All things considered, PFC Fred was not really surprised. The whole mission had been fucked since the start, why should it stop being fucked now? As Lenny and him and busted out the door at full tilt, only the warning from the onboard system in their suits had saved them from being shredded to pieces when the shell hit the spot they would have been.
As it was, they were thrown into the air and slammed back against wall of the building. Even with the armor, Fredrick was sure he had cracked a rib and he could taste blood in his mouth. Still, better than a direct hit.
“Sargent, we have a situation here.”
“That explosion was you guys?” Sarge sounded hopeful. Poor guy, this would ruin his day and Fredrick swore that if he survived it he would also make sure to ruin the fucks who worked in intels day.
“Negative,” The two soldiers darted to cover behind machinery that they prayed to whomever would listen was not prone to explosion. “Those mag-levs the plant was building? They got one up and running.”
“Fuck, can you extract?”
“Not with that bastard in the way, we are going to have to find a way around or through.” Fred didn’t mention that it was far more likely for both of them to die, “You guys go ahead, Lenny and I will catch up.”
There was silence on the comms for a second and then, “Negative, this is a no-trace mission. I can’t let you two fuck up and leave bodies behind, we are coming over, just hold on!”
The next round from the tank blew their cover away and sent Fredrick sprawling on his ass. As he scrambled to find some cover that might survive longer than a few seconds he got a decent look at the thing trying to wipe him and Lenny off the planet.
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Heavily armored and with an incredible cannon and even small arms on the frame, it looked almost like a floating porcupine. If that porcupine was the size of several trucks put together. The thing had basically no weakness, and if they had shield tech… Well it would only get worse from here, but he also saw something else.
“Lenny, this guys missing a plate on the back of the cannon,” They had not expected a functional mag-lev here, and it seemed like it might be fully functional after all. Honestly, based on the brief they would already be swiss cheese if it had been. Still, that armor was impenetrable to infantry weapons normally, but if there was a gap in that armor for repairs…
“Fuck off Fred,” Lenny swore back over the comms. “That thing has a three-sixty degree of vision, and it is smart enough to know where it is vulnerable!”
“You want to die here then?” Fredrick growled back, “Because if you don’t, we have to take this fucker out! Standard pincer, stay low and fast!”
As Fredrick gave the order the two soldiers darted out from their meager cover and dashed around the tank in different directions. The main cannon followed Lenny, but couldn’t keep up with his power-assist armor.
“Its small arms aren’t firing!” Lenny exclaimed happily, “It only has the cannon!”
“That is plenty enough to wipe your asses out,” Sargent yelled over the comms. “Take it carefully.”
Not this time, Sarge, sorry. Fredrick thought to himself as he jumped up on to a piece of ruined machinery then jumped back towards the buildings wall and used the incredible strength of his armor to kick off it and fly towards the tank. The AI tried to react, but it was too late, Fredrick was on top of it.
He had lost his gun in the explosion, but with the armor removed for work, he didn’t need it. Just rip out anything that looked like it shouldn’t be ripped out, demolition 101.
Actually, if this was what he thought it was… He grabbed a small cube hooked into the machine and pulled it out. The tank, which had been bucking wildly to dislodge him, stopped dead and shut down.
“Mag-lev neutralized,” Fredrick was relieved to say. “And I think I have a present for the guys in IT.”
“Good work,” the Sargent sounded happy, not that he would ever admit it. “Now let's get the hell out of this shithole.”