Bullets struck against the door. A few had found purchase against their target, but Lei’s armor served its purpose well. With the door shut, a final few metallic pangs sounded before their enemy gave up.

In the ensuing moments of silence Lei pulled her best friend’s tags from underneath his shattered breastplate.

She handed them to Alvarez without comment. A hesitant hand, not eager to let go of the small metal pieces, was the only indication she gave of her grief.

“We need to move…” She finally said.

Something they were all thinking. As before, there was no time to stop and grieve. Neither Jane nor Mac would want them to waste time right now. Honoring them could come later and a dreadful prospect spiraled up before them. A push up a stairwell.

In most cases there was a means of operating that was best. A tactic or strategy that, if not guaranteeing success, gives you the advantage and thus the best odds of surviving an engagement.

This was not the case when pushing up a stairwell. Cerberus knew that they would be moving against opposition that held a height advantage and far better angles. Unfortunately, they had no choice, stillness would be just as deadly. They would need to move as quickly as they did carefully.

Alvarez silently ordered them. He and Lei would take point while Nurse and Pen covered their rear. Their formation was tight if uncomfortable. Each of them could feel the holes forming in their unit. There was a vast difference between six sets of eyes and only four.

Alvarez thanked whatever god was listening as they actually managed to make it up three flights of stairs before encountering opposition. Their push after, though, was cruel and slow. Each flight of steps was a slog and on more than a few occasions their only saving grace was their superior armor.

Yet they were not common soldiers. They were a special operations fireteam. Cerberus had trained for the worst and the worst could not make them flinch. They did not panic, they did not slow, and they did not falter. Cool and collected under fire. Bit by bit they pushed with a spiteful and ruthless calm. Where the opposition made mistakes, misread and hesitated, Cerberus did not.

Mercenaries. Not untrained but not true warriors. If Cerberus was an unstoppable force, these mercs failed to make themselves and immovable object. They knew who they faced and each in their minds had already lost that important bit of faith. Even galvanized at the killing of two of their enemy they gave more and more ground. They let slip bit by bit their advantage until finally Cerberus no longer needed to push upwards.

Quickly, but not recklessly, they pushed out into the hallway. Barricades and half walls sat in stark contrast to the aesthetic underneath. A few bland office paintings still hung to the walls, their removal as arbitrary and unimportant as their presence.

None of the four of them stopped to ponder the artwork, however, as the force opposing them was significant and acutely aware of their presence. Fire spat forth, emboldened by their proximity to their commanders.

“Command center should be a defensible position. We take it, we hunker down, we figure out where the main force is.”

“Yes Sir!” Came the call.

“And don’t forget. We saw four of those stations but only three Sentinels. Do. Not. Move. Carelessly.”

“Yes Sir!”

“Pen, on me!”

Alvarez started moving forward and Pen moved with him. The two were a uniquely deadly pair. It wasn’t anything tangible, but they were the type of people who just knew by instinct what the other was thinking. Alvarez could read each micromovement of hers and know where her shots were going to land. Pen knew how Alvarez thought and which targets he’d move to eliminate first. Together they created a truly efficient pair clearing down each short hallway as the other two members of Cerberus defended their backs.

The four-man unit moved towards an intersection. The security room turned command center was halfway down the left hall. Without the need for instruction, the group lined against the left wall and paused. Alvarez held the corner, Pen behind him. Lei left a gap for an office door and Nurse held his eye behind them.

If you spot this story on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

Alvarez listened, trying to gauge what might be around the corner. There had to be defenses around the entrance.

*POP. POP. POP. POP.*

Four heavy shots came through the door between Lei and Pen. Four shots cut into Lei. The first dug into her stomach and the second followed the first only a few inches higher. The third shot connected with but was stopped by her chest plate and the fourth glanced off her pauldron.

The fourth Sentinel had waited for its moment and put those four shots straight through the metal door. In all honesty the second two shots should have found purchase but for the door slowing them sufficiently. Now, though, the door slid aside and the machine made to finish its work.

The Sentinel wasn’t the only one in motion however. After the very first shot pen had dropped her sub altogether and pulled her shotgun off her back. She wheeled around and by the time it was moving into the doorway with it’s cannon aiming down at her falling friend she was brining her own high-powered weapon to bare.

