21/Kryo/2467 R.S. 00:56:30
Kala Border-City rooftops, Kalderag
*One minute before Detonation*
On the rooftops of Kalderag's Border-City of Kala, Ankiros wields his SMLR-11 with a long-range scope equipped, he is scouting along the Centralia-Kalderag border in search of any Millitant Republic vehicles. He reaches for his helmet and presses on the comms button.
"Streets are clear on my end." Ankiros tells Jacklyn, the audio clicks and Jack replies, "Sweep complete, I've got some odd heat signatures, let's check them out.".
Ankiros stands up from his prone position and gathers his equipment while he waits for Jack. As he kneels to grab the rifle, the wind rushes towards him from all directions and the Sanity closely hovers above him, he reaches down and grabs his bag, having his SLMR-11 in one hand and the bag in the other. Jack stands up from the pilot seat, from the cockpit, he walks to the back of the ship and manually opens the dropship's back hatch, allowing Ankiros entrance, Trooper Nine then tosses the bag of equipment towards the hatch. The heavy bag full of equipment abruptly lands, so much so that Jacklyn quickly grabs the bag from the hatch and lays it on top of the passenger seats to his left. Ankiros then looks up, holsters the rifle on his back and jumps towards the hatch, he grabs onto the hatch and pulls himself up. Jacklyn smacks the red "close hatch" button as Ankiros stands up
After closing the hatch, Jacklyn looks at Ankiros and thinks out loud, "You sure you didn't see anything?". Ankiros turns around and confronts Jacklyn.
09: "Yes, I am sure. But what about you, what did you see?"
49: "I just told you, maybe if you paid more attention..."
Jacklyn replies, they then begin to walk towards the cockpit, as they approach, the door slides open, they both enter the cockpit and Jack sits down in the pilot seat, while Ankiros remains standing next to him. Jacklyn pushes down on the acceleration and Sanity's turbines roar as the Dropship zooms across the Kalan skyline.
They remain silent as Jacklyn flies west towards the heat signatures, however, Ankiros' senses ignite and he turns his head in the direction of Central Highway, he feels something is wrong.
09: "Did you feel that?"
49: "Feel what?"
Ankiros does not reply as the suspense builds up within him, suddenly interrupting the silence, the Sanity's ICC speaker emits heavy static sounds, followed by orange lights shining at Ankiros' face he turns to look at it, worried about what may be transmitted.
The static diminishes and a specific clack sound bursts through, followed by a high pitched "e" and finally the last sound is of a vibrant metallic hum. This combination of sounds alerts the Troopers that an emergency event is taking place in CEN (ICC code for Central Highway), Jacklyn turns his head and looks at Ankiros worryingly.
A female voice follows through the silence of the code, she states the following: "Attention, all MT Squadrons alerted by this ICC transmission: Centralia-Kalderag region, the border has been closed and we are under attack! I repeat, Centralia is under attack! Footage of what seems to have been an Explosive device detonating in Central Highway District 4 has left the area without comms. This has triggered a full state of emergency throughout the country, regroup with your squadmates and await further instructions from your superiors.
As always, you will be rewarded for your efforts to maintain peace in the region.
Dispatch out."
The Transmission ends, after seconds of silence, Ankiros screams in rage, he turns around and runs to his equipment, meanwhile, Jacklyn accelerates the Sanity full throttle towards Centralia, however, a giant thick steel wall separates Kalderag from Centralia, the structure was constructed in the early years after the Centralian establishment gained control of the newfound lands, remodeled and restored over the years to fit the technological advancements of the nation.
49: "Hey, keep your head in the game, Ank!"
Jacklyn says as he quickly puts his hand on the side of his helmet to tune into the battle net, in an attempt to recompile any information he can about the given situation.
49: "I'll see what info is being broadcasted!"
Jacklyn exclaims, however, seeing his flight path, Ankiros reminds him about the border's status.
09: "They said the border is closed, Vort, find another way inside Centralia."
49: "Do you think I care about the closed border Ankiros? I'm going through."
Ankiros changes his own SatCom wavelength to pick up the Centralian Battle Network's chatter to have a better understanding of what really is going on under them.
