After thinking for a few seconds, I turned around and called out to my available forces, “We’re going to retake the base! We will believe in the strike teams’ abilities and trust them to complete their mission without our help!”
Looking over the grim determination of the soldiers I decided to add some extra to my speech, “The enemy are undoubtedly setting up their defences as we waste our time here! A frontal assault would be suicide!”
Now that every soldier was paying attention to me I added more power to my words, “We need a plan, a way to bypass their sentries! If anyone has any ideas, then step forwards now!”
Two men and a woman stepped forward, I pointed to the woman and said “Your ideas?”
She straightened herself up and said “Use a two-pronged attack, send in forces to attract their attention at one point and then send a small strike team to infiltrate from the rear and cause havoc from within!”
One of the men stepped back. I raised an eyebrow at him and he simply said “I was going to suggest the same thing.”
I shrugged and turned to the last man who was grinning like a madman and gestured for him to speak.
“Use the sewers.” He stated pointedly.
Murmurs erupted from among the crowd.
“How will we navigate the sewers?” I asked coldly.
“I can guide you. I was born and raised around these parts, I was a petty street rat before the captain picked me up. I grew up in the sewers, I should still know my way around.” He said with an amused smile.
I giggled a bit and said “Indeed, your demeanour is far from what I’d expect of noble birth. You’ll be our strike team’s navigator.”
“Yes Sir!” he said and saluted sarcastically. A number of people started giggling at his remark, namely one woman who quickly silenced herself when she realised nobody else was laughing. This made a larger number of people giggle at her, namely everyone other than the woman who was blushing furiously in embarrassment.
Once the crowd calmed itself I called out once more, “I want an infiltration team of ten to follow me and him through the sewers! We will have the hardest fight so we’ll only welcome the brave!... And maybe the reckless!”
There was another round of humoured grunts as five people quickly stepped forwards. The other five came slowly, one by one. When there were ten they grouped up in front of me and saluted.
I looked at our guide and asked “How long will it take us to reach the base through the sewers?”
“There’s an entrance to the sewers much closer to our destination in a blind spot from the building, it will take about thirty minutes from there.” He said.
“Ok. We’ll regroup and organise ourselves at the entrance!” I shouted.
It was a slow procession, everyone found a vehicle to ride and climbed on. I took the entire infiltration team and occupied the back of a single vehicle and we departed. Our guide sat shotgun and directed the procession of vehicles through the darker areas of the streets, keeping us in the shadows to avoid letting them on to our plans.
For me, the drive was just a pointless discussion between Dawn and Nova.
<( So why doesn’t anyone wear helmets anyway? )>
<[ I believe it’s because of the sheer force of bullets these days. I know that some people do wear helmets, but they all have a neck support system that discharges the impact into their body armour. Without the support system, the shockwave from impact would usually kill you anyways, if not leaving you with a severe concussion on a glancing blow. The cost of producing and procuring a standalone helmet is simply not worth it. ]>
<( There are still bullet-proof vests though? )>
<[ You still feel the punch of the bullet, it might save your life but you’ll still be badly winded… aren’t you supposed to be the knowledgeable one, ‘brain’? ]>
<( Tehe, pero. )>
I don’t know how she made that sound effect inside my brain, it boggles me how she does it in the first place.
<[ … How do explosive-launch weapons have more kick anyways? It’s not like there’s more recoil, if anything there’s less… how is that even possible? ]>
<( Well, you know how energy can’t be destroyed? The launching of the bullets generates much more kickback than you realise, the energy is just redirected elsewhere. )>
<[ How is it redirected? ]>
<( There are lots of ways to change the target of the energy, one of the more primitive ways was to use it to put the next bullet in place. The KRISS Vector SMG was famous for this, almost all the energy released from firing one bullet was used to load the next, the recoil was negligible. Most modern guns convert the excess linear energy into rotation energy. The axles that handle this do tend to get quite hot as a result though, this issue was fixed with the introduction of disposable heat-sinks – better known as a ‘Thermal Clip’… some of the fancier models also include a thermal converter to re-use the heat by either super-heating an under-barrel blade or converting some of it into stored energy. )>
<[ Stored energy? Stored in what way? ]>
<( sigh This is why muscle brains are- ]>
<[ WHAT DID YOU CALL ME?! ]>
<( A ‘muscle brain’. )>
<[ … Somehow, it’s hard to be angry when you’re so blunt about it. ]>
<( Hehe, ahem. The energy can be stored in a battery as chemical potential energy or in a capacitor as raw electrical potential energy. It’s a pretty effective way to keep your equipment powered in the field. Either way, the thermal clip will be ejected if it gets too hot. Does anyone in the class have a question? )>
<[ When did you become a teacher? ]>
<( A decade ago- )>
SILENCE! I screamed mentally as the vehicle came to a stop, knowing that what comes next is going to require my full attention.
