying to ram invisible adversaries again, "Shit!"

"We need explosives Captain! Grenades, anything!" The wheels were made of steel and it was clear to the naked eye that the truck was armored. The bed was protected by high walls, no doubt the artillery cannon was hiding in there, "It'll crush us! Speak!"

"Uh... Uh... Grenades... Grenades... Shit! I left the box in the truck!"

Dante looked to his people, "I need you to draw its attention for as long as you can, I'm making a run for it."

Jill and Cratis nodded, "You got it. Just give the signal."

Dante creeped through the rows of tanks to get as close to the secret entrance as he could, which was unfortunately still over 100 feet through open space, "Do it." Jill and Cratis fired from a different hiding spot than before, but the truck didn't seem to care. Dante was a target, an open target, "Well fuck!" He ran like a demon and dove just in time to avoid being crushed. With a burst of energy he made it to the entrance and hoped he wasn't spotted.

"Dante, are you alive? All we see is dust." Dante opened a small crate of grenades, "Dante? Dante?!"

"This'll be over quick. Take cover." He dragged the box in with him, but stopped short of entering the lot. Dante tossed a single grenade to his left, a corner, and watched the SRA follow the sound. Dante then stepped out and lobbed grenade after grenade into the back of the SRA and at the wheels, "Suck it asshole."

The explosions tore through the armor, no doubt aided by the artillery shells still loaded into the cannon, and destroyed the axles of the car. A savage hopped out of the burning vehicle, and was put down by a single shot from Dante, "No sign of any more savages Dante."

He walked over to the Captain, who was dumbstruck, "You get your people here now. The rest of your men can fortify the lot however you can. Use whatever isn't bolted down to sure up the walls and create a defensive turret."

"What's the problem Dante? We've beat them!"

He sighed, "You're young, so you can't be blamed for it, but they're gonna hear that noise. And no matter how savage these red bastards are, they were smart enough to keep a force here. Whoever is at the top is planning and using the idiots as disposable pawns. We need to fortify immediately. Tell your engineered to get here faster. I want a tank operational by tonight!"