*CRACK*

Her first shot was made to disable its gun. The slug tore through what passed for the things forearm. She meant for her second shot to take off its shoulder.

*CRACK*

Her shot ripped into the doorframe instead. The machine had grabbed the barrel of her shotgun and tore it to the side. Still though, as it looked to pen, it could only aim fruitlessly at Lei. Its weapon had been rendered useless. Nurse started shooting at it neck.

That telltale clangor buzzing rang out. It was evaluating the situation.

In millisecond calculations it apparently decided on retreat. It ripped Pen’s shotgun from her hands and backpedaled. A flash of red and another buzz had the door sliding shut. Their ambusher was gone almost as quickly as it had come.

Awali was already tending to Lei. He hunched over her. His hands worked with incredible speed but the damage was significant. She was hemorrhaging severely from the gut and no amount of Medi-foam or pressure seemed to stymie the flow of blood. Pen slid to a knee beside them.

“Shit. Fuck. FUCK!” Nurse yelled.

The one ally who hadn’t been killed outright and he still couldn’t save her. He knew. Even if he managed to stem the bleeding, her insides were a mess. She seemed to know it as well as her hand came up to grasp his.

“My… my…”

She pulled the device laid into her gauntlet out of its dock and motioned to another piece of tech attached to her helmet.

“For… make contact…”

As she stuttered, they started to catch gunfire from the way they’d come. Pen took Nurse’s sub and sent a retort. Lei shoved the tech into Nurse's hands.

“Go…”

With meager motions she pulled her sidearm from her hip and held it close.

“No. No, I’ll drag you with us if I have to. Friendlies gotta be close, you’re not so hopeless as you think girl.”

“Please, Nurse. Now isn’t the time to finally start developing some bedside manners.”

She shoved him towards Alvarez who was desperately covering their front.

Pen held her position, firing furiously down the hall. Lei made a weak fist and gave Pens leg two hits. A familiar signal between the two of them.

“Hin I’m-”

“Move. I’ve got your rear.”

She couldn't...

Pen returned two light taps to Lei’s shoulder before turning to join Alvarez’s push around the corner. It was difficult to discern but all three of them could hear the distinct light pops from her side arm as they pushed down the hall and burst into the command center with a fury.

The firefight was surprisingly quick. Few of the people in the room were heavily armed. Quickly all but one was dispatched. That one being an older gentleman in simple grey and black dress. On a heavy coat was the logo “Scepter PMC” in simple white lettering. He sat in a chair at a center console. Whereas all his allies had fought and been cut down he had made no moves. He waited almost patiently for an outcome it seemed as though he’d predicted.

Pen and Nurse made to cover the doors while Alvarez walked up to the man.

He took a moment to evaluate the three headed canine insignia on their Captain’s left pauldron.

“Cerberus… yes that makes sense. I suppose I should be honored.”

Alvarez brought a hand up to the side of his helmet, switching off the com scrambler. Instead of a glitching vocal soup indecipherable to any without a Cerberus coms system, his tenor voice came out clear to the man.

“Of all the merc scum I’ve seen…”

“Please. Private military contr-”

He was cut off by the cocking of Alvarez’s sidearm. The barrel of which now sat against the mans head.

“I could blow your fucking head off and it’d perfectly legal for what you’ve done. The ONLY reason you're alive is your usefulness and the fact I think death would be far quicker than you deserve. Shut your mouth and don’t give me a reason to change my mind.”

The man simply held up his hands.

“Nurse, give pen the coms. Pen, get us a line to command. Let’s see how things are going.”

The mans brow furrowed but he stayed silent, very cognizant of the gun still pointed his way.

As Pen took the gear she found Lei’s dog tags wrapped up in the mix. She put them with her own and pushed her feelings down. It was time to work. The commlink from Lei’s helmet had no place on her own but it would do its work as it was. She set it on a desk and used the touch screen to send out a ping.

A return ping came quickly and a connection was secured.

“Callphrase.” A feminine voice.

Pen spoke.

“Crimson. I repeat Crimson.”

“Heard. Return. Amber. Amber. Who is this?”

“This is fireteam Cerberus. Lieutenant Aster speaking. Objectives complete but we’ve run into a lot of trouble. How is the assault faring outside. Are friendlies close?”

“The assault? Ma’am the main force hasn’t yet started their attack.”

“…What?”