Following A Great Example
Phesx Caolia advanced first, lowering his presence as Paul hurried a little to the front. He walked in front of Phesx to lead the team of 6. Phesx Caolia followed closely behind, acting like a shadow, while the actual shadow behind him focused half the time on checking his body. Like this, the teams moved around a few buildings and staircases leading to the underground floors.
Once they were ready, the team leaders gave each other a sign before starting a countdown with their team members. At the same time, every team turned their flashlights on and moved fast, entering or going down the stairs. Paul’s team had to enter a large building.
It didn’t have many floors, but it was nearly 400 square meters, with very wide rooms, but then, it had smallish compartments around long, enclosed hallways. Phesx Caolia walked behind Paul, with another 3 moving into another direction.
Feeling the rifle a little heavy, Phesx Caolia supported his right arm with a bandaged-strap to relax a bit. His guard was up, but if necessary, his reaction speed was affected. However, that was why he was following the best shooter in the team, and had a shadow behind him.
3 minutes after entering the building, Phesx Caolia heard footsteps in a room further ahead to their right. Furthermore, those were hurried, and were definitely not the weak, hungry steps of a refugee. He tapped Paul’s right shoulder, making his shadow tense up. Phesx Caolia hadn’t told anyone about his ‘super’ senses, but the shadow’s purpose here was to protect Phesx Caolia.
Phesx Caolia didn’t suddenly become a mighty figure, but his image around the encampment was important, at least until the battle for the Centralized Parliament began.
Paul frowned but choose to listen to Hellcat’s hand signs. He slowed his steps and headed to the indicated room. Paul instructed lights off before they could reach the door, and when he prepared to grand the knob, he placed Phesx Caolia as the second shoot, with the first being the shadow.
The door opened. Immediately, the shadow moved into sight, leaning to the left and aiming high. He crouched as soon as he could, avoiding a bullet above his head, while a few night vision small goggles showed for a moment. Then, he fired 2 bullets away before Phesx Caolia supported him, firing into the room with lights back on.
Bang- bang, bang, bang, bang, bang- ta rrrr.
“Ah!” - “Waah!” - “Sh-” - “…” Phesx Caolia was followed by Paul, who fired his submachine gun through the wall, making the enemy within panicked at last. They managed to sound a few shrills and curses before everything went silent and only bullets being fired continued.
Paul entered 2 seconds after nodding towards Phesx Caolia. Phesx followed suit and looked at the fallen criminals, all wearing obscure jackets and jeans, and some very old rifles. None of them had a pistol, but they had 4 grenades in total. What’s more, those night vision goggles.
They were small, just like glasses, but thick. They were for short periods of use, but only within extremely dark areas. These could be used effectively, but using them too much would damage one’s eyes permanently. Furthermore, their rifles were even older than the rifle model Phesx Caolia uses. Yet, they could still penetrate through walls, but these idiots didn’t even think about it.
They were either scared or believed they wouldn’t be noticed. If they were given these many grenades, it was to stop them from keeping going further into the building. Knowing all this, Paul pushed a hidden button near his jacket’s collar, “Within the rooms, they have explosives and night vision. Use lights.”
After notifying the rest of his team, Paul led their clique to continue forward. This time, they separated from each other’s shoulders instead of following in a line. They didn’t turn their lights off anymore, and tried to illuminate as much of the path ahead as possible. Their footsteps were almost soundless, making some criminal scum watching from slightly afar restless.
They could see the lights moving, although the soldiers behind them were a little hidden by the lights’ power, they saw a few shadows and movements from their free hands. After hearing the gunshots, they knew their companions were dead and didn’t dare burn their eyes with those goggles and the soldiers’ lights.
“!?” Yet, when they were trying to communicate without saying words, the soldiers’ lights went out. Nothing sounded, scaring the startled criminals as their heartbeats unknowingly fell on someone’s ears.
When each of them tried putting their goggles back on out of instinct, a few heard light footsteps before them. One of them even questioned, “Federico, is that you? Puta madre…”
“No,” Phesx Caolia hushed a word before using the knife on the scum’s throat. The man yelped, making sounds with his mouth, alerting the other criminals. But that’s when Phesx Caolia fired his small pistol at the criminal’s abdomen. A loud ‘bang’ and a bright flash illuminated everything a little, letting them see their comrade with his neck held hostage, impaled and bleeding beside a static soldier’s helmet.
Bang, bang, bang, bang… bang, bang!