Instantly, a wave of communications comes rushing through. Loud explosions blast throughout the Channel, screaming mixed with heavy automatic fire that bursts through every now and then, the voices of the Marines and Troopers engaged in combat puts his thoughts in check with the situation at hand, just when Ankiros is about to tune out from the massacre, the chatter becomes clear for some time and he can understand some of the transmissions.
"This is M-*Kzzztt*"
Static cuts off the transmission.
Another Marine makes an attempt to report on the situation.
"Hostile trucks trying to make it in through Kalderag's border! There is too many of them!*gunshots* AAH!!"
Jacklyn tightly grips the pilot stick and punches the afterburners, turning slightly towards the border, the great force of the acceleration unbalances Ankiros in the back of the Sanity.
09: "What the hell, Jack?"
49: "Did you not just hear our Marines dying down there?"
09: "You told me to calm down, and I did. Are we going to stop by the border or regrouping like the ICC told us to?"
49: " I did, but it is up to us to help those Marines! the borderline is twenty minutes out of District four, let's just help out the border and we'll be on our way."
Ankiros has no choice but to acknowledge Jacklyn's choice, they failed to detect the Millitants and it is their duty is to protect the people. Ankiros rearms by loading in the magazine on his SMLR-11 and, using his helmet switches to a private network with Jade.
"Jade this is Ankiros, you read me?"
He asks, but only silence follows through, he attempts to contact her once more.
09: "Jade are you getting this??"
12: "Yes! Ankiros did you see what just happened? Are you two safe?"
09: "I'm with Jacklyn in Kala City, what's happening?"
12: "Michael's Op wasn't successful, the diplomat detonated a huge implosion device of some sort, destroyed District four in seconds!"
09: "What about Michael is he okay?"
12: "I don't know, I tried contacting him and Vera as well, we don't know for sure."
09: "Let's regroup we need to find them, Ankiros out."
Jack descends the Sanity as they approach the Kalderag-District one borderline. As the Dropship gets closer to the ground Jacklyn notices the huge traffic jam being caused by the shootout near the border. He turns around and looks at Ankiros.
09: "We'll help the Marines, but as soon as it's clear, we're out, understood?"
49: "Got it, I'm dropping you off a couple blocks away from the Main Street, it's gonna be crowded."
09: "What about you?"
49: "I'll be your overwatch until you arrive to the Marines, I'll pick you and any Marine willing to help us up."
09: "So it's just me then, great."
Ankiros smacks the open hatch button and the back hatch slowly begins to open, a huge crowd of people walking away from the border block the flow of vehicles in the streets, creating a massive traffic jam, in the distance Marines can be seen blocking off access to the Borderline while in a firefight against the Millitant invaders, Ankiros grabs his equipment bag and hops off the Sanity and into the masses.
Already angry from failing to spot any hostiles, he begins to jog through the crowd, and instantly there is a reaction within the citizens. The population begins to disperse away from the Trooper, the general population fears the MTs due to confusion and the secrecy the government has over them, seeing one up close and personal runs chills down the civilian's spines. Ankiros notices the shift in the atmosphere, but he remains focused and continues jogging towards the border.
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Up in the sky, Jacklyn hovers close to the streets, the Sanity's turbines deafens the crowds as he hovers above Ankiros, he is aiming his main cannon toward the border while scanning for enemies, his helmet lights up with multiple Millitants targets in vehicles and on foot. He flies low to the end of the road to face the Millitants, the Sanity scares everyone out of their cars, the civilians exit their vehicles and run away from the scene. Having the contacts up close, Jacklyn opens fire at the Millitants, unleashing his autocannon at the unsuspecting Soldiers tearing them apart, the surviving Soldiers open fire at the Sanity, he flies away from the same route he flew in from to get the heat off of him. As the Sanity flies over Ankiros he is already in proximity of the border, he kneels and puts his rifle through an opened car door's open window, and looking through the scope he has eyes on the Millitant Vehicles. He puts his finger on the trigger and breathes in, aiming down at a Soldier he prepares to take the shot. Civilians continue to exit their vehicles as the shootout escalates, blocking Ankiros's line of sight.
