07:37 The National Institute for Technological Advancement – Level 4 Section 71C
The explosion was louder than expected, but most of the blast doors survived. Those closest to ground zero were the most damaged. The ones in and around the location where John and his allied platoons sounded like an angry football team slammed against it with all their might.
The server room was utterly annihilated, and nothing of any value remained. The SpecFor soldiers who mercilessly murdered their Marine platoons were incinerated in totality. Nothing, not even ashes, remained of them. Their physical existence was utterly annihilated. The only step left, which would have to take place later, would be the destruction of their character and reputations. That feat would be a simple affair to accomplish.
The secondary explosions, caused by the plasma burning through the floor and igniting a fuel conduit, ripped through the room and throughout the unguarded portions of the massive building. Thousands of offices and labs were destroyed and rendered useless. The trail of damage ripped a direct route through the internal structure straight to the central, and likely, original structure.
Hundreds, if not thousands, of enemy forces were caught up and killed in the explosion. The chaotic defense put on by Dr. Norman’s forces was shaken to its core with that explosion. It was the first true chink on the armor that the Confederate forces had seen.
To that point, they put up a ferocious, albeit impotent, defense of the base. For John’s platoon, the only objectively scary defenses they’d come across were those ooze monsters. But the labs and warehouses were on the opposite side of the campus. It was only through an epic amount of cosmic luck that they didn’t face such fierce opposition.
“Dagger command, this is Dagger actual, how copy?” John said as he walked over too and helped the marines trying to pry open the blast door.
“We’ve got reports of a large explosion in your area. Are you alright?”
“Affirm. We located a fuel line in the floor, we figured that we could ignite and create a clear run into the original structure. Seems to have worked but the blast doors are properly fucked now.”
A new voice could be heard on the coms, “Lieutenant Life, confirm that you authorized the explosion.”
“Admiral Karlsson, I didn’t expect to have you join our channels. That is correct, we created an explosion and channeled it inward via the blast doors. There were no friendlies on the IFF up or down all of the floors, nor were any in the direction we chose to funnel the explosion,” John said, “Sharing transponder telemetry for the last thirty minutes.”
“Three SpecFor teams were in the server room,” Admiral Karlsson said.
“What server room sir?” John grinned as he asked the question.
“The server room that was beneath the room you blew up.”
“Why was SpecFor silent on the matter? We would’ve been happy to assist in securing the room,” John paused, “Actually sir, why did they have their IFFs turned off? In a combat zone, that doesn’t seem very safe… Or intelligent.”
“I will have to ask the General why his forces did that.”
“Sir,” John said as the blast door groaned slowly open, “Unless we’re told otherwise, we’re going to make a mad dash to capture the fuckface running the show here.”
“Who’s with you?”
“Falchion and Lager platoons. We ran into them after we rigged that room to blow the hell up,” John’s grin could not be wiped from his face.
“You have a go, do not kill Dr. Norman. He is to be taken alive.”
“Understood sir, heading out now.”
John began waving the marines over. The door stopped budging but allowed a pair of marines to walk side by side. Paul was the first one that peeked in to see the damage done.
“Fucking hell,” Paul said, “I was not expecting that.”
Arianna was the next one to speak up, “It’s a long hike but it looks like the explosion nearly made it to the central building.”
Danielle walked by John and slapped his breastplate, “Remind me to never play poker with you.”
“Bloody hell, lying to our boss that effectively. I’m impressed,” Chester said laughing.
John shook his head, “Never interrupt the enemy when they are making a mistake. Admittedly, I didn’t expect to have three platoons of hostiles grouped up in one room, but I’m also not going to ignore that gift.”
“Didn’t say I’d blame you,” Chester said as the pair walked forward, “Just don’t think I have the chutzpah to lie like that. He can end your career.”
John laughed, “Then I just become a rich, billionaire, playboy type, and live up life.”
“Good luck with that,” Danielle snorted, “Think your wife would accept that?”