Phesx Caolia watched as Paul and his shadow gabbed onto a criminal and knifed their necks before firing with their pistols at the others nearby. It was a bit exaggerated, but the move was smooth and attained after exerting as much synchronization in just killing them as possible.
Phesx Caolia grabbed his rifle from his back before aiming at another 2 scum in the dark, firing at the center of their backs, helping them fall to the ground earlier than they imagined.
Things went silent after those 2 final shots. They turned their lights on and checked around, ensuring they were momentarily alone before reuniting where the criminals were grouped. There were even more grenades with them, and they were holed up behind fallen debris. They were heavy but small, allowing them to form a little wall.
Next, they continued looking for more enemies in the rest of the building. The pistols’ gunshots were much louder than the rifles or submachine guns, allowing the team’s 2 cliques to figure out their positions if one of them couldn’t communicate.
After half an hour of more cleaning duty, Phesx Caolia came to know the other clique had a wounded, a bullet in someone’s thigh. Medical attention was given, and the soldier could still go on without being shot an injection, but slower.
Paul increased the pace of his clique, finally securing the wide rooms, before moving to the long hallways. Phesx Caolia followed in a line again, with his shadow behind, as they entered the dangerous zone.
There were many rooms, each large enough to hold 20 people or so with their arms spread out. Who knew how much furniture or interior walls would be within them. They proceeded with caution but were still surprised when they had first contact.
Bang, bang! Roll…
When they were just entering, they received shots from the long hallway’s end, around the corner. The criminals only showed for 2 seconds before hiding. However, a metallic rolling sound constantly sounded after they hid, and after a light thump.
Paul acted quick, stepping forth and firing his submachine gun at the grenade, slapping it away a few meters. Phesx Caolia’s rifle was too powerful up-close, and the pistols had too much firepower this close as well. The shadow hurried Phesx Caolia towards a side of the wall and sat him down with his back against the wall. The grenade went in a sonorous ‘boom’ that slightly deafened.
Barely seeing a few lockers and drawers to his sides in the dark after being sat down, Phesx Caolia took his bag out and placed an extra armor on his stomach before nodding at his shadow. The shadow hesitated for a second before following Paul as he slowly crouched towards the immediate room.
Phesx Caolia was left behind to act as the sentinel, with his flashlight’s strong mode on. He waited for the enemy to show up with a beating heart, feeling… a little excited. It wasn’t what he wanted, but he just couldn’t stop the feeling.
Paul finally entered at the first room, of which Phesx Caolia heard gunshots from. A little later, he heard Paul’s voice in the radio, followed by his shadow. “Clear!” - “Clear.”
‘Good.’ They had no injuries and annihilated the enemy. Phesx Caolia looked at the corner at the end of the hallway, but it seemed like the enemy was fearful of stepping into the light. A few seconds later, Paul and the shadow walked out of the first room and went to the next.
Bang, bang, bang…
“!” When Phesx Caolia heard gunshots from it, this time some louder towards the end, movement happened from the end of the hallway. 2 people ran over with submachine guns carried by their two hands. Phesx Caolia aimed his rifle and shot, ending them in 6 shots with one of their heads blowing up.
Step, step- bang bang, bang, bang bang bang! Thud, pac- roll… boom!
Phesx Caolia aimed around the corner, having just seen something from the corner of his eyes move. Even as he heard a grenade fall on the floor after the corpses, and he struggled to breathe in, he kept aiming there. Then, just as the grenade exploded, a person peeked out of the corner, only to have their head blown off by Phesx Caolia’s anxious shot.
“Hellcat?” Hearing all that, Paul’s voice sounded in their clique’s radio. Those were many gunshots, and a fucking explosion. Yet, Phesx Caolia was busy breathing slightly heavily and smiling like an idiot before responding. “Meow.”
“…” - “…” Paul and the kitty’s shadow looked at each other as they put the weapons and grenades in a box, falling silent and helpless… Then, they smiled before crouching out of the second room.
When they stepped out and saw the 3 corpses, 1 illuminated by the strong flashlight, Paul sent a thumbs up back, while the shadow slid the corpses towards the opposite wall. Then, they headed to the 3rd room. Phesx Caolia looked and listened attentively.
Ta- rrrrrr. “…!” This time, as the 3rd room also had criminals, and gunshots were fired, Phesx Caolia was surprised at being shot at as well. The criminals peeked their weapons around the corner, firing towards Phesx Caolia, or at least they thought they were.
