Outeryard on Fire

Hanan, I’m coming up to the coordinates now. It definitely looks like something is going on down there.

‘Understood Lady Miyuki. I’ll keep the Nighthawk in cloak mode. Hold on, i’m picking up a transmission coming from what looks like The Outeryard. Or what’s left of it. Patching it through now.’

The sound of static was abruptly replaced with sounds of gunfire and screaming. A voice on the radio began to bark orders.

‘ Paladin 2-1! We are under heavy fire! I repeat, heavy fire! Requesting additional support!’

‘Err that’s a negative Hunter 3-2. Paladin is already engaged with Cyntech forces around generator 7. You’ll have to sit tight for now.’

‘Paladin 2-1! We got wounded over here! We need help gettin em out! They ain’t gonna make it! Oh shit! They’ve breached the door! They’ve breached the-‘

‘Lady Miyuki, they’ll need your help down there. Or else you can say goodbye to your next lead. ‘

‘Understood Hanan. Keep the Nighthawk safe from enemy fire. I’m heading in. ‘

The Outeryard sat on the edge of Paralya, far away from the busy city life of Devils Park. It was a crime hub, one that formed its own micro society, and consisted of a round pearl white dome sporting 5 floors, two rows of shacks, a guards quarters, and a motor-pool filled with vehicles. Chaudary’s office was located on the top floor. The dome itself had been heavily bombarded, with the upper layer of the dome completely destroyed. The motor-pool had been razed to the ground by Cyntech troops. 7 generators provided clean power and water supplies to the people who lived in The Outeryard, and 4 of them were currently smouldering as dead bodies surrounded them, crushed underneath the feet of invading Cyntech troops.

Miyuki exited the Nighthawk’s cockpit and pencil dived towards the surface below, activating her suit’s inbuilt wing suit, and crashing through one of the windows in the guards quarters. A terrified man sat hunched in the corner of the building, next to a row of bunk beds with the bodies of soldiers stacked on the top bunk. The man began to shake violently as Miyuki approached him, unable to mutter any words as the terror took hold of him, and shot his pistol in the air before Miyuki disarmed the terrified man and began to speak to him.

‘ You. Where can I find Chaudary.’

‘P-Pl-lease d-d-don-nt kill me! That’s why you’re here isn’t it! You came to kill me!’

The terrified man was unable to look Miyuki in the eye as his face was angled downwards.

‘Listen to me. I’m not here to kill you. I’m here to speak with your boss. I need you to calm down and focus. Where can I find Chaudary?’

‘I- on the upper floor. Floor 5. You’ll find him there. ‘

‘Thank you. Can you take me to him?’

‘W-what right now?’

Miyuki grabbed the man’s arm and pulled him upright.

‘Yes, right now. Cmon let’s get a move on.’

‘You must be insane if you think I’m going out there! They’re killing everyone! Even the civilians.’

‘How many of you are there?’

‘Not sure. That’s my unit over there. We were dead before we knew what hit us. Those guys, they risked their lives to save me.’

‘And you’ve been hiding here like a coward this whole time? Those people died for you. To make sure you would live to see another day. Now get out there and Honor their sacrifices. You can start by showing me where your boss is.’

‘Um sure. Just let me make sure the coast is clear first.’

The man hobbled over to the door of the guards quarters, as his fingers wrapped around the door knob, the sound of a dropship howling in the distance came closer as it collided with a generator, creating an eruption of flame . The terrified man’s radio began to crackle.

‘Gibraltar 1-1 to all call signs, we have lost generator 6. I repeat, we have lost generator 6. All forces converge on the remaining 2 generators. We cannot let them be destroyed. ‘

‘Whisky 1-2 here. We are under heavy fire from Cyntech at generator 7. I say again. We are under heavy fire at generator 7. Request immediate support. ‘

Miyuki grabbed the radio out of the terrified man’s sweaty palms and turned to him.

‘Can you take me over to generator 7?’

‘Generator 7? Sure. Follow me.’

As they both stepped outside, it was clear what was left of The Outeryard had been turned into a warzone. Dead bodies of both Chaudary’s gang and Cyntech troops littered the street. The smell of burning flesh and metal flowed through the air.

The path to generator 7 lay behind what was left of the motor-pool. As the terrified man pointed out to Miyuki that the generator was nearby, he began to flee in the opposite direction, until the remains of a dropship fell from the sky above and reduced him to fragments in mere seconds. As Miyuki continued forward to the generator, more Cyntech dropships arrived, with soldiers rappelling onto the ground below. A trail of smoke became visible as a rocket hurtled towards the dropship closest to Miyuki’s position, shattering the cockpit and crashing a few metres away from her. The hatch to the back of the dropship as a lone soldier crawled out and was covered in blood, crawling a few inches on the ground before eventually succumbing to his injuries. The radio the man had been carrying came back to life as it crackled with static before a voice on the other end could be heard.

‘Noble 1, this is Gold Eagle, come in. Noble 1, are you receiving? We’re preparing to launch assault plan bravo in 30 seconds. I say again, we are preparing to launch assault plan bravo in 30 seconds. ‘

‘Gold Eagle, this is Spectre 1. Noble 1 is KIA over. I repeat, Noble 1 is KIA.’

‘Copy that Spectre 1. Be advised, assault plan bravo begins in 30 seconds.’

‘Err copy that Gold Eagle. Be advised the enemy has multiple AA emplacements. They’re knocking our dropships out of the sky.’

‘You had better get them offline Spectre 1. This is embarrassing, we should have full control of The Outeryard by now. I’m shutting this channel down. Don’t contact me unless those AA guns are taken care of. Gold Eagle out.’

Miyuki slid the radio into her back pocket and ran over to generator 7. As she was just about to reach the generator, a dropship flew overhead and launched a missile barrage at the generator, the blast knocking her senseless. She could just make out a group of soldiers who were vaporised instantly by the missile strike, the plume of smoke coming from the remains of the generator turned red as a dismembered arm flew to her feet, followed by screaming and cries of pain. The radio began to crackle again.

‘All teams. Assault plan bravo is now in full effect. I say again, assault plan bravo is now in full effect.’

In the distance, additional explosions could be heard followed by screaming as two dropships fired full salvos of missiles at the guards quarters, before a powerful boom tore the sky apart as a shell hit one of the nearby dropships causing it to crash on a group of Cyntech troops.

‘Gold Eagle this is Spectre 1. Enemy AA has been dealt with. Current drop ship casualties at 1.’

‘Roger Spectre 1, good work. Push the enemy into the dome, we’ll level it and return to the Upper Quarter.’

Miyuki looked up as the 3rd floor of the dome was smoking, as bodies began to fall like rain. As she struggled to get back up, she felt a firm hand grasp her collar and hoist her up, as one of Chaudary’s surviving gang members pulled her up and issued her an order.’

‘Hey, you! We’re falling back into the dome! Cmon let’s go!’

The door to the dome was a large rectangle of reinforced steel, protected by two thick blast doors. Miyuki sprinted and slid underneath the door as it was about to close. The door slammed shut with a thud, and the blast doors slid inwards. Outside, the sound of explosions and gunfire could still be heard as the horrors of what Miyuki had just seen lay prevalent in her mind.