John laughed loudly, “Oh hell no, she’d hunt me down and beat my ass. Good lord, if I tried anything with another woman, my life would absolutely be forfeit. Not that I have wandering eyes, to begin with.”
“Contact ahead,” a marine from Lager platoon said.
“What is it?” Chester asked.
“A crispy critter,” answered Vanessa, “Enemy soldier specifically, burned up pretty good.”
“Y’all have any DMR? We’re kitted for close-in-combat?” John asked his felling platoon commanding officers.
“Pietre, put them down.”
The Marine stepped forward and raised his rifle. He braced his hand against a piece of rubber. A moment later a single shot rang out. The round flew true and struck the unlucky survivor in the back. They fell over and moved no more.
“Don’t suppose we have any other friendlies we can call on to this little party?”
They continued to walk forward for a short time before Vanessa answered, “Hard negative, the others are engaged. And I didn’t bother reaching out to the SpecFor teams for obvious reasons. Which by the way their IFFs are now on.”
“Are they huddled up on anything?”
“Negative, everyone is spread out throughout the facility. Breaking off from the SpecFor forces has made reinforcing one another difficult,” Erica said.
John stopped and looked back at his senior Sargent, “Are they falling back or digging in?”
“Not sure. Most are still engaged with enemy forces. Speaking of,” Erica said, “There is nothing in this area, looks like SpecFor really committed their forces to the west and north which drew the majority of defending troops.”
“Which means our way is clear,” Danielle said.
“DOUBLE TIME IT FOLKS!” Chester yelled.
The Marines moved instantly. The methodical pace they were moving ended. The finish line, to this race at least, was in sight. Chatter was shared about what to expect. No forces were seen in the ruined areas.
That is until they were spotted. John pointed and the rear echelon turned and fired on the enemies. Most were wounded or still appeared disoriented, but some were able to fire back. Just down the hallways several of Danielle’s squads stopped and did the same. Like with John and the company, no serious damage from the return fire was received.
“Be careful,” John hollered, “We’re not alone anymore.”
“Fucking cockroaches everywhere,” Chester shouted, “Squads one through three with me.”
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The three platoons split up into squads and dug into their positions. They were facing the stiffest fighting thus far in the operation. But sadly, for the enemies the resistance was uncoordinated. Each corridor was a kill zone. Multiple soldiers were focused on where they needed to unleash their killing intent.
Fifteen minutes later they could hear the enemy troops retreat and fall back. Though where specifically they fell back was unknown to the Marines at that moment. Each squad was checking ammunition and inspecting their armor.
“Sir, we expended a hell of a lot of ammunition there,” Derrick said in between conferring with his squads.
“Don’t suppose their ammo works with ours? Same or similar caliber?” John asked.
“Cover me,” Paul said as he jumped over some debris and ran towards several dead bodies.
Paul bent over and picked up several weapons and sidearms. Then ran back to the marines and set them on an undamaged table. John grinned at that lone table in the middle of the room that appeared as if it was brand new. How or why it was in that state he couldn’t answer but he was highly amused at how it had survived the blast and fighting that had just taken place.
“Pistol ammunition is the same caliber, though lacks our exotic ammunition choices,” Vanessa said, “Standard rounds seem to be copper jacketed with a tritanium penetrator. Magazines work too.”
“Assault and Battle rifle ammunition is different. That's a no-go there,” Chester said.
“Is it? Should still be able to use those weapons, no?” John asked, “Aside from the heavies that are.”
A Marine in Lager platoon picked up the battle rifle and inspected it closely. His armored finger comfortably fit in the trigger well. The grip was a bit smaller than desirable but would work. He shrugged before nodding.
“That’ll work. Plenty of free ammo in the hallway. We won’t have ammo counts in our HUD though.”
Chester pointed at three squads, “Loot and scoot.”
Danielle and John made similar orders. John gave up his battle rifle and spare ammo. It wasn’t going to be of much use to him. He also disengaged and detached his Gatling cannon. The remaining ammo would be split between the members of his platoon.
“Fist and pistol, that enough, sir?” Erica asked.