The population's unrest grows and desperately try to rush out of the area, they stampede their way out and even crush those unfortunate enough to be tumbled down.
09: "These people are a bunch of savages! Jack I can't see shit."
49: "They're just scared, not everyone has Trooper armor, anyway if you take a right now and follow the alleyway you'll be on the main street, care through the alleys."
09: "Understood."
Ankiros shoves the citizens to the side as he traverses the sea of people running in the opposite direction. Upon finally exiting the masses he continues his path forward towards a tight alleyway, he quietly jogs into the shadows inside. Ankiros walks through the damp clothes hung out to dry, moving them out of the way with the barrel of his gun. Approaching the end of the dimly lit alley, two Millitant trucks rush from right to left followed by multiple bursts of gunshots, he remains unseen by the enemies. Ankiros makes his way out and leans his back against the concrete building, he aims down the SMLR-11 and acquires his target, a Soldier taking cover behind a Millitant truck. Ankiros puts his finger over the trigger once again, he pulls on it, one shot one kill, the body falls to the ground alerting nearby forces. Quickly he sprints across the street in order to take cover behind a parked civilian car, unfortunately, he gets spotted due to the orange light posts on the street and consequently shot at by the Millitant Soldiers. Ankiros manages to not get hit and slides into cover. The car gets lit up instantly and smoke starts to flow out of the hood, this is not a good sign, caught in a strait with no cover, other than a close-to-burning car. He looks up and sees Jacklyn flying towards him in the distance.
49: "You might wanna get out of there!"
09: "Damnit, Vort, Danger close! Danger clos-"
The Sanity strafes by and unleashes hell on the Millitants, the autocannon blows up one truck and the car Ankiros was using as cover, the blast used up his barrier and he was pushed to the ground face first.
The Soldiers are forced to push inside the Border structure through the massive processing checkpoint, once they move inside a huge metal gate closes behind them. Marines are on the other side of the wall trying to push through the checkpoint since they have lost control of Kalderag's side of the border.
Ankiros quickly gets back up, with his barrier offline he runs up behind the stunned soldiers near the exploded truck and smacks one of them in the back of the head with the butt of his SMLR-11, kneels and aims at the next soldier, unhesitatingly, he puts three rounds into him. He stands up and shoots one round at the knocked out soldier. Traversing through the smoke, he takes the magazine out of the rifle to reload, as he does this a Soldier peeks around the truck's corner and spots him through the smoke, he opens fire and hits Ankiros's left shoulder, now staggered, Ankiros drops his rifle and reaches for his sidearm on his right thigh, but not without receiving a second shot to the ribs, this shot hurts him, he grunts in pain, regardless he pulls through and shoots the Soldier in the head. *Beep* *Beep*
//BARRIER ONLINE//
Orange particles float around Ankiros and they all go inside the capacitor on his chest. Inside his helmet, his vital signs are falling, his speed is decaying.
He puts his hand on his rib wound and blood drips onto his shaking hand. "Shit..." He says as he looks up into the sky.
49: "Ank, buddy that didn't sound too good, you alright?"
09: "Dunno what to tell ya', got hit, twice, I'll finish this though."
49: "Damnit I'm sorry Ank."
09: "Just have the ship ready to go, I'm going inside."
49: "You never compromise, huh?"
Ankiros opens his equipment bag and shifts through all the magazines and grenades in search for any medical gear, he succeeds and finds a flat pressure-applying device and some bandages, he puts the device against his left ribs and activates it, instantly Ankiros feels pain but he resists it and bandages his left arm, with the remaining bandage he tightens the pressure device in place.
He grabs and finishes reloading the SMLR-11 and turns away from the truck's cover, he walks through the smoke as it diminishes and fades away. The remaining Soldiers are inside the checkpoint, he will have to get inside to finish this fight. He walks up some stairs on the side of the checkpoint and looks at the Border structure, a massive wall separating Centralia from Kalderag, even if Kalderag is part of the Centralian Oligarchy, however, this was not always the case, so the wall was created.
He takes a deep breath and walks through an open door, once inside the structure he continues to walk down the dark hall. Gunshots echo throughout the hallway, simultaneously lighting the surroundings. As Ankiros continues his advance, he hears Soldiers desperately shouting directions to one another, the invaders seem to have lost their grip on the attack.
