Live

Is this really the only way into Warsaw? Dim lights on Wilhelm’s cybersuit barely illuminated the path in front of him, but with the entirety of Team A with him, he could see every detail of the dilapidated sewer tunnel. Perhaps too well, in honesty. Green sludge filled the pathways, covering his cybersuit’s greaves in dubious slime. Every so often, the lights would reveal some creature skittering about it in the sewers: something like a rat, but uglier.

“Ugh, gross!” Ah, I guess Levin saw it, too.

Captain Joseph’s master plan for the Cyberitters had elicited universal groans, except from Storm, who responded coldly, as always. The outward plan, a siege, had already begun; every few minutes, the tunnels shook from explosions rocking the city. The bombardment had one problem: the anti-missile defense systems, installed in Warsaw. For every ten missiles, one landed, and so, the captain had tasked the Cyberitters with sabotaging the system. From intelligence reports, two defense systems protected the city. Thus, the Cyberitters split again.

Rudolf had tasked himself with leading the way, as usual. After what seemed like an endless amount of right turns, he stopped at a ladder. Above, a small scattering of light shined down into the dark sewers, and Rudolf seemed satisfied with his march, halting.

“This is it, everyone. The location the captain mentioned. Remember the plan; we bust open that grate and shoot anything that moves. Once we’ve secured the area, hang left, break into the church, and take out any Soviets there. We can’t afford any mistakes, so stay sharp.”

No one responded, which Rudolf took as affirmation. He climbed the ladder. Wilhelm, Mathilde, and Damian quickly followed, along with each of their squads. Rudolf paused for a moment as he reached the grate, but then, his cybersuit’s arm whirred.

A powerful punch sent the grate flying. Each of the Cyberitters jumped into action, only to find no one in sight. Wasting no time, Rudolf motioned to follow him as he ran to the church and kicked down the door. Inside were no Soviet pilots; only a few civilians, cowering in fear.

Rudolf’s squad moved into action, tying them to the seats, and Rudolf himself began to lay out the strategy for the day. Wilhelm tuned out most of it, as he’d already heard it from the captain. Instead, he tried to settle his nerves and get ready for the hard part.

“We’re just gonna leave them here?” Levin asked.

“What are you talking about?” Wilhelm replied.

“The reds, I mean. What if they break loose and tell everyone that we’re here?”

“They’re not breaking out of anything. You see those ropes, right? They’re iron fiber.”

“Yeah, but… I don’t know. Seems like a risk when we could just-”

“We’re not killing them, Levin,” Wilhelm said. “They’re just civilians.”

Levin said nothing in response, returning to their post outside the church. Wilhelm thought to say something more to his friend, but instead, he returned his attention to Rudolf. Good thing, too, because Rudolf did the same.

“What do you think, Wilhelm?”

“Huh?”

“About the plan?”

“Uh… It seems fine.”

“If you weren’t paying attention, just say so. Do you at least know where we are, right now?”

Wilhelm scoffed. “Of course! …We’re in an air force station, yeah?”

“Right,” Mathilde said. “The compound seems mostly abandoned, but I’d guess that’s because the NSR sent every soldier that they could afford to the frontlines. That said, they haven’t left the defense system unattended. One of my squadmates spotted around fifty men.”

“Not too far off from how many we have,” Damian said. “And we’ve got the element of surprise, too. So, I said we should take out the people guarding it, then the defense system.”

“Those weren’t the captain’s orders,” Rudolf replied. “Our job is to free up the rest of the EIF so that we can win this siege. Killing the rest doesn’t accomplish that, does it?”

“No, but it’s safer for us. Let’s say we destroy the missile defense system first. What if the people guarding it fight back, and we die for it?”

Rudolf readied his shield. “That won’t happen, not so long as I'm still standing. Regardless, it's my command, so it’s my call to make. And I've made it. Any other objections from anyone?”