“Machine pistol,” John shrugged, “Going to have to be. Y’all need to be loud as fuck for the next stage to work. Me hoarding these goodies ain’t going to help any.”
“On the plus side,” Danielle said, “We have guns and ammo for days. Just not sure how effective their own ammunition is against their armor.”
“Not as good as our HE or AP stuff, that’s for sure,” Chester said, “I want these weapons spread out among the squads. I don’t want to sacrifice lethality for free ammo.”
“Agreed, can use their weapons as suppression guns, hold fire on ours for kill shots,” John said, “Arianna, do you have the schematic for this area yet?”
“Sending you what I’ve got now. The central command chamber is only a section over. But they sealed the blast doors on all floors.”
“I’ll find a way in,” John grinned, “Probably.”
Chester was reviewing the schematic, “Looks like other platoons have reached us on other levels. Fighting is more intense on the ground level.”
“Contacts, coming from the forward corridors,” Paul shouted out before taking cover and aiming his gun down the corridor.
A dozen Marines immediately followed suit and dug in. Guns, both Confederate and Mercantilist-made, were pointed down the hallway. From the corridor, it would be difficult to see where the Marines were before either getting closer or they opened fire.
This led to a highly advantageous position for the attacking Marines. They delayed firing for several moments after the enemy made their appearance. Only when most of the enemy was in the kill zone did they make their presence known with a fusillade of fire being directed down both corridors.
The reinforcements that were sent were cut down in short order. The Marines using Confederate weapons held fire and allowed their compatriots to use the Mercantilist guns to finish off the enemy. When all were eliminated, Chester stepped forward.
“Loot and scoot.”
Several Marines jumped out of cover and rain forward. Three were on guard duty and didn’t partake in the rummaging through the dead bodies. Any of the Mercantilist forces that clung to life were quickly dispatched with a bullet to the head. While there was no love lost between the forces the Marines, aside from possibly John, didn’t want to see their enemies writhe in pain.
“Contacts,” Vanessa shouted.
John stepped forward, “FALL BACK.”
He drew his pistol and activated the plasma blast gun in his fist. John waited with bated breath as the Marines fell back into their defensive positions. Everyone was dug in and waiting for their enemy to appear.
Unlike the previous waves of enemies, this one was wearing powered armor. They weren’t too dissimilar from the suit Lisa had worn in her battle with John. Whether or not these were psychic troops wasn’t immediately clear.
“Heavy weapons, focus fire on the right corridor. FIRE!” John shouted.
The three Marines from John’s platoon that were equipped with the micro-lances stepped out of cover, took aim, and fired. Three beams of orange energy screamed through the air. Two beams impacted the same suit, while another just missed a suit but struck its EM shielding.
Micro lances were deadly weapons but had horrible fire rates. Those marines pulled back into cover as quickly as they jumped out and fired. None of the trio saw the damage they had inflicted on the enemy. The plasma cannon trio did prior to them firing their volley.
The only thing remaining of the enemy that was struck by two of the lances were their legs. The torso and head were completely annihilated. The enemy running next to him was thrown against the wall of the corridor. A distinctive flash indicated the EM shields from another one of the hostiles were lost.
Three volleys of plasma fire were sent down the hallway before a wall of high explosive shells was sent downrange by the pair of Marines equipped with the Gatling Cannon. Power armor was tough and protected you from many things, but it was quickly overwhelmed by the sheer amount of deadly, not to mention accurate fire.
Every single plasma cannon volley struck a suit. Several of the volleys the suits shielded dissipated the attacks and prevented any damage. Aside from the shields overloading themselves and burning out that is. Before the first Gatling cannon round met the hostile force, fully half of the power armored reinforcements were dead.
The Gatling cannon fired several quick bursts before conserving ammo and letting the marines with assault or battle rifles end this battle. And end it they did. The rate of fire with the cannon was so high that it eliminated the remaining kinetic shields of the hostile suits.
Meanwhile, John and the Marines focusing on the other corridor weren’t racking up kills as quickly. Or really at all. The small arms fire was slowing down the advance but weren’t effective at putting down hostiles geared out in the way they were.