Having sat around a particularly fortified spot, with a few lockers covering his lower front, Phesx Caolia watched many bullets bounce from the floor and some land on the walls 3 to 10 meters away from him. Many hit the ceiling, as well.
Phesx Caolia aimed at their hands, seeing it much clearer with a light blue sight, but didn’t shoot at them. He waited as they fired and fired at him, attempting to, at least. A pair actually made it above his head, half a meter away, but close, making him raise his eyebrows.
At last, when the 3rd room’s gunshots subsided, and the enemy didn’t even hear a gunshot from the strong flashlight, they just ran out of the corner with their submachine guns and rifles aiming upwards. They looked like crazed lunatics.
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However, they were sober. Although perhaps too dull to believe they took a soldier out just like that. Their eyes widened when they saw flashes go off behind the strong flashlight. “Ahk!” - “Sh-” - “?-…”
3 people ran into the hallway. One had his mouth and collarbone holed by bullets, another was hit on his stomach and throat. The last one was accidentally shot at the left foot, with 3 bullets passing above his back. But immediately after, Phesx Caolia shot at his sides and head, leaving a pitiful corpse behind. It was even pushed away a few times.
“Phew, huff…” Phesx Caolia looked at the mess he almost made… before smiling. He heard Paul and his shadow report through the radio. “Clear!” - “Clear.”
“Outside clear.” Phesx Caolia pressed the hidden button of his jacket and reported as well. They exited the room and saw another 3 corpses, this time closer together. Paul helped slid them to the opposite wall before continuing, becoming more careful as they neared the end of the hallway.
… Like this, room after room, the criminal scum were slowly executed. There were more than anticipated in just one building, but not too many. It was true that they appeared to have noticed them beforehand, when they exited their trucks, and some tactics, so to speak.
However, instead of putting their numbers against just 6 soldiers, divided into 2, they set ‘traps’ to lead them in. Of course, it wouldn’t work, these were trained soldiers, of which 2 were in the army before the civil war.
However, it didn’t matter. Phesx Caolia was constantly moved to other spots after the clique cleared out entire hallways, taking a couple of hours from the many little rooms around them. The other clique of the team cooperated, but they were even slower. In the end, the team finished their cleaning after the clock hit 8 AM.
Reuniting outside with the other teams, in groups of 3 teams, Paul met with Em, which also meant that Hellcat met Lion. León looked at him with narrowed eyes, and protruding, pressed lips. Ignoring him, Phesx Caolia held his rifle triumphantly, feeling it was a really good model.
After the team leaders had a talk, they returned to their team leaders. Phesx Caolia looked at them from afar, before listening attentively as Paul explained to them.
“The teams underground have been forced to hole up.” Just these words made everyone alarmed. “They don’t only have equipment like that. There’s something strange. They have more information that scum like them should have. We can’t let our people behind down there… But here’s a quick heads-up. There were sightings of refugees below. Understood?”
“…” The team fell silent. That meant ugly things were about to be forced, either by sight, or by them. Phesx Caolia was the first to nod. Since he was the youngest and newest soldier, the others followed suit, echoing at the same time, including the shadow. “Yes, sir!”
“Ongoing,” Paul put his helmet on and said. Half his word was spoken out loud, while the remaining half was also heard in their ears through their direct communication.
Paul tilted his head while facing Phesx Caolia, to which he nodded. Hellcat led the others with his shadow and Paul behind down a staircase. These were long. When they were halfway there, Phesx Caolia stopped.
He didn’t hear things, but if he knew where the soldiers had come from and had forced them to defend their little lives somewhere, he’d know more will come to the rescue. With such obvious thoughts, they were the main plate, while the soldiers from before were but the appetizer.
The team stopped, but one glance from Paul kept everyone quiet and not mouthing a single sound. As time passed, muffled gunshots were heard from below in the distance, carried by the enclosed subterranean zones towards them from other staircases rather than from outside. There were many, and as time passed, they increased in number more and more.
The team grew restless, but seeing Hellcat not move a bit, they slowly regained their mentality. Paul also seemed to trust Hellcat, so they remained on the spot, but crouched and aimed at the sides down the stairs.
Bang, bang- thud.
“Down!” After a couple of shots startled the team, including Paul and the shadow, Hellcat voiced in the helmet radio. The team went down in a rush, sounding their footsteps as they saw a corpse at the end of the stairs, barely visible.
Did the Hellcat see that and immediately fired? The nerves to do that. Especially after knowing there were refugees down here.