Wilhelm felt as if he was looking his way. “None from me,” he replied. “Let’s do this.”

“I have confidence that we can handle them, with or without getting the drop on them,” Mathilde said. “Damian, let’s follow Rudolf’s lead, for now.”

“...Fine. Rudolf, you got that rocket launcher? I’m the best shot here.”

Rudolf handed over the ungainly weapon as the group exited the building. Strapping the rocket launcher on his back, Damian crawled up the church's walls and took aim outside of the protected complex that they’d infiltrated, at a field of missiles accompanied by NSR soldiers. From this distance, the system couldn’t respond, and no one had seen them. It’s an easy shot.

The rocket flew past the inner walls of the base, finally alerting the remaining NSR pilots to their infiltration, but it was too late. A ball of fire flew throughout the base, sweeping up any pilots unlucky enough to be near it. Damian scrambled down into the church before the explosion, slamming the doors shut just as the dust winds blew through the compound. For over a minute, the Cyberitters hid in there, with Rudolf feverishly reporting their success.

He exited the building, with his shield at the ready. Bullets flew through the air in unison at the church's wide open entrance, a grim greeting. Rudolf, and his squad of shieldbearers, blocked the endless hail, their shields beaten down and down. Some fell, to be replaced by another, but Rudolf alone never wavered. Eventually, for just a moment, the bullets stopped.

“This is the only chance that we’ll get!” Rudolf said. “Time to earn our keep!”

Wilhelm’s body moved before his mind. Perhaps it was true fear, for once: fear that had just one bullet ricocheted correctly, he’d be a dead man. He scanned the rooftops and spotted snipers scrambling from their perches, but they could not run. He flew to one, another, again, until every last one of them laid dead. Then, he looked down to the chaos below.

Levin led Wilhelm's squad in the melee, and whenever it looked as if one of them might be overwhelmed, Wilhelm provided supporting fire from the roof. Mathilde moved frequently, dancing on the edge of battle wherever she was needed. At times, she shot a man on the other side of the field, and at others, she held an enemy Soviet in a chokehold until they collapsed.

Rudolf, no longer just defending, slammed his shield into the fray, sending multiple pilots flying. He finished them off with a quick tap of his assault rifle, in between blocking shots meant for his comrades. Damian? Well, he seemed overwhelmed, but he held his own by firing rounds heavier than any Wilhelm had seen. Any pilot who got close fell down, just as quickly.

Once he recovered, Wilhelm leaped back down into the battle, slicing clean through one of the last stragglers who was behind Damian and taking aim.

Damian looked to him and offered a handshake, which felt strange with all metal.

“Thanks, Wilhelm. Good stuff out there.”

“Same to you. Looks like it’s all over… Finally.”

Rudolf surveyed the battlefield, then nodded. “Well done, Team A. Objective met.”

Mathilde sighed in relief. “That was way too close… I didn’t think there’d be so many. Wil, are you alright?”

“I got off easy, compared to Rudolf here. Nice job taking a beating, man.”

Rudolf laughed softly. “Thanks, I guess? You did well too… But that's enough talk. We’d better get out of here before anyone else comes for our heads. I’ll take point.” Rudolf dropped down into the sewers, followed by Mathilde and their two squads.

“You go first, Wilhelm. I’ll guard the rear.”

“Alright.” Wilhelm’s squad went down the hole first, and as Wilhelm made ready to follow, he looked around one last time. He saw nothing, save a lone tower in the distance. With the suit’s enhanced vision, he looked further and further, until he could see a single glint of red at its top.

In that instant, he knew. But Damian had known first. When the missile shell flew towards them, Wilhelm tried to say something, anything, as Damian shoved him down into the tunnel. . But he could say nothing, and hear little. The crackle of the explosion overwhelmed his ears, and a burst of light wiped out the rest of his senses. Damian faded away in the light, his voice breaking through the pandemonium with only a single command. Live.