“MISSILES OUT!” Danielle shouted.
Four Marines from the rear popped up and launched four red-tipped missiles that rocketed over them and down the corridor. Each missile found its target. John had presumed the missile was simply high-explosive models but no, each coated the enemy with sticky plasma-like napalm. Death was guaranteed, and now that corridor was down four hostiles.
“Micro lances, fire!” John shouted as he fired another volley from his blast gun.
Only two of the Marines were able to comply. But both rounds struck new hostiles. Better yet they sent four hostiles flying. Two were sent backward into the rearmost rank while two were shoved against the wall.
That allowed the designated marksmen of the squads to take aim and fire at the less armored sides of the enemies. Kinetic shields flared out. Rounds were now impacted directly on the suits. Most rounds were ricocheting off, but then striking others near them.
It was only a matter of time until they were able to get a round striking the underlayment between armor plates. The small arms fire was now deadly. But just as they were able to clear up their corridor of the final hostile two more suits appeared.
These were larger than the ones they had been fighting. The Mercantilist version of the Broadswords. John fired his thrusters as he jumped over a fallen beam he had been using for cover and ran down the corridor. He coiled back a punch with his powered fist and nearly split the poor bastard he struck in two.
The enemy flew back from the impact to the enemy's heavy armor on the right. He activated the thrusters once more and gave out a bestial war cry as he punched the other suit. The powered fist hovered just two inches away, the kinetic shielding locking his fist in place.
John grinned as he activated the plasma blast gun. In a blink of an eye, it was fully charged. A green blast washed over the suit. When it receded where there once was a helmeted there was now a hole through the suit.
The thrusters quickly engaged and pushed John away from the enemy. Narrowly missing the enemies' hard left hook. John took a step forward and then went down to his knees as he slid under the follow-up attack.
John punched at the knee of the suit as he slid by. While the kinetic shields once again prevented any serious damage from occurring. He fired off another plasma blast. It was fired when he was several feet away, the EM and Kinetic shielding both shrugged off the attack.
John used his thrusters once more to get on his feet but noticed the enemy had balled up their fist and swung it back at John as they spun it around. John activated the powered fist and launched a heavy right at the spinning fist.
John struck the forearm plate squarely. The combined force of both suits' attack blew out the kinetic shielding. Fortunately for John, his attack struck first. His fist shattered the armor plate. The hostiles fist spun around impotently and struck the side armor of his large fist. The enemy was now effectively down an arm.
There was no time to waste. With his left-hand John drew his pistol and fired off several shots, at point blank range, at the enemy suit’s helmet. One round struck the eye lens squarely. At that moment the hostile was taking a step back. The arms just fell to the side and the suit lazily fell backward.
“Recommend swapping to heavies when these big bastards show up,” John said dryly.
He turned and began to walk back to his marines. John noticed a small amount of movement in a suit to his left. As he walked by, he fired off a single shot into the helmet, putting the enemy out of its misery. He then holstered his pistol.
“Remind me to not get on his bad side,” Danielle said dryly.
“Two on-one, no biggy,” Paul said almost giggling to himself.
“I try that, and I’ll end up deader than dead,” Derrick was laughing.
“No signs of any more reinforcements for now,” Arianna said, “Transferring blast door controls to your suit sir. I am not sure if they will work though. Security this deep in the building seems to be different somehow.”
John turned and nodded, “Thank you, Corporal. Make them bleed.”
Danielle grinned, “Just how in the hell are you going to sneak around in that?”
John activated the stealth field. Armor plates were separated and out came little devices. To the untrained eye, they were a grey square with a flat black pyramid device in the center of them. Those in the know knew they were the same device found on the Navy’s stealth suits. Dozens of the devices appeared all over John’s suit.
Then a crackling sound could be heard. The suit began to disappear from sight. As it did, John ran away. A rainbow of colors was briefly visible before nothing could be seen. The loud and very distinctive running gait of a Broadsword suit could be heard.