Ankiros approaches the end of the hallway, arriving to an L shaped extension, he peeks around the corner to the left, he sees two men pushed against the wall, taking cover.
Ankiros sees this as an opportunity and he aims down his rifle towards the soldier closest to him, from twenty feet away Ankiros notices that the Soldier is actually a Grenadier, he puts the reticle right on one of the many grenades on the Millitant's strap. With one shot, both the Grenadier and the accompanying Soldier are consequently engulfed in flames and impaled by high-velocity shrapnel, they scream in agony for a short time before dying. Ankiros carefully advances to the doorway as the firefight rages on within the structure, the charred bodies release a pungent smell that penetrates Ankiros' suit, he shakes his head and leans towards the open door. Revealing the processing center, where whoever is trying to cross the border on foot or on a land vehicle will have to be searched and provide documentation.
However, the center was being stripped down by the Millitants, in an attempt to destroy the structure, rip-lines are seen lying around the ground. Meanwhile, from the other end of the center Centralian Marines push towards the middle of the room.
Ankiros rushes through the doorway and hops over the railings on the side of the room and lands five feet down into the center, he quickly slides into one of the many flipped tables that are littered throughout the room, a Millitant Soldier saw a sliver of movement behind them, he turns around and lets the squadron know about the possible threat.
"Our Grenadier isn't suppressing the Marines, I'm gonna see what's goin' on!"
"Negative! Stay in formation, be ready for anything."
The Shock Millitant orders the Soldier before he approached the tilted table.
As the Soldier turned around acknowledging the order, Ankiros stands up and opens fire at his back. With two relentless rounds, the Soldier's chest busted open from the front, instantly alerting the Shock Millitant which quickly responds to Ankiros, with incredible agility he runs towards Ankiros. With only seconds to respond, Ankiros decides to ignore the Soldiers and take on the Shock. He shoots once and the bullet misses by a long shot, he notices this and follows up by a shooting a second-round that grazes the incoming man. Ankiros quickly holsters his rifle, drops his bag and squares up. Inside Ankiros's helmet the imminent threat lights up bright red. With incredible speed and strength the Shock Millitant throws a right punch at Ankiros, only to be greatly deflected by the Trooper, Ankiros grabs and crushes the Shock's hand, clearly a great underestimation. The Shock attempts to escape the grip by kicking Ankiros, but before he kicks he yells at his comrades: "LIGHT 'IM UP!". The Soldiers rapidly turn and aim down their weapons at Ankiros, the kick lands and staggers him back a little bit, but he quickly reacts by grabbing the Shock's leg and pulling him towards the front.
The Shock Millitant's speed is not enough to outrun the sheer force of Ankiros's grip, the three soldiers open fire at Ankiros, the bullets commence crashing against the now active barrier system, but not for long, as the Shock is unwillingly held in place between the Soldiers and Ankiros. He is then riddled with bullets and killed by his own men, Ankiros' barrier withstands as much as it can before it critically breaks, pushing him back and denting his armor, fortunately, the Soldiers' weapons run out of ammo.
Ankiros stands in front of the Soldiers with closed fists, breathing heavily, panting almost. The Millitants overlooked one little detail, the Marines.
In a matter of seconds a massive torrent of bullets rains on the Soldiers from the opposite end of the processing center, marking the end of this Millitant incursion.
Ankiros remains in his static position, meanwhile, the Marines make their way to the Soldiers, once they descend the stairs they notice the Rip-lines were not activated, the Marines had intercepted with haste.
21/Kryo/2467 R.S. 01:35:22 *Present Time*
*Thirty-nine minutes after Detonation*
A Sargeant makes his way through the Marines and approaches Ankiros.
"Good job, Trooper, Grenadier had us pinned down in that hallway, thanks to you we could push through, for that me and my men are grateful, but we've got this under control, more Marines and Troopers are on their way."
*Beep* *Beep* //BARRIER ONLINE//
Ankiros' Barrier recharges, he lets go of his fists and opens his hands.
He looks up at the Sargeant and replies one word before grabbing his previously dropped equipment bag and rifle.