Stolen content warning: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.
The hatch opened and all of us exited the vehicle, gathering in front of our guide inside an old parking lot. There was an open manhole between us.
“Alright, we’ll be heading into the sewers through here. It will take about twenty-five minutes to reach the entrance inside the base at walking pace.” He said confidently, “On the way here I discussed the timing with the other teams. We considered the possibility of unexpected blockages and decided that the frontal assault will start in thirty minutes. We are to enter two minutes after the assault begins to ensure a safe entry. Our primary objectives are to sabotage the enemy and search for survivors!”
Everyone nodded in acknowledgement and wore determined expressions.
“Anything we need to know about the sewers before we go?” I asked.
“Yes!” he shouted, “The sewers are a dark and narrow place, we will be forced to walk in single-file the most of the time… an opportunistic assassin could easily dispatch the entire squad by slowly eliminating the people at the back, we will need a way to make sure the people at the back are still there without blowing our cover.”
“I can do that. My psionic domain will let me know how many large presences there are in a forty metre radius, it would be very imprecise if I were to stretch it out that far but a simple number wouldn’t be a problem. If the number of presences changes then I’ll know.” I offered.
“What about rats and bugs? Won’t they interfere with the number?” he asked dubiously.
“If I were extending it that far I wouldn’t be able to notice anything smaller than a common dog, that should not be an issue.” I said plainly.
“I see… but could such an assassin not hide himself from your detection?” he asked.
“Perhaps, but even then, he wouldn’t be able to kill more than two of us without me noticing.” I said.
“… Why two?” he asked, looking slightly confused.
“If he drops one and reveals his presence with the right timing he might slip into the group, but he’d have no way to disguise his next kill… even if we consider the possibility, I highly doubt they’re expecting a Psion in the sewers… What reason do they have to hide from me?” I responded smugly.
“… Fair enough.” He conceded.
“How will we see in the sewers?” asked a woman abruptly.
“We’ve gathered up the night vision goggles from the transports. Seven transports mean fourteen goggles, and there are only twelve of us so there are plenty to go around.” He answered plainly as he gestured to a man approaching with an armful of headgear.
The gear was handed out unceremoniously and within a few minutes everyone had received a set and instructions on its use. The instructions were simple: Put the head band on first, from there you simply flip the goggles down to enable night vision and up to disable it.
While we were checking our gear the guide called out to us, “Follow me one by one, keep the goggles disabled until you’re inside!”
He clambered down into the hole and after a few quiet seconds an echoing call came from the entrance to the sewers, “First up!”
I stepped forwards and clambered down into the darkness. In the faint light from above I could see the floor and dropped the last half a metre, flipping my goggles down as I rose to standing position. Through the goggles, I could clearly understand my surroundings and stepped out of the way.
“Next!” called the guide.
Within the next two minutes everyone was huddling in the dark with their goggles down, looking around inquisitively at the rotting walls. Their moment of curiosity was interrupted by the guide.
“Follow me!” he called and headed down a tunnel.
The group followed him one at a time with two metres between each other. I walked up in second place, closely behind our guide. I had hoped to make it all the way through these foul corridors without incident and quickly sneak into the enemy base, though it seems my hopes were in vain: when we were about two minutes from our destination I sensed additional presences. I quickly relayed this to the guide and we slowed from a brisk walk to a slow sneak. We had plenty of time, we were several minutes ahead of expectations and had a full ten minutes before everything was supposed to start.
We slowed ourselves and checked around each corner before continuing. After a couple of minutes, we ended up dangerously close to enemy scouts. They were so close we could hear them speak.
“Why did Ajax even want us to do patrols down here? She’s not even in charge! Just a hired gun and she thinks she can boss us around?!” said one angrily.
“Pah! The boss said we should follow through with it, that’s all that matters.” Said another grumpily.
“Why would the boss even listen to her in the first place? Like he said, she’s just a hired gun.” Said another sceptically.