Step, step, step!
Metallic footsteps sounded, making the criminals that were just hurrying elsewhere to help their comrades stop and look back. Phesx Caolia had just landed his feet on a step where he could see them before he rushed down while crouching, already firing behind the stairs’ bars.
“Enemy sighted!” His youngish, stern voice sounded before his face was filled with the power from his rifle. His helmet helped him widen his pupils to aim at the criminals who were just turning around, despite the flashing and rumbling. He didn’t even hear them rush away before, but was just ‘lucky’ to catch them like this.
“Down, down, down!” Paul voiced in their direct communication, as only Hellcat and his shadow advanced forth. The criminals began fleeing, leaving their injured comrades behind. As Phesx Caolia hurried to chase them, with his shadow still at the same level of stamina as his, he took his small pistol out and headshot the injured scum on the floor.
Bang. Bang. Bang. Bang. Bang…
There were more than a dozen just in the open, writhing or dead. His shadow tilted his head at the ruthlessness, but still followed his target. Meanwhile, the soldiers were just following down the stairs, when they saw a scary hole in the first kill’s stomach. There were 2 gunshots back then, but the corpse had a wide hole in the abdomen. He didn’t even have a gun, just a grenade, and seemed like a look-out. Looking kinda young, too.
Phesx Caolia turned around a corner, entering a corridor leading to electric stairs and regular stairs upwards. He crouched, his small pistol sheathed, and fired at the heels of whichever criminal he could still see, before moving forward. The stop allowed his teammates some seconds to catch up. Even more after hearing Hellcat fire away.
Hellcat was midway to the stairs when they entered the corridor. Paul and the soldiers rushed forth. He increased his pace after they joined him. Paul and the soldiers started feeling their stamina decreasing, but they could still go on.
As they went up the stairs, the shadow put himself before Phesx Caolia, and rapidly received gunshots from fleeing criminals. The teams stopped and fired at them, downing a few before continuing the chase after checking equipment.
Paul took the lead again, with the shadow beside him, and the other soldiers, including Hellcat, just behind him. They advanced, very quickly this time, reporting to the other groups of teams of their findings. Little by little, the teams were led towards similar places, somewhat near each other. It was the underground storage floors.
Several stairs leading downwards later, and multiple corridors later, tiring more the criminals without equipment than the soldiers, they stopped near a large gate.
“STOP!” Paul shouted at the criminals who kept using an old-fashioned, huge radio and spoke to it with anxiousness. However, the gate wasn’t opening. Paul glanced at the soldiers before nodding. Then, they made holes in the backs of the last several criminals.
Bang, bang, bang, bang, bang, bang, bang, bang, bang, bang, bang, bang- ta rrrrrr- rrrrrrr- rrrrrrr!
Phesx Caolia only managed to kill 1 and injure another one, becoming someone’s assisting kill. When he looked at the culprit, his shadow, the latter was a little helpless. He was supposed to be here just to take care of Phesx Caolia’s health and life, not to get into it…
“Stop!” Paul yelled before checking the gate and walls. Looking at the cameras, he crouched and fired at them before rushing to the opposite wall from the corner they were at. When he gave the signal to follow, Phesx Caolia, who was crouched, rushed to his feet and ran after him.
Marveling at the aim Paul had, he bumped onto the wall before his shadow and the rest of the team followed them. However, the other 2 teams stood against the opposite wall. Paul was still their leader, as he communicated with the other 2 team leaders before moving.
“Hellcat, there might be things ahead. You go, I’ll protect you. Crouch, alright? Your shadow will be on my right.” Paul said after tapping Phesx Caolia’s left shoulder. The latter looked up before nodding, sweating from his temples. Shadow immediately moved as Phesx Caolia crouched forwards, walking at a semi-running speed with ease.
Some soldiers of the other 2 teams tilted their heads in a gesture, feeling a bit tired. It was good to have young ones, too. As for the team Hellcat was in, they were used to it, but they were also very sweaty.
Their footsteps were more obvious now, with their equipment sounding because of them. Only Hellcat and a few other soldiers were as silent as possible. They neared the gate rapidly, but not too quickly. Phesx Caolia held his rifle beside his right knee, aiming a little diagonally low.
Paul communicated with one of the teams, who had a better-than-good, decent technician, and made them move towards the panel control on their side of the wall. The team in question moved to protect the technician from the front and rear, while Hellcat led Paul’s team to the corner of the gate.