"Understood."
As he begins to walk through the border, Jacklyn radios in.
"Ank! You alright?"
"... Yeah, pick me up on the other side of the wall."
The Border structure's metal gate facing Centralia begins to open upwards, allowing Ankiros to walk across. The gate fully opens and Ankiros makes it to the other side only to see empty streets, he looks up and sees the Sanity flying towards him with the cloudy night sky covering them. In the distance, sounds of battle can still be heard but around the gate there was only silence and hubris, the area has been vacated. Ankiros goes ahead and opens a network with the General while Jacklyn lands the Sanity. The channel is opened but the General has not connected. Upon landing, the Sanity's turbines push all the trash from the ground, Ankiros covers his visor as he approaches the Dropship.
Jacklyn opens the back hatch and Ankiros walks inside. Upon seeing Ankiros's wounds, Jacklyn is extremely concerned with his well being.
49: "Damn Ank, I didn't know it would be this bad."
09: "Pretty naive of you, what'd you expect? Next time you're coming with me."
49: "I apologize things could've been better, you should rest man, I'll take us to Central Command."
09: "Central Command? With all this going on, are you stupid Jack!?"
Ankiros says as he lightly pushes Jack, he is beginning to lose his temper, his wounds, the pain and not knowing the whereabouts of neither Michael or Vera, the pressure is getting to him all at once.
Jacklyn quickly reacts and pushes him back, speaking his mind as well.
49: "Hey, what's wrong with you man? You need medical attention!"
09: "What's wrong with me? Damnit Vort, first off, I went in by myself, not the first time I do it, secondly if I say danger close, DO NOT FIRE! You blew up my cover and destroyed my barrier, I'm hit thanks to you, Jacklyn, thanks to you!"
Ankiros turns his back on Jack.
Jacklyn remains silent and ponders, clearly mistakes were made, and as Squad Leader, Ankiros has the right to order Jacklyn, and any other Sigma Squad member.
As Ankiros organizes his bag of equipment, Jack reaches out to put his hand on Ankiros' shoulder, but retracts before making contact. He turns around and walks to the cockpit.
"We're going to find them, trust me."
Jack says before sitting down.
Inside Ankiros' helmet the opened channel with General Dovyo remains open, but Ankiros does not notice due to his anger. He puts the bag on the seat next to him and sits down, meanwhile, the Sanity lifts off the ground and boosts forward towards District four. Ankiros looks to his left, with the back hatch open, he sees as the barely-lit rooftops move away into the distance and a thick forest sucks the little light left, creating complete darkness, he sighs, liberating some of the bottled emotions.
Without him noticing, the General had heard the argument, and so he weighs in.
Gen. Dovyo: "Ankiros, glad to hear both of you are alive and kicking. Before you say anything, I heard what just happened. Maybe you should analyze your own actions prior and post your squadmate's mistakes, you are their leader, don't scold them, lead them."
09: "General!... I understand, it's the heat of the moment, Vera, Mike, they're-"
Gen. Dovyo: "They're top of the line Troopers, I could even attest to their skills. Go find them near ground zero, I need you to get Sigma Squad together. Now, I have other squads to mobilize. Dovyo out."
09: "Yes, sir!"
The General's words inspire Ankiros, and makes his rambling thoughts fall into place.
The desperation and worry for his squadmates fades away, a great certainty that they are able to take care of themselves grows within him.
Ankiros stands up and smacks the close hatch button, as the hatch closes, he walks to the cockpit and stands next to Jacklyn. The Sanity is flying above one of the many natural forests Centralia has within her territory. This particular forest is the outskirts of the larger Reed Forest, named after the founder of the area's Outpost and community, Donovan Reed. A Democratic era Centralian Explorer. The Sanity maintains its course, the forest's darkness is cut short by the light contamination coming from the Central Highway Districts three and four, gunshots can be seen flying into the sky, multiple flying vehicles are entering the area. Ankiros looks firmly at the warzone ahead.
09: "Let's go find our squad."
Within his helmet, Jacklyn smiles, he replies: "We'll be there in ten."
Jacklyn then punches in the Afterburners with great confidence and boosts his way towards the epicenter of the explosion.