“She’s a Psion, a fairly powerful one at that. Psions can do all sorts of shit we don’t understand. Maybe she sensed something.” Said one, the only thing telling me that he had spoken earlier was the fact that there were only three additional presences in the area.
“Oh, so now she has some kind of ‘sixth sense’ telling her that the sewers need to be watched?” said one of them sarcastically.
“Psionics are often described as a sixth sense, so yes, you could say that.” Said one of them flatly.
Throughout their discussions, they were heading to intercept us, the light from their torches were lighting up the hallway right in front of us.
The guide stepped up to me and whispered, “What’s the plan?”
I looked to him and whispered back, “I’m only sensing three of them, I propose we pull in the guy behind me and take them all out with a quick shot to the head.”
He nodded and gestured behind me while I narrowed my Psionic domain, making my image of the three clearer. They were walking side by side.
With knowledge of their formation I told the guide to go for the guy in the middle and the other scout to go for the guy on the right. The guide and the scout huddled close to the wall while I remained a step away from it. The guide did a quick count down with his hand, as the silent countdown ended hell broke loose on the patrol.
I leapt out of the hallway and ended the guy on the left with a single shot to the forehead while the guide dropped his target after stepping into the open. The other infiltrator with us simply leant out and shot the last guy before any of them could react. Our moment of achievement was cut short by static from one of their radios.
The guide leapt for the radio and picked it up with surprising speed and put it to his ear. I strained my ears and could barely make out the voice from the other side.
“What the hell were you shooting at, grunt?! I can hear your shots echoing all the way in the parking lot!” came the angry voice from the other side.
“Nothing! Sir! Just a rat! Sir!” said the guide in a panic.
“RATS!? FIND THE NEST AND KILL THEM ALL!” said the voice frantically, almost hyperventilating.
“… YES SIR!” said the guide after a brief pause, buckling it to his belt as he turned around with a sadistic smile. He turned around and said, “New plan, find some rats… Switch to thermal.”
I raised an eyebrow since I didn’t know how to do that but quickly noticed everyone else twisting the goggle lenses and followed suit. My green vision was instantly replaced by a more colourful array, the recently deceased corpses appeared hues of red the rest of the environment appeared in blues. Not knowing how to use this feature properly I blindly followed the guide’s lead and I quickly caught several rats with psionic pulses, making it easy to pick up the stunned rats. I carried two struggling rats while we continued towards the exit.
The rest of the trip was uneventful and soon we reached a major intersection in the sewage network. To the side of the hall was a control room with a staircase.
“Why is nobody watching this area?” I asked, considering that the entrance to the building is at the top of the staircase.
The guide put a finger to his lips in a ‘keep quiet’ gesture and pointed towards the control room. Taking another look into the control room I noticed an inert human figure. There was a lookout napping in the control room with his feet on the console and a cap over his face. The guide then proceeded to pull out a knife and slowly sneak up to the room.
The door was closed but the windows had long since been destroyed and became the route for entry. The guide quickly knocked the cap off and covered his prey’s mouth as he plunged the knife into the helpless man’s eye socket, ending his life quickly. When the dirty deed was done, he picked up the cap and hid the knife handle with the cap and returned the corpse to its pre-mortem posture.
I’m curious as to why he didn’t hide the body, but he seems to have a plan so I won’t interfere.
He gestured for me to come closer and I obeyed. When we were standing face to face he reached for the rats in my hands and I handed them over in silence. He then directed me and the others to hide ourselves and approached the exit.
He didn’t leave through the exit, he only opened the door slightly and tossed the rats through. He quickly glided down the stairs and ducked behind a shelving unit near the corpse. A few seconds later there was a high-pitched scream and gunfire erupted. The words “KILL IT!” could faintly be heard through the cacophony of gunshots.
Once the gunshots had died down a woman screamed “CAAAARL!!!”
The door burst open and a woman stormed in while angrily ranting about rats. When she saw the corpse, she stormed towards it shouting “You asshole! Have the patrols not exterminated the rats!? Why were there rats in th-”
Her shouting stopped as she knocked the hat off the corpse’s face and realised it was a corps. In the moment she froze, the guide leapt out and stabbed her in the back while covering her mouth. She fell to the floor dead and the guide made urgent gestures towards the door, quickly sending a broadcast message to everyone nearby – indicating to the siege team that it was time to start. It looks like it’s time to storm the base, it may be a little premature, but it seems we had very little choice in the matter.