Phesx Caolia gulped down before rapidly looking back up at Paul. The latter voiced that he was doing well, so he turned his attention to the gate and tranquilized his breathing. The other team also moved to the other side’s corner, waiting for the technician’s team to work, and crouched.
“It’s ready. Be prepared,” Paul whispered into their direct communication, synced to the 3 teams. Hellcat tensed his shoulders and spine, although he still bent it a little as he moved to the right. His shadow moved behind him, with Paul only lowering his presence.
Paul was about to give the order, when he thought of something. He checked his team’s position and the others’, before making a pause signal to the technician. Then, he shouted ahead. “Surrender now!! Whoever is inside can live if you arrest the criminal leaders and surrender your weapons! We know you have refugees-”
Bang- ta- rrrrrrrrrrrrrrr rrrrrrrrrrrrr rrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr!
“!!” The soldiers were startled as heavy firepower sounded from within, with bullets making a beehive out of the gate. The trail of bullets followed the sides, a little further to the back from where the 2 teams at the corners were, and even the team around the technician were ‘saved’ from meeting.
However, the hurl of bullets was met by a soldier protecting the technician, who was where he was supposed to be, but what seemed 3 rifle shots reached him, hitting her left arm and head. Her hair flew a little as the helmet was slightly pushed about.
“!” Paul and the others fiercely frowned their eyes, before he gave the order with his hand, previously signaling to pause.
The gates rapidly opened, whereas Hellcat’s crouching position allowed him to see whatever was inside. Tens of criminals with rifles and submachine guns, and hundreds of refugees in a vast storage room.
Paul didn’t need to tell them to fire away. There were refugees corpses before them, maybe shot down when the criminals suddenly raised their weapons to kill their saviors. Everything was dark, too. The lights weren’t working in that room, with only some flickering lights.
Hellcat lighted his flashlight’s strong mode before aiming at a few nearby criminals, immediately aiming at those far away next. Then, he heard other soldiers firing away at the enemy, with submachine guns aiming at those nearest to them while rifles fired at those farthest away.
However, even with the best situational aiming, there were downed enemies whose bodies didn’t cover some refugees, and submachine guns who aimed at a slightly far target after just firing a small spray. More bodies that should’ve fallen went down, including those from the soldiers’ sides of Prequa as even Hellcat was shot on his right arm and elbow. However, they continued firing at the enemy, and unfortunately, at some refugees, too.
Bang, bang, bang, bang, bang… Ta rrrrr- rrrrrrrrrr- rrrrrrrrr rrrrrrrrr rrrrrrrrrr…
Countless gunshots sounded, with Paul directing his team and the other at the gate’s corner to advance. The criminals became too few rapidly, to which they rushed to some refugees, but were downed by the soldiers who abided Paul’s orders the soonest, and shouted at the refugees to get down.
Hellcat was one of them, as he went 25 meters ahead after a while, and just happened to see a criminal grabbing a mother and daughter, tender-looking but also abused. They had brown curly hair, their skin was tender white, and the little girl was maybe only 12.
The mother was like a beast, trying to take the man’s eyes out while his daughter looked at the soldiers, even at the one nearest to them, who looked as tall as most others. The man was very bulky and had a model-like appearance, with brown hair and white.
He grabbed their hair with his left hand while moving his right arm to grab a gun on his side. He also ran to the side, trying to lower his body to cover himself. The man was counting on the soldiers’ experience to get out alive. It wasn’t difficult to realize his position should be high in his criminal group. Those in the highest seats fear death and loss the most. More than anyone else.
Bang… Phesx Caolia fired ahead, calculating with his ultra-shrunk eyes’ contents, breaking off a piece of the man’s nose. He stopped, stunned, and looked at Phesx Caolia with wide awake eyes. He grabbed his hostages close and perfectly covered himself, showing only his submachine gun through their hair. Phesx Caolia was so sensitive that he even saw the man’s finger dexterously switch the safety off despite the hostages’ head being so close together, and their hair covering most of his hand.
Ta- rrr- bang, bang, bang!
Phesx Caolia’s light black eyes were ripple-less as he watched… hesitated. The submachine gun fired away, sending bullets his way. That served to help him decide, pulling the trigger thrice after immediately changing his rifle’s mode, and throw himself backwards, but he still felt bullets reach his right leg.
Thud- thud thud-… thud.
“Hold your fire! Hold your fire!!” The storage room went suddenly silent after Paul’s shouts as all soldiers watched the last criminal with a weapon die, but